Cloudburst

by Xaigatomon

4 - End of the first day

Watching the pastel coloured blurs that were the pegasi fly around before him had Cloudburst very much transfixed, He gazed upon them ceaselessly like a foal watching a cartoon.
When the winged ponies were apparently done with their tasks, Rainbow dash, accompanied by the filly with the pale yellow coat and sea blue mane from before, flew down to land on the cloud that the young stallion was still sat upon.

“All done~” Rainbow dash smiled.

“That was really cool.” Cloudburst beamed back at her.

The other filly tilted her head a little and nudged Dash’s side gently. “Who is this anyway?” she whispered.
“Eh, just a friend of mine. he’s um… new to town.” she said out loud, and then moved a few paces closer to her new friend. “Anyway, we were gonna head off now.”

“Oh, got more errands to run?” Sea Breeze smiled politely, to which Dash returned a brief nod.

“Yup,” she said “gotta finish showing this guy around for a bit.” she placed a hoof over Cloudburst’s shoulders.

“That’s cool. I’ll see you tomorrow Rainbow Dash.” Sea Breeze smiled and then with a flap of her wings, she took off.

“So um…” the blue colt started shyly as he looked at rainbow dash “are we going now?”

“Yeah, just follow me. you’ve already met Twilight. might as well ask there first if she has a place to stay.”
They took off from the cloud and Cloudburst followed obediently behind Rainbow Dash.

as the day was drawing towards a close, everything was beginning to catch up with him. He had to take in so much information, his mind was so abuzz with thoughts of the pegasI moving clouds, the sweet smell of the cake shop and pinkie pie’s high-tempo personality, and pretty much everything else about this world, including Rainbow Dash and even his own body. He was so transfixed with all this, that he hadn’t even noticed he was following Rainbow Dash seamlessly. he managed to fly with her all the way to where she landed. catching his breath a little when he landed.

Dash smiled a little at her companion. “Hay, you’re getting the hang of this.”

“O-oh… you… think so?” he panted lightly and then steadied his breath.

“Yeah. keep it up and you might be half as good as me~” she grinned proudly and brushed a hoof across her chest.

He smirked a little at her. “You’ll have to show me your stuff some time.”

“Oh, Trust me…” she began, returning the smirk. “I got the skills to back up my mouth.”

“Hehe, well alright then, I’m sure you’re really good.” he smiled politely.
It was a very short walk to Twilight’s place of residence, Golden Oaks Library.

“Hello again!” Twilight smiled, seeing her friends had returned.

“Hay Twi~” Rainbow Dash smiled back. “Just wanted to ask you ooooone teeeeny tiny question.”

Twilight quirked an eyebrow, rolled her eyes and smirked at the same time. an expression that read “Heeeere it comes.” She knew that that kind of prepositioned hedging meant something mischievous was about to occur.

Rainbow dash took a breath before speaking, “might you have a spare bed for the night?” she held up her hooves in a begging motion, having to perch in a sitting position in order to do so.

Twilight took a moment to glance over Cloudburst. “Right, I’m -guessing- you didn’t sort out a place to stay before you spontaneously appeared out of nowhere.” she chuckled a little.

Cloudburst couldn’t help but chuckle back to the young princess. “Nope, unfortunately.”

“Right…” Twilight said as she took another moment to think, rubbing her chin. “Unfortunately I don’t think I’m in a good place to provide accommodation. The library is a huge mess right now, we’re going through re-organizing.”

“Yeah, for like the fifth time this week.” her purple baby dragon assistant said irritably as he walked through the room carrying a stack of books.

Twilight let out a nervous chuckle and blushed a little.

“It’s okay” Cloudburst cut in before Rainbow could moan. “Thank you ever so much for your time and sorry to disturb you.” he dipped his head politely.

Twilight laughed a little. “You don’t have to be so modest, just think of me as a friend okay? I’m not used to the whole royal title thing yet.”

“Don’t think you ever will be.” Dash pointed out.

“Hehe, yes. So, sorry again that I couldn’t help, uhhh…”

Rainbow stopped daydreaming and jumped in “Cloudburst. his name is Cloudburst!”

“A very fine name it is!” she smiled. “Well, sorry I couldn’t help Cloudburst. maybe another time when things aren’t so hectic.”

“I understand” the young stallion replied with a smile. “Thanks anyway.”

“Guess this means you get to meet the rest of my friends~” Rainbow smiled.

“Don’t you have stuff to do?” Cloudburst looked at her with a playful smirk. “You know, better things to be doing than showing me around?”

“Does this mean you won’t get lost?” she quirked an eyebrow.

“True, true. Okay then.”

Twilight chimed in with a light chuckle. “You two seem to get along well.”
she was interrupted by spike calling from the other room

“Twiliiiight! Where do I put Peculiar Mysteries of Ponies Cursed by the Stars? astronomy history? or mystery?”

“Oh I- I’ll be right there Spike! Gotta go guys, sorry.”

“Aight. see ya Twi” Rainbow said in a casual manner as twilight turned to briskly trot into the opposing room.

Cloudburst found himself perplexed at how Rainbow could talk to a princess in such a manner. she really MUST like being thought of as a friend more than a figurehead.
“Howcome you two are so casual, I mean if she’s a princess?” He asked, after deciding to verbalize his thoughts.

“Well” rainbow answered as they trotted out and closed the door behind them “We’ve been friends for yeeeears! she only became a princess recently.”

“You mentioned something about how she ‘used to be a Unicorn’?” Cloudburst looked at her questioningly as they cantered side by side. Cloudburst found this motion of movement to be rather therapeutic and fun.

“Oh yeah, she was. Twilight was Princess Celestia’s number one prodigé from her school for gifted unicorns in Canterlot.”

“Wh-whoa…” Cloudburst looked surprised. “That sounds so prestigious! She was the number 1 student from a high class school of some kind? that was owned by the ruling Princess? I’m guessing Canterlot is a big place then.”

“Yeah, Canterlot is the capital of equestria” Rainbow explained further. “Yep, Twilight was her number 1 favourite student~!” Rainbow smiled with the same familiar pride for her friend. “She was sent here by Celestia herself to learn about friendship, and after becoming friends with all of us, she decided to stay. then after aaaaall these years, this weird thing happened… it started with a mishap with a strange spell and ended up in twilight being zapped away! when she came back, she was surrounded in light and floated down out of the sky, and all of a sudden she was an Alicorn! it was incredible!”

Cloudburst listened with growing interest, riveted by her story. “Guess that answers my next question, as to why someo- somepony so prestigious would want to live in ponyville… ERR I- I mean Ponyville is awesome and all but, I just didn’t imagine royalty living here yaknow?”

“Yep, I get ya.” the cyan mare nodded. “Anyway, we’re headed to the everfree forest. Or at least to the edge. my friend Fluttershy lives there.”

“Fluttershy?” her new friend asked.

“Yep. She’s a really shy mare who looks after animals.”

Cloudburst saw soon enough just what kind of pony they’d be seeing when they approached the most quaint looking little cottage on the edge of the forest. animals bounded around everywhere as butterflies fluttered around.

“So… So pretty…” he marvelled.

“Hehe yeah. anyway c’mon.” Rainbow led him up to the door and knocked, the sound of her hoof striking against the aged and slightly worn wood of the door resonated softly though the small building. he looked around the surrounding s while they waited, examining the house. the door was held on by slightly rusted hinges and has a small golden looking glass in the center, it looked quite new. the windows were simple and were covered on the inside with curtains. the whole thing was covered in leaves and moss, he must have mistook it for a hill from above. it was perched atop a small hill with a winding path and a river just below, with a little bridge crossing the way they came.
they could hear hoofsteps from inside and eventually the two-part door creaked open. Cloudburst saw a flush of pink before the door opened more widely and revealed a mare with flowing pink locks, cerulean blue eyes and a daisy yellow coat.

“Rainbow dash~!” she said in a soft and gentle but subtly excited voice. “What brings you here?” her deep blue eyes glided over to Cloudburst and she suddenly gasped a little and shot back a step, covering herself with her long mane. “Who is this?” she asked, her voice barely any more than a small squeak.

“Oh, this is Cloudburst. he’s um, my new friend, visiting.” Dash nudged Cloudburst and whispered into his ear. “She’s a little shy, as you can tell.”

Cloudburst smiled at the new friend and held his hoof out. “Hello there~ Pleasure to meet you.”

Fluttershy simply stood, shaking slightly, her eyes the only things visible from behind the pink cocoon she had wrapped herself in.
Dash chuckled. “Go on Fluttershy. I trust him, and you trust me, so you can trust him too.”

Fluttershy looked at Rainbow and then seemed to calm a little, and then after another nervous look back at cloudburst, she raised her small yellow hoof out and touched it against Cloudburst’s and they shook. he was surprised at how delicate and gentle she was.

“Um… Hi…” she spoke softly and gave her best smile.
Cloudburst returned it with a genuine kind smile, which seemed to put her at ease. “Sorry to disturb you Fluttershy, umm…” he felt awkward having to ask when he didn’t even know her yet, so he looked to Dash, silently asking her to step in.

Dash saw her cue and took over. “So, I know this is sudden, but he hasn’t got anywhere to stay, we only realised an hour or so ago. could you do me a HUUUGE favor and let him use your guest room? please?” she pleaded

“Oh um, I would Rainbow but, i’m taking care of some sick animals in my guest room right now. they’re really poorly and need my desperate attention. So sorry I can’t be of help.”
Rainbow looked downtrodden. “Aww… well, that makes sense I guess. Sorry we can’t stay so you two can get to know each other, we really have to find somewhere before sundown.”

“I understand. maybe you could come for tea tomorrow?” Fluttershy asked. she knew she had to take the advice her friends always gave her to heart and make an attempt to turn strangers into friends so she didn’t have to feel nervous around them.

Dash grinned a little. “Yeah, sounds cool~ right Cloud?”

Cloudburst, being taken aback slightly by the sudden nickname, looked at her. “Huh? Oh, yeah!”

Rainbow looked back to fluttershy again. “Anyway, we really gotta jet. um, good luck with your sick animals!”

“Thank you Rainbow Dash. and nice to meet you again, Mr. Cloudburst.” she said before sliding her door shut.

“Right, I guess we better look elsewhere. Let’s try Applejack’s farm next. it’s not far.”

The flight across fresh open air certainly did feel shorter than it actually was. Cloudburst seemed to be really enjoying the air washing over his face.
Rainbow smiled as she watched her airborne friend. She was good at multitasking in the air so she could fly leisurely.

“the other thing we gotta be careful of…” she talked at a slightly louder volume so Cloudburst could hear her “... Is that in the evening the air starts to get colder. once the sun goes down all the thermals will disappear and flying will be much harder, so we gotta find a place while we can still cover ground easily. I can handle it, but you only just started flying, so…”

“Yeah that makes sense I guess. Didn’t think of that” he replied back.

They set down in the wide acres of a farm that seemed to be filled with apple orchards mostly, with a few wheat fields.

“Welcome to Sweet Apple Acres!” Rainbow Dash continued to tour. “They grow the most delicious apples here! it;s run by my friend AJ and her family! they’re real cool. AJ is one of my besties~.” she grinned

“Hehe, sounds nice.” Cloudburst replied as he looked around. the area felt very rural but the air was just as fresh as everywhere else around here, only mixed with the dirty yet somehow strangely appealing scent of a farm. Minus the smell of horse manure of course, as the Equine species of this world seemed to be far more civilized. though he wondered why the cows he could see grazing weren’t.

Dash strolled with him right up to the big red house behind the huge barn, and knocked firmly on the door and stood back with a smile waiting to be answered.

“Just a minuuute!” a small voice could be heard from inside. soon the door was opened, and Cloudburst had to think for a moment and wonder why he couldn’t see a pony on the other side, before he looked down and realised that a little yellow filly with red hair tied in a scarlet bow was the one who opened it.

“OH! Hello Rainbow Dash!” she said, speaking in a strong country accent. “What brings you here so late in the evening? here to challenge Applejack to a race or sumthin’?”

“Hehe, naaah not this late~” she smiled, rubbing the filly’s head. “Is AJ around, Apple Bloom?”

“Yeh. Just gimme a minute.” she walked back into the house, again giving cloudburst a moment to look around the dwelling. it was more “country” than “countryside” as the previous place was. painted completely red, the whole thing gleamed of hoofmade and manual labor. it felt like it was a creation built by many sets of hooves working together the good old fashioned way. it definitely felt like a farm building too, right up to the spinning weather rooster on top.

they heard more hoofsteps from inside and soon an orange pony closer to their age, with blonde hair tied in a shoulder ponytail and wearing a brown cowboy hat walked over.

“Hay there Rainbow Dash!” Applejack spoke, her accent far stronger than the filly who was just there. “What can ah do ya for?” she smiled warmly while leaning casually against the doorframe.

“Hey AJ. I’m here with my friend Cloudburst. he’s new here~”

“Hello there.” Cloudburst smiled politely and held his hoof out to shake.
His heart almost leapt a beat from the contrast between the last mare’s timid and delicate hoofshake to being throttled up and down by the vigorous shake of this mare, who he was pretty sure could whoop him in an arm wrestle any day.

“NICE ta meetcha!” Applejack stated firmly before dropping Cloudburst, leaving him dizzy.

Rainbow looked up wearily at the dwindling light in the sky. “I’m sorry to jump on you with this huge favor AJ…” Rainbow started, Cloudburst noticed how quickly she was getting to the point now. she must be getting desperate. “But Cloudburst REEEALLY needs a place to stay! he came here without having organised it in advance, sooo…”

“Yeah ah hear ya.” Applejack interrupted. “So you want a place ta crash?” she asked, looking now towards the blue colt.

“Y-yeah, that would be really cool.” he replied timidly, suddenly feeling like Fluttershy.

Rainbow felt dread coming at the inevitable addition to their growing chain of ‘No’s.

“Yeh, Sure. Ah don’t see why not.” Applejack said, causing rainbow to gawk in surprise.

“R-Really?!” the cyan mare lifted off the ground with some excited wing flaps. “AJ you are a lifesaver!”

Cloudburst didn’t really know this mare either, but he too looked relieved. he was feeling exhausted after his long day so was thankful for not having to sleep under a tree.

“Yeh we got plenty of room here. we always have lots of guest rooms for family who stay over. C’mon in Cloudbust! er, CloudBURST!” she turned and motioned for him to follow.

Cloudburst smiled and then looked at Rainbow.

“Don’t worry, AJ’s cool, she’ll take care of ya. I reeeally gotta finish some things before it gets too late and then hit the hay, so, see ya tomorrow or somethin’, Kay?” she asked, feeling rather sorry to be leaving her friend. “Oh, and pinkie’s party of course!”
It felt odd for Cloudburst too to be left alone by the first mare he met after the whole day, but he smiled back at her. “Sure. maybe we could hang out or something.”

“Hehe sounds good. Anyway, see ya Cloud.” She flapped her wings to take off but stopped, landing again, and then suddenly pulled him into a quick hug, making him blush just a little. “Hang in there kay? I know this is all new for you. I won’t leave ya until you’re settled in.”

He felt warm fuzzy feelings from her display of loyalty and smiled sincerely at her. “Thanks Rainbow. that means a hell of a lot.”

“Hehe cool~” she grinned again. “Gotta jet, see ya at the party~” she suddenly zoomed off into the sky again.

Cloudburst turned his attention now to the temporary home he would be staying in. He walked into the warm light emanating from the open door and shut it behind him, awkwardly walking a little into the house, wondering where Applejack had gone. he heard her talking and followed the sound into the living room, where Applejack was talking to a much older green pony in a rocking chair.

“So it’s cool if he stays until he can find a place?”

“Hmmhm” the elder pony mumbled. “It’s not like I mind the company” she spoke in an even stronger accent still, bewildering Cloudburst. “I’m just worried that it’ll interfere with uncle Apple Strudel and aunt Cinnamon Shake comin’ ta visit. You remembered they’re comin’ down with little Fizzy Chips to stay for a few days don’tcha?”

“Yeah, but we got plenty of room.” Applejack countered.

“I was just thinkin’ more about it bein’ awkward for the boy, bad enough stayin’ in a house with strangers but to be there when their family comes to visit… Ah was in that situation once, Donkey’s years ago I was goin’ ta visit mah friend up in Fillydelphia…”

Applejack smiled and rolled her eyes, knowing she was about to go on a monologue. “Okay Granny. But it should be fine right? and if he wants to he could always find somewhere else to stay tomorrow.”

“He;s welcome to stay as long as he wants” Granny smiled to the young stallion in the doorway.
Applejack walked over grinning “Hehe~ Hear that? make yerself at home!”

An hour passed like a minute while Applejack showed him around her home. Apple Bloom, the young filly, seemed over excited to have a guest staying and bounced around him every chance she got. there was also an older stallion by the name of Big Mac, a burly red pony with a golden mane. For a moment he was worried that his accent would be stronger still, but he couldn’t tell when he never even spoke at all.

“So, you from the fancy ol’ town of Trottingham then? long way fer you ta travel.” Applejack asked as she was setting up bedsheets in a guest room. The room smelt and felt clean and tidy. For farmers they certainly kept things neat on the inside. the bed was queen sized and looked luxuriously comfortable.

“Well uh, I guess so ye-”

“OOH! OOH!” Apple Bloom bounced around him again. “Do they all talk like thayt over theyre? do they eat funneh foods? Ah heard they drink tea ALL DAY!”

“Haha that’s enough Apple Bloom.” she gently pushed the filly away. “Don’t wanna make our guest feel uncomfortable.”

"But, ah just-" suddenly as apple bloom fought against her older sister's hoof, she froze and gawked at the pony for a moment.

"Just what?" Applejack asked, a little confused. she looked like she'd seen a ghost.

"You... you don't have..." the little filly began, in a tone much lower now but still bearing a hidden well of excitement, possibly even more than before. Cloudburst noticed she was staring and shuffled a little on his hooves, wondering what she had suddenly noticed.

"You... DON'T HAVE A CUTIEMARK!" Apple bloom shouted suddenly, gesturing to his rear end; an act that made him blush a little. "Oh mah GOSH!"

"He what?!" The orange pony chimed in, sounding equally astonished

"Uhh, what's a ... Cutiemark?" Cloudburst asked, suspecting the question to earn him even more shocked looks, which it did.

"Yaknow... a Cutiemark?" Applejack retorted while swivelling her torso to reveal her flank, which contained three red apples.

YOU DON'T HAVE ONE!!" The squeaky filly yelled, planting her hooves against his flank. "Just like ME!"

"Huh, that IS strange." Applejack pointed out. "Can't say I've ever seen a pony yer age without one before. but Ah think that's enough interriga'in' for tonight little one.@ she chuckled and once again led the filly out with her hoof.

“Awwww” Apple Bloom deflated.

“Hey don’t look so down sis, we got a party to go to!” Applejack said with a grin, closely watching Apple Bloom power up like a toy with a new battery and leap into the air.

“WE DO?!” she squeaked excitedly. Cloudburst found it astonishing how she could shift gears so quickly and chuckled.

“Yeah apparently,” she explained “Pinkie Pie came over earlier and dropped off an invitation for all of us. wouldn’t say what it was for but, what the hay!”

“Ohhh Ah don’t care!” Apple Bloom said as she bounced on the floor excitedly

Cloudburst smiled and chuckled a little at her excitedness. he specifically didn’t mention that the party was to welcome him to Ponyville. He still felt he wasn't deserving of such a welcoming.
It wasn’t long before He was walking out with Applejack and Apple Bloom. Big Mac had some work to do around the farm and Granny Smith claimed she was feeling a little too tired to go to a wild noisy party.
Trotting down the dusty paths towards the main part of Ponyville felt relaxing. Applejack and Apple Bloom talked the whole way. Cloudburst could easily see by watching them from behind that they seemed like fine siblings. always making jokes and laughing together.

They arrived at Sugar Cube Corner sooner than Cloudburst thought. Twilight was fading in the sky as night drew closer. the perfect time for an early night/late evening party.

The atmosphere inside was a buzz of colour and noise. Cloudburst suddenly knew why Granny had been reluctant to come. The eccentric sweet shop was normally nothing but one giant sweet tooth incarnate anyway, but now on top of the sugar coated decorations there was a ton of multi-coloured ponies dancing about to music. the tables were laid out with an array of delicious looking snacks the kind Cloudburst was practically drooling over just looking at.
He couldn’t see anypony he knew in the crowd but Applejack bumped him closer, calling “Come ooon! Have some fun!” over the noise.

He moved about between the constantly moving sea of ponies, being bumped about and groaning a little as he felt flustered.he felt like he was about to explode at one point when he was sandwiched between three or four ponies at once and managed to pop himself up above the crowd, gasping for air. Fluttershy along with a pale coated pegasus colt with red hair rose up out of the mess of ponies too, seemingly also to get away from being crushed.

“Oh! Hello there!” Fluttershy flapped over to Cloudburst as he too remembered he had wings and flew up over the dancing ponies.

“I didn’t expect it to be so.. LOUD!” Cloudburst said.

“Oh, I know, it’s not usually. but so many ponies showed up! I guess they were bored” the yellow mare contemplated.

“There you guys are!” another pegasus joined them, with her rainbow mane and magenta eyes.

“Rainbow dash!” Cloudburst said enthusiastically, thrilled to see his friend again.

“Hellow Rainbow” Fluttershy greeted with a smile.

Rainbow looked around. “Heheeeh yeah things kinda got away from us~ Oh there’s Pinkie! managing the punch bowl. So uhh, how you getting on at Applejack’s?”

Cloudburst smiled a little before responding. “They seem nice. i feel a little awkward being there though.”

“Oh!” Fluttershy interrupted “You found a place to stay then, that’s good!”

The three of them continued to catch up a little for an hour or so, after finding a not so cramped spot to rest their wings. It was then that suddenly a pink blur shot through the crowd and Cloudburst vanished before the other two Pegasi’s eyes.

“What the-” Dash balked. Just then, the music stopped and the lights dimmed, so she assumed she would get her answer.

“Aaaaand noooow!” Pinkie began as she stepped on top of the glass display cases, using them as a makeshift stage, “The reason why we’re all here today! You all know me, when somepony new comes to Ponyville, they just HAAAVE to get a welcome party! So, let’s give a warm, super-duper pony-riffic Ponyville welcome tooooo” she zipped to the left, and then back on again, Pushing a rather bewildered Cloudburst with her. “This guy! Cloudburst!”

Cloudburst gulped and timidly waved.

“Aaaaand” pinkie continued, to Rainbow dash’s and Cloudburst’s confusion, as Pinkie zipped off to the right and then zipped back again, pushing with her this time the pale coated pegasus with red hair. “This guy too!” she continued. “Lexis Arc!”

Pinkie beamed over the crowd and hugged the two stallions by their heads. “They’ve both come to Ponyville TODAY! and will be staying for a while! so let’s make them feel right at home!” pinkie said, evoking a loud cheer from the crowd, who also applauded by stomping their hooves on the ground.

The two pegasi under her arms exchanged looks. Lexis looked at cloudburst with confusion, to which the blue stallion simply shrugged. they were suddenly dropped only seconds later and fell back into the crowd below the cake displays, as the music began to play again.

Cloudburst just sighed, feeling rather exhausted. This world seemed so… fast paced.
The other newcomer seemed to be shrank into the corner they were in. the Pink bouncy mare suddenly dropped down in front of them and smiled before turning to the lighter pegasus. “C’mon Lexie~ have some fun!”she took him and helped him up. “Good to see you could make it Cloud-y!”
Cloudburst chuckled, not finding the nickname particularly good sounding.
He managed to make his way to Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy again and they spent the remainder of the party hanging out. they managed to get an assortment of lovely snacks and even danced together. He couldn’t help but notice that Fluttershy looked incredibly adorable when she was smiling, laughing and having fun.

Finally, the party wound to a close, the moon shining high in the sky, as the ponies walked out, chatting in a slightly more hushed voice. so to not wake anypony who was trying to sleep.

Dash let out a deep yawn as they walked out. “Wow, that was fun.”

“Yeah actually, it was!” Cloudburst smiled. “Thanks for everything guys.”

Pinkie bounded up behind them. “Oh no worries! lets do this again! and thank you for coming! Oh by the way, where are you staying?”

Applejack walked past and pulled Cloudburst into a casual headlock. “Actually he’s gonna be bunkin’ with me for now!”

“Hehe, yeah” Cloudburst smiled nervously. “Thanks Applejack.”

“Eeeeh it’s nothin’!” she grinned. “but we better get going. Apple bloom needs her sleep!”

The three of them bid goodbye to the other ponies and headed back to the Apple family’s farm. Once inside, they headed to the back room where he was to be sleeping. Applejack just wanted to make sure his room was still set up.

“So…” The older sister began again. “Feel free to crash whenever ya want. you don’t have to get up with the rest of us tomorrow either. You however little miss have ta help me with the apple buckin’.”

“Yeah ah know sis” Apple bloom said defiantly.

Apple jack exited through the doorway. “I’m just gonna get some hot coco on.” she spoke before exiting round the corner. “Apple Bloom, bed!” she called.

“Awww” the filly looked sad again and went to leave.
Cloudburst grinned and bent down to her level “By the way, Apple bloom…” he whispered “They drink tea ALL day!”
Apple bloom beamed and then laughed and scurried off.

Cloudburst couldn't help but smile. He loved kids, found them extremely cute and entertaining. He moved over to the bed and sat down on it. suddenly it felt like he had been standing for days. his back welcomed the change in posture with a satisfying crack and he let out a pleasureful sigh. it felt so good to finally get off his hooves, which felt like they were throbbing. He gave his wings a stretch and shifted around a little on the bed. It was even softer than it looked. he suddenly felt like the pillows were calling out to him like sirens.

He looked down at his front hooves, ignoring the pillow’s calling. He thought about everything that was going on. Part of him still couldn't believe he was a pony, yet he couldn't even remember who or what he was before he entered this world. he knew nothing, NOTHING, and it upset him. he wanted to know who he was, how he got here, why he came and why he remembers nothing. why he came to this place specifically, could he ever go back? Would he even want to? Would he grow accustomed to this world? Would he ever even regain his memories anyway? So many questions flooded his mind on to of all the information flooding in. Meeting rainbow dash, exploring Ponyville, meeting Twilight the princess, being side tackled by Pinkie pie and roped into eating cupcakes... his stomach growled a little as he remembered he hadn't even had dinner. but despite being hungry he didn't feel like eating. he thought about learning to fly, briefly meeting fluttershy, meeting Applejack and her family, going to the exciting party and seeing them all again...

He wondered what he was going to do tomorrow, he would have to find a place to stay. He couldn't rely on Applejack’s hospitality forever, but he felt like getting a house was no easy task. He would need a job, but what? what could he do? what DID ponies do? should he help rainbow dash? He DID see ponies spending gold coins at the market as they were exploring earlier so they did use money which meant he had to earn some. he let out a low growl as all these thoughts, worrying ones, exciting ones, confused ones, all kinds, circled around like a circus inside his head. he flopped back against the pillows in an attempt to quell the growing headache that was pounding in his head.

Apple jack returned to the room a few minutes later, her hoof wrapped around a mug with a steaming broth. “Hey, Ah gotcha a-” she stopped as she got to the doorway and saw Cloudburst had fallen straight asleep, and was breathing softly. She smiled warmly at him. “Aww bless. must have had a long day.” She shut the door to give him privacy, after turning off the light switch. She decided to just let him rest.

Author's Note:

This one took me a while to get round to writing. but it's release was delayed due to needing the previous chapter to be proof read and uploaded first.
I enjoyed writing this one so i hope you all enjoyed reading it.

I actually completely forgot the pinkie party xD i finished writing this and went back to proof read the previous chapter and realised that there was meant to be a party, and managed to geniosly splice it in XD