A Bowl of Berry Punch

by Lighthawk

Stone Cold Sober

My name is Berry Punch, and I live in Ponyville. And yes, that ought to impress you. If it doesn’t, you clearly have not been keeping up with current events very well. When I first moved to Ponyville it was a quiet, unimportant, out of the way town that nopony really knew about. It had nothing special going for it except for being kind of close to Canterlot, and even then all that really did was sort of hide it in plain sight beneath the shadow of the capitol.

Things have changed for this town though, in a lot of ways. I’ve changed too, and like the town, I don’t think anypony saw it happening the way it did. I sure didn’t.

My first impression of Ponyville as I stepped off the train was one of slightly alarmed confusion. This was the direct result of immediately coming nose to nose with a hyperactive pink blur of joy and questionable sanity.

“Hi! Hello! How are you? Are you good? I hope you’re good, cause I’m sure good and I’d hate to be good if you’re not because that’d just be so unfair, especially since you’re new in town and that’s just so exciting I could burst!”

The enthusiasm with which she made her statement actually filled me with a brief flash of concern that she might literally come apart before my eyes. It also knocked me back over my suitcase and onto my flank, leaving me helpless before the oncoming avalanche of cheer.

“So since you’re new in town that means you’re going to need a Welcome to Ponyville Party so you can meet everypony and start making new friends cause moving to a new place can be scary and lonely and hard and worrisome and intimidating and there’s nothing better for all that than a bunch of friends to help out and I’m Pinkie Pie who are you?”

“…uh…Berry Punch…” I answered hesitantly, holding out a hoof in greeting. This was apparently Pinkie speak for I need a hug!, because half a second later that’s where I found myself.

“Ooo! Ooo!” Pinkie exclaimed after a subjective eternity, letting me go and allowing my lungs to once again resume their function of providing me with sweet, sweet air. “Here, I almost forgot!”

Next thing I knew I had a bright pink envelop in my hooves, the front of which was decorated with a squiggly, cartoonish writing of my name in a sparkly purple ink. I stared at it for a moment, then up at Pinkie. She beamed at me like an otter with an umbrella at a paper mill, and no, I have no idea why that was the simile that sprang into my head at that moment, it just kind of did. I think Pinkie Pie kind of warps reality when she gets too excited.

In something of a state of numb shock, I opened the envelop. There was a tiny horn blast, along with a spray of confetti, and another pink envelop fell out, along with a card. The card read, in more loopy, almost obscenely bubbly writing, thus:

You are hereby invited to be the guest of honor at the Welcome Berry Punch to Ponyville Party! To be held tonight!! At Sugar Cube Corner!!! Please RSVP ASAP!!!!!!!

Will you be able to attend? Please check one.
[ ] Yes! (Please please please please please please please please! I’ll be your friend forever! I’ll even throw you a party for coming to this party! Oh wow, a Party Invitation Acceptance Party! I mean can you even imagine!)

[ ] No :( (Psst, don’t pick this one, this is the bad one! You’ll regret it! I’ll regret! Everypony will regret it, especially the foals! Oh won’t you please think of the poor foals!)

Now obviously I could have just given her a verbal answer, but somehow that didn’t seem right. I think it was that smile of hers. Something about it just hovered too close to the boarders of sanity, and it was dragging me down into the abyss of lunacy just by proximity. So I dug out a pen from my luggage, and eyed my choices.

Well, why not?

…

Actually, why not? I mean the only parties I’d ever had thrown just for me where birthday parties, and after you get through your teens those can start to feel like something ponies do just because they’re obligated to. This Pinkie Pie was a bit of an odd filly, but she seemed a mostly harmless type of odd, excitably eccentric. It could be fun, and it would probably be a good way to get to know some ponies in town. What’s the worst that could happen, right?

…

Right?

Fate thus tempted, I proceeded to place a check mark in the yes box. I almost just hoofed the card over to her, but stopped. There was that second envelop, which upon inspection was already addressed and stamped.

To Pinkie Pie
Ponyville Train Station
Main Platform

Fine, let’s play this out then. I put the card in the envelop, sealed it up, and looked around. Sure enough, there was a mailbox sitting on the edge of the platform. So I trotted on over, dropped the letter in, and then turned back to see what Pinkie’s next move might be.

The pink party pony was bouncing in a sort of foalish excitement at this point, and I followed her gaze over to a pair of pegasi chatting happily with each other. One was a lavender colored mare with a golden mane and a sultry expression, the other a cloud grey mare with a sunny yellow mane and sweet Celestia what happened to her eyes? The walleyed mare was also wearing a set of saddlebags with what looked to be the Equestrian Postal Service emblem stenciled on them.

I glanced back at Pinkie Pie as the mare gave a little, throat clearing cough. She was still staring at the pair with an expression of eager anticipation. After a moment though the cheerfulness faded, just a little, and she gave a louder cough. The pair of pegasi were clearly too wrapped up in their own conversation to notice however, and for the first time since she ambushed me, I saw Pinkie produce an expression that wasn’t some variation of a smile. Actually, there was something kind of scary about seeing her look anything but happy as her features went flat. She gave another cough that honestly sounded like she was about to spit an internal organ right out on the platform.

That finally got the attention she was looking for, and the derp-eyed mail mare gave a startled little jump. She hastily excused herself from her conversation and trotted on over to the mailbox, giving Pinkie a little, sheepish grin as she did so. The party pony, for her part, was right back to bouncing up and down in mirthful enjoyment as she watched the delivery pegasus unlock the mailbox and start pulling out letters.

The normal, plain white letters went into her saddle bags. The bright pink letter however was tucked under one wing until the mail mare finished unloading and then locking back up the mailbox. She then trotted over to Pinkie Pie and held out the invitation reply.

“Thanks Derpy!” Pinkie exclaimed happily.

…

Derpy? Really?

Anyway, Pinkie ripped open her letter, looked at my response, and gave a delighted shriek. She also jumped higher than any non-pegasi I’d ever seen, and for a moment I was worried about what would happen when she finally came back down. She bounced upon landing though.

“Woo! Party! Party! Party tonight!” Pinkie sing-songed happily, shaking from side to side in a sort of dance-jig-thing. She then reached into her mane and, may Luna haunt my nightmares if I’m lying, pulled out a muffin. Which she hoofed on over to the mail mare. “Thanks Derpy!”

“Ywoo Wefoom!” Derpy replied through a mouthful of muffin. Seriously, she practically inhaled the thing the second she got ahold of it. A second later she swallowed it down and added, “Well, I better get back to work.”

“Okie Dokie Lokie,” Pinkie chirped. “You’re coming tonight though, right?”

“Of course, wouldn’t dream of missing it,” Derpy answered brightly as she took off, hovering on over to the other pegasus to say goodbye before flying away. When I looked back, Pinkie Pie was gone. I mean just gone, there wasn’t a sign of her anywhere. If not for the confetti still laying at my hooves, I’d have started to question if she’d just been some mad figment of my imagination.

I scuffed at the confetti just to reassure myself that yes, it was real.

A small chuckle brought my eyes back up to find the lavender pegasus walking my way, a small little grin on her face and something...well kind of hungry I’d say, in her gaze.

“You holding up alright?” she asked.

“Well so long as I wasn’t just hallucinating…”

“Ha! Yeah, Pinkie can have that effect on ponies,” she said casually. “You handled your first Pinkie encounter better than some I’ve seen. Don’t worry, you get used to her.”

“I hope so,” I replied, picking up my suitcase and swinging onto my back. “I think the alternative might involve nice big stallions in clean white coats and a room with rubber walls.”

That got another brief laugh from the mare. She offered me a hoof. “I’m Cloud Kicker.”

“Berry Punch.” We shook, and she held on a just bit longer than seemed strictly necessary.

“So, what brings you to Ponyville?” Cloud Kicker asked when she finally let me go. She took a little shuffle step as she put her hoof down, bringing herself in rather close to me, that hungry look still in her eyes.

“I’m uh, ahem, uh just getting out on my own you know?” I answered, taking a little nervous step back.

“Oh?” she responded, the little grin on her face growing. “Leaving home for the first time then?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“And look at you, moving to a whole new town to do so.” Her wings flapped, and she hovered a little circle around me. “You got family here?”

“No. At least, not that I know of…” I said, craning my neck around to follow her. I lost her for a second when she passed behind me, but I swear when I swung my head around to pick her back up, her eyes were snapping up from looking at my flank.

“You got some guts then,” Cloud Kicker said in an approving tone as she landed right next to me. “Hard thing to move out as it is.”

My only answer was a slight “meep!” as she slipped a wing over my back and pulled me into a rather close hug.

“Well you’re a Ponyvillian now…or is that Ponyvillite? Eh,” she gave a little shrug that rubbed our shoulders together. “Either way, you’re one of us now, and I for one like to think that we’re a close, friendly town.”

Oh boy, was there ever some special emphasis and extra meaning in her tone. Her sultry, eager, appealing, enticing…

I gave a little shudder as she slipped free of the embrace, her feathers tracing little lines of sensation across my back and side.

“So if you ever need help with anything, or you know, if you’re just feeling kind of lonely and might like some company…” Cloud Kicker went on as she walked out in front of me. Her tail gave a little flick, seemingly for no other reason than to draw my attention to the fact that she had a rather shapely flank. In which case it worked, sweet Celestia, it worked.

I looked back up to find her staring at me staring at her, and her eyes sparkled with a mischievous light, her lips curled in a self-satisfied grin.

I, for my part, attempted to die from blushing. Cloud Kicker seemed perfectly satisfied with this reaction from me, because she gave a pleased little laugh.

“Well anyway,” she said as she jumped into the air. “I’m sure I’ll see you tonight at your party.”

“Y-yes, that sounds n-nice,” I managed to squeak out.

“Great, until later then,” Her voice dropped an octave or two. “Berry”

She flew off, leaving me alone on the platform as two entirely different parts of my body warred for right over the majority of my blood supply. My suitcase slipped off my back, landing with a dull thud. My flank made a similar sound as it hit the floor a moment later when I decided I really needed to sit down a moment.

And I thought Ponyville would be a nice, dull place to live.

Comments

[SilverScales]

Oh dear... I sense a Winning-verse variant of Cloudy...

[Lighthawk]

3844511
Winning-verse Cloud Kicker is best Cloud Kicker.