Settling In

by A Wild Magikarp

Chapter 9

Author's Note:

Thanks once again to my editor The Great Derpsby.
And now, for the moment you've all been waiting for... Drumroll please...
*Inserts Drumroll*
... Main 6 contact! And with none other than the wonderfully random Pink Menace herself! And a little bit of Dashie to.
Enjoy, and don't forget to like, follow, and comment!
... I'm starting to sound like a YouTuber now...

Pinkamena Diane Pie, known by the ponies of Ponyville simply as Pinkie Pie, felt like she was about to burst with excitement. There was a tension in her stomach that refused to un-knot, that had been slowly building up until the point that she felt she might explode. THIS would be a day to remember! The day ponies would talk about for generations! A day unlike any other! The world would never be the same after this night!

... Ok, so maybe that was just the excitement talking. But still, it was indeed a big day! A day that she had been waiting for for months now, in fact. Ever since they had started building this fancy-shmancy new house, it was all she could think about. You didn't just build a house this big for anypony, nosiree, you built it for a specific somepony. Somepony who wanted it there. And when a house like that was being made, it meant only one thing to Pinkie Pie.

There was a new pony moving into town!

Now, as scatterbrained as she knew most ponies thought she was, Pinkie was in fact a very clever pony in her own right. That crazy act she put on was more for them than for her. She new that the new house didn't mean a new friend right away. It meant something else entirely. Something terrible in fact. It meant that she would have to wait. The house wasn't finished yet, so the new pony wouldn't be there to live in it. She would have to wait for months as the new pony's new house was made before she could even meet them.

And wait she did. She waited, and waited, and waited... but waiting was never Pinkie's strong suit. Soon, she found herself counting the days till the new building was completed. Soon she was going over to Sweet Apple Acres every day just to see how the construction was going. She would make note of how much closer they where every day. She even took it upon herself to bring refreshments to the construction ponies to help hasten them on their way and brighten their day. She knew for a fact that it was easier to do a job with a full belly and a good mood. Also, it never hurt to catch up with some of her lesser-seen friends. Hard Hat and Jack Hammer were particularly pleased to see her visit every day, and seeing them smile every time she came by with cupcakes and lemonade helped make the days waiting for the mysterious newcomer a little easier.

Then one day it happened. She came bounding down the path with her usual plate and pitcher, and nopony was there. The build site was empty, except for a finished two story building, with a funny bubble shaped thing on the top. It was finally done, and that thought had made her heart leap. Finally, her days of waiting in the wing where almost over! The new house was done, and soon, the new pony would be on their way!

She had spent the next few days preparing. Stockpiling supplies, pre-writing invitations to all of her Ponyville friends, making plans for what the party would hold, and where it would be. At first, she thought she could host it at Twilight's home. Golden Oaks Library had plenty of room in it, and it was easy enough for a somepony new in town to find it if she where to just hoof them over the invitation. But then she had an even better idea. The new pony would want to see their new home before anything else, right? And if she held it there, then she could have it be a surprise party as well! And then she could have ponies bring presents and it could be a housewarming party to! A 'surprise-welcome-to-Ponyville-housewarming' party! The thought of it had nearly made her squeal with glee when it came to her.

Pinkie had been in the middle of getting more streamers and confetti for the party when she saw him. Blue coat, brown mane, orange-ishy highlights, though she couldn't see his face. She had never seen him before, and if that wasn't evidence enough, her tickly tummy told her the same thing. The Pinkie Sense was never wrong! Still, Pinkie remembered what Twilight had taught her from the MMMM mishap a while back, and had decided that asking would be the best way to find-

"...Oh, um, I wasn't visiting. You see, I was living there. I just moved here, so I'm kinda new in town and-"

- the rest of the streamers, then the confetti, then an extra big cake from Sugar Cube Corner to write 'Welcome to Ponyville' on in bold, bright pink! After letting out a giant gasp, she bolted for the store, as to be sure he didn't see her. The bigger the surprise, the more fun, right? Following the confetti were the invitations. A good fifty-three ponies told her they could make it, and another eleven gave her maybes. That was almost record attendance!

Now here she sat, hiding behind the table she had set up for snacks and drinks, with about thirty other ponies scattered around the room hiding along with her. Poky Pierce had told everypony he saw the new pony coming up the path with the Crusaders, and everypony had hopped into position, Pinkie getting the lights before she did so as well. Then they waited.

Suddenly, there was a noise at the door. The sound of a pony talking, then the doorknob jimmied. Time seemed to slow down for Pinkie as the door began to open, as she savored the moment just before the look of surprise that would inevitably cover her new friends face. The door opened all the way, and the silhouette of a stallion stood there. Celestia's sun, as low hanging as it was in the sky, was giving just enough light to keep his features from being to well seen. Berry hit the lights, and everyone took a moment to adjust to the new brightness before jumping up all at once, Pinkie included.

"SURPRISE!"

For a moment, everything was going perfectly. The new pony let out a cry and fell backwards. Not enough to hurt himself, but enough to prove that he had indeed been shocked by the celebration waiting in store for him. He sat there on his back for a moment, looking back and forth at the ponies surrounding him with a stunned look on his face. He stared... and he stared... and stared...

Pinkie's smile began to waver just a little bit. Nopony had ever just sat there for this long before. Did he not understand what was going on? Perhaps he was really shy, and didn't know what to say? What was he doing sitting there like that? Then she realized what it must have been. The look on his face was that of COMPLETE shock. He had NO IDEA what was happening! Maybe he had never had surprise party before, or more likely, maybe he wasn't used to surprise parties thrown by strangers! That made total sense!

Pinkies felt it necessary to help the new pony out, and decided it was time to start the party. Her more genuine smile reasserted itself as she turned to the ponies around her, also awaiting a response from their new neighbor.

"Alright ponies! I'll get Mr.Guest-of-honor out of his funk. But now, it's time to PARTY!"

A chorus of cheers and chuckles went around the room as ponies began to disperse, some to explore the new house, others to mingle with friends. But most headed to the snack bar she had set up for refreshments, as expected.

With that out of the way, Pinkie turned and made her way to the new pony, who was now standing with the same look of shock on his face, both mouth and eyes wide open. Bouncing with her usual pep, she made short work of the small distance separating them, and began to give him her usual 'Welcome to Ponyville Party' greeting.

"SURPRISE! Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie and I threw this party just for you! Were you surprised, wereyouwereyou, Huhuhu?"

Of course she already knew he was surprised, but she loved to hear when ponies told her how surprised they were. It was one of her favorite parts of throwing a surprise party.

But he didn't tell her that. In fact, he hardly even looked at her at all. Broken from his stupor by the excessive levels of pink cheer in front of him, the new pony blinked, before looking around at his new home and all the party guests in it. A new look took its place on his face. A look of absolute horror.

"W-w-what are you all doing here!?" He asked. "Who are you ponies!? How did you get in here!?" He began to gallop around the room, pleading for the guests not to touch anything. "Stay out of there! N-no, get away from that, even I don't know what that is! Nonono, I can't have anyone in here yet! Stay out of the observatory! Get out, get out! Please, you have to leave, now!"

---

Sky was in an absolute panic. There were strange ponies in his house! His BRAND NEW house! How had they gotten in? He was supposed to be the only one with a key! What were they doing here? There wasn't anything worth stealing here yet, considering they couldn't exactly steal the telescope. Nevertheless, whatever their intentions where, they were trespassing. He moved about the room, reprimanding ponies for touching this or that and asking what they were doing here, but never staying long enough to receive a response, as he moved on to the next offender. Honestly, it seemed like everypony had their hooves where they shouldn't be!

Continuing his efforts to keep hooves off his new home, he spotted two ponies on the other side of the room. They where looking at a large metal door with an exit device, sporting the royal crest. It screamed 'important things past here', and Sky realized what it must lead to. One of the ponies, a mare with a dark pink coat and light gold mane, slowly brought her hoof to the door, as if unsure if she should continue.

Before she could get any farther, Sky was already next to her holding the door closed. His sudden materialization forced a startled squeaks out of both the offender and her companion, another mare with a lighter pink coat and green mane. He looked at them with a slightly crazed look in his eye, his confusion and panic concerning the situation at hoof getting the better of him for the moment.

"No! Nopony past this door! The observatory is OFF LIMITS! Got it?!"

Both of them began to back away from both him and the door. There was obvious concern in green mane's eyes, while golden mane hid behind her friend, apparently afraid she had done something wrong.

"S-sorry, w-we were just exploring a bit, w-we didn't know that-"

"Sky? Whats going on? What are you yelling about?... Daisy, Lilly? What are you two doing here?"

Sky's relaxed a bit at a familiar voice, as it calmed him momentary, surrounded by a crowed of strangers. Taking his protective fore-hooves off the observatory door, Sky turned around to look at Rose, who was standing behind him and the other two ponies with a raised eyebrow and tilted head.

One of the other mares, Daisy, if her cutie mark was anything to go by, perked up a little at the sight of the newest arrival.

"Oh, hey Rose, glad you could make it! We just got an invitation like everypony else! I'm pretty sure Pinkie invited the whole town to this thing. W-we where just checking everything out when mister, um... Sky I guess, came over and, um, well..." She shrunk back again, remembering that she and Lily were in the middle of being scolded before their friend had arrived.

Sky mimicked Roses pose, his head tilting to the side slightly in confusion.

"Invitations? What invitations? I never invited anypony here, let alone the whole town! Hay, I don't even know anypony in town, except for a few fillies and Rose here! What are you all doing in my house?!"

"What do you mean? I would have thought you would have gotten one as well, seeing as this is your party? Didn't you get one from Pinkie Pie?"

...

...

...

"... Party?" Sky asked simply.

Rose continued to stare at him, trying to figure out what exactly was so confusing about the situation, until something visibly came to her. When it did, hoof met muzzle as she buried her face in it. Turning in the general direction of her oldest friends, she asked;

"... This wouldn't happen to be a SURPRISE party... would it girls?"

"... Um, maybe?"

"Why?"

Rose let out a light sigh.

"Because Pinkie will be Pinkie." She muttered quickly before turning to Sky, hoof now away from face and an apologetic smile taking its place. "I am SO sorry Sky, but there seems to have been a... misunderstanding. You see, we have a friend, Pinkie, who is the resident party pony. She throws parties for everypony, and one of her favorites is the party welcoming new ponies to town. It appeared she took the liberty to plan you a party without telling you. She is a bit of a prankster to, so I guess she was looking forward to giving you a little scare. You follow?"

Sky took a moment to absorb this new information before taking the time to look around at this surroundings. Balloons, streamers, snacks, even a pinata in the corner next to a picture of a tailless pony. Games and decorations meant for a party. A party meant for HIM.

A party that he had just crashed in epic proportions. He noticed the glares and scornful looks that a large portion of the crowd was directing at him. He had just blasted in many of their faces for appearing at a party they had apparently been invited to. Tail tucked and ears back, Sky suddenly felt like finding a nice little hole to crawl in and die.

"... Oh." He said, lowering his head in shame at his own behavior.

Rose gave a sad smile and turned to address the crowed. Her heart suddenly began to pound as she realized just how many eyes were pointed in her general direction. Another one of her many fears; public speech. A single stranger was one thing, an entire crowd of unfamiliar ponies was something else entirely. Still, it had to be done.

"H-hey everypony! Sorry about that, it looks like our guest of honor didn't exactly know how to react to the whole 'surprise' part of the party. He just moved here from Canterlot today, so he was just a liiiitle bit caught of guard by all this. All good now though, no harm no foul, right?"

Rose gave an internal sigh of relief as she saw many of the faces in the crowed change from spiteful to understanding. Ponies returned to their business, conflict settled. A few still gave weary glances before turning away, but one rainbow maned pegasus in particular continued to stare at Sky with murderous intent from above the crowed. Rose winced at her hostility, and wondered briefly on the reason behind it, till she noticed the form behind the airborne pegasus. A pink pony with her back turned to their little group, head lowered and shoulders slouched. She nudged Sky to grab his attention. He looked up to her, his face still speaking of his embarrassment.

"Don't worry, I think that took care of it. But it looks like there is one pony you might still need to talk to." She said, nodding in Pinkie's direction. Seeing the depressed party pony, Sky winced. He hated seeing others like that, and the knowledge that he was the cause of it only served to rub salt in the wound. Still, he stood up straighter and took a breath through the nose, preparing himself for what was to come.

"Yes, yes I do." And with that, he made his way into the crowed.

---

It look longer than Sky expected to reach the distressed party planner. While she had at first been easy to spot, the crowd of ponies had soon filled the gap, breaking line of sight between him and his target, and often offering apologies of their own for showing up uninvited of all things. They HAD been invited, just not by him. He pointed this out multiple times, telling them there was nothing to be sorry for, before excusing himself to find Pinkie. Then upon arriving where he had spotted her, he found a distinct lack of pink in the vicinity.

'Of course she moved. Not like my luck would let me avoid having to play hide and seek now would it? I hope she didn't leave without giving me the chance to apologize.'

Just as he was about to leave the building and check the road into town, he saw a small pink form in the corner of the living-room. Back turned to rest of the room, the pink mare was sitting with her head down, apparently being consoled by a cyan pegasus with the most ridiculously colorful mane he had ever seen.

Conflicted on how to approach the situation, he made his way over, only to stop short of drawing attention to himself. That did not stop him from being noticed however, as the pegasus at Pinkie's side seemed to hear him, her ear twitching lightly, as she turned to see who was behind them. Seeing him, Sky could swear he saw her coat bristle like a cat, as her magenta eyes narrowed dangerously and her posture turned aggressive.

"The hay do you want? I'm pretty sure you've done enough already pal, and she ain't in the mood to be talking to anypony right now, least of all you." She took a few slow steps towards him and lowered her head. "So do the smart thing and buzz off, would ya?"

Taking a moment to recover from the scalding reception, Sky rubbed his chest a bit and cleared his throat, preparing a proper retort. But before he could say anything he would later regret, he realized several things. That he was in the wrong in this situation, and he deserved everything that she had just said, and that he was incredibly out of shape compared to his aggravated discussion partner. And besides all those points, it would be incredibly unseemly for him to come to blows, verbally or physically, with a mare, regardless how brash her demeanor may be. It was not how he was raised. So swallowing his pride and tanking the verbal assault, he prepared a response of a different kind.

"Miss, I am fully aware that I am deserving of such a cold reception. How I just behaved, while perhaps understandable, was completely unacceptable. But if you would give me a moment to explain-"

"But nuthin! I'm not letting you anywhere near her right now! The last thing she needs is someone yelling at her, and even worse would be to chat it up with the punk that started this whole mess in the first place!"

"Well technically I walked in on the cause of the mess. I am perhaps to blame for overreacting, but this whole surprise party was a tad uncalled for considering it was only my first day in town. Maybe scheduling a house warming party I was well aware of at a later date would have been in better taste?"

"Better taste? That's what you have to say about all this?! That's it!"

As the rainbow mare crouched low to pounce him, Sky closed his eyes and braced for impact. But before the attack even began, both ponies heard a quite voice speak up.

"No! Please, no, don't fight... I don't want anypony to fight..."

Sky turned to look at his savior, the pink mare that he had been trying so hard to reach. She looked up to him and the other mare with sad cerulean eyes, hints of red and wetness around the edges making his heart ache. Her mane, curly as it was, seemed almost to sag a little bit, any life it should have possessed seemingly gone as it hung close to her body. He seemed to recall, in the short time he had known her, seeing it with more poof.

The mare, Pinkie, if he remembered correctly, slowly stood and made her way to him, rainbow mane moving off to the side to make way for her.

"H-hey..." She said, but offered nothing more.

With the pegasus watching closely, Sky took a breath and lowered his head down to her level, standing half a head taller than her.

"Hello Miss Pinkie, and how are you doing today?"

'Stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid!

"F-fine, I guess. It was a good day, except for... um... sorry..."

"Ah, yes... that..."

'Oh come ON!'

"W-well then, I would like to... offer my own apology for that scene I made earlier, Miss Pinkie. As I was trying to tell your companion here, my actions were completely uncalled for, and for that, I am really, truly sorry."

Pinkie perked up at this, head quirked to the side just a little. Sky continued.

"Y-you see, I was unaware that anypony else had keys to the house, as I had been told that I was the only one who would have any in town. That and the fact that since this home technically belongs to the crowns and the University of Canterlot, there are places that I can't have other ponies going. Still, I overreacted, and for that, I am sorry. Can you forgive me?"

Over the course of his apology, Sky began to notice a physical change in Pinkie. Her eyes began to sparkle in a more positive way, her back straightened, and her mane began to slowly, for lack of better terms, inflate, up into a form that very much reminded him of cotton candy. It even seemed as if her coat grew a few shades brighter as a small grin grew on her face.

"Oh, don't be silly, we both did some dumb things. It WAS kinda foalish of me to think it was ok for me to just barge in like this. Twilight seemed alright with it, but then she was just STAYING at the library at the time, not LIVING there."

'She's friends with Miss Sparkle? File that away for later then.'

"Well, I won't argue that it was a bit... unusual to find a celebration awaiting me at my new residence," He said. "But still, I never should have resorted to yelling, at you, or your guests. It was wrong for me to do so, and incredibly inappropriate."

Pinkie's grin widened a little at that. "That's ok, you just moved here. You were probably stressed before you got here. Besides, we can't expect everypony moving to Ponyville to be all there on their first day. Twilight did say that the ponies in this town are crazy, so I guess you have to be just a teeny-tiny bit crazy to be here anyways." She said, raising a hoof and bonk him lightly on the head a few times to emphasize her point.

Pinkie's flawed logic and playful tap caused Sky to laugh lightly. "Indeed, I suppose not. I'll be the first to admit that I am not the most normal pony out there. So, as long as apologies out of the way, could we perhaps start over? My list of friends in this town is scarce, and I would love to make a new one."

Suddenly, much to Sky's surprise, Pinkies hair exploded outwards, before settling down into its original form. It now fully resembled the sugary treat he had earlier equated it to. He also noted vaguely how it had squeaked, much like a chew toy would. Her coat was back to its original bright, cheery color, and her face almost seemed to split with the smile that was now residing there. That was all the warning that he received before he was suddenly swept up in the most brutal, bone crushing hug he had received in his entire life. His eyes bulged as the wind was driven from his lungs, and a pop or two could be hear coming from his spine.

"OF COURSE we can be friends! Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou! Oh this is just the best thing ever! I'm so glad that's over I mean I just couldn't stand not being friends with somepony new in town that would be the most terrible-absolutely-awful thing ever! I already know this is going to be the start of a great friendship, right Dashie?"

Through the blinding pain, Sky barely registered the sour look on 'Dashie's' face. It appeared that he had mended relations with one, but the other would take time. A shame.

"Yah, whatever, I'm gunu go get something to eat. See ya Pinkie." With that, the rainbow maned pegasus, known as 'Dashie' till further notice, took off towards the refreshments table. Pinkie was apparently oblivious to her friend's foul mood however, and continued her hug with no less energy.

"Kay Dashie! See you later!"

"Can't... breath..." Sky pleaded, barely reaching a whisper. He contemplated how his end would not come at the hooves of raging rainbow mares, or even his excessive consumption of food, but instead a viciously affectionate bear-hug. Before he could lose consciousness however, Pinkie heard his weak cry, and released him from her death grip, permitting oxygen into his lungs once more.

"Woopsy! Sorry about that, Dashie and the others tell me I can be a teeeny bit rough with those. You're ok, right?"

A few gasps for air later, and Sky was feeling well enough to answer.

"Yes, yes I'm fine, thank you. Just not used to somepony with a grip as strong as yours is I guess. Hehehe..."

Pinkie, who Sky was beginning to realize might be a sympathetic laugher, if there was such a thing, gave a much more wholehearted laugh. Then she abruptly stopped, standing at attention with a smile still plastered to her face, and held out her hoof.

"I'm Pinkie Pie, but all my friends call me Pinkie. That means you can too!"

Sky smiled back, offering his own hoof in return and giving hers a firm shake.

"Night Sky. A pleasure to meet you Pinkie Pie."

Comments

[dadab22]

Dwaaaw....

[A Wild Magikarp]

5788464 Glad you enjoyed it!

[Ephedianroyalty]

Freaking Dashie

[A Wild Magikarp]

9226222 Honestly she is being combative towards Sky, but I can’t blame her at all. I am the social one out of my group, and find I am VERY protective of my friends when they are confronted. I would probably be doing the same thing in her shoes if someone made one of my buddies cry. Maybe worse.

[Ephedianroyalty]

9226363
Well, it’s also the case that they broke into someone’s house, but that’s just something i personally have never enjoyed about pinkie. Dashie’s just being a little over reactive for pinkie being reminded that it’s a private residence and she shouldn’t be allowed to be in there without his permission in the first place. Also, tis is a really good story, good job!