A Huragok in Equestria

by Zoura3025

Chapter 2: Alien Diplomacy

As the rush died down, Pinkie finally noticed the alien sitting contemplatively in the doorframe and walked over. “You can come out now, big guy,” Pinkie said with a small giggle.
The creature slipped out of the door, coming into view of the Cakes.
Mrs. Cake gawked slightly. “Err… Who’s your friend, Pinkie?” She asked.
“Just visitor from far away!” Pinkie excused, “They fixed the proofer last night!”
The creature trilled affirmatively, seeming content with the acknowledgment.
“Well, your sourdough looked on-point this morning,” Mrs. Cake supposed, “Your friend’s welcome around here any time; can’t argue with results.”
Pinkie giggled. “Hear that? You’re welcome to stay here any time,” Pinkie insisted.
The creature trilled gratefully.

Pinkie looked at the alien and smiled gently. “You want some food before Fluttershy gets here?” Pinkie asked.
The creature whistled and nodded.
“Well now, what does a creature like you eat?” Mrs. Cake asked, cocking a brow.
“Cake soup,” Pinkie explained, walking to the counter to grab a slice of cake.
“Cake… Soup?” Mrs. Cake asked hesitantly.
“It’s cake soaked in milk and then put in a blender so it’s all liquidy,” Pinkie explained, taking a slice of cake over to said blender.
Mrs. Cake’s eyes widened slightly. “I… I see,” She replied hesitantly. Truthfully, soggy cake did not sound particularly appetizing; especially not run through a blender. She didn’t say anything, however; she didn’t even know the kind of creature she was judging.

Pinkie eventually brought over the bowl of milky cake to the creature, and it contently slurped it down, trilling in thanks.
Pinkie giggled. “Aww, you’re welcome!” She replied happily, “They’re such a sweetheart,” She added as she turned back to the Cakes, who were both just sort of staring dumbfounded at the alien slurping up the soggy cake with wild abandon. Was it a crime against baking itself? Absolutely, but they weren’t just going to tell the new arrival to stop eating.

Eventually, Fluttershy walked in the door.
The alien trilled excitedly as it saw her, floating over to her fast-ishly. Fast for an alien made of a worm, noodle arms, and balloons.
Fluttershy smiled a little. “You look happy this morning,” Fluttershy greeted, gently rubbing the alien’s head, “Did you get lots of good food and rest?”
The alien nodded, trilling contently.
Pinkie giggled. “They were a super help last night; they fixed our proofer!” She explained.
Fluttershy smiled. “That’s lovely,” She replied, petting the alien more, “Are you ready to go see Twilight?”
“I think we are!” Pinkie said.
“We?” Fluttershy asked.

“We! I wanna be there when Twilight does magic stuff and figures out how to get the big guy to talk!” Pinkie expressed excitedly.
Fluttershy hesitated. “Well, I’m not sure if we’ll figure out talking, but hopefully we at least find a better way of communicating,” She expressed.
The alien whistled softly in agreement, nodding.
“Well, there’s only one way to find out! Let’s go!” Pinkie declared, bouncing out of the bakery.
Fluttershy giggled. “She’s always so full of energy; let’s go catch up,” She expressed, trotting out after Pinkie.
The alien followed after, quietly floating alongside the pegasus. It seemed to be in much better shape than yesterday, keeping a fair pace.

They eventually came to Twilight’s castle, and Pinkie knocked on the door.
After a few moments, Spike came to the door. “Uh… Morning, Pinkie,” He greeted, a bit surprised, “And Fluttershy. What brings you here?” He asked.
“Applejack found an alien in the woods yesterday and we wanna figure out how to talk to it!” Pinkie explained.
Fluttershy simply gave an affirmative nod, blinking as she felt the alien’s head settle on top of hers, peeking over.
Spike cocked a brow at the alien and shivered a little. “Don’t tell me…” He trailed off.
“That’s them!” Pinkie giggled, “Aren’t they are cutie pie?”
Spike hesitated. “Sure, Pinkie,” He replied, stepping aside and pulling the door open.

Pinkie bounced in, and Fluttershy followed, finding it a bit cumbersome to move with the alien perched on her back, but not painfully so. The two ponies followed Spike into the castle.
“So you said it’s an alien…?” Spike asked, staring peculiarly at the creature perched atop Fluttershy.
“Or some kind of animal,” Fluttershy replied, “I’ve never seen one before. I hope Twilight might know something.”
The alien let out a small whistle, and Fluttershy sighed gently. “I want to understand you; I’m sure it’s hard to say things when you know nopony can listen,” Fluttershy expressed.
The alien’s eyes turned sad once again, and it uttered a softer whistle.
“Cheer up!” Pinkie interjected, “Twilight’s super smart! She’ll figure something out.”

The three were led to a library with a large desk, where Twilight was sitting and doing the most important thing a princess could do: Reforming tax laws. It was just as riveting as it sounded. She almost wasn’t falling asleep.
She perked up at the sound of hoofsteps, staring at the creature sitting oh so delicately on Fluttershy’s back.
“Uhh… Hi girls and company,” Twilight greeted, standing up from her desk and walking around it to get a closer look.
“Hi Twilight,” Fluttershy returned, “We were hoping you might be able to help us with something.”
“Does it have to do with whatever’s on your back?” Twilight asked, leaning in a bit.

Fluttershy nodded. “It does, but please be gentle with them. They can be skittish,” Fluttershy admitted.
“I… Might’ve spooked them,” Pinkie admitted, ears drooping a bit.
The alien gracefully floated off of Pinkie’s back and lightly patted her head with a feeler.
Pinkie giggled. “I’ve been forgiven, though!” She explained happily.
Twilight smiled. “Well, let’s see… I take it the problem is we can’t understand them?” Twilight asked.
The alien nodded and whistled in affirmation.
“Alright, we can’t understand them, but they can understand us, so…” Twilight hummed for a moment, and walked to her desk, grabbing a piece of paper and a quill, “Can you come here?”

The alien nodded and floated over, gazing at Twilight intently.
“Alright. So, basically, when words fail, we need to use things that both parties can understand,” Twilight reasoned, “So, we use pictures. For example, I am…” Her horn illuminated as she trailed off, and with the quill she drew out a sunset and a large array of sparkles, “Twilight… Sparkle.”
The alien’s eyes widened and it reached for the quill; Twilight willingly hoofed it over.
The alien began intently drawing out two ponies embracing, backing away for the moment once the scrawl was completed.

“...Love?” Twilight guessed. The alien shook its head.
“Embrace?” Fluttershy asked. The alien wiggled its feeler “so-so”.
“Snuggles!” Pinkie cheered. Another so-so.
“Alright, embrace and snuggles must both be close…” Twilight figured. The alien nodded.
“Hugs!” Pinkie guessed again. The alien nodded fervently.
“Okay, hugs…” Twilight began, watching as the alien now drew out a cube, with arrows pointing up the the top face.
“Hugs Top?” Twilight asked. Another shake of the alien’s head.
“Hugs Above?” Fluttershy asked. The alien again shook their head, pointing up at the ceiling.
“Hugs Up?” Pinkie asked. The alien shook its head and floated up, tapping its feeler on the ceiling.

“Hugs Ceiling?” Twilight asked. The alien floated down, nodding, but then circled the area between the hugging ponies and the cube.
“Alright, we missed something in the middle,” Twilight said. The alien again nodded, pointing at the pictogram of the ceiling.
“Yes, the ceiling, we got that,” Twilight replied. The alien nodded fervently.
“What about the ceiling?” Fluttershy asked. The alien just pointed at the ceiling and nodded.
“Oh! The middle word is ‘the’, right?” Pinkie asked. The alien turned to her with joyous eyes and nodded.
“So your name is…” Twilight didn’t even have a chance to finish the sentence herself.
“Hugs the Ceiling!” Pinkie exclaimed with a giggle, “That’s adorable!”
“What an odd name…” Twilight murmured to herself.
“Maybe it’s because they float,” Fluttershy reasoned.

Twilight nodded a bit and looked at Hugs the Ceiling. “Is that right? You’re called Hugs the Ceiling because you float?” She asked.
Hugs the Ceiling floated towards the ceiling, lightly bouncing up against it a few times and trilling.
“Oh… You floated too much,” Fluttershy supposed, “So you were hugging the ceiling.”
Hugs the Ceiling nodded, floating back down.
“Well, it’s nice to finally meet you by name, Hugs the Ceiling,” Pinkie expressed, smiling up at the alien.
The alien returned the smile with three pairs of gleeful eyes. It seemed even the alien was happy they were getting somewhere.

“Alright, just a minute,” Twilight thought aloud, horn illuminating to bring a book from her shelf: An Extensive Guide to Understanding Creatures you Can’t.
“Let’s see… Okay, pictures kind of worked, spoken words are out of the question…” Twilight murmured. She yipped as she felt Hugs the Ceiling lightly settle their head on top of hers, looking at the book. “Oh, do you want to read, too?” Twilight asked.
Hugs the Ceiling nodded.
Fluttershy smiled a little. “They’re very curious,” She reasoned, “Perhaps Hugs is trying to learn about us just as much as we’re trying to learn about them.”
“Well, meeting in the middle is a good negotiation tactic,” Twilight supposed.

Twilight began to read aloud, with Hugs the Ceiling lightly following along with one of their feelers. Twilight could feel a smile creeping across her face; it was quite endearing, really, having a reading partner that followed so closely.
With a separate feeler, Hugs the Ceiling began to sign each letter as it was read; it was an intricate, blindingly fast sign language, keeping up with the admittedly fast pace at which Twilight read.
Pinkie watched with interest, trying to read the letters as they came. More surprisingly, she seemed to be able to process everything. “To make proper contact, explore multiple senses of communication,” She repeated.

Twilight looked up. “That’s… What I just read,” She remarked, “Pinkie, stop messing around.”
“No, I wasn’t listening, I was reading,” Pinkie said, “Tell her, Hugs!”
Hugs the Ceiling moved one of their feelers and signed out, “WRITING,” Trilling softly.
Twilight’s eyes widened. “You’re already learning Ponish?” She asked, “What else did you pick up?”
Hugs the Ceiling’s eyes turned joyful, and the alien started signing very fast. Too fast for any of the mares to keep up with; especially Fluttershy.
“Can you slow down a bit?” Fluttershy requested, the other mares nodding in agreement.

Hugs the Ceiling nodded a little, slowing their signing to a more deliberate processable cadence. “U-N-D-E-R-S-T-A-N-D-I-N-G,” They signed.
“Yes, now we can understand you,” Twilight replied, “Do you want some more books to read? Maybe a dictionary?”
Hugs the Ceiling nodded, whistling affirmatively.
Twilight smiled a bit. “There we go; finally, some meaningful progress,” She huffed softly, horn illuminating and grabbing several large books from her shelves.

Hugs the Ceiling seemed ecstatic at the opportunity to soak up some fresh knowledge, beginning to pour over the volumes right away. They started signing assorted words as they read them.
Fluttershy smiled. “Just look at them go,” She said softly, “What an interesting creature…”
“I’m not sure creature’s the right word if they can read and write,” Twilight remarked, “Alien’s probably a bit more flattering.”
“Yeah, Hugs is pretty smart,” Pinkie reasoned, “They fixed the proofer in, like, two minutes.”
Twilight nodded slowly. “Mechanical inclination… That’s definitely a ‘person’ trait, not a ‘creature’ trait,” She reasoned.
Hugs the Ceiling abruptly signed out, “I can hear you,” Not looking up from the books.

The three mares flinched a bit at the sudden acknowledgement, but then came another set of signs:
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome!” Pinkie giggled, “I told you two Hugs was nice.”
Twilight didn’t actually remember Pinkie explicitly saying that, but didn’t want to rain on Pinkie’s parade. She just forced a smile and nodded. “Maybe I should keep Hugs the Ceiling here if they want to read a bunch.”
Pinkie put a thoughtful hoof under her chin. “Well… The only thing Hugs really likes to eat is cake soup,” She expressed.
Twilight’s ears twitched. “Cake… Soup?” She asked.
“Soggy cake put in a blender so it’s a liquid,” Fluttershy recalled.
Twilight gagged at this description, eyes pained as she hardly gulped down the early signs of a bout of nausea. “I-I see,” She replied, “Well… I could lend them the books so they can read when you head home for the night.”

“Or Pinkie could just bring a bunch of cake soup over,” Fluttershy suggested.
The idea of having such a food repulsed Twilight, but Pinkie nodded emphatically. “That’d also work!” She said.
“If it’s for the betterment of our understanding of Hugs the Ceiling…” Twilight trailed off, “Spike, can you get some antacid tablets from the pharmacy before nightfall?” She requested.
Pinkie smiled. “I’ll go with him!” She said.
Spike perked up from the chair he was sitting in, watching as Pinkie bounced toward him. “Well, alright,” He replied, leaving alongside the pink pony.

This left Twilight and Fluttershy alone with Hugs the Ceiling, and the two mares struggled to think of conversation topics with the alien so focused on their work.
Fluttershy looked at Twilight for a moment. “Do you think other ponies will accept them like we have?” Fluttershy asked, her ears drooping a bit.
“I’m sure it’ll be like any unusual pony: The town will be wary at first, but then they’ll make a good name for themselves and they’ll be welcomed with open legs.”
Fluttershy nodded a bit. “I hope that happens sooner rather than later… They got so many looks when Applejack and I first brought them through town.”
Twilight nodded. “Just think about the looks that Starlight or Trixie first got when they came to Ponyville after being reformed; I’m sure this’ll go just like-”

“Did the Great and Powerful Trixie just hear her name used in vain!?” A voice echoed through the castle.
“...That,” Twilight finished.
Through the doors to Twilight’s office came a pair of unicorns: Starlight Glimmer and Trixie.
“Trixie should have known you could not resist speaking praises of her, Twilight Sparkle,” Trixie remarked.
“...Wouldn’t dream of it, Trixie,” Twilight muttered.
Starlight’s attention was not on the conversation; rather, the alien creature scouring numerous books caught her interest. She carefully paced over. “...Twilight, we really need to discuss your choice in pen pals,” She remarked ponderously.

“Oh, that’s Hugs the Ceiling,” Fluttershy introduced, “They’re very busy learning Ponish right now.”
Trixie glanced at the floating blue alien and squinted. “That does not look like any ceiling Trixie has ever seen, and the Great and Powerful Trixie is renowned for her ceiling observation skills,” She remarked.
Twilight shook her head. “No, their name is ‘Hugs the Ceiling’,” She clarified. Trixie scoffed slightly at the correction.
Starlight nodded ponderously, leaning in a bit. “I see…” She trailed off, “What are they, exactly?”
“We’re not sure about that,” Twilight admitted, “They can’t speak Ponish, so we’re hoping that once they learn how to read we might get some more answers.”

Trixie huffed a bit. “As usual, you bare your shortcomings on your sleeve, relying on common Ponish to communicate,” Trixie huffed, “Trixie will have to show you proper communication skills.” Trixie walked over to the desk where Hugs the Ceiling was reading, carefully eyeing the alien for a moment.
“Trixie, I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Twilight reasoned.
Fluttershy tried to say something, but was cut off by Trixie stamping her hoof.
“Trixie does not care what you think, Twilight Sparkle,” Trixie snorted, climbing up on the desk and sitting over several books.
To Trixie’s credit, this did actually get Hugs the Ceiling’s attention. Hugs the Ceiling stared at her with all six of their tiny little eyes, letting out a small, irritated whistle.

“Trixie, Hugs the Ceiling can-” Fluttershy attempted, cut off by Trixie leering at the alien and speaking.
“Good, Trixie sees she has your attention,” Trixie huffed, “Now, you will tell Trixie something the others do not know.”
Hugs the Ceiling trilled annoyedly, and waved Trixie away with a feeler.
“They’re easy to-” Again, Fluttershy was cut off.
Trixie scoffed. “No! The Great and Powerful Trixie demands the attention of anypony whom she approaches,” Trixie huffed.
Hugs the Ceiling mimicked the motion of a sigh, moving back from the desk slightly. “Impatience,” They signed.
Trixie watched as the letters were flashed before her face, and stepped closer to the alien, rustling the very neatly laid out books as she crawled across the desk. “The Great and Powerful Trixie has plenty of patience! You are just being uncooperative,” She declared.

Hugs the Ceiling trilled at her one final time; it was a much louder noise, almost like a plea.
Fluttershy couldn’t bite her tongue any longer. “You’re scaring them, Trixie!” She shouted.
All four of the other beings in the room stared at Fluttershy in shock, however Hugs the Ceiling followed shortly with an affirmative trill.
“You need to be gentle,” Fluttershy huffed, gently approaching Hugs the Ceiling’s side, “They’re lost, and confused… They want to help us understand them, but they need time.”
Trixie leered at the pegasus. “Trixie does not recall asking for your input,” She sneered.
Hugs the Ceiling’s face turned from one of fear to one of anger as Fluttershy cowered in the intense leer of the unicorn on the desk. Hugs the Ceiling whistled loudly, and hovered over to Trixie, picking her up in all four feelers and tossing her off the desk onto the floor.

Trixie grunted as she hit the floor; she landed on her hooves, but it was still quite sudden. Trixie stared at the alien, who was now scowling at her; the best the alien could scowl, at least.
“Easy, Trixie…” Starlight said softly, “I’m sure Hugs the Ceiling just doesn’t want you damaging the books.”
“Thank Celestia for that,” Twilight murmured, “Trixie, I think it’s best you give Hugs the Ceiling some space.”
Trixie seethed in anger, but threw her mane up irately and turned to leave. “Fine! Trixie can see she is not wanted! Good luck without her!” Trixie sneered, leaving the room.
Starlight frowned a bit. “Wait, Trixie!” She called after her fellow unicorn, following Trixie out of the room.

Fluttershy gently set a hoof on Hugs the Ceiling’s side. “It’s okay, Hugs,” She said gently, “You were just trying to protect me, right? Like when Pinkie scared you for the first time.”
Hugs the Ceiling deflated and sank a little, nodding and letting out a small, apologetic whistle.
Twilight walked over, looking at the alien with a soft expression. “Thank you for caring about the care of the books, Hugs the Ceiling,” She said gently.
Hugs the Ceiling looked at Twilight, then the door, uttering forth a small whine as they signed: “Friend?”
“I wouldn’t necessarily say Trixie’s our friend, but… Well, she’s Starlight’s friend, and Starlight is our friend,” Twilight explained.
Hugs the Ceiling let out another small whimper.

Fluttershy thought for a moment. “Do you want to go apologize to Trixie?” She asked gently.
Hugs the Ceiling nodded and let out a curt affirmative trill. “Second chance,” They signed.
Twilight gave a small smile. “Come on, let’s go give Trixie a second chance,” She agreed, beginning to lead the way out of the room.
Hugs the Ceiling trilled happily, following Twilight closely. Fluttershy, too, came along.
The sounds of crying echoed from the front room of the castle. It didn’t take them long to find Starlight attempting to comfort her distressed friend.
Starlight looked up at the three, watching as Hugs the Ceiling floated over gently.
Starlight leered a bit at the alien, but Hugs the Ceiling seemed undisturbed, grabbing a tissue from a nearby box on the table.

“Wh-what do you want!?” Trixie asked, staring wrathfully at Hugs the Ceiling.
Hugs the Ceiling trembled a little, but gently hovered over to Trixie and lightly dabbed the corners of her eyes with the tissue paper.
Trixie stared in disbelief, her crying entirely interrupted by the suddenly compassionate demeanor the alien was presenting.
Hugs the Ceiling let out a small, apologetic trill, continuing to wipe the tears from Trixie’s face.
“They’re trying to apolo-” Fluttershy began, before Twilight stopped her.
“Let’s let them figure this out,” Twilight suggested softly.

Trixie sniffled a bit. “You called Trixie impatient,” She snorted, shying away from the light touch of the tissue on her face.
Hugs the Ceiling nodded, but held up a second feeler contemplatively.
“Trixie is, but…?” Trixie interpreted, blinking and now wiping her own eyes.
Hugs the Ceiling then signed out a fairly lengthy sentence: “I don’t want you to be angry because we started off on the wrong hoof.”
Trixie sat contemplatively for a moment as she took in each word, then looked away a bit. “Trixie is sorry,” She eventually spat, “For scaring you.”
Hugs the Ceiling let forth a small whistle, and floated around Trixie, sitting against her back. Hugs the Ceiling’s head now rested on Trixie’s, and their feelers wrapped around her chest.

Trixie froze a bit. “...You are not throwing Trixie again, right?” She asked.
Hugs the Ceiling gave the unicorn a light squeeze.
Fluttershy couldn’t take it anymore. “They’re hugging you,” She says, fawning slightly, “They only do that to ponies they trust, I think.”
Trixie offered a sheepish smile, and sighed gently. “The Great and Powerful Trixie extends her forgiveness to you, too,” She offered softly.
Hugs the Ceiling let out a happy whistle, their eyes turned upwards joyously.
Twilight couldn’t help but smile at the happy display. “Looks like you two aren’t starting off on the wrong hoof, after all,” She remarked.

Starlight smiled. “I have to admit, I’m impressed. Trixie doesn’t usually forgive easily,” She remarked.
Hugs the Ceiling signed to her: “Second chances.”
Starlight chuckled. “Second chances indeed,” She commented, offering a small smile back at Twilight.
“It seems like you’ve got the basics of Ponish more or less down,” Twilight said, walking over and sitting in front of Hugs the Ceiling and Trixie, “Could you tell us what kind of creature you are?”
Hugs the Ceiling sat contemplatively for a moment, before nodding and signing out, “H-U-R-A-G-O-K.”

“Huragok?” Twilight asked, tilting her head a bit.
“...That sounds like it fits, actually,” Starlight commented, “An alien name for an alien creature.”
Hugs the Ceiling let out a small, affirmative trill.
“So you’re a Huragok named Hugs the Ceiling,” Twilight recounted, “Okay… Could you tell us about where you came from?” She asked.
The Huragok’s eyes trembled, and they retreated into their shell some, whining.
“Oh, goodness, I’m sorry!” Twilight expressed, “It’s really not that important if it upsets you that much.”
Fluttershy reached out and gently stroked Hugs the Ceiling’s head. “It’s okay,” Fluttershy promised, “Whatever you’re scared of, it’s not here now.”
Hugs the Ceiling slowly relaxed, letting their head drape over Trixie’s as they let out a small, unhappy trill.

The four mares exchanged worried looks. Judging by the Huragok’s expressions, what they once thought of as a wanderer might be more of a refugee.
Twilight offered a gentle smile. “You’re safe in Ponyville,” Twilight insisted.
Starlight nodded in agreement. “We’ve got plenty of magical muscle here to keep you safe. If whatever you ran from comes looking for you, we’ll send it running.”
Hugs the Ceiling shook its head and trilled unhappily, now shaking violently enough that Trixie felt herself moving.
“If Trixie may, she believes we should move on from this topic,” Trixie reasoned.
Twilight was a bit surprised by Trixie’s observation, given how stubborn the unicorn had been beforehand.

“How are you so sure in your observations?” Twilight asked.
Trixie huffed. “Well, a magician does not normally reveal her secrets, but as this is special, the Great and Powerful Trixie will enlighten you: Trixie has done many shows for foals who have some kind of impairment, like being mute or unable to walk,” Trixie explained, “When Trixie cannot read ponies normally, she learns to read them differently.”

Twilight, Starlight, and Fluttershy all shared looks.
“As much as you might not want to admit it, there is much love that goes into Trixie’s profession,” Trixie concluded with a small flip of her snout.
Starlight nodded. “Well, I knew you put effort into your shows, but I didn’t realize you put time into making things accessible like that.”
“Never judge a book by its cover,” Fluttershy supposed softly.
Hugs the Ceiling looked down at Trixie and signed out: “Outreach deserves respect.”
Starlight smiled. “Well-signed,” She added contently.
The group shared a soft giggle.

Their conversation was cut short as Pinkie and Spike returned from their errands, the former with a few large jars of some beige-pink sludge and the latter with a box of antacid tablets.
Pinkie hopped over excitedly after setting her saddlebags down. “Oh! Did you make some new friends, Hugs?” She asked.
Hugs the Ceiling gave a small nod, trilling happily.
“Trixie is not easily charmed,” Trixie huffed, “But Hugs the Ceiling is not an easy charmer,” She admitted with a small smile.
The group again shared a soft round of laughter.
“We also learned that they’re a Huragok,” Fluttershy expressed with a small smile.
“A Huragok?” Spike asked, “That sounds like something out of a science-fiction book.”

Twilight smiled. “Well, whatever the case, Hugs the Ceiling is welcome around Ponyville for as long as they desire,” She expressed.
Pinkie’s eyes widened. “Ooh! Since we’re all here, can we have a late dinner party for Hugs’ arrival!?” She asked excitedly.
Starlight gave a small smile, murmuring, “You and your parties…”
“That sounds nice, actually,” Fluttershy said, “It’s not often something really new comes to Ponyville.”
“Great! I brought extra cake soup for everyone!” Pinkie giggled.
Twilight nearly threw up at the suggestion of eating it. “Th-that…” She hiccuped, “Won’t be necessary, Pinkie.”
The group laughed a bit, if at Twilight’s expense.

The rest of the night went fairly nicely; food (or cake soup as the case may be) was shared amongst the small group of ponies, dragon, and alien, and the mood was jovial. At least for the evening, Twilight and Trixie even seemed to put their differences aside.
Before long, however, night fell, and Fluttershy and Pinkie had to leave.
“You’re gonna stay at the castle so you can read some more, right?” Pinkie asked.
Hugs the Ceiling nodded and trilled affirmatively.
“We’ll make sure they get some rest,” Twilight promised.
Pinkie nodded. “I made sure there was extra cake soup in Twilight’s fridge if you get hungry,” Pinkie said, “You be good, okay?”

Hugs the Ceiling trilled softly and floated down, feelers wrapping around Pinkie gently.
Pinkie giggled and hugged Hugs the Ceiling to the best of her ability. “Aww, I’ll just be down the street if you miss me, Hugs!” Pinkie promised.
Fluttershy smiled softly. “I don’t live too far out of town either,” She offered, “I’m sure the animals would love to meet you.”
Hugs gave a small nod, floating over and giving Fluttershy a hug as well, trilling gently. Fluttershy nuzzled into the alien. “I’ll miss you too,” She replied.
After the hugs were given, the earth pony and pegasus left.

Starlight yawned a bit. “Well, I’m beat from traveling over the past few days,” Starlight remarked, “Night, you four,” She bade as she stood up to leave.
Hugs the Ceiling waved a feeler and gave a small whistle as Twilight, Spike, and Trixie said good night.
Slowly, the rest of the group dispersed; first Spike, then Twilight.
“There’s a spare bedroom behind the second door on the left hall, okay?” Twilight said.
Hugs the Ceiling nodded in response.
“Good night,” Twilight bade, leaving Hugs the Ceiling and Trixie alone.

Trixie moved to leave, but Hugs the Ceiling looked at her and whistled softly.
“Hm? Trixie is going to sleep in her cart outside,” Trixie explained, “You have a warm bed in the castle.”
Hugs the Ceiling took a moment to process this, but trilled softly in response, pulling Trixie into a hug.
Trixie yipped a bit, but smiled at the Huragok. “Trixie wishes you a good night as well,” Trixie said gently, “Dream of… Whatever nice things Huragoks dream about.”
Hugs the Ceiling eventually released her, but only after signing: “Friend.”
Trixie smiled. “Friend,” She repeated back to Hugs the Ceiling, before opening the door and stepping outside.

Hugs the Ceiling briefly hung in the air for a moment, before lightly floating down the hall, entering the guest room they’d been given, and picking up one of the blankets, draping it over themselves, sinking as they deflated a bit to rest.

Comments

[WindigogoGadget]

As someone who likes 200% moist tres leches cake, I do not approve of them dissing my barely solid cake soup

[Zoura3025]

11778767
I've never actually had tres leches cake before, but I have had a milkshake thickened with cake, and it was... Odd. I actually liked it, but chewing a drink is an experience like no other.