Good Morning, Ponyville
"Ah...a new day." Twilight smiled softly as she slowly opened her eyes. The sleep she'd just had was as satisfying as anypony could hope for, and now the first thing she saw at its end was her new home. The Golden Oak Library had a fairly modest bedroom, but it was hers, and she loved it. It might not have had the grandeur of her chambers back in Canterlot, but there was a charm and, dare she say it, a homeliness that just couldn't properly be put into words. Though nopony would ever want to just leap out of a soft and cozy bed, Twilight was no ordinary pony, and so, sticking to her usual routine, pulled back the sheets. After letting out the usual big yawn that followed a good rest, she hopped out of the bed, and it was here when she heard the distinct sound of one she knew well.
Giggling, she looked over, seeing the basket that now served as Spike's own bed, with the young dragon neatly nestled inside it. Making her way over, Twilight got to her knees, gently brushing his head-spines while speaking in as quiet and soothing a voice as she could. "Morning Spike."
The words had their effect, and after letting out a yawn of his own, the tiny drake slowly opened his eyes, smiling when he saw his closest friend. "Hey, Twilight. Sleep well?"
Twilight smiled again. "Best night I've had in ages."
Spike chuckled. "Better than the last sleep you had anyway."
Twilight rolled her eyes a little. "Well, in all fairness, we had a lot going on that night." The memories of the night in question swiftly came back to her, and though it was far too recent to be considered nostalgic, she nevertheless seemed to look on them fondly, as she again smiled, if only to herself. Getting back to her hooves, she trotted over to the window, using her magic to pull back the curtains. After only the briefest squint from seeing the day's first sunlight, she sighed. "And good morning to you too, Ponyville."
This quaint little town was a place that, until recently, Twilight had never even heard of, much less ever thought of going to. Yet here she was, a home of her own choosing. A place where she had friends. Friends she never sought out, but had become so very important to her. It was quite a change when she stopped and thought about it, but not one she thought she'd ever regret. Already she could see other ponies start their day, most notably the grey pegasus mare who served as Ponyville's resident mail-mare. Twilight watched as she flew from home to homer, even giving Twilight herself a friendly wave as she passed the library. Ponyville's latest resident returned the wave, then turned, watching Spike finally get himself out of bed. "Come on, Spike, we've got a lot to do this morning."
Scratching his stomach briefly, her assistant unleashed yet another loud yawn. "Ugh! Do we have to? We already did so much yesterday!"
Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Strictly speaking, me and my friends did a lot yesterday."
Spike shrugged. "Semantics."
Twilight shook her head. "In any case, if we're going to be living here, we need to get this place sorted out. From what Applejack told me, nopony's lived here for a very long time." She pondered that. "I daresay nopony even came here until the party Pinkie threw for us when we arrived."
Spike chuckled. "Hehe, guess ponies here aren't as big on libraries as you are."
Twilight smirked to him, using her magic to levitate him onto her back. Spike smiled to her, and together the two walked down the stairs to the main room of the Library. "This is our home now, so at the very least we need some groceries," Twilight remarked.
Spike developed something of a triumphant look to him. "Hey, no problem. Already got some."
Twilight paused, looking back to him with a raised eyebrow. "Oh?"
Spike nodded, hopping off her back and jogging over to the travel-bag he'd brought with him, which had been placed on the table in the middle of the room. Twilight watched as he rummaged around in there for a few moments, then stepped back as he whipped out what was unmistakeably a bag of gems. "See?" he declared.
As before, Twilight giggled. "That's all well and good for you, Spike. But Ponies like me aren't quite suited to that kind of breakfast."
Spike blinked a couple of times, looking to the bag. "Oh...right." He paused, then looked back to Twilight, his mouth opening to speak.
But Twilight beat him to it. "Yes, Spike, you can go ahead and have your breakfast."
Grinning gleefully, Spike tore the bag open, dropped a few of the gems into his open claws, then just threw them into his mouth and started chowing down. Twilight smiled to this, giving him a quick pat on the head. Her horn lit up once more, and after a quick burst of magic, a quill and scroll appeared before her. "Let's see, we'll need milk, some bread, and I think Fluttershy said there was a sale on potatoes at the moment, so..." Unfortunately, her list-making was interrupted by the unexpected sound of somepony knocking on her door. Both she and Spike looked to it, clearly surprised at somepony being here this early. "That's odd. I wonder who that could be?" Twilight asked.
Spike swallowed his current mouthful of gems. "Maybe its the mail?"
That seemed to be Twilight's thinking too, given the small nod she gave him, but she soon walked over to the door, turning the knob and opening it. When she did, her smile returned with a vengeance, for it was actually not the mailmare, but those who had led her to move here to Ponyville in the first place.
"SURPRISE!!!" they all called out at once.
"Girls! Hello! Please, come in!" Twilight responded, stepping to one side to allow them entry. The five mares all greeted her in their own way, such as Rainbow offering her a hoof-bump, which Twilight, bookworm that she was, took a moment to understand before returning. Pinkie of course gave her a big old hug, nearly squeezing the air right out of her.
"It's so good to see you again, Twilight!" she exclaimed.
Twilight, gagging for breath, still smiled to her enthusiastic friend. "Ach! Yes, you too, Pinkie!"
Letting her go, Pinkie giggled before happily bouncing further into the house, allowing Twilight to catch her breath before closing the door. Spike, for his part, immediately hid his gems away as soon as he saw Rarity, walking up to her and, without even realising it, sucking in his stomach as he started speaking to her. "Rarity! Good to have you here! I mean, not that I'm not happy all of you are here of course, but it's still great you're here, you know?"
Stifling a giggle, the fashion-loving mare patted him on the head. "Oh, aren't you just the sweetest little dragon?"
Naturally, Spike blushed to this, earning him a slight smirk from Twilight, who now turned her attention to the others. "So, what are you all doing here?" Then her eyes widened, and she started to sound panicked. "Oh no! Did I agree to some meeting and I've missed it?! What was it?! Can we still do it?!"
Applejack chuckled. "Simmer down, Twi. It ain't like that. We jus' thought we'd come on over fer a friendly visit."
Hearing that, Twilight calmed down immediately. "Really? Phew! That's a relief!"
Rainbow cackled a little. "Hehe, yep! Before it was a party to welcome you to Ponyville, but now you're living here!"
"Yeah, silly! That demands a real housewarming!" Pinkie added.
Twilight smiled to each of them, touched by the gesture of their visit, but before she had a chance to respond, she noticed Rarity walking closer, and it was here when Twilight finally recognised that her horn was glowing, with some obscured object behind her. "And I think we all know the ideal 'welcome to Ponyville' gift, don't we?"
With a simple motion of her magic, Rarity revealed what it was she'd been hiding. It was a basket decorated in a bright red bow, which was filled with all sorts of delicious-looking fruits. Twilight accepted the basket, taking it from Rarity with her own magic. "Thank you. All of you! I truly am grateful for this."
Walking beside her, Spike nudged her in the side. "Guess we're all set for groceries now, eh?"
Much like Rarity, Twilight patted him on the head, then set the basket aside for the time being before again looking to her friends. "I don't have anything to give you though."
Rainbow waved her off. "Pfft! That's no biggie! We can just hang out!"
"Yeah, Twilight! What better way to spend your first super-official and ultra-fun morning in Ponyville than by spending it together with all of us?!"
Twilight saw the shared sentiment among all of them, then sighed, offering a small smile in return. "Yes...I think I'd like that." Again, she looked to them all, feeling more comfortable and content than she had done in quite some time. "I just wish I had a way of preserving this moment."
Pinkie, in a way that totally confused Twilight, suddenly had a light-bulb appear overhead, which shone brightly. Twilight blinked with bewilderment, but one look from the other mares suggested that it was probably for the best that she not ask too deeply about it. Instead, she watched as Pinkie reached into her poofy mane and pulled out, surprisingly, an entire camera, which she offered to Twilight. "Here you go!" And when Twilight looked like she wasn't sure how to react to that, Pinkie leaned in closer to whisper to her. "You know, for camera emergencies."
In spite of the strangeness, Twilight still giggled, looking to the camera she'd been given. "Alright then, let's see how do use this."
She was then distracted by a poking in her side, prompting her to look down to Spike, who held his claws open to her. "I'll take the picture if you like!"
Smiling Twilight did indeed offer her friend the contraption, but then started to think on it. "You know...I think there's a better place than this to take the picture." The others looked to her with interest, and then with slight worry as her horn started to glow brightly. Spike, recognising what was happening, ducked and covered. The others had no such reaction time, and before long they were engulfed in the brightness of her magic. When the light finally faded, they discovered that they were, to their surprise, just outside of town, on a grassy hill covered in blue and white flowers. "There we go!" Twilight remarked.
Her friends, still somewhat dazed by that unexpected teleportation, soon shook themselves out of their stunned feeling. "You wanna warn us next time?" Rainbow commented.
Twilight blushed, then again looked to Spike. "Ready?"
Her faithful assistant nodded firmly, looking like he'd just been given the most important job in the world. He took a few steps backwards, making sure he was far enough away, before getting the camera ready. "Okay, you all set?"
The six mares got themselves into a proper arrangement, with Twilight standing in the centre. Rarity sat to her right while Applejack was on her left. Fluttershy sat quietly in front, and Pinkie and Rainbow contented themselves with being slightly behind the others, with Rainbow especially looking like she was having fun here by putting her hoof on Twilight's head as part of the pose. Twilight seemed slightly irked by this, but soon withdrew from that feeling when Fluttershy smiled to her. "Don't worry. She does that sometimes."
Twilight smiled again, looking up to her lifelong dragon companion, and nodded. "Alright, Spike, we're ready."
Spike grinned. "Okay then, say 'Ponyville forever!'"
"Ponyville forever!" they replied.
And so the picture was taken, with it emerging from the camera soon afterwards. All seven of them gathered around it, seeing the image slowly fade in. They smiled to one another, Twilight doubly so, as she regarded each and every one of those she now called her friend. "Well, guess I'll have to think of what else we can do together today."
Fluttershy again looked to her. "Um, I think Applejack said she might need help at her orchard?"
Twilight looked to the other mare. "Well, AJ? Care for some help?"
Applejack tipped her hat to her. "That'd be mighty fine o' ya, Twilight."