At the End of the Tunnel

The sunlight beaming through the rather large window in the bedroom stirred me awake the next morning. Looking around, I didn't see Twilight or Spike, but I could hear them downstairs. I looked past Twilight's bed, where an old-fashioned clock hung. It read ten o'clock. I was quite surprised that I had slept as long as I did, though I realized that I had no clue what time I had gone to bed in the first place. As I made my way downstairs, my nose was filled with the scent of one of my favorite breakfast foods.

"You ponies eat pancakes," I asked when I reached the kitchen where my housemates were eating.

"Like I said, there's more to our diets than you think," Twilight replied, levitating a fork with her magic and picking up the last bit of food on her plate. I kneeled at the table, which made me the perfect height, as Spike handed me a plate stacked with three pancakes, still fresh, along with a fork.

"So what's on the agenda for today," I asked as I began to devour the rather tasty food in front of me.

"Not much, to tell you the truth, but if my calculations are correct, a certain pony should be barging through the front door in 3...2...1..."

"Twilight, Twilight, Twilight," a voice speedily called from the front room, the bearer having apparently just let themselves in, "is it here, is it here, is it here?" The voice was very high-pitched, and sounded as if the person was talking while performing jumping jacks. Twilight, Spike, and I got up from the table and walked to the source of the noise.

There, in the middle of the room, bouncing up and down seemingly endlessly, was the pinkest pony I had ever seen. She was literally pink from mane to tail, both of which were very poofy and springy in their own right. Her eyes were like giant milk saucers, and the grin on her face stretched to an almost impossible size.

"Yes Pinkie," Twilight sighed, "this is him." I smiled and raised my right hand up to my forehead and gave a little salute in greeting. The pink pony wasted no time in rushing right over.

"Wow Twilight I've never seen anything like this before," she spoke at a mile-a-minute, running around and examining me from every possible angle, "What is it? Is it an animal? It's definitely not a pony. Can it talk? Does it understand us? Does it want to be friends? I hope it wants to be friends, cause you know how much I like making new friends."

The little pony went on this for some time before Twilight finally got her to stop. "Pinkie Pie, first of all, he's not an 'it' he's a 'he'. And yes, he does want to be friends."

"Woohoo," Pinkie cried, springing into the air and landing actually quite hard, but it didn't seem to slow her down, "You know what this means, there's a new friend in town, and if there's a new friend in town, it means that there has to be a party, and if there has to be a party, that means that I have a party to plan. See you guys later, bye." And with that, Pinkie zipped out the door of the library just as quickly as she had entered.

We all stood there in stunned silence for a moment or two, before I finally started chuckling, which turned into outright laughter. I had actually forgotten what it felt like to legitimately laugh at something.

"Please don't tell me all the ponies around here are like that," I said, still coming down off my laughter. Twilight waved a hoof in my direction.

"Oh no, Pinkie Pie is one-of-a-kind," she chuckled herself, magically pulling out some writing tools, "And now that she knows you're here, she's going to be throwing a party this afternoon, so that gives us something to do."

"So what do you suggest we do until then," I asked, curious as to why Twilight had brought out those things.

"Well I'm going to write a letter to Princess Celestia, informing her that you are here. I think she'll be very interested in my findings about a sentient being from another world. You can do what you like, I'll tell you when we should leave for the party." With that, my hostess got right to her work, quickly scribbling out her letter, her lips moving as she wrote.

I shrugged at her suggestion, not sure exactly what I wanted to do. Then I remembered something I saw when we I had first seen the tree-house yesterday. On one side, there was a kind of veranda, a place where one could sit and take in some fresh air, and fresh air sounded like a pretty good idea. I made my way up there as quickly as I could, still getting used to the relative heights of everything and how they were not made for anything of my stature.

When I made it out on the veranda, I once again sat down, my hands propping me up, and my knees bent, but not all the way to my chest. I took deep breaths, taking in the view from my position. I could see various pegasi flying about, as well as multiple ponies walking around, chatting among themselves. In the middle of all of this, I had a realization. For being in an entirely new world where I hardly knew anyone, and for being the only one of my kind here, this wasn't that bad. I thought for a moment about the answer I had given Twilight the previous day when she asked if I would ever want to go back where I came from. I smiled a little when I realized that my answer hadn't come from momentary unpleasantness, but from a place of uncertain optimism that told me that, for whatever this place may hold for me, it couldn't be worse than where I had been.

Time must have flown by as I sat there, not really thinking about anything in particular. Before I knew it, Twilight was calling my name and saying that it was time to set off. I got up from my comfortable position and made my way downstairs again where she and Spike were waiting. We swiftly headed out and back into town, in the direction of the local bakery and confectionery, Sugarcube Corner. Twilight told me that Pinkie worked and lived there with the owners, the Cakes. After I jokingly mentioned how much sense it made for ponies with the last name "Cake" to own a bakery, Twilight laughed and said that that kind of alignment was very common.

By the time we reached our destination, the party was already underway. There were ponies everywhere I looked, all of them different, whether due to the type of pony they were, or due to their coloring. I was amazed at just how many color combinations there were, and it actually made my eyes hurt a little, like I was staring at one of those eye trick pictures.

"You're here," I heard Pinkie's voice cry out. By the time I turned to face the right way, she had nearly reached me. With one last, larger, bounce, she landed smack in the middle of my chest, her front hooves enveloping me in a massive hug. Unfortunately, the momentum of the bounce, combined with her added weight, made me top-heavy and I fell down right on my back. This didn't stop the hug, however, not by a long shot, as she attempted to squeeze the life right out of me before finally letting me up.

"Glad to see you again too, Pinkie," I winced, still trying to get air into my lungs.

"See what I mean, Twi," another familiar voice said, "you don't stop Pinkie from attacking him." I looked and once again saw the same rainbow-maned pegasus who was with Twilight when I first entered town. She was hovering a few feet off the ground, her forelimbs crossed in frustration. "Anyway," she continued, now directing her attention to me, "I guess if Pinkie likes you, then you're OK. The name's Rainbow Dash, and all you need to know is that I'm awesome." The pegasus landed on the ground and struck a little pose, forehoof pointing at her chest.

"Oh, knock it off Rainbow," an orange pony with a cowboy hat and a southern accent walked up to us, "Ah don't reckon he appreciates yer gloatin' all that much." The two of them stared off for a moment.

"You're just jealous because you can't top that awesome introduction."

"Hmph," the cowpony snorted, turning her attention away from Rainbow, tipping her hat up so that she could actually see me, "Hi, Ah'm Applejack, pleasure to make yer acquaintance." Applejack reached up with her right hoof. Not knowing what else to do in this situation, I reached down with my right hand and firmly shook her hoof. I was surprised to find that her hoof actually seemed to grip my hand in return, and not just hang there like I assumed.

"We've arrived," a new voice said in a kind of sing-song manner, I whipped around to see two ponies standing in the doorway, a pure white unicorn with a stunning purple mane, and a pastel yellow pegasus with a flowing pink mane, the latter seemed to be hiding in fear, "I do so hope we haven't missed any of the festivities." I had to admit that I found her accent quite pleasing to my ear.

"Actually, you're just in time," Twilight smiled, motioning a hoof in my direction, "Rarity, Fluttershy, this is Guy."

"Very pleased to meet you," Rarity put her right hoof out, but in a much slower, more deliberate fashion. Deciding that she wouldn't be as receptive to the firm handshake I'd given Applejack, I held it in my left hand.

"The pleasure's all mine," I said, bowing even further down than I already had to. These may have been ponies, not people, but I knew a lady when I heard one, and if my mother taught me anything it was how to treat a lady.

Rarity then stepped aside, leaving Fluttershy alone in the doorway. With the other five ponies I had already met behind me, she cowered just a little, trying to be as calm as possible.

After a few tense moments, however, her resolve failed, and she gave a little yelp as she dove underneath a couch which sat in the room. She began shaking, covering her eyes with her forehooves.

"Aww, come on Fluttershy," Pinkie Pie bounced, "you don't need to be scared, promise." The timid pegasus didn't move an inch. An idea popped into my head, and I got down on my knees and sat back on my heels, looking underneath the couch, but still far enough away so that she didn't feel trapped.

"So you're the one who makes that amazing herbal tea," I politely asked. This at least had the effect of slowing her shaking. "Spike brewed some up over dinner last night, and I must say, I'm usually not one to drink hot tea, but that stuff was incredible. Is it all organic?" Now Fluttershy had uncovered her eyes, and nodded as best she could from her prone position. "That's remarkable. Tasty, and good for one's health as well." Fluttershy slowly backed her way out from underneath the couch.

"Did...did you really enjoy it," she asked in a very small voice once she had made her way out and gotten into a seated position herself.

"Of course I did. Best tea I've ever had," I gave a little smile, which the pegasus returned.

"Well, um, thank you very much," she reached out with her right hoof, which I took in both of my hands.

After I had gotten myself back up, Twilight took the liberty of walking me around and introducing me to most everyone at the party. We saw Golden Harvest, who apologized for freaking out and causing a commotion when I first got to town. I said there was no need for apologizing. There was a unicorn named Lyra Heartstrings who seemed imminently fascinated with me, particularly with how my fingers worked. And there was a pony named Berryshine who almost spilled her drink all over me when she walked straight into my leg. All in all, I found the ponies very nice, and almost overly friendly, but that didn't bother me too much.

As the saying goes, however, all good things must come to an end. The partiers eventually dissipated, eventually leaving only the first six ponies I met, Mr. and Mrs. Cake, and myself. Even Pinkie had begun to wear herself out which, as I was told, was quite the feat.

"So how did you like your official welcome party," Pinkie asked me, her voice not quite as bouncy as usual.

"I had a great time," I smiled, which caused Pinkie's perpetual smile to get even larger, "you ponies sure know how to welcome somebody. I think I'm going to enjoy my time here."