A Lit Fuse

After a two day long journey across Equestria, the 107 Baltimare/Canterlot Train finally rolled into the station. The loud whistle of the locomotive woke up a sleeping colt at the end of the train. His name, was Nitro, a 21 year old pegasus stallion. He had a dark tan coat, emerald green eyes and a dark blonde mane and tail, complete with a goatee.  His cutie mark was a cartoony bomb with a lit wick. He had a silver earring on his left ear and was wearing a dark blue hoodie. The sleepy stallion rubbed his eyes with his hooves before climbing out of his seat and strapping on his saddle bags. He was approached by the conductor who then asked him for his ticket, which he then handed to him. He then proceeded to line up with the other passengers as they headed out onto the platform. When he finally got out of the station he stretched out his legs and wings and cracked his neck. It was rather cramped riding coach, it was not something that he enjoyed about train travel. He was not claustrophobic, but he did hate traveling in cramped quarters for long periods of time. After stretching for a good while, Nitro withdrew a canteen his saddle bag. As he took a sip from his canteen, he looked up at a big sign saying, Welcome to Ponyville.

Nitro couldn't help but chuckle, he remembered always passing through here on his travels, but never really did have the time to look around. It always looked like a nice, quite town. Maybe here he could finally find peace. Nitro sat down next to the sign and withdrew a manila envelope. He opened it up to reveal its contents. In it were a few documents and a map of the town. He looked at the route from his current location to his new house which was circled on the map. He would have to worry about furnishings though, the only furniture he had delivered was a bed.

After scanning the map for a few more minutes and making mental notes of mentioned landmarks, he decided it was time to get moving. Nitro put away the manilla envelope and began trotting off into town. He looked around to see that the streets were surprisingly clean. Not one bit of trash littered the streets. Some of the townspeople even gave him a friendly wave as he trotted by. He guessed that the town didn't get visitors that often. As he turned right on an upcoming intersection he bumped into something pink, which knocked him back.

“Uhhhh...” groaned Nitro, rubbing his head.

“Are you alright mister?” called a female voice.

“Uhhh yeah, just banged the back of my head is all.” said Nitro before opening his eyes.

The pony he bumped into was a pink mare with incredibly poofy hair and blue eyes. She smelled of cotton candy, which must be some kind of perfume that she was wearing. She was offering him her hoof, to which Nitro gladly accepted.

“Thanks, my name is Nitro and I just arr-” he was cut off when the pink mare suddenly transformed into a total spaz.

“Oooooooo! You must be that new pony that's moving into that house on Golden Oak Street! I was wondering when somepony was going to buy that empty house!” said the pink mare rapidly with a huge creepy grin on her face. “By the way I'm Pinkie Pie, nice to meetcha Nitro!”

“Uhhh, nice meeting you too, uh, Pinkie Pi-”

“Sorry, can't talk now, I gotta get back to work at Sugar Cube Corner!”

And with that the pink pony began hopping her way down the street. Nitro let out a sigh of relief. He didn't know how long he could sit through that. As friendly as the pink pony may have been, she would take some getting used to. He never really dealt with a pony like that before. He would eventually have to deal with her many more times in the future if this was to be his new home.

“New in town I see.” said a female voice from behind.

Nitro turned to see a unicorn mare with a mint colored coat, mane and tail with golden eyes and a harp as a cutie mark.

“Am I really that obvious?” said Nitro with a shy smile and a cocked brow.

“It's not too hard to notice new ponies around here.” said the unicorn mare. “I see that Pinkie gave you a proper welcome.”

“Well, yeah I guess you could say so...” said Niro shyly, scratching the back of his head with his hoof. “She is very....enthusiastic.”

The unicorn giggled.

“Yeah, she can be like that with new ponies. She can be a little crazy, but she's a great friend when you get to know her. She's practically friends with pretty much everypony in town.” said the unicorn with a smile.

“Well, it's good to know that there are some friendly ponies in town.” said Nitro.

“Oh, yeah. Ponyville is probably one of the friendliest places to live. I actually moved back here about three years ago. I originally left to be a musician in Canterlot, but I got tired of city life. Never have I been in any other neighborhood quite as friendly as this.” said the unicorn smiling.

“That's great to hear. I prefer small towns over large cities any how.” said Nitro with a smile.

“I hope I'm not being nosey, but where exactly did you move from?” asked the unicorn in curiosity.”

“Pretty much almost everywhere in Equestria.” said Nitro with a laugh.

The unicorn had a look of confusion on her face.

“Oh, right, well, you see, my previous job required a lot of traveling. I never really had a place to call home.” Nitro sighed. “It paid well, but, you kinda get lonely after awhile, you know?”

“Yeah...” said the unicorn with a sympathetic look. “I guess you would. What did you do exactly?” she said curiously.

“I was a pyrotechnition." said Nitro with a slight smile. "I was working with a touring band for about a year. I put together all the explosive effects for their concerts and a few other things. It was fun at first, with all the partying and meeting some cool people, but other than that, the constant moving just wasn't my thing. I needed a new change of scene." said Nitro before letting out a heavy sigh.

“Well, I'm glad you choose to move here." said the unicorn. "By the way, my name is Lyra, Lyra Heartstrings.”

She extended her hoof, which Nitro gladly accepted.

“I'm Nitro, Nitro blast. Nice to meet you Lyra.”

“Thanks, same here.” replied Lyra with a grin.

“Well, it's been a pleasure but I best be going. I still need to check out my house.” said Nitro with a smile.

“Well, I guess I'll see you later.” replied Lyra with a grin.

“The ponies here seem friendly enough....” Nitro whispered to himself.

He looked back at Lyra and smiled.

“Not to mention the mares here are pretty damn cute too...” he whispered with a devious grin.'

After another twenty or so minutes of trotting through town, Nitro finally reached 343 Golden Oak Road, the address of his new home.

Nitro looked at his new home in amazement. It was probably the nicest house he had ever owned.

The house looked to be relatively new, maybe a few years old. The primary paint job was a dark blue and the secondary paint for the windows, shutters, moldings, roof and door were white. It was a fairly sizable house, not too big, not too small. A good house for a young bachelor.

He withdrew the silver key from his saddlebag and unlocked the door. He gently pushed it open to reveal his living room lightly furnished with just a couch, a coffee table and a few dozen boxes filled with photos and nick-knacks. On the coffee table was a note. He walked over and picked it up with his hoof. He began to read...

Dear Nitro Blast, all of us here in Ponyville would like to welcome you into our humble community. We did our best to try and move most of your furniture into your bedroom and living room. Much of the furniture you'll see was donated by neighbors and some left by the original owner. Since we know that moving in to a new place will leave you short on bits, we took the liberty of helping you start out. We all have given you some sort of gift. Our friends Applejack and Pinkie have gladly stored some food in your fridge. Our friend Rarity has made you new curtains and an invitation to come to her boutique. Since we heard you are a pegasus, our friend Rainbow Dash provided you a cloud for your bedroom, since, well, Ditzy Doo kinda dropped your bed during the moving process, she left you a basket of muffins in the kitchen as an apology. Fluttershy has provided scented candles. Aloe and Lotus have provided a basket of bath products. Colgate has left you a toothbrush and other dental necessities. Finally, I, Twilight Sparkle, took the liberty of providing some books on ponyville history and a few maps of the surrounding area. Treat them gently, if you please. We hope to get to know you more during your time with us all here in Ponyville. After all, it's not everyday that we get a new pony in town.

Sincerely, all of your new neighbors here in Ponyville.

P.S.: Expect Pinkie Pie to throw you a party, no doubt by now you have run into her before reading this message. Don't worry, when she throws a party everypony has a great time.

“Wow...” said Nitro in amazement, “I knew the ponies in this town were friendly but I didn't know they were THIS friendly."

Nitro placed the note back on the table and checked the kitchen. He noticed he had a brand new chrome fridge. Inside, just like Twilight Sparkle said, was an abundance of food. Several apple products and pastries filled the fridge along with a pitcher of punch and a dozen bottles of apple cider. He then trotted up the steps to see his bathroom, master bedroom and guest bedroom. The only furniture he really had up here was his new cloud left by Rainbow Dash, which was molded into the shape of a bed, along with a few boxes of rolled up posters and other things. He would have to start unpacking all this tomorrow. That was the downside of moving, all the things you had to unpack and re-arrange...

Nitro felt like exploring town but felt the need to try and rest some more. It was early to be going to bed, after all, it was early in the afternoon. Still, Nitro couldn't help but feel tired. He decided that maybe he could take a quick one hour nap before going out and exploring town. With that Nitro pulled out an alarm clock from a nearby box, set it on his night stand and set the alarm to go off in one hour. Nitro climbed into his cloud bed and quickly nodded off to sleep....