Thunderspite

The next day, Thunderspite was called upon by Applejack to help with a catering gig, one of Pinkie Pie’s parties for a pegasus named Blossomforth. They arrived at the venue each towing a cart full of assorted apple treats, and found the party already well underway. They parked their carts just outside and made their way inside.

The building was absolutely throbbing with music, and there was hardly a pony in the house that wasn’t dancing. In the center, a pegasus whom Thunderspite assumed to be Blossomforth was being tossed into the air by four ponies holding a blanket.

Applejack leaned over and shouted something into Thunderspite’s ear, but he did not hear.

“What?” he shouted back.

“Do you see Pinkie Pie?” she shouted back.

Thunderspite scanned the room, then shook his head. Then, he spotted Pinkie Pie's fuchsia form popping up and down near the center of the room. Presently, Pinkie Pie spotted them, and smiled and waved each time her head popped up above the crowd as she began bouncing towards them.

It was still too loud for any sort of conversation, but via a series of bouncing hoof signals, Pinkie Pie indicated where she wanted the apple treats. Applejack and Thunderspite went back to their carts, and after several trips, had them both unloaded and their contents arranged neatly on the refreshment table. After their last trip, they were met again by Pinkie Pie, who bounced in front of Applejack, as if expecting something. Applejack was shaking her head and pointing over her shoulder towards the door, but Pinkie Pie was nodding insistently. This went on a few more times, with each of them shaking their head and nodding more and more emphatically each time, until eventually Pinkie Pie picked up Applejack, lifted her over her head like a medicine ball, and carried her to the center of the dance floor. As she was being carried away, Applejack looked back at Thunderspite and shrugged helplessly.

Thunderspite sighed. They had planned to stop by the feed store on the way back to the farm, so it seemed he had no choice but to wait around for her. He always felt uncomfortable at these sort of gatherings. For the sake of looking nonchalant, he helped himself to some apple cider, then carefully edged his way around the room and out onto the balcony.

Sliding the balcony door shut behind him, Thunderspite let out a sigh of relief. It was quieter out here at least, and for the moment, he had the balcony to himself. He went and leaned over the railing, and resigned himself to waiting however long it Applejack was going to be.

He was alone with his thoughts for a few moments, until they were interrupted by the sudden sound of music escaping the building. Turning, he saw Pinkie Pie closing the door behind her.

“Hey Thunderspite!” she said.

“Hi, Pinkie Pie.” Thunderspite smiled, but inside he was grimacing. Pinkie Pie seemed nice enough, but the truth was he found her state of constant excitement somewhat draining.

“Wanna come in and dance with us?” she asked, still bouncing in time with the music.

“Oh. Uh, not right now.”

“Okie dokie! I understand.”

Thunderspite had half-expected to be carried off to the dance floor as Applejack had. “You do?”

“Uh huh!” Pinkie stopped bouncing. “You are introverted by nature, which means you are drained by social gatherings and energized by solitary and individual pursuits. Your disposition is frequently misconstrued as avoidant or even rude, but in fact you have a deep empathy for others. You never had many friends, but have deeper and more profound relationships with what friends you do have. Right now, all you want is to get back you Sweet Apple Acres so you can buck some trees and be alone with your thoughts.” Having finished her monologue, Pinkie resumed her bouncing.

Thunderspite’s jaw dropped. “... yes, actually, that’s fair to say. But how did you... ”

“Know so much about you?” Pinkie shrugged on her next bounce. “It’s what I do. I want everybody to have fun, but parties and dancing are not everybody’s idea of fun. And trying to force somepony to have my idea of fun when it’s not their idea of fun is no fun for them at all!” Pinkie stopped bouncing again, and her countenance got more serious than Thunderspite had ever seen her. She tilted her head to the side and smiled only little.“Thunderspite, I know I probably wouldn’t be your first choice as a friend, but I hope we can be friends anyways. I think we could learn a lot from each other."

Thunderspite had to lean back to regard her. He had seriously underestimated this earth pony when he had first met her. There was clearly much more to her than meets the eye, and he was genuinely impressed. “Thank you, Pinkie.”

“No problem!” she resumed her bouncing “I promise I won’t keep AJ much longer. See you later!” And with that, she bounced through the door, only to return a second later with a piece of cake and a fresh cup of cider for him. Thunderspite smiled as he accepted these.

True to her word, Pinkie Pie sent Applejack out to find him just a few moments later. “Oh. Hey Thunderspite. Sorry about that.” She shrugged helplessly. “Pinkie Pie has this rule about dancin’, see, and... well anyways. You ready to go?”

Thunderspite nodded, and they made their way back through the crowd.