Through the Cavern

Ricky stared in amazement at the large crowd of ponies that filled the castle. Rainbow Dash was talking to a white unicorn with an electric blue mane and sunglasses, while Applejack stood over by Cheerilee and a yellow Pegasus with a long, pink mane. There had to be at least 100 in total.

"Whoa, what the hell is all this?" Ricky asked Rarity.

"Oh, it's just a little get together that Pinkie Pie organized."

"A LITTLE get together?" Ricky cocked an eyebrow "Wait, how did you and Twilight even know about this? You were with me all afternoon."

"Oh, Lotus and Aloe were kind enough to fill us in on the arrangements. Come, you must meet everyone!"

As Ricky was pulled through the crowd, he was given smiles and greetings. The names flew at him left, right and center, but he figured he would be able to mingle properly.

"So? What do you think?" The pink pony from earlier appeared before him. She was bouncing up and down in excitement.

"Wow, I just...wow. So, you're Pinkie Pie, I'm guessing?"

"Ohmigosh, how did you know?!" She legitimately seemed amazed. Ricky stared at her incredulously "Call it a hunch."

"Anyway, I was SOOO amazed to see an actual human here in Ponyville, because before I've only seen them in movies and comics and whatnot. I LOVE human movies, like Human From Another World, Human From the Black Lagoon, The Human Show..." She rambled on and on, Ricky drifting in and out.

"...and THEN my boss at the bakery-that's Sugercube Corner, by the way, you should TOTALLY come by sometime. Anyway, my boss said that I've been talking way too much to the customers and ..."

"Uh huh..." Ricky thought about the joints he kept in his cigarette case, but he didn't want to risk anything right now. Fortunately, Applejack came to his rescue.

"Hey there, sugarcube! I got somepony over here I'd like ya to meet." She smiled understandingly at his distress.

"YES! I mean, okay, sure. Pinkie, it was nice to meet you, and I plan to enjoy this party to the fullest." Ricky smiled at her, secretly considering Applejack his saviour.

"Okey dokey lokey! Hey! Oat Meal!" Pinkie waved at a pony in the crowd and bounced off to see them. Applejack grinned apologetically "Sorry about that, hon. She's a real sweetheart and all, but you can only take so much of her at a time, you know?"

"Trust me, I know the type. So, who's this friend you wanted me to meet?" Ricky looked around curiously.

"Over here." The two of them approached the yellow Pegasus he had noticed earlier. She looked up at Ricky, gasped and hid behind her mane. Applejack sighed.

"Aw, nuts. Not again...oh well. Fluttershy, Ricky. Ricky, Fluttershy."

"Hello." Ricky reached out a hand, and she shrank away. Ricky looked at Applejack and shrugged "Well, I tried." he offered.

"Look, Shy, I warned ya that the human would be here. Now, I know that new people and things make you nervous as heck, but you promised me you would try to work on this, remember?" Applejack looked at her friend knowingly.

Fluttershy peeked out at Ricky "Um...h-h-hello." She whispered. Ricky smiled.

"Well, it's a start." He pulled out a joint "You still down for this, AJ?"

"Sure am. Fluttershy, why don't you come outside and sit with us? You won't feel as awkward then." The farm pony suggested. Fluttershy nodded slightly "O-o-o-okay."

The three of them made their way through the crowd, ponies making way for Ricky. Slipping out the back door, they headed to the bench under Rainbow's tree.

"Ahhh, that's better." Ricky lit up and took a few puffs, then passed it to Applejack "So, you ponies have ways of getting high too, is that right?"

"Yup. There's certain herbs and whatnot out in the Everfree Forest. The stuff you have here, we call it ponyweed." Applejack passed it back to Ricky.

"Of course you do." Ricky chuckled, then looked at Fluttershy "You feeling any better now?"

Fluttershy jumped, then nodded her head quickly "Oh, yes. The fresh air is nice." She hid back behind her mane.

"You want to try some of this stuff? It'll loosen you up."

"Oh...I-I don't know. I mean, I've never done it before." She eyed the joint curiously.

"Well, it's simple. You just take it, inhale, then pass it along." Ricky handed it to Applejack, and she did the same.

"O-o-ok then..." Fluttershy took a couple of small puffs, coughing instantly.

"Do you need a drink, hon?" Applejack asked, concerned.

"N-n-n-no, I should be fine." She tried to stand, but sat back down hard. Her eyes widened, clearly surprised. After a moment, a smile appeared on her face and she giggled.

"Oh my...That does feel nice."

"See? Makes you feel less vulnerable. Want some more?" Ricky held it out to her again, but she shook her head.

"No, I think that's enough for me. I've always had a low tolerance level for things."

Suddenly, the doors opened, and a group of ponies came out, laughing and chattering. Bulk Biceps was among them.

"YEAH!!!!!LET'S KEG IT UP!!!!!!" He grabbed a barrel of cider and started pumping it like a dumbbell. He looked over and noticed Ricky "YO!!!!!Ricky, my man!!!!!"

"Hey, how's it going, Biceps?" Ricky gave him a bro-hoof.

"Living it UP!!!!!" Bulk Biceps crowed. Fluttershy giggled at this, then hid behind her mane again. Bulk Biceps suddenly noticed she was there.

"Oh! H-hi, Fluttershy. Didn't even see you there." He spoke in a calm, surprisingly gentle voice. Ricky had watched enough daytime dramas to know what was going on here.

"Um...hello." Fluttershy seemed to shrink into herself, and Applejack smirked "Bulk, would ya like to sit? Me and Ricky here are gonna go mingle."

"YEAH!!! I mean, love to." Applejack hopped up off the bench, and Bulk Biceps took her place. It looked funny as hell to Ricky, like something out of a cartoon.

"C'mon! I see ma brother over there." Applejack led Ricky over to a large, red stallion who wore a piece of farm equipment around his neck.

"Ricky, this is ma older brother, Big Macintosh. Big Mac, this here's Ricky!"

Big Mac just eyed Ricky up and down, and said "Eeyup."

"Pleasure to meet you." Ricky stuck out a hand, and Big Mac stretched out a hoof.

"Eeyup."

"You enjoying the party?" Ricky was starting to feel awkward."

"Eeyup."

"Not much of a talker, are you?"

"Nope."

"Well, nice meeting you, I guess."

"Likewise."

Ricky was caught off guard by this last comment. Big Mac winked at his sister and gave Ricky a friendly nod, then shambled off to see Cheerilee.

"Well...that was weird." Ricky pulled out a smoke in bewilderment. Applejack just laughed "Oh, don't mind him. Once you get to know him, he never shuts up."

"Kind of like Pinkie Pie?"

"No, not as bad as her. Like I said, she's great when you can get used to her." She stopped and groaned "And then you have the ponies that you CAN'T get used to."

"What do you mean by that?" Ricky glanced around.

"There." Applejack pointed to a grey Pegasus with a blonde mane. She appeared to have knocked a keg of cider over, and several ponies reacted in annoyance.

"What's so bad about her? It was just an accident, as far as I could see."

"That's Derpy Hooves. She's really sweet and she means well, but she is an accident waiting to happen. To give you an idea, she knocked down my family's barn last week."

"Really? How did she manage to do that?" Ricky found this a tad farfetched.

"Well, she delivers the mail, you see. And she brought a package by the other day, and my granny told her to put it in the barn. Well, she closed the door a little too hard, and that knocked a nail loose, which knocked a beam loose, causing a whole other chain of reactions." Applejack sighed "I told her it was no problem, but she apologizes to me every time she sees me." As if on cue, Derpy saw Applejack and waved happily. The farm pony groaned.

"Oh. I've met the type before. Hey, what's up with her eyes?" Ricky stared at Derpy's walleyed look.

"She has a rare condition. I can't pronounce it none, but it's pretty unusual. She can see straight if she really wants to, but it takes a lot out of her. She just-oh, hiya, sugarcube!" Applejack greeted the Pegasus with forced delight.

"Oh, hi, Applejack! Listen, I just wanted to say once again how sorry I am about your barn." Derpy said sheepishly "I just don't know what went wrong..."

"Yeah, it's a mystery." Applejack muttered "Look, hon, like I said, it's no trouble. The rest of the Apple clan are coming out in a week or two to help rebuild, so don't you worry yourself about it."

"Ok, but once again, I..." But the grey Pegasus was interrupted by a loudspeaker booming from inside.

"PAGING THE HUMAN!!!" a female pony yelled "Ricky, your presence is requested indoors! It's your party, after all!!!"

"Oh, thank Celestia!" Applejack grabbed Ricky "Let's get the hay out of here!!"

Desperate to escape Derpy, Applejack raced through the doors, Ricky thrown over her back. Just before the doors closed, however:

"SORRY AGAIN!!!!!Yay! Muffins!"