A little under an hour later, the train approached a small rural town nestled into the countryside. "Is that it?" I asked Fluttershy. "Is that Ponyville?"

"Mm-hmm," she nodded. "We'll be at the station before you know it."

My heart began to race, as it had done when I got my acceptance letter. I was filled to the brim partially with excitement and partially with apprehension. Ponyville seemed peaceful enough; but would I be able to blend in with the community? Would anypony like me? Would I be able to make any friends? I had never exactly been much of a social butterfly.

Before I could think of anything else, Fluttershy started waving out the window. "Look!" she cried cheerfully. "There are my friends!"

I looked, and saw a tight-knit group of five other young mares at the station platform, all waving back at Fluttershy. A sky blue pegasus with a rainbow-streaked mane and tail was hovering above the rest of her colleagues, while a pink Earth mare with a curly magenta mane and tail bounced eagerly up and down. Off to the side and looking more reserved stood a silver white unicorn with an elegantly coiffed purple mane and tail, joined by a second Earth mare with a light orange coat and a blonde mane and tail with their ends tied up in bunches - she also wore a light brown Stetson hat. There was also a purple and green juvenile dragon, and finally, a lavender alicorn with a midnight blue mane and tail streaked with orchid and raspberry.

Wait a second - an alicorn?! As in a princess?! My heart palpitating even harder, I turned to my traveling companion. "Say, Fluttershy? One of your friends wouldn't happen to be an alicorn; would she?"

"Oh, yes!" Fluttershy answered. "That's Twilight."

"Princess Twilight Sparkle?!" I exclaimed, beginning to panic a little. "The Princess of Friendship?! The former student of Princess Celestia?!"

"Um, yes...," said Fluttershy slowly.

"Oh, this is just great!" I groaned. "My first day in Ponyville and I'm not even prepared for it! Does my mane look okay to you? Should I change into something more formal? Oh, I hope I can make a good first impression..."

"Calm down, Endless," soothed Fluttershy, taking me by the hoof. "There's no need to get so worked up. Twilight doesn't expect that much from anypony! She doesn't even expect us to call her 'Princess'!"

"Are you sure?" I asked, beginning to breathe a little easier.

"Positive! I've known her long enough, anyway."

I glanced back at the dragon and five mares. All seemed perfectly casual - minus the unicorn, maybe. If Princess Twilight didn't expect that much of an effort from her friends, why should I be any different? I heaved a sigh. "Okay. I'm ready for this."

It was just as well too, because at that moment, the train stopped in the station. Fluttershy and I gathered up our luggage, and led our respective pets to the door. As soon as Fluttershy and Angel had stepped onto the platform, the pink Earth mare zipped up to them with the biggest smile I had ever seen. "OH MY GOSH!!! FLUTTERSHY!!! YOU'RE BACK!!!" she squealed.

Fluttershy's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as the excited mare locked her in an airtight hug. "Nice to see you too, Pinkie," she said in a strained voice, "but could you loosen up a smidge? If you wouldn't mind?"

Pinkie relaxed her grip. "Oopsy-daisy!" she giggled ruefully. "Musta gotten carried away. Again!"

The orange Earth mare trotted up beside Pinkie. "Great ta have ya home, sugarcube," she said to Fluttershy in a mild Southern accent. "How did that conference o' yers go?"

"Yeah!" chirped Pinkie, starting to bounce on the spot again. "Was it fun? Huh? Huh? Was it?"

"Actually," Fluttershy replied, "before I answer any of your questions, I'd like you to meet my new employee for the pet center."

The other mares all stared in amazement. "You don't mean...?" asked the little dragon.

Fluttershy nodded, then turned back to the coach's doorway, where Tali and I were still standing. I wasn't quite sure what to make of all this. "Everypony, this is Endless Wire and his dog Naphtali. Endless, these are my best friends." Fluttershy started motioning to each of her six friends. "This is Pinkie Pie..."

Pinkie stared straight at me for a few moments, then leapt into the air, let out an enormous gasp, and hightailed it out of the station. I stepped out onto the platform, dumbfounded. "Did I do something wrong?" I asked anxiously.

"Nothing of the sort, darling," the unicorn replied, in a posh yet reassuring voice. "Pinkie nearly always does that when a newcomer arrives in town."

"Yeah!" chimed in the blue pegasus. "It probably means she's planning...something special," she finished cautiously, winking at the others.

"What sort of something special?" I asked, puzzled.

"You'll see soon enough, hun," replied the orange Earth mare with a knowing smile. "Pleased as punch ta meetcha, by the way," she went on, vigorously shaking my hoof. "Name's Applejack."

No sooner had I regained my composure than the blue pegasus swooped down to my level. "The one and only Rainbow Dash at your service!" she introduced herself proudly. "I'm the newest member of the Wonderbolts! Maybe you've heard of us?"

"Sure, once or twice," I replied, a bit taken aback by her brashness. "I don't exactly follow you; but I hear you're pretty good..."

"Pretty good?!" Rainbow Dash scoffed indignantly. "We're the awesomest flyers in all of Equestria! And we don't take kindly to having our awesomeness questioned!" She advanced on me threateningly, pressing her nose right up against mine. "You better just watch your mouth, or..."

"Rainbow Dash! Stop that at once!" admonished the unicorn, trotting forward and pulling her back. "The poor dear is overwhelmed enough as it is without you making such a boorish scene!"

Wow! I thought to myself. Is she a mindreader or something?

The unicorn turned to me. "I'm terribly sorry you had to endure that, Endless," she said comfortingly. "She can be a bit...abrasive at her worst."

Define a bit, I thought sarcastically.

"Anyway," the dignified mare continued, holding out her hoof, "my name is Rarity. A true pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Feeling a bit less tense, I took her hoof in mine. "Fluttershy told me about you," I grinned. "She said you're in charge of the town a-cappella group. Any chance I could sing with you sometime?"

"But of course!" Rarity replied happily. "You can audition for us any time between 1 pm and 5 pm, Monday through Friday. I eagerly await your arrival at Carousel Boutique!"

"Very well, then!" I chuckled. "I guess I'll have to get directions to Carousel Boutique!"

"Oh, it's not that hard to come by, darling," said Rarity grandly. "Simply look for the most divine building in town!"

"I'll...keep that in mind."

Fluttershy giggled, then motioned to the alicorn and the baby dragon. "And last but far from least, this is Twilight and her number 1 assistant Spike."

"Hello, Endless!" smiled Twilight.

"Hiya!" greeted Spike.

I smiled a little shyly. "So, you're fine with not being called 'Princess Twilight'?"

"Fine with it?" repeated Spike, smirking. "That's a bit of an understatement!"

Twilight chuckled. "Spike's right, Endless," she assured me. "You don't need to be so formal just for me."

Fluttershy winked at me. "What did I tell you?"

At that moment, Tali pawed at my leg. "Oops!" I exclaimed. "I almost forgot! Tali, you wanna go say hi?"

You didn't have to ask Tali twice: he eagerly trotted up to Spike and the five mares, who couldn't help but like him too. "Cool dog!" Rainbow Dash commented.

"He sure is a lively feller!" remarked Applejack. "I reckon he an' my dog Winona'll get along like a house on fire!"

"Provided he doesn't get too jealous of her," I warned. "He can be like that sometimes."

"Thanks fer the tip."

"Oh, he's so sweet!" Twilight gushed.

"Yeah!" giggled Spike, as Tali slurped his cheek. "I don't think I've ever met such a friendly dog!"

Only Rarity had her reservations. "He's certainly charming, I'll give him that," she admitted, wincing a little as Tali sniffed at her. "He's all right in my book, just so long as he doesn't mess up my mane or - ew!!! - lick me!" she shuddered delicately, as Tali gave her an especially wet kiss. Everypony else couldn't help but laugh.

By the middle of the afternoon, Fluttershy and her friends had escorted Tali and me to our new apartment: Rarity had insisted on letting her help me with my luggage, and even offered to take me furniture shopping the next day. They left us to get settled in, with a reminder for me to meet them again at Sugarcube Corner, the local sweetshop and bakery, at 6 that evening.

As I unpacked and set up my belongings, I happened to gaze down at the street below my window. Everywhere I looked, ponies were greeting each other, talking and laughing, or sharing the occasional hug. Never before had I seen such genuine, intimate acts of love and friendship, especially not in Manehattan, where most believed it was "everypony for him or herself". But here in Ponyville, they welcomed newcomers and strangers with open hooves - Fluttershy and her friends certainly had. "You know, Tali," I murmured happily, as I sat down on my bed, "I think I made the right choice."

Soon enough, evening rolled around, and after feeding Tali and grabbing a quick dinner at a nearby café, I was ready for my rendezvous at Sugarcube Corner. The sweetshop wasn't hard to find: it was the only building in town that looked like a gingerbread house out of a fairytale, only far more elaborate, with a cupcake turret, a rock candy chimney, and a weathervane of a pony's silhouette holding a candy cane! However, as I came nearer, the building seemed strangely deserted. All the lights inside were dimmed, and there was nopony around. And yet, the town clock was beginning to toll 6 pm. Maybe there had been some mistake.

Still, I trotted up the front steps and knocked on the door. No reply. I cautiously pushed it open. For a split-second, I could see nothing but darkness, but then..."SURPRISE!!!!" The lights came on in a burst of balloons and confetti! I was stunned speechless, as multiple ponies rushed out to greet me. At the head of the group was none other than Pinkie Pie, who yanked me right into the middle of it all. "What is all this?!" I finally managed to say.

"Your welcome party, silly!" Pinkie giggled. "I threw it just for you!"

"A welcome party?" I repeated. "I've only been here half a day: why would you go to all this trouble just for me?"

"Trouble?!" cried Pinkie incredulously. "There is no trouble in wanting to make somepony feel welcome! And you can't just move to Ponyville and miss out on one of my great big, ginormous, super-duper, spectacular welcome parties! What fun would that be?"

"Okay..."

At that moment, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and Spike joined us. "Told ya Pinkie was planning something special!" grinned Rainbow Dash. "By the way, sorry about our little spat earlier. Just be sure to give me your unreserved acknowledgement and admiration for the totally awesome pony I am, and we'll get along just fine; 'kay? Bye!" With that, she zipped off, leaving me once more at a loss for words.

Applejack chuckled at my nonplussed expression. "You'll have ta get used ta that, Endless," she said. "It ain't nothin' personal; Rainbow's just a mite full o' herself."

"A mite?!" I burst out. "I don't see how you girls can live with such a narcissist!"

"You learn to put up with it after awhile, darling," replied Rarity.

"Well," I muttered grudgingly, "I still don't exactly fancy that kind of egotism. I'm not so sure I wanna be friends with her..."

"Oh, she's not so bad once you get to know her!" simpered Fluttershy.

"Dash may be a little insensitive and self-absorbed," added Twilight, "but she's one of the loyalest ponies you could ever meet."

I smiled, but deep down inside, I couldn't help but remain wary of Rainbow Dash.

"Enough o' that!" Pinkie cut in cheerfully. "Who's ready to partay?!"

We "partayed" long into the night. By the time the celebration was over and everypony had gone home, I was exhausted, stuffed full of Pinkie's delicious pastries and Applejack's homegrown apples, and sore in the throat from singing in a karaoke session. But I knew for sure that what I had said before was true: I made the right choice in moving to Ponyville.

Author's Note

Looks like Endless is off to a somewhat rocky but overall good start. Be on the lookout for the next chapter!

By the way, if anyone's getting the impression that I hate Rainbow Dash, I don't: she's my least favorite of the Mane 6, but not my least favorite pony in general. It only seems I dislike her because I'm exaggerating my feelings about her through my ponysona.