Life, Love, & Magic

The steam whistle let out a loud squeal.

Frost slowly opened his eyes and looked around the cabin. A young mare, not much older than him, and her filly were sitting across the aisle. At the front of the car, a stallion was collecting all his belongings, getting ready for the train's arrival. Other than that, the cabin was empty. Frost looked out the window and covered his eyes. They hadn't adjusted to the sunlight yet, so he was stuck wiping his eyes of tears for the next few seconds. When the light no longer bothered him, he looked out the window and saw his destination - Ponyville. It was a small, quiet looking town, with numerous small specks that represented ponies walking around the town, going about their daily business. It looked like the ride would be less than twenty minutes now, so Frost gathered up the few things he had and prepared to leave. He thought back on the previous week, and still couldn't believe how so much could have gone so wrong in such a short span of time. The memories of what he had left behind, his little sister, the remains of his life, put him in a depressing mood. He almost missed it when the conductor called out his stop. He got up and headed for the door.

"Never again..." he whispered to himself before walking out the door.

_________

Ponyville was a quaint little village. Frost thought he could see the entirety of what it had to offer from the spot in the middle of town where he stood. There was a bakery, a farm not too far off, a few buildings and houses here and there, and a town hall in front of him. This would take some getting used to. Frost was used to living with the hustle and bustle and the rushed, always busy feel of Canterlot, having lived there all his life, and simply being in a place like this was... freeing, to say the least. He knew that he didn't have to wear his mane just the right way or wear the perfect clothing for each and every occasion anymore, and that  was a strange thing for him. "Enough wasting time!" he thought to himself. "Now, first things first, I need to find a place to stay..." His train of thought was interrupted by the sight of a bright pink earth pony mare with a really...poofy mane trotting down the street, directly towards him. As she drew closer, he noticed that she wasn't actually trotting, so much as BOUNCING down the road. She landed directly in front of him, and just stood there, a massive grin plastered across her face. Frost was never really good with conversations, preferring instead to let others take the lead, but the awkward silence between the two was unnerving, so much so that he, for once, decided to make the first move.

"Err...Hi. My name is Frost Grey," he said in a slightly hesitant tone. "It's, um, really nice to me--"

"WOOHOO!!" The poofy pink mare exclaimed so suddenly that Frost nearly fell back on his haunches. "HII'm PinkiePieandyoumustbenewherebecauseI'veneverseenyoubefore*GAAASP!!*I'veneverseenyoubeforeandthatmeansthatyoumusthavejustgottenhereooohIhavetointroduceyoutoallmyfriends, ooohyou'reaunicornjustliketwoofmyfriendsyouknowthisremindsmeofthetimeImetTwilightbecausewewerestandingrightovertherewhenshesaidhelloandIwent*GAAASP!!*oohwaitthatsrightbeforewedoanythingelsetogetheryouneedtomeeteveryoneandtheonlywaytodothatiswithaPARTY!!!!"

Frost couldn't even keep up with half of what this mare was saying, aside from the fact that she said that her name was Pinkie Pie. Before he even had the chance to open his mouth, Pinkie Pie had dashed off just as fast as she had spoken, leaving him coughing in a cloud of dust.

__________

Frost levitated all his things with him as he trotted through the town. It was strange for him to see so many earth ponies and pegasi in the streets and skies, since Canterlot had a majority population of unicorns, especially in the upper class. It's not like he hadn't seen the other types of ponies before, it's just that he had never seen so many mixed together like this. As he pondered these thoughts, Frost forgot to look where he was going and slammed muzzle first into another poor pony on the street, falling back dazed.

"Uggh...oh! Oh, I'm so sorry," Frost said. "I wasn't paying attention to where I was going, and I just-- I-I-I..."

He stammered on as he saw the lavender unicorn mare sit up, rubbing her nose. She had a dark purple mane, with a lighter purple and pink making two distinct streaks through it and her tail. One of her eyes opened a bit, an Frost was able to catch the color of her deep purple eyes before she winced and shot up, turning around and grabbing all of the books that she had dropped in the collision. Frost immediately looked away, trying hard to find a way to distract himself. Her plot was aimed directly at him, and while he did feel compelled to sneak a peek, he exercised his willpower, knowing that other ponies were starting to look at the fiasco. The last thing he wanted was to be looked at as a weirdo or perv by others on the day of his arrival.

"U-u-mm," He managed to murmur out, "D-do you need some help? This was all my fault after all, and I think--"

Frost was cut off yet again as she swung her head around and looked at him with her wide eyes.

"Er, yes, actually. Could you please get that encyclopedia for me? I was taking these books down to the town hall, and I would appreciate the company, seeing as SOMEONE was apparently too "busy" to help me himself..."

Frost used his magic and grabbed the encyclopedia, picking up his own things as well when he had the chance. By the time he managed to gather all his belongings, the purple mare had already begun to walk towards the town hall.

He managed to catch up with her in a few seconds, considering she hadn't gotten too far ahead.

When she saw that he had caught up to her, she caught him off guard by asking him a question.

"So, what's your name?" She asked in a cheery tone.

"Huh?" Frost hadn't had much time to get his thoughts together since the crash, and having this stunning mare talk to him wasn't helping. "Oh, my name is Grey Frost. I mean Frost Grey! My name is Frost Grey!"

She let out a tiny giggle at his stumbling. "Nice to meet you, Frost Grey! I'm Twilight Sparkle."

"Yeah, erm, likewise. So, um, what are we doing with these books again?"

Twilight stopped for a second and made a face as if she had forgotten something important. "OH! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to just drag you along with me like that. I'm sure you have something much more important to do right now..."

"Oh, no, I just moved here, and I wasn't doing anything particularly important, so it's no trouble."

"Oh. Well, I appreciate the help nonetheless."

As Twilight lead him through the streets back towards the town hall, Frost couldn't help but notice Twilight's rump. The way she walked with her hind legs was making her hips subtly swing, a fact that he definitely took note of. As they walked, he felt the heat between his legs grow stronger the longer he stared. He once again forced himself to focus on something else before his body took things any further. He thought about where he could possibly find a place to stay for the night, hoping that after he finished assisting Twilight he could ask her about any temporary places he could spend the night. With new focus, the rest of the trip to the town hall didn't seem to take quite as long...