APR 5 Monday.

I continue to walk down the dirt road as I near Ponyville in the afternoon sun.

I could have just sprinted here but the day is nice and I see no reason to rush things. The wind sweeps past me as I walk and the grass that sprouted out of the snow over the past few months has grown tall, it moves and waves freely in the wind. I wonder if I can blame Celestia for this good weather.

The walk is nice and eventually, I arrive at the outskirts of Ponyville. My first stop will be an odd one for such a nice day, the library, and honestly I'm not sure why. I never was close to Willow in any way, but I still feel a slight sorrow at her loss, she seemed like a good pony.

When I arrive at the library it looks exactly the same, but it also has a small sign advertising a job for a librarian. I just sit there for a while before I notice that the library is still open, I'm not sure who's tending it but I don't really want to go inside, it just doesn't feel right.

In a way I feel as if this place doesn't want me here right now, or maybe that's just a part of me feeling squeamish at the thought of entering a dead person's home. It's so odd, ponies fear so much humans would consider it silly, but from what I know we share our sense of loss.

We also share a sense that the dead and things to do with them should be left alone, to simplify it both species suffer from the feelings you get while in a ghost town. The eeriness and the feeling that things are too quiet, the odd feeling of emptiness you feel when seeing a dark and dilapidated building.

After a minute or two I start to walk away and move through the streets again. Today is no day to ponder the morbid side of life, so instead I'll go enjoy some free pie and confront something beyond all understanding. After a few more minutes I arrive at Sugar Cube Corner.

I hesitate for a few moments before walking inside on high guard, I expect Pinkie to have planned something, but nothing happens. A few ponies are eating and talking but everything is normal, I'm not sure what I expected honestly, I guess I expected something chaotic.

I stand there for a moment before walking over to a booth and sitting down to get comfortable. I don't think I'll need to wait long for Pinkie to notice me, still I take out my sketchbook to draw and pass some time. After a moment I feel Entropy shift to lay on my flank side on the bench and chirp loudly before jumping back onto the table.

I raise a brow but jump a little as Pinkie Pie pops out from under the table across from me with a party popper. "SURPRISE!!" I just about draw my dagger but stop myself a second later, I look at her as some confetti falls around the table. "Happy birthday! Are you here for the coupon?!" Pinkie is even more high-energy than normal and gives me a massive smile.

I just stay silent and tense for a moment as my mind tries to keep up with this madness. :Why was she down there? What was she looking at down there?: I immediately have to force off that thought as I feel a blush trying to make itself known, but I force my mind to deal with this madness. "Thanks? Umm and, sure? Here you go." I pass her the coupon and try my best to not ask questions and hide my thoughts.

She gives me a very happy look. "OH! Good! It worked, I didn't know if that would get to you in time!" I think that confirms that The Party Note actually exists, that's something I should probably look into at some point. "What would you like?! It's your birthday so ask for anything!" She's still all excited but I'm calming down a little and just ignoring the questions I have.

I give her a half smile. "A milkshake and a piece of apple pie if you have it, and thank you for the kindness." I give her a simple request and be nice. She nods quickly and zooms off a second later, she is certainly happy if nothing else, I just hope she doesn't do anything like throw me a party.

I go back to drawing and a few short minutes later Pinkie returns with a milkshake and two plates of pie. "Here you go!" She gives me my food and then sits down across from me. "Soooo, what are you doing later today?" She's a little more calm now, but I can see where this question is going, I need to nip this in the bud.

I nod my thanks and just accept that she's now eating with me. "Mostly look around some more, this town is nice and quiet. Also, don't throw me a party, it's not my kind of thing and I'd have to force myself to enjoy it." I tell her bluntly, mostly because this is the best way I can think of to deal with Pinkie.

You need to be blunt and honest with your intentions because Pinkie really is just trying to make ponies smile, but in those attempts she can be very forward. She has nothing but good intentions, but that can lead to misunderstandings and mishaps, and the best way to prevent that is blunt honesty.

I see her smile lessen for a moment. "Oh. How'd you guess? Can you see the future? ... But fine, I won't." But at that moment she bounces right back up to normal. "I'll just have to make your next visit extra fun then! So, what do you usually do?" She just moves right along and starts a new conversation.

Several things in her words stand out as beyond suspicious, but there's no real way to tell if she really knows things. I know if I ask I won't be getting answers. In fact, I'm likely to leave with far more questions than when I came here. I drop that line of thought and try to think of how best to answer this while looking her over for a moment.

She seems to be a little younger than me but it's hard to tell, probably not more than a year at most though. In the end, I decided that once again some blunt but vague honesty would be best. "I work at the Canterlot library, but I also travel around some." It's nothing but another half-lie. She eats some pie and it's at the moment she gives Entropy more attention.

"That sounds nice, but also really boring. What about you?" She asks Entropy while holding out a small piece of baked apple on a fork. Entropy also doesn't trust easily and surprisingly doesn't take the food, instead, she moves a little closer to me.

I interrupt her with a chuckle. "Yes it can be sometimes, but I enjoy it. This is..." I stop for a moment before deciding to just tell her Entropy's real name. "Her name is Entropy, she's my best friend. Also, she really doesn't like others touching her." I add the second part as Pinkie lifts a hoof and reaches out before putting it down again.

"Okie-doki! Nice to meet you little shadow!" She smiles at Entropy and I once again push my questions down and just try to enjoy the talk. "She's so cute?! I bet she's fluffy too!" She spends a few moments trying to feed Entropy again, and eventually Entropy gives her a look.

"No. Loud." She caws out before settling next to me on the bench again.

I'm a little embarrassed at that. "Entropy! That's rude." I give Entropy a stern look and she pretends to not see me. "Sorry about her, she's very... Blunt." I give Pinkie an apologetic look.

Pinkie just stares at Entropy before laughing a little, her laugh is softer than I'd expected. "No, she's right. I can be a little loud." :A little?: "Anyway' where are you heading? Home?" She asks with a lower volume, but still a little louder than most would talk she also keeps an upbeat tone.

I try to think of a good answer and feel myself relaxing easily, unlike talking to powerful beings I don't feel there would be much of a consequence if I said no. Still, I see no need to push her away, "Yes, I... Collect things, of a sort. Right now I am heading home, back to Canterlot. Have you ever been?"

She shakes her head. "Nope, but I heard about it. It seems so busy, how can you have time for a party if things are so busy?" She complains a bit, an odd way to look at it but not incorrect. "Maybe they just don't? But that's sad! Do you know?" She asks back.

I also shake my head. "No, not really. You might be right though, me and a few friends don't really do birthdays, we just save all of that for Hearth's Warming." She gives me a slightly surprised look, but she doesn't seem offended. "But I've been to some good parties before, if you ever can, go to the Grand Gala, it's certainly something," I ask hoping to distract her from myself.

It seems talking about parties was a good idea because her face lights up. "THE GALA?! OH! OH! What was it like?! Any things I could add to my parties?!" She's loud again but I just smile and start answering her questions for a bit as she takes a quill and notepad out of her mane.

We go back and forth for a bit before I decide I've hit my daily limit of Pinkie, and I'd still like to see some other things. "Anyway, I have to get going. Thanks for the food Pinkie." I keep my reasons private but sit up to stretch my legs a bit.

She keeps her bright smile and grabs one of my hooves with her own before shaking it with surprising strength. The shorter filly nods and takes the plates we left, "Ok! Remember to come back. Oh! And make sure to enjoy today." That sounds oddly like a demand. "Also, I hope you enjoyed the strawberry milkshake , it's so much better than an apple milkshake. It's a proper fruit." With that last remark, she happily bounces off back into the back rooms out of my sight.

I stare for a moment before laughing, she is one crazy pony, but she is fun, and talking to her is always interesting. I found my mood a bit more upbeat after that talk and I started to wander about the streets of Ponyville again, from street to street and building to building.

I'm not really going anywhere in particular, but I would like to learn Ponyville's layout a little better. As I walk around I turn down a street and see something odd, on a mostly empty street a single cart is just sitting still in the middle of the street. After a moment I raise a brow and start to walk over.

As I get closer I see many boxes inside the cart, there are several things inside them but it's mostly apples. As I pass the cart I see the backside of a pony sticking out of the underside of the cart. I recognize the pony a second later as they shuffle out from under the cart, Big Mcintosh. :Two in one day?:

He looks a little annoyed but it's hard to tell how much. I think he's around sixteen, maybe more but he's definitely an adult, and very tall for his age. He stares under the cart with focused eyes and I glance in the same direction, the axle of the cart has splintered and cracked, it's almost in two halves.

After a moment he noticed me and stared me down for a moment. He's taller than me by a few inches and has well-defined muscles, a strong earth pony that is used to pushing carts and bucking trees. "Ya?" He asks the question with a slightly deep tone, it's not unfriendly though.

I look at the broken cart and back to him. :Hmm, fuck it: "Need help?" I ask back with a calm tone. Yet another chance for me to befriend the cast and their families, even if it's just in a small way like helping with a cart. He stares me down a little more intensely before slowly nodding after a long few moments.

"Yup." He says back and steps out of the way a little, a silent offer. I don't waste time and quickly move down under the cart as Entropy jumps off my back and lands on the cart, she enters into a staring contest with Big Mack as I work. The axle is cracked along the wood grain so I just move it back in place as best I can before casting a sticking spell.

I overpower the spell some and shake it a little before standing back up to see that they are still staring at each other. I whistle to Entropy and she flies back over to stand on my back again. I turn to Big Mack and give him another nod. "It will be more bumpy, and won't last past today." I keep my calm and blunt tone.

He slightly raises a brow before looking down at the axle and nodding slowly. "Thanks, I owe ya." He doesn't waste more words and just moves to the front of the cart before strapping himself into a simple harness and walking off down the street with the cart as I stand there. Well, that was interesting and very quiet.

I wasn't really expecting much for conversation, but I still think I made a good impression. I guess that's another pony off of my bucket list. I'm not sure why I'm that surprised that I ran into two important ponies so far, I did pick Ponyville for a day trip.

But I think that's a reason I should interact with Ponyville more. I've said I want to just live and not worry about changing things, but saying that and doing it are two different things. I'm still a little uncomfortable here, even if I don't show it much, and the only way to fix that is to just keep going.

So after a moment I start walking again and keep exploring Ponyville. This time I wander the outskirts of the town with a little more purpose, I'm looking for something specific. There are a few paths that lead to the Everfree and I want to try and find Fluttershy's home by following them, just for future reference.

I can find the homes of every other of the main six easily, but Fluttershy is more difficult. In the end, it does prove a little difficult to find the right overgrown path and when I do find her home it's not looking great. The decent-sized home is a little dilapidated and rundown.

I guess she hasn't arrived yet, but it's still nice to know the location. As I walk back the way I came I think more about this new quest for my day trip. Who else can I visit? The Apple family is an option, but going to their farm would take a while and I already saw Big Mac, so who else can I check on?

Pinkie is accounted for, which leaves Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity. Twilight is out for obvious reasons and I have no idea where Rainbow Dash's house could be, If I remember right it's a cloud house so it can probably move around, so that really only leaves Rarity as a potential option.

But that means I need to narrow down where her boutique could be, so off to the business district I go. Ponyville is small but it's still large enough to have to separate shops from houses, so it does have a street filled with most of the town's shops and merchants.

It's also not hard to find as I've been there before, the open market is set up on the same street. When I arrive I just start walking down the street and looking through the various shops here, and I do stop at one that catches my interest, a blacksmith.

Every town has one for all the small metal things needed by the town it's in, and this small but respectable building fits the bill. An earth pony mare beats down on some metal with a rhythm as she holds a hammer in her hooves. I walk over and wait a moment for them to stop.

She has a strong build and keeps hammering for a few moments before turning to me. "I only smith the metal, if you want to buy something head inside." She motions to the other half of the building which looks like a shop with several things in a window display.

I nod but don't move, "I guessed as much, but I don't need normal wares, I just need some copper, if you have it?" I ask while staring at the slightly shorter mare.

She doesn't look at me and moves the metal with some tongs back into the blazing forge before turning back to me. "Then you have come to the right place, I don't have that much though. I'll have to check but I think I only have a few ingots right now, and they're costly." They warn me a little but still answer me.

That's about what I expected. "How much?" I ask to get right down to business. Metal normally costs a decent amount in Equestria. It's not extreme but still much higher than in my last world. A quick exchange later I have two five-pound copper ingots and one of my bit pouches is a bit lighter.

The ingots are a little heavy but I store them in my saddlebags easily and continue my search, it quickly proves to be a fruitful search. At the end of the street a little away from the rest of the buildings I find a round, tall building that seems to have been recently painted.

It's not as decorated as I'd expected, but it seems Rarity has only just arrived in Ponyville, I have good timing it seems. Well, that confirms the presence of three of the six. I stand outside for a few moments lost in my thoughts. Should I go inside? I do see an open sign on the door.

I can't see much harm in it and I am also curious to meet yet another of the main cast, so after a deep breath I walk over to the shop and slowly open the door. The inside looks a little disorganized, several shelves are half stalked with different fabrics and pieces of clothing, and a few open boxes are around the main room.

Clothing is a smaller business in Equestria than on Earth, not tiny, just small. Most ponies don't have much need for clothing, but many do have uses for different shapes and colors of fabric for many other things. Nopony is at the counter but I notice the back door is open so I just look around a little.

After a few moments, I shift my saddlebags a little as one of the straps is a little tight and uncomfortable, and that gives me just the idea I need. I've had these saddlebags for years now, and they are getting a little small for my body, if I keep growing as I have they will just become impractical to use.

My thoughts stop as hoof steps on wood sound out through the empty shop. "OH! I'm sorry, I didn't hear you come in Sir." Rarity has a hair bun tying back her mane and looks a little tired, even then she looks well groomed and also seems to be a little older than me, a year or two at most around Big Mac's age actually.

She gives me a warm smile and moves from behind the counter. "I'm sorry about this ghastly mess, I'm still setting things up as you see. But enough about me, it's a pleasure to meet you, Sir, how can I help you today?" She has a good amount of formality but balances it well with a comfortable tone, and seems to know how to smoothly talk with her customers.

I don't smile back but give a friendly expression and a nod. "It's fine, and it's a pleasure to meet you too Miss. As for why I'm here? Well, my saddlebags have served me well for a long time now, but I need new ones. Do you happen to have any?" I return her friendly tone and even mix in a little formality for the sake of it.

She smiles brightly in return. "Of course Sir, anything in particular that you're looking for? A style or theme? I can think of a few that would go well with your coat and mane." Rarity gets right down to it and quickly moves around to show a few shelves with different saddlebags.

A few look interesting and I keep up with her as she moves. "Green, and maybe nature?" I like that feel and look, and why not lean into the druid feel more?

She stops and looks over at me with a more scrutinizing eye. "Hmmmm, yes, I could see that. Do you normally tie your mane back?" I have no idea what that has to do with my saddlebags, but I nod affirmatively. "Yes, I think I have just the thing for you." She moves over to a half-empty box and takes something out before unfolding it.

A very deep blackish green with yellow leaves drawn out with thread, a simplistic but well-matching combination. She holds them to my side and nods again with a smile. "A little too simplistic, but a good match. What do you think, Sir?" She holds them out to me and I look them over.

The canvases are high quality, much better than my old saddlebags and they look like they will fit me much better. The straps have solid metal clamps instead of just metal rings and the straps themselves are long enough to fit me even if I grow a lot more, on top of that the pockets are larger and there's more of them.

I smile and look back at her. "Perfect, how much?" I love this new saddlebag already and they are just what I need. Honestly, I got very lucky here, maybe it's just some birthday luck.

She keeps her smile but looks a little more serious when I ask the price. "Oh no, no. I can't have my first-ever customer leave without some generosity. They're yours. It's not like many would ask for something so simple anyway." She says it like it's a done deal and there's nothing left to discuss.

I sigh a little and give her a level stare. I really should have seen this coming, she is the element of generosity after all. I also don't feel like arguing with her so I try a different approach. I give her a firm nod, "You have my utmost thanks, and you also have my generosity in return. Have a good day Miss." I drop a decent sided bad from my saddlebags on the counter with a soft thud and turn to leave before she can say anything else.

"Wait what? Sir?" I open the door and leave before she can say anything else. I quickly move down the street and out of sight before she can try to follow me. Once I'm a distance away I laugh at the confused and stunned look she gave me as I left, I have no idea how much these saddlebags cost, so I may have overpaid a bit.

But hey, she can probably make good use of five hundred bits, or was there more in that bag? Ahh, who cares? Although, I would have liked to see her expression when she opened that bag. I whistle a happy tone with Entropy as we leave Ponyville and head back out of town.

I think today went well, and honestly, I think it was a good birthday.

Author's Note

Thanks for reading this story, and dealing with my spelling.
Current year is 994

I felt like having Pinkie throw a full party wasn't going to work, because lets be honest it's hard to surprise Shade. And even if she did somehow throw him a surprise party he'd just sneak away at the first opportunity.

Also, I'm taking either tomorrow or the next day off.