Fallout New Vegas: A New Road

The “house” (really it was going to be more of a shack) was looking better, had about three logs stacked on top of each other now, and it had reached up to the Courier’s thighs. About four or five more and it’d be past his head, enough clearance to slap on the roof and finish it.

He’d cut an opening for the doorway now. Off to the side several large, sturdy looking planks had been nailed together and reinforced with some rope. No doubt in the future it’d serve as a makeshift door for the human’s home.

There was no work to do today. Neither Rarity nor Applejack called for him, even after he offered his services numerous times before leaving Ponyville the day before.

Was still running off of the three-hour poker session with his brain.

Boiled some Coyote Tobacco into coffee earlier. That was the real shit that kept him awake. No wonder Boone chewed it all the time.

He grunted as he stepped back to admire the work he’d done to what had just been an empty camp plot. Now it had half a shack, and a small garden off to the side, protected by a crude fence made from sticks and rope.

Six figured potatoes would be the best thing to use. One of the veggies he’d kept in his pack this whole time. Rarely seemed to properly spoil. As a matter of fact, he would even see them sprouting in the Wasteland.

A bit of water here and there, hopefully in the next few weeks he’d be able to make stew or mash. Nice carrots to go with it too. Hopefully, anyways.

If all else failed, Golden Harvest was an option to buy some.

Planted Broc Flower and Xander Roots too. Only so many Stims left, after all.

They were used to drier, rugged climates. Hopefully the dirt here would be to their liking. They grew well enough in forests and Zion, so maybe they’d be fine here.

A piece of him considered if it was safe to introduce new plantlife to the forest, but at the same time he knew they weren’t irradiated. Safe for him, probably safe for ponies and whatever else, too.

Still, he’d keep a close eye on them throughout their growth cycles. Make sure nothing unusual happened.

He took a break from work, walking over to his hollowed stash. Pulled out a Sunset Sarsaparilla.

The Courier popped the cap off, stashed it, and chugged his luke-warm beverage like it was a nectar from the gods.

He downed half of it and took a break, sighing. Checked his leftover supplies too.

Damn.

Only six of the Sunsets left. Needed more sarsaparilla.

Different brand here, maybe? Hopefully.

If there was none, then there’d be hell to pay.

He finished the bottle and stashed the glass back into the backpack. Dusted his gloved hands off and stretched after he did.

Hungry? Nope, thankfully not that much... Okay maybe a little.

Felt… better. Safe?

Hmm.

He shook it off, shoving the feeling aside. It was dangerous to think that.

It was hardly ever true.

He checked the Pip-Boy.

Thankfully by now he’d set his watch properly after checking the clocks in town.

Only three in the evening. Blegh. Slow day.

Guess it meant more work to finish. More time to kill.

He pulled out a smoke, only one or two more in the pack by now.

Forgot to get others in the supply run yesterday, damn his memory.

Just lit it up, enjoyed the staleness by this point.

Six pulled out his sawed off from his bag and continued puffing away as he examined it. He’d managed to reclaim it after the battle at the dam, and now finally got around to actually cleaning it.

The bear-bug-fucker’s claws left a couple scrapes in the wood and metal, but the firearm held. Rugged. Reliable.

He popped it open and made sure it was loaded. Still had some 12-gauge slugs in it. Some buckshot in the pack, too.

Not a bad idea for a hunting gun. But maybe not to be used on bucks despite the shell’s name.

Wonder if bucks were talking here. Not equines, but if dragons existed…

Musings were cut off when a rainbow blur zoomed in above him. He felt his duster billow a bit as the familiar flapping of wings rung out.

“What do you want, Rainbow Dash?” he said, cigarette slung halfway out of his mouth as he continued looking down at the firearm.

He rubbed off a small bit of dirt that was left on the barrel and considered a deep cleaning as she spoke.

“Hey, I just wanted to come by and ask something,” the mare said, hovering above the human. “Is that cool?”

“Is what cool?” he said.

“What? I- What do you mean?” she asked in confusion.

He just chuckled, each laugh causing a blast of smoke to billow from his mouth.

She narrowed her eyes in realization.

“That’s not funny you know,” she huffed. “I was being serious!”

“Who said I wasn’t?” he asked through clenched teeth as he wiped down the shotgun further with a rag.

“Alright so there’s this awesome aerial group called the Wonderbolts, right?” she went on, ignoring his snark. “Anyways, they’re super awesome and I’m a part of it. I was thinking… maybe you could come to one of our shows in a few weeks.”

He rubbed down the shotgun further, just being silent.

“If you’re still here,” she added.

Six shrugged, still remaining silent as he cleaned the gun.

“Come on, give me an answer!” huffed the pegasus. “I was gonna take you and Scoots along!”

He finally sighed.

“Kid did say something about a show or stunts or whatever yesterday at lunch,” he mused, finally pulling the cigarette from his mouth and putting it out by smashing the hot end between his gloved fingers.

“Yeah, we both were training for it all day yesterday!” explained the mare.

“Kid’s gonna be in the show?” he asked as he adjusted his mask and flicked the shotgun closed.

“Well… maybe when she’s an adult. We have a whole strict set of guidelines on the show, to ensure the safety of everypony,” the pegasus answered.

“But she can’t fly, right?” he pointed out.

“Uh... no…” huffed Rainbow. “But that doesn’t mean she can’t help out in some ways! She can perform the sickest stunts ever! Give her a few more years and I’m sure they’d make a super special segment in the show just for her!”

"If it’s safe and makes her happy, guess that’s not a bad thing,” he admitted.

“So that means you’d be down to go?” Dash asked, giving a hopeful smile as she landed in front of him.

“Look, if I’m not halfway to another planet by then… I’ll THINK about it,” he offered, putting away the shotgun back inside the hollow tree.

She just sighed.

“It’s never easy with you, is it?” Dash groaned.

“I prefer to do things the hardcore way,” he snarked, turning back towards her.

“Yeah… right,” she huffed.

The two were both silent for a bit as she seemingly pondered something.

“Anything else?” he grunted.

“You should come back to Ponyville,” she said with a sigh. “There’s like half a dozen ponies who keep asking about you!”

“Who?” he said, a bit confused.

“Well aside from Scoots, there's Derpy, her daughter, Lyra, Bon Bon, heck, even freaking Cheerilee!” admitted the pegasus. “They keep asking me because I’m the only pony who knows where your camp is!”

“Tell them I don’t wanna come,” he answered.

“Oh come on, don’t be a sourpuss,” she said. “They really like ya! I’m even taking time out of a nap to come get you!”

“You’re napping this late in the evening?” Six deadpanned

“You try doing a Wonderbolts’ training session all day and not needing rest,” she defended. “But that’s not the point! The point is that for the time being, you’re stuck here. At least for another week or so until Twilight’s free to meet ya, anyways!”

“Is there no way to just go up to her castle and get a meeting?” he asked with a growl. "This is starting to piss me off."

“I mean, even if we told the guards to stand down from the big scary, red-eyed monster, I don’t know if they’d all be super pleased,” Dash pointed out. “Even then, she’s got a lot more important things on her plate, er-... no offense. But she does have a country to run and like, half a dozen other countries she has to keep an eye on.”

“Fucking monarchs,” Six said, crossing his arms.

“Hey! Have you tried running a country before?” she shot back.

“It wouldn’t have gone well if I did,” he admitted, as if he had experience in the matter.

She cocked an eye at him, but soon shook it off.

“Look, do you wanna come to Ponyville or not?” she offered with a tone of finality.

“If it’ll get you to shut up, I guess I’ll go,” he finally said with a scowl. “Lucky for you, I needed to get some things anyway.”

She gave a small smirk.

“Thanks, Six,” she said genuinely.

“Yeah,” he grunted, as he began to walk ahead.

“You knooowww,” Dash said, her word drug out with a sense of mischievousness, “I can get us there quicker than you walking the whole way!”

“Yeah, you just gonna fly me?” he scoffed with a smirk.

She smiled devilishly.

His smirk dropped under his mask.

“This is such fucking brahminshit,” growled the Courier, his arms crossed as he was held by Rainbow Dash’s forehooves.

She had him slung under her, with her forelegs going up under his arms to carry him properly.

He felt like a toddler being picked up. Utterly bizarre sensation; not enjoyable for him in the least.

“You could stand to lose a few pounds, ya know!” Rainbow Dash huffed, managing to hold him, though his bulk made her strain a bit.

“I wonder if a fall from this height would kill me,” he just snarked with annoyance, looking down at the approaching Ponyville as his pegasus ride flew quickly.

“Six, quit your yapping! You complained the whole way here!” Rainbow Dash shot back with her own tone of annoyance.

“And that’s still not enough if you ask me,” he said as she approached the ground.

When she was hovering a foot above the streets, she let go. His duster billowed at the short fall before he landed on his boots with a thud.

“Let’s never speak of this again,” he huffed, dusting himself off, as if her touching him had left dirt on his duster.

“You’re welcome,” she growled back, hovering above him.

“Yeah, whatever,” he grunted, looking around at the few ponies who had stopped to examine his unusual entrance. “So, where’s everyone who wants to see me?”

“Probably leaving work or school. Just walk around town and intermingle, I’m sure they’ll pop up soon,” explained Rainbow Dash.

“You do realize who you’re talking to, right?” he just deadpanned.

“Hey, it’s not my fault you’ve gotten a miniature fanbase at this point,” she sighed.

“That’s not exactly a good thing,” he shrugged.

“Before I forget, Starlight asked about you too,” Rainbow Dash added. “Said she wanted to see you in the next few days.”

“Am I supposed to know who that is?” the Courier asked back.

“She’s the principal of the School of Friendship, used to be Twilight’s student,” explained the pegasus.

He just blanked at her.

“She lives in the big crystal castle,” stated Dash flatly.

“Yeah I was beginning to wonder what that was for,” he shrugged, having noticed it in his past wanderings around town. “But an entire castle for a principal sounds a bit strange.”

“It used to be Twilight’s,” the mare said, her wings flapping lazily.

“Ah, right, think Rarity said something about that,” he mused.

“Look, I just need to rest up for today, I’ve got a long training session ahead of me and I need my sleep,” Rainbow huffed.

“Sounds like you need some coffee instead,” he snarked back.

“Haha, very funny,” she deadpanned. “Not everypony has insomnia like you!”

“I don-”

“Whatever, look, I’ll catch you on the flipside, Six,” she said, before flying off.

He just growled in annoyance, now stuck in town and given little direction.

Whatever, just walk along.

Not much to do back at the camp, anyways.

However, the human didn’t spot the rainbow-maned pony fly into a small alleyway a block or so away. It was empty, filled with only a few barrels and boxes.

“Pinkie!” Dash growled with a whisper-shout as she looked around. “Pinkie! Where are you?”

Suddenly, one of the barrels behind her popped open.

“Right heeerreee!” squeaked the pink pony, lifting her head into view.

“Why are you hiding in a barrel?” Dash deadpanned.

“I’m in disguise, duh!” Pinkie offered back.

“Why?” asked the pegasus.

“Uh, because he could’ve followed you?” pointed out the earth pony as if it was obvious.

“I- wh- Pinkie, he has no idea we have a party pla-”

A pink hoof covered her mouth.

“Shhh,” Pinkie shushed the pegasus. “He could be listening! You never know if he has super-secret extra-hearing powers.”

Dash just shoved the mare’s hoof away.

“Pinkie, he’s not some weird superhero! He’s just a… weird two-legged thing,” pointed out Dash.

“A weird two-legged thing which might have secret hearing powers!” Pinkie shot back.

“Look, did you get everypony in place or what?” huffed Dash.

“Of course! Well… not Rarity or Applejack; too busy at the moment! But the others are ready to go!” Pinkie smirked deviously. “This is gonna be the best S.S.S.S.S.P. ever!”

“Sssssp?” Rainbow Dash mimicked.

“Not sssssp, silly filly. S.S.S.S.S.P.!” corrected the pink mare. “Super Soft Super Secret Surprise Party!”

“How do you have a ‘soft’ surprise party?” Rainbow asked.

“Oh you’ll see,” giggled the earth pony back.

Rainbow Dash just looked on in confusion.

“For now, we just gotta wait for the others to do their job…” smirked the mare, in a comedically devious manner, rubbing her forehooves together.

As the Courier turned to walk down a different street, he heard trotting approaching from behind him. The streets weren’t super crowded, but hoofsteps actually coming towards him was a bit uncommon.

“Hey Six!” a familiar, feminine voice said, and he turned to face it.

“Bon Bon?” he asked, looking down at the earth pony.

“That’s not all,” smirked a certain aquamarine unicorn, standing beside her wife.

“You’re uh… Lyra, right?” asked the Courier after a moment of thinking back to his bench-based encounter with Bon Bon.

“The one and only!” she said with confidence, before eyeing up the human’s glove covered hands.

She approached him with a curious expression, eyeing him up and down. The unicorn was finally getting a close-up look at the human, after only having seen him from a distance in their prior “meetings.”

“What are you doing?” he asked, feeling a hint of confusion at her close examination of him, especially his palms.

“It’s just… so nice to see you,” admitted the unicorn, hiding her giddiness, though it broke through her voice here and there. “I mean, years and years of wanting to see a real human and the first time I do, he saves me from a dangerous monster and… just wow.”

“Yeah…?” he agreed, a bit unsure at the oddness of the situation.

“Back in the day they considered Lyra a crackpot,” Bon Bon teased, making her wife give her a glare.

However, the unicorn dropped the glare, giving a huff as an embarrassed blush crossed her face.

“It’s true,” she admitted with a pout. “Not even Bonny believed me!”

“But you were right,” Bon Bon winked.

“In a way, anyways,” the Courier shrugged.

The unicorn perked up a bit at his voice.

“Hey, this is gonna sound weird, but can I get a closer look at your hands?” she asked suddenly.

“I… what?” he asked.

“Lyra,” huffed Bon Bon.

“I mean, they’re so cool!” Lyra gushed. “Like you can grab stuff and throw it without magic, and unlike dragons, you don’t have those claws in the way! But I read you’d have a sensitive, more precise touch, you know? Gotta be a lot of nerves in them!”

He was silent for a moment

“I mean, you’re right in a way?” he finally offered.

She squeaked in excitement at that.

“So can I see your hands real quick? I can make a sketch!” she said, before magically pulling out a small pen and paper.

“I guess,” he finally caved, and held out his palm.

She looked at his gloved hand in excitement, her eyes practically lit up.

“Ooh that looks really nice! Can you remov-”

“Glove stays on,” he shut her down.

Lyra frowned looked over to Bon Bon, who only shrugged. A bit disappointed, she just nodded and faced back to the Courier, as she eyed up his palm, her pen beginning to copy its features into her notebook.

"Just uh, move them around and stuff!" she squeaked, back to being giddy.

He complied when he wiggled his fingers.

“Oooohh,” Lyra managed with excitement. “So coooool!”

He held his hand up a bit so she could see his open palm.

“That’s awesome!” she said, still excited as her pen began to get a bit jittery.

He had to admit, it was amusing seeing her in awe over something so basic as… rotating his wrist.

She just followed his hand's movement, almost like she was hypnotized.

“Is she alright?” the human asked, turning to Bon Bon as he continued waving his hand about.

“She’s fine, just a little starstruck,” smirked the earth pony. “It’d be like if you spent the better part of a decade dreaming about something and finally one day it just fell into your hoov- uh, hands.”

Six nodded, turning back to the still transfixed Lyra.

He suddenly snapped his fingers, and she jerked back in shock.

“Woah!” she managed. “That was so amazing!”

“You might wanna stop gawking at my hands before your wife gets jealous,” he smirked.

“Hey, I am not like that!” huffed Lyra with embarrassment, before Bon Bon chuckled and rested her forehoof over her wife's shoulders.

“He’s just teasing, Lyly,” said the mare, giving her wife her own pet name.

Lyra just blushed as she put away her half-finished sketch.

“So did you two call me to look at my hands and cuddle or what?” Six said, interrupting the two mares.

“Oh right,” huffed Bon Bon, blushing herself now. “We uh… wanted to invite you to lunch!”

“Lunch?” he repeated.

“Oh yeah, Derpy was getting off her shift soon and we had this whole thing planned! We figured you’d wanna be there!” explained Lyra with a smile.

He sighed, looking around as he put his palms on his hips.

They looked at him, seeming a bit nervous.

“Sure,” he just shrugged, finally answering.

“Great!” squeaked Lyra, giving a little hoof-stamp of approval.

“So where we going?” he asked.

“Just follow us!” Bon Bon said, and the two turned away, leading him down the street.

As they trotted ahead, the unicorn winked to her wife, who smirked back happily.

Courier Six didn’t notice, given he was a few paces behind them.

The walk was quite brisk, given most ponies still were a bit fearful of the hulking figure. Soon enough the trio came into view of a large house that had a decorated roof made up of what seemed to be gingerbread, frosting, and a cupcake at the top.

He looked at the architecture for a moment. Neat feat of engineering.

“So this the place?” he asked as the mares approached.

“Yep, Sugarcube Corner,” Lyra smirked.

“It’s absolutely awesome!” assured Bon Bon. “They make some of the best confections this side of Equestria.”

“Yeah, I think Sweetie Belle gave me a cupcake from here one time,” he mused. “It was pretty good. I didn’t get a lot of sweets back home.”

“Heh, we’ll be sure to fix that!” Lyra said with a chuckle.

The two stepped aside, letting him open the front door and enter in first. He didn't question it as he stepped inside.

He soon realized the lights were off as he stepped deeper into the building.

The Courier looked around with a sense of unsureness, before suddenly they flicked on, making him narrow his eyes questioningly.

About a dozen ponies surrounded him.

Dinky, Derpy, the CMC, Rainbow Dash, he recognized, there was also a pink earth pony with a poofy mane he thought he'd seen before. He vaguely thought he remembered her name, but blanked on it. There was also a purple earth pony he didn’t know at all. A yellow stallion and a light blue mare stood behind the group, a large, three-layered cake on a table between the two. Likely the bakers of the large confection.

“Surpriiiiise!” they all bellowed, though their tone was quieter and not the typical shout one would find at a normal surprise party. It was almost like they were whisper-shouting.

He cocked an eyebrow at that.

The ponies all looked at him with smiles, though the human just looked around, confused.

“Uh… alright?” he offered back. “I’m surprised?”

“Ooh he’s gooood,” the pink, floofy-maned mare huffed.

“Pinkie, I don’t think he even knows what this is,” Rainbow Dash sighed, doing a facehoof.

“What is this?” Six finally asked.

“It’s your S.S.S.S.S.P.!” Pinkie huffed, as if it was obvious.

He cocked an eyebrow under the mask.

“Your Super Soft Super Secret Surprise Party,” Rainbow Dash sighed, reciting the phrase from earlier.

“...what?” he offered.

“Instead of shouting at you and getting you angry, we just all whisper ‘surprise’ and you’d have no reason to be such a mean ol grumpy pants like you usually are!” Pinkie elaborated. “It was all part of my master plan!”

“I guess that makes sense?” Six said, barely even sure he was awake at the moment.

“Hey it’s alright! We’ll just keep the vibes chill and ease him into the party!” Lyra said, trotting up from behind the Courier.

“Look, I just came for lunch, alright,” he stated. “Not… whatever this is.”

“It’s a surprise party, silly!” Pinkie said, speeding up to him so fast he felt a gust of wind send his jacket billowing back. “Have you never been to a surprise party?”

“No,” he answered flatly.

She gasped loudly at that, before shocking him further by rearing up and giving him a powerful bearhug with her forelimbs.

“My goodness! You poor, poor thing!” she said, standing on her hind legs as she squeezed him.

He grunted, struggling a bit against her shockingly strong grasp.

“Let… go,” he growled.

“Ooops!” Pinkie said, doing as instructed with an embarrassed smile. “Sorry!”

He dusted himself off in annoyance.

“Hey, Six, it’s not bad to have fun, alright!” Dash said, hovering over to the human with a slice of cake on a plate outstretched in her hooves. “Cake’s free, on the house!”

He looked at the chocolate-covered confection, and then up at the rainbow pegasus.

“You tricked me into this,” he said, his voice gravelly.

“I didn’t!” she said back. “I was being genuine. Everypony here has been asking about you!”

Pinkie nodded.

“Yeah! After my talk with AJ, I learned you were a super-duper lone-wolf type!” Pinkie explained. “So that’s why I only invited a couple of ponies instead of the whole town like I usually do! I just got the ones who I knew wanted to come… it’s not as big as it normally is, but I figure you’d like that!”

He overlooked the crowd, spotting the unfamiliar earth mare once more. She lit up at his gaze and slowly trotted her way towards the human with a thankful-looking smile.

“Alright, the others I get, but who the hell are you?” he asked, gruffly pointing a finger at the pony.

“Sorry for my lack of introductions!” she offered back, still giving a soft, warm smile. “I’m Cheerilee! I’m here to thank you for saving the lives of my students. Dinky and the Crusaders talked really big about you in class today.”

“You didn’t have to come to a party just to tell me that,” he said flatly.

“I know but I just figured you didn’t have many ponies here giving you a warm welcome, even after the cheers you got at the hospital,” the teacher said. “If you ever need anypony to talk to, I’d be glad to call you my friend.”

“Thanks…?” he said back, unsurely.

She gave smile at that, nodding as she outstretched a forehoof.

The Courier took it and gave it a gentle shake.

She was mature, though was a similar age to the other adults in the room. Had a more matronly air of her. Not bad.

He’d encountered a few teachers in the past. She was sort of like them, just more warm. Then again, everything was warmer here.

"By the way, I brought you some homemade sarsaparilla, just over there on the table by the cake,” she said.

He gripped her forehoof a bit tighter, his body leaning in, red lenses looking into her lively eyes.

“You what?” he asked, his tone serious, like an addict being offered his substance of choice.

“Yes, Scootaloo mentioned you had a penchant for it, I occasionally make sodas as a hobby of mine, so I figured I’d try my hoof at it!” she said with a smirk. “I had some sarsaparilla vines growing in my garden and well, one thing led to another and… I hope you enjoy.”

He let her hoof go at that, nodding.

“I… thank you,” he said, his tone softer as he looked over onto the table.

With the stallion and pale blue mare having backed up a bit, he could see a large pitcher of the dark-colored liquid. It was filled with some ice cubes too, with condensation just rolling off of the glass.

His mouth felt dry at that.

Fresh.

“Hey Six!”

Ice cold.

“Six?”

A wasteland rarity.

“Six!”

Delicious necta-

“SIX!!!”

He was brought out of the trance by the familiar voice, looking down. Scootaloo stared back up, giving him a pouty face, with the other Crusaders at her side.

“Jeez, what’s wrong with you?” she rolled her eyes.

“Nothing,” he hissed. “What do you want, kid?”

“I just wanted to say hello to my friend,” she pouted, crossing her forehooves. “Guess you care more about soda than me.”

“Ice cold soda,” he corrected.

She snickered at that, giving a small smirk as she dropped her annoyed expression.

“You know, I was thinking that maybe once that whole meeting with Twilight thing goes over, if you don’t wind up teleporting away… we could search for your Cutie Mark!” Scoots offered.

“Kid I don’t think that’s gonna work,” he answered, his tone one of uncertainty. “Humans don’t get those.”

“We could still try!” Apple Bloom offered. “Griffons don’t either and Gabby got hers just fine! Even if we had to make it fer her.”

“Shouldn’t you be helping your sister, Apple Bloom?” he asked.

“Hey, we still got a bit of an excess today!” smirked the filly. “Thanks in part ta you.”

“Yeah, and Rarity’s already arranged a visit with Smolder for next week!” Sweetie happily added. “She’s getting the pony-based dresses prepped now! You really inspired her.”

“I’m just one big problem solver,” he sighed, looking over the party.

The stallion and mare duo soon walked up to him. They seemed more nervous than the others, but the yellow male spoke first.

“H-hello sir! We’re the Cakes!” he introduced with the best grin he could give, his wife giving a nervous smile as well. "I'm Carrot and this is my wife, Cup."

Pinkie popped up beside the Courier from seemingly nowhere, causing him to jerk his head towards her in surprise.

“Yeah, they helped on all these awesome snacks!” she said, praising the duo.

“You sure you don’t want compensation or something?” the human asked, looking back at the two.

The two’s nervousness slightly subsided at his generous offer.

“Well that’s mighty kind of you mister!” Mrs. Cake said, her smile more genuine and less tense now. “But no, we do this kind of stuff a lot. We’re not hurting for bits.”

“You sure?” the human offered. His voice gruff, but tone surprisingly helpful.

“Not unless you can bake a mean cake,” smirked Mr. Cake, giving a chuckle.

“I’ve baked once or twice,” the human shrugged.

The two Cakes looked between each other in thought, before turning back to him.

“Maybe we’ll think of something for ya eventually,” Mrs. Cake said with a smirk.

“Whatever you say,” the Courier shrugged.

“Why don’t you grab a slice, dear?” offered the blue mare with a soft smile.

“I might,” he responded.

“Take your time,” Mr. Cake chuckled. “But not too long! Don’t want it to all be gone before you’ve had a bite!”

The human nodded and the Cakes soon backed away, going over to intermingle with the other guests.

He soon felt a tap on the shoulder and turned, seeing Dash again, the same plate of cake in hand.

“They’re right you know,” she smirked. “This stuff’s good.”

He finally shrugged, giving in as he took the plate.

He looked as out of place as he felt.

Colorful ponies laughing and talking and being… genuine.

No hostilities or uncertainty.

He could see the Cakes had begun talking with Cheerilee, joking offhandedly about their own foals becoming students in her class.

Just friends.

He looked over and saw Derpy, wiping a large patch of frosting off Dinky’s cheek, before the small unicorn hugged her mother softly.

Family.

Bon Bon and Lyra were wrapped in a warm embrace off to the side, giggling softly to themselves.

Love.

…

A community.

He felt something nudge him in the back, and he turned around, looking down to see Pinkie Pie, who never left his side.

Her expression was soft, genuine.

“I can’t say I know what it’s like to be in your shoes, but I hope you like this party,” she said with a smile. “I know you can be grumpy and all, but you still deserve to smile like anypony else. Laughter is the best medicine, after all.”

She gave a small chuckle.

He stared in silence.

“I’m sorry you never got to experience a surprise party before. Like I said, Applejack told me a bit about you, so I know you come from a pretty rough place, but here in Equestria you can smile as much as you want,” the party pony offered. “Nopony will judge you.”

He sighed, taking a few seconds before he replied.

“You and your friends make it sound like it’s that easy,” he shrugged.

“No matter how hard it is, we’ll be there for you, Six,” Pinkie assured.

“You just met-” he just stopped himself before finishing, giving a sigh.

He remembered the whole conversation with Derpy. This one would likely go the same way.

“We make friends fast here,” she just said with a wide, toothy smile.

“Yeah, I noticed…” he nodded.

“I’ll stop buggin’ ya now,” she giggled. “If you need anything, you know where to find me.”

With that, she literally bounced away, hopping over to a table to meet up with Rainbow Dash.

He finally looked down at his cake, before shrugging and grabbing a nearby fork, taking a bite of it after he adjusted his helmet a bit.

Not bad.

Before long though, he tried Cheerilee's sarsaparilla.

It didn’t last the rest of the hour before it was gone...