Once Upon A Normal Day

"SURPRISE!!!!"

The whole town popped out from beneath table, behind door, and even out of... the kitchen cabinets? Eyes wide, I looked around the room. Streamer hung from the ceiling in every color imaginable. Balloons were grasping onto the chairs and table legs of all shapes and sizes. Over on one side of the room, there was a mountain of gifts, and on the other, a table with the most amazing feast of deserts I'd ever seen! But the thing that got to me the most was the huge banner that stretched across the whole room that read:

Welcome To Ponyville!

I felt tears swelling up in my eyes as I smiled.

"Who- who did all of this?"I asked, starting to cry.

"Everyone did." called out a familiar voice.

"Twilight!" I ran over to her, giving her a hug.

"We all helped out, sugarcube."

"Applejack?" I couldn't seem to find her. I felt a tap on my shoulder from behind me.

"The one and only!" I just couldn't get my mind off her accent.

"We all wanted to make it really special so you'll always remember your first day in Ponyville." I knew that quiet, sweet voice anywhere.

"Oh, thank you all so much!" I wiped away a tear.

Twilight smiled, "None of us could have done this without the help of-"

"ME! Silly filly!" Pinkie Pie was hanging from- well, something, and she booped my nose and got down from whatever it was on the ceiling.

"Pinkie Pie? I thought you were afraid of me or something..." I backed down.

"Oh! You mean when I screamed and ran off? Well...

When I first saw you, you were with Twilight, and I hadn't seen you before! And if I hadn't seen you before, then you must be new! And if you're new then you must not have many friends! And if you don't have many friends, then you must be soooo lonely! Then I thought about what it'd feel like to be that lonely and it was scary! It was so scary, I screamed! And then I thought what would make you less lonely, so then I ran off to get this whole party set up! I invited everypony in town! Now you can make lots and lots of friends!"

Looking around the room... she was right! Lyra, Bon-Bon, Octavia, Vinyl scratch, Carrot Top, Derpy, even Snowflake was-

"YEEEAHHHHHHH"

........here.

  Even with as many ponies there were, the whole room was silently staring at me. The DJ behind her turn tables, I saluted to her to turn up the volume. Since everypony in town was here, then it wouldn't matter! A few songs later, karaoke started. I had Sweetie Belle go up and sing her favorite song, "Hush Now Quiet Now" Her voice was beautiful! Afterwards, the crowd was cheering my name.

"Rain-bow-Shine! Rain-bow-Shine! Rain-bow-Shine!" They wanted me to sing. I shook my head, although smiling, until Pinkie Pie and Lyra pushed me on the stage. Vinyl handed me a headset with a microphone on it and i put it on.

"So, what track do you want?" Vinyl asked, pulling down her glasses.

"That won't be necessary. Does anypony have a cup I can borrow?" everyone looked puzzled. Twilight levitated a cup over to my hooves. Oh- right... hooves... I sat there contemplating how to do this when I had an idea. Using my back legs to turn the cup around, I started singing.

"I got my ticket for the long way round. Two cups of cider for the way... And I sure would like some sweet company, and I'm leaving tomorrow, whadaya say? When I'm gone, when I'm gone, you're gonna miss me when I'm gone. You're gonna miss me by my mane, you're gonna miss me everyday, oh you're sure gonna miss me when I'm gone."

Octavia started to play along on her cello.

"I got my ticket for the long way round, the one with the prettiest of views. It's got mountains, it's got rivers, it's got sights to give you shivers, but it sure would be prettier with you. When I'm gone, when I'm gone, you're gonna miss me when I'm gone! You're gonna miss me by my walk, you're gonna miss me by my talk, oh. You're gonna miss me when I'm gone." I slammed the cup down on the stage, looking up wildly into the crowd. Silence. Nothing but silence. I had started to think, looking back on what I could have been doing wrong. All at once, as if a tsunami hit me, there were cheers, whistles, and 'YEEEAHHHHHHH's amongst a stomping audience. I smiled, knowing I put on a good performance. Twilight and Rarity approached me with an astonished look across their face.

"Darling that was amazing! You have such a lovely voice!" Rarity exclaimed.

"You thought that was good..? I know fish that can sing better than me.."

"Oh Rainbow Shine, don't be so modest!" Twilight smiled, "You put on a more stunning performance than most singers in Equestria!"

"You could be just as fabulous, if not more, than... Sapphire Shores." Rarity sighed at the thought. After much admiration, there was a brutal knock at the door.

"I thought everyone was here..." Pinkie Pie said, She frantically scanned the room and turned around with the scariest face I've ever seen on her.

"RAINBOW DASH ISN'T HERE!!!" I have never seen Pinkie Pie so furious before. Not even when Applejack broke a Pinkie Promise.

"Calm down, Pinkie, it's probably her right now." Twilight stilled the pink pony. Fluttershy went to answer the door, when it bursted open anyways. Rainbow Dash flew inside, looking quite upset. Pinkie Pie went insane.

"WHERE WERE YOU?!?!"

"At my house, Pinkie. I only came here because I Pinkie Promised you I'd show up." she soared to the center of the room, still in the air. "I don't see why you all like this mare so much anyways. Doesn't anypony else think's it's sketchy that another pony that none of us had ever met, has the same mane as me, and the same first name? Seems a little out of place, don't you think? Rainbow Shine?" she had pressed her face against mine, backing me into a corner.

Twilight pulled the pegasus back by her tail with her magic, and countered her thoughts, "Rainbow Dash, there's always a possibility that your father, you know, with another mare other than your mother, and then passed on the rainbow mane gene to her. It is a dominant gene you know."

"My father was as loyal to my mother as I am to you, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie! But even if that was true, why doesn't she have her cutie mark yet? She's a fully grown mare!" she was almost yelling, pointing at me.

Twilight stood in front of me, "Rainbow Shine is perfect the way she is!" The other four elements started to stand around me, creating a barrier. "She doesn't need a cutie mark to be a great friend!"

They were shouting now. I was cowering like Fluttershy would if there were an adult dragon nearby... but, she wasn't cowering.. I looked up at her to see her proudly standing there, standing up for me.

"I have a bad feeling about her Twilight! She's not like us!" Rainbow Dash was in Twilight's face, pointing at me. I felt tears swelling in my eyes as I quivered on the spot. She was right.. I wasn't one of them.. I had longed for so long to be a pony, that once I was one, I forgot about my human life. Instantly, everything flashed in front of my opened eyes, my childhood, my friends, my family, and my boyfriend that I had left back in the human world. Not knowing how to react whether to Rainbow Dash's yelling, or the feeling of missed loved ones, I ran to another room crying. Everypony started to mumble as the cyan pegasus left the house. Twilight knocked on the door to the room I escaped to a few minutes later.

"W-wh-who's th-there..?" I asked, shakily.

"It's just us, Rainbow Shine." Twilight opened the door slowly, trying not to alarm me. Fluttershy flapped her wings and landed next to me, wrapping her arm around my back. The dim light above us turned on, as somepony flipped on the lights. Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie came in. I turned away so they wouldn't see my face as I tried to wipe my tears away. I rotated my body around to see Pinkie's mane and tail deflated, as she looked at the floor, and Applejack holding her hat over her chest, staring at the ground in both sadness and disbelief in what she just witnessed.

"Ah'm real sorry this happened at yer' welcomin' party, sugarcube...." Applejack looked as if she thought it was all her fault.

"Why- why does Rainbow Dash hate me..." I looked at the floor, stains in my coat where tears were once shed.

"Oh, darling, I don't think she hates you. I think she's just jealous of you for being somewhat like her." Rarity comforted.

I started to get up, and walked over to her. I hugged her, then Twilight, followed by Fluttershy, Applejack and Pinkie Pie. Putting my hoof on her shoulder, she looked at me.

"Pinkie Pie..." I started, "I think we have a party to finish" I cracked a smile. Her blue eyes widened, and her hair popped back to its original poofy state. We walked back into the main room, most of the ponies still there. Only the families that had fillies or colts with them had gone home, to tuck their little ones into bed. But Vinyl was still behind her turn tables, drinking some cider, so we danced around for a while longer, forgetting the incident. At the very end of the party, a huge cake was rolled into the room. The icing was every color of the rainbow, and the cake itself was a rosy pink! On the top it read:

                                                        Welcome to Ponyville, Rainbow Shine!

After the party was over, Twilight and Applejack helped Vinyl get her turn tables out the front door. Everyone had left but the five Elements. I looked back at the room that not too long ago held so many dancing ponies. It was completely trashed!

"Oh no... we trashed somepony's house!" I started to freak out, picking up trash here and there. The five ponies giggled at each other.

"Uh... can I get some help here? What if the pony that owns this house comes back to find it trashed!" I was wide eyed.

"Oh, you're so silly!" Pinkie laughed.

"This ain't just somepony's home, this is you're house now, sugarcube!" Applejack smiled at me. I couldn't believe it... my very own house.. in Ponyville! I was surprised at the gesture.

"But- I don't have a job... how will I pay-"

"You won't have to," Twilight stepped towards me. "Everyone in Ponyville pitched in, and we all bought the house for you!" They all looked at me and smiled.

"Ho- How much was this house?" I asked, more shocked than I was not sixty seconds ago. Tears began to swell in my eyes, as I tried to keep them from leaking.

"It was one thousand bits, but with Rarity's gem-finding spell, she easily paid for most of it." Twilight explained.

"You easily paid me back though, darling! With this beautiful dress you made for me!" She was still wearing the dress! I had completely forgotten!

"You made this dress, Rainbow Shine?" Twilight looked at the dress and back at me, surprise in her eyes.

"Oh my, it's beautiful, Rainbow Shine!" Fluttershy said in her sweet voice, fluttering her wings.

"Uh, yea, I made it. I was just being curious and-" I was cut off.

"She found a box of scraps that I would have never been able to salvage, but! She made it work!" Rarity said, proudly showing her new dress to everyone.

After a while, everypony went home, and I toured the house until I came across a bedroom. I had brought one of the presents with me, as I would open the rest in the morning. This one, was from Twilight. I layed down on the bed, opening it up.

                                                                  "Ponyville In A Nutshell"

I had forgotten it at the library! There was a note on top that was folded in half. I opened it and read aloud:

Rainbow Shine,

I want you to keep this book. I've already begun another with more detail,

and I'm going to include you in it. Welcome to Ponyville.

Yours truly,

Twilight Sparkle

I put the book to rest on the nightstand next to the bed, smiling. Life as a pony was much easier than that of a human.