Chapter 2: Chapter Two
Pinkie Pie had a certain nose for newcomers. It was something like a sixth or seventh sense, a quiet tingle in the air, a whisper on the wind, something saying that there was a new pony in the area. And a new pony meant a new party, to welcome them to town!
Usually it was something that built up over time, barely noticeable and hard to explain to anyone. This time, though? It was a sudden realization, coming in all at once, as though instead of walking in from a distant horizon someone had immediately appeared in a previously empty room. Just suddenly there, where previously they had not been, in the moment between the eyes blinking shut and then open again.
And, well, how could she not investigate something like that? It was new, and new things and ponies were interesting, after all. And more importantly, every new pony deserved a party, to make them feel welcomed and accepted as they moved into a new place!
It wasn't difficult to locate the new person, as he stood out. Large, for a pegasus. Pinkie didn't like to generalize, but where Earth ponies tended to get big, pegasi tended to lean towards the smaller end of the measuring scale. Less weight meant they could fly better, as she understood it. This new pony bucked that trend though, being close to the size of a solid Earth Pony that had worked to farm vegetables or minerals his whole life... but without the bulk of muscle. He was lean instead of bulky, tall and large but with muscle bunched up into narrow whip-cords that had a very interesting effect. Not quite feminine, like Princess Celestia, but securely distinct from what Pinkie was familiar with when it came to big ponies.
It was exotic and interesting! Though the first thing she should do was present a friendly face, rather than anything more. However curious she was, the welcoming party came first!
His coat was a darker shade of grey, like a cloud filled right up to bursting with rain that hadn't quite begun to fall yet, complementing the inky blackness of his mane and feathers. It was juxtaposed by teal blue eyes, like pools of cool water that you could just fall right into and tumble to the bottom before floating back up, soaking and shivering. He didn't have much in the way of ornamentation that Pinkie could see, but he was carrying a long pack strapped to his side with a number of belts that went around his midsection to secure it in place, halfway covering a cutie mark and obscuring it enough that she couldn't really make out what it was supposed to be. Pinkie didn't see any reason to pry about what was in there, but it didn't really look like the mail bags that got used by couriers or delivery ponies, so she could only assume it was his own things carried with him on his travels... how exciting! Well, unless he actually didn't have anything else or a home to store his things in, instead of traveling freely across the countryside. Then it would be a little sad... but she was sure it was fine! He seemed clean and tidy, after all, so even if he was homeless he still took an interest in taking care of himself. Plenty of room for ponies to set up a home in Ponyville and move right in!
He did seem a little disoriented, of course. Both just standing there and staring vacantly into the distance when Pinkie first saw him, as though he hadn't really expected to be here and hadn't quite processed that he was. A gaze that wasn't fixed on anything in particular, not really responding to any of the surroundings he was taking in until Pinkie had approached. And so tense, in a way that Pinkie couldn't quite put her hoof on. His wings kept shifting, starting to stretch out like he was thinking of taking off into the sky before folding back in next to his sides again. All keyed up and just shy of taking a flying leap into the sky, but holding it back or not being quite aware of the fact that he could. Well, a good party was just the thing for relaxation, too! Not the best, maybe, but she'd like to get to know a stallion before hinting at something more than that or considering introducing him to someone. Her sister could do with some loosening up too! Even if she'd pointedly refused anything of the sort for as long back as Pinkie could remember. Very focused on the job, not big on taking breaks or entertaining herself with anything other than the rocks. Well, to each their own! Try as you might, you couldn't really force anyone to have fun, after all.
Anyway, even though he was slow to loosen up, he... Oh gosh! Pinkie had completely forgotten to get the stallion's name!
"My name?" he asked, hesitantly, and oh gosh was he shy? That was adorable and it explained a lot about why he was so skittish when she found him, but no, focus... "It's... Midnight Thunder."
"Wow! So you work with the weather control, huh?" Pinkie asked, making a reasonable assumption.
"Weather control? ... I could, but no. Right now, I'm... taking a break." Midnight Thunder said, feeling around what to say in a way that was almost but not quite awkward.
Well, that was something. So he was on vacation? He wasn't old enough to be retired and not working at all, after all, and he didn't strike Pinkie as being the sort of person who did something to get fired from their job either. She supposed it made sense that he was a little out of sorts if he was used to focusing entirely on his work and didn't know what to do with his vacation time, too! Pinkie knew a few ponies like that, including her sister. Maybe herself too? It was different, though, when your calling was how you enjoyed your time, of course.
"So... you throw a lot of parties?" Midnight Thunder asked, with the tone of someone who was looking to make conversation but wasn't sure yet of the right balance between not being so intrusive as to be inappropriate and not defaulting to inane and meaningless small talk.
"Uh huh! Party specialist of Ponyville, that's me, Pinkie Pie!" Pinkie declared. "Big and small, I do them all. Well, not all all. Sometimes a party is just to big even for me to handle every last thing, right? Like the Summer Sun Celebration!"
"Or sometimes people will want a small, quiet celebration about something, I suppose." Midnight Thunder commented.
Pinkie could only blink in incomprehension at that, though. He had certainly said words, there! She understood each and every one of them, individually at least. But somehow, he had strung them together in a way that, despite being grammatically correct and adding up into a complete and coherent sentence, just made no sense whatsoever. After a moment she brushed it off and moved on. Everyone said something silly sometimes, after all! Pinkie herself did that a lot of the time, even.
"It's kind of a big deal. We drink a lot on the evening before, then everyone gets up early in the morning and looks out east while the Mayor gives a speech, then the royal guards play a fanfare and Princess Celestia ascends to the sky while raising the sun!" Pinkie explained.
"It sounds like something incredible to see." Midnight Thunder replied, a faint wistfulness in his tone as he looked out over the vibrant countryside.
A sensitive soul? Pinkie liked that, but she wasn't sure if she really liked it, in that way. It was traditionally romantic, sure, but when people were sensitive they tended to get put out over little jokes or experimenting with food even when it wasn't a joke. Hot-sauce-frosted cupcakes were fantastic, for example, but nobody was ever willing to give them a chance to grow on them!
There was no reason to put everything on a first impression, though! Pony new to town, hadn't yet settled in, still getting their hooves under them as they adapted to living in a new place... and Pinkie knew it could be really different from life out on a remote rock farm, and the same could probably be said for moving in from the big cities... only, you know, in the other direction.
Yep, no reason to base any big decisions on the first meeting. Even if Midnight Thunder wound up being the sort of guy who was too soulful and picky for Pinkie to have any personal fun with, she could always introduce him to Maud, after all. She... Actually, Pinkie wasn't sure if she did like that type, come to think of it. Buuut it wasn't like she had to let on why she was introducing them either, and especially not if she was doing it because she wasn't interested in him herself. That'd be kind of rude to admit! It would have to be something closer to 'I think you'd look good together' or something like that. But not in an illicit way that implied that Pinkie had been putting a lot of thought into them doing the dirty. Unless they seemed interested in that, she supposed? Pinkie wasn't sure how she would feel about just sitting in place, watching something fun happening, and not getting involved, of course, but...
"It sure is!" Pinkie agreed, rather than careen too far down that train of thought. "But only Celestia can move the sun around, and I can't exactly give orders to the Royal Guard either, sooo... only so much I can do for a big ceremony like this!"
"Or the mayor, of course." Midnight Thunder noted, sparking a thought in Pinkie about just how far she could get away with pushing Mayor Mare for the sake of a- "It's not exactly a party anyway, right? It sounds like the partying gets done the night before, and the Summer Sun Celebration is a ceremony more like a... parade, maybe? Not exactly, but similar to that. The point isn't really to get involved so much as it is to be there and cheer as it happens, the way you're explaining it."
"That... you know, that is a really good point!" Pinkie cheerfully agreed.
It also left her feeling a whole lot better about not really being able to do as much for the celebration as she wanted if it wasn't really a party to begin with. She still felt like she should do something for it, but it was fair to point out that there was partying going on beforehand and she could definitely take part in stirring things up to a higher level there!
Oh! And if there was already a clear dividing line between ceremony time and party time, well that meant that there was also the period after the ceremony to think about! An after-party, fitting the holiday ceremony obligations in between two related parties. Like a party sandwich!
Pinkie could go for a sandwich right now, to be honest. Party prep-work and action took a lot of energy, and she couldn't exactly snack on the cakes and pies meant for the event itself, right? That meant that there wouldn't be enough for the party itself, and she was going to have to whip up more for some surprise evening parties to set the stage for the Summer Sun Celebration Party Sandwiching!
Speaking of surprise parties, there was also another newcomer to Ponyville that Pinkie had yet to greet, and that meant she had to move along to setting up the balloons and banners in the new pony's library house before she got back from her walk about town. If Pinkie didn't manage that and got noticed, well, then it wouldn't be a surprise party at all!
It would still be a party, though, and so far as Pinkie cared? Well, on the whole that was still just as good in the end.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone