Author's note: We haven't had a song in a while have we? I guess I just haven't thought of one that would work, I may toss one into this chapter for kicks. But have no fear, once we kick into the Hearthswarming plot there will be songs a plenty! Wow, I'm really making this Hearthswarming arc sound amazing, hope you aren't disappointed when it's nowhere near as good as I made it sound... Anyway, in a way this is sort of the first part of the arc as I, the narrator, am introduced to Maud, the first of the relatives I'll meet. In other news ENC is 20 chapters strong! I'd like to personally yet not individually thank everyone who's followed and/or favorited so far! I didn't think I'd have the perseverance to even write 7 chapters, here's to another 20 and even more! Sorry this chapter took a bit longer than you've been accustomed to, I honestly got a bit of writer's block with it because I can't write some characters all that well, Maud and Starlight to name a few. How convenient that they're important to this chapter? Oh, whoops, spoiler alert.

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Chapter 20: Rock and Roll without the roll

"You're clear kid, now let's blow this thing and go home!" I heard the voice from my headset say, it sounded like Rainbow Dash. I focused on my target through the cross hairs on my ship's blasters, and fired, the beams flew out nearly as fast as the speed on light and went clear into the target, the exhaust port of the giant space station of the Imperial army. The space station will not be named however for copyright reasons. But it rhymes with "Breath Tar". We bolted away from the large moon-like space station. Nothing happened for a few moments, when suddenly a massive explosion erupted from the space station, the mission was complete and we had won.

"Great shot kid, that was one in a million!" Rainbow Dash told me. I suddenly heard another voice in my head. It sounded like Discord.

"Remember, the Force will be with you... always." Suddenly my ship started shaking, or was it just me? I suddenly heard another voice in my head, this time it was Pinkie's.

"Chuck! Wake up! C'mooooonnnnn!" Ah. Now this makes sense.

---

Back in reality

"I wasn't asleep..." I yawned opening up my eyes to see her standing over me.

"Yeah right!" Pinkie jumped on me. "Did you know you talk in your sleep? You were all like 'pew! Pew pew! Boom!" She imitated sound effects from a sci fi spaceship.

"Okay maybe I was a little asleep." I grinned getting up out of bed. I yawned loudly and stretched out. "How long have you been trying to wake me up?" I asked.

"You've been asleep for years, I've had several affairs and your bar has been sold." Pinkie said, I could tell she was joking because she could hardly keep a straight face.

"I don't believe you." I smirked.

"I'm serious!" She chuckled.

"Yeah, right. Okay, who owns the bar now?" I asked.

"Uhh... Quibble! Yeah, Quibble!" She nodded unconvincingly.

"Okay, and who have you had these 'affairs' with?" I asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"Um... Uh..." She thought. "Big Mac?" She said.

"You said that like a question." I said dryly.

"Well it's hard to think of this stuff on the spot!" She defended herself.

"But hey, congrats, Big Mac is twice the stallion I am." I joked, well, not about him being twice the stallion I am, but about the congrats.

"No he's noooot." Pinkie said trying to boost my somewhat nonexistent self esteem.

"I didn't say it like it's a bad thing, I'm proud to be a wimp."

"Yeah, but you're my wimp." She hugged me. Maybe wimp wasn't the right word, but I was definitely no Ron Swanson.

"So what's on the agenda today?" I asked.

"Well, your bar should probably open soon." She said.

"Nopony drinks until at least lunch time." I said. Mornings were usually slow, usually morning would go like this: I open, nopony shows up, Cheese and Quibble show up, I remind Cheese he works here, he asks for the day off, and Quibble morning drinks... Which was I cycle I decided I should probably break for his health.

"Excuses excuses, c'mon, you've gotta go open up. I'll even stick with you for a while, I don't have anything for today!" She smiled.

"Thank Celestia." I smiled. "I get cabin fever when I'm there all by myself." I said putting on the bow tie she gave me. "How do I look?" I asked.

"Like a million bits!" She smiled.

"Please, I'm a two out of three lotto ticket at best." I joked, self deprecation was a form of humor I excelled at.

"Quiet you." She laughed as we went out the door.

---

My bar

"Maybe I should start offering food, then more ponies would show up through out the whole day." I said looking through the window.

"But there are like, a million places that already sell food!" Pinkie said swinging around in circles on one of the stools.

"You've got a good point." I turned to see what she was doing. "Ah, I figured you'd like that, I oiled that one up especially, just for you."

"Thanks a million!" A very blurred version of her said as she was spinning rapidly.

"No problem, it's the little things, huh?" I smiled getting back behind the counter. Suddenly the door opened. "Hi, Welcome to Chuck's, what can I get ya?" I asked without seeing who came in as I was looking for a spider under the counter, I swear the little bastard is here somewhere... Suddenly a loud shriek from Pinkie caused me to jolt upwards and whack my head off the counter. "Son of a bitch!" I cried in pain as I raised my head up. "What was that about?" I asked Pinkie. She just looked at me with a mile-wide grin pointing frantically at who walked in. I turned and saw Starlight Glimmer and Maud, ah.

"Chuckie! It's Maud! Remember we were talking about her! Huh? Here she is!" Pinkie jumped. "What are you two doing here?" Pinkie asked excitedly.

"I was stopping by to visit Starlight. She told me we should go here. I have no idea why." Maud said.

"I didn't tell her about.. Well, you two." Starlight whispered to us.

"About what?" Maud asked.

"Well Maaaauuuud..." Pinkie walked over to her. "This is Chuuuuck... And well, he's my special somepony!" Pinkie said motioning to me. I smiled awkwardly and waved a little.

"Hiya." I smiled. There was a long pause, nopony said anything for about 30 seconds. Pinkie just seemed to look at Maud with absolutely humongous eyes. After the pause Maud finally spoke up.

"Okay." She just said. Okay? I was better than 'okay'... I mean, I'm no 'that's amazing news' but I'm at least a 'hey, cool'.

"So anyway. Starlight, what was that thing you were saying?" Maud pretended the past 45 seconds just didn't really happen.

"Maud!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Don't you want to get to know him?" Maud turned and looked at me.

"Earth pony. Bartender. Big poofy hair, like yours. Mediocre filter when it comes to coarse language. Odd smirk. I think I've got it." She said. That about summed it up.

"But there's so much more to know! Ooh! I've got an idea! Let's all spend the day together! Ooh! Starlight! Wanna join?" Pinkie asked.

"I can see a train wreck waiting to happen..." I could hear her mutter. "But yes, mostly for Maud, but yes."

"Yay! This is gonna be so much fun! I'm so excited!" Pinkie wrapped us all in a group hug, an exchange of murmurs came from the Starlight and I, Maud however said nothing.

"Oh boy!" I grinned, masking the anxiety that has came over me.

---

Ponyville streets

Pinkie Pie was dragging Maud along with her up in front of the group, whereas Starlight and I lagged behind.

"So what made you decide to join in on this 'train wreck' so to speak?" I asked.

"Helping somepony learn to like her sister's coltfriend? friendship problem gold. I won't have to file a report for Twilight for weeks if I can tackle this, oh, and because Maud is my friend of course." She said. I couldn't help but laugh.

"Finding a benefit in somepony else's problem, I like the way you think." I laughed.

"Just doing what I can to get by." She said as we kept walking, Pinkie eventually slowed down so we were all walking together. She eventually pulled me aside from the two and told them we'd catch up.

"What's up?" I asked her.

"I just want to say I'm sorry for what she said earlier. About how you were just those things, you're more than that." She sounded a little upset about it.

"Why?" I asked. "I'm not upset."

"I was just hoping it would go better, that's why I came up with this idea, I know it may not seem the the funnest idea but, this is important, for me." She said far more seriously than I expected.

"I'll make sure it goes well." I smiled at her. She started to smile again.

"For what it's worth, I don't think your smirk is that odd..." We laughed.

"Well thanks." I said. "I understand how much this would mean to you, family matters." I said.

"Thanks Chuckie!" She kissed me on the cheek. "So since you said family matters, when am I gonna meet your family?" She asked.

"Let's stick with this story arc for now, huh?" I brushed the question off, that arc won't come until at least the wing man arc is over or near completion. Ooh, foreshadowing, that's right, don't quit the story yet, I've got plot devices for a long time coming.

"Story arc? Never mind." Pinkie shrugged off what I said as we caught up with Maud and Starlight.

---

Ponyville Nature Park

Pinkie's plan to make Maud and I friends consisted of what seemed to be a pretty concise plan which seemed to consist of activities for the whole entire day, how on Earth did she come up with a plan so quickly? She probably didn't and she's just had this plan ready just in case for months now. Step one was a picnic. Which was funny to me as a picnic was the first time Pinkie and I actually spent time together, just the two of us. (See chapter 3. Or don't, the story kind of sucks until about chapter 6 or 7). So far, everything was going well, if Pinkie, Starlight and I being the only ones to talk means 'well'.

"So Maud, Pinkie tells me you have a rocktorate in rock science, pretty neat huh?" I say. "Bet it really, shall I say, rocks." I joked.

"Ha. Rock joke." Maud spoke up.

"If you liked that one he's got millions more! Chuckie's hilarious!" Pinkie talked me up to her sister.

"Oh. That's interesting." Maud replied to her.

"Why don't we... hear another one! Only a matter of time until he tells a good one..." Starlight suggested. Hey!

"But seriously though..." I transitioned into another joke. "We need more ponies who do that sort of thing, Celestia knows that field of knowledge is taken for granite!" Ba dum Tss. (The author is not responsible for the murderous rage you may feel after reading that joke or any other joke that may ever be used in this story).

"Ha! Ha-Ha-Ha! Wasn't that hilarious!" Pinkie supported me.

"It was okay." Maud said. Pinkie and I exchanged glances.

"Why don't you tell Maud about yourself? I'm sure she'd find your backstory really interesting!" Pinkie suggested.

"I'd love to!" I grinned. I went on to explain my whole backstory of how I came to be living in a completely different dimension, because when you meet someone for the first time, the first thing you should definitely do is tell them your life story. I expected a long pause afterwards, I've gotten that before, in fact, it normally always results in a long pause. But normally that pause you can tell the pony you're talking to is breathing it all in. This time? Nothing. Eventually she did speak up.

"Cool." She said dully. Meanwhile, Starlight, who had never heard my backstory until now just stared with a wide open jaw which I couldn't help but laugh at.

"There's no way that's possible." She said.

"You callin' me a liar?" I arched my eyebrow.

"He's telling the truth." Maud said. We all looked at her, I mean, I knew I was telling the truth, but nopony expected her to speak up.

"What do you mean?" Starlight asked.

"You could tell by his facial expressions throughout the story. Eye contact and the amount of included details are also factors. He's either telling the truth or is a very talented liar." Maud explained.

"Which couldn't possibly be true!" Pinkie continued. "Chuckie can't tell a lie to save his life!" It was true, I really couldn't. I am a terrible liar.

"That's true." I nodded and turned to Starlight. "That is check-and-mate. King me." I grinned.

"Two different games. The reference is albeit humorous." Maud said seeming to accept my somewhat goofy personality a bit more than before.

"You're starting to get allooo-ooong!" Pinkie hummed to me. I chuckled a little bit and turned to her.

"I'd say we're doing well." I nodded. I generally have no problem liking others, but interestingly enough, it doesn't often work the same way in reverse, so I was happy to see progress.

"How's everypony like the food?" Pinkie brought up.

"It's great!" I said. Starlight nodded in accordance.

"Mmhmm." Maud said.

---

Ponyville streets

After lunch, the four of us started strolling through town.

"So Maud, why don't you tell Chuck about yourself!" Pinkie suggested to her.

"I like rocks. But you already knew that." She said. That I did.

"Aw come on Maud! There's more than that!" Pinkie led her on.

"I enjoy fine art." She said. "Of rocks. Nature too. But mostly rocks."

"Well that's neat!" I say. "I've always enjoyed art, nature paintings are definitely amazing to look at, almost as good as the real thing!" I laughed. I did actually enjoy art, I always enjoyed admiring paintings and sculptures at museums, wow, I'm boring!

"That's nice." Maud said.

"Since when do you enjoy art?" Pinkie asked me.

"I never said it was my biggest passion." I told her. "I just never really brought it up I guess."

"Is there anything else I don't know about you?" Pinkie asked.

"Yes. I used to be a tap dancer, until I had four legs to look after instead of two." I joked. Me, a tap dancer? Yeah right.

"I can tell that was a lie." Maud spoke up.

"Yeah, it was." I laughed. Starlight and Pinkie looked at each other.

"So things seem to be going alright between Maud and Chuck." Starlight said to her. Pinkie nodded happily.

"Sure are!"

"Just wondering really, but why does this matter so much to you?" Starlight asked.

"I always thought it that it would be important." Pinkie replied.

"Important that he likes your family?" Starlight asked.

"The other way around, I mean, it would be great if Chuck likes them, but I'm more concerned that they like him." Pinkie explained.

"Why's that?" Starlight asked.

"Well ya see, I've always been real different from them, and in a way I always felt like an outsider because of it." She explained. "And I love Chuck, and it would be nice if they could like him."

"So you're gonna dump him if they don't?" Starlight asked.

"What!? No of course not!" Pinkie laughed. "Why would you even say that?"

"Yeah. Why would you?" I looked at her.

"I wasn't meaning to offend you, either of you, I was just wondering." She said. "Sorry if I offended you, which I seemed to have."

"It's cool." I brushed it off.

"I don't really know how they're going to take it really, that's why I was glad Maud showed up! I'll be glad if at least one of them like him." Pinkie told Starlight.

"What's to say they won't all like me?" I asked.

"They probably won't." Maud spoke up. "Definitely not dad."

"Oh Maud, don't be ridiculous!" Pinkie laughed brushing what she said off, but I could tell that Pinkie probably felt the same way.

"I'm sure it'll be fine." I smiled at Pinkie.

"You'd better be sure, or I may do what Starlight suggested!" She joked, we both shared a laugh.

"It wasn't an actual suggestion!" Starlight interjected.

"She was clearly kidding." Maud smirked at Starlight.

---

Afterwards. My bar

After the visit had came to a close, we said farewell back at my bar. Pinkie and I stood and watched Maud and Starlight walk off.

"Well that was fun huh?" I asked.

"I guess so.." Pinkie looked down.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked.

"I dunno, I just couldn't really tell if it worked that's all..." She told me.

"I'm sure it worked, tell you what, why don't I prepare a root beer float for you?" I offer. She instantly sprang up.

"Really? Yay!"

"I'll make it in a second, head on inside." Before I could finish, she had bolted in, I quickly ran off to catch up with Maud and Starlight.

"Hey! You guys! Wait up!" I called after them, the turned around to see me.

"Oh, hey Chuck." Starlight said.

"Hey..." I wheezed catching my breath after catching up to them. "Can I just talk to Maud for a second?" I asked.

"Okay?" Starlight said questioningly as Maud and I walked to the side.

"I know why you ran back here." Maud said.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah. Pinkie was worried that you didn't like me so you came to clear things up with me." Maud said. I cocked my eyebrow a little.

"Yes... Yes that is it exactly." I nodded, she was close, but wrong. "I do like you." I told her, and I did, so unlike my previous statement, I was telling the truth.

"Okay. You seem to make my sister happy. You also seem like a nice pony. You two suit each other well. I love my sister and I'm glad to see her happy, with you. She could definitely do far worse, so for what it's worth, yes, I like you too." She told me.

"That's great." I smiled. "I look forward to seeing you around."

"Likewise. I still have to introduce you to my pet, boulder. I have a feeling he'll like you as well." She said.

"I look forward to it." I nodded bidding her farewell as I ran off back to the bar. "Who wants a root beer float?" I asked entering the bar.

"This gal!" Pinkie excitedly motioned to herself.

"Coming right up cutie pie." I smiled getting behind the counter gathering the ingredients.

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So another chapter comes to a close, I'm sorry if this chapter comes off as a bit boring or not as good as other chapters, you can blame me not knowing how to write half the featured characters for that, stay tuned for the next chapter!