"C'mon, Danny, let's go!" Pinkie Pie bounced through the town excitedly with a huge smile on her face. I followed behind her from a small distance. She had offered to give me a tour of Ponyville, and maybe a job, depending on whether or not she can convince the Cakes to hire me. It wasn't a very good tour, as all she did was point to each building and tell me what it is before rushing on. I was at least able to find my way around town.

After the tour, me and Pinkie stopped by the Carousel Boutique to check on my suit, which was complete. Of course, Rarity refused payment from me and said it was a gift. I didn't have to take it home since she offered to keep it in her shop until I needed it. She also made me a saddlebag to wear, which I found quite useful for carrying things and hiding my lack of a cutie mark.

Pinkie also took me to the various markets so I could buy some things for my house. We mostly bought food and brought it all back to my house, although I didn't have to buy much. When Jeff moved out, not only did he leave his furniture, but he also left all of his food.

Ponyville was bigger than I imagined, and we walked through every street. Pinkie was able to bounce the same distance I walked without even breaking a sweat, but my feet were starting to feel sore from walking alone. I hoped that someday I would get used to walking everywhere, like everpony else does.

Now that we've done all of that, Pinkie was taking me to sugarcube corner to get something to eat. I hadn't eaten anything since yesterday's party, so I looked forward to seeing what the Cakes had to offer.

"Omigosh! There it is! Let's go, I'm starving!" Pinkie dashed through the doors of the bakery. Instead of wondering how she can run so quickly, I simply follow her inside.

Entering the Sugarcube Corner, I was greeted by the sweet aroma of freshly baked cake. Instead of party decorations, now I could see lots of delicious looking cakes on display behind glass. There were a few ponies sitting at tables eating cake. Pinkie was sitting on the counter, helping herself to some chocolate chip cookies laid out on a plate.

She ate several in a row before asking me, "Danny, want some cookies?" She held one up to me.

"Are you supposed to be eating those?" I say hesitantly. "And how are you holding those?"

"C'mon, they're delicious!"

Those cookies smelled amazing, and looked delicious, but I didn't want to risk getting in trouble with the Cakes. I needed to be on their good side to get hired. "I don't think so."

A yellow earth pony stallion, who I knew to be Mr. Cake, walked in from a door behind the counter and saw Pinkie eating the cookies he laid out. He then looked very annoyed, like he's dealt with Pinkie many times before. "Pinkie!" He scolded irritably. He sighed and put his hoof to his face. "Those weren't for you. And stop sitting on the counter, that's where food goes."

"Oh, sorry about that." Pinkie smiled sheepishly and got off the counter.

"Let me pay for those." I levitate my pouch of bits out of my saddle bag and place in on the counter.

"That'll be five bits, sir." The Mr. Cake takes the bits I count out and puts them into a cash register.

"Aww, you didn't have to do that." Pinkie, bites into another cookie. "I just have to do extra work when I eat the Cakes' food."

"Really?"

"Yes she does," The stallion says, still irritated from earlier. "In exchange for working here, Pinkie Pie is allowed to live here, and if she does extra work, we pay for her parties and the food she eats. She does owe a lot of extra work though. I'm Carrot Cake, by the way."

"I'm Daniel. I'm a friend of Pinkie."

"That reminds me, Pinkie, shouldn't you be working right now?"

She had finished the cookies, leaving an empty plate. "Oh right. I was just giving Daniel a tour of Ponyville, he's new here. I also wanted to get him a job so he has a way of making money. Can he work here?"

Could she be any more direct? I don't think that'll help me much.

"No, Pinkie. I can't do that. I don't even know him. Cup Cake would never approve of that."

"Let's ask her."

"Ask me what, dearie?" Mrs. Cake came out from the kitchen. "I heard somepony talking about me."

"Mrs. Cake, can my new friend get a job here? He's new in Ponyville, and he doesn't have a job, or very many friends yet. He's a hard worker and it would be great if he could work here. Please?"

"If he's new in Ponyville, then how do you know he's a hard worker?"

"Well, I don't, but he is."

"I don't know if that's a good idea."

"Pleeeeeaaaase?" Pinkie stared at them with puppy dog eyes, which made her look absolutely adorable. I doubt anypony could say no to her after seeing that. Mr. Cake didn't seem to care, but it got through to Mrs. Cake.

Mrs. Cake sighed. "Carrot, come with me, we'll discuss it." She went back into the kitchen.

"Is it just me, or is she too nice?" I ask.

Mr. Cake leans over the counter and whispers in my ear, "She is way too nice. It was her decision to let Pinkie live here, not mine."

"That makes sense." And with that, Carrot went into the kitchen too.

"Yay! Didja that, Danny? You might be able work here!" Pinkie started bouncing in place.

"Sshh," I say. I walk behind the counter and put my ear to the door to hear what they're saying in the kitchen. I couldn't quite figure out who was saying what, but I could understand them.

"But we can't just hire a random pony off the streets because he claims to be Pinkie's friend. We don't know how experienced he is." I assume that the first voice is Mr. Cake's.

"I think we should hire him. He's new in Ponyville, after all the time and money he probably spent moving here, he's in need of a job."

"How do we know we can even trust him? Does Pinkie even know him very well?"

"I'm sure she does, she knows everything about everypony."

"But we don't know anything other than his name. We can't trust him unless we know everything we need to know."

"Then we'll get to know him, then hire him. He could be just what we need here. Please, honey?"

I heard a sigh. "Fine, we'll interview him. If I don't like him, he isn't getting hired. Cup Cake, I love you, but sometimes, you're too nice."

"Thank you."

I backed away from the counter to avoid getting in trouble. The door opened, with Mrs. Cake and Mr. Cake coming out again. "Daniel, me and Cup Cake have made a decision." Mr. Cake gave a defeated sigh. "We're going to interview you to decide whether or not to hire you."

"Great, so when will we do the interview?"

"We can start right now. Pinkie will run the shop while we're busy." Said Mrs. Cake.

"Okie dokie lokie, Mrs. Cake!" Pinkie does a salute and jumps behind the counter.

"Daniel, allow me to introduce myself, I am Cup Cake. It's nice to meet you. Now, come with us." Mrs. Cake went back into the kitchen with Mr. Cake.

"Bye, Pinkie." I say before going into the kitchen.

"See ya later, Danny!" She waves her hoof goodbye while I go into the kitchen, where the cakes are waiting for me. There was cake batter and ingredients scattered around the counters and floors.

"This way," Mr. Cake said. They led me through another door into an office looking room. Like every room, various candies and other sweets decorated the office, only the sweets in this room were fake. "Sit down, and we'll begin."

I sit fairly uncomfortably in the chair in front of the desk and the Cakes both sit down behind a desk. "First of all," Said Mrs. Cake, "What is your full name?"

"My full name Is Daniel Scott Fischer. You can just call me Daniel. Most ponies don't call me Danny, but you can if you want to. It doesn't bother me." Even on my world, nobody called me "Danny". So far, Pinkie was one of the first to call me that, other than my friends.

"Where are you from?"

"I'm from a place called Nebraska, in a place called America, A.K.A, The United States. To be more specific, a town known as Lincoln. It's a very far away place. So far, in fact, that nopony in Ponyville has ever heard of it." I told the truth about where I'm from, but I didn't want say anything about being a human. The main six were the only six who needed to know my true origin.

Mr. Cake picked up a pencil using his mouth and wrote some things down. "What did you do before you moved here?" He didn't really want to hire, so he was probably trying to find any reason to not hire me.

"I helped make and fix machines." I actually helped design the programming for computers for a living. I stretched the truth slightly, as I didn't really fix computers. Saying I make machines would be easier to explain than saying, "I help design and develop the programming of various applications used on computers."

I wanted to be a programmer on earth, mostly as a secondary job I wanted. As a kid, I loved playing video games very much. I loved them so much, I wanted to do something involving guns as a kid, or something where I fight others. Those were stupid dreams, and I eventually found a more realistic dream when I grew older. I also gave up on those dreams because I wouldn't have more time to myself, which meant less time with video games and surfing the internet.

"What kind of machines?"

"Just machines in general. Mostly the types used to do calculations and scientific reports. They're pretty complicated to most ponies." Technically, that was correct for computers, but I could've been more specific.

Mr. Cake wrote some more things down. "Why are you asking for a job at a bakery then?" Asked Mrs. Cake.

"I didn't, Pinkie did. I don't know of any jobs related to what I do here in Ponyville anyway. I don't think anypony here uses machines. Also, I think this'll be a nice change for me."

Mr. Cake nodded and wrote some more things down. "How much experience do you have baking?"

"I've never worked in a bakery before, but I do know how to bake. I'd say I have an average amount of baking experience."

Mr. Cake nodded and wrote more things down. "I just have one more question. It's not important, but I'm just curious. Why did you move here?"

"Excuse me?"

"Nebraska sounds like a big, faraway place. Why did you decide to move to a small town like Ponyville? Why would you move so far away?"

I wasn't sure what to say. I didn't want to think about my home back on Earth. I had what I considered a pretty good life. I had liked the first few episodes of MLP:FiM, but I never wanted to come here.

I sigh sadly, look down at the ground, and close my eyes. "I was forced to move here, against my will," I say quietly. "I would rather not talk about it. It's a personal reason."

"Was it something bad?" Mrs. Cake said with concern.

"It was pretty bad. I'm never going to see my family again. I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye to any of my friends or family. They won't even know I came here. They'll just assume I'm gone for good, and since I can never go back there, I might as well be." At this point, a couple of tears roll down my cheek. I quickly wipe them away.

"I'm sorry I asked," said Mr. Cake, "You don't have to tell us. It's not important. Please excuse us." Mr. And Mrs Cake started whispering to each other. This time, I couldn't understand either of them. Mr. Cake picked up the paper he was writing on and showed it to Mrs. Cake, then they whispered a bit more.

"Daniel, we've made a decision," said Mrs. Cake after her discussion with Mr. Cake. "We've decided to hire you."

"Really? Thank you. What will I be doing?

"We don't think you have what it takes to be a baker, but Cup Cake really wants to hire you, so we decided to hire you as our janitor."

"No, I don't mind, It's better than nothing." I give a small smile. I then start to remember the mess in the kitchen. That'll be nice, a job cleaning up after horses. Well, technically their ponies, so they'd be miniature horses. That doesn't make the job much better though. "Thank you again."

"It nothing. We know how much you need this job, so we're gonna give it to you. Besides, none of us ever have time to clean. We're all either cooking, running the register, or closing the shop," said Mrs. Cake.

"So when can I start?"

"You can start tomorrow at 8:30, when we open," said Mr. Cake, "Tonight, I'm going to write up a schedule for you so you know when to work. Thank you for being here, I guess you can leave now."

"I will. See you tomorrow."

"Likewise."

After a quick goodbye from the cakes, I got up and went back into the main area of Sugarcube Corner, where Pinkie Pie was still running the register. When she saw me exit the kitchen, she smiled and greeted me.

"Hi!" She waved at me. "So willya be workin here?"

"Yep, I'll be starting tomorrow."

"That's great! You know what that means? That means we'll get to spend so much time together! You'll be here, I'll be here, and even when I'm not working, I'll be here! You know why? Because I live here! Oh, I am so exited!" Pinkie started bouncing in place exitedly. "This almost as exiting as the time you and Twilight came to town! I say almost, because nothing could top that!"

"That'll be great. I look forward to spending time with you."

"Ooooooooh what does that mean?" Pinkie stops bouncing and starts poking me playfully. "Somepony wants to spend time with me, who also happens to be a stallion?" She starts giggling. "There's something fishy about this." She pretends to be suspicious of something.

"I don't know what you're implying, but it's not true." Pinkie then turned around to deal with some customers. I was blushing slightly now, so I was thankful she was too busy to notice. Is she implying that I have a crush on her? That's just great.

I did actually like Pinkie Pie quite a bit before I came to Equestria. I also wasn't completely against the idea of a relationship with one of the mares here. I felt like this for all the main six though, and even for a few ohers so I didn't really consider it a "crush". I felt like this ever since I saw the first episode of FiM.

Pinkie turns back to me. "Riiiiiight," she rolls her eyes in disbelief. She then bursts out laughing. "I'm just kidding, Danny, we're just friends. I know that." She waves a dismissing hoof at me.

I breath a small sigh of relief when she turns around again. I knew that Pinkie barely knew me, but I was slightly disheartened when I realized that she said, "just friends".

"So,–" Pinkie turns to me again. "–what will ya be doin' here in Sugarcube corner?"

"I'm gonna be a janitor, if that's what you're asking."

"That's okay, we can still have fun together. Don't worry, I don't make messes very often."

I can't help but smile at her optimism and consideration. I step around the counter and continue talking over it. "I think I'm gonna go now."

"Awwww, really?" Pinkie starts pouting.

"Twilight wanted to see me at her library. Besides, I have some errands to run.

"Oh, okay then."

"Before I go though, I'd like to buy something." I get my pouch of bits out of my saddlebag and place it on the counter.

"Whadoya want? We mostly specialize in cake, but we also have lots of other pastries and treats, like cupcakes, pie, muffins, coo–"

"I'll take some cupcakes."

"How many? How big? What kind of cake? What kind of icing? Do you want decorations on the cake? What decorations?"

"Um... never mind." I don't think spending an hour deciding what I want is the best use of my afternoon.

"It's okay, I'll choose all that stuff. I'll have to teach you about cake and all the different flavors. There are some cupcakes already baked in the kitchen.

"How many can a pony eat?"

Pinkie sits up and starts rubbing her belly. "I can eat lots and lots and lots of yummy treats!" She rubs her hooves on her face. "Sometimes I just like to rub cake and other things all over my face, and then I eat them!" She licks her face, then she frowns. "But sometimes when I eat too many things, my tummy hurts, and it stops feeling yummy." She perks up again. "Don't worry, that doesn't happen very often."

"Okay then..." That was probably the weirdest thing Pinkie has done so far today. "That didn't really answer my question."

"Was it supposed to?"

I give an annoyed sigh and bring my hoof to my face. Now I could see why so many ponies find Pinkie to be annoying. Not me though, because while she did irritate me, she was still a great pony. Besides, she was now giving me an innocent looking smile, which means I almost had to stop being mad at her.

"Just get me half a dozen."

"Alrighty then, half a dozen cupcakes, comin' right up!" Pinkie goes into the kitchen and comes out with a blue box, which she sets on the counter. "That'll be three bits." I levitate three bits onto the counter, where Pinkie scoops them up and drops them into the cash register. "Thank you! You'll like these."

I open the box and see six pink frosted cupcakes neatly lined up. I close the box and pick it up. "Bye, Pinkie." I say as I head for the door.

"Bye, Danny, see you soon! Not soon enough, if ya ask me!" She waved goodbye at me. "Oh, and thanks for the cookies!" She said before I exited the bakery.

Alright, now to see Twilight. This'll be a great opportunity to make friends with her. If my magic gets better, maybe I could bond with her over it. I should borrow some more books too. Now, which way is Twilight's library again? Oh yeah, it was this way.

Although Pinkie's tour wasn't particularly helpful, it was enough to tell me how to get to some of the more important locations in Ponyville.

Before I started toward the library, I pulled a cupcake put of my saddlebag and ate it whole. Being a pony, I had a much bigger mouth and could fit a cupcake in there quite easily. As soon as it went into my mouth, I realized that this was one of the best cupcakes I've ever eaten. I immediately throw another one into my mouth.

While I was enjoying myself, a brown pegasus stallion with a brown mane and a crescent moon as a cutie mark noticed what I was doing. There were a lot of ponies walking through the streets at this time. He stopped and gave me a weird look. "You really like those cupcakes, don't you?" He asked.

"These are the best cupcakes I've ever eaten."

"Yeah, they're okay, but I don't really like the pony who made them."

"Mrs. Cake?"

"No, Pinkie Pie. You must be new in town, so I'll tell you. Stay away from her, she's one of the most obnoxious ponies in Ponyville, if not the most. Just a warning."

"No, she isn't. She's a great pony."

"Actually, she is kind of annoying," said a dark blue mare unicorn with a green mane and a vase of flowers for a cutie mark. She was also walking along the path past Sugarcube corner. "She talks too much with that high pitched voice."

"She also throws parties all of the time," said a brown stallion with an hourglass cutie mark. "The Sugarcube corner closes early when she throws parties. Where else am I supposed to get cake when it closes?"

"And another thing, she–"

"Everypony, just stop!" I shout, cutting off a caramel-colored stallion with a brown mane. Now several ponies have stopped and are now staring at me. "Pinkie Pie is a great pony. She's optimistic, kind, fun, and she always has something interesting to say! I even think she's kind of pretty! I don't know why you all hate her, I would think everypony loves her! I guess not! It's not her who's bad, it's you all who fail to see her good qualities! I don't think any of you are any better, judging somepony who tries her best to make everypony happy! If Pinkie Pie isn't good enough for all of you, then I don't know who is!"

I was probably a bit angrier then I should have been at them, although they have no right to treat her that way after everything she's done. Them picking on Pinkie behind her back angers me more than she would ever be able to.

Now that I was done with my lecture, everypony who was listening was now glaring at me. One by one, they all turned their back and walked away, resuming what they were doing. The last pony to walk away was the crescent pony. "If you love her so much, how about you marry her?" He says mockingly. "You're gonna do just fine here in Ponyville, I can already tell." With that, he flys off.

Everybody, I mean, everypony, loves Pinkie in the show. What happened? I hope they don't hate me for that. I guess I should get going now. I better get going. I shrug it off, which I didn't think was possible as a pony. I take another cupcake out of the box start eating it as I continue on.

Pinkie sat at the counter of Sugarcube corner, with her elbows on the counter and her chin resting on her hooves. She had a bored expression on her face. She was bored with nopony to talk to while Daniel was being interviewed, and now he was gone, leaving her with nothing to do. Daniel was now enjoying a cupcake in front of the door.

Wow, he's acting like he's never had a cupcake before, she thought to herself. When Daniel finished the cupcakes, Pinkie saw the crescent pony approaching him. What does Crescent want from Danny?

She could vaguely hear what they were saying, and Crescent was talking about why he doesn't like Pinkie. Now she could see Forsythia, Dr. Hooves, and Caramel talking about her.

She sighed sadly. Why do they hate me so much?

"Everypony, just stop!"

"Huh?" Pinkie perked up. Daniel then started to talk about how great Pinkie is, and how everypony else is wrong. She even blushed slightly at some of the things he said.

Pinkie started to feel depressed again, not because of the other ponies, but because now almost everybody will hate him. there were a lot of ponies walking the streets that day, and they all heard. None of them were happy with what he had to say.

Does he really like me? He must really enjoy my company, and he barely knows me. I'm glad somepony else likes me other than my best friends. Although even they can't stand me all the time. I feel terrible for Danny, now everypony is gonna hate him because he had to stand up for me. I some cupcakes to cheer myself up. Pinkie sighs again and goes into the kitchen, starting preparations to bake a batch of cupcakes.

Next Chapter: Chapter 4 - Settling in - Part 2 Estimated time remaining: 18 Minutes