Ponies. Ponies everywhere. Such was the thought going through Jay's mind as he took in the view from his new window. Mares and stallions of every size, shape and colour, walking about the street below, enjoying their day and bearing wide smiles upon their faces. One looked out onto that calm and peaceful sight of Ponyville, and they couldn't help but feel relaxed about it. Letting out a long sigh, the town's lone human resident turned from that view, instead focusing on all of the as-yet unopened boxes that continued to litter his apartment. A brief grimace crossed his face, but it soon faded, and he got to work opening up the nearest of the boxes. After rummaging around inside it for a few moments, he broke out into a small smile, as he pulled out exactly what he’d been looking for; a kettle. Setting it to one side, he stopped to fill it full of water, then plugged it in and switched the thing on, after which he tried looking through that same box, a look of frustration coming to him soon afterwards.

"Okay...spoons...spoons..."

Then, to his slight surprise, a small teaspoon was now suddenly raised up in front of his face, held there by a bright pink hoof. Smiling once again, Jay took it.

"Ah! Thanks!"

"You're welcome!" the hoof's owner replied.

Jay turned, setting the teaspoon aside and then looking down to a small tea-cup that had been set there prior to all of this. But, before he reached it, the last few moments suddenly started to sink in for him, and slowly, he turned around back in the direction of the box. As soon as he did so, he found himself staring into a pair of bright blue eyes.

"HIYA!!!"

Immediately, Jay reeled back, shocked at this new arrival, to the point of almost tripping backwards. But, thankfully, he managed to get a hold of the counter on the side, steadying himself. After taking a moment to catch his breath from this, he started to truly look upon his unexpected guest A pink earth pony, with the poofiest mane he'd ever seen, as well as the widest smile of anyone he'd ever met in his life. Though still taken aback by her arrival, he was unable to say anything, as the intruder began to speak up first.

"Welcome to Ponyville, friend! Name's Pinkie Pie! Nice to meet you!"

Now, under normal circumstances, Jay might well have asked this person, who appeared to have just showed up uninvited, to simply leave his apartment. However, as one could easily see, these were not normal circumstances. As he looked to her, with that massive smile, those big wide eyes, and that utterly earnest and sincere joy in greeting him, it was as if that kind of self-defending mindset seemed to suddenly subside in him. So, instead of simply responding straight away, he stood upright, dusted himself off slightly, cleared his throat, then began to speak as calmly as one could under the circumstances.

"Yes...um...thank you, Pinkie, was it? I'm Jay. Jay David."

Giggling, his first houseguest in this place bounced up and down in that one spot, speaking in a rapid-fire and completely enthusiastic manner.

"It's so good to have somepony new to say hi too! Where'd you come from? When did you move in? How long are you staying? What are you? How do you like Ponyville so far?"

These and a barrage of other questions kept pouring out of her mouth, with seemingly no end in sight. As one would expect, Jay had a hard time figuring out how best to respond to such an energetic and forward mare, and as such, he had to wait for quite a few moments before she finally stopped to inhale. He seized his chance, answering at least some of the questions he'd been asked.

"Well...er...I arrived just yesterday. I'm a human, in case you were wondering. And I'm starting work at the local tea store in a few days."

Pinkie seemed particularly interested in that last one.

"Ooooooh! I didn't know Jasmine Leaf was hiring?"

Jay nodded.

"She is. Apparently, she thinks it's time she got some extra help around her store. Something about making sure there's someone else around in case any of her ginseng tea starts flying and singing again."

A moment passed, after which Jay frowned slightly and looked away.

"Although, in hindsight, I probably should have asked a few more questions about that."

Looking to him, Pinkie had to fight the urge to break out into a knowing smile, scratching the back of her head in a nervous manner.

"Hehe...yeah...pretty weird, right?"

Jay looked to her with a raised eyebrow, and briefly looked as though he would want to enquire further. But, at that very moment, the kettle, which had been turned on before this craziness began, suddenly screeched in that traditional kettle way, before turning itself off. Jay looked to it, then back to Pinkie, who was still smiling to him, before looking back to the kettle and slumping his shoulders slightly.

"Do...do you want some tea?"

To that, Pinkie let out a happy-sounding gasp, and she zipped forward, her nose pressed right against his.

"You're already inviting me over for tea?! You bet I'd like some!"

Stepping back from this, Jay tried to look pleased with this unexpected arrangement, but as he turned to pour the water into the tea-pot, it was clear he was already tired from the boundless energy his guest was exerting. Pinkie, in an uncharacteristic display, sat quietly at the table in the middle of the room, looking to her latest acquaintance with some eagerness. Silence passed between the two for a time, but after a minute or two, when the tea had properly brewed, Jay began to pour it into the cup he'd prepared earlier.

"Do you take any sugar?" he asked.

Pinkie nodded.

"Yep! Five, please!"

Jay paused after hearing that, then shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, let it never be said I'm not an accommodating host."

So, he got to work, putting in far more sugar into the mare's cup than he would have ever wanted for himself. Afterwards, he got out a second cup for himself, at which point he poured his own tea with exactly zero sugar in it. With the two cups finished, he carried them over, placing them down upon the table carefully before taking a seat opposite Pinkie. However, before he had a chance to say anything, Pinkie beat him to it, leaning forward and appearing rather curious about something.

"Hey, wait a minute...did you say you were a human?"

Though momentarily hesitant, Jay nodded.

"Er...yes?"

Pinkie's big smile returned.

"Oh, so that’s what you guys look like!"

Jay took on a curious look himself.

"You've...heard of other humans?"

Taking a big gulp of her tea, Pinkie then nodded.

"Yep! Twilight, that's another friend of mine, she went through this crazy magic mirror thing and saw a whole bunch of them!"

Jay took that in.

"Twilight? Yeah, I think I heard Jasmine mention her once during my interview."

Pinkie's smile widened further.

"Yeah, kinda hard not to get talked about when you're the big Princess in town."

Jay seemed surprised by this.

"She’s a Princess?"

Again, Pinkie nodded.

"Sure, silly! Not just anypony gets to live in a big and fancy crystal castle!"

She pointed to something right behind Jay, prompting him to look over his shoulder. There, through the view of his window, past a great number of houses, was indeed the top of a crystal-looking castle, sparkling in the sunlight. To this, Jay blinked a few times before turning back to Pinkie.

"Huh...you'd have thought I'd have noticed that by now."

As before, Pinkie giggled.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it."

Jay considered that.

"Yeah...something tells me I will."

A silence passed, but thankfully, not for long, as Jay then continued.

“So...how’d you know I was here? I didn’t think my moving in would be big news.”

Pinkie took on an “I’m innocent” look about her as she started explaining.

“Weeeeeell...I was delivering a special cake over to Mayor Mare, and she was in the middle of some boring old paperwork. So I asked her what it was about, and she says it was just some stuff about somepony new moving into Ponyville. I got really excited about that, so I asked, and she told me about you and where you were moving into. And I knew I just had to come over and say hello, so...hello!”

In spite of everything, Jay couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Well...it’s certainly nice to be given a welcome. Thanks.”

Pinkie beamed at the compliment, getting back to her drink soon afterwards. Taking a sip of his own tea, Jay looked up to Pinkie again and, not wanting to spend the rest of this encounter in silence, spoke up.

So...what do you do, Miss Pie?"

Hearing that, Pinkie laughed.

"Miss Pie? No need to be so formal! Call me Pinkie!"

Jay nodded.

"Alright then...Pinkie."

Leaning back into her own chair, Pinkie took another gulp before answering.

"Well, I do two things. I work a bit at Sugar Cube Corner, that bakery near here? But, more importantly, you're looking at Ponyville’s foremost party planner! If you've got a birthday, wedding, anniversary or any other special thing you want to celebrate, I’m your mare!"

Jay blinked.

"So...you handle everyone’s parties? All by yourself?"

Pinkie's chest swelled with pride.

"You betcha! Brining a smile to everypony's faces with balloons, confetti and my party cannon is just the best thing in the world!"

Another slow blink from Jay.

"A party...cannon?"

A smirk crossed Pinkie's lips.

"Don't worry. I'll break it out for you one day or another."

Sipping his tea again, Jay smiled nervously.

"Um...good?"

Then, after having finished her tea at last, Pinkie set her cup down and let out yet another gasp, this one louder and longer than before. When she'd done this, she once more darted forward, her eyes staring right into Jay's, though he was thankfully used to this sort of behaviour by now, so he didn't flinch as much.

"Oh! I know! You've totally gotta meet my friends! I can get them over, we can have a big welcome-to-Ponyville celebration and we can..."

But, this time, it was Jay’s turn to interrupt, as he held up a hand, stopping her mid-sentence.

"Pinkie...I appreciate that you're trying to be nice, but...I'm actually not that big a party person."

Hearing those words, it was as if somebody had just told Pinkie the most devastating news in the world, as she backed away from Jay, looking utterly mortified.

"You...you don't like parties?!"

Jay shook his head.

"It's not that I don’t like them, but...I've never been that good at having lots of people all gathered around me with celebrations and stuff. One or two people coming over for a chat, that'd be one thing, but more? Yeah, not so much."

Taking that in, Pinkie sat back down and, if only a little, seemed to perk up a bit.

"Oh, alrighty then!"

Jay raised an eyebrow.

"You're...not upset?"

Pinkie waved him off.

"Pfft! Upset? Me? Nah! I sorta learned about going too far with making friends with this old donkey that moved in a few years back. So no worries."

Jay seemed relieved at that.

"Well...okay then."

Giggling again, Pinkie bounced out of her chair, walking right over to him, before then stretching out her hoof.

"You may not be big on parties, but I hope you're big on Ponyville! Welcome to the neighbourhood!"

Smiling, Jay finished his own cup, set it down on the table, then reached out to shake her hoof. However, as soon as he'd taken hold of it, he was unexpectedly embraced by Pinkie in earnest, who gripped him tightly in the most secure hug he'd ever been through.

"I hope you really, really have a fun time here, Jay!"

Barely able to breathe, Jay at least managed to get a few words out.

"Ach! Yes...uck...appreciate that, Pinkie! Ack!"

Letting him go, and taking a slight amusement in seeing him catch his breath, Pinkie gave him a big and friendly-looking wave, which Jay had the courtesy to return, after which he looked away briefly as he continued to recover from the unexpected hug. But, when he looked back, he saw, to his shock, that Pinkie was just straight-up gone. Looking around, he saw no sign of her, and it seemed as though she'd disappeared just as swiftly as she'd arrived. Slowly, he got himself up, and after pausing for a few moments, he once more glanced out of the window, seeing all of the ponies out in the street. At the end of it all, he sighed, before affording himself a small chuckle.

"Well...welcome to Ponyville, I guess."

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