Lightning Star and Sketch had almost had a heart attack when they saw all the ponies in their home, but then realized that it was Twilight and her five best friends, known as the Mane 6 to fans of the show. There were also three smaller ponies with them, too. Once they realized that it was just them, the two stallions calmed down.

"Thanks for the surprise, Twilight,” said Lightning, “but how did you get into our house? I thought I locked the door and I am sure the windows were locked."

"Well I am a unicorn and a student of Princess Celestia so a lock was really no trouble for me," she said with an air of confidence.

"You won’t do that often, will you?" he asked.

"Well, not as often as you think," she said with a giggle

"So this is one of Pinkie Pie’s famous parties?” Sketch asked, trying to change the subject.

“Oh yeah!” said a pony with a southern accent. “Y’all are so lucky. Normally they cost a heap of bits, but Pinkie decided to throw this little shindig for free."

Sketch looked in the direction of the voice, and his eyes widened at the sight of an orange mare with a blond mane and tail. She was wearing a white T-shirt and some blue jeans.

"Howdy! My name is Applejack. Pleased t’ meet ya!" she said she held out her hand.

“Hi. My name is Sketch, and this is my friend Lighting Star. It's great to meet you," he said while shaking her hand he winced a little at how firm the mare’s grip was.

Just then, Pinkie Pie was walking out with a tray of cupcakes. "Anypony up for some delicious cupcakes?” she asked cheerfully. Just then, somepony's tail trips Pinkie Pie, causing the tray and the cupcakes to fly up in the air. Lighting was the first to notice this, and his surroundings slowed down. He dashed such a high speed that to everypony else he was a nothing but a brown blur. In a matter of seconds Pinkie was in Lighting's arms.

"You okay?" he asked as he helped the mare up.

"Um… Yeah, thanks,” she says as her face turned red through her pink coat. Her eyes then widen in shock "Oh no! The cupcakes!!!"

The pastries had gotten some major air and were now taking gravity, until Sketch had an idea. He quickly took out his sketchbook, drew a table in it, and then used his magic to make it come to life. In an instant, the cupcakes landed on the table with precision. Everyone was in awe and started to cheer.

“Wow… That was impressive…” said a quiet mare as she approached Sketch slowly. She had a long pink mane and tail, and a yellow coat. She was wearing a pink summer dress. “I’m Fluttershy…” she said with a shy smile, and Sketch smiled back.

Then, a cyan-coated, rainbow-maned mare and a dark orange-coated, purple-maned filly came up to Lightning Star. "Wow! That was amazing!” said the filly. “You’re almost as fast as Rainbow Dash!”

"Yeah, almost as fast as me," said the mare. "The name’s Rainbow Dash, the fastest flyer in Equestria! And this little filly is Scootaloo. She’s my apprentice. We should race sometime, you and me."

"I would like that anytime, anyplace." Lighting said with confidence

Just then two more fillies came out of the crowd. One was a white unicorn with a light purple and pink mane and the other was a light yellow earth pony with a light red mane and pinkish red bow.

"Oh, these are my friends Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom," said Scootaloo.

"Hi!” said Sweetie Belle. “You guys were great! Is that how you got your cutie marks?"

Just as Lighting was about to explain, a white unicorn with an indigo colored mane came out and said "Sweetie Belle, it’s not ladylike to ask other ponies about their business like that," she said.

Lightning Star chuckled. "Oh, no. It’s quite fine, Miss…"

"Rarity,” she said, “and the ‘Miss’ won’t be necessary."

"Okay, now where was I? Oh yeah, it started back when I-“

"Hey, Lighting. Can I talk to you for a sec?" asked Sketch.

"Sure. What's up?"

Sketch then turns his back on the others, and forces Lightning to do the same.

"We don't know how we got our marks," he whispered.

"Well, we can just make it up as we go," the pegasus whispered back.

He turned around to face the crowd again. “So, it all started when I was a colt. Back in Fillydelphia, I was a student at the local dojo. One summer, we had a presentation day, where all the students come up with their own ninja moves and showcase them to everypony. So, I decided to make my move really flashy. I threw some shuriken into a pack of clouds, then I flew up there and kept moving between the clouds, kicking each one as I passed it. It eventually caused an awesome lightning shower, and my shuriken came flying out of the clouds in an awesome display! After the whole thing was over, I went home and found that I got my cutie mark!”

“Woooooooow!” said the three fillies, who didn’t even know that Lightning came up with that story off the top of his head.

“I can’t wait to hear Sketch’s story!” said Sweetie Belle.

“Oh, well I…” stuttered Sketch. He was never good at thinking on the spot.

“Oh, come on, darling,” said Rarity. “I’m sure your story is every bit as good as Lightning’s.”

“It’s not that!” Sketch said defensively. “Okay, I’ll tell you. When I was a colt, I entered a… comic book contest. It was a competition where young foals submit their best work, and the winner got to meet a famous comic book artist.”

“Is that who the stallion on yer shirt is?” asked Apple Bloom.

After giving a confused look, Sketch looked at his shirt, and noticed the stallion that was on it. Why didn’t he notice that before? Under the picture was the stallion’s name: Final Draft.

“Uh… yeah!” he said, rolling with it. “That’s him, alright! So anyway, I ended up winning the contest and I won tickets to Manehattan so I could meet Final Draft. Once I got there, he told me that my work was the best he’d ever seen from a foal my age, and he wanted to share some of his secrets with me. That’s how I learned how to bring my drawings to life. When I finally got the hang of the technique, my cutie mark appeared.”

“Amazing!” said Scootaloo.

“So, now that story time is over, why don’t we get this party started?” asked Lightning Star.

“I thought you’d never ask!” yelled Pinkie. She started the music and everypony started dancing. She pulled Lightning into the center of the room and started dancing with him, and he was more than able to keep up with her.

“Damn, look at them go,” thought Sketch, his thoughts were then interrupted by a tap on his shoulder. He turned around and came face to face with Applejack.

“Wanna dance, partner?” she asked.

Sketch chuckled nervously. He wasn’t much of a dancer, due to the fact that he was very uncoordinated. “Sorry, Applejack,” he said. “I don’t dance.”

“Whaddaya mean ‘ya don’t dance’?” she asked with a smile. “If that ain’t the most ridiculous thing Ah’ve ever heard!”

“Well, I’m not that good…”

“That may matter to a mare like Rarity, but not t’ me. C’mon, tiger!” AJ forcefully pulls Sketch into a dance, and he tried his best to keep up with her and not embarrass himself.

“Ah’ve been wonderin’, ” she said. “Are you and Lightning brothers? Ah mean, ya both have similar coats and all…”

“Oh, no,” said Sketch. “We’re just friends.”

Several hours later, all the ponies left the house, except for Lightning, Sketch, and Pinkie, who stayed behind to clean up.

“Thanks for the party, Pinkie,” said Lightning.

“Nooooooooooooo problem!” she said happily. “Well, that’s everything, so I’ll be on my way. I hope you two enjoy Ponyville. See ya tomorrow!”

As the mare skipped out the door, Lightning couldn’t help but stare at her, and Sketch quickly took notice.

“Were you really just ogling Pinkie Pie?” he asked once she was gone.

“I can’t help myself,” he said without the least bit of shame. “So what are we gonna do tomorrow?”

“I don’t know,” said the unicorn, “but if we’re gonna be living here on our own, we’re gonna need a source of income.”

“You don’t mean…” Lightning asked with fear in his voice.

“Yep,” said Sketch. “We have to get jobs.”