So as most who follow me know, I have a mlp related tumblr staring Blacklin. It's been pretty fun so far too. What I've been doing on it is posting short little journal type entries about once a week.

I thought I'd do something special. I've taken the last five entries I've put and compiled them together in one story for you all to enjoy. The following are the eighth through twelfth entries.

Blacklin (C)

MLP and all related characters (C) Hasbro

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Entry 8

I know I said before that I wasn't really a griffon who cared much for parties. Yet after I got back to my home from shopping, I found myself feeling unusually impatient. I was doing everything I could to make time go by: washing dishes, cleaning the house, reorganizing my Wonderbolts collection. Despite all of that, time just seemed to go by at a snail's pace.

Finally at my wits end, I did something that I shouldn't have done. Something I think no pony who is waiting for time to pass by for a meeting should ever do. I curled up in bed and took a nap.

Time flies when you're having fun, right? Well it flies even faster when you're out cold. Even worse, I didn't set my alarm clock when I laid down for the nap either. Things weren't all bad though. The sun was just starting to set when I finally woke up.

I was pretty upset at myself, to be honest. I don't think I could be blamed for being so either. I mean, what kind of an impression would I make by being late? Even if it was a party set up by the most bizarre pony I'd ever met, I was looking forward to meeting more people. Okay, I also admit that I was really looking forward to meeting Lyra again and seeing if she would play for me once more. Can I honestly be blamed for that either?

I don't think I've ever rushed to gather things as much as I did that night. I went from being bored listless to, if you will pardon the expression, running around like a headless chicken. All the time I was berating myself for being so foolish as I gathered up the cookies I had made for Scootaloo and her friends and put them in containers then put those in to a bag, get rid of any bed fur I may have developed while sleeping, and basically tried to make myself look presentable.

Once I was satisfied I had everything, I rushed out of the house and took to the air.

I had been a long while since I ever willed myself to fly as fast as I did. Unfortunately, I wasn't exactly paying attention to where I was going. It was because of this that I didn't notice the pegasus mare flying right at me until it was too late.

We slammed hard into each other and tumbled towards the ground. It wasn't easy to do, but we did manage to untangle ourselves. Unfortunately, not quick enough to completely recover from a total crash landing, but enough so that it wouldn't be quite as disastrous as it could have been.

I still think I got the worst of the encounter too. We, well I, hit the ground hard, despite spreading my wings well before hand, and rolled a few feet before stopping. I think I laid where I stopped for a few moments, mainly just regain my senses and then do a mental checklist to make sure I didn't break anything. If there is anything I can say about my species, it's that we can take a lot of punishment.

I definitely wasn't as in bad of shape as I could have been. Nothing was broken and I was thankful for that, more thankful that I didn't dislocate my wings when I extended them. I stood up slowly, nothing may have been broken, but I was definitely sore all over. Opening my eyes, I saw the pegasus I crashed into getting to her feet slowly and looking around in confusion.

She definitely ended up in better shape than I did.

"How'd I end up over here? I was going to Sugar Cube Corner."

That one line left me more confused than I was when Pinkie showed up. I slowly padded over to the grayish blue pony. She looked around a few times before fixing her gaze on me. "Oh, hello!"

"Uh, hi there," I swear for a brief moment I thought from her somewhat cheerful attitude, despite what just happened, that she was some sort of, I dunno, alternate version of Pinkie or something. I seriously would not put it past the Pink One to be able to morph into a different form or something. "Are you-" I interrupted myself her because I was suddenly left a bit speechless. While this mare's left eye continued to look right at me, her right one suddenly started to drift upwards and to the right. It was all very disturbing at first.

"Ar-are you all right, miss?" I finally got out. It was extremely hard, I might add, to not focus on her right eye. "Nothing hurt from the fall?"

She closed her eyes and nodded vigorously. "Yup! Perfectly okie dokie!" She opened her eyes and looked at me, both seemed normal then. "What about you? You okay mister?"

I nodded slowly. "Yeah. Sorry about that. In a rush to a party and I wasn't paying attention."

"Oh that's okay Mister Griffon," she responded. "Accidents happen. I should know! I'm always bumping into things."

I blinked a few times at the "Mister Griffon". I don't think I have ever been called that by anyone before (even now, she constantly will call me that when we meet). Made me feel older than I do when someone simply calls me "mister".

"My name's. . ." I once more interrupted myself. This time it was her left eye that started to drift on its own, going to left and down. I blinked a few times and politely coughed before I continued on. "Blacklin. My name's Blacklin. I was on my way to a party. . . You mentioned Sugar Cube Corner, are heading there too?"

The pegasus flapped her wings, as if testing them, before nodding. "Yup. I'm Derpy! Nice to meet you." She rose up into the air and hovered there for a moment. "Oh, you're going to the welcoming party too? Great! I'll see you there then. Nice to meet you, bye!" She started flying off again.

I could only blink a few times in confusion as I watched her fly off. "Wait!" I called out. "You're going the wrong. . . " she flew out of hearing range before I could finish though. I sighed a bit and shook my head. I wasn't sure who was more random at this point: Derpy or Pinkie.

I sighed softly to myself and looked around. I had a bag with me that had my cookies in it. it took me a bit, but I was able to find it hiding in a nearby bush. I cannot tell you all how much I was grateful about where the bag fell. When I checked, I found a majority of them were fine.

I gave a sigh of relief and hung the bag around my neck. Evening had fully settled by now and there was no question that I was going to be late. Thankfully, I had crashed not far from town (which seriously lead me wondering just how Derpy got as lost as she did). Taking a breath, I made my way towards Sugar Cube Corner and the party that awaited me.

Entry 9


Despite the, odd, meeting that had just happened with Derpy, and despite the slight soreness from the crash, I was still in a pretty good mood when I arrived at the Sugar Cube Corner. As you can probably guess, this was my first time coming to the sweet shop, though it wasn't the first time I'd seen it. I will say this, the shop is etched now in my mind as a place of meetings.

Now, I had no idea what to expect when I arrived to be honest. Lyra had told me told me that Pinkie had invited nearly the whole town. I didn't believe it at the time, but as I approached Sugar Cube Corner, I quickly started to realize that she may have been right.

As I approached I could see that the shop's door was open and light spilled out. Cheerful music mixed with the sound of many ponies chatting at once greeted my ears as I reached the door. It was at this point that all the nervousness that had been leaving me alone that afternoon came rushing back.

My stomach felt like it had been tied up into knots and a flock of butterflies released into it. My heart rate sky rocketed and I felt my knees go weak. I paused before the door and seriously contemplated taking to the air and flying back home.

Looking back, I think I probably would have left if not for Pinkie. I don't know if she was outside and hidden somewhere, keeping an eye out for me, or if she was inside and macgiced her way outside and behind me (which I wouldn't find surprising in the least) but which ever it was, I only made to move backwards with my left foot when I heard her excited voice.

"Yay! You made it!" she exclaimed loudly, causing my heart to nearly stop in shock. Before I could reply, she began pushing me inside. "I was getting worried that you weren't going to show up. Everyone is waiting inside to meet you or at least say 'hi!' C'mon, don't be such a wallflower, join in!"

I was about to ask her what she meant by "join in", but I never got the chance. She pushed me over towards where a purple unicorn and a yellow pegasus were sitting.

"Let me introduce you to some of bestest best friends in the whole word!"

"Wait! Could I at least. . hand on, don't push so hard!" My protests fell on deaf ears. I gave a soft sigh of defeat. She didn't stop pushing me, well attempting to push me as I had started walking a bit faster by now, until we reached the pegasus and unicorn.

"You'll have to forgive, Pinkie," the unicorn stated. "She gets a bit excited when she meets someone new to town."

"You don't say?" The sarcasm was thick in my voice when I replied. I didn't mean to sound so, rude, but I couldn't exactly help it either. Still, no one seemed to notice.

"Aww, c'mon Twi!" Pinkie stated while bouncing in place. "How often do griffons move in?"

"That's true," 'Twi' replied. "Still." She shook her head and gave me an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry. I haven't even introduced myself yet. I'm Twilight Sparkle and this is my friend, Fluttershy." She indicated the pegasus next to her.

Fluttershy whispered something, I think it was "hello" but I'm still not sure. I did notice shy avoided direct eye contact then, always looking away either off to the side or at the floor. Still, she seemed friendly enough (and was too. It's taken a bit, but we do talk often now).

I inclined my head and gave a friendly smile. "Hello," I replied.

Twilight looked me over and tilted her head a bit. "Pinkie's right though, we've never had a griffon move into Ponyville before. What brought you here from the Griffon Kingdom?"

I tensed for a moment, a flash of intense nervousness and worry shooting through my body. I explained that I had been living in Canterlot until recently, having lived there for a few years before moving. I'll admit, I did my best to avoid talking about any reasons for why I had moved to Canterlot in the first place. Not that I wasn't pressed though.

"Well, I can certainly understand why you went to Canterlot," Twilight said after I had finished. The entire time I was explaining things, she had remained quiet, except to poke questions about where I was from in the Griffon Kingdom and why I had left and what the region was like. I have never met a more curious pony than her. "You didn't explain a lot though," she went on. "Maybe later you'd be more willing to answer some of my questions?" There was a touch of hopefulness to her voice.

I shook my head in response. "No, I really don't think so," I replied. "I don't like talking about it."

She frowned and nodded slowly, obviously unconvinced. I should have realized then that she wasn't going to drop the subject and that she'd press it more later. My attention, however, was drawn away.

"BLACKLIN!" yelled out a trio of familiar and excited voices. I glanced over and saw Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom moving quickly towards me. I had braced myself to be tackled, but it never came. Instead, the trio surrounded me and were soon herding me over to my next meeting.

Entry 10


Something I've learned since moving to Ponyville is that it's extremely hard to move when you have three excitable fillies bouncing around you and talking all at the same time. The party was the first time this lesson was given to me. I suppose it was my fault for the excitableness, after all; Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom were all eager to apologize for what happened when they tried to help with my move.

I had wanted to apologize to them as well. I explained that I was a bit more stressed out at the time than I should have been and got more upset than I should have. Their excitement only increased when I mentioned the cookies. I have a feeling that Pinkie had told the trio about them at some point.

"What kind did you make?" asked Apple Bloom.

"Chocolate chip?" This was from Sweetie Belle.

"Nah, I bet it's peanut butter," Scootaloo stated, a bit of smugness to her voice.

I blinked a few times as the trio continued to make guesses at what kind of cookies I had made. It was a bit hectic to me really. I tried to assure them that they'd find out soon enough, but I don't think they were really listening.

"Where are you three taking me?" I asked, hoping to change the subject and find out who it was they seemed to want me to meet.

The three stopped and looked at each other. There was a brief moment of silence from before all spoke at once.

"Applejack!"

"Rarity!"

"Rainbow Dash!"

Once more, I blinked a few times, barely able to make out the jumbled names that reached my ears. "Who?" I asked, hoping maybe they'd speak one at a time this time. My hope feel on deaf ears as once more they each shouted a name at once and all blurred into one to my ears.

"We need to take him to meet the best and awesomeness pony ever."

"No, he should meet my sister first!"

"Naw, we'all need to take him to see mah sister!"

"Girls? Uh, hey, you three?" I was desperately trying to get their attention as they circled around me, each threatening to suddenly grab me and drag me in a different direction. My tail was flicking irritably and I was really wishing not be stuck in the middle of them.

"What are y'all doin' over here?" A new voice asked.

At once, all three fillies went silent and looked towards the source of the voice: an orangish female earth pony with blonde mane and tail, both tied back/down. A brown cowboy hat graced her head and she looked us over with green eyes.

It was Apple Bloom who spoke first. "Applejack!" She cried out, going over to the newcomer. "We was just talking about you." The young filly lead the older mare over to me. "Someone I wanted ya to meet."

The young filly looked as proud as could be as she stood next to the older mare and looked at me. "This here's my sister, Applejack! Applejack, this is Blacklin, he just moved here a few days ago."

"So yer the one that Pinkie is throwing this here party for, huh?" Applejack stated.

"Yeah, I guess so," I replied sheepishly. I was really trying to forget that I was supposed to be the central figure at this party. A part of me was still considering bolting for the door as fast as I could. "It's really been, uh, something."

The orange mare laughed and shook her head. "Don't you worry none. This here's the friendliest place in Equestria. "

"Yeah," I replied, "I've noticed that." I smiled a bit, feeling a little more relaxed. "So far everyone I've met has been really nice. Even if some have been a tad on the, ah, strange side."

Applejack tilted her head a bit and then laughed once more. "Yeah, ah reckon you're right about that," she said. "Guessin' you're talkin' 'bout Pinkie?"

"Among others," I confessed. I told her about my run in with Derpy earlier which prompted another laugh from the mare. She agreed that the gray pony was a bit on the odd side as well, but assured me that she was among the nicest in Ponyville.

"Well if you're needin' any help with anythin', just let me or my kin know, 'kay?" She stated.

"Your kin?"

"Yup!" She put a foreleg around Apple Bloom's neck and pulled the filly close to her. "Y'already know my little sister, Apple Bloom here. An' there's our brother Big Mackintosh over there." She pointed to where a male stallion with a red coat and yellow mane and tail was standing stoically. "If y' stop by Sweet Apple Acres sometime, I c'n introduce ya to the rest of mah family."

"It's a large apple orchard, so ya can't miss it!" Apple Bloom chimed in.

I admit, they had my full attention right there. My ears perked straight up at the mention of an orchard, though I really did my best not to seem over eager when I replied. "An orchard, huh? Well, I think I will be making a stop by there in the near future then."

I don't think I hid my eagerness well enough given that the sisters started giggling almost immediately. I tried to turn attention away from things with cookies. I still had to give the cookies I made for the Crusaders to them and thought that moment was a great time to do so.

I opened up the bag I had on and pulled out a small package of cookies to hand to Apple Bloom. "Here you go," I sad as I gave them to the filly. "Just wanted to say that I was sorry for being so harsh when you all tried to help me." I gave them all a slight smile as I proceeded to hand out the other two packages of cookies I had to Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. "And to answer your question, they are peanut butter chip cookies."

My ears rang from the loud cheer the three fillies gave as they accepted the cookies. The gesture seemed to impress Applejack some as well as she said that it was "a right nice gesture" I did.

Honestly, I think I hit off as quickly with Applejack as I did with Lyra. Just something about listening to her speak seemed to make me feel at ease. I'm guessing it is the drawl she speaks with. Kinda homely and nice, if you understand what I mean.

"Oh! Rarity! Rarity!" Sweetie Belle called out.

When I looked over to see who she was addressing, I could almost feel my fur stand on end.
I'm sure I visibly cringed as well. Walking towards us this elegant looking unicorn mare. Purple mane done in a slight curl as was her tail; her coat a light gray, almost white color. She looked us over with blue eyes shadowed by light blue eye shadow.

Almost everything about her brought to mind all those ponies who looked down at me when I lived in Canterlot. That upper class look. I'm ashamed to say that I initially didn't like her purely because of that. I couldn't help myself, really. It's just something that has been ingrained on me over two years.

Still, she regarded us casually and said hello to Applejack as she approached Sweetie Belle.

"Hello, darlings," she said, voice carrying a distinct sophisticated tone to it. It was pleasant, actually, not snobbish like I had been expecting. The first of a few surprises Rarity would present me with. "Sweetie Belle, you really mustn't talk with your mouth full like that."

Sweetie Belle finished the cookie she had been eating and nodded slightly before going over to Rarity. She beamed almost as much as Apple Bloom did when introducing her sister.

"This is my sister, Rarity! She's the nicest and bestest and most generous and bestest pony in Ponyville," the young filly exclaimed. "And the prettiest too!"

My ears flattened a bit as Sweetie Belle's voice squeaked during her introduction. More so when she started talking about me, this time more out of embarrassment as she started calling me the "nicest griffon she's ever met." I was very quick to point out that I was probably the only griffon she had ever met so far, much to the humor of her friends and sister.

Speaking of her sister, Rarity regarded me quietly for a moment before she began to slowly circle me. It was unnerving to say the least, left me feeling like I was being judged again, compared to some higher standard or something. I can't say I liked the feeling, though it quickly was replaced by confusion.

"Your feathers are simply marvelous, darling," She stated. "Such a lustrous black, like shiny obsidian. Blacklin, my dear, you simply must come by my boutique someday so I can see what they look like in the sunlight. I am sure I could use some fallen out ones in a design."

She batted her eyes at me and gave me this extremely charming smile. "That is if you don't mind, of course."

I was stunned, no other way to describe it. I really had no clue how to respond, no one had ever said anything like that to me before.

"Uh, thank you, I think," I said softly. Really, how does one react to that? "Maybe some time, I don't know really."

"Well I do look forward to your visit," she stated, as if there was no doubt I'd eventually stop by (really, there probably wasn't. The chances were high that curiosity would have gotten the better of me at some point if I had truly declined).
"Yes, I don't doubt that," I gave a weak chuckle. "Still I have a lot to do."

"And ponies to meet!" Scootaloo added. "C'mon! The best has been saved for last!"

Before I could protest, the orange filly had started pushing me in another direction, to my next meeting. One that would prove to be the most memorable of the night.


Entry 11


You know, now that I look back on that day, I think Scootaloo might be responsible for all the herding I went through at the party. Which, I admit, is kind of funny since it's Apple Bloom who does that as part of her chores on the farm. The pegasus filly wasted very little time in guiding me through the rest of the crowd and making sure I didn't end up talking to anyone for long.

If someone came up to me, even to just say hello, she would get between us and say I had someone important to meet first. I got the impression that she'd been railroaded by others before and was not going to go through that again (despite railroading me to where she wanted to go). She practically radiated impatience as we weaved through the gathered ponies.

"So who is this pony you want me to meet?" I asked.

"You'll see," the orange pegasus replied. "She's the most awesome, most cool, bravest, fastest, best pony you'll ever meet."

"I'm sorry, did I just hear someone talk about me?" Came an unfamiliar voice that I could only describe as sounding a bit arrogant and overconfident.

I flicked my ears and turned towards the source of the voice. Greeting me was a light blue pegasus mare with rainbow colored mane and tail. She padded over to Scootaloo and ruffled the filly's mane. "Hey, squirt, heard you've been trying to get me to meet someone." She looked me over a bit. "This him?"

"Yup!" Scootaloo beamed nearly as much as Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom had, though she had a bit of a smug grin on her face. "Blacklin, meet the fastest flier you've ever seen. This is Rainbow Dash."

I admit, I was pretty skeptical about Scootaloo's claim. "Fastest flyer, huh?" I said.

"Yup, that's me," the rainbow maned pegasus replied. "I'm sure you've heard of me. Fastest flyer in Ponyville. Bravest of brave. Most awesome of awesome."

I went from being skeptical to having to no clue how to even respond this boast. Honestly, I'd never met anypony with an ego quite like her's. It was oddly both interesting and yet extremely aggravating.

"Nope," I replied at length, letting honesty take the lead. "I can't say that I have. Should I?"

"Should you have? Of course you should have! I'm the fastest flyer not only in Ponyville, but in all of Equestria!"

I blinked a few times and then took a step back. I felt laughter starting to well up inside of me and tried to contain it, I really did. The pride that lined Dash's voice was too much and I really didn't want to shoot her ego down. Yet, there was no way I could agree with that claim.

"Fastest in all of Equestria?" I asked, disbelief lining my voice. "I doubt that. No way your faster than the Wonderbolts. Especially not Fleetfoot or Spitfire. Not even close."

"What?" Dash had an expression of shock and embarrassment. I have to admit, it didn't suit her at all. "Well, all right. So maybe I can't prove that just yet. Some day though. I'm gonna join the Wonderbolts and show them how awesome I am."

I think that caught me off guard more than anything else that she said. I tilted my head a bit and was about to reply to it when I got interrupted.

"Yeah, you still have a long way to go until then," came another female's voice.

My ears perked up a bit and I looked over to the newcomer. What I saw made my jaw drop. I won't lie and I am not ashamed to say that I freaked out. It was a pegasus mare with dark pink/dirty pink coat and blue mane and tail. She looked similar to Dash in build, but older and more confident looking.

However, what was more is that I knew who she was.

"Firefly?" I exclaimed. "Am I dreaming right now. Am I really looking at one of the best and coolest members of the Wonderbolts right now? Like, as in former captain of the team?"

Firefly laughed and grinned broadly. "One and the same," she stated. "You've heard of me?"

"Heard of you? Of course I've heard of you! Anyone who follows the Wonderbolts has heard of you!" I think I was frothing at the mouth by this point. The situation was just too wild for my mind to really comprehend.

"Been ages since I was one and yet the reaction I get from fans, even new ones, never gets old," she said with a laugh. "You're like how Dashie here was when she met me the first time. Tripping over her wings and acting all girly."

"What?!" Dash's jaw drop and a light blush spread across her cheeks. "I wasn't like that all. Was totally cool then. Was no big thing."

Firefly rolled her eyes and laughed. "No big thing, huh? Riiiiiiight." She shook her head and looked back at me. "So you're the one who my daughter ran into the other day. She apologized right?"

"Wait, daughter?" I looked at Scootaloo and then back at Firefly. I don't know how many times I looked between the two. My mind blanked out and I'm sure my jaw dropped once more in disbelief. "You're. . . I mean. . .wha?" Words refused to form fully as I stammered and sat, lost in pure confusion and wonderment.

Scootaloo stood between Dash and Firefly and grinned slightly as she nodded. "Yeah, I'm her daughter. Is that a problem?"

I shook my head quickly. "No, not at all," I replied. "That's pretty dang awesome, actually. Just, surprised. Though, does explain a few things. Like the scooter stunts."

"Those all just come naturally with her," Firefly stated, a touch of pride to her voice. "Though she's picked up a bit of recklessness." She gave a slight look at Dash. "Wonder who could be responsible for that?"

Dash shrugged nonchalantly. "Dunno," was her simple response.

Firefly rolled her eyes and shook her head. "It's like having two kids around instead of just one," she said to me, a hint of mirth in her voice. "So how are you enjoying Ponyville so far, Blacklin?"

I was confused at first to how she knew my name, star struck as I was. It slowly dawned on me that of course Scootaloo would have mentioned it when she told her mother how she met me. I told her that I was enjoying the town so far. It was funny, what I said to her really was repeating what I told everyone I'd met so far about how I thought about my new home, yet because of who it was, it was like telling a whole new tale.

I think I talked with them the most out of everyone I met. Time just simply seemed to fly by. The more we talked, the more relaxed I had become. I told them about the first Wonderbolts show I had seen and how I became a fan. Mentioned my collections and what I thought (kinda) about the current roster. I was enthralled listening to Firefly talk about her time with the group and the stunts she pulled off.

Was more than a little surprise to hear her commend Dash on her own abilities and that she thought the younger mare had a good shot at joining the team once she got all her stunts down. I didn't fully agree with her, but if one of the best fliers in the land says someone has a chance, you don't verbally disagree with her.

Still, I think it's safe to say that this was by far the best part of the night. Though, the night wasn't over just yet. As much as it pained me to do so, I eventually had to part with Firefly, Dash, and Scootaloo. There was still someone left who I had to meet before the party was over.


Entry 12


I honestly didn't want to have to part with Firefly. I was still too awestruck at the time and I'm sure that I was acting like a young grifling meeting with their favorite star (which, in a way I was, though I am no grifling) still, I was assured later that I acted more maturely than Rainbow Dash had when she first met Firefly (assured by Firefly herself no less). There was so much I had wanted to ask and to learn from her, though I knew I had more time to do so later. Besides, I had a promise to keep and I always keep my promises.

Finding Lyra this time was a lot easier than it was when I was tracking her down earlier. While I had no music to follow, it didn't take me long to spot her in the crowd. She was off to the side, one of the few ponies who were sitting one of the tables that were scattered inside. She sat across from a earth pony mare that I hadn't met yet.

I don't know why, but for some reason when I saw the two of them together, I paused. Both looked incredibly happy as they chatted and I felt that if I walked over to them, I would be interrupting something special. Yet at the same time, I felt a bit sad. It was strange, the sadness the hit me. It was only a momentary thing, less than a few seconds at most, but left an impression on my mind that even now I question.

I probably would have left the pair alone if Lyra hadn't turned and noticed me. Her smile grew even wider and she waved a hoof and motioned me over. I hesitated momentarily and then forced myself to smile and pad over to the pair.

"Blacklin, I'm glad you found time to come see me," Lyra stated with a laugh. "I saw that the fillies were dragging you all over meeting people. Thought you had forgotten about meeting me."

I laughed as well and shook my head. "Almost did," I admitted. "Meeting Firefly was, well, it was something I wasn't expecting and took me by surprise."

"I bet," the unicorn stated. She then motioned to the mare across from her with a dark cream coat and blue tail and mane with a pink stripe in it. 'This is the friend I told you I was waiting for. Bon Bon, this is Blacklin. The one who this whole party is for and who I was just telling you about."

Bon Bon looked me over, a hint of curiosity in her artic blue eyes, and smiled cheerfully. "It's nice to meet you," she said with a soft laugh. "Lyra's been talking non-stop about you since we arrived here. A music fan, are you?"

I blinked a few times before smiling and nodding slightly. "A bit, you could say," I responded. "I love the sound of stringed instruments when well played. Cellos, pianos, guitars. . ."

"Lyres," Bon Bon added with a grin.

I laughed and nodded. "Yeah, and lyres as well as harps." I finally sat down with the pair. "So I guess Lyra's been telling you that she tamed me with her magic playing?"

Lyra blushed and shook her head. "No, of course not! Why would I say anything like that? I simply said that I met you while waiting and that you really enjoyed my playing."

Bon Bon nodded in agreement. "See? I told you it wasn't just me that thought so. You worry too much about your own playing. It's your talent, of course you're a wonderful player."

"An incredibly wonderful player," I chimed in.

Our praise only served to make Lyra's blush grow deeper and she looked away, coughing lightly. "Seriously not that good, you two." She smiled. "But thanks."

"Any time," I stated.

"I'll keep telling you that until you finally believe it," Bon Bon proclaimed. "I'll get it through that skull of yours yet."

I chuckled softly and looked between the two. It wasn't hard to see that the two were close and had a strong friendship. "Known each other for a long time, I take it?"

They looked at each other and then at me.

"Since foalhood," they replied in unison and then broke into giggles.

"We grew up in Canterlot together," Lyra explained. "Bon Bon moved here about five years ago to start up a candy shop and I followed about a year later to help out."

"Really?" I couldn't help but sound a little surprised. "Funny, if you both had stayed a few more years there, we could have met when I first arrived in Equestria. Canterlot was my first home here."

"What made you move here then?" asked Bon Bon.

I shrugged a bit and repeated the reasons for my move. Both listened and giggled a bit at my descriptions of the stuffy and snobbish upper class unicorns I had to deal with. Bon Bon agreed that it was a bit tough living there, but Lyra made it easier.

"Think I made it easier for her to tolerate being there as well," she said. "Probably why she left after I did."

Lyra rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Yes, life was so hard for me without you around. Totally was loneliness and not wanting to help my friend with her new project."

I chuckled in spite of myself. It was almost like watching siblings tease each other.

It's strange, that for something I was dreading and didn't want, I found myself wishing the night would never end. I had never felt so welcomed anywhere before or have had so much simple fun. I never had so much amazement happen to me before either. I have never met so many wonderful people all at once nor do I think I ever will.

It was with a heavy heart that I bid farewell to Lyra and Bon Bon, though it wasn't without incident. I think if not for Pinkie suddenly popping up (from where, I still have no idea. I honestly think she might have been hiding under the table. That scares me now. . .) and being her exuberant self, I would have talked to them all night. As it was, Pinkie's sudden appearance reminded me how late the night was and how tired all the excitement had left me.

I made a promise to meet up with Lyra the next day and maybe help out with Bon Bon in any way I might have been able to (turns out she needed the most help with delivering things and having things picked up for her. Go figure) and then left for home; ready to turn in after one of the best nights of my life.