Three moons had passed, and Summer Rain was sitting quietly under 'her tree'. She actually came here often when she wanted to just think through all that was happening, and there really was a lot to think through.
Princess Twilight and these special ponies had welcomed Summer Rain unreservedly, and Summer was happier now than she could ever remember. Summer knew she was right to want this, but was still very concerned that this amazing gift of Friendship be made available to everypony.
Princess Celestia had made good on her promise to support Summer Rain. At Fluttershy's insistence, a cottage was built for Summer near hers. It was small but very comfortable, much more than Summer felt she deserved. It allowed Summer to spend a lot of time with her sister, which was a welcome treat.
But underneath this Oak tree in the meadow on the outskirts of Ponyville was where this had all started. This particular spot had rapidly become the second place to look for Summer if you needed or wanted her.
Todays mental task was pretty significant. Right on the three moon mark, Summer was looking carefully at all that had happened.
Princess Celestia and Princess Twilight both had really given Summer two tasks to pursue. The first task was to 'get integrated' into this circle of special ponies. Some would think this an easy task knowing even a little about Twilight and her five friends, and they would be right.
However, up to that day three moons ago, Summer only knew what she had read about them in Princess Celestia's commentaries. Getting to actually know these ponies was nothing short of amazing.
Rainbow Dash was probably the only tough pony for Summer Rain to be around, at least at first. Rainbow was hugely driven, like Summer used to be, and was also blazingly fast, like Summer wanted to be.
Rainbow was everything that Summer had used to want, everything she had ardently pursued, everything that Summer had now turned away from, once she realized it was ruining her life. Rainbow Dash was unknowingly a painful reminder of Summer's previous failure. This made it rather difficult for Summer to be around her, let alone smile.
But the day following Summer's 'commissioning' (she could think of no other name for it) Twilight needed Summer to come, and so sent Rainbow to get her. Summer was trying hard, but still wasn't exactly jovial, and Rainbow picked up on this, so Rainbow tried to 'lighten things up'.
Perhaps secretly also wanting to see just how fast this new Pegasus was, Rainbow proposed a short race. She picked a landmark, approximately a mile away, and they were to race there and back. Rainbow didn't know the back story, and so didn't think it would be a problem.
Well of course, Rainbow Dash beat Summer by a good, uhm, three seconds (not by much really), and was then completely bewildered when Summer Rain quickly landed, lay down in the grass, and started crying.
Part of the problem was that Summer had a hunch she had lost to Rainbow before, but she was also upset with herself that this even mattered.
"Hey, hey" Rainbow Dash said after she quickly landed and sat next to Summer. "It was just a friendly challenge. Applejack and I do this kind of stuff all the time."
Through her tears Summer blurted out "but I've NEVER won..." and then after a few more sobs, she finished the thought "...but this shouldn't matter, I'm trying to leave this behind."
It is hard to say exactly where Rainbow got the idea for this.
"Summer, sit up" Rainbow Dash said gently but firmly. Rainbow continued, "look here" pointing to a set of muscles below Summer's wing with her front hoof, "and look here", another muscle, "and here too".
Rainbow then put her front leg around Summer's neck, looked in her eyes and said gently "your body isn't built for the kind of speed you want from it, but that's ok Summer. You are who you are, and I think you're awesome."
From this brief interchange, Summer let go of something, and finally accepted what she had fought for many seasons. Her crying trailed off, and Summer was thoughtfully quiet for a minute. Then she looked back into Rainbow's eyes and said "Thank you. I think you are right."
After a brief pause, Summer continued. "I wish I had a friend who cared enough to tell me that a long time ago." Rainbow hugged Summer and said "Well you have one now".
As they resumed their flight to the Library (somewhat late of course), Rainbow said "I'll tell you though, for what you got, you are blazing fast", and they both laughed together.
From this point on, Rainbow was generally the one to come get Summer should the need arise, and they devised all sorts of flying games for the way back.
Their favorite was that they would choose a leader, and the other Pegasus would have to shadow the leader's every move.
As leader once, Summer flew into a cloud, then stopped, while Rainbow kept flying. Summer then watched Rainbow race around looking for her, when she realized she lost the leader. Summer accidentally sneezed, blowing up the cloud, and then started laughing. Rainbow did too once she realized what happened.
They generally didn't play that game if they were in a hurry.
The steps of an approaching pony jarred Summer Rain's thoughts back to the day. Summer got up and turned around.
"Hi, my name is Sunny Rays, and Princess Twilight said I could probably find you here. I hope I'm not disturbing you?" she queried.
"No, please, what can I do for you?" Summer said reassuringly.
"Well, I just wanted to thank you again for your kindness the other day. I really don't know many other ponyfolk who would take the time to help another pony like you helped me. You saved me a lot of heartache, and I was having a tough week to begin with, and your kindness brought me a welcomed twinkle of hope and comfort.
"I wish I could return the favor somehow, but I'm thinking I will try to spread the same helpfulness to others, just like you did for me.
"Thank you again" Sunny Rays said as she turned and walked back to Ponyville.
Well, this is what happened the "other day".
Summer Rain was at a shop on the far side of town when Rainbow Dash came to get her, and they both were quickly high in the air and headed for the Library.
Near the center of town, Summer noticed, on the road far below, a mare trying to hurry with a substantial load of packages on her back. Summer noticed that the top-most, small package was bouncing along, and slowly working its way towards the back of the pile. Just as this pony was almost out of Summer's view, the small package fell off.
Summer made a quick turn, and flew all the way back to the far side of town and landed at the box. Picking it up and stuffing it in her book bag, she was again airborne looking for the pony with the big load of packages.
Rainbow Dash wasn't real pleased and kept saying "Summer, come on, we gotta go."
It took a few more minutes to find the pony that lost the box. She had just left the Post Office, and was clearly searching frantically for something. The look in her eyes told Summer all she needed to know.
Summer landed in front of her, and pulled out her lost box.
The pony threw both legs around Summer's neck and said "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!"
Summer explained what she saw and did, and the appreciative pony headed back across town with her box.
Rainbow Dash was clearly agitated, and Summer rejoined the flight quickly.
Even so, when they got to the Library, others were still on the way, so they were not late or anything.
That was the other day.
As Sunny Rays walked off, Summer thought to herself. "Make a mental note, friendship can spread from friendly deeds even when you are not trying to. I suppose the reverse is true as well however."
Summer sighed, and resumed today's mental task.
"Ah, that's right, my sister" Summer thought to herself with a broad smile.
Summer didn't need to find a reason to spend time with Fluttershy, and they were both ecstatic to have each other 'back'. They didn't make special times to be together, it just happened over the course of their day.
Summer Rain would often help her sister with her various chores and tasks around her cottage, and was amazed at Fluttershy's insight and understanding of her animal friends, and quickly realized this extended to her pony friends as well. Easily the quietest of the group, Summer realized her sister saw and felt what most did not.
And she was a big help to Summer 'fitting in'.
Summer Rain had her sister back, and Summer's sister was now her close friend. What more could she want.
Rarity was every bit the gem Summer Rain figured she would be.
Always the fashion expert, Rarity seemed to keep all of Ponyville and beyond, dressed in the finest of accessories. In other words, she was usually extremely busy. But soon after Summer's welcoming, Rarity took a morning out of her busy schedule and had Summer over.
Rarity designed and made Summer the most amazing book bag, replacing one so worn out that it threatened to drop her books on the ground. Rarity threw the old one out her side window and never looked back.
Rarity's new creation was done in stunning white with gold highlights, and it made Summer's coat and mane really stand out. The added touch of a copy of Summer's Cutie Mark on both side flaps was a nice detail, although Summer still had no idea what it meant. Summer wasn't too concerned about this any more.
The new book bag was durable but oh so stylish, and even bigger than her old one. The flaps were widely overlapped to keep the rain out, but also very easy to get open. Summer instantly fell in love with it, and that seemed payment enough for Rarity.
Rarity actually adored the color of Summer's mane, and made a few suggestions which made it look even better.
"Summer, I know you have been through a lot, but you are with us now, and we will take care of you" Rarity said at one point, and Summer had no doubt it was true.
Summer Rain actually spent quite a bit of time out at Sweet Apple Acres. When the need arose, Summer would help Applejack around the farm, and really was very capable, and a big help.
The other reason was that Summer could frequently find Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo there ('the Cutie Mark Crusaders' or just CMC for short), and Princess Celestia specifically mentioned them.
Being new to the CMC, Summer was not yet able to spend a lot of time with the group yet, but she watched them when she could. However, Summer Rain did get to spend some time with Apple Bloom, and was in the process of getting to know her better.
After just a few weeks, and at the end of a full day helping Applejack harvest apples, Applejack sat down and said "Whoooeee that was a hard days work if I've ever seen one!"
Leaning closer to Summer, who was sitting next to her, she said quietly "Thanks for your help, don't know how we would have finished without you."
Big Mac immediately piped up and said "eeyyyyup".
Granny Smith must have heard too. "Youngin' you fit in just fine here, just like family."
Applejack looked at Summer and smiled, then whispered "I think you just got adopted!
Summer Rain found Pinkie Pie just plain fun to be around. Summer dropped by the Cake's shop as often as she could, since that's where Pinkie usually was. Pinkie welcomed Summer as a true friend; Pinkie welcomed everyone.
Besides, if the CMC weren't at Sweet Apple Acres, they were frequently at the shop. And if not, the shop was centrally located in Ponyville, and the CMC were often seen passing by at high speed.
Summer soon found out that Pinkie had a profound sense of "something different" as she responded in every day conversation. Summer tried constantly to do the same thing, or at least try to view things differently, just to see how Pinkie would handle it.
"Pinkie its more fun being around you than it is reading about you" Summer said at one point.
Pinkie quickly replied "Awww that's ok, ponies need to smile while they are reading too right?"
Can't argue with that.
Summer Rain had read about the 'Pinkie Sense' and hoped to see it in action at some point. She saw it closer to home than she ever expected.
Pinkie and Summer were sitting outside the Cake's shop eating cupcakes, just chatting. Suddenly, Pinkie got this very serious look on her face, then began to scan around, looking here, then there. Then she stopped, looked right at Summer and said "Wow Summer, someponies really need you!"
After a brief pause, she laughed, returned to normal, and said "but I don't know who they are, sorry" as she reached for another cupcake.
Summer often pondered what that might mean, and knew better than to simply discount it.
Princess Twilight Sparkle had brought Summer Rain into this group, and clearly had every intention of following through. The very next day after Summer's commissioning, Twilight had Rainbow Dash bring Summer to the Library for the morning.
Twilight prepared a simple meal which they ate together. Then Twilight showed Summer around the Library, and wanted her to know that she could come here any time she wanted, and read any of the books as she pleased. Twilight surmised that Summer had little interest in the many books on magic, but wanted her to feel welcome just the same.
Summer Rain found Twilight to be very much a 'young phillie' (which she liked), but also observed that she was picking up on 'princess-sense' very quickly.
Princess Twilight was also very big on organization, something they quickly realized that they shared.
They also discussed some things about when and when not Summer would be integrated into the activities these special ponies would likely be involved with, and Summer assured Princess Twilight that she would trust the Princess' judgment. Summer had no 'Element of Harmony', and so fully agreed she should remain in the background. This was fine, Summer didn't relish the 'lime-light', not any more.
Twilight walked Summer to the door, they hugged, and Summer was on her way.
Later that afternoon, Rainbow Dash explained to Twilight what had happened with the race, and what followed.
Princess Twilight quickly decided that the 'back-story' needed to be told.
The very next, next day, in the cool of the morning, Summer, Twilight, and 'the girls' gathered under this same tree in the field, close to each other, close to Summer (her sister at her side of course), as Summer told her story. She didn't leave anything out. They cried together, they laughed together. When the morning was done, they all knew Summer a LOT better.
Summer cried when she realized they all still wanted her as part of their group. Summer wiped a tear from her eye just remembering that special morning.
Together, they all admired Summer. In spite of what she had been through, they realized she was driven. Driven to understand and experience what they so often took for granted, and to be able to carry that to ponies all over Equestria if possible. That was certainly very different.
Since that morning, Summer Rain visited the Princess at least once every day, just to check in, and see if there was anything Summer could do to help Twilight.
Summer would frequently help by flying messages to other ponies as the need arose. Summer's book bag was also handy to pick stuff up and make deliveries for the Princess. Summer gave Spike a few rides too, and he had a blast.
Princess Celestia's observations about exactly what 'friendship's magic' really is, had been very helpful; Summer kept rolling them around in her mind as she experienced life with these ponies.
She thought out loud to herself at this point.
"Hmm. I suspected from my reading, and know now even more clearly, that for any of these special six to put themselves above the rest would certainly bring their friendships crashing down, as the evil Discord had proven.
"But since the Elements of Harmony fuel the magic Twilight uses to help protect Equestria, any such fracture in their circle could have devastating and far-reaching consequences.
"And yet, even Discord chose to accept the voluntary limitations of a friendship offered when another pony put her own wants aside, putting Discord first. This is what friends do. And this is what makes being around them so special, so enjoyable, even if Discord 'doesn't do windows'.
"However," Summer realized "being around such a friendship generally makes demands of the new-comer, to either adopt this way of life (putting others first), or reject it.
"And, rejecting it has its cost, as friendship generally cannot be sustained long as a one-way path.
"And ponies generally try and avoid somepony who focuses on themselves."
At this point, she looked towards the ground, and shook her head back and forth. Then she thought to herself "this all sounds nice, but the minute I think I understand, it flies away like a bird."
Summer had enlisted Spike's help in sending a few letters to Princess Celestia, trying to explain what things she could wrap her hoof around, and usually ended up apologizing that she didn't have more to mention.
The responses from the Princess were always fully supportive, as it seemed this was different subject-matter for both of them.
At any rate, Summer Rain's pondering continued. "Ok, so who do we see with this Friendship, besides Twilight and her friends?"
The CMC came quickly to mind, "What little I have seen of them, in their own ways, they seem to increasingly be putting the good of their group ahead of themselves. They are still young phillies, but this is an encouraging thing to see.
"As they continue to grow though, they will no doubt each get their Cutie Marks. I wonder if they will stay together after this happens."
Summer's brain hurt at this point, so she took a mental break, and gazed quietly across the meadow, enjoying the sights, sounds and scents of the moment.
"Life is amazing" she thought to herself.
What Summer did not initially see was that Rainbow Dash had very carefully landed behind Summer and was slowly, gently and quietly sneaking up behind her. Summer cocked her head slightly to the side. "Hi Rainbow Dash" Summer said without even turning around.
"Aww, there's just no sneaking up on you is there" Rainbow said with a frown.
"I guess not, at least not today" Summer said laughing. "Maybe I've been around Pinkie too much" Summer said with a chuckle.
"Let me guess" Rainbow said, "You are sitting here talking to yourself for hours and hours about what is going on in your life, trying to figure everything out."
"Yes, sorry" Summer replied. "You are welcome to stay but it might be boring."
"Pass" Rainbow shouted as she got ready to fly off.
"Rainbow, wait" Summer shouted back. "Come back later and we will find something fun to do."
"Sounds good" Rainbow shouted again, and was off.
Back on track, the other task that both Princesses had given Summer Rain was to explore practical ways to help other ponies find this Friendship.
Summer's welcoming into the circle of friendship with Princess Twilight and her girls was and continued to be nothing short of amazing.
However Summer's day to day experiences with the Ponies of Ponyville, trying to understand how to even communicate their need for this gem, well the results so far had been, "uhm, interesting?"
Summer actually said these last few words out loud.
Summer Rain ran into a rather strange pony named "Snips".
Almost as soon as Summer got within earshot, Snips called to her and said "Hey you, new pony, do you wanna buy a back scratcher with Princess Twilight Sparkle's picture on it? Only 2 bits."
Summer walked over to Snips, pondered this a minute, then she decided she would try to at least plant some sort of seed in his thinking. "My name is Summer Rain, what is yours?"
"They call me Snips, but seriously, do you want this or not?" Snips said impatiently.
"Snips, do you know Princess Twilight and her friends very well?" Summer ventured.
"Well, ya, sorta, doesn't everypony? Snips answered a little more calmly.
"Well does it seem like they really enjoy their friendship with each other?" Summer said, realizing this might be a long-shot for this pony.
Snips thought for a minute then replied "Well, ya, they do seem to have a lot of fun together, well when they are not out saving the town."
"Snips, would you like to have friends like that?" Summer ventured again.
"Aww I don't know." Snips paused briefly in thought, then continued "Because then I'd have to share my bits. Anyway come on now, do you want this or not?" Snips quickly replied.
Summer bought the back-scratcher with Princess Twilight's picture on it, but not to scratch her back. This would be very difficult without magic.
No, Summer bought it because it would work perfectly to hold the pages of her book down while reading on a breezy day.
Besides, she considered the Princess a very close friend, and didn't mind the reminder.
Snips took his bits and literally ran off to find another customer.
"I guess friendship does have its price" Summer remembered thinking to herself
There was a run-down shop on the far edge of town, and within the first week, Summer Rain had stopped in to see what it was. The shop was run by a mare about Summer's age, whose name was Dawn Flower.
Once inside, Summer could see that Dawn made flower arrangements. The building was shabby at best, but Dawn's artistry with simple flowers was amazing, and Summer told her so.
Dawn was a Unicorn, and made good use of the basic magic she had command of.
On Summer's second visit, she met Dawn's foal Camille, who was almost as soft-spoken as her mom. Almost without thinking, Summer said "So where's your stallion, I'd like to meet him."
Dawn looked at the ground, and slowly said "I have no stallion." Then after a brief pause, she continued "I would tell you the story, but it wouldn't make any difference, it's just us two."
Summer thought for a minute, then said "I'm sorry, I didn't know. But you know what, that's ok, you have an awesome family."
This sort of thing was not exactly un-heard of in Equestria, but it was a very difficult path, and most ponies agreed it was not the best for very young ponies. But it happened.
As Summer got to know Dawn better, she learned that caring for Camille took a lot of Dawn's time, and so business was slow, and her shop showed it.
"But at least we are not starving" Dawn mentioned with a sigh.
It didn't take long for Summer to realize that hearing about friendship would not make much sense to Dawn. She just needed a friend. She needed someone to come along side and help her, and cheer her up when things were tough, and a lot of other things besides.
Summer Rain stopped by when she could, and would pick a bunch of flowers out in the meadow beforehand and 'fly them in' for Dawn to use in her creations. This saved Dawn a lot of time. Summer would also play with Camille, and sometimes take the little one for walks while Dawn got some work done. This was a big help, and Dawn's business slowly picked up.
Summer and Dawn quickly became good friends, but Summer knew she needed to do more to help Dawn. On one of her visits, Summer Rain asked Dawn if she could borrow one of her arrangements.
Dawn shrugged, and said "sure" not really having any idea why Summer would want to "borrow" it.
Summer Rain carefully carried it into town to Rarity's boutique. Rarity instantly recognized the talent behind the arrangement; the colors, the hues, the balance, and said almost apologetically "Yo... You didn't make this did you?"
Summer was not offended at the inference, and laughed loudly, and then said "heavens no, but I think you should meet the artist that did."
Rarity and Dawn shared a lot in common artistically, and became good friends as well. Rarity took great pride in including Dawn's work when she could, and this reflected well on Dawn's business.
A few weeks later, when she knew Dawn would be out of town, Summer Rain brought Applejack to Dawn's shop to look it over.
Applejack realized the need, and jumped in with all four. Applejack called the shots as she, Summer and, after a while, Rainbow Dash and Big Mac, all worked through the day. The results were amazing, and a fitting tribute to the beautiful flower arrangements seen through the windows.
Dawn almost didn't recognize her shop when she returned, and through tears thanked everyone who helped. Dawn volunteered to pay them something, but of course was turned down.
Summer Rain figured some would call it "the right connections". In reality, it was just friends doing what friends do, giving of themselves for the benefit of each other. Summer, Rarity and Applejack also realized they could not take Dawn's place on her path, but together they did what they could to make Dawn's way a little easier. Friends do that.
Summer Rain met Derpy that first week as well.
Everypony in town said they liked Derpy, but they kept their distance from her it seemed. Summer visited Derpy at her home.
Aside from the things Derpy's eyes did, it seemed like Derpy could only talk about the same subject for no more than three or four sentences, and then had to change the subject. And beyond that, Derpy had to leave around five minutes after Summer came by to visit.
Later that day, Summer asked Pinkie Pie about Derpy, and what Summer had encountered at her house.
"Oh Summer, that's just Derpy, and I love her. Derpy is different, but so what, so are you!"
They both started laughing at this.
The next time Summer visited Derpy, she simply tried to attentively follow Derpy's conversation where ever it went, and even tried sneaking in a quick change in topic herself. In short, she tried to simply meet Derpy where Derpy was. This must have been the right approach, their visits slowly got longer and longer.
During one visit she simply asked Derpy about her eyes. "Derpy, why do your eyes do that?"
Derpy immediately frowned, looked at the ground, and started into what must have been a carefully rehearsed apology that surely had been given a hundred times.
Summer quickly stopped her and said "no, wait." Summer put her nose right next to Derpy's, then looked her in the eye. Then Summer did her hardest to move her eyes the way Derpy usually moved hers. After about a minute of grunting and trying, she managed to do it a little. Summer exhaled and said "Wow Derpy what you do with your eyes is very difficult; its amazing that you can do that!
Derpy acted like a great weight had been lifted, threw her hooves around Summer's neck, hugged her and said "Oh thank you for being so understanding. Most ponies back away like I have "pony-pox" or something."
Their visits got longer. Summer learned that Derpy was crazy insane good at Checkers.
One afternoon Summer Rain was at the Cake's shop with Pinkie Pie. After a few minutes, Pinkie realized she needed to leave, a full 30 seconds before Rainbow Dash arrived to get her. Off they went, leaving Summer in the shop, with just Mr. and Mrs. Cake busy around her.
Thinking half out loud, Summer said "I don't understand it. Friendship can be so rewarding, even if it does mean that you limit yourself some in the process. But the benefits seem to so far out-weigh the investment. I would think that more ponies would jump at such a thing."
Mr. Cake stopped what he was doing, got this thoughtful look on his face, then walked over and gently rubbed his nose up against Mrs. Cakes nose. Mrs. Cake was a little bit embarrassed because Summer was there, but she smiled warmly at her stallion, then they both went back to work.
"Hmm, well hopefully ponies and their mates will be true friends." Summer thought to herself. "Still, I know those that are not, and it isn't very happy."
The Cake's shop was centrally located, and so proved to be a very nice place to relax and meet ponies.
One morning, Summer was sitting on the grass out front waiting for Pinkie Pie.
A mare walked up to the yard, and sat her colt down while she went in for some goodies. The colt didn't stay put (of course) and walked over and sat next to Summer.
The colt said "My name is Quizical (said sort of slurred together as youngsters often do), what is your name?
Summer probably should have thought more, but said "Hi I'm Summer Rain. And by the way your name is very, uhm, different."
Quizical quickly responded "That's OK ma'am, you are stranger than me, you have purple hair!" and he giggled a little.
Summer had forgotten about that. The day before, Summer was at Rarity's boutique helping her out. Rarity was trying to create a way to change a ponies' hair color, and wanted someone besides the main six to test her experiment on. Summer gladly offered her hair, and Rarity did only try a short end section of a small bunch of hair from Summer's mane.
Rarity frowned soon after she removed Summer's mane from her concoction.
Summer assured Rarity it didn't matter what color her hair was, even if it was bright purple (Summer laughed as she said this to Rarity).
Rarity sighed with relief, and said "well good, because that's what color it is now", and handed Summer a mirror.
Summer looked at her patch of purple hair and smiled, and said "Sorry Rare, back to the drawing board I guess."
"I think next time I try this, I will cut a small amount of hair off, and test it that way." Rarity was thinking out loud.
What did happen with Quizical however, is that from that 'purple hair' day on, whenever they would meet, they would exchange the strangest things they could think of about the other, never mean, always in good fun.
Just a few days ago, they met in town, and Quizical said "Hey, this is so strange, you are going to a different planet! (and he kind of slurred this last word too like it was new to him).
"Whoa, wait a minute" Summer replied, "do you mean like the Moon where Princess Luna was?"
Quizical just laughed and said "I don't know, I'm just a colt!"
"Ok" Summer started out loud again, "what about the weird. And why do I always end up thinking through the weird stuff last?"
Summer thought for a while, and concluded that no, there was nothing in the weird category, nothing that she could remember anyway. Summer Rain concluded (accompanied by a broad smile), that this shouldn't be unexpected, since she found herself far more contented than she had ever been.
"Oh wait a minute" Summer again said with a frown, "Princess Twilight's dream. That was WAAAYYY weird."
Just last week the Princess had Rainbow Dash bring Summer Rain to the Library.
After the usual updates about how everything was going, Twilight started this off saying "I'm sorry, but I need to tell you this. And you can't tell anypony else."
Twilight described some sort of alternate world, a lot like Equestria, but a lot NOT like Equestria. There, ponies walked on their hind legs, and had spindly spider leg like things coming out of their hooves.
Twilight mentioned finding Ponies, er 'People' there with the same names as Twilight's five friends, and they even helped her in some way.
It was just so weird, but Twilight said it really happened, and the Princess was not prone to even trying to make stuff like this up.
Summer Rain decided it was at least a dream, but couldn't do much else with the information that flooded in so fast. It just didn't seem to fit anywhere in Summer's mental filing system.
"Yup, it was just weird" Summer thought to herself. "I hope I don't get tested on it" she thought with a chuckle.
Rainbow Dash came back again, only this time she was a little more 'assertive'. Rainbow came down very fast, and landed, in almost the perfect sitting position right in front of Summer Rain, a new move she had been practicing. Rainbow said simply "Hey", hoping she would startle Summer back to reality.
"Think I'm done for now" Summer Rain said sighing. "At least I think I need to do something different for a while."
"Town Square?" Rainbow suggested.
"Sure, lets go!" Summer said with a grin.
Rainbow and Summer flew off in opposite directions and soon disappeared. They both liked this game.
They started by flying away from each other leaving town between them. They then needed to sneak into town and get to Town Square first, before being spotted by the other. And it wasn't just flying.
They talked Princess Twilight into playing this once, and were amazed that she beat them both. Although neither Pegasus was sure their Princess didn't use a little magic on the way, it was still great fun.