//------------------------------// // Humans I // Story: Integration // by Darth Link 22 //------------------------------// Dear Princess Twilight, Things have been going quite well here. Your counterpart comes out of her shell a little more every day. I was a little worried when you told me how reluctant you used to be to make friends, but she seems to seek out time with us. She’s happy doing farm work with Applejack, or exercising with Rainbow Dash, or working at the animal shelter with Fluttershy. Just last week, we convinced her to come to a pool party hosted by Sandalwood’s family. Rarity kept trying to talk her into a bikini, but she refused anything but a one-piece (yeah, I’ve lived with humans for two years, and I still don’t get their shame over their bodies). We did manage to talk her into a chicken fight with Flash as her partner. Don’t worry, those two hit it off pretty well, but they’re completely platonic. The only one he’s writing love letters to is you. Yeah, I know about the journal. You bagged yourself quite the man. Our research into magic is going well. We’ve managed to recreate her device, however we have been unable to find any source of magic in this world that isn’t inside either ourselves or the portal. Since we aren’t willing to interfere with either, we’ve decided to move on to more experiments on the effects of ponying up. She’s still having nightmares. On nights one of us can spare, we stay at her apartment to relieve Shining Armor and Cadance of sitting up with her. It’s tough, but she finally slept through the night a day ago. Still, the nightmares returned the following night, so we’re not done yet. Tonight, we’re having another slumber party at Pinkie’s house. Twilight is taking to them well, I think her nightmares are less intense when we’re around. Shining Armor and Cadance are only too happy to allow it. Shiny said something about “getting some training in with Spike,” whatever that means. Sunset was welcomed into the apartment of the Sparkle family as Cadance called to her sister-in-law. “Twilight! Sunset’s here!” “I’m almost ready!” Twilight called. “Don’t worry, I can wait,” Sunset called back. She was prepared to do just that when Cadance suddenly wrapped her arms around her. “Huh... what?” “Thank you.” Sunset blinked. “For what?” “For everything you’ve done for her. I’ve never seen Twilight this happy since before her parents died, even with those nightmares. She’s always been such a sweet girl, but couldn’t ever come out of her shell until now. She’s being the girl I always knew she could be.” “Um, well... it’s not just me.” “Maybe not, but you saved her life on top of it. I don’t think I can even begin to repay you.” Sunset blushed. Cadance eventually let her go and smiled. “I miss her being at Crystal Prep, but it’s best for her to be with you.” She smiled. “I’m glad you don’t hold that against me. Did Shining Armor take it well? I know he’s an alumni.” Cadance giggled. “As soon as he found out that Twilight made some friends, he couldn’t sign the papers fast enough. We had always talked about a way to get her more active. Although... now Shiny wants to restart Spike’s training...” She gestured to the sitting room. Inside, Shining Armor sat with Spike. “Now, let’s try this again,” Shining Armor said, pointing to the picture of a human boy he had set up. “This is a boy. Now, what do you do when any boy besides me gets within a three-foot radius of Twilight?” “Check online to make sure his genealogy makes him capable of producing healthy offspring?” “Uh, no. That’s what you’re trying to prevent.” “But Twilight needs to pass down her genetics to ensure the survival of her line.” “No, that’s what I’ll be doing with Cadance. Twilight’s prerogative is to get old and die without being defiled. Now, you really have to bite them if they try to reach for the chest...” “Oh for...” Spike groaned. “What is with humans and female chests? They’re just baby-feeders. They should be displayed so potential mates can be aware of their child-rearing capabilities.” “No!” Cadance was giggling, but Sunset looked agreeable. “Yeah, I’ve wondered what the big deal was. Humans...” Cadance gave a bemused smirk as Twilight emerged from her room, a backpack slung over her shoulder. “Ready to go!” She hugged her brother and sister-in-law and gave Spike a quick scratch behind the ear before leaving. Twilight was both nervous and excited... nervocited, as Pinkie had called it... as she slipped into her pajamas. This was it, another round of truth or dare. This would be it. She would really do it. She had wondered if it was okay, with how far she was willing to go. But she remembered their last session. She remembered Rainbow Dash’s dare. She remembered her throat, mouth, and face burning. She remembered holding her head under the sink and filling her mouth with water straight from the faucet. Oh, how she had grown to loathe hot sauce. And now... oh now... she’d have her revenge. She had been planning this for a very long time. As soon as it was her turn. The seven girls sat in a circle. It was time. “Alright then. Sunset, I believe it was your turn last time,” Rarity said. She smiled a moment. “Well, let’s start out with something simple. Rarity: truth or dare?” Rarity smiled. “Truth.” Sunset grinned something that wouldn’t be out of place on her old self. “Are all of your clothes originals?” Rarity looked like she had been punched. Even having renounced being a bully, her former skills made her deadly at this game. “Well... maybe I take a few off the rack,” she muttered while Sunset grinned. Then she shook it off. “Very well. Twilight: truth or dare.” Twilight tried to hide her giddiness. “Truth.” “Pffth. This is getting lame. Where’s the dares?” Rainbow Dash asked, not knowing how happy that made Twilight. “Okay, time to spill. What do you really think of Captain Flash?” Twilight blushed. “I told you: I think he’s cute, but I’m not looking to get into a relationship with him.” “Why not?” “Sorry, only one question per truth.” “She’s got you there, Rare,” Applejack said. Rarity pouted. “Fine, it’ll be my turn again soon enough,” she said, giving a sly smile. “My turn!” Twilight turned to Rainbow Dash. “Truth or dare.” “Oh, this ought to be good. Dare.” Twilight spoke her dare. In a flash, Rainbow Dash went as white as a ghost. “You.. you...” Pinkie, Applejack, and Sunset were on the ground laughing. Fluttershy was hiding her own giggles behind her mouth. Rarity gave a smile. “I honestly didn’t think you had it in you.” “W-wait... you can’t!” Rainbow Dash sputtered. Twilight only handed her a phone. “Consider it revenge.” “...Well, got to admit, you have more teeth than I thought.” Slowly she took her cellphone and dialed. Every eye was on her intently as the phone remained ringing. The grins were cutting through her like knives. She just wanted this to be over. “Hello?” the voice on the other end said. “Hey, Big Mac?” “Rainbow? What’s going on? Is Applejack okay? Do I need to come down there?” Rainbow was sweating all over. She felt flustered. She had to do this... “Youhaveacutebutt.” Then she pounded the off button. Her friends were all on the ground with laughter. Rainbow Dash was blushing and breathing heavily. Then her phone rang . She looked at the caller ID. Big Mac. She hit the refuse button. She took a few breaths, then glared at Twilight. “You...” And then Applejack’s phone went off. “Well, well, my brother is calling...” Rainbow Dash made a mad dash for the phone, but Pinkie tackled her. “No Dashie, let it happen!” Applejack answered her phone. “Hey, Mac. Yeah, Rainbow’s here. No, she can’t come to the phone right now. Yeah sure, hold on...” She looked at Rainbow. “He wants to know if you’d like to get a bite at the coffee house around the block on Monday.” That got everyone’s attention. Rainbow Dash was bright red. “Uh... y-yeah, tell him sure.” “She said she’d love to,” Applejack said, looking smug. “Sure. She’ll be fine, she just needs to collect herself. Right. See ya tomorrow.” And then the phone flicked off. There was silence for a moment. “So, Cadance was right on the money.” Rainbow Dash looked at Twilight with her eyes wide. “What? How did she know?” Twilight grinned. “Cadance always knows. Always.” The athletic girl gaped. “You knew I liked him? And you still dared me to?” Twilight shrugged. “Cadance could tell he liked you too, so she told me to have you make the first move the next time we played. She knew one of you...” Rainbow Dash hugged her. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Twilight smiled. “Well, I got my revenge and got you a date in one round. Your turn.” Rainbow Dash grinned. After a game involving Applejack downing three cans of canned cheese, Pinkie inhaling a bunch of helium and giving her own rendition of “Barbie Girl”, and Fluttershy admitted that she had admired Sandalwood for some time, they had moved on to some video games that Rainbow Dash and Twilight dominated. Then a round of makeovers, with Rarity being sure to give Applejack an embarrassing amount of makeup. “So now what?” Sunset asked. She was answered with a pillow to the face. “Pillow fight!” Pinkie squealed, before getting hit by Rainbow Dash’s weapon. Suddenly it was a free-for-all, with pillows flying in every direction, and seven giggling girls all grateful that Igneous Pie had soundproofed Pinkie’s room. Twilight managed to smack Sunset, and the two started a private fight of swinging pillows at one another in a giggling fit. Finally, much to her amazement, Twilight managed to land a solid hit, actually stunning her opponent a bit. She grinned and turned to attack someone else, only to see another pillow about to strike her in the face. Giving a small yelp, she dropped her pillow and raised her hands, hoping to catch the upcoming projectile. She closed her eyes and turned her head away, bracing for impact. The impact never came. After a moment, Twilight opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was Sunset. But she had dropped her pillow and was staring at something in front of her. “Sunset?” she asked. Then she realized that all sound in the room had stopped. She turned to the rest of her friends. She saw a pillow. Floating in mid-air. And surrounded in a purple aura. She gave a small yelp and released the pillow, allowing it to fall to the floor. Following that, there was ten seconds of silence. “Twilight... do you realize what you just did?” Sunset had said it so dull, so monotone, that Twilight was sure she was angry. “I... no, I...” Suddenly Sunset held her hands out in front of her. A blue aura suddenly appeared around her hands, then around the pillow that Twilight had dropped. Slowly, it lifted into the air. “...I can use my magic. I can use my magic!” More pillows were engulfed and floated in the air, going around in a circle. “My Unicorn magic! I can use it again! It’s just like having a horn!” More lifted into the air: her cell phone, a notebook, Pinkie’s stuffed alligator, all floating at Sunset’s whim. Then they fell to the floor. Sunset ran over to the still stunned Rarity. “Rarity! Try levitating something!” It took Rarity a few seconds to process what Sunset was saying. “What?” “Those photos Princess Twilight showed us. You were a Unicorn. Come on, try levitating that pillow.” “Uh... how?” “Just reach for it and picture it in the air. Like you want to pick it up.” Rarity still looked stunned. “Okay,” she said at last, reaching out at a pillow. She concentrated hard for a moment, trying to follow Sunset’s instructions. Her focus was broken when a pale blue aura appeared around her hand. She gave a surprised yelp and shook her arm, as if trying to shake off a spider. Sunset gave a very uncharacteristic squeal of happiness, jumping up and down with an excited clap. “We can use magic! We can use magic!” “Does this mean Dashie and Fluttershy are going to get wings again?” she asked. She immediately jumped behind the pair and lifted the backs of their pajama tops up, to their protests. “Aww, nothing!” “Pinkie, will you... wait, really? No wings?” Rainbow Dash looked disappointed. “That’s no fair.” “It might not have come yet,” Sunset said. “Unicorns are the highest on the magic scale, but Pegasi and Earth Ponies have magic too. They’re just more subtle. Maybe they haven’t manifested themselves yet.” “We get magic too?” Pinkie said, practically shaking in place. “Earth Ponies get enhanced strength, endurance, rapid healing, and a connection to life that’s hard to explain.” Sunset looked at Applejack and Pinkie. “Have you two been feeling stronger lately?” “Can’t rightly say I have,” Applejack said. “We should start keeping track. That could manifest itself soon.” “So I might get wings permanently? Yes!” Rainbow Dash declared. “So you’re sayin’ we’re gettin’ magic fer good?” Applejack asked. “Looks like it,” Sunset said. Her tone was fading from her initial joy to concern. “And... that means magic’s growing. We really need to figure things out now. I doubt we can hide it if two of us sprouted wings! Twilight, we...” That’s when they realized Twilight was gone. Twilight locked the door to Pinkie’s bathroom. In a swift motion she hardly remembered doing, she ran to the sink and splashed water on her face. For a few moments she looked at the white porcelain, breathing heavily. “Well, well, well.” She froze. Slowly she looked up and into the mirror. Her dark self looked back, grinning like a madwoman. “It looks like we’ll be together again very soon.” “No...” she moaned quietly. “Magic, right at your fingertips. Power. Knowledge. Let’s see what you’ll do now.” “No...” she looked at the sink again. A knock. “Twilight?” At Sunset’s voice, Twilight looked up. Her other self was gone, only her own reflection looked back. Her hair was falling out of its bun. She just yanked the ribbons out, letting it fall to her waist. “Twilight? I know why you’re upset.” Slowly, Twilight made it to the bathroom door. She opened it, and was surprised to find the others had followed Sunset, and all looked concerned. “Twilight, we talked about this. You’re in a better place now. Magic isn’t going to do that to you again.” Sunset’s words were gentle, and Twilight felt a little better. “I... sorry, I just...” Sunset took her hand and gently led her out. “Remember what the Princess said? You are the one who gets the Element of Magic. You deserve it. This isn’t anything to be afraid of.” Twilight nodded. “Right. Sorry, I just freaked out there.” “I understand. Come on, the night’s still young, and we have a lot to talk about.” Twilight smiled, but she didn’t miss the sad looks they were giving her. The looks that said they were worried her progress had been set back. it brought guilt upon her, but she tried her best to hide. “Pinkie, you better go make some more cocoa. Looks like we’re in for a longer night than we thought.” Twilight followed them, not saying a word. Somehow, she could still hear the other her. I’m waiting for you...