“Hey, girls!” Was the first voice that greeted them once the quartet arrived at their destination, whatever their destination was. Dreamstar and Starwishes certainly never saw it coming, they had no idea where they were going - all they were doing was following Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo to wherever it was they were going. Although it seemed that wherever it was they were going, they were now there. Which was here.
The voice had a heavy country accent, and was produced by another girl, of similar age to Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. She had magenta hair, tied in a bow, and wore a black tee, and denim shorts. She sat on the railing of a treehouse, above the ground. She immediately noticed the double numbers.
“Who’re they?” She asked with a curious tone. “And why am I seeing double?”
“Oh, yeah!” Scootaloo remembered. “This is Dreamstar, and Starwishes. Guys, this is Apple Bloom.
“Hi,” Dreamstar gave a little shyish wave.
“Nice to meet ya,” Starwishes did the same.
Apple Bloom blinked. “Which one is which, yer saying?”
“Errr…” Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo looked at each other. They then looked at the twins. The twins looked at them back, and gave a little smile.
“Y’know, it would be easier if they weren’t wearing the same clothes as each other,” Sweetie Belle murmured to Scootaloo.
“Oh! I got it!” Scootaloo realised. “Dreamstar is the boy, Starwishes is the girl! There!”
Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom stared at the twins for a moment, then to Scootaloo.
“They both look like girls to me,” Apple Bloom told her.
“Yeeeeeeeah I don’t know,” Scootaloo confessed. Dreamstar and Starwishes looked at each other and chuckled.
Scootaloo walked up to the twins, and closed in for a moment, first with one, then the other, looking for any sign of development in the chest. She found nothing.
“I don’t suppose you would mind waiting a few years for my answer, would you?” Scootaloo bargained.
“No way,” Apple Bloom told her.
“Yeah, Scootaloo, do you have any idea how confusing it will get while we wait for Starwishes to… start developing?” Sweetie Belle said. “I don’t wanna go crazy over this… at least not again!”
“We don’t mind,” Dreamstar admitted, both twins grinning.
“Why don’t we just like, y’know, ask which one’s which?” Apple Bloom suggested.
“Oh yeah…” Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle realised the obvious.
“Which one of you is Dreamstar, and which one is Starwishes?” Scootaloo asked.
“That’s Dreamstar,” Starwishes pointed to her brother.
“And that’s Starwishes,” Dreamstar pointed to her sister.
“See? That was sure easy,” Apple Bloom said.
“A little too easy…” Sweetie Belle added, with a suspicious tone. She had the feeling it wasn’t that easy at all.
“So what happens later?” Scootaloo asked. “When we take our eyes off them, and we all move around? Won’t we lose track of who’s who again?”
“I KNEW it was too easy!” Sweetie Belle restated.
“I guess we could wear something a little different…” Starwishes pondered aloud.
“Yeah, I mean we usually wear the same thing, almost, at least,” Dreamstar added. “But you have that skirt you could wear…”
“Why can’t you wear the skirt?” Starwishes protested, playfully.
“Because I think it’s your turn to wear the skirt…” Dreamstar replied, seemingly in thought.
“Yeah, I think the joke’s going to get old,” Starwishes put forward. “I mean, I guess at least until the end of the day…”
“...we’re stuck wearing what we’re wearing,” Dreamstar completed the sentence.
“Unless we ditch the clothes and go naked!” Starwishes excitedly proposed.
“And then we can get arrested and go to jail!” Dreamstar excitedly added.
“You two are weird…” Apple Bloom said. She heard a vibration, and pulled a phone from her pocket.
“What if we invited them to come with us?” Scootaloo suggested. “If they joined in, then we would have no problem-”
“Are you nuts?” Sweetie Belle cut in. “We can’t just do that! I mean, sure it would be-”
“Ah, dangit!” Apple Bloom interrupted.
“What’s wrong?” Scootaloo asked.
“I just got a text from ma sister, apparently she’s heading over to Sunset’s place to talk to her about band stuff!”
“But we were supposed to go there today!” Sweetie Belle complained. “I was looking forward to taking a nice refreshing dip in the lake, too! I’m already hot and bothered as it is!”
“Can we come, too?” Starwishes asked. “We love swimming!”
The three friends stopped for a moment.
“Well… I’d like to extend an invitation and all…” Apple Bloom began.
“It’s just… well…” Scootaloo continued.
“Apple Bloom’s sister and Sunset Shimmer are going to be discussing important stuff with their band and all, so us being there will probably be really distracting,” Sweetie Belle concluded the explanation. “Sunset lives right by the lake.”
“That makes sense!” Starwishes agreed.
“Also, we don’t have any togs with us,” Dreamstar added.
“Togs? What are they?” Scootaloo asked.
“It’s what people wear when they go swimming,” Starwishes explained.
“Oh, swimsuits? Is that what you call them where you are from?” Sweetie Belle asked.
Dreamstar and Starwishes nodded.
“They’re from far away,” Sweetie Belle filled in for Scootaloo and Apple Bloom.
“Ya know, I think I had that figured out,” Apple Bloom said. “The accent kinda gives it away.”
“Soooo… now what?” Scootaloo asked.
“Well I’m still roasting,” Apple Bloom said. “So can we at least go find something to cool us all off?”
“I can appreciate that plan,” Sweetie Belle seconded the notion. “How about an ice cream or something?”
“What do we do with these two?” Scootaloo enquired, gesturing to the twins.
“Can we come?” Dreamstar asked.
“We have money,” Starwishes added.
“I guess they can come…” Sweetie Belle so no objection. “As long as you two behave!”
“We promise!” The twins chimed, while crossing their fingers behind their backs.
The parlour was not as crowded as the CMC (which is what Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo referred as) had expected. Given that the sun was punishing all those who dared tread outside, it seemed strange that there weren’t as many people present.
Starwishes had the same frame of mind in regards to population expectation. Dreamstar guessed that they simply did not make it. The twins respectfully suggested that they hold a memorial service afterwards for the lost and melted.
Once they had picked out their ice creams, and then their tables. The CMC, who sat themselves across from the twins, decided to begin the conversation by asking about the twins and where they were from.
“Well… they have more than one name,” Starwishes said.
“Some call it the Angel Islands, some call it the Archipelago of Heaven…” Dreamstar continued.
“It’s all pretty much angel-related and such,” Starwishes said. “Legends mentioned angels, or people from the sky…”
“Maybe they were aliens?” Dreamstar suggested. “Though people in the past would probably think they were angels…”
“Like us!” Starwishes stated, quite modestly.
“More like demons,” Sweetie Belle jokingly whispered to Apple Bloom. Apple Bloom nodded.
“So where is this Angel Archipelago, or Heaven Islands, or whatever?” Scootaloo asked.
“Angel Islands,” Sweetie Belle corrected her.
“What are you, an atlas?” Scootaloo asked.
“Girls, let’s try to stay on track, shall we?” Apple Bloom suggested. “Besides, I don’t know where it is, either.”
“It’s a group of islands in the Southern Hemisphere, right in the middle of the ocean,” Sweetie Belle explained.
“Well, wherever it is, your accents sound pretty cool to me,” Scootaloo told the twins.
“Really?” Dreamstar and Starwishes asked. They looked at each other, then back to the CMC.
“I guess we’ve never really thought about it…” Dreamstar admitted, with a sheepish smile, while a mop of crazy pink, followed by eager curious eyes, slowly rose behind the seat they sat on.
“Even though everyone around here has a different accent,” Starwishes added, as the crazy mop and eyes sank slowly behind the seating again.
“HI GIRLS!!” Came the sudden, and very unexpected appearance of a messy, pink-haired girl, who spontaneously sprung up between the twins. The entire table erupted in alarm, organs leaping for the ceiling all around.
“PINKIE PIE!!” Sweetie Belle cried. “You gave us all a heart attack!”
“Yer tellin’ me!” Apple Bloom said, as she pounded herself on the chest, making sure that hers was still beating properly.
“Hehe! Sorry!” Pinkie apologised. “I just saw you all together and just HAD to come say hi!!”
Pinkie Pie was suddenly quiet. She realised there were extras. Well-
“THERE IS SOMEONE NEW IN TOWN!!” Pinkie Pie exploded, interrupting the story’s narration. Dreamstar was faced with extreme pink hyperactivity. “OH WOW HI I mean HOW DO YOU DO I’m Pinkie Pie NICE TO MEET YOU!!”
“Uh… hi…?” Dreamstar replied, taken off-guard. “H-how do you-”
“Know that you are new? I know EVERYBODY so if I have never seen you before, that means you are new!” Pinkie Pie interrupted, and explained. She then realised that Dreamstar’s twin was sitting on the other side of her. She looked back at Dreamstar, then to Starwishes.
“OH MY GOD THEY’RE MULTIPLYING!!” Pinkie panicked, jumping up onto the table, drawing a metre-long club sandwich out of nowhere like a sword, ready to take down the hoard.
“Pinkie Pie! They’re twins!” Sweetie Belle said to her.
“I knew that…” Pinkie Pie lied, tossing the sandwich into the air, opening her mouth, and letting the whole thing fall unimpeded down her throat.
“How did she do that..?” Starwishes wondered, aloud.
“It’s best not to ask…” Scootaloo told her. Sweetie Belle’s phone toned, indicating she had a text message.
“Do you know what we neeeeed?” Pinkie Pie asked, before giving no actual time for anyone to answer. “A PARTY!! A welcome-to-town-party planned by yours truly!! And you’re invited, and you’re invited, and you’re invited - heck, the whole town is invited!!”
“Uh, Pinkie?” Apple Bloom began.
“There will be cupcakes, regular cakes, mega-cakes, cake buildings and mountains of cake, and cakes of soap!!” Pinkie Pie carried on.
“Cakes of soap..?” Scootaloo asked, confused. “Why cakes of soap?”
“For washing your hands first, silly!!” Pinkie Pie replied. “You can’t eat food without the proper hygiene!”
“You’re not going to mix UP the soak in the actual cakes, are you?” Apple Bloom asked.
“OOOOOOO…” Pinkie Pie replied, in awe. “Then it will be TWICE as fun!! Cakes that give everyone BUBBLE BREATH!!”
“Er… no,” Scootaloo refused.
“Oh, I guess you’re right, it might make the cakes taste funny…” Pinkie Pie realised. “But at least you won’t have to brush your teeth afterwards!”
Scootaloo face-palmed.
“Oh, great…” Sweetie Belle said.
“What’s wrong?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Sunset just texted me, she says Apple Jack is still there and the band discussion could take a while longer,” Sweetie explained. “She also says that they have not been able to iron out a few kinks because they are still waiting on Pinkie Pie…”
“I KNEW I had somewhere I had to be!” Pinkie Pie remembered. “Heheheee… won’t I look silly when I arrive late! OH! The party will have to be put on hold! BYE!!”
With that, Pinkie Pie morphed into a rocket and blasted off, through the door. An explosion rocked the neighbourhood somewhere down the road, but it did not seem to bother anyone.
“A party..?” Dreamstar asked.
“Yeah, you can be sure of that if Pinkie has anything to do with it,” Scootaloo explained.
“We like parties,” Starwishes said. “Especially if there are yummy things to eat.”
“Pinkie Pie throws the BEST parties,” Apple Bloom assured them.
“Soooo… what are we going to do now?” Sweetie Belle asked her companions. “It looks like we won’t be going swimming anytime soon…”
“We could always head back to the clubhouse and do stuff there,” Apple Bloom suggested.
“Yeah, that’s an idea!” Scootaloo agreed. “At least we can cool off naturally…”
“As much as I’m keen for it, what about these two?” Sweetie Belle gestured to the twins. The twins pointed to themselves, as if to say, ‘who, us?’
“Ah get the feeling they don’t know too many people, yet…” Apple Bloom said.
“I don’t mind if they tag along, they can join us, can’t they?” Scootaloo shrugged.
“I dunno if that’s a good idea…” Apple Bloom replied.
“Yeah, especially given… you know,” Sweetie Belle added.
“I guess…” Scootaloo reluctantly agreed.
“I think we have to go, anyway…” Dreamstar began.
“Yeah… we probably should have been home by now,” Starwishes continued from her brother. “Mum wants to make sure we’re all prepared for school and stuff…”
“That sucks... “ Scootaloo said.
“But hey, I’m sure you’ll make plenty of new friends at your new school!” Sweetie Belle told them.
“Just like us! You already made four today!” Apple Bloom said.
“You really think of us as your friends?” Starwishes asked, grinning.
“Of course!” Scootaloo replied.
“Just… keep the pranks to a minimum, okay?” Sweetie Belle added. The twins looked at each other and smiled.
“Yeah, I thought so…” Sweetie Belle sighed.