Erin in Ponyville, part 3: Pony movie night
A/N: This part of the story contains spoilers for the movies that the ponies watch: The Avengers, Despicable Me and Up.
"So," Erin said as the ponies all made their way into the library and began removing their winter gear. "We have votes for movies with action, movies that are nice, and movies that are funny."
"That's assuming that you can get the screen to work," Twilight said as she used her magic to remove her scarf and hat. "I could never get it going."
"Wait, the screen is broken?" Erin asked, alarmed. "What happens when you turn it on?"
"Nothing happens. I don't know why! I followed your instructions!" Twilight moved over to a nearby desk and took out what Erin recognized as her written instructions on how to set up the screen and home media box that she'd gifted to the ponies back in Canterlot. "Nothing seems to work!"
"Dang," Erin said, frowning as she read through the instructions. "I was looking forward to watching some movies." The screen was set up on top of a stand that was carved out of a rich, black-stained oak, which Erin guessed Twilight had purchased here in town. When she knelt down and started going over the cords in the back, it didn't take her long to find the problem.
"Twilight?"
The unicorn trotted over. "Did you find something?"
"The power cable was loose. It wasn't plugged in all the way in the back."
"You're kidding," Twilight said, obviously distressed. "Please, tell me you're kidding. I was sure that I checked that. It was just loose?"
"Yeah, sorry." Erin smiled apologetically and plugged it back in, then pressed the power on the remote. With a click and a hum, the home media center powered up and the screen flashed grey, then black before the manufacturer’s logo appeared on the display.
"Ugh, I don't believe this!" Twilight stamped a hoof angrily. "I swear, I went over everything a dozen times!"
"I believe you, Twilight," Erin said, patting her friend on the shoulder. "This is all very new to you, nothing to be embarrassed or upset about."
Twilight responded by doing something Erin had never seen her friend do before. She inhaled deeply, bringing a hoof up to her chest, then exhaled and moved her hoof away, giving the impression that she just pushed something away from her. When she was done, she smiled at her human friend, saying, "I know. I just felt a bit silly, is all."
"Well, I'll be trying to learn about magic soon.” Erin smiled and said, "We'll see who feels silly then, huh?"
Twilight smiled back. “I’m sure you’ll pick things up quickly once we get started.”
While Erin and Twilight were busy figuring out the screen, the others had been working on arranging a comfortable viewing space on the main floor. With Applejack supervising the ponies, various items of furniture were moved in from side rooms and arranged to make a comfortable viewing area in a semicircle around the screen.
Meanwhile, Spike had been making several trips back and forth from the kitchen, bringing in bowls of popcorn, a large kettle of hot chocolate, a bowl of punch, several glasses, trays of cookies, and various other snack items.
“Okay, I think that’s it,” Erin said as the media center menu came up. “We’re pretty much ready to go.”
This announcement was met with a cheer from the ponies, and everyone began choosing their preferred seats. Rarity claimed the chaise lounge, while Fluttershy simply piled some cushions on the floor next to her friend and lay on top of them. Applejack and Twilight both lay down on the large couch, tucking their legs up underneath themselves in order to be comfortable.
Rainbow Dash perched herself atop one of the bean bags, leaning back and folding her forelegs behind her head. Pinkie claimed the other, laying on her belly on top of the bag with her legs sprawled in four different directions.
Spike came in with an open-backed Spike-sized chair, which he set firmly in front of the screen.
"I get the best seat," he announced resolutely, "because I haven't seen any of these before and it's not fair!"
"That's fine, Spike," Erin said while flipping through menus. "Though, you may want to scootch back a bit. Being that close will be hard on your eyes."
"Oh, sure, thanks," the baby dragon said, getting up and pulling his chair back a little ways.
“Since Spike hasn't seen any of these movies yet,” Rarity said, “I think it should be up to him which movie we start with, don't you think?"
"Sounds good to me," Twilight said, and the others agreed. Fluttershy added, "He's earned it. Especially with all of these wonderful snacks he’s made!”
Spike smiled hugely and basked in the warm glow of approval from all of his friends.
"Alright, Spike," Erin said, "Rarity and Fluttershy want something nice. Pinkie wants something funny, and Applejack and Rainbow Dash want something action-packed. Twilight wanted a documentary, but she was overruled. So, this first movie is up to you."
Spike laughed, and the librarian stuck her tongue out at him before laughing as well.
"I don't personally care, since most of the movies on here I've already seen and are favorites of mine anyway," Erin continued. "So, what do you think?"
“How about that training dragons thing you’ve all been talking about? I want to see it!”
“We’ve already seen it, Spike,” Twilight pointed out. “We’re only together for this one night, now. We should watch something new, don’t you think?”
“You said I could watch what I wanted,” Spike grumbled, arms folded across his chest. Then he perked up. "I could go for action," he said. "Something exciting! Maybe scary?"
"Oh, please not scary," Fluttershy said, from her pile of cushions next to Rarity's couch.
"Baby," Rainbow Dash said with a snort as she reclined on her beanbag. Erin privately decided that the colorful pegasus was due for a private screening of some of the scariest stories she could find.
"Hmm..." Erin flipped through the movies tagged for Action. "Oh, here we go. This series is pretty good. The Avengers. It's superheroes, is that alright?"
"Like Batman?" Applejack asked excitedly at the same time Rainbow asked, "Like Spiderman?" As Rarity and Twilight rolled their eyes, Erin remembered that Dash and AJ had somehow latched onto those two superheroes at one point.
"Like that, sure, but not with either of them," Erin replied, pulling up the first of the movies. "Back before I was born, they started making a bunch of superhero movies all at once, kind of introducing them for this team called The Avengers. I think the first movie does a pretty good job of reintroducing the most important characters, but it's honestly been a while since I've seen it. My favorite of the series is the third one, but that one won't make any sense unless you watch at least the first two."
Erin turned to see that Spike was grinning in wide-eyed anticipation. "What do you think, sport?" she asked the dragon, who nodded eagerly while bouncing in his seat.
With the movie up on the screen and ready to play, Erin sat down on the floor, stretching her legs out in front of her and leaning her back against the front of the couch that Twilight and Applejack were lying on.
"Alright, here we go!" she said and pushed “Play” on the remote.
~~*~~
"Ooh! Who's that?" Pinkie asked.
"Colonel Nick Fury," Erin said.
A few minutes later, a pink hoof pointed at a random soldier. "Who's that?"
"I don't know. Just some random soldier, I think," Erin said.
"Ooh, who's—"
"Pinkie!" Rainbow interrupted. "Zip it!"
~~*~~
"Oh, cool! He can fly!"
"Yes, Rainbow," Erin said.
"Can humans fly like that in real life?"
"Nope, sorry."
"How fast is he—"
"Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie interrupted with a grin. "Zip it!"
Rainbow laughed, then obligingly zipped it.
~~*~~
“Monkeys,” said Thor, “I do not understand—”
“I do!” Captain America said eagerly. “I... I understood that reference.”
“We don’t,” Rainbow groused.
“I’ll explain later,” Erin said, thinking that the Wizard of Oz would be a good movie to show the ponies at some later point.
~~*~~
The ponies watched as Loki, looking smoothly sinister in his suit and coat, descended the stairs. He flipped the old man around on the table and pulled out a strange, spiky, and somewhat horrifying device which was then plunged into the old man’s eye.
"Aaaaaugh!" screamed six ponies and one baby dragon. Spike had one eye wide with horror, and the other covered protectively by a clawed hand.
"Oh, yeah," Erin said sheepishly. "Sorry. I forgot about that part."
~~*~~
"So, it's some form of mood control magic?"
"I think so, Twilight," Erin said with a sigh. She already knew where this was going.
"And it's somehow focused on that scepter of his."
"That's right, Twilight."
"Well, why—"
"Twilight!" Applejack suddenly shouted, but Twilight beat her to the punch.
"I know, I know," the unicorn said. "Consider it 'zipped'."
~~*~~
"Woah. That's why you don't get him mad, huh?" Rainbow Dash said, visibly impressed.
"He needs to relax," Pinkie piped in. "Maybe go to the spa! Right, Rarity?"
"Ah, perhaps not," the white unicorn said, flinching as the Hulk ripped through equipment as if it were tissue paper. "A hot bath can only do so much to improve one’s mood."
"I'm pretty sure I've seen a spell that does something similar," Twilight said, frowning. "Greatly enhances physical strength, but at the loss of self-control. Doesn't turn anypony green, though."
"I feel bad for him," Fluttershy said.
"Yeah, I reckon' nopony would have a problem with him if'n they just let him alone, like he wanted," Applejack added.
"You know what?" Rainbow started. She didn't get any further than that before an angry dragon turned around and glared at all of them.
"How about all of you zip it?" he suggested.
~~*~~
On the screen, aliens poured through a massive hole in space, which vaguely reminded Erin of a Harmonics gate. The ponies were watching in mostly silent fascination, the only sound escaping them coming in the form of the occasional gasp of surprise or excitement.
The snacks were left abandoned on the tables. Nopony moved. Nopony interrupted. Erin, the only one who had seen this before, smiled and reflected on just how hard Hollywood magic seemed to hit the ponies. They had their own cinemas, she knew, but it seemed to be far more rudimentary than what humanity had. Large-scale effects-driven productions like this, as dated as it looked to her now, were far outside of their experience.
Finally, the movie wrapped up. The ponies and Spike talked excitedly about the action-packed end of the movie as the credits rolled for a while, and then the first of the post-credit bonuses happened.
"Who the heck was that guy?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"And what the heck is a shawarma?" Pinkie Pie added.
"You guys wouldn't like it," Erin replied. "It's got meat in it."
"Oh, okay," Pinkie said. "It's a fun word to say, though! Shawarma! Shawarma! Shawarma! Shawarma!"
The credits rolled on. A couple of the ponies got up and stretched a little. Twilight sat on the couch, staring intently at the credits as if trying to memorize them. Erin had the sinking feeling that she’d end up trying to explain exactly what a “key grip” was.
“I still don’t know who that guy was,” Rainbow complained eventually.
“I don’t want to spoil the surprise,” Erin said. “You get to find out in one of the sequels.”
“Oh, hey,” Twilight said suddenly. “Look at that!”
Erin glanced around and saw a shot of the Avengers all sitting around a table eating shawarma.
“Oh, yeah,” she said with a chuckle. “I forgot about that.”
Finally the movie ended, and the screen went back to the movie selection menu.
"What next?" Spike asked, bouncing in his seat.
"Bathroom break," Applejack said, getting up and stretching. "That movie was long!"
The general consensus was that a bathroom break was, indeed, the correct course of action, and the ponies organized themselves into order by the stated urgency of their respective situations.
"Twilight, can I borrow your bedroom for a bit?" Erin asked as Fluttershy scooted off to use the facilities.
"Sure, not a problem. Why?"
"I wanted to change," Erin replied, pointing to her bag, which was still by the door. “I thought I’d go put on my pajamas.”
“It’s rather early for pajamas, isn’t it?” Rarity asked.
“True,” Erin said, “but it’s warmer than I expected in here, and I’m just baking in this sweater. That, and I only have enough clean clothes to last my stay. I don’t want to have to put on the same outfit twice.”
“Understandable,” Rarity replied. “Though, if I could suggest? It’s often better to overpack than to not pack enough.”
“That’s true, Rarity,” Erin said with a smile. Rarity was the only pony she knew who packed more clothes for a trip than any human Erin had ever traveled with. “I was trying to be efficient, though. Anyway, Twilight, is it alright if I go and change?”
Twilight seemed strangely happy about the suggestion. “Oh! Sure!” she said, beaming. “In fact, if you don’t mind, I’ll change into some pajamas of my own!”
“Uh, okay?”
Erin grabbed her luggage and had just started hauling it up to the second level to Twilight’s bedroom when the luggage was unexpectedly wrapped up in a lavender glow.
“I’ll get that!” the unicorn said, smiling. Erin’s luggage zipped ahead of her, moving smoothly for the first time that day.
“Uh, okay. Thanks, Twilight!”
Twilight parked the suitcase on the spare bed that had been set up in the sleeping area, then ran off to her dresser, where she began rummaging through various clothes. Erin went through her bag, pulling out her faded red flannel PJ’s and putting them aside. The clothes she’d worn that day went into a small cloth bag intended for that purpose, and Erin was about to put her pajamas on when she felt eyes on her.
When she looked over her shoulder, she saw Twilight looking at her with a somewhat clinical expression. “Three layers,” the unicorn said, nodding with satisfaction.
“What?” Erin replied, a little uncomfortable at the attention.
“I was just curious how many layers of clothes humans wear. Though, I guess with the coat you had on earlier, that would total four layers. Is that normal?”
“Um...” Erin’s fingers fumbled with the pajamas as she hurried to get dressed. “Depends on the situation and the season, really.”
“Wait, you’re putting on the pajamas now? You’re not taking that last layer off, too?”
Erin glanced down where Twilight was pointing, blushed some more, then hurriedly struggled into her pajama bottoms.
“Nope,” she said.
The unicorn shrugged, then began to put her own pajamas on. Erin, buttoning up her top, noted that the unicorn was putting on a pair of pajamas that was a pale powder-blue, with dark blue stars and crescent moons. “Why are you so interested in pajamas, Twilight?”
“Oh...” And now it was Twilight’s turn to blush. “You’ll think it’s silly.”
“No, I promise I won’t.” Erin sat on the edge of the guest bed, much more comfortable now that she was dressed again. She tucked her bare left foot up underneath her right leg and waited for the unicorn to spill the beans.
“Well, okay...” the unicorn rubbed her forehooves together nervously. “When I was in Canterlot, I was using the tablet you gave me, and I found this thing called Wikipedia. It’s really neat!”
“Yes, it is,” Erin agreed.
“Anyway, I’ve always... okay, don’t laugh, but I like slumber parties, and my friends never want to have them.”
“All right?” Erin said, a little confused as to where this was going.
“Well, I found out that humans have slumber parties, too. And that, sometimes, they call their slumber parties ‘pajama parties’. So, I went out and bought about a dozen pairs of pajamas, just in case I ever get a chance to... Why are you laughing? I asked you not to!”
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry, Twilight, but that’s just too adorable.” Erin wiped a tear away from her eye. “Look, it’s okay, I’m not laughing at you. It’s just, I’ve never known anyone to like slumber parties so much that they’d buy a dozen pairs of pajamas just on the off-chance they’d get to have a party.”
Grumbling a little, the embarrassed unicorn made her way towards the stairs, but she was intercepted by Erin, who knelt down and hugged her around the neck.
“Look, I haven’t had a slumber party in over ten years,” she said, “but maybe that just means I’m due for one. Let’s break out your spare PJs, bring them downstairs, and I’ll tell the other girls that it’s traditional among humans to watch movies with friends while wearing pajamas. Maybe we can get one or two of the others to put on a pair as well?”
Twilight’s sudden happy smile made Erin’s entire day. The unicorn turned and ran back to her dresser, pulling out a plethora of pajamas. The two of them went back downstairs, trailing a purple cloud of neatly folded fabric with them. The ponies looked up at them and the floating clothing with curiosity. From the kitchen came Spike’s voice, humming happily as he prepared more snacks for the next movie.
Erin had barely started to explain the pajama party principle before Pinkie whooped with delight and simply dived through the floating collection, scattering colorful sleepwear all over the floor. The pink pony landed in a forward tumble and popped up wearing a mismatched green pair of bottoms with a yellow top. She was so pleased with herself that she completely ignored Twilight’s protests that those two pieces didn’t go together.
Fluttershy took one look at Twilight’s hopeful, eager face, glanced over at Applejack’s defiant frowning one, then pulled out a pair of delicate pink cotton pajamas with a pattern of jumping sheep to put on. The bottoms went on all right, but she ran into some difficulties with the top.
It was at this point that Rarity sighed, saying, “Well, if we’re going to do this, I suppose we should do it correctly. Twilight, dear, would it be alright with you if I modified this for Fluttershy?”
“Of course!” Twilight said, practically bouncing with enthusiasm. Rarity went over to her small saddlebag by the doorway and pulled a pair of scissors and a threaded needle from inside of it. With a flash of magic, she swiftly modified the top for Fluttershy’s wings.
“You’re not going to let Fluttershy be the only pegasus brave enough to wear pajamas, are you, Rainbow Dash?” the white unicorn asked the scowling pegasus archly. Rainbow, her expression like a thunderstorm, finally relented with bad grace.
“Fine. I’ll wear these,” she said, randomly grabbing the green top that should have gone with Pinkie’s bottoms, and a completely unrelated pair of red bottoms, with a cute little kitten pattern on the fabric. Rarity rolled her eyes but didn’t argue the point, quickly making wing-slits in the green top.
After Rarity picked out her own pair of purple pajamas from Twilight’s dwindling supply, Applejack finally relented.
“Suppose I can’t be the only one not all gussied up,” she muttered. A light brown and red plaid was the farmer’s choice, and she put them on with only slightly bad grace.
“A little tight,” she complained, stretching a back leg.
“Maybe you need to lose weight,” Rainbow snickered from the relative safety of the ceiling.
AJ scowled at her. “It ain’t fat, it’s muscle. These are Twilight’s size, and she’s a librarian. She don’t work on a farm like me.”
“She doesn’t eat like you, either,” Rainbow said, laughing, only to be pelted in the face by a pillow.
Rainbow’s eyes narrowed as a dangerous silence fell over the room. She landed and picked up the pillow, caressing it with her hooves while examining it with apparently idle curiosity. Applejack stood firm and defiant. The rest of the ponies (and the one human) in the room, considerably wiser, or at least more cautious, took a step or two backwards.
Dash’s wings flared out as she launched into the air, bringing the pillow with her. She spun a pirouette and launched the pillow directly into the farmer’s face.
To call what happened next a mere “pillow fight” was to completely ignore the scale of the ensuing conflict. After an initial scrambling for cover, alliances were quickly made, and the conflict rapidly escalated out of any sense of proportion or reason.
Rarity and Applejack quickly went back to back with practiced ease, making for a surprisingly effective combination of muscle power and magical finesse. From there, an epic battle between those two and team Sparkle Dash, as they called themselves, soon erupted.
Fluttershy, taking shelter behind Rarity’s chaise lounge, poked her head up just long enough to pitch a weak overhoof shot at Pinkie, hitting her square in the back of the head with a cushion. As Pinkie turned around, Fluttershy ducked back down with a soft giggle, leaving an amused but oblivious Erin the sole visible person standing near the origin of the cushion’s flight path.
“Oooh, you’re gonna get it now!” Pinkie squealed. She snatched a pillow in her teeth and jumped at Erin, who shrieked and fled, giggling as she tried to cover her face with her arms while scampering away from the laughing pink pony.
The Rarity and Applejack combo, after putting up an extremely inspired defense, eventually began collapsing under the constant onslaught of pillow after pillow, outmatched by Team Rainbow Sparkle (the pegasus had vetoed the earlier name) which contained a potent combination of air and magical superiority.
Erin, laughing uncontrollably, ran away from Pinkie Pie and her Pillow of Fury, dodging the occasional lofted pillow coming from behind Rarity’s couch.
During the grand melee, snack trays were overturned, chairs were upset, popcorn was spilled, and cookies were, sadly, crumbled. No time could be spared mourning the loss of these innocent victims, as Team Rainbow Sparkle were on the offensive, even managing the time to sling a few pillows at the otherwise occupied Pinkie Pie and Erin.
It was during this chaos of flying padded artillery that Spike returned from the kitchen, bearing a fresh tray of snacks, empty glasses and a pitcher of lemonade. A wayward flying pillow knocked the heavily-laden tray from his clawed hands, and only Twilight’s quick magical reaction saved the snacks and kept the plummeting pitcher from shattering all over the floor. Her efforts were rewarded with a well-aimed pillow to the muzzle.
All activity ground to a halt as the dragon stared around at them, wide-eyed and perplexed.
“Sheesh, I leave the room for five minutes and everypony goes crazy,” he said, a statement that was greeted with general laughter.
That signaled the end of general hostilities, and the cleanup commenced. Chairs were returned upright, pillows redistributed, and snack crumbs were swept up. New snacks were procured, and everyone settled in. Erin was once again tasked with finding another movie to watch.
“Make it something funny!” Pinkie said. The rest of the ponies, still bubbling with laughter from the impromptu pillow war, seemed to be fine with that, so Erin switched to Comedies and began browsing. She stopped on one particular series, then snorted with laughter.
“What is it?” Twilight asked, looking at the title.
“Well,” Erin said, clearing her throat. “We just had a superhero movie, so how about we have a movie about a supervillain? This is the first of four, and... Um, I think Rarity and Twilight especially will like this one.”
“Really?” Twilight asked. “‘Despicable Me’, huh? Why would we like it?”
“You’ll see,” Erin said, pushing play.
~~*~~
The little girl on the screen was saying, “And please bless that someone will adopt us soon, and that the mommy and daddy will be nice. And have a pet unicorn.”
Erin joined in the general snickering at that comment, while both of the actual unicorns in the room looked startled. That was nothing compared to the reaction that happened once the little girl started singing, though.
“Unicorns, I love them. Unicorns, I love them. Uni, uni, unicorns, I lo~ove them! Uni, unicorns, I could pet one. If they were really real. And they are!”
Rainbow Dash and Pinkie were collapsed against each other, laughing hysterically. Fluttershy was giggling behind her hoof, and Applejack was chuckling away. Erin noticed that both Rarity and Twilight had nearly identical stiff, somewhat confused expressions on their faces, and both were blushing.
Twilight turned to her, arched an eyebrow, and said, “Erin, you’ve got some explaining to do once this movie is over.”
Erin, who’d spent the entirety of the song grinning in anticipation of her friend’s reaction, exploded with laughter.
~~*~~
“Is it wrong of me that I find those minions to be somewhat revolting?” Rarity asked.
“Aww, they’re adorable!” Pinkie said.
“I think they’re cute,” Fluttershy added.
“I guess it’s just me, then,” Rarity said with a sigh.
~~*~~
“Oh my gosh! Humans have Pinkie Promises, too?!”
“Yup!” Erin said. “Though, in our case, we mean our pinkie fingers.”
Erin stuck up her pinkie and wiggled it, which caused the pink pony to stare in wide-eyed amazement.
“Humans named a whole finger after me?!”
~~*~~
“Pinkie, are you going to be alright?” Twilight asked eventually. The pink pony was laying on the floor, gasping for breath. Erin had paused the movie, since Pinkie’s histrionics would have made further viewing impossible.
“I don’t see why that’s so funny,” Rarity complained. “It was actually rather rude.”
“I thought it was a real hoot,” Applejack said with a grin.
“Well, you’re used to a more earthy form of humor,” Rarity said with a sniff.
“Watch it, gal,” the farmer said. “I got a pillow, and I ain’t afraid to use it.”
By this point, Pinkie had recovered enough breath to blurt out, “Fart gun!” before dissolving back into hopeless giggles.
~~*~~
“He’s so fluffy!” the little girl growled happily, setting off another bout of non-unicorn laughter.
“Okay, seriously,” Twilight said, a look of annoyed amusement on her face. “What is it with humans and unicorns?”
Erin laughed and patted her friend on the leg. “It’s a little girl thing. I’ll explain after the movie.”
~~*~~
“Did you guys really land on the moon?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Yeah. Decades ago. We’ve only started going back recently,” Erin said, munching on some popcorn.
“Find any lost princesses?” Rainbow asked, to general laughter.
~~*~~
Finally, things were wrapping up. The real villain had been banished, the day had been saved, and Gru was reading a new bedtime story.
“This book,” Gru was saying on the screen, “Is called ‘One Big Unicorn’.”
Erin heard Twilight groan and Rarity sigh at the same time.
“Oh, look! It’s a puppet book!” Gru said, inserting his long and pointy nose through the hole in the book, making a unicorn’s “horn”. General laughter at the expense of the actual unicorns in the room once again erupted, but died down quickly enough. Rarity had facehoofed and Twilight was grumbling, though.
Still, the emotional ending, and the goodnight kisses, seemed to thaw the disapproval of the two unicorns.
~~*~~
“Well, that was pretty good,” Pinkie said as the credits rolled. “I thought it was really sweet!”
“And funny,” Rainbow said. “Totally worth it, just for the unicorn jokes!”
“Which reminds me,” Twilight said, turning to Erin. “Okay, just what the heck?”
Erin, laughing, stood up. “I’ll explain, but first I have to go get something from my bag. I’ll be right back.”
She ran upstairs to Twilight’s room and made her way to the spare bed. She unzipped her luggage, pulled a box from the bag and tucked it under her arm. When she returned, the ponies all stopped talking and focused on her.
She moved a bean bag aside and sat down cross-legged in front of the screen. Carefully, she put the box on the floor next to her, making sure that all of the ponies, as well as Spike, had a clear view.
“Okay, first of all, on Earth, unicorns are a myth,” she started. “Or, at least they were, until we found Equestria. And because of that, we had lots of legends about them that probably don’t have anything to do with your reality.”
“Okay,” Twilight said, a quill and a roll of parchment appearing out of seemingly nowhere as she took notes. “What kind of legends?”
“Well, unicorns were always supposed to be highly magical,” Erin said. “They were shy, too, and would run away from anyone who approached them. In fact...” Erin trailed off, then laughed. “Okay, this is going to seem really silly to you guys, I’m sure, but they were also supposed to be the paragons of purity and innocence. Regular humans were too tainted to approach anything that pure.”
“Paragons of what, now?” Twilight asked with an incredulous snort. “The humans who came up with that never met my brother. Or saw his bedroom when he was a teenager, for that matter.”
Erin laughed, as did a few of the ponies. “Anyway, legend had it that, because they were so pure, the only people that could approach them were... well, virgins.”
“What, now?” Pinkie asked, confused.
“Young women who’d never known the company of a man,” Erin tried explaining.
“That’s silly. A girl who’d never even met a male human?” Pinkie asked, tilting her head in confusion. “What about her daddy?”
“No, no... um...” Erin blushed a little. She looked around to see that, apart from Spike and Pinkie, everypony in the room seemed to know what she was talking about. “You know what? I’ll explain that later.”
“Still seems silly,” Pinkie said.
“Maybe.” Erin shrugged and decided to try and get back on topic. “Anyway, humans and horses go back a long way. They’re in our art and our songs all throughout history. I mean, we had other domesticated animals, but horses were special. They were companions, not just animals. So, people in general like horses, and many little girls absolutely adore them. Not all of us, of course, but it’s a pretty common stereotype. I had my phase where I was completely obsessed with them, too.”
Erin pulled the box into her lap and opened it up. “Here, let me show you something special,” she said, noticing that all of the ponies were craning their necks to see.
“This... is not a toy horse,” she said, pulling out a human doll of a young girl, dressed in a plaid button-up shirt, vest and jeans. “This is the doll I played with the most when I was a little girl. Technically, she’s a Skipper doll... er, that’s her name, which is a stupid name. Anyway, I decided to call her Erin, and I would pretend she was me, going on all sorts of adventures.”
Erin pulled out another doll, this one of an older human. “This one is supposed to be Skipper’s older sister, Barbie, but she was always the evil witch queen that the doll-me would have to beat.”
“Okay, that’s cute and all,” Twilight said with a puzzled frown. “What does this have to do with unicorns?”
“Hold on!” Erin said, holding up a hand. “You still need to meet doll-me’s best friend.”
With great care and feeling a considerable burst of nostalgia, Erin lifted aside a bit of quilted cloth and removed another toy from the box. “Meet Princess. This is doll-Erin’s best friend, guardian, and occasionally her loyal steed.”
The doll in question was a fairly large plastic unicorn doll, snowy-white with a golden blond mane and tail. She was forever frozen in the act of walking, her left front hoof raised as if taking a step. Erin, unsure of how this particular toy was going to be received, breathed a sigh of relief as the ponies in the room all looked with various levels of interest at the doll.
“‘Princess’ what?” Twilight asked.
“Just Princess. That’s her name.” Erin held the unicorn in her lap and smiled down at it. “I had other ones, of course. Unicorns and regular horses, all different sizes and colors. Most of them are long gone, either lost, broken or given away, but I held onto Princess. She was my favorite. Even more so than doll-Erin.”
Erin realized that she’d been stroking Princess’ mane absently while she was talking, blushed, and gently set her down.
“Anyway, I’m not sure why other girls are obsessed with horses, but I always thought they were beautiful animals. And, in a way, they represent freedom and strength.”
“Why is that?” Twilight asked.
“Well... because humans ride horses,” Erin reminded her. “Recreationally, these days, but it used to be one of our primary modes of transportation.”
Erin felt mildly uncomfortable about saying that, even though her friends already knew that humans rode domesticated horses. It was hard being in a room full of equines and pointing out that many humans thought of similar equines as modes of transportation. When none of her friends seemed upset, she continued.
“So, to a child, having a horse meant that you could get away from things if you wanted to. A horse can outrun any human, at least for a while. They’re strong, fast, beautiful... Yeah, I know why I was obsessed with them,” Erin said with a laugh. “We also get a lot of horse toys given to us while we’re growing up, which helps feed the obsession.”
“What about unicorns, though?” Twilight asked.
“Well, unicorns are, like, magical horses, and therefore are even more special. So, lots of girls love unicorns. Seriously, if any of you go to Earth and meet a girl who’s anywhere under the age of ten, she’ll most likely lose her fricken’ mind.”
The ponies all laughed again.
“So, Erin and Princess went on adventures?” Twilight asked, looking at the unicorn doll again.
“Yeah. Usually to beat up the evil Sorceress Queen Barbie and stop whatever diabolical plan she’d set in motion to threaten my other toys,” Erin said. “I liked playing with doll-me. She was okay, but if she broke, I’d just go buy another one. But if anything had happened to Princess, I think it would have crushed me.”
“Can I see her?” Twilight asked. Erin hesitated, then nodded, and tried to look unconcerned as the toy unicorn was wrapped in a lavender glow and lifted from the floor. Twilight looked at her, turning her one way then another, before finally returning her to Erin.
“She’s very pretty,” Twilight said with a smile.
“Yeah, she is. Incredibly magical, too. In my imagination, at least. It was usually her magic that stopped the Evil Queen’s plan. Erin-doll was usually just along for the ride. Sometimes literally.”
Erin smiled fondly at the toy in her hand, then wrapped the cloth back around it and placed it gently in the box. The other toys went in as well, though with slightly less care.
“Anyway, I found those while I was cleaning out my room. Thought you guys would get a kick out of seeing them.”
“They were quite lovely, dear.” Rarity said with a smile.
“I guess that explains why human girls love unicorns so much,” Twilight said. "A little bit, at least."
“Look, don’t take it the wrong way, Erin,” Rainbow said. “The toys were neat and all, though that was one freaky-looking unicorn—”
“Rainbow!” Twilight scolded.
“What? She was!”
“It’s okay, Rainbow,” Erin said, laughing and trying to ignore the sting from the remark. She’d have to apologize to Princess later on, when there were fewer pegasi around.
“Anyway, I just think we should pick the next movie,” the pegasus said defensively.
“Dinner first, I think,” Twilight said.
“Yeah, I could eat,” Applejack said. Rainbow grumbled about that but relented to the majority.
Twilight’s low dining room table had been shoved up against the wall to make room for the movie viewing area. Some space was cleared and the table itself was moved back into place while Spike and Twilight went into the kitchen to bring out the meal that they had prepared earlier that day.
The table itself barely came up past Erin’s knees. She lowered herself onto one of the cushions that had been set on the floor next to the table just as Twilight emerged from the kitchen, several large dishes suspended in the air behind her.
“Dinner is served,” she said, lowering the food onto the table.
It was a pretty simple meal, consisting of a pasta salad loaded with veggies, a bowl of apples, another bowl of assorted fruits, a basket of bread, and a leafy green salad. As they ate, the friends all sat around talking about the movies they’d just watched, reminiscing over their favorite scenes and laughing over some of the jokes.
“You know,” Erin said, when the subjects of the next movie night came up, “the twenty-fifth anniversary re-release of the Lord of the Rings trilogy just came out not too long ago. We could put aside a few nights to watch those, if you want.”
“A few nights?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Why not watch them all at once?”
“They’re very long,” Erin replied. “Especially the new versions..”
“Longer than the Avengers?”
“They’re the longest movies I’ve ever seen. And there’s three of them,” Erin said seriously. “I think they average around four hours, each.”
“Wow. That would be a bit much,” Rainbow said.
“What’re they about, though?” Applejack asked as she took another bread roll from the table.
“Well... It’s hard to explain. They’re complicated. They take place in a whole alternate world of magic.”
“Yeah, that would be weird. I wonder what that would be like?” Twilight said, completely deadpan. Erin mimed throwing a bread roll at her while laughing.
“Okay, okay, I get your point,” Erin said. “But it’s not the same magic. We had to make up our own, remember?”
“Oh!” Twilight said, straightening up in her seat. “Do you mean that these would be a study on what humans considered magic before they came here?”
“Yes... er... Well, not a study.” Erin considered for a moment. “More like... Well, the guy who wrote the books they were based on was trying to forge a new mythology. He did a pretty good job, but he basically invented a whole new world to go with his story. Or maybe it was the other way around.”
“A story to go with his world?” Twilight asked.
“Yeah.”
“That sounds fascinating!” The unicorn’s eyes were sparkling. Erin guessed that she’d triggered her friend’s desire to learn every- and anything about magic, whether it was real magic or not. “You said those were books first? I’d love to read them!”
“I may be able to manage that,” Erin said, laughing.
“I dunno,” Rainbow said, frowning. “Watching a bunch of really long movies about fake magic sounds boring.”
“Well, it’s not just about fake magic,” Erin said. “Mostly, it’s about war, friendship, and an evil overlord who tries to take over everything.”
“Oh! Yeah, that sounds better,” Dash said. She went back to eating her salad.
Soon enough, dinner was over. Twilight insisted that the dishes could be left for later and urged everyone back into the movie area for the last film of the night.
“This should probably be it,” Twilight said, stifling a yawn. “It’s starting to get kind of late.”
“Sounds good,” Erin said, once again piloting the remote. “What kind of movie next?”
“Action!” Rainbow Dash said.
“No!” Rarity countered. “We’ve had comedy, crude humor and action so far tonight already. I want something nicer. Something... Romantic.”
“Ugh, gag.” Rainbow mimed sticking a hoof down her throat.
“We’ve catered to your whims already, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity said. “I want something with feeling, and not just some slapstick comedy or explosion-laden adrenaline surge.”
“Um...” Erin said, interrupting. “I’m not sure if I’ve got anything along purely romantic lines that would be appropriate for the whole audience.” She cast a significant glance at the baby dragon in the room. Rarity glanced at Spike, who was looking around the room in confusion. She sighed, nodding.
“Well, just do the best you can, I suppose,” the white unicorn said.
“Wait!” Pinkie shouted. “Hold on, can you go back?”
“Um... sure?” Erin flipped back to the animated comedy section that she’d just left. Pinkie gasped, pointing at a particular image.
“Balloons! That one has balloons, guys!”
“Oh, no!” Rarity said. “We’re not watching another silly comedy!”
“I have to agree with Rarity,” Twilight said. “She’s been a good sport so far, but if she wants to watch a particular genre, then we should try to accommodate her.”
“But... balloons, guys!” Pinkie said, looking downcast. She turned the full power of her baby blue puppy dog eyes on Rarity. The fashionista resisted for a few seconds before finally giggling.
“All right, fine,” she said. “But I insist that the next time we get together like this, I get to browse through the Romance section.”
“Fine by me,” Applejack said, cutting off Rainbow Dash. The pegasus, mouth open as if to argue, shrugged and agreed as well, blushing faintly as she did so.
“Actually,” Erin said, “this one actually does have a love story. To start with, at least. You may like it, Rarity.”
“Very well, then,” Rarity said. “Let’s see this love story. Impress me.”
~~*~~
The movie started out in black and white, which caused some confusion amongst the ponies until they realized that they were watching a movie within a movie. Shortly after the start of the movie, a young boy met a young girl and found himself unable to get a word in edgewise. And then the girl took off her hat.
“Ha! Her hair is all poofy!” Pinkie said, giggle-snorting.
It went on from there, showing Carl and Ellie’s life as they got married and lived their lives together.
“This is rather sweet,” Rarity said in approval of the romantic content. “It’s obvious how much they love each other. It will do.”
The lives of the couple were shown in a series of voiceless scenes, each one depicting a joy and loving tenderness that had many eyes tearing up. Erin, seeing how her friends were reacting, smiled sadly, knowing what was coming.
It wasn’t long before the interactions between Carl and Ellie indicated an interest in the possibility of children, only for that hope to be sadly dashed moments later. Erin was surprised to find herself crying slightly, even though she’d seen this movie many times before and hadn’t cried at this scene since the first time. Maybe it was because the ponies in the room were sniffling at the married couple’s loss. Or maybe it was because she’d recently considered having kids of her own, and the thought of not being able to was a lot more personal to her now.
Life for the married couple went on and became routine, but it was obvious that they still were deeply in love. They scrimped and saved, but never got the chance to take their very special trip. Something would always come up, taking their savings and making them wait even more.
Then, just as they were finally going to take their trip, Ellie collapsed. The next scene was in the hospital, where it was obvious that the two still held on to a love that had only deepened over time, into something that shaped their very lives and hearts. And then...
There was no attempt at hiding tears, now. Even Applejack and Rainbow Dash were crying. Spike was sniffling into the blanket he’d wrapped around himself, and Rarity and Fluttershy were completely hopeless, holding onto each other as they both wept openly.
When the scene was finally over, Pinkie Pie summed up how she felt by saying, “I never expected balloons to make me so sad.”
~~*~~
On the screen, the two orderlies from Shady Oaks Retirement Community stared in awe as a swarm of balloons rose above the house, eventually taking the entire home with it. Pinkie gasped, her eyes fixated as the house tore itself out of the ground and then began flying over the city.
Slowly, the pink pony turned to her friends, eyes wide and sparkling with a gleam that set everypony a little on edge.
“You guys,” she said. “I just had the most incredibly super-riffic ide—”
“No!” almost everypony shouted simultaneously.
~~*~~
“You know,” Rainbow Dash said, “You guys wouldn’t have so much trouble with thunderstorms over there if you had a few pegasi to keep the clouds in line for ya.”
“I’ll be sure to let my planet know that, Rainbow,” Erin replied.
~~*~~
“Oh, that’s a hoot!” Applejack said, laughing. “Dogs that talk! Whoever heard of dogs that talk?”
Erin started laughing, much to the pony’s apparent confusion.
“What?” AJ asked defensively, flicking her ears. “Dogs don’t really talk on Earth, do they?”
Erin just laughed harder.
~~*~~
“Oh, no,” Twilight said, eyes wide. “Muntz isn’t just an explorer, he’s a collector!”
“That’s a bad thing?” Rainbow Dash asked, munching on some popcorn as the characters on the screen made their way to the dining room by way of the trophy room.
“Well, yes. Or, at least, it can be. Most scientists try to avoid disrupting the habitats of the creatures we study.” The little purple unicorn frowned at the old man on the screen. “But some ponies, and I guess humans, just want to grab anything that interests them, take it home with them, and put it on display.”
“Oh, dear,” Fluttershy said, sounding anxious. “I hope Kevin will be all right!”
~~*~~
There was a daring escape, during which the ponies cheered. There was the capture of the giant bird and the resultant split between Russell and Carl, where the ponies expressed their disapproval of Carl’s actions.
Then there was the moment, which re-triggered tears in some eyes, where Carl went through Ellie’s Adventure book. As he realized that Ellie had treated her whole life as an adventure, and that she hadn’t died unhappy or unfulfilled, Erin heard Rarity murmur a wistful-sounding, “Oh, my...”
The ponies cheered as Carl made his choice, pushing the furniture and items that he’d held onto so tightly out of his home, finally letting go of the past and moving on in order to focus on what was really important: rescuing Russell and fulfilling his promise to get Kevin home.
There was laughter and shouts of excitement as the two old men fought, and a collective gasp of horror as the demented Muntz fell to his death, and cheers of genuine joy when Kevin was finally returned to “his” nest and babies. The movie wrapped up in the touching, early-Pixar fashion, leaving everypony feeling in a good mood and generally happy with life.
While the credits rolled, Erin and the ponies talked about what they’d just seen. Spike, on the other hand, slowly started nodding off, and was asleep within a few minutes of the credits starting.
“I’d better get him to bed,” Twilight said softly, smiling fondly at the little dragon as his chin rested against his chest. She enveloped him in her magic aura and, moving as quietly as anything with hooves could move across a wooden floor, brought her number one assistant to their bedroom.
“That was simply lovely,” Rarity said, once Spike was out of earshot. “I mean to say, it wasn’t a romance story per se, but the romantic element was quite strong and very touching.”
“Oh, yes,” Fluttershy agreed. “It was very nice.”
“One can only hope to achieve a love so profound that it lasts decades,” Rarity said with a sigh. Then, with a gleam in her eye she added, “Wouldn’t you agree, Rainbow Dash?”
Rainbow, who’d spent the last few minutes staring at nothing in particular, jerked with surprise. “Um, what?” she asked.
“I said that it would be nice to fall in love like Carl and Ellie,” Rarity said. Applejack covered a snicker with a fake cough. Erin, in the meanwhile, looked between the three ponies, completely clueless.
“Uh, yeah,” Rainbow said, her cheeks reddening slightly. “I suppose. I mean, if you’re into that sort of thing.” There was a long pause, after which Rarity opened her mouth to say something else. Rainbow cut her off, bolting up and saying, “Well, it’s been fun and all, but it’s late, and I really need to get to bed.”
Erin watched, dumbfounded, as Rainbow Dash backed towards the door, obviously uncomfortable and talking rapidly the whole way.
“I gotta get going. You know, training and and stuff. Tomorrow, I mean,” Rainbow said with a jittery laugh. “Too late tonight to train. Kind of dangerous, if I can’t see. Not that I’d be scared to train. Maybe I’ll start doing night training. Might need it in the Wonderbolts, you never know. But sleeping tonight. Because I’m tired. And here’s the door,” she said, turning to push on it.
The door didn’t budge. Rainbow began pushing her shoulder into it. “Why isn’t this stupid thing opening? I have to go!”
“Um, it’s pull to open on this side, Rainbow,” Twilight said, having just come back downstairs. “You’re leaving?”
“Yeah!” Rainbow said, having finally opened the door. She started backing through the doorway, still babbling. “So, yeah, gotta go sleep. You know. Bright and early, that’s me! Shut up, Applejack,” she said in response to the earth pony’s derisive snort. “Anyway, I gotta fly. Thanks for the snacks and movies and everything. I’ll see you later!”
Dash turned and flew off, leaving Erin feeling bewildered. Twilight seemed disappointed. “I’d hoped she’d stay longer,” the unicorn said, using her magic to close the door Rainbow had left open. “Hey! She was still wearing my pajamas!”
“I’m sure she’ll bring ‘em back tomorrow, Twi,” Applejack said. “‘Course, they’ve got big holes in them now, for her wings.”
“Oh, right,” Twilight said. “Well, are the rest of you going to stay?”
“I’d love to, Twi, I really would,” AJ said, starting to shuck off her borrowed PJs. “But I got a full day’s worth of chores tomorrow. We’ll be wrappin’ up winter, soon. We gotta get the farm ready.”
“I should get going, too,” Fluttershy said. “My animal friends need their nightly feeding.” She looked down at the pajamas she was wearing. “Um...”
“You can keep them, Fluttershy,” Twilight said with a smile. “The rest of you can, too, if you want.”
“Thank you kindly,” AJ said. “They’re a mite tight on me, though.”
“Thank you, darling,” Rarity said. “These do go nicely with my colors. I’ll make you a new pair as replacements!”
“Well... It was fun, guys,” Twilight said, as the others made their way to the door. Rarity and Fluttershy simply left their pajamas on, putting their winter clothes over the top. “Shame you couldn’t stay longer, but—”
“Hold on,” Erin interrupted. “Just one second.” She made sure everypony in the room had given her their full attention and said, “What the hay just happened with Rainbow Dash?”
“Oh!” Rarity said. “Well, you know, this is just a rumor, but... the word is that Rainbow Dash has her eye on somepony to be her sweetheart!”
“What?” Erin shook her head. She just couldn’t picture Rainbow Dash taking the time away from training to fall for some stallion. “Who?”
“Nopony knows,” Rarity said. “Perhaps somepony she recently met at the Wonderbolts Academy? But she gets this way whenever romance is brought up.” She sighed, smiling faintly. “The poor thing has obviously fallen so badly. It’s rather sweet, in a way.”
“So, you tease her about it?” Twilight said before Erin had the chance to. Her tone indicated that she wasn’t happy about it.
“Well, she is hiding it from her best friends,” Rarity said defensively, though she blushed while saying it.
“That’s kind of mean, though,” Fluttershy whispered. “I mean, if you don’t mind... no, wait, even if you do mind. Please, don’t tease Rainbow about this, Rarity.”
Rarity looked completely abashed. “I know, I know! I shouldn’t. But I simply can’t seem to help myself! I so want this to work out for her! She is one of my dearest friends, after all!”
“Rarity, do you mind if I speak from personal experience?” Erin asked.
“You’ve had a special somep- er, someone, before?” Rarity asked, surprised.
“Well, yes,” Erin said. “A couple, actually, but it never really worked out... anyway! I’ve had some friends who’ve been in relationships, too. I think Rainbow’s best chance for this to work out is if we all give her space and let her deal with it on her own.” Rarity opened her mouth to protest, but Erin kept talking. “We can be there for her in a moral support fashion, but if she has a crush on somepony, it’s up to her to follow through. We can’t push her.”
“But...!”
“No buts,” Erin said, shaking her head. “If we interfere and things go badly, then she might resent us for it. Trust me on this, I learned it the hard way. I used to have a lot more human friends than I do now for that very reason.”
“I agree with Erin,” Applejack said. “It’s Rainbow’s business. She’ll tell us when, not to mention if, she’s ever ready to. Now, sorry to cut this speculation on our friend’s love life short, but I really got to get back to the farm. See y’all later!”
With a wave of her hoof, AJ left as everyone else called their goodbyes. Fluttershy was next, after extracting a pouty but sincere promise from Rarity that she would stop trying to pry into Rainbow’s potential love life.
“I suppose I had that coming,” Rarity said ruefully as Fluttershy walked away. “I let my enthusiasm run past my common sense.”
“We all make mistakes, Rarity,” Twilight said, hugging her friend goodbye. Erin hugged her as well, and then Rarity left, walking quickly to catch up with Fluttershy. The two of them talked quietly as they walked away.
Twilight sighed and closed the door. “Well, so much for a slumber party,” she said wistfully. Erin smiled and patted her on the shoulder.
“We can still have a small one,” Erin said. “We can stay up late, talk about boys, I’ll braid your mane, you can... um... Well, my hair’s a bit too short to make a good braid, I guess.”
“That sounds nice,” Twilight said, as they made their way back into the movie room. She looked around and then sighed again. “Maybe we should clean this place up, first.”
“Sure,” Erin said, and began picking up empty glasses and trays as Twilight magicked a broom around to get all the crumbs and such off of the floor. Erin ran the sink briefly and began washing the dirty dishes by hand. In the other room, she could hear Twilight moving the furniture back where it belonged, though she was obviously taking pains to be as quiet as possible, in order to avoid waking up Spike.
By the time Erin had the dishes on the drying rack, the main room was back to its pristine condition. By then, they were both cracking their jaws with wide yawns.
“Maybe we should skip straight to the slumber part of the slumber party?” Twilight suggested as they walked into her bedroom.
“Sounds good to me!” said Pinkie Pie, who was sitting on the guest bed.
Twilight and Erin just gaped at the pink pony, who grinned back at them.
“Pinkie?!” Twilight said. Spike grumbled in his little basket and rolled over, muttering. Twilight lowered her voice to a loud whisper and said, “I didn’t know you were still here!”
“Well, duh,” Pinkie said, rolling her eyes. “You didn’t see me leave, did you?”
“Uh... No?”
“There you go, then!” Pinkie said, nodding. “You said a pajama party, and I’ve never had a pajama party before. So I decided that I had to stay and experience it for myself!”
“Oh,” Twilight said, sounding surprised. Erin tried to stop herself from laughing, and mostly managed to succeed. “Well... Did you want to do anything?”
“Yeah, sleep!” Spike said, sitting up and glaring all around.
“Oops! Sorry, Spikey,” Pinkie said, looking embarrassed.
“Maybe we should all get some sleep?” Twilight suggested. “I mean, we three can plan on having a real pajama party later, right?”
“Works for me,” Erin said, then smothered another yawn behind her hand.
“Me too!”
“Me three,” Spike said sourly, then flopped back down in his bed-basket, his back to the three of them.
“Mind if I stay over?” Pinkie asked Twilight. “I can at least do the slumbering, if I can’t do the partying.”
“Sure,” Twilight said happily.
The guest bed was slightly larger, so Erin and Pinkie doubled up. There was a quick round of “good-nights”, after which Twilight turned the lights out.
Pinkie fell asleep almost immediately, if her change of breathing was any indication. Erin, though, stayed awake, feeling oddly restless. She stared at the ceiling for a while, feeling the warmth of the pony next to her. Pinkie put out a considerable amount of body heat and the bed was soon toasty warm.
Erin, stifling more yawns, tried to figure out what it was she was feeling. Something was keeping her from drifting off, though her exhaustion was making slow progress against the nagging thought. Just before her eyes closed in sleep she realized what it was that she’d been feeling.
She felt like she’d come home.
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You do know that with the portal technology the possibility of traveling to the LOTR universe has increased dramatically?
cool
Oh, Erin, you're such a troll.
And I can easily imagine an MST3K-style set of chapters dedicated purely to the extended cuts of Lord of the Rings. Not purely MST3K, since that's against site regulations, but...
This chapter made my day, keep up the good work.
Show 'em Alien. Oh lawd show her Alien.
Let me guess... Assuming you're not going with the lesbian stereotype... Soarin?
What ever you do Hoopy don't have Pinkie watch Monty Python, or Mel brooks, or any movie like that. Equestria will not survive
Have them watch Star Wars.
The Original Trilogy. Not the other one.
Please.
Excellent movie choices.
Oh Spike, they were crazy before you left the room.
Holy crap, I'm tearing up at the description of someone else watching the beginning of Up. You win this time, Pixar. (And every other time.)
Well now, Dash. Can't wait to find out who she is sweet on. I'm guessing non-mane 6 since she didn't come across as uncomfortable with anyone actually at the party. I think I'll put in another vote for the Soarin guess.
After they dismissed Princess Mononoke in the main story, I was hoping that Erin would end up showing them just how wrong they were.
I loved all their reactions.
Though if you do this again (and you should), fulfill Rarity's want with 'TITANIC'.
"The drama, the romance, and the love!" said Rarity as she swooned on the sofa.
Do it. DO EEEEEETTT!
Simply fantastic loved it from the start, they all had the perfect reactions to the films. Though I hope you don't mind me saying that I would really enjoy seeing them watch the LOTR Trillogy at a future point
Have some mustaches
I wanna see them watch MegaMind. Supervillians are best. Very cute, was hoping she would come on a little to pinkie pi and realize ponies arn't all that bad and then date Big Mac, but y'know pinkie x erin seems a little creepy.
~Momentai
If Erin needs an action/comedy/animated/supervillain movie that Rarity will enjoy, there's always Megamind.
The Black Mambaaaaaaaaaahhh....
"Oh, you're a villain, all right. Just not a super one."
Seems like it'd be tailor-made--see what I did there?--for Rarity.
2527155
Alien, that's a good idea. The Shining would be acceptable, too.
Dang, looking at all these recommendations you could probably just make a whole spin-off dedicated to Erin + the Mane 6 watching movies.
I've thought about what some of the Mane 6 might like to watch for movies before, and one of those things is the Earnest movies. I know I love those ones.
“Rarity claimed the chaise lounge […]”
Heh, speaking of Earnest, I probably heard "chaise lounge" for the first time from Earnest Goes to Camp. (My favorite Earnest movie by the way.)
OOOK, getting off subject.
So now I finished reading, and it was good! Makes me so jealous of all the friends she has though. I'd tell my life story, but… No.
Ah, the avengers… can’t believe I haven’t watched that movie yet.
Oh, and ponies in pajamer having a pillow fight? I feel like I should be pushing charges for war crimes, the Geneva Convention covers weaponized cuteness doesn’t it?
Another thing I was reminded of was that a little while ago I worked out a way for Equestria to cash in on the human economy which is mutually beneficial. Royalties; as in the payment to an individual for the use of their likeness in a film, book, play, toy line or the use of one of their life experiences. What corporations wouldn’t pay to be able to make toys of existing characters that are just so marketable? I can also see the tragic tale of Luna’s banishment making it as a Broadway musical…
So, yeah, I just thought I’d shear that with you in return for giving us such an awesome story.
Dogs that talk, ah, I hate to point this out to you since in a second you will be doing this:
but… Diamond Dogs.
So seriously, this is one of the grates of FIM fiction. I take my hat off to you and wish you luck with any future endeavours. May they be as mind blowingly good as this one.
2527155>>2527407
I vote for The Thing.
2527497
Oh my god. The tought of the ponies' horrified expressions to this scene.
i29.photobucket.com/albums/c259/DeimoSpherE/Serial%20Slasher%20Inc/TheThing-StomachMouth.gif
images.wikia.com/mlp/images/4/43/Main_5_terrified_of_dragon_S01E07.png
Hell, I'd even go for Pulp Fiction.
2527249
The ponies have seen Titanic. It was brought up in passing during the main story line.
2527169
Pinkies too clever to devolve into one of those people who quotes it all the time, though she might find some inspiration in the idea of them. (Heck, am I the only one who would want her to find the ponies/people to be able to do her own version? Pinkie would be AMAZING as a python, and it's not like we've really had any good absurd humorists since...)
2527551
That's my point, she would find inspiration
2527566
I hardly think Pinkie finding inspiration in some of the funniest men ever would be a bad thing.
(also, side note- Do I have any stories I read that you haven't commented on? Jegus, you're everywhere)
Twilight did the "keep calm" thing she learned from Princess Cadence in "Games Ponies Play". So when does this take place? When you wrote the original Project: Sunflower, it took place after the wedding of Cadence and Shining Armor in Canterlot. Are we assuming that some of the important Season 3 events from episodes 1-12 have happened in the background of your story?
I thought the book that Gru read to the girls was about kittens, and it was played with three fingers! I don't remember any book about unicorns that he read to them...
Okay, I'd like the next film they see to be The Lord of the Rings, and I want to know how Twilight responds to Tolkien's books.
2527472 Ah, yes. Someone forgot about the Diamond Dogs. They may not be dogs like Winona, but still.
If you wrote an entire pony movie night series, I'd read it.
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DANG IT!
Okay, how about the movie Lion King?
Fluttershy would LOVE that one!
You should have Twilight animate / bring to life Erin's Unicorn Doll, Princess...
PAJAMAS!
My recommendationds are The Lion King and Pay it Forward.
A marathon of Takeshi's Castle would be nice as well
Lol, nice!
2527472 The Diamond Dogs resembled gnolls more than anything else...
By action, I guess Dash wants crazy no-holes-barred fun action. I recommend The A-Team if you ever get to see it. Grim and gorey action is filled in by Terminator and a lot of other war films.
Of course some documentaries might be scarier than movies.
This was a fun slice of life chapter, I enjoyed it quite a bit. Nothing like getting some friends in a room and letting them play off of one another. I get the feeling that Erin's doll may come up later, as well as Rainbow's crush.
As for the ending of this chapter, I think Erin's figuring out where she wants to be. It'll be really interesting to see what side story comes next...if it's Erin as a pony learning magic, her interactions with Big Mac might be even more interesting.
Oh, and after reading the second chapter the other day to refresh my memory, I suddenly wondered--has Erin introduced them to humanities vast supply of music? I ask solely because I was grooving (well, dancing to, actually) We No Speak Americano, and suddenly realized Pinkie would probably love it. Have they been exposed to her favorite tunes?
They should totally watch The Horse Whisperer
I would be curious to see how ponies would react to Planet of the Apes, too (the original one).
Shouldn't Erin and the rest start with the Hobbit trilogy instead of the LOTR one? That makes more sense in a chronological way. Though I suppose that might be a bit hard to write on account of not all of them having been filmed yet irl.
I had this dark image... the Mane 6 are browsing through Erin's files, and they find an old video from her father's youth.
The 2010 intro for DCU Online. The Comic-Con 2010 premiere version.
Talk about the darker side of what humans are...
I really need to figure out how to report bugs, because there's a ton that are screwing with my reading. This didn't update in my unread chapters list, and I've unfavorited a few of my actual favorite stories because they're complete and completely read, but clutter up my unread chapters list like a stinking corpse.
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I'm pretty sure if they did all the elves and dwarves would have already been gone.Just a bunch of humans.
Anyway this chapter is lovely show of Erin's first day with her friends as a human.
2527169 Joke warfare would soon be a reality, argument clinics would start appearing in the cities, and Discord will lose all his orders of french fries because of how silly things had gotten.
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And Equestria would soon be forced to open a Department of Silly Walks...
2529698 And come up with some equivalent of spam. And vikings to sing about it in places that serve it. Would you like this parrot? Or tickets to see Princess Celestia and the Quest for The Holy Grail?
I can see Erin chanting this in a fey voice, and Fluttershy letting out a quiet "eeep!" and fainting...
Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne,
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie,
One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them,
One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
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Tofu spam in cans, ready to go with fried potatoes, apples, eggs and cheese in the balanced Equestrian breakfast? :D
2529777 Let me guess: the only way to get this tofu based spam is by mail.
My movie recommendation I Robot.
Not sure if Fluttershy would enjoy LotR...
Anyways, LOVED this chapter. I was laughing throughout this piece and it was a joy to read some of your work again!.
Looking forward to seeing more of it!
2527403 That's what I was thinking, too. Megamind is just perfect for Rarity
I would totally read a pony movie night series too, for the record.
As for a movie to do... Labyrinth maybe? Interstella 5555 would be pretty awesome with the whole parallel universe thing.. also excellent music. The Earthsea miniseries would be good too, with Twilight's thing about a human's idea of magic.
There are just too many good possibilities.
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Rainbow could still have a crush on Lighting Dust you know
Hmm..some movie thoughts that come to mind for them to maybe watch, either Willy Wanka and the Chocolate Factory or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? Though I admit that seems more for Pinkie than any of the other ponies.
I did think of something else that might be interesting but it's not a movie. Doctor Who. Depending on the Doctor that's focused on there may be something for all the ponies. Use em or not, I still look forward to future work.
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"Willy Wanka"
Sorry, I just had to point it out.
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This is what I get for making comments so late at night. Thanks for the catch though. Clearly I meant to say Willy Wonka.
2530266 Labyrinth? Really? You're going to expose Pinkie to David Bowie singing catchy musical numbers? Never mind that; you're going to expose Pinkie, who doesn't seem to know anything about sex, to Bowie in those pants?
This can only end well.