//------------------------------// // New mare in town // Story: A Perfect Harmony // by Magic Mares //------------------------------// The sun beat down on the earthly, small town, other known as Ponyville. The rays shone brightly through the few clouds that lay beneath the usual blue sky, bringing forth nothing more than beautifully grown plants and happy ponies as they trotted ever-so-happily through the sunshine. With the weather the way it was, almost everypony was out on the town, chowing down at a nearby cafe or shopping at the local market. Business was always good on days like these, so good that stock would run out quicker than usual. Since everypony was out and about, getting shopping done and strolling around the busy streets, the food stands would be bustled with eager ponies, rushing to buy fresh fruits or vegetables. It was a beautiful day that nopony nor creature would not want to miss out on, especially the obvious, happy-go-lucky Pinkie Pie. She wore a smile on her face, trotting ever so excitedly down the small dirt paths of Ponyville. Careful to not run into any of the many ponies that were out, she decided to take advantage of this glorious day as well. She skipped along, happy as could be. Her optimistic attitude and bubbly personality could assure any pony that nothing could go wrong on a day like this, and by the way things were going so far, that this surely wasn't the day to stay at home. There was no better way to Pinkie Pie to spend this day than to be with one of her many best friends; not even throwing a party could overtop her decisions for the following afternoon. Her mane and tail bouncing with every step she took, Pinkie excitedly placed her hooves one in front of the other as she galloped towards The Golden Oak Library, also known as her best friend Twilight Sparkle's home. Having lived in the top of the Oak tree for a few months now, Pinkie took this as a chance to get to know the bright-minded unicorn rather than to wait until the next meet up with her four other best pony pals. This was the opportunity to show Twilight just how happy the Ponyville residents were to have her here, or in her case, just how much fun she could have. Surely, Twilight wouldn't regret her decision to stay in Ponyville. Things were looking good so far, but Pinkie wanted to absolutely make sure that her favorite purple friend wouldn't be leaving anytime soon. Having walked halfway to maintain her excitement, Pinkie let her happiness get the best of her and ran the rest of the way there. This time around, the adrenaline-pumped earth pony had no feel of tire in her. Instead of resting a moment before giving the wooden door a few knocks, Pinkie began to excitedly bang on the door with her hooves, and to a surprise made no dents in the library door. Taking her hooves off and placing them in front of her, her smile could only grow wider as she heard movement beyond the door as a confused and slightly annoyed Twilight had swung it open. Much to Pinkie's delight, her friends expression softened, followed by her own smile back towards PInkie. "Pinkie, you scared me half to death! I figured the police had arrived or something. You know, you don't have to bang that hard." Twilight hid the last bit of annoyance she had left in her, careful with her tone of voice to not hurt the others feelings. She knew that Pinkie had nothing but good intentions, and by now knew that Pinkie was a little on the loopy side of things, so she couldn't feel that upset with her. It was in the pink pony's nature to act the way she did. Pinkie, still having a grin plastered across her face, rose her hooves up and wrapped them tightly around Twilight's neck, causing her to let out a few chokes. As Pinkie let go after what seemed like hours, Twilight began to breathe heavily, allowing Pinkie to speak her greetings back. "Heya, Twilight! Whatchya up to? It's such a beaaaautiful day outside, and I thought 'Twilight must be in her house, being nerdy and reading, or something boring like that', and I knew, I just KNEW that I had to come rescue you from that! I'm here to take you out, and maybe we can go to the park, or throw a party together, or whatever else friends love to do together! Hmm?" Twilight dropped her smile as Pinkie made reading seem like such a life threatening thing. It couldn't be so bad. In her defense, reading taught her many of the things she knew to date, and it opened her mind to many wonderful outcomes. She rolled her eyes, sighing as the pony babbled on and on, making Twilight wish that she hadn't answered the door. At least this time, Pinkie wasn't speaking too much nonsense. Usually, Twilight would find herself to doze off during Pinkie's stories. It felt good knowing that for once, she could actually understand what the other was saying. After all, Pinkie had seemed to slow her talk down after recent events of Twilight begging her to speak coherently. Twilight knew just how silly Pinkie could be, and she couldn't help but find it a little funny. This made her giggle to herself, which was a mistake because Pinkie saw the small smile she gave off and continued to talk. Raising her head, Twilight cut her off. "Sounds like a deal, Pinkie. Perhaps we could chit chat over a picnic, or maybe some tea? I've heard the Tea they brew around here is like no other! You know what they say about earth ponies; Everything is made from the heart, and that's why it's so delicious! You know, back in Canterlot, I was always surrounded by upper-class unicorns, so everything made there was exported from another place. Never did I think I'd have the chance to try homemade treats and beverages!" As Twilight talked on, her assistant Spike had walked over and nudged her roughly on the hind-leg. She took this as the cue to stop talking, and couldn't help but blush as she realized that she too had wondered on, speaking of things Pinkie probably didn't care about. She was lost in her own words, which actually didn't seem to bother Pinkie, who hung on every word she spoke and nodded happily to everything that was said. Twilight shrugged this off, knowing that she probably hadn't bothered the other with her constant talking rather than how it was the other way around. After all, this was Pinkie Pie she was talking about. Pinkie Pie stepped to the side, which allowed Twilight the chance to step out the door. She wasn't too busy at the moment, so she figured, why not? Since she had spent the last couple of days gathering knowledge, working on side projects and studying as hard as she possibly could, she hadn't had time for the new friends she had made. This was her time to get to know Pinkie better, as that was probably Pinkie's intentions anyway. Who knows; Although they didn't seem to have much in common (Twilight being an organized, nerdy bookworm as to Pinkie being the outgoing, crazed party animal) this might give her the shot to actually compare to Pinkie. Maybe they were interested in the same authors, same subjects ? No, no- something Pinkie would know about. Maybe a favorite desert, or favorite qualities in a friend. After all, she /was/ studying friendship. Trying to shut her door gently after Pinkie had been banging on it so hard, she turned to face her bright eyed friend. Opening her mouth, she spoke. "So, Pinkie, where to?" Pinkie Pie lifted her head up, a proud expression to be worn on her face. "Nowhere else than to SugarCube Corner! Mr. and Mrs. Cake own it, and they have the sweetest treats and sweets in all of Equestria! You'll find yourself going back daily! And I'm the prrrrrrrrrooooud pastry chef!" Pinkie shifted her soft, blue orbs to her friend, awaiting her admiration. She felt rather pleased of herself, and certainly couldn't wait for Twilight to try the many baked goods that the bakery held. Twilight didn't seem to love sweets as much as her, but it was totally the right call after Twilight's face lit up in complete excitement, something Pinkie had never really seen. "Oh, goodness, I haven't had a sweet snack since the day I checked up on the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration! I was so full of all the many kinds of pie deserts Applejack and her family had to offer me that I was completely fazed from any sweet, as to none of it sounds appetizing. Not meaning to brag, here, but with me being inside doing all the hard work that I do attend to has sure made me hungry for something sugary!" Twilight spoke automatically, never realizing how hungry she actually was. A sweet snack was just the thing to get Twilight's brain up and going. She had to admit, that through all the studying she was doing, her brain was getting a little dense and clouded up. With no way to clear the fog in her mind, the obvious was what she probably needed: Brain food. Nothing like a frosted cupcake to do the trick for her! Twilight began to follow Pinkie, not entirely knowing the way to SugarCube Corner. She had only been by the store a couple of times, having never been inside nor ever tasting anything that the bakery had to offer. Twilight's belly was rumbling now, and she knew that if she hadn't had one of those delicious sounding cupcakes in her soon that she might go crazy. Thinking of tasting the sweets excited her, so much to the point that she began to feel a lot more happy and calm than she had for the past few days. Which was a big deal, because she had such a bad, short temper lately. Not even Spike had the guts to nap out on her, instead attending to his chores, afraid to upset her. With all the work she was putting into her studies, she was in no mood to deal with anypony else. Sighing and feeling refreshed, Twilight began to admire her surroundings. Now that she had calmed down a bit, she had a more positive attitude. She let herself hang loose and relaxed, breathing in the fresh air, basking in the warm sun and smiling at the fillies and colts that happily ran around the roads. Twilight had begun to think so much about how beautiful she never realized Ponyville could actually be, that she didn't realize that they had already reached their destination. Standing in front of the entrance of SugarCube Corner, she could only gasp in awe. She had never had the time to pay attention to how beautiful the building actually was. The design, the detail, the contribution that must have been put into building it. The place actually looked like a sugar-coated sweet shop. It was no doubt that she found the building amazing, beautiful even, but most of all absolutely adorable. Twilight felt herself light up with embarrassment as a mental image of Pinkie appeared in her head at the thought of the word adorable. She shook her head, trying to distract her mind of what it was trying to tell her. Now wasn't the time to have mixed emotions and confused thoughts on subjects that she didn't know nor care much about. The thought shocked her, how could she think of her best friend like this, and get nervous about it? Sure, she admitted the pink pony was one of the cutest she'd seen, but why did it embarrass her? Twilight's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Pinkie's voice. "Twilight, you gonna come or what?" Pinkie stared down the steps, already having been inside the doors. Twilight strained her face, walking up the steps and entering the bakery. She smiled right after, however, as Pinkie noticed her facial expression. "Twilight, why the loooong face?" Pinkie's voice rang through Twilight's ears once again, Twilight forcing a smile. She shrugged, hoping that Pinkie would be assured that nothing was wrong, that it was merely Twilight just making a silly face. Pinkie took the excuse, she guessed, because the pink pony quickly turned around and trotted towards a table in the middle of the room covered in sweets. Pinkie did not hesitate to start devouring the center rack of red velvet cupcakes. Pouring hot sauce on all of them, she plopped each and every one into her mouth, chewing slowly as if to savor the flavor. She knew that the others thought it was weird - gross, disgusting, whatever else they wanted to call it- though, she honestly didn't care. She couldn't pass by such a spicy, sweet combination! It was one of her absolute favorites, and nopony could change that. Twilight watched with a concerned face. She knew that Pinkie ate her cupcakes like this sometimes; For one, Pinkie had eaten them the first day her and Twilight had met, and two, it was Pinkie Pie, and she always had some crazy, unexplainable thing up her sleeve. Basically, Twilight didn't mind, but sometimes couldn't help but wonder why Pinkie liked them like this. It surely wasn't in Twilight's recipe. Once again, Pinkie snapped Twilight back to reality with a wave of a hoof and a cupcake being shoved into her face. She made eye contact with her, and Twilight couldn't help but get embarrassed that she kept zoning out. She began to zone out again however, staring into those gorgeous blue eyes...the eyes that sparkled in the light... "Twilight! We havin' a staring contest? One two three go!!" Twilight shook her head, and felt a blush coming on. Quickly turning away, she trotted around the table, hiding her face behind the empty cupcake stand. "Look, Pinkie! They have chocolate brownies over there!" Twilight pointed her hoof at the end of the large table, poking her head from behind her hiding place and giving Pinkie a totally forced smile. "Oh, one of my favorites! One moment bestie, I'll bring you some back!" Pinkie began towards the brownies, leaving Twilight behind, who gave a heavy sigh. What was this feeling? Why did she keep blushing? Why was Pinkie so PRETTY? She groaned loudly. Twilight had a long day in front of her.