“Does anyone remember that show with the, um...” Rarity snapped her fingers as she tried to remember. “I think they were called... Teletubbies?”
Rainbow Dash nearly choked on her milkshake, causing her to go into a coughing fit.
“You okay, Dashie?” Pinkie asked as she patted her rainbow-haired friend on the back.
Rainbow took a breath and scowled. “Ugh, I hated that show!”
“Oh, come on, Dashie. It wasn’t that bad.” Pinkie said with a shrug. “I watched it when I was tiny and I thought it was funny.”
Rainbow looked at Pinkie like she was crazy (Oh, wait). “Are you kidding?! Those stupid things gave me nightmar-” Rainbow slapped her hands over her mouth when she realized what she was saying. She looked around at her circle of friends with wide eyes.
The others just looked at her with surprise. “Teletubbies gave ya nightmares?” Applejack asked in a deadpan voice.
“No! No way!” Rainbow denied. “Why would a stupid show about...” She really had no idea what it was supposed to be about. “Why would a stupid kids’ show scare someone as awesome as me?” She gave a nervous laugh.
The others were clearly not convinced.
Rainbow blushed and started to sweat. “...They were creepy, alright! I didn’t know what they were! I didn’t know what they were saying! I didn’t know what they were doing! Everything about it was just... wrong!”
Applejack nodded. “Yeah, I know what’cha mean. I saw that show a few times as a youngin and I was freaked out by how uncanny it was.” She then smirked and added, “Didn’ give me nightmares though.”
Rainbow scowled and crossed her arms as her blush grew.
Fluttershy patted Rainbow on the shoulder. “Don’t be embarrassed, Rainbow Dash. I get scared by a lot of things.”
Rainbow rolled her eyes at her best friend’s obvious statement. “Whatever. The show was dumb anyway. When I was kid, I watched real shows! Like G.I. Joe and Transformers and Dragon Ball Z.” A smile worked it’s way onto Rainbow’s face as she remembered those shows. “Man, I remember going through this faze where, whenever I wasn’t working to become the most awesomest person ever, I was sitting in front of the TV, watching those shows. In fact, my childhood dream was become a Joe!” Rainbow’s smile faded. “But then I learned cartoons weren’t real.”
“Oh, I love Transformers!” Pinkie stated with glee. “I even built a robot suit to be like them!”
The others stared at her.
“...Really?” Twilight asked.
“Yep! I have it in my basement! I’ll show you guys later!” Pinkie promised.
“...That... is... so awesome!” Rainbow made a rather cute kissy face as she said ‘so awesome’.
“I would love to see it, Pinkie.” Twilight said. “But, honestly, I never really understood Transformers. It just seemed... nonsensical.”
Rainbow rolled her eyes again. “Of course, it’s nonsensical. It’s a cartoon. What did you watch as a kid? Science documentaries?”
“Yes.” Twilight answered with no hint of irony. “But mostly, I just read books. Although... There was one cartoon I used to watch a lot.”
“Which waaaaas?” Pinkie asked as she looked at Twilight, upside down.
“...Batman.”
Rainbow looked at Twilight with surprise. “I... didn’t take you as the comic book type.” She admitted.
Twilight gave a nervous laugh. “Hehe. Well, I used to think comics were silly, but there was just something amazing about Batman. He used science and detective skills to do all the things he did.” She glanced away and blushed. “...And Batman was kinda my first crush.”
Rarity hummed. “He is rather dashing... But as for me, my favorite show growing up was Sailor Moon. Those outfits were fabulous... Perhaps a bit too revealing, but fabulous nonetheless. Plus, it’s what inspired me to take self-defense classes, which has certainly came in handy.” She said with pride.
“Self-defense classes...” Rainbow thought for a moment. “Wait a minute, was that you I saw in that karate class?”
Rarity smirked and straightened her hair. “A girl has to be ready to defend herself. You never know when you might have to kick someone’s... derriere.” That was the most polite way of saying ‘butt’ that Rarity could think of.
“Well, as for me,” Applejack butted in. “My childhood was filled with the classics, like Tom an’ Jerry, Looney Tunes, Mickey Mouse, The Three Stooges; good stuff like that.”
“Oh, those were my favorites!” Pinkie exclaimed. “They were one of the reasons I decided to dedicate my life to making people laugh!”
Fluttershy huffed. “I never understood why people like those shows.”
Pinkie raised an eyebrow at her shy friend. “Why not? They’re funny!”
Rainbow tried to signal Pinkie to not push the subject, but it was too late.
“What’s so funny about seeing people getting hurt?” Fluttershy asked with a bit of anger. “Why would watching a bunch of people and animals getting injured be funny? It was just mean!” Fluttershy crossed her arms and glanced away. “But at least they weren’t as bad as... Pokemon.”
“What’s wrong with Pokemon?” Twilight asked.
Rainbow tried to stop Twilight from asking, but it was too late. The floodgates had opened.
“’What’s wrong with Pokemon’?!” Fluttershy shot from her seat and slammed her hands against the table. “It’s a show about enslaving animals, locking them up in pocket-sized balls, and forcing them to fight each other for no reason! And the show has the nerve to say it’s about trust and friendship when it’s really about animal abuse and glorification of pointless violence and slave labor! IT’S AN ABOMINATION ON THIS WORLD!” Fluttershy raised her fists to the air as she shouted the last part.
After a few seconds, Fluttershy opened her eyes and realized everyone in the cafe was staring at her. Embarrassed, she bit her lip and slowly lowered herself until she was under the table.
The others leaned back and stared at where Fluttershy had just been in complete shock... except Rainbow Dash, who just had an expression of ‘yep; that just happened’. “Yeah, she really doesn’t like Pokemon.”
“...Right.” Applejack spoke up, still reeling from Fluttershy’s outburst. “So, what shows did she like?
Rainbow shrugged. “Whenever I went to her house, she would be watching either animal documentaries or The Wild Thornberrys.”
Fluttershy popped her head into the open with a little smile on her face. “Oh, The Wild Thornberrys has always been my favorite show.” She stated before returning to huddling under the table.
“What about you, Sunset?” Pinkie asked her bacon-haired friend.
Sunset, who had remained quiet for the conversation, shrugged. “Well, sad to say, we don’t have TVs in Equestria. So, I didn’t have any ‘childhood shows’. Although, my favorite show that I’ve seen since coming here is The Walking Dead.”
“Oh, yeah. I like that show too.” Applejack said before rubbing the back of her neck. “Though that part with the farm gave me nightmares for a month.”
“I tried to watch it with Rainbow Dash while at was at her house,” Fluttershy said as she eased back into her chair. “But it nearly gave me a heart attack.”
“I know. I still have marks on my body from you grabbing me every time you got scared.” Rainbow deadpanned.
“Oh, um, sorry about that.”
“I love it because of the story and the characters.” Sunset explained. “While the zombies are cool, they aren’t really what the show is about. Plus,” Sunset blushed a little. “Daryl is a babe!”
All seven girls smiled and sighed. “Aaaaah, Daryl...”