//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Corruption // by PixelMoon //------------------------------// The feeling of lonesomeness that had been plaguing her ever since the death of her parents came back as soon as Twilight and Fluttershy parted. Twilight had never felt lonely before, despite never having any friends, but now it seemed to be all she felt. Maybe it was because the fact that she was alone had finally been brought to her full attention, but who knew? But she did have Fluttershy's offer now, right? Fluttershy was nice! She could be friends with her! As long as Twilight didn't screw everything up, that is. Maybe she should go find a book about friendship and read up the proper way to interact with a friend before hand, just to make sure she didn't blow her one real shot at a friend. Nevertheless, Twilight did resolve to take Fluttershy's offer and go meet her later. After gathering the bags she had brought onto the train, Twilight get off the train and entered her new town. And Ponyville did not make a good first impression. The first thing Twilight saw upon getting off the train was a pony who very clearly had mental issues. It was a pink earth pony, twirling around on a lamp pole near the train tracks, making a 'woo' sound with each spin. That alone would have made Twilight look away and walk away quickly, but that wasn't even all of it. Not only was she wearing cloths, which was rather uncouth thing to do casually, but she was wearing a leather jacket. While not illegal, those weren't something any good pony would wear. She also had sunglasses on even though it was nearly sundown on a cloud day because that was totally normal! And on top of that, she crossed the 'do not cross' line next to the train with every spin – a clear safety hazard! Her public yelling, her disregard for safety and social etiquette and her general devil-may-care attitude made her the single most wild pony Twilight had ever seen. Frankly, she was stunned. Weren't ponies in the country supposed to be less unhinged than the ones in the city? Maybe she had lived a somewhat sheltered life, but this was more than what she was expecting to see. Come to think of it, Fluttershy had some strange habits too. This town was filled with crazy ponies, wasn't it? A blue pegasus dressed the same way, down to the sunglasses and leather jacket, flew up and landed next to the pink pony. “Pinkie!” the pegasus called to her. “The boss is waiting for us inside the station. Stop wasting time and get your plot over there, you dork!” Twilight staggered back when the pegasus said that. Did that pegasus just curse? She said the D word and the P word! And then Ponyville got its third strike! Or maybe Twilight had just misheard. She must have because 'Pinkie' simply laughed at that remark, instead of being outraged. “Ha!” Pinkie kept her hooves on the pole and bent back to look at the pegasus upside down. “No one tells Pinkie what to do! Especially not you, Dashie!” It was strange, really. That sounded like something an angry pony would say, but Pinkie had a smile on her face and said it without the least bit of malice. And Dashie, as she called her, just grinned at it. “Not me.”  Dashie bit hard on her ear and yanked her right off the poll, leaving Pinkie to fall flat on her back. “The boss.” Pinkie bounced off her back and tackled her to the ground, pinning the pegasus with her forehooves. “You're telling me what that boss is telling me,” said Pinkie, “and I don't listen to you!” Dashie threw her off and got pushed in turn. Soon the two of them were fighting, shoving one another back and forth and laughing like they were mad. This looked extremely dangerous! The train had already left, but fighting near the tracks was beyond irresponsible. Not to mention fighting was against the rules in general. Twilight didn't like talking to strangers, but this wasn't something you could just ignore. “E-excuse me,” Twilight said in the meekest of tones. They didn't seem to notice. Twilight tried getting closer, taking a step or two in their direction. They came close to Twilight at a much higher speed, the pink one literally throwing the blue right at the spot Twilight was trotting to. Dashie hit the ground with a thud as Twilight jumped back and let out a loud yelp. Now they were staring. “Sorry!” Pinkie yelled far too loudly, like she was calling to somepony across a mountain or something instead of ten feet away. “Um," Twilight gulped, now that they were looking at her she suddenly felt nervous. “Fighting is, um, bad and stuff. And you're not supposed to go past the yellow line. So, um, yeah. You shouldn't do that.” The two of them gave Twilight a look that made her feel like a total idiot, like she was the crazy one or something. “We're not fighting, silly,” said Pinkie. "We're just-” “-don't talk to lamos, Pinks.” Dashie got off the ground, picked Pinkie's sunglasses up, which had apparently fallen off at some point, shoved them onto Pinkies face. “I can already tell this pony is incredibly lame and you know not to bother with them.” "Don't go using language like that!”  a voice with a southern accent called out exactly what Twilight had been thinking. She looked in the direction of the voice to see an orange earth pony wearing some kind of hat. “Speaking of lame ponies,” Dashie muttered. The earth pony marched right up to those two in a huff, stopping inches in front of Dashie and staring daggers at her. Dashie looked like she was about to get stuck listening to her aunt drone on about the old days, sighing miserably. “That word is highly offensive!” the earth pony said. “The lame have feelings too, you know.” “Not in their legs they don't!” Pinkie called back. Dashie and Pinkie herself burst out into laughter at that. Twilight couldn't believe what she had just heard! She'd heard ponies curse a few times before, sure, but here was someone who just got called out for it and instead of apologizing she doubled down and said something even worse! And they were laughing on top of it! In a more fitting reaction, the earth pony stomped her hoof and gritted her teeth. “I have had it up to here with the three of you!” she shouted at them. "You think you can just do whatever you want? One day this is all gonna catch up with you! And if you don't stay away from me and my kin that day's gonna be-” “Pfft! Look Pinkie. Dashie nudged Pinkie and pointed to the upset pony. “I think Appledork is trying to threaten us again.” The two broke out into another fit of laughter. “Why you-!” The pony called Appledork looked like she was about to do something, but just then the door to the train station opened. The door hardly made a noise, but it still got everyone's attention. They all got silent for a second, like a lion had just walked through the door. But really it was just a unicorn mare wearing the same getup as Pinkie and Dashie. The unicorn was, in a word, beautiful. That wasn't something Twilight normally paid much attention to, but with her it was something different. Even in a leather jacket and sunglasses she just oozed elegance and grace. Her fur was the purest white Twilight had ever seen and all of her features were absolutely perfect. This, Twilight decided, was the most beautiful pony she'd ever seen. “Rarity's here!” Pinkie gave a celebratory leap into the air. The pony known as Rarity simply ignored Pinkie and kept walking towards the group of ponies. She walked like a lion; proud and powerful, with the sort of attitude a princess walking among the masses would have. “What's going on here?” Rarity stopped just inches away from Dashie. She casually looked to Dashie, then to Appledork, as Dashie called her, then back to Dashie and lowered her sunglasses just a little. “Didn't I tell you not to talk to Applejack? I keep my promises, and you keep my promises too.” “Hey. I technically didn't talk to her,” Dashie said with a shrug. “Applebutt came on to me. I swear.” Rarity gently, tenderly put her hoof on Dashie's shoulder, then swatted her away with enough force to send Dashie staggering several steps away. Then Rarity turned to Applejack, Applejack freezing as soon as Rarity's eyes turned to her. “And didn't I tell you not to bother to us?” Rarity asked Applejack. Applejack didn't say anything. She just clenched her jaw and glanced away. Rarity smiled at that and moved in closer to Applejack, putting the tip of her muzzle right up against Applejack's. “Oh. But maybe you did have something very, very important to say to me. I can't imagine why else you'd think it was a good idea to be a pest towards my beloved friends.” Rarity took off her glasses and gave Applejack a look that made even Twilight shudder. “Did you have something important to say, Applejack?” Twilight could see Applejack was sweating now. Applejack said nothing, breathlessly staring Rarity in the eyes for what seemed like a long time. Eventually, Applejack gulped and this promoted Rarity to laugh and put her glasses back on, taking a step away. “I say you be the bigger mare and just walk away. Go play the banjo or whatever.” Rarity flicked her hoof, shooing Applejack away. “That sounds like a better idea, doesn't it?” Applejack made a noise of protest, but lowered her head and trotted off out of sight, grumbling angrily to herself once she was a safe distance away. “Heh.” Dashie came trotting back to Rarity and slapped her on the back. “You got that retarded pony tucking her tail between her legs as soon as you show up! Looks like that dingus knows what's up.” “You're the best, Rarity!” Pinkie glomped on to Rarity, hugging her from behind. “Thanks for getting rid of her. She's so bucking annoying!” “You don't need to tell me I'm the best, darling, we all know it. Even Applejack, apparently.” Rarity returned Pinkie's gesture with a one-foreleg hug and nuzzled her mane lovingly. “And I'd do absolutely anything for you two.” Pinkie just melted into the gesture of affection, nuzzling Rarity's chest in return. So there they were, out and outcuddling in public. That was not something you were supposed to do! Twilight once again found herself staring at them in disgust, mouth slightly agape. What was wrong with these ponies? Rarity's ears twitched and she turned to Twilight, as if Twilight had voiced this out loud. She gently picked the other two up with her magic and moved them aside before walking over to Twilight. Rarity looked Twilight over, staring at her horn and working her gaze all the way down to her hooves. Then she started walk around Twilight in a circle, looking over every inch of her. Twilight blushed heavily, feeling quite paralyzed by sheer embarrassment.  She could almost feel Rarity studying her butt right now, but couldn't even turn her head right now. Twilight just kept her tail down and stared forward with her face beat red and eyes wide open. And then Rarity was in front of her again. “You're very pretty. I take it you didn't know that?” Rarity asked. “Though let's be honest here, you do need a bit of work before colts are fighting over you. If you ever find me after midnight I'll fix your mane and give you a few touch ups, free of charge even!” Twilight's mouth opened, but she didn't manage to say anything. “But seriously, who the buck is this?” Rarity turned back to the other two, letting her sunglasses slide down her muzzle just enough to reveal her eyes. “No idea who this loser is, Rares,” Dashie reported. “We were just minding our own business and she came up and started giving us bucking lectures." “Is that so?” Rarity turned back to Twilight with the same kind of smile she gave Applejack just moments ago. “I could hear a good lecture right now. What did you have to say to us?” “Well, I didn't have anything to say to you.” Twilight felt her heart beating hard. “Just to those two, kind of. Sort of.” "They're right over there, darling, they can hear you.” “Well,” Twilight said with some hesitation, she just wanted to bolt but there didn't seem to be any way out of this. “They were roughhousing in public and near the train tracks and, um, even went over the do-not-cross line. Oh, and they were cursing too. They said the l-word and the d-word. And then you hugged in public. That's all, you know, bad and stuff.” Rarity giggle a little. Twilight felt like a total moron right now. “The 'd-word'?” Rarity grinned and looked back at Dashie and Pinkie. “Now what did you two have to say about the d-word?” “Oh,” said Pinkie, “Dashie just couldn't stop talking about how much she adored-” “She means 'dork'.” Dashie jabbed Pinkie's barrel hard enough to silence her. “Ponies were being dorks so I called them dorks.” “W-what, what other d-word were you talking about?” Twilight asked. That got a laugh out of the three of them. Rarity turned back to Twilight, the smile on her face was suddenly less threatening. “Cute!  I think I like you,” said Rarity. “Tell me your name.” “Twilight Sparkle?” “Well, Twilight,” said Rarity, “I don't think there's anything wrong with saying any word, regardless of what letter it start with.” “Well it is!” “Why?” Twilight paused. She had never considered that before. There was probably some book on the subject, but she hadn't read it. Or maybe there wasn't because the answer was so obvious. But if it was obvious then why couldn't Twilight think of an answer? It was like someone asking you what the definition of the word 'cat' or 'blue' was. Her mind just stalled. “I'm waiting,” said Rarity. Twilight hesitated “Well. Y-you can't,” said Twilight. “It's just wrong because, you know- it just is!  Maybe?” “Maybe? Really? I say you should think about it and get back to me, if you're staying in town long,” said Rarity. Twilight nodded. Yeah. If she actually had time think, Twilight was sure she'd shut Rarity down on this subject! Rarity seemed to like that answer, Twilight could tell. “I take back what I said!” Rarity came in real close to Twilight again. “Actually, I think you're absolutely adorable! I'm not even being sarcastic here, Twilight, I like you a lot. That's a very, very good thing. You'll see.” Rarity touched Twilight's cheek with her hoof. It felt nice. Twilight's withers relaxed for the first time since she came off the train. But then Rarity turned and walked away, the other two following her inside the train station. Suddenly, Twilight missed Rarity. And then she came back to her senses and shook her head hard. A stranger had just touched her! That was harassment! But Rarity was already gone and this probably wasn't bad enough to go to the police or anything. Twilight looked around to see if there were any responsible adults to complain to, but there was only one pony around. Applejack, they called her! She seemed like the town's token sane pony! “Hey,” said Twilight. “Do you know who those three were? They don't live here, do they?” “'Fraid they do,” said Applejack. “Those three are the biggest troublemakers in town; Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie. Trust me when I say you don't even want to talk to them. Like, at all.” “Really?” Twilight asked. “I mean, the two, sure, but Rarity didn't seem so bad.” “Didn't she just touch you? And didn't you see her hugging Pinkie?” Twilight blushed and scratched her head. Yeah, making any kind of physical contact in public wasn't exactly 'good.' “Really shouldn't be too much trouble for ya, less you're staying here longer than most folk.” Applejack looked over at Twilight's small pile of luggage. “Though I guess from the look of things maybe you are.” “I'm moving to Ponyville, actually.” “Well I'll be!  I had no idea we had any new ponies! Well let me be the first to welcome you here! Ponyville's a great place for the most!" “Actually, I met Fluttershy on the train,” said Twilight. “I dunno if you know her.” Applejack nodded. “I see. She, uh, warned you that a dreadstalker's been around, yeah?” Applejack asked. “Yeah, she warned me.” “Good. I ain't as sure as she is, truth be told, but don't go out at night is the important thing.” Just like that Applejack's smile was gone. She stared off into blank space for a moment, but quickly regained her composure and returned to the real world. “But hey! Need help carrying any of that?” Applejack made herself smile. “I'd love the chance to talk to you on the way to your house.” Twilight thought about it for a few moments, before remembering what Fluttershy said about making friends and all. So she accepted. "Sure!"