Rainbow, Pinkie, and a shaky Twilight trotted away from the house that Twilight lived in. Pinkie was bouncing around, yelling, "hoarry! Twitwi wants to be our friend!"
“She'd not exactly our friend yet, Pinks,” said Dash. She put her glasses on and began trotting forward. Soon the three of them were all heading to town together. “Look, the boss said we had to give you a chance, not that we had to be your friend. Try not to be a bucking loser, Twi.”
There was that language again. Twilight frowned at Dash. “Why do you have to curse so much?” Twilight asked. “Talking like that accomplishes nothing and hurts ponies feelings. There's just no logical reason to ever use those words, especially the... the 'b-word'."
“You mean buck?” Dash asked.
“Yes,” said Twilight. “You can't say that.”
“Buck buck buck! Buck Buck Buck! Buck buck buck buck buck!” Pinkie began to dance around Twilight singing that horribly offensive song. “Pony feathers, plot! Horseapples, heck! Crap, clop! Mud pony bonehead!"
Twilight was stunned, far more than ever before. She had no words for that string of obscenities. There weren't any words for that! All she could do was stare with her mouth agape.
“There,” said Dash. “Is Celestia flying down from the sky to smite us?”
Twilight couldn't help but look up, she wouldn’t be overly surprised if Celestia did just that. Dash and Pinkie laughed at this. Twilight blushed and scowled at them.
“This isn't funny!” Twilight insisted. “That kind of language can really hurt somepony's feelings!”
“Oh yeah?” Dash asked. “Who's feelings did we hurt, huh?”
Twilight looked around. Nopony was around. Most of the sane ponies were probably already asleep.
“Well, um,” Twilight thought about that. “Uh...mine?"
Dash pulled down her sunglasses a little.
“Okay, maybe not,” said Twilight, “but if somepony did hear then that language could have hurt them!”
“Look, the real problem here is with society,” said Dash. “Why does the word 'buck' hurt their feelings? Cause they're a bunch of morons who enshrine those words and give them the power to hurt. If nopony gave a buck like us then there would be no 'bad' words hurt their feelings.”
Twilight was taken aback at that answer. She had not expected this pony to be so philosophical. Frankly, Dash seemed more like punk.
“Well?” Dash asked after Twilight had hesitated for a significant period of time.
Twilight's brain scrambled to think of a response but once again she was no good at thinking on her hooves. What Dash said did make some sense and Twilight couldn't really think of why it was wrong. She just sort of felt like it should be wrong.
“I-I dunno,” said Twilight. “I never really considered that. I'd need to think about it.”
Dash smiled a light whack on her withers. “Well that's more than 99% of the planet would do,” she said. “Maybe you ain't completely horrible.”
“Come on, Twitwi,” Pinkie chimed in. “Try saying 'buck'! Just say it one time and the curse will be broken forever!”
Twilight frowned, backed up and shook her head. No way she was ever going to curse.
“Don't push her too hard,” said Dash. “The boss won't be happy if she bails before we get there. Come on."
She started walking forward again and the other two followed her.
The worst part of that song Pinkie was singing was that it had a catchy tune. Now it was stuck in Twilight's head, playing over and over as she trotted forward.
“I'm pretty sure 'clop' isn't a curse word, though,” said Twilight. “It's just the sound your hooves make when they hit something hard.”
The two of them burst into laughter. Twilight didn't get the joke and wasn't sure if she wanted to.
“Are you sure it's okay to be out here?” Twilight gave nervous looks to every shadowy spot as they walked.
“Who's gonna stop us?” Dash asked.
"The dreadstalker?” Twilight suggested. “I heard there was one on the loose. Aren't you worried about that?”
The two of them snickered. Obviously the answer was no.
“How can you laugh at that?” Twilight asked. “Do you not know how dangerous those things are?”
“Oh I know.” Dash crouched her head down and took a step towards Twilight. “A spider that's eight feet tall is bad enough, but a dreadstalker? They move so silently and hide so well that one could be following you for days with you never noticing. Nopony's even ever figured out how they move with so much stealth.”
“Well there are a few theories that hold merit.” Twilight pulled back a little, as Dash was right in front of her now.
“It could show up at any time after dark and you'd never see it coming.” Dash jabbed her hoof against Twilight's chest. “They hook their fangs into your ribs and rip 'em right open! They can suck a pony dry of blood in seconds and leave you lying there on the ground, dying a horrible death. And that's if you're lucky. They can shoot spines, acid and sticky webbing too! Maybe you''d bleed to death or maybe you'd drown in acid or glue. Only sure thing is you'd die.”
“Y-yeah," Twilight shuddered, from both the macabre description and from being touched. “I know how dreadstalkers, um, do things. All this isn't very reassuring, you know.”
“Well I'm not a very reassuring pony,” said Dash.
“This is one thing you could try doing." Pinkie Pie trotted up quickly from behind. If a dreadstalker shows up you could just scream, 'Rarity come rescue me!' and go like this.” Pinkie put a hoof over her forehead and pretended to faint.
“And maybe.” Pinkie bounced back up onto her hooves. “If Rara is close by she'll swoop in and save the day. Know why? Cause she thinks you're cute.”
Cute?!
“W-what?!” Twilight stopped in her tracks, blushed, shook her head and finally scrunched her nose in disapproval “Cute how, exactly?”
The two of them laughed again. “And you say we're perverted?” Dash wiped a tear away from her eyes.
“Well! Now you're the one assuming what I was assuming,” Twilight huffed.
“And now you're assuming what Dashie was assuming what you were assuming!” Pinkie looked like she was about to burst from joy. “Let's do this for hours!”
"No.” Dash shoved Pinkie over and started trotting forward again.
“But you're seriously not worried about the dreadstalker?” Twilight asked. The others shook their heads. “But why?”
“Secret!” Pinkie gave a cocky smile.
“Even telling her that is a bit much,” Dash muttered. “But hey! It don't matter either way cause we're already here!”
The three of them reached a house, one pretty close to Main Street. Twilight could already hear music playing from the other side of the door, that's how loud it was. And the music got much louder when Dash opened the door to let Pinkie and Twilight in.
It was the bad kind of music too, the really upbeat sort with lots of electric instruments that ponies like, well like these two were supposed to listen to, the exact opposite of the classical music she was used to. It was far from deafening, but it was still far louder than what a normal pony would listen to.
There were about two dozen ponies in the room, talking to each other, dancing, eating, that sort of thing. Of course, they were dancing a bit too fast, eating candy and laughing too loud. Twilight could only assume they were talking about lewd things as well.
“Rainbow Dash! This music is terrible!” Twilight tried yelling over it. “It focuses too much on melody and not enough on-”
“It ain't that loud,” said Dash. Sure enough, her voice could be easily heard. Actually, a few ponies were looking at Twilight after she shouted. “If you want loud music try going to a rave or a concert some time – you can't even hear yourself think.”
Twilight was looking around, gathering a list of complaints about this scene when she saw Rarity. Even surrounded by other ponies, Twilight’s attention was drawn right to her and once her eyes were on Rarity there was no going back. Rarity noticed Twilight just as quickly.
“Come sit next to me, darling!” Rarity called out to Twilight.
The seat next to her was already taken, but Rarity just shooed the stallion who had been sitting there away to make room for Twilight. The stallion obeyed, reluctantly but without hesitation, and Twilight quickly trotted over and sat next to Rarity. She might as well go over there, right? Twilight had to sit somewhere.
Even though they were the same height, Twilight felt small sitting next to Rarity, like she was next to a stallion or something. Truth be told, it was like sitting next to a stallion in more than one way. Like a 'this was the most confusing thing Twilight had ever felt' kind of way.
Rarity gently moved her hoof along Twilight's neck, finally placing it under her chin and lifting Twilight's head to look her in the eyes. Yes, she was touching Twilight flippantly, without permission, and in public, but she didn't care. The other ponies there didn't care, either, not that Twilight even remembered them.
Rarity's eyes were just gorgeous. It had that same, strange quality Dash's did just before, like they were glowing or something, but dialed up to eleven. Twilight just couldn't look away. For a moment, those eyes were the world, and they belonged to Rarity.
“Well I'm very glad that you accepted our invitation,” said Rarity. “Though I dare say it will take a while for you to warm up to all this.”
Items was at this point that Twilight realized that she had been staring into Rarity's eyes with her mouth slightly agape. Embarrassed, Twilight snapped back to attention and muttered some kind of 'thank you'.
“I meant it when I said I liked you, Twilight,” said Rarity. “If there's anything you need just let me know.”
“You mean like to eat?” Twilight asked. “Do you have anything other than candy?”
Rarity laughed. “No. The three of us have a very large sweet tooth, but that's not what I meant. I meant that in a general sense. Around town?”
“Around town?”
“Well,” Rarity said, “for example, have any stallions caught your eyes thus far? Maybe anypony here you think is cute?”
“W-what?” Twilight felt a burning sensation in her cheeks. “No!”
“Oh?” A sharp grin came onto Rarity's face. “Perhaps, maybe, a mare then?”
Twilight's heart was pounding in her chest, and her face felt like it was on fire. She couldn't even bring herself to answer that. Rarity giggled.
“Relax, darling.” Rarity patted Twilight on the back. “I was only joking about that part. But in all seriousness, if there's anypony in town that you wish would take notice of you, then you need only tell me. I'd have them worshiping the ground you walk on in a blink of an eye.”
Rarity tilted Twilight's head about and brushed her mane aside to get a better look at Twilight's face, studying it. She wasn't really looking into Twilight's eyes so much as at them.
“Like I said,” said Rarity. "You're definitely somepony I could work with.”
Twilight wasn't sure what to say to that. She eventually decided that 'thank you' would be enough. Rarity smiled, then hit the ground with her hoof a few times. This caught everypony's attention. All of them quieted down to look at Rarity, and even the music died down for a moment.
“Your attention, as ever,” said Rarity. “This is Twilight Sparkle. She's just moved to Ponyville and I'd like to be the first to say how glad we are to have her here. So how about we all give her a warm welcome, hm?”
The other ponies applauded at that. Suddenly, about a dozen ponies Twilight had never met before had their eyes on her. Several crowded around Twilight, welcoming her. It was enough to overwhelm Twilight, she could hardly keep tract of them all.
“I know,” Rarity said to one of them, somehow her response stuck out more than whatever she was responding to, “isn't Twilight just so pretty?”
“Absolutely!”
And then they all switched over to telling Twilight how pretty she was.
“I just love your highlights,” said one of the mares. “I'm always so jealous of mares with more than one mane color.”
“Nice horn too,” she heard one of the stallions quietly mention to another.
“I can't believe how pretty your eyes are without any make-up!”
Twilight was not used to this kind of attention and had no idea how to respond. Her face had to be beet red by now and her body was frozen up.
She'd be lying if she said this didn't make her feel kind of like she really was, well, pretty. She actually kind of liked the feeling.
“Hey, where are you from anyway?” asked another mare.
Twilight tried to respond but only managed to make a 'dyuh' noise.
“She's a bit shy, so be patient with her,” Rarity answered for her. “Twilight, if you want to make any friends you're going to have to socialize a bit.”
“Well,” Twilight said, scratching her head bashfully with her hoof, “I guess I'm from Canterlot and I just moved here.”
“You're from Canterlot? Where did you go to school?”
“What do you like to do?”
And then, probably for the first time in her life, Twilight was the center of attention. She told them about Canterlot, how she was home schooled, and about all the latest books she had read. You'd think these were the sort of ponies that would declare you a nerd the moment they heard about the books thing, but surprisingly they were okay with it and listened to her speak with rapt attention.
The way they were just so accepting helped Twilight slowly transition from shaking with nervousness to eventually actually enjoying the attention. It did feel good to have everypony's interest once the initial shock wore off.
Though she'd be lying if she said being peppered with all these questions this late at night wasn't just a little exhausting. She yawned and Rarity jumped right on that. “Would you like some coffee, dear?” her voice broke through the rabble again.
“What?” Twilight blinked. A cup of the stuff was already floating in front of her. “But coffee stunts your growth!”
“You're already fully grown, dear,” said Rarity. “Have you really never had any before? I think you should give it a try. Just don't drink too much of you'll be up all night. And who would want that?”
“Um.” Twilight was nervous again. She looked into the black liquid and tried to think of why she was refusing. “It's just, Celestia says she likes tea better and we should all conform to what Celestia likes, right?”
Twilight could tell all the other ponies in the room agreed with her from their nods and quite agreements.
“I don't even understand how that's an argument,” said Rarity. “You don't have some moral obligation to like every food Celestia does, and even if you did it doesn't mean you can't ever try something she doesn't like.”
Twilight was stunned, not by how arrogant Rarity had just been but because Twilight honestly couldn't think of an answer to that. The whole 'conforming with Celestia' thing was something ponies had always simply accepted in the past. Some of the other ponies were uncomfortable with what Rarity just said, a few of them stalking off to other parts of the room.
Twilight looked around. A couple of ponies were drinking coffee it seemed. She knew adults did this sometimes, even though you were supposed to drink tea instead. It wasn't out and out immoral, just something society frowned on. Maybe Rarity did have a point.
“I, uh, I guess it's okay to try,” said Twilight. “As long as I only drink a little, right? And like tea more.”
She took a sip of the coffee while Rarity smiled widely at her. It wasn't bad, not as good as tea of course, but not bad. Rarity gave Twilight a pat on the head. That alone was worth drinking the coffee, and it sent an electric thrill through Twilight's body.
“Twilight,” said Rarity. “I want you to know that if there's anything you need at all, then you can feel free to come to me. And this isn't something I offer most ponies, so keep your head up high.”
“Hm?” Twilight watched Rarity say all that out of the corner of her eyes, as she downed the coffee. “Help with what exactly?”
“There's little I can't help you with,” said Rarity. “If you want to meet more ponies, if you need a job, if you out of luck or get in trouble, if you want to bath in luxury, then come to me. Oh! And let's not forget love either. Have you seen a stallion you want for yourself yet?”
“What?” Twilight was suddenly more awake. “N-no!”
“A pity.” Rarity rested her check on her hoof and looked Twilight over mournfully. “Well if you ever do just point and I'll make him worship the ground you walk on. Thunderlane? Come dance with Twilight for a while.”
Rarity spoke and ponies obeyed. Thunderlane was no different. The pegasus colt held out his wing, inviting her out to where the other ponies were dancing. Twilight was hesitant to leave, but Rarity gave her a little shove and there was no going back from that.
Twilight's heart was racing! Twilight had no idea how to dance! But she couldn't just sit there, either. She just meekly lifted each of her legs in turn to the beat. Thankfully he didn't seem to be putting too much into it, unlike that maniac Pinkie who was spinning and jumping all over the place. Actually, Twilight was dancing much the same way as the other ponies.
This wasn't so bad now that she relaxed a little. It was kind of fun, moving to the music. Twilight was feeling her energy returning. That coffee stuff must really work well!
“So, uh, hey,” said Thunderlane. “I'm Thunderlane, that's my name.”
He laughed at that for some reason and now Twilight was nervous again. She desperately tried to think of something to talk about, but Rarity was the only thing that came to mind. Here she was, dancing with a coltand all she could think about was Rarity. Come to think of it, Twilight was more nervous about sitting next to Rarity than about dancing with Thunderlane.
Twilight didn't suddenly turn into a lesbian, did she? Twilight needed to get Rarity out of her head! But what else was there at this party?
“So, uh, the party!” Twilight blurted out. “Yeah, this is a pretty crazy party, right?”
“Yeah! It's fun to cut loose a little sometimes.” Thunderlane looked around, making it almost look like part of his dance, then came a bit closer to Twilight. He spoke lower now. “Though to be honest, those three go a bit too far sometimes. Like you heard the way Rarity questioned Celestia before?”
“Y-yeah,” Twilight nodded.
She'd be lying if she said that didn't make her a little uncomfortable, even if Rarity did kind of have a point. And now Twilight was thinking about Rarity again. She needed to think of something else to talk about! Thunderlane did seem to be devout towards Celestia.
“Oh, uh.... Did you know Celestia's favorite tea is Yakstanian oolong tea? She actually invaded Yak Yakistan just to overtake their supply,” Twilight recited. “She first had the tea exactly 325 years ago when uh...”
Thunderlane got that same look everypony got when she brought up obscure facts. Twilight bit her lip. This wasn't going so well!
Just then the door flew open and a very angry looking Applejack entered the scene. She surveyed the room until she spotted Twilight. She proceeded to march right up to Twilight in a huff, ignoring everypony else.
"Oh no..." Twilight muttered.