Little Keys

by Skijarama


Squares and Circles

Twilight swallowed heavily as she and her friends walked together down the street towards Sugarcube Corner. Rainbow was to her immediate left, while the rest of their friends were scattered loosely around them. Spike, however, had elected to hang back and remain in the library. His excuse had been that he wanted to tidy the place up. A clumsy excuse, given that there hadn’t even been a chance for things to get messy yet.

The reason for the excuse, however, was plainly obvious, and Twilight envied the fact that he had been in any position to excuse himself at all. Though he was part of the group, especially for her and Rainbow, it went without saying that Pinkie hadn’t really had him in mind when she brought Maud to Ponyville.

Maybe it was because Maud was an aspiring rockologist, and Spike ate rocks. Especially gems. There might have been a bit of a clash there. Maybe. Oh, who was she kidding? Maud was so good at keeping her emotions well and truly hidden that the most Twilight could imagine from her was a slight tilt of the eyebrows. At most.

Whatever the reason, Spike wasn’t the highest on Pinkie’s priority list when it came to her list of ‘ponies to have bond with Maud.’ Twilight and the others were all on that list in big bold letters, though. Twilight couldn’t sit this one out. She had to be present for the coming conversation, no matter how unpleasant it might wind up being.

“Are we sure we really want to do this?” Fluttershy meekly asked, coming up to Twilight’s side with her ears drooping. “I really don’t want to hurt Pinkie’s feelings…”

“None of us do, darling,” Rarity said soothingly. “But alas, If we don’t say something, I get the feeling Maud will…”

“Yeah. The mare’s harder to read than a rock, but she is honest,” Applejack added with a slow nod.

Rainbow shrugged. “Maybe she would. But who knows? She’s harder to read than one of Twilight’s history books,” she said.

Twilight stumbled at that, an indignant squawk coming out of her. “Hey! My history books are not hard to read!” she protested, her cheeks puffing up in agitation.

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Keep telling yourself that, egghead.”

Twilight groaned. She lightly smacked Rainbow on the back of the head with her wing, eliciting a few amused chuckles from the others. A brief moment of levity to help lift their spirits before they inevitably had to take the plunge.

The plunge that came far sooner than Twilight would have liked. Mere moments after their giggles died down, they rounded the bend to find Sugarcube Corner waiting for them just up ahead. They could already see movement inside, a surefire indication of Pinkie’s presence. The bakery had been closed down for a few days at her request so that she could tend to the whole Maud situation in peace, and the Cakes had been gracious enough to comply with the request. They had taken advantage of the time to focus on taking care of their twins and being with each other.

Twilight hesitated somewhat, slowing down her pace. She was suddenly second-guessing herself, the urge to abandon this course of action making itself known. She hadn’t been wanting to do this at all, but she felt like she needed to. Pinkie deserved to know. She needed to know, especially after all the effort she had put into things. Twilight knew this, and yet that sense of need was crumbling into dust, leaving her with no other desire than to turn tail and run back to the library so she didn’t have to deal with this.

Alas, she was not afforded the chance to make that decision. Before she could voice her concerns, the door to the bakery slammed open. Pinkie Pie stepped out with a gigantic grin on her muzzle. Her eyes landed on the group, and she visibly had to restrain herself from prancing in place. “Great! You’re all here! This saves me the time of looking for you!” she declared.

Applejack put on a crooked smile. “Aheh… yeah. Here we all are,” she said awkwardly. She turned back to the others. None of them could meet her eyes.

Pinkie was oblivious. “Well, Maud’s out looking for rocks, so now is the perfect time for us to make your super best friends rock candy necklaces!” she squealed, throwing a hoof into the air as if expecting a chorus of assent that matched her own excitement.

Silence was her answer. The ecstatic grin on her face slowly began to unravel as she realized her friends couldn’t meet her gaze, and all of them were looking away with despondent looks. Pinkie frowned, leaning forward in concern and confusion. “Hey, girls? What’s wrong?”

Nopony said anything. Twilight looked around, biting her lip. She could see all of them working their jaws, clearly trying to work up the courage to speak their minds, to tell Pinkie what they had all agreed to tell her. None of them could make themselves do it. They looked up at Pinkie, they saw her innocent blue eyes staring back at them, asking them to tell her all that ailed them.

How could they let her down like that? That was probably what was going through their heads. Hay, that was what was going through Twilight’s mind. This mare had made them all smile and laugh more times than any of them cared to count. She was one of their biggest sources of optimism every time things turned for the worst.

In spite of that, in many ways, she was so like a child… and it was never a fun thing to break a child’s heart.

Twilight’s heart skipped a beat when Midnight scoffed between her ears. “Honestly, Pinkie Pie is a grown mare. If she can’t take a little bit of hard truth every now and then, then that is no fault of yours. So just tell her how oblivious and stupid she’s been so we can all be done with this depressing scene.”

Twilight inhaled sharply through her nostrils, but she was quick to shut down any desire to retort. She had to focus, and though her inner demon had worded it in the wrong way, she wasn’t entirely wrong. Pinkie Pie did need to know…

“Well, uh…” Twilight finally began, although her voice was tentative and weak. She winced back when Pinkie Pie and all the others placed their focus squarely on her. She took a deep breath and kept going. “I’m not sure now is really the best time to be making best friend rock candy necklaces…”

“Why not?” Pinkie asked. The question came immediately, lined with even more confusion. 

Twilight winced. “Uh…” she began, but further words would not come. She glanced helplessly to her friends, hoping for one of them to pick up the slack. Rainbow didn’t seem to be in any position to do so, though, resting her chin on Pinkie’s mailbox and hiding her muzzle with her hooves as she was.

“Well, darling, you see…” Rarity tried to start, but the words quickly died in her throat as well.

“You’re ever so thoughtful to share your special bonding ritual with us,” Fluttershy went on, managing to put on an appreciative smile. It faded a second later, and she averted her eyes. “But…”

Pinkie leaned forward slightly. “But what?”

“Oh my gosh this is pathetic,” Midnight sneered. “Just get on with it!”

A tingle of fire ran across the base of Twilight’s skull. She winced, but soon enough, she managed to find her voice. She took a deep breath, let it out with a heavy sigh, and spoke again. “Pinkie… We’ve all been trying really hard to get closer to Maud. You know that. You brought her around to all of our homes yesterday. You saw us trying our best, all of us.”

Pinkie nodded along, seemingly oblivious. “Uh-huh.”

Twilight took a few steps forward, her eyes glued to the ground. “But… I don’t think it’s really been working. Some ponies just don’t… match, I guess. They don’t get along and ‘click’ as nicely as, say, we do.”

Pinkie Pie tilted her head. “Huh? But…”

Twilight pressed on. “I know you love your sister, Pinkie, we can all see it. And… I can tell that she really loves you, too,” she said, recalling how Maud had expressed her worries about Pinkie’s wellbeing around Twilight. “And we all care about you, too. But… I’m not sure if that’s enough for us to click with Maud like you do. I mean, you’re her sister. You grew up with her. You can see things in her nopony else can… Things that none of us can.”

Pinkie’s eyes widened as the realization began to set in. “What? But… b-but, Twilight! She recited poetry to you! You love poems!” she protested, taking a few steps forward.

“I love poetry,” Twilight rebuked gently. “But that doesn’t mean every poem I hear is going to be a gem. There’s also a lot more to me than just books and words, you know. Same for all of us. Applejack is more than apples and honesty, Fluttershy is more than animals and being shy, Rarity is more than fashion and creativity. Maybe Maud has these things in common with us, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to become the best of friends.”

Pinkie’s eyes darted between all of her friends, her expression becoming more and more strained. “But… b-but… I…”

“I know you really want us all to get along with Maud,” Twilight pressed on, finally managing to meet Pinkie’s gaze. “But… I just don’t think it’s going to happen… no matter how hard you try to make it. It’s like trying to fit a square block into a circular hole…”

She looked back at the others. “...Something is going to have to break before you get anywhere.”

Several seconds passed in silence. Twilight took one more deep breath before turning back to Pinkie. The mare’s expression was one of pure disappointment. Twilight winced, her heart skipping a beat with regret. Maybe she could have worded things a little more gently?

“The mare has enough sugar coating in her life,” Midnight snarked. “Let her eat her daily dose of reality.”

Twilight sighed and looked down. “...In the end, we really appreciate all the effort, Pinkie, and we’re touched that you want to share this tradition with us. But…”

“None of us would feel right about it,” Applejack picked up, finally taking the pressure off of Twilight. “If it’s supposed to mean we’re the best of friends. Because… well, Pinkie… we aren’t.”

Pinkie stared down at all of them for several seconds. She eventually looked away and gave off a heavy sigh. “...Okay. I understand, you guys,” she muttered, clearly disappointed. A few seconds passed before she gave them all a weak, but understanding smile. “Just… thanks for giving her a chance… Now, uh…”

She looked back inside and cringed. “...If anypony needs me, I’ll be trying to figure out what to do with two hundred pounds of rock candy.”

With that, Pinkie slipped back inside and shut the door quietly behind her.

A heavy silence fell over the group. Eventually, Rainbow broke it with a tired sigh. “Welp, I feel horrible.”

“You didn’t even say anything,” Applejack noted gently.

Rainbow shrugged. “Meh… Just… didn’t wanna be the one to let one of my best friends down this time, I guess.”

“Dash…”

Twilight winced. Of course Rainbow felt that way. How many times had she blamed herself, justifiably or not, for the pain of her friends? Just off the top of her head she could recall several incidents where Rainbow had fallen into pits of self-loathing over what she perceived as her own mistakes. Turning her back on her friends to Discord's influence, attacking Starlight on the Friendship Express, being absent for Chrysalis’ attack on Canterlot, her deal with Sombra…

“And hiding the truth from you,” Midnight reminded in a whisper. “About how you died.”

Twilight winced and closed her eyes. Too many times had Rainbow beaten herself up, as far as Twilight was concerned. So of course, Rainbow wouldn’t want that responsibility this time…

“...Let’s go home, Rainbow,” Twilight said quietly, turning to leave. “I think we’re done here.”