//------------------------------//
// 2: Makin' Our Way Downtown 
// Story: Messages from Canterlot High 
// by aricaitlyn 
//------------------------------//

According to what Principal Celestia had told us, Vasqville was either a long walking distance or a short flying distance away. Since I had no idea how the heck I could even obtain my wings again, Pinkie and I chose to walk to town. But, of course, instead of walking, I began to sprint. Faster and faster, the satisfying thud of my sneakers hitting the pavement. Years of running cross-country as well as other sports had strengthened my muscles and nearly tripled my top speed.

"Dashie! Wait up!" Pinkie shouted, sounding a bit out of breath.

I stopped mid-sprint and turned, waiting impatiently. I forgot how weird it was to not be constantly racing somebody else. Pinkie finally caught up to me. Her forehead was dripping with sweat, and she had pulled off her black hoodie. "Can't you just...fly us there?" she asked, huffing loudly.

I shook my head. "You know that I don't know how."

As if on cue, the pink backpack I had been carrying along the way fell to the ground, like it was controlled by another force. The pack shook. A pair of blue pegasus wings spurted out of the back of the pack.

"Awesome!" I exclaimed, picking the bag up. "Principal Celestia said nothing about winged backpacks!"

The wings on the bag began to flit up and down. My feet rose off the ground along with the bag. Without hesitating, Pinkie Pie grabbed my ankle as we went up higher and higher into the sky. 

Once we had gotten up as high into the sky as possible, I began to give a bit of dramatic dialogue, my specialty at times like this. "Okay, Pinkie, our mission begins now. Let's inform the people of Vasqville."

Pinkie let out a little squee sound. "Oh! Oh! Dashie?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I sing an information song, please?"

I groaned. "An information song?"

"Yeah. About our mission, you know. A song."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine. Just make it quick."

Pinkie Pie inhaled loudly. "One, two, a one, two, three...


We'll tell you what to know, know, know
We'll show you what you don't know
We'll inform you with information!
Information, information, information
Spilled out at our destination
Information, information, information
Yeah!"


As the wings flew us to Vasqville, Pinkie kept singing. It felt like it had been a thousand years until I finally decided to speak up. "Pinkie...will you please...stop...singing?"

Pinkie held up her index finger, indicating that she was almost done and didn't want to be interrupted by me. "In-for-ma-tioooooooooooooon! The end!" I could hear her gasp. "Ooooh! What's that?"

I looked up to see what she was seeing. "Vasqville. This must be the place." The wings on the backpack stopped moving and we landed on the ground.

"Okay, first we need to set up our home base." Pinkie Pie giggled.

I groaned. "Focus! You've gotta observe life here, okay?" I asked. Pinkie nodded. "Then, based on your observations, we'll begin to live here, completing our mission." I handed her the pink backpack and began to walk around, looking for a good plot of land to build my house on. Most of the neighborhoods and cul-de-sacs I passed were crowded with houses, all except for what looked like a rather shady part of town. The streetlights flickered and there weren't many houses, but it was also very close to the school. I wouldn't need to ride the school bus each morning and afternoon; I could just walk back and forth.

I sat down on the little plot of land, waiting for Pinkie to get back with her information. As if on cue, Pinkie returned, grinning. She handed me my backpack and I pulled it back on.

"Awesome work, Pinkie," I said. "Did you find out anything important?"

Pinkie Pie stuck her orange tongue out and pointed near the city. "Three bakeries in there. Three."

"And?" I asked.

"Of course I want to visit them, Dashie! You know that it's my dream to work at one!" She let out a loud gasp. "Maybe one of them is hiring! Yayyyy!"

"Oh, whatever. Let's just figure out our outfits, and then we can build this house."

"I want to be a mongoose," Pinkie said, one of her usual non-sequiters. 

"Oh my gosh, Pinkie. No. Just...no."

I began to shuffle around in the backpack that Celestia and Luna had given me. I was told that everything I would need is in this very bag. Sure enough, there were clothes, suitable for me and Pinkie to wear as part of our "blending in". 

I pulled out the wad of clothes and began to sort them accordingly. "Too pink," I muttered, tossing a pink, silky top behind me. "Too frou-frou," I groaned, throwing the wadded-up dress to the ground. My eyes finally rested on my outfit of choice. It was a pair of black skinny jeans with a dark purple hoodie. A pair of white socks were balled up on top, as well as a new pair of sneakers, running shoes with rainbow laces. 

"AWESOME!" I exclaimed, hugging the clothes to my chest. I spun around quickly and noticed Pinkie almost staring at me. "I'm going to put these clothes on, Pinkie. You might want to turn around."

Pinkie blushed. "Oops, sorry!" She jumped, did a spin in mid-air, then sat, her back facing me. I rolled my eyes. She is so random sometimes.

Without hesitating, I unbuttoned the top button of my short-sleeved jacket and untied my shoes. Less than a minute later, I was dressed in the new outfit. I noticed an elastic band around the socks, and I used it to pull my hair up. Rarity would have been proud of me for trying out a new look.

"Pinkie, I'm dressed, you can turn around now!"

Pinkie turned around and immediately looked almost scared to see me. She began to look around frantically.

"What are you looking for?" I asked her.

"Dashie!" she called out, her voice growing thick. "Where are you?"

"I'm right here," I replied. She spun around and grinned. 

I picked up the backpack and began to shuffle through it. "Okay, maybe you need a new outfit, too." 

Pinkie shook her head. 

"Alright," I replied, zipping up the backpack. "Now, I guess we need someplace to live."

Suddenly, I felt a vibration in the back pocket of my jeans. I reached back and pulled out the thing that was vibrating. It was a smart cell phone, complete with a touch screen and everything. I didn't even have a phone to begin with, so this was, of course, awesome for me.

A message appeared on the screen. Without even knowing how to operate a smart phone, I touched the screen. The message opened and the phone vibrated again. A strange magical surge encased the phone. Without thinking, I pointed the phone towards the empty plot of land where I planned to live. A house appeared, the same magical aura surrounding it. Different lawn items grew all around the house in odd placements. 

The magic began to waft away, leaving me and Pinkie alone in front of this empty house. Of course, I stepped right in. Pinkie Pie followed, skipping happily. I closed the door behind me and wiped off the sweat beam that I hadn't even noticed before. Step one had gone smoothly.