Twilight Sparkle was her name and she could do this, she could get off a train and start a new life. Her friends were with her and they were watching the mountains and countryside go by as the train trundled on to her new home.
Twilight’s parents had given her a tearful farewell, now it was up to them what would happen with their lives. The graduation was celebrated well enough without incident; she was a well rounded powerful unicorn and could handle almost any challenge that came her way. Provided her friends were with her as she wouldn’t be able to survive being away from her parents, without having her friends around to lean on when she needed it.
As for jobs, Smart could work at the library as there were no laws against her doing so even if she was a bit small for a librarian. Twilight was guaranteed back up funds for any emergency. Fluttershy, Twilight and Tress would have to talk with the mayor and then things could get set up.
“So do you think I’m ready for this?” It has been a constant worry of hers; Twilight didn’t think she was ready to be on her own. “That I’m ready to go out into the world and be my own mare.”
“Shouldn’t we be worried that the world isn’t ready for you?” Surprisingly it wasn’t Tress who said this, it was a giggling Fluttershy.
Tress stayed oddly silent as she stared into the distance out the train car window at the place called Ponyville. It was a place where she could possibly be spending the rest of her life alongside her best friend.
“What’s wrong Tress, you’re oddly silent.” A frown marred Twilight's face as Tress stared at the fast lands before her as the train rolled on. “I got the results from testing those hairs from your mane.”
“Huh? What’s the verdict doc, is it… is it hair?” A small smile came across Tress’s face and Twilight certainly became amused by the change in mood. “You’ve been studying it off and on for a whole year you know.”
“Well yes, its hair alright, almost entirely normal… except for the one odd detail about it, otherwise it seems like normal entirely inert pony hair.” It was a surprise to Twilight that Tress might actually be able to become Mane-iac again, though it was incredibly unlikely. The power she would need to even jumpstart the transformation process would have to be astronomical in levels.
“And that would be?” Asked Tress waiting for the intrinsic details of what Twilight had found out.
“There is a chance that you would be able to become Mane-iac again. It would require a force powerful enough to kill a regular pony, at least three times over. Your hair somehow absorbs static energy; as such your hair is impossible to get frizzy from static shocks because of this.” Well that was one less thing Tress had to worry about when it came to her hair in the future. “I’m kind of jealous of you really. It may not be a super power, but hair that is immune to being messed with by having a balloon rubbed up against it is unique to say the least. It’s possibly a side of effect of having had those super powers, so it’s nothing to worry about.”
“Well that’s one load off my mind.” It would take enough force to kill her before she could even feasibly be Mane-iac again? Tress didn’t let it bother her, so she couldn’t become super powered unless she returned to the comic book world or she somehow miraculously survived dying to even go through transforming into her alter ego again.
Now all Tress had to do was think of how to proceed on from here, which she had been doing previously before Twilight interrupted her deep rooted thinking. The modeling business with Fleur was fun, but she had to quit and told Fleur that she was moving with her friend to Ponyville. Maybe she could model for some of Twilight’s ventures. She could probably even make a business of selling hygiene related stuff on the side. Making special homemade shampoo and body wash would never be a problem unless the ingredients became scarce; her friends appreciated that talent as Fluttershy really had a thing for smelling like a bed of flowers.
“Um, how much did the plot of land you got for me cost?” Fluttershy really didn’t like the idea that Twilight was so selfless as to spend so much money on her, especially for a place that was stated as being perfect for her.
“Don’t worry about it Fluttershy, there’s a reason why we’re meeting with the mayor and it involves your workplace and what kind of jobs you’ll have around Ponyville.” It was fun for Twilight to keep this a secret from Fluttershy. She was going to be so happy when she saw her little grove next to the forest.
Fluttershy would soon have more things to do with animals then she could have ever dreamed of. She’d be running an animal sanctuary, finding pets for ponies, being the lead animal specialist during the Winter Wrap Up whatever that was and peacefully solving problems that animals and pests could cause. She could even work at the local veterinary clinic whenever she felt like it; all she had to do is talk with the mayor and get it finalized.
The gentle thrum of the train slowed down as the ponies waited for it to pull into the station, collecting their things they all got off the train and stopped to stare at the peaceful surroundings. Barb was looking around with Smart sitting on top of her head and the wide open spaces were definitely different from the streets of a rather claustrophobic Canterlot.
Now all Twilight had to do was figure out where the mayor is so they could finish the documentation and finally they had to have time to get settled in. Walking out of the train station Twilight decided to ask directions of the first pony she came across. The pony in question was humming happily to herself as she skipped along.
“Excuse me, but…” The pink pony sounded like the one that held the wild parties, but Twilight wasn’t about to berate her if she wasn’t sure about it. The pony stopped stared at the strange group including Barb for a moment and she gave off a loud long drawn out gasp, this was followed by her jumping into the air and shooting off at ridiculous speeds without touching the ground.
“What the hay! Was that Filli-second's cousin? I thought you said normal ponies in your world didn’t have super powers like that.” It was the first time Tress had seen a pony perform feats that would only be expected in a comic book. It was done by an earth pony no less and in a manner resembling the super speed hero from her world.
“I know. I’m just as surprised as you are.” Twilight had hoped to get away from all the zaniness that was the life of a Sparkle. Only now did Twilight truly contemplate that it may have been impossible to separate her from the stark raving insanity. “Come on; let’s find a pony who can give us directions.”
Meanwhile entirely on the other side of Ponyville, a manticore and a timber wolf were going at each other while a bunch of fillies and colts watched in awe. When the pink pony ran up and hugged the nearby unicorn, it caused the timber wolf and the manticore to disappear upsetting the little ponies somewhat until they all saw the pink pony.
“Oh Trixie, please tell me you’ll come! There are some new ponies in Ponyville and I want you to come to the party and be the entertainment and everything! So please, can you, can you, can you?” The poor unicorn was getting dizzy from being spun around by the hyper pink pony.
“Please cease these motions or Trixie will lose the lunch Trixie had all over you Pinkie!” The unicorn known as Trixie was suddenly released. After a moment to get her bearings she looked to Pinkie with an accusing stare. “Well Trixie didn’t say you had to stop hugging Trixie entirely.”
Pinkie’s hooves wrapped around Trixie in a gentler manner causing the unicorn blush at the tenderness of the hug, especially from the pony with no sense of personal space that she happened to spend a lot of time around. She was Pinkie’s go to for help with a party. Aside from what Pinkie usually asked her to do, Trixie also got to use her magic as part of the entertainment because the happy weirdo wouldn’t stop hiring her for jobs.
“Please, tell me you’ll attend my party and do your thing.” The pink pony was looking at Trixie with puppy dog eyes; Pinkie knew they were lethal and probably illegal in several countries. It’s why she couldn’t go back to some places, especially after the cherry changa incident.
“Please, stop looking at Trixie like that. You know Trixie wouldn’t miss it.” Though Trixie knew Pinkie was unaware of it, the magician in question had a large crush on the perky party pony. Trixie covered her ears knowing Pinkie would give a loud squeal of joy.
Even if she was unaware of Trixie’s attraction, Pinkie was rather affectionate with every pony who became a close friend of hers. Pinkie was the reason why Trixie had a steady job and they were both happy to be friends. Thinking back on it, Trixie now felt bad that she ran from Twilight’s friendship.
Twilight approached the mayor in her office; it had taken them thirty minutes to find out where the mayor was. In that time they had saw many interesting sights including Sugar Cube Corner, where they all had stopped for a quick snack.
“Excuse me, are you the mayor and… sorry for me asking this, but why does it smell like you dyed your mane?” Twilight could smell temporary dye at a few clicks. It wasn’t harmful for the mane, but it seemed kind of unnecessary with her being here. Twilight had a mastery of her third spell and managed to get the hair color change permanency dropped to just twelve hours after the spell was used then you could change the color again.
“Yes I’m the mayor and that’s not any of your business.” The mayor with the grey dyed mane and the beige coat answered as she was finished doing some paperwork and she had plenty of time on hoof.
“Actually… it is kind of my business, you see I’m Twilight Sparkle and I happen to have a spell that could just outright change your hair color permanently without having to use all those dyes. Well that is unless you like dying your hair multiple different colors, then I have nothing against that and I can’t help you with rapid hair color changes.” It was agreed that Twilight would do all the talking once they finally found the mayor’s office and she thought things were going particularly well. Fluttershy, Tress and Barb sat back eating their quickly bought snacks while Twilight dealt with the red tape. “Other than that I’m here about some residency forms and to ask about acquiring jobs and opening a business here.”
“How permanent a color change are we talking here?” The mayor was now interested and less offended about how Twilight asked about her mane. That was once she heard the magic words that she wouldn’t require the use of temporary dyes anymore. “Aside from that, what kind of business’s, jobs and residency papers do you need help with signing off on?”
“Well the color change is permanent for the first twelve hours for every change, but afterwards I can return your mane to normal or change the color again. Otherwise your hair will just grow in that color from that point on. I can’t do it while you have dye in your hair whether or not said dye is even magical in nature.” Well Twilight didn’t want the mayor’s mane to react poorly to the problematic mixture of hair dye and a magical hair color changing spell going wrong, plus she didn’t want to make a bad first impression. “For starters on the jobs, business and residencies, my friend Fluttershy here would like to apply for position of Ponyville’s animal caretaker and she’s really good with wild animals. She also has some papers to sign for this place outside of the Ever Free Forest as it will soon belong to her.”
“My word, a pony is willing to be that close to… well if she is as good as you say she is with wild animals, I guess this shouldn’t be to big an issue. Come up dear, I’ll get your papers out and then we can see about your qualifications for the job.” The mayor noted the mare was quiet and shy, she had no idea why any pony would want to live next to the Ever Free Forest much less one that looks like a bear would rip her to shreds.
After getting the papers out and hearing the qualifications that this Fluttershy had earned, the mayor would be dumb not to give her the job position outright. They always had some trouble waking up the animals during the wrapping up of winter and having an animal expert that could stop all the rabbits from ruining the crops grown in Ponyville was a much needed boon. In fact, that was the first thing the mayor was going to have Fluttershy look into.