//------------------------------//
// Rarity Takes Manehattan 
// Story: Two Background Ponies Revisit Season Four 
// by Piccolo Sky 
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Rarity Takes Manehattan


Sam and Carl found themselves walking down the street that weekend. Normally, they'd be at a cafe, having one of their normal plates of cookies, and Sam would be struggling to weather whatever inconsistency for the week would be upsetting Carl. For a change, however, he thought of just going for a walk and discussing things. Perhaps being on the move would tire Carl out more...or at least make him more bearable.
Finally, the fateful moment arrived. Carl, getting a puzzled look on his face, turned to Sam.
"Sam?"
He exhaled a bit, but then answered. "Yeah, Carl?"
Suddenly, a golden pony walked by, giving a wave.
"Hey Sam! Nice day, isn't it?" Dawn cheered. 
Sam looked up and gave a wave of his own. "Oh, hey Dawn!"
Dawn looked to Carl and waved as well. "Hey, Carl."
He absent-mindedly waved back. "Hey, Friendship-Killer...I mean, Dawn."
She soon walked by, and Sam looked back to Carl.
"Ok, what were you saying?"
"I'm just saying that I-"
"Carl!"
Giving a grimace, the green stallion looked behind him, just in time to see Farrah running up with No-Neck and her other two foals. As they passed by, she thrust a shopping list in his face.
"Get these for the kids so I can make them dinner tonight! Remember...Kraft, not Velveeta! They hate Velveeta! And make sure to get them strawberry yogurt while you're at it! I didn't put it on the list! Don't forget!"
No-Neck, on his part, gave Carl a "pony bite" as he passed...literally. Carl winced in pain, and as the colt ran off laughing, he muttered several obscenities.
"Anyway, what were you saying, Carl?"
"I was just saying that I noticed those six girls who run around town all the time have been..."
"Sam!"
Abruptly, the green stallion looked to one side, and Carl sighed at another interruption. However, Sam, on his part, looked to be on his best behavior as he saw Stonewall walking his dog and passing by him.
"Don't forget. Fishing trip. Next Sunday. Don't think just because I'm accepting you in the family that I take rainchecks lightly."
"Uh, no sir."
He looked to Carl and opened his mouth to say something...but instead just gave him a dark glare before turning and resuming walking. Carl himself frowned for a moment, before Sam looked back to him.
"Go on."
He sighed. "Look...the deal is I know the six of them are friends and all...but there was a time when you'd see them, you know, breaking up and just..."
"Hey, my boys!"
Carl fumed in rage while Sam looked forward...and soon grinned nervously as the foo dog known as "Rex" walked up to both of them. 
"Hey stallions! How you doin'? You know, I just got in these designer horseshoes...and by 'got in', I think you know what I'm sayin'... And I'm just sayin' if you want first shot at 'em before they go on the market...I'm your boy. I can hook you guys up..."
"Uh...that's...very kind of you..." Sam swallowed in response. "But...we just swore off felonies...I mean, we just got new horseshoes!"
"Aw, damn. Come to me next time. I'll get 'em to you for half price. See you around." He said before moving on. Carl kept a frown on his face and glared ahead of him as he kept walking. After a moment, Sam looked back to him.
"...Yes, Carl?" He asked. "You were saying something about how there was a time that..."
Carl fumed, and then spoke more loudly. "I was saying there was a time in which you'd only see them hanging out in groups of two or three or something doing something together...but lately it seems as if all six of them go around doing everything!"
Sam turned his brow a bit. "That's...kind of an odd thing to get fixated on, Carl...especially since they're all friends."
"Well, you know what they say, Sam. Two's a gathering and three's a rowdy bunch. So what happens with six? I mean, I've hung around them a couple times. It seems like aside from one or two of them each day, the others are just there to stick around and say a few things to let people know they're there, and the rest of the time they're essentially just 'placeholders'. I mean...how would we like it if our inner circle of friends and loved ones just hung around us every day to say a word or two and then be forgotten about?"
"You're reading too much into things...yet again, Carl." Sam simply responded.
They both turned forward and kept walking...before they saw a pair of mares walk up to them. One was a gray earth pony with a Cutie Mark of a misty meadow, while the other one was a very tall earth pony with a mane like an aurora borealis and a Cutie Mark of a crown within stars. Both Sam and Carl froze and stared at them for a moment.
"...Never seen those two before."
The taller one rolled her eyes as she passed. "Not surprising...I don't think there's a hundred people around here who even know who I am..."
"You think you background ponies have it tough not getting recognized..." The gray one sighed as she walked along.


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...Who the heck were those guys?
Shameless self-promotions from a writer who really couldn’t come up with anything for that week, Sam.
I wonder if anybody recognized anyone in that one other than us, Carl…
And he gave the guy who wrote “Castle Mane-ia” a hard time… Karma’s a bitch, eh?
Ugh…just…go to next week…