All That Shimmers
Chapter 10: There When You Need Them
-ooooooo-
As Vice-Principal Luna levels a somewhat accusatory look at me, I fight the urge to tense or give off any sign that I’m guilty in the slightest. I had spent the last couple years in this school conning my way out of jams or to get what I want. Giving friendship a shot or not, I’m not about to just lay down and accept detention, or jail, or whatever the heck punishment I might be in for what I did to Gilda.
Before I or anyone else can say anything Pinkie breaks into hysterics. “It’s true! It’s true! I hit Fluttershy with a… with a bra-hi-aaa-hiiiick!”
Luna shifts her focus from me towards Pinkie. “Wait. You attacked Fluttershy?!”
Rarity quickly interjects, “Pinkie accidently hit Fluttershy with a brick while we were all trying to fix the entrance.”
Applejack nodded. “Yep, coulda happened to any of us.”
“But it happened to ma-meeeeheeeeehheeeehheeehheheheeehheeehh….” Pinkie cries out in a somewhat literal sense as her speech devolves into more sobbing.
As wholly unnecessary as the scene she’s making is, it’s nice to see someone else turn on the water works for a change.
“Is Fluttershy alright?” Luna asks.
“She’s fine!” Rainbow Dash assures. “Just a little concussed.”
Luna frowns. “A little?”
“I’m sure a little rest is all she needs,” I interject.
Luna turns back to me briefly before addressing us all. “Well, since you all say that was an accident, I suppose I can overlook that issue for now. Truthfully, I am here because I understand Gilda was attacked today.”
“WhouaaaaaHouaaaaaa…What? Gilda…?” Pinkie says, somehow snapping out of her hysterics instantly. She frowns. “But I don’t even own a bonesaber!”
“Excuse me?” Vice-principal Luna says in confusion. “Gilda was attacked by a ‘bonesaber’?”
Pinkie lets out a gasp. “So it is true!”
“I DIDN’T ATTACK GILDA WITH A BONESABER!” I snap at Pinkie.
“I know you didn’t, silly-Billy!” Pinkie replies. “But someone did!”
“Uh… Pinkie,” Rainbow Dash says, “I don’t think anyone attacked anyone else with a bonesaber at school today.”
“But Vice-Principal Luna said—”
Luna clears her throat. “I was merely trying to clarify the situation. I do not believe Gilda was attacked by a ‘bonesaber’.” She turns and looks straight at me once again. “However, I have heard that someone injured her enough that she left the school grounds.”
Quick… Think of something plausible, Think of something plausible…
“No way!” Rainbow Dash cries. “Sunset was with me the entire time before we made it to first period. There’s no way she could have done that!”
Dash, I could kiss you right now.
Pinkie chimes in as well, “And I saw Sunset Shimmer when she showed up to school today!”
Thank God for quick thinking friends…
“She didn’t have a bonesaber on her at all! She couldn’t have carved out Gilda’s heart!” Pinkie added.
… Er… Well beggars can’t be choosers…
Applejack sighs heavily. “Pinkie Pie, would you give the whole ‘bonesaber’ thing a rest?!”
Pinkie frowns. “I can’t because I don’t even have a bonesaber!” She puts on a ponderous expression “…Do bonesabers even sleep?” she wonders out loud.
Luna narrows her eyes at Pinkie. It’s clear she’s beginning to lose her patience a bit. Of course, Pinkie’s not really doing anything more than being scatterbrained.
“Sorry, Vice-Principal Luna,” Rarity says hastily. “Pinkie’s on a bit of a sugar high at the moment.”
I nod my head up and down.
“Oh golly-cheese balls, yeah did I have a lot of sugar! That was almost as much sugar as the time I ate a bag full of sugar!”
There’s another brief pause as we all can’t help but just stare at Pinkie in a mix of marvel, confusion, a dash of disgust, and maybe a pinch of concern.
I place my hand on one of Pinkie’s shoulders. “Pinkie? Remind me to get you a pamphlet or show you a website or something on the dangers of type 2 diabetes.”
Pinkie nods her head up and down vigorously. “Okie-dokie-lokie!”
“Alright then, I suppose she has not done any damage or shown any intentional disrespect… As for the matter at hand….” Luna turns back to me and frowns heavily.
It was now Dash’s word and Pinkie’s somewhat confused prattling against rumor and hearsay. Luna was strict, but mostly fair. I mean… If you exclude the whole debacle with her trying to force mandatory after school activities on everyone. Not sure what that was about, I guess her jealousy got the better of her and she just felt she didn’t have enough to do during the day… I heard Celestia forced her to take some vacation after that. Which was where the sensible aspects of the rumors ended, as it somehow got around that Luna went to Space Camp for 1,000 hours… which is weird on a number of levels including why the length just wasn’t in weeks or days…
… In retro respect, Snips and Snails probably aren’t always the greatest sources of information.
Anyhow, after a brief pause Luna speaks up again, “I suppose it seems you may be innocent this time.”
Wow, talk about a heaping pile of qualifiers. I doubt she’s wholly convinced of my innocence, but she certainly doesn’t have evidence or even reasonable doubt to pin on me unless she’s going to call Rainbow’s bluff. Gilda’s pride is likely going to keep her silent. It also seems very unlikely Rainbow Dash would blow my cover…
Unless she plans to blackmail me… I hope Rainbow Dash doesn’t start taking notes out of my book here…
“See that you keep yourself out of trouble,” Luna says as she points to one of her eyes for emphasis.
I think I feel my poker face crack ever so slightly as it dawns on me this is probably her little way of pointing out she noticed my bruised eye. “I will, Vice-Principal Luna,” I say almost monotone.
With that, Luna turns and begins walking away from us. Glad she didn’t grill me on the eye. If I had to stick with the gym story she could have easily checked my schedule and caught my lie.
Anyhow… I’m sure if I can keep out of further trouble, this whole thing will blow over… Let’s just hope I can keep control of myself so that can actually happen.
“Well, that sure was nerve wrackin’…” Applejack says.
Rarity puts a comforting hand on my shoulder and smiles. “Well, at least you’re in the clear, as they say.”
“Girls! Girls!”
I look down the hallway to see Principal Celestia walking swiftly towards us.
Oh, come on!
I fold my arms across my chest and narrow my eyes slightly at Rarity. “You just had to tempt fate, didn’t you?”
Rarity blushes slightly and titters nervously to herself.
Applejack greets Principal Celestia as she approaches. “Uh… Hey there, Principal Celestia, what brings you here?”
Celestia has a rather serious look on her face, I’m guessing she’s not here on a social visit to all of us.
“NO ONE HAS A BONESABER!” Pinkie decides to yell, probably because she’s Pinkie.
Celestia pauses for a beat then pushes right past Pinkie’s weirdness like a champ. “I heard Sunset Shimmer attacked Fluttershy with a brick.”
“WHAT?!” The girls and I exclaim.
DAMN YOU, RUMOR MILL!
Pinkie quickly comes to my rescue. “Sunset Shimmer didn’t attack Fluttershy with a brick! I did!”
The rest of us tense up. Good thing it’s Celestia and not her sister Pinkie just said that too.
Celestia stares at Pinkie in surprise. “You attacked Fluttershy?!”
“She didn’t mean to attack Fluttershy!” I quickly interject.
“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash chimes in, “it was an accident.”
“Pinkie, dear?” Rarity says as she places a hand on Pinkie’s shoulder. “We really need work on your phrasing.”
“Oh… Oops…” Pinkie says with a sheepish grin. “Yes, I accidently attacked Fluttershy with a brick.”
Celestia gives Pinkie a look that seems lost somewhere in between relieved and confused.
I smack a palm against my face. “She means she threw a brick and accidently hit Fluttershy in the face.”
“Oh…” Celestia replies before turning back to Pinkie. “Why were you throwing a brick?” she asks, her expression drifting more towards confused territory.
“Well, we had just started singing!” Pinkie explains. “It was the brick throwing part of the song!”
It’s a good thing Pinkie isn’t on the debate team…
Applejack speaks up, “We were tryin’ to help Sunset Shimmer fix the entrance.”
“Ooooooh!” Celestia replies. “I see, so this was a construction mishap.”
“A musical construction mishap!” Pinkie says cheerfully.
We all give Pinkie another sideways glance.
“Is that what happened to Sunset as well?” Celestia asks as she looks over my bruises.
“Let’s not talk about me,” I say with a hint of annoyance. “Lets talk about you and why you’re here. Did you really think I’d full on attack Fluttershy, of all people, with a brick?”
For the briefest of instants I’m sure Celestia gives me a suspicious look, but she moves on to answering my question regardless.
Did you see how I expertly changed the subject there? I haven’t spent the last couple years plus manipulating people for nothing, you know…
“Well, I didn’t assume it was all true, but I did want to at least do a follow up. Then I saw all of you gathered in front of the Nurse’s office and had to sort out what was going on.”
“Still,” I cry in an exasperated tone, “I know I haven’t been the nicest person to anyone or even Fluttershy in particular, but that would be going pretty far to actually physically assault her!”
Pinkie has a brief moment where she seems to be attempteing to consume all the air in the hallway before she speaks, “That would be like beating up toddlers for fun!”
Rarity gasps. “Pinkie!”
Rainbow Dash and Applejack chuckle to themselves.
“See!” I say as I motion to Pinkie. “Pinkie gets it!”
Suddenly the door to the nurse’s office flies open and Nurse Redheart is standing their fuming. We all jump a bit and look at her apologetically. Regardless, she scowls out at all of us.
“Would you all go already?!” Redheart asks. “You’re making it impossible for Fluttershy to rest!”
“Sorry, Nurse Redheart,” Celestia says. “I’ll talk to the girls in my office.”
“Good! See that you do!” Nurse Redheart says. She ducks back into her office and quickly but quietly shuts the door behind her.
Celestia leads us down the hall and soon we are all sort of awkwardly standing around in her bright, but not terribly large office. The five of us sort of sandwiched between her bookcase and her large wooden desk where her microphone and speaker for the school PA’s system is sitting across from her white phone. We’re standing since there weren't enough chairs to go around and awkwardly sitting while others stood around seemed like a more comfortable option than the alternative.
Standing behind her desk, Celestia addresses us all once more. “Alright, I appreciate that you girls want to help Sunset Shimmer, and I’m really, very happy you’ve shown such generosity in trying to be her friend. But I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you all to leave the entrance alone.”
My shoulders slump and I stare out grumpily at Celestia. I am not looking forward to repairing the gigantic mass of broken stone and twisted metal!
Rainbow Dash doesn’t seem ready to go down without a fight. “That’s it? Sunset Shimmer just has to repair that huge entrance with just herself and Snips and Snails?!”
Pinkie interjects as well. “But that’ll take like forever and a day! Possibly longer, even!”
“Actually no,” Celestia says as she shakes her head. “I don’t want those three working on it either.”
Wait, what?
The girls mirror my confusion and a few outright state their confusion.
“Oh, I’m so confused!”
Pinkie of course, stating the loudest and clearest…
Celestia explains as she lets just the barest hints of stress enter her tone, “I can’t have a bunch of high schoolers try to repair the brick and stone entrance to the school! Otherwise…” She trails off, “…well, more of what just happened might happen!”
I feel my brow knit slightly as I speak up, “Then why did Snips, Snails, and I have to start fixing it on Friday?” I should probably just count my blessings here and be done with it, but my already atrociously horrible Friday evening was made that much worse…
Celestia turns to me. “The three of you had turned into monsters and terrorized the school! We had to do something to show you were being punished! But now that that night is behind us, I think it’s best we all move on and we let some professionals take care of the entrance.”
Score!
Pinkie puffed out her lower lip. “But… but what if we were very careful and wore hard hats and didn’t sing or anything when we tried to fix entrance?”
I attempt to psychically will Pinkie not to push the effort any further.
Rarity tries a method that’s a bit more likely to achieve results. “Pinkie, dear? I don’t think it’s necessary to talk Principal Celestia into letting us do such a dangerous thing like rebuild the school’s entrance.”
Pinkie, probably because she’s insane, still tries to protest. “But—”
“I’m sorry,” Celestia says, “but I’m afraid my mind is made up. I don’t believe any of you girls are qualified to repair the entrance.”
Applejack speaks up, “She’s got us there… Ah mean… I’ve raised a few barns, but ah ain’t never had to build something completely out of bricks and mortar.”
“Well… how hard can it be?” Pinkie asks.
I feel my brow knit again as I scowl at Pinkie… Kinda starting to wish I could summon that bonesaber at this point… Just a little bit…
Celestia responds, “Well, for starters, do any of you girls know how to install rebar, or glass doors, or even repair giant stone pillars?”
The girls, and Pinkie in particular, all go uncomfortably silent.
A silence Pinkie decides to murder “… We had a song!”
I’m guessing Pinkie could make a career as a contract killer of silence.
Celestia somehow manages a warm smile. “Songs might be enough to help get a jumbled gym ready for a dance, but I think it’s a bit much to fix a building…”
Pinkie makes a pitiful, defeated-sounding whimper as she puffs out her lower lip and hangs her head. She does nod, however.
“So that’s it?” I ask. “Snips, Snails, and I don’t have to work on the entrance anymore?”
Celestia nods. “Yes, but I have a different task in mind for you.”
My mind begins reeling with the possibilities. Based on what’s transpired, it’s very doubtful Principal Celestia will foist anything potentially harmful or dangerous on me, however there are lots and lots of grueling, monotonous, and maybe even repulsive tasks she can give me and it’s not like I’m in much of a position to refuse.
Celestia looks over the other girls. “Girls, would you please excuse Sunset Shimmer and me?”
Wow, it’s so bad she’s asking everyone to leave… This can’t be good.
The girls flash me and each other concerned looks and begin to head towards the exit.
“Good luck, dear,” Rarity says as she quickly places a hand on my shoulder and gives it a reassuring squeeze.
“Yeah… thanks…” I utter quietly.
The girls all quickly make their escape, leaving me alone with Principal Celestia. I stand as stoically as possible, wondering what my punishment will be.
Principal Celestia motions to a chair in front of her desk. “Feel free to sit.”
I almost instinctively respond with a curt ‘I’ll stand, thank you’, but realize there’s nothing to gain by antagonizing Celestia. I elect to sit as she does the same.
To my surprise, Celestia smiles at me. “I’m glad you’re spending time with the girls.”
I shrug. “Yeah… well… guess we all thought friendship was worth a shot…” I smile slightly. “You know… without that part where I’m literally shot with it.”
Celestia’s simply continues to smile at me as she nods. “I’m happy to hear that. It really sounds like you’re trying to put the past behind you and move on.”
“That’s the plan. Make some friends and try to get through high school without turning into a she-demon…” I give a slight, nervous grin. “Figuratively speaking that is…” Well… literally too maybe. But unless Principal Celestia is some sort of secret demon hunter, I’ll keep that bit to myself. I’m guessing she’s not since a half-dozen teenagers were the ones who ultimately dealt with demon me the first time around.
Celestia just nods. “‘Make some friends’, good. That’s what I want to hear. That’s what I want to continue to hear about.”
I give Celestia a blank look. “You want me to start collecting friends? I mean… alright, but I thought I was off to a really good start all things considering.”
Celestia chuckles and shakes her head from side to side slightly. “Oh no, you are off to a good start. You’re free to make more friends, of course, but I’m actually interested in hearing about how things are with the friends you have now and how’ they’ll will continue to go.”
“… You want me to spy on then?!” I cry in surprise.
Celestia laughs this time. A laugh that sends shivers down my spine, something I’m sure Celestia didn’t intend. I haven’t heard that laugh in years, and I’m surprised at the feelings it brings up inside of me. Warm memories of a much happier time. A time when it seemed the sun raised just for me. When I was loved and adored by somepony very special, somepony who treated me like I was special for perhaps the first time in my life. A time where I had everything… everything I should have possibly wanted… And yet it wasn’t enough… I craved more and sought it out, no matter what the cost… If only I knew then what that cost would be… If only I had realized what I had and just how much it meant to me…
“Sunset?” Celestia asks in a concerned tone.
“Hmmm…?” I snap out of my stupor. “Sorry,” I say, “just… remembered something…”
Celestia is silent for a beat as she looks me over. “Well, you can always tell me if something is troubling you.” She smiles again. “Better yet, you can always tell your friends.”
I grimace. “That I’m now spying on…”
Celestia raises her hands. “Oh, no! Nothing like that. It’s not what they do that I want to know about. It’s how ‘what they do’ makes you feel!”
“You want me to talk about how I feel when I’m with my friends?”
Celestia nods and smiles. “Exactly! Or write if that works for you! And not just how they make you feel, but what you learn by being around them! A report if you will.”
I feel my eyes widen. “You’re asking me to write some sort of ‘Friendship Report’?!”
Celestia nods again.
I almost sneer but manage to force my lips into more of a frown. “But that sounds so…so… ‘after school special’, or some stupid plot from a TV show for little girls!”
Still smiling, Celestia folds her arms across her chest. “So, if this topic is so beneath you, I’m guessing you’ll have no problems giving me a complete report on what friendship means right now.”
“Well… I… uh….”
Hate to admit it, but she has a point. I didn’t know the first thing about friendship when Twilight pulled me out of that crater and I barely am starting to understand it now.
“Okay fine!” I snap begrudgingly as I look away. “I guess it beats construction work.”
Celestia chuckles lightly. The sound pulls at my heartstrings a bit, but I poker face my way through it.
“I thought you’d see it my way,” Celestia says. “On that note, have you learned anything about friendship after the events of the Fall Formal?”
I manage to quell my impulse to gripe about the short amount of time it’s been since then and think about it a bit. I mean, Snips, Snails and I certainly had our moments. I spent some time with the girls, especially Pinkie who seems like she’d happily glue herself to my hip if it meant spending more time with me (I make a mental note never to say that out loud, Pinkie is probably crazy enough to actually try something like that), and Pinkie has helped me out a few times.
Then there was today when Rainbow Dash saved me twice… or saved me once and saved Gilda from me the other time… Not to mention all the girls tried to help me fix the school.
“I guess… I guess I’ve learned friends are there for you when you need someone to help you…”
Celestia’s smile begins to widen. “Aaaand?”
I rub the back of my head and think about it a little more. I give out a small, somewhat defeated sigh. “… and I guess I need all the help I can get right now…”
Celestia’s smile widens even more. The woman is practically beaming. “Good, you’ve already begun your journey through the magic of friendship.”
“…I’m sorry, but I can’t believe you just said that with a straight face.”
Celestia just smiles at me and stands motioning for me to do the same. “That will be all for now. Just remember to report back to me when you learn something else about friendship.”
I stand up. “Uh… yeah… sure…” I say in a not so sure sounding tone. “I’ll just… do that…” Like I have a choice.
Oh well, as cheesy as this assignment is, I can’t deny it could be a lot worse.
I return to class. The weird looks and murmuring have only gotten worse since lunch. Thankfully, I actually have Twilight’s—well, my friends in a few classes later in the day, so things are a bit more bearable with them making it clear they at least have my back and I at least make it clear to them Celestia’s alternative to construction work wasn’t too mind-numbingly horrible. We make arrangements to meet after class.
For my last period, I’m alone, sadly. Fluttershy’s quiet company actually would have been kind of nice… But at least by now the weird looks have started to die down a bit. I’m guessing once word got out I had a run in with both Vice-Principal Luna and Principal Celestia and wasn’t put in detention or kicked out of school, the idea that I’m a one woman wrecking machine died down a bit.
As soon as the bell rings, I grab my stuff and make a quick getaway, avoiding any eye contact with anyone and avoiding any trips to the bathroom as I make my way past students. As sad is this sounds, I may need to start timing bathroom breaks at times where one of the girls can hang around with me. At least until things blow over a bit more. The girls are all pretty well liked, hanging out with me notwithstanding. Also, most all the students saw them turn into magical horse girls when they took out demon me, so maybe they’re a little less likely to be messed with in that regards too.
I make my way to the side entrance of the school and head outside into the still bright, sunny day. I almost immediately pull out my sunglasses and put them back on. It’ll be good to not have my bruised eye on display.
I start walking towards the big, white horse statue where the currently inactive magic mirror resides. It seemed like a fairly suitable meeting place for all of us.
Rainbow Dash and Pinkie are already there. Pinkie Pie gives me an excited wave like she didn’t just see me about an hour ago and Rainbow Dash ‘greets’ me in her ‘let’s get down to business’ way.
“So what’s the deal now?” Rainbow Dash asks. “I mean, if you’re not being forced to rebuild the school entrance, what crazy thing is Celestia forcing you to do?”
“Oooo! Oooo!” Pinkie cried. “I know! I bet Celestia’s having her T.A. one of the freshman classes! Oooo! Or she’s having her wear the school mascot costume!”
I furrow my brow at Pinkie. “I already told you she’s making me do something better than construction work!”
Pinkie frowned. “But those sound like fun things!”
“Uh… Alright, well why would Celestia give me a ‘fun’ thing to punish me with?”
“Oooooh!” Pinkie utters as her own brand of realization sets in. “Good point!” she says.
Applejack and Rarity soon walk up, Applejack greeting us all with a “Hey, ya’ll!” and Rarity with a bit more dignified “Hello, everyone.”
Rainbow Dash curls her the fingers of her left hand into a loose fist and places it against her waist, letting her other hand dangle freely. “Well enough with the big mystery, what did Celestia need you for after we left?”
I sigh, hang my head, and mumble something unintelligible.
All the girls lean in a bit closer to me, Applejack in particular raised a hand to one of her ears, “‘fraid I didn’t catch that.”
“She’s making me do friendship reports…” I utter out.
“Ooo!” Pinkie cries. “Like little essays on the meaning of friendship?”
I nod. “Yeah, exactly like that.”
“Heh… laaaaaame!” Rainbow Dash exclaims.
“Uhg!” I reply. “I know, right?”
Rarity speaks up, “So when do you have to write them, dearie?”
“I uhhh… I guess when I learn something about friendship?”
“Well that shouldn’t be hard!” Pinkie says excitedly. “You pretty much know nothing to begin with!”
“Pinkie!” Rarity snaps. “That’s no way to talk to a friend!”
I bow my head, slump my shoulders, and let out a sigh. “No, she’s pretty much right…” I look up at everyone. “I mean, if I did know anything about friendship, I’m sure I could have avoided the whole mess on Friday, or would have thought better of stealing the Element of Harmony from Twilight in the first place.” I return to looking at the ground and the tips of my fashionable boots. “Heck, probably would have thought better of doing stuff that got me removed as Princess Celestia’s pupil and kicked out of the Canterlot Castle back home…”
Hello again self-esteem issues. I see you brought your friend emotional baggage, come on in and enjoy the sounds of uncomfortable silence with—
“Well sure,” Pinkie says, “but if that happened you never would have met us and we couldn’t have become friends with you!”
I don’t know how the girl does it but I’m smiling again. I manage to keep from becoming emotional…
“Hhheeeh… sniff… hheeehh…”
I completely and utterly fail at not becoming emotional as I look up to see everyone smiling at me.
“GROUP—”
I quickly put my finger up to Pinkie’s lips. “Pinkie, if you say ‘group hug’ I may just work out how to summon that bonesaber.”
“Never-mind~!” Pinkie sings out.
The girls all laugh. I just smile at her shake my head. Enough mushy stuff for now.
“Anyone check up on Fluttershy?” I ask.
Rainbow Dash nods. “Yep, I sent her a text and she even replied with a complete sentence!”
Pinkie grinned. “And she didn’t think she was a fruit or vegetable or anything!”
Rarity smiles. “She’s on the mend, it seems. The poor dear just needed a little bit of rest.”
“Good,” I say, “I’d hate for her to be seriously hurt because she was trying to help me.”
Rainbow Dash tosses Pinkie a sideways glance and a grin. “Well, it wasn’t your fault.”
Pinkie puffs out her lower lip in a pout. “Look, I already sent her a ton of messages saying how sorry I was! I even have an ‘I’m sorry’ cake baked and everything!”
I raise an eyebrow at Pinkie, I have a feeling my forehead is going to get some serious muscles from hanging out with this girl. “When did you have time to bake that? You’ve been in class this entire time!”
Pinkie grins mischievously. “I’ll let you in on a secret.”
I flash Pinkie an unsure look and lean forward a bit.
Pinkie leans in and places a hand next to my ear before whispering, “I always have an ‘I’m sorry’ cake ready! Just in case.”
“Ooookaaaay… just… what?”
I feel a firm hand on my shoulder. “Ferget it, pardner,” Applejack says, “That’s just Pinkie for ya… Girl go crazy just tryin’ to keep up with her.”
“Uh… right… Good advice.”
“Well, enough hanging out here!” Rainbow Dash says. “We’ve got something way cooler than hanging out at school planned!”
“We do?” I ask.
“Oooo!” Pinkie cries. “Right, you don’t know! We have another surprise!”
“… One without throwing bricks and/or singing, I hope…” I utter.
Rarity shakes her head. “Perish the thought.”
“Alright, so what is it?”
“We’ve found Twilight Sparkle!” Pinkie says excitedly.
I… I don’t know how I’m supposed to respond to that. “What?! She’s back?!”
Pinkie motions her hands back and forth in front of her. “No, no, no, no, no, no! The other Twilight Sparkle!”
I raise an eyebrow. Man my forehead is going to be ripped! “I wasn’t aware there was more than one.”
Applejack nods. “There sure is, an’ we figured out what school the Twilight from this world goes to.”
“Erm… okay… That’s… nice?” I offer.
Pinkie nods. “Uh-huh! And we’re going to go up to her and try to make friends with her!”
“We… we are?” Poker face, poker face, poker face…
Applejack speaks up, “Yep! That’s the plan! We figured we all had such a blast hangin’ with the other Twilight, that maybe we’d get along just as well the one here!”
The other girls nod in agreement.
“Wait…” I reply, “Twilight is barely gone, and you’re already setting out to replace her with someone else who looks and acts just like her, but technically isn’t her? And that doesn’t feel weird or perverse to any of you?”
Blank expressions, shrugs, and head shakes are the answers I get for my question.
“Just asking,” I say.
“Is everything alright, dear?” Rarity asks.
I sheepishly rub the back of my head. “Uh… Guess I wasn’t expecting to see Twilight or some girl who looks and acts exactly like her so soon.”
Rarity flashes me a slightly concerned look. “Well, if you’re not feeling up to it...”
I hold up a hand. “No, it’s fine… I mean, you five all gave me a chance. I don’t see why I can’t try to give this Twilight a chance. Who knows… maybe I’ll learn something else about friendship.”
Pinkie grins wide, balls her hands into fists, and holds them together under her chin. “Oh, I’m so nervicited! We’re going to all meet Twilight Sparkle two!”
“Pinkie, a word of advice,” I say. “Don’t open up with calling her ‘Twilight Sparkle two’. In fact, we should probably play the whole ‘Hey, you remind us of a magical pony princess we just met’ thing a bit close to the vest.”
Pinkie nods. “Okie-dokie-lokie!”
Ever eager to be some place and doing something, Rainbow Dash speaks up again. “Well now that that’s settled, let’s go collect Fluttershy and make another friend!”
Pinkie Pie thrusts a fist into the air excitedly. “Whoo-hooo! Let’s do it to it!”
“Darn tootin’,” Applejack says as she swings a fist in front of her chest.
“Whahaha!” Rarity cries. “Oh, this’ll be so much fun!”
“Uh… yay…” I say quietly. Guess I can at least be Fluttershy in spirit for the moment.
The girls start walking towards the parking lot.
“Hey, Dash… Hold up a sec.”
“Yeah, Sunset?” Dash says as she hangs back.
I quickly wrap my arms around Rainbow and give her a nice, big hug. Definitely one of the largest given of my life…
… Not that that’s saying a whole heck of a lot…
Dash tenses slightly at first, she definitely wasn’t expecting me to do that. She cautiously starts to return the affection.
“Thanks for having my back, today…” I say.
Rainbow Dash finally seems to relax a bit and returns the hug. “Sure Sunset… What are friends for?”
I chuckle. “That’s what I’m figuring out.”