//------------------------------// // VIII: The Sisterhood of the Travelling Heather // Story: Friendship is Drama // by HipsterShiningArmor //------------------------------// For the third time in just a few weeks, Bridgette found herself in an unknown location wearing unknown clothes. The last thing she remembered was heading to the hospital after hearing news that Heather was awake, now she was in... a house? Maybe? She had no idea how she got here, or how long she had been asleep... or why she was tied up to a steel bed in a barely lit room. Ok, now she was starting to panic. And in case those frightening facts weren't quite enough to make her question if she was going to be alive much longer, she heard a voice. A creepy, low, monotone, presumably female voice that felt more like something from a video game or a TV show rather than any kind of natural human or pony voice box. "Hello, my pet human," the voice said, barely louder than a whisper. "Pet?" Bridgette asked. Well, shit, she thought, this pony's gonna be one of those people, isn't she? "I see your finally awake," the voice said again, "Its a shame, you looked so cute when you were asleep." The voice giggled to herself, and Bridgette grumbled. "Ok, enough of this," Bridgette said, "Who are you, why do you have me tied up, and why are you calling me your pet? I don't know what's going on, but this is making me very uncomfortable and I want answers." "All in good time, my pet," the voice said again. "Stop that!" Bridgette said. "Don't interrupt me," the voice hissed, "Now, as I was saying, I have a full day planned ahead of us, filled with all sorts of fun." The voice began an evil laugh, as sweat began to fall down Bridgette's face. But before anything else happened, the lights flickered on and the ropes around Bridgette's arms and legs were loosened. "I always wanted to do an evil laugh," the no-longer disembodied voice said. It was a green, female unicorn, one that Bridgette definitively remembered from earlier... the unicorn that she talked to before she blacked out and ended up wherever she was. "Hey," the unicorn said, now with a much louder and happier cadence, "my name's Lyra. Who are you?" "Uh... I'm Bridgette," Bridgette said. "Nice to meet you Bridgette. Sorry about the introduction, but I always knew that if I ever met a human I wanted a grand entrance," Lyra said happily. "Well... grand is one way of putting it," Bridgette said, slowly sliding off the bed she was previously tied to. "Now, do you wanna watch the Saints with me?" Lyra asked. "The Saints?" Bridgette asked. "Yeah, you know, the Saints," Lyra said. "What Saints?" Bridgette asked. "You know, like Drew Brees," Lyra said. "Oh, the Saints," Bridgette responded, "Uh... I'm not really much of a football fan, to be honest." Lyra looked genuinely surprised, "But I thought football was the human pastime?" Bridgette shrugged, "Well, it is in some part of the world I guess." Lyra thought for a moment, "So humans have different hobbies based on geography. Interesting... would you like to see my room?" "Against my better judgment, sure," Bridgette replied. Lyra's room was a mess. It was cluttered with action figures, posters, and other random paraphernalia, all of it related to the humans or the human world in some way. Bridgette surmised that Lyra was some kind of, um, human fangirl perhaps, although she had no idea how she got all these collectibles. Oh yeah, and there was also the fact that she offered to watch a football game with her, which meant... "So, how exactly did you get a TV?" Bridgette asked. "Oh, the TV? I found that in a junk yard in Canterlot... turns out someone had gotten rid of it for some reason, I brought it over to my place and hey, it still works! And it only gets human channels, the best kind of channels!" "Well, that's... interesting," Bridgette said, "What kind of channels?" "Oh, you know, FOX, NBC, ABC, and all that stuff," Lyra said. "So, like a basic cable package in the States?" Bridgette asked. "Wait, basic?" Lyra asked, "You mean there are more channels?" "Well, yeah, but I'm not sure how you could get them here. I don't even know how you're getting any channels here. How does any of this make sense?" Lyra thought for a bit, "Um... magic?" She said, "Anyways, I have to show you the rest of my collection!" "Well, okay then," Bridgette said, "Hey, uh, Lyra? How long have I been here?" "Oh, about a day... probably closer to 21 hours," Lyra said. "Well, alright, but that's..." "And 42 minutes," Lyra added. "Well, yes, but..." "And 28 seconds... 29... 30..." "Lyra!" Bridgette interrupted, "What I'm trying to say is that's a long time. I'm glad you're happy to see me, but I have to get back at some point. All my friends are worried about me... probably... maybe... and they're not really my friends... ok they actually probably don't care but I feel like I should head out anyway." "But I'm not finished showing you my collection," Lyra said. Bridgette sighed, "Fine, once you show me the rest of your collection, then can I leave." "Well, of course," Lyra said. "Well, thank you," Bridgette said, "Maybe I was too..." "Right after we eat dinner together," Lyra continued, "And then watch TV together, and then drink a glass of Merlot and then smoke weed under the stars and then make sweet sweet-" "You sure this is the right house?" Bridgette and Lyra heard a familiar voice call from downstairs. "Of course its the right house," another familiar voice replied, "You really don't pay attention to where other ponies live, do you darling?" "Rainbow Dash, Rarity!" Lyra yelled out, "I didn't know you two were coming over... why didn't you call? Or, um, knock?" Lyra quickly raced downstairs to greet her friends, and Bridgette followed her. "Save it Lyra," Rainbow Dash said, "You know why we're here." "Because you wanted to watch the Saints this afternoon?" Lyra offered. "The what?" Dash asked. "You know the... okay no, we're not doing this again," Lyra said. "Well, if you say so," Rarity said, "Anyways, you wouldn't happen to have seen... oh, there she is. Hello, Bridgette." "Hi," Bridgette said. "Lyra, why is Bridgette here?" Rainbow Dash asked, "You know you're not supposed to be around humans, right?" "Well you know, we're just chilling," Lyra responded, "Hanging out, doing things that friends normally do." "We are?" Bridgette asked. "Sure, why not," Lyra said. "Bridgette, I think its best if you leave this place," Rarity said. "Aw, but we were just about to do the fun stuff," Lyra whined. "Well, you can do the fun stuff some other time, maybe," Rainbow Dash said, "C'mon, let's go." "Wait, don't go yet, we were supposed to be together. Please stay Bridgette," Lyra said, mustering her best puppy dog eyes impression. "Uh... bye," Bridgette responded as she raced out the front door, with Dash and Rarity tagging along behind. As the door slammed behind Lyra, the green unicorn was briefly sad... but only briefly, as a smile soon returned to her face. "One day Bridgette, one day you will be mine," she said with a laugh, "in the meantime, I should probably be installing some cameras." "I can't believe they didn't have a single mall in this entire town," Lindsay complained. "Uh-huh," Gwen nodded. "How can you have a population center that doesn't have a mall? I mean what do these people even do all day?" Lindsay asked. "You know, I never really went to malls that often back on Earth," Gwen said, "So I can't see how I would have much use for a mall in a world of horses." "Oh, come on Gwen," Lindsay said, "I'm sure they have a Hot Topic in your local mall." "I- wait a second, I do shop at places other then Hot Topic, you know," Gwen said, "Anyways, can we just admit this shopping trip was a terrible idea?" "Oh relax," Lindsay said, "Sure we've hit a bit of a roadblock, but I'm sure we'll find something." "Why do you think that?" Gwen asked, "We have no idea where to go to get clothes here in Equestria, no store, big or small, is going to have anything in human sizes, and in case you haven't noticed, we don't have any money." "Oh, don't worry about the money," Lindsay said, "Pinkie lent me some." "She did?" Gwen asked. "Yeah, and she was eager to do it," Lindsay said, "Maybe a little too eager..." "Well, that's Pinkie," Gwen said, "So that's one problem, but what about the other two? We still have no idea where to go in this town to get casual clothes at all, let alone ones that fit humans. And yes, I know I said we could ask Rarity if she could re-tool the clothes to fit us, but what if she can't do it, or doesn't want to? I mean, I think she's pretty fed up with Izzy at this point, so I don't know how eager she would be to help us... yeah, I'm still not convinced this wasn't a disaster. How long have we been walking around for now? Long enough." Lindsay stopped for a moment and thought before her face lit up. "Well, I know that face," Gwen said, "What's your grand idea Lindsay, and it better not involve us trying to get a job." "You remember that city that we went to after we got knocked out the first time?" Lindsay asked. "The city?" Gwen asked, "Oh right, the city. The one where we met that pony princess, you mean?" "Yeah, that one. Well, maybe we could go back there... I mean I'm sure if there's any place in Equestria that has stores for humans, it would probably be that, right? And even if they don't, they're sure to at least have like a mall or something." "Maybe," Gwen said, "But how do we get there, and what was the city called?" "I have no idea!" Lindsay said enthusiastically. Gwen sighed, "Yup, still leaning towards disaster. You're lucky I have a sense of adventure, or else I'd be going home right about now." "So, um, Fluttershy-" "Shh..." Fluttershy responded, "Try not to be so loud, you're going to scare away all the little birds." "Sorry," Heather said, much more quietly, "But won't they be scared away by simply seeing us here?" "Oh, I don't think so. The little birdies are quite fond of pony company, we feed them, take care of them, keep them free from the nasty predators in the Everfree Forest." "Wait, so the predator birds don't like ponies then." "Oh no- well, they like me at the very least," Fluttershy hummed, "I can't speak for the rest of Ponyville though." "Right," Heather said, "Also, keep in mind that these 'little birdies' may be used to pony company, but I'm not a pony." "I'm sure the birds can't tell the difference," Fluttershy snickered, "As adoring and lovable as they are, they're not especially bright." At that moment a small, bright yellow bird landed on Heather's leg brace. It was a bit of a loud chirper, but not unreasonably so, and it tilted its head upwards and stared blankly at Heather. "Aw, I think he likes you," Fluttershy said. "I, uh, I'm not sure I'm comfortable with this," Heather replied. "Don't worry, he's harmless," Fluttershy added, "In fact, he probably wants to tell you something. Isn't that right, little birdie, is there anything you want to tell Heather? Well, I'm not sure she can communicate with you, so why don't you tell me." Fluttershy leaned in towards the bird, tilting her ear towards Heather's leg so she could hear what the little guy had to say. When he began chirping at her, Fluttershy's eyes grew wide with surprise. "What did he say?" Heather asked curiously. "Oh, I don't think I should repeat it," Fluttershy said, before moving closer to Heather and whispering in her ear, "He said he thinks you're a whore." "Well tell him 'fuck you too'," Heather said. "Now, now, Heather, we can't tell him that," Fluttershy explained, "It would make him angry, and then he would never talk to me again, and then he'd convince all his friends to never talk to me again, and maybe all the other animals in the Everfree Forest, and then I'd be alone-" "Alright, I get the point," Heather said, "Maybe we should just move somewhere else?" "Do you need help getting up?" "No, I think I'm ok," Heather said, pulling herself up by her crutches. The two began walking around the perimeter of the Everfree Forest, with Heather stumbling around on her crutches and Fluttershy hovering gently behind her to catch her in case she fell down. "So, are you glad you got out of that stinky hospital?" Fluttershy asked. "Um... I guess," Heather replied, "Not that bird-watching is exactly my idea of paradise either." "Aw, but they're so cute," Fluttershy said, "Don't you just want to hug them and love them forever and ever?" "Well, certainly not the one that called me a whore," Heather said, "Out of curiosity, can all ponies talk to animals or is it just you? Well, I suppose ponies are technically animals but-" "I get what you mean," Fluttershy said, "And no, I think its just me. But talking to animals is my special talent, I mean it even says so on my flank." "Oh right, your 'Cutie Mark'" Heather said, "Couldn't you have come up with a better name for it? Like, say, 'Power Mark' or 'Emblem of Destiny' or, I don't know, 'Precognitive Tramp Stamp', anything but cutie mark. I mean, are you trying to sound like 5 year old girls?" "But they're cute and they're marks," Fluttershy said, "And frankly, I think if anyone is so insecure that the term bothers them, that's their problem, not ours." Heather couldn't help but smile a little at her answer. Fluttershy may be shy, but she had convictions. "You know, you've been awfully nice to me," Heather said, "Especially considering I just beat up your friend." Fluttershy gave her a sideways glance. "Alright, she beat me up," Heather said, "But you get my point, I was a little bit worried that none of you would ever want to talk to me again." "Well... we thought about it," Fluttershy said, "But the 5 of us came together and figured that you just needed a little bit of friendship and compassion." "Oh..." Heather said, "Well that seems..." "You're still on thin ice though," Fluttershy warned icily, "You better not slip up again." Normally Heather wouldn't have had a problem standing up to Fluttershy, but something about her gaze and the way she spoke suggested that this just wasn't the right time to fuck around with her. "Alright, I promise I will not punch any of your friend's again." "Wonderful," Fluttershy said, with her normally cheery and demure demeanor returning, "Applejack still doesn't want to talk to you though. I think it'd be best if you leave Sweet Apple Acres." "Is this why you wanted to hang out with me?" Heather asked, "To get me to stay at your place so you can get rid of Courtney?" "No, no, don't think of it that way," Fluttershy said, "I do legitimately want to spend time with you." "So you can dissect my brain and figure out what's wrong with me?" Fluttershy sighed, "Y'know, you remind me of my brother sometimes." "Why, what's your brother like?" Heather asked. "He's a super nice guy," Fluttershy said sweetly, "But sometimes he can be a bit... entitled, I guess. Maybe a bit of a brat who thinks the world revolves around him. Oh, I feel kinda bad talking about him in that way but-" "Don't worry, I have an annoying little brother too," Heather said, "I- hold on, I need to sit down for a bit." Heather sat down, well, more like collapsed really under the weight of her still-healing leg. Fluttershy tried to help her cushion the blow a little bit by holding her while she tripped-up. "Look, Heather," Fluttershy said, "I know you got off to a bit of a rough start with Applejack." "Rough is a rather generous way of putting things," Heather said. "But myself and the other girls, we do like you, honestly. We want to be friends with you, and show you all the things our world has to offer. We know you're not happy about being stuck in an unfamiliar world, and I sense some hostility between you and the rest of the Human 6." "Is that what you're calling us now?" Heather asked, "Also yeah, saying there's hostility wouldn't be inaccurate, although considering I've literally competed against all five of those girls for prize money... well let's just say some degree of hostility was inevitable." "Oh... wow," Fluttershy said, "I can't imagine what it must be like to compete against your friends. That... that sounds horrible." "Well, we weren't really friends," Heather said, "I didn't know any of them until the competition started." "Anyways, Heather, my point is that you don't have to worry about who you can trust anymore," Fluttershy said, "I'm your friend, and Twilight and Pinkie and Rarity and Rainbow Dash are your friends too." "Sure," Heather replied, not especially convinced. "And I'm sure the other girls here want to be your friend too if you'd allow it," Fluttershy said, "Speaking of which..." Heather felt a hand graze her left shoulder and jumped a little, turning around expeditiously to find Bridgette wearing a stupid grin on her face. In the distance, Heather saw a figure that looked like Izzy running towards her as well. "Sorry Heather, did I spook you?" Bridgette asked. Heather sighed, "What do you want Bridgette?" "Oh nothing much," Bridgette answered, "I just didn't get to see you at the hospital over the past couple days due to... let's say unforeseen circumstances, so I wanted to make sure you were ok." "Also, I'm here," Izzy said, finally arriving, "Hi Bridgette, hi Heather, hi YellowShy." Heather smiled a little, "Um... thanks Bridgette. Yeah, I'm ok. I mean, most of my body is still in some kind of pain, but the doctors say I'm gonna make a full recovery. Of course they'd never operated on a human before, but anatomically speaking we're not that different-" "Also, Izzy and I need to talk to you," Bridgette said. "Well shit," Heather said, "That's kind what I was hoping to avoid." "Also, hi Fluttershy," Bridgette said, "Um... I don't mean to be rude, but do you mind giving us some space? I, uh, kinda want it to be between the three of us." "Oh..." Fluttershy said, visibly surprised, "Um... ok. Bye Heather, I'll talk to you later, alright?" "Yeah, definitely," Heather said, "It, uh, it was nice getting to know you better by the way." "Thank you!" Fluttershy called out as she was flying away. Heather stared at her as the yellow pegasus faded into the horizon before turning her intention to the blonde and ginger who apparently desperately needed her time. "Aw, isn't that sweet Heather," Izzy said, "You made a friend. And she's cute too- in a completely non-sexual way of course." "Izzy if there's anyone on Earth who I could see fucking a horse it'd be you," Heather replied, "Well, you or Sierra, but only because Sierra reeks of desperation." "Yeah, well at least if I tried to fuck a horse the horse would let me," Izzy said, "No man, human or horse, would ever stick their dick anywhere near that fat wobbly ass of yours." "Oh, we're making judgments based on appearance now?" Heather said, "And I thought I was supposed to be the bitchy one. Also, Bella, if I were you I wouldn't be shit-talking other girls about their appearance..." "Ladies, please," Bridgette said, "See, this is exactly why I wanted to talk to the both of you." "She started it," Heather grumbled. "Never mind who started it," Bridgette said, "Just... listen. Back in Muskoka we were all in competition with each other, right? We had to constantly undermine each other to reach our goals. But here... that's not the case anymore. We're in a strange, unfamiliar land populated by strange unfamiliar creatures and we have no idea when we might be getting home. The only way we have a chance of thriving is by sticking together." "And you think all the bad blood of the past year and a half can just be washed away with one speech?" Heather replied, "Back in high school, before Total Drama and all that shit started, I never would've been caught dead hanging out with any of you. You think now that I don't literally have a reason to want you dead we're all of a sudden going to be gal pals? Fuck Bridgette, this is supposed to be your little solidarity meeting and half the girls didn't even show up." Bridgette paused for a second, "Well, I looked for Gwen and Lindsay, but I couldn't find them." "I kinda know where they are," Izzy added, "Twilight told me they went to go shopping... God only knows where that journey took them." "Wait, shopping?" Heather asked, "I mean, I could see Lindsay doing that, but I never really took Gwen for a shopaholic." "Well, what would you rather be doing?" Bridgette asked, "Shopping with Lindsay, or babysitting Pinkie Pie and getting hassled by the Cakes?" "Okay point taken," Heather said, "But what about Courtney? She's been pretty distant ever since we got here." "Courtney?" Bridgette sighed, "Well..." "Surely there's gotta be something I can do?" Courtney asked. "Um... not really," Rarity said, "I mean we're all done with inventory around here, and I only have 3 more dresses to make for the day, all of which I can, and should, do on my own." "What about cleanup?" Courtney asked. "I suppose I could call you back in 90 minutes or so," Rarity said, "But considering I have the use of magic and you don't, you'd most likely just get in my way, no offence." Courtney frowned. "Look," Rarity said, "Applejack always has something more to do, why don't you head over to Sweet Apple Acres and help her out? Besides, on a somewhat selfish note, Jackie and I have plans tonight, so the sooner she's done with her day, the sooner our night can begin." "Oh, thank you Rarity, you're a life saver," Courtney said while tripping over a box of multicoloured threads. After restoring the box to its original upright state via magic, Rarity replied, "Courtney sweetie, we really need to get you a hobby." "But if I have a hobby," Courtney said, "Then I'm not doing work. And if I'm not doing work, how am I supposed to deal with the creeping existential dread over the fact that my entire future has been destroyed?" Rarity sighed, "Courtney, has anyone ever told you that you're a child in a grown woman's body?" "Courtney... is still adjusting," Bridgette said, "But anyways that's not the point. The point is that yeah, that bad blood between us might run pretty deep, but for our own sake's we need to put it aside. The only people we know for sure we can trust are the six of us." "What about Fluttershy?" Heather asked. "Fluttershy is a sweetheart, but we haven't known her for very long and there could be ulterior motives," Bridgette said. "I... highly doubt that's the case," Heather replied. "More importantly," Izzy cut in, "Even if Fluttershy and the other ponies only have the most noble of intentions, there's still the fact that they don't know what we've been through. Unless we could somehow transport the lot of them one-way to Afghanistan, they wouldn't know what its like to be cut off from your friends and family in a strange world where you can count the number of members of your species on two hands." "Wait, why Afghanistan?" Heather asked. "God, you really do have a penchant for asking the least interesting possible questions, don't you?" Izzy said exasperatedly. "Its what I do," Heather deflected. "Look, Heather," Bridgette said, "Maybe there are other humans here, Total Drama kids or otherwise, and maybe we find a way out of this place in less then a week and we never have to speak to each other ever again, but for now, if the six of us want to survive, we need to be close. Anything that goes wrong or anything you're uncomfortable with, you need to be able to talk to... well preferably all of us, but at least one of us. You'll go insane if you don't. All the shit that happened, that Chris McLean put us through, that's in the past. Until we leave this fucking place, we need to be tighter then Owen's butt before Izzy shoved her fist up there." "How did you- I mean that never happened!" Izzy protested. "Bridgette, I don't know why you just said that, but I'm gonna pretend you didn't." "He also wanted me to spank him and call him mommy's little princess," Izzy confessed. "Ok, ew," Heather said, "Can we please get back to team-building exercises or whatever the hell we were doing?" "You see, that's the kind of thing that only girls who are as close as sisters would share with each other," Bridgette said. "Bridge, please tell me you don't talk about fisting with your sisters," Heather said, "But alright, I see your point. Besides, all things considered I'd much rather talk to you two then Gwen or Courtney, and I couldn't talk to Lindsay even if I wanted to." "Yeah, sadly you kinda have a point with that last one," Bridgette said, "I mean, I like her and all, but she's a bit special." The two girls had a moment of simply staring at each other, before Heather spoke up to end the awkward silence. "So," Heather said, "Does this mean we have to sit around braiding each other's hair and confessing our most embarrassing secrets?" "Uh... maybe just start with, like, a handshake or something?" Bridgette said. "Handshake?" Izzy interjected, "Fuck that, its group hug time!" "I really don't think that's necessary," Heather said, but her protests fell on deaf ears as Izzy grabbed the other two girls and hugged them tightly. Bridgette quickly hugged back, and while Heather was a tad apprehensive at first, even she found herself wrapping her arms around Bridgette and Izzy. "Hey, so I just want to say that I'm sorry I called you fat," Izzy said. "And I'm sorry I called you ugly," Heather replied, "But Izzy?" "Yeah?" "Please don't fist me." Izzy growled before shouting, "Oh goddammit Bridgette!"