//------------------------------// // The Things We Say // Story: The Speeches of Toys // by AnObliviousAuthor //------------------------------// Rarity sighed with boredom and frustration at her predicament. "Wha's wrong sugar cube?" Asked the three Applejacks on the shelf with her. "Well, I can live with a little bit of mud on my coat or... "in" my mane, but did I HAVE to be put on the BOTTOM of the pile... UPSIDE DOWN?" Rarity retorted indignantly as, for the hundredth time that day, she futilely tried to get into a more comfortable position. "You know as well as the rest of us that we can't fix this without somebody coming and sorting us or for the store to close." The last Twilight said from her advantaged view. "You are quite the one to talk! Not only is your position FAR more comfortable than mine, you're the fan favorite barring Fluttershy! ESPECIALLY with your wings! I mean, think about it! Your 'alicorn line' is so popular that you are the last of your model here! I am, as I have already stated multiple times, UPSIDE DOWN!" Rarity caught her uncouth shouting and dramatically sighed instead. "It wouldn't be SO bad if I had my Spikey-Wikey with me!" To her faint amusement, some of her miniature keychain doppelgängers began twittering in agreement. You may be wondering, why are there three Applejacks, why is Rarity upside down, and why, for Celestia's sake, do they know about their fans?!? The simple answer? They're toys. The longer, somewhat more boring answer that technically could be discredited as filler? The main upside down Rarity, the three Applejacks on the shelf with her, the Twilight in a prime position, and a couple Fluttershies that haven't said anything yet are eleven-inch plushes with fabric manes waiting to be bought at a Michael's Arts & Crafts store in Northern California. "Girls, someone's coming!" Twilight suddenly hissed. Rarity stiffened out of reflex, even though she had already been pretty stiff from all the others pressing against her. She waited a few seconds, during which nopony dared to breathe, and she felt herself be lifted. Please don't carelessly throw me back! Rarity silently pleaded. Although the face that was giving her an appraising look was a bit older than she had originally been told to expect, after seeing several Twilight plushies going to men older, it didn't surprise her. Not only was the face relatively young, around fifteen or sixteen from what Rarity could tell, it was feminine. All things considered, a teen girl was not bad. The girl bit her lip, blue eyes full uncertainty. She picked up an Applejack, and seemed to be in deliberation with herself for a couple minutes, then noticed something outside Rarity's field of view. Putting the Applejack back, the girl tossed her blonde hair before power walking to a small family and begging to get Rarity. "All right, Charlie, I guess you may buy her." The girl's mother finally caved. Charlie's smile was quite wide after that as they waited the last couple minutes before checking out. "Congratulations, Rarity!" The Fluttershy plushies and keychains "shouted" so quietly that even all together Rarity barely heard them. Frankly, Rarity thought, I just hope that she's not going to leave me in some unfortunate position. The girl, oblivious to Rarity's concerns, cheerfully exclaimed to her family her joy at being able to get the Rarity doll. Unbeknownst to the girl and her amused family, Rarity's smile became a little more genuine. Well, at least I brought such a smile to her face, that sparkle to her eyes. She really does look lovely with such joy filling her. Meanwhile, the small family came to their car, and they climbed in, Charlie constantly exclaiming happiness about her new possession. A light hold, firm enough to keep Rarity from falling, but not too tight so as to squeeze her was the grasp of the girl, almost as if she knew, somehow, that Rarity was conscious. A few minutes later, they pulled into a two-story stucco building, or specifically the carport that was underneath the upper level. Charlie, still beaming, brought Rarity into the building, in a room that appeared to be a kitchen and dining room, then turned to the right and dashed through a living/family room with a rather impressive television towards a rather short hall. At the end of the hall she turned left and entered a room. A room that was apparently Charlie's bedroom. The room was large, relatively speaking, and there were two things that immediately sparked Rarity's interest. One was the black loft bed directly in front of her. The other was Charlie's somewhat impressive collection of MLP related merchandise. With everything from t-shirts to boardgames to plushes to dolls to original art, Rarity could tell that Charlie was dedicated to Pony. In fact, Charlie was humming the theme song to herself as she walked to the ladder on the bed. Then she put Rarity on top, so Rarity only got a glimpse of the hot pink and black zebra stripe comforter before she was standing on it. Meanwhile, Charlie slipped off her shoes, then scurried up the ladder to join Rarity up there. Charlie then put Rarity on her pillow, then grabbed a Twilight, Pinkie, and season one special edition Luna at the same scale as Rarity, a Spike with a much larger scale, and a Derpy/Ditzy with a slightly smaller scale. "Well," said Charlie, "I'll leave all of you alone to get reacquainted." With not another word, she climbed down the ladder and left the room. Once it seemed like Charlie was gone, Rarity heard a bit gasp and felt herself being tackled by a familiar (if somewhat dirty) pink blur. "Rarity!" Exclaimed an ecstatic Pinkie, "oh my gosh, this is amazing! I was just telling Twilight how my Pinke Sense was telling me we'd have a new old friend joining us! Not that you're old out anything, but we've been friends for like, forever, which is why you're an old friend, but I've never met this you, so you're also a new friend!" Pinkie paused for a moment and got off of Rarity. "Too bad I can't throw you a 'welcome to Charlie's room' party, but we might not be able to clean it up in time." She shrugged and went back to her position on the bed, allowing Rarity a moment to catch up. "Er, right. Well, thank you anyway darling." Rarity said when she caught her breath after her but from Pinkie that would have been bone crushing, had Rarity actually had bones. She looked over here new old friends, as Links had so eloquently put it, and couldn't help a slight pause when she came to Spike. Of course Spike noticed the extra attention. "Hey Rarity." He said. Rarity felt like she could faint.