//------------------------------// // Welcome to Dodge // Story: Twilight Manages to Screw Up More Than Usual // by Fire Gazer the Alchemist //------------------------------// Three hours: that’s how long it took to get from Ponyville to Dodge Junction by train. It felt like three centuries. It wasn’t the overly-repetitive clack-clack-clack of the train that made the ride so unbearable. Nor was it Nightmare Moon’s constant grumbling from behind her muzzle. No, it was the disease that all five of her acquaintances shared which Twilight had dubbed Never Shut Up Syndrome. “So how did you meet Princess Mi Amore Cadenza?” “And what was up with that dance?” “Is it all right if we call her Cadance like she asked and not her full title? Because I don’t want to be thrown in jail for not showing a Princess proper respect.” “Are you sure Nightmare Moon isn’t going to break free and murder us all in our sleep?” “Does she have to wear that muzzle?” “Do you think we could have our own dance to say hi?” Twilight had no choice but to curb the symptoms of Never Shut Up Syndrome with twenty cc’s of Curt Responses. “She was my foalsitter, that’s personal, yes, of course she won’t, yes and heck no.” But that proved to be a fruitless effort. Every time she brushed off a question, three more popped up. It was the hydra of small talk and not even Shining and Cadance were spared. Though, for them the questions were no problem. In fact, they both somehow managed to keep a smile and cheerful tone as they held a conversation with the mares. Eventually, Twilight had all she could take. She excused herself under the guise of finding a bathroom and hunkered down one train car over, hoping to ride out the journey in peace. She curled up on the floor, rested her head on the wall of the train and groaned to herself. “Why… why did they have to come?” Rhetorical question, of course. With how she’d been practically joined at the hip with those five mares it was little wonder that they had found a way to tag along on this too. Twilight leaned against the wall, silently bemoaning her misfortune. She remained that way until there was a tap on the door. Glancing up, she saw her brother’s face in the window. “Uh… come in.” Shining nodded, popping open the door and walking inside. He quickly shut it and slumped onto the floor next to Twilight. “So why are you hanging back here?” he asked. “All your friends are in there having a good time.” “They’re not my friends!” Twilight snapped. Shining furrowed his brows. “Is something wrong?” “Yes.” “...You wanna tell me what it is?” Twilight turned her head and mumbled, “Everything.” “Everything?” She whirled around, anger bubbling into her tone. “Yes, everything! All the things! It’s all wrong.” She sighed. “I just wanted this trip to be you, me, Cadance and Spike. You know, so everything could be like the good old days when we got to spend time together… Nightmare Moon notwithstanding.” Shining shifted, his armor rustling at the motion. He stared straight ahead. “Yeah well, I think the good old days are over for good.” “...Are you talking about you and Cadance?” He nodded. “Yeah, what was up with all that? You two were practically at each other’s throats.” He sighed. “It’s… complicated. I really don’t feel like getting into it right now.” “Oh… okay.” Twilight filed her curiosity on the subject in the back of her mind. It was far from satisfied, but she knew she wasn’t going to get anything new out of her brother for the time being. “So what about you and your ‘not-friends’?” Shining asked, switching topics. “Why didn’t you want them along?” “It’s… complicated.” Shining raised an eyebrow. “Uh-huh.” “It is!” Twilight groaned. “Look, they’re nice mares and all, but I don’t want them around. Not on something as important as this. Because the last time they were with me in the Everfree…” She trailed off, giving her saddlebag a squeeze. The soft clank of the Elements inside filled in the blank for Shining. “I get it, you blame them for how the Elements turned out.” “No… Yes… A little…” Twilight rubbed her temple. “I know they didn’t mean to do any harm; they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I was the one who screwed up, but… part of me just wants to pin it all on them.” Her flopped her head down. “I just keep thinking that if they stick around, everything will go wrong again. Then Princess Celestia will never forgive me. Her sister will stay that monster forever and she’ll always hate me for it.” “Whoa, hey now.” Shining wrapped a comforting hoof around her. “Princess Celestia doesn’t hate you. I talked to her, like, yesterday. She’s more worried about you than anything else.” “Really?” “Really really.” Shining offered her an uplifting smile. “Look, don’t be too hard on yourself, Twily. Or your ‘not-friends’ for that matter. You made a mistake, but it’s not the end of the world. And hey, we’re well on our way to fixing everything anyways.” “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” She forced the corners of her mouth upward. “Thanks for being my impromptu therapist.” “That’s what big brothers are for,” Shining said, pushing himself up. “Ready to re-join everypony?” Twilight opened her mouth, but before she could utter a single syllable a piercing whistle assaulted her ears. The screech of the wheels as the brakes slammed on them was soon to follow.  She winced. “What the…?” Shining Armor grinned. “It looks like we’re here.” Standing, Twilight looked out the window. The outside world was crawling by as the train slowed. Brownish-yellow sand with the occasional splotch of green cacti rolled passed her field of vision. Yup, it was a desert. As the train finally lumbered to a stop, Twilight turned. “Well, I guess we’d better find an inn.” She made a break for the door, only to be stopped by an outstretched hoof. “Whoa there, Twily. I’ll handle the inn. Why don’t you go with your ‘not-friends’ to that cherry orchard they mentioned?” “What?” She backed up. “Shining, you know I don’t want to go with them. Vinyl was just being… Vinyl, when she said that.” “Well Vinyl being Vinyl had a good idea. You really should relax a little; it’s not a good idea to go into the forest stressed out and nervous.” Twilight sighed. “Fine. Okay. I’ll make an attempt to relax.” Shining smiled. “Thanks Twily.” He lowered his hoof and nudged the door open. They walked back into the other train car just as everypony else was getting up from their seats. “Everypony ready?” Cadance asked. All the heads in the train car nodded, save Nightmare Moon, who grunted in displeasure. Derpy looked over at her and frowned. “Does she really have to wear that thing?” “Trust me, it’s for the best,” Cadance assured her. “But it just seems so… mean.” “Well to be fair, Derpy,” Bon Bon interjected. “This is the mare who tried to plunge Equestria into eternal night and kill all of us. I think a little meanness is justified.” Derpy frowned, but everypony was too busy moving to the exit to notice. Before Cadance could take the first step out onto the ground, Vinyl rushed forward and blocked her path. Blinking, Cadance looked at her with confusion. “Uh… what are you doing?” Vinyl grinned. “This is a desert town, right? That means any second now we should see some tumbleweed, just like in those classic movies.” Twilight groaned. “Vinyl, that’s stupid. The odds that a tumbleweed will just happen by the train are—” “Shhh! You’re gonna miss it, Smart Mare.” Vinyl paused, glancing out into the dusty terrain. “Right… NOW!” Nothing. Spike peered through her legs to get a better view. “I don’t see anything.” “My timing was just off.” Vinyl pointed into the desert. “Now!” Still nothing. “Can we get off yet?” Octavia asked, sounding about half as annoyed as Twilight felt. Vinyl sighed. “Yeah, I guess.” She jumped down, kicking up a thin cloud of dust. “I guess you shouldn’t have based your knowledge of the desert off of movies cliches,” Lyra said, hopping down after her. “Fair point. But it still is a bit of a bummer—” Tap-tap-tap A tumbleweed bounced right in front of them and Vinyl stopped talking just to watch it pass by. “Too little too late, pal!” she called after it as the wind blew it away. “Well now that… whatever-that-was is done, let’s go.” Twilight brushed passed Vinyl and turned to the right, a cluster of brick and wood buildings coming into view. “Sounds like someone’s eager to get to the cherry farm,” Lyra noted as everypony else piled off of the train. “Eager’s not the word I would use,” Twilight muttered under her breath. “Nor would I.” Twilight’s blood ran cold as she recognized the voice. Cold, sinister, raspy… she would never forget that voice. She whirled around, just in time to watch Nightmare Moon hobble off the train car. “Nightmare!” Shining’s horn burst alight, instantly encasing her in a bubble field. Twilight blinked at the speed he was able to react. Her acquaintances had barely begun to leap with surprise and he was already in attack mode. Cadance was no slouch either. She aimed her own horn at Nightmare, already charging an attack. “How did you get your muzzle off?” Nightmare giggled with fervent giddiness. The sound sent a chill scampering down Twilight’s spine and she instinctively took a few steps back. “Hey! Answer the question.” Shining compressed the bubble around her. “Are any of your other restraints gone?” “Wouldn’t you like to know?” Nightmare grinned. “I honestly don’t know why you’re mad at me. Your little girlfriend over there is the one who couldn’t keep a muzzle on me.” “She’s not my girlfriend,” Shining grumbled. “In fact, I barely tolerate her.” Cadance’s face burned with indignation. “Hey, shut your mouth before I turn this thing on you!” She raised her glowing horn threateningly. Nightmare flashed her teeth. “You know, while you’re obliterating him, do you think you’d have time to do the same to these pesky rings on my horn?” She pointed to the three gold inhibitors on her horn. “They’re even more of a bother than you two.” “Look, Princess Cadenza is known to do some stupid stuff—” “Oh that is it!” “Wait!” Derpy leapt between them. Their argument interrupted, Shining and Cadance blinked in confusion. “Um… yes, Derpy?” Cadance quierried. Derpy shot a glance between the nightmarish abomination and her friends. She took a deep breath. “I was the one who took Nightmare Moon’s muzzle off.” “What?” Shining and Cadance simultaneously recoiled. Their shock was so great that Shining’s bubble spell faltered and popped. Nightmare Moon casually glanced around at her newfound freedom for a moment before viciously shuffling off in an escape attempt. The chains around her legs clattered noisily as she did. “Derpy, why in Equestria would you do that?” Shining asked, his horn sparking to life. A new bubble shield nonchalantly enveloped Nightmare Moon. “Dang it!” She beat her head against the bubble, frustration growing. Derpy looked at the newly encased Nightmare and sighed. “I’m sorry, it’s just… it’s so mean to keep a muzzle on her. I understand why she needs all the other stuff, but why do you have to not let her talk?” “Uh, Derpy, you do realize this is Nightmare Moon we’re talking about, right?” Octavia reminded her. “This… monster tried to blot out the sun twice. You really think she deserves the freedom of speech?” “But—” “She’s right, Derpy.” Cadance stepped forward. “Besides, you weren’t on the trip down here. You still have no idea how downright annoying she can be.” Both she and Shining shivered at the memory. “Aw cut her some slack.” Lyra trotted up next to Derpy. “She was just trying to be nice. I don’t see the harm in letting her speak freely.” “RELEASE ME FROM THIS PINK PRISON OR I SHALL RAIN DOWN A FORCE OF A MILLENNIUM OF ANGST UPON YOU!” Twilight’s bones rattled at Nightmare’s scream. She clamped her hooves over her ears, her acquaintances following suit. “Would you be quiet!” Shining shouted at her. “And my magic is a light magenta, not pink.” Nightmare Moon snorted derisively, but mercifully switched to muttering curses. Vinyl was the first to uncover her ears. She turned to Shining and draped a hoof over his neck. “Aw, relax big guy. You know, I happen to think pink is a very manly color.” “Uh…” Shining’s mouth forgot how to close and he looked like he didn’t know whether to blush or push Vinyl away. Instead of doing either, he just stared stupidly while the mare around him suggestively bounced her eyebrows. “Hooves to yourself, Vinyl.” Octavia grabbed a mouthful of electric blue mane and tugged her friend away. “Ah, Tavi geeze!” Shining mouthed a “thank you” to Octavia while Cadance rolled her eyes and looked away. “Derpy, at least give me the muzzle back. I have a feeling we’ll need it.” Derpy dug her hooves from her ears. “I don’t know if I should…” Twilight shook her head, ears still ringing. “I suggest you give it to her, Derpy. Do you really want another shout like that one?” Her pupils shrunk. “Okay, okay, I’ll give it back.” She turned, pointing. “I left it on my seat on the tra—” She froze, along with Shining and Cadance. The train that had been idling by them a few moments ago was gone. Twilight glanced further along the track and saw it to be a mere speck in the horizon. She realized it must’ve started up while they were talking and Nightmare Moon’s outburst covered up it’s departure. “Great,” Cadance groaned. “Just great.” “Sorry,” Derpy whispered, looking like she might shrink down to the size of a mouse at any second. Cadance sighed. “Don’t beat yourself up over it; worse things have happened. I just can’t think of any right now.” Derpy didn’t respond, electing to stare shamefully at the ground instead. Lyra put a hoof around her. “It’s all right, Derpy. We know you had good intentions.” “Thanks.” The corners of Derpy’s mouth tugged upward, but they dropped back down under the weight of her guilt. Twilight cleared her throat, sensing a change of subject would help. “Hey, why don’t we go find that inn? I’m sure we could all use a rest after that train ride.” Vinyl raised her eyebrows. “Trying to skip out on the cherry fields, Smart Mare?” She groaned internally. I’d really hoped they’d have forgotten about that. “Right! The cherry fields.” Derpy’s voice had regained some of its usual bounce. “Twilight, you can’t miss that.” “I have to admit, the way you’ve been talking it up has made me a little excited to see it.” Octavia turned to her. “You wouldn’t want to miss out, right Twilight?” “Uh…” She felt a hoof pat her back. “Go on, Twily,” Shining told her. “You really should spend a little time with them.” He winked, a nod to their earlier conversation. Twilight’s ears folded down in defeat. “Okay, fine. Let’s go look at the stupid cherry trees.” “Awesome!” Vinyl hook her foreleg around her neck. “Smart Mare, I guarantee you probably won’t regret this.” “...Yay?” Twilight probably wasn’t going to regret this. It felt really weird admitting that, especially considering how adamant she’d been against going to the cherry orchard, but at the same time it was true. Derpy’s description hadn’t done it justice. The fields were an oasis, a total escape from the gritty desert. Rows of supple trees dotted acre after acre and the ground was laden with dew, making each step refreshing. And the cherries! By Celestia! Twilight didn’t know they had so many colors. Red and yellow were a given, obviously, but as she delved deeper into the orchard she found a rainbow of colors, each like dazzling gems nestled in the trees. Clearly this orchard had been cross-breeding and cultivating like wildfire to get results like these and Twilight’s mouth watered at just the thought of what the cherries might taste like. “This is pretty awesome,” Spike said from her back. “Not too shabby, eh Smart Mare?” Vinyl nudged her side. “Yeah… I guess so.” Twilight allowed a smile to brighten her face. “Really?” Derpy nudged her from the other side. Twilight nodded, eliciting a grin from the pegasus. “Well that’s a relief. I was worried you’d hate this place after Vinyl all but forced you into coming.” Vinyl snickered lightly. “To be honest, I wouldn’t have been surprised if she came here by choice and hated it.” Twilight furrowed her brow. “I… well… come on, I can like things.” “Could’ve fooled me.” Twilight whipped her head around to see Bon Bon, who in turned shrugged. “Well it's true. You never seem all that interested in… anything really. Anything save the Elements of course.” “That… that’s not true.” “Of course it isn’t,” Spike jumped her her defense. “Twilight likes all kinds of things: reading, science, learning about new magical spells…” Twilight smiled at his attempt to defend her. “Are any of the things she likes actually cool?” Vinyl grumbled off to the side. This was returned with a jab to the ribs from Octavia. “Vinyl!” she hissed. “Ah! Sorry, geeze.” Twilight’s smile faltered and Lyra stepped in. “How about we just go back to enjoying the cherry grove, huh? That’s sounds like a good idea to me.” “Sure.” Twilight turned suddenly and began walking. She felt Spike grip her mane to prevent from flying off at the sudden motion. “It’s not like I wanted to talk to any of you anyway.” “Wait, Twilight!” It was no good. She was already ambling off deeper into the orchard, not hearing any hooffalls of pursuit. “Has anypony ever told you that pink is an awful color on you?” Shining’s jaw clenched at the remark and shot back a glare. Nightmare pressed her face against the edge of the translucent bubble, her grin still threatening despite being bathed in the light magenta of Shining’s shield. He turned his head, focusing on the path ahead instead of giving her the satisfaction of responding. Cadance, however, had no such intention. “Will you just be quiet already?” Nightmare’s slitted eyes barely glanced over, as if it was a chore to look at her. “And it looks even worse on you.” Cadance’s eyebrow twitched. “Hey, I’m a natural pink!” The dark alicorn brought her face away from the bubble and scoffed. “Your point?” She glanced between the two. “In fact, I bet that’s the reason your little coltfriend over there despises you so much.” “Grr…” Cadance bared her teeth, her features compressing into an angry snarl. Shining felt a cold sweat form on the back of his neck. He hadn’t seen that look on her since… well, since the day he told her it was over. However, Nightmare didn’t have enough sense to be scared yet. “Oh, it seems I hit a nerve.” Nightmare Moon clapped, which was not an easy feat given her chains. “Am I right, Captain?” “Do not answer her.” Cadance glared daggers at him. Shining’s sweat doubled. “Uh… let’s just get to the inn.” He levitated the bubble carrying Nightmare Moon further away. While it was more of a strain on his magic, it was less of a strain on his ears and therefore definitely worth it. “Fine,” Cadance grumbled. With that they receded back into silence, despite the occasional muffled taunt from Nightmare Moon. In fact, it was a little too silent now that Shining thought about it. While Dodge wasn’t exactly a Canterlot level town, he’d expected there to be some activity. As he looked around at the shut doors, barren streets and lack of movement, he found himself surprised that they hadn’t encountered anymore tumbleweeds. Cadance had noticed as well. “Where is everypony?” “No idea. It feels like a ghost town here.” “There are ghosts here?” Nightmare Moon pressed her face against the bubble again. “Perhaps I can convince them to ally with me!” Shining and Cadance both rolled their eyes. In all actuality, Nightmare's presence was probably what caused the ponies to hole up in their homes.  Shining found he couldn't blame them as he saw the inn come into view. Thank Celestia. His pace unconsciously quickened. The sooner they checked in the better. Or rather, the sooner Twilight and her ‘not’ friends returned, the better. Shining really disliked being alone with a delusional lunatic. Oh, and Nightmare Moon too. “Are you sure you don’t want to go back and talk to them?” “Yes, Spike. I’m sure.” Twilight huffed, unable to be calmed down by even the serenity of the cherry groves. Her hooffalls were heavy as she trotted deeper into the orchard. It had only been a couple of minutes since she had separated herself from the other girls and her frustration wasn't even close to subsiding. “Really?” Spike’s tone was somber but hopeful, like he felt he could draw out the answer he wanted from her if he tried hard enough. “I mean, you’d probably feel a lot better if you did.” “I’m fine, Spike.” Twilight stopped walking and sighed. “I just… I hate it when they get like that.” “Like what?” She felt Spike slide off her back. Turning to face him, Twilight sighed again. “When they act like everything’s no big deal. Like all of my problems are insignificant. Here I am, trying to find a way to fix my mistake and reset the Elements of Harmony and they’re more worried about whether or not I like a stupid cherry orchard!” Spike bit his lip. “I’m sure they didn’t mean it like that.” “Well it’s certainly what it felt like.” Twilight sat down in a frustrated heap. “Why can’t they understand how important this is to me?” "I... don't know, Twilight." Spike sat down next to her. Twilight sighed for a third time. “It’s worse when we’re all together. They always gang up on  me and try to make me feel bad just because I want to fix the Elements of Harmony.” “They didn’t strike me as the type to do that when I met them,” Spike said. “Well they are.” Twilight huffed then frowned. “I just wish they would stop." "Stop ganging up on you, or stop hanging around you in general?" "Either... both... I don't know." They sat in silence for a moment, until the sound of flapping wings drew their attention. Landing a mere few yards away, a morose gray pegasus could barely meet their eyes. "Derpy?" "Sorry for eavesdropping, it's just I—" She stopped short. "We split up to try and find you after you ran off and when I finally saw you here you I heard what got you so upset and... I'm sorry." Twilight was surprised to see water lining Derpy's eyes. She stood up and immediately Derpy ran over and tackled her into a hug. "Wha—" "We never wanted to make you feel like we weren't on your side, Twilight. And I'm so sorry we did." She sniffled as she tightly held her. Twilight was at a loss for words. Her acquaintance's display of emotion was almost foreign to her. Nopony had ever cared this much about upsetting her before and now that somepony actually did she didn’t quite know what to do. Slowly, awkwardly, she put her forelegs around Derpy and returned the hug. "It's okay." "No, it's not." Derpy pulled back to look her in the eye. "Twilight, we're your friends. We care about you and we care about fixing the Elements because it's important to you. It’s just… when you get so fixated on them, we worry about you. You have this habit of getting obsessed with the Elements, and every time you do, we're worried you'll get sucked in and never come back out. We just want to make sure that doesn't happen.” Twilight took a deep breath. “I… wow. Derpy, I really don’t know what to say.” “Just say you don’t hate us.” Derpy’s mismatched eyes had dilated to begging levels. “Please.” Shooting a glance from Spike to Derpy, Twilight found it a little difficult to speak. “I… Of course I don’t hate you girls, Derpy. I’ve never hated any of you…” A bright smile managed to find its way on Derpy’s face. “That’s a relief to hear.” She pulled away from Twilight and brushed the water from her eyes. “Sorry for going a little emotionally overboard. I was just real worried, ya know?” “I… guess.” Twilight was just glad their awkward hug had ended. “You sure you’re okay.” Derpy smiled. “Yeah, I’m fine. How about you?” “I’m… better.” “That’s good to hear. I’m sorry about before… again.” “Don’t worry about it.” “Well, I’m glad we got that all cleared up,” Spike interjected. “Do you think we can meet up with everypony else now? Shining and Cadance probably found the inn by now and could probably use a break from being alone with Nightmare Moon… and each other.” Derpy nodded. “Yeah, it shouldn’t be too hard to find everypony. We only split up a little while ago.” She turned and spread out her wings. “Come on.” After a few flaps she was in the air, flying off in presumably the direction of the closest mare. Twilight and Spike kept the same pace from the ground. The cherry trees rolled past her vision as she watched Derpy, her mind mulling over what had just happened. “Well, I guess that answers your question from before,” Spike said, a smile on his face. “Yeah.” Twilight bit her lip as she watched Derpy flutter before her. The way she’d cried over Twilight’s well being… The way all her acquaintances went off trying to find her… It was kind of sweet. Maybe they weren’t so bad after all. Maybe she should even give them a chance.