It was a sunny day at Canterlot High School. Birds were singing, flowers were blooming. In days like that kids were used to enjoy life, their bigger concerns were the bad grades or the firsts heart aches.
With his face aching, Big Mac massaged gently his nose with one hand, while using the other to pull himself up from the ground.
When he reached a sitting position, he dared to open his eyes and look at the source of his pain.
In front of him, there were a soccer ball and the three most adorable and terrible cause of troubles in his (and many other’s) life. His little sister and her friends.
From the group, Scootaloo talked with a guilty face, “I’m sorry Big Mac, I didn’t see you there...”
“Are you hurt, Big bro’?”
“Enope.”
“You sure?”
“Eyup.”
“Awww,” somehow the three kids weren’t so happy about not having hurt a poor innocent.
Sweetie Belle pulled out a white box with the letters ‘CMC’ on it, “I was hoping to finally use the medkit of Canterlot’s Most Cuties. We’ve even put our brand on it!”
“Didn’t we agree for Cuties Must Crusade?” asked Scoot.
“Ah thought it was Most Cute Crusaders?” interfered AB.
“No, that would be MCC.”
Big Mac just kept staring in silence at the little group, then he left out a sigh and reached his left knee, pretending to be in pain. He couldn’t let down such a display of blessed innocence.
Apple Bloom noticed.
“Big Mac, you are hurt!”
The big, strong, stoic, thought red farmer nodded, narrowing his lips with pleading eyes.
“Yeeeeee!” shouted the three friends. “Crusaders Must Care on duty!”
“Nurse Sweetie Belle, gimme the staff!”
“It’s called the stick, surgeon Apple Bloom.”
Big Mac chuckled and let the little girls accomplish their important duty. He just hoped it would be over soon, he had a long travel to Appleloosa waiting for him that evening...
“All right girls, you had enough fun now.”
“But sis’, this is important!”
“Yeah,” added Scootaloo, “we’re saving the use of the leg of patient Macintosh after he took a very serious ballown in the face,” then she shrugged apologetically, “I shot the ball by the way.”
Sweetie Belle gave to the friend an inquisitor look. “Ballown?”
“Yeah, at first I wanted to say blow but then I wanted to say balloon, so ballown,” Scoot responded to the inquisitor look with a hopeful one, “do you like it?”
Without softening her expression, Sweetie replied bluntly, “I’m not going to allow it in our dictionary.”
“So, ya’ll hit Big Mac in the face, and then you medicate his knee?” asked AJ wit a raised eyebrow.
“That doesn’t make any sense!” added Pinkie Pie, leaning forward from AJ’s back.
The CMC gazed forward in confusion as if the two elder girls in front of them had just said something that escaped the human understanding.
Suddenly, Pinkie Pie magically popped out from nothing between them, hugging them and whispering, “Anyhow, I’ve heard that at Sugarcube corner, just waiting for three little caretakers, there could be three. Free. CUPCAKES!”
“Can I have a milkshake?” asked Sweetie Belle.
“I would like some of your cookies more,” said Scootaloo.
“Of course you can!” replied Pinkie, with her happy smile.
“Yeeeeee!” shouted the CMC.
“Cupcake!”
“Milkshake!”
“Cookies!”.
AJ shook his head gazing the sky, she couldn’t help but have a smile on her face. Then she turned to her brother. “You good?”
Big Mac stood up googly, his left leg was completely stuffed and rigid. “Eyup.”
Hobbling, he tried to move toward his truck. Just to fell on his face after a couple of steps.
“Need help?”, asked Applejack without too much concern.
“Nope.”
AJ waited in silence for a couple of seconds.
“...Yup...” he admitted lastly.
“Don’t you worry big bro, Ah’ll free you in jus’ a moment.”
She tried her best not to giggle while cutting off the bandages from his big bro. Neither somebody as strong as him could nothing against the three terrible troublemakers. And they didn’t even get their driving license yet. Who knows what they would be able to do once they reached those days.
Pinkie Pie interrupted her thoughts. “We’re going to be late for the ‘Rainbow Rocks’ meeting!” she shouted.
All of her dearest friends, except Rainbow Dash, were there waiting for her. Knowing her tomboy, she would found her in the music room waiting for them. Better hurry up then.
Rainbow Dash had just finished soccer practice and was now listening to some music with the headphones in the music room of the school. She was waiting for her friends so to rock some awesome music between the walls of the school, but since she came earlier than usual nobody was there yet. With some time at disposal, she thought about listening some tunes and writing down new lyrics, enjoying the beats and moving her head at rhythm.
After barely ten minutes her head was flying with no worries. There were only the music, herself, and her song. Wanting to try her new piece of genius, RD stood up and restarted the song over.
As soon as she caught the beat, she started moving her body with perfect timing while singing out loud.
“Ah thought you were supposed to wait for me!” protested AppleJack as soon as she reached her group of friends, who were standing in front of the music room.
Strangely enough, nobody cared to respond her or to do nothing at all. They were just gazing inside the room almost motionless.
Fluttershy was in the back, covering her blushing face while muttering something unhearable.
Sunset Shimmer was forcing herself not to laugh for some reason while holding her stomach with one hand and her mouth with the other.
Rarity was standing perfectly still, mouth agape. There were a sparkling in her that didn’t promise anything good…
At last, in front of all, Pinkie Pie was giggling with her phone pointed inside the room, recording whatever was causing such hilarity and embarrassment.
Applejack pulled herself between her friends, moving towards the doors, “Girls, what in tarnation…?”.
Rainbow Dash stopped abruptly her dancing to stare at five girls who were standing at the doors of the room giggling, blushing or mouth agape. In front of them, there was a grinning Pinkie Pie with a cell phone.
There was a pregnant silent pause, one of the awkward kind.
Then Rainbow Dash recollected herself and threw the headphones away.
“Heeeeyyy girls, whatcha doing?” she shouted, “I’ve been waiting for you for ages! ”
“Rainbow Dash.” Applejack stepped forward with a confused expression. “What was that?”
“What was what?”
Pinkie Pie simply turned her phone in a way that Rainbow Dash could see the display and started a video. It showed the tomboy dancing and singing:
I like Big Mac and I can not lie
You other sisters can't deny
That when a guy walks in with an itty-bitty waist
And a round thing in your face
You get spru…
Pinkie was merciful enough to stop the video, while Rainbow Dash was trying to hide her blush with both her hands.
“Pinkie please delete that.” pleaded RD.
“Awww, but you’re so good at dancing and singing!”
“Hold on a sec’!” yelled AJ, “You like mah brother?”
“NO!” Dash widened her eyes toward her friend. “I don’t!”
AJ stepped forward. “You ain’t fussing me miss!”
RD frowned. “Come on, that’s just insane.”
“You don’t sing about loving someone who you don’t like!”
“Who said anything about ‘love’? I just think he’s hot!”
Rainbow instantly slapped her mouth shut with her hands.
“So you DO like him.”
“Geez, what’s about the ‘like’ thing? All I like is his body...”
Rainbow’s excuses were stopped by one high squeal and a white blur.
Suddenly, she found herself supported from falling back by a couple of white arms.
“THIS. IS. A. Miracle!” enounced Rarity.
“O darling, I was losing every hope for you! I could already see myself desperate and hopeless, a disenchanted, young, beautiful and stylish girl that wasn’t able to believe in true love anymore.”, Rarity took a pause to sniff, then she made cheek contact with her friend, “I was afraid you would never ever allow us to see your real you! That side of you that you never allow emerging, your most feminine side that you desperately hide from the crude world under a rind of rudeness and bravery, for fear of rejection and mockery surely, but that indeed only longs some affection and understanding.”
Rainbow Dash stared at her friend like she had just grown a second head. After several seconds of silence, she gave the best response she could think of, “huh?”
Rarity put a finger on the blue lips to hush her friend, “Don't say anything, my dear, I’m here with you now”, she smiled with her eyes wet and full of emotions, “and I swear to you now in this room, you will never have to hide yourself anymore! I'm going to make you shine like the, hmm,” she allowed herself to think a moment in order to find the perfect metaphor, then she resumed expediently, “like the rainbow you are, and you will shine so brightly that no apple farmer will be able to resist you!”, finally, Rarity started to loose the grip on her new assisted, “Don't worry, I'll take care of everything.”
There came another silence, such a deep one that you could hear the sound of a nail falling on the ground, during which everyone inside the room stared with fear at the dreaming fashionista.
Then Rainbow freed herself and took a step back. “What the heck are you talking about?”
She just had no idea why her friend had just vented like that, but she knew that Rarity was all going along with some evil plan to get her into her fru-fru stuff. After that outburst, she had almost forgot all her embarrassment. Almost.
Luckily, everybody attention were caught by a timid cough and Fluttershy used that moment to step forward.
'Finally, someone who won't overreact about this craziness,' thought Dash.
“I think that the two of you would look cute together.”
Rainbow watched her older friend with a face that was showing all the feeling of betrayal she was going through.
“Why, Fluttershy?! Why?!”
“Sorry” whispered Fluttershy, “but it would be so nice to see you in love. Also, Big Macintosh looks like a good match for you.”
'She's been corrupted by Rare while I wasn't watching!'
Sunset Shimmer let escape some snickers loud, catching Rainbow’s attention.
“Something you want to add?” said the latter.
“I’m just surprised that the doors of your barn open that way.”
“What?”
“I took the line from AppleJack, it means…”
“I know what it means, but did you really think that I…” Rainbow paused when she noticed that nobody was watching directly at her. Instead, they were all really interested into the ceiling or the floor. “All of you? Why?!”
“Your hairs”
“The way you dress.”
“The way you talk.”
“Your attitude.”
While Rainbow Dash was fuming, all the girls waited in silence for a fifth line that would have at least given the misunderstanding some kind of common bond. Instead, there came nothing but silence.
Everyone turned their head towards Pinkie, even Rainbow Dash was worried despite her annoyance.
Like her friends, Pinkie was clearly feeling uncomfortable. Unlikely the others, her gaze was still and firm on her phone. Come to think about it, she had been strangely quiet for awhile. Now Rainbow Dash was worried enough to forget to be annoyed.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing!” came a suspiciously fast answer. Even for Pinkie Pie.
“Pinkie, what did you do?” asked Sunset Shimmer.
“Rabinow Dash, we’re duper-dearest friends right?” she asked.
“Pinkie, what did you do?” asked Fluttershy.
“Well, you know when you do something and then you do it again and againandagainandagainandagainandagain...”
“Pinkie, what did you do?” asked Rarity.
“And then it becomes an old habit that you keep on doing without thinking, even when you shouldn’t?”
“Pinkie, what did you do?” asked Applejack.
“Well, I was just about to delete the video, I really was… do you know that I love you really-really much?”
“Pinkie!” snapped Rainbow Dash, “what did you do?”
“Iii kiiindaa soortaa of pressedthe’share’button.”
There was so much silence in the room that you could hear the sound of a nail fall on the ground. From the other side of the town.
And then everybody’s cell played a ringtone.
“That’s probably me...”
“And you shared this with who?”
“With my friends.”
“Well then, it isn’t too bad. Just us and...”
“With all my friends.”
Rainbow needed a moment to fully understand the meaning of that phrase.
“How long is your Social Network friends list?”
“Well… there are: Aabraham, Aada, Aaminah, Aaren, Aaròn, Abbàn, Abbes, Abbi, Abd Al-Hamind, Abd Al-Wali, Abe, Abbey, Abele, Abelone...”
“A number?”
“There are two who name themselves as ‘007’ and ‘47’ but I think they’re fake...”
“PINKIE, HOW MANY?!”
On the verge of tears, Pinkie gulped and answered the question.
“Over nine thousand?”
Peachy, so now she was public laughing stock.
“One last question...”
“Yes?”
“You befriended every single student of the school, right?”
“Yes...”
Big Mac was driving his truck down to Appleloosa, his mind and eyes were focused on the street in front of him when from his cellphone came a sound.
Since he was in the open desert, he took a moment to give a quick glance to the phone.
There was a notification from Pinkie Pie, apparently, she just shared a video. Hopefully something funny.
Big Mac chuckled and put the phone on the passenger seat.
He would have watched it later.