The First Five

by Epimetheus

Chapter 10: Meeting Pinkie and The Cutie Mark Crusaders

Applejack had invited Pinkie Pie over for breakfast and was sitting across from her friend when she saw Applebloom rush out the door and leap off the porch with a huge ruckus.

“I’d say that was more of a clatter than a ruckus.” The pink pony sitting across from her suddenly said.

“What was that?” Applejack gave her friend a confused look.

“Oh, well the line said ruckus, but I’d say that was more of a clatter. But who am I to argue with the author?” She shrugged and continued to eat her apple tart that she’d piled high with whipped cream. Applejack shook her head to clear it. Pinkie Pie was definitely the weirdest of her friends. She was always going on about something called the fourth wall and how they should smile for the cameras.

“You said you wanted to show me something?” Pinkie Pie had finished her breakfast and looked at Applejack with a happy-go-lucky look. Nodding, Applejack said

“If ya’ll could follow me.” She led her up the stairs and to the guest room of the house, but before she opened it, she turned to Pinkie Pie.

“Ah’m gonna need ya to Pinkie Promise that ya won’t tell a soul about what’s in this room outside our circle of friends, ok?” Her look was serious, but Pinkie Pie didn’t seem to notice.

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” She giggled as she spoke, loving the motions of her signature promise. Satisfied, Applejack opened the door and let Pinkie in. Marcus and Taylor quickly rose; they had been sitting on the guest bed and moved to the center of the room. They watched the pink pony expectantly, wondering how she’d react.

“Where’s the one with the big owies on his face?” She looked around the room, searching for Thomas. “Is he hiding?!” Pinkie asked as she began to lift the beds and floorboards in her search.

“Thomas is at Twi’s!” Applejack shouted as she tried to repair the damage caused to the floor by her overly energetic friend. The pink pony stopped searching and whispered.

“He’s gooooooooood.” She promptly seated herself in front of Marcus and Taylor. They stared at one another, each looking the other(s) over. Pinkie Pie was the first to speak.

“You look familiar. Do I know you?” She looked up at Marcus with suspicious eyes, causing him to grow nervous.

“Um, no?” He stated cautiously

“Yup! It was a trick question! I know eeeeeeeeverypony in Ponyville, and I would know you if I had met you before!” Her voice was energetic and she began to bounce up and down. She then gasped.

“I’ve got to throw you a welcome party!” Before she could go off on a tangent about the party, Applejack jumped in.

“Remember how Ah made you promise not to tell anypony?” Her voice was serious and she looked at Pinkie Pie with at intense eyes. The pink pony stopped bouncing in mid air and her jaw literally hit the floor.

“Screw physics.” Taylor muttered to Marcus, who couldn’t stop gaping at the mare.

“You mean I can’t throw them a party?!” Pinkie Pie sounded incredulous. Here eyes went wide with the horror of such an idea.

“Ah mean you can’t throw them a town wide welcome party. You can throw them one anytime in the barn.” She knew that cutting Pinkie Pie off from a party would end terribly, so she provided her an out. Which her friend gladly took.

“What are your favorite flavors of cake?” She turned towards the humans, a very intense look on her face.

“Chocolate.” Marcus said, still gaping.

“Red Velvet.” Taylor responded evenly. With that, the pink pony rushed from the room and out of the house towards Sugar Cube Corner, presumably to make cakes. Staring at the spot where Pinkie Pie had been standing, Marcus was able to recover himself somewhat.

“Is she always like that?” She simply nodded in response before taking the two down stairs to the kitchen and prepared them breakfast. They had some apple tarts with a salad and had a light conversation with Applejack before the door burst open and three fillies tumbled in. Taylor and Marcus recognized Applebloom, but the other two were unknown to them. One was a white unicorn with a pink and purple mane while the other was an orange pegasus with a deep purple mane. The three were in a ball, rolling around on the floor as they tried to disentangle themselves. Applejack took advantage of their situation and pushed Marcus and Taylor through the doorway, blocking the view of the fillies with her body.

“Well Applebloom, where are they?” Scootaloo asked, having finally freeing herself from her friends.

“Where are who?” Applejacks voice was firm, causing all three to freeze, Applebloom fell off of Sweetie Belle, who looked at Applejack upside down.

“Um…” Applebloom stuttered, righting herself.

“Did you tell your friends that we had aliens in the house?” Her tone grew more and more severe with each word and the three fillies shrank back accordingly.

“Yes.” Applebloom whispered. She stared at the floor, unable to meet her sisters gaze. Her friends stayed by her in moral support, but didn’t say a word. Applejack was quickly trying to think of an excuse that wouldn’t entail her to lie. It was times like this when she hated being the element of honesty. As she racked her brain, Scootaloo spoke up.

“Does that mean there aren’t any aliens?” Her voice was crushed and her eyes wide. Celestia damn it Applejack cursed on the inside. She quickly improvised.

“We have some guests who aren’t here at the moment, and Applebloom keeps insisting they’re aliens. I’m sorry to disappoint.” She sighed on the inside, hoping that would placate them. It seemed to, as the three of them slowly began to turn towards the door. But her hopes were dashed with a sudden noise.

“BOO!”

“AUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH!” The Cutie Mark Crusaders screamed in unison and sprinted to hide behind Applejack while Taylor was on the floor in front of the door, rolling in laughter.

“You should have seen your faces!” She gasped. She had circled around and opened the door when she shouted, scaring the fillies. Marcus emerged from the living room and helped Taylor up, a smile on his face. The three fillies looked at them in shock, Applebloom beginning to smile. She began to laugh too, and soon everyone but Applejack was enjoying the prank. The cowpony was slowly turning red in anger.

“Ah, lighten up Applejack!” Taylor said, smiling at the pony. She moved her stenson forward to convey how serious she was.

“You couldn’t leave it at what Ah’d told them, could you? You had to go and blow everything!” She sat down at the table in a huff, her forehooves crossed in anger. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo slowly approached the two human, there eyes wide with awe and wonderment. Marcus squatted down to their level and smiled. Taylor went over to Applebloom and calmed her down.

“So you really are an alien?” Scootaloo finally asked, looking at Marcus with wide eyes. He was HUGE in comparison to her, much like Big Mac was.

“I guess I am. My name’s Marcus, who are you two?” He looked from one to the other as they began to warm up to him.

“My name’s Sweetie Belle.” The unicorn spoke up, still ogling at Marcus.

“I’m Scootaloo!” The pegasus said proudly. Marcus smiled at the two, ruffling their manes, getting an irritated look from Sweetie Belle as he did. Scootaloo couldn’t care less; she was too excited at meeting an alien. By this time, Taylor had calmed down Applebloom and the two joined the others. Applejack sat in her chair, fuming. Scootaloo turned to Taylor as she approached.

“What’s your name?” She asked curiously.

“I’m Taylor. And if I heard correctly; you’re Scootaloo?” She found the purple and orange pegasus to be adorable.

“Yup!”

“Um, just what exactly are you?” Sweetie Belle looked over the two humans, unsure of what to make of them.

“Well, we’re called humans. We come from a place called Earth.” Marcus responded with a smile.

“Do have a spaceship?!” Scootaloo asked hopefully.

“Sorry squirt,” Taylor shrugged “We were brought here by a quirk of magic. We haven’t got a spaceship.” Scootaloo looked disappointed for a second, but quickly got over her initial disappointment.

“Applebloom said that there were more of you. Is that true?” Again she looked up at Taylor with hopeful eyes, and she was happy to not disappoint her this time.

“Yes, there are three more for a grand total of five. Thomas is staying with Twilight at the library and Megan and Rachael are with Fluttershy.” No sooner had she finished than Twilight appeared with Thomas in the middle of the kitchen.

“Speak of the devil!” Marcus said, smiling at the two.

“Damn Thomas! You look like an Oxford professor.” Taylor wolf-whistled at her friend, who nodded in thanks. Twilight looked at the three fillies and to Applejack, who sat there as if her friend hadn’t suddenly appeared in her kitchen.

“I take it I’m too late to warn you?” She asked Applejack.

“Darn tootin yer too late.” She grumbled. She had wanted to prove that she wouldn’t be the first to have outsiders learn of the humans’ existence, and her complete failure felt like salt being rubbed into a fresh wound. Thomas knelt down to greet the two fillies, both of whom stared at his scars, making him feel incredibly self-conscious.

“What happened to your face?” Sweetie Belle asked in a slightly disgusted tone. Scootaloo and Applebloom backed up in nervousness, his appearance slightly unnerving them. Thomas looked to Marcus to explain, which he did. After hearing about Thomas’s scuffle with Spike, the three fillies approached Thomas cautiously.

“Sorry about pointing out your scars…” Sweetie Belle mumbled, kicking the floor with her hoof. Thomas ruffled her mane, his way of telling her it was ok. She harrumphed, this being the second time someone had done so inside of five minutes. Thomas smiled, but his scars twisted it evilly and made the fillies back away again. Thomas didn’t understand why they were nervous and looked to both Taylor and Marcus for an explanation. Taylor led him over towards the living room and whispered him to about how his smile looked with his scars. He looked down demurely, plainly upset that he couldn’t smile with out scaring the youngsters.

“Is he ok?” Sweetie Belle asked Marcus. They four were watching the two humans and the fillies had disappointed looks.

“Well, he’s had a lot of trouble with those scars. He can’t speak because doing so stretches the stitches and can possible pull them out. He can’t smile without, well.” He pointed at the three, who looked down at their hooves. “He’s had a rough time here so far.” The three fillies took his hint and walked over to where Thomas was listening to Taylor. The two looked down, Taylor smiling and Thomas waving while he kept his face in an emotionless look. Scootaloo pulled on his pant leg as Sweetie Belle motioned for him to come down to their level. He squatted and raised his eyebrows, waiting for them to talk.

“Mr. Thomas, we’re sorry for drawing attention to your scars. Twice.” Scootaloo said, all three looking at him in the eye. Thomas pulled the shorter of his five digits together with one of the longer ones to make a circle while the other three remained erect. They looked at it with confusion before looking to Taylor for an explanation.

“He’s saying that it’s all ok.” She smiled at their confusion. The three nodded in understanding.

“Well, we wanted to know if ya’d like ta help us earn our Cutie Marks?” Applebloom asked. The question caused Thomas to look around confused. Applejack was talking with Twilight, both having missed the question. Marcus and Taylor shrugged, unsure of what to do. Thomas looked down to see the three fillies looking at him with the deadliest weapon in their arsenal; their eyes. They were wider than they should reasonably be, tears on the precipice of their eyelids, and their lips quivering. Then they began to slowly advance. At this point, Thomas collapsed. He shielded his eyes dramatically and nodded furiously, his actions carrying the meaning of his words to the letter. The three immediately returned their eyes to normal and began to cheer.

“Cutie Mark Crusaders Alien Wranglers!” A look of confusion crossed Thomas’s face before he was tackled by the fillies, who tried to pin him. Jumpy from both Rarity and Spike, Thomas almost lashed out at the trio, but he was able to suppress the reflex before he could do anything. This was missed by most of those present, although Marcus squinted his eyes suspiciously, wondering if he’d seen what he thought. Thomas would have loved to say he let them pin him, but that would be lying as he was unprepared for the energy the three fillies had devoted to the task. He was pinned on his stomach with his limbs bound in three minutes. Applejack made sure he was released in less than half the time.

The group spent the next hour getting to know one another, with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle asking dozens of questions to each human. Marcus pulled Thomas aside to talk to him about pulling the knife on Spike and the two had a somewhat one sided conversation during which Thomas was able to find paper and a pencil to explain how he only did it because he thought Spike was attacking him for no reason.

The pair returned to the others and Sweetie Belle began interrogating them again. It was when Sweetie Belle asked about the other humans that Twilight remembered they’d left Megan with Rarity.

“I’ll be right back. I’m going to go get Megan and Rarity.” She said, excusing herself. There was a bright purple flash and the unicorn was gone. No more than thirty second later another flash occurred and Twilight was standing next to Rarity and Megan. If his jaw wasn’t effectively wired shut, Thomas felt that it would have dropped like Marcus’s and Taylor’s at the sight of her dress. It was a strapless, golden gown that showed off her shoulders. The edges of the dress where crème colored and decorative with small swirls that extended no more than an inch or so into the main cloth. It hugged her figure, coming together at her waist and spreading out slightly as it reached down her legs, just covering her ankles.

“I think they like it darling!” Rarity beamed, almost laughing. Megan blushed slightly at their looks and shifted her weight from side to side. This caused her gold dress to shimmer and sway with her, only adding to the beauty. Taylor was the first to recover from the shock of seeing her friend in such a get up.

“Hot… Damn…” She said slowly, not remembering that there were children around. Luckily for her, they were too awestruck to have heard her.

“You look beautiful!” Sweetie Belle shouted with glee, rushing up to the human with a beaming smile. Applebloom and Scootaloo were hot on her heels, just as awestruck.

“Thank you.” Megan said through a blush.

“Hiya! Mah names Applebloom!” The bow wearing filly said. “Who are you?”

“I’m Megan. It’s nice to meet you.” She waved down to the filly, not sure if bending over or kneeling down in the dress was good for it. Megan had never spent much time in dresses and not because she didn’t like them; it’s just that she never got the chance. She’d been rather distant during high school and tried to keep under other people’s radar, so she never got asked to dances.

“What about you two?” She indicated to Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle.

“I’m Sweetie Belle! Rarity’s my big sister!” The unicorn filly chirped happily.

“And I’m Scootaloo! I don’t have any sisters.” She added just as enthusiastically. “Or brothers for that fact. Do you?”

“I have a younger brother.” Megan responded with a smile. “He’s about your age I think.”

“How old is he?” Sweeite Belle asked curiously.

“He’s six years old.” Megan answered.

“We’re seven.” Applebloom commented, still smiling. “Does he have his cutie mark yet?” Megan and the other humans looked at her curiously before they remembered Twilight’s comment during ‘first contact’ on the hill.

“No, humans don’t have cutie marks.” Megan explained. “We don’t get any physical manifestation of our special talents when we find them.” There were blank looks from the fillies and they turned back to Taylor, Marcus, and Thomas for clarification.

“We don’t have pictures on our butts to show us our special talent.” Taylor said, stifling a smile.

“Oooooooooooh.” The Cutie Mark Crusaders said in unison, before turning back to Megan.

“Then how do you know when you’ve found it?” Scootaloo asked curiously. Megan shrugged.

“We don’t. Sometimes it’s pointed out to us, sometimes we figure it out ourselves. and sometimes we never know.” She answered. This last part stunned the trio of fillies, unable to comprehend what it would be like to never know their special talents. The adults saw collective shivers run down their backs.

“Ah can’t imagine not knowin mah special talent.” Applebloom shuddered.

“You don’t know it now.” Sweetie Belle pointed out. The farm filly rolled her eyes.

“Ah mean fer mah entire life.” She clarified with a roll of her eyes.

“Ooooooh.” The unicorn muttered. The fillies quickly recovered and described their exploits in great detail to the humans, excited to have their input for what they could do. Taylor suggested things like fireworks making and demolition derby drivers, which didn’t go over well with Applejack, Twilight, and Megan. Needless to say the CMC’s weren’t listening and were quickly drawing up plans on how to combine the two.

Author's Note:

Just a heads up, the next chapters will not be posted once every two days. They are still in editing and I've got stuff coming up. Count on once every three to four days.

Comments

[Urversher]

good story man really enjoying :D