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Chapter 1

Ponyville. A town where friendship and harmony fly freely. Well, for most of its residents.

Some time ago, I sent my faithful student, Twilight Sparkle, down to this quiet little town to make new friends, and learn important lessons about life, friendship, and harmony. Over the passing months, she's gained valuable experience, and made friends with almost all the residents of Ponyville.

However, she wasn't the first pony that I had sent to Ponyville, and for the first while, I grew concerned that she would meet these ponies. I really didn't want Twilight to associate with them. As time passed, however, I grew certain that their paths wouldn't cross in any meaningful way.

Of course, things don't always work out as expected, not even in Equestria...

Twilight Sparkle trotted through the town square in a cheerful mood. She had finished her studies for the day ahead of schedule, and she had just sent Princess Celestia her latest Friendship Report the previous day, meaning that she wouldn't be expecting another for a whole week. She had the whole day to herself, and she planned on spending it with her friends. The weather seemed just perfect for a picnic.

Of course, she had her friend Rainbow Dash to thank for that, she thought, and as the thought crossed her mind, the bold, blue pegasus swooped down beside the unicorn.

"Hey Twilight," Rainbow Dash said, trotting along beside her friend. "Didn't expect to see you out and about. I thought you were studying or something?"

"Oh, I finished all my studies early," Twilight explained. "I was thinking of having an impromptu picnic, the weather seemed perfect for it. I was just on my way to Sugarcube Corner to pick up some treats, and see if Pinkie could come."

"Really? You're going to Sugarcube Corner?" Dash asked.

"Yeah, why?" Twilight said. "Is something wrong?"

"I dunno," Dash replied. "I was just passing overhead a few minutes ago and there was some big commotion going on, shouting and stuff."

"Really?" Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow. "Maybe I should check it out. Why don't you go fetch the others and let them know about the picnic."

"Can do!" Dash said, taking flight. "I'll see you later, Twi!" With that, Rainbow Dash took off, leaving a streak of rainbow in her wake.

Twilight arrived at Sugarcube Corner a few minutes later, and, just like Rainbow Dash had said, there was quite a bit of shouting coming from inside. She could hear Mrs. Cake's voice, who seemed to be trying to calm things down, but Twilight wasn't sure who the other voice belonged to. She slowly entered, to see what was going on.

"It's alright, dear, just calm down, your order shouldn't be too much longer." Mrs. Cake said to whomever it was she was with, as Twilight opened the door. "In the meantime, why don't you try one of these cupcakes that Pinkie Pie made not too long ago? No charge!"

Mrs. Cake, looking somewhat nervous, pushed a plate of cupcakes across the counter, each decorated with pink frosting and an abundance of sprinkles. It was here that Twilight got a glimpse of the unfamiliar pony. She was a brilliantly white pegasus, though she had a dark purple mane that fell flat all around her. The few pink streaks showing through near the bottom reminded her of her own hairstyle somewhat. A quick glance at her flank told her that the pony's Cutie Mark was a purple and dark blue striped stocking, though what it represented Twilight had no idea. The pony at the counter took a cupcake from the dish, and, after carefully examining it, she took a bite out of it, before promptly gagging on it.

"Ugh, Celestia, it tastes like I'm chewing on somepony's flank!" The pony said, dropping the cupcake on the floor. "Tell that hyperactive pink spaz that she needs to learn to bake!"

Mrs. Cake looked a bit more nervous now, and began looking around for some sort of distraction. A chime sounded out from the kitchen, and Mrs. Cake said "Oh! That's your order! Let me just go get that, one moment!" Mrs. Cake hurried out, leaving Twilight alone with the pony, who was currently smearing the dropped cupcake on the store floor. Part of Twilight felt that she should speak up and defend her friend, though this pony didn't really seem like the type to get into it with. The pony stopped smearing the cupcake after a moment, and looked back at Twilight. The purple unicorn nervously forced out a short "Hi," but the other pony said nothing, simply looking her up and down quickly before turning back to the counter.

Mrs. Cake returned after a moment, and placed a few boxes on the counter. "There you are, dear," Mrs. Cake said. "That'll be twenty two bits."

"Finally," the pony said, tossing several coins on the counter. Mrs. Cake placed the boxes into a cloth bag, which the white pony draped around her neck. She turned and left, leaving a few frosting hoofprints behind on her path to the door. She shot another glance at Twilight before exiting, flying off with the bag around her neck.

Twilight watched the pony leave, before she turned to Mrs. Cake. The shopkeeper called upstairs. "Pinkie, you can come down now, she's left!"

The pink pony trotted down the stairs, huffing and looking somewhat upset. "Ooooh, I hate it when she comes here!" Pinkie said, looking at the trail of frosting. "She's always so rude, and mean, and nasty, and she has no taste when it comes to sweets, and- oh, hi Twilight!" The pony perked up almost immediately as she saw her friend.

"Who was that pony that was just in here?" Twilight asked, looking between Mrs. Cake and Pinkie Pie.

"Oh, that was Stocking Anarchy," Pinkie said, returning to her sour disposition. "She always comes in here and acts all rude and nasty to everyone, and she always insults my baking, and if I had my way, she wouldn't be allowed to come here and be mean and nasty at all-"

"But, despite all that," Mrs. Cake said, getting a broom and cleaning up the sugary mess. "She happens to be one of my best customers. Banning her from the store would be an unwise move for business."

"But Mrs. Cake, she always comes in and bullies you!" Pinkie said. "You can't put up with it, even if she gets you that much profit!"

"Well, let's just forget about her for now," Twilight said. "Pinkie, I was putting together a picnic, and I was wondering if you wanted to come?"

"Sure, that sounds like fun!" Pinkie said.

"Great, I'll meet you later this afternoon," Twilight said, before turning to Mrs. Cake. "Mrs. Cake, can I get some cupcakes for later?"

"Of course, dear," Mrs. Cake said. "I'll prepare them right away."

"Thanks," Twilight said. Pinkie Pie raced upstairs to go get ready, and Twilight left the shop to go prepare herself. As she walked out, though, she began to think about that Stocking character. Why had she never seen her before? she thought. And why did she look at Twilight the way she did? Shaking the thoughts out of her head, she headed back for the library and prepared for the afternoon.

Later that day, Twilight and her friends were enjoying their little picnic. It was a little short notice, so the food was sort of basic, but nobody really minded. There was, however, something missing that made Twilight feel a little anxious.

"You're sure Applejack said she was coming?" Twilight asked Rainbow Dash, after about half an hour had passed with no sign of their friend.

"Positive," Dash explained. "She just said she had a few chores to finish up, and then she'd be here."

"You don't suppose something happened to her?" Fluttershy, the meek yellow pegasus, wondered aloud.

"Don't worry, Fluttershy," Rarity, the posh unicorn, said reassuringly. "Applejack is a strong pony, I'm sure she can handle anything that comes her way."

"Yeah, I'm sure she'll be along any minute now," Twilight said. As if on cue, the aforementioned orange earth pony came trotting over the hill the others had set up the picnic on.

"Hey everypony!" Applejack said. "Sorry I'm late, somethin' just came up back at the farm." For some reason, her mane and tail were all fussed up and dirty, and her hat was slightly torn and sat crooked on her head, obscuring one of her eyes. She even seemed to walk with a slight limp.

"Applejack, you look simply awful!" Rarity exclaimed. "Whatever happened to you?"

"Oh, t'aint nothin' to worry about," Applejack explained. "I just caught 'you-know-who' hangin' 'round the barn, makin' googly eyes at Big Macintosh again. Told her to clear off on account o' she was distractin' everypony from workin', and we got into it." She righted her hat with a quick nod backward, revealing a big, puffy black eye.

"Whoa-ho-ho!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "Nice shiner!"

Applejack smirked. "You oughtta see her! Gave'r a matchin' set, an' told her if I caught her trespassin' again, I'd give it to her twice as hard."

"Hold on, Applejack, I'll fix your eye for you," Twilight said. Her horn started to glow, and Applejack's wound faded and eventually disappeared, leaving her eye back in its normal, uninjured state. "Now," Twilight said as she stepped back from Applejack. "Who exactly are you talking about?"

"That Panty mare, o'course," Applejack explained. "She comes 'round Sweet Apple Acres every now 'n' again tryin' to sweet talk Big Macintosh. Reckon she's bored with all the other guys an' she's tryin' to lasso the last fella in Ponyville."

"Who's Panty?" Twilight asked, confused.

"Remember Stocking, the one you bumped into earlier at Sugarcube Corner?" Pinkie chimed in. "Well, Panty's her sister."

"Really? Why haven't I met these two before?" Twilight asked. "I thought I'd met pretty much everypony in Ponyville."

"Well. as far as I know, they don't exactly hang around town all that often," Dash explained. "They probably just spend a lot of time hanging around their place."

"Just as well," Rarity said. "They aren't exactly the most civil of ponies."

"And they're lazy, too," Applejack added. "I ain't never seen them lift a finger to help somepony other than themselves."

"I don't know how much time they actually spend at their house, Rainbow," Fluttershy said quietly. "Sometimes I see the two of them running off into the forest. I just hope they aren't being mean to the animals in there..."

"I wouldn't be suprised if they were, to tell you the truth, Fluttershy," Pinkie said. "Seeing the way they treat other ponies around here. They're just a couple of mean, nasty, icky-"

"Uh, Pinkie," Dash said, trying to get the pink pony's attention.

"-rude, smelly-"

"Pinkie..."

"-lazy, rotten-"

"Pinkie Pie!"

"-dummy dumb jerks!" Pinkie finished, panting a bit. She then looked over to Rainbow Dash with a cheerful smile. "Yes, Dashie?"

Rainbow Dash gestured behind Pinkie, and the others all seemed to be looking at the spot behind Pinkie as well. She turned, and standing behind her were the two ponies she had just been talking about.

"Jerks?" The white pegasus, Stocking, as Twilight recalled, repeated. "Panty and I may be a lot of things, but we are not jerks. It's called being honest."

"Yeah," the other one, a light peach pegasus with a blonde mane and several bruises (among which were a pair of black eyes concealed by shades, as Applejack had boasted), said. "If anyone's a jerk, it's that high-and-mighty farmgirl over there. I was just minding my own business when you came over and attacked me!"

"Listen you," Applejack said, stomping over toward the pair. "I told y'all before Big Macintosh ain't interested in what you're offerin', and that you're keepin' us from workin' with your constant sneakin' around our property!"

"Hey, I'm trying to do your brother a favor, alright?" Panty said, stomping over and getting in Applejack's face. "The guy needs to have a little fun once in a while! Of course, a stick-in-the-mud like you wouldn't know what fun is."

"I'll show you a stick-in-the-mud you no-account-"

"Girls! Please!" Twilight said, forcing the two apart. "You two already fought once today, isn't that enough?"

"Wouldn't matter if we did," Applejack said. "Can't knock sense into a skull that thick."

Panty, however, was ignoring Applejack now, and instead focused on Twilight, lowering her shades to get a better look at the unicorn. "...Hey, Stockin', is this the one you said you saw earlier?"

"Yeah, that's right," Stocking said. "Over at Sugarcube Corner." Twilight looked between the two, confused.

"Huh," Panty said. She turned to Twilight, and looked her up and down. "You wouldn't happen to have been one of Celestia's students, would you?"

"Yeeeaaahhh..." Twilight said, still confused.

Panty snorted. "Wow, and we thought we were the only ones. So what'd she kick you out for?"

"What do you mean 'kick me out?'" Twilight said indignantly. "If you mean 'what am I doing here?', Princess Celestia sent me here to make friends and learn about friendship! And how did you know I was one of Celestai's students?"

"Whatever, it's not important," Panty said. She turned and began to trot away. "Come on Stockin', let's get out of here."

"Whatever," Stocking replied, and turned to follow her sister. The two of them walked away from the six ponies, and left them to puzzle over what had just transpired.

"Do you know those two, Twilight?" Rarity asked, looking confused.

"I don't think so..." Twilight said. "I've never seen them before in my life. How did they know I was one of Celestia's students? I've never even met them."

"Maybe somepony told them?" Fluttershy offered.

"Nah, that can't be it," Applejack said. "They ain't got nopony that likes 'em around here, can't imagine why somepony'd tell 'em somethin' like that."

"They asked me if I'd been 'kicked out'..." Twilight pondered. She suddenly began hurrying away.

"Where are you going, Twilight?" Pinkie asked.

"To the library. I've got a hunch, I just need to see if I'm right," Twilight said. Her friends watched her gallop away, and decided to pack up their picnic and follow after her.

Twilight didn't stop to wait for her friends. If what she thought was right, then that would open up a lot more questions about what those two ponies were doing in Ponyville, and why she didn't know about them.

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