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Prologue1,353 words
Chapter 14,576 words

Chapter 1

Author's Note:

This story will contain similarities to the US racial conflict and civil rights movement. However, I do not mean to directly compare this serious real-world history with colorful cartoon horses. In other words, I don't want you to walk away from this story with the message that ponies without horns are analogous to humans with heavily pigmented skin. Please don't go looking for parallels in everything.
Also, for those who notice this sort of thing, I will be taking liberties with geography when I want to. So Ponyville won't look exactly like it does on the maps online.

Trials and Tremulations

The train ride the next day was pleasant enough. Twilight had planned on reading, but the window next to her provided ample distraction. Twilight’s family was a busy one; they hadn’t had much time to venture outside Equestria’s capital. When they did, young Twilight often spent the travel time studying or reading up on the sights she was supposed to be paying attention to. This trip was different – although she couldn’t figure out exactly why. Something about the way the trees waved as they flew past the train window. The way the sun’s rays bounced off each object speeding by in a slightly different way. Whenever a pony came into view, Twilight felt like she was experiencing a brief moment in each pony’s life. One moment, she was a blue stallion trotting down the road. The next, she was a green mare chatting with her friend. And the next, she was a gray colt waving at the train.

Gee, thought Twilight, I’m really out of it, aren’t I?

In fact, Twilight was so "out of it" that she failed to notice Spike sneaking off every fifteen minutes to buy a snack from the food car.

"Approaching Ponyville, everypony," called the conductor as he moved down the aisle.

His gruff voice jolted Twilight’s attention away from the window. "Oh, wow, we got here quicker than I exp-" She stopped, squinting. "Spike, did you just put something in your mouth?"

Spike attempted to look confused. "Mnawp," he replied. "Deriz mnofing en my mouf!"

"Spiiiiike, how much candy did you buy?"

"Mmmm…" He swallowed. "eheh…"

"Spiiiiiiiiiiike..."

Sweating, Spike glanced around, desperate for a distraction. "Oh look, Ponyville!"

As he spoke the words, the train ground to a halt. All Twilight and Spike could see from their window was the train platform. A rickety old sign bearing the name of the town graced a wall that formed part of the ticket shop. They soon found their view obstructed by ponies rising from their seats and preparing to depart. Spike hopped out of his seat nervously. "Well, we better get in line or we’ll end up missing our stop!"

Twilight sighed. "I predict you’re going to have a tummy ache tonight."

A minute later, the two emerged onto the platform with the luggage, following the other passengers down a few steps and around the ticket shop. Finally, the town of Ponyville sat before them. Medieval-style townhouses with thatched roofs dominated the landscape, with colorful buildings of various shapes mixed in. Even though they appeared sizable enough to fit multiple residents comfortably, Twilight couldn't help thinking how tiny they looked. In Canterlot, everything was big. Even the city's smallest apartment buildings would easily top these quaint houses. Ponyville's residents evidently didn't have to worry as much as Canterlot's residents about making use of every free cubic hoof of space. In the distance, a tower rose above the rooftops - a couple of stories, she estimated. Again, comically small compared to to Canterlot. Not that this was a bad thing. She could spot very few buildings that exceeded two or three stories, meaning that her view of the surrounding countryside. Mountains stood in the far-off background of the northern side of the town; hills marked the southern side. A few small, puffy white clouds hung over this building and that building. The chirping of birds and the rustling of the wind greeted Twilight's ears, while soft, appetizingly green grass greeted her hooves.

Twilight closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her lungs excitedly analyzed the air - fresh, cool, deliciously pure air. The temperature was neither too hot nor too cold - juuuust right, her inner filly squealed. Only now did she understand how hazy and polluted Canterlot's air had been. Whereas Equestria's capital radiated impatience, Ponyville radiated homeliness. Twilight reopened her eyes, taking in the town once again.

She sat there gawking until she felt a claw poking her shoulder. "Uh, Twilight?" Spike asked. "I know it’s really pretty and all, but, um…"

Twilight stood, shaking her head. "Y-yes. Yes, we should get going."

She trotted towards the first set of houses, followed by Spike, but she hadn’t gone three paces into town when she stopped suddenly and gasped.

"Oh no nononono! Spike! I did forget something!"

"What?"

"Directions to the library!"

Spike blew out a breath. "Geez, Twilight, don’t scare me like that."

Twilight was not amused. "Well, Mister Smarty Pants, how are we going to find the place we’re spending the next few months at?"

"Ask for directions, duh." The baby dragon raised an eyebrow. "Who are you, a dad?"

Ignoring the tease, Twilight frowned. "Hmm. I just hope ponies here are nicer than Canterlot ponies. Most of them wouldn’t give you the time of day, never mind directions…"

It wouldn't be hard to find somepony to ask. She could see ponies walking up and down the roads, ponies watering gardens in front of homes, ponies leaning out of windows to wave at each other, ponies sitting and talking. But Twilight remained where she sat, left ear twitching nervously. Suddenly she felt her natural anti-social behavior take over. She glanced at Spike, hoping her dragon friend would miraculously remember and retrieve a town map from their luggage. Instead, he rolled his eyes and pointed to the nearest pony.

"Come on, Twilight," he pleaded, "just try."

The shy unicorn grimaced, but quickly hid it as the pony in question turned around. Taking another deep breath, she smiled awkwardly. "Uh... hello?"

The other pony gasped. "You must be new here! Hi, I'm Sunset Shimmer. Nice to meet you!" As they shook hooves, Twilight gave Sunset a once-over: she was an amber unicorn with a fiery mane of red and yellow and friendly light blue eyes. Around her own age, maybe a bit older. After a moment of silence, Sunset frowned with worry. "You are new here, right? If I've met you before and forgot, I'm so sorr-"

"Oh no, yes," Twilight piped up abashedly, "yes. I'm new here. My name's Twilight Sparkle. It's nice to meet you too!"

The smile returned to Sunset's face. "And who might this be?..." She gasped again. "Is that a dragon? A baby dragon?"

Spike grinned. "I sure am! Spike's the name." He extended a claw to shake. Sunset gave the claw a brief apprehensive glance but shook anyway.

"So!" she said, turning her attention back to Twilight. "Where are you from?"

"Canterlot," replied both Twilight and Spike.

"Really? That's cool! It must be really neat living in the capital. So what are you doing in little old Ponyville?"

"Recovering my health," Twilight responded, smiling sheepishly. Already she felt more at ease talking to this pony she had just met. "City life really is neat, but it takes a toll on you, and I guess I just needed some fresh air. My parents know the librarian here, so when she said she was moving to Fillydelphia, Mom and Dad shipped me out here with Spike to take over her responsibilities."

Sunset looked impressed. "Wow, a librarian? At your age?"

Twilight blushed and waved her hoof. "I'm a nerd. Anyway, I was wondering if you could point me toward the library."

"Point you?" The other mare started walking further into town. "I'll take you there!"

"Oh, you don't have to do that..."

"No, no, I insist. Besides, I can show you the sights along the way." Sunset grinned over her shoulder. "I think you'll like Ponyville."

For the next few minutes, Sunset led Twilight and Spike through the town, pointing out prominent businesses and explaining local events. She even helped carry the luggage. The more Twilight saw, the more she liked. Many ponies smiled and waved as the three passed by. Fillies and colts darted around corners and in between each other, giggling happily. Ponyville seemed practically idyllic. Nevertheless, there was one thing nagging at the back of Twilight's mind. Something was off. But between chatting with Sunset and taking in the sights, she couldn't put a hoof on it.

Soon enough they emerged into a circular clearing, at the center of which sat the tower Twilight had spotted earlier. Sunset explained that this was Town Hall, where the mayor and other town officials would meet and where several different ceremonies were held throughout the year. Just then, a white unicorn with a pink mane called out to Sunset from across the clearing. "Hey, Sunset!"

"Twinkleshine!" Sunset called back. Turning to Twilight and Spike, she smiled apologetically. "Excuse me for a bit."

Once Sunset had trotted out of earshot, Spike gave his adoptive sister an uneasy look. "Twilight, have you noticed too?"

Twilight frowned. "Noticed what, Spike?"

The baby dragon raised an eyebrow. "Twilight... they're all unicorns."

Thump. The nagging thought fell into place with an impact that Twilight could feel in her stomach. Looking around, she confirmed that of the many ponies in sight, all had horns. She began to feel confused as well as ashamed. Canterlot had plenty of non-unicorn citizens, but earth ponies and pegasi tended to live in the poorer areas of the city. The few non-unicorns Twilight encountered on a regular basis were in the service industry, pulling taxicabs or washing windows. She was so used to interacting mainly with unicorns that she hadn't even noticed the apparent absence of earth ponies and pegasi in Ponyville!

But if this was a unicorn-only town, why hadn't her parents told her? Surely they would remember something like that. Twilight liked to think of her family as more progressive than average unicorns when it came to pony tribe inequality. Unlike many unicorns in Equestria, Twilight had not grown up with the idea that unicorns had an inherent right to be the dominant tribe. So why would her parents send her here?

Her thoughts were interrupted as Sunset returned from greeting her friend. "Sorry about that. Twinkleshine and I go way back. I would've introduced you, but she was in a hurry."

"Oh, it's no problem," replied Twilight quickly with a nervousness that had nothing to do with being shy. "Say, Sunset..." She cleared her throat. "Are there... you know... pegasi and earth ponies in Ponyville?"

Sunset laughed. "Oh, pffft, of course. This is just the nice part of town."

"Oh... of course." Twilight attempted a smile, but it probably looked more like a grimace.

The tour ended a few minutes later. For a moment, Twilight forgot about tribal inequality. In front of her stood a treehouse. As in, a living tree hollowed into a house. The enormous trunk was just about just about as wide as the other houses she had seen stood about three stories tall. Foliage covered much of the upper portion, while the lower portion sported windows of various shapes and sizes. Two balconies were visible. The design was asymmetrical, which might have otherwise bothered Twilight, but it went well with the trunk's asymmetrical bends and curves.

"I'm assuming you like it?" Sunset asked, watching Twilight's face knowingly.

"It's the loveliest house I've ever seen," the dumbstruck unicorn answered truthfully. "Oh, Sunset Shimmer, thank you so much for helping us out! I already feel welcome!"

Sunset beamed and blushed a bit. Spike stepped forward. "Yes, thank you very much Ms. Shimmer!" As he moved, he kicked one of Twilight's hooves. When Twilight turned to him in surprise, he gave her the briefest of meaningful looks. It was enough; the two adoptive siblings had spent enough time with each other that they were able to communicate silently if the situation for it arose. Suddenly Twilight remembered what had been worrying her before they had reached the library. If she weren't a unicorn, would Sunset have helped her? She now felt decidedly less grateful to her new "friend".

"Oh, before I forget!" Twilight spoke up, trying to still sound enthusiastic. "Where are the earth ponies and pegasi? Just so, you know... I know... yeah..."

Sunset gave her an odd look. "The earth ponies have western Ponyville all to themselves, and I don't think many pegasi live in Ponyville at all. As a matter of fact, we're pretty much on the border of the earth pony sector right now." Frowning, she turned to look past the library. "That's the one downside to living in this library. They don't usually cross the border, but..." She turned back to Twilight with a reassuring smile. "It never hurts to be careful. You never know with Mudflanks, right?"

This time Twilight didn't hide her disgust. "Right." Trotting stiffly forward, she grabbed the luggage Sunset had been carrying with her mouth and turned around, heading for the front door with Spike at her side. "'ell, theeya round!" she spoke around a mouthful of luggage strap. Neither of them looked back at the thoroughly confused Sunset.

If Twilight had thought the exterior of the library looked beautiful, that was nothing compared to how she reacted to the interior. A roomy main chamber, an equally roomy basement, a personal chamber with a raised bed area, a cute little kitchen, a sparkly-clean bathroom, and two tree-top balconies. And then there were the books.

"Twilight, are you going to help me unpack or not?" Spike interrupted Twilight's drooling, feigning an irritated look.

"Right, sorry." Shaking her head, she picked up the luggage that had dropped from her slack jaw and trotted up to the loft.

Half an hour later, Twilight trotted down into the main room. Spike lay on the floor, eyes closed, arms and legs spread as if he was making a snow angel. The unicorn raised any eyebrow. "You know there's a bed for you upstairs, right?"

Spike waved a claw at her lazily. "Eh. I'm not that sleepy. Just a bit tired - all that walking, and then we had to unpack..." He yawned. "I think I'll just take a little nap..."

"But we've only seen half the town yet! It's only a bit after noon. Come on, Spike, you can nap later."

"Aw, give a dragon a break, Twi," whined Spike. "We can explore more tomorrow. Have you looked at all the books yet?"

"Ooo!" squealed Twilight. "I forgot about the books! Well, I didn't really forget about the books, I could never forget about the books, I just..." She skipped over to the "A" section of the fiction. "I... mmmmhmhmhm..." she giggled. "So... many... books..."

Spike chuckled to himself softly. "Heh heh. Books - works every time." But he hadn't napped for a minute before Twilight tore herself away from the book shelves.

"Nnnggg... as hard as it is to resist, I have to wait to start reading. There's plenty of sunlight left, and I'll be shoed if I spend the rest of my first day in Ponyville indoors. I've got to meet more ponies!"

Spike lifted his head to shoot her a frown. "Where's introverted Twilight when I need her?"

Trotting toward the door, Twilight returned his frown. "She's taking a nap. Now let's go."

Standing outside, the two surveyed the local neighborhood. When she walked around the sizable oak trunk of the treehouse, Twilight examined what Sunset Shimmer had referred to as the "earth pony sector". The difference with the unicorn sector wasn't obvious. The architectural design seemed the same - mostly thatched-roof townhouses. As she came closer to the earth pony sector house, though she spotted something off. A few wall cracks here, a faded paint job there. It could just have been her imagination, but the other houses she had seen had looked immaculate. She would have examined further, but she suddenly noticed an earth pony filly looking at her from a second-story window. Blushing, Twilight kept walking. She started to see ponies out and about. Once they saw here, many of them stopped and stared. But once she tried to meet their eyes, they hurriedly averted their eyes and went along their business. A familiar uncomfortable feeling crept over Twilight. She was becoming overly shy again. Suddenly spending the rest of the day at the library sounded like a fantastic idea. Ironically, it was Spike who prodded her to keep going.

She didn't get very far. One second, she blinked, and the next, a pink pony was standing nose-to-nose with her with a large smile on her face. "Hi!"

"Gah!" Twilight jumped a foot. "When did you... how did..."

"You look lost!" said the other mare, still smiling.

Recovering, Twilight ran a hoof over her mane. "H-hi. I'm Twilight Sparkle."

The pink pony made a huge gasp, sending Twilight into the air for a second time. "Omigosh omigosh omigosh! i haven't seen you before. And if I haven’t seen you before, that means you’re new, ‘cause I know everypony, and I mean everypony, in Ponyville! Or at least, this part of Ponyville. And if you’re new, that means you haven’t met anyone yet, and if you haven’t met anyone yet, that means you don’t have any friends, and if you don’t have any friends, you must be lonely, and that makes me so sad-"

Suddenly she gasped again. This time Twilight only flinched. "Omigosh! I haven't even told you my name yet! Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie, and I hope we become super-duper best friends!"

Twilight returned Pinkie's smile. "I hope so too!"

Twilight's reply caused Pinkie to smile even more. "You do? Oh, thank you!" She began hopping up and down. "You have no idea how happy I am to hear that! I mean, meeting new ponies and asking them to be my friends always makes me happy, and even happier if they say yes, and I really needed to be extra happy today 'cause I didn't get to bake as many cupcakes today as I did yesterday, and that made me sad, but now you're here, and you're smiling at me, and you're a unicorn for pony's sake-"

The mention of "unicorn" caused Twilight to grimace slightly. Pinkie must have noticed, because she stopped hopping and replaced her gleeful smile with an apologetic one. "Woops, sorry, that was rude of me. Silly Pinkie! Anyway," she continued as she turned to Spike. "What's your name?"

"Hi, I'm Spike." Spike's smile was more than polite; Pinkie's joyful demeanor was infectious.

"Hi Spike!" Pinkie gushed. "I hope we can be friends too! I've never had a dragon friend before. In fact, I've never met a dragon before. Ooo - which reminds me - are you guys from Ponyville or out of town?"

"We're from Canterlot," answered Twilight. "We just got here today actually. We'll be staying for a few months."

"Ooooo!" Pinkie squealed. "Welcome to Ponyville! Want me to show you around?"

Twilight and Spike exchanged a glance before smiling back at Pinkie. "If you don't mind, that'd be lovely!" Twilight responded.

"Ooo! And there's Cherry Berry! Ooo! And there's Royal Riff! Ooo! And there's Shoeshine! Ooo! And there's Octavia! Ooo! And there's..."

Pinkie Pie rattled off name after name while escorting the two newcomers through the earth pony sector of Ponyville. They were almost all earth ponies, but Twilight was relieved to find that the area wasn't entirely segregated. It seemed that a few unicorns and pegasi lived among the earth ponies. Everyone seemed just as friendly as the unicorns in the other part of town had been, though most seemed a bit surprised to see Twilight and Spike. Whether that surprise was in reaction to seeing a unicorn or a baby dragon, Twilight wasn't sure. One pony, a green unicorn mare Pinkie referred to as Lyra, initially just raised her eyebrows a bit, but a second later her eyes were as wide as saucers. She started galloping towards Spike with an alarmingly hungry look on her face, causing Bon Bon, the cream earth pony mare beside her, to put a hoof around her and drag her away with an irritated expression. Twilight would have to ask Pinkie about that later.

"Ooo ooo ooo ooo!" squealed said pony. "And this is where I live! And where I work! Sugarcube Corner!" She proudly pointed to a large, colorful building. The roof's shingles were shaped like ice cream scoops, and something obviously standing in for whipped cream coated the edges of the roof. The two-story building included a tower mocked up to resemble a cupcake. Candy-cane pillars stood on either side of the entrance. The paint was cracked in a couple of places and the "whipped cream" bore the occasional streak of grime, but on the whole the place looked lovely.

"Do you like it? Huh? Huh?" Pinkie hopped up and down - she seemed to do that a lot - awaiting the approval of Twilight and Spike. The two in question quickly reassured her that nothing like this existed in Canterlot. The capital had lots of sweet shops, but none this creatively designed. Pinkie took the praise with an odd yet charming sound best spelled as squee. "Come on in, friends!" she invited as she bounced into Sugarcube Corner.

The shop didn't appear to be busy at the moment, with only one customer - another unicorn, Twilight noticed - sitting at the tables. A blue earth pony mare with a pink mane stood behind the counter. Upon seeing Pinkie, she smiled tiredly. "Ah, Pinkie, we didn't expect you back so soon! Are these friends of yours?" she said, nodding politely at Twilight and Spike.

"Yes indeedy, Mrs. Cake!" Pinkie flung a hoof over both Twilight and Spike, which was a mighty feat considering she stood a good four feet away from Spike. "This is Twilight Sparkle and Spike!"

Twilight and Spike returned Mrs. Cake's nod, with Twilight saying, "It's nice to meet you!"

A yellow earth pony stallion with an orange mane stepped out from the kitchen, balancing a pastry on his head. "It's nice to meet you too. This is my wife, Cup Cake, and I'm Carrot Cake. We run Sugarcube Corner - with Pinkie's help, of course."

Twilight continued smiling; small talk wasn't one of her stronger fields. Deciding to improvise, she glanced around the place. "Wow! I've never seen something quite like this."

Pinkie pointed a hoof at some cupcakes in the glass display case. "Want some goodies? My treat!" She snorted. "Snkt! Heeheehaha! Get it? My treat? 'Cause I made these! Heeheeheehee!"

As Pinkie descended into a fit of giggles and snorts, Twilight shook her head. "Oh, no, that's quite alright. Besides, Spike had plenty of sweets on the train, didn't you..." She trailed off in confusion. "Spike?"

The dragon seemed to ignore her, instead directing all of his attention to the white unicorn mare with an elegant purple mane sitting at one of the tables. She appeared to be talking to herself quietly, but loudly enough for Twilight to hear her, occasionally taking sips from her milkshake. "No, no, that won't work... Too flashy. She'd never agree to wear that. Then again, she hardly agrees to wear anything I give her... Hmmm, what if I try... oh, but I'm saving that for another occasion... Well maybe if- ugh, no, Rarity, what are you thinking?..."

Spike sat transfixed, his mouth hanging slightly open. "... Beautiful..." he managed to mutter. Twilight rolled her eyes, wishing she had a camera.

Finally the white pony seemed to give up, throwing hooves in the air and tossing her hair dramatically. "Oh -" (she paused to take a sip) "- oh, woe is me!"

"No, 'Rarity' is you, not 'woe', silly!" Pinkie trotted merrily over to the distraught-looking mare. "It's okay, I forget my own name sometimes too."

"Do you now, dear?" responded a mildly surprised Rarity, recovering rather quickly from her distraught state. Seeing Twilight and Spike, she stood. "Hello there! I didn't mean to be rude. I am Rarity, and I..." She grabbed her milkshake, taking a good long sip before continuing. "... am in the middle of a fashion emergency!" She levitated the cup to the trash bin with her magic. "And you are?"

Twilight introduced herself and waited for Spike to do the same, but Spike was having trouble functioning at that moment. Groaning, Twilight introduced Spike as well.

"Charmed," chirped Rarity. She didn't seem at all uneasy with the lovestruck expression Spike was giving her; it occurred to Twilight that this obviously attractive mare may have been used to such behavior from males.

Pinkie grinned, evidently pleased at having her new friends make more new friends. "These two just got into town, and I'm showing them around! Next stop is Sweet Apple Acres - wanna come with?"

Rarity gave a small frown. "Actually, I had planned to go there when I had figured out a dress design to give Applejack, but the festival's well underway, and even I can't put something together that quickly. So yes," she smiled again, "I shall accompany you."

Spike grinned, causing Twilight to roll her eyes again. As the other three exited the shop, he waved goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Cake and licked a claw, running it over his head scales before jogging to catch up.

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