"Weeeee! Horsie riiiide!"
"Faster! Faster!"
"Neiggggggh!"
Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie all sat at in their booth, slurping on sundaes and smoothies. Their eyes were collectively locked on the scene taking place on the opposite end of the bakery.
Sunset Shimmer "galloped" around on all fours with twin toddlers riding her shoulders. A plump woman stood behind the front counter, pouring frosting onto cupcakes as she stared with a soft, motherly smile.
"Wuh oh... we're coming around the bend!" Sunset frolicked around a table and "reared up," thrashing her forearms in the air. "Whoahhhhhh! A rattlesnaaaake! Ohhh noes!"
The babies on her back giggled and cheered.
"I haven't seen Pound and Pumpkin have this much fun in a long time!" said Mr. Cake as he wiped a tabletop clean towards the front of the store. He turned and smiled at the scene. "Usually around this time of the day, we're struggling to keep them from turning the whole bakery into an opera house, on account of their crying!"
"Guess you just need to bring them by the stables every so often!" Panting for breath, Sunset adjusted her glasses and craned her neck back to smile at the toddlers. "Is that right? You like going for a country trot?" She leaned in and rubbed her cheeks against them. "Yes you do! Heehee! "Yes you doooo!"
"You're a natural with them!" Mrs. Cake said. "Dearie, would you consider letting us pay you to babysit them every other weekend?!"
"Really?! You mean it?!"
"So long as you're up for the challenge!" Mr. Cake uttered, walking by.
"Oh! Absolutely!" Sunset Shimmer plopped back on her haunches and cuddled the two. "I love foals!"
"I... uh..." Mrs. Cake smiled awkwardly. "I imagine that extends to babies as well?"
"Oh, definitely! Every colt and filly! C'mere, youuuuu..." She held them close as they cooed in delight. "Squee!"
From across the way, Rarity pointed with her wet straw. "There. That."
"What?" Rainbow glanced over.
"Did you hear that?"
"Mmmmfff..." Pinkie licked sundae froth from her lips. "Hear what?"
"That sound! That sound she just made!"
"I heard it." Fluttershy nodded. "Then again, I heard it the first few times she made it today."
"You mean she's making freaky sounds now too?" Rainbow remarked.
"I just know that I've heard it before," Rarity said, slurping the remains of her smoothie in deep thought. Suddenly, she brightened. "I've got it!" She looked at the others. "Every time Princess Twilight has visited!"
"I figured it was, y'know..." Applejack shrugged. "Some sort of Equestrian thang. Like a dialect from that 'Canterlot Castle' that Twilight's always tellin' us about."
"A horrrrrrse dialect!" Pinkie Pie uttered hoarsely. "And her cheeks get all big and puffy! Like this!" And she reached over, tugging at the corners of Fluttershy's face.
"Squee!" Fluttershy wheezed forth before batting Pinkie's hands away.
"See?!" Pinkie proudly boasted.
"You don't think that... like..." Rainbow scratched her forehead. "Sunset Shimmer is going backwards or something?"
"You mean like a relapse?" Rarity remarked.
"A pony relapse?" Applejack droned. "Y'all can't be serious."
"I don't think it's that hard to imagine," Fluttershy said, still rubbing her cheeks. "Think about it. Sunset Shimmer's been happy ever since we defeated Adagio Daemon."
"Erm... don't you mean 'Adagio Dastardly,' darling?"
"That wasn't her name!" Rainbow Dash grumbled. "It was... it was..." She rubbed her chin. "Uhm..."
"I know!" Pinkie held both arms up. "The Onyx Eclipse!" Silence. She blinked. "Wait..."
"Anyways..." Fluttershy continued. "Ever since the Battle of the Bands..."
"Sure..."
"...Sunset Shimmer's been... well... happy."
"Super duper happy!"
"Well, she did win our trust, once and for all," Rarity said, leaning back and crossing her legs. "Mrmmm..." She suckled on the straw, eyes darting aside. "I suppose we... did alienate her a bit for the first few months following the Fall Formal."
"A bit?" Applejack's eyes were straight. "More like a might."
"Well, the point is that we've since embraced her in open arms and we all know it." Rarity pointed with her straw. "And, most especially, so does she."
"So... like..." Rainbow gestured at the "galloping" teenager. "...this is Sunset Shimmer when she's happy? I mean really happy?"
"I guess so, darling."
"So why's she acting all crazy?"
"Crazy to us, maybe," Fluttershy said.
"Huh?"
"Well, think about it." Fluttershy glanced over. "She was born in Equestria."
"She was born a pony, ya mean," Applejack said.
"R-right."
"Well, that explains a few things," Rarity said. "Though, if you ask me, it's no excuse to forsake proper etiquette."
"Why, whatever do you mean?" Fluttershy pouted at the elegant fashionista. "Is there a rule book that says she can't act as her own natural self while she's over here?"
"Darling, for all intents and purposes, Sunset Shimmer is here to stay. She owes a debt to the school for the damage that she did when she was a powermongering... erm... y-you know what. So, it stands to reason that she should try to... well... blend in better!"
Fluttershy folded her arms. "And ignore the unbridled joy that she's kept pent-up within?"
"Ugh..." Rainbow shuddered. "Could we use the word 'bridle' less when we're in the same room with Sunset? Suddenly, it's giving me the willies."
"I think we should all be ashamed of ourselves for judging Sunset so harshly!" Fluttershy tilted her nose up. "She's redeemed herself in more ways than one! She's entitled to a little fun and relaxation! No matter how silly!"
"Weeeeeeeeeee!" Pinkie's voice warbled against the walls.
Fluttershy and the rest of her friends looked over.
Sunset Shimmer giggled as she "pranced" across the room. Pinkie Pie straddled her back, whipping her jacket in the air like a lasso. The Cakes and their pouting toddlers watched silently from afar. "Yeeeeeeehaaa! Hi-hoooooooo Shimmer! Awaaaaay! Heeeheehee!"
"Neeeeeeigh!"
Fluttershy bit her lip. "Uhm..." She brushed a strand of pink hair up and over her ear. "...m-maybe we should show her to the n-nearest playground, instead."
"I was thinkin' something more along the lines of a trip to the glue factory."
"Applejack!"
"Well, it wouldn't hurt to open her eyes some, ya reckon?!" Applejack gestured. "She's sure as heck openin' ours!"
"Wooooo-hooooo! Best! Horsie! Ride! Evarrrrrrrrr!"
I was waiting for Pinkie to join in, you had to know that she was going to.
Well then
UMMMM
...
Oh you
Someday, someday that story will finish.
I hope.
Because I want to know.
"The Onyx Eclipse"
Dat reference!!!
Do you mean a "mite?" Though that fits Applejack's accent, it also means "to a small extent; somewhat" ("a mite selfish") so that might not be what you're going for. Also, I don't know what you mean by here eyes being straight. She isn't Derpy. :) Maybe:
What are you, a dictionary?
Half Life 3 confirmed.
<3
So, um. This is happening.
ONE DAY WE SHALL KNOW WHAT THE ONYX ECLIPSE WAS AND THE FAIT OF POOR SCOOTA/HARMONY
or many many small puppys shall be kicked
THIS I PROMISE
kinda sorta
please finsh E.O.P
5236946
I'll chalk "Onyx Eclipse" up to "apocalyptic buzzword that sounds cool and ominous but even the author has no idea what it actually means."
Glue Factory, Yes...take her to a glue factory. Or possibly let her see a slaughterhouse...
Ah yes I saw what you did there, referencing that story you are likely never to finish.
5235012
I think they were going for the word "mighty," but they left off the 'y' so that it would better fit Applejack's accent. Plus, I believe AJ has actually said that before.
Waaat!?
5239198
No, Applejack in canon uses the phrase "a mite" not "a might". And that doesn't even make sense here because "a mite" is a synonym for "a bit".
5235870
Its a reference to his other series "The End of Ponies", and its become an in joke that he's going to finish it when the world ends.
I'm still completely confused..
I love how there's supposed to be a difference here
Of course Fluttershy would be the one that starts the connection to pony behavior and Rarity to note the change in trends and awareness. That 'bridle' part was good too, but the dig about the glue factory was harsh, funny but cringeworthy... Oh AJ, where is the love? Oh! and I love that 'squee' is a dialect thing
I like how the Cakes are all kind of wary by the end.
APPLEJACK!
And that was when I threw my hands up in the air and left the room.
Hi-hoooooooo Shimmer! Awaaaaay!
I'm crying I'm laughing so hard! I can't read anything regarding that reference without thinking of Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls!
'a mite,' not 'a might'
is there a reference that I'm not getting or....
7918164
Skyrim, I think.
This amuses me to no end.