It's Got To Be My Destiny

by 1Bluefur

Needs A Little Polish

For a moment the only sound was the frantic scribbling of Twilight’s quill. Pinkamena liked to talk very, very fast. It was difficult to keep up, but when it came to note taking, there were very few things that could stop Twilight Sparkle in her pursuit of knowledge.

“Okay, so, each field is carefully maintained to have a specific set of minerals and soil types so that the rocks in each field contain the right properties to form the desired crystals,” Twilight reviewed.

“Basically!” the pink earth pony responded. “Earth pony magic is used to help speed things up. Otherwise it would take forever, maybe even a thousand years! We also set strategic fires to heat the soil, it’s an important part of the process!”

Twilight quickly wrote down the additional information, “I’ll have to reorganize these when I get back,” she thought.

“Okay, and… Rotating the rocks at various points during this process helps create the conditions needed for specific gems. Though some rocks can remain where they are. Despite the many rocks on the surface of a rock farm the most important part of the process occurs underground,”

“You are once again correct! Wow Twilight, you’re a really good note taker! No wonder you’re so smart!”

Twilight flushed, “Oh it’s nothing,” she mumbled. “It’s just something you learn how to do when you study a lot,”

Applejack chuckled, “Aw shucks Twi, there’s no need to be so modest now. You should have seen how many notes she took to her meeting with Cheerilee! She’s a regular ol’ bookworm!”

“I should have figured! Well than Miss. Bookworm, there’s one last thing I wanna show you for today! Follow me!” Pinkamena giggled. She gave a slight bounce before trotting away.

Twilight rolled her eyes and trailed behind the pink pony. The trio made their way up a dirt slope, stopping at the top of an overhang. There was something particularly striking about the view that Twilight couldn’t quite put her hoof on.

“Nice isn’t it?” Twilight jumped slightly when Pinkamena’s voice appeared right next to her ear. “I used to come here all the time as a filly,” Twilight stared for a moment, completely puzzled by Pinkamena’s wistful gaze.

“Anyways! This is the south field. It’s our lowest,” Pinkamena continued, as though she hadn’t been incredibly somber the moment prior. “It’s also the only one where we let some grass grow,” the “grass” in question was small clumps of yellowed foliage scattered through the field. Though it certainly was more than the other fields had.

Pinkamena then gestured out towards the woods on the very edge of the field. Squinting, Twilight could make out an uncharacteristically dark shape. “That’s actually the entrance to a cavern, it’s very warm inside, and it goes waaaayyy down underground! We wind up moving a lot of rocks inside to expose them to even more heat and moisture,” she explained.

“Will we be going in there?” Twilight asked.

Pinkamena shook her head. “Nah, mom and dad are doing their inspections and trust me when I say we shouldn’t interrupt them,”

Twilight felt a small twinge of disappointment. “Oh,” she said.

“But you’re more than welcome to look inside some other time! It would be nice to have you over again! Ooo, maybe Rarity could come too!”

Twilight’s brain halted for a moment. “Why would she want to see me again?” she asked herself. “Who the hay is Rarity? Why do these ponies even want so many friends? Don’t most ponies only have one or two?”

“In faaaact,” the pink pony continued, “She stopped by just before you two arrived! I figured I would keep it a surprise for Applejack; Rarity and her are tighter than a rock pulleys rope!”

“Buck,” Twilight thought. “I should have known!”

“Uh as much as I would… Love to meet Rarity… We really should get going, right Applejack? I have so much studying to do and you can always see Rarity later… Right?”

Applejack stared at her like she’d grown an extra head. “I haven’t seen Rarity in months!” she exclaimed. “I’m sorry Twilight but I insist on staying for lunch. With all due respect, this is very important to me, and I know your notes are important to ya too but… They’re not gonna vanish or feel disappointed if you come home a little later than intended. Besides, Rarit’s a unicorn too! I’m sure you’ll like her once you meet her.”

Twilight opened her mouth to protest but she could tell from Applejack’s hard gaze that the earth pony wasn’t budging on the issue. She let out a small huff instead. “Fine,” she conceded.

The purple mare flinched when Pinkamena unexpectedly pulled her into a quick side hug. “Aw thank you Twilight! Trust me, I know how socializing can be really hard for some ponies. I’m probably the most social out of my whole family!” she paused to giggle. “But, I know for a fact that you and Rarity will have a great time discussing her gem location spell! She made it up all by herself!”

That got Twilight’s attention. All traces of reluctance evaporated from her expression. “She… Made up her own spell?!” she repeated. “That’s… Incredible! Did she attend Celestia’s school? Or maybe she grew up in Sire’s Hallow?”

Pinkamena laughed and shook her head “Nope! She grew up in Ponyville!” she said, her answer was quickly followed by more laughter as Twilight’s jaw plummeted to the ground.

“That’s… Incredible!” the unicorn said, “This Rarity must be very studious! I’m definitely interested in meeting her now!”

“That’s right,” Applejack said. “She’s pretty darn talented, but keep in mind she’s probably not what you’re thinking. She just has a great passion for what she does. So any skill that can help better her craft she will do everything she can to learn. It’s extremely admirable if you ask me,” her emerald eyes softened for a moment, filling with fondness.

A small movement caught Twilight’s eye. Pinkamena had scrunched her muzzle as if to hold something in. Twilight gave her a nonplussed look, which she responded to by shaking her head.

Twilight mentally shrugged and dropped it. “Whatever that was about, I’m probably not interested in anyways.”

The trio continued along in silence until the farmhouse came into view. Two ponies could be seen standing on the porch. Twilight had already met Marble and Limestone Pie out in the fields; so she could only surmise the two ponies were Rarity and Pinkamena’s third sister… Whose name she had already forgot.

As they drew closer Twilight could see the other unicorn took notice of them, her face immediately lit up with excitement. She rapidly galloped off the porch and headed straight for Applejack.

“Applejaaack!” she called as she galloped. Twilight stepped aside as Rarity tackled Applejack into a tight hug.

“Oh my stars! It’s so good to see you!” she exclaimed.

Twilight stared, completely baffled, as the mare’s sapphire eyes started tearing up a little.

“Oh darling! It felt like you were never coming back!” Rarity continued, sniffling a little.

Applejack chuckled affectionately, “It was just a couple of months Rares, besides, I had to get my affairs in order before I could go anywhere! Movin’ out from the city is almost as much work as stayin’ there!”

“Oh but it felt like forrreeever!” Rarity insisted with a small pout. “Well… Whatever the case… The point is, I am very glad you’re back.”

Twilight was beginning to have a hard time picturing the alabaster pony doing any kind of serious studying, let alone creating an entire spell.

It was at that point that Rarity took notice of her presence. “Oh! Forgive my manners darling! I was so caught up in my reunion that I forgot to introduce myself! My name is Rarity, the mare with gemstone flare! I search for, cut and polish gems of all sorts. You must be Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight was momentarily confused as to how Rarity knew her name, until she remembered what Pinkamena said when they first met. The idea that other ponies were actually talking about her was very disconcerting.

“Yep! That’s me! Hah… I guess everypony’s been talking about me huh?” Twilight wished she could just vanish.

“Oh darling, of course everypony is talking about you! You are an esteemed Canterlot scholar, which is certainly nothing to be modest about now, coming all the way to Ponyville, a small farming town, it is incredibly juicy news!” Rarity gushed. “These kinds of things don’t happen often you know… Although, I can imagine the attention might be overwhelming at first… After all you did live in a city your whole life.”

“The anonymity of a city is definitely appealing,” a fifth voice, completely lacking in emotion, suddenly joined the conversation. Twilight’s amethyst eyes locked into the dusty purple of the newcomer. She was a strong looking gray earth pony whose expression was almost disturbingly neutral.

“I’m Maud by the way,”

“T-Twilight Sparkle,”

“I know.”

“Oh Maud, you’re so funny!” Pinkamena giggled.

Twilight was utterly lost as to what could possibly be so funny. Thankfully, when she looked at the others they seem to mirror her confusion. ”At least I’m not the only pony out of the loop for once,” she thought.

The pink mare proceeded to place an arm over her sisters back. “Maud is such a joker! Hay, you know what would be great? If we all went to one of her stand up shows! What do you say Twilight?”

Twilight shifted uncomfortably, wondering why she was being singled out for an answer. Of course it was the last thing she wanted to do. She wanted to say: ‘No! I’m not going to go to a stupid comedy show! Unlike some ponies around here, I actually care about doing my work. In fact, I never want to see any of you again!’

“Uh… Sure?"

“Great! Now why don’t we go inside and get comfy? I know Twilight would love to ask about your gem spell Rarity!”

“The spell...” Pinkamena had helped jog Twilight’s memory. “That’s right, I did want to ask you about that…” she said.

Rarity blushed, “Oh darling, it’s nothing really, why I must admit I barely know anything about spell work. But I was struck by the sudden thought to combine a basic location spell with a basic summoning spell and… Well…” the unicorn trailed off.

As tired and cranky Twilight had been moments earlier, she felt the surge of curiosity reinvigorate her. “Well?” she urged.

“Oh, I wouldn’t want to bore the others talking about magic, unless they’re okay with it,” she turned to her friends who quickly assured them that they didn’t have any problems with it.

“Thank the stars, I think I might have actually lost it if I couldn’t finally talk about something interesting,” Twilight thought.

“Excellent! I can’t wait to hear all about it!” Twilight said, allowing a smile to spread on her muzzle. She levitated her notebook and quill out from her saddlebags, paying absolutely no mind to Rarity’s bashful expression.

“You know Twilight, it’s really nice to finally see you smile!” Pinkamena piped up. “It wouldn’t kill ya to enjoy life a little more ya know.”

She winked and gave Twilight a friendly nudge and a wink. But before the unicorn could respond Pinkamena was speaking again. “Alrighty! Last one to the farmhouse is a stinky old fossil!”

Three of the fives ponies immediately started galloping away, laughing as they did.
Twilight was left behind with Maud, opting to walk instead of participating in the race.

“Try not to mind my sister too much,” Maud said after a moment of silence. “Making ponies happy is just something she cares about a lot. But she’ll figure out what makes you happy, which I’m guessing isn’t being in large groups full of strange ponies.”

Twilight sighed. “It’s more than that… I just… I-I don’t even want friends! I just wanna go home and study but…”

The unicorn stopped, prompting Maud to do so as well.

“But I keep saying yes to all these things and I don’t even know why,”

There was a pause, Maud’s expression was unwavering as she stared at Twilight.

“Ugh, I’m sorry, I don’t even know why I’m telling you this! You-”

Maud held a hoof up and Twilight fell silent.

“I think a part of you wants friends,” she said. “You know, Applejack was always talking about how she didn’t have time for friends either. She would always talk about how she was just too busy to hang out and stuff.”

Maud paused.

“It’s probably better to hear about that from her, but basically despite what she said she would always hang around whenever she could,” Maud continued, “I think some ponies take a little time to accept that they need the company of other ponies, and that it’s okay to want that.”

“Come on you guys! If you stay out there any longer you might actually turn into fossils!” Pinkamena’s voice called from the house.

“We better get going, Pinkamena makes the best rock candy, you should try it,” Maud then turned and continued to the house. Twilight trailed behind her, frowning to herself.

“Maybe I just want to avoid conflict by saying yes,” she tried to reason with herself. “I can’t… Seriously want friends all of a sudden… Right? It just doesn’t make any sense!”

In that moment, Twilight resolved to stop hanging out with Applejack, or any of her friends, for the duration of her stay in Ponyville. “If they all think what Maud thinks… Than they’ll never leave me alone! I can’t let them keep roping me into things! If I keep this up… I’ll never get anything done!”

The unicorn would soon discover that such an endeavor was far easier thought than done.

Author's Note:

Phew! Finally! I wound up completely rewriting this from it's initial draft in September, and then spent like a whole week tweaking it. Sorry to take so long everypony , at least it didn't take 5 years to update lmao.

I guess I just wanted to deliver the best I could since it had been so long.

Here we meet both Maud and Rarity! Rarity is more or less the same, but she takes herself a little less seriously than her canon counterpart. A lot of her drama is basically just her having fun being a ham.

I've always loved Rarity and Applejack's friendship in the show, so I could only imagine that a fashionista version of AJ would be super close with Rarity lmao. Somepony has to ground that mare .

Maud is.. Well she's Maud. I can't imagine anything changing that mare.

Will be making the next chapters outline today, and hopefully now that I've broken the ice, I won't feel like I have to revise it 10 billion times before I publish it lmao. Cheers!

Comments

[Melody Song]

Great chapter, like where this is going!

[Comickook]

Excellent job on the exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up in this installment. Took a while, but was definitely worth the wait. Really enjoyed Pinkie's observations of how well Twilight was able to keep up with Pinkie's dialogue well enough to take good notes as well as Twi's meeting this universe's version of Rarity. And, yeah, the meeting with Maud was certainly some good contrast (and I enjoyed Twi's note that, for once, she was NOT out of the loop on something).

Certainly looking forward to more of this.

And Happy Holidays.