Movie Night
Twilight double-checked and triple-checked her bag quickly as she stood at gates of Everfree Estates. Sunscreen, check, water bottle, check, wallet, check. As she went through the objects she had brought along, just in case they were needed, Twilight knew they were already in there. She had checked her bag at least thirty times now…
It was just that doing this helped settle her nerves.
Twilight blinked as she produced her dog whistle, one she had gotten long ago to train Spike. So that’s where it had been. She hadn’t really needed to use it since it turned out her little pup was actually very intelligent. Seeing as how there was no place to put it she dropped it back into her bag.
Really need to clean this thing out.
When she had told her mom a few days ago she was going to hang out with a few friends, her mom had practically gone to break out some champagne. It had been a while since Twilight had hung out with, well, anyone. In fact, besides the playdates her mom set up for her as a child, she hadn’t had any friends in general. Twilight Velvet had eagerly allowed her to go, even spotting her some extra money, not that it was needed. Twilight hardly bought anything to begin with and her allowance had been building up in her bank account.
However, in Velvet’s rush of excitement, Twilight had neglected to tell her where she was going and who her new friends were. Twilight wasn’t sure if her mother would let her go if she knew Mid-Canterlot was her destination. Their safe and secure little subdivision was a far cry from the wild and crowded skyscrapers.
Even so, Twilight was determined to go and meet Sunset. Even if it didn’t work out between Twilight and her possible new friends, it would still be an adventure. Only…
Twilight checked her bag’s contents for the thirty-first time.
She was nervous.
In order to get to the theater, she needed to first leave Everfree Estates, which she had never done on her own before, and take the bus, which she had looked over beforehand but still wasn’t sure of…
Twilight rocked back on her heels quietly, thinking over her options. Both her parents were out, so she couldn’t ask for a ride now. She could just send Sunset a message online, saying she couldn’t come… but it had been nice talking to the other girl. She hadn’t realised how much she missed talking to other, nice people until Sunset had come and gone.
Well, you don’t discover new things inside your comfort zone, as her old science teacher used to say.
Walking to the first obstacle, Twilight pulled her photo I.D. from her wallet, handing it to the guard. The fortified wall of Everfree Estates was made of thick stone and iron bars, all leading to the various guard stations as the only legal exits and entrances for both cars and pedestrians. The man looked over her card before typing into his computer.
“All by yourself today, Miss Sparkle?” he asked curiously.
“Ah, yes. Meeting some friends…” Twilight said, watching as he looked over the monitor before nodding, handing her I.D. back to her.
“Well have fun and be careful out there,” he said, pulling his newspaper back up, ignoring her once more.
“Ok,” Twilight said, walking through the stone arches and out onto the sidewalk of the outside world. She looked up and down the street, seeing Canterlot clearly in the distance, the soft sounds of cars honking and police sirens echoing from the metropolis. It wasn’t so far that Twilight couldn’t walk, but the bus was a far easier and faster solution.
Sitting down at the stop Twilight tapped her feet in a jittery fashion… She checked her bag for the thirty-second time, this time pulling her phone from the bag to look at the time. The movie was in an hour, that was enough time for the bus to get there and for her to wait for Sunset and the other girls.
The other girls… Twilight had no clue who they were, or what they were. Sunset had mentioned a Rainbow Dash and Applejack before, though she only really knew about Applejack. Sunset said she was a plant person, but hadn’t given a species name. She mentioned Applejack had a brother and sister, but that was the extent of her knowledge on any of her new friends.
Twilight just hoped she didn’t screw up with some kind of social taboo she didn’t know about or something.
She should have researched more.
Twilight went for her bag again, only to pause when the rumbling of a bus came up the street. The large vehicle rolled to a stop before her, doors opening. After checking it was the right number, Twilight clambered on, dropping her coins into the slot and smiling up at the driver.
The man smiled back, waving a-a fin back at her?!
She started, staring at it before she could catch herself, she quickly looked back up at him with an apologetic smile and hurried towards the seating.
Right, this was Mid-Canterlot now… She had never been around monsters for an extended period of time. Between being a homebody in Everfree estates and being bused to her private school Crystal Prep, a school attended only by human children, Twilight didn’t get out much.
Of course, once she saw the seating area she had to pause and grip the side rail. In the seats were a wide array of creatures, ranging from a large blob looking monster at the far back, taking up three seats by itself, to a beautiful fairy with bright pink, translucent wings, adorned in heavy, hardcore goth clothing.
A minotaur in a business suit was reading a newspaper, while across from him a cervitaur was strewn across a few seats, passed out and snoring loudly. His four cloven hooves splayed out in different directions as a headset played loudly over his ears, and his antlers appeared to be stuck in the bars over the backs of the seats.
Twilight jolted as the bus started up again and she quickly slid into a nearby seat. It was far away from everyone else, not to say that was her intention in picking it, at least at the forefront of her mind. As the bus turned and made its way back to the city, Twilight’s eyes wandered around again, watching the goth fairy pull her phone out of her small black purse. She scrolled through something as she blew a gum bubble and sucked it back in a moment later.
The cervitaur twitched in his sleep as the music blared loudly from his headset, hooves moving back and forth slightly as if walking in his sleep. The minotaur looked up from his paper at the sleeping passenger, only to roll his eyes and turn the page.
The bus crawled to a stop again, the door creaked open and a fawn stepped in, holding the hand of her son. She paid her fare as the small boy wandered into the seating area, looking around before staring at Twilight herself.
She stared back.
The boy cocked his head to one side, then the other. Puffing out his cheeks before he came up and sat right beside her. Twilight could only blink back at him as the fawn boy stared unflinchingly. His mother was sorting through her purse and came to sit next to him.
The bus started again.
His mother was so preoccupied with looking in her purse she didn’t seem to notice her son staring at Twilight. The teen looked around the bus uneasily. Should she move seats? Would that seem racist or something? Looking back down the boy was still staring. He hummed softly before he looked down her figure to her legs, then back up at her before he whipped out his hand, pointing to her.
What?! Twilight flinched back to keep distance from the kid’s hand. She could only fathom what the child would say. Were humans not allowed on buses or something?! She hadn’t read that on the website anywhere!
The boy, still pointing at her, spoke in a high pitched warble, “What's wrong wich your legs, lady?”
Twilight blinked. “P-pardon?”
“Yours legs. They’re all weird and not fuzzy.” The boy pointed down at her legs before gesturing to his goat half. “Did jah get a shave or somethen-”
“Clem!” The woman finally noticed her son’s actions and took his hand in her’s quickly, pulling it away. “It’s rude to point!”
“I’m just wonderin’ was wrong with her, mum.” Clem said, using his other hand to point across his body to Twilight again. “She don’t gots no hoofs.”
Twilight heard a soft chuckle and looked across the bus to the goth fairy, who held a hand to her mouth and was smiling behind it, amused by the exchange before her.
“Clem!” The woman hissed, pulling her son closer. “She’s human, not a fawn like us. They do not have hooves.”
“Why?”
The woman picked her son up in her arms and deposited him on the seat on her other side swiftly. She frowned down at him and turned back to Twilight. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s fine…” Twilight said, watching the mother scold her son quietly.
The bus rolled along quietly, getting closer and closer to the busy inner city. With each stop more people got on and off. The goth got off in the clubbing districts, standing up and putting her things away before lifting up a few inches in the air and gliding out of the bus. Then in a more historical area an anubis-style cynocephalus woman got on. She had a book bag stuffed with tomes on her arm and glasses on her snout. She was on her smartpad, reading something.
In a business area the Minotaur and blob creature stood and left, the former leaving a trail of goo in its wake. Clem tried to crawl off his seat to investigate, but his mother held the four year old to his seat. Pouting, the boy stood up and looked out the window as the bus started again.
All in all it was a normal bus ride, if not a bit quieter than Twilight’s school bus. Everyone was so busy with their own lives they didn’t seem to care about the goings on around them. With that thought the cervitaur awoke groggily, trying to sit up in his seat before grunting, realising his small antlers were caught. Detangling himself, he looked out the window blandly, pulling off his head set. With the next stop he went to leave.
Twilight looked down at her phone again, checking the time. She still had half an hour before-
BLEEEET!
All the occupants looked up to see the cervitaur standing in the middle of the bus, legs almost buckled as he tried to keep balance on the slimy floor. He reached out and grabbed the nearby pole and tugged himself to dryer floors. With a little hop he left the bus, pausing to give himself a little shake and right the saddlebags settled on his lower deer back before moving on.
“Hahahaha!” Clem laughed as the bus doors creaked again, his mother hushing him, though she too had a smile on her face.
_____________________________________________________________________________
The bus finally rolled up to Twilight’s stop, though she had to pause for a elderly couple, both ogres, who came on before her. As she stepped out and watched the bus drive away, she was startled momentarily by the height of the buildings. Looking up at them, she suddenly felt a little uneasy.
She squeaked when someone bumped into her, and turning, she found a woman wearing sunglasses, frowning at her. “Watch it yah stupid stock!” She growled and her hair, which now that Twilight looked at it was actually made of SNAKES!, looked up at her and hissed angrily.
“S-sorry.” Twilight whimpered as the gorgon walked off in a huff. The human girl quickly made her way to the theater before slumping against the side of the entrance. Well, besides that recent encounter everything was going fine thus far… Now all she needed to do was look for Sunset.
Looking around the girl tried to see if she could spot the red-headed vampire in the crowd, but in the midst of the sea of creatures of varying shapes and sizes, she couldn’t make the girl out.
Did she get the wrong theater?
Maybe Sunset had just been messing with her, and wasn’t actually coming… It wouldn’t be the first time that happened.
Twilight checked her bag for the thirty-third time.
Shuffling around her wallet and phone, Twilight sighed. Why would anything change just because these girls were new? Anyone could see what a nerd she was. The last time she had been invited out …
Uh oh.
Twilight swallowed tightly. She deeply hoped that wasn’t the case this time. She didn’t want to be humiliated again and have it posted all over the web. Maybe she should just leave? Twilight pulled her phone out thoughtfully. Get out before these girls had a chance to even-
“Hey!”
“Gah!” Twilight yelped, fumbling to catch her phone before it fell out of her hands to the ground. However, there was a flash of yellow before the device was held out to her.
“Whoops. Sorry Twilight,” Sunset said, placing the phone back into her open palm with a sheepish smile. “I didn’t mean to scare you like that.”
Twilight pushed her glasses back up her nose and pocketed her phone. “Ah, it's fine. I’m fine,” she smiled back at Sunset with a shrug. “So, uh, hey!”
“Yeah, hey. It's good to see you again, you know, in public without either of our lives in danger or anything,” Sunset said airily, waving her hand in the air. She smiled a bit bigger when Twilight laughed.
“Yes, it is.” Twilight nodded.
“Yeah, but hey-” Sunset said pointing behind herself. “A few of my friends are right over there! Come on, I’ll introduce you.” Sunset took Twilight’s hand and pulled her across the crowded entrance towards the area where the posters were displayed. As they drew closer, Twilight could see they were narrowing in on two girls standing before a particular movie poster.
One girl was sky blue with rainbow hair, she had wings for arms with hands on each end, feathers forming out starting at her wrists and linking along to her back. They were mostly the same blue as her skin, with the primaries matching her hair. Her feet were that of bird talons, clacking on the ground with sharp scratching as she seem to jump around in a rather animated fashion, gesturing wildly as she told a tale to the girl in the cowboy hat.
The other girl was seemingly made of plants. Some of her skin looked similar to that of tree bark, and her hair was made of vines and leaves, dotted with small yellow flowers all over her foliage that ended in a tied, braided looking pony tail. Her eyes, which were watching her rainbow friend in disinterest, had black sclera, making her green eyes pop.
That might be Applejack. The other could be Rainbow Dash.
As they got closer the plant girl looked up, smiling at Sunset and then looked to Twilight with a curious expression, though the smile never dropped. The harpy noticed her friend's inattention before turning around herself.
“Hey Sunset,” the feathered girl said, looking at her friend before turning to Twilight. “Is this her?”
“Yep, my hero,” Sunset smiled, bringing Twilight forward. “Twilight, this is Rainbow Dash and Applejack.” She gestured for effect. “Guys, this is Twilight Sparkle.”
“Well howdy!” Applejack said. “Its nice to meet cha.”
“W-well thank you, it's nice to meet you to-Ah!” Twilight yelped when Rainbow Dash stepped closer, cocking her head from side to side quizzically. She was squinting down at Twilight, as her talons gave her just enough height advantage to do so.
Well actually, Twilight was the shortest one here but-
“So you saved Sunset huh?” Rainbow asked, cocking her brow and her head tilted to one side.
“Uh… yes?” She murmured, ducking her head into her shoulders when Rainbow came a bit closer, neck craned to look down at her more than she already was. Twilight’s eyes darted to Sunset and Applejack swiftly, but both girls were just standing nearby. Applejack looked bored again, rolling her eyes and Sunset had a bemused smirk on, hand on hip as she watched. When she caught Twilight’s eye Sunset’s made a slow motion of bringing her hands up to her chest, interlacing them together, bring her shoulders in closer. Her body language spelt out a sense of nervousness her face didn’t match.
Subconsciously, Twilight echoed this motion before looking back up.
Rainbow was still scrutinizing her, eyes narrowed. There were a few tense moments where Twilight actually felt like turning around and booking it, before Rainbow blew a red strand of hair from her face and smiled slightly, stepping back.
“That’s pretty cool, not super amazingly cool, but pretty cool.” Rainbow said, dusting her hand off on her shirt and shrugging a bit.
Twilight was frozen in place, eyes darting left then right before swallowing. “Thank you?”
There was a sigh before Applejack came over to playfully punch Rainbow on the shoulder, who chirped in surprise at the motion. “Alright Rainbow, enough struten’ around! What were you going on about before?”
“Right, the game last night!” Rainbow smiled and she turned to the farmer again, wings fluttering slightly. “So I was saying that Speed Demon was way outta bounds, but the ref just let it go-!”
Twilight was still frozen as she watched Rainbow ruffle herself into another tizzy over the plays of a sporting event. Well, she was until Sunset subtly bumped her with her hip, making her twitch. “You ok Twilight?” She asked, still smiling, if not softly.
“Ugh… Yeah.”
“She was just asserting herself, nothing to worry about.”
Twilight blinked, looking back at her friend. “A-asserting herself?”
“Some monsters species do it, specially if they're known for living in large groups.” Sunset explained, swatting a hand in a dismissive motion. “Whenever a new person is introduced to the group, it kinda shuffles the dynamic. Once they sort out who goes where, it all goes back to normal, usually in less than a few minutes.”
Establishing hierarchy?
Fascinating!
“So she was just checking to see if I was trying to go above her in the pecking order?” Twilight asked, stepping closer to Sunset.
“Kinda, she was also just testing to see if you have any edge to you. She likes to challenge others to shows of athleticism,” Sunset explained.
“Oh, I see. So where do I rank?”
“Bottom.” Sunset laughed when Twilight flinched. “Nah, don’t worry about it. Only she and two other friends of mine do this kinda stuff. There's not really any bottom rank, in fact it's mostly subconscious with meeting new people. Just don’t assert yourself over them and boom, done.”
Twilight cocked her head. “Well, ok, if there's no bottom, then who's on the top?”
“Changes. Like I said, it's not really noticeable. Nobody will get mad if you suggest an activity to do, or if you don’t want to do something. Most problems happen when you single each other out or there’s some outside offense.” Sunset shook her head. “Just don’t worry about it, all you need to do is not act defiant when first introduced.”
Easy enough.
“So uh, are we going to see the movie?” Twilight asked, curling a finger through her hair.
“Not quite yet. We’re still waiting on three more.” Sunset explained.
“Oh, ok,” Twilight said, looking back to all the movie posters. “So what movie are we seeing?”
“Wellll…” Sunset rubbed the back of her head. “Mmmmm- Applejack, what's the movie?”
Applejack jerked out of the dull expression she was using to humor Rainbow’s ranting, looking to Sunset. “Huh?”
“The movie. What movie are we seeing again?” Sunset repeated.
“Movie. Uh, yeah. We uh- were uh seein’- uh…” Applejack mumbled, wringing her hands.
“WHAT!?” Rainbow jumped between them. “You don’t remember?! I’ve been waiting for this movie to come out for months! How could you forget?!”
“Well yah see, uh- we just don’t, ummm…” Applejack puttered off incoherently, a bored look on her face. When Rainbow turned to Sunset, the vampire shrugged, disinterested.
“UGH!” Rainbow groaned, slumping her shoulders and throwing her head back. Once she righted herself she crossed her arms in indignation. “We’re watching ‘Nightmare Moon 2: Attack Of The Tantabus’!”
“Oh! Right, right! THAT’S the movie. Loved the first one,” Sunset said, looking around nervously.
Rainbow squinted at her with a scowl, she leaned in closer to Sunset’s side. “What's the plot of the first movie?”
“Uh-”
“A banished demon princess returns from her imprisonment in the moon to bathe the Earth in eternal darkness. However, she was defeated by six teenage demon hunters, who then purified her evil so she could return to help her kingdom… Princessdom?” Twilight paused, pulling out her phone. “I need to google that-”
“You’ve seen the first one!” Rainbow shouted as she came to Twilight’s side excitedly. “ I couldn’t get anyone to see the first one in theaters with me besides ‘Shy, and she wasn’t too keen on it.” Rainbow shook her, Twilight yelping as she did so. “What did you think of it?!”
Rainbow released her suddenly, Twilight wobbling before she could find her balance again and righted her glasses on the bridge of her nose. “Uh, well I thought it was well written, had good world building and character building. The lore was a nice touch as well as a way to introduce an overall theme.” Twilight shrugged. “Buuuut I think the middle lagged a bit and had a few forced moments, not to mention a kinda anticlimactic end. Course, it was just the first one, they didn’t know if it would take off anywhere, not to mention the time constraints they had to work with, so I’m a little more forgiving of it… I’d say it was good, seven out of ten?”
“I guess that's fair, I think it's a ten out of ten though,” Rainbow sighed, crossing her arms.
“Wait, so what's this one about then?” Applejack asked, thumb pointing to the poster of a large monster poster.
“Well, If I remember right, It's about the Demon Princess coming to terms with the evil she’s done with the help of the demon hunters. That's all I know though.” Twilight said.
“With an awesome scene where they slay a whole bunch of dreamons!” Rainbow squealed.
“Wait, slay? I thought demons were monsters?” Twilight said in confusion, the other girls looking to her quickly.
“They are.” Sunset said quickly. “Some are just feral. Dreamons are little demons that enter the mind and feed off energy there. They’re mindless, they just consume to reproduce to consume, etc, etc.”
“Yah, like phoenixes, or hydras or-” Rainbow added.
“Or pegasi and unicorns.” Sunset said.
“Pfft.” Applejack put her hand up to laugh behind it. “Those last two aren’t the brightest animals almost left off the ark.” The cowgirl chuckled. “I don’t imagine they’d live long without interference from monsters.”
Rainbow snickered. “Yeah, I remember seeing that video of the pegasus flying into the plexiglass window.” Rainbow swooped her hand around like it was flying in the air before smacking it against her other hand with a ‘plonk’ making a squeaking noise as her hand slowly slid down. She and Applejack laughed loudly at the display. Twilight giggled softly along with them, imagining the video in her mind as Sunset shook her head in bemusement.
WHAM!
Twilight didn’t have time to cry out when she was tackled in the side. She did, however, lose her breath for a moment as she toppled to the ground, glasses flying off in the confusion. While she thankfully hadn’t hit her head, she was still trying to regain air when she looked up to see what had slammed into her, though through her blurred vision all she could see was a black nose and a-
-A VERY LARGE SET OF SHARP TEETH!
“Pinkie!”
“Oh my gosh!”
“Woah there!”
The teeth seemed to be surrounded by a mass of pink fuzzy that panted down at her excitedly. “It’s her! It’s our soon-to-be new best friend!!” The teeth and tongue moved like they were speaking, getting closer. “This is so super exciting!! It's not everyday you get to make a new best friend!!”
“Not if you hit her with a move that's outlawed in most football games!!” Rainbow shouted, pulling the pink mass off of Twilight as two sets of hands hoisted her to her feet. She still struggled to breath as her hands went to her bag.
“You ok Twilight?” Sunset asked in concern.
“I-” Twilight coughed as her hand blindly shifted through her belongings. “Need- Glasses.” She wheezed tightly, still shuffling.
“Right here sugarcube.” Applejack said, offering them in her sights. Thankfully however her hands finally found the familiar shape of her inhaler, so she could take a few puffs before accepting the offering.
“T-thanks!” Twilight said, putting them on, taking a deep breath.
“Are you ok?” Sunset repeated, coming closer.
“Fine, j-just my asthma, I can get the wind knocked out of me pretty easy,” Twilight explained, putting the inhaler away sheepishly. Looking over to Rainbow she twitched at the large, unmistakable pink wolf seated beside the Harpy. It was whimpering, hunched over in a sad position like it was being scolded for digging holes in the back yard. “Ahhh-”
“I’m sorry.” The wolf stood up, tail wagging a bit. Twilight blinked in confusion when she realised the wolf was the one talking.”I was just super excited to see you cause Sunset told us about you, and IsawyouonFacebookandIreadthepostsyoumade,andIwantedtobeyourfirendsobadlythatIguessIjustdidn’tthinkaboutwhatIwasdoingcauseInevermentto-”
“Shush!” Applejack said, stepping over to the wolf. “You’re ramblin’ there hun.”
Twilight, still processing, opened and closed her mouth before sputtering. “I-it's fine.”
“YAY!” The wolf jumped up, tail going ninety miles an hour when, before Twilight’s very eyes, it shifted shape. It happened so fast Twilight nearly missed it, but less than a moment later a pink girl stood where the wolf once had. There wasn’t much different from a human about her, save for the still-wagging tail, ears, and sharp nails. “You're gonna have so much fun today Twilight! I’m gonna throw you a BIG party for winning that Science Fair two weeks ago and a welcome to our friend circle party! It’ll be a congratulations on winning the friend circle party!”
“Congratulations on- Friend circle? I- Wait!” Twilight shook her head slightly. “How do you know about the science fair?”
“Your mom posted about it on her facebook page, and she’s your friend on facebook, so I basically found her, through you and read her post!” The girl laughed. “Easy peasy!” Twilight stared at the girl as she plucked a very large day planner from her hair and pulled out a pen. “Lets plan the party after everyone’s done being Grounded Groundhoggersons, so a month.”
Twilight gaped at her as Sunset smiled next to her. “Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie the werewolf.”
“Yup yup yup!” Pinkie smiled as she placed the ledger away, bouncing in place. “And it is super fantast-ulistic to meet you! I love meeting new people! Love it, love it, love it!” The girl began running around excitedly, transforming between a wolf and a human at whim.
“You get used to her excitement,” Rainbow said.
“Just not to her… eccentric nature,” Sunset added.
“Well, dang, Pinkie! Where are the others?” Applejack said, catching the wolf girl’s attention for a moment. “S’not like Rarity to be late for anything unless it’s fashionable.”
“They’re right behind me, we carpooled!” Pinkie explained, morphing back into a human with a small hop. “Only when I smelt you guys I got really excited and raced ahead of them.”
“And raced you did, darling!”
Turning Twilight watched as two more girls came to the entrance of the cinema, both rather graceful and elegant looking, though one was hiding behind the other. At the forefront was a girl with curly, purple tresses. She had a horn coming out the top of her head that was long and slim. Where her feet should be, two horse hooves stood, though they were dainty and poised with a small ruffling of fur stockings. Behind her was a lion-like tail with purple frills on the end and her ears were more like a horse’s as well.
“Uh, Twilight this is-”
“No need Sunset.” Rarity spoke, stepping forward slightly to offer Twilight her hand. “Rarity at your service my dear! I am a unicorn satyr, a high school student and an aspiring fashion designer. So lovely to meet you.”
Twilight stared at the hand for a moment before moving forward to take it. “Uh, likewise. I’m Twilight… uh Human and, uhm, also in high school...”
Rarity’s grip was tight, not enough to hurt her, but Twilight couldn’t help but sweat a little. The satyr stepped forward to, oddly, sniff her proximity before pulling back and letting her go. When Rarity started to circle her, Twilight’s head sunk into her shoulders again.
She had been circled like this before, at school. The popular girls rounding above her like vultures, looking for a weakness they could pull apart and diving in at the first sight of an opening. Narrowed eyes and smirks flashing whenever they came back into Twilight’s sight.
Rarity, though, circled her more thoughtfully, lips slightly pursed in consideration. When she came back in front of Twilight she smiled kindly, catching the nerd off-guard. “That complexion, that hair… You’d look quiet fetching in a white or dark blue. Tell me, what is your favorite colour?”
“Gahh…” Twilight watched Rarity as the girl circled again. “It, ah, changes… Depends how I feel and stuff…”
Rarity paused before clapping her hands together, startling Twilight. “Well that's it then! I must get your measurements!”
Twilight blushed, hiding her chest slightly. “W-what?”
“She want to make you an outfit,” Sunset supplied, smiling at her.
“She does it for all of us,” Rainbow added, looking a little bored.
“AND you love it, come on now, you know you do!” Rarity said, waving her hand. All the other girls looked at each other before chuckling and nodding, Rainbow looking sheepish. Rarity came closer to Twilight, humming softly. “Looks like a petite body style… could be a little pear… Maybe a Pouf would be nice… hmmm…”
Petite? Pear? Pouf?!
“Alright Rarity, I know you like to make new designs but maybe give the girl some breathin’ room?” Applejack suggested with a smirk and a raised brow. Rarity looked back at the farmer before taking stock of her position and pulling back with a yelp.
“Oh my! I’m so sorry, my excitement can get away with me,” Rarity said, stepping away. “It's so rare that I get someone new to make clothes for, well, for now at least.”
Twilight smiled at her as Rarity back up, until she stumbled into someone. Rarity turned around swiftly. “Oh Fluttershy! I’m sorry dear.”
There was a mumbling behind Rarity and the satyr’s ear’s perked a bit.
“What was that? I’m afraid I couldn’t hear you-”
“Gah!” Rainbow grunted before grabbing someone behind Rarity and pulling her out. “Come on Fluttershy! She won’t bite or anything! We're gonna miss the movie!”
“Eeep!”
It was a fairy girl just like the one she had seen on the bus earlier, only this one was softer and more fragile looking than the goth before. She had long pink hair and light yellow skin. Her wings had also a yellowish tinge, glowing lightly behind her back. Most of her hair was in her face and she was studying the ground intently, looking up for a moment before catching Twilight’s eye and darting them down again.
“Go on!” Rainbow encouraged, pushing her forward. The girl glided over the ground toward Twilight, still intent on looking everywhere but the girl before her.
“Uh, hello,” The human smiled. “My name’s Twilight.”
The fairy looked to the ground intently, rubbing her shoulder. “I’futsy…”
“Sorry, what was that?” Twilight asked, leaning in a little to hear her.
“M’namiflshy….”
“I didn’t quite catch that,” Twilight said, trying to smile sympathetically.
“Utterhy…” The girl was basically squealing in a high pitch tone, clearly anxious.
Twilight knew that feeling all too well. “Well, uh…” She looked behind the fairy, surprised to notice she could see through the girl’s slowly fluttering wings to the others. Rainbow was holding her head in her hand as Rarity shook her head, clearly concerned for her friend.
Something nudged her side. Looking down Twilight found Pinkie in wolf form, sniffing her clothes. “Oh! Oh!” The wolf panted happily. “I smell a dog! Do you have a dog!?”
“Well yes I-”
“You have a dog!?” The fairy girl practically threw herself into Twilight’s face. “Is he a cute little pug, or maybe a big Great Dane? Oh, he might be a lovely labradoodle!” Twilight looked back to Pinkie as the fairy rambled. While Twilight knew she had never seen expressions on a wolf’s face before, the sly smirk and single raised brow was enough to convey the wolf girl’s victory. “What kind of dog do you have?” The fairy asked, bringing attention back to her.
“Oh, a mutt actually. I’m not sure of his genealogical heritage…” Twilight explained. “He’s a small breed though, with floppy ears and a short tail.”
“Awwww! Could be a Cocker Spaniel mix.” The fairy said. “Did you rescue him?”
“Yes actually,” Twilight said. “Just about a few years ago.”
“It's so nice when people adopt rescue animals! I volunteer at a shelter right nearby actually-”
“Fluttershy!” Rainbow swooped in, both girl’s jumping back as the harpy glared at them. “We’re gonna miss the previews!”
“Twilight, this is Fluttershy. She’s a Grand Fairy,” Sunset explained as she came forward, gesturing to the pink haired girl. “She can be a little shy, but give her some time to warm up to you and you won’t have any problem.”
“Or mention you have a pet,” Rainbow added. When she spotted Fluttershy’s nervous expression she elbowed her. When the fairy looked up Rainbow offered her a confident smile that had the fairy straightening her posture a bit.
Twilight smiled a bit herself before she blinked, turning to Sunset in confusion. “Wait, Grand Fairy?”
“There- ah…” Twilight shifted her stare back to Fluttershy, who was struggling to get her thoughts in order, but when Rainbow craned her neck to offer the meek girl another smile and Applejack placed a hand to her shoulder, Fluttershy pushed on. “There are many types of fairies… Cousins are also under the name like leprechauns and water nymphs, but -ah- Grand Fairies are the most basic fairy, and the biggest. There are lots of tiny ones, like Pixies and Breezies…”
“Wow, that's really interesting.” Twilight said. “I should read more on that, thanks Fluttershy.”
The girl blushed and hid behind her hair again, though a small grin was visible on her face.
“Read?” Rainbow said quickly, looking to the human. “You read? For like, fun?”
“Well yes I-”
“Ahhhh!” Rainbow groaned. “You’re an egghead! Not another one!”
Twilight flinched. Sunset sighed and rolled her eyes before stepping to the human’s side. “We book loving folk need to stick together, Dash.”
“What is there, a built in radar or something?” Rainbow bemoaned.
Twilight looked between Pinkie and Sunset before speaking. “I’ll take it you haven’t read the book the movies are based off?”
“This was a book first?!”
Sunset shook her head and Pinkie laughed at the harpy’s shocked look. Twilight shrugged. “Well yeah, but they were called ‘The Nightmare of Equestria’ series. A little less action packed and more insightful, the movies are loose adaptations.”
“Wait, I’ve read those,” Sunset said. “That's what these movies are from? Huh, maybe I’ll like it after all.”
“I hate ta be the bearer of bad news girls, but if we don’t hustle we're gonna miss the movie all tagther’ “ Applejack said, pulling her phone to show the time.
“NO!” Rainbow gasped, grabbing Fluttershy’s arm and dragging her to the ticket booth. “I don’t want to miss a second!” The rest exchanged glances before following after her, Sunset taking Twilight’s arm and leading her towards the ticket booth, hanging back a bit from the group.
“Enjoying this?” She asked, watching the group assemble and start ordering tickets. “So far I mean?”
“Uh, yeah,” Twilight nodded as they got in line. “It’s nice.”
Much better than being stuck in her basement.
As Twilight got to the front of the line, the horned teenager with bat wings in the booth looked at her. “Uh, one ticket to Nightmare Moon 2: Attack Of The Tantabus, please.”
“What kind of theater?” The employee asked.
“Theater?” Twilight asked, surprised.
“Make it two, for the medium theater,” Sunset said, leaning in. As the teen got the tickets set Sunset nudged Twilight. “Three kinds, one for small creatures, one for big and one for everyone else in between.”
Twilight stared at her in thought as they were handed their tickets.
_________________________________________________________________________
Twilight’s eyes scanned the snack bar, eyes wide at the assortment of candies and treats. Sure there were popcorn and chocolate bars like the theater in Everfree Estates, but there were so many more options here.
Chocolate covered Crickets, Rawhide chips, Marrow-chews (whatever those were…), A-Positive gushers, Bird Seed, Hay, and-
“Baboon Bites?” Twilight said with a curious undertone, holding up the small bag.
“S’like Slim Jims or Hot Rods… Whichever you know of,” Rainbow said, munching noisily on a large popcorn. “Made of monkey meat, that’s why it’s so expensive.”
Twilight had to agree when she saw the ten dollar price tag, only… “Why monkey meat? Wouldn’t cow be more cost effective?” She said, looking at the Harpy.
Rainbow looked from Twilight to the bag in her hands a few times, her crunching getting slower and slower with every glance, face morphing from the neutral expression to one of slight horror. “Gahhhhh.” Rainbow mumbled through her mouthful, eyes darting away. She swallowed the large mouthful with a painful gulp, coughing a little. “I- No reason. I dunno.” Rainbow spoke quickly, snatching the bag from Twilight and throwing it back on the shelf. “Just grab your food, ‘kay?”
Twilight scratched her head in confusion as the harpy turned and scurried to Sunset and Applejack. Sunset had a large drink that she was slurping as Applejack poured some aforementioned chocolate crickets on her popcorn. The harpy glanced back to Twilight with trepidation before leaning in to speak with her friends, both of whom listened for a moment as they ate before freezing with uneasy looks on their faces.
Ok.
Twilight turned back to the snack bar, studying the Baboon Bites for a few more moments. She noticed there was a slogan on the corner…
‘You Won’t Even Taste The Difference.’
What? This is the original right? Why that motto?
Oh well. Twilight shrugged, pushing it aside for now. She didn’t want to miss the movie so she’d better grab her food. Bypassing the assorted candies she ordered a popcorn and soda, watching the teen fawn as they got the snack together over the counter.
Suddenly there was a hand on her back and it was drifting towards- “Ah!” Twilight jumped, looking back behind her.
“I'm sorry!” Fluttershy whimpered, gliding back a bit. “I- I wanted to know if you’d like to split m-mine!” She held up her popcorn bag timidly.
“Oh!” Twilight twitched. “Uh, thank you Fluttershy, but I just ordered some myself.” When the fairy examined her shoes Twilight frowned. “It was ,uh, nice of you to offer though…”
“IT SURE WAS!” Pinkie hopped up between the girls, making them both stumble back. “Just like it’s nice of me to offer to share MY tasty treat!” The girl held up a bag of Rawhide Chips in a victorious fashion. ‘Now I’ll just- ugh!- just open- nah!- it up- dah!” The girl tugged the bag every which way trying to open it, growling a little when it refused to give.
“Do you want some help Pinkie? I know you have trouble with bags like those…” Fluttershy offered.
“Nope, nope, nope! I’m gonna open THIS one on my own,” Pinkie said happily before starting to squeeze, tug and shake the bag, concentration spelt out on her face.
“Well, ok…” Fluttershy mumbled, looking a little unsure as the wolf girl put a corner of the bag under her foot and started to tug it angrily upward. Twilight watched as well, taking her food as it arrived.
“Come along everyone! The show’s starting soon!” Rarity said, holding her small cup of frozen yogurt and leading everyone to the theater.
“Aww man, I’m so excited!” Rainbow smiled as she followed after. “I can’t wait for this movie!”
“I agree, the trailer was quite interesting,” Rarity said. “While I didn’t see the first one until Sweetie brought it home on DVD, I think this one will be much more intriguing!” The satyr looked down at her yogurt thoughtfully. “Of course Sweetie wanted to come as well today, but with that 14A rating and both our parents at work it was not meant to be.”
“Yeah, Scoots too.” Rainbow nodded. “What about you Applejack? Applebloom want to come today?”
“Ain’t a moment that girl would spend without me if she could.” Applejack said. “Though I dunno if she’s seen the first movie ta this one.”
“Who’s Applebloom?” Twilight asked curiously.
“Oh! My little sister.” Applejack said, looking a little proud.
Applebloom...Applebloom… “Oh! Right, I Think Sunset mentioned her.” Twilight smiled.
Applejack smiled and tilted her hat a bit. “Eeyup! She hangs out with Rarity’s sister Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. Scoots is Rainbow’s unofficial sister.”
“There's no blood, but our families are pretty close,” Rainbow explained. “I practically watched her grow up, so I’m a little attached to the squirt.” She laughed when Applejack punched her shoulder. “Ok, so more than a little.”
The group piled into the theater, choosing some seats near the back. They trailed in with Pinkie leading them down the aisle. She was still struggling with the bag, trying to pull on it half-angrily. When Fluttershy reached out to try and help again the wolf turned away with a pout, shaking her head. Yet when Fluttershy instead offered some of her popcorn Pinkie smiled excitedly, tail wagging wildly and smacking the person next to her. The cyclops shot the pink girl a glare, but sighed in defeat when he was ignored and moved a seat over.
Twilight chose the seat on the end next to Sunset. The girl smiled at her as the human sat down and offered some of her popcorn. The red head took a handful before the theater dimmed the lights.
There were a few advertisements for the theater flashing by as Twilight ate, however she perked when an ad for Baboon Bites came on. It was just a still of an old monster woman eating from an open bag, a smile on her face. The caption below her stating ‘It's just like when I was a girl! You can’t taste the difference!’
Twilight looked to Sunset, who was oddly interested in watching her straw squeal as she shimmied it in the lid hole. Blinking, Twilight looked back to the screen to see the upcoming movies were advertising. Twilight gasped a bit. “Their making a Daring Do movie!?” Twilight whisper shouted.
“I guess so,” Sunset said.
“Eggheads,” Rainbow grumbled next to them.
“I think you’d like those books Rainbow,” Sunset said, brow raised at the feathered girl.
“Only way I’d read a book was if I were locked up in the hospital,” Rainbow chuckled, rolling her eyes. “And that will only happen if I get hurt, which I don’t plan on.”
“Nobody ever does,” Rarity muttered beside Rainbow, mashing up her yogurt.
“Huh?”
“Nothing, darling.”
The movie started with the Princess reverting to her old ways and fighting the demon hunters again. This was however revealed to be a dream and a monster trapped in the Princess’s mind, the Tantabus, broke free.
The movie only took off from there. Rainbow was practically vibrating in her seat at all the action scenes and Fluttershy seemed to hide behind Pinkie at some scary moments. The wolf was just panting happily as the show went on. At some more exciting moments she would shift a bit, features looking more wolf like, however she mostly stayed in her seat, save for a few moment when she would try to open her bag again with the crinkling sound filling the air, though it never lasted long.
Halfway through the giant dream sequence Twilight went to take a drink from her soda, only to sputter and almost cough some out her nose at the copper taste she got. She looked at the cup before realising she had picked up Sunset’s . The vampire looked at her as she hacked and Twilight forced a swallow before smiling sheepishly. “Sorry… Wrong cup...”
“S’fine.” Sunset smiled as she whispered back. “It's just O positive.”
Twilight quickly put the cup down and took her own, slurping a generous amount to hopefully get rid of the taste of blood.
The climax was much more rewarding this time around, and by the end of the movie Twilight had to say this was her favorite of the two. The Princess character was much more fleshed out now. As the lights came back on, Sunset grumbled and shielded her eyes. They all got up and headed down the steps with the rest of the crowd.
“Well darn, that was a great movie. I shoulda watched the first one.” Applejack said as she fished a cricket from her bag and popped it in her mouth. “Reckon Applebloom would like it to.”
“The dream sequences with the demon hunters were funny,” Rarity smiled and threw out her bowl. “I especially liked the one dream where the fighting girl had to endure those singing flowers.”
“It was so sad when the Princess told everyone she couldn’t forgive herself,” Fluttershy sighed. “I almost cried at that part.”
“What did you think Pinkie?” Sunset asked looking around, only to find the wolf girl still trying to open her bag of chips, this time using a Whack-A-Mole hammer from the arcade. “Oh boy…”
“Welp, I’d love tah keep hangin’ out all night with you girls, but I gotta be home before seven, Granny’s orders,” Applejack sighed. “I’m still technically grounded.”
“Me too, but my dad said I had to be home before the street lights came on,” Rainbow shrugged. “I’m kinda lucky he still let me come see the movie and I don’t want to piss him off anymore than he already is.”
“Well we will have to meet up again at school. March Break ends after tomorrow,” Rarity said, brushing some hair behind her ear. “I’m sure we could grab a quick coffee after band practice.”
“Granny wouldn’t mind.”
“Well I guess we should get going,” Rainbow sighed. “Think you can drive me out of the city limits again AJ? I’m still not allowed to fly around here until I get my license…”
“Course. I’m already droppin’ off Sunset,” Applejack said, looking suddenly to Twilight. “You got a ride home Twilight?”
“Uh. Yes, I took the bus in. I have enough for a lift home too,” Twilight said, righting her glasses.
“The bus? Oh my, quite unsanitary,” Rarity frowned. “Not to mention it can be crowded and slightly unsafe at this time of day. All sorts of monsters are headed home from work.”
“Everfree Estates is right by my house. I could drop ya off,” Applejack said.
“That's really not necessary.” Twilight gave an uneasy smile. “I’m sure the bus will-”
“She’s not gonna bite, you know,” Rainbow grunted, brow raised. Sunset nudged her disapprovingly.
“I-Ughhh…” Twilight started to sweat a bit at the thought of being alone with these new girls in a car. “I-I need to use the bathroom really quick, just a second,” Twilight spluttered out before speed walking to the restroom, the girls she left behind looking at each other in confusion.
She stumbled into the washroom, turning on the sink to splash a small amount of water on her face.
Uhhhhh….
While nothing thus far had insinuated ill intentions, Twilight was far too used to girls who were good actors. The girls before had seemed nice at first as well, asking her to join them one night out for some fun. That fun, unfortunately, had been at her expense. They had humiliated her and posted photos and videos online for her school to see on sites only visited by her classmates. Things had quieted down since then and Twilight hadn’t the courage to tell her parents or teachers what had happened. Every once in a while she’d run into the group in school but she had learned to avoid them rather quickly... All were popular and had great influence over the other kids of Crystal Prep, even those that felt sorry for Twilight stayed back in fear of retribution.
So the idea of getting a ride from a girl she didn’t know that well made her chest tight.
Twilight looked at herself in the mirror, sighing before drying her face off with a paper towel and leaning back on the sink counter, trying to think of a way out of this. She looked dully to the bathroom area before stopping to look at all the different sized amenities. There were two large stalls that Twilight was sure, if she tried to use them she’d just fall in. The rest were normal sized, but a few were small ones for people even shorter than Twilight herself. Then on the wall were some stalls that looked liked they bellonged in a doll house. All were set up with shelves and ladders for access and when one opened a tiny, fluttering fairy flew out. She was no bigger than Twilight’s hand and quickly washed her hands at one of the miniature sinks before she headed for the exit.
However she paused to look at Twilight. The fairy cocked her head, one side to another before she mumbled. “Hmmm.”
“Uh, yes?” Twilight asked wearily.
“Huh? Oh!” The fairy’s voice was squeaky and high pitched. “N-nothing, I’ve just have never seen a human up close before.” She turned and flew out of the bathroom, wings making a twinkling noise as they sped up.
Twilight watched her go before looking back into the mirror. It never stopped surprising her how different Everfree Estates and the city were, even just by bathroom standards. She saw humans, and nothing but other humans every day. Some creatures had only seen photos of human beings due to their withdrawn nature.
“Twilight?”
Sunset peeked her head around the doorway as she walked inside, Twilight turned to face her as the Vampire looked at her in concern. “Are you feeling ok?”
“Uh, fine.” Twilight tried to flash a reassuring smile.
Though it apparently didn’t work, as Sunset frowned. “Are you sure? You seem nervous.”
Twilight swallowed tightly. She wasn’t sure how to respond to that… How does one say they’re just worried your faking kindess to put them in a false sense of security. Seemed a bit rude. Should she just stick to her story and sneak off to take the bus?
“It's ok if you're uncomfortable. I know you’ve lived in Everfree Estates pretty much your whole life. If you're uneasy being around us, then we understand, you know?” Sunset looked a little uncertain but thoughtful. “You must be pretty overwhelmed and-”
“What?” Twilight blinked. “What do you mean?”
Sunset paused, looking confused. “Well, I mean… you seem a little uncomfortable in our company Twilight, you haven’t been around monsters a lot. I know Rainbow kinda started off a little unnerving and-”
Oh.
“Oh no!” Twilight said quickly, raising her hands. “I don’t mind any of that!”
And it was true, she didn’t. She didn’t mind Rainbow’s posturing, Applejack’s fresh forest smell or even Pinkie Pie’s dog-like tendencies. Things that would have had her ancestors running for the hills barely bothered her.
She wasn’t afraid of these girls because of their species, she was afraid because they were teenage girls…
It was actually quiet ridiculous when Twilight thought about it. Not just the revelation, but the whole ordeal. These girls hadn’t done anything to her-well Sunset, but that was her own doing anyway.
“It's just….” Twilight scratched the back of her head. “I haven’t had the best track record with girls my own age…”
“Why’s that?” Sunset asked, tilting her head.
“Well, most girls don’t like hanging out with me… or at least being nice when they do… So I don’t always, uh, trust well?” Twilight wrung her hands. “Lets just say I’m nervous when interacting with other girls I don’t know very well...”
Sunset studied her before smiling sadly. “Well, for all its worth, I trust my friends with almost everything. They won’t hurt you Twilight, or at least not because they want to.” The redhead put a hand to the human’s shoulder. “I’m sure you’ll say the same thing if you hang out with them a bit, Twilight.”
Twilight smiled softly. “Yeah, I guess I think so too. I just need to put myself out there a little.”
“That's the spirit. I’m going to go tell the others everything's fine, they're a little worried.” Sunset shrugged. “We’ll be out there when you're done ok?”
“Alright,” Twilight nodded as Sunset made her way back out. The vampire paused to look back at her with a serious face. Twilight twitched when the vampire pointed at her.
“And Twilight.”
“Huh…?”
“Whatever those other girls said, it's a load, you got that?” Sunset kept her serious face a moment.
“Oh. Ok. Yeah.”
Sunset studied her again before smiling. “Good. See you in a second.”
Twilight watched Sunset disappear around the corner before sighing. She looked back into the mirror to tidy herself up before she went after her.
Put yourself out there.
Twilight turned the corner, pausing when she heard the group talking around the bench. She was just out of view behind a cardboard standee as she heard the girls gabble.
“-just washing up when I got in there. Said she’s fine.”
“Oh, that's good,” Fluttershy spoke softly. “I was afraid we scared her.”
“Well I suppose it would be natural for humans to be a little on edge around us. We can be a tad intimidating to those whom don’t know us, can’t we?” Rarity said. Twilight looked through a hole in the board to see them. All the girls were on or around the bench, Rainbow had perched on the arm of it and was looking a bit bored as Rarity, Applejack and Sunset all took the seats. Fluttershy was floating nearby and Pinkie, who had abandoned the toy mallet, had now taken to trying to open the bag with her teeth, looking a little haggard.
“Afraid? Why would she be scared of us?” Rainbow asked, her large talons flexing of the bench armrest. “We’re not that scary-”
“GRRRRRR!!!!” Pinkie snarled angrily, the loud sound echoing in the theater as she transformed into a wolf again. The bag still in her maw she started to shake it wildly like a wild animal, whipping her head back and forth. Growling she began to slam the bag on the ground violently, with it still in her mouth until, under the pressure, the bag ripped open, rawhide chips flying this way and that.
The girls on the bench were leaning back, wided eyed as Pinkie returned to normal form, panting heavily, the empty bag fluttering from her mouth. She spat out a few stray shreds before looking around at the chips on the floor. She coughed for a second before laughing a little. “Hahah...hahahah….HAHA!” She jumped up, hands in the air. “I did it! I opened the bag!” Pinkie rubbed her hands together. “And to the victor go the spoils!”
“PINKIE NO!” Rarity leapt up and hooked her arms around the once again wolf girl in an impressive sort of full nelson. “DO NOT EAT FOOD OFF THE FLOOR!”
“AWW!” Pinkie whined in a dog like fashion, struggling to get to the broken chip remains on the floor. “But I just got it open!”
“A lady doesn't eat food off the floor!” Rarity insisted. “Especially in a public location such as this! Who knows what bare footed monsters have hobbled in here!”
Rainbow inspected one of her bare talons before crossing her wings with a pout.
“But-” Pinkie watched, heart broken as an underpaid teenage employees came by with a push broom, sweeping up all the junk food in one sweep and pushing it away, ignoring them all the while. This time Pinkie did just whine like a dog, almost melting through Rarity’s arms in disappointment.
“I’m sorry darling, but I had to put my hoof down,” Rarity said, stomping one of her hooves on the floor for emphasis. She released the wolf, who just sat on the ground ears drooped.
“Here.” Fluttershy spoke, flying back over from where she had disappeared to. She produced another bag of Rawhide Chips from behind her back and with the quick flick of her wrist opened it on her first try. Holding it out the pink wolf stared at it for a moment before jumping to her feet, human once more.
“Thanks Fluttershy,” Pinkie said, taking the bag and ramming a large handful into her mouth, a few stray chips falling to the floor. “An-wodie want wne?” She asked, mouth stuffed and holding out another handful. When all her friends shook their head Pinkie shrugged, mashing that handful into her mouth as well.
Twilight put a hand to her mouth to stifle her chuckle. It seemed like these girls didn’t have a malicious bone, at least if they weren’t in danger or anything. Twilight dusted off her skirt before stepping out.
Put yourself out there.
______________________________________________________________________________
“Thanks again for the ride Applejack.”
Twilight, Sunset, Rainbow and AJ were all piled into her family pick up, driving out of the city limits. Applejack looked up into the rearview mirror quickly before putting her eyes back on the road. “Aw shucks, ain’t no trouble there Twilight. It's just a hop, skip and a jump from my house. We’re practically neighbours. In fact when you’re in my little sister’s bedroom you can see Everfree from her window.”
“Really? I didn’t know that you were so close.” Twilight said, surprised.
“You mean you never noticed the large honking apple farm right near your community?” Rainbow asked, looking back to Twilight with a surprising amount of neck flexibility.
“Oh, I never usually leave like this. Everfree has most of the amenities we need to just not leave, and anything we really want we can just order in.” Twilight shrugged. “I even go to a private school that buses us in on Monday morning and takes us home on Friday afternoon. It’s all humans too and it's just out a bit in the country for privacy.”
“I thought it was against the law to segregate schools,” Applejack said, more curious than insulted.
“It is,” Sunset spoke. “They just find loopholes. Like if the neighbourhood you get your students from is a predominantly, let's say, harpy neighbourhood, then it's mostly, if not all harpy kids. As for private schools you just say the people you don’t want to come to your school didn’t make the cut.”
“Well that kinda sucks. Guess Canterlot high is pretty good about that then,” Rainbow said.
“Canterlot High was actually made with that idea in mind, that’s why it’s in the middle of a bunch of different districts,” Sunset explained. “You need to read the plaque on the wondercolt statue outside, Rainbow, it explains it a lot more.”
“Pass,” Rainbow grunted before looking back to Twilight. “So this was kinda your first trip out into the world huh?” She smiled when Twilight nodded, ignoring the grumpy look Sunset was flashing her. “What did you think of it?”
“It’s nice. I saw a lot of new things and learned a lot more about the city. I never knew that they had to accommodate such a wide range of creature sizes.” Twilight said. “ I also saw a lot of different creatures. There were some fawns on the bus, a cervitaur, a cynocephalus…” Twilight petered off, wondering if she was prattling too much.
“Sounds like an adventure,” Applejack laughed, turning off the busy road way onto a quiet street.
“Oh, I also bumped into a gorgon, quite literally outside the theater.” Twilight explained, righting the bag on her lap.
“Didn’t bump her shades off, did you?” Rainbow asked, looking out her window.
“How did you know she-”
“It's the law, they have to obstruct their eyes.” Rainbow said. “One goes to our school, she wears glasses though, like normal ones, so they work. If they don’t have something over their eyes they can turn other creatures to stone. Some of them wear contacts that cancel it, but they apparently can bug your eyes.”
“I do know a thing or two about that,” Twilight chuckled.
“Well, as long as her glasses stayed on she shouldn’t have caused too much trouble,” Rainbow shrugged.
“Well she was not happy,” Twilight said. “She told me to watch where I was going, course it was my first time in the city so I was taking in the buildings and didn't see her, so she had a point,” Twilight shrugged as she continued, conversationally. “She called me a ‘stupid stock’ and then her snake hair hissed at m-”
SQUEEEEEE
Twilight yelped when the truck jolted to a stop, bracing her hands on the front seat as her seat belt tugged around her body. The other girls grunted as they got the same treatment, Applejack forcing the truck back into its lane.
“Jimminy! Sorry, I just- I just- What!?” Applejack whipped her head around to look at Twilight before looking back at the road. “What in the hell?!”
Twilight was still frozen, clutching the seat tightly. “What?”
“WHAT?!” Rainbow shouted, practically spinning around until she was belly down in her seat. “How could she say that to your face?!”
“My face?” Twilight asked, looking around the truck. “What do you mean?!”
“She called you stock Twilight!” Rainbow yelled, slamming a fist down on the armrest.
“So?” Twilight said, getting a sinking feeling in her gut, which doubled at the uneasy look the girls shared.
“Twilight…” Sunset started, staring at her sadly. “Do you not… know what that means?”
Twilight fell silent. She had no clue what it meant, and something told her she didn’t want to. Shaking her head negatively she watched Sunset sighed.
“It, uh… goes back to when humans were still considered… animals. Like…” Sunset chewed on her cheek a moment. “Like stock cattle or farm animals…”
Twilight puffed out her cheeks as she thought about this. Stock cattle was all cattle other than beef cattle and steers over three years of age….
Especially cattle for breeding purposes…
“Oh.”
“Yeah…” Sunset mumbled.
“She said that to your face, in daylight, in front of people?” Rainbow asked, still trying to process this information. “I-I can’t even…”
“Don’t pay that tart any mind Twilight. For every spoiled apple there is a bushel of good,” Applejack grunted. “You just need to pick your way through all the bruised and wormy ones first to find them.”
Twilight nodded as Applejack turned off the road to a large gated driveway with a thick stone fence surrounding a large, old stone chateau.
“That’s me,” Sunset said as she unbuckled herself. Opening the door she smiled again. “It was nice hanging out with you Twilight.”
“Yeah, we should totally do it again!” Rainbow added, opening her own door. “I’m good here AJ, I can fly home from Sunset’s place.”
“N’alrighty.” Applejack said, looking to Twilight in the rear view again. “Come on up and sit shotgun Twi.”
“Ok.” Twilight clambered out, circling the vehicle to the front seat as Rainbow flexed her wings out and gave them a few tests flaps. The force of the wind pushed out from under her wings was enough to almost launch Twilight’s glasses from her face. She held on to them as Rainbow managed to leap to the top of Sunset’s 10 foot stone fence, then off into the air with the help of the added height. It was rather impressive how quickly she was gone, and how much lift she could get.
“See ya later!” Rainbow shouted before she was high in the air and out of sight.
Twilight waved to Sunset as the girl approached the gated entry, but instead of buzzing in she merely found a foothold on the lower bar and jumped over the 10 foot gate in a single jump. She landed on the other side with a thump, then stood as if nothing odd had happened. She looked back to give the two a thumbs up, Twilight gaping at her and AJ laughing.
“10/10 Sunset!” Applejack snorted.
“Thank you, thank you.” Sunset said, single brow raised and a smirk on her face as she bowed. “I do try my best.”
Applejack just laughed again as Sunset waved and started up her driveway to the house. Twilight watched her walk for a moment, still holding the door before she climbed back inside. With her seatbelt on again the farmer started down the road again, this time for Everfree.
“So,” Applejack started, looking to the girl momentarily. “What’s Everfree Estates like?”
“Not too interesting,” Twilight shrugged. “Just subdivisions and a few stores. Nothing out of the ordinary… though I suppose ordinary to you is living in a city with lots of different creatures, instead of just your own kind.”
“There ain’t too much a’ my kind around here,” Applejack said, keeping her eyes on the road. “Most of ‘em are out in the country, my family that is. Not too sure where unrelated Timburr Dryads could be, not that it’s all that important.”
“Oh? Why not?” Twilight asked.
“Oh, you know. Health class and all that. We’s all got the same number of ah... I forget what them things is call… Chrome somethin’.”
“Chromosomes.”
“That’s it,” Applejack nodded. “Anyone can have kids with any other species they want, humans included, so it's not like I NEED to find someone like me… probably make it easier though. More in common in the way of culture I suppose.” Applejack shrugged. “It's just a little too toxic here for most of ‘em. S’why most of mah aunts and uncles moved away. Granny’s a tough ol’ gnarled root though, and we take after her, so we’re there to stay.”
“Toxic?” Twilight asked.
“Pollution, from tha city,” Applejack jerked her head back from where they came. “Most plants can’t take absorbing that much, that includes mah family, but so long as we ain’t exposed for a long period or there isn’t a whole lot of it in one place we’re fine. I mean, if you're used to it like me.” Applejack checked her blind spot, changing into a turning lane. “Mah aunts and uncles left just as the city started to get too big, so they can’t stay more than a week here. Course my Auntie and Uncle Orange have to be the toughest of the family to live right in the heart of Manehattan. Though they do have an air purifier in their apartment…”
“Wow, that's interesting. Do you only harvest apples on your farm?” Twilight asked.
“Got some animals. Sheep, pigs and stuff. Mostly for wool and truffle hunting though. Got some chickens….” Applejack smiled. “Mah dog Winona.”
“Lots of pets huh,” Twilight smiled.
“Yessum,” Applejack nodded. “Course we need ‘em much more than just for what they produce.”
“Why’s that?” Twilight questioned. “They give you lots of love?”
“Course, but we ain’t like Changlin’s or nothin’. They give off lots of carbon dioxide. If it weren’t for them the trees could make thing a little harder on us,” Applejack chuckled.
“Why would the trees make things harder for you?”
“We’re plants too, Twilight. Breathe in carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen. Trees just suck most of it up first,” Applejack said. “Animals just make sure there's enough to share between us.”
“You must have a lot of trees then.”
“Lots? Haha!” Applejack slapped her steering wheel. “Try oodles, a whole bunch and THEN some. I dunno if I can count ‘em all,” Applejack chuckled, looking proud again. “I can tell you all of their names though.”
“Names-?” Twilight started, only to stop when Applejack pulled up near the Everfree Estates entry. The lights at the guard station were on and the street lights were just starting to activate.
“Here we are. I’d drive you to your house Twilight, but…” Applejack gestured her hand for explanation, looking more sheepish than insulted.
“I understand, thanks again Applejack,” Twilight said, opening the door and hopping out.
“Now don’t you even mention it,” Applejack said happily. “It's what friends do.”
Friends…
“Oh hey!” Applejack smiled to Twilight. “If you get a free moment, come on down to the farm and I’ll show you around. I’m usually there if not for school or hanging out with the others.”
“That sounds nice,” Twilight agreed.
“Great, I’ll message you on Facebook or something,” Applejack said, putting the truck back into gear. “So I guess we’ll hang out again.”
“Yeah, I’ll see you soon!” Twilight nodded. After closing the door she waved, watching Applejack drive off. She stood watching the pickup disappear into the distance, hands in her pockets. After a moment she looked up at the stars as they started to appear before starting towards the guard house.
___________________________________________________________________
Twilight pushed open her door, hearing Spike starting to bark excitedly and running for her. She shut the door just as he rounded the stairs landing and beelined for her, hopping up excitedly. She laughed as she kicked off her shoes and put her bag away. “Easy Spike! I need a minute to get settled!”
“Twilight!” Velvet hurried downstairs excitedly, a glass of wine in one hand. “Oh honey! Did you have fun with your friends?”
“Yes, it was a lot of fun and they're really nice,” Twilight said as she picked Spike up, laughing as he started to lick her face.
“That's great!” Velvet smiled and lifted her glass up. “I’m so happy you're starting to get a little more social, Twilight!”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Yes mum. I know you are.”
“This calls for pizza!” Velvet went for the kitchen. “I’ll order one!”
Twilight shook her head, following her mother into the next room, watching her take the landline from its jack on the wall. “Can it be a Hawaiian pizza?”
“Anything you want honey,” Velvet said, dialing the number. “I’m just so glad you’re making friends, finally you’ll have someone to hang out with at school.”
Oh. Oh yes… Mom didn’t know yet…
It wasn’t so much that her mother was racist, or as racist as others. To be fair, everyone is, a little bit. It was more of the fact that her mother and father were known to be a little overbearing. If they knew she was leaving Everfree Estates then they might want to accompany her everywhere she went, or not even let her go at all…
“Yes, friends at school…” Twilight managed without sounding suspicious. Her mother smiled back at her before talking into the phone. Twilight hugged Spike a bit closer…
Sometimes you need to put yourself out there and sometimes you need to fly solo to do it...
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Good choice on what the species of the main 7 , except rarity, are rarity could have been a siren or a suckubus
I never imagined pinkie as a werewolf now that I read this it makes sense because of her crazy attude
Flittershy as a fairy well I'd very expect it
Koodos on the simple nods from the show
I still think twilight is a Mage
Also can someone drew a picture of the mane 7
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Thank you :D As for why I didn't use Siren or succubus well, Siren is take by our already favorite three Sirens. Succubus I didn't think of, but it seems like a harsh comparison to Rarity myself, not to say Succubus aren't good people in this world, also I didn't think of it.
As for pictures, I actually have some. I'll be posting them in my blog area later today. I only have AJ and Rainbow though.
These monsters are amazing!
Great and creative iterations of the mane 7. I love the way they interact, and how Twilight more than enjoys how different they are.
Your world building doesn't cese to impress.
Thanks for the chapter. Can't wait for more.
Sure is getting good and interesting. Why can't monster high be like this?... come to think they could have just used a human character like twi as well as an outsider looking in
(Could have sworn I offered to pre-read)
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Trixie is also taken. I was actually leaning toward some one like Octavia, as she seems like she could be a little prude when it comes to romance (Just a head cannon though) which could be a fun ironic twist.
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I think Monster high wanted to play it as safe as they could with the monster theme, and tried to make the toys seem edgy that way. (That or one of the Mattel Toy designers got high and watched 'Scooby Doo and The Ghoul School' ) They also seemed interested in keeping the girls as human/ good looking as they could. (I will never understand the brats eyes.) I, however, have no issues making their more monster-ish, if I can still make them identifiable.
As for the pre-reading, while I do appreciate you offering your time and skills, I already have a few betas/editors. The more of those I have the longer editing takes (They all have their own lives to live and can't edit these in one sitting usually.) and they might start to contradict each other in areas, IE Too many cooks can spoil the broth. However I want to thank you for offering. Its nice to see so many people willing to help or are so interested in my story they want to see me continue! So thank you kindly.
Love love love it! I can totally see the personalities of the girls in their different species. Pinkie pie as a werewolf with doglike excitement makes me giggle. I am excited for more!
7968323 okay :)
Though I guess that just leaves one thing...
Sunlight, or Timbersparks? ? ? ❤️ <3
I like this! There's a lot of potential to explore the different species and their cultures, and you've adapted it well so far. Then there's the whole humans vs monsters issue that can be explored -- great worldbuilding, basically, there's a lot of potential for depth here.
Looks like you're already planning to continue, but just in case you're still on the fence, I'll add my voice in to those who wanna see more :)
Very enjoyable. I really like the world you've created; it's a fun place to explore, and you've done a good job of setting it up and the MLP characters' places inside it. It'll be interesting to see where you take this, and what the overall plot arc will be.
I really liked how you did the first "Baboon Bites" bit, and how you let the implication hang out there without explicitly stating it, letting the readers do the math for themselves. That was nicely done. That said, I thought the second return to it (at least, so soon after the first) sorta over-belabored it just a little bit. Doing it two times in such quick succession diluted the impact for me a bit. Just how it felt to me, personally. Sometimes less is more, and sometimes it's better to spread things like that out before coming back to use them again so soon.
Anyway, that's just a very minor quibble, though. Overall I'm really enjoying this tale, and I can't wait to see where you take it! Thanks very much for sharing this with us!
This is actually pretty fun. Hoping for more soon. I'm also really wanting a Sunset & Twilight ship for this story it would go well with it and Twilights parents reaction to finding out there daugher is dating a vampire or/and a girl instead of a boy, If you wanted her parents to be like that. Someone also said this also but having Twilight be the first human with magic ( Or not for very long time. Too the point there's no records of it) or be a Vampire wether by accident/purpose or even a necessity . Better yet a Vampire/Mage. Lastly i am hoping Discords in this. He could be just him normal self. Have him be on of the last gods still on the planet and he just woke up from a big sleep. Maybe if you do the mage thing or the Vampire/Mage thing i mention. Have him wake up from a new species such as the mage or waking up from another mage come to life. Or even having the duo be such a big thing he goes to investige it. You could have the duo of only existed once from a god that was slain long ago and said god was reborn as Twilight. You could if you wanted have a romance between Him and Twilight, Make a back story between him and from her previous life. Or go continnue the way its already going it's good as is
Also sorry about that blob of text. I let my imagination do the writing (And sleep deprivation) on what would be interesting to see and how it will end up. I really enjoyed whats here and found nothing wrong with it off the top of my head. Gonna be giving a Favorite and tack. Hope to see more
It got reviewed! OwO
https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/717745/friendship-is-monster-first-impression-review
That was really good chapter I can't wait for more
good start, i so want more, and i can see something happen to twilight at some point and twist happen show twilight is not a human but something else, maybe some long forgotten monster or some kind of monster that when she dies she is reborn again start life fresh then when she reach X age she remember her old lifes....... or she end up being turn into vampire by sunset in order to save her..
anyway good story
I'm really loving the dynamic of twilight interacting with all these new species of people/monsters, it's something I have not seen before.
... some sentences were heard in Equestria.
Twilight (unicorn) : Hey! Unicorns are not dumb creature! We attended universities and everything!
Rainbow (pegasus) : Who do you call dumb?! I challenge you to race around the world!
Now with a YouTube reading
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Nice man! I made a blog post for everybody to see it!
4th wall break of the show, advertising by pinkie pie herself
They're*
I guess I know now.
>Twilight shook her head, following her mother into the next room, watching her take the landline from its jack on the wall. “Can it be a Hawaiian pizza?”
Twilight is the true monster here :<
I understood that reference.
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Techtically the hyde kid worked that way on first introduction but he got comfortable pretty fast.
I'm seriously hoping that Twilight is like, a witch or something. It would work so damn well.
Definitely better world building than "Bright."
Will Smith...why....
That last part is kinda funny to listen to with tts
Friend.
Uuuuuuh...I don't think this really helps the species relations. I can totally understand offering atasty treat replacement for human meat but not that way of advertising it.
The lesser ark of the forerunners or the ark of Noah?
Ahem, pardon? Great story so far btw
I never really got why humans are afraid of dryads I mean yes harpies are intimidating mainly because they're always hungry and will eat anything having to do with meat and I do mean anything werewolves that much goes without saying series I have no idea why though some of them can be a bit ruthless but dry it's most certainly not yes they have a temper but they should be classified as monsters that all their spirits of nature just don't piss them off
Considering this part of the story was about the sisters talking about not spending time with their little sisters/sister figure for rainbow, is there gonna be an anon a miss plotline? I personally wouldn't really like it, but anyway the wind blows i guess.
10439527
Considering humans back in the day needed to use wood andalot of other plant based stuff for tools theres a good reason they would be afraid of dryads.
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Lil old Woodman was walking down the way, axe on his shoulder, pile on his tray, out of a boulder came a drayd, scooped him up, drowned him by the lake near the way.
Oh. Oh, I get it now. Wow, that almost went over my head as much as it did with Twilight.
Pinkie as a dog/werewolf makes so much sense. Like, too much sense.
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Pizza is pizza. You can put Whatevra you want in it. Live and let live
Good story, but that's the incorrect "fawn". The one you used is the one referring to a young deer. The spelling for the mythical creature is "faun".
I'm really curious about the species this man is