Twilight's Dilemma
Pinkie Pie was happily skipping along the snowy road towards the Castle of Friendship while wearing her blue snow boots, blue scarf and blue winter cap. Just a while ago, Spike barged right into Sugarcube Corner and begged her to come to the castle to bake deserts for the parade or else Twilight will do it. To Spike’s surprise, Pinkie already understood before he could finished his sentence and then she was out the door, leaving the confused dragon behind.
Pinkie loves Hearth’s Warming, especially to spend the day with her friends. Baking cookies is her favorite thing to do for the holidays, but if her friends wanted her baking skills to help out for the parade, she more than happy to help. Sometimes preparing for a party is always more fun than the party itself.
Pinkie finally reached the castle doors and entered the castle. She left her winter gear by the door and then she skipped down the hall until she reached the end of the hallway, leading to the map room. As she approached the doors, she heard muffed arguments coming from the other side. Cautiously, Pinkie quietly opened the door to see Spoiled Rich and Twilight Sparkle in the room. Spoiled was in the middle of her rant like it’s the most important thing in Equestria, while Twilight was sitting on her throne, rubbing her temples in frustration.
“Oh come now Princess Twilight, be reasonable!” said Spoiled with her head up high. “I think that this year’s parade could use a bit more pizzazz! We should have floats like an ice sculpture of you, a nine mares dancing ballets, a musical orchestra, and a six feet throne made of silver and gold with me- I mean, you on it! Just to show those ponies that you are their ruler!”
Twilight sighed heavily as she looked up to Spoiled while she tried her best to keep herself calm. “Look Mrs. Rich, while I may consider adding at least a few of your ideas, but I will not remove or replace any of the other floats or mascots that are meant for children. This whole point of this event was to celebrate with our families for Hearth’s Warming. Nearly a three-quarter of the list of your ideas have nothing to do with the theme. And for the last time, I will not replace Santa Hooves for that ridicules throne idea! Besides, I would rather watch the parade with my family then to spend a few hours on a float.”
“But think of all the possibilities for future tourism and attention we’ll have for this town!” Spoiled insisted. Ponyville will finally be put on the map! We’ll soon be just as big and important as Canterlot, instead of being viewed as a poor hicktown which were run by insignificant low-lives.”
“Hey! Who you calling a low-life?” Pinkie asked indignantly as she appeared upside-down… somehow.
Spoiled shrieked in fright while Twilight blinked at Pinkie’s direction.
“Pinkie? What are you doing in here?” Twilight asked, surprised to see her friend showed up.
Pinkie let herself fall to the floor and than stood back up as if it was nothing. “Weeeeellllllll, I was just in the neighborhood when a little birdie told me that you need some help to prepare for the upcoming Hearth’s Warming parade, especially baking those delicious sweets for the town. So I decided to come over to help out because I love to help my friends and I love to bake and I love Hearth’s Warming and most of all, I absolutely-tootly love to help my friends by baking many treats for Hearth’s Warming!”
Spoiled blinked before she turned to Twilight while pointing at Pinkie with her hoof. “Is this mare on something?”
Twilight, while ignoring Spoiled, replied, “Oh… well… I guess there’s nothing wrong with having another pairs of hooves,” Twilight then smiled. “Especially from a friend.”
Before Pinkie could answer, Spoiled cut them off. “Yes well, as nice as it is to have extra help, but we would rather hire a real professional then some unreliable, childish, lunatic mare!” Spoiled turned her head as she waved uncaringly at Pinkie. “So why don’t you run along and—”
“Pinkie Pie is a friend of mine!” Twilight spoke up hotly, having enough of Spoiled’s attitude. “I don’t appreciate you calling her that! Anyway, you overstay you’re welcome, so I’ll kindly ask you to leave and keep the parade arrangement as is!”
Spoiled was flabbergasted. “But Princess—”
“LEAVE!”
An uncomfortable silence lingered for a moment within the map room, until Spoiled let out her indignant huff.
“Very well then, but I’ll be back later!”
Without looking back, Spoiled trotted out of the room with her head held high before she slammed the door behind her. Twilight had her anger expression towards the door for a minute longer before she sighed and her face changed to her sullen expression.
“I am so sorry about that Pinkie,” Twilight said softly before facing Pinkie. “I shouldn’t have let Mrs. Rich talk to you like that.”
Pinkie gave Twilight her gentle smile. “It’s okay Twilly, it’s not your fault. I was called much worse.”
Twilight shook her head. “That’s still no excuse, I was hopping that allowing her to work at the Town Hall will help her learn to be respectful and to be kind with other ponies. But instead, I’ve heard many complaints that Spoiled acted the opposite than I was hopping for. What’s worse was that I have to hear her say those awful things about another pony while I have mixed feelings of either wanting to scold her or…”
Twilight shuddered at the thought that she wouldn’t bring herself to do on anypony, not even Spoiled Rich. She quickly shook that thought away.
“I’m supposed to be the Princess of Friendship! One of my many duties is to teach everypony to make a friend and get along with others. I hoped that I could reform her like I did with Starlight. But how can I help a pony that refuses to make a friend or not wanting to be helped at all?”
Twilight sighed dejectedly and brought her head down. She felt like she had failed her duty when a pony like Spoiled won’t change her ways. She insured herself that Spoiled can be changed, as long as Twilight was being very patient and understanding. Now, with how Spoiled kept acting her ways and took advantage of Twilight’s kindness, Twilight wasn’t so sure if Spoiled could ever change.
Twilight was snapped out of her mulled thoughts while she felt a hoof on her shoulder. When Twilight looked up, she was surprised to see Pinkie with the most serious expression Twilight had ever seen from Pinkie’s face.
“Twilly… I may not know much about being the Princess of Friendship, but I do know a lot about partying!”
Twilight sighed. “Pinkie, how can you think about parties at a time like—”
“Just hear me out Twilight!” Pinkie said sternly. When Pinkie was sure Twilight was not speaking, Pinkie continued. “As a party planner, it’s my job to throw a lot of parties and to make everypony happy! But there were some ponies I met who, believe it or not, hated parties!”
“What?” Twilight exclaimed in disbelief.
“I know, right!” Pinkie exclaimed back. “I’m surprised there are ponies like that! I mean, how can anypony hate parties!? It’s like saying, you hate books, or you hate flying, or you hate presents, or you hate candy, or you hate chocolate rain, or you hate Hearth’s Warming, or you hate—”
“PINKIE!”
“Oh right, sorry Twilly!” Pinkie said sheepishly before she continued. “Well anywho, I remembered that I tried to invite those same ponies multiple times to another party, just to show how fun it is, but they refused each and every time. Some gave me good reasons why they don’t like to party, while others…” Pinkie sighed sadly, almost deflating her poofy mane. “Fully believed that partying was just a waste of time,” Pinkie mulled for a moment, before her expression changed to her happy expression again. “Anywho… I managed to convince a few ponies that partying is fun, but the rest… they wouldn’t budge. So after the twentieth—” Pinkie suddenly had a thoughtful look. “Or was it the twenty-first?” After thinking for a moment, Pinkie shrugged and continued. “I pretty much stopped inviting these ponies, but at least I’m happy that only a few of them changed their minds about parting.”
Twilight arched her eyebrow and then tilted her head slightly. “That was a very good story Pinkie, but… what does that have to do with my problem?”
Pinkie sighed. “Sometimes, there are a few ponies who are either too stubborn or just beyond help. If they keep on refusing to change or not willing to give you a chance, well… you tried and then you move on.”
Twilight’s eyes widened. “Are you saying I should… give up on her!?”
“Not right away!” Pinkie spoke quickly. “But you’ve been trying to help her for weeks with no improvements. I’m just saying you should at least give her one more chance for her to prove herself that your lessons does matter to her and that she’s willing to be a better pony. If she does, then that’s great! If she doesn’t… then I’m afraid she is not worth your time or stress.”
Twilight looked uncertain and then turned away. “I… I don’t know. It goes against everything that I stand for!”
Pinkie gently patted Twilight’s head, causing the latter to face Pinkie again. “Just think about what I said, alright Twi?” Pinkie then gave Twilight her toothy smile. “In fact, why don’t take a nice bath and let your Auntie Pinkie Pie take care of those cookies.”
“…you know I’m a bit older than you right?” Twilight deadpanned.
“Can’t talk, gotta bake some cookies!” said Pinkie as she hopped away towards the kitchen. “See ya Twilly!~”
Once Pinkie disappeared out of the room, Twilight shook her head in both confusion and in amusement.
“That Pinkie Pie, she can be so mature when she wanted to be, and yet she still acting so random.”
Rainbow Dash was having a bad day.
Not long after Officer Warrant gave Rainbow another ticket for causing disturbance on the streets of Canterlot (and paying the cabbage stallion two-hundred bits for the damages), Rainbow flew to many different toy stores from one town to the next in hope to find the Zapp doll. Unfortunately, her search is the same as follows: fly around for a half-hour to find a toy store, enter said toy store, asked the representatives for the Zapp doll, getting laughed at by the representatives, and then leave the store to go find the next one.
Rinse. Lather. Repeat.
She had been doing this for over three hours and she was already getting sick of this routine. She flew places like Cloudsdale, Vanhoover, Appleloosa, Rainbow Falls, Las Pegasus, even Rockville she wasn’t able to find the toy. Rainbow felt very tired and her wings were sore from all her flying, but she kept pushing on. She never thought that finding a specific toy would be this hard. She mentally kicked herself for not getting it weeks ago. Despite that things were not looking good for her, Rainbow refused to give up.
Rainbow finally stopped by near the Voice Crystal Booth1 in Manehattan. As she was waiting in line behind many ponies, she couldn’t help but to think back to how her wife invented that awesome invention, which allowed ponies to communicate with each other by distance just by using this magic crystal to link with another one and then talk through it. It was originally used as a Friendship Hotline but now anypony can use it for any occasion. Some ponies owned these crystals at home, but most others used them from the booths, which actually comes to inform another pony while you’re traveling.
By the time some pony finished her long conversation about what to get from the supermarket, it was finally Rainbow’s turn to use the booth. Rainbow knew she was taking too long as she searched for the toy, so she was trying to get ahold of Twilight so that Twilight won’t be worried sick for Rainbow’s long period of absence. Rainbow grumbled as she inserted her bit into the slot so she can activate the crystal. Then she placed her hooves on the crystal to summon her link to the castle in hopes to talk to her wife. She waited for some time until finally she heard a voice speaking from the crystal.
“Hellooooooooo~ Sparkle resident!”
“Hey Twilight, I—”
Rainbow’s eyes widened. This wasn’t the sound of her wife. This voice belonged to somepony else. In fact, this voice sounded bubblier than her wife.
“Pinkie Pie?” Rainbow asked in disbelief.
“Hey Dashie’! How’s it going?” Pinkie chirped from the crystal.
Rainbow blinked. “I’m fine, but what are you doing on our voice crystal?”
Rainbow heard Pinkie giggling from the background. “Weeeeeeeeeellllll, Spike came to visit me this morning that Twilly was about to bake for the parade, so I came over to help out! Of course, I already knew about that with my Pinkie sense so I would’ve come over anyway and as much as I love Twilly, and I mean as a friend and not that way like you and Twilly! And we all know how bad her baking skills were when she once baked a cake for Scootaloo’s birthday party a few months ago! So now, I’m in control of baking and so far, I baked about two hundred gingerbreads, three hundred sugar cookies, and five hundred chocolate chip cookies and still going!”
“Um… I see,” Rainbow said uncertainly. “Well thanks for that, but I need to speak to Twilight. Can you—”
“Mmmm!~” Pinkie moaned loudly. “You should’ve tasted some of these cookies I baked. They’re so yummy when they’re fresh from the oven!”
“Pinkie… are you’re eating the cookies?” Rainbow exclaimed.
Pinkie giggled. “Of course silly! Mmmmmm!~ What do you think I was going to do with them?”
“But Pinkie, these are for the parade!” Rainbow argued.
“Oh don’t worry Dashie, we’re making more.” Pinkie insured before Rainbow heard Pinkie eating another cookie. “Mmmmmmmm!~ Besides, how can you not want to eat them?”
Rainbow sighed. “Okay whatever, now can you please get me Twi—”
“Mmmmmmmmmmm!~” Pinkie loudly moaned again, much to Rainbow’s annoyance. “These are sooooooo good! These could be my best cookies yet!”
“PINKIE! PUT THAT COOKIE DOWN AND GET ME MY WIFE!” Rainbow roared.
Rainbow eyes widened after she made that outburst. She even noticed that other ponies from their own booths giving her looks. Embarrassed, Rainbow turned to her crystal again just in time to hear her friend start speaking again.
“D-Dashie? Is everything okay?” Pinkie asked in a very quiet voice.
Rainbow sighed morosely. “I- I’m sorry Pinkie. I… I’m having a bad day.” Rainbow paused for a moment. “You see…”
“You made a promise to your daughter that you’re getting her the Zapp action figure from the Power Ponies for Hearth’s Warming to make up to her that you missed her Pro Junior Scooter Finals, which was an awesome show by the way, and then you realized it was the same action figure that you were supposed to get a few weeks ago and forgot about it, which that was a terrible thing of you Dashie! So to avoid making your daughter upset and hate you more, you decided to go out to Canterlot’s Toy Chest early this morning just so you can to buy the toy and come back home, only to find out that it was sold out and you met your ex-friend from Wonderbolts Academy, who also wanted the toy and you two were competing to get it by going to so many different toy stores but so far you found nothing and now you wanted to talk to Twilight to let her know that you are going to be a few minutes late, even though it may take a long time!” Pinkie somehow said all this in one breath. “Right?”
“Er… yeah. How did you know?” Rainbow asked, disturbed that her friend somehow knew exactly what had happened despite not being there.
“Just a hunch!” Pinkie responded simply.
“Pinkie… you scared me sometimes.”
“Anywho, Twilight is taking a bath right now after Spoiled Rich nearly stressed her out about the parade!” said Pinkie.
Rainbow eyes narrowed when Spoiled was brought up. “I see. Is that witch still there!”
“Witch? I don’t see any— OH! You mean Mrs. Rich?” Pinkie asked before she laughed with a snort. “Good one Dashie! No, she’s left but she said she’ll be back soon.”
“Listen Pinks, I need to ask two favors from you,” said Rainbow. “Will you please just tell her that I’ll be late and that I’m okay without mentioning the shopping part and also keep in eye on that Mrs. Rich? I just don’t trust her.”
There was a long pause for a moment, making Rainbow wondered if she lost connection before Pinkie eventually responded.
“Okey dokey lokey! I will do those two favors!” Pinkie chirped.
Rainbow sighed in relief. “Thanks Pinkie Pie! You’re a real life—”
“As long as you keep your pinkie promise that you’ll be at the parade!” Pinkie added in a very disturbing low voice, causing Rainbow’s eyes to widen and chills go up in her spine. “Because if you do brake a pinkie promise… then you will lose all of your trust from your friends and family… FOR-E-VER!”
DING!~
“Ooooooh!~ That must be the next batch!” Pinkie announced in her cheery voice again. “I’ll be sure to give Twilly the message! Talk to you soon Dashie!~”
After the voice crystal was disconnected, Rainbow warily stared at the crystal for a long time until she started muttering to herself.
“I take that back, she scares me all the time!”
Rainbow trotted out of the booth and then walked down the sidewalk. Rainbow’s wings were still tired so she figured she would travel on hoof for now. As she was walking, a certain light turquoise pegasus came out of her own booth and spotted Rainbow Dash.”
“Hey, hey Rainbow Dash!”
Rainbow stopped and glanced behind her for a moment to see Lightning Dust galloping towards her.
Oh great! she groaned internally before she continued walking down the sidewalk, but letting Lighting Dust catch up to her.
“Hey there Rainbow Dash, good ‘ol buddy of mine!” Lightning said in her up beat attitude, causing Rainbow to arch her eyebrow. “How’s it going?” When Rainbow never responded, Lightning asked, “Still hunting for the Zapp toy?”
“Yeah,” Rainbow asked, while glancing at Lightning suspiciously.
“Me too! Those things are hard to find, let me tell you!” Lightning said with a scoff. “I’ve flown to different parts of Equestria to find one and came up with nothing! I guess that’s what we get for shopping at the last minute; you know what I’m saying? It’s almost as if those corporate cats knew that these things are so popular, so they must of purposely sold only a few of these just for more profit! You know, supply and demand kind a thing? And it gets even worse during Heart’s Warming season too! I mean, forget Queen Chrysalis or Lord Tirek, these corporate guys are the real evil dictators!”
Finally had enough with Lightning’s tirade, Rainbow stopped walking and faced her rival. “Alright Lightning Dust, what do you want?”
“What?” Lightning asked. “Is it wrong to catch up and have a pleasant conversation with my old friend and former partner?”
Rainbow’s eyes narrowed. “Okay first of all, we were never friends!”
“…that hurts Dash!” said Lightning.
“Second,” Rainbow added. “Just a few hours ago, you clearly resent me when we met at Canterlot and then later you knocked me aside just so you could chase after a mare with the toy!”
Lightning rolled her eyes with a scoff. “Oh come on! You’re still mad about that? If I recall, you also caused an avalanche of stuffed animals before I was out the front door!”
“You still started it!” Rainbow accused. “And now, here you are, have the nerve to talk to me like we’re best pals? Just what is your game Dust?”
Lightning raised her hooves defensively. “Okay okay! Look, could you just please hear me out!”
Rainbow crossed her forehooves. “Fine, but make it quick!”
“Thank you!” said Lightning, lowering her hooves. “Now look, you remember our Academy days?”
Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Oh gee, how can I forget?”
Lightning pointed at Rainbow and then herself. “You and I were the best of the team. Better than every single one of these losers from our school!”
Rainbow’s glared intensely. “Dust, some of these losers you’ve insulted are friends of mine! If you keep insulting them to my face, I’ll walk away right now!”
“Okay okay, sorry!” Lightning said hastily before she continued. “What I’m trying to say was that we were the top of our class and together we can take on anypony! And earlier today when we pushed each other around at the store earlier, we still have those traits! I don’t mean to brag, but I’m considered to be the fastest mail carrier in Equestria! I still trained myself from time to time so my skills never slowed down over the years! And I’m pretty sure that you improved a lot over the years as a… Wonderbolt.”
Rainbow noticed that Lightning barely spat in anger when she said the word ‘Wonderbolts,’ but didn’t comment on that.
“Okay, and… where are you going with this?” Rainbow asked patiently while eyeing suspiciously at Lightning.
Lightning smirked. “I think you and I should work together as a team, just like the good ol’ days! Together, we’ll be unstoppable! We’ll both find these toys, take out anypony who gets in our way and then we’ll go home with the Zapp dolls right on time for Hearth’s Warming!”
Lighting then extended her hoof out towards Rainbow, expecting a hoofbump.
“So, what do ya say? Are ya in?”
Rainbow stared at Lightning and then at Lightning hoof. Then, Rainbow’s eyes narrowed and pushed Lightning’s hoof away.
“No,” Rainbow answered bluntly.
“NO!? What do ya mean, ‘no?’” Lightning yelled angrily. “Didn’t you hear what I just said?”
“Yes, I did,” said Rainbow with a frown. “But it’s still no!”
Lightning growled. “Why not?”
“Lot’s of reasons,” said Rainbow with a glare. “First of all, during our so-called, ‘good ‘ol days,’ I once followed your brilliant plans as a wing-pony, we all know how that turned out! So what makes you so sure that I would want to partner with you again? Second, the fact that part of your plan is to ‘take out anypony in our way’ and treating this whole thing like it’s some sort of game, tells me that even after all these years, you’re still that same reckless mare I know and that you will still disregard others without a second thought!”
“Hey, I’m not the bad guy here!” Lightning exclaimed. “Like you, I just wanted to get the toy before anypony else! If I have to stay ahead of the competition, I have to play dirty, even if I had to snatch the toy from some kid’s hooves!”
Rainbow glowered with a snort. “Seriously, you will go as far to steal a toy from some kid?”
“Hey, there are two types of ponies in this world: those who finish the race first and those who finish the race last! Guess which type I would rather be?”
“…you disgust me,” Rainbow said in a low voice before she turned and trotted away from Lightning.
“You’ll regret turning my offer down, Rainbow Dash!” Lightning shouted at Rainbow’s back. “When I find this toy, I will wave it right in your face! And then just for fun, I will also purchase one of those Hum Drum dolls and then shove it right up your—”
“Out of way! Out of my way!” A beige earth stallion with a brown hat shouted, as he ran past Lightning.
The stallion kept on running, nearly knocked Rainbow down in the process,
“Hey what gives?” Rainbow shouted at the stallion.
“There’s a late shipment of those Zapp action figures over at the Manehattan Mall!” The stallion shouted over his shoulder, as he kept on running.
The two mares eyes widen. Less than a spit second later, they both took off right up into the air. Rainbow was in the lead, trying to get to the mall as fast as she can. Unfortunately, her wings was still sore from all of her flight trips, she slowed down somewhat. This gives Lightning Dust the opportunity to catch up to Rainbow Dash.
As Lightning was getting closer to Rainbow, she spotted an outdoor restaurant up ahead. An idea formed into her mind as she smirked mischievously. With Rainbow distracted, Lightning rushed up to Rainbow’s side and rammed into her, causing Rainbow to fall and crashed into a bunch of tables and chairs at the restaurant.
Rainbow groaned in pain from the impact as something wet and warm substance drenched her entire mane. She surveyed around the area and winced as she noticed almost every outdoor tables and chairs are destroyed because of her. She then looked up when she heard a gasp. When she did, her face went pale that the pony in front of her was none other than Officer Warrant, sitting on his chair with a spoon barely made it to his mouth.
“Y-you just destroyed the table… and my squash soup!” He uttered in disbelief. His expression then changed to anger as he pulled out his notepad from his shirt pocket. “You’re going to get double the fine for this!”
As the officer was writing on his pad, Rainbow turned to the side just in time to see Lightning Dust, hovering in the air with a smug look on her face.
“Watch out for this one officer, she’s a real troublemaker!”
Lightning Dust laughed mockingly as she took off into the sky. Rainbow Dash glowered at her fleeing rival.
Wait ‘til I get my hooves on that mare!
Looks like the race is on to Manehattan Mall... who will get the toy first?
Find out tomorrow!
1) Ponies using the voice crystal as a telephone was inspired by Twilight's Friendship Hotline by by Lise Eclaire. It's a story about Twilight putting together a hotline for ponies to call them from long distance in case of a friendship problem... and lots of hijinks ensued. It's a funny read! I recommend you check it out! 
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Loved the movie. Arnold played that movie well.
Oh Rainbow, sometimes you have make the deal with the devil.
Also this the thrid run in with Officer Warrent, you have meet the rule of three.
Well Twi...sometimes you just have to resort to drastic measures
.
Not all of us can be friends
.
That's an understatement
.
Isn't that just what you did at the Canterlot mall
?
Really
?! Yes! Now Rainbow has a chance
!
ARE YOU BUCKING KIDDING ME
?!?! HIM AGAIN?!?!
Give her a taste of the rainbow Dash
!
Why does it not surprise me that she know what was going on, oh right it's Pinkie, that's why.
And I know it would kind of devalue the story a little but I think it would be funny if after all this is said and done Pinkie just pulls a Zapp action figure out her hair saying, "OH! Is this what you were looking for Dashie? I bought it for you months ago because I know how forgetful you are but I guess I'm just as forgetful since I forget to give to you. Hehe." Meanwhile Rainbow just stares her mouth agape at the realization that all of this was for nothing.
Ooooh, that was just EVIL!! But Officer Warrant ALSO being Manehatten at the same time? Lightning Dust I can understand since she was like Rainbow Dash and flying everywhere. But the Officer too? Going from Canterlot to Manehattan just like that? Sure, he had at least 3 hours. But still, it seems like a bit of a stretch.