The Ties that Bind

by the7Saviors

A Festival to Remember

Ancient Scroll and the three fillies continued to enjoy the festivites as the day wore on.

Twilight had become enthralled with the foreign cultures of various different races both within and outside of Equestria. At her request, the next stop had been to a tailor shop that specialized in traditional equine clothing from all over the world.

Each of them had left the shop with their own preferred traditional wear. These included Sunset's highland dress with a tartan skirt, a white blouse and a black vest from the country of Trotland, a bright orange Neighponese yukata that Twilight wore, and a festive golden yellow anarkali suit from Reindia that Trixie had practically squealed over.

Ancient Scroll had decided to go without any outfit -- much to the fillies disappointment.

With that done, they moved on to the various games and competitions around town. Trixie had participated in a game of darts where she won the very same mask she'd seen before.

Twilight and Sunset had competed in a griffon game of cross bow shooting that ended in a tie and an argument with the booth owner that Ancient Scroll had to break up.

All three of them tried and failed at a goldfish scooping game that the azure filly swore up and down was rigged. The last game they played for the day was a sort of mix between bingo and trivia that had several festival goers answer questions related to both spring and the many cultures around the world.

Twilight, who had already skimmed through the various books she had bought on different cultures and traditions, won the game by a landslide. The prize had been a large basket of different snack foods and candy from all over the world -- a prize which was swiftly confiscated by Ancient Scroll until they returned home.

Needless to say, the three fillies hadn't been happy with the decision.

After the games were done, the four decided to join in on the singing and dancing taking place in the town square. Sunset and Trixie had been invited onstage where they attempted to sing a duet while Twilight danced in the crowd.

Ancient Scroll had once again opted to sit on the sidelines, citing his advanced age as the reason he couldn't dance and sing with the rest of the group.

By the time they all finished, the afternoon had slowly given way to evening and the only events left were a traditional Yakyakistanian play being put on near the town hall, the large fireworks display just outside the town, and the massive potluck which Sunset had been eagerly anticipating all day.

Night had fallen and the large stage in town square had been taken down and replaced with a long table positively overflowing with food and drink.

There were all sorts of unique dishes on display and the fillies sampled almost each and every one. Twilight and Trixie had even managed to convince Sunset to try one of the more enticing griffonian platters. Although reluctant at first, the orange filly had wound up enjoying the meal much to her surprise.

Unfortunately, it seemed meat didn't quite agree with Sunset and Ancient Scroll had ended up taking her back to Rouge's for the night due to a stomachache. Worried for their friend and feeling somewhat guilty, Twilight and Trixie had decided to follow the two back to make sure Sunset was okay.

Now the each of the fillies found themselves upstairs with Twilight and Trixie watching over a bedridden Sunset. They had all removed their costumes and Ancient Scroll had remained downstairs to talk with Rouge, leaving the fillies to talk amongst each other.

"We're sorry, Sunset," Twilight said with an apologetic frown, "Uncle Scroll said too much meat was bad for a pony so I only gave you a bit, but it looks like not everypony can handle even that small amount."

"No it's -- hurp -- it's okay, Twilight," Sunset replied with a weak smile, "none of us knew it was gonna be that--"

Twilight and Trixie winced as Sunset brought the wastebasket near the bedside to her face and vomited.

"Trixie understands how you feel, Sunset Shimmer," the azure filly said with a sympathetic frown, "she's eaten some things that made her sick for days."

"I've only been sick a few times in my life," Twilight added, "but I don't think it's ever been this bad..."

"Ugh..." Sunset lowered the basket back to the floor and closed her eyes, resting her head on the pillow, "you know, I think I read somewhere once that it shouldn't be possible for ponies to throw up..."

"Well be glad we can, Sunset," Twilight said with a wry smile, "otherwise you'd be much worse off than you are right now."

"Yeah," Sunset muttered, "I guess so..."

"Maybe the dish just wasn't cooked all the way or something," Trixie suggested.

"No, I don't think that's it, Trixie," Twilight responded, shaking her head, "you and I ate the same thing, and we're fine."

"True," the azure filly conceded, "but it still might be just the piece that Sunset ate."

"I... guess that could be the case," Twilight admitted tentatively, "but I think it's safer to assume Sunset's stomach can't handle meat like ours can."

Trixie simply shrugged in response.

There was a brief lull in the conversation in which each of them took a moment to reflect on the days events.

"Still," Twilight said after a moment, "all things considered, today has been one of the most fun I've had in a long time."

"Trixie agrees," the azure filly replied with a grin, "honestly, this might be the best day of her life. The only thing that could've topped it would've been when she was onstage with Hoofdini, but..."

Trixie's smile dipped and she trailed off. The other two eyed her worriedly, but before they could say anything, she shook her head a second later and her smile returned.

"Trixie had a lot of fun today."

"Yeah..." Sunset replied as she stared up at the ceiling, "I still can't believe I ran into those two."

"You mean the FlipFlop Brothers?" Trixie asked with a grimace.

"FlimFlam Brothers," Sunset corrected.

"Trixie knows what she said."

Sunset shook her head.

"Well anyway," she continued, "they might be crooks, but they're definitely passionate about what they do. I just hope they can learn to do it honestly."

"I'm still wondering who those mysterious ponies were that were chasing them all over Equestria," Twilight mused, "it seems kind of ridiculous to go that far for just a couple of salesponies."

"Maybe," Sunset responded, "but those two brothers are extremely good at what they do when they set their minds to it."

"Didn't seem all that great to Trixie," the azure filly muttered.

"That's true," Sunset replied sitting up slightly and facing the other two, "I'm not sure what that was all about. Usually they're much better at getting ponies to cough up their bits than that."

"Maybe they were just tired from their trip?" Twilight suggested, "I mean, they did say they were trying to lay low and find somepony to help them learn more about how to be better salesponies."

"Maybe..." Sunset replied looking away with a thoughtful frown, "it's still weird though."

"Good evening, little ones."

The three jumped in surprise and turned to face the tall Abyssinian who had just silently made her way upstairs.

"Don't do that!" Trixie cried, holding a hoof to her chest, "you nearly scared Trixie out of her skin!"

"My apologies, Trixie," Rouge said with an amused titter, "it wasn't my intent to frighten you. Silent steps are a trait all of us Abyssinians share I'm afraid."

"W-Well," Trixie stammered, "Trixie was just... surprised, that's all. Nopony said anything about being frightened."

"Trixie," Sunset deadpanned from the bed, "you literally told her you were almost scared out of your skin."

"Trixie doesn't recall." the azure filly replied with a huff.

Rouge tittered again before turning to the orange filly.

"How are you feeling, Sunset?" she asked kindly, "better I hope?"

"I think I'm doing okay," Sunset replied with a small nod, "I did throw up earlier, but I think that actually helped."

Rouge nodded before giving the filly a quizzical frown, "I was always under the impression that equines couldn't regurgitate."

After a moment she shrugged and gave a small shake of her head.

"Well in any case," she continued, "I originally came up here to tell you that your uncle and I have prepared beds for you all downstairs whenever you're ready to turn in for the night."

"Oh, thank you," Twilight replied with a smile, "but Uncle Scroll isn't really our uncle, we just call him that."

"Really?" Rouge asked with a bemused tilt of her head, "why?"

The three fillies looked at each before turning back to the tall cat with matching shrugs.

"We don't really know," Sunset answered, "we just do."

"Alright," Rouge replied with a confused frown, "well, let us know when you're all ready for bed."

"We will," Twilight replied with a nod, "thank you, Rouge."

With one last wave, Rouge headed back downstairs.

They each watched her go before Trixie spoke up with a yawn.

"Trixie thinks bed sounds pretty good right about now."

"Yeah," Twilight agreed, "I'm pretty tired myself after everything we did today."

"Hold on, Twilight."

The lavender filly turned to Sunset with an inquistive raise of her brow. Sunset turned away from the window she been staring out of and look at Twilight with a frown.

"Today was pretty great and all," she said, hopping off the bed and trotting over to Twilight, "but isn't there something you're forgetting?"

Twilight furrowed her brow in thought.

"I... don't think so," she finally replied, "not that I can remember."

Trixie looked from Sunset to Twilight before her eyes widened in realization.

"That's right!" she exclaimed facing the lavender filly, "you were supposed to tell us about what happened to you earlier when you woke up."

"Oh..." Twilight muttered with a grimace, "right..."

"Do you... still want to?" Sunset asked hesitantly, "we can wait until tomorrow if you--"

"No, no," Twilight interjected, shaking her head rapidly, "I promised myself I would tell you girls what happened and that's what I'm going to do."

"Well, Trixie is all ears," the azure filly said with a nod and an understanding smile, "the Thoughtful and Understanding Trixie is here to listen to your woes without judgement."

"Yeah, we're here for you Twilight," Sunset added before she frowned, "do you... really remember everything now? Like, everything?"

Twilight nodded with a solemn frown.

"I won't lie to you, Sunset," the lavender filly replied, "it's not... it's absolutely horrible and I..."

She fell silent and looked away for a moment before taking a deep breath and turning back to the other two fillies.

"Well, I might as well start with when I first learned the Transmogrification spell..."

Author's Note:

Why yes, I did spend about half an hour doing research on the traditional wear of various cultures while I was writing this.

I'm very passionate about the story, don't judge me.

Comments

[Ze1a7in]

...So was this supposed to be before the chapter "A Recovered Memory"?

[Jonny Bench]

Oh no, trixie is going to learn hoofdini probably didn’t make it since the razor twins showed up again.

[the7Saviors]

8848855
No this is just Twilight recounting what she remembered when she woke up. She said she'd tell them after they ate earlier but forgot with all the festival activities.

Memory Revealed chapter takes place when Twilight is unconscious.

I'm not going through Twilight's whole story again, she's just telling them about it... 'off screen' I guess -- wrong phrase for a literary work but hopefully it gets my point across.

[Demous_Abyss]

8848855
I'm pretty sure not. What happened before was Twilight remembering something specific while unconscious on Ancient Scrolls back. This is going to be her explaining everything for Trixie and Sunset.

[Ze1a7in]

8848962
yes. 7Saviors already explained that. thtnk you for your redundancy.

[eddiehowell]

"Well, I might as well start with when I first learned the Transmogrification spell..."

Calvin and Hobbes, Owo

[Titan Commander Sebaste]

Very well done as always!

[Rosewell8]

This story would suck real bad without the passion you put into it, don't ever apologize for it.

[Biker_Dash]

I'm gonna assume the fact that everycritter believes equines cannot vomit comes from IRL?

[lainverse]

9124343
Yes: https://www.quora.com/Can-horses-throw-up
Not like they absolutely can't, but they do so very rarely. From that description not being able to throw up seems like quite dangerous disadvantage. So, Sunset might be quite lucky that she can.

[PrimordiusLordofThestris]

no judgement to be found here only 100% of complete and total understanding I would be worried for this stories future if you weren't passionate about it

[Prince Leviathan]

Honestly i need to see a pic of them in those outfits especially Trixie in that golden yellow anarkali