• Published 12th Nov 2020
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Pretty Laces for Good Little Fillies - libertydude



Anon tries to be on her best behavior when Twilight's friends come to visit. She doesn't know if that will be enough to be loved.

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Getting Acquainted

The rest of the morning consisted of a mad dash of beautification Anon could barely follow. Twilight had passed Anon off to Jet, the servant in the black maid’s outfit and with an aqua mane twisted into a pigtail, who dropped Anon into a filled bathtub. The filly sent the water over the tub’s already filled edges. Before Anon could catch her breath, she felt Jet’s hooves massaging a shampoo deep into her scalp. Warm water flowed over Anon’s head, and she took quick breaths in the moments when the water stopped cascading down her face.

Once dried, Anon found herself placed in front of the mirrors lining the north wall of her bedroom. A dress a minute was placed against her chest, Jet’s face scrunched as she determined whether the various ruffles and sequins were attuned to the monarch’s instructions. The choices soon narrowed to a poofy blue dress with a large skirt stretching behind the back hooves and a simple pink one with little red frills surrounding the waist and chest. The latter was eventually chosen for both its simplicity and measured contrast with Anon’s fur.

Anon kept silent throughout the whole process. If there was one lesson she’d kept from her past life, it was that flies couldn’t enter closed mouths.

Soon afterwards, Anon found herself in the throne room. The throne itself was rather mundane, a simple violet cushion and backrest sitting above a large pool of water cycled in and out by miniature waterfalls. Stained glass windows stretched before her depicting acts she hadn’t yet learned in her tutoring lessons. One unmistakably depicted Twilight, wings outstretched as the Elements of Harmony flowed from her down to five smaller ponies below her.

I wonder what they’ll be like, Anon thought, playing with her dress. She’d heard Twilight’s tales of their exploits in bits and pieces, usually whenever a friendship lesson needed to be imparted. The amalgamated image was one of a perfectly functioning unit of militarized friendship, where evil-doers were stomped down and compassion prevailed amongst the group. The idea intrigued Anon, though her unease reappeared when Twilight herself came through the throne room’s doors. Her coat shimmered in the light, almost matching the gleam her mane gave off naturally.

“You look lovely, Nonny,” Twilight said, trotting over towards her ward. “Jet did a great job with your hair. The dress is pretty, too.”

A small blush crossed Anon’s face. “You really think so?”

“Absolutely.” She leaned down and nuzzled the filly’s head. “Now, do you remember all of their names?”

Anon nodded. “Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and, er… Butterfly?”

“Fluttershy. And do you remember who is who?”

“Yeah, um…Pinkie is the pink one, Rainbow Dash is the rainbow one. Rarity’s the one with the purple mane. Uh, Fluttershy is yellow, and Applejack’s the one with the hat.”

“Good enough!” Twilight said, her face somewhere between nervous and excited. “Now get ready. These girls can be a little overbearing if you’re not used to them. Celestia knows it took some time for me to warm up to them.” She winked at Anon. “But I’m sure you’ll be fine, considering you’re ‘too cute’ to ignore.”

Anon rolled her eyes, but the pit deepened within her stomach. “Do they know I’m, you know… not the same Anon you had the last time they were here?” Anon had heard the horror stories from passing castle staff about a perpetually grumpy filly who’d spent most of her days finding new and inventive ways to torture everypony in the castle, including Twilight herself.

“Oh, yes,” Twilight said. “I made sure to tell them.”

“Okay.” Anon stared down at the purple carpet, no less assuaged of worry. She knew Twilight’s kindness was beyond doubt, but these strangers all held mysterious personalities she could not discern from mere stories. Perhaps they could put on a brave face and pretend the little filly beside their friend was amusing in some small manner, but Anon was sure they’d turn on a dime the second they were outside the castle walls.

What a stupid little runt, Pinkie would say.

Her dress was so lackluster, Rarity would say. Five seasons out of date.

And her voice was so annoying, Rainbow Dash would say between cackles. Honestly, if it wasn’t Twilight’s job to take care of those things, she would have been dumped into an orphanage long ago.

The thoughts made Anon want to shrink inside her dress, but the consideration was interrupted when the doors of the throne room slammed open. There stood a pink pony with an assortment of candy stuck in her frilly hair, huffing and puffing with outstretched arms. Behind her stood Twilight’s remaining four friends, each bedecked in their own unique style of clothing.

“Best Friends Forever Reunion Party!” Pinkie Pie shouted, diving towards Princess Twilight faster than a lightning bolt. From sheer reflex, Twilight caught the party pony in time and returned her bone-crushing embrace. The rest of the group followed suit, the group hug growing larger with each body. A variety of squeals came from each participant and hushed proclamations about how the others looked oh so wonderful even after all these years. A warmth filled Anon’s chest, happy to see they still loved Twilight into their older age.

“And this…” Twilight said, stepping back and opening her hooves toward the little filly standing meekly beside her, “is Anon. The new one, like I wrote to you.”

Anon gulped when all their eyes shifted her way. She didn’t dare look away, even with her knowledge they would hate her outright, for she knew she could not embarrass Twilight in any way. The image of Twilight in her royal bedroom with thirty-foot high ceilings, bawling into a velvet pillow as she ruminated on her friends deserting her because of one stupid little filly, hardened Anon’s resolve to put on the brave face she’d never managed in her past life.

“Um, hello,” she said in more of a squeak than a normal voice. She bent her knees low in a curtsy, just like how Jet had shown her. “Nice to m-meet you all.”

For a moment, Anon feared the worst. The eyes of the ponies she recognized as Rarity and Applejack held a deep suspicion within them. Pinkie and Fluttershy, while seemingly as pleasant as Twilight said they would be, contained a wariness Anon recognized as that of good ponies whose better natures had been checked by previous rebuttals of their hospitality.

It was the lone remainder, Rainbow Dash, who showed no hesitance or distrust in her face. She zoomed over to Anon fast enough to blow Anon’s dress in the resulting breeze. “Hey there, kid!” she said, ruffling Anon’s mane into a disheveled state almost as bad as her own.

“H-Hey,” Anon said, smoothing her mane back down with nervous pats.

A shift began to flow through the group, and Anon soon found herself shaking hooves with each respective pony. Fluttershy’s was a meek grasp Anon could barely feel, like a bunch of feathers dancing across her hoof. Applejack’s was a firm grip that belied the Earth pony strength in the farmer. Pinkie shook so hard the filly’s entire body was flung up and down in a violent manner. Rarity was the last one to stand before Anon. Her suspicion, though cooled by Anon’s congenial greeting, remained ever present in her eyes. Anon gulped when Rarity outstretched her hoof towards the filly.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Anon,” Rarity said, the words stilted. Even the hoof seemed somewhat lackadaisical, falling limp just at where Anon was expected to grasp it.

Anon stared at the hoof, heart pounding in her chest. I need to get on her good side, she thought. Quick, too. Before I ruin everything for Twilight. She didn’t need to look up to see her mother’s nervous eyes, the eyes that Anon knew would scowl at her for the rest of her days should she fail here.

Before she could rethink it all, Anon grasped Rarity’s hoof and kissed it.

A gasp went up through the air, emanating right from Rarity’s throat.

“S-Sorry!” Anon said, dropping the hoof and pulling her neck as far back as it could into the dress. “I thought that was what…” Her sentence trailed off the second she saw Rarity’s eyes staring down at her. A strange intensity filled them, like a fire gleamed somewhere deep within her cranium.

“You…little…” Rarity reached down towards Anon’s face, and she grimaced as the mare grasped her cheeks. She readied herself to be thrown through the stained glass window and down the mountain. It would be a far easier fate than having to see the pain in Twilight’s face.

“…Dear!” Rarity shouted, relinquishing Anon’s cheeks for a crushing grip around her whole body. “Oh, you’re so much sweeter than the last one!”

Anon’s relief mixed with an inability to breathe, her discomfort aided by the manic twirls Rarity spun them around in. The rest of the group looked on in amusement, Pinkie’s smile the most outstretched amongst them.

“See?” Twilight said with a proud smile. “I told you all she was a good little filly.”

“I just didn’t think she’d be this polite,” Fluttershy said.

“Cute as a button, too,” Applejack said. “Acts just like Grady did when he was little.”

“Yeah!” Rainbow said, flying around the twirling duo. “And seeing that her eyes haven’t popped out from Rarity’s Death Hug, she’s gotta be pretty tough under all of that frill.”

“Don’t touch her!” Rarity growled when Rainbow flew a little too close. “She’s mine! All mine!” The walls shook with the madmare’s cackles.

“Rarity!” Applejack said. “Let the poor gal breathe a little!”

“Air is overrated!” Rarity said, snuggling her nose against Anon’s face, which grew purpler by the second.

“But you’re ruining her dress!” Pinkie said.

Rarity shrieked, and Anon soon found herself back on the ground. She gasped for air as Rarity patted her sides in an attempt to smooth out her now-rustled garb.

“Many apologies, darling. This really is a lovely dress and I don’t want to ruin it and…” She gave a deep sigh. “It’s just so rare to find a filly with such wonderful manners. Especially in your, ahem… situation.”

Anon shook her head in agreement, rotating her hoof in the carpet. “I heard about what the others were like. I’m sorry they caused you so much trouble.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that, dear. However crass they might’ve been, their mother set them on the right path.”

“Right!” Pinkie said, hopping around. “And any filly of Twilight’s is our friend as well.”

“Well, thank you,” Anon said, backing away slowly. “It’s been nice meeting you, but I’ll leave you all to your visiting.”

“Oh?” Applejack said, a wry grin spreading across her muzzle. “Leaving so soon? I reckon we’ve got oodles to share. And I am a mite curious about this here young’un.”

“No, no, I wouldn’t want to overstay my welcome. Really, I―” She found her rump hitting something soft, yet firm. She peered up at Twilight, who looked down at her with a mischievous gleam in her eyes.

“T-Twilight?” Anon said. “Can I go now?”

Twilight shook her head. “Like you said this morning, Nonny: You’re way too cute to ignore. And if there’s one thing us mothers are good at, it’s doting on our cute little fillies.”

Anon chuckled, looking at the devious smile on every mare in the room. “I’m in danger.”

Author's Note:

Another meme ending? Well, of course. This is a Filly Anon story, after all. It wouldn't feel right without a few memes.

Also, if this was a traditional Filly Anon story, Rarity totally would have thrown her out the window.