• Published 15th Oct 2012
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Sunflower - Side Projects - Hoopy McGee



A collection of short stories related to Project: Sunflower

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Erin in Ponyville, part 4: Return to Earth

Spike was snoring. Twilight reflected that this was perfectly normal in every way and certainly nothing to be alarmed about.

In fact, she was so used to her assistant’s snores that she rarely even noticed it unless somepony pointed it out to her. The noise certainly didn’t bother her in the least as she came gently awake, snuggled in her warm bed. Her light blue down comforter was wrapped tightly around her, keeping her nicely warm in spite of the frost caking the bedroom windows.

Spike’s gentle snoring didn’t disturb the peace of the moment, at least not for the unicorn. If anything, it was a welcome familiarity which helped to underscore the tranquility she was feeling as she cocooned herself ever deeper into her warm bed.

She adjusted a back leg slightly to ease the pinch of the unfamiliar pajamas she was wearing, but otherwise didn’t move much at all. She kept her eyes closed, a gentle smile on her face. Her schedule had been left deliberately clear for the day, which meant that she had nothing to do other than relax in bed for as long as she liked.

Unfortunately, Twilight’s body had a schedule of its own, and her bladder began to make its presence known, starting as a small pressure but increasing in urgency as the seconds ticked away. With a regretful sigh, she finally pushed her covers off of her and rolled out of bed, trying to be as silent as possible so as to not wake the other sleepers.

A quick glance out the nearest window told her that the morning was well under way, the sky to the east brightening into a crystal blue that told her that the snow of the previous days was finally over. She nodded, satisfied that Rainbow Dash’s forecast had been spot-on.

As she walked quietly to the bathroom, she just happened to glance over at the guest bed. She stopped walking for a few seconds as her sleepy mind tried to figure out what she was looking at, and then she spent the next few seconds struggling to smother a snort of laughter behind her hoof.

Judging from the state of the blankets on the bed, it was obvious that one or both of her guests had tossed and turned considerably during the night. The blankets were now tightly wound around and between the bed’s two occupants, tying them together like fluffy ropes. But that wasn’t the only reason for her laughter.

Pinkie had somehow managed to reorient herself while sleeping so that she was upside-down in relation to Erin, which left the pony’s pink head in the vicinity of Erin’s knees. Pinkie had one of Erin’s legs gathered up to her chest, both of her pink forelegs cuddling the human’s limb like a stuffed animal. Her chin was resting on the back of Erin’s knee, and she had a look of perfect contentment on her pink features. One of Pinkie’s back legs was draped across Erin’s back, and the other one had found its way under her torso, with only a single pink hoof jutting out from underneath the human’s chest on the opposite side.

Erin herself was laying diagonally across the mattress, lying on her stomach with her free leg sticking out over the edge of the bed, her foot dangling in the air. She was hugging Pinkie’s voluminous tail like a fuzzy pink pillow, snuggling into it with a look of serene bliss on her sleeping face.

“I wish I had a camera,” Twilight murmured softly, chuckling as she resumed her trip to the bathroom.

While she was in there, she also brushed her teeth and washed her face. She was in the process of brushing out her mane when her morning routine was interrupted by a quiet knock on the door. Surprised, she cracked the door open and looked into the hallway. Spike was standing there looking a little sleepy but otherwise in a good mood.

“Spike! You’re awake!” she said. “And so early! Are you feeling alright?”

“Har har, Twilight,” Spike said with a roll of his eyes. “I can get up early if I want to. Anyway, I was thinking of making breakfast for everypony. Anything in particular you want?”

She rubbed her hoof under her chin for a moment while she thought about it. “Hmm. How about omelets, hash browns, toast with jam and some fresh orange juice?”

“Wow, that isn’t demanding or anything.” Spike tried to walk past his mentor only to be grabbed, hugged and kissed on the forehead.

“I was planning on helping you, you goofball,” Twilight said, giving him an affectionate nuzzle on the cheek.

“Aww, c’mon, quit it!” Spike struggled to get out of her grasp, though not with anything approaching his full strength. Twilight let him go and smiled at him, ruffling his spines with a hoof.

“Come along, my number one assistant. We have hungry guests to feed!”

As they made their way down the stairs, Spike said, “By the way, did you see Erin and Pinkie? What’s up with that?”

Twilight’s chuckle followed them down the stairway.

~~*~~

In Erin’s dream, she was flying. Not with any great rushes of speed, and there was no blurring landscape. Instead, she floated almost lazily, drifting along as the green grass of Equestria moved beneath her.

The sky was warmer than she’d expected, and she found herself stretching out her hands and legs, just enjoying the freedom of the open sky.

“Those are some strange looking clouds, don’t you think?” Rainbow Dash asked, pointing with a hoof. Erin glanced over at them.

“Yes. Why are they pink?”

“I don’t know. Go check it out.”

“Okay,” Erin said with a shrug. As long as she was flying, she didn’t care where she went. She floated casually over to them, trying to remember where she’d heard about pink clouds before.

“Oh yeah, Discord,” she said. She looked down and saw the statue of the mad spirit of chaos staring back up at her. He winked. She waved.

“I’m taking your cloud,” she told him.

“That’s fine,” he said. “I can always make more.”

“Not when you’re a statue,” Erin replied smugly. She snagged the cloud and floated away with it, giggling at the outraged shout from the statue she was leaving behind.

The cloud was oddly warm and much dryer than she’d expected. “Of course! It’s made of cotton candy!” She happily considered the bundle of pink that she was holding. “I wonder what it tastes like?”

She sat cross-legged on nothing as she curiously examined the cotton candy cloud in front of her. As she poked at it, the world slowly began to rotate around her, with her still hanging in the air. Pretty soon, the ground was hanging over her head, but she ignored it in favor of the strange cloud in front of her. She was just bringing it up to her face when an odd, familiar odor hit her nose. She tried briefly to figure it out.

“Ah!” she said. “It smells like shampoo!” She grinned happily as she floated upside down in the sky. The grin faded slowly as she continued to revolve in the air with the cloud in her lap. “Wait... why would a cotton candy cloud smell like shampoo?”

“Breakfast!” Twilight shouted as she fluttered past on crystal butterfly wings.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Erin complained as she woke up.

She blinked and raised her head, still feeling a little disoriented from the spinning around in her dream. She was in an unfamiliar space, a fact that didn’t seem to matter much for some reason. She looked back down, at first unable to understand what it was she was seeing. Then it clicked.

The pink cotton candy cloud was still there on the bed, though it looked a lot more fibrous than before. Her curiosity piqued, Erin grabbed one of the strands and yanked on it.

“Blergh?!” Pinkie said, jerking awake in an instant. Erin felt her friend’s back legs twitch on either side of her ribcage.

“Pinkie?” Erin asked, confused. “What...” She looked around, taking in the upside-down pony and the tangle of sheets binding them together. “Oh.”

“Sunflower?” Pinkie asked, blinking at her with freshly woken confusion. “Did you just try to pull my tail off?”

“What?” Erin looked down at the pink mass of hair before her. “Oh! I’m so sorry! I thought it was a cotton candy cloud!”

“An understandable mistake to make,” Pinkie said with a grin. “Especially since I’m so sweet.”

Erin laughed along with her pony friend. Then she stopped as she felt something in her mouth. Her eyes widened in horror as she fished around in her mouth and started pulling out a long pink hair. It took a considerable length of time for her to get the entire thing out.

“I think that may be one of mine,” Pinkie said.

“You think?!” Erin said, holding the thing out in front of her. It was the length of her arm, at least. She dropped the hair and wiped her hand on the front of her pajamas.

“Um, I think I also drooled on your leg a little,” Pinkie said apologetically.

Erin was about to reply when she heard Twilight shout upstairs once again.

“Breakfast, guys! It’s getting cold!”

“Eh, it’s alright,” Erin told Pinkie. The two began extracting themselves from the tangle of blankets, which was easier said than done. Erin gave a mighty tug and ended up falling backwards out of the bed, landing with a loud thump on her back.

“Ouch,” she commented as she stared at the ceiling

“Ohmygosh! Sunflower, are you okay?” Pinkie said as she hopped out of the bed. Then she immediately toppled over, shrieking “Aaagh, pins and needles! Pins and needles! My legs are sleepy!!”

“Are you okay, Pinkie?”

Pinkie blinked at her from the floor and smiled. “Yup! My left legs are all tingly, that’s all. That’s sure a weird feeling!”

“Do you need any help?” Erin asked, standing up and grimacing slightly at the damp patch on the back of her knee.

“Nah,” the prone pink pony said, waving a hoof. “I’ll be fine in a bit. Go on and get breakfast!”

“Okay,” Erin said with a shrug.

The library was much chillier in the morning than it had been the night before. Erin wondered briefly what heated the giant tree as she stepped lightly down the stairs, following the mouth-watering smell of breakfast down to the main level.

~~*~~

Twilight frowned as she adjusted the plates on the table. Each plate had one omelet, comprised of exactly two eggs, three ounces of cheddar cheese and an evenly-measured portion of vegetables. The hash browns were also meticulously measured out in order to assure that nopony had even slightly more than anypony else.

Well, except for Spike. Twilight glanced over as the little dragon sat down and grinned at his plate before digging in. His plate was slightly less full than the others, though the small bowl of gems on the table more than compensated for the lack.

Her horn glowed as she brought out a ruler and poured just a few drops more of the fresh orange juice into a glass tumbler. She set the pitcher down with a satisfied nod. Everything was perfectly even. Nopony could complain in the slightest, a fact that was especially important with Pinkie Pie around. Twilight wasn’t even sure if the pink pony was aware of how much she could eat.

The unicorn turned around again, prepared to shout up a third time that breakfast was ready. Instead, she jumped in surprise and let out a little squeak of alarm when she saw that Erin was already standing behind her.

“You alright, Twilight?” Erin asked, looking somewhat startled herself.

“Yes, sorry. You startled me!” Twilight replied. She reflected that a pony’s hooves usually made enough noise for her to know when one was walking up behind her, as did Spike’s dragon claws. A human’s fleshy feet, though, made barely any noise at all, even on the hard wooden floor of the library.

Erin smiled at her and came the rest of the way into the dining area. “It smells wonderful!”

“Thank you. Spike and I made it together,” she said, blushing a little as Erin sat down on the floor next to the low table. “Is Pinkie coming down soon?”

“She’ll be down soon. Apparently, her legs are asleep,” Erin said. She took a bite of omelette and her face lit up. “Twilight, Spike, this is amazing!”

“You like it?” Twilight couldn’t stop herself from beaming with joy. “Applejack has been teaching me how to cook. And, of course Spike is already pretty decent with a spatula.”

“Well, you both should be proud,” Erin said, taking another forkful.

“Thanks,” Spike and Twilight said simultaneously, and Twilight giggled at him.

“So, I’ve got some questions about the movies last night,” Twilight said.

“Okay?” Erin said, holding a fork halfway up to her face.

“Well, I was wondering... I know you said it was all special effects, but it looked so real. The Avengers, I mean. The Hulk, and the flying... I don’t understand how all that could be done. I thought special effects were just... just makeup, pyrotechnic charges and things like that!”

Erin nodded. “It’s computer effects. They can do really neat things with that, these days.” She laughed, adding, “And, if you think that the effects in that movie were good, wait until you see what they did for the second, third and fourth ones. They keep getting better with the effects every year.”

“I don’t see how they could be any better,” Twilight said doubtfully.

Erin just shrugged in reply. Whatever response she was going to make was interrupted by a sound that froze Twilight’s blood.

A simple melody was coming from the staircase, being carried by Pinkie’s very recognizable singing voice. It was a song that she’d heard before. Just last night, as a matter of fact. Her eyes widened in horror as she realized what she was in for.

“Unicorns, I love them! Unicorns, I love them! Uni-unicorns, I loo~ove them!” Pinkie sang, her hooves clip-clopping their way down the staircase.

“What have you done?!” Twilight whispered to Erin, who snorted with entirely inappropriate laughter.

“Uni~unicorns,” Pinkie sang as she entered the main floor, “I would hug one. If they were really real. And they are! Because there’s one!”

Pinkie rushed her, and Twilight soon found herself laughing uncomfortably as she was hugged enthusiastically.

“Okay, Pinkie,” she said after a few seconds of cuddling. “That’s enough. Pinkie? Pinkie!”

“Yes, Twilight?” Pinkie said, fluttering her eyelashes at her.

“Go eat your breakfast before it gets cold,” Twilight said, nodding towards the plate. Pinkie looked at it, and then looked back at her. The hug didn’t lessen at all. “Aren’t you hungry?” Twilight asked desperately.

Pinkie grinned. “That’s my secret, Twilight. I’m always hungry!”

Pinkie disengaged the hug and leapt towards her plate with an overly dramatic “Raaaaugh!” noise, where she began eating noisily, much to Spike’s amusement. The little dragon was snickering into his clawed hands as Pinkie made a mess out of her omelette. Twilight rolled her eyes and turned back to Erin, who was watching Pinkie eat with a look of awe mingled with mild horror.

“You guys sure you’re not descended from carnivores?” the human asked.

“Pretty sure,” Twilight said with a chuckle. “So, what are your plans for the day? My schedule is completely cleared for today.”

“Oh, well...” Erin tapped a finger to her chin as she thought. “I was going to see the mayor, for sure. I have some paperwork I have to fill out in order to be a resident. Then I wanted to go say hi to my friends on the FetEx crew. They deserve to meet the ‘real’ me, too. Then I suppose I can look at the cottage that you leased for me.”

“Oh, that reminds me, you need to actually sign the lease,” Twilight said.

She got up and trotted over to a nearby desk, pulling out a scroll and levitating it over to Erin along with a quill and jar of ink. The human quickly signed her name, and Twilight floated the scroll over to her saddlebags and tucked it inside for later.

Breakfast wrapped up some time after that amidst pleasant conversation. Twilight took the orange juice and empty glasses into the kitchen in a cloud of lavender magic, leaving the dishes in the sink for later and putting the leftover juice in the refrigerator. When she returned to the main room Pinkie was in the act of hugging Erin, with the human patting her pink mane.

“I wish I didn’t have to work this morning,” Pinkie said unhappily. “But you’ll definitely come by the store later today, right?”

“Oh, absolutely,” Erin said. “We’re all meeting there for dinner, remember?

“Oh, yeah!” Pinkie said with a happy smile.

“Also, I have a special order for you,” Erin said. “I want to order four dozen cookies, a couple dozen cupcakes and a dozen or so muffins. It’s for the Harmonics team back home. None of them have ever gotten to try anything from Sugarcube Corner!”

“You got it! What kinds?” Pinkie asked as she released Erin.

“A random assortment,” Erin said. “Surprise me! But no hay or flowers, okay? Humans can’t really eat that stuff.”

“No flour?” Pinkie said, looking confused. “What am I supposed to bake with if I can’t use flour?”

“No, I meant—” Erin began, but Pinkie cut her off with a laugh.

“You’re too easy, Sunflower,” the pink pony said with a big grin. Erin laughed and booped her on her pink muzzle.

Pinkie slipped on her blue knit hat and bid everypony a fond farewell. Erin stood in the doorway for a few seconds, watching as her friend walked out into Ponyville's snowy landscape. Twilight and Spike were busily cleaning the table when she turned around.

"Let me help with that," she said, reaching for a plate only to have Twilight grab it with a burst of magic.

"We've got it," Twilight said with a smile. "Why don't you go get ready for the day?"

"But—"

"No arguing," Twilight said sternly. "Guests don't help clean up. That's the rule. Now, go on!"

For a few seconds, Erin looked like she was going to argue the point. Instead, she shrugged and walked back to the stairs. "Alright, then. I'll go take a shower and get dressed."

Twilight waved her off, and Erin made her way up the stairs. She found herself hoping that Erin's appointment with the mayor would go smoothly. The sooner that was done, the sooner they would be able to enjoy just hanging out in Ponyville together.

~~*~~

Erin’s back was hurting. She tried to keep herself from squirming in the backless pony-designed chair, but it was getting harder and harder to do. She glanced at the clock, surprised that she’d only been in the Town Hall for only slightly over an hour. It felt like much longer.

She’d been passed from one underling to the next in not exactly rapid succession before finally being shown in to see the mayor herself. On the way, she’d filled out a number of forms of various lengths in order to establish herself as “a non-Equestrian resident planning to reside in Equestria.”

And now she was meeting with the mayor herself.

The mare’s hooves were shaking slightly as she took the pack of papers from Erin’s hands. The royal seal was emblazoned across the front of it, the wax sealing the package shut. The mayor licked her lips, sucked in her breath, then quickly broke the seal before exhaling.

Erin waited with as much patience as she could muster as the grey-maned mare read the paperwork, quietly trying to adjust her posture in order to alleviate the strain on her back. She only had a rough idea of what it said, and she knew that Celestia’s own signature was scrawled across the bottom. She felt a momentary flash of sympathy for the mayor. Getting a royal decree dropped in your lap all of a sudden was probably extremely stressful.

“Well,” the mayor said eventually. “It all seems to be in order. And, I certainly don’t have any objections to having a human living in town. We’re a diverse community, after all! We have cattle, mules... all sorts of folks live here these days!”

“I know,” Erin said. “I used to live here too.” The mayor just stared at her blankly. “As a pony. Remember? Sunflower?”

“Oh... Oh, yes, I remember now.” she gave a brittle laugh as she passed the paperwork back to Erin.

“Um, I think you’re supposed to keep that.”

“Oh! Yes, of course!” The mayor took the paperwork back and passed it over to a wide-eyed unicorn stallion who was working as her aide. “Quill, go and file that, would you?”

“Yes, ma’am!” the young stallion said before bolting out of the room.

“I have to say,” the mayor said, “this will certainly be exciting! We’ll be the first town to host a human in permanent residence!”

“Outside of Canterlot,” Erin said, immediately feeling guilty about it when the mayor’s face drooped with disappointment.

“I suppose that’s true,” the mare said with a sigh.

“Although...” Erin said with a mischievous grin starting up. “There is something that Ponyville can be the first in.”

“Oh?” The mayor asked, perking up.

“How would you like to be the first town in Equestria to have town-wide full and free WiFi access?” Erin asked.

“That would be wonderful!” Mayor Mare said, clapping her hooves together. Confusion washed over her features a few seconds later. “What’s a ‘WiFi’?”

~~*~~

The magazines in the waiting room were all at least three months out of date, but Twilight read them anyway. Reading anything was preferable to reading nothing. And, in any case, this article on proper azalea gardening was actually quite fascinating.

The door clicked open and Erin walked out, looking very pleased with herself. Twilight put her magazine down and stood up as her friend approached.

“How did it go?” Twilight asked.

“Pretty good.” Erin saluted and said, “I am now officially ‘Erin Lynne Sunflower Olsen’, resident of Ponyville.”

“Congratulations!” Twilight said. “You’re keeping the ‘Sunflower’, though?”

“I figured it’s a part of me, now,” Erin said with a shrug. “I wouldn’t give up my time here as Sunflower for anything. I already legally changed my name back home.”

“That’s a big step,” Twilight noted.

“Not as big as volunteering to be a pony in the first place,” Erin said with a chuckle.

They walked through the snow for a little while. Twilight noted how her fellow ponies would occasionally stop and stare at Erin, which she could understand but still considered odd. After all, humans weren’t any more unusual than minotaurs or griffons. And Erin, at least, was far less physically intimidating than either of those species.

For the most part, Erin either didn’t notice or pretended that she didn’t. The human walked along, chattering away happily. Erin’s enthusiasm at becoming a “real resident” of Ponyville was starting to rub off on her, and Twilight found herself smiling more or less the whole time.

“Ah,” Erin said, pointing. “That’s the house.”

“Which, the one with the red trim?”

“Yeah. One of the first jobs I tried was as a house painter. It... didn’t go so well,” Erin said with a laugh.

“Oh! I remember that story. You got covered with paint, right?”

“Yup!”

Twilight shook her head as Erin began recounting the story once again. She knew her friend had been humiliated by the experience. And yet, here she was recounting the story with every appearance of enjoying herself. It was hard for Twilight to understand. Mistakes were something she was always eager to put behind her. She couldn’t imagine bringing them up herself months later just for a laugh.

Still, it was a funny story, and Erin told it with gusto.

It didn’t take long for the pair of them to reach their destination. Twilight glanced up at her friend’s face, surprised to see what looked like apprehension on her features.

“Everything okay, Erin?”

“Oh. Yeah.” Erin replied with a weak smile. “Not sure how they’ll react, is all. Maybe I shouldn't go in. They’ll probably be busy.”

“But they already know you’re a human,” Twilight pointed out. “You stopped by back when you were still a pony, remember?”

“Yeah. But... Okay, promise not to tell anyone?” When Twilight nodded, Erin sighed and said, “Lucky said he had a crush on me. Back then, I mean.”

Twilight stood dumbfounded for a few seconds. “Oh. I didn’t know that. Um... Why would that stop you from going in?”

“It doesn’t, it’s just...” Erin sighed. “I’m worried it’s going to be awkward, is all. I’ve had enough of that, recently.”

“Well, I’ve never had a stallion look at me twice, so I wouldn’t know what it’s like,” Twilight said chipperly, and not upset at all that someone who had only pretended to be a pony was getting all of this attention from one of the few young and unmarried stallions in Ponyville. She frowned at Erin’s burst of laughter.

Sure, they haven’t,” Erin said, rolling her eyes. “Well, I suppose I should go in.”

“Wait,” Twilight said as the human opened the door. “Somepony was looking at me? Who?!”

“I don’t know, a couple of stallions I overheard once at the cafe. I never got their names.”

After dropping that bombshell, Erin calmly walked through the door and into the shop. Twilight could only gape after her incredulously.

~~*~~

The jingle as the door opened caused an intense swelling of nostalgia for Erin as she walked into the familiar store. Her eyes were drawn immediately to the grey-maned stallion behind the counter, decked out as always in his traditional hat and coat. Speedy Parcel hadn’t changed at all. He looked up with a friendly smile that immediately changed to slack-jawed surprise at the sight of her.

Erin smiled, raised a hand to wave and, just as she was about to greet her ex-boss, was interrupted by Twilight bursting through the door behind her.

“What do you mean, you never got their names?!” The unicorn blurted out. Erin watched as the anger drained from her face and her ears drooped as her friend realized that she’d just marched into a place of business hollering her lungs out.

Dead silence fell across the shop, which was mercifully empty of customers.

“I’ll, uh, wait outside,” Twilight said before practically running out the door.

Erin stared after Twilight for a second before turning back to Mr. Parcel. The stallion had managed to regain his composure and was flashing a large smile at her.

“Well, well, well!” he said. “I do believe that’s a human! And, as the number of humans I know is relatively small, I’m going to guess that this may just be young Miss Sunflower?”

“Hi, Mr. Parcel,” Erin said sheepishly. “Yeah, it’s me.”

“Is Miss Sparkle going to be alright?” the stallion asked.

“Uh, I think so. Anyway, I just thought I’d stop by and see how you’re doing.”

“Ah, about as well as could be expected, my dear. We’re a little behind, once again. Sadly, we recently lost our number one employee.”

“Oh, no! Something happened to Lucky?” Erin asked, concerned. Mr. Parcel just laughed.

“No, my dear. I was referring to you!”

“Oh...” Erin said with a blush.

“Alright, now I know it’s you,” Mr. Parcel said with a chuckle. “Well, it’s great to see you again! And as a biped, even. That’s unexpected!”

Erin chuckled. “Well, this is more or less what I looked like before I became a pony.”

“‘More or less’?” he repeated, arching an eyebrow.

“Um. I had them change my hair color to something more flattering,” Erin admitted, blushing once again. Mr. Parcel laughed at that.

“Oh! Before I forget, I owe you some back wages,” the stallion said.

Erin tried to protest, but he just held up a hoof as he rummaged under the counter, finally coming up with a familiar lockbox. As far as security went, the highly portable and somewhat flimsy lockbox wouldn’t have stopped a determined toddler from making off with it. But for Ponyville, it was nearly maximum security.

“Thanks,” Erin said, placing the bag of bits into her coat pocket where it joined the rest she already had with her.

“No more than you’re due, Sunflower. So, can we expect you to be staying?”

“Not right now,” Erin said, shaking her head. “I’m going to be moving back to Ponyville in a month, though. Probably as a pony.”

“Really? Well! If you need your old job back, all you have to do is ask!”

Erin smiled at him, feeling a surge of affection for the old stallion. He’d always been very kind to her, in a favorite uncle kind of way. She’d missed him more than she’d realized.

They talked for a few more minutes, with Erin filling him in on some of the things that had happened since they’d last seen each other.

“Oh, and thanks for the chocolates!” she said, remembering that he and Lucky had sent her the present while she’d still been recuperating from Malachite’s assault. “I can’t even tell you how much I appreciated it. It made a really bad day just a bit better.”

“Ah, you’re welcome, my dear.”

The door jingled once again as a customer came in, a stack of packages on her back. The new mare stopped in shock and stared at Erin, who did some staring of her own.

“Hi, Meadowlark,” Erin heard herself saying. The words seemed to echo strangely in her head as she said them.

“How do... Sunflower?” Meadowlark asked, her eyes narrowing.

“It’s Erin, really. But, yeah...” she said, feeling numb. “How’s Marigold?”

“She... She’s doing well. She’s in school, and she loves every minute of it.” Meadowlark gave her a wide berth as she moved to the counter. Mr. Parcel shot Erin a sympathetic look before taking the packages from the mare and beginning to process them.

“I’m moving back to town,” Erin said eventually. Meadowlark flinched at the news.

“I see.” Meadowlark was quiet for a few seconds. “What I said the last time I saw you still goes. I don’t want you around Marigold without my permission.”

“I understand,” Erin said quietly. “Is... Does she know about me?”

“Yes,” Meadowlark said shortly. “I had to tell her something, once your name was in the paper. She knows. She’s very confused, but she knows.”

“Oh.”

Silence dragged on for a few more seconds. Mr. Parcel eventually cleared his throat and ventured to speak.

“That will be five bits total for regular delivery, ten if you want express, fifteen if you want next-day.”

Meadowlark silently dug some bits out of her purse and dropped them on the counter. Mr. Parcel had her sign the clipboard, tore out the center copy and passed it over to her as her receipt. The mare thanked him faintly, tucked the paper into her saddlebag and turned to walk out the door. She never looked once at Erin that entire time.

Upon reaching the door, the unicorn paused briefly. Still looking away, she said, “She asks about you, sometimes. She misses you.” With a sigh, she added, “So do I, sometimes.”

“I...”

“But I can’t forgive you, yet,” Meadowlark said. Her horn glowed, the door opened, and she left without another word.

Erin leaned back against the counter as her strength left her. Mr. Parcel kept himself busy behind the counter until Erin finally wiped the tears away from her eyes and straightened up. She cleared her throat and glanced back at him with a wan smile.

“Will you be alright, Sunflower?” he asked gently.

“Yeah,” Erin said. “I’m not surprised she can’t forgive me. She was really upset when she found out. And she’s worried about her daughter.”

“That filly will be fine,” Mr. Parcel said staunchly. “And that mare should know you well enough to know that you wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

“Not technically true, Mr. Parcel,” Erin said, smiling weakly. “I’ve been known to hurt the occasional fly.”

“Oh, dear,” he said, completely deadpan. “I must revise my entire opinion of you, the merciless fly hurter.”

Erin laughed briefly. Trust the old stallion to be able to cheer her up after that, even if only a little.

“Well...” she said, heaving a sigh. “Twilight’s outside in the cold waiting for me. I suppose I should get going.”

Mr. Parcel came around from behind the counter and put a foreleg around her waist in a hug. “You’re always welcome around here, you know. Always.”

“Thanks,” she said, hugging him back. She pecked him on his fuzzy cheek, offered him another smile, then turned to walk out the door.

~~*~~

Twilight stood outside the Fet-Ex office, waiting for Erin to come back out. At the very least, the cold air cooled down her burning cheeks. She used the time she had to berate herself for acting rashly and embarrassing herself in public.

After a few minutes, a yellow mare with a grey mane went in, spent some time inside and then came back out again. Twilight met her eyes and briefly considered asking if the human inside seemed ready to come out soon, but something in the mare’s expression told her that she wasn’t interested in conversation.

With a sigh, Twilight resumed waiting. It was only a minute or so after the yellow mare had left that Erin finally came out.

“Sorry about making you wait, Twilight,” her friend said, sounding slightly subdued.

“Not a problem. Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Well, sort of. That mare that just left was my friend Meadowlark.”

Twilight jumped slightly at the mention of the pony’s name. “Meadowlark? She’s the one who...”

“Never forgave me for lying to her, yeah,” Erin said dryly. “Anyway, I think I’m done with visiting for a while. What time is it?”

Twilight chuckled and pointed to the clearly-visible town clock, which read slightly after one in the afternoon.

“Oh.” Erin said, blushing a little. Then she put on a slightly strained smile and said, “Well, we still have almost four hours before we’re supposed to meet up at Sugarcube Corner. Want to grab some lunch and then do some shopping? I have bits!”

If Erin wanted to pretend that she wasn’t upset about her encounter with her friend, then Twilight would too. At least until Erin felt ready to talk about it. She put on a matching smile and said, “Okay. But first, you have to tell me about these stallions!”

“Not much to say,” Erin said with a shrug. “I didn’t recognize them, but they were sitting at a table near me when I was eating one day, and they were talking about ‘that cute librarian’. One of them, the pegasus, said he was afraid to ask you out because you were too smart for him.”

Twilight grunted with annoyance. “What about the other one?”

“He was an earth pony. I vaguely remember him being light blue? Not much else, though, sorry. He said that you being smart was a good thing.”

“Hmm. Was he cute?”

Erin burst out laughing. “Twilight, I’m sorry, I have no idea if he was or not. I’m not attracted to ponies, remember?”

“Oh... right. Sorry.”

They walked side by side through the quiet town for a while. Twilight idly kicked a pile of snow, scattering thick clumps of it down the street in front of her. It was flattering to think that there were stallions out there who thought she was cute, but also more than a little frustrating to have no idea who it was.

They turned and walked into the town square, Erin seeming to perk up a little at the thought of shopping. Twilight trotted along beside her friend, determined to try and cheer her up as best she could.

~~*~~

The shopkeeper was a light orange unicorn mare with a red mane. She had introduced herself as Bric-à-brac and had enthusiastically welcomed Erin, lauding her as “my very first human customer!” She’d then encouraged Erin and Twilight to look around, stating that she had the finest selection of goods intended for the “tourist trade” in all of Ponyville.

Erin had stopped at one display, her breath catching as she saw the perfect gift for her parents. It was a perfect model of downtown Ponyville in miniature, encased in glass. Erin gave the globe a shake, smiling as the glittering “snow” swirled around and then began settling on the rooftops and streets of the tiny town.

“It’s beautiful,” she said.

“And only forty bits!” Bric-à-brac said cheerfully from behind the counter.

“It’s a deal!” Erin said. She had the money to spare, after all. In addition to the bits that Mr. Parcel had just given her, she also had quite a lot of money left over from her initial stay in Ponyville. That money, entrusted to Twilight, had been intended to secure a place for her to stay when she moved back into town. The bits that hadn’t been needed had been returned to Erin after breakfast.

She put the snow globe on the counter with some of the other things she’d already selected. It was, by far, the most expensive thing she was buying today, but she couldn’t pass it up. Her parents would love it.

In addition to the snowglobe were about two dozen “Welcome to Ponyville!” postcards featuring various views of the town, two little Equestrian flags on sticks, some commemorative coins depicting Discord’s defeat (which caused Twilight to blush deeply when she saw them), and a floppy hat with “Ponyville - Population: Friendship” stitched on the front of it.

The hat was for Maggie Henson, the flags and coins were for her brothers and their families, and the postcards were for various other friends and family.

Erin made one last circuit of the store with Twilight in tow. Her unicorn friend had also selected a Ponyville snowglobe and, when asked about it, said she was going to ship it to her parents.

Erin also claimed a box of pencils that had “Ponyville” stamped into them. Those she’d be keeping for herself, stashing them away with all the other special pencils she’d collected since she was very young.

“I think that will about do it,” Erin said, placing them with her other intended purchases.

“Wonderful!” Bric-à-brac said, and then began ringing their items up on what appeared to Erin to be an extremely old-fashioned cash register.

“So, how’s business?” Erin asked.

“Oh, I can’t complain,” the shopkeeper said with a grin that seemed to be pretty much permanent. “This is the slow season, of course. Not many coming to Ponyville during the winter months, ha ha!”

Erin blinked in surprise. The mare hadn’t laughed, she’d actually said “ha ha”. That, along with the accompanying eye twitch, told her more than the shopkeeper probably wanted her to know.

“Business isn’t doing so well?” Erin ventured to guess.

The grin slipped away and the mare slumped. “No, I’m afraid not,” she said with a sigh. “I thought, what with the rail coming through, Ponyville was sure to be the next big hot spot for tourism. We’re close to Canterlot and everything!”

“But it’s just not panning out?” Erin asked sympathetically.

“Not so well at the moment, no,” Bric-à-brac said wryly. Then the grin resurfaced and the mare straightened her posture. “Still! Things will turn around soon, I know it!”

“Hmm.” An idea had started forming in the back of Erin’s mind. “Do you make this stuff yourself?”

“Some of it, yes. Not all of it. I do all the design work, though! And, for that snow globe of yours, I carved and painted the downtown myself. I had to commision the glasswork, though.”

“Wow, that’s really impressive!” Erin said, studying the globe closely. “You know, I think humans in general would go nuts over this stuff.”

“Really?” Bric-à-brac had seemingly forgotten about ringing up Erin’s purchases. Eagerness flooded her face. “This stuff would sell well on Earth?”

“Absolutely!” Erin said confidently. “Humans would eat this stuff up.” At the look on the mare’s face, she hastened to add, “Not literally!”

Twilight chuckled at that, then added in her own two bits. “You’d need approval from both the Equestrian and Earth customs to transport the goods, though.”

“I can check with Maggie,” Erin said. “I’d bet she has some contacts.”

“But it won’t really matter unless we start getting human tourists,” Bric-à-brac said, ears drooping.

“Online sales,” Erin said, then grinned at the confused look on the shopkeeper’s face. “Trust me. We’ll take some pictures, advertise... all we’d have to do is work out shipping back to Earth.”

“That’s... Wow.” Bric-à-brac looked between Erin and Twilight with happy tears in her eyes. “You’d do that for me?”

“Sure,” Erin said, smiling. “Though... I have to say, I can’t actually promise anything. That, and I think they’re still working out an exchange rate between the US dollar and the Equestrian bit. There’s almost no actual trade, yet.”

“What about Rarity?” Twilight asked.

“Oh, yeah,” Erin said, considering the point. “But she just sends designs over, she doesn’t actually manufacture anything and ship it through the gate. All business happens Earth-side only. And she never sees the profits.”

“She doesn’t?” Bric-à-brac asked. “What does she do with them?”

“Whatever doesn’t go back into the company goes to charity,” Erin said, feeling proud of her friend. In spite of her occasional faults, Rarity had never failed to impress with her giving nature.

“Wow. That’s nice of her!”

“Well, she is the Element of Generosity,” Twilight said with a perky smile.

“I’ll definitely think about it,” Bric-à-brac said, her smile seeming more genuine now. Then she looked down at the counter. “Oh, pooh. I completely lost track of where I was in ringing this up.”

Five minutes later, Erin and Twilight exited the store with their purchases. Erin, carrying her items in a bag provided by Bric-à-brac, reflected briefly on how much easier saddlebags were. Ordinarily, she would have stuffed her things into a backpack in order to leave her hands free, but she’d neglected to pack one.

“Where to next?” Twilight asked her.

“I suppose we could see that cottage I’ll be staying in? Also, I’d like to meet my landlord, if possible.”

“Alright, sounds good. We should probably head to Sugarcube Corner after that, though.”

“That’s fine,” Erin said.

The two of them walked in companionable silence for a while.

“So, Twilight,” Erin asked eventually. “Have you kept up with your running regimen?”

“Uh...” the unicorn looked away, her face reddening. “Not so much.”

“Oh... Didn’t you like it?”

“Yes!” Twilight said, then immediately added, “Well, no. I mean, I enjoyed it when we ran together, but it’s hard to get motivated to go by myself.”

“Ah, I see.”

“You’re not upset, are you?”

Erin’s eyebrows furrowed as she looked down at her friend. “No, why should I?”

“I thought you’d be disappointed,” Twilight confessed.

“Pff, nah.” Erin waved a hand dismissively. “I completely get it. It’s a hard habit to get into. Did you want to start running with me again when I move back to Ponyville?”

“Sure! Um... But could we take it easy, at first?”

“Of course!”

The two of them kept talking until they reached the cottage. As Twilight had said, it was on the outskirts of town. To Erin, it looked perfect, picturesque even. It had a thatched roof like most of the homes in Ponyville, and the exterior walls were a cream color with dark green trim. The windows were large and had fancifully carved shutters, all of which were closed at the moment, probably to help keep the cold out. The second floor was only about half the size of the first, and the one window facing the street was much smaller. The finishing touch was a stone chimney running up the west side of the house and poking up a few feet over the top of the roof.

The front yard was small and enclosed inside of a white picket fence, and Erin could see several shapes lurking under the snow that were presumably bushes of some kind. When they walked around the back, she was pleased to see that the back yard was nicely spacious. It also had a fence around it, though the back fence was much taller than the front, coming up to about Erin’s shoulder.

“Oh, Twilight, this place is perfect!” Erin said, clapping her mittened hands together.

“Really?” Twilight said, and Erin saw some previously unnoticed tension drain from her friend. “I’m so glad you like it!”

“No, I love it. This is amazing!”

“Well, I’m glad. Your landlady lives this way.” Twilight began walking, Erin trailing behind as she looked back over her shoulder at the lovely little cottage. “Her name is Matilda. She’s a really nice donkey.”

“Donkey?” Erin said, her attention snapping forward. “You said she’s a donkey?”

“Yeah,” Twilight said with an odd look. “That’s not a problem, is it?”

Erin laughed. “No, no, of course not. I’ve just never met a donkey before!”

Twilight smiled and kept walking. A short time later they reached Matilda’s house, a two story cottage that was almost identical to Erin’s, but with pink trim instead of green. Erin knocked, feeling unaccountably nervous.

The door opened shortly after she knocked, there stood a donkey, who blinked at Erin in surprise and said, “Oh!”

“What is it?” a rough voice shouted from somewhere behind her.

“Just... one of my tenants, I believe,” Matilda said, eyeing Erin cautiously. Erin nodded, and the donkey smiled, and shouted back over her shoulder, “Just wait a few minutes, Doodle. I’ll be right back.”

She motioned for the two of them to come in, and Erin did so, knocking the snow off of her boots as she did entered.

“You must be the mysterious human who’s moving to Ponyville,” Matilda said.

“Yes, hi. I’m Erin, nice to meet you!”

“Matilda, and nice to meet you too! What can I do for you today?”

“We brought the signed lease,” Twilight said, levitating the scroll out of her saddlebags. “We thought we should bring it over.”

“Also, I’m now an official resident of Ponyville.” Erin felt a swell of pride as she said that.

“Oh, congratulations!” Matilda said, taking the scroll and sticking it carefully in a desk by the front door.

“The cottage is perfect, too. Um, though I just wanted to check, would it be alright if I modified it a little?”

“That depends on what you mean by ‘modified’,” Matilda said, looking a little alarmed.

“Well, I’m going to have a bunch of equipment there, and in order to run it all, I’m going to need more reliable electricity than Ponyville usually offers. I was hoping to install solar tiles, but of course I’d need your permission first.”

“On top of the thatch?” Matilda asked.

“Um, more like in place of the thatch,” Erin said, flashing a hopeful grin.

“Hmm.” Matilda tapped a hoof on her chin. “And, if I said ‘no’?”

“It would be inconvenient, but I’d find a way to manage,” Erin said. “After all, it’s your property, I’m only renting.”

“Ha!” A large grin split the donkey’s face. “I like that answer! What do these panels look like? If they’re not hideously ugly, I can probably allow it. I was planning on replacing the thatch this year, anyway.”

“They can be pretty much any shape, but I was thinking just regular tiles,” Erin said. “They’re rectangular, usually dark blue or black, opaque and kind of glossy. Not very thick, maybe an inch.”

“Hmm. That would definitely make the place stand out a bit.” Matilda said. “You know what? Okay! I’ll take a chance on this. You pay for the installation, and for any damage to the structure that these may cause, and you have a deal!”

They shook on it, Erin’s hand and Matilda’s hoof. Shortly after that, Twilight and Erin were on their way again, apologizing for barging in unexpectedly. Matilda waved their apologies away and wished them well.

“Well, then” Twilight said. “Off to Sugarcube corner for dinner?”

“You bet!” Erin said. And, together, the two of them set out.

~~*~~

At Pinkie’s request, Sugarcube corner had closed early for the day, so that she could send Erin off in style. The Cakes had allowed it, since it gave them the evening off to spend with their children.

Ordinarily, the bakery only served various breads, sweets and pastries, but the kitchen had been co-opted by Pinkie Pie. She had started an hour before anypony else arrived, whipping up a thick veggie stew, a salad, freshly baked bread, sliced fruits and a hot spinach and artichoke dip intended to be eaten with the bread.

As she shredded carrots for the salad, Pinkie sang softly to herself. The music in her head never really stopped, but usually the song just ran through the back of her mind so as not to annoy anypony. Right now, though, there was nopony else around to be annoyed, so Pinkie let the song out.

“I’m seeing my bestest friends tonight
and I’ll make them something good to eat
I’ll mix up everything so it tastes just right
and follow it up with yummy treats!

I know my friends make me happy
I hope I make them happy, too
I’ll bring the food and make it snappy
I really hope they like the stew!”

Just then, a knock sounded at the back door. Pinkie blinked and shook herself as the music quieted down a little.

“Somepony is early!” she said, bouncing her way over to the door. “I wonder who it is!” The door was flung open, revealing a chilly-looking pair of friends standing in the snow. “It’s Sunflower and Twilight! Two of my very favoritest of favorite ponies!”

“I’m not a pony right now,” Sunflower said with that laugh that Pinkie loved so much. Though, honestly, Pinkie had loved pretty much every laugh she had ever heard. But this particular one of Sunflower’s was one she’d never heard before she’d met the human mare.

“You’ll always be a pony to me, Sunflower!” Pinkie said, happier than she’d been for, oh, at least five minutes. “Come in! You’re the first ones here!”

“Um... Actually, I’ve been here for a while.”

Pinkie spun around at the sound of the soft voice and gaped at the pony in the doorway leading from the kitchen to the front of the store.

“Fluttershy! When did you get here?!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“Um. I was in the dining area when Mister Cake locked the door.” Fluttershy blushed and twirled a hoof against the floor. “I don’t think he saw me.”

Sunflower and Twilight looked at each other, shrugged, and started taking off their winter gear.

“Oh, Fluttershy, I’m sorry,” Pinkie said, momentarily dejected. “I didn’t know you were out there, or I would have kept you company!”

“Oh, no, I don’t want to be a bother,” Fluttershy said. “I would have just been in the way in here. And your stew is boiling.”

“Oh, shoot, my stew!” Pinkie said. “You guys go make yourself comfortable at a table, and I’ll bring the food out when it’s done.”

The three of them walked into the dining area together, talking softly. Pinkie returned to her stew, turned it down and gave it a quick stir. Then she went back to shredding the carrots. The song in her head wanted to come out again, so Pinkie started humming happily to herself. She didn’t bother singing again, knowing that she’d just have to stop when the rest of her friends showed up.

Sure enough, Rarity was next, followed by Rainbow Dash.

“I thought I’d be the first one here,” Dashie said with that cute little frown of hers.

“And I thought I’d be fashionably late,” Rarity said with an impish grin that lit up her face. “Alas, we can’t always have what we want, can we?”

Pinkie directed the two of them into the main room. Her food preparation was done just in time for Applejack to show up and, not unexpectedly, the farm mare insisted on helping her carry out “the vittles”. Pinkie, giggling at the word “vittles”, was more than happy to share the task.

“Soup’s on, y’all!” AJ said as she entered the front of the store. She had a platter on her back, upon which was stacked the bread, the large bowl of sliced fruit, and all the plates, bowls and cutlery that Pinkie thought would be needed.

“Actually, AJ, it’s stew.” Which was balanced on Pinkie’s own back, contained in a large tureen, though she had several potholders between it and her skin in order to avoid being burned.

AJ shot her a look. Pinkie grinned back, earning a chuckle from her friend.

“Fine,” Applejack said. “Stew’s on!”

“Awesome! I’m starving!” Dashie said from the table where the friends all sat.

“Then get yer lazy rainbow butt over here and help bring stuff to the table!” Applejack shot back.

It had taken Pinkie a while before she’d learned the difference between AJ’s real and pretend scoldings, but that was obviously a fake one. The smile on her face was a dead giveaway.

Rainbow got up to help, and Pinkie directed her back towards the kitchen and the waiting salad and dip, which the pegasus promptly brought out, balancing each item on one of her wings.

In no time flat, the table was set up and everypony was gathered around. Pinkie flipped a smile around the table, earning several in return, even though she didn’t really feel all that much like smiling. This was a party, sort of, though it was low-key for Sunflower’s sake (she had asked for a low-key party, to which Pinkie had replied “Okie-Dokie, Low-key”, though nopony else got it).

The reason this wasn’t Pinkie’s favorite type of party was because it was a good-bye party. One of her friends was going away. And, even though she was coming back, it still made her a little sad.

Pinkie tuned back into the conversation going on around her, realizing that she’d missed a few things that had been said.

“Oh, just taking care of some things,” Sunflower was saying to a question that Rarity had asked. “I stopped by to see the gang at Fet-Ex, though Lucky wasn’t in. And I saw the cottage I’d be living in, too.”

“Oh, yeah,” Dashie said, looking up from her salad, a string of shredded carrot hanging from the corner of her mouth. “How’d you like it?”

“Oh, it was nice,” Sunflower said with a smile that Pinkie recognized as a #47: 40% happy, 54% excited, and 6% nervous. “I really think I’m going to like it there. The landlady seemed nice, too.”

Pinkie smiled and nodded, happy to hear that Sunflower liked her new landlady. Matilda was a good friend of hers. Of course, so was pretty much everyone in Ponyville, and Pinkie took great pains to keep it that way.

Which reminded her, the welcome wagon needed a bit of work. And maybe she should add a big sign saying “cake batter goes in here!” and “confetti goes here!” in the appropriate spots.

That thought led to another. She was running low on confetti, only three large bags left. Two of those bags were stashed in strategic places around Ponyville in case of a spontaneous confetti emergency, but it would be a good idea if she placed an order for some more to her bulk confetti supplier.

Once again, she zoned back into the conversation to find out she wasn’t really sure what was going on. This time, it had been Rainbow Dash who had asked Sunflower a question.

“Well...” Sunflower squirmed in her seat like she’d sat on something squishy. “About a week after I got changed back, I did try to eat meat again.”

Somepony gasped in shock. Pinkie realized that it had been her. “You ate meat?!”

“Well, yeah... though, it wasn’t real meat. It was artificial meat.”

“Artificial meat?” Twilie asked, scrunching her face up like she always did when somepony said something that didn’t make sense to her. “How was it artificial?”

“It was cultured meat,” Sunflower said. She sounded a little defensive, but also embarrassed.

“Like, it was well-educated and classy?” Pinkie asked, images of top hats and spats running through her head.

“No,” Sunflower said with a chuckle that seemed to come more from embarrassment than something funny. “It was grown independant of an animal. So, it’s real meat, but nothing had to actually die to make it.”

“I don’t get it,” Twilight said. Pinkie didn’t either, but she was glad Twilie had said so first. If the super-smart unicorn didn’t understand it, then there was no shame in Pinkie not getting it, either.

“Well, what they do is take a sample of muscle,” Sunflower said as she stabbed at her salad with a fork. “Then they drop it into a nutrient solution, where it grows as if it were still attached to whatever animal it came from. Then, when it gets big enough, they hack off a chunk of it...”

Sunflower looked around the table and saw that everypony looked as queasy-weasy as Pinkie herself felt.

“Um, you know what? Nevermind. It’s magic meat that didn’t come directly from any animal, so nothing had to die.”

An uncomfortable silence descended for a few seconds.

“And how was it?” Twilight asked.

“Awful.” Sunflower shook her head. “I mean, it tasted right, as far as I remember. And I always used to love cheeseburgers before I became a pony—”

“A what, now?” Pinkie asked curiously.

“Um... it’s a sandwich with cheese.” Sunflower did that squirmy thing again and added, “And meat.” She cleared her throat and kept on talking. “Anyway, I guess it had been too long, because it just tasted gross. I guess I lost my taste for it.”

“The humans have meat that doesn’t need to come from killing animals?” That was from Fluttershy. Her eyes had gotten really big, and she looked happy. “That’s wonderful!”

“Yeah. It’s not too popular, though,” Sunflower said.

“Whyever not, darling?” Rarity asked. “It sounds rather... icky, I suppose. But it must be a better solution than killing some poor animal!”

“Mainly, it’s really expensive, and people complain about the texture being wrong. It seemed fine to me, though. I just didn’t like the taste, anymore. ”

“So, fake meat? Maybe I should try some of that,” Dashie said, and everypony around the table looked at her in shock or disgust except for Pinkie, who laughed because she recognized that typical Rainbow Dash bravado, and because she knew the pegasus would never actually do it in even a million, billion years.

“Funny, Dash,” Pinkie said, grinning.

“I could totally do it, if I wanted to!” Dash said defensively.

Pinkie giggle-snorted. “Whatever you say, Dashie.”

The conversation wandered some more after that, drifting lazily from topic to topic. For the most part, Pinkie paid attention, and even contributed from time to time. Telling stories was a part of being friends, after all.

Still, one thread of disquiet was nagging at her. It got worse and worse until, finally, Pinkie couldn’t keep it in anymore.

“Sunflower, do you really have to go back so early?”

The conversation stopped and everypony looked at her. Pinkie realized that she’d interrupted a story that Sunflower was telling, something about how her grandfather took her fishing for cats when she was little, and how she really didn’t like it.

“Sorry, Pinkie,” Sunflower said with a sad smile. “I have to turn in some of the paperwork the mayor signed off on back in Canterlot before I head back home.”

Which meant that she had to take a pretty early train in the morning. And then it would be a whole month before she could see her friend again. Pinkie sighed. “I’ll miss you.”

“Oh, Pinkie,” Sunflower said, reaching over and touching her hoof with one of her hands. “I’ll miss you, too! All of you! But I’ve got to leave, so that I can come back to stay.”

“I know,” Pinkie replied unhappily. “Promise you won’t forget us?”

Sunflower stared at her for a few seconds and then started laughing. “Pinkie, I could be gone for a hundred years and still never forget you guys. I promise, everything will be okay!”

She seemed so confident! Pinkie smiled back, feeling slightly relieved. And, because she felt relieved, she could throw herself into the conversation! Which lasted for hours.

There were a lot of stories. There was plenty of laughter. There was cake, which is not necessary for conversations, but was always a nice bonus. And, finally, there were the “good nights” that Pinkie disliked so much.

“I’ll see you at the train station tomorrow,” she promised as she hugged Sunflower goodnight.

“I’ll see you there, Pinkie. Thanks for the wonderful party!”

And then her friends all left her. But not forever.

~~*~~

It was colder the next day, which only made Erin more appreciative when, after a hearty breakfast at the library, her friends all walked with her to the train station. Pinkie was carrying her bakery purchases, which helped, since Erin was having a hard time dragging her luggage through the snowy streets.

“Well, this is it,” Erin said when they arrived. The train was waiting, slowly filling up with ponies heading to Canterlot.

“I reckon so,” Applejack said.

The seven of them stood in awkward silence for a moment, the ponies shuffling their hooves while Erin drew idle circles on the ground with the toe of her boot. Surprisingly enough, it was Fluttershy who broke the silence.

“Oh, I’m going to miss you!” she said, rushing up and hugging Erin around the waist.

Erin smiled at her through the sudden mist of tears in her eyes. She knelt and hugged the pegasus back. “I’ll miss you guys, too.”

“You have to come back safe,” Pinkie said firmly, joining in the hug.

“I will. I’ll be in the best hands on Earth.”

Fluttershy and Pinkie disengaged, and one by one her other friends came up to say their goodbyes as well.

“Remember, you want to be a pegasus,” Dash said during her turn to hug Erin goodbye. “Flying is the best thing ever. It beats boring old unicorn magic any day.”

Erin laughed, even as Twilight snorted derisively. “I’ll do that, Rainbow.”

Rarity took Dash’s place, saying, “I’ll do my best to modify the dresses I made you to accommodate wings, but I’m afraid that the burgundy may not work out.”

Erin embraced the unicorn and said, “Well, I’ll just have to commission a new one, then.”

Rarity stepped back and Applejack came forward, throwing a foreleg around Erin’s shoulder in a firm hug. “It’ll be spring by the time ya get back here. I reckon’ we’ll be planting. That’s the best time to come and see what earth ponies can do, if’n you’re interested.”

“I may take you up on that, Applejack. Thanks.”

AJ stepped back, and Twilight took her place. “When you come back,” she said as she hugged Erin tightly, “make sure you bring plenty of books.”

Erin chuckled. “I will, I promise.”

“All aboard for Canterlot!” the conductor shouted.

Erin stood, wiping a tear from her eyes with a mittened hand. “I suppose this is it.”

“Oh, Sunflower! Here!” Pinkie untied the parcel from her back that contained Erin’s gigantic pastry order.

“Thanks, Pinkie,” Erin said, taking it. As she did, a pair of porters materialized behind her and, with calm efficiency and not even batting an eye at having a human on the platform, took her bags to stow in the luggage compartment.

“All aboard!” the conductor shouted again. Erin looked at him, then back at her gathered friends. She felt oddly helpless and torn.

“Go,” Twilight said gently. “We’ll be here when you get back.”

“I love all of you,” Erin said. Her friends repeated the sentiment.

With a final wave, Erin got on the train. She found her seat quickly and looked out of the window. Her friends were on the platform, all waving enthusiastically at her. A few seconds later, the doors closed and the train moved out.

“Goodbye!” Erin called through the window, not even sure her friends could hear her. She waved, and her friends ran down the platform, keeping pace with her window as long as they could.

The platform stopped, and so did her friends. They waved at her as the train pulled further and further away, and she waved back until finally, the train went around a bend and her friends were lost from sight.

It was going to be a long few weeks before she could see them all again, but at least she’d be able to spend some of it unconscious while she was altered back into a pony.

With a sigh, Erin leaned back into her seat. She took out her phone, which now contained more pictures of Equestrian ponies than any other human-made device, almost all of them of her friends. She found one picture, the six equines all grouped together, forelegs around each other as they posed, smiling, for the camera. She’d taken the picture at dinner the night before.

She sighed and smiled, feeling slightly melancholy. “I’ll see you soon,” she told them quietly. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

Erin leaned back and let the train take her away from her new home.

Author's Note:

Thanks, as always, to the wonderful BrillianPoint for his editing skills, and for helping make this a better chapter than I could have on my own!

This is the last "Erin in Ponyville" side story. Hope you all enjoyed this arc!