The Party Girl

by Godslittleprincess

Chapter 13: A Letter and an Impasse

The next day, to Flash’s surprise, Postman Night Light delivered Flash a letter from Pinkie Pie. Despite how difficult it was for him, Flash managed to read most of the letter by himself though he did have First Base and Ms. Cadance help him with the harder words.

Dear Flash,

Hiya. It’s me Pinkie, but you probably already know that because my name is on the envelope. Anyway, my family found out about us sending toys to Griepsburg when Postman Light came over yesterday with the letters from the kids, which I read and enjoyed, by the way, and boy, was Limestone mad! Pa was mad too, but he wasn’t nearly as yell-y about it.

Limestone and I got into a huge fight over the whole thing. I told her that Granny Pie wouldn’t have wanted all the fun and the smiles she shared with the world to die with her and that she was being a big, selfish meanie for wanting to keep Granny all to herself. Maybe that was a mistake because she got so mad that if Ma hadn’t stopped her, she would have hit me.

Pa didn’t say anything the whole time. He was just looking at me with his “Pinkamena, I’m verry disappointed in you” face the whole time. I hate it when he looks at me like that. Anyway, after Ma broke up my fight with Limestone, my sisters and I were just waiting for Pa to get upset and start lecturing or scolding me or something, and he looked like he was about to, but all of a sudden, he didn’t.

His face changed from his “disappointed Pa” face to the face people make when they’re thinking about something really, really hard. Then, he told me to bring my letters over. At first, I didn’t want to because I was worried that he was going to do something terrible with them, but after a few minutes of trying not to cry, I did because when Pa tells you to do something, you better not argue back. Yeesh!

So, I brought the letters over to him, and he started reading them to himself. Then, his mouth started twitching all weird. At first, I thought he was getting even more mad, but then, he did something that I thought he had forgotten how to do. He smiled! Pa smiled! Can you believe it?! Oh, my gosh! Seeing Pa smile just made me SO HAPPY! Then, he gave the letters back to me and said I could keep sending toys to the kids. He even offered to help me make the toys. I was so happy that I gave him a big hug right there.

By the way, did I ever thank you for coming up with that idea? If I didn’t, well, I’m thanking you now. If it wasn’t for your idea, none of this would have happened. Also, thanks for being a great friend.

Your friend,

Pinkie

That night during dinner Cadance and Night Light were regaling the family with their account of how their second day teaching and processing mail went. The family was the happiest it had ever been, save for Twilight. The guilt from what she had almost done last night and her conversation with Flash and First Base were still lingering inside of her.

“I’m so glad that I’m teaching again,” Cadance exclaimed. “I can’t believe those same kids used to help their parents steal our merchandise and vandalize our property. I’ve never seen such eager learners before.”

“Well, you did pretty much open them up to a whole world that exists beyond this island, so I can’t blame them for being a little excited,” her husband noted with pride.

“It’s too bad that they still won’t try to work with other kids outside their clans,” First Base added.

Cadance sighed dejectedly at Base’s statement, saying, “Maybe it’s for the best that they stay that way. If they get too friendly with each other and their parents found out, well, we’ll end up right back where we started. Oh, by the way, there’s something important that I’ll need to discuss with the family.”

Everyone immediately went silent and stopped eating.

“Uh, just the immediate family or...?” Shining Armor asked, gesturing towards Flash and Base.

“We can finish eating outside if you need the privacy,” Flash offered.

“Oh, no, it’s too cold out,” Cadance objected. “Besides, it’s not that private.” She turned to everyone else in the room and continued, “We don’t have enough school supplies for all the kids, so we’re going to have to buy more. The chalkboard and some of the desks are also falling apart, so we’re going to have to buy parts to fix them.”

“Honey, aren’t we going to have to order those special and pay Cranky to bring them in?” Shining Armor asked.

“Yup.”

“But that means we’ll have to dip into our savings,” Night Light noted.

“I know.”

“And not just a little bit either. We’ll be dipping into a huge chunk of our savings,” Twilight Velvet added.

“I know.”

All eyes turned to Twilight.

“What?” Twilight asked, trying not to sound too defensive.

“Twily, are you alright with us spending our savings to fix up the schoolhouse?” Night Light asked.

“Of course.”

Everyone at the table looked up and stared at Twilight, stunned speechless.

“Really?” Cadance asked skeptically.

“Yes, really. It’s fine,” Twilight insisted. “I mean, I’m not pleased, but if you really need to, I don’t mind you using our savings to fix the schoolhouse.”

“But,” Cadance sputtered, “you’ve been wanting to leave since we got here. What changed your mind?”

“Oh, don’t get me wrong,” Twilight countered. “I still want to leave. I’ve just decided not to let staying here affect me anymore. Besides, I have something I have to do before I’m ready to leave.”

“And what would that be?”

“Teach Flash how to read and write better.”

“What?” Flash cried, caught off-guard by Twilight’s answer.

“You’re going to need to get your literacy up to speed if you’re going to be traveling to Paardenstad,” Twilight explained. “You’ll have an easier time finding out what happened to your friends and writing back to your brother. By the way, are you going to be taking the reindeer with you?”

“Um, Pinkie Pie wanted me to, but I think your father is going to need him more if he’s going to be delivering mail between Griepsburg and the Pies,” Flash replied hesitantly.

“So, you’re going to need to buy a horse to take you the rest of the way to Paardenstad, so you’re also going to need to learn how to figure, aren’t you?”

Flash didn’t reply. He just kept staring at Twilight quizzically. She seemed different from how she had been last night, and he wasn’t sure what to make of the change in her demeanor.

Once Flash got over his confusion, he said to Twilight, “Uh, Twilight, may I talk to you, outside, alone, in private?”

Twilight turned to her family with a small smile and said, “Excuse us, please.”

The two of them got up, walked out the front door, and shut it behind them, ignoring the chill and the light snowfall all around them.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Flash demanded.

“Remember that deal you made me last night?” Twilight replied, her face and voice inscrutable. “Well, I’m altering it. I’ll fulfill your third condition, but I have a few conditions of my own.”

“And what are they?”

“The first condition is that you give your money to Timber Spruce instead of me.”

“Timber Spruce?” Flash repeated, his eyebrows furrowing as he remembered the bitter, surly boy from when he first came into town and thought about why Twilight would want to give that boy money. “He wants to leave Griepsburg too, and you were going to run away with him last night, weren’t you?”

“Gee, he’s a lot smarter than I give him credit for,” Twilight thought to herself as she glared at Flash.

“So, am I working to cover both you and Timber or just Timber?”

“Just Timber,” Twilight replied, “which brings me to my second condition. I will fulfill your third condition when you are literate to my satisfaction, and when I do, I’m going to tell my family that I want to travel with Timber. I want you to vouch for him.”

“Why would you need me to vouch for him?” Flash asked suspiciously.

“Because,” Twilight reluctantly admitted, “my family doesn’t exactly like him. They think he’s a bad influence.”

“Gee, I wonder why,” Flash thought to himself sarcastically.

“Hold on,” Flash realized, “Does Timber’s sister know that he wants to leave Griepsburg?”

“No,” Twilight answered sharply, “and she can never find out.”

“So, you’re basically asking me to help Timber do to his sister what you were about to do to your family last night,” Flash summarized, blankly staring at Twilight in disapproval.

“Hey, it’s different with Timber,” Twilight cried, defensively. “You’ve seen what Gloriosa is like. She cares about the stupid feud more than her own family, just like every other nutjob in this town.”

“That doesn’t make helping Timber run away right,” Flash argued, turning away from her in disgust. He frowned as a thought occurred to him. “What would you do if I didn’t agree to your deal?”

“Excuse me.”

“If I didn’t agree to your deal, would you really steal money from your family and take off? Do you really have it in you to hurt the people who love you the most like that?” Flash turned and looked Twilight right in the eyes as he awaited her answer.

Twilight didn’t respond. She looked away from him, feeling her guilt intensify under his gaze. She turned back to him and looked into his eyes which burned with resolve. Hers shook with uncertainty. She groaned and put a hand to her face, turning away and reaching for the doorknob.

“Our first lesson will be before breakfast. I expect you to be there,” she declared firmly before she opened the door and stormed inside the cottage, slamming the door behind her as she did so.

Author's Note:

Would you believe that I'm just barely hitting the halfway mark of this story? That's what I get for trying to write the fanfiction equivalent of a full-length movie, and all this for one prompt.

Comments

[Foxhelm]

Well, that could have ended better.
I am guessing Limestone was actually the closest of the Pies to the late Granny Pie and it hurt her the most... I am much closer to my own grandmother than my brother and I know I am going to take her passing much worse then him...

[SuperSonicHeroes]

“Why would you need me to vouch for him?” Flash asked suspiciously.

“Because,” Twilight reluctantly admitted, “my family doesn’t exactly like him. They think he’s a bad influence.”

“Gee, I wonder why,” Flash thought to himself sarcastically.

He’s right. She seriously needs to wake up and realize that he’s nothing but trouble.

[Ro994]

Welp, for the halfway point, there's been quite a few small but important changes for both the Sparkle and Pie families. As for Twilight's viewpoint... well, we're getting there.