The Royal Fillies REDUX

by blazikenking

Summer in Ponyville, Part 3

After one last spa trip, Rarity walked us towards a very colorful house that looked like a stack of jester's hats. "Now girls, you need to prepare yourselves for Pinkie and Cheese. They are both very high energy, and can be a bit much at times, but they're lots of fun to be around."

"Are they loud?" I asked, feeling worried. What I remembered of Pinkie wasn't loud, but it also wasn't in her home.

"Usually not, but their partillery can be. Despite appearances, they're very considerate. You can't throw a good party without knowing what the recipient does and doesn't like, after all."

"So they'll be a bit quieter for me?"

"That. . . I can't promise that." We stopped at the door. "Here we are. Go on in."

I was just about to raise a hoof to open the door when I barely heard a scrambling of hooves and hushed voices on the other side. "Skyla, how about you open the door?"

"Okay," Skyla happily answered. I stepped aside and she was just about to open it when she stopped. "Why are you letting me open it?"

"Because I'm being generous and giving you the honor?" I suggested. It sounded lame to me, but it was all I could think of on the spot.

She raised an eyebrow at my explanation. "Rarity, you open the door."

"Oh, I couldn't possibly do that," Rarity said with the grace I'd come to expect of her. "This is your trip, so you should open the door."

I put an ear to the wall and barely heard a rapidly tapping hoof. "I'm not opening it," I stated.

"Well if Inova's not opening it, I'm not opening it," Skyla firmly stated from the other side of the door.

"And it's not my place to open it either," Rarity added. We were at a standstill.

A yellowish orange earth pony stallion with a curly brown mane and tail zipped up. "Well if none of you will open it, I will!" He opened the door very quickly, blocking my view with it in the process.

"FUS RO PIE!" There was a huge blast of air and confetti, and the stallion was sent flying what looked like a hundred feet away, barely missing and not touching Rarity, but messing up her freshly curled mane and tail as he passed.

"I think that's a vacuum effect?" I thought as I saw it happen and recalled some of Twilight's science lessons. "Pressure differential?" I stopped thinking about it, looked past the door, and saw that Skyla's mane was messed up as well, and she looked surprised. We both looked at the other side of the doorway and saw a grinning Pinkie Pie standing behind a powerful cannon with air tanks on it. "Hi girls! How are you. . . Wait, wasn't I supposed to get one of you with the cannon?" She pulled out some papers from behind the air cannon and started reading them. As she tossed them aside and shrugged, I caught glimpses of red crayon over what looked like a script of some kind. "Guess not."

"I did nothing, just as I Pinkie Promised," Rarity said. "I leave them in your capable hooves, Pinkie. If you'll excuse me, I need to get my mane and tail redone." She started walking off.

Pinkie waved as Rarity left. "Sorry about that! Just tell them Cheese did it!"

The stallion zipped back up to the door. "I did not!"

"Well they're all out of 'Pinkie Did It' vouchers for the month, so they've got to use the 'Cheese Did It' ones instead."

"Oh." The stallion relaxed at the explanation, then looked down at the air cannon, the end of its barrel resting right in front of his body. "Are you going to-"

"FUS RO PIE!"

---

"Girls, meet Lil' Cheese," Cheese Sandwich said as he introduced us to a colt that seemed more interested in his big oversized book than what was happening around him. The colt looked a lot like Cheese did. "Lil' Cheese, Inova and Skyla are here."

"Cool," Lil' Cheese said, sounding like he was rather indifferent about our presence. He didn't even look up from his book.

"I'm sure he'll warm up to you two eventually. Moving on with the tour, we have the shop floor over here." He took us on a short walk to the shelves full of colorful goods. "Over here is our party and prank stuff. We have a printing press as well for some custom printed party wares, primarily the paper pieces."

"So I could have my name on a bunch of paper plates for a birthday party?" Skyla excitedly asked.

"If you really, really, really want that. I advise against it since plastering your name on everything the guests see and use is tacky, and not in an entertaining way. Now, the store is just one part of what we do." He led us through a door and down some stairs to a stage with rows of seats facing it. "We also put on shows here three days per week. One show before lunch, one after lunch, and one before dinner, every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. We have props, costumes, and more backstage, and more importantly, we have fun."

---

"Laughter is the part of friendship that lets you make the best memories," Pinkie explained, though the disguise glasses she wore made it hard to take her seriously. "Of course, you have to be willing to laugh in the first place. Even Applejack, as serious as she is, can laugh at funny things. I have seen ponies that will not laugh or smile at anything, no matter how silly or clever the bit is, and let me tell you, those are the most boring ponies."

"The Crystal Guards sound more interesting than those ponies," Skyla said. "And they mostly just stand around when they're not doing anything."

Pinkie nodded sagely in understanding. "Indeed they are. Laughter also serves as a way to deal with tough situations. That said, you have to know when it's alright to laugh. The wrong laugh at the wrong time can be devastating and destructive, not just for those around you, but for you as well."

Memories of Nightshade and her crew laughing at me came to mind. I didn't like being laughed at, but they liked laughing at me when she bullied me. I really wanted some way to get back at her, and as I tried to figure that out, I started understanding the potency of laughter.

---

"Everypony, we're going to put on a little comedy special next week, in addition to our regular scriptless shows," Pinkie announced over breakfast. To my surprise, she made normal breakfasts instead of the cake ones I was expecting, and they were very good. There was still cake off to the side, and Skyla was eyeing it like a hungry predator.

"Am I going to be the punchline in this special?" Lil' Cheese tiredly asked.

"Only for one of the gags," Pinkie said. "Inova and Skyla will take the rest of it."

"What?" Skyla asked, now distracted from the cake. "Why?"

"In a word, experience. Not just with getting laughed at and acting, but also with being on stage in front of everypony and being the butt of the joke. If you're nervous sitting on the throne, then you can't make good choices or a good appearance, right? Stage fright can happen in more places than just the stage, after all."

The connection Pinkie made, while unexpected, actually made sense when I gave it a little thought. "Alright. What are the scriptless shows?"

Cheese answered. "Everypony gets a role for the day, as chosen by the wheel of fate." He pointed to a colorful picker wheel on the wall. It had a lot of different spots on it, and a lever coming out of the floor in front of it. "These shows have no script, so they're entirely ad libbed. All you have to do is play your part."

"What if you can't?"

"Ah, now there's the fun part. You have to be creative to make it work. There are no take backs or respins for your role." He went over to the lever and gave it a pull. As soon as he let go, the wheel began spinning and its colors blurred together. "What'll it be? What'll it be?" The wheel began slowing down, and when it stopped, the golden arrow on the bottom was pointing at a green spot labeled Ninja. "Now, if we had a show today, I'd be playing the part of a ninja, doing ninja moves with ninja things. However, if I didn't have ninja skills-"

"You don't," Lil' Cheese interjected.

"Then I'd have to figure out something to do with the role. Maybe I'm the least stealthy ninja ever, or I tell people where I'm hiding so they know not to look there."

"What's the special about?" Skyla asked as I tried to figure out Cheese's illogic.

"The history of the joke," Pinkie said. "I'd tell you more now, but I need a cutscene so I don't spoil anything for the readers."

"Who?" I asked, pulled from one illogical thing to another illogical thing.

"Mom's weird like that," Lil' Cheese said.

"You bet!" Pinkie sounded a little too proud of that claim. "Now, here's what we'll be doing. . ."

---

I stayed still as Cheese put face paint on me for a clown look after breakfast. The wheel of fate had chosen that I be a clown after I pulled the lever. Skyla had gotten Wise Pony, and I wanted to trade roles with her, but the rules were the rules.

Something had been on my mind for a while, and I finally decided to voice it. "Hey, Cheese?"

"Yes, Inova?" He asked back in his usual happy tone.

"I can't put my hoof on it, but I swear I've heard your voice somewhere before. It's weirdly familiar, and that's been bothering me."

"Really now?"

I quickly gave some assurances. "You didn't do anything wrong, it's just. . . Weird."

He shrugged. "I get that occasionally. What color do you want going around your eyes?"

With my weird feeling voiced and mostly dealt with, I was able to think a bit more clearly. "How about light blue?"

---

After the scriptless shows were over for the day, I flopped into the makeup chair backstage, physically and mentally exhausted. Playing a clown was not something I could do, but everypony else was able to work with my largely floppish efforts. I tried to be silly as a clown should be, but I had no idea what to do most of the time, partially due to stage fright. The second and third shows were easier, but they went very similar to the first for me.

"How do you do this so often?" I asked as Pinkie started washing the makeup off of my face.

"I just have fun with it," Pinkie said as if it was the most obvious thing ever. "I live to make others laugh, and if they're having a good time, so am I. Oh, Cheese is whipping up a fast dinner, and after that, we'll rehearse the special."

I groaned as Pinkie kept cleaning my face. I knew the script for the special was all comedy and in jest, and was actually pretty funny, but it was still weird.

---

"I'm going to the town square," Lil' Cheese said after breakfast on Sunday. He didn't even wait for Pinkie or Cheese's approval before he started walking towards the exit.

"Don't have too much fun!" Pinkie said as she waved after him.

I decided to do the same. "I'm going with him."

"Have fun, Inova!" Cheese said as I left.

As soon as I saw Lil' Cheese, I began my not-as-fast-as-I-wanted pursuit. "Hey, wait up!"

He stopped for a moment. "What do you want?"

I caught up to him. "I like your idea of leaving for a bit. Pinkie and Cheese are. . . Uh. . ."

"I get it. I usually just lay down on the edge of the big fountain and do nothing."

"Nothing sounds good." I walked with him and found out that his plan really was as simple as he said it was. He lay down on one side of the big circular fountain and I did the same on the other side. "It's a lot quieter out here." I let my forehoof dip into the water and idly moved it in circles.

"That's why I like it."

The sounds of nature and ponies going about their business eventually filled the air, breaking the silence in a way that wasn't bad. It was way better than the high energy at Pinkie's place, and watching the way the water rippled was way more entertaining than it should have been.

---

Skyla smirked as she held the one card in her hooves. Pinkie had a big stack of cards in her hooves. Cheese had won the Uno game multiple turns prior, and was basking in his well earned victory.

"Second place is mine next turn, Pinkie," Skyla stated.

"I don't think so." Pinkie started slapping cards down in succession, forcing Skyla, to her growing dismay and horror (THE HORROR!), to skip turn after turn after turn and draw cards upon cards. "Uno! And-". Pinkie slapped a red 0 on top of the stack. "All zero."

"What? But. . . I. . ." Skyla's slack jawed expression spoke well to her surprise.

Cheese blinked a few times. "Pinkie, did you let me win just so you could do that?"

"Nope," Pinkie answered. "You won fair and square. I just got lucky and had a plan. Who wants some lemonade?"

---

The time for the special came, and the curtain lifted. Cheese was behind a tall podium on one side, Lil' Cheese, Skyla, and I were on the opposite side, and Pinkie was backstage with props.

"Thank you for coming, everypony, to our special on the history and origins of the joke," Cheese opened with. Out in the audience, I saw Auntie Sparkle levitate a quill and scroll. She was ready to take notes, and I knew she would be both entertained and disappointed. "The origins of the joke date back to as early as the late third century, or as late as the early third century. These early jokes started outdoors, and set the format of instigator and dupe that is still used to this day. Two of my assistants will demonstrate one of the first such jokes."

Lil' Cheese walked over next to the podium and stuck a foreleg out. Skyla walked forward and tripped, falling over and landing a lot like I did. The crowd laughed at it.

Cheese's narration continued. "The instigator and dupe format would evolve when moved indoors. For this, we will need a highly specialized piece of machinery." At his cue, Pinkie bounced out and set a chair on my side of the stage. Lil' Cheese walked over and stood behind it. "Now, observe." I moved to sit down and missed when Lil' Cheese moved the chair away, making me fall down. Thanks to my real experience with falling down, I didn't have to act unfazed.

As Lil' Cheese and I took our spots with Skyla, Cheese continued his speech. "Diplomatic and economic relations with the Zebrican continent would bring with it a new source of comedic material." Pinkie came back onstage and was balancing a banana on her muzzle. With a casual motion, she sent it flying towards Lil' Cheese, and he caught it perfectly. "Its utilization will now be demonstrated."

Lil' Cheese peeled the banana, took the peel, and let me have the fruit that was inside it. He went towards the front of the stage and dropped it. Skyla went to the end of the stage and did some exaggerated stretches, which got some chuckles from the crowd, who likely thought they knew where the bit was going.

Skyla casually walked forward, heading straight for the banana peel, and walked right over it without laying a hoof on it. She turned around, walked back, levitated the banana peel and dropped it right on Lil' Cheese's head like it was a hat. The subversion got lots of laughter from the crowd, and the two came back to stand in line with me, with Lil' Cheese tossing the peel away over Skyla.

"Now, the next form. . ." Cheese looked down at me and pointed at the fruit I was still holding. As per the script, he motioned for me to somehow get rid of it.

I decided to improv a bit, breaking the banana in half and sticking both halves in my mouth to look like oversized fangs. "Rawr!"

Cheese only sighed in irritation. "Inova, if I told you once, I told you a single time, you need the full costume for a proper vampire look. Fangs alone won't cut it. Now cut out that silliness so we can get back to our history lesson."

"Sawry." I took my banana fangs out and promptly ate them. It wasn't as fast as Skyla would have eaten them, but that was a given.

"Now, as I was saying, the next form involves the instigator remaining unaware of the comedy being instigated as the dupe is sideswiped."

Skyla moved over to the podium while Lil' Cheese and I went to the end of the stage, where he was given what looked like a piece of lumber, but was actually just a soft prop with enough rigidity to hold its shape.

From the other end of the stage, Skyla said, "Hey, buddy." Upon being addressed, Lil' Cheese turned, bonking me in the back of the head as I fell. When he turned back, I got to my hooves.

"This simple formula soon evolved into the double sideswipe."

Skyla said the words again. "Hey, buddy."

Cheese bonked the back of my head again, I quickly got to my hooves, then got bonked in the face and sent back down again, earning more laughter. As much as I hadn't fully enjoyed my time with Pinkie and Cheese, I had managed to improve my hoof coordination a bit under them, so that was something.

Skyla walked over and stood on the other side of Lil' Cheese as the lecture continued. "We will now see what experts call the double double sideswipe. Hey, buddy."

Lil' Cheese turned, bonking both Skyla and me and sending us down. Right as we got back up, he turned again, knocking us back down.

With the crowd laughing, Pinkie came in and collected the board. However, in deviation with the script, she slipped on the banana peel as she went off stage, and multiple silly crashing sounds could be heard as she landed. She came out a moment later with more bandages than fur visible, along with one eye completely covered by bandages and the other partially swollen shut. "What happened?"

Cheese easily explained it. "That would be the Checkhovian method, where something is set up, set aside, and then sees use generally after it's forgotten about." He turned to the audience. "Does anypony have a Pinkie Treatment license here? No?" He turned back to the bandaged mare. "I'm sorry, but you'll have to walk it off."

"Walk it off? How do you expect me to do that?"

"It's a step by step process." The joke got plenty of snickers and groans.

"Oh, I see." Pinkie turned around and limped back offstage.

The lecture continued as the three of us moved and sat down so Skyla was in the middle. "As popular as this is, it doesn't even hold a candle to, as the military experts may call it, the dispatch of an edible missile."

Pinkie, looking like nothing had happened, came out with a tray and six paper plates of whipped cream on her back. Each of us took two of them, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Skyla trying not to eat the whipped cream.

Cheese explained what was going to happen. "We will start with a simple straight dispatch of the edible missile." Skyla turned to Lil' Cheese and he put one of his plates on Skyla's face, and there was laughter from the crowd as she turned back to face them. She shook her head to get the plate off before licking her muzzle clean, though the rest of her face had whipped cream on it. "Now, the lateral dispatch." Without looking, I tossed one of my plates sideways and got Skyla on the side of her head. As in the rehearsals, I had to fight to hold back a smile. "The retaliatory pie." Skyla turned back to Lil' Cheese and raised one of her plates, only to get interrupted by a straight pie to the face from the colt, giving her more whipped cream to lick up. "And finally, the high level low blow." Skyla turned back to me and I delivered my last pie right between her forelegs.

The audience's laughter went on long enough that we had to wait a bit for it to die down, but eventually, it did. "Can we get some new pies, please?" Pinkie came out with six new plates of whipped cream. I took two new ones, Skyla set hers on the tray so she could clean herself up a bit, and Lil' Cheese took two new ones. After Pinkie left, Skyla looked between Lil' Cheese and me, both of us armed with the whipped cream and her without any. "And now, the rarely seen three course complex."

It was time for the hardest part of our performance. Lil' Cheese and I turned to face Skyla. She ducked as Lil' Cheese tossed a pie, hitting me in the face. I tossed one of mine as Skyla got back up, hitting her in the side of her head. Lil' Cheese got her in the back of her head with his second one and brought her face down into my second pie. There was both laughter and cheering from the crowd, and I felt proud for the successful performance.

"Finally, there's the surprise pie." Cheese said as Pinkie brought out the chair and a pie. "This is the kind of pie that is unexpected, unforeseen, and unpredictable." She stood on the chair and smirked as she got her pie ready, with Cheese seemingly unaware of her presence. "The delivery must be done stealthily, sneakily, and suddenly." He leapt down and a prop that looked like Pinkie's sister Maud popped up and pied Pinkie in the face. "And that concludes our special on the history of the joke. Thank you."

---

Aunt Twilight met us backstage after the show was done and while Skyla was getting cleaned. "Hi, girls. Did you have fun?"

"I had fun," I tiredly said from the chair I sank into after leaving the stage. My face was already cleaned off from the pie I'd taken. "I don't like being on stage, though."

"That's fair."

"They've both improved a lot, though," Pinkie said as she finished cleaning Skyla. "I wouldn't say they've embraced the stage, but they're mostly not scared of it now. Slightly."

Skyla sat up and got out of her chair. "Is being on the throne really like being on stage, Aunt Twilight?"

Aunt Twilight gave the question some thought. "Well. . . Yes and no. You are putting on a show, like on stage, but it's more like management instead of entertainment. Everypony's watching you, and the pressure is there, but. . . It's complicated. Oh, Pinkie?"

"Yes, Twilight?" Pinkie happily responded.

"Can you say Hi to Fluttershy for me when you take the fillies to her? I've got something to take care of in Canterlot and I'll be gone for a bit."

Pinkie gave a sharp salute. "Thy will be done, my friend!"

"Thanks, Pinkie."

---

As soon as Fluttershy's cottage was in sight, Skyla and Pinkie dashed off to race to the front door. I didn't run after them, not only because I would have tripped over my own hooves, but also to give myself some breathing room and peace. Spending two weeks with Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich really made me understand what Aunt Twilight had said about being with some friends more than others. Lil' Cheese was alright since he wasn't loud.

In the silence from the absence of Pinkie and Skyla, I enjoyed the sound of birds chirping, leaves rustling, and the occasional insect buzzing somewhere. There was a small bridge over a stream on the path, and I stopped on it to watch the water and the fish swimming in it.

---

Over lunch one day, Fluttershy gave us a lesson on her element. "Kindness is all about helping others and doing things that are nice in order to support and help them. That said, kindness, taken too far, circles back around to cruelty."

"How?" I asked.

"There's a play by Wobbly Javelin, The Docile Maiden. It's about a delicate filly and her family, and how their desire to shelter and protect her at all costs turned out horribly. The manor got destroyed, leaving them without a home. The filly, having never been far from home, or even outdoors, was terrified of everything. During the trek to find somewhere to start anew, the family realized that they did nothing to prepare her for the world, and in their attempts to stay together, are slowed down by the one they cared for so much."

"What happens next?" Skyla asked, enraptured with the story like I was.

Fluttershy looked crestfallen as she answered. "Everypony died in the wet winter that came, and the protected filly was the last one. She came close enough to a town to see the lights, but didn't make it there."

I gave the story some thought while Skyla was trying to hold back her tears at the summarized story. "But. . . Why couldn't she make it?" She asked.

"She had her every want and need taken care of by others, so she was weak. Mere minutes after her death, some ponies from town find her, and a pegasus comes in from where she had, and tells of the bodies on the trail. They all conclude that the filly had been cruelly imprisoned and kept weak, then forced to endure the cold trail for some unfathomable reason."

I took a sip of my refreshing herbal tea. It was very good. "So. . . The family was misguided on what to do?"

"Misguided, confused, zealous, and more words Twilight could come up with. They had been too kind. Sometimes, kindness means pushing somepony to do something. Just make sure you know what you're doing first."

---

"Girls, there's someone here you need to meet," Fluttershy said after we fed her animal friends. There were a lot of them. "It's very important that you get to know him, since he's immortal like you, and very powerful."

"Is he an alicorn?" Skyla asked. "I thought there were only six."

"He's Discord, the spirit of chaos." The calm and casual way she said it clashed horribly with the images in my head. "He and Pinkie visited you for a bit while Inova was sick."

I raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Really? I don't remember that."

A new voice echoed out from somewhere. "I'm hurt that you don't remember me, but I understand."

I looked around as the voice answered, and it looked like it came from where mine and Skyla's shadows crossed over each other. As I tried to figure out more about the voice, I realized something. "Wait. . . Shadows don't do that."

A long serpentine thing with mismatched everything dramatically sprung out of the shadows. "Here you are being introduced to Discord, the spirit of chaos himself, and you're more interested in how shadows cross each other? You wound me!"

"Inova, save me!" Skyla tried to hide behind me. I could feel her shaking.

I looked between Discord and my scared sister. "Well it doesn't make sense, and we just spent two weeks with Pinkie Pie."

He was suddenly much more cordial and polite. "Well, you'll find that Pinkie and I actually share a similar philosophy: what fun is there in making sense?"

Fluttershy raised a wing. "Ooh, ooh, I know! Making candles!"

Discord gave Fluttershy a flat look, then burst out in a smile. "Fluttershy! I am such a terrible influence on you! I'm so proud!"

She gave him a smile. "I know. Now fix their shadows and I'll make an herbal tea for us."

"Oh boy oh boy oh boy!" Discord began bouncing on his tail like it was a pogo stick into the cottage.

I looked down and watched as our shadows sprang back into place, complete with a springing sound. "Is it safe?" Skyla warily asked.

"Yes," I assured her.

---

I looked down at Skyla. "Do you need any help?"

"I can't get up!" Skyla complained. "I'm stuck!"

I looked over her forelegs and the sleepy kittens laying on them. "You know, I can't argue with that."

"They're so heavy!" A kitten got onto her back and curled up for a nap.

"Yep, that's why you're stuck."

"Discord must have done this!"

"No, I think it's just a cat thing."

Discord, the same size as a kitten, appeared on Skyla's head. "It really is just a cat thing. You see, cats have solar charged gravity powers. They lay in the sun to charge up, then they release the gravity charge by laying down on you."

"Uh huh." The explanation was silly, but I kind of liked it.

"It's more potent in kittens, as they're smaller, but have the same amount of gravity power. That's why it's so difficult to get up when a kitten is on you. It has absolutely nothing to do with them being so adorable at all. Not in the slightest! Everything I explained is the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth, and completely not made up."

"Can't you move them for me?" Skyla pleaded.

"Ah, but alas, I am unable to do that. There are some things even my chaos powers can't do. Toodles!" With a snap, Discord disappeared.

---

Skyla and I watched the sick raccoon laying on Fluttershy's outdoor checkup table. He didn't look good, he was whimpering, and his breathing was labored. It reminded me of when I was sick, at least what I could remember of that. "So, what's wrong with him?" Skyla asked.

"Tanuki ate something bad," Fluttershy said. "In order to help him, we need to, um. . . Make him throw up. If you want to skip this, that'll be okay. It will be gross."

"I'm out!" Skyla ran back inside.

"Inova?"

"I guess I'll stay," I said with a shrug. "It'll make me less grossed out later, right?"

She nodded at my guess. "That's right. For now, just stay there with him while I get the medicine."

While she went to get the medicine, I got closer to Tanuki. "Hey." My casual greeting got no response. "So. . . Tanuki. Nice name." He nodded weakly. "I'm Inova. Do you think I have a nice name too?" He weakly nodded again, which made me feel happier than I should have.

Fluttershy came back with a small basket in her mouth and a bucket on her back. She set the bucket on the ground at one end of the table and the basket near Tanuki. "Inova, you'll be my assistant. Can you get Tanuki to a sitting position?"

"Okay." I got on my rear hooves and rested my body against the table so I could use my forelegs to set him up facing the end of the table with the bucket. He put up no resistance and wobbled a bit. "Now what?"

"Gently tilt his head up just a bit." I did as instructed, then watched Fluttershy use two feathers on a wing to pick what looked like a dried and seasoned blue leaf out of the basket. "Open up, Tanuki. I've got just the thing for that bad belly ache." He opened his mouth and she put the leaf in.

I took my hoof away from Tanuki's mouth as he slowly chewed and ate the dried leaf. "So, what kind of medicine is that?"

She didn't give me an immediate answer. "That's good, Tanuki. Just focus on the tasty leaf."

Shortly after the last of the leaf disappeared, Tanuki started looking a bit green around his face. Shortly after he got a paw to his face, he lurched over, grabbed the edge of the table, and promptly threw up into the bucket. In addition to bits of the leaf, there were also pieces of what looked like garbage and rotten bits of food.

I suddenly didn't feel so good myself, and promptly made my own contribution to the bucket. It was not pleasant, and even after I felt empty inside, I still felt my gut trying to get more out. It was only after Fluttershy moved the bucket away that I started feeling better and let myself lean against the table.

"I'll be right back, you two." Fluttershy left again.

I managed to make eye contact with Tanuki. "Well, that sucked." He gave no response aside from a worn out look that I felt like I had. It was very understandable.

Eventually, Fluttershy returned with two cups of something pleasantly fragrant and lightly steaming. "This will help restore your body. I sweetened it with some honey."

I got back to standing against the table on my slightly wobbly rear legs and accepted one of the cups. Tanuki did the same and we both drank. The honey didn't hide all of the bitter flavor of whatever else was in it, but it was enough to make it very slightly tolerable. "That was gross." By the look on his face, Tanuki agreed.

"Yes, but it will soothe and cleanse your throat faster than anything else. It'll also calm your stomach."

I groaned since I still didn't feel too good, but it was still an improvement from moments before. "So, what was that blue leaf?"

"Specially dried and prepared poison joke. Normally, that plant does something funny to you, like a prank, when you get enough on you. My friend Zecora, however, has found that drying and preparing it a certain way takes out the joke factor and creates an easy way to induce vomiting in whoever or whatever eats it. Speaking of which. . ." She turned to Tanuki, and the racoon shrunk a bit under her stern gaze. "I thought I told you not to go around eating garbage and rotten food last month, mister! It's not good for you!" She looked like she understood the chattering noises that Tanuki made. "I know you get hungry in the middle of the night, but that's no reason to eat things you shouldn't." She gently picked him up and set him on the ground. "Now go and do whatever you do, but remember: no garbage."

Tanuki nodded before running off towards the woods, and I looked at Fluttershy. "Am I getting lectured like that too?"

Her normal gentle look came back. "Oh no, not at all. However, there was a lesson in kindness there. Can you tell me what it was?"

I gave the question some thought as I considered everything that Tanuki and I experienced, but my mind was still a little hazy. "What was it?"

"Sometimes, kindness means putting someone you care about through something unpleasant so they come out better. I'm sorry you had a more. . . Personal experience with it than I wanted. Maybe you should go lay down on the sofa?"

"I will. Thanks." I got back to all four hooves on the ground, walked in, and let myself down on the sofa. It was just as I was dozing off that I realized that my legs didn't shake at all during that short walk. "Huh. That tea really works."

---

"Girls, I have to go take care of some errands," Fluttershy said. "I'll be out for a few hours. In the meantime, Discord will take care of you."

"Can I go with you?" Skyla pleaded. "I don't like Discord."

"Hrk!" Discord clutched his heart, which had an arrow sticking out of it, as he fell over like a board.

"Now now, Skyla," Fluttershy gently chided. "Discord said he's got something fun planned for you two, so give him a chance for me, okay?"

Discord was suddenly shrunken and on his knees, paw and talon clasped as he gave Skyla as innocent a look as he could give, including a quivering lip and a halo over his head. "I promise I'll show you the fun side of chaos, and that I'll keep you and your sister safe."

Fluttershy turned to me. "Inova?"

I shrugged. "I'm okay with it."

"Alright. Discord, try not to scare Skyla too much."

He returned to full size with my sister draped over his head like a hat and gave a serious salute. "Aye aye, Admiral Shy!"

"Have fun, everyone," Fluttershy said as she left the cottage.

There was a flash, and suddenly, I found myself sitting in Discord's back just in front of his wings, and Skyla was right behind me. "Thank you for taking the Discord Express today, everypony. Please fasten your seat belts securely across your lap and keep your trays and seats in the upright and locked positions. Keep all legs and wings inside at all times, unless we come to a stop or you're feeling silly."

I looked down and saw what had to be the seat belt. Clicking the two parts together was pretty easy, and despite having never seen a seat belt before, the motions felt weirdly familiar.

Skyla seemed to be having some challenges with hers. "Uh, Discord? How do I do this?" A moment later, there was a click. "Oh, that's pretty simple."

"And now, we depart!" He slithered through the air, opened a window, and continued into the dark portal that wasn't there a moment earlier.

"This is pretty dark," I noted.

"There's no light, so of course it's dark. We'll be back in the light soon."

True to Discord's word, there was light soon, and I had to hold a foreleg up over my eyes as they adjusted. "Where are we?" There were tall buildings all around, and I didn't recognize any of them.

"Welcome to Manehattan, the home of the pony that invented the hat! Maybe. I'm not sure. Hold on tight, we're going to cause some chaos." Shortly after the warning, Discord lowered himself to the ground, turned his arms and legs into wheels, and started speeding along the ground.

The wind in my face and the way it blew through my mane felt great, and I was having a great time. Based on the way Skyla was screaming, I couldn't tell if she was having fun or not. We were weaving through the hoof traffic, and I could hear annoyed and angry shouts fading in the distance as we sped along.

"Shouldn't we apologize to those ponies?" Skyla asked after another upset pony's shouting faded away.

"Pft, nah," Discord casually answered. "You see, we're causing some chaos. As future Princesses, you must know when to disrupt things. Ooh, here's somewhere you'll love, Skyla." He slowed to a stop, and I could tell there was something on the other side of his bat wing, but it was up and keeping us from seeing what was there. "Oh, one moment." There was a cranking sound as his wing lowered like a drawbridge before landing lightly with a heavy sound on the cart on the other side. The stallion looked stunned. "Who wants a hot Manehattan hay dog?"

"Me me me me me!" Skyla excitedly said.

"I'll have one," I happily concurred.

The stunned stallion was still stunned, but composed himself enough to talk. "What would you like on your hay dogs, Your Highnesses?"

"I'll just have cheese on mine." The simple combination was good.

"Princess Skyla?"

I looked back and saw Skyla intensely thinking as she looked at the toppings. Some of them, like chili and relish, sounded disgusting together. "Can I have chili, cheese, onion, corn chips, and peppers on a double dog?"

"And I'll have what they're having," Discord added. "What's the total, good sir?"

The stallion added the cost up and got the same amount I did. "Fourteen bits, but since they're Pri-"

"Ah ah ah, their food will be paid for just like anypony else's." A smaller Discord appeared on my head and I felt him reach into my ear. "Just let me get the bits."

I looked up at the little Discord as best I could. "You'd better not be taking any of my bits," I quietly warned him. "I've counted them."

"Don't worry, I'm just reaching into my account. Aha!" He pulled a stack of bits out of my ear and leapt onto the cart. "Fourteen bits, good sir."

The stallion started with the double dogs, which were two hay dogs together on a wider bun, and stacked the toppings on top of them. In comparison, my single hay dog with cheese was rather small.

Once we had our food and thanked the stallion, the Discord we were riding in started moving again, but more slowly. Skyla had a head start on her double dog, but mine was smaller, so I was done first. "That was tasty."

"It's something Manehattan is becoming famous for," Discord explained. "And now, will become more famous for."

"How?" Skyla asked around a mouthful of her meal.

"When word gets out that you two got something from that cart, and that you liked it, ponies will come to try it, and others will try their hoof at it. That's one form of chaos, my dear." He ate both of his hay dogs in a single bite each. "Now that we're all done, let's keep going!" The smaller Discord disappeared and the bigger one we were in started zooming around again.

Our trip around Manehattan came to an end when Discord took us down a sewer grate and we wound up splashing down in a river. "Where are we now?" I asked as I tried to slow my brain down.

"Jellostone National Park!" Discord, now a canoe, said as we drifted along on the water. "And no, there's no wild Chungus around here."

"What's a Chungus?" Skyla asked.

"A wascally wabbit that bwiefly takes on a bowling pin shape. Do try to keep up."

"Can we go fast again? That was fun."

"Later. For now, let me tell you about the chaos going on here."

"I wanna go fast too," I added.

"You see, not all chaos is fast. For example, that tree hanging over the water on the shore did not exist at one point. It grew and changed the area as it strived to survive. Now, it provides shade, perches, and food for the wildlife. Eventually, it will die, and as that happens, the area around it will likewise change."

"Is that good or bad?"

"Yes and no. Life will find a way to survive. Life itself is chaos!"

As we passed the trees, a rushing sound caught my attention. "Discord, is there a waterfall ahead of us?"

"Yep."

"Big one?"

"Neighagara Falls, so yes."

"Will we live?" Skyla nervously asked.

"Most certainly."

The roar of the falling water got louder and louder. As we got closer, I squeezed my eyes shut and waited for the fall to happen.

I felt Discord turn downwards and let out a scream of surprise. When I didn't feel the wind rushing past me, I cracked one eye open, then opened both and looked around. We were falling very slowly. "Huh?"

"I did say we would live, did I not?" Discord smugly asked. "Of course, if you want, we could fall at normal speed."

Skyla objected. "Slow is good! Slow is good!"

"Yes, this is good," I hastily added.

During our slow fall, the water began soaking us. By the time we gently landed at the bottom, all three of us were drenched. "Hmm. . . I know just where to go next!" Discord started spinning in place, making a whirlpool and diving down into its depths.

We came out of a cliff and skidded to a halt on a rocky plain. The air was dry and the sun was intense. Despite the heat, I couldn't help but shiver. "W-w-w-why am I so cold?"

"Twilight would tell you that it's because of the water evaporating off of you and carrying heat with it," Discord explained. "And she would be right. For now, we ride fast!" He took off like in Manehattan, zooming around the wasteland and kicking up clouds of dust behind us.

After a while of speeding around, Discord took us through a crevice at full speed. On the other side, we came to a halt mid-air, and I barely had time to recognize the place we were in before gravity took over and we splashed down in some warm water.

A door opened, and I heard Fluttershy's voice. "-and the fillies have been quite nice so far. Inova's been helping me, and Skyla's been very attentive to my kindness lessons, though she did skip out on helping Tanuki."

"That's lovely," Rarity happily said. "Why, I'd give them. . ." She trailed off as she and Fluttershy noticed the three of us in the water.

"Uh, hi?" Discord nervously asked.

"We went to Manehattan and Neighagara Falls!" Skyla excitedly said, making me wince from her volume.

Rarity and Fluttershy looked at each other for a moment. "Well, we're already here, may as well make a day of it."

I unbuckled my seat belt and got out of Discord's back. Skyla forgot she was buckled in and didn't get far. I helped her out and we went to the edge of the tub. After the dusty ride in the wasteland, it felt good to get the dust out of my fur and feathers.

---

I looked up at the dog in front of me. "Uh, Fluttershy?!" I nervously asked.

"Yes, Inova?"

"Big dog." The dog looked bigger than most of the ponies I'd seen in Ponyville, and towered over me.

Fluttershy looked out a window of her cottage as she washed some dishes. "Oh, that's Little Pete. He's Carrot Top's Great Dane."

"Why is his name Little Pete? He's huge!"

"Carrot Top was probably just being funny. I never asked. He won't hurt you. Little Pete's a sweetheart."

Her words did nothing to calm my nerves, and I started to backpedal. Pete kept up with ease, then I turned too quickly and fell on the ground belly up. A massive clawed paw came down on my chest, pinning me in place. "Fluttershy!"

"You'll be fine, Inova."

I closed my eyes and prepared for the worst when Little Pete lowered his massive head down to my face. I was not prepared to get licked in the face over and over, and it tickled. It wasn't long before I was giggling, despite the fear I was feeling moments before and still being pinned in place.

---

Aunt Twilight was waiting at the train station when Fluttershy brought Skyla and me there. Our new saddlebags were filled with things we'd picked up during our trip. "Hi girls. Are you ready to go home?"

"Do we have to?" Skyla asked. "We were having fun."

"Your mom and dad miss you a lot. Besides, you've got to get ready for school. It starts in a few weeks, after all. You'll get to see your friends, too."

Skyla quickly realized Twilight's point. "That's right! Let's go, Inova!" She rushed up to the platform and stopped at the edge. "Where's the train?"

"We're early," I said as I caught up to her.

"Aunt Twilight, can you make the train come faster?"

Aunt Twilight chuckled. "No, I can't. There are some things I just can't do. So, tell me about your time with Fluttershy."

---

I took a deep breath once we got off the train. The air of the Crystal Empire was a nice familiar temperature and felt safe.

"Come on, girls," Twilight said. "Let's get you two home."

Skyla and I followed her out of the station and onto the familiar crystalline roads of home. The summer had been a busy one for us, and I was glad to make it back. After all that had happened, I was ready for the regular schedule of school to start back up. It was predictable and normal, especially without Pinkie Pie, Cheese Sandwich, or Discord there.

Along the way, ponies waved at us. Skyla and Twilight waved with their wings while I just nodded. Trying to wing wave and walk would only result in faceplanting, and crystal was nowhere near as forgiving or soft as clouds.

Finally, we arrived home. While Twilight and Skyla went straight to the front door, I stopped at the curb and looked at the house. It had gotten taller while we were gone. "Inova!" Twilight called.

"Sorry." I walked up to the front door as Twilight knocked.

Mom opened the door, and before she could say anything, Skyla tackled her with a hug. "I MISSED YOU SO MUCH, MOM!"

I carefully stepped to the side as Skyla loudly blabbered on and on about how much she missed mom and dad during our trip. I missed them too, but not as much as she seemed to have.

It took a few minutes for Skyla to calm down enough for me to enter. "Hey," I casually said.

"Welcome back, Inova," mom happily said as she took my saddlebags off and set them to the side. Her fur had distinct tear stains on it from Skyla. "What did you think of your trip?"

"It was fun. And not fun. And weird."

"That's Ponyville for you," Twilight casually said.

"Go join your sister in the living room," dad said. "We have something to tell both of you."

"Okay." I went to the couch and sat next to Skyla. She looked a little nervous, so I scooted up next to her.

Mom, dad, and Twilight came in a moment later. "Girls, while you were gone, we did some renovations. You each have your own rooms now, complete with a personal bathroom."

Skyla's nervousness disappeared at the news, and I was intrigued. "Is that all upstairs?"

"About that," dad said. "We were able to move Skyla's stuff upstairs with ease, but when we tried to move Inova's toy box, it was a lot heavier than we expected."

"We looked into it and found tins full of bits on the bottom," mom explained with a serious tone and a look my way that would not harbor any silliness. "Where did you get those bits, Inova?"

I was easily able to stay calm as I gave the honest answer. "I only spend five bits on my school lunches." Giving the partial answer made me feel a bit lighter, but I still felt some tension over the discovery of my stash.

She looked in the direction of what was probably still my room. "How long have you been doing that?"

"Since. . . The second week of buying lunch at school? I think. I bought the tins on my own at the toy store."

"But when. . ."

"I think I know when," dad said. "Remember that time we had to take Skyla out because she was throwing a fit over not getting something?"

"Yeah, we. . . We left Inova there for about ten minutes."

"I had my money with me," I added.

"And she left with that box on her back."

"I can fit two hundred bits in one tin. Five high, five deep, eight wide. I've got eight full ones, a partial one, and three empty ones. I got them for two bits each."

Mom looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "How did you get them that cheap? Aren't those usually four or five bits?"

"The stallion said they were out of season and needed to move, so I got the full dozen."

"That's a good deal," dad said with a nod of approval before his eyes widened. "You've got over 1600 bits saved up?"

"Yes." With my secret project out, I felt both unburdened and a little bit ashamed. The thought that mom or dad would be upset over me saving bits suddenly looked ridiculous, and I wondered why I even kept it secret in the first place.

Skyla raised a hoof and changed the topic. "Can we see our new rooms?"

"Your room is upstairs," mom answered. "Look for the door with your mane colors around it. Inova, your room is on this floor. The door has your mane colors around it. Take a look around and come back when you're done."

"Yay!" Skyla ran off to find the stairs while I took the familiar path to the same door I'd gone through many times, finding my mane colors around it.

I pushed open the door and realized two things: the space had been expanded, and with Skyla's stuff gone, there was even more room for me. My bed and desk were still together in the corner, but the corner was now further away. My toy box was still at the foot of my bed. I checked it and found my bit tins where they were before on the bottom. Something about mom and dad knowing about it made the stashed money feel less exciting.

The corner that would have had Skyla's bed and desk had a pile of Golem Brick sets in it, next to an open door leading to a bathroom. There were familiar sets I hadn't gotten to and a bunch of new ones that Aunt Luna probably sent while Skyla and I were in Ponyville.

The rest of the room was barren, smooth, and empty, except for a simple light in the middle of the ceiling. The bathroom was functional, with the only decoration being an orange shower curtain. With nothing else to do, I went back to the living room. It wasn't long before Skyla came down, and she had a question. "What are the other rooms up there for?"

"As often as you've asked to have friends over, we decided to add some guest rooms up there," mom explained. "That's another reason we put your room upstairs and let Inova stay downstairs."

"I don't have any friends to ask over," I stated. It was obvious and well known, but I felt like it had to be said.

"Not yet. Anyways, this leads to your next lesson: budgeting. We've got 5,000 bits for each of you to spend on decorating and upgrading your rooms. How you go about it and what you decorate with are up to you."

Skyla's eyes lit up, and I could just imagine the kitchen in her mind cooking up an idea. "Anything?"

"You're not getting a pantry or fridge, and this money is not going to be spent on food," dad firmly said.

She deflated a bit at the answer, then her eyes narrowed in concentration. "Hmmm. . ."

"Additionally, there will be three options for extra work, like putting things together or mounting shelves. You can do it yourself for free, your mom or I can do it for a small fee, or you can pay the professionals to do it for a higher fee." It almost felt like I was being targeted for my bit stash. "You'll also have to budget that from the 5,000 bits. If you can't afford it from that set of money, you'll have to build it yourself." I felt a bit better with that statement.

"We will cover delivery fees, but that's all," mom said.

I suddenly noticed something. "Where did Auntie Twilight go?"

"She teleported back to Ponyville. Something about feeling like she had to be there for-"

Auntie Twilight suddenly appeared next to mom, it looked like she had been dragged through mud and fire, and smelled even worse. "Okay, so I can confirm that hydra fire is unique since it doesn't make swamp gas pockets ignite or explode, but normal conjured fire does make the gas explode, and. . . Froggy Bottom Bog is now much deeper and more spread out."

"You blew up a swamp?" Dad flatly asked.

"Twice. There were two big underground gas pockets and they were connected. I'd better get back to Ponyville. The hydra's still there. See you later." Auntie Twilight teleported away.

Mom broke the silence after a few long seconds and a spell to clear the air. "So! Each of us will go shopping with one of you tomorrow for stuff for your rooms. For now, tell us about your trip to Ponyville."

Author's Note:

And thus concludes the Summer in Ponyville arc.

Comments

[f0st3r21]

I didn’t think about lessons in Harmony, but I like it! Could this be the reason for Inova’s difficulties: not synchronized to Harmony?

I like your depiction of Lil’ Cheese. Maybe the two could be friends? Pen pals?

How much of her past life does she remember? Discord didn’t seem to show much knowledge about that, but Inova was quite open to his chaotic nature compared to most.

Did the girls get to see the School of Friendship?

[Kvnhuang1222]

Over lunch one day, Fluttershy gave us a lesson on her element. "Kindness is all about helping others and doing things that are nice in order to support and help them. That said, kindness, taken too far, circles back around to cruelty."

I somehow relate to what Count from Ace Combat 7 said, "Kindness will get you killed."

[blazikenking]

11732424 Something I wanted to include, but felt awkward when I tried to incorporate, was Inova going through the motions of operating a car and driving Discord while he put on some eurobeat music. I just couldn't get it to work well. Also, it would have probably terrified Skyla, and I didn't want to do that to her.

[f0st3r21]

11732537
That’s the thing about Discord. He can just show up and peace out whenever.

[woggs123]

11732537
Aw come on! Alicorns can have a little soul-crushing terror, as a treat!

[Chrome Masquerade]

Cheese answered. "Everypony gets a role for the day, as chosen by the wheel of fate." He pointed to a colorful picker wheel on the wall. It had a lot of different spots on it, and a lever coming out of the floor in front of it. "These shows have no script, so they're entirely ad libbed. All you have to do is play your part."

Though, to wit...
derpicdn.net/img/2014/1/15/524947/full.png

[Chrome Masquerade]

"It's more potent in kittens, as they're smaller, but have the same amount of gravity power. That's why it's so difficult to get up when a kitten is on you. It has absolutely nothing to do with them being so adorable at all. Not in the slightest! Everything I explained is the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth, and completely not made up."

Though, to wit...
static.wikia.nocookie.net/garfield-comic-strips/images/3/37/1984-09-15.gif/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/340?cb=20190513003928

[Chrome Masquerade]

"It's more potent in kittens, as they're smaller, but have the same amount of gravity power. That's why it's so difficult to get up when a kitten is on you. It has absolutely nothing to do with them being so adorable at all. Not in the slightest! Everything I explained is the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth, and completely not made up."

Though, to wit...
static.wikia.nocookie.net/garfield-comic-strips/images/3/37/1984-09-15.gif/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/340?cb=20190513003928

"A wascally wabbit that bwiefly takes on a bowling pin shape. Do try to keep up."

Specifically, that trope's called Big Chungus.

[blazikenking]

11798187 I have the cartoon Big Chungus came from on dvd, along with lots of other Looney Tunes cartoons.

[DS1065]

11798187

11798297
dictionary.com/e/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/chungus.jpg