Short stories about ponies and whatnot

by shutaro

Lost in Canterlot

Twilight Sparkle was not a happy pony. She didn't ask much from the world:
a) a book (one she hadn't read yet preferably)
b) a quiet place to read said book
c) time to talk with Princess Celestia about it
d) three meals a day
e) playtime with Shining Armor and/or Cadence
...
When she reached the letter p (a bedtime story read by daddy) she reached for her bag, this list was getting longer than expected. Maybe she was not as humble as she had thought, this had to be noted down for further research and discussion.

And there was the reason why she was not a happy pony: Her mother had insisted on leaving her bag with her emergency notebook and quill at home. The family had been on a shopping trip into the finer part of Canterlot to get Twilight a nice dress for the first anniversary of being Princess Celestia's pupil. As a reward for three hours of fitting dresses, ribbons and bows Twilight had negotiated a one hour trip to the Canterlot Park. The great gazebo behind the duck pond was her favorite reading spot. Her favorite outdoor reading spot at least as her brain started to rattle off better reading spots: in bed, in her parent's bed, her mother's library, the royal library, …

But now she had been separated from her parents in the sudden downpour, she couldn't run through the rain unless she ruined her new dress, her magic wasn't strong enough to protect her from the rain all the way home and she had no book to pass the time. Great! Just great!

And she could hardly hear herself think because of the other foals that were trapped with her in the rain. The loud one was a pink earthpony. When she had stormed into the gazebo she had shaken herself and sprayed water everywhere. Only a hasty cast Breezie's gust had rescued Twilight's new outfit. That in turn had directed most of the spray into the face of a white unicorn filly that had closely followed the pink one.

"Pinkie! My mane! My dress!", the newcomer wailed. Twilight's first impulse had been to say sorry and to offer a drying-spell, but the white filly had yet to calm down and after waiting for five minutes Twilight had lost interest and the wind had dried the water in any case.

The only sympathetic ponies so far were the two other earthponies that had trotted in a minute ago, both drenched to the bones. One was orange with a blond mane, the other had a darker pink coat and a lighter pink mane. Not for the first time in her life Twilight was astonished about the number of different shades in ponies' coats and manes. "Mental note to self: learn more names for colors."

”Hello, excuse me, hello there." Something orange waved in front of Twilight's face. "Are you alright, sugarcube? You were staring out into the rain for, like fifteen minutes without even moving so much as a muscle."

"Um, yes. I'm okay, just, um... thinking." Twilight offered.

Silence settled. Or at least what passes for silence when you sit under a gazebo in a heavy downpour. With a pink earthpony (the wild one, not the darker, quiet one) singing about frogs dancing on lily pads in the rain. She even jumped around like a frog while singing.

"If this is supposed to be a dance, she has a lot of practice to do", Twilight thought.

"I see. Well, that's good. Seems we're stuck out here, huh?", the orange pony tried again.

"Not for long. My father told me that the Canterlot Weather Brigade is under order to disperse any wild weather in thirty minutes. I guess we have to wait another ten minutes, twenty at the most."

"I didn’t know that. But I haven't even introduced myself and the girls. The hyper one", she pointed at the light pink earthpony, who now showed an almost creepy bright smile and waved wildly "that's Pinkie. The one with the curling iron", she pointed at the white unicorn filly, "is Rary. And the silent one is Cheery", the other pink pony waved and managed a shy smile "and I'm Applejack, but everypony just calls me Jackie. Nice to meet you, what's your name?"

"I'm Twily. I mean, my name is Twilight Sparkle."

Once again, the topics of conversation had run out.

"We are on a school trip from Ponyville. We just visited the Royal Gardens. We're on our lunchbreak now and lost our group in the rain."

"The most prudent idea would be to wait out the rain and then find a guard. Your teacher probably informed them already."

Applejack sighed, her shoulders sagged a bit. This pony obviously had no interest in making conversation. She had met the kind in Manehatten a year back but she wasn't going to pressure anypony. "That sounds like good advice. Thank you." Applejack smiled at the strange unicorn filly, then returned to her classmates. Rarity was just collecting her beautification kit back into her saddle bags.

"A curling iron, Rary? Really?" the country filly deadpanned.

"A curling iron indeed, my dear Applejack. A pony has to be prepared for emergencies. And the name is Rarity, thank you very much." Rarity searched through her bag once again and took a brush from it.

"Cheerilee, darling, come over here, your mane is a complete mess." The white unicorn filly walked over to her classmate and started to comb the other filly's hair, even without waiting for her consent.

Applejack followed her. "You didn't ask me about my mane! My mane is a mess from the rain too, you know."

"Darling, your mane is always a mess."

Meanwhile Pinkie Pie had gone silent. Not only because she was a bit exhausted from hopping around and singing her song (she was a bit miffed that the others had not joined in), but because she had overheard what Rarity had said.

"Preparing for emergencies, huh?"

When the rain subsided a pegasus guardspony landed almost immediately at the gazebo. "Are you Applejack, Cheerilee, Pinkamina Diane Pie and Rarity of the Ponyville Elementary group?" he asked. The four fillies nodded intimidated. "Your teacher is waiting at the entrance of the park. Just walk down this way", he indicated an archway of vines, "it is not even a minute."

Rarity thanked the guard in her best imitation of a Canterlot lady, which got her so much of a raised eyebrow from the guard that Pinkie Pie offered her a high hoof. Then they laughed and charged down the path.

Standing by the archway Applejack looked back at the gazebo one last time. Twilight Sparkle still sat there, staring out at the pond, lost in her thoughts. Then a white pony with a blue mane went up to her, tapped her on the shoulder and in an instant a radiant smile appeared on the filly's face. Applejack released a breath she hadn't realized she was holding: The strange pony was not lonely, she had just been lost and now she had been found again.

Author's Note:

---

The Prompt: Two or more of the Mane Six meet as young fillies.

Easy Mode: Involve Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash only.
Normal Mode: Involve a member of the Mane Six who is not a pegasus.
Hard Mode: Involve Twilight Sparkle.