Twilight Sparkle, esteemed magical scholar and known reclusive writer. Years after her failure to enroll in Celestia's School she finds herself in quiet Ponyville, hoping to learn how to educate young minds. Destiny has other ideas.
Twilight Sparkle never thought she would ever be interested in teaching. Her entire existance was spent devoted to the study of magic (and the avoidance of making friends). But everything changed after she hosted a presentation at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, the very same school she failed to enter as a foal.
Now she is in tiny Ponyville. A village just to the west of Canterlot. It's small, quiet, and unassuming, Twilight Sparkle is certain that it's the perfect place to learn how to teach. After all, nothing happens in small towns, right?
Unfortunately for Twilight, destiny works in strange ways, and the very fate of Equestria may depend on... Making friends?!
A cold wind swept among gnarled trees, making them eerily rub and rustle together. The full moons light highlighted the forest in hues of blue and silver. But despite it's bright beams, there was no comfort to be found in the dark shadows they cast.
Suddenly a laugh echoed throughout the forest. It was a mare’s laugh, manic and maniacal. It reverberated around a petrified unicorn. Her amethyst eyes were wide with terror. She was helplessly frozen in place as a black fog started to engulf her.
“Oh you silly little foal… If only you knew…”
~10 Months before Summer Sun Celebration~
Twilight Sparkle sighed, lowering the paper in front of her face. It had been hard to concentrate ever since the nightmare she had. “That’s the last time I read anything superstitious before bed,” she thought to herself.
The unicorn was attempting to look over some important notes on teaching as she was traveling to her new home: Ponyville. Twilight glanced outside to get her bearings only to do a double take.
It was raining! She must have been so lost in thought that she didn’t hear it until she saw it.
“That’s weird, it was supposed to be clear skies today,” she recalled as she felt a growing sense of unease. Normally she loved the rain, the pattering of drops on the glass was soothing. The way the outside world grew vibrant and the unique smell that blanketed a newly dampened world.
But there was no denying it to herself, Twilight was extremely nervous. Even if she hadn’t had a nightmare before that day she would still be anxious. This would be her first time trying something totally new in… Well forever.
“What if I’m not good? Tutoring is one thing but I’ll be working with a whole class!” she thought. “What if Cheerilee hates me? Or the ponies I’m staying with? Or… The class!”
Thankfully before her train of thought could go any further, the actual train’s whistle brought her back to reality. The conductors voice crackled on the loudspeaker. “This stop is Ponyville! Ponyville everypony! Only the back four cars to exit for Ponyville!”
Twilight started and quickly gathered her papers up with her magic. She put them as neatly as she could into her saddlebags before slipping them on. Luckily she managed to get everything in order as the train screeched to a halt. The unicorn stumbled forewords as the train gave one last jolt.
She hurriedly exited the train, humming to herself nervously. “Thank goodness I didn’t know anypony on that train,” she thought. She swiftly trotted over to where the luggage pony was unloading the last bags. Hers was the easiest to spot as she had quite a few more things than everypony else.
“Hoo!” her pet owl, Owlowliscious, greeted her from his cage atop her belongings. She smiled, feeling better at the sight of him. After she checked the small wagon to make sure everything was secure (and present) she began to look around.
“Okay, so I’m supposed to be meeting a pegasus pony named Fluttershy," she scanned the crowd of ponies who were slowly making their way off the platform. From what she understood, Fluttershy was a not a blood relative of the Apple Family (whose farm she would be staying on). Rather, she was a long time family friend who moved in to work with them.
Frowning, Twilight was about to turn around when she felt a light poke at her flank. Flinching from the unfamiliar touch she whirled around to come face-to-extremely-close-face with a yellow pegasus mare.
The other pony’s blue eyes widened with shock and she cowered back. “O-Oh goodness! I’m so sorry, I didn’t meant to startle you!” the pony whimpered. “I-I uh, I’m looking f-for Twilight Sparkle?”
Twilight blinked, unsure how to approach the situation. “Oh uh, no I’m sorry,” she said, “I was just a bit surprised but I uh…” she trailed off, feeling extremely awkward. “Sorry, let me start over. My name is Twilight Sparkle,”
She offered the other pony her best smile. She had read once that ponies generally preferred to introduce themselves. Unfortunately, much to Twilight’s dismay, the other mare seemed to tense up even more. “Oh... Uhm… I-It’s nice to meet you I’m... Fluttershy” she mumbled.
Twilight thought she said “Fluttershy,” but she wasn’t certain. “Uh, I’m so sorry, could you repeat that?” she asked as kindly as she could. She also desperately hoped the other pony would stand up. She was still pressed into the ground, which made Twilight fell uncomfortable trying to talk to her.
“…I’m Fluttershy” the other pony responded in a somehow softer whisper. Twilight took a deep breath through her nose, rapidly realizing that the conversation was headed nowhere.
“Okay! I think I got it! Fluttershy right?” she asked, doing her best to keep her expression cheerful and totally not frustrated. To her relief the mare before her nodded and finally straightened up. The feeling evaporated though as the two entered a very uncomfortable silence.
“Well um, I’m very excited to stay with the Apples! It means a lot to me that you guys could help out at the last second. See, I initially wanted to rent this room in town but another pony beat me to it! Uh, I can’t quite remember their name though… Have you met anypony new recently?”
Fluttershy gave a tiny little shake of her head, but didn’t speak. Twilight forced a small laugh, doing her best to avoid anymore uncomfortable pauses. “At any rate, I guess we better get moving. I wouldn’t want to keep anypony waiting for me,”
As soon as she moved towards the hitch of her wagon Fluttershy let out a huge gasp. Twilight quickly turned back to face her, expecting to see something terrible. Instead of being in distress, the pegasus in question was just gawking at her pet. “Oh my goodness! Granny Smith didn’t tell me you had an owl ohh, he’s so cute! What’s his name?!” she gushed. With an elegant flap of her wings she gently hovered next to the cage.
Twilight took a second to recover from her shock. “She is so strange,” she thought. “But I guess it’s good to know she really likes animals,”
“His name is Owlowliscious, I’ve had him for maybe a year now. It’s kind of a funny story actually; he used to hang out with me whenever I was out late studying in the park. Eventually I guess he decided he liked me enough to follow me home!”
“Oh, he’s so handsome looking! I love his name,” Fluttershy coo’d at the owl who seemed to be greatly enjoying the attention.
“Hah yeah, you should have seen my mom’s face when I first brought him back, in fact…” the unicorn trailed off as she noticed the sudden change of expression on Fluttershy’s face. “Uh it kinda looked like that," she gestured to the pegasus' horrified look "Is... Everything okay?”
Fluttershy shook her head, her pink mane swaying back and forth with the motion.“No! Oh gosh, that reminded me that I’m supposed to be helping you. Here, let me help you with the wagon!” she said in a surprisingly firm tone. Twilight looked at the harness she was about to strap into, and then back at her bags.
“Oh! No, it’s okay. See, I enchanted everything to feel a bit lighter; it’s actually quite a fascinating spell. It uses Starswirl’s infamous research into the density of matter and….” Twilight once again found herself trailing off. “Sorry, haha, I uh… Tend to ramble; I forget most ponies don’t like listening to that kind of thing... But my point is that I can definitely lug my own luggage,”
Fluttershy gave her a small smile of reassurance. “Oh, no it’s okay Twilight. It sounded really uhm, interesting,” the mare’s expression turned serious. “But I simply must insist on helping you with your bags. You’re going to be our guest, so I should do everything I can to make you feel comfortable.”
Twilight opened her mouth to retort but shut it again when she realized it wouldn’t do her much good. It only took a few moments to strap the pegasus pony in. “Okay, if you insist, but if you get tired or something just let me know. I seriously don’t mind hauling my own stuff,”
“Oh it’s no problem at all Twilight, that’s what friends are for right? I can tell already you’re going to be a great friend, so it’s my pleasure!” Twilight bristled at the word friend. “Me, a good friend? She must be joking!” Twilight Sparkle had made it a point to avoid socialization. The time and energy it took to care for and attend to other ponies were a waste as far as she was concerned.
Despite how she felt, she did her best to match Fluttershy’s smile. After all, it wouldn’t really do her any favors to try and oppose her now. “I just have to get to the farm and get settled in,” she thought to herself. “It’s just a trip across a small town, it should be quick and painless! Right?”
But as Fluttershy led the way to the Apple homestead, Twilight couldn’t shake her weird feelings around what the pegasus had said. “I can tell already you’re gong to be a great friend!”
Twilight Sparkle read over her plan once more, just to make extra sure everything was in place. She was so nervous! Her first day teaching with Cheerilee in Ponyville was going to be tough, but after years of study and authorship Twilight felt confident she was going to do fine.
So that last bit was a lie. Internally Twilight was freaking out, but externally she was as calm as the skies above. Or at least as calm as the skies above should have been, as Twilight peered out the train window she was shocked to see the pattering of rain.
‘Okay, so maybe Ponyville’s weather team isn’t the best’ she thought to herself as she gathered her materials. ‘This is not some bad omen or anything, everything will be just fine’ she told herself, trying to shake what she had read the prior night about omens in Predictions and Prophecies. Thankfully before that metaphorical train left the station, the real one pulled in.
“This stop is Ponyville! Ponyville everypony! Only the back four cars to exit for Ponyville!” pulling her saddle bags tight with her magic the purple unicorn trotted out and onto the shiny wet wooden platform. While she wasn’t thrilled about the rain she had to admit, it made everything smell incredible.
She hummed to herself while she arranged her belongings neatly: The wheeled trunk with her books, the bags containing her clothing and securely strapped on top of everything her owl, Owlowiscious.
‘I’m supposed to meet a Pegasus pony named Fluttershy’ she thought to herself. Until she was able to secure a house of her own Cheeraliee had decided to set her up with the Apple family. Initially, she was to meet Big Macintosh at the station, unfortunately the stallion had become very busy so they sent their honorary family member instead.
She looked around, her long indigo mane swaying at the turn of her head. She moved forward as the train behind her pulled away ‘Where in Starswirl’s name is she?!’ she thought to herself in frustration. A light poke at her flank became the answer. The unicorn yelped at the unfamiliar touch and whirled around to see a butter yellow Pegasus mare cowering in front of her. “Oh… Oh goodness! Please don’t hurt me! I’m sorry” the pony whimpered.
Twilight blinked “Oh, dear I’m sorry” she said “You startled me and…” the pony flushed. She was decent with foals, but adults? She was a mess at interacting with them. “Here, let’s start over, I’m Twilight Sparkle and I’m here to become Cheeraliee’s understudy for the upcoming school year. I also write books! You must be…”
She had read somewhere it’s nicer to let ponies introduce themselves, hopefully the tactic will work here. Much to Twilight’s dismay the other mare seemed to tense up even more. “Oh... Uhm… I’m… Fluttershy” the Pegasus mumbled.
Twilight thought she said Fluttershy, but she wasn't quite sure. “Oh I’m so sorry, could you maybe repeat that?” ‘Also, maybe stand up?’ with the mare still pressed against the ground Twilight felt pretty self-conscious trying to interact.
“I’m Fluttershy” the other pony responded in a whisper. Twilight sighed internally, realizing she probably wasn’t going to get anywhere by asking the pony questions.
“Okay! Fluttershy it is, right?” she said doing her best to straighten her expression into a cheerful and totally not frustrated one. To her relief the mare before her nodded, and finally straightened up. The relief was short lived however, when the mare simply took to staring at her with anxiety filled blue eyes.
“Well um, I’m very excited to stay with the Apples! It means a lot to me, I’m sorry about all this mess. You see, I initially moved to rent this house in town but a mare and her roommate beat me to it!” she laughed somewhat genuinely “I think they were musicians or something… Maybe you know them?”
Twilight gave Fluttershy her best friendly smile, but instead of responding verbally the mare gave a small shrug. Twilight quickly turned to her belongings so she could pull a very exasperated expression. ‘May as well get this harness on so we can get going’ she thought to herself.
As soon as she wasn’t standing between Fluttershy and her belongings the shy mare gave a loud gasp and rushed towards the pile. “Oh my goodness! Granny Smith didn’t tell me you had an owl ohh, he’s so cute! What’s his name?!” she gushed while gently hovering next to the cage.
Twilight took a second to recover from her shock. ‘I guess I found out what she’s interested in’ “His name is Owlowiscious I’ve had him for maybe a year now. He kind of… Found me I guess” she said, tightening the harness around her.
“Oh, he’s so handsome looking! I love his name” the Pegasus continued. She turned to Twilight and froze a horrified expression on painted on her face. “Oh, oh dear, oh I’m so sorry!” she squeaked. Twilight was taken aback and horribly confused.
“It's really no problem, he doesn't mind the attention at all” Twilight’s response was met with Fluttershy shaking her head, the pastel pink of her mane moving gracefully with her.
“I’m supposed to be helping you, here let me get that!” she said in a surprisingly firm (and somehow still soft) tone. Twilight looked at the harness she was wearing, then to her bags, and finally back at Fluttershy.
“Oh, well I enchanted most everything to seem a bit lighter; it’s actually quite a fascinating spell. It uses Starswirl’s infamous research into matter and ….” Twilight stopped herself abruptly. “Oh, sorry, you probably don’t really care that much about it”
Fluttershy flushed “Oh no, that was really nice sounding uhm, you seem pretty smart Twilight” she mumbled. “But please let me pull this for you, you’re our guest and you should be treated right” something in Fluttershy’s gaze made Twilight relent just a little bit.
In a few moments the unicorn was strapping the harness on Fluttershy instead. “If you get tired, just let me know okay? I really don’t mind moving my own things”. Fluttershy gave Twilight a very genuine looking smile.
“It’s no problem, that’s what friends do right?” Twilight bristled at the word friend. While she wasn’t a hermit, Twilight always felt that friendship was something she never really needed to bother with. She was a teacher and a scholar, and one who took her duties seriously! None-the-less, she did her best to match Fluttershy’s smile.
But as Fluttershy led the way to the Apple homestead Twilight couldn’t shake the weird feelings around what Fluttershy had said. “That’s what friends do right?”
The two ponies began their journey through Ponyville in silence. Twilight was quick to cast a barrier spell to keep the rain from slowly soaking them. She had a fondness for the relatively simple but effective enchantment.
She began to space out, taking in Ponyville’s very rustic aesthetic. The ponies who milled around her seemed to be quite happy. She found herself recalling her older brother, Shining Armor, who had taught her the spell she was using. She was still tuned in just enough though, to answer the occasional question from Fluttershy about Owlowliscious.
A question of her own suddenly popped into the unicorn’s head; she turned to the pegasus walking next to her. “So… How did you get to be a part of the Apple family?” Twilight asked. Her gaze wandered a bit along Fluttershy’s body. “She is a lot stronger looking up close,” she silently observed.
She was just starting to take in the pony’s cutie-mark when Fluttershy finally responded. “Oh, uh, well…” she flattened her ears a little. “It’s kind of a long story I guess,”
Twilight raised an eyebrow, unsure of what to think about her tone. “Well, we definitely have a bit of time before we get there,” she said. “I mean we’re just now starting to get into town proper.”
The yellow mare simply shook her head. “Oh, no, no, I’m sorry. I guess I should say that even though I definitely like you, you’re uhm, still pretty new to me. The story is kind of embarrassing so let’s just say I met them when I was a foal and leave it at that.”
Twilight felt a twinge of confusion and annoyance. “Horseraddish, I upset her didn’t I?” she thought “Ponies are sensitive about the strangest things sometimes,” as the duo kept moving the silence between stretched taunt and unbearable. Twilight debated with herself if it was worthwhile trying to get Fluttershy back out of her shell.
As she was thinking her amethyst eyes settled on Fluttershy’s upright wings, and widened with an idea. “Oh! Uh, hey, I’m sorry about what I asked earlier. But I was hoping you could answer a much less personal question for me,” Twilight plastered on a smile once again, and hoped her friendly tone wasn’t too artificial.
Fluttershy didn’t respond verbally, though Twilight could have sworn she saw her eyes flicker to her and back. The unicorn decided to keep talking “When I left Canterlot the weather pony said that it was supposed to be a clear day,” she continued. “But it’s raining; do you have any ideas what that’s about?”
At first the other mare did not answer. Twilight was rapidly dreading that perhaps she was so upset she was refusing to speak. Thankfully those fears were quickly proven false. “I don’t know much about the weather because I work on the farm, and I don’t really like coming into town… But I do know that Rainbow Dash is in charge of the weather team and she can be…” the pony struggled with her words for a moment “She can get distracted. She’s used to work in the weather factory in Cloudsdale so every now and then she underestimates the weather here.”
Even Twilight could pick up the discomfort in Fluttershy’s tone. For a moment she was caught between continuing the conversation and lapsing into silence. Once more her curiosity won out. “Well, no offense, but Rainbow Dash sounds a bit lazy if you a-“
Sploosh!
Twilight froze in horror, Fluttershy squeaked in surprise and distress. A torrent of rainwater had burst through her barrier and soaked her in freezing liquid. “Oh snap! Sorry about that!” a crackly voice called from above.
Twilight stood there quivering for a moment before she was able to look up. A cyan Pegasus was fluttering down to where she stood. “Woof! I really soaked you! You alright uh…” her eyes darted to an almost completely dry Fluttershy.
All Twilight could really see was indigo, due to her very drenched bangs obscuring her vision. But whatever Fluttershy was doing, it caused the new pony to become defensive. “Hay! Come on, it seriously was an accident this time, Pinkie Promise!”
Twilight snorted, and proceeded to shake off the excess water, not really caring about splashing Fluttershy. “You!” she said, pointing an accusatory hoof at the other pony. “You must be Rainbow Dash!”
The mare had an extremely distinctive rainbow hued mane. Her magenta eyes, now widened with surprise, contrasted well with her blue coat. “Uh yeah, I am, can you relax a little? What’s your problem anyways? I literally just apologized, and I'm pretty sure we never met sooo...”
“My problem is that I am now soaking wet because you can’t do your job!” all the frustration and anxiety that Twilight had been holding back during the day came bubbling to the surface. She felt the heat of anger course through her body from her tail to her horn.
“Hay! Look I’m sorry alright?! You try controlling all the rouge weather from the flocking Everfree forest and see how easy that is!” she snapped back, she took to the air in agitation. Flapping her wings with more force than necessary to stay airborne. “So what are you gonna do huh? Turn me to stone because you got a little wet?!”
Twilight’s anger abruptly turned to confusion and then panic as she felt it, the warm familiar feeling of magic running through her horn. She winked out its glow and took a step back. “I… I’m sorry. That wasn’t supposed to happen, I mean, I just…” her words flopped clumsily around like a beached fish.
“Twilight Sparkle,” at the sound of her name purple unicorn turned to the other pegasus pony. Fluttershy’s expression was extremely serious, something Twilight wouldn't have thought was possible for the meek pony. “That was extremely uncalled for! How dare you treat Rainbow Dash like that! You don’t even know her! I cannot believe your behavior right now! I thought you were a kind, understanding pony….”
Twilight’s mouth was agape as Fluttershy trailed off and just glared at her. After a minute, she abruptly looked away, her expression instantly softening. “I uh, just hope you can reconsider your actions… If you want.”
“Thanks for the backup ‘shy,” Rainbow said with a grin. Twilight remained silent as Fluttershy sighed and looked up at her.
“I’ve known you my whole life Rainbow Dash, so I'll always try to be there for you... But… Please be more careful next time,” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.
“Yeah, yeah, I get it, nopony trusts me anymore,” her body language had calmed a bit, but she remained in the air. Her eyes fell upon Twilight and her expression hardened once more. “You’re definitely new here so I’m not gonna hold it against you,” she said. Suddenly, she was right in front of Twilight, her muzzle almost touching the now nervous unicorn's. “But mark my words Sparkle, I can tell you haven’t had to deal with much hardship in your life okay? We can’t all be ultra talented unicorns from Canterlot alright? So back off! Or maybe next time I’ll accidentally be working on a cumulonimbus over your head,”
With that the mare turned tail and sped away with a surprising amount of energy. Twilight felt a huge flurry of negative emotions. “Okay, I was seriously going to apologize but you can’t honestly tell me that was called for!?” she turned to Fluttershy who was simply looking at the ground, looking vaguely miserable.
“Let’s just keep going okay?” she mumbled. She started to continue on, but Twilight hesitated, staring at the retreating mare. Then her eyes wandered back up to the area Rainbow was last hovering in. There was no sign of the pegasus pony, Twilight would have been impressed had she not been angry. “I hope I never have to deal with that arrogant pony ever again!” she huffed to herself. The whole situation left a bad taste in her mouth, and as she began to follow Fluttershy, she had a sinking feeling she was definitely going to see that pony again.
The walk through Ponyville was pretty uneventful. Twilight cast a very low level barrier spell above her and Fluttershy to help keep the rain out. Her horn glowed softly with lavender light, powering a sheet of magic the same hue above them.
It was something her brother had taught her in back in Canterlot. Twilight usually told ponies it was more convenient than an umbrella and it was. But the truth is Shining Armor taught her the spell because she always lost her umbrellas.
Ponyville was small and very rustic looking, an aesthetic Twilight very much appreciated. Fluttershy led the conversation with a speckling of questions about Owlowiscious. Twilight still felt a bit off balance at the implication Fluttershy felt she was a friend. She barely knew the other pony!
‘I could always learn’ a voice in the back of her head spoke up. She turned her full attention to the Pegasus by her side and couldn’t help but be a little impressed at the lean well used muscles beneath her yellow coat.
“So… How did you get to be a part of the Apple family?” Twilight asked during a lull in the conversation. Fluttershy squeaked in surprised and stopped “Oh, uhm, it’s quite a long story. I mean I’ll probably just bore you with it” she stammered out.
Twilight frowned, confused by the other pony’s actions. “I doubt it; besides, we still have at least 10 minutes before we reach Sweet Apple Acres” she gestured with her hoof at the path ahead and smiled at Fluttershy.
The yellow mare simply shook her head. “No, no, please uhm, I just met you, and it’s kind of personal” she whimpered. As Twilight processed what the Pegasus had said Fluttershy took the opportunity to keep moving. “A-anyways, we wouldn’t want to take too long!”
Twilight felt flushed with annoyance at both herself and her companion. ‘Great, I upset her. Ugh, why are ponies so sensitive sometimes?!’ she thought. As the duo kept moving the silence between stretched taunt and unbearable, Twilight debated with herself whether or not it was worth it trying to get Fluttershy back out of her shell.
As she was thinking her amethyst eyes settled on Fluttershy’s upright wings, they widened with an idea. “Oh, well, I’m very sorry about what I asked earlier. But I do hope you can answer a different question” Twilight plastered on a smile once again, and hoped her friendly tone wasn’t too artificial.
The Pegasus didn’t respond verbally, and Twilight had no idea if she was actually listening. “When I left Canterlot the weather pony said that it was supposed to be a clear day” she continued. “But it’s raining; do you have any ideas what that’s about?”
At first the other mare did not answer. But just as Twilight began to feel awkward she received the softly spoken answer. “I don’t know much about the weather because I work on the farm, and I don’t really like coming into town… But I do know that Rainbow Dash is in charge of the weather team and she can be… Oh dear, I guess the best way to say it is that she can get distracted sometimes”
Even Twilight could pick up the discomfort in Fluttershy’s tone. For a moment she was caught between continuing the conversation and lapsing into silence. Once more her curiosity won out. “Well Rainbow Dash sounds a bit lazy if you a-“
Sploosh!
Twilight froze in horror, Fluttershy squeaked in surprise and distress. A torrent of rainwater had burst through the barrier and soaked her in freezing liquid. “Oh snap! Sorry about that!” a crackly voice called from above.
She stood there shaking for a moment before she was able to look up. A cyan Pegasus was fluttering gently down to where she stood. “Oh man I really soaked you. I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”
Twilight did not care that the mare’s magenta eyes were filled with genuine concern, she did not care that Fluttershy was a sensitive pony that would not take kindly to an outburst, all she cared about was the fact that the mare before her had a rainbow mane and it didn’t take more than a second of thought as to who she could be.
“You! You’re the pony who ruined the weather today!” she yelled, her horn flaring to light. The pony in front of her backed away in the air, hooves up. “Now you have the audacity to dump freezing water onto unsuspecting ponies!”
“Hey! Hey! You try controlling rouge weather from the Everfree with a small weather team like Ponyville's!” snapped the prismatic mare in front of her. “It was just an accident! I’m not all that great at what I do! Now turn that thing off or something before you hurt somepony!”
Just as quickly as her anger had come, it vanished. She winked out her horn and felt an intense wave of embarrassment flood her. There was a moment of awkward silence before Twilight found her voice again. “I’m sorry; I wasn’t trying to threaten you with violence. But you’re still accountable for this terrible weather!”
Rainbow looked furious but before she could speak another voice cut into the argument. “Enough! Twilight Sparkle, that was very rude of you. Rainbow Dash is just doing her best, and she even apologized!”
Twilight’s mouth was agape as Fluttershy glared at her. Suddenly there was a change in her expression. “Uhm, if you don’t mind…” the other muttered. Yet another awkward moment descended upon the ponies.
“Uugh, okay, okay I’m sorry… Again” she said. “I just want to go and rest please, I’m soaking wet and I need to review my lesson plan at least one more time before bed. Cheerilee wanted to meet with me tomorrow and everything must be perfect!”
Rainbow Dash snorted looking even angrier than before. “Yeah, yeah, anyways if you don’t mind I’m going to get back to work. You better consider yourself lucky that this drizzle is all you have to deal with egghead. I’ll see you later Flutters, thanks for the back-up”
With that the mare turned tail and sped away with a surprising amount of energy. Twilight felt it in her core, which only served to annoy her. ‘Ugh, she clearly has the magic for proper weather control! Why doesn’t she use it?!’ she thought marching forwards. ‘And who the hay uses “egghead” as an insult anymore!?’
Twilight continued to mentally fume all the way to Sweet Apple Acres. She didn’t even bother re-activating the barrier spell and had long forgotten about Fluttershy who was following behind her. ‘I hope I never have to deal with that egocentric pony ever again!’ little did she know, fate had other plans.
Twilight was brought out of her thoughts when her hooves hit well-trodden dirt. As they were leaving the town proper she noticed trees were becoming more frequent, coming up on their left was a well-maintained white fence. She picked up the distinct scent of apples in the air.
The unicorn slowed down, returning to Fluttershy’s side. There was still a bit of tension from her argument with Rainbow Dash earlier. “Okay, I never got the point of the whole… Friendship… Thing… But Fluttershy is clearly friends with Rainbow Dash… So if I want to be on good terms with her I should at least try a better apology...”
She managed to figure out what she wanted to say just as the sign for Sweet Apple Acres came into view. “Hey, uh, thanks again for helping me out Fluttershy.” The pony in question didn’t seem to react. Twilight was once again unsure if the other pony was even listening. It seemed the yellow pegasus was pretty good at not displaying emotion when she wanted to. Regardless, something in her gut told Twilight that she wasn’t being ignored.
“I also wanted to say sorry about Rainbow Dash. I’m not always the best with other ponies… To be honest I never really got the point of friendship at all…” Twilight paused awkwardly before continuing. “The point is, there’s just a lot I don’t understand. But you clearly trust her so… I guess I should give her more of a chance too.”
Twilight was surprised at her own sincerity. The unicorn felt the faintest twinge of anxiety about how Fluttershy was going to react, which was also surprising. “It’s just because I don’t want to make any enemies” Twilight reassured herself “I’m not interested in making friends, I have to have enough time for my work and my studies.”
Astonishingly, the other pony smiled. They both came to a halt in front of Sweet Apple Acres. “It’s okay Twilight. I can tell you’re a little uhm, awkward around others,” she said. “I’m not angry or anything because I kinda know what it’s like.” Her gaze met Twilight’s for a moment before quickly looking away. “Uhm, you know cuz, I’m not that great with other ponies either… Or uhm… Friendship… Even if I do like having friends.”
There was yet another awkward pause as Twilight absorbed what the pegasus pony had said. “Well! Here we are! I can’t wait for you to meet the Apples!” Fluttershy suddenly continued speaking. She started moving towards the farmhouse in the distance with a surprising amount of speed.
As Twilight trotted to keep up the other pony continued, “Applebloom is just the sweetest little filly you could ever meet. I think she’s even in your class! Granny Smith is really great. Even if she’s a little bit uhm, strange, b-but in a good way! Then there’s Big Mac…” Fluttershy trailed off. Twilight look at her confused as the two were coming up on the main entrance.
“What about Big Mac?” Twilight prompted. Fluttershy flushed, her cheeks were now a lot more pink than yellow.
“Oh uhm, he’s just really nice,” she mumbled so softly, Twilight could barely hear the response.
“I am never going to understand ponies.” The unicorn thought to herself. Instead of asking anymore questions she decided to take a better look around. They were at the end of the road into the orchard. She could see the farmhouse and barn very clearly.
The chicken coop was pretty close to the main entrance and as they passed she could hear them happily clucking away. They seemed to be very well taken care of and extremely healthy.
Various fields of crops surrounded them, including a carrot field with a distinct building Twilight could only assume housed the carrot harvest. There was also an impressive cornfield between the carrots and the western part of the apple orchard.
The air was filled with the scents of crops and farm animals. Twilight was actually a bit overwhelmed with all there was to take in. Her head kept moving back and forth as she tried to get a good idea of the land’s layout.
“Well howdy! You must be Twilight Sparkle!” A voice startled Twilight out of her thoughts. Coming from the farmhouse was an orange mare with a well-kept yellow mane that was tied back in a neat ponytail. Her emerald eyes sparkled with friendliness.
“Twilight’s here?!” Before Twilight could form half a thought, another, far younger voice came from behind the orange mare. A yellow filly sporting a very big, very pink bow came eagerly rushing out.
Skidding to a halt in front of the stunned unicorn, the earth pony hopped up and down a couple of times. “I heard you were gonna be my teacher!” she said, “That’s so cool! I’ve never lived with my teacher before!”
“Uh… Well… Technically I’m not going to be your teacher, Miss. Cheerilee is. I’m just here to learn how to be a teacher.” Twilight managed to smile politely as she responded. “That must be Applebloom, but I have no idea who that other mare is, she’s clearly family though. Why didn’t anypony mention her? She can’t possibly be Granny Smith.”
Excitement drained from the filly’s face. “Oh,” she said, there was a short pause before she continued, “Wait… Does that mean you’re a student? But you’re a grown pony!” Twilight didn’t get a chance to answer as the orange mare had arrived and put a hoof on the filly’s shoulder.
“Now settle down Applebloom,” she said with amusement in her tone, “Learning how to teach is a bit different than what you little ones learn from Cheerilee. Twilight will be helping Cheerilee with her lessons. So even if she’s not replacing Cheerilee as your teacher, she’s kind of like… A second teacher,” the mare then glanced up and smiled at Fluttershy. “Well howdy Fluttershy, it’s lovely to see you!”
“It’s good to see you too Applejack,” the pegasus in question replied. “I would uhm, give you a hug but…” she glanced at the cart hitched around her.
“Applejack,” Twilight mused, the name felt familiar somehow.
Applejack let out a laugh “No worries, if you want me to bring that the rest of the way I’d be more than happy!”
In the meantime, the youngest Apple had been contemplating the responses she got. Just as Applejack finished her offer the filly spoke again, “So she is gonna be my teacher! Well why didn’t ya say so?!”
Twilight felt a strange mixture of annoyance and embarrassment. “Oh no, if I can’t even explain my job to a filly how am I going to teach them?!” she thought. “Uh well… Ya see…”
“Applebloom! Enough questions sugarcube, Twilight is probably quite tired. Perhaps you can ask her about school tomorrow?” Twilight felt filled with relief. She had only known Applejack for a few minutes but the mare already seemed like the most normal pony Twilight had met so far. “For now, Granny Smith and Big Mac still need your help inside, okay?”
The filly looked rather put out, but she didn’t argue. “Okay Applejack,” she said, “It’s nice to meetcha Miss. Sparkle.” She turned and walked back to the farmhouse, much less enthusiastically than when she came out before.
“Sorry about that, Applebloom has always been excitable,” Applejack chuckled, “Well you heard the gal, my name is Applejack. I don’t know if anypony has mentioned me but I actually recently moved back to Ponyville. I’m not sure if I’ll be staying here or with my colleague Rarity. But it’s really nice to meet you Twilight Sparkle.”
“Well that explains why her accent sounds different,” Twilight thought. The way the mare spoke was pretty distinguished from the other Apples. Although she had the same twang in her voice, it was a lot milder than her sibling. “Well it’s nice to meet you too Applejack,” she said, for once not solely out of nicety “I hope you don’t mind me asking, where are you from?”
The orange mare seemed amused at the question. “I suppose you don’t know much about fashion if you’re asking that,” she said. “Honestly, that’s a good thing. No offense but a lot of ponies in the fashion scene from Canterlot are a… Hoof-full to reckon with.”
Twilight had no clue what Applejack was talking about. It must have showed in her expression because the other mare chuckled again and put a friendly hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about it sugarcube, you seem like good company. I’m actually from here but I lived most of my life in Manehatten. It’s pretty good to be back though. Now, let’s go in and meet the rest of your new family. Fluttershy and I can help you unpack after.”
“New family?!” Twilight thought, “Oh for ponies sakes what the hay do I even say to that?!” the unicorn didn’t have a lot of time to figure it out though, because Fluttershy was already responding to the orange earth pony.
“Oh uhm Applejack, sorry to interrupt, but I just wanted to let you know that I won’t need help bringing the cart in”.
“Okay sugarcube, as long as you feel comfort-“
Before Applejack could finish her reply there was an embarrassingly loud gurgle from Twilight’s stomach. She felt her cheeks heat up as the two ponies with her burst out in laughter.
“Alright then, that settles it, let’s go in. Rest assured Apple family cookin’ is the best you’ll ever have!” the earth pony’s voice took on a bit more twang as she got excited about dinner.
As the three mares started towards the farmhouse Twilight briefly mused on her day. Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and now Applejack… She couldn’t remember the last time she interacted this much with so many ponies… Without reading a book even.
“New family,” Twilight didn’t know what she thought about that. She was honestly too tired and hungry to care at that point. “As long as I get to study in peace,” she thought. Though she was soon going to discover that there was nothing more important to the Apples than spending time with family… Especially chosen family.
Applejack helped Fluttershy get unhitched from the wagon. Immediately, Fluttershy turned around and walked up to Owlowscious’ cage. “Okay little one, let’s get you settled in with some delicious food,” the owl responded with a very happy hoot. Without bothering to talk to anypony else the yellow pegasus bustled him inside.
“Oh that Fluttershy, not a single pony around here can take care of animals like her,” Applejack stated in amusement, “Though sometimes I think she forgets about their owners.”
“I’m surprised it’s not her special talent,” Twilight replied. Applejack chuckled.
“It’s funny, sometimes I feel the same way,” the earth pony stated, walking into the house. Fluttershy had left the door open for them. “But she’s good at taking care of all kinds of living things. Her passion is what makes her a great farmer.”
Twilight recalled the pony’s cutie-mark. A pink heart shaped apple, with that in mind, it made a lot of sense. That’s when she spotted Applejack’s, a beautiful red gemstone shaped like an apple. She opened her mouth to ask the pony about it when an age worn voice called out.
“Applejack? Is that you? Is Twilight there?” it came from the room to their left. As Applejack responded affirmatively, Twilight took a quick look around. The living room was very cozy, with a plush green sofa and one very well loved rocking chair. A round pastel yellow and red rug was draped in the center of the room. Twilight was interrupted as she was trying to determine the material it was made of.
“Coming Twi?” the unicorn in question turned back to Applejack who was standing in the kitchen doorway, she hadn’t realized she had stopped walking.
“Oh! Yeah, just looking around,” the unicorn responded with a sheepish chuckle.
“I don’t blame you. The Apple family home is cozier than a new-born lamb with its ma,” Applejack said. “Speaking of, here are the rest of the Apples: Granny Smith and Big Macintosh.” As Twilight entered the kitchen/dining room Applejack gestured to a huge red stallion and an older green mare in turn.
“Hoo hoo hoo… Well welcome there young ‘in!” Granny said stepping forewords. “Now how about you just get settled in cuz grub is almost ready!”
“Thank you Granny Smith,” Twilight politely responded. She took a seat at the wooden table before her. She wasn’t entirely certain what wood the table and matching chairs were made of. “I should brush up on my fauna, especially if I’m going to be living near the Everfree Forest.”
As Granny started to place dishes on the table Applejack spoke up, “Hay, where’s Applebloom?” Twilight found herself looking around for the energetic filly. She liked foals but the ones who were like Applebloom were the toughest for her to be around. As a youth she kept to herself, her only love being books and writing. There was also her family of course, and Smarty Pants, her beloved foalhood rag doll.
“Appleblooom!!” called Applejack.
“IMMA COMING!!” the filly responded entirely too loudly.
“What did I tell you about your inside voice?!” Applejack shouted back. Twilight sunk back in her chair, one of the things she hated most was ponies shouting. “Oh Celestia I really hope it’s not like this every night,” she groaned inwardly.
“Hush up the both of ya!” Granny Smith piped up as loud as she could. “Applejack now, you know better, what happened to them fancy Manehatten manners?” the pony in question flushed.
“Sorry Granny Smith,” she apologized. Her brother let out a very deep sounding chuckle of amusement. “Guess I’m not the only one who gets too excited sometimes.”
“Darn right,” her grandmother agreed. “Twilight I’m sorry ‘bout all the noise. I promise we ain’t always yellin’ at each other so don’t worry ‘bout your studies.”
Twilight sighed in relief, “Thank you Granny Smith. My studies mean a lot to me.” At that moment Applebloom came bursting into the kitchen, followed closely by Fluttershy.
“Hi again Miss. Sparkle! Boy am I hungry!” the table was now all set and the filly was very eager to dig in.
“Not before everypony is seated,” Granny said.
“I know, I know” Applebloom huffed.
Despite the foal’s impatience, it didn’t take very long after for everypony to be seated and happily eating. Twilight normally ate snacks, easy-to-make meals, or take-out. So having an extremely delicious home cooked meal was very exciting!
“I think our guest is finding her meal quite tasty huh,” Applejack said. Her tone made Twilight freeze. She looked around; the Apples seemed to be staring at her with various degrees of discomfort and amusement. She touched a hoof to her face and to her horror she felt a bit of carrot mushed on her chin.
She swallowed. “Uh, oh… I’m so sorry I…” she felt her face heat up as she snatched her napkin with her magic and wiped her face. “I’m just not used to eating with others and this food is really good an-“ before she could finish Applebloom and Granny Smith burst out laughing. Fluttershy and Big Mac simply chuckled.
“Aw don’t sweat it young lady. I knew you Canterlot types wouldn’t have had anything as great as Apple cookin’ before! Just make sure you slow down a bit so you can remember the flavor,” Granny reassured Twilight.
The unicorn was briefly comforted before she met Applejack’s gaze. The mare was the only one at the table who didn’t seem amused, if anything, Twilight felt a little judged by her vividly green eyes. “Well, that’s the first time I’ve seen a Canterlot pony eat like that,” she remarked. “You really are something Twilight Sparkle,”
There was an unusual tension in the air at her words; Twilight didn’t know what to say. “Well! You know, it’s funny, a lot of ponies say that haha,” the unicorn felt her anxiety spike. She abruptly decided that she had enough of socializing for the day.
“Well, it’s been a really lovely dinner but I’m so sorry I just realized I have to lookovermynotesformymeetingwithCheerileetomorrow bye!” Twilight rapidly explained herself before she took off, leaving her dinner half eaten.
She hurried so fast that she barely even processed her surroundings until she was inside her bedroom, which was easy to identify with it being the only door in the hall that was open and having her stuff inside. She closed the door with her magic and flopped down onto her bed, groaning into her pillow.
“Everypony in this town is crazy!” she muttered angrily to herself. “What is everypony’s obsession with socializing? What they hay do they want from me?” she asked herself. She flipped over and stared at the ceiling. “Why does any of that matter? I’m just a strange pony. They all act like they want to be my best friend, and then judge me for being myself. This is exactly why I prefer to keep myself busy!”
“Hoo?” Owlowiscious’ voice brought Twilight out of her own head. “Oh Owlowiscious, I know you understand,” she said, rolling to the other side of the bed she walked over to her pet. As she reached the owl and was unlatching his cage she heard muffled shouts from the kitchen.
Doing her best to tune out the ongoing argument, she took the owl out and nuzzled him. He hoo’d happily in response. “I’m glad you decided to come home with me from the park,” she said. She placed him on her back and walked to the currently empty desk on the far wall. A large window gave her an amazing view of the moonlit eastern apple orchid. “There isn’t a single pony who could make me feel comforted and listened to like you do Owlowiscious.”
He let out another “hoo” in response, but Twilight’s mind was already wandering. Thoughts swirled through the purple unicorns head. She spent so much time studying and writing that it had been her entire life. It was what her cutie-mark represented. She had been making a name for herself in the academic community. There had been nothing she loved more than books, nopony she cared for other than her family, and then…
Twilight stood at the head of a classroom. Her heart pounded wildly, she had never thought that she would ever be invited to do a talk at the Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns! The very one she had failed to enroll in so many years ago. She was thrilled to see everypony in attendance listening carefully to her lecture as she was covering the finer points of matter transport (Teleportation Theory, the basis of which rested on the Law of the Conservation of Mass).
The ponies in attendance were around high school age, but they were nothing like her former classmates. While she didn’t attend public high school like her brother, the private school she attended wasn’t that different in experience. Ponies were petty and often judgmental of her, choosing to bully her when her performance soared above theirs.
The atmosphere at Celestia’s School was extremely different. She could tell the ponies in the audience had a genuine love for learning, and weren’t there simply because their parents made them. This environment helped Twilight feel a lot more comfortable than she had ever been in front of an audience.
After she was done with the lecture, a young unicorn mare with beautiful aqua eyes approached her. “Thank you for coming here Twilight Sparkle,” she said, “I loved your lecture! I also read your paper on this subject for some extra credit in my conjuration course.”
Twilight practically beamed, “Really? Wow, I’m so flattered!” she said. “Some of that material is pretty advanced too, you’ve definitely earned your place at this school,” the other unicorn laughed in response.
“Oh, thank you! I really hope so; sometimes I worry about my place here. Even after being here for years I’m still surprised I belong!” the unicorn responded. “The real surprise is that this isn’t your alma mater! After reading your book I was shocked to find out you didn’t attend the school yourself.” Twilight inwardly cringed at the statement.
“Oh well, ya know, sometimes it’s just not what a pony needs at a particularly uh, developmental point in their life,” she said. The other mare’s smile turned into a small look of alarm.
“Oh no! I’m so sorry, that must be a sore subject. I guess my point was that I think you’re very smart and uh…” the mare paused as she seemed to collect herself a little, “I was hoping to ask for a favor actually. Which I totally understand if you don’t want to given what just happened but I can pay you, or rather… My parents can. It’s my younger brother, he really needs some tutoring and we just can’t afford anypony who usually offers. Not that we can’t pay you decently! Just…”
Twilight held up a hoof, halting her mid-sentence. “Don’t worry, I understand, my parents had a hard time paying for a tutor as well… Not for me of course, for my own brother,” she smiled. “I would be more than happy to help tutor him in whatever magical study he needs, and to be honest, you really don’t have to pay. The bits I get from my publications are more than enough for me right now.”
“Oh thank you!!” the mare squealed in excitement. To Twilight’s immense surprised she hugged her. “This means the world to me! My parents are going to be so happy…”
Twilight was brought out of her thoughts by a knocking at her door. She jumped in surprised causing Owlowliscious (who was dozing on her back) to let out an indigent “Hoot!” and perch on the unoccupied chair beside her.
“Twilight, it’s Applejack, I just came to apologize. Is it okay if I come in?” Twilight opened her mouth almost ready to say “No I’m busy,” but something stopped her.
She turned to face the door fully before replying, “Yes, you can come in." The door creaked open and the earth pony in question sheepishly walked in. She took a quick look around before her eyes met Twilight’s.
She sighed, “Listen, I am truly sorry about earlier. Sometimes I let my Manehatten up brining get the best of me. Truth is I know deep down it doesn’t matter how you eat something, or if you dictate every little syllable while you talk… It’s all those little things upper society micromanages just to look down on others…” she trailed off. “I came back because I didn’t want to be like that so, ya know, I know it wasn’t right of me to be so rude. Can you forgive me?”
Twilight felt a little tired again at this additional interaction, but she was also extremely relieved that the conflict had resolved itself so fast. “Yes, of course, I get it… It’s one of the reasons I usually keep to myself. Sure lots of ponies in Canterlot are fellow scholars, but all those stupid little rules they had were too much for me,” Twilight found herself saying more than intended. She cleared her throat, “I appreciate you coming to talk with me Applejack, but I’m very tired and I need to finish my notes. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
The mare smiled at her “Thank you Twilight, I hope you have a good night sugarcube,” with those words she turned and headed back out, shutting the door behind her.
Twilight sighed as she levitated the notes she was reading earlier from her saddlebags. She would fully unpack later, it really was important that she reviewed everything one last time, even if the events of the day had exhausted her. “Just a quick look over and then sleep,”she thought to herself. The next day was going to be busy, probably even more so than she anticipated.
“The mare in the moon, Nightmare Moon,” Twilight Sparkle spoke dramatically as she read from Prophecies and Predictions in her study.
“Aw come on Twilight, that’s just an old mare’s tail,” a small purple and green dragon gently argued. “Let’s just go and enjoy Moondancer’s party, okay?”
“But Spike, what if this is true? We have to warn the Princess immediately! Please, take a letter,” the unicorn snapped back. The dragon sighed, defeated, as he went to grab a quill and paper.
“Ready when you are Twilight,” he said.
“Dear Princess Celestia….”
“Hoo!”
Twilight paused, blinking owlishly at her assistant. “Did you just… Hoo?”
“Hoo! Hoo!”
Twilight sat bolt upright at her desk; the paper that had been stuck to her cheek was dislodged from the motion and fluttered away. Owlowliscious sat next to her, hoo’ing urgently. Her mind swirled with lingering images from the dream.
It wasn’t the first time the study or the dragon had appeared during her slumber. The dreams were infrequent but they felt so real. The unicorn still felt a lingering sense of urgency from the dream.
“Hoo!!”
Twilight looked at her owl, wondering why he was being so frantic. The truth hit her like a bag of bricks.
“Oh no my meeting!!!” she cried out. “Oh ponyfeathers I am definitely going to be late!!” the unicorn frantically sorted her notes out with her magic while simultaneously levitating her saddlebags over so she could stuff them in.
She groaned in frustration when she realized she still had her travel books and snack wrappers in them. She swiftly dumped them out and shoved her notes inside.
Twilight spun to race out the door; “I’ll feed you when I get ba- oof!!” the purple mare was cut off mid sentence as she ran straight into somepony at the door. They collided with a painful sounding smack! Twilight’s notes spewed everywhere as she stumbled back onto her haunches.
“Oh sugarcube I’m so sorry!” Applejack apologized, rubbing her chest where Twilights shoulder had been. “Are you okay?” she offered her hoof to help the other mare up.
Twilight, however, was not okay. Her breathing sped up as she grabbed all her notes with her magic and shoved them back into her bag. “Oh nonononono,” she frantically muttered scrambling to her hooves, completely ignoring the mare in front of her.
Applejack slowly lowered her leg watching while Twilight shoved her last bit of papers away. She was still in the doorway when Twilight almost smacked into her again. “Applejack move, I’m late!” Twilight whinnied.
“Now just hang on there!” Applejack said firmly, holding her hoof back up. “I came up here to tell you that Miss. Cheerilee is waiting for you downstairs, so you really don’t need to rush. Besides…. Twilight?”
Applejack trailed off when she saw the blood drain from Twilight’s face. It made the unicorn look almost pastel in color. “Ch-Cheerilee is… here?” she gasped, suddenly feeling very weak in the knees.
“Well yes,” Applejack replied, a bit confused by Twilight’s reaction. She opened her mouth to continue but was interrupted by the other ponies panic.
“This is such a terrible first impression!” Twilight looked devastated. “How could she possibly think it was a good idea to agree to this when I’m so late, she had to come all the way out here herself?! She’s probably going to tell me to forget it I blew my chance! I-”
“Twilight Sparkle,” Applejack firmly interrupted “I need you to do me a huge favor, okay? I need you to listen to me for a moment. Can you do that?”
Twilight opened her mouth, but shut it again when she noticed how serious the earth pony was. “Ugh, she talks to me like a foal sometimes,” she grumbled mentally.
“Thank you. Now I know Cheerilee is waiting and you’re very eager to make up for lost time. But you need to breathe okay? I promise she’s not going to be that upset over you possibly being late, which you aren’t. Now just take a deep breath all right? Always helps me when I’m worked up.”
Twilight sighed, figuring it was best to listen to Applejack. As she was breathing in, she instinctively held her hoof to her chest and closed her eyes. The outside world faded…
Twilight’s face was wet with tears. Her chest was aching from all the yelling and crying. There were few things that made her this upset; today’s problem was that she ran out of crayons to mark her favorite doll’s homework.
The purple filly hiccupped as her new foalsitter, a beautiful pink pony named Cadence, was rubbing her back. As Twilight struggled to keep her anxiety at bay, her brain helpfully reminded her of the difficulties at school. “Everypony makes fun of me for being upset about stuff,” she thought, more tears welling up in her eyes. “Now Cadence is going to think I’m stupid too!”
“Oh Twilight, sweetie, it’s going to be okay,” she gently reassured the sniffling filly.
“No! You’re going to say I’m dumb aren’t you?! That there’s no problems and I’m just being a baby!” she cried, tears flowing a little faster.
The mare gasped, “Twilight! I can’t believe you would think that! Who told you that you were stupid?”
“Mrs… Mrs…” the filly tried to respond but her hiccups and tears made it near impossible.
“Okay Twilight, it’s okay. Here, let me show you something,” Cadence’s tone softened immediately as she went back to comforting the little pony.
“I want you to breathe with me okay? Breathe in nice and deep, like this: In,” the mare straightened and breathed in, placing a hoof on her chest. “Out,” she extended the same hoof as she released her breath.
Twilight hiccupped once more, her tears finally slowing as she watched her babysitter repeat. Slowly, she got up, “In,” she placed a hoof on her chest “Out...”
Back in the present, Twilight Sparkle opened her eyes. She was feeling calmer, but the knot of frustration in her chest hadn’t vanished completely.
“There ya go,” Applejack said with a smile. “I’ve dealt with more than my fair share of anxious ponies,”
Twilight sighed “It’s kind of hard not to feel anxious when, as far as your concerned, your job is on the line,” she said. “I mean, how was I supposed to know Cheerilee wasn’t strict? Can you really blame me?”
“Well I guess I can’t,” Applejack conceded “But let me tell you something else about Cheerilee. She’s one of the sweetest mares you could ever meet. She came to the house not because you’re late, but because she thought you were going to be tired after your journey. She figured it would be easier for you. So seriously, there’s no way in hay she would fault you for sleeping in a little.”
Twilight looked away for a moment, a part of her was genuinely grateful Applejack was trying to help her out. But another part of her was just a little bit irritated that she was wasting time lecturing her.
“Well, I appreciate the explanation,” she said. “But I think it’s about time I head down to meet her.”
“Sure thing Twilight,” despite her response, Applejack didn’t move. “Just indulge me for an extra moment.”
“What?” Twilight huffed, her patience slipping. Applejack was unfazed and finally stepped aside to point to a mirror conveniently hanging in the hallway. Twilight gasped in horror.
“My mane!!”
“Oh it’s really no big deal,” Cheerilee said to a still slightly flustered (but fully groomed) Twilight Sparkle. “I love coming over to Sweet Apple Acres. Big Mac and I were classmates, it’s nice to catch up sometimes.”
“Eeyup,” the stallion at the table confirmed. Without another word he left the three mares in the kitchen.
As he retreated Twilight tried, and failed, to imagine Big Mac actually having a conversation with Cheerilee that consisted of more than two words. She gave her head the smallest of shakes; trying to refocus on the magenta mare she was meeting with. “Right, well, I still really appreciate your understanding. I’m very eager to get started with you.”
Cheerilee giggled “Oh it’s so exciting to have such an esteemed scholar helping me teach at our little school house. If anything I should be thanking you for reaching out to me!” the earth pony beamed at Twilight.
Twilight had no idea how to respond; she felt the slightest warmth in her cheeks at the compliment. “Oh! Uh, well, it’s no big deal really…” she paused “I mean, ya know, I just figured Ponyville would be the perfect place to learn how to teach. The school system here may be very different from Canterlot, but it’s the kind of system used by most of Equestria. If I actually become a teacher, I want to be prepared to teach anywhere.”
“Well I’m still flattered. Besides, we are a majority earth pony town and I’ve been trying for the past year or so to figure out how to best accommodate our unicorn students.” Cheerilee explained, “So even if you weren’t an esteemed scholar, your presence is still very much appreciated. See, the local pegasi usually attend Cloudsdales summer flight camp since the city is usually pretty close by. So even the little ponies without pegasi parents still learn pegasus things,” the mare paused to take a sip of her tea.
“But the unicorn foals without unicorn parents don’t have too many places to go that are close by. In the past most of them wound up moving to Canterlot if they were interested in magic. Thankfully unicorns born to non-unicorn parents are rare around these parts, I’m fairly new to teaching here myself and haven’t encountered it yet.”
Twilight blinked, “Oh, well, then it’s not a big issue then right?”
“Oh it may not be a big issue but I want to be prepared!” Cheerilee replied, sounding fairly determined. “The only problem is, I don’t know where to start! That’s where I’m hoping you can help,”
“Hm,” the unicorn hummed in response. “Well… Does this town have a library?”
“Oh yes! The loveliest library in all of Equestria! Well I like to think it is,” Cheerilee giggled. “It’s the Golden Oaks library, it was built inside the oldest tree in Ponyville. It’s absolutely beautiful.”
“Well, have you considered doing research at the library? A basic magic curriculum should be easy to construct with a little research on beginner’s magic theory,” Twilight said, ignoring for the first time in her life the opportunity to discuss history. “What kind of teacher doesn’t automatically go to a library?” she asked herself.
“That’s true!” Cheerilee said brightly. “But of course, as an earth pony born to earth pony parents, I quickly figured out that books couldn’t provide much in the way of enlightenment if you don’t know the first thing about being a unicorn. The theoretical ideas involved, even on the basic level, are a little too much for me to grasp. I mean you know how tribe magic works right?”
Twilight nodded “Of course I do,”
“Then you understand why I might be afraid that I won’t be able to provide enough guidance if I don’t know how using magic feels. If a student struggles or encounters a unique problem I want to be able to just help with a good foundation instead of needing to grab a book. After all, imagine you had to teach a pegasus how to fly. Ask any Wonderbolt and they will tell you that learning the theory is far different from the practice.”
Twilight frowned slightly, furrowing her brow. “Of all the books on magic out there I don’t know if there are any that describe unicorn magic for non-unicorns… Unless…”
“What about parenting books? Surely somepony has written something for non-unicorn parents before.”
Cheerilee’s eyes widened in surprise, “Oh my goodness! I didn’t think of that!” she paused “That’s a really unique solution to the problem. I think this is going to be perfect! I’ll check with our librarian right after our meeting! Oh, would you like to come with me?”
Twilight hesitated, weighing her options. She loved libraries but the thought of going with the permanently bubbly Cheerilee seemed almost… daunting. She forced a polite smile.
“No thank you, I prefer to study alone and if I’m going to a library I’m definitely going to be lost in some books,” she said.
Cheerilee smiled “Understandable. Anyways, I’m sure you have some questions for me right? Let’s get started!”
----
“It was lovely meeting you Twilight Sparkle! Why don’t you stop by the schoolhouse tomorrow at 10? I can show you around and maybe you can help me start getting things ready!”
“That sounds great Cheerilee. It was good to meet you too, bye!”
With that, the magenta earth pony was trotting away. As Twilight watched her retreating form from the doorway she reflected briefly on the meeting. “That went really well aside from the beginning, but even that wasn’t that bad,” she closed the door and was heading back into the kitchen when she felt a small tug on her tail.
She turned to see Applejack gazing pointedly at her. “I don’t appreciate the way you were condescending her at times back there. Particularly the stuff about magic,” she scowled.
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Seriously? Look, she’s a teacher, it’s not my fault if she doesn’t know how to research anything. I mean, come on, there’s no way that she couldn’t get enough information to help unicorn foals with basic spells. I mean, I get the whole wanting to know how magic feels but I can’t see why she couldn’t at least try.”
“She is an earth pony Twilight. Not all of us have the privilege of being in a big city with lots of resources. It’s one of the first things I had to re-learn coming back home,” Applejack responded. “Besides, you’re just learning how to teach aren’t you? I’m betting you’ve never had to show another tribe how to use their magic.”
There was a tense pause as Twilight tried to figure out how to respond. “Well…” she started, but she never finished. Instead the two ponies let the silence stretch itself taught.
Then Applejack sighed.
“Look, I’m sorry if it seems like I keep getting on your case. I’m not sure what’s gotten into me but I promise I mean no harm. In this particular situation, I could tell you were being judgmental, just like I was last night. I’ve always felt that a street has to go both ways, ya know?”
Twilight did, at least, in theory. But in practice… She felt like interacting with other ponies was probably harder than teaching another tribes magic. She was also getting a bit tired of Applejack making a big deal out of things. The more they interacted, the more mixed Twilight’s feelings got.
Still, she was far from the most annoying pony Twilight had met thus far. The unicorn briefly recalled the multicolored mane of a certain obnoxious and lazy pegasus.
“At least Applejack has some sense… Even if she can be really hard to deal with sometimes,” Twilight mused to herself. “Besides, she’s not exactly wrong here. I really haven’t tried to teach another tribe’s magic to a pony of that tribe… Maybe I am underestimating how hard it is”.
Twilight sighed, “Yeah,” she finally said. “I understand, it’s just… I guess I got the impression she wasn’t trying hard enough to look for a solution.”
Applejack let out a half-amused snort. “I’ve never met a pony who so easily underestimated somepony else,” she said. “Cheerilee is extremely caring and smart. She would do anything for her little ponies. I would easily trust her with Applebloom’s life. If she says the solution wasn’t at the library than it just wasn’t there.”
The two mares lapsed into yet another silence. Twilight got the impression the orange mare was waiting for something. It was another moment before it struck.
“Oh! Right… I’m sorry. I was rude and I… shouldn’t make so many assumptions about a pony I just met,” she awkwardly apologized. “I’ll talk to Cheerilee in the morning I guess. So she knows that uh… Yeah.”
Applejack smiled, ponies seemed to do that lot in response to an apology. It was puzzling to Twilight; aside from her family (and her foalsitter) she had learned apologies didn’t mean much growing up. Yet the ponies in this town seemed to act like they did matter and actually meant something. It was… Nice?
“I’m sorry too, I guess I forgot how confrontational I can get,” she said much to Twilight’s surprise.
“Why are you apologizing?” Twilight asked, “I was the one in the wrong right? I don’t even think you were that rude to me or anything…”
Applejack laughed, “Like I said, a street goes both ways. Two wrongs don’t make a right. Even if you don’t think I was rude, I feel like I could have voiced my concerns a little more elegantly.”
Twilight was flabbergasted. “Uh, okay, uhm… Thanks?”
“I say this affectionately now, but you sure are a strange one Twilight. I think you might benefit from coming out a little more. Meeting some ponies who aren’t… For a lack of a better term… Total snobs.” Applejack seemed very amused at this point.
Twilight was unsure of how to respond. “Uhm… Well… I’ve got to study these notes a-and my studies usually take a lot of time…”
Applejack shook her head. “Well, I can’t tell ya what’s best but I know the more you shut yourself in, the harder it’s going to be to get along with others,” she paused for a second, emerald eyes briefly looking past Twilight in thought.
“I used to be like that believe it or not. I went through a period of time where all I cared about was my craft. Never gave anypony the time of day…” the mare trailed off for a split second, then she seemed to snap back to the present.
“I want you to meet the pony that helped me realize it wasn’t a healthy way of life. Her name is Pinkamena, she lives on a rock farm not too far from Ponyville. The train leaves in an hour, it’s a short ride, maybe 20 minutes max. I would love for you to come; you should have plenty of time to study when we get back. You could even study on the train if you’d like.”
Twilight wanted desperately to be alone. She wanted to go into her room and study. She did not want to talk to anypony else, let alone meet somepony new. Yet, as she was about to open her mouth to decline, something stopped her. Before she knew what she was doing she started to talk.
“I’ve never been on a rock farm before. It’ll be an interesting experience, as long as Pinkamena is okay with me taking notes and asking questions that is,” Twilight found herself responding. “What am I doing? This is crazy, I should take it back right now,” Twilight Sparkle did not take back her words. Instead, she was completely silent as Applejack grinned at her. “Excellent! I’m certain she won’t mind at all! Not many ponies are as interested in rock farming like the Pie family! I’m certain her sisters wouldn’t mind answering some questions either.”
Twilight gave her the tiniest smile back. “That’s great, I’m uh… Going to gather my notes from today and get a head start on studying, just let me know when it’s time to leave.”
“Sounds good to me. I’m heading back into the kitchen too, gotta take care of Cherilee’s tea cup!”
Twilight watched the earth pony trot happily into the kitchen. She wasn’t directly in front of the door so she stood still as the tip of the pony’s tail vanished from view.
Twilight trotted through the threshold of her door staring at the floor. Her conversation with Applejack swirled through her head. “Why did I agree to that? I could be spending that time studying and preparing for tomorrow!”
As she began to levitate her saddlebags off her back Owlowliscious gave a hoot of greeting.
Twilight gasped dropping her saddlebags on the floor. “Oh my gosh I’m so sor-”
Twilight’s words died in her throat. Across the room there was a very uncomfortable looking yellow pegasus holding her pet. She shuffled her wings nervously, looking like she had been caught with one hoof in the cookie jar.
“Oh uhm, hi Twilight, I uh… I knew that you were going to be busy for a little bit with Cheerilee so I went ahead and fed this little guy,” Fluttershy paused to give the owl an affectionate nuzzle. “I hope that’s okay,”
“Uh…” Twilight’s reply died in her throat. “What the hay is she doing in my room?” she asked herself “Oh I really hope this isn’t a normal thing for them.”
Twilight had the sudden image of Fluttershy standing in her room in the middle of the night. She rushed to respond in hopes of covering her discomfort “Uh, thank you! Hah, I usually don’t forget things like that, it was just a crazy morning.”
As she trotted over to the desk Owlowliscious gave a small flap of his oak brown wings, closing the small distance between himself and Twilight. Fluttershy smiled warmly at the sight of him on the unicorn’s back. “Oh, don’t worry, I can tell. He really loves you Twilight,” she said.
“He sure does! Now, I am really grateful for what you did but uhm, maybe next time you could let me know before you come into my room?”
“Oh! Goodness I’m sorry, it’s just that the door was open so I didn’t really think much of it,” the other mare explained. “I’ll try to keep that in mind for next time!”
Twilight mentally kicked herself for forgetting to shut her door. “It’s okay, but I really need some time to myself right now.”
“Okay! Uhm, sorry again, I hope you have a good day! I should uh, probably see what Big Mac is doing,” Fluttershy quickly darted into the hallway. As soon as her pink tail disappeared from view Twilight telekinetically shut the door.
“Hoo,”
Twilight sighed, “Oh, I don’t know Owlowliscious,” she began to vent to her pet as she picked up her bags. She shuffled through her notes with her magic, organizing them by date and topic. “It’s just so overwhelming. I guess maybe that’s why I agreed to meet this friend of Applejack’s. I mean, what could possibly be overwhelming on a rock farm? They’re only vast barren fields of rocks in various stages of gemstone development!”
“Hoo,”
“Glad we’re in agreement, I knew you would understand.”
The walk to the train station was one of the most annoying trips Twilight had ever taken. It seemed like Applejack knew literally everypony and of course, had to stop and say hi to each and every one of them.
She learned about the ponies that work at the flower stand, and the two musical ponies that were total opposites (but somehow also roommates and best friends). There wasthe pony that delivers the mail, whose friend was Ponyville’s sole scientist… In fact, Twilight was beginning to learn far more about the ponies of Ponyville than she had ever wanted!
Relief washed over her as the train station came into view. Finally! She would be free from all the forced interactions. Unfortunately for Twilight, she was wrong about that.
“Hey AJ! Long time no see!”
Rainbow Dash.
The pair of ponies stopped and turned as the brightly hued pegasus landed in front of them. “Ah, if it isn’t Rainbow Dash,” Applejack said, there was a weird strain in her tone.
“Looks like you met the town’s new egghead huh?” Rainbow replied, her eyes settling on Twilight with a cocky smirk. The unicorn rolled her eyes in response.
“Real original,” she dryly responded.
“I’m guessing you’ve met Rainbow here already huh?” Applejack said as she glanced between the two ponies.
“If by ‘met’ you mean ‘had water dumped on my head’, than yes, I did meet Rainbow Dash,”
“Ugh! I told you a million times! It was an accident! Besides, it’s not like I’m the one who completely lost it and threatened me with her magic,”
“Well that was an accident too! If you knew anything about unicorns you would know our magic and our emotions are linked! Sometimes… It’s hard not to flare up… Besides, you may be obnoxious but I would never harm somepony like that!”
Rainbow’s mouth was open with a retort when Applejack thankfully interrupted. “Now hang on you two!” she said firmly, stepping between the bickering ponies.
“I don’t know what the hay happened between the both of you, but we have a train to catch so maybe save it for later?” the mare then turned to Rainbow Dash.
“I appreciate the greeting, but I thought I made it clear last time that the opportunity for friendship is past us. So good day to you, and please leave us alone.”
Rainbow Dash gawked as the orange mare pointedly turned her back. “Well excuuuse me for trying to be the bigger pony for once! You know, maybe if you stepped off that cloud of yours, you’d actually learn how to take a joke!” with those angry words, she was zipping away leaving nothing but the faintest rainbow contrail.
“Come on Twilight.”
The unicorn followed Applejack completely flabbergasted at what had just happened. She had no idea where to begin asking questions, what the hay was that about? Was Rainbow Dash just a total jerk to everypony?
The two boarded the train in silence. It wasn’t until the train was speeding towards their destination that somepony spoke. “I’m sorry Twilight. It wasn’t right of me to air dirty laundry in front of you, but I just didn’t know what else to say to her.”
Applejack stared out the window as silence resumed. Twilight mused for a moment before responding. “It’s okay, I’m starting to get the impression she’s not the most popular around here.”
Applejack sighed, “She’s got a temper on her that’s for sure, and she’s got some real weird ideas about what’s funny too. She loves to play “pranks” on ponies… I wouldn’t be surprised if she did dump water on you on purpose.”
“The only pony who remotely gets along with her is Pinkamena. Why if it weren’t for her, I would have never tried to be friends with Rainbow in the first place.”
“But that didn’t work?”
Applejack finally turned to face Twilight. Her expression was very somber and the unicorn was caught off guard by how genuinely regretful she seemed.
“Nope. Guess we’re just too different,” the orange mare paused for a moment before she forced a small smile “But hay, we can’t be dwelling on what didn’t work. I have a feeling you’re going to like Pinkamena and her family. They’re all hardworking ponies, and if anypony can get some smiles going its Pinkamena.”
Twilight mustered up a small smile back before turning to look out the window. Somehow knowing that Rainbow Dash and Applejack had a history made it harder for the unicorn to simply dismiss the pegasus. She was no longer just a nuisance, it seemed like she had caused some genuine pain.
“Not two days here and I’m already getting into drama!” the unicorn immediately resolved to do everything she could to remain out of Applejack’s business. “The less time I spend concerned for somepony else the better.”
It wasn’t that Twilight didn’t care at all about the other pony. As much as she hated to admit it she wasn’t really capable of that. But Twilight knew sympathizing with ponies was a slippery slope to making friends. It was exactly the reason why she avoided socializing at all.
The unicorn pulled a book out from her saddlebags, hoping some relevant reading would relieve her emotions. She flipped the tome over in her magic and gazed at the cover, “Predictions and Prophecies” the title read. “Strange, I guess I forgot it was in my bag,” in fact, she didn’t remember packing it at all.
Rather than dwelling on that fact, the unicorn swiftly swapped the book out for one on the history of education, “The Knowledge We Share”.
“As Equestria rebuilt after Nightmare Moon’s defeat, Celestia decided one of the most important ways to achieve universal harmony was through universal education. Through the upcoming decades she put laws into place mandating all Equestrian towns to have at least one schoolhouse. Unsurprisingly there was some criticism of these steps, as many ponies thought it would be impossible to get the various settlements of the land to recognize such laws. Indeed, the princess…” After some amount of time had passed Twilight was abruptly pulled from her book by a gentle but sharp jab. Annoyed, she lowered the book in her magic and met Applejack’s slightly concerned gaze. “Oh thank goodness! I was almost worried you’d gone deaf!” the pony said.
Twilight resisted the urge to roll her eyes. It was still a mystery to her how so many other ponies didn’t understand what it meant to get lost in a good book. She glanced out the window and saw extremely rough and desolate terrain.
“We’re gonna be pulling in very soon!” Applejack said as she shrugged her saddlebags on. The pony began to walk down the aisle and it wasn’t hard for Twilight to follow suit. Instead, what was hard was keeping her balance as the train screeched to a halt.
The unicorn’s cheeks turned warm as she almost fell face first. “Woah, you okay there?” Applejack’s tone was a mix of amusement and concern.
“Yes, I’m fine,” she responded through her teeth. She scrunched her muzzle and quickly exited the train.
There was little protection from the wind outside. Twilight’s mane and tail immediately billowed as the train started to pull away. “Applejack! It’s so good to see you!” a voice called over the wind.
The two mares turned to see a pink earth pony approaching. She had bright blue eyes and a long mane and tail. Applejack grinned and the two quickly shared a hug. “It’s good to see you too Pink!” Applejack responded.
When the two parted the mare turned to Twilight. “Ooo, this must be Twilight Sparkle! There’s been a lot of buzz around town about you,” she said.
“There has?” Twilight gazed at the other pony in confusion. Applejack glanced at Pinkamena and the two chuckled.
“Twilight here ain’t the best at noticing when ponies are paying attention to her,” the orange mare said. “I guess you could say she’s a bit like I was when we first met, always workin’,”
Pinkamena eyes widened slightly in understanding. “Ohhh, well in that case I think she’s come to the right place!” she turned to Twilight and held a hoof out. “My name is Pinkamena Diane Pie, welcome to my family’s farm! It’s great to meet you; it sounds like you might need a friend or two huh?
Twilight stiffened a little at the last sentence. “Uh, well, mostly I’m here to learn about how rock farms work,” she replied as she awkwardly shook Pinkamena’s hoof. “Normally I would read up before a visit but I’m here to learn how to teach so…”
Pinkamena beamed, “Of course you are!” she said, there was a very mysterious glint in her eyes “I’m surprised you could even focus when there’s so many other fascinating things to learn about! In fact, I heard that there was a prophecy that was going to take place this very year! Hah! Can you believe that? What a crraaazy prediction!”
“Anyways, we should have plenty of time to explore the farm! Just follow me!” with that the pony turned and started to trot away, leaving a dumbfounded Twilight.
Applejack placed a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “I should have warned you, sometimes Pinkamena can seem… Odd. I know it sounds crazy but sometimes I swear she can read minds,” she explained. “Just… Roll with it,”
Twilight paused, watching the orange mare follow the other pony towards the farmhouse in the distance. She felt a strange anxiety around Pinkamena’s words, “There was a prophecy… What a prediction!” Twilight frowned, trying to shoo the feelings away as she started after the others.
“It’s just a coincidence, there’s no way there was anything actually… Substantial to what she said. Besides, most of Prophecies and Predictions are old mare’s tails,” Still, the unicorn couldn’t quite shake the feeling the earth pony was trying to tell her something…
For a moment the only sound was the frantic scribbling of Twilight’s quill. Pinkamena liked to talk very, very fast. It was difficult to keep up, but when it came to note taking, there were very few things that could stop Twilight Sparkle in her pursuit of knowledge.
“Okay, so, each field is carefully maintained to have a specific set of minerals and soil types so that the rocks in each field contain the right properties to form the desired crystals,” Twilight reviewed.
“Basically!” the pink earth pony responded. “Earth pony magic is used to help speed things up. Otherwise it would take forever, maybe even a thousand years! We also set strategic fires to heat the soil, it’s an important part of the process!”
Twilight quickly wrote down the additional information, “I’ll have to reorganize these when I get back,” she thought.
“Okay, and… Rotating the rocks at various points during this process helps create the conditions needed for specific gems. Though some rocks can remain where they are. Despite the many rocks on the surface of a rock farm the most important part of the process occurs underground,”
“You are once again correct! Wow Twilight, you’re a really good note taker! No wonder you’re so smart!”
Twilight flushed, “Oh it’s nothing,” she mumbled. “It’s just something you learn how to do when you study a lot,”
Applejack chuckled, “Aw shucks Twi, there’s no need to be so modest now. You should have seen how many notes she took to her meeting with Cheerilee! She’s a regular ol’ bookworm!”
“I should have figured! Well than Miss. Bookworm, there’s one last thing I wanna show you for today! Follow me!” Pinkamena giggled. She gave a slight bounce before trotting away.
Twilight rolled her eyes and trailed behind the pink pony. The trio made their way up a dirt slope, stopping at the top of an overhang. There was something particularly striking about the view that Twilight couldn’t quite put her hoof on.
“Nice isn’t it?” Twilight jumped slightly when Pinkamena’s voice appeared right next to her ear. “I used to come here all the time as a filly,” Twilight stared for a moment, completely puzzled by Pinkamena’s wistful gaze.
“Anyways! This is the south field. It’s our lowest,” Pinkamena continued, as though she hadn’t been incredibly somber the moment prior. “It’s also the only one where we let some grass grow,” the “grass” in question was small clumps of yellowed foliage scattered through the field. Though it certainly was more than the other fields had.
Pinkamena then gestured out towards the woods on the very edge of the field. Squinting, Twilight could make out an uncharacteristically dark shape. “That’s actually the entrance to a cavern, it’s very warm inside, and it goes waaaayyy down underground! We wind up moving a lot of rocks inside to expose them to even more heat and moisture,” she explained.
“Will we be going in there?” Twilight asked.
Pinkamena shook her head. “Nah, mom and dad are doing their inspections and trust me when I say we shouldn’t interrupt them,”
Twilight felt a small twinge of disappointment. “Oh,” she said.
“But you’re more than welcome to look inside some other time! It would be nice to have you over again! Ooo, maybe Rarity could come too!”
Twilight’s brain halted for a moment. “Why would she want to see me again?” she asked herself. “Who the hay is Rarity? Why do these ponies even want so many friends? Don’t most ponies only have one or two?”
“In faaaact,” the pink pony continued, “She stopped by just before you two arrived! I figured I would keep it a surprise for Applejack; Rarity and her are tighter than a rock pulleys rope!”
“Buck,” Twilight thought. “I should have known!”
“Uh as much as I would… Love to meet Rarity… We really should get going, right Applejack? I have so much studying to do and you can always see Rarity later… Right?”
Applejack stared at her like she’d grown an extra head. “I haven’t seen Rarity in months!” she exclaimed. “I’m sorry Twilight but I insist on staying for lunch. With all due respect, this is very important to me, and I know your notes are important to ya too but… They’re not gonna vanish or feel disappointed if you come home a little later than intended. Besides, Rarit’s a unicorn too! I’m sure you’ll like her once you meet her.”
Twilight opened her mouth to protest but she could tell from Applejack’s hard gaze that the earth pony wasn’t budging on the issue. She let out a small huff instead. “Fine,” she conceded.
The purple mare flinched when Pinkamena unexpectedly pulled her into a quick side hug. “Aw thank you Twilight! Trust me, I know how socializing can be really hard for some ponies. I’m probably the most social out of my whole family!” she paused to giggle. “But, I know for a fact that you and Rarity will have a great time discussing her gem location spell! She made it up all by herself!”
That got Twilight’s attention. All traces of reluctance evaporated from her expression. “She… Made up her own spell?!” she repeated. “That’s… Incredible! Did she attend Celestia’s school? Or maybe she grew up in Sire’s Hallow?”
Pinkamena laughed and shook her head “Nope! She grew up in Ponyville!” she said, her answer was quickly followed by more laughter as Twilight’s jaw plummeted to the ground.
“That’s… Incredible!” the unicorn said, “This Rarity must be very studious! I’m definitely interested in meeting her now!”
“That’s right,” Applejack said. “She’s pretty darn talented, but keep in mind she’s probably not what you’re thinking. She just has a great passion for what she does. So any skill that can help better her craft she will do everything she can to learn. It’s extremely admirable if you ask me,” her emerald eyes softened for a moment, filling with fondness.
A small movement caught Twilight’s eye. Pinkamena had scrunched her muzzle as if to hold something in. Twilight gave her a nonplussed look, which she responded to by shaking her head.
Twilight mentally shrugged and dropped it. “Whatever that was about, I’m probably not interested in anyways.”
The trio continued along in silence until the farmhouse came into view. Two ponies could be seen standing on the porch. Twilight had already met Marble and Limestone Pie out in the fields; so she could only surmise the two ponies were Rarity and Pinkamena’s third sister… Whose name she had already forgot.
As they drew closer Twilight could see the other unicorn took notice of them, her face immediately lit up with excitement. She rapidly galloped off the porch and headed straight for Applejack.
“Applejaaack!” she called as she galloped. Twilight stepped aside as Rarity tackled Applejack into a tight hug.
“Oh my stars! It’s so good to see you!” she exclaimed.
Twilight stared, completely baffled, as the mare’s sapphire eyes started tearing up a little.
“Oh darling! It felt like you were never coming back!” Rarity continued, sniffling a little.
Applejack chuckled affectionately, “It was just a couple of months Rares, besides, I had to get my affairs in order before I could go anywhere! Movin’ out from the city is almost as much work as stayin’ there!”
“Oh but it felt like forrreeever!” Rarity insisted with a small pout. “Well… Whatever the case… The point is, I am very glad you’re back.”
Twilight was beginning to have a hard time picturing the alabaster pony doing any kind of serious studying, let alone creating an entire spell.
It was at that point that Rarity took notice of her presence. “Oh! Forgive my manners darling! I was so caught up in my reunion that I forgot to introduce myself! My name is Rarity, the mare with gemstone flare! I search for, cut and polish gems of all sorts. You must be Twilight Sparkle.”
Twilight was momentarily confused as to how Rarity knew her name, until she remembered what Pinkamena said when they first met. The idea that other ponies were actually talking about her was very disconcerting.
“Yep! That’s me! Hah… I guess everypony’s been talking about me huh?” Twilight wished she could just vanish.
“Oh darling, of course everypony is talking about you! You are an esteemed Canterlot scholar, which is certainly nothing to be modest about now, coming all the way to Ponyville, a small farming town, it is incredibly juicy news!” Rarity gushed. “These kinds of things don’t happen often you know… Although, I can imagine the attention might be overwhelming at first… After all you did live in a city your whole life.”
“The anonymity of a city is definitely appealing,” a fifth voice, completely lacking in emotion, suddenly joined the conversation. Twilight’s amethyst eyes locked into the dusty purple of the newcomer. She was a strong looking gray earth pony whose expression was almost disturbingly neutral.
“I’m Maud by the way,”
“T-Twilight Sparkle,”
“I know.”
“Oh Maud, you’re so funny!” Pinkamena giggled.
Twilight was utterly lost as to what could possibly be so funny. Thankfully, when she looked at the others they seem to mirror her confusion. ”At least I’m not the only pony out of the loop for once,” she thought.
The pink mare proceeded to place an arm over her sisters back. “Maud is such a joker! Hay, you know what would be great? If we all went to one of her stand up shows! What do you say Twilight?”
Twilight shifted uncomfortably, wondering why she was being singled out for an answer. Of course it was the last thing she wanted to do. She wanted to say: ‘No! I’m not going to go to a stupid comedy show! Unlike some ponies around here, I actually care about doing my work. In fact, I never want to see any of you again!’
“Uh… Sure?"
“Great! Now why don’t we go inside and get comfy? I know Twilight would love to ask about your gem spell Rarity!”
“The spell...” Pinkamena had helped jog Twilight’s memory. “That’s right, I did want to ask you about that…” she said.
Rarity blushed, “Oh darling, it’s nothing really, why I must admit I barely know anything about spell work. But I was struck by the sudden thought to combine a basic location spell with a basic summoning spell and… Well…” the unicorn trailed off.
As tired and cranky Twilight had been moments earlier, she felt the surge of curiosity reinvigorate her. “Well?” she urged.
“Oh, I wouldn’t want to bore the others talking about magic, unless they’re okay with it,” she turned to her friends who quickly assured them that they didn’t have any problems with it.
“Thank the stars, I think I might have actually lost it if I couldn’t finally talk about something interesting,” Twilight thought.
“Excellent! I can’t wait to hear all about it!” Twilight said, allowing a smile to spread on her muzzle. She levitated her notebook and quill out from her saddlebags, paying absolutely no mind to Rarity’s bashful expression.
“You know Twilight, it’s really nice to finally see you smile!” Pinkamena piped up. “It wouldn’t kill ya to enjoy life a little more ya know.”
She winked and gave Twilight a friendly nudge and a wink. But before the unicorn could respond Pinkamena was speaking again. “Alrighty! Last one to the farmhouse is a stinky old fossil!”
Three of the fives ponies immediately started galloping away, laughing as they did. Twilight was left behind with Maud, opting to walk instead of participating in the race.
“Try not to mind my sister too much,” Maud said after a moment of silence. “Making ponies happy is just something she cares about a lot. But she’ll figure out what makes you happy, which I’m guessing isn’t being in large groups full of strange ponies.”
Twilight sighed. “It’s more than that… I just… I-I don’t even want friends! I just wanna go home and study but…”
The unicorn stopped, prompting Maud to do so as well.
“But I keep saying yes to all these things and I don’t even know why,”
There was a pause, Maud’s expression was unwavering as she stared at Twilight.
“Ugh, I’m sorry, I don’t even know why I’m telling you this! You-”
Maud held a hoof up and Twilight fell silent.
“I think a part of you wants friends,” she said. “You know, Applejack was always talking about how she didn’t have time for friends either. She would always talk about how she was just too busy to hang out and stuff.”
Maud paused.
“It’s probably better to hear about that from her, but basically despite what she said she would always hang around whenever she could,” Maud continued, “I think some ponies take a little time to accept that they need the company of other ponies, and that it’s okay to want that.”
“Come on you guys! If you stay out there any longer you might actually turn into fossils!” Pinkamena’s voice called from the house.
“We better get going, Pinkamena makes the best rock candy, you should try it,” Maud then turned and continued to the house. Twilight trailed behind her, frowning to herself.
“Maybe I just want to avoid conflict by saying yes,” she tried to reason with herself. “I can’t… Seriously want friends all of a sudden… Right? It just doesn’t make any sense!”
In that moment, Twilight resolved to stop hanging out with Applejack, or any of her friends, for the duration of her stay in Ponyville. “If they all think what Maud thinks… Than they’ll never leave me alone! I can’t let them keep roping me into things! If I keep this up… I’ll never get anything done!”
The unicorn would soon discover that such an endeavor was far easier thought than done.
The kitchen was bustling with activity as three ponies started to prepare the upcoming meal. Pinkamena let the others know what she was thinking about for lunch before leaving to check in with her parents. It was fresh chicken eggs on homemade bread with a side of stir-fried vegetables. They also had a choice of homemade lavender soda or tea.
Twilight, meanwhile, was far out of her element. She could make a mean daisy sandwich, but actual full meals? That was one thing she never bothered mastering. She felt like she was about to have lunch at some fancy Canterlot restaurant! Needless to say, trying to help prepare it seemed rather intimidating.
“Hey Twilight, can you set up the back table?” Maud paused and turned to the unicorn. “It's just through the screen door. Should be fairly simple, flip the chairs over and clear the leaves, lunch won’t take too long so feel free to relax with your books. Thanks.”
“Sure, I would love to!” Twilight said almost a little too quickly. “Yes! Finally a little alone time!” she mentally cheered as she trotted out the back door.
The backyard was surprisingly quaint. There was a wooden deck with a fire pit and dining area. Just beyond that there was a small garden filled with various vegetables and herbs. The scents of the growing plants drifted pleasantly in the air.
With a magenta burst of her magic, Twilight cleared the decaying leaves from the white table. She sighed contently as she shrugged off her saddle bags and sunk into one of the matching chairs. She had known she needed to rest, but by the feel of her muscles she needed it a lot more than she realized!
The unicorn used her magic to open her bags, eager to resume her studying. She pulled her study material from it's storage and placed it neatly in front of her. She opened to the page where she left off, around three quarters of the way in. It was describing the legislature which made it so teachers had to undergo at least a year of understudy and provide evidence of advanced education before they were able to teach.
But something was wrong.
If there way anything Twilight loved, it was a good riveting legal battle. Yet the words in front of her seemed to convey no meaning. She scrunched her muzzle briefly in frustration, as she knew exactly why she couldn't pay attention to her work. She suddenly snapped the book shut with a huff and gave into her lackadaisical desires. Using her magic she placed her history book back into her bag, exchanging it for the book she actually wanted.
“Predictions and Prophecies” she murmured, levitating the tome in front of her. She recalled Pinkamena’s strange declaration when they first met. “I heard that there was a prophecy that was going to take place this very year…. What a crraaazy prediction!”
Twilight huffed and placed the book down in front of her. “It’s just some strange nonsense,” she reassured herself. “If I learnt anything today it’s that Pinkamena is a mare with a very strange sense of humor.”
Regardless of her own thoughts, the mare started to flip through the pages of the book. She skimmed every entry for any mentions of a date. She knew she had to be looking for the thousandth year, the year that was coming up. One of the standouts included some kind of prophecy about harmony’s pillars, but the date was “over a thousand years”. Despite her skepticism Twilight made a mental note to return to the entry and do further research.
Suddenly her breathe got caught in her throat and her eyes widened, there it was! “…the longest day of the thousandth year,” Twilight breathed. Her heart pumped at a faster pace as she began to read the entry from the beginning. “The Mare in the Moon, myth from olden pony times. A powerful pony who wanted to rule Equestria, defeated by the Elements of Harmony and imprisoned in the moon. Legend has it that on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape, and she will bring about nighttime eternal…”
“Whatcha readin’ Twilight?” a bright bubbly voice burst through the unicorns concentration. The purple mare let out a short whinny of surprise, flinging her book away from her.
“Pinkamena!” she gasped.
“Whoops! I’m sorry Twilight, I didn’t meant to startle you! Must have been pretty good if you were that immersed in it,” she said.
“Was Twilight lost in a book again?” called a familiar voice. Applejack emerged from behind Pinkamena with a carefully balanced tray on her back.
Twilight sighed as Pinkamena giggled, “Sure was!”
“I was just doing some uh... Light reading. Nothing serious,” Twilight said, suddenly feeling self-conscious. “They’re going to think it’s ridiculous that I’m reading a bunch of old mare’s tales,” she thought anxiously.
Maud and Rarity joined the group and began placing down plates of food. Applejack shrugged the drinks tray off her back. Meanwhile, Twilight's mind was focused on the book she just tossed away. The mare was rapidly weighing the pros and cons of retrieving it while they dined.
“You know, Predictions and Prophecies” is such an interesting book!” Pinkamena piped up. “I think there are way more interesting stories than most ponies would think! My granny Pie would sometimes read us stories from it! My favorite was always the Mare in the Moon. You know, I just can’t think about her as being evil. I mean, she’s always watching over us every night right? That should account for something, I just feel like... Something good will happen when she returns.”
While the pink mare spoke she wandered over to the discarded book and picked it up with a hoof. Twilight quickly relieved her of it, taking it from Pinkamena’s hoof with her magic. She murmured a thank you and decided to ignore the certainty with which the earth pony spoke about the myth; it gave her a very strange and unpleasant feeling.
“Uh... yeah... It is a good book. I really only brought it for light reading though, not serious study,” Twilight explained, “I love learning but some books can get very dense, and it’s a lot easier to think if I can take a couple of breaks.”
“Takin’ a break from reading a book by reading another book,” Applejack said, amusement evident in her tone. “Twilight Sparkle, you sure are an unusual one,”
Twilight’s ears shifted back, though she tried hard not to completely flatten them. “This is it, the moment they all make fun of me for being nerdy or liking books too much or something,”
“There’s nothing wrong with that of course, I like books too, maybe not as much though,” Maud said, gazing at Twilight. Her expression as as unreadable as ever. “We’re all pretty unusual honestly. I have a pet rock.”
The gray earth pony reached inside her barrel pocket and produced a small smooth rock. “His name is Boulder.”
Applejack chuckled at Twilight’s flabbergasted expression. “I would have thought a smart mare like you would’ve figured out why we like ya so much,” she said. “We’ve all got our quirks here, even Rarity, no matter how perfect she might seem,”
“Oh Applejack, you are far too flattering,” the white unicorn responded. “Though, it is certainly true, I am not flawless,”
The unicorn turned to meet Twilight’s gaze “Now, all that aside, I do believe we have something to discuss,”
Twilight stared at her blankly; she was still trying to process what just happened. The reaction she got was the complete opposite of what she expected, how was she supposed to react? Was she supposed to say thank you? She didn’t even want any friends and yet…
“Twilight?” Rarity’s puzzled tone brought Twilight back to reality.
“S-Sorry! Just uh, lost in thought haha,” Twilight awkwardly smiled. “What did you say?”
“Oh I was simply trying to remind you that we were going to discuss gem magic,” the mare responded, taking a delicate sip of her tea.
“R-right! Uhm, okay let me just…” Twilight quickly snared her notebook and quill from the depths of her bags.
“Okay! So uh… You said you combined two spells right?”
“Correct, you see, it all began…”
Twilight gave one last wave to Pinkamena and Maud as the train started to pull out from the station. Granted, it was mostly because it was polite, she was more than relieved to finally be heading back to the Apple farm.
“Now let’s see, it’s about 2 o’ clock so…” Applejack began to think out loud. “I think it should be fine if I hop on over to the boutique for a quick meeting,” she said, smiling at Rarity.
“That would be splendid! Oh, we have so much to catch up on!” Rarity gushed. Twilight suddenly felt like she was intruding on a private conversation.
Thankfully the feeling didn’t last too long as Rarity then turned to her. “You’re more than welcome to come along dear, although, you do seem rather tired,”
Twilight sighed. “That obvious huh?” she said. “I’m sorry, I just don’t think I can do anymore socialization today. I have a lot of studying to catch up on, and I really want to make sure my questions for Cheerliee tomorrow are well prepared. Not to mention I really need to get some good sleep,”
“Perfectly understandable darling! We can always show you the boutique some other time, why, I’m certain we could find some nice outfits for you to try on,”
Twilight wasn’t certain how to respond to that, “Uh… Thanks?”
Rarity chuckled. “I promise it’s a lot more fun than it might seem!”
“Do you know your way back to the farm? It’s fairly simple but if ya still need a hoof…” Applejack started.
Twilight shook her head. “No, no, I can definitely get there on my own, thank you though!” “… I hope so anyways.”
“Sure thing sugarcube! But if you do get turned around, just ask anypony for directions, most folks know right where the farm is!” the orange mare cheerfully reassured her.
“Thank you… Uhm, is it okay if I read my history book now? I just… Want to get a head start.”
“Of course darling! But don’t be afraid to leap into the conversation whenever you’d like to,” Rarity said.
Feeling relieved from the burden of small talk, Twilight quickly resumed her place in the book. “Predictions and Prophecies” was far from her mind at last; the only thing that concerned her in that moment was learning about how the Security of Education Act.
After saying goodbye to Applejack and Rarity in the town’s center, Twilight continued on towards Sweet Apple Acres. She remembered the way pretty easily, not that she had serious doubts but one could never be too certain.
The unicorn quickly became lost in her thoughts, staying aware enough to keep going in the right direction (and avoid bumping into others). Most of them focused on her studies back in her room, but a couple of them drifted elsewhere.
If somepony told her she would spend a good chunk of her second day in Ponyville having lunch with a group of ponies she barely knew, she would’ve thought they were crazy. Yet, here she was, with a belly full of delicious food and about three hours of non-study time gone.
While she did agree to meet up with some of them again, she was hopeful that she wasn’t going to be dragged anywhere else within the next few days. “That is more than enough “friendship” for me,” she mentally declared.
“Psst…”
Twilight paused, her ears subtly flicked around. Did she just hear something?
“Twilight!”
Oh for pony’s sakes…
Twilight let out a heavy sigh. “Don’t you have any other pony you could be harassing right now?” she said, her social exhaustion made a rapid return making her feel extra irritated by the interruption.
“Uh, yeah, hi to you too,” Rainbow Dash fluttered down in front of her; she was strangely graceful for such a brash pony.
“Look, I know you like, hate me, and to be honest, I don’t really like you either… You’re kinda… Weird,” her magenta eyes scanned Twilight up and down. The purple unicorn suddenly felt very hot under her coat, and not because she was flattered.
“But I seriously need help and you’re the only pony who can, it’s just a small little thing. Please? I uh… I don’t really know what I can do for you in return but if there’s something you need a pegasus to do I guess I’m willing.”
“No, absolutely not! You’re rude and terrible, just leave me alone!”
“… Ugh what do you want?” Twilight’s mouth seemed to be doing exceptionally well at defying her brain as of late.
“Can you ask Fluttershy to meet me at Sugarcube Corner? I would do it myself but uh… I’m sure you’ve noticed Applejack kinda hates me too and uh… As much as I love making a good scene, it makes Fluttershy really uncomforable.”
“Well, I'm happy to inform you that Applejack isn’t currently at Sweet Apple Acres, so that won’t be necessary. You can go ahead and ask her yourself,” Twilight curtly responded. She pointed her muzzle up and deliberately started to stalk away.
Rainbow Dash was suddenly in front of her again. Twilight angrily scrunched her muzzle in frustration. For a pony who supposedly didn't like her, she had a way of sticking around far longer than she needed to.
“Wait! Uh… “
The words seemed to die in the other mare’s mouth. Twilight glared at her, as she awkwardly ruffled her feathers no longer looking at her. Twilight was probably burning a hole into the pegasus by the time she finally spoke.
“I’m sorry about the water,” Twilight could barely hear the words as they were reluctantly mumbled. She couldn't have heard that right.. Right? But there was no mistaking the blue pegasus' remorseful, slightly embarrassed expression.
There was an awkward pause as she contemplated a response. It was temping to either ignore her or snap something back at her. But Twilight found herself suddenly too tired to start an argument. She sighed and replied,
“Uh... Thank you. I... Appreciate you realizing that was wrong.”
“Well… You’re welcome! Cuz you’re not getting another apology outta me any time soon!” Rainbow’s voice rose as she proudly puffed herself back up. “I’m gonna go talk to Fluttershy now, smell ya later egghead!”
Twilight’s mane fluttered as the pegasus shot up into the air and out of sight.
The unicorn stood there for a moment, completely baffled. What was the deal with Rainbow Dash? Talk about the pot calling the kettle hot. “She’s way crazier than I am, at least I know not to go out of my way to talk to ponies I dislike,” she thought. "Though, she did make a genuine apology... I think? But why?! It just doesn't make any sense!" the rainbow maned pegasus continued to occupy her thoughts for the rest of her journey.
By the time Twilight made it back to Sweet Apple Acres Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were long gone. She figured as such, but she found herself peering cautiously around the property anyways.
She frowned when she made it to the door, noticing a singular sky blue feather laying on the ground. “Seriously, she barely even takes care of herself! What kind of self-respecting pegasus leaves feathers lying around?!”
Still, pegasus feathers were useful in a variety of potions. While Twilight was no potions master, it wouldn’t hurt to keep it in case she needed to use it. She quickly slipped it into her saddlebags and continued over the threshold.
When she entered the Apple home she was greeted by the sound of light snoring. Granny seemed to have fallen asleep in her rocking chair. Thankful for the opportunity to avoid conversation, the unicorn tried to silently make her way to her room. The staircase had other plans however, and let out a distressing creak as soon as she put any weight on it.
Granny immediately woke up.
“WEh! Wha-? Oh! Twilight! It’s good to see you dear, is Applejack with ya?”
Twilight managed to smile despite desperately not wanting to waste anymore time talking with the older mare.
“No, sorry uh… Mrs. Smith, Applejack is meeting with Rarity at her boutique.”
Granny let out an almost feral sounding snort of a laugh. “Oh don’t ya mind callin’ me Granny Smith now! Mrs. Smith… hah! I haven’t been Mrs. Smith since Applejack’s father was just a lil’ colt.” she paused for a moment, her sunset eyes glazing over in memory.
"Oh... Well okay, uh.. Granny Smith," Twilight awkwardly fumbled, trying to get through the conversation so she could leave.
Granny Smith seemed to snap back to reality. "Oops! I jus' went an' spaced out on ya huh? Sorry 'bout that," the old pony smiled warmly "Well, I ain't gonna keep ya here with my stories. Run along dear, thank you fer letting me know where Applejack is… Darn filly always runnin’ off….”
Granny continued muttering to herself as she rocked in her chair. Despite her eagerness to get going, Twilight found herself watching as Granny's words rapidly deteriorated into incomprehensible mumbles. The next thing she knew the old mare was back to snoring.
Twilight shook her head and continued to her room. As soon as the door shut behind her, she collapsed onto her bed, not even bothering with her saddlebags.
“Uuuugh,” she groaned into her pillow.
“Hoo!”
“I’m sorry Owlowliscious, I didn’t mean to wake you, it’s just been such a long day…” the unicorn paused and looked out the window. “And it’s barely even 3…. Maybe a nap would be a good idea…”
The unicorn didn’t get much further along with her thoughts. She was interrupted by a massive yawn, she was asleep before her head could hit the bed.
“Hi I’m Pinkie Pie and I threw this party just for you!”
Twilight found herself in an extremely crowded library. Ponies chatted excitedly all around her. Despite the very cheerful atmosphere, the unicorn had a deep unsettled feeling that something wasn’t right.
“Pinkamena?”
The pink mare exaggeratingly gasped and her blue eyes widening to comical size. “How did you know my full name? Well, almost full name! Full first name, my real full name is Pinkamena Diane Pie but everypony calls me Pinkie Pie!”
Pinkamena had been very excitable when they first met, but this was something else entirely. Somehow the mare was twice as energetic, and even stranger, her sleek well-kept mane was now in tightly wound wild curls.
“… Right, I’m going to go get some punch,” Twilight said, her mind felt detached from reality. “Is this some kind of prank?” she thought, making her way to the refreshment table.
Pinkamena, or rather, Pinkie Pie, followed her excitedly babbling about how they supposedly first met. Twilight did her best not to listen; she was honestly beginning to question her own sanity. Had things been like this the whole time?
She began pouring the nearest drink into her cup, thinking hard about what was going on. She came from Canterlot right? But… Why did she feel like somepony had sent her? Surely that can’t be the case?
She placed a straw in her cup and rapidly started to gulp down the beverage, she’ll need to be hydrated to figure out what was happening.
Wait…
She managed one last swallow before her eyes began to water. It suddenly felt like lava had been poured directly into her mouth and through her body. Her whole mouth burned worse than the surface of the sun and the last the she heard before running up the nearby stairs was: “She’s so happy she’s crying!”
Twilight could hear her own heartbeat when her eyes snapped open. Sweat clung to her coat, panicking as her eyes adjusted to the inky darkness. The details of her new bedroom came into clarity as well as the various scents of farmland from her cracked open window. Never in her life would she have been so happy to be at Sweet Apple Acres.
Tap, tap, tap.
The frazzled unicorn let out a barely audible gasp at the sudden noise. “Um… Twilight? I’m really sorry to disturb you but… I have dinner for you. Applejack said you were really tired after lunch so we figured you were napping. If it’s okay with you, I can also help you with Owlowliscious,”
Fluttershy’s soft voice barely made it through the door, but there was no reassurance in her soothing tone for Twilight. The purple mare looked helplessly at her pet that was staring at her with a blank expression. Owlowliscious would normally be making a fuss at being held indoors past sundown, Twilight knew he could tell she wasn’t doing her best.
“Y-yeah! I’m coming!” she responded. Her voice had very little emotion in it, something she was thankful for. She really didn’t want to give Fluttershy and more reason to feel like she should stick around.
The unicorn resolved to eat dinner and pull and all nighter to get her study time in. After all, Owlowliscious would be happy to have company to come home to after his nightly hunting. If she played her cards carefully, she would go to bed right after dinner tomorrow and her sleep schedule wouldn’t be too messed up.
She quickly flicked her light on and opened the door for the pale yellow pegasus. She grimaced slightly when the other mare’s blue eyes widened a little with shock. “Oh Twilight, are you okay? Did you have a nightmare?”
Twilight sighed and stepped aside allowing the other pony entry. “So much for disguising that,” she mentally grumbled. Owlowliscious let out a couple excited trills; Fluttershy probably had a treat for him.
“Yeah… It’s no big deal, I’m probably just a little burnt out,” Twilight resigned.
Fluttershy listened as she crossed the room to place a plate of dinner on Twilight’s desk, smiling at Owlowliscious’ excited shuffling. She reached up to the owl with a quiet request to “step up” before responding.
“Gosh, I’m sorry to hear Twilight. I’m actually impressed at how much you’ve been doing since you got here. I know… Well, I know how to be friendly, but I’ve never really been very good at socializing either. I usually just hang out with Rainbow Dash or the Apples,” she turned to face Twilight.
In that moment Owlowliscious decided to take flight with a sudden flurry of brown wings, he landed on Twilight’s back and nibbled affectionately at her mane. A smile returned to Fluttershy’s face, which Twilight couldn’t help but mirror.
“He sure does love you, I’m impressed by that too. Owl’s are extremely picky about who they trust. That’s actually how they gained their reputation for being so wise. They are also usually antisocial creatures, but Equestria’s owls seem to be open to domestication if they find somepony they feel is worthy,”
Twilight nodded, feeling the slight heat of bashfulness in her coat. She already knew all of that of course, but hearing another pony say it actually made her feel kind of special.
“Y-yeah, I guess I got pretty lucky. He just kinda… Came to me while I was studying in a park and never really left my side. I make sure to always let him out at night, and I have a few toys packed away still that are for enrichment if he has to stay in,”
“That’s great! It seems like you really know how to care for him Twilight, but if you ever need any help or… Anything at all really, I’m happy to help!”
Twilight’s smile widened ever so slightly. “Thank you Fluttershy, I appreciate it,” she barely finished her sentence when a large yawn took her by surprise.
“I’ll let you eat your dinner Twilight, and maybe you can get some more rest,”
“I’m not so sure about that, I have a lot of studying to catch up on… But we’ll see. Maybe I can squeeze a nap in before I meet Cheerilee at the schoolhouse,”
Fluttershy seemed briefly concerned, but the expression was brief. “Well, if you need any coffee or anything during the night I know nopony would mind you getting it. The uhm… Stairs can be pretty creaky but as long as you’re not going up and down them a lot it should be fine,”
“Thank you Fluttershy, I’ll talk to you later,”
Some more smiles were briefly shared as the pegasus passed by, stopping only to hold a treat up to Owlowliscious which was eagerly accepted. But as soon as she had opened the door, a voice boomed out from the kitchen.
“Well you were never here before were ya!? You just ran off and abandoned us and now you expect us to just… Let you back into our lives like nothin’ happened?! You don’t even know how to work on a farm anymore!”
There was no mistaking Appleblooms higher pitched voice, somehow a little bit higher as she angrily yelled.
“That just ain’t true! Besides, you don’t think I’m sorry for all the time I spent away from here?! Why do you think I came back?! But maybe that was a mistake, cuz I sure as hell didn’t come back just to be yelled at by my own sister for having the audacity to want to spend time with her!”
Applejack’s voice matched Appleblooms in strength, though there was more power and volume behind it, Twilight wouldn’t be surprised if ponies in Ponyville proper could hear the orange mare yelling.
“Go to hell Applejewel,” the younger Apple spat the last part out with a surprising amount of venom for such a small filly. There was a cacophony of voices as small angry hoofsteps rapidly made their way to the stairs.
Fluttershy backed away from the door so that she was not immediately visible. Applebloom ran by, barely audible sobs drifted from her as she reached her room and slammed the door shut with surprising force.
A heavy silence encapsulated the house. An eternity stretched out as nopony moved, it was so silent that Applebloom’s muffled sobs were the only sound Twilight could hear.
“I… Better see if I can talk to her,” Fluttershy said half speaking to herself. “I’m… Sorry you had to see that Twilight, I promise it’s not normally like this it’s been…”
“I-It’s okay, I mean… At least I was already awake,” Twilight humorlessly chuckled.
Fluttershy sighed. “Good luck with your studies Twilight, see you tomorrow, bye Owlowliscious,”
With that the door to her bedroom closed leaving Twilight and Owlowliscious alone.
“Hoo?”
“Applebloom is Applejack’s younger sister,” Twilight quietly explained. “I guess… It makes sense for there to be some conflict. I guess Applejack only just recently returned home from wherever she lives but… Why did she even leave in the first place?”
The unicorn shook her head. “No, it doesn’t matter, it’s not my business. I’m already far too involved in Applejack’s personal life as is,”
As the unicorn gathered her study supplies. Owlowlicious remained on her back, even though the owl would have preferred to be out hunting, he knew that his companion needed support.
Twilight opened the window further as she settled into a seating position at her desk. Owlowlicious swiftly moved to his perch instead of flying off into the night. Twilight paused to look at him, “I’ll be okay, you go enjoy the night,” she reassured him.
The owl let out a tiny noise of comprehension before taking off. Twilight watched his retreating form before sighing and digging into her studies. She did her best to ignore the voices in the background. Occasionally catching words like “sister”, “caring”, “unfair” and “too long”, each time the unicorn found herself tuning in, she gathered her resolve and reminded herself it wasn’t her business.
Despite this, the unicorn found it difficult to not think of her own sibling. Shining Armor was her older brother and a member of the Royal Guard. They had been close during her early childhood but their relationship became troubled after her rejection from Celestia’s School.
Even though her attitude had caused many arguments between them, Shining had always tried to be patient and understanding. It really wasn’t until he moved into the barracks on Castle Canterlot’s grounds that she began to realize and appreciate just how much he meant to her as family.
Twilight stared at her notepad, struggling for a moment before she settled on a decision. It would be quick, just something she needed to get out of her before she started her studies.
“Dear Shining Armor…”
The unicorn walked along the well-trodden streets of Ponyville. She was going to do just a quick stop at the Post Office and then she would be ready to meet with Cheerilee. The magenta mare had sent a sweet pegasus pony named Thunderlane to inform Twilight that she would like to meet her at the Golden Oak’s library instead of the school house.
The door to the Post Office jingled pleasantly as Twilight stepped inside. The smell of parchment and glue made the mare smile. But the sight of an all too familiar pegasus standing at the counter.
“Oh hey egghead! Fancy seeing you here,” she said. Twilight sighed in annoyance “Here we go, I just gotta send my letter off and get it over with,”
“I’m here to send a letter,” she said trying to make eye contact with the gray postmare behind the counter. A somewhat hard feat considering the mare’s bright yellow eyes seemed to be permanently crossed.
“Well you’ve certainly come to the right place!” she chirped. Twilight felt a twinge of satisfaction as Rainbow’s expression soured with irritation, the mare definitely didn’t like being ignored.
Twilight felt Rainbow’s eyes lock onto her as she strode up to the counter, her coat prickled under her gaze. She quickly levitated the letter from the depths of her bag. It probably only took about 30 seconds, but it felt like an eternity in the silence.
“It’s going to P.O Box 56780 at One Celestial Avenue,” she said.
“Ooohh, gosh that’s the Royal Post Office isn’t it? Can I ask who you’re writing? It’s not the Princess I assume? That’s a totally different address…” Twilight blinked in surprise. Why in Equestria would she be writing the Princess if she had a specific P.O. Box number? Shouldn’t it be obvious she knew what she was doing?
Suddenly Rainbow Dash spoke up. “I think she would know that if she was writing the Princess Derpy, unless Celestia has a top secret P.O Box nopony but Twilight knows about,” Twilight could see her eyes twinkling mischievously as she spoke.
The other mare blushed and her ears flattened slightly. “Oh yeah... I guess you’re right Rainbow Dash, you’re so smart!”
“Well… Yeah, of course I am,” Rainbow Dash said self-assuredly. Twilight resisted rolling her eyes at the mare’s inflated ego. That’s when the postmare’s nametag caught her eye, “Ditzy Doo” it read.
Was Rainbow Dash bullying this poor mare? Usually Twilight would consider it none of her business, but before she could really reflect on the situation she found herself speaking out. “Derpy? That’s an interesting nickname. Though I’m not sure if I would like being called that personally,”
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Ugh, new ponies always take that the wrong way,” she grumbled. Twilight made a point to try and ignore her; Ditzy’s answer mattered far more to her than anything Rainbow had to say.
The gray pegasus blushed a little again and giggled. “Oh, yeah, I know it can sound a little bad, but I promise only my close friends call me that. I think it’s a little funny now actually…”
Twilight raised an eyebrow, which prompted the mare to continue. “It used to feel kinda bad, I got teased a lot growing up. Especially in flight camp because I can’t really fly too straight and getting around things can be very hard. I even started to dislike my name because it had “ditzy” in it.”
“So when I moved to Ponyville I decided to try a fresh start. I asked ponies to call me Muffins, because I love muffins and it sounded very cute! But... I don’t know… It just didn’t really help anything for me personally cuz sometimes the Cloudesdale ponies would recognize me and call me Derpy. Even Rainbow Dash…”
“I uh… Kinda thought it was just her name heh,” Rainbow interrupted. Twilight was astonished that the mare could even bring herself to sound sheepish. “But that also gave me an idea! I told Derpy that maybe if she called herself Derpy than it wouldn’t sound so bad anymore!”
The other mare smiled. “I know it sounds bizarre, but that’s what it took for me to stop feeling so hurt by the things ponies called me. Not that most of the visiting ponies meant it maliciously anymore, but it didn’t stop it from being painful. Not until I decided to take ownership of it… So… Yeah… That’s why Rainbow Dash calls me Derpy,”
Twilight had no idea how to respond. The last thing she had expected was an entire novel’s worth of backstory, all she had wanted to do was make sure Ditzy Doo wasn’t being bullied.
“Ponies are so complicated,” she grumbled in her head. On the exterior though, she put a polite smile on her face, “That’s great! Uh… Miss. Doo?”
“Pony feathers! She has three bucking names how do I know which one to pick?”
The mare giggled again. “You can call me whatever you like Twilight, the fact that you bothered to check in about the nickname shows that you’re a really nice pony. I’m sure you’ll make lots of friends here in Ponyville!”
There it was again, friends, and worse yet Rainbow Dash was looking at her with a very strange expression. “Right, um, well it was nice chatting but I really must get to my appointment with Cheerilee at the library,” Twilight said glancing at the clock on the wall. She was still a half hour early, but they didn’t have to know that.
“Oh right, you actually like, care about your job and stuff,” Rainbow said. Twilight did her best to quell the anger threatening to flood her body.
“You already knew she was a slacker, you shouldn’t let it surprise you,” she told herself.
“Hey listen, if you’re not busy after, I might be dropping by the library for uh… Weather stuff. But I’m kinda terrible at like, actually getting the right books, can you help?”
“Isn’t that what the librarian is for?” Twilight asked.
“Heh, yeah… She doesn’t exactly like me. But it’s sorta important for my job, please?”
Twilight would have loved to say no. But she also knew it would start an argument, and she really didn’t want to deal with that in the moment. “Look I’m not sure how long I’ll be at the library, but I gotta get going now, so… We’ll see,”
“Nice! See you there egghead!” Rainbow Dash responded, completely oblivious to Twilight’s small frown.
“Bye Twilight, I hope to see you around town!” Derpy said with a wave as the unicorn trotted out. But just when she thought she had escaped she heard Rainbow Dash’s voice.
“Wait up!”
She barely had time to turn around when she was almost muzzle to muzzle with the speedy pegasus. “What time are ya off?”
“I don’t know Rainbow… Maybe… A couple hours?”
“Holy… Wow, that’s a long time, you’re a trooper,”
“Right… Okay, well, see you later, ya know, just to get those books!” with that she was zipping off into the blue yonder.
Twilight felt so conflicted she might explode on the spot. Didn’t Rainbow say she disliked her? Why did she suddenly want her help so badly? Was it a setup for a prank? Did she want to corner her so she could bully her?
“It doesn’t make any sense!” Twilight thought to herself. “None of these ponies make any sense! It’s always something or another going on, does anypony value peace anymore?”
Regardless of her frustrations, the unicorn continued on her way to the library. At least she had a half hour to explore it and cool down. She had no was of understanding what was going on in Rainbow Dash’s head, but at that moment, she had better things to worry about.
Yet something nagged her in the back of her mind. “Maybe there’s more to Rainbow Dash than meets the eye.”
