Same old

Chapter 1:

Same old

"Mmm…".Applejack mumbled, disturbed in her peaceful slumber by the rooster crow. "...Not yet, please".

It was the first day of summer vacation and, as it had turned out, even a usually morning person like our dear farm girl was not too keen on waking up at dawn after a long school year. Unluckily for, her the bird had no intention of letting her or the rest of her family rest, in fact it kept crying louder by the minute. Applejack on the other hand was not willing to give up just yet. "I've been waiting to long for this day".She went on thinking, while burying her face under the soft pillow of her bed. "And I am not gonna move from here until 11:00 am at least."

"Applejack!". A familiar raspy voice began to shout from the corridor downstairs. "The rooster has already crowded twice, what in tarnation is taking you so long?!". Hearing her grandmother call her, the poor still tired girl sighed, as she was trying to come up with the right excuse that would make the elder woman let her stay in bed a few more hours.

"Oh, c'mon Granny, can't I just rest a little bit more? It's the first day of summer vacation after all!".

"What are you jabbering about?!". Granny Smith went on, clearly getting nervous, which was anything but good at her age. "You’ve got chores to do and you know that, too! Plus I remember you telling me that you were made a proposition for an afternoon job at the city mall, which means you gotta work double your usual speed to get everything done by midday. Or you won’t be able to make it in time. Now stop wasting time and get down here. Or I am coming upstairs myself!”.

As much as she wished to sleep, the farm girl knew too well that when her grandmother made a threat, she needed to be taken seriously. Especially when that threat involved throwing her granddaughter out of bed.

Applejack still had a vivid memory of what had happened some years before in similar circumstances.

It was Christmas time and everyone was preparing their gift lists, everyone but her. Granny Smith had in fact swore that if she had not waken up early us usual to get her chores done, she would have forced her to do so herself, which she had done without a second thought. The sensation of the elder woman's cold hands pulling her by the arm, making her fall violently on the floor, made her shiver like cold winter breeze.

“Okay, Granny!”. The farm girl shouted in response. “I am coming down”. A few seconds after, Applejack left the bed, throwing the blanket on the floor, then rushed to open her closet. It did not take her much to choose what to wear. “Just my usual shirt and a jeans skirt will be enough, I guess”. The girl repeated in her mind, grabbing the clothes she had chosen. As soon as had changed, Applejack ran to the bathroom to wash her face and brush her hair, which took her generally longer than all the other things she needed to do in the morning to get ready for work. Though it’s understandable that combing her hair into her usual long pony tail would require some time. Suddenly a voice came from out of the bathroom.

“Sis, are you in there?”.

“Applebloom?!”. Applejack answered. “What are doing?! You know I hate being disturbed, while I am in here!”.

“I know sis, it’s just that...couldn’t you hurry up a bit? I kinda need to use the washroom, too”.

Hearing those things, made the blonde farm girl sighed. If there was anything that could convince her to do something, it was her younger sister Applebloom’s begging act; so without thinking twice, she left the bathroom. As soon as she saw Applejack, opening the door, the little girl ran into room, forgetting even to thank her big sister.

“Oh well...”. The farm girl said to herself, while heading back to her room. “I guess we’re just back to the same old stuff”.

Having reached her bedroom, Applejack looked around, until she found her hat, left on a clothes hanger. “I guess we’d better be ready to go face the day”.

Applejack headed downstairs, passed through the corridor, where she heard Granny Smith, shouting at Big Mac who had apparently had the same idea as his sister to skip his chores for the day, and entered the kitchen.

There she found her breakfast, lying on the table. “Eggs...” the farm girl started counting, observing what Granny Smith had prepared for her and her siblings. “...Toasts, bacon, sausages, milk...same food as everyday: what a bore!”. After a few minutes spent wondering why Granny Smith could not come up with a different breakfast from time to time, Applejack decided to ignore the rumbling of her belly and get to work immediately.

On the fridge she found a small piece of paper, where her grandmother had written her daily chores, quickly took a look at it, then sighed again. “Same old chores, too. Seems today is getting better by the minute!”. In the end the girl headed outside to start working with an unusual frown on her face.

Of course watering some apple siblings, bucking apples or helping her brother fix the barn roof was no hard task for her but nothing seemed able to lift her spirit that day.

In the meantime little Applebloom, who was allowed to skip her chores for the day, being the youngest member of the family, had invited her friends Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle to play at the farm. The three youngsters were playing a game of cards, in the kitchen, when they saw Applejack covered in mud, entering the room.

“Hey Applejack!” Scootaloo greeted her, waving her arm. “How’s things?”. Strangely no answer came from the farm girl who instead ignored her and headed outside again, after having picked a broom from closet. “Wow!” the member of the CMCs exclaimed, having remained speechless. “What’s going on with your sister, Applebloom?”.

“I have no clue”. Her friend replied, looking anxious herself.

“Has it been long...I mean since she started acting...”.

“Awkwardly, rudely, like she was completely absent minded? Since this morning”.

“She looked really stressed to me” Sweetie Belle suggested, intervening. “I’m just wondering what could be bothering her so much”.

The three youngsters spent a few minutes in absolute silence, trying to figure out what was going on with Applejack. “But of course!” the little red headed farm girl shouted all of a sudden.

“Of course what?” Scootaloo asked, looking glass eyed and confused.

“This morning, when I was coming to the kitchen to have breakfast, I heard my sister complain about how boring and repetitive her chores seemed to her!”.

“So, she’s just bored?”.

“If that’s the case...”. Sweetie Belle went on. “...Then all we gotta do is find a way to make the day a little more exciting for her!”.

“But how?!” Scootaloo questioned. “Do we have a plan?”.

“Yes, we do!” Applebloom intervened again. “I’ve heard that she and her friends recently got a job at the mall”.

“That’s right” Sweetie Belle continued. “Rarity mentioned something of the sort, too”.

“We just need to help her finish her chores a little bit faster, so she can go to the mall early and catch up with the other girls!”.

“Brilliant idea, Applebloom” Scootaloo interrupted. “There’s just one small problem”.

“And that is?”.

“How many chores does your sister take care of every day?”.

Hearing that question, the young farm girl gulped, trying to hide her worry. “She’s usually the one doing most of the work every day”.

“Yeah, I can see that”. Sweetie Belle added, reading the notes Granny Smith had written for Applejack on the piece of paper attached to the fridge. “Finishing them will take most of our day”.

An awkward silence filled the room once more. “You know what? I don’t care!” Scootaloo intervened, breaking that awful atmosphere. “We own Applejack a thousand of favors, don’t we?”

Her fellow members of the Canterlot Movie Club nodded.

“I’ve personally lost counts of how many times she and the other girls helped us out and forgiven us for the mistakes we made”.

“Yeah, we know”. Sweetie Belle and Applebloom sadly uttered at the same time.

“Today we have a chance to repay her and, as far as I can remember, the CMCs always pay off their debts. Especially when it come to helping others. Am I right or am I right?”

“Yeah!”.

“Perfect, now: who else wants to give Applejack an easy day?”.

The other two young girls raised their hands immediately.

“Very well. Now Applebloom, go tell Granny Smith we’ll take care of Applejack’s chores for the rest of the day. Sweetie Belle and I will stay here to give your sister the gig news”.

Shortly after the young red headed farm girl had left the kitchen, Applejack entered from the door to leave the broom where she had taken it. “Applejack!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed excitedly. “We were just about to come and get you: we’ve got something very important to tell you!”.

“Uh...me?”. The girl replied, shaking her head confused.

“Yes, you” Scootaloo went on.“You have the rest of the day off!”.

“What?!”. Applejack exclaimed, even more confused. “But Granny Smith said”.

“Bla bla bla, Granny Smith said it’s okay, if we take care of your chores for you”.

“Really, girls, I am not sure...”.

“Oh come on!”. Sweetie Belle intervened. “We know you’re dying to meet your friends at the mall, so stop talking and just go!”. With these words the CMCs pushed Applejack out of the door which they locked tight so the girl would not be able to get in.

“Job well done”. Scootaloo told her friend with a smile of satisfaction on her face.

“We’ve got Granny’s permission!” Applebloom shouted, reappearing suddenly.

“Cool!” Scootaloo replied, exited. “I was dying to stop playing that boring game of cards anyway. So what do we have to do first?”.

“Well...”. Her red headed friend uttered, picking Applejack’s to do list. “You pick”.

As soon as they laid their eyes on that list, the three youngsters gulped at the sight of the load of things they would have to do by the end of the day.

“Remember: anything for a friend”. They repeated to themselves, gulping.

“Anything for a friend”.

Later that afternoon Applejack reached the mall, walking slowly, constantly turning back, still unsure if leaving the Canterlot Movie Club girls to do her chores had been a good idea.

Sometimes she thought of going back, yet, when she stared at her watch, she realized it was almost time for her new job.

“I wonder if it will be any fun for me. I could really use some of that today”. The girl thought, while entering the shopping center.

The place was particularly crowded that day, which seemed to be no surprise to the farm girl. After all everyone in town were looking forward for summer just for the sales.

Passing by, Applejack often stopped to take a look at the window display of the various shops. Some of them showed really pretty dresses, at least in Applejack's opinion; but the girl knew very well that her knowledge of fashion was equal to zero.

That reflection brought up her dear friend Rarity who, too, had taken a job at the mall. So without worrying too much about being late at her first day of work, the blond farm girl decided to pay her old pall a visit.

The place where Rarity was to work during summer was of course a boutique: a property of a certain Prim Hemline, apparently another woman important in the fashion industry Applejack did not know and did not want to know much about.

The place looked incredibly chic even at distance thanks to the exquisite way it was decorated.

Furthermore the bright purple curtains around the windows, made it simply outstanding among that river of shops.

Upon entering, the farm girl noticed Rarity behind the counter: she was wearing a black silk dress full of sequin and some pink ribbon in her hair.

Applejack greeted the girl, waving her right arm, and with a big smile, the first of the day for that matter.

“Applejack, darling!”. Rarity exclaimed happily, as soon as she recognized her friend. “A pleasure to see you!”. The youngster added, nearing the farm girl and placing two long kisses on each of her cheeks.

“Hi, Rare!”. Applejack replied, gazing upon her friend’s dress. “Nice outfit”. The farm girl went on saying.“Take you designed it yourself?”.

“Oh, this? No!”Her friend answered, blushing, leaving Applejack confused. “It’s an outfit my new boss, Prim, gave me for the job”.

“Oh!”. Applejack uttered, fearing she had hurt Rarity’s sense of fashion. “I am sorry, Rare, I just thought...”.

Seeing her friend’s reaction, the second girl started giggling, which was suddenly a relief to the farm girl. “No need to worry, dear Applejack, I am not offended. It may be true that I have not designed this outfit myself, yet I still find it gorgeous, just like you said”.

Hearing those words Applejack sighed, visibly calmer, right before bursting into laughter, shortly followed by her friend, Rarity.

“So”. The farm girl said, once she had stopped laughing and giggling. “How’s your new job, so far, Rare?”.

“Mmm...”. Rarity whispered in response, which Applejack guessed was not a good sign. “Let’s jut say it could be better”.

“And why is that?”. The blond farm girl asked, placing a hand on her friend’s shoulder in an attempt to cheer her up.

“Oh, Applejack, I have been here an hour already, but no client has shown up, yet!”.

“What?!”. Applejack, exclaimed surprised. “How is that even possible, when there’s such a huge crowd all over the mall?!”.

“That’s just it, darling, I don’t know. It seems that people here are interested in every store but mine and it’s frustrating. Especially because Prim told me that if I make enough sales, she’ll be considering supporting my boutique in town! Do you have any idea how important that is to me?!”.

“Of course I do, Rare”. The farm girl replied, smiling. “What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t?”.

“Oh, Applejack, I am desperate to find a solution, desperate!”. Rarity went on, before falling on a red couch just next to the counter.

“Don’t fret Rarity, it’s no good for you; plus crying will ruin your makeup. Listen here: what would you say if I helped you gather up some people here?”.

“Could you?!”.

“Well...not exactly”. Applejack answered, blushing.

“Then what do you mean?”.

“I have DJ Pon-3’s number. I bet my boots she would love to give you a hand. Plus nobody like her knows how to draw people’s attention. So, Rare, what do you say?”.

“Alright...I guess I can give it a try”. Rarity replied, after thinking it through. "Give me her number”.

The farm girl took her phone from the pocket of her skirt and gave her friend DJ Pon-3’s contact.

“I only hope she will be be able to make it today”.

“Don’t worry!”. Applejack said, trying to reassure her friend. “I am certain she will”.

Rarity made the call and agreed a time with DJ who sounded excited to help the girl out.

“What did she say?” Applejack questioned curiously.

“We have a deal: she’ll be here in an hour”.

“Awesome! So, was I right or not?”. The farm girl asked with a smirk on her face.

“You were, darling. I am sorry I doubted you”.

“Oh, shucks! Shortly you will see what kind of magic that girl can work to gather up folk!”.

While Applejack was giggling, proud of the brilliant idea she had to assist her dear friend, Rarity took one last look at her phone, more specifically at the time. “Oh, my!” she shouted, worried.

“What now?”.

“It’s already 3:30 pm”.

“So, what?”. Went on the farm girl who had yet to understand the gravity of the situation.

“Darling, weren’t you supposed to be at the fruit stage by 3:00pm?”.

“Oh, shoot!”. Applejack exclaimed, clearing her throat, feeling fear growing inside her. “I gotta go. Thanks for the chat rare, see ya later!”. And she rushed out of the clothes shop without even letting Rarity thank her for her help.

It took at least 15 minutes for the farm girl to reach the stage where she was supposed to be working. The crowd that had gathered up at the mall that day was truly impressive: too bad for Applejack.

As soon as she arrived in front of her wooden stage, she saw a tall ginger-haired man with an angry expression on his face.

“Oh boy!” The farm girl thought, imagining who that person was. “Something tells me this is gonna be a long afternoon”.

After having listened to her new boss, yelling at her being late on her first day of work, Applejack was sent to get ready. “What do you mean?” The youngster asked, confused to the man before her who had a pair of evil vulture-like eyes.

“I mean wear your costume. It’s in the supply room. We made sure to find one you would fit in.”

As soon as she saw her working uniform, the farm girl’s jaw dropped: it looked at least too sizes larger than what it was supposed to be. Not to mention the it’s flashing green color which reminded her of moss. In a few words it was so horrible that even somebody like Applejack, whose knowledge in fashion was equal to zero, would hate it.

For a moment the girl thought of complaining, but then remembered her boss’s spooky gaze and the tone he had used with her which had made her shiver like a sheep.

On second thought she could have always thrown the towel, but again something inside her reminded the reason why her friends and she had decided to look for a summer job in the first place.

“Oh, shoot, the trip to the beach site next month, right!”.

Sighing, the girl gave up at the prospective of walking away from that cursed place, gathered all the courage she had inside and put on the costume.

The job Applejack had been given was not hard. After all anybody in the farm girl’s opinion would be able to simply cut some fruits and mix them into a milkshake. The hardest part for her was in fact doing so, while wearing that ridiculous suit.

Every time somebody walked by, Applejack had the strange impression that she was being observed. All those evil stares were shortly followed in her mind by grins and sinister giggles.

“Oh, gosh”. The farm girl thought, clearing her throat. “Now I’ve become a true laughing stock!”.

Right at that moment, when she felt like she could not handle it anymore and was about to run away, Applejack heard a familiar cheerful voice, calling for her.

“Hey, AJ! What are you doing?”.

“Ah, Pinkie!”. The blonde farm girl exclaimed, recognizing her cheerful friend. “You scared me!”.

“Oh, c’mon!”. Pinkie went on, giggling. “It’s fun to get spooked from time to time”.

“Not to me it isn’t!”. Applejack replied, clearly bothered by her friend’s prank.

“Ah, fine. Anyway how’s things on your first day of work?”.

“Not good”. The farm girl sighed sadly. “What about you?”.

“Oh, I don’t know yet. I still need to get to the restaurant I am supposed to be working in. Do you like my new uniform?”.

Applejack stared at Pinkie for a moment. Only now did she realize her friend was wearing an azure and black waitress dress. “Pretty, isn’t it? I like yours, too!”.

“No, don’t look!”. The farm girl answered, hiding under the counter of the fruit stage. “Today has brought me nothing but bad luck. I don’t want you to see me like this!”.

Worried by Applejack’s behavior, Pinkie asked what was going on. Having left her hiding spot, her friend told her the whole story.

“Wow!”. Pinkie exclaimed, once Applejack had finished talking. “That sounds really awful!”.

“I know: there’s no way it could get any worse!”.

“Applejack!”. Her boss called for her right at that moment. “A client has spilled fruit juice on the floor: get to work!”.

Hearing those words, the farm girl sighed. “Well, Pinkie I guess I need to go. Head to the restaurant or you will be late on your first day like I was. I really would not want you to get in the trouble because of me”.

“Oh, Applejack don’t worry”. Pinkie replied, hugging her tight. “Just think about the beach!”.

“I sincerely hope it will be worth it”.

A second call from her boss made the farm girl that understand she needed to get to cleaning the dirty floor immediately. So she and her friend said goodbye to each other.

“See you later Applejack”. Pinkie exclaimed, turning around to leave. “And anyway your uniform isn’t all that bad”.

“Thanks, but I know it is. See you later Pinkie. I hope you’ll be luckier with your new job than I was!”.

Coinky-Dink World

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Chapter 2:

Coinky-Dink World

“Thank you for visiting us!”. Pinkie Pie said to a customer, sitting at a table, with her usual smile on her face. “Did you enjoy your meal?”

“You bet I did!”. The customer, a fifty years old man with very pale skin, an elongated chin and a rather funny haircut, replied. “I hadn't eaten so well since my poor mom passed away. Oh, the food she used to prepare for me was so good that just the thought makes my mouth water again. Not that I am saying that my wife, Matilda, isn't a good cook, but still...”. The man sighed embarrassed, while his cheeks turned red as tomatoes.

“Don't worry, Mr. Cranky Doodle!”. Pinkie went on giggling. “Your secret is safe with me”.

“Thanks, Pinkie”. The customer said, clearing his throat. “But next time don't call me Doodle!”. With these very last words the man left the restaurant, marching to the jewelry store, where he had left his wife, Matilda.

“Another customer satisfied”. The young girl exclaimed at that point. “Good job me...again”.

“Are you sure about what you're saying, Pinkie?”. Said a purple haired woman, wearing a waitress dress identical to Pinkie's, appearing from the kitchen door. “He seemed pretty furious to me”.

“Ah, he's always like this”. The youngster giggled, still convinced that she had succeeded in cheering up her old grumpy teacher's mood.

“If you say so”. The other woman replied, knowing that starting an argument with the young girl would be no use. “I wonder if what he said is true, though”.

“Do you mean the thing he said about his wife?”. The older purple haired woman nodded.

“Absolutely, I've visited Matilda at her place dozens of times, before she and Mr. Cranky decided to marry and I guarantee that she cannot even boil an egg properly”.

At the sound of those words the waitress remained a little shocked: sure Mr. Cranky Doodle was a bit skinny, but overall he seemed very well fed.

“Luckily for him I happen to have a bit of free time every weekend, so I can bake a cake for him and his wife”.

“Wow, Pinkie!”. The older woman exclaimed, even more surprised than before. “You give them cake every weekend? That's pretty generous of you! Why would you do that?”.

“Because both Mr. Cranky and Matilda are my friends and I always make sure to make all of my friends smile!”. Pinkie's colleague found that response very pleasant: in her whole life she had never encountered somebody as selfless and cheerful as the young girl, Pinkie Pie.

“Wow!” The older woman said in the end, smiling herself. “No wonder why you have so many friends!”.

“Well, duh! It's because I...”.

While the youngster was still speaking, a noise came from behind her and the kitchen door opened. A man, wearing a chef jacket, appeared. The character in question was tall and had a glowing complexion; his hair was the color of fire. His chin was hidden by a badly shaved beard and a pair of long red mustache covered the base of his nose. His chest was wide and his arms appeared to be rather bulky. Overall he was a handsome fellow.

“What is going on around here?”. The chef said, fixing his cold blue eyes upon the chatting waitresses. “ So, why are you two wasting your time?!”. He went on shouting, making his Irish accent even more evident.

“Sorry, chef!”. The purple haired woman answered, embarrassed at the fact that she had been caught chatting, instead of working, for the first time in ten years. “I just asked a question to our new girl here. That's why we were talking. I apologize: it was my fault”.

“Listen...”. The man replied in his deep tone of voice. “I don't care whose fault it is. I just need you both to get back to work. Look: a new client! Now stop whatever you are doing and go see what she wants to eat, you'll have plenty of time to catch up later, once the restaurant has closed. Everything clear?!”.

“Yes, chef!”. The two waitresses answered, blushing.

“Good. One of you go to her!”.

“I'll take care of her”. Pinkie replied, happy to see the new client was one of her friends, and quickly headed to the table where the girl in question had sat.

The place where Pinkie Pie had been hired was one of the many small restaurants one could come across, while shopping, in the mall.

The owners were officially an Irish couple who had moved to Canterlot City from Manehattan just a few months ago. Yet no one at the restaurant had seen the chef's wife so far.

Pinkie had arrived at the place a few minutes later than she was supposed to due to her previous chat with Applejack, yet that had not given her any trouble, as the chef himself was not exactly known for his punctuality.

The restaurant was not too pompous. The interior design consisted of ten or twelve tables, a large counter right before the entrance to the kitchen and the walls were painted in a simple white color. In a few words any fashion designer like Rarity would have rather died than worked in a place like that; yet Pinkie Pie was not nearly as fashion forward as her friend Rarity, so she did not seem to mind.

As soon as she entered the restaurant she was warmly welcomed by a purple haired older lady and a blue haired girl who at first sight seemed just a little younger than Pinkie. Both of them were wearing the same waitress uniform she had been given the day she had taken the job.

“Hello and welcome to Coinky-Dink”. The first woman exclaimed, as she laid her eyes on the young girl. “You must be Pinkie Pie”.

“Yeah, that's me!”. The youngster answered in her usual excited tone of voice. “And you are?”.

“I am Viola and this here is Ruby”. The other one went on talking. “We work here, so I guess we're gonna be colleagues from now on!”.

“Super!”. The cheerful youngster shouted at the sound of those words. “Not only did I get I job, but I already have a pair of super friendly colleagues, too! This must be my lucky day!” .

“Thanks!”. The older woman replied, visibly embarrassed by the girl's unexpected reaction. “You are very kind. But enough chat. I see you're already wearing your uniform”.

“Yeah, I though it would be a good idea not to waste any time changing at work”.

“Smart intuition: the chef will certainly appreciate that. You see, he wants all of us to be as professional as possible”.

“Speaking of the chef, were is he?”. Pinkie questioned, surprised at the fact that she had not seen her new boss, yet.

“He'll be here in a few minutes. He also likes to take his time in the afternoon. Why don't you take a look around the restaurant, while we're waiting?”.

Hearing those words, the youngster turned around and immediately noticed that, apart from a few tables and chairs, there was very little to see in the place. The purple haired waitress looked embarrassed: she of all people had worked in the restaurant the longest and she of all people knew how much it needed renovating; yet the owner had categorically refused to spend money for a fresh brush of paint on the walls or new furniture.

“Maybe I could take our new girl to the kitchen?”. The one called Ruby intervened, seeing her colleague's cheeks had turned red.

“I am not so sure it's a good idea...”. Viola replied, worried.

“Ah, why not?!”. Pinkie asked, obviously looking forward to see the place where her new boss worked.

“Well, the chef doesn't exactly like other people touching his things, especially, while he's absent”.

“Oh, c'mon, Viola!”. Ruby went on complaining. “You don't wanna disappoint our newest girl, right?!”.

As much as she knew Ruby's idea was actually as bad as it sounded, in the end Viola gave up and allowed the other waitress to enter the kitchen with Pinkie Pie, while she would be keeping her eyes open outside and warn them, when the chef was coming.

“Gee...”. The young pink haired girl, exclaimed, staring at what was lying before her.

The kitchen was certainly the worst looking room in the whole restaurant. In fact, while at least the rest of the place was clean and tidy, the kitchen was a giant mess of dirty dishes, piled one under the other, and a bunch of utensils, abandoned on the wet sink.

“How could anyone work in a place like this?!”. Pinkie Pie, exclaimed, shouting so loudly that the whole mall probably heard her voice.

“Please don't be so loud”. Ruby intervened, attempting to justify the state of the kitchen. “There's no need to be so shocked, Pinkie. Since the chef isn't here, yet, we haven't started working, so it's practically normal that the kitchen is still a bit messy”.

“Little, you say?!”. Pinkie Pie kept shouting even more loudly than before. “You call this little?! This is a complete disaster; it'll take hours to clean up! When are we supposed to open?! The chef can't possibly think of cooking for our clients in a kitchen this dirty! What will he say, when he arrives?!”.

“Usually he says nothing”. Ruby answered calmly as if that situation were truly just part of her regular daily routine.

“What?!”. The young pink haired girl questioned now clearly agitated. “Are you being serious, Ruby?!”.

“See me smiling? I am dead serious. This is where our chef always cooks; plain and simple. He likes to call it organized chaos”. While listening to these words a brilliant idea flashed in Pinkie's mind.

“I think we'd better clean up this mess on our own, before the boss gets here”.The young girl suggested.

“Are you like...for real?!”. Ruby exclaimed stunned.

“Yeah”. Pinkie went on excited as ever. “I am sure he'll appreciate that, don't ya think?”.

“I wouldn't advise you to do that”. The other youngster replied, visibly worried.

“Ah, why not?!”.

“Because...How do I put this? As Viola explained before, the chef doesn't really like people snooping into his things; especially when it comes to his kitchen”.

“Oh, c'mon! I am sure he's not really that grumpy”.

“Just wait and you'll see for yourself, Pinkie!”. Ruby intervened, clearing her throat.

“Anyway, if we gotta do something about this dirty kitchen, we need to start as soon as possible. Tell me where the supply closet is”.

After Ruby had pointed out the room in question, the pink haired youngster rushed to pick up a broom and bunch of dish clothes and started cleaning up the kitchen.

Even the other waitress, Viola, did not seem to like Pinkie's idea, yet her disagreement was not enough to stop the Pinkie Hurricane.

By the time the owner of the restaurant arrived, his kitchen sparkled as if it were brand new.

“Hello, chef!” Viola said, greeting the man, entering from the main door.

“Hello yourself, Viola!”. The chef replied in his manly deep tone of voice. “Is everything ready to open?”.

“Sure, boss. Why wouldn't it be?”. Viola answered, doing her best to hide the trembling in her voice.

“You seem odd, today”. The owner went on, noticing the waitress was sweating. “Are you sure, you're okay? Do you need me to call a doctor or something?”.

“Absolutely not!”. The woman replied, suddenly raising her voice. “I am fine and ready for work, see?”.

“Viola...”. The man exclaimed, completely sure the woman was not telling him the truth. “...How many times do I have to repeat this? You are a terrible actor. Now would you please tell me what's going on in my restaurant without me knowing?”.

Right at that moment a loud noise was heard: it was similar to that of a heavy metallic object, falling on the ground.

“What was that?!”. The big man shouted, suddenly loosing his previous composure. “Who is doing what inside my kitchen?!”. Before the waitress could answer a voice was heard, saying.

“Gee, these pans are heavy!”.

“Damn it!”. The chef went on saying furiously. “Is that the new waitress I hired the other day? Tell me, Viola, is it her or not?!”. Viola did not have the courage to reply, or perhaps thought that if she had done so, she would have gotten Pinkie into even more trouble. Yet her silence did not help either.

“I see you stand silent”. The restaurant owner intervened, having understood that the waitress would not answer his question. “Well, if you don't want to talk to me, I'll just go and see for myself who dared touching my precious kitchen utensils!”. And with these very words the chef marched to the kitchen room to see what was going on inside; Viola following behind him.

As soon as he entered the kitchen, his jaw dropped from shock, seeing what was laying before him, while poor Viola almost passed out.

In a very short time Pinkie Pie had managed to clean up the whole mess she and Ruby had found in the place. The dishes had all been scrubbed clean and the sink sparkled in a silvery light. The dust on the floor had suddenly disappeared and every single one of the utensils had been put back to its place.

“What is the meaning of this?!”. The chef shouted agitated, while Viola had yet to come up to her senses. “I asked a question and I demand an answer now. Ruby?!”.

“Yes, boss?!”. The blue teenage girl shouted, swallowing.

“Why are you holding a broom? And why does everything in this place look so clean and tidy?!”.

“Well, chef, you see....”.

“We thought that the kitchen could use a little spring cleaning”.

“And who might you be, little girl?”. The owner asked in a threatening tone.

“I am Pinkie Pie and you, Sir, hired me the other day, remember?”.

“Yes, of course I do”. The big man replied, looking very disappointed and regretful. “It's very hard to forget someone like you, kid, and now that you made this mess in my kitchen, it'll be even harder!”.

“Don't be silly, boss!”. The young pink haired girl went on giggling, as if the chef were joking. “I did not make a mess in your kitchen: I made the mess go away!”.

“Well you shouldn't have done that.” The man went on, as his pale cheeks turned red as chili peppers.

“What do you mean?”. Pinkie Pie asked, visibly confused.

“Did seriously none of you explain to this here girl that I do not appreciate people, touching my stuff?”.

As the red haired man asked this question, Ruby immediately felt like revealing the truth to the chef, but was soon stopped by her older colleague that signaled her not to utter a word from behind their boss's back.

“Well?”.

“We did not...”. Viola replied in the end, looking mortified. “...The girl just wanted to do something nice for her first day of work and thought that cleaning up the kitchen would be a nice idea. She did not know anything about how we usually work here at Coinky-Dink”.

“Is that true, Ruby?”. The big red haired man questioned, now facing the other young waitress.

As much as Ruby wished to tell the truth, so she would not get in trouble; another stare from Viola was enough to make her change her mind. “Yeah, boss. We're sorry, we should have warned her as soon as she arrived about the restaurant rules”.

“For that reason we're asking you to forgive her. Please, chef, give her another chance. It's only her first day after all”.

A deep silence filled the atmosphere, nothing could be heard in the kitchen of the Coiky-Dink restaurant but the grinding of Pinkie Pie's teeth.

The girl had in fact understood what kind of mess she had gotten herself into. She had been right about one thing: her new boss was not so grumpy as Ruby had described him: he was even worse. Now, thanks to her brilliant idea, she was about to loose her part-time job on her first day.

“Normally I wouldn't have any problem with firing you, even if it's only your first day here”. The owner said, as he finally began to speak. “After all I've done that to so many other people already. But, as two of my best employees are for who knows what reason trying their best to defend you, I'll give you a second chance. But keep this in mind, kid, it's the first and only time I'm closing an eye on you, got it?!”.

Hearing that threatening voice, poor Pinkie nodded in response as quickly as she could.

“Good, now get out of my kitchen, all of you! You, Pinkie or whatever your name is, go deal with the clients who just entered, while you two take care of your usual tasks. We'll discuss about your punishments later, but I can tell you at once that you can forget about receiving your usual salary this month and I don't want any complaining”.

No complaining came from any of the waitresses, as they walked out of the kitchen.

That experience had left Pinkie Pie in a very bad mood. Despite all she did to try to hide it in front of the various customers she talked to, it was evident that her smile was not as natural and cheerful as usual, especially to the client who had walked into the restaurant just a moment before.

“Hi, Twilight!”. The young pink haired girl exclaimed, reaching the table where her friend was sitting.

“Hey, Pinkie!”. The youngster said, greeting the waitress. “How's your job going so far?”.

The moment she heard that question, Pinkie Pie made a face so frowning that Twilight remained shocked. “Let's just say it could be going better...”.

“And why is that?”. Twilight asked, clearly worried.

“Oh, you don't wanna hear it.”

“Yes I do”.

“Trust me, Twilight, it's be better if I just forget. Do you want to order something?”.

“Pinkie Pie!”. The purple haired girl went on, now looking more serious than ever. “I am not ordering anything, until you spill the beans”.

Seeing her friend's gaze upon her was enough to make poor Pinkie give up.

As she was telling what had happened to her during that day, the pink haired girl slowly got more ad more upset, until tears began to line her cheeks.

When her friend fully manifested her feelings, crying, Twilight pulled her into a tight hug. “There, there, it's okay, Pinkie”. The girl began to say. “I know how much effort you put into everything you do and I understand that what happened must have been really tough for you to swallow”.

“I was just trying my best to improve the condition of the restaurant and then what do I get?! The chef yelling at me!”. Pinkie went on crying.

“It's okay, let it come”.

After a few more minutes Pinkie Pie had calmed down, yet her face was still clearly soaked in tears.

“Feeling better now?”. Twilight asked, smiling.

“A bit...”. Her friend answered, trying to regain her composure. “...But still...”.

“Hey!”. The other girl suddenly exclaimed, interrupting her. “Remember: we're doing this for our trip to the beach”.

“I do remember”. Pinkie replied, looking at her.

“Don't think about that disgusting kitchen. If the chef wants to work in a mess, it's his business. Think instead of the seagulls, the heat of the sun on your skin and the salty smell of the sea”.

Luckily thinking about the things her friend had mentioned was enough to make Pinkie smile again.

“You're right, Twilight”. She said a few seconds after, while drying her cheeks with a tissue her friend had given to her. “I shouldn't worry too much, but focus on the main reason that made us take these jobs in the first place. Thanks for your help, I really needed it”.

“You're welcome!”. Twilight replied happily. “But you needn't thank me. After all: what are friends for, if not helping each other out?”.

After saying these things, Twilight hugged her friend once more, before standing up from the table and turning back toward the exit door.

“Wait, Twilight!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, seeing her go away. “What about you order? Didn't you want to eat something?”.

Twilight shook her head in response. “Truth to be told”. She then said. “I just came here to say hi, so now I need to get back to my tech store. Plus, after all I heard, I don't think I'll ever eat anything here. See you later, Pinkie!”.

Hearing her friend's response, the pink haired girl remained glass-eyed: a client had gone away because of what she had said. But as much unprofessional as this may sound, she was pleased with it.

After all, who would ever recommend that a friend should eat in a place like that?

Fashion disaster

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Chapter 3:

"Fashion disaster"

“Okay”. Prim said after examining the dresses, displayed in her store. “I like what I see”.

“Really?!”. Rarity exclaimed excited. “I mean...of course. Exactly as I expected”. She then added, trying to regain her usual composure. “I've put all of my effort into this to live up to your expectations, Miss. Hemline”.

“You sure did”. Prim said, while staring at a marvelous purple dress, covered in sequins.

“I see this one catches your eye, Miss. Hemline?” Rarity questioned, using her sweetest tone of voice.

“It definitely does”. The older woman commented, smirking.

“I like to call it: the magic of a thousand stars”.

“Ingenious name”

“You really think so?! Oh... I mean...of course you do!”.

“Rarity you deserve my congratulations. Though I must say I am pretty curious to know how you pulled this off in such a short time. It's only your first day here after all”.

“Well...”. The young girl replied, blushing. “I started working on this new collection as soon as you hired me, which may have brought to a few sleepless nights. But, judging by your reaction, it was worth it”.

“Indeed”. Prim exclaimed, clearly proud of her new fashion designer. “I daresay you've really outdone yourself”.

“Thank you”. The young woman went on, showing a rather anxious behavior. “So, can I count on you keeping that promise you made the last time we met?”.

“What promise...Oh, that one!”. The older woman said, suddenly realizing what her employee was talking about. “Listen Rarity...”. Prim uttered, after a few moments of anxious silence. “You are undoubtedly a talented designer. But creativity and sewing skills aren't all, when you work in a professional boutique”.

“What do you mean?”. The youngster questioned, fearing that Prim had decided to take her word back.

“I mean that you should also be a talented saleswoman, which means that I'll need to see how much money you can raise in one day before I make my final decision.” At the sound of those words a loud gulping noise was heard: Rarity had cleared her throat, while heavy drops of sweat began to line her forehead. Two clear signs that she was worried.

“You are right, Miss Hemline.” The young fashion designer uttered, after taking a deep relaxing breath. “I guarantee I won't disappoint you. In fact...”. Rarity went on saying, smirking maliciously. “I think I've already come up with the perfect plan to bring the whole mall right here!”.

“Oh, really?!”. The older woman questioned, visibly intrigued by Rarity's response. “May I ask how you intend to do that?”

“Just wait and see”. The girl answered with a sudden confident look on her face. “ Soon your shop will become the most popular of all!”.

“Well then!”. Prim exclaimed, interrupting the youngster's burst of euphoria. “If you can make that happen, you can count on my total support for the opening of your new boutique. No, better. I'll make you the permanent fashion designer in chief in my shop in the very heart of the city. What do you say, sound good to you?”.

There were no words to describe the expression the young girl put on her face, when she heard the sound of those things. Rarity found herself suddenly unable to answer, nonetheless that did not seem to surprise Prim at all.

“I'll take that as a yes”. Prim finally said, breaking that awful silence. “I'll leave you to your job now, Rarity. There's some important businesses I need to attend to. See you later: I'm looking forward to seeing what you've come up with". Having spoken these words, the older pink haired woman, turned around and left the boutique.

Rarity needed a few more minutes to come up to her senses again: all those exciting news had really done a number on her. The prospective of working for a famous star like Prim Hemline seemed to the young girl like a dream, coming true. It meant all to her at that moment and she was determined to do everything in her power to fulfil that dream. She had already done the hard part anyway: designing and creating all those new dresses in a week had not been easy, so now she thought that she had proved herself more than worthy of the position Prim had offered her. Things are in order to reach her object her secret plan had to go absolutely smoothly.

“Oh, Rats!”. The young woman exclaimed, pulling her hair, while staring at the clock on the wall.

“Why is she taking so long?”. Rarity checked her phone multiple times to verify if DJ Pon-3 had sent her any messages. The problem was she had not.

“Oh, come on!”. The anxious fashion designer went on complaining.

“Why isn't she here already? What's wrong? Did she forget about coming here? Maybe something bad happened, something that prevented her from coming here on time! Maybe...”. Rarity suddenly stopped taking, finally realizing that she was overreacting.

“Okay”. She said, after another deep breath.

“You are exaggerating, Rarity! Of course, she isn't here yet. It's not the time we agreed to meet. Maybe you should go take a walk around the mall and have a look at some of the other shops' window displays. Yeah that ought to calm you...And make you stop talking to yourself”.

Applejack was certainly not exaggerating, when she had said that the mall was a total chaos.

The entire shopping center was in fact crawling with people some of whom Rarity recognized.

“It looks like the whole town of Canterlot has decided to come here for shopping”. The young fashion designer exclaimed, barely able to believe what she was seeing with her own eyes.

Every single shop was full of people of all ages, fighting with each other over the various items they wished to buy. There was only one store left empty and unluckily it was hers.

The girl gave another quick look at her phone and noticed that it indicated it was only 4:10 pm, meaning there was still hope for her that DJ PON-3 would show up in time.

“Maybe a drink will cheer me up”. Rarity finally said, leaving the seat she had taken on a bench she had come across, while walking.

“It can't be far now”. The youngster thought, after several minutes, spent looking for Applejack's fruit stage. “When she said it was distant from my boutique, she didn't specify it was at the opposite edge of the mall!”.

Rarity had all the right to be nervous: a long walk through an enormous crowded mall, was certainly not the best way to spend the afternoon. But right when the youngster started to regret having come all that way, she finally spotted the fruit stage. Truth to be told, it was more of a cart than a stage, colored in yellow and green.

“Eww!”” Rarity exclaimed, laying her eyes on the fruit cart. “ I cannot believe Applejack would ever agree to work in a place like this. It completely lacks taste and...”.

While she was commenting the horrendous way that cart had been designed, the youngster heard a shouting noise coming from behind a wall.

“I wonder who that is or whatever for they decided to shout so loudly.”

Although some people, Rarity included, may consider things like spying and eavesdropping not exactly polite, the young designer was such a curious lady that she could not resist the temptation that chance represented and decided to get closer, so she would be able to listen to the conversation.

Once she had found herself in front of the wall that unpleasant shouting noise was coming from, the girl laid her right ear on the wall. She did not manage to follow the whole conversation, but she did hear a man, speaking to a girl. He was apparently complaining about the lack of effort his new employee had shown, while working.

“ Oh, dear!”. Rarity thought, once the conversation was finally over. “It seems like someone is now in deep trouble”.

A few minutes after the shouting noises had stopped, Rarity saw her dear cowgirl friend, coming out of a dark room and heading toward the fruit stage... Or rather cart.

“Applejack!”. The young fashion designer shouted, after seeing the blonde girl, appearing out of nowhere.

“Hey Rare...” Applejack replied, in an unusually depressed tone.

“Oh...something's not right, is it?”.

“What do you mean?”. The cowgirl asked, not knowing what her friend was talking about.

“You were the one that horrible man was shouting at, were you not?”.

“How do you...”. At the sound of that question, Rarity's cheeks began to blush.

“Don't tell me you overheard the entire thing?!”. The young designer nodded in response. “Oh great, just what I needed!”.

“Forgive me for being impolite, Applejack...”. Rarity said, interrupting her friend. “...But might I ask you what you and that man were discussing so loudly?”. The cowgirl sighed deeply.

“I suppose you deserve to know. That man you heard talking is my new boss and he thinks I am not putting enough effort into this job, because I don't smile enough”. Before answering, Rarity took a closer look at her friend's working uniform and noticed its look was not exactly better than the one of the fruit cart.

“Well...”. The young designer began to speak. “In your defense I'll say than both this cart and your uniform look horrible”.

“Oh, finally someone who sees that!”. Applejack shouted furiously. “Mind telling that to my boss, because he doesn't seem to care about my opinion at all. How am I suppose to smile, when I look like a clown, kicked out of a circus? Not even Pinkie Pie could do that!”.

“I don't know about that...”. Rarity giggled, trying to cheer her friend up.

“You're right: she would and she did. She passed by some twenty minutes ago and said that my uniform looks pretty”. At the sound of those words, Rarity almost passed out, shocked by what Pinkie Pie had said to Applejack. “Are you okay Rare?”. The cowgirl exclaimed, seeing her friend's reaction.

“Well...”. The other girl answered. “...I am, yes, but I think I might need to sit down down a bit”.

“It's okay, I gotta ya covered”.

Applejack led her friend to a nearby bench on which Rarity sat to recover from the earlier shock. “Feeling better now?”. Applejack asked, still visibly worried. Rarity nodded in response. “Is there anything else I can do for you, before I get back to my incredibly fun job?”. AJ asked with irony.

“Actually...”. The young fashion designer said. “I would like to try out one of your smoothies”.

“Of course”. The other girl sighed, sounding very annoyed.

“Is there a problem, darling?”.

“No, no. Of course not!”. The cowgirl replied, blushing, fearing she had offended her friend. “I'll gladly make one for you, Rarity. But, as I said, it's not really the job I was hoping for”.

After having said these things, AJ headed to her fruit cart. “What type of smoothie would you like?”. She asked, turning back to Rarity.

“Whatever you think is best, darling. Surprise me”.

Applejack was a natural in the kitchen, even when it came to the most basic of things. Nobody in the whole school could match her especially at combining different flavors. The cowgirl picked up a banana and some blueberries and mixed them with milk. In a few seconds the refreshing drink was ready.

“Here you go, Rare”. Applejack exclaimed, handing the smoothie to her friend. As soon as Rarity took a few sips, a pleasant smile appeared on her face.

“It's delicious!”. The young fashion designer exclaimed, gazing upon her friend with admiration. “How did you make it?”.

“Shucks, Rarity...”. AJ answered, blushing. “...It ain't nothing special. Just a mix of bananas, blueberries and some milk”.

“But it certainly tastes delicious. You've got talent, darling”.

“Thanks, Rarity, really. But, as I have already mentioned, I am not too keen on making smoothies the entire summer. Maybe I should just quit”.

As she was listening to her friend speaking, a frown appeared on Rarity's face: she hadn't seen the cowgirl so sad in a very long time. It was clear that she needed to do something, say something that would cheer her up. Yet she was not exactly sure what.

“Listen Applejack...”. The young fashion designer began to speak, looking deep into her friend's eyes. “...I know it's not easy, but we all need to endure a bit. I mean my job isn't going well either and, while you could just quit and go home anytime you want, I can't.
As I said before, this is the perfect chance for me to prove Prim Hemline what I am capable of. I need her to support me. She's even decided to offer me a job as a permanent fashion designer in one of her boutiques, if the sales go well.
But the truth is that, despite all the effort I put into creating my new collection and prepare the window displays, I haven't been able to attract one single client to my shop, yet”.

“You mean that DJ Pon-3 was not able to do it in your stead?! How can that be?! That girl would be able to attract a crowd even to the worst of places with her music!”. Applejack exclaimed, surprised to hear that her brilliant idea had not helped poor Rarity.

“She hasn't shown up, yet”. The young fashion designer sighed in response.

“She sure likes to take her time, then!”. The cowgirl went on saying. “But you said you had made a deal though”.

“Yes, we had. A deal that she still needs to fulfill”. After she said those words, Rarity remained silent: she needed to clear her mind of all the negative thoughts that clouded it; Applejack did not disturb her.

“She's awfully late, Applejack”. Rarity finally said, when she began to speak again.

“And you're afraid she won't show up at all?”. The cowgirl questioned, sighing. Her friend nodded in response. “Listen, Sugar cube. I know that girl like the back of my hand and I can say that she has not failed to live up to anybody's expectations. Especially after making a promise”.

“If you say so, Applejack...”.

“If she really does not show up...” .AJ went on, seeing that her words had not been able to cheer her friend up. “I'll just quit this darn job and come help you myself!”.

“Oh, c'mon Applejack. Don't be silly!”. Rarity exclaimed, thinking that the cowgirl was simply joking.

“I am not being silly, Rare! If she doesn't lend you a hand, I will...somehow”.

“Somehow?”.

“Yeah, I am not too good at drawing attention, but for you, Rarity, I'm sure I can come up with an idea or two”. Hearing those words, the young fashion designer felt her heart, being filled with joy and gratitude. Without uttering a word, she pulled her friend into a tight hug.

“Thanks, Applejack!”. She whispered in the cowgirl's ears. “You really are a friend”.

“Shucks, Rare...”.AJ exclaimed once more, while her cheeks blushed, as if she were an embarrassed child “...I know you're always kind, but today you're being extra sweet!”.

“That's because I remembered how amazing one of my best friends is”. After a few more minutes, AJ slowly pulled her friend away.

“Okay, then...”.She finally sighed, gazing once more upon her dreadful fruit cart. “I guess I'd better get back to work. I wouldn't want Mr. Grumpiness to catch us like this”.

“And I should head back to my boutique”. Rarity said, still taking sips of the sweet drink Applejack had made for her.

“So...I guess we will catch up later with the others?”.

“Of course”. The young fashionista replied, smiling. “How much time do you still need to spend making smoothies?”.

“A couple of hours”.

“See you later then, darling”.

“See ya later, Sugar cube”.

After leaving Applejack's fruit cart behind, Rarity started walking quickly toward her shop. She knew her little diversion with the cowgirl had taken quite a lot of time during which she was supposed to be working at the boutique.

“Oh dear...”. The youngster kept thinking on her way. “...I truly hope I didn't leave any client waiting for me all this time”.

Although Rarity may have been worrying too much, we can easily understand her.

Imagine yourself, walking in her shoes: you put all of your effort into designing a whole new collection, get a job that gives you the chance to fulfill the dream of a lifetime, but in order to achieve that objective you first need to sell your merchandise to as many people as possible.

So you just stand there in your shop, waiting for somebody, anybody to show up, but in the end you're left deeply disappointed.

Now how would you react if you found out that during the time you were away, a client had shown up but had then left, not finding anybody in the shop? That would certainly be a very nasty thing to happen, would it not?

And what if Prim had come to the boutique to check how things were going, but had not found Rarity where she was supposed to? If that had happened, then poor Rarity could have just kissed goodbye to both her job and her big dream of success.

“C'mon Rarity...”. The young fashion designer kept saying to herself, while running to her store. “...It's not been that long, maybe you can still fix this, right?”.

Little did Rarity know that something would slow down her pace very soon.

Suddenly the young girl heard a loud joyful shriek, then saw her little sister, Sweetie Belle and her friends, running out of a store, while carrying a giant canoe.

“What on Earth are those three up to now?”. Rarity thought, still watching them from behind their backs. “Maybe I should follow them and make sure they don't get hurt with that thing”.

At the exact same moment the girl decided to follow the youngsters, she heard an unbearable cry, even louder than the previous one. It sounded like somebody was shouting. “No!” for some reason.

Being curious, Rarity turned her head and saw a high pile of black boxes that was about to fall.

Instinctively the fashion designer reached for her magical gem with one hand, while with the other created one of her bright diamonds and threw it towards the pile of boxes, before they touched the ground. Soon after she heard a heavy breath of relief and from inside the shop came Rainbow Dash.

She was wearing a pair of red and white trainers, black trousers and a short sleeved t-shirt of the same color of her shoes. On her head there was a simple hat.

“Thank you so much, Rarity!”. The rainbow haired girl exclaimed joyfully. “You've just saved me and my job”.

“I see you have really taken yours in a sport retail store...”. Rarity sighed, sounding not surprised and disappointed at the same time.

“Yeah”. Dash replied. “What's wrong with that?”.

“Nothing, nothing...it's just that I can't imagine somebody with as much energy as you, stuck in a shop the whole afternoon”.

“Tell me about it!”. Rainbow Dash, went on complaining. “My first day here has been just awful. Wanna stop for a couple of minutes and listen to my story?”.

“I would love to but, darling, I simply must...”.

“I could really use a friend now”.

Hearing those words Rarity sighed desperately: on one hand she needed to get back to her boutique, but on the other one she could not possibly leave her friend down, could she? So she stayed with Rainbow Dash and listened.

Where her friend had finished telling her story and was feeling much better than before, she thanked Rarity and got back to working.

The young fashion designer sighed in her loneliness. She had spent all of her time that day with two of her best friends, but she had failed at the one thing she was supposed to do in the first place.

Slowly she headed back to the boutique, where she found nobody, waiting for her: DJ Pon-3 had not come. Rarity felt a slow acting poison, turning in her gut. For the first time she felt abandoned and forgotten, so she sat on a chair all alone in a small corner of the store room.

After a few minutes Rarity heard a heavy painting and saw the familiar face of a girl, wearing a pair of unique sunglasses. The young fashion designer smiled at DJ Pon-3, then left her to work her magic.

The DJ shortly turned that boutique into a disco dancing floor. Everyone in the mall came and saw Rarity's fabulous dresses; even Prim herself, coming back to the shop, was unable to resist the temptation of having a round on the dancing floor.

When everything was over, after two hours, the young fashionista hugged DJ Pon-3. “Applejack wasn't certainly kidding, when she said you knew how to work your magic!”. She exclaimed, still thrilled by what had happened.

The other girl answered, raising her thumb.

“However, there is still something I need to ask you...”.

DJ Pon-3 looked confused.

“...What took you so long?”.

The poor DJ blushed embarrassed, as she began to speak.

Technical problem

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Chapter 4:

"Technical problem"

“Okay, Twilight”. A red haired woman said, after examining the youngster's curriculum vitae. “It seems everything you've got here is in order. I must say that you seem a bit overqualified for this job. May I ask you why you decided to come work here of all places?”.

“Well, you know...”. The purple girl quickly replied, blushing a bit. “...I am still technically a student, plus I have never had experience in the working field”.

“So you decided to apply for this job in order to have some experience?”.

“Exactly!”. The young girl exclaimed with a smile.

“Seems reasonable”. The red haired woman went on saying in her calm voice. “Still you've got to realize that working here means that you'll have to bear with the terrible summer heat, while stuck in a store”.

Hearing those words made Twilight gulp all of a sudden. What her new boss was saying was true: spending time in mall store in the middle of summer did not sound the best of ideas. On the other hand she knew she could not give up and quit: she and her friends had decided to work at the mall for a reason, after all.

“Don't worry, Ma'am!”. Twilight answered. “I know what I am signing up for. I can assure you that I will put all of my effort into this job. You'll see I won't complain”. After the youngster had finished speaking, the older woman sighed in disbelief.

“I seriously hope you will be different from the others...”.

“Others?”. The youngster questioned curiously. “You mean that other people signed up for this job before me?”.

“Yes, they did”.

“And then they quit?”.

“Exactly”.

“I don't mean to be invasive or unprofessional...”. Twilight went on saying, eager to satisfy her great curiosity. “... But I would like to know why they decided to do such a thing in the first place”.

“Don't worry”. The older woman replied, sighing once more. “What happened, it's no secret and you, as my new employee, have every right to know the truth”.

After speaking those words the woman invited Twilight to a table, before nearing a water cooler, placed in one corner of the room. Having filled a plastic cup, the woman turned around and reached the table where her employee was sitting at. After taking a seat, Twilight's boss did not utter a word. For some time she just keep drinking slowly, until, sip after sip, her cup emptied completely.

In the meantime the youngster finally got a chance to properly observe her employer. The woman's complexion was not exactly glowing and her skin did not look as smooth as it may have years before. Wrinkles appeared on her forehead and around her eyes which were also surrounded by two heavy dark bags. Her hair was long, straight and looked very well-cared , but their red tint was evidently not natural. On a whole Twilight's new boss had a really distressed looked; the girl was sure she had to be almost in her sixties. Despite all her elegant white dress proved that the woman in question had good taste.

“You see, Twilight...”. The youngster's employer suddenly began to speak. “...As you may have noticed, this place's business in not exactly booming”.

“Uh?”. Twilight asked confused, while quickly looking around the store with her searching eyes. “What do you mean?”.

“C'mon, Twilight!”. The older woman exclaimed annoyed, as if her employee were teasing her. “Do you see anyone around the store?”. After hearing this question, the youngster immediately got spooked and was afraid to answer. But as she saw the expression her boss had put on her face, the girl ultimately decided that silence would only made things worse.

“No...”.

“Exactly!”. The red haired woman went on saying more loudly than before. “It's been like this for months. After they opened that new tech store in downtown, people stopped coming here. I am not the best with technology, so I thought that hiring teenagers would be a nice idea to lighten up the atmosphere, help rejuvenate the place and attract customers. But, as it turns out, youngsters don't fancy working in a place that's empty most of the time. They need action, stimulation, which I understand, since I, too, have been young. So they quit and leave me by myself every time”.

Twilight was surely highly intelligent, but, truth to be told, it did not take a genius like her to understand that with her previous question the girl had touched a delicate spot. So she immediately decided to avoid asking further explanation.

“I know what you're probably thinking”. The red haired woman said, despite Twilight being silent. “If I am not too keen on technology, as I said, then why opening a tech store at all? It's a question that many of my former employees asked on their first day”.

While she was speaking these words, the older woman could not help but cry, as her sighing grew deeper and deeper; Twilight still motionless next to her.

“And the answer to that question is that the reason is personal”.

At that moment an anxious silence filled the atmosphere: Twilight's employer had suddenly stopped talking again and was trying to dry her face with a handkerchief, while the young girl was still unsure if saying anything would either be good or not. After filling another cup and quickly gulping the cold water down her throat, the older woman finally spoke.

“I need to go do something important. I leave the store to you, Twilight, good luck...”.

“Oh...”. She then added right after opening the main door. “... Just to be clear: if you fail to do your best. I'll need to shut this place down”.

As soon as her employer had left, Twilight began to feel unusually awkward: a few weeks before, she and her friends had decided to take part-time jobs at the mall in order to raise some money for their trip to the beach, plus that was sure to be a more creative way to spend their time than stay home and twiddle their thumbs during the long summer afternoons. But now she had come to realize that, signing up for a job at the tech shop, had gotten her into a rather delicate matter.

Sighing, the girl took another quick look at the shop. To be completely honest, that was not the best tech store she had ever seen: it certainly was not the biggest or the most clean. Dust covered the floor and the various items in stock had been placed on the shelves without following a precise order.

“Oh my goodness!”. Twilight exclaimed, witnessing the mess that was lying before her eyes. “How is a client supposed to find what they are looking for in a place like this? Or me for that matter...”.

What the poor girl was saying was the honest truth: the entire place was so chaotic that nobody would be able to find anything. It the end it looked like the lack of motivation, showed by the previous employees, and the opening of a new tech store in downtown might had not been the only problems for that place.

Luckily Twilight Sparkle was no common girl, but a real master of organization.

“Okay, where's my block notes?”. The youngster asked herself, while reflecting on what to do first. “This place really needs some spring cleaning. Hopefully they keep a broom in the supply closet. Next we'll need to organize the merchandise, basing on type, model and function. When everything is done, we'll need to figure out a way to bring here some clients. But for now let's get to cleaning!”.

Having left her check list on the counter, Twilight headed to the supply closet, which, as you can easily imagine, was even in worse condition than the rest of the store.

For starters, as soon as she tried to turn on the lights, poor Twilight found out that the bulb had gone missing for who knows how much time and had to look for the broom with the help of her phone torch. Soon after, she had to witness one of the most hideous sights of her life: the walls of the room were covered in hundreds of spider webs some of which still had insects attached to them.

Twilight herself was fond of animals, even if not as much as her friend Fluttershy, yet if there was something she surely despised, it was tiny, creepy, crawling, hairy creatures. The sight of those horrendous arachnids gave the poor youngster a such a strong fright she had to ran through the closet room, grab the broom as fast as she could and leave, shutting the door behind her back.

“I'll have to write a note to remember to ask Fluttershy for help. It's probably best if she handles that situation”.

Cleaning up the store was no easy feat: sure it was not very big, yet still the dust and dirt to remove from the floor was a lot.

“I wonder how much time passed since the last time the owner had this place cleaned up?”. The young girl said to herself, before starting sweeping.

“I don't know”. A voice, coming from behind the youngster's back, suddenly said. “Some years maybe”.

“Well that's ridiculous. If that was the case, I am sure that...Hey!”. Twilight exclaimed, recognizing the voice that had spoken just a moment before.

“Oh...” the mysterious individual went on speaking. “You didn't hear anything. I am not here”.

Ignoring what the voice was saying, the youngster went for her backpack, which she had left on the counter, only to find a big surprise inside.

“Hi, Twilight!”. Her little purple canine friend greeted her.

“Spike, what are you doing here?!”. The girl exclaimed in a rather loud and annoyed tone. “I thought we had an agreement. You said would remain home this afternoon”.

“Oh, c'mon, Twilight!”. Spike quickly replied. “What was I supposed to do the whole afternoon without you...”.

“Spike I'm here to work, I really don't have time to...”.

Before the youngster could finish her phrase, the dog put on such a frowning expression that even Twilight, despite her mood, could not help but be moved by it.

“Oh...”. The girl said, still trying to resist the temptation of hugging her little puppy. “Don't think you can change my mind with your weepy eyes!”.

Despite all of her effort in the end the youngster sighed, accepting her emotional defeat.

“Okay, okay...”. She exclaimed, covering her eyes, so she would not have to see her dog that was still pretending to be crying. “You won. You can stay here with me”. The moment the young purple girl spoke those words, Spike barked happily and jumped into her arms.

“Thanks, Twilight”. He said, smiling like a baby, being hugged by their mom. “I promise I won't bother you at all”.

“You'd better keep your word this time!”. Seeing his friend was still mad about the little surprise he had made for her, the dog did the only thing he knew Twilight could not resist. After jumping on the floor, he put on his frowning expression once more, then gently licked the girl's hand.

“Oh, Spike...”. The youngster sighed in defeat. “...I get you. Sorry I got mad. I know I promised I would never leave you alone; it's just...”.

At that point Twilight did not have the strength to go on with her speech and just stood silent, staring at Spike. The little dog, in his attempt to move her, had in fact brought up a memory the young girl had for good reason decided to bury in the deepest corner of her memory.

You, see, dear reader. The bond between Twilight and her little canine friend had been forged a long time before the facts we are talking about and the two friends had to go through a lot of trouble in order to finally be together.

The youngster had found Spike, when she was just a kid. The dog had been left in a cardboard box, hidden in the bushes for who knows what reason: Spike was no more than a few days old back then.

Twilight herself was on her way to kindergarten; it was a cloudy day, so both she and her mother, who accompanied her, wore a poncho. Suddenly the little girl heard a bark, coming from behind her back and neared the bushes.

“Twilight”. Velvet exclaimed, seeing her daughter was trying to get away. “We can't stop and play now or we will be late. Plus soon it will be raining”. Twilight had always been an obedient child, but that morning for the first time she ignored her mother and approached the bushes.

As she carefully removed the leaves, blocking her sight, the child found a baby purple dog, hiding in a small box.

“Hey little guy”. The innocent girl said, as she laid her eyes on the little animal. “Don't be afraid, come out”. At this point the child took the dog in her arms: he could barely open his small black eyes, his fur was dirty and wet from the rain, his muzzle tinier than a pinkie finger.

“Mom, mom!”. Twilight shouted, attempting to attract her mother's attention.

“What have you got there, dear?”. Velvet asked, noticing her daughter was holding something in her arms.

“Look what I've found, mom. It's a doggie”.

“I can see that, Twilight”. Velvet answered, honestly surprised at her daughter's discovery.

“He was hiding in a box between the bushes. I think someone abandoned him”.

“I see...”. The woman replied, cursing under her breath whoever had been so cruel to leave such a small defenseless animal behind.

“Can we keep it, mom?”. Twilight questioned with her sweetest tone of voice.

“Honey, I would love to, but I don't know what dad would think about this. You know he's not exactly fond of animals.”

“Please, mommy. I promise I will take very good care of him. Just say yes!”.

“Hmm...”. Velvet answered, sighing, knowing that starting an argument with her daughter over this was simply a lost cause. “I must admit that he is kind of cute”.

As the woman said these things, the small dog turned towards her and began to stare at her with his small, weepy eyes. At that moment Twilight Velvet felt an awkward feeling, growing inside her; something that she had not experienced in a long time.

There was something in that dog that conveyed great sadness. Or perhaps it was not the dog at all, perhaps it was her daughter. Twilight's words had reminded Velvet about her childhood, a time of her life that she, as every other adult, had long ago left behind her.

Velvet had once wished for a pet, when she was a little girl, yet no matter what she said; her parents would not allow her to have one.

“Don't waste your time thinking about that”. Her father and mother used to say. “There's no room for a pet in our house. Besides you can't even go outside alone, because you're too afraid of strangers. How in the world do you expect to be able to take care of a pet?! You're not that mature and responsible, yet”.

Those words had remained stuck in Twilight Velvet's mind more than glue on a piece of paper. So, when her little daughter's asked her to keep the little dog, she saw a reflection of herself in her child. In the end she did not manage to say no...She just did not have the courage to be like her parents had been to her. She did not want her Twilight to suffer like she had.

“Okay, Twily”. The woman said, giving up. “We can keep him”.

As soon as she heard those words, the young girl jumped from joy, then deeply kissed her mother on her cheek.

“Okay, young lady. I am glad, too”. Velvet went on, blushing. “But you still need to go kindergarten. In the meantime I'll take our new friend to the vet to make sure he is healthy”.

As Twilight handed the dog to her mother, the little animal barked softly, then turned his eyes towards the young girl and licked her hand.

Spike could not talk back then, but if he could have, he surely would have said. “Please, don't leave me”.

And so the baby purple dog became Twilight's best friend. Truth to be told he was not always the best pet ever. Sometimes he would play in the mud and come back home, leaving a mess behind. Other times he would get sick and give Twilight and her family a lot to worry about: vet, medicines and things of the sort. But in the end it was all worth it: Twilight herself, years after that event, would learn that everything is worth doing for a true friend.

“Twilight!”. Spike repeated, trying to make the youngster come to her senses. “Twilight, what's wrong?!”.

“Mmm...what?!”. Twilight exclaimed, as if she had been just woken up from a long sleep.

“You were daydreaming”. Spike went on saying. “I had to do something to wake you up. You've got work to do after all”.

“Right”. The youngster replied, gazing upon the mess she had found in her new shop. “And a whole lot of it!”.

“You'd better start then, otherwise you'll never gonna finish in time”.

“You're right”. Twilight admitted, clearing her throat.

“C'mon then, start!”. The little puppy said anxiously.

“Hey...”. Twilight went on, smirking. “...Who said anything about me doing all the job?”.

“What do you mean?”. Spike asked, finally understanding that it would have been best for him to just stay home.

“Since you were so eager to spend time with me that you decided to disobey, now you get to help me clean up this place”.

“But, Twilight, I...”.

“No buts, Spike, after all you've asked for this!”.

And so it was that poor Spike was forced to spend almost two hours of his time, sweeping the floor with his tail. It sure was hard work, but in the end, he and Twilight managed to make the tech store shine again. The young girl even used her excellent organizing skills to fix the mess on the shelves and organize a better display of the merchandise.

“I think we did it, Spike”.

“Yeah, it sure was hard, though”. The dog complained.

“Oh, stop whining, it wasn't that bad. After all many hands make light work”.

“Speak for yourself; I...”. A sudden ringing from Twilight's phone prevented Spike from finishing his phrase.

“It's my new boss!”. The young girl exclaimed, checking her phone. “She sent a message, saying a new merchandise shipment has arrived. The carrier left the packages at the mall reception. Let's go get them, Spike!”.

The two friends hurried up to the reception to get the packages full of new merchandise for the tech store, yet, as soon as they picked them up, they realized they were the heaviest thing they had ever come across. There was no way they could carry them all the way to the tech store all by themselves.

They did ask the receptionist for help, but she was apparently too busy to do such thing, or so she claimed.

The two friends were lucky enough to spot a nearby pushcart witch did help them a lot, until one of its wheels detached that is. Turns out, luck really was on their side that day, since Bulk Biceps turned out to be right there in the mall.
The young man kindly offered to carry the packages all the way to the shop for Twilight.

As soon as they had arrived at their destination, the girl thanked Bulk Biceps for his generous help and the two of them said each other goodbye. Though the young man did not leave just yet. Instead he stopped in front of the shop window to stare at his own reflection and began to brush his light brown...hair?

“That looks more like a toupèe to me”. Twilight thought to herself, while watching Bulk Biceps from behind. “A very peculiar toupèe that is...Wait did that thing just raise its head?!”

“Turns out that Bulk Biceps' new hair was actually a squirrel that Fluttershy had given him to help the guy hide his baldness”. DJ Pon-3 said, finally finishing her long speech.

“Fascinating tale...really”. Rarity answered, looking deep into the other girl's eyes. “But that does not explain why you were so late.”

“Oh, right!”. The DJ exclaimed, realizing what she might have said in the first place. “ A bunch of kids whooshed across the road and caused me to fall on my way here. I didn't get hurt, but my computer kinda broke, so I got over to Twilight's store to have it fixed. Then we had a long chat over this, just like the one we are having now, and I lost track of time, sorry.”

“It's okay”. The young fashion designer replied, smiling. “I, too, often tend to get carried away during my conversations. Plus you did a terrific job here, so there's no way I could ever be mad at you”. Hearing those things DJ Pon-3 smiled, relieved.

“I just wish to ask you one more thing”.

The DJ looked at Rarity, confused.

“Since, when are you and Twilight so close that you get to hear all of her secrets?!”.

As DJ Pon-3 answered her question, Rarity's jaw almost dropped.

Who could have ever imagined that those thick, black and definitely fashion-forward sunglasses hid the eyes of a girl who knew everything about everyone at Canterlot High?

Missing: Angel

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Chapter 5:

"Missing: Angel"

"C'mon, Miss. Kittie". Fluttershy giggled with her usual kind smile on her face: “It's time for your bath”.

It had been two hours already since Fluttershy had opened the animal shelter and so far things had been going smoothly...Maybe a little too smoothly. The young girl had already taken care of almost all her chores. The floor of the store shined like silver thanks to her excellent cleaning skills, while the animals had their tummies full and their enclosures clean. The only thing remaining on the youngster's to do list was giving her little friends a warm bubble bath.

Most of the animals in Fluttershy's shelter did not complain too much before bath time, even those who normally did not like water. After all, no creature in the store would miss a chance to be in the young girl's arms; even if that meant a bath.

Little did the youngster know though that the particular feline, which she was holding at that moment, had a different idea in its mind.

At the exact same moment it heard the sink opening, with one formidable leap it jumped away from Fluttershy.

“Where do you think you're going, young miss?!”. The youngster exclaimed, noticing the animal was trying to get away. “You haven't taken a single bath in days. You need to get cleaned”.

As a response the cat hissed furiously at the girl, as if it were threatening her.

“Listen up!”. The usually quite girl said, almost shouting. “I am not in the mood for these kind of games today, so either we do this thing nicely or I'll be forced to use the stare! Which one do you choose?”.

Hearing the girl, did not seem to affect the animal, which was now hissing even more loudly than before.

“Very well then...”. Fluttershy sighed, realising that her yelling had not done anything but make things worse. “Don't go saying I didn't warn you”. At that point the girl fixed her blue eyes on the feline, staring deeply at the creature.

Naturaly at first the cat did not realize what the youngster was trying to do, but who can blame it for that?

Fluttershy did not obviously mean to harm the animal, yet her staring eyes were something even the toughest creature in the whole world could not bear.

Suddenly the feline felt something odd, growing inside, something unknown. The animal did not manage to understand what it was or what had caused that weird sensation... Fact is that it made hard disobeying to Fluttershy, so hard that after a few seconds, spent struggling, the cat was unable to resist and began to slowly walk back towards the sink.

Having grabbed the rebel animal, Fluttershy placed it under the running water of the sink and applied some special shampoo on its fur.

The water itself was not that bad: it was neither too cool or too warm and the shampoo did not have have a bad smell at all, but the girl's new friend was a very proud creature, which would not have bowed before anyone for anything...Anything but the "stare" that is.

Truth is that we all very well know what had happened a moment before and what had caused that feline's will to bind.

It was an unusual phenomenon alright, but certainly nothing new to Fluttershy who had in fact used her so called “stare” many time before.

The girl was not too keen on taking advantage of what seemed to be some kind of special power she had, especially because she preferred communicating with her animals in a friendlier and nicer way. But desperate times do call for desperate measures and a dirty cat, walking in the animal shelter, was indeed one of those tough cases, which had been made more grave by the uncooperative nature of the cat.

In the end the poor girl had been forced, as we already know, to use the “stare”on the animal in order to calm it down, so she could wash it up nicely and without warring about being attacked any minute; plus after almost seven days I imagine we would all agree on the fact that Fluttershy's new feline friend desperately needed a good bath.

At this point I fear we may have talked too much about rebellious cats and baths, so we shall move on to what happened next.

As we mentioned before, things were going too smoothly in the animal shelter: no animals on the loose or complaints from Angel about the quality of his food. The atmosphere in the store was so calm some of the animals had even decided to take an afternoon nap, which was nothing unusual during summer.

The only problem was that the heat was practically killing Fluttershy. The youngster would have happily turned on the air conditioning, yet knew too well that a sudden change of temperature would be no good for most of the animals in the store. Some of them were in fact reptiles, cold blooded animals that naturally prefer warmer temperatures.

So it was that the poor girl decided it would be best for her to just think about something else and pretend to ignore the fact that the remote control was only a few inches away.

Fluttershy neared the section of the store in which the fish were kept, a section she liked to call “The Aquarium”.

“Hey, little guy!”. Fluttershy whispered, trying to communicate with one of the scaly aquatic animals. “How's things? Have I ever told you that you have got beautiful fins?”.

As a response the fish blew a bunch of bubbles at the girl, right before turning around and swimming away.

“Oh, okay. I guess you and I will talk later then”.

The youngster's first attempt to establish a communication with the animals in the store had been unsuccessful. Not that if was her fault if fish are not usually the most loquacious of creatures.

After sighing in disappointment, the youngster decided to give it another go: after all if her magical gem gave her the power to understand and talk to animals, she really could not let all that power go to waste.

Smiling she neared another enclosure, this time the one where the reptiles were kept.

Some of them were really fascinating: giant iguanas, the scales of which were as big as pearls, a rare specimen of crested gecko, the tint of which reminds the color of gold, and numerous types of snakes.

There was a young male albino snake, presumably enjoying the warm sand at the bottom of his enclosure, and a gravid female bullsnake, which from the looks of it would start laying her eggs in nothing but a few days.

“I can't wait to see them”. Fluttershy said the moment she laid her eyes on her. “I just love to witness the beginning of the magic of life”.

There was even an uncommon African egg eating snake: it was not too large or too big and its color reminded the sand of the desert.

These kind of snakes are ideal for the ones who do not really fancy the idea of feeding their reptile friends on things like mice, as a simple juicy egg will surely keep these pets satisfied for some time, plus it is certainly interesting to observe the way these snakes swallow their meal.

While observing those curious animals, a pleasant memory occurred to Fluttershy. She remembered the day her dear friend Sunset Shimmer decided it was finally time for her to get a pet and all it had taken to convince her was letting her watch the other girls, preparing their animal friends for a photo shoot.

At first the girl had tried to hide her true feelings, but in the end she had given up at the fact that she, too, would have loved a pet, running in her house.

When Sunset had spoken the words. “I've changed my mind...” Fluttershy had smiled almost as much as the moment she had heard Sunset ask her for help to choose the prefect pet.

Naturally that had been no simple task, after all that was the first time Sunset had visited an animal store to do something different than helping out Fluttershy with the cleaning.

At first Fluttershy had suggested that her friend should take a fluffy, cuddly hamster with her, but Sunset answered she would prefer something a little less furry.

On second thought, Fluttershy had recommended that Sunset should choose a fish, but her friend would rather get something she would be able to hold in her arms.

Hearing those words, the young pink-haired animal lover understood that the perfect pet for her friend Sunset would be a reptile.

The girl's hunch turned out to be right: the exact moment Fluttershy showed Sunset the reptile enclosure: the red-haired youngster put on a smile so wide that it made her look like a child the moment she is given a treat from her parents.

But among all those fascinating scaly creatures, one particular animal managed to catch the girl's eye.

It was smaller than the other reptiles: its head probably measured no more than Sunset's thumb. Its golden scales shone at the light of sun, its eye were like two rare black diamonds.

As it saw the two girls, getting closer, it acted shyly, trying to hide under the sand, while Sunset's jaw almost dropped from excitement. Fluttershy herself had never seen her friend so happy before: she was shivering, as if it were the middle of winter, and her pupils had suddenly grown large as ponds.

The pink-haired girl smiled, understanding that her friend had found the perfect pet.

And so it was that the leopard gecko became Sunset's beloved pet, taking the name of what it had seemed to Sunset in the first place: a little Ray of Sunshine.

“Oh...”. Fluttershy sighed, while thinking about these things. “I wish every pet were as lucky at finding their new home as Ray”.

The thing that was bothering the youngster the most was that she had not seen a single soul at her animal shelter during the last few months. It seemed like everybody in Canterlot City had suddenly lost their interest in pets.

This was surely not a good thing for the animals Fluttershy took care of: she loved everyone of them, of course, yet at the same time she knew too well that she could not possibly keep all of them with her forever.

She also knew that if she had not managed to draw people to the animal store, as soon as she could, she would not have enough funds to go on and, if the worst occurred, she would have been forced to shut the whole place down.

The only idea of having to let go of all the little cretures in the shelter, without having found a nice home for them, made Fluttershy shiver: she of all people had spent the most of her life in the company of animals and she of all people was conscious of how much love and care the ones in her shop still needed.

But if she truly wanted to help them, if she really was determined to find them a place they could call home, she would have to find a way to bring people to Canterlot animal shelter without wasting any more time.

“I can't just sit here twiddling my thumbs”. The youngster thought to herself, realizing that daydreaming would get her nowhere. “I need to come up with an idea, a brilliant idea!”.

The thing is that the young girl had already attempted to convince other people to come to her shelter though without success.

At first she had tried to gather a group of new volunteers for the animal shop, but it had seemed that most of the boys and girls at school were a little too busy to pay her any attention.

Secondly, Fluttershy had come up with the idea of creating a charity calendar to advertise the shelter. The project had seemed really nice to her friends and all of them had quickly agreed to let her shoot a photo of their pets together for the calendar.

In the end, although many people had been interested in buying the calendar itself, very few had decided to take a pet or two from the shelter back home with them.

Of course in that particular occasion had been special to Sunset, who had finally found her best pet friend, so Fluttershy considered the whole thing a big success.

The latest idea that had come to her mind was making a video, featuring some of the animals in need, currently living in the shelter, then publish it on the internet. The youngster remembered the time she shot the video with a smile and maybe even some slight embarrassment.

At the beginning the only thought of having to speak in front of a camera had made her feel like she had butterflies in her stomach, which certainly had not helped her during the actual video shooting session. Fluttershy had lost count of how many times she had to start shooting the video over and over again.

After an hour, spent in front of the camera, she was feeling so sick she had fainted on the ground.

Luckily for her Applejack and Twilight had happened to be passing by and heard an awkward noise, coming from the animal store. The teenage girls found Fluttershy on the ground and, while it did take them quite a long to make her come back to her senses, they quickly figured out a way to solve her problem.

In a flash Twilight made an amazing advertising video for the animal shelter out of the various scenes Fluttershy had filmed on her camera; the result had been amazing: more than a thousand views. Yet not even that big success had in the end managed to give home to every animal that Fluttershy kept in the shelter.

“Oh, what do I have to do?!”. The young girl kept saying to herself, while trying her best to come up with an original idea. “Do you have a plan, Angel?”.

She then asked, turning her head toward her furried friend.

“Angel?”. Fluttershy repeated, realising no answer had come. “Angel...Angel?!”. The girl repeated desperately.

Still no response.

The young girl spent the rest of her day, as you can imagine, looking for her pet. She searched high and low, behind every corner of the store, but without success.

Suddenly a terrible fear took hold on her. What if the bunny, had decided to leave the shelter and started wandering the mall?

“Oh gosh!” Fluttershy exclaimed, incapable of controlling her emotions.

“If that is the case, he could loose the way home. And if he gets lost, he could starve or worse be kidnapped!”.

Terrorised by those terribe thoughts, Fluttershy left the shelter, hoping her little bunny friend had not gone too far, but, as soon as she laid her eyes on the crowd in the mall, she realised she could not find Angel all alone in that enormous shopping center.

Fact is that her friends were all busy with their part time jobs, too. In the end the girl decided to go for the first good idea that flashed in her mind.

Fast as lightening she printed a few missing posters and hanged as many as possible around the mall. The youngster spent hours, doing so, but in the end, still seeing no sign of Angel, she took seat on a bench she had come across and started weeping.

Those moments were probaby the worst in Fluttershy's life: for the fist time she felt her heart tightening in her chest, as if a pointy spear were piercing it; yet her crying was soon interrupted by a familiar feminine voice.

“What's causing you to frown like that?”. The voice said gentily. The moment she heard that question, Fluttershy raised her head.

“Trixie?”. She exclaimed, surprised.

“The one and only”. The magician answered, grinning. “Now, how about you answer my question?”.

“Well...”. While the other girl was delaying her reply, Trixie noticed what Fluttershy was holding under her arm.

“Ah, so it's that!”. The magician said, seeing the poster with the phrase “Missing bunny” written on it.

“Yeah”. The pink-haired girl sighed sadly. “He's been gone all day. I don't know where to look for him any more...”.

“Fear not, my dear!”. Trixie suddenly interrupted her. “The great and powerful Trixie will generously aid you her help. Now witness Trixie's latest magic before your very eyes!”. And with these words the magician pulled a fluffy white bunny out of her hat.

“Angel!”. The pink-haired girl exclaimed, as her little furry friend jumped into her arms. “But how?”.

“I caught him, wandering at the opposite edge of the mall a couple of hours ago”. Trixie answered proudly. “I wanted to bring him back to you, so I looked for you at the shelter, but you weren't there or anywhere else to be found”.

“Oh...”. Fluttershy said, hearing these things. “I see”.

“Anyway now that you've found your friend again I guess my job is done, so, bye”.

“Wait!” .The pink-haired girl suddenly shouted, drowing Trixie's attention back.

“What is it...”.

Without giving the time to finish her sentence to the magician, Fluttershy hugged her in a tight embrace.

“ Wow! What is this for?”. Trixie exclaimed, surprised.

“For everything”.

“I haven't done that much”.

“To me, you have”.

After breaking her hug and saying goodbye to the magician, Fluttershy began to slowly walk back to the animal shelter, but this time she had a big smile on her face. A weeping Bulk Biceps kept her on her way a few minutes, but in the end she managed to get back to the store in a short time.

“What where you thinking, going out there alone, without warning me?!”.The pink-haired girl said to Angel, finally blowing off her stem.

“I was worried sick about you. Do you realize that if Trixie had not found you in time, something very bad might have happened to you?!”.

Angel rolled his eyes in response.

“Don't you dare do that in front of me, mister!”. Fluttershy went on angrily. “You need to listen to me for your own sake.”

“Uh...”. At that point a voice was heard, coming from the front door of the animal shelter. “So sorry to interrupt”.

“Bon Bon?”. Fluttershy asked, surprised to see her schoolmate in the shelter.

“Yeah, it's me. Though I guess not at the best time. Maybe I'll come back later”.

“Oh...No, it's okay. What can I help you with?”.

“Well...”. The girl said, while her cheeks were turning red as tomatoes. “Could you show me where the pets are kept...I'd like to take one”.

At the sound of those words Fluttershy could not believe her ears. Bon Bon had been one of the girls who had ignored her in the first place, when she had began to ask for help at the animal shelter and now she was saying that she wanted a pet?

“You'd like a pet?!”

“Yeah...”. The other girl repeated, embarassed. “I know it sounds surprising, but seeing that bunny of yours, running free all over the mall, made me realise what I was missing. It's absolutely adorable. So Fluttershy, would you help me choose a pet?”.

“Gladly!”. The pink-haired youngster replied, struggling to contain the joy she was now feeling in her heart. “Follow me.”

“Hey, Fluttershy!”. Another voice, coming from behind her back, exclaimed. “Don't forget about me!”.

As soon as Fluttershy turned around, she saw Lyra Hearstrings, approaching.

“Or me”. Another voice said.

“Or me”.

“Or me”. And so on.

Fluttershy could not believe her eyes. In front of her stood a crowd of at least a thousand teenagers eager to enter the animal shelter to choose a pet friend to take home.

Blinking her eyes from the shock, the youngster turned her head toward Angel. “Did you do all this?!”. She asked confused.

The bunny just smiled proudly in response.

Duty calls...But it can wait

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Chapter 6:

Duty calls...But it can wait.

“Not bad, Applejack". Rainbow Dash exclaimed, while taking a few sips of the smoothie her friend had made her. "You've got talent for this sort of things".

"Really?". Applejack answered, raising her eyebrow, annoyed. "Wow, Dash. Thank you finally noticing".

"Hey, what's up with you?". The blue-skinned girl questioned, realizing there was something wrong with the other youngster.

"Me? Does it look like I am not fine? Thank you very much for your concern, though. I really appreciate it".

Perhaps because that "really" had been said in a particularly annoyed tone, Rainbow Dash was now more than sure that her friend was hiding something from her, something she had to spill if she wanted to feel any better.

"Geez, AJ". Rainbow Dash went on saying, "Did I ever tell you that you are a very bad actress? Perhaps you should consider taking a few classes".

"Ha, ha". Applejack replied, visibly not pleased with Rainbow Dash's answer. "Since when did you become a comedian? I am absolutely dying to know how you managed to become so good in such a short time".

"Hey!" The other girl said in her defense. "I can be incredibly funny, when I want to”.

“Uh...”Applejack sighed, hearing those things. “...As if”.

"Hey, Applejack! Seriously, what is wrong with you? It's almost like you're not yourself today."

As much as the cowgirl would have liked to answer, she knew too well that for once she could not argue with Rainbow Dash's logic. There was wisdom in the blue-skinned girl's words, buried very deep under a thick layer of pride and stupbborness, but still wisdom. Besides Applejack needed to blow off some steam anyway.

"Ah, shoot!". The country girl sighed in the end as a sign of defeat. "You win this one, Rainbow Dash. But just this one".

"Ah!". The other youngster exclaimed pleased. "I knew you were trying to hide something. Now tell me: am I or am I not the best friend ever? Because, you know, only a true friend like me would remain by your side and listen".

"Rainbow Dash". AJ shouted nervously. "Friendship isn't a competition. Nobody wins or looses and nobody certainly gets any prizes!". This time it was Rainbow Dash who could not find the words to argue with her friend's logic: as much as she hated being wrong, this time she had to admit she had let herself being carried away.

"F...Fine". The blue-skinned girl replied, gulping, as she began to feel the heat of the pressure of Applejack's eyes, staring at her. "I'll admit you are right...For once".

Hearing that terrible and very light-hearted apology, the cowgirl gazed into her friend's eyes even more deeply.

As Rainbow Dash noticed the anger in those green eyes, her forehead began to sweat, as if it were the middle of summer...Well it was July, sure, but to her those eyes looked like two fire orbs.

"Okay, Okay. I give up!". The proud girl, finally admitted, when she realized she could not possibly handle that kind of pressure. "I know friendship isn't a competition and that there are no prizes. I just hate losing, especially to you".

"Ah". The cowgirl exclaimed, as she proudly raised her head, while playing with one of her blond curl. "Keep practicing and maybe some day you will be almost as good as me at being a friend."

"Hey!". Rainbow Dash protested furiously. "We've just said that friendship isn't a competition! What gives you the right to think of yourself as a better friend than me?!".

"Oh, well...". The cowgirl giggled, as she began to speak. "For example I don't go around, yelling at everybody that I am the best at everything. I don't tease others, constantly repeating how inferior they are to me all day, if they're not good at sports..."

"Hey! That's true...It's not my fault if I happen to be the best athlete at Canterot High!".

"Sure, but you ain't certainly the most modest athlete at Canterlot High...".

Instead of replying, Rainbow Dash just blushed in response.

"Plus, I don't try to show off my skills every time I get the chance to do so!".

"I think you've proven your point now, Applejack." The country girl's friend said, suddenly interrupting her. "You can stop mentioning every time I did something wrong".

"I'll do it if you say please". The cowgirl went on saying with smirk on her face.

"Oh, c'mon! Stop kidding: this game isn't funny anymore!".

"Oh well, too bad. Cause we can stay here all day, while we try to bring up every single to time you screwed things up. For example I've got a pretty vivid memory of this one particular time, when you..."

"Okay, I am sorry. Can we please stop this and change the topic of our conversation? Are you happy now?!". The blue-skinned girl shouted furiously, as her cheeks were turning as red as tomatoes.

"Sure". The other youngster answered with a proud smile.

"Can you now tell me what's bothering you so much?!".

The moment she heard that question again, Applejack breathed deeply, accepting the fact that the more she held that heavy burden on her chest, the worse she would feel. "Fine. It's this darn job. I said it!".

" What are you talking about, AJ?". Rainbow Dash questioned confused. "You get to do nothing but stand here and make smoothies all day. It doesn't exactly sound that hard, plus I can tell you that you are good at it...Again".

"That's exactly the problem!". The country girl answered, dangerously raising her voice level.

"Hey, keep it down, AJ!". The blue-skinned girl said, interrupting the other's speech.

"Right, we wouldn't want Mr. Grumpiness to hear us...". Applejack whispered annoyed.

"Who's Mr. Grumpiness?".

"My new boss. It seems everything I do isn't good enough for him. So, he just exits that office of his every now and then and comes here to scowl at me, then shuts himself inside his room again".

"Geez ,AJ". The country girl's friend replied, finally starting to understand Applejack's feelings."He sounds like a total jerk alright."

"Oh, I can assure you he is".

"If he really is as bad as you make him sound, I don't wonder why you are so not you today".

"It's not just him, Rainbow Dash". Applejack went on saying. "It's my job...Pretty much everything it involves".

"Ah, could you elaborate?" Rainbow Dash asked, not being sure she had fully understood what her friend was trying to tell her.

"Oh, I'll elaborate alright!". The country girl exclaimed, as her eyes turned red from fury. "Do you see what I am wearing?".

At the sight of the horrible apron her friend was wearing, the blue-skinned girl had to do her best not to burst into laughter, even if she could not help but let a low squeak escape from her mouth.

"Geez...Rainbow Dash". The cowgirl sighed, seeing her friend's unorthodox reaction. "Thank you so much for your support and understanding."

"Sorry, AJ, I just could not help that". Rainbow Dash quickly answered, drying the tears of joy that were wetting her eyes and cheeks. "That apron is hilarious. I may not be as fashion forward as Rarity, but let me tell you that you seriously need a change of wardrobe!". A few more seconds passed, before the cowgirl found the right words and strength to reply that not exactly polite comment.

"You'd be surprised to know as much fashion forward you are."

"Uh?" Rainbow Dash question confused. " What do you mean exactly?"

" I bet Rarity would say the exact same thing, if she were here."

"Oh."

"Don't just say oh, Rainbow Dash. Come up with something smarter for pity's sake! Do you really think I like wearing this ridiculous thing? Do you think I'd come all the way here from Sweet Apple Acres, wearing this?!".

As mush as the blue-skinned youngster wanted to answer, she was literally lost for words, so she just gulped in response.

"What? Cat ate your tongue?". Applejack asked ironically.

"Nope". The other girl replied, giggling, trynig her best to break that awful atmosphere. "I also don't see how that could be possible, seeing that I don't keep any cats back home. I don't even like cats, all I have is Tank."

"And you couldn't ask for a better pet than him". The cowgirl went on saying, finally starting to smile, as their conversation drifted towards lighter and certainly more pleasant topics such as pets.

"You just love that little guy".

"Love?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, as she felt her hair suddenly raising from nervousness. "As in a sappy kind of way? No thanks, that's not for me...or Tank by the way. What that guy needs is some serious physical training. You know to keep that reptilian legs in shape".

"You mean the same reptilian legs you so carefully cover with a warm blanket every night by the heat of the fireplace, if it's too cold outside? Right after you finish reading one of your favourite Daring Do novels to put him to bed?".

Hearing those statements, Rainbow Dash felt the temperature of her body raise, as if the air conditioning in the mall had been suddenly shut down.

How did Applejack know all this? How could have she found out the exact things she only did, when she was all alone in her room with Tank? Not even her parents knew that much about her relationship with her beloved tortoise?

Had she perhaps given Applejack a few hints about what she did with Tank during their conversations without noticing? But most importantly how could she buy the cowgirl's silence, so she could preserve her reputation at school and avoid becoming the biggest laughing stock in Canterlot High?

"Who told you those things?!". Rainbow Dash asked nervously. "They are all false!".

"On, c'mon, Rainbow Dash". Applejack went on teasing her. "You know very well that lying won't get ya anywhere".

As her friend was saying these things, the blue skinned-girl did not have the courage to protest anymore, she simply kept listening, as her cheeks slowly became red.

"Plus I kind of saw you do all those things with your pet the last time you brought him with you at Fluttershy's animal shelter. Do you remember the photo shoot?".

Of course Rainbow Dash remembered the photo shoot. She and all of her friends had agreed to take their pets at the animal shelter, so that Futtershy could take a picture of them for her charity calendar. Who could ever forget something like that?

"Uh, fine". The blue-skinned girl finally admitted, giving up. " I might be slightly affectionate to Tank, but so what? It's not like you don't do the same things with Winona".

"I ain't saying that you did anything wrong". Applejack said, intervening. "That is completely normal even for someone as "tough" as you. "

"Eh...Can we please change the subject now?". The other girl exclaimed, growing more embarrassed by the minute. "Because all I understood before is that you aren't too happy with your job."

"Yeah". The country girl sighed, tired of repeating the same thing over and over again. "Speaking of which...". She then added, suddenly pointing her watch. "Aren't you a little late for yours?". As soon as the cowgirl spoke those words, the blue-skinned youngster began to play with a curl of her hair, as if what Applejack had just said did not matter to her.

"Chillax, AJ". She the said, finally answering. "I won't be needed at the sport retail shop until the next hour, plus thanks to my awesome powers I can get there in the blink of an eye".

"If you say so, Rainbow Dash." Applejack replied, though not convinced that her friend was doing the right thing.

"Well, it's been "nice" talking to you, but now I must be going". The blue-skinned girl went on saying. "I'd better do as many fun things as possible before I need to get to work. Goodbye, Applejack".

"Bye, Rainbow Da...". As the cowgirl spoke, she was interrupted by a sudden, violent zoom that lifted a cloud of dust in the air, forcing her to close her eyes. When she opened them again, the country girl found herself alone. "Great, just great...".

A few seconds after, Rainbow Dash was already at the opposite edge of the mall, where she was forced to stop by the gathering of an impressive crowd.

"It looks like we'll get to work hard today. I bet the other girls have their hands full already".

The crowd surely huge, but despite that fact, Rainbow Dash was able to spot two grinning familiar figures among the others.

One of them was tall, thin and had short greenish hair; the other was definitely shorter than his friend, he certainly did not look athletic and had short red hair.

"Snips and Snails?" Rainbow Dash thought to herself, as she noticed that the two boys were smiling suspiciously. "What are those two up this time? Whenever those two are together, it's not a good sign. I'd better follow them and see what they intend to do".

Rainbow Dash's hunch was right and the young girl was even more sure about that, as soon as she saw that her two school mates where carrying hand sprayers full of paint.

"Oh, oh". The blue-skinned girl went on saying to herself. "I might have an idea of what they're gonna do with those. But if they think I'm gonna let them get away with this, I'm afraid they are sadly mistaken. Now I just need to find a security guard".

While Rainbow Dash left the pranksters alone to look for someone who could help her catch the two of them, Snips and Snails headed for the flower shop, owned by Daisy, Flower Wishes and Roseluck.

When the boys arrived none was in the store but them, as at that time of day the three friends used to take a break from their job and have a cup of tea at the nearby cafè.

“Are you sure they are not in there Snips?”. The first one whispered to his friend.

“Absolutely”. The second one answered. “They're never here at this time of the afternoon. Now keep quiet and start working. You'll see how much fun we'll have, when those three come back here and see our work”.

“You bet we will”. Snails giggled maliciously. “They are so dramatic I bet they'll pass out, as soon as they see our work here”.

“Then keep quite and get to work”.

Luckily for the pranksters the flower shop occupied an isolated corner of the mall. People rarely wandered there, so it was unlikely that someone would catch them in their mean act. What's more with all the confusion, caused by the summer sales, none would ever pay attention to two boys in front of a small flower shop. or at least that is what Snips and Snail thought.

As much stupid as the two of them may have been, they sure worked fast. In nothing but a few minutes the glass front door of the flower shop was covered in green and red spray paint.

“Not bad, Snips”. Snail exclaimed, as soon as the two pranksters had finished their job. “Not bad at all”.

“Now we just need to hide behind the conrner and wait til the girls come back. It shouldn't take that long”.

“Sorry to disappoint you, guys”. Suddenly a voice said from behind their backs. “But the fun ends now”.

“What?”. The two boys, exclaimed, turning around and seeing Rainbow Dash, standing in front of them.

“Rainbow Dash, hey!”. Snails said, trying his best to hide the trembling in his voice. “What a surprise to see you here!”.

“Surprising indeed for the two of you”. The blue-skinned girl smirked proudly.

“What do you mean?”. The other one went on saying, noticing that his friend Snips was sweating.

“Oh, nothing really. Say, would you happen to know who was so mean to ruin the entrance door to the girls' flower shop?”

“Us?” Snails exclaimed. Almost shivering. “Why would we know such a thing? Did you see who it was, Snips?”. The other boy replied by shaking his head.

“Oh, really?!”. The young girl giggled, teasing her two victims. “Because my friend and I here think otherwise.”

“Friend?” The boys questioned, confused, at the same time.

Immediately from behind Rainbow Dash a police officer appeared. He was tall and bulky; his skin pale as that of a ghost, and he was scowling like an angry bear.

“Hello, boys”. The guard said, looking very mad. “Enjoyed your little art class?”.

“We didn't do it officer!”. Snips exclaimed, trembling like a leaf.

“Yeah, we just happened to be here at the wrong time. We swear!”. Snails added, intervening.

“Don't try too fool me, you little scoundrels!”

“But...”

“We saw it all, boys!”. Rainbow Dash said, stopping Snails from making another stupid excuse.

“You mean the whole thing?”.

“From the start to the very end.”

“This means?” Snails, asked timidly, understanding that trying to hide what it had already been found out would be no use for both his friend and him.

“It means that you gotta clean that door now if you don't want to get into some more serious trouble. And trust me...I've never made a single joke in my life!”. At the sound of those words the two pranksters lowered their head in sign of defeat.

“But how are we supposed to do it?”. Snails asked after a minute of silence.

“Here.” Rainbow Dash said, passing him a couple of dish cloths and a bottle of cleaning detergent. “Something we borrowed from the supply closet. They'll help you do things faster”.

“Now move and start cleaning!”. The police officer shouted nervously.

“Yes, sir!”. The two boys exclaimed, terrified by the giant's voice.

“Thanks for your help.” The officer said, shaking hands with Rainbow Dash, after Snips and Snails had started cleaning the mess they had made. “It's so good to see that there are people like you among the youngsters. You'll help make a better world: of that I am certain!”

“Thanks agent”. The blue-skinned girl replied, blushing. “I just did what was right”.

“Exactly”. The officer went on saying. “If there were more people like you, everything would be going smoothly...But unluckily for me I have to deal with people like you every day!”. The tall man shouted, turning toward Snips and Snails who had suddenly slowed their pace down to listen to the conversation between Rainbow Dash and the police officer. “Who told you that you could take a break?! You were mighty fast at doing your job just a moment before. Now I expect you to be equally fast!”.

“Yes, sir! Sorry, sir!”. The two pranksters quickly replied, before getting back to cleaning.

“You can go now, Rainbow Dash”. The police agent finally added, turning back to the blue-skinned girl who had helped him catch the two rascals.

Leaving the flower store behind, Rainbow Dash marched proudly, pleased with what she had done. Right at that moment she was feeling like some sort of heroine of justice.

“Ah!”. She exclaimed, smiling happily. “Nobody can mess with me!”.

On her path the girl was lucky enough to come across Daisy, Flower Wishes and Roseluck who were on their way back to their store.

“Hey, girls!”. The blue-skinned youngster exclaimed, seeing them.

“Hi, Rainbow Dash!”. The three girls replied, greeting her with a smile.

“What brings you to the mall? Shopping with the other girls?”. Daisy asked curiously.

“Not exactly”. Rainbow Dash explained. “The girls and I decided to take part time jobs here at the mall. But I arrived a little early, so I decided to just go for a stroll.”

“Sounds great”. Flower Desires said, intervening. “ Did anything in the window displays catch your eyes?”

“Not really, but I simply must tell you something”.

“What is it, Rainbow Dash?!”. Roseluck questioned, worried. “If it's important, tell us, please!”.

“Relax girls”. The youngster replied proudly. “Snips and Snails were trying to pull you three one of their mean pranks by painting the door to your store, but a security guard and I managed to catch them. Now they're cleaning up the mess they made”.

“The front door to our lonely store?”. Daisy exclaimed, looking shocked.

“Yeah, but as I said, an officer is making sure they fix everything up. So no harm done.”

“You heard that, girls: harm done!”. Roseluck intervened.

“No, that's not what I...”

“The horror!”. Flower Wishes screamed desperately, before she and her friends fainted on the ground. “The horror!”.

“Ah...”. Rainbow Dash sighed, after their dramatic scene ended. “I guess that couldn't be avoided with them”.

At the moment she said those words, the blues-skinned girl heard the sound of the clock, hanging on the wall of the mall corridor. She turned her head curiously and noticed that it was already 5 pm.

“Oh, no!”. She shouted loosing her composure. “I am an hour late for work! If I don't get at my shop now, soon I'll be the one screaming!”.

With these very words she rushed to the sport retail store with all the speed her magical gem gave her, but not even that managed to save her from the angry shouts of her new disappointed boss. Luckily for her the store was low on personal, so she was given a second chance.

“And that's what happened”. Rainbow Dash sighed, while Rarity was listening, sitting by her on a bench in the sport retail store. “Pretty bad, eh? I managed to screw everything up on my first day. I hate to admit it, but I should have listened to Applejack”. She went one saying, without stopping for a second, as if she did not need to breath. “But again, I did catch Snips and Snails and stopped them from getting away, so I guess it was not all that bad.”

“Fascinating tale, darling”. Rarity said, intervening, while standing up from her seat.

“Fascinating tale?”. The other girl questioned confused. “Rarity, I just told you I screwed everything up!”.

“I am sorry about what happened, darling”. Rarity interrupted her, visibly in a hurry. “But I really must be going now, maybe we will catch up later...If I survive Prim Hemline”. And with those words Rarity rushed out of the store, leaving her poor friend alone.

“Uh”. Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “She couldn't have been more light-hearted than that”.

While she was still caught up in her deep thoughts, the youngster heard a noise, coming from outside. Instinctively she turned her head toward the source of that very noise to see a familiar face.

Right there, just a few feet away was Sunset Shimmer.

She was dressing in an embarrassing blue uniform and wearing a hat, shaped like a pufferfish. Her hair was combed in an unusual haircut. But what caught up Rainbow Dash's eye the most was the fact that her friend was sitting with her knees on the ground, holding a broken sandal in her left hand. Even from that distance she could tell that the expression Sunset had on her face was anything but joyful.

“Geez...”. Rainbow Dash thought to herself. Laying her eyes on her. “...Now, that's someone who needs some serious cheering up!”.

From the frying pan into the fire

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Chapter 7:

"From the frying pan into the fire"

“It's here”. Sunset thought to herself, while sitting on a bench in the very middle of one of the hallway of the mall, calmly taking sips from a fizzy drink she had purchased a moment before from the nearest cafè. Her eyes were set on the entrance to what looked to be a sushi restaurant. Its logo, shaped like a smiling pufferfish, swimming in a concave plate, was rather peculiar.

Sunset had been staring at the front door for a good fifteen minutes now and from the look on her face it was easy to guess that she was feeling very anxious.

“Still ten more minutes”. The young girl said to herself, after taking a look at her ticking watch.

“Ten more minutes before I must go in. I wonder what is waiting for me behind that door”.

While reflecting upon these things, Sunset sighed repeatedly, as her anxiety grew stronger and stronger.

What bothered the youngster so much was not so much the prospective of being stuck in a restaurant every afternoon for the rest of the month, as one could easily imagine, instead it was that of being unprepared for what might go wrong, while she was working. Unlike most of the other teenagers from her school, Sunset had never had to deal with an actual job and the only thought made her shiver, even if hers would only a part time occupation.

She had tried to talk to someone with more experience at school, but that had not helped that much, if not to cause her to worry even more than she did already.

As none of her friends knew too well what it meant to bare the weight of the responsibilities of a job upon your shoulders, the youngster had decided to turn to Bon Bon for advice; the girl was in fact said to have been working every summer since she had started high school. Sunset would never forget the expression the other youngster put on her face at the moment she had asked her help to figure out what to do, when working professionally.

“What?!”. Bob Bon shouted, as soon as she heard Sunset's question. “You want me to...Don't tell me you are taking a summer job?!”.

“That's exactly what I and the other girls intend to do, after the school closes for summer vacation. We have even found some nice working options for us to choose already: it seems that they will need more personal at the mall this summer than we thought. So we decided to just go there to get our part time summer jobs. What's wrong with that?”. Sunset asked, confused by Bon Bon's unexpected reaction.

“Everything”. The other girl exclaimed, answering. “Simply everything!”.

“Everything?”. Sunset repeated, unsure of what the other girl meant. “That's a little too generic to me. Could you please be more specific?”.

“Oh, where do I have to begin?!”. Bon Bon shouted, looking more desperate by the minute. “Sorry, Sunset, but it would be far too painful to me to even think about the tremendous summers I spent at the mall. Yet I will tell you that I had to work so hard I could barely take a break to go to the toilet. Please, Sunset, please don't do the same mistake I did. Spend your summer in a different way or I guarantee they'll make you work yourself to the bone at the mall; no matter what job you choose. The shop owners there are all the same. You'll end up being exploited like I was”.

“Exploited?”. The other girl questioned, while an expression of utter confusion and disbelief appeared on her face. “I am not saying that I don't trust you, Bon Bon”. Sunset said, as she began to speak. “So, please don't take it personally. But I guess what I am trying to say is that what you just finished telling me sounds a bit exaggerated to someone like me who is supposed to work probably in some random restaurant only for four weeks during the afternoon”.

“Exaggerated?!”. The other youngster exclaimed, protesting. “Sunset, I thought you were here to hear my advice”.

“I am, Bon Bon. That is exactly the reason why I am here”.

“Then you'd better listen to me, while you still can. Abandon your brilliant idea, put it out of your mind. And if this plan wasn't yours in the first place, go tell whoever was to come up with it that they are going completely nuts”.

“But...”. Sunset uttered, but was soon interrupted by Bon Bon who had apparently not finished her speech.

“Stay away from those job positions at the mall if you want to survive this summer”.

“Survive?!”. Poor Sunset exclaimed, now visibly worried. “Bon Bon, now you are definitely exaggerating.”

“Do as you wish, but don't come tell me I was right, after you have a taste of what having a part time summer job truly means. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go: Lyra is waiting for me outside. We agreed to spend the evening together”.

Those last words sounded like a threat to Sunset. From the exact moment they came out out Bon Bon's mouth, they made her bones shiver.

What if the other girl was right? What if the shop owners at the mall were as terrible as she had described them? And worse, what if they fired her on her first day? What would she do at that point?

She already had to struggle, when she had to find the perfect jobs for her and her friends, what was she supposed to do if she lost hers? How in Equestria would she be able to raise money for the Rainbooms' beach trip? And if she could not come up with a second plan, in case the first one failed, she and the other girls would have to say farewell to their summer project all because of her!

“Sunset, snap out of it!”. A voice shouted from inside her head. “You are never this anxious, what happened to you today?!”.

“Great”. The youngster thought to herself at that moment.

“Now I am starting to hear voices in my head. Congrats, Sunset, this job thing is officially driving you nuts”.

“That is beside the point”. The voice added, as it kept whispering in her head. “You are not here for fun, but because all of the other girls are making sacrifices to raise money for the beach trip you all planned for the next month. Am I right?”.

“Yes, you are right, me”. Sunset replied, giving up at the fact that she was far too worried to mind a voice, talking to her from inside her head. “We all agreed we would take part time jobs”.

“Weren't you in the music room, too, when the girls shook hands and everything?”.

“Yeah, I was there. I shook hands, too, you know?”.

“So, you haven't forgotten everything, good”.

“No, I haven't. Not yet anyway”.

“Then why are you still wasting your time here, sitting on that bench? Stand up and walk through that door this instant!”.

Finally understanding that her subconscious would not leave her be, if she had not done what was right, Sunset sighed, defeated by herself, and stood up from her seat.

The moment she walked through the restaurant door felt one of the hardest in her life. The girl heard the wooden door of the sushi restaurant squeak, as if its hinges had not been oiled in years.

From the inside, the restaurant looked even larger than from the outside. The floor was covered entirely in an elegant dark parquet. There was little light, as the place as just a few small windows, which made the atmosphere of the restaurant dark and even more spooky for Sunset. However the interior of the place was illuminated by many candles, placed each one on a different table, and a large chandelier, hanging on the ceiling. The tables were, too, made entirely of dark wood, which made the atmosphere in the restaurant rather monotonous, too. Despite all, every seat was already occupied, which meant that business was booming for the owners.

“Maybe if things go well already”. Sunset began to think to herself. “The owners won't be as awful as I expected. Maybe they'll even be polite and kind!”.

“Stop daydreaming, Sunset”. The youngster almost made a jump in the air, as soon as she heard that cursed, creepy voice, whispering in her head once more.

“You again!”. Sunset went on saying in her head. “What do you want now? I've done what you asked for already. I've entered the restaurant without wasting time just like you asked, see? Now could you please go away and leave me alone, so I don't have to talk to myself ever again?!”.

“Ha, ha!”. The creepy voice giggled, teasing her. “Very funny, Sunset. You should consider becoming a comedian in the future”.

“Maybe I'll do that sooner than you think, since you you've clearly planned to keep tormenting me, so they kick me out of this place on my first day of work”.

“Oh no, my dear”. The voice in her head kept saying, this time using a sweeter voice. “I am here for a completely different reason”.

“And that is?”. Sunset asked, visibly getting tired of hearing that annoying presence inside her head.

“Why, but to make sure everything goes smoothly, of course!”.

“Why do I doubt that?”.

“Because you are too suspicious, Sunset. You should learn to trust in your good sense more often”.

“And that would be?”.

“Me, of course!”.

“Now listen here, I...”.

“Miss. Sunset Shimmer, I presume?”. A masculine voice asked, suddenly interrupting the girl's reflection.

“Oh...Yes, of course. Sunset Shimmer, that's me! The one and only!”. Sunset shouted in response, almost taking a jump in the air from the shock.

“There was never any reason to doubt that, Miss. Shimmer”.

“Yeah, of course. No reason at all, Mister....”.

“Demsey”.

"Demsey, right...”. Sunset repeated, trying her best to picture the man's face in her mind to see if she remembered him.

“As a matter of fact, Miss. Shimmer...”. The man went on saying. “...We have met before”.

Being lost for words, Sunset only stared at the man, expressing her visible confusion.

“We have?”.

“Yes, you came to me for your job. You remember, don't you?”.

“Eh...”. The youngster murmured, attempting to make up a solid excuse for her lack of memory.

“It doesn't matter anyway”. Mr. Demsey added, interrupting her thoughts. “I suppose you do remember taking a job here, since you have come. You're ready to start, I take it?”.

The girl replied by nodding her head.

“Splendid! Now follow me”.

As the man was leading her out of the main room, Sunset began to feel slightly awkward: witnessing all those people eating was not exactly the most beautiful things to watch, but she quickly came to accept that as part of her job.

“Here”. Mr. Desmey said, stopping walking. “Enter the closet room, you will find your uniform there. I'll be in the kitchen, waiting for you”.

“Uniform? But I...”. Unexpectedly the man left the room without letting Sunset finish her sentence. “Wow...”. She exclaimed both surprised and bothered. “Thanks very much for your concern, boss”.

Sighing, the youngster set her gaze upon the door to the supply closet: she had seen what kind of attires teenagers were usually forced to wear, while working, and the idea of walking around the mall in a bubble fish outfit, adverting the restaurant did not certainly amuse her.

In the end girl decided that standing in front of the door would not solve her problem and entered the room before her.

What she found in there was clearly not what she expected, she let a worried sigh escape her mouth the moment she first laid her eyes on it. The uniform she was supposed to wear was not certainly the worst thing she had seen, but, truth to be told, it was not the best either. It consisted in a dark blue attire, covered in white stripes; the edge below ended in a skirt.

After putting it on Sunset immediately realized it was a bit too tight for her: who ever had prepared it had not clearly estimated her measurements correctly. Nearby the girl found a pair of high heeled sandals and a hat, shaped like a ridiculous smiling bubble fish, swimming in a concave plate.

“I suppose it could be worse”. Sunset sighed once more, while staring at her own reflection in a mirror. “Yeah, it could definitely be worse, so less complaining and more working, Sunset. You are doing this for the girls after all”.

The youngster felt deep love toward all of her friends, she was conscious of that. Every night, after coming back home from school and jumping on the bed, she thought about how happy having her friends made her feel and how grateful she was to them.

Every time she grabbed a pen from her table and began to write to Princess Twilight in her journal, she remembered how lucky she was to call such a wonderful pony her friend and how much she owed her.

And the love she felt toward that group of girls helped her overcome every time life pushed her down. It did not really matter if she only needed to pass her driving test or protect the world from the mysterious magic, coming from Equestria. Whatever happened, she knew her friends would be by her side, she knew she would not be alone, not even this once...

“Miss. Sunset Shimmer”. A familiar masculine voice exclaimed, calling her.

“Ah, yes?!”. Sunset replied, once more interrupted in her thoughts.

“Is everything alright in there? You've been in the closet room for an awful lot of time”.

“Oh, it's okay. There's no need to worry!”.

The youngster answered, trying to sound as convincing as she could. Quickly she realized that she had spent an incredible amount of time, reminiscing about how special her bonds with her friends was, which obviously did not seem right to Mr. Demsey.

“I'm coming out now”.

Closing the squeaky door behind her back, Sunset found herself before her new boss. “Are you sure everything is alright, Ms. Sunset Shimmer?”. The man repeated, clearly still worried. “Do you need me to take the medikit, call a doctor or...”.

“No, I feel quite alright, Mr. Demsey”.

The girl quickly replied, bothered by her new boss's excessive attentions: it was clear to her that what Mr. Demsey really wanted was avoiding a sick employee, walking in his restaurant, from spreading her disease.

“The outfit was just a bit tight to put on. That's everything really”.

“I see...”. The man replied, not surprised. “Don't worry. I am sure that you'll feel more comfortable in it, once you have started working. Are you ready to begin, Miss?”.

“Yeah, I am ready”.

“Very well, follow me”.

Mr. Demsey led the youngster to the kitchen were almost a dozen of chefs, all wearing professional jackets and toques, were working at an incredible speed. Sunset herself blinked her eyes in disbelief: not even Granny Smith was this fast at cooking and it was surely hard to handle an entire crowd of hungry students, when lunch break came.

“Now Miss Shimmer...”. The man said, as he began to speak again. “I am sure that a young and efficient girl such as you already knows what to do, but I'll say it just in case. Our team of chefs are highly qualified and therefore you are not allowed to prepare the food by yourself. You will merely assist them in their job, following their every instruction in case they need any kind of help. Is everything clear?”.

“Yup...I guess”. Sunset answered, gulping, feeling a terrible pressure, rising inside her again. The truth is that Mr. Demsey's explanation had not been terribly illuminating, but the young girl thought that she would be able to manage things anyway.

“I'll leave you to your job then”. Her new boss then said. “I'll be outside if you need me”.

Contrarily to what Sunset was expecting the chefs did not loose even a tiny bit of their composure, after their boss had left the room.

“Now, that's what I call being professional!”. The youngster exclaimed, seeing what a true team of qualified cooks could do.

“What I am supposed to do in the meantime?”. Unexpectedly no answer came. “Uh, hello?”. The girl said, trying to draw the others' attention. “I am here...”. Again nobody seem to care about her question.

“Great start, Sunset”. The noisy voice in her head began to speak again. “Great start”.

“Is there anything I can help you with?”. The girl asked, getting closer to one of the cooks.

“Not now lady...”. Was the answer she heard. “...Can't you see I'm busy?!”.

“Yes, but I am supposed to assist all of you”. Once more the chef ignored her. “What about you, sir?”. The youngster questioned, turning to the chef to her right. “Is there anything I can do for you?”.

“Perhaps later, dear”. The man quickly replied, not stopping what he was doing. “Right now I am in the middle of something delicate”. Hearing those words, the girl sighed in sadness, giving up.

What was she supposed to do if none of those hoity toity character gave her instructions? What if Mr. Demsey came in to check on her and saw her, doing nothing? What if he did not believe the explanation she would give him? What if he decided to fire her for not putting enough effort in her new job? What would she do then?

The fear that those numerous questions gave her was enough to make the young girl chew her nails off; luckily the answer was soon smacked right in the middle of her head.

“What are you doing, standing here, young miss?”. As Sunset heard that voice, she raised her eyes to see a grey-haired man, probably the eldest of the chefs, gazing upon her.

“I was just...”.

“No time for chatting, Miss”. The cook exclaimed, interrupting her. “We've already wasted enough of our precious time, talking. If you're really supposed to help, then go to the refrigeration chamber and get me some salmon”.

“Of course, sir!”. Sunset replied, rushing to the refrigeration chamber. “If this is what working here is like...”. The youngster thought to herself. “...Then I suddenly feel like I should have picked something a little lighter”.

“I for once agree”. Said the voice in her head.

“And that was it!”. Sunset exclaimed, sighing, while Rainbow Dash was listening, sitting next to her on the edge of a large fountain, built at the very centre of the mall. “I spent my whole afternoon, running from the refrigeration chamber to the kitchen, as if it were some kind of race”.

“When you put it that way, it does sound fun”. The athlete said, stroking her chin.

“Not funny, Dash”. Sunset replied, interrupting her, clearly not amused by her friend's joke. “I did not mean that kind of race”.

“I know, I'm sorry”. The blue-skinned went on saying. “I was just trying to cheer you up. I'm usually good at making jokes”.

“You are, Dash. I'm just not in the mood”.

“Hey, chillax, Sunset!”. Rainbow Dash exclaimed with a wide smile on her face. “Don't be too hard on yourself. My day was just as awful as yours”.

“No, not as mine”. The other girl sighed hopelessly.

“What makes you say that?”.

“I suppose that they promised you a compensation for your service at the end of the day”.

“Yes?”. Rainbow Dash answered, unsure of what Sunset meant.

“And they probably did not give you this...”. The youngster went on saying, unwrapping a box from the small bag in her hand.

“What's in there?”

“Sushi”. Sunset replied, opening the box. “More precisely my payment for the day”.

Rainbow Dash looked at her friend confused.

“The owner of the restaurant said it is customary for them to give a new employee a box of sushi on their first day. So mush for raising money for our beach trip”.

Seeing her friend frowning, Rainbow Dash did the first thing that came to her mind: she grabbed a piece of sushi from the box.

“What are you doing?”. Sunset exclaimed, caught by surprise by her friend's sudden reaction.

“Not bad”.

“Sorry?”.

“I said, it doesn't taste bad”.

“Geez, Rainbow Dash”. The young girl exclaimed, rising her eyebrows. “Thank you very much for comforting me”.

“Listen, Sunset...”. The blue-skinned girl went on saying, placing her hand upon her friend's shoulder. “I get you're not feeling well, but I am sure that everyone of us had a bad experience today. It's part of this job thing we've gotten ourselves into. So jsut chillax and let the good vibes flow through you”.

“The what now?”. Sunset exclaimed, astonished by what Rainbow Dash was saying.

“Good vibes!”. Pinkie Pie's voice exclaimed, coming from behind Sunset's back. “Never heard of them?”.

The red-haired girl replied by shaking her head.

“They represent the purest form of energy that flows through you. If you let them go, they are supposed to make you feel much better”. Fluttershy said, as everybody else turned toward her. “...My friend Tree Hugger taught me”.

“However unscientific they may be...”. Twilight added, appearing from around the corner and approaching the others. “They are said to have amazing effects”.

“Are you all sure about this?”. Sunset questioned, still not fully understanding what her friends meant.

“Sure as spring, girl!”. Applejack exclaimed, walking toward her and the others with Rarity by her side. “Give it a try!”.

“Besides what do you have to loose?”. The young fashionista said, intervening.

Sunset was still reluctant to believe in what the others were saying, plus she had no idea how this whole vibe thing worked but, looking around herself, she realized that what she really needed to feel better at that moment was right there by her side.

“Good vibes...I guess then”. She finally said, taking a deep calming breath.

“Good vibes!”. The others girls shouted in unison, pulling her and each other into a tight, affectionate embrace.

“Good vibes to you all...”. Sunset repeated louder than before. “... my friends!”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3p-I-5kKYT8

It takes a lot of work to chillax (special ending chapter)

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Special ending chapter:

"It takes a lot of work to chillax"

“Oh, my gosh! Oh, my gosh! Oh, my gosh!”. A cheerful voice shouted so loudly to cover up the noise of the engine of the Rainbooms' tour bus. “I can't believe we're finally doing this, you guys! I bet you're all as excited as me about this trip!”.

“Yes, Pinkie, we're also happy to be finally able to spend a relaxing day at the beach together”. Applejack's voice answered, coming from behind's her joyful friend's back. “Especially after all we had to go through to arrange this thing. Right, y'all?”. At the sound of the cowgirl's question, the rest of the girls exclaimed a loud.
“Yes!”. In unison.

“Next time we decide to talk a part time job, we simply must choose something less overwhelming”. Rarity intervened, while adjusting the large hat onto her head, one of her latest creations. “All that stress has done a number on my complexion”.

“You say that about everything!”. Rainbow Dash protested from her seat next to Pinkie Pie's.

“Well, my dear...”. The young fashionista smirked, knowing just the right thing to say in her defense. “...If you ask me, it's high time I taught you a thing or two about taking care of yourself. Let's start with the basics, shall we? Lesson number one: a lady should never leave her home without at least a layer of make-up powder on her cheeks and lipsticks. Lesson two: a lady needs to keep in her wardrobe a proper attire for any kind of situation. Lesson three...”.

“Okay, okay, you can quit it now, Rarity”. The blue-skinned athlete quickly replied, covering her ears with her hands. “... Seriously. I don't think I can keep up a conversation about these froufrou treatments without drifting off to sleep for even one more second”.

“Very well then”. Rarity answered, remaining surprisingly calm. “If this particular topic is not to your liking, I shall not carry on”.

“Oh, thank goodness...”. Rainbow Dash murmured, right before being interrupted once more by the young fashionista.

“But don't come begging me for a favour, the next time you need help with making a reservation at the spa. If I were you, I'd call them immediately: you know how busy they are on Saturday afternoon”. While Rarity was speaking, Rainbow Dash's cheeks suddenly turned red.

“I...I have no idea what you're talking about”.

In the meantime the rest of the group did not utter a word, knowing the blue-skinned youngster was not too happy to talk about her regular visits to the city spa, even if everybody knew about them already. The only one who could not help but giggle was Pinkie Pie, who however was the first to suggest they should change topic to break the embarrassing atmosphere that the debate between Rarity and Rainbow Dash had created.

“So, Rainbow...”. The pink-skinned girl intervened, trying to change her friend's mood. “...Do you have anything planned for when we get to the beach?”.

“Well...”. The other girl replied, sighing, clearly still slightly bothered by what had happened a moment before. “...I was hoping to try out my new surfboard, if the waves are high enough”.

After saying those things, Rainbow Dash pulled out an exquisite new blue board; it's color dark like the depths of the ocean, but what caught Pinkie's eye the most was a large lightning, painted at its very centre.

“Wow, Dash!”. The athlete's cheerful friend exclaimed, smiling even more than usual. “It's really awesome! I bet you'll look amazing, surfing on it”.

“Thanks, Pinkie”. The blue-skinned youngster replied, having obviously retrieved her calm and self confidence.

“It sure looks great...”. Applejack said, joining the conversation with a suspicious grin on her face “...Bet you think you're the best surfer in the whole city, don't you, Rainbow Dash?”.

“Well, I was gonna say in the whole world...”. The athlete replied, quickly understanding where the country girl was trying to get at with her words. “...but you're right: that could sound a little exaggerated”.

“Bet you think you're even a better surfer than me, right?”.

“Well, duh!”. Rainbow Dash went on saying, smirking proudly. “But don't worry, Applejack. You can always be number two. It's not that bad to admit that I was the only one who bested you at surfing”.

“Oh, yeah? How about a little bet then? Whoever manages to ride a wave the longest wins, the other gets to pay for all the ice cream that the winner buys for a month. What do you say, Dash? Are ya up for the challenge?”.

“Sure!”. The blue-skinned girl exclaimed, unable to get a hold of herself, when it came to competing, especially if her drifter was Applejack. “I hope you've got cash with you, cause, once I crush you, I'm gonna need at least ten cups. You know how hot the weather is today...”.

“Sure. But don't start whining, when I defeat you”.

“Ah, in your dreams maybe”.

At that point the two girls began to stare deep into each other's eyes. Each one's gaze was filled with vivid rage: they both looked like tigers, ready to assault the other one at any moment.

“Okay, girls”. Sunset said, from her seat. “Let's not get too competitive, before we even get to the beach”.

“Especially because we're all gonna need lots of energy. We've got a long day ahead of us!”. Twilight, who was sitting right next to her red-haired friend, added.

“Speaking of which, what do you want to do today, Twilight? Swimming in the sea water to refresh from all this heat? Sunbathing?”. Sunset asked curiously.

“I don't really know”. The purple-skinned girl replied, turning toward her friend. “I guess I'll just do whatever I wanna do, the moment it crosses my mind”.

“You mean that you haven't got a plan?”. The red-haired youngster went on saying, as her jaw almost dropped from the shock. “Wow, that's not like you!”.

“I know it might sound a little unusual, coming from me. But I absolutely guarantee that I intend to use today to relax and enjoy myself without the pressure of being on a schedule”.

“ After all the hard work you go through the whole year, I think you totally deserve it”.

“Like you did anything less than me”.

At the sound of those words, Sunset blushed even if only slightly: she knew her friend did not mean to tease her, and even if she did, the red-haired girl would not be ashamed to admit that she never minded studying and getting the best grades in the whole class. Even if that meant being called an egghead by Rainbow Dash. After all she had been chosen as Celestia's personal pupil as a filly for a reason.

“Okay, fine. You win this one, Twilight!”.

“Yay!”. The purple-skinned girl giggled, playing along. “What's my prize?”.

“Mmm...I'd offer you sushi, if I wasn't so disgusted by its sight now!”.

“Don't even think about that stuff. Your days as a sushi chef at that horrible restaurant at the mall are over now. Let's just enjoy the rest of our vacation together”.

“Sounds good to me!”. Sunset exclaimed cheerfully at that point, hugging her friend tightly.

“Anyway...”. Twilight went on saying, returning her friend's embrace. “I might have packed something in case I get bored; you know...As a back up plan”. While saying these words, the purple-haired girl pulled out what looked like to be a brand new novel from her bag.

“Ah!”. Sunset shouted in satisfaction, as she laid her eyes on it. “I knew you could not possibly come to the beach without, being prepared”.

“Well it is the newest Daring Do book. What did you expect me to do? Leave it home on a shelf with Spike?”.

“Did you say Daring Do?!”. Rainbow Dash exclaimed, raising her ears as a child the moment their parents agree to take them to the amusement park.

“I did”. Twilight giggled, witnessing the funny expression that her friend, Rainbow Dash, had put on her face.

“And when you said it was the newest novel in the series, you couldn't possibly mean the one that came out in the shops only yesterday. < Daring Do and the curse of the black mask >. Could you?”.

“I could and I did”. Twilight replied, smirking, proudly, showing off the book to the blue-skinned athlete.

“Oh, man! Yesterday I did not get the chance to go to the book store, because of soccer practice. How is it that you always get the coolest books before me?”.

“Well...”. Twilight went on saying, feeling fluttered by Rainbow's envy. “I guess I am just used to squeeze a visit to the book store into my schedule, whenever A.K. Yearling publishes a new novel”.

“Please don't tell me they sold all the copies already. The last time I had to buy one online and wait a week to read it, since at the shop in downtown had sold all the books on the first day”.

“As a matter of fact they did, but never fear, Rainbow Dash. I know you're as much of a fan of A.K. Yearling's work as I am, so yesterday I bought an extra copy of the book for you!”. The moment Twilight pulled out a second book, identical to the other one, out of her backpack, her friend felt the happiest girl in the world. As she took her personal copy of the novel in her hands, her facial muscles twitched, until the youngster put on an unnatural expression; her whole body shaking uncontrollably.

“I can't believe you did that!”. The athlete shouted as a euphoric child. “Thank you, Twilight I knew you were the best. How much do I owe you?”.

“Not a thing”. The other girl answered, smiling and shaking her hand. “I did it just to see you smile. Consider it a good vacation present”.

“But I gotta do something for you to repay my debt. Let's see...How about I...”. Rainbow Dash's phrase was cut off, when the bus, on which they were travelling, stopped all of a sudden.

“What's up, Granny Smith?”. Applejack asked the elder woman, who was as always driving the Rainbooms' vehicle. “Why did we stop?”.

“What do you think, AJ?”. Her grandmother quickly replied. “We've arrived. Have fun girls. I'll come back to pick you up at 7 p.m.”.

At the sound of those words Pinkie Pie finally stopped holding her excitement back and shouted. “Who's ready for the best day in the whole summer?”.

“Us!”. The others cried in unison.

“Ah, this is the life...”. Twilight said, while calmly laying on her sand chair. “Just the heat of the sun and the sound of the waves. What else could we wish for?”.

“Higher waves, that's what!”. Rainbow Dash shouted nervously, standing in front of the young girl, holding her bright new surfboard under her arm. “I mean, how are we supposed to surf without proper waves?!”. The athlete went on saying, turning to Applejack.

“Don't you worry, Rainbow Dash!”. The country girl replied, seeing that her friend was as much impatient to ride her new board as her. “According to the weather forecast the wind will pick up only at 3 pm, which means that we have plenty of time to enjoy ourselves, before I can taste sweet, sweet victory against you”.

“Ah!”. The blue-skinned girl giggled, hearing those words. “Not in a million years!”.

“We'll see who's best, when the time comes”. Applejack went on saying, while a wicked grin appeared on her face. “But for now we should probably save our energies for the competition”.

While the two rivals kept talking, their friend, Fluttershy, who was not distant from them, pulled what looked like to be scuba diving equipment from the bag she had brought with her.

“Hey, Fluttershy!”. Pinkie Pie cried, as she walked to her. “What do you have there?”. The pink-skinned youngster questioned curiously.

“Oh, this? Just a little something that will help me observe the animals in the water”. The other girl replied, showing her gear to her friend. On the sand laid a pair of black scuba fins, in her hands the young animal lover was holding a diving mask and a snorkel, while her wetsuit was still in the backpack.

“Oh, I should have imagined that you were so into marine life, too!”. The cheerful girl exclaimed, once she had taken a look at Fluttershy's equipment. “If I had, I would have bought my stuff, too, so I could come with you. Too bad I didn't: all I have here is my floaty”. At that point the pink-skinned girl pulled out of her bag a rather large floaty, shaped like a duck.

“Oh, I am so sorry, Pinkie”. Her friend replied, seeing that the other girl was disappointed. “If you wanna spend time together, I can just not go and stay with you instead”.

“Fluttershy you are the sweetest person I know”. Pinkie Pie pointed out with a wide smile on her face. “But, this is your vacation, too. You should think about enjoying yourself, so don't worry about me. I said those things only because I thought it would be fun to see all those beautiful fish underwater. But, since I can't do it, I already have something else in mind”.

“Are you absolutely sure, Pinkie Pie?”. Fluttershy asked, still not entirely convinced that her friend was being honest with her. “I wouldn't want to make you feel left behind”.

“Left behind!”. Pinkie cried, laughing as if her friend had just told her a funny joke. “Please, that would be bananas! Now you go have fun, while I try to inflate this floaty. I just hope it doesn't take too long”.

“Are you sure you don't need my help?”.

“I said don't worry. Go have fun and make some aquatic animal friends. Remember to tell me everything you saw, after you come back”.

“That much I can do”. The other youngster promised, right before grabbing all of her gear and walking toward the water, ready to dive.

It took some time for Pinkie Pie to inflate her floaty completely, using only her mouth. But most importantly it took all of her energies, for when she had finally finished, she was feeling exhausted.

“That took forever!”. The pink-skinned girl, said to herself, laying on the beach with her eyes, staring at the sunny sky.

“Hey Pinkie!”. A familiar voice exclaimed suddenly; Pinkie heard the sound of steps, getting closer and closer.

“What's up Rainbow Dash?”. The cheerful youngster replied, breathing heavily.

“Wow, what happened to you? Are you feeling okay?”. The other girl asked, visibly worried, as she saw her friend's state.

“Sure, the thing is that I... had to...inflate my floaty”.

“Oh, that's why you look so terrible!”. Rainbow Dash, exclaimed, understanding the reason why Pinkie Pie was panting “Anyway, listen: as the waves aren't nearly as high as Applejack and I need them to be in order to surf, we thought of having a little swimming contest instead, but we still need a third to be our judge. You wanna come?”.

“Sure, why not? Just give me a minute to breathe and I'll catch up with you guys”.

“Sure, don't take too long though: the water's perfect for swimming. Applejack and I will be waiting for you, while doing some warming-up before the competition”. With those words the blue-skinned athlete turned around, headed to the spot, where her cowgirl friend was waiting for her, leaving poor Pinkie Pie to catch her breath.

In the meantime at the opposite edge of the beach the three remaining girls were sunbathing, laying on their sandchairs. Rarity stood so motionless she gave the impression of being asleep, yet none could exactly tell whether she was awake or not without removing the thick sunglasses, covering her eyes.

Twilight was calmly reading her new Daring Do book and from the looks of it, she was caught up in the story.

Sunset on the other hand was tossing and turning on her chair, giving the impression she was getting bored. As a matter of fact she was tired of doing nothing; sunbathing was surely relaxing, but the idea of doing the same thing all day did not exactly thrill her.

Sunset knew that she could not disturb the others with her complaining, yet an idea flashed in her mind the moment she saw Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Pinkie Pie going into the water.

“Maybe they've got room for one more”. She thought to herself, right before leaving her seat and started walking toward the water.

“Where are you going?”. Twilght questioned, unexpectedly raising her eyes from the pages of her book.

“Oh, just thought of joining the others for a quick swim. It looks like they're having fun”.

“Okay”. The purple-skinned youngster went on saying, as she gazed upon the others, splashing in the water. “I'll catch up with you in a bit. Just give me the time to finish this chapter”.

“Alright then, see you in the water”. Sunset answered, as she began to run toward the shore.

Seeing her approaching, her friends waved at her, inviting to join in the fun: Sunset certainly was not the kind of girl to refuse such a thing. With a giant splash she jumped into the deep warm water of the sea and reached her friends who were just about to begin their competition.

“Applejack and Rainbow Dash are having a race”. Pinkie Pie explained; her arms were holding tight on her large, pink floaty.

“And what is the bet this time?”. Sunset asked, excited to see some action, after sitting on her chair for so long.

“No bets, Sunset”. Rainbow Dash said, turning toward her friend. “However I can't wait to see the look on Applejack's face the moment she looses the race”.

“Yeah, yeah, keep telling yourself that”. The country girl murmured, smirking. “Remember that you'll owe me ice cream for a month, after I prove I am a better surfer than you”.

“Please”. Rainbow Dash went on saying, giggling. “Just remember not to be too disappointed, when I end up winning our next contest”. Applejack was just about to reply, when she was suddenly cut off by Pinkie Pie.

“Girls!”. She cried, putting on a serious expression on her face. “As official judge of this swimming race, it is my duty to make sure both contestants respect the rules, which also means that you two cannot start any argument, before the end of this contest. Is everything clear?”.

At the sound of those words the two athletes giggled, understanding that Pinkie Pie was probably acting strictly, because she was being carried away by the idea of being a judge, but ultimately agreed to play along.

“Okay, judge”. Applejack intervened, barely holding back from giggling again. “Give us the signal”.

“If you're both ready...”. The pink-skinned youngster replied, raising her left hand. “...On your mark, get set...Go!”. As the two rivals quickly swam away, they raised a small wave high enough to end up wetting Sunset's long curls.

“ I guess this is a nice change from sunbathing”. She sighed, taking what had just happened surprisingly well.

“At least we're having fun, right?”. Pinkie, who's hair had also been covered in sea water, intervened.

“I guess we are”. The red-haired youngster replied, giggling. “I'd give you a hug right now, if you didn't need to hold on that floaty”.

“Oh, I don't need to. I can swim just fine”. Pinkie Pine replied, squeezing out of her fuchsia duck. “...See?”.

Surprisingly the moment her friend began to swim on her own, Sunset did not blink on eye. “I should have figured. You were holding that gigantic floaty just for the fun of it, weren't you?”.

“Sure! After all, what's life without a little spark of excitement from time to time?”.

“I guess that is true, even if I don't think you're being completely sincere”.

“Okay, you got me. Maybe saying from time to time isn't appropriate in my case. But, hey, what's wrong with enjoying yourself?”.

“Not a thing. If only there were more people like you, Pinkie...”.

“If that were the case, then I wouldn't be special, silly! Now about that hug...”.

“Oh, right”. Sunset exclaimed, before pulling Pinkie into a tight, affectionate embrace which the other girl returned happily.

Good Vibes

by sunsetsjournal

Same old

Coinky-Dink World

Fashion disaster

Technical problem

Missing: Angel

Duty calls...But it can wait

From the frying pan into the fire

It takes a lot of work to chillax (special ending chapter)