I. The Mean Streets
“Oh, that’s right,” Pinkie Pie’s brain told her more than an hour after the information held any practical use for her, “we’ve moved to a different town, haven’t we?”
The dark, dingy streets of Canterlot Pinkie Pie found herself aimlessly traversing – the map she’d procured at the train station was presently a hopelessly befuddled mess lodged in her bouffant pink mane – were unlike anything she’d seen back home in the small village which contained her family’s rock farm.
This, at first blush, resembled something more akin to a Demilitarised Zone; despite the relative warmth, Pinkie shivered inwardly. Something about the place just didn’t sit quite right with her. All the pictures she’d seen of Canterlot had depicted it as palatial. It was the capital of Equestria and Princess Celestia’s freakin’ home, for crying out loud! This was anything but royal. She hurried onwards, hoping to find her destination before she ran into any of the … locals. Somehow, she got the feeling that the ponies who made themselves at home here would match the drab surroundings.
Then again, Pinkie thought, I did come all this way to try and spread some cheer to the big-city ponies. Maybe this is where my purpose lies? She frowned, narrowing her blue eyes, remembering her parents’ confusion when she’d tried to explain about the sonic rainboom and how she’d felt it calling her away from the farm they’d tended to as their ancestors had done for generations. They hadn’t got it. Tartarus, Pinkie knew she still didn’t quite get it either.
So lost was she in her thoughts, she didn’t notice the obstacle until her snout collided painfully it; rubbing it with the tip of a hoof, Pinkie Pie looked up to find a slab of beef with five extra slabs of beef protruding from it. A pony-shaped head was attached to what she hesitated to call a neck. “Sorry,” was all she could squeak out. Unaccountably, Pinkie felt a wave of fear thrill through her. Now, now, don’t assume the worst. He, it, whatever might be really nice. “Uh, could you help me? I’m a bit lost. I’m trying to fin-”
When no immediate response was forthcoming save for stony silence and a look she didn’t much like, Pinkie settled for apologising with a theatrical bow, then taking a step to the side and continuing on her way.
At least, that had been the plan.
She’d barely gone more than two steps when Pinkie found her forward momentum arrested by something huge, sweaty and powerful clamping painfully around one of her withers. In another time and place, it had probably been a perfectly ordinary hoof belonging to a perfectly normal pony who dreamed of sunshine and lollipops. Now it resembled nothing so much as a thick, leather catcher’s mitt; right now, what it held in its talon-like clutches was a frightened young pony who was deeply regretting giving up a life on the farm for adventures in the big city.
“What’s the hurry?” a dull but booming voice asked.
“Well-” Pinkie Pie started, squirming under the other pony’s grasp.
“Why don’t you stay with us here for a while, little pony?” the voice asked with the sort of self-satisfied drawl that would’ve had statues squirming in distaste. “You can keep us entertained.”
Pinkie Pie’s vision was swimming with images of an unsettling yellow grin; stupidly, all she could think about was how badly this pony really needed an instruction on proper oral hygiene. Remembering her situation, she started worrying about her own health instead. The rather nice cake she’d had for lunch was threatening to upend itself as a sensation she’d never experienced before took root in her stomach:
I’m going to die tonight. Or worse.
She became aware of hooves groping at her, places that she’d barely paid any attention to herself; out of the darkness, Pinkie Pie could see two, three, more ponies approaching. Exhaling sharply, she did her best – which wasn’t much, admittedly – to fight them off. Weakly, she batted at them with what she belatedly realised were her incredibly scrawny limbs. She might’ve been born an earth pony, she might’ve worked on a rock farm her entire life, but compared to these slobbering hulks … she was nothing.
Just a ragdoll to be tossed around and broken.
“Feisty,” one of the group said, giggling like a kid who’d just got the prize at the bottom of a box of cereal. “I like that.”
Resigning herself to her fate, hoping to still be alive at the end of this, Pinkie Pie was startled to hear a new voice roar:
“HEY! Let her go right now!”
The group temporarily halted their clumsy pawing of Pinkie Pie to turn their wrath on the newcomer. Pinkie Pie noted that she was a small, sleek pegasus with a mane and tail picked out in every colour of the rainbow. Her cerise eyes, even in the darkness, radiated a confidence that verged on pure, unbridled arrogance.
“There are four of us,” the leader of Pinkie’s assailants said, doing some quick sums in his head, “and one of you, bird-brain.” With a disgusting leer, he added, “That said, I wouldn’t mind seeing you two-” he jerked his head toward Pinkie Pie “-together, so I’ll give you the chance to join us instead of me painting the walls with that pretty little mane of yours.”
Ignoring that last comment, the pegasus said, “Maths never was my strong suit, but if you think you need some more guys to take me on, I’ll happily wait.” A cocky grin split her muzzle.
All Pinkie Pie could think, Is she serious right now … or is she insane?
“Hold her,” the leader said, nudging Pinkie Pie in the direction of his cohorts. She wished that she could’ve used the distraction to make a break for it, but their grip on her was absolute, and she could only spectate mutely and hope that the pegasus could either back up her bolshy words … or that her death would be painless.
The fight, if it could be called that, was brief; the pegasus might very well have been outmuscled by the burly gang leader, but that didn’t matter when he couldn’t even lay a hoof on her. With a series of deft manoeuvrers that barely elicited a flutter from her elegant wings, she ducked and weaved, and clumsy blow after clumsy blow sailed harmlessly by either side of her head. The whole thing seemed to be happening in slow-motion to her. One punch might have ruffled her polychromatic locks, but she’d swear to her dying day that it was just an errant breeze whistling through the street.
Gasping for air, winded by his exertions, the gang leader was just about to redouble his efforts to save face in front of his stunned friends when the pegasus collided bodily with him; she might not have been packing the insane amount of muscle he was, but she had something even better: momentum. The barge knocked him into some garbage cans and he slumped against a brick wall in a defeated, bruised heap.
“So,” the pegasus said, turning her attention back to the rest of the gang, “now that the trash has been taken out, would anyone else like to have a go?”
Like most pack-animals, the sight of their leader being defeated so soundly – so easily – had taken the wind out of their sails. Shoving Pinkie Pie roughly toward the pegasus, they collected their humbled chief and disappeared back into the night, muttering vague promises of revenge should they ever meet again.
“Are you okay?” asked the pegasus to the still-stunned Pinkie. “What’s your name?”
Panting heavily, the earth pony said, “I, um, my name’s Pinkie Pie … t-thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Pinkie Pie. I’m Rainbow Dash.” Her chest swelled with pride.
Tears forming in her eyes, Pinkie Pie threw her arms around Rainbow Dash’s neck.
Abashed, Rainbow Dash tried to extricate herself, but soon resigned herself to the fact that her new friend wasn’t going to let go any time soon. “Um … what are you doing out here, anyway? Don’t you know this neighbourhood is a bit sketchy?”
“I’m, ah, I’m new in town. I’m supposed to be staying at a hotel until getting the train to Ponyville tomorrow. I’m starting work in the bakery on Monday and I wanted to get settled in first, but I got lost and, well … the rest you know.” Pinkie Pie finally released her death-grip on the pegasus’ neck.
Despite the rapidity of Pinkie’s speech, Rainbow Dash caught the gist of it. “Where’s your hotel?”
Pinkie recited the address.
“Ah, that’s not far from here. Want me to walk you there?” Rainbow Dash held out a hoof.
Accepting the hoof with her first smile in hours, Pinkie nodded her head vigorously. “Yes, please!”
“You’ll like Ponyville,” Rainbow Dash said as they walked. “I’m part of the weather team there. It’s quiet, not much in the way of excitement, but it’s close enough to Canterlot and most of the rest of Equestria by train. Here we are!”
“Huh? Oh.” Pinkie Pie blinked a couple of times and shook her head, not quite able to take into the modest-looking building that was her digs for the night. A fog had descended over her mind, which was understandable given the events of the past couple of hours. “Thanks for escorting me, Rainbow Dash. I appreciate it.” On impulse, she hugged her again. Her newfound friend’s confidence – Pinkie got the feeling that Rainbow Dash really could handle anything thrown at her – had made her feel a little bit better as they’d made their way through Canterlot’s winding roads. A little.
“You’re a hugger, huh?” said Rainbow Dash, with a wry grin.
“Sorry.” Pinkie Pie sounded chagrined.
“Eh, it’s okay.” The pegasus scratched the back of her mane. All this touchy-feely stuff wasn’t really her style, but she knew she couldn’t exactly turn the poor earth pony down after the scare she’d had tonight. “You’re still shaking,” she noted.
“Nothing like this has ever happened to me before,” Pinkie said, feeling ashamed as she tried to hug herself into calming the panic that wouldn’t abate. “I mean … did I do something wrong?”
“What? No! Why would you even think that?”
“They must’ve had a reason to do what they did, right? Celestia knows what would’ve happened if you hadn’t shown up when you did!”
“Pinkie, some ponies … they’re just bad, okay?” Rainbow Dash said with a shake of her head. Even the flight school in Cloudsdale wasn’t immune to those sorts and she’d dealt with a number of them over the years. “They think they’re entitled to take whatever they want from anypony.” On impulse, she hugged the earth pony until she stopped her trembling.
“You’re a hugger?” asked Pinkie Pie with a sardonic grin, leaning slightly into Rainbow Dash’s wither.
“Believe me, I’m as surprised by this as you are.” With an edge of steel in her voice, Rainbow Dash said, “You tell anypony about this and I’ll kick your butt myself, okay?”
“Deal,” replied Pinkie Pie, chuckling though her heart wasn’t really in it. “Um ...”
“What is it?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Would you mind, you know, if I looked you up when I get to Ponyville? I mean, would you like to be … friends?”
“Sure,” said Rainbow Dash with a soft smile. Come the morning, no doubt the earth pony would want to put all of this behind her, and she’d forget all about her new friend. The pegasus hadn’t done so well with those in the past – she thought briefly of Gilda and Fluttershy – but maybe it would work out a little bit better this time?