Episode 06: Welcome to the Family
At last! The day was finally here! It was a day for celebration and jubilation and exultation all at the same time… and Pinkie Pie had only a vague idea what those words even meant! Well, except for celebration, of course. Who didn’t know how to celebrate? Pinkie Pie was an expert at that, and this was certainly a day for it. Why, you might ask? Because this was the day her circle of friends was going to be complete!
“Hold still, Twilight!” Moon Dancer huffed and shook her head as her fingers tugged on Twilight’s tie, working it through the usual knots to get it looking presentable.
“I’m sorry… I’m just still a little nervous.” Twilight proved the point with a nervous smile. “Meeting so many new people in a day… it’s kind of daunting.”
Moon Dancer smiled. “I understand, but you did promise.”
“Yep! And a Pinkie promise is a true promise!” Pinkie Pie grinned from her place bouncing on the bed in excitement.
Twilight rolled her eyes with a surrendering smile. “I know, I promised, so I’m going. Still, I don’t understand why you’re so insistent on me meeting your other friends as soon as possible. I’m glad you like them, and you like me, but that doesn’t mean I’ll get along with them.”
“Oh… I think you’ll get along just fine.” Pinkie Pie smiled a mischievous smile. “It’s destiny, after all.”
“Destiny?” Twilight blinked. “It’s my destiny to have you all as friends?”
“You could say that.” Pinkie winked.
“Uh… no, you just said that.”
“Exactly!”
“I…” Twilight Sparkle shook her head and gave Moon Dancer a quizzical look. “How did you say you became friends with her again?”
“I didn’t really have a choice in the matter.” Moon Dancer giggled. “Not that I regret it. She’s fun to have around. There we go.” Moon Dancer stepped back to admire her handiwork. Twilight was dressed in a knee-length deep violent skirt with a sky-blue top, not too different from what she’d had on in the movie, but much nicer, with more jewelry pinned on in strategic places, and even a pair of red twinkle earrings hanging from her earlobes.
Pinkie Pie smiled appreciatively. “Oh, Twilight, you look fantastic!”
“Thanks!” Twilight blushed lightly at Pinkie before turning back to Moon. “And thank you for helping me get ready. I feel a lot better being somewhat presentable.”
“You’re too hard on yourself. You’re plenty presentable… more than presentable, really… but still, you’re welcome.” Moon Dancer smiled with a soft blush. “You can count on me for anything.”
“I know.” Twilight Sparkled smiled back and took her hand in one of her own, as Pinkie Pie watched with a broad, anticipating smile on her face.
Sadly, the expected kiss never came. Instead Twilight Sparkle simply held Moon Dancer’s hand in a gentle grip. “Well, I guess we should get going.”
“Okay!” Pinkie bounced easily off the bed, turning to lead the charge out of the bedroom and down toward the sidewalk. “Rainbow Dash isn’t far! We can walk all the way there!”
Thankfully for Pinkie Pie and everyone else, the short walk was made even shorter by skipping it, instead saying it was a nice day in town with the sun shining. Who wanted to read about their step-by-step walk anyway? Or step-by-step skip, in her case. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest as they moved closer and closer to the park, where she knew Rainbow Dash had been planning to spend the day with her girlfriend, Scootaloo.
It didn’t take long to find them, though unfortunately Rainbow Dash was passed out lying on the grass with her hands folded against her stomach. The drool leaking out the side of her mouth was splashing against Scootaloo’s leg, who had Rainbow’s head resting comfortably in her lap.
“Oh no… is she still not sleeping well?” Pinkie cooed as she approached the two girls.
“It comes and goes.” The fingers of one hand were running gently through Rainbow’s hair as Scootaloo smiled up at the approaching girls, her gaze finally settling on Twilight. “Gah! Twilight Sparkle!?”
“Gah!” Twilight leapt back in shock. “You know me!?”
“I… uh…” Scootaloo looked frantically back and forth between Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle, as if searching for a way out of a net.
“Yep! This is Twilight Sparkle! Our new best friend ever!” Pinkie Pie grinned. Pretty much everyone had known that Twilight was from another world, but not everyone seemed to realize there was already a Twilight Sparkle who simply didn’t go to Canterlot High, even though Pinkie Pie had made it as obvious as possible and they would know if they’d just paid attention.
“Oh…” Scootaloo’s eyes lit up as she caught on. “Heh… sorry, um, it’s nice to meet you… of course I’ve never met you before…”
“But you knew my name…” Twilight countered cautiously, but her comment was drowned out by a raucous snore from Scootaloo’s lap.
“Whoa, heh… think she almost caught a fly on that one.” Scootaloo forced a giggle and swatted at the air in front of Rainbow’s face, forcing a fly to flee from the assault.
“Well… okay….” Twilight still looked unsure, but didn’t press the issue. “It’s nice to meet you too, um…”
“I’m Scootaloo. This is Rainbow Dash.” Scootaloo smiled down at the bigger girl.
“We should really get going,” Pinkie Pie chimed in. “We have so many more friends to meet and we’ve spent over nine hundred words just meeting you two! I’ll come back to check on Dashie later, okay?”
“Uh… okay.” Scootaloo waved after them with a confused expression, but let the three girls leave without incident.
Moon Dancer leaned in to whisper to Twilight. “Is it me or was that one of the weirdest things ever?”
“Now do you see what I’ve been dealing with?” Twilight replied. “Maybe we should go home…”
Pinkie’s breath caught in her throat as the previous paragraph ended. Oh no, if Twilight went home now then she’d never join her circle of close friends! Thankfully, Pinkie knew just how to fix that situation, with one of Pinkie’s best friends and the most stable, dependable friend she had. Unfortunately Sweet Apple Acres was kind of far from here, so they made their way toward a sturdy wooden cottage right on the edge of town. The area was so nice Pinkie had to kick off her boots and run up to the cottage barefoot across the lush grass to rap on the door, but neither of her companions joined her.
Fluttershy opened the door swiftly with a soft smile. “Oh, hello Pinkie Pie. It’s always so nice to have you come visit me.”
“It’s always so nice to come visit you!” Pinkie agreed with a grin. “And I come bringing friends too!”
“Friends?” Fluttershy looked past Pinkie just as Twilight Sparkle and Moon Dancer caught up to her. “Eep! Oh my gosh, Twilight!?”
“You too!?” Twilight exclaimed. “This is getting freaky, why does everyone around here know my name!?”
Fluttershy twiddled her thumbs nervously. “Oh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you…”
Twilight’s voice lowered instantly. “Oh… it-it’s okay! You didn’t, really, I didn’t mean to make you nervous…”
“No, really, it’s my fault, I shouldn’t have said that…” Fluttershy squeaked guiltily.
“You didn’t say anything wrong, really. I’m the one who overreacted.”
“But you had a right to; I’d react like that if someone I didn’t know knew me… it’s scary.”
“Yeah but you didn’t mean to freak me out.”
A loud slap interrupted the next comment as Moon Dancer’s palm met her face. “Okay, okay, we get it! You’re both sorry, now can you explain why everyone seems to know Twilight?”
“Um…” Fluttershy looked away from them. “I don’t know, Applejack said we shouldn’t…”
“And why would she say you should hide things from Twilight?” Moon Dancer demanded. “If you all know who she is she has a right to know why!”
“Oh, gosh, I’m sorry…” Fluttershy backed into the door further.
“Oh, no, I’m sorry, she didn’t mean to upset you…” Twilight stepped forward.
“Yes! Yes I did!” Moon Dancer pulled her back by the shoulder. “Because this is officially weird and you deserve to know why!”
“Don’t yell at her, you big meanie!” Pinkie Pie finally stepped in front of the door.
“Okay, okay!” Moon Dancer raised her hands in surrender, taking a step back from the cottage. “I’m sorry I raised my voice… but I really think Twilight has a right to know what’s going on here. We need to meet this Applejack person.”
“Oh yeah!? That was gonna be our next stop anyway!” Pinkie Pie brightened immediately. “Hey Fluttershy, do you think you could drive us to Sweet Apple Acres?”
Fluttershy’s eyes widened in surprise. “Drive you out there? Oh… well, I was going to turn on some music and take a bath… but okay, if you need to go, that is.”
“Thanks Fluttershy!” Pinkie Pie threw her arms around her friend in a fierce hug. “I knew we could count on you! Come on everybody! Her van’s around back!”
Fluttershy led the way to the van behind the house. It was an old van that didn’t look entirely unlike a van that carried around a team of meddling kids and their dog too, but way more rustic, yet at the same time, more colorful than that. The thing was splashed with rainbows and flowers the color of rainbows and rainbows with more rainbow flowers growing out of them. Pinkie Pie thought it was one of the most beautiful things she ever saw. All it was missing was party balloons and streamers.
Twilight and Moon didn’t comment on the van as they all piled into it, Fluttershy climbing into the driver’s seat while Pinkie took shotgun… a terrible phrase really… and their two new friends climbed into the back seats.
Fluttershy started the engine. “Everybody make sure you buckle your seatbelts.”
“And make sure you get ready for the best view in Canterlot!” Pinkie leaned back in her seat as the van pulled out onto the dirt and pebble road, turning away from the town to head further up the hill overlooking the city.
Pinkie Pie could never keep a grin from spreading across her face as she looked back out over the city slowly moving further out below them. Twilight Sparkle and Moon Dancer were looking back as well, whistling appreciatively at the view.
“We should come up here more often…” Moon Dancer smiled.
“It is quite beautiful…” Twilight Sparkle smiled with her.
Pinkie Pie couldn’t help a giggle. They were so going to kiss eventually.
About twenty minutes later the farm came into view. Sweet Apple Acres was pretty far from town, and covered a massive chunk of land. Not too far to walk, if they really had to, but Fluttershy was always happy to give her friends a ride whenever they wanted to go see their farming friend.
The van rolled up the rocky dirt road toward the farmhouse, where it came to a stop in front of the porch. When the four girls emerged, they heard a rhythmic ‘thunk’ noise coming from behind the house, followed by smaller clunks of something falling.
“Applejack must be around back! Come on!” Pinkie led the charge around the house.
“Pinkie! Wait! We can’t just go around the house, it’s not polite!” Fluttershy objected, but Pinkie was already rounding the corner.
Applejack was standing in front of a thick stump in the backyard with an axe clutched in both hands. To her pleasant surprise, Sunset Shimmer was there too, kneeling beside a large pile of wood. As Pinkie slowed to watch curiously, Sunset Shimmer plucked a log of wood from the pile and slapped it vertically onto the stump, where Applejack brought the axe down to slice it in half with one powerful chop. The two halves fell to the sides, into much larger piles of wood.
“Applejack! And Sunset Shimmer too!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed happily. “Even better!”
“Gah!” Applejack grunted and gripped her axe tightly to stop it in mid-swing, bringing it down more slowly beside her legs. “Pinkie!? Darnit girl, don’t sneak up on me when I’m holdin’ an axe!”
“Seriously!” Sunset agreed as she yanked her hand back away from the stump. “I need my hands!”
“What are you even doing here, Sunset Shimmer?” Pinkie Pie asked curiously.
“Applejack offered to show me around the farm… I finally said yes.” Sunset Shimmer blushed. Oh yeah, that happened in the second episode. It was so long ago it was no wonder you probably forgot.
Sunset Shimmer climbed to her feet. “Your turn, what are you doing out here?”
“I brought new friends to meet you!” Pinkie Pie grinned brightly and took one step to the side just as Fluttershy, Moon Dancer, and Twilight Sparkle came around the corner.
“Twilight!?” Applejack exclaimed in shock.
“Yeah, I saw that coming.” Moon smirked and crossed her arms over her chest. “You know, how come everyone knows Twilight and not me?”
Pinkie Pie cooed sympathetically. “Aw, I wouldn’t worry about it, you just didn’t get enough screen time. Eep!” Pinkie Pie yipped as she was whirled forcefully toward Applejack, who was gripping her shirt with one hand and flashing the others a disarming, toothy grin.
“Would y’all excuse us for a moment? We need to have a word.”
“Sure, why not, we didn’t just ask questions or anything,” Moon Dancer grumped.
“I’ll answer your questions in a sec, first I got some questions of my own.” Applejack turned to drag Pinkie Pie by her shirt toward the tree line.
“Oh? What kind of question you got?” Pinkie smiled innocently.
“Just one. What the heck’re you thinkin’!?” Applejack demanded. “We talked about this Pinkie, draggin’ that poor girl into our group just because she looks like our friend is only gonna freak her out!” Applejack sighed and shook her head more sympathetically. “I know you wish Twilight Sparkle coulda stuck around… so do the rest of us, but that’s no reason to drag that poor girl into somethin’ she had nothin’ to do with.”
“I didn’t mean to do it! Pinkie swear! I just ran into her at the library and we got to talking and we became friends and I thought maybe she’d like to be friends with the rest of you too!”
“Ugh, Pinkie…” Applejack ran a hand over her face. “She ain’t the Twilight we knew, no matter how much she looks like her.”
“Maybe, but that doesn’t mean she’s not a good person. She’s still great to talk to!”
“Well a’course, I didn’t say she wasn’t a good person.” Applejack rubbed the back of her neck. “But ain’t it a little awkward? She sure don’t look comfortable…”
“She’s just not comfortable talking to people in general, I’m sure we can help her out with that if we just open our hearts to her and offer her our friendship! Maybe it would work better if we were on an epic adventure to save a princess, but friendship is still magic!”
“Pinkie for the love of…” Applejack trailed off as her eyes widened. “Oh crap…” Without warning she whirled to dart back through the trees, racing back toward the rear side of the house.
Pinkie followed swiftly, trailing her toward the house, where they came upon a somewhat alarming sight. Twilight Sparkle was standing with her right hand out to Sunset Shimmer, who was just glaring back with her hand twitching. Within easy grabbing distance was Applejack’s razor sharp, and extremely inviting-looking, axe. It almost looked like Sunset’s fingers were twitching towards it, as if drawn by impulse.
“Um…” Twilight cleared her throat with her hand still out and a nervous smile on her lips. “Is… is something wrong?”
For a moment Pinkie felt her heart stop. She may be a happy-go-lucky person, but even she could see an obviously dangerous situation staring her in the face.
Fortunately for everyone Sunset Shimmer just turned away from Twilight without accepting her hand. “As if I’m gonna shake your hand. If you’ll excuse me.” Without another word she turned to make her way inside, heading in through the rear screen door.
“Did I say something wrong…?” Twilight finally lowered her hand almost guiltily.
Moon moved up beside her with a huff. “No, you didn’t.”
“She’s got her own issues, sorry.” Applejack approached the group again with a bright smile. “So, Twilight Sparkle, right?”
“Yeah… as you apparently knew.” Twilight blushed. “This is my best friend Moon Dancer, by the way…”
“Yo.” Moon Dancer waved from behind her. “Now that you know who both of us are, care to explain what’s going on around here?”
“Well, I guess now that you’re here it’s only fair. Come on inside and I’ll tell you everything.” Applejack sighed and shook her head as she turned to head inside after Sunset Shimmer. “It’s gonna take a while, and it’ll be hard for y’all to believe it, but trust me, I ain’t gonna lie to you.”
“Oh yes, you can trust her. Applejack never lies,” Fluttershy agreed with a nod as she followed the rest of the group into the house.
As the others made their way into the living room to discuss history, Pinkie Pie could hear the sound of water running from the bathroom down the back hallway. With a quick glance at the others, who were settling in for Applejack’s story in the living room, Pinkie Pie crept her way down the hall to the bathroom. The door was cracked open and the sound of water coming from the showerhead was unmistakable now.
“Sunset Shimmer?” Pinkie pushed the door open far enough for her to slide inside, pushing it closed again behind her. “Are you in here?”
There was a pause before the answer came from behind the closed shower curtain. “Nope.”
Pinkie giggled. “You’re so silly.”
“I must be.” Sunset sighed. “Do you mind? I’m taking a shower.”
“But you left the door open. Also you’re a pony and you don’t care about being naked.”
“Ugh… fine, use my nature against me. What exactly do you want?”
“Do you hate Twilight Sparkle?” Pinkie was as blunt as she could be. No reason to be annoying about it.
“I… don’t know if hate’s the right word, exactly.”
“Then why didn’t you shake her hand? Don’t you want to be her friend?”
“No, Pinkie, I don’t want to be her friend.”
Pinkie just stood in place, staring at the shower curtain. That was an interesting string of words. What could Sunset Shimmer possibly mean by that? The possibilities tumbled through Pinkie’s mind like clothes in a dryer, but none of them really stood out as being really likely.
Pinkie wracked her brain for something to say, but could only come up with, “What?”
“I don’t want to be her friend. I don’t hate her or anything, I know she’s not the Twilight Sparkle, but that doesn’t mean I want to hang out with her.”
“But… but she can be your friend,” Pinkie insisted.
She said it again. “I don’t want to be her friend.”
“But… you…” Pinkie Pie’s brain struggled to comprehend the words she was hearing again and again. It simply wasn’t possible. There was nothing better than making new friends. Nothing in the world could be better than that, and Pinkie couldn’t fathom allowing some of her friends to not be friends with one-another. That just wouldn’t be very friendly at all, and certainly not very magical.
She heard the water shut off a moment later and the shower curtain slid open as a very naked Sunset Shimmer reached for her towel to dry herself off. “Look Pinkie, I know how you are, but it’s just not gonna happen. I know Twilight, she’s not gonna want to be friends with me, and I certainly don’t wanna be friends with her.”
“But why wouldn’t you want more friends?”
“Maybe I’m happy with the friends I’ve got.”
“But… but with more friends you’d be even happier!” Pinkie Pie complained.
“Uh, no?” Sunset Shimmer smirked. “I’m perfectly happy how things are.”
“But… she’s so nice! If you’ll just get to know her!” Pinkie Pie whined.
“Pinkie, give it a rest, will you?” Sunset Shimmer waved her off as she approached her clothes on the sink to get dressed. “I am not going to make up with Twilight. One, it would be weird since that’s the wrong Twilight. Two, I simply don’t want to. Maybe I’m petty, but I’m perfectly happy with you guys as my friends.”
“But… but…” Pinkie sputtered helplessly the entire time her friend was getting dressed, only managing to say something else once Sunset was pulling her shirt on. “You’re really hot!”
“Thanks.” Sunset Shimmer waved with a smirk and left Pinkie alone in the bathroom.
Pinkie didn’t even move for a long time. It felt like her entire world had just been rocked. She simply couldn’t, she wouldn’t stand for this! With a deep breath and a firm nod, Pinkie moved to rejoin her friends.
___
“Do come back soon, darling!” Rarity waved as Fluttershy’s van pulled out of her driveway. “We really must discuss your wardrobe!”
“Um, yeah! That sounds like a plan!” Twilight waved with a nervous smile until the van pulled away from the house to make its way down the street.
“See?” Pinkie giggled happily. “You’re friends with everybody now, right!?”
“Well it was… certainly an interesting day.” Twilight blushed as she settled back into her seat. “I simply can’t believe what I heard… a Twilight Sparkle from another universe? One who’s a princess? I wouldn’t know the first thing about being a princess.”
“Must come with being a pony.” Moon Dancer smirked. “Personally I don’t know how much I believe, but given that every person on this side of town that we’ve seen knows you by name, I guess it’s the least creepy explanation.”
“More importantly! You’re best friends with everyone, right!?” Pinkie exclaimed with a grin.
“Well I don’t know about that… I barely got to know anybody.” Twilight blushed. “But I did have a surprisingly good time, all in all. Thank you, Pinkie Pie.”
“You’re welcome; you should come to my parties from now on! I guarantee you’ll have an amazing time!” Pinkie grinned.
“Ahehe, yeah… we’ll see.” Twilight blushed.
“You gotta give Twilight some time and space, remember?” Moon Dancer scolded her friend. “Not everybody is a social butterfly like you.”
“Well yeah…” Pinkie shook her head and looked at Twilight again. “Hey Twilight, what do you think of Sunset Shimmer?”
“She seems… unstable.” Twilight blushed. “No offense.”
“Aw, she’s not a bad person, you just need to get to know her!”
“Frankly I don’t know if I want to get to know her. The way she was looking at me… I don’t even know her and it’s like she hates my guts. What kind of person does something like that?”
Moon Dancer smirked. “That’s easy. A bit-“
“Ssshhh! This episode is rated E!” Pinkie Pie warned before turning back to Twilight. “Please Twilight, you’ve gotta give her a chance, she’s a good person and she can be an amazing friend! Being friends is so much nicer, isn’t it?”
“I guess it is, but like I said, she doesn’t even look like she wants to be friends, and if that’s how she wants it, that’s fine by me.” Twilight reached out to take Moon Dancer’s hand with a warm smile. “I already have amazing friends…”
Moon Dancer smiled back with a squeeze of her hand. Pinkie was about to protest again, but the van pulled up beside the curb right outside of Twilight’s house.
“Be careful getting out now,” Fluttershy warned from the driver’s seat. “And have a wonderful day.”
“Thank you for the ride, Fluttershy.” Twilight climbed out of the van with her best friend and closed the door behind her, shutting down Pinkie’s complaints before they could be spoken. “I’ll see you around!”
“You’re very welcome. Bye bye!” Fluttershy waved after the two girls, then pulled away from the curb with a soft hum. She glanced over as Pinkie climbed into the passenger seat beside her. “Would you like me to drop you off at home too, Pinkie?”
Pnkie Pie sighed as she buckled her seatbelt. “Sure.” She hesitated a moment before speaking again. “Hey Fluttershy, do you think you could help me out with something tomorrow?”
“Help you? Of course, I’ll do whatever I can to help. That’s what friends do.” Fluttershy smiled.
“Thanks Fluttershy… I knew I could count on you.” Pinkie Pie smiled mischievously.
___
“I think I changed my mind, Pinkie, I don’t wanna do this anymore…” Fluttershy shuddered, holding a length of thick rope in her sweaty palms.
“Just wait, here she comes.” Pinkie stuck one eye out of the shady alleyway to watch Sunset Shimmer approach with a careless walk, her hands stuffed into the pockets of her thick leather jacket. “On the count of three, we go!”
“Go home?” Fluttershy asked hopefully.
“Three!” Pinkie leapt out without warning when Sunset Shimmer took her first step in front of the alley. Her victim barely had time to yelp before being dragged back into the alley with her arms flailing.
“Ohgoodnessohmygoshohmygoshohgoodness!” Fluttershy sprang forward to tie Sunset’s arms and legs together with the rope while Pinkie held her limbs tightly. “I am so sorry about this!”
“What in the…!? What the fuck are you two doing!?” Sunset demanded.
“Augh! No! You just gave us a Teen rating!” Pinkie exclaimed.
“Fuck that! Fuck you both! Untie me right fucking now, you shits!” Sunset Shimmer struggled against the ropes now that she’d regained her bearings, but Fluttershy was extremely good at survival skills, including knot-tying. “Fucking bitch-cunt motherfuckers!”
“Oh my…” Fluttershy’s face was bright red. “I’m sorry…”
“Hurry up, grab her legs Fluttershy!” Pinkie Pie grabbed Sunset Shimmer’s shoulders, waiting for Fluttershy to grab her ankles before they hauled her down to the other side of the alley, where Fluttershy’s van was waiting by the side of the road with the side door open. Ignoring the ear-burning string of expletives, the two girls hauled Sunset Shimmer into the backseat, where Fluttershy made sure she was safely buckled before running around the can to the driver’s side to start them on their journey down the road.
“I am sooo sorry.” Fluttershy looked into the rear-view mirror. “Please don’t be mad at me.”
“You’ll be way sorrier once these ropes are off.” Sunset Shimmer growled. “What the Hell is going on here?”
“It’s for your own good, Sunset Shimmer!” Pinkie Pie folded her arms over her chest with a nod. “You need to discover the magic of friendship and I’m gonna show it to you!”
“I’m already friends with you guys! At least until I murder you for abducting me!”
“I’m sorry…” Fluttershy whimpered.
“You’ll be much happier once you’re friends with Twilight! Believe me!” Pinkie grinned back at her.
“Twi… oh Hell no! You’re not taking me to see her!” Sunset fumed and struggled against her ropes with renewed vigor. “I already told you-“
“We’re here! Come on Fluttershy!” Pinkie bounced out of the van once they pulled up to the curb in front of Twilight’s house.
“Oh dear, oh dear…” Fluttershy bit her lip as she grabbed the second rope and climbed out of the van.
Five minutes later the van was rolling down the street again, with Pinkie and Fluttershy in the front seats while Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle sat together in the back, restrained by thick lengths of rope underneath seatbelts.
“I’ve got to say, you’re really making me question the value of friendship, Pinkie Pie.” Twilight muttered.
“Seriously!” Sunset Shimmer agreed. “Nothing’s worth this much trouble!”
Pinkie smiled back from her seat. “You’ll thank me after your lives have been enriched by the magic of overwhelming friendship! You just need to open your hearts!”
“So where are you taking us to open our hearts, exactly?” Sunset Shimmer growled.
“Someplace you can talk in peace and quiet!” Pinkie turned to look out front again as they approached the grassy field just outside of town, between Canterlot and Sweet Apple Acres.
It was a perfect day to spend outdoors, with a bright sun shining down on a land swept with the perfect cooling breeze. It was the perfect day to spend the day outdoors, tied to a pair of wooden table chairs and facing each other on the windswept plains while Pinkie Pie sat in a third chair in front of them with her hands in her lap. Fluttershy was waiting in the van parked next to the dirt road nearby, where the radio drowned out the noise coming from outside.
“See? Isn’t this relaxing?” Pinkie looked back and forth between the girls with a bright smile, receiving two venomous glares in return. “You’re not leaving until you talk about your differences. Now, Sunset Shimmer, do you have something you want to say to Twilight Sparkle?”
“Why yes. Yes I do.” Sunset Shimmer looked Twilight straight in the eye with a solemn expression. “Fuck you.”
Twilight gasped in revulsion. “What the heck was that for!? You kiss your mother with that mouth?”
“No, but you can kiss my ass with yours.” Sunset smirked.
“Sunset Shimmeeerrrrr stooooooooop!” Pinkie whined. “You’re gonna raise the rating to M!”
“What is your problem with me!?” Twilight demanded sharply. “I know I look like that girl you had a problem with! Applejack told me everything! But I’m not her!”
“Yes you are!” Sunset Shimmer growled. “The precious student Princess Celestia chose for everything! Who got everything she ever wanted handed to her on a silver platter while I ‘wasn’t good enough!’ While I was held back because Celestia never trusted me like she trusted you!”
“Well after what you’ve done can you say she was wrong!?” Twilight shot back. “You proved her right! Everything you did proved that she couldn’t trust you! I had nothing to do with any of that! Me or the other Twilight Sparkle!”
“That’s easy to say when everything’s handed to-“
“Nothing was handed to me!” Twilight howled. “Up until a few weeks ago I didn’t even have anything! I was alone with my studies and my books! There was no magical princess to lift me out of my life and give me something better, and push me towards my friends! There was no great destiny waiting for me! I was a hopeless nerd who was scared to be looked at!” Twilight was panting slightly from the force of her yelling, her eyes reddening a bit. Sunset Shimmer remained silent.
“But you know what? I don’t blame anyone for not pushing me out of that… because it’s who I chose to be. Who I still am, really… but I’ve learned my lesson. Moon Dancer and Pinkie Pie showed me that I don’t need somebody to make me change, I can change myself, if I just try hard enough.” Twilight glanced over at Pinkie with a trace of a smile. “That was why I wanted to come out and meet you all. Not because Pinkie made me… but because I wanted to change myself.”
Twilight focused her gaze on Sunset Shimmer again, more softly this time. “I am not Princess Twilight Sparkle from Equestria, I’m just Twilight Sparkle from Earth, an introvert who’s still learning so much about the world, and friendship… if you think you can see that, if you can stop pushing all of this anger you have for her onto me… if you can change yourself… then I’d be happy to be your friend too.”
Pinkie Pie gasped in delight and rounded on Sunset Shimmer, whose face was a cold, blank mask. The only sound over the grassy field was the sound of the wind whistling through the tree line in the distance.
“Of course, if you’re going to keep using your potty-mouth on me and glaring at me, never speaking to each other again is an option too,” Twilight pointed out in a normal voice, free of malice or accusation. A simple statement of fact.
Pinkie’s breath caught in her throat as she whirled to look at Sunset Shimmer again, who was still glaring at Twilight as if lost deep in thought. What if Sunset Shimmer said yes and Twilight left forever? This wouldn’t be a very good series at all…
“Well… I don’t know if I wanna go hanging out at the mall with you or anything.” Sunset Shimmer finally spoke with a blush. “But well… I guess I can try to be civil…”
“Well that’s a start.” Twilight smiled slightly.
“But you’re not friends, say you’re friends!” Pinkie insisted.
“Pinkie, come on, you can’t force these things.” Twilight gave her a soft smile. “Just untie us, and everything will be fine.”
“Well, as long as you’re gonna be friends later…” Pinkie approached Twilight to untie her, letting the rope fall to the grass.
“Thank you, Pinkie.” Twilight Sparkle smiled and rubbed her arms where the rope had been rubbing her skin.
“You realize I’m still gonna have to murder you the second you untie me, right?” Sunset Shimmer glared as Pinkie approached.
Pinkie snorted in laughter as her fingers worked to undo the knot. “Oh Sunset Shimmer, you crack me up.” She pulled the knot loose, and immediately ducked back as a fist flew right past her nose.
“You thought I was kidding, huh? Come here!” Sunset Shimmer lunged, but Pinkie skipped backwards with a giggle.
“You’re not gonna beat me up! Gotta catch me first! Hahaha!” Pinkie laughed and ducked away from her lunge once again, skipping away from her across the grass with a powerful laugh that drowned out the grunts and expletives from Sunset Shimmer.
“Hey! Sunset! Leave her alone!” Twilight yelled after them at first, then simply shook her head with a sigh.
It wasn’t long before Pinkie Pie’s infectious laughter started to get to the other two girls. Even Sunset Shimmer began to slow in her assaults, giving up the chase with a shake of her head and a low chuckle. Pinkie’s heart soared at the sound of Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle laughing together. Sharing a laugh was the first step to friendship, after all… maybe they weren’t willing to call themselves friends yet, but there was no way they wouldn’t become friends now.
And if they decided to resist being friends? Well don’t you worry about that. Pinkie Pie would be watching. Just in case.
Next Time
Episode 07: One Step Closer
Author's Note
I spent some time before I even started trying to write this story deciding how the Hell I’m supposed to create a narrative voice for Pinkie Pie. I feel like the more “correct” thing to do would simply be to have her jumping around and doing silly things, but that kind of slapstick simply doesn't carry in writing like this. Plus it would ruin the pace of the actual story, whereas in a visual medium she can bounce around all she wants while people are talking about other things and not affect the pacing at all. So I chose to have a narrative voice that’s a little more self-aware, from a character who is only marginally conscious of the weird stuff happening in her head and coming out of her mouth.
Basically it’s like “Deadpool” and “Homestuck” had a baby, is what I was going for. I’m not going to claim I did a perfect job, but that was the intent. It’s not like such a thing is unprecedented. She spits out several fourth-wall-breaking comments in the movie.
I don’t know why it feels to me like, in the absence of Twilight Sparkle, Applejack would be the one to take on the role of go-to “leader” of the mane 6 (Sunset Shimmer included). She just seems like the one with the most leadership qualities, or at least the one with the least crippling flaws. Rainbow Dash is far too self-centered, Fluttershy is way too wishy-washy, Pinkie Pie is Pinkie Pie, and Rarity is a touch too flighty, though she would probably still come in second to Applejack.
I do feel I should give out a warning now. The next episode of Equestria Girls will be rated M and contain explicit sexual material, so if you have a problem with this or are simply too young to read it, please don’t read it. Non-M-rated episodes will be coming up later on. There will of course be appropriate warnings surrounding the episode itself when it’s posted, but the way I see it, the more warnings the better. I’m just here to tell stories, not ruin childhoods.
As always, thank you so much for reading my stories. Every view is a welcome sight.
