Special Talentsby Elric of MelniponyChaptersArcherPeachy PieSunny DaysTwistDiamond TiaraArcherArcher If there was one thing the filly was sure of, it's that she was tired of hearing about her cousin Scootaloo. Scootaloo was a pegasus in a family that was mostly earth ponies, and that made her special. Scootaloo was an only child as well as being the youngest in the extended family, and that made her special. Scootaloo did tricks on her scooter, and that made her special. She was sick of it! Worst of all, the family always said how much she and Scootaloo were alike. It was a ridiculous idea. Scootaloo had an ugly orange coat and a tacky magenta mane. Her own coat and mane were in pleasing shades of blue; it was how she got her name, after all. Then there was the fact that Scootaloo was obsessed with getting a cutie mark, and she knew hers would come when the time was right. Also, Scootaloo was a few months younger than she was. They were nothing alike! But despite all her frustrations with her cousin, she still might have been able to let all that slide if not for the fact that hardly anypony called her by her real name any more, and that was Scootaloo's fault. When they were much younger, her cousin hadn't been able to say her name properly; now she had a nickname that she hated and she couldn't escape. “Can I help you find anything, Azure?” The new librarian was one of the few exceptions regarding use of her real name. The purple mare wasn't what you would expect from a Canterlot unicorn; she was actually nice and not a snob at all. Plus it was good to just have the library open again. It had been closed for a few weeks after the retirement of the old librarian, and going to the library was one of the things that Azure did to set herself apart from her cousin (who generally had to be dragged there). “Yes, Miss Twilight, thank you. We discussed the post-Founding period in class recently, and I wanted to learn more. My teacher said you would have some stuff on my grade level.” “Oh, yes, I know just the book! You know, the post-Founding period was a very interesting time. There was a new land to explore, and even though the pony tribes were at peace with each other, there were still some battles fought.” Twilight walked to some nearby shelves and started scanning the titles. “One of the colts in my class said we even fought the minotaurs back then, but I don't think he really knew what he was talking about.” Twilight looked back in approval. “You're right, that's actually just a legend. You can read the real story as soon as I find... here it is!” The unicorn floated a thick book to a table with her magic. “Was there anything else you wanted for now?” “No, ma'am. Thanks again.” The young earth pony got comfortable and opened up the copy of Early Equestria in front of her. Not surprisingly, the librarian had some reading that she wanted to do as well, and Azure barely noticed when Twilight walked away. Azure skipped the first few pages. Everypony knew the story of Equestria's founding, and she felt she was especially qualified on that topic since she had been Smart Cookie in the school's Hearth's Warming pageant last year. Even the first few years were fairly calm, with settlement, expansion, and uncontested exploration. There was lots of contact between the pony tribes, but still not a lot of mixing of the populations. Everything seemed fine until – There it was! – the first meeting between ponykind and minotaurs. Pegasi still remained in the sky for the most part, and unicorns seemed to consider diplomacy with another species to be beneath them, so the initial contacts were between earth ponies and minotaurs. The ponies feared these new beings at first, and there was even a misunderstanding that ended in pies being thrown. Eventually, though, the two groups communicated, acceptance grew, and trade began. The young filly had never learned about any of this in school, and she was easily drawn into the narrative. Back then, minotaurs were nomads, with the exception of some elders who chose permanent places to live and build labyrinths. They started to settle villages of their own to make it easier to trade with the pony population, and the earth ponies were happy to teach them the basics of agriculture. Both sides benefited, and it certainly didn't sound to Azure like the sort of situation that would lead to war. The next section was titled “Dragon Migration”. Wait a second, what did dragons have to do with minotaurs? She read on to find that once pony land expanded far enough, dragon sightings were no longer rare and singular. One day, the migration began to fly overhead; a stream of dragons soared through the sky for unknown purposes, and the majority of them were either peaceful or just indifferent. Some, however, were territorial enough to feel they owned the land underneath their flight path. That first year, ponies fled while their houses and farms were burned. They later rebuilt, re-planted, and prepared. The second year, they fought back. More homes were destroyed and it looked like the ponies would have to retreat again... until the minotaurs came. Working together, the two races were actually able to drive off the hostile dragons. Azure turned the page, and her mouth fell open. The entire page was filled with illustrations of minotaur weapons. The caption didn't say more than that, and the next page continued the history, so she didn't learn much more than the general appearances of these items. She was both disturbed and fascinated by them and couldn't stop looking. One group of drawings in particular drew her eye – she was sure she had seen something like them before. She checked the table of contents and the index to find out if the topic of weapons came up again, but had no luck. Nothing for it but to ask the librarian, then. “Oh, yes, I know about those,” Twilight said, warming up for a mini-lecture. “There isn't a word in the Equestrian language for it, but minotaurs call the main section of it a bow. The bow uses flexible materials to propel a projectile called an arrow. Ponies never adopted it, of course; it can't be used with hooves, pegasus wings are too delicate to operate it, and unicorns don't gain any real advantage with it. We can get almost as much force from just throwing the projectile with our magic, and if you do use one, it's one more object to have to levitate. Ponies were able to adapt it to a more useable form called an across-bow, but that wasn't until much later.” Azure remained puzzled. “But why does it look familiar to me? I never knew any of this.” “To understand that, you have to realize how ponies felt about the bow warriors, who were called archers.” Twilight barely noticed the look of recognition on her visitor's face and continued talking. “They were impressed by the speed of the projectiles, and how often they hit their targets. More than that, they were grateful to the minotaurs who came to their aid. So much so,” she said, opening another book, “that it led to this.” She held a hoof over a page covered with pictograms. One of them was a stylized version of the weapon in question: an arc joined at the endpoints by a straight line, with another straight line perpendicular to it. “That's pre-Celestian writing, isn't it?” Twilight smiled. “Exactly. And this symbol was added to the written language after the victory against the dragons. Sometimes it just meant either bow or archer. Other times, depending on the context, it could mean 'swift' or 'to strike accurately' or even 'coming to the defense of another'. Like many words in the old writing system, it's still used in artwork to this day. You've probably seen it lots of times without realizing it.” “That one symbol could mean all those different things?” “Confusing, isn't it? That's why we switched to a system that represents sounds instead. Well, that and the number of symbols that had to be learned.” Azure's eyes practically glowed. “I had no idea about any of this! I'm learning so much!” That, of course, was music to the librarian's ears. “Glad I could help out, my little pony. Why don't we get that book checked out so you can take it with you?” The schoolfilly was very much in favor of this idea. For the next few days, Azure spent almost all her free time buried in the book. She had thought the post-Founding era sounded interesting, but she didn't expect it to be exciting. The day after she finished it, she was eager for the school day to end – but not like Scootaloo was, never like Scootaloo – so she could return to the library and find more books like it. She was almost to her destination when she spotted somepony else headed to the library as well. The purplish-gray unicorn filly sitting on the ground was obviously younger than Azure was, and her slight build made her seem even younger than that. Standing over her was a much older colt that Azure didn't recognize, an earth pony with both coat and mane in boring tan shades. Looking at the mess scattered around the filly, Azure realized that the colt had swept the filly's saddlebags off her back and scattered the books in them. The little unicorn began to cry, which made the bully laugh. There was no way she was going to stand for that; without thinking, she charged toward the unpleasant adolescent. He could have easily seen her by turning his head just a little to the left, but he was too caught up in his cruelty. Once she got close to him, she stopped, whirled around, and aimed both of her back legs for his left side. She moved swiftly, and she struck accurately. The bully crumpled to the ground a couple of paces away, dazed. Azure turned again, facing him, putting the other filly behind her. The colt snapped back to awareness with a look of panic on his face; he quickly scrambled to his hooves and ran off. She turned once more and began gathering stray books. The little unicorn wiped away the last of her tears and looked up at Azure through her blond mane. She simply said, “Thank you.” “You're very welcome. I'm glad I was able to help. What's your name?” “Oh, uh... everypony calls me Dinky, because I'm so small. What's yours?” “My name is Azure... but you know what? You can call me Archer. Everypony does.” “I really like your cutie mark, Archer.” Azure – Archer – turned and looked at her flank. As far as she was concerned, it was perfect. Author's Note Archer, a/k/a "Scootablue", is this little filly. She can be seen in the opening of the episode Call of the Cutie, and you can see a closeup of her cutie mark here. Peachy PiePeachy Pie Her parents were fighting again. She was young enough to be a stranger to the idea of sleeping in on the weekend, but the noise woke her up at a time that was early even by her standards. Here it was, first thing on Saddleday morning, and already she felt like she couldn't wait for Moonday so she could go back to school. Peachy Pie knew she could block out most of the sound by holding her ears down with her hooves, but that didn't exactly make it easy to go back to sleep. The yellow filly rolled out of bed, glanced at the mirror, decided she could live with the messiness of her two-tone orange mane, and quietly made her way out of the house. Now all she had to do was figure out where to go. It was very unlikely that other foals would be at any parks or playgrounds yet. She had heard that a new librarian had moved to town recently, but she didn't think that anypony normal would have opened it up yet. (Learning that Ponyville's new librarian wasn't exactly normal was still in Peachy's future.) After another moment of thought, she remembered the one business that always opened up as soon as Celestia raised the sun: the bakery. She didn't have any bits with her, but she knew that the owners of Sugarcube Corner would let her do a chore in exchange for a treat, or bring money by later, or make other arrangements. Peachy didn't see the point in even trying to think of other destinations, so she walked towards the bakery. As usual, the wonderful smells of the bakery met Peachy Pie long before she reached the source. As she got closer, she could see other ponies going in and out from time to time, which reassured her that she wouldn't stand out as much as she had feared. A unicorn mare she didn't know was exiting as she walked in; surprisingly, there was only one other customer still inside Sugarcube Corner by that point. The earth pony stallion soon had what he came for and left to resume his morning. He was given a farewell from the same source that gave Peachy a greeting: a barely-contained nuclear reaction masquerading as a pink mare. “Bye-bye, Dreamer! Enjoy! Come back and see us again soon! Hi, Peachy! What can your Auntie Pinkie do for you?” They weren't really related, but it tickled Pinkie Pie to be called “Auntie Pinkie”, and Peachy Pie was always happy to indulge the friendly baker. “Hi, Auntie Pinkie. I'm here for a... I mean, I want to order... I wanted...” She trailed off. Pinkie gave a sympathetic frown. “Trouble at home again, my little pony?” The filly nodded, so Pinkie continued. “You know what always cheers me up? Making yummy desserts! And it just so happens that the Cakes are out of town celebrating their anniversary, so I'm here all alone. I was going to need an assistant anyway.” Her visitor's face brightened, so Pinkie's tone did as well. “Do you maybe know somepony I could hire for a little while and pay in treats?” “Ooh! Me, me, me!” “You're hired! Welcome to the Sugarcube Corner organization, we're pleased to have you as a member of the team! I'm Pinkie Pie, head of the Pony Resources department, and I'll introduce you around.” She waved a hoof to her left and then zipped over to take the spot she had just indicated. “This is your supervisor, Pinkie Pie. She's tough, but fair.” Hoof wave, zip. “This is Pinkie Pie, she's in Maintenance. Call her if you have any problems.” Hoof wave, zip. “This is Pinkie Pie from R&D. It's probably best if you don't ask her anything about what she does here. There's also Pinkie Pie, Pinkie Pie, and Pinkie Pie,” she said, hopping into new positions each time she said her name, “but you'll get to know them later.” The little filly had the giggles by this point, but with some effort she managed to contain herself enough to ask a question. “What's my first assignment, boss?” Pinkie grinned; she loved it when she could make others laugh. “I actually have to make some pies for this afternoon. Why don't you start with some of those? You can make pumpkin, peach, lemon meringue, banana cream....” “Peach!” Peachy Pie was smiling. She knew that Pinkie knew what sort of pie she would choose; it wasn't just her name, it was her favorite dessert. She also knew that if she hadn't spoken up, Pinkie could (and would) have continued for several minutes. “You got it! Follow me, I've got some crusts ready to go!” There were indeed freshly-made crusts waiting to be filled, as well as standard every-pie ingredients available for use nearby. Pinkie opened one of the many pantry doors in the large kitchen. “You know, it's a good thing you came here today...” she said, her voice seemingly getting farther and farther away before trailing off, “...because I really need to make use of these before they go bad.” Pinkie stepped back out through the door; slung across her back was a string bag as big as she was. It was full of peaches. “Peachjack had a really good sale and I couldn't resist,” she explained, as she carefully eased her burden onto the counter. “I've never heard of anypony called Peachjack, Auntie Pinkie.” “You'd like her. She's nice.” Peachy wasn't sure if Pinkie was pulling a couple of her legs or not. She decided to concentrate on pies instead. “So I can do peach pies for all four of these crusts, then?” “Not only can you do it, I insist on it. You've made peach pies before, Peachy Pie?” The little filly nodded with a cheesy grin. Pinkie Pie looked off in the distance dramatically. “Bake up every pie! You know what you're doing. Move pie. For great justice.” She solemnly pronked her way to the front of the bakery to take care of sales. Peachy had no idea what justice had to do with pies, but like all Ponyville foals, she had learned to file certain things under “Pinkie being Pinkie” shortly after she had learned to speak. She got to work. She had never made four pies at the same time before, but she found it was actually quite easy. Everything she needed was close at hoof, and doing each task four times allowed her to follow one mini-routine with another. She concentrated on the peaches, their smell, their feel, their taste (she had set a couple aside for that); she thought about making the best pies she had ever made; she didn't think about her parents. Pinkie's timing was uncanny; she returned to the kitchen just as Peachy finished up. Pinkie took care of getting the pies in the oven, and gave her assistant a new assignment. “Hey, you know what would be good? Peach cobbler. We've got the peaches, and it's not something we have in the shop very often. Know how to make it? You do? Great!” Peachy Pie threw herself into her task. This is easy, she thought. I should come back more often. Maybe try to get a real job here when I'm older. She felt like she was done much too quickly, especially since she was making more cobbler than what she would at home. “What's next, Auntie Pinkie?” Once again, Pinkie had somehow appeared just in time to keep the young filly away from the oven. “Cake always sells well. Ever made a peach cake?” “Not yet, but I think I'm going to.” “You're right! I'll show you the basics, and then you can make a couple of peach cakes, and maybe some batches of peach cupcakes. Sound good?” “Sounds good!” Other ponies might have had trouble remembering the steps, but for Peachy, it wasn't difficult at all. Other ponies might have considered it work, but she was having fun. She even started humming tunes to herself as she mixed up the bowls of cake batter. This was actually turning out to be a pretty nice morning. She wondered what other sorts of desserts she could make with peaches. Maybe she could even make something nopony had ever made before. She was expecting it this time; when Pinkie showed up in the kitchen again, Peachy asked, “What are we going to do now, Auntie Pinkie?” “What are we going to do? I am going to sell those yummy peachy goodies you've been making. You are going to take a break and clean yourself up.” “But I don't feel dirty.” Peachy was, after all, still a foal. “You are, trust me. Would your Auntie Pinkie lie to you? You've got flour in your mane, you've got batter on your hooves, you've got sugar on your muzzle. For pony's sake, you've even got peaches on your flank!” “I do?” Peachy turned to look. “I DO!” Author's Note Here's a pic of Peachy Pie. She appears in The Show Stoppers in the talent show. Sunny DaysSunny Days Sunday Scootaloo would never admit it to anypony – well, maybe Rainbow Dash – but she was kind of nervous. She checked (once again) to make sure her helmet was properly in place, fluttered her wings, breathed deeply, and looked at what she had ahead of her. Just the idea of what she was going to do would make anypony nervous, right? Well, maybe not Rainbow Dash. Almost every foal in Ponyville around her age was here to watch this stunt. Snips and Snails were actually running a betting pool, the jerks. Twist had quite industriously set up a small candy concession for the event. Diamond Tiara was nowhere to be found, but Silver Spoon was present, keeping to herself towards the back of the crowd. Archer was waving her hooves in the air as she was describing what her cutie mark was derived from. The loop ramp had been built by Apple Bloom, so there was no problem with that; Scootaloo was confident it would hold together. She wasn't even that concerned about the possibility of injuring herself if she failed. She was, however, terrified by the thought of failure itself... especially with everypony watching. If she made it, it would be awesome! Everypony would know her name, and this stunt would be talked about for years! If she didn't make it, she would be so humiliated that she would have to go live in the Everfree Forest. Scootaloo got into position on her scooter and paused for a final word from the well-wishers who had gathered at her starting point. “Go for it, Scootaloo,” said Apple Bloom. “You probably won't die,” added Sweetie Belle helpfully. The last words of encouragement were from a classmate she didn't even know very well: Sunny Days, a golden-coated filly with a platinum mane and tail. “You can do this. I know you can.” Her voice was soft and certain. Scootaloo kicked at the ground with one of her back hooves, flapped her wings as fast as she could, and zoomed forward. She reached the speed she needed. Could she maintain it? She did. The scooter stayed stuck to Apple Bloom's work like magic was involved, and Scootaloo made it safely through the loop. The cheering was the greatest thing she had ever heard (from anypony besides Rainbow Dash). The second greatest thing she had ever heard came as she was working her way through the crowd to accept her congratulations from everypony. They all had nice things to say, of course, but none of them sounded quite as sincere as Sunny. “I never doubted it for a second.” Moonday School was letting out for the day, and foals eagerly made their way out the door of the schoolhouse. As soon as she judged herself to be out of earshot of the teacher, Apple Bloom groaned and flopped to the ground. “I can't believe Miss Cheerilee wants us to write a poem for our homework! I don't know anything about that stuff,” she drawled. Sunny Days had been heading for home, but she turned and walked over to her distraught classmate. “I love poetry, Apple Bloom, and I bet you know more about it than you think.” Sunny held out a hoof. Apple Bloom accepted the hoof and used the help to get back on all of hers. “What in the hay is that supposed to mean?” Sunny sat on her haunches and thought for a second. “Tell me about the smell of an apple orchard when it's time for the harvest.” “Well...” Apple Bloom hesitated, then sat so she could do some thinking of her own. “It's sweet, and it's powerful. It's food... but it's also love. It's a smell that always makes me think of family, and sometimes it smells like everything that's good in the world. If I could put that smell in a bottle, I would give it away to everypony.” Sunny smiled. “Congratulations. You just wrote a poem.” Hoovesday “Are you sure you can do this?” Sunny Days put as much reassurance as she could into her voice. “Of course I'm sure. It'll take some practice, but you'll have it down in no time. If you work with me and do what I tell you, nopony will be able to tell you're a beginner.” Silver Spoon looked around for possible spies, and not for the first time. “And you won't tell anypony?” “Of course I won't.” “It's just that I've never gone skating before, and Diamond Tiara has family coming in from Canterlot in a couple of weeks, so she decided she's having a skating party, and I don't want to look like an idiot or fall on my rump or get Diamond Tiara upset at me or –“ Sunny held up a hoof to cut her off. “Relax, you'll be fine.” Silver Spoon had made this request out of desperation and hadn't really expected Sunny to help her. She had been trying to hold back her curiosity, but it broke through. “Why are you doing this for me?” “I want you to have a good time.” “Even though I haven't always been... well, nice?” Sunny shrugged. “I want everypony to have a good time.” Wingsday It was late afternoon, and Sunny Days was walking through town with her saddlebags on. She was headed to the home of her friend, Peachy Pie, so they could do some studying together. It's not that Miss Cheerilee was assigning anything especially difficult; it was more that sometimes concepts were easier to understand when you could discuss them with somepony. She was roughly halfway there when she unexpectedly spotted Peachy Pie. Peachy was sprawled on a bench, head resting on her forehooves, and wearing saddlebags of her own. Sunny walked up slowly and brushed a hoof through her friend's mane. “Parents again?” Peachy nodded and sniffled. “They may not get along with each other sometimes, but they both love you. That hasn't changed.” Peachy spoke quietly. “I know.” “I see you've got your books with you. I take it you'd rather study at my place?” “If we can.” Sunny smirked. “Mom loves all my friends. Daddy usually doesn't complain, and if he does, I can make him melt. It's fun.” Peachy's response was flat. “Mmmm.” Sunny gave her friend a poke in the ribs. “Cut that out. Your mom loves you. Your dad loves you. You've got other ponies who care about you. You've got me. You've got Miss Cheerilee. You've got everypony at school. You've got Miss Pinkie.” “Miss Pinkie... Auntie Pinkie's really nice to me.” Peachy raised her head. “That gives me an idea. Your parents won't notice you're gone for a while, and mine know I'm with you for at least a couple of hours. Why don't we go over to Sugarcube Corner for some snacks? My treat. Maybe we can even try to get some studying done there.” Peachy eased herself off the bench. “I like that idea.” “Speaking of Miss Pinkie, she taught me a new song. Wanna hear it?” When Peachy nodded, Sunny started singing. My name is Sunny Days And I am here to say... Hornsday School let out for the day, and two students found themselves walking in the same direction; the direction didn't lead to either one's home. Their mutual destination seemed pretty obvious. “On your way to the library again, Archer?” Sunny Days asked. Archer nodded. “Yep. And I'm thinking that you might be headed to the library?” “Wow. It's like you used unicorn magic or something.” Both earth pony fillies had a good giggle over Sunny's deadpan response. Sunny glanced over at her travel companion. “Still on your post-Founding kick?” “Oh, you bet! The tribes were really limiting themselves by keeping apart. So much happened when ponies all started living together! There were advances in art, literature, architecture, science – just about anything you can name. It was also when we really started building relations with other species.” Sunny had a small smile. “You've told me about the minotaurs, Archer.” She said it gently, though; she always liked seeing this kind of enthusiasm and enjoyment. Archer accepted the reminder and moved on. “What about you, Sunny? What are you going to the library for?” “What do we know about the new librarian?” “Huh? Well, I found out myself that she knows a lot of stuff and she likes to explain it. Also, I've heard she's from Canterlot, but she doesn't act like a Canterlot pony. They say she even knows Princess Celestia, but she's definitely not a snob.” Sunny nodded to each point Archer made. “Miss Cheerilee says she likes science and really enjoys helping students. Also, everypony says that she's made some friends in town, but doesn't really know very many ponies yet.” Archer stopped walking and tilted her head. “So?” she asked, confusion evident in her tone. “So I'm going to ask her for help with science.” “Wait a second. Don't you normally get good grades in science?” “Yeah.” Archer was still baffled. “And didn't you tie with Twist for top score on the last science test?” “Yeah.” “So you're good at science.” It was almost an accusation. Archer was briefly troubled, because she reminded herself of her cousin Scootaloo. Sunny pointed with a hoof as she spoke. “You know that, and I know that... but she doesn't know that.” Tribesday “Oh... oh, wow.” Sunny Days looked like she was in heaven. “Twist, this is the. Best. Candy. Ever! How did you even know that butterscotch was my favorite? Twist, I want to marry this candy!” “It's just some butterscotch hard candy...” “Just? Twist, that's like saying the Palace is just a way to keep rain off your head!” The candy-maker's blush was almost as red as her mane. Saddleday “Hey, Sunny?” The voice of a sleepy filly. “Yeah, Peachy?” A different filly, also not far from dreamland. “I'm glad our families let me come stay over tonight.” “So am I.” “You're my best friend, Sunny.” “And you're my best friend, Peachy.” “Sometimes you treat everypony like they're your best friend. And this is going to sound silly, but... sometimes I get jealous.” “I'm sorry. But you're the only pony I tell my secrets to. You're the only pony who knows which colts I wanna kiss.” “That makes me feel better. Thanks, Sunny.” “You're welcome.” “But why do you act that way all the time?” “It's important.” “What do you mean?” “Everypony needs their day brightened, Peachy.” “Huh. I guess you're right. Well, you're good at it.” “I guess I am pretty good at it, huh?” “Hey, Sunny?” The voice of a slightly-more-awake filly. “Yeah?” “There's something you ought to see...” Author's Note I am aware that there was a pony in a prior generation known as "Sunny Daze". I am also aware that fandom consensus seems to be that this adorable, roller-skating, poem-reciting filly from the talent show in The Show Stoppers should also have her name spelled "Sunny Daze". I disagree. Anyway, If you didn't get enough of Sunny from the story's cover art, here she is again. TwistTwist Some ponies really knew how to hurt feelings. Twist knew she should just ignore all of the mean comments from Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, but that was easier said than done. They could make their words cut into you, and they seemed to want to use this ability on just about everypony in class. After school today had been above average in nastiness, with the two of them belittling Twist and Apple Bloom for not having cutie marks. As they continued walking together, Twist knew that she didn't really want to talk about what had just happened, and it seemed that Apple Bloom felt the same way. Each took some comfort in simply being with a friend for a while. Before long, they reached the turn-off for Sweet Apple Acres and parted ways. On an ordinary day, Twist would have gone straight home at that point. Instead, she took a different path, one that took her towards the center of Ponyville. There was only one way she could feel better right now, and that had to do with the one thing she had in common with Diamond Tiara: each of them was a daddy's girl. It was time to visit her father at work. Ponyville's town hall was circular, and the open area surrounding it was fairly rounded as well. It was still called “the town square” for reasons that were unclear to Twist, however. Various structures made up the perimeter of the square, including a building that had formerly been a single-pony home. That was her destination, the location of her father's business. He would be the first to admit that it wasn't fancy, but at least he wasn't cluttering the family home with his work, and he could rightfully boast that he was just across from the town hall. On each side of the mailbox was a modest plaque that said “T. Criollo, Consultation and Coordination”. The larger, brighter, friendlier sign in the front window said “Takes Two? Talk to Tango!” Twist's father had the rather unusual special talent of putting the right ponies together. The average pony might have settled for a career of matchmaking – which Tango did as a sideline business – but he had the brilliance to put his talent to use in many more areas. He matched picky sellers with the right buyers, artists with patrons, inventors with investors, and on and on, all for a fee (or sometimes a percentage). It had been pointed out to him that he could probably be very rich very easily by moving to Canterlot, or Manehattan, or Fillydelphia. He was a Ponyville native, however, and was quite content to remain in his home town and raise his daughter away from the big city. As it was, he was still pretty comfortable. Twist didn't have all of the luxuries that Diamond Tiara did, but she certainly wasn't lacking, either. Twist checked the mailbox to be helpful and found that it was empty at the moment. She opened the front door, walked inside, and saw that her father still hadn't hired anypony to work for him. What could have been a reception area was essentially useless. She shook her head and headed down the hall to a particular door. Inside, she found an earth pony stallion sitting on a cushion behind a low desk, examining a densely-printed piece of paper through his glasses. He had a pale yellow coat. His mane and tail were darker, almost golden, but with an unfortunate amount of frizziness and curliness to them. When he looked up and saw Twist, he hopped up beside the desk, reared up on his hind hooves, and began to gyrate frantically. “Wellll, got a new dance and it goes like this!” He followed with a string of nonsense filler words. “And the name of the dance is the Peppermint Twist!” He rattled off another sequence of nonsense that may or may not have been identical to the first. There is a set of tones known to all daughters throughout all universes, tones that hold many meanings at once. They mean, “Cut it out.” They mean, “Here he goes again.” They mean, “I hope my friends never see this.” But deep down, they also mean, “I secretly like this, because I love you even when you're goofy, and when you stop for good that's when I'll know I'm not a little girl anymore.” Twist used those tones now. “Dad-dy!” Tango returned to all four hooves. “Yes?” “Daddy, you're a terrible singer.” She was often mistaken for having a lisp; ponies who listened closely could tell that the letter S might have a softer sound than others when she spoke, but it was there. “Championship dancer, though.” “Since when?” Her father looked at the clock on the wall. “Finished up about ten minutes ago. It was thrilling, you should have seen it. They're going to mail me my trophy.” Twist was fighting not to laugh; she was winning so far, but couldn't hold out forever. “And when did you come up with that silly song?” Tango looked at the clock again, then looked up as if calculating. “Tribesday.” “You've been holding on to that since last week?” She could hardly believe what she was hearing. “Yep. And you only think it's silly because you haven't heard all of it. I'm especially fond of the forty-fifth verse. Although, to be honest, verse sixty-three could probably use another revision.” She dropped to her haunches and started to giggle. Laughter 1, Twist 0. Her father, of course, was a stallion who played dirty; he went straight for the ribs in a fiendish tickling maneuver that soon had her on her back and nearly out of breath. He allowed her to recover a bit before he spoke again. “What brings you by today, Twist-a-loo?” She rolled over and sat up, facing away from him. “I got made fun of for not having a cutie mark.” She was immediately dragged backward by her father's forehooves, which then wrapped around her. “Oh, sweetie, you'll get yours soon. It'll probably be here before you know it.” Twist enjoyed the hug for a moment, then broke away so she could face her father again while they spoke. “Why can't it just happen?” Tango sighed. “Getting a cutie mark isn't like being struck by lightning.” He paused. “No, wait, I take that back. In some ways, it is like getting struck by a bolt of lighting.” Twist's expression was as obvious as a light-up “I'm puzzled!” billboard by the side of the road. “How do you know what that's like?” Tango reached out and took his daughter's face in his hooves. “Sweetie, I'm telling you this because I'm your father and I love you.” He took a deep breath. “Never donkey on a bet with a pegasus.” He pulled his hooves away and mimed some twitches for her. This, of course, set off another round of giggles for Twist. She regained control pretty quickly, but then her father opened his mouth again. “The pegasi have a saying: 'Revenge is a dish best served at high voltage.' ZAP!” He twitched some more and joined his little girl in having a good laugh. Twist sat next to her father and leaned up against him. “Daddy, how did you know I needed cheering up before I even said anything?” “There's only one pony in the whole world who might possibly know you better than I do, and your mother isn't here.” “But how did you know?” “My little Twist-a-loo coming to the office sounds different from somepony coming here for business. And I can tell the difference between 'stopping by to say hi' hooves and 'had a bad day' hooves.” Twist tilted her head upward to get closer to Tango's eye level, nuzzling his neck as she did so. “You're pretty smart.” “Be sure and tell your mother that. I think she only married me for my looks,” he said, patting his tightly-curled mane. That earned him another giggle. “So what were you going to tell me about cutie marks?” “Oh. Right! Well, the way that it's not like a lightning bolt is that your cutie mark is based on something that's been around a while, whether it's a skill you've been working years to perfect, or a natural ability that you've had all along.” “That makes sense.” “The way that it is like a lightning bolt is that the mark appears when you have a sudden realization. And that realization can happen at a level below everyday thought. One way or another, you finally figure out what your special talent is, and cutie mark magic takes effect.” There was a long pause. Then, “Daddy, are any of your friends unicorns?” “It doesn't work that way, sweetie. Not even Princess Celestia can change this magic.” “Oh.” For some time after that – neither of them was sure how long – they were just together, father and daughter, each enjoying the fact that the other was there. Eventually, Tango leaned over and kissed Twist on the top of her head. “Feel better?” he asked. Twist was thoughtful. “Well... I still want my cutie mark.” “No, I meant about being made fun of by those little... those little...” Twist didn't even ask who he was referring to, how he knew who to blame, or what he was stopping himself from saying. “Daddy, I've heard you say those words before.” He put a hoof atop one of hers. “That doesn't mean you have to hear me say them again. I'll just say that somepony should talk to those fillies' parents and leave it at that.” Twist leaned in against her father again. “I do feel better about that part, thank you.” “Let me see if I can help you feel better about the other part. I have an idea that will help you realize just how many different possibilities there are for your cutie mark. I want you to go home and think about all of the things that you're good at. Now, I realize that this will take a long, long time, because there are oh-so-many things that my little girl is very good at, but I think this will be helpful to you. And – here's the important part – and I want you to do this while you're making candy. Making candy calms you down, it clears your mind, and it's tasty. I wouldn't say no to some peppermint sticks when I get home this evening. Oh, and your mother got more of whatever that stuff is that lets you make wintergreen mints. If you make some of that, I like mine light on the winter, heavy on the green. Got all that?” Twist repeated the instructions, nodding slowly several times as she did so. “Go home, make some candy, think about stuff I'm good at – like science, and math, and history.” Tango smiled. “Right. Just like when I was waiting for my cutie mark, I thought a lot about singing.” She poked him with a hoof. “Daddy, you're terrible at singing!” He was laughing so hard that she couldn't even get a proper goodbye kiss until he was done. Nopony had ever introduced Twist to the concept of meditation; that was for the loopy ponies of Coltorado, not the sort of ponies who lived in Ponyville. But if they had, she would have recognized the description of the desired effect as being something like what she felt when she was deeply into her candy-making. In other words, her father had given her good advice once again. As she stepped away from her first batch of candy to let it cool, she realized that she really could have hurt herself. She had spent several minutes going over a mental list of school subjects instead of thinking about what she was doing. But then again... she never really was at risk, was she? She had done this so many times before. She was so familiar with the steps. She didn't really need to think about it. She was good at this. It was just so... easy. She galloped to the cabinet where the best cookware was kept, pulled out one of the shiniest pans, and looked at herself sideways in the distorted reflection. “Of course!” Author's Note It's semi-canon that Twist's mother is named Shimmy Shake. In the original draft of Pinkie Pie's Smile Song, she greets several townsponies by name; in the case of Shimmy Shake, she asks about how Twist did on a test in school. When I decided some time ago to offer my take on this story, I knew that I had to give her father a dance-related name as well. I went through and discarded several possibilities before settling on Tango, and coming up with a suitable talent to match the name. Later, as I was actually writing the story, I wanted a second name so he would sound more professional. The Wikipedia article for the dance said that it was originally known as the "Tango Criollo". I had already learned from some prior pony-related research that "Criollo" was also the name of a breed of horse. I love it when things fit together like that. Tango's pet name for his daughter, Twist-a-loo, is what Hasbro calls her in their toy line. (Because you can't trademark a common word like "Twist", that's why.) Diamond TiaraDiamond Tiara Diamond made her way to the library, walking alone for a change. When she had announced she was going to do some research, her best friend had, of course, volunteered to go with her. Lucky for her, Diamond was such a good friend that she had let Silver off the hook. After all, nopony went to the library unless they really had to – and Diamond really had to. I will be the princess, she thought. Miss Cheerilee had announced the school play, and she was determined to win the leading role. Not that she thought anypony else was even worthy of being considered for the part, but why take chances? It was best to be prepared. I will be the princess. What better way to be prepared than to know the subject matter inside and out? And since this sort of thing wasn't covered in her father's business guides, her mother's romance novels, or the “Young Mare” books that she lied to Silver about and said she didn't actually read -- that meant a trip to the library. I will be the princess. At least the library was actually open again. She knew that the sort of town she deserved to live in wouldn't have something like this closed down for weeks. Not that she was the sort of nerdy pony who cared about the library, like Twist was – the place just had its uses from time to time, that's all. And it was the principle of the thing, too – she was certain that when librarians retired in Fillydelphia or Manehattan, nopony had to wait for some dull Canterlot bureaucrat to be transferred in to get things running again. Once she set hoof in the library, she found that the unicorn inside had at least learned enough to offer help right away, although Diamond knocked points off for the sentence ending with “my little pony”, a phrase she found absolutely exasperating. She took a breath before replying, thinking once again about how she deserved more credit for her self-restraint. “I came to find out about royalty.” The new librarian perked right up at that. “You're in luck! I can help you with whatever you want to learn about Princess Celestia! It just so happens I know--” “More than just her.” Diamond cut off the excitable civil servant. Clearly she had been about to say that she knew lots and lots of trivia about the princess. Bo-ring. She closed her eyes so it wasn't obvious she was rolling them. “Everypony. I want to learn about all royal ponies.” “Oh. Well, I can still help with that, Miss...?” “Diamond.” “Pleased to meet you; I'm Twilight Sparkle. I can still help you, Miss Diamond. Is this for some sort of school project?” “I'm going to become a princess.” Filthy Rich left Barnyard Bargains for the day early, in order to do some paperwork from the comfort of home. Once he arrived, he decided to skip his home office – feeling that would defeat the purpose – for the less formal surroundings of the study. Of course, he wasn't the only member of the family who used the room, and he found something of his daughter's in front of his own piles of clutter. The top of the paper announced, quite insistently, that there were “AUDITIONS!” A date was given, as well as a title, a cast of characters, and even suggestions for preparing for the auditions. It was a detailed document, and if it hadn't been for the name of the local school being part of the text, he might have wondered why he hadn't heard anything before about somepony bringing professional theater to Ponyville. On the back, he found notes that were almost as detailed, notes that had clearly been written by his daughter. Filthy Rich, of course, deeply loved his daughter, Diamond. He also loved that, in her own way, she was as ambitious as he was, despite her youth. Wisdom comes with age, though, and so she hadn't yet learned how to recognize those areas she best was suited for, let alone properly steer her ambitions towards them. If she didn't get what she wanted, she would be unhappy. He couldn't bear the thought of his daughter being unhappy. It would be a learning experience if she failed, sure, but she was still young; she had plenty of time to learn. He wanted her to achieve this particular goal, so he would give her a bit of help. Or more. “As many bits as it takes,” he muttered. It sure seemed like this new librarian knew what she was talking about. “Technically, the pegasi never had royalty. I mean, yes, they had factional rulers who functioned as kings and queens before they were united under the imperators – that's the original pegasus term for the title we know as “commander”, by the way – but they rarely used those titles, and those positions were never hereditary.” Each book she grabbed in her magic or pushed aside with a hoof reminded her of something. “This is no good; it deals with Silverskin as a legendary figure, as a culture hero. There's considerable evidence that he was, in fact, the first king of the unicorns, and that he ruled until he was betrayed by Storm Bringer, just like the stories say. Incidentally, just before I left Canterlot, I read an account of how Heinrich Trojanhorse discovered the lost city of Amalthea. How can King Silverskin be just a legend if they've found his capital?” Diamond had as many books as she thought she needed and then some. There was just one more thing she had to learn before she left. “Everypony talks about the bad things that happened during the Tiara Dynasty, but nopony mentions the good things done by Emerald, Sapphire, and Ruby. For one thing, their efforts brought almost the entire earth pony tribe together under a single government for the first time. They also deserve some indirect credit for the Earth Pony Republic. Would it have been founded if not for ponies reacting to three generations of iron-hooved monarchs? I don't think so.” What Diamond needed to learn now was how to turn off Twilight Sparkle. Cheerilee stood in the doorway of the schoolhouse and waved goodbye to her visitor. As soon as farewell etiquette had been satisfied and he turned away to head home, her hoof hit the ground and she slumped just a little. Her eyes darted around, trying to distract herself from the guilt she felt and was trying to talk herself out of. It's not as if I work for the government, she thought. That was followed by closed eyes and a wince as she remembered that technically, yes, she did. She was an employee of the town of Ponyville, and answered (in theory) to the mayor – who, fortunately, knew and trusted her well enough to maintain a mostly hooves-off approach to education. But since I'm spending it on the class, it's not a bribe, right? It wasn't a huge amount, in the grand scheme of things, but it was enough that she had made a few mental calculations of ways she could benefit her students. It's not like I was planning to spend it on myself. That improved her mood somewhat, but she was still somewhat uneasy. It didn't help that it was getting late and she was getting hungry. Letting somepony else do the work instead of cooking for herself, though... that was always helpful. And there was that one waiter at the cafe who flirted with her, which was always good for an emotional boost. Maybe, just maybe, she could spend a small fraction of the money on herself after all. Two fillies were lying at opposite ends of a large, luxurious bed. The pink one was on her back, eyes closed, sprawling with an air of ownership. The silver-coated one was right-side up, forelegs folded primly, peering through her glasses at a notebook that had been placed in front of her moments ago. “What am I supposed to do with this?” asked Silver Spoon. “Quiz me,” Diamond explained. “You've already got the part, you know.” “It doesn't matter. I still have to sound like the part when I'm on stage.” Silver slid her glasses down with one hoof and looked at her friend over the tops of the lenses. “It's not like you're doing something from history. This is Princess Swift Wind rescuing her prince from the Kelpie Queen. This is storybook stuff, Di.” The other filly was stubborn. “It doesn't matter! Everypony has to know I'm royalty.” “I think the costume will take care of that.” “Sil-ver!” The whining tone would have injured the ears of a lesser pony. Silver Spoon gave in. “Fine.” She skimmed over the page. “Why don't we have kings or queens anymore?” Diamond grinned. “That's an easy one! By the time the old king died, Platinum had been pretty much ruling the unicorns as a princess for years 'cause of his illness, so she didn't feel she needed to be a queen. More importantly, he didn't die until after Equestria was founded, and she thought it didn't make sense to be more than a princess when she was sharing leadership with other ponies. And it's been a tradition ever since for nopony to have a rank higher than princess or prince.” “Huh, I didn't know that.” “I know, right? Just one more benefit of being my friend. Speaking of benefits...” Diamond trailed off, rolled out of bed, and approached a silky rope that was hanging through a hole near her bedroom door. As she gave it a good tug with her teeth, a bell sounded faintly downstairs. “Snacks are on the way.” Silver clapped her hooves together. “Good! I'd hate to think I was doing this for free. Who was the greatest king of the pegasi?” “Trick question,” Diamond declared as she leapt back up on the bed. “Maelstrom was their greatest, most powerful monarch, but he was too proud to call himself a king or anything else. He felt like his name should be enough for ponies to know who he was.” Her friend looked down at the notebook to confirm that this was correct and gave a fractional nod when she saw it was. “So how come his kingdom isn't still around?” “He gave up all his power to Commander Skysplitter when she beat him in a game.” Silver's muzzle scrunched up. “Really? A game? What kind of game?” “I don't know, some kind of strategy game. Probably Cumulus, like the pegasus colts are always playing during lunchtime.” Silver Spoon resettled her glasses and flipped a page. “What spell is King Silverskin credited with inventing?” Diamond smirked. “Teleportation.” “Okay. Big, important question time. You ready?” At the other filly's nod, Silver continued. “Which colt do you have a crush on?” “Silver!” Pillow combat began soon after this outrage. “...and they lived happily ever after.” Applause was enthusiastic, and parental cheering was wild, especially among the parents of the stars. The colts and fillies all took bows and waved to the audience. Some of the fillies blew kisses. In general, everypony milked the attention for all it was worth. It eventually had to end, though, and so they went back behind the curtain to take off costumes and put away props. Diamond was struggling with her rather elaborate Princess Swift Wind costume. The stage manager, a unicorn filly named Sun Gimmer, brushed her yellow mane out of her eyes and trotted over to help. The process was somewhat easier with two ponies, and Diamond was soon free of everything. Glimmer concentrated on folding the dress, and glanced up when she saw the star putting her prop crown back on again. Something was different. “Nice cutie mark, Diamond,” Sun Glimmer said. The crowned filly looked back at her flank. “It's Diamond Tiara now, actually.” Author's Note My thanks to Arcum42 for his input and opinions during the development of this chapter. (Oh, and don't act like you don't know who Diamond Tiara is.)
ArcherArcher If there was one thing the filly was sure of, it's that she was tired of hearing about her cousin Scootaloo. Scootaloo was a pegasus in a family that was mostly earth ponies, and that made her special. Scootaloo was an only child as well as being the youngest in the extended family, and that made her special. Scootaloo did tricks on her scooter, and that made her special. She was sick of it! Worst of all, the family always said how much she and Scootaloo were alike. It was a ridiculous idea. Scootaloo had an ugly orange coat and a tacky magenta mane. Her own coat and mane were in pleasing shades of blue; it was how she got her name, after all. Then there was the fact that Scootaloo was obsessed with getting a cutie mark, and she knew hers would come when the time was right. Also, Scootaloo was a few months younger than she was. They were nothing alike! But despite all her frustrations with her cousin, she still might have been able to let all that slide if not for the fact that hardly anypony called her by her real name any more, and that was Scootaloo's fault. When they were much younger, her cousin hadn't been able to say her name properly; now she had a nickname that she hated and she couldn't escape. “Can I help you find anything, Azure?” The new librarian was one of the few exceptions regarding use of her real name. The purple mare wasn't what you would expect from a Canterlot unicorn; she was actually nice and not a snob at all. Plus it was good to just have the library open again. It had been closed for a few weeks after the retirement of the old librarian, and going to the library was one of the things that Azure did to set herself apart from her cousin (who generally had to be dragged there). “Yes, Miss Twilight, thank you. We discussed the post-Founding period in class recently, and I wanted to learn more. My teacher said you would have some stuff on my grade level.” “Oh, yes, I know just the book! You know, the post-Founding period was a very interesting time. There was a new land to explore, and even though the pony tribes were at peace with each other, there were still some battles fought.” Twilight walked to some nearby shelves and started scanning the titles. “One of the colts in my class said we even fought the minotaurs back then, but I don't think he really knew what he was talking about.” Twilight looked back in approval. “You're right, that's actually just a legend. You can read the real story as soon as I find... here it is!” The unicorn floated a thick book to a table with her magic. “Was there anything else you wanted for now?” “No, ma'am. Thanks again.” The young earth pony got comfortable and opened up the copy of Early Equestria in front of her. Not surprisingly, the librarian had some reading that she wanted to do as well, and Azure barely noticed when Twilight walked away. Azure skipped the first few pages. Everypony knew the story of Equestria's founding, and she felt she was especially qualified on that topic since she had been Smart Cookie in the school's Hearth's Warming pageant last year. Even the first few years were fairly calm, with settlement, expansion, and uncontested exploration. There was lots of contact between the pony tribes, but still not a lot of mixing of the populations. Everything seemed fine until – There it was! – the first meeting between ponykind and minotaurs. Pegasi still remained in the sky for the most part, and unicorns seemed to consider diplomacy with another species to be beneath them, so the initial contacts were between earth ponies and minotaurs. The ponies feared these new beings at first, and there was even a misunderstanding that ended in pies being thrown. Eventually, though, the two groups communicated, acceptance grew, and trade began. The young filly had never learned about any of this in school, and she was easily drawn into the narrative. Back then, minotaurs were nomads, with the exception of some elders who chose permanent places to live and build labyrinths. They started to settle villages of their own to make it easier to trade with the pony population, and the earth ponies were happy to teach them the basics of agriculture. Both sides benefited, and it certainly didn't sound to Azure like the sort of situation that would lead to war. The next section was titled “Dragon Migration”. Wait a second, what did dragons have to do with minotaurs? She read on to find that once pony land expanded far enough, dragon sightings were no longer rare and singular. One day, the migration began to fly overhead; a stream of dragons soared through the sky for unknown purposes, and the majority of them were either peaceful or just indifferent. Some, however, were territorial enough to feel they owned the land underneath their flight path. That first year, ponies fled while their houses and farms were burned. They later rebuilt, re-planted, and prepared. The second year, they fought back. More homes were destroyed and it looked like the ponies would have to retreat again... until the minotaurs came. Working together, the two races were actually able to drive off the hostile dragons. Azure turned the page, and her mouth fell open. The entire page was filled with illustrations of minotaur weapons. The caption didn't say more than that, and the next page continued the history, so she didn't learn much more than the general appearances of these items. She was both disturbed and fascinated by them and couldn't stop looking. One group of drawings in particular drew her eye – she was sure she had seen something like them before. She checked the table of contents and the index to find out if the topic of weapons came up again, but had no luck. Nothing for it but to ask the librarian, then. “Oh, yes, I know about those,” Twilight said, warming up for a mini-lecture. “There isn't a word in the Equestrian language for it, but minotaurs call the main section of it a bow. The bow uses flexible materials to propel a projectile called an arrow. Ponies never adopted it, of course; it can't be used with hooves, pegasus wings are too delicate to operate it, and unicorns don't gain any real advantage with it. We can get almost as much force from just throwing the projectile with our magic, and if you do use one, it's one more object to have to levitate. Ponies were able to adapt it to a more useable form called an across-bow, but that wasn't until much later.” Azure remained puzzled. “But why does it look familiar to me? I never knew any of this.” “To understand that, you have to realize how ponies felt about the bow warriors, who were called archers.” Twilight barely noticed the look of recognition on her visitor's face and continued talking. “They were impressed by the speed of the projectiles, and how often they hit their targets. More than that, they were grateful to the minotaurs who came to their aid. So much so,” she said, opening another book, “that it led to this.” She held a hoof over a page covered with pictograms. One of them was a stylized version of the weapon in question: an arc joined at the endpoints by a straight line, with another straight line perpendicular to it. “That's pre-Celestian writing, isn't it?” Twilight smiled. “Exactly. And this symbol was added to the written language after the victory against the dragons. Sometimes it just meant either bow or archer. Other times, depending on the context, it could mean 'swift' or 'to strike accurately' or even 'coming to the defense of another'. Like many words in the old writing system, it's still used in artwork to this day. You've probably seen it lots of times without realizing it.” “That one symbol could mean all those different things?” “Confusing, isn't it? That's why we switched to a system that represents sounds instead. Well, that and the number of symbols that had to be learned.” Azure's eyes practically glowed. “I had no idea about any of this! I'm learning so much!” That, of course, was music to the librarian's ears. “Glad I could help out, my little pony. Why don't we get that book checked out so you can take it with you?” The schoolfilly was very much in favor of this idea. For the next few days, Azure spent almost all her free time buried in the book. She had thought the post-Founding era sounded interesting, but she didn't expect it to be exciting. The day after she finished it, she was eager for the school day to end – but not like Scootaloo was, never like Scootaloo – so she could return to the library and find more books like it. She was almost to her destination when she spotted somepony else headed to the library as well. The purplish-gray unicorn filly sitting on the ground was obviously younger than Azure was, and her slight build made her seem even younger than that. Standing over her was a much older colt that Azure didn't recognize, an earth pony with both coat and mane in boring tan shades. Looking at the mess scattered around the filly, Azure realized that the colt had swept the filly's saddlebags off her back and scattered the books in them. The little unicorn began to cry, which made the bully laugh. There was no way she was going to stand for that; without thinking, she charged toward the unpleasant adolescent. He could have easily seen her by turning his head just a little to the left, but he was too caught up in his cruelty. Once she got close to him, she stopped, whirled around, and aimed both of her back legs for his left side. She moved swiftly, and she struck accurately. The bully crumpled to the ground a couple of paces away, dazed. Azure turned again, facing him, putting the other filly behind her. The colt snapped back to awareness with a look of panic on his face; he quickly scrambled to his hooves and ran off. She turned once more and began gathering stray books. The little unicorn wiped away the last of her tears and looked up at Azure through her blond mane. She simply said, “Thank you.” “You're very welcome. I'm glad I was able to help. What's your name?” “Oh, uh... everypony calls me Dinky, because I'm so small. What's yours?” “My name is Azure... but you know what? You can call me Archer. Everypony does.” “I really like your cutie mark, Archer.” Azure – Archer – turned and looked at her flank. As far as she was concerned, it was perfect. Author's Note Archer, a/k/a "Scootablue", is this little filly. She can be seen in the opening of the episode Call of the Cutie, and you can see a closeup of her cutie mark here.
Peachy PiePeachy Pie Her parents were fighting again. She was young enough to be a stranger to the idea of sleeping in on the weekend, but the noise woke her up at a time that was early even by her standards. Here it was, first thing on Saddleday morning, and already she felt like she couldn't wait for Moonday so she could go back to school. Peachy Pie knew she could block out most of the sound by holding her ears down with her hooves, but that didn't exactly make it easy to go back to sleep. The yellow filly rolled out of bed, glanced at the mirror, decided she could live with the messiness of her two-tone orange mane, and quietly made her way out of the house. Now all she had to do was figure out where to go. It was very unlikely that other foals would be at any parks or playgrounds yet. She had heard that a new librarian had moved to town recently, but she didn't think that anypony normal would have opened it up yet. (Learning that Ponyville's new librarian wasn't exactly normal was still in Peachy's future.) After another moment of thought, she remembered the one business that always opened up as soon as Celestia raised the sun: the bakery. She didn't have any bits with her, but she knew that the owners of Sugarcube Corner would let her do a chore in exchange for a treat, or bring money by later, or make other arrangements. Peachy didn't see the point in even trying to think of other destinations, so she walked towards the bakery. As usual, the wonderful smells of the bakery met Peachy Pie long before she reached the source. As she got closer, she could see other ponies going in and out from time to time, which reassured her that she wouldn't stand out as much as she had feared. A unicorn mare she didn't know was exiting as she walked in; surprisingly, there was only one other customer still inside Sugarcube Corner by that point. The earth pony stallion soon had what he came for and left to resume his morning. He was given a farewell from the same source that gave Peachy a greeting: a barely-contained nuclear reaction masquerading as a pink mare. “Bye-bye, Dreamer! Enjoy! Come back and see us again soon! Hi, Peachy! What can your Auntie Pinkie do for you?” They weren't really related, but it tickled Pinkie Pie to be called “Auntie Pinkie”, and Peachy Pie was always happy to indulge the friendly baker. “Hi, Auntie Pinkie. I'm here for a... I mean, I want to order... I wanted...” She trailed off. Pinkie gave a sympathetic frown. “Trouble at home again, my little pony?” The filly nodded, so Pinkie continued. “You know what always cheers me up? Making yummy desserts! And it just so happens that the Cakes are out of town celebrating their anniversary, so I'm here all alone. I was going to need an assistant anyway.” Her visitor's face brightened, so Pinkie's tone did as well. “Do you maybe know somepony I could hire for a little while and pay in treats?” “Ooh! Me, me, me!” “You're hired! Welcome to the Sugarcube Corner organization, we're pleased to have you as a member of the team! I'm Pinkie Pie, head of the Pony Resources department, and I'll introduce you around.” She waved a hoof to her left and then zipped over to take the spot she had just indicated. “This is your supervisor, Pinkie Pie. She's tough, but fair.” Hoof wave, zip. “This is Pinkie Pie, she's in Maintenance. Call her if you have any problems.” Hoof wave, zip. “This is Pinkie Pie from R&D. It's probably best if you don't ask her anything about what she does here. There's also Pinkie Pie, Pinkie Pie, and Pinkie Pie,” she said, hopping into new positions each time she said her name, “but you'll get to know them later.” The little filly had the giggles by this point, but with some effort she managed to contain herself enough to ask a question. “What's my first assignment, boss?” Pinkie grinned; she loved it when she could make others laugh. “I actually have to make some pies for this afternoon. Why don't you start with some of those? You can make pumpkin, peach, lemon meringue, banana cream....” “Peach!” Peachy Pie was smiling. She knew that Pinkie knew what sort of pie she would choose; it wasn't just her name, it was her favorite dessert. She also knew that if she hadn't spoken up, Pinkie could (and would) have continued for several minutes. “You got it! Follow me, I've got some crusts ready to go!” There were indeed freshly-made crusts waiting to be filled, as well as standard every-pie ingredients available for use nearby. Pinkie opened one of the many pantry doors in the large kitchen. “You know, it's a good thing you came here today...” she said, her voice seemingly getting farther and farther away before trailing off, “...because I really need to make use of these before they go bad.” Pinkie stepped back out through the door; slung across her back was a string bag as big as she was. It was full of peaches. “Peachjack had a really good sale and I couldn't resist,” she explained, as she carefully eased her burden onto the counter. “I've never heard of anypony called Peachjack, Auntie Pinkie.” “You'd like her. She's nice.” Peachy wasn't sure if Pinkie was pulling a couple of her legs or not. She decided to concentrate on pies instead. “So I can do peach pies for all four of these crusts, then?” “Not only can you do it, I insist on it. You've made peach pies before, Peachy Pie?” The little filly nodded with a cheesy grin. Pinkie Pie looked off in the distance dramatically. “Bake up every pie! You know what you're doing. Move pie. For great justice.” She solemnly pronked her way to the front of the bakery to take care of sales. Peachy had no idea what justice had to do with pies, but like all Ponyville foals, she had learned to file certain things under “Pinkie being Pinkie” shortly after she had learned to speak. She got to work. She had never made four pies at the same time before, but she found it was actually quite easy. Everything she needed was close at hoof, and doing each task four times allowed her to follow one mini-routine with another. She concentrated on the peaches, their smell, their feel, their taste (she had set a couple aside for that); she thought about making the best pies she had ever made; she didn't think about her parents. Pinkie's timing was uncanny; she returned to the kitchen just as Peachy finished up. Pinkie took care of getting the pies in the oven, and gave her assistant a new assignment. “Hey, you know what would be good? Peach cobbler. We've got the peaches, and it's not something we have in the shop very often. Know how to make it? You do? Great!” Peachy Pie threw herself into her task. This is easy, she thought. I should come back more often. Maybe try to get a real job here when I'm older. She felt like she was done much too quickly, especially since she was making more cobbler than what she would at home. “What's next, Auntie Pinkie?” Once again, Pinkie had somehow appeared just in time to keep the young filly away from the oven. “Cake always sells well. Ever made a peach cake?” “Not yet, but I think I'm going to.” “You're right! I'll show you the basics, and then you can make a couple of peach cakes, and maybe some batches of peach cupcakes. Sound good?” “Sounds good!” Other ponies might have had trouble remembering the steps, but for Peachy, it wasn't difficult at all. Other ponies might have considered it work, but she was having fun. She even started humming tunes to herself as she mixed up the bowls of cake batter. This was actually turning out to be a pretty nice morning. She wondered what other sorts of desserts she could make with peaches. Maybe she could even make something nopony had ever made before. She was expecting it this time; when Pinkie showed up in the kitchen again, Peachy asked, “What are we going to do now, Auntie Pinkie?” “What are we going to do? I am going to sell those yummy peachy goodies you've been making. You are going to take a break and clean yourself up.” “But I don't feel dirty.” Peachy was, after all, still a foal. “You are, trust me. Would your Auntie Pinkie lie to you? You've got flour in your mane, you've got batter on your hooves, you've got sugar on your muzzle. For pony's sake, you've even got peaches on your flank!” “I do?” Peachy turned to look. “I DO!” Author's Note Here's a pic of Peachy Pie. She appears in The Show Stoppers in the talent show.
Sunny DaysSunny Days Sunday Scootaloo would never admit it to anypony – well, maybe Rainbow Dash – but she was kind of nervous. She checked (once again) to make sure her helmet was properly in place, fluttered her wings, breathed deeply, and looked at what she had ahead of her. Just the idea of what she was going to do would make anypony nervous, right? Well, maybe not Rainbow Dash. Almost every foal in Ponyville around her age was here to watch this stunt. Snips and Snails were actually running a betting pool, the jerks. Twist had quite industriously set up a small candy concession for the event. Diamond Tiara was nowhere to be found, but Silver Spoon was present, keeping to herself towards the back of the crowd. Archer was waving her hooves in the air as she was describing what her cutie mark was derived from. The loop ramp had been built by Apple Bloom, so there was no problem with that; Scootaloo was confident it would hold together. She wasn't even that concerned about the possibility of injuring herself if she failed. She was, however, terrified by the thought of failure itself... especially with everypony watching. If she made it, it would be awesome! Everypony would know her name, and this stunt would be talked about for years! If she didn't make it, she would be so humiliated that she would have to go live in the Everfree Forest. Scootaloo got into position on her scooter and paused for a final word from the well-wishers who had gathered at her starting point. “Go for it, Scootaloo,” said Apple Bloom. “You probably won't die,” added Sweetie Belle helpfully. The last words of encouragement were from a classmate she didn't even know very well: Sunny Days, a golden-coated filly with a platinum mane and tail. “You can do this. I know you can.” Her voice was soft and certain. Scootaloo kicked at the ground with one of her back hooves, flapped her wings as fast as she could, and zoomed forward. She reached the speed she needed. Could she maintain it? She did. The scooter stayed stuck to Apple Bloom's work like magic was involved, and Scootaloo made it safely through the loop. The cheering was the greatest thing she had ever heard (from anypony besides Rainbow Dash). The second greatest thing she had ever heard came as she was working her way through the crowd to accept her congratulations from everypony. They all had nice things to say, of course, but none of them sounded quite as sincere as Sunny. “I never doubted it for a second.” Moonday School was letting out for the day, and foals eagerly made their way out the door of the schoolhouse. As soon as she judged herself to be out of earshot of the teacher, Apple Bloom groaned and flopped to the ground. “I can't believe Miss Cheerilee wants us to write a poem for our homework! I don't know anything about that stuff,” she drawled. Sunny Days had been heading for home, but she turned and walked over to her distraught classmate. “I love poetry, Apple Bloom, and I bet you know more about it than you think.” Sunny held out a hoof. Apple Bloom accepted the hoof and used the help to get back on all of hers. “What in the hay is that supposed to mean?” Sunny sat on her haunches and thought for a second. “Tell me about the smell of an apple orchard when it's time for the harvest.” “Well...” Apple Bloom hesitated, then sat so she could do some thinking of her own. “It's sweet, and it's powerful. It's food... but it's also love. It's a smell that always makes me think of family, and sometimes it smells like everything that's good in the world. If I could put that smell in a bottle, I would give it away to everypony.” Sunny smiled. “Congratulations. You just wrote a poem.” Hoovesday “Are you sure you can do this?” Sunny Days put as much reassurance as she could into her voice. “Of course I'm sure. It'll take some practice, but you'll have it down in no time. If you work with me and do what I tell you, nopony will be able to tell you're a beginner.” Silver Spoon looked around for possible spies, and not for the first time. “And you won't tell anypony?” “Of course I won't.” “It's just that I've never gone skating before, and Diamond Tiara has family coming in from Canterlot in a couple of weeks, so she decided she's having a skating party, and I don't want to look like an idiot or fall on my rump or get Diamond Tiara upset at me or –“ Sunny held up a hoof to cut her off. “Relax, you'll be fine.” Silver Spoon had made this request out of desperation and hadn't really expected Sunny to help her. She had been trying to hold back her curiosity, but it broke through. “Why are you doing this for me?” “I want you to have a good time.” “Even though I haven't always been... well, nice?” Sunny shrugged. “I want everypony to have a good time.” Wingsday It was late afternoon, and Sunny Days was walking through town with her saddlebags on. She was headed to the home of her friend, Peachy Pie, so they could do some studying together. It's not that Miss Cheerilee was assigning anything especially difficult; it was more that sometimes concepts were easier to understand when you could discuss them with somepony. She was roughly halfway there when she unexpectedly spotted Peachy Pie. Peachy was sprawled on a bench, head resting on her forehooves, and wearing saddlebags of her own. Sunny walked up slowly and brushed a hoof through her friend's mane. “Parents again?” Peachy nodded and sniffled. “They may not get along with each other sometimes, but they both love you. That hasn't changed.” Peachy spoke quietly. “I know.” “I see you've got your books with you. I take it you'd rather study at my place?” “If we can.” Sunny smirked. “Mom loves all my friends. Daddy usually doesn't complain, and if he does, I can make him melt. It's fun.” Peachy's response was flat. “Mmmm.” Sunny gave her friend a poke in the ribs. “Cut that out. Your mom loves you. Your dad loves you. You've got other ponies who care about you. You've got me. You've got Miss Cheerilee. You've got everypony at school. You've got Miss Pinkie.” “Miss Pinkie... Auntie Pinkie's really nice to me.” Peachy raised her head. “That gives me an idea. Your parents won't notice you're gone for a while, and mine know I'm with you for at least a couple of hours. Why don't we go over to Sugarcube Corner for some snacks? My treat. Maybe we can even try to get some studying done there.” Peachy eased herself off the bench. “I like that idea.” “Speaking of Miss Pinkie, she taught me a new song. Wanna hear it?” When Peachy nodded, Sunny started singing. My name is Sunny Days And I am here to say... Hornsday School let out for the day, and two students found themselves walking in the same direction; the direction didn't lead to either one's home. Their mutual destination seemed pretty obvious. “On your way to the library again, Archer?” Sunny Days asked. Archer nodded. “Yep. And I'm thinking that you might be headed to the library?” “Wow. It's like you used unicorn magic or something.” Both earth pony fillies had a good giggle over Sunny's deadpan response. Sunny glanced over at her travel companion. “Still on your post-Founding kick?” “Oh, you bet! The tribes were really limiting themselves by keeping apart. So much happened when ponies all started living together! There were advances in art, literature, architecture, science – just about anything you can name. It was also when we really started building relations with other species.” Sunny had a small smile. “You've told me about the minotaurs, Archer.” She said it gently, though; she always liked seeing this kind of enthusiasm and enjoyment. Archer accepted the reminder and moved on. “What about you, Sunny? What are you going to the library for?” “What do we know about the new librarian?” “Huh? Well, I found out myself that she knows a lot of stuff and she likes to explain it. Also, I've heard she's from Canterlot, but she doesn't act like a Canterlot pony. They say she even knows Princess Celestia, but she's definitely not a snob.” Sunny nodded to each point Archer made. “Miss Cheerilee says she likes science and really enjoys helping students. Also, everypony says that she's made some friends in town, but doesn't really know very many ponies yet.” Archer stopped walking and tilted her head. “So?” she asked, confusion evident in her tone. “So I'm going to ask her for help with science.” “Wait a second. Don't you normally get good grades in science?” “Yeah.” Archer was still baffled. “And didn't you tie with Twist for top score on the last science test?” “Yeah.” “So you're good at science.” It was almost an accusation. Archer was briefly troubled, because she reminded herself of her cousin Scootaloo. Sunny pointed with a hoof as she spoke. “You know that, and I know that... but she doesn't know that.” Tribesday “Oh... oh, wow.” Sunny Days looked like she was in heaven. “Twist, this is the. Best. Candy. Ever! How did you even know that butterscotch was my favorite? Twist, I want to marry this candy!” “It's just some butterscotch hard candy...” “Just? Twist, that's like saying the Palace is just a way to keep rain off your head!” The candy-maker's blush was almost as red as her mane. Saddleday “Hey, Sunny?” The voice of a sleepy filly. “Yeah, Peachy?” A different filly, also not far from dreamland. “I'm glad our families let me come stay over tonight.” “So am I.” “You're my best friend, Sunny.” “And you're my best friend, Peachy.” “Sometimes you treat everypony like they're your best friend. And this is going to sound silly, but... sometimes I get jealous.” “I'm sorry. But you're the only pony I tell my secrets to. You're the only pony who knows which colts I wanna kiss.” “That makes me feel better. Thanks, Sunny.” “You're welcome.” “But why do you act that way all the time?” “It's important.” “What do you mean?” “Everypony needs their day brightened, Peachy.” “Huh. I guess you're right. Well, you're good at it.” “I guess I am pretty good at it, huh?” “Hey, Sunny?” The voice of a slightly-more-awake filly. “Yeah?” “There's something you ought to see...” Author's Note I am aware that there was a pony in a prior generation known as "Sunny Daze". I am also aware that fandom consensus seems to be that this adorable, roller-skating, poem-reciting filly from the talent show in The Show Stoppers should also have her name spelled "Sunny Daze". I disagree. Anyway, If you didn't get enough of Sunny from the story's cover art, here she is again.
TwistTwist Some ponies really knew how to hurt feelings. Twist knew she should just ignore all of the mean comments from Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, but that was easier said than done. They could make their words cut into you, and they seemed to want to use this ability on just about everypony in class. After school today had been above average in nastiness, with the two of them belittling Twist and Apple Bloom for not having cutie marks. As they continued walking together, Twist knew that she didn't really want to talk about what had just happened, and it seemed that Apple Bloom felt the same way. Each took some comfort in simply being with a friend for a while. Before long, they reached the turn-off for Sweet Apple Acres and parted ways. On an ordinary day, Twist would have gone straight home at that point. Instead, she took a different path, one that took her towards the center of Ponyville. There was only one way she could feel better right now, and that had to do with the one thing she had in common with Diamond Tiara: each of them was a daddy's girl. It was time to visit her father at work. Ponyville's town hall was circular, and the open area surrounding it was fairly rounded as well. It was still called “the town square” for reasons that were unclear to Twist, however. Various structures made up the perimeter of the square, including a building that had formerly been a single-pony home. That was her destination, the location of her father's business. He would be the first to admit that it wasn't fancy, but at least he wasn't cluttering the family home with his work, and he could rightfully boast that he was just across from the town hall. On each side of the mailbox was a modest plaque that said “T. Criollo, Consultation and Coordination”. The larger, brighter, friendlier sign in the front window said “Takes Two? Talk to Tango!” Twist's father had the rather unusual special talent of putting the right ponies together. The average pony might have settled for a career of matchmaking – which Tango did as a sideline business – but he had the brilliance to put his talent to use in many more areas. He matched picky sellers with the right buyers, artists with patrons, inventors with investors, and on and on, all for a fee (or sometimes a percentage). It had been pointed out to him that he could probably be very rich very easily by moving to Canterlot, or Manehattan, or Fillydelphia. He was a Ponyville native, however, and was quite content to remain in his home town and raise his daughter away from the big city. As it was, he was still pretty comfortable. Twist didn't have all of the luxuries that Diamond Tiara did, but she certainly wasn't lacking, either. Twist checked the mailbox to be helpful and found that it was empty at the moment. She opened the front door, walked inside, and saw that her father still hadn't hired anypony to work for him. What could have been a reception area was essentially useless. She shook her head and headed down the hall to a particular door. Inside, she found an earth pony stallion sitting on a cushion behind a low desk, examining a densely-printed piece of paper through his glasses. He had a pale yellow coat. His mane and tail were darker, almost golden, but with an unfortunate amount of frizziness and curliness to them. When he looked up and saw Twist, he hopped up beside the desk, reared up on his hind hooves, and began to gyrate frantically. “Wellll, got a new dance and it goes like this!” He followed with a string of nonsense filler words. “And the name of the dance is the Peppermint Twist!” He rattled off another sequence of nonsense that may or may not have been identical to the first. There is a set of tones known to all daughters throughout all universes, tones that hold many meanings at once. They mean, “Cut it out.” They mean, “Here he goes again.” They mean, “I hope my friends never see this.” But deep down, they also mean, “I secretly like this, because I love you even when you're goofy, and when you stop for good that's when I'll know I'm not a little girl anymore.” Twist used those tones now. “Dad-dy!” Tango returned to all four hooves. “Yes?” “Daddy, you're a terrible singer.” She was often mistaken for having a lisp; ponies who listened closely could tell that the letter S might have a softer sound than others when she spoke, but it was there. “Championship dancer, though.” “Since when?” Her father looked at the clock on the wall. “Finished up about ten minutes ago. It was thrilling, you should have seen it. They're going to mail me my trophy.” Twist was fighting not to laugh; she was winning so far, but couldn't hold out forever. “And when did you come up with that silly song?” Tango looked at the clock again, then looked up as if calculating. “Tribesday.” “You've been holding on to that since last week?” She could hardly believe what she was hearing. “Yep. And you only think it's silly because you haven't heard all of it. I'm especially fond of the forty-fifth verse. Although, to be honest, verse sixty-three could probably use another revision.” She dropped to her haunches and started to giggle. Laughter 1, Twist 0. Her father, of course, was a stallion who played dirty; he went straight for the ribs in a fiendish tickling maneuver that soon had her on her back and nearly out of breath. He allowed her to recover a bit before he spoke again. “What brings you by today, Twist-a-loo?” She rolled over and sat up, facing away from him. “I got made fun of for not having a cutie mark.” She was immediately dragged backward by her father's forehooves, which then wrapped around her. “Oh, sweetie, you'll get yours soon. It'll probably be here before you know it.” Twist enjoyed the hug for a moment, then broke away so she could face her father again while they spoke. “Why can't it just happen?” Tango sighed. “Getting a cutie mark isn't like being struck by lightning.” He paused. “No, wait, I take that back. In some ways, it is like getting struck by a bolt of lighting.” Twist's expression was as obvious as a light-up “I'm puzzled!” billboard by the side of the road. “How do you know what that's like?” Tango reached out and took his daughter's face in his hooves. “Sweetie, I'm telling you this because I'm your father and I love you.” He took a deep breath. “Never donkey on a bet with a pegasus.” He pulled his hooves away and mimed some twitches for her. This, of course, set off another round of giggles for Twist. She regained control pretty quickly, but then her father opened his mouth again. “The pegasi have a saying: 'Revenge is a dish best served at high voltage.' ZAP!” He twitched some more and joined his little girl in having a good laugh. Twist sat next to her father and leaned up against him. “Daddy, how did you know I needed cheering up before I even said anything?” “There's only one pony in the whole world who might possibly know you better than I do, and your mother isn't here.” “But how did you know?” “My little Twist-a-loo coming to the office sounds different from somepony coming here for business. And I can tell the difference between 'stopping by to say hi' hooves and 'had a bad day' hooves.” Twist tilted her head upward to get closer to Tango's eye level, nuzzling his neck as she did so. “You're pretty smart.” “Be sure and tell your mother that. I think she only married me for my looks,” he said, patting his tightly-curled mane. That earned him another giggle. “So what were you going to tell me about cutie marks?” “Oh. Right! Well, the way that it's not like a lightning bolt is that your cutie mark is based on something that's been around a while, whether it's a skill you've been working years to perfect, or a natural ability that you've had all along.” “That makes sense.” “The way that it is like a lightning bolt is that the mark appears when you have a sudden realization. And that realization can happen at a level below everyday thought. One way or another, you finally figure out what your special talent is, and cutie mark magic takes effect.” There was a long pause. Then, “Daddy, are any of your friends unicorns?” “It doesn't work that way, sweetie. Not even Princess Celestia can change this magic.” “Oh.” For some time after that – neither of them was sure how long – they were just together, father and daughter, each enjoying the fact that the other was there. Eventually, Tango leaned over and kissed Twist on the top of her head. “Feel better?” he asked. Twist was thoughtful. “Well... I still want my cutie mark.” “No, I meant about being made fun of by those little... those little...” Twist didn't even ask who he was referring to, how he knew who to blame, or what he was stopping himself from saying. “Daddy, I've heard you say those words before.” He put a hoof atop one of hers. “That doesn't mean you have to hear me say them again. I'll just say that somepony should talk to those fillies' parents and leave it at that.” Twist leaned in against her father again. “I do feel better about that part, thank you.” “Let me see if I can help you feel better about the other part. I have an idea that will help you realize just how many different possibilities there are for your cutie mark. I want you to go home and think about all of the things that you're good at. Now, I realize that this will take a long, long time, because there are oh-so-many things that my little girl is very good at, but I think this will be helpful to you. And – here's the important part – and I want you to do this while you're making candy. Making candy calms you down, it clears your mind, and it's tasty. I wouldn't say no to some peppermint sticks when I get home this evening. Oh, and your mother got more of whatever that stuff is that lets you make wintergreen mints. If you make some of that, I like mine light on the winter, heavy on the green. Got all that?” Twist repeated the instructions, nodding slowly several times as she did so. “Go home, make some candy, think about stuff I'm good at – like science, and math, and history.” Tango smiled. “Right. Just like when I was waiting for my cutie mark, I thought a lot about singing.” She poked him with a hoof. “Daddy, you're terrible at singing!” He was laughing so hard that she couldn't even get a proper goodbye kiss until he was done. Nopony had ever introduced Twist to the concept of meditation; that was for the loopy ponies of Coltorado, not the sort of ponies who lived in Ponyville. But if they had, she would have recognized the description of the desired effect as being something like what she felt when she was deeply into her candy-making. In other words, her father had given her good advice once again. As she stepped away from her first batch of candy to let it cool, she realized that she really could have hurt herself. She had spent several minutes going over a mental list of school subjects instead of thinking about what she was doing. But then again... she never really was at risk, was she? She had done this so many times before. She was so familiar with the steps. She didn't really need to think about it. She was good at this. It was just so... easy. She galloped to the cabinet where the best cookware was kept, pulled out one of the shiniest pans, and looked at herself sideways in the distorted reflection. “Of course!” Author's Note It's semi-canon that Twist's mother is named Shimmy Shake. In the original draft of Pinkie Pie's Smile Song, she greets several townsponies by name; in the case of Shimmy Shake, she asks about how Twist did on a test in school. When I decided some time ago to offer my take on this story, I knew that I had to give her father a dance-related name as well. I went through and discarded several possibilities before settling on Tango, and coming up with a suitable talent to match the name. Later, as I was actually writing the story, I wanted a second name so he would sound more professional. The Wikipedia article for the dance said that it was originally known as the "Tango Criollo". I had already learned from some prior pony-related research that "Criollo" was also the name of a breed of horse. I love it when things fit together like that. Tango's pet name for his daughter, Twist-a-loo, is what Hasbro calls her in their toy line. (Because you can't trademark a common word like "Twist", that's why.)
Diamond TiaraDiamond Tiara Diamond made her way to the library, walking alone for a change. When she had announced she was going to do some research, her best friend had, of course, volunteered to go with her. Lucky for her, Diamond was such a good friend that she had let Silver off the hook. After all, nopony went to the library unless they really had to – and Diamond really had to. I will be the princess, she thought. Miss Cheerilee had announced the school play, and she was determined to win the leading role. Not that she thought anypony else was even worthy of being considered for the part, but why take chances? It was best to be prepared. I will be the princess. What better way to be prepared than to know the subject matter inside and out? And since this sort of thing wasn't covered in her father's business guides, her mother's romance novels, or the “Young Mare” books that she lied to Silver about and said she didn't actually read -- that meant a trip to the library. I will be the princess. At least the library was actually open again. She knew that the sort of town she deserved to live in wouldn't have something like this closed down for weeks. Not that she was the sort of nerdy pony who cared about the library, like Twist was – the place just had its uses from time to time, that's all. And it was the principle of the thing, too – she was certain that when librarians retired in Fillydelphia or Manehattan, nopony had to wait for some dull Canterlot bureaucrat to be transferred in to get things running again. Once she set hoof in the library, she found that the unicorn inside had at least learned enough to offer help right away, although Diamond knocked points off for the sentence ending with “my little pony”, a phrase she found absolutely exasperating. She took a breath before replying, thinking once again about how she deserved more credit for her self-restraint. “I came to find out about royalty.” The new librarian perked right up at that. “You're in luck! I can help you with whatever you want to learn about Princess Celestia! It just so happens I know--” “More than just her.” Diamond cut off the excitable civil servant. Clearly she had been about to say that she knew lots and lots of trivia about the princess. Bo-ring. She closed her eyes so it wasn't obvious she was rolling them. “Everypony. I want to learn about all royal ponies.” “Oh. Well, I can still help with that, Miss...?” “Diamond.” “Pleased to meet you; I'm Twilight Sparkle. I can still help you, Miss Diamond. Is this for some sort of school project?” “I'm going to become a princess.” Filthy Rich left Barnyard Bargains for the day early, in order to do some paperwork from the comfort of home. Once he arrived, he decided to skip his home office – feeling that would defeat the purpose – for the less formal surroundings of the study. Of course, he wasn't the only member of the family who used the room, and he found something of his daughter's in front of his own piles of clutter. The top of the paper announced, quite insistently, that there were “AUDITIONS!” A date was given, as well as a title, a cast of characters, and even suggestions for preparing for the auditions. It was a detailed document, and if it hadn't been for the name of the local school being part of the text, he might have wondered why he hadn't heard anything before about somepony bringing professional theater to Ponyville. On the back, he found notes that were almost as detailed, notes that had clearly been written by his daughter. Filthy Rich, of course, deeply loved his daughter, Diamond. He also loved that, in her own way, she was as ambitious as he was, despite her youth. Wisdom comes with age, though, and so she hadn't yet learned how to recognize those areas she best was suited for, let alone properly steer her ambitions towards them. If she didn't get what she wanted, she would be unhappy. He couldn't bear the thought of his daughter being unhappy. It would be a learning experience if she failed, sure, but she was still young; she had plenty of time to learn. He wanted her to achieve this particular goal, so he would give her a bit of help. Or more. “As many bits as it takes,” he muttered. It sure seemed like this new librarian knew what she was talking about. “Technically, the pegasi never had royalty. I mean, yes, they had factional rulers who functioned as kings and queens before they were united under the imperators – that's the original pegasus term for the title we know as “commander”, by the way – but they rarely used those titles, and those positions were never hereditary.” Each book she grabbed in her magic or pushed aside with a hoof reminded her of something. “This is no good; it deals with Silverskin as a legendary figure, as a culture hero. There's considerable evidence that he was, in fact, the first king of the unicorns, and that he ruled until he was betrayed by Storm Bringer, just like the stories say. Incidentally, just before I left Canterlot, I read an account of how Heinrich Trojanhorse discovered the lost city of Amalthea. How can King Silverskin be just a legend if they've found his capital?” Diamond had as many books as she thought she needed and then some. There was just one more thing she had to learn before she left. “Everypony talks about the bad things that happened during the Tiara Dynasty, but nopony mentions the good things done by Emerald, Sapphire, and Ruby. For one thing, their efforts brought almost the entire earth pony tribe together under a single government for the first time. They also deserve some indirect credit for the Earth Pony Republic. Would it have been founded if not for ponies reacting to three generations of iron-hooved monarchs? I don't think so.” What Diamond needed to learn now was how to turn off Twilight Sparkle. Cheerilee stood in the doorway of the schoolhouse and waved goodbye to her visitor. As soon as farewell etiquette had been satisfied and he turned away to head home, her hoof hit the ground and she slumped just a little. Her eyes darted around, trying to distract herself from the guilt she felt and was trying to talk herself out of. It's not as if I work for the government, she thought. That was followed by closed eyes and a wince as she remembered that technically, yes, she did. She was an employee of the town of Ponyville, and answered (in theory) to the mayor – who, fortunately, knew and trusted her well enough to maintain a mostly hooves-off approach to education. But since I'm spending it on the class, it's not a bribe, right? It wasn't a huge amount, in the grand scheme of things, but it was enough that she had made a few mental calculations of ways she could benefit her students. It's not like I was planning to spend it on myself. That improved her mood somewhat, but she was still somewhat uneasy. It didn't help that it was getting late and she was getting hungry. Letting somepony else do the work instead of cooking for herself, though... that was always helpful. And there was that one waiter at the cafe who flirted with her, which was always good for an emotional boost. Maybe, just maybe, she could spend a small fraction of the money on herself after all. Two fillies were lying at opposite ends of a large, luxurious bed. The pink one was on her back, eyes closed, sprawling with an air of ownership. The silver-coated one was right-side up, forelegs folded primly, peering through her glasses at a notebook that had been placed in front of her moments ago. “What am I supposed to do with this?” asked Silver Spoon. “Quiz me,” Diamond explained. “You've already got the part, you know.” “It doesn't matter. I still have to sound like the part when I'm on stage.” Silver slid her glasses down with one hoof and looked at her friend over the tops of the lenses. “It's not like you're doing something from history. This is Princess Swift Wind rescuing her prince from the Kelpie Queen. This is storybook stuff, Di.” The other filly was stubborn. “It doesn't matter! Everypony has to know I'm royalty.” “I think the costume will take care of that.” “Sil-ver!” The whining tone would have injured the ears of a lesser pony. Silver Spoon gave in. “Fine.” She skimmed over the page. “Why don't we have kings or queens anymore?” Diamond grinned. “That's an easy one! By the time the old king died, Platinum had been pretty much ruling the unicorns as a princess for years 'cause of his illness, so she didn't feel she needed to be a queen. More importantly, he didn't die until after Equestria was founded, and she thought it didn't make sense to be more than a princess when she was sharing leadership with other ponies. And it's been a tradition ever since for nopony to have a rank higher than princess or prince.” “Huh, I didn't know that.” “I know, right? Just one more benefit of being my friend. Speaking of benefits...” Diamond trailed off, rolled out of bed, and approached a silky rope that was hanging through a hole near her bedroom door. As she gave it a good tug with her teeth, a bell sounded faintly downstairs. “Snacks are on the way.” Silver clapped her hooves together. “Good! I'd hate to think I was doing this for free. Who was the greatest king of the pegasi?” “Trick question,” Diamond declared as she leapt back up on the bed. “Maelstrom was their greatest, most powerful monarch, but he was too proud to call himself a king or anything else. He felt like his name should be enough for ponies to know who he was.” Her friend looked down at the notebook to confirm that this was correct and gave a fractional nod when she saw it was. “So how come his kingdom isn't still around?” “He gave up all his power to Commander Skysplitter when she beat him in a game.” Silver's muzzle scrunched up. “Really? A game? What kind of game?” “I don't know, some kind of strategy game. Probably Cumulus, like the pegasus colts are always playing during lunchtime.” Silver Spoon resettled her glasses and flipped a page. “What spell is King Silverskin credited with inventing?” Diamond smirked. “Teleportation.” “Okay. Big, important question time. You ready?” At the other filly's nod, Silver continued. “Which colt do you have a crush on?” “Silver!” Pillow combat began soon after this outrage. “...and they lived happily ever after.” Applause was enthusiastic, and parental cheering was wild, especially among the parents of the stars. The colts and fillies all took bows and waved to the audience. Some of the fillies blew kisses. In general, everypony milked the attention for all it was worth. It eventually had to end, though, and so they went back behind the curtain to take off costumes and put away props. Diamond was struggling with her rather elaborate Princess Swift Wind costume. The stage manager, a unicorn filly named Sun Gimmer, brushed her yellow mane out of her eyes and trotted over to help. The process was somewhat easier with two ponies, and Diamond was soon free of everything. Glimmer concentrated on folding the dress, and glanced up when she saw the star putting her prop crown back on again. Something was different. “Nice cutie mark, Diamond,” Sun Glimmer said. The crowned filly looked back at her flank. “It's Diamond Tiara now, actually.” Author's Note My thanks to Arcum42 for his input and opinions during the development of this chapter. (Oh, and don't act like you don't know who Diamond Tiara is.)
