Twilight Sparkle let out a cute little yawn as she woke up from her peaceful slumber. She glanced off to her side, smiling at the adorable sleeping faces of Pinkie Pie and Rarity. She had long since gotten used to the fact that these two weren't early risers like herself. Rarity always touted the importance of her beauty sleep, and Pinkie only woke up early if there was an important morning party to plan. Twilight actually felt a little bad waking them up like she was about to, but 7:00 AM was the perfect time to go grocery shopping. There was barely a single other pony in the store at that time, so her shopping trips were just as she liked them: quick and efficient.
"Rise and shine, girls," Twilight said cheerfully. She sat up in bed, causing the others to awaken.
"Good heavens...what time is it?" Rarity asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
"It's seven o'clock!" Twilight answered. She gave Pinkie a good morning kiss on the cheek, then leaned around her to give Rarity the same. Pinkie was about to protest, but stopped herself, as it was time for kissies, and she would never interrupt kissies with her marefriends.
"Why in Celestia's name are we awake at 7:00?" Rarity asked after kissies were over.
"Grocery shopping!" came Twilight's cheery response.
"Grocery shopping?" Rarity groaned. "We could have easily done that at 10:00! Or even noon!"
"I know we could have, honey," Twilight said, speaking as gently as she could so as not to incense Rarity further. "But if we go early, we avoid most of the crowd, and we'll get home earlier, which leaves us much more time to study." Rarity sighed lightly. She wished that her sweet little Sparkle didn't have a point, but had to concede that she did.
"Can't Rares and I stay home?" Pinkie asked, still drowsy. Twilight gave her a sidelong glance, raising a brow.
"Oh...right," the pink party pony said with a giggle.
The three ponies were always used to the eyes of the citizens of Ponyville being focused on them. Twilight was a princess, Rarity a local fashion legend, and Pinkie a premiere party pony extraordinaire, and this was all without even considering the fact that they'd saved Equestria on numerous occasions. Even the fact that the three of them were in a polyamorous relationship sometimes turned heads, although with how progressive the general society was, that wasn't always such a big deal.
As they passed the few ponies that were up and about at this time, however, they garnered large amounts of attention for a completely different reason. Not that they didn't expect or understand the reason behind all the attention they were attracting. After all, it wasn't every day that one found themselves in the presence of such a sight. The extra attention was a little embarrassing to Twilight. Even Rarity, who normally loved to be a focal point, was blushing and attempting not to be seen. Only Pinkie enjoyed having all these ponies staring at them. She wanted to wave at all the ponies staring at them, but unfortunately Twilight was controlling the front hooves at the moment, and she didn't really want to make the three of them trip. She then realized that their tail was free, and used that to wave to the ponies on the street.
"Pinkie Pie!" Rarity exclaimed as she felt their tail lift into the air. "Please keep us decent!"
"Whoops! Sorry!" Pinkie giggled. "I guess I could have waved with our wing instead! I keep forgetting we have those!"
Life was not easy for a three-headed pony. This was a new discovery that the three of them had come to; one that they had never expected to happen at all, let alone something that they ever expected to experience first-hoof. Twilight had discovered a spell the day before that, she explained, would allow them to form a temporary mental bond with each other. All three had been intrigued by the concept and were excited to give it a shot. As it turned out, however, Twilight had misinterpreted the spell's idea of "putting their heads together." The next thing they knew, they were all seeing the world from a very different perspective. Rarity, predictably, had been the first to freak out. She very much enjoyed Twilight's body, which they were all now inhabiting, but she took such pride in her own physique that it was a complete shock for her. Twilight was caught between horror and intrigue, as a pony so into learning new things and having new experiences was wont to be in this situation. Pinkie just found it all hilarious. Plus, she had the added benefit of being the center head, and as such, the one with the least-altered perspective.
That evening had been one of experimentation. The three ponies quickly discovered that they all were able to control their shared body. Coordination was key, however, because more than one of them trying to control the same body part with different intents would end disastrously. It took a lot of cooperation to get the amalgamation down the stairs without grievous injury. Eating, using the bathroom, getting into a comfortable position to sleep...everything was three times more difficult and took about three times as long. Worse yet, Twilight hadn’t been able to find a way to reverse the spell. Thankfully for them, the spell was intended to be temporary from the beginning and would hopefully be running out at some point tomorrow. Twilight and Rarity had initially decided to just stay in until it wore off, but Pinkie had managed to convince them that they should still try to go about a regular day. She hadn't, however, counted on Twilight's predilection for waking up early.
"Ouh! Cereal aisle, cereal aisle!" Pinkie burst out once they'd reached the grocery store. Before either of her bodymates could say a word, she assumed direct control of all four hooves and began galloping.
"Pinkie, wait!" Rarity shouted. "I detest cereal! It is full of unnecessary carbs!" The fashionista attempted to swerve their body and veer towards the produce department, but Pinkie's charge was too strong. The few other ponies shopping at this hour quickly became thankful that they did, or else they would have missed the sight of a three-headed pony struggling against its own body on the ground. Hooves flailed left and right as Pinkie and Rarity fought for control, Rarity's face twisted in frustration while Pinkie seemed to just be having fun with it. Twilight, meanwhile, just let out an exasperated sigh, lighting her horn up and levitating all the groceries she'd need from the various aisles. She then spread their forgotten wings and flew their still-struggling body to the checkout lane, ready to just end this excursion. The clerk was brave enough to question their predicament, but Twilight was nowhere near in the mood to respond.
From there, the group of one pony headed to Carousel Boutique. Rarity had a dress order she needed to finish, and since they were supposed to be going about a regular day, it was the next logical stop. Trotting was thankfully starting to become easier, though Twilight was trying to convince the others to try flying and Pinkie kept getting the urge to bounce along as she typically would. The three trotted into the Boutique, heading straight past Sweetie Belle, who was visiting for the time being.
"We shall explain later, Sweetie Belle," Rarity said in passing to her bewildered little sister. The other two nodded in agreement and headed to Rarity's workroom, leaving the baffled filly wondering if she'd gotten enough sleep last night.
It was unanimously decided that Rarity would be left in charge of most of their body's control for the dressmaking. After all, only she really knew what she was doing. Things went fairly smoothly for the first ten minutes or so, but then Pinkie began to get bored. This was hardly the first time that the two of them had provided Rarity with company while she worked, but it was definitely the first time that Pinkie did not have her own body while doing so. Twilight, who would typically bring one of her own books, was at least able to occupy herself by levitating one of Rarity's books on fashion over and reading it, but a non-unicorn did not have such luxuries. Pinkie began to hum to herself as Rarity worked. This garnered a small glare from the fashionista, and Pinkie lowered her volume, but that didn't last long. Rarity took a deep breath, put on her best smile, and tried to just ignore it.
"Rarity?" Twilight suddenly asked, looking up from her book.
"Yes, Twilight?" Rarity asked through gritted teeth. Twilight didn't seem to notice her slight aggravation at being distracted. Her eyes were alight with new information.
"According to this book, the kind of dress you're making traditionally has puffier sleeves," Twilight informed her. "Why aren't you puffing the sleeves up more?" Rarity's eye twitched.
"We-he-heeeell, Twilight..." Rarity began. "You see..."
"Heigh-ho, the derry-o! The farmer in the dell!" Pinkie burst out, having upgraded from humming to full-on singing. Rarity's careful trimming of the fabric started to falter.
"Pinkie, please..." Rarity said, but stopped when she saw Twilight's magic surround the sleeves. The sleeves suddenly puffed out to a very gaudy extent.
"Twilight, the customer does not want..." Rarity tried to explain.
"The cheese stands alone!" Pinkie sang. The party pony, so used to dancing along to her own singing, took control of one of their forelegs. The hoof that was holding the dress down was no longer doing so, instead shifting the dress over as it swung out. Rarity, already having started to snip, watched in horror as the scissors cut straight through the collar of the dress. Twilight gasped, causing Pinkie to stop her singing and cover her mouth with their hoof once she saw what had happened. Both ponies turned to look at Rarity, whose face was frozen in a very forced, very fake smile,
"...Perhaps the dressmaking should wait," Rarity said weakly.
The final stop before returning to the library was Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie had been working on a huge party for Blossomforth for the past week. She had just been accepted into Wonderbolt Academy, and this called for a celebration/going-away party of epic proportions. Most of the preparations had already been finished; the cake had been baked, the invitations sent out, the music and games chosen. All that remained were the decorations. Pinkie had saved those for last, partially because she thought they were the best part, but mostly because the Cakes probably wouldn't have been crazy about leaving their shop set up for the party all week.
Pinkie giggled in anticipation as they entered Sugarcube Corner. She had been entertained by Sweetie's reaction to their situation, and was very much looking forward to the looks on the Cakes' faces. She bounced around the shop in search of her employers, consequently dizzying her two bodymates, and was disappointed when she found the note stating that they would be out for the day. A request from Pinkie to find another pony to surprise with their appearance in place of the Cakes was promptly denied, and then it was on to decoration.
Twilight and Rarity did their best throughout most of the decoration to leave things to Pinkie. She was, after all, the master of party preparation. The unicorns had been doing their best to keep themselves out of the way, but as Pinkie whirled them around the place, they couldn't help but notice some things she was doing that they would have done differently. They kept quiet as long as they could, but Rarity was the first of the two to break the silence as they stood on a ladder, she and Twilight watching Pinkie hang some streamers from the ceiling.
"Pinkie, darling..." Rarity said, giving Pinkie's cheek a little nuzzle. "Don't you think you should hang some more green streamers here? You've hung enough pink, and green is a nice, restful color that might help ponies feel relaxed and at ease."
"But this is a party!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Who wants to rest at a party?"
"Actually, a little bit of rest is very good for the mind in those situations," Twilight offered. "Overstimulation is rarely a good thing." She then looked at the decorations. "Also, the decorations aren't perfectly symmetrical. According to the books I've read, symmetry is very important, and asymmetry can subconsciously discomfort ponies."
“And! And!” Rarity interjected. “Blossomforth’s mane has a much better balance of green and pink than you’ve shown with this setup. No offense, of course.”
"Girls, I kinda like it how it is..." Pinkie tried to interject.
"It's okay, I'll take care of it," Rarity said, lifting one of their forelegs.
"Just a quick fix..." Twilight mused, lifting the other at the same time. Before they knew it, they were no longer holding the ladder. They felt themselves starting to fall, and attempted to grab the streamers to pull themselves up. This obviously did not work, and all three ponies attempted to activate their wings. Unfortunately, Twilight was used to her own wings, Rarity had only flown with the magical ones from the Best Young Fliers competition, and Pinkie, whose only experience with flying involved her flying contraption, was frantically attempting to swirl their wings like propellers. The wings seized up upon trying to receive three completely different orders, and the three crashed to the ground, pulling the streamers with them. The rest of the rolls of streamers came down as well, as did all the ground decorations that had been wrapped in streamers. Pinkie was the first to notice the complete destruction of everything she'd been setting up. The other two looked to her, nervous smiles on their faces.
"...Let's just go back to the library," the saddened pink pony head sighed.
~~~~~~~~~~
It had been a long day for the three merged ponies, and it was barely noon. The group managed to pull themself into the library, none of them particularly in the mood to continue about a typical day like this.
"Well, that was a debacle," Rarity said.
"I think it was more of a three-bacle!" Pinkie replied. The three shared a chuckle, the first laugh they'd had all day.
"You know, girls," Twilight sail, smiling to them. "This really has been a very...trying experience for the three of us. But I think we might have all learned something from it."
"Ouh!" Pinkie blurted out. "Is it that if we're all going to do something together, we have to learn to work as a team and cooperate instead of trying to each take matters into our own hooves?"
"Actually," Rarity offered, "I think we learned that we must be respectful of each others' wishes to take care of things themselves, as long as we are not taking on too much to handle!"
"Those are both very good morals, but they aren't what I was thinking," Twilight said with a smile.
"Then what?" her marefriends asked at the same time.
"Three ponies sharing a body sucks," Twilight answered. The three shared a good laugh, then were startled by a burst of light. When they could see again, they found that they were all back in their own bodies.
"Wheeeeee!" Pinkie shouted. "We're us again!"
"Oh my stars, how I missed me!" Rarity bubbled, hugging her perfect body.
"Do you think the spell ended because we all learned a lesson from it?" Pinkie asked.
"Nah, it said it would run out sometime today," Twilight said, waving a dismissive hoof. "Anypony up for a celebratory ice cream run?"
"Ouh! Mememememe!" Pinkie yelled, waving her hooves frantically.
"Ice cream sounds delightful," Rarity said, her natural dignity hiding how badly she wanted the frozen treat.
"Then let's go!" Twilight said. The three turned to the door and trotted towards it in perfect unison. They then looked at each other and laughed.
"This might be a hard habit to break," Twilight said with a wink as they exited the library.
