Hiding in the Background

It was a comfortable day in Ponyville, highlighted by crisp autumn leaves and the warm glow of the afternoon sun. Two ponies traveled along a worn dirt path surrounded by rugged apple trees. The deciduous trees contained hordes of radiating, refreshing apples; apples waiting to be plucked off of their branches. One of the ponies, analogous with the color pink, stopped and looked at one of the trees. After a moment’s hesitation, she reached out her hoof to snatch a savory, thirst-quenching Red Delicious off its branch. Her hoof enclosed the apple and she popped it into her mouth, core and all.

A wide grin formed on the pink mare’s lips as she resonated with energy. Her bright, poofy mane was synonymous to her glistening blue eyes, conveying a message of pure, undiluted joy.

“Come on, Pinkie.” The lavender alicorn beside her released a light, hearty laugh, chuckling at her friend’s jubilance. “I wanna test out the spell you’ve been bothering me about for the past few weeks.”

“Okie dokie, Twilight!” Pinkie replied, grin still intact. The two resumed their trot down the path.

A minute passed, then two, and then three. The only noise heard by the two mares was the clip-clop of their hooves as the traveled towards their friend’s barn.

Breaking the silence, Pinkie remarked, “You know, I kind of like it when it’s quiet out.”

Twilight glanced at her, both of her eyebrows raised. “You do?”

“Yeah,” she replied, “It always helps me relax after a difficult day of prepping for parties or baking sweets. And it also gives me time to think.”

“Oh, okay.” Twilight pondered at the new information, a question forming on the tip of her tongue. “And what,” she asked, “does a mare like you think about?”

“You know,” Pinkie responded, “just stuff. Don’t you think about stuff?” She asked Twilight.

“Well, yeah, but I mean is there anything in specific that you like to think about?”

Pinkie stopped mid-way through her gait and peered at Twilight. “Are you trying to study my Pinkie Sense again?” She frowned, her face turning downward.

“What? No no no, I just—“

Pinkie jammed her hoof in Twilight’s mouth, muffling the rest of her sentence.

“Its fine, Twilight,” Pinkie sighed, removing her hoof and sitting down on the path. “I know you’re interested in it and all, I just sometimes wish that I could hold a conversation with a friend without being studied like I’m some sort of crazy pony.” She glanced up, staring into Twilight’s eyes. “Am I crazy, Twilight? Should I just check myself into a mental hospital?”

Twilight gaped at her friend. “Of course not, Pinkie! You’re not crazy at all!” Pinkie wore a blank expression. “While you may act a bit, err, different sometimes,” Twilight continued, “We don’t think that you’re insane.” She brushed a few rocks aside before sitting beside Pinkie.

“But you just said it right there, Twilight! I act different than other ponies!”

“And that’s perfectly fine,” Twilight assured her, wrapping her hoof around Pinkie. “Not everyone acts the same, and it’s OK. Anyone who thinks otherwise should be the one put in a mental hospital.”

Pinkie sniffled, blinking a tear out of her eye before letting out a small smile. “Thanks Twi, I guess I let my emotions get the better of me for a minute there.” Twilight patted her on the back.

An idea formed in Twilight’s head. “Hey, let’s skip this whole ‘new spell’ thing and head back to my place.” She jumped back to her hooves, all four landing in perfect unison. “I’ll even make some lemonade for us! Anything to get you out of this mood!” She held her hoof out towards Pinkie, grinning. “Well? What do you say?”

Pinkie grabbed Twilight’s hoof without a moment’s hesitation. “I’d like that, Twi!” Her smile grew much larger, almost back to its original vivacity.

…

“Umm, Pinkie?”

“Ya, Twi?”

“You can let go of my hoof now.”

Pinkie immediately yanked her hoof back, a blush appearing on her face. She let out a nervous giggle before saying, “Whoops, my bad.”

Twilight stared at her for a moment before looking down the path. “I guess we should probably tell Applejack that we won’t need the large clearing after all.”

“Yeah, heh heh.”

The two mares continued trotting down the path, saying a few more words before seeing the metal gates of Sweet Apple Acres come into view.

0-0-0-0-0

“Twilight, look!” Pinkie shouted, pointing through the gates. “I can see Applejack from here!”

Leaning against the barn stood Applejack, her worn, leather Stetson sat on her head, turned towards the ground. A small piece of hay laid in her mouth, with both of her hooves crossed over her body. One of her hind legs was propped against the old chipped paint of the barn.

“Hey Applejack!” Pinkie called out, grabbing her friend’s attention. Applejack tipped her hat up and, seeing her friends walking towards her, brushed herself off and dropped to all fours.

“Howdy Pinkie!” She replied. “Howdy Twi! Are y’all here to try out yer new spell?”

Twilight smiled. “Actually, Pinkie and I have decided to skip out on testing the lie detector spell, and instead we’re just gonna head back to my place and have some snacks and lemonade.”

“Really?” Applejack asked, looking at Twilight.

“Really,” she responded. After a few seconds, Twilight glanced at Pinkie, giving her a questioning look. She responded with a nod and a smile. “Hey Applejack, would you like to head over with us? There’s plenty of room up at the Golden Oak Library!”

Applejack sighed. “Ah’d like ta go, really, it’s just that Apple Bloom’s been actin’ a bit off lately, like when she an’ her crusader friends were doin’ the whole ‘Gabby Gums’ thing, and Big Mac’s outta town for the weekend, so ah’m the only pony around ta deal with it!” She shook her head. “Ah’m sorry, ah just won’t be able ta make it this time.”

Twilight smiled. “Its fine, Applejack. Maybe next time?”

“Ah sure hope so.”

After a few more minutes of small talk, Twilight and Pinkie said their goodbyes and left the Acres, heading back into town and towards the Library. They passed by the school without interruption and crossed over the river.

0-0-0-0-0

As they entered the town, the two mares strode through a small crowd of murmuring ponies, nearby the fountain with the stone earth pony in it. The ponies scampered out of the way when Twilight came nearby, almost as if in fear. One stallion accidentally bumped into her and began profusely apologizing. Twilight had to reassure him for a solid minute that she wasn’t mad. They eventually made it to the Library with little incident.

As Twilight shut the doors, she let go of a breath she didn’t know she was holding.

“Finally!” she breathed in relief, plopping down onto a nearby couch, one of the many new renovations added to the library.

She didn’t have much of a use for the bits that were sent to her through the mail, and the ponies who sent them refused to take them back, so Twilight decided that the funds sent to her would be put into a separate account for the Library. She hoped the new furnishings would help attract more ponies there.

“Oh, hey, Twi!” A pegasus mare with a rainbow mane stood at the side of the library, holding a book in her hoof.

“Hey, Rainbow,” Twilight replied.

“Hiya, Dashie!” Pinkie chirped, plopping down on the couch with Twilight.

“Hey, Pinkie!” Rainbow replied. She looked back at Twilight. “Can I borrow this book for a bit?”

“Umm, probably, hold on just a second.” Twilight’s horn lit up as she levitated a list over to her. On the list were various names of ponies and titles of books. Some books had multiple ponies listed beneath them, while others had only one or two.

“It’s a catalog of the books on hold here,” Twilight explained.

“Oh, ok,” Rainbow said, holding the book out so Twilight could see the cover. “It’s called ‘Practical Uses of a Pegasus Feather’. It has stuff ranging all the way from making quills to healing burns! It’s actually pretty interesting!”

Twilight scanned the list in front of her and, seeing no instances of the books name, nodded her head.

“You’re clear to go, Dash! The book isn’t on the list of—“ A cyan blur blew past Twilight and out the door, seeming to say ‘Thanks, Twi!’.

“Holds…” Twilight stared at the double doors for a moment before turning and heading back to the couch. Pinkie scooted over, allowing Twilight a place to sit.

“Thanks,” Twilight said, easing herself into the cushion.

“No problem!” Pinkie replied.

A sneeze sounded from upstairs, followed by a loud thumping noise tumbling down the stairs, ending with a thud as the noise hit the ground. Twilight and Pinkie glanced at the stairs and found a dazed baby dragon lying at the bottom of them. A loud groan sounded from him as he sat up.

“Remind me to never run down the stairs again…” he mumbled. Twilight giggled at him as he shook his head.

“Oh, Spike,” she chided, “You should watch where your stepping!”

He groaned again as he got to his feet. “Thanks for the help, Twilight.”

Twilight glared at him. “Spike, what did I tell you about sarcasm?”

“That I should watch where I’m stepping?” he retorted.

Twilight continued to glare at him for a few more seconds before letting off and chuckling to herself. Pinkie joined her in giggling, and a moment later, Spike did too.

After their laughter dissipated, Twilight looked at Spike with a smile on her face. Spike knew that smile.

“Hey, Spike—“

Spike interrupted her with a groan. “What do you want me to do?”

She smiled again. “Would you be so kind as to make us some snacks and pour us some lemonade?”

“Fine.” He walked off towards the kitchen mumbling something about allergies.

Twilight turned towards Pinkie and smiled once more.

“So, what do you wanna talk about?”

"Well," she replied, "I would really like to—"

She was interrupted by the sound of a pony pounding on the Library's doors.

"Now who could that be?"