The Firm

“Please mind the gap”. The metallic ring as the doors of the tube raced to meet. Twilight sighed as she crossed the carriage to find a seat that sat there like a clearing in a forest. She reclined in the seat as the train violently pulled away from the station, summoning the sound of what sounded like bombs going off on the horizon. Looking down she thought back to the trip it took her to get her, leaving her whole life behind and getting a new start. The time flew by and it seemed to have been hours since she got of at Sampsted airport, but the eventually a repetitive voice stated “the next station is Flank station”. Upon hearing the call she got up and dragged her suitcase to the door, bracing for the immediate braking of the carriage.

Twilight emerged to the surface, her first good look at an unknown country. But what she saw was nothing like she was expecting. A pony wearing a high visibility jacket was sweeping up broken glass around a fallen telephone box at entrance to the station whilst a police officer guided the public on a safer route round the square.

“Twilight” came from a familiar voice in the distance. She knew who it was immediately and headed towards it. It came from a white unicorn across the square, next to a pram, with her curling purple hair danced round her head elegantly.

“Hi Rarity, long time no see” Twilight said as she eventually got to the mare. “What happened here? Was there a terrorist attack or something?” she questioned before Rarity could respond.

“Welcome to hoofball match day madness, Trottenham was in town last night” Rarity responded, preparing her mind for other possible questions.

“What are you a hoofer fan now?” asked Twilight upon hearing the news about the destruction, showing an in interest in this new country.

“Don’t let them hear you say hoofer” jokingly said Rarity, as if she knew something Twilight didn’t.

“Who’s them?” She responded, as if she was forced to but she played along.

“Buckish Empire.” A small wave of laughter passed through the two. Twilight eventually turned her attention to the lower lying pram next to Rarity. As you would have expected, there was a small baby Unicorn inside, lying innocent to the world.

“Hey there little guy. He’s adorable” Twilight said in a more or less ironic voice as she inspected him.

She looked up as Rarity suggested they should start walking. On the walk home, Twilight explained why she had been expelled for Celestia’s magic School she could not do anything. Rarity was stunned. She knew Twilight enough to know she would have done something about it, so why she didn’t confused her.

As they reached Rarity’s front door, she stopped and asked, at the time, an obvious question.

“When you told Dad, what did he say?”

“You’ve Michael Sparkle, please leave a message” Twilight replied, trying to imitate the dead metal tone.

Rarity slotted a key into the door, turning it to revile the house on the inside. “So you haven’t got through to him yet?” She asked as they stepped through the door, closing it behind them and shutting them self’s from the outside world. “Well personally, not telling him could be the best thing for you”

“You think?” Twilight said, looking slightly dazed as she said it.

“Well yes. Once he finds out his golden filly got kicked out of Harvard, he'll dive headfirst into an empty swimming pool” Rarity remarked. The two carried on talking and discussing events for the next quarter of an hour.

A screech of a car which had just pulled up shot through the room. Rarity’s head instinctively turned to see who it was, checking the window that looked out onto the street.

An orange pony, who had no horn or wings, stepped out of the car. She had blonde hair that was tied up with a hair band at the bottom. Her face was friendly and was shaded by a brown hat that sat on her head.

“Applejack’s home” she said, with an air of excitement. Rarity got and walked quickly to open the door for Applejack. Applejack stepped through the open door and went to greet Rarity. After a short reunion, Applejack reached into her bag, took something out and hid it behind her back.

“Pick a hoof” she said to Rarity in a playful voice. Rarity did as she was asked a pointed to Applejacks left hoof. “Congratulations you have just won our star prize; two tickets to see Fillydelphia the Musical” Applejack said as she pulled out two tickets that she was hiding behind her back.

“Um, Applejack, we have company” Rarity pointed out. Their attention turned to Twilight, who was sat on the sofa watching the whole thing. “This is my sister Twilight” Rarity explained as the purple unicorn stood up.

“All right mate, nice to finally meet you. You finally made it across the pond?” Applejack asked as they went to shake hoofs.

“Yes, nice to meet you too” Twilight responded shaking Applejack’s hoof.

“Honey, want some tea?” asked Rarity as she went through a door into the kitchen.

“Yes that would be great” Applejack reluctantly replied, raising her voice slightly to get the message through to the kitchen. She then turned her attention to Twilight, who was scoping the room and taking in her surroundings. “Look, it’s nice that you’re here, but I’ve already made some plans for tonight. I’ve got this whole romantic evening set up; I’ve got a babysitter booked and as you saw, some tickets to a musical.” She was interrupted by a loud knocking at the door. “Excuse me” Applejack said as she turned and went to the door.

The door clicked as it swung open to reveal a light blue pony with a rainbow hair cut standing behind it.

“Alright mate” the blue pony cheerfully said.

“What are you doing here?” Applejack exclaimed as she was shoved out of the way. The blue pony walked strait to the kitchen giving Twilight, who was now in the door to the kitchen, a stair, trying to assess her. She wrapped her hoof round the fridge door and opened it, grabbing a beer, and then slamming it shut. Using her teeth, she removed the bottle top, spitting it out in the sink.

“Twilight, this is Applejack’s sister, Rainbow Dash. Rainbow, this is my sister Twilight” Rarity explained as she picked the bottle top out of the sink and put it into the bin. Applejack followed Rainbow into the room. “I’ll go put Ben to bed” Rarity said to give herself a reason to leave.

“What are you doing here, I thought you were going to the match” Applejack asked.

“Well technically, yes” Rainbow Dash replied as she led on the counter “but we got into a bit of a drinking session last night, one thing led to another...”

Applejack interrupted “you’ve lost your wallet?”

“And my keys” Rainbow added. A horn beeped from outside. “Ah, there is a taxi outside.” Applejack picked up her mug which had been filled with tea. “You couldn’t make it a hundred?”

“How does piss off sound?” Applejack said rhetorically to Rainbow Dash.

“F*** off, come on” Rainbow begged like a child. She started chanting “Get some drinks in, Get Some Drinks In, GET…”

“Shut Up, just shut up” interrupted Applejack pulling out a wallet from a draw. “Tell you what I’ll do. I’ll give you a hundred if you take Twilight here to the match”

“Oh f*** off your having a bubble” Rainbow complained still acting like a child. “You know I can’t take an equestrian to hoofball”

“Yes you can” Applejack replied sarcastically, “and you’re going to be on your best behaviour.” Rainbow tried to snatch the noted that were in Applejacks hoof, but she pulled them away in plenty of time.

“Well come on then” Rainbow said as she marched to the door, being followed by Twilight and Applejack.

“Cheers Twi, we don’t get much time on our own” Applejack explained to Twilight. “Listen, you don’t give her the money, its beer for the lads.”

“Alright” Twilight pulled out a default response. Rarity trotted down the stairs to see Twilight about to leave through the door.

“Twilight, where are you going?” she asked, confused why she was leaving so soon.

“I’m going to the game with Rainbow” Twilight replied

“But you’ve only just got here” Rarity said, in slight desperation to make Twilight stay.

“Yes I know. I’ll catch up with you later” Twilight said as she walked out the door, saying goodbye to Applejack.