I Got Your Number on the Wall
For A Good Time, Call...
☙ ☎ ❧
Keys jingled as the door to Sunset Shimmer’s apartment was unlocked and opened. Sunset stood to one side and let Twilight Sparkle in first, then followed her and closed the door while she flicked a switch on the wall and turned on the lights.
“Make yourself at home,” Sunset said, while her guest looked around. “It’s not exactly palace-grade accommodations, but it’s not bad considering my budget.”
“It’s perfect, believe me. I’ve had enough of palaces for a little while,” Twilight said, walking over to the couch and collapsing onto it with a sigh. “Thanks for letting me stay with you, Sunset. It’s nice to be able to take some time off in a world where I can actually just be on vacation, without getting mobbed by ponies wanting things from me. Protip in case you ever decide to come back and work on becoming a princess: some crisis that’s going to be the end of Equestria seems to roll around more often than you’d think is possible.”
Sunset laughed. “Hey, it’s no problem,” she said. “I’m glad to have some company, anyway. I’ve gotten used to living alone, I guess, but sometimes the place just... feels empty, you know?”
“Yeah.” Twilight sighed and nodded. “Yeah. I know that feeling.”
“So, what do you want to do?” Sunset asked. “I’ve got some movies, and I know a Chinese takeout place that has a pretty good vegetarian menu, if you’re starting to get hungry.”
“Oh! I just remembered something, actually,” Twilight said, sitting upright. “Can I borrow your phone for a minute?”
“Sure thing, Princess.” Sunset Shimmer pulled out her phone and handed it to Twilight Sparkle. Twilight fiddled with it for a moment, then started tapping in numbers and held the phone to her ear.
It rang. She listened. It rang again. Nothing. Three rings. Four.
Then Sunset noticed Twilight’s face light up a bit as something finally happened. “Hi! Is Jenny there?” she asked in a cheerful, bright voice.
There was a pause. Sunset couldn’t hear who was on the other end.
“...Why wouldn’t I be serious?” Twilight looked puzzled. She listened for a moment.
“No, I don’t know. How often do you get this call?” Twilight asked curiously.
She paused and listened again.
“Prank?” One of Twilight’s eyes half-closed. “What do you mean, prank?”
There was quiet for a few more seconds.
“Excuse me. It’s not supposed to be funny.” Twilight sounded indignant. “Look, I heard that Jenny’s number was on a wall somewhere, and that it could be called for a good time, so I just wanted to know what sort of ‘good time’ that meant. You know, for research, to learn more about telephone calls. I’m, uhh... well, I’m not really from around here. I don’t know that much about how this works.”
There was another few seconds of silence, during which Sunset began to seriously wonder what was going on. It was a bit concerning. Phone number off a wall? It sure didn’t sound like Twilight to call one of those...
“What?” Twilight seemed nonplussed about something in the conversation she was having. “Why would I ask that?”
She listened.
“Oh!” Her eyes went wide with surprise. “Refrigerators here can... that can really happen?”
Now thoroughly confused, Sunset tried to piece together what this could be about, but couldn’t make any sense of the things she was hearing.
“Well, I don’t exactly have my own, but I’m sure there’s one around here,” Twilight said. “I guess I could check to see if that one is running.”
Oookay, I’m officially super confused, Sunset thought to herself.
“Gimme a second.” Twilight nodded, then stood up and meandered into the kitchen, still holding the phone to her ear. After approaching the refrigerator, she studied it for a while. Sunset, filled with curiosity, followed her and tried to figure out what she was doing.
“No, it seems normal enough to me.” Twilight finally spoke into the phone again, putting her free hand on her hip and shaking her head. “Honestly, I’m not sure where it would run to, but I guess I’ll keep an eye on it.”
A very faint sound of laughter came from the phone.
“What’s so funny?” Twilight demanded.
There was a brief pause, and something indistinct was said.
“Of course I actually checked!” Twilight said in exasperation. “An object that big and heavy, running off on its own? Someone could get hurt!”
There was another pause and more indistinct words.
“Obviously, yes, I am serious!” Twilight insisted. “Rogue animation magic is no laughing matter!”
Alarm bells went off in Sunset’s head. Her eyes went wide. She shook her head and waved her hands frantically, making cutting motions across her neck. Twilight noticed the near-panic reaction and blanched, suddenly realizing her mistake.
“I mean, ummm...” She gave it a moment of thought. “No! Not magic! That’d just be silly. Everyone knows there’s no such thing as magic, is there?” She laughed nervously.
There was another couple seconds of indistinct speech from the other end of the call.
“Anyway, now that the refrigerator issue is settled, do you know how I can reach Jenny?” Twilight asked. “I have some questions for her, and—”
*click*
“...Hello?...”
Twilight pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at the screen in bewilderment for a moment before her face contorted in irritation. “Well, that was rude! He hung up on me.” She leaned against the counter and held out the phone to Sunset.
“Okay, I give up,” Sunset said, taking her phone back and slipping it into a pocket. “What was that all about?”
“Apparently, if I’m being informed correctly, refrigerators in this world can run away,” Twilight said. “Is this true?”
Sunset stared at Twilight incredulously. “Who was that?”
“I... don’t know, actually.” Twilight shook her head.
“You don’t know whose number you called?” Sunset looked at Twilight askance.
“Well, I know the number, just not who was there,” Twilight said.
“Okay.” Sunset crossed her arms. “What number was it?”
“867-5309,” Twilight answered her.
“Wait...” Sunset stared in disbelief for a moment, then facepalmed. “Let me get this right. You called 867-5309... and asked for ‘Jenny’?”
“Umm... yes?” Twilight seemed puzzled by Sunset’s response. “Why?”
“As in, the phone number from the Tommy Muletone song?” Sunset asked, still not quite believing what she was hearing.
“Right!” Twilight said, with a nod and a smile. “I heard it a little while ago, and it was just so catchy, I couldn’t help but remember it. So I thought I’d do some research on the habits of humans and these telephones they all seem to have. Like, why would this Jenny have her number on some wall somewhere? Does she want to be called by people who happen across it? Is she lonely? Does she really like meeting new people? I mean, I just wanted to know, what’s the story?”
Sunset sighed. “The ‘story’ is that it’s just a song, Twilight.” She smiled, grudgingly. “I guess it is kind of a catchy one.” The smile faded. “But it wasn’t meant to be taken literally.”
Twilight’s face fell. “So... should I not have called that number?” she asked.
“No, probably not.” Sunset shook her head. “Whatever poor guy has that line must get constant calls from people asking for Jenny as a joke. I’ll bet you anything he’s sick to death of it.”
“Oh,” Twilight said quietly. “I guess I can see why he thought it was a prank, then.”
“Speaking of which, did whoever you were talking to actually get you to check and see if the refrigerator was running?” Sunset giggled.
“Yes. Why?”
“Because I’m impressed,” Sunset said. “I mean, that’s some epic-level prank reversal. Asking someone if the refrigerator is running and then telling them they’d better go catch it is, like, the absolute most cliché of all prank calls in this world. It’s understandable, since you’ve never heard it before, but still, they got you good.”
“...I guess so,” Twilight admitted. “It did sound kind of weird, but I figured, better safe than sorry, right?” She smiled hopefully.
“Twilight...” Sunset Shimmer grinned and put one arm around Twilight’s shoulders, then reached up and gave her a gentle noogie, ruffling her straight purple hair. “Don’t ever change.”
☙ ☎ ❧
Author's Note
I'm so, so sorry for this story, and especially for "Tommy Muletone". I just couldn't think of a better horse-pun. 
The Tommy Tutone song, in case you're a young'n and have no idea what the hell the reference was:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WTdTwcmxyo
A truly epic prank call (like, much better than this one) that cost the lives of two heroic telephones:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWeOhen17rA
