After Sugar Cube Corner, the second favorite place for Canterlot High School students to grab a bite was La Grande Tacqueria. The restaurant made their own tortillas every hour. They used fresh ingredients. And they were cheap and fast.
At lunch time, La Grande Tacqueria was full, even on the weekend. The smell of cooking tortillas filled the fast food restaurant. Patrons, young and old, moved down the line, ordering, picking up their food, and paying their bills.
Seven girls in the late bloom of their adolescence, and dressed in all the colors of the rainbow, finished getting their food and moved out of the line towards the seating area.
“I’ve got the drinks.” Rainbow Dash balanced seven different cups in her arms, with various flavors of soda, iced tea, sports drink, and sparkling water.
“I’ll get the napkins, straws, paper plates, and lots and lots of hot sauce!” Pinkie Pie juggled her load as she bounced down the aisle.
Fluttershy carried a purple backpack with a six pointed star on it. “You stay quiet in the backpack, Spike,” she whispered. The small purple dog nodded in reply.
“Over here, girls. I got us a big table,” Sunset Shimmer pulled two empty tables together so that there would be room for all seven of them.
“And I’ve got two family sized trays of tacos,” said Twilight Sparkle. She only made two requests when the girls ordered at La Grande Tacqueria: make sure the tacos were veggie, and no quesadillas (not after the hot melted cheese incident on a previous visit).
Twilight turned with her hands full of food. From a table full of boys, a blue haired young man stood up directly in front of Twilight. She stopped just short of running into him.
“Oh… Hi Flash!” Twilight stammered. “Fancy meeting you here. At lunchtime, In a place that serves lunch.”
“Hi Twilight! I didn’t know you were in town.” Flash Sentry’s body language lit up at the sound of her voice. “Hey, we didn’t bump into anyting this time.”
“I know, breaking our pattern.” Twilight grinned. Several locks of purple hair fell from over her shoulder and dangled in front of her face.
“Is there anything… funky… going on? How long do you think you’ll be here before going back to… you know where?” Flash smiled conspiratorially. He knew strange things often happened when Twilight came around. She normally lived in another world and only came here on rare occasions.
“There's no big emergency, I'm just visiting for the weekend to see my friends.” Twilight tossed her head to get the hair out of her eyes. “I’m going back to Equestria tomorrow evening at 5:00.”
Flash looked the the boys at the table with him. “I have practice with my band today. Can I catch up with you tomorrow, before you go back?”
“How about 3:00 o'clock at Sugar Cube Corner?” Twilight tossed her head the other way. Pesky long hair. “I can walk from there to the portal in the statue at Canterlot High School when it’s time to leave.”
“Or I could give you a ride?” Flash said hopefully.
“That would be great, Flash! Thanks a lot!” Twilight blew hard, and the hair in front of her face finally flew up then settled back behind her shoulder.
“No problem. It’s a date. I’ll see you tomorrow, 3:00PM, at Sugar Cube Corner.” Flash turned to follow the other boys, who had gotten up from the table and headed for the door. “Wait up for me, guys…”
“Twilight, over here!” Dash waved her arms. “Hungry girls, waiting for tacos.”
Twilight sighed happily. Then her eyes went wide. “Wait. What? A date? Does he think tomorrow is a date? Because I don’t have anything else to wear…” She turned her head to search out where Flash had exited, while she walked the opposite direction toward the girls.
Dash raised a hand. “Twilight, watch out for the…”
CRASH!
“Counter.”
FLUMP. FLUMP. FLUMP. Twilight bounced off of a counter and ended up sprawled on the floor. The trays of tacos clattered down to either side of her.
“Princess move, Twilight.” Dash snickered.
“Taco status?” Applejack asked.
“They’re all still in their wrappers…” Twilight replied from the floor.
“Five second rule, silly!” Pinkie pulled Twilight and the trays of food up off the floor. “Hand ’um on over!”
The backyard of Rarity’s house was large and lush. Tall trees around the perimeter provided privacy. Rays of sunlight filtered through the trees and tinged orange, red, or green, depending on if a particular leaf had begun to turn with the coming of the Fall. A covered patio shaded a table and chairs. The table was loaded with iced drinks. A lightweight net bisected an expanse of grass. The net was strung more than head high.
The excited voices and laughter of seven tall, thin, girls, filled the yard. A small dog lay curled up on the patio, in the cool shade.
“Here’s the badminton racquet, you’re up Twilight.” Applejack walked off the grass, handed over the racquet, and the picked up her glass. She wiped perspiration from her forehead with the glass, then took a long drink.
Twilight accepted the racquet and moved tentatively onto the grass to the right side of the net.
“My serve,” Dash said from the left side of the net. “You’ve never seen a birdie go this fast and high before!”
“I don’t like it when they call it a birdie,” whispered Fluttershy. She sat on a chair on the patio, next to where Spike lay.
“Is shuttlecock any better?” asked Rarity from the chair next to her.
“Not really.”
TWACK! Dash tossed the birdie into the air, and hit it high into the air over the net.
“It’s yours Twilight!” Applejack called.
“I got it! I got it!” Twilight’s eyes were to the sky watching the birdie, as she backpedaled.
From the patio, Sunset's eyes went wide. “Watch out for the…”
CRASH!
“Hedge.”
Twilight tripped and found herself sprawled across the greenery. At least she held onto the racquet!
“Princess move there, Twilight.” Applejack stepped over and offered a hand up. “Are you OK, sugar cube?”
“I’m fine, Applejack.” Twilight brushed leaves off of her blouse. “Good hit Dash!”
“My point!” Dash called. “I serve again!”
Rarity’s lavish lavender bedroom was divided into two spaces. The sleeping area was dominated by a four poster king sized bed, covered by a fuchsia princess style canopy with gold trim and tassels. The luxurious bedding and heavy draperies were similarly styled.
The sitting area had a table, surrounded with chairs, and covered with a snacks. The board game Maneopoly was in progress. The seven girls in pajamas filled every seating space. A small dog lay on the bed next to a pile of comics and a book with a stylized sunset on the cover.
“It’s great all you girls could come to the sleepover on short notice.” Twilight looked over to the hostess. “And thank you, Rarity, for letting us use your room.”
“It’s nothing, darling.” Rarity waved off the complement. “Mi casa es su casa.”
“Mi, what?”
“My house is your house, darling.”
“Oh.” Twilight looked like she was filing the phrase away. “That’s really generous of you.”
“It’s not like we need an excuse to hang out together,” Sunset took a sip of her soda.
“Being Saturday night is a good enough reason to party in my book!” Pinkie bounced on the bed.
“I guess it’s my turn? If nobody minds?” When no one spoke up, Fluttershy rattled the dice and dropped them. “My little dog goes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and lands on Canterlot Gardens. I love gardens.” She leafed through the play bills in front of her, then handed Pinkie the rent money.
Over by the bed, Dash checked out the reading material. “Glad you like the comics we got you, Spike. Still kinda weird watching a dog read them.” Dash peered over Spikes shoulder to look at the pictures.”But it’s a very cool weird!”
Twilight stood up and looked around. “Ah, Rarity,” she said quietly, “Where would I find the… ah…”
Rarity smiled. “Down the hall, dear. First door on the left.”
“Thank you.”
ZOOM. SLAM.
Sunset finished organizing all of her play money into neat piles and shook her head. “Somepony is in a hurry…”
“Sunset Shimmer, I can’t believe you said that,” Rarity scolded.
“I’d only ever say that about Twilight. She wouldn’t think twice about it.” Sunset pointed down the hall. “She IS a pony.” Sunset looked thoughtful for a moment. “And I was a pony…”
Over by the bed, Applejack tapped Dash on the shoulder. “RD, wana make a bet?”
Dash looked over. “What’s the bet, AJ?”
Applejack smirked. “Twi does a ‘Princess Move’ with that fancy Neighponese bidet of Rarity’s.”
Dash shook her head. “That’s a sucker’s bet, AJ.”
From down the hall, the girls heard “Wooo… Wooo.... Wooo…” through the door.
All the girls grinned and tried to keep in their laughter. RD and AJ smirked and bumped fists.
“You okay in there Twilight?” Sunset asked.
“Ah, mostly…” came the voice through the door.
“Let me come in and help you.” Sunset hustled down the hall, grabbed an extra towel out of the linen closet, and went into the bathroom to help Twilight.
Spike swept the comics aside and raised himself up from where he lay on Rarity’s bed. He faced Dash and Applejack.
“Fine bunch of friends you are,” Spike growled.
“What did you say?” asked Dash.
“You heard me,” Spike said. “More like element of backstabbing than element of loyalty.”
“Whoo, talk’n dog Spike.” Applejack held up her hands in mock surrender. “What’s got you all hot and bothered.”
“You’re just as bad as she is, Applejack,” Spike said. “That’s three times today between the two of you, and I’m sick of it. And the rest of you, none of you came to her defense, not even once.”
“I can’t believe I’m get’n chewed out by a dog.” Dash sneered.
“Better than getting chewed on,” growled Spike.
“Calm down everyone.” Rarity stood up and motioned everyone to sit. “There’ll be no violence in my room, especially among friends. Spike, something has clearly gotten you upset, can you enlighten us?”
“Twilight works really hard to come here” Spike said. He bumped Sunset’s magic book over to Dash. The book was how Sunset and Twilight corresponded between worlds. “Look inside. You don’t have to read it, just look at the writing.”
Dash flipped through the book. Applejack looked over her shoulder. The looping letters looked like nothing they had seen before. “I can’t even read this thing,” Dash said.
“The first few pages are in Equestrian,” Spike said. “Both Sunset and Twilight know it.”
Dash flipped a few pages. “Here’s a part I can read.” The writing was large, blocky, and primitive. “But some of these pages look like a kindergartener wrote ‘em.”
“Twilight asked Sunset to write like you do, here,” Spike continued. “Twilight told me it would force her to learn how to read and write better. And she didn’t want to write with magic like she normally does. Twilight invented a new way for a pony to hold a quill in her hoof, so she would be better able to write with her hands when she came through the portal. ”
Dash kept flipping through the book. The writing got smaller, neater, more precise. “After a few pages, the kindergarten stuff gets easier to read. The writing in the rest of the book looks normal.”
“Twilight practiced night after night to learn to write like you do here.” Spike sat down on his haunches. “I would come down stairs in the morning, and she would’ve fallen asleep, surrounded by page after page of practice writing.”
“We’re all glad Twilight has taken a keen interest in our world, and that she’s come to visit,” Rarity said. “But your story doesn’t tell us why you’re so upset.”
Spike took a deep breath and huffed it out. He missed the flames he had when he was a dragon in Equestria. “It’s all that talk about Twilight doing a ‘Princess Move’. What do you think a Princess does in Equestria?”
“The pony Princess of Friendship?” said Applejack. She looked quizzical. “I don’t know, have tea parties in her castle?”
“Ride in a carriage? Smile and wave?” asked Dash.
“Oh, for the love of Celes… OK, let’s try something else.” Spike pointed to his reading material. “In the comics, what do they call someone who can do things more amazing than anyone else? Like fight monsters? Lift giant stuff? Protect people with force fields?”
“They throw a cape on ’em and call ‘em a superhero,” said Applejack.
“In Equestria they put a crown on ‘em and call ‘em a Princess,” replied Spike.
Fluttershy leaned forward. “Like a warrior princess?”
“Warrior Princess, Twilight Sparkle?” Dash snickered. “More like clutzy Princess Twilight Sparkle.”
“Listen jockette, how long have you been walking on two legs?” sneered Spike. “Twilight’s been doing it less than 10 days! I’m sorry she doesn’t yet meet your standards for dexterity.
“Twilight has led her real friends and saved all of Equestria four different times,” Spike held up a paw with four digits out. “She’s personally gone up against giant monsters that could level a town. She’s a national hero.
“Even before she became a princess, Twilight was the most powerful magician of her generation.” Spike paced back and forth on the front of the bed. “I’ve seen her levitate monsters larger than this house, protect crowds of people from danger with a force field, teleport, and do lots of magic spells. So, you could call Twilight a ‘warrior princess’ and you wouldn’t be far wrong.
The girls looked back and forth at each other. “Our Twilight?” Rarity said quietly.
“As a princess, Twilight could just order people around, but she doesn’t, she leads them instead.” Spike was on a roll. “And she has responsibilities, like organizing nationwide summits, and negotiating with foreigners who are threatening war with Equestria.
“She also lives in her own castle, so it’s not like she’s hurting for bits.
Spike looked around at the five girls. “And once in awhile, she clears her busy schedule, leaves Equestria, where she’s superhero powerful, has the right to order people around, and is rich, to come here. Because she wants to hang out with people she thought were her friends.” Spike huffed and glared.
“How should we treat her?” whispered Fluttershy. “Princess Twilight, I mean.”
“First, don’t call her Princess. she hates when people give her special treatment.” Spike shook his head. “Second, just treat her like a friend, and not like the butt of some joke.”
Dash looked at her feet. “I guess we were laying it on a bit thick, AJ…”
“We were, RD.” Applejack stood up. “This ain’t an excuse, Spike, but Twilight’s actually kind of intimidating when you think about it. I mean, she seems all mild on the outside. But, she brings monsters and magic in her wake.”
“When things get weird, Twilight just takes charge, as if she knows just what to do,” Fluttershy said.
“Like getting everyone to work together to get the Fall Formal fixed up in just one afternoon,” Rarity said.
“Facing down Demon Sunset, then getting us to be friends with her,” Pinkie said.
“Even calling on Sunset to save the day, when the sirens were about to beat us,” Dash said.
Applejack looked sheepish. “I’m sorry for poking at her, maybe I was just compensating, or something.” Dash nodded.
Spike stood up tall. “Just be cool with her, and Twilight will be the best friend she can be.”
The door down the hall opened. Twilight and Sunset came up the hall, exchanging pleasantries. They settled back around the table and checked out the game board. The other girls looked away for a moment, before looking back at Twilight. No one spoke.
“My roll,” Dash said, breaking the ice. She grabbed the dice, shook them fiercely, and tossed them into the box top. “11, My race car is moving fast! 1, 2, 3, 4… Ouch! Manehattan Avenue with a hotel? Rarity, when did that appear?”
“Just last turn, dear. A lady should always be prepared.”
Dash look over her meager holdings of cash and mortgaged properties. “I think this may be it for me, girls.”
Twilight picked up her cash pile and put it in the center of the board. “Here you go, Dash. This should keep you in the game.”
Dash checked out Twilight’s side of the board. It was now empty of cash or properties. “I can’t take this Twi, it’s all you’ve got.”
“Take it, Dash. I know how much you like to compete.”
Dash picked up the bills. “This is totally a loan, I will absolutely pay you back.” She handed the bills to Rarity.
“I know you will, Dash.” Twilight smiled at Dash, then at all the girls.
“Princess move, there Twilight.” Applejack smiled back and nodded approvingly. The rest of the girls nodded as well.
Spike shook his head and gave a contented sigh. “That was better,” he thought. He looked back to his comic and turned the page.
