Bonds

A lone figure stands atop a cliff over looking a small town. Behind them lay a dark forest, teeming with dangerous beasts and life threatening peril. They look back over their shoulder at the place they had only moments ago so bravely fought to escape from, and then return their gaze to the village just below them. There had to be other people there. After all those years spent in that dark forest, they had finally found civilization. They take a deep breath, and look dreamily into the sky above them, as the wind blows their long, purple hair to and fro.

As the wind settles, her long, waist length hair settles upon her feminine form, framing the fair skinned face, and nigh naked hourglass figure of one Twilight Sparkle.

She knew she couldn't jump without risking serious injury, so she searched around for an alternate path to the town. When she finally found one, she made her way down to the village while hoping and praying that the forest was all she had to be afraid of.

Twilight made her way down the path through the forest. Ever since she found the cliff she's had the good fortune of finding more and more paths through it. She didn't know whether or not this particular one led to the village or not, but she was willing to take her chances to get out of the forest and away from any more of those beasts.

Off in the distance was a mountain. She sincerely hoped she wouldn't have to climb it. And so she trudged on, looking for a way to civilization at last.

Upon the realization that the mountain she had so far been using as a landmark to guide her back just in case she got lost, was in fact home to a castle in itself, she began to gain hope that she was getting closer and closer to civilization.

And as it turns out, she was right to do so, as while she had been running in her haste to see someone, anyone who could point her in the right direction, she had not been paying too much attention to her surroundings, which were slowly becoming more and more civilized as she went.

When she finally became aware of her current state of being, she realized that she had come to the village already.

The first thing to register in her newly aware mind, was the fact that the village looked rather simple, with thatched roof homes and market stands. The second thing to register was the fact that, though the village was simple, the people, who, of those she could see given that most of them were now staring at her, were not so simple.

Some had wings, and some had these weird markings on their shoulders that looked to her to be runes of some sort. Was it an ancient language? Was it a tribal initiation of some kind?

It was all so strange to her, and yet the one thing that seemed to tie all this together, the one thing they seemed to all have in common, was the fact that all of this seemed so familiar to her. as if she was once a part of this village. She tried to think back, to remember what connection she could possibly have had with the townsfolk, but when she did, she found that she suddenly felt a jolt of pain in her head. She wondered why she couldn't remember. It was at this same moment that she noticed a strange protrusion jutting out from her forehead. It felt like...a horn. She touched it absentmindedly, wondering how it got there and whether or not she had always had it.

She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around to see a girl with a rather puffy hairstyle smiling at her.

"Hiya! I'm Pinkie Pie! Are you alright? What's wrong with your head? Are you hurt? Why are you half naked? What's your name? Oooh, we need to get you to the clinic right away!"

Twilight considered the girl for a moment. Despite her...cheery demeanor...she seemed genuinely concerned, a fact made stronger by the fact that she was currently jumping up and down from one leg to the other while looking around frantically and sweating profusely. Twilight decided to ease her troubles. She turned and addressed the newly named 'Pinkie Pie'.

"Thank you for worrying about me, Ms. Pie, but I assure you I am fine. I just had a little headache is all. My name is Twilight Sparkle."

Pinkie stopped her jumping, which she was now just doing for fun. "Oh really? That's great! That means you're okay! Oh, and please, call me Pinkie. All my friends do."

And then Pinkie held out a hand. Twilight took it and they shook hands. Then she remembered why she had come here.

"Excuse me? Could you perhaps...tell me where I am? I've traveled a long way, and I need to know if I can find a place to rest here."

Twilight watched as Pinkie pie stopped, put a finger to her chin, and thought. Then was startled as she suddenly cried, "I just had the greatest Idea in the history of ideas!"

"You...did?" was all Twilight could respond with.

"Of course I did! You need a place to stay right? Well, I know the perfect spot for you to stay! And it's right here in Ponyville!"

When pinkie finally stopped talking, Twilight considered her words once more. So the town was called Ponyville? Well, where is this place she could stay then?

"Duh! Come on, I just said it was right here in Ponyville! Follow me, I'll show you."

Twilight wondered why the girl said that to her, but then realized that she must have been speaking out loud without realizing it. She followed her through the town.

It seemed Pinkie Pie knew everyone. She kept waving and smiling at what Twilight would consider random strangers If she ever met them. Or would she? She felt a strange connection to some of the people she saw.

A female farmer with a brown stetson hat, a rather fashionable girl with diamonds etched into her shoulder, and a girl with large blue wings and a mess of multicolored hair.

When her tour guide had finally made it to the place she thought would be a great resting place, Twilight took it upon herself to look around.

They seemed to have made their way through the center of the town and come to a stop in front of a place that smelled strangely of sweets. The scent set Twilight's mouth to watering as she stared at the sign in front of her. Sugarcube Corner.

This was the place where she could rest? It didn't even look like an inn! Not even a hut like the one she had shared with that zebra with the strange speech patterns. How could she rest here. The only thing it looked like she could gain here was a stomach ache. Nevertheless she followed the cheerful girl into the place, and was surprised to see that not only was the place a bakery like she had originally thought, it had indeed been, an inn. A fact proven by Pinkie's insistence that Twilight follow her into a back room, which, upon closer inspection, held many beds. It also already held a customer, considering another person was already there.

The person seemed to be too busy to notice them, but Twilight had no trouble noticing her, What with her large magician's hat and cape framing her slim figure. She had blue hair, an oddity in Twilight's eyes, even after seeing the ever happy Pinkie's explosion of pink hair. But there was one detail that stuck out to her even more than the rest.

She too had a horn! Perhaps she could inform her of what they meant, and why she had one, too!

She knew now what she must do. She must speak to her! She began to make her way over to the girl, when Pinkie stopped her.

"Here's that rest stop you wanted!"

Twilight stepped back, startled once more before saying, "Thank you, Pinkie. You have been a great help."

"Aww, it's nothing, Twi! Enjoy your stay! And be careful of Trixie. She's a bit of a showboat." she said in response as she walked, or rather, skipped, away. Her boundless energy always seemed to stump Twilight.

She returned to her originally intended plan, and walked up to the girl, who she assumed to be this 'Trixie' person Pinkie mentioned. She didn't know what a 'showboat' was, but she figured she'd find out. How right she was.

"Excuse me, miss? Are you Trixie?"

Trixie looked up, startled. She had been so engrossed in brushing her hair in the innkeep's mirror that she failed to notice someone behind her.

"And who might you be?" Trixie said, in a slightly annoyed voice.

Twilight noticed he slight jump and said, " Yes, of course. My name is Twilight Sparkle. I'm very sorry. Did I frighten you?"

"N-no! Trixie was not frightened at all. She is much too great and powerful to be scared off by such a-" The brush she was holding slipped out of her hand and hit the dresser that the mirror was nailed too. "Ahhhh!"

Trixie grabbed the brush and hid it behind her back as quickly as possible, trying to hide her shame. With a sheepish grin she turned back around to face Twilight, who had a slight smirk on her face, as well as a single raised eyebrow.

Trixie laughed nervously, then, with shocking ease, threw off her embarrassment and said, "Nevermind that. What do you require of the great and powerful Trixie Lulamoon?"

Twilight rolled her eyes and said, with a more serious expression, "You have...a horn."

Trixie was so surprised by the strange statement that she laughed. "Of course I do, I'm a unicorn."

At that moment, something clicked in Twilight's head. A kind of...understanding. Where it was coming from she had no idea, but the word 'unicorn' seemed to have a deeper meaning for her in that moment.

"You're a...unicorn?" she said, hesitantly.

Trixie snorted. "Duh! All unicorn's have horns, dummy!" She knocked her on the head a little.

"Ow! Hey!" Twilight removed her hand and glared at her. Then, a thought occurred to her. "D-does that mean...I'm a unicorn?"

As she said this she pushed her bangs out of the way to reveal her horn. Trixie examined it.

"Yep. You're a unicorn alright. An honest to goodness magical unicorn. Though not as great and powerful as me, of course."

There it was again. Another word that seemed so foreign, yet so familiar. Magic. It was like it rung a bell in her mind. But she just couldn't tell why. She soon found herself feeling really exhausted. She yawned, and decided to let that matter go for now.

"Well, Trixie, I'll be seeing you later then, I suppose. I must be going. I'm very sleepy."

"Me too." was her response.

With that the two of them went there separate ways. Or did they? Twilight, after getting a room key from the innkeeper by paying her what Pinkie called 'bits', she left to find her room, only to be surprised when, by the time she got there, Trixie was there too.

The two girls stared at each other for a long moment before they both said, "What!?"