The Sisters of Empathy and Trust

Eleanor's POV.
It's been another quiet day in Ponyville. Just about a week and a half since the events with the dragon. I'm still feeling sore from what the dragon did to me. But I don't blame him. Rainbow Dash made him angry and he was retaliating. I just got in the way, trying to protect my friends.

Twilight and I have just finished preparing for the upcoming storm this evening. Magical lightning rod is in place. Spike is away on Canterlot business. All that's left is to prep the basement room for me.

Yeah... Storms and I really don't get along. Especially thunder and lightning storms. So it's either spend the night in the basement, or spend the evening embarrassing Twilight by freezing up, cowering under furniture, or crying every time lightning claps or thunder roars.

I grabbed my toothbrush and facial towel, when there was a knock on the door. I placed my things on a nearby shelf and walked toward the door. I opened it to reveal Rainbow Dash on the other side.

"Hey, Ellie. Are you ready for your first lesson on flying?" Rainbow greeted with a smile.

I nodded with a smile, "Yeah." Then I frowned, "But we have to make this lesson quick, though. Storms and I really don't get along."

Rainbow Dash nodded, "Say no more."

With that, I followed Rainbow to a ravine on the other side of the Everfree Forest, named Ghastly Gorge.

Rainbow Dash stretched, as she spoke, "Now, to begin, you must understand that flying is a very easy skill for anypony with wings. Your wings are your best friend when flying. They're your lifeline, a part of you. You must work with them, never against them." She went nose to nose with me, "Am I getting to you, soldier?"

I saluted, "Ma'am, yes, ma'am!"

Rainbow giggled, "Easy, Ellie. I was just joking around." Then she smiled, "But flying is easy." She asked me, "Just one little question; Are you afraid of heights?"

I shook my head, "Nope."

Rainbow smiled, "Then this will be easy."

With that, she leaped behind me and kicked me in the back, pushing me off the cliff and into the air. I fell into the gorge, screaming, until Rainbow Dash shouted, "Flap your wings, Ellie!"

I closed my eyes and moved the muscles in my back, flapping my wings. I opened my eyes and noticed that I was gaining elevation. I stopped screaming and smiled. Cool!

I flew up to meet Rainbow Dash, who was already in the air and she smiled, "See? Told you it was easy."

I folded my arms and glared at her, "Don't ever do that to me again! You almost killed me!"

Rainbow sheepishly smiled and chuckled, "Hehehe, sorry about that. I guess I wasn't thinking."

I shrugged and smiled, "Hey, at least I'm flying."

Rainbow nodded, "You're hovering, which is a great start. Most pegasi start off that way. Now we move to actual flying."

I nodded, then my ears perked up to sound of thunder coming from Ponyville. My blood started to feel cold from the crawling fear.

"Uh... Rainbow? I think it's time we wrap today's lesson and head home." I suggested, my voice starting to crack.

Rainbow tilted her head, then nodded, "A promise is a promise. Let's head home."

With that, Rainbow lead me out of the gorge and back toward Ponyville. I followed Rainbow Dash's example and was able to fly properly. I must have forgotten to tell her that I'm a visual learner. Oh well, maybe next lesson I'll tell her. It was already raining when we arrived. Rainbow Dash returned to her home and I returned to Golden Oak Library.

Once I was close enough, I saw Applejack having trouble controlling the garden hose.

I landed a few feet from her and offered, "Here, Applejack. Let me help you."

I took hold of the hose with my mouth and started cleaning off the mud on my cousin's hooves. Once both of us were done, Applejack and I made our way into the library.

Applejack noticed something and gasped, "What in tarnation..."

Rarity and Twilight were sitting on the floor, with their faces covered in a pale mint paste. Rarity was rubbing the mask on Twilight's face, getting every un-mudded spot.

"Now wait just a goll-darn minute." Applejack frowned, "Ya make me wash the mud off my hooves, but it's okay for y'all to have mud all over yer faces?"

"Silly!" Rarity replied, wiping her hands from the paste, "This is called a mud mask. It's to refresh and rejuvenate your complexion."

I picked up the bowl of paste and looked it over. "Uh, Rarity? This isn't a mud mask. This is mint paste." I looked at the near-white Unicorn, "You got this from the Aloe Sisters, didn't you?"

"It does the same thing, right?" Rarity shrugged.

I lowered my eyelids into a deadpan expression, "Yes."

"We're giving each other makeovers!" Twilight squeaked with an excited smiled, then she used her magic to levitate the open book on the podium, "We have to do it, it says so in the book."

She showed the book to Applejack and I.

Applejack read, "'Slumber 101: Everything Ya...'" Her eyes widened, then she looked at her empty wrist, "Oh hey, heh, would'ja look at the time. I gotta skidaddle on home quick." She turned and adjusted her setson, "I'm powerful late for, uh, for somethin'." Then made her way to the door, "Uh, g'night."

"Applejack, wai-" I was about to protest, but thunder roared over us and lightning flashed through the window.

Ice quickly froze my veins and I squeaked, tightly hugging close to the nearest Pony to me. Which was Twilight Sparkle. Applejack yelped and quickly ran back to the library.

"Or maybe I'll sit here for a spell." She quickly considered with an embarrassed smile.

Twilight smiled and clapped her hands in excitement, "Hurray slumber party!"

With that, Rarity slapped the mint paste over Applejack and my faces. Applejack wasn't comfortable with it, neither was I. Then Rarity put cucumber slices over our eyes.

"What in the world is this for?" Applejack asked, reaching the cucumbers.

"To reduce the puffiness around one's eyes, of course." Rarity answered with a sigh, and in a 'duh' tone.

"Actually, the cucumbers do nothing." I replied, "They're actually used to keep the paste away from the eyes. Mint irritates the eyes."

Twilight smiled, "Wow, Ellie. You seem to know quite a lot about beauty products, huh?"

I lightly smiled back, "I know my herbs and remedies. It's simple common sense with the cucumbers."

"Puffiness-schmuffiness!" Applejack spoke up. She slipped the cucumbers from her eyes to her nose and ate them with a smile, "That's good eatin'!"

Rarity frowned. Twilight giggled, as she looked over her slumber party book, "Isn't this exciting? We'll do everything by the book, and that will make my slumber party officially fun." She clapped her hooves in excitement.

"Did you hear that, Applejack?" Rarity eyed at Applejack, "You certainly would not want to do anything that would ruin Twilight's very first slumber party, would you?"

Applejack shook her head, "Of course not." Then glared at the white Unicorn, "'N' you wouldn't either, I reckon?"

"So do we have an agreement?" Rarity asked.

I nodded in agreement and performed the 'Pinkie Promise' vow.

The Pinkie Promise is something that Pinkie Pie invented when she was younger. It grew in popularity and now everypony does it.

It's a solemn vow to keep until it's fulfilled. Basically, you cross your heart with your dominant hoof, then flap your hooves in the air, and finally cover your best eye while saying, "Cross my heart and hope to fly. Stick a cupcake in my eye."

Applejack nodded, "You betcha." She spat into her hoof and extended it toward Rarity.

Rarity quickly took a step back in disgust, "Oh! Gross! You know, there's messy and there's just plain rude."

"Ya know, there's fussy, 'n' there's just plain gettin' on my nerves." Applejack shot back.

"Fortunately, I can get along with any pony, no matter how difficult she may be." Rarity pointed out.

"Oh yeah? Well, I'm the 'get-alongin'-ist pony yer ever gonna meet." Applejack argued.

Rarity glared at her, "That's not even a word."

"Girls, that's enough." I whispered to the two quarreling Ponies.

Then Twilight appeared in between us, "This is going to be the bestest slumber party ever!" She put her arms over our shoulders and hugged us close, "Yay!"

I smiled in excitement, while Applejack and Rarity just looked away, "Yay..."

*A Little Bit Later...*
And so we resumed with the makeover session. We reached to the point of curling our manes and tail. It turns out Applejack and I share quite a bit in common.

"So, how are you getting along over there, Applejack?" Rarity asked Applejack.

"Just fine, Rarity." Applejack answered, slumped over with an embarrassed sulk.

I scratched my head, under the curlers, "These curlers are making my head itch. Where did you get these things, Twilight?"

Twilight ignored me and smiled, "This is so awesome!" She giggled and grabbed the slumber party book and a quill, "Makeovers, check."

She used her magic to poof the curlers away and our mane and tails back to normal. I sighed in relief as the itching subsided.

Twilight looked over her book, "Ooh, it says here we have to tell ghost stories." Then asked, "Who wants to go first?"

Applejack wasted no time in raising her hand, "Me!" Then spoke in a haunted tone, "I'd like to tell y'all the terrifying tale of the prissy ghost who drove everypony crazy with her unnecessary neatness." She waved her hands in a ghostly fashion, "Oo-oo!" Then she eyed at Rarity, "I'm sure y'all are familiar with that one?"

Rarity shook her head, "Never heard of it." Then smiled, "But I have a much better one." Then she spoke in a weak haunted tone, "It's the horrifying story of the messy, inconsiderate ghost who irritated every pony within a hundred miles!" She waved her hands in a similar fashion to Applejack, "Oo-oo!"

"That's not a real story. Yah made it up." Applejack told her.

"It is a ghost story, they're all made up." Rarity pointed out.

"You know, not all ghost stories have to be about ghosts." I spoke up, clearing my throat.

Rarity glared at me, "That's the whole point, is it not?"

I shook my head, "No. They just have to be scary."

Suddenly, lightning flashed and thunder roared loudly overhead of us and the entire room went into complete blackout! Ice quickly froze my veins again. I screamed, covered my ears, closed my eyes, to stop the tears of fear, and laid on the ground, trying to think happy thoughts and not think about the terrifying storm that was getting worse as the evening continued.

Twilight turned a lamp on and smiled, "I've got one!" Then added in a hushed tone, "This story is called 'The Legend of the Headless Horse'."

Lightning and thunder made the ground shake under my hooves. I closed my eyes tighter and wrapped my wings around my body for comfort, but it wasn't helping. Tears started falling down my face, my body was badly trembling and quiet whimpers escaped my throat.

"It was a dark and stormy night, just like this one. And four Ponies were having a slumber party, just like this one..." Twilight Sparkle started her story.

"Uh, Twilight?" Rarity spoke up, "Please pardon my interruption, but I don't think Ellie can take any more of this slumber party." Then she suggested, "Is it okay if I take her somewhere she feels safer?"

Twilight turned to look at me. Her tone changed from enthusiastic to guilty, "Oh, shoot. I got so excited I forgot Ellie is extremely astraphobic."

"Astro-what?" Applejack repeated.

"Astraphobic. Fear of storms." Rarity simplified.

Applejack tilted her head at me, then clarity hit her, "Oh! Sam told me about that. Ellie's extremely sensitive when the weather gets bad."

Twilight nodded, "Ellie has a room in the basement, in case of a bad storm. She can go there."

Rarity nodded and helped me to my hooves. She lead me downstairs, to my room in the basement. I was able to finally open my eyes and enter my basement room.

"You gonna be okay from here, darling?" Rarity asked me with concern in her tone.

I nodded and made my way to my bed. Rarity left the room and walked upstairs to the main floor, with Applejack and Twilight.

I laid on my bed, put my glasses on the bedside and rested my head against the pillow. My eyes began to feel heavy, as darkness clouded my vision. My eyes closed and all I could see was snow. Why snow?

*Dream*

*End Dream*

~CRASH~

I woke up with a gasp, hopped out of bed, grabbed my glasses and made my way to the main floor. Applejack was hanging from her rope, which was tied to a pine tree. Rarity and Twilight were on the second floor, where Twilight and my beds were.

What in the name of Luna's moon did I miss?

"I tried to tell you it would come crashing down in here." Rarity shouted from the second floor.

I ran to the second floor. Rarity was protecting herself from the wind with a book. Twilight was on the other side, recovering from the fallen tree.

"Well, ya should'a tried harder." Applejack shouted, as she climbed the rope to the second floor.

"Twilight, are you okay?" I asked in concern.

"I'm... Ok...Ay..." Twilight answered, dizzy from the impact of the tree.

"I'm mighty sorry, Twilight." Applejack apologised.

"It's..." Twilight started, then shook her head, "Well, it's not okay. There's a giant tree branch in the middle of my bedroom, and the book doesn't say anything about having a giant tree branch at your slumber party." She looked over her book, "Or at least I haven't found that entry yet."

I sighed in relief, "Yeah, you're alright." Then asked, "What the heck happened?"

"Well... It was-" Applejack was about to explain, but I cut her off with a glare, "I didn't ask you."

"Where do I start?" Twilight wondered, then explained, "Applejack and Rarity couldn't get along and started fighting over the bed blanket. Then lightning struck the nearby pine tree. Applejack used her rope to pull it steady, but it fell into the library. And here we are now."

"Okay..." Was all I say.

Why am I not surprised? Rarity and Applejack are complete opposites. It's no wonder they're not getting along.

"What in tarnation are y'all doin' over there?" Applejack shouted. I turned and saw that she was shouting at Rarity, who was gently and carefully putting books away.

"Cleaning up this mess somepony made." Rarity answered, then added in a sarcastic tone, "Who was that again? Oh, right, that's you."

"I don't care started this!" I shouted, "Just fix it!"

Applejack nodded in agreement and turned to Twilight, "We gotta do somethin'!"

"Baking... BFFs... Brothers..." Twilight sighed, still looking over her book, "There's nothing in here about branches."

I growled and tried to help Applejack move the tree. However our efforts were to no avail.

Applejack made her way into the tree and toward Rarity, "Rarity, for pony's sake, stop sweatin' the small stuff and help me get rid of this thing!"

However, Rarity was ignoring her and continued to put books back into the shelf.

"I said hustle over here and help me!" Applejack shouted, but Rarity ignored her again. Applejack finally gave up and sighed, "Look, I'm sorry, alright?"

"What was that?" Rarity asked, turning to the hardworking Pony.

"I said I'm sorry!" Applejack repeated, then explained, "I should'a listened to ya when ya noticed where this here branch would end up. Your annoyin' attention to detail would'a saved us from this whole mess. But right now, ya need to stop bein' so dang fussy pickin' up all the little things and help me move the one big thing in here that actually matters!" Rarity looked uncertain, until Applejack shouted, "Please!"

Rarity finally turned her attention to the tree, but then looked at the mess, "But I'll get all icky."

"Fer fuck's sake! What the... Eh... You..." Applejack shouted, but she tried to keep her temper.

I decided to speak up, "Yes, you will. But getting dirty is the effect of hard work. Nopony can do a job well without getting covered in dust. Applejack and I can't do this alone. We need help. Please, Rarity."

Rarity looked around, then removed the book from on top of her head and smiled, "Let's do this."

With that, Applejack, Rarity and I planned out how to deal with tree. Rarity and I hopped out of the tree and used our magic to turn most of the tree into pretty ornaments. Dust, mud, leaves and splinters covered our fur and pjs, but it was worth it.

Applejack was about to kick the stump out of the window, but noticed Rarity was glaring at her. If Applejack does kick the stump, she could hurt somepony.

Applejack lowered her leg, picked it the stump to drop it close to the base of the library and closed the window. Rarity and I smiled at her.

Then Rarity looked herself over and frowned, "Oh, I look awful."

Applejack thought for a second, then grabbed a couple of sliced cucumbers and placed them over Rarity's eyes, "Better?"

Rarity smiled in relief, "Hmph, thanks."

She reached over to Applejack. Applejack walked closer to Rarity and the two Ponies hugged. I smiled in relief. Another friendship problem solved.

Twilight finally looked up from her book and saw the ornaments, "Oh, pretty! Where did these come from?" Then looked back into the book, "They're not in the book either."

*A Little Later...*
We're finally having fun in the slumber party. Rarity, Applejack, Twilight and I have cleaned ourselves up, with Twilight and Rarity wearing curlers in their mane and tails. And now we're playing a game called, '20 Questions'.

"Is it bigger than a barn?" Applejack asked.

"Nope." Twilight answered with a laugh.

"Is it smaller than a saddle?" Rarity asked.

"Nope." Twilight answered.

"Is it as big as a Pony?" I asked.

Twilight laughed again, "Yes! Only three of your twenty questions left!"

Applejack sighed, "We're never gonna guess what you're thinkin' of, it could be anythin'."

"Are we getting warmer?" Rarity asked.

Confused, Twilight asked, "Why? Is it too cold in here for you? I can turn up the heat."

I giggled, "She means are we gettin' any closer with our guesses?"

"Oh!" Twilight smiled with clarity, then shook her head, "No." Then smiled again, "And that technically counted as a question, so only two more left!"

"Is it... A six-legged pony with a purple polka-dotted mane and shootin' stars comin' out of his eyes?" Applejack asked quickly.

"Who flies through the air all over the world to hide magic, sparkly eggs?" Rarity added.

Twilight raised a brow for a second, then smiled, "That's it!"

"It is?" Rarity and Applejack asked with a smile.

Twilight shook her head, "No." Then she chuckled and pointed above our heads, "It's that."

Applejack, Rarity and I followed and noticed the answer was her telescope.

"But it was just so nice to see you two finally getting along, I wanted you to be able to win together." Twilight explained.

Applejack and Rarity started laughing.

"See?" Twilight smiled, "We could have been having fun like this all along."

"If only somepony hadn't been so persnickety." Applejack spoke up, glancing at Rarity.

Then Rarity turned to Applejack, "Well, maybe she wouldn't have been, if somepony else hadn't been so sloppy."

The two glared at each other, then smiled.

"Sorry for being such a pain in the patootie." Applejack apologised.

Rarity shook her head, 'Oh, no, I'm sure I was much worse."

Then the two were at it again.

"That's kind of ya to say, but I'm the one who's sorry."

"Oh, I'm much more sorry than you are."

"Are not."

"Are too."

"Are not!"

"Are too."

Then the two started smiling again.

"Are not."

"Are too."

Applejack and Rarity laughed.

"I declare my first slumber party a success!" Twilight announced.

Applejack and Rarity high-fived and cheered. Everyone was happy.

Twilight grabbed her book and checked, "Have fun, check."

Applejack and Rarity laughed in enjoyment.

I grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill, and started writing,

'Dear Princess Celestia,
Tonight, Twilight and I have learned the it can be difficult to be friends with someone who you have very little in common with. But if you are able to embrace those differences, you might be able to find a friend in the end.
Let's hope this friendship between two opposites lasts as long as two kindred spirits.
Your Student,
Eleanor May Carter.'

Twilight turned to Applejack and Rarity, "So, who's up for another slumber party tomorrow night?"

As a reply, she got two pillows in the face.

"How about a week from Thursday?" Applejack, Rarity and I started laughing, "Oh, how about two weeks from Saturday? A month from now?"