New… Friends?
By: OneLonelyPickle
It was a beautiful day in Ponyville. The summer sun shined with all the vigor that the hottest season of the year could offer. The local swimming spot, Saddle Lake, was jam-packed with young fillies and colts and their parents trying to take the edge off. Of course, the markets and restaurants were filled to capacity as well. Twilight Sparkle and her friends were enjoying some well-deserved treats at the Ponyville Cafe.
Nothing could have been more normal. Pinkie Pie was making Rainbow Dash and Applejack laugh by putting chopsticks in her mouth and pretending they were long teeth, Twilight was flipping through a book titled, “Summer Fun and You! 600 Plus Things to Do with Your Friends in The Hottest Time of Year!”, and Rarity and Fluttershy were discussing the finer points of afternoon tea.
“Hey everypony!” Some mare yelled from down the street. The Mane Six all turned around to see what was going on. “Some new ponies just wandered into town! They look really… weird!”
Twilight closed her book with a thoughtful hum.
“New ponies, huh? Should we check it out, girls?”
Rainbow Dash laughed.
“Pinkie Pie’s already gone, look!”
A dust cloud kicked up in the distance as a pink blur shot away. Rarity chimed up.
“She is pretty serious about meeting new ponies and throwing them parties as soon as they come to Ponyville, after all.”
Twilight and company quickly paid their bill and left to follow Pinkie, or at least where they imagined Pinkie must have zoomed off to. Lots of townsponies were headed in the same direction: the west side of town.
Eventually, Twilight and her friends reached a large crowd of ponies all in a circle. The cacophony of ooos and awws, and general gossiping, meant nopony in Twilight’s group could get an idea of what was going on. Off to one side of the crowd, Pinkie was jumping up and down super high and waving her fore hooves.
“Ooo, ooo, new ponies! Over here! I need to throw you a party — oh, first, my name is Pinkie Pie an—”
The noise was too much even for Pinkie’s voice to carry. Twilight and her friends tried their best to get past the crowd to see what was amuck. Eventually, ponies started to take notice that the Princess of Friendship was in their midst and the crowd started to part.
“Look, it’s Twilight Sparkle!” somepony shouted.
“Make way, make way! The Princess is going to welcome the new ponies!”
In the middle of the crowd were three mares. The first that Twilight noticed, on the left, had a long, curly blue mane and magenta eyes like Rainbow Dash. Her coat was a blueberry shade. A strange horn stood on her head, longer and pointier than a usual unicorn horn, but not quite at alicorn proportions. The ends of her hooves were a distinctly different shade than the rest of her appendages, and the fur seemed to end before the harder part of the hoof. A smug, wide grin was plastered on her face.
“Like, helloooo everycreature — mmmmmHMMMM!” She cried in a deep voice. She sounded like Zecora without the rhyming and any of the charm. There was an aggressive bite to her voice. “Make way for the NEW girls on the block!”
The pony in the middle of the three new mares was clearly an earth pony and had hairbands in her pink and purple mane. Her salmon colored coat become fluffy at the tips of her hooves like her companion, and her hooves were shaped the same way as well.
“There are going to be some BIG changes around here from now on, everycreature!” The middle mare said, determination in her fiery eyes. She marched forward and threw up her hoof. “No longer will the downtrodden have to face the world alone! We’re here to stop the oppressive pony-dominated society from encroaching on the rights of the many, innocent creatures throughout Creaturia!”
Twilight and friends looked at eachother as if they just witnessed a pony eat her own hoof. The ponies in the crowd exchanged worried glances and hushed whispers. The third new mare stepped forward and spread her especially fluffy pegasus wings.
“Do not worry, mis amigos!” the pegasus shouted, with a certain accent to her voice, “Everycreatura will be welcome in Creaturia! You just have to make sure you are accepting of everycreature’s differences, si?”
Her coat was pink, not quite as dark as Pinkie Pie’s, and the ends of her hooves were even fluffier than the other two mares. Strangely enough, especially to Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, the pegasus mare's wings were a different color than the rest of her, being almost white as opposed to pink. A golden hairband surrounded the base of her dark purple mane, long and flowing like Rarity’s though without the same luster.
Twilight stepped forward into the space between the crowd and cleared her throat.
“Umm, w-welcome to Ponyville, ladies. What are you talking about a ‘Creaturia’?”
The three newcomers looked at eachother with abject disgust. As if Twilight had spat in their faces.
“Ummm, sweetie,” the sassy one on the left said with a shake of her head, “Did y’all just ASSUME we was mares?”
The one in the middle glared at Twilight.
“This is JUST what we were talking about! This kind of behavior alienates and isolates creatures based on gender and traditional roles of society!”
The one on the right sighed and smiled at Twilight like she was a foal making a huge mistake.
“Oh princessa… so naïve despite your position…”
Twilight’s eyes bugged out of her skull. She turned back to her friends, absolutely speechless. Her jaw hung down. Rainbow Dash jumped in to rescue Twilight. She put on her best schmoozing face.
“W-what my friend is TRYING to say, everypony, is that we’re kinda lost when you say ‘Creaturia’…” Rainbow rubbed the back of her head and smiled sheepishly. “Did you mean Equestria?”
A trio of gasps escaped the bewildered lips of the new mares. The one in the middle looked genuinely surprised, like she couldn’t believe her ears.
“It’s worse than I thought… wow. I can’t even — just wow. Good thing they sent us.”
The sassy one on the left looked up and around at the different buildings of Ponyville. Her lip curled into a sneer.
“And lookit this style… BLEH. What is this, Middle Ages of Creaturia or something? Needs some real URBAN flow up in here, knowwhatimsayin’?”
The mare on the right replied with a flip of her mane.
“Si, we’ll have to get them to change the village. Little villages like this are too dangerous — who knows what kind of bigotry and hate would be created if everycreature here was a pony without influence from difference cultures?” The mare shivered. “The horror of such a thing…”
The three mares seemed to ignore Twilight and her friends and started to walk past them. Fluttershy retreated behind her mane as the sassy one passed with an intimidating aura, eyeing Fluttershy as if at any moment she’d reveal whatever infractions Fluttershy’s very existence had caused. Twilight stomped a hoof and yelled.
“HOLD ON! Where are you three going? Depending on how you answer, I’ll see you as a threat to Ponyville and maybe all of Equestria!” Twilight glared at the new mare in the middle, who turned around with an equal amount of ire in her teal irises.
“Sorry, Princess of Friendship, but your time is over.” A cocky grin crept onto the mare’s face. She turned to her friends, who shared the mouth gesture. “We were sent here to deliver this town from the old ways that you represent. It’s time for a more progressive, inclusive Creaturia!”
Twilight screamed.
“STOP SAYING CREATURIA! WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?” Twilight went pink in the face as she realized she lost it. She cleared her throat but did not loosen her tightly flexed, angry brow.
“I think this is something that Princesses Celestia and Luna need to hear about.”
The new mares once again looked at eachother knowingly. A sinister truth hung just behind their eyes. Twilight started to sweat as the sassy one started to laugh.
“Oh my little pony, you ain’t in the know, are ya? Them ‘princesses’ are no more. They took care of them already.”
Twilight’s pupils nearly disappeared. Her breathing became hoarse and she involuntarily stepped back out of fear. She shook her head, ears flat against her mane.
“N-No… you’re lying!”
Applejack stepped in front of the three mares and glared.
“Now hold on a single cowpony minute, sugarcubes! It’s time you made some sense of all this jibber jabber before we start to wonder if you ain’t trouble like Twilight said.”
Rarity shook her head in agreement.
“You three are saying that Celestia and Luna are gone, but what proof do you have of that” — Rarity turned back to her friends, who all shared her expression: creased brow, erect ears, swishing tail — “I think this is all a ruse! This must be some villain’s doing! Somepony escaped from Tartarus, or something!”
The middle of the new mares sighed out with exasperation and looked at Twilight like she was a dullard in need of some serious re-education.
“This is a waste of our time… we know what’s best for everycreature. We’re just going to start making the changes already.” She looked over at the sassy mare, then the one with the accent. They all nodded at one another. Twilight and her friends awaited the worse.
Suddenly, the sky opened up. What was once a vista of ocean blue and white, joyful clouds slowly became grey and lifeless. The grey streamed out of the middle of the sky and infected all it touched. The sassy mare laughed and clapped her hooves together.
“Bam, baby! That’s what I’m talkin’ about! No more unfair weather — someponies don’t get to experience the sun and the clouds!”
A bolt of lightning crashed through the grey and hit one of the buildings in Ponyville. Then another bolt hit another building, and this continued every few moments. Every building that got hit turned black for a moment before changing shape. The buildings became larger and larger and larger and became grey. Grey stone lined with boring windows. The accented mare hummed happily.
“Bueno! No more Old Ponish styles that neglect the culture of other creatures! A sterile grey is the way to go! So inclusive, so open to others!”
The middle mare beamed at Twilight smugly. Twilight felt the heat rising from the pit of her stomach and it made her bare her teeth with a monstrous snarl.
“S-STOP!” Twilight roared. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING? DID DISCORD SET THIS UP — DISCORD, IF THIS IS SOME SICK PRANK—”
Twilight’s heart dropped. She noticed her friends were starting to become transparent. Bolts of lightning were shooting from the sky and hitting random ponies in the crowd, transforming them into ponies that looked like the new mares. Twilight’s friends, however, were disappearing.
“Rainbow! Applejack!” Twilight rushed to the sides of the friends she had called to, however, nothing could be done. Twilight’s hoof went right though their ghostlike forms. Twilight was desperate, frantic. She rushed over to another spot.
“Fluttershy! Rarity!”
They, too, were quickly fading. Their faces were so gentle, so innocent, as if they hadn’t seen it coming. Last but not least was Pinkie Pie, who had reverted to her “depressed” state, with the deflated, flat mane that hung down, right before becoming nothing more than a revenant.
Twilight’s eyes exploded with hot, sad liquid. She desperately clawed at the shade that was once Pinkie, its face staring emotionlessly at nothing.
“Pinkie! No! Come back! COME BACK!”
Moments, which felt like eons, chugged by. Twilight was alone. The crowd had dissipated, the various hundreds of stallions and mares having gone away to perform other duties like soulless automatons. The tall buildings that now formed the skyline of Ponyville surrounded Twilight on all sides. It was like a prison. Below her hooves was now paved ground, completely bereft of any personality except black and tarmac.
Finally, Twilight managed to look up at the three new mares. They were all staring at Twilight with victorious stares. The mare in the middle sauntered over to Twilight and shook her head.
“You poor, poor ignorant thing.”
She sat down in front of Twilight and placed her forehooves on Twilight’s shoulders. She looked deep into Twilight’s moist eyes, Twilight realizing at that moment just how soulless that other mare’s eyes truly were.
The mare smiled as if she were sorry. She patted Twilight’s shoulder and spoke.
“You just lost track of the times, princess. There’s no more need for your traditional ways anymore. This is the age of Creaturia.”
The mare looked back and nodded at the other two. The sassy one shouted at the top of her lungs.
“EVERYCREATURE! COME OUT!”
A rumbling started to shake the ground. Twilight looked around frantically. A rush of furry and scaly forms careened from down the streets and the side alleys. Tails, shells, claws, paws, and even strange peach-like flesh were fully on display. Twilight didn’t see a single pony. Hundreds and hundreds of creatures, great and small, filled the streets that once belonged to Ponyville.
“Now THIS is how society should be! Isn’t it glorious, Twilight Sparkle” said the middle mare. Twilight closed her eyes.
“… bring back my friends…” she whispered, the defeat evident in her voice.
The middle mare ‘tsk’d.
“I wouldn’t worry about them, silly. You’re going to be going away, too. There’s no room for ponies like you anymore…”
The voice trailed off. Twilight felt her body grow numb. She looked down and saw her hooves start to become transparent. The last thing she saw was the grey sky. Then…
Nothing.
…
…
Twilight sat up, a cold sweat covering her body. She struggled to catch her breath. Her friends woke up at the same time. She was back outside, camping beneath the infinite stars and the woodlands of northern Equestria. Her face lit up when she realized it had all been a nightmare.
“Rainbow… Rarity… Pinkie… Applejack… Fluttershy… you’re okay…”
Tears welled up in Twilight’s eyes. Rainbow rubbed her tired eyes and yawned obnoxiously loud.
“YAWWWW — of course we’re okay, Twi… didja have a nightmare or something?”
Fluttershy spoke, “Those are the worst. I had one just last night about a bunny who DIDN'T have a cute, puff-ball tail. Instead, he had a slimy snake tail… oh it was just terrifying.”
The mares all laughed except Twilight, who started to pull all her friends out of their sleeping bags and into a great, big hug. Though the others were completely clueless as to why Twilight was so concerned, they would never reject a group hug. Applejack spoke up with a chuckle.
“Musta been some kinda nightmare to spook you that much, huh Twi?”
Rarity nodded.
“Quite indeed, but it wasn’t real, Twilight dear! You’ve got nothing to worry about!”
Twilight held on for dear life and shook as she cried and cried, relishing the feeling that her friends were still with her. She spoke through her heavy tears.
“It was… just so real and… I really thought I lost you guys… that we were all replaced…”
Pinkie rubbed the top of Twilight’s mane and spoke.
“Aww, don’t worry about something like that, Twilight! After all we’ve been through — nothing’s ever gonna tear us apart OR replace us! I mean, who could POSSIBLY replace Applejack… she’s so weird!”
Applejack’s head twitched with incredulity and she did a double take of Pinkie.
“I beg yer — Pinkie, yer the last one of us who should be saying that!”
Everypony laughed. A true laugh from the heart. Twilight felt the last vestiges of her nightmare-driven fear leave her. The corners of her mouth lifted into a beam. As the countless stars above twinkled above a sleeping Equestria, and the trees gently danced in the late summer breeze, and the crickets chirped their nightly song, Twilight’s spirits reached the sky.
That’s right... nothing will ever tear us apart! We’ll all be friends — forever! We’re not going anywhere!
