Our Inner Ponies

I watched as Spike pushed open the front door and stepped outside. I squinted to protect my eyes from the sudden sunlight and blindly made my way outside. My heart nearly skipped a beat and my jaw just dropped once I could see. I instantly knew that where I was had to be Ponyville. My top three guesses?

1. There were multicolored ponies walking around

2. There were colorful buildings that looked way too cheerful

3. EVERYONE WAS SMILING!

I'm not kidding. Everywhere my head turned, I saw smiles and grins and I heard laughter and tons of chatter. There wasn't even a single frown on one of these ponies' faces, and none of them were disagreeing with the conversation they were having with their friends. I concentrated on focusing on Spike since he was leading me to Fluttershy's house (aka my best friend since fourth grade who was probably freaking out by now). I also tried to concentrate on remembering this path in case I'd need it for later. After about three to eight minutes, we reached a small neighborhood filled with little cottages and mailboxes.

"Geez! Which cottage does this girl live in, anyway?" I said aloud, which I didn't mean to. Spike stopped and looked at me for the third time.

"Wow, this must be a serious illness," he told me. "Don't worry. I'm sure there's a cure for it."

I resisted the urge to strangle the dude and continued following him until we reached the last small cottage on the block. The trees were filled with small colorful birdhouses, a little bridge was settled over a stream of water, and a few bird nests were tucked in the comforting trees' leaves. I slowly crossed the bridge and knocked on the door.

"Hello? Fluttershy? It's me, Twilight!" I cried. "You in there?" Silence. "I was wondering if I could talk to you about that thing I borrowed."

Still nothing! I knocked on the door again which slowly turned into a loud bang. Suddenly, the door creaked open a bit. I smiled.

"Zaria?" I whispered to myself. Oh, but it wasn't my friend. It was the complete bastard that acted mean towards Fluttershy: Angel Bunny. I lowered my head and forced a grin.

"Hello Angel Bunny!" I crooned in a baby voice. "Is Fluttershy home? 'Cause I really need to talk to—" SLAM! "—her," I finished silently, raising my head and rubbing the hopefully-not-forming bruise on my nose.

"Geez, what a grouch," Spike announced, walking over to me.

"I know," I agreed, praying that my nose wasn't red. I knocked again, thinking of what I'd say to Grouchy Bunny over here. But he never opened the door. Was what I said really that bad?

"Maybe Fluttershy's not home," Spike stated, shrugging. "Oh well. There's always tomorrow, right?" I sighed.

"Yeah, tomorrow," I replied sadly. I wasn't gonna wait until tomorrow to find my friend! I would spend hours trying to find her, even if it meant showing my actual true self.

Spike cleared his throat. "So...ready to run those last few errands?" My eyes bugged out and I slowly turned my head toward the baby dragon.

"We...have...to do...some...errands?!" I screamed, feeling my lungs shrivel up. Yes, I said my lungs because my breathing had literally gone into short gasps. "You never told me we had to do errands!"

Spike smiled sheepishly and shrugged. "Uh, surprise?"

My left eye twitched and I swear I thought my hair was spiking up. Being trapped in Ponyville was sort of bad enough, but now we had to run errands? I was starting to regret talking to Spike.

I'm not going to bore you by telling what Spike and I had to do, but I will tell you a few things we had to do. We had to, in this order:

1) Place in an order for ten bottles of ink

2) Pick up a few scrolls

3) Have my mane groomed (which I actually enjoyed)

4) Receive daisies from, well, that Daisy pony

5) Pluck some weeds that were sprouting rapidly in the town square. (I don't know why I had to do this, but I was glad Spike took care of those for me and that Twilight was Eco-friendly)

I would go on with the list, but I don't want to bore you with the ten other things I had to accomplish. Anyways, Spike and I were finally on the last and final errand: Pick up cupcakes. As soon as I stepped inside Sugarcube Corner, I felt a little better. Despite the sweat covering my face and my fatigueness, my spirits were suddenly lifted when warm and inviting smells of cinnamon and frosting greeted my nose.

"I'll tell the Cakes we're here to pick up the order," Spike told me.

He headed toward the kitchen and was gone in a flash. I felt pretty awkward just standing in the middle of the bakery. I didn't want to move, but I didn't want to be crazy and just stand still until Spike got back. Before I could think any further, high-pitched laughter echoed in my ear followed by another laugh. I gazed over to two ponies settled at a table, and my mouth hung open. Laughing at that table was none other than Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy! I felt a smile spread across my face as I made my way toward the table.

"Hi girls," I greeted. Pinkie Pie looked up at me and smiled.

"Hi Twilight!" she cried. "What brings you here at Sugarcube Corner?"

"Oh, you know...errands and whatnot. But that's not important right now."

"True. It's not so important, is it?" Pinkie said.

I nodded in agreement, then I stopped. Wait a minute. Did Pinkie just say what I was doing wasn't important? How could it not be important?! Running errands was very mandatory, and had to be done sooner than later! Hold on, something wasn't right. It wasn't like me to be thinking like this, but on the other hand, it wasn't like Fluttershy to just be laughing out loud with Pinkie Pie. I tried to clear my head from all the thoughts and focused on my real task.

"Fluttershy, I've been looking all over for you!" I cried. "We need to talk ASAP."

"Okay."

Wait another minute..."Okay?" "Okay?" Now I know Twilight, er, I, was this Pegasus' friend, but I don't think Fluttershy would simply just say "okay" to me like it was no big deal. As soon as Fluttershy and I were out of earshot of Pinkie, I asked the first question that popped into my mind.

"Zaria, are you okay?"

Fluttershy (or Zaria, hopefully) just stared at me, no emotion in her face whatsoever.

"Oh my God, Maya?" she asked after a few seconds with a hint or laughter and relief in her voice.

All I could do was smile until my cheeks hurt. I did it! I finally found my lost BFFL! I pulled her into a hug, and she hugged me right back. I wonder how ponies get used to hugging. Basically, it's just putting your arm around their neck and giving a light squeeze. Zaria, however, had other plans and practically squeezed the breath out of me.

"Okay, okay!" I whispered in a strangled voice. "You're gonna kill me!" Zaria laughed and let me out of her death grip.

"Sorry," she apologized. "After I escaped those pesky animals, I went looking all over for you, but I didn't know where you lived. I know it's in a tree, but still. So I just walked around this town and bumped into Pinkie Pie. We're having a blast! You wanna join?"

"Uh, no!" I cried, then lowered my voice when Pinkie looked my way. "I'm glad you're having fun and I'm relieved that I found you, but we really have to figure this out! I mean, why are we here and how did we get here?" Zaria just shrugged.

"I think it's kinda fun," she told me, smiling softly. "There's so many things to do here!"

"I know. That's why it's called Ponyville," I said. "Why else would it have been called that?" Normally I would've freaked out and then I would've had a little fun, but I was just traumatized at the moment. I mean, who wouldn't be?

"Oh hey Maya?" Zaria asked me.

"Yeah?"

"Um, how do I fly? I mean, it seemed easy in the show, but do you know how I can do it? Do I just move my back, or what?" I groaned. Really? This girl was seriously asking me how to fly when I was freaking out? What a great friend.

"I dunno how you fly," I answered. "I don't even know how to use my horn! But anyways, I think we should—"

"I'm back!"

"Holy hamburgers!" Zaria burst out laughing. I immediately bit my lip as Spike stared at me once again, holding a bright blue box.

"Okay then," he said slowly, clearly confused and clearly trying to understand my new vocabulary. Hey, I couldn't help it! One should never sneak up on a unicorn!

"Oh hey, I see you found Fluttershy," Spike continued. Zaria smiled and waved.

"Cool. Anyways, you ready to go home?"

Home? A part of me did want to leave, but another part of me wanted to stay and catch up on some missed fun. I had just found Zaria, and I didn't want to leave her. But I also had to work on that project that was due in a few days! So, which was the choice? Go home and finish the project, or spend some time with my BFFL and, possibly, Pinkie? Ugh, I hate tough decisions.