Our Inner Ponies

Applejack just stared at me, as I knew she would, and didn't reply. I blinked to prevent even more tears to rush out, which were burning my eyes badly, and held my breath. I was hoping Applejack would at least say something to me. Finally, I saw her face turn into a...smile? And get this: she started laughing!

"Ha! Ya got me, Twilight!" AJ laughed. "I never knew you were a prankster!" I frowned deeply.

"Applejack, I'm not joking," I insisted. "I'm not really Twilight. Honest!" Applejack just blinked, but her smile never left her lips.

"Ya know what I think? I think someone's gettin' a bit worked up from her project," she reasoned. I was speechless once again. How did she know about that?

"Listen Twilight, I know ya want this project to work well. I get that. But it doesn't make sense to go around and stress about it, ya know what I mean?" I...was...one hundred percent confused. I was also ticked off since this pony didn't believe me!

"But I'm not lying!" I repeated, feeling another set of tears running toward my eyes. "I would never lie to you, now would I? And I can prove to you that I'm not Twilight!"

"Alright, how?"

I paused. Aww man! I didn't know how to explain to Applejack that I wasn't Twilight. I would have to do something un-Twilight in order to make her believe me! But...what?

"There. See now?" I heard AJ say. "You are Twilight. You're just stressed, that's all! Either that or Pinkie's been givin' ya lessons on craziness!" I sighed and stared at the ground.

I knew she wouldn't believe me. Who would?! Suddenly, Pinkie jumped out of nowhere, making me scream Bloody Murder.

"Pinkie, don't ever do that again!" I shrieked, trying to catch my breath. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!" I heard Pinkie giggle slightly.

"Sorry Twilight," she said. "But I had to cheer you up someway!"

"By giving me a heart attack?" I cried. "GAH! Not helping, and I'm not feeling any better!" Pinkie laughed again.

"Don't worry. I'll find a way to turn that frown upside down!" Oh God. Unconsciously, I gazed up toward the sky and nearly had another heart attack. Zaria was high in the air, flying around with Rainbow Dash! Even though they were about two feet in the air, I could hear them laughing loudly.

"Man, this is so fun!" Zaria screamed. "Way better than walking!"

"I know, right?" Rainbow agreed. "Aren't you glad your fear of heights is over and done with?" I sighed again and stood up. Zaria just didn't know when to stop.

"Fluttershy, don't you think you should be, oh I don't know, on the ground before you fall?" I called to her.

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna fall!" Zaria screamed back, doing a clumsy back flip in the air. I winced, praying that my friend wouldn't come crashing down. And you know what? I jinxed it! As soon as Zaria was another foot in the air, her wings snapped shut!

"ZARIA!" I screamed, running toward my falling friend. For some reason, I jumped in the air and crashed in the dirt. My eyes were squeezed tight, and I was now begging the lord that my friend wasn't hurt.

"Oh my God, that was close!" I heard Zaria whisper.

I quickly opened my eyes and gasped. Zaria was surrounded by a purple, sparkly force field, her bottom an inch from the ground. I blinked and Zaria fell on her butt. Ignoring her "Hey!" I backed up as Applejack, Pinkie, and Rainbow made their way toward the Pegasus, blurting out questions.

"Fluttershy, are you okay?"

"Goodness, ya nearly broke your wing, sugar cube!"

"Maybe you shouldn't be flying anytime soon..."

"Thank goodness Twilight was here!"

I slowly walked toward Zaria and put a hoof on her shoulder. Shaking from both the fall and the fact that I'd saved her with magic.

"You okay?" I whispered. Zaria nodded, breathing hard. Good. Now that my friend was okay, I could yell at her.

"Didn't I warn you?" I gloated. "I told you to land before you fell! And you did, and you almost got!"

"Well, you jinxed it, anyway!" Zaria snapped, voice trembling. "I wouldn't have fallen if I had concentrated harder. But you kept screaming at me!"

I rolled my eyes and huffed, annoyed and stressed. But I knew it was my fault. If I hadn't kept yelling at her to be careful, she wouldn't have fallen. And if I hadn't gloated, Pinkie, Applejack, and Rainbow wouldn't have been staring at us with worried and surprised expressions like they were right now! I guess Twilight's personality was really rubbing off on me.

"Uh, are you sure you two aren't fighting?" Rainbow asked after a while. "It's pretty obvious now."

"No, we're not fighting," I told her, though I didn't sound like I meant it.

I was starting to give up on covering me and Zaria's secrets. I slowly made my way back to the apple-less tree and sat down, focusing on a small rock near my left hoof. I could hear Zaria asking Dash for a do-over for the flying thing, and I didn't object when I heard Rainbow agree (though she did say they would keep the flying at a safe point). I looked up when I heard hooves walking toward me. AJ and Pinkie sat down on either side of me, avoiding eye contact.

"Hey Twilight? What was that word you said when Fluttershy fell?" I heard Pinkie ask. "It started with a Z. Remember?" I nodded.

"Um, I said Zaria," I exclaimed. "But that just means 'Oh my goodness' or 'Oh no.' I learned that from another pony in Canterlot." I was kinda surprised to hear that lie slip out of me so easily, but I didn't bother to stop it.

I started playing with the grass with my hoof when I saw something weird occur: Pinkie's tail shook like a vibrating phone. My eyes widened. Oh crap! I knew what that Pinkie Sense meant! Something was gonna fall! I slowly put my hoof above my mane and waited for the worst. But, luckily, it never came. Sighing softly with relief, I removed my hoof and—Thump!

"OW!" I cried, rubbing my head. I looked down and saw a half eaten apple at my feet.

"Aha! I knew something was gonna fall!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"T-that doesn't make sense! There's no apples in that tree!" I argued.

The trees' leaves rustled furiously and another object fell on my head—a heavy object. I saw tiny little stars swirling around me. My head throbbed like mad, and I swear I heard faint ringing in my ears.

"Spike! Where'd ya get that apple?" AJ snapped, standing up and looking down at the dragon. I blinked and tried to clear those pesky little stars.

"Spike, why would you belly flop on my head?" I asked, rubbing both my mane and ears. "You wanna give me a concussion or something?" I heard Spike laugh nervously.

"Yeah...I might've lost my balance—and that apple," he began, rocking back and forth on his feet. "Sorry about that." Sorry my butt! I thought angrily. He seriously gave me one bad headache. Note to self: Whenever Pinkie's Pinkie Sense goes off, dive for cover.

"Anyways, prepare to thank me, Twilight," Spike continued, smiling. "Okay, so, you know your project you've spent weeks working on, right? Well, some of the critics came over, and when I told them all about you, they rescheduled the date to tonight!"

Spike held his arms out wide, probably waiting for a hug. My mouth sagged all the way open, and my tongue flopped out, too. He did what now?!

"Spike, tell me you're joking!" I breathed.

"Nope," Spike stated. "It's all true! That's okay, you can thank me later."

"Thank you? THANK YOU?" I screamed.

"Oh, you're welcome."

I slapped my forehead and groaned.

"Okay, first: I'm not even finished with this project, and second: I didn't even ask you to do this!"

"I know. That's why it was a surprise," Spike said. "And don't worry. I threw a few things in, and all you need to do is snap it up a bit and it'll be ready!" My eye twitched and I could hardly breathe (again...). I couldn't believe this was happening!

"Well, congratulations Twilight!" AJ suddenly cried, shaking my hoof furiously. "Wasn't that nice of Spike?"

"Exactly. But I could use a hug right now." Spike held his arms out again. Of course I'd hug him. I'd put my arms around his throat and squeeze ever so tightly!

Instead of me doing that, Pinkie hugged Spike tightly. While she did that, I gazed up at the sky. The sun was already halfway toward the horizon, and the sky was a goldish orange. I didn't think I'd have enough time to complete this project, and if I did, would it even work? Suddenly, I felt a rush of cold air and looked to my left. Zaria was standing by my side.

"Ha! I didn't fall, did I?" she gloated. "All I had to do was concentrate and Boom! I was flying." Zaria showed her white teeth in a wide smile. I just shrugged.

"Good for you," I mumbled. "I'm happy for you."

"Oh! It's almost sunset!" Pinkie suddenly exclaimed. "Twilight, you should get going and finish that project of yours!" I nodded.

"Thanks," I said flatly. "Come on Spike." Without the slightest warning, Spike jumped on my back and I nearly fell.

In the cartoon, it looked like he was light as a feather, but it wasn't like that. I'm not saying he was painfully heavy. It just felt like I was giving a three-year-old a piggyback ride.

"Ya want us to tag along?" Applejack asked, walking towards my left side. I smiled, a real smile this time.

"Sure, thanks."