Author's Notes: Wow, this chapter was intense in the creation process. Hopefully it's not too over dramatic or angsty, but after all I did classify this story as one of angst filled goodness for all those fans who enjoy such things. Here's the second chapter featuring more of the Mane Six from FiM, Bubbly Delight will be back along with her sister Lily Blossom in the next chapter, and we'll all get to meet Blossomforth too, the first mute pony in all of Equestria. Promise!
"Tokyoats," Pinkie Pie repeated scrunching up her face in an expression of concentration. "Nope, I'm not too familiar with that city, Twilight, why? Is it something special?" Pinkie asked bouncing up and down excitedly.
Twilight sighed. "No, Pinkie, it's a city in Equestria, a far ways away from here out in the distant east," Twilight explained calmly to her friend. "It's where Lily Blossom, Bubbly Delight and her sister come from," she added.
Pinkie gasped – sucking in a long breath of air. "You mean they moved here from all the way there?" she said. "And I only threw them a welcome party, not one of my super duper bestest welcome to Ponyville parties ever! I'm going to need streamers, a cake, balloons, pin the tail on the pony, sushi, I heard they like sushi, is that true, Twilight?" Pinkie asked thoughtfully.
Twilight shuddered. "Pinkie they're still ponies, only carnivores like Sushi," she said doing her best to keep the disgust off of her face. She loved Pinkie Pie dearly as a friend, but sometimes she had the weirdest ideas about different pony cultures.
"Oh, I forgot," Pinkie said. "I mean I didn't forget we're vegetarians, but I forgot that they were! It was just a slip, I've never eaten anything other than hay and oats and grass and stuff, never! Nope, nuh-uh and you can't prove it. Never even heard of a hot dog, why would anyone want to eat puppies or dogs anyway? That's sick, even if it does involve strange ingredients, or those toppings like sauerkraut and mustard tasted yummy," Pinkie said shaking her head from side to side and causing her mane to bounce around a bit.
Twilight wasn't really paying much attention to what she was actually saying though. Quirking her brow at Pinkie she waved her hoof in front of her face to attract her attention. "Pinkie! Focus, are you sure you don't know anything about Tokyoats Tea Ceremonies?" she asked bringing the topic of discussion back on track.
Pinkie blinked and took a breath to center herself – sometimes her mind wandered too much for its own good – if she ever found that strange cloak wearing pony who suggested the hot dogs thing she'd give him or her a piece of her mind – not that she was even sure it was a pony – for all Pinkie knew it could have been a really short Griffon.
But now wasn't the time to worry about that particular aspect of her past – Twilight was standing in front of her with a determined gaze in her eyes – shaking her head once again Pinkie frowned. "I'm sorry, Twilight, it sounds like it could be really fun, but I've never even heard of Tokyoats before, sorry," she apologized to her friend knowing that it would help even if she wasn't sure why she had to.
Twilight let out a very sad sound – it wasn't exactly a sigh, but it made Pinkie feel something inside that no amount of candy and sugar could ever get rid of. Pinkie hated when she couldn't help her friends.
"That's ok, Pinkie, it was a long shot anyway," Twilight said.
"Why are we shooting?" Pinkie wondered. "And why do you need Spike to perform this Tokyoats Tea Ceremony thing?" she asked doing her best to be helpful and get rid of that feeling she especially hated.
Twilight took a moment to compose herself. "Spike called Bubbly, Derpy to her face, and it really upset her, you should have seen the pain on her face! So now Spike has to make up for it by proving that he honors the traditions of her culture, and maybe she'll feel a bit better, that nasty awful nickname! If I ever catch the pony that first used it I'll… I'll slap them silly with my tail and cut off their tail!" Twilight vowed.
Pinkie flinched back at the vehemence in her friend's tone. Her ears drooped slightly – Pinkie knew all about the Derpy Hooves thing, it started one day when Bubbly messed up a mail delivery on her first week of the job because she wasn't able to read the address right. So when she brought something that was meant for Rainbow Dash's eyes only to Cherry Spices' house and the mean spirited Unicorn pony blabbed her secret to the rest of Ponyville… Well Rainbow Dash hadn't liked that at all – the nickname had just come out – Rainbow Dash hadn't meant anything by it, but she was stubborn and hadn't forgiven Bubbly yet.
Pinkie eyed a nearby tree close to Sugarcube Corner and noticed the mare in question groggily stirring from her late afternoon nap. Deciding that perhaps Rainbow should offer to help too because it would be good for her friend to stop being so mean towards Bubbly – Pinkie trotted up to the tree while Twilight was still ranting – and with a carefully aimed rear kick – she dislodged Rainbow from her resting place.
Crashing to the ground covered in leaves and twigs Rainbow Dash sputtered for a moment. "Pinkie Pie! Why did you do that?" Dash demanded frustratedly.
Pinkie took a deep breath. "Twilight, Rainbow Dash made the name, I mean she didn't mean to it just sort of came out you know? But she's the pony you were threatening to cut off their tail, can I watch, I've never seen a pony cut off their tail before. Except for that time when Rarity did it, but that wasn't for something as mean as a nasty nickname, besides I think it'd be a real good lesson for anypony to learn about hurting another pony's feelings," Pinkie said for once sounding less crazy than usual.
Twilight stared at Pinkie in total shock.
Rainbow was trying to back away out of a sudden growing fear that something had happened and she was being blamed for it – Pinkie was supposed to keep secrets not blab them to everypony – but then again Rainbow had never exactly expressly told anypony that the whole Derpy Hooves thing was a secret. So technically she wasn't blabbing.
Finally Twilight found her voice. "Rainbow Dash! It was you?" she couldn't believe what her friend had just told her.
Rainbow shied away from the level of hurt in Twilight's voice. "I guess… I mean… Yeah, it was me, I first called her Derpy Hooves," Rainbow admitted hanging her head and kicking at the ground as a sudden feeling of shame filled her. "That was really before I got to know everypony here," she admitted. "But that's really no excuse, I know, but… It's kind of hard to ever get a moment to talk to her," she said.
"I don't know how I feel at the moment," Twilight stated flatly. "One of my first real friends was so inconsiderate as to give such a cruel and vicious nickname to a filly who never did anything to her," she said beginning to pace.
"She so too did something to me!" Dash shouted angrily. "She gave that, that, vicious gossip a package meant for me from my mom and Cherry told everypony what was in it!" Rainbow stomped a hoof and her wings fluttered slightly with her agitation. "That was private stuff meant for me and it was one of the last packages I ever got from… Mom," she muttered the last part as she felt upset all over again about something that had happened a long time ago.
"Your mom?" Twilight repeated her expression softening slightly. "Rainbow Dash, I'm sorry, but that's still no excuse to hurt another pony's feelings like that," Twilight chastised in a much less angry tone of voice this time.
"Yeah! Well I wouldn't expect, miss perfect life in Canterlot, to understand my pain," Dash shot back.
Twilight stomped her hooves loudly and began to draw other ponies' attention. "How dare you!" she accused. "You don't know anything about my life in Canterlot, I haven't even built up the courage to share that part of me yet with you guys, don't judge me just because a lot of ponies in Canterlot are stuck up social snobs!" she said. "This was supposed to just be something to try and help make another pony feel happier, now it's making me see just what sorts of friends I have, Pinkie, I don't blame you, but I'm not speaking to Rainbow Dash anymore right now!" Twilight whirled to face Pinkie flicking her tail so it snapped across Dash's nose.
Dash reared up in shock. Her eyes felt funny – like maybe she wanted to cry, but she hadn't done that since she was a little filly younger than Scootaloo even – and she wasn't about to let anypony see her crying over something that made no sense to her. "Fine! Twilight Sparkle, if you'd rather spend time with Derpy Hooves, then go right ahead and do that!" she shouted loudly before flapping her wings and taking off.
Twilight stared after her frustrated and angry that she would dare to use that name in front of her – Twilight knew Dash had only done it to prove how hurt she was over this, but it still set her coat on edge and her fur bristled at the insult. Without another word she galloped off back home.
Pinkie watched both of them leave and felt something inside of her she didn't like much. "Did I do something wrong?" she wondered out loud.
"Oh my," a soft and meek voice whispered from nearby.
Pinkie turned to find Fluttershy standing close to the front door of Sugarcube Corner. "Fluttershy!" she greeted. "Just the pony I wanted to see, look, I really think I messed up something big time here. So you should go after Rainbow Dash and tell her to stop being such a meanie head towards Twilight so that I can tell Twilight she should forgive Rainbow Dash for her past mistakes. I'm sure Dash didn't mean anything by it and… and… we've just got to fix this! We're the keepers of the Elements of Harmony, we can't be fighting over stuff like this, we're supposed to be best friends," Pinkie was practically shouting those last words out of sheer desperation.
Fluttershy flinched – she didn't like loud voices, but she understood where Pinkie was coming from. "Pinkie Pie, I think we have to all wait, Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash need to calm down a bit first before we can help them understand how the other made them feel just now," she explained sounding rather wise for such a timid pony.
Pinkie deflated at those words. "We're supposed to be the bestest of bestest friends," she whispered forlornly.
"Oh, we are!" Fluttershy assured gently nuzzling her snout against Pinkie's neck. "But… Well… I think half of Ponyville heard that argument just now, and I think we just have to let them calm down. I don't like fighting as much as anypony else, but you can't force friends to make up and be nice to each other again," she told Pinkie in a soft whisper.
Pinkie's mane started to droop slightly – it almost looked flat – and her ears fell flat against her head. "I messed up," she told her friend.
Fluttershy frowned slightly. "You couldn't have known what would happen, Pinkie Pie," she said trying to comfort her.
Pinkie's eyes suddenly shone with a brilliant idea and she straightened up so fast that Fluttershy almost collapsed. "I know!" she shouted bouncing around her friend in sudden giddy glee. "Fluttershy, you can fly, and Twilight wanted to make up for when Spike hurt Bubbly's feelings, but I don't know anything about Tokyoats Tea Ceremonies. But since you can fly then you can help get me to Tokyoats and we can find a master of Tea Ceremonies and then we can find out how to do it so that we can help Spike perform the ceremony and make Bubbly feel better and that will start to help out Twilight and Rainbow Dash so they can make up and be friends again!" Pinkie declared proud at her logical and clever idea.
Fluttershy let out a small gasp and her legs started to shake. "Pinkie Pie, do you know how far Tokyoats is?" she asked.
"Sure, it's East of here, it can't be that far if Bubbly and her sisters moved here," Pinkie said in a dismissive tone – she'd already forgotten what Twilight had said about the place.
Fluttershy shook her head. "Um… Maybe we should go ask somepony who's been there how to get there first and how long it will take," she suggested.
Pinkie frowned. "But it won't take that long, I'm positive."
Fluttershy put her hoof down slowly. "Pinkie, I'm putting my hoof down, if we don't ask somepony who knows the way then… I can't take you, I'm sorry, but I don't want us to get lost," she said.
Pinkie frowned slightly in disappointment, but quickly cheered up as another idea struck her. "Jade Moon is from Neighpon!" she declared. "That's not far from Tokyoats, I think, come on we can ask her the way!" Pinkie decided bouncing off quickly towards Jade Moon's Palace & Fine Dining Experience.
Fluttershy sighed. "I only wanted a cake for when the Cutie Mark Crusaders come over again," she said to herself softly as she lowered her head to avoid making eye contact with anypony nearby and followed after Pinkie Pie.
Rainbow Dash kicked a small round cloud-stone she'd crafted for her front entrance cloud and watched as it went sailing clear across the sky. Clearly upset and frustrated she marched around the circumference of her cloud home trying to figure out how she'd done something wrong.
Dash paused in her pacing briefly when she thought she heard something, but she shook her head – there was nopony around this high up to see her – or her tears. And she was crying – she was the keeper of the Element of Loyalty. Her friends meant the world to her and she would never say or do anything truly mean to them, but something she'd done before Twilight Sparkle even came to Ponyville had upset her friend greatly.
Dash didn't understand how that could be – she was a pony that lived in the now – she really didn't pay too much to the past, pony philosophies and things. But she understood what it meant to be nasty and mean – Cherry Spices had proven that to her – and when she tried to defend Fluttershy. Like a good friend should. She really defended her.
Rainbow Dash collapsed onto the ground in front of one of her cloud houses' windows and dug her hoof into the fluffy white substance. "Ok, so maybe I was a bit of a jerk to Bubbly Delight, it wasn't really her fault, she couldn't help it if she couldn't read the right address and mom's hoofwriting wasn't the best. I'd definitely be the first to say that, but still what is the big deal?" she demanded. Dash sighed and ran a hoof across her face to brush away the tears. "Why'd it have to be her? Why'd she have to be so bent out of shape over that sort of thing? And why'd I have to go and call her a snooty Canterlot Unicorn?" Dash was clearly upset with how everything had gone down and not even flying could cheer her up this time.
Wallowing in her misery – Rainbow Dash spent the rest of the night alone and trying to build up the courage to admit she'd done something wrong. It wasn't easy.
When Twilight got back to the library she was obviously upset – Spike dashed around trying to catch the tea things he'd been setting up when the door slammed sending them flying. Twilight walked past him without even looking.
"Uh, is everything alright, Twilight?" Spike asked nervously.
"No!" Twilight shouted. "One of my closest friends was a… a silly filly, a creepy jerk, a nasty, nasty worse than the nasties back in Canterlot." Twilight wasn't making much sense.
Spike frowned. "Oh no, you found out about Dash," he guessed.
Twilight froze. "You knew!" she shouted. "After all the things I went through back in Canterlot with those… those… prissy, snobby elitist cliques!" she accused.
"Whoa, time out, Twilight, this isn't about Rainbow Dash anymore, or even Bubbly Delight," Spike said holding up his paws in a T sign.
Twilight collapsed onto her bed. "I'm sorry, Spike, I've just had so much negative experience thanks to… You know who, and when I moved here I thought maybe I'd found a place where social cliques and standing wasn't such a big deal. Princess Celestia is a really great teacher and a really nice ruler, but some of her subjects in Canterlot were stuck-up, privilege thinking snobs, and I just… Felt so bad for Bubbly because I'd been through it myself," she admitted.
Spike nodded along with the words. "I remember, Twilight, they weren't exactly kind to the only baby dragon in all of Canterlot either," he said rubbing his scales briefly in agitation. "If you just told Dash why you felt so strongly about bullies and that I'm sure she'd understand, I don't think she meant it to be mean or for everypony in Ponyville to call Bubbly that name," he explained gently.
Twilight shot him a look and then sighed. "You're right." She got up and her horn began to glow. "She was just as upset as everypony else at Trixie and her boastful ways, but Trixie wasn't really that bad. She wasn't from Canterlot, she was just… raised differently. I'm sure if we had the chance to talk to her now she'd be a nice Unicorn to get to know, but that's not the problem right now," Twilight said – as she spoke her horn made a nearby quill scratch out something quickly in a curious looking script.
"What's that?" Spike asked.
"A letter to Bubbly," Twilight told him. "I'm hoping she'll stop by tomorrow after work so we can discuss this, now… I've just got to get Dash calm enough to come here too," she said under her breath.
Spike smiled. "Oh! I can help you with that, Twilight!" he promised.
"This doesn't mean you're off the hook with that tea ceremony," Twilight said with a half-smile.
Spike deflated slightly. "Yeah," he said with a nervous chuckle. "I think it'd be kind of fun actually, can we invite the others to come too once I got the hang of it?" he asked hopefully.
"Of course, Spike," Twilight told her friend. "They deserve to learn more about different cultures too," she said with a warm smile.
"Great! I'll go tell Rarity right away," Spike said rushing for the front door.
"Hold it, Spike," Twilight called after him. She shot him a concerned look. "It's getting late, and I don't want to bother anypony right now, so let's just wait until the morning. Alright?" she suggested.
"Fine, Twilight," Spike said and then he yawned. "I am feeling kind of tired actually," he said scratching at an itch between two of his back's scales.
"It's settled then, bright and early tomorrow morning we'll explain everything to Rarity, Applejack and the others, then we can help you get ready to show off your new skills," Twilight said.
Spike frowned. "Uh, it'll take a little time to really learn how to do this, Twilight," he reminded.
"That doesn't mean we can't help you, silly," Twilight said with a friendly grin. "Besides, it's high time I told everypony about my issues with bullying and nastiness in general, I don't want to blow up like I did with Dash again to anypony else," she admitted lowering her head and expressing her regret with a forlorn and depressed gaze.
Spike nodded. Then he curled up in his bed next to Twilight's and settled down for a bit of a rest. "Good night, Twilight," he said.
"Good night, Spike," Twilight said. Sealing her letter to Bubbly in an envelope she quickly went out to make sure it was in the mailbox. And then settled in for the night next to her telescope to calm her mind and steel herself for what was to come in the morning.
To Be Continued