My Little Pony Friendship is Magic: Friendship Warriors
A/N: Sorry that I'm posting a bit later then usual, but I had a busy morning. Anyway, time for the next chapter and for Sarah to meet the other ponies.
Read, review, and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from My Little Pony: Magic is Friendship. I just own any and all characters that I just happen create.
CHAPTER TWO: FRIENDS AND PARTY
After Sarah put her luggage in her room, which she loved since it had bookshelves for her books, a desk, a wardrobe, a bed, several lamps, and she liked the apple pattern on the furniture, too, she and Twilight Sparkle left the library so that she could become familiar with Ponyville.
"And this is the Starlight Apothecary," Twilight Sparkle said as they walked up to a building that was painted a tasteful tan color with a midnight blue roof inlaid with silver shingles, midnight blue framed the windows, the door was also midnight blue with a silver inlaid door handle, and in midnight blue planters on either side of the doorway were all kinds of flowers that helped brighten up the place even more. Hanging above the doorway was a brand new midnight blue sign that had Starlight Apothecary written across it in silver paint and it was lined with white diamonds.
"Wow, and your sister lives here?" Sarah asked, impressed as they entered the shop and she took in the interior: the walls were painted a silvery white color that made the main floor seem bigger, and the counter and shelves were all painted a light blue with small fairy lights lining them so that one could easily read the contents of the glass containers that held all the various ingredients needed to make the various potions and remedies needed. The large window frames were painted a light blue and had midnight blue drapes that were inlaid with silver thread and white diamonds. The floor wasn't painted, but it did have light blue rugs scattered about that were designed so that the ponies wouldn't accidentally slip or trip on them. Hanging from the ceilings were three large diamond encrusted chandeliers that made it possible to see everything at night.
The purple unicorn nodded. "Yep, Sunrise moved to Ponyville five years before I did to take over the running of the Apothecary at the request of Mayor Mare and Princess Celestia," she explained, heading toward the back to her sister's workroom. "It used to be run by the Star family, but the only surviving family member is Shadow Star, and she nearly ran the place into the ground before it was discovered that she was practicing dark magic."
"I've heard the reports about her," Sarah recalled. "She's still on the run isn't she?"
Twilight Sparkle nodded grimly. "Unfortunately, she is," she confirmed. "I've only ran into her once and that's a story I rather not get into right now." She then became cheerful and pushed the door to the workroom open. "Hey, Sunny, I-"
BOOM!
An explosion knocked Sunrise Blossom out of the room and into the two ponies, sending them tumbling across the floor as black smoke floated out of the room. "Ugh, that's the last time I try to combine vinegar with dragon scales," she complained, sitting up and flushed when she saw her twin and the red unicorn. "Oh, sorry, Twi!" she apologized, using her magic to clean them of the soot and restore her workroom. "Once again, sorry about that."
"Don't worry about it, Sunrise Boom," Twilight Sparkle said teasingly, earning a chuckle from her sister, and she then introduced the red unicorn. "Sunrise, this is Sarah Quartz. Sarah, this is my twin sister, Sunrise Blossom."
"A pleasure to meet you, Sunrise," said Sarah. "So, why did Twilight just call you Sunrise Boom?"
Sunrise Blossom chuckled. "It's a nickname since I still tend to accidentally blow myself up when trying out new potions," she explained. "When we were fillies, some of our classmates tried to bully me by calling me Sunrise Boom, but I turned their attempt on its head when I decided that I liked the nickname."
"And a good way to stand up to the bullies," Sarah added, earning nods of agreement from the twins. "So, what's it like living in the Apothecary?" she inquired, and the twins gave her a tour of the place while the orange unicorn shared some of her experience of running the shop.
When the tour was done, Twilight Sparkle took Sarah to visit Sweet Apple Acres and meet the Apple family, plus deliver some special potions that the family needed to deal with pests since Sunrise Blossom needed to finish some big orders to send on the train to places like Canterlot, Appleloosa, and Manehatten.
"Now that's a lot of apple trees," Sarah commented upon seeing the vast apple orchards that extended into the distance and out of sight. "But, why do they have dead trees over there?" she asked, waving a hoof at a patch of seemingly dead trees not far from the barn.
"Those trees aren't dead," Twilight Sparkle explained. "They're Zap Apple trees and they only produce zap apples once a year and only for 24 hours."
"Ah, so that's where Zap Apple Jam comes from," said the red unicorn, impressed. "My parents practically raised me on the stuff."
"It is popular," the purple unicorn agreed as they entered the yard. "Almost as popular as Apple Family apple cider they sell during cider season."
Sarah nodded and looked around at the farm, enjoying the openness of the countryside, and jumped when she heard a thudding sound from among the trees. "What the-?"
"Come on."
The two unicorns walked through the orchards, following the thudding sounds until they reached a section of trees, where Applejack and Big Macintosh were busy bucking apples out of the trees and into baskets.
"What are they doing?" Sarah asked, staring as the siblings slammed their back legs into the trees, and the apples dropped into the baskets… well, most of them went into the baskets while a few did land on the ground.
"They're doing apple bucking, which is their way of getting the apples out of the trees," Twilight Sparkle explained and then greeted the two Earth ponies when they finished their bucking. "Applejack, Big Mac, I would like to introduce you both to Sarah Quartz."
Applejack came over and shook hooves with the red unicorn while Big Mac nodded his greeting. "Hi there, Miss Sarah," she said. "Welcome to Sweet Apple Acres."
"Thanks, and these are impressive apple trees," Sarah complimented.
Applejack beamed. "Thank you, kindly." And she gave the red unicorn a tour of the farm.
After having lunch with the Apple family, where Sarah was somewhat embarrassed when Granny Smith decided to have her be a member of the family from that point on, she and Twilight Sparkle returned to the town to resume the tour and meet the other ponies.
Rainbow Dash was supervising the removal of unscheduled rain clouds when she heard her name and looked down to see Twilight Sparkle waving up to her.
"I'll be right back," she told the three pegasi, who nodded, and she flew down to greet her friend and met the red unicorn standing next to her. "Hey, Twilight, whose this?" she asked.
"Rainbow, this is Sarah Quartz, my new roommate," said the purple unicorn happily. "Sarah, this is Rainbow Dash, who helps keep Ponyville weather nice for important events." 'When she isn't goofing off or napping.'
Sarah shook the blue pegasus hoof. "Pleasure to meet you, Rainbow," she said. "Twilight told me that you're a big fan of the Wonderbolts."
"I sure am," Rainbow Dash replied, grinning. "And both Twilight and Sunrise were telling me yesterday that you were inspired to be a writer by the author of the Daring Do books."
Sarah nodded. "Yep, and I even got to meet her once at a Daring Do event," she added. "She was doing a panel and giving advice of how to write what you feel instead of what other ponies want, and she even signed my first edition copy of her first book."
"That is so cool!" the blue pegasus exclaimed. "You and I are definitely are going to be good friends, Sarah."
"I think we'll be good friends, too."
The next stop on the tour was Carousel Boutique, and Sarah had some mixed feelings about going into the shop since she wasn't big on wearing dresses, but Twilight Sparkle assured her that Rarity wasn't the type of pony to force somepony into something that didn't fit their own personal tastes.
"You should see the outfits she made for all of us when we attended the Grand Galloping Gala last year," said Twilight Sparkle as they entered the boutique, where they saw that the grey unicorn was busy selling a dress to a client. "Rarity always takes in account what ponies like or don't like when she designs a new outfit, and Applejack still wears hers for special occasions."
"If you say so," said Sarah, still unconvinced while looking around at the interior of the shop. 'Still, this is 100 times nicer then some of the shops back in Las Pegasus where you get dragged in by the mangers to buy an outfit even if you're not interested,' she thought.
Rarity thanked the pony with the request to come back, and she greeted the two unicorns. "Hello, Twilight, and who is this?" she inquired.
"Rarity, this is Sarah Quartz, my new roommate," Twilight Sparkle informed the grey unicorn.
"Oh, what an honor to meet you finally, Miss Sarah," Rarity said graciously. "Twilight told me about you and I do hope you like the drapes I made for your room."
"You did a wonderful job on the drapes," Sarah assured her, and she had liked the sky blue drapes that had silvery white clouds patterns on them.
Rarity beamed and gave them a tour of her boutique, introducing the red unicorn to Opalescence, who was on her best behavior, and she did manage to convince the red unicorn to try on a few dresses that even Applejack would approve of since they weren't too over the top. Sarah promised to consider getting some of the outfits at a later date, and the grey unicorn approved.
"Why do I have this feeling that Rarity is going to overhaul my wardrobe when I'm not looking?" Sarah wondered as she and Twilight Sparkle headed for the home of Fluttershy.
"If Rarity does that, just thank her," Twilight Sparkle advised. "She does it once a year to the rest of us, even to Rainbow Dash and Applejack, and we've accepted the fact that if she's going to be that gracious with her work and time, it's best just to let her do it."
Sarah snickered. "I'm guessing that you learned this the hard way," she guessed and her friend nodded, flushing a little. "So, tell me about Fluttershy. Does she really have a lot of animals living with her?"
"Most of the animals live outside the house," the purple unicorn corrected her a little. "But a certain number do live inside her house, including a white bunny name Angel. I should warn you that Fluttershy is really shy and easily startled, although she's improved somewhat since I first met her last year when I moved to Ponyville."
"I can't wait to meet her."
When the two ponies arrived at the house, Fluttershy was outside and helping some birds fix their nests in one of the trees when she heard Twilight Sparkle call out to her. "I'll be right back," she promised the birds and flew down to the two unicorns.
"Hello, Twilight," said the yellow pegasus and looked shyly at the red unicorn. "Is she your new roommate?" she asked politely and softly.
"Yup, this is Sarah Quartz," Twilight Sparkle replied, beaming.
"Twilight tells me that you're really good with animals, Fluttershy," said Sarah and Fluttershy perked up. "Care to tell me a bit about what kind of animals you have living around here?" she requested.
Fluttershy agreed and they spent several hours getting to know some of the newer animals and had tea together.
"And here's our last stop, Sugarcube Corner," Twilight Sparkle announced as they approached the bakery. "I know you've already met Pinkie Pie, but I think you'll like Mr. and Mrs. Cake, plus their babies," she added.
"I'm sure I will," Sarah agreed and they stopped short when the door banged open and the pink pony rushed out with her forelegs full of party supplies that she loaded into her party wagon.
"Hey, guys!" Pinkie Pie said, grinning at them. "I'll see you both at town hall for the welcome party. Gotta dash!" And she hurried off.
Sarah watched her leave and swallowed, not overly keen on the party, and turned to the purple unicorn. "I'm not so sure about this party business," she admitted. "Parties are one of the reasons why I chose to move here."
"Don't worry, Pinkie is good at throwing parties that fit for the pony they're meant for," Twilight Sparkle assured her. "And I explained what you like and don't like, so it'll be the kind of party you'll enjoy, I promise."
'Maybe,' Sarah thought as they entered the shop, and her doubts were pushed aside as she got to know Mr. and Mrs. Cake, and their babies Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake, who she considered to be some of the cutest babies she'd ever seen other then her own nieces and nephews.
Despite Sarah's misgivings about the party, when she and Twilight Sparkle arrived at town hall later that day, she found that Pinkie Pie had set up the event that it was fun and not over the top like the kind of parties thrown constantly in Las Pegasus, and she actually enjoyed herself for a change. Sarah got to meet the rest of the ponies who called Ponyville home, and heard all kinds of stories.
Sarah was chatting with Sunrise Blossom and helping herself to some punch when she saw Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were bullying Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo near one of the games by not letting them have a turn.
'No way am I going to let any fillies get bullied at a party,' Sarah thought, setting aside her cup and headed over to the fillies, surprising the orange unicorn, who hurried after her.
"Blank flanks shouldn't even be allowed to attend parties, much less play the games," Diamond Tiara teased the Cutie Mark Crusaders, smug since she could see that Sweetie Belle was on the verge of tears. She was going to say more when a shadow fell over her, and she looked up into the angry face of the red unicorn.
"Excuse me," Sarah said coldly. "Seeing how this is my welcoming party, I say that they can play whatever games they want, whether they have a cutie mark or not. Now, get!" And the two fillies bolted.
"Whoa," said Apple Bloom. "You really made them run."
Sarah sighed, rubbing her forehead with one hoof. "I shouldn't have snapped like that," she admitted. "But I just can't stand bullies. I bet I'm gonna get an earful from their parents before too long."
"You might from Silver Spoon's parents," said Sunrise Blossom, glancing over where the two fillies were complaining to their parents, "and Diamond Tiara's mom, but this isn't the first time that those two fillies have been taught a lesson about being kind to others, and if you watch, you can see that Filthy Rich is already scolding his daughter for being rude."
Sarah chuckled in spite of herself. "I'm guessing that isn't the first time he's had to do that," she remarked and both the orange unicorn and the Cutie Mark Crusaders agreed. "So, I've been hearing that you three have your own club and are working on earning your cutie marks," she said to the fillies. "How's that going?"
Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle all grinned, and they shared their stories with the red unicorn.
By the time that the party had started winding down, Sarah was seated at a table with the Mane Seven, who had been sharing with her about their adventures and the friendship lessons that they've been learning, and she had been writing all of the stories down.
"These are some of the most amazing stories I've ever heard," Sarah remarked, having finished writing down about their adventure in stopping the Flower of Eternal Rest. "Especially that some legends are real and not made up."
"Yup, finding out that darn Flower was real, was a shock to the system," Applejack agreed and yawned. "I don't know about you all, but I'm beat, and I best get Apple Bloom home since it's past her bedtime and she does have school tomorrow."
Rarity nodded. "Yes, it is getting late, and we all could use some beauty sleep."
Saying goodnight to each other, the eight ponies parted way with Rainbow Dash making sure that Scootaloo made it home, and Sarah headed back to the library with Twilight Sparkle, who was carrying a sleeping Spike on her back.
A/N: I hope you all enjoy this chapter and I will see you all again on Thursday! Bye for now! R&R everyone!