A/N: I'm sorry for the delay - writer's block, other projects, and personal issues came between me and finishing this story by my self appointed deadline. One more chapter after this, then epilogue. Anyways, enjoy!
Chapter 7 – Twilight
Light was still in the sky when Ponyville erupted into celebration. Two lovers reunited in a time of separation and hate – a simple story that struck so much inspiration in the ponies of Equestria. The bonfire was lit, the games commenced, and ponies came out in droves to celebrate.
Pinkie Pie staggered into town from the train depot, the effects of the wine during the wine tasting, and the wine she managed to open during the train ride home, having taken its effects. Fluttershy had joined in drinking just a little bit, but hardly enough to feel the effects of the alcohol in her system. Pinkie Pie, on the other hoof, was carrying an empty bottle in her saddle bag, which she purchased to match her fancy outfit for the day. Or what she believed to match.
"You know, Flutters," said the mare. "I always thought…I always thought that you 'got' me."
"How do you mean, Pinkie?" asked the Pegasus, trying to keep the mare in a straight line.
"I know I act crazy sometimes," she said, her eyes going wide at the word, 'crazy', "But you're the only one who actually puts up with me! I mean, the others…they have to learn how to put up with me, but they always have a tolerance level. Like Dashie. She'll play pranks with me, but she only has so much patience for me. So she's good for pranks. And Twilight's smarty-smart-smart, but she can be a real party pooper sometimes. You shoulda seen her when she was trying to get me to explain my Pinkie Sense."
"I remember when she accepted it," Fluttershy offered.
"And Rarity, well, she has to deal with me a lot, but she doesn't GET me. YOU get me, out of all my friends."
Fluttershy counted in her head. "You forgot about Applejack."
"Did I?" Pinkie Pie said, stopping in her tracks and stomping her hoof a few times into the ground to count out how many friends she named. Then she laughed. "Oh, yeah. You know, ponies say she's a silly pony, but she's really not that silly! Not like me. But you get me," she said again. "Even when I pop out of nowhere and go SURPRISE!"
Somehow the pink mare managed to get on the other side of the Pegasus before she realized it, causing the Pegasus to startle and take cover. Pinkie Pie helped the mare up, but she was unsteady on her feet, as well, and ended up falling down, causing Fluttershy to fall on top of her. This caused Pinkie Pie to fall into a fit of giggles.
"Oh, Pinkie," Fluttershy said, helping the pink mare up. "Maybe we should get you to bed."
"Whoa!" Said the mare, putting up a hoof. "Not on a first date, sister."
"Huh?" Fluttershy turned her head to the side, confused by the response.
Pinkie Pie laughed again, "It's a bad joke, Flutters. Don't worry about it." She started off again towards the festival area, the Pegasus following close by. "You know what we should do? Oh! You know what would be so fun!" She looked at the Pegasus expectantly, but when no answer came, she gave her a quizzical look. "Well, do you?"
"Oh, you're asking me," Fluttershy said, laughing to herself. So much for 'getting' Pinkie Pie. "Well, I suppose we could…" the mare looked around before her eyes fell on the Fortune Telling booth. "We could have our fortunes told."
"Ooh!" Pinkie Pie grabbed the Pegasus, and before Fluttershy knew what had happened, they were at the booth, sitting in the chairs, an earth pony couple looking shocked as they realized the chairs they were about to sit in were taken. "We'd like our fortune told, please!"
"Uh, Pinkie," Fluttershy said. "Maybe we should wait our turns…" But the couple had already given the snub nose, and walked away. "Oh...I supposed we can go now."
The fortune telling mare, whose eyes were wide from shock at how fast her seats were taken, cleared her throat and regained her composure, before looking at her cards. "What would you like to know?" she asked.
Matching the mare's mystical voice, Pinkie Pie asked, "How many bits will this take?" Fluttershy bit back a laugh.
"Fours bits each," said the mare, holding out a hoof expectantly. Pinkie Pie paid the mare, before sitting back and giving a wink to Fluttershy. "What…about your future," the mare specified, "Would you like to know?"
"Will Flutters and I be friends forever?" At this question, Pinkie Pie pulled Fluttershy's chair close to hers and draped a foreleg around her. Fluttershy smiled to the earth pony, putting a wing around her.
The fortune teller cut her cards, shuffled them, lay them out, took them back up, shuffled them again, swatted away Pinkie's hoof when she tried to help with the shuffling, laid them back down, then asked Pinkie Pie to pick out ten cards. The mare closed her eyes and jabbed at the cards randomly, at times just poking at the table. Fluttershy had to guide her hoof back to the cards so she could jab in the correct area.
Once she had the cards, the mare put them into a spread, setting up a cross on one part of the table, and lining the four remaining cards on the other side. Pinkie Pie opened her eyes and "oohed" at the tarot spread. When finished, the mare turned over the first card.
"You are surrounded by close friends, I see, who are very important inEquestria, as well as important to you and would do anything to keep you safe. You are a very lucky mare."
"I know," said the mare, hugging the Pegasus tighter.
She flipped over the second card. "But you will have some difficulties coming up in the near future. Your situations are changing. All of you are going to be coming to a crossroads in life. You are beginning a path that will lead you to the rest of your life, and will need to have understanding of each other's situations to be able to remain strong after this big change."
"Oh, no," Pinkie Pie said.
"Its okay, Pinkie," said the Pegasus. "We've been through so much together. We can't fall apart easily. Unless you count Discord, but he was a very bad exception."
"Yes," said the mystic as she turned over the third card. "That must be the adversity I see that you faced in your recent past. But you all overcame it, and were stronger friends because of it." She turned over the fourth card. "In fact, some of your relationships brought you a lot closer than you realize, making for this large change coming up."
"What in the recent past could give us hard times ahead?" Pinkie Pie asked, her eyes wide with curiosity.
"A change in your relationships," said the mare. She flipped over the fifth card. "If you do not allow these changes to occur, then each of you will pursue your own paths, and slowly drift away from each other as your life roads lead in different directions."
"I don't think I like this idea anymore," Pinkie Pie said to Fluttershy.
"That is very unsettling," agreed the Pegasus, hugging her friend closer.
"But if you allow these changes to let you flourish, despite the difficulty it will bring, then you and your friends will only become closer by the end." The mare turned over another card, then looked to Pinkie. "You see yourself as a happy pony, and that life should be about fun and laughter, and never thought about yourself outside of this realm. You may have had difficulty recently when made to be something you did not see yourself as."
"Not following you, there, sister," said the pink mare with a frown.
"Maybe she means when you first had to babysit the twins," Fluttershy offered. "You told me you've never done something so difficult in your life, but it was all worth it."
Pinkie Pie seemed to mull that over, before nodding in satisfaction. "Okay, go on," she said.
Confused by this, the mare shook her head and continued. "So you are unsure of how you will react with such a change in you and your friend's relationships, but you have proven to yourself recently that you can be more than the summation of what you think you are. Challenge yourself to be something more than what you have thought yourself in the past to be, and you will find you can easily handle this new situation and be happier in the end."
"Okay," Pinkie Pie said, with uncertainty in her voice.
"And your friends will always be there for you, even if they don't seem like it at times."
"Well, I should hope so," said the mare, eyeing the fortune teller warily.
"You hope to stay with your friends for as long as you all should live, but your afraid of being left alone, without anypony to be there with you, and no one to share your laughter with."
"Okay, now you're creeping me out," said the pink mare, giving a toothy smile, but lacking conviction in her face to follow through with the feeling. The Pegasus hugged her closer. She knew what it was like to be afraid of something. She was afraid of everything, at times. But it was hard to think of Pinkie Pie, of all ponies, having fears like those.
"And this card," finished the tarot card reader. "Is where to look next to take you into your new direction."
"Where's that?" asked the mare.
"To somepony very close to you. And I imagine…somepony who is sitting next to you." Both mares looked at Fluttershy, who smiled with unease.
"Oh, I know Fluttershy will always be there for me," Pinkie Pie said, nuzzling the pony she was still hugging. "But what is this thing we're going to face. I mean, we've faced a lot of things in the past, but what could be so dangerous it could nearly tear our friendship apart?"
The mare didn't answer. She simply pointed at the first card. Both Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy leaned in close to get a closer look. Staring back at them was a card with two ponies, and the words underneath that said, "The Lovers."
Both Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy stared at the card, not understanding what it meant.
"So…" the earth pony said. "Two love birds are going to try and drive our friendship apart?"
The mare sighed, before holding out a hoof for Fluttershy. The Pegasus looked to Pinkie Pie, unsure of what to do, but the earth pony waved her hoof in encouragement. The mare took Fluttershy's hoof and began to read the striations on the mare's hoof. "Yes. I can see it clearly. Tonight is a night for lovers, and it is not accident you two came to me, here." Both mares stared at the fortune teller, confused. "Love will get in your way." Still confused, both ponies cocked their heads to the side at the same time. "You two are more than just friends, right?"
At this, Pinkie Pie removed her foreleg from around Fluttershy, and the Pegasus her wing from around the earth pony. They both flushed furiously. "NO!" Pinkie Pie said so vehemently, it made the fortune teller lean back. "No, no, no! We're just on a date. Together!" She yelled, as though that clarified things. But then realizing it made the fortune teller's prediction sound true, she stammered, "Uh, gee, wha…I mean-"
"It's not officially a date," the Pegasus offered. Pinkie Pie pointed boisterously to the Pegasus and nodded. "Our friends couldn't come out tonight, so we thought we would have fun. Together." Then, suddenly, it didn't sound like they were doing something as innocent as hanging out together. Wait, hanging out, there was a good term. "We're just hanging out tonight," the Pegasus finished.
The fortune teller smiled knowingly at the two. The two friends made eye contact with each other, smiled nervously, before Pinkie Pie said, "Wanna go do something else."
"Yes, please." And both mares jumped to their hooves and trotted off quickly, away from the fortune reader.
Fancy Pants and Rarity walked down the streets of Ponyville. Rarity looked around at the festivities she wouldn't normally bat an eye at, before she started to feel incredibly foolish. The hayride was being pulled past them with lovers sitting next to each other, enjoying the ride. The booths with vendors and fun little games were set up for anypony to get involved. She even caught a glimpse of her sister yelling in glee as she chased after her friends down the street. And they passed the bon fire, where the story of the day they commemorated on this festival night was being read aloud. And all of it was sooo…rustic.
"Over here is the town hall," Rarity said, looking up to the hall, in the middle of repair. "I was in charge of setting up decorations of the Summer Solstice here a few years back. It looked lovely, mind you."
"I can imagine it did," Fancy Pants said. "My, it's much quieter here than in Canterlot. Every restaurant and block try and outdo each other with music at night. Here, it's just in the one stage area, and you can walk away from it if you'd like. You can even enjoy the stars at night! The lights are so bright in Canterlot. Sometimes I wonder if Princess Luna needs to get away from the city just to raise the moon at night!"
"Or paint the stars," Rarity added. "I don't know if she does do that, actually, but when I was a filly, I used to think that Princess Celestia must have painted the night sky into being. Of course, I didn't really know about Princess Luna back then."
"Paint the stars," Fancy Pants repeated, smiling at the thought. "You truly are an artist, Rarity, to think of even the night sky as a canvas."
"Well," the mare said, smiling bashfully. "You are talking about a day when the Pegasi can change the sunset. I'm not the first pony to come up with the idea of changing celestial bodies." The two looked at each other and smiled.
Then Rarity's ears twitched as she heard familiar voices. A familiar country twang caught her ear, followed by a slightly raspy voice that she knew all too well. Over at the games area, Rarity could see Applejack and Rainbow Dash trying to get a ping pong ball in the center of a small ring in a small tub of water.
"You gotta aim it before you throw," Applejack said. "Not at the center, but just past it. These things , they don't got enough weight to them ta get to the middle."
"How do you know," Rainbow Dash said, her tongue sticking out and touching her upper lip in concentration as she aimed the ping pong ball.
"Ah used to run one of these games when a few years back to help somepony out. Now, come on. You can do it."
"Shhh," Rainbow Dash said. "You're breaking my concentration."
"Those are your friends, aren't they?" Fancy Pants asked, watching as Rarity's attention was taken away from their own conversation.
"Oh, I'm sorry," she said. "It's just I haven't seen them in a while, and I was debating with myself on whether I should say hi or…" She was interrupted by her own gasp when she noticed Rainbow Dash nuzzle Applejack, and give her a kiss on the cheek, causing the earth pony to blush incredibly red. "Oh, my, goodness! Hide me! They can't know that I know!" With that, she ran behind Fancy Pants, peered out from around his neck.
The Stallion was quiet for a moment, before he erupted into laughter. "Oh," Rarity said, though still hiding. "Well, now I feel silly."
"It's the most entertaining thing I've seen in a while," Fancy Pants said, still chuckling.
Rarity blushed. "Well, you don't have to laugh at me."
Letting his chuckles subside, a mirthful smile on his face, he cleared his throat before turning to the mare. "I'm sorry. It was rude, I know, but I'm not laughing at you as much as I'm laughing at how entertaining it all is."
Rarity looked back to the mares, who didn't seem to notice her as they put their concentration back on the game. "What's entertaining?"
"Well, Canterlot ponies wouldn't allow themselves to have such strong reactions to anything as though their life depended on it…though I suppose they believe their social lives do. But you've always let your personality shine," he said. "I noticed it that first meeting, at the Wonderbolt's Derby." Rarity was taken aback by the comment. She always TRIED to act with class and dignity, but she certainly hadn't tried to hold back her enthusiasm for the outcome of the Derby. And just because she didn't agree with Fancy Pants on who would win the Derby like everypony else did, she didn't realize how dangerous speaking her mind could be to her social status if they didn't agree with her. Still, she was a Ponyville pony, come-what-may, and she would probably never stop her strong personality from rearing its head even an inopportune times.
But rather than be flattered by the comment, Rarity logged it into her mind about things she found curious about this pony she called her date.
Taking advantage of the moment of silence, Fancy Pants asked, "Now, should we sneak away before your friends see you, or did you have something else in mind?"
"Well, we certainly don't have to SNEAK awa—they're looking this way! Go, go go!" Hurried by his date, Fancy Pants trotted away quickly as Rarity hid behind him.
Twilight Sparkle opened up a book, showing it to Big Macintosh. She had all but forgotten about the festival, though he did bring the food cart through the library doors, as it just barely fit. They were now eating pastries and sharing stories. Though most of the stories came from the unicorn mare.
"Can you read that?" she asked. The book was written in some sort of ancient Equestrian language, and Big Macintosh gave the mare a frown. "I know, right? I didn't even know Equestria had such a language until this book." she said, laughing. "I was expected by my instructor to not only have this book read, but to be able to memorize three spells by the time summer solstice came about. I told him I didn't read any ancient languages, but he insisted I should know these things.
"Well, Princess Celestia could see I was stressed out during one of her lessons, and I explained to her what was wrong, and she was sooo mad at my teacher. Apparently, he expected since I knew so many spells that the Princess had taught me, most of which couldn't be found in most modern day books, that I must have been lying about my abilities so he would go easier on me. I can only imagine what the Princess said to him to make him apologize to me so profusely."
Big Macintosh gave a gentle smile. "Ah'm sure any talkin' to the Princess would give would be frightenin''."
"Well, that's true," the unicorn said, placing the book on a table.
"Shouldn't you put that back?"
"Huh?" Twilight Sparkle looked at the book. She had never been chided by anypony but Spike about putting books back where she found them. That was his job, after all. The unicorn frowned, but put the book back where she thought she got it from.
"One over," said the stallion.
"What?"
"Ya got the book from one over," he said. He ambled up to the book shelf and pointed at where the book came from. Unamused, Twilight Sparkle replaced the book where it belonged. The stallion nodded in satisfaction before walking back to the middle of the room. "Y'know, Ah've met the Princess before?"
"Really?" asked the unicorn, trotting up to the stallion. "She's been to town a few times, but last time she was in town, you didn't come to the party. Applejack did, though."
"Well, she's sumthin' special. Ah ain't," Big Macintosh said.
"That's not true, of course you're something special," the unicorn protested.
The stallion looked off to the side and smiled. "Ah'm not like you and your friends," he clarified.
"Oh," Twilight Sparkle said, blushing slightly. Of course, he wasn't an element of harmony. She really didn't need to be so adamant about her position. Clearing her throat, she asked, "So, where did you meet her?"
"E'vry once in a while, we get an order from Canterlot when their supply runs short. It don't happen often, but e'vry so often. The Princess was ridin' through town, and she thanked me fer the apples."
"That seems like something she would do," the mare nodded.
"But Ah don't think she knew what to do with me," he said
"How so?"
"Well, You mighta noticed Ah don't talk much." Twilight gave the stallion a look, and he smiled. "But the Princess can talk a lot. Ah was nervous, Ah barely spoke."
"Hmm," said the mare. "I wonder what you look like nervous."
"Pro'bly something like this," he said. There was no change in his demeanor. Not sure if that was a joke, Twilight let a small smile creep across her face, until the two started to laugh. "Ah'm sure you're not nervous 'round the princess."
Twilight snorted. "Ask any of my friends. They'll tell you differently." The stallion gave her a quizzical look. "I may have known her since I was a filly, I may have studied under her tutelage, and I may have accidentally walked in on her once her during her bath time…and don't ask me to clarify that, I don't know why I mentioned it just now…but there are still things about her that terrify me. I mean, she's the RULER of EQUESTRIA. She raises the sun everyday!"
Big Macintosh smiled.
"What?"
"Ah used to think very differently of you," he said.
"Let me guess," she said, "Stuck up Canterlot girl who could call on mommy Celestia whenever she felt wronged? You wouldn't be the first."
"No," he said. "You were Princess Celestia."
Twilight Sparkle smiled. "Yes, I can see how you would get us confused," she said in a dry voice.
"You were…" he stopped for a moment to think of a word. "Unreachable."
The mare went quiet for a moment, not sure how to take that comment. Then her mind went to what she had just mentioned about what how well she knew Princess Celestia, and the thought of Big Macintosh walking in on her during her bath time popped into her head, and the mare snorted a laugh at the thought. At the confused look she was given, she tried to stop laughing, but suddenly she started taking all the memories of her and the princess, and replaced them with her and Big Macintosh, and she started laughing more.
"I'm sorry!" she said when her laughter calmed down. "It's just…images in my head." She laughed a little longer, enduring the increasing annoyance of the stallion across from her, before she managed to calm down enough and try to explain why she was laughing so hard. At hearing some of the explanations, the stallion went from annoyance to embarrassment. After the mare calmed down, she took a deep breath and smiled. "Am I reachable now?" she asked.
"Well," he said, "Now you remind me of a friend mah sister used to have."
"Is she reachable?" Twilight Sparkle asked, putting her hoof out in question.
"Not quite," he said.
"Oh," the mare frowned. "Why not?"
"She's the one who broke my Smart Pants doll."
"Oh," Twilight said, feeling uneasy. "I promise I won't do that."
"Ah know," he said. "You're better than her, already."