CHAPTER 4: FRIENDSHIP IS EVERLASTING - Part 1

Spike cleared his throat and began to read.

"My dear Twilight, there is more to a young pony's life than studying, so I'm sending you to supervise the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration in this year's location: Ponyville. And, I have an even more essential task for you to complete: make some friends!"

Twilight groaned lightly as she lay draped over the side of the chariot while the pair of Pegasus Guard pulled the chariot through the sky. Spike was reading the letter next to her with a smile on his face.

Spike turned his gaze towards Twilight. "Look on the bright side, Twilight. The Princess arranged for you to stay in a library. Doesn't that make you happy?" He asked in an amused tone.

Twilight hid her annoyance with a smile before meeting Spike's Gaze.

"Yes, yes it does. You know why? Because I'm right! I'll check on the preparations as fast as I can, then get to the library to find some proof of Nightmare Moon's return." She stated cheerfully.

Spike frowned at her. "Then... when will you make friends, like the Princess said?"

"She said to check on preparations. I am her student, and I'll do my royal duty, but the fate of Equestria does not rest on me making friends." She replied.

Twilight blinked, noticing her dragon assistant wearing steel armor from head to toe except for his helmet which he held under his arm. She arched a brow at him and pointed at said armor.

"Spike, you know you didn't have to put that on." She commented. Spike simply shrugged his shoulders at her comment.

"You never know." He simply replied.

Twilight shook her head at him.

"But, Spike. We're at a time of peace." She reminded him. "That means we don't need to worry about the dangers that plague us. Well, besides Nightmare Moon arriving soon."

"You're right, we are at peace. But peace is inside the walls of Equestria, Twilight. Not outside." Spike pointed out, lifting his head up at the clear blue sky. "You and I saw it ourselves the first time Princess Celestia brought us to the wall; it's hell out there and it's getting worse day by day."

"Well…" she glanced at the chariot's floor, frowning. "You're not wrong."

The chariot continued hovering forward in silence. It wasn't long until they arrived at their destination.

The center of Ponyville remains unchanged, as it has for many years. The vast town is adorned with numerous apartments and small houses that serve as the abodes of its equine inhabitants. The population of Ponyville comprises unicorns, earth ponies, and occasionally pegasi, totaling four thousand and five hundred.

Upon their arrival, Twilight and Spike discovered that Ponyville exceeded their initial expectations in terms of size. Nevertheless, it was still a considerable departure from their accustomed lodgings in Canterlot. The town was located on the periphery of a vast forest and was encompassed by fields and farmlands on the opposite side, with a river encircling the settlement, rendering it a semi-island.

The chariot landed and the duo hopped off. Twilight moved to the front of the chariot to talk with the Guards.

"Thank you sirs." Twilight said politely, earning a nod from both of the royal guards.

"You know, Twilight. Maybe you should at least try it." Spike suggested, glancing at her.

"Try what?" Twilight asked, looking back at the young armored drake.

"The friends thing with other ponies. Who knows, maybe they might have something interesting to say." Spike offered, gesturing to a mare walking towards them.

Twilight averted her gaze from Spike and directed it towards the mare standing before her. The mare possessed ample hips and curves, a feature that Twilight observed with keen interest, almost mistaking her for a model. The mare, though slightly plump, wore a curious expression on her face as her blue eyes scanned the duo with a somewhat vacant wonder. To describe the mare as pink would be an understatement. Her fur was pink, her mane was a darker shade of pink, the latter being curlier than anything Twilight had ever seen before. The mare donned a simple yet elegant attire, comprising a pink dress with a white undershirt and brown sandals.

"Umm hello?" Twilight offered. The mare's eyes went wide, her blue eyes shrinking to pin pricks. She sucked in a great deal of air, jumped straight up in the air, her legs akimbo and darted off in a streak. Tearing down the road before the duo could blink. Twilight was amazed that the mare's feet didn't even touch the ground until she was out of sight.

"Well, that was interesting all right." Twilight snarked.

Spike sighed. He and Twilight took a step forward.

The journey to the outskirts of Sweet Apple Acres appeared to be quite lengthy. The town was bustling with numerous ponies strolling along the busy path. Mothers were seen holding their children's hands as they passed by, while shopkeepers were heard shouting to their customers. Additionally, vendors were observed selling flowers and food, which added to the charm of the surroundings.

Ponyville has become a sanctuary for the inhabitants of the town. It is a place where numerous individuals seek solace and comfort, and where many ponies establish new connections and friendships. The pair proceeded as they exited the town hall, following the path along the bridge, past the trees, and rapidly approaching the farm of Sweet Apple Acres.

The air had felt thick between the duo. Neither of them had spoken since they had started walking. Their own hoofsteps were the only sounds that filled the air. Spike decided to break the silence once they entered through the mouth of the entrance.

"Summer sun celebration official overseers checklist." Spike muttered reading the top of it. "Number one, banquet preparations: Sweet Apple Acres."

Twilight looked around the farm. It was indeed an apple farm, though it looked like there were some cows and chickens and a bit of corn as well as other crops, though apples were the most prominent. There was a farmhouse on one side of the property with a large red barn and a number of outbuildings not far from the main gate the trio were walking through. In the distance they could see the towering barn of a neighboring farm that seemed to be focused on carrots.

"YEEHAAW!" Shouted a voice.

The duo blinked, watching as an orange Earth pony sprinted over towards a tree, her head lowered, a brown stetson planted firmly on it, and pumping her arms as she ran. She had an athletic body and wore a t-shirt revealing her muscle tone biceps. Black overalls and black work boots.

Twilight's eyes darted to her left and saw an apple tree that had a number of buckets under it. She and Spike watched the mare plant her left boot in the dirt and spun on it, lashing out with her free boot striking the tree. The hit impacted the trunk soundly making the tree shudder. As the tree shook, all of the apples that had been on said tree, save a few small green ones, fell from the tree. Landing perfectly in the buckets around it.

The freckled mare glanced at the buckets and smiled. Adopting a rather proud looking pose with her hands placed on her hips.

Spike was impressed while Twilight seemed less than thrilled.

"Let's get this over with." Twilight sighed walking towards the mare. "Good afternoon, my name is Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight winced as the mare grabbed her hand and started shaking it at rapid speed. The handshake was violent enough to lift Twilight's feet from the ground and bounce her about a bit.

"Well, howdy-doo, Miss Twilight, a pleasure makin' your acquaintance. Ah'm Applejack. We here at Sweet Apple Acres sure do like makin' new friends!" The orange mare stated proudly with a big grin on her face.

"Friends? Actually, I—" Twilight was certain that had Applejack continued to violently shake her hand, said hand along with her wrist would snap.

"So, what can ah do you for?" Applejack inquired, dropping Twilight's hand and placing her hands back on her hips as she gave a small smile. Twilight cleared her throat while ignoring her assistant's snickering.

"Well, I am in fact here to supervise preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration." Twilight adopted an official sounding tone. "And you're in charge of the food?"

"We sure as sugar are." Applejack winked. "Would yah care to sample some?"

"Well as long as it doesn't take too long..." Twilight began as Applejack dashed off.

Not long did she dash away, the ringing of a bell drew the Twilight and Spike's attention towards the farm as they heard Applejack yelling.

"SOUPS ON EVERYPONY!" Applejack cried.

The thunder of hooves sounded soon after as flooding out of the trees was a stampede of ponies bearing down on them. Before the trio could react they were caught up in the herd and dragged along though the dust and mayhem.

A moment later they felt themselves being sat down and the dust cleared showing they were at a fair sized table out in the field. In an instant Applejack popped up from nowhere.

"Now, why don't I introduce y'all to the Apple family?" She waved a hand and the duo noticed they were surrounded by rather expectant looking ponies.

"Thanks but we really need to.." Twilight began and was completely ignored.

"This here's Apple Fritter, Apple Bumpkin, Red Gala, Rhede Delicious, Golden Delicious, Caramel Apple, Apple Strudel, Apple Tart, Baked Apples, Apple Brioche, Apple Cinnamon Crisp," Applejack paused taking a deep breath."... Big Macintosh, Apple bloom, and Granny Smith."

During the introduction dishes full of food were piled higher and higher on the table until Spike couldn't even see over them. Granted Spike wasn't trying to and he was more focused on deciding what to eat first. Twilight was about to protest again when Applejack shoved an apple in her mouth, getting a laugh from both Spike and a few other Apples.

"UP AN ATTUM GRANNY SMITH, we got guests." Applejack called to an elderly green pony asleep in a rocking chair.

Granny Smith snorted as she awoke. "Wha..? Soup's on? I'm up, here I come, ahm comin'..."

Applejack turned her gaze back to Twilight with a smile. "Why, I'd say you're already part of the family!"

Twilight coughed out the remains of the apple, taking a moment to breathe. She nervously laughed as she forced a smile on her face.

"Okay, well, I can see the food situation is handled, so we'll be on our way." Twilight stated, attempting to stand up until she saw Applejack frowned.

"Aren't you gonna stay for brunch?" Asked Applejack.

"Sorry, but we have an awful lot to do..." Twilight trailed off when all of the Apple family sighed in simultaneous disappointment. Twilight sighed and glanced at the ground. "...fine."

The whole Apple family cheered, including Spike.


"Ah, alright. Food's all taken care of, next is the weather."

Spike looked over his shoulder and saw Twilight falling behind. While Spike walked ahead of her looking over the checklist, the mare was struggling with the amount of food she had eaten.

"Ugh... I ate too much pie..." Twilight groaned as she lagged behind Spike.

"Hmm, there's supposed to be a Pegasus pony named Rainbow Dash clearing the clouds." Said Spike, glancing up at the sky.

The lavender mare stopped to look up at the sky speckled with white fluffy clouds everywhere.

"Well she's not doing a very good job, is she?" Twilight grumbled before a prismatic blur slammed into her, sending her tumbling across the ground to land with a splash in an oversized mud puddle left from the last rainstorm.

A young muscular mare with a cyan coat emerged from a puddle, her body covered in mud. She possessed a striking athletic build, with a rainbow-colored mane and tail. Her attire consisted of a sleeveless black waistcoat, trimmed with crimson, which revealed her black undershirt. She wore fingerless gloves on her hands, an elastic black A-line mini skirt, and a white ankle-length sash that wrapped around her skirt. Additionally she donned bits of armor, including elaborate diamond greaves that began below her mid-thigh and continued down into her boots, as well as a pair of cuisses that started mid-thigh and ended just above her knees. Her appearance was completed by a red scarf wrapped around her neck.

Twilight groaned as the blue Pegasus sheepishly chuckled a little.

"Uh, 'scuse me….?" The muddy Pegasus muttered.

Twilight lifted her head off the muddy puddle, turning her gaze towards the cyan mare with an annoyed expression.

"Here, lemmi help you." The mare stated looking at the mud soaked Twilight before zipping off.

Spike blinked, looking up as a shadow passed over the sun and the Pegasus flew a cloud over Twilight. He stepped back out of the puddle and out from under the cloud as the Pegasus began jumping on top of it, dropping a torrential downpour on Twilight.

Twilight simply stood still, her mane covering her face. Her clothes soaked. Spike looked up as the mare leaned over the cloud looking down at the dripping lavender mare with a small chuckle.

"Oops, I guess I overdid it. Um, uh, how about this?" The mare darted down zooming around Twilight, a vortex of rainbow colored wind whipping around the lavender mare as a small tornado formed around her.

As if posing on a stage the blue Pegasus zipped off above Spike. "My very own patented rainblow dry!" The mare floated down landing lightly. "Don't thank me, you're quite welcome."

She blinked as she looked at Twilight and saw that the lavender mare's eyes narrowed and a vein popped from her temple.

The Pegasus completely lost it at the sight of Twilight's mane and tail having gone from straight and hanging over her shoulders, to having the same mass of hair piled high and twisted atop of her head. Even her tail was a curly mess that had shaped itself almost into a corkscrew.

The mare's laughter was infectious as even Spike couldn't hold back his any more.

"Let me guess." Twilight growled. "You're Rainbow Dash…"

The laughter from the mare stopped abruptly as she picked herself up. "The one and only. Why yah heard of me?"

Dash zipped back into the air hovering inches from Twilight's face with a big grin across her features.

"What I heard is that you are supposed to be keeping the sky clear." Twilight snapped before exhaling and turned to look up at her. "I'm Twilight Sparkle, and the Princess sent me to check on the weather."

"Yeah yeah. That'll be a snap. I'll do it in a jiffy." Dash waved a hoof dismissively while reclining recline on a cloud, taking a nap there. "Just as soon as I'm done practicing."

"Practicing? For what?" Twilight asked.

Rainbow Dash bolted up right on her cloud pointing a hoof at a poster on the side of a building behind the small group. "THE WONDERBOLTS! They're gonna perform at the celebration tomorrow and I'm gonna show em my stuff."

"The Wonderbolts?" Twilight repeated skeptically.

"Yup." Dash replied.

"The most talented flyers in all of Equestria?" Asked Twilight, raising an eyebrow.

"That's them!" Dash said.

Twilight scoffed. "Pfft! Please. They'd never accept a Pegasus who can't even keep the sky clear for one measly day."

Rainbow Dash glared over the edge off the cloud at Twilight. "Hey, I can clear this sky in ten seconds flat."

"Prove it." Twilight grinned back with a air of malice.

A bit taken aback by Twilight's challenge, Rainbow Dash's eyes narrowed as she launched herself from her cloud bed destroying it in the process as she tore across the sky like a rainbow hued blur dissipating clouds with hardly any effort. Twilight's mangled mane whipping about as the blur tore back and forth across the sky, the duo's heads turning to watch the mare as she zipped about.

Dash did one last loop dropping through the final cloud before landing with a grin."What did I say? Ten. Seconds. Flat. I'd never leave Ponyville hanging."

"Wow." Spike chimed up staring at the mare with awe. Even Twilight was taken aback.

"You should see the look on your face." Rainbow Dash laughed. "Ha! You're a laugh, Twilight Sparkle. I can't wait to hang out some more."

Rainbow Dash grinned and back flipped into the air shooting off into the sky.

Twilight and Spike stared where Dash had flown off in silence. After a few minutes they snapped out of their stupor and started forward to their next destination. Said destination wasn't too long to reach as the duo pushed through the doors and entered the Town Hall.

"Decorations." Spike read off the list as the two of them looked around the town hall.

Banners hung everywhere, a number of them glinting with gems. Symbols of Princess Celestia's sun dotted the area in tasteful locations that were also somehow made prominent by everything else seeming to flow towards them drawing the eye. The entire town hall was decorated in such a way that seemed to be borderline gaudy, but remained just shy of going over into too much.

"Well now." Twilight smiled.

"Beautiful." Spike chimed in.

"Yes, the décor is coming along nicely. This oughta be quick. I'll be at the library in no time. Beautiful indeed." Twilight nodded her head slowly.

"Not the décor, her!" Spike offered, his gaze locked on a figure on the other side of the hall.

At present, one may observe a white unicorn mare of immaculate appearance, who is engrossed in examining a collection of ribbons from a distance. Her purple mane and tail are expertly curled, with not a single strand of hair out of place. She is attired in the most exquisite armor, consisting of silver armor with purple linings and dark under-armor. A diamond jewelry, encircled by gold, is situated at the center of her breastplate. Her legs are adorned with steel cuisses leg armor, and her sword is neatly placed in a scabbard attached to her side.

Twilight looked at the enamored Spike and sighed. Spike for the most part was fully focused on the mare before them.

"How are my spines? Are they straight? Where's my mustache?" Spike fretted as his Twilight rolled her eyes walking forward, the young drake rushing to catch up.

"Good afternoon." Twilight began only for the mare to hold up a hoof to stop her.

"Just a moment please. I'm in the zone as it were." The white unicorn stated cycling through a number of other ribbons before selecting one coated in glitter and tying it to a pole. "Ahh YES, sparkle always does the trick. Does it not? Why Rarity, you are a talent. Now then how can I help—"

The mare yelped followed by a scream and jumped back.

"Oh my stars darling whatever happened to your coiffure?!" The white Unicorn demanded.

"Oh, you mean my mane? Well it's a long story." Twilight sighed." I'm just here to check on the decorations, and then I'll be out of your hair."

"Out of my hair? What about your hair?" The mare who called herself Rarity sounded faint. She strode forward pushing Twilight ahead of her.

"Wha? Wait where are we going!?!" Twilight protested. "Help!"

Spike eagerly followed after the mare and Twilight.

They wound up at an oddly shaped store with a sign reading Carousel boutique. The white mare had pushed Twilight inside and immediately sat her down and started working on her hair. Once that was settled the white unicorn's magic quickly started to work on playing dress up with Twilight.

"No... no... no.. nah.., too green, too poofy, too yellow, too poofy, not poofy enough, too frilly, too shiny..." Rarity muttered after each costume change. "Now go on my dear, you were telling me where you were from…"

Twilight gasped for air as Rarity did her best to tighten a corset she had put on her further, Twilight winced feeling her ribs starting to crack. Spike was still stuck on the mare.

However, there was a small part of Spike that couldn't help but notice something about this white mare. Something about the armor she wore reminded him of someone, and he wondered who. Try as he might, the cogs in his mind kept churning, trying to figure out who. But he couldn't think of anyone in particular. But even so Spike still couldn't help but feel like he's met her before. But where..?

Meanwhile, Twilight felt the pressure mounting. She felt her ribs cracking. She felt a sharp pain stab at her heart as she tried to breathe.

"I've… been sent… from …... Canterlot.. to..." Twilight hissed as she gasped.

Rarity blinked letting go of the girdle, the cord snapping forward sending Twilight crashing to the floor.

"Canterlot!? Oh I am so envious, the glamor, the sophistication. I've always dreamed of living there." Rarity practically sang. "I can't wait to hear all about it! We are gonna be the best of friends, you and I... Emeralds?! What was I thinking? Let me get you some rubies!"

Twilight watched Rarity leave the room and she immediately grabbed Spike by the arm. Sprinting towards the doors.

"Quick! Before she decides to dye my coat a new color!" Twilight insisted, exiting the shop with the young drake at her side.

The duo started to their next destination.


Spike sighed next to Twilight as they walked down a new path. The beautiful generous white mare was at the forefront of his mind; it was driving him crazy! He wanted to ask her a million questions but couldn't form a single syllable past the sudden tightening of his throat. She was like an angel when he first saw her: a shining star shining in every corner with a radiance brighter than any of the ones in the sky. He had found himself falling hard, so hard he was sure he must have been shattered at the sight. And yet, he found himself wishing that he could have stayed and talked to her.

Spike sighed in astonishment. "Wasn't she wonderful?"

Twilight turned her gaze towards Spike. "Focus, Casanova. What's next on the list?"

"Ahem, right. Uh, music! Music is the last one!" The drake announced.

Twilight's ears perked up as she searched around, zeroing in on the bird song and the duo made their way around the bushes to see what was going on.

Sitting on a tree were a multitude of brightly colored songbirds of various species, all of them singing and chirping in an impressively blended harmony.

Hovering before them with the support of her wings, conducting the bird song choir was a pale yellow Pegasus with bright pink hair that was long enough that it could have dragged along the ground if she was walking.

She was attired in a green cowl-neck sweater, a long white asymmetrical skirt, and brown sandals. Her appearance was striking in the ensemble. Despite her efforts to conceal them behind her sweater, the yellow mare's bosom would immediately catch the attention of any onlooker, as it was noticeably larger than that of the white mare and Twilight's. The weight of her twin orbs was sufficient to cause them to sag slightly, making them prominent and conspicuous. Her hips, which were suitable for childbearing, had a certain sway to them, emphasizing their curvature, while her thick thighs were noticeable beneath her skirt.

Twilight had to admit to herself that the mare before her was truly stunning. It was difficult for her to divert her gaze from the mare, and Spike was no exception. From afar, he knew nothing about her, not even her name. He held his gaze on her for a few more seconds before turning away, his cheeks flushed. Spike closed his eyes tightly, his mind racing with various thoughts that he tried to conceal within his mind.

The duo continued forward. Walking towards the yellow mare as she spoke to the birds.

"Oh my, umm.. stop a second everyone..." The mare practically whispered as she fluttered up towards a bluejay near a middle branch. "Excuse me, but, no offense, but your rhythm is just a teeny-tiny bit off."

The bluejay closed its beak and nodded as the mare fluttered away from the tree again. "Now follow me please. A one, a two, a one ,two, three—"

"Hello!" Twilight greeted as she stepped in front of the group.

One of the birds let out shrill cry which made all the others take off in a panic and made the mare whirl about with a shriek and seem to fold in on herself as she looked around for whatever started the birds. The mare remained floating in the air looking down at the duo.

"Oh my, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to frighten your birds. I'm just here to check up on the music and it's sounding beautiful." The lavender unicorn said apologetically with a smile.

Silence eroded the atmosphere until the yellow mare finally seemed to calm down and float down a bit to eye level with Twilight. An invisible wall seemed to separate the two due to the silence.

"I'm Twilight Sparkle." She took a step forward and pointed. "What's your name?"

The yellow mare glanced to the ground. "Um... I'm Fluttershy."

Her voice was quiet, almost too quiet.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Twilight asked gently.

"Um… My name… is Fluttershy." The Yellow mare repeated even more quietly.

"Still didn't quite catch that." Twilight placed her hands on her hips.

At that point, all that came out of the yellow Pegasus was a nervous squeak. The air between the pair seemed to be thickening and the two started glancing around nervously.

Finally the lavender mare spoke.

"Ahh... So.. umm.. it looks like your birds are back, so I guess everything's in order." Twilight began fiddling with her hands. "Keep up the good work!"

The yellow mare replied with another squeak. Her face hidden behind the strands of her mane.

"Oookay.." Twilight smiled awkwardly before turning her head to Spike. "Well, that was easy."

"Hold it." Spike placed his claw on Twilight's shoulder. "Let me try."

Spike stepped close to and smiled at her while raising both claws in the air.

"Hey, it's okay. You can speak normally to us if you want to." He reassured.

Fluttershy's ears twitched, and her tail flicked from side to side behind her. The pony's body language was tense, her shoulders hunched slightly, and she seemed hesitant to trust Spike completely. She stared at the drake's hand.

For a minute or two, Spike waited patiently for the mare waiting for a reaction. After a few moments of staring at Spike, Fluttershy finally found her voice.

"I'm Fluttershy." She stated.

Spike nodded. "Nice to meet you Fluttershy." Spike waves his right claw in a friendly manner. "I'm Spike: Spike the Dragon. But You can call me Spike."

Fluttershy gave him a small nod. She blinked when a shocking realization dawned on her.

"Oh my, he talks," The yellow mare gasped. "I didn't know dragons could talk. That's just so incredibly wonderful I, I just don't even know what to say!"

"Well, in that case we'd better be going." Twilight interjected as she moved to walk past Spike. The young drake followed behind.

"Wait, wait!" Fluttershy trotted up to Spike's side. "What do dragons talk about?"

Spike turned his gaze towards her and chuckled. "Well, what do you wanna know?" Spike questioned.

"Absolutely everything." Fluttershy answered eagerly.

Twilight glanced to the ground with an annoyed groan.


A/N: Star Shimmering: Hope you enjoyed the chapter my shimmerings. I thought about making all the scenes from the first episode into a full chapter but decided to break this up to parts.

Triple B Studios: Hopefully in time we'll be able to fill in the last bits into the next chapter where our main protagonist shall make his appearance to the main six and Nightmare Moon.

Star Shimmering: And though some parts in this chapter are the same as in the show's episode, we tried to make small bits of changes.

Triple B Studios: Especially Fluttershy's assets.

Star Shimmering: Oh I'm sure they've notice, Triple B. :twilightsheepish:

Triple B Studios: So have I! Oh and we also wanted to—wait! You want me to tell them? :raritywink:

Star Shimmering: No, we'll tell 'em in the next chapter.

Triple B Studios: Alright then. Welp, hope you all enjoy the chapter. Even if it's bit of a stale in one's taste.

Star Shimmering: Until then, have a good day/night my shimmerings!