A lone mare strolled down the street of ponyville she looked nothing out of the ordinary, just a regular earth pony. She had a jet black mane a dark blue coat and grey hooves. The equestrian continued her trek until she saw the target she was after.

"ah sweet apple acres! Perhaps applejack can help me." She sighed, a tear fell from her face. The earth pony approached the orange mare and bowed.

"uh howdy, miss. Can I help you?" Applejack asked.

"actually I am here to help you." Aqua replied

"Uh, no thanks, have to do the harvest." The apple mare refused politely.

"well…. actually the truth is…. I have a lot on my chest that I need to relive. In exchange for someone to talk to. Perhaps I could help you in your chores." Aqua offered. Applejack saw sorrow and pain in aqua's light lavender eyes. She was alone, she was scared. She was desperate . Applejack couldn't say no to such a troubled soul.

"of course you can help, sugar cube" the farmer mare said with a wink. The other pony lowered her head in despair. applejack decided to take a risk and she tenderly wrapped her hooves around Aqua.

"aaw, come on sugar cube I'll do everything in my power to help you with whatever is eating you." The orange earth pony soothe, using her hoof to gently wipe a stray tear from Aqua. The latter smiled.

"thank you applejack. Ponies have a tendency to judge me before they even know me." The blue earth pony sighed.

"well here we judge by what's on the inside, sugar cube. Now help me buck those there apples!" The farmer pony replied. Aqua nodded and began to slam her back hooves into the trees. The apples all dropped as applejack scrambled to scoop them up. The black maned mare cut the time needed for applejack's chores by half.

"thank you kindly aqua. It was a real treat to have met you. Is there anything else you wanna tell me sugar cube?" The orange pony asked.

"I ponies judge me by my….. by something that has always set me apart. Because of it, I am never looked at as a pony, but as something different. I just want to be seen as just a normal pony. A pony first." Aqua sighed as she silently walked away.

Sometime later, Aqua heard a soft whimper from a nearby bush. The earth pony gently moved the shrubbery to find a light yellow pegasi with a pink mane.

"You must be fluttershy. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you" Aqua soothed as she gently nuzzled the pegasus, coaxing her out of the bush.

"hello I was just on my way to the forest for the bunny census. where we count all the new baby bunnies!" Fluttershy greeted.

"that sounds like fun. May I please come with you? I promise I won't be a burden!" Aqua pleaded. Fluttershy nodded.

Aqua was a silent as a lamb as they numbered every last bunny in the forest.

"oh my little bird friends!" Fluttershy squeaked as she began to vocalize, the birds followed her lead.

"how beautiful! fluttershy" The blue earth pony cheered softly so as to not startle the bird. aqua looked at the pegasus with interest. "Fluttershy, I have been wondering something about you." Aqua began. Fluttershy whimpered in fear and listened intently.

"are you ticklish?" The earth pony asked.

"Oh yes I'm very ticklish on my belly and my neck. My parents loved to tick- um why?" Fluttershy asked. Her eyes widened as Aqua gently but firmly pinned her to the ground, she rubbed her hooves all over fluttershy's stomach. Turning the poor pegasus into a squealing, giggling, laughing mess. Eventually she let the little mare go, gave her a hug, and disappeared as soon as she came.

An hour or so after that, she noticed a blue pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail. Beside her, was a pink earth pony with blue eyes. Both of the mares were hiding behind a bush.

"Shhhh be quiet pinkie pie!" The pegasus hushed the earth pony. The two mares snickered as the placed a Bit coin on the end of a string and a fishing rod, and cast it. One of the bypassing ponies noticed the golden coin.

"SCORE!" The stallion yelled, he reached at the coin with his hoof but it miraculously dodged just out of reach. He took a step and attempted another grab but to no avail. After several minutes he finally put two and two together.

"alright very funny rainbow Dash" He chuckled as he walked away. Rainbow and pinkie nearly jumped as they heard a laugh from behind them. They whizzed around to find Aqua giggling.

"As long as nopony get's hurt or offended, I love a good prank!" The black maned mare squeaked. Rainbow smiled and stretched out her front hoof to shake. The earth pony gleefully grasped it with her own, only to be harmlessly buzzed by a joy buzzer. Aqua fell apart in a fit of giggles.

"hey wanna join us in some pranks?" Pinkie pie offered. Aqua nodded, introducing herself. The three mares laughed a decent chunk of the day away, pulling harmless jokes on other ponies.

"wow Aqua! you're a fun pony to hang out with. uh.. Aqua?" Rainbow sharply turned around to find that Aqua vanished. As Aqua slipped away from the two pranksters. She smiled and sighed.

"I have never felt so alive!" The blue pony squealed in delight. She notice a boutique, and decided to visit Rarity. As the door bell tingled the white unicorn gracefully waltzed up to Aqua.

"welcome to Carousel Boutique! Where every Garment is chic, unique, and magnifique. How can I help you sweetie?" Rarity asked politely.

"actually I know this will sound odd, but could I please help you make an outfit? I know it may sound unprofessional.. but I really would like to try it" Aqua pleaded, a hint of begging and sorrow in her voice. Rarity's heart melted. This earth pony was clearly troubled, and if letting her help make a dress would improve her mood, rarity could never say no.

"certainly sweetie" Rarity answered. Aqua began to sow the sequence onto a marvelous dress with a stunning hat with dazzling Diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and sapphires. Rarity simply stood slack jawed at the creation aqua produced.

"it's amazing darling!" Rarity squealed. Aqua simply blushed.

"well.. i guess you could say that I actually had a long life to try out many new things." Aqua smiled as she exited the store.

"one last place to visit." The earth pony smiled as she approached a large treehouse. She gently but firmly tapped her hoof on the door. A voice could be heard from inside.

"what if I don't pass the test! what if the Princess sees me fail? what if- oh?" an alicorn opened the door to reveal herself as twilight sparkle.

"hello twilight, um… may I come in?" The earth pony asked. Twilight nodded and lovingly guiding her in.

"how can I help miss?" Twilight smiled.

"hello, my name is Aqua.. I couldn't help but hear you worrying about the princess. You're her pupil! I remember overhearing it. I may not know everything, but I do know that even if you were to fail, she would always want to be your teacher." Aqua soothed.

"H-how do you know?" Twilight asked.

"call it a hunch" The earth pony chuckled with a wink. Before walking outside quietly. She sighed sadly.

"I guess that's it then. My day is over. It's time to go home. Oh well. It was fun while it lasted." Aqua sniffled as she looked at the sky sadly, a familiar voice shot her out of her thoughts.

"and just where do you think you're off to, sugar cube?" Applejack teased.

"wherever you're going" rainbow dash blurted with a gutsy flair.

"We would love to see you again" Fluttershy whispered.

"To play to party!" Pinkie squealed.

"your outfit was simply marvellous." Rarity gushed.

"I'm so sorry. I never knew you felt the way you did. All you ever wanted was to mingle and make friends with other ponies just like I do. But whenever you came, ponies were intimidated by you, they were always cold, distant and awkward. We all promise to treat you as a pony first. Just like a normal pony. But everypony is special and we realize that now. You are your own pony, you deserve to be treated as such. We will never be distant to you" Twilight assured.

"Now let's go get us some cider!" Rainbow dash cheered. They did just that and they gathered in Twilight's treehouse for a sleepover. As they snuggled into each other Aqua sighed sadly.

"Thank you everypony. But if you knew my secret, you would not be so forward with me"

"well if you say so aqua. But I have one question for you" Applejack said.

"Yes?" Aqua asked.

"..., we made a promise, why are you still using that silly disguise?" Applejack asked with a wink. "aqua" Smiled as her coat melted away. The ponies all fell into a deep slumber, "aqua" now gone. In her place, Celestia in the center.

author's notes

to make a little more sense of this, this chapter was heavily inspired by "a bird in the hoof" as I watched it, I thought to myself "Is celestia lonely because of her position? everypony acted like she was the grim reaper when she visited, it has to get old after a while, wouldn't she want to just have a CASUAL friendly get together with her friends?"