The train made another stop.  Twilight silently, nervously hoped no one getting on here would sit next to her.

She glanced out the window at the platform.  Only a few ponies were out there.  Meanwhile, there were at least five seats completely empty in this cart alone.  Twilight let out a sigh of relief.  It looked very unlikely that anyone would sit by her now.

Twilight glanced towards the aisle out of the corner of her eyes to see a yellow pegasus mare passing by, one wearing an octopus plushy on her head like it was a hat.  The moment that pegasus came into Twilight's line of sight, it was like she was stepping over a trip wire.  She froze, mid step with one hoof still raise and turned her head in Twilight direction.

Twilight snapped her eyes back to her book and pretended to read.  Before Twilight even got the chance to hope, the pegasus made it clear she was going to sit next to Twilight, throwing some of her luggage in the compartment above the seats.  Twilight moaned internally as she listened to the pegasus rustle through one of her bags, unpacking things.

It couldn't have been more than fifteen second before Twilight glanced back at her, and yet she'd already settled in, unpacked a dozen or so stuffed animals and set them all around her.  Of note was a huge stuffed turtle, resting between the edge of her seat and the back of the one in front of them, making escape impossible, and a purple octopus the pegasus had placed on her head like a hat.

The pegasus turned to Twilight and gave a warm smile.  There was something strange about this pony.  Twilight found herself unable to look away the moment she saw that smile.  Or maybe 'didn't want to' was a better phrase.  She was just really pretty, to the point Twilight found herself staring, studying her every feature out of curiosity more than anything else.

But then the pegasus grabbed one of her plushies, a stuffed cat, and slowly pushed it over to Twilight, moving it up and down like it was hoping towards her.  When the cat was right next to Twilight's cutie mark, the pegasus tiled its head up to look at her.

Oh boy.  Twilight was sitting next to a crazy pony, wasn't she?

“Do you want one?”  She asked.

“W-wuh?”  Twilight stared at her.  How was any sane pony supposed to react in this situation?

“A stuffed animal, I mean.”  She held the cat up and gave it a little shake.  “I have tons of these.  I'd give you any of the ones here if you want, except the one on my head.  Octomus is my second favorite.”

“No thank you.”  Twilight muttered.  She did that more than she cared to admit.

Twilight really hoped this pony wouldn't be next to her the whole way.  She glanced up at the board that stated the next stop.  Twilight never heard of 'Davus Town' but hoped this pony was going there.  That sounded like the name of a town ponies like this would live in.

“Um.  Er... Where are you going?”  Twilight made herself smile, though the smile was probably so forced and big that you'd think she was the crazy one.

“Ponyville,” she said.

Argh!  That was where Twilight was going!

“You're going to Ponyville too, right?”

Twilight blinked.

“H-how did you...?”

The pegasus pointed at a little ticket stub on the rack above.  Twilight just now noticed this must be a system for marking where each passenger was supposed to be going.

“I travel on the train a lot.  My name's Fluttershy, by the way,” said Fluttershy.  “I actually live in Ponyville.  Why are you headed there?  You look like you're staying for a while.”

Fluttershy looked over all of Twilight's luggage.  Twilight had managed to get everything she owned into these boxes and bags, or at least everything she cared to save.  She'd sold off most of the things in her parents house, it would be just too expensive to move everything, save her book collection and some essentials.  She'd have to get a bed once she'd gotten to Ponyville.

As for why she was moving into Ponyville.

“I don't really want to talk about it.”  Twilight turned back to the window, but she could feel Fluttershy looking at her.

It wasn't even the normal way you felt somepony's stare, it was somehow so much stronger.  Try as she might, Twilight couldn't ignore it, couldn't even get it out of her head.  Twilight glanced back, feeling like she didn't really have a choice in the matter.

Fluttershy gave her a little smile.  There was just something about that smile, about Fluttershy.  She was just so cute somehow.  Twilight couldn't help but soften her expression a little, feeling some of her tension relax.  Maybe it was being surrounded by all those cuddly animals or something?

“Are you upset about something?”  Fluttershy asked.

“M'fine,” Twilight mumbled.

“You know, when I'm feeling sad I just buy more stuffed animals until I feel better.”  Fluttershy grabbed the arms of one of her toys and made it do a little dance.  “Though I guess that doesn't work for most ponies.”

It's not like Twilight would be talking to a pony much more than this normally, but with this pony there just didn't seem to be any sensible responses to make.

“But if you're going to be staying in Ponyville long, I have to warn you about something.”  Fluttershy held up another one of her plushies and gave it a shake.  “Recently a dreadstalker's been in the woods nearby.  I don't know if you've ever heard about those before but they're like giant spiders.  They have a tendency to rip open your rib cage and bit onto your heart to suck out all the blood, so you know, they're kind of dangerous.”

“A dreadstalker?”  Twilight did know what that was, she'd read all about them in 'The World's Most Dangerous Arachnids'.  “But shouldn't we be too far north for one of them to be here?  I didn't think Ponyville was that far south.  If I'm not mistaken, those are native to the Zevar jungles south of the badlands and they're supposed to need lots of humidity to live.”

“Ah!  You do know about them,” said Fluttershy.  “Well yes, normally that is true, but during particularly hot summers sometimes they wander way up north.  Once they get here they can last all the way until fall before freezing.”

“But this summer wasn't hot,” said Twilight.  “At least it wasn't in Canterlot.”

“It wasn't in Ponyville either.”  Fluttershy frowned for the first time.  “It's very strange, actually.  But anyway, the important thing to know is that dreadstalkers are very dangerous.  You should try not to go outside at night alone.”

“Right.”  Twilight nodded, that did make sense given what she knew about dreadstalkers.  “Because dreadstalkers only talk solitary prey and while their special chitin makes them invisible it also decomposes rapidly in ultraviolet light, making them incapable of going out during the day.”

“That's exactly right.”  Fluttershy nodded.  “You know must know a lot about dangerous animals.”

Twilight's ears twitched.  Normally, when she started 'lecturing', reciting facts like this, other ponies would just turn off.  Either they'd be polite and give Twilight a thousand mile gaze or mock her for being a 'nerd'.

“I know I don't look it, but my job is actually to deal with dangerous animals.”  Fluttershy ruffled through her stuffed animals until she found a mantis and held that up to Twilight.  Apparently, that was her most dangerous one.  “I'm actually coming back from an expedition in the east Equestrian island.  I discovered a new species of giant mantis that doesn't even have a name yet.  Do you want to hear about it?  It hunts by sending out these tiny mites that crawl into your ears and devour your brain.”

An actually interesting subject?  Twilight wasn't about to let that one go.

“Yes!”  Twilight nodded quickly.  “I would love to hear about that!”

Maybe this train ride wouldn't be so bad.

And then the conversation took a turn for the worse.  Twilight stared out the window mournfully, watching the bright, sunny day roll by, mocking her.

It had been great for a while, Twilight got to hear so many new facts and Fluttershy actually listened to all of her 'fun facts'.  Maybe it was a bit scary how casually she described all the horrible ways monsters could eviscerate you, but it was a nice distraction.  That is, until Fluttershy managed to slowly change the subject to why Twilight was moving to Ponyville, the very thing she'd been trying to distract herself from.

Even though they just met an hour or so ago, Twilight already felt a connection with Fluttershy.  Maybe it was her soft voice or gentle demeanor, but somehow Fluttershy's presence was just so calming.  Twilight had always had trouble talking to other ponies, but found talking to this pony, even about sensitive things like the recent death of her parents, so easy.

“It really is terrible,” said  Fluttershy.  “Are you moving to Ponyville to come live with another relative?”

“No,” said Twilight.  “I'm moving to Ponyville because its impossible for me to afford living in the city anymore.  It's just insane how much they want for an apartment in Canterlot.  Even in Ponyville the money I inherited enough from my parents will only last a few months, and after that...”

That fear that had been plaguing Twilight for the last few days began to return.  She was at the absolute worst age for this to happen.  Too old for any foster care, but not yet finished with school.  After all that hard work studying, Twilight wold probably end up with a job flipping burgers if she was lucky.  If she wasn't-

“You'll be okay,” said Fluttershy, interrupting the thought.  She put a hoof on Twilight's shoulder and gave her a gentle smile.

In a strange way, that was all it took to calm Twilight down to a reasonable level.  Twilight had tears in her eyes, but it was hard to keep herself from smiling back at Fluttershy a little.

“You can't really be alone, though,” said Fluttershy.  “Don't you have any friends or family?”

“I don't think so,” said Twilight.  “I was home schooled and my family was everything to me.  I spent most of my time in my room reading and never really met anypony else, I guess.”

“It's okay,” said Fluttershy, dispelling the feeling of guilt Twilight had always felt over being friendless before it began to sink in.  “Everypony has friends, though.  Sometimes you just haven't met them is all.”

Twilight shook her head, shame and sorrow flooding into her gut.

“I've never had any friends,” said Twilight, “and I probably never will.  I'm just too worthless.”

Twilight turned back to the window.  The bright, sunny day and idyllic landscapes that passed by the train as it moved seemed to be mocking Twilight.  It should have been raining or something.  Why was the world so cruel?  Everything was terrible, every single thing.

Fluttershy turned Twilight's head back to herself and to the inside of the train.  It was relatively dark in there, but Fluttershy was also there with genuine concern and that feeling of calm.

“Don't talk like that,” said Fluttershy.  “You're better than you think.”

Twilight wanted to disagree, to berate herself for being terrible, but somehow found it hard to speak.  Not because she was choking on tears, but for some reason she couldn't put her hoof on.  It was hard to explain, but Fluttershy just said that last part that in a way that made Twilight believe it, Twilight herself not entirely sure what made it like that.

“You know, I used to be the same way,” said Fluttershy.  “I've always been very shy which made it hard to meet ponies.  Actually, I used to be much more shy than I am now.  I spent a really long time alone because of how shy I was and because I thought I was just too terrible to even deserve friends.”

Twilight listened to Fluttershy very intently, forgetting her own troubles for a moment.  If she felt any sadness it was for Fluttershy, not herself.

“But I do have friends now,”  said Fluttershy with a smile.  “Sometimes we just haven't met our friends yet, but if you don't go looking for them you might never meet them.”

The train stopped and Fluttershy stood up.

“I live next to the pond on the edge of town,” said Fluttershy.  “Feel free to visit me any time.  I'd be happy to be your first friend.”

“Thanks,” said Twilight.  “You can come visit me whenever you want too.”

“Thank you.”  Fluttershy smiled.  “I'll remember that.”

Twilight thanked Fluttershy and the two of them parted ways, Twilight staying behind slightly longer to gather her bags.  Makes some friends.  That was easier said than done.

The feeling of lonesomeness that had been plaguing her ever since the death of her parents came back as soon as the two parted.  She had never felt lonely before, despite never having any friends, but now it seemed to be all she felt.  Maybe it was because the fact that she was alone had finally been brought to her full attention, but who knew?

But she did have Fluttershy's offer now, right?  Fluttershy was nice!  She could be friends with her!  As long as Twilight didn't screw everything up, that is.  Maybe she should go find a book about friendship and read up the proper way to interact with a friend before hand, just to make sure she didn't blow her one real shot at a friend.

Nevertheless, Twilight did resolve to take Fluttershy's offer and go meet her later.

After gathering the bags she had brought onto the train, Twilight get off the train and entered her new town.

And Ponyville did not make a good first impression.

First thing Twilight saw upon getting off the train was a pony who very clearly had mental issues.  It was a pink earth pony, twirling around on a lamp pole near the train tracks, making a 'woo' sound with each spin.  That alone would have made Twilight look away and walk away quickly, but that wasn't even all of it.

Not only was she wearing cloths, which was rather uncouth thing to do casually, but she was wearing a leather jacket.  While not illegal, those weren't something any good pony would wear.  She also had sunglasses on even though it was nearly sundown on a cloud day because that was totally normal!  And on top of that, she crossed the 'do not cross' line next to the train with every spin – a clear safety hazard!

Her public yelling, her disregard for safety and social etiquette and her general devil-may-care attitude made her the single most wild pony Twilight had ever seen.  Frankly, she was stunned.  Weren't ponies in the country supposed to be less unhinged than the ones in the city?  Maybe she had lived a somewhat sheltered life, but this was more than what she was expecting to see.

Come to think of it, Fluttershy had some strange habits too.  This town was filled with crazy ponies, wasn't it?

A blue pegasus dressed the same way, down to the sunglasses, flew up and landed next to the pink pony.

“Pinkie!” the pegasus called to her.  “The boss is waiting for us inside the station.  Stop wasting time and get your plot over there, you dork!”

Twilight staggered back when the pegasus said that.  Did that pegasus just curse.  She said the D word and the P word!  And then Ponyville got its third strike!

Or maybe Twilight had just misheard.  She must have because 'Pinkie' simply laughed at that remark, instead of being outraged.

“Ha!” Pinkie kept her hooves on the pole and bent back to look at the pegasus upside down.  “No one tells Pinkie what to do!  Especially not you, Dashie!”

It was strange, really.  That sounded like something an angry pony would say, but Pinkie had a smile on her face and said it without the least bit of malice.  And Dashie, as she called her, just grinned at it.

“Not me.”  Dash bit hard on her ear and yanked her right off the poll, leaving Pinkie to fall flat on her back.  “The boss.”

Pinkie bounced off her back and tackled her to the ground, pinning the pegasus with her forehooves.

“You're telling me what that boss is telling me,” said Pinkie, “and I don't listen to you!”

Dash threw her off and got pushed in turn.  Soon the two of them were fighting, shoving one another back and forth and laughing like mad.

This looked extremely dangerous!  The train had already left, but fighting near the tracks was beyond irresponsible.  Not to mention fighting was against the rules in general.  Twilight didn't like talking to strangers, but this wasn't something you could just ignore.

“E-excuse me,” Twilight said in the meekest of tones.

They didn't seem to notice.  Twilight tried getting closer, taking a step or two in their direction.  They came close to Twilight at a much higher speed, the pink one literally throwing the blue right at the spot Twilight was trotting to.  Dashie hit the ground with a thud as Twilight jumped back and let out a loud yelp.

Now they were starring.

“Sorry!”  Pinkie yelled far too loudly, like she was calling to somepony across a mountain or something instead of ten feet away.

“Um.”  Twilight gulped, now that they were looking at her she suddenly felt nervous.  “Fighting is, um, bad and stuff.  And you're not supposed to go past the yellow line.  So, um, yeah.  You shouldn't do that.”

The two of them gave Twilight a look that made her feel like a total idiot, like she was the crazy one or something.

“We're not fighting, silly,” said Pinkie, “we're just-”

“-don't talk to lamos, Pinks.” Dash got off the floor, picked Pinkie's sunglasses up, apparently they had fallen off at some point, shoved them onto Pinkies face.  “I can already tell this pony is incredibly lame and you know not to bother with them.”

“Don't go using language like that!”  A voice with a southern accent called out exactly what Twilight had been thinking.  She looked in its direction to see an orange earth pony wearing some kind of hat.  

“Speaking of lame ponies,” Dash muttered.

The earth pony marched right up to those two in a huff, stopping inches in front of Dash and staring daggers at her.  Dash looked like she was about to get stuck listening to her aunt drone on about the old days, sighing miserably.

“That word is highly offensive!”  Applejack said.  “The lame have feelings too, you know.”

“Not in their legs they don't!” Pinkie called back.  Her and Dash burst out into laughter at that.

Twilight couldn't believe what she had just heard!  She'd heard ponies curse a few times before, sure, but here was someone who just got called out for it and instead of apologizing she doubled down and said something even worse!  And they were laughing on top of it!

In a more fitting reaction, Applejack stomped her hoof and gritted her teeth.

“I have had it up to here with the three of you!” Applejack shouted at them.  “You think you can just do whatever you want?  One day this is all gonna catch up with you!  And if you don't stay away from me and my kin that day's gonna be-”

“Pfft!  Look Pinkie.  Dash nudged Pinkie and pointed to Applejack.  “I think Appledork is trying to threaten us again.”

The two broke out into another fit of laughter.

“Why you-!”  Applejack looked like she was about to do something, but just then the door to the train station opened.

The door hardly made a noise, but it still got everyone's attention.  They all got silent for a second, like a lion had just walked through the door.  But really it was just a unicorn mare wearing the same getup as Pinkie and Dash came.

The unicorn was, in a word, beautiful.  That wasn't something Twilight normally paid much attention to, but with her it was something different.  Even in a leather jacket and sunglasses she just oozed elegance and grace.  Her fur was the purest white Twilight had ever seen and all of her features were absolutely perfect.  This, Twilight decided, was the most beautiful pony she'd ever seen.

“Rarity's here!” Pinkie gave a celebratory leap into the air.

Rarity simply ignored Pinkie and kept walking towards the group of ponies.  She walked like a lion, proud and powerful, with the sort of attitude a princess walking among the masses would have.

“What's going on here?”  Rarity stopped just inches away from Dashie.  She casually looked to Dashie, then to Applejack, then back to Dashie and lowered her sunglasses just a little.  “Didn't I tell you not to talk to Applejack?  I keep my promises, and you keep my promises too.”

“Hey.  I technically didn't talk to her,” Dashie said with a shrug.  “Applebutt came on to me.  I swear.”

Rarity gently, tenderly put her hoof on Dashie's shoulder, then swatted her away with enough force to send Dashie staggering several steps away.  Then Rarity turned to Applejack, Applejack freezing as soon as Rarity's eyes turned to her.

“And didn't I tell you not to bother to us?” Rarity asked Applejack.

Applejack didn't say anything.  She just clenched her jaw and glanced away.  Rarity smiled at that and moved in closer to Applejack, putting the tip of her muzzle right up against Applejack's.

“Oh.  But maybe you did have something very, very important to say to me.  I can't imagine why else you'd think it was a good idea to be a pest towards my beloved friends.”  Rarity took off her glasses and gave Applejack a look that made even Twilight shudder.  “Did you have something important to say, Applejack?”

Twilight could see Applejack was sweating now.  Applejack said nothing, breathlessly staring Rarity in the eyes for what seemed like a long time.  Eventually, Applejack gulped and this promoted Rarity to laugh and put her glasses back on, taking a step away.

“I say you be the bigger mare and just walk away.  Go play the banjo or whatever.”  Rarity flicked her hoof, shooing Applejack away.  “That sounds like a better idea, doesn't it?”

Applejack made a noise of protest, but lowered her head and trotted off out of sight, grumbling angrily to herself once she was a safe distance away.

“Heh.”  Dash came trotting back to Rarity and slapped her on the back.  “You got that retarded tucking her tail between her legs as soon as you show up!  Looks like that dingus knows what's up.”

“You're the best, Rarity!”  Pinkie glomped on to Rarity, hugging her from behind.  “Thanks for getting rid of her.  She's so bucking annoying!”

“You don't need to tell me I'm the best, darling, we all know it.  Even Applejack, apparently.”  Rarity returned Pinkie's gesture with a one-foreleg hug and nuzzled her mane lovingly.  “And I'd do absolutely anything for you two.”

Pinkie just melted into the gesture of affection, nuzzling Rarity's chest in return.  So there they were, out and out cuddling in public.  That was not something you were supposed to do!  Twilight once again found herself staring at them in disgust, mouth slightly agape.  What was wrong with these ponies?

Rarity's ears twitched and she turned to Twilight, as if Twilight had voiced this out loud  She gently picked the other two up with her magic and moved them aside before walking over to Twilight.  Rarity looked Twilight over, staring at her horn and working her gaze all the way down to her hooves.  Then she started walk around Twilight in a circle, looking over every inch of her.

Twilight blushed heavily.  She felt paralyzed by sheer embarrassment  She could almost feel Rarity studying her butt right now, but couldn't even turn her head right now.  Twilight just kept her tail down and stared forward with her face beat red and here eyes wide open.

And then Rarity was in front of her again.

“You're very pretty.  I take it you didn't know that?”  Rarity asked.  “Though let's be honest here, you do need a bit of work before colts are fighting over you.  If you ever find me after midnight I'll fix your mane and give you a few touch ups, free of charge even!”

Twilight's mouth opened, but she didn't manage to say anything.

“But seriously, who the buck is this?”  Rarity turned back to the other two, letting her sunglasses slide down her muzzle just enough to reveal her eyes.

“No idea who this loser is, Rares,” Dash reported.  “We were just minding our own business and she comes up and starts giving us bucking lectures.”

“Is that so?” Rarity turned back to Twilight with the same kind of smile she gave Applejack just moments ago.  “I could hear a good lecture right now.  What did you have to say to us?”

“Well, I didn't have anything to say to you.”  Twilight felt her heart beating hard.  “Just to those two, kind of.  Sort of.”

“They're right over there, darling, they can hear you.”

“Well,” Twilight said with some hesitation, she just wanted to bolt but there didn't seem to be any way out of this.  “They were roughhousing in public and near the train tracks and, um, even went over the do-not-cross line.  Oh, and they were cursing too.  They said the l-word and the d-word.  And then you hugged in public.  That's all, you know, bad and stuff.”

Rarity giggle a little.  Twilight felt like a total moron right now.

“The 'd-word'?” Rarity grinned and looked back at Dash and Pinkie.  “Now what did you two have to say about the d-word?”

“Oh,” said Pinkie, “Dashie just couldn't stop talking about how much she adored-”

“She means 'dork'.”  Dash jabbed Pinkie's barrel hard enough to silence her.  “People were being dorks so I called them dorks.”

“W-what, what other d-word were you talking about?”  Twilight asked.

That got a laugh out of the three of them.  Rarity turned back to Twilight, the smile on her face was suddenly less threatening.

“Cute!  I think I like you,” said Rarity.  “Tell me your name.”

“Twilight Sparkle?”

“Well, Twilight,” said Rarity, “I don't think there's anything wrong with saying any word, regardless of what letter it start with.”

“Well it is!”

“Why?”

Twilight paused.  She had never considered that before.  There was probably some book on the subject, but she hadn't read it.  Or maybe there wasn't because the answer was so obvious.  But if it was obvious then why couldn't Twilight think of an answer?  It was like someone asking you what the definition of the word 'cat' or 'blue' was.  Her mind just stalled.

“I'm waiting,” said Rarity.

Twilight hesitated

“Well.  Y-you can't,” said Twilight.  “It's just wrong because, you know- it just is!  Maybe?”

“Maybe?  Really?  I say you should think about it and get back to me, if you're staying in town long,” said Rarity.

Twilight nodded.  Yeah.  If she actually had time think, Twilight was sure she'd shut Rarity down on this subject!  Rarity seemed to like that answer, Twilight could tell.

“I take back what I said!”  Rarity came in real close to Twilight again.  “Actually, I think you're absolutely adorable!  I'm not even being sarcastic here, Twilight, I like you a lot.  That's a very, very good thing.  You'll see.”

Rarity touched Twilight's cheek with her hoof.  It felt nice.  Twilight's withers relaxed for the first time since she came off the train.  But then Rarity turned and walked away, the other two following her inside the train station.  Suddenly, Twilight missed Rarity.

And then she came back to her senses and shook her head hard.  A stranger had just touched her!  That was harassment!  But Rarity was already gone and this probably wasn't bad enough to go to the police or anything.

Twilight looked around to see if there were any responsible adults to complain to, but there was only one pony around.  Applejack, they called her!  She seemed like the town's token sane pony.  

“Hey,” said Twilight.  “Do you know who those three were?  They don't live here, do they?”

“'Fraid they do,” said Applejack.  “Those three are the biggest troublemakers in town.  Trust me when I say you don't even want to talk to them.  Like, at all.”

“Really?”  Twilight asked.  “I mean, the two, sure, but Rarity didn't seem so bad.”

“Didn't she just touch you?  And didn't you see her hugging Pinkie?”

Twilight blushed and scratched her head.  Yeah, making any kind of physical contact in public wasn't exactly 'good'.

“Really shouldn't be too much trouble for ya, less you're staying here longer than most folk.”  Applejack looked over at Twilight's small pile of luggage.  “Though I guess from the look of things maybe you are.”

“I'm moving to Ponyville, actually.”

“Well I'll be!  I had no idea any new ponies!”  “Well let me be the first to welcome you here!  Ponyville's a great place for the most.

“Actually, I met Fluttershy on the train,” said Twilight.  “I dunno if you know her.”

Applejack nodded.

“I see.  She, uh, warned you that a dreadstalker's been around, yeah?”  Applejack asked.

“Yeah, she warned me.”

“Good.  I ain't as sure as she is, truth be told, but don't go out at night is the important thing.”

Just like that Applejack's smile was gone.  She stared off into blank space for a moment, but quickly regained her composure and returned to the real world.

“But hey!  Need help carrying any of that?”  Applejack made herself smile.  “I'd love the chance to talk to you on the way back.”

Twilight thought about it for example, before remembering what Fluttershy said about making friends and all.  So she accepted.

Turned out Applejack could carry a whole lot!  She had twice as much on her back and most of the rest thrown into her wagon.  It was good she did have a wagon, she just saved Twilight from having to rent one and money would be tight now.

The two of them walked together for a little while, Applejack going on and on about apples and the country, Twilight going 'uh huh' every now and then.  It was kind of boring, but Twilight couldn't seem to change the subject.  Twilight had read extensively about apples, mind you, and could talk about them at length, but it was a little boring.  And as her mind drifted, she became distracted away from what Applejack had said entirely.

In her mind, Twilight played back everything Rarity had said to her over and over.  Rarity had somehow managed to sear herself into Twilight's mind after just a minute or two.  Every little thing about her was stored in Twilight's mind perfectly, her voice, her face, her every little move and her words.  'What was wrong with swearing?  Why was it bad?'

Because it hurt people's feelings, that's why!  Twilight wished she had thought of that during the actually conversation.  This always happened to her.  She'd always think of the perfect thing to say, but always too late to actually say it, making her look stupid.  That's why she hated face to face conversations!

“Listen,”  Applejack broke the silence.  She didn't look at Twilight, but kept her eyes facing forwards.  “About those three.  They're-”

Applejack stopped in her tracks and stopped speaking for no apparent reason.  As if breaking her out of her train of thought wasn't jarring enough, stopping like that threw Twilight for a loop.  She also stopped in her tracks and starred at Applejack.

“They're what?”  Twilight glanced in the direction Applejack was looking, but saw nothing.

“Well they're, uh...”  Applejack closed her eyes and thought to herself for a minute, like she was struggling to find the right words.  “They're- well they're bad ponies, okay?  Just be careful around them is all I'm saying.  Rarity liking you ain't a good thing.”

That was a relief.  For a second, she thought Applejack had seen the dreadstalker or something.

“Like they're going to prank me or something?  Are they bullies?”

“Worse.  They won't harass you, but Rarity messes with your head,” said Applejack.  “She acts like she's helping you by asking these questions and doing you 'favors', but really all she wants is to corrupt ponies till they're just as bad as she is.”

Twilight wasn't sure if they were as bad as Applejack made them sound.  They were rude, sure, but Applejack was talking like Rarity was pure evil, like some kind of comic book villain or something.  She didn't that out loud, though, not wanting to be too confrontational.

“I wasn't planning on spending much time with them” said Twilight.  “Cause, you know, after all that cursing and violence and public hugging and disregard for train station safety and, uh – maybe they are pretty bad.”

“That's good!”  Applejack started walking again and Twilight scrambled to follow behind.  “But that's enough talk about Rarity.  How's about you tell me what made you decide to move to Ponyville.”

Why did everypony have to ask her that today?!  Didn't they know Twilight didn't want to think about this right now.  To be fair, moving into a new town that would be the most obvious question to ask and all, but still!

“I don't want to talk about it,” Twilight muttered.

“Ah don't be shy!”  Applejack ran ahead just a little so she was just in front of Twilight, looking back.  “We're neighbors!  No reason for none of that.”

Twilight just made a nondescript noise of displeasure.  Applejack just ignored the grunt and pressed the matter again.  She was just going to keep pestering her until Twilight answered, wasn't she?  Ponies could be so annoying sometimes.  She decided to answer just to get this over with.

“It's cheaper here,” said Twilight, trying to keep her voice from being too harsh.  “My, uh, family kind of died.  I guess I'm on my own so... you know.”

Applejack frowned and nodded.

“My parents died when I was about your age.”  Applejack took her hat off and put it over her heart.  “Had to take over the orchard myself.  I can relate to what it's like.”

Twilight's ears perked.  Now she felt bad for getting upset so fast a moment ago.  She reminded herself that other ponies had problems too.  Applejack might actually be a big help.

“Our lives are short and fleeting,” said Applejack, her eyes closed in that way ponies did when they were talking about Celestia, “but you know what isn't?  Celestia!  She's the one true immortal, the only truly eternal entity.  Whatever happens she'll live on in the world we create for her.  That's why we need to work hard every day to make the world a better place for Celestia.  And you know what else?  Even the smallest actions will have ripples that last forever!  Your parents actions will live on forever and Celestia will appreciate them forever.”

Twilight lowered her head.  That kind of talk never really comforted her.  She understood that most ponies found comfort in Celestia, in knowing their achievements would live on through her.  But to Twilight it just didn't make any sense.  Her parents were still gone.  Even if they did make some contribution to society and the princess, it didn't change the fact she'd never see them again.  How could other ponies

“Is it wrong for me to care more about my parents than what they did?”

“Yes,” said Applejack.  She shook her head when she saw Twilight's reaction to it.  “Now don't give me that look.  You know what I mean.  It's not that our lives are unimportant, just that they last such a short time compared to what we did.  Something so short can't compare to something that lasts forever.  Forever, Twilight, think about that.  Compared to infinity we don't even exist, just what we send out into the world.”

Twilight knew Applejack was right.  Everypony knew Applejack was right.  They always said that the finite was literally nothing compared to the infinite.  Everything was nothing compared to Celestia, and thus you only existed in relation to her, like it or not.  It was just something everypony knew was the truth.  It was just something you had to accept.

If everypony was wrong, Twilight couldn't imagine how.  They were right, after all.  She still didn't like it, but she couldn't say Applejack was wrong, either.

But that just wasn't something that comforted Twilight at all.  Apparently most people just thought of Celestia and soldiered on when these things happened, Celestia being their rock in any storm, their greatest comfort.  Life had meaning because Celestia had meaning, they'd say.  Twilight, though, just missed her family and she didn't see how Celestia could help with that.

“I know.”  Twilight hung her head in defeat.  “It just isn't fair.”

“Don't say that,” said Applejack.  “I know it don't seem that way, but it is.  Celestia is what really matters.  Why, if you can't accept that, then you're no better than those delinquents.”

“I guess you're right,” Twilight muttered, trudging ever onward.

“You know, most ponies feel better after that.”  Applejack looked off to the side.  “Sorry if I didn't help much.  I don't like seeing you so down about it much.  Hey, maybe I can give you some stuff to read about it?  I know I don't always say this stuff right.”

“Thanks.”  Twilight smiled and gave a nod.

That did comfort her a little.  Twilight loved books.  And with money being tight right now, free books on any subject would be more than welcome.

“Think that's your house up there!”  Applejack pointed to the top of the hill where a small building stood.

Twilight could tell it was the right road, at least.  Also that it was the only house on said road, so it had to be the right one.

It was a small house, practically a shack.  It had all the rooms you needed, a bathroom, kitchen, bedroom, living room and even an ante chamber.  Of course, half of those were the same room and all of them were very small.

Unpacking was a chore, but Twilight did it.  It only cost her the entire day.  The next year or so would not be comfortable for Twilight.  After selling all of her possessions, save the bare essentials, she had just enough money to move somewhere cheaper to live.  She would be able to make it through the year and finish school, but just barely.  She'd have to eat nothing but carrots and grass and spend nothing on luxury, but she could just barely make it.

Before going to bed, Twilight looked at the bobble head.  She did kind of like the way it looked.  Maybe she'd put it in her window after all.  And who knew?  Maybe it really was magic or something.  Twilight chuckled to herself.

Twilight turned on a lamp and took out a book to read.  No matter how bad things got, you could always hide in a book.

She didn't get very far before a thump at the window, then another, then another.

Curious, Twilight moved to the window and opened it.  Outside she saw two of the ponies from the gang she had run into earlier standing a good distance from her house.  Rainbow Dash was one of them, holding a rock in her hoof as if she was about to throw it, but pulling back as soon as she saw Twilight.

“Twilight!” Pinkie called up to her.  “Come out and Play!  Twilight!  Come out and play!”

“What?  It's nine!”  Twilight shouted back.  “It's bed time, not play time!”

“What are you, six?!” Dash shouted up at her.  “The boss told us to come get you so come out!”

“No!” Twilight shouted.  “Why are you even here?!  Didn't you think I was the L-word?!”

“I just told you!” Dash shouted.  “The boss wants you so we're here to get you!”

Twilight grumbled.  This was a terrible way to have a conversation.  Her voice was already getting tired from this.  

“Look!” Twilight shouted.  “My house only has one floor!  Just come over here so we don't have to keep shouting!

Pinkie whispered something into Dash's ear and laughed.  Dash chuckled and pushed her away.

“You come out here!” Dash shouted.  “We ain't budging.”

The nerve these two had!  Twilight grumbled to herself as she trotted out of her room and over to the front door.  They weren't in front of the door, either, but several yards away.  Pinkie playfully beckoned to Twilight to come out further.  Twilight rolled her eyes and trotted out a bit farther.

“What?” she asked them to their faces.  Now that she was up close, she noticed that the two of them were still wearing those sunglasses, even though the sun had gone down completely some time ago.  “Why are you wearing those at night?”

“Cause we're that awesome,” Dash said, but took them off to look Twilight in the eyes.  “I got good news for you, Sparkle.  Our leader decided she likes you, so we're gonna take you out partying.”

There was just something about the way the moonlight reflected off Dash's mane and eyes that made her look so pretty all of a sudden.  Her colors popped out more in the dark than it had at day, they almost glowed.  She had this draw to her similar to what Rarity did earlier today.  It was strange, really.  This morning Twilight was almost repulsed by Dash's leather cloths and crass attitude, but now having her attention felt great.

“A party?” Twilight asked.  “Like now?  But it's nine.  That's too late for a party!”

The two of them laughed.

“It's never too late for a party,” said Pinkie Pie, lowering her sun glasses.  “In fact, my parties only take place at night and my parties are the best parties!”

“I dunno,” said Twilight.  “I really don't think it's a good idea to go out with strangers at night.  My parents warned me about stranger danger.”

“Look, you want to hang out with us or do you want to be alone like a dork?” Dash asked.

“This is your big chance to make some friends, Twilight,” said Pinkie.  “Don't you want to be super best friends?  We're the best friends you could ever find, trust me.  You don't want to miss the chance to be Pinkie's friend!”

Make friends?  Twilight had vowed to do that just a few hours ago.  But did she really want to be friends with ponies like these?  Twilight frowned and blushed.  Her head said no but her heart said yes.

“I'm not sure if you two are really the sort of ponies I want to be friends with,” said Twilight.

“There's gonna be more than just the three of us there,” said Dash.  “Look, I don't think you have what it takes to be friends with us, either.  But we got orders from the boss and you can meet other ponies there.  It's a win-win.”

“Come on, Twilight!”  Pinkie leaped to her side and leaned in closer than Twilight was comfortable with.  “You gotta take a chance if you wanna have fun!  And trust me, there's tons of fun to be had if you follow us!”

“Maybe,” Twilight said.  “Maybe we can try being friends.  But you have to promise not to say any more bad words and maybe we could meet up tomorrow afternoon instead?  We could play the quite game or something.”

“The what?” Dash laughed, but gave Twilight a rather painful looking frown when she realized she was being serious.  “Your childhood sucked, huh?  You poor, poor thing.  I can understand why the boss pities you.  Look, we curse as much as we bucking want and we only go out at night.  If you want to hang with us you just gotta deal with it.”

“I just don't really like parties is all!”  Twilight insisted.  “They're kind of boring, you know?  I always end up sitting in the corner, not doing anything.”

“First of all,” said Pinkie, “at my parties nopony just sits in the corner, I make sure of that!  And second, if you're ever bored for one single second then it's partially your fault!  It means you're not trying hard enough to make things fun.”

Twilight scrapped her hoof across the ground.  She did like their manic attitude a little and she wanted to act on what Fluttershy told her.  She might actually be able to make a friend there, even if not one of these two.

“Come on!”  Pinkie winked.  “You know you want to.”

Pinkie walked back to Dash's side and beckoned Twilight to follow.  Twilight felt herself trembling.  She wanted to go but she also didn't want to go!  Would somepony else ever even invite her to a party again?  Twilight didn't know anypony so she may never get this chance again.

And yet going out with strangers?  Who cursed?  At night?!  The fact that she was tempted must have been that peer pressure thing she had read about.  Twilight needed to resist temptation and do the thing a good filly would do- stay home and study!

“If you don't want to it's your choice.”  Dash shrugged.  “Come on Pinks, you know the rules.”

Pinkie made a disappointed sound, but followed Dash as she began to trot away, glancing back at Twilight sadly as she began to leave.

Twilight was going to be alone again, wasn't she?  Forever, maybe.

“Wait!” Twilight called.  The two stopped and looked back at her.  “There's going to be other ponies there, right?”

The two nodded.

Twilight bit her lip.  She just didn't want to be alone right now, was all.  She needed some company and she wouldn't do anything bad there.  That's how she justified it to herself anyway.

With her head lowered and knees shaking, Twilight trotted in between the two mares.

In excitement, Pinkie gave a victory leap into the air.

“Hurray!” Pinkie called.  “See, Dashie?  I knew Twitwi would be our friend!”

“Twitwi?” Twilight asked under her breath.  She'd read about nicknames like this.

“She'd not exactly our friend yet, Pinks,” said Dash.  She put her glasses on and began trotting forward.   Soon the three of them were all heading to town together.  “Look, the boss said we had to give you a chance, not that we had to be your friend.  Try not to be a bucking loser, Twi.”

There was that language again.  Twilight frowned at Dash.

“Why do you have to curse so much?”  Twilight asked.  “Talking like that accomplishes nothing and hurts ponies feelings.  There's just no logical reason to ever use those words, especially the... the 'b-word'.”

“You mean buck?” Dash asked.

“Yes,” said Twilight.  “You can't say that.”

“Buck buck buck! Buck Buck Buck!  Buck buck buck buck buck!”  Pinkie began to dance around Twilight singing that horribly offensive song.  “Pony feathers, plot!  Horseapples, heck! Crap, clop! Mud pony bonehead!”

Twilight was stunned, far more than ever before.  She had no words for that string of obscenities.  There weren't any words for that!  All she could do was stare with her mouth agape.

“There,” said Dash.  “Is Celestia flying down from the sky to smite us?”

Twilight couldn't help but look up, she wouldn’t be overly surprised if Celestia did just that.  Dash and Pinkie laughed at this.  Twilight blushed and scowled at them.

“This isn't funny!” Twilight insisted.  “That kind of language can really hurt somepony's feelings!”

“Oh yeah?” Dash asked.  “Who's feelings did we hurt, huh?”

Twilight looked around.  Nopony was around.  Most of the sane ponies were probably already asleep.

“Well, um,” Twilight thought about that.  “Mine?”

Dash pulled down her sunglasses a little.

“Okay, maybe not,” said Twilight, “but if somepony did hear then that language could have hurt them!”

“Look, the real problem here is with society,” said Dash.  “Why does the word 'buck' hurt their feelings?  Cause they're a bunch of morons who enshrine those words and give them the power to hurt.  If nopony gave a buck like us then there would be no 'bad' words hurt their feelings.”

Twilight was taken aback at that answer.  She had not expected this pony to be so philosophical.  Frankly, Dash seemed more like punk.

“Well?” Dash asked after Twilight had hesitated for a significant period of time.

Twilight's brain scrambled to think of a response but once again she was no good at thinking on her feet.  What Dash said did make some sense and Twilight couldn't really think of why it was wrong.  She just sort of felt like it should be wrong.

“I-I dunno,” said Twilight.  “I never really considered that.  I'd need to think about it.”

Dash smiled a light whack on her withers.

“Well that's more than 99% of the planet would do,” said Dash.  “Maybe you ain't completely horrible.”

“Come on, Twitwi,” Pinkie chimed in.  “Try saying 'buck'!  Just say it one time and the curse will be broken forever!”

Twilight frowned, backed up and shook her head.  No way she was ever going to curse.

“Don't push her too hard,” said Dash.  “The boss won't be happy if she bails before we get there.  Come on.”

Dash started walking forward again and the other two followed her.

The worst part of that song was that it had a catchy tune.  Now it was stuck in Twilight's head, playing over and over as she trotted forward.

“I'm pretty sure 'clop' isn't a curse word, though,” said Twilight.  “It's just the sound your hooves make when they hit something hard.”

The two of them burst into laughter.  Twilight didn't get the joke and wasn't sure if she wanted to.

“Are you sure it's okay to be out here?”  Twilight gave nervous looks to every shadowy spot as they walked.

“Who's gonna stop us?” Dash asked.

“The dreadstalker?” Twilight suggested.  “I heard there was one on the loose.  Aren't you worried about that?”

The two of them snickered.  Obviously the answer was no.

“How can you laugh at that?” Twilight asked.  “Do you not know how dangerous those things are?”

“Oh I know.”  Dash crouched her head down and took a step towards Twilight.  “A spider that's eight feet tall is bad enough, but a dread stalker?  They move so silently and hide so well that one could be following you for days with you never noticing.  Nopony's even ever figured out how they move with so much stealth.”

“Well there are a few theories that hold merit.”  Twilight pulled back a little, as Dash was right in front of her now.

“It could show up at any time after dark and you'd never see it coming.”  Dash jabbed her hoof against Twilight's chest.  “They hook their fangs into your ribs and rip em right open!  They can suck a pony dry of blood in seconds and leave you lying there on the ground, dying a horrible death.  And that's if you're lucky.  They can shoot spines, acid and sticky webbing too!  Maybe you''d bleed to death or maybe you'd drown in acid or glue.  Only sure thing is you'd die.”

“Y-yeah.”  Twilight shuddered, from both the macabre description and from being touched.  “I know how dreadstalkers, um, do things.  All this isn't very reassuring, you know.”

“Well I'm not a very reassuring pony,” said Dash.

“This is one thing you could try doing.”  Pinkie Pie trotted up quickly from behind.  If a dreadstalker shows up you could just scream 'Rarity come rescue me!' and go like this.”

Pinkie put a hoof over her forehead and pretended to faint.

“And maybe.”  Pinkie bounced back up onto her hooves.  “If Rara is close by she'll swoop in and save the day.  Know why?  Cause she thinks you're cute.”

Cute?!

“W-what?!”  Twilight stopped in her tracks, blushed, shook her head and finally scrunched her nose in disapproval  “Cute how, exactly?”

The two of them laughed again.

“And you say we're perverted?”  Dash wiped a tear away from her eyes.

“Well!  Now you're the one assuming what I was assuming.”  Twilight huffed.

“And now you're assuming what Dash was assuming what you were assuming!”  Pinkie looked like she was about to burst from joy.  “Let's do this for hours!”

“No.”  Dash shoved Pinkie over and started trotting forward again.

“But you're seriously not worried about the dreadstalker?”

The others shook their heads.

“But why?”

“Secret!”  Pinkie gave a cocky smile.

“Even telling her that is a bit much.”  Dash muttered.  “But hey!  Don't matter either way cause we're already here!”

The three of them reached a house, one pretty close to Main Street.  Twilight could already hear music playing from the other side of the door, that's how loud it was.  And the music got much louder when Dash opened the door to let Pinkie and Twilight it.

It was the bad kind of music too, the really upbeat sort with lots of electric instruments that ponies like, well like these two were supposed to listen to, the exact opposite of the classical music she was used to.  It was far from deafening, but it was still far louder than what a normal pony would

There were about two dozen ponies in the room, talking to each other, dancing, eating, that sort of thing.  Of course, they were dancing a bit too fast, eating candy and laughing too loud.  Twilight could only assume they were talking about lewd things as well.

“Rainbow Dash!  This music is terrible!” Twilight tried yelling over it.  “It focuses too much on melody and not enough on-”

“It ain't that loud,” said Dash.  Sure enough, her voice could be easily heard.  Actually a few ponies were looking at Twilight after she shouted.  “If you want loud music try going to a rave or a concert some time – you can't even hear yourself think.”

Twilight was looking around, gathering a list of complaints about this scene when she saw Rarity.  Even surrounded by other ponies, Twilight’s attention was drawn right to her and once her eyes were on Rarity there was no going back.  Rarity noticed Twilight just as quickly.

“Come sit next to me, darling!” Rarity called out to Twilight.

The seat next to her was already taken, but Rarity just shooed the stallion who had been sitting there away to make room for Twilight.  The stallion obeyed, reluctantly but without hesitation, and Twilight quickly trotted over and sat next to Rarity.  She might as well go over there, right?  Twilight had to sit somewhere.

Even though they were the same height, Twilight felt small sitting next to Rarity, like she was next to a stallion or something.  Truth be told, it was like sitting next to a stallion in more than one way.  Like a 'this was the most confusing thing Twilight had ever felt' kind of way.

Rarity gently moved her hoof along Twilight's neck, finally placing it under her chin and lifting Twilight's head to look her in the eyes.  Yes, she was touching Twilight flippantly, without permission, in public but Twilight didn't care.  The other ponies there didn't care, either, not that Twilight even remembered them.

Rarity's eyes were just gorgeous.  It had that same, strange quality Dash's did just before, like they were glowing or something, but dialed up to eleven.  Twilight just couldn't look away.  For a moment, those eyes were the world, and they belonged to Rarity.

“Well I'm very glad that you accepted our invitation,” said Rarity.  “Though I dare say it will take a while for you to warm up to all this.”

It was at this point that Twilight realized that she had been staring into Rarity's eyes with her mouth slightly agape.  Embarrassed, Twilight snapped back to attention and muttered some kind of 'thank you'.

“I meant it when I said I liked you, Twilight,” said Rarity.  “If there's anything you need just let me know.”

“You mean like to eat?” Twilight asked.  “Do you have anything other than candy?”

Rarity laughed.

“No,” she said.  “The three of us have a very large sweet tooth, but that's not what I meant.  I meant that in a general sense.  Around town?”

“Around town?”

“Well,” Rarity said, “for example, have any stallions caught your eyes thus far?  Maybe anypony here you think is cute?”

“W-what?”  Twilight felt a burning sensation in her cheeks.  “No!”

“Oh?”  A sharp grin came onto Rarity's face.  “Perhaps, maybe, a mare then?”

Twilight's heart was pounding in her chest, her face felt like it was on fire.  She couldn't even bring herself to answer that.  Rarity giggled.

“Relax, darling.”  Rarity patted Twilight on the back.  “I was only joking about that part.  But in all seriousness, if there's anypony in town that you wish would take notice of you, then you need only tell me.  I'd have them worshiping the ground you walk on in a blink of an eye.”

Rarity tilted Twilight's head about and brushed her mane aside to get a better look at Twilight's face, studying it.  She wasn't really looking into Twilight's eyes so much as at them.

“Like I said,” said Rarity, “you're definitely somepony I could work with.”

Twilight wasn't sure what to say to that.  She eventually decided that 'thank you' would be enough.  Rarity smiled, then hit the ground with her hoof a few times.  This caught everypony's attention.  All of them quieted down to look at Rarity, the music died down for a moment.

“Your attention, as ever,” said Rarity.  “This is Twilight Sparkle.  She's just moved to Ponyville and I'd like to be the first to say how glad we are to have her here.  So how about we all give her a warm welcome, hm?”

The other ponies applauded at that.  Suddenly, about a dozen ponies Twilight had never met before had their eyes one her.  Several crowded around Twilight, welcoming her.  It was enough to overwhelm Twilight, she could hardly keep tract of them all.

“I know,” Rarity said to one of them, somehow her response stuck out more than whatever she was responding to, “isn't Twilight just so pretty?”

“Absolutely!”

And then they all switched over to telling Twilight how pretty she was.

“I just love your highlights,” said one of the mares.  “I'm always so jealous of mares with more than one mane color.”

“Nice horn too,” she hear one of the stallions quietly mention to another.

“I can't believe how pretty your eyes are without any make-up!”

Twilight was not used to this kind of attention and had no idea how to respond.  Her face had to be beet red by now and her body was frozen up.

She'd be lying if she said this didn't make her feel kind of like she really was, well, pretty.  She actually kind of liked the feeling.

“Hey, where are you from anyway?” asked another mare.

Twilight tried to respond but only managed to make a 'dyuh' noise.

“She's a bit shy, so be patient with her,” Rarity answered for her.  “Twilight, if you want to make any friends you're going to have to socialize a bit.”

“Well,” Twilight said, scratching her head bashfully with her hoof, “I guess I'm from Canterlot and I just moved here.”

“You're from Canterlot?  Where did you go to school?”

“What do you like to do?”

And then, probably for the first time in her life, Twilight was the center of attention.  She told them about Canterlot, how she was home schooled, and about all the latest books she had read.  You'd think these were the sort of ponies that would declare you a nerd the moment they heard about the books thing, but surprisingly they were okay with it and listened to her speak with rapt attention.

The way they were just so accepting helped Twilight slowly transition from shaking with nervousness to eventually actually enjoying the attention.  It did feel good to have everypony's interest once the initial shock wore off.

Though she'd be lying if she said being peppered with all these questions this late at night wasn't just a little exhausting.  She yawned and Rarity jumped right on that.

“Would you like some coffee, dear?”  Rarity's voice broke through the rabble again.

“What?”  Twilight blinked.  A cup of the stuff was already floating in front of her.  “But coffee stunts your growth!”

“You're already fully grown, dear,” said Rarity.  “Have you really never had any before?  I think you should give it a try.  Just don't drink too much of you'll be up all night.  And who would want that?”

“Um.”  Twilight was nervous again.  She looked won into the black liquid and tried to think of why she was refusing.  “It's just, Celestia says she likes tea better and we should all conform to what Celestia likes, right?”

Twilight could tell all the other ponies in the room agreed with her from their nods and quite agreements.

“I don't even understand how that's an argument,” said Rarity.  “You don't have some moral obligation to like every food Celestia does, and even if you did it doesn't mean you can't ever try something she doesn't like.”

Twilight was stunned, not by how arrogant Rarity had just been but because Twilight honestly couldn't think of an answer to that.  The whole 'conforming with Celestia' thing was something ponies had always simply accepted in the past.  Some of the other ponies were uncomfortable with what Rarity just said, a few of them stalking off to other parts of the room.

Twilight looked around.  A couple of ponies were drinking coffee it seemed.  She knew adults did this sometimes, even though you were supposed to drink tea instead.  It wasn't out and out immoral, just something society frowned on.  Maybe Rarity did have a point.

“I, uh, I guess it's okay to try,” said Twilight.  “As long as I only drink a little, right?  And like tea more.”

She took a sip of the coffee while Rarity smiled widely at her.  It wasn't bad, not as good as tea of course, but not bad.  Rarity gave Twilight a pat on the head.  That alone was worth drinking the coffee, it sent an electric thrill through Twilight's body.

“Twilight,” said Rarity, “I want you to know that if there's anything you need at all, then you can feel free to come to me.  And this isn't something I offer most ponies, so keep your head up high.”

“Hm?”  Twilight watched Rarity say all that out of the corner of her eyes, as she downed the coffee.  “Help with what exactly?”

“There's little I can't help you with,” said Rarity.  “If you want to meet more ponies, if you need a job, if you out of luck or get in trouble, if you want to bath in luxury, then come to me.  Oh!  And let's not forget love either.  Have you seen a stallion you want for yourself yet?”

“What?”  Twilight was suddenly more awake.  “N-no!”

“A pity.”  Rarity rested her check on her hoof and looked Twilight over mournfully.  “Well if you ever do just point and I'll make him worship the ground you walk on.  Thunderlane?  Come dance with Twilight for a while.”

Rarity spoke and ponies obeyed.  Thunderlane was no different.  The pegasus colt held out his wing, inviting her out to where the other ponies were dancing.  Twilight was hesitant to leave, but Rarity gave her a little shove and there was no going back from that.

Twilight's heart was racing!  Twilight had no idea how to dance!  But she couldn't just sit there, either.  She just meekly lifted each of her legs in turn to the beat.  Thankfully he didn't seem to be putting too much into it, unlike that maniac Pinkie who was spinning and jumping all over the place.  Actually, Twilight was dancing much the same way as the other ponies.

This wasn't so bad now that she relaxed a little.  It was kind of fun, moving to the music.  Twilight was feeling her energy returning.  That coffee stuff must really work well!

“So, uh, hey,” said Thunderlane.  “I'm Thunderlane, that's my name.”

He laughed at that for some reason and now Twilight was nervous again.  She desperately tried to think of something to talk about, but Rarity was the only thing that came to mind.  Here she was, dancing with a colt and all she could think about was Rarity.  Come to think of it, Twilight was more nervous about sitting next to Rarity than about dancing with Thunderlane.

Twilight didn't suddenly turn into a lesbian, did she?  Twilight needed to get Rarity out of her head!  But what else was there at this party?

“So, uh, the party!”  Twilight blurted out.  “Yeah, this is a pretty crazy party, right?”

“Yeah!  It's fun to cut loose a little sometimes.”  Thunderlane looked around, making it almost look like part of his dance, then came a bit closer to Twilight.  He spoke lower now.  “Though to be honest, those three go a bit too far sometimes.  Like you heard the way Rarity questioned Celestia before?”

“Y-yeah.”  Twilight nodded.

She'd be lying if she said that didn't make her a little uncomfortable, even if Rarity did kind of have a point.  And now Twilight was thinking about Rarity again.  She needed to think of something else to talk about!  Thunderlane did seem to be devout towards Celestia.

“Oh, uh.  Did you know Celestia's favorite tea is Yakstanian oolong tea?  She actually invaded Yak Yakistan just to overtake their supply,” Twilight recited.  “She first had the tea exactly 325 years ago when uh...”

Thunderlane got that same look everypony got when she brought up obscure facts.  Twilight bit her lip.  This wasn't going so well!

Just then the door flew open and a very angry looking Applejack entered the scene.  She surveyed the room until she spotted Twilight.  She proceeded to march right up to Twilight in a huff, ignoring everypony else.

“Twilight!” Applejack shouted at her.  “What do you think you're doing here?”

Twilight was taken aback by that.

“What?  I just got invited over so-”

“So nothing!”  Applejack stomped her hoof.  “We're leaving now!”

“Hey!” Dash shouted from across the room.  “Who let bucking Appledork in?”

Dash moved over to Applejack and grabbed onto her wither.

“You,” said Dash.  “Leave.”

Applejack shrugged her off.

“I'm taking Twilight with me,” she said, grabbing Twilight.  “Come on.”

“H-hey!”  Twilight pulled back.  “I kind of want to stay.”

“Well you can't!” Applejack was far more angry then you would have expected.  “You can't go to parties this late, curse or whatever else they got you doing, and you can not talk to these three!”

“Y-yes I can!” Twilight shouted back, a bit louder than she meant to.  It was just that Applejack was shouting too.  “What's your problem?  I just met you like five minutes ago, you can't go talking to me like this!”

“You don't understand,” Applejack said.  “These three are much worse than you think.”

“You're the one who's worse than I thought,” said Twilight, then stuttered.  

Did she really just say that?  Maybe things were getting more intense than she had meant them to.

“No!”  Applejack pulled her face downwards with her hoof a little.  “Twilight they're-  these three-  they're-”

“We're what, doofus?”  Dash came back into sight.  She came dangerous close to Applejack, grinning a toothy grin.  “Come one.  Say it!”

Applejack just grunted and turned her head to the side.

“Maybe she's trying to tell Twilight that we're vampires?”  Pinkie asked in a mocking voice.

Dash grabbed

“Pinkie!”  Dash gnashed her teeth.  “How many times we gotta tell you not to go around telling ponies we're vampires?”

Pinkie gave an apologetic smile while Applejack jumped on it.

“It's true!”  Applejack looked Twilight in the eyes, dead serious.  “They're vampires!  Twilight, you don't get that you're in danger here!  I came over to check on your house cause I was worried they might try to get you, and here you are!  Vampires are bad news Twilight, you need to get away from them.”

“Vampires?  Seriously, Applejack?”  Twilight pulled away from her.  “And why are you only warning me?  Is everypony in this town a vampire or something?”

Most of the other ponies laughed at that vampire comment, too.  Twilight heard a few of them mutter about how Applejack always goes on about this vampire nonsense.

“Rarity ain't after none of them,” said Applejack.  “Rarity didn't force any of them to come here and-”

“No!  I chose to come here and I'm staying, okay?” said Twilight.

“No you're not!” Applejack went to grab her again, but Dash moved in the way, blocking Twilight defensively with her wings.

“You want me to get rid of her, Twi?”  Dash looked back at Twilight.

“If you mean make her leave then, um, maybe that's for the best.”

Dash smiled and grabbed onto Applejack.  She dragged her kicking and yelling about halfway before Applejack broke away, gave Twilight a glare and stomped off grumbling to herself.

“I warned you!” she called just before leaving.

Dash trotted back to Twilight laughing.

“That was actually pretty cool.”  Dash.  “I'll be honest, I didn't think you had a spine but guess I was wrong.”

“Well,” said Twilight, “you know.  She was being a, um-”

“A jerk?”  Dash grinned.  “Yeah, I noticed.  You know, maybe you aren't as lame as I thought.  Hey.  You ever tried a pixie stick before?”

Twilight shook her head.  Dash started trotting forward and a moment later, Pinkie was pushing Twilight in the same direction Dash was headed.  What awaited her was candy, and lots of it.  There was a tower of cupcakes, bowels filled with lollipops, stacks of candy bars and a fountain of chocolate, among other things.

The 'pixie stick' Dash had mentioned a moment ago was basically just colored sugar in a long, paper tube.  Being pure sugar, it was the most sugary candy conceivable.  Twilight was bout to comment that these seemed a little excessive when she Pinkie outdid her by a factor of ten.

Pinkie was practically inhaling cupcakes, wolfing down five of them in just a few seconds, and washing it down with a big cup of liquid chocolate.  She didn't stop there either, but just kept going, swallowing a gobstopper whole.  Didn't she know that was a serious chocking hazard?!

“Is it really a good idea to be eating sugar this late?” Twilight asked.

“What's a party without sugar?” Dash asked.  She put a large lollipop in her mouth and offered a second pixie stick to Twilight one to Twilight.

“Well normally, they just serve carrots and celery,

“They made you eat bucking carrots?” Dash asked, apparently she mastered the art of talking with a lollipop in her mouth.  She grabbed another lollipop and offered that to Twilight as well.  “You poor thing.  Here, take two.”

“I dunno,” said Twilight.  “Candy this late at night sounds like a bit much.”

“Come on, Twitwi!  Fight the power!  Give in to the fun side,” said Pinkie.  “The coffee didn't hurt you did it?

“Well,” Twilight said.  She still wasn't convinced this was a good idea.  Something in the back of her head was screaming 'no' at her.

“Well what?” Dash asked.  “Because some idiot decided for you that it was bad?  How do you know they're right, huh?  How do you know something till you question it?”

Dash did have a point.  These three were really good at asking questions.  Twilight grabbed a piece of candy, but not either of the ones being offered her.  Instead,she took one of the jumbo candy bars off the table and bit into it.

The other two ponies pumped their hooves into the air and cheered.  And it did taste good!  Way better than any carrot!  Twilight tried a few different candies after that, all of them were great!  She had another cup of coffee too, finding that it made the chocolate melt in her mouth afterward

“So, did the candy kill you yet?”  Pinkie asked.

Twilight shook her head.

“I feel great!”  Twilight bobbed up and down on her hooves.  “I can't remember the last time I had this much energy!”

“Yeah, you never drank coffee before, right?”  Dash looked at Twilight's jittering hoof as she turned the bottom of her cup up and started gulping it down.  “You should probably take it a bit easy.”

But by then Twilight was already done drinking her second cup.  She put down the empty cup, looked at Dash for a second, then grabbed another piece of candy.

“Or not.”  Dash shrugged.  “Just don't say I didn't warn ya!”

As the night went on, Twilight kept drinking coffee and eating candy, not nearly as much as Dash and Pinkie, but certainly more than the other ponies there.  Strangely, she didn't become more tired as the night went on, but more awake!

It wasn't like Twilight was just sitting there, either, she was becoming increasingly active as the night went on.  She went back to dancing with Thunderlane for a little while, but he couldn't keep up with the pace after a while.

Twilight found herself dancing with Pinkie and a few other fillies instead, much more wildly than before.  The whole time, Twilight kept downing cup after cup of coffee and bar after bar of chocolate.  And this music just kept getting better!  And so did the dancing!  Before long Twilight felt like she was made of electricity!

Twilight was ecstatic, unable to sit still for a minute, shouting out the words to songs she didn't know with Pinkie and Dash.  Eventually ponies started leaving and things got increasingly more quiet and empty.  But the empty room just meant more space to run around in.  By this point, Twilight's dancing had turned into jumping around the house with Pinkie.  

“Yeah!  Yeah!  Yeah!  The-  Doooo!”  Twilight jumped farther than she meant to and slammed into one  of the couches.  She bounced right off it, along with all the pillows and was buried

She sat on her back for about two seconds, then a bit of that electricity she was made of surged out of her, causing her legs to flail about wildly for an instant.  Then Twilight jolted to her hooves and was perfectly still.  Twilight wondered what exactly had just happened.

Twilight shook her head and reached for another cup of coffee, it shook a little in her grasp, but it got blasted out of her hoof from a shot of blue magic.

“Twilight.”  Rarity began casually trotting closer.  “Remember when I told you to only have one cup for now?  How many did drink?”

“Um!”  Twilight stared at Rarity without blinking.  She almost felt like her body was vibrating.  “A lot?”

“I'm cutting you off.”  Rarity picked the container of coffee up and trotted off into the next room with it.

“Ah it was getting cold anyway!”  Twilight jumped back out into the living room and darted her head around, looking for somepony to jump around with.  “Come on!  Come on!  D-dyuh-  Thunderlane!”

Twilight jumped in front of him and started bouncing up and down to the beat of the music.  Thunderlane made an attempt to lift one of his hooves, but that was too much.  His head collapsed down a moment later from exhaustion.

“Okay, this is too much for me.”  Thunderlane yawned loudly.  Twilight just now noticed his slumped posture and tired eyes.  “I think I should be heading home.  It's pretty late.”

“What?  Already?”  Twilight had so much energy right now.  She kept her hooves grounded and bobbed up and down near Thunderlane.  “Come on!  We should dance more!”

“This is the latest I've ever been up for, Twilight.”  Thunderlane yawned miserably.  “I don't think I can last another hour.  We'll have to meet up some other time.”

“Okay,” Twilight said as Thunderlane walked passed her and out the door.

She was sad to see him go, almost felt like she'd done something wrong, but at the same time she was about to explode from all this energy.  She couldn't stay in that spot or that thought for any longer!  Twilight jumped and spun around, excitedly looking around for whatever ponies were left.

She counted three and yes, it was those three.  Twilight was alone with Rarity's gang now.  Pinkie looked to be just as awake as Twilight, jumping from couch to couch.

“Not bad, kid!”  Dash clapped her hooves together  “You're the last one standing!  Gotta admit I didn't see that one coming.”

“What?  Everypony else already left?”  Twilight darted her head around, looking in every direction.  She didn't find any more.  “But it can't have been more than an hour!”

Twilight looked at the clock.  This was the point where her eyes should have widened in horror, but they were already as wide as they could go.

“2 AM?!”  Twilight's eye twitched a little.  “How is that possible!  Why am I the only one freaking out?!”

“Maybe this is late for daywalkers,” said Dash, “but to use the night is only just starting.”

“I'm surprised Thunderlane even lasted this long.  I think maybe he wanted to get your attention very badly.”  Rarity moved her eyebrows up and down.  “Maybe you should try flirting with him a little?  Oh, and you're welcome, by the way.”

“So what?  You going to sleep now?”  Dash took off her sunglasses and eyed Twilight critically.  “Make sure you get enough sleep so you and Thunderbutt can be boring tomorrow?”

“Sleep?  I don't even think I can blink right now!”  Twilight started trotting in place.  Her legs simply needed to move.  “I can't sit still.  I gotta do something!  W-were you three about to do something?”

“Oo!  Oo!”  Pinkie jumped in front of Twilight and started bouncing back and forth between her front and rear hooves.  “Me and Dashie were totally going to do something!  You should come with us!  She can come, right Dashie?”

“I gotta admit you're kinda fun like this,” said Dash.  “I dunno if you'd be up for what we got planned, though.”

“Up for what?  I'm up for lots of things!  Especially if it involves lots of running around.”

“Alright!”  Dash flicked her glasses back on and straightened her jacket.  “You can come with us, but if you do anything too lame I'm sending you packing, got it?”

Twilight nodded enthusiastically.

“Guess we'll see you later, Rares.”  Dash gave Rarity a salute.

“You're not coming to the, uh,” Twilight didn't even know what she just agreed to.

“Afraid not,” said Rarity.  “I have some business to attend to.  Maybe we'll meet again.”

Rarity blew a kiss and.  What kind of business was there to do at two in the morning?

“So hey!”  Pinkie brought Twilight's attention back to her.  She was standing in the doorway, beckoning to Twilight.  “Are you coming with us or going home?”

“Coming, uh.”   Twilight hesitated, then ran over to Pinkie.  “I think I'm coming.  But coming where exactly?”

Dash lowered her sunglasses and gave Twilight a dangerous smile.

“You ever played ding dong ditch?”

Rainbow Dash rang the doorbell.

“Now hide,” Pinkie whispered loudly.

The two of them dove into the near-by bushes.  Twilight panicked and managed to do nothing but turn her head back and forth between the two.  Pinkie grabbed her and pulled her into one of the bushes.

Twilight watched as a pony she'd never seen before opened the door.

“Hello?” he asked.  “Is anypony there?”

Pinkie was giggling madly, but silently, as the pony took a few steps outside and looked around in confusion.  He called out one or two more times before scratching his head and going back inside.

That was the single biggest adrenaline rush Twilight had ever had.  Her knees were weak and shaking and her heart was pounding harder than it had ever pounded before.

“Why did we do that?” Twilight asked, panting between words. “I feel so- so-!”

“We like to call that feeling 'being alive',” said Dash.  “You should try it more often.”

Twilight looked down at her trembling hooves.  Alive?  It wasn't entirely a bad feeling, just a lot of it.

“Now you ring the doorbell,” Pinkie whispered.

Twilight nodded and rang the bell, this time not hesitating to dive into the bushes.  It was a thrill!  That's what she was feeling!  They rang several more doorbells, each time that feeling of thrill raced into Twilight's gut.  She was starting to see the appeal of this game.

Then somepony caught them.  It was the third time they had knocked on that particular door, but this time Twilight tripped and the pony got to the door before she could hide.

“Hey!” the pony shouted at them.  “What are you kids doing?!”

Twilight screamed.

“Run!”  Pinkie shouted and the three of them went racing off, Twilight screaming as she ran.

Twilight doubted she had ever run so fast!  Her hooves were pounding just as hard as her heart as the buildings flew by.  Twilight took it back, this wasn't worth it!  She didn't want to spend the rest of her life in jail for this!  Why did she do any of this?!

“Lost him!” Dash called out.

Twilight's screaming and running came to a tumbling end.  She regained her footing and turned around to see that the pony had not been running after them as she had originally thought.  Pinkie and Dash both grabbed onto her and laughed, Dash giving her a playful noogie.

“You were great, Twi,” Dash said.  “Running away screaming.  That guy must have thought you were insane!”

“Oh, I just came over to 'AAAAAAAH'!” Pinkie broke out into laughter again.

“So we're not going to jail?” Twilight asked.  More laughter followed.

Relief slowly came over Twilight.  Her heart was still beating so hard, but it wasn't entirely bad.  This was... exhilarating!

Twilight laughed a little bit herself.

“Dashie!” Pinkie suddenly called out.  She pointed sternly towards the horizon.  “Red.”

Well, the red was only starting to overtake the purple, but there was no mistaking that the morning was about to come.  This was far from the first sunrise Twilight had seen, but this particular one got a look of amazement from her.

“It's sunrise?  We stayed up till morning?” Twilight asked in disbelief.  “I've never stayed up until morning before!”

“Me neither.  Wouldn't be caught dead doing that,” said Pinkie.  This got a little chuckle from Dash.  Twilight had missed a lot of jokes, but this one somehow made even less sense to her.

“Did I make some kind of innuendo?” Twilight asked.  She tried thinking of how that could possible work.  Sunrise.  Sunrise?  Oh Sweet Celestia!  Twilight's mind was being dragged to the gutter!

“Nah.  Just an inside joke.  Maybe I'll explain it to you one night.”  Dash gave Twilight a toothy grin.  “Anyway, we're out.”

“Out?  You're going home?” Twilight asked.  She supposed it was very late, or early depending on how you looked at it.

“When red's in the sky we gotta fly,” Pinkie said.

“Yep.  But listen,” said Dash.  She took off her glasses completely for the first time and looked Twilight in the eye.  “The boss invited you this time, but now you're getting an invite from me.  Meet us at the cemetery tonight.  You won't regret it.”

Without waiting for a reply, Dash put her sunglasses on and turned to leave.  Pinkie trotted beside her and the two snickered and whispered into each other's ears as they made their exit.  Twilight never did find out where either of them lived.  Probably on the same side of town, from the looks of it.  Unless they lived with Rarity.

Well that had certainly been one heck of a night.  It gave Twilight a lot to think about, but right now the fact that she'd stayed up all night eating Candy was beginning to catch up with her.  Her boundless energy was fading faster and faster.  By the time she was nearing her house, Twilight was dragging her hooves along, struggling to keep her eyes open.

They were closed as she got to the top of the hill, so Twilight didn't see she had a visitor until she opened her eyes to grab the door.  Applejack was standing there, just next to her, looking very serious.  Oh boy.

“Applejack?”  Twilight whined.  “Go away.  I'm too tired for whatever.”

“No!”  Applejack slammed Twilight's door shut just before Twilight could open it.  “I know you don't believe me now, but those three really are vampires!”

Twilight sighed.  The anger woke her up just enough for her to function again.

“Okay, here's a short list of some of the things wrong with that,” said Twilight.  “One, there's no such thing as vampires.  Two, if they were trying to 'get' me they could have done it last night when I was all alone with them.  Three, I saw them walking around in the sunlight when I got off the train.”

“About that one,” said Applejack.  “The whole 'vampires burst into flames in daylight' thing was just something some guy made up to avoid copyright infringement.  It ain't true.”

“How does saying that vampires die in sunlight avoid copyright infringement?” Twilight asked.

“It don't.  Guy got sued for everything he was worth,” said Applejack.  She reached into her saddle bag and produced and ominous looking book, black with red letters on the front.  “Take this.”

Twilight looked down at the book.  It read 'The Only Authentic Guide to Vampires, by Granny Smith'.

“It's written by my grandmother, actually,” said Applejack.  “My families been fighting these monsters for generations.  I understand if you think vampires don't exist, but just read this, okay?  When you realize what Rarity really is, knowing this stuff will do you a whole ton of good.”

“Uh, huh.”  Twilight took the book with her magic, holding it like a dirty rag.  “Even if they were vampires, they don't seem like they want to hurt me.  I was with them alone, in their house and yet here I am with all my blood!”

“They're not trying to kill you, they're trying to corrupt you,” said Applejack.  “That's how Rarity gets her kicks.  She finds the sweetest and most innocent ponies she can and twists until they're degenerate enough to want to be her vampire minion.  Why else do you think somepony like Rarity would be inviting somepony like you to her party, huh?”

Twilight didn't answer that question.  It was true Twilight was a social reject, the type ponies didn't normally like.  Somepony as cool and popular as Rarity wouldn't normally give Twilight a second look, let alone make her the guest of honor and offer to help her with 'anything'.

“Exactly.”  Twilight nodded.  “I've seen it happen before with Pinkie Pie.  Ask anypony, she was this sweet, quiet little gem.  Pinkie was real ladylike and pure, never spoke out of turn, never did anything she wasn't supposed to, never smiled or laughed too loud.  She was a considerate, calm pony, you know?”

Applejack stomped her hoof on the ground.

“But then Rarity got to her,” Applejack sneered.  “It didn't even take her a year convince her to run away from home and become a vampire.  And now look at her, going 'woo woo' all over the place and acting like an animal.  All this partying?  All this joking around, being all wild, all this candy eating?  She's a completely different pony!”

“Rarity convinced Pinkie to run away from home?”  Twilight had read all about cults and the like.  One thing controlling, abusive groups always did was try to separate you from your family.  “That does sound pretty bad.”

“I think you missed the part about the vampirism,” Applejack said.  “And all the cussing and partying she does now.  And how the old Pinkie is basically dead because of their vampire mind control.”

Twilight let out a frustrated sigh.  Maybe Applejack could have convinced her they were like a cult or dangerous gang or something, but there was no way this vampire angle was not going to work.

“Again, there's no such thing as vampires,” said Twilight.  “Okay.  Maybe the thing about Pinkie running away is true, maybe that's bad, but I really think those three are a lot nicer than they seem on the surface.  There's nothing wrong with eating candy and all that every once in a while.”

“It ain't gonna be once in a while.  It's gonna be every single day.  They're gonna suck you in, Twilight.”  Applejack pointed to the book.  “Just promise me you'll read the book, okay?”

Twilight just rolled her eyes.

“I'm going to sleep,” she said.  “Goodbye, Applejack.”

Twilight slammed the door before Applejack could warn her again.  The whole thing was ridiculous  Twilight gave the book one sideways glance before throwing it off to the side.  She'd organize it tomorrow, maybe make a 'superstition' section just for it.

Twilight lumbered a few feet over to her bed and collapsed.  Her exhaustion finally caught up with her and she was asleep almost instantly.