Friends Forever [Twilight]

[Rainbow Dash]

Rainbow had only half-listened to Twilight's comment about playing cards, being caught up in trying to find the right buttons to the remote. When Twilight jumped over the couch, Rainbow had to stifle a small laugh. "You okay?" she asked, calling over the back of the couch. Wouldn't it be just their luck for them both to end up injured? But Twilight appeared okay.

"Well we can always just listen to stuff," she said, flipping through the channels. She frowned, her tongue sticking out slightly as she tried to remember where all the fun shows were. She wished she could figure out a way to skip right to them, but then, she was proud to have managed even this much.

"I think just about everything can teach you about humans. I mean, I already learned that they speak lots of languages, and I know that they think girls with long hair look nice." She ran her fingers through her own short hair and laughed. "Though I think they also like different colors. And you can also see what clothes they wear! Here, what's this?" She stopped on a family sit-com. "Look, there's humans. I think this is one of the funny shows. They even have people inside the tv who laugh at them. I don't think they're supposed to hear it, though, because they never react. I guess I also learned that tv is strange, but it's pretty fun, too, when you understand it a little more."

She set the tv remote down on the coffee table in front of her. "Did you get the kitchen cleaned up? Because I'm thinking maybe we should get some popcorn or something. I'm actually starting to get pretty hungry."

[Twilight Sparkle]

Twilight was seriously starting to think that there wasn't anything seriously wrong with Rainbow Dash. Well, beyond an obvious inclination toward the tee-vee which was definitely not healthy. Twilight's PFF seemed to be doing well enough, even commenting on various shows and such. Twilight wanted to argue, to point out that some shows were more educational than others, but she really couldn't find too much to argue with in Rainbow's statement. Even most of the shows, which, from Twilight's limited experience, were little more than fictionalized stories, taught them something about the new world they were adapting to.

"Different species used different languages back in Equestria," Twilight pointed nearly, nearly mumbling the half-hearted protest. It was true, but it was also true that, for the most part, everyone spoke the same language. Their world just sort of turned out that way. Here, it seemed that different languages had developed, which didn't make a whole lot of sense to Twilight. Even if they'd started like that, why didn't they eventually develop a common language? They could communicate via the tee-vee and send out instructions and the like. Within a decade or so, everyone would be speaking the common language. It was that simple.

Unlike what Rainbow explained. 'Well, I believe that what appeals to humans differs. There are many programs and books out there insisting that a human girl should remain true to herself and keep her own personality. Besides, it's not like we're looking for relationships or anything," nor was Twilight really thinking that way. For that matter, she tended not to think that way just in general. she left that to Rarity, with occasional aid from Fluttershy and Spike.

"Hungry? Hungry's good. I could go fix you something to eat. Are you sure you want popcorn? We could probably get something more nutritious, or... ice cream!" Twilight brightened, nodding vigorously. "Ice cream is supposed to be most good for someone who is experiencing your ailments," not surprisingly, Twilight was already on her feet and halfway to the kitchen.

[Rainbow Dash]

"Nooo," Rainbow said. "But most everyone on tv wants to be in a relationship. I mean, just about every show on here is about boyfriends and girlfriends or husbands and wives or something...I think they called it complicated. Everything. So there, that's something else about humans. Everything is about relationships. Maybe we should remember that when talking to any human guys. You probably most especially, since you have long hair." Yes, Rainbow had heard Twilight's argument about humans liking different things, and yes she heard the thing about staying true to yourself and all that. But it still was a fact that most of the pretty girls on tv had long hair, so Rainbow was not swayed by the argument.

"Well ice cream sounds good, then," she said. "Nutritional and delicious!" She was still getting the hang of what nutritional actually meant. "I want mine with some chocolate sauce on it. Ooh, and do we have any of those gummy ursas?" She stayed on the couch, flipping through channels again to see if there was anything else good on. "Ooh, look! Sharks!"

[Twilight Sparkle]

Twilight was half-tempted to dissect Rainbow's arguments about relationships, picking it piece and piece and presenting the flaws therein. However, the unicorn girl bit her tongue as she moved forward, instead opting to merely call cheerily over her shoulder: "You sound like Rarity," which she figured would do enough to make Rainbow stop and think. It was certainly true, at any rate. Twilight was willing to bet that Rarity would have loved some of the shows and such presented here. They fit her almost too well.

It did seem that Rainbow was on for ice cream, so Twilight got to work. Her powers helped her gather the various materials, including chocolate sauce (though she avoided the gummies; those always disturbed her whenever she watched someone eating them; she wasn't even entirely sure how Rainbow could handle it; the very idea of eating another living creature). The unicorn girl expertly scooped out ice cream, making sure to pause and insure that they had exactly matching amounts of ice cream in their respective bowls, which were, of course, exactly the same amount of clean. She also made certain to get exactly the same sized spoon for each of them, and stick them into the ice cream at exactly the same angles. Twilight was so wrapped up in exact-ti-fying everything that she nearly missed Rainbow's comment.

"Sharks?" she repeated, turning to look. "I seem to remember something about them. We should watch that; it sounds as though it would be both fun and educational!" Though the way Twilight said it, you'd think the two words were synonymous. She came in holding the bowls of ice cream, her face split into almost too wide of a smile as she held out Rainbow's. The chocolate sauce bottle came round, suspended in glowing purple to nudge near Rainbow. Twilight wouldn't dare top her friend's ice cream, especially not Rainbow.

[Rainbow Dash]

Rainbow did pause and think for a moment, considering her friend back home. "No I don't," she said after a moment. "Rarity would be all, 'oh, look at that horrid dress!' and fainting all over, and maybe she'd be interested in all the people dating. I'm just saying that it's something people like, not something I like." Perhaps the lady doth protest too much, but would RD ever actually admit that she was interested in soaps and all their drama? That was worse than being an egghead!

The throbbing in her head was starting to dissipate. She still felt crusty and gross, and the blood wasn't making her look particularly nice, but the wooziness and general dizziness was starting to go away, too. She watched the sharks swim around on screen, enjoying their slick movements a little more than the running commentary in the background.

"But I thought you wanted to learn about humans," she said, frowning. "There aren't any humans on this." Admittedly, part of her was upset at the idea that she was watching something educational. How boring! Couldn't sharks just be cool?

She took the bowl from Twilight and grabbed the syrup bottle, upturning it and pouring it on thick all over her ice cream. "Where are the gummies?" she asked, drizzling a final curlicue into the bowl and capping the syrup. "Have you even tried them? Someone gave me one and it was all melted and squished so you couldn't even tell what it was, but it was delicious. The fresh ones are even better." It tasted good enough to get over the weird shape, at least in Rainbow's opinion. "Did you want to stay on the shark channel or find something with actual people on it?"

[Twilight Sparkle]

Twilight really did think the lady protested a little too much, but she knew better than to outright say so. Let Rainbow have her protests; Twilight knew that she'd been right, and that was enough for her. For now. Give her a bit, and she'll likely be attempting to lecture Rainbow on something else, determined to keep the "Twilight is right" parade going. Not that she'd ever be petty about it.

Twilight reentered, offering the ice cream and getting settled in herself. She began working her ice cream about with her spoon, sculpting it into aesthetically pleasing shapes: a little habit that she couldn't quite help. If she got really anxious, she'd even start using her powers to start playing around with things a little. At Rainbow's comment, she looked up at the screen, seeing the animals swimming gracefully. She could definitely see the appeal from Rainbow's angle, and the narration really was quite helpful and well done. "Well, watching what humans are interested in will let us know. Plus, this is something we can even take back home with us. I'm sure Fluttershy would love learning about how sharks move underwater."

Not that Twilight really wanted to think about the various friends that weren't with them right now. She took a bite of her ice cream, enjoying the flavors that attacked her tongue, even closing her eyes for a moment and relishing the sensations. She opened them at Rainbow's comment, frowning slightly. "You need ice cream, not gummies. Besides, I don't really like the shapes their in. It feels weird to eat anything that looks like a bear. I can't help but think of Fluttershy's friend back home... hey, didn't you once say you were cave-sitting for him?" Twilight had to grin at that. She hadn't actually been there, but Fluttershy and Rainbow had talked about it when they'd all been hiding from Pinkie, who had been remarkably persistent that day. "oh, and you can keep the channel. If you know, you want to watch it." Because Twilight did, but she didn't want to admit that she'd want to watch something that was decidedly more "cool" than educational. Rainbow might be rubbing off on her, but Twilight was still Twilight.

[Rainbow Dash]

Rainbow rolled her eyes. Hadn't she used the whole "find out what humans are interested in" argument earlier? Whatever. And yeah, it might be nice to tell Fluttershy about stuff. And the sharks were cool. Let Twilight do the whole research thing; Rainbow was going to enjoy the show.

She set the remote down. "Fine, we'll watch this," she said. She was glad they'd manage to come to a compromise so quickly. That would save everyone some trouble.

"I don't remember anything about house-sitting for a bear..." she said, thinking back. "I didn't even remember that Fluttershy had any bear friends. I just remember that Ursa Minor you took care of. Man, that thing was huge!" she threw her arms out wide--ice cream miraculously staying in its bowl--to illustrate her point. "Besides, the gummies look like bears, but they're just candy. And they taste really good, even if they look weird."

She was still trying to think about when in the world she might have been cave-sitting for a bear and how Twilight would have heard anything about that. "Wait, are you talking about that time we threw Pinkie's birthday party and Fluttershy and I said we had to take care of the house because he was on vacation? I mean, I didn't even think Pinkie was going to buy that one! Don't tell me you believed it. You even know where I was!"

[Twilight Sparkle]

Twilight winced at the memory of the Ursa Minor. That had been a particularly close call, really, though not nearly as bad as their last encounter with Trixie. Twilight could only hope that the unicorn actually went through with her promise to reform. Ponies could change. Obviously Rainbow had: she now apparently liked foods made of suspicious materials. Wait, that probably wasn't much of a change.

Still, Twilight wrinkled her nose in distaste. "No, definitely no bears, no worms either. I don't like eating anything that looks like it used to be alive or something. I don't even want to think about hamburger. Can you believe people eat that? Could you imagine explaining that to the cows back home..."

Actually, Twilight could. She really didn't want to, but the image popped into her mind: her pony self staring up at a cow with a nervous smile and explaining that she might have wanted to eat the poor animal from time to time. Yes, that sounded... pleasant. Thankfully, the thought disappeared as Rainbow recalled the incident Twilight had been referencing. The unicorn girl nodded, turning to look at her friend again.

"right, I remember all that. Like you said: I was there. And we ended up at his house that one time anyway... what is that human doing to that poor shark?" Twilight pointed at a screen, where it looked like a human was taunting a shark with some kind of sharp, metal weapon. "Is he tormenting the poor thing? Really, I don't understand these humans at all. It's almost like some of them like tormenting the other creatures around here..."

[Rainbow Dash]

Rainbow saw no point in even thinking about hamburgers and explaining them to anyone else. Why would they have to? Twilight wasn't going to eat that, she wasn't going to eat that, so why was it a problem? Besides, it wasn't exactly something she wanted to dwell on, and Rainbow was able to conveniently push it out of her mind.

She did get stuck on trying to remember when they actually had dropped by Harry's house. She looked over at Twilight, her brow furrowed in thought, and she missed what was actually happening on the television. "Pinkie Pies?" she said, lost in thought for a moment. Then she managed to snap back to attention and looked over at the TV.

She frowned at the image. "Yeah, it's pretty awful." Then a bad thought struck her. "But...isn't that kind of like what we did to that manticore? I mean, it looked big and scary, and we just started fighting it for no reason. We didn't understand it, not until Fluttershy stepped in." She frowned, looking down at her hands. "Maybe it's all just misunderstandings." And then she brightened. "And that would mean we could get the humans to stop if they just saw that what they were doing was a problem! Like eating all that meat!" But not the gummies. Gummies were a gift from the gods. They just needed to be shaped like carrots first; then Twilight would understand.

"Maybe we should just tell them. Like all those lessons with Princess Celestia! That's probably all these people need in order to help them to learn and not be so awful all the time."

[Twilight Sparkle]

Twilight nodded at the memory; at least she and Rainbow were on the same page there. Just because they had physically left their world behind was no reason to leave behind the memory of such a wonderful place and the people and experiences they'd had there. It had helped shape them, made them who they were, and was totally the reason they were watching a show about people tormenting sharks with something akin to disgust about now.

Twilight's nose didn't unwrinkle even as Rainbow offered her suggestion. Misunderstanding did seem like a good explanation, but... "Maybe that's what it is," offered Twilight reluctantly, "but maybe it's not. I seem to recall someone saying that cheeseburgers were the best food that had ever been made," you could harvest the disbelief from Twilight's tone and cause a mall full of children to not believe in Santa Claus. "At any rate, it's all rather academic: it's not like we're going to be here any longer than we need to be. We're looking for a way home, remember?"

Though the temptation to attempt to correct these people and help them learn the error of their horrible, horrible ways was nearly overwhelming. Just thinking about how very many of them were doing things without stopping to think about it, harming their world and the creatures that live in it. But Twilight had her mission: reversing the Shifting process and getting them home. Nothing else mattered.

Well, except eating the ice cream. Twilight seemed to remember that she had a bowl and began scooping heapfuls into her mouth. At least this world got something right.