10 Years Later...

Sandy trotted back into Ponyville. He looked around, sighing happily now that he was back. He had just been exploring the caves and mountains some way away from the town, and he'd found some pretty impressive stuff. He had taken photos and everything.

He felt a sort of desire in his mouth. He knew it only meant one thing: chocolate! Sandy happily went down to the shop and got himself a nice big bar. The owner grinned at the young stallion as he left: that kid had come into the shop every day for most of his life. One thing that perplexed the owner was that Sandy always stayed thin, even a bit muscular, despite all the chocolate he wolfed down. How much did that lad do in his spare time?

Sandy himself went home. He hugged his mother upon his return, brohoofed his dad and went up to his room. He took the spoils from his adventure out of his bag and lay them on the table. A couple of gold coins, some weird flower (which he potted and put by his window) and all the photos he took. He'd found some sort of ruins in those mountains, and they'd left some cool stuff. He'd show it to Nikki and Oreo when he could. Speaking of which...

Sandy walked up to Oreo's house. He considered her to be his best friend. Nikki was a lovely pony, but he'd known Oreo longer and the were definitely closer. Obviously the three were still really close. It was just a fraction closer. He knocked on the door and awaited a reply.

Arabesque blew out the little candle she stuck on a carrot (as the Prima Ballerina, eating sweets is forbidden), celebrating her twenty first birthday, and her promotion to the Prima Ballerina of the Canterlot Ballet Company, at Sugar Cube Corner in the cute little town of Ponyville. She was on tour, and was going to preform The Nutcracker in Ponyville very soon. She chuckled, as watching the preformance of The Nutcracker got her into ballet in the first place, and now, she did it. She achieved her dream.

She walked through the streets of Ponyville, wrapped up in her head, thinking about her dance solos in The Nutcracker, she should really practi- she found herself accidentally running into a yello unicorn, whom looked extremely scratched up.

Oreo opened the door to see her friend standing outside. She had a huge smile on her face. She hadn't seen him for a while since he was adventuring and she had to work. She hugged him tightly then let go, she really didn't want him to know she had a crush on him.
"Hey Sandy! It's been a while. How you been?"
Oreo had gotten her ears pierced while Sandy was gone. She thought it was cute, her mane was long and her tail touched the ground now. Even though she was still young she had gotten herself a home that was small, it was cozy though.

As Sandy waited at Oreo's doorstep, a mare bumped into him. He managed to save the chocolate at least. He laughed good-naturedly and looked at the mare.

"You okay? You really should watch where you're going. The name's Sandy Hooves. What's yours?"

Oreo's door opened and Sandy's best friend popped up, looking happy as ever. He hugged her back and smiled.

"Pretty good! You gotta see these new photos I took up in those mountains! How are you, by the way?"

To the uninitiated, it was often difficult to keep up with Sandy's speech. He tended to suddenly change the subject without realising, often with a strange observation from his natural curiosity. Obviously Oreo understood perfectly since they'd known each other so long.

Sandy was about to enter the house when he remembered the mare that bumped into him.

"Oh, sorry. If Oreo doesn't mind, would you like to come in?"

After he got his answer, he walked into Oreo's house. It was a cosy little home, ideal for a few friends to come round. He was about to take out his pictures, when he saw himself in a mirror. He was absolutely filthy- he had scuff marks on his coat and a twig in his hair. Embarrassed, he looked at Oreo.

"Sorry Ores, but can I use your shower? I didn't notice how messy I was.

Nikki had returned to Ponyville for a vacation. School at Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns was still in session, and Nikki was in her graduating year. Her teacher had said she was on a fantastic path to a very successful career in engineering, with her thinking-outside-of-the-box ideas, and she was extremely satisfied with her life. 

She had come home to visit her parents. The Hooves were extremely proud of their daughter, and they couldn't wait to see her again.

The young mare skipped off the train, levitating her bags behind her. She hummed as she walked, a very beautiful tune, but nopony around her realized it was a song about regret, sadness, and pain at losing a loved one, but she didn't really care about that part either. It was just a pretty song.

"Oh, what a wonderful day," she declared, skipping along. "I'm home!"

How dare he say "You should really watch where you were going" to the Prima Ballerina of the Canterlot Ballet Company. She rolls her eyes and says. "Arabesque, what's it to y-" and she gets rudely interrupted by the same "Sandy" pony, who apparently lost interest in their conversation.

She scoffs and looks away, but then is offered to go inside. She at first scoffed at this idea, but then realized it was awfully hot outside...so she slowly stepped into the quaint little cottage.

Oreo watched as the two came in her home. She smiled at them, the mare seemed stuck-up. It seemed as if the two were dating, but Sandy wasn't a type of colt to go for the stuck-up type of mare. Oh well, as long as Sandy's happy.
"Sure Sandy, you don't have to ask. You know you're always welcomed to make yourself at home here."
She smiled at him and headed towards the kitchen to make snacks for her guests who must be hungry. She came out with chocolate bars and a pitcher of water. She also got some apples, for the mare who Oreo thought had a better figure then her but really they had the same, except Oreo was a bit more muscular.

(Just to clarify, if there's any confusion about the posting order it's Me, Sunny, Dawn then Rose. I got a little confused myself, so thought I'd just put it out there.)

Nikki didn't know where to go next. There was home, which was for later. There was Sugarcube Corner, but she wasn't hungry. There was the market, but she had nothing to buy. Where to...?

Ah! She wanted to go visit her old friends! She hadn't seen Oreo and Sandy for more than a day since she had left for school nearly seven years ago. This was the first time she had the opportunity to return home; most breaks, her family came to Canterlot to see her. It wasn't bad. Canterlot was beautiful. She just hasn't seen her fillyhood friends in so long...

She trotted up to Oreo's door, knocking loudly as she dropped her bag on the porch.

"Oreo! It's me! Nikki!"

Sandy needed to take that shower. After all, he was back and he wanted to be at his best for his friends, who must have missed him. He looked at Oreo, nodded and smiled before going up for a shower. Sandy turned on the shower and waited for it to heat up before going in. He was really filthy, so he had to wait a bit to get all the dirt off. He used the time to think over his day, as he loved doing. 


He was feeling like this was the best day ever. He'd had a great adventure, he'd met that stuck up mare who was pretty fun to watch, and he'd got to see Oreo again after a while of missing her! 


After getting out of the shower, Sandy noticed something. He was thinking a lot about Oreo lately, and the big thing he was noticing was that her mane smelled like peaches, unlike the rest of her which smelled like chocolate. Looking back, he never thought about that stuff when they were little. He guessed he was just smarter now that he was older. He went downstairs to meet the other ponies, not noticing his slightly red face in the mirror.


He went downstairs, mane and coat still damp when he heard the door knock. He opened it and saw Nikki standing there. Sandy looked at her a moment, then pulled her in for a tight hug.


"NIKKI! We've missed you! Come on in!"

He took Nikki into the room with Oreo and Madame Stick Up The Flank, happily exclaiming:

"Orey! Look who's back!"

Arabesque looked at the scene before her, putting on her dull, unamused face.

She guessed it was some sort of family reunion or something.

She sighed, and bit cautiously into the apple, examining it first, washing it off of all imperfections. It was dangerous taking food from a commoner.

She looked back at Sandy, and kept her gaze on him a bit. there was something about his scabby, bruised, utterly filthy self that felt...relieving, for a moment of two.

This moment quickly faded though, and got wrapped up in her trance-like thoughts about ballet.

"Nikki!"
Oreo pounced on her friend and hugged Nikki tightly, she was the sister Oreo had never had. Softly she got up and helped Nikki up too, while laughing of course. She showed Nikki Arabesque and whispered in Nikki's ear that she thinks it's Sandy's marefriend. 
Oreo gave Sandy and Nikki each a chocolate bar. Oreo wasn't that hungry but she ate a marshmallow so they wouldn't have to feel bad.

Nikki yanked her two besties into a huge hug, giggled and feeling seven years old again. Oh, it had been far too long from their golden age, the age of the new "cutie mark crusaders," and Nikki wondered aloud if Kid was alright. She hadn't even thought of her little big brother until recently, and she felt pretty bad about it, but she hoped somepony had an explanation. 

She giggled at the thought of Sandy dating a Canterlot mare. It was a funny thought, after all. She could just tell, at the way she stuck up her nose at whatever she was eating. Fortunately, seven years of residence in Canterlot had taught her how to act around such ponies, and she inclined her head at the new mare greeting.

"I say, it is such a pleasure to meet you," she said smoothly, without any of her normal giddiness. "My name is Nicolette Hooves, but I only go by Nikki. I attend Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, like my mother before me, but I just came back for a short visit. Orey and Sandy are my best friends."

Sandy hugged his two best friends tightly, having missed them for a while, Nikki in particular since shehadn't  been home for years. He looked at Arabesque and thought about pulling her in, but they'd just met anyway so there wasn't much point. 

He laughed his head off at Nikki's canterlot accent.

"Bwahahahaha! That's the funniest thing I've ever heard Nicks!"

Sandy picked up on arabesque looking at him. He had to admit, she was really stuck up. Still, she could be a friend. Nopony deserves to be friendless after all. He smiled at Arabesque, trying to be friendly.

"So, what are you doing here in ponyville? Normally canterlot ponies keep away from this little place."

He gladly took the chocolate, and halfway through eating it he remembered his bag. Sandy grabbed his saddle bag and put it on a table, bringing out a few things. He had some photos, a stone idol with a matching necklace and some gold coins he'd found on his adventure.

"I found all these while I was away! Aren't they great?"

He looked at the idol. It was of a mare and a stallion , just looking at each other. To Sandy, he thought that was just a little thing. However, to anypony who actually understood the expressions, these two ponies were clearly attracted to each other. 

Sandy looked to it, then Oreo, then back again. He decided he might as well give everypony a returning gift. He gave Oreo the statue, Nikki the necklace and gave Arabesque the coins.

"Here you go guys! Just to celebrate that we're all together again!"

Deep down, Arry wanted to say something like "Gee, thanks for the coins!" or maybe even "hey, want to be friends," But that was deep deep down, past layers on layers of competitiveness and snobbishness she had built upon since she first started ballet.

Instead, she opened her mouth, and a trail of words came out that she didn't even think she meant.

"Stop smiling at me, you look stupid. And I'm here for a job, I wouldn't set hoof upon this filthy place otherwise,"

The "Sandy" pony and "Oreo" mare obviously loved each other. The "Sandy" one was oblivious, though. She would probably confess her love to him, they would get married, have filthy little Ponyville foals of their own. Which shouldn't of bugged Arabesque the way it did, it's how these things go. They were practically made for each other. It shouldn't have made her, deep down, envious with a passion.

It shouldn't have.

But it did.

Oreo set the statue down as her eye twitched a little, how dare this mare insult her home and her friend in front of her.

"I'm sorry I can't make it perfect for you like your snobby rich parents did, but I've worked hard for this home, paying for it myself. No, my parents didn't, because I don't know them. I was adopted, then my adopted mother died in a fire, I had to watch my home burn to the ground at the same time, these two were the only ones I have now. So I hope you're happy."

Oreo trotted out her own home out to an empty land area a few blocks away, surprising that they didn't build anything there yet. She sat on the grass where her home used to be and cried.

Nikki didn't know she had slapped Arabesque until it had already happened, and she stared at her hooves, disbelieving. She couldn't understand why her hoof had lashed out for a moment until the anger in her body caught up to her mind.

"You spoiled, insolent, arrogant foal!" she cried. "Why would you say such a cruel thing! It's not normal Canterlot behavior. You just crossed the line between stuck-up and plain mean. All I can say is that my Auntie Cloud Dancer is pure a Canterlotain, high-society mare, and she would never in her life even think such terrible thoughts!" 

Nikki pointed at the door.

"Go say you're sorry, or don't come back at all."

She had never been so mad and demanding in her life. She suddenly felt really bad for yelling at the mare. Even if what she said was horrible, it wasn't right.

"I'm sorry," she blurted out. "I didn't mean to hit you, honestly! I didn't even mean to shout. I was just really mad..."

She started crying, but she wiped the tears away as she ran after Oreo.

(Woah, b*tchy Nikki. I didn't see that coming)

A very different Sandy seemed to just appear. His eyes narrowed, his teeth bared and his hooves clenched. It got even worse when Nikki left the room crying. He looked at Arabesque and said in s quiet, yet very threatening voice. 

"Get out. You've made both of my best friends cry, and from what I can gather from you you'd gladly do it again. So just do yourself a favour and clear off."

After he got his response, Sandy galloped off. He knew where Oreo would be- whenever she got sad about her mother, she sat in that clearing where the house used to be. He was correct- there she was, sitting there, crying. It reminded him of all those years ago, after the house burned down. He'd tried to comfort Oreo, and while he hadn't made her completely happy again, he got a small smile.

Sandy sat next to Oreo on the grass. He wasn't sure about what to do- he didn't have the scarf from last time. So he did the only thing he could think of. He hugged Oreo, then held her close.

"It's alright Ores....I'm here for you...."

Arabesque watched, as one by one, they all left. She didn't say anything, and showed no emotion. This had happened countless times. This was the reason that other ponies, and friends for that matter were a distraction.

She left as well, leaving, one by one, the coins Sandy gave her on the table.

She looked at the last one, studying it. It had a long, big scratch on it's seemingly perfect surface, still shimmering though, acting almost as if it wasn't damaged.

She kept that one, sliding it into her handbag. She liked it. It wasn't perfect, far from it actually. She didn't mind though. Being imperfect is what made it be admirable.

she took to the street. Absent mindedly walking, thinking about what they had said to her. It wasn't the first time she had been insulted. It wasn't the first time ponies assumed things of her.

She noticed that, over the years.

They assumed that she had two parents. That she was rich. That she grew up rich. That she grew up having no friends.  That she meant the things she said. That she couldn't pay for something without financial support.

That she couldn't love something.  

Even if they didn't say it out loud, she knew that's what they were thinking.

They were too caught up in their own thoughts to see that she was no different from them.

She passed who she thought were the same ponies, huddled around the Oreo one over on a clearing, where a house must've stood.

She stopped a little bit, ironically appreciating the situation at hand. She had uttered two little sentences, and they all ganged up on her, saying rude things about her family (well, what's left of it), and about herself, and now they were all huddled together, probably thinking about "how much she had scarred their lives."

She had met ponies like Oreo. Many, actually, with deceased parents. She grew up around them. Many of them let it go, though, to enjoy the life they had right in front of them, not bring it up every so often when you wanted someone to feel guilty.

We're all imperfect in our own little ways.

But that's what makes us perfect.

"It was my fault, wasn't it? She's dead because of me. I-I could've saved her, but I ran away like the stupid coward I am. I've also insulted a mare for no good reason. I can't do anything right!"

Oreo hid her face in the ground,well in her hooves, when everypony was gone adventuring or learning, she was feeling like a failure. Even self harmed herself, there were cuts on her, but you couldn't see them all that well. She didn't realize that the two were even there. She wasn't talking to them, but to her imaginary friends. They were created when Oreo was an orphan.

Nikki threw her legs around Oreo, rocking her back and forth like a baby. It was always comforting when her mother did it, no matter how old Nikki had become, and she hoped the same for Orey. 

"Not at all, Orey... It's not your fault. It was a freak accident. Even I couldn't have saved her, Orey, and you know what I can do..."

She looked up at Sandy, begging for help with her eyes. It hurt so badly to see her friends like this, and she couldn't do anything... Feeling powerless was not something she enjoyed. 

She spotted Arry standing over at the other side of the field, and realized that she couldn't have known about what had happened. There was something off about her insults... Like she was saying it because she felt society expected her to do so.

She teleported to the mare and did something nopony expected her to do: she hugged Arry, like they were old friends, and like nothing bad had ever happened.

Sandy watched Nikki teleport off and give Arabesque a hug. He wasn't sure what she was doing, but he guessed she must have had a plan with that. Besides, it was Oreo who needed comforting. He held her close again, this time stroking her mane to calm her down. He could smell the peaches off her mane. It was a nice smell.


"Orey, it was an accident. You couldn't have done anything- the guards checked, remember? The way the fire spread, she was trapped. And insulting that mare? She was being really rude. You have the right to defend yourself."


He kept holding Oreo, trying to cheer her up. He then thought of something.


"How about we go to that shop and get those sweets you like? Chocolate always calms me down.

Oreo had her face hidden in Sandy's fur, she still thought she could've done something. She shook her head and pushed her face away from Sandy's fur smiling.
"I wanna go to the new ice cream place that opened. If that's alright with you."
She wiped her tears of her face and got up, helping Sandy up also.

(Skipping Rose- Sunny hasn't posted, so Nikki can't really do much.)

Sandy grinned. It was nice to see Oreo was cheering up again. He felt like taking her hoof, but decided against it for some reason he really couldn't understand. Still, his hoof twitched towards hers, an involuntary movement. He pulled it back quickly, hoping she wouldn't notice. He trotted down to the shop, watching Nikki and Arabesque. He shouted over to them on the way past:

"When you two are done, catch us down at that ice cream shop, alright?"

After getting his response, Sandy trotted down to aforementioned ice cream shop with Oreo. He went up to the counter and said:

"Could I have a triple cone chocolate with chocolate sauce and sprinkles?"

Sandy's chocolate cravings were showing again.

Arabesque felt the mare, Nikki was her name, if she could recall correctly, hug her.

She didn't really know what to do, how to think.

Why would she want to hug her.

"Uh...hi."

Not the smartest thing to say, but then again, what else was she supposed to do?

Supposed to do.

Arabesque is very aware she acts dryly around other ponies, but never really questiond herself why.

Now she is, and she's not enjoying it.

"Huh. Ice cream. I can't, really, I have to-I mean, sure."

It felt good, meaning what you said.

She should try it more often.