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The Pines Twins. They had been inseparable since the day they were born, which they both loved and hated. Sure they loved being around each other, but they were just so, different. Dipper was the logical one, and Mabel, bless her heart, had enough energy a two year old would get exhausted just by looking at her. Dipper had hoped that going into high school they would find things they could enjoy on their own, but for these two being separated even for a minute, no matter how much they tried, was impossible.
It had all started before high school even began, the last semester of eighth grade to be exact. One of the few things Dipper excelled at that didn’t get him shoved in a locker was the sousaphone. Not the most common thing by any means, but it was something. In this town marching band was almost as popular as football, but still not by a mile. Dipper just wanted something to take his mind of off facts and conspiracies and supernatural creatures for a while, even he had gotten enough of that in Gravity Falls to last him a lifetime. Not that he didn’t enjoy conspiracies and supernatural mischief, he just needed something else to preoccupy his time, and maybe make a few more friends who didn’t always want to talk about whether or not Bigfoot exists.
The auditions were easy; they took basically anyone who tried out. Well, almost anyone. As Dipper walked in to the house, he was greeted by Mabel, who seemed giddier than usual.
“Bro-bro, guess what!” Mabel practically yelled in his face. She rocked back and forth on her heels from excitement.
“Wait Mabel, me first!” Dipper usually never had any news to share other than getting an A on a test that everyone else did miserably on.
“I made marching band!”
Mabel gasped, then let out a shrill “Eeeeeeek!”
“Wait, what does that mean? Don’t tell me you tried out too?”
“Well,” Mabel pursed her lips and began her story “I did try out for marching band, but then my clarinet reed got caught on my braces again”
Dipper grimaced. “Well, that’s too bad” he feigned disappointment
“You didn’t let me finish, so when I didn’t make marching band, I tried out for color guard. I mean, what’s so hard about twirling flags all the time? The captain said she had never seen anyone so ‘naturally gifted’” Mabel snorted, then giggled.
Dipper breathed a sigh of relief. This was perfect! Since the practices were separate, they could do almost everything apart but still be on the same team.
Practices were something awful, but compared to the treks they went on during the summer, marching practices couldn’t be tamer. Mabel made friends with everyone on the color guard squad almost instantly, and the glittery costumes were a bonus for her. For Dipper the costumes were a necessary evil, the glitter, plus the goofy looking hats with the feathers on them were all a mess. He was the smallest kid in the band by a long shot, but at least it was only because everyone was at least a year older than him. Normally everyone would tease him for being a sixth grader, but here everyone treated him like a kid brother instead of the weirdo genius kid. The downside, if you could call it that was that with all the time practices took up during the summer they couldn’t visit Grunkle Stan. The two weeks at band camp could never compare to finding out one of the million Gravity Falls town conspiracies, at least initially.
Their first parade was during their local fair, and that meant the first chance to really try out all the costumes and makeup. Of course, Dipper didn’t trust anyone else to help him but his own sister. They were like each other’s mirror anyway, with the subtle differences. Mabel made sure Dipper didn’t look too ridiculous, while Dipper made sure Mabel’s makeup didn’t smear over her entire face, but was as even as possible. Dipper put on his cap, and it actually managed to stay up over his eyes this time! During practice all of the spare caps blinded him, so the managers had to order a smaller size especially for him. This year’s theme was zombies, which after the twins’ last encounter with the undead they laughed at the depiction in their exhibit. Realistically they couldn’t make the zombies as horrifying as zombies truly are, so it made sense to tone it down a notch. The pair made grotesque noises at each other until they were each called to join their section.
Mabel was never scared of performances, in fact she thrived on them. Her brother was another story completely. He had performance anxiety to the max. His fingers started locking together and his mouth dried out completely, but that all changed when they started rehearsing. As long as he remembered that he was in fact good, he was fine. He glanced over at his sister, who looked like she was having the time of her life. Maybe she was naturally talented at flag twirling after all. Not that he ever doubted her, but he knew sometimes Mabel exaggerated because everyone praised him for being so smart, and so responsible. At least here her love for glitter made the costumes even better, even if he did end up with half of it on his clothes anyway.
The score was haunting and menacing, and they marched along like a perfectly synchronized undead army, which is even better when the members are not, in fact, undead. At the end they all groaned in unison, and the parade onlookers applauded louder than Dipper had ever heard. Mabel wandered through the flag twirlers to find her brother.
“Awkward sibling hug?” she asked.
“Awkward sibling hug.” They both leaned over to one another.
“Pat-Pat” In unison.
"Dude, no offense but you smell like boy sweat. Go take a shower or something, jeez."
"Mabel, showers are for wimps."
If this was their final test before high school, they passed with flying colors. Back here they weren’t the Mystery Twins, they were just the Pines Twins, and that was just fine with them.