Epic Pony: Friendship is Legend

Part 1: Equestrian Secrets
Chapter 1: The Pony in the Lake

“So, have you heard the exciting news, Rainbow Dash?”

“Pinkie, for the last time, I don’t care about every little thing that happens with the Cake twins!”

“Not that news, silly! I’m talking about what’s going on in Canterlot! Everypony’s been talking about it! Well, maybe not everypony, but a lot of ponies! Well, maybe just that group of ponies that hangs out in front of Sugarcube Corner, but that counts as a few ponies. Of course, if everypony’s been talking about it at Canterlot, then that would make it-”

“ Ugh, just tell me the news, then!”

“Oh yeah. I heard that Princess Luna is coming to Canterlot to visit Princess Celestia!”

Over the hill came Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash trotting gruffly with Pinkie Pie bounding high-spiritedly behind her.

“Doesn’t Luna already live in Canterlot?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking behind her at Pinkie Pie.

“Duuuuuuuuuh!” Pinkie Pie exploded, with a silly expression, “She so doesn’t live in Canterlot, silly! She has her own castle on the other side of Equestria! I can’t remember the name, though. Didn’t you know?”

“I don’t have time to learn about all the places in Equestria!” Rainbow Dash retorted, rolling her eyes. “Anyway,” she continued, “This visit, what’s so important about it?”

“Well,” Pinkie Pie explained, “It’s not every day two powerful, awesome, super-rific leaders who happen to be family members visit each other! I mean, come on! Different sides of Equestria! If you and I lived miles and miles and miles and miles apart, wouldn’t it be something special if I visited you?”

“I beg to differ…” Rainbow Dash mumbled, and looked back at Pinkie Pie to say something, but before she could speak, a distraught cry rang through the air.

“Help! Somepony, help, please!”

It didn’t sound like anypony Rainbow Dash or Pinkie Pie knew, but still they galloped in the direction of the voice. They came to a lake, and found a worried pony, half-submerged, trying to climb onto land. As hard as she pushed on the ground with her front hooves, she couldn’t lift herself any farther out of the water. When she saw Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie approaching, she called out, “Oh, thank goodness somepony heard me! I was just swimming around in the lake, and my tail got caught in the seaweed! I’ve tried and tried, but I just can’t pull it out! Can you help me?”

“No problem, sister!” Rainbow Dash remarked, and leapt into the air. She flew over to the pony, then grabbed onto her hoof, hovering beside her. She tugged at the pony’s hoof, while the pony used her other hoof to push on the ground. After only a few seconds, Rainbow Dash commented, “Wow, that’s gotta be some tough seaweed,” and lowered herself onto the ground. Once she landed, she continued her efforts, using her back legs to add force. Still, nothing.

“Help me out, Pinkie Pie!” Rainbow Dash shouted. Pinkie Pie, who was standing on the other side of the pony, suddenly looked at Rainbow Dash, as if she had been spacing out.

“Hm? Oh, right, sorry,” she said, “I was just looking at these weird markings on her cheek.”

“This is no time for examination, Pinkie!” Rainbow Dash barked. “Just help me pull her out!”

“Right!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed with a salute. “Maybe I should dive down and untie the seaweed that’s holding onto her.”

“It’s tangled in a big knot,” the pony stated, “A tough one, too. You won’t unable to undo it. Believe me, I tried.”

“Oh, I’m good with knots,” Pinkie Pie assured, putting on a scuba diving mask, “I once untied about a hundred or more balloons all tied together in a bunch, and it only took me one whole day!”

“Can you do seaweed in less than that?” the pony asked desperately.

“You can bet on it!” Pinkie Pie declared, and dove into the water. Not even a moment later, she popped her head back out, with a look of bewilderment on her face.

“Um, Rainbow Dash?” she timidly asked.

“Just take care of it!” Rainbow Dash ordered.

“Yeah, but I really think you should see this,” Pinkie Pie said.

“I’ll look at it later!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “Now get to that knot!”

“Alright,” Pinkie Pie quietly responded, and dove back down. After a minute or so, the pony started to rise further out of the water with each tug, until finally, she lunged out of the water, landing right next to Rainbow Dash, who fell over. Rainbow Dash looked over at her and suddenly fell silent. With a sigh of relief, the pony looked at Rainbow Dash and panted, “Oh, thank you so much! I thought I was going to be stuck there for a long time! I wish I had time to show you my gratitude, but I’m afraid I must be going.” And with that, she plunged back into the lake and swam out of sight, with Rainbow Dash staring incredulously after her. As Pinkie Pie climbed onto the shore, she asked, “You saw it, too, right?”

“How could I not have seen it?” Rainbow Dash answered. “Then again, how could I have seen what I just saw? How could it be possible?”

Wringing out her mane, Pinkie Pie asked, “Do you think it was some kind of trick, or joke, or prank, or hallucination?”

“It couldn’t have been!” Rainbow Dash affirmed. “It looked completely real! It looked like that pony actually had…” She looked at Pinkie Pie, and they both cried in unison, “A FISH TAIL!”

At Fluttershy’s house, the melodic sound of birds chirping came from every direction. Fluttershy herself was out back, seated at a table with Sweetie Belle. Laid out on the table was a platter of sandwiches, a pitcher of lemonade, and bowls of assorted vegetables. Sweetie Belle watched and listened intently as Fluttershy vocalized a tune.

“Okay, now you try,” Fluttershy said softly when she finished. She took a carrot from one of the bowls and tossed it lightly to a nearby rabbit. Sweetie Belle cleared her throat and attempted to sing the same tune, and her voice was almost as smooth and pleasant-sounding as Fluttershy’s, though not completely. When she finished, she pouted a bit. “Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll get it,” Fluttershy assured with a smile. Just then, a knocking sound came from the direction of the house, followed by Rainbow Dash’s voice calling out, “Fluttershy! You home?”

“I’m in the backyard,” Fluttershy responded, then, realizing she said it too quietly to be heard from the other side of the house, she repeated it in a louder voice. As she sang again, Rainbow Dash flew over the top of the house, while Pinkie Pie scurried around the side.

“Ooh, you got some tasty-lookin’ sandwiches there!” Pinkie Pie thought aloud, eyeing the plate on the table.

“Help yourself,” Fluttershy uttered, “We were just having some lunch, and since it’s such a nice day outside, we decided to eat out here. I was also giving Sweetie Belle some lessons for improving her singing- though, of course, she can already sing so beautifully.”

“Aw, shucks, Fluttershy,” Sweetie Belle said, blushing.

“Oh, but I mean it,” Fluttershy continued, “You have the voice of an angel.”

“That’s not important,” Rainbow Dash blurted out impatiently, “Have you seen Twilight? We looked all over Ponyville and couldn’t find her. Nopony even knew where she was!”

“Twilight?” Fluttershy inquired. “She went to Canterlot to greet Princess Luna. Her departure was on short notice, so she didn’t have time to tell anypony. Rarity went with her, too.”

“Anything to take some time off with ‘a more proper crowd’,” Sweetie Belle commented in an almost mocking tone, “Since they were in a hurry, Fluttershy agreed to look after me for a bit. Of course, I’m not going to spend the whole day lounging around here.” Her eyes then lit up. “Scootaloo and Apple Bloom came up with the perfect idea for getting our cutie marks! Applejack said it’s too dangerous for us to try on our own, so we managed to talk her into coming with us!”

Suddenly, she flinched. “Speaking of which,” she added in a panicked tone, “It’s almost time! We agreed to head out right after lunch! Oh, no! I hope I won’t be too late! I hope they won’t leave without me!” And with that, she dashed off as quickly as she could.

“Sweetie Belle, wait!” Fluttershy called after her. “Don’t-! Oh, well, she’ll be in good hooves.”

Fluttershy then turned to Rainbow Dash. “Anyway, Twilight is going to be out of town for a bit,” she restated, “Did you need something from her?”

“Well, she’s the smart pony,” Rainbow Dash explained, “So we were going to ask her about… something. To see if she knew anything about it.”

“About what?” Fluttershy asked quietly. Not hearing her, or maybe just ignoring her, Rainbow Dash continued, “And if not, we were going to see if there were any books about it in her library.”

“About what?” Fluttershy asked again, but, instead of answering her, Rainbow Dash turned to Pinkie Pie and suggested, “Do you think Zecora would have any information? It could’ve been some kind of weirdo magic or something.”

“Dere’f nerr wray erf norring,” Pinkie Pie mumbled through a mouthful of sandwich. After swallowing, she added, “But if it is, then Zecora’s the perfect pony- or, zebra, to turn to.”

“What are you two going on about?” Fluttershy persisted, raising her voice only slightly, so that she was speaking at normal volume. Pinkie Pie turned to her and opened her mouth to explain, but Rainbow Dash quickly covered it with her hoof.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” she interjected, “Just a bit of trivia. Nothing important, nothing to worry about.” She glanced sideways at Pinkie Pie, who was looking at her with a bemused expression.

“Oh, okay,” Fluttershy murmured, looking the least bit dispirited. Pinkie Pie, noticing Fluttershy’s sadness, frowned at her, then stood shaking nervously on the spot before suddenly blurting out, “We saw a pony with a fish tail!” Rainbow Dash put her hoof over her face, and Fluttershy leaned back in astonishment. “You saw what?” she asked.

“A pony with a fish tail!” Pinkie Pie repeated loudly.

“Pinkie…” Rainbow Dash muttered reproachfully, glaring at Pinkie Pie.

“What?” Pinkie Pie blared. “She was sad that we wouldn’t tell her, and I don’t like making a friend sad by not telling them something when I could tell them but then I just decide not to tell them because I feel I shouldn’t tell them even though telling them wouldn’t do any harm and it’s not like I can’t tell them and if I would I could but when I don’t and it makes them sad then I just have to tell them!”

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy stared at Pinkie Pie for a moment, then Fluttershy said, “So, about this pony. With the fish tail. Did you really see one?” When Rainbow Dash nodded in response, Fluttershy continued, “My, that’s definitely something interesting. Do you think maybe the Princess, or Princesses, would want to hear about it?”

“I don’t think we should bug them about it,” Pinkie Pie cut in, “It would be rude to interrupt their family reunion. On the other hand, I’m sure Twilight would be all over it.”

“Yeah, she’d probably turn the Canterlot library upside down for books on the subject,” Rainbow Dash joked, and chuckled at the thought, then added, in a more serious tone, “I think we should write a letter to her.”

“Ooh, good idea!” Pinkie Pie cheered. “I’ve never written a letter to a friend before! I have lots and lots of friends, but I’ve never had to write a letter to one before! This should be so exciting! I’m so excited! Is anyone else as excited as I am right now?”

“I am,” Fluttershy breathed, “At least on the inside.”

“Okay then,” Rainbow Dash announced, “So, we’re going to need something to write on, and something to write with, probably a pencil or a quill. Since none of us are unicorns, we’ll have to write it by hoof, or by mouth. Plus, Spike’s probably in Canterlot with Twilight, so the only way to send it to her will be by mailpony. This is going to take awhile…”