Spike, who had woken up for some reason, was trying to get back to sleep when he heard something that was anything but normal. VVVFRREEOWWMMM! Whatever had made that sound plummeted to the ground with a loud crash! CRASH!
“Twilight, Did you hear that?” yelped Spike.
“Hear what?” Twilight said.
“Something out side my bedroom window made this ‘VOUM’ sound, and it sounded like it crashed right outside the front door of the library!” exclaimed Spike.
“That’s crazy. I know for a fact that nothing would make that sound, except for Rainbow Dash trying to make a sonic rainboom right outside our window, but I’m sure I would have heard that,” blandly stated Twilight. Then, suddenly they heard an unfamiliar pony talking right outside of the front door.
“How exactly did this portal fall over? I put gyroscopes in it for Pete’s sakes!” the strange voice said.
“Well at least it worked… finally!” he went on to add.
“A portal!?” said both Twilight and Spike together.
“Oh, hello Pinky Pie,” said the owner of the unfamiliar voice.
“Hello, strange pony that I’ve never seen before! Wait… hold on a second! How do you know my name? Well, that’s a story for later, and it sounds like a doozy! I still have to throw you a welcome to Ponyville party!” said the pink bundle of energy.
“Uhm, yah… you go do that, I have some things to attend to. Specifically, exactly how did this thing manage to fall over?” asked the mysterious new pony.
“Well, as long as you can make it to Sugarcube Corner by six o’clock for your party. Anypony should be able to tell you how to get there! See you soon!” said Pinky Pie as she bounced away.
The strange pony then thought, “At least I am in front of the Golden Oaks Library; I need to check out a book,” The strange pony walked into the library and said, “Oh, why hello your majesty! I have a quick library related question for you.”
“Uhm, oh hello to you as well. Yes, go ahead with your question,” stammered Twilight Sparkle.
“Where are the books concerning Equestria’s History?” asked the unknown pony.
Twilight said, “You can find them right over there on the shelves marked non-fiction history. “ As she gestured to the shelves behind the pony. She then added “Also I have one quick question to ask of you as well.”
“Yes?” expectantly asked the pony.
“What the hay is that hovering thing behind you?” questioned the Princess.
“Oh that. It’s just my quad copter!” replied the white unicorn pony.
“That’s an interesting name. But I am not sensing a magical field allowing its operation,” Twilight said. It was at this moment that she noticed the red lines on the floor. The lines seemed to glow on their own, like a magical insignia of some sort. Additionally the lines were not stationary. The lines seemed to move with the strange quad-copter contraption of the mysterious unicorn.
Twilight could still not sense any magic emanating from the so called “Quad-copter”, and this greatly troubled her as she could see it right in front of her.
“What are those red lines under your Quad-copter?” Twilight asked.
“Oh that? It’s just the it’s LASER scanner,” Replied the pony nonchalantly.
“Oh my, uhm, I am not familiar with that,” Said a confused Twilight Sparkle.
“There is something you don’t know about!?!” blurted a surprised Spike.
“Of course you wouldn’t be familiar with it, as a matter of fact, the reason you don’t sense any magic powering it is because there isn’t any magic powering it. The thing that powers it is a little something called Electricity,” arrogantly stated the odd unicorn.
“I know what that is, and that lightning is made out of it, but how in Equestria are you making it run this device?” questioned Twilight, who was thoroughly stumped by the statement of the new comer.
“Well it would probably take me a really long time to explain,” said the unicorn.
“Go ahead, I’m not in a rush,” said Twilight Sparkle.
***
The two ponies chit-chatted about how the Quad-copter worked for many hours. The almost non-stop talking ended when the Quad-copter started beeping.
"beep beep beep … BEEP BEEP BEEP … BEEP BEEP BEEP… BEEP BEEP BEEP"
“Quad-copter, Silence alarm,” Said the (still unknown) unicorn.
The Quad-copter immediately ceased its obnoxious beeping.
“Well it’s a quarter to six, I best be off,” said the pony, as he went over to the shelves.
“You know, Pinky is about to have a ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party for me, would you care to join me Twilight?” said the unicorn.
“Ya know Twi, we have not been to a good party for almost two whole days, and I just happen to know that Pinky was scheduled to make a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting earlier today,” interjected Spike.
“Oh, yum! You know how I love, love, love chocolate!” smiled Twilight.
“…So that’s a yes?” asked the unicorn.
Twilight giggled, “Yes I will be glad to escort you to Sugarcube Corner, and I needed to see Pinky about an unrelated matter anyway,”
The unicorn beamed a smile and said, “So then let’s hurry up. Pinky Pie may go a little bonkers if I am late to my own party.”
“Spike come on we need to hurry up so that we aren’t late,” Twilight called.
The baby dragon had run upstairs, but was already descending again. “I just wanted to get the new toy I bought for Gummy,” He stated.
The new addition to Ponyville was amused by his new friend’s eagerness to be on their way.
“We are off then, perhaps to see the wizard,” He chuckled.
“Uhm, you just saw me!” Twilight said confused.
“Right you are!” he smiled again.
They quickly came to Sugarcube Corner, and Twilight noticed that the stranger seemed to know the way without any instructions from her, nor had she even learned this odd unicorn’s name as yet. Still he seemed to be a very nice pony with a lot of interesting information about the subjects they had been discussing earlier. She wanted to know more about him and Pinkie’s party for him would provide an excellent opportunity to learn more.
Upon their arrival, the door to Sugarcube Corner suddenly opened and, while holding the door open, Pinky Pie said, “…and here is the first of our two guests of honor right now!”
Twilight, who was surprised by Pinkie’s statement, noticed that the new pony wasn’t at all surprised by the fact that there seemed to be a second pony guest of honor. As Twilight, Spike, and the unknown Pony were about to enter Sugarcube Corner, yet another strange pony came into view. He was a young, charcoal-colored Earth pony with a fiery, red and orange mane and tail. As the second pony came into Pinky Pie’s line of sight she added, “Oo, oo, oo, our second Guest of Honor has just arrived as well, everypony!”
As Twilight’s small group entered the room, Spike immediately went over to give Gummy his gift. Twilight was left to escort her new friend into the chaos that was typical of a Pinky Pie Party.
The second mystery guest made his way into the room as well, just for Pinky Pie to grab the new comer and Twilight’s mysterious friend and drag them both off to the center of the room. Pinky Pie then said, “Everypony, may I have your attention please? … Thank you. This young colt is Flare, and this is--uhm that is, I mean to say his name is--ah, hey! What the heck is your name any way?!? I mean, here I am throwing you a party, and I don’t even know your name! How crazy is that?!?”
The room fell quiet; the ponies all seemed to hold their breath in anticipation of the new stallion’s name. The white unicorn stallion cleared his throat, “Hello every pony, my name is, (he quickly turned his head to Twilight and whispered: ‘pause for dramatic effect’), Clarence, it is a great honor to meet you all.”
Twilight liked the sound of that name, though it was a bit peculiar. It was not a name from this part of Equestria. Perhaps it came from the west coast. She made a mental note to research the name upon her return to the library. After Pinky introduced the ponies, things settled down a bit, and the guests began talking amongst themselves. Twilight walked over to Pinky Pie and said, “I have a few questions about Flare to ask you, if have a moment.”
“Okie, Dokie, Lokie, Twilight, but Dashie knows more about him than I do. Maybe you should ask her,” bubbled the pink pony.
“Ask me what?” interrupted Rainbow Dash, seemingly out of nowhere.
“Dashie, Twilight here wants to know more about your new friend Flare. I told her that you know more about him than I do… so far!” Pinky Pie chirped.
“So Twi, what’s the big question burning inside you?” said the Rainbow colored pony.
“How exactly did you meet Flare?” Twilight asked point blank, serious look intact.
“No beating around the burning-bush with you Twilight!” giggled Rainbow Dash.
“I was flying home from Cloudsdale after visiting my folks over the weekend, as I was hot to get home. Coming in this morning, I remembered I had a burning need to go to the market. When I was on my way there I noticed somepony I never saw before about to be cornered by Diamond Tiara and her little friend Sliver Paddle, or what ever, and you know where there’s smoke there’s fire. So I thought I would light down and say hi,” Rainbow added. “We got to talking, and he told me that his parents were away, but that they would be returning in a flash. Meanwhile, he felt like exploring the town and that’s when I met him. Why did you want to know?” Rainbow Dash concluded.
“Well,” Twilight began, ”I had overheard this morning, from a pair of ponies at the library, that a stranger had caused a commotion, earlier, down by the market. I was unable to get what had exactly happened from them, but it sounded like some sort of unexplained conflagration.”
“A confla… what now?” inquired a confused Rainbow Dash.
“A conflagration is a fire,” Explained Twilight.
“Ha, ha, ha, ohhhh thhhat!” volunteered Rainbow. ”It’s like this. Flare cut loose with a huge fireball, after Tiara and Paddle came by a second time and began taunting him.”
“HE WHAT!!!!” exclaimed Twilight.
“It’s not like it was his fault, the bratty twins were really bothering him,” Rainbow said defensively. “You should have seen them run, ha!”
“How is that even possible? I mean, he is not a unicorn, and rage shifts to that degree are usually only possible from unicorns,” Sputtered Twilight Sparkle.
“Hey, calm down, Twilight. He only scorched the road a little. I mean, it’s not like he set the town on fire or something,” Rainbow said in a calming tone.
“THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED!!” shouted Twilight Sparkle!
Suddenly Rainbow and Twilight were aware that everypony was watching them, and it was dead silent.
“Awkward…” said Rainbow Dash.
Suddenly, to distract everypony from her friends’ conversation, Pinky Pie began to sing…
There is an important discussion being discussed right over there
They don’t really want you listening as it’s kind of a very private affair
Oh boy, that discussion sure seems protracted
So what I need to do is to keep you all distracted
Hey look at me! I’m the one that everypony knows is funny
If I really have to I will dress up as a bunny
Now you all know that I can be rather silly
So you’ll need to pay attention to this here filly
My antics should be interesting enough for all of you
Please forget about everything that all other ponies do
Watching me prance around should keep your noses out
Of the things that other ponies don’t want you learning about
So mind your P’s and Q’s while we keep this party hopping
And hope I won’t find somepony evilly eavesdropping
I really want you all to stay and not be sent home crying
Try not being forced to leave because of nosey preying
Thank you, and don’t forget to tip the wait staff!
And everypony laughed, having forgotten about the conversation Twilight and Rainbow were having.
“So anyway, Twilight, what happened to Flare… uummm… how do I put this… uuuuuuuhh… it wasn’t a rage shift,” said Rainbow Dash.
“What do you mean it wasn’t a rage shift? How would you even know that?” skeptically asked Twilight.
“He kind of told me…” Rainbow said with a weak smile.
“And you just took his word for it?” an incredulous Twilight inquired.
“Well, not exactly… he…” Rainbow began.
“I showed her,” Interrupted Flare from behind Twilight.
“EEP!” gasped Twilight as she spun to face the young colt.
“Hi Dash, and this is obviously Princess Twilight Sparkle, your majesty,” Said Flare with a slight bow.
“Yah it’s her. I was just trying to explain things, but I am not doing such a good job,” grumbled the winged pony.
“And I don’t believe her,” stated Twilight.
“Guess I’m going to have to show you too,” said Flare.
“I would like to see this phenomenon for my self,” Twilight said thoughtfully.
“Hello everybo…oops, I mean, everypony…he, he!” greeted the new white unicorn named Clarence.
“Who’s this? I mean, why is HE here?” asked Flare.
“He’s my friend, and he is very smart and well educated. I would like his opinion as well, if you don’t mind Flare?” Twilight asked.
“I guess that it’s OK,” said the young colt.
“I think we need to do this in a not so crowded place. Outside would be best,” Rainbow interjected.
“That would definitely be a good idea,” stated Flare.
The four ponies were on there way out the door when Spike noticed them leaving. “Twilight, where are you going?” asked Spike.
“There’s something I need to see to believe,” Said Twilight.
“Can I come with you?”Asked Spike.
“Yes, if it’s OK with Flare,” said Twilight.
“Yah sure, why not,” said Flare.
The four ponies and the dragon went outside to see if Flare and Rainbow were telling the truth. “Well, here goes nothing,” said Flare.
Twilight, Spike, and Clarence all gasped when they saw Flare’s hoof light on fire.
“What the… how did you… I don’t understand… SHOULDN’T THAT BE IMPOSSIBLE!?” sputtered Twilight.
“Just like how you thought my ‘Pinky Sense’ was impossible?” asked Pinky Pie from behind Flare.
“AAHHH!!!” yelped Flare as he leaped into the air with a burst of flame.
“Pinky Pie, how in Equestria do you keep literally popping out of nowhere?” asked Twilight Sparkle.
“Well I just… it’s like this, well actually no… uuuuuummmmm… I… uuurrr… I, I don’t know, but the reason I’m out here is to ask Flare a question,” said Pinky Pie.
“What is It?” asked Flare
“Did you like the party?” asked Pinky Pie with a serious look.
“Yes... why?” asked Flare.
Pinky Pie took a deep breath and said, “Well I noticed that you weren’t smiling at the party. And if you weren’t smiling, then that most likely meant that you didn’t like the party. And if you didn’t like the party, that must mean that I’m not doing a good job hosting the party. So I came outside to ask if you liked it.”
“Pinky Pie, I haven’t smiled since I was three,” said Flare.
Pinky, who had somehow gotten a glass of water, did a massive spit-take all over Flare.
“OWWWWWW… PINKY PIE!” yelled Flare.
“Flare, what’s wrong?” asked Rainbow, Twilight, and Clarence all at once.
“Water, when I’m not drinking it, hurts me,” said Flare.
“How is that even possible?” said Twilight, who was extremely perplexed.
“I have to admit that is pretty strange. Hmmmm… Quad-copter, notepad,” said Clarence.
“You haven’t smiled since you were THREE!?!? I have to kick this party into overdrive!” said Pinky, as she pushed Flare back into Sugarcube Corner.
“I want to see how crazy this gets,” said Clarence as he went back inside.
“Yah, me too,” said Rainbow Dash.
Twilight was on her way inside, when she noticed a shadow duck down behind Sugarcube Corner’s trash can. “Hello? Is anypony there? Asked Twilight. When nopony answered, she went back inside.
“Phew!” said an unknown-voice-that-wanted-to-stay-unknown.
***
The rest of the party went well, a little crazy, but well. Pinky Pie gave up on making Flare smile when she ran out of things to try (which was about 3 minutes before the party ended).
“That party was crazy, even for Pinky’s standards,” stated Twilight Sparkle.
“But it was still great!” added Clarence.
“That was the awesomest party Pinky Pie has ever hosted!" said Rainbow Dash.
“Rainbow, ‘awesomest’ is not a real word. It should be something like ‘most awesome’,” corrected Twilight.
“Well then I just invented a new word, because plane-old ‘awesome’ just doesn’t cut it,” stated Rainbow Dash.
“Well, I have to get back to the library,” said Twilight Sparkle.
“I have to get home too. Quad-copter, remote number 6,” said Clarence. Twilight looked at the Quad-copter to see what it would do this time. A red beam of light shot out of the Copter and a box with a red button on it formed where the beam hit the ground. Clarence used his magic to press the button, and when he did, Twilight noticed that something was different about it, but she couldn’t put her hoof on it.
VVVFRREEOWWMMM!
A strange doorway appeared in front of Clarence.
“So that’s what made the sound I heard this morning!” declared Spike.
“See you tomorrow,” said Clarence, as he walked through the doorway. The doorway made a strange sound and disappeared. VVVVIIIIIIIIZZZZZZOOOOOP!
