Thicker than Chaos

A bright, sunny day ascended over Ponyville elementary, as young Apple Bloom headed to class. Along the way, as always, she met up with her friends Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, who, together, made the Cutie Mark Crusaders. However, when they weren’t crusading for the object of their desires, they were normal fillies, discussing anything they could find time to talk about. “So, did y’all hear?” Apple Bloom asked. She was met with stares as blank as their flanks. She giggled a bit, and then elaborated further. “My sister made friends with the new pony in town!” She said. The other girls laughed a bit, just as they arrived to class.

“But how’s that news?” Scootaloo piped up.

“Well, he’s already helped us out; He sold us a light bulb for the barn that actually works! I don’t think I’ve heard a single peep out of Applejack since she got it!” She continued.

“Didn’t that cause you a world of trouble?” Sweetie Belle mentioned.

“It did, but not anymore!” She chimed. Their teacher, Cheerilee, had just strolled in. “Alright my little ponies, settle down!” She called, keeping the affection that drove her to teach in her voice as clear as day. “As I said yesterday, we’re doing show and tell this morning. Apple Bloom, would you like to start us off?” She asked, looking to the cream-coloured Filly. She moved out of her desk proudly, and pulled the very same apple-shaped light bulb from her bag that Applejack bought the week before. Immediately, a giggle rose from the back of the class.

“A light bulb?” The youngling known as Diamond Tiara jeered. “All the things in the world to bring, and you brought a light bulb?”

“It’s not the light bulb!” Apple bloom retorted. “It’s the story behind it!”

“Oh, you mean walking to the shop, picking out the weirdest bulb you could find, and buying it?”

“No!” She shot back. Before they could continue, Cheerilee had already moved between them. “Fillies, this is not the time!” She interjected. “Apple bloom, your presentation please.” Apple Bloom looked at her blankly, but remembered the reason she went up in the first place.

“Oh, right!” She said, before walking behind the bulb to present it as clearly as she possibly could. “That new pony in town sold it to my sister when she needed it most. It was even made especially for her, because she was his first customer!” She explained. “She said he had a sense of honour almost bigger than her own! He nearly gave it to her for free, but she threw the money on the counter and ran off, so he could at least make some money from it!” She finished, before taking a small bow to indicate she was finished. The class, excluding a certain pair, began clapping their hooves together.

“Is it okay if we pass it around?” Sweetie Belle called.

“I would, except that it’s the only one the barn has, so I have to say no to that.” Apple bloom smiled back. However, Cheerilee, after hearing the story, began to feel a small idea forming in her head as she waved Apple bloom back to her seat.

On Bright Spark’s side, however, everything had been going very well for him. In exchange for three light bulbs, he had a new banner done for him by a mare known as Rarity, who, if you asked him, could’ve argued all day on where the light bulbs would work best. He managed to win two out of three, which, according to Twilight Sparkle, had to be the greatest feat achieved by anyone arguing with Ponyville’s fashionista. He went into the backroom to prepare more light bulbs, but heard the familiar sound of his front door opening. He was close enough to not bother keeping his potential customer waiting, so he promptly exited the back room, and found himself face-to-face with a deep-purple mare. “Well hello there!” He smiled. “And how can I help you today?”

“Oh, that was quick!” She remarked, slightly off-guard at the reception. “Well, I heard from one of my students that this is a better place to buy light bulbs than the general store, and I need one to run the night classes.” She explained. Bright thought for a second, then wandered into the back room, looking around for what she might need.

“I’ll have to get back to you on that – I got an idea for a new light bulb, but it might take a day.” He replied with a louder tone of voice to make up for the fact he’d closed the door behind him.

“That should work – You could find me on my lunch break. How many bits will this cost?” She asked, accommodating the same tone of voice he had.

“Standard cost, four bits.” He replied. “Unless you’d want something special?”

“That’s quite alright.” She finished. Bright heard the distinct jingling of bits hitting the counter. Still music to his ears to his ears, even now. However, his mind was aglow from the idea that Cheerilee had managed to put into his mind.

The next day, Apple bloom, along with her Cutie Mark Crusader friends, had been spending their lunch time as usual, trying to find a way to get their cutie marks without doing something too disastrous. That could wait until after school. The girls had decided that they could try their luck at racing (As recommended by Scootaloo, after recalling the story on how Rainbow Dash obtained hers.). The three raced against each other, making it so that they’d have to make it around back of the school for as many laps as they could manage. “How many do you think you could do, Scootaloo?” Apple bloom asked of her Pegasus friend.

“Please! I could do more laps than any of you could do in ten seconds flat!” Scootaloo proudly announced, as eager as ever. The girls shared a small giggle, but got ready. “On your marks…” Sweetie Bell began.

“Get set…” Apple bloom continued.

“GO!” Scootaloo yelped, as the three took off, each of them exerting as much energy as possible, galloping around at their greatest pace possible. Making their way around the corner, Scootaloo had taken the lead, but saw something blur in front of her, and pulled to stop, but bumped into the pony that had pulled in front of her. “Oow, owowow…” Scootaloo groaned, noticing that she’d run into a dark green unicorn. “Sparky!” Apple bloom piped up. Bright looked to his right, and noticed Applejacks younger sister smiling up at him. He returned the smile in kind. “Hey kiddo, what’s up?” He laughed. He then remembered Scootaloo. “Are you alright?” He asked, turning to her, and helping her up.

“I’ll get over it.” She smiled, rubbing her right leg slightly.

“So what brings you here?” Sweetie bell piped up. Bright remembered her, purely because she was there when he went to ‘negotiate’ with Rarity.

“Well, I was looking around for your teacher – I looked inside and couldn’t find her. Do you have any idea where she might be?” He asked. The girls thought about it, and Scootaloo jumped up. “Ooh, ooh! I know!” She said, fluttering her wings, and pointing towards the front of the yard. Bright smiled, and ushered her on. “Lead the way!” He said, looking to where she had started pointing. Scootaloo giggled a bit, dashing off to go find Cheerilee. Bright followed her, which enticed the other two to dash off.

“Girls, this is NOT the time!” Cheerilee barked, keeping Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara away from a shy filly known as Twist.

“But she started it!” Diamond whined, trying to get past her.

“It doesn’t matter who started it – Because I’m ending it! You two are going inside, and staying there until our lunch break is over!” She firmly spoke, eyeing down both Silver and Diamond. They both huffed over-dramatically, but shuffled slowly into the classroom, and shut the door. Cheerilee sighed, before hearing a familiar sound of hooves trampling in the dirt. She turned to her right, only to find Scootaloo, Sweetie Bell and Apple bloom, running along with Bright spark behind them. “Oh, you’re back! How’d it go?” She asked with a small smile. Bright used magic to open his bag, and reveal a light bulb, shaped similar to a book.

“It took a while to get right, but this is how it works.” He explained, bringing out another switch, with three buttons on the front. “Could you girls help me with this?” He asked of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. They smiled, and approached the buttons. “The top one gives you regular light…” He said, as Sweetie bell lightly touched the button with her hoof, causing a bright glow to flood from the bulb. “The one in the middle dims the light enough to read and write, even in the dark…” He continued, with Apple bloom pressing the middle button, the glow becoming fainter, until it was bright enough to stare at without causing harm to the other pony’s eyes. “And the one at the bottom, my personal favourite, changes the colour of the light – But it doesn’t matter which one you press before it.” He finished, with Scootaloo knocking the final button with her nose. The light slowly shimmered, then changed into a shade of light maroon. He smiled as the class stared at the bulb, lightly whispering to each other in admiration. “Would you like me to fit it for you?” He laughed. Cheerilee nodded, before walking inside.

“Alright girls, you can come back out.” She said, and with that, Silver and Diamond came back outside, as Bright walked in. “Looks like we have an extra ten minutes out!” She announced, sending the class away to play.

“I still love this place.” Bright hummed happily to himself, as he returned home with a small bounce in his step. He ended up finishing early, so he played a couple of quick games with Apple bloom and her friends, before Cheerilee called them back in. However, there was something about the colourful town that always made each day seem a day to treasure. He approached his home, and noticed something was wrong. The windows were closed up, something he rarely did. Did he do it whilst he was testing the coloured bulb? With sudden caution overtaking him, he approached the door slowly, and, after a couple of seconds, he threw open the door as quickly as he could.

“SURPRISE!” A sudden volley of voices shouted at him. He could feel his heart almost leap through his chest as he found a variety of ponies, all gathered in his house. However, before he could truly figure out what happened, a loud bang drew his attention yet again, which made his eyes glaze over a ‘Sorry-I-was-late-in-giving-you-a-welcome-party-but-now-it’s-here-party!’ banner draped above the fixtures. He tried to say something, but his voice just wasn’t getting through. In front of the counter, the Pink pony he met a week ago was standing with a wide grin on her face. “Sorry it’s late!” She giggled, bouncing over to him. “But I know everypony in this town, and if they’re new, they get a party or a welcome song before I introduce myself! I’m Pinkie Pie!” She explained, much like an excited child. Bright, still trying to get a word out, ended up bursting into near endless laughter.

“This is so awesome…” He giggled, trying to sound serious. “You go to all this trouble just to welcome new ponies?”

“Well, duh!” She replied, poking her tongue out a bit. “It’s always nice to make a good impression! That, and I LOVE parties!”

“Let’s not keep you waiting then!” He half-shouted, as the other ponies celebrated, officially starting Bright’s welcoming party.

It seemed to go on for what seemed like an age, and Pinkie had yet another surprise lined up. Approaching a turntable (To which, Bright was mystified to how it got in without breaking anything.), was a pure-white pony, with an electric-blue mane. She wore a pair of purple shades, rimmed in black. Her horn glowed momentarily, causing a techno beat to erupt from the stereo systems attached upon the deck. The pony then tied in an older song, causing it to blend in a manner that made Bright want to dance already. Looking around, he noticed he was already beaten to it, so he decided that it wouldn’t cause any harm. On the ending piece, the pony on the turntable began to start a new beat, which began to overload the system, and cause the lights to burn out. Nopony seemed to worry about it, and the beat continued. Bright noticed, and was amazed that her magic had the raw power to short out, but continue to entertain other ponies. He kept dancing, but, at the same time, began to think of something else.

It was another two hours before the party ended (To Bright’s amazement), and everypony was leaving. He smiled and waved them goodbye as they left, then returned to the DJ. “So, I happened to notice that your lights shorted out.” He said, looking at the impressive system. She laughed a bit at his comment, but quickly returned to her previous composure.

“Yeah, I might’ve overdone it this time.” She sheepishly admitted. “I had a small problem trying out that beat the first time, but I guessed it was a fluke.”

“Well, I can’t let you leave without replacing them for you.” He replied. She laughed again, but noticed he was serious.

“My tastes are fussy; I’ll let you know now.” She said, as if attempting to dissuade him.

“And mine fussier. I’ll see what I can do, just see if you can stick around for a bit longer.” He replied, as if implying it was final. She cocked her head a bit, before actually considering the concept.

“I guess I’ve needed an excuse to take a break for a bit… Alright, I’ll take a breather, and hang around here for a while. But no longer than a week, alright?” She gave in.

“You’ll be out of here within a couple of days.” He grinned, making her laugh yet again.

“I’ll hold you to that. By the way – The name’s Vinyl Scratch.” She smiled, turning away. “Catch you ‘round, Sparks.” She finished, walking outside.

It was the next day, and the only thought running through Bright’s head was the derailed train that formed his headache. He slowly rolled out of bed, before stumbling out to the counters. “How she cleans this fast I will never understand…” He grumbled, moving the check the bit box. It was all there in one piece, which made Bright sigh a small bit of relief. He’d been too used to being robbed whilst distracted. However, he shook the doubt from his mind, and wandered over to the counter, remembering his promise to Vinyl. His distant thought managed to come back to him, as he tried to think of ideas for a bulb with a bit more flash. “Maybe another coloured bulb… No, it’d take too many ground roses…” He said.

“Do you need some help with that?” A sudden voice came from his door. He yelped slightly, finding Twilight Sparkle standing there with a very light-yellow Pegasus, who appeared to be hiding behind Twilight. She seemed terribly afraid of Bright, but offered a meek smile.

“Haha, yeah… What can I do for you?” He asked of the Lavender pony. She looked to her friend behind her, and ushered her in. She mumbled something, to which Bright couldn’t make out. “I’m sorry…?” He questioned.

“Um… Could I… Get one of the small lights…?” She tried, seeming as shy as can be. Her pink mane covered her eyes, but Bright could tell she was trying to avoid eye contact.

“Small lights…” Bright thought for a second. “Oh, the ones that get less bright?”

“Um… Yes?”

“No problem.” He smiled, before fetching a dim bulb and button, and putting it on the counter. She slowly put four bits on the counter, and hastily retrieved the bulb.

“So, you seem to be having a bit of a problem.” Twilight mentioned. Bright looked to her, and chuckled a bit.

“Yeah, I promised the DJ that I’d fix her broken lights, since it happened at my welcome party and all.” He explained. “But I’m trying to think of a good liquid substitute to add in for the bulb to change its colour – I can’t go around pinching roses, and if I used too many flowers, it’d be too heavy to work.”

“Well, if you need liquid, I have an idea. We have a friend who lives in the sky – Her name’s Rainbow Dash; she might be able to help.” She replied in kind. The name sounded familiar to Bright; and it was because of Scootaloo. The poor thing adores her to pieces, trying her hardest to be just like her. He found it a bit funny, in a way, but kept that to himself. He looked back to Twilight.

“I suppose – The only problem I see is that she lives in the sky, and we don’t.”

“I have a spell to fix that – It’ll let you fly for a few hours, give or take.” She explained. Bright nodded, eager to set off.

“Let me pack a couple of things, and I’ll be right behind you.” He smiled.

“That’s fine – I’ll take Fluttershy back home in the meantime. Meet me by my house, okay?” She finished, escorting the shy pony out, who said a quick “Thank you” before leaving.

A few minutes later, Twilight led Bright to an open field, with a rather large cloud obscuring the view by a shadow, but kept it enough to keep the light around them bright enough to see each other clearly. Twilight’s horn began to glow a magnificent purple, giving Bright a pair of flimsy, yet usable wings. He fluttered them about slightly, and he noticed they felt quite a bit more natural than it should’ve been. However, after Twilight cast the same enchantment on herself, she took flight with him to the clouds above. As she’d explained, the house was formed out of clouds, yet solid enough to walk on. The pair made their way to the front door, to which Twilight knocked on gently. A few seconds later, a cyan Pegasus, with a radiantly rainbow mane opened the front door. “Hey Twilight!” She grinned, looking to Bright. “What’s up?”

“Hey Rainbow, this is Bright Spark – We need to ask you a quick favour.” She explained. Bright nodded to Rainbow, as a sign of a greeting. She grinned back, but before Twilight could talk, Rainbow cut in. “Cat got your tongue, Spark?” She questioned.

“Everything but.” He replied back. She raised an eyebrow, not exactly expecting him to talk, but laughed a bit.

“Anyway… We were wondering if we could use a bit of the Rainbow liquid out the front of your house – Bright needs them for a project.” Twilight explained.

“What, that’s it?” She replied, with a smirk on her face. “Go right ahead!” Twilight was taken a bit of guard, but nodded to Bright.

“Thanks, Rainbow.” Bright smiled, trotting off to the Rainbow waterfall, and pulling out a jar using magic. He scooped up the glistening liquid, and promptly sealed the jar. The two seemed to be talking about something, so Bright took the time to look at the liquid clearly. It looked like paint, had the consistency of water, and definitely looked like fun, if crafted into a light bulb. The two laughed, and Rainbow walked alongside Twilight Sparkle.

“If that’s all we need, we better get going.” She said, smiling to Rainbow Dash.

“I’m gonna fly around for a bit, so I’ll head back and lock up after you two go.” Rainbow replied. Bright however, shook his head.

“I’ll head back on hoof – It feels a bit weird to fly, y’know?” He explained. Twilight nodded her head, and left. Bright took the opportunity to jump down, and make a soft landing on the ground. He began walking off, but heard a voice. The voice itself made his blood instantly chill, as it brought back haunting memories, the very same he tried to escape when he left for Ponyville.

“Hey there, little bro.” The malevolent, feminine voice spoke. He turned around, and found a dark-grey Pegasus standing above him. Her mane was a mix of dark-purple and a light grey, making it seem malicious. Or at least, to him anyway.

“…Ivory Rose…” He merely spoke. The corner of her mouth lifted, and her look of false sincerity changed to a new look; one that he knew all too well.

She wanted a favour.