“Spike! Today is just wonderful”
“Sure is,Twilight ” responded Spike.
“I know, Spike, but after that day of rest I feel so much better.” said Twilight as she twirled onto her couch.
It had been a week since Twilight’s day off. Ever since, she has been completing her work quicker, reading books with better comprehension, and not becoming stressed over the little things. She needed that break. The only negative effect about her break was that Ponyville now had to rebuild over seventy-five percent of its buildings, and her friends haven’t been that social.
“Spike, what is my schedule for today?”
“Well…” answered Spike. He pulled out a scroll that when unrolled, went outside of the library.
“Cancel Everything!”
“But…”
“You can handle library. I’ll be hanging out with the girls today.” Twilight proclaimed as she ran through the front door.
Spike went to the door and closed it slowly. Every so often he would look to make sure Twilight didn't turn around. When he was certain she wouldn't, he put the closed sign on the window. He put on his favorite record: Pitch Perfect’s first album, lit scented candles, and started reading “The Young Dragon’s Code of Conduct: Third Edition revised.”
“Now that I’m alone, I can finally read in peace.”
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^o^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Twilight was eagerly walking across the town square in Ponyville. It was a wide open space where the vendors usually sold their products. Today,everpony decided from going outside, except Twilight Sparkle. She was almost done crossing the plaza a loud explosion interrupted her thoughts. The vibrations caused her to fall off her hooves.
“What in the hay?” Twilight cursed. She turned around slowly to see a giant dust cloud beginning to clear. Twilight could barely make out figures in the dust.
“Twilight…It’s been awhile hasn't it?” queried a familiar voice.
“Trixie…?”
“Who else?” Trixie asked a rhetorical question. “And it’s the Great and Powerful Trixie to you.”
The dust cleared revealing a truly frightening sight. Past foes were now lined up in front of Twilight. Flim and Flam, Trixie, Discord, Gilda, Queen Chrysalis, and the diamond dogs who were laughing among themselves. Twilight, in a state of shock, couldn't utter a word.
“What is the matter Twilight? Cat got your tongue.” Discord jeered. He snapped his fingers and Opalescence appeared. She started clawing at his face, yet he easily dodged each swipe.
“Ooh I hate cats” stated Rover of the Diamond dogs. The other two agreed with his statement.
"That's disappointing. How about you get acquainted with this one?” smirked Discord. With a snap of his fingers Opalescence was scratching Rover’s face.
“Get it off! Get it OFF!” he hollered as he tripped over a rock and into his fellow dogs.
The diamond dogs struggled to release their friend from the evil claws of the cat. Discord, on the other hoof, began laughing. Trixie, whom Twilight presumed the leader, face-hoofed at the situation. The rest of the group simply backed away from the commotion.
“Ugh. Those guys are some dweebs.” Gilda sighed
“Dweebs? More like Idiots.” Chrysalis corrected.
“Guys focus!” Trixie yelled at the top of her lungs, “We have to get Twi-“
When the group looked in the direction of Twilight, they noticed she was running as fast as she could. The expression on her face was a determined, yet frightened. Every member of the new villain group knew where she was going: To gather the Elements of Harmony.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^o^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
“Applejack!” hollered Twilight, “APPLEJACK!”
Twilight entered the front gate of Sweet Apple Acres. Instead of hearing the usual sound of apple bucking, she heard complete silence. She began to get worried, fearing that the evil villains had gotten to her friend first. Her pace was slowly increasing until she was in a full gallop. Without knocking, Twilight kicked in the front door to the Apple family house.
“What in the hay, Twi?” asked Applejack.
“No time to explain, “Twilight panted, “Just follow me to get the rest of the girls.”
“Why?”
Twilight sighed. She just said she had no time to explain. “Some of our past foes have formed a super group! We need to go defeat them!”
“Hmm…Nah.”
In her state of shock, Twilight took a look around Applejack’s home. In it, she saw paint supplies, paintings of fruit or the horizon ,a blank canvas was positioned in front of Applejack., and the rest of the Apple family posing very awkwardly. Applejack simply smiled and continued to paint.
“After the destruction in Ponyville awhile back, I decided to help my fellow citizens rebuild. You couldn't imagine all the stress I was under, so I decided to follow your hoof steps and have a little day off. It turns out ah’m good at painting.”
All Twilight could do was close the door to the Apple house. It’s not like she could do anything about the situation. Twilight did exactly the same thing to her friends on her day off. She sighed and began running to a cottage of in the distance. If Applejack wouldn't help, then Fluttershy will.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^o^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
“Flut-“Twilight’s sentence was interrupted by a loud WUB noise coming from a cottage.
It was so loud that the animals began to shriek, run away, or both. Twilight couldn't even hear her thoughts. Becoming annoyed, she conjured a sound proof bubble, then made her way inside the cottage. Inside, she found Fluttershy behind what looked like DJ equipment. On either side of her, were two large speakers vibrating nonstop to some beat. Noticing Twilight, the yellow pegusus lowered the music volume.
“Hi, Twilight.” Fluttershy whispered, “What brings you here?”
“Uh…First, why do you have all this equipment?"
“Well you see, Twilight, after that whole ordeal a last week back, I felt so bad about the creatures revolting that I spoiled each and every one of them ever since. Of course, you can imagine how tired all the animal care has made me."
Just as Fluttershy finished speaking, a white unicorn wearing sunglasses walked into the room. She was chewing a hay sandwich, wondering why the music stopped. Quickly, she took notice of the stressed Twilight, and began to walk away, yet stopped when Fluttershy waved her over.
“So, one day while I was feeding the chickens, I heard this heavenly sound. It just calmed and soothed me. I followed it until I reached a concert that Vinyl Scratch was performing at. I loved so much that I went to meet her after the performance. One thing led to another and now she is giving me music lessons.” Fluttershy explained.
“She is actually pretty good at it.” Vinyl added.
“But…but, this music is loud and crazy while you’re soft spoken and shy. Polar opposites!” Twilight stated.
“Well opposites do attract.” Countered Fluttershy.
Twilight just took deep breaths. Equestria was a free country, so Fluttershy could do whatever she wants. This wasn't even why she was there. She had gotten side tracked, but now it was time to return to the real reason she came.
“Whatever, Fluttershy. I need you to come with me. Our old enemies have formed into one super group! We have to assemble the rest of the Elements of Harmony.” Twilight exclaimed
Flutter rubbed her chin with her hoof. “That’s very bad, but I still have three hours on my lesson.”
“But...”
“Sorry...”
With the final apology, Fluttershy raised the volume to max. Twilight, powerless against the music and its volume, was sent flying out the cottage. Luckily, She landed safely on a pile of fallen leaves. She sighed. This day was getting worse and worse. Two of the Elements had already said no to helping her defeat the villains. The unicorn got up and brushed herself off. She still had three more friends and she knew they would help her.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^o^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
“Rarity! Thank Celestia I found you!”
“Hi, darling.”
After searching around most of the town, Twilight found Rarity in the last place she’d expect-The Ponyville Roller Derby Arena. Even more peculiar was that it seemed Rarity was actually about to participate in the event. She had on light blue roller skates and a matching helmet lay at her side. A couple of bruises were on her shoulder, but nothing too serious.
“Rarity…are you in the Roller blade derby?” Twilight asked.
“Why yes. My team, The Ponyville Jewels, is in the finals.”
“When did you start participating in these rough events?”
Rarity cleared her throat. “Well you see Twilight, after the catastrophic event a week back; Everypony blamed me for all the destruction. You know, because I accidentally cursed the apples. I tried to explain, apologize, but no pony would have it. I was shunned by the masses. Eventually, I began to get irritated. Can you blame me?”
“Well…”
“Anyway. One day, my rage was at its peak, so decided to go for a walk to calm me down. Never did I imagine that a simple walk would change my life."
A couple of mare earth ponies, each in clothing matching Rarity’s, skated towards Twilight. They were around Big Mac’s size with muscles to match. Their bruises and scares were much worse than Rarity’s. One had a black eye while the others were missing teeth, but each had a scowl on their face. Despite, their demeanor, a friendly aura came off of them.
“Hey Rarity!” said the biggest of the group, “Who’s this wimp?”
“Oh come now. She is not a wimp.” Rarity said defending Twilight.
“Then will she enter the derby with us…”
“Not today,” Twilight interrupted, “Rarity finish please.”
“Oh yes.” Rarity recalled her spot in the story, “Well, I was walking and these lovely mares were walking towards me in my path. I didn't feel like moving and neither did they. When we realized neither was going to move, we braced ourselves for impact. We collided with intense force, but only one mare kept upright. Me. Soon after, I apologized, they told me their names, what they do, and invited me to try out. Of course, I thought of it as unladylike, but it grew on my and I came to love the derby.”
Twilight simply nodded. Every one of her other friends was doing something out of character. Why not Rarity? The best thing Twilight could do was to take deep breaths, and remain calm.
“That’s great and everything, but I need your help. Some of our past foes have formed an evil group. They’re in Ponyville’s town square. We have to stop them!”
Rarity turned and looked at her teammates who shook their heads. Then the biggest one pointed to a clock, then at her roller blades. Rarity, understanding the gestures turned to Twilight. With her sincerest face, she shook her head too.
“Sorry, but our game starts in five minutes. It’s the finals, and the team needs me.” Rarity said sorrowfully.
The lavender unicorn slowly trotted away. She said nothing to say, and had no expression to show. She just left. Three friends said no. The feeling of hopelessness began to seep into her being. She hadn't felt that ever since the first time they met Discord. Out of nowhere, optimism began to flow into Twilight. She still had two friends. One of Loyalty and one of Laughter who were always eager to help. Without another look, she doubled her speed.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^o^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
“Pinkie? Rainbow?” Twilight questioned as she walked onto a hill, “What are you guys doing?”
“Oh,Hey Twi.” replied Rainbow.
On a hill on the outskirts of town, Twilight found Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie having a Picnic. It was the perfect spot for one. There was a tree that provided the perfect shade and a gentle breeze kept things cool. There were different kinds of sandwiches, jars of honey, and cupcakes laid out on a blanket. Pinkie was too busy smothering a cupcake in preserves to notice Twilight.
“What’s going on here?” asked Twi.
“I’m here to relax and calm down.” Rainbow explained, “It took us five straight hours to stop the tornado, and my wings are strained. Plus, I’m on a no-pay vacation from the weather authority. They figured out I started the tornado.”
“So why is Pinkie here?”
“To cheer me up I suppose…after I arrived on this hill, she kinda just appeared with this picnic.”
“Well, I’m going to need you guys to cut it short. Our foes have formed-“
“Stop right there, Twilight!” Pinkie interrupted. She somehow acquired a doctor’s coat and clipboard, “My patient does not need stress at this moment.”
“But…”
“No buts! She needs to rest and eat really delicious food! So I’m here to make sure she does.”
“Sorry, Twi. After the tornado, I realized that maybe I’m not that awesome. I need to think some things over…and eat this delicious food.” Rainbow concluded as she took a bit of a cupcake.
All hope was loss. None of Twilight's friends were going to help her defeat the evil group. Maybe she would get lucky and the group disbanded. Or maybe they beat each other to a pulp. She hoped for the latter. She began to traipse to Ponyville town square. Behind her, she could hear Pinkie trying to cheer up Dash, but with no effect. This made her even sadder because it was probably the last time she’d hear Pinkie’s horrible jokes.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^o^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
“Ah…Welcome back Twilight Sparkle!” said Trixie in her vain tone.
“Whatever, Trixie. Let’s just get this over with.
“As you wish.”
Trixie and the rest of the villains began to surround Twilight. As they got closer, the maniacal laughter got louder. In between the laughter and moving bodies, Twilight noticed that Discord and Gilda were no longer present. Most likely from lack of interest.
Flim and Flam, Trixie, and the diamond dogs went in for the attack. Queen Chrysalis remained in the back.. Twilight felt them coming, so she lit her horn to conjure a shield which Trixie immediately dispelled. Twilight then tried to teleport out the circle, but when she reappeared, she was back in the center. “I learned a way to get around all your tricks, Twilight.” Trixie gloated. With all hope gone, Twilight gave up.
“Giving up already, 'Celestia’s most faithful student'?” condescended Trixie, “I guess-“
“HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!” commanded a country tone, “Don’t lay one hoof on that mare’s mane.”
“Because if you do…”, whispered another voice. Barely audible was it.
“There will be serious consequences.” Warned another voice which was lady like but severely muffled.
“And we don’t want that to happen, now do we?” Asked a tomboyish voice.
“Yeah because marshmallows…” this voice was elated, yet serious at the same time.
Twilight turned to face the sources of the familiar voices. When she noticed who they were, the shock made her heart ignite. Each and every one of her friends where present. While Trixie wasn't looking, Twilight teleported in the middle of her pals who then commenced to check her for harm.
"Twi, are you alright?" asked Applejack.
"Yes, but why are you guys here?" Twilight responded, "and Rairty...your snout."
"A little rough housing form the derby and darling, we learned and remembered that friendship-" Rarity was interrupted.
"Will you guys shut the buck up!" Interrupted Trixie, "We came here to fight! Not learn about your precious little friendship."
"Well, how about we wrap this up then?" asked Twilight. She, along with her friends, got ready for battle. Whatever the outcome, their friendship grew a little stronger that day.
(Con't Epilogue)
