The Friendship Tower

Chapters

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Part 1

The Friendship Tower - Part 1

It was a pleasant, spring day and Spicknspan was slowly checking through the room keys and paperwork behind the reception desk at the Ponyville Inn. The lunch hour had passed and, on schedule, Freshnclean trotted in with the maid cart.

Spicknspan looked up from his sorting. "All done, sis?"

"Yes. An easy cleanup job today. Even that family in number 4 wasn't bad." Freshnclean moved past Spicknspan to put away her maid cart.

"Good. After your lunch, can you pick up muffins for the morning?"

"Sure. I'll be back in a bit." She trotted to the door and opened it but before she could walk through she noticed somepony just outside raising a hoof to open the door also.

"Excuse me ma'am! Please come in." Freshnclean held the door so the guest could enter. "My brother, Spicknspan, can help you at the reception desk."

"Thank you," said the stranger. She and a large brown stallion walked in, then Freshnclean went her own way.

As the new pony walked up to the reception desk, Spicknspan looked up to see an earth pony with a light yellow coat approach. Her most noticeable feature was her large, curly, poofy mane that was a deep royal blue. Her saddlebags seemed to be full. The stallion had a brown coat and silver/grey mane.

"Welcome to the Ponyville Inn, strangers! I'm Spicknspan, proprietor. How can I help you?"

With a slight smile, the new mare said "Yes, can you tell me how many rooms you have available?"

"Oh we have several with different features, what do you need?"

"Actually I want to know how many rooms you have total?"

Spicknspan thought this an odd question, but attempting to be nice to a customer..."Uh, 40 rooms total."

The mare put her hoof to her chin and looked to the stallion. He nodded. She turned back to Spicknspan. "That should do. I'd like to reserve your hotel for the next two and a half months, starting Monday."

Spicknspan didn't think of himself as old but he was sure he didn't hear that right.

"I can certainly get you a room for that long and we can give you a discounted rate..."

"No," the mare chuckled, "I want every room for the next two and a half months, starting Monday. Oh, and I would like your best room for myself, starting today."

Spicknspan decided he should sit down. "Uhh, well then. I'll have to check the schedule. If you would like to check in now, please sign our guest book." He pushed the large book around to her and looked down at his schedule.

"Miss, ah..." He glanced at her name in the book "Amy Cleave..."

"Actually, it's pronounced 'ah-me' with a soft 'a' if you don't mind."

"My apologies, Ami Cleave. We have a few reservations next month so I'm afraid..."

"I'll pay any cancellation fees, plus add a small bonus if needed. Your inn is closest to our worksite."

Spicknspan's eyes widened. "Say…are you with Cleave Contractors, that major building company?"

"Yes," said Ami, "and we might be doing a major project soon. This is my forepony, Square Beam. He also needs a room starting today."

"Certainly. Sir, if you would also sign the guestbook?"

Square Beam moved toward the book to sign it while Spicknspan looked back at the schedule.

"Well, I suppose we can cancel these reservations this far in advance if you're willing to pay their cancellation fees...very well, you have the whole hotel. Here are your keys. When your workponies arrive, have them check in here at the desk. And uh...I will require an advance payment of 20% to cover preparations and cancellation fees..."

"Of course," said Ami. She pulled a large bag full of golden bits from her saddlebag and put it on the desk with a heavy thunk. "Will this do?"

Spicknspan's eyes changed to dollar signs. "Certainly! Let us know if we can do anything for you!" he practically shouted at his two latest guests.

Ami spoke quietly to him, "Yes. This is going to be a large project and MIGHT be a part of the big announcement by your mayor this coming Monday." Spicknspan nodded eagerly, hoping to learn more. "I'd really appreciate it if you would keep our presence quiet until after that. You don't mind of course?"

"Not at all, ma'am!"

Spicknspan quickly mimicked the Pinkie Promise gestures. Ami looked confused by this but Square Beam interjected and said "Thank you, we'll be on our way," as he turned to leave. Ami followed quickly.

Square spoke quietly to Ami on the way out, "We probably don't need all the rooms. And that bag of bits was a lot more than 20%."

"Square, your job is to make sure the project goes smoothly and efficiently. Stick to that. The accommodations are my decision."

"Yes ma'am," he replied, snapping his head forward and slowing his pace so she could walk in front of him by a few hoof-lengths.

Spicknspan was still counting the bits from Ami's bag when Freshnclean returned with the muffins. "Hey sis! You won't believe what happened while you were gone, but you've got to keep it a secret!"

About half of Ponyville knew the story by supper time.

"Hey Twilight, do you know what this is about?" The bouncy pink blur spoke while hopping around the group of six ponies.

"No. I thought if there was a party involved you would know, Pinkie."

"Well, whatever it is, there SHOULD be a party for it!" Pinkie started muttering to herself, "hmmm...could I throw an After-Event Party? I think I still have the leftover streamers..."

Appejack interjected, "I reckon' we'll find out soon enough. Here we are and hooee, there's already a crowd!"

Most of Ponyville's residents had gathered at the Town Hall already. The mayor was on the stage along with some royal guard ponies. She poked her head in the door to the hall behind the stage as if talking to somepony and then returned to the microphone.

Rainbow Dash noticed the guard ponies, including four pegasi hovering over the stage. "What are the guards for? Are we expecting a fight?"

Pinkie continued her conversation with herself. "...I'll have to make only half the cupcakes with sprinkles, but the rest could have double icing swirls..."

"Um, Pinkie, I think the mayor is starting," said Fluttershy in her usual soft voice, and with no effect on Pinkie Pie.

"...I think I used up all the party hats but maybe some extra balloons would make up for it..."

"Ahem, thank you all for coming out today for a very special announcement," said the mayor over the public address system.

Pinkie finally went silent and the mayor continued as the crowd hushed.

"Ponyville has seen some extraordinary events over the last few years. Indeed, all of Equestria has. And it has been a group of six ponies from our own town that have served to help and protect us."

"My stars, I think she's talking about us!" said Rarity.

"Well, we are pretty awesome," replied Rainbow Dash.

"Shush!" said Twilight and Applejack together. The mayor continued.

"Would Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Twilight Sparkle please come to the stage?"
The six surprised friends made their way through the crowd to the stage. Applejack and Rainbow Dash took turns steering and pushing Fluttershy. On mounting the stage, Applejack and Dash had mercy and allowed Fluttershy to stand (or rather, hide) behind them.

Once they were assembled, the mayor continued. "Let me present the pony that will make the actual announcement: our royal sovereign, the princess of the sun, Princess Celestia!"

Princess Celestia stepped out of the door of the town hall, regal as ever. All the ponies in the crowd gasped and then bowed to her. She nodded and smiled in response.

"Thank you, my little ponies. As you know, the six ponies representing the Elements of Harmony reside here in your own town. By using the Elements, they restored my sister, Princess Luna, and stopped Discord's reign of chaos. Though they may be modest about their contribution, they deserve our thanks."

The ponies in the crowd stomped and cheered for the six friends. Fluttershy let out a small "eep!" and hid further behind her friends. The other five just blushed.

"To honor them for their deeds on behalf of all Equestria, I have accepted an offer to construct a monument in their honor here in Ponyville."

The crowd murmured happily that the rumor they all heard of a major construction project was true.

"Cleave Contractors has offered to construct the monument to express their thanks to the Elements of Harmony. Let me now present the owner of Cleave Contractors, Ami Cleave."

The crowd stamped again in approval as Ami came from the Town Hall onto the stage and approached the microphone, smiling.

"Thank you princess and everypony. Cleave Contractors has worked on many projects across Equestria, and I simply want to thank the Elements of Harmony myself for what they have done for us all." Ami gave a polite bow to the six friends. They promptly blushed again and the crowd stomped some more. “Their actions saved many ponies and Cleave constructed buildings from destruction. I would like to unveil the design of the monument to be constructed here near the center of Ponyville." A unicorn levitated a large object covered with a cloth out of the Town Hall to the side of the stage. "I know building in the middle of town will cause some trouble for everyone for some weeks, but we'll do our best to finish as soon as possible. And, I know we all want to honor these six ponies right here in their hometown!"

The crowd again gave some stomps and cheers.

"And now, we will unveil the design of the monument."

At this, the unicorn lifted the cloth, revealing a model of the monument. The crowd craned their necks to see and generally muttered their approval.

"We call it the Friendship Tower. As you can see, it is a tower in the shape of a hexagonal prism, with the top smaller than the base. Each side will be decorated to match one of the six elements of harmony. There will be a staircase inside and an observation room at the top where ponies will be able to look out across Ponyville. Our company looks forward to working here to honor these ponies in the coming weeks."

Ami stepped away from the microphone and Princess Celestia again took center stage.

"My ponies, I want you to know your mayor and I approved this project and we are grateful for it. We hope there is little disruption and that this monument will serve as a reminder of the service of these six friends. Thank you all for coming, and I believe there will now be a reception in the Town Hall."

The crowd cheered again and moved toward the Town Hall entrance for the snacks and to get an up-close look at the model.
"They planned a party without me?" said Pinkie.

Dash replied, "Ah, don't sweat it Pinkie. Maybe they just wanted to throw YOU a party for a change."

"Hmmm...orrrr maybe they need my help!" Pinkie answered as she trotted inside.

Ami approached the five remaining friends. "I apologize for the surprise, but Princess Celestia thought it best to keep it a secret until the announcement."

Rainbow Dash, of course, was the first to reply. "No problem, this is awesome!" The others agreed, with an additional "eep" from Fluttershy.

"I actually need your help. I could use your talents in the construction process. It may seem odd that you would help with your own monument..."

"Darling, we are happy to help however we can," responded Rarity with her usual generosity.

"Good. I'll talk with you all individually soon. First, I need to speak to Fluttershy."

The shy pegasus peeked out from behind Applejack but said nothing.

"Fluttershy, we want to make sure the wildlife in and near the town is safe while we're doing construction. We could use your knowledge of them to..."

Fluttershy flew out from behind Applejack and actually interrupted Ami. "Of course! Oh, I must talk to the birds, and moles, and skunks, and bears, and mice, and..."

"Ah, yes," said Ami, taking a surprised step back. "Please talk to my forepony, Square Beam, about what you need." Ami nodded in Square Beam's direction as he walked toward the group.

"Well, I must start on some preparations now. I look forward to working with you all."

"And we with you," said Twilight, smiling.

Ami nodded and walked into the Town Hall. Twilight moved toward the model while her friends followed Ami into the Town Hall.
Twilight eyed the model and put her hoof to her chin. "This is an unusual design for a monument. It reminds me of something...hmmm. Maybe I'll think of it later...or research it!" Her face immediately lit up. She then realized she was alone and followed her friends to the reception.

Four after the big announcement, the six friends were found eating lunch at the Ponyville Cafe.

"Oh, I'm so glad for lunch on this side of town. All that noise near my boutique makes it hard to concentrate on creativity," sighed Rarity.

"Whelp, the noise is right much, but the extra bits from serving Sweet Apple Acres goods to the workponies at the construction site has been mighty helpful. And they hired Big Mac for a day or two for some tough hauling jobs. Speaking of the construction, looks who's here."

The yellow earth pony with the big blue curly mane was walking by the café. Ami noticed the six friends and turned to walk over to their table.

"Hello everyone. I don't think I've seen you all together since we were on stage."

"Well, you have some of us busy working for you, after all," smiled Rarity.

"Yeah, keeping the weather under control and keeping the Weather Service happy has been a full time job!" said Rainbow Dash.

Ami frowned. "Yes, and that storm last week was a bit of a problem."

"Hmph. You'd think that one little stray raincloud was a big deal," said Rainbow Dash quietly. But not quietly enough.

"Well that stray raincloud left us with so much mud we had to stop construction for two days."

Dash ignored her. "And a pegasus can hardly find a good place for a nap near town anymore with all that noise."

Ami gave Dash a hard look, but then quickly hid it with a smile. "Well, I hope our construction hasn't been too much of a problem for the rest of you."

"There are good sides too," said Fluttershy in her quiet voice, turning to her friends. "Ami and her forepony have worked very hard to keep the animals nearby safe."

The others grinned and rolled their eyes, except Twilight, who had been looking off toward the construction site with hoof on chin and a thoughtful look.

"And I appreciate being made creative consultant to ensure the colors match well," said Rarity with a happy laugh.

"The Apple family surely is glad for the business too," added Applejack.

"I am curious," said Twilight, "where your design for the monument comes from. It reminds me of something but I can't place it with anything I'm familiar with in Equestria."

"Ah!" Ami chuckled, "The monument is my own design. I tried for simplicity, balance among the six sides, and have a sense of weightiness. There are more grand and ornate monuments elsewhere, but in my study of the six of you, it seemed to fit best."

"You studied us?" asked Twilight, somewhat surprised.

"Uh, well, yes. You know many in Equestria want to know more about these six ponies that are such good friends, yet so different...and saved us all from two disasters."

The six friends shared an embarrassed smile at someone's interest in them. Fluttershy shrank under her mane.

After a brief pause, Ami continued. "Well, I would like to spend more time with you all but I must be going." Ami kept the smile on her face this whole time. "I hope you have a pleasant afternoon."

The group said goodbye, except Twilight who looked absently after Ami as she walked away toward the construction site.

"You ok there sugarcube?"

"Huh, what?" said Twilight, turning her attention back to her friends.

"You seem a mite distracted by Ami and that construction, Twi. 'course we all are a bit with all that noise."

"I'm sorry. It's just...the design of it reminds me of something, but I can't place it. I've looked through my books on architecture and I can't find anything that resembles it."

"Well, maybe it's from something not significant enough for the books," suggested Rarity, "possibly in (sigh) Canterlot. There are little squares, fountains, statues, and such all over the city."

"Hmmm. Maybe you're right Rarity."

"Um, Rainbow Dash," said Fluttershy.

"zrk, huh, what?" said Dash coming out of a doze. She had nodded off at the mention of books.

"That looks like a little thunderhead coming from the Everfree Forest."

"Aw man. Sorry gals, gotta split and break that up before it hits town." Dash tossed a few bits on the table to pay for her lunch and flew off in the direction of the forest.

"I suppose I should be going as well. I have paint to match! It should only take all afternoon," Rarity said happily.

Applejack and Fluttershy also left for the direction of the construction site to attend to their duties.

Twilight turned and realized Pinkie Pie was still at the table and sliding around to sit next to her. Pinkie looked bothered by something.

"Hey Pinkie, you seem unusually quiet today. Are you ok?"

That was all it took for a flood of words to spill from Pinkie Pie. "Oh Twilight I gotta talk to someone and since you came around to trust my Pinkie Sense I'd like to talk to you if it's ok but it seems weird cause it's about the monument construction, well not the construction itself, but about the constructor, that is this Ami Cleave pony, and she actually seems nice and though the construction is a pain she seems to be trying hard to include and respect us ponies including us and..." Pinkie finally ran out of air and drew in a huge breath. Twilight took this moment to interrupt.

"Pinkie, if something is bothering you, I'm happy to listen as a friend. But you might want to calm down."

Other ponies at the cafe were starting at Pinkie Pie at this point, though most now went back to their own meals and conversations with a shared mutter of "that's Pinkie Pie!"

Pinkie calmed down a bit and spoke more quietly. "Twi, you trust my Pinkie sense, right?"

"Yes, Pinkie. Whatever in Equestria it is, I do."

"Well...nearly every time I'm around Ami Cleave…” she leaned close to Twilight and her voice dropped to an intense whisper, “my back left leg wobbles from my knee up to my hip!"

Pinkie Pie looked very seriously at Twilight, who only returned a confused look.

"Uh, Pinkie, what does that one mean?"

Pinkie leaned closer. "It means there's someone near who can't be trusted!"

Twilight furrowed her brow. "Now Pinkie, that's serious. I happen to know her company is one of the best contractors in all Equestria. She's worked hard to build her company and appears to genuinely appreciate us enough to build this monument. I also happen to know that she's doing it with her own money, and that amount of design and construction are not cheap."

Pinkie looked down as her hair deflated. "I know, Twilight. I'm not sure I believed it myself, but it happened again just now. It's every single time I'm around her. And even I don't think it makes sense."

Twilight sat back and looked at her friend.

"Ok, Pinkie. I'm not convinced she's untrustworthy..." Pinkie looked even more sad. "...but," Twilight continued, "I want to help you figure out what your Pinkie Sense is telling you. Maybe we should keep a closer eye on her and..."

Pinkie Pie had already re-inflated her hair and was giving Twilight a huge hug. "Thanks Twilight."

"…oof. I'm glad to help a friend, Pinkie."

"Oooh, we could be super-secret-agent-ninja-spies and follow her every move!" Pinkie somehow disappeared and reappeared on the other side of Twilight, carefully examining her empty plate.

"Uh, Pinkie," said Twilight slightly shocked, "I think we can just hang out with our friends and help them around the construction site. That will give us an opportunity to observe and maybe talk to Ami."

"Oh, that would work too," said Pinkie Pie, suddenly back in her seat.

Part 2

School had let out nearly an hour ago but two students still lingered behind in the courtyard.

"Aw Cid, I don't think I'll ever get this."

"Relax Ami, you're making progress. Try this problem again," said Cid, a unicorn stallion with a blue-green coat. He pointed to the exercise in a textbook they had been working on for some time.

"Ugh, I'm too worn out. Maybe tomorrow, ok?" pleaded Ami.

"Ok," replied Cid. "If you had time to practice these exercises besides just these meetings after school..."

"No," Ami replied flatly.

There was an awkward pause. Cid hesitated, but then spoke again.

"Surely your parents wouldn't mind knowing you're doing extra studying. They might even let you take the class yourself rather than having to learn from me."

"No." Ami said with the same tone. She then continued bitterly, "You don't understand Cid. Maybe they mean well, but I have so little freedom. Some people think being rich gives you freedom, but it doesn't. I have to be their perfect earth pony daughter. And I can't have too many friends. And I can't take the extra class. Can't this. Musn't that. Ugh!" Ami stomped in frustration. "They say they want to take care of me, but it feels more like a cage!"

Ami sighed and they shared silence for a bit. Cid looked up at the clock on the school and said "Oh, I guess we have to get going. I...I'm sorry I upset you."

"I'm sorry too Cid. You're one of the few friends I have and I'm sorry I have to sneak in time with you. Thanks again for teaching me...Professor Placid Lake!"

"Eck - just Cid, as you well know," Cid said with a playful scowl.

"Well, take care Cid"

"You too."

The dream faded as Ami woke in her room in the Ponyville Inn. She sat up and signed, reflecting on her memories she had so vividly dreamed through.

"I miss you Cid. But soon, we'll be friends again, and have many, many more."

"Ow, hey leggo you big ox!"

"We were just lookin' around, mister!"

Three fillies without cutie marks were being escorted out of the construction site by Square Beam and another large earth pony. In this case, "escorted" meant pushing the fillies along while being yelled at by said fillies.

"Now look," said Square Beam, "we can't have ponies just wandering around the construction site. We have heavy materials and machines and you could get hurt."

"Aww, but we just wanted to see what's going on up close," said Sweetie Bell.

"You have to stay behind the fence. Now don't let any of us catch you in here again." Square Beam and partner gave the fillies a final gentle shove out of the fence gate.

Rarity was just outside the gate with Ami examining several paint chips in the sunlight when she noticed the fillies’ yells and galloped over to them.

"Oh, Sweetie Bell, what’s going on?"

"Indeed, how did you fillies get in to my construction site?" Ami asked the three in a raised voice.

The three fillies looked at each other, then Scootaloo spoke up, "well, that gate toward the south side was unlocked, so..."

"Hmpf," Ami interrupted and turned to Square Beam. "You are responsible for the security of this site!" She then turned back to the three fillies, "And you three ought to know better! No one outside my team is allowed on this site! Our work is very sensitive and we must complete it on time!!" Ami was shouting by the end and her big curly mane was shaking as if there were an earthquake.
Rarity was shocked. "Well, Ami, I know what they did was wrong, but..."

"It certainly was!" Ami interrupted, but suddenly calmed after turning to Rarity. "Hmph. Well...please keep these fillies away from our work site. Just let me know what you decide about the paint colors."

Ami walked into the gate and jerked her head toward Square Beam. He shut and locked the gate and Rarity and the fillies turned to walk away. As they left, they overheard Ami talking angrily at Square Beam about security.

"Well, I hope you fillies know you shouldn't be sneaking in to icky, dirty construction sites. I don't know why you would want to anyway - yeck," said Rarity.

"Yeah, but that pony didn't need to yell at us," answered Sweetie Belle.

"Hmmm...I am a bit disappointed at Ami's temper...I suppose she's under a lot of stress."

As the group walked away, a pink pony peered out from an alleyway near the construction area gate. Pinkie narrowed her eyes at Ami behind the gate who was still angrily talking to Square Beam. She scribbled some notes on a notepad.

A few weeks later, Ami Cleave and Square Beam were in the Mayor's office with Twilight Sparkle.

Ami was visibly upset. "Look, this is hardly unreasonable. I'm just asking for a few days to move the girders and other materials from the river barges."

"Yes, but you're going to block off a major road in town for that time," responded the Mayor.

"And, you're going right past my, uh...the Ponyville Library, and a lot of heavy materials could hurt the root system," added Twilight Sparkle.

"Actually," added Square Beam, "I'm not sure we need all these extra materials. The inside of the monument has a simple design..."

"Well, I changed it...with...Rarity's advice. It will be more ornate and eventually have...um...displays inside about the Elements and their Bearers," replied Ami, glaring at Square Beam.

"What exactly are these changes?" asked Twilight.

Square Beam replied. "Well, there will still be a spiral staircase to the observation deck, but there will be more ornate structures inside. Some iron beams will be installed, some plated with designs of copper plus silver and gold trim..."

"Oh, all that detail isn't important," interrupted Ami. "Anyway, the decision is mine. I'm funding the project, I already have your permits for construction, my site engineer says the transportation won't disturb the town except for closing the road. And, I remind you that Princess Celestia herself has blessed this project. I'm really only here telling you this as a courtesy." Ami huffed, jerked her head at Square Beam with a glare, and turned to leave. The large earth pony followed her a few paces behind.

Once they left, the mayor sighed. "She's right. I can't tell her no when Princess Celestia herself has blessed this project. I'm sorry Twilight. Hopefully nothing bad will come of it."

"Oh, uh, that's ok mayor. Thank you for inviting me."

Twilight turned to leave but something Square Beam said had her curious. Iron, copper, silver, and gold. These were metals with some interesting magical properties. Though few unicorns needed any power beyond their own magic for their daily lives, she remembered some older books she had read talked about magical interactions with certain metals.

"I wonder how many unicorns Ami has on her crew," Twilight thought to herself.

Ami was by herself in the house that evening when the letter arrived. Not that she was alone as the house servants were there. They were kind but mainly stayed out of her way. She answered the front door herself and took the letter from the post-pony. She moved back to the sitting room and opened it.

Dear Ami,

I am so sorry to hear about the death of your parents. I'm also sorry I wasn't there to see you. Basic Training in the Guard ended last month and the mail is slow to get to our post near the Griffin Kingdom. My sergeant says I can't have leave as I'm so new, it's not for immediate family, and it was weeks ago. I know you had your differences with them, but an accident like that must be hard.
Please write me back when you have time and let me know how you are.

Your friend,
Cid

Ami sighed. It was nice to get a letter; she thought Cid was ignoring her. But in a way it made her losses worse. Her parents were gone. Her only good friend was now stationed as far away as he could be.

But, she now had a purpose. This new project could change everything for her, and give her all the friends she wanted all those years her parents sheltered her. It wouldn't be easy, but the reward would be very great.

Ami returned to the library and went back to studying and cross-referencing the three books she had open.

"Let's see...combining iron with copper..."

Ami shook her head to extract herself from the memory. She turned to see beams moving in to place in the tower. “All that work will pay off in just a few more days,” she muttered to herself.

"Urg." It was the nicest thing Twilight said as she got out of bed, bleary-eyed. She could still hear the construction noise all the way to the Treehouse. She went to the bathroom and removed the ear muffs, then the cotton balls, then the ear plugs. She then realized two things. First, the construction noise really was louder now so she was glad she went to all that trouble. Second, her mane looked like three tornados had gone through it in different directions.

"Umgh," was all she could say to respond. This was the third day that construction had been going on for 24 hours. The only people in Ponyville happy about it were the stores and restaurants that sold coffee and ear plugs. Twilight attempted to fix her mane and gave up when she realized she had dozed off.

She came out of the bathroom and gave an unpleasant look at Spike, who was sound asleep.

She meant to say "coffee" but it came out "grumgr" so she gave up talking or trying to wake him up and went downstairs. After two cups of coffee (or was it three?) she was only a bit better. At that point Spike came downstairs to the kitchen.

"Good morning Twilight! I...wow, I think you need to brush your mane. And what's that smell?"

"Coffee, Spike. Lovely, lovely coffee."

"Ummm," said Spike as he looked in the coffee pot, "Twilight, where did you get these coffee grounds?"

"Outta that can over there," Twilight pointed.

"Twilight, that's not the coffee grounds, that's where I put the fireplace ashes."

Twilight looked in her empty cup. "I thought it had a burnt taste to it."

Spike tried hard not to laugh as he cleaned out the coffee maker and started to make an actual cup of coffee for her.

About an hour later, Twilight was much better and visiting Pinkie Pie at Sugarcube Corner. Even Pinkie Pie seemed slightly run down from a sleepless night and constantly making coffee for customers.

But she perked up as Twilight entered. "Hey Twilight! We've had the slowest ponies for morning rush I've ever seen today."
"Hey Pinkie Pie. Do you have any coffee left?"

"Yup, I have a fresh pot here. I'll pour you a cup. Head over to that booth in the back and we'll talk after I clean up the counter."
Twilight made her way to the booth with her precious, precious coffee that didn't smell at all like fireplace ashes. Pinkie Pie joined her in a few minutes. She snuck quietly into the booth, eyes squinting.

"Pinkie, what are you doing."

"I'm looking for suspicious looking ponies. They could be SPIES."

Twilight sighed. "I think we're in the clear Pinkie."

"Oh, ok!" Pinkie quickly sat up straight.

"Now, Pinkie, have you had a chance to watch Ami?"

"Yes!" Pinkie furrowed her brow and looked more serious. She pulled out her notebook, lowered her voice, and told Twilight of several times when she saw Ami very upset, including the incident with the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

"And it's been getting worse the closer we've gotten to the deadline. It's like she's getting more and more anxious about completing that monument on her schedule. And I had to take a break from watching her since my poor back leg was wiggling so bad I could barely walk."

"Hmmm. Well, I've found some strange things too. She's building a more elaborate internal structure to the monument, and she's using an unusual combination of metals, including iron, copper, silver, and gold."

"Wow, that sounds pretty," said Pinkie.

"It probably will be, but each of those interact with magic in some interesting ways. There are some older spells I looked up recently that require the presence of one or more of those metals."

"That's weird. But, why would an earth pony care about that or even know to use them that way?”

"I don't get it either. I've seen a few unicorns around the job site. Maybe she's going to have one of them cast...something. I just don't have enough information to know what's going on here. One thing seems true: Ami is not telling the Mayor everything. Something is going on with the monument, the magically related metals used, her desire to get it finished by the deadline at all costs..."

Suddenly they both realized they heard ponies cheering outside. They also realized something they didn't hear: construction.

Twilight turned to Pinkie. "The job must be done! Pinkie, are you pondering what I'm pondering?"

"I think so, but I’m pretty sure I cleaned out Gummy's box yesterday."

Twilight just shook her head. "No, whatever Ami is going to do, she's going to do it soon. Pinkie, we need to find out what's going on in the Friendship Tower."

"I don't think going over there today and asking is going to help."

Twilight sighed. "I agree Pinkie. That's why we need to sneak in there…tonight."

"Oooo, a ninja style entrance!"

"Uh, something like that. Now Pinkie, listen carefully, there's a full moon tonight, so well have to be extra careful..."
The two ponies put their heads together and made plans in whispers.

Part 3

It was well after the moon and stars came out that two black shapes could barely be seen near the south gate of the construction site. A few work ponies were walking around the site, not working but looking like they were on guard. One work pony looked out the south gate for a minute and then moved away to another part of the site. The two black shapes came out from behind some bushes and moved quietly to the gate. A brief purple glow appeared in the dark and the gate silently unlocked and opened. The two shapes slipped in and closed the gate behind them with another purple glow of magic.

"Ok Pinkie, now we're going to go around that pile of crates then cut across to the tower. Ready?"

"Oh yeah. Pinkie Ninja was born ready."

"I wish Applejack could have come too, but I guess it's just as well I couldn't find her. Too many of us and it would be easier to catch us."

"I couldn't find Rainbow Dash either. I guess she's not around here because she wouldn't tolerate these clouds." A large cloud moved slowly across the full moon and covered it, casting the construction site in darkness.

"Oh, here's our chance. Let's sneak over to the tower in this dark."

The pair moved quietly toward the monument, avoiding the one guard pony they saw. Nopony was around the south entrance of the monument and they made it there safely. Twilight turned to the door. Another purple glow of magic and the door opened without a sound. They both slipped inside, closing the door behind them.

Inside, the monument had some construction lights on, which let the two see. The spiral staircase was there, but so were many iron beams; some pointing up like slanted columns, others like cross diagonal beams between the larger ones. Twilight could make out the metalwork trim on the beams of copper, gold, and silver.

"This must have cost a fortune," she said quietly.

"I thought there was going to be more room for something like a museum down here," replied Pinkie. “But all these beams make it hard to move around. And it's a terrible place to hold a party."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "I guess you would know, Pinkie. But this is a very strange design." Twilight looked around. "Well, there's no one here. Let's check out the observation area at the top."

The two ponies walked quietly up the stairs. Twilight noticed the beams pointed up to the top of the tower, like they were focusing on it.

Twilight was just thinking that they had done well to not get caught when she tripped on the next to last stair. Her front knees banged on the stairs and she gave a little grunt. Suddenly, she felt herself being teleported against her will. She was so surprised she didn't have time to put up a magical defense until her trip was over. She found herself in a pony-size cage near one of the hexagonal corners of the observation deck. She looked out and saw Pinkie Pie coming up the stairs.

"Twilight, where'd you go? Huh?"

Pinkie had just noticed a pony standing near the top of the stairs. There was a flash of magic and Pinkie Pie had disappeared only to reappear inside a cage at the corner to the right of Twilight. Pinkie Pie looked dazed.

"What just happened?" she said to no one in particular.

Twilight looked around and saw there were six cages, one in each of the hexagonal corners of the room, and each had one of her friends. The others appeared to be asleep.

"Pinkie Pie, are you ok?"

"Yes, I think so. I guess this is where our friends were. What happened?"

"I did."

The seventh pony in the room turned to face Twilight and Pinkie Pie. "Thank you both for coming, it saved me the trouble of going to catch you like the others." Ami looked at them with a harsh smile.

"What have you done with our friends!" shouted Pinkie Pie.

"They're fine - they're under a fairly gentle sleeping spell."

Twilight looked around the room, then shouted, "show yourself, unicorn!"

"Very well," replied Ami. With one hoof, she pushed back her large blue poofy mane to reveal a small stump of a horn that started to glow.

Pinkie Pie let out a huge, full body gasp. "You're a...unicorn?!?!" Twilight felt all the pieces of the mystery suddenly fit together.

"Yes. When I was born with only a stump of a horn, my earth pony parents thought I was...too different. The doctors said my horn was too small to have much power. So, they raised me sheltered...confined," Ami growled. "They really wanted to protect their reputation, and a 'defective' filly didn't fit with their lives. I was raised as an earth pony with a big mane and taught only to repress my magic. I went to school but wasn't allowed to have friends for fear someone would discover I was different." Ami sighed. "But I had one friend, Cid. He was a unicorn and accidentally found out I was too."

"How?" asked Pinkie, now sitting and interested in the story.

"We bonked heads in gym class and he noticed the magic spark when our horns touched," Ami said with a softer smile on her face. "He taught me the basics and several spells. But then..." Ami had a much harsher look on her face, "Cid joined the Guard and was stationed near the Griffon kingdom. A few weeks later my parents died in an accident."

"I'm so sorry," said Twilight.

"Hmfp," replied Ami. "I suddenly had their company and wealth, but no friends. I kept hiding my horn and magic out of habit. Money is nice but I missed having a friend, any friend! Then, I learned about the six of you when you saved Princess Luna." She waved her hoof at all six cages. "You brought back these powerful Elements but even more, you had the power of Friendship with you. That kind of friendship is something I want to have again."

Ami turned and walked around the room. "So, I studied, researched, sought out everything I could about this magic of friendship, about all of you and the elements of harmony. Being in construction, I also had some knowledge of buildings and materials. I put this all together and designed this building myself!" Ami waved a hoof, indicating the monument.

"You've made...a tower that magnifies magic!" Twilight said with wide eyes.

"You're good, as I expected," replied Ami. "More like focus and refine it. The combination of the overall structure balances the six of you. The internal beams work to focus the magic at work. Gold and Silver relate to the sun and moon. The building had all day to charge in the sun and now the effects of the full moon should also be at work in the silver. The iron is for strength, giving more power to the spell. And copper, finally, is for enhancing relationships. In this case, friendship."

Twilight's eyes grew even wider. "You're going to...focus our magic of friendship with this building?"

"Oooooh, what will happen? Will we turn in to a Friendship Cannon?" asked Pinkie, bouncing in her cage.

Ami smiled and rubbed her chin with her hoof. "Hmmm, that's not too far off. Actually, it should send a blast of the friendship you six share throughout all Equestria. As the one controlling, focusing, and directing the spell, I..."

Twilight interrupted again, "you'll be the focus of the friendship..."

"And they will all, ALL become my friends! I'll have friends everywhere I go! I will never again be without friends!"

Outside, Square Beam was walking by the construction site when he saw a flash of light from the observation tower in the monument. "That's funny, we're supposed to be done," he thought to himself. "Sigh. I'd better take a look. I hope those three fillies aren't running around in there." He unlocked the gate and walked in, closing and locking it back behind him. A guard pony spotted him and trotted over.

"You can't come in here!"

"Who said I can't come in here?" Square Beam bellowed.

"Oh, uh, Mr. Square Beam, I, uh..."

"Well?"

"Uh, Ami told us to keep everypony out," said the guard pony, who was definitely smaller than the large forepony.

"Well, I'm not everypony. I'm the forepony, and I saw lights in the monument. What's going on?"

"I, uh, don't know sir."

"Well, let's go find out, because somepony is in there."

"Um, ok"

The two ponies trotted to the tower and entered at the base.

"Ami, this is a bad idea," said Twilight.

"Oh really? Well, we'll see in a few minutes," said Ami, moving to the center of the room.

Twilight frowned. She tried to light her own magic and found it blocked. She looked around for another means of escape. Seeing nothing, she looked at Pinkie Pie who merely shrugged.

"Ah, it’s midnight and the moon is full. Here we go," Ami said. She stood in the very center of the room and her horn started to flare. Her magic increased so that her mane glowed like a fireball. Twilight saw the iron beams and metal traces in the building start to glow also, radiating along the floor toward the six cages then through the lattice of beams to the roof. When the glow touched her cage, Twilight felt a small shock and a tingling sensation all over her body.

"Aaaahh, whut was that?" said Applejack, waking up. The others woke suddenly as well.

"What's happening?" said Fluttershy. The others also looked confused for a moment, but then they all started to feel more tingling as Ami's power output increased. Suddenly, the glow became brighter and the eyes of all seven ponies started to glow.

"Yeeeaaahhh...I think this is bad!" shouted Rainbow Dash.

Square Beam and the guard pony reached the top of the stairs and poked their heads high enough to see into the room. The guard pony just yelped and ran back down the stairs. Square Beam stayed, unsure of what to do.

A humming noise then began, centered on Ami and silver light began pulsing from her through the metal beams, out to the six friends, then up to the roof of the monument. After a few seconds, the humming noise took on a deeper, grinding tone. The tingling sensation on the six friends became stronger and painful.

"You can't hold it!" shouted Twilight over the noise. "Listen to the spell harmonics - something is going wrong!"

The silvery light pulsing from Ami slowly turned to a bright red.

"You've got to power down!" shouted Twilight. Her friends were grimacing with the strange sensation."

"I can hold it!" shouted back Ami. "I have to! I can’t be without friends any longer!"

The light became a darker red and the room started to get warm. The beams started to shake and straining noises came from the beams.

"I can hold it, I can hold it...I...I can't! I can't do it!" Ami started to panic. She seemed to struggle but found herself locked in place. "It's reached criticality and I can't stop!"

Square Beam shouted out, "Please stop Ami!"

She looked to him, and slightly shook her head. Massive amounts of magical power were flowing throughout the building now.
Twilight thought quickly and yelled at Square Beam, "You have to break the lattice of metal! It's the only way to stop the magical feed!"

"What will happen?" yelled back Square Beam.

"I don't know, but it’s probably better than tearing Ponyville apart!" Twilight yelled.

Square Beam looked quickly at the room, thinking back to the blueprints. He galloped up the rest of the stairs to one side of the room. He unscrewed three bolts on one beam with his teeth and hooves, then ran to another and unscrewed those. Finally, he galloped to yet another beam, set his footing, and started bucking it. The noise had grown so loud they could barely hear his bucks, but Square Beam was a large, powerful earth pony. The fifth buck finally made it buckle and bend. There was a two second pause, but then the beams groaned and crashed down. The magic aura that had infused them went from dark red back to a soft silver glow and then dark. However, the humming noise didn't stop.

Twilight shouted, "the iron! The magic aura is infused! We need to get out of here!”

Square Beam ran to buck open cages, then picked up Ami on his back. All eight ponies ran down the stairs as the humming noise increased in pitch. They had just made it outside when there was a flash from the top of the monument and the six sides glowed from top to bottom, then the magic seemed to drain down into the ground. The noise stopped.

"Whew, that was a closeun'," said Applejack.

"Are we safe?" asked Fluttershy.

"Yes, I think we are," said Twilight. "The magical feed actually used the design of the building and drained through the remaining beams into the ground. That would have dispersed it so..."

"Blah, blah, egghead stuff, blah, we're safe," interrupted Rainbow Dash.

"How is she?" Rarity asked, pointing a hoof at Ami who was still on Square Beam's back.

"She's breathing, but she's exhausted," said Fluttershy after checking Ami briefly.

"We should take her to the hospital, and it wouldn't hurt for us all to go and get checked out," said Twilight.

Pinkie Pie turned to Square Beam. "Hey, thank you for saving us! That was some amazing work you did to bring all those beams down!"

"Thank you. I was never a fan of those beams. They weren't load bearing so it wasn't hard to get them to come down."

"Well, you certainly saved our tushies!"

They all turned to walk toward the hospital, thankful that this latest craziness in Ponyville was over.

Twilight Sparkle approached the hospital room with a little anxiety. Unicorn guards stood on either side of the door and saw her approach. She knew she wasn’t invited but wanted to enter anyway.

One guard spoke as she approached the door. “Miss Sparkle, we’ll have to temporarily block your magic. Regulations.”

“Of course.” Twilight submitted to the spell, and the unicorn then allowed her to enter. She knocked and someone weakly said “enter.” Twilight pushed the door open and walked in the room.

Ami Cleave was in the single hospital bed. Her mane was still slightly singed around her stump of a horn, but otherwise she looked well. When she saw Twilight come in, she had a sad, guilty look and turned toward the window.

“What do you want,” she asked flatly.

“I want to see how you are. That was a lot of magic to try to control. I just wanted to see if you were going to be ok.”

“Well, I completely drained my magic. The doctors think I’ll be back to normal in about two weeks. Of course, I’m used to living like an earth pony so I don’t miss it much.”

Ami paused and then continued. “I don’t know what went wrong. My calculations were exact. The magical feed should have flowed back out through me then up through the top of the tower.”

“Ami,” Twilight said gently, “you may know a lot about magic in general and you have some incredible insights on magic-focusing construction…” Ami turned back to look at Twilight at this. “…but you don’t understand friendship. You can’t force someone to be your friend. Both ponies have to be willing to be a part of the friendship. That’s why the magic worked between the six of us, but wouldn’t feed back to you. It was…stuck and could only infuse the beams. We’re not friends with you, so that part was blocked. Even if that part had worked, I’m not sure it could have worked on ponies across Equestria who were not already your friend.”

Ami looked downcast and thought for a while. “Hmmm. I think you’re right.” Twilight noticed a tear in Ami’s eye. “I just…I just wanted to have friends, more than anything.”

There was another knock on the door and Square Beam entered. Ami quickly wiped the tear away. “Yes?” she asked him.

“I just wanted to check on you Ami. I hoped you were ok.”

“Really? After what I put you through?”

“Well, yes. You’re a good boss Ami and…” the big earth pony paused, “I guess I thought we were kinda like friends.”

Ami looked a bit shocked, then the tears flowed.

“Oh Square Beam, I’m so sorry I’ve had such a temper with you. You have been a friend to me and I hardly noticed. And you Twilight, thank you for checking on me. I wanted to force you to be my friend, but I guess I just don’t know how friendship works,” Ami sniffled.

Twilight moved to the side of her bed and put a hoof on her shoulder. “You know, you’re in the right place to learn about friendship. If you don’t mind, maybe my friends and I can visit you some for the next two weeks. At least, we can talk and keep you company.”

Square Beam added, “And though I’m working on cleaning up the construction site, I’ll come by too.”

“I’d like that,” replied Ami.

“Very well,” said Twilight Sparkle, suddenly sounding very official. She turned to the door and invited one of the unicorn guards in. “I believe I can read this now. Guard, you will serve as witness.” Twilight unrolled the scroll and read.

“To all present in this reading, I, Princess Celestia, have authorized Twilight Sparkle to act as adjudicator in the case of Ami Cleave.” Twilight rolled the scroll back up.

The guard pony asked, officially, “Are you now rendering verdict?”

“Yes I am,” she replied. Twilight paused, then looked at Ami. “Ami Cleave, I judge that you intended what you should not have – forcing other ponies to think and feel against their will.” Ami looked downcast at this. “However,” Twilight continued, “no harm came except to yourself. My judgment is…that you should study the true magic of friendship with the six elements of harmony for the next two weeks as you recover. Others can assist as they wish,” she looked at Square Beam, who smiled. “Further, you are required to complete community service, in the form of documenting your knowledge of the interaction of materials, buildings, and magic. And…maybe I could help with that.” Twilight gave a very large grin at Ami.

Ami finally smiled. “I accept, and thank you.”

The guard then spoke officially. “So be it, judgment has been rendered. Shall I return to my post?”

“Yes,” said Twilight. Thank you.”

It wasn’t long before Ponyville was back to normal. Most of the beams Ami had added to the monument were removed and the Friendship Tower opened in a very nice ceremony. Pinkie Pie took care of the after-opening-of-a-new-monument party, which was excellent as always. Ami’s time with the six friends helped her learn a great deal about friendship. She and Square Beam found they already had a start on a friendship, though she found it odd that Twilight referred to Square Beam as “homework.” Twilight also helped Ami start an outline of a book on magic buildings.

Another surprise awaited Ami. Cid (or Corporal Placid Lake as he was officially now) was able to take some time off from the guard to come see her. Twilight was happy to see their reunion and was sure Ami Cleave was on a much better path now.

The End.