Soft Hearts and Hard Cider

Chapter 1: New Friends

Sounds of grumbles and moans could be heard echoing from wall to wall, shattering the once silent home and workplace of well-known unicorn, Twilight Sparkle.

“Spiiiiiiiike! Is breakfast ready yet?” groaned the lavender unicorn.

“It’s almost finished Twilight. Just give a few more seconds to make sure it’s good,” called her assistant. Spike was Twilight’s life-long friend and assistant around the library. She had used her magic to hatch him from his egg when she was only a filly, and ever since, the two had ties that bound them as close as family. Even though he was only a baby dragon in age, his sense of responsibility, voice of reason, and realistic attitude had more than earned the respect of his unicorn friend.

“Aaaaaand, voila! Daisy pancakes à la Spike. Enjoy Twilight,” said the small purple dragon.

“Thanks Spike, but what makes it ‘à la Spike’?” questioned Twilight with a raised brow.

“That my dear friend is a surprise.”

“Well, in any rate, I really appreciate the breakfast. You should have some too.”

“Nah, I’ll pass, I need to get some other stuff done around the library, then I’m probably gonna see if Rarity needs help around the boutique,” replied Spike, voice fluttering that the mere mention of the mare of his dreams.

“Well, if you say so. Thanks again for the pancakes, they smell deli-”

Suddenly, a thundering rumble is heard coming from a distance. The lavender pony looks towards her assistant with a bewildered face as both raise a brow at the sudden anomaly. Then, another rumble is heard, louder and more deafening then the last.

“Do ya think it might be thunder from the weather ponies rolling in?” questioned Spike.

“I wouldn’t expect it to be since clear skies were called for all this week and the next.”

“What do you mean? It has to be something. Rumbles like that just don’t happen out of no where except for the center of Everfree, and I doubt Ponyville is in Everfree Forest right now.”

“Whatever the case, this is not the work of pegasi, it’s simply too loud to be thunder anyway.”
After a few minutes of consideration and thought, a boom could be heard, as though it was right above their tree home. Accompanied it was a quaking of the equestrian soil that lay beneath the tree home. Small crack and creaks could be heard as several branches broke and bended in irregular fashions; simple objects succumbing to the shaking, falling off from ledges and tables, and allowing gravity to dictate their fate, crashing them to the floor.

“Let’s get out of here before we’re toast!” Spike Panicked

“I’m right behind you.”

Outside, they see several ponies they know hanging about the market square, wondering just what in the world is going on. From Bon-Bon clutching for dear life onto Lyra, to a rather confused looking mail mare, no one seemed to understand what was happening. It only took a few seconds for Twilight to notice all of her friends barreling towards her with looks of panic in their eye. As she waited for them to come near, her own eyes appeared to be fixated on one mare in particular.

“Hey Twilight, you okay sugarcube? You’re zonin’ out a bit there,” said Applejack.

“Oh… what? Yes, I’m okay, just a little startled I guess, but okay.”

“Well that’s a relief, heaven forbid if anything happened to you Twilight,” Interjected the snow-white fashion designer.

“Thanks for the concern ever pony. Are all of you okay too?”

“Aside from Fluttershy being scared out of her mind, we’re all good,” Rainbow Dash stated, “Then again, she’s always scared out of her mind.”

The rest of the mares just gave her a quick glare and returned to the problem at hand.

“Twilight, do ya reckon ya got any idea onto what’s goin on around here?” asked the apple farmer.

“Unfortunately, I don’t. I was hoping one of you might have some idea as to what’s happening.”

“Maybe, another dragon is sleeping nearby on a mountain?”

“No, last time there was a large cloud a smoke hanging around Ponyville, we’d notice if it was another dragon.”
While everyone was debating on what was causing this phenomena, their thoughts were pierced by the shriek of a shy and yellow coated Pegasus. The rest of the mane 6 turned their heads to their trembling winged friend as she cowers behind her own hooves, trying to cover herself from whatever that had spooked her. With pleading eyes, the five of them exchanged a worried look at each other, and back down to Fluttershy.

“Fluttershy, what’s the matter? What scared you?” questioned a concerned Rarity

The only motion the whimpering Pegasus could manage to do was hesitantly point towards a slowly darkening sky, as a ghostly orb shifts slightly into view, fading in and out of sight. Like a specter, it can be seen, but it can also be completely seen through, as though it is not there; as if, it was a hologram. As moments pass, the intervals of fading begin to slow, growing farther and farther apart as the image of the new satellite solidifies and gaining its original colors once again. At first, only a deep blue could be made out, covering much of the orb in the sky, but it only took seconds to get a new color to shine. At first, it was bland and bleak, but as the orb became solid, so did the new color. The new color was a green, as bright and vibrant as their foliage in Equestria.

As the six ponies stare, mouths agape from awe and curiosity, it could be seen that everyone else in Ponyville just sat and watch the image play into view. Soon after the colors returned, the fading had stopped all together, revealing the satellite hanging in their sky, casting a dark shadow across the entire town, and much more of Equestria. From Phillydelphia to Canterlot, the new orb could be seen in the sky, much to the confusion of every pony in each city and town, even to the confusion of the royal alicorn sisters. As their thoughts begin to realign after taking in such an awe-inspiring event, only one think came to the mind of Celestia’s star pupil. It must be a completely new world.