Diplomatic Troubles

After the impressive display of skill from her friends, Twilight saw an urgent need to show just why she was Celestia’s apprentice. It wasn’t about glory as much as it was about getting things done, however.

“Hold on to your tails, everypony!” Twilight said as she concentrated her magic into one centralized area. In a flash of purple, all six of the ponies (and one dragon) were transported into the massive stall, facing outward onto the crowd. She would only have a limited time to do her part in all of this before the customers would grow unruly, or worse.

Keeping this in mind, the purple unicorn turned to survey the massive crowd before her, and saw their excited faces light up as they came to realize they’d be serviced by none other than the legendary Main Six.

Noticing the crowd’s reaction, the other five went to work greeting and mingling with the crowd: Rarity was waving like a true gentlemare, Applejack tipped her hat to multiple ponies and said “Howdy,” to each of them, Rainbow Dash began cheering with the crowd while shaking her hooves above her head in shared excitement, Pinkie Pie went to bouncing around and giggling as she complimented random ponies on random things. Spike was not part of the Main Six, but it seemed he was just as recognized for his work in the Crystal Empire.

Not one to let down his “fans”, Spike hopped up onto the table and began bowing theatrically. He completed it with a “Thank you! Thank you! You’re too kind!”

Fluttershy, however, had hid away from the crowd. She was thankful for her part in all of this, as Twilight had given her an important role that meant she was both essential to the plan and working behind the scenes. Upon noticing that Twilight had gone into what she would call a meditative trance, she went to the back of the stall and opened the curtains wide. A few birds helped open up her side, and a bear entered the stall with them.

This would be a horrifying scenario if it weren’t for the fact that this was one of Fluttershy’s close animal-friends. He eventually came to be known as Howard to Fluttershy’s friends, and Fluffy to Fluttershy herself. Fluffy was an ironic name, of course, but was completely befitting of the bear’s personality.

Howard made a quiet roar in gratitude for being able to help, and moved to the curtain besides the now-open one Fluttershy had held open for him. He stood onto two legs and pulled the fabric aside with relative ease, grinning down at Fluttershy.

“Thank you, Fluffy,” Fluttershy said kindly, producing a small smile of her own. Upon receiving another small roar from the bear, Fluttershy giggled quickly corrected herself, “Oh, sorry. Thank you, Howard.”

Cheers erupted and names were called as Twilight prepared her spell. It would be quite the daunting task, but she was confident she could pull it off. She only had to concentrate - something that would be nearly impossible for any other pony, in this situation.

The noise levels began to rise and Twilight closed her eyes, going into her own little world. Living as she did, Twilight had to cast spells under seriously perilous conditions. It only made sense to her one day that she would have to devise a way to concentrate without sacrificing her ability to think and react quickly.

She had devoted a week of study, developing her skills upon a spell called “Muffle”. She had requested the tome from Princess Celestia, and it had arrived almost immediately through teleportation with an attached note that read, “Best of luck, Twilight Sparkle. I am confident you will use this to your best ability. - Princess Celestia.”

While it made her happy just to hear praise from her mentor, it made Twilight even happier to have found a useful scenario for the spell.

She concentrated upon the workings of the spell, and it came to life before her. She opened her eyes and cast it upon herself, causing the noise levels to slowly fade away into mere mumbles that could only be compared to Fluttershy whispering.

Using this newfound concentration, Twilight went to work with her personally designated mission. She produced her Mass Levitation spell and focused upon the other stalls. This caused objects of all sizes, weights, and fragilities to float out into the open air and past the crowd, entering into the stall from the back.

Pottery, jewelry, knick knacks, toys, and various other miscellaneous items began piling onto the shelves. They were organized and neat; something that Twilight took great pride in accomplishing.

Beads of sweat began to form upon her brow as she stacked up plates, pots, pans, and other fragile wares. Such a task required her to turn around and delicately place them one by one atop each other, but she did so with the utmost care.

Unbeknownst to Twilight, the crowd had grown considerably quiet as it fell under a shared expression of awe. They watched the display with grins and held breaths, silently cheering Twilight on in their minds.

Even Twilight’s close friends had stopped to watch the display, though they were a bit more used to her impressive displays of magical prowess. Pinkie Pie had traded her usual bouncing to shiver with excitement, giggling as she watched the wares get stacked upon the shelves with the skill of a master. Rarity had seemingly let her nerves get to her, and opted to hold on to Spike’s hand with a gentle-but-firm grip.

This, of course, diverted all of Spike’s attention to the mare beside him. He eagerly complied to her seeking hooves, providing his assistance however he could. He was nonetheless impressed by Twilight’s skills, but he was quite weathered by spending so much time around the mare. He saw such displays quite often, and though they had not quite lost their luster, they did not appear as something that was once-in-a-lifetime, as such a case was evident for the crowd behind them.

Applejack smiled wide, but opted to watched the one performing the act, rather than the act itself. She wanted to pat her on the back, or hug her, or.. Something. But she opted instead to watch quietly, as to not disturb her.

“That’s my girl,” she said quietly, to nobody but herself. Of course, luck would have it that Rainbow had caught notice of Applejack’s directed gaze. The daredevil-pony crept silently up to Applejack and was listening to what she said.

“Whaddya mean?” Rainbow said quietly, just audible enough for Applejack to hear. The sudden noise caused the farmer to break out of her peaceful mindset and jump from being startled.

“W-what?” Applejack stuttered, now looking wide-eyed at the source of noise. After coming to her senses, she realized the perpetrator was none other than the prankster she knew as Rainbow Dash, and calmed down considerably. “What’cha talkin’ about?” she asked simply, denying what she had said only moments before.

“‘Your girl’, huh?” Rainbow Dash commented with a sly grin and raised eyebrows. She knew that Applejack had liked Twilight, but she never felt it needed to bring up the point before now.

“Oh, that? It’s uh.. It’s nothin’,” Applejack said, beginning to become uncharacteristically flustered under the sudden pressure. It wasn’t so much that Applejack herself wanted to keep the relationship a secret, but she didn’t want to intrude upon Twilight’s desire for privacy - if there was such a thing, that is.

“Uh-huh,” Rainbow knowingly mocked. “Alright. Well don’t worry. I won’t say anything until it’s ‘something’,” she concluded with a small chuckle, extending a hoof towards Applejack.

Knowing all-too-well that Rainbow Dash wasn’t going to relent, Applejack simply sighed and gave a grateful smile. If there was anything Rainbow Dash was good at, it was keeping her word. She extended her own hoof, and bumped it against her friend’s.

“Thanks, Rainbow. I ‘preciate it,” Applejack said sincerely. She didn’t want to risk letting that information fall into other hooves, hands, tails, or whatever else it could fall into, until the time was right.

Twilight hadn’t heard the conversation, nor the hushed awe of the crowd, thanks to the spell she had cast over herself. Her concentration wavered, however, as time went on and plates went up. Thankfully, the last of the wares was now delicately being placed upon the shelf.

This was probably for the best, as Twilight immediately toppled over as soon as the deed was done. She did not meet a hard floor as much as she did a firm back, however. It seemed that a certain orange mare had ducked under her to offer some support.

“Ya did it, Twi’. That was pretty darn impressive,” Applejack said happily, looking over and into Twilight’s eyes with a smile.

Twilight, however, could hardly register the compliment or even that she had fallen. Her head hurt, her mind was fuzzy, and her vision was slightly blurred.

What she did register, however, was an assortment of pastel ponies rushing over to her and saying a plethora of things that she didn’t understand. It didn’t dawn on her until she had a few moments of rest that she still had the spell cast.

Using some of her last energy, Twilight released the spell. She found herself enveloped in a torrent of sound. Ponies cheering, complimenting her, and chatting with each other erupted into her ears and mind in a matter of seconds. Only a few voices stood out to her, but one became the most prominent.

“.. did it, Twi’!” she heard, and directed her senses to find the origin of the familiar voice.

It turns out it was right next to her, and she was, in fact, leaning onto it. “Ya did it, Twi’,” Applejack repeated, certain that this time her significant other had heard her.

“I did? What did I do?” Twilight asked in confusion, still dazed from her experience. After a while, it simply became automatic: Levitate, sort, place. Levitate, sort, place. Levitate, sort, place. This process went on far longer than she had anticipated, but she had done it efficiently nonetheless.

Her friends simply laughed, gathering around their companion to aid her. “Here, darling,” Rarity said, a bottle of water floating into Twilight’s field of vision.

“Thank you,” Twilight said gratefully, glancing to Rarity before downing half the bottle of water in one go. This brought a bit of clarity to her mind, and her headache began to fade. Blinking a few times, her vision also began to clear.

Twilight looked at the bottle of water with a confused expression, then back to Rarity. “How-” she began, only to be cut off by the fashionista’s explanation.

“Enchanted water,” Rarity reasoned. “It’s a special remedy that Zecora wrote down for me last time she was in town,” she went on to explain. With a wave of her hand she added, “It works wonders for me when I’m designing for long periods of time!”

“Interesting. You’ll have to teach Spike how to make this,” Twilight said with a smile, taking another sip from the drink.

“Oh, definitely! Have him come by later today - I’ll fix him right up!” Rarity said happily, tapping her hooves together a few times in excitement.

This got a rise out of the small dragon, and he looked to Twilight in pure gratitude. He knew that she could have done the task herself, but had offered him in her stead.

“Sure thing, Rarity!” Spike answered for his mother-figure. He was no doubt still reeling from his prior joy of holding the white mare’s hoof.

“Hey, uh, sorry to interrupt, but..” Rainbow Dash interjected between the three. “We have a crowd of waiting ponies wanting to buy stuff. Maybe we could save the celebrating for later?”

“Celebrating!?” Pinkie Pie hollered, her spirits somehow lifted even higher. “Oh, I’m gonna need balloons, hats, confetti, board games, and dancing! Oh, we’ll need music for dancing! Maybe Vinyl could..” She went into a fit of giggling and bouncing, spouting random plans of how great she’ll make the party.

“.. Rrriigght,” Rainbow said, shaking her head in amusement at the Ponyville’s Premiere Party Pony.

“She’s right,” Applejack said, helping Twilight get to her feet and stabilize herself. “We oughta get to work ‘fore our good fortune runs out.”

Fluttershy had come into the fray now, hiding behind her mane for fear of too much attention. “Um. Pinkie?” she said, beckoning the attention of the energetic mare.

Upon hearing the shy pegasus’ voice, Pinkie immediately came back down to her senses. Her personality went from an overly-energetic one to a calm, attentive one.

“Yes, Fluttershy?” she said with a small smile, her eyes wide in attention.

“We should probably save the celebrating until after we, um.. Win?” Fluttershy stated, not entirely sure if her choice of words would be effective.

It seemed, however, that she had exactly the intended effect upon the pink mare, as Pinkie Pie settled down considerably and nodded. “Roger, Dodger!” she said happily. She also gave the yellow pegasus a quick nuzzle beneath her chin, eliciting a red hue to take place of the pale yellow one upon Fluttershy’s face.

“T-thanks, Pinkie. But maybe we should save that for our da-.. Uh-” Fluttershy said, stuttering as she realized what she almost admitted to.

“Dainty picnic!” Pinkie finished in her stead, not missing a beat. Upon saving her friend from withdrawing further into her mind, Pinkie bounced up to the counter and hopped up onto it.

“MARES AND GENTLESTALLIONS! COME ONE, COME ALL! We’ve got a grrreat line-up for ya here at the Farmer Festival Fiery Fun, Fanatically Fantastic, Finally For-” Pinkie began announcing, only to be silence by Rainbow Dash wrapping a hoof around her mouth to muffle her temporarily.

“Sale’s on, everypony!” Rainbow Dash stated simply, which evoked a torrent of orders and requests from the crowd before her. “Woah, woah. One at a time, everypony. In fact - form a few lines, if ya could. We can only get to you if we can hear you!”

Upon hearing the request of such an esteemed flier and savior, the ponies made an effort to get into organized lines as best they could. Some fillies and colts were actually riding on the shoulders of their parents and siblings, holding something in their mouths.

“Huh. That was pretty easy,” Rainbow Commented with a satisfied grin. She turned back to her friends and beckoned them over, “Come on, now! No time to lose! I’ve got Daring Do comics to read and clouds to nap on after this!”

After a few short laughs and an amused nudge from Applejack, the Main Six plus-a-dragon-and-a-bear took their places among the customers. Ponies were weary of the prospect of being serviced by an actual bear, but Fluttershy was right there with him, assuring everyone that he was a kind animal indeed.

As if to prove this point further, Howard was made to bear the task of doing the heavy lifting for ponies that bought in bulk.  After some time, younger ponies got back into line so they could “play with the big, fuzzy pony again”.

It also turns out that not all of the ponies had come there to buy something. Instead, they brought something for the mares instead. It was first brought to Twilight’s attention when a young filly riding atop a stallion’s shoulders made an effort to levitate a notebook towards her.

The notebook made it halfway to Twilight before falling out of the filly’s telekinetic grip and into Twilight’s. The purple unicorn looked at the notebook and found that it was actually a blank page. She turned to give the young pony a curious look.

“My name is Star Shine! When I grow up, I want to be just as powerful as you, Ms. Twilight!” the filly stated eagerly, a grin beaming towards the Element of Magic.

At first, she was taken aback at the sudden adoration of another unicorn. She quickly recovered, however, and said, “You’re well on your way, Star Shine. Just remember to focus not only on power, but also on your friends.”

With that, Twilight took a pen into her mouth and wrote something down on the notebook. After concluding the message with her signature, Twilight levitated the notebook back into the air and allowed the filly to take hold of it. She looked immensely concentrated, but eventually the notebook fell atop the head of the person she was perched upon.

“Gee, thanks, Ms. Twilight!” Star Shine exclaimed after reading the note. “I promise; I won’t forget about my friends.”

With a nod towards the stallion carrying Star Shine and then to Star Shine herself, the filly was sent on her merry way. Off to enjoy more of the festival, no doubt.

“Wow, Twilight. What’d you write for her?” Fluttershy asked, leaning close to her purple companion.

“I told her to never give up on her dreams, but to also never lose sight of what’s truly important,” Twilight cited from memory.

Fluttershy gave her a warm smile and said, “I’m sure you made quite the difference, with those words. Way to go!”

The admirers did not stop coming, however. All of the Main Six had dozens of autographs to hand out, hooves to shake, and ponies to meet. Even Spike had some admiration thrown his way - admiration that surely would not fall upon deaf ears.

This went on for some time - the process of selling, signing, meeting and greeting, chatting, and ultimately enjoying themselves as best they could. But as the number of customers trickled down, and the dusk began to fall, so did the level of energy each pony had in them.

Howard the bear and the other animals had long-since left for their homes. It came down to the point that every few moments, one of the mares would yawn, and that set an onset of yawning among the other mares.

After the last of the customers had been satisfied, the Main Six gave in to their exhaustion. Rainbow stretched and gave one last yawn before saying, “Alright, girls.. It’s been fun. I’m gonna head up to my house and catch some dreams.”

“See ya, Rainbow. And.. Thanks,” Applejack said with tired gratitude filling her voice.

“Yeah, yeah. Don’t get sappy on me, now,” Rainbow said in her characteristically humorous way. With a salute, she flew off in the direction of her extravagant home.

Twilight turned to give Applejack a look of curiosity, but instead it turned into a tired smile. “We did it,” Twilight said with a weak but proud voice. It was her turn to give Applejack a nuzzle, and it was out of pure, unfiltered affection. Perhaps the fatigue was working its way into her brain, after all.

“Yeah. We sure did,” Applejack confirmed, leaning into the nuzzle eagerly. “Think it’s about time we be headin’ home, darlin’.”

That was a new nickname. It was slightly familiar, however. It dawned upon Twilight that the usual user of the word, Rarity, was actually still here.

She was sleeping, as a matter of fact. Laying her head in Spike’s lap while the young dragon sat contentedly in that position, his hands firmly folded behind his head. Twilight imagined he was in a world of his own, at this point, and left him alone.

Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were on their way out, and gave only quick goodbyes before exiting the tent. Pinkie was saying something about a sleepover, but Twilight thought little of it at the time.

However fun today was, though, Twilight couldn’t help but come up with plans to organize tomorrow more efficiently. Today almost turned out to be a disaster, and she couldn’t afford to repeat the same mistake twice.

“I think.. Tomorrow we’re gonna have to round up everypony and make SURE they’re gonna get their hides on over ‘ere,” Applejack said, echoing Twilight’s thoughts. “I don’t rightly know if I can do that again any time soon.”

“You’re probably right. I’ll get on that imme-,” Twilight said before yawning. Seeing no need to stop what she was going to say, she continued through the yawn, “diatly. Sorry; tired.”

“I reckon I know what you mean. I oughta be headin’ home soon, too. And you should be gettin’ some sleep, too,” Applejack suggested.

“Think you’re right. It was fun, though. I had a.. Nice time,” Twilight said, choosing her words carefully. It wasn’t that the outing was bad. It was just one she had not expected at all. In the meantime, however, she was looking forward to a nice, warm bed and a restful sleep.

“I’m glad. It wasn’t lackin’ in excitement, that’s for sure,” Applejack added with a chuckle. She nodded her head towards the back of the stall and said, “C’mon. Let’s head home.”

Twilight nodded and walked beside her marefriend towards the exit. On the way out, however, Twilight looked down to find Spike open one eye and nod towards her.

“I’m gonna walk her home, if that’s alright?” Spike whispered just loud enough for Twilight to hear.

She thought over it for a moment, then looked to Applejack. In some ways, the two were a bit alike. Such a thought warmed her heart and she turned back to Spike, nodding in her approval.

“Just don’t get home too late, okay?” Twilight said. She couldn’t let him go without SOME kind of supervision.

“Thanks, Twilight. I promise I won’t,” Spike said as she closed his eye once again. It seemed he would stay there for just a little while longer. Twilight really couldn’t blame him, though.

As Applejack and Twilight exited the stall, they were greeted by dimly lit pathways and an open sky. Both turned their heads upwards in order to truly appreciate the view that Luna has bestowed upon them. It was as if she had picked tonight especially to make the sky radiantly beautiful.

“Almost a shame to sleep through it, huh?” Applejack said dreamily, a small smile upon her lips.

“I know what you mean. When I was a filly, I would always stay up past my bedtime and watched Princess Celestia raise the night-sky. It’s a bit different now that Luna is doing it, though. Better, I think,” Twilight recalled, reminiscing upon simpler times in her life. They weren’t particularly unhappy, but she was glad that she had come so far.

“That’s quite the story, Sugar. You’ll have to tell me a few more of yours whenever we can settle down a bit without worryin’ about festivals, villains, or whatever else happens that flips our lives upsides-down,” Applejack commented with a grin.

“Yeah.. We live some pretty exciting lives, hmm?” Twilight agreed, tilting her head to look Applejack in the eyes.

“Yep. But I’m glad that I can share it with my friends,” she agreed. After a few moment’s thought she added, “I’m glad I can share it with you, Twi’.”

Having no words to respond with, Twilight relied simply upon her instincts. She leaned over and laid her head upon Applejack’s shoulder, nuzzling her gently.

Without missing a beat, Applejack leaned onto Twilight just the same. Neither of them exchanged any words, but both of them were thinking similar things. One thought truly did stand out among the rest, however.

It really was a lovely night for stargazing - and neither of them could think of anypony else they'd rather do it with.