Chapter 1
A mysterious colt in a cloak wove his way through the crowds of Canterlot shoppers. Around him, he heard the many stall owners haggling with their customers, trying to make the most that they could and to earn more than their competitors.
“Cherries! Cherries! Get the best cherries you’ll ever find in all of Equestria! Only three bits! Get ‘em right here!” shouted a yellow mare whose mane and tail hair was almost as red as her merchandise.
“Wonderful quills! All sorts! Perfect for tons of writing!” called a pale orange, male unicorn as he used the magic of his horn to wave a couple of his more elegant writing utensils on the faces of the shoppers.
Yet, despite all the exotic stalls and their many fascinating trinkets and treats they contained, the colt just cantered right past them. He never gave a single one a glance.
“You sir, you look like you could use one of my many protection charms, hmmm?” an old mare said, stepping in front of him. She had a whole array of necklaces around her neck and countless bangles and other shiny objects around her legs. “I sense a dark time ahead of you,” she declared, “but it can be lessened if you buy one of my charms?” She looked at the colt inquiringly.
Without acknowledging her, he stepped around her as if she was just an object in his way and continued through the market.
“You’ll regret it!” she tried to call after him. He did nothing in reply.
As he reached the edge of the busy streets, the crowds began to thin and the deafening roar began to dwindle, until it dulled to a low murmur behind him. He stayed his steady pace, the saddle bag on his back jangling infrequently. He made the occasional turn down one road or another, but he never stopped to look at the street names. Nor did his head move.
The path he followed, the one that only he knew of, soon brought him to a solid, nondescript door in a narrow alleyway. The place was devoid of life, except for some plants growing in a few windowsill gardens.
Pausing at last, the colt raised his hoof and swung it against the door a few times.
THUNK! THUNK! THUNK!
The noise echoed in the narrow space.
It wasn’t long, a few seconds, until the door was opened by a male unicorn. His coat was white and his flank had no mark. His hair was a slightly reddish-brown and with a sort of curl to it. It also appeared unkempt and like it rarely saw a brush.
“It’s about time you got here, Swiftly! I contacted Ms. Sprout over thirty minutes ago with my shopping order! You know, I’d expect somepony with a name like yours to actual…” the unicorn stopped, “Wait a nanometer of a second! You aren’t Swiftly! Who are you?”
The colt at the door gave a slight chuckle. “I thought you had told me you could see through a disguise spell a mile away, Mad,” he said without moving his lips.
The unicorn peered closer at the colt. Then, with a slight start, he neutralized his expression.
“Would you care to come in?” he asked politely, without any sign of the anger he had in his voice a few moments ago.
Inclining his head, the colt responded, “Yes, that would be nice.”
Stepping aside, Mad allowed the strange earth pony to enter. When the colt was inside, Mad shut the door. He then turned around and exclaimed.
“Strong Heart! Of all the ponies in Equestria, you are the most annoying!”
There was a bright flash from the normal earth pony. When the light died down, the colt was gone. A young, male alicorn stood in his place. The alicorn was a light-brown with hair that was a darker shade. On his flank sat the mark of a heart that was made of iron.
“Better believe it friend,” he said, laughing, “I earned that title a long time ago, and I much want to keep it. By the way, speaking of titles, are you still allowing yourself to be called ‘The Mad Unicorn’?”
Mad smiled,” Ahhh, yes. That childhood name seems to fit me, no? Besides, it’s much better than my real name.” Strong Heart nodded his head.
“I agree, much better than Eugene van Scnicklestein,” he said. Mad cringed.
“I was hoping everyone had forgotten about my name. Honestly, I have no idea what my parents were thinking when they named me,” Mad gestured deeper into the house, “Come, though. I’ll take you to my kitchen. I need to put up those groceries you have on your back. Now, you should see what my latest research is on…” As Mad talked, he led Strong Heart through the house.
In each room that they passed through, the walls were coated with shelves containing thousands of books, scrolls, and the occasional nick-nack. As well, each room was a maze made up of piles of reading material. Sticking out of some piles were a few tired quills and an old alfalfa sandwich that had begun to grow a fur coat.
As they went deeper, the messes got worse. There were tables that bent under the weight of all the paper they held. Some of the shelves were sagging very badly, and one even gave a slight creak as they walked past it.
Eventually, they made it to a room that could be identified as a kitchen. It had cabinets that went around half the room, the space between their tops and the roof crammed with books and papers. The table had a single clear spot with a chair in front of it. The counter was coated with old dishes that had yet to be washed.
“Where should I set your groceries?” asked Strong Heart.
“Oh, just right where you are would be fine,” Mad answered, waving his hoof at strong Heart.
Letting the pack fall to the floor, Strong Heart then sat on the only seat and began to sift through the stacks of books on the table. Selecting one titled A Journey Through the caves of Equestria; he opened it and started skimming through it as Mad floated his groceries into the cabinets.
“So, what have you been up to Strong Heart?” Mad asked as he put away some carrots.
“Oh, you know, the usual,” Strong Heart replied, without glancing up from the book. Mad turned to him.
“No, I don’t know. And I’m sure you remember just how much I hate not knowing anything. Now, tell me just what it is that you do. I mean, you never write! What is it that can keep somepony so busy that they can’t even write a letter to their best friend?”
“Well, if you must know,” Strong Heart turned a page, “I’ve been busy flying all over Equestria helping the many towns and cities scattered throughout it. It’s quite boring really.”
“I’d think that getting to see all of Equestria would be quite an adventure?”
“You would think so, but it is very hard to enjoy the sights through clouds of parasprites and smoke from dragon fire.”
Mad nodded his head. Neither of them talked as he finished putting up the last of the items from the saddle bag. When he finished, Mad turned to Strong Heart.
“Now, what exactly are you here for?” he asked. Strong Heart continued to read.
“I just wanted to drop in and see how you were doing. You know, catch up and all that,” he replied.
“So, you expect me to believe that my best friend since magic kindergarten, which I haven’t seen for almost a year now, disguises himself as a delivery pony and knocks on my front door without sending any messages ahead to let me know about his arrival, just wants to visit?”
Closing the book, Strong Heart smiled at Mad and said, “Yup!”
“Humph! Well I don’t believe that for half a bit! Come on, Strong Heart, you were always such a bad liar, so what is it that you’re really here for?”
“He he. Nothing gets by you, does it Mad?”
“No, and I’d like to keep it that way. So stop beating around the bush and tell me or else I’ll, I’ll,” he glared at Strong Heart, “I don’t know what I’ll do!”
Strong Heart shook his head still smiling.
“Alright, alright, I’ll tell you. Just keep your horn on!” He took a deep breath, “Okay, I’m sure you are aware of our recent breach in security?”
“Breach in security!? You call Shining Armor’s protective shield spell going down, and us being attacked by thousands of changelings a breach in security?”
Strong Heart raised his eyebrow at Mad.
“What would you have called it then?” he asked.
“Well, I’d…,” Mad paused, “That is to say, with much thought and time to contemplate it, and I’d call it,” his face scrunched up in concentration, “A breach in our defenses.”
“And how is that any different than a breach in security?”
“Look, it doesn’t matter, okay? Please continue,"
“It seemed to matter just a few moments ago?”
“You’ve already humbled me, Strong Heart, and I get it. So please tell me your purpose for being here.”
“Fine. Well, with our recent breach in our defenses.”
Mad gave a harrumph. Strong Heart ignored him.
“We’ve been working on keeping the shield up. Now, despite the efforts of Shining Armor and Princess Cadence, they do not believe that they can continue to maintain it much longer. It has taken a lot of their energy to do so. As a result, they plan on teaching several unicorns the spell to help keep it going,” Strong Heart paused.
“Wouldn’t that greatly weaken the effects of the shield spell?” Mad asked.
“Yes,” Strong Heart continued,” which is why her majesty, Princess Celestia, sent me here. You see, she feels that your most recent paper on the lost art of artifact making could be the key to our solution.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Mad interrupted,” Princess Celestia wants me to attempt to replicate the process and make an artifact? But it was all just speculation and theory! I don’t even know if I’m close to being correct,” he shook his head,” The art of making artifacts has been lost for as long as we can remember, even past Star Swirl The Bearded’s time!”
“Well, the Princess wants you to at least try!” Strong Heart stamped his hoof,” If you don’t, it could seriously endanger all of Canterlot, no, Equestria! Look, aren’t theories meant to be tested? If they are, then why not just do so! Give this one a go, and if it doesn’t work we’ll just have to try something else.”
Mad sighed.
“Let me think on this then,” he said.
“No!” Strong Heart stamped his hoof again,” We don’t have time to think about it! We need to act now!”
Mad turned around and hung his head. Strong Heart was about to tell him to hurry up and make his decision, when Mad pivoted 180 degrees to face him again.
“Alright! I’ll give it a go!” he exclaimed,” But first, I need some supplies plus my calculations. Also, I want to talk to a colleague and ask their opinion about this,” he ran into the other room. Strong Heart followed him.
“Who is this ‘colleague’? I never thought that you’d be somepony that would work cooperatively with another being,” he asked. Mad glared at him.
“If you must know, I am talking about Twilight Sparkle, the only other unicorn who would know what I’m talking about,” Mad answered. He turned around and began to sift through a pile of papers and books. “Where are those calculations?” he muttered, “And that book. I’ll also need some ink and a quill. Arrggh! I’ll never find anything in all this. Isa!”
“Huh? What is it Mad,” a sleepy voiced called. An orange baby dragon poked her head out of a nest made of books and papers in one corner.
“Please rub the sleep out of your eyes, Isa. I need your help finding some things. You seem to know where everything is in this mess. As well, I need you to go get my pack,”
“What’s going on?”
“I’m going on a trip to visit someone.”
“Where are you going and who are you seeing?”
“If you must know, I am going to Ponyville to visit Twi.”
“Really? Why?”
Mad sighed.
“My, your inquisitive today. I want to ask her opinion and assistance on a few calculations for something. Satisfied? Now come help me!”
“’Kay.”
Strong Heart began to walk back towards the kitchen to continue reading A Journey Through the caves of Equestria, when he noticed the slight grin on Isa’s face.
“What is it that you’re so happy about?” he asked, curiously. Isa’s grin grew wider.
“I just never thought that these two miracles would ever happen, nor on the same day!” she replied.
“And what miracles are those?” inquired Strong Heart. Isa giggled.
“Well, the first one is that I never imagined Mad would ever leave the house. The other one,” she giggled again,” is that I also never expected him to actually ask for somepony else for their assistance in his work.” She began to giggle some more, then was soon rolling on the floor laughing. Strong Heart was a bit surprised at her behavior, but he started to chuckle, and then joined Isa in laughing.
“What’s so funny?” Mad asked, poking his head around a pile of books,” Isa! I thought I told you to help me?”
Isa, still giddy, stood up.
“Sorry, Mad,” she said, wiping her tears of merriment out of her eyes and off her cheeks.
“Good,” Mad turned around and dug through a different pile of books, “Now, where did I put that book?”
“Which one?” Isa asked. Mad continued to dig through the stack.
“Artifacts and All We Know About Them. Ah ha! Here it is!” He pulled a book out of the middle.
“Wait!” shouted Isa.
But her warning came too late. With a slight swaying, and then a creaking, the pile of books avalanched. Mad, who was in the way, gave a startled yelp and was soon buried in the deluge of knowledge. When the dust settled down, Isa and Strong Heart started to dig Mad out. They soon found him, the book he had been looking for in his mouth and his eyes out of focus.
“Are you okay?” Strong Heart asked. Shaking his head, Mad sat up and spat out the book. His eyes were still out of focus, however, when he answered.
“I never felt better, but I wish that I had thought to wear my helmet.”
“He’s okay,” Strong Heart said, releasing a sigh of relief. He and Isa led Mad to the kitchen and sat him down.
“How about you let us get your stuff for you?” Isa asked.
Eyes finally focusing, Mad glared at Isa.
“That wouldn’t have happened if you had done that in the first place,” he grumbled at her.
“Or if you had been patient,” she declared, crossing her arms. Mad shook his head.
“I’m sorry, your right. I should have been patient. Can you please get me the stuff I need?”
“Yes,” Isa uncrossed her arms,” And don’t worry, I already know what you need,” she turned to Strong Heart,” Come on, I can’t reach some of the shelves and I’ll need your help to get the things down from them,” Strong Heart nodded.
While Mad’s head stopped spinning, Isa and Strong Heart got his pack together. They put a few quills, some paper, the book that had caused so much trouble, and then some scrolls that were filled with numbers and other calculations. By the time they were finished, Mad was feeling much better.
“Thank you,” he told them, “Sorry about my impatience earlier. I guess I am kind of excited about this whole thing.”
Strong Heart smiled at him.
“It’s quite all right,” he said, “I’m excited too.”
“Hmmm?”
“I’m coming with you!”
Mad smiled too.
“Really? This is great, strong Heart! Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
“Actually,” Strong Heart gestured to Isa, “I got a letter from the Princess through Isa here. She’s discharging me of my duties for now so that I can help you.”
“Excellent!” Mad exclaimed, “What about you Isa?”
Isa waved the offer away.
“I don’t feel like going anywhere. Besides, it’s still light out,” she yawned, “If you’re done with me, I’m going to go back to sleep.” But Mad shook his head.
“Sorry, Isa. Not yet! If you aren’t coming, then I have some letters I need to send…”
It was some time later that Mad and Strong Heart found themselves at the Canterlot train station. They had made their way over immediately after Isa had sent the letters Mad had for her. When they arrived at the train station and bought their tickets, they found out that it was still at least thirty minutes until the train for Ponyville arrived. So they had bought a couple of wheat shakes to drink while they waited.
SLUUURRP! Mad winced at the sound.
“Must you suck on your drink so hard?” he asked Strong Heart.
“What? I like it and I don’t want to waste a single bit of it.” He sucked on it even more. Mad sighed.
“Well, I think that it’s finished,” he declared, “Now can you please throw it away?”
Strong Heart gave one last loud slurp, and then magically tossed it behind him into a trash can.
“Impressive,” said Mad, “Too bad Isa elected not to come with us. I would have loved for her to see that.”
Strong Heart chuckled.
“And in Mad’s language, that means ‘I wish that Isa was here to record the trajectory of that toss so that I can later nit-pick it and find every little thing that affected that toss right down to the slight breeze.”
“Very funny. And so what if I wanted to do so.”
“I’m just making a point that you’re very predictable and that maybe…”
A loud train whistle blew from nearby, interrupting whatever Strong Heart was about to say.
“It’s about time!” Mad mumbled, “The train is exactly two minutes and fifty eight seconds late so far.” Strong Heart’s eyes widened in amazement.
“How did you know that?” he asked. Mad smiled and pointed behind Strong Heart at a large clock above the ticket station.
“It helps to know how to read what time it is,” he replied.
“I didn’t see the clock.”
“It’s okay, not everypony can have such amazing intellectual knowledge as me.”
“This coming from the same pony that thought a breach in defenses sounded better than a breach in security,” Strong Heart said, smiling as Mad’s smile disappeared.
“You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?” he asked.
“Probably not.”
“Ah well. Even if you do annoy me the entire time, I’m still glad you get to come with me.”
“Me too,” Strong Heart agreed.
As they were talking, the train pulled up to the station and came to a stop with a loud screech and a release of steam. A stallion wearing a vest with a gold pocket watch attached to it by a gold chain stepped off the center cart and called “AAAALLLLL AAAAABOOOAARRD!”
“You heard the colt. Let’s get on so that our adventure can begin!” Strong Heart exclaimed excitedly, rushing towards the train car directly in front of them.
Mad chased after him.
“Actually, I don’t think that it will begin just yet,” he said when he caught up.
Chapter 2
It was some hours later that the train pulled into the Ponyville train station. Even before it came to a complete stop, Strong Heart had leapt off and began stretching.
“Aaahhhh!” Strong Heart sighed in relief as he stretched out his front hooves and arched his back like a cat,” I’m so glad we’re finally off that crazy contraption. I thought it would never end!” Mad stepped off the train car behind him.
“I take it that train is not your favorite mode of transportation?” he asked.
“Uh-uh. I prefer to fly from place to place. Keeps my wings from getting too cramped,” Strong Heart declared. At mentioning his wings, he stretched them out to their fullest, drawing several protested cricks and cracks from them. “That’s better,” he said as he stood back up and folded his wings back to his sides. “So where should we begin our search for Twilight?” Mad set off into the town.
“If I know her,” he called back, “She’ll be where ever there are books.” Strong Heart galloped and caught up with Mad.
“And if I know you, which I do, you won’t think to stop and ask someone where we could find her,” Strong Heart observed. Mad glared at him.
“I take it you want to ask somepony where we can find her?” he asked, the tone of his voice showing his displeasure at the idea.
“That would be nice,”
“Fine!”
Mad looked around for a pony that he could ask. Then he spotted a pink mare that was looking at some flowers in a stall owned by another mare. Mad approached her from behind, then lifted his hoof and tapped her on the shoulder.
“Excuse me. Would you know where I can fi…,” he started to say. But as he was talking, the pink mare had turned around. Upon seeing Mad and Strong Heart, she gave a large gasp and immediately ran off. She left Mad, his hoof still in the air and his mouth open, the half formed word on his lips still. “…nd Twilight Sparkle.”
“What on Equestria was that about?” wondered Strong Heart. Mad shook his head.
“I have not the foggiest,” he replied, shaking his head from in bewilderment.
Having over heard what Mad was asking the pink mare, the one in charge of the stall got his attention. She was a pale yellow, with hair that was a deep red. On her flank was a rose.
“I’m Rose,” she said, “and I couldn’t help but over hear you. You said you were looking for Twi?” Mad nodded.
“Well, she’s right over there.”
Rose pointed to the other side of the street behind Mad and Strong Heart. Looking at where she was pointing, Mad saw the familiar purple unicorn.
“Twilight!” he exclaimed in excitement. Hearing her name, she looked around for the source. Then, as she spotted Mad, her eyes widened in surprise.
“Eugene! And Strong Heart! When did you two get here?” she called across the street. Mad and Strong Heart each looked both ways and then they dashed across.
“We just got here,” Mad explains, “In fact, we came here in search of you.”
“Whatever for?”
“We’ll tell you, but it’ll have to be somewhere else,” Strong Heart said, interrupting Mad before he could tell her. Twilight just shrugged.
“Alright. Then let’s go to my place. I was actually headed there anyways.”
She set off towards the opposite side of the town. Mad and Strong Heart cantered on each side of her.
“I guess that while you’re here, you can let me know how Canterlot is doing. I know that the repairs are still underway. No, wait. Actually, how’s my brother doing?” Twilight inquired.
“Actually, what we’re here for kind of has to do with your brother,” Strong Heart told her. Immediately, Twilight’s pace picked up until she was almost running. Mad and Strong Heart struggled to keep up.
They soon reached Twilight’s home, the Ponyville library. (“Told you she’d be where there are books,” Mad whispered to Strong Heart.) She led them into the main room and had them sit there and wait as she got refreshments. She left the room and returned soon with her baby dragon, Spike, who carried the tray with glasses of lemonade on it for her. She magically passed out the four drinks to all who were present, then sat down and looked at Strong Heart and Mad.
“Okay you two tell me what’s going on,” she demanded. So they launched into their explanation, taking turns by picking up where the other left off when they paused for breath. They told her about the issue with her brother’s shield and the original plans to deal with the problem. They then told her about how there was a possible way around it all that would be a better solution if it worked. When they were finished, everyone sat there in a long moment of silence.
“So I take it that you’re here to talk to me about how the artifact you want to make should be made?” Twilight asked, breaking the silence. Mad nodded.
“Yes. I honestly didn’t trust all of my calculations, so I thought that I’d see about having somepony else look over them to help me double check,”
Twilight gestured at a desk on one wall.
“Then let’s see these calculations of yours,” she said, getting up.
Mad stood up as well and floated out everything from his pack. He moved it all in a large clump and then dropped it all in a hectic mess on the desk. Sighing, Twilight rearranged it all, making it much neater.
“Eugene! I would have thought that by now you’d be in control of this whole sloppiness issue of yours,” she scolded. Mad just rolled his eyes. Strong Heart gave a slight choke as he tried to keep from bursting out in laughter. Mad glared at him.
“And look at this!” she exclaimed, holding up one of Mad’s notes.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I can hardly read this!”
She picked up a quill, dipped it in some ink, and then started to copy his work onto another piece of paper.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Mad demanded.
“I,” she dipped the quill again, “am trying to make sure that you and I can read this and understand what we’re looking at. It would really stink if the artifact didn’t work because we thought that a four was nine, or a six was a five.”
“It’s not like that’s ever happened,” Mad muttered under his breath. Twilight threw down the quill and turned on him.
“Yes, it did! Remember our Third Grade Magic Fair?”
Mad groaned audibly.
“Don’t groan! Because of your sloppiness, our project almost ended up creating a desert out of Canterlot! So instead of standing there mocking me,” Mad immediately closed his mouth and put his hoof on the floor, “you can get yourself over here and help me make sense of this.”
Mad moved next to her and sat down. He looked at the note that she was trying to copy and tried to figure out what it was that he had written. He continued to look at it, his brow becoming furrowed with the frustration. Then, he set it down and looked at Twilight.
“I believe that this might be an old shopping list of mine,” he said coolly.
“WHAT?” exclaimed Twilight.
Mad cringed.
“Well, I can’t be too sure. And besides, Isa packed it.”
“Probably because she couldn’t read Eugene the Mess Machine’s hoofwriting.”
“Come now! I told you to stop calling me that a long time ago! I prefer to be called Mad now.”
Mad and Twilight were soon arguing yet again. Strong Heart just sat where he was, watching the exchange between the two school rivals. Suddenly, he felt a tug on one of his legs. Looking down, he saw that it was Spike, holding a deck of cards.
“Wanna play Go Fish?” he asked.
It was exactly 24 games of Go Fish, 13 games of war, and an attempt at making up a game with the cards when Twilight and Mad finally finished arguing. By then, it was quite dark and Spike had gone to bed. Strong Heart found it hard to keep from nodding off himself.
What got his attention was the sudden silence. Plus his head hitting the floor. He immediately stood up and looked around. Twilight and mad stood at the desk, looking at him confused.
“Sorry,” he apologized, “Getting a bit tired. So, what have you two come up with?”
Twilight and Mad then looked at each other and came to the same conclusion.
“I think that we should wait until the morning to explain anything,” Twilight declared. But Strong Heart shook his head.
“I can stay up a little longer,” he protested, hiding a yawn behind his hoof as he spoke.
“No,” said Mad, “I’m tired too. And when I’m tired, I botch up my presentations.” He turned to Twilight. “Now, where are your guest rooms?”
The next morning, Mad and Strong Heart got up and entered Twilight’s kitchen where she and Spike had worked together to make their guests breakfast. As they all sat down and started to get their plates together, Spike asked the two unicorns, “So, what did you accomplish last night?”
“Yeah, I want to know as well,” demanded Strong Heart who’s mouth was full of pancakes. Swallowing his food, Mad started his explanation.
“Last night, my colleague, Twilight, and I looked over my notes. We did several calculations in the required amount of magic components to assemble the artifact and decided that we would need six of them. Then, we calculated what those parts would need to be. To do that, we sifted through…”
“I don’t think that you need to go into that much detail,” Twilight said, interrupting Mad.
“Are you sure? Because I really don’t mind getting technical and I find the process quite fascinating.”
“I’m sure. Trust me, I find it fascinating as well, but I’d be the only one to understand you.”
Mad sighed. “Well then, I guess the point is that we believe that we know all of the necessary parts we need to make the PSF.”
“PSF? What in Equestria does that stand for?” asked Strong Heart.
“Protective Shield Fabricator,” Twilight answered, “It was the best we could come up with on such short notice.”
“Hmmm. PSF. I like it,” Spike declared.
“Yes, sounds catchy. So what do we need to make the PSF?” asked Strong Heart.
“Well, we determined that we need at least two of the six Elements of Harmony that represent security,” Twilight explained, “And the two that we came up with were the Element of Honesty and the Element of Laughter.”
“Okay, so how do we get these?”
This time Mad answered. “We need to collect something that embodies these Elements from each of the representatives of the two. Luckily, Twilight knows the two representatives herself. Now, which of these did you recommend that we get first?”
“I had suggested the Element of Laughter first. I don’t know how we’ll collect a part of it, but Pinkie Pie lives not too far from here,” Twilight said.
“Then let’s go!” exclaimed Strong Heart. He had to wait, however, as Twilight and Mad got together all of the items that they thought that they would need to collect a piece of the Element of Laughter. But when they were finished, he dashed outside and waited for them.
“You slowpokes coming?” he called to them.
“He doesn’t even know where we’re going,” observed Twilight. Smiling, Mad nodded his head.
“Yes, but he’ll soon figure that out,” he replied. He was right, for a couple of seconds later Strong Heart ran back and asked, “Where are we going again?”
Twilight led them through the town to their destination. As they went along, she told them all that had happened since she had moved there. By the time she finished, they had arrived. She stopped in front of a building that was bright and colorful. It had a sort of gingerbread house appearance, that is, if they were pink. Delicious smells of baked goods wafted out into the streets and tickled their noses, making their mouths water. A sign above the door read “Sugar Cube Corner”.
“Let’s go!” said Twilight. So Mad and Strong Heart followed Twilight inside, where they were assaulted by even more scents that caused them to wish that they hadn’t eaten breakfast already. Around the room were all sorts of pastries, cakes, and other delectable baked goods. There were a few ponies looking at these, but not too many.
Behind the counter, a blue mare with pink hair that looked like icing on a cupcake was waiting to tend customer’s needs. When she saw the group, she waved them over.
“Why, hello there Twilight! How are you doing?” she asked, “And who are your friends?”
“Hi Mrs. Cake,” Twilight said to the mare, “I’m doing fine. Have you seen Pinkie Pie around?”
“Yes, I have. I believe she’s in the back room. Here, go on in.” Mrs. Cake gestured to a swinging door behind her. Twilight, Mad, and Strong Heart pushed their way in to the back room. It was a large kitchen with flour everywhere. It was spread all over the ceiling, counters, and almost every nook and cranny. And in the middle of it all sat a pink pony.
“Pinkie Pie! What happened in here?” exclaimed Twilight.
“Huh? Oh, hi Twilight! I’m looking for Gummy,” the pink pony started sifting through a pile of flour in front of her, “You guys can help you know.”
“What is a Gummy?” asked Strong Heart.
“Not what, who. It’s her pet gator. We should probably help her search for him,” said Twilight. So they all began to look through the piles of flour. They searched for quite a bit, until Strong Heart noticed something resembling a white worm sticking out from under the table. When he pulled it out, he realized that it was the tail of a baby alligator.
“Is this Gummy?” he asked, holding it up.
Pinkie Pie ran forward and grabbed the flour coated gator. She started hugging it and cried out. “Gummy! Don’t ever do that to mommy again!” Then she looked at Strong Heart. “Hey, wait a second! I remember you!”
“You do?”
“Yes yes yes! And you too,” she said, pointing at Mad, “I remember both of you from yesterday!”
“Ahhh! I thought you looked familiar,” stated Mad, “This is that pony that we tried to ask for directions from, remember Strong Heart?”
Strong Heart looked at Mad, then Pinkie Pie.
“Yes, now that you mention it, I do,” he said.
“You were going to ask me for directions? Well why didn’t you?” asked Pinkie Pie.
“Well, you ran off before we could.”
“Oh yeah. Silly me!” she turned to one of the counters, “ The reason I had ran off was because I didn’t recognize you two, so I knew that you were new to Ponyville and normally I would throw a party but I didn’t think that I had time so I ran all the way here to make you these!” She held up two cupcakes coated in flour.
“That’s very nice of you,” said Mad hesitantly, “But I really don’t want one right now. You see, we’re here to…” He didn’t get another word in before Pinkie Pie shoved the cupcake into his mouth. Upon seeing his friend’s surprised face, Strong Heart started to laugh, but he too was interrupted as the other cupcake was shoved into his mouth. While they chewed and tried to choke down the treats, Twilight explained to Pinkie Pie why they were there.
“Oooh. So you know these two?” Pinkie Pie asked. Twilight nodded.
“Yes. I sort of knew them in Canterlot and now they need our help. So do you think that you can do that?”
Pinkie Pie’s head bobbed up and down, almost too fast to see. “Okey dokey lokey!”
When Mad and Strong Heart finished their cupcakes, everypony worked together to get the kitchen clean again. When they finished, they all sat down around the table that Gummy was found under.
“So, what do I need to do?” asked Pinkie Pie. Mad and Twilight looked at each other.
“Well, we’re kind of winging it right now. All we know is that we need some form of the Element of Laughter, but we have no idea on how to get it,” said Twilight. Strong Heart raised his hoof.
“Maybe you can get something that causes laughter and do something to it?” he suggested.
“Hmmm. That might work,” Mad said, “How about it Pinkie Pie, what do you think causes the most laughter?”
The pink mare immediately jumped up and ran off. Mad and Strong Heart looked at Twilight, confusion written all over their faces. She just shrugged, having no idea what her friend was up to.
Pinkie Pie soon returned, laden down with all sorts of gag items. There were whoopee cushions, rubber chickens, clown noses, and everything you could imagine. She set the pile of stuff on the table.
“I’m pretty sure that one of these will cause the most laughter!” she exclaimed. She picked up one of the rubber chickens, “I mean, who can’t help but laugh at this?”
Mad sighed. Then he stood up and began to pace around the room. While he did so, the other three ponies were sorting through the pile of jokes. But they couldn’t agree on which was the funniest. Mad finished pacing.
“I guess I should help look through as well,” he said. But as he sat down, there was a loud PHHBBTT! He had sat on one of the whoopee cushions that had fallen onto the floor. Every pony stared at him. Then, they began to laugh.
“Come now, it isn’t that funny!” he exclaimed, turning red. But he too was soon laughing. As they were all shaking with their uncontrollable laughter, Mad looked at Pinkie Pie. Then, he noticed that a tear was falling down her cheek.
“That’s it!” he shouted. Using his magic, he brought out a small test tube. He next held it underneath Pinkie Pie’s cheek, where the tear he had noticed fell into the small piece of glass. Capping it, he replaced it in his pack and waited for everyone to stop laughing. Twilight was the first to speak.
“Oh my. You should have seen the look on your face, Eugene!” she said, rubbing at her eyes.
“Eugene? Who’s Eugene?” asked Pinkie Pie. Twilight pointed at Mad.
“Oh! Well what an interesting name!”
Mad waved his hoof.
“Please, stick to calling me Mad,” he said. Pinkie Pie just shrugged.
“Okey dokey lokey,” she looked at Twilight, “So you don’t need any of these?” Pinkie Pie gestured to the pile on the table.
“No, Pinkie. I think we got what we came here for.” Mad nodded his head in agreement.
“We’d best be off. It was nice having a good laugh, but we don’t have very much time. Pinkie Pie, thank you for your help,” Mad held out his hoof. Pinkie Pie grabbed it and shook it very hard.
“No problem, Mad! I had fun.”
They all said their goodbyes, then Twilight, Mad, and Strong Heart left Sugar Cube Corner.
“Where to next?” Strong Heart asked.
Without turning around, Mad called out to his friend, “Now we head back to Twilight’s place to drop off the piece of the Element of Laughter, then we go on to collect the piece of the Element of Honesty!”
On their way back to Twilight’s library, a yellow colt with black hair followed them. He jumped from one hiding place to the next, never once losing sight of his quarries. When they entered the library, he hid himself next to an open window and eves dropped on their conversation.
“So, we have the first part?” asked the alicorn.
“Yes,” the male unicorn replied, “Now we need to get something to collect the Element of Honesty. And I don’t think we can get it by making the representative laugh. Twilight, do you have any ideas?”
“Actually, I do,” it was the female one now, “But we’ll need to make a quick trip to the Everfree Forest first.”
“At this rate, we’re going to have this thing finished in no time!” exclaimed the alicorn.
“Yes, and then the changelings will never be able to attack Canterlot again,”
By now, the colt judged that he had heard enough. He concentrated, then with a small green flash he transformed. He regrew his wings and horn. His hair disappeared, and his mouth grew a set of fangs. Then, he leapt into the air and started to fly in a westerly direction. He had much to report to his queen.
