Day of Fools
It was the sound of the parade that woke her. The beating of drums, the blaring of horns and the cheering of the crowd. Princess Luna opened her eyes.
“What in the world?”
She wandered over to the window, opening it with a bit of a strain. It always seemed to be jammed, ever since that rainbow colored pony had crashed into it a few weeks back. It had been repaired, with the quickest of speed, but it’d never been quite the same. The sound boomed in without the glass to hold it back, flooding the room with noise. The breeze carried with it small bits of colored paper, they fluttered through the air, turning and pinwheeling as she watched.
There was color everywhere as the parade made it's way through town. Musicians played their very loudest in the streets, the sound rumbling in the very stone that made up her room. Acrobats and clowns twirled and cartwheeled among the fillies and colts, much to their delight. As Luna watched, a unicorn stallion came into the center of the square, with a flourish, he produced fireworks that went booming into the sky, taking the shape of jester’s hats and dancing ponies.
Luna was astounded. She had arrived in Ponyville only a month before. Her sister had business that needed tending to in the small country town. She had been brought along in hopes of further acclimating her to life in Equestria after her imprisonment. She and Celestia currently resided in the Royal House, often used for functions and the odd wedding. Things had been going well as far as Celestia was concerned, Luna accompanied her to balls and dinners all across the globe. Still, she could not help but feel a bit out of place among the lavish opulence such afairs always seemed to bring. Ponyville had been a nice change, it was quiet and modest, nothing much more than a farming village as far as she'd seen. The sudden celebration caught her unawares.
A fairly large amount of colored paper had collected on her windowsill. She poked at it with a hoof,
“How strange....”
She grabbed a small basket from the nightstand besides her bed. Luna collected the paper carefully, making sure none of it tore then raced to the dining hall.
She passed various servants and guards, all who wished her a pleasant hello as she ran by. She answered them with hurried nods and mummers of good will. Hurrying around a corridor she almost ran full speed into Celestia, who was talking to aid.
“Woah, where are you off to in such a hurry, little sister?” she asked chuckling.
“Celestia!” Luna said excitedly, putting down the basket. “There is something going on outside, there are ponies marching through the streets, doing tricks and cartwheels and such wonderful things! This flew into my window!” she nosed the basket forwards.
Celestia chuckled again. “Oh, Luna, that’s confetti, it’s April Foals day! What you are so excited about is the Parade of Foals!”
“April Foals day?” Luna asked, confused.
“Oh, my dear sister, you have been away for such a very long time, I tend to forget. Here let me explain.”
Luna was led into the modest library of the royal house, where Celestia selected a large tome from one of the highest shelves. It landed on the table in front of them with a thunk. The pages turned as Celestia's magic did it’s work.
“This book contains the story of April Foals day, as written by the great chroniclers of Equestian history.” Celestia explained, looking through the pages. “Here it is!” The page landed on an illustration of a small white colt in a jesters hat. “The story of how April Foals day began.”
It all started many years ago, before there was a Ponyville, or even a Canterlot. In a kingdom, very much like ours. The ruler was a lonely filly who was not very happy. She had lost someone very close to her and ever since, she had not smiled nor laughed. She saw other ponies playing happily in the village, and tried to join in, but it did not bring her any joy. She languished in her palace, for hours, then days and soon, she did not come out at all. Her subjects saw little of her and soon forgot they had ever had a monarch. Years went by, and still she wallowed in her sadness, the loss she could not regain. The castle was soon covered in vines and plants, and only the most diligent of servants remained, preparing food, cleaning where they could, but still they could not do the one thing she really needed. They could not laugh for her. Though they tried to make her smile, to bring at least the slightest chuckle from her, she remained gloomy. One day, after so many of the servants had left that she had begun to forget she had any at all. She was lying in bed, when one came in with a message.
“You have a visitor.”
She hurried to her room, though she was sad, she was still a princess, and she had to look presentable to any visitor that might care to call on her. She combed her mane, brushed her tail, and went to the throne room to meet this mysterious visitor. Once she had settled in, and made sure she was presentable, she ordered her only servant to allow him in.
He was a gaunt earth pony, he barely seemed to take up any space at all, his white flanks were thin and dirty, he seemed as though he might crumble under the wight of his saddlebag. his cutie mark a masquerade mask, obscured a bit by filth. His yellow mane was unkempt and tangled. He wore the hat of a jester, and a smile that seemed ready to split his small face in half at any moment. He bid her hello.
She eyed the visitor warily, why should such a pony want to call on her? She had never been one to turn down her subjects, and in her day she had been a kind ruler. But still, before entering the throne room most ponies put on their best saddles and called the best stylists to prepare their manes before facing her. This scraggly jester before her had done none of this. He looked as though he had come on more of a passing fancy than under any sense of ceremony.
She asked his name, and reason for being here.
The jester spoke. “Well, as far as I can tell, my name is Bumbles Jinglefoal. The reason I came, well, I’d heard there was a filly in here that was in need of a good laugh.” he said.
“And where did you hear such a thing?” asked the filly.
“Oh, here and there. I heard a long time ago that she had lost someone, and that since then, she hadn’t so much as cracked a smile, and I just can’t abide by that.”
The Princess was quiet for a long while. Finally she said. “Well, what you hear is true, I have not smiled, nor laughed since that day. You may try your best, but I warn you, many better than you have tried before, and they failed. I fear my laughter died a long time ago on that day.”
The jester chuckled. “Laughter never dies miss, it just hides sometimes. All we need to do is find it.” he said kindly.
So he started. From that bag on his back, he produced the most marvelous things, tricks that defied explanation, toys that whizzed and flew through the air, candy, ribbons, balloons larger than buildings. Each tumbled forth, more astounding than the last, as though the small sack of cloth had no bottom. He danced, he sang, he joked, he pranced, yet still she sat, silent as a grave.
“This is worse than I thought.” he said. “It looks as though I’ll have to use the one trick I have left.”
He reached into his bag, and fumbled around, reaching far deeper than he should have been able to. After a while of digging he produced a long slab covered in cloth, and sat it down in front of her. Then he did something, something that no one had ever dared do to the princess in all her years of rule. He reached once again, into that magic bag, and from it drew a strawberry pie. It smelled delicious, even to the princess, who had been prepared the finest confections all of her life. It steamed as though it was freshly cooked, the smell filled the throne room. The crust was a perfect brown, and the filling was of the deepest red. The Princess’s mouth watered.
It was over before she even knew what was happening. The confection hit her with a smack, dead in the face. She was too shocked to speak. The whole castle was silent, you could have heard the slightest sound in those few minutes. The beating of a moth’s wing in the corner, the climbing of the vines outside. It lasted for a very long time.
She fumed, how dare he, this unkempt jester, do such a thing? Inside she raged, and railed against this great disrespect. But, just as she was about to scream, to yell at the top of her lungs for what little servants she had to come in and throw the jester out. He reached up, and drew back the cloth covering the slab.
It was a mirror.
And for the first time she saw herself, fuming, and covered in crust and filling, about to explode at what she thought was such a great injustice. The great ruler, sitting there, unrecognizable, covered in pie.
And there was a sound. At first it was soft, but then it grew, it was loud, it was boisterous, it was laughter, her laughter. Such a strange sound, she hardly recognized it at first.
She laughed at herself, at her sadness, at her brooding, and she laughed for the one she had lost, and what they might think of her if they saw her now. She laughed and laughed, a sound so pure, it could be heard all throughout the kingdom.
And they remembered.
All the old ponies who had told stories of the lonely princess, remembered a time when their stories were fact, and all the little foals who had listened, remembered that all stories have the smallest grains of truth. And they too laughed, all the ponies in the whole of Equestria, it spread like a wave, growing stronger and stronger until it reached every stallion and colt, every mare and filly. Laughter of the purest kind, riding on it’s own momentum throughout the land. The grumpiest of ponies, the worst of enemies, the most of terrible tyrants, laughed aloud with everyone else. And for the first short while, in a very long while, everyone had a reason to smile. The laughter lasted well into the next morning, and when it finally died down, the villagers came. They came to the palace, they cleaned and they dusted, they painted and they restored. They greeted the princess they had forgotten, and she too greeted them, for the first time in many years, with a smile on her face.
It was not long before the palace was back to it’s former glory, and to celebrate a great party was held. Everypony was in attendance, except for one. The Princess looked high and low, but Bumbles Jinglefoal, the jester who had brought laughter back to the palace, was nowhere to be found.
She never saw him again. Though she searched everywhere she could think to look. The jester had simply vanished, most of us do in time. But every year, on the anniversary of the day the laughter returned, all of Equestria holds a great party, hoping that one special guest might arrive. On the first day of April, after spring has been ushered in, you can hear the laughter of everyone in equestria, in honor of the foolish Jester who threw a pie at a princess.
April Foalsday.
Celestia closed the book.
“And there we have it dear sister, this is what we celebrate on this day, this is the reason for the parades, and the dances, the confetti and the magic, and this is why the laughter and joy of Equestria is so dear.”
Luna looked up at Celestia. “I see now, sister,” she said “I see why we have such celebration. But I must wonder something.”
“What is it?” Celestia asked kindly.
“Who did the princess loose to make her so sad? What loss could cause such depression?”
Celestia smiled a knowing smile. “Oh, perhaps we shall never know, the story doesn’t say after all. But, it must have been someone very important to her, someone who she missed greatly. A person who could never be replaced.”
Luna was confused. “But who?”
Her eyes shot wide as she was brought into a great hug. “Like I said, someone very important. Who could never be replaced.” Celestia released her sister. “Now come, dear Luna. We have a parade to attend.”
Luna was silent for a moment. Then she smiled.
“Yes, yes we do.”
They walked out the doors, and joined in the laughter.
The End.
