Pinkie Pie's Nightmare Night PPPPP, Sweet Apple Acres, Ponyville, on the night before Nightmare Night.
It was a great party, with Pinkie, her friends, and a bunch of other ponies Silver didn't recognise all together in one barn as an old gramophone record-player played fun, lighthearted, and awesome dance music with no lyrics. Lyrics weren't needed to get the happy and fun air present in this party, or the cheerful energy with which ponies danced, tossing aside all restraint and having fun, despite how silly some of their costumes looked.
Rainbow Dash downed her cup of cherry punch in one gulp while Rarity sipped her own cup delicately, glancing around at the crowd as if searching for someone. The once-multihued mare was in a pith helmet and jacket, a grey monochrome progression pattern on the wig she had placed over her real mane, which was hidden under a shower cap. She could have used body paint, fur dye, coat dye, hair dye, or even ordinary acrylic paint to get her body to be the right shade of light orange, though none of them were as good as the option she went for: Asking Twilight to place a colour-changing enchantment on her pith helmet to make her Daring Do costume perfect, turning that helmet into a low-level magical item that turned the coat of anypony who wore it into an exact copy of Daring Do's. And then begging Twilight for help after she refused to use her incredible magic power to help her cheat at a costume contest, which eventually got her to help, but only if Rainbow told everyone at the end of the party what she'd done... if she won.
Rarity, on the other hand, had her own outfit on. An illusion spell designed by the Nightmare Moon fanclub in Canterlot (A reputable one that didn't dislike Princess Celestia) had been cast on her mane, and now it undulated and reflected the night sky like Nightmare Moon's mane. To match it, the eyeshadow and eyeliner surrounded her eyes glowed thanks to a low-level illusion spell of hers, and she wore what seemed to be long lengths of purple silk curtains draped over her body, seeming like they could fall off and expose her beautiful and graceful form at any moment, though they wouldn't because they simply knew better than to rouse the wrath of Nightmarity. She might not have exactly liked the Nightmarity incident, but she couldn't deny how good she looked while it happened.
"So you're absolutely sure you were there when we decided the winner had to be the loser's pet for a week?" Dash asked hopefully, leaning forwards a little.
"Yes, yes, you came up with the idea." Rarity said tiredly, gracefully glancing away instead of rolling her eyes ungracefully, sipping her punch once again. Dash had been pestering her about this utterly foalish nonsense ever since the daredevil challenged the businesspony to an impromptu costume contest the night before the night before Pinkie Pie's pre-Nightmare Night. Rarity didn't really want anything to do with it, especially not with a prize so base, so vulgar, so guaranteed to go wrong on every possible level. But, then, it wasn't like she could just refuse to come to this party. She wanted the townsponies to see the kinds of costumes she could make, so they'd order even more from her next year, even though most of her business came from Canterlot. She had a certain fondness for this town, and her best friends lived here.
Suddenly, the record player scratched to a stop, as if a localised phase-shift spell was cast over the general area to make sure nopony else walked in on them. Or, as if somepony used magic to stop the record player for dramatic effect. Either option was possible, really.
"Attention, everpony!" Silver Star's low, melodious, refined Canterlot-accented voice boomed somewhat overdramatically at a volume that would make the Royal Canterlot Voice laugh and show it what TRUE volume was.
In a burst of bright blue magical light that caused everypony in the room without sunglasses to momentarily shield their eyes, Silver teleported into the center of the room in full costume, his magic gently pushing others back while defying the laws of friction in the process so he could appear in the crowd's center in a sufficiently dramatic manner.
His usual normally-black suit had been turned a bright, vibrant shade of hot pink that looked unusual on his large white body, as had his normally-blue tie, though his white undershirt had been turned a pale shade of baby blue, much like Pinkie Pie's eyes, or the blue balloon on her Cutie Mark. His eyes glowed with an ethereal light-blue blaze, leaving faint blue trails behind in the air that quickly faded - like the trails from sparklers - whenever his head or eyes moved. Upon his head, a large mess of lightweight pink-coloured copper wire had been telekinetically bent and curled and styled into an replica of Pinkie's mane perfectly-exact to the tiniest possible detail, while his true mane was hidden beneath a pink beret with a basic hammerspace enchantment upon it. An exact replica of Pinkie's Cutie Mark was emblazoned on the flanks of his suit, but it was not sewn on as a patch. Instead, specific sections of thread had been alchemically altered in colour to get the colour and design exactly right. Accuracy was a big deal to him, and he was convinced that even a specifically-built spell or magic automaton would be unable to tell the difference. He reared up on two hooves, trying to laugh the way she did, and he ended up sounding kinda creepy as waves of pink magical energy built up around him in a vibrant corona of power, tinting his whole body pink. He then landed on all four hooves again, and merrily chirped in a high voice that still had the tiniest fraction of his Canterlot accent, "I am Pinkie Pie! Let's have a party!"
Everypony stared. Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped.
Pinkie Pie burst into laughter, falling on her back. She was wearing a cat-eared headband and a white-painted toilet-paper-cardboard-roll on a second headband she wore in front of the first, like a cardboard Unicorn's horn. She had bright colours drawn along her, as if she'd used coloured felt pens herself on her own body with her mouth and tail. Said tail was currently tied up behind her with countless strained-looking pink bands, to make it resemble a cat's tail.
Dash just kept staring. She was sure that if he was nervous or shy or even a little reluctant to be seen in any way, she would have laughed - After all, since when was a pink suit ever cool? - but he looked so certain, so unbothered, completely willing to have a good time and so oddly in-character, so unaffected by the fact that he was dressed like a pony they both knew... He wasn't just wearing that costume, he was owning it. A small part of her thought she should laugh anyway, but all the rest of her felt was surprise and confusion.
"Behold, my Party Cannon!" He declared, rearing up again, and the crowd gasped in horror.
His horn glowed as he summoned a block of metal onto the ground in front of him, and it continued to glow even though it didn't need to as he shaped it into a large rounded high-caliber cannon on wheels, becoming an exact replica of Pinkie's Party Cannon. The crowd let out a relieved sigh. A quick colour-changing spell gave it the right colours, and he aimed it at the ceiling. He lit the fuse with magic flame, causing it to suck in air for a moment before blasting out that compressed air and a whole lot of alchemically recoloured tin foil shredded into small uniform rectangles of multicoloured confetti. "Now we're really a partying party partying at this party!" Silver chirped, and began to laugh maniacally as the confetti spiralled and undulated around him, reflecting the light overhead and the light from his pink glow, making it seem like a field of stars was sparkling around him, an entire galaxy that heard his laughter and bore witness to his costume-designing ability.
Most of the confetti started to fall and Silver glanced at the record player with a small smile and an expectant look in his eyes, and it resumed its happy music. It wasn't clear whether he'd used a spell, he'd used the metal-controlling ability one of his favourite spells gave him, or if the gramophone just knew better.
Soon, the last piece of confetti had fallen to the ground, but he was not done yet. "And now I am going to sing!" Silver declared joyfully, teleporting, and singing in time with the record player's happy music, a simple D minor rhythm.
Silver reappeared right behind the costumed Rainbow Dash and Rarity. "PARTY SONG!" He shouted, making them both step back in shock as he teleported away again.
He reappeared between an amused Lyra - who was wearing brown trousers, a brown curly wig, black and unusually small clown shoes she'd insist were called wing-tips and were definitely something humans wore even though they only stayed on her thanks to magic enchantments, a plaid red and pale-red shirt with white buttons - and a shocked Bonbon, who wore a purple and green coat and a purple top hat, a purple cane tipped with a metal ball resting in the crock of her right forehoof. "PARTY SONG!" He yelled again.
The song changed and began to play the D note repeatedly on a thrash metal guitar as a nonexistent drummer hammered down on two of his drums over and over. "THIS is a party and I like to party and WE ARE PARTYING!" Silver metal-growled.
"THIS is a song about party parties, and now we're about to sing!"
Compelled by the infectiousness of spontaneous musical numbers, everypony shouted out, "THIS IS A PARTY!"
They waited four beats.
"THIS IS A PARTY!" Everypony chanted again.
The tempo suddenly slowed down by a lot, harsh and harder drum beats coming a lot slower, the lead guitarist staying silent as the bassist played the E note once per bar.
Silver sang lowly and breathily. "This is the most... Partyish party song... to ever exist!"
"If you don't... like to party... then you won't... be missed!" Silver sang, and the tempo picked back up and became 20 beats per minute faster than it was a few bars ago. The drums kicked up from an eight-beat rhythm to a sixteen-beat rhythm, and the guitar and his singing started to mix in sudden higher notes with the usual variable D minor portamento.
Silver reared up on two legs and quickly sang. "THIS IS A SONG ABOUT PARTYING AND PARTYING IS GOOOOOOD. ERGO THIS SONG IS ALSO GOOD BECAUSE IF IT WAS NOT THEN THIS WOULD SUUUUUCK. IT DOES NOT SUCK WHICH MEANS THIS SONG IS GOOD AND PARTYING IS GOOD AND SO ARE YOOOUUU..."
"IF YOU PARTY..." Everypony yelled, and waited.
"AT A PARTY..." They yelled.
"WITH A PARTY..." They shouted.
The song stopped. "THAT PARTIES!" Silver sang, the last line echoing out into nothingness.
Everypony silently stared at Silver in shock and surprise, and crickets began to chirp. Aquilla, dressed in thick blocky sections of purple and grey metal - farmed leather lining the insides to prevent chafing - that made her look like her least favourite fictional transforming giant robot that could also become a flying machine, clapped happily. Lyra clapped and cheered loudly, and Bonbon was embarassed to be standing next to her. Everypony else just stared.
Finally, somepony broke the silence.
"Silver wins the costume contest." Twilight said flatly, clad in a long white ballgown framed with gold and white silk socks with gold stripes, the image of Celestia's Cutie Mark sewn onto her dress's flanks, similar white gloves on her wings, with long golden shoes at the end of her hooves designed to boost her to Celestia's height while making it look like her legs were naturally that length and the shoes just went up to her knees.
"What?!" Rainbow Dash gasped.
He teleported onto the stage in a star-shaped flash of blue light and grabbed the trophy, a huge grin on his face. "EEEYESSS!" Silver declared, rearing up on two hooves and stretching his forelegs to the side. "EEEYESSS! I have won! I am the happiest and cutest pony of all!"
Pinkie's laughter grew louder.
"I'd like to thank the academy for this prestigious award." Silver began. "The party academy of partying party ponies, which may or may not be a thing. I'd also like to un-thank whoever's fault it is that the item duplication spell does not work on articles of clothing or food above a certain price limit. I'd also like to thank Princess Twilight Sparkle, for being the best Alicorn besides Celestia..." He said, and paused as there was a quick round of a few ponies cheering. "I'd like to thank Pinkie Pie, for being the best pony," He said, and then the whole barn erupted in applause for an entire minute. When that was done, he continued, "I'd also like to thank Rainbow Dash, both for being the best Pegasus, and for honouring the bet we made yesterday," He said, and only Scootaloo and a few other fillies cheered. "And... Hm... Oh, yes. Aquilla, my assistant, is the best Griffon, apples are better than carrots - Eat it, Toppy. But not a carrot, because apples are better - Spike is the best dragon, Rainbow Dash's top speed outclasses even the fastest Wonderbolt, and she's only not a wonderbolt now because as a hero of Equestria, Dash outranks Spitfire and more importantly, Spitfire doesn't want the others to look lame by comparison, aaand..." He went higher on that drawn-out last word, building tension and suspense. "Sugarcube Corner is the best bakery in Equestria. And eeeyes, that's everything. Thank you all, and remember: There ain't no party like a Pinkie Pie party, so if you want the best party anypony could ever give you, go to Sugarcube Corner and ask for Pinkie!"
Silver happily trotted down the stairs, and over to the laughing Pinkie Pie, who gradually stopped laughing and got up. "So, what do you think?" He asked happily.
She suddenly hugged him, much to his surprise. After a moment, she said, "Thanks for all that stuff you said about me and Sugarcube Corner."
"...Anytime." He said, uncertainly hugging back. He still quite wasn't used to other ponies hugging him just yet. Still, it was nice. And warm. Just like Pinkie Pie. He hugged tighter, and a smile came across his face.
"You want me to do what?!" Rainbow Dash gasped, her eyes wide.
"You heard me." Silver Star purred in a low tone, smirking as he stepped closer and loomed over her just a little, just enough to add to the impact. "After all, you aremy pet for the week."
"Well..." She said, as she looked away, a blush forming on her face. "I'll admit that I kinda always wanted to do something like this, but... Here? Now?"
"Why not with me?" Silver asked curiously. "It's not like your friends will ever find out what happened here, considering where we are right now. Though I guess Twilight might be able to guess, considering what we're like, but it's not like she'd tell the others. Besides, we're here now, so we might as well get on with it."
"But-"
"By the way," He purred calmly, and then harshly snapped, "Be quiet." He then mildly added, "Pets don't talk."
"Fine." She groaned. "And for the record, this getup might look awesome, but it feels weird."
"It's built for function, not comfort." He said, trying not to take that as a minor insult to his craftsmanship abilities. It felt nice to him when HE wore it.
"GET ON WITH IT!" A crowd of Griffons with Pegasi, Unicorns, and even the occasional Earth Pony sprinkled around shouted, sitting in raised seats around the arena Rainbow Dash and Silver Star were currently in.
The arena was a large red circle with a white line dividing the circle, and two tiny white squares on opposite sides of the field, where the pet trainers stood. In the middle of the red circle that was the main Arena, Rainbow Dash stood and faced down a feathered bear with brown-feathered wings and its trainer, an angry-looking female Lion-Crow Griffon.
Rainbow Dash was wearing a metal Pegasus helmet that appeared to have come straight out of the pre-Equestrian days, but was actually crafted recently and made from a Titansteel-Tungsten alloy and enchanted with toughening enchantments and shield spells to ensure maximum protection (And lightening enchantments so that it didn't weigh her down like a rock on a paper aeroplane), and her body was clad in awesome-looking metal armour lined with spikes both decorative and functional, each of which had twelve copies of a different prepared spell stored within them, and could be activated with a single thought and command word the very milisecond her current master gave the order.
"This is gonna be awesome!" Rainbow said excitedly.
"Pets don't talk!" Silver whispered.
"Rain-bow DASH!" Rainbow chirped happily, getting into character. "Dash dash dash, rain rain bow dash!"
"Much better." Silver said, focusing his mind as he prepared to direct his 'Pet' in the upcoming fights.
"The first round of the Monthly Coopenhagen Pet Battle Tournament begins..." The announcer, an excited-sounding female Griffon, began to announce... "Now!"
