Ponyville wasn't a town unfamiliar with festivals (especially with a pink pony who shall not be named) however, the pink mare had had no hoof in this one. Instead, Ponyville's first-ever "Brother Day Bonanza" was organized, planned, and orchestrated by Princess Twilight Sparkle herself.
As a gray unicorn looked around, he could see Applejack and Apple Bloom already enjoying the festivities with Big Macintosh. He could only fake a smile as they passed, his full attention on the train station "Come on! What train is twenty minutes late?!" He thought as he sat on a nearby bench, waiting on the train coming from Covneighton. He had been planning this ever since Twilight first proposed the idea to Ponyville. It’s a bit strange how unanimous it was, considering the lack of brothers. Seriously, how had he never noticed that?
Bookwright continued to look on with ever growing anxiety and annoyance, "oh, come on!" He nearly shouted; but just before he would've given up, ready to wait at home until it arrived, he heard the train whistle. With speed to match Rainbow Dash, he made his way to the platform.
"All aboard and depart! 2:15 to Covneighton!" (May as well be the 3:00) he watched as the crowd began to disperse. He kept an eye out, but his heart began to sink... Had they not let her come after all? Had she gotten lost? Had she just decided that it wasn't worth it...?
"Bookwright!"
His ears perked up when he heard the voice, a smile growing on his face. "Cheer? Where are you?!" With that, he felt a small weight fall on his back and wrap its hooves (almost) around him in a hug. Bookwright levitated the pegasus filly off his back. "Learned to fly, I see Cheer."
She smiled and nodded "Well...More like glide."
He chuckled and set her down, now embracing her in the best hug he could, "I'm glad you could make it sis..."
"Of course! You'd think I'd miss a chance to visit my bro?" Bookwright picked up her saddlebags, placing them on her back.
"Come on then, we're burning Celestia's daylight! First we'll drop that off at my house, then we'll get to the festival!"
"You have your OWN house now?!"
~ ~ ~
"Wow! This is an awesome house!" Bookwright placed Cheer's saddlebags on his coat rack as she continued to look around. "Look at the size of that bookshelf!" She spread out her wings before hovering her way up, landing on the top. "Why do you need a shelf this big?"
"Well, I do read a lot." He grabbed her in his wintergreen-colored magic, bringing her down to his level.
Cheer rolled her eyes. "Stupid question." Landing with a thump, she made her way into the kitchen. "Almost as big as the one at home."
Bookwright smiled, happily watching his sister flutter from shelf to shelf. "Actually, this kitchen was designed and built by some friends of mine..."
"Really? You have friends who can do this stuff?"
He nodded, "Yup, you should know Cheer, I sent you guys that picture, remember? The one with the letter"
"Oh ya." Cheer had just opened her third or fourth cabinet before Bookwright came over, ruffling her mane.
"Come on Cheerwright"
"Cheer"
"Sorry. Anyway, we gotta get to the festival."
She looked up quickly, "You're right!" She fluttered onto Bookwright's back and cried, "Onward!"
"Cheer, I'm not your steed," he retorted
"Silence Book Horse, to the festival!"
~ ~ ~
Bookwright had just passed the festival's gate before being dragged over to a booth by Cheer, "Come on Book, lets see how strong you are!" She giggled as Bookwright sighed and rolled his eyes.
"Step right up and see how strong your bro is!" A certain rainbow-maned pegasus was the operator of this booth. "Heya, Bookworm." He rolled his eyes as Cheer quietly began to giggle again
"Hey Rainbow," he sighed.
She smiled, "Oh, don't get so serious." Cheer seemed to enamored by the rainbow-mane which adorned the cyan pegasus. "Who's this little flier on your back?"
"This is my little sister Cheerwright."
"Cheer!"
"Sorry, Cheer."
Rainbow Dash smiled, "Well Cheer, wanna see how strong your bro is? If he gets to the red bar–" which for Bookwright seemed a mile away "–you win a stuffed animal."
"Magic isn't allowed huh?"
Rainbow smirked, "Wouldn't be fair if it was"
"Figured..."
After a one bit payment, Rainbow Dash barely stifled her laughter (unlike Cheer) as Bookwright fumbled with the hammer before finally slamming it, causing the weight to fly up to…
"Catfish..." Bookwright's ego practically shattered "Well...You could've done worse Book..."
Cheer's ears dropped slightly, "Darnit. Come on Bookwright, we could always come back." The disappointed tone in Cheer's voice was like a needle in Bookwright's heart. He wasn't just about to give up! With newfound fervor, he placed another bit on the table and slammed the hammer again, the bell's chime may as well have been his victory anthem.
"Dang, didn't know you had it in ya Bookwright! Take your pick." Rainbow pointed to the stack of stuffed animals.
"Yay!" Using Bookwright's head practically as a springboard, Cheer soared into the animals, causing many to fly in every which direction.
"Oh my Luna! It's an orange tabby, like Nemo back home!" She ran to Bookwright, turning to Rainbow Dash halfway to call back, "Thank you!"
"Nah, don't worry about it, your brother's the one who won it for ya."
Cheer climbed onto Bookwright's back, with his help, the stuffed tabby in her hoofs "Thanks bro!"
"No problem, little sis, now come on, there's plenty more to experience!" They took off at that point, leaving Rainbow Dash, not only two bits richer, but a smile on her face.
"You know...I wonder if Scoots would like to help me with this booth?" Fishing out the "Back in 5 Minutes" Sign, she flew off to look for her orange protege.
~ ~ ~
After many booths, Bookwright was beginning to feel a bit overburdened with all of Cheer's prizes, just as he had stopped to rest, he heard a small grumble. "Was that the cat?" Bookwright could only smile as Cheer gave him a friendly hit on the head. "Lets just get some food, ok?"
"I'm up for it." They made their way to a small cart, manned by the stetson-wearing Applejack.
"Hey Applejack, I thought you'd be with Big Macintosh and Apple Bloom?"
"Ya, I was for a while, but I decided I'd watch the cart for a bit, it's amazin' seein' Apple Bloom and Big Mac connect like that." Applejack turned her head slightly to see the pegasus filly on his back. "Well, I'll be, seems there's a little you on your back Bookwright, and she's a pegasus."
"Applejack, this is my little sister Cheer."
"Cheerwright, darnit!"
"Well, sugarcube, welcome to Ponyville; and I can't jus' let anypony who comes here leave without samplin' some Sweet Apple Acres delights."
Bookwright smiled "One apple fritter for me and...Cheer?"
"Hmm..." Cheer looked over the cart, seeing all of the delicious baked goods. "Hmm...I'll just take a piece of apple pie."
"Good choice, it's what we're famous for, after all"
Bookwright reached into his bag and slid 5 bits to Applejack. "You know what?" She slid back two, "The first piece is on the house." She winked and tipped her hat at Cheer. "I'm hopin' you're likin' our town so far?"
"Yup! Bookwright showed me everything on our way here! I can't believe that castle is made of crystal!"
"Darn right it is, well, while I'd love to shoot the bull some more, I see Big Mac and Apple Bloom approaching the dunk tank and boy-howdy, this will be good!" Bookwright and Cheer watched as Applejack put up her "Closed" sign and ran over to a very nervous Big Mac being pushed by a very excited Apple Bloom.
"If you even think about it, you're going into the lake, and your little cat too."
"Awwwh..."
~ ~ ~
A small yawn could be heard from Cheer as the sun began to set on the festival. "You alright Cheer?"
"Hmm...? Oh ya!" She shot up. "I ain't tired, not even a bit!"
"Well, good, I didn't want you to fall asleep before we took a picture" Bookwright walked into a small booth, Cheer having to duck to avoid getting knocked on the head, "Alright, just hold still, okay?"
"Got ya!"
CLICK-KEE
"By the Princess, I hate the flash..." Bookwright rubbed his eyes as Cheer grabbed the picture, a small smile forming on her face.
"ATTENTION EVERYPONY, THE PRINCESS'S SPEECH AND THE FIREWORK SHOW WILL BEGIN IN FIVE MINUTES!"
"Firework show!?" Cheer was nearly pulling Bookwright out of the booth. "Come on! Come on! Firework Show!"
"Alright, alright, just let go of my tail!"
~ ~ ~
Cheer and Bookwright made their way into the crowd, many colts and fillies mimicking Cheer's method of seeing above everypony else. As the lights came on the stage, a lavender Alicorn, followed by a white unicorn, made the way on stage, "Thank you all for coming to this, the first ever ‘Brother Day Bonanza.’ To say this day has been successful would be a severe understatement, not only have I seen ponies enjoying the festivities, but just watching all of you with your own brothers...Maybe even your own BBBFF...It just makes me so happy..." Shining Armor slowly made his way into the spotlight, Twilight embracing him in a hug. "I stand here next to my own BBBFF, Shining Armor, Former Captain of the Royal Guard and Prince of the Crystal Empire" -Cheer's jaw dropped- "As I am here to speak on behalf of the festival, he's here to say a few words for all the brothers in the crowd tonight..."
Twilight stepped away and into the darkness as Shining Armor cleared his throat. "Thank you Twily..." Bookwright could've sworn he saw Twilight flinch a bit. "To be a big brother is to be one who your siblings can turn to, a pony that they know will never hate them; sure you may fight, you may not always get along, but you will always be there for them. To all the brothers, look at your siblings, your sisters or brothers." Bookwright looked up at Cheer who was, slowly but surely nodding off.
"What you do for them is give them a person who they can learn from, whether it be levitating spells, flying, or even something as simple as trotting for the first time, you are the one who they will look to learn from, in fact..." With that, a projector began to shine, Bookwright glanced over to Twilight, clearly this wasn't something she anticipated. "This is Twilight, after she had first tried to cast a levitation spell." A enhanced photo of a filly Twilight with, what appeared to be a bowl of salad on her head, flashed on screen, causing an uproar in the crowd and a very crimson blush (or rage) to show on Twilight.
"Oh, and that just made me remember one thing..." Shining Armor smiled and brought Twilight into the spotlight, wrapping his hoof around her, "There's also no one better at embarrassing each other than siblings...ESPECIALLY brothers." With that, the crowd cheered and Bookwright could even hear sniffling from, no, that couldn't have been Big Mac...could it?
"W-Well..." Twilight stuttered, regaining her composure "Let the firework show...BEGIN!"
As the fireworks started, Bookwright looked up at Cheer. "Hey Cheer, you're gonna miss the firew-Cheer?" A small breathing could be heard from above him, "Cheer? You asleep? Fireworks?"
No response.
"Cheerwright?" Again, no response.
Bookwright sighed "Welp...I've seen my fair share of firework shows." He slowly made his way out of the crowd, only stopping to see a smiling Princess Celestia in a tree near the projector. "I suppose, sometimes, mentors can be just as bad as brothers..."
That got him thinking… Did he still have his old mentor's address and would Twilight be willing to put on a Mentor's Day Parade? So many questions, but first, he had to get the gray sleeping pegasus filly with the stuffed orange tabby cat back home and into bed.
"Sweet dreams Cheerwright..."
"Cheer..."
