A Prologue Taking Place After the Events that Started Everything
It always seemed to rain at the most dramatic moments in life. As though the very sky sky were weeping with the mourners of a grand tragedy.
This night, however, was clear as a bell with a full moon lighting every nook and cranny.
Princess Celestia didn't know what to do. If only Twilight could speak more clearly she might have understood what was going on and formed a plan. But, as was the usual, Twilight was speaking a million miles an hour. What was she so excited about?
Wait? Were those tears? What was she crying about? The poor solar mare could barely find the parts she was supposed to nod and make agreeing noises at. From what she gathered someone had stolen all the fuel from Ponyville.
Well, that was certainly something to be alarmed at. A small town like that didn't have all that much. Though, with only a few aeronautical enthusiasts they certainly had even less than most other small towns. Perhaps there were a few boats as well. Certainly no automobiles. Those were far too new a thing to have made it out of the big cities by now.
Though, why would she be crying over the fuel? That wasn't really her responsibility. Oh, lanterns too. They use fuel. Oops, back to the crying mare. The poor lavender thing was sobbing now. Okay... this was getting too silly.
Celestia laid a gentle, yet forceful hoof on her dear student's lips and cleared her throat.
"My dear beloved student, Twilight, whom I practically raised since foalhood, please try to speak in a language I can understand." Which was a lot of languages really. All except that Central Zebrica clicking speak. She was half convinced it wasn't real, just a well organized prank.
ButevrtingrunadthygonIwstheranidsalmyflt," Twilight broke out sobbing again.
And Celestia sighed. "I suppose some tea and cake is in order. Now, Twilight, if you'll get off my bed and let me get out from these warm... soft... wonderful covers... I will try my best to remedy this travesty."
Some time later. Celestia sat a at a small table with a cup of tea and and extra large slice of cake. Darn it, she earned that.
"Alright, Twilight," she started, taking a sip of her Manehatten Sweet Tea, "whatever happened that you had to break into my room in the middle of the night and wake me up? Wouldn't Luna have been a better choice?"
Twilight, having stuffed the cake in her mouth and downed her tea at the same time, took a deep breath. "Celestia,it'sterrible,allthefoalsinPonyvillehavevanished.We'vesearchedeverywherebutthey'vebeentakensomewherebyanevilmare.ApplejackistearingaparttheEverfreeForestwithRainbowDash,Pinkie'sPinkiesenseisn'tworking,Fluttershyistraumatized,andRarityisalreadymakingfuneralgowns.Oh,pleasehelpuswedon'tknowwhattodo.IwantmysweetwonderfulNyxback."
Celestia blinked as she tried to decipher what her student had said. It was slower this time, so that made it a bit easier. So, it was all the foals that were stolen, not the fuel. Silly Celestia, that made so much more sense. Wait...
Her eyes bugged open at the realization of what her student had just said. For the first time is a few centuries, Equestria, and a few of the lands beyond, heard Celestia speak in the Royal Canterlot Voice.
And, for the first time ever, they found she had quite the colorful vocabulary.
The Beginning -or- Where it Started
Day - 1:
A carnival. A Carnival was coming to Ponyville. Actually, on the edge of the Everfree Forest, and a little bit into it. Wasn't that place supposed to be dangerous? Maybe it was relative. Anyway... A CARNIVAL.
Every foal, colt and filly, was ecstatic. Hardly able to wait the entire month before it was scheduled to start. Construction had started already, and the owner of the Carnival, some mare who had just seemed to appear in town one day, had gone out of her way to hire local contractors. Mayor Mare had been more than happy to help fill out the paperwork with the mare for the permits to use that land. No one wanted that land anyway.
Who was this mare, what did she look like? Well, other than the Mayor, who had been too excited with paperwork, no one other than the foals seemed to have seen her.
The young ponies talked excitedly of her doing magic tricks and juggling when the adults weren't around to build up excitement for the upcoming Carnival. A few parents had complained, but she didn't appear to be doing any harm, and the foals were more than capable of taking care of themselves, right?
After all, one of them was an Alicorn. Speaking of which.
Twilight chuckled as her daughter showed her the poster of the upcoming carnival. In the center was a grinning silhouette of a mare, presumably the owner, surrounded by an eclipse of moths trailing brightly colored sparks. It was simple, but it was certainly eye catching with the gold trim. Goodness, whoever this mare was hadn't spared any expense whatsoever.
"The Carnival of the Millennium, featuring rides, games, food and prizes. Bring your brother, bring your sister, grab your parents too if you can. Leave no one behind. Only twenty-three days left till the grand opening. Admission free for foals."
The little purple maned alicorn bounced excitedly. "Isn't it awesome. We can go, right?"
The lavender alicorn nodded as she gave the poster back. "Barring any unforeseen tragedy, yes. Why don't you take this up to your room, and have spike come down so I can make a list in preparation."
Nyx gasped. A list? Twilight was serious about going if she was making a list. She vanished in a blur.
Twilight chuckled again as she turned back to her work, Winter Wrap-Up was going to going even smoother in eight years. This would revolutionize the holidays. Maybe they would right a book about it.
"It sounds like fun," she said to herself as she picked up her quill.
Day - It opens because filler sucks, and authors you use a lot of it suck :(
The crowd of eagerly awaiting guests spoke among themselves in hushed whispers in front of the gates to the long-awaited carnival. Of course, the foals had the front-row seats, not wanting to be left behind or left out. And at the very forefront were six familiar foals... giving death-glares at each other.
Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon stood opposite the CMC. Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Applebloom, and Nyx weren't sure how it got this way, but, darn it if they were gonna let that spoiled filly and her sycophant win. Whether or not there was a prize was irrelivant.
Applejack sighed and rolled her eyes as she stared at them. "One day someones gotta grow up."
Twilight shrugged. "Not too soon I hope."
"Yes, let the dears be children, today especially," Rarity chuckled. Though secretly she was praying the the Maker there were no clowns. Those ghastly colors and clothes were almost too much to bare.
"I hope she does a flip," Pinkie said, lost in her own little world. She was sitting in a chair and eating a bag of popcorn as if expecting some show to happen any moment now. "This is gonna be the best night ever."
Rainbow Dash was standing with Fluttershy, smiling broadly, hardly able to wait for the gates to swing open. "This is gonna be so awesome."
Half of Ponyville was convinced she had sneaked in a few times, and half of Ponyville was right.
To cut to the chase, the gate rocketed open. Dear reader, I fear you may have misunderstood what I meant. They didn't fly open really fast, no, they flew high into the sky and exploded in a dozen colorful and twisty fireworks. Suddenly Pinkie seemed to be only one who wasn't out of place.
When everyone looked back down from the display they saw a mare grinning invitingly at them, she was dressed in a black suit with a red bowtie and a top hat. She also wore a pair of red sunglasses shaped like stars. She was also standing on a colorful box.
"Do a flip," Pinkie called out through a mouthful of popcorn. She was practically bouncing in her seat after the fireworks.
"As my patron commands," the mare responded jovially, tumbling down from her perch with the grace of a trained acrobat. This action caused the box to unfold to unveil a dozen different instruments attached to a machine. A haunting and playful tune began to play.
"Welcome one and all and then some to the grand opening of my amusement park, my carnival of delights and fancies. Ponyville proper, may I present," she paused for dramatic effect, "Eclipse. The carnival to end all carnivals. You'll never have fun anywhere else once this night is over."
Rainbow Dash snorted. "She sure is building it up a lot. C'mon just let us inside."
"You know what, speeches are long winded and stupid," the mare said with a shrug, she leapt aside and bowed to the audience and she beamed a great smile that rivaled Pinkie's. "Knock yourselves out. My park is at your disposal."
Like a flood, they surged into the unknown for the promises of joys and pleasures yet to be realized.
As the last pony entered the park the music machine hit it last note and closed itself up. The mare grinned broadly as she picked it up and carried it into the maze of distractions.
Tickets, Bits, and Little Fits
Nyx and the CMC stood awestruck at the first booth they saw. It appeared to be staring back at them. Big menacing eyes watched them from above a giant mouth-like window.
"Uuuum," Sweetie Belle started with a nervous laugh, "what is this thing?"
"Yeah," Scootaloo said, tilting her head to the side in confusion. "Is... is this a game or... I don't know."
"That there is a ticket booth."
The four foals whirled about to see the owner of Eclipse standing behind them smiling. "Your gold bits are what it eats. The quicker you eat it the quicker you can enjoy the rest of the night."
"Ooooh," the four foals said in unison. They turned back to the ticket booth and started digging through their saddlebags for bits.
"Actually, allow me," the mare chuckled tossing in a few bits of her own. The booth shook and rattled and then spat out a long string of tickets. "This one is on me. I should have put up instructions."
"Wow," Nyx gasped from under the veritable mountain of tickets that had been spit up. "That's so cool. Thank you, Miss... er... what's your name?"
The Mare smiled sweetly. "Cat... er... hehe... Catherine."
"Catherine?" Scootaloo asked, tilting her head to the side. "That's a weird name."
Applebloom socked her shoulder. "Now that was just rude, Scoots. Sorry, ma'am. Yer name's actually very pretty. Kind of exotic."
"Nah," the mare said with a chuckle, "just very old."
"Well, thanks again," said the fillies as they gleefully divided up the tickets and took off.
"Remember children," the mare called out after them, "play, if you cannot enjoy yourself, you may as well be dead."
"Ah, that was really nice of you," Twilight, who had seen the whole thing, said with a smile on her face.
Catherine looked at her and nodded. "It was my pleasure. The only frowns that belong in my carnival are the ones you where when you have to leave."
Twilight nodded. She noted the mare's way of talking was almost as if she was singing. "So... I don't see any staff. Is everything automated?"
The yellow mare nodded, taking off her top hat and bowing. "The one and only fully mechanical amusement park in the entire world. Designed and brought to life by me."
"It must have cost a fortune," the alicorn mused with a whistle.
"A small price to pay to see all your precious faces, Princess."
Twilight blushed and looked away. "Y-you don't have to call me that. Just Twilight is fine."
"As you wish, Twilight," the mare chuckled, placing her hat back upon her head. "Now, please excuse me. I have things to do and ponies to meet."
"Sure," the princess said stepping up to the ticket booth and tossing some bits of her own in. It was almost mesmerizing to watch. So creative.
"Hey, hope you don't mind girls but I've got a date with some games," Rainbow Dash said as she tossed in her own bits and then took off.
"And the rides are calling my name," Pinkie giggled as soon took off as well.
"Whelp, I reckon I'll keep an eye on those four fillies," Applejack went next.
"I'm gonna check out the exotic creature exhibit," Fluttershy said with a small hint of excitement after looking over a map of the carnival. "I can't wait to see the cute little animals."
"Well, why don't we stick together and go stallion watching, Twilight?" Rarity suggested as she took a few tickets of her own. She bounced her eyebrows as she saw the blush on Twilight's face. "Now-now, I won't take no for an answer. Let's see if we can't find our princes tonight."
"Rarity stop it," Twilight chuckled good-naturedly. Then she looked about to make sure no one was within earshot. "Think there'll be some hunks?"
Rarity giggled and nodded. "Probably near the food and games section."
Meanwhile, the four filly friends had been having a blast in the past five minutes. The first stop was a booth selling candy parasprites. They looked so lifelike that you could almost believe they were actually real. Sweetie Belle was half convinced they were real until Scootaloo bit the face off of one. She managed not to put when she saw the sugary insides.
"How does it work?" Applebloom, for her part was curious about the booth. There was nopony working it, You just put a ticket in a slot and a mechanical arm handed over the candy.
"Who cares?" the pegasus said around a mouthful of not-parasprite face. "This stuff is delicious."
"You can say that again," Nyx chuckled as she started on her third candy. "Though, maybe we should get something to drink."
"That's what ya get fer stuffing yer face," Applebloom rolled her eyes. "Shouldn't fill up so early. There's lots of other places we ain't been yet."
"Uh, girls," Sweetie said suddenly in a hushed tone. "Six o'clock. We've got a shadow."
Scootaloo blinked. "It's not that late. And we've always got shadows."
Applebloom sighed. "She means someone's watchin' us. You've been readin' yer sister's detective stories again, ain't ya?"
Sweetie groaned. "Yes, but that doesn't matter. I think your sister is trying to keep and eye on us."
"Applejack?" earth pony asked starting to look about before Scootaloo grabbed her face.
"Don't look, she'll know we're onto her," the pegasus hissed. "We've gotta give her the slip."
"Why?" Applebloom asked, tilting her head to the side.
Scootaloo paused a moment in thought. "I... I don't know. But we should totally do it anyway. It'd be fun."
"Totally," Nyx said with a big grin. She gestured towards the far end of the line of booths. "First we should walk casually around that corner and then book it."
"Yeah, the split up," Scootaloo grinned maniacally. Then she saw the other's faces. "What?"
"We're not turnin' this into a horror movie, Scoots," the red-maned filly sighed. "We stick together like sensible ponies."
Sweetie and Nyx nodded.
"Ugh, fine," the pegasus groaned.
And they were off.
Elsewhere, a lone wine-colored mare was tossing a ball at a stack of bottles. Berry Punch, that is. Of course it was no ordinary stack of bottles. it was inside a glass cage, and the object was the bounce the ball off of various objects to get it inside. Surely it was impossible.
"Oh my, you were so close that time."
The mare whirled about to see the owner. "Ouch. You could give a mare a heartattack."
The yellow mare chuckled as she stepped up and leaned against the booth. "So, what's your story? Trying to win the stuffed bugbear for yourself?"
Punch looked up at the grand prize on the high shelf. It was almost as big as she was. "Well, my little Pinchy was sick today, so I promised I'd bring her back some candy and prizes."
Catherine nods understandingly. "I see. It would be the perfect gift for a sick filly. Surely you didn't leave her alone, though, did you?"
The mare shook her head. "Of course not. No husband's not one for carnivals. He stayed behind to watch her."
The yellow one was taken aback. "Doesn't like carnivals? How barbaric. Sounds like a workaholic to me."
Punch sighed an nodded. "Well, at least he puts food on the table and... hehe... other things."
Catherine chuckled and winked at her. "I see."
The yellow mare then grabbed Punch's remaining ball and casually tossed it into the booth. It bounced off several pipes and a jack-in-the-box and flew right into the box and hit the bottles. The word "Winner" appeared in flashing lights and the grand prize flew from the shelf and landed atop Berry Punch.
Catherine smiled and help a hoof to her lips. "Tell no one, alright?"
The other mare nodded quickly and made a zipping motion over her mouth.
