Chapters It was quite the stormy night. Even the pegasi had all gone home. Only the bravest stayed outside, and that was why both Twilight Swish and Fleur de Shy were confused to find the other out in such a storm. Especially since their encounter took place underneath a picnic bench.
"Only the bravest, they said," Twilight replied to Fleur's question, a hint of anger in her voice. "That's why Rainbow Zap and Apple Jet were working together on trimming the trees. That's why they hadn't gone back to the barn. That's why I had to go for a flight out in the storm. To prove I wasn't a pussy. That I wasn't just an 'egghead' who stayed indoors all day."
"And that's why that happened?" Fleur asked, pointing to her friend's side.
Twilight stretched out her burnt wing gently, being careful not to let it touch anything. "Yeah. I didn't put two and two together until the lightning struck."
Fleur nodded.
"Well, what about you?" The pegasus asked. "What brought you out here? You're pretty far from the boutique."
Fleur chuckled a bit sheepishly, a soft blush rising on her cheeks. "I forgot about the storm. I was over at Pin Cushion's place looking at some of his new fabrics and got a little lost in...conversation."
Twilight opened her mouth before closing it. She hadn't known Fleur for long, but it seemed that this particular mare was colt-crazy . "You guys weren't talking about fabrics , were you." This mare was straight out of a Rain Blossom book.
Fleur opened her mouth to reply but was cut off by a holler from their right. "Twilight, Fleur! What are you girls doing out here?" Fleur mentally thanked Celestia that Gummy had interrupted that train of thought.
Twilight growled. Of course Gummy would be in the ranks of the bravest of the brave. Didn't matter that he was a baby dragon, just that he was an actual dragon .
"You know what, never mind the why, you guys come with me, SugarCube Corner is right over there." He pointed with his claws across the street. Directly in front of the two mares was the often un-used dirt road that led to SugarCube Corner. Twilight mentally thanked Celestia that Gummy hadn't heard her grumbling in response to this easy option. Meanwhile Fleur snorted, she couldn't believe she was being invited in to that dump.
Twilight slowly crawled out from under the table, her mouth still twisted in the frown. Even the element of laughter couldn't cover up how annoyed she was at this entire scenario. She hissed in pain as she bumped her wing on the edge of the table. Once out, she stood up and brushed herself off with her spare wing. She stood off to the side, waiting for Fleur.
Fleur didn't crawl out quite as quickly. In fact, she seemed determined to stay put. "Zank you, but no zank you. I am perfectly fine underneath zis table."
"Er, Fleur? It's dangerous out here." Gummy responded.
"I will be perfectly fine right here, zank you very much."
Lightning struck in the distance, the corresponding thunder rolling through the hills. The table shook at the barrier-breaking sound. Fleur didn't move an inch.
Twilight growled in annoyance. She may not be the element of loyalty, but she was still Fleur's friend. As an idea came to her, the pegasus smirked. "But Fleur, what about the mud?"
The unicorn quirked an eyebrow. "What mud?"
Twilight gave her spare wing a large flap, sending a wind current just big enough to send some rain under the table. It splashed Fleur in the face, causing her to slam her eyes shut. The water also seeped into the loose dirt beneath the table, turning it to mud. Fleur opened her eyes to see that the land where she was positioned had now completely converted to la gadoue , the substance commonly known around Ponyville as mud . She turned her gaze upward to Twilight and narrowed her eyes. "Fine. You win. Zis time."
Fleur teleported out from underneath the table. She reappeared directly next to Twilight, using a last flick of her magic to transfer the mud from her coat to the pegasus's. "Ha."
Twilight's eye narrowed, but she said nothing.
Gummy furrowed his brow, wondering what was going on between the two mares. He decided against questioning it, and instead gestured them toward the sugar-coated building. "I should warn you two though," He spoke, halfway to his home. "Dawn's in a partying kind of mood."
Twilight shrugged, wincing as she felt her wing move. "I don't see what's the big deal."
"Oui." Fleur added. "Dawn is always in a partying mood."
Gummy chuckled in a way that ever so obviously indicated that he knew something they didn't. "You guys don't understand. That's her normal mood." By now, the trio had reached the front door. "This," He said, opening the door ever so slightly. "Is her partying mood."
Instantly, a fluff of pink poked its head out the door. Fleur instantly recognized it as the mane that had graced her boutique only two weeks ago. Dawn grinned a smile that was too wide to actually fit on a pony's face. "Hi girls!" She all but yelled. "You girls want to have a sleepover??"
Twilight had to back up. Not only was Dawn's hair bigger and poofier than normal, but the entire first floor of the old cafe was covered in streamers, confetti, and balloons. The amount of festivities packed into the room was a bit much, even by Twilight's standards.
Dawn's smile widened (who knew that was possible) and stretched her forelegs out. Her left leg grabbed Fleur, and, by some unknown feat of magic, her right leg reached far enough to grab Twilght and drag her in as well. Gummy was left out in the cold as he shook his head. "This is going to be a loooooooong night." He muttered, following the three ponies into the cafe, shutting the door behind him.
"You girls are just in time for a slumber party!" Dawn cheered, confetti exploding behind her. "Oh, you don't know how much I've always wanted to have a slumber party!"
"You've already had four, Dawn." Gummy commented, grabbing a broom to sweep up the excess confetti.
"Those don't coouunt though." The pink unicorn replied. "Trixie's was a playdate Maud set up when I was like 5--"
"9 1/2"
"My Amorga Cadentz--what's her name wasn't even supposed to be in that part of the castle."
"It was Cadence."
"That other was just my teacher foalsitting me while Maud went on a date."
"Are you sure that doesn--"
"And Lemon Hearts and Minuette never even made it to the morning!"
"You're the one that never made it to the morning. You crashed from a sugar high!"
Dawn just shrugged. "Doesn't matter. None of those count anyways. This is my first chance at a real sleepover!"
Gummy just sighed in annoyance. He made eye contact with Twilight and then rolled his eyes. "You see? This is what I was talking about."
Twilight chuckled nervously, not sure what to say as Gummy left the room to put away his broom.
"Slumber 101: All You've Ever Wanted to Know About Slumber Parties But Were Afraid to Ask. Fleur read, picking up a leather-covered tomb from one of the dinner tables. "Where did you get zis book?"
"Oh, the Princess gave it to me. Said she found it when she was visiting Prance and thought of me. Isn't she just the bestest teacher ever!?"
Fleur could've sworn she heard Twilight mumble something, but when she glanced over at the pegasus, she was eating one of the cupcakes that were sitting out on the counter. She shook her head and brought her attention back to the other unicorn in the room. "Prance is my home country! I believe I know the author of the book: Joli Auteur."
"Yeah, yeah, that's cool. You should see the table of contents. No! Even better! You should see everything I've highlighted. This is my first chance to use it, and this night is going to be so spectacularly awesome! Oh, I need to celebrate. Where'd I leave the cupcakes?" In a flash, Dawn was at Twilight's side, shoving more than a single cupcake in her mouth. "Chese arge scho jood!"
"Dis donc," Fleur muttered, "awesome "
"So the first thing on this list here is....." Dawn scanned the book's first few pages as the other two mares stood uncomfortably in front of her. Both avoided eye contact, looking every but where the other was located. Dawn failed to notice this as she finally found the right page. "Makeovers!"
Instinctively, Twilight took a step back. There had been only been one time she had ever worn makeup. It was not something she particularly liked to recall. "Would...you...look at the time." Twilight stuttered, taking a step backward with each word. "I...am...pretty...darn...late for...something really...important. Eh heh heh..." She glanced around nervously, ready to break out into a full on sprint once a clear path was available. She turned to make her dash when she brushed her wing against one of the bookshelves just ever so slightly. She fell to the floor in pain, squeezing her knees to her body. She clenched her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut. She tried with all her might not to scream, not to make a sound. After all, that wasn't what the bravest of the brave did. No, they fought through their pain and came out as victors.
After a few deep breaths, Twilight finally opened her eyes. The first thing she noticed was that her two friends were standing over her, looking at her in concern. Fleur still wouldn't make direct eye contact, but she didn't look away completely. After a few seconds, Dawn finally spoke up.
"If you don't want to do makeovers, that's okay," Dawn spoke calmly, with Fleur simply standing there, not moving. "I mean, I'd love it if you would, but you don't have to participate right now. I won't force you."
Twilight gulped. She wanted to, participate that is, but after what Twinkleshine had done... The pegasus shuddered, unable to finish the thought. "I'm sorry, Dawn, but I can't."
Dawn nodded. "That's okay, you can be a part of the next activity!" The pink mare raised her forelegs and moved them in a wavy pattern. "GhooOOooOOoost Stories." Dawn giggled, placing her hooves back on the floor. "Come on Fleur! We have to finish these makeovers quickly so Twilight can join! Ooh! I think I remember where I placed my mascara!" The hyper unicorn hopped out of the room, likely up the stairs to her main living quarters.
Fleur hadn't quite moved as of yet. She had raised her eyebrows in response to what Twilight had said. She obviously wasn't immediately persuaded by Twilight's antics. The unicorn opened her mouth but quickly closed it, pursing her lips. She was likely holding back a retort, but Twilight was thankful that she didn't push it any further. Fleur turned, eyeing the pegasus out of the corner of her eye before dutifully following Dawn to wherever she had run off to.
"Dawn, mon chou, do we really have to follow the book to the letter ?" Fleur asked, eyeing the bowl of a weird, green mixture that Dawn was applying to her own face.
"Of course we do, Fleur. This book describes the absolute best ways to have a slumber party." The pink-furred unicorn wiped some green under her eyes, mimicking the eye black that hoofball players wore. "And I am determined to make this the best slumber party ever."
Fleur tried to hide her grimace as her fellow unicorn began to magically apply the green muck to the yellow mare's face. It was gooey and slimy, and likely the worst thing that had ever made contact with her face. But this was for Dawn, so Fleur pushed through the grime and yuck and tried to smile.
Twilight paced around the room she had been left in. She had recovered, more or less, from the initial shock of makeovers, but she still wasn't about to go join them. They were taking a while, which was to be expected. Twilight knew some mares took two whole hours just to do their daily makeup. Who knew how long an actual makeover could take. Knowing this didn't help to put her mind at rest, so the pegasus had taken to pacing to perhaps come up with an idea of how to past the time. "I suppose now would be a good time to create a ghost story." She muttered to herself. "I think AJ told me a few good ones back in flight school. If only I could remember them."
There were several, surprisingly, that she had been told over the years. The ever-adventurous AJ certainly had had some of the better ones. Adventerous AJ... Something tugged at the purple pony's memory. Back when the two of them were fillies, Apple Jet had had the great idea to go 'adventuring' through Twilight's old house back in Canterlot. There was this book they had found together. 'What was it called?' Twilight pushed herself to remember what the book had been about. She had found it in this old abandoned room on the upper floor. The room, as well as the book cover, was decorated with pink sparkles, shields, and a combination of the two, which what was probably somepony's cutiemark. Pictures of royal guards and famous unicorns covered the walls. Some of the posters were signed while others had notes scrawled on them, apparently dissecting the pros and cons of each pony. AJ had disagreed. "They're all signed. There's no way you can read that messy of hoof-writing."
Similarly, at first, the orange pegasus could not believe the first few pages of the book were not just scribbled on by some foal. Turns out, the entire book had been hoof-written. After some difficulty, she had managed to read the first sentence or two, but AJ quickly gave up. Twilight was not one to quit in the pursuit of knowledge, however, so she took over, and managed to read the whole thing. It had several stories in it, but the best had been scrawled on the first page...."The Legend of the Headless Horse."
Author's Note
This story is being written as it is being uploaded, unlikke my previous stories, so I apologize for the sporadic updates. I hope you enjoy this little side story though. Perhaps it will enlighten you on some of the other, shall we say, differences between this world and the canon.
"...and just when the last pony thought she was safe, there, standing right behind her, just inches away was -- "
Due to what was probably some extension of her innate pegasus magic, Twilight, who was previously sitting in front of the other two mares on the other side of their fake fire, was suddenly directly behind her friends as she uttered the last words of her phrase:
"The Headless Horse! "
A door slammed at that exact moment, leading the two unicorns to scream, instinctively grabbing on to each other in fear.
"Geez," Gummy grumbled. "I thought we got over the whole scary-dragon thing."
Dawn coughed, before sheepishly rubbing her neck. "Sorry, Gummy, Twilight's just," She paused, apparently not sure how to continue that phrase. "...really good at story telling."
"Why thank you." Twilght replied, doing an over-exaggerated bow in response.
The dragon sighed, wishing he could have been in bed hours ago. "Well, I just came to tell you that I finally found all the s'mores ingredients...and made myself one....and ate it....and now I'm going to bed. Good night." He turned on his heel and, very quickly, made his way up the stairs to his bed.
Fleur wrinkled her nose. "He sure was in a hurry to get out of here."
Dawn sighed. "He's still a baby dragon, you know. They grow up so much slower than ponies. Remember the Summer Sun Celebration?"
"How could I forget?"
"Gummy didn't come with us to the Everfree. He had been up all night partying, and was so exhausted that he conked out almost as soon as we got home."
"Well sounds like he could easily stay up all night if he so chose."
Dawn coughed nervously. "He's been up a lot later than usual the past few nights due to some...intense party planning sessions."
Fleur nodded, grateful for the honesty, but still a bit miffed that the cute little guy had acted so coldly.
Twilight's face twisted into a snarl. She hadn't gotten to know Fleur too well before tonight, and she was beginning to realize why. That mare was so snobbish. She couldn't even handle a small dose of her own medicine. She held her tongue, not wanting to upset her host, but knew that the moment an opportunity arose she would be sure to tell the unicorn off.
With great effort, the pegasus forced her face back into a smile and addressed Dawn. "Who's going to go next? Can anyone beat my scary story?"
Fleur sighed. "I doubt I could. All my stories are romantic. Zat tale of Twilight's was absolutely terrifiant!"
"Well, you can still tell your story later, Fleur, as a nice ending." Suddenly, Dawn's ears perked up. "Oh! I got one!" She exclaimed. "It's the story of the gigantic, candy-stealing..." The hostess stood up on her hind legs and waved her forehooves menacingly in the air. "...PartyCrasher!" With the exclamation of her last word, Dawn toppled over onto the cushions she and Fleur had previously been sitting on. Her collapse was not from a loss of balance, but rather from a sudden loss of consciousness.
"Dawn? Mon chou?" Fleur took a step closer to her fellow unicorn and nudged her. "Are you alright?" She asked, rather concerned for her friend. "Twilight, she's not responding."
The pegasus also approached their unconscious friend. Twilight nudged Dawn, prodded her, opened her eyes, and lifted her foreleg before reaching a conclusion. "She's crashed."
"I beg your pardon?"
Twilight waved her hoof vaguely towards the upstairs. "Remember how Gummy said that Dawn was in a partying mood?"
"Yes...?"
"And remember how much sugar she's been eating?"
"Yes...?"
"And remember how she hasn't had any in the last hour or so, just popcorn?"
"Je ne comprends pas ce que tu veux dire !"
Twilight was caught off guard. "...What?"
"Exactly!" Fleur exclaimed, "I don't understand what you are getting at! Just get to your point already!"
"Oh. Sorry," The pegasus apologized. "I forget that not everypony enjoys suspense as much as I do." She sighed. "Dawn crashed from a sugar high."
Fleur nodded. "Well zen, what should we do?"
Twilight shrugged. "Normally I'd offer to carry her up to her room but..." She trailed off looking at her burnt wing.
"Well, she did bring sleeping bags down here." Fleur lifted up one that was covered in candy corn and cotton candy pictures. "I zink this one is hers." She unrolled the bag and put it over Dawn. "Zere, now she'll sleep comfortably."
"And hopefully won't yell at anypony when she wakes up." Twilight piped up.
Fleur looked at her, confused. "I don't zink Dawn's the type of pony that would yell at us."
"You never know." Twilight shrugged, "We've only known her a few weeks. She might not be a morning-pony."
Fleur rolled her eyes. "Well, in any case, now zat zat's settled, what do we do now?"
Twilight shrugged. "Well, you could tell your story while we eat the smore'ses Gummy made for us."
Fleur tried to keep herself from smirking. "I like your zinking."
"And zen, ze doors to the great hall opened, and Monsuier Prince Charming was awed at the bride before him. The lovely soon-to-be-princess Fluttershy strode into the auditorium. Her long pink hair was styled in an updo, decorated with daisies and daffodils. Her white dress flowed like the waves of the sea, as a chorus of bluebirds held her trail behind her.
"The wedding march played as their eyes met. At that moment, they were the only two ponies in the world. As Fluttershy approached, it felt to the two of them as if their entire world had stilled. They were finally about to be joined together for the rest of their life.
"It seemed as if no time had passed since the moment Fluttershy had entered the auditorium to the moment when they said their 'I do's.' Princess Celestia pronounced them husband and wife and thus their real life began together. And they lived happily ever after. The End."
Twilight didn't know what kind of face to make. She was both confused and impressed with Fleur's storytelling. Fleur had used her 'visualization' spell a few times in the beginning, but halfway through the story, she had stopped. Still, without the visual aids, the story had been so rich in description that Twilight felt like she had watched the entire thing. Although, Twilight still wasn't a big fan of the romance thing, especially considering how obvious it was that this 'Fluttershy' character was Fleur de Shy herself, and Prince Charming, was, well, you know, Prince Charming. Twilight had heard stories abou--
"Why are you looking at me like zat?" Fleur asked, interrupting the pegasus's train of thought.
"I, oh, uh sorry. Your storytelling skills are through the clouds! However, and this is weird for me of all ponies to accuse somepony of this, I think you read too much."
"I beg your pardon?"
"I mean you read romance novels too much."
"And why do you say zat?"
"Well, he and his brother are the main reason my family lives in Ponyville, for one."
"You didn't always live here?"
"No, we used to live in Canterlot. One day, when I was a little filly, my parents and I were on a walk through town and came across the two princes. I must've wandered a little too far ahead, because I ran into Prince Charming's brother. I think it was Last Century or something. Charming got really mad and shoved me away. He quickly turned away to make sure his brother was alright, but he said....something or other to the guard, who looked almost exactly the same, except he had blonde hair instead of blue. The guard got really mad and picked me up by my withers and practically threw me at my parents. He demanded we never approach the princes again, or else."
"Well," Fleur paused, a bit taken aback. "I'm sure it wasn't that bad. It sounds like it was just a misunderstanding..."
Twilight gave her a deadpan. "He signed a restraining order. I wasn't allowed within 10,000 hooves of him or his brother! That's not nearly short enough to be able to see him to keep away. Sometimes I had to leave the house to stay away! My parents got so tired of that that they moved here to Ponyville."
"Maybe he's changed?" Fleur asked, her voice leaking with her last bit of hope.
Twilight sighed. "Maybe " She relented. "It has been a few years. But I wouldn't bet my wings on it."
"OH, He's better." Came a muffled voice. The two conscious ponies did a double take. Neither of them had spoken. They cast their eyes over to the only remaining pony in the room. Dawn's eyes flutter open as she continued. "Prince Charming's not half bad. Sunset is dating his brother. She gets along pretty well with him."
"Who's.....Sunset?" Twilight ventured, unsure what was happening.
"Princess Shimmer? She was my teacher at Magic School. She was so awesome. She gave me my sleepover book. Yeah, she's dating Century. Sentry. Cen-tur-y. Whatever. Charming's brother. But don't worry." The half-asleep unicorn giggled. "Charming's not taken yet. He's never even had an actual mare-friend! He's really funny. Kinda like a big brother to me, you know. He makes a lot of jokes, like how the love of his life is probably hidden away in another dimension!" The pink mare chuckled. "Imagine that! Another dimension!" Her laughter grew louder and louder before it was finally cut off--she had fallen back asleep again.
The two remaining mares exchanged a glance. That was by far the most unusal thing they had experienced tonight.
Light began to leak into the room from the eastern window. Fleur laughed as Twilight tried to explain herself. "No, no hear me out," She chuckled, "What if, instead of automatically living happily ever after, their wedding was crashed by...bug-ponies ."
"Zat's absolutely absurde!" Fleur laughed. "Zis is a realistic piece of fiction; bug ponies don't exist in real life!"
"But it's fiction! It can be anything you want it to be. Just imagine it," The pegasus waved her forehooves as if she were casting the visualization spell herself. "It's pony-shaped, but they all look absolutely identical, except for the queen. They're all black with those weird, round, doubled wings that buzz. Okay? And their wings and backs are green and their backs are made of chiton, like beetles have. Oh! OH! And they have holes in them everywhere! That way their legs look thinner, like a bug's."
"And what? Are zey going to have antennae to?"
"No, but they have horns too!"
"Horns and wings!? Next you're going to say that they can change their shape to look like other ponies."
"Nah," Twilight laughed, "Those would be chameleon ponies!"
"Chameleons?" Came a tired voice "What?" Dawn's ears twitched as she began to open her eyelids. "Oh licorice, did I fall asleep? Again? "
"I'm afraid so, mon chou." Fleur answered.
"Aaaarrrgggghhh!" Dawn rolled over on to her back, waving her hooves in the air in a frustrated manner. Once she expended her brief bout of outrage, she let her hooves flop to the ground like deflated balloons...balloons made of that Christmas fruitcake your aunt made you last year that you accidentally left out all year. "I have never pulled an all-nighter in my entire life! I'm such a failure!"
Twilight and Fleur exchanged confused glances as their friend started crying. Twilight repositioned herself so that she was directly beside Dawn. She fanned her friend with her unimpaired wing until Dawn finally rolled over back onto her belly. The pegasus then simply draped her wing over the unicorn's back comfortingly. "Dawn," she spoke softly, "You're not a failure."
Dawn rolled her eyes. "I can't even throw a decent slumber party. How am I supposed to live up to my cutiemark if I can't throw the simplest of parties?"
Twilight giggled in an attempt to lift her friend's mood. "What do you mean you can't throw a decent slumber party? This was the best slumber party I've ever been to!"
Fleur added her agreement.
"Really?" Dawn asked, a smidge of hope in her voice. "But... but you guys were fighting all night." She looked at Twilight, a few stray tears still in her eyes. "And, and you were, you couldn't even bring yourself to have a makeover with us."
Twilight looked away for a moment, pain in her eyes. "That....is a long story." She said before looking back at Dawn. "But it had nothing to do with you." She hugged the pink mare. "Thank you for being so understanding about that. You don't know how much that means to me."
"We didn't mean to fight," Fleur added, looking a bit sad herself. "I'm sorry we did that to you."
"I'm sorry too."
Dawn stretched out her forelegs and hugged her two friends close. "I think this may just be the best party I've ever thrown."
Author's Note
Yeah, I know this wasn't long, but I really wanted to start the next story in this series and it kind of wrapped itself up nicely in half the time.