Fables From Equestria

Chapters

Amore and Arias
Rescue
Joining In
Definitions
The Noble Lie
Plans
Winning Over Family
One Last Bust
Masquerade
Something Special
Sweet Dreams
On The Path To Nodd
Theory Versus Practice
Holding A Heart
To Battle
A Little Chat
Preparations
Blueprints
Business Deal
Graduation
Sparkle's Psychotic Science
Grasping Something Big
Waking Up
Pride
Trapped
A Friend to None

Amore and Arias

Fluttershy was letting the winds carry her home. In her mouth was a basket with supplies in it. She had run out of necessities and of course, needed more. In the basket was something else though, a bottle of cabernet sauvignon. This particular wine was Rarity’s favourite. Fluttershy was nearly bubbling with glee. Soon, so it’ll be ready. I just need a few more things before I ask the question. As she was flying over Carousel Boutique, she heard a gentle humming. She looked down to find Rarity wearing a yellow sun hat. She was behind her home planting flowers and humming. Fluttershy landed just out of her sight and observed. Upon closer inspection, Fluttershy noticed that Rarity was planting morning glories, one of her favourites. When Rarity planted the last flower, she began to sing.

“I don’t want to set the world on fire,” she sang. “I just want to start, a flame in your heart.” Fluttershy’s heart beat like a drum. A gentle blush appeared on her face. A wistful sigh escaped her mouth. The smell of the morning glories wafted to her. A small smile appeared on her face.

“In my heart I have but one desire,” Rarity continued singing. “And that one is you, no other will do.” Fluttershy sighed again.

“Oh Rarity,” she whispered. “You have such a beautiful voice. I could listen to it for an eternity.” Rarity’s head shot up. She turned to Fluttershy. Said pony blanched.

“Oh my gosh! Did I say that out loud?!” she began to panic. “I’m so sorry Rarity! I didn’t mean to intrude or stare at you! I’ll just be going now, okay bye!” She grabbed her basket and launched herself into the air. Before she could fly far away, a blue aura caught her. Fluttershy turned around and found Rarity smiling at her. She set Fluttershy down and approached her.

“I’ve lost all ambition for worldly acclaim,” Rarity sang. “I just want to be the one you love. And with your admission, that you feel the same: I’ll have reached the goal I’m dreaming of…” Rarity put one of her hooves under Fluttershy’s chin.

“Believe me,” she finished. Fluttershy’s face became a deep shade of red. “Fluttershy, I’m a little sad you heard that. But now you know!”

Thump!

“Fluttershy, my dearest friend, there’s something I have to tell you.”

Thump!

“Every word that I sang is true! I care for you more then you could possibly imagine.”

Th-thump! Th-thump! Th-thump!

“But I understand if you don’t feel the same,” Rarity sighed. “Just know that I don’t want our relationship to change, despite my feelings for you.” Rarity turned around and began the trek back inside her home. The gears in Fluttershy’s mind began turning. Every word that I sang is true. That particular phrase echoed in her mind. A large smile appeared on her face. She ran towards the ivory pony. She cut Rarity off before she reached the entrance.

“Fluttershy, I know I said something I shouldn’t have but…” Rarity was silenced as Fluttershy’s lips met her own. Rarity’s eyes shot open. When Fluttershy broke the kiss, a blush appeared on both ponies’ faces. “But, how, why I…” Fluttershy gently pressed her hoof to Rarity’s lips.

“I say I’ll go through fire,” Fluttershy sang. “And I’ll go through fire. As she wants it, so it will be. Crazy she calls me, sure I’m crazy.” Fluttershy nuzzled the pony in front of her.

“Crazy in love, you see.”

Rescue

Three unicorns sat at the bottom of a crystal cavern. One was mint green, one was blue, and one was white. All three of them were wearing torn dresses and had matching headbands. Between the three of them was a bouquet of flowers. The white one scowled.

“Why the buck did we jump after this thing?” she asked. “It’s just a stupid bouquet of flowers. I don’t need to catch it to know that my boyfriend is going to propose to me!” The blue pony looked to the white one.

“Wait, that’s what catching the bouquet means?” she asked. “I thought it was just a fun game to play at weddings.” The white pony’s scowl became deeper.

“But your earlier question,” the blue pony continued. She pointed upwards showing a large cliff with a ledge that they could not reach. “It’s not the one you should be asking. What you should be asking, is how is it that we survived that drop from up there.”

“Magic,” the white pony replied. “You don’t have to explain it.”

“But magic doesn’t make unicorns invulnerable to…”

“Magic. End of discussion.”

“That’s just stupid!”

“You’re stupid!” The two got into an argument and were loudly shouting. The mint green pony was gently talking to the ornamental flowers in her hooves. A smile formed on her face and she put the flowers back on her headband.

“Colgate,” she said interrupting the two. “And… I’m sorry, I’ve never been able to remember your name. Even when I lived in Canterlot.”

“Twinkle Shine,” the white pony said. The mint pony clopped her hooves together.

“Twinkle Shine, I knew it started with a T,” she continued. “Anyways, don’t you think your arguing is rather pointless given our situation?” The two ponies in front of her looked to the ground in shame.

“You’re right Lyra,” Colgate said. “Instead of arguing, we should be planning a way to get out of here.” Twinkle Shine nodded.

“First sensible idea I’ve heard all day,” she said. “Since we’re all unicorns, magic seems to be the answer. So, why don’t you two magick us out of here?” Both ponies stared at her in confusion.

“Twinkle,” Lyra began. “my magic focuses on acoustics. I work with sound, that’s why I’m a musician. I don’t know any powerful spells like teleportation.”

“Lyra and I assumed that you would be good at all kinds of magic,” Colgate said. “After all, you do have stars on your flank.”

“The stars don’t mean I’m good at magic,” Twinkle deadpanned. “I’m an astronomer. If you wanted a clear night sky, sure I could help you. If you wanted to magnify a telescope to see the stars, then I’m your mare. If you want to be able to hear the voice of space, I can allow you do to so.” Her companions just stared at her.

“Don’t look at me like that!” she yelled. “Astronomy is a great field to be in. But that’s not the issue at hoof. What about Colgate? You have an hourglass on your flank; obviously you know some time spells that can help us out.” Said pony looked to her exposed flank.

“You know, I’ve never really been sure why I have this here,” she said. “I’m a dentist, not some time mage.” Twinkle hit her face.

“Great, the three of us are stuck at the bottom of this mine with no hope of escape. With us is an astronomer, a dentist, and a musician. None of us have any skills that can help us. And Lyra can’t call anypony with her sound magic since no pony knows about this place. So what do we do?”

“We wait,” Lyra answered. “somepony is on the way.”

“But there’s no pony around. If no pony is around, your magic can’t contact any pony because no pony will hear it. How is somepony coming?” Colgate asked. Her question was answered by the sound of hooves echoing above them. Twinkle and Colgate looked up at the cliff. The silhouette of a pony with an ascot stood on the cliff. She jerked her head and a rope fell to them.

“Lyra!” the pony called. “Are you all right?” Lyra smiled.

“Perfectly fine Bon Bon,” she replied. Lyra turned to her companions. “One of you grab on, the two who aren’t attached to the rope will levitate the other up there.” Twinkle grabbed onto the rope. She was surrounded in two auras, one blue and one gold. She felt herself being lifted up from the ground. When she reached the top of the cliff, she was greeted by a cream coloured mare wearing a pale blue dress. On top of her head was an ascot with a blue feather sticking from the top of it. It was held in place by a purple gemmed broach.

“Are you hurt?” the mare asked. Twinkle shook her head.

“The only thing hurt is my pride,” she answered. “How is it that…”

“Twinkle?” Lyra’s voice echoed. “It’d be nice if you could help me with Colgate.” Twinkle walked to the edge of the cliff and lit up her horn. A few moments later, Colgate was at the top of the ledge. Both Colgate and Twinkle focused and lifted Lyra up. When she reached the ledge, she was smothered by a hug from the cream pony.

“Thank Faust you’re safe,” she said. Lyra patted the pony on the back.

“Told you heaven and earth couldn’t keep me from you,” Lyra broke the hug and looked to the two other ponies. “Twinkle, this is Bon Bon, my girlfriend. Bon Bon, this is Twinkle, the other pony who was supposed to be a bridesmaid along with Colgate and myself.” Bon Bon offered her hoof and Twinkle shook it.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Bon Bon greeted.

“Likewise. How exactly did you know where we were?” Bon Bon tapped the broach on her hat. Twinkle looked at it with a confused expression on her face. She turned to Lyra and found her tapping the flowers on her headdress. She inspected the flowers on Lyra’s head and found that one of them shared the same colour as Bon Bon’s gem. The gears in Twinkle’s mind turned. “Ah, sound magic traveling through gems. That works.”

“Here, I got you something…” Lyra tapped all around her dress. She looked down the cliff and sighed. The rope was tied around herself. “Colgate, Twinkle, make sure I don’t die.”

“What do you mean ‘make sure’…” Colgate’s question was interrupted by Lyra jumping off the cliff. Bon Bon screamed. Colgate and Twinkle’s horns lit up and grabbed onto the rope. With a little strain, they pulled Lyra back up. In her hooves was the bouquet. She presented it to Bon Bon.

“I know lilacs are your favourite,” she said. “so I knew you would like this.” Bon Bon stared at the bouquet. Her left hoof slapped Lyra.

“Ow, son of a…” her words stopped right in her mouth as Bon Bon’s lips were pressed to hers. Bon Bon broke the kiss and looked in to Lyra’s eyes.

“That was stupid, irresponsible, and you could have killed yourself,” she lectured. “But it was also one of the most romantic gestures you’ve shown me. Thank you.” Again, her lips were locked with Lyra’s. Colgate began walking away from the two lovers and Twinkle followed.

“I wouldn’t go up there if I were you,” Bon Bon warned, breaking the kiss.

“Why not?” Twinkle asked. Up above them the ceiling shook and the sound of explosions reached their ears.

“I think that’s a suitable answer,” Colgate said. “So what do we do now?” Bon Bon took off her hat and pulled a flask from it. Lyra chuckled.

“Not what I expected, but then again, this whole day has trashed my all of my expectations.”

Joining In

Applejack blinked. She was sitting in a circle with her non-unicorn friends. To her right, Rainbow Dash was wearing a pair of round sunglasses with green lenses. Her tongue was sticking out in concentration as she was building a card house. Beside her was Pinkie Pie blowing bubbles. When the bubbles flew from the wand, her eyes followed them and a silent “oooo” could be heard from her. To Applejack’s left was Fluttershy. In her hooves was a bluish vase like object with a round bottom and a narrow neck. Wound around the object’s neck was a black coil made of glass. Fluttershy’s mouth was over the top and a bubbling sound could be heard from it. When Fluttershy lifted her head, her cheeks were puffed out. Applejack giggled at the sight. Gentle music and a pale smoke were drifting around her and all of her friends. Fluttershy exhaled the same coloured smoke from her mouth. Applejack stopped for a moment. How did I get here?

Pinkie was hopping down the road alongside Applejack.

“What exactly are we going to do?” Applejack asked.

“You’ll see,” Pinkie said. “It’s something Rainbow Dash and I do on a weekly basis. For a while, it was just the two of us, and then once we let Fluttershy try, she started joining us in our little escapades.” Applejack gawked. Had Pinkie admitted to being in a… no, that was impossible. Fluttershy would never try something as risqué as that. Would she?

“Why are you letting me in on this?”

“Well, when Dashie and I spun the Wheel of Friendship!” Pinkie’s words echoed around them as if she were speaking into a loud speaker. Applejack looked around in confusion. “You came up. So we decided to let you try this with us.” A grin appeared on Applejack’s face. If Pinkie was talking about what she thought she was talking about, it would turn out to be a fun night.

Applejack’s face took on one of understanding. Oh, that’s how. She looked at each of her friends. All of them had a goofy smile on their face. When she looked at their eyes, she noticed that the whites of their eyes were a gentle shade of pink. Applejack stopped again. Why am I here? Wasn’t I walking with Pinkie just now?

Fluttershy was moving her body along with the music. She looked at Applejack and began to giggle. On the earth pony’s face was a confused expression.

“Dashie, Pinkie,” Fluttershy whispered. Her friends looked up at her. “Look, I think Jackie is spacing out.” Pinkie and Rainbow looked at Applejack. When they saw her expression, they began laughing.

“Holy hay,” Pinkie gasped between breaths. “That’s just hilarious.”

“I know!” Rainbow laughed. “This is way funnier than what happened to Shy when she first tried this with us.” Fluttershy tilted her head in confusion.

“What did I do?” Pinkie and Rainbow started giggling again.

“We were outside your cottage and a pile of bunnies slept on top of you. And then you said,” Rainbow began. Her giggles refused to let her finish her trip down memory lane.

“It feels like I'm being crushed by...softness...duuuude!” Pinkie finished perfectly mimicking Fluttershy's voice. "Then you followed it up by saying 'I feel...so warm and fuzzy, man'." Fluttershy looked at her pink friend.

“That is a terrible impression of me,” she deadpanned. Applejack meanwhile, looked up at her friends.

“Hey, girls,” she said. Her friends turned their attention to her. “Weren’t we just outside?” All of her friends burst out laughing.

“Wow Jackie,” Fluttershy laughed. “You’re at the moon right now aren’t you?”

“I don’t know what that means, but I guess I am,” she said. Applejack dipped a bubble wand into Pinkie’s solution and blew a few bubbles. She looked at them as they flew in the smoke. Again, she stopped. “Does the world look like clay to you girls too?” All of them nodded.

“Glad to know I’m not going insane.” Applejack followed Fluttershy’s example and moved with the music. After what felt like an hour, she stopped again.

How did I get here?

Definitions

Two ponies were walking through the fields of Sweet Apple Acres. One was the proprietor of the estate, and the other was a dress maker. The two were having a… rather animated conversation.

“No,” Applejack said. “No way am I going to agree to that.”

“But Applejack,” Rarity replied. “With a little work, you could let out all that potential beauty you have.” Applejack turned to her friend. Her eyes narrowed.

“Run that by me again.”

“Underneath your exterior is beauty just waiting to shine in the world. With my help (and possibly the help of the Spa twins), we could unleash it and dazzle everypony in the country. Why, you could even outshine the princesses if we…”

THWACK!

The two of them stopped. One of Applejack’s hooves was in the body of a nearby apple tree. All of its fruit fell to the ground.

“Applejack?”

“I don’t want beauty.” A gasp left Rarity’s lips.

“Why ever not? Every filly, nay, everypony wants beauty.”

“Do you want to know why I don’t want it?” Rarity nodded. “It’s because of the nature of beauty itself. Beauty is the first present that nature gives; it’s also the first to be taken away. Beauty is unbearable, drives us to despair. It offers us a minute to take a glimpse of eternity, and it makes us stretch that glimpse over the whole of time.” Applejack picked up one of the fallen fruits from the ground. She tossed it to Rarity who caught it with her magic.

“There’s another reason too,” she continued. “Beauty isn’t enough, there must be something more. Take that apple for instance. It’s awfully pretty ain’t it? While it’s pretty, it’s not fit to eat. Not only that, other farmers work to make their product beautiful. But even if their product is pretty, it may not be of good quality. Beauty is unimportant without quality.” The two stood in silence. Rarity dropped the apple and shook her head.

“You’re wrong,” she said.

“Pardon me?”

“Beauty is not unimportant. Beauty is our weapon against nature; with it we make objects giving them limit, symmetry, proportion. Beauty halts and freezes the melting flow of time.” Rarity slowly approached Applejack.

“Beauty is the promise of happiness. Beauty is power, and a smile is its sword. Beauty tells the soul to act.” The two of them stood face to face.

“A thing of beauty is a joy forever: as its loveliness increases; it will never pass into nothingness.” Rarity’s nose touched Applejack's.

“And you seem to have forgotten two things,” she said.

“Enlighten me.”

“Beauty is everywhere a welcome guest.” Her lips locked themselves with Applejack’s. They stood there for a few moments. When Rarity broke the kiss, a smile was on her face.

“And beauty is whatever gives us joy,” she said. Applejack smiled. “Now, will you let me do a little work to make you a true beauty?” Applejack walked past Rarity to a nearby bush.

“No,” Rarity turned around and glared at the orange pony. Said pony was pulling something from the bush.

“Why not? You are one, even if no other pony sees it. I want them to see what I see!” Applejack turned around. She placed a rose in the ivory pony’s mane. Her foreleg gently brushed Rarity’s cheek.

“Because a beauty is one you notice,” she answered. “And a charmer is one who notices you.” A blush appeared on Rarity’s face.

“Out of the two, which one do you think I am?”

The Noble Lie

In the city of Canterlot, the light of the twilight shined into the throne room. Day court had ended and the last visitor had just left. Princess Celestia stretched herself; she always became sore after court had ended. As she rose from her throne, the chamber doors opened. A purple unicorn mare entered the room.

“Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia said. “This is a pleasant surprise. I didn’t know you were in Canterlot.” Twilight shut the door. Her horn lit up and a purple pulse moved around the room.

“This is a surprise visit,” she said. “Spike and I were visiting my parents, and I thought I should stop by and say hello.” Celestia smiled at her student.

“Well that’s very sweet of you,” Celestia turned her attention to a window. “Do you think our visit can wait a little while? I have to lower the sun.” Twilight’s eyes hardened.

“Actually,” she said with a calm tone. “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”

“What do you mean?” Celestia asked. Twilight walked towards the princess.

“You see, I had a little epiphany a while back,” she explained. “While I was at Sweet Apple Acres helping my friend, I noticed the apples fall from the trees.” Twilight looked at her teacher, a fire in her eyes.

“You may think that it’s silly,” her voice had a sharp tone added to the calm. “It’s just apples falling, what’s special about it? It’s just a mundane sight. But that got me thinking, what makes the apples fall?”

“That would be gravity,” Celestia said. She looked out the window and saw the sun lowing itself under the horizon. “If this can wait a few moments, Twilight, I really must…”

“Exactly,” Twilight said. She turned to the window, watching the sun. “Gravity makes the apple fall. Gravity affects everything.” The sun fell lower.

“A few months ago, I upgraded my telescope. With it, I was able to identify a planet with a small moon revolving around it. Naturally, I was ecstatic, there was another planet that had the ability to sustain life, seeing as somepony, or something was moving the moon.” Celestia’s expression briefly became nervous. “I used my magic to amplify the sight on it to see the surface of the planet. I had hoped to find a new civilization. But I found nothing. The planet was unfit to sustain life. How can that be? If the moon was revolving around the planet, surely there must be something there to move it.”

“Perhaps there is somepony there,” Celestia said. “Perhaps your magic missed something.”

“Perhaps,” Twilight replied. “But I observed the planet for three weeks. The moon revolved around that little planet, doing the same dance that our moon has done with our planet since the dawn of time. I was wondering, what was it that caused it to do so? No one is leading the moon around it, so what is it that causes it to move? The answer…was gravity.” A small sliver of sunlight was over the horizon.

“Gravity is what caused the moon to revolve around the planet. If gravity causes the moon to rise and fall, then the same must be said of the sun. If the same is said of both heavenly bodies,” Twilight turned to Celestia. The sun had passed the horizon and the light in the room was replaced by darkness. Candles lit up, relighting the room. “Then it must mean that nopony is in control of them.”

“Twilight, that’s… that’s…”

“Ridiculous? Crazy? Completely and utterly insane?” Twilight let out a bitter laugh. “I thought so too. So I came here to test that theory. You didn’t use any magic now, and yet the sun passed the horizon. Tell me, how can that be?” Celestia backed away from the unicorn. Her eyes were frantically moving back and forth.

“Twilight, I-I… Luna!” she cried. “Luna must have helped me with tonight. She must have lowered the sun as well as raised the moon tonight.”

“September 17th, N.C. 1000,” Twilight recited. “Canterlot Times. Quote, ‘Princess Luna has had her responsibilities involving the moon returned to her. After 1000 years of isolation, the younger of the celestial sisters resumes her duties. ‘We are thankful to have our duties returned to us,’ Luna says. ‘After 1000 years of not using our powers, it will be good to use them again. We can imagine that it was difficult for our sister to carry our burden. It takes years just to be able to use magic opposite to your own.’ End quote.” Twilight glared at Celestia.

“In the past 1000 years, there have been no records of the moon not rising. There are no records of the delicate balance of the sky being broken. You’d think that something like that would happen, since it takes years just to be able to use magic opposite to your own.” Celestia looked down at her student. In her eyes were a fiery rage that burned as bright as a star. Beads of sweat started rolling from Celestia’s head.

“That means one of two things. One, the records were lost. But that’s impossible due to the ‘Historical Records’ law that was imposed on the country in 438 B.C. Or two, nopony actually controls the sun and moon. And based on what I just saw right now, I’d say that the latter is entirely plausible.”

“Guards!” Celestia shouted. “Guards! Come quickly!”

“They won’t be able to hear you,” Twilight said. “This room is temporarily sound proof. No sound can escape it, and no sound can enter.” Her horn shot out a bolt of magic at Celestia. Celestia moved out of the bolt’s way.

“You’ve been lying!” Twilight yelled. “And not just you, but the unicorns that came before you! Nopony controls the sun and moon!” Celestia sighed.

“You are correct my student,” she said. “The planet revolves around the sun, causing it to supposedly rise and fall over the horizon. And the moon revolves around the planet.” Twilight grit her teeth together.

“Why then,” she seethed. “Why maintain this lie?! Why manipulate everypony to believe something that is false?” Celestia’s horn lit up. Twilight’s eyes became heavy, and her body struggled to support its own weight.

“Oh… yooou,” Twilight slurred. “Coniiiving….biiiiittc.” she fell to the ground before she could finish her thought. Gentle snoring could be heard from her. Celestia walked to the unconscious body of her student. A small laugh left her mouth. Such a filthy mouth you have Twilight. A golden aura surrounded her horn. I’ll have to clean it up along with your memories.

A knock came from the door of the house of Sparkle. A baby dragon opened the door, on the other side stood Princess Celestia and Twilight.

“Princess Celestia,” Spike said bowing. “What are you doing with Twilight?”

“It’s rather late, and I thought she could use an escort home,” she replied. “Good night, my faithful student.”

“Good night Princess,” Twilight said. She entered her home and the sound of wings flapping reached their ears. When Celestia was out of sight, Spike closed the door.

“How did your talk with Celestia go?” he asked.

“It went great!” she said. “You were right, delivering that friendship report in person was a good idea.” Her assistant stared at her.

“Do you remember why you went to see her in the first place?” Twilight tapped her chin.

“Not really. I remember going to the palace for some reason. It was important, I know that, but that’s all I remember.” Spike placed his hands on Twilight’s cheeks. He turned her head and looked straight into her eyes. “Spike! What are you…”

“Follow my lead,” he said. “Recite my creed.” Twilight’s pupils dilated and Spike let go of her face. She stood there for a few moments. Her pupils returned to their normal size and she closed her eyes. A hoof placed itself on her head.

“Ow, my head,” she said. She opened her eyes and looked around. The fire that was once in her eyes reignited itself. “Oh that lying bitch!” Spike chuckled.

“So, you were right then?” Twilight nodded. “Alright. I got as many spells from the Canterlot Archives as I could. What’s the plan?”

“We’ll go back to the Archives to get more spells. It should be easy to pretend like nothing’s wrong. Afterwards, we’ll use the time spells to see why the lie was made. And then, we share the truth with everypony.

Plans

“We are sorry,” Princess Luna said. “But what you are proposing is not financially feasible. We will not be able to approve your suggestion.” The stallion in front of the princess frowned. He bowed and packed his things. Luna turned to her the pony beside her.

“How many are left?” she asked. The pony’s eyes moved through a list of names.

“Just one your highness,” the pony said. “After this, Night Court will end, and you are free to do whatever you choose.”

“Excellent,” Luna turned her attention to the chamber doors. “Bring the last petitioner of the night in.” The doors opened and on the other side stood a pink earth pony mare. She had a poofy pink mane and tail. On her eyes were a pair of rectangular glasses. She was wearing a steel gray blazer with a white dress shirt underneath it. A serious expression was on her face as she approached the throne. A wide smile appeared on the night princess’ face.

“Pinkamenia Diane Pie,” she said. “How nice of you to visit us. It will have to wait though, we have one other pony to see before Court ends.”

“That would be me,” Pinkie said adjusting her glasses. “I’m your last appointment. But afterwards, if you want to play, we can.” Luna blinked. She turned to the pony beside her; the pony gave a nod of confirmation.

“Very well,” Luna said. “What business do you have with us?”

“It’s not just business I have with you,” Pinkie replied. She reached for some unknown spot and pulled a whiteboard into existence. “This is business I had with the Day Court as well. Your sister forwarded the issue to you, saying that it affects the night more than it affects the day.”

“We are curious, what exactly is it that you desire that affects both night and day?” Pinkie pulled a black marker from her blazer and began drawing on the whiteboard. When she was done, a crudely drawn picture of the sun, the moon, and a planet was on the board.

“The moon has a glow to it,” she began. “But that light is not its own. It borrows the light from the sun. What we on the planet see is a reflection of the light.” She tapped the picture.

“We are well aware of that, after all, we do control the moon.”

“Precisely,” Pinkie flipped the whiteboard over. She began drawing again. When she was finished, she was left with a spherical drawing with hundreds of facets on it. She pointed to the drawing. “This is known as a mirror ball. Like the moon, it borrows the light from another. The only difference is how it reflects the light. The moon has a single glow while a mirror ball reflects the light in hundreds of different directions. While the ball is moving, it seems like the light itself is moving as well.”

“Where are you going with this?” Pinkie turned the whiteboard back to the other side. She tapped the picture of the moon.

“I propose that we create mirrors that are each 1/1000th of the surface area of the moon. Then, we place all of the mirrors on the moon, and for one night, the moon will be a giant mirror ball, and every sapient creature will be able to enjoy a party.” Silence entered the room. Pinkie had an expectant smile on her face while Luna’s face held an expression of bewilderment. Her eyes narrowed.

“And pray tell,” she began. “Why would you want that?”

“There’s a very important pony whose birthday is coming up,” Pinkie answered. “I wanted to make their party extra special. And I wanted to make it showy, so that all of Equestria can join myself and her in celebration.” Luna flew towards Pinkie. She stopped in front of the pink pony with pure rage in her eyes.

“WHO?!” Luna said using the Royal Canterlot Voice. “WHO IS SO IMPORTANT THAT YOU WOULD DARE TO PROPOSE TO VIOLATE OUR CHARGE? WHO COULD BE SO IMPORTANT THAT YOU WOULD DARE TO HAVE OUR TREASURE MOLESTED FOR SUCH A FRIVOLOUS PURPOSE?!” Pinkie was pushed back by Luna’s voice. The eyes of the pony standing beside the throne widened in fear. Pinkie adjusted her hair back to its original position and pushed her glasses back up. The lunar princess was fuming with anger. A small smile appeared on Pinkie’s face.

“That would be you,” she said. Luna took a few steps away from the pink pony.

“Me?” Pinkie nodded.

“That’s right. Your birthday is coming up real soon. So I talked to your sister about a country wide party. She said so long as you and every settlement in Equestria agrees to it, I can throw this party. If you’re anything like your sister, you hate all the pomp and circumstance that happens in high society gatherings.” Luna nodded. “And I saw how much you were enjoying yourself at Cadance’s wedding reception. So I thought you would enjoy something like that, only with the whole country celebrating with you.” Luna looked at Pinkie with an unreadable expression on her face.

“Our birthday isn’t for another four months,” she said.

“I know that,” Pinkie said giggling. “I’m not a silly pony. But something this big takes time to arrange. I’ve been going all around Equestria for the past month and a half taking to mayors and magic users and musicians about it. I’ve told many of them about my plan, and they like it. It’s also so that they don’t freak out when the night is longer.”

“Longer?” Pinkie nodded.

“If all goes according to plan, this party will last twenty-four hours. Ponies freaked out when the night suddenly lasted longer during the Summer Sun Celebration, so I figured a word of warning would calm their fears.” Luna blinked. “If having the surface of the moon is unacceptable, then I can come up with an alternative. Something like having mirrors floating over its surface. That way, moon’s gravity will keep the mirrors in place, and the light will shine on the country. How does that sound?”

“That sounds completely insane,” Luna replied. A small frown appeared on Pinkie’s face and her ears fell flat on her head. “We like it.” Pinkie’s ears perked up.

“You mean…”

“Yes, we will approve of your plan. But something like this requires much planning.”

“Oh don’t worry about that. The plan is still in its initial stages. I still have to convince Celestia to inform the other nations of the plan. But I’ll get to that when I get to that. Do you still want to play?” Luna laughed.

“Yes, yes we do Pinkamenia,” she said. “Peppermint? Could you direct Pinkamenia here to my chambers?” The pony bowed and walked to the exit. Pinkie followed her. When the doors closed, uncontrollable laughter came from Luna. She rolled on the ground laughing for a few moments. When she got up, she looked at the whiteboard.

“This is going to be a fun birthday.”

Winning Over Family

Two ponies were walking down a dirt road, one pink and one purple. All along the road were various rocks and trees of every shape and size. As they proceeded down the road, the trees became less and less common. The purple pony held a nervous expression.

“Twilight?” Pinkie asked. “Are you all right?”

“Oh I’m just fine Pinkie,” she responded. “It’s not like I’m incredibly nervous because I’m meeting your family for the very first time or anything, oh no. I’m just bubbling with glee.”

“Well that’s good to hear. Knowing you, I thought you would be worried about such a little thing like meeting my family. Then you would become more nervous with each step you took. And then you would think that you had to prove to them that you deserved to stand by my side. But thanks for dissipating my fears Twilight.”

“Pinkie, that’s exactly what…”

“Hey look, we’re here!” Pinkie interrupted. Up ahead was an open field with rocks in it. Behind the rocks was a wooden fence surrounding a small house, a silo, and a windmill. Three ponies were hard at work in the fields: a brown earth pony with a hat over a gray mane, a light gray earth pony with an even darker gray mane, and an amethyst pony with a light gray mane and tail. A large wagon sat in between the three.

“Hi everypony!” Pinkie shouted. All three ponies looked up at her and smiled. Twilight and Pinkie approached them.

“Hello Pinkamenia,” the brown pony said. “The trip wasn’t too taxing I hope?”

“Nope, not at all,” Pinkie turned to Twilight. “Twilight, this is my dad, Clyde Pie.” The brown pony took off his hat and bowed.

“And my sisters: Blinkie Pie.” Pinkie pointed at the amethyst pony.

“Hello,” Blinkie said. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“And Inkie Pie.” Pinkie pointed to the last pony. Said pony shied away and mumbled something that sounded like a hello.

“Family, this is Twilight.” Every member of Pinkie’s family smiled.

“Hello,” Twilight said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you all.”

“Likewise,” Clyde said. “Pinkie, would you mind going inside and helping your mother? And could you two move this haul into the silo? I need to talk to Twilight.” Pinkie vigorously nodded and ran into the house. Inkie attached the wagon to Blinkie and the two walked towards the silo. Clyde turned his attention to Twilight. Twilight nervously shuffled her hooves.

“Mr. Pie,” she began. “I just want you to know that I care for Pinkie just as much as you do and…”

“Oh I’m well aware of what you and my daughter have been up to,” he said. Twilight blanched. “And I know what you’re probably assuming right now. Right now, you think you have to win my approval so that you can keep seeing my daughter. You think that you have to prove something to me. Does that sound about right?” Twilight just stared at him.

“Relax, dear,” Clyde laughed. “I’m not a walking cliché. As long as you make my daughter happy, then you’re alright in my book.” Twilight gave a sigh of relief.

“However,” he continued. Twilight became tense. “it’s not my approval that you have to win over.”

“Then whose do I have to…” Before Twilight could finish that thought, the sound rumbling reached her ears. Both Clyde and Twilight looked towards the sound. On Clyde’s face was a smile while Twilight’s face held confusion. Off in the distance a black spot was approaching them. The sound of two ponies running together echoed in the field, but all they could see was that one black spot. As it got closer, Twilight took in the details. What looked like a large black pony with yellow eyes was approaching them. His mane was long and unkempt. The pony seemed to be heading towards them. When he got closer, Twilight’s eyes widened. This pony, for some reason, had eight legs. He stopped in front of the two and towered over them. Twilight moved herself between Clyde and the giant and her horn lit up.

“Don’t worry Mr. Pie,” she said. “I’ll keep you safe from…”

“Grandpa!” two voices shouted. Both Inkie and Blinkie tackled the eight legged pony to the ground. All three of them tumbled into a laughing mess. Clyde walked towards the pile of ponies.

“Hello father,” he said. “It’s good to see you again.” Clyde’s daughters untangled themselves from the pony and they all got up.

“Clyde,” the pony said. “Are you too old to give your father a hug?” The pony wrapped four of his legs around Clyde and Clyde attempted to return the hug. When the pony let go, he turned his attention to Twilight.

“And who is this?” he asked. He lowered his head and faced Twilight.

“Father,” Clyde began. “this is Twilight. Twilight, this is my father, Sleipnir.” Twilight gawked.

“H-Hello there,” she stuttered. “My name is Twilight Sparkle. It’s nice to meet you.” Sleipnir smiled.

“Is this the one that’s…” Clyde, Inkie, and Blinkie all nodded. A bellowing laugh came from Sleipnir. The laugh seemed to make the planet itself shake. Twilight struggled to stand. “Oh, he is going to have fun with you.” Twilight’s face, again, acquired a confused expression.

“Who are you talking about?” she asked. All four Pie family members matched her expression.

“You mean she hasn’t talked about her Granny Pie?” Sleipnir asked.

“The one who taught her everything she knows about laughter?” Clyde’s head tilted.

“The one whose opinion matters the most to Pinkie?” Blinkie blinked.

“The one who she usually always talks about when the topic of family is brought up?” Inkie raised an eyebrow. Twilight tapped her chin.

“She has brought up Granny Pie before,” she said. “She said that Granny was important. I always assumed she meant grandmother. I didn’t know she was talking about…” Pinkie rushed out and stood between her family and Twilight.

“Hi Grampy!” she said hugging Sleipnir. “Granny Pie is coming! My spine was shuddering, so he should be here any second!” As she finished her statement, the skies darkened. Lightning fell from storm clouds and thunder rolled. All of the Pie family was looking to the sky with smiles on their faces, Twilight followed their example and looked up. The clouds rushed down to the ground and all of their eyes followed it. The clouds landed a few feet away from them and formed a creature. The creature stood up on two legs. It was a bipedal creature with dark purple tights wrapped on its legs. It was wearing a shirt that was a slightly lighter shade of purple. Across the creature’s waist was a belt with a golden ring in its center. At the creature’s shoulders was a bluish deep purple cloak held by another golden ring. At the top of its head was long black hair. A smile was on its face as he opened his arms.

“Granny Pie!” Pinkie yelled. Both her and her sisters approached the creature and embraced it a hug. Pinkie reached for its nose and pulled it off its face. “I got your nose!”

“Well,” it said with a male voice. One of his hands covered Pinkie’s face. He then ripped his hand away and Pinkie’s face was on the hand’s palm. Twilight stared in horror. “I’ve got your face!” Everyone except for Twilight laughed. The Pie sisters broke off the hug and stood around him.

“Twilight,” Pinkie’s face said. “this is my Granny Pie.” Her body gestured to him as she was talking.

“A-as in grandfather?” she trembled. Pinkie’s head shook side to side. The creature put his hand where Pinkie’s face would have been. When he moved it away, Twilight was greeted by Pinkie’s smiling face.

“Nope,” she shook her head. “This is my great grandmother, Granny Pie Loki!” Loki took his nose from Pinkie and reattached it onto his face.

“I…but…how…” Sleipnir walked to Loki and brushed his head along the Loki’s chest. With his left hand, Loki pet Sleipnir. Clyde put his hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. On his face was a gentle smile.

“Remember how I said it wasn’t my approval you needed?” Twilight gave a weak nod. “My grandmother over there, it’s his approval you need. Best of luck.”

Twilight then did what any rational pony would do: she fainted.

One Last Bust

Inside of a warehouse were six ponies, two of each subdivision of the pony race. Three of them were mares, and three were fillies. All of them but one was busy packing cupcakes into boxes. The pink pony smiled.

“Good,” she said. “Production is going as planned. Shy.” A yellow pegasus rose her head. “How much of the ‘special ingredient’ do we have left?”

“Enough,” she answered. “We’ve already made at least four dozen cupcakes with it. And we have enough left over to make three dozen more.”

“Perfect. Rare,” a white unicorn looked up at her. “What’s our predicted profit on the merchandise?” The white pony flipped through a notebook.

“If we sell everything we have so far,” she said scribbling in the book. “We should make a minimum of 3000 bits.” Pinkie frowned.

“That’s less than last week’s profit.”

“I know, we’ve had to lower our prices thanks to the Cakes.” Pinkie spit on the ground. Rarity winced. “Must you do that?”

“Sorry, but those Cakes have stolen our customers for the last time. Girls,” Three fillies walked towards Pinkie. She kneeled down looking at the three of them in the eyes. “You know what to do?” All three of them saluted.

“Yes ma'am!” a yellow earth pony said.

“Of course!” a white unicorn said.

“I’d rather die than not finish this job!” an orange pegasus said. Pinkie smiled.

“Good. Get back to work, then you three can hit the streets.” The three of them dispersed getting back to work. In one of the warehouse’s many windows, were three ponies and a baby dragon. All of them were watching the scene.

“Is that them?” the pegasus asked.

“Eeyup,” the earth pony said. “Those three have been spreading Booster Juice to children via cupcakes. Can you imagine it? Children! It’s disgusting.”

“Are they the ones who took Ly and Bon out?” the unicorn asked. The baby dragon nodded.

“Yeah, it was them,” he said. “The pink one was the one who did them in. She was laughing while she did it too.” The pegasus gritted her teeth together.

“I can’t wait to bust them,” she said. The dragon made signals with his hands. The assembled group armed themselves and headed towards the door. He counted down from three with his fingers. At zero, the earth pony bucked the door down. All four of them rushed in. The six occupants of the warehouse stared at the sight.

“FREEZE!” all four of the intruders shouted. They all raised their arms and pointed to the group. “E.S.P.D!” The six ponies stopped what they were doing.

“Well, well, well,” Pinkie said. “If it isn’t Sergeant Applejack and her little lackeys. I’m surprised you found this place. Was it Twily over there who found out where we were?”

“You shut your mouth!” Twilight shouted. She slowly approached the group. “You’re all under arrest.”

“I think not,” Rarity said. Six other arms were raised and pointed directly at the intruders. “You’re outnumbered and out gunned. There’s no way that you can survive this. So would you mind turning a blind eye?”

“Not a chance,” Rainbow Dash said. All ten occupants were standing still, arms pointed at one another. They waited for the other to make their move. A clam was with them. It made the situation tenser. A short ‘pop’ was heard and a white projectile exploded on the dragon’s forehead. He fell to the ground.

“Spike!” Twilight yelled. The E.S.P.D’s attention was drawn towards a yellow pegasus. Smoke was rising from her weapon.

“Oh my, oh my, oh my,” she quickly said. Her eyes were wide. “I didn’t mean to do that! I’m so sorry!”

“Sorry won’t bring him back,” Twilight said through gritted teeth. All of them fired their weapons. Everypony there hid for cover. White projectiles flew all around the building. Rainbow Dash crawled under the chaos to where the others were hiding. She turned behind an overturned barrel to find Scootaloo and Apple Bloom. Rainbow grabbed the two ponies in a tight hold.

“Gotcha!” Sweetie Belle turned her attention to her friends.

“Bloom! Scoot!” she shouted. Rarity pushed her behind herself.

“Leave them, it’s already too late!” she said. She turned her attention to Pinkie who was firing at their opponents. “I believe a retreat is in order.” Pinkie turned Rarity. She saw Rainbow Dash raise her weapon at her. Pinkie fired a shot and a white powder exploded on the pegasus’ shoulder.

“Agreed. Shy!” said pony turned to Pinkie. “Time to make like a tree.” She nodded and ran towards the exit. Rarity, Sweetie Belle, and Pinkie followed. All of them were firing behind them. Applejack ran to where Rainbow Dash lay.

“Dash!” she cradled the pony’s head in her forelegs. She looked at the powder. “Oh no. Nonononono. Don’t do this to me Dash. You can beat this. We just need to get you some help.” A weak chuckle escaped Rainbow’s mouth.

“I doubt that would help,” her voice was weak. “A shame too. Next week, I was supposed to retire. I was going to explore the country. Maybe visit Macintosh Hills.”

“You can still do that Dash!” Tears began to form in Applejack’s eyes. “You can still travel. You can go to Horseshoe Bay, and Applewood! Come on, don’t do this.” Rainbow coughed.

“No, no I can’t. Promise me one thing AJ,” she slowly raised one of her hooves. Applejack held onto it. “Take them down.” Rainbow’s eyes slowly closed and a breath exited her mouth. Her body went numb.

“Dash?” Applejack shook her body. No response came from it. “Dash!” Tears were freely flowing from her eyes. Twilight ran to Applejack.

“Sergeant,” she said. “Come on, we need to catch them.”

“But Spike and Dash...”

“I know. But sitting here and weeping over them isn’t the best use of our time. And I don’t think they’d want us to do that. The best thing we can do for them is to catch those criminals.” Applejack looked down at Rainbow’s lifeless body. A purple hoof reached for Applejack. “For Spike and Rainbow.” Applejack placed Rainbow’s head on the ground. She wiped away the tears in her eyes and grabbed the hoof.

“For Spike and Dash.” She stood up and reloaded her weapon. Just watch Dash, I’ll get them. The two ran to the exit following the others. When their footsteps could no longer be heard, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo sat up.

“Wow,” Apple Bloom said. “They take this game really seriously.” Spike sat up and wiped the flour off his face.

“You have no idea how serious it can get,” he replied. He looked to Rainbow Dash. “And that line that you said, really? You really had to say one of the most clichéd things ever?”

“Can’t hear you,” she said with her eyes closed. “I’m dead.” Scootaloo walked to her fallen idol.

“Rest in peace Rainbow Dash,” she said. “I guess we have to enjoy these cupcakes without you.” Rainbow’s eyes shot open. She flipped herself up onto her hooves.

“Oh look at that, I’m alive!” The three younger occupants chuckled. “They’re in the boxes right?” Apple Bloom and Scootaloo nodded. Rainbow headed to the boxes. She opened one and passed a cupcake to each of the others. All of them sat in the warehouse passing the time with conversations and stoires, waiting for their game of Cops and Robbers to end.

Masquerade

“All the world’s a stage, and its creatures merely players.” Heh. You have no idea how true that is for me. You see, my family is rather… different. “But every family is different,” you’ll say. And that’s true as well, but my family takes it to an extreme. My family took the quote I just said, and made it our philosophy. They twisted it a bit though. We are all playing our parts, yes, but our method is different. Many think that an actor puts on a mask, taking roles that are not their own. They are wrong though. Each time an actor acts they do not hide; they expose themselves. That is true for me as well.

Perhaps I should explain. I have a persona out in the public. I’m known as a shy, demure, animal keeper. I chose the shy and demure role, but the animal keeper came later in life. That is the mask I wear. Everypony in my family has a mask. Some of them are diligent construction workers, others are suave womanizers, and a select few are caring doctors. There are times when we take the masks off though. Those times are when we’re with each other, and when we’re ‘working’. See, we need to separate our public persona from our jobs. If complications happen from during work, then we have a backup identity to fall back on. Otherwise, we’re just on the world’s stage, being who we aren’t. Right now, I’m acting, and I am who I am underneath the mask. You should consider yourself lucky, very few get to see who I really am.

Hmm, that felt good. I’m glad I could get that off my chest. Thank you for listening.

A faceless, yellow, blank flanked pegasus mare was standing in front of a panicking stallion. He was suspended in mid-air by unicorn magic. On both his right and left were two unicorns, like the pegasus, they were faceless and blank flanked. The mare turned away and began pacing. Sweat was falling from the stallion’s forehead.

“Y-y-you’re welcome,” he stuttered. “C-could you please let me go then?” The mare laughed. The laughter sent shivers down his spine. She stopped and turned her attention to him. Despite not having a face, she looked intimating.

“I don’t think I can do that,” she said. “You have information that me, my father, and my Family need. I can’t let you go.”

“I’ll talk! I’ll tell you anything you need to know!” he screamed. The mare waved her hoof back and forth in a mocking manner.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. You must think I’m an idiot,” she said. “I know you have a reputation for lying. So a friend of mine is going to help talk with you.”

“Friend?” The mare whistled. A hissing reached his ears. From behind, a large snake slithered its way up the mare. It hung on a stretched out foreleg, staring at the floating stallion.

“This, is Mr. Coils,” she explained. “He likes to hug ponies. He’s going to give you a big hug, and will let go when you’re ready to tell the truth.” She reached out and touched the stallion. The snake slowly wrapped himself around the stallion’s body. His eyes widened. She put her hoof on the ground as Mr. Coils squeezed the pony. His face contorted in pain and the mare tapped her chin.

“Hmm, ironic,” she said. “I have to put on a physical mask, to remove my psychological mask. Strange isn’t it?” The two unicorns nodded. The mare looked at floating stallion as his face twisted. Unknown to him and the two unicorns, she was smiling underneath her mask.

Something Special

An amethyst pony with a welding mask on stood in front of a forge. She was pressing down on a bellower making the flames grow. Using a pair of tongs, she grasped a stone cup full of silver ore, and placed it into the fire. Again, she pressed down on the bellower. After a few moments, she pulled the cup out of the fire. Its contents were poured into a circular mold about the size of a pony’s wrist. Liquid silver moved through the mold. With a different pair of tongs, she grasped the mold and carefully headed for a nearby trough of water.

“Hi Blinkie!” a voice behind her screamed.

“Gah!” the pony jumped in surprise and dropped the mold. The liquid silver flew from the mold into the water. Sizzling could be heard and steam rose from the trough. Both the intruder and the pony looked at the water.

“Oops,” the intruder said. “I’m sorry.” The masked pony sighed and lifted her welding mask. She looked to the intruder with a smile on her face. The intruder was a bright shade of pink with a poofy mane. At her sides were a pair of saddlebags.

“Hello Pinkie,” she said. “It’s nice of you to visit.” Pinkie was focusing on the water. Blinkie used the tongs to pull a mangled pile of silver from the water. Steam was rising from it.

“Don’t worry about this,” she placed the silver back into the cup. “I can always remake it. What’s up?”

“I need a ring made,” she answered. “This ring is very special.” Blinkie reached for a notebook.

“Alright, I can do that,” she began scribbling in the book. “Can you give me any specific characteristics that you want this ring to have?”

“I think you’re misunderstanding me,” Pinkie said. “This ring is special. I’d like to make it myself.” Blinkie stopped. She looked into her sister’s eyes. In them were determination and a strong feeling of love. A knowing smile appeared on her face.

“I see,” the notebook closed itself. “Who’s the special pony?” Pinkie shuffled her hooves.

“Her name is Twilight Sparkle,” her eyes became glassy. “She’s smart, she’s beautiful, and most importantly, she makes me smile. Not in the way I make ponies smile, in a different way. It’s like a gentle nudge compared to my dragging. I’d like her to stand by my side.” Blinkie placed her welding mask on her work table.

“She must make you really happy if you want that,” Pinkie nodded. “Have you got anything that you want to add to this ring?” Pinkie reached into her saddlebags. She pulled out what looked like a small lily made out of diamond. In the center of the lily was a small amethyst. At the base of the flower were four gems circling it: a ruby, a topaz, an emerald, and a sapphire. Blinkie’s eyes widened.

“Pinkie, this is beautiful! Where did you get this?” the pink pony giggled.

“I made it,” she answered. “I got a friend of mine to help me find the gems I needed. I had this design in my head for a while, but had no way to create it. I could have commissioned somepony to do it for me, but it wouldn’t be as special. So I met with a jeweler and asked her to teach me to cut gems.”

“I’d say that jeweler taught you well, I suppose you want this attached to the ring?” Pinkie nodded. “What would you like it to be made out of?” The diamond flower was placed back into her bag.

“Gold, engagement rings are traditionally made of gold right?” her sister giggled.

“Yes, yes they are,” Blinkie walked to a wall with tools on it. She reached for two mining hats; one was placed on her head. “If you want this to be special, you’re going to have to find the ore yourself. After we find enough ore, I’ll teach you how to forge a ring. Sound good?” Pinkie put on the hat and nodded. The two of them exited the Blinkie’s workshop.

“Could you teach me to write inscriptions as well?”

“Sure. Out of curiosity, what are you planning to inscribe on the ring?” Pinkie chuckled.

“I’ve been accused of being a lunatic, by both my friends and Twilight. Twilight says it jokingly though. But I think she’s right. So I’m going to write ‘amantes sunt ametes’ on the ring.” Blinkie cocked her head in confusion.

“And that means?” Pinkie smiled.

“Lovers are lunatics.”

Sweet Dreams

In the dead of night, a translucent purple unicorn was watching herself sleep. In her bed was a solid version of her body. Its eyes were closed and the horn on her head was glowing a faint purple. The translucent pony blinked.

“This is rather surreal,” she said. Snoring came from behind her. She turned around and saw a baby dragon sleeping in a basket. A smile was on his face as he slept. Up above him was a swirling cloud. The translucent pony walked to the cloud. “Okay, let’s see if this works.” She reached for the cloud and touched it. In an instant, her body was dragged into the cloud.

After so many years, Spike had finally done it. He had finally achieved flight. He was flying through the air without a care in the world.

“Wooo!” he cheered. He tilted his body upwards and looped around. Nothing could take his joy away. He turned to his left to see Twilight flying alongside him. “Twilight? How are you flying?” He stopped in the air.

“I should be asking you the same thing,” she replied. “You don’t have any wings.” Spike turned his head around. His guardian was indeed correct.

“Aw nuts,” he said. Gravity instantly took control and he plummeted towards the ground. Spike flapped his arms wildly, trying to stay afloat. He looked up and found that Twilight was still flying. “Help me!”

“This is a dream Spike,” she called. “You can do whatever you want.” Twilight tilted herself down and fell towards her baby brother. Both of them were beside each other as the ground was quickly approaching them. “Come on, try it!” Spike closed his eyes.

“Okay,” he took in a deep breath. The two of them slowed down and eventually stopped. Spike opened his eyes. A smile appeared on his face. “Ha ha! I did it!” He began prancing around.

“That’s great,” Twilight said. “Well, I better be going now. Bye Spike!” Her body slowly faded away. Spike looked to the fading unicorn.

“Huh, oh, bye Twilight,” he said. A cheshire grin appeared on his head. “If this is a dream…” In an instant, three ivory unicorns appeared. “Awesome.”

Twilight stood in her room again. The cloud above Spike was directly in front of her. She pranced around her room.

“It worked!” she said. “This is incredible! I can’t wait to see what everypony else dreams of!” She stopped and looked out her window. From the window she could see Carousel Boutique. A smile appeared on her face. “First stop, Carousel Boutique.” Twilight jumped through the window, and floated towards her destination.

After a few moments of floating, Twilight ended up at the top of the dress shop. She was standing in front of a four poster bed with her friend sleeping in it. Like with Spike, a swirling cloud was over her head. This one however, was pink.

“Hmm, strange. I wonder what it means,” Twilight said. Her hoof reached for the cloud. “Only one way to find out.”

A table was set up on a balcony. Candles and a bottle of wine sat at the table. Rarity raised a glass of wine to her lips. A satisfied smile was on her face.

“This was a wonderful idea,” she said. “I know you normally hate these kinds of things, but I appreciate you making the effort.” A chuckle came from her companion.

“If it would make you happy, I’d move mountains,” her companion said. A giggle escaped Rarity’s mouth. Both her and her companion were moving closer to each other. Rarity’s eyes closed as their lips were about to touch.

“Applejack?!” a familiar voice screamed. Rarity’s eyes shot open. She turned to her right to find her friend gawking at her and Applejack.

“Twilight? What are you doing here? I thought Applejack reserved the entire restaurant.” Twilight’s mouth was still on the floor.

“Um, sugar cube?” Applejack asked. “You all right?” Twilight shook her head.

“Yeah, fine,” she said. “I just wasn’t expecting this. I mean, you and Rarity, it’s just unfathomable.” The orange pony stood up.

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” she asked. Her eyes narrowed.

“Well, I mean that you two as an item seems… well, impossible.” Applejack walked towards Twilight.

“Are you saying I’m not good enough for Rarity?” Applejack was in Twilight’s face. Sweat dropped from the purple pony’s forehead.

“That’s not what I’m saying at all!”

“Then what are you saying?” Twilight chuckled nervously.

“Oh look at that, I have to go, bye!” Her body faded into purple dust. Applejack turned around.

“Now, where were we?”

Twilight stood in Rarity’s room once more. She cracked her neck.

“Okay, pink clouds means that they’re dreaming of love. Good to know,” she said. A moan echoed in the room. She turned to Rarity, a smile was on her face as well as a blush. Twilight backed away. “And that’s my cue to exit.” Twilight ran forward, not caring where she was going, as long as she wasn’t there.

In the blink of an eye, she ended up at Sweet Apple Acres. Twilight was standing at the top of the Apple household. She looked down and saw three clouds, two white, and one pink. This one was a different shade of pink though, it was deeper. The cloud was rising.

“I’ve learned my lesson, I’m not touching that.” She walked towards the edge of the roof. Unknown to her, the cloud was close to her tail. Just before Twilight could jump, the cloud brushed her tail. She turned around just before she was pulled in.

“Damnit!”

The first thing Twilight noticed was the smell of cinnamon. All around the room were burning candles.

“This is, actually kind of nice,” she said. Giggling reached her ears. She turned to the source. Off in the distance were two ponies, one orange, and one white. The orange was on top of the white. Both of them had sultry smiles on their faces. The orange pony kissed the white one one’s neck, a gentle moan came from her mouth. A blush appeared on Twilight’s face. “And, now I can’t look at Applejack or Rarity the same way again.” She closed her eyes, and her body turned to dust. The orange pony’s head shot up.

“You hear something?”

“Nothing at all,” a hoof wrapped itself around the orange pony’s neck.

As soon as Twilight left the dream, she leapt from the roof. Anywhere would be a welcome change.

“What has been seen, can never be unseen,” she said. Her translucent body landed outside of Sugar Cube Corner. Bright multicoloured light could be seen from Pinkie’s room. “Strange.” Twilight jumped to the pony’s room. She saw her pink friend sleeping, above her was a rainbow coloured cloud. Twilight walked around it.

“This is strange, even for what I saw tonight,” she said. “I wonder what it means.” Before Twilight could continue musing, half of a translucent pink pony pushed its way out of the cloud. She looked at Twilight with a smile. “What the…” The pony grabbed Twilight and pulled her into the dream.

Twilight had her eyes closed. She was scared. She was pulled into Pinkie’s dream, she had no idea what to expect from the crazy baker.

“Are you going to open your eyes?” a voice asked. Twilight slowly cracked her eyes open. In front of her was her friend sitting at a desk. A smile was on her face.

“Pinkie?” Twilight asked. Her head moved around, taking in the scene. She was sitting in an office, not just any office, a well-organized office. “This is your dream?”

“Yep! And the point of this dream,” Pinkie began. She reached into the desk and pulled out a file folder. “Is to return you to your body.” She opened the folder

“I don’t understand, how exactly are you going to do that?” Pinkie stood on the desk. She raised the open folder over her head. Before Twilight could question Pinkie, the folder was pushed down over her head. Her body was slowly being consumed by it. Her hind legs kicked in resistance. Eventually, her entire body was shoved into the folder.

Twilight opened her eyes. She sat up and found that she was in her bed. The sun was beginning to move above the horizon. Her body felt weak and heavy. A chuckle escaped her mouth. I’ve been using magic all night, of course I’d be tired. She yawned and rested her head on her pillow. Her eyes slowly closed just as she finished preparing to go to dream land.

On The Path To Nodd

Everypony gets tired; the princess of the sun is no exception. Celestia was slowly dragging herself to her bed. She had to deal with land disputes, nobles bickering over pointless taxation laws, Blueblood complaining about something trivial, and there was paperwork that stood as tall as one of the castle’s spire. All of it was gone for the day, for a little while, she could relax and drift off into slumber. Celestia took off her regalia and fell onto her bed. The soft embrace of her mattress soothed the pains she had collected during the day. Her comforter was gently brought over herself. Her eyes began to close as a smile formed on her face. She then drifted off into the land of Nodd… for about thirty seconds. Muffled accordion music and glasses breaking could be heard through her wall. Celestia sat up, her eyes narrowed.

“Luna,” she sneered. She got up from her bed and exited her chambers. Once in the hall, she turned to her left and began walking. After a few minutes, she reached a pair of large mahogany doors. Beside the doors were large, vertical, purple banners. On the banners was a stylized crescent moon with wings sprouting from the sides. On the other side of the doors, she could hear laughing, music, and glasses breaking. Celestia pushed one of the doors open. “Luna, do you mind keeping it down? I’ve had a long day and…” she was stopped by a bottle breaking beside her. Luna’s entire chamber had been transformed into a massive mead hall. All around the hall were wooden tables set up with the lunar guard sitting at each one. In front of each of the bat winged ponies was a stein with a different drink in them. Many were drinking from their steins while others were laughing with each other. All of them however, were clearly inebriated. Off to the left was a large collection of barrels. Some were scattered on the ground while some had a taps embedded into them. In front of the barrels was a bar with a lunar guard behind it. She was preparing drinks for her friends and like her companions, she was inebriated. On the right was a band playing various instruments. All were playing loudly and in harmony, despite being drunk. Celestia’s eyes moved around the room looking for her younger sister. She found her standing atop a table with two bat ponies at her side, one of them had an eye patch over his left eye. The bat ponies had their steins to their mouths while Luna had hers in the air. Her face was flushed and she was singing along with the music.

“Tis half past three and the chill is gone,” she sang.

“Luna.” Her words fell on deaf ears.

“It’s the longest binge I’ve ever been on,” Celestia closed the door.

“Luna.” She approached her less than sober sister, avoiding all the drunken guards.

“Had so many pints, my mind’s stupefied,” Celestia’s progress was halted as a stein was placed on her hoof.

“Thank you, but I really need to talk to…” the bat pony who gave her the stein ignored her and continued drinking. She made her way to the table that Luna stood on.

“But through all the haze I still hear them cry!” All of the lunar guards raised the steins into the air.

“Drink, motherbucker, drink, motherbucker, drink!” they all chanted in unison. “A curse to you lads, a curse on your head. Drinking pint after pint until I am dead. I just keep drinking and I don’t know why, but tonight is the night that I drink ‘til I die!” Celestia’s patience had run out. She took in a deep breath.

“LUNA!” she screamed. The Royal Canterlot Voice knocked her sister and the two bat ponies off the table. The music had stopped. All of the guards turned their attention to the fuming solar princess. Luna and the bat ponies slowly sat up. When Luna met Celestia’s eyes, a goofy smile appeared on her face.

“Celly!” she slurred. All of the guards raised their steins.

“Celly!” they cheered in unison. All of the inebriated ponies brought their steins to their lips. Celestia sighed.

“What exactly are you doing?” The eye patched bat pony stood up. He helped his fallen companion to his feet. Luna gestured to both of them.

“It’s Sunshine Smile’s birthday,” she said pointing at the eye patched pony. “And since it’s Sunshine’s birthday, it’s also Frolicsome Meadowlark’s birthday.” Her stein was raised to the air. “To Sunshine and Meadowlark!”

“To Sunshine and Medowlark!” the guards cheered. All of them drank from their steins.

“Luna,” Celestia said. “I can appreciate that you want to celebrate your guards’ birthday…”

“They’re not just our guards,” Luna slurred. She grabbed both Sunshine and Meadowlark in a hug. “They’re our family.” A chorus of “awwws” echoed in the room. Celestia, despite being tired, giggled at the sight.

“Alright, your family’s birthday,” she continued. “But I’ve had a long day, and I really need my rest.” Sunshine broke the hug and stumbled his way towards her. He stood relatively still and looked her straight in the eye.

“Your Highness,” he began. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but you’ve had a bad day correct?” Celestia nodded.

“And when most have had a bad day, they rest or relax.” Again she nodded.

“So, allow me to propose something. Why not celebrate with us? You’ll be able to relax. And after the night, you can ‘rest’.” All of the guards chuckled.

“I don’t think I can do that,” Celestia said. “I have to attend to day court, and I have more business to attend to. And I have to raise the sun.” Luna snorted.

“One day’s worth of rest will not hurt the country,” she said. “Celly, have one drink. Afterwards, we promise to stop the party.” The guards groaned. Celestia nodded.

“Alright, one drink,” she raised her stein to her lips. After one sip, she had to stop. The drink was fizzy, that was to be expected, but it had a sweet aftertaste. It was bitter but it had a mix of honey in it. Celestia drank the entirety of the stein’s contents in one gulp. “This drink, I like it!” She threw the stein onto the ground causing it to shatter.

“Another!” she cried. Luna and all of the guards cheered. The music began once again and a stein was placed into Celestia’s hoof. The sun princess joined all of the guards in their drinking and singing. Sunshine returned to his brother just as Meadowlark nudged Luna.

“Luna,” he said. “Did you know that this would happen?” Luna chuckled.

“We did not. But we know mead is her favourite. And we know that she can’t have less than two of that drink. She needs this. Anyways,” she held her stein in front of her. “Happy Birthday, Meadowlark. Happy Birthday, Sunshine.” The two brothers smiled. They pushed their steins against Luna’s with a small clink coming from them. The three assembled ponies threw the contents down their throats with smiles on their faces.

Theory Versus Practice

“Why exactly are we doing this?” Scootaloo asked. Both her and her friends were writing on sheets of paper. Between them was a hat.

“Simple,” Sweetie Belle answered. “This way, we won’t argue about what to do for our next crusade. That, and it’s a lot easier than trying to remember what we did and didn’t do.”

“Fair enough,” Scootaloo folded her sheets and tossed them into the hat. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom did the same. “Apple Bloom, care to do the honours?”

“Gladly,” she said. Apple Bloom took put her hoof into the hat and began moving them around.

“Come on, give me parkour,” Scootaloo whispered.

“Please be surgeons, please be surgeons,” Apple Bloom said. After a few moments, she pulled out a sheet. It was unfolded and brought to her eyes. “And the winner is… what exactly is this?” Her friends walked behind her and looked at the sheet.

“Oh, that’s mine,” Sweetie Belle said. “While doing research for an essay, I found an interesting book about that topic. The book outlined some things that were incredible and unimaginable. So I thought we could try getting our cutie marks in that.”

“Well, can’t argue with that hat,” Scootaloo shrugged. “So what do we do first?”

“First, we need some robes. Then, we’ll go to the library to get the book. I think we can find an essential tool there as well.”

Two unicorns were walking towards Ponyville’s library. On both of their faces was a satisfied smile.

“Thank you for joining me at the spa today,” Rarity said.

“Thank you for inviting me,” Twilight replied. “Don’t you usually go with Fluttershy?”

“Unfortunately she was busy,” Rarity sighed. “A ferret had injured itself and needed her attention.” She looked around, making sure that no other pony could hear her. She waved Twilight to get closer. “I think it’s something else though.”

“Something else? Why would she lie about that?”

“Ever notice how she has a smile on her face? Not just any smile either, a wistful smile.” Twilight tapped her chin.

“I’ve never seen anything like that before. What are you getting at?” Rarity looked around.

“It’s best not to speak of it in public,” The two of them reached the library. “Actually, since we’re here, do you think I could borrow some books?”

“Of course,” Twilight opened the door. She was greeted by what looked like a religious ceremony. Candles were all around the foyer, arranged in certain patterns. A large glowing circle sat in the center of it all. In the middle of the circle was a wooden altar. Tied to the altar was an unconscious baby dragon. Standing above the altar and outside the circle were robed fillies. The filly standing above the altar had a knife in her hooves. The knife looked as if it were about to drop. All three of them were chanting in some unknown language. Twilight’s eyes widened. “Spike!”

“Gah!” the filly above the altar screamed. She dropped the knife beside her. The circle stopped glowing. All of the fillies turned their attention to the library’s entrance. “Twilight? Rarity?” One by one, they removed the hoods from their robes.

“Apple Bloom? Scootaloo? Sweetie Belle?” Rarity asked in shock. “What in Equestria were you doing?” The three of them looked at each other.

“What does it look like we’re doing?” Scootaloo asked. Twilight teleported to the altar and untied the sleeping dragon.

“It looked like you were about to kill Spike,” Twilight said. “What were you three thinking?”

“We thought we could get our cutie marks in demonology,” Sweetie Belle answered. She held up a blood red book with a pentagram on it. “I found this book while doing an essay last week. It outlines how to summon unearthly creatures.” Twilight held the book with her magic.

“I’ve never seen this book before,” she said. “Where did you find it?”

“Over there,” Sweetie Belle pointed to a shelf with the words “Black Magic” above it.

Twilight blinked. “How did I not notice that?”

Rarity walked to her sister. “Sweetie Belle, you and I are going to have a long talk about this,” Sweetie Belle’s ears flattened against her head. “Now, you three clean this entire room up. Afterwards, we’ll talk about a suitable punishment.”

“Yes Rarity,” all three crusaders said. Twilight, Rarity, and the unconscious body of Spike left them alone. When the door to the library closed, Twilight’s room opened. A baby dragon walked out. The three crusaders blew out the candles and opened the blinds.

“Did it work?” the baby dragon asked. “Were you able to summon the King’s Shadow?” The three fillies shook their heads.

“We were interrupted before we could sacrifice that Mimic you called,” Apple Bloom answered. “I think we could have done it too.”

“That doesn’t really matter,” Sweetie Belle said. “Did we get our cutie marks?” The three of them threw their robes off. Their heads turned to their flanks, unfortunately they were blank.

“Nuts,” Scootaloo said. “I was sure we would have gotten them this time. We’ve each summoned a demon! We were successful! So why didn’t we get our cutie marks?”

“Speaking of which,” Spike walked down the stairs. Following him was a small green blob with large childlike eyes and a mouth, a floating fox wearing a brown mantle and a monocle holding a musket in a pair of hands, and a small purple tornado with glowing yellow eyes. He pointed a thumb at his little convoy. “What do you plan to do with them?” The three crusaders looked at one another.

“New pets?” Apple Bloom suggested. Her friends nodded. “New pets it is.”

Holding A Heart

In Ponyville General Hospital, a beige unicorn was washing his hooves. The sound of water moving soothed his mind. No matter how many times he did this, it always made him nervous. He turned off the faucet just as a pink earth pony mare entered the room.

“Dr. Stable,” she said. “We’re ready when you are.” Dr. Stable took in a deep breath. With his magic, he grabbed two green medical scrubs. One was passed to the earth pony while the other was put on him. A surgical mask was placed over his muzzle.

“Thank you, Nurse Sweetheart,” Stable said. Both ponies exited the room. They walked in silence for a little while. Sweetheart looked at the doctor, his face held a worried expression.

“Nervous?” she asked. Stable nodded.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” he asked. “Right now, a filly is waiting to be saved. Even the smallest mistake can cost her life. I think my worry is justified.”

“You’ll be fine, Stable,” the nurse replied. “You’ve done this before, and I know you can do it again.” The doctor sighed.

“You’re right, I have no reason to worry about things that might not happen,” Stable turned to the pony beside him. “Thanks Sweetheart.” The mare smiled at him. Both ponies walked through a pair of doors into the surgery room. Various machines were hooked up to a pink earth pony filly. Three other nurses were in the room, all of them had surgical masks on. Stable approached the filly.

“Hello there,” he said to her. “I’m Dr. Stable. Who might you be?”

“I’m Diamond Tiara,” the filly said. “And if I die on the table, my daddy will sue you for every penny you have.” Stable chuckled.

“I can guarantee that that won’t happen,” he said. He signaled one of the nurses. A white earth pony mare placed a gas mask on her muzzle. A squeaking sound echoed in the room. “Can you breathe normally for me, Diamond Tiara?” The filly nodded.

“How long is this going to take?” her eyes were becoming heavy.

“It varies from case to case,” Stable answered. “It takes at least two hours though. But let’s move away from the procedure itself. How old are you?”

“Ten,” Diamond Tiara’s eyes were almost closed.

“Ten, you’re almost a big pony then,” Stable’s eyes were looking at a heart monitor. “What’s your cutie mark?”

“It’s a tiara,” her eyes closed.

“And how did you get it?” Diamond Tiara didn’t respond. Her chest moved up and down in a steady pattern. The heart monitor gave off a steady beep.

“Her vitals are normal,” Sweetheart said.

“Good, let’s get started,” Stable’s horn lit up. “Razor.” A razor was put into his magical grasp. It moved along Diamond Tiara’s chest, removing her fur. Afterwards, one of the nurses washed the area. The razor was given to the same nurse.

“Scalpel.” The white nurse handed him a scalpel. It moved along the filly’s exposed chest.

“Retractors,” two of the nurses handed him retractors. Her skin was opened up revealing her heart and lungs. The same nurses took and used the retractors to hold the skin down. Stable took in a deep breath. A different scalpel was handed to him. He used his magic to grasp Diamond Tiara’s heart. He could feel it beating in his grasp.

“Dr. Stable?” a nurse asked.

“I’m sorry, but it gets me every time,” he explained. “Right now I’m holding a pony’s life in my hooves. This is something that very few ponies get to experience. It just makes me think that about how fragile life really is. If I wanted to, I could crush this filly's heart and end her life. It would be easy too, all I'd have to do is apply a little pressure, cut a vein or two, and maybe stab an artery."

“You're not going to go aggro on us are you?” another nurse asked. “We've already had a doctor do that, I'll admit that taking him down was fun, but it's not something I'd like to live through again.”

"Relax, Nurse Tenderheart," Stable said. "I'm not going to intentionally kill a patient. It's just that the fragility of life makes it beautiful. It's awe inspiring. And it has to be protected."

"That's pretty and all," the third nurse said. "But don't you think we should finish this before you wax on poetically?" Stable chuckled.

“Always practical aren’t you, Nurse Coldheart?” With his hoof he signaled Sweetheart. She brought a cooler to him. “Alright, let’s give this little filly a new heart.”

To Battle

A yellow mare wearing an admiral’s hat slowly walked forward. To her right were three fillies: A yellow earth pony, a purple unicorn, and a yellow pegasus. All three of them had deep green combat helmets on their heads.

“If fighting is sure to result in victory,” the mare said. “Then you must fight! Sun Tzu said that, and I’d say he knows a little more about fighting than you pal, because he invented it!” She tapped on the earth pony’s helmet. All three of the fillies saluted.

“Ma’am, yes ma’am!” they said. The mare turned around and began pacing again.

“And then he perfected it, so that no living pony could best him in the ring of honour.” She turned her back to the fillies. Her eyes looked out at a carrot field. A small scowl formed on her face.

“To defeat the enemy, we must think like the enemy,” the pegasus raised her hoof. “Yes, Private Alula?”

“Who’s the enemy Miss Carrot Top?” she asked. Carrot Top turned around and glared at the pegasus. “Umm, I mean, General Carrot Top.”

“Excellent question,” Carrot Top said. “The enemy comes in many colours, but they all share the same basic shape. They’re small, they have fluffy tails, they have whiskers on their faces, and they have long pointy ears.” The unicorn tapped her chin.

“Aren’t those bunnies?” she asked.

“Indeed they are, Private Dinky,” Carrot Top’s eyes narrowed. “Those rabbits have been stealing my crops. They’ve been eating my products, and it’s making my profits dwindle on a regular basis. We must fight the furry menace!” Alula nudged the earth pony.

“Noi, I think your sister has lost it,” she whispered. “She’s declared a war on bunnies; I think she needs to be checked into an asylum.”

“A week ago, I would have agreed with you,” Noi whispered back. “But I’ve seen what they can do, they’re crafty little buggers.”

“They’re bunnies!” Dinky added. “What could bunnies do?” Carrot Top turned around. Her eyes became empty, almost as if she were reliving a horrible memory.

“You have no idea,” she whispered. A faint rumbling could be felt on the ground. Carrot Top looked up. A fire ignited itself in her eyes. “They’re here. Soldiers! Arm yourselves!”

“Ma’am, yes ma’am!” they saluted. Noi ran towards a box and opened it. She pulled out three tools: a hoe, a sickle, and a shovel. She took the shovel for herself and handed the other tools to her friends.

“General Carrot Top?” Dinky asked. “Aren’t you going to arm yourself?”

“Oh I’m already armed,” she replied. Carrot Top walked to a wagon big enough to carry four grown ponies. “And this is my weapon.” She reached into the wagon and pulled out a sword in a scabbard. “Ooos” could be heard from the fillies.

“Can you teach us how to sword fight?” Noi asked. Carrot Top jumped in the wagon. She signalled the three fillies to get in.

“After the battle, Private,” she answered. Off in the distance, she could see at least a dozen small creatures. She had to squint to see them clearly. She could see at least eighteen small rabbits, each of them varied in colour. They were standing around a small wooden wagon. Standing atop it was a white rabbit. He was wearing a combat helmet and at his side was a scabbard with a knife in it. The rabbit pulled out the knife. A smug smile was on his face. Carrot Top gritted her teeth. “Admiral Angel, we meet again.” He raised the knife up in the air. A wind blew between the two opposing armies. Both leaders were waiting patiently. Angel’s knife dropped, and all of the rabbits advanced.

“Drive me closer!” Carrot Top cried. She lurched forward and the wagon rolled. The sword was drawn from its scabbard and held in the air. “I want to hit them with my sword!” The wagon advanced towards the approaching rabbits. After a few moments, the wagon’s momentum slowed. Eventually, the wagon stopped. The rabbits however, were still approaching.

“Nuts,” Carrot Top said. The rabbits were nearing the wagon.

“Death by bunnies,” Alula said. “Not how I expected to go down.” The rabbit’s wagon passed by them and Angel jumped aboard. Carrot Top swung her sword at him. He parried the strike and began returning blows. The fillies stared at the pony and rabbit’s sword fight. All of the rabbits stopped their advance to watch the fight. They were just as mesmerized as the fillies.

“Wow,” Dinky said. “There’s something I never expected to see.” Noi nodded.

“Told you they were crafty,” she said. She poked her head out the side of the wagon. “Taking all bets! Carrot Top versus Angel! Taking all bets!” The rabbits swarmed around Noi with bits in their paws. They were frantically waving them around and chattering. Alula tapped her friend’s shoulder.

"Can I get in on that?"

A Little Chat

There could be no interruptions, no mistakes, and nopony to bother him. For the first time in a while, Spike had time to practice. It had taken a while to convince Twilight to leave him be, but he had done it. In his left hand was a lowball glass with ice and a brown liquid in it. A smile was on his face as he moved to the back room of the library. A knock stopped his trek. He sighed and went to the door. Opening it, he found a butter coloured pegasus. She had a solemn look on her face.

“Hello, Spike,” she said. “Do you think we can talk?”

“Sure,” he ushered the pony inside. “Follow me.” He closed the door and led the yellow pony.

“I need to talk to you abou…” Spike raised his right hand.

“Not yet, Fluttershy,” he interrupted. “Just wait for a bit. Normally, I don’t like it when ponies bother me during my practice time, but I can see you need somepony to talk to.” The two of them walked in silence until they reached a black curtain. Spike walked behind it and Fluttershy followed. On the other side of the curtain was a black baby grand piano. Spike sat down at the bench and placed a coaster on the piano.

“Okay,” he placed his drink on the coaster. “Talk to me Fluttershy. What’s bothering you?” His hands moved across the keys. A soothing melody came from the piano as he played.

“Well, it’s about Twilight,” she explained. “I really really like her. She’s one of my closest friends. But…”

“But?”

“Being close friends isn’t enough. I want something more,” Spike took a pull from his drink. “I treasure the friendship I have with her, but it isn’t as satisfying as it was before. I think, I think I want something more from her.”

“That being the case,” Spike said. “Why not ask her out?”

“I can’t do that!” Fluttershy screamed. The only sound between the two was the song that Spike was playing.

“You’re going to have to explain this to me,” he said. “Why can’t you do that?” Fluttershy tapped the floor.

“Because if I ask her out and she doesn’t feel the same, then there’s going to be a rift between us. The rift is going to get so big that we won’t speak with each other ever again. And then our friends will eventually have to pick whether to spend time with either me or Twilight. Then they'll hate me for separating us!” the room’s occupants were silent.

“You’ve really thought this out haven’t you?” Fluttershy nodded. “Why come to me?”

“I don’t know what to do,” she hung her head. “Twilight is very important to me, and I feel so lost.”

“Again, why me?”

“Because you know Twilight. If anyone knows how she would react to something like this, it’s you.” Spike closed his eyes. His fingers were still dancing across the piano’s keys.

“I say take a chance and go for it,” he said. “Twilight is an understanding pony. Even if she doesn’t see you the same way you see her, she’ll still want to be friends with you. She won’t push you away just because you like her. Twilight cherishes all of her friendships, including the one she has with you.” Spike’s fingers played the last notes of his song. He pulled from his drink.

“And besides,” he continued. “You’re only focusing on the negatives. What happens if she feels the same about you?”

“Does she?” Spike smiled.

“She may have a thing for a certain yellow pegasus who cares for animals,” Fluttershy turned beet red. “And she may have been trying to find the right words to say to her.” A smile formed on her face.

“Thank you, Spike,” she said. “I’m sorry for interfering with your practice.”

“Don’t be, it was nice to have somepony to play to. Do you know what you’re going to do?” Fluttershy tapped her chin.

“Actually, I do. And I could use your help.”

“What do you need?”

“Do you know how to play Dream a Little Dream of Me?” Spike turned back to the piano and placed his drink on the coaster. He cracked his neck and fingers before pressing the keys. Fluttershy smiled as the melody moved around the room. “Perfect. Here’s what we do.”

Preparations

“Last one!” Rainbow Dash called. She and a group of pegasi were attaching an anchor to the ground. Much like eleven other anchors, a rope was attached to this one. On the other side of the ropes was a large cloud. Standing on the cloud was a stone tower that stood as tall as one of Canterlot Castle’s spires. How a stone tower stood on the cloud was beyond Rainbow Dash, but not beyond her intellectual friend. As soon as it appeared in the skies of Ponyville, she wanted it anchored to the ground. She wanted to know how the cloud was supporting the tower as well as what was inside. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, Rainbow was curious as well. The inside of the tower could hold an innumerable number of treasures. Exploring it would be an adventure, and it was something she did not want to miss. Rainbow pushed on the rope testing its strength, when she saw that it was up to par she smiled.

“Alright, that’s the last one,” she said. “You can all take a break for the day. I don’t think we need to worry about weather duty with this thing in the sky.” The pegasi all cheered and went their separate ways. When they were out of sight, Rainbow flew to the library. She was promised that by the time she and the weather team were done anchoring the tower; her friend would be ready to head out. She flew through an open window in the library and landed on a balcony looking over the foyer. Below her was a purple unicorn with a checklist in front of her.

“Hey,” she said. “Ready to head out?” The purple unicorn looked up.

“Not yet, Rainbow,” she said. “I have a few more things to pack before we start the expedition.”

“What’s left?” Rainbow jumped down to the foyer. “I can get it for you. The faster you pack, the faster we can go explore the tower.”

“This isn’t something you can rush,” Twilight returned to her checklist. “This is a major archeological find. There could be thousands of artifacts that could be waiting to be found. The right tools are needed to extract them.”

“So we’re grave robbing?” Twilight looked up at her friend with disgust. “What? What you just described sounds exactly like grave robbing.”

“We’re not grave robbing,” she said. “We’re going on an archeological expedition to the tower.”

“Which most likely is from a long gone civilization.”

“Exactly.”

“And inside is most likely the remains of said civilization.”

“That’s right.”

“In other words, one massive grave.”

“Correct.”

“So we’re going to go inside this massive grave to take objects of meaning and importance from this civilization without permission.”

“Yep.”

“Then we’re grave robbing.”

“Yes we are… hey wait a minute!” Rainbow was laughing at her. “Rainbow, we're not grave robbing!”

“Come on, Twilight,” Rainbow laughed. “Lighten up. There’s no reason to be ashamed of grave robbing. Archeologists get paid to grave rob.”

“We're not grave robbing!” Twilight shouted.

“Wait, you’re not?” a young voice asked. Both ponies turned to the source of the voice. They found a purple baby dragon holding a box. He put the box down in front of him. “Then why did you ask me to get our grave robbing stuff?” Twilight chuckled nervously.

“Ha ha, very funny, Spike,” her eyes were rapidly moving back and forth. “I don’t have any grave robbing tools.”

“What are you talking about?” Spike pulled a crowbar from the box. “We used this when we broke into the Canterlot Catacombs. It was also used to extract Osiris’ Crown from that body we found.” He reached into the box and pulled out a small sledge hammer. “And we used this to break that mausoleum in the Royal Cemete….” He was stopped as his mouth was magically turned into a zipper. Sweat began rolling from Twilight’s head.

“Rainbow, could you see if any of our friends want to join us?” said pony shrugged.

“Whatever. I’ll be back here in half an hour,” Rainbow took off and left through the window. A sigh left Twilight’s mouth.

“That was close,” she turned to Spike. “Your timing was terrible.” Spike unzipped his mouth.

“Hey, it’s your fault for telling me to get this stuff last,” he defended. “You could have told me that Rainbow would be here.”

“I didn’t think she’d be done so early,” Twilight said. “Still, have to keep that a secret.” Spike mimed zipping his mouth. Twilight smiled at him.

“So,” he said. “Are we actually going to go grave robbing?” Twilight laughed. She telekinetically reached into the box and pulled out a black sack with a gold rope tied to it. Spike grinned.

“Do you really need an answer to that?”

Blueprints

A baby dragon, a purple unicorn, a pink earth pony, and a blue pegasus sat in the foyer of Ponyville’s library. All around them were various diagrams of machines. Each of the designs had one thing in common: they were meant to be time machines. A few weeks earlier, the librarian and her assistant had created technology that would allow one to travel through time. They were ecstatic by their creation and wanted to share it with everypony. The only problem was that they didn’t have a design to put said technology in. So they called their friends for help.

“How about the blue box?” Pinkie asked. “A blue box is inconspicuous. If you travel in any era, nopony will look at it.”

“It’s a big blue box,” Rainbow Dash said. “I think ponies are going to notice if a blue box just appears out of nowhere. And when that happens, I think ponies are going to start asking questions. What about that one?” She pointed to a metal carriage with two doors opening upwards.

“Definitely not,” Twilight said. “That design creates a trail of fire as it jumps through time.”

“That sounds awesome!”

“It’s also very noticeable. Plus, you have to be able to get it to go eighty eight miles to activate that design.”

“Why eighty eight miles?”

Twilight tapped her chin. “You know, I’m not really sure why I made it eighty eight miles.”

“We’re getting distracted from the issue at hand,” Spike said. He slashed a quill on a picture with a silver box on it. At the top of it was the word “Phone”. “I think we can say no to this one, it’s too similar to the blue box.” All of the ponies mumbled in agreement. “What about the Den Liner?” Spike held up a picture of a mechanical train with two red windows forming what looked like eyes.

“So a blue box is too noticeable, but a giant train that flies through the sky is okay?” Pinkie asked. “You have some strange logic.” Everyone looked at Pinkie. “What?”

“Nothing,” Twilight said. “Nothing at all. But Pinkie is right; the Den Liner would cost too much to create. But I think we’re on the right track. What do you think of the Zero Liner?” Twilight showed everyone a picture of a black train with a single caboose. It had two yellow bull horns at the side of it as well as a bull face at the front.

“Oh yes, a train that flies through the sky with a bull face on it is totally unnoticeable,” Rainbow rolled her eyes. She looked at notes on the train. “Why does this cost just as much to make as the other train?”

“The second caboose has a large propeller built into it,” Twilight explained. “When the propeller opens up, the train can fly like Pinkie’s cycle-copter without the need for the train tracks.”

“What possible practical use does that have?”

“None, I just thought it would be a cool idea.” Rainbow smacked her forehead. Pinkie was flipping through various pictures and notes.

“I like this one,” she held up a picture of a large bipedal robot. It was wearing a yellow helmet with a black visor that formed a T. “What’s its name and how does it work?”

“I designed that,” Spike said. “Its name is Providus. Basically, the right arm extends and hits a small shuttle. The shuttle then flies at a high speed on a pre-set track towards a portal. Once it flies through the portal, it flies through time.”

“How does the shuttle fly back to the point of origin?” Silence was in the room.

“Damnit!” Spike screamed. “I knew I forgot something when designing it.”

“It wouldn’t work on a practical level anyways,” Twilight said. “Providus stands as tall as Canterlot Castle, and it would cost too much to make the shuttle, the track, and the portal.” Twilight rubbed her eyes.

“It’s getting late, maybe we should continue this tomorrow.” Everyone nodded in agreement. When Pinkie and Rainbow left, both Spike and Twilight began gathering the notes and diagrams.

“How are we going to get funding for this anyways?” Spike asked.

“Government stipend,” Twilight answered.

“Why do we need a new design anyways? Doesn’t what we have work already?” He was flipping through the designs as Twilight did the same.

“Who’s going to believe that we discovered how to travel through time by duct taping a duck and an alarm clock to a microwave?” Spike shrugged. “Exactly. When we have a more dignified design, then we can show it to everypony. Come on, maybe we can decide on a design before we go to bed.” Twilight placed the pictures on a nearby table and sorted through them with Spike. They could share the secrets of time itself with everypony, as soon as a less nonsensical design was chosen.

Business Deal

Fancy Pants, the most important pony in Canterlot. How would one define importance though? If it were in terms of wealth, then yes, Fancy Pants would indeed be the most important in Canterlot, possibly the whole country. Many knew him as a business pony, an entrepreneur, a socialite, a philanthropist, and a historian. In Canterlot alone, he owned three different museums. Each one dedicated to ancient artifacts and history coming from each of the three sub races of pony kind. All of them held an innumerable number of relics from ages long gone. What most didn’t know is that Fancy Pants collected those relics himself. The unicorn was an adventurer at heart. Whenever one of the archaeologists he employed informed him of a new find, he would drop everything to go searching for it. Both he and a pony who everypony assumed was his special somepony, returned to their home from such an adventure. The two of them were carrying boxes and sacks of treasure. A pleased smile was on Fancy Pant’s face as he set everything down in his study.

“It’s good to be home,” he said. He sat on a couch and stretched himself. Popping sounds could be heard from his spine as well as a nearby fireplace. “Ooh, I may be getting a little old for this.”

“Perhaps you should stop,” a female voice said. Fancy Pants looked up to find a white unicorn mare with a long pink mane and tail. She was telekinetically holding two glasses of red wine. “You’ll run yourself ragged. Try focusing on your businesses, it’s safer.” The elder unicorn flashed her a cocky smile as he accepted a glass.

“Safer is just another way to say less fun,” he laughed. “And you’re suggesting that I give up the adventure? Surely you jest, Fleur. Besides, if I wasn’t a treasure hunter, things like Osmium’s Crown.” He pulled an osmium crown with black tourmalines embedded in it. “Would not be unearthed until generations from how.” Fleur giggled.

“You have too much faith in your luck,” she said.

“I don’t have luck,” he retorted. “I have intelligence.” Fleur raised her glass. A warm smile was on her face.

“To our successful expedition,” she began. “And to all those who will gain more than they can imagine from it.” Fancy Pants pushed his glass to hers. The smile on Fleur’s face grew. And after this drink, that will be truer for me than it is for every other pony. She closed her eyes and raised the glass to her lips. After a single sip, she looked to Fancy Pants. He still had the glass in front of him.

“Not going to drink?” she asked. He shook his head.

“Oh I will, but wine isn’t meant to be enjoyed on its own,” he began. The glass was held to his eyes and swirled. “It’s meant to be examined. I believe this is a malbec, and its colour is marvelous. It’s deep but light makes it seem much younger than it already is.” The glass was brought to his stout. He breathed in the wine.

“And the smell,” he continued with his eyes closed. “It’s wonderful. It smells of plums, of berries, and I believe…” The contents of the glass were thrown in to the fireplace. For a brief moment the fire inside grew and glowed blue. A coy smile appeared on Fancy Pant’s face. “Of poison.” Fleur blanched. She dropped her glass and ran for the exit. The sitting unicorn lit up his horn, the doors in the study closed before Fleur could reach them. She turned around to him.

“How did you know?” The elder unicorn opened his eyes.

“Did you really think I’d fall for that?” he asked. “Oh Fleur, I thought you’d be more creative! Why go with something so cliché?”

“Can’t go wrong with the classics,” she answered. A chuckle came from Fancy Pants.

“Fair enough,” he got off the couch and approached the trapped mare. “And to answer your question, I hear things. Many ponies in the elite have had their resources taken from them. In all of those accounts, a certain unicorn mare was the single connecting factor. Every pony knows, or at least believes, that a business pony’s significant other takes what’s left from said business pony when they reach ruin.”

“How did you connect that to me?”

“Come now, Fleur,” he said. Fancy Pants stopped directly in front of her. “I’ve told you before: I’ve gotten to where I am by being smarter than the smarties, and tougher than the toughies. Unlike others, I paid attention to certain aspects of these mares. They all had the exact same facial structure and colour of eyes. I highly doubt that a mare birthed thirteen identical ponies. So the only logical option was that they were the same pony. I’m a little surprised that you’ve decided to do away with me. You didn’t do it with the others, so why me?” Fleur smiled.

“Because I’ve seen firsthand that you truly embody what it means to be a survivor,” she said. “It seems that I have been caught. I assume I’m off to some dungeon now?”

“Admittedly, this has been fun, but I’m afraid that our current relationship must end.”

“I can’t say that I’m disappointed. I’m glad to have been bested by the most important pony in…”

“How would you like a job?” he asked.

Fleur blinked. “Excuse me?” A child like smile appeared on Fancy Pant’s face.

“You’re crafty. I like that,” he explained. “Not only that, but you’ve shown to have the drive that was once in those in the elite. You could be a very powerful enemy, or a welcome ally. I’d prefer if you were the latter.” Fleur took in his offer. Theoretically, she could make more by working with Fancy Pants. Alternatively, the thrill would eventually disappear.

“What does this job entail?” she asked.

“Exactly the same thing that we’ve been doing,” Fleur cocked her head in confusion. “The only difference is that you’ll be accompanying me on every treasure hunt, and you will be my head advisor for all of my business affairs. So, Miss Fleur-de-Lis, do we have a deal?” One of Fancy Pant’s forelegs was extended. The pony in front of him shook it. Both of them had smiles on their faces.

“A little word of warning,” Fleur said. “If something better comes along, I will take that opportunity. And when that happens, we may go against each other.”

“Then that’ll be an interesting day,” he answered. An orange glow came from Fancy’s horn. From the study’s desk, a glass of white wine and two glasses were pulled out. The bottle was opened and its contents were poured into the glasses. “Let’s have a proper toast. Shall we?” One of the glasses was enveloped in a pink glow. Both of the glasses clinked together, and both were raised to the unicorns’ lips.

Graduation

Up above the skies of Canterlot was a swirling purple vortex. Floating just under the eye of the vortex was the princess of the sun. Her eyes were focusing on the swirling energies. A smile was on her face.

“Soon, nopony will stand in my way,” she said. Off in the distance, she spotted a pale blue glow. The glow seemed to be moving closer to her at high speeds. “What is tha…” The blue glow tackled her from the air. The glow was coming from a blue balloon shaped gem. The gem was at the center of a golden necklace. Wearing it was a pink earth pony with a poofy pink mane. Her eyes burned with a fiery determination.

“Interfering again?” Celestia asked. The pink pony kept pushing Celestia downwards.

“Twilight once said that we can’t move forward through hatred!” the pink pony said. “That’s why I’ll take your anger and despair and turn it around to befriend you!” With her hind legs, she kicked Celestia to the ground. The pink pony back flipped and landed on her hooves while Celestia fell on her back.

“Silly little mare,” she said getting up. Celestia looked straight at the pink pony with anger in her eyes. “Tell me, Pinkie, what do you think you can accomplish?” The necklace’s glow stopped.

“I have a present for you,” Pinkie answered. “Take it. But first, look over there!” She pointed behind Celestia. Her eyes closed as a chuckle left her mouth.

“I’ve been alive far longer than you can imagine,” she said. “I highly doubt that…” The world felt as it were moving at incredibly high speeds for Celestia. When she opened her eyes, both she and Pinkie were standing in the throne room of Canterlot Castle. Her eyes looked around the room in confusion.

“The throne room? How did we get here?” Her eyes reached the end of the room. Instead of a throne being there, a stage stood in its place. A red and white stripped backdrop stood behind four ponies and a baby dragon. At the center of the back drop was a golden folding screen. In front of that was a table with a vase on it. The vase held a bouquet of flowers; the flowers were as bright and vibrant as the sun. Two flags were hanging beside the folding screen: one burned and one in pristine condition. The pristine flag was that of Equestria’s. The burnt flag had what looked like a purple six-pointed star on it. Surrounding the star were five other shapes: a cyan balloon, a red lightning bolt, a pink butterfly, an orange apple, and a purple diamond. Each of the ponies wore a necklace sharing one of the shapes. The baby dragon was holding a tiara with a star shaped amethyst on it. Above all that was a banner.

Graduation Ceremony

Thank you, Princess Celestia

-The Children of Harmony

All five of the stage’s occupants stepped forward.

“Everyone,” Spike said. “Bow.” He and the four ponies bowed their heads. After a few seconds, they raised their heads.

“Opening words,” Spike continued. “We will now be graduating from the influence of Princess Celestia.”

“What are you blathering on about?” Celestia asked. Pinkie’s right hoof tapped her shoulder.

“Please accept our feelings, Princess!” her hoof pointed at Celestia. She ran forward and attempted to punch Celestia. The alabaster alicorn was pushed back. Pinkie kept attacking. A white hoof pushed Pinkie to the ground. She rolled and got up. Again, she attacked Celestia. Pinkie jumped in the air and put a hoof across Celestia’s face. Celestia stumbled.

“To continue, parting words from the graduates,” Spike said. A white unicorn to his right walked ahead of the group.

“Thank you, Princess Celestia,” she said. “I’m grateful to you for keeping our country in peace.” Pinkie kicked the princess in the chest. An orange pony joined her white companion.

“We’ve met irreplaceable friends during your rule,” she said. “And we ourselves became better ponies.” Celestia’s shoulders were grabbed by the pink pony. Her head was thrust forward and crashed into Celestia’s. To Spike’s left, a cyan pegasus stepped forward.

“From your tasks, we saw our ugliness and weaknesses,” she said. “But by overcoming them, we found our strength.” One of Pinkie’s hind legs collided with the side of Celestia’s face. A yellow pegasus hid under her mane as she stepped forward.

“We’re all small,” she said. Her head was lifted and part of her mane was slid to the side. “But even if our hooves are small, if we all reach together we can catch something big.” Pinkie jumped back as Celestia tried to fight back.

“We’ll use our hands and hooves to grasp on to this country where we learned that!” Spike said. “This country, the Earth, and even the universe…” His right hand was raised. “We will all grab on to them ourselves!” The hand was clenched into a fist. Pinkie pushed the solar princess back. She looked at the princess with a smile on her face.

“Hope is always on our side,” she said. “This is our bond. That’s why today… we’re graduating from being your students.” Spike threw the tiara at Pinkie. She caught it and placed it over her head. “And we’re graduating Equestria from your control!” All five of the necklaces gave off a glow. Celestia laughed at the sight.

“Pretty words,” she laughed. “But that’s all they are. You can’t use the Elements of Harmony. The bearer of magic is dead. Without her, you can’t use the Elements’ power.” From the five ponies, coloured energy moved from their necklaces. The energies touched the amethyst. Violet energy began covering Pinkie’s body. Celestia moved back in shock.

“How?” The group in front of her smiled.

“It seems you’ve forgotten a lesson of yours,” Pinkie said.

“One of the most important lessons you’ve taught us,” Applejack added.

“A lesson that everypony should know,” Rarity said.

“A lesson that we all hold close to our hearts,” Spike put a hand over his chest.

“A lesson that will stand the test of time,” Rainbow Dash flashed a cocky grin.

“A lesson that the very country we stand in was founded on,” Fluttershy pushed the last of her mane out of her face.

“And that would be?” The last of the energy covered Pinkie’s body. The tiara shined with the intensity of a star. Pinkie’s mane erupted into fuchsia coloured fire.

“Friendship is magic,” she said. Pinkie leapt up to punch Celestia. Her horn lit up, creating a barrier between herself and the flaming pony. As the two of them struggled against each other, the stage’s occupants were cheering. The necklaces’ glow strengthened and the barrier cracked. Pinkie eventually pushed her way past and pushed a hoof through the princess. She stood a few feet behind her. The violet energy returned to the tiara and her mane returned to normal.

“Representing all the graduates, the Element of Laughter,” Pinkie slicked back her mane. “Pinkameina Diane Pie.” Celestia weakly turned to the pink pony. Cracks were forming on her body as she did so. Her face contorted in pain as she fell to the ground. Sound akin to ceramic shattering echoed in the room. The stage’s occupants and Pinkie approached the fallen alicorn. All around the alicorn were pieces of what looked like shattered white ceramic. She was slightly taller than the assembled ponies and had a pink mane and tail.

“Impossible,” she said trying to stand. Pinkie kneeled down to face Celestia.

“Impossible for you,” she said. “But that’s because you’ve lost sight of what’s important. You once ruled this great country with love and friendship. Somewhere along the line, that changed. But it can still be that way once more. Be my friend, Princess.” Celestia looked up at her.

“Twilight, and Princess Luna too,” Pinkie said smiling. “I’m sure that’s what they would have wanted.” Celestia struggled to stand.

“What are you?” she asked. Pinkie stood up, still smiling.

“I’m Pinkamenia Diane Pie,” her right hoof tapped her shoulder twice. “I’m the pony who’ll befriend all the ponies in Equestia!” The hoof was pointed at Celestia. She pushed it forward inviting the alicorn to shake it. Celestia looked to Pinkie with confusion. Her right hoof cautiously grasped the pink pony’s. Pinkie shook, cupped, and hit the end of Celestia’s hoof. The top of Celestia’s hoof was then hit, followed by the bottom. A warm smile appeared on Pinkie’s face, and Celestia slowly matched that expression.

“Come on,” Pinkie said. “It’s time to make things as they once were.”

***
A/N: Ten hypothetical dollars (or the equivalent thereof) to whoever guesses where this scene originally comes from. And ten more hypothetical dollars (or the equivalent thereof) if you can guess who's replacing what character.

Sparkle's Psychotic Science

Twilight Sparkle with another “genius” idea. THE FOAL FREE PRESS/Featherweight.

*Names have been altered to protect the identity of the pony who was interviewed.

Twilight Sparkle, Ponyville’s resident librarian and protégé to Princess Celestia, has been performing experiments that cross the line. What line exactly? The line that ponies are not meant to cross. On Thursday April 12th, Sparkle created an abomination to nature.

“Oh it was dreadful,” said ‘Charity’, a local dress maker. “There were these dark clouds just hovering over the library. And these tacky metal spires were touching the sky.” ‘Charity’ had walked in on Sparkle performing experiments. According to ‘Charity’, Sparkle was “laughing manically and spitting in Mother Nature’s face”. When asked to elaborate, she said that Sparkle was creating life.

“You should have seen this… well ‘thing’ is the only way to describe it,” she said. “It was horrible, an affront to nature itself. Celestia should smite it where it stands!” The Foal Free Press decided to talk to Sparkle about the accusation.

“This is all just baseless conjuncture,” Sparkle explained. “I have not been trying to create life.” During The Foal Free Press’ interview, an explosion happened in the background. Immediately, the reporter questioned it. Sparkle explained that she was supposedly asked by Princess Celestia to create “dynamite for miners”. Unfortunately, The Foal Free Press could not receive any more information from Sparkle.

“You’re asking too many questions,” Spike, Sparkle’s assistant and baby dragon, told The Foal Free Press. “Ponies who ask questions, must be silenced.” Before the reporter could ask what that threat meant, a pony made out of clay appeared behind Spike. The photographer accompanying the reporter took multiple pictures of the ‘thing’, but they were all lost. Spike threw what looked like a scroll in the ‘thing’s’ mouth and it attacked the two ponies. They both survived, however all photographic evidence was lost due to the camera being destroyed.

Both Sparkle and Spike have been creating abominations of nature and science. Do not listen to what Sparkle says, she is playing god, and she must be stopped.

“I’m not playing god, I’m just doing science.”

Grasping Something Big

Every citizen of Equestria had their head to the skies. All of them were focused on something quickly climbing the atmosphere. Smoke could be seen coming from the object as it propelled itself forward. Some could see a spark leaving the trail of smoke. Others could see a metallic object with fire spitting out of the end of it. Whatever they saw, they all looked to it with hope, admiration, and awe. In a research facility in Canterlot, dozens of ponies were sitting at monitors. At the center of the room was a large monitor with the object in it. Many of them wore headsets and talking into them. Looking over it all was a purple unicorn. She had a pair of glasses on her face and, like the others, was wearing a headset. Various voices around the room spoke of the object.

“Output is at 70%,” a male earth pony said.

“Vital systems on the subject are stable,” a female pegasus said. The purple unicorn nodded.

“Good,” she said. “Once the output reaches 85%, tell her to use the afterburner.” The unicorn tapped the desk she was at.

“Awfully nervous aren’t you?” a voice said beside her. She turned to see a pubescent dragon beside her. He wore a white lab coat and had a pair of metallic balls in his hand. He offered them to her. “Here, these should calm you down.” The balls were enveloped in a purple glow.

“I think I have a legitimate reason to be nervous, Spike,” she said. The balls began rotating clockwise in her magical grip. “This is the very first time something like this has been attempted. If anything goes wrong, all those years of research will go to waste.”

“Waste for today,” Spike said. “But not for tomorrow. We have to do all we can today to live for tomorrow. If you make a mistake now, you learn from it to see the next dawn.” Twilight chuckled.

“You’ve been spending too much time around Zecora,” she said. “I think she’s rubbing off on you.”

“Even if she is, I don’t mind,” he replied. “You don’t have a reason to be nervous. She’s been trained by the best, and since that’s you, you can rest easy. Besides, it’s not like she…”

“Output has reached 85%!” the pegasus interrupted. The metallic balls were crushed to dust in Twilight’s magical grip. She lifted her hoof to the right side of the headset.

“Activate the afterburner,” she said. On the other side of the headset, a muffled response was heard. All of the ponies in the research facility looked at the monitors. For a brief moment, the object stopped spewing smoke. Time seemed to slow down for every creature in the room. “Come on, work.” Bright white flames came from the end of the object as well as more smoke. It propelled itself even further and at a faster rate.

“Launch the probe!” Twilight ordered. One of the ponies pressed a button. The large monitor split vertically. The right half of it was black, while the other part showed the moving object. The flames coming from it were slowing down. Eventually, the object dwindled to nothingness. “Turn it on. I want to see everything.” The screen was enveloped in black. Typing sounds could be heard in the room as well as muttering. The screen turned on showing the object floating above a blue background.

“Exodus One, can you hear me,” the earth pony said. He was answered by static. “I repeat, Exodus One, can you hear me?” Again, static was heard. The sound of static echoed in the room. Twilight bit her lower lip.

“Please,” she said. “Please be okay.” The earth pony frantically typed at his terminal.

“Exodus One, please respond,” he said. The static cut to a female giggle.

“I have a name,” the disembodied voice said. The image in the monitor split in half. Half of the screen was occupied a pony in a special suit. On the front part of the body was technology and tubes feeding the suit. The head was covered in a helmet with a glass dome in the front of it. Inside the dome was a pink pony with bright blue eyes. She had a smile on her face. “And I don’t think Exodus One can talk. But if he could, I think he’d be happy to tell you something.” Twilight’s eyes widened.

“And what would that be, Pinkie?” she asked. The smile on the pink pony’s face widened.

“He’d tell you that launch was successful,” she said. “And that we’ve successfully taken the first steps to kissing the stars.” All around the country, ponies were cheering. Many of them were cheering because their race had accomplished the impossible. Others were cheering because they knew that somepony important to them was still alive. And some were cheering for the sake of cheering. The ponies in the research facility were happily cheering due to their successful mission. It was in Twilight’s nature to give a congratulatory speech for their achievement, but something told her that it wasn’t appropriate right now. She wiped a tear from her eye as the moment had finally sunk in her mind: she had successfully sent a pony off the planet.

Waking Up

Twilight was enjoying herself. She and five of her closest friends were up above Sugar Cube Corner enjoying a private party. Twilight had no idea why Pinkie was throwing this party, but she learned to stop questioning the pink pony and to enjoy herself. She was having a conversation with Rarity and Fluttershy as Pinkie and Rainbow Dash looked at her. Both of them had sad smiles on their faces.

“It’s time isn’t it?” Pinkie asked. Her cerulean friend nodded.

“We have to do this,” she replied. “Otherwise, well, who knows what will happen?”

“Besides,” a new voice cut in. Both ponies turned to see Applejack approaching them. “She can’t stay here forever.” Her friends nodded in agreement. They approached their other friends. Rarity took notice of them and a sad smile appeared on her face.

“Twilight,” she began. “It’s time we said something. Something all of us should have said months ago.”

“And what would that be?” Twilight asked.

“Wake up,” Fluttershy said. Twilight tilted her head in confusion.

“I don’t understand. Fluttershy, I’m already awake. I don’t need to wake up.” Applejack took off her stetson.

“You know that voice you hear?” she asked. “That one that’s asking you to open your eyes?” Twilight’s eyes widened.

“How…how do you know about that?”

“That’s because we all hear it,” Rainbow said. “We’ve always heard it, even before you came to Ponyville.”

“We didn’t understand what it meant,” Pinkie said. “But as soon as I saw you, I understood. That’s why I did this incredible gasp when we first met.”

“Twilight, this may be hard to listen to,” Rarity began. “But none of us really exist. This version of Equestria doesn’t really exist.” Tears started flowing from Twilight’s eyes.

“No, no it can’t be,” she trembled. “This is a prank right? An overly elaborate prank? Ha ha, you girls got me good.” Her five friends had sadness enter their eyes.

“I’m sorry,” Fluttershy said. She wrapped the purple unicorn in a hug. “But it’s true. It’s time for you to wake up.” The room they all occupied started fading to nothingness. Twilight pushed herself away from the hug.

“No, I don’t want to,” she sobbed. “I’ve never been happier than I have been with you girls. If this is a dream, or some fantasy, I don’t want to go to reality. I won’t have any of you there.” Rainbow approached the crying pony. A cerulean hoof lifted Twilight’s chin. All six of the ponies were standing in an empty void.

“Not right now,” she said. “But you will. The rainboom all those years ago actually happened. We do exist on the other side.”

“But how?”

“Allow me to explain,” Pinkie pulled a chalkboard and some chalk into existence. She began drawing on it. “When you were trying to get into the School for Gifted Unicorns, the rainboom actually did unlock your magical potential. However, you used too much of your energy. When Celestia calmed you down, you lost something. Something that kept you grounded in reality. So, your mind had to create a scenario to keep you alive.”

“How do you all exist then?”

“Simple,” Rarity turned the chalkboard around. She took the chalk from her pink friend and drew on the board. “When your magic went out of control, you connected to something important. All magic, even the magic that the pegasi and earth ponies use, is connected. It binds us, connects us, and makes us live. You tapped into that connection, and your mind connected to the magic of five other ponies. Those five ponies who, like yourself, were affected by the rainboom. Thus, your mind created images based on their internal magic. And then, we came into existence.” Applejack walked to Twilight. She wiped a tear away from her eyes.

“You’ll see us again when you wake up,” she said. “I promise that. But we won’t be as we are now.” The purple unicorn sniffed.

“I don’t want to say good bye,” she said.

“You have to,” Pinkie said. “Saying good bye fractures the soul. It hurts for a while, but once it’s back together, it’s stronger than it once was.” All five of the ponies started to fade into the darkness. They all had tears and smiles on their faces.

“You may hurt today,” Rarity said.

“But that pain tells us we’re alive,” Rainbow added.

“You’ll heal,” Applejack put her stetson back on her head.

“And when you do,” Fluttershy sobbed.

“You’ll be stronger than you were before,” Pinkie said. “So we have to say this for now, good bye Twilight Sparkle. We’ll see you soon.” All five of them bowed before fading into darkness.

In a hospital in Canterlot, a purple filly slowly opened her eyes. She was in a hospital bed and was connected to various machines. Beside her was a sleeping white unicorn mare with a purple and white mane. The sound of footsteps entered the filly’s ears.

“I see you’re awake,” a voice said. The voice was coming from a white alicorn with four colours in her mane.

“Princess?” the filly said groggily. “Why am I here?”

“After your entrance exam, you fell into a coma. It’s been a year since that happened,” Celestia said. “I couldn’t do anything to help bring you back. But there’s something I can do to make up for that. You still have all that magical potential in you, and you need to learn to properly control it. Twilight Sparkle, would you like to become my personal protégé?” A small smile appeared on Twilight’s face.

“Yes.”

Pride

“Say ahhhhh Spike,” Twilight said levitating a spoon. Sitting in front of her was an infantile dragon. He was staring at the spoon in awe and was reaching for it. “If you don’t, you won’t get these tasty rubies.” The dragon opened his mouth and an “ahhhh” echoed from his mouth. The spoon entered his mouth and it closed.

“There we go,” she said pulling the spoon away. A smile formed on her face as she watched the dragon chew on his gems. The sight was adorable and always made Twilight happy. Spike’s face contorted in pain. He kept lurching forward as if he wanted to throw up. Twilight picked him up. “Please be a burp, please be a burp.” She tapped his back three times. A large belch came from him and a jet of green fire shot out of his mouth. A yawn came from Spike and his eyes started to close.

“Awww, looks like somepony’s tired,” she cooed. Twilight carried Spike to a nearby basket. She put him inside and slid a blanket over him. Spike’s eyes had closed and another yawn escaped his mouth. Twilight kissed the baby dragon’s forehead. “Night night, Spike.”

“Night night, Twilight,” he said. Twilight stared at Spike. His eyes were closed and a smile was on his face. Gentle breathing could be heard from him. She sat beside the basket and pulled a purple journal beside her. Twilight opened it and began to write. Tears welled up in her eyes.

Dear Diary,

Today Spike said his first words.

Trapped

Fear. Fear is something that every sapient creature knows. It is built into every single life on the planet. Contrary to what some would say fear is always a part of life. When one is no longer afraid of something, their fear shifts to something else. As much as Rainbow Dash boasted about not being afraid of anything, there was one thing that constantly scared her. She was in a small room roughly the size of a closet. The walls were far apart enough to fit two ponies in the room. The ceiling shared its measurements. Behind her was a solid wooden wall and in front of her was a wooden door without a handle on it. She was frantically pounding on the door.

“Let me out!” she screamed. “Let me out! For the love of Faust, let me out!” Her words fell on deaf ears. The pegasus backed away from the door panting. Her eyes were rapidly moving around looking for an escape. She tried to run at the door, but due to a lack of space she couldn’t pick up any speed. Her wings pushed her upwards, but after leaping she was stopped by the ceiling. She fell on her back just as panic set in. The walls and ceiling seemed to be getting closer. Her eyes widened and her heart rate increased. Gotta get out, gotta get out, gotta get out, gotta get out, gotta get out, gotta get out. Rainbow got off her back and headed for the door. Again, she pounded on it.

On the other side, a draconequus was sitting at a throne staring at the door. He listened to the pounding with a smile on his face. His right hand was rolling two metal balls in his palm.

“Quite a nice beat you have there,” he said. “Honestly, I didn’t expect you to have any musical talent, but then again, fear does bring out hidden abilities.” His throne turned away from the door.

“Who knew that all I had to do to break you was throw you in a closet?” he stopped rolling the balls. His attention was turned to a large chart with six pictures on it. The pictures were of those who locked him away for a second time. His left hand snapped and Rainbow’s picture had a red X form on it. “Once you’re broken, then you can be rebuilt.” Gentle sobbing came from behind his throne. The draconequess smirked.

“And that should be soon,” the balls resumed their movements. “The only question left, is who’s next?”

A Friend to None

The moon was high above Equestria, and most if its citizens were making their trip to the dream world. Up above a bakery in Ponyville, a certain pink pony was writing in a journal. She sat beside a fireplace with a snifter full of some unknown liquid. A smile was on her face as she wrote in the journal. A small alligator wearing a top hat and a small tuxedo walked up to her.

“A friend to all is a friend to none,” she said. The alligator blinked. “I’ve been told that whenever I tell ponies I want to be friends with everypony. They made many convincing arguments for why that statement would be true. Gummy, can you guess what they said?” Again, the alligator blinked.

“They said that if a pony had a large number of friends, details about said friends won’t be known. They said that the pony with many friends won’t really know each and every one. At some point, this is true. With a large number of friends, a pony won’t know how they work. They won’t know how to remove their insecurities to make them happy; all they’ll see is what their friends present them. And that means that you truly don’t know a pony.” The pink pony closed the journal.

“But I’ve worked hard to prove them wrong,” she said. The snifter was raised to her lips. “I’ve done my hardest to befriend everypony I’ve met. And I’ve learned every possible detail I could about them. That way, I can always find a way to make them smile. When I’m friends with them, I introduce them to my other friends, and then they have a larger number of friends. More friends equate to more happiness. I’ve done that with a hundred ponies so far.” The pony filled a second snifter with the unknown liquid. It was placed in front of the alligator.

“I hope I can keep doing that,” she said. “I hope that I can keep making friends. And I hope I can know each and every one of them like I know myself.” She raised her drink in the air.

“Here’s to the hundred friends I have,” the alligator gripped his glass. “And here’s to a hundred more.” The pony tapped her snifter against the alligator’s, and took a drink.