Snapshots

Chapters

Zen
Confrontation
Decisions, Decisions, Decisions
Curing Insanity
Distractions
Looking Down While Gazing Up
Lesson Number One
Occam's Razor
Follow Through
In Retrospect
Showy
Secrets and Jazz
Inheritance
Bed Time
For Now
A Little Trip
Desires
Visitors
First Celebrations
A Cup of Tea
Voices in My Head
Out of the Ordinary
Paying a Visit
Balancing the Scales
Treasure Hunters' Club
Work Day
A Lesson From Alice
What is Love?
Never Again
Four Very Simple Words
Treasure Hunt

Zen

Fluttershy was nervous. While that statement may seem normal since she was like that most of the time, she had a reason to be at the current moment. Hundreds of eyes were on her as she approached the stage. Murmuring could be heard from all around the room. She fidgeted with her orange robes as she slowly flew to the designated area. Pure terror would not accurately describe how she felt at the moment. But that was the entire point of this exercise. Lately, she noticed herself becoming more and more nervous as time went by. In a flash of foresight, she decided to do something about it, so she visited Zecora. The zebra shared with her a philosophy that was new to her as well as both mental and physical exercises. Fluttershy landed where she was supposed to be and looked at the audience with an oaken staff at hoof. Ordinarily she would have worried about messing up or embarrassing herself, but Zecora’s words echoed in her mind.

“Do not worry about what ifs or what might be. The present is the only thing we can truly see.” She drew a deep breath and stood on her hind legs. Previously embarrassing episodes began appearing in her mind, but they were muted by another piece of the zebra’s wisdom. “The past is constantly looked at by everypony, mule, and cow. But none of that matters. What matters is the now.” Holding the staff in her right hoof, she looked back at the watching eyes. They were slowly fading into blackness and their murmurs becoming silent. Her left hoof made an arc starting from her waist, up above her head, then sat in the center of her chest. She closed her eyes as everything was disappearing. One final thought echoed in her mind before she emptied it. “This is a skill that can be done by anyone, no matter what their hue. And the key is not to think, but to only do.” Her eyes opened, and she was surrounded by near darkness. The most she could see was ten feet in front of her. She could hear no sound, and see no pony. That is when she started to move.

Her right hind leg kicked the staff making in spin. She caught it and crouched. All of her weight was then put on that same leg as she lifted her left leg and extended her left foreleg. Stepping forward she thrust the staff forward as if stabbing somepony. It then circled her body once before being caught again. Her weight was put onto her left leg as it slammed down on the stone floor. An echo spread across the space but went unnoticed by Fluttershy as she pushed her left foreleg forward. No thoughts went through her mind as each step followed the next. She jumped into the air, hitting the staff on the ground. The echo shot out as she continued forward. At that moment, there was no Fluttershy. There was no Equestria, no universe, only the movements that Fluttershy went through. Her staff was held up towards the sky as she reached the end her performance. She then stood back in the position she started in, placing the end of the staff on the ground, left foreleg making the same arc.

In an instant the world returned to her as the audience made their applause. The change was drastic enough to make Fluttershy’s wings flare out in response. She looked around and sheepishly bowed before flying back to the competitor’s area. She was greeted by a familiar rainbow maned pegasus.

“Fluttershy, that was amazing!” Rainbow exclaimed. “I didn’t know you could do that! You have to teach me that sometime.”

“Oh,” replied Fluttershy with a blush appearing on her face. “It was nothing, I’m still a beginner.”

“Beginner? If that’s what you look like as a beginner, I can’t wait to see you as a master.” Flutershy smiled at her friend as she put her staff away. Her attention was drawn towards the judges as they began announcing her score.

“Eight,” declared a beige pegasus mare.

“Eight and a half,” a grey unicorn stallion said.

“Nine,” shouted a white earth pony mare.

“Twenty-five and a half,” Rainbow whistled. “Not bad at all Fluttershy.” Said pony hid behind her mane from the compliment.

“Would the last competitor of the day, Rainbow Dash, please come to the center stage,” a voice said.

“Good luck, Rainbow Dash,” said the shy mare.

“Thanks, but I’m not going to need it,” replied Rainbow. She grabbed a bamboo staff then twisted her neck causing a popping sound to come from it. “Now, to show them how it’s done.” She then left Fluttershy alone, making her way to the stage.

—-

For those curious, this is what Fluttershy was performing.

Confrontation

A pale stallion sat in a throne room. He was wearing a black cloak and at his side was a wine glass full of a deep red liquid. His throne sat at the top of a small flight of stairs and the chamber had four candelabras standing in it, each with three candles gently burning. Behind his throne were two blood red curtains hanging from the ceiling. He was gently swirling the liquid when a bang came from the entrance way. The doors again let out a banging sound and flew open. On the other side was a white unicorn mare with a curled purple mane. She was wearing a midnight blue overcoat and had a metal whip levitating at her side. She rushed in and stood at the foot of stairs. On her face was a look of determination.

“Monster!” she cried. “You don’t belong in this world!” A small smile appeared on the stallion’s face.

“Don’t belong?” he asked. “It is not by my hoof that I am again given flesh. I was called here by ponies who wish to pay me tribute.” The mare let the whip hang limply.

“Tribute?!” she scoffed. “You steal ponies’ souls and make them your slaves!” The stallion took a sip from his glass.

“Perhaps the same could be said of Celestia,” he laughed. The mare’s eyes narrowed.

“Your words are as empty as your soul!” she said. “Pony kind ill needs a saviour such as you!”

“What is a pony?” he asked swirling the glass. “A miserable pile of friendship.” He threw the glass off to the side shattering it, allowing the liquid to soak in the floor.

“But enough talk,” he stood up from his throne and threw off his cloak, revealing a pair of bat wings. The wings unfurled to their full length. He looked at the pony with a malicious smile on his face. “Have at you!” He rushed forwards, ready to fight, and she did the same with her whip at her side.

And so they fought.

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

Twilight Sparkle was deep in her basement working on a wondrous machine. On her eyes were a pair of goggles. Her tongue was sticking out in concentration as she tinkered with her creation.

“Just attach the hands to the face,” she said. “Close the seal, and done.” A clicking came from the device she completed. She lifted her goggles and a maniacal smile appeared on her face.

“I’ve done it!” she screamed. The door to the basement slammed open. A baby dragon leapt down the stairs and stood in front of her.

“What did you do?” he asked. “Is something on fire again?” Twilight shook her head.

“No, Spike,” she raised the device over her head. “I’ve completed it.”

“You mean…”

“Yes! I’ve created a time machine!” she said triumphantly. Spike stared at the circular device in awe. After a few seconds, a ticking sound came from the device.

“Yep, I fixed my broken alarm clock, now I won’t be late for my appointments anymore,” Spike smacked his forehead.

“Seriously? That’s your mechanical magnum opus?” Spike asked.

“I never said that it was,” Twilight turned back to the table. “But my other creation is just about done too.” She grabbed a metal cylinder about the size of a piece of chalk. She held it over her head.

“AN ACTUAL REAL-LIFE TIME MACHINE!” A red flashing backdrop was behind her as she made her proclamation. For some reason, a triumphant trumpet blare could be heard as the device was over her head. Spike once again, stared at the device in awe. He grabbed the device from Twilight.

“How does it work?” he asked.

“First, turn it on,” Spike clicked a button on the side of the cylinder. At the end of the device, a blue light lit up. “Turn the dial at the base of it, then draw any shape on the air or on any surface.” He turned the dial on the bottom and translucent blue numbers appeared in front of him.

“Six minutes, that should work for now,” Spike held the device as if he were holding chalk. He moved it in the air. As it moved, a blue trail of lights stayed where the device was once pointed. Spike created a circle. As soon as it was closed, a panorama of coloured light formed in the circle. He jumped in the circle and fell in the basement. The baby dragon stood exactly where he stood before he jumped. The portal behind him faded into technicoloured sparks. “Did it work?”

“I believe it did,” Twilight said. “I haven’t seen you for six minutes. And that portal just randomly opened behind me.” The device was taken out of his hands.

“This is a powerful machine, Spike. With it, we can see the distant future, or an era long gone. But we have to be careful. Any mistake we make in the past or future can cause ripples through time. Contrary to what many believe, time doesn’t flow linearly, it happens simultaneously. Who knows what happens if it falls into the wrong hooves? Anything we do could have disastrous results. We probably shouldn’t use it anymore.” The two of them stood in silence.

“We're not going to be responsible are we?” Spike asked. His guardian in response shook her head. “So what do we do with it?” Twilight turned the dial at the machine’s base. She then drew a large circle. A portal opened and the two stood in front of it. A grin formed on her face.

“Whatever we want.” Spike matched her expression as they both walked into the void.

Curing Insanity

Stuck in an empty void was a mismatched creature. He was writing on the air with a piece of chalk as quiet muttering was coming from his mouth.

“I’ve been here for exactly,” he tapped his chin. The creature snapped his talons together and continued writing. “Thirty six thousand five-hundred twenty-four days. That means, I’ve been here for a hundred years.” He turned his head around the void. Nothing could be seen for miles around him.

“I’m surprised that I haven’t gone mad yet,” he said. The creature shrugged and threw the chalk behind him. “Oh well, back to work.” He snapped his talons and two identical wooden blocks appeared in his palms. The creature hovered in the air with his focus downward.

“Steady, steady,” both of the blocks were slowly being placed between two others. Both slid into place. “Perfect.” The creature snapped his talons. He appeared at the foot of his creation with a smile on his face. In front of the creature was a one to one scale model of Canterlot Castle. The entire structure had been constructed by maple building blocks that each measured four inches tall.

“A hundred years to complete this,” the creature said. “A hundred years of the repetitive task of placing blocks atop another. It was hard work, but I’ve created something great. If this fell, I would probably take another hundred years to build it again.” He stared at the model with a content smile on his face. Again, his talons snapped. A sledge hammer rested in his hands. The creature ran towards the toy castle swinging. The hammer connected with the blocks causing them to fly in multiple directions. The entire structure slowly collapsed on the creature. He covered his head and was laughing as the blocks rained down on him.

“Well worth it!”

Distractions

Hundreds of ponies in the city of Canterlot were running away from danger. Slowly approaching the downtown area was a large dragon. Many of the Royal Guard were flying around him attempting to prevent further destruction. With a swipe of his claws, many pegasi were pushed into buildings. They would not be able to fly again. The dragon continued his trek after the annoyance was dealt with. About ten steps latter, roughly a thousand armoured unicorns stood in front of him. All of them had determined looks on their faces.

"Fire!" one of them said. In an instant all of their horns lit up. Bright coloured lights were shot at the dragon. He let out a brief cry of pain as sparks bounced of his body. His right claw swiped at a nearby tower, causing it to fall. From inside it came screaming. The unicorn guards turned their attention away from the dragon with the tower falling over them. In the brief moment that the guards dropped their guard, the dragon took in a deep breath and blew a column of fire at them. A jet of bright green fire turned the unicorns to ash. Their screams matched with those inside the fallen tower. The dragon tilted his head up and roared. Fire flew straight into the air as a show of...

"Spike!" a voice shouted. "Keep it down! I'm trying to study." Three sets of groans echoed into the dragon's ears.

"Great," an orange pegasus filly clicked a button on a camera. "Now we have to shoot that all over again."

"Do you think that's possible?" Spike asked. He turned around and looked at the demolished model of Canterlot. "I don't think we'd be able to reshoot the tower falling. Not without repairs."

"Don't worry about that," a yellow earth pony filly said. She walked onto the model with a tool box in her mouth. "This should be easy to fix. And if we can't do that, we can use the backup one. Give me the vest, I'll talk to our special effects filly to see if we can get more." Spike removed a set of burnt fake scales on his chest. The yellow pony slung it over her back. Behind the orange cameramare was a white unicorn filly. She tapped the shoulder of the pony in front of her.

"Hey, Sweetie," the camermare said. "How's the soundtrack coming along?"

"Surprisingly well," she said. "I've composed an underscore for what we have so far. I'm having a little trouble with the action scenes though."

"Why's that?"

"I haven't seen them yet. Anyways, Pipsqueak said that he wanted a little help with the choreography. He's at Sweet Apple Acres at the outdoor set."

"Perfect, we need to shoot a scene there anyways. Spike, Bloom," the two on the set turned their attention to the orange pony. "We need to shoot the fight scene between Ultracorn and Sudondis. Spike, follow me to the outdoor set. Bloom, can you fix this set?"

"The tower should be easily fixed," she said. "The ground will take a little time."

"We can get around that, all we need is the scene of Spike spitting fire into the air," the camermare said. "We can film the rest of that scene tomorrow. Follow me and Sweetie to Sweet Apple Acres. I'm pretty sure Dinky is there, so you can talk to her about the vests." The four of them began the trek out of the library's basement. Spike walked beside the orange pony as they ascended the stairs.

"Out of curiosity, is the Ultracorn suit ready?" he asked.

"It is," Sweetie Belle said. "We should probably pick it up before we get to the set."

"Has Pipsqueak even worn the suit yet?" Apple Bloom asked. She pushed the basement door opened and her friends followed her inside.

"He hasn't tried it on yet," the cameramare said. "I think we should focus on the choreography before we worry about the suit." The four of them left the library and headed for Carousel Boutique. They had idle conversations about their project, and all of them agreed that it would be something great.

Looking Down While Gazing Up

Very few creatures thought about the celestial bodies moving. It was mundane, and because of that, it was easily ignored. Few took time to pay attention to their movements. When they did, they saw unimaginable beauty. Sitting on one of those bodies was a pony in a white suit. She looked up at the planet as it slowly made its rotations.

“Professor Sparkle,” a voice said. The pony turned her head to see another white suit approaching her. This suit had been modified to encompass talons and a pair of wings. The creature in the suit stopped in front of the pony. “What are you doing out here?”

“I’ve told you, Gaspar,” the pony said. “Call me Twilight. Professor is a stuffy title.” She pointed her hoof to the planet above her.

“I’m looking at that,” her companion turned his attention to the blue sphere.

“The planet?” he asked. “What about it?”

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Twilight asked. “When I was a filly, I looked at the stars and moon from my home in Canterlot. I always found them fascinating. I wanted to grasp them myself, so I ignored the world around me; I kept my head in books and ignored others. I didn’t see the beauty in the world.” A chuckle left her mouth.

“I just find it odd that the very first time that I saw the world’s beauty was when I wasn’t a part of it,” she continued. “Ever since we first landed on the moon, I kept looking back at the planet. I saw something that would take writers an eternity just to write a single word to describe its beauty. Every night, I come out to look at it. And for a few brief moments, it feels like I’m looking at the concept of beauty itself.” The two of them sat together in silence looking at the planet. A small tear formed in Gaspar’s eyes.

“I can see where you’re coming from,” he said. “Anyways, we’ve just gotten a message from the E.S.C.”

“What do they want?”

“Actually, it’s not what they want,” the griffin picked up a nearby rock. He played with it in his talons. “It’s what a certain pink pony wants.” A smile appeared on Twilight’s muzzle.

“I see Pinkie wants to talk,” she got up from her spot and turned around. “Any particular message she shared?” The two of them started walking back to a cylindrical building off in the distance.

“In her exact words,” Gaspar said. “She said: ‘You guys have gone around the world for the past hundred days! Do you know what this calls for?’ I’ve never understood that pony. Can you give any insight?” Laughter echoed in Gaspar’s helmet. “Twilight?”

“Sorry, Gaspar,” she said. “I know what she means. She wants to celebrate that. I’ll admit, I never would have thought that it would be worth celebrating. But Pinkie always finds a reason to have a celebration. It’ll be nice to talk to her. Any other messages from her or the E.S.C?”

“One more actually,” Gaspar tapped the bottom of his helmet. “Something about a request being approved.” Again, laughter echoed in his helmet.

“You and everyone in the Rabbit Hutch are in for a surprise,” a large smile appeared on Twilight’s face. “You’re all going to experience something great. Something you’re never going to forget.”

“And that would be?”

“A Pinkie Party.”

Lesson Number One

A butter coloured pegasus wearing a grey pinstriped blazer stood at a table. She was pulling a pile of books from her bag as well as some notes. In front of her were a large number of seats, all of them pointed to the bottom center of the room. Sitting in the seats were ponies, zebras, a few dragons, and griffins. All of them had notebooks open and small tables at their seats. Various conversations could be heard as others spilled into the room.

“Please pick up a syllabus when you enter,” she said. A few who were sitting down got up from their seats and approached a table near the bottom entrance of the room. On top of it was a large pile of papers. The papers dwindled down as those entering the room picked one up. The pegasus looked up at a clock above the entrance way. It read 4:00. “Alright, I think that’s enough time.” She took her notes to a podium in front of a chalkboard. A piece of chalk was grabbed and she wrote on the board. When she was done she turned to her audience. A few were still trying to find seats. She took in a deep breath. You can do this Fluttershy. It’s just like when you were a TA, only you don’t have anypony to help you when you stumble. Just relax.

“Hello,” she said. “My name is Professor Fluttershy. I just got my PhD in Literary Studies, so that means that you’re the first class I’m officially teaching. I’ll try my best to be a proper teacher. And if I do my job properly and you all pass with flying colours, then I’ll personally buy you all a pint by the end of the semester.” The entire auditorium chuckled.

“Before we begin,” she continued.“Is everyone in the right class? This is EN-116.” A few ponies and a dragon got up out of their seats and left the room. The dragon raised her hand.

“Professor?” she asked. “Do you know where the Equestrian Civilization from the Enlightenment to the Present class is?”

“That class is HI-105 right?” the dragon nodded. “That’s in the east side of this building. I believe it should be in room 350.” The dragon gave a quick thanks and ran out of the door. When the door closed, Fluttershy turned her attention back to the audience.

“Now that that’s done, back to the introduction,” she moved a strand of hair out of her eyes. “This is EN-116, Early Romantic Literature. We’re going to look at the very early stages of the romantic period in Equestrian history. We’ll see how the environment affected literature and how it differed from the era before it. Please turn to the third page of your syllabus; there you’ll see how your marks will be distributed.” The sound of turning papers echoed in the room. A small smile was on Fluttershy’s face. So far so good.

“There will be three optional assignments that will be given out during the semester. You are only allowed to do one, I repeat, one of these optional assignments. Each of them will be worth one percent of your mark. While it may not seem like much, just remember that one percent can turn your seventy-nine into an eighty. Now,” Fluttershy turned to the chalkboard. She wrote the word ‘romanticism’ on the board and drew a circle around it. “Who can tell me what romanticism is?”

Occam's Razor

In every civilization, there are three words that can carry the weight of the universe. Three words that can be used in very different ways but all carry a significant amount of weight. It was these three words that a certain purple unicorn had trouble saying. She sat in front of a chalkboard with the words written on it. Around it was a cloud with various chalk lines moving away from the cloud. At the end of each line was a word. The purple unicorn flipped the board over and started writing.

“I can’t be direct,” she muttered. A piece of chalk was moving along the board as she spoke. “I can’t even get a coherent sentence out while being around her.” The unicorn was so busy in her musings that she didn’t hear the library’s door open.

“I could put on a performance, I’m pretty sure she’d appreciate that,” silent steps approached the unicorn. “But that takes a lot of planning.”

“I could create a romantic sonnet,” the steps became louder. “That always works in romance books. Then again, life doesn’t imitate art. And art doesn't imitate life.”

“Even if I do find a way to say it,” the only sound that occupied the unicorn was the sound of her chalk moving. The library’s guest sat behind her. “I don’t know how she’ll react to it. I have to plan for rejection, for acceptance. And what to do if she does reciprocate my feelings.”

“Hi, Twilight,” a cheery voice said. The unicorn’s piece of chalk snapped as it reached the bottom corner of the board. “What are you writing?” Twilight looked up at the board. The phrase ‘I love you’ had been written over and over again as if she was forced to write it out as a punishment. The phrase filled the entire chalkboard. Twilight turned to her guest.

“Pinkie!” she screamed. Her head turned to the board. A faint blush appeared on her face as she flipped the board around. “It’s nothing. Just a thing I had to get out of my head. What are you doing here?”

“Spike told me something,” she answered. Pinkie tapped her chin in concentration. “I think he said that you had something to tell me. Something that would change the way we look at each other.” Twilight’s eyes widened.

“I don’t have anything to tell you!” sweat began falling from her head. “I mean, nothing that world changing.” Note to self: punish Spike. The pony in front of her giggled. The sound immediately calmed Twilight. A small smile formed on her face.

“Then what’s that?” Pinkie asked. A hoof pointed to the board. Twilight turned her head and turned beat red when she saw what was written on it. At the top of the board was a title that read: ‘Confessing to Pinkie’. Below the title was the words ‘I love you’ inside of a cloud with different methods of telling Pinkie the same message.

“Pinkie, this isn’t what it looks like,” Twilight stammered. “This is… um… this is something that I’m working on for…”

“Can I ask you something?” the pink pony asked.

“See, this is all part of a story that I’m writing,” Twilight continued. “All of it revolves around a romance between two star crossed lovers who….”

“Would you like to join me for dinner?” Pinkie asked.

“And at the end, they love each other so much that they decide to,” Twilight stopped for a moment. She turned to her guest. A caring smile was on her face. Twilight blinked. “Can you run that by me again?”

“Would you like to join me for dinner?” Twilight’s jaw decided to unhinge itself. Pinkie walked to the board. Her smile remained on her face as she touched it.

“You’re over thinking,” she said. “Matters of the heart are complex, yet simple at the same time. Most ponies get lost on the complexity. They always forget that the simplest answer usually unravels all of the emotional entanglements. Dancing around the point doesn’t get anypony anywhere. Not unless the dance is part of the message anyways.” She walked to Twilight and reattached her jaw.

“I know you’re a rational pony,” one of Pinkie’s hooves was still underneath Twilight’s chin. Her face had regained the majority of its colour. Two rosy patches remained. “And simplification is the first step towards rational thinking. That being said, the offer is still available.”

“YES!” Twilight screamed. She put a foreleg over her mouth. The blush still remained on her face as she coughed into her hoof. “I mean, yes. Yes I would like to join you, Pinkie.”

“Great,” Pinkie turned to the entrance way. “Come on, Horte owes me a favour. So I have permanent reservations at his restaurant.” Twilight followed the pink pony out of her home. A small grin was on her face. Note to self: give Spike a BIG reward.

Follow Through

It was the end of the month, and that meant something had to be done. Twilight had been looking forward to this day all week: new book day. At the end of every month, Ponyville’s library would receive a large donation of books. The new books had to be organized, filed, and placed in their proper place on the shelves. With her horn lit up, all of the books on the shelves floated around her.

“Spike,” she said. “Are you ready to start?” The baby dragon was holding a clipboard and a quill. He stood beside a large box, presumably filled with books.

“I am,” he said. “But can we open the windows? Those books are kind of dusty, I don’t think that we want any ah…ah… AH-CHOO!” A jet of green flame flew from the dragon’s mouth and singed the floor. “Accidents.”

“Go for it,” Spike opened a nearby window. “Are you ready?” He walked back to the box and opened it up. A white hardcover book was pulled out.

“The first one is called Ghost Story,” the book was covered in a purple aura and moved in front of Twilight.

“Ooo, the latest book in The Dresden Fillies,” she read the back of the book. Unknown to her, a group of small cylindrical objects were thrown into the library. “I haven’t read this one yet. This goes into fantasy. What’s next?”

“Mmm mph mmhm,” Spike said.

“Pardon me?” Twilight turned to her assistant. On his face was a gas mask. “What are you wearing?”

“M mah mahk,” he replied. Twilight tilted her head in confusion. Spike lifted the mask from his mouth. “A gas mask.”

“Why are you wearing a gas mask?” The mask was put back on his mouth and a muffled answer was given. “What?”

Spike lifted the mask. “Because of the gas.” The mask was again put on his face.

“What gas?” After the answer was given, the cylindrical objects released a white gas. The gas spread around the room and went into Twilight’s lungs. It burned her eyes and nose. She ran to a window, but found that it had been closed. Her eyes and body became heavy. After a few moments of struggling, she collapsed on the ground. All of the books in her magical grip fell to the floor with a large thud. The library door opened and a pink pony wearing a gas mask entered. The majority of the gas left through the entrance way.

“You owe me for this,” Spike said. A blindfold was passed to him. “I don’t have to carry her do I?” His gas mask was passed to the library’s guest.

“Nope,” the guest said. “That’ll be my job. As for your reward… how does two hundred kilograms of gems sound?”

“Perfect,” Spike said as he finished with the blindfold. The pink pony put Twilight on her back and left the library. He waved to them as they left the building. “Have fun.”

Twilight regained consciousness and was greeted by darkness. At first she thought that her eyes were closed. But the cloth over her eyes had told her otherwise. She was sitting on a stool with her hooves tied to each leg. Twilight tried to use her magic, but for some reason her horn would not light up. Panic set in. A familiar voice echoed around her.

“Twilight,” the voice said. “Can you help me with some baking?”

“Sure, Pinkie,” her own voice said. Why am I hearing my own voice? “What do you want me to do?”

“Oh nothing at the moment,” Pinkie’s voice said. “There are a few recipes that I need somepony to taste for me. Can you do that for me?”

“I can do that. But not today, but I promise I can help tomorrow.”

“Do you Pinkie Promise?”

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my AUGH!” giggling echoed in the room.

“You always forget to close your eyes when you do that,” Pinkie’s voice said. This voice was closer to Twilight. Sweat began to form on her head. “Why is that?”

“Pinkie?!” Twilight screamed. “What’s going on? Where am I?”

“Oh, nowhere special,” she said. “As for what’s going on, you broke a Pinkie Promise.”

“I had too,” footsteps reached Twilight’s ears. “There was a family emergency in Canterlot that day. I can’t just abandon my family.”

“I’m well aware of that,” the footsteps stopped. “But when you came back, you made a Double Pinkie Promise to help with the taste testing. And what happened?” Silence sat with the two.

“Exactly,” cold steel brushed against the back of Twilight’s neck. “Do you know what happens when you break a Pinkie Promise?”

“Please,” Twilight trembled. “Don’t do this Pinkie. I’m your friend.”

“And friends keep their promises,” the steel moved up to the back of her head. “So what good is a friend who doesn’t keep their promises?” Tears formed in Twilight’s eyes. Though she couldn’t see, she shut her eyes. She hoped that it would be quick and painless. The steel moved up and cut what was covering Twilight’s eyes.

“Not going to open your eyes?” Pinkie asked. Twilight slowly opened her left eye. She found that she was in the kitchen of Sugar Cube Corner. Standing in front of her was her pink friend and a table. All around them were an innumerable number of different kinds of pastries. Each one looked different from the next. Pinkie held a tray with a single cupcake on it. “Here, have a cupcake.”

“Pinkie, what is all of this?”

“Originally, this was the cupcake I wanted you to test,” the cupcake was placed on the table. “But since you didn’t help with it the first time, I got more recipe ideas. And when you didn’t help the second time, I got more. So guess what’s going to happen?”

“You’re going to let me go after I try that cupcake?”

“Nope. You’re going to help me, by tasting all of these pastries.” Twilight’s eyes widened.

“But there must be at least ten thousand pastries in here! I can’t eat them all!

“There’s actually twelve thousand three hundred forty-two pastries here,” Pinkie said. She pushed the cupcake forward. “And since you made a Double Pinkie Promise, you have to eat them all.” Twilight’s pupils shrunk to pinpricks. A warm smile appeared on Pinkie’s face.

“Again, have a cupcake.”

In Retrospect

Many things seem different in retrospect. Most of the time, they seem like bad things after a few moments of thought. Other times they could be seen as good. Pinkie was experiencing both sides of this as she was leaving the Everfree Forest. In retrospect, it was a good thing that she brought a basket. Without the basket, she wouldn’t have been able to carry all of the Aspear Berries that she picked. In retrospect, it was a good thing that she picked up that stone idol. The idol depicted a bipedal creature with a crescent moon head. It had a mad smile on its face and was playing an instrument that looked like a violin. It would make a great decoration in her room. In retrospect, maybe it wasn’t a good idea to eat those blue glowing mushrooms. They made Pinkie feel funny. Not as in a “ha ha” funny, a funny kind of funny. She couldn’t find the right words to describe the feeling. Before she could try finding the right words, she reached Fluttershy’s cottage. The yellow pegasus was sitting at a table with a group of mice standing on it. She just finished tying a bandage on a mouse’s foot. Pinkie approached her friend with a smile on her face.

“Hi Fluttershy!” she said. Fluttershy and all of the mice turned to the pink pony. They all waved at her and Fluttershy smiled.

“Hello Pinkie Pie,” she said. “How have you been doing?”

“I’ve been doing great!” Pinkie set the basket down. “I just came back from the Everfree Forest. Look at all of the Asper Berries I got!” Fluttershy’s smile grew.

“You have Asper Berries?” she asked. “Does that mean you’ll be making those special fruit tarts?”

“Yep! But that’s not all I got from the forest,” Pinkie reached into her mane and pulled out the idol. “I found this on the way back.” She placed it at the center of the table. All of the mice circled around it with wide eyed curiosity.

“What is it?” Fluttershy asked.

“I have no idea. But I think that it’ll make a great addition to my room. I could put it beside the lamp that Mr. Cake got me for…” Pinkie suddenly stopped. Her pupils dilated to the point where her eyes looked like giant pupils.

“Pinkie? Are you alright?” Fluttershy waved her hoof in front of her friend’s eyes. Pinkie however, wasn’t paying attention. To her, the world changed. She could hear Fluttershy’s voice, but it sounded as if she were talking underwater. Pinkie looked down at the idol. It somehow acquired a dress shirt, a vest, a bow tie, an armband on its left arm, a pair of pants, and shoes. The smile on its face was still as mad as ever. The mice’s appearance drastically changed. They looked as if they were drawn by a cartoonist. The idol brought its arms to its side. Pinkie took a step back.

Fluttershy’s mouth moved, but all Pinkie could hear was the sound of bubbles coming from her. The idol took a step forward and the mice did the same.

“Met the ghost of Stephen Foster at the Hotel Paradise,” it said. “This is what I told him as I gazed into his eyes: ships were made for sinking, whiskey made for drinking. And if we were made of cellophane, we’d all get stinking drunk much faster!” The idol then laughed.

“Gwine to run all night!” the mice sang. “Gwine to run all day!” The idol put its violin to its neck.

"Camp town ladies never sang all the doo dah day," it said. "No, no, no." The bow was placed on the strings and moved. The mice pulled pitchforks from out of nowhere and pointed them at Pinkie. An eerie melody was coming from the violin as the bow moved. Accompanying it was a drum beat. The idol leaned forward and approached Pinkie. All of the mice did the same. They jabbed their pitchforks forward with the beat of the drum as the idol’s bow moved back and forth. Pinkie backed away. When the mice and the idol jumped off the table, she screamed. What Pinkie saw was one of the eeriest things she had ever seen. Laughter most likely wouldn't drive them away. So she grabbed her basket and ran as fast as her hooves could carry her.

Fluttershy looked at the receding pink dot in the distance. All of the mice looked to her with confusion.

“I don’t know what happened either,” she said. “I’ll go after her to make sure she’s safe.” Fluttershy’s wings opened up and she launched herself into the air. The mice looked back at the idol’s mad smile. They could hear echoes of creepy violin music as well as mad laughter.

Showy

The moon had risen over the country of Equestria. The vast majority of the population had driven themselves to slumber. Out in between one of the country’s many settlements, two of its citizens were still awake. A dragon and a near featherless bird sat in front of a fire. The dragon was idly blowing into an ocarina; a soothing melody coming from the instrument. The bird coughed and a few feathers fell off of it.

“You okay, buddy?” the dragon asked. The bird nodded in response. It fell into a coughing fit soon afterwards. “You don’t sound okay.” It made a dismissive gesture with its left wing. As it finished the gesture, the last of its feathers fell to the floor. The bird’s pupils shrunk to pin pricks. A small fire ignited itself on its wing. The bird waved the wing trying to put it out, unfortunately it only made the fire grow. The dragon dropped his ocarina.

“Holy guacamole!” he yelled. The bird ran around the fire screeching in pain. Soon, the fire covered its entire body and it turned to a pile of ash. The dragon walked to the pile and picked it up. The ash fell between his fingers. He bowed his head in respect. The sound of the fire accompanied his silence. “I hope your ashes didn’t get mixed in with the fire.” After a few moments, the pile of ash began to move. Cinders that had been between his fingers moved towards the pile. The pile began to take the shape of a tall bird. Three long columns of ash formed on the bottom of it while three formed on the back of what looked like a bird’s head. When the ash stopped moving, it set itself on fire. Bright oranges, yellows, and reds could be seen from it. The fire of the ashes out shined the light of the fire the dragon stood beside. The right wing of the ashen statue moved to its left. It spread the wing out and the fire dissipated. Standing where the ash statue once stood was a flame coloured bird with its right wing opened up. It opened its eyes and a smile appeared on its face. The dragon let out a low whistle.

“Very showy,” he said. He walked to where he dropped his ocarina. “Are you going to do that every time?” The bird tilted its head in confusion. He sat down and picked up the instrument.

“I mean the screeching in pain part,” he explained. “That, and the dramatic display of your rebirth. Was that really necessary?” The bird gave him a deadpan look.

“Good point,” he chuckled. “Think you can sing with me, buddy?” The bird flew to the dragon’s shoulders. Once the bird was in a comfortable position, the dragon brought the ocarina to his lips. He began playing and his companion joined him in song.

Secrets and Jazz

All of downtown Ponyville had been set up for a special celebration. Both indoor and outdoor stages had been prepared for the next few days. On all of the stages was one thing: jazz musicians. Ponyville was alive with the sound of jazz. Some of it was lively and upbeat, while other parts of it were solemn and calm. Walking among the stages and crowds was a purple unicorn and a baby dragon. The unicorn was looking around with fascination while the dragon was looking at a watch.

“I had no idea that Ponyville had a jazz festival,” Twilight said. “I wonder if they got anypony in the industry to perform here.”

“You never know,” Spike said. His eyes were glued to the watch. “Hey, Twilight. Do you think I can go wander on my own?”

“Spike, you’re a baby,” she answered. “If I let you wander off, that would make me an irresponsible guardian. And what would happen then?”

“You’d get charged for neglect?”

“Exactly. So you have to stay by my side for the whole festival.” A quiet swear left the dragon’s mouth. The two of them were passing a stage with nine ponies on it. They were all playing an upbeat tune. Spike recognized the group; they were one of Twilight’s favourites. A cheshire grin appeared on his face.

“Twilight!” Spike pointed to the band. “Look! It’s Paradise Lunch!”

“Ohmygosh! Where?!” Twilight’s head turned to the music. She ran towards the audience in front of the band with stars in her eyes. Spike chuckled at the sight and ran in the opposite direction. I hope I can make it.

A four pony band sat behind a curtain tuning their instruments. Gentle murmurs could be heard from the other side. The band consisted of an earth pony bassist, an earth pony trumpeter, an earth pony saxophonist, and a pegasus drummer. All of them were wearing white dress shirts, ties, black vests, and fedoras. The ribbon on their fedoras matched their ties in colour. After a few moments, they looked to an empty grand piano.

“Where is he?” the saxophonist asked. “We’re up soon.”

“Patience, Blues,” the trumpeter said. “He’ll be here. He’s never let us down before.”

“What happens if he doesn’t make it though?” the drummer asked. “Do we go on without him?”

“There’s two options we can go with, Sandy,” the bassist said. “We can perform without him, playing songs that don’t require a piano. And since some of the songs on our playlist include singing, one of us will have to sing in his place.” The trumpeter snickered.

“Oh yes, that’ll work,” he said rolling his eyes. “And I suppose you’ll sing in his place, Octavia?”

“I was going to suggest you, Baritone, or maybe Blues since you two actually can sing.”

“There’s a slight problem with that,” Sandy said. “Both of them have to use their lips for their instruments. They can’t sing, not unless they can throw their voices. …can you?”

“No,” both stallions said.

“Anyways, our second option is…”

“Is to let me perform so we can go on with our routine,” all four ponies turned the source of the voice. They found a baby dragon buttoning up a white dress shirt with a fedora over his head. “Were you planning to perform without me?”

“Of course not,” Octavia said. “We just needed a back-up plan in case you couldn’t show up. What kept you from here anyways?”

“Twilight,” he answered as he tied a purple tie around his collar.

“Ah yes, your guardian,” Baritone said. He idly pressed the valves on his trumpet. “Your wonderful, attractive guardian. Is she single?”

“She is,” Spike sat at the piano’s bench. He adjusted his fedora. “But I don’t think she’s attracted to anypony with a Y chromosome.”

“Can you set me up with her then?” Sandy asked. Three of the five band members chuckled.

“I’ll see what I can do,” Spike answered. His fingers gently danced on the piano’s keys. A white unicorn mare with a pink mane approached the band.

“You’re up in five minutes,” she said. “Ready to go?” All five musicians nodded. The mare turned around and left the backstage area. Spike cracked his neck and fingers.

“So, fillies and gents,” he held a fist to the other musicians. “Let’s make this showy.” The four ponies smiled and hit his fist.

The applause for Paradise Lunch died and the audience was beginning to disperse. A content smile was on Twilight’s face.

“That was incredible,” she said. “Wasn’t it?” She was met with silence.

“Spike?” Twilight looked around. “Spike?” The baby dragon was nowhere to be found.

“Son of a…”

“Twilight!” a scratchy voice said. Twilight looked up to see a rainbow maned pegasus flying towards her. She took two steps back to avoid being landed on.

“Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said. “Listen, I lost track off…”

“You need to come see Smoking Aces with me,” Rainbow interrupted.

“Smoking who?” Twilight cocked her head in confusion.

“Smoking Aces, they’re a local jazz band here in Ponyville,” the pegasus lifted Twilight from the ground and flew off. “I love hearing them play. They have this new awesome pianist you’ll love. Come see them with me!”

“Wait! Rainbow, I can’t join you. I lost Spike!”

“Maybe we’ll find him where they’re performing!” before Twilight could argue any further, they reached a theatre. “Oh look, we’re here. Let’s go inside.” Twilight was gently placed on the ground. Rainbow walked inside with a smile on her face. The unicorn sighed and followed her friend. Maybe we will find him here. I hope he isn’t scared. Twilight found her rainbow friend sitting five rows away from the stage. She was fidgeting with glee.

“Can you tell me more about Smoking Aces?” Twilight asked.

“What’s to tell? They’re a local band that’s composed of five musicians. They travelled around Equestria playing in theatres and festivals. Their original pianist quit though, so they had to stop touring.”

“What’s this about a new pianist?”

“Isn’t it great? Now that they have a new pianist, they’ll be able to play again.”

“Who’s the new pianist?” As Rainbow opened her mouth to answer, the curtains on the stage opened up. Five shadowy figures stood on the stage. Three spot lights turned on showing who they were. All of the musicians had their eyes closed. Twilight’s eyes widened when she saw the baby dragon pianist. He raised his hands above his head. They dropped to the keys and the band began to play.

“Spike’s the new pianist for Smoking Aces?!” Twilight exclaimed.

“You didn’t know?” Rainbow whispered.

“You did?!” her cyan friend shrugged.

“I saw him playing with them at a pub a few nights back, I thought you knew.”

“We’re going to have a long talk about this,” Twilight whispered. She turned her head to the stage. The music coming from it was lively and soothing at the same time. There was a special expression on Spike’s face as he played. Twilight had only seen that expression on his face once in her lifetime. His face looked like that when he and Pinkie played a song in Appleloosa. A small smile appeared on her face. “Maybe a little chat, after they finish their sets for the festival.”

Inheritance

Sitting in the Apple household was a yellow mare. In her hooves was a family portrait. It depicted her and her family when she was younger. Her eyes were focused on an orange mare wearing a stetson. A sad smile was on her face as she looked at the picture. The sound of footsteps shook her out of her reminiscing. She looked up to see a dark yellow colt approaching her.

“Ma?” he asked. “You said you wanted to see me?”

“That I did,” she replied. The colt shuffled his hooves.

“I’m not in trouble am I?” The mare chuckled.

“What made you think that you were in trouble?”

“Nothing,” he said. His face scrunched up and his eyes moved back and forth. “Nothing at all. I definitely didn’t think that you knew about me salting the earth around two of our ariane trees.”

“Remind me to give you a punishment for that,” the colt’s ears flattened against his head. “But that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about.” She reached behind her and pulled out a worn out stetson.

“Do you know what this is?” she asked.

“A really old hat?”

“Well it is that, but it’s something else. Come on Ashmead, you know what this is.” The colt was silent for a while. He looked at the picture that the mare was looking at. His eyes darted back and forth between the picture and the hat.

“Is that…” the mare nodded.

“It is,” she said. “This hat belonged to your Aunt Applejack. I wish you could have met her. You’re a lot like her you know? You’re both strong willed, honest, caring, and stubborn.”

“Hey!”

“This hat means more than that though,” she continued. “This is an Apple family heirloom, much like the harness that your cousin Quinte inherited and like the bow I gave to your sister. This hat belonged to Applejack, and she was given it from our pa. He was given it from his pa, and he was given it from… well you get the picture.” She placed it over the colt’s head. It was two sizes too big for him and slid down over his eyes.

“I’m giving it to you now,” the colt pushed the hat above his eyes. “Take care of that hat. It’s survived thirty generations of Apples, and I want it to survive at least thirty more.”

“I will, ma,” he said. He turned around and began walking away from her.

“Now, what was that about salting the earth around some ariane trees?” the colt froze in his place.

“Aw nuts.”

Bed Time

A gray pegasus mare was carrying a purple unicorn filly on her back. The filly’s eyes were drifting downwards. The mare opened a door and slowly walked into the room.

“But Mama,” the filly said. “I’m not…” A yawn left the filly’s mouth.

The mare giggled. “Tired? I’d say that that contradicts what you say.” The two of them reached a bed with a nightstand beside it. The covers of the bed were pulled back and the filly was placed on the mattress. “You need your rest, dear. You have a big day tomorrow and you need to be well rested. Otherwise what happens?”

“I become grouchy like Aunt Carrot Top?” the filly asked.

“Oi!” a voice screamed between the walls. “I’m not grouchy!” The two of them giggled at the other’s expense.

“Point proven,” the mare brought the covers over the filly. “It’s time to sleep.”

Again, the filly yawned. “Can you sing me a song first? It helps me sleep.” The mare reached for a music box on top of the night stand. She turned the crank a few times before setting it back down. A soothing melody flowed from the box.

“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine,” the filly’s eyes slowly drifted down. “You make me happy, when skies are gray.” Her eyes closed completely.

“You’ll never know dear, how much I love you,” gentle snoring came from the filly. “So please, don’t take my sunshine away.” The filly’s chest moved up and down in a steady rhythm. The mare kissed the sleeping pony’s forehead. She tiptoed out of the room and stood at the doorway. A loving smile was on her face as she watched her child sleep.

“Goodnight Dinky.”

For Now

Lying at the bottom of the ocean was a blue unicorn mare. Her hoof was caught under a rock and her body was lifelessly floating in the water. A pink white robed pony walked to the body with ease. She reached into the body and pulled out a translucent version of the mare’s body. She set it down with a smile on her face.

“Wakey wakey,” she said with a high pitched voice. “You have something important to do.” The blue translucent mare slowly opened her eyes. She stood up and stretched herself.

“Thank Celestia, I’m saved,” she said. “Thanks for the save Jetsam. I thought I was gonna be a goner.” She looked at her surroundings. After blinking in confusion, she held her breath.

“You’re not going to need to do that,” the pink pony said. “You’re dead.”

“What?!” the mare screamed. The pink pony pointed to the body. She turned to it. “Ah. I see. Is there still hope for being saved?” The pink pony shook her head. The blue mare’s ears flattened against her head.

“Damn. There were so many things I wanted to do,” she said.

“If dying at the bottom of the ocean was one of them, I think you can check that off your bucket list,” the robbed pony said. The blue mare took a closer look at the robbed pony. She was wearing a white robe with a golden trim on it. A hood was over her head and barely covered a dark pink poofy mane. Her eyes were a sparkling shade of light blue. The blue mare’s eyes widened.

“You’re… you’re…”

“Pinkamenia Diane Pie, at your service,” Pinkie made a slight bow. “But hey, I just met you, and this is crazy. And friends call me Pinkie, so call me that maybe?” The blue mare stared at the pink pony. After a few moments she broke out into laughter.

“Wow,” she said. “I didn’t think that Death would make such a cheesy joke.” She held out a hoof.

“I’m Ebb N. Flow, professor of marine biology at Manehattan University.” Pinkie shook her hoof.

“A pleasure to meet you,” Pinkie pushed her hood back. “But I’m not Death with a capital ‘D’. I’m a death, not the Death.”

“Wait… Pinkie Pie,” Ebb’s eyes widened in realization. “You were one of my grandmother’s friends!”

“That’s right,” Pinkie shuffled her hooves. “Speaking of your grandmother, how is she?”

“I can’t exactly tell you,” Ebb said. “I’ve been out on the ocean for the past few months doing field research. I haven’t seen her since I left.” Pinkie gestured Ebb to follow her.

“Then tell me how she was when you last saw her.”

“The same as every other grandmother I guess,” Ebb shrugged. “She’s caring, knowledgeable, and has all this wisdom to share.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“She often talks about you,” Pinkie stopped in her place.

“She does?” Ebb nodded. “What does she say?”

“She told me that you made life brighter. She said that you brought happiness to everypony you met. That there was a hidden genius underneath all the supposed madness. And that she tried her best to emulate that since she looked up to you.” A small smile appeared on Pinkie’s face.

“Strange,” she said. “I looked up to Twilight. She’s knowledgeable, wise, caring, compassionate, and from what I remember, she’s a fox.”

“Ewww!” Ebb yelled. “I did not want to think about my grandmother that way. Now that image is stuck in my skull. Thanks a lot!”

“You’re welcome, come on. We have to go.” Pinkie took a few steps forward. Ebb was staring at her body with sadness in her eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Pinkie asked.

“I just thought that I would have more time,” Ebb sighed. “I thought my life would be longer. And my loved ones are going to hurt. I feel bad for causing that hurt.”

“There’s one thing that I’ve learned doing this job,” Pinkie said.

“And what would that be?” Pinkie cleared her throat.

“Nothing lasts,” she sang. “Life goes on, full of surprises.”

“What are you…” a pink hoof pushed itself against Ebb’s nose.

“You’ll be faced with problems, of all shapes and sizes! You’re going to have to make a few compromises… for now.” Pinkie hopped down the empty void of the ocean. Ebb chased after the singing pony.

“For now we’re healthy,” she continued singing. “For now we’re employed. For now we’re happy, if not overjoyed.” A strange feeling bubbled inside of Ebb’s body. For some strange reason, a smile grew on her face.

“And we’ll accept the things we cannot avoid,” she sang. Pinkie’s smile grew. “For now.”

“But only for now!” they sang. “For now there’s love! Only for now! For now there’s work! For now there’s happiness!” Pinkie stopped at a mahogany door. Her smile was still on her face as Ebb caught up to her.

“Each time you smile,” she sang.

“It’ll only last a while,” Ebb continued.

“Life may be scary.”

“But it’s only temporary,” they sang together. An invisible chorus sang a tune with them. The door opened and a white light spilled from it.

“Everything in life, is only for now,” Pinkie finished singing. “I’ve learned that everything is temporary. And when I say everything, I mean everything. Food, wealth, houses, they all have a time limit. That includes emotions as well. We’re happy for a few moments, sad the next, and it’s then topped with misery. But like life, it’s only temporary. If you’re worried about your friends and family hurting, just remember that the pain will go away. And that it is never your fault.”

“Thanks Pinkie,” Ebb looked at the white light coming from the doorway. “What’s on the other side anyways?”

“I dunno,” Pinkie replied. “I’m not allowed on the other side. My job is just to guide ponies to their doorway.”

“I see,” Ebb again held out a hoof. “It was a pleasure meeting you Pinkie. I hope that we can meet again.” Pinkie shook it with a smile on her face.

“We will, I just don’t know when,” Pinkie let go. “Farewell Ebb N. Flow. I’ll see you on the other side.” Ebb walked past the threshold of the door and it closed. Pinkie turned around and began walking as it turned to sparkling dust. She put her hood over her head. Now then, back to work.

A Little Trip

“Are you sure this is safe Pinkamena?”

“Very sure, Lulu. This can actually be used medicinally as well. But in some cultures and sub-cultures this is used for recreation. It’s also a sign of friendship!”

“Very well then. Let us try a little.”

“Hurry up man!” a scratchy voice whispered. “Hide the stuff!” Frantically moving in one of the chambers of Canterlot Castle were four ponies: a pink earth pony stuffing plastic bags into a purple pouch, a beige earth pony carefully putting a vase like object into a metal box, a butter yellow pegasus flapping her wings to move smoke out a window, and a midnight blue alicorn doing the same as the pegasus. Knocking on the chamber’s oaken door made them move faster.

“Luna?” a regal voice asked. “I need to ask you something.” The knob on the door turned. The door opened slightly before the beige earth pony pushed her body against it.

“Do not invite yourself in without my order,” the alicorn said. “Haven’t you heard of manners?” She turned to the earth ponies. Both of them were nodding their heads. A clicking went off behind her. The pegasus gave out a sharp whistle. With a thought, the door opened. A white alicorn stood at the door way. She quirked an eyebrow as her head moved around the room.

“What have you been doing?” she asked.

“Nothing!” Luna screamed. The white alicorn blinked. Luna coughed into her hoof. “I mean. Nothing out of the ordinary, Celestia. We were just having a… a…”

“A private party!” the pink pony added.

“Yes,” Luna’s hooves hit each other. “A private party. Pinkamena over there wanted us to meet her friend, Strawberry Ice.” The beige earth pony bowed.

“Hello your Highness,” Strawberry said. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” Celestia replied. “Anyways… I overheard one of the guards saying…”

“And we invited Fluttershy,” Pinkie interrupted. “Because she’s a mutual friend that Lulu, Icy, and I share.” The pegasus nodded. Her eyes quickly moved back and forth.

“I see,” Celestia looked to her sister. “As I was saying: I overheard one of the guards talking about you and a pink pony being in the castle’s kitchen baking brownies. And that you two were giving them out for free.”

“That’s true,” Pinkie said. “When we first got here, we did some baking. And I wanted to share everything we made with everypony.”

Celestia smiled. “I’m glad to hear that. When I went to the kitchen to try a piece, I was told by the head chef that every brownie had been eaten.”

“Actually,” Fluttershy grabbed a glass oven tray. Inside it were nine brown cakes. “We saved some for you.” A golden glow enveloped one of the cakes.

“That was very considerate of you,” Celestia licked her lips. “Anyways, I have to go. I still have a few more officials to see before Day Court ends. See you at dinner, Luna. Thank you for the dessert.” The door gave off a golden glow and closed. The four ponies were waving as the door moved. They were silent as the sound of footsteps echoed into the room.

“You’re welcome,” they all said. As soon as the footsteps stopped, they all gave off a sigh of relief.

“Jeez man,” Strawberry wiped her brow. “That was scary.”

“We have fought monsters far worse than most can imagine,” Luna said. “But all of those creatures cannot even bring a thousandth the amount of fear we just felt.”

“At least it’s over,” Pinkie sat back down in her place. “Now we don’t have to go through that again.” Her friends murmured in agreement and returned where they were. All of them sat staring at a lava lamp with a silly grin on their faces. Soon, smoke once again filled the room.

“Hey Shy,” Strawberry said. “Can you pass me a brownie?” Fluttershy handed her friend the glass tray.

“Did you give my sister the ones from the metal tray?” Luna asked. The pegasus blinked.

“We have a second tray?”

Pinkie reached for a dark coloured tray. Like the glass one, it was full of brownies. “These ones aren’t the special ones. These are the ones we gave to the castle staff. The ones in the glass tray we’re supposed to keep to ourselves and whoever knows us.” All four of them had looks of concern on their faces.

“So if I gave Celestia a brownie from this tray,” Fluttershy said.

“Then that means that she ate the ones with the special ingredient in them,” Pinkie continued.

“And since she still has Day Court,” Strawberry added.

“That means….” Luna tapped her chin. After a few seconds, all of their eyes widened. The four of them sat there taking in their mistake. They had done something that could cause a country wide scandal. Panic was silently growing in all of them.

“Ten bits say that she giggles like Pinkie in front of the nobles and government workers,” Fluttershy said.

“Fifteen bits say that she freaks out,” Strawberry added.

“Thirty bits say that she fails to sit still and twitches a lot,” Luna grinned.

“A tray of brownies say that she gets lost in her own imagination,” All of the ponies turned to Pinkie. They cocked their head in confusion. “Brownies with white widow in them.”

“You’re on!” The four of them left the chamber with grins on their faces. A single thought was shared by all of them as they moved through the castle halls: this will be hilarious.

Desires

Desire is something that is built into every creature. To live is to desire. A new born cries to show what it wants. Buildings, tables, even the food we eat is built by desire. And it is wonderful. It’s this very force that causes us to do what we do. All of the emotions that mortals can feel are because of desire. I’m wrong? Really now? Tell me, when you love somepony, what exactly happens? You want them. Want. That is the key word. And what causes a pony to want? That’s right, desire. But there’s another side to desire that most do not know about.

You see, there are two sets of drives built into living creatures: a life drive, and a death drive. These are known as libido and thanatos respectively. You know how I said that everything is built by desire? That is libido working. Desire can also destroy as well, this is thanatos. Deny all you want, but it’s true. Every creature has the capability to destroy. Ponies sabotage relationships, they ruin other’s financial abilities, and they can even destroy a family. All of that, is also caused by desire. Desire is life, but it is also death. It’s beautiful in its duality. And it is because of desire that I’m doing what I’m doing.

Two ponies were standing outside of a magical rune: a purple unicorn and a white alicorn. The rune was giving off a purple glow and a column of light touched the sky. All across the sky were deep purple cracks. They were slowly spreading across the sky as the two were standing there. The alicorn glared at the unicorn.

“Tell me something, monster,” she said. “There has to be more of a reason than desire, so why are you doing this?”

“Monster?” the unicorn asked. “Do I really deserve that after I’ve been your student for years? That’s kind of cruel, Celestia.”

“You’re not my student!” Celestia yelled. “She would never do something like this.”

“Very true,” the unicorn began walking forward. “Your student would never do this. But I’ve outgrown you Celestia. I’m no longer a student.” She stopped in front of Celestia with a smile on her face.

“The answer to your question is simple really,” she continued. “Just as a painting is completed as soon as the last brush stroke is made, so is life completed when the last breath is taken. And like a painting, it is most beautiful at its end. All I’m doing is bringing the world into beauty.”

“You’re going to take the lives of everything on the planet,” she said. Twilight continued smiling.

“And they will be beautiful when I’m done,” Celestia’s horn glowed.

“I will stop yo…” a purple hoof stabbing into her chest stopped her. Cracks similar to those in the sky were on her regalia. She looked to Twilight; the same smile was on her face.

“You really should learn not to talk before taking action,” Twilight pulled her hoof back, glowing arcane characters circled around it. “It gives your enemy an opportunity to attack. Take that lesson with you to the other side.” Celestia fell to the floor.

“How?” she wheezed. “I’ve lived far longer than anypony. I’ve survived plagues, pestilence, fires, and even time itself. I’m supposed to be immortal.” The pony in front of her chuckled.

“Stars perish,” she said. “Matter disperses, coalesces, forms into other patterns, other worlds. Nothing is eternal. That goes for you too. Alicorns may live longer, and they may be impervious to things that would normally kill most ponies, but they are not immortal.” Celestia attempted to stand. The cracks were moving along her body causing it to scream in pain. A hoof gently pushed her down to the ground.

“Shhh, don’t fight it. This is a good end. And you’ve never been more beautiful than you are right now.”

Visitors

Three unicorns stood in a mountainous cave. At their sides were saddlebags full of both short and long ranged weaponry. Hundreds of thousands of books had been placed on shelves engrained into the cave’s walls. Many of the books had dust on them while many looked brand new. Candelabras stood a between gaps of the shelves. All of them held three candles and were lit up. The unicorns looked around in confusion.

“This is the dragon’s horde?” an azure mare asked. “It’s nothing but books! These are worthless!”

“Calm down, Sniper,” a beige stallion said. “This might be a trap. The gems are probably deep within the cave.”

“That doesn’t matter,” a purple mare said. “We’re here to slay the dragon. After we’re done, then we can raid this place.” The mare’s companions nodded. The three of them made their trek into the cave looking around. As they went deeper inside, they noticed portraits sitting between the shelves. Beneath each one was a glass case with something inside it. One depicted a yellow pegasus mare with a pink mane. A crystal butterfly sat underneath it. A picture of an orange earth pony mare wearing a stetson over her blonde mane stood above an orange crystal apple. Across it stood a portrait of a cyan pegasus mare with a rainbow coloured mane. Underneath it was a ruby in the shape of a lightning bolt. To that portrait’s left was a picture of a smiling pink earth pony mare with a dark poofy pink mane. Sitting in front of her portrait was a sparkling blue crystal in the shape of a balloon. The azure mare’s eyes sparkled.

“Ding-dong! Hello!” she said. She rushed to the case with the butterfly inside it. A chisel was pulled from her saddle and placed on the bottom of the glass case. The mare’s tongue stuck out in concentration. “Come to mama.” The purple mare looked at each of the portraits.

“These four mares look familiar,” a book was pulled from her bag and floated in front of her. The pages turned with a single thought. Her eyes widened as she stopped in the center of the book. “Dear Celestia… these mares were the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. That yellow mare is Fluttershy, and that’s Applejack. That’s Pinkie Pie, and over there is Rainbow Dash! This is incredible!”

“Why would a dragon have portraits of the Elements of Harmony in his cave?” the stallion asked.

“Who cares?” the azure mare asked. A clicking came from the case she was working on. A large grin appeared on her face. “Awesome.” The crystal butterfly was enveloped in a cyan glow. Before she could place it in her bag a loud bird like screech echoed in the cave. All of the ponies looked towards the end of the cave. What looked like a mechanical phoenix the size of a filly was approaching them. Metallic silver was lined around its ruby red wings and body. At the center of its body was what looked like the side profile of the bird etched into a large silver ring. Its eyes were filled with hate.

“What is that thing?!” the purple mare screamed. A spear was pulled from the stallion’s bag and thrown at the bird. It stabbed through its head and it fell to the ground. The three ponies circled around it.

“That seemed too easy,” the stallion said. The bird’s body faded into sparkling dust. What was left of it was a silver ring that was three sizes too big for a pony. The three ponies blinked.

“That’s new,” the azure mare said. “Oh well, my treasure now.” As her horn lit up, a phoenix swooped in and took the ring in its talons. It hovered a few feet away from the group.

“Hey little bird,” the azure pony said. “Can you give me that shiny trinket? I promise I won’t kill you if you do.” The phoenix blew a raspberry at them. Footsteps echoed in the cave. They seemed to be moving closer to them. Looking in the distance, the ponies could see a bipedal creature with fins on its head. It appeared to be wearing a flowing coat. Its left hand was held out and gestured to the phoenix. It flew over to the creature and dropped the ring in its hand. Underneath the phoenix’s light, they could see that the creature was a dragon that stood as tall as three ponies. He was wearing a black overcoat with a silver trim. At the coat’s shoulders were silver circular patterns with a stylized dragon etched into them. On the coat’s sleeves were cuffs made entirely out of rubies with silver surrounding them. Both sides of the lapel had large square rubies embedded into it. Like the cuffs, silver was surrounding the rubies and it separated them into three sections. The dragon’s wings were passing through the back of the coat. Both of his hands had rings on the middle finger.

“Thanks, Peewee,” he said. The phoenix landed on his shoulder and he pet its head. He turned his attention to the ponies. “Hello there. I just moved into here, so I haven’t introduced myself to the village yet. I’m a little surprised to find…”

“Die dragon!” the stallion screamed. He hurled a spear at the dragon’s head. The dragon moved his head to the right, barely dodging the spear. The phoenix flew from his shoulder and squawked in surprise.

“Holy guacamole!” the dragon screamed. “What was that for?!” The three ponies armed themselves. Floating around them were short swords and axes.

“We’re here to prevent you from terrorizing the village below,” the purple mare said. “And to do that, you must die.”

“And then we’re going to steal your stuff,” her azure friend said. Her companions cocked an eyebrow at her. “What? Would you rather have me lie?” Two arcane circles then appeared in the cave, one in front of the dragon and one over the ponies. The dragon kneeled down and pushed his right hand into it. Up above, a large version of the dragon’s arm and hand descended on the ponies. They were pushed under the weight of the massive hand.

“Magic?” the stallion said. “But that’s impossible! Other than fire breath, dragons can’t use magic.”

“Every creature has magical potential,” the dragon said. “It manifests itself in different ways for each race. For example: pegasai have the power to control the skies. If one can tap into that magical potential and redirect it…”

“Then anypony can use magic,” the purple mare finished. “That’s Sparkle’s First Law of Magic. How do you know that?” The hand lifted itself from them and the dragon stood up.

“Who do you think she experimented on to discover that?” he asked. The ponies stood up and stared at him.

“You knew Twilight Sparkle?” the purple mare asked.

“I’m her baby brother,” the dragon replied. “I think we got off to the wrong start, what with him throwing a spear at my head. I’m Spike, who are you three?” The ponies looked at each other with confusion.

“I’m Sable Eye,” the stallion said.

“I’m Animus,” the purple mare said.

“I’m Treasure Sniper,” the azure mare responded. The phoenix landed on Spike’s shoulders.

“A pleasure to meet you all,” he said. The phoenix squawked. “Oh, right. This is Peewee. Anyways, is it safe to assume that you’re from the village at the base of this mountain?” The ponies nodded.

“Excellent. I was going to introduce myself to you all, but I’ve been busy the past two days setting up my things. I was just about finished cooking, would you three like to join myself and the princesses for dinner?”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Sable Eye said. “You know the princesses?”

“They’re personal friends of mine,” Spike said. “I invited them over for a housewarming party and they should be here soon. I couldn’t invite my friends who are in the portraits since… well for lack of a more eloquent phrase, they’re dead.”

“You were friends with the Elements of Harmony?” Animus gasped. Spike nodded. Stars sparkled in her eyes. “Can you tell me about them? I’ve read so much about them in history books.”

Spike chuckled. “There’s so many things that your history books got wrong about them. I should know, I have at least five of them on my shelves. Come, I’ll set three more places on the table for you.” He turned around and began walking into the cave. Animus followed close to him, bombarding the dragon with questions. Sable Eye and Treasure Sniper walked a few paces behind them.

“This did not turn out as I expected,” Sable Eye whispered.

“Who cares? A free meal is a free meal,” Treasure Sniper whispered back. “And besides, if he tries to eat us, we can always kill him and steal his stuff.”

First Celebrations

“Lunch, lunch, lunch,” a red stallion with a blonde poofy mane and tail sang. “How I love lunch.” He was walking down a hallway towards a mess hall. The stallion was humming and had a large smile on his face. After a few moments, he reached a pair of birch doors. He pushed his way past them and stood in front of a large number of tables. Sitting at each one were earth ponies of every size and colour. In front of each of them was a bowl full of stew and a plate with a cookie on it. To the right of the room stood a line of ponies. At the head of this line was another table set up. Atop it were empty bowls and plates as well as a basket of freshly baked cookies. Standing behind the table were two ponies, one of them was pouring stew from a cauldron into the bowls while the other placed a cookie on each of the plates. The stallion walked to the back of the line still humming. A carmine mare in front of him turned her head to him.

“Hello Chancellor,” she said. “Working hard?”

“HA!” he laughed. “It’s Oktoberfest! There’s no reason to work.”

“Oktoberfest?” the mare asked.

“Oh right, I haven’t made that announcement yet,” the stallion cleared his throat. “Attention everypony!” All of the ponies turned their attention to him.

“Hi! I’m Chancellor Puddinghead. But you already knew that didn’t you? Anyways, for the past sixteen days, we’ve had a surplus of food, even after we divided it up with the other two tribes. So to celebrate this wonderful harvest, for the next sixteen days, we’re going to celebrate it with something I call Oktoberfest.” The room was silent. “And did I mention that since we’ve had a surplus of food, we’ve also had a surplus of barley and hops? And did I mention that while talking to a unicorn, I convinced them to help me warp time so that we can combine the barley and hops into beer? No? Well, guess what? We have beer! We have enough beer to fill a cask that stands as tall as one of Princess Platinum’s summer homes! Free beer for everypony!” The room erupted into cheers.

“It’s so good to hear you all happy,” Puddinghead said. “After lunch, I’ll need help setting up at the center of town for the Oktoberfest celebrations. The first ten ponies to volunteer to help with that will get the first ten steins of beer.” The ponies returned to their meals. Happy conversations could be heard around the room. The mare in front of him chuckled.

“An interesting premise for a celebration, Chancellor,” she said. “Do you think it’ll be remembered down the line?”

Puddinghead shrugged in response. “Who knows.” The two of them reached the head of the line. Both of them acquired a bowl of stew and a cookie. “Would you like to join me for lunch?”

“I would,” she replied. The two of them moved to the end of a table. The carmine pony sat down and began eating her stew. She looked up to Puddinghead to see his pupils dilated. A cookie with a bite mark on it sat on his plate.

“Chancellor?” the mare waved her hoof past his eyes. “Are you okay? Do I have to get the leeches to make you better?”

“This cookie,” he said. “It’s the best cookie I’ve ever eaten. Who baked it?”

“That would be me,” the mare said. “It was my turn to work in the kitchens today.”

“What’s your name?”

“Strangely enough, Smart Cookie.” Puddinghead stuck out a hoof.

“Congratulations, Smart Cookie. You’re my new assistant.”

“What?! Why?”

“Because that was the best damn cookie I’ve ever tasted,” he answered with a serious tone. Smart Cookie stared at the pony in front of her. His face held a dead serious expression. After a few moments, she began laughing.

“That’s a good one, Chancellor,” she said wiping a tear away. When she looked up, his face held the same expression. “Oh… you’re serious aren’t you?”

“Everypony who works for my government is a good cook,” he said. “One of my cabinet ministers can make a very good pie. The judge of the Supreme Court is a pastry chef who can create amazing éclairs. And the minister of finance makes this wonderful sorbet on a regular basis.”

“But I don’t know anything about government!”

“Hell, neither do I. I used to make pudding for a living before getting elected. I’m still figuring out how I managed that.” Smart Cookie tapped her chin.

“What do I have to do?” she asked. Puddinghead shrugged. He took another bite of the cookie.

“Just work with me,” the last of the cookie was placed in his mouth. “Come up with new ideas, help implement them in the community, basically the same thing I do.”

“So… am I an employee or a partner?”

“Think of it as a bit of both, so what do you say?” again, Puddinghead offered his hoof to her. A smile appeared on Smart Cookie’s face as she shook it. “Welcome aboard, Smart Cookie. I have some ideas for Oktoberfest.”

“Actually,” she said. “I do too.” The pony in front of her gestured her to continue. The two of them dived into meals, drinks, and events that would happen during the next two weeks. Both were animated in their conversation and both were passionate about their ideas. Little did they know that their ideas would be carried on in the future, even after their bodies turned into dust.

A Cup of Tea

Last’s night experience is something I’ll never experience again. And I’m a little sad about that. But at the same time, if I did it again, it may not live up to the expectations I’ve given myself. Hmm? What happened? Sure, I’ll tell you. Though it may take a while.

A few days ago, I invited Zecora over for some tea. She had hundreds of wonderful tea leaves that could only be grown in the Everfree Forest, and I wanted to learn about them. When she asked which blend she was supposed to bring, I told her to surprise me, and to bring something new. After that, she gave me a warning, which was strange in it of itself. She said that this special herb was used for other uses other than tea, this particular herb was used for sacred practices as well. I was never given details on what those practices were, but she told me that they give a pony (or in her culture’s case zebra) insight. This excited me; I could have insight on a number of topics if what she was saying was correct. I accepted her warning and asked her to bring this herb. Last night at around sundown she came to the library. Sundown? Yes I’m sure I mean sundown and not midday. I’ll admit, it was an odd time to meet. Normally ponies meet for tea during midday. When she wanted to meet at sundown, I assumed that it was part of zebra culture. Like she promised, she brought something for tea, but it wasn’t tea leaves. She brought two cacti.

This was obviously strange. I asked her why she brought cacti instead of tea leaves. She responded by asking me if I wanted something new. Of course I wanted something new, so she said that this would be new to me. Zecora called the cactus peyote. She took the crowns of the cacti and cut them into small disc shaped buttons. Those buttons were put into a kettle and boiling water was poured into it. While we waited for the tea to steep, she asked for a phonograph. I pointed her to the one in the library. She set put a record on it and happy music began to play from it. This… well what can I say? This was very very confusing. When I asked why, she answered with:

“Twilight Sparkle, my dear friend. If things go wrong, we both could meet our untimely end. So to prevent fear from growing in us, we must have something happy to calm distress.” That scared me a little. What if this plant was poisonous? What if it could kill us if we had too much? Zecora calmed my fears though by saying that so long as we were in a safe environment, nothing would happen. She poured both myself and her a cup of the tea. When I tasted it, it was bitter. Very bitter. After finishing my cup (and two more), I felt nauseous. My paranoia acted up and told me that I was dying. Again, Zecora calmed me down, and I felt better. After a few moments… it happened.

“It” is the best way I can describe it. I don’t know what exactly was happening. All I knew was that something happened. I could see sound and I could hear the very heartbeat of the planet we stand on. It was incredible. While that by itself would be amazing, something even more incredible happened. I saw the Truth. Not truth, Truth with a capital “T”. It was beautiful. I’ll admit, tears came from my eyes when I saw it. It was a brief glimpse, but I’ll never forget it.

Last night? Last night was nothing new or insane, just something that I consider mundane. You’d like that special tea? Well my friend, follow me.

Voices in My Head

Pinkie Pie sat still in her apartment. The ends of her forelegs were pressed together and her eyes were closed. Sitting in a circle around her were joss sticks in incense burners. Each of the sticks were burning and a pale smoke drifted around the room. The pink pony took in a deep breath taking in the scent. A single syllable left her mouth as the smell entered her lungs.

When Pinkie opened her eyes, she was standing in what looked like a meeting room. A white sash with the word “consciousness” written on it was over her chest. Her eyes moved around the room looking for a place to sit. All around her were ponies who looked nearly identical to her. Each of them had some form of variation to their physical appearance as well as a different coloured sash. Pinkie walked to the head of the table and sat down.

“Order!” she said. “This introspective meeting will come to order!” The other Pinkies found a seat and joined her at the table.

“Glad you could all make it,” she continued. “We will now go over the notes of the last session. Who was the stenographer for that session?”

“I was,” a pink hoof was in the air. Attached to the hoof was a pink pony with a dark poofy pink mane and tail. Around her chest was a blue sash with the word “contentment” written on it. She stood up and cleared her throat. “So, here’s what happened last meeting: nothing of importance. And I’m okay with that.”

“Very good,” the Pinkie at the head of the table said. “What have we accomplished recently?”

“I punched a manticore in the face!” an orange sashed Pinkie yelled. The words “hot-blooded” were written on her sash. “It was awesome!”

“Yes, and you left me to deal with that,” a dark gray sashed Pinkie said. On her sash was the word “disgust”. “Thanks for that by the way. I hated every moment of it chasing me.”

“But it was for a good cause!” a smiling yellow sashed Pinkie said. “You have to look at the bright side of things, Disgust. Otherwise, you’ll be frowning all the time, and that’s not fun.”

“And I suppose I should take a cue from you, Joy?” she asked.

“Well, maybe not from me, maybe Contentment would be a better pony to look up to first. Afterwards, then me, and then you’ll be happy!”

“I highly doubt that. And I don’t think I’ll follow Contentment’s example.”

“And I’m perfectly okay with that.” A cough at the head brought all of the Pinkies' attention to it.

“We’re missing the point here,” she said. “So we punched a manticore to save our friends. That’s a good thing, it led to a party…”

“Which was fun!” Joy interrupted.

“Yes, which was very fun. But we’re only focusing on the happy things. Life isn’t composed of only positive things; it’s a balance between negative and positive. What have we done to balance the scales? Envy, anything to report?” A green sashed Pinkie stood up.

“We’re jealous,” she said. All of the Pinkies smacked their forehead.

“Thank you, Captain Obvious,” a carmine sashed Pinkie said. “What tidbit of knowledge are you going to share with us next? Are you going to tell us that Sadness is sad? That Fear is afraid? Or how about how Thanatos over there wants us to destroy everything in sight?”

“No need to be sarcastic, Exasperation,” the green sashed Pinkie replied. “I wasn’t finished. I was talking with Love a few days ago. And I think we have a… well not really a problem, but something.”

“And that would be?”

“We’re jealous of Rainbow Dash.” All of the Pinkies murmured to each other.

“Why would we be jealous of Rainbow Dash?” a purple sashed Pinkie asked. “It doesn’t make any sense.” A pink sashed Pinkie stood up. Her pupils were in the shape of tiny hearts and a smile was on her face.

“Funny,” she said. “Logic, you don’t seem to be doing a very good job at being logical. Use Occam’s razor and the answer will be obvious.”

“We want Twilight don’t we?” Consciousness asked. Both Envy and the pink sashed pony nodded. Consciousness rubbed her eyes. “Great, this complicates things. Love, what do you suggest we do?”

“Simple,” she said. “It’s obvious that if we want Twilight, we’ll have to go through Rainbow Dash. But since Rainbow Dash is our friend, and also very attractive, we’ll have to win her over as well. In other words, we’ll have to seduce both Twilight and Rainbow Dash simultaneously.” Silence was in the room full of Pinkies.

“Do I get to punch somepony or something?” Hot-blooded asked.

“Since it’s Rainbow Dash, I think we need to do something physical. You’ll be in charge of that.” Love responded. A lecherous grin appeared on her face. “We don’t even have to do anything! We can just sit there watching her perform her stunts. And we’ll have a great view of…”

“I’d prefer you didn’t finish that thought,” Disgust said. “In fact, if you do, I will personally send you to the special place in Tartarus reserved for child molesters and ponies who talk in the theater. I did it with Lust, I can do it with you too.”

“Dually noted,” Love turned her attention to Logic. “You, you need to come up with a plan so we can capture Twilight’s heart.”

“I can do that,” Logic said. She looked to the head of the table. “I’m going to need immediate control after the meeting.”

“Granted,” Consciousness said. “Anything else anypony needs to say?” Joy stood up with a smile still on her face.

“I thought of twelve new pastry recipes!” she said. “I thought of prices, names, and how we can market them at Sugar Cube Corner! We should make them as soon as possible!”

“You and I can talk about that while Logic is planning,” Consciousness said. “Right, meeting adjourned. Logic, take control, I need to talk with Joy.” All of the Pinkies stood from their seats and had conversations with one another. Logic walked to the exit of the room and pushed her way past the door.

Pinkie opened her eyes. The joss sticks had reached their bottoms and were no longer burning. Smoke was still lingering in the room. She stood up from her place and walked to a nearby window. She opened it allowing the smoke to find its way outside. Atop a desk just under the window was a blank sheet of paper and a fountain pen. Pinkie took the fountain pen and began writing details of a plan. After a few moments, the sound of approaching footsteps echoed in her mind. She stopped writing and looked up from her paper.

OH! Can I name the plan? Can I? Can I? Can I?

Joy, what are you doing here? I thought you were talking with Consciousness.

I was, but I wanted to name this plan.

Fine, what have you got for me?

Call it: Operation OT3!

…

What?

Why that name?

I don’t know, I heard Muse use the phrase “OT3” while she was planning a song. It just sounded catchy.

I like it. Sure, we can use that for the plan.

Yay! Thanks Logic. I’ll see you later.

Pinkie could hear the sound of receding footsteps. She shook her head and returned to the paper. The fountain pen was picked up and the phrase “Operation OT3” was written at the top of the page. She smiled at the words and continued writing.

Out of the Ordinary

A pony once said that insanity was doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. I liked that pony; he was smart, passionate, and very witty. It’s a shame I had to send him to the Other Side. But I’m rambling. For the past… I don’t know. Can you even put a number on how long I’ve been doing this? Anyways, since I can remember, I’ve been doing the same thing. Day in and day out it’s the same routine. Visit a dead pony, take their soul, have them go through the five stages of grief, send them to the Other Side, rinse and repeat. Each pony gets one request, and it’s almost always the same: let me see my funereal. So I let them.

These funerals usually have variation to them: some funerals are full of loving friends of family, others are small and only include the pony’s closest loved ones, and a select few are full of ponies who celebrate the death. Those are always funny. When this particular pony wanted to see her funeral, I thought this would be routine and that I would see the same thing. I was wrong, very very wrong.

I haven’t mentioned a memorable pony in here in a long time have I? The last one I wrote about, was I think Emperor Griffi… no, I won’t get distracted.

Moving back on track, this pony’s name was Pinkamena Diane Pie. An earth pony that was twenty-two when I took her. She died of an illness. It’s more complicated than that, but for the sake of simplicity, she died of an illness. She and I went to her funeral. I thought it would be the usual affair of her friends and family grieving while dressed in black. I did get her friends and family, but I didn’t expect a country wide funeral for this pony. We stood in Ponyville with what seemed like the population of the village outside. They were all in front of a casket with Pinkamena inside it. Above the village were these projections of the service. From what I could tell, the entire country was watching. Sometimes, yes a hero does get a large funeral, and yes, she is a hero. But none of the heroes I’ve guided received something this big. I was shocked. I told her that I thought only her friends and family would be attending. She told me that they were.

“All of those ponies are my friends,” she said. “I’ve made friends with every living pony in Equestria.” I told her that that was impossible. Not even Celestia or Luna could do that. And they’ve each had a millennium to do that (note to self: must get to that eventually.). Do you know what she did? She just giggled at me. Me. Most just cower in fear when I talk to them. This was sufficient to say new. Not only did the number rattle me, but I found that none of them were wearing dark colours. Some were naturally dark furred, but other than that, not a single shade of black. They were all wearing bright colours. I asked the pony why they might they be doing that.

“It’s one of the instructions I left in my will,” she explained. “I also wanted them to have a band there. But the no black is the most important thing to me.” Despite not having eyelids, I blinked. I don’t know how, I just did. It seemed that we had arrived near the end of it. Standing in front of her casket was a purple unicorn mare. She stood in front of a podium wearing a bright red suit. A band sat beside her as well. She nodded to them, and they began to play gentle music. The mare looked out at the crowd and closed her eyes. And she did a common thing found at funerals, she sang.

“If just one pony believes in you, deep enough, and strong enough, believes in you” she sang. “Hard enough, and long enough, before you knew it, somepony else would think ‘if he can do it, I can do it.’” Another pony joined her. It was a cyan pegasus mare with a bright yellow blazer on.

“Making it: two whole ponies, who believe in you,” they sang. The song goes on for a while. But as I was watching, I saw more ponies join. The song became louder and louder as each voice added to the collective. This may be me being crazy, but I think the whole country was singing. It’s impossible, I know. But I’ve met a pony who has done the impossible.

At all funerals, there’s grieving. It shows that a pony is loved and will be missed. It seemed to me that the entire country was grieving. It just baffled my mind. It was confusing, and it didn’t make sense! I just stood there with Pinkamena, watching them sing. A gentle nudge brought me back.

“I’ve seen enough,” she said. “Thank you.” I weakly nodded and turned around. We both walked into the void. Something about this pony was different. I asked her why she had so many genuine friends. She told me that she wanted to make ponies happy, and that was all. It was clear that she did make them happy.

I often see misery in my line of work. Many have a hard time passing on due to this misery. It’s understandable; ponies are going into the unknown leaving behind everything they know. It can be hard. I had an epiphany then. This pony could drag them out of that feeling, and help them Pass with a smile. She could help with work. So I asked her to help, and she accepted. Though highly unorthodox (since I’ve literally been doing this on my own forever), I now have an apprentice. She’s going to accompany me whenever I have to help somepony Pass and…

The smell of baked goods stopped a skeletal unicorn sitting at a desk. He turned his head to find a pink pony with a tray of cupcakes in her mouth. She had a smile on her face as she offered them to him. He chuckled as a gray aura covered on of the pastries.

“Ready for tomorrow?” he asked. The pink pony nodded vigorously.

“You bet!” she said. “I can’t wait to make those ponies smile. Thanks for giving me this chance Death.”

“Thank you for giving me something different,” he replied. He took a bite from his cupcake. And thanks for replacing my insanity with fun.

Paying a Visit

Hey Twilight,

I’ve had an interesting few weeks, and I’d like to share some of it with you. I have good news that you’d like to hear. My horde has grown, not in terms of size, but in terms of quality. The Canterlot Museum had decided to give me the very first copy of your book. You know, the one before it was heavily edited? I know, it sounds strange since archmages have been trying to decipher a select few spells and theories for the past few years. But we came to an agreement, so long as I translate all of the spells, I could keep the original. I don’t think I can even describe how happy I am because of that agreement. This one of the last things on the planet that you created by your own hoof. It’s helped me hear something I haven’t heard in a long time: your voice. I am not ashamed to admit that I cried when I received it.

Second, your great great great granddaughter, like you, has become Celestia’s personal protégé. It seems that everypony in your line is going on to do great things. First, you redefine magic and you find a way to manipulate the inner magic of every creature, allowing them to use it. Then your son finds a way to create artificial magic using technology. That’s closely followed by your great granddaughter who finds a way for us to touch the stars. I have no doubt in my mind that Aries will change the universe, much like you and your children have.

And, this is the most exciting thing I have to tell you. I can give you more details when I deliver the letter, but for now, here’s a very very brief explanation: I’m going to be a father. Ignis laid a clutch of three eggs a few nights ago. I now understand that feeling you felt when you became pregnant. I’m excited and scared all at the same time. I have to thank you for something. Thanks to you, I’m now fully prepared to help my children grow up. Thanks for telling me that I was babysitting instead of asking if I could.

When I deliver this, I have a gift to give you. There’s this song that one of Pinkie’s great great great granddaughters composed, I think that you’d like it. It has a classical style to it. Classical in the way that we describe it, not the way that her generation does, her generation describes jumpstyle as classic (I still can’t get over that). Anyways, I better wrap this up. I’ll deliver this as soon as I can, and I hope you like the gift I bring you.

Your baby brother,

Spike

PS: Luna would like to say hello.

A metal bowl full of oil sat in front of a headstone. On the headstone was a six pointed star with five smaller stars surrounding it. Sitting on the other side of the bowl was a purple dragon that was as tall as three ponies. He was wearing a white over coat with a blue trim. At the end of the coat’s sleeves were cuffs made out of sapphires with gold surrounding them. His wings passed through the back of the coat and were folded at his sides. Both of his hands had rings on the middle finger. In his left hand was a rolled up scroll with a purple ribbon tied to it. Sitting on his right shoulder was a phoenix with lilacs in his beak. The dragon snapped his right hand and a green flame burned at the tip of his index finger. The fire touched the oil causing it to come to life. An emerald flame burned in the bowl. The scroll was tossed into bowl and the fire grew. The ends of the scroll slowly turned into purple ash.

“Peewee,” the dragon said. “Do you want to give your gift first?” The phoenix flew on top of the headstone and dropped the lilacs into the fire. Like the scroll, they began to turn to ash. The phoenix moved back to the dragon’s shoulders as the right ring gave off a glow.

“Thirty minutes left huh?” he said looking at the ring. He cracked his neck and stood up. “Better give you my gift then.” His left hand reached into a pocket. When it was pulled out, purple and white powder was in the palm of his hand. The dragon took in a deep breath, bringing the powder to his mouth. A gentle green flame flowed past the powder. The powder swirled a few feet in front of him taking the shape of something familiar. What looked like a bench and a baby grand piano remained when the powder stopped moving. The dragon sat at the bench and dark coloured flowed through it. His fingers touched the piano’s keys and like the bench, colour flowed through it. A polished black baby grand piano sat by the bowl of fire when the colour stopped moving. The dragon cracked his fingers before pressing the keys. A small smile formed on his face as his fingers danced.

“This took me a few days to learn, I hope you like it,” he said. “Otherwise, this will have been for nothing. Hey Peewee, want to sing along with me?” The phoenix nodded and cleared his throat. He closed his eyes as he sang. The sun was lowering itself over the horizon as the two continued with their music. The smile on the dragon grew. How fitting that you should get your gift at twilight, Twilight.

Balancing the Scales

Two creatures sat in a crystal room: a mismatched creature and a jet black alicorn with a flowing mane and tail. Sitting between them was a wooden board with various circular tiles on it. Each of the tiles had a different character on them. The mismatched creature moved one of his tiles forward.

“Your turn,” he said. The alicorn swept her foreleg across the board causing it and the tiles to fall on the floor. “Well, if you didn’t want to play xiangqi anymore, you could have said so rather than doing that.”

“I’m sick of this!” the alicorn yelled. “I hate being stuck in this hell. I hate not being able to interact with anyone else but you, and I hate that those ponies are still frolicking in the sun! How can you just sit there and accept your punishment?” The mismatched creature snapped his fingers and the tiles floated to his side. The board was once again placed between them.

“It’s quite simple, Nighty,” he answered. He lifted a tile between his fingers and placed it on the board. “Unlike you, my existence is necessary and my imprisonment here only temporary.”

“Don’t call me Nighty,” she crossed her forelegs and puffed her cheeks out.

The mismatched creature chuckled. “Now that’s just adorable. If you want me to stop calling you that, you’d best stop being cute.”

“I’m not cute!” another tile was placed on the board. “And what do you mean by your existence is necessary? You were sealed away here, and like me, you’re stuck here, Discord. So how can you be necessary?” Discord placed another tile on the board. He snapped his talons and the tip of one of them glowed. He moved it in the air in front of them as if he were drawing. When he was done, two glowing characters floated in front of them.

“Tell me,” he began. “What do these characters say?”

“平衡,” Nightmare Moon answered.

“Interesting, I would have thought that you would read it in Mandarin rather than Cantonese,” he said. “And what does that translate to?”

“Balance.”

“Excellent, we’ve established that you can read basic Ma-nese,” the pony sitting across from him gave a glare. “Let’s continue with that line of thought. The entire universe needs balance. Everything that exists currently has something to balance it out. Male and female, yin and yang, love and hate, summer and winter…”

“Day and night,” Nightmare Moon interrupted. “I’m well aware of the Cosmic Scales and how they work. I am after all, the embodiment of night.”

“And I’m the embodiment of chaos,” a tile was placed at the bottom center of the board. “And to balance out chaos, there has to be order. A balance of chaos and order are necessary for true harmony to exist. Those who sealed me away believed that they could create harmony by removing chaos, but that’s impossible. Chaos is part of the very harmony that they crave. While I personally cannot perform any acts of grand chaos, the universe is working to balance all of the order in Equestria. Even now, chaos is working through the country, just on a smaller scale.”

“How does that make your imprisonment in this hell temporary?”

“Simple. One day, the Scales will be thoroughly unbalanced. And I will be released to adjust them. Not by Celestia or Luna, or Faust forbid by the Elements themselves, but by some quirk of fate. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but some day.” Discord took five tiles and placed them on the board, each one space in between the next.

“If your existence is necessary,” Nightmare Moon began. “Then so is mine.”

“How so?” Discord asked.

“Like you said,” she continued. “Everything needs balance. Just as Celestia is light, I am darkness. I am the stars above, I am nightmares, I am the night, I am…”

“BATMANE!” Again, Nightmare Moon glared at her companion. “What? You set me up for that.”

“Anyways… I exist because there has to be a balance between day and night. If Celestia’s existence is necessary because she is the sun, then something has to exist to be the moon. And that something is…”

“Luna,” Discord interrupted. “You’re not the moon, Luna is. You’re just her shadow. No, you’re not even that. You’re a shadow of a shadow. Hmm… what would you call that? Shadow Squared? No, that won’t work.” The board and the tiles were flung past him. Nightmare Moon’s eyes were glowing in anger and her wings were flared out.

“What did you call me?!” she screamed. Discord blinked.

“That was unnecessary,” he deadpanned. “Apologize.”

“Never! I ask again: what did you call me?” Discord snapped his talons and two of the tiles were brought in front of him.

“Perhaps an explanation is in order,” he said. “Celestia and Luna control the sun and moon respectively.” The tiles were shown to the pony across from him.

“Pretend that this General tile,” he shook the left tile. “Is Celestia, and the other General tile is Luna. The two of them keep the cycle of day and night going so that the planet lives. When Luna became jealous, a version of you came into existence and you two became one and the same. This caused her thousand year sabbatical.” Another General tile came into existence and was brought to the right.

“While in the moon, both this version of you and Luna separated. You both inhabited the same body, but you had two different minds. Obviously, two beings could not embody the same thing. So the Scales were unbalanced. When the Elements of Harmony hit Luna with the weaponized rainbow, the second mind was destroyed, thus bringing the Scales into balance again.” The third General tile was set on fire. Nightmare Moon followed the ashes as they made their trip to the ground.

“I don’t understand,” she said.

“What’s not to understand?” Discord asked. “You’re not the original Nightmare Moon. The original was killed when the Elements of Harmony purified Luna. Then again, purifying her did mean the death of a sapient being. So you can take pride in knowing that the Element Bearers may be wrapped with guilt for essentially murdering somepony.”

“You’re lying,” Nightmare Moon closed her eyes.

“Am I?” Discord swung his paw hitting the air. Cracks formed along the air as well as the room. The crystal room shattered and the two of them were left in an empty void. Hundreds of millions of voices spoke simultaneously while billions upon billions of images surrounded them. “We’re stuck in this void. All there is in here are the thoughts and memories of the living. You exist because Nightmare Moon is remembered. I was put here because my body and mind are in stasis. Since the original Nightmare Moon died instead of being put in stasis, you’re a copy of her created from memories.” Tears began flowing from Nightmare Moon’s eyes.

“Even if I am a copy,” she said. “I can still perform her will. I will bring eternal night to Equestria. And I will make them see the beauty of the night.” A fire that could ignite a thousand stars was in her eyes. The draconequus grinned.

“Here’s a little thing I learned the first time I was sent here,” the crystal room reformed around them. “While we can’t physically act in the material world, we can influence it. There are millions of thoughts here, and connected to them are millions of lives. We can direct the thoughts and emotions of any living thing on the planet.”

“Didn’t you say that you couldn’t cause any chaos?” the board and the tiles were once again brought between them.

“I said that I couldn’t personally perform acts of chaos, I didn’t say that I couldn’t convince others to do it for me,” Discord began placing tiles on the board. “If you can beat me in a game of xiangqi, I’ll show you how to influence the living. From there, you may be able to find a way to get to the physical world. Agreed?” The last of Discord’s tiles were set on the board. Nightmare Moon’s horn glowed and another set of tiles were placed on her side of the board in a similar fashion. A tile on her side was pushed forward.

“Agreed.”

Treasure Hunters' Club

Five clothed creatures stood in front of a large stone door: an elderly humanoid duck wearing a pith helmet and a safari shirt, three younger humanoid ducks wearing the same thing with coloured ribbons on their pith helmets, and a white unicorn wearing a light brown safari shirt with a barmah hat over her head. The elderly duck had his hand on the stone door. It was moving along the engravings.

“Any idea what these say, boys?” he asked. The younger ducks flipped through a red book with a yellow diamond on it.

“Sorry Uncle Scrooge,” the duck with a red ribbon said. “The Junior Woodchuck Guidebook doesn’t seem to have this language written in it.” The unicorn looked to the center of the door. In the center was a small hole roughly the size of a unicorn’s horn. She tapped her chin.

“You know,” the blue ribbon duck said. “We probably wouldn’t have run into this problem if you just bought us the latest edition of the Guidebook.”

“And pay those bookstores $38.95? Are you daft? I’m not made of money!” the elderly duck yelled.

“Says the duck who has three cubic acres of money,” the green ribbon duck said. “Clearly that money is best saved for business affairs, or multimillion dollar treasure hunts like this one.” The unicorn squinted her eyes while looking at the door.

“Fair enough, lads. When we get back, I promise to buy you each the newest edition of the book.”

“You’re not lying about this are you?”

“Me lie? Where on earth did you get that idea?”

“This wouldn’t be the first time you’ve found loopholes in our agreements.” The unicorn coughed bringing their attention to her.

“Mr. McDuck,” she said. “Huey, Dewey, Louie, I think it’s best you stop your arguments here. We have more important things to deal with. I think I know how to get past here.”

“Care to enlighten us, Lady Rarity?” Scrooge asked. Rarity pointed to the center of the door.

“That hole,” she began. “I’ve seen it before. When I was at Canterlot Castle, the ruler of my country, Princess Celestia, had a door with a hole on it. Much like this one.”

“So if this princess has a door with something similar,” Louie said. “Then you must know how the mechanics work.” Rarity nodded.

“I do,” she continued. “She placed her horn inside the hole and put her magic into it. I believe that this door has a similar mechanism to it.”

“That’s great!” Dewey said. “We can use your unicorn magic to open the door.”

“Except there’s one problem with that,” Huey said. “You said that she placed her horn inside the hole right?” Rarity nodded. “How exactly are you going to place your horn in that door?” All five of them looked up at the hole.

“Tower?” Louie suggested. His brothers nodded at the suggestion. Huey wrapped his arms around Rarity as Louie and Dewey jumped atop Scrooge’s head.

“What are you doing?! Don’t you know how to treat a lady properly?”

“Bear with it,” Scrooge grunted. “Besides, it’s not like you’re at the bottom.” Huey climbed the tower of ducks and stood at the top of it with Rarity in tow. He held her out to the hole.

“There we go,” he said. “Now you can reach it.”

“I am not putting my horn in there,” she said. “Not until you apologize for suddenly grabbing me li…”

“Not to interrupt,” Scrooge grunted. “But I can feel my skull caving in on itself. Do you think you could hurry up?”

“Fine.” Rarity tilted her head forward and placed her horn inside the hole. She closed her eyes as blue magic moved from her horn. As she pulled away, their tower gave way and they all fell to the ground. The five of them slowly got up from the pile.

“Ow,” Scrooge said. “Everyone alright?”

“I think so, Louie?”

“I’m okay. Huey?”

“Perfectly fine. Rarity, are you alright?” Rarity closed her eyes and held her head up. “Rarity?”

“I’m not talking to you, not until you apologize.”

“Rarity, I’m sorry for…”

“Look!” Scrooge cried. The hole was giving the same blue glow as Rarity’s magic. It spread through the door in eight directions. When the magic reached the ends, a clicking echoed around them. The eight sections separated opening the door. A golden light flowed out of the room. “It’s opened!” Scrooge leapt to his feet and ran inside. Both Louie and Dewey followed their uncle. Huey stood up and offered his hand to Rarity.

“I’m sorry, Rarity,” he said. “Need a hand?” A white hoof was placed in the palm of his hand.

“Apology accepted,” she said getting onto her hooves. “Now, let’s see this treasure.” The two of them walked to the entrance of the door. Both of their jaws dropped as they took in the scene. Piles of gold and gems that stood as tall as houses were all around them. Bracelets of gold, silver, and platinum could be seen inside the piles. Gems the size of a foal’s skull were around the floor of the room. Swimming in the piles of gold were Scrooge and two of his nephews. Rarity’s eyes sparkled.

“Sweet Celestia!” she cried. “It’s beautiful!” She dived into the nearest pile and followed Scrooge’s example of swimming in it. A happy laugh left her mouth as she backstroked through the gold. Huey was about to do the same when he noticed what was in the center of the room. Sitting there was large cauldron full of gems, gold, and various jewellery. On top of the pile of treasure was a unicorn head made out of agate. Its eyes held turquoises in them and gave off a gentle glow.

“Rarity, Uncle Scrooge,” he said. “Is that it?” Both of them turned to the center of the room. They hopped out of the piles of gold and walked to the crystal head.

“That it is, Huey,” Scrooge said. “The Obsidian Unicorn. Legend says that an emperor harnessed magic within it to conquer neighbouring kingdoms. At one point in time, this emperor nearly ruled the planet. I believe that’s your ticket home, my Lady.”

“So it is, Mr. McDuck,” Rarity said. She turned to her feathered companions. “Huey, Dewey, Louie, thank you for helping me find this. I wouldn’t have been able to do this on my own.” The three youths smiled at her.

“And Mr. McDuck,” a grin appeared on her face. “Thank you for letting me keep this treasure. And for the adventure of a life time.”

“Thank you for helping on this expedition,” Scrooge replied. “Without you, we wouldn’t have been able to get in here.” A wide smile appeared on his face as he held his hand back. Rarity matched his expression and pulled her hoof back. Both of them threw their appendages forward and hit the other’s above them. Three flashes went off as they did so.

“Here,” Louie said holding out a plastic square. “Take this with you to remember us.” It was covered in a blue aura and flew under Rarity’s hat.

“Thank you, Louie,” she said. Her hoof touched the Obsidian Unicorn. Its eyes light intensified as she was covered in a turquoise energy. “I’ll never forget you all. Farewell.” She waved to her new found friends as a bright flash covered her vision.

“Come on, come on,” a purple unicorn said. Her horn was glowing and a purple aura covered a white unicorn head made out of quartz. She dropped to the floor and panted. “I’m sorry, Rarity. I can’t bring you back.” Tears began to form in her eyes as a turquoise light dimmed behind her. The light exploded and the sound of hooves dropping echoed into her ears. The purple unicorn turned around to find a white unicorn with clothing on. All of the pockets on her shirt were bulging and various pieces of jewellery could be seen flowing out of them. An amethyst necklace was over her neck and an agate unicorn head was in one of her forelegs. She had a smile on her face as she looked at the unicorn.

“Hello Twilight,” she said. “Miss me?”

“Rarity!” Twilight exclaimed. She ran towards her friend and embraced her in a hug. “I’ve been trying to bring you back for days. How did you get back?”

Rarity chuckled. “I went on a treasure hunt. Come on, grab the Moonstone Unicorn and I’ll tell you about it when we meet the girls.” The white unicorn head was covered in a purple glow and brought to Twilight’s side. She followed her friend who had a small photograph in front of her. A smile was on Rarity’s face as she looked at the picture. Twilight cocked her head in confusion when she saw the contents of the picture.

“Who or what is that?” she asked.

“Scrooge McDuck, the richest duck in the world,” Rarity answered. Twilight blinked as the picture flew under Rarity’s hat. The two ponies walked towards the exit with different expressions on their faces. One was confused, while the other was smiling.

***

A/N: I’m so, so sorry. Based on artwork created by Egophiliac (follow the link).

Work Day

“Sold!” a beige unicorn stallion yelled. “One of the first known printed versions of Ashputtle goes to Jet Set!” The sound of murmuring echoed in the room as a worn out book was moved from the stage the unicorn stood on. Standing in the crowd in front of the stage were three ponies: a sand coloured pegasus mare with a black mane and tail wearing a dress, a white unicorn stallion wearing a tuxedo with a monocle over his left eye and a blue mane and tail, and a violet earth pony stallion with a red bow tie around his neck and a blue mane and tail. The mare shifted in her dress as her companions looked at the stage.

“Faust damnit,” she said. “I hate dresses. Why did I have to come here anyways? Doesn’t Fleur come with you to these things?”

“She’s out with Thunderlane on an expedition right now,” the unicorn answered. “I believe that they’re searching for the Rainbow Cloth. Besides, this is a good experience for you, Daring. You could learn a thing or two from these ponies.”

“Yeah, I’ve learned that they wear uncomfortable clothing on a daily basis,” she grumbled. “Harpo, why didn’t you say anything when Fancypants suggested that I come with you two? Hell, Octavia would thrive in this kind of setting. Why couldn’t you bring her?” The earth pony gave a stoic glance to the pegasus.

“He makes a good argument,” Fancypants said. “Besides, Octavia has been working on the Staff of Anubis. She won’t be joining us for a while.”

“I still think that somepony else should have taken my place. I want some action! I can’t just stand here and…”

“And our final item of the night,” the beige unicorn interrupted. A small red locket in the shape of a heart was placed on a small podium beside him. “The Rainbow of Light. Legend says that a terrible force known only as the Smooze once covered Ponyland. The only thing that could stop it was the Rainbow of Light and its wielder, Megan. This was excavated from the newly found ruins of Dream Castle, and was generously donated to us by Professor Night Light.”

“The Rainbow of Light, huh?” Daring said. “That could mess up the balance if in the wrong hooves. What’s the hazard level on it?” Fancypants pushed his monocle up to his eye. Cross hairs appeared in the glass and focused on the locket. Bright red numbers flashed in the center and rose. Both the rising numbers and the flashing stopped after a few moments.

“Hazard level at 1986, it’s definitely a Precious,” he said. Harpo let out a low whistle. “I know. That’s one of the most dangerous things I’ve seen too. We have to get it.”

“Let’s get started shall we?” the beige unicorn continued. “The bidding starts at two thousand bits. Do I hear two thousand?” The room was left in darkness as the first bid was made. Panic screams could be heard in the room.

“Calm down, ladies and gents. There’s nothing to worry about,” the unicorn said. The lights regained their power and the room was once again illuminated. “See? Nothing to worry about. Now, do I hear…”

“The Rainbow of Light!” a mare’s voice screamed. “It’s gone!” Like the mare had said, the podium was empty. Worried murmurs moved around the room. Harpo’s ear twitched and he turned to the exit. From there he could hear the sound of receding laughter.

“Harpo? What’d you find?” Fancypants asked. The violet earth pony pointed to the exit. A grin appeared on Daring’s face.

“Ahuizotl. Now this is more like it,” her dress was thrown into the air. She ran towards the end of the room and placed a pith helmet on her head. “Fancypants! Harpo! Come on!” The two stallions ran after their friend as she laughed down the exit. Harpo looked to Fancypants and raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t know where she was keeping her pith helmet either,” he said.

“The Rainbow of Light,” a deep male voice said. “Such a powerful yet fragile Precious. I’m rather amazed that it took this long to unearth it.” Standing outside of the auction house was a large dark purple feline creature. He had two hands at the ends of his forelegs and one on his tail. His head looked up from the locket in his hand as footsteps reached his ears. Approaching him were three ponies.

“Ahuizotl!” Daring yelled. She and her companions stopped in front of him. “Return the Rainbow of Light!” The locket was tossed in the air and caught by the creature’s tail.

“Really now, what thief would do that after hearing that command, Daring Do?” Ahuizotl asked. Harpo glared at the feline. “Pretty words you’ve shared, Harpo Parish. But that’s all they are.”

“Retrieve the Rainbow of Light,” Fancypants said. “Stop Ahuizotl from using its power, and…”

“And secure it?” Daring interrupted. “I know the drill.” Her wings pushed her up in the air as Harpo charged at Ahuizotl. She could see Fancypants light up his horn and Harpo kick their enemy. Daring tilted her body down and flew towards the fight. A manic grin was on her face as she did so. I love my job.

A Lesson From Alice

“Here you go, Twilight. Happy un-birthday!”

“Happy what now?”

“Un-birthday, this is your un-birthday present.”

“And what’s an un-birthday present?”

“Duh! It’s a present you receive on your un-birthday. Everypony knows that.”

“I think I’d prefer birthday presents,”

“What?! You don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“Come again?”

“How many days are there in a year?”

“Three hundred and sixty-five. Three hundred and sixty-six if it’s a leap year.”

“Exactly. And how many birthdays do you have?”

“One.”

“That is exactly why we should celebrate un-birthdays. A gift is given to another to show affection, it shows that one is loved and cared for. Unfortunately, for some reason we only do so on special occasions, such as birthdays or anniversaries. I don’t believe that we should do that. I believe that we should always show that we care for others. Birthdays and anniversaries especially, since they’re special.”

“So you go around giving gifts to your friends every day it isn’t their birthday?”

“That’s right.”

“But I was with you and Applejack yesterday, you didn’t give either of us a gift that day.”

“Silly Twilight. Gifts don’t have to be physical to be considered gifts.”

“Stop ruffling my mane. I’m aware of that, but you didn’t do anything special for us.”

“Sure I did, the greatest gift is a portion of yourself. When you visited Sweet Apple Acres, what were me an Applejack doing?”

“Applejack was bucking trees, and you were putting baskets on a cart.”

“And there’s the gift.”

“I don’t understand.”

“What else is new?”

“Hey!”

“Let’s continue with that line of thinking. Applejack needed help, and if the greatest gift is a portion of yourself, then me offering to help can be considered a gift.”

“That… makes sense, in a weird way. What did you give me yesterday?”

“The present.”

“Yes, I know, we’re talking about the un-birthday present you gave me yesterday. What was the present?”

“The present.”

“I know, Pinkie. But what was… you’re using the word ‘present’ to mean ‘now’ aren’t you?”

“Yep! See, you were too focused on your history research. So I thought you would need a break from yesterday, and I brought you the present.”

“What?”

“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is Faust’s gift. That’s why it’s called the present. I was just bringing you today because you were too focused on yesterday. It would be a waste of a gift if all you did today was focus on yesterday’s mistakes wouldn’t it?”

“I suppose so. Your mad logic is actually starting to make sense to me… I’m not sure whether to be scared or elated about that.”

“Don’t worry about that. You’re among mad ponies.”

“I don’t want to be among mad ponies.”

“Oh, you can’t help that. We’re all mad here. I’m mad, you’re mad.”

“How do you know I’m mad?”

“You must be, or you wouldn’t have come to live here. Besides, you’ve said it yourself: ‘all the ponies in this town are crazy.’ If all of the ponies in this town are crazy, and you yourself live in the town, then you must be crazy.”

…

“Twilight?”

“Do you really think that?”

“Think what?”

“Do you think I’ve gone mad? Crazy? Insane?”

“I’m afraid so. You’re mad, bonkers, completely off your head. But I’ll tell you a secret.”

“And what would that be?”

“All the best ponies are mad. And you’re no exception.”

What is Love?

That is a question that philosophers, artisans, and common pony have been trying to figure out since the dawn of time. The Merriam dictionary defines it as a strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties. That’s just one of many. Another says that it’s attraction based on sexual desires. But that just raises more points about the topic. There was a philosopher and writer who broke it down into four different categories: philia, agape, storge, and eros. Each one of the categories encompassed it in a different way. I’m actually going to give a lecture on it next week at the School for Gifted Unicorns. I have forty two pages worth of notes to share with the class and I don’t know if I can get through all of it within the hour and a half time frame. Oh! That reminds me, I probably should add more to it. There’s some information that I missed. Let’s see: I’ll need research from Aristrotle, from Lewis, from….

The answer to your question is simple. It’s not an emotion that a pony feels, like many believe. No, it’s something else entirely. What is it? It’s a gem, a shiny trinket that lives in another. It’s a single soul that inhabits two bodies. The other half of the soul is that the gem that everypony is searching for. What you think the gem you want might look sparkling and beautiful from afar, but close up it can turn out to be a worthless piece of zirconium. But when you find it, it may not look like a diamond at all; instead it may just be an orange piece of coal with a stetson and freckles on her face. And this piece of coal might look simple and uncouth on the outside, but on the inside is the brilliance of a diamond that can shine as bright as the sun, causing their personality to be seen as endearing and the freckles as just the most adorable thing that has ever been created. Then, you’ll want them. You may find this need to be strange, the attraction wrong. But that only makes it sweeter and the desire will grow. Eventually, you’ll want them so much that you’ll throw caution to the wind and you’ll take each other in a storm of fiery emotion! Yes… that sounds nice. … Ahem, I seem to have gone on a bit of a tangent. But my point still stands: it’s something that one has to search for. Speaking of which, I have to go now… I need to find my precious Diamond.

I don’t have an answer for you. I’m not good at all this mushy girly stuff. Talk to Rarity, she’ll have an answer for you. If that’s all you need to ask, then I have nothing to give you. Sorry, squirt. Now, I have to get back to my napping.

That is a very good question. I’m not sure how to answer. All I know is that it comes naturally to most ponies. It’s built into every creature on the planet. Everything has the capability to love. So, I think that it’s a part of nature, since everything can do it.

Sorry, sugar cube, I can’t talk right now. Rarity said that she has something urgent to tell me. Heh, based on how she was fidgeting, I think I should find what she has to say very interesting.

…. I’m sorry, could you repeat the question? …. That’s what I thought. Oh, I don’t know. What can I do? What else can I say, it’s up to you. I know we’re one, just me and you. I can’t go on. What is love? Oh baby, don’t hurt me. Don’t hurt me, no more. …

“She just kept singing like that for a while,” an orange pegasus filly said. “I’m not sure where I can go with all this information though.” A plum coloured mare sitting at a desk flipped through sheets of paper.

“I don’t think we can pull anything of academic value from what Pinkie said. You’re heading in the right direction though,” she said handing the filly the papers. “You’ve been doing research as to what love is, which will narrow down what it isn’t. Have you thought of a thesis?”

“What most define love as and how it differs from children’s definitions,” the filly said. “Do you have any suggestions as to what to do next?”

“Have you talked to any of your classmates?” the mare asked. The filly shook her head. “Talk to them. You’ll be able to get some definitions from them. Afterwards, look in both philosophy books and linguistic books.”

“Thanks, Miss Cheerilee,” the filly took her papers and returned to her desk. The mare turned her attention to a piece of paper in front of her. She began writing on it as her class was shared silent conversations with each other.

Essay Rubric

Scootaloo

Knowledge and Understanding: Level 3+

-Has gone out and talked to many ponies in the area about her topic.

-Currently has enough information for her essay.

-More academic sources are needed for a higher mark

Thinking/Inquiry: Level 3-

-Research has been done by talking to ponies

-Research however does not include any academic writings

-Research also reveals personal lives of two particular ponies

-Remember to obtain a copy of what Applejack and Rarity said. Very interesting gossip that Rose would like to hear.

Application:

Communication:

Overall grade:

Never Again

A yellow pegasus filly stood on a cloud. She looked over the edge and her pupils shrunk to pinpricks. A push from behind her caused her to fall from the cloud. After tumbling in the air for a few seconds, she was suspended in the air. Her wings folded to her body as she came to the realization that she had to fly. Her wings refused to move and she fell downwards. She landed on another cloud. When she stood up, she was surrounded by other ponies her age. All of them had mocking smiles on their face.

“Fluttershy, Fluttershy, Fluttershy can hardly fly!” they chanted. They kept chanting, pointing and laughing at the filly. She closed her eyes and tears formed in them. She crouched down to cower and she…

Rainbow Dash sat up from the bed she was in. She woke up in a cold sweat and was heavily panting. Her head was placed in her forelegs. That dream again. It just keeps coming back to haunt me. Why can’t it go away? A yellow foreleg was placed on her waist. Rainbow Dash looked to her left and saw a sleeping yellow pegasus. She had a smile on her face and was mumbling something in her sleep.

“Love you Rainbow,” she mumbled. Rainbow Dash smiled and stroked the pony’s mane. The smile on the sleeping pony’s face grew. She went under the covers and hugged the sleeping pony with a mantra running through her mind.

Never again.

Four Very Simple Words

Four little words. Four words were all it took to get Fluttershy’s heart beating like a drum. Individually, the words meant very different things. Those four words could be used in ordinary conversation without any weight attached to them. When strung together, they carried the weight of the world.

The words came from a pony standing in front of her. This pony started off as a friend. But as time moved forward, the two of them became closer and closer. Fluttershy shared love with this pony, and in return she received love. Four words strung together in a question, four words to show how much one loved another, and it was those four words that were presented to Fluttershy. Her eyes drifted downwards to an open box. Inside it was a diamond ring. Upon closer inspection, she could see that both her cutie mark and the pony’s cutie mark had been engraved on the ring. She looked up to a happy but expectant smile. In the pony’s eyes was a deep feeling of love. They wanted to share it with Fluttershy for as long as they lived.

“Well?” the pony asked. Fluttershy in response crouched down. She put her weight on her hind legs and her wings opened up. Before the pony could ask questions, Fluttershy tackled the pony to the ground. The box fell to the floor as the pony fell on their back. Before they could get up, Fluttershy pressed her lips to theirs. The pony’s eyes slowly drifted down. Although words were never said, they had received their answer.

Treasure Hunt

Through the depths of space, a red galleon was flying towards a bright blue planet. At the ship’s center sail was a stylized key without any teeth. It had an octagonal bow with two slits in it forming eyes. At the end of it were two cutlasses crossing each other forming an X. Six ponies sat within it, two of each subdivision of pony. They were all sitting in the haul of the ship. A pink earth pony shot her head up in attention.

“We’re here!” she squealed in childish glee. “We’re finally here! We’ve reached Gaia.” A white unicorn and an orange earth pony with a stetson on her head stood in front of a control panel. The latter tapped a few buttons.

“Don’t believe her?” the unicorn asked. “She’s usually right about these things.”

“I’d prefer to see it myself,” the stetson wearing pony replied. With the press of another button, a screen in front of them illuminated itself. Just as their companion predicted, they were closing in on the planet. Many of them gasped.

“My,” a yellow pegasus said. “What a wonderful planet. It’s inhabitants must live comfortably.”

The white unicorn chuckled. “It’s just like you to say that. All I see is a sparkling a jewel. All mine for the taking.”

“That would be the first thing on your mind, isn’t it?” the earth pony asked. A cyan pegasus walked up a set of stairs to her companions.

“Who really cares about that,” she said. “What we want is there. The Greatest Treasure in the Universe.”

“Hmmm,” the unicorn hummed. “Why act all collected? I know you’re excited.” A purple unicorn moved her hoof in a chest full of shattered gems. All of them gave off a warm glow.

“But is it really there?” the pink pony asked. “They say that it’s worth as much as the universe itself. I could buy all the cakes in space if I wanted to!”

“I guarantee that it’s there,” the purple unicorn said. Every pony had a smile grow on their face. The monitor beeped and all of them turned their attention to it. The stetson pony pushed a few of the console’s buttons. The image changed to a number of metallic ships rising over the horizon of the planet’s moon.

“The Empire’s fleet!” the orange pony exclaimed. “We’ve been found!”

The cyan pegasus turned to her purple friend. “What’s the plan, Twi? This could ruin us.” In response, she held up one of the crystals.

“Oh my!” the yellow pegasus said. “Fighting?”

“Of course,” the purple unicorn said. She stood up from her seat with a mad grin on her face. “This is what pirates do.”