Author's Note

A long journey begins... With a Twilight style panic attack, no less.

Chapter 1 - The First Festival of the Two Sisters

[Starlight]

I trot back and forth, panting and muttering about all the many things that could go wrong today. Usually I’m not nearly as stressed as this, but today provides some… Unique circumstances. With the School of Friendship, keeping up the Castle, finding time for all my friends, and now I get to add Festival Preparations on top of all of it. Yay.

I continue panting and trotting around the castle hall again and again, not even noticing Trixie until she finally yells out my name, “STARLIGHT!” She yells out, giving me an angry pout afterwards

I shake my head out of my freakout, “Oh! Hey Trixie!”

I walk up and give her a tight hug, “What’re you even doing here, shouldn’t you be helping Sunburst get the school ready for after the summer break?”

Trixie smirks, “I know Sunburst can handle it just fine, besides I had a feeling you might need my Great and Powerful help.”

She pats my head a bit, “Didn’t exactly expect you to be Twilight-ing out, though.”

I roll my eyes, “Trix it’s not that bad. I’m just… Okay it’s a little bit that bad but I’ll be fine. I’m just having a hard time handling everything…” I trot off a bit and look up at a large portrait of Twilight, sighing heavily.

Trixie huffs behind me, “Look, Starlight, whatever trouble you’ve got with the Festival it will be fine. Just give a big smile and feel the confidence soar through you!”

I take a deep breath and a deep inhale, turning around and giving the best smile I can muster right now.

“H-How’s this?” I ask through my smile, as Trixie slams her hoof into her face.

“You really are quite the Mini-Twilight.” She says with that irritated tone of hers, slapping her hoof against her face.

I let out a deep sigh, “You’re right, Trix, I just need to calm down. But I just…” I turn around and look back at Twilight’s portrait.

“...I have so much to handle with the School, and you, and just my life in general, and now I also need to make time for the Festival on top of everything else and I’m just not sure how I’m gonna handle it all…” I say, sitting down and looking down at my hooves.

Trixie sighs, trotting up and sitting next to me, “You’re right. You do have a lot to handle, and you do it all so great! The School is running great, you’re keeping up with me and all your other not so great and powerful friends, and I get why this might be too much to handle on top of it all.”

I droop my head with a sigh, as she chuckles, patting my head.

“Which is why your greatest and most powerful friend, Trixie, is here to help!” She says as she stands up and pulls me up, throwing a hoof over my back.

“You’re really gonna help me out with all this Trixie?” I meekly ask with a light smile.

She laughs, throwing her head back a bit before tapping her other front hoof on my chest, “Of course! Who else deserves help more than you?”

I sigh happily, “Thanks Trixie. You're a lifesaver.”

She grins, “Eh, don't mention it. Alright now what’s first, Mini-Twilight?”

I roll my eyes and use my magic to pop a scroll in and unravel it, “Well according to the list from Twilight, like the Summer Sun Celebration it seems that Sweet Apple Acres is handling the Catering and Food Prep.”

Trixie laughs, “Well that’s obviously step one done! Why even check on it? No one can get it all done better and sooner then-... Uh, Apple… Apple-... Hat?”

I sigh and back up with a smirk and teleport the scroll away, pointing at the Palace door, “We still gotta go check. Now let’s go Trixie, wouldn’t want to keep ‘Applehat’ waiting.”

She trots past me with a smile, “I knew I got it right.” I groan and roll my eyes, smiling a bit. Trixie might be… Well, Trixie, but at least she is helping. And she does have a point, Applejack no doubt has the Food Prep handled.

I trot down the castle steps, holding onto Trixie and teleporting us just outside Sweet Apple Acres. Trixie looks around, “Uh, Starlight? I think you missed the mark a bit.” I sigh, looking around at the apple trees with partially filled barrels around them, the barn visible in the distance.

“No, Trixie, I did just fine.” I tell her, walking on past her, “I sent us just outside Sweet Apple Acres because Twilight told me about her first time in Ponyville. Whenever the Summer Sun Celebration, which is now the Festival I’m handling, the entire Apple Family likes bunking up at Sweet Apple Acres, so I didn’t really want to scare anypony.”

“Well that was… A very specific description, but I’ll take it.” She says with a smile. We head up the hills along the path and after a while I can finally see Sweet Apple Acres in the distance.

Okay maybe just a smidge too far.

Trixie groans heavily, “You couldn’t have popped us in any closer?” She whines.

I sigh rolling my eyes, “Too late now, Trixie, and it’s not like I can just pull Sweet Apple Acres any closer to us.”

“Well it certainly isn’t an impossible feat.” An annoyingly familiar voice called out behind us. I turn around and peer up at Discord, floating and grinning down at us with a cheeky smile.

I huff, “What is it, Discord?” I say, and he scoffs, dramatically offended.

“Why, I can’t have a fun time and hang out with friends? I seem to recall a certain particularly purple pony saying once-”

He snaps his fingers and suddenly he’s puppeting a tiny crude doll of me, “‘Discord and I are old ‘Save Equestria’ Buddies!’” He says with a very poor attempt at my voice, then stares at us with a grin on his face.

He was about to say something else as I use magic to clamp his mouth shut.

“Seriously Discord. What are you doing?” I ask with annoyed glare.

He huffs, snapping his claw and transforming back into himself.

“Fine. I’m here because her Royal Highness, the one and only ruler of allllllll of Equestria, Princess Twilight Sparkle called me here to help you with the preparations.”

Trixie groaned, “Well you can go back to Canterlot, and-”

I cover her mouth with my hoof, “-Actually kind of helpful! Thanks, Discord.”

He gives a bow, and Trixie shoves my hoof off her mouth, “Well since you're helping, mind getting us done with this sometime before the next moon?”

He smirks, snapping his fingers and with a flash of white light we’re standing right outside the main entrance to Sweet Apple Acres.

A blur of red and black zooms past us and Discord rolls his eyes and snaps his fingers, causing a black and red colt to tumble out speed and crash into Trixie and I.

“Discord!” Trixie cries out and he huffs in annoyance.

“I thought you wanted this to go faster?” He replies as I use magic to lift all three of us back up onto our hooves.

“I’m sorry for our… friend. Are you okay?”

The pegasus flies back up into the air, brushing himself off, “Yeah I’m fine! Hey wait… One of you mares wouldn’t happen to be Starlight Glimmer?”

I clear my throat, “Uh yes, I’m Starlight. Why?”

He grins, “Well because I’m supposed to tell ya how the food is turning out for the Festival! By the orders of my cousin AJ no less.” He says as he flits up into the air, slowly descending and then hovering in mid-air.

I raise an eyebrow, “What do you mean, isn’t Applejack supposed to be telling me how it’s going? Where is she, anyway?” I ask as I look around.

The pegasus slowly stopped flying and landed onto his hooves, “Er… She didn’t tell you?”

I start getting really worried, “Tell me… What?”

“She and her friends were all called by Princess Twilight! They’re all in Canterlot right about now.” He says, and in the corner of my eye I see both Trixie stare at me nervously and Discord hovering around with interest and a box of popcorn.

I fought the urge to scream. The literal last thing I wanted him to say. I then took a deep inhale and exhale, “I’m- I’m fine. Let’s just finish up here and move on, mind showing us around Mister- Mister, uh…?”

He bows a bit with his front legs, “Burnt Apple, but my friends call me ‘Ash’. Don’t worry about the name or my Cutie Mark, I’m almost as good at handling apples as Applejack, but then again nopony is as good as my cousin!”

I tap my hoof to my chin, “Her cousin? I feel like I would’ve heard about you sooner…”

He shakes his head, “Nah, I don’t come around too often seein’ as I'm from Appaloosa. And we aren’t directly cousins, as his pop Bright Mac and my mom Scarlet Apple were cousins, and-”

Discord groans, “Ah yes, Apple this, Apple that, can we move things along? I want to get back to Canterlot and see Flutte-”

I roll my eyes using magic to clamp his mouth shut yet again. “Don’t mind him, show us around!” I say with a semi-forced smile.

Discord turns his bird claw into a fan and blows my magic off his face, “That’s rather rude, and after all the help I’ve given you in the past.” I roll my eyes ignoring him and follow behind Ash as we trots towards the main barn.

After some time tasting all the many treats made by various members of the Apple Family, we left before we got too full or before Discord mentally or emotionally scarred one of the Apples… Or started bringing apples to life. Other than Big Mac, he really doesn’t have a great track record with Apples.

I burped slightly and covered my mouth as we trotted down the dirt path, “Oh Celestia, that was a lot of food…”

Trixie chuckled as she patted her stomach, “It was all super yummy, think we can maybe have more Festivals?” She says tapping her chin with her hoof.

I roll my eyes with a smile, bumping her in the side, “No, Trix. We can’t-”

“Wait up Miss Starlight!” I heard behind us as Ash ran up to us.

“Ash, what is it?” I ask him, raising an eyebrow as I can see Discord snicker in the background.

“I almost forgot to give this to ya!” He says as he holds out a scroll with his wing, and I grab it with magic.

“Uh, thanks!” I say and he grins and gives a nod as he bursts off in a stream of red and black light back towards the barn.

I give the scroll a once over and groan, “Ah great, another thing Discord could’ve just said sooner.”

Discord chuckles, “Ooopsie.” He says sarcastically. Clearly Discord is up to something.

I roll my eyes, “‘Since we’re all heading to Canterlot, Twilight asked me to make y’all a list of the new Festival team: You’ve no doubt already met mah cousin Burnt Apple, next up taking over Rarity’s decorations is a unicorn named Skai Shine.’” I tap my hoof to my chin, “Hm, never heard of them before.”

Trixie laughs, “Now my Great and Powerful expertise comes in! I know him. Rarity is a master of designing and creating fashion, but Skai is a whole different playing field. When he isn’t making all kinds of bits and bobs from plush toys to cloth decor, he fixes and mends anything that can be handled with a sewing needle.”

Discord laughs, “Oh so that’s where you go when a trick goes so poorly your cape goes up in flames.”

Trixie snarls, “No… Maybe.” She ends with a slight blush.

I groan, “Can you two stop arguing so we can just get to this ‘Skai’ in time?”

Discord laughs heavily, “Your wish is my command Miss Glimmer!” He snaps his fingers and we burst off in a flash of white light before I could even get the chance to argue.