The Lord of the Ponies: The Friendship of Equestria

Ch.4 Granny Smith's Birthday Party

Fireworks exploded in the night sky over Ponyville, resembling a myriad of shapes and colors; the most recent blazed into the shape of the Ponyville treebary, its great branches unfolded like the knowledge within its wooden expanse. All manner of ponies cheered on as the fireworks continued to erupt, and other ponies focussed on the music and dancing that took place on the ground. Pinkie Pie bounded in time with the beat of the music, and Apple Bloom was doing something akin to the river dance. Not too far away, Big Macintosh heaved around a massive Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness, or as Pinkie Pie called it, 'the MMMMadness'.

Ponies everywhere enjoyed themselves, as they feasted on an assortment of delectable Apple family recipes, and drank large quantities of apple cider. However, at a table near the dance floor, sat a green-spined, purple-scaled baby dragon. His name was Spike, and he was having an awfully hard time socializing, as he just stared longingly at the dancing form of Rarity. Rarity was a beautiful unicorn mare, with a lofted purple mane and tail, contrasting with her dazzling white fur. Rarity was known as the Element of Generosity, but Spike was hoping she'd be generous enough to let him dance with her. But that was before Apple Bloom showed up.

"Come on, Spike. Go ask Rarity for a dance," encouraged Apple Bloom.

"I think I'll just get another mug of cider," said Spike, as he stood up to leave Apple Bloom, and his thoughts of Rarity behind.

However, what Spike didn't know was that Rarity was dancing in a circle, and at this time, she was getting awfully close to his table. Apple Bloom, anticipating the opportunity, pushed Spike onto the dance floor, right in Rarity's path. Spike's claws gripped Rarity's gossamer hooves, and he was swept up in the dance. Apple Bloom just sat back, and laughed at the obvious height difference between Spike and Rarity, and how Spike had to compensate by jumping higher than any normal pony should've in his position.

***

Somewhere off from the tables and dance floor, Twilight set off another firework, causing the projectile to fly up, before exploding in a shower of iridescent blue; a rather spectacular display that drew gasps of admiration from many attending ponies.

***

Granny Smith sat on the ground, and relayed the story of when she was kidnapped by a group of Ursa Minors to a group of young fillies and colts, a setting akin to when she went to Apple Bloom's Family Appreciation Day. The only differences were that there was no school, and the story was not about how Ponyville came to be.

"So there I was..." Granny Smith paused for dramatic effect before continuing, "...at the mercy of three, monstrous Ursa Minors." Granny Smith accented the monstrous part, to make her theatrical situation seem much more dire.

"And they were all arguing amongst themselves about how they were going to cook us. Whether it be turned on a spit, or to sit on us one by one, squash into jelly." Granny Smith made a sour face at that last part about jelly, then moved on with her tale.

"They spent so much time arguing the withertos and the whyfors that the sun's first light crept over the top of the trees and...poof." Granny Smith moved forward suddenly on the poof, trying to accent the surprise by scaring the little ponies.

.

"And turned them all into stone!" Granny concluded, to the crowd of applauding young ones.

***

Twilight went into her wagon, and levitated out three more fireworks with her magic and laughed. She, and only she, knew what marvels lay underneath the illustrated wooden frames of the fireworks.

"Beat this Trixie!" challenged Twilight as she moved on to the launching area.

What she didn't know however, was that behind a nearby tent, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were waiting for Twilight to leave. Scootaloo poked her head out to check if the coast was clear.

"Is the coast clear?" asked Sweetie Belle, her voice as high-pitched as it usually was.

"Yep. Twilight took some fireworks with her." answered Scootalo in her brash, but soft, tone. She then exited the tent, and Sweetie Belle followed close behind.

What was commonly known around Ponyville as the Cutie Mark Crusaders (or CMC for short), was really a group of three fillies: Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle: a white-furred unicorn with a half pink, half purple mane and tail, much akin to her sister, Rarity. The third filly was Scootaloo, a Pegasus with an orange coat and dark-purple mane and tail. The CMC was dedicated to finding their Cutie Marks: flanked pictures that showed everypony what unique talents that pony had. Their newest plan required the use of one of Twilight's fireworks.

"Come on Sweetie Belle. We gotta get a firework before Twilight gets back." Sweetie Belle quickly galloped to the cart, and took her place near the open back-end.

"Waiting for you now," resounded Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo quickly hurried herself towards the cart.

Scootaloo jumped onto Sweetie Belle's back, to which she heard groans, then jumped again into the cart, and started shuffling through the dozens of fireworks.

***

Twilight ignited a firework in the middle of a group of young fillies, which erupted into low hanging butterflies, which the ponies chased with much vigor. Having spent her last firework, Twilight started back towards the cart to collect more.

***

Scootaloo shuffled through the pile of fireworks laid before her, only to hear Sweetie Belle urging her to hurry up, "Hurry up Scootaloo! I just heard another firework go off."

Scootaloo picked up a plain blue cylindrical firework and showed it to Sweetie Belle, only to have it waved off.

"No, no. Get a big one," pleaded Sweetie Belle.

Scootaloo shuffled through the pile of fireworks again, and pulled out a monstrous red firework. The firework's frame resembled the shape of a wingless dragon.

"That'll do. Come on!" urged Sweetie Belle as Scootaloo gripped the firework in her mouth and headed, with Sweetie Belle, into the nearby tent they just emerged from not too long ago.

***

Granny Smith, after her tale with the children, began walking around and exchanging greetings with her party guests. She approached a wall-eyed gray mare, with a golden mane and tail, who was hanging out with her daughter, Dinky Doo.

"Hello Derpy, how nice to see you. Welcome, welcome." Granny Smith held her hoof out for a hoofshake, to which Derpy tried and tried again to grab and shake, but to no avail.

'Probably because of those eyes' thought Granny Smith, as Derpy finally grasped her hoof, and shook it. Granny then continued on to find more guests to welcome.

"Granny!" Granny Smith was hard of hearing, but even the call made out to her was clear enough as to who it belonged to.

Granny Smith turned in the other direction of where the voice called from, to conveniently find Apple Bloom standing behind her.

"It's the Oranges!" Granny exclaimed, to which Apple Bloom pulled her to shelter in a nearby tent, which hid them from the ever watchful gazes of the passing Oranges.

"Well HI there, Granny!" Pinkie Pie blurted, the jubilant pink pony mysteriously popping out from nowhere.

"Quiet Pinkie! We're trying to hide!" cautioned Apple Bloom.

"Okay, Apple Bloom. I-Pinkie-Promise-To-Be-Quiet-While-You-Hide-From-Your-Distant-Relatives-Who-Are-Hunting-You-Down-To-Try-And-Steal-Your-Farm."

Pinkie then crossed her heart, and stuck a hoof in her eye, signifying the everlasting Pinkie Promise.

"I just wanted to say...Happy Happy Birthday to you, to you today..." And so Pinkie Pie quietly sang her trademarked happy birthday song.

***

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle marvelled at the firework which they held up, in the confines of a tent where no one could see them.

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS FIREWORK LAUNCHERS ARE A GO!" yelled the two CMCs.

"Now light this thing Sweetie Belle. We're going to put on the best fireworks display Ponyville has ever seen!" exclaimed the young Pegasus.

Sweetie Belle was not accustomed to using magic, so creating the spark necessary to ignite the fuse was hard, but she succeeded in her task. The fuse burned fast, as the spark moved speedily to where it would ignite the rocket and send it into the sky.

"You're supposed to stick it the ground," cautioned Scootaloo, who then tossed the firework over to Sweetie Belle.

"It WAS in the ground!" yelled Sweetie Belle, as she held the firework, which would go off in a second...

*Bang*

The firework ignited, and the rocket lifted off into the air. The resulting explosion knocked Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo back a few feet. They didn't have to worry about the getting tangled up in the tent, as the firework carried it off into the heavens.

***

All the ponies at the party looked up at the most recent firework to set off. The rocket reached its apex in the sky, then blew out a bunch of tiny red sparklers. The crowd "oohed" and "awed", but this was only the beginning of what this special firework had to offer. The red dragon firework took on a form more according to its design, as it sprouted wings, formed a gaping jaw, and sailed towards the group of applauding ponies. Granny Smith, as the pony she was, was too oblivious to care for the tide of screaming ponies that swept past her, or the urges of Apple Bloom, "Granny, look out for the dragon!"

"Nonsense, there hasn't been a dragon in these parts for quite some time..."  Granny gaze altered to look upon a small baby dragon, who led a beautiful pony away from the ever-approaching horror behind them.

"Well except for that one." Granny never got to point out the running baby dragon, as Apple Bloom jumped on her back, causing the old Earth pony to collapse.

All the ponies fell to the ground, as the dragon sailed over their heads, and became an unstable ball of red light. The ball moved over the hills of Ponyville, before exploding into the most magnificent display of fireworks ever seen throughout Equestria. Seeing that the danger was over, the ponies stood up and cheered for the amazing spectacle that flashed before them. Even Granny got up and cheered for the explosions that played out before her eyes.

***

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, faces black from the explosion, looked at their handiwork.

"That was good," said Scootaloo.

"Let's get another one," added Sweetie Belle, to which they both nodded in agreement.

They suddenly felt a sharp pinch of the ears. They looked up to find Twilight Sparkle looming over them.

"Sweetie Belle... and Scootaloo. I might've known," Twilight said as she looked between the two, contemplating a sufficient punishment for the two mischievous fillies.

***

Twilight looked towards the front stage, as Granny Smith got up, and prepared to say a few words. The only thing that disturbed her concentration was the sound of clanking dishes, as Twilight set both Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo with dish-cleaning duty.

"Maybe you can both get Cutie Marks in dish washing," snickered Twilight. She then refocussed her attention on the front stage.

***

Granny Smith walked up onto the stage, to the chanting of "Speech" from all the party ponies. Ponies stomped and cheered, as she took her place at center stage, where she cleared her throat, and addressed her guests, "My dear Oranges and Apples... Hooves and Whooves... Punchs, Belles, Doos, Bolgers, Dashes and Proudhooves."

"Proudhoof!" yelled out a singular stallion, fat with age, who displayed his well-manicured hooves.

Everypony laughed, but Granny Smith simply waved him off, and continued with her speech, "Today is my one-hundred and eleventh birthday!"

Everypony in the audience cheered, "Happy Birthday" for Granny's second year of supercentenialism.

"But alas, eleventy-one years is far too short to live among such excellent and admirable ponies." The crowd ponies stomped at Granny's compliment, and still the old Earth pony continued on, "I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."

The crowd of ponies exchanged confused glances at this remark, but Twilight smiled, as she was seemingly the only guest able to understand Granny's confusing colloquy.

"I, uh-" Granny stuttered, as if struck by a forgetful episode which she was known for.

"I have things to do." Granny reached a hoof around to her midsection, feeling her ring as prepared to slip it on.

"I've put this off for far too long," Granny quietly remarked, as she stared off into the crowd.

"I regret to announce this is the end! I'm going now. I bid you all a very fond farewell." Granny looked into the crowd once more, and caught Apple Bloom's focused stare.

"Goodbye." Those were Granny's last words, before she slipped the ring on, and disappeared into thin air.