My Little Pony Friendship is Magic What If?: Volume 17

Chapters

S2 E9: Sweet and Elite (What If?)
S4 E3: Castle Mane-Ia (What If?)
S4 E6: Power Ponies (What If?) - Redo
S4 E20: For Whom The Sweetie Belle Toils (What If?)
S5 E21: The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows (What If?)
S6 E14: Stranger Than Fanfiction (What If?)
S9 E11: Student Counsel (What If?)
S9 E13: Between Dark and Dawn (What If?)
S1 E26: The Best Night Ever (What If?)
S4 E7: Bats! (What If?) - Redo

S2 E9: Sweet and Elite (What If?)

Rarity hadn't quite been expecting to be given special treatment upon informing Twilight about an upcoming trip to Canterlot ("for inspiration, mostly." she had told her fellow unicorn). Yet upon arriving in Equestria's capital city, she had been approached by none other than Princess Celestia. And soon, the fashionista learned that she was being given the honor of staying in one of the castle's royal suites.

Seeing the royal suite with her own eyes, Rarity was easily impressed by the elegant style and attention to detail! The bed sheets were even gold laced, that's how glamorus everything was! She could hardly believe her luck! "I actually get to stay here?" She exclaimed as her eyes went wide!

Princess Celestia happily nodded and explained. "Twilight wrote to me telling me that you'd be coming to Canterlot for a visit, and asked if I might be able to accomodate you. Really, it's the least I can do. Especially since I understand I have you to thank for helping my sister to ditch her insistence on talking in the royal we."

"Oh, it was my pleasure, princess. Really," Rarity bowed (as her cat Opal, who had been brought along for the journey, purred in delight). "Thank you so much! You didn't have to do this, but I'm glad you did!"

The sun princess smiled. "You're very welcome, Rarity."

Rarity was far from done showing her appreciation to the sun princess. "No, really. This is so nice of you. Giving me a royal suite all to myself?!"

The alicorn with a coat the same shade of white as her unicorn guest replied. "It's nothing, really."

The fashionista immediately threw herself at Celestia's hooves, all the while stating. "Oh, but it isn't nothing, it's everything!" She proceeded to kiss Celestia's hooves again and again, while saying repeatedly. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Princess Celestia tried not to show how... uncomfortable she was with such a display of affection. She didn't want to seem ungrateful.

Fortunately, the frantic panting of a gray coated unicorn stallion in a red uniform with a black collar drew both ponies' attention. The stallion had a two shaded orange mane and tail cut short and styled into stripes, and black eyes. His cutie mark was covered up by his uniform. Resting atop his back was a huge load of luggage, consisting of several brightly colored bags and suitcases. "Your luggage, mademoiselle?" He called, struggling not to be crushed by the weight he was carrying.

Celestia, eager to have attention drawn elsewhere, trotted to the door as she said to Rarity. "I'll leave you to get settled. Enjoy your stay, Rarity."

The stallion carrying the luggage, meanwhile, trotted into the room and finally let all the heavy bags and suitcases fall to the floor. "Where would you like me to put these?" He asked as his legs gave way and he collapsed onto the floor himself.

Rarity chuckled. "Here is fine. I'll sort it out later." She was looking forward to spending time in the city that she hoped to one day establish her dream boutique in. Yet the young fashionista could not have anticipated that her time in Canterlot would truly test her. And in a way that she wasn't expecting.

Since she had planned this entire trip around finding inspiration, Rarity didn't stay at her suite in the castle for very long. She instead opted to explore the city of Canterlot more in depth, something she had not been able to do during any of her previous visits (all of which had been in the company of her friends, Twilight included). She eventually found herself at a lovely cafe. She was now sitting outside said cafe with only her cat Opal for company, while wearing a pink, floppy hat and enjoying a delicious, hot cup of tea.

After taking a sip of her tea, the fashionista smiled. Setting it down, she looked to her cat and said to her. "Opal, my darling, do you know what it is I love about Canterlot?" Without bothering to wait for a reply, she happily proclaimed! "Everything! I may have been born in Ponyville, but I truly am a Canterlot pony at heart. What I would give to be able to live here all year round, opening my dream boutique here would be so much easier."

Opal said nothing.

Unbothered by her cat's lack of enthusiasm, Rarity just went on talking. "I know I said I was here for inspiration, just to pick up a few fabrics and do some window shopping to get more ideas. But after Twilight was nice enough to get me that suite at the castle, I simply must do something to express my gratitude to her. But what?" Then, suddenly, it dawned on her! "Ooh! I know! An outfit for her birthday party this weekend! Yes, that will be just the thing!" Taking another sip of her tea, she then said to her cat. "Don't you just love it here, Opal?"

Just then, two finely dressed unicorns came trotting up to the table where Rarity was sitting. The stallion had a gray coat, dark blue eyes hidden behind a pair of silver spectacles, a dark gray bordering on black mane and tail styled into streaks, and a faintly visible cutie mark depicting three jets of wind. He wore a green and white jacket with a white pendant hanging from his neck. The mare, meanwhile, was a pale, light grayish-olive in color. She had persian blue eyes almost the same shade as Rarity's (albeit with moderate cyan eyeshadow above them), a pale light indigo mane and tail with light gray streaks running through them, and a cutie mark depicting three green symbols of money. She was wearing a pink and white shirt, and wore a greenish-gray necklace.

The stallion was the first of the two to speak up, clearing his throat as he introduced himself. "Please excuse our interuption, miss. My name is Jet Set," He then gestured a hoof to the mare standing next to him. "And this is my lovely wife Upper Crust. We saw you from across the cafe and just had to find out..."

"-Where did you get that simply marvelous chapeau?" Upper Crust inquired, gesturing to the pink, floppy hat Rarity was wearing. "We've never seen anything like it!"

"What? This old thing?" Rarity replied with surprise in her tone of voice. "Oh, I made it myself. Not that I mean to brag, but I'm something of a fashionisita. I design a lot of my own clothes, even more than I sell them," She then giggled. "And my name is Rarity Belle, though most ponies call me Rarity or Miss. Rarity."

Jet Set and Upper Crust seemed to gasp, as if suddenly they had been stricken by something! It was Jet Set who took the lead in speaking afterwards. "Rarity, you say? That name is vaguely familiar to us," He turned to his wife. "Where have we heard such a name before?"

Upper Crust scratched her head with a hoof, before it suddenly seemed to dawn on her! "Oh, I remember! You're one of the ponies Princess Celestia held that big award ceremony for a while back."

The fashionista waved a hoof and played it off. "Oh, it's no big deal. It wasn't our first time saving Equestria. We'd done it all before, I dare say it was old hat to us. If it happens again, we could probably do it with one hoof tied behind our backs. Figuratively speaking, of course." She gave a slight, nervous giggle.

Upper Crust flashed a warm smile. "My my, so modest. It's rare to see that in anypony around here. I know I for one would not hesitate to brag and boast if given such an honor."

Jet Set then added. "You're one of the friends of the princess' student, aren't you?"

"Why, yes, I am," The young fashionista replied with a giggle. "As a matter of fact, it's her I have to thank for being allowed to come here to this magnificent city. I was only planning to come here for a day or two to pick up supplies and get a little inspiration before heading back to Ponyville."

At that, the two finely dressed unicorns gasped as their eyes widened! "Ponyville?!" They exchanged mutual glances of shock, surprise, and apparent disgust.

Rarity was taken aback by the reply. "Why, yes. I am from Ponyville, born and raised. Yet I like to think I own one of the finest boutiques in Equestria, with hopes of someday expanding to cities like these."

Upper Crust frowned and snorted, swishing her tail. "Oh, that would explain it, then. I was beginning to wonder why a pony as famous as you has been strikingly absent from many of the balls here in Canterlot."

Jet Set added with an audible humph. "Weren't you the pony who snubbed his royal highness Prince Blueblood at the Grand Galloping Gala? And weren't you with those... others who made such a mockery of the event?"

"It... wasn't our finest moment," Rarity admitted with a shameful blush. But then she defiantly replied. "But I will not apologize for what I did to the prince. He deserved it after the way he treated me all night long! So what if I was just the latest in a long line of potential suitors? That's no excuse for treating me like common trash!"

The spectacles wearing stallion's frown deepened as he declared. "Well, 'common trash' is certainly a fitting word for a Ponyville hayseed such as you. That backwater town thinks its so special just because the princess' student decided to live there and turn her back on her fine Canterlot roots. Does she not realize how lucky she was to have a family that could send her brother to the royal guard academy and get a princess as a foalsitter?"

The necklace wearing unicorn remarked with narrowed eyebrows. "Talk about ungrateful. To think, she is the student of one of our kingdom's rulers. Then again, if she has friends like you, I can see why she chooses to stay in Ponyville. After what happened at the gala, you all would do us a public service if you never showed your faces in this fine city ever again!"

Jet Set rolled his eyes. "We've wasted enough time talking to you, Rarity," He delivered the last part of his sentence with an audible hiss. He took his wife by the hoof and led her away, while not so softly whispering. "I told you it wasn't something you could get here in Canterlot, dear."

Upper Crust saw fit to add her own two bits. "And I told you that I thought it looked a little bit country."

The fashionista unicorn watched as the finely dressed couple trotted away with their backs turned to her. She could hardly believe how harsh they had been in their put down of her! Was this what all the citizens of Canterlot thought of her? Of Ponyville?

With a disappointed sigh, and with frustration boiling inside of her, Rarity returned to her royal suite. She wasn't about to take this "snob" lying down. Not for a second! She forget all about finishing up her unpacking, instead finding a stand and placing a piece of yellow paper upon it. She promplty used her magic to begin sketching the design for a most ellaborate dress that she would make for Twilight. "'It looked a little bit country.'? 'Not something you could get here in Canterlot'? I'll show them a thing or two! I'll show them something worthy of Canterlot!" With a look of firey determination, she vowed. "Celestia as my witness, I'll prove they were wrong to look down on me if it's the last thing I do!"

It didn't the fashionista long to draw up a sketch that was to her liking. But of course, with such a dress, she knew she would have to gather a lot of fabrics and other materials. She wanted to use only the best to bring her latest inspiration to life. If she ever wanted to have a chance in the big city, she would need to put hecklers like Jet Set and Upper Crust in their place.

After entrusting the care of Opal to the castle staff, the unicorn mare with a pristine white coat went out to start on her shopping. It was a good thing she had budgetted for just such a fashion emergency. Hopefully, the dress she would make as a result would more than earn back all the bits she would spend on fabrics.

Naturally, by the time Rarity had finished shopping, she had filled up several brown paper bags with what she felt were only the finest silks and fabrics that Canterlot had to offer. She was no longer simply designing a dress for a friend, she had a point to prove. Even so, she found herself growing exhausted as she began to make her way back to the castle suite. "I have to get started right away. This new design is very ambitious, and I've already written to Twilight to let her know she'll have something beyond fabulous to wear to her party." She said to herself. So absorbed was she in talking that she forgot to pay attention to where she was going. She ended up colliding with another unicorn stallion, this one having a white coat similar to her own and wearing a finely pressed, black tuxedo.

"I dare say, that's certainly one way to make an introduction." The tuxedo wearing stallion remarked as he brushed the dust off of his coat. It was now possible to see that he had a crystal blue mane and tail done up in a somewhat curly style, and that he had light blue eyes that looked friendly and welcoming. Around his left eye was a monocle, and he had a small mustache around his nose. In addition to his tuxedo, he was wearing a dull blue bowtie. His magic color revealed itself to be light yellow when he used it adjust his monocle. And his cutie mark was of three crowns similar to the one worn by Princess Celestia.

Rarity let out a gasp upon recognizing the stallion and realizing who he was. He was a very big part of the Canterlot elite, every bit of Canterlot gossip and tabloid magazine said so! "Fancy Pants!" She exclaimed as her eyes widened. She quickly used her magic to try to pick up the bags she had dropped in her earlier collision with him, hastily apologizing. "Oh, goodness, I am so sorry. I didn't see you there. I've just got so many bags and I was trying to get back to my suite at the castle and–"

Fancy Pants interrupted the fashionista's frantic ramble by asking a simple question. "-Did I hear that right? You're staying at the castle?"

Rarity nodded afirmatively. "Princess Celestia invited me to stay in one of the suites while I was here."

"You know one of the princesses?" Fancy Pants questioned. Then, suddenly, a lightbulb went off inside his head. "Wait a minute, I believe I've heard of you and seen your face in the papers! You must be one of those friends of the princess' student, the ones who we apparently have to thank for stopping the likes of Nightmare Moon and Discord from wreaking havoc on our fair kingdom."

The fashionista managed to force out a nod. "Y-yes, that's me," She blushed a bit. "I certainly hope the papers haven't given you the wrong impression about me, or my friends. I'm not a hayseed if that's what you're thinking!"

Fancy Pants threw back his head and laughed. "A hayseed? You? Why would I ever think that, Miss. Rarity? That is your name, is it not?"

"Y-yes, it is," Rarity replied as she stood there in uncertainty, unable to decide whether she should keep talking or continue on her journey that had been interrupted. "And uh... I know I may technically be from Ponyville, but..."

Before Rarity could finish her sentence, a unicorn mare who had been reseting on Fancy Pants' back used her light pinkish-gray magic to pick up some of Rarity's shopping bags and examine them. She was a tall and slender unicorn mare who was not wearing anything on her body, thus allowing her cutie mark of three spade like symbols (two small ones a lavendar in color, and one large one a gold in color) to be easily seen. She also had pale, light grayish-purple violet eyes with similar colored eyeshadow, and a long, loosey-styled mane and tail in locks of light magentish gray with whitish-pink streaks. "Hmm, you're a pony with expensive tastes, I see." She commented.

"It's for a friend, her birthday's coming up this weekend and I wanted to thank her for arranging for me to stay at the castle," The fashionista explained, before eyeing the tall and slender mare. "And, who might you be... i-if I may ask?"

Fancy Pants chuckled. "Why, this is my darling wife Fleur-De-Lis. But I always call her Fleur. She actually used to be my bodyguard, and such is how I met and fell in love with her."

Fleur chuckled back. "Yes. And your idea of courtship was me giving you sparring lessons," She then dreamily sighed. "But I must admit, you are as fine a husband as any other stallion I could've known. You are Equestria's premiere delegate and diplomat. There are few in Canterlot's social circle who outrank you."

The monocle wearing stallion then asked Rarity. "Might I ask who this friend of yours is that you're making such a fine dress for as a birthday present? It must be somepony very important."

"Y-yes," Rarity slowly nodded. "It's for Twilight. And I already promised I'd have the dress ready for her when I returned from Canterlot for her birthday party. So I really should get to it!" She hastily gathered up her bags and tipped her hat to her esteemed guests. "I'm ever so sorry to have bumped into you both."

Yet Fancy Pants saw fit to protest. "I for one am not. Obviously, a pony like you who's friends with the princess' student is a pony worth getting to know better, regardless of where you might happen to come from. Besides, for a Ponyville pony, you seem right at home in the city of Canterlot," Then he cleared his throat and told his new accquaintance. "Listen, I have a VIP box reserved at the Wonderbolts Derby this afternoon. Would you be so kind as to join me and a few of my companions there? If you're not too busy, that is."

The fashionista unicorn blinked in surprise. Was this actually happening so soon after her encounter with two other Canterlot ponies, both of whom had appeared to look down on her for being a Ponyville native? "Me? You actually want me to drop by?"

The finely dressed stallion and his wife both nodded in response. "Yes indeed, Miss. Rarity. If you can't make it, I'll understand. But I feel like my entrouge would be over the moon for a chance to get to know an up and coming talent like yourself."

A complex swirling of emotions filled Rarity's head when she returned to the castle suite moments later. She had everything she needed to get started on Twilight's birthday dress, and knew she had only a few days at most to work on it. She really should get started on it now if she wanted to have it finished and ready for fitting when she returned to Ponyville.

Yet Fancy Pants' offer, though very recent, was incredibly tempting. This could be her chance, her big break. More so than her work with Hoity Toity, Sapphire Shores, or Photo Finish, Fancy Pants seemed poised to be the door that could lead her to the kind of connections she could only dream of. Connections she would absolutely need to cultivate whenever she found the time, money, and resources to open her planned boutique in Canterlot. And that had been her dream since as long as the young fashionista could remember.

These conflicting desires left the unicorn mare to pace back and forth in her suite alone, with only her cat Opal to talk to her dilemma about. It mattered not to her that her cat obviously wouldn't be of much help in this particular situation, she just needed to have someone to serve as a sounding board. Someone with whom to debate the pros and cons of each choice.

"Okay, Opal, pros and cons:" Rarity said to her cat, one eye trained to her sketch pad and the other to the door to her suite. "Pro: Seeing the derby from a VIP box is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, one I'd hate to pass up. Con: Going to the derby cuts into the amount of time I'll have to finish Twilight's outfit. Pro: Fancy Pants is the most important pony in all of Canterlot. His stamp of approval could mean big things for me here. Con: Twilight's party might not be as sophisticated as the derby or any other gathering, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't put all of my energy into creating her birthday ensemble."

Try as she might, the young fashionista could not sort out her complicated feelings. There seemed to be no good answer. She threw herself onto her bed in frustration, groaning and kicking! "Oh, I hate having to choose between two very compelling options! No matter what I choose, I will inevitably be disappointing somepony, be it my friends or a very important pony here in Canterlot. What should I do, Opal? Should I just pack it up now and go back to Ponyville so as to avoid having to explain to Fancy Pants why I couldn't show up to the derby? Should I just forget about Twilight's birthday dress and tell her it will be delayed due to unforeseen events?"

Opal said nothing, she just stood at the other end of the bed and looked her owner deep in the eyes.

For how long Rarity lay upon her bed, lost in her thoughts, she did not know. At last, however, she reluctantly made up her mind and rose from her bed. "That's it! I've made up my mind, and there's no use trying to talk me out of it!" She rushed to the royal lavatory so as to wash her face, comb her mane, and put on some perfume so she was smelling her best. Then, she put on her pink, floppy hat again and with a starry look in her eyes she proclaimed! "Opal, I am going to the Wonderbolts Derby as a guest of Fancy Pants! I shall have plenty of time afterwards to complete Twilight's birthday dress, even if I must stay up late to do so." She exited her suite with a spring in her step, excitedly giggling to herself as she headed for the derby.

Rarity soon made her way to the stadium in Canterlot. It wasn't quite as grand as the Cloudeseum in Canterlot, but it was still a fine place in and of itself. The perfect place to host the best performers in all of Equestria: The Wonderbolts. "Oh, if only Rainbow Dash could be here to see this." She thought to herself, and wondered if she should mention this to her Ponyville friends when inevitably asked about her trip to Canterlot. Quickly informing one of the security ponies that she was an invited guest of Fancy Pants, she was led through the back of the stadium and up a small flight of stairs to the VIP box. It was finely decorated and very close to the action, you could already see the Wonderbolts lined up on the starting block, ready to race.

Fancy Pants' face lit up as soon as he lay eyes upon Rarity, and happily ushered her forward! "Rarity, jolly good to see you again! So glad you could make it," Clearing his throat, he informed the various stallions and mares in his entourage. "Everypony, may I have the pleasure of introducing Miss. Rarity. She's staying at the castle for a few days, courtesy of a favor from the princess' star pupil."

All the ponies in the entourage let out gasps! All eyes fell upon the fashionista as they crowded round, some of them whispering and chattering among themselves.

Then, a voice recognizable to Rarity loudly proclaimed over the stadium's loudspeakers. "Fillies and gentlecolts, foals of all ages, welcome to the thirty fifth annual Wonderbolts Derby!" A chorus of cheers errupted from the audience, momentarily drowning out the speaker's voice. But when the applause died down, the voice continued. "The competitors are taking their places at the starting line, and the race will begin momentarily! This is the last call: If any of you have any bets you wish to make, place them now and place them quickly!"

Fancy Pants smiled as he held out a sack of bits, approaching his wife Fleur as he hoofed the sack to her and told her. "Go down and place my bet now, my darling," And with confidence he announced his intended bet to all who would hear him. "I'll be rooting for Rapidfire, of course. He's sure to take home the grand prize."

Several ponies in the VIP box seemed to agree, Fleur included.

But Rarity saw fit to object, taking hold of the bits with her magic. "Just a moment, please. You say you want to bet on Rapidfire? Well, I say he doesn't have a chance against Fleetfoot. In a Wonderbolts Derby, Fleetfoot is a sure bet, no matter whom she faces as competition. For a junior member of the team, she's more than earned her keep," Then she gave the sack back to Fleur. "If you hurry, you should be able to place the bet on Fleetfoot. Trust me, you and your husband won't be disappointed."

"What the heck, I like a little excitement from time to time," Fancy Pants nodded in approval. "Run along now, Fleur, and take Rarity's advice. Be quick about it!"

Fleur obeyed without saying a word. She rushed out of the VIP box quick as a flash, and she returned out of breath with the sack now empty of bits. "Got it placed just in time." She panted.

Just seconds later, the sound of trumpets blaring filled the stadium! The Wonderbolts on the track stood at attention! And then, with the sharp blast of a whistle, they were off! When the first race concluded a mere moment or so later, a light arctic blue coated pegasus mare with a whispy white mane and tail zoomed across the finish line at lightning speed!

"And it's Fleetfoot by a nose!" The announcer excitedly proclaimed! "What a stunning performance from the youngest pony yet to become a full fledged Wonderbolt!"

All eyes in the VIP box now fell upon Rarity. Her bet had turned out to be perfect, and all wondered how she had known to bet on Fleetfoot in the first place.

"Bravo, Rarity!" Fancy Pants clapped his hooves in approval. "Even if it wasn't much, I would've hated to have lost a bet in front of all these fine ponies. I would've looked so silly making such a mistake," Then he asked the nagging question. "I say, how did you know Fleetfoot would be victorious? Have you met the Wonderbolts personally?"

The fashionista shook her head from side to side. "Oh no, not me. But my friend Rainbow Dash certainly has, and she simply can't stop gushing about them. She knows almost everything there is to know about the Wonderbolts. And she told me that what Fleetfoot lacks in size, she makes up for in speed," With a wink she added. "And it seems she was right, as I believed she was."

A unicorn mare with a gleaming silver coat then questioned. "And just who is this, Rainbow Dash? How do you know her? Is she a friend of the princess' student too?"

"You... could say that," Rarity slowly nodded. "She's one of the finest flyers ever to come out of Cloudsdale, even if she doesn't call it home anymore. She said she moved out as soon as she came of age, something to do with her parents."

Fleur smiled as she trotted over to Rarity. "Ah, I see now," She remarked with a knowing wink. "Rainbow Dash must be the Wonderbolts' personal trainer, or something along those lines. How else could she know so much about them and what makes them tick?"

"Well, she has admired them since she was a filly," Rarity tried to correct. "And it's been a dream of hers to someday join the team. I believe she made great strides towards that goal when she won the Best Young Flyers Competition. Surely, you've heard of the incredible Sonic Rainboom that was performed there?"

"Oh, that was her?!" Fancy Pants gasped as his monocle briefly slipped from his left eye. "Miss Rarity, you astonish and amaze me with your connections! You not only know the princess' star pupil, but also the only pegasus in history to ever pull off an impossible feat! Aren't you just full of surprises for a Ponyville pony? Dare I ask who else you know?" Regaining his composure, he then declared. "Everypony, three cheers for Rarity, my new favorite party guest!"

The crowd all chanted in unison with a chorus of "Hip, hip, hooray!!" And Rarity found that she didn't have the heart or the courage to tell these Canterlot ponies the truth about Rainbow Dash, that she was just a not-so humble weather pony from Ponyville.

Rarity quickly lost track of the time after the derby as she lost herself in mingling and tingling with Canterlot's elite. In the back of her mind, she knew she should get back to the castle to start work on the birthday dress she'd promised Twilight. But every time she thought about it, something else came up to push that thought away. She even managed to tell a rather funny joke about a fashion disaster she'd once had the misfortune of bearing witness to in real time. The ponies crowding around her all laughed long and loud when the joke reached its punchline.

It was then that the gleaming silver unicorn mare from earlier spoke up. "Oh, you are a delight, Miss. Rarity. Simply a delight. I can't recall another guest who has been as entertaining as you," Then she presented an invitation of her own. "You simply must attend my art gallery opening this evening. I'd be crushed if you were to decline."

Tempted as she was, the fashionista forced herself to shrug off the offer. "Oh, I'd love to, really. But I must–"

A unicorn stallion with a light golden brown coat, a blone mane and tail, and deep blue eyes hidden behind a pair of round glasses then butted in. "-And let's not forget my charity auction tomorrow morning. You can't miss that!"

Again, Rarity forced herself to turn down the invitation. "Well, not that that doesn't sound wonderful, but I have to–"

Then a peach coated unicorn mare wearing a tow toned blue hat, a pink sweater with blue around the sleeves, and a light blue necklace added. "-And of course there's a seat for you at my dinner party tomorrow night. You must come! I insist!"

Rarity nervously pushed all the ponies away as they tried to crowd round her and get her to attend their unique social gatherings. It was becoming harder and harder for her to say no to them. "I'm flattered, really. Any other visit I'd attend all of your events in a heartbeat. But I came here for a reason. There's a project for a friend that I promised to have ready, and if I don't get started on it soon I'll-"

The silver coated unicorn immediately protested. "Maybe I wasn't clear. If you don't attend, I might as well close down the gallery. Without you, hardly anypony of notice will attend."

The blonde mane and tail stallion added his own counterprotest. "My acution is for charity, Rarity, my dear. For charity! They say you're a generous pony, or are they mistaken?"

And the peach coated unicorn pleaded. "I'm begging you, Rarity! Without you, my dinner party will surely be a disaster. It's just for one evening, surely you aren't that busy."

With all the elites pressing towards her and giving off the best puppy dog eyed looks they could muster up, the fashionista found her will to resist slowly but surely melting away. She thought she might not get another chance like this to make the right connections in Canterlot. So she relented. "...Of course I'll be there for all of your events. I'm sure I'll find time to work on my project afterwards."

The other unicorns all sighed in relief, some even muttering lines like "Thank goodness!" or "Disaster averted!"

Now having given her word to attend several more events over the next day and a half, Rarity returned to her castle suite once again. But not for long, she just needed to take off her hat and thus change her attire, it would be a major mistake for a pony of fashion to wear the same thing to multiple events. And she was convinced she could ill afford to make any mistakes, not matter how small they might be.

Eyeing herself in a mirror within the suite's bedroom, the fashionista unicorn was looking at her neck as she tried to decide whether or not a gem necklace inspired by her element of generosity necklace would be a good fit for the evening. "Looks like we'll be staying here for longer than we intended, Opalescence," She said to her cat, who kept trying to call her master's attention to the drawing of the birthday dress. "Bumping into Fancy Pants when I did was the best thing that could've happened to me. Now the elite of Canterlot simply can't get enough of me."

Opal again tapped a claw to Rarity's sketch, which was all there was to show for the birthday dress so far.

The unicorn mare with a pristine white coat then opted to discard the necklace, convinced it would not be suitable to wear. She knew what Opal was trying to do, but she ignored her cat while saying. "Of course, finishing Twilight's dress in time for her birthday party is still my top priority, but I can't possibly disappoint the Canterlot elite by rejecting their invitations now, can I? Not after I gave them my word. I'll not only need their influence if I'm ever to open my dream boutique in Canterlot, but this is the perfect opportunity to prove that Jet Set and Upper Crust were wrong to ever look down on me for being from Ponyville!" She then rushed away while boasting! "It won't be long before I'll be the biggest, hottest name in the entire city! How's that for a so-called 'hayseed'?!"

And so, over the next several days, Rarity kept slipping away to attend various social gatherings. With each one, she would change her outfit and even sometimes her mane style (she even managed to find an excuse to reuse her old Grand Galloping Gala dress, and nopony seemed to mind). As she did so, continuiously pushing off any chance to work on or even get started on Twilight's birthday dress, she began humming a little tune in her mind. And it hummed something like this:

I'll be the toast of the town, the girl on the go.

I'm the type of pony everypony, everypony should know.

I'll be the one to watch, the girl in the flow.

'Cause I'm the type of pony everypony, everypony should know!

Becoming as popular as popular can be.

Making my mark, making my mark in high society.

I'm the belle of the ball, the star of the show, yeah!

I'm the type of pony everypony, everypony should know!

See how they hang on every word that I speak.

My approving glance is what they all seek.

I'm the creme de la creme, not just another Jane Doe.

I'm the type of pony everypony should know!

At home, or at the opera, or on a fancy yacht.

I'm becoming the talk, the talk of all of Canterlot.

I'm the creme de la creme, not just another Jane Doe, yeah!

I'm the type of pony everypony, everypony should know!

The days went by in a blur, and before Rarity knew it it was the night before she was slated to return to Ponyville so as to be home in time for Twilight's birthday. She hadn't once worked on the birthday dress for even a moment. And although she knew she had to get started on it if she wanted it ready by morning, the fashionista couldn't bring herself to do more than put the secondary shirt of the dress around the ponyquin. And as she felt her eyelids grow heavy, she wearily sang:

Because I'm the type of pony,

Yes, I'm the type of pony,

Yes, I'm the type of pony everypony should know.

Next morning, Rarity had all her things packed into suitcases and boxes, ready to take down to the train station. She couldn't stay for another day even if she wanted to. Or so she thought. Before she had finished packing, the fashionista was graced with a letter addressed to her. A letter that read as follows:

Dearest Rarity,

Your presence is requested at the Canterlot royal garden party tomorrow afternoon. We have heard nothing but good things about you, and wish to see for ourselves if you are perhaps the one Ponyville pony worth knowing after all.

Sincerely yours,

Jet Set and Upper Crust

The unicorn's eyes lit up like stars! Everything was going well for her! She quickly realized what this meant. "The Canterlot royal garden party! Why, next to the Galloping Gala that is the premier event in Canterlot!" She excitedly squeed, especially since she was thrilled at the prospect of proving Jet Set and Upper Crust wrong once and for all. But then her heart sank as she realized what would happen if she chose to attend that party. There would be no chance of her returning to Ponyville for Twilight's birthday, or the birthday party Pinkie Pie was throwing.

A growing knot formed in the young fashionista's stomach. "Oh, but it falls on the same day as Twilight's birthday. I can't be in two places, let alone two cities at once," She hung her head and pouted. "Why must I choose? I'd hate to disappoint my Ponyville friends after I gave my word I'd be home for the birthday party. On the other hoof," She bit into one of her hooves. "Jet Set and Upper Crust will surely not take my absence lying down. They'll start spreading the word, other ponies will think I'm not trustworthy. My carefully cultivated reputation as a Very Important Pony in Canterlot will be ruined forever!"

Well, there was only one thing to do in the fashionista's mind. Much as she hated to do so, she would have to cancel her plans to return to Ponyville tomorrow, even though she knew her friends would be upset. Looking back to the unfinished birthday dress, she got an idea about a convincing "excuse" she could give so as not to make her friends suspect she was turning them down in favor of a more lavish party in Canterlot. She would be hard pressed to give them all the details they'd need to know about why she had to stay.

Despite her guilty conscience knawing at her from within, Rarity willed her horn to spark and summoned quill and parchment with which to write a note to send to Ponyville. She had to pause frequently to make sure her horn writting didn't seem sloppy, least she give her friends reason to suspect something was up. At last, she composed her message and read it aloud to ensure it was to her liking:

My dearest friend Twilight,

I regret to inform you that I will not be able to make it back to Ponyville for your birthday tomorrow. I wish more than anything it were not so, but unforeseen circumstances have unfortunately left me with no time to complete your dress. It is currently in an unfinished state, and the birthday girl deserves only the best.

I promise, I will be back in Ponyville as soon as possible after my unexpected delay is taken care of. And I hope you will forgive me for not being able to fulfill that promise I made to you. If you are upset with me, I understand. But I do not wish for you and our friends to be left wondering when I fail to show up for your birthday party.

My sincerest apologies for the delay,

Rarity

She then sealed the letter in an envelope, and instructed one of the castle staff to deliver it to the post office for immediate delivery to Ponyville. Then the fashionista turned her attention to the process of unpacking her things. Since she would now be staying in Canterlot through tomorrow, there was no need to leave everything packed up.

The next day, Rarity spent her time in her suite deciding what she should wear to the garden party. She wanted to look presentable and fashionable, but didn't want to overdo it and be seen as desperate. "What do you think of this, Opal?" She asked her cat while a simple yellow gown with a ruby medallion in the center, and with fake flowers attached to her tail. "Too much?" Upon seeing her cat frown at her, the fashionista declared. "You're right. Too little. But I can fix that," She quickly levitated over a yellow hat to match her gown, said hat having blue ribbons tied in the back and flowers on its front. "Ah, much better. Garden party, here I come!" She declared and trotted to the door.

When the door was opened, six very familiar voices (and the faces to match them) suddenly appeared as they all yelled at once! "Surprise!"

Rarity was, needless to say, very surprised to see all of her friends had shown up unannounced in Canterlot! Their presence was going to make attending the garden party a lot more difficult. She at once felt light headed and wished she had her trusty fainting couch at the ready. Alas, it was not with her, and so she fainted right on the spot. Fortunately, she recovered very quickly, though the shock of her friends' unexpected arrival was slow to wear off. "What are you– How did you– Why are you–"

Applejack couldn't help but chuckle. "Bet you're surprised to see us here in Canterlot, huh, sugarcube? I know, it was kind of a last minute decision on our parts."

Shaking her head to regain her focus, Rarity swallowed hard and asked. "What I mean to say is, what are you all doing here? I thought the birthday party would be in Ponyville, like we all agreed."

Twilight smiled as she gestured a hoof to her pink coated party planning friend. "We were, but when Pinkie Pie got your note, she decided to move the party here to Canterlot. That way, you wouldn't have to miss it. And it's okay if you didn't have time to finish the dress you were going to give me. I don't need a bunch of presents, just spending time with my friends is present enough."

Pinkie Pie then beamed. "It helps that balloons are super easy to pack!" She demonstrated this fact by opening a small purse, and several balloons in different colors flew out from it.

Rarity couldn't help but feel guilty, even as she tried not to show it outwardly. How was she to break the news to her friends about the real reason for her inability to attend Twilight's birthday party? "Oh, Twilight, I don't know what I did to deserve a friend like you," She declared as she fought back the tears. "First you got me a suite in the castle, and now this. And I don't even have a pretty dress to give you as thanks."

"Hey, it's okay, these things happen," The studious unicorn insisted with a sincere smile. "I appreciate you being honest with me, Rarity. I know how fondly you've spoken of Canterlot in the past, it's no surprise you'd find it hard to find just one source of inspiration," Then in a somewhat more unhappy tone, she added. "I was hoping that moving my birthday party to Canterlot would mean my brother could show up. But he said he couldn't, he has a 'pressing engagement', whatever that means. I just wish he'd be honest and say he couldn't get the day off, not even for me. He doesn't have to lie."

Rainbow Dash then asked Rarity. "Not to change the subject, but why exactly are you wearing that get-up, Rarity? Were you going somewhere? Like to some sort of ball?'

"Oh, don't be silly!" The fashionista waved a hoof, dismissing the suggestion. "Why would I be doing that when I obviously needed to spend all my time working on Twilight's birthday dress? I just..." She struggled to think of a good explanation. "...Thought that maybe dressing up would help give me some ideas."

Fluttershy then eyed the little studio Rarity had set up within her suite. It looked to the pegasus as if there was something resting on a small stand. "Say, what's that you have there, Rarity?"

Horrified, Rarity hastily crumpled up her sketch via her magic and tossed the paper into a wastebasket. "Oh, just an idea I had that wouldn't work. It was far too complicated to pull off, especially with the lack of free time I've had."

But Twilight had already spotted the unfinished dress. And none the wiser about Rarity's intentions, she looked at it with a smile. "It's so simple. So practical. So me!"

"What?! B-but it... it isn't finished yet! I haven't even really begun to work on it!" The fashionista insisted as she threw herself at the dress on the ponyquin.

The studious unicorn just giggled. "Rarity, I learned my lesson from the last time you made me a dress. It doesn't have to be overly complicated. A dress is a dress. What matters most is how it feels when I wear it. And I'd say it's perfect as it is! I can't wait to wear it at my birthday party!"

The unicorn mare with a pristine white coat sighed in relief. "Oh, Twilight, you don't know how happy I am to hear you say that. Now I feel really silly for having wasted all that time trying to turn it into something else," She then asked. "Where exactly is the birthday party being held, then?"

Spike was happy to explain. "The castle ballroom, of course. We were thinking of having it in the garden, but it's been booked for a more formal event. I think it's called the Canterlot royal garden party... or something like that," In a tone of voice that sounded almost interrogative, he added. "Surprised you didn't know about it. I would've thought an event like that would be right up your alley. You've always been one for formal gatherings."

The young fashionista protested. "And miss out on Twilight's birthday party?! Perish the thought. I would never put something like that over the birthday of one of my nearest and dearest friends. Especially not after all she's done for me in just this past week."

"Then what are we waiting for?!" Pinkie Pie excitedly chirped! "I've already got the ballroom all decorated! We'll have the whole place to ourselves for Twilight's big birthday bash!"

Indeed, Pinkie had covered every inch of the ballroom in streamers, banners, bunting, balloons, and table coverings. There was even a large banner that read "Happy Birthday, Twilight" in clearly visible letters. It was truly a sight to behold.

Rarity was speechless! Pinkie's Ponyville parties had always been grand, but never to this extent. Dare she say it, it was almost par with something like the Grand Galloping Gala.

With a bright smile, Pinkie Pie pressed her face up to Rarity's and said to her. "Isn't it fancy, fancy pants?"

"What?! Fancy Pants?! Where?!" The fashionista looked all around, as if suddenly afraid to be seen! As all eyes fell upon her, she coughed into a hoof and quickly corrected. "I mean, was that just an expression? I've never heard of a 'Fancy Pants'."

Twilight grinned. "I'm surprised you haven't, Rarity. He's a very big deal here in Canterlot from what I've heard. Equestria's premiere diplomat and delegate. They say not a thing goes on in this city that he doesn't know about," She then put a hoof to her chin. "Come to think of it, I think he's supposed to be one of the guests for the garden party today. Maybe we should introduce you to him really quick?"

Rarity's eyes went wide as she hastily protested! "No no! That's not necessary! This is your party, Twilight. You're the guest of honor I'm here for, not anypony else," And then she asked. "However did you get all of this done so quickly if you just decided to have the party here today?"

At that Pinkie pulled out a small cannon with a pink button atop a fuse and said. "Oh, I never leave home without my party cannon! I always take it with me in case of party emergencies when we're not in Ponyville. It makes parties and party decorating a blast! Watch!" She pressed the button, causing the cannon to shoot off a shower of confetti (the blast sounding more like the blowing of a party blower than the firing of a cannon). "Ta-da!" She exclaimed afterward.

"Enough chit chat!" Rainbow Dash insisted. "Are we here to talk, or are we here to party?!" And with that, the birthday party began. Music began to blare from a small record player, and Twilight began happily dancing in her new birthday dress, unaware that her attempt to dance was very awkward and really showed her lack of experience.

With the birthday party underway, Rarity's wandering blue eyes couldn't help but be drawn to the scene right outside the ballroom. The garden party she'd promised to attend was about to begin. "Really should just make a quick appearance." She said to herself, and seeing her friends distracted, she decided to silently slip away. She would attend the garden party briefly, bow out with apologies, and return to Twilight's birthday party without anypony being the wiser.

However, the unicorn mare's withdrawl from the birthday party did not go completely unnoticed. Just as she turned a corner to leave the ballroom and head outside, she was surprised to be confronted by none other than Spike. "Rarity, wait!" He called out to her. "Where are you going?"

"Oh," Rarity commented with surprise, and quickly tried to think up a good lie. "I er... need to... to... use the little fillies' room, that's all."

Spike wasn't fooled for a second. "You've been acting strange all day, Rarity. Something's up, I can tell," And he questioned further. "Where are you really going? What's the real reason you can't attend Twilight's birthday party? Do you think our friends won't find out?"

The fashionista sighed, realizing she'd been caught. "Spike, please don't take this the wrong way. It's not anypony's fault, really. It's just... I have a prior engagement that I already gave my word I'd be at. It'd be rude of me not to show up to it, even just for a little bit."

The little dragon began to realize what Rarity was saying. "You're attending the Canterlot royal garden party? Then you must know Fancy Pants after all," A gasp escaped his lips! "Have you just been hanging out with him and everypony who associates with him? Is that why you couldn't finish Twilight's birthday dress in time? Is that why you sent that letter yesterday?"

With a guilty look in her eyes, the fashionista unicorn reluctantly confessed. "I... I had no choice! Fancy Pants and his associates are very important! If I'm ever going to open my dream boutique here in Canterlot someday, I'll need to start building the right connections now. I may not get another chance like this!"

"So, just tell our friends that. They'll understand." Spike firmly insisted

Rarity shook her head from side to side. "I'll only be gone for a moment or two at most, before our friends even know I'm gone. I'd already have been there and back by now if you hadn't stopped me," She desperately pleaded with the little dragon. "Please, Spike! I hate to do this, really I do. But you have to cover for me, just for a little bit."

Reluctantly, the little dragon relented. "Fine. But I'm telling you now in case it doesn't work, you don't have to hide this from our friends. Attending social gatherings like the garden party isn't something to be ashamed of, it happens. We could've easily waited and held Twilight's birthday party after you got back." Then he slowly walked off, back to the ballroom.

With the crisis averted (at least for the time being), Rarity breathed a small sigh of relief. Checking all over herself to make sure she looked presentable, she then stepped out into the castle garden, ready to put in her brief appearance at the Canterlot royal garden party.

Jet Set and Upper Crust quickly spotted the fashionista, and in contrast to their last meeting with her, they now seemed happy to see her. "Darling, so glad you could make it." Upper Crust commented with a smile.

Jet Set added. "My wife and I were beginning to think you might not show up after all. We thought we saw your name on the guest list, but we feared you had declined our invitation."

Rarity waved a hoof. "Nonsense! I wouldn't have missed this party for the world!"

Fancy Pants smiled as he adjusted his monocle. "I too am delighted you showed up, Rarity. When I heard that the princess' student was having her birthday party in the castle ballroom today, I had thought for sure you would be there. Had I not already given my word to be at this garden party, I probably would've attended the birthday party. It's not every day a pony like me has the chance to see the heroes who have twice saved all of Equestria from terrible fates."

"Oh, it couldn't be helped. I had no way of knowing they'd move the party to here," The fashionista said with a sheepish blush. "I had been led to believe it was being held in Ponyville."

Upper Crust seemed to frown ever so slightly. "But aren't you from Ponyville, Rarity? And aren't you a friend of the princess' student? How could you not know of the plans for her birthday party, or that it would fall on the same day as this garden party? Now my husband and I risk being upstaged by the princess' star pupil."

Fancy Pants just chuckled. "I doubt Twilight and her friends intended for any of this. It is but a happy coincidence."

Fleur, meanwhile, sniffed the air as she picked up a faint whiff of a scent coming from Rarity. "My word. Is that cake frosting I smell on you, Miss. Rarity?"

The fashionista gulped. "It must be my new perfume," She declared as her blush deepened. "You know what talcum powder does to you, and lavender is so overrated."

The tall and slender unicorn mare was silent for a moment, blinking her eyes. Then she finally found the words to speak. "Ah yes, such a bold choice for a pony like you. I might just have to look into obtaining some of that cake frosting perfume. If a pony like you uses it for an occasion like this, it must be important."

"Y-yes, well," Rarity commented with a gulp. "All this talk about cake has made me famished. Think I'll go and see what's on the hors d'oeuvre table. If you'll excuse me... " And she took advantage of the opportunity to rush away. Only when she was certain no eyes were looking upon her did she slip back into the ballroom as quietly as she could.

Rarity was quite surprised upon her return to the ballroom to be confronted by her friends, all of them looking at her as though they were casting daggers. "What? Do I have something stuck in my teeth?" She questioned and blinked in innocence.

Applejack took the liberty of telling Rarity. "We know what you're up to, sugarcube. You can drop the act."

The fashionista's composure did not change even as her tone of voice began to fill with worry. "Whatever are you talking about? I have no idea what you mean. I was simply taking care of some personal issues, that's all."

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Come on now, Rarity! We're not dumb! Even Pinkie Pie knows what's going on."

"Yeah! We know you've been sneaking away to attend another party." Pinkie Pie pointed out. Surprisingly, it didn't sound like she was angry or upset, even though you'd think she would be given the circumstances.

"What?! How did you know?! Who told you?!" Rarity gasped, inadvertently realizing she had just given herself away.

Spike came forward with something of a guilty look in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Rarity. I just couldn't lie for you. Twilight and the others started asking and," He swallowed hard. "I talked. I'm not good with interrogations."

"It really wasn't that hard, we just asked him one question and he told us everything," Fluttershy pointed out. "He even told us about your original plans for Twilight's dress."

Rarity blinked her eyes rapildy, and then rubbed them just to be sure she wasn't somehow hearing or seeing things. She wasn't. None of her friends seemed the slightest bit offended by what they had learned. "I... don't understand," She commented in confusion. "You all know I've been lying to you so I could attend a different party, and that I've been spending all my time in Canterlot associating with the elite of society. So why don't you sound upset about it?"

Twilight giggled. "Oh Rarity, you didn't have to lie to us. We understand completely. What you're doing is very smart. You want to establish connections and ensure you have loyal customers to count upon when you open your boutique in Canterlot. If it means having to skip out on a birthday party with us, we understand. We'd have been happy to let you stay in Canterlot to your heart's content."

The fashionista hung her head in shame. "But I must confess I began to have something of an alterior motive for attending all those parties, and auctions, and other gatherings. There's a reason why I wanted your dress to look drop dead gorgeous, Twilight. It wasn't just because I wanted to thank you for what you'd done for me. I'd begun to feel ashamed about who I was. About the fact that I'm not a Canterlot pony, I'm a Ponyville pony. And there were some ponies who shall not be named," She briefly glanced out the ballroom windows. "Who made me feel like I had to prove myself. Prove that they were wrong to look down on me. That I could be just as sophisticated as them."

"Rarity, you don't have to be ashamed of who you are or where you come from," Twilight reached out a hoof in sympathy. "So what if someponies look down on you for being from Ponyville? I was from Canterlot when I moved to Ponyville, but you never saw anypony judge me for that. And if they had, I wouldn't have cared. True friends like you and I don't care about where you come from. What matter most is who you strive to be. There's nothing wrong with wanting to feel more like a Canterlot pony. But deep down, you know you'll always be a Ponyville pony."

"I see that now," Rarity commented as she slowly lifted her head. "Still, I feel so sorry for stringing you, our friends, and all those elites along like this. I tried to fit two lifestyles into one pony, and in the end I didn't have to," She let out a sigh. "I can only hope Fancy Pants and the other elites will forgive me for unintentionally snubbing their garden party. I would've been better off politely declining and leaving it at that."

But just then the familiar voice of Fancy Pants declared. "Don't be so hard on yourself, Rarity. I understand completely that your heart was never into the garden party in the first place. Besides, I could see you interacting with your friends from the other side of the ballroom windows. It was easy to tell why you were so late in showing up to the garden party."

Rarity spun around, surprised to see Fancy Pants all by himself in the ballroom! "You... you really mean it?!"

The monocle wearing stallion nodded. "But of course. You and your Ponyville friends are... charmingly rustic, I believe is the term. From what I've observed of you, you are a Ponyville pony worth knowing. Not because you are friends with the princess' student or because you're a big hero, but because you are true to yourself. You've more than earned your reputation as an up and coming pony in the world of fashion," He bowed to her. "Alas, I cannot stay long. I still have my obligations to the garden party. But I do hope we'll have the pleasure of meeting each other again someday, with or without your friends." And with that, he departed.

Once Fancy Pants had left the ballroom, Rarity turned to her Ponyville friends and said to them. "I hope it's not too late for us to continue this birthday party. It would be a shame to let all these decorations and party supplies go to waste."

"Now you're talking, Rarity!" Pinkie Pie excitedly exclaimed! "Now we can make this a birthday party to remember! Even better than my own surprise birthday party, and that's hard to top!"

And so Rarity joined with her friends in celebrating Twilight's birthday in Canterlot. She knew now that she was wrong to ever deny who she truly was. She was Rarity, a talented fashionista from the town of Ponyville. Always had been and always would be.

Author's Note

While this episode did give us the introduction of Pinkie Pie's party cannon and Fancy Pants, and was unintentionally the last Rarity focus episode for over a year, it's always been an episode I've personally felt was not among either Rarity's or the show's greatest. And that is for several reasons, some major and some minor, which I've tried to correct here.

The biggest issue I have with this episode is that it ignores the fact that the mane six were given a public awards ceremony at the end of "The Return of Harmony, Part 2". Yes, it was a Star Wars homage and may have been something salvaged from the original planned grand finale Lauren Faust envisioned, but it cannot be ignored in episodes like this when ponies such as Jet Set and Upper Crust act as if they have no knowledge of Rarity's exisitence. And they proceed to spend the rest of the episode being shallow, rich snobs.

The bigger problem is that Rarity has no reason to lie to her friends about what she's doing, she is forging connections that she'll most likely need if she wants to open a boutique in Canterlot. Part of her job involves building a dedicated customer base, and her friends would easily understand her wanting to get to know important ponies in Canterlot who could help her achieve her dream.

Rarity also never gets called out for her lies, she's never exposed for having deceived anypony. As nice as it is in the climax to see her stick up for her friends, her friends make the decision to crash a party they were not invited to just because Rarity would rather attend it instead of Twilight's birthday party. The switch of the party from Ponyville to Canterlot, even if it is last minute, also raises questions about Spike's unexplained absence. That's why I wrote him when the rest of the mane six show up here.

I wanted Rarity to be exposed for lying, and have her to apologize for unintentionally neglecting her friends and her heritage in the hopes of impressing others, as well lying to others by making committments she wasn't able to keep. I also tossed in some headcanon about Fleur De Lis and her connection to Fancy Pants (the two most prevailing ones are that she is his wife, or that she is his bodyguard).

~~The Best Night Ever~~
~~Sweet and Elite~~
Castle Mane-Ia
Power Ponies (Redo)
Bats! (Redo)
For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils
The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows
Stranger Than Fanfiction
Student Counsel
Between Dark and Dawn

S4 E3: Castle Mane-Ia (What If?)

It had only been a few days since the Summer Sun Celebration, the first one for Twilight since gaining wings and becoming an alicorn (an alicorn princess to boot). But right now, her thoughts were focused on far more immediate and pressing matters. Namely, she was fixated on a mysterious, six-sided chest that had appeared when the Tree of Harmony had been restored to full health. The chest was clearly important, and the young alicorn hoped she would be able to find answers or at least a lead on what it was and what it might contain.

Yet now, Twilight was losing her patience. Her frustration was building up inside of her as she loudly slammed a book down, and with her magic threw it clear across the room on the ground floor of the Golden Oak Library. It just barely missed hitting Spike, instead knocking the feathers off of a feather dust he had brought with him. He was at Twilight's side in an instant. "What's the matter, Twilight?" He asked, hoping he might be able to help her calm down.

Twilight just groaned and frowned. "This is so annoying, Spike! It feels like I've hit a brick wall!" Taking a moment to take some deep breaths, she then explained. "I've been scouring over every single book in Ponyville I can find, and even some from Canterlot that Princess Celestia was kind enough to loan me. I thought for sure I'd find something to help me figure out what's up with that chest."

"You mean the one the Tree of Harmony brought forth?" Spike asked.

Twilight nodded. "Yes, that one, Spike. It's really important we figure out what it's for and how we open it. With the Elements of Harmony needed to keep the Tree of Harmony healthy, we lost a vital line of defense in case some great evil we can't stop shows up. I know we didn't need them to defeat Queen Chrysalis and King Sombra, but our luck can't hold forever. I don't wanna risk leaving Equestria defenseless. That's why I've got to get that chest opened! Whatever's inside it has to be something that can protect Equestria."

"So, what you have found?" Spike questioned Twilight. "Anything promising?"

The young alicorn shook her head from side to side. "No, Spike. In fact, I haven't found anything at all. That's the problem!" She lowered her head onto her desk. "I hope Princess Celestia or Princess Luna have some ideas. Even if they've never seen the chest before, surely they must know where I can find the answers we're all wondering about. If the library in Canterlot doesn't have the answers, I don't know where else to look without having to dig into the Starswirl the Bearded secion of the Canterlot archives. And this time, I'm not gonna be able to just sneak on in."

"What makes you think Starswirl will be of any help?" The little dragon asked with concern. "Remember his incomplete master spell? He didn't have all the answers, Twilight. Nopony does. Heck, I'm pretty sure even Discord doesn't know what's in that chest, or he would've opened it up already."

Twilight sighed anew. "I know, I know. But I still can't rest easy until I've exhausted every possible resource I can get my hooves on. There must be something I'm not thinking of that holds the answers. But what?" She tapped a hoof against her head. "Think, Twilight. Think."

Just then, Spike belched up a scroll. He quickly gave it to Twilight, who unfolded it with her magic and read it aloud: "My dearest Twilight, while it would be perfectly lovely to have you in Canterlot once more, I have another option in mind much closer to Ponyville." Soon, this letter had sent her and Spike trekking into the recently tamed (but still not entirely safe) Everfree Forest.

The rest of the letter had read something like this:

You probably know of the Castle of the Two Sisters, deep in the Everfree Forest. It's the place where Luna and I once ruled side by side, and the place I had to abandon after her banishment due to the painful memories associated with it.

I'm afraid that much of the castle lies in a state of decay and disrepair. The years have been anything but kind to it from what I've been told. However, Luna and I have reason to believe that, if you look carefully, you'll find a book that could prove useful to your research.

It's most likely hidden somewhere in what's left of the castle library. But be careful, Luna and I installed many traps there. There's no telling whether they might still be functional. And I've heard rumors that the castle might be haunted during the night. Go there now while it is still daylight.

Alicorn and dragon soon reached the abandoned castle, which was indeed in a very poor state even now that the Everfree Forest itself had calmed down. Almost everything was dusty, rusty, and covered in cobwebs. However, the castle's library had had the good fortune of being mostly spared from the destruction and decay. It was still largely intact.

Twilight was utterly amazed as her wings unfolded on either side of her! "Wow! Look at all these ancient books!" She happily exclaimed as she began flapping her wings, clumsily flying about the library as she used her magic to pull books off the shelves left and right. "It's a veritable goldmine of information about the past! I can't believe I never thought of coming here, or that this castle might still have a library!" Soon, she had amassed a huge pile of books, stacking them loosely about on the library floor.

Spike, however, began to shudder as he not only took in the sights of the crumbly castle, but also of these strange spider creatures with a star pattern on their backs. "O...kay," He commented very slowly, trying not to show how nervous he really was. "So, uh, you ready to head back yet, Twilight? Princess Celestia did warn us about nighttime."

The young alicorn giddly proclaimed! "Go back?! Now?! Are you kidding?! This place is perfect! Who cares if there's ghosts here? I'm not afraid of some spooks, not after all I've been through!" And she dove into her pile of books without further fanfare.

Spike sighed, and then felt his teeth start to chitter. It was already quite late into the day, and it would soon be night. He had no way to know if indeed the old castle was haunted like Celestia had said, but he didn't want to stay to find out.

Little did pony or dragon anticipate that they would not be the only ones spending time in the castle over the next several hours. And neither did they realize that a shadowy figure was watching them from afar, its face hidden by a long, black cloak.

Spike sat on the ground in the library, watching as the minutes ticked by and sundown drew closer and closer. He kept hoping beyond hope that Twilight would either find what she was looking for, or be content to come back tomorrow and spend all day rummaging through the old books. But neither happened. Eventually, he reluctantly asked. "Can we go now, Twilight? It's getting late."

Twilight only giggled in reply. "So? If we have to stay for the night, we will. You'll be by my side the whole time, won't you?"

"Y-yes, but..." The little dragon began.

The young alicorn interrupted. "-So you'll have nothing to fear. Now, why don't you see if you can find any candles and light them up for me."

"O-okay." Spike swallowed hard and ran away to do just that. As he departed the library, he thought he saw the shadow of some mysterious figure. But when he turned to look the shadow was gone. "Just my imagination," He thought to himself, trying to summon up what bravery he could. "If Twilight says there aren't ghosts, there aren't any. That's how it works, right?" Well, one way or another, it seemed he was going to find out. He soon found what he was looking for, a small stand that could hold five candles at once. As he picked it up, he couldn't help but think. "Why couldn't I be with any of our friends back in Ponyville? I'm sure they're not planning anything with this creepy old castle."

But Spike was wrong in that regard. His friends, or at least some of them, did have plans involving the castle. For back in Ponyville, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were in the middle of another of their little contests. And Pinkie Pie was watching them, more so for the sake of keeping track of score than anything else.

The two athletes were now staring at one another, daring their opponent to blink. All the while, bees swarmed over their faces, their angry buzzing nearly drowning out the sounds of the two mares' voices (which were muffled).

"Stop staring at me, Applejack!" Rainbow Dash complained. "I'm not gonna move a muscle. You move."

Without even shaking her head in protest, Applejack snapped back. "Uh-uh, there is no way I'm movin'. This was your idea, Rainbow Dash. So you move. We've been at this for hours now."

"Come on, it hasn't been that long." Rainbow insisted.

Pinkie Pie, meanwhile, saw fit to add her own commentary as she pounded on a nearby table. "This is the most daring dare anypony's ever dared dare another pony to dare!" And when her friends looked back to her, she quickly explained. "It's exciting! Who's gonna blink?!"

Just then, a chestnut brown colored earth pony stallion wearing a white protective suit came trotting up. When he saw Rainbow Dash and Applejack covered in bees, he immediately saw fit to ask the obvious question. "Uh, what are you two doing with my bees?"

Pinkie was happy to explain for the beekeeping stallion. "Isn't it obvious? Rainbow Dash and Applejack are competing for the title of 'Most Daring Pony'! This is the final test: the Great Bee Stare! First pony to blink loses!"

The beekeeping earth pony stallion frowned and let out an unhappy sigh. "Well sorry, but I'm gonna need my bees back now. We've got flowers to pollenate and honey to make."

Rainbow pouted as she unhappily remarked. "But how else are we supposed to find out who's the most daring pony of all time? We've done just about everything else."

The stallion only retorted with a swish of his tail. "Sorry, can't help you." Then he gave a whistle, and all the bees left Rainbow Dash and Applejack, revealing that the two were also wearing protective suits. Just like that, the buzzing stopped.

Taking off their protective suits, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were now left with a dilemma. Applejack turned to Pinkie Pie as she questioned. "Well, what do we do now?"

Pinkie beamed a bright smile at her athletic friends. "Don't worry, ladies, I've been keeping score all day!" She then looked down at a sketchpad, murmuring to herself. "Let's see: Move the decimal, carry the two, and... aha! Just as I thought! You're tied!"

Both athletic mares gasped and said at the same time! "Tied?!"

Rainbow even pointed out. "That's impossible! We can't be tied for 'Most Daring Pony', only one pony can hold that title!" And she then insisted. "You must've miscounted or something, Pinkie!"

But Pinkie showed off the sketchpad and all the drawings she had done to represent the various dares her friends had participated in. "Well, numbers never lie! You two are tied! I'd love to stay and keep keeping score until you two have settled this, but I can't," She happily swished her tail while explaining. "I promised to help test the new school bell. I get to ring it all week, nonstop! And I don't even have to take turns, because no one else volunteered! Lucky me! Feel free to tell me who won the tiebreaker, though." And she bounced away without a care in the world.

Once the pink party pony was out of sight, the two athletic mares realized they had to come up with something between them to settle their contest once and for all. A dare that would prove who truly deserved the title of most daring pony.

Rainbow Dash was the first to ponder about a possible solution. "So we just have to come up with another daring dare. No problem. Got any ideas, Applejack? The Great Bee Stare was mine, so now it's your turn."

Upon hearing those words, a rather fiendish grin formed on the farm mare's face as she looked up to the sky. It was almost sundown, and that had reminded her of something she'd heard about long ago. Now was an excellent opportunity to find out if there was any truth to it. "I've got one. That is, if you're up for it, Rainbow Dash," She took off towards the Everfree Forest while only vaguely saying. "Follow me."

The brash speedster, never one to turn down a challenge, followed Applejack into the Everfree Forest as Celestia's sun began to set off to the west.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash were not the only ones making a journey through the Everfree Forest so late in the day. Rarity and Fluttershy were also trotting through the forest together, with Fluttershy bringing along Angel for comfort and security.

Yet Fluttershy, filled with worry, saw fit to ask her fashion friend. "Um, Rarity? Don't you think maybe it's a little late in the day to be walking through the forest by ourselves? It is..." She gulped. "Star spider season, after all. And they say all sorts of strange things happen at night during star spider season," But not wanting to seem rude, she added. "Although, I'm sure you have a very good reason for asking me to come along."

Rarity nodded. "Indeed I do. And what is there to be afraid of, Fluttershy? The Everfree Forest has been brought under control thanks to the Tree of Harmony, it's far less dangerous now than it has been in years prior," Then she explained the reason behind her journey. "As for why we're trotting through this forest in spite of what dangers might still lurk, my reason is simple: I've heard rumors that the Castle of the Two Sisters is filled with the most gorgeous of ancient tapestries in all of pony history! It pains me to think of those magnificent creations rotting away in those old ruins, totally unappreciated and left to decay."

"Oh, I see," Fluttershy commented, sounding a little bit disappointed in Rarity for such a reason. "I... guess that must be pretty important to you. But what do you need me for, Rarity?"

The fashionista explained further as the old castle came into view over the horizon. "Well, much as it pains me to say it, I'm not that skilled with my horn. Light levitation is easy, I have years of practice with it. But lifting things as heavy as old tapestries, I'm afraid I don't have the strength to move them on my own. That's why I need you. I require your assistance in borrowing one or two of those tapestries so I can bring them back to my boutique to restore them. I might even use them as inspiration for a new line."

The animal loving pegasus sighed as she and Rarity trotted across the old, wooden rope bridge that led to the castle. "To you that does sound... important."

Rarity nodded again. "Okay, so maybe it's not the most important thing in my entire life, but I've heard that retro-ancient classical will be all the rage next season, so it's nothing to sneeze at," Mere seconds after saying that, she sneezed. "Goodness, this castle is so dusty and musty! I wish I didn't have to be here."

"Are you sure we can't come back some other day, and earlier in the day too?" The pegasus mare questioned with concern.

"I did think about it," The fashionista admitted. "But I want to get started on restoring the tapestries as soon as possible. It's going to be a very big undertaking, and if I plan to have the project done before I leave for fashion week in Manehattan, I'll need to get started right away. I only just learned about retro-ancient classics today, and the thought of the tapestries hadn't crossed my mind until then," She then questioned her pegasus friend. "Why did you bring Angel along? I can't imagine he'll be of much help to us."

Fluttershy happily explained. "I'm bringing him along for support. He helps remind me to be brave. Plus, if anything happens to me, I know I can trust him to go get help right away. He's the only animal friend I know who I could trust with such a responsibility," As she spoke, she suddenly realized that the bunny was missing. He had run on ahead without waiting for her. She frantically rushed to catch up to him! "Angel! Don't run off like that! Please!" She sternly protested! "Ancient ruins like these are filled with all sorts of things that can hurt you! You could stub your toe, or, or trip on a loose stone... You have to be careful! Especially since we're going to be here at night during star spider season."

Angel reluctantly waited for his pegasus master and her friend to catch up to him. But it was already clear he had little patience for either of them. He seemed much more interested in exploring the castle interior as best he was able.

Once Rarity and Fluttershy had caught up with Angel, they made their way into the castle proper. Rarity was most impressed as her blue eyes scanned her surroundings. "Goodness! To think that last time I was here, I didn't truly appreciate this artistic treasure trove of ancient good taste!" She then motioned to her friend. "Come along, Fluttershy. With a little luck, we might be able to find a suitable tapestry and leave in a matter of minutes." And the two of them trotted off, heading down one of the castle's corridors.

As it so happened, the two mares departure caused them to just miss Twilight and Spike as the two were trotting past on the balcony above. Twilight was holding the stand with five candles in her magic.

Spike, still trying to be brave, said to Twilight. "I don't think I'll need all these candles, Twilight. I was really only scared for a second or two. Honest."

"Nice try, Spike," Twilight replied with a giggle. "It's okay if you're scared, I'm right here and there's no one else around. You don't have to pretend to be brave. Besides, these candles are more for me than they are for you. Since we're going to be staying late into the night for research, we'll need all the reading light we can get. Now come on, let's find a better place to read. That old library is very dusty."

Spike and Twilight thus trotted along, passing from one wing of the castle to the other. Neither of them saw Fluttershy and Rarity or were at all aware of the two being present in the castle as well. And as fate would have it, they had passed along the length of the balcony and were out of sight when two of their other friends happened to enter the castle's main hallway.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash, completely unaware (and unsuspecting) of their other friends being in the castle, came trotting in as night was beginning to fall.

"Well, here we are!" Applejack said at last, screeching to a halt.

Rainbow Dash was left confused at having been led to a place as familiar to her (at least to an extent) as the Castle of the Two Sissters. And she did not hesitate to make her confusion known. "Uh, what's so daring about this old place, Applejack? It's been abandoned for years. We only came here once before, and that was years ago. Why would we wanna come back to the place we got the Elements of Harmony?"

The farm mare grinned. "You mean, you haven't heard?"

"Heard what?" Rainbow questioned. "Out with it, Applejack!"

Applejack was all too happy to explain. "When I was just a filly, Granny Smith told me of an ancient legend, and this is how it goes:" She cleared her throat and recited the story as best she recalled. "They say that when Nightmare Moon was banished all those years ago, not every last bit of her dark magic went with her. A piece of it stayed behind as a curse, a curse that even Princess Celestia couldn't dispel. And when night falls on this castle, that dark magic takes the form of..." Sh paused for dramatic effect, then raised her hooves into the air and proclaimed! "The Pony of Shadows!"

The rainbow maned pegasus scoffed at the story. "What? You mean, like a ghost or something? Like the Headless Horse?"

"Nopony knows!" The stetson wearing earth pony replied in her best spooky tone of voice while moving her hooves."

Rainbow let out a groan. "Give me a break!"

Applejack just chuckled and grinned. "You laugh now, but we'll just see who has the last laugh before this night is through. Now come on, I wanna explore every nook and cranny of this old castle. We ain't gettin' another chance like this." And she led Rainbow Dash away through one of the corridors, neither of them suspecting that they were not alone in the castle. If they had looked back, they might by chance have seen the faint outline of some shadowy figure for a brief second or two.

Rarity and Fluttershy were in luck when it came to their search. They hadn't been looking for very long before they found a beautiful tapestry depicting Princess Luna and her moon. Of course, since it had been so long since anypony had tended to it, it was a little torn in spots. But otherwise, it was in very good shape from what the two mares could tell.

"This one is perfect!" Rarity exclaimed with a starry look in her eyes!

"Yes, it could use a little bit of restoration," Fluttershy commented. "Or maybe a lot."

Rarity nodded. "Indeed. Now do be a dear. See if you can fly up there and lift it off that hook for me? I should be able to manage from there."

The pegasus mare spoke not a word. She just flew up to the hook, fumbling around with the tapestry as she became buried underneath it. Try as she might, she could not move it.

Concerned with how much effort was being expended, the fashionista made a suggestion. "Maybe try from below?"

The animal loving pegasus obeyed, flying down and further burying herself underneath the tapestry as she fumbled around in vain. Then, suddenly, there was a click! A click that echoed everywhere!

Before Rarity's very eyes, she saw the entire tapestry (with Fluttershy still underneath it) spin around and disappear! In its place was a blank wall with nothing on it at all!

As it so happened, Rainbow Dash and Applejack were passing by on the other side of the wall just after it had been spun. Neither of them knew about Fluttershy, however.

Rainbow Dash was still dismissive of Applejack's ghost story, seeing as she was used to telling scary stories around a campfire and everything. "I don't see what's so daring about some old 'legend' your grandma told you," She rolled her eyes in disbelief. "Besides, I don't believe in ghosts. There's no such thing!"

But Applejack gulped as her eyes noticed a most eerie and frightening sight! "Uh, you might wanna rethink that, sugarcube. Look behind ya!"

Rainbow did so, and when she saw what Applejack saw she was immediately stricken with fright! A tapestry was moving all by itself. And to make matters worse, a mysterious, almost ghost-like wail could be heard coming from it! Yet there was no sign of anything or anyone underneath it or above it. It was as if the tapestry itself was "posessed" for lack of a better term!

The two athletic mares were horrified, both of them yelling and screaming at the top of their lungs!

"Y-you saw that, r-right?!" Applejack asked as she looked across to Rainbow Dash.

Without confirming or denying the question, Rainbow hollered at the top of her lungs! "RUN!" And she and Applejack did just that. They ran away as fast as their hooves could carry them!

Mere seconds after the two athletic mares had fled from the corridor and back towards the hallway, there was another click. The tapestry and the wall it was part of swung back around in an instant, as if they had never left in the first place. Fluttershy then emerged from beneath the tapestry, landing in an awkward position. She groaned as she looked to one of her wings. "Ow," Taking a second to gather her bearings, she then declared. "I think I hurt my wing. Sorry, Rarity."

But Rarity was at her friend's side in an instant, reassuring her. "Nonsense, darling. I'm the one who should be sorry. I didn't anticipate that tapestry being so difficult. Obviously, it's far too big for either of us to move. We'll have to find something smaller."

Fluttershy stood up slowly. "Yes. Of course."

The two mares then began to trot away, with Angel once again ahead of either of them. They hadn't been walking along for very long, though, before Rarity saw fit to ask of Fluttershy. "By the way, Fluttershy: Just where, prey tell, did you disappear to all of a sudden?"

The pegasus mare with pink bangs blinked in surprise. "What do you mean, Rarity?"

The fashionista unicorn explained. "While you were struggling under that fabric, the entire wall spun around and you disappeared! Then it spun around again and you came back," Then it dawned on her what the most logic explanation was. "You must have activated a secret door, somehow."

Fluttershy blushed a bit and shamefully declared. "Oh, sorry."

"It's not your fault," Rarity pointed out. "We had no way to know such traps would exist. But now that we do, we must assume the ruins of this castle are full of them."

Fluttershy gulped. "Really?"

Rarity, unaware that such statements did nothing to calm her frightened friend's nerves, replied with a firm nod. "Absolutely. So we must use the utmost care as we-" But then suddenly there was a loud click, and both she and Fluttershy felt the floor drop out from underneath them! As the two yelped, they plunged into a dark pit!

Angel was the one who had triggered the trap door, albeit by accident. Though briefly frightened at the realization that he'd just trapped his pegasus master and her friend somewhere, he didn't dwell on it for long. There was only one thing a bunny like him could do in a situation like this, go and get help. He didn't know where he might find it, but he was determined to find help all the same. As he hopped away, he was unaware of a shadowy figure watching from afar.

Meanwhile, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were still running away from what they'd thought was a ghost. "Okay, so, maybe the legend is true!" Rainbow reluctantly admitted in between pants.

Despite what she'd just seen, Applejack proudly pointed out. "Yeah? Well, that's why I brought you here, Rainbow! I guess only the most darin' pony of all time could stay in this haunted castle all night without bein' scared off."

Upon hearing those words, Rainbow screeched to a halt. "Wait a minute! Scared?! Me?! I don't think so! I'm not scared at all! That could've just been a trick!"

"Y-yeah," Applejack nervously replied, trying to be brave. "I wasn't really scared, I was just pretendin' to be scared to get you scared."

And the brash speedster insisted. "Then it's settled! This is our tiebreaker challenge! Whoever stays in the castle longer is the Most Daring Pony. Deal?"

"Deal." Applejack insisted as she and Rainbow firmly shook hooves.

The rainbow maned pegasus then boasted. "It's gonna take a whole lot more than some shadowy ghost pony to get me to leave, Applejack. I don't scare easily."

The farm mare nodded, her earlier bout of fright having completely left her. "I don't either! We ain't seen even close to everythin' this castle has to offer! I reckon by the time we're done, it'll either be mornin', or one of us will have run back to Ponyville in fright." And she and her fellow athlete trotted away to explore another part of the castle, neither of them noticing an old portrait that would've appeared to have been eyeing them through its frame.

Twilight and Spike were still conducting their research by candlelight, neither of them aware of what was going on elsewhere in the castle.

"Find anything yet?" Twilight asked Spike as she sat at one end of a large table in a room in the upper half of the castle.

Spike folded up a book, sighing and shaking his head. "Nope, nothing yet. I hate to say this, but I think this might be a dead end."

The young alicorn frowned. "Princess Celestia wouldn't have suggested we come here unless she was certain there was something that could help us. We have to keep looking, Spike! No matter how long it takes us! We have to find out what's in that chest!"

Just then, there was a loud springing like sound! And then, seemingly from out of nowhere, Angel appeared right in front of Spike! His appearance startled the little dragon, who hastily leaned back and pulled on a book that wasn't actually a book.

Suddenly, there was a loud clatter. And as if by magic, an entire wall in the room Twilight and Spike were in began to move. It revealed itself to in fact be a fake wall, which led to a small interior room with only a faint ray of moonlight for illumination. There, resting on a small stand, was a book with a red jacket. On said jacket's cover were the symbols of the sun and the moon.

Certain that this book looked promising, Twilight approached and picked it up with her magic. She read the title aloud. "'The Journal of the Two Sisters'," Then she gasped! "This must be it, Spike! This may be the book Princess Celestia was thinking of! I'll bet if there's anything about the chest, we'll find it in here!" She proceeded to bring it with her back to the room she and Spike were originally in.

Spike, meanwhile, was trying to figure out what Angel was trying to tell him. "Oh, if only Fluttershy was here," He complained. "She'd know what you're trying to say," Then a thought struck him. "Come to think of it, where is Fluttershy? Shouldn't she be with you? I can't imagine she'd want to come to a place like this at night."

"Maybe she got lost or something," Twilight considered. "But it could take ages to find her in a place like this," Turning to the book in her magical grasp, she had an idea. "Maybe the journal can tell us more about the castle, give us some ideas about where Fluttershy might be."

"You sure we shouldn't go look for her ourselves?" The little dragon nervously asked.

"For all we know, Angel just wandered off and Fluttershy hasn't found out yet," The young alicorn commented. "I at least want to get to know the castle layout better before I go running off. And don't get any ideas yourself, Spike. I don't wanna risk anything happening to you."

Spike sighed as he looked across the table to a very furious Angel. "Guess we're stuck together for now, buddy. I don't like it anymore than you do. But since I can't understand you, there's no prying Twilight away from a good book." And he went back to his earlier task of helping Twilight with her research.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack had no way of knowing what their friends up to within the castle, the two were far too fixated on their "contest" to prove who truly was the most daring pony of all time. Neither one wanted to conceede to the other.

The two athletic mares were now descending down a spiral staircase faintly lit by torches that hung along the walls. "I sure hope you're not afraid of the dark or anything like that, Applejack!" Rainbow Dash taunted as she flew down after Applejack.

Despite descending the spiral staircase, Applejack kept a close eye on her fellow athlete as she replied. "I can't say that I am! But even if I was, which I'm not, I'd be at least fifty percent less scared of it than you, Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow boasted back. "Dunno how all that math works because I'm not scared at all!"

Applejack firmly and stubbornly insisted. "Me neither!" Soon afterward, she and Rainbow Dash reached the bottom of the staircase. And what they saw when they looked down a nearby hallway, was enough to unnerve them a little bit.

Fighting back a gulp, the rainbow maned pegasus looked across to her stetson wearing friend. Trying to sound like she wasn't on the verge of fright, she nervously asked. "W-what's the matter? It's just a dark hallway full of..." She gulped. "Disembodied pony legs."

Applejack pulled her stetson down towards her head as she saw Rainbow hide her face with her wings. "Y-yeah," She forced out. "Nothin'... creepy about that. N-not at all. L-let's just... move on." And so the two athletes did.

Meanwhile, Rarity and Fluttershy had gotten their bearings after their unexpected fall. They'd found themselves in a dark dungeon of some sort, with the only source of illumination coming from Rarity's horn. "You know what, Fluttershy?" The fashionita grumbled as she looked around. "I'm beginning to think this castle has a mind of its own. It feels like it doesn't want my expertise after all."

"How can that be? Are you saying this castle is..." Fluttershy gulped and swallowed hard. "Haunted?!"

Rarity sighed. "I don't know what to believe anymore, Fluttershy. But something's very strange about all of this. You ever get the feeling somepony just don't want you around?"

"N-no," The animal loving pegasus insisted even though her tone of voice betrayed her thoughts. Then she noticed something else. Something far more concerning. "Rarity, have you seen Angel anywhere? Is he with you?"

Rarity immediately shook her head in protest. "I'm afraid not. I don't think he made the trip down with us, darling."

Fluttershy immediately began to panic, her eyes widened as she started to pant! "Oh no! Angel! We have to find him, Rarity! He'd do the same for me! Besides, an ancient castle full of traps is no place for a bunny! I wouldn't have brought him here if I'd know how dangerous it was!" A thousand terrible images began to flash before her eyes! "He could get hit by falling debris, or the floor could give out under him! Oh! He could be trapped in a dark place with no way out!"

The unicorn mare with a pristine white coat had to resist the urge to roll her eyes at her friend's statement. "Gee, I wonder what that would be like." She remarked in a sarcastic tone of voice. Then she happened to notice a small peep hole in one of the walls. Curiously, she stuck out a hoof to inspect it.

As it just so happened, it was at that very moment that Rainbow Dash felt something touching her on the side. She smirked, confident she knew what it was. "Hey, Applejack. You know if you're scared you can just admit it, right? You don't have to put your hoof around me. It's kind of embarrassing."

But Applejack nervously pointed out. "Uh, I'm over here, Rainbow." And indeed, she was standing a ways away from the pegasus, making it impossible for her to be the one putting her hoof on said pegasus.

It was then that both mares noticed the hoof touching the brash speedster was white in color. A ghostly white, you might say. Neither of them seemed to realize what that might suggest, their minds instead jumped to a much more terrifying conclusion about who the hoof belonged to! They both screamed and ran all the way down the hall without bothering to look back!

Rarity was completely unaware of her friends' presence. Instead, she brought the hoof back through the peephole and told Fluttershy. "I just touched something! Something... alive!"

Fluttershy let out a happy gasp! "Maybe it's Angel!" She hopefully suggested, and rushed to the peephole to see if she too could feel what Rarity had felt. However, instead of feeling something alive, she instead unknowingly pulled on a lever. With a click, an entire wall spun around, setting unicorn and pegasus free from their prison.

The fashionista had lost all patience she might have had. "You know what, Fluttershy? This was a bad idea. This castle clearly doesn't want anypony touching its tapestries. Why else would there be all these trap doors and secret passages?" She swished her tail. "I'll manage just fine without the restoration project. Let's get out of here before something else mysterious happens to us."

The animal loving pegasus sternly protested. "No, Rarity! We can't leave! We have to find Angel! He must've gone to get help, but he could be anywhere in the castle! We have to find him and make sure he's okay! Please!"

Rarity found herself unable to say no to her friend's pleas. "Oh, very well. You have a point. But let's stick close together so we don't get separated. No need to add more rescue missions to our plate." And she and Fluttershy set off to find Angel, wondering where he might have gone since being separated from them.

Angel had by now given up hope of getting through to Twilgiht and Spike, neither of them could understand him at all. Just his luck that the only other creatures he'd found in this castle were two that he couldn't talk to at all. But he had no idea where his pegasus master was. He didn't even know if he could find his way back to where he had seen her now, since it had already been quite a while since he'd been separated from her.

Twilight, meanwhile, was eagerly reading through the pages of the journal she had found. Every other passage contained within it seemed to excite her. "Listen to this, Spike," She cleared her throat and read aloud. "'I love to duck behind the paintings to surprise unsuspecting ponies. And though the Hall of Hooves still gives her a bit of a fright, the trap door slide is Luna's favorite.'"

"'Hall of Hooves'? 'Trap door slide'?" Spike questioned as he put a claw to his chin.

Twilight just read further. "'Soon the Organ to the Outside will be finished. I can hardly wait. This castle is just the thing to get all those stuffy nobles to lighten up. Luna's right, a good scare is always enjoyable.'"

"So, what's this 'Organ to the Outside'?" Spike wondered.

The young alicorn grinned even as she admitted. "I have no idea, but I'll bet it's related to those traps Princess Celestia warned us about! I guess she and Princess Luna were pranksters once upon a time." She proceeded to show off a series of sketches in the journal depicting the aforementioned hallway and organ.

"Sounds like they had a strange sense of humor," The little dragon commented as he observed the sketches in greater detail. "But if there was an organ, how come we haven't seen it or heard it, yet?" But at that very moment, the sound of loud organ playing began to fill every inch of the castle. "Think that's the 'Organ to the Outside'?" He questioned Twilight.

Twilight looked up. "Could be. It might have been enchanted to play by itself, another one of Celestia and Luna's pranks if I had to guess. What could be more terrifying to an unsuspecting pony than an organ that plays all by itself?" And she went back to reading, quite unconcerned.

Unbeknownst to Twilight, Spike, or any of their friends, the organ wasn't playing as a result of magic. An unseen shadowy figure was playing the organ, having stumbled across it all by themselves. It no idea the organ was capable of controlling different parts of the castle, or that playing it would cause all sorts of frightening things to happen to the ponies wandering the castle.

Over the sound of the organ blasting out its haunting melody on its pipes, Rarity and Fluttershy were trotting up and down the corridors as they tried to retrace their steps. "Angel! Angel, where are you?!" Fluttershy frantically called out to the darkness, hoping for a reply.

Rarity paused and put a hoof on Fluttershy's back. "Not to worry, Fluttershy. I'm sure we'll find him. This castle can't be that big," Then, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a large and torn tapestry depicting Princess Celestia and her sun! It was hanging against a wall near what could be best be described as what used to be the throne room. She rushed up to it, her eyes all aglow! "Oh my stars! This is perfect! No haunted castle in its right mind could possibly object to me 'borrowing' a tapestry in such bad shape. I'll take it home, restore it, and bring it back good as new."

"That's... lovely, Rarity," Fluttershy commented before turning her back. "But I have to keep looking for Angel. Oh, I hope he doesn't think I've given up on trying to find him. I'm sure he's just as worried about as me as I am about him."

The fashionista just called in reply. "I'm right behind you, really," She said in between grunts, struggling to move the heavy tapestry with her magic. "I... won't... be... long! I... promise!"

And meanwhile, Applejack and Rainbow Dash had finally ended their mad dash. They'd found their way up into one of the castle towers, discovering a series of stone pony statues clad in tacky (and spooky) looking armor a shade of dark midnight blue.

"Seriously, Rainbow," Applejack commented in disbelief as she and her friend explored their surroundings. "Do you think there's a single room in this castle that isn't filled with terrifyin' things? No wonder Princess Celestia stopped livin' in this place."

Rainbow didn't reply. She bumped into one of the statues wearing the old armor, and when her wings brushed up against it it nearly made her jump out of her fur! "Yow!" She shouted, then quickly tried to save face in front of Applejack. "I mean, what's the big deal? It's just old pony armor. Nothing to be afraid of."

The farm mare nervously chuckled. "Y-yeah! I mean, it ain't like it's gonna come to life or anythin', right? Right?" And she trotted closer to inspect the statue more carefully.

Suddenly, amidst several sharp blasts of notes from the organ, several things happened all at once: Applejack was whisked away along with the statue, right in front of a horrified Rainbow Dash! Rarity and the tapestry she'd been trying to collect vanished from Fluttershy's sight, causing Fluttershy to scream! Applejack was soon propelled to the very edge of the castle's exterior, with only a gargoyle for company! And Rarity was flung out into the castle's courtyard, her mane and tail dirtied a bit and the tapestry she'd hoped to collect now in ruins!

To make matters worse, a storm was beginning to brew. Lightning flashed, thunder clapped, and the wind began to roar quite ominously. Granted, the storm seemed to be moving away from the castle. But it only contributed to the feeling of the old, crumbly castle actually being haunted.

Naturally, Rarity and Applejack didn't stay in their current locations for long. Rarity was the first to make her way back into the castle proper, having to climb in through a window as she got a few twigs and leaves stuck in her mane. "Alright, castle. I've had it up to here with your behavior tonight!" She scolded it not unlike a mother scolding a child. "All I wanted to do was a borrow a tapestry or two to make some repairs, that's all. There's no reason why you have to make this so difficult. And I don't care what anypony says: You can't be haunted! If you were, I'd think any spook or spirit would've shown up by now." Swishing her tail, she set off to try to find Fluttershy (and maybe even an easy enough to obtain tapestry).

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash was looking all around the tower for any sign of Applejack, all the while trying not to show how frightened she truly was. "Uh... Applejack? Where'd you go? You didn't run back to Ponyville, did you? 'Cause if you did... that would mean I win, right? And... you would never do that. You'd admit you're scared first. So, just come out and admit it cause'... I'm kind of scared too! Is that what you wanted to hear?" But all that happened was that she bumped into one of the other statues, and was so frightened that she screamed and fled from the tower as fast as she could!

Fluttershy wasn't faring much better on her end. Now separated from Angel and Rarity, she was desperately hoping for them to be together and be safe. Frantically, she called out to the darkness. "Angel! Rarity!" She whimpered as she was looking by the throne Rarity had disappeared with, hoping to find some sort of lever or button. "Oh please! Please tell me you've found each other! Please tell me you're both okay!" But when she heard another loud blare of the organ, she unfolded her wings and flew away in fright!

Applejack returned to the tower as the organ was played once again, quickly getting her bearings as she adjusted her trusty stetson. Seeing no sign of Rainbow Dash anywhere in the tower, she nervously called out. "Rainbow? Hello? I guess if I don't find you, I win by default, right?" Then she whimpered. "I admit it, I'm scared now! And I know you're scared too! So let's call the whole thing off and get out of this spooky place! We'll think of some other way to settle our tie." Alas, there was no reply to her tempting offer.

Rarity had finally made her way back to the ground floor of the castle, looking quite the worse for wear as a result. It only got worse when a stray stone struck her on the forehead. "Ouch," She groaned. "This has gone far enough, castle! If you're trying to make me angry, you're doing a very good job. Fine! You can have your silly tapestries! I just want to find my friend, and help her find her pet, and then get out of here. I'm never coming back here again!" She vowed and started walking backwards, hoping she might be able to spot Fluttershy and/or Angel.

Fluttershy, unaware of Rarity's presence (or anypony else's for that matter), happened to be walking backwards as well. And in a desperate whisper she cried out. "Angel! Rarity! Why can't I find you?! Why can't this all be a bad dream?!"

Applejack said nothing as she ended up back in the main hallway via a secret passage. But when she laid eyes on yet another stone statue wearing that old armor, she jumped and began walking away with her face towards it just in case it for some reason came to life!

And Rainbow Dash was flying frantically about the castle as best as she was able, looking everywhere she could for any sign of Applejack! All the while she was saying loudly. "Haunted statues, creepy armor... ugh, come on. I'm not gonna let this castle to me! I'm not!" Yet mere seconds after she said that, there was another flash of lightning and a loud rumble of thunder. The brash speedster whimpered in fright and slowly backed away, coming down to the ground.

Naturally, with all four mares walking backwards within the same area, they ended up bumping into each other. And with each of them already very heavily unnerved from all they'd been through, this sudden brushing of tails against one another was enough to set everypony off! All of them screamed and ran about, too frightened to think straight!

Rainbow flew back into the air, bouncing off the walls and screaming her head off!

Applejack started bumping up against pillars, running one way and then another!

Rarity ended up running forward, only to see one of the huge tapestries from earlier come down on top of her (having been knocked loose by Rainbow's frantic flying)! She tried to light up her horn, but it was no use, the tapestry was too heavy to be moved. It now covered her completely! "I can't see!" She cried and ran away!

A sudden flash of lightning caused Fluttershy to spot a shadowy outline near one of the pillars! "Angel! Is that you?!" She hopefully gasped and rushed over to it, only to have the pillar give way! "Oh no, AAANGEEEEEL!" She cried at the top of her lungs! Thinking quickly, she pressed her body up against the pillar to prop it up, not wanting to let it fall.

By now, the screaming, crying, and shouting had reached all the way up to where Twilight, Spike, and Angel were in the castle.

Twilight looked up from the journal. "What in the wide world of Equestria was that?!" She pondered aloud.

"You mean, I wasn't hearing things?" Spike replied.

Twilight stood up, shutting the journal and putting it aside. "Come on, Spike! You too, Angel!" She firmly declared! "We're going to find out what all that noise is about!"

The three headed back down to the balcony overlooking the main hallway of the castle. Twilight and Spike could soon see four of their friends all running around, crying, and doing all sorts of things that made no sense at all. It was as if they'd all seen a ghost.

"What the...?!" Twilight exclaimed as she had to blink and rub her eyes to be sure she wasn't seeing things. Indeed, she wasn't.

"What do you think's gotten into them?" Spike asked Twilight.

"I don't know," The young alicorn said firmly. "But it all ends now!" She flew down to the main hallway, quickly lighting up her horn as she shouted at the top of her lungs! "Alright, everypony, stop!" Soon, the violet-red aura of her magic enveloped all four of her friends, freezing them in place. In the process, she alerted them all to her presence.

Applejack was the first to speak up once the shock of everything wore off. Upon seeing her alicorn friend, she could only ask. "Twilight?"

Fluttershy, meanwhile, continued to try to prop up the pillar that had been about to fall right near her. "Must... save... Ange—!" She began, only to blush when her pet rabbit came bouncing over to her, clearly delighted to be reunited with her.

Rainbow Dash then looked down at her fellow pegasus. "Fluttershy? What are you doing in a creepy place like this?" She inquired.

Rarity poked her head out from under the thick tapestry. "She's with me. We got separated." She explained.

"Oh, thank goodness you're okay." Fluttershy sighed with relief.

Applejack then requested of Twilight. "Think you can drop your spell now, sugarcube?" The alicorn obeyed with a nod.

The fashionista breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you. That's much better. Please don't ever do something like that to us again, Twilight."

"Well, how else was I supposed to get your attention?" The young alicorn questioned with concern. "You were all running around, screaming and hollering hysterically! You were acting like you'd seen a ghost or something."

"Well, there's no ghosts," Applejack pointed out, before a frightening possibility came into her mind and made her gasp! "Unless... you're actually the Pony of Shadows!"

Twilight blinked in confusion. "The pony of what now?"

The farm mare sighed. "Ah, never mind. Just an old pony's tale Granny Smith used to tell me."

Just then, however, the gathered group became aware of the sound of organ music echoing throughout the castle. "Then... w-who's playing the organ?" Spike asked with a gulp while a bead of sweat dripped down his face.

As everyone else huddled around her, Twilight managed to stay calm as she told the others. "I don't know, but we're going to find out. Come on!" She began to trot off, only to frown when she noticed what the others were doing. "You can all stop clinging to me, you know. There's no such thing as ghosts! Not in this castle!"

Eventually, the rag-tag group of five ponies, a baby dragon, and a bunny managed to trace the organ music to its source. Tucked deep in the basement of the old castle was a room where an ancient organ resided. And inside that room, a figured wearing a long, black, hooded cloak could be seen playing away at the organ.

Everyone was unnerved and scared out of their wits, except for Twilight. Plucking up courage, she trotted up to the organ player and said to them. "Alright, whoever you are, the jig is up! Don't you have anything better to do than to scare innocent ponies for no good reason?"

The cloaked figured didn't reply, so Twilight just lifted up the cloak with her magic to reveal who was underneath it!

Who should pop out from under the cloak but Pinkie Pie herself?! "Hey, you guys!" She greeted, apparently unaware or unconcerned about anything that had transpired. "Looks like you found me!"

"Pinkie Pie?!" The ponies and dragon all said at once!

Rainbow Dash flew forward! "You mean, you're the Pony of Shadows?"

Pinkie replied without looking up from the organ. "The pony of what now? Never heard of 'em."

"See, I told you!" Twilight pointed out. Then she asked Pinkie Pie. "Why are you down here playing the organ? I never knew you could do that."

"I know," The pink party pony giggled. "Sometimes, I amaze myself." And she played a little tune on the organ with the greatest of ease, demonstrating her freaky ability to master musical instruments quite easily.

Applejack blinked in disbelief. "What are you doin' down here? I thought you went to go ring the school bell."

Pinkie Pie giggled again. "Oh yeah, that. I forgot they only wanted me to ring it for about fifteen minutes. They said that was good enough. Can't imagine why."

"So you came out here to this castle, and you've been messing with us by playing the organ?" Rarity questioned. "Pinkie, you do know that organ's connected to a bunch of booby traps, right? It's not a toy."

The pink coated earth pony replied. "Oh, it has traps? I didn't know that. I only just started playing it." As she spoke she leaned on the organ, accidentally pressing a key down.

Without warning, a trap door on the floor below opened up! Spike was launched into the air! Luckily, he was unharmed. "Pinkie!" He protested.

The pink party pony blushed ever so faintly. "Oopsie. Sorry about that!" And then she explained. "I didn't come here to play the organ. I came here in search of bluebells. You know, can't have a bell ringing party without bluebells. I searched all over the forest for 'em, and couldn't find any. Then I saw you girls go into the castle, and it looked like someone else was watching you. So I figured you were all just playing a game of hide 'n seek, and I didn't wanna interrupt that. But then this shadowy figure who was watching you went away. I followed them down here, but they took off. They were in such a rush, they left their cloak behind. I put it on because it was so chilly down here."

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, whoever it was, they obviously didn't want to be found. Still, at least we know this castle isn't really haunted," She then suggested to her friends. "Why don't we all go somewhere a bit more comfortable in this castle? I still have a few questions I want to ask."

The six ponies and dragon (along with Angel) eventually adjourned to the part of the castle where Twilight had found the old journal once belonging to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Slowly but surely, as her friends talked, Twilight pieced together the events of the evening and how it had all come together.

Rarity, meanwhile, had managed to find a tapestry small enough for her to pick up with her magic. "I promise, once I've restored this tapestry to its former glory, it's going right back where it came from," She insisted. "Other than that, I'm not coming back here until we get all those traps dismantled. Somepony, and I don't just mean me, could get hurt on those things!"

Fluttershy, though happy to be reunited with Angel, was scolding him. "This never would've happened if you hadn't gotten so far ahead of me. When I tell you to stay by my side, I mean it, Angel," But then she sighed, realizing that she must've looked really silly getting so worked up and easily frightened. "Oh, but I guess I shouldn't have let my fears get the best of me. I should know not to let my imagination run away from me like that."

The others all nodded, and then Pinkie Pie pointed out. "At least when I let my imagination run away from me, it comes back with cake."

Twilight simply smiled. "Well, it's good to know that when your imagination's running away from you, a good friend can help pull you back to reality," Then she frowned and let out a slightly unhappy sigh. "But it looks like this research trip turned out to be a dead end. Not even Celestia and Luna's old diary gave me any ideas about that strange chest or what might be in it. Guess it's back to square one, I'll have to research it with whatever spare time I can find."

"Don't worry, Twilight," Spike reassured the young alicorn. "I'm sure we'll find the answers you're looking for eventually. The tree wouldn't have given us that chest if we weren't meant to open it. The keys will turn up in time, I just know it." And the five other mares all nodded.

It was then that Twilight had an idea! "You know what, I've just thought of something," She held up the book she'd been reading from. "Seeing that Celestia and Luna had their own diary, why don't we do something similar? We'll start our own friendship journal."

"All of us?" Fluttershy asked.

The young alicorn firmly nodded. "Yes. That way we can all learn from each other! And maybe some day, other ponies will read it and learn something too!"

"What a splendid idea!" Rarity happily declared, and the other mares all chimed in with their own sentiments. Even Spike agreed that a friendship journal was a good idea.

Unknown to anyone in the castle, however, the mysterious figure Pinkie Pie had mentioned hadn't completely gone away. It was watching them from a window, frowning and glaring at them through its cloak (which it had reclaimed after the ponies had left the organ room).

Eventually, the owner of said cloak would reveal itself. And would lead to a confrontation the likes of which Twilight and her friends would not soon forget. But that's another story.

Author's Note

First and foremost, I haven't played any of the Castlevania games. So while I do find it odd that they referneced the series in the episode title but didn't include any nods to the games, my own lack of experience with them prevents me from making any references to them.

That aside, "Castle Mane-ia" seems to be in the category of episodes that are good but not anything too outstanding. It's good at what it does: It's a Scooby-Doo kind of plot dealing with the haunted castle setting, and just following the golden rule of comedy: A simple premise exaggerated to great effect. But given Pinkie Pie's absence for most of the episode when the rest of the mane six are present, even the target audience can probably guess that she'll show up eventually.

The bigger problems lie mostly in two factors: 1. After this episode, Twilight was never shown again to be trying to find any answers to the keys, and they would hastily tie episodes together retroactively ahead of the finale. 2. Some things go unexplained even when they should be: Such as why Angel is coming with Fluttershy, or why Twilight doesn't investigate any of the disturbances sooner.

I sought to change up some scenes to make the story flow better, and reluctantly remove some jokes that, funny as they were, were out of place. There is no word on whether the shadowy figure at the end was meant to be The Pony of Shadows as was originally planned for the Season 4 finale, or if that was meant to be a nod to Tirek who ended up becoming the villain for the Season 4 finale. So I tried to make that more clear here.

~~The Best Night Ever~~
~~Sweet and Elite~~
~~Castle Mane-Ia~~
Power Ponies (Redo)
Bats! (Redo)
For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils
The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows
Stranger Than Fanfiction
Student Counsel
Between Dark and Dawn

S4 E6: Power Ponies (What If?) - Redo

Author's Note

Redos have been a thing since my seventh volume back in 2018. When I do a redo, I try to do an episode differently from how I previously tackled it. This is either because of new information, or something I want to consider that I didn't consider in the original rewrite.

While I'm still proud of my original rewrite of "Power Ponies" back in 2016, I will admit I went a little overboard on the whole "Twilight and Spike are mother and son" theme. Ever since criticism of my rewrite of "Molt Down", I've been trying to tone that down and keep it to where it's appropriate.

I decided to go a bit of a different route for this rewrite, going off of the animatic shown of it back in 2013. If we only had that to go on, some speculated it was Spike imagining himself in the world of the Power Ponies in a sort of "Through the Looking Glass" kind of story: In which a character imagines themselves as a character in a different work of fiction. The designs of the Power Ponies themselves (not their costumes) is based on their appearances in the 2014 IDW Comics annual.

~~The Best Night Ever~~
~~Sweet and Elite~~
~~Castle Mane-Ia~~
~~Power Ponies (Redo)~~
Bats! (Redo)
For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils
The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows
Stranger Than Fanfiction
Student Counsel
Between Dark and Dawn

S4 E6: Power Ponies (What If?) - Redo

Spike opened his eyes very slowly. Something about his surroundings didn't seem right. But why that was, he couldn't tell. He stood up, quickly realizing that he was in some sort of costume. He now had a black mask across his eyes, and had blue gloves covering his claws. He had also had a long, flowing cape colored a bright shade of red. Why did that outfit feel so familiar to him?

The little dragon observed his surroundings. Instead of seeing any familiar outlines of Ponyville, or Canterlot, or any other place he remembered being, he instead saw a darkened sky over an unfamiliar city landscape. There were skyscrapers jutting high into the sky over a purple colored fog. Blimps flew by overhead. And just across a city street from Spike's point of view, there was an old building that looked like some sort of museum. "Wait...!" It dawned him on all of a sudden where he probably was. "Is this... Maretropolis?"

"Ah, there you are, Hum-Drum," An unfamiliar voice called out from the blue. "Now, what's this all about? Why did you ask us to meet you here?"

Spike turned around slowly, and what he saw when he did so made him gasp! Six ponies who vaguely resembled his friends were all standing on a rooftop with him. But these ponies were wearing costumes, albeit ones he realized were vaguely familiar to him.

From left to right the six ponies appeared as follows: First up was a unicorn mare who looked like Twilight but with a pink coat and a two shaded purple mane and tail. She was wearing a suit that stretched from her legs up to her chest, it was a majestic shade of magenta, except for the neck collar which was an icy blue in color. Her face was covered by a mask the same shade of magenta as her suit, with a pair of yellow colored goggles to match.

Next was an earth pony mare looking like Pinkie Pie, but with an almost alien looking green coat. She had pink eyes, and wore a suit that was white with pink streeks all throughout it.

Then there was a pegasus mare similar in appearance to Rainbow Dash, but with an icy white coat, cold blue eyes, and an icy blue mane and tail styled into a mohawk. She was wearing a black suit with a lightning bolt shaped pendant that hung on her neck. And her front hooves appeared to have gloves with lightning bolt symbols stitched onto them.

After that was a brilliant yellow coated unicorn mare similar in appearance to Rarity. She sported emerald green eyes, a sapphire blue mane and tail, and wore a costume that was a dark blue in color and covered in diamonds. Her mane and tail also had diamonds in them. She also had a dark blue mask that was not covered in diamonds, and a small yellow collar with a light purple diamond on it. On her front legs rested two purple diamond shaped charm bracelets.

There was also an earth pony mare who resembled Applejack, but had a pale white coat. This mare's eyes were yellow in color and looked full of anger. She had a dark blue mane and tail, and her costume was a suit that was dark red in color, which matched nicely with her dark brown boots and mask, as well as her dark green harness that held a gold colored lasso. The back half of her mane and all of her tail were protected by a green tube of some kind.

And finally, there was a pegasus mare similar in stature to Fluttershy. But this mare's coat was bluish-green. She had yellow eyes, and a golden mane and tail. She was wearingforest green suit with flowers stitched onto the front legs. Her face was protected by a purple mask, which matched the purple collar she was wearing.

"Holy new personas, ponies!" Spike exclaimed in disbelief! This was too good to be true! "You're the... the Power Ponies! Masked Matter-Horn! Fili-Second! Zapp! Radiance! Mistress Mare-velous! Saddle Rager!"

Masked Matter-Horn firmly nodded. "Yes, that's us. We haven't forgotten," Then she asked (her tone of voice sounding nothing strangely like Twilight's but more heroic). "Are you okay, Hum-Drum? Did you hit your head or something?"

"What?! I'm... Hum-Drum?" Spike blinked in disbelief. Apparently, such a thought had never occurred to him until just now. Yet it would explain the outfit he was wearing. Hum-Drum was part of the Power Ponies, even if he tended to not do much.

But before the little dragon could process what was happening, there was a loud boom! Looking across the street from the roof he was on, Spike (along with the Power Ponies) saw a wall of the museum come crumbling down. From the wreckage emerged a purple coated earth pony mare with a green colored, tentacle like mane. She was wearing a dark purple suit, and her mane had grown so long she was able to use it to lift her body off the ground. In her hooves, she held an orb that seemed to be made of flowing electricity.

"Well well," The tentacle maned mare declared with a wicked cackle. "If it isn't the Power Ponies. What an unexpected surprise."

Spike gulped as he found himself suddenly about to be caught up in a battle between the Power Ponies and their arch nemesis. He was thinking to himself, wondering how he'd ended up in this situation and how he might get out. What he didn't suspect that there was a role he was to play in this unfolding story, a very important role at that.

Masked Matter-Horn was the first to identify the tentacled maned mare that had just emerged from the rubble. "The Mane-iac!" She turned to Spike. "Looks like you were right, Hum-Drum. The Mane-iac is indeed after the Electro-Orb," Then she grinned. "But her luck ends here! I'll be the one to take her down!"

Mistress Mare-velous snarled and grit her teeth. "Oh yeah, hot shot?" Her voice sounded much more harsh and unfriendly than anything Applejack ever said. "And how are you gonna do that, oh fearless leader?" It was clear from her tone of voice that she was mocking the unicorn.

Masked Matter-Horn simply rolled her eyes. "Just stand back and watch. This won't take long." Soon, she had lit up her horn, concentrating an enormous amount of power into the tip of it. A big ball of ice seemed to be forming, growing larger by the second.

Yet Fili-Second refused to stay in place. "This is no fun! I'm out of here!" And she took off in a blur, leaving a bright streak of light behind her as she rushed down to street level. Her voice sounded like Pinkie Pie's, except much faster and much higher pitched.

"Typical," Zapp rolled her eyes, sounding like Rainbow Dash but with a much deeper tone of voice. "Fili-Second never stand still for anything," She sighed. "I'll go fetch her. Then I'm coming back to take down The Mane-iac, or whatever's left of her." She flew away with a flap of her wings.

Radiance then saw fit to interrupt, her voice sounded like Rarity's but far less elegant and refined. "Do you always have to hog all the glory, Masked Matter-Horn? Why not let me do the honors for once? At least my powers don't take forever to charge up," She touched her charm bracelet, causing a purplish-pink glow that soon morphed into a pair of comically large scissors. "With my powers, I'll cut that overgrown mane of hers down to size!"

"Just let Masked Matter-Horn do her thing," Saddle Rager groaned, sounding like a far less gentle and forgiving Fluttershy. "At least I don't have to worry about using my powers. The sooner we get this over with, the better."

Of course, as the Power Ponies all grumbled and argued among themselves, The Mane-iac was not just standing around. She swung towards a nearby light post, all the while taunting. "Come on, Power Ponies. At least try to make this entertaining. Otherwise, I'll have hired these henchponies for no reason at all." And several stallions wearing orange jumpsuits appeared at her side.

At last, Masked Matter-Horn felt she had built up enough power in her horn. She hurled the blast through the air, right towards where she was certain The Mane-iac would be!

Alas, the blast did not hit its intended target. Instead, a rather frustrated Filli-Second yelped out! "Hey! You're not supposed to hit me!"

Mistress Mare-velous rolled her eyes once again. "Leave it to a bunch of rank amateurs to mess up the obvious," She sighed. "I'll handle this. With my trusty golden lasso, evil-doers will cower before me!" She proceeded to unfurl said golden lasso, which began to shine brightly.

Radiance smiled, then in a somewhat condescending tone of voice she said to Masked Matter-horn. "A valiant effort. But you'd best leave this to the professionals. Some of us are just born lucky." And she trotted forward, still brandishing her magic scissors.

Even Saddle Rager seemed to have no sympathy for Masked Matter-horn. "What, you actually want me to fight all the bad guys? You know what happens when I get mad, don't you? Or are we trying to put The Mane-iac in the hospital, not jail?"

"Well if I had peace and quiet, I could easily pull off my spells perfectly!" Masked Matter-horn snapped back, and then grumbled. "But go ahead, all of you do your own thing. See if I care! You never wanna listen to me, not even when you know I'm right."

Meanwhile, up in the sky, Zapp removed the pendant from around her neck. "Just leave everything to me. I've got just the thing to blow these evil doers away!" She held it up to the sky! "It's time to rain down justice!" Storm clouds suddenly materialized overhead in an ominous fashion, lightning flashing and thunder rolling!

While all of this was going on, Spike had not so secretly slipped away from the bickering and arguing among the Power Ponies. He had made his way down to the streets of Maretropolis, and was trying to sneak up behind The Mane-iac and steal the Electro-Orb while she was distracted. All the while, he was trying to remember how he'd gotten into this situation. How he'd ended up in the world of the Power Ponies.

The last thing the little dragon could remember was a memory from not too long ago. It had been at night, late at night in fact. But although he had climbed into his little basket next to Twilight's bed, he had not gone to sleep. He was instead reading through the pages of a comic book, making use of a small lamp to provide illumination so that he could see the text on the pages.

Twilight had groaned, sitting up in her bed and opening her eyes due to the bright light breaking up the darkness in her room. "Spike, it's late! You should be going to sleep!" She had scolded him!

But Spike had protested. "Aw, just two more minutes, Mom. Please?" And he had then pleaded his case. "I'm just getting to the really good part! The Mane-iac is about to-"

At that the young alicorn had blinked her sleepy eyes in confusion. "Who's 'The Mane-iac'?"

Holding up the pages of his comic so that Twilight could see them more clearly, Spike had explained as best he could. "The Power Ponies' most evil arch nemesis!" Flipping through the pages, he showed off images of a pink coated earth pony falling off a railing and into a vat of chemicals as electrical wires surged ominously through it. When she emerged, her coat had been turned dark purple, her mane was now a sickly shade of green and had electricity flowing through it. Her eyes were now a blood red, and she had the most ominous looking smile on her face. "She was once the power-mad owner of a hair-care product company in Maretropolis. A tragic accident at her shampoo factory not only gave her mane strange new powers, but also caused her to go completely insane!"

"Sounds almost like some of the evils my friends and I have had to face," Twilight had replied, and had then added in a sweet tone of voice. "Believe me, Spike, if anypony understands what it's like to caught up in a really good book, it's me. But you really need to go to sleep. And so do I. I need to rest if I'm gonna help my friends fix up the Castle of the Two Sisters like we all agreed to do. We're hoping we can eventually turn it into a museum or something."

Then the little dragon had added his own sentiment. "Oh, I'd almost forgotten about that," With a sigh he had lamented. "It's too bad you won't let me help you. I know I can be a big help if you just let me."

"The castle is still very dangerous," Twilight had tried to explain to the little dragon. "And still full of those booby traps Celestia and Luna set up. It's going to be a while before we can dismantle them and ensure the castle isn't in danger of further collapse. I don't wanna risk anything happening to you. I'll be able to concentrate better knowing you're safe at home. Besides, you'll have the day off. You'll be able to do whatever you want."

Sensing that he wasn't going to change Twilight's mind, Spike had reluctantly relented. "Fine," Then he had pouted. "Can you at least let me see how this story ends? I really am getting to the good part," And he had explained while holding up more pages with illustrations. "The Mane-iac's planning to break into the Maretropolis Metropolitian Museum to steal the Electro-Orb. She's going to use it to power up a doomsday device! And if the Power Ponies don't stop her in time, Maretropolis will be doomed!" But then he had frowned. "Of course, The Mane-iac never would've even know about the Electro-Orb if Hum-Drum hadn't slipped up and told her all about it. He always does things like that."

"Who's Hum-Drum?" Twilight had wondered.

With another groan, Spike had pointed to a picture of a sea green coated earth pony colt with a greenish-yellow mane and tail all poofy. He was wearing the very attire Spike would find himself wearing a short time later. "That's Hum-Drum! The guy in the cape and the boots. He has no super powers at all. He did early on, but they took them away from him and made him into a completely useless sidekick. All he ever does is slip up and tell the bad guys everything. Then he just sits back and acts as the team's moral support while the Power Ponies do all the real work."

The young alicorn had then reluctantly agreed to Spike's earlier demand. "Fine, I guess you can stay up. But only for two more minutes, that's it. When those two minutes are up, it's bed time! Understand?"

"Yes!" Spike had happily agreed, and had spent the next two minutes reading as much of the story as he could. Yet he did not recall being able to finish it before going to bed. And that was the very last thing he remembered.

Spike was snapped back to his current reality by a sudden, auidble roar of the wind! Looking up, he was horrified to see a huge tornado bearing down on him! He was pretty sure he knew where it had come from. "Zapp! What are you doing?! We don't need a tornado!" He hollored, in order to be overheard amidst the roar of the wind. Only after he'd said that did he realize he'd unintentionally given away his position, right before he tripped over his cape.

The Mane-iac picked up the Electro-Orb with a hoof as she looked "Hum-Drum" deep in the eyes. She apparently didn't recognize that he was a dragon, not a pony. "Oh my, how very careless of me to leave this lying around," She cackled. "Thank you for calling my attention to it, Hum-Drum. I would've hated to leave this behind and look like a fool."

"What?! I... I can't be Hum-Drum!" Spike had stuttered in disbelief, even though deep down he realized that was probably who he was given his current attire.

The Mane-iac just grinned as she held onto the Electro-Orb, and used her mane to swing to another lamp post. "I know what you're trying to accomplish. Your little 'slip-up' was intentional. You want to use me to show those pathetic Power Ponies what they can do when they all work together. Well don't mind me, I'm flipping this script! The only role I am going to play is the role of this city's conquerer! But don't worry, I'll be sure to save you a front row seat to your own destruction," She then gave a whistle to her henchponies. "Come on, boys. We got what we need! Let's leave those rancid do-gooders to clean up their own mess."

"Yes, ma'am!" The henchponies saluted, and those that could fight against the strong winds followed after the villain as she swung out of sight.

Meanwhile, the tornado had reached the still frozen Fili-Second's position. Despite the ice binding her hooves to the ground, the tornado was able to lift her into its vortex with the greatest of ease. "Hey! This is not how I like to party!" Fili-Second complained as she was spun around every which way! "I think I'm gonna be sick!"

"Well if you would just hold still for five seconds instead of always running around, this wouldn't be a problem!" Zapp protested. "It's not my fault you're so impatient, Filli-Second."

Mistress Mare-velous, for her part, just threw her golden lasso at the tornado. "Don't mind me. I'll just hogtie this here twister. I knew you'd find a way to mess this up, Zapp. If you would just let me handle the villains, we'd be much more successful." Her lasso quickly took hold of the tornado, pulling it close and yanking it up into the clouds.

"Ooh! I like your thinking, Mistress Mare-velous!" Radiance chimed in as she clapped her hooves. "But we need to actually get rid of the tornado, not just take it off the streets," She smiled. "Fortunately, I know just the solution." Soon, her charm bracelet glowed again. In place of scissors, she was now holding aloft huge ice cubes.

But before the ice cubes could be dropped into the funnel, Masked Matter-Horn launched an icy cold blast from her horn straight at the tornado. That did the trick, the tornado dispersed at once.

Fili-Second was brought out of the sky on a magical carpet generated by Radiance. "Don't say I never did anything nice for you, Fili-Second. But now you owe me the next time we get into a fight."

"Whatever." Filli-Second rolled her eyes as she jumped off the cart and started prancing again.

Masked Matter-Horn could only sigh and shake her head from side to side. "Well, The Mane-iac got away, again. I'm starting to wonder why I ever put up with you girls. You're always making a mess of things."

Saddle Rager then questioned. "Uh, not to interrupt, but has anypony seen Hum-Drum? He's been acting awfully weird since we started battling The Mane-iac," She put a hoof to her chin. "You don't think he's secretly working for her in the hopes she'll give him super powers or something, right?"

Masked Matter-Horn immediately snapped in a bitter tone of voice! "Don't you dare question his loyalty! You know he's been our biggest supporter since day one. Without him, we wouldn't even still be a team," She stomped a hoof down. "Come on, let's go find him and make sure he's okay. You know he doesn't like it when we fight."

Spike was now glumly starring down at the ground, holding up his gloved claws and lamenting to himself. "Why? Hum-Drum's always useless. He doesn't have super powers."

Masked Matter-Horn trotted over to Spike, also not appearing to notice who he was. "You know we've talked about this," She said in a sympathetic tone. "Super powers or not, you'll always have a place on our team. We wouldn't be who we are without you. I'm sure you're telling The Mane-iac about the Electro-Orb was an honest slip up. It happens to the best of us."

Mistress Mare-velous was not so convinced. "You give him way too much credit, Matter-Horn. Some of us think we could do just fine without him around."

Masked Matter-Horn stepped in front of Spike, blocking him from the other Power Ponies as they started to gather around. "If you want him, you'll have to go through me! Hum-Drum is not our enemy. You know that!"

Storm snorted. "Yeah? Well just because he's not our enemy doesn't mean he doesn't know a thing or two that could be useful to us."

Fili-Second then impatiently demanded. "What do you know about The Mane-iac?! Where's she taking that Electro-Orb?! What's she planning to do with it?! Tell us now!"

"We'll make it worth your while," Radiance insisted with a wink. "Surely, you've longed for a vacation to somewhere far away. That can be arranged. We can manage without you if you help us out this one time."

And Saddle Rager insisted with a smile that was anything but pleasant. "You might as well confess. It'd be a shame to find out our biggest supporter isn't being truthful with us when we need it most."

Spike gulped as beads of sweat started to form on his face and trickle down. "P-please, don't hurt me!" He whimpered! "I... I think I know what The Mane-iac's going to do!"

"You do?!" The Power Ponies all gasped in unison.

Spike nodded, recalling his knowledge from reading the comic book. At least he still had that on him. "Yes," He shut his eyes, trying to remember. "I... I think she's gonna take it to her top-secret headquarters! That's where she's building her doomsday device."

Mistress Mare-velous smiled and looked across to Masked Matter-Horn. "Doesn't take much to get him to do what we want," Then she boasted. "Taking down that doomsday device will be a piece of cake! Then we'll put The Mane-iac in her place."

"Well, you'd better be quick about it," The little dragon nervously replied. "The Electro-Orb is like a super battery. It's an unlimited energy source, it'll never run out of power."

"Great! Lead the way, Hum-Drum!" Mistress Mare-velous insisted.

And Zapp then boasted. "Then leave the rest to us superheroes."

Sighing, Spike reluctantly set off down the empty streets of Maretropolis, and the Power Ponies followed not far behind him.

Building after building and street after street passed by as Spike led the Power Ponies along. It seemed like it was only the blink of an eye before they had reached their destination. Rounding a corner of one drab and empty building, Spike brought up a claw and motioned for all of the Power Ponies to be silent.

An inconspicuous looking factory with a worn out neon sign and a door that could quickly be rolled up if activated stood just across the street. Yet from the windows, it was possible to notice a strange glow on the inside.

"A shampoo factory... why am I not surprised?" The Masked Matter-Horn snorted and appeared to chuckle.

Mistress Mare-velous just snarled coldly in reply. "I could've told you a place like this would be where we'd find The Mane-iac. She's never been one for subtlety."

Fili-Second began grinning from ear to ear. "So just say the word, Matter-Horn. I'm itching for action!"

But Masked Matter-Horn shook her head from side to side and protested. "No. Let's be smart about this. We're gonna sneak inside and steal back the Electro-Orb. Then we'll take care of The Mane-iac. Got it?" She then gave a whistle. "Zapp! Go fly around and see if you can find some kind of back entrance. The rest of you just stay close."

"Yes sir, boss." Zapp appeared to taunt, before flying away to do as instructed.

Spike just sighed. "Well, guess there's nothing more for me to do but hang back here and let you all do your thing. I'll just... stand over to the side, cheering you all on."

"Yes, go do that," Fili-Second firmly insisted. "The Mane-iac won't know what hit her! We'll take care of this, just like we always have, Hum-Drum. Nice to see you can take a hint."

"Just make sure no one gets in my way if I get angry!" Saddle Rager warned. "Because we all remember what happened last time. It wasn't pretty."

Radiance sighed and rolled her eyes. "Must you always insist on bringing that up, Saddle Rager? It seems like you're always trying to hold back your anger. If you'd just let it out from time to time, we'd be in much better shape. We can't all be like me and have functioning accessories."

"Or be like me and have a golden lasso you're telepathically connected to," Mistress Mare-velous boasted. "Compare that to Little Miss. Fussy Britches over," She pointed at Masked Matter-Horn. "She can barely get her horn to do what she wants it to do."

"I heard that!" Masked Matter-Horn snapped. "If you all think you can do better when we're up against threats like The Mane-iac, I'd like to see you try! Really, I would."

Just then, there came the loud blaring of a security alarm. And a rather startled looking Zapp came flying back to the other Power Ponies.

Masked Matter-Horn groaned and put a hoof to her forehead. "What did you do this time, Zapp?! Can't you do anything right?!"

"It's not my fault,I swear!" Zapp roared in response. "How was I supposed to know The Mane-iac had every door and window wired to a security system? Is she that paranoid?!"

Mistress Mare-velous just grit her teeth and stomped her hooves down. "Whatever. Looks like we're in for a fight!" She put her front hooves together. "I've been waiting a long time to say this: Time to Power Pony up!"

"Ooh! Nice catchphrase!" Fili-Second giddly proclaimed. "I'm gonna totally start saying that now!"

Meanwhile, the rolling front door of the shampoo factory rose up. And out came The Mane-iac's henchponies, ready to do battle. "Let's take 'em down, boys!" One henchpony yelled. "Don't let 'em get inside the factory!"

And just like that, a battle unfolded right outside The Mane-iac's secret headquarters. And all Spike could do was watch the superheroes that somewhat resembled his friends as they began to make short work of The Mane-iac's henchponies.

"Alright, time to rain down swift justice!" Zapp shouted, as she unholstered her lightning bolt pendant. Storm clouds began to gather in the sky as electricity surged out from the pendant!

Meanwhile, Twilight was busy focusing on taking down whatever henchpony was foolish enough to approach her. "Freeze ray!" She shouted out as she fired off a freezing blast. Unfortunately, she didn't pay attention to where she was aiming it, and ended up missing it mark once again. In fact, it hit Zapp by mistake.

Zapp groaned, the icy blast was enough to interrupt her concentration and make the storm clouds vanish. "What the hay, Matter-Horn?!" She growled at the unicorn! "Why did you freeze my wings?! Whose side are you on?!"

"I'm on your side, Zapp!" Masked Matter-Horn protested "That was a mistake! Besides, you're the one who got in my way!"

"You got in my way, you mean!" Zapp coldly hissed. "What have I told you about staying out of my way?!"

"I think you'd better remember who wields the power to freeze, burn, or magically strike whoever she wants!" Masked Matter-Horn warned. "Next time, I might do more than just freeze your wings for a moment."

"You couldn't hit straight if your life depended on it!" Zapp taunted. "You couldn't even hit the broadside of a barn!"

Arguing also began to break out between Radiance and Fili-Second. Radiance was fast growing annoyed with Fili-Second, who seemed much more intent on using her super speed to trip up the henchponies or just tap them lightly and then hit them with gags she pulled from out of nowhere. Meanwhile, Radiance was struggling to think of what accessories would be good to use for this battle. "Ooh. Choices, choices," She muttered to herself. "I really can do anything in this little number!" Then to Fili-Second she shouted! "Fili-Second, are you ever actually going to fight? Or do you want me to do all the dirty work for you?"

"Hey, I'm just getting warmed up," Fili-Second replied in between bouts of running one way and then the other. "I could clear out these goons in the blink of an eye, but that wouldn't be any fun. If you had my super speed, you'd understand."

"Speed isn't everything!" Radiance coldly taunted.

That comment seemed to touch off a nerve within Fili-Second, who snarled and hissed! "Shows what you know, that's what slow ponies say!"

"Sounds to me like the only thing that runs faster than you is your mouth!" Radiance complained while conjuring up a large bouncing ball to knock the henchponies down. "Why don't you put your money where that big mouth of yours is and make yourself uself for once?!"

"Fine, if it'll make you happy, I'll take out all five of these guys at once!" Fili-Second shouted "And I won't even break a sweat doing it," Then she jeered. "On the other hoof, you're just going to waste your time using your powers to play with these no gooders! Bring something useful to the fight and make things more interesting, maybe give yourself a nice bow and a few arrows to go with it."

"You'll be lucky if I don't turn you into a pin cushion with one!" Radiance hissed, even as she summoned up the aforementioned bow and arrows.

Even Saddle Rager and Mistress Mare-velous seemed to spend as much time arguing with each other as they did fighting the henchponies.

Saddle Rager was busy battling the underlings who thought she would be too easy, all the while fighting to keep her anger in check. "I need to save the anger for when it's really necessary. If I get mad now, everypony's in big trouble!" She thought to herself, applying only light blows.

But to Mistress Mare-velous, it seemed as if Saddle Rager was going out of her way not to fight. The pegasus was only using defensive moves whenever she was attacked, only occasionally tossing in an offensive attack or two. This made Mistress Mare-velous quite furious, for she'd found herself having to protect her fellow Power Pony far more than she would've liked. "Seriously? You aren't even just a little angry right now?" She questioned Saddle Rager. "You've always gotten mad before. Why should this be any different?"

"Oh, I'm getting mad alright," Saddle Rager insisted, her brows narrowing as she spoke. "I've been trying to keep my temper under control, though. I'm pretty sure nopony wants to deal with a raging monster worse than The Mane-iac right now."

"So you're holding back?! I can't believe you" Mistress Mare-velous groaned, deflecting an attack from an underling that had tried to sneak up on her "What? Do you want me to finish this fight for you or somethin'?!"

"You don't need to protect me, I was doing just fine on my own!" Saddle Rager protested. "I don't need anypony's help to take down these amatuers."

"Then maybe you could start goin' on the attack more often, and stop leavin' me to have to guard your sorry behind!" Mistress Mare-velous insisted. "It would make things a whole lot easier for the both of us. If you don't, I'll tie you up and take care of the rest of these goons by myself!"

Spike could hear the arguments between the various Power Ponies as they fought off The Mane-iac's various henchponies. And the little dragon couldn't help but grow worried. Frantically, he tried to holler above the ruckus! "Stop it, Power Ponies! You're supposed to be fighting the bad guys, not yourselves! You've gotta work together!" But he received no acknowledgement. It was as if he was shouting into a void.

At last, the battle was over. It seemed that almost all of the henchponies working for The Mane-iac had been defeated. Dare the Power Ponies say it, it was all too easy.

"I ain't even broken a sweat yet!" Fili-Second boasted as she continued to prance in place.

Masked Matter-Horn seemed to agree. "Indeed, it's been child's play so far. Now that all remains is to defeat The Mane-iac once and for all."

Just then, seemingly from out of nowhere, The Mane-iac appeared and growled in an omionus tone of voice! "I don't think so! I've waited a long, long time to give this stinkin' cesspit of a city the makeover it deserves! And I'm not about to let you Power Ponies stop me. Not this time!" She proceeded to pull out a large canister that resembled a mane spray.

"The Hairspray of Doom!" Spike shrieked in horror! "One blast and you're completely powerless! Run, Power Ponies! Don't let her spray you!"

This time it seemed like "Hum-Drum" had been heard, for the Power Ponies all scattered in different directions before The Mane-iac could come anywhere near them.

The little dragon breathed a small sigh of relief. "That was a close one." He said to himself, and began thinking that maybe he could try his luck again when it came to swiping the Electro-Orb. It seemed like The Mane-iac had chosen to leave it unguarded again.

But then, suddenly, The Mane-iac's octopus like mane swung through the air! It grabbed hold of Spike and pulled him close, preventing him from escaping even as he dug into the mane with his claws! "This can't be happening!" He thought to himself!

"Oh Power Ponies!" The Mane-iac called, drawing their attention. "I know you can hear me. Come out of hiding and surrender to me. 'Cause if you don't," She moved a hoof towards "Hum-Drum" as she pulled him closer to him. "You'll never see your little friend again. I'll put his lights out for good!"

"Don't listen to her, Power Ponies!" Spike called as he squirmed all about, even bitting into The Mane-iac's mane in the hopes it would get her to release him! "I'll be fine! I can handle this! You've gotta stop her, no matter what it takes!"

But the Mane-iac just growled, swinging her prisoner around and bringing him down hard on the ground before picking him back up! "I've had enough of you and your big mouth!" She snapped! "You are nothing but trouble, Hum-Drum!" Then to the Power Ponies she insisted. "I'm warning you: I will do it. What's it gonna be, Power Ponies? Maretropolis, or little old Hum-Drum here? Better pick quickly, or else!"

Much to the dismay of the little dragon, he saw the Power Ponies emerge from behind buildings, walls, and other places they'd been using to hide. They all took one look at "Hum-Drum", and it seemed like any will they had to fight back had left them.

Masked Matter-Horn trotted up to The Mane-iac, growling and gritting her teeth. "If you hurt him in any way, Mane-iac, I swear I'll..."

The super villain just cackled with fiendish glee. "You're in no position to be making threats, Masked Matter-Horn. I assume you and the others are here to surrender?"

"Only if you let Hum-Drum go first!" Mistress Mare-velous spat at the ground. "Otherwise, we aren't doing anything for you!"

The tentacled maned earth pony groaned, but seemed to obey. "You and I both know he has no powers. There's nothing he can do to save you. If he was smart, which he's not, he would've fled this pathetic city long ago and abandoned it to its fate. Still, at least I know he won't be causing me anymore trouble," She slammed him onto the ground as hard as she could! "Don't worry, I'm sure he'll survive that," Then she brought forth the canister for the Hairspray of Doom. "I'll let him live long enough to see what horrible fate befalls you all." One spray was enough to immobolize all of the Power Ponies.

"You won't get away with this, Mane-iac!" Masked Matter-Horn insisted even as she found it was all she could do just to be able to speak.

"Bold words from the Powerless Ponies!" The Mane-iac cackled as she dragged them all away with her mane, doing so with the greatest of ease. "Don't worry, Hum-Drum," She called out to the little dragon. "You'll see your friends again soon. Or whatever's left of them." And with a wicked laugh, she dragged the Power Ponies into her top secret headquarters, the roll-up door slamming shut behind her after she had done so.

Spike didn't know what came over him as he lay there on the empty city streets. But after thinking it over for a moment, he could only think of one course of action. Even if they weren't his friends, they looked a lot like them. And Spike knew he could never live with himself if he didn't try to help his friends when they needed him most. "I have to save them, somehow!" He thought to himself. Then he pondered as he looked down at his gloved claws."But what can I do?"

"I must be crazy!" Spike thought to himself a short time later, as he worked his way into The Mane-iac's factory the only way he knew how: By crawling in through the open air vents "Here I am, crawling through the air vents, in an attempt to rescue my friends from a crazy super villan! What exactly am I supposed to do? I'm Hum Drum, I'm the useless sidekick who's only there for moral support. My friends are the ones with superpowers. They've probably already figured out how to escape. In fact, I'll bet they've already defeated The Mane-iac."

At last the little dragon found a place where the light was strongest. With a loud clang, he broke off the grate over the vent and dropped down. He was now inside The Mane-iac's headquarters, her hastily converted shampoo factory that was still full of vats of colorful chemicals. As such, it was very brightly lit, easy to see in. Then, suddenly, he saw a large cage resting off to one side! He nearly gasped when he saw that inside said cage were the Power Ponies themselves. It didn't look like they had been able to escape yet.

Spike watched as a henchpony reacted to the dinging of a timer and replied the effects of The Hairspray of Doom. The Mane-iac clearly wasn't taking any chances, she was absolutely determined to ensure the superheroes couldn't escape.

Down on the factory floor, The Mane-iac approached her captive enemies whilst still holding onto the Electro-Orb with one hoof. "Congratulations, Power Ponies!" She taunted them, clearly enjoying the fact that she had them at her mercy. "You shall live just long enough to see me fire," She then yanked the cover off of a large object, revealing it to be a massive cannon in the form of a hair dryer "The instrument of your destruction! Once the Electro-Orb has powered it up completely, this cannon will amplify the power of my mane one million times over!"

None of the Power Ponies said a word as the orb was inserted into the cannon, and it omionusly began to hum and glow.

Undeterred, The Mane-iac kept on prattling. "Bet you're wondering what that will do. Well, you'll soon find out," She lowered the cannon towards the cage and in an omionus tone of voice declared. "Because you will be my ray's first victims. So go ahead, make peace with your untimely ends," She boasted as she sat in the cannon's cockpit, ready to fire once it was fully charged. "There is nopony coming to save you! You're history!"

To the surprise of many, it was Saddle Rager who broke the silence, coughing into a hoof. "Aren't you forgetting about somepony, Mane-iac? Somepony very important?"

The Mane-iac glared at Saddle Rager. "Oh, you're talking about Hum-Drum? Little guy? About this big?" She brought a hoof down towards the ground and then lifted it back up. "No super powers whatsoever? Don't make me laugh! He's utterly useless! If I know him, he's probably already turned tail and run away like the coward he is," She paused as a timer dinged again, and the Power Ponies were once more sprayed to render them unable to move. "Puh-lease!" She taunted her captives. "Everypony knows you just keep him around because you feel sorry for him, like a little baby. Wah. Wah. Wah." Her voice took on a condescending tone as she spoke those lines.

Masked Matter-Horn, however, protested in a confident tone of voice. "Maybe in your world, Mane-iac. But in our world, Hum-Drum always comes through for us when we need him most," She sighed and looked down at the ground in shame. "He believed in us as a team, even when all we ever did was fight amongst ourselves. If we'd listened to him, we wouldn't be in this mess."

But The Mane-iac only snorted and then taunted. "It's a little late to be having regrets, Masked Matter-Horn. And I see that dementia must be a side effect of prolonged exposure to my Hairspray of Doom! Don't worry, I'll put you out of your misery soon enough! Now if only this blasted Electro-Orb would finish powering up my cannon already! You'd think an unlimited energy source wouldn't take so long to charge!"

Spike, meanwhile, had heard what Matter-Horn had said. It touched something deep inside of him, reminding him of all the times in the past when his friends had counted on him and he had come through for him. All the times when he'd had to be brave no matter how much he might not have wanted to. "I'm not like Hum-Drum!" He thought aloud, and knew at once what he had to do. "I'm not useless! It's up to me save the Power Ponies! I won't let them down!"

The Mane-iac, unaware of Hum-Drum's presence, just impatiently sat in the cockpit of her cannon as it was slowly being charged to full power. The seconds seemed to be ticking by agonizingly slow. "Come on! Come on!" She pounded on the control pannel. "What is taking so long?!"

Just then, an assertive, heroic voice proclaimed! "Sorry, Mane-iac! Your evil plans are about to go up in smoke!" All eyes suddenly turned towards where the had voice had come from. And in the blink of an eye, Spike appeared, swinging on a large chain! He swung right into The Mane-iac, knocking her off the cockpit as all eyes fell upon him.

"Hum-Drum!" The Mane-iac gasped! "What are you trying to accomplish? We both know you don't have any powers. You're no match for me! This is not a game, child. You should run home before you get hurt," Then she pondered. "Or perhaps, you've come crawling here to work for me?"

Spike growled and grit his teeth! "Never! I'd rather die than serve the likes of you! I came here to stop you, and that's just what I'm gonna do! There won't be a need for the Power Ponies to get involved, I'll defeat you myself!" Then he proclaimed. "You think I don't have any powers, Mane-iac? Well then, what do you think of this?!" He proceeded to unleash a burst of flame from his mouth!

The flame breath took the super villain by complete surprise! She had jump out of the way before her mane could catch on fire! "How is this possible?!" She exclaimed in disbelief! "You have no powers! None! I saw you lose them! I took them away!"

"Shows what you know, Mane-iac!" The little dragon insisted as he rushed forward, taking off his gloves to reveal his sharp claws. "One way or another, this all ends tonight! Evil never wins in the end. Never!"

The Mane-iac jumped back, striking a fighting pose. "You are a bothersome little pest," She snarled with a sneer. "An overgrown bug that I need to squash!" And soon, she began tussling with Spike, still thinking him to be the powerless Hum-Drum. Everypony in the factory watched the battle unfold, even the henchpony that had been tasked with reapplying the Hairspray of Doom as needed.

Alas, even with his dragon fire and claws, Spike wasn't able to keep The Mane-iac from gaining the upper hoof in their battle. Eventually, he was brought to his knees as the wicked earth pony mare stood triumphantly over him. "You were a fool to think you could beat me, Hum-Drum!" She bragged to her defeated foe.

Yet it was then that Spike began to laugh as a knowing smirk formed across his face. "If you think I was just trying to beat you, Mane-iac, then you're the fool! I was just doing what I needed to do to stall for time. I knew you couldn't resist a challenge."

"What do you mea-" The Mane-iac began, only to gasp when she heard the sound of magic blasts, and hooves making contact with face. She spun around in time to see the now liberated Power Ponies effortlessly rounding up all of her henchponies and defeating them. The effects of the Hairspray of Doom had worn off, and "Hum-Drum"'s distraction had prevented it from being reapplied.

Once the last of the henchponies were defeated, Masked Matter-Horn smiled as she led the other Power Ponies towards Hum-Drum's location. "Sorry we didn't listen to you sooner, Hum-Drum," She sincerely apologized. "You were right all along. When we work together instead of fighting amongst ourselves, there's nothing we can't accomplish!" Then to The Mane-iac she warned. "It's over for you, Mane-iac! This is gonna end with you in jail. So, are you gonna come quietly? Or do we have to do this the hard way?"

Gritting her teeth and smirking with pleasure, Mistress Mare-velous declared in a low tone of voice. "I hope you wanna do it the hard way, for my sake."

The Mane-iac, naturally, was not one to just give up when cornered. She instead desperately and hastily climbed back up into the cockpit of her cannon before anyone could stop her! A few taps on the control pannel revealed what she'd hoped to see! "On the contrary, Power Ponies, it's you who are over!" She shouted! "But first, I'm gonna get a little payback!" She aimed the cannon at Spike! "Say goodbye to your precious Hum-Drum!" And she pressed a button, causing the cannon to fire!

A blast from the cannon hit Spike square in the chest, knocking him back as all the Power Ponies gasped! He was more startled than hurt, but even so he was slow to get up.

Seeing that display was enough to cause something deep inside Saddle Rager to snap! "You just made the worst mistake of your life, Mane-iac!" She bellowed as the veins in her neck began to throb, and her body started to buldge outwards. "You know what happens when I get angry! Say your prayers, you big bully! I'm taking you down!" Soon, she had transformed into a hulking monster, and let out a gutteral roar as she banged on her chest!

The Mane-iac gulped as she saw the transformed Saddle Rager looking straight at her. "I'm dead, aren't I?"

"Oh yes, you're in a lot more trouble than you realize," Fili-Second chuckled. "Go ahead, Saddle Rager. Finish her off!"

Saddle Rager leaped forward, deflecting a desperate last-minute blast from the cannon. Said blast struck The Mane-iac, knocking her off the cannon's cockpit and hurling her to the floor! Saddle Rager, meanwhile, went straight to work demolishing the doomsday device completely. When she had finished, she reverted back to her original state.

The blast from the cannon caused The Mane-iac's mane to grow, and grow, and grow some more. It grew to the point where it became not unlike a straight jacket, binding the earth pony mare tightly within in it as she began to flop around on the floor in helplessness. Occasionally, bits of electricity would surge out from it. "My mane! My mane!" She cried again and again.

"And so, once again the day is saved by-" Masked Matter-Horn began.

Then all the Power Ponies joined in unison (and Spike joined in too for good measure). "The Power Ponies!"

A second or so after that phrase was uttered, everything went dark for Spike.

"Spike? Spike! Wake up, Spike!" The familiar voice of Twilight called, stirring the little dragon out of slumber land.

Spike opened his eyes very slowly. It took a moment for him to realize where he was. "Huh? What? Where am I? I'm... not in Maretropolis."

Twilight giggled. "Of course not, Spike. I told you not to stay up late reading that comic of yours. You've been sleeping for almost half the day now," In a more serious tone of voice she added. "I was starting to get worried. I thought I'd have to go to the Castle of the Two Sisters without you."

At that the little dragon blinked. "Wait, I thought you said you didn't need me there."

The young alicorn smiled. "Nonsense, Spike. I realized that I was being overprotective. Just as long as you promise not to wander away from me, you can come along and help the girls and I out. We won't be there all day."

But Spike protested as he sat up in his basket. "Actually, Twilight, you can go ahead and go alone. I'll be just fine here. I've had plenty of exciting adventures with you and the girls. I could use a rest."

"Are you sure, Spike?" Twilight questioned him. "Just last night you were upset that I didn't want to bring you along."

"Yeah, but I've had time to sleep on it," Spike insisted with a yawn. "A day off sounds nice. I haven't had one in such a long time. Besides, I wanna finish up reading that comic," Yet as he looke down into his basket, he found that he couldn't find the comic anywhere. "Wait, where is it?!"

"Your comic?" The young alicorn blinked in surprise. "I don't know, Spike. You were the last one to have it."

The little dragon looked all around in his basket and his immediate surroundings. But it was as if the comic had vanished into thin air. Now he was starting to think to himself. "Was it all just a dream? Or was it something else?"

S4 E20: For Whom The Sweetie Belle Toils (What If?)

It seemed like just another day at Carousel Boutique, even considering that Rarity was working on a dress for a very important client, and Sweetie Belle was getting ready for a play she was putting on with her friends. Both sisters wanted their big plans to turn out just right.

Sweetie Belle couldn't help but grow worried as the time ticked by. Rarity had assured her they would leave with plenty of time, once Sweetie provided some last minute assistance for the dress. It was a white gown with yellow bands surrounding it, the bands having blue outlines and gems stitched into them not unlike the feathers on a peacock's tail.

The fashionista, as usual when working with orders like these, was wearing her ruby red sewing glasses.

At last, Sweetie could wait no longer. She desperately called out to her big sister. "Rarity, come on! I have to leave for dress rehearsal soon! I can't keep everypony waiting! Aren't we done yet?!"

Rarity frowned as she looked at her work more closely. "Hm, not quite," She remarked in a displeased tone of voice. "It's nearly there, but it's missing something. A certain... je ne sais quoi as it were," Then she proposed. "Perhaps it needs... appliqués."

Sweetie eagerly rushed away to grab them, returning in an instant with an entire hooffull! "Appliques! Got it!"

Still, Rarity wasn't satisfied. "Or maybe sequins." She suggested.

"Sequins!" Sweetie Belle insisted again and grabbed some, only to trip and fall due to carrying too much in her hooves.

The fashionista rose from her desk, immediately using her magic to pick up both the appliques and the sequins from her little sister. All the while she tried not to sound upset. "Listen, Sweetie Belle, it's nice that you want to help me out like this. I adore it, really. But..." She trailed off, unable to bring herself to finish the sentence.

The young unicorn sheepishly replied. "I guess I got a little bit carried away. I know you've been working hard to get these dresses finished for Sapphire Shores and her back-up dancers. It's all you've talked about for weeks."

The older unicorn nodded her head. "Indeed. Sapphire Shores is the pony of pop, after all. And her Equestria-wide tour launches in Canterlot next week! Which means that she must have these outfits by day after tomorrow at the latest! I can't afford any more delays."

Sweetie then asked. "But there's still time, right?"

"Yes, barely," Rarity confessed as she trotted back to her desk. "But I work well under pressure. If I stay calm, I'll do just fine." And she began gluing the bands onto the back of the dress, turning her back to her little sister in order to be able to concentrate.

Yet it was than that Sweetie Belle massaged the back of her neck with a hoof and made a last minute request. "Then... maybe you could... actually, never mind. I don't need to make you do even more work. I'm sure they'll be just fine as it is."

But the fashionista picked up the faintest hint of concern in her little sister's voice and spun around. "What is it, Sweetie Belle? Is there something you wanna tell me?"

The younger unicorn reluctantly admitted with a sigh. "Well, if you want to, I guess you could maybe check the stitching and finish the buttons on the dresses I made for Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and myself. I know this is just for a school play, but I'd really like them to look good. And... I just don't have your touch when it comes to fashion." She blushed ever so faintly.

"Oh, is that all?" Rarity said with a laugh, adjusting her glasses. "How could I refuse, Sweetie Belle? When have I ever said no to you? Besides, you've been a big help," Smiling, she then asked. "I'll get right to work on those dresses after I put the finishing touches on this little number here. When do you need your dresses, if you don't mind me asking?"

Sweetie gulped and swallowed hard. "Tomorrow night, for the opening night of the play. This was kind of a last minute decision on my part. I thought I'd have time to fix them myself, but I don't think it's gonna happen."

The fashionista was taken aback by her little sister's statement. The scissors she'd been levitating fell out of her magical grasp, and landed on her desk with an audible thud. "Oh, Sweetie Belle, I wish you'd told me that sooner!" She scolded. "I'm already behind schedule as it is! Now you want to add more to my workload? Why couldn't you have brought this up sooner?"

The unicorn filly sighed. "I just forgot to ask," The way she delivered her statement made it sound almost as if there was more to it than that, especially with how guilty she was looking. "I understand if you can't fix them in time. 'The show must go on' as they say."

Yet Rarity couldn't bring herself to turn her little sister down. Putting a hoof to her chin, she contemplated. "I suppose... if I got a few more ponies to help me, then maybe I could..."

Sweetie Belle didn't wait for Rarity to finish her sentence! She instead hugged her big sister tightly and happily exclaimed! "Oh, thank you thank you thank you thank you! You're the best sister ever, Rarity!" Then she pointed a hoof to a rack of rather ugly and unappealing looking dresses. "They're right over there," She insisted. "Just make sure they're ready for the play tomorrow, okay?"

"I'll... see what I can do." Rarity reluctantly replied, realizing that the dresses for her little sister's play would be a very big undertaking. She was more right than she thought that Sweetie Belle had held off telling her about the dresses until now. Yet she couldn't have known that this "request" from her little sister was going to unknowingly cause problems for the both of them. And it would teach them both a lesson stemming from an unresolved issue in their past.

Dress rehearsal for the play the Cutie Mark Crusaders were putting on went off without a hitch, despite them not having the dresses they were intended to wear for it. Sweetie Belle assured everypony that they would be ready in time for opening night the next night, and that Rarity was working hard to make sure they were finished.

When the next night came, the three fillies were waiting backstage as ponies from all over town started flocking to the local playhouse. The seats were filling up fast, and the play was due to begin in a matter of minutes. However, the dresses hadn't arrived, they were still with Rarity. That was a problem.

Cheerilee came barging into the dressing room, nervously prancing back and forth. "My goodness, girls, it's time! And the audience is almost fully seated! Costumes!" She clapped her hooves, only then noticing that the costumes weren't there! "Hey, where are the costumes?! They were supposed to be here by now!"

Sweetie Belle nervously insisted. "They'll be here any minute, I swear! Just tell everypony to wait. We'll get the show started as soon as we can."

"Alright, alright! But if this show doesn't start in the next five minutes, things are gonna get ugly." Cheerilee warned, and trotted away to try to stall for time.

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom exchanged worried glances as Scootaloo commented. "I can't believe Rarity still isn't here with the costumes. What could be taking her so long?"

Sweetie immediately protested. "She's been very busy lately! I told you that yesterday!"

Apple Bloom then questioned. "But how can she still not be here? She's known about this for weeks, right?" When she saw Sweetie Belle give off a suspicious glance, the farm filly pressed further. "Uh, you did tell her about the play weeks ago like you said you would, right?"

The unicorn filly's eyes darted all around, realizing she'd been exposed. She reluctantly confessed. "I kept meaning to ask her, I really did. But you don't understand! This play means a lot to me, more than it does for either of you girls. It was my idea to try this in the first place, I had to practically sweet talk you two into it. And I worked so hard on this play: I wrote it especially for the three of us! I directed it, I'm in it, I made the costumes... It's just that this is really my time to shine doing something completely myself, and I really wanted to keep it that way! I knew if Rarity found out she'd get carried away, insist on making the costumes perfect. And I'll bet that's why she's not here," She groaned. "She's probably making some last minute 'adjustments' that she doesn't need to make."

Apple Bloom then pointed. "So? I thought we wanted everythin' to be perfect. After all, all our friends came out to see it tonight. Heck, your parents are gonna be in the audience. You told us they were cuttin' their latest trip short so they could be back in Ponyville to see your big debut."

"Yeah, I know I'd want everything to be perfect if my folks were watching something important in my life!" Scootaloo insisted. "If we do it just right, we may even get our cutie marks for it. That's why you should've told Rarity sooner. If we go out there without costumes, the play's gonna be a disaster!"

A nervous looking Cheerilee then poked her head back into the dressing room. "The five minutes are up, girls. Costumes or no costumes, we have to go on!" She stomped a hoof down. "Places! Now!"

Yet it was just then that Rarity came panting it, a small clothes rack being towed along with her magic. She was nearly out of breath, but she managed to force out! "Oh, I'm here, I'm here!"

"You made it!" Sweetie commented with delight! But her joy soon turned to frustration and anger when she saw that the dresses had been almost completely redesigned. They looked bright, flashy, and elegant. "And I see you went ahead and made a ton of extra changes."

The fashionista willingly confessed. "I couldn't help myself. Your original designs were just not that good, Sweetie Belle. I couldn't let you and your friends go on stage in such horrible attire. You'd be the laughing stock of the town. It is for the first play you ever wrote, after all, so I made quite certain it came out just so. If you had asked sooner, this wouldn't have been a problem."

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo eagerly took the new costumes into their hooves, though Sweetie Belle was considerably more hesitant to do so.

Cheerilee didn't care, she just reiterated her earlier demand. "Places! Hello?" There was no more time to argue, the play had to begin.

The curtain soon rose on the play that the Cutie Mark Crusaders would put on. A spotlight shone down on the three fillies as all eyes fell upon them, and on the finely detailed costumes they were wearing. Apple Bloom was wearing a long, flowing red dress with yellow bands and patterns. She wore a matching hat that was tall and pointy. Scootaloo wore an oversized hat roughly in the shape of a heart and colored a bright blue. Her dress was also blue, with darker blue stripes throughout. And around her neck hung a pendant with a purple jewel in the center.

As for Sweetie Belle, she had on a large pink dress with a bright pink bow tied on in the back. There was a light pink collar, and bluish-white bands in the portion of the dress in the back that stretched down to her hooves.

The audience seemed to be impressed if the whispering of oohs and aahs was anything to go by.

Sweetie hoped that the dresses weren't commanding too much attention as she cleared her throat and spoke her lines with practiced precision. "Feareth not, fellow ponies. Forsooth, I do hereby cometh forthwith with glad tiddings for thou, miladies."

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom bowed in respect as Sweetie Belle approached them, herself bowing to them.

The whole play seemed to go off without a hitch. When it was over, the audience members rose to their hooves and gave a thunderous applause that seemed to echo everywhere! They kept on appluading even after the current had fallen across the stage, signaling the end.

The excited fillies trotted back to the dressing room to take off their costumes, and to take a moment to process all that had happened. "Wow! A standin' ovation!" Apple Bloom commented in amazement.

"I still have goosebumps!" Scootaloo exclaimed.

"I just wish Rarity could've stayed to see it," Sweetie Belle remarked. "At least that would make up for her going overboard on the dresses. I appreciate her help, but she doesn't have to always make everything 'perfect'."

Apple Bloom then pointed out. "I think these costumes were great. They're better than anythin' we could've come up with on our own," Eager to change the subject, she proposed. "Regardless, I'll bet this is a dream come true for you, huh, Sweetie Belle?"

Scootaloo then chirped! "Can you imagine if this show is how you got your cutie mark?!" She then exclaimed! "Ooh! We should check our flanks right now!" The fillies promptly lifted up their dresses, only to find that their flanks were still blank.

Sweetie wasn't bothered for a moment. "Well, it was worth a shot. And we didn't do this just so we could hopefully get our cutie marks. Remember, we've learned not to obsess over them. We'll get them when we get them, and they'll be well worth the wait," Then she pushed all thoughts of cutie marks to the back of her mind, taking a deep breath as she told her fellow Crusaders. "Let's try not to get carried away, okay? We have to go back out there, and we know we've got ponies ready to shower us with praise. Try to be gracious."

"Modest." Scootaloo added.

"Classy." Apple Bloom chimed in, and then she followed Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle as they took off their costumes fully and headed for the door.

The reception area of the playhouse was indeed packed with ponies, Hondo Flanks and Cookie Crumbles among them alongside many school aged ponies that the Crusaders knew from Cheerilee's class. Some turned to look when the door at the other end of the room swung open, but others went on talking as if they'd heard nothing.

Sweetie led her fellow fillies along, happily wearing a pair of sunglasses she'd happened to come across by chance. She felt it would compliment the look she wanted to give as a star of the show. She then loudly boasted for all to hear. "Here we are, the stars of the show!"

Apple Bloom added. "You may now tell us how much you loved it. Don't hold back."

And Scootaloo encouraged. "Line starts here."

Yet there seemed to be an awkward silence among the other ponies, almost as if they'd forgotten there had been a play in the first place.

Fortunately, Spike was present to give the Crusaders some much needed praise. He'd stayed for the whole thing, and if the look on his face was anything to go by, he had quite enjoyed it. "Wow, you guys! That was incredible! I think your sisters would have loved it if they'd been able to stay!"

Nervously, the farm filly asked. "Would have?"

The little dragon nodded quite slowly. "They specificially asked me to stay and watch for them. They wanted to stay themselves, but they all had to go help Rarity get Sapphire Shores' wardrobe ready to take to Canterlot in the morning."

"What? Even Rainbow Dash?" Scootaloo blinked in surprise.

Spike nodded again. "Yeah, Rarity fell way behind. Having to basically redesign Sweetie Belle's dresses from scratch only made it worse."

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo looked down at the ground in disappointment and let out mutual groans of "Aw man."

Sweetie, meanwhile, muttered something to herself along the lines of how she "knew this would happen". It was already clear she was not pleased with all the changes Rarity had seen fit to make at the last minute.

Sensing the unhappy mood among the Crusaders, Spike looked to them with a smile. "Hey, cheer up! The show was great, really. And I'm sure everypony else here thinks the same," Then he offered. "Now wait right there, I'll go get you three some punch. We'll have a little toast to your success." And he strolled away to get the punch.

The unicorn filly glared for a moment, before she said aloud. "Well, at least I'm sure someponies cared about things other than the dresses," And she trotted over to her parents. "So, Mom and Dad, be honest. What did you like best about the play? The writing? The directing? The acting? Maybe all three?"

Yet a lemon yellow coated unicorn took the liberty of stating aloud. "Oh my, I- I loved the dresses." And many other ponies in the audience all nodded their heads in agreement, some more reluctantly than others.

"Really? Even you?!" Sweetie Belle glared at her parents.

Nervously, Hondo Flanks lifted up his straw hat to massage his mane. A bead of sweat started to trickle down his face. "W-well I... I... I liked some of those lines you said, Sweetie. Right, hon?" He asked as he not so secretly nudged his wife in the side with a hoof.

Cookie Crumbles was slow to get the signal, but when she did so she immediately insisted in a nervous tone of voice. "O-oh, yes. W-we both did."

"Which ones?" Sweetie insisted as she pressed both her parents on their answer.

Hondo and Cookie looked across to each other, as if hoping the other would bail them out. Neither one did so, however. And Hondo was eventually forced to confess. "I'm... sorry, I can't remember which ones they were off the back of my head. I wasn't really paying attention, but I do know you were a nice pink dress when you said 'em. You sounded really confident."

Cookie smiled, her earlier nervousness forgotten! "Ooh! I liked that one almost as much as the ones Scootaloo and Apple Bloom were wearing. Looked like they were lifted right out of a fairy tale. I tell ya, Rarity really outdid herself. Those outfits put the ones she made for her first play to shame," And she added. "I swear, I don't know where she got her fashion sense from."

The unicorn filly, meanwhile, growled and grunted! "Really?! Really?! The dresses were the only thing anypony noticed?! Not the sets, not the acting, not the writing or directing, nothing else?!" She hoped somepony would speak up and prove her wrong, but nopony did. It seemed like Spike was the only one who had at all acknowledged something about the play besides the dresses. And that frustrated her to no end! "This is just what I feared! Rarity stole the spotlight from me, again!" She angrily thought to herself!

Back at Carousel Boutique, Rarity's friends were helping her to put the finishing touches on all of the dresses she was take to Canterlot in the morning. Fluttershy was serving as the model for an elegant headpiece similar in color and design to the bands on the dress Rarity had been working on before.

Fluttershy held as still as she could as Rarity levitated the headpiece onto the pegasus pony's head. "All of this is one headpiece?" She asked the unicorn.

The fashionista nodded, before bringing forth her sewing needle to stitch a mostly invisible pattern into the piece's "eye". "Indeed. It's the crème de la crème of the entire wardrobe! But without this key hidden stitch, it's really just a..." She paused and put a hoof to her chin. "-Well, I'm trying to think of a nicer way to say 'big bummer'," Then she set her sewing needle back down and breathed a small sigh of relief, deciding not to dwell on that lack of a good word. "Now, perhaps we should all finally take a moment to relax!"

At that moment, a visible irritated and upset Sweetie Belle came storming into Rarity's bedroom (where the last work on the dresses for Sapphire Shores were being completed)! She even slammed the door behind her, drawing attention to herself in the process! "How could you do this to me, again?!" She immediately shouted at her big sister! "You just couldn't resist, could you?!"

Rarity's friends could immediately sense what was brewing, and none of them wanted to have anything to do with this awkward sibling squable that was about to unfold. "Um, I think maybe I'll go take that moment to relax now." Fluttershy spoke up.

"Right behind you!" Applejack eagerly declared, and Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie all followed behind her without saying a word. Soon, they had followed Fluttershy in departing the bedroom, leaving the two unicorn sisters alone.

Now alone, Sweetie did not mince words as she locked eyes with Rarity and growled! "'Oh, what amazing dresses! Oh, how I love the dresses! Ooh, dresses, dresses, dresses, dresses!' That's all I heard!"

The fashionista was silent for a moment, then a smile broke out across her face as she thought she knew what the problem was. "Oh, so they did like them after all? Good," She then chuckled. "You really had me worried there for a moment, you silly filly."

But Sweetie Belle stomped a hoof down and turned her back to Rarity. "Aha! I knew it! You did this on purpose to steal my spotlight! Like it wasn't bad enough when you did it at my fifth birthday party."

The older unicorn blinked, surprised by the accusation. "What now?"

The unicorn filly swished her tail while keeping her back turned. "Don't act like you don't know, you know what happened. Or are you trying to be a better actress than me too?! What else are you trying to take away from me, you spotlight hog?!"

"I don't understand, Sweetie Belle," Rarity protested in an innocent tone of voice. "Whatever did I do wrong? I was only trying to help."

Sweetie spun around and pointed a hoof in accusation! "Admit you made the dresses too good on purpose!"

The young fashionista replied in confusion. "I thought they were supposed to be good."

"Yes, 'Good'. Not 'jaw-dropping amazing'!" Sweetie Belle coldly and bitterly replied. Then she stormed off in a huff. "This is exactly why I didn't want you helping me in the first place." And with that she departed Rarity's bedroom, slamming the door loudly behind her as she did so.

Sweetie Belle's bad mood did not fade once she had retreated to the comfort and security of her bedroom (in actuality the guest bedroom at Carousel Boutique, but it was the room she frequented whenever staying the night). She was pacing back and forth, grumbling and complaining to herself. "And to think I was nice to her all this week," She bitterly remarked, then started trying to imitate her big sister's voice in a very mocking and condescending way. 'Sweetie Belle, darling, get me some red ribbon, please.' 'No, that's not red, that's cherry!' 'No, that's not red, that's crimson!' For pete's sake, it's all red! What's the difference?!"

Rarity could hear Sweetie's audible complaints from the other side of the bedroom door, and so could their parents for that matter. Hondo and Cookie had brought Sweetie Belle back to Carousel Boutique after the play, and had watched as she'd stormed off to confront her big sister. Now, all three unicorns were greatly concerned. Sweetie's behavior had not changed in the hours since the play had ended.

"I should probably go talk to her," Rarity insisted as she prepared to touch the doorknob and open the door. "She has to calm down."

Yet before the fashionista could do so, she could hear her sister shouting and complaining further. "At least Sapphire Shores won't be all like 'Ooh, who fetched you that red ribbon? Because I don't care about anything else you made. All I care about is that amazing red ribbon!' It's so stupid!"

The fashionista hesitated and looked back to her parents. "On second thought, perhaps waiting would be best."

"Rarity, are you sure that's a good idea?" Cookie Crumbles asked in a concerned, motherly tone of voice. "Hondo and I heard about what happened the last time you two had a fight. We can take Sweetie Belle home, she doesn't have to stay here tonight. Maybe she'll cool down after a good night's sleep."

Rarity shook her head from side to side. "Perish the thought, Mother. You and Father already cut your vacation short so you could make it home for the play. I can't ask you to do even more for me. Besides, I already made arrangements for her while I'll be away in Canterlot. You two deserve the peace and quiet of home."

Hondo Flanks reluctantly relented. "Very well, Rarity. But if anything else happens, just call us and we'll take Sweetie Belle back until this all blows over. Celestia knows, we worry enough about her as it is with all those crazy things she and her friends get up to." And so it was settled, nopony outside Sweetie's room dared set hoof inside to try to talk to her or try to reason with her.

That night, Sweetie Belle tossed and turned in her bed. But she couldn't get to sleep no matter what she tried to do. It got so bad that she pounded her pillow and then buried her head into it. At last, admitting defeat, she threw off the bedsheets and sat up with a groan. "Now I can't even sleep! Happy now, big sis?" She grumbled, and went to get a drink of water.

Sweetie's bad mood did not fade even after she'd gotten her drink. Thoughts and feelings of revenge swirled around, dancing in her mind. "I wish there was a way I could talk back all the work I did!" She shouted loudly for all to hear. Then, by chance, she happened to overhear the sound of her big sister snoring away. Upon closer inspection, she saw that the door to Rarity's bedroom was still open just a crack. And all the dresses she had made were in boxes, ready to go to Canterlot in the morning.

The unicorn filly crept in as an evil smirk spread across her face. "Even better," She said to herself. She then approached the boxes until she found the one in which the headpiece rested. Seeing the faintly visible hidden stitch, she pulled on it and made it come undone. Then she closed up the box, leaving no evidence of what she'd done. "Sweet dreams, sis." She chuckled to herself, and went back to bed.

Sometime later, Sweetie Belle was woken from her sleep to the sound of cameras clicking and ponies chattering in muffled tones. She rose from her bed, groaning anew. "Now what?" But suddenly, she found she was no longer in her bed but instead sitting on a large, wooden stand. And just as suddenly, a stage appeared.

Onto said stage trotted out a well dressed earth pony stallion and mare. They approached a podium at the end of the stage, and the mare spoke loudly for all to hear. "And now, the moment you've all been waiting for. The winner of the 'Best Writer, Director, Actor in an Awesome Play Put on by a Pony and Her Awesome Best Friends' is..."

After a moment of silence, the stallion declared. "Sweetie Belle!"

Sweetie shook hooves with ponies she didn't remember being there a moment ago. Then she strolled up to the stage to accept her award: A large, golden trophy depicting a pony standing on their hind legs.

Then, without warning, there was a clap of thunder and it began to rain. All the ponies in the crowd and even those on the stage took off, running to find whatever shelter they could.

Desperately, the unicorn filly shouted to the crowd! "No! Don't go! Come back!" But her pleas fell on deaf ears. The trophy melted in her hooves as if it were made of butter. Looking up by chance, she saw that the rain was coming from a large storm cloud that had the shape of her big sister's face.

The cloud was laughing and cackling with glee, clearly having delighted in what it had done.

Sweetie Belle shouted up at the cloud! "Why do you have to always rain on my parade?! Why can't you ever let me just have the spotlight to myself for once?!"

The cloud did not reply with words. Instead, the Rarity face lit up its horn and cast a bolt of lightning down towards the filly!

The bolt never hit its target. Instead, it bounced off a light blue bubble as a voice shouted above the tempest. "Enough!" Just as quickly as it had appeared, the storm cloud vanished. In its place, hovering in mid-air, was an alicorn with a dark blue coat and moderate cyan eyes. Her mane and tail were sapphire blue with grayish blue outlines, and they flowed just like Princess Celestia's mane and tail were known to do. Her cutie mark depicted a crescent moon and was surrounded by a black splotch on her flank, a similar marking appeared around her neck.

Sweetie recognized this alicorn in an instant! "Princess Luna! It's really you!" She happily gasped and ran towards the alicorn. Then a thought struck her. "Unless, this is all just a dream."

"What do you think, child?" Princess Luna questioned in a gentle but firm tone.

"Well, let's see: You just rescued me from a maniacal laughing Rarity-cloud," The unicorn filly pondered. That alone told her everything she needed to know. "Yeah, pretty sure I'm dreaming."

The night princess descended from above, landing on the stage that still remained part of the dream. She spoke in what sounded like a sympathetic tone, telling the child. "I understand what you're going through, Sweetie Belle. I too have a sister who often shines more brightly than me. And with this, I have struggled. That's why I'm here tonight. I'm here to help you." Then she took off into the sky as she unfolded her wings to either side of her.

Despite knowing that it was a dream, Sweetie Belle chased after the lunar alicorn as best as she could! "Wait, come back! Luna?" She called, only to receive no reply. Then there was worse to come as the stage she was on disappeared. She hovered in mid air for a second or two, then tumbled over and over again. Yet as suddenly as this falling sensation had come on, it ended just as abruptly.

The scene had now changed, Princess Luna was standing besides Sweetie Belle as the two were inside the interior of a house. Several colts and fillies, looking quite young, had all gathered inside the house for a special occasion.

Blinking her eyes, Sweetie realized what this "dream" actually was. A memory long since passed, but one she had never forgotten. "This is..." She gasped! "It was my fifth birthday party! I remember."

"Then you also know what happened?" The alicorn questioned.

Sweetie nodded as she raced up the stairs and passed through the door of one particular room. "Yes. I wanted to make a grand entrance. So I made myself look beautiful, just like my big sister." And a much younger version of herself could be seen standing next to a large mirror on a bedstand. She was wearing a long, flowing dress a lovely shade of blue. And was clumsily applying lipstick that turned her lips a shade of pink.

Cookie Crumbles was standing nearby, watching the whole scene as she couldn't help but giggle.

Just then, there was a knock on the door. From the other side, the familiar voice of Hondo Flanks called. "Aren't you done yet, Sweetie Belle? Everypony's waiting for you."

Without even looking to the door, Cookie called back. "She'll be down in a minute, dear. And so will I. Just go back to wrapping the presents," Then she looked at the younger Sweetie Belle, saying to her daughter. "Alright, Sweetie Belle. That's quite enough. Rarity will throw a fit if you use up all of her make-up."

The younger filly obeyed her mother's request. She jumped down from the stand she'd been on and clumsily trotted to the bedroom door. Her dress made walking difficult, she ended up tripping (which caused the lipstick to smear all over her face). Fortunately, her mom quickly helped her back up and led her away.

The older Sweetie watched, well aware of what was about to happen. "I headed downstairs, ready to enter like the belle of the ball," She unhappily sighed. "But when I got to the final steps, I saw the party was already going on without me. I kept posing at the top of the steps, waiting for somepony to notice me. But all I heard was-"

There was no need for Sweetie to say anything, the voices of the colts and fillies attending the party spoke for her. "These party favors are the coolest!" One cheered.

Another said to Rarity. "These are awesome! Where'd you get these? I've never seen party favors like this before."

Rarity, looking only slightly smaller than she did in the present, happily replied to the foals. "I made them myself. And of course, you'll all want cake, right?" She promptly held up a slice of cake on a dish.

The foals all cheered in delight as one shouted! "You're the greatest, Rarity!"

A glasses wearing filly then proclaimed loudly. "Who needs a birthday girl when you've got the birthday girl's amazing big sister?"

Those words cut right through the heart of the younger Sweetie Belle. She forgot all about trying to make anypony notice her. With tears in her eyes, she ran back up the stairs before anypony could stop her!

"Wait, Sweetie Belle!" Cookie Crumbles hollered as she chased after her youngest daughter, only to arrive in time for said daughter to slam the door to her bedroom shut. Try as she might, Cookie couldn't get the door to open. Even lighting up her horn was no good, she wasn't magically skilled enough to move the door knob. She kept pounding on the door, trying to get Sweetie to open it. But to no avail.

The present Sweetie had seen the whole thing play out. Looking across to Princess Luna, she sighed and lamented. "That's when I learned to never try to shine when my big sister was around. I was glad when she moved out and took over that boutique. It meant I didn't have to worry about her ever stealing my spotlight again. Until now, that is."

Princess Luna arched an eyebrow upward and frowned. "Is that so? Well, did you ever ask anypony else about that day? Perhaps you didn't have the whole story."

"What do you mean?" The unicorn filly blinked. "I thought you said you understood me, Luna."

Rather than reply with words, the night princess shut her eyes and stomped a hoof. The entire dreamscape changed: Now princess and filly were watching the same memory unfold, but from a different perspective. A frustrated Hondo Flanks had briefly emerged from the kitchen, covered in wrapping paper and bright colored bows. Rarity was standing in the living room, keeping watch over the foals as a birthday cake with unlit candles rested on a large table.

One of the foals looked at Rarity and Hondo and asked them. "Where's Sweetie Belle? What's taking her so long?"

"S-she's just getting ready for her big day," Hondo nervously insisted. "I'll... just make sure she's okay." And he raced upstairs to do just that, leaving his older daughter to manage the impatient crowd alone.

But almost as soon as Hondo had left the scene, a filly lying upon a large, purple couch yawned. "I'm tired of waiting. Why have a birthday party if the birthday girl's not gonna show up?" Then she looked to the other foals. "I say we get out of here before we all keel over from boredom. Who's with me?" Unsurprisingly, all the other foals agreed with her.

Desperately, Rarity threw herself at the door, blocking the foals' exit. "Wait! Don't go!" She nervously insisted, levitating over a large box. "You'll miss out on the... party favors." She set the box of party favors down, allowing the foals to grab as many as they wanted.

Soon, the exact same conversation that Luna and Sweetie Belle had witnessed earlier played out again. But this time, after the younger Sweetie from the memory had turned around and run back upstairs, the past Rarity was insisting. "Oh, no-no-no. All of these things were Sweetie Belle's idea. I just assisted with the execution. This is her birthday party, after all."

The present Sweetie was now racked with guilt as she realized what had really happened on that fateful day so long ago. "Rarity wasn't trying to steal the spotlight from me, she was trying to save my birthday party," Then she asked herself. "How did I never know until now?"

Princess Luna only shook her head from side to side in disapproval. "Once we allow jealousy and resentment to seep in, we allow it to color our point of view. Then it's not so easy to get rid of it. Even if you had asked your parents or Rarity, you would not have believed them if they'd told you," Then she turned to the child. "Come, there is another memory you must see tonight. Our time is short."

The memory of Sweetie Belle's fifth birthday party faded away completely, replaced by a large void filled with stars that stretched as far as the eye could see. Princess Luna trotted ahead with ease, and Sweetie followed as best she could.

Upon reaching the end of a star covered road, the unicorn filly felt herself be suspended in mid air again. It almost felt like she was floating, she even swore she saw dolphins swim past her. Then, she was at the night princess' side again as the two ponies were inside of Carousel Boutique. More specifically, inside of Rarity's workshop.

"Where are we now, Luna?" The unicorn filly questioned the moon princess, only to receive no reply.

Rarity was not aware of the presence of either her little sister or the princess of the night. She was instead contemplating some last minute changes to the dresses she'd made. "Let's see. Should I hem the cloaks now or wait until I'm there tomorrow?" She bit her lip. "I could hem them now, but I might have to redo them later. That would be a hassle."

Knowing that Rarity couldn't see or hear her, Sweetie inquired of Princess Luna. "When was this?"

Rarity prattled on, weighing her options. "But if I wait until I'm in Canterlot to hem them, Sapphire Shores might not get the best first impression. I don't want her to think badly of me. Why is this so difficult?"

Sweetie Belle blinked in realization! "Wait, this must be from earlier tonight!"

The fashionista, meanwhile, was trotting over to a mirror and eyeing herself as she lamented aloud. "Ooh... Sapphire Shores is such a big star and such a stickler for details. What if everything's not perfect enough for her? This could be the big break I've been waiting for. I don't wanna mess it up. Why do I do this to myself?"

The unicorn filly was surprised to hear her big sister sound so conflicted and unsure of herself. "It's funny. I know I stole her diary once, but I just thought she was exaggerating the way she always seems to do. But this is what she's really like? I thought I knew her. Guess I really don't know her the way I thought I did."

As for Rarity, the memory came to an end as she stubbornly and assertively told herself. "Buck up, Rarity! Stop this foolishness this instant! You've done your best and left nothing to chance. There's nothing left to do but to get a good's night rest." And she trotted off with the boxes in tow to do just that.

Now the dreamscape got dark, very dark. The source of illumination made the two ponies in look more images from a photo negative.

The guilt was welling up inside of the young unicorn as she hesitantly looked to the night princess. "Oh, I hope everything goes okay for her tomorrow."

"Hm, how curious you should say that after what you've done." Princess Luna ominously replied, looking rather displeased with her charge if the frown upon her face was any indication.

Sweetie Belle gulped, swallowing hard as she insisted. "I... I didn't know it was this important!" And she looked to the alicorn. "Please, tell me there's still time. That I can undo what I've done."

Just then, a door opened, casting a faint and ominous white light on the surroundings.

Princess Luna pointed a hoof to the door and ominously told the filly. "Go. Go see for yourself what the future holds if you should fail to reign in your worst insticts, like I once did." And the white light grew brighter, flooding everything in sight!

When the light faded, Sweetie Belle saw herself looking at a scene she'd hoped not to see! She was in Canterlot, and Rarity was about to present her sabotaged headpiece to Sapphire Shores.

"No! Don't!" Sweetie insisted and tried to rush forward to prevent the worst case scenario from happening. Yet she found that she couldn't move, it was as if her hooves were magically binded to the floor. Trying to move caused her hooves to turn sticky and gooey, like a melted marshmallow.

Meanwhile, an unaware Rarity had brought the box containing the headpiece to Sapphire Shores. With a smile, she proudly declared. "And here it is, Sapphire! The crème de la crème! The piéce de resistance..." Using her horn, she levitated it out of the box and onto Sapphire's head.

For a moment, everything seemed just fine. The back-up dancers oohed and aahed, impressed by the headpiece's remarkable design. But the moment soon passed, and the headpiece fell apart, much to everypony's shock!

Sapphire Shores looked down at what was left of the headpiece, and frowned as she watched Rarity try in vain to reassemble it. "Looks like I made a mistake here." She bitterly declared.

The frantic fashionista whimpered. "But, but this is impossible! I, I, I checked and rechecked everything! This couldn't have happened! I swear!"

"You sure about that, honey?" Sapphire remarked as she turned her back on Rarity. "Seems to me like you were hoping to impress me with something far below my high expectations. Well, I won't make that mistake again. And neither will anypony else."

"No! Please, you must give me another chance! I'm a good dress maker, I swear!" Rarity whimpered in fright, tears beginning to stream down her face.

"Listen to my sister! It's not her fault, it's mine!" Sweetie Belle tried to plead with the ponies inside of Sapphire's dance studio. But it was no use, nopony could see or hear her.

To make matters worse, Sapphire Shores and all her back-up dancers began to laugh and jeer at Rarity's misfortune. They seemed to think the whole thing was amusing, even hilarious.

Poor Rarity burst into tears, sobbing audibly! And Sweetie suddenly found herself running atop her big sister's mane. She then slipped off, flying straight into Rarity's mouth! She frantically grabbed onto the tongue, only to lose her grip and fall down further! "Okay, Luna! I get it!" She insisted as everything went dark. "Please! I don't wanna see any more! I want to go home!" But her pleas were in vain, the nightmare continued to play out.

The scenes changed rapidly. Rarity had shut herself up inside her boutique, which was now overrun with dust and cobwebs. Not a single dress was being sold. "Always check and recheck." She said to herself.

The scene soon changed to show Sapphire Shores standing on a stage, above which was projected the image of Rarity's face. And with a smirk she told an audience that had assembled before her. "Who wants to hear a funny story about my ex-costume designer?" The crowd replied with cruel laughter.

The fashonista became more desperate as she was practically shouting while looking at her dresses! "Check, recheck, recheck, then recheck!"

Things kept playing out like a record stuck on repeat. Amidst the never ending horror, however, Sweetie Belle desperately hollered and screamed into the void! "Make it stop, Princess Luna! Can't you hear me?! I want it to stop! Please!"

But one more horrifying scene unfolded before the frightened filly. Fluttershy was gently knocking on the door to Carousel Boutique, asking politely. "Make me a dress, Rarity, please?"

Rarity only snapped back with bloodshot eyes and a messed up mane and tail. "Go away, Fluttershy! You know I don't do that anymore!" She slammed the door in Fluttershy's face, and began rocking back and forth inside her run down boutique, no longer even talking to herself.

Now Sweetie was frantic! The filly shouted at the top of her lungs! "Wake me up, Princess Luna! I'm begging you! Wake me up, wake me uuuup!"

The voice of Princess Luna faintly replied. "Very well. But you know what you must do."

Then it seemed that the unicorn filly's pleas were finally answered, as she woke up in her bed at Carousel Boutique with a start! Light was already pouring in through her bedroom window, and it took Sweetie a moment to catch her breath and realize where she was. Even if what she'd seen had all been just a horrible nightmare Princess Luna had subjected to, she knew that there was only one way to ensure it wouldn't ever come to pass. She had to undo her sabotage, if it wasn't already too late to do so.

Desperately, Sweetie Belle threw off her bedsheets and jumped out of bed with a start! She raced right into Rarity's bedroom, relieved to see the boxes were still there. "Oh, good, there's still time." She said to herself.

"Indeed, there is," Rarity declared as she came trotting into her bedroom. "Time enough to get you over to Sweet Apple Acres before I have to leave for Canterlot. It's not up for debate, I won't have time to watch you and complete my order for Sapphire Shores."

"What? But... but you can't go!" Sweetie insisted as she threw herself at one of the boxes. "You... you just can't!"

The fashionista was most surprised by her little sister's sudden clingy behavior, it was most odd. Still, she pryed the filly loose with her magic and patted her gently on the forehead. "Oh, I know you probably really want to see all of Canterlot. But we already agreed you would stay in Ponyville and spend the night with the Apples. I promse, if all goes well, I'll be back first thing tomorrow morning. Now come on, I don't have time to waste on your childish games, Sweetie Belle."

The unicorn filly could only watch in horror as she was pulled away from the boxes, including the headpiece that had yet to be fixed. Why was this happening?!

Rarity was as good as her word. She soon had ushered her little sister across town to Sweet Apple Acres, then leaving to return to her boutique and get everything ready for the trip to Canterlot.

A glum looking Sweetie Belle reluctantly trotted up the steps to the clubhouse where her fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders were waiting for her. "Hey girls." She reluctantly greeted.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo immediately took notice of their friend's unhappy state, and dropped any plans they'd had that involved her. "Hey, what's with the long face?" Scootaloo was the first to ask the question. "Is something wrong?"

Sweetie sighed, hanging her head in shame. "It's kind of a long story." She tried to sum it up as best she could.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo listened carefully and intently. When it was finished, neither of them could speak.

The unicorn filly sighed again. "And that's my story. Now I have to figure out some way to stop Rarity from showing off that headpiece to Sapphire Shores. If I don't, it's going to end badly. I just know it! Oh, if only I still had more time! If only I hadn't pulled out that thread!"

Apple Bloom excitedly proclaimed! "It's too bad we can't go to Canterlot! I'd love to see Sapphire Shores, I'm such a huge fan of hers! I even know all her songs!"

"Me too!" Scootaloo happily nodded back. "Like 'Get Your Pony On'!"

"Ooh! That's one of my favorites!" The farm filly eagerly declared with a grin.

Sweetie just shook her head in disapproval. "Girls, this isn't about Sapphire Shores! It's about trying to save Rarity from a terrible future that I will cause."

"Serves her right!" Scootaloo said with a smile!

Sweetie Belle gasped and glared at her friend! "What?! How can you say that?! Rarity doesn't deserve that at all! It'll be my fault if anything happens to her!"

But the tomboyish pegasus replied. "No, 'Serves Her Right' is another of Sapphire's big hits."

And Apple Bloom questioned. "You seriously didn't know that?"

The unicorn filly looked up and willingly confessed. "I... kind of prefer show tunes, personally," That made her friends and fellow Crusaders gag and groan with annoyance. Then, suddenly, it dawned on her! "Wait! It just came to me! I know how I can fix this!" Her eyes lit up as she brought her two friends close. "And you're gonna help me. You'll distract Rarity long enough so that I can slip in, fix the headpiece, and put it back without her ever noticing I messed with it."

"Why not just tell her the truth?" Apple Bloom proposed.

"No! I have to fix this!" Sweetie firmly insisted. "What Rarity doesn't know won't hurt her," She then raced to the clubhouse door. "Come on! We have to hurry! Rarity's probably almost ready to leave for Canterlot! We have to stop her before it's too late!"

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo rushed after their fellow filly, trying to keep up with her even as they wondered how they might keep Rarity distracted for a prolonged period of time.

As luck would have it, Rarity had just finished packing up the last of the boxes that contained all the dresses and related materials she had made for Sapphire Shores. She was now departing Carousel Boutique, ready to catch the train to Canterlot and meet with Sapphire face to face.

Sweetie Belle saw this from afar and skidded to a halt, waiting for her friends to catch up. When they did so, she whispered to them. "Okay, you two just keep Rarity distracted. And don't tell her about the headpiece. She can't know about it, or she'll get really mad with me."

"But... what are we supposed to say?" Scootaloo asked as she and Apple Bloom had to pause to catch their breath.

"Anything, as long as it keeps her from noticing what I'm doing," The unicorn filly insisted and pushed her two friends forward. "Go! Now! I'll be right behind you, I promise!"

Nervously, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom trotted forward, unsure of what to say or do as they still approached Rarity.

The fashionista blinked in surprise at the sight of two of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. "Apple Bloom? Scootaloo? Whatever is going on?" She questioned them. "I'm very busy right now, I don't have time to stop. I must be on my way."

"But... but... you can't leave yet!" Apple Bloom hastily protested. "Swe... er, Scootaloo and I were just wonderin'..." She looked across to the tomboyish pegasus and suddenly got an idea. "Can we go with you to see Sapphire Shores?! Please?! We promise we won't get in the way."

"Yeah!" Scootaloo eagerly nodded, while glancing over her shoulder from time to time in the most unusual way. "We're huge fans of Sapphire Shores! This could be our only chance to see her in pony."

"And why isn't Sweetie Belle interested in going with you?" Rarity pondered as she momentarily set the boxes down around her.

The farm filly groaned and rolled her eyes. "She told us she's not a fan of Sapphire Shores, at all. But no way are we gonna let that keep us from goin'."

"So can we go? Please?!" Scootaloo pleaded with the best pair of pleading, puppy dog eyes she could muster up. "We already talked with Apple Bloom's family and with my parents. They said it would be okay."

The fashionista sighed. "If it were any other occasion, I would probably say yes, girls. But I can't this time. My meeting with Sapphire Shores is extremely important. I can't risk anything distracting me. I won't have time to keep an eye on you two. And you know how much trouble you get up to as it is."

"No!" Apple Bloom and Scootaloo said in unison as they threw themselves at Rarity's hooves! "We won't cause any trouble! We swear!"

Rarity simply pushed the two fillies aside. "I'm afraid it's not up for argument. You're going to make me miss my train. I promise, when Sapphire launches her Equestria wide tour next month, I'll get you both tickets for when she comes to Ponyville. You can go see her then." She then promptly began picking up all the boxes she had set aside earlier, only to discover to her shock and surprise that one was missing!

Sweetie Belle had made her move in the brief amount of time her fellow fillies had bought her. Lacking her big sister's skill with a horn, she had grabbed the box with her hooves and pushed it back into the boutique as fast as she could.

Rarity was only made aware of the location of her missing box when she heard the front door of the boutique slam closed behind her! She gasped, spun around, and raced to it! But before she could open it, she found her way blocked by Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. "What is the meaning of this, girls?!" She glared at them through narrowed eyebrows.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo maintained innocent expressions and smiles. They didn't know what they could or should say.

Meanwhile, Sweetie had frantically pushed the box across the ground floor of the boutique. And then, for good measure, she rushed to hastily try to lock the door so Rarity couldn't come barging in and catch her. "That was too close!" She thought to herself, breathing a small sigh of relief.

Then, much to the filly's surprise, she saw that there was somepony else inside the boutique with her. A pony that looked like Princess Luna, but much bigger and with a gleaming white coat. The unicorn filly recognized her at once as Princess Celestia. And she reached what she thought was a logical conclusion from the sun princess' presence. "Oh, good. This is all still just a dream."

But Princess Celestia shook her head to dispell such hopeful speculation. "No, this is all very much real, I'm afraid."

Sweetie Belle sighed, hanging her head in shame as she let it rest against the box containing the still sabotaged headpiece. "Then, why are you here? Come to tell me how wrong I am? Because I already know. I shouldn't have done what I did. I just wish none of this had ever happened in the first place."

Celestia smiled as she lifted the filly's head, looking her deep in the eyes. "We all make mistakes, Sweetie Belle. My sister told me everything, and she told me that you would need my help. She is not normally a morning pony, or she would've come herself," Lighting up her horn, she brought forth a sewing needle and a roll of thread. "Now, why don't we begin with this? Luna gave me an idea on how we can not only fix the headpiece, but make it even better."

A short time later, Rarity had pushed aside Scootaloo and Apple Bloom and was preparing to unlock the door to the boutique.

But there was no need, Sweetie Belle came trotting out with the box containing the headpiece, all the while looking rather guilty.

The fashionista unicorn tried her best not to sound too upset with her little sister, even as she demanded. "I would like to know what in the wide, wide world of Equestria this stunt of yours is all about, and I want to know now!" Locking eyes with her sister, she added. "Do you have any idea how important this job is to me?"

Sweetie confessed. "Actually, I do. I was upset with you because I thought you stole the spotlight from me at the play yesterday, so I pulled out the center stitch to the headpiece so it would fall apart when Sapphire put it on."

"You did what?!" Rarity gasped in disbelief! Even Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were surprised that Sweetie Belle had confessed to her act of sabotage!

The unicorn filly then explained to her big sister. "But then I realized I didn't want your future to be ruined forever and ever, so I came back to change it before it was too late! So... here it is. It's all fixed. Please forgive me."

Rarity opened up the box, inspecting the headpiece very carefully. When she did so, something caught her eye that made her hesitate! "Wait a minute... what exactly is this supposed to be?"

Sweetie Belle flashed an innocent smile. "I know it looks strange, but trust me on this. Sapphire Shores is going to love it!"

"In that case," Rarity said with a smile. "We'd better hurry if we don't want to miss the train. Sapphire Shores doesn't like to be kept waiting."

"Can my friends come too? I promise they'll behave, and we'll go back to Ponyville as soon as this is over." Sweetie insisted.

"Only if you'll grant me the honor of letting me catch an encore performance of your little play," Rarity insisted in reply. "It's the first one you've ever put on by yourself, after all."

Sweetie shook her head from side to side. "If I'm being honest, the play wasn't that good. Your dresses were really the only good part of it."

"I'll be the judge of that!" The fashionista insisted as she wrapped a hoof around her little sister. "Now come on! The train will be leaving at any minute! We must hurry!"

Luckily for Rarity and the Cutie Mark Crusaders, they were able to board the train and get Rarity's boxes safely stored for the trip with only a moment to spare. The train ride to Canterlot was one of excitement for Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, who were eagerly looking forward to a chance to get to meet with the legendary queen of pop herself: Sapphire Shores.

Upon arriving in Canterlot, Rarity went straight to Sapphire's dance studio, coming upon the earth pony mare when she was in the middle of a rehearsal. Fortunately, it was wrapped up very quickly as Sapphire instructed. "Rarity, come on up here and show me what you brought me! Sapphire wants to see it and to love it!"

"With pleasure!" The young fashionista insisted, and brought forth several boxes.

Eventually, there was only one object left to present: The headpiece that Sweetie Belle had "modified". Sapphire wasn't quite sure what to make of it at first. "My, it is attractive, but..."

Sweetie then insisted. "Look at the stitching, real close."

That's exactly what Sapphire Shores did. She trotted over to a mirror and gave the headpiece a careful inspection. When she did so, she noticed that something had been sketched nto the "eye" of the object. Namely, a dolphin. "Well, I'll be. It's a dolphin!" She eagerly exclaimed! "That's my lucky animal! They swim with me in my dreams," And to Rarity she then said. "Alright, you've convinced me. I'll take it, and the entire ensemble! My tour is going to be one for the history books, all thanks to you, Miss. Rarity."

Rarity smiled, happily hugging her little sister before asking her. "Wherever did you come up with the idea for a dolphin, Sweetie?"

The unicorn filly vaguely replied. "Well, it... came to me... in a dream," She delivered the last part of the sentence with a knowing wink. Then, to her sister, she apologized again. "I'm sorry I got jealous about those dresses, and brought up my fifth birthday party. I know now that you were only trying to help, like you always do."

The fashionista smiled. "Oh, Sweetie, I'm glad you understand. I've been trying for years to make you see that, but nothing I did worked," Then she pointed out. "But if you had just told me about what you did last night, there wouldn't have been a need for the dramatics. Next time you break something, tell me right away so I can fix it. Understood?"

"Yes, Rarity." Sweetie nodded, smiling back at her sister.

Author's Note

While this episode is usually seen as one of Season 4 and the show's better ones, it's not entirely without fault or things that could be improved upon. The third act was really the only thing that needed major reworking, I feel like the climax could just as easily take place in Ponyville without sacrificing anything of substance.

I also felt like, at least in the flashbacks, Hondo Flanks and Cookie Crumbles needed to be present. Their absence creates a bit of confusion regarding the fifth birthday party and whether they tried to do anything during or after it. My inclusion of them here was to try to resolve that issue.

Lastly, my decision to replace Princess Luna with Princess Celestia for the climax stems from a very odd one-off detail. Princess Luna's voice inexplicably changes for this episode when she shows up in the waking world, but it never again takes on the tone she uses. It almost feels like Tabitha St. Germain was originally slated to voice a different character, and it got changed to Luna at the last minute. Plus. it kind of contradicts with Season 7 showing that Luna is normally not a morning pony (or at least an early morning pony).

~~The Best Night Ever~~
~~Sweet and Elite~~
~~Castle Mane-Ia~~
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~~For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils~~
The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows
Stranger Than Fanfiction
Student Counsel
Between Dark and Dawn

S5 E21: The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows (What If?)

At Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie Pie was trying her best to top a personal record she'd set quite a while ago. She was now counting off a list of freshly decorated and iced cupcakes, even though the only audience she had consisted of Gummy and Pound Cake (who seemed much more interested in giving his pacifier to Gummy when he thought Pinkie wasn't looking).

The pink party pony climbed down from a ladder, admiring her work and counting to herself. "Let's see here: Five hundred and sixty-six, five hundred and sixty-seven, five hundred and sixty-eight," Then she paused and wiped the sweat from her brows. Trying to break this record was quite a challenge. "What do you think of that, Pound Cake?" She asked the pegasus toddler, not noticing he didn't have his pacifier in his mouth. "I am so close to breaking my personal cupcake-icing record! Just a few more and I'll have beaten it! I'm getting pretty good at this."

Pound Cake briefly looked at the cupcakes, then turned his attention back to Gummy as he tried to climb on top of the baby alligator.

Just then, Mrs. Cake came trotting in with Pumpkin Cake on her back. The plump baker was currently holding a piece of paper in one of her hooves, which seemed to be where her attention was focused. "Oh my goodness! I can't believe what I'm seeing here!"

Pinkie smiled. "Oh, I know. It's pretty impressive if I do say so myself. I can't wait to throw a party to celebrate me breaking my own record!"

But Mrs. Cake didn't turn her attention or gaze away from the paper in her hooves. "Not that, Pinkie. Something's come up," And she asked the pink party pony. "Since Carrot's out shopping for the twins, would you mind watching the counter while I pop to the supply room real quick? We've just received a very special order from the Crystal Empire, and the ingredients need to be perfect. It's for the royal couple, after all."

Pinkie Pie happily nodded. "Okie-dokie-lokie. Can do." And she gave a small salute.

Mrs. Cake breathed a small sigh of relief. "Thanks, dear! You're a life saver!" And she zipped away, unintentionally dropping the paper in the process.

Being quite the curious pony, Pinkie naturally couldn't resist taking a peak at what was on the paper that had just been dropped onto the floor. After making sure nopony was looking, she snatched it up and her blue eyes scanned the paper left and right. What she read nearly made her eyes pop out as she gasped, happily exclaiming! "A baby?! Shining Armor and Princess Cadence are having a baby?!" She let out a happy squeal! "Oh, this is the best news ever!" Then she added. "Wait 'til I tell Twilight she's gonna be an auntie! It'll totally freak her frizz!"

Yet just then, Mrs. Cake poked her head out from the kitchen. Upon seeing the paper in Pinkie's hooves, she realized that the pink party pony now knew what was giving the plump baker so much trouble. Nervously, she cautioned. "Oh, Pinkie, you weren't supposed to find out just yet. Shining Armor and Princess Cadence did say they want to tell Twilight the news themselves when they come here to get the cake. So, you know, keep it a secret until then." And she made a shushing motion with her hooves as she dipped back inside (Pumpkin Cake imitating the gesture as she continued to ride on her mother's back).

Pinkie Pie's happy mood immediately faded, replaced by one of great worry. "What? A top secret surprise?! But that means I have to keep the exciting news," She gulped. "To myself! Oh, what am I gonna do?!" Sighing, she said to herself. "Well, I Pinkie Pie do hereby Pinkie Promise myself that I will keep this secret no matter what it takes!" She repeated the motions to herself while chanting. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." And with that, she had binded herself to this vow.

What the pink party pony couldn't have anticipated was just how hard it was going to be to keep herself from blabbing the secret, especially to Twilight.

Hoping to get her mind off her troubles and avoid having to think about the secret she had unintentionally found out about, Pinkie decided to go out for a walk. And so as to avoid being alone with her thoughts, she took Gummy with her. She apparently hadn't noticed that the baby alligator still had Pound's pacifier in his mouth.

A sigh of regret escaped the party pony's lips as she lamented aloud. "I know I didn't make the Pinkie Promise to Mrs. Cake, Gummy. But I made it to myself. It's a promise I have to keep. It's only for a day or two, really. I can keep it to myself until then. If I told Twilight, that would be bad! That would make me a... a... a big old surprise ruiner! Right, Gummy?" She paused and asked the baby alligator.

Gummy just replied with a few suckles on the baby blue pacifier in his mouth.

Pinkie couldn't help but giggle as she pulled the pacifier out and held it aloft. "Did you take that from Pound Cake again?" She playfully scolded him. "I know, I know, he's getting to the point where he doesn't need it as much. But he hasn't outgrown it yet. He and Pumpkin Cake only just started potty training, you know. And it's wrong to steal from a baby, no matter how old or how big they are."

Just then, a very familiar voice happened to call out. "What's all this about a baby?" A moment later, a rather confused looking Rarity appeared before Pinkie's very eyes.

Pinkie Pie broke out into a nervous sweat. Her eyes darted all around as she suspiciously denied. "What? Who? What? Who said something about a baby?! I didn't say anything!"

Rarity wasn't fooled. "Don't be daft, Pinkie. I know I heard you. You said 'baby', I'm sure of it. Whatever were you talking about? Is something wrong with the Cake twins?"

"N-no, you're just hearing things! I didn't say anything!" Pinkie insisted. Then, thinking quickly, she took the pacifier and popped it into her own mouth to keep herself from talking.

Rarity found the behavior quite strange, even by Pinkie Pie standards. But she sensed she wasn't going to get any answers from the pink party pony, so she instead told her. "Well, in any case, Twilight told me to tell you she wants all us to meet her at her castle right away. She says she has something very important she wants to share with us," And then she trotted away, though not before frowning and grimacing. "I do hope you'll wash that... thing before you give it back to Pound Cake."

Pinkie watched Rarity trot away, then yanked the pacifier out of her mouth and breathed a faint sigh of relief. "Boy, keeping that Pinkie Promise is gonna be harder than I thought." She said to herself, already dreading what the next twenty four hours would be like, even as she trotted along to travel to Twilight's castle.

A short time later, Pinkie Pie reached the crystal castle and quickly made her way to the throne room. All her friends were there too, as was a very obviously excited Twilight given the noticeable smile on her face.

"Great! You're all here," Twilight beamed. "Now I don't have to wait any longer to tell you all the wonderful news I just received!" And without waiting for anypony to ask her, she told her friends. "Someponies very special are coming to visit Ponyville, and I need your help getting everything ready for their visit!"

The five other mares in the room began excitedly chattering amongst themselves (except for Pinkie Pie, who remained suspiciously silent).

Clearing her throat, Twilight began. "It's..."

But Pinkie interrupted, unintentionally saying aloud at the same time as Twilight. "-Shining Armor and Princess Cadence!"

The young alicorn blinked in surprise, before she resumed talking. "-Y-yes, and they're coming here-"

"-Tomorrow!" Pinkie Pie interrupted again.

Again, Twilight was left surprised and confused. Yet she continued speaking. "Right. And it'll be-"

And once again, Pinkie interrupted, finishing Twilight's sentence for her. "On the Friendship Express rather than the Crystal Empire train so as not to cause too much of a scene when they skip town to come visit. Right?" As she spoke she had gotten up from her seat and was now pressing her snout right into Twilight's at the opposite end of the table.

The young alicorn nodded quite slowly. "Y-yes. That's all true, Pinkie."

Then the pink party pony vaguely and suspiciously asked. "And?"

Blinking anew, Twilight just replied. "And nothing. That's it. I even re-read the letter just to be sure," She put a hoof to her chin. "It is kind of odd they're coming to Ponyville so suddenly. Come to think of it, I don't think I've really heard from them since Cranky and Matilda's wedding. I guess life in the Crystal Empire must keep them busy."

"Y-yes, very busy." Pinkie Pie commented, sounding rather upset about the apparent lack of anything further.

Rainbow Dash couldn't help but ask of her pink party friend. "Uh, how did you know all that? Did they tip you off or something?"

Pinkie shook her head and stretched out her neck not unlike a giraffe. "It was just... 'Pinkie Sense', that's all."

Rainbow then coughed into a hoof as she watched Pinkie return to her seat. To Twilight, she then asked. "So, you said you needed our help with something, Twilight?"

The young alicorn's bright smile returned as she rose from her seat. "Indeed I did. Follow me." And she led her friends away without another word.

As it turned out, Twilight had somehow managed to convert an entire guest bedroom within the castle to look like something a little colt would have. There was even a toy chest, a miniature train set, and posters depicting a unicorn stallion with a glowing ring of some sort around his horn.

Rainbow Dash was the first one to speak up and offer her sentiments on the room! "Sweet posters! Is that Smash Fortune on them?"

Twilight happily nodded. "You bet it is! Shining Armor told me he wanted to come to the castle and visit with me for a while," She then teased. "He's been joking about old he's been feeling lately, so I figured I'd help him feel young at heart again. I've been gathering up things he liked when he was a colt as a surprise! And boy is he going to be surprised when he sees all of this with his own two eyes!"

"What? A surprise?!" Pinkie Pie commented as she dove into the toy chest, before placing a toy helmet over her head and spinning it around to block her mouth as she gave off a nervous laugh.

Twilight's smile grew brighter as she confirmed. "Indeed. And I've been so excited I can barely keep it to myself! It's so hard!"

"I have no idea what that's like." Pinkie insisted in a tone of voice that was not as innocent sounding as she wanted it to be. For a moment, she thought she saw everypony glaring at her. But the moment passed and nopony said anything.

Fluttershy had her attention drawn to something she found equal parts adorable and fascinating. "Aww, look at the cute little ant farm!" She cooed, not appearing to notice when she made one of the ants inside become frightened by the presence of her big eyes.

Spike, meanwhile, had opened a cabinet and found several comic books in a protective bag. "Whoa! Check out these old comic books! I didn't know they still exisited!"

"Be careful!" Twilight warned the little dragon. "They're mint-in-bag! You can't exactly find these at a store, you know." And she watched as Spike hesitantly put the books back without touching them any further.

Then Pinkie happened to pull out a small, stuffed turtle in shades of green and orange. "Hey, what's this?" She asked.

Smiling, Twilight trotted over and explained. "That's Brutus Force, Shining Armor's snuggle buddy when he was a colt. He used to take him everywhere, carry him around like his baby."

Upon hearing the word "baby", Pinkie began noticeably un-eased. She shuffled her front hooves as she hastily put the stuffed turtle back where she'd found it, and tried to look as innocent as she could. "Uh, yeah!" She said in between fits of nervous laughter. "R-real cute!"

Rarity saw fit to add her own sentiments. "Well, it is a bit juvenile for castle décor, but it is very sweet of you to do this for your brother."

"And I'm sure Shining Armor will love it when he sees it," Fluttershy commented with a smile. "I know I would."

The young alicorn smiled back, delighted that her friends all seemed to think that her decision was a good one to make. "Me too. But there's a few more things that I'd like to add before he gets here, and I could really use a hoof collecting them. It was already hard enough just getting some of the things you see here. I wasn't sure I could get my hooves on Brutus Force, but I'm lucky my mom held onto him after Shining outgrew him."

Applejack then offered. "Whatever you need, sugarcube, we'll help you get it. You can count on it!" And the rest of Twilight's friends all nodded in agreement.

"Thanks, girls!" Twilight said to the five other mares. "You're the best, really!" Then she giddly exclaimed! "Ooh! I can hardly wait until Shining Armor walks in here and sees it all!" Then she giggled. "And Cadence's reaction will be great to see too! I'm sure it'll bring back memories of when she used to foalsit me!"

Rainbow Dash could only comment. "Well, if you ask me, watching somepony else be surprised with something is almost better than being the one who's getting the surprise! Nopony in their right mind should take that away from somepony!"

Pinkie seemed to think otherwise as she crawled out of the toy chest and made her way across the floor. "But... but... but what if the surprise is something so incredibly exciting that a pony can't keep it in any longer, and they just have to tell the pony standing next to them what it is or they might explode?!" When she finished that sentence, she grabbed a hold of Fluttershy.

Fluttershy was silent for a moment as she looked at Pinkie Pie, and then in no uncertain terms told the party pony. " I would say... no. You can't do that."

And Rarity ominously declared as she trotted up and pressed her snout against the pink coated earth pony. "The pony who ruins a surprise for somepony else has to live with that guilt," Pausing for dramatic effect, she then declared. "Forever!" Yet she was quick to ask her friend as if her last words had meant nothing. "Is there something you wanted to tell us, Pinkie? Something you weren't supposed to tell us?"

The pink party pony bit her lip, unsure of what to say or do. She eventually shouted at the top of her lungs! "Gotta bounce!" And she began bouncing all about the room, not unlike a pinball! Pretty soon, she had broken through the solid crystal wall of the room and disappeared into the distance.

The strange behavior of their friend did not go unnoticed by the other mares, but only Rainbow Dash seemed to see fit to ask. "So, I know the bar is set pretty high, but does anypony else think Pinkie Pie was acting weirder than usual just now?"

"She certainly has if you ask me," Rarity commented with concern. "Just what has gotten into her today?" No one in the room seemed to know why that was, however.

Pinkie had stopped bouncing once she was outside Twilight's castle. But that was only so she could run all the way back to Sugarcube Corner. She hastily slammed the front door shut behind her and started panting heavily with fright! The reality of what she'd almost done back at the castle terrified her completely. "That was way too close, Gummy!" She said to the baby alligator, who just blinked back at her. "I almost broke my Pinkie Promise and spilled the beans! Beans that would've been really hard to clean up!"

After taking a few deep breaths to calm down, the pink party pony promptly proclaimed. "I obviously can't be around my friends right now. Or anypony else for that matter! I'll blab for sure!" And that meant there was only one solution in her mind. "Wait, that's it! If Shining Armor and Cadence are coming tomorrow, then all I have to do is lock myself in my room away from everypony until they arrive! Then I won't ruin anything! It's the perfect plan! Why didn't I think of it sooner, Gummy?!" And she trotted upstairs, prepared to do exactly what she had said she was going to do.

Before Pinkie could get very far, however, Mr. Cake happened to spot her. Unaware of what was going on, he called out to her. "Oh, there you are! I was just looking for you," And with a smile he explained. "I need to help Cup Cake get everything ready for the crystal couple's visit tomorrow. That means I need you to cover for me on the deliveries. They're very important. And you specifically promised you'd be my back-up."

"I did?" Pinkie Pie blinked, suddenly recalling a memory from several weeks ago.

In the flashback, Pinkie had been mixing up a bowl of chocolate. All the while, Mr. Cake was inspecting the wagon he used to make deliveries for ponies who placed carry out orders. It had red and white stripes, and had a pie for a symbol painted on both sides. "Boy, these deliveries are taking more and more out of me every day," He lamented. "And the twins are not making things any easier for me," Putting a hoof to his chin, he contemplated for all to hear. "Maybe I should hire somepony to be my backup delivery pony. But who?"

Pinkie, in stark contrast to how she would feel a few weeks later, eagerly volunteered. "I'll do it, Mr. Cake!"

"Really?" Mr. Cake asked, surprise by his young baking apprentice's quick offer of help.

The pink party pony nodded. "Sure. I can't imagine I could ever have anything that might interfere with doing that task or make it impossible to do. Not even a gigantic, emotionally exhausting surprise that would make it super hard to be around other ponies."

The lanky stallion was surprised by the specificness of Pinkie's vow. Still, he took her up on her offer. "Great!" Though he had then asked. "Uh, you sure you won't maybe change your mind later?"

Pinkie Pie shook her head from side to side. "No way! I Pinkie Promise you I will be your back-up delivery pony come rain, or shine, or snow, or whatever the weather," And she repeated aloud the words while imitating the motions that went with them. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!"

The flashback ended as the reality hit the present Pinkie Pie square in the muzzle. "Oh, yeah. I Pinkie Promised I'd do it," She unhappily and unfortunately realized. Her mood only slightly perked up as she insisted! "And I never break a Pinkie Promise! Never ever!"

Mr. Cake smiled as he trotted away. "Well, thanks again, Pinkie Pie! You're a real cake-saver! I mean it!"

Only once Mr. Cake had gone into the kitchen to be with his wife did Pinkie unhappily deflate, her whole body going flat not unlike a balloon when all the air had been let out of it. But then she had an idea. A hope, really, as she said to herself. "Maybe it'll be a quiet day and I can just avoid everypony!" With that hope in her heart, she strapped herself to the delivery cart and set out to make the rounds.

Alas, the pink party pony's hopes were soon rather abruptly dashed when she saw that all of Ponyville was out and about today. The chances of her avoiding everypony seemed slim at best. Still, she trotted along, hoping she could make the deliveries without having to stop and talk to anypony at all.

Yet Pinkie hadn't been trotting along with the delivery wagon for very long before she was approached by none other than the Cutie Mark Crusaders. It had only been a few days or so since they'd finally gotten their cutie marks.

Apple Bloom was the first of the Crusaders to speak up. "Hiya, Pinkie Pie! Got a moment to talk?"

Without bothering to wait for a reply, Sweetie Belle added. "Heard any good gossip today? Or any gossip at all?"

And Scootaloo chimed in with a groan. "Yeah, we're bored. There's nothing to do. Please say you have some interesting news."

"Nope!" Pinkie Pie replied and quickly raced away without looking back to the Crusaders! But she still forgot to pay attention to where she was going, and as a result she bumped straight into one of her friends: Fluttershy. "Fluttershy, what a surprise!" Then she gasped and quickly corrected! "I mean not a surprise to see you!"

Fluttershy, suspecting nothing, simply commented. "Twilight wanted me to tell you, Pinkie. You were in such a rush earlier that she didn't get a chance to ask. She was hoping you could bring some snacks to the castle for when Shining Armor and Cadence come to visit."

"Oh yes! Definitely! I can do snacks!" Pinkie spoke, talking a mile a minute. "Pinkie Promise and everything!" Against her better judgement, she then asked. "What kind of snacks should I bring?"

The animal loving pegasus proposed. "Maybe some baby carrots."

The pink party pony nearly gasped, and hoped she had somehow misheard her pegasus friend. "Uh, what did you just say?"

Fluttershy repeated quite clearly. "Baby carrots. They're Shining Armor's favorite, or so I'm told."

Pinkie nervously bit her lip as she began to prattle on. "O-oh, they're my favorite too! Baby carrots are kinda like big carrots but smaller, kinda like how foals are tiny versions of their parents but smaller and cuter and-" Out of the blue, she shouted at the top of her lungs! "Oh my gosh! An albino squirrel!"

Fluttershy spun around, looking in the direction she'd seen Pinkie point her hoof. "Where?" She didn't see anything. She turned back to ask Pinkie Pie if she'd been mistaken, only to find that the earth pony had disappeared. In fact, where Pinkie Pie had been there was now a stallion who looked almost exactly like Fluttershy in every sense of the word.

Meanwhile, hiding in the safety of a back alley, the pink party pony was getting desperate! She'd already come close to spoiling the secret after she'd Pinkie Promised herself she wouldn't. And she hadn't even made the deliveries yet. So that meant there was only one thing to do! "It's time to kick this operation into hyper-hoof and avoid all ponies by any means necessary!" She proceeded to execute a series of incredible elaborate (and probably unnecessary) movements to deliver pies, cakes, and other tasty treats without anypony seeing her or having a chance to talk to her.

They included doing such thing as floating a cake on a small boat sent out into the middle of a pond, zipping by and dropping off pies via a zipline (nopony bothered to look up), or even just delivering boxed desserts to a doorstep and then disappearing after ringing the doorbell.

Mircaulously for Pinkie, her plan worked. She got all the deliveries done on time, and didn't have to talk to a single pony. The secret was still safe.

Despite knowing she had held onto the secret and not disclosed it, a small part of Pinkie Pie was beginning to have regrets and second thoughts about her abrupt act of silence. As she was making her way back to Sugarcube Corner with the empty delivery cart, she stopped near a window where a light pink coated unicorn filly with a light yellow mane and tail styled into a curl was having a drink.

"It didn't feel good ignoring my friends like that... " Pinkie said as she held a conversation with her conscience. Then she peered through the window while contemplating. "Maybe I can tell just one little pony the surprise if I make them promise not to tell anypony else?"

But the words of Rarity from earlier rang clear in Pinkie Pie's mind. She could even picture Rarity's disapproving faces as the words ominously echoed. "The pony who ruins a surprise for somepony else has to live with that guilt forever!"

The pink party pony shook her head, realizing what she was about to do. She had Pinkie Promised herself that she would keep the secret a secret, telling anypony for any reason would be breaking that promise. And that was a big no no. She turned away from the window while sulking. "You're right, spooky-reflection-of-Rarity-that-I-know-is-actually-my-own-imagination. I can't tell anypony at all! I can't ask them to keep it a secret if I'm not able to keep it a secret. I want Twilight to be surprised." And she then trotted back to Sugarcube Corner, continuing to take great care not to let anypony see her for any reason.

Never was Pinkie more relieved than when she returned to Sugarcube Corner. To her great relief, she found that neither of the Cakes needed her for anything, not even to look after the twins. She could finally retreat up to her bedroom and stay there until Shining Armor and Cadence arrived the next day. That's precisely what she intended to do as she trotted upstairs, locking her bedroom door shut behind her and throwing herself onto her bed. "Ah, finally!" She sighed. "I'm all aloney on my owney. Nothing left to do but to stay out of sight until Twilight gets surprised tomorrow."

But just as the earth pony was prepared to call it a day and get some rest, her wandering blue eyes happened to spot Gummy trying to chew on a piece of paper. Since he didn't have any teeth, all he could do was get the paper really wet. "Hey, whatcha' got there, Gummy?" She asked her pet as she trotted over and pulled the soggy parchment out of his mouth. "I didn't forget to feed you again, did I?" Then she looked at the piece of paper, and her eyes went wide as she realized with horror! " Oh, no! It's the list that Twilight helped me make yesterday so I wouldn't forget all of my Pinkie Promises today!"

Gummy just blinked, seemingly oblivious to his master's distress.

Pinkie prattled on, moaning to herself. "I have three more things to do! Four if you count bringing those snacks to Twilight's castle! And there's still my promise to myself not to ruin Twilight's surrpise!" She then commented. "Boy, I've been making a lot of Pinkie Promises lately. Maybe I need to start being more careful about when I make them and who I make the promises to." Still, promises were made. And promises had to be kept.

The first of these promises involved Pinkie Pie making balloon animals for all the colts and fillies at the Ponyville school house. This included the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

One by one, all the school children lined up outside. And one by one they all came trotting up to Pinkie, making requests of her as they saw fit.

"Ooh! I want a flamingo! Make me a flamingo!" Sweetie Belle asked, and was soon rewarded as Pinkie weaved a bunch of balloons together.

Apple Bloom was next. "Make me a goldfish!" She requested, and her request was soon granted.

Then Scootaloo approached. Unlike her fellow Crusaders, however, she didn't make a request for a specific animal. She instead said simply. "Surprise me!"

So Pinkie took out a bunch of pink and white balloons, and started thinking about what sort of animal she should make for Scootaloo.

As it so happened, however, the pink party pony was momentarily distracted by the crying of a baby not too far away. Her eyes became drawn to it, and her mind started to wander.

Scootaloo suddenly interrupted. "Hey, isn't that a baby bottle?"

Pinkie Pie looked back, and gasped with alarm upon seeing that she had indeed somehow made a baby bottle out of balloons! She hurridly grabbed it and tried to shape it into something else. "Er... no, no!" She insisted. "It's a... a..." But she was unable to think of a good reply, and she couldn't really turn the balloon bottle into anything else. Her mind was drawing a complete blank at the moment, thinking about babies and about the big secret she was still trying to keep. She hastily gave the bottle to Scootaloo. "A puppy! Yeah, that's it!"

Scootaloo wasn't fooled for a second. "You sure? It looks like a baby bottle to me. Can I get something else, please?"

But Pinkie just shunted the tomboyish pegasus filly aside. "Sorry, you'll just have to come back some other time!" And she hastily called out! "Next!" She wanted to forget all about babies and baby ponies.

A disappointed Scootaloo reluctantly took up the balloon baby bottle, grumbling in disappointment and trying to ignore the stares she was getting as a result.

Pinkie Pie was glad when her balloon animal making was all done, and she could move on to the next Pinkie Promise she had made. This one was helping Mayor Mare with sorting out and organizing the filing cabients at town hall. That promised to be a welcome distraction from anything baby related.

Mayor Mare was more than grateful for the help, especially since she was content to let Pinkie do as she pleased more or less.

It didn't take long for Pinkie to sort out the files and get them organized into their proper cabinets. Soon, the last file had been sorted and the cabinet it belonged to closed.

Mayor Mare seemed impressed if the big smile on her face was anything to go by. "My, oh my," She happily exclaimed to the pink party pony. "Your friends weren't kidding when they said you had a great filing system, Pinkie! I dare say, you are Ponyville's best kept secret!"

Hearing the word "secret" was enough to give Pinkie cause for alarm! She hastily denied! "No I'm not!"

Mayor Mare waved a hoof. "Oh, don't be so modest. Without your help, I could've never gotten those filing cabinets organized and sorted out properly," Then she leaned close to her fellow earth pony and whispered into her ear in a hushed tone. "Speaking of secrets, have you ever known somepony else's secret? Even just a secret somepony told you themselves?"

Pinkie Pie gulped and nervously denied. "Nooooooooo." She was surprised at how long she dragged it out.

"Really?" Mayor Mare asked as she leaned in closer. "Not even one that was so big and exciting that it was all you could think about?"

Throwing her hooves over her mouth, the pink party pony forced out a cry of "Nope!", and then she took off as fast as she could!

Mayor Mare watched Pinkie disappear over the horizon, and sighed as she lamented aloud. "Oh, I was so bored. I was hoping for something juicy," Then her eyes darted all about as she hastily added. "Although, maybe I shouldn't be talking about secrets given the big secret I've been keeping." She blushed, remembering the "Gabby Gums" incident from a few years prior that had exposed the truth about her gray mane and tail. It had taken months for that scandal to die down and for ponies to forget about it.

The third and final promise not directly related to the big secret Pinkie had found out by accident seemed the simplest of all. It involved delivering an inflatable tube pony to a store in Ponyville. Pinkie Pie didn't even double check to see what type of store it was, so determined was she to have something to think about that didn't involve babies, baby ponies, or secrets. Why was today being so difficult for her on all three fronts?

The store owner was a pegasus stallion of medium build. He had a chestnut brown coat, and similarly colored eyes. He had a large five o'clock shadow all around his mouth, had a dusty brown mane and tail cut short and bushy, and wore a white smock with a blue bow tie. His cutie mark was obscured by his wings, but it seemed to be some kind of furniture.

The tube pony was inflated, and everything seemed to be okay.

"Perfect! Just what I needed to attract customers!" The pegasus stallion chortled. "Thanks for bringin' it here on short notice, Pinkie. You know how hard it is to find these things."

Pinkie Pie nodded. "Tube ponies are just another thing I keep stocked in case of emergencies. Never hurts to be prepared."

Then the pegasus stallion added. "By the way, have you heard about the big sale I'm havin'? I got inspired when a certain royal couple placed an order. Said they wanted it shipped right to the Crystal Empire, and they demanded only the best." He delivered the last part of his sentence with a knowing wink, before pointing to a poster hanging in one of the store windows.

Against her better judgement, Pinkie examined the poster and read the words printed on it aloud. "'Treat your foal like royalty'?" She jumped back in surprise! As she did so, she now saw that the store she had delivered the tube pony to was in fact a foal supply store. The very store she recalled the Cakes getting most of the twins' supplies from. But she knew that the Cakes hadn't been the ones to place the order inspiring this sale!

"Pretty good slogan, huh?" The pegasus stallion chuckled to himself as he unfolded his wings, revealing his cutie mark to display a large, wooden crib. "Cribs are my specialty. But I make sure to stock the other essentials for foals too. Figured it was the right time to have a sale, got lots of ponies lookin' to get only the best for their foals."

The pink party pony was utterly horrified by what she had seen and heard! She screamed, flailing her arms around not unlike the tube pony! And she promptly raced away from the store as fast as she could!

"What? I thought it was clever." The store owner remarked.

So it was that Pinkie Pie, her nerves already frayed to near the breaking point, brought the baby carrots to Twilight's castle as she'd promised. Little did she anticipate what was about to happen.

As soon as Pinkie had set the baby carrots down on a platter on the throne room table, Twilight came trotting up to her. "Those look yummy, Pinkie! Thanks for bringing them over so quickly," Then she dropped a bombshell. "But you really didn't have to. I'll have to cover them up so they don't get spoiled."

The pink party pony blinked. "What? Why would they get spoiled? We're all gonna eat them super soon, right?" She asked, even though she was already certain she knew what Twilight meant.

It was not Twilight, however, but Applejack who confirmed the worst for Pinkie Pie. "Oh, didn't anypony tell you yet, Pinkie? Shining Armor and Cadence are held up. They may not arrive 'til Saturday."

Upon receiving that dreaded bit of news, Pinkie Pie shot up towards the ceiling! She ended up on one of the banches of the remnants of the Golden Oak Library, which had been installed in the throne room just a few shorts months ago. "Whaaaaaaaaaat?!" She shrieked in terror, soon hyperventilating due to the shock! In between deep breaths, she panted out! "Y-you mean... I... I have to... to wait... for an entire extra day for them to get here?! Oh, I don't know if I can! I'm just barely getting by as it is! Why didn't anypony tell me this sooner?!"

Rarity then took the liberty of asking, looking up towards the ceiling to do so. "Pinkie Pie, darling, is there something you'd like to tell us? It seems like you've been keeping something in all day. I told the others about our encounter earlier, and they're all quite worried. This isn't like you at all."

"I... I can't tell you! I Pinkie Promised myself I'd keep it a secret! Especially from Twilight!" Pinkie protested, then threw her hooves over her mouth to keep herself from saying anything more.

"Is that all?" Twilight blinked. "If it's something you don't want me to know, I can go somewhere else until you've got it off your chest. It's not good to keep it inside if it's causing you this much trouble, Pinkie," She trotted to the door of the throne room. "I'll step outside for a moment. Feel free to tell the others whatever you need to tell them. I promise, I won't ask what it is if that'll make you feel better." And a moment later, she had exited the throne room.

Applejack then encouraged her fellow earth pony. "Well, go on, sugarcube. We're all ears."

Rarity sweetly added. "We're certainly not going to judge you, darling."

And Spike chimed in. "Trust me, Pinkie. Whatever it is, you'll feel much better once you get off your chest. I've learned my lesson about keeping things bottled up inside. It never did me any good, and it won't do you any good either."

"So just talk. This doesn't have to leave the throne room," Fluttershy encouraged with a wink. "We'll all keep it a secret from Twilight, then your Pinkie Promise won't be broken."

Rainbow Dash then flew up to Pinkie Pie as the pink coated earth pony was breathing heavily into a balloon. She was hovering next to Pinkie just as the balloon popped, looking her occasional prankster partner deep in the eyes. "Come on, Pinkie. Whatever it is, you can tell us. We're best friends!"

Yet then a rather surreal scene started to play out in the pink party pony's mind. The bodies of her friends disappeared, only their heads remained. And they started hovering her around like balloons, all the while chanting and repeating again and again. "Friends! Friends! Friends! Tell! Tell! Tell!"

Try as she might, the stress was too much for Pinkie to bear any longer! She groaned loudly as she put her hooves to her forehead! "A-alright! Alright! You win! I'll tell, I'll tell you everything!" She screamed! "I can't believe I'm going to break a Pinkie Promise for the first time ever, but I guess it had to be done," She paused, taking in a deep breath, then at the top of her lungs she shouted! "Shining Armor and Cadence are going to have-"

But Pinkie's confession was cut off as Twilight came trotting in with a smile on her face, proudly proclaiming. "-An awesome weekend with the best little sister and sister-in-law in all of Equestria!" In the glow of her horn, she was holding up a letter. "I just got this letter from them. Since they can't come to Ponyville, they want us all to come to the Crystal Empire. Shining Armor even says he has a big announcement he's been waiting to tell me."

"Did he say what it was?" Spike asked.

Twilight shook her head from side to side. "I already wrote him a reply telling him to wait and tell me himself when we meet face to face. After what happened with his wedding, I'd rather not be surprised by another big development happening in his life that I didn't know about," Then she added with a knowing wink. "But I'm sure whatever it is, it's going to be an announcement I'll never forget," She then looked up, seeing Pinkie Pie still hanging onto one of the tree branches. "Did you get your confession in, Pinkie?"

Pinkie Pie just replied. "It's not important, Twilight. Forget I said anything." She seemed to believe that whatever she was about to say was better off not being said.

The young alicorn simply blinked slowly in response, then said. "Very well. Forever hold your peace then, Pinkie," She turned to the rest of her friends, and to Spike. "Come on, everyone. Help me put away all the snacks and get all the stuff for Shining Armor boxed up. No sense having it around if he's not going to be coming to Ponyville."

"And after all that trouble you went through getting everything." Rarity commented.

"It can't be helped," Twilight insisted. "Now let's clean up. We have to be on the next train to the Crystal Empire, time is short." And just like that, everyone forgot all about Pinkie's planned confession, much to Pinkie's relief.

"Talk about lucky!" Pinkie Pie thought to herself as she trotted after the others. "I just have to hold it until we get to the Crystal Empire. You've come this far, Pinkie. You can do this!" But deep down, she was not so sure she could.

The minutes seemed to tick by agonizingly slow as far as Pinkie Pie was concerned. Even so, it wasn't long before she, Twilight, and all of their friends (Spike included) had boarded the train and departed for the Crystal Empire. While on the train, Pinkie took advantage of the opportunity to stay as far away from Twilight and from her friends as she possibly could. She knew they would surely try to pry again in the hopes of forcing a confession out of her. But she was so close to having successfully kept the secret, she didn't want to ruin it now.

At last, the train slowed to a stop at the station in the Crystal Empire. And Shining Armor was right there, waiting on the platform (although Princess Cadence wasn't also there with him, which even Pinkie Pie found odd).

Upon departing the train, Twilight was overjoyed to see her big brother again! She happily raced up to him and threw herself into his waiting hooves! "B.B.B.F.F.! How I've missed you!"

Shining Armor returned the hug full force, stroking Twilight's mane with a hoof. "I've missed you too, Twily. I hear you've been very busy since the last time we met. You've got your own castle now and everything. Sorry I couldn't come to see it. I was really looking forward to the trip to Ponyville."

"Hey, it can't be helped," Twilight waved a hoof as the hug ended. "I understand that you and Cadence have big responsibilities of your own," Then she asked. "But does this mean you're ready to tell me about that big surprise of yours?"

The stallion somewhat vaguely replied. "That depends. Cadence and I still have a few things we'd like to get ready. But if you really wanna know now, I suppose I can tell you."

Pinkie seemed to beside herself with anxiety. This was it, all her waiting was about to pay off!

Yet Twilight, suspecting nothing, just told her brother. "If you're not ready yet, I won't force you. Besides, who doesn't like a good surprise every now and then?"

Pinkie's mouth dropped wide open in shock! She could not believe Twilight would do this! Why drag things out even longer?!

Shining Armor smiled and then winked. "Okay, Twilight, have it your way," He chuckled as he then floated over a small scroll. "Cadence and I were hoping to do something like this in Ponyville. But when I knew we'd be delayed and that you were coming to the empire instead, I went ahead and got everything all set up. I'm sure this'll bring back memories." Then he trotted away.

Now alone with her friends on the platform, the young alicorn didn't hesitate to unfurl the scroll her brother had just given her. When she did so and read over its contents, her eyes widened and her wings popped out as she let out an excited gasp!

"What does it say?" Rarity questioned.

A big, bright, happy smile spread across Twilight's face as she explained. "It's a scavenger hunt! Shining Armor used to set these up for me when I was a filly! He'd do it every time he had some big, important development he wanted to tell me. Heck, sometimes he'd do it even when he didn't have anything important to tell me. But no matter what, whenever he did it, at the end there was always a big prize!" She shut her eyes, fondly remembering. "Often, it was a new book, or several new books, or—"

Pinkie Pie stomped a hoof down in impatience and replied in a frustrated tone! "We get the picture! You like books! Can we move it along, please?!"

"What's gotten into you all of a sudden?" Applejack pondered. "Why are you so impatient?"

The pink party pony immediately clammed up while vaguely replying. "I can't tell you." And she was relieved when her fellow earth pony decided against asking more questions.

Rainbow Dash, meanwhile, asked Twilight. "So, what's the first clue? What does it say?"

The young alicorn cleared her throat, reading aloud: "'You've got a scroll, you're on a roll, why don't you take a peek where young ones spend their week? A piece of paper will continue this caper.'," Almost immediately, the answer to the riddle came to her. "I've got it! 'Where young ones spend their week.' Come on!" And she led her friends away from the station, out into the Crystal Empire itself.

After wandering past row after row of houses, and turning and trotting up and down various streets in the Crystal Empire, the group finally reached their destination. Tucked away into a little corner of the empire was what appeared to be a hastily constructed, one room schoolhouse. Like all the other buildings in the empire, it was made of solid crystal. Compared to the one in Ponyville, it did not have a bell or a bell tower. And it didn't seem as if there were any students or teachers.

"Didn't know the Crystal Empire had this." Applejack blinked in surprise and confusion.

Twilight beamed. "I know, I only just found out about it after the royal summit. Cadence told me she was having one built, although she wouldn't tell me why."

"I bet I know why." Pinkie Pie vaguely grumbled to herself. But no one but her heard a word she said.

"Okay, so we're here now," Rainbow Dash remarked as she looked all around. "So where's this... 'piece of paper' that scroll mentioned?" She rubbed a hoof over her stomach as she complained. "I hope it to leads somewhere where we can eat. I'm starving!" And an audible gurgle from said stomach made that fact known to all.

Just then, Spike spotted something out of the corner of his eye. It looked like it had been taped to the schoolhouse door. He ran up and grabbed it, then brought it back to Twilight. As he did so, he happened to notice the paper's name printed on the top. "You're not gonna believe this, but I think you'll recognize this paper, Twilight."

Indeed, Twilight did. The title immediately grabbed not only her attention, but everypony else's. "The Foal Free Press!" She exclaimed with shock and surprise! "That's the paper for the Ponyville schoolhouse."

"And the one that had that rather unfortunate Gabby Gums incident." Rarity frowned.

"What's it doing here?" Fluttershy pondered.

Twilight shrugged her hooves. "It must be part of the scavenger hunt. I guess the Crystal Empire doesn't have a paper of their own, so Shining Armor 'borrowed' one from Ponyville. Interesting choice to make it the Foal Free Press, though," She began to look through the paper's pages, until finally she found something taped to the very last page. It was another scroll. Pulling it out, she read aloud the words printed on it. "'Though this hall is rather small, in it you'll find files of all kinds. The next clue on's a certificate in a rack, take a look at the back.'"

"So, what, now the Crystal Empire has a schoolhouse and a town hall?" Rainbow Dash questioned. "Are we sure we're in the right place?"

But Twilight giggled. "Oh Rainbow Dash, don't be silly. Of course the Crystal Empire doesn't have a town hall. But they do have a hall where they keep all sorts of records: Birth certificates included."

Spike nodded. "When Twilight and I were doing research to help Cadence prepare for the Equestria Games, that hall was one of the first places we looked. It's not as grand as Ponyville's town hall, and their record keeping isn't as organized. But it shouldn't be too hard to find what we're looking for."

"Great! Then let's go!" Pinkie Pie eagerly encouraged, and sped away as she revved her hooves up into a blur!

"Don't know why Pinkie's tryin' to rush this," Applejack frowned. "I don't know why she won't just tell us what's eatin' her. What good is to keep a Pinkie Promise to herself if it's makin' her act like this?"

"We tried to get her to tell us, and she wouldn't do it," Rarity remarked with an unhappy sigh. "I guess there's not much we can do about it now. Let's just continue the scavenger hunt, and hopefully after that we'll get some answers out of her." And then the rest of the group ran to catch up to Pinkie, certain that she didn't know where she was going.

Indeed, Pinkie Pie had no knowledge about where the "hall" the scroll had mentioned was located. But it seemed she didn't really care, she just wanted to get the scavenger hunt over with as quickly as possible for some reason. And she still refused to explain way.

It took significantly less time to find the aforementioned hall with the records after that little detour. It was a fairly small building made of solid black and blue crystals. There didn't seem to be anypony inside the hall, and the records were right there for everypony to view. They were all in various large, messy stacks. It was hard to know which ones housed the birth certificates, let alone which one of the certificates was the one that would lead to the next clue.

"So, where do we look?" Rainbow Dash questioned.

Twilight only replied. "This isn't an exact science. Just pick a pile and go from there." And she trotted away to do exactly that.

The six mares and dragon all began to rummage through the various stacks on the desk, tossing aside scroll after scroll when they couldn't find any sort of taped note or writing that could lead them to the next clue.

At last, however, Spike eagerly shouted! "I think I found it!" And all the ponies came rushing over to him, eager to see what he'd discovered.

Held up in the little dragon's claws was indeed a birth certificate. This one depicted a rather scrawny looking colt with a majestic white coat. He had a smal, whispy, moderate sapphire blue mane and tail with shades of darker and lighter blue in waves. And his eyes were an innocent moderate cerulean in color. Everypony awwed at the adorable sight.

A goofy grin spread across Twilight's face as she commented. "Hey, that's Shining Armor's birth certificate. I'd almost forgotten that he used to be so small. Apparently, Mom said he was born prematurely, and that caused a lot of problems. Can you believe this is the same pony who'd grow up to be captain of the royal guard?" Then, after taking a moment to compose herself, she turned over the certificate and took a look at the back. There was another scroll, hastily taped to the back of Shining's certificate.

Once again, Twilight read aloud: "'The furniture store is where, one could buy a table or chair. But this clue can be found in a bed, to rest a little's head.'," Then she blinked. "Don't where that could be found. Guess we'll just have to ask around and see if anypony knows where we can find a crib with a note on it."

But Pinkie Pie, utterly fed up with how long this scavenger hunt was taking and how it seemed to prolong the wait for the inevitable, raced away once again! She was determined to bring this hunt to an end as fast as possible, that way the secret she knew about could finally be disclosed to Twilight. She returned shortly with the crib, pointing to the note taped to its front. "Read it!" She requested of Twilight.

"Just a moment, Pinkie," The young alicorn insisted. "Shining Armor probably set this up to give himself more time to get ready. I don't wanna rush him."

The pink party pony just insisted. "Fine, then I'll read it!" And that's exactly what she did, clearing her throat and reading aloud: "'It seems we've saved the best for last. We hope that you have had a blast. Now it's time to take a break, come to the castle for tea and cake.'"

"Well, guess that's the end of the scavenger hunt," Spike shrugged his claws and looked to Twilight. "Nothing left to do but claim our prize, whatever it is."

Twilight firmly nodded. "I just hope Shining Armor and Cadence are ready for us."

"And I hope they don't mind if I help myself to the cake!" Rainbow Dash complained. "I am so hungry right now, it's not even funny."

And so the group made their way to the Crystal Castle, ready to partake in the celebration that they knew was waiting for them.

The group of seven reached the castle in record time, largely due to Pinkie Pie insisting they get there as quickly as possible for some reason. It wasn't normally like her to want to rush things, especially when it came to celebrations. Why was this time so different?

Well, those thoughts would be pushed to the back of everyone but Pinkie's mind when they came trotting into the castle's foyer. Shining Armor and Cadence were waiting for them, and seemed to be blocking the view to something.

Shining Armor smiled. "So, how was the scavenger hunt, Twily? Did you enjoy it? Was it just like old times?"

Twilight smiled back. "You bet it was. And it was even better than I imagined, because this time I got to share it with my friends! We should do it again sometime," Then she remarked. "Although, it seems you forgot something: The book prize at the end."

Shining couldn't help but give off a playful laugh. "Oh, there's a surprise, alright. But it's a little bit different this time. I'm kind of surprised you haven't already figured it out."

The young alicorn blinked in confusion. "I... don't understand."

Princess Cadence flashed a warm smile and explained. "Think about the clues. Everywhere you went today had something in common. Everything was there for a reason."

Twilight put a hoof to her chin, contemplating and pondering aloud as she thought over the clues more detail. "Well: We visited a schoolhouse, found the next clue in a copy of the Foal Free Press, looked at Shining Armor's birth certificate that happened to be in the empire, and the last clue was on a crib," Suddenly, it all came to her! She unfolded her wings and her eyes widened as she gasped! "No... can it be...."

Shining and Cadence stepped aside, revealing a magnificent cake in hues of baby pink and baby blue frosting. Resting atop it was a miniature display of various foal things: A rattle, a pacifier, and even a diaper. Proudly, they proclaimed in unison! "We're having a baby!"

Never was Pinkie Pie more relieved than in that moment! The secret was out, and it wasn't because of her own doing! She had kept her promise! "Yes, Twilight! A baby! Congratulations!" She started bouncing like a ball, bouncing all around in excitement!

As for the aunt-to-be, she could only stand there for a moment as the reality slowly settled in. "I... I can't believe it! I'm going to be an aunt: Auntie Twily! Ooh, it has a nice ring to it!" Then she smiled, looking to Spike. "And Spike, that means you'll be an uncle. Think of that!"

"Whoa! Uncle Spike?!" Spike gasped! "I think I like the sound of that," Then he asked the royal couple. "So... is it a boy or a girl?"

Cadence looked down to her womb, then looked up and smiled. "We don't know yet, I only just found out about a week ago. I wanted to tell you right away, but Shining here," She playfully pointed a hoof. "Insisted we keep it a secret until we got to Ponyville. Then, when we realized we'd have to stay in the empire and delay our trip by a whole day, he decided to move the celebration here. And he figured it'd be a good idea to set up the scavenger hunt. He even wrote to his mom asking for a copy of his birth certificate."

Shining playfully grinned. "Come on, Cadence! You were in on it too, hon. If you'd really wanted to, you could've blabbed at any time."

Twilight's smile only grew brighter as she hugged her brother and her sister-in-law. "This is the best news you could've given me! I love you both so much! And I can't wait to meet your little foal!"

"Neither can we, Twilight." Shining replied.

Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie was excitedly shrieking and chanting again and again! "I did it! I did it! I did it! I did it!" She then quite literally fell to pieces as she said. "Go Pinkie!"

The rest of the group slowly began to realize what had been causing their pink party planning friend so much stress. "Wait a minute," Rarity took the liberty of guessing. "Is that why you've been acting so strange today, Pinkie? Did you know about this secret all along?"

Pulling herself back together quite slowly, Pinkie nodded. "Yes. And it was the hardest Pinkie Promise I've ever seen made by anypony," She let out a sigh of relief. "There were so many times I came close to telling you girls everything, but I just couldn't do it. From now on, though, I think I need to be more careful with my Pinkie Promises. It's starting to get hard to keep track of them all."

Twilight then trotted over, pulling Pinkie into a big hug! "Well, thanks for keeping it a secret, Pinkie. I know it couldn't have been easy for you. But I'm glad that you kept your promise despite everything. I couldn't ask for a better friend."

"Aw shucks," The pink party pony faintly blushed as she waved a hoof. "It was a piece of cake, really." But when she thought nopony was looking, she turned and shook her head furiously. As relieved as she was not to have to hold the secret in anymore, keeping the secret had been anything but a piece of cake.

Cadence then cleared her throat. "Speaking of cake," She used her magic to levitate over a slice on a plate. "Would you like to have the first slice, Pinkie? It only seems fair after what you had to go through today."

Pinkie Pie smiled, happily accepting the slice of cake. "How could I possibly say no?!" She jokingly replied, and greedily devoured the slice in one bite. It was a very tasty and very satisfying reward for all she'd had to go through today.

Author's Note

Much like "For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils", this episode is actually pretty solid throughout its first two acts. And I wouldn't say the third act is bad or really brings down the story, but it does kind of feel like a stretch. Prior to that, there are only a few minor scenes that needed adjusting or tweaking, mostly in the form of odd dialogue choices such as Rarity calling Pinkie "Miss. Pie" (which I believe is the only time she ever calls Pinkie that), or Mr. Cake referring to his wife as "Mrs. Cake" even though we know what her first name is. I also decided to change the shop stallion from a furniture store to a foal supply store.

It's really the third act that needed changing. I feel like you could just as easily set it in the Crystal Empire and not have to change much. Plus, the set up required in Ponyville raises a lot of troubling questions involving Shining Armor and Cadence: They tell all these ponies who will not be involved in their child's life about the pregnancy, but they keep it a secret from Twilight without even asking if she wants to be surprised in the first place. And they don't seem to acknowledge the stress they unintentionally put Pinkie Pie through, even when Shining reveals that he knows Pinkie found out about the secret and was about to blab.

There's also the inexplicable absence of Spike, who otherwise just makes two quick cameos in the episode that are of no substance to the plot. And it feels especially jarring to have him be absent from Shining Armor and Cadence's announcement since he's part of the family too, and has no right to be excluded. It really feels like the third act of the episode was something done last minute, I wouldn't be surprised if originally the episode was going to end with Pinkie blabbing the secret because her friends convinced her it was best to tell. And then they decided that wasn't a good ending and hastily wrote something else.

So that's why the third act was rewritten the way it was, even though I know that narratively Twilight setting up the guest bedroom for Shining Armor is supposed to have a pay-off (even if it happens off-screen through a retroactive montage). I also tossed in some headcanon about things such as the age of the Cake Twins (this was the first episode where they appeared without diapers, the only sign we'd ever get of them aging), and something borrowed from a writer named FabulousDivaRarity who wrote a lot of headcanon stories involving Shining Armor and Twilight Velvet that depicted Shining as a premature child, and one with lots of development issues as a result.

~~The Best Night Ever~~
~~Sweet and Elite~~
~~Castle Mane-Ia~~
~~Power Ponies (Redo)~~
~~Bats! (Redo)~~
~~For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils~~
~~The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows~~
Stranger Than Fanfiction
Student Counsel
Between Dark and Dawn

S6 E14: Stranger Than Fanfiction (What If?)

Author's Note

This episode is very near perfect, there's really not a lot that needs to be changed. The main issue probably lies with the ending, where Daring Do just abruptly leaves Rainbow Dash and Quibble Pants to get back to the convention alone, rather than making sure they get out okay. Plus, as far as we know, Quibble never puts together the fact that Daring Do and A. K. Yearling are the same even after he learns everything else about the books is real.

We also never get a resolution to Twilight's only involvement with the episode, Rainbow Dash never asks Daring Do at any point to sign a book for Twilight. It's not the most important thing in the episode, but it is still odd that it never gets resolved on-screen as far as we know.

And, although it is a pretty minor note, Quibble doesn't exactly apologize for being so hard on Rainbow Dash and Daring Do, even though they both end up saving him.

With this, all the Daring Do episodes have now been covered one way or another. The final two rewrites are going to come out simoultaneously due to how I'll rewrite them, you'll see when they are released.

~~The Best Night Ever~~
~~Sweet and Elite~~
~~Castle Mane-Ia~~
~~Power Ponies (Redo)~~
~~Bats! (Redo)~~
~~For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils~~
~~The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows~~
~~Stranger Than Fanfiction~~
Student Counsel
Between Dark and Dawn

S6 E14: Stranger Than Fanfiction (What If?)

Daring Do found herself right in the middle of another one of her incredible, death defying adventures. And as was so often the case for these adventures, she was searching for an ancient artifact that could not be allowed to fall into the possession of those who would surely use it for an evil purpose.

The brave pegasus now found herself deep in a cave, struggling to find any source of illumination as she made her way along. She had to be careful, the path she was walking on was made of rocks. And the rocks were starting to crumble and give way!

To make matters worse for Daring Do, the cave she was in was full of snakes! Though not frightened of them anymore (she very well couldn't call herself an adventurer if something like snakes were enough to give her nightmares), she was still not exactly pleased to see them. She desperately made a leap, pulling herself up to a ledge as she saw something shiny give off a faint glimmer of light in the distance.

Fortunately, Daring was able to pull herself up fully. And her eyes fell upon the treasure she'd been searching for. A smile broke out across her face, and she momentarily pushed the sound of falling rocks and snakes hissing to the back of her mind. This was the easiest part, finding the artifact. Now came the task of getting it out without losing it, and making sure it was safely delivered to a museum. With all the threats out there that would surely desire this ancient artifact, Daring Do knew she'd have to plan her next moves carefully.

As it turned out, this "adventure" was actually a story that Twilight Sparkle was reading to Rainbow Dash. All the while the brash speedster and unapologetic Daring Do fan was flying about her home, packing up her things in a suitcase that was already stuffed to the brim. Rainbow was preparing to leave for a trip she'd been looking forward to for months. "Hey, don't stop there!" She called to Twilight. "You read, I pack! That's the deal!"

Twilight sighed and apologized. "I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash. Really," Her lips quivered a bit as she lamented. "I just can't stop thinking about all the fun you're gonna have at the Daring Do Convention in Trottingham. It's actually not that far from the Tenochtitlan Basin. You know, the place where most of Daring Do's adventures have taken place."

"What? You think I'm gonna run into trouble out there?" Rainbow retorted. "Please! I've been on Daring's adventures before, remember? You and are the only ones besides your mom who know her secret, and your mom only knows because she helps gets the books published," She delivered the last line with a knowing wink. "I can easily take care of myself if anything does happen. And I don't think it will."

The young alicorn nodded, even as she frowned anew. "Yes. But I still wish I was going with you. I've always wanted to visit a Daring Do convention, but I never found the time: As a filly, the conventions were always in far away places that my parents said were too expensive. And once I became Celestia's student, I had no time to attend any conventions, even when they might be nearby. Just my luck that I finally managed to clear my schedule for one, only to have Princess Celestia request my help with a last minute friendship summit in Griffonstone."

The brash speedster replied. "Well, maybe there'll be a convention in Griffonstone someday. Then you can always say you're going to Griffonstone on official princess business. Only you and I would know the truth," Then she promised. "But don't worry about me. I'll make sure A. K. Yearling signs your book," Folding up her suticase to the best of her ability, she then happily exclaimed! "I can't believe she's actually gonna be there, in pony! She never goes to conventions!"

Twilight sighed again, looking down at the ground and appearing to feel rather sorry for herself. The frown on her face looked like it could hang down to the ground with how big it was.

Rainbow Dash flew over, pulling Twilight in close as she tried to reassure her friend to the best of her ability. "Which, I guess, will be cool for all those other fanponies. But since you and I know A. K. Yearling personally," With a knowing wink and a hushed tone of voice she added. "And we know that she's secretly Daring Do herself, it's no big deal. Sure, the convention will still be fun and everything, but it's nothing to get too excited about."

Of course, once Rainbow had actually made it to the convention and set hoof inside the convention hall, her earlier statement to Twilight was completely forgotten! "So excited!" She happily shrieked as her eyes took in all the sights and sounds of the convention! Everything about it was themed around Daring Do and her adventures: Display stands, exhibits, even things like a ball pit and a cardboard cutout stand of Daring Do and Ahuizotl. And Rainbow Dash was, herself, wearing a custom made pith helmet designed to look like the one Daring Do always wore.

The rainbow maned pegasus then began wandering the length of the convention hall, looking around for any sign of A. K. Yearling. "I have to get her to sign the book for Twilight. I simply have to!" She vowed to herself! "If it's the only thing I do at the convention, I will get that book signed!" Little did she suspect that soon she would have far more pressing matters than a book signing to worry about. And another pony was going to unintentionally be swept up into Daring Do's latest adventure, a pony who had yet to learn of Daring's secret.

Rainbow Dash trotted up and down, admiring the attention to detail for the convention. It had gone all out to recreate Daring Do's adventures to the most faithful extent. It was like the books themselves had come to life. All that was missing was for Daring Do herself to make an appearance. And only the brash speedster knew that would be impossible.

Suddenly, an earth pony stallion of a slightly slender build stopped Rainbow right in her tracks! He had a grayish-white coat, blue eyes, a dusty blue mane and tail styled into a buzz cut, and a cutie mark depicting a yellow colored flash of light. He had a listening device in his left ear, and wore a two shaded safari green jacket with a small image of Daring Do's face stitched onto it. "Excuse me, good ma'am," The stallion spoke up in an energetic, noticeably excited tone of voice. "You look like a pony who'd be up for an all-inclusive one-of-a-kind adventu-cation, where you can get to live the Daring Do experience! But don't take my word for it:" He hoofed her a small, brightly colored pamphlet. "Read for yourself, see what you're missing out on."

Rainbow quickly turned the pamphlet back over to the stallion. "Eh, no thanks. Already did that," She chuckled, delighting in her little "secret" so to speak. Then she trotted off, hoping to find A. K. Yearling (or at least somepony who had seen her). Instead, she found a recreation of the tiled floor from the very first Daring Do book. "Ahh, what do we have here?" She questioned, and stepped onto one of the tiles. There was an audible click, and red colored streamers meant to represent lava spewed out from holes in the walls.

The rainbow maned pegasus was impressed. "Wow!" She exclaimed with wide eyed wonder. "This is the most awesome thing ever!" As she spoke those words, she became aware of another pony who had said the same thing. She turned to look at him, finding herself face to face with a sturdy and somewhat bulky earth pony stallion who seemed to be slightly taller than her.

The stallion had an organish-brown coat, eyes a moderate sapphire blue in color, a mane and tail in alternating streaks ranging from solid black to a dusty blackish-gray, and a cutie mark depicting a speech bubble. Like Rainbow Dash, he was wearing a two shaded safari green jacket (albiet one with several white and green buttons bellow the shirt color and on the front legs), as well as a pith helmet complete with several holes in it. He was not aware that Rainbow was looking at him as he spoke. "See? Now this is something that only true fans can appreciate. The attention to detail is perfect!"

"Yeah, they even put the tiles in the correct order." Rainbow commented.

"Huh. Good catch. Didn't actually notice that," The earth pony stallion admitted, then introduced himself. "Oh, excuse me. Name's Quibble Pants, I'm from Manehattan."

Rainbow Dash extended a hoof out to shake Quibble's hoof, all the while saying. "I'm Rainbow Dash, I come from Ponyville. Maybe you've heard of me?"

Quibble put a hoof to his chin. "I think I've seen your name and face in the papers a few times. Never imagined you'd be a Daring Do fan, but I guess that shouldn't surprise me," He chuckled. "It's funny, you look a lot like her."

"Yeah, I get that a lot," The rainbow maned pegasus replied. "But I'm sure it's just a coincidence," Then she hoof bumped Quibble Pants. "Nice costume, by the way."

"Same to you." Quibble commented back.

Rainbow smiled, eager to accept the compliment from another Daring Do fan. "Thanks. You should know that the hardest part was figuring out..."

"-The right number of arrow holes," Quibble responded. "Yes, I know. I pride myself on figuring it out," With a boastful smile, he held up his pith helmet and compared it to Rainbow Dash's, all the while explaining the logic he'd used to arrive at the correct number. "It was actually pretty simple when I thought about it more," He struggled to contain his excitement as he continued. "On page eighty four of Quest for the Sapphire Statue, it describes her dodging quote 'A score of arrows, shooting forth from holes in the very walls.' unquote. But then on page one hundred and seven, Daring Do herself says she quote 'Barely made it past the traps, including the barrage of arrows.' unquote. But clearly Daring Do is just embellishing and the correct number of arrows is..."

Rainbow Dash joined in saying at the same time as Quibble Pants. "Twenty!" And then they chuckled to themselves at the knowledge they shared.

At that, Rainbow forgot all about her promise to Twilight, instead saying to Quibble. "Well, why don't we check out what else this convention has to offer. It's not everyday you meet a Daring Do fan at a convention like this."

Quibble Pants smiled. "It's like you read my mind." And he was happy to accept the rainbow maned pegasus' offer to explore the rest of the convention hall.

The two fans thus went off together, and enjoyed spending time checking out the various exhibits. They even swung on ropes, walked across a fake rope bridge, played in the ball pit, and posed inside the cut-outs of Daring Do and Ahuizotl. The only thing that gave Rainbow any cause for concern was when she saw a display stand featuring a large pillow. Said pillow had a picture of Daring Do on the floor, tied up in ropes. Quibble, however, seemed to find it very amusing if the smile he flashed was any indication.

Eventually, the two fans stopped to get carrot dogs from a vendor, as well as some refreshment that was served in coconuts.

Rainbow Dash sighed, delighted to have a quiet moment to just talk to Quibble Pants more in depth. "Oh, I am so glad I ran into you here, Quibble. I had a friend who was supposed to come with me, but she had to back out at the last minute."

"You're talking about Princess Twilight, aren't you?" Quibble replied. "Guess I shouldn't be surprised that even royalty can admire the Daring Do books the way you and I do."

The rainbow maned pegasus nodded. "Yeah. Even though I knew this convention would be totally awesome, it's much more fun when you're with someone who really knows Daring Do."

The sturdy earth pony stallion nodded back. "I know what you mean. It's so hard to find a pony who really gets it. But I will not apologize for being so passionate. I love Daring Do with all of my heart. It's the first book series I ever read. And someday, if I ever have foals of my own, I hope it'll be the first book series they read too. You have to respect the classics."

"Yeah, I see what you mean," Rainbow replied, then took a look at a paper map that showed the layout of the entire convention. Something immediately caught her attention. "Hm. That's weird. We've only done stuff from the first trilogy so far. Even if they're the most popular books in the series, they're not the only ones," And she proposed to her new friend. "After lunch, we should probably start working our way back and go through the events from the other books."

But much to the pegasus pony's surprise, Quibble narrowed his eyes and frantically insisted. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. There are no other books in the series. It's just the first three and that's it. Trust me, I know. The rest is just glorified fanfiction."

"What do you mean? They're not fanfiction, they're real!" Rainbow Dash insisted, convinced that Quibble Pants was somehow mistaken. "If you're as big a Daring Do fan as I am, you'll know them:" She began listing off the names of the books that came after the original trilogy. "Daring Do and the Trek of the Terrifying Towers, Daring Do and the Many Faces of—"

Quibble interrupted, putting a hoof in Rainbow's mouth as he used another to cover his face and groan. "Stop! P-please, please don't," He insisted in an annoyed and frustrated tone of voice. "Just don't even mention the titles. I-I'm not saying those books don't exist. I'm saying that I refuse to acknowledge them. They exist, but I don't read them."

Rainbow removed Quibble's hoof from her mouth, glaring at him as she questioned. "Why not?"

The bulky stallion insisted in a bitter tone of voice. "'Cause they're horrible! I mean, there isn't a single thing after The Ring of Destiny that is even remotely in the realm of the possible! And don't even get me started on that attempt to break Daring Do into the children's book market. I can't believe I actually read that as a foal. Even toddlers deserve better than that!"

"Hey now, it wasn't a bad attempt. I've seen way worse," The brash speedster replied. And then puffed out her chest as she boasted. "Aside from that toddler book you mentioned, I know for a fact that everything in every one of those books is one hundred percent possible!"

"Oh yeah?!" Quibble retorted with natural skepticism. "And how could you possibly know that?" He then taunted. "Are you secretly friends with A. K. Yearling or something?"

"As a matter of fact, I am!" Rainbow Dash declared, not caring if she was making a scene. "And not only that, I've been in Daring Do's adventures. You know that book where she teams up with another pegasus to stop Ahuizotl's plan to bring about an unrelenting heatwave in the basin? Well guess what?! That other pegasus is me!"

At that the earth pony stallion threw back his head and laughed hysterically. "Ha! That's a lie! I know it's a lie because even if I don't read the books, I know what their covers look like. You look nothing like that pink pegasus with a sky blue mane and tail, who is clearly just a pallet swap of Daring Do and a very uninspired original character. Her entire existence is nothing but a publicity stunt. You have no proof!"

Rainbow groaned, realizing she had no way to prove to Quibble that the pegasus he'd just mentioned was really her and that Daring Do (as A. K. Yearling) had changed the pegasus' name and appearance so as to avoid the issue of having a "fictional" character team up with a pony everyone knew was real. So she just slammed a hoof down on the table, locking eyes with Quibble Pants as she questioned him. "Why would you even come to this convention if you hate Daring Do so much? I thought you said you loved the series!"

And Quibble Pants quickly explained. "I don't hate Daring Do, not as a character. What I hate is what the series has become since the original trilogy. It's a disgrace and an insult to everything the books originally stood for! The first trilogy was smart and cool and an amazing nod to old-time serialized adventure books, that somehow managed to be self-reflective and ironic while at the same time celebrating the art form without a hint of cynicism."

"Really? I never saw it like that. I just thought they were good books when A. K. Yearling was clearly still trying to figure out where to take the series," Rainbow Dash replied. "After the first trilogy, it's clear she found the direction she wanted to go in. And with each book she became more and more confident about what she was writing and why she was writing it."

"Yeah? Well that's why I came to this convention," Quibble pointed out as he snorted. "When I learned A. K. Yearling was going to be here, I wanted to ask her muzzle-to-muzzle why she sold out and dumbed down the rest of her books into just a series of impossible action sequences! I can at least forgive that one-off toddler book. She was told to write it because her publishers thought they could make Daring Do work for a much younger audience. And it clearly didn't. But the stories in the ongoing series for ponies of all ages are the ones A. K. Yearling has no excuse on!"

At that the brash speedster rolled her eyes in disbelief. "Okay, now I know you're crazy. A. K. Yearling is awesome, and every Daring Do book that comes out is better than the last! And I'm not just saying that because I know A. K. Yearling personally. I'm saying that as a proud Daring Do fan."

"Yet you're clearly taking her side in this," Quibble retorted. "I may respect A. K. Yearling as an individual, but I don't let that blind me to the horrible writing she's been doing since the fourth Daring Do book came out!" He then stood up from the table, groaning and sighing. "I-I-I'm sorry, but I could never be friends with somepony who's willing to believe impossible stuff is possible as long as Daring Do does it. It makes me irritable. This is why I normally don't come to these conventions anymore. If A. K. Yearling herself wasn't going to be here, I'd stay at home."

"Well that's fine by me!" Rainbow roared in reply as she stood up and glared at Quibble. "Because I know I could never be friends with somepony who's so focused on things being possible that he's willing to turn his back on the coolest hero of all time!"

And then with shouts of "Fine!", the two fans turned their backs to each other and both went their separate ways.

Rainbow Dash neither knew nor cared about where Quibble Pants wandered off to after their heated debate at lunch. She was much more concerned about trying to prove him wrong. And she was convinced there was only one way to do that, get the real Daring Do herself to show up. That would put Quibble in his place for sure.

So Rainbow trotted off, leaving the convention hall and approaching the front desk at the hotel where the convention was being held. She soon inquired about the whereabouts of A. K. Yearling, and whether the author was available for a private audience.

"Look, just tell A. K. Yearling that Rainbow Dash is here, and I need her help to convince a certain know-it-all pony that everything Daring Do's ever done actually happened!" Rainbow demanded of the clerk behind the desk. "I know her personally. So if I say it's urgent, it's urgent!"

Just then, who should come trotting up on the scene but A. K. Yearling herself? She was wearing her hat, cloak, and glasses. And for some reason, she seemed to be taking extra precautions to avoid being seen by anypony. "Rainbow Dash?" She blinked in surprise.

The rainbow maned pegasus turned around, locking eyes with the author. "A. K.!" She happily exclaimed! "Great to see you again!" Then she cleared her throat. "I gotta talk to you. It's an emergency!"

A. K. looked all around, as if fearing that somepony might be watching her. She then whispered in a hushed tone to her friend. "Not here! Let's go somewhere more secure!" She promptly led her friend away, retreating to the safety of a hotel room. After shutting the door tightly behind her, and drawing the curtains across the windows, she eyed the brash speedster and asked of her. "Okay, talk. What's going on? What's the emergency? Is it Caballeron? Did you see him?" She gasped! "Did he follow me?! I thought for sure I'd given him the slip!"

"What?" Rainbow Dash blinked in surprise. "No. I haven't seen Dr. Caballeron anywhere. I don't think he'd come here," And she explained herself. "But there is a pony downstairs who thinks everything you've written after the first trilogy is totally unrealistic and terrible. He doesn't seem hostile, but he's clearly upset with you for having, and I quote 'sold out and dumbed down the rest of her books' unquote. I told him about the time I joined your adventures, but he doesn't believe me. So I need your help to convince him that everything you do in your books is one hundred percent real," Then she hastily aside. "Aside from this one toddler book he claims you wrote. But hey, we all make mistakes, right?"

A. K. Yearling groaned and rolled her eyes. "Yes, that was a mistake. But I've got much bigger problems on my hooves right now than some dissatisfied fanponies," She dug into one of the pockets of her long, flowing cloak and pulled out a gold colored object in the shape of a key. "Look!"

Rainbow's eyes went wide when they saw the shiny, silvery object! "Whoa! What is that?!" She questioned.

A. K. explained. "It's the Amulet of Culiacan, and Caballeron wants it. But the amulet's only a key, it's not a treasure," She chuckled and then brought out a map, placing it down on the ground and unfolding it. It was a map of the Tenochtitlan Basin, depicting every part of it in great detail. "The real treasure is hidden in a lost temple somewhere in the Tenochtitlan Basin. The Seven-Sided Chest of Chicomoztoc," She then folded the map back up and explained. "Naturally, Caballeron wants it so he can sell it to the highest bidder. Which is why I've gotta find it first. I can't let him or Ahuizotl get a hold of it. There's no telling what evil forces they might unleash if they do!"

The rainbow maned pegasus smiled, rubbing her hooves together in delight! "Great! Sounds like another awesome Daring Do adventure! Count me in, I'll do whatever I can to help!" Before she saw fit to ask A. K. "But... what are you doing here? Why not go back to your cottage?"

A. K. explained further. "Well, since I haven't found the temple yet, this is the safest place possible for the amulet and for myself. After all, it's crawling with security, not that I think I'll need it. And besides, if I get into any trouble," She proceeded to shed her cloak and remove her glasses, revealing herself to in fact be Daring Do. "I can just blend in with all the Daring Do cosplayers. Nopony but you will ever know it's really me."

Rainbow Dash had watched Daring Do shed her disguise with excitement, then excitedly she asked. "How can I help?"

Daring Do tucked the amulet away in her pith helmet, then shoved the parts of her A. K. Yearling "disguise" under the bed of her hotel room so as to avoid them being seen or stolen. "Just keep your eyes out for anything suspicious. And if you do see Caballeron or Ahuiztol, please come tell me. Don't try to take them on by yourself! You remember what happened last time."

Rainbow sheepishly blushed ever so faintly. "Yeah, I remember. I promise, no heroics without consulting you first," She raced to the door, opened it, and rushed outside to get back to the convention hall. Though not before she peeked back into the room to ask Daring. "Does a pony who only likes your first trilogy qualify as suspicious?" She received her answer in the form of an unamused frown. She gave off a nervous laugh and replied. "Sorry, just checking." And then she took off again.

Daring Do, meanwhile, sighed as she thought to herself. "What have I gotten myself into this time?" She could only hope that hiding in plain sight at the convention would give her the peace of mind she needed to continue her research. She needed to find out where the temple that housed the chest was located, and fast!

As it turned out, Dr. Caballeron had indeed tracked Daring Do to the convention. But he'd now lost track of her amidst all the ponies cosplaying as the brave adventurer. And the only thing more annoying to him than that was how much merchandise there was on her. It seemed like everywhere he and his henchponies went, they were bombarded with fanfare and praise for Daring Do.

Tossing away a brouchre, the evil earth pony stallion groaned and muttered to himself. "All this fanfare on my arch nemesis is so... disturbing. She's really convinced everypony that she's a hero, when that couldn't be further from the truth," He trotted up to the same stallion that had talked to Rainbow Dash earlier, asking him. "And what about me? Where is the booth for the one and only Dr. Caballeron? Don't I get my own exhibit?"

The stallion with the earpiece pointed a hoof to a small stand tucked into a corner of the packed convention hall. It featured a cardboard statue of Dr. Caballeron that ponies were currently gwaking at and making fun of.

Caballeron rolled his eyes. "I do not see the likeness," Then he saw some of his henchponies approach, one of the stallions carrying a large body pillow depicting Daring Do laying on the ground, tied up with ropes. To say that the evil earth pony was not amused would be an understatement. He knocked it off his henchpony's back and berated him! "What are you doing with that, you fool?!"

"S-sorry, boss." The stallion replied.

Dr. Caballeron groaned. "She even sells her likeness and image for money. How pathetic. I guess living out your fantasy as an action hero doesn't pay the bills. But you never hear me whining about money," He put a hoof to his forehead. "Ugh, all this madness is giving me a headache! It's so sickening!" He quickly instructed to his henchponies. "Come on, let's go find Daring Do and the Amulet of Culiacan. I know she's here somewhere, and I don't want to have spend a single moment in this place beyond what I have to spend! If I ever see another Daring Do convention as long as I live, it will be too soon!" And he and his gang of stallions trotted away.

Unbeknownst to the evil group, Rainbow Dash had overheard their conversation from afar and been watching them with great concern! She gasped! Daring Do had been wrong, Caballeron had indeed tracked her to the convention! "I've got to find Daring Do right away! This is bad!" She thought to herself.

Yet the brash speedster hadn't been searching for very long when she happened to bump into the last pony she wanted to see right now. She reluctantly turned around to face none other than Quibble Pants.

"Well well well," Quibble Pants taunted with a smirk. "If it isn't the pony who claims to be best friends with A. K. Yearling, and claims she's been in one of Daring Do's adventures! Did you tell A. K. about me? Did you tell her that I wanted to see her?"

Rainbow groaned in frustration. She really didn't want to have to put up with Quibble's attitude right now. "Ugh! Not you again!" She snarled at the stallion, and said to him. "Sorry, Quibble, I've got more important things to do than argue with a pony who thinks awesome means unrealistic. Goodbye!" She promptly turned around and smacked him with the back of her tail.

Quibble was surprised by the rude brush off. Nevertheless, he trotted after Rainbow, determined to keep on taunting her about how wrong he thought she was. "No no no, wait!" He teased. "I want to hear more about how you're one hundred percent sure that in Curse of the Jungle Queen, Daring Do could possibly survive a 'sixty-story drop from the top of a waterfall after sustaining a broken wing in a category-six rapid'! Her words, not mine."

The rainbow maned pegasus groaned anew, rolling her eyes. She wanted to get Quibble off her back as quickly as possible. "Okay, fine. So maybe sometimes she exaggerates a little bit. Obviously, her wing wasn't actually broken, even if she thought it was. And further more-" But then she stopped herself, as she saw a sight that almost stopped her heart! "Oh my gosh! Caballeron!"

Unaware of what had so spooked Rainbow Dash, Quibble Pants just prattled on. "Ah, see, now that's a great character. Nothing like that horrible self-insert you mentioned earlier. He's got everything a character should need: Solid backstory, good motivations..."

Rainbow Dash made a shushing motion with her hooves, frantically whispering to the bulky earth pony stallion. "No-no-no-no! You don't understand!" She pointed a hoof. "Caballeron is right there!"

Quibble adopted a knowing smirk. "And you claim you've been on a Daring Do adventure. I can't believe you're this easily frightened. Of course Caballeron is there," He proceeded to point a hoof to several ponies cosplaying as the evil stallion. "He's also over there, over there, ooh, ooh, over there," Then he unknowingly pointed a hoof at the real Caballeron and his goons as they all trotted past, completely unaware of either Rainbow or Quibble's presence. "And of course, over there," When he saw Rainbow Dash follow the group to the exit that led out to a small back alley, he questioned. "Hey, where are you going?"

Rainbow didn't answer, instead rushing to the door in pursuit of Caballeron and his stallions, only to find that they'd somehow disappeared.

Quibble just asked. "And you led me out here because...?"

The brash speedster looked all around, frantically and desperately stating. "Daring Do told me that Caballeron came to this convention to steal the Amulet of Culiacan, and I just saw him and his henchponies come this way! They're trying to find her! I have to stop them!"

Quibble Pants rolled his eyes. "Again with that?" Then he insisted. "If you'll excuse me, I'm gonna head back inside. There's just a little too much crazy out here for the both of us," Yet as soon as he finished speaking, he happened to find himself facing down Caballeron and his goons. "Can I help you with something?" He asked, unaware of who they were. And it was the last thing he said before they jumped him, throwing a large sack over his entire body!

Rainbow didn't have a chance to react before she was jumped and captured too!

Caballeron cackled with glee. "Excellent! You'll make fine hostages."

A short time later, Rainbow Dash and Quibble Pants tumbled out of a large sack. They found themselves quickly surrounded and tied up with chains, a pad lock firmly holding the chains and preventing their escape. They had been taken out of the convention hall and deep into a jungle environment, lush trees and dense foliage lay everywhere.

Dr. Caballeron snarled as he eyed his captives. "If you're with Rainbow Dash, you must be working for Daring Do. Ahuizotl told me about a certain pesky pegasus who helped Daring Do track me down last time. I don't know what she told you two or why she would trust you, nor do I care. She must've told you about my plan to steal the amulet. And I'm not about to let a bunch of fan ponies like you foil my plans!"

Rainbow adopted a knowing smirk, confident that this would be the proof she needed to put Quibble Pants in his place. "Ha! Whaddya say to that, Quibble? Still think I'm lying about being friends with Daring Do?"

Quibble wasn't convinced. "Really? You think I'm that dense? I read the pamphlet too, you know. This was your big plan to prove the Daring Do books are actually realistic? You booked a Daring Do Adventu-cation Experience for the two of us?"

The rainbow maned pegasus was shocked at Quibble's ignorance! "What?! You can't be serious! Just look around you, Quibble! Henchponies, Caballeron, the jungle it took forever to get to? This is the real deal! I couldn't make this up if I tried! We're in actual danger here! We're actually being held captive!"

The bulky stallion sarcastically responded. "Right. We're actually being held captive by the actual Caballeron. Puh-lease! I know a knock-off when I see one. And this guy's accent is all over the place, very un-convincing!" Though he was quick to add. "No offense, by the way. But you should really take some lessons. You need them badly."

Caballeron was in a state of disbelief, no prisoner had ever talked to him in such a way before.

Quibble sighed, impatiently questioning. "Okay, humor me. What's the setup here? You've... kidnapped us, and taken us out to the middle of nowhere because...?"

Dr. Caballeron grinned, rubbing his hooves together. He seemed to delight in explaining his evil plan to a captive audience. "Because I know for a fact that the Temple of Chicomoztoc is somewhere in this jungle. When I find it, the Seven-Sided Chest is as good as mine! I just need the Amulet of Culiacan to unlock it."

Quibble Pants quickly concluded what seemed to him like an obvious observation, even sarcastically clapping his hooves as he remarked. "Uh-huh, and Daring Do has the amulet so you came up with this over-complicated plot to lure her into the jungle and exchange it for us. Oh, how original. Like I haven't seen that before."

The stallion with the five o'clock shadow growled. "It's not over-complicated! It's a good plan! Fool proof, even! I know Daring Do enough to know she'd never let anything happen to innocent ponies like you! That makes you the perfect bait for her."

The earth pony stallion with an organish-brown coat just replied. "Okay, sure. Whatever floats your boat, buddy," Then he demanded. "Look, I'm sorry you all got roped into this because of Rainbow Dash over here," He pointed a hoof. "But you can drop the act. I want no part of this experience. You can keep her money if you want, but I want a refund. I'm not-"

Caballeron coldly hissed, locking eyes with Quibble as he told him in no uncertain terms. "-Going anywhere. You may not approve of my plan, but I'm the mastermind here!"

"That's debatable, but whatever." Quibble muttered under his breath.

Caballeron then added. "So I say, you will stay here until Daring Do inevitably comes here to rescue you! When she does, I'll give her my demands: Your safety in exchange for the amulet. And don't even think about trying to escape to warn her. That's no ordinary lock that binds you captive."

Rainbow Dash gasped, realizing what Caballeron was referring! "No way! The Griffon's Lock!"

"Ah, so you know about it!" Caballeron said with a smile. "Then that's further proof you're working for Daring Do!"

"Or she's just read the books a lot." Quibble Pants mumbled to himself.

Dr. Caballeron then retorted. "You know what? I'm not gonna stay here to be insulted. You are the most annoying hostages I've ever had the displeasure of taking prisoner," He stomped a hoof down. "I'm going to continue my search for the temple. I will beat Daring Do to it and swipe the chest for myself! My henchponies can deal with you until Daring Do comes to rescue you, or until I get back. Whichever comes first." And he trotted away, turning his back to his two captives.

Now alone with just Caballeron's henchponies, Quibble Pants struggled in vain against the lock on the chains. So he turned towards Rainbow Dash as best he could and whispered to her. "Okay, you win. If this is all part of your scheme to get me to believe that the rest of the Daring Do books are realistic, then fine, I'll admit it. As long as it gets me out of here. Now will you kindly call off the henchpony repertory theater over there?"

Rainbow Dash snarled. "I'd love to, really. But it's not gonna work. They're real henchponies, and they actually kidnapped us both."

Quibble wished he could put a hoof to his face in response, but alas he was unable to do so due to the chains. So he had to settle for a groan and a sigh. "Oh, wow, so you're gonna stick with that script?" He reluctantly relented. "O-Okay, fine. We're, we're in a Daring Do Adventure. Which means... there's only one we get out of this." He spotted a small metal object on the ground not far from him. He leaned down, grabbed it with his teeth, and tossed it off into the distance as far as he could! The metal object made an audible clink as it did so.

"Hey?! What was that?!" One of the henchstallions asked.

Quibble didn't even bother to "fake" the emotions as he called out. "Daring Do. Thank goodness. We're over here."

Another henchpony then insisted. "We can't let her rescue them! Spread out and look for her, now!" And all the henchponies split up to do so.

Rainbow began straining against the chains, trying to lift them up. All the while, Quibble could only comment with amusement. "All four?! I mean, shouldn't at least one of them stay behind to guard us? Oh, oh, wait, the... No, because then it wouldn't be a terrible Daring Do adventure. Wow! They're just ticking off all the boxes! They've really done their homework!"

The rainbow maned pegasus then sat down, frowning as she unhappily declared. "Well it doesn't matter. We're never gonna be able to solve the Griffon's Lock before they get back. Face it, Quibble. We're stuck here until Daring Do actually comes to save us. She'll take care of those goons, no problem."

But there was no need for that, Quibble instead found it easy to use a spare key he'd spotted lying on the ground. "Conveniently", it had fallen out of the back pocket of Dr. Caballeron's jacket as he had trotted away. It took only a little bit of fumbling around before he heard a click, and the lock was picked. Just like that, he'd freed himself and his fellow "captive" from their prison.

The brash speedster found herself forced to give credit where credit was due. "Okay, that was pretty good," She admitted. "No way I could've picked the lock as fast as you did," Then she unfolded her wings. "Quick! We've got not time to waste! We have to get out of here and warn Daring Do! She probably hasn't realized Caballeron followed her yet and that he knows about the chest!"

Quibble Pants shook his head and stomped his hooves down. "Oh no, no no no. Thanks but no thanks. Just point me back to the Trottingham Grand Hotel. You can play fanpony and hunt treasure out here all day long. But leave me out of this."

Rainbow Dash groaned with frustration! She could not believe Quibble was still being this dense even after all he'd seen with his own two eyes! She really wanted nothing more than to leave him behind. But the rational part of her mind decided against it. She hadn't meant to drag him into this, she owed it to him to get him out of it. So she reluctantly sighed, deciding it best to "play along" for the time being. "You know what, let's say you're right and this is a Daring Do Adventucation that I boked for the two of us. The only way to get back to the convention is to go through it. So just follow me, and I'll lead you out of it. Deal?"

Quibble couldn't argue with that, he reluctantly replied after a moment of hesitation. "...Deal. Lead the way, oh fearless leader."

Rainbow then trotted away, knowing that it would be pointless to fly and leave Quibble to tail her on the ground. But under her breath she began to mumble to herself. "Got half a mind to leave you in this jungle. Pretty sure that would convince you."

The journey through the jungle was very difficult, especially for Rainbow Dash since she had to put up with Quibble Pants' constant blabbering and prattling. Quibble, for his part, didn't seem to care a bit. He still wholeheartedly believed they were in no real danger.

Exiting a bush, the stallion was just concluding another one of his rants about his problems with the later books in the series. "-Which would make Daring Do left-hoofed, which we know is false, and that is everything that's wrong with Daring Do and the Trek to the Terrifying Tower. Now, the problems with the next book are even-"

Rainbow finally brought up a wing to silence Quibble, more so because of what lay ahead of them rather than any desire she had to make him stop talking.

The bulky earth pony had to resist the urge to roll his eyes once again as he took in the sight of a rickety, old, rope bridge. It was suspended high in the air over a river whose waters were rapidly churning beneath. "-Oh, right. What Daring Do adventure would be complete without the precarious rope bridge?"

"Still think this is just a pretend adventure?" The brash speedster replied as she began trotting across the bridge.

"Of course. It's the most obvious cliche in the book, every Daring Do adventure has to have one," Quibble Pants remarked in an indifferent tone of voice, all the while he stepped slowly onto the bridge. It creeked and swayed ominously with every step he took. "Look, I'm all for making things feel as real as possible, but are these Adventu-cation ponies sure this thing is safe?" He questioned.

All Rainbow could say in reply was. "Why? Is it too 'realistic' for you? We wouldn't want that on a Daring Do adventure, now would we?"

The earth pony stallion just retorted back. "Hey, if this was really a real Daring Do adventure, I'm sure I'd step on the wrong plank at exactly the wrong—" As he spoke, he stepped onto a wooden plank that broke and gave away! It took everything he had to maintain his balance and not fall through the gap!

Rainbow Dash, thinking quickly, flapped her wings and flew up! She then got behind Quibble and started tugging on him via his tail, trying desperately to pull him back onto the bridge!

Quibble was not used to the sensation of having his tail be touched by somepony else, and the shock of his current situation only made him even more unnerved. All he could do was keep on talking. "H-hey, it's a good thing this is all just a pretend adventure," He insisted, sounding not unlike he was trying to convince himself of such a belief. "'Least we know all of this struggling won't make the bridge fall apart or anything."

Yet that is precisely what happened. With a loud snap, one of the ropes holding up the bridge broke! And the other rope looked likely to follow in a matter of seconds!

A horrified Quibble Pants looked Rainbow square in the eyes. All he could bring himself to say to her was. "You need to get your money back." Then, with another loud snap, the other rope broke! The whole bridge collapsed into the river below, taking Quibble with it! He screamed in horror!

The brash speedster immediately swooped down after Quibble, determined to save him! Making use of what was left of the ropes, she was able to catch up to Quibble, slow his fall, and gently glide him along the river's edge. That is, until the stallion found that the river led straight to a huge waterfall! He went over the top and began to plunge over the edge, only to find that Rainbow was able to lift him and drop him on top of a tree. The tree broke his fall, then its trunk bent and let him down safely on solid ground again.

Rainbow Dash couldn't resist the opportunity to brag afterwards! "Hah! How's that for not possible?"

The bulky earth pony stallion found himself at a loss for words! All he could do was stutter and repeat himself as he tried to process everything that had just happened! "That was... awesome! I-I-I thought we... and then you, and the flying...! Wow, and I was like, 'Hey, where are you going?!' A-a-and then you swerved, and I was, I was, I was on the water, and then just... Wow! I can't believe that all happened!"

The pegasus pony with a rainbow mane and tail smirked, taunting Quibble. "Yeah. If you read that in a book, you might even think it was unrealistic."

Quibble was reluctantly forced to accept Rainbow's point. "Okay, okay. I'll give you that one. That was a close call. I mean, it could've been worse," Then the full reality of what had almost happened sank in for him. His eyes went wide! "W-wait! I... I almost died back there! How is that safe?! W-What kind of Adventu-cation is this?! What, what the heck are these ponies thinking?!"

As if in answer to that question, a familiar sinister voice laughed. "Right now? We are thinking that we should thank you for escaping. For you have led us directly to the Lost Temple of Chicomoztoc!" And then, who should emerge from the bushes but Dr. Caballeron and his henchponies?!

Rainbow Dash gasped, jumping back in surprise as her eyes spotted a very ancient looking temple in the distance! She'd unknowingly helped Caballeron find what he'd been looking for! "You... you followed us?! How?!"

"I don't need to explain myself to a bunch of do gooders like you two!" Caballeron bitterly snapped, and then gave a whistle.

Before either Rainbow Dash or Quibble Pants could react, they found themselves once again tied up and bound. This time they were rendered captive by traditional ropes.

Caballeron led his captives inside the temple, using torches provided by his henchponies to light his way through the dark passageways. And to his henchstallions he instructed. "Make sure they are secured this time! I want no more mistakes!"

"You're not gonna get away with this!" Rainbow Dash snapped as she struggled in vain to break free of the ropes that held her captive. "Daring Do's going to come after me! When she finds you here, you'll be sorry!"

But Dr. Caballeron cackled with fiendish glee. "Oh, I'm counting on it. Daring Do would never let anything happen to ponies like you and that annoying friend of yours. She'll surrender the amulet to me, and the six-sided chest will be mine for the taking! It'll fetch a high price for sure, and I'll finally be able to afford the luxurious retirement I've always dreamed of!" Then he turned to Quibble Pants, surprised by the bulky earth pony's silence. "What? No witty remarks this time about how silly my plan is? Don't you intend to mock me again?"

Quibble narrowed his eyes. It appeared as if he'd come to a conclusion. And the tone in his voice reflected his disappointment. "Wait a minute, this isn't really the official Daring Do Experience Adventu-cation."

All Rainbow could say was. "Finally! That's what I've been trying to tell you!"

Yet the bulky earth pony stallion then went on to say. "It's just some cheap knockoff run by a bunch of incompetent ponies that have no idea how to execute this adventure with any level of safety! That's what this is! How did you ever get this approved for the convention?!"

The brash speedster could only blink her eyes in disbelief, groaning as she put a hoof to her forehead. "Ugh! You have got to be kidding me!" She couldn't believe how dense Quibble was being right now.

Quibble Pants didn't care what anypony else thought about him, though. He was beyond fed up with everything he'd been through today, and so he felt perfectly content to rant on and on, listing off his grievances. "What was that with the rope bridge earlier?! We were in actual danger because of you! Do you know what could've happened?!" As he spoke, he was unaware that he was stepping on tiles and pressing them down. A faint click could be heard, and mud started pouring in from holes. "I'm totally gonna report you guys to... to... well, I don't know, actually. But it's gonna be somepony important," Then to Rainbow Dash he said. "Oh, and don't think this little 'stunt' of yours has changed my mind. This has all the hallmarks of a bad Daring Do adventure."

"Uh, Quibble..." Rainbow tried to speak up, hoping to draw his attention to what was going on around him.

But Quibble was far too occupied with his complaints to take any notice of anything else. He didn't even notice as he stepped on more tiles, causing other traps within the temple to activate with audible rumbles. "-I'm not done talking!" He bitterly remarked, and continued to talk at length. "It's so obvious: Generic jungle location – check. Overly complicated villain plot – check. Random coincidences that conveniently get us to the next big set piece – check!"

Now it was Caballeron's turn to speak up and try to scold Quibble Pants into seeing what he was doing! "Watch where you are stepping, you fool! Don't you realize what you're doing?!"

The bulky stallion snorted. "Listen, buddy, I don't take orders from some second-rate performer who learned acting from the Supervillain School of Bad Accents! You are not the real Caballeron, you're just a cheap knock-off!" As he spoke, he was unaware of a very large beast emerging from the ground behind him. Ironically, as this happened he was shouting at the top of his lungs! "The only thing this mess is missing is some giant Ahuizotl wannabe monster, and I have a feeling that would be a bit too much for you bargain-basement adventurers to pull off!"

Yet it was then that there was a loud rumble, loud enough to make Quibble turn around very slowly. What he saw was enough to nearly make his eyes pop out! It was a huge, giant crocodile with sandy yellow scales! Its teeth were razor sharp, and it did not look friendly at all. The monster promptly let out a gutteral roar.

Now the reality slowly sank in for the earth pony stallion with an organish-brown coat. He couldn't deny it any longer. "You're... real. This is real. This is all real!"

"Told you so!" Rainbow Dash replied, as she finally broke free of the ropes just as Caballeron and his goons ran off in fright! She then freed Quibble Pants, and the two ran through the temple as fast as their hooves could carry them! Mud was filling up the place, and the monster crocodile was hot on their tails! For a big creature, it was surprisingly fast.

Suddenly, a light gold blur swooped in to save both Rainbow and Quibble! It carried them up to the next level of the temple, where the mud had yet to reach. It was none other than Daring Do herself!

Once Rainbow Dash and Quibble Pants were safe, Daring Do immediately locked eyes with her fellow pegasus and scolded. "I told you not to take on Caballeron by yourself! I told you to come and get me if you saw anything suspicious! I can't keep coming to your rescue like this!"

"Hey, it wasn't my fault!" Rainbow protested. "Caballeron and his guys jumped me," She then pointed a hoof. "And this guy over here got brought along for the ride."

Quibble Pants could hardly believe his eyes! Before him stood Daring Do in all her glory! "Wha... Whoa, whoa, y-you're real!" He exclaimed, then noticed Rainbow trotting over to the adventure and wrapping a wing around her. "Wait... you're... you're actually friends with her? How? Why?"

"Long story," Daring Do grumbled in reply. "We'll have to save the introductions for later, whoever you are. Right now we need to..."

"-Get out of here! Yes, thank you!" Quibble nervously insisted.

But Daring shook her head from side to side. "No, not yet."

The bulky earth pony stallion blinked his eyes, surprised by the adventurer's statement. "What?! Why not?!'

The pegasus mare with a pith helmet explained her reasoning. "I'm not leaving without the treasure. I can't risk Caballeron coming back and stealing it. We need to get to it before our 'friend' back there gets any higher." In the distance came the sound of the crocodile roaring, splashing around as the mud continued to rise and flood the temple. Time was running out.

Quibble reluctantly sighed. "Fine. Let's make it quick." And he followed Rainbow Dash and Daring Do as they ventured further into the temple.

It didn't take long for the trio of brave adventurers (more or less) to reach the center of the temple. Pushing through a stone sliding door, they were greeted with a sight of seven doors with ancient stone carvings in bold detail. Each door had a lock that fit the key shape of the amulet in Daring Do's possession.

Daring quickly summarized what this likely puzzle was. "Seven doors, seven locks. Obviously, one of them leads to the treasure. I'd rather not think about what the others lead to. Probably something much worse than that huge monster we just escaped from."

Quibble Pants nodded his head. "Yeah, yeah, it's the classic 'Pony and the Tiger' bit. And all you have to do is-"

Rainbow Dash raised a hoof, silencing the stallion. "Maybe you should let the expert figure it out?"

"Oh, excuse me, then." Quibble replied and reluctantly said nothing more.

Daring Do's rose colored eyes examined the seven doors carefully, looking for anything about them that could serve as a clue. At least twice she thought about bringing the amulet up to a door, only for Quibble to not so subtly tell her not to do so. Daring found herself fast losing all patience. "What'd you say his name was again, Rainbow Dash?" She asked.

"His name's Quibble Pants. He's that fan I was telling you about back at the hotel." Rainbow pointed out.

"Well, is he always like this?" Daring complained as she turned around to look at him.

The brash speedster shrugged her hooves while saying. "Yeah. But... he's usually right. Maybe he knows something about this one."

The pegasus pony with a pith helmet reluctantly sighed as she finally spoke to Quibble directly. "So, which lock do you think it is, Mr. Wise Guy?"

"Thought you'd never ask," Quibble Pants replied and then pointed out. "Look, each door has another door that matches:" He proceeded to point out the pairs, starting with the doors on the far left and far right. "These two both have earth ponies fighting serpents," Next he pointed to two doors closer to the center of the room. "These two have pegasi fighting griffons," Then he pointed to two doors on the sides of the room. "And these two have unicorns fighting bears," Finally, he pointed to the single remaining door. "But this one..."

Daring Do gasped as the obvious realization struck her head on! "-Has an alicorn on it! Of course, now it all makes sense!" And she wondered aloud. "How did I miss that?"

"Been asking that myself since book four." Quibble muttered to himself.

Daring blushed even as she trotted forward with the amulet. "Well, those glasses aren't supposed to just be for my disguise. But I... don't like wearing them. I can see pretty good without them, most of the time. Some details just don't stand out as good without them."

It was then that the bulky earth pony had another realization! "Wait, that means you and A. K. Yearling..." He gasped! "...It was so obvious! How did I not suspect it?!"

The adventurer chuckled. "That's kind of the point. It's so obvious, nopony would ever think of it," Then she inserted the amulet into the key hole. There was an audible click, and the door parted to reveal a gleaming, silver colored chest resting on a pedestal! Taking it into her hooves, she happily proclaimed! "The Seven-Sided Chest of Chicomoztoc! I've found it at last! Now we need to get it out before it's too late."

"Uh, that might be a problem." Quibble pointed out as he revealed that not only was mud continuing to pour in, but now water was adding itself to the mix. It had cut off the way the ponies had entered the temple, and it showed no signs of stopping anytime soon.

Rainbow gulped. "The way out's blocked! How are we supposed to escape now?!"

Daring looked up, pointing a hoof. "There!" She shouted, drawing attention to a small opening where light was streaming down from above.

The bulky earth pony stallion could only mutter in disbelief. "Seriously, do you ever not escape out of the top of a temple?! Doesn't get it old after a while?!"

The pegasus pony with a gold colored coat and rose colored eyes snorted. "I suppose you have a better way out?" When she didn't receive a reply, she swished her tail and retorted. "I thought as much. I do what I gotta do to escape. Out of the top, through the bottom, makes no difference to me," Then another thought struck her. "But Rainbow Dash and I will have to find a way to carry you out, Quibble. Seeing as you can't fly like we can."

Rainbow Dash was more than a little bit concerned about such a task. She even gulped. "We won't be fast enough! We'll never make it! He'll just weigh us down! There must be another way!"

Fortunately, it seemed that Quibble Pants himself had an idea. He spotted some nearby reeds, and remembered Rainbow Dash's daring rescue of him after he'd fallen through the rope bridge earlier. He flashed a knowing wink at the brash speedster while telling Daring Do. "I think Rainbow Dash and I have this covered."

So it was that Quibble was towed along behind the two pegasi, both of them pulling him along by using the reeds like make-shift ropes.

Suddenly, up from the depths emerged the monster crocodile! Its fangs were beared and it was ready to strike!

A horrified Quibble Pants frantically hollered! "Go around! You can't go over him!"

Daring Do didn't hear him properly, all she heard was the words "Go over him!". She shouted back at Quibble! "What?! 'Go over him!'?! Are you crazy?!"

Rainbow Dash just replied! "If Quibble says go over him, we go over him!" And to Quibble she shouted! "Hang on tight!"

The bulky earth pony stallion screamed in fright and terror as he watched himself be dragged closer and closer to the monster crocodile! To his surprise, however, the pegasi pulling him were able to lift him up and use the beast as a ramp to propel him into the air! Soon, they all had cleared the temple, the six-sided chest safely in tow.

Never was Quibble so relieved to be firmly on solid ground once again, and he quickly removed the reeds and stood up. After taking a moment to catch his breath and get his bearings, he shouted at the two pegasi! "You two are insane! You've could've killed me!"

"Hey, you said to go over him!" Daring Do shouted back!

Quibble Pants then explained. "No, I said to go around him!"

Then, Daring's trained ears picked the sound of hooves in the distance. She made a shushing motion with her hooves and frantically whispered. "Be quiet! Do exactly as I say! Come on!"

A short time later, a furious Dr. Caballeron and his henchponies were trotting through the jungle around the outskirts of the temple. To say Caballeron was furious would be an understatement, as he could be heard shouting! "This way! Quick! I heard them! They're not getting away, not from me!"

Unbeknownst to Caballeron and his henchstallions, Daring Do, Rainbow Dash, and Quibble Pants were all hiding not too far away. They were watching from behind the safety of some thick bushes that completely concealed their presence from him.

Quibble smirked as he watched Caballeron trot past, completely unaware that the ponies he was looking for were nearby. Then he got an idea, proposing to Daring Do. "Okay, I got it. Let's create a fake treasure out of mud and rocks, give that to Caballeron, and then we—"

But the adventuer just grinned as she picked up a stone and replied. "-Not every Daring Do plan has to be super-complicated. Just watch." She threw the stone as hard as she could. It struck a wall of the temple, causing it to crumble.

Caballeron growled, kicking at the stone as it appeared in his path! "I swear I heard them!" He grumbled to himself. "Victory was in my grasp, and I somehow let it slip away!" Then he became aware of a faint roaring sound coming from directly behind him. He turned around fast and saw the monster crocodile staring back at him. It let out a roar, and chased after him and his goons! Yet even as the evil stallion was running for his life, he could be heard hollering! "I'll get you yet, Daring Do! We will meet again!" And it wasn't long before he and his henchponies were out of sight.

Quibble Pants had seen everything. All he could bring himself to say was. "Meh. Not particularly original or inspired, but it worked."

"Thanks, I guess," Daring shrugged her hooves in reply. Then she blinked. "You know, it's funny. You kind of look like me, Quibble. But I don't think I've ever seen you before in my life."

Quibble chuckled. "Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Are we sure you're not related to either Rainbow Dash or myself somehow?"

The adventurer adjusted her pith helmet. "Well, I might have to look into that some other time. And don't worry, I'll be sure to change names and faces for my next book. Nopony will ever know it's you."

"That reminds me," Rainbow spoke up. "I was supposed to get you to a sign a book for Twilight," Then she blushed. "But I think I left it back at the hotel."

"Not to worry, I'll take care of it," Daring Do said with a smile, before pulling the six-sided chest out from underneath her pith helmet. "I'm going to take this to the nearest museum. And I should be able to drop you two off back at the hotel on my way. After all, I have to pick up my 'disguise'," She coughed into a hoof and changed the subject. "Thanks for your help, you two. I couldn't have done it without you. Both of you."

Rainbow Dash smiled, then turned to Quibble Pants as she asked him. "So...?"

The bulky earth pony stallion reluctantly replied. "So... maybe the later books are slightly more realistic than I gave them credit for," He then added. "I still don't like them, though. That hasn't changed."

Rainbow's mouth dropped open in shock and surprise! "What?! After everything we've been through together?! How can you—?!"

Yet the stallion then brought up a hoof and cautioned. "-Wait, hold on. Before we get in another fight, I-I think I've finally figured it out! I love the Daring Do that solves puzzles and uses her brain to get out of tough situations, and she did way more of that in the original trilogy! You love the Daring Do that is brave and awesome and comes out on top no matter what the odds!"

"Yeah. And...?" The rainbow maned pegasus mare asked, uncertain of where Quibble was going with this.

A smile slowly formed on Quibble Pants' face as he explained. "And that's okay! We might never agree on what makes Daring Do cool, but you... are definitely cool. I-I mean, the way you saved me on the bridge? Wow! And escaping from the temple... you, Rainbow Dash, are awesome," He then added. "Thanks for saving me, by the way. I know you probably wanted to just leave me behind on so many occasions."

Rainbow Dash replied by waving a hoof. "You're right, part of me did want to do that. But I'm not that kind of mare. And you were pretty good yourself. You know, in a brainy, egghead, puzzle-solving kind of way. After all, not just anypony could locate a treasure in half the time Daring Do can!"

The stallion then said. "I guess we don't have to agree on everything to get along. Friends?"

"Definitely friends." Rainbow nodded as they trotted off along with Daring Do, the sun slowly setting.

Yet Quibble Pants then saw fit to start talking at length. He had his own ideas about how to "improve" the Daring Do series, much to Rainbow Dash's annoyance.

S9 E11: Student Counsel (What If?)

It was just another fine spring day in Ponyville, a day that seemed to not be at all out of the ordinary. And that meant it was the perfect kind of day for Trixie to treat her best friend Starlight Glimmer to a little surprise. The surprise turned out to be a small picnic, with a blanket with red and white alternating squares on it, said blanket having been set up on a hill overlooking the town. There was a picnic basket, napkins, paper plates, and of course food and beverages.

Trixie took the liberty of explaining her motivations for having asked Starlight to step out of her office and join her fellow unicorn in the outdoors. "I know how hard you've been working lately, so I figured you could use a little break. Enjoy."

When Starlight's eyes beheld the picnic in all its glory, she couldn't help but gasp! This was such a welcome display of friendship from her fellow unicorn. "Trixie, this looks amazing! You've outdone yourself, really!" She insisted even as she waved a hoof. "But honestly, my job doesn't really seem like work," Just then, a light bluish-green bracelet on one of her hooves began to glow. And when it glowed it began to admit a faint chime. The unicorn mare with a grayish-purple coat quickly realized what this meant. "Oh! Speaking of... I'll be right back!" And she lit up her horn, disappearing in a flash.

Trixie sighed as she sat down on the picnic blanket, waiting for Starlight to return. This sort of thing had been happening a lot lately, hence the magician's concern for her friend.

Starlight soon returned in another flash of light, and then sat down on the picnic blanket, acting as if nothing had happened. She even continued talking like she hadn't just been interrupted. "Sure, being counselor for the students at Twilight's school is demanding, but—" Then her bracelet chimed again and she stood up. "Oh. One sec." She said, and teleported away again.

Trixie sighed anew as she watched Starlight disappear. All the magician's efforts into preparing the picnic were going to waste. "All I wanted to do was do something nice for my friend. Celestia knows she could use a break," She thought to herself. "It's like she has no time for anyone or anything else these days. Her job can't be that demanding, can it?"

Starlight Glimmer returned but a moment later, sitting back down on the picnic blanket once again. She seemed oblivious to the worried looks Trixie was giving her. "Where was I?" She questioned, before suddenly remembering. "Oh, right," And she explained to Trixie. "Being able to use the experiences of my checkered past to help young students feels pretty great. And to think I didn't actually want the job originally. It's funny how life works sometimes," Then she started helping herself to some of the food, enjoying a delicious sandwich. "Mmm! Excellet sandwich, Trixie! Thanks!"

The unicorn mare with a beautiful blue coat nodded. "You're welcome," But then she cleared her throat. There was a reason why she'd wanted to have this picnic, and it wasn't just to give her fellow unicorn a break. "Although, I must admit I'm a little bit concerned for you, Starlight."

"Why is that?" Starlight questioned as she swallowed her food.

Trixie tried to explain as best she could, hoping her tone of voice would convey her intentions. "Well, much as I feel nothing but admiration for the work you do at the school, it is a little all-consuming. And I miss spending time with you like we used to."

Starlight blinked her eyes in confusion. "What are you talking about? We're spending time right now, aren't we? Besides, spring break is coming up soon. And that means no classes. No classes means no students, which means there'll be nothing to get in our way, right?"

"Yeah, but there's the little issue of Twilight taking the throne soon. And she's made it clear she intends to hoof the reigns over to you in terms of running the school," Trixie pointed out. "That feels like it's gonna really cut into our time."

"It's not set in stone, Trixie!" Starlight firmly protested. "I'm quite content with my job as a guidance counselor. I don't intend to be a replacement for Twilight, especially not as headmare of an entire school," She then declared with a confident smile. "I feel like my life is finally starting to come together after everything I've been through these past few years," Then she bit into her sandwich again, only to have her bracelet start glowing and chiming once again. "Sorry, brb!" She said with her mouth still full of food, and lit up her horn before teleporting away once more.

Trixie was fast losing what little patience she'd had. Not only was Starlight constantly being called away, but she seemed ignorant of how this was starting to become a problem.

The unicorn mare with a grayish-purple coat returned but a moment later, apologizing to her friend and fellow unicorn. "Sorry," She said with a sigh. "I cast a spell on the door to my office so this bracelet goes off whenever there's a knock, that way I'll know if there's a student who needs my help. With spring break coming up, it's almost the end of a quarter. And that's always a busy time for me. And of course, poor Yona is having the worst time with her braids lately," Taking a few sips of a smoothie from a plastic cup and a straw, she then asked. "Anyway, you were saying?"

Trixie frowned. "Forget it, Starlight. You've proved Trixie's point. If you're too busy to hang out with her anymore, you can just say it. You don't have to pretend just to spare Trixie's feelings."

"Trixie, I'm sorry, okay!" Starlight Glimmer remarked. "This is exactly why I don't want the job of being headmare after Twilight leaves. I can barely keep up with my responsibilities as it is," She sighed while running a hoof through her mane. "Sometimes, it feels like I'm just going through a routine. But I can't let the students down, they depend on me to help them with their problems. How can I possibly turn them down when they need me most?"

"I don't know, Starlight," Trixie slowly replied. "But you can't keep going on like this. You've got too much on your plate. You're no good to anypony if you keep letting yourself get distracted," Then she firmly insisted. "Sooner or later, you need to start setting some boundaries. You have needs too, you know."

Little did the magician anticipate how important her "advice" was going to become in the span of a day or two. A series of unforeseen circumstances was going to force not only Starlight, but also a lot of other ponies and non-ponies to think about some life choices.

Starlight enjoyed the picnic lunch with Trixie, but she still opted to cut it short in order to get back to her office before too much time had passed.

When the unicorn mare returned to her counselor's office, however, she was both surprised and concerned to find none other than Twilight Sparkle waiting for her. That wasn't a good sign. And the look on the alicorn's face did nothing to help the situation. She seemed... troubled, for lack of a better word.

Gulping and swallowing hard, Starlight Glimmer reluctantly asked. "Why have you come to my office, Twilight? Did I do something wrong?"

Twilight shook her head from side to side. "You're not in any trouble, Starlight. But could I see you in my office for a bit? There's something I wanna discuss with you."

"Look, I'm sorry if I haven't exactly been doing a good job of keeping my office open all the time," Starlight nervously protested. "I've been very busy, and today Trixie was quite insistent on dragging me away for lunch. I promise, I'll work extra hard from now until the end of the quarter!"

The young alicorn just looked Starlight deep in the eyes. "It's got nothing to do with how you've been doing your job, you're doing great," And she grabbed the unicorn by the hooves. "Come on, let's discuss this somewhere where the students won't be able to overhear us. I don't want there to be any cause for concern." She then teleported herself and Starlight to her office on the other side of the school, before then making sure that the doors were locked tight behind them.

Starlight hesitantly questioned. "So, what's the big deal, Twilight? Why'd you wanna see me if this isn't about me?"

Twilight then explained. "Well... I know this is sudden and everything, but I need you to take over for me and run the school for a while. In fact, my friends and I are all going to be up in Canterlot for a few days, and Spike's going too."

At that, Starlight's eyes went wide! "What?! You... you can't be serious, Twilight!"

The young alicorn firmly nodded. "I most certainly am," And she let out a sigh as she explained. "Lately, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have been 'overeager' to help. I think that their retirement from ruling, along with them helping us against Lord Tirek a few months back has gotten to them."

"And what's wrong with that?" The unicorn mare with a grayish-purple coat questioned.

"Nothing, really," Twilight admitted. "Except for the fact that they're constantly trying to help even when they really don't need to," She then explained further. "So I had a little talk with them, and convinced them to let my friends and I be rulers for a few days while they go on vacation. That way it'll give them a chance to do all the things they've always wanted to do but never found time for. Plus, this way I can be better prepared for when I have to take the throne for real," And she added. "Obviously, if I'm gonna do that, I'll need somepony to keep an eye on the school."

Starlight blinked slowly as the realization settled in. Yet she couldn't hide her hesitation as she protested. "Are you sure you want me, Twilight? Have you forgotten what's happened the last couple of times I've been in charge? There was my 'competition' with Discord, and then there was the time when our foreign exchange students went missing and I didn't know where they were. How do you know I won't mess up again?"

"You did a pretty good job managing things during my Sibling Supreme contest," Twilight said with a smile. "And you've come a very long way in the time since you graduated from being my student. Besides, it's almost spring break. All you'll really have to do is make sure all the students go home for the break. I know you already had plans with Trixie for that time."

The unicorn mare blinked anew, this time in confusion. "Huh... what do you mean?" Then it slowly dawned on her, a memory she'd almost forgotten. "Oh, right, the spring equinox celebration. We're going over to Maud and Mudbriar's for a party, and even Sunburst is gonna be there!" That caused her to bite into one of her hooves. "I still haven't gotten everything ready yet, I've been so distracted dealing with the students. How will I ever find time if I'm also taking over from you?"

Twilight's smile grew brighter. "I'm sure you'll manage, Starlight. Just don't tell the students about my absence. There's no need for any of them to worry. By the time spring break is over, I'll be back from Canterlot and you can go back to your old job. I don't think I'll be taking over from Princess Celestia and Princess Luna until at least the Summer Sun Celebration. School will be out for summer by then, which means you'll have plenty of time to prepare for the transition."

Starlight sighed, then looked down at the bracelet on her hooves. She knew what it meant when it started to glow and chime. "Well, it looks like my help as a guidance counselor is needed once again," She said to Twilight. "If you really have that much faith in me, I guess I'll trust you. I just hope you're not mistaken." And she teleported away in the blink of an eye.

As it turned out, the student who was in need of help from Starlight was none other than Silverstream. The usually bubbly and cheerful hippogriff seemed just a tiny bit anxious if the look on her face was anything to go by. "Sorry to bother you so close to spring break, Counselor Starlight, but I have a little bit of a problem involving my family."

"What do you mean?" Starlight questioned. "I thought you and your family worked out the whole hippogriff/seapony debate already."

"Oh no no no, it's not like that! Mom and Dad are getting along just fine now, they have their jobs but they still find time to be with each other," Silverstream quickly insisted. "And Terramar's doing good too. He says he can't wait until he's old enough to come to the school himself," Then she explained. "My problem's with my cousins, namely my younger cousins," She proceeded to prattle on at length, unaware that a long line of students was forming behind her. "I totally respect their decision to stay as seaponies, it's the only world they've ever know and they don't wanna give it up if they don't have to. But there's just so many things on land that they've never seen before, so many things I wanna tell them."

Starlight did her best to look interested in what Silverstream had to say. "Well... I... don't see how I can help with that."

The pink feathered hippogriff nervously chuckled. "Well, I was hoping to ask you for some help with this research assignment from Professor Fluttershy's class. It's about dangerous fauna in the Everfree Forest. But then I started thinking about the visit from my younger cousins that's going to happen during the break. So I thought I could ask you for help with that first, and then maybe I could concentrate on my research assignment," She pulled out a notepad and a quill, asking the unicorn. "I mean, how would you describe a shower to creatures who live in water? So far all I've got is 'warm' and 'steamy'. And steam has water in it. In fact, water gets warm too."

The unicorn mare hesitantly replied. "Silverstream, I really don't think I'm the pony to ask about this kind of stuff. And I've got a lot of other students who want to see me today."

"Oh, I know, I know!" Silverstream impatiently replied. "But I just need a few shower adjectives... as long as they don't involve water or getting wet. Although, maybe I should just take a picture or something?"

Starlight Glimmer let out a sigh. "Well, what about that book on plumbing you checked out a while back? Maybe that could help?" When she saw the disappointed look on the hippogriff's face, however, she added. "But you did come to me, and I never turn away a student in need," She put a hoof to her chin, contemplating. "Let's see: There's 'clean', 'relaxing', um..." She struggled to think of any other adjectives, her mind so full of other things.

The young hippogriff wrote down the words, frowning a bit. "Well, a nap's pretty relaxing too. Don't think that helps," She sighed. "Clean's okay, but the plumbing book mentions clean on all your plumbing stuff," She blushed. "Sorry, I think I'm gonna have to think about this a little more on my own time. Thanks for the suggestions, though." And she turned and walked away.

The unicorn mare with a grayish-purple coat sighed anew as she looked at the long line of students. Much as she loved helping the students solve their problems, she was starting to wonder if she was truly up to the task. And if she was struggling with this, how was she ever going to handle managing their lives more in-depth as the school's headmare?

Somehow, someway, Starlight managed to make it through the long line of students who wanted to see her and ask her for help. Whether it be Ocellus dealing with some "identity issues" related to a sudden inability to control her transformations, Smolder's indiscriminate fire breathing causing problems, or even Silverstream asking for more help describing things like towels or the sensation of being dry, Starlight forced herself to smile until she could get the problems resolved.

By the time was all said and done, poor Starlight Glimmer was left in a very frazzled state. Her mane and tail were starting to become disorganized. To make matters worse, she then realized she was late for a planned meeting with Trixie! The two had yet to go over their plans for the upcoming equinox celebration. Maud's first ever party promised to be a special occasion, and with Sunburst coming to Ponyville everything needed to be as perfect as possible.

After taking a moment to compose herself and loosely style her mane and tail to look presentable, Starlight lit up her horn and teleported away again. In her haste, she'd forgotten about leaving a sign on her office door that read "This office is currently closed, sorry for the inconvenience". That was going to be a major source of trouble for her.

Trixie was already waiting for her fellow unicorn out in the middle of Ponyville, currently holding aloft a scroll with her magic. When she saw Starlight teleport right next to her, Trixie did her best to hide her impatience. "What is it with you and those students?" She questioned. "Do they think you're supposed to solve all their problems for them? What would they ever do if you got sick or something and couldn't come to work?"

Starlight Glimmer protested. "They need me, Trixie! I can't abandon them! Especially not that I'm now going to be filling in for Twilight as headmare for the next few days. Looks like we're not the only ones who've made plans for the upcoming equinox."

Trixie then pointed out. "Nopony is saying your job isn't important, Starlight. But plans you make with your friends are important, too."

Starlight sighed once again. Much as she hated to admit it, her fellow unicorn had a point. "I know. And I'm sorry. As busy as I've been and as busy as I'm gonna be, that's no excuse for forgetting about the plans we already made, Trixie. I have to set a good example for the students when it comes to friendship," Then she asked. "So, remind me again, what are the things we need to do before Maud's big party?"

The currently not practicing magician unfurled the scroll she was holding, listing off the tasks that had been written on one by one. Her tone of voice almost sounded like a whine of frustration. "Maud needs streamers for the decorations. Sunburst wants us to pick up a genuine pre-Equestrian spring equinox chafing dish from the antique shop."

"Of course he does. He loves his antiques," Starlight commented in a tone of voice that sounded more annoyed than amused. "What else?"

Trixie read further. "Mudbriar wants a bouquet of flowering sticks – whatever those are. And I thought we were both looking forward to Mrs. Cake teaching us the secret recipe to her famous spring equinox cake. It's something she hasn't taught to either Pinkie Pie or Sugar Belle yet. She agreed to teach it to us after serving as a substitute teacher at the school one time."

Starlight Glimmer nervously chuckled. "Oh, I'm totally looking forward to that! That sounds like a lot of fun," Yet she then proposed. "Although, maybe we should skip the hassle and just buy a cake from her?"

In response to the suggestion, Trixie's eyes narrowed as she pressed her snout up against Starlight's, telling her friend in no uncertain terms. "We could... but then we'd miss out on baking together. Plus, the time I spent flattering and convincing and begging her to share the recipe with us for nothing! And we promised to make a cake, not buy a cake! And the Great and Powerful Trixie keeps her promises!"

Starlight couldn't argue with that. "Okay! Why don't we just split up these jobs, then? Make it easier for both of us," And she began to suggest. "I'll get the streamers and the chafing dish. And you-" Yet just then she heard the bracelet on her left front hoof start to chime.

Trixie frowned, not amused in the slightest. "Starlight!" She remarked in an impatient, demanding tone of voice.

Ignoring the harsh glare from her friend, Starlight simply replied. "-Get started on those sticks, and I'll be right back! I'm sure this won't take long. Probably just Silverstream asking for more 'help' describing things to her cousins," She then gave a nervous laugh as she took hold of the scroll, proposing. "In fact, why don't I just hang on to this? Wouldn't want to forget the things I just said I'd take care of. Because I am totally gonna take care of them... once I take care of... whatever this is!" And she teleported away again.

Now alone, Trixie sighed and shook her head from side to side. "Why won't you just take a break, Starlight? It's not going to be the end of the world if you do! Those students have to learn they can't always rely on you to solve everything for them." She thought to herself, then reluctantly set off to find out what "flowering sticks" were and how she might order them for Mudbriar.

Ordering the flowering sticks proved to be very difficult for Trixie. The first pony she sought to ask was Rose, convinced that maybe a flower salespony would know a thing or two about flowering sticks.

Rose did seem to have some idea of what the aforementioned objects were, and so she asked Trixie as the magician stood by the flower stand. "Could it be plum blossom? Or how about cherry rose?"

"I have no idea," Trixie admitted. "I've got half a mind to find Mudbriar and drag him here so he can explain it," She rolled her eyes. "Honestly, what does Maud see in him?"

Just then, Starlight almost literally popped right in, giving both Trixie and Rose quite a scare! "Whoops! Sorry about that, Rose," She apologized with a laugh, appearing to be a bit distracted. "But I need a bouquet of flowering sticks, stat!"

Trixie blinked in confusion. "Wait, I thought I was getting the flowering sticks, Starlight."

"Oh, were you? I must've forgotten." Starlight said with a nervous giggle.

Rose could only shrug her hooves in response. "I'm still not exactly sure what they are or if we even have them."

"Apparently, nopony does." Trixie pointed out.

The unicorn mare with a grayish-purple coat then replied. "That's okay. You just focus on the sticks, Trixie. I'll go get the streamers-" But as she spoke, her bracelet chimed anew, prompting her to add. "-Riiiight after I take care of what I'm sure is an even smaller student problem than the last one! A counselor's work is never done!"

Unfortunately for Starlight Glimmer, whether it was picking up the streamers or collecting Sunburst's antique chafing dish, she found that she kept being called away due to problems the students were having. It seemed like every student at the school had some sort of problem they couldn't solve by themselves, though strangely enough many of them had very little to do with the school or with classes. None of the students seemed to suspect anything out of the ordinary even as some of their professors were quickly packing up their things after the last bell had rung.

But Starlight just didn't have the heart to turn away any of the students, no matter how small their problem might be. "I have to prove to Twilight that her faith in me isn't misplaced. If she reallly intends to have me take her place as headmare of the school, I've got to get used to things like this." She mentally told herself, constantly forcing herself to smile as she tried to quickly sort out whatever problem was presented to her. All the while, she kept thinking back to Trixie, who had to more or less do all the things Starlight had promised to do.

Eventually, a frazzled, frustrated Starlight teleported away from her office and towards Sugarcube Corner. But by then it was too late. The sun was going down, and Mrs. Cake was already locking up the bakery for the night. Even so, the unicorn mare desperately pleaded. "Wait, Mrs. Cake! You can't close yet! Trixie and I still need to learn the recipe for your equinox cake!"

The plump baker just replied with a smile. "Oh, it's fine, dear. Trixie was already here. I told her everything she needs to know. If you just follow her instructions, I'm sure you two will be okay." Then she turned and trotted away.

That only prompted Starlight to groan and hang her head in shame and lament. "Ugh! The Great and Powerful Trixie might keep her promises, but the Busy and Distracted Starlight sure doesn't. I promised to help her today, and I haven't done a single thing. Some friend I've turned out to be. I'm starting to think I should've just turned down Twilight's offer. I'm not ready to be a headmare, and I never will be. I can't even manage my responsibilities as it is. Not if today's anything to go by."

Mrs. Cake turned back around, trotting up to Starlight and patting her gently on the forehead. "Oh, don't be so hard on yourself, dearie. I felt just the same way you do when I first brought the twins home. It took me a while to learn how to juggle my new responsibilities with my old ones. I'm sure you'll get better at it eventually."

"Eventually might not be soon enough," The unicorn mare groaned further. "All this is doing is giving me a headache! And I still haven't even locked up the school yet. How do Twilight and her friends do it? They make it look so easy to run a school and still have time for their friends, and they all have their own responsibilities to manage on top of that."

The plump baker somewhat nervously replied. "I don't know if I can help you there. This is something you'll just have to figure out for yourself. Though if you want my advice, maybe you should start prioritizing your responsibilities and committments," Then she noticed something, whispering it to the unicorn. "Uh, your hoof is glowing. Did you know that?"

Starlight stood up. "Of course it is," She bitterly grumbled. "What else could possibly go wrong today?" And she furiously teleported away once again.

Much to the surprise of Starlight Glimmer, she soon found that she was not alone in her counselor's office within the school. The lights suddenly flickered on, revealing not only a very disgruntled looking Trixie but also the familiar face of Diamond Tiara, both of whom appeared to have been waiting for Starlight for quite some time. "What are you doing here?" She asked them both.

Trixie frowned. "It's the one place I knew I could find you," Pointing a hoof to Diamond Tiara she added. "I figured if you won't listen to me, you'll listen to her. After all, you're apparently supposed to be helping with her friendship lessons while Twilight is away."

"Ugh! I knew I was forgetting something!" Starlight groaned anew as she brought her head down onto her desk. "I need to start writing myself notes, or get a calendar. At this rate, I'm going to forget everything I've ever promised to anypony!"

"If you're busy, that's fine," Diamond Tiara nervously suggested. "I-I... wouldn't wanna be a burden to you, Miss. Starlight. You've always been a good teacher when you've had to fill in for Princess Twilight in the past, but if you don't have time to tutor me then that's fine. Princess Twilight says there's not much more she'll be able to teach me before she has to take the throne. I'm... pretty sure I'm starting to get the hang of this friendship stuff," Then she sheepishly added. "...Although, a refresher course never hurt anypony. Right?"

Trixie pointed out. "You really should listen to her, Starlight. She's worried about you, and so am I. I get it, you're busy now. But just look at yourself," She held up a mirror with her magic. "You're a mess! How are you helping anyone in this state?"

Starlight slowly lifted her head up from her desk. "Look, Trixie, I know you're upset about today. And you have every right to be. I haven't been a good friend," She hastily tried to apologize. "But..."

The magician mare shook her head from side to side in disapproval. "-You're missing the point, Starlight. You weren't like this when the school first opened its doors. Up until recently, you always found time to be with your friends. But ever since you mentioned having to take over from Princess Twilight, you've been taking on more and more responsibilities and allowed yourself to get distracted in the process," She proceeded to comment. "Your students are important. But surely, they're not important than your friends, or your own self worth."

"Even my mother takes breaks from the things she has to do every once in a while," Diamond stated in a somewhat nervous tone of voice. "Although, she kind of had to after my dad found out what she'd been doing while on the school board. Since then she's just kind of done whatever she feels like doing," She shuddered. "Which is why I'm grateful for any excuse... I mean opportunity to get away from it all," And she proposed. "Maybe that's what you need, Miss. Starlight. You need to take some time off from some of the things you're doing. If it's your counselor job that's making it hard for you to do anything else, maybe you need to stop being a counselor for a while."

Starlight Glimmer was silent for a moment as she let the words slowly sink in. It sounded so tempting, so simple. But could she really bring herself to do it?

Before the unicorn mare with a grayish-purple coat could make up her mind one way or the other, her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a knock on her office door.

The door swung open very slowly, and Silverstream poked her head in as she somewhat hesitantly asked. "Counselor Starlight? Sorry if this is last minute, but can I ask you something really quick? It's something really important."

"Silverstream..." Starlight began, before pausing to collect her thoughts. As she did so, she looked at the faces of both Trixie and Diamond Tiara. Suddenly, she knew what she had to do. So she cleared her throat and said to the hippogriff. "-I'm sorry, but my office is now closed. And so's the school, for that matter. Just because I haven't locked it up yet doesn't mean you can come barging in whenever you feel like it. Besides, isn't it time you caught the train home?"

The young hippogriff's ears folded flat against her face as the realization dawned on her. "Oh yeah, I guess it," She turned to leave. "Thanks anyway, Counselor Starlight. You've been a big help today."

"Yes, but I'm sure that whatever your problem is, it's one that a smart and capable student like you can figure out the solution to over the break," Starlight firmly declared as she took off her bracelet and ushered the pink feathered hippogriff to the door. "Go on, now. Go pack up your things and get down to the train station. I'll see you and the other students after the break." And once Silverstream was on the other side of the door, the unicorn used her magic to close it firmly.

"See? Now was that so hard?" Trixie questioned her friend.

Starlight breathed a sigh of relief, her tone of voice becoming much more confident. "I guess not. All I really had to do was put my hoof down. Silverstream means well, but she can't keep taking up time just to ask me to help her describe things to her cousins. I'm a guidance counselor, not a dictionary," She then said to Trixie. "Now come on! Let's go bake that cake!"

Diamond then questioned. "But what about my studies, Miss. Starlight?"

Starlight flashed a warm smile. "Oh, don't be silly, Diamond. You can spend time with me. I'm sure you'll love Maud's spring equinox celebration. Besides, I'm sure your parents won't mind me giving you a baking lesson or two on the side. You could probably use a refresher course." And with that, she turned her thoughts entirely towards the celebration that was to take place the next day.

As Starlight Glimmer prepared to leave her office, a thought came into the back of her mind. "I hope Twilight and her friends are doing okay running Canterlot by themselves," Then she chuckled to herself. "Oh, what am I worried about? Of course they can handle it. And I have everything totally under control here in Ponyville." But she was soon to learn that in fact she did not.

Trixie was overjoyed to be working and baking with Starlight. The two unicorns happily worked together to bake the cake in accordance with what Mrs. Cake had taught Trixie. Then they put the finishing touches on the cake and brought it over to the underground home of Maud and Mudbriar. Sunburst was already there, and it wasn't long before all the decorations were set up and the party began.

The spring equinox cake was a three layered culinary creation: The bottom two layers were decorated in lush shades of spring green and decorated with objects made to look like flowers. The top most layer was a bluish-green in color, and had white ice like frosting made to look like clouds and ice shards.

Sunburst nervously inspected the cake, which looked surprisingly solid. When his hoof touched the cake, he felt a sharp burst of pain and hollered! "Yeow! Is this cake supposed to be so sharp?" As soon as he'd spoken those lines, he received a harsh glare and growl from Trixie. He quickly swallowed his intended complaint, saying somewhat nervously. "I mean, it looks really..." He paused, eventually settling on the word. "Uh... interesting, I guess?"

Mudbriar then insisted. "Technically, it's not symmetrical or aesthetically pleasing. Are we sure this cake is edible?" And he too got a harsh glare and a growl from Trixie.

Trixie proceeded to complain. "Let's see you try to bake a cake with your best friend on short notice! Starlight kept getting called away to help the students, we didn't have time to try again!"

Maud seemed to smile ever so faintly. "I'm sure it'll be okay. My family eats rock soup all the time, rocks and everything. They help strengthen your jaw muscles."

Diamond Tiara nervously commented in response. "I... think I'll pass. But it's the thought that counts, right?"

Starlight Glimmer happily nodded. "Sure. So maybe it's not the best cake ever. We made it together, and that's what counts."

Maud Pie then stated. "I'm glad you brought it. And everything else. I'm very excited. This is going to be the most perfect party ever. I just wish Pinkie was here to see it."

"I'm sure she and her friends are doing just fine in Canterlot," Starlight commented with a smile. "Besides," She looked around the cave interior. "All of you are my friends too. As long as you're with your friends, anything can be a fun time."

Trixie happily chimed in. "And with all of your students home for spring break, I won't have to worry about you being summoned to your office in the middle of the party. We'll have no interruptions."

"Exactly!" Starlight cheerfully proclaimed. "Nothing is gonna take me away from this party. Now, what should we do first?"

But just then, an apple greenish white coated male hippogriff came fluttering into the cave with the most frightened and alarmed look on his face! He had gentle, innocent moderate cyan eyes, and a moderate cyan and pale turquoise mane and tail. He seemed to be looking for someone, judging by how wide eyed he seemed to be. "Hello?! Miss. Starlight?! Are you here?!" He desperately called out in a loud tone of voice.

Starlight Glimmer spat out her drink (she had just started consuming it too) in surprise! She swore she recognized that hippogriff from somewhere. Or at the very least, had heard of him before. He had to be looking for her for a reason.

Maud turned to face the unexpected guest that had shown up. "Sorry," She told him while her tone of voice and expression didn't change in the slightest. "This is a private cavern. I don't believe you were invited to this party."

The hippogriff just flapped his wings and apologize. "Sorry, but it's urgent! Is Miss. Starlight here by any chance?! I was told she'd be here!"

"She's here, but..." Diamond Tiara began, only to be cut off as Starlight lit up her horn and gently pushed the magenta coated filly aside.

Starlight cleared her throat. "-I'm Miss. Starlight," She said to the hippogriff as she approached him. "Who are you? I feel like you're familiar to me somehow, even though I don't think we've met."

The hippogriff cleared his throat. "I'm Terramar, Silverstream's younger brother. And you're Miss. Starlight, the guidance counselor for the school, right?"

The unicorn mare nodded. "Yes I am," Then she questioned. "Why are you here, Terramar? Is something wrong?"

Terramar quickly confirmed. "You bet there is. It's Silverstream, my big sis. She's missing!"

The news came as a shock to everypony in the cave! Even the usual stotic Maud and Mudbriar could be heard letting out audible gasps!

Starlight Glimmer was alarmed, and confused. "I... I don't understand! What do you mean she's missing? Did someone kidnap her?"

The hippogriff frantically shook his head from side to side. "No, I don't think it's that. I think she disappeared all on her own, probably without meaning to. She was supposed to be on the train to Mount Aris. Mom and Dad sent me to the station to wait for her," He swallowed hard. "But she never showed up! And no one on the train said they'd seen any sign of her. They even checked the baggage just in case she might be hiding in a suitcase or something. They couldn't find her anywhere!"

Sunburst nervously spoke up. "It's a long way between Ponyville and Mount Aris. She could be anywhere."

Terramar then pleaded! "Please, you've got to help me find her! Mom and Dad are frantic! And Aunt Novo's already vowed to send out search parties of hippogriffs and seaponies! Both kingdoms are on high alert! I've been sent here to check the school."

"The school's closed for spring break," Diamond Tiara pointed out. "All the schools in Ponyville are."

That did nothing to settle Terramar's already clearly frayed nerves. "That's not good!" He grabbed Starlight with his paws and started shaking her back and forth! "Are you sure she left the school? Maybe she stayed behind? I heard she had a big project due in Professor Fluttershy's class right after the break. Do you know if she said anything about that?"

"She did once," Starlight admitted once she was able to use her magic to pull herself free from Terramar's grasp. "But she was mostly just talking to me about helping her explain things to her little cousins."

Terramar sighed and groaned, putting a paw to his face. "That's my big sis for you. I swear, it's like she's obsessed with everything on the land. Even my dad's less crazy than that," But then he asked. "So, did she ever say what she was going do for her project? Do you know when you saw her last?"

With a gulp, the unicorn mare admitted. "I saw her just before I was going to lock up the school. She came to my office asking me for help. She said it was something really important," She hung her head in shame. "And I turned her away. I thought she just wanted to ask about things like showers and towels. I should've known she was asking me to help her with her research project."

At that the male hippogriff gasped, verebly berating Starlight Glimmer! "How could you turn her away like that?! What kind of counselor turns away a student with a problem?!"

"The kind with too much on her plate!" Trixie protested! "You don't understand, Terramar. Starlight has always gone out of her way for her students. And I mean always."

"Yeah," Diamond Tiara somewhat reluctantly chimed in. "And besides, she was also filling in for Princess Twilight while she and her friends are away in Canterlot. Something to do with giving the other princesses a vacation. Miss. Starlight's had enough to worry about already. It's not her fault for finally putting her own self worth first and foremost, is it? She didn't tell Silverstream not to go home."

"Technically," Mudbriar pointed out. "By turning away her request for help, Starlight might have unintentionally convinced Silverstream to try to solve the problem on her own. But the only way we would know for sure is if we could travel back in time, and see if things would play out differently if Starlight did offer to help."

Starlight slowly lifted her head back up, saying to the others. "Thanks, but I don't need you to fight my battles for me. I chose to listen to my friends instead of helping a student when she needed it most. Just because I didn't know what Silverstream was planning doesn't mean I had the right to ignore her."

"Starlight," Sunburst said with a sigh. "It's not your fault. You didn't know this would happen."

"Maybe not," Starlight Glimmer replied. "But Twilight did put me in charge of the school and its students while she's away. That means that if one of the students is missing for any reason," She vowed with a look of firey determination in her eyes. "It's my job to do everything I can to find them!" She then turned to her friends, saying to them. "You all get back to the party. Don't worry about me," Then to Terramar she said. "Come with me, Terramar. We're going to search the whole school from top to bottom. We'll find your sister if it's the last thing we do!"

Terramar nodded. "Thanks, Miss. Starlight. Now we'd better hurry!" And then he and Starlight disappeared in a flash of light turquoise magic.

Once pony and hippogriff were out of sight, Maud Pie blinked slowly as she said to the others. "I should've known it couldn't last. Party perfection is more of a Pinkie thing. I think I'll leave the party planning to her from now on."

Mudbriar, meanwhile, was turning his attention to the "flower-sticks" Trixie had brought. "I wasn't going to say anything, but these flowers are just glued on, so technically, it wasn't perfect already," Upon seeing all eyes fall upon him, he then nervously added. "But that's... probably not important. We should all hope Starlight finds Silverstream unharmed."

"We can do more than that!" Diamond Tiara declared as an idea suddenly came into her mind. "Miss. Starlight's counting on us. We have to help her however we can!"

Starlight and Terramar wasted no time in beginning their search! As soon as they were back at the school, they immediately settled on a plan of action. "You check the grounds, I'll look inside." Starlight told Terramar, and with a nod they set off to do just that.

The unicorn mare proceeded to teleport all over the school, searching everywhere possible for Silverstream or any clues to as her whereabouts. "Hello? Silverstream?" She called again and again, but received no reply. It was as if the hippogriff had suddenly vanished into thin air.

Eventually, Starlight Glimmer teleported back out to the school grounds, right as Terramar swam past in the pond surrounding the school. He quickly transformed back into a hippogriff, panting and struggling to catch his breath. "She's not down here."

"I didn't see her anywhere in the school," Starlight nervously confessed. "Where could she be?"

Then Terramar suggested. "Well, what about her room? Maybe she left something behind that'll tell us where she went?"

"Good idea! Let's check!" The unicorn mare insisted, and grabbed Terramar, before teleporting away to do just that. Upon arriving in Silverstream's room but a second or two later, they searched every nook and cranny from top to bottom. Still, their search results turned up nothing.

Suddenly, Terramar noticed something illuminated by the pale moonlight shining through a window. It looked like a small desk, and it appeared to have several pieces of paper strewn all over it. Something appeared to be drawn on one of the pieces of paper, something that filled him with dread even though he didn't know what it was. "Miss. Starlight, over here! I think I found something!"

Starlight rushed over to the desk, her eyes quickly falling upon the piece of paper Terramar was holding up. Pulling it close with the soft glow of her horn, she gasped in horror when she saw what it was! "A cockatrice?! Those things are dangerous!"

The male hippogriff hesitantly asked. "Could that be what her project was on? You think she might have gone off to look for one?"

"That's insane! They only live in the Everfree Forest!" Starlight protested. "She wouldn't just wander off into there for a cockatrice, not even for a project!"

"Well, I think that's what she might have done," Terramar gulped. "She could be anywhere in that forest. How will we ever find her?"

"There's only one thing we can do in that situation!" Starlight firmly vowed. "We'll have to comb through the Everfree Forest until we find her!" She teleported away, only to come back when she realized she'd forgotten about Terramar. She grabbed him with a nervous laugh, and then teleported back outside the school again.

Much to the surprise of both Starlight and Terramar, everypony from the party at Maud's happened to show up on the school grounds. The unexpected encounter made everyone present yelp!

"What are you all doing here?" Starlight Glimmer questioned.

Diamond Tiara happily beamed. "Isn't it obvious? We're here to help. The more ponies that join the search, the better, right? Isn't that what Princess Twilight would say?"

"Technically, Starlight wasn't alone, she had Terramar with her," Mudbriar pointed out, before adding. "But Diamond wouldn't stop talking about how we had to help you. And we all agreed it was the right thing to do."

Though delighted at the prospect of having more hooves to help with the search, Starlight humbily replied. "Thanks. All of you. But the students are my responsibility. Twilight trusted me to keep them safe in her absence. I can't let her down! Besides," In a guilty tone of voice she added. "I'm the one who didn't her job like she was supposed to."

Trixie reluctantly confessed. "I... might share a bit of the blame for pressuring you into leaving work early, Starlight."

"No, Trixie, I chose to listen to you. You didn't force me into doing anything I didn't want to do myself," Starlight insisted with a shake of her head. "I chose to prioritize spending time with you and going to Maud's party instead of helping Silverstream one last time."

Maud Pie seemed to smile ever so faintly as she proposed. "We can still have a party. A search party."

"Well, first of all, Diamond Tiara can't go with us!" Starlight Glimmer protested. "She's only a child. I can't risk anything happening to her."

"Hey, I can take care of myself! I don't need everypony to play foalsitter for me!" The headgear wearing filly said while folding her hooves into a pouting motion. "I've been in the Everfree Forest once before. I'll be just fine, I won't wander off by myself or anything like that."

Sunburst pointed out to Starlight. "As long as she's with us, Starlight, we should be okay. It'll take much longer to take her home, and that's time we could spend trying to find Silverstream before anything happens to her."

The unicorn mare with a grayish-purple coat reluctantly relented on that point. "Okay, fair enough. The Everfree Forest apparently isn't quite as dangerous as it used to be," Yet she then gulped. "Still, it's a big place. And it's nighttime. We could easily get separated if we go in without a plan. I don't care what anyone says. This time I will come up with a plan before I lead everyone into danger."

A familiar voice then called out. "I don't suppose I could be of any assistance, could I?" In a dazzling display of light, who should then appear before the ragtag group of searchers but Princess Luna herself in all her glory?

"Princess Luna?" Starlight blinked in surprise. "I thought you and Princess Celestia were on vacation. Why are you here?"

The night princess somewhat hesitantly replied. "My sister and I had a bit of a... disagreement, to put it lightly, when it came to discussing what we should do for our vacation. We ultimately decided it was best if we split up, each doing the activities we wanted to do most. I prefered much quieter and relaxing activities, whereas my sister is undoubtly enjoying herself doing things like river rapid cruising or bunge jumping," She cleared her throat. "As for why I'm here, I can't really explain it. But something in the air told me that trouble was brewing back in Ponyville. It seems that is the case."

"Yeah, we're trying to find Silverstream," Starlight explained. "We believe she went into the Everfree Forest to study cockatrices for a school project."

Sunburst let out a gasp of horror! "What?! The gaze of the cockatrice is known to petrify any who dare to cross its path! And the reptilian birds are elusive and solitary!"

Terramar pointed out. "Well, our family's part bird."

Sunburst bit into a hoof. "You don't understand, cockatrices are nothing like hippogriffs! If your sister seriously thinks being part bird is enough to help her understand those creatures, she's wrong!" He proceeded to question. "Where would we even begin to look for them?"

Princess Luna immediately vowed. "Let me handle this. I'm very well accquinted with the night and the Everfree Forest. I'll search for Silverstream and bring her back before the night is over. This isn't the first time I've had to help a child in need." She then unfolded her wings and took to the sky. Soon, she was out of sight.

Yet it wasn't long after the alicorn had disappeared the ragtag group of searchers began to grow impatient. And that did nothing to calm their nerves, especially for Starlight.

"Oh, I should've gone with Princess Luna!" Starlight protested while pacing back and forth. "What if she gets attacked by cockatrices or something else while looking for Silverstream?" She quickly made up her mind. "Forget what I said about having a plan! I have to go in there and do my own search!"

"If you're going, Miss. Starlight, then so are we," Diamond firmly insisted. "Safety in numbers, right?" She said the last part with an audible gulp.

The unicorn mare sighed, reluctantly agreeing. "I guess so. I still feel like it's a bad idea letting you go with us, Diamond Tiara," She decided to lay down a condition. "Make sure you stay close to me at all times. And if you see or hear a cockatrice, don't look it in the eyes whatever you do!"

Tiara nodded. "Understood, Miss. Starlight."

Trixie then stepped forward and proudly boasted. "I have a lot of experience telling ponies that I have experience with the dangerous creatures of Everfree Forest! Follow me!"

Against their better judgement, the other searchers did so, and allowed themselves to wander deep into the Everfree Forest in search of Silverstream.

The search for Silverstream went on for several minutes as the ragtag group of rescuers followed the only lead they had. Trixie lead them one way and then another. But it felt like they were walking in one giant circle. In fact, Maud Pie pointed it out. "Weren't we just here?" She asked as her tone of voice didn't change in the slightest.

"We definitely were," Diamond Tiara said quite firmly, then turned to Starlight. "Was it really a good idea to trust her, Miss. Starlight? I don't think she's ever been in this forest before."

Trixie growled. "Well, in my defense, when there's a dangerous creature in the forest I don't want to meet, this is how I meet them," Then with a pout she added. "But by all means, let's see any of you do better! Or should we just wait for Princess Luna to rescue us too?"

Sunburst frowned and put a hoof to his chin, deep in thought. "I think I remember reading about cockatrices once. If my memory's correct, they prefer rocky terrain and ample shade."

"Well that's all fine and dandy, except for the fact that it's night time and we're in a forest!" Trixie bitterly complained. "Where would we ever find rocks and shade?"

Maud spoke up. "Actually, rocks aren't the most hospitable environment for shade trees of any sort."

Mudbriar quickly added his own two bits to his special somepony's comment. "Technically, pine trees like Pinus cembra or Pinus sylvestris can grow from narrow crevasses or cracks in a rocky rhizosphere. Perhaps we could search for those."

A rare smile formed on Maud's face as she said to the stick loving stallion. "You complete me."

Starlight coughed into a hoof, desperate to keep the two lovers from getting lost in each others' eyes. "There's some pine trees over there!" She pointed out. And everyone followed her lead as she rushed to a small clearing just up ahead!

Sure enough, a ways down from where the search party was, there was an entire grotto worth of pine trees. They stretched all the way to the base of the cliff. And underneath the cliff were a bunch of cockatrices, all of them clucking and hissing as their red eyes glowed ominously in the dark.

In a frantic whisper, Starlight glanced nervously across to Sunburst. "I thought you said they were solitary!"

Sunburst whispered back. "They are! This must be some kind of migration. This is the time of year when most animals start coming out of hibernation to forge anew."

Terramar gulped and whispered. "At least there's no sign of Silverstream. I can't imagine getting caught in the middle of that flock," He shuddered. "Just looking in their general direction gives me the creeps. Why would my big sis want to conduct a research project on them? Why couldn't she have picked something safer?"

Starlight Glimmer sighed, a hint of regret creeping into her tone of voice. "I probably could've talked her out of it if I hadn't turned her away."

Then Trixie saw fit to tempt fate by stating. "It's just lucky that we're all over here and that they're all over there." Yet she had no sooner spoken those words than there came an ominous hissing sound from directly behind her! She didn't dare turn around to see what was making that sound, she was pretty sure she knew what it was.

"Whatever you do, don't look them in the eyes!" Starlight warned! "Their gaze can turn you to stone. It happened to Twilight once."

Diamond Tiara gulped, her knees starting to shake. "T-then, what are we supposed to do?! Oh, why did I think going into this forest again was a good idea?! Never thought I'd say this, but I'd rather be getting another lecture from Mother right about now."

Then the unicorn mare with a grayish-purple coat declared. "There's only one thing we can do!" At the top of her lungs she screamed! "RUN!" She only just thought to get close enough to Diamond Tiara before she had said that, hastily grabbing the magenta coated filly by the hoof. "Don't let go, Diamond Tiara!" She desperately pleaded! "I don't wanna lose anyone else tonight!"

"And I don't wanna get turned to stone!" Diamond whimpered in reply as she shut her eyes, clutching Starlight's hoof as tightly as possible! The two then disappeared with a flick of the horn, leaving the rest of the search party to shut their own eyes and run off with no thought as to where they'd go!

Sunburst soon found himself all alone in the middle of the Everfree Forest, his eyes shut tight as he ran as fast as his hooves could carry him! He might as well have been blindfolded considering he had no idea where he was or where he was going. As a result, he didn't even notice when he ran smack into a rock. The resulting impact halted his attempt to flee, leaving him momentarily dazed.

Suddenly, the cloak wearing stallion heard a telltale zapping sound. But in his haste and panic, he didn't recognize what that meant! Instead, he shot off a blast from his horn!

Starlight yelped and dove to the ground as the beam from Sunburst's horn whizzed past overhead, just missing her! "Sunburst! It's me!" She hollered at him! "You can open your eyes now."

Sunburst did so, and blushed upon realizing he'd just tried to attack his childhood friend. "Starlight!" He happily exclaimed, and then apologized. "I'm so sorry. We have to get out of here," Then he asked. "Hey, where's Diamond Tiara? isn't she with you?"

Starlight Glimmer nodded. "She was, but I left her somewhere safe. Hurry, take my hoof!" When Sunburst obeyed, Starlight then lit up her horn again, and teleported him away with her.

Diamond Tiara was momentarily startled when she saw Starlight and Sunburst appear before her in front of a very large rock! Fortunately, she quickly regained her composure. "This was a bad idea, Miss. Starlight," And she pleaded with the best pair of puppy dog eyes. "Can I go home, please?"

"I have to find the others first," Starlight instructed. "Stay with Sunburst, and don't move. I'll be right back!" She then disappeared in another flash of magic.

Diamond gulped as she watched Starlight disappear. "Please be careful." She whispered.

Meanwhile, Trixie and Terramar, their own eyes shut tight, found themselves surrounded by cockatrices as their hissing and clucking seemed to come from all directions at once.

"What do we do now?! The clucking is coming from everywhere!" The hippogriff whimpered.

Trixie defiantly boasted! "The Great and Powerful Trixie fears no cluck!" She proceeded to use her horn to hastily throw down a smoke bomb, then grabbed Terramar (after momentarily feeling around for one of his paws) as pony and hippogriff made a desperate run to safety!

Starlight appeared before the fleeing duo but a moment later. "Good, I found you," She sighed in relief. "Come on, we have to get back to the others." And she teleported them away with her. Soon afterward, Trixie and Terramar were brought to the same rock that Sunburst and Diamond Tiara were waiting by. Now only Maud and Mudbriar remained unaccounted for.

Starlight teleported away again, eventually locking onto what she thought was the location of the earth pony couple. When she arrived, she saw Maud with her back turned to the cockatrices, kicking rocks to try to make them fly away.

The unicorn mare would've normally been impressed by such a show of strength, but not tonight. Instead, she shouted to Maud. "Maud! We've got to get out of here, now! I've found the others, now I just need you and Mudbriar!"

"I can't leave him, Starlight." Maud insisted and pointed a hoof, revealing a rather frightened Mudbriar who had been turned to solid stone!

Starlight Glimmer gasped in horror! She was too late! The cockatrices had already claimed their first victim!

"He scarificed himself to protect me," Maud explained. "I never knew he was so brave."

"Well, grab him and let's get back to the others." The unicorn mare with a grayish-purple coat insisted.

Maud did so, though not without whispering to her petrified boyfriend. "We'll find a way to turn you back to normal, honey." Then, she and the stoned form of Mudbriar were teleported to safety.

Everyone else gasped when they saw Mudbriar in his petrified state!

Trixie then protested as she stomped a hoof down! "They've already got Mudbriar?! They'll get all of us at this rate! I'm not risking my life anymore tonight! We have to get out of here, now!"

Terramar quickly protested. "No! We haven't found Silverstream yet!"

"Princess Luna was already searching for her when we decided to go into this spooky forest," Diamond remarked. "We should've just left her to handle it and stayed behind where we were safe."

Starlight just sighed. "Well, whatever we do, we can't stay here! We need to find somewhere safe while we think about what to do next. Come on!" And she led the others away (Maud having to quite literally drag Mudbriar along).

Ultimately, Starlight Glimmer decided it best to bring all her friends (including the still petrified Mudbriar) back to the entrance of the Everfree Forest. And then she began laying down some very strict terms. "Now listen, all of you!" She told them. "Diamond Tiara, Sunburst and Trixie can take you home. Terramar, you stay with Maud and Mudbriar. I'm going back in alone to look for Silverstream."

Everyone gasped, and Diamond Tiara practically hollered at the top of her lungs! "Are you crazy?! I don't care how magically gifted you are, you'll never survive on your own in the forest! Let us help you, Miss. Starlight. Or at least, let your other friends help you. I..." She reluctantly relented. "Understand if you don't want to put me in danger. But there's no reason for you to shut the others out."

Starlight only shook her head from side to side. "This is my mess. I can't drag you all into it any further. Because of me, Mudbriar's been turned to stone, Maud's party is on hold, and Silverstream is missing. None of this would've happened if I'd just listened to Silverstream one last time instead of thinking about myself. It was my responsibility as acting headmare to put others before myself, and I failed that test," She glumy added. "The least I can do now is try to make things right. I'll find Silverstream, and then I'll worry about getting Mudbriar freed from his stoned state."

"But we already explored pretty deep into that forest," Sunburst objected. "And if what we saw back there was indeed a migration of cockatrices, it'll take a full lunar cycle to complete. That's almost a month from now. Where else could you possibly think to look?"

Starlight reluctanty replied. "I don't know, but one way or another I have to try! For Silverstream's sake! I won't rest until I know she's safe and sound!"

Yet just then, from up above descending the form of Princess Luna. She had a somewhat puzzled expression on her face, and almost jumped back in surprise upon discovering Mudbriar turned to stone. "I thought I made it perfectly clear to you all to stay out of the forest," She said to them. "I know you're all worried about Silverstream, but throwing yourselves into danger to find her is a terrible idea."

"I'm sorry, Princess Luna," Starlight sincerely apologized. "But I couldn't stand around and do nothing while a student was in danger. Not when it's my fault she went into the Everfree Forest in the first place."

The night princess' puzzled expression slowly faded, replaced by a warm and gentle smile. "You have no need to worry, Starlight. I've already found Silverstream, and I can assure you she's safe and sound," She then unfolded her wings and stated. "I can take you to her now. And rest assured, I've already told her how worried you and her brother are."

Starlight Glimmer perked up, eagerly saying to the alicorn! "Well, what are you waiting for?! Take me to her right away!"

And Terramar insisted. "I'm coming with you, Miss. Starlight. Silverstream has to know about the panic she's caused back home. She should know better than this."

Princess Luna nodded. "Very well, I'll take you both to her location and then you can bring her back." Once Starlight and Terramar had approached her and stood next to her, she lit up her horn and whisked them all away.

A few seconds later, Starlight and Terramar were brought to the outskirts of what had once been the remnants of the Castle of the Two Sisters. But now it had been turned into a splendid treehouse, almost like an entirely new castle.

The realization struck the unicorn mare square in the face! "Of course! This should've been the first place we looked!" She said to herself. "I can't believe I forgot this place exisited."

"Let's not waste anymore time," Terramar declared, and rushed towards the treehouse proper while shouting. "I'm coming, big sis! Hang on!"

Starlight trotted off after Terramar, and the two soon opened the door and ventured into the treehouse proper. In the main foyer, they were shocked to discover Silverstream with a cockatrice that had a blue scaled body rather than the usual green scaled one.

"Oh, hi, Counselor Starlight. Hi, Terrmar." Silverstream greeted, seemingly unaware of the cockatrice lurking behind her.

A horrified Starlight Glimmer immediately sprang into action, horn at the ready! "Silverstream, look out! Get away from that cockatrice before it turns you to stone!" She shouted!

But Silverstream protested. "No, wait!" She then gave a whistle, and the cockatrice immediately strolled over to her. It showed no signs of hostility. She quickly explained. "This is Edith. She's helping me with my project." She proceeded to stroke it on the chin with one of her paws.

Starlight was confused. "I... don't understand. You've bonded with it?" She asked the pink feathered hippogriff.

The bubbly hippogriff happily nodded. "Yup. After you encouraged me to solve my own problem, I decided to get my project done before I left. That way, I could really focus on my family during my visit back home. Since the school was closed, I came here," Then she sheepishly blushed. "I guess I just lost track of the time. Although, maybe it was just me, but it felt like it got dark out a lot sooner than it was supposed to. It's a good thing I decided to stay here."

Terramar then accusingly shouted at his sister! "How could you just leave like that?! Do you have any idea how worried you made everyone back home?! Mom and Dad are horrified, and Aunt Novo's about ready to send armies out to look for you!"

Silverstream's blushed deepened. "Oh, shoot! I had a feeling I was forgetting something. I meant to write a letter and leave a note so no one would worry. I would've brought Edith out of the forest with me, but that's when I discovered the flock of migrating cockatrices. I decided it was better to stay here where I knew it was safe until someone came to get me."

Starlight breathed a small sigh of relief. "Well, I'm glad you were smart in that regard, Silverstream. But you really shouldn't have wandered into the Everfree Forest by yourself, not even for your project. You could've gotten hurt, or been turned to stone by one of those cockatrices. How would I ever explain that to your family?"

The young hippogriff guiltily looked at the ground. "Sorry, Counselor Starlight. Sorry, Terramar," She sincerely apologized. "Guess I let my excitement and enthusiasm get the best of me," And she added. "And Counselor Starlight, I'm sorry I kept bugging you. I sort of took for granted that you'd always be there to help any student no matter what. I realize now that you don't always have all the time to help every student with every problem, no matter what."

The unicorn mare firmly nodded, then said to Silverstream. "Well, Silverstream, from now on if I promise to have designated office hours, do you promise me you'll only come to me for help with problems that you truly can't solve on your own? And that you won't try to monopolize the time I have?"

"Yes, Counselor Starlight, I promise," Silverstream agreed, and then said. "I'm ready to go home now," Though she saw fit to ask. "Uh, is it okay if I take Edith back with me? I've never had a pet before."

Terramar nervously gulped. "You'll have to ask Mom and Dad. For now, I think it's best if you leave Edith somewhere safe."

Starlight then spoke up. "Speaking of which..." An idea came into her mind. "Silverstream, do you know how to make a cockatrice turn a pony that's been trapped in stone back to normal? There's a certain somepony who could really use that right about now."

When Silverstream was brought back to the edge of the Everfree Forest, she soon saw Mudbriar's stoned state. And sure enough, she knew how to get Edith to undo the magic and turn the stick loving stallion back to normal.

Maud immediately rushed up and hugged her boyfriend! "I'm so glad you're back to normal," She said to him, even as her tone of voice didn't change. "I'll never forget how you bravely scarificed yourself to protect me from the cockatrices. Even so, I think I like you more as a pony than as stone."

Mudbriar nodded and pointed out with a smile of his own. "Technically, I will always be a stick pony. But the experience has given me an even deeper appreciation for the density and permanence of rock."

Sunburst could only comment in amazement of how well Edith obeyed her master. "I can't believe you figured out how to trigger her nesting response, Silverstream. That's incredible!"

Silverstream chuckled. "It was actually pretty easy, seeing as my family's part bird," She sighed in a somewhat unhappy tone. "I wish I could take her back with me to Mount Aris."

"For now, it's best if she stays in Equestria," Terramar insisted, and turned to Princess Luna. "Do you think you can keep an eye on her for us until Silverstream can take Edith back?"

The night princess firmly saluted and vowed. "You have my word. I'll ensure Edith remains safe and sound, and that she causes no trouble for anypony or anycreature."

Silverstream then trotted over to Terramar as Terramar then said to the gathered crowd of ponies. "Silverstream and I should get going. But I wanted to thank you for everything you did to help find her."

"I just wish I hadn't abandoned her in the first place." Starlight glumly confessed, the guilt still gnawing at her.

Trixie stepped forward to defend her friend. "You didn't abandon her, Starlight."

"Yeah, you dropped everything as soon as you learned she was missing," Diamond Tiara pointed out. "And besides, you weren't wrong to think about yourself. You can't always be there for everyone all the time."

Trixie proceeded to add. "Of course being a school counselor is a big responsibility. But always being at work isn't fair to anyone. Every now and then, it's okay if you take a little time off. Your students will understand."

Starlight Glimmer was slow to respond. But when she did, she spoke with confidence. "You know... I think you're right. Regardless of what I end up being and regardless of what my position with the school will be, I can't neglect my own needs or the promises I make to my friends. The key is finding the right balance."

Princess Luna blinked slowly as Starlight's words seemed to touch at something deep inside her. "I... should probably get back to my sister now," She said in what sounded like a guilt ridden tone of voice. "We may have our differences, but I've forgotten what it was like to be separated from her, even if this time it was voluntary." She unfolded her wings and flew away.

Silverstream and Terramar departed not long afterward. And as for everypony else, they went back to Maud's to resume their equinox celebration.

Little did anyone at the time know that all was not well in Canterlot. Twilight and her friends had been experiencing their own difficulties. But that's another story.

Author's Note

For those wondering why this rewrite was published at the same time as the rewrite of "Between Dark and Dawn", it's because I decided to have those two episodes be another case of two stories occurring at the same time. And in this case, "Student Counsel" would swap places with "The Last Crusade" so that that episode would be the eleventh to air and this would be the twelth to air. This is because in the original version of this episode, Twilight and the rest of the mane six (along with Spike) are stated to be in Canterlot for a celebration. And just two episodes later, they're back in Canterlot to take over for Celestia and Luna. Most likely, this episode was developed after "Between Dark and Dawn" and it is pure coincidence that it wrote out the mane six and Spike two episodes before they would be called away from Ponyville again.

Princess Luna's role here will be explained more in my rewrite of "Between Dark and Dawn". When I wrote her into this story, I knew I didn't want her to completely take precedence over what happens originally. But I did want her role not to be pointless. I hope I struck a good balance here.

The biggest problems with this episode in its original state are largely the result of two characters: Trixie and Silverstream. The former initially is very sympathetic in the role, though she can come across as unintentionally umsympathetic when she prevents Starlgiht from carrying out her guidance counselor duties and puts pressure on Starlight to close her office early. But later on, when Terramar shows up to report that Silverstream is missing, Trixie is not only shown to be unconcerned about this, but she proceeds to throw Starlight under the bus by mentioning Starlight closing her office the last time Silverstream came in for a talk, not mentioning how it was Trixie who was pressuring Starlight to close early. She only slightly redeems herself by joining the search party and protecting Terramar as best she can.

Silverstream is probably the bigger problem in the original episode. She repeatedly interrupts Starlight for help with a personal problem that obviously isn't something Silverstream really needs help with, and she shows little to no concern about making others worry about her when she decides to stay and go into the Everfree Forest. She never really apologizes for nagging Starlight or for making others worry because she didn't leave a note or a letter. It makes her feel like she's oblivious to the consequences of her actions.

I wanted to fix both here, especially since if they could make Mudbriar self aware of how annoying he can be, there is no reason why they couldn't make Trixie and Silverstream realize how they're not necessarily being helpful either. I also changed most of Maud's dialogue regarding Mudbriar petrified. As funny as it probably was meant to be, it feels kind of creepy in that she apparently likes her boyfriend more as a stone statue than as a pony.

As for Diamond Tiara, if you're wondering why she's here, it's because ever since my rewrite of "Celestial Advice" as a two parter I've written her as being a friendship student under Twilight. And Starlight sometimes assists. Diamond's presence here is meant to showcase her talent for leadership, which is what she says she got her cutie mark in.

Lastly, although it's a minor detail all things considered, I changed them constantly using the word "solstice" to describe a spring holiday since solstices only occur in summer and winter. And they use the word "equinox" multiple times, which is the proper term.

~~The Best Night Ever~~
~~Sweet and Elite~~
~~Castle Mane-Ia~~
~~Power Ponies (Redo)~~
~~Bats! (Redo)~~
~~For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils~~
~~The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows~~
~~Stranger Than Fanfiction~~
~~Student Counsel~~
Between Dark and Dawn

S9 E13: Between Dark and Dawn (What If?)

Having come to the aid of a panic stricken Starlight Glimmer and her friends after they had learned that a student from Twilight's school: Silverstream, had gone missing, Princess Luna had come to a bit of a realization. She and her elder sister had wanted to go on vacation, but after being unable to agree on what to do together they had decided to go their separate ways. The long separation had given both sisters time to pause, and reconsider what was most important to them.

So it was that Princess Luna, having safely brought Silverstream out of the Everfree Forest and assured that all in Ponyville was well, now set off to find her sister: Princess Celestia. Night was about to pass to day, the sun was due to raise shortly.

As it so happened, Princess Celestia was sitting alone atop a tall mountain, with only the view for company. That is, until she was surprised to see her younger sister and fellow alicorn come trotting up to her almost unannounced. She nervously turned to greet Luna. "Oh!" She exclaimed, trying not to let the uncomfortability of the situation prevent her from being warm and welcoming. "H-hello again, Luna. I thought climbing Mount Filly-mane-jaro was on my list, not yours."

Princess Luna somewhat sheepishly replied. "I'm not copying you! I just wanted to watch the sunrise. That's all."

Celestia replied back. "Ah. I'm, uh, here for the moonset." And she watched as her younger sister sat down next to her.

For a moment, neither alicorn sister could speak. They just sat next to one another, occasionally looking at each other as if daring one or the other to speak first.

Eventually, the sun princess broke the silence as she asked Luna. "So, uh, how was... your vacation? Did you do anything interesting?"

"You... could say that," The moon princess slowly replied. "What about you?"

Celestia nervously and hesitantly stated. "It was... interesting, I guess."

Luna then let out a sigh, looking up at the fading night sky. "This is so beautiful. It must be amazing in the sunlight." She said to her older sister.

The elder alicorn nodded. "Yes. But the night's pretty special, too, you know."

Seconds later, both alicorns saw a faint twinkle in the sky, and in unison they shouted! "Lucky star!"

Princess Luna happily said to her sister. "I remember that you taught me to look for those when I was a filly."

"Hope I wasn't too bossy while doing it." Princess Celestia chuckled in response.

"You weren't," The younger alicorn nodded in a reassuring tone of voice, then added. "You know, being with your sister all the time is hard, but being without her? It's even harder. I know our little... disagreement must've brought back some uncomfortable memories for you."

Celestia reluctantly admitted. "It did. I can't believe we ever agreed to just go our separate ways, even for a vacation," She then added. "After the thousand years we were separated, Luna, I wouldn't trade you for any of the adventures on my list."

"Really? Not even your zip line?" Luna questioned.

"Yes, Luna, not even that." Princess Celestia agreed.

Just then, the two alicorns beheld a rather unexpected sight! The sun was rising into the sky, all the while the moon was not lowering at all. The two objects were together in the sky at the same place.

Princess Luna let out a gasp, taking in the rare sight! "The sun and the moon together? At the same time?"

The elder alicorn grinned. "Now, where have I seen that before?" And she and her sister laughed together at the sight.

The joyful mood soon faded as the royal sisters began to suspect that something might be up. They weren't controlling the sun and the moon, somepony else was. And now the two objects were moving erratically, even though by this point the sun should've fully risen and the moon should've set.

Celestia let out a gulp, nervously bitting a hoof as she stood up. "You think maybe Twilight's having trouble with the amulet we gave her?" She asked Luna.

Luna nervously replied. "Maybe? We should probably go help her, just in case." And she followed her sister in unfolding her wings, before the two alicorns began to fly back to Canterlot.

The royal sisters were indeed right, Twilight was having trouble with the amulet. Little did they suspect that that was only the latest in a long list of problems that the young alicorn had experienced over the past twenty four hours. Twilight Sparkle had come to learn a valuable lesson about just how difficult the responsibilities of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were, as well as what a princess could and could not do alone.

As Celestia and Luna were racing towards Canterlot, Twilight was trying desperately to fix her mistake. She currently was holding aloft a bronze medalion with symbols of the sun and the moon on either end.

Spike came rushing out onto the balcony, carrying with him a tool that had several little circles on it. "Okay, okay! I think I got it!" He shouted as he let Twilight take hold of the tool. "Apparently, it says we can use this to reset the amulet. Just turn the screw on the back-"

But Twilight didn't wait for Spike to finish, she was already following his instructions. And that led to trouble. After turning the screw a little with the tool, she watched in horror as the amulet broke! Springs and gears burst out!

Spike winced as he finished his sentence. "-No more than one half turn."

The young alicorn gulped and whimpered, looking down at the now useless object she was holding. Hesitantly, she asked. "Uh, does anypony have some tape?!" All the while, the sun and the moon were moving up, down, and all around of their own free accord!

Fortunately, it wasn't long before Princess Celestia and Princess Luna showed up. They spoke not a word as they used their magic to set everything right: Lowering the moon and allowing the sun to rise, finally bringing about day proper.

With a sheepish grin and a nervous laugh, Twilight reluctantly turned the broken amulet over to the royal sisters. "Sorry," She tried to apologize. "In my defense, it was only slightly more difficult then when I had to move the sun and the moon entirely with my magic."

Spike then added. "Sorry you two had to cut your vacation short to come back and help us. How was it?"

Celestia let out a sigh while looking across to her younger sister. "It was fine. What time we did have was well spent, although we ultimately felt it best if we both went off on our own to do what each of us wanted to do," She quickly recovered. "But we are rested and refreshed now, and we are ready to take back the throne for the time being."

Luna then saw fit to question. "So... besides the mishap with the amulet we infused with some of our magic, is there anything else that gave you trouble while my sister and I were away? It seems like everything in Canterlot is the way we left it, more or less."

At that Twilight gulped and swallowed hard, adopting a rather guilty expression. "Well... sort of. It's... kind of a long story. I guess I didn't fully realize just what you two have to deal with every day. I thought about writing to you and asking for advice, but I didn't want to interrupt your vacation. And Faust knows you two certainly needed one with the way you were acting recently." And she began to flashback to the very event that had set everything else that had unfolded over the past twenty four hours into motion.

The event in particular that had served as a catalyst for Twilight to propose giving the royal sister a vacation had taken place several days prior. Yet the details were still fresh and vivid in her mind, playing back as if it had all happened just yesterday.

Applejack had called all her friends to Sweet Apple Acres for help in dealing with a critter problem. Since it was spring time and school was still in session, Twilight had instructed Starlight Glimmer to stay and keep things in order at the school (and make sure that classes were covered for the professors called away).

Said critter turned out to be a giant turtle like creature, except it had a very sharp beak, a long tongue, and had several large trees on its back. It was stomping and shaking the ground, leaving huge footprints with every step it took.

"Remind me how this happened again!" Twilight had hollered towards her friends, hoping that one of them would have an answer.

Applejack had hollered back as the turtle like creature stuck out its tongue, wrapped it around one of the apple trees, and devoured the whole tree in one bite. "I don't know! It just showed up out of the blue! And now it's eatin' my family's entire crop! We were gonna harvest that for the summer, we just got done with our confluence a few weeks ago!"

Fluttershy had gulped, confessing. "Oh dear. I think this is my fault. Mr. Tortoise-Snap said he was hungry. But he promised me he would only take a few small bites."

Rainbow Dash had then replied. "Yeah? Well I don't think that... thing knows what 'small' is."

"Well, he can't stay here!" Applejack had declared as she stomped a hoof down. "He's gonna eat my family out of house and home if he keeps this up! He's gotta leave, and he's gotta leave right now!"

"Leave it to me!" Spike insisted as he puffed out his chest and unfolded his wings. "I reckon a little bit of flame breath will scare him away!"

"Spike, be careful! You're big, but that tortoise-snap is even bigger. He could eat you alive!" Twilight had nervously warned the dragon. It had been almost a year since the molt that had caused him to grow to the size of Smolder and Ember (and gain wings). But that didn't mean he was invincible.

Spike had just replied. "Don't worry, I'll be careful." Yet he had no sooner spoken those words, when suddenly the tortoise-snap stuck out its tongue and wrapped it around him! It pulled Spike into the air, flipping the dragon onto its back as he then held on for dear life! The tortoise-snap, meanwhile, kept trying to throw Spike off, stomping and shaking all about!

"Spikey-Wikey!" Rarity had shrieked in horror!

Twilight had known right then and there that she and her friends needed to act fast! The situation was rapidly growing out of control. In a firm yet calm tone of voice, she began giving orders. "Applejack and Pinkie, you distract him!" She had instructed. "Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy, let's save Spike!"

"Do whatever you gotta do, just be quick about it!" Spike had hollered back as he had shut his eyes! The tortoise-snap was clearly not happy! It seems Spike had underestimated just how aggressive such large creatures could be.

Applejack and Pinkie Pie had then wasted no time in setting up their "distraction". Applejack kicked one of the apple trees, and Pinkie had quickly picked them up and started tossing them at the tortoise-snap's snout.

With the tortoise-snap momentarily distracted, Rainbow Dash had flown up while taking hold of a giant, pink ribbon from Rarity. The brash speedster had proceeded to effortlessly tie the ribbon around the tortoise snap's snout, preventing it from opening its mouth.

Fluttershy had then looked the giant reptile firmly in the eyes, and had said to it. "Mr. Tortoise-Snap, I'm only asking nicely once! Let my friend go! And you better put him down gently, for your sake!"

The tortoise-snap had let out a low growl, but seemed to obey. It had stopped trying to stomp and shake, which had allowed Spike to fly off of the many trees on the giant reptile's back.

Spike had proceeded to breath a sigh of relief. "That was too close!" He had exclaimed.

Twilight had then trotted forward, ready to take care of the problem once and for all. "And now, a simple teleportation spell should easily-" Yet she had then been suddenly and rudely interrupted.

From the sky a thundering voice vaguely familiar to all had bellowed! "Halt, interloper! You shall go no further! Your days of terroizing innocent ponies are over!"

And then, who should emerge from above but Princess Celestia and Princess Luna themselves? It had apparently never occurred to them that the situation they were intervening in was already under control.

Instead, Princess Luna had declared with a smile on her face. "Stay back, friends! There's no need for you to worry yourselves! My sister and I will take care of the beast!" She had then turned to her older sister and had said to her. "Shall we, dear sister?"

Princess Celestia had happily and firmly nodded. "Yes indeed. This shouldn't take long." And then she and Luna had flown up, horns charged and at the ready. A series of magic blasts had then shot out from their horns, striking the tortoise-snap square in the face and forcing it to retreat.

Rainbow Dash had taken the liberty of voicing aloud the thought all her friends had had about the royal sisters' sudden (and unnecessary) intervention. "Seriously? All the times we could've used their help, and they show up the one time we didn't need it?"

Applejack had then gulped. "Y'all think they're gonna be doin' this a lot?"

Twilight had groaned and shaken her head in dismay. "I certainly hope not. I don't need them babysitting us all the time now that we're going to take over ruling Equestria from them."

Neither Celestia or Luna had heard any of this, they'd been too busy enjoying how "helpful" they thought they were being.

"Goodness, sister," Princess Luna had chuckled afterward as the two alicorns had returned to the orchard, expecting to be showered with praise for their intervention. "You were right! That was fun!"

And Princess Celestia had then declared. "No need to thank us. Just doing our jobs," Then she had explained. "To be honest, we've recently realized we like being part of the action instead of always having to sit on the sidelines. We should've been doing this a lot more often, and much sooner."

"Which is why we're making up for it now," Princess Luna had pointed out. "Experiencing life instead of just dreaming about it."

"And making a difference outside the throne room." The sun princess had added, before both alicorns began to giggle and laugh heartily. They had seemed very pleased with themselves, much to the dismay of everyone else.

Any hope of the ordeal with the tortoise-snap being just an isolated incident was quickly dashed when the royal sisters began appearing in Ponyvillle much more frequently in the days that followed. They had seen fit to help out in every little situation they possibly could, regardless of whether they'd been asked to or not.

Naturally, Twilight and her friends had eventually gotten quite fed up with such intrusive behavior. So they all gathered one day at Twilight's castle, and within the confines of the throne room they all took turns voicing their griveances about the alicorns' recent behavior.

"And then they carried Granny Smith across the street. There wasn't even any traffic!" Applejack groaned. "Besides, she could easily cross the street herself if she wanted to. They didn't even ask her where she wanted to go!"

"And they totally just barged on in and started making cupcakes when I had a big order to fill," Pinkie Pie pointed out. "I had everything under control. If they'd asked nicely, I would've been happy to let them bake with me. But they took over and did everything themselves. They took all the fun right out of it!"

Fluttershy sheepishly and nervously added. "Well, it's not like we don't appreciate them trying to be helpful. I'm sure they mean well."

Rarity then frowned, bitterly complaining. "But suddenly, Celestia and Luna seem to think we can't do anything on our own. It's ridiculous, treating us like we're little fillies who need constant supervision! We're all full grown mares for pony's sake!"

Rainbow Dash saw fit to ask the nagging question no one else in the room had yet brought up. "How are we supposed to learn to be rulers of Equestria with them fixing every teensy problem for us? You know them better than anypony else, Twilight. Why are they doing this now? Is this seriously just because soon they won't be on the throne anymore? It's not our fault harmony's changing!"

Twilight gulped, nervously confessing. "I don't know what's gotten into them. They haven't sent any notes or called me for any royal meetings. This is a very odd time for them to be having a mid-life crisis," Then an awful thought struck her. "Maybe they've changed their minds about stepping down. Maybe they don't think we're ready after all, or maybe they don't think I'm ready."

"That's ridculous!" Spike protested as he put a claw around Twilight. "You've handled so many things almost flawlessly over the years, Twilight, even before you became an alicorn princess. And if harmony is changing, there's nothing they can do to prevent it," He then suggested. "I'm sure if we just talk to them, they'll understand. They're probably under a lot of pressure themselves, seems like everypony in Equestria knows now that they're going to be stepping down before long."

As if having heard what the dragon had said, the royal sisters came barging in in dramatic fashion! The throne room doors swinging open before them!

"Oh! What's this? A strategy meeting?!" Princess Celestia asked. "How exciting!" And without bothering to see how anypony else felt, she demanded. "So, what's in danger this time? How can we help? Is it a rampaging beast? An evil spell? A friendship problem?"

Princess Luna added with an eager smile. "We're ready to do whatever we can. We're itching for action."

Twilight let out a sigh, looking her fellow alicorns deep in the eyes. She really didn't want to hurt their feelings, but she knew that what they were doing now couldn't continue. Ponies were starting to complain. "Celestia, Luna, is there a reason why you two are constantly trying to help us? I know you two aren't going to be on the throne for much longer, but don't you still have some ruler-y responsibilities you need to tend to?"

The sun princess scoffed at the suggestion, waving a hoof to dismiss the concern. "Please. Everything in Canterlot is just fine without us around. The only time anypony ever needs us is when there's some big disaster going on. And before Luna and I can ever do anything, the problem either solves itself or we get taken out of commission."

"Have you forgotten the time you fought the Frozen North and its harsh blizzards? And what about battling that changling army Chrysalis sent as a distraction while she captured Twilight and Flurry Heart?" Spike pointed out. "Those have to count for something, right?"

"I would expect my favorite dragon that I used to dragonsit for to know better," Luna frowned. "Just about anypony could've done what we did in those situations. We really didn't make that much of a difference. Everypony else were the big heroes in those situations, not us. And you saw how easily we were defeated the last time Canterlot was invaded. Now ponies are reacting to the news of our impending retirement by saying 'What took you so long?'."

A realization struck the studious young alicorn as her eyes went wide! "Wait, that's what this is all about, isn't it? You're sick of being princesses. You think that you haven't done enough just by managing the day to day things in the kingdom, all because you've never truly been able to stop any big threat by yourselves."

Celestia let out a sigh. "Is it really that obvious, Twilight?" She lamented. "I suppose we can't hide anything from you. And it's not like we don't appreciate what you and your friends have done for Equestria over the years. We're sure you'll make fine rulers eventually. But..." She trailed off in hesitation.

"But what?" Twilight questioned with concern.

The sun princess was slow to answer, it seemed like it was a struggle for her to get the words out. Her tone of voice was heavily tinged with guilt and regret. "-What good is it to be princess when your subjects look you to protect them, and you constantly fail to do that? It was one thing when it was just Nightmare Moon or Discord, even Chrysalis could be said to just be an isolated incident. But after what happened with Tirek, I started to realize just how little Luna and I have truly done to protect Equestria. Yes, things have been peaceful. But harmony wouldn't be changing if what Luna and I were doing was responsible for that peace," In a somewhat more confident and optimstic tone she added. "Battling the Everfree Forest alongside Starswirl made us realize what we've missed out on being stuck on the throne. So, instead of spending the day ruling..."

"...And the night patrolling dreams..." Luna was quick to add.

Then Celestia concluded. " ...We wanted a chance to do the things you do. Save the day! Have adventures with friends! Just be helpful!"

Rainbow Dash immediately protested. "Yeah? Well there are waaaay more fun things to do than follow us around all day and night."

Applejack added with a firm nod. "Besides, you ain't exactly bein' helpful tryin' to help us when ya really don't need to."

Pinkie Pie then proposed. "Ooh! You should both make a list of all the stuff you've never tried but always wanted to! There's a lotta little things out there to do!"

The elder alicorn put a hoof to her chin. "That does sound tempting," Yet she then hesitated. "Only... it's much harder to justify a vacation from the castle when it's not an emergency we're responding to."

Rarity was quick to point out the contradiction. "That hasn't stopped you from coming here to Ponyville every day this past week now. And there certainly hasn't been any sort of emergency to justify it."

"Even so, we can't just leave on a vacation," Luna nervously commented. "Somepony will have to keep an eye on things in Canterlot, and raise the sun and the moon while we're away. If my sister and I were to go on vacation, I imagine we'd be away for several days while we explore all the things we want to see and do."

Twilight quickly settled on what she thought was an obvious solution. "Well, my friends and I can cover for you. I'll have to check with Starlight first, seeing as school is still in session. But I'm sure she won't mind taking over my duties as headmare, it's almost the end of the quarter and spring break is coming up. Once I have that taken care of, though, I'm sure the rest of us can cover whatever palace duties you need us to cover for you," A bright smile came onto her face as she proclaimed! "Yes! That's totally a good idea! This way, we'll get in some much needed practice for when you step down for real. And you two can spend a week or even longer just relaxing, enjoying some down time."

Luna and Celestia looked across to each other, somewhat hesitant if the quick glances they gave each other were any indication. Even so, they seemed sorely tempted by the idea of getting to have a vacation. So Princess Luna eventually said. "Well, if you're sure you don't mind the extra effort, Celestia and I will be glad to go on vacation."

Twilight scoffed and confidently boasted. "Please! I know what I'm getting into. You've both been preparing me for the inevitable for months now. My friends and I, we can handle this. I can handle this!"

The royal sisters were thus convinced. And the sun princess trotted forward, wrapping her former student in a big hug. "Thank you, Twilight! You don't know how much this means to Luna and I," Though she added. "However, I should warn you that you'll be stepping in at a busy time. Not to worry, though. You've convinced me that the Royal Swanifying Ceremony is in good hooves."

Hearing the words "Royal Swanifying Ceremony" caused Applejack to blink. "The what now?" She and her friends didn't know at the time what that was, let alone why it was important.

It had taken a little bit of persuasion to get Starlight Glimmer to agree to step in as acting headmare of the School of Friendship again. Once that matter was taken care of, there was nothing that stood in the way of Twilight and the rest of her friends going to Canterlot to fill in for the royal sisters.

The two tall and slender alicorns soon got all packed up and ready for what they anticipated would be a long vacation (they had no way to know at the time that it would be cut short), even down to wearing flower-print t-shirts and heavy backpacks. Once they had done so, they prepared to depart. But not before leaving their stand-ins with a few last minute instructions and guidelines.

Celestia levitated over a large scroll, saying to Twilight in a tone of voice not unlike a mother speaking to her child. "And here are instructions on how to prepare for the Royal Swanifying Ceremony."

Twilight used her magic to levitate the scroll over to Spike, while saying in reply. "If it's written down, I'm sure we can handle it," And to the royal sister she then added. "Have fun, you two!"

"We will," Luna insisted with a wave of her hoof, and gave a whistle. "Come on, sister. We'd best get going," Then she suddenly remembered. "Oh, one more thing. We were thinking about how you would raise the sun and the moon in our absence. Fortunately, we reached out to Sunburst. And he had an idea."

Celestia proceeded to levitate over the very same amulet Twilight was unintentionally going to break in the span of about a day or so. "He crafted this amulet, and we enfused a small amount of our magic into it. You can activate it with your magic at any time, Twilight. Heck, you could even let somepony else try it if they're magically gifted enough. But if possible, try to have the sun and the moon raised at dawn and dusk respectively. No need to make ponies panic."

Pinkie Pie eyed the amulet, and looking to Twilight as it was bestowed upon she said. "Ooh! That's not a terrifying level of responsibility or anything!"

Twilight simply took hold of the amulet with her magic, holding it close to her chest as she reassured her fellow princesses. "We won't let you down, princesses. Have a good vacation. See you when you get back," And she and her friends waved until the two alicorns were out of sight. Once they were, Twilight somewhat nervously turned to Spike and said to him. "Please tell me that scroll says what the the Royal Swanifying Ceremony is and how we do it."

Spike looked over the scroll, examining very inch of very carefully. "Apparently it's a celebration of all the swans in the royal lake around the castle," He explained. "It says here that we round them up, parade them through the streets, and finish with a party in the castle." As soon as he'd finished speaking, the sound of a swan squawking could be heard far off in the distance.

Immediately, Rainbow Dash saw fit to ask. "One question. Why?! Do we seriously have to have a celebration for swans?"

"If it says to do it on the scroll, then that's what we'll do!" The young alicorn princess firmly declared. "This is our chance to show Celestia and Luna we'll do whatever the job requires. If they can take care of all this themselves, then I know we can. Together. How hard can it really be?"

A nervous Spike whispered. "You're definitely not reading the same scroll I am." But his comments were ignored, everypony else was thoroughly convinced by Twilight's reassurances.

A short time later, Twilight and her friends were still trying to take stock of everything they would need to do while Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were on vacation. The Royal Swanifying Ceremony was but one event, after all. And with it being nowhere close to the time when either the moon or the sun needed to be raised, that meant there was a lot of time for any unknown or unexpected problems to rear their ugly heads.

Suddenly, and with much fanfare, the throne room doors were swung open in dramatic fashion! And who should come strolling in but Prince Blueblood himself? Accompanying him were two ponies Rarity recognized at once as being Jet Set and Upper Crust, the very couple who had looked down upon her once upon a time for having been from Ponyville.

Prince Blueblood and his accompanying companions seemed just as shocked and surprised as Twilight and her friends were to see him! "My word! What is the meaning of this?!" He furiously demanded as he lifted up his head and locked eyes with Twilight. "What are you... you... civillians doing here?! Where are my aunts?!"

"If this is the princesses' idea of a joke, it's not funny!" Jet Set snorted.

Twilight cleared her throat. She wasn't about to be intimidated by such rude manners. "For your information," She said firmly and seriously, keeping her gaze locked onto the three nobles. "Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are away."

"Yes, they are enjoying a well deserved vacation," Rarity chimed in. "And I must say, you all have quite some nerve to come trotting in and talk to us like that! Don't you know you're addressing the friends of royalty? Surely, you're aware of the fact that Twilight is an alicorn princess, and has been for many years now."

Upper Crust humphed and shook her head in disapproval. "So what? You think that makes you special? It doesn't. You and your friends are all still Ponyville ponies by birth and blood. Princess Twilight has some nerve to come here and try to take over from the princesses. They haven't officially vacated the throne yet, Princess Twilight has no power here."

Prince Blueblood snarled. "I quite agree. I can't believe I was snubbed and past over for the throne by this lowly ex-librarian and glorified school teacher."

Spike flapped his wings and flew forward, locking eyes with Blueblood, Jet Set, and Upper Crust. "Did you all seriously just come here to insult Twilight and her friends? We haven't even been in charge for an hour, yet."

Blueblood coughed into a hoof, clearing his throat. "Ah yes, please do forgive me. We did come here on official important business. After all, the Royal Swanifying Ceremony is due to begin soon," He bowed his head in a very stiff and forced fashion. "And my associates and I just so happen to be the heads of the Royal Swanifying Committee."

Jet Set saw fit to add. "And unlike you, we didn't need the princesses to do us favor in exchange for these positions. We actually earned them through our own hard work."

Blueblood nodded. "Quite right," The next few words were slow to leave his mouth. It was clear that he hated having to say them. "...Therefore... we... await your... commands. What... are your... orders, your... majesties?" He delivered the last line with noticeable venom and resentment.

Twilight wasted no time in bluntly and firmly telling the three stuffy, snobbish unicorns. "For your information, we don't want your help and we don't need your help. We have everything firmly under control."

Blueblood blinked his eyes, seemingly more in surprise than anything else. "Really? Are you sure that's a wise decision on your part, princess? Do you and your friends seriously think you can manage the Royal Swanifying Ceremony without the aid of the committee?"

The young alicorn gave an affirmative nod. "Thank you for making your thoughts known. I assure you, if I need help from the likes of you, you'll know. But I think we both know that's not going to happen," She gestured a hoof to the throne room doors. "So I suggest you leave. Be thankful I don't have the royal guards escort you out."

Upper Crust snorted and turned up her snout. "I fear you're making a terrible mistake, Princess Twilight. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna would never treat us so coldly."

"Yeah? Well we're doing things our way!" Rainbow Dash growled. "So why don't you royal pains get lost already?! Don't you have fancy parties to go to or something?"

For a moment, it looked as if tensions might boil over into more than a war of words. But the moment passed, and tempers appeared to cool. Prince Blueblood again stiffly and awkwardly bowed his head as he declared. "Very well, if that's really the way you want to play the game. We will reluctantly respect your wishes," He turned to Jet Set and Upper Crust. "Come, we've wasted enough time here. No sense letting them waste another second on us. Let us leave," As he turned to depart, he said to Twilight. "You and your friends will regret this. You're going to wish you'd accepted the help of my associates and I."

Jet Set and Upper Crust proceeded to follow the prince out of the throne room, the doors audibly slamming shut behind them!

With the throne room now ominously quiet, Spike looked down at the scroll held in his claws. Then he looked to Twilight and asked her in a nervous tone of voice. "Are you sure that was wise, Twilight?"

Twilight firmly nodded. "We can't let them push us around. I know they don't like us, but that's no reason to be so rude. Besides," She then asked. "How hard can throwing a swan party be?"

Pinkie Pie took hold of the scroll from Spike, reading it aloud. "Well, it says here that all we have to do is: Polish the armor, bubble the punch, glitter the carpet, puff the pastry, float the floats, and carpet every road in Canterlot!" She paused, somewhat hesitantly asking. "Should I keep reading?"

The eyes of Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack all turned towards Twilight. And they all conveyed looks of disbelief and frustration that she had chased away the help they were clearly going to need to pull off the Royal Swanifying.

All Twilight could think to do in reply was give off a nervous laugh.

"So you just turned away advice from an official royal committee?" Princess Celestia asked Twilight when the flashback ended. "Twilight, how could you make such an obvious mistake? I thought you were better than that."

Twilight blushed. "Believe me, I came to realize how much of a mistake it was almost immediately," She somewhat nervously laughed. "Never thought something like a Royal Swanifying could be so complicated. If that's what you and Princess Luna have to put up with every day, no wonder you desired to get away from it all."

Spike then questioned the royal sisters as he and Twilight continued to stand on the balcony. "So, what exactly did you two do while we were busy doing your jobs?"

Princess Luna briefly explained. "We already told you that we decided it best to go our separate ways on our vacation. My sister went off to do the things she wanted to do, and I went off to just relax and have a little me time. Although, I did end up having to step in and help with a little emergency back in Ponyville."

Twilight was briefly alarmed by the statement! "An emergency?! What kind of emergency?! Is it something I should've heard about?!"

The night princess immediately protested and motioned a hoof to calm the younger alicorn down. "No, no, it's nothing like that. No one got hurt, nothing went wrong that couldn't be undone in the end. But you might wanna have a little talk with Fluttershy about assigning projects that encourage students to venture off into the Everfree Forest."

"Not surprised you'd get involved in helping one of Twilight's students," The sun princess said with a smile. "You always do like helping young ones in need, Luna," She chuckled. "And to think, I thought I was having the more exciting vacation doing zip-lines, bungee jumps, and skydives. I'd never felt more alive!"

A faint snicker escaped the studious young alicorn's lips. She coughed into a hoof and tried to recover when Celestia looked at her with a puzzled expression. "Sorry. It's just... you reminded me a lot of my mother. She's a very big thrill seeker too," She explained, and then quickly changed the subject. "So, may I ask what caused you and Luna to decide to vacation away from each other? Wasn't it lonely?"

Celestia willingly admitted. "It was... though we didn't realize it right away. But we at least started our vacation together." And now it was her turn to get a flashback.

The royal sisters, as it turned out, had something of a disagreement about how they should plan their vacation and what exactly they should do. It had started out back when they'd just been in the planning stages, which is what they were still doing as they left the confines of the castle and then Canterlot itself.

"This is perfect!" Princess Luna had said with a smile. "The chance to do whatever we want! And you know what that means!"

Princess Celestia had nodded. "Indeed I do, sister," And without waiting for a reply she shouted! "Adventure!"

Luna, however, had shouted at almost the same time! "Relaxation!"

The two alicorns thus quickly found themselves having to explain to one another why they wanted to do what they wanted to do. The night princess reluctantly and nervously went first. "Sorry, sister, it's just that I... I spend each night in everypony's intense dreams. So I could use some real-world downtime. You should know that fighting off nightmares is very taxing. Thank the maker for coffee, I don't know what I'd do without it."

The sun princess let out a sigh as she responded. "I understand where you're coming from, sister. But the thing is, for me, every day is real-world. Especially since I haven't taken on any more students after Twilight, it feels like my life is nothing but meetings and decrees and meetings about decrees and decrees about the meetings... I crave excitement!"

Princess Luna thus became rather worried, pacing back and forth. "I'm not sure how we can both be happy. Unless..."

Celestia then proposed with a gasp! "We take turns doing what we like!"

And the two alicorns had proceeded to shout in unison. "Sister trip!"

"I hope you don't mind if I go first," Princess Celestia had immediately insisted once the deal was reached. "After all, relaxation is always better after an exciting adventure."

The younger of the alicorn sisters had shrugged her hooves, saying. "I suppose I won't object, sister. But try not to make it too exciting."

The elder alicorn had nodded back. "I'll do my best, Luna," Then she'd seen fit to advise. "Now remember, we're just regular, carefree ponies from now on! We're not going to start signing autographs or pose for photographs. We're just two ponies going on vacation, like everypony else."

Luna had smiled, proclaiming. "We're leaving the princess life behind, and we're not even going to fly!"

Celestia was momentarily taken aback by the suggestion, but quickly recovered and chuckled. "Of course. How new and exciting," Lightly touching her sister on the nose with a hoof, she'd then stated. "It's just like Pinkie Pie said."

As the flashback ended, the happy expression on Princess Celestia's face faded. Far less pleasant memories were now crowding her mind. "Luna and I thought taking turns would solve everything," She explained to Twilight and then sighed. "It didn't. So after we each did one activity together that the other wanted to do, Luna and I decided it best to have separate vacations: I would do all the exciting things I'd been longing to do, and she would just explore and relax to her heart's content."

Princess Luna then admitted. "Eventually, however, it seems we both came to the same conclusion: We simply couldn't be apart from each other for long, not even if we really wanted to. So it was that we met back up again."

Twilight looked down at the ground in shame and guilt. "And that's when you saw me struggling to raise the sun and lower the moon. I'm sorry I had to force you both to come back to Canterlot so soon."

"It's alright, Twilight," Celestia reassured her fellow alicorn. "We probably should've had you practice with the amulet more before Luna and I went on vacation. Aside from that, however, it looks as if you and your friends managed well for the brief time you were filling in for us."

Twilight sheepishly grinned and tried hard to stop the raging blush on her cheeks from deepening. "Well, not exactly. The Royal Swanifying Ceremony wasn't the only thing that we ran into trouble with."

"Oh dear, I had a feeling we were forgetting something," The night princess commented in realization. "There were some other issues that my sister and I were supposed to take care of. But we got so swept up in planning for our vacation that it must've slipped our minds."

The youngest alicorn in the group nodded back. "Yes. A fact I learned all too soon. And as a result, I ended up learning something else: The importance of accepting help from others, even if they're kind of rude about it." And more memories started flooding back to her. Memories she would not be forgetting anytime soon.

Having now realized just how much work was to go into the Royal Swanifying Ceremony, Twilight and her friends (along with Spike) were frantically scrambling to get everything ready! Considering they'd just turned away what could've been valuable help, they could only hope that somehow they could get the ceremony underway without too many complications.

Yet as everyone was rushing to and fro, trying desperately to finish up the last minute preparations of decorating the castle ballroom and thus having it ready to host the ceremony, the doors swung open suddenly! All eyes turned to look, and upon seeing Prince Blueblood come trotting in, they didn't know whether to be annoyed that he had surely come to lecture them, or be grateful that he might be willing to offer his services after all.

"What do you want now?!" Twilight grumbled to the prince. "Can't you see we're busy?!"

Prince Blueblood coldly replied. "Busy making a mess of things," And as he spoke Jet Set and Upper Crust appeared at his side. "My fellow commitee heads and I have learned that you don't intend to serve watercress at the Royal Swanifying Ceremony. Well, what do you have to say for yourself?"

The young alicorn groaned. "There's not enough in the castle kitchens for us to-"

But Blueblood interrupted as he gestured a hoof. "Don't tell me. Tell him." A swan he had been pointing out let out an angry squawk but a second later.

Fluttershy immediately tried to apologize. "I'm sorry. We'll try to get some watercress, but you'll all have to share."

The prince then prattled on, voicing another complaint of his. "And you really must do something about the garbage piling up on the streets outside. The street sweepers are on strike, and the royal carpeters can't do their jobs until you get rid of the rubbish."

Applejack turned to Twilight, nervously asking the alicorn. "Did you even know there were royal carpeters?"

Twilight gulped. "I didn't. I'd never seen them anywhere, how was I supposed to know?" Then she added. "And how are the striking street sweepers supposed to be my problem? I didn't do anything to them!"

"You're a princess," Jet Set pointed out in a bitter tone of voice. "You're supposed to be aware of what's going on in the city. If something's wrong, you're supposed to try and fix it. We shouldn't have to tell you how to do your jobs," He sighed, putting a hoof to his forehead. "If this is what we can expect when the princesses step down from the throne, maker have mercy on us all."

Upper Crust, meanwhile, was eyeing the ballroom. The quality of the decorations did not impress her, and she made that fact known in no uncertain terms. "What sort of amateur hour decorating is this?! Streamers?! Balloons?! Party games?! Are you kidding me?! Please tell me this is not your best! The Royal Swanifying Ceremony is far more elegant and refined than a birthday party."

"How rude!" Rarity snapped. "Pinkie Pie and I are doing the best we can under our unfortunate circumstances! Did you all come here just to mock us?"

Prince Blueblood snorted. "I came here to see if you were willing to admit you were wrong. You clearly need my help, whether you realize it or not," He lifted up his head. "My offer still stands. If you ask nicely, I might just be willing to overlook our... differences."

But Twilight swished her tail and turned her back to the trio of snobbish unicorns. "Forget it! I already told you we can manage just fine without you! Thank you for your 'constructive' criticism, but we're far too busy to waste time with the likes of you. All this chatter is distracting my friends and I from our very important royal duties. The door's open, so I suggest you leave."

Blueblood, Jet Set, and Upper Crust reluctantly did so. Yet Blueblood couldn't resist declaring. "We'll be back, you can be sure of that. So either clean up your acts and starting acting like rulers, or swallow your pride and let us do what needs to be done." Then the ballroom doors slammed shut!

Rarity could only groan and shake her head in dismay. "What did I ever see in that anything but charming prince?"

Rainbow Dash only replied. "We've got bigger things to worry about!" She looked to Twilight. "Are you sure we shouldn't be calling for help right about now? It feels like we're in way over our heads! I'm starting to think us being rulers after Celestia and Luna is a mistake."

"We can't ask them to cut short their vacation for us. We promised we could take care of things!" Twilight nervously protested as she tried to take a few deep breaths to calm herself. "Let's focus on getting everything ready for the ceremony, then we can deal with the striking street sweepers and the royal carpeters."

"Well we'd better be quick!" Spike pointed out as he looked at a stained glass window. "The swans don't look like they're going to give us a lot more time."

"Then maybe we need to break up the tasks a little," Twilight decided, and motioned for all her friends to stop what they were doing and come close to her. "Listen," She told them once all were huddled around her. "Here's what we're gonna do. If we all do our parts well, I think we can still pull this off."

Sometime later, however, even Twilight's carefully crafted plans for who would do what began falling apart. Things seemed to be piling up left and right, and the chaos and confusion showed no signs of stopping.

Try as they might, the group of friends was starting to realize that Celestia and Luna's jobs were harder than they might have anticipated. What bad luck to have unintentionally thrown themselves into the deep end without fully knowing what they were getting themselves into.

"Hey, Pinkie!" Applejack desperately called out from the kitchen. "You got those appetizers yet?! The guests will be here any minute!"

A desperate Pinkie Pie covered in flakes, crumbs, and other assortments of food related mess simply replied. "Still mashing the guacamole!" And she was furiously working on exactly that task, making quite a mess of the kitchen in the process. "This is nothing like helping the Cakes bake at Sugarcube Corner!"

Spike, meanwhile, yelped as he was frantically pulled by Rarity's magic off a table he'd been trying to decorate!

"Sorry, Spike," Rarity sincerely apologized as she hastily drapped sparkly pink coverings over the table. "We're going to have to go with sequins! I have no time to use anything else! I just hope the swans won't mind."

Fluttershy then flew in, nervously telling her friends. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the courtyard is full of swans waiting to get in! They're ready to party, and they're not going to wait another minute!" As she finished speaking, it was possible to hear the sound of loud, angry squawking coming from the doors to the castle's foyer.

Rainbow Dash then flew down from the ceiling where she'd been busy hanging decorations. "What?! But we're nowhere near ready!"

"Twilight," Spike declared above the drama. "I think it might be time to face the facts, we can't handle Celestia and Luna's responsibilities. Not like this."

Twilight could only look at the ground in shame. How had it all ended up like this? How were she and her friends doing this bad of a job of running Canterlot? It hadn't even been a day. "I just don't get it," She lamented while hanging her head. "How do Celestia and Luna do this all the time? How is it that they can run a kingdom and get all this done by themselves every year?!"

Yet just then, the sound of pompous laughter made the group of seven stop what they had been doing. To their surprise, sitting at an unoccupied and undecorated table were none other than the three heads of the Royal Swanifying Commitee. They seemed to be smirking, delighting in the misfortune of the stand-in rulers.

Twilight looked up and trotted over to them very slowly, growning and gritting her teeth. "Okay, okay, I admit it. We need help. You can rub it in our faces all you want later. But for right now, we'd..." The next words left her mouth very slowly. "Appreciate it if you'd work with us to get things back under control."

Prince Blueblood's smile grew wider. "See, now was that so hard? I'm surprised it didn't occur to you sooner, princess," And he explained. "Everypony knows my aunts can't possibly do everything all by themselves. They certainly can't be called away from their important royal duties to manage things like this."

"Wait, they don't?!" Twilight gasped in disbelief, her wings popping out to either side of her!

Blueblood threw back his head and laughed heartily. Then, when he'd recovered, he explained. "Of course not. That's what the gala planning committees are for. Nopony could handle all of this by themselves," He was quick to add. "Despite what you may think of me from that Grand Galloping Gala of many years prior, I have earned my way onto these planning committees by my own merits. That is why I was most surprised to learn that my aunts didn't think I could be trusted to take over the throne when my adopted sister Cadence declined."

"Yeah? Well just because you're good at running a committee doesn't mean you're good at running a country!" Twilight pointed out as she tried to salvage some pride and dignity.

Blueblood just replied. "And clearly, you having saved Equestria multiple times with your friends and running your own school doesn't make you any more qualified to run a country. It's clear there's still much you have yet to learn about what being a leader is really like."

Twilight then reluctantly turned back to face her friends. "I don't like it any more than you do, but he has a point. We'll have to delegate to him and the committee." And so, a new plan of action was put into motion.

Rainbow Dash immediately flew over to Upper Crust and said to her. "You take over food duty! And clean up the mess while you're at it!"

"If I must," Upper Crust snorted as she trotted away. "But I expect to be well compensated for my services."

Rarity then approached Jet Set, saying to him. "I need your best gemstones and I need them now! And if it isn't too much to ask," She floated over a piece of paper. "Take this to Canterlot Carousel. Tell Sassy Saddles I'll need purple satin ASAP!"

Jet Set nodded back. "Consider both tasks done, Miss. Rarity. Your gala decorating alone leaves much to be desired, after all."

Fluttershy took the liberty of asking Prince Blueblood. "Tell all the ponies and swans waiting at the gate there'll be a slight delay on the gala!" She hesitantly concluded her statement by adding. "Oh, um, if it's not too much trouble, I mean."

Blueblood rose from his place at the table, telling the pegasus. "It most certainly isn't. Perhaps I was wrong about you ponies. Maybe you will make adequate rulers someday, but not today."

The Royal Swanifying Ceremony thus seemed poised to go off without a hitch, but there was still the issue of the striking sanitation workers. And it didn't look like that could be resolved so quickly. Applejack saw fit to ask. "Now, who can we get to clean up all this garbage?" She gulped. "Unless... we'll have to do it ourselves."

But there was no need for that. Instead, with an audible stomp, Pinkie Pie came riding in on the same giant tortoise-snap that had earlier terrorized Sweet Apple Acres. "I think we'll let this guy take care of it," She giggled, steering it through the streets and letting it pick up the trash bags with its tongue. "I'm delegating!"

With the streets eventually cleared of garbage, the royal carpeters were able to lay down lush red carpeting. And then, at long last, the Royal Swanifying was ready to begin.

Twilight smiled and breathed a much needed sigh of relief. "So this is how you rule Equestria!" She said to herself, before she started mentally preparing herself for the task of having to raise the moon in a few hours.

"And that's how the Royal Swanifying Ceremony was saved from utter disaster," Twilight Sparkle concluded to the royal sisters as the last flashback ended. "Raising the moon actually wasn't that difficult, though I think I might have raised it a little too early. Unfortunately, raising the sun with the amulet was... well, you saw it for yourselves."

"Indeed we did," Princess Celestia declared as she and Princess Luna exchanged glances of concern. "And having heard of what occurred while Luna and I were away," She paused, her lips quivering before she hesitantly said. "Maybe we were wrong to think about stepping down from the throne so soon. Maybe you and your friends aren't ready to take over for us after all."

Twilight immediately protested! "No!" And she desperately pleaded. "Look, I'm sorry we didn't do as good a job as we promised we would. I don't think my friends will be ruling by my side when I take the throne. They have their own lives, I can't uproot them from those lives just to help me. I'm sure I'll still have a use for them somehow, just not as co-rulers."

"To be honest, that's not what has me worried the most," Celestia confessed. "I'm concerned that you, Twilight, might not yet fully grasp the limits of your authority. Being ruler of an entire nation is a lot harder than merely being a princess or a headmare. You do have limits. Organizations such as the EEA and the Royal Swanifying Commitee exist for a reason, after all."

Luna nodded. "Indeed they do. And regardless of your prior experiences with the heads of those organizations and committees, Twilight," She added. "You must be able to put aside such past griveances. You must not allow your emotions to cloud your judgement. Doing so will lead you to rash decisions, such as the ones you made just yesterday."

The youngest alicorn of the three glumly admitted. "I admit it, I messed up. But I still learned my lesson in time to avert disaster. Nopony got hurt. I promise, I won't let it happen again," Then she pleaded. "Please, you must give me another chance! If I fail again, I'll understand if you think I'm not ready. But I'm confident I won't! Give me another chance to prove myself! To prove I can be trusted to take over from you when you two do step down from the throne."

The royal sisters were silent for several minutes, appearing to be deep in thought as they were contemplating something. All Twilight could do, meanwhile, was sit there in silence and await whatever decision they would come to.

At last, Princess Celestia looked her former student in the eyes and said very slowly. "I... suppose it's only fair to give you a second chance, Twilight. I didn't give up on Luna when she became Nightmare Moon, or Sunset Shimmer when she first started to disobey me. I can't call myself a good princess or a good pony if I wasn't willing to extend the same courtesy to you."

Twilight smiled and happily threw herself into the sun princess' arms! "Oh thank you, Princess Celestia! I promise, this time I really mean it when I say I won't let you or Princess Luna down!"

Princess Luna nodded, even as the expression on her face conveyed a somewhat skeptical attitude. "Well, we shall see how well you do with the Summer Sun Celebration," She informed Twilight. "It's going to be held in Canterlot again this year. And since it's during the summer, you won't have to worry about it intefering with your school. If you can manage the celebration without too much difficulty, my sister and I will know that we can trust you."

Twilight firmly nodded. "I understand. I'll do my best. And I'll make sure to delegate authority to other ponies and other creatures as necessary."

"Good," Celestia said with a smile. "For now though, you and your friends can go back to Ponyville. When the Summer Sun Celebration draws closer, you'll need to start coming to Canterlot to prepare." Then she and Luna watched as Twilight (along with Spike) departed.

Author's Note

First and foremost, to clarify a minor detail, in my rewrite of "Molt Down" I physically aged Spike up to where he has the same body type as Ember and Smolder. It irks me that they couldn't do that for Spike when he gained wings, even if they would just recycle Smolder's model.

As for the episode proper, it has problems in both its A and B plot. The A plot, focused on the royal sisters, is yet another episode spent watching them bicker and argue more like teenagers than as the experienced and wise rulers they're supposed to be. And it feels even less believable when they seemingly work out a compromise fairly early on into the episode. The B plot, meanwhile, has Twilight snub the advice and help of Fancy Pants and his entourage just because she believes that somehow, accepting help from anyone means she's admitting she can't do the job on her own.

To fix these plots, I mostly removed the A plot and took advice from Comickook, who proposed instead having a plot where Celestia and Luna went off alone and helped other ponies before getting back together. Hence why I decided to put Luna into my rewrite of "Student Counsel" and thus tie it in more directly with this episode. As for the B plot, I feel like at the very least if the commitee members were ponies like Blueblood, or Jet Set and Upper Crust, and with a reputation for being rude and self-entitled, it would lend Twilight's decision to reject their help a bit more credit.

I also wanted to include a bit of foreshadowing to "The Summer Sun Setback", and to the fact that we learn in that episode that Twilight is taking over the throne solo instead of with her friends. Presumably, it's because of this episode, but it's never stated outright to be the case. And I wanted to clarify that detail.

~~The Best Night Ever~~
~~Sweet and Elite~~
~~Castle Mane-Ia~~
~~Power Ponies (Redo)~~
~~Bats! (Redo)~~
~~For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils~~
~~The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows~~
~~Stranger Than Fanfiction~~
~~Student Counsel~~
~~Between Dark and Dawn~~

S1 E26: The Best Night Ever (What If?)

For Princess Celestia, another Grand Galloping Gala had come and gone. This one was certain to be one to remember, not only for herself but for several ponies who had attended it. Which is exactly what the alicorn with a majestic coat of white had wanted. Granted, things had perhaps "escalated" beyond what she might have secretly hoped for. But in the end, nothing had been done that couldn't be undone in her opinion. Even some of the nobles who might take offense would forget and move on with time.

So, as she made her way back to the royal castle in Canterlot with only a few royal guards for company (for security's sake she wasn't allowed to travel alone, not even within the confines of Equestria's capital city), her thoughts were focused more of those her pupil: Twilight Sparkle. Twilight had come to the gala with her friends that she had known only for almost a year at this point, and Spike had been there too. For all of them, it had been their very first Grand Galloping Gala. Each of them had had dreams, desires, or even just hopes. And all of them had been greatly challenged by the night's events.

"Still, they have each other," Princess Celestia thought to herself as she roamed the empty streets of Canterlot. "That's always a good thing. Twilight has come such a long way in so short an amount of time. Pretty soon, there might not be anything left that I can teach her. Perhaps I'll need to adjust her lesson plan to account for that, no need to have her keep writing to me about friendship if she has nothing new to report." But those were thoughts and feelings for another day.

At last, Celestia reached the castle's front gate and strolled on in. Much like Canterlot itself at this time of night, the castle was more or less vacant. Only a hoofful or so of housekeeping staff were at work cleaning up from the gala's aftermath, everypony else had gone home or had retired for the night.

However, there was one pony who was waiting for the sun princess upon her return. Like Celestia, this pony was an alicorn, albeit one a bit smaller in stature. She had very familiar and recongizable eyes a shade of moderate cyan, like a cloudless sky during the day. This alicorn's coat was very dark blue, almost like a midnight sky. Only the tips of her hooves were different, they were a shade of light blue. Her mane and tail flowed not unlike Celestia's, but they were a moderate sapphire blue in color with a grayish-persian blue outline. The alicorn's cutie mark was a crescent moon, covered by a black patch on her flanks. And a similar black patch with a crescent moon appeared around her neck.

This smaller alicorn flashed a warm smile and bowed to Celestia. "Greetings, sister," She spoke in a polished, elegant tone of voice. "Tis splendid that we art able to see thou at such an odd hour of night."

Celestia had to put a hoof to her mouth to keep herself from giggling. Even so, a playful smirk formed on her face. "Luna," She greeted her little sister (with whom she had been reunited almost a year ago). "You know we've talked about this. There's no need for such formal language, or to speak in such old ponish ways. Times have changed."

"But is tradition to speak using the royal we," Princess Luna protested with a pout. "Thou cannot simply change tradition whenever thoust feel like it. Art we not princesses? Art we not to speak as royalty? To use the Royal Canterlot Voice and the Royal Canterlot Tongue?"

The sun princess replied not unlike a mother correcting her child. "Nothing lasts forever, Luna. Clearly, we will have to work on getting you up to speed on modern Equestrian language and speech patterns. And you most certainly don't need to bow to me. We are sisters, we are equal. I know I didn't do the best job of showing it prior to your banishment," She then trotted forward and embraced her sister in a hug. "But I promise you, whatever differences we may still have, we will work through them together as family. We have each other. We ruled together before, and we'll rule together again as harmony intended."

The younger alicorn seemed to appreciate the hug and reassuring words her elder sister gave her. Even so, when the hug ended, she saw fit to ask. "Sister, how was the Grand Galloping Gala? Thou told us our presence wouldstnot be required for the function, yet thou also informed us that thy student and her friends wouldst be making an appearance. Why is that? What reason didst thou have for allowing them to come to something as formal as the gala?"

"Oh, that," Celestia commented as she blinked in what appeared to be surprise. She quickly regained her composure, however, as she seemed to blush a bit. "Well, I must confess I had a bit of an alterior motive for inviting them all. I knew they had their expectations for the gala, and I really didn't wish to dampen their enthusiasm. It was my hope they would liven things up a little on what is otherwise a rather dull event in my opinion."

"And did thou not get thy wish?" Luna inquired. "From what we heard as we werest trying unsuccesfully to rest, it sounded as if there was quite the commotion that unfolded during the gala. Did thy student and her friends not live up to thy expectations?"

At that the sun princess seemed to smirk, chuckling in spite of her best efforts to avoid doing so. "They did, to an extent. But do I have a story for you, sister. You would not believe just how much Twilight Sparkle and her friends livened up this year's gala. I dare say, it will be talked about for years to come, perhaps even long after we are no longer around." And with that, she began to flashback to the events of the past twenty four hours. Some of which she remembered personally, and others of which she had been informed of by her student at a later time.

It was true what Celestia had said, the Grand Galloping Gala had most certainly been "livened up" by the actions of Twilight and her new friends. But even she could not have anticipated events unfolding the way they did.

The events that would lead to the... calamity of sorts at the gala had begun innocently enough: Twilight Sparkle and her friends, still in Ponyville during the day, had begun to prepare for what many of them believed would be the best night of their lives.

Pinkie Pie was excitedly bouncing up and down on a trampoline, all the while saying to herself in between bounces. "I... can't... believe... the Grand... Galloping... Gala... is... tonight!"

Rarity frowned as she came upon the scene, everypony having opted to come over to Carousel Boutique in order to put on their gala dresses. Seeing her pink party planning friend bouncing, she immediately protested. "Pinkie Pie! Stop that right now. It's time to prepare for the Gala, and I refuse to let you put on your new dress when you're all sweaty."

Pinkie ceased in her bouncing and came down from the trampoline. "Sorry, Rarity. But I'm just so excited! I never dreamed I'd get to go to something as grand as the Grand Galloping Gala! It's the biggest bash in all of Equestria! I can't truly call myself a party pony until I've been there. Seeing how the elite of Equestria party is just what I need to figure out how to make my parties here in Ponyville even better."

"Well, I just hope I'll have time to check in with Princess Celestia and give her a progress report on my friendship studies," Twilight commented with concern. "And hopefully, there'll still be time afterward for Spike and I to do something together. I know he's only going to the gala because we're all going too. And if Princess Celestia hadn't given us all tickets, I probably wouldn't have gone. I never bothered to attend the gala when I lived in Canterlot and studied with the princess. It just wasn't my cup of tea."

Rarity smiled. "But now you'll get to see what you've been missing out on, Twilight. And all of our friends will get a chance to live out our dreams," However, her happy mood faded as she then remarked with concern. "Where are the others? It's getting late."

Fortunately, at that very moment, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy all came trotting up on the scene. "Hold your horses, girl. We're here," Applejack reassured the fashionista. "But are we sure we're gonna have time to get dressed up before we get to the gala? We should be gettin' down to the station to catch the train."

The studious unicorn then bit her lip. "Actually, Princess Celestia took the liberty of arranging special transportation just for us." She looked up to the sky as she said those words. And as if on cue, a massive chariot being pulled by four members of the royal guards (two at the front wheels and two at the back wheels) descended from the sky. It had a royal golden trim about and was painted a regal shade of red.

"Wow!" Everypony except Twilight all commented in amazement!

Twilight could only sigh and shake her head. "I told Princess Celestia she didn't have to keep doing things like this for us just because we helped reunite her with her sister. But she was quite insistent on letting us borrow one of her spare chariots. And as we all learned from Rarity's dresses, you shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth."

"Splendid!" Rarity clapped her hooves in approval. "Now we have plenty of time to get dressed up before we have to be on our way. We will be the talk of all of Canterlot, we will!"

"Let's try not to let the attention go to our heads," Applejack warned. "Can't say the same for all of ya, but I for one ain't lookin' to make a scene."

"Enough talk," Rainbow Dash impatiently remarked. "Let's put on those dresses and head to the gala!" And so everypony trotted inside to put on the dresses Rarity had made for them a while back.

"Wait, sister!" Luna interrupted, abruptly putting an end to her elder sister's flashbacks. She immediately saw fit to question a particular detail. "How does thou about such events that transpired before the arrival of thy student and her friends? Surely, thou does not meanest to say that thou werest secretly spying on them, or does thou?"

Celestia was quick to shoot down the idea. "Of course I wasn't spying on them, Luna. I simply learned of some the events at a later time, when I had a chance to talk to Twilight and her friends personally. But that was at the end of the night, not the beginning. Now please allow me to continue with my story."

The younger alicorn blushed. "We art sorry, dear sister. We werest simply confused by the way this story was being told to us. We art still eager to hear what thou has to say, so thou may proceed at thy discretion."

The sun princess smiled. "Excellent. Now where was I?" It took her but a moment to recall where she was when she had been interrupted. "Oh yes, I remember: Twilight and her friends went and put on their gala dresses." And her story continued playing back in her mind, recalling the details her student had provided:

With their transportation issue resolved, the six mares had gone inside of Carousel Boutique to put on their gala dresses and otherwise make themselves look as presentable as possible. Tonight promised to be a very big night for them, and they wanted to look their best.

However, it seemed like it was taking a long time for all of these last minute preparations to be completed. As such, an impatient Spike knocked on the locked door that would normally lead to Rarity's workshop. "Hey, come on, girls. Let me in!" The little dragon demanded.

"Sure thing, Spike." Rainbow Dash called from the other side of the door and went to go open it.

Rarity immediately protested. "Heavens no, we're getting dressed!"

Applejack blinked in surprise at such a statement. "Dressed? Uh, beg pardon, Rarity, but, uh... we don't normally wear clothes." And then she opened the door, allowing Spike to enter without further fanfare.

Rather than be ashamed by what seemed like common sense, the fashionista unicorn hastily apologized to Spike. "Some of us do have standards."

Even so, when Spike entered the room he could see that most of the ponies had yet to put on their gala dresses. They were busy doing things like polishing their hooves, getting their manes styled with mane driers, or in Rarity's case styling their eyelashes (and for a second, Spike thought he could see them being "put on". He quickly dismissed the possibility of something so ridiculous). "What's been taking you girls so long?" He impatiently demanded. "We'll keep the guards waiting. Plus, if we have time before the gala, there's a lot of things I wanna show you. Twilight and I grew up in Canterlot, we know all the sights that there are to see. And we'll get to see them together, and go to the gala together, and hang out together!"

Fluttershy, however, nervously raised an objection to the proposal. "Um, I don't know if we'll have time for all of that, Spike. The Grand Galloping Gala is usually a once in a lifetime opportunity for ponies like us."

Rarity delicately reassured the dragon. "We'll just have to see, Spike."

Applejack then bluntly and honestly stated. "We're gonna be a mite busy tonight."

"Busy having fun, you mean." Pinkie Pie declared as she poked her mane out from under the drier. She had tried to style it so it was nice and flat, but it immediately poofed back to its original state as if it had a mind of its own.

Spike unhappily sighed as he realized how caught up everypony seemed to be in their plans for the gala. "Oh, right. You're all going to be doing your own things."

Twilight, however, reassured Spike. "Don't worry, Spike. I promise, we'll find time to do something you want to do. Either before the gala if there's time, or after it," She then put a hoof to her chin. "Do you suppose we'll see Princess Luna again? It's been a while since she was freed from her darker self, she should at least have regained some of her powers by now, right?"

"Who knows?" Rainbow Dash shrugged her hooves. "She's an alicorn, nopony really knows anything about them."

Eventually, all six mares had gotten dressed, and Spike had his tuxedo and matching top hat. From there, they all climbed into the chariot and were soon lifted into the air, bound for Canterlot.

When at last the chariot touched down outside the castle grounds, night had fallen on the city of Canterlot. The Grand Galloping Gala was in full swing! Countless ponies in finely dressed attire were strolling down a red carpet that had been laid out for all gala attendents. The castle itself stood out in bold detail, as if it had been freshly painted and lavishly decorated for the occasion.

Even Spike couldn't help but be impressed by what he saw! "Wow! Everything looks... amazing!"

Twilight took the lead in ushering everyone out of the chariot, saluting the guards as they flew off with it afterwards to park it somewhere (so as to give room for the many carriages carrying ponies arriving and departing). Even for somepony who hadn't cared much for parties, balls, and other affairs while living in Canterlot, something about the gala had gotten her all excited! "I can't believe we're finally here, girls!" She exclaimed with her eyes all aglow! "With all that we've imagined, all that we've been dreaming of, the reality of this night is sure to make this...the best night ever!"

It wasn't long before the six mares and dragon had made their way along the red carpet, reaching the entrance to the castle proper and thus the gala in all its glory. Already, excitement was running high!

"Yeah! This is gonna be the best night ever," Spike happily proclaimed, unaware that his friends already had their own destinations clear in mind. "You know why?" He didn't bother waiting for an answer, he gave one himself. "Cause we're all gonna spend time together!" Yet he had no sooner spoken those words than he saw all of his friends (save for Twilight) dart off in different directions! So excited were they that not one of them said so much as a word to him before they departed. Once again, reality started to slowly settle in for the little dragon. "Or not."

Twilight put a hoof around Spike, hoping to reassure him. "Sorry, Spike," She apologized. "Nopony wants to waste a minute. This night won't last forever, even if we wish it could," She was quick to offer. "Why don't you stick with me while I check in with Princess Celestia? I'm sure she'll want to see you too and get to know what you've been up to. I haven't even told her about my plan to adopt you yet."

But the little dragon brushed the hoof off and looked down at the ground. "No, Twilight. It's fine. I should've expected this. I never thought that our friends would have their own plans for tonight, plans that obviously I can't be part of," He began to sadly walk away while telling the studious unicorn. "If you need me, I'll be at Donut Joe's, drowning my sorrows in hot cocoa."

"I promise we'll come and see you when we're all done with the gala, then we can spend whatever's left of the night touring Canterlot together," Twilight vowed then and there, and called out to him. "And save a few donuts for us if you can." Spike didn't acknowledge hearing such a request. Though a bit troubled at Spike's unhappiness, Twilight decided it best not to intefere. Besides, she had come to the gala for a reason. It would be rather silly of her to turn it down now. Who knows when she'd next get an opportunity such as this to have a one on one audience with her mentor?

Sure enough, Princess Celestia was waiting at the stairway connected to the different wings of the castle. She was not wearing any sort of dress, and she did not have any royal guards there to keep watch and protect her. Yet as soon as she lay eyes upon Twilight, she was overjoyed!

Twilight was just as happy to see her mentor, and happily raced up the steps to approach the alicorn! "Princess Celestia!"

Princess Celestia smiled as Twilight trotted up to her. She happily embraced her student in a hug and greeted. "Twilight! It is so lovely to see you again, my star student."

"Feeling's mutual, princess," Twilight happily replied. "I've been looking forward to this meeting for a long time. I really can't think of a better opportunity. We have so much to catch up on, so much I want to tell you."

The sun princess nodded. "I'm sure you do, Twilight. That's why I would be honored to have you by my side the entire evening. That way we'll have plenty of time together, just like the old days."

"I was hoping you'd say that." The studious unicorn smiled anew as she took her place at her mentor's left side.

"Oh, I really wanted to hear more about Twilight's studies and how far she'd come. Getting her letters, it's not the same as having her in pony to talk to." Princess Celestia admitted as she paused in her recollection.

Princess Luna couldn't help but playfully smirk. "Thy affection for thy student runs deep. Tis almost as if thou seeth her as family."

The sun princess blushed a tiny bit. "Guilty as charged, Luna. Almost from day one, I've felt like Twilight could be the child I never had. She's unlike any other student I've ever known before," Then she coughed into a hoof. "But things didn't go exactly as we'd hoped they would for the evening. We didn't get much time to really talk to each other. It couldn't be helped, though. I really should've planned better."

"But thou said thou invited Twilight and her friends, so as to liven up the gala." The younger alicorn blinked in confusion.

Celestia slowly nodded. "True, true. Even so, Twilight not getting to really tell me anything about her friendship studies ended up being the least of her worries by the end of the night. After all, I haven't yet covered the actions of her friends. First, there was Rarity, who hoped to win the affection of my nephew."

At that the moon princess' face contorted in a pronounced frown. "Sister, thou is aware of the reputation said nephew has had with potential suitors. To everypony in Canterlot, tis a reputation that unfortunately preceeds him."

The older alicorn seemed to be smirking ever so faintly as she replied. "Oh I know. I meant to warn Rarity about it, really, I did. But it slipped my mind until it was too late to do anything about it. Still, I daresay she taught him a lesson he won't soon forget." And she began recalling what she had heard about Rarity's encounter with her soon to be anything but "Prince Charming", and events that had unfolded related to it.

Rarity had quickly spotted the object of her affection: Prince Blueblood! He had a coat a majestic shade of white, just like his adoptive aunt. He sported handsomely groomed locks a shade of blonde, arctic blue eyes that sparkled like diamonds, and a cutie mark depicting a compass rose in shades of yellow and pink. He was wearing a black collar with yellow buttons, a blue bow tie around his neck, and a white lilly pressed into one side.

Rarity followed the prince as he left the interior of the castle and entered the confines of the royal garden. All the while, she was talking to herself, seeing as it was all she could do not to lose control of herself. "Hurry, Rarity, after him!" She trotted forward, adjusting her pace as she felt necessary. "Oh, but not too fast. Don't want to seem desperate. But then again, don't want to lose sight of him!" She stopped momentarily when she felt she was going too fast. "Have to play it cool." She told herself.

Prince Blueblood was unaware of Rarity's conversation and actions. He in fact hadn't noticed he was being followed. He just continued trotting away at his leisurely pace.

The fashionista followed the stallion, trying to keep up with him while not making it seem like she was stalking him. "Can't be cold!" She told herself. "I can't lose him, I can't! He's everything I imagined! Even better than I imagined. I can't believe I'll finally get to meet my prince charming!"

As Rarity was following Prince Blueblood from what she felt was a suitable distance, she was unaware that some of her friends also happened to be carrying out their own activities in the garden. Fluttershy, in particular, was looking forward to meeting the rare and exotic creatures she'd heard dwelt within the castle's grounds. Creatures she would never have a chance to see otherwise, as this was the one night of the year they were know to be visible and active.

The animal loving pegasus suddenly heard the sound of a bird chirping, and recognized at once what it was. "Oh my! A meadowlark! This is my lucky night!" And when she heard a whistle, she was sure it could only be coming from one source. The meadowlark was calling out to her. "This is exactly what I've always wished for!" She thought to herself! "At last, my dream's going to come true!" She thne happily followed the sound of the whistling, trying to locate its source.

While that was going on, Applejack was busy hauling a large stand painted a shade of red. The stand featured some of her family's apple treats that she'd helped to bake for just this occasion. She hoped to find a suitable spot to set it up in order to attract customers and make some money.

Suddenly, a masculine sounding voice called out. "Hey, you selling food here?!"

Applejack spun around in time to see a pegasus stallion clad in a navy blue flight suit approach her. When he got closer, it was possible for her to see ears, wings, and a nose a very pale cornflower blue in color. He had a dark grayish-blue mane and tail that hung loose against his body, and emerald green eyes. Above his eyes rested a pair of flight goggles. He had to be the owner of the voice who had called out to her just then.

In a friendly tone of voice, the farm mare greeted. "Well, not yet. I was lookin' for a place to get set up," Then she locked eyes with the stallion and asked him. "Ya hungry, partner?"

The pegasus stallion nodded. "As a horse!" His eyes immediately fell upon an apple pie resting atop the stand, and eagerly shouted! "I'll take that big apple pie you got there! I love pies!"

Applejack happily retrieved the pie as she set up her stand, giving it to the hungry pegasus stallion as he tossed over some bits to pay for it. "Thank you kindly, sir!" She declared, and then as she watched him depart with his treat she exclaimed! "Yeehaw! My first sale in my first minute of bein' here! That's gotta be a sign!" She then went back to her stand. "No sense just standin' around here. Gotta take the food to the customers." And she set off again, opting to trot around the garden in search of other potential ponies who might be interested in her confections.

As for the stallion who'd bought the pie, he brought it with him as he held it firmly in his mouth. He trotted out of the garden and back into the castle, so eager was he to dig into the apple pie.

Greeting the stallion by a roped off section was another pegasus pony. This one was a mare also wearing a navy blue flight jacket. Unlike the stallion, the color of her ears, nose, and wings were brilliant gold bordering on a shade of orange. Her mane and tail were two shades of firey orange, and she had strong orange eyes that currently looked young and playful. "Always hungry after a show, eh, Soarin?" She teased the stallion, thus revealing his identity to any who did not know.

"Yeah!" Soarin admitted with a giggle, momentarily forgetting he was holding the pie in his mouth. It slipped out and began to fall towards the ground! "My pie!" He gasped! Before Soarin had a chance to react, a rainbow colored blur swooped in and snatched the apple pie just before it could fall to the ground. He thanked the cyan coated pegasus mare who held up the pie and presented it to him. "You saved it. Thanks." Then he went off, lowered the pie to the ground, and began to eat it with just his face. In the process, he was making quite a mess.

"Hey, I know you!" The flight suit wearing pegasus mare said to the other pegasus mare. "You're the pony who won The Best Young Flyer Competition in Cloudsdale a while back."

"Hay yeah! Name's Rainbow Dash," Rainbow Dash greeted. "You're Spitfire, right? The captain of the Wonderbolts?"

"Yup, that's me," Spitfire said with a firm nod. "And it looks like your skills saved the day once again, Rainbow Dash," Chuckling, she added. "Well, they saved Soarin's apple pie, at least."

Soarin was too busy eating to do anything other than reply with a quick. "Yeah..."

Spitfire then offered to Rainbow Dash. "Hey, you wanna come hang out with us for a while? You know, seeing as you're something of a VIP too?"

Rainbow didn't need to think twice about accepting the offer. "Sure. Why not? Maybe we can go for a fly later too?"

"We'll see." The young captain cautiously replied, and then she and Soarin trotted in as the rope blocking off a portion of the ballroom was lifted up for them.

Rainbow followed, though not without squeeing and saying happily to herself! " I'm... hanging... with the... Wonderbolts! Oh, this is working out even better than I thought it would!" So far, it seemed like everypony's hopes and dreams for the Grand Galloping Gala were coming true.

As all of her friends were living out their dreams, confident that everything was going as they hoped it would, Pinkie Pie came happily bouncing into the ballroom. She was eager to learn how the ponies of Canterlot handled their parties! With any luck, maybe she'd even get a chance to add her own Pinkie Pie style to some of the festivities.

The pink party pony's blue eyes soon beheld the most magnificent of sights! Compared to the parties she was used to throwing, the Grand Galloping Gala was more than a step up in scale and splendor! "Ooh! Shiny dance floor!" She noticed a brightly colored dance floor with alternating black and white tiles. "And a fancy band too!" Scanning the ballroom, she saw four earth ponies who were all playing musical instruments: A cello, a tuba, a harp, and a piano.

So excited was Pinkie that she couldn't contain her excitement! "Gotta dance!" She said to herself, and started humming a little tune to herself as she bounced over to the dance floor! In the process, she made quite a scene. Ponies all around the ballroom stopped what they had been doing to stare at her, rather harshly in fact.

For a moment or two, Pinkie Pie was completely lost in her own world. She was having the time of her life, or so she thought! Now if only she could figure out how to replicate such magnificent features for her next Ponyville party, then she could truly call herself a party pony to end all party ponies!

But suddenly, the earth pony mare with a curly mane and tail had her fantasy abruptly ended. Something tipped her off to the fact that the other gala attendees in the ballroom with her were not smiling and laughing. Suddenly, she became all too aware of the silence she had brought with her antics. All eyes were on her, and none seemed to approve of what she had been doing.

Sheepishly, Pinkie blushed bright red with embarrassment. "Guess I had a little too much fun," She said with a nervous giggle as she trotted off for a table at the far end of the ballroom. "I'll just... sit here... and watch, I guess." Her tone of voice indicated how quickly her expectations had changed, and not for the better.

And as this was going on, Rarity finally had the pleasure of meeting the intended object of her affections face to face. Quite unexpectedly, however.

The fashionista had stopped momentarily to sniff at a rose, and when she opened her eyes again she found herself gazing into the eyes of Prince Blueblood in all his glory.

The prince spoke in exactly the tone of voice one would expect him to have. Yet, strangely, he didn't bow to the mare he had the pleasure of meeting. "Why hello there," He greeted. "I am Prince Blueblood. Who might you be, fair lady?"

It was all it took for Rarity to maintain her composure and answer. "I am... Rarity. I'm... delighted to finally meet you," Eager to change the subject and not seemed obsessed with the prince, she turned her attention to the rose and said. "Oh my, what a lovely rose, you have." She expected it to be given to her.

But instead Prince Blueblood picked it up with the soft golden glow of his horn, fastening it into one of the holes on his collar. "Oh, you mean... this rose? Why thank you, Miss. Rarity. It goes with my eyes. Nice to receive flowers for a change instead of always being asked to give them." And then he trotted away.

Rarity could only moan and grumble in displeasure. How had her prince missed so obvious a display of affection? So what if they'd just met, it was supposed to be polite and proper to present a rose to someone who was courting you. Still, she decided not to let it bother her. "It's just a mistake. I'm sure his true self will shine through once we've had time to t get to know each other. Can't rush these things." She thought to herself, and then trotted off after the stallion in the hopes of being able to spend more time with him.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy was following the sound of the beautiful whistling that she was sure was coming from one of the rare creatures in the garden. Humming a tune to herself, she could hear the whistling grower louder and louder as she advanced deeper into the garden proper. At last the whistling grew so loud that she was sure she would find its source! Eagerly, she exclaimed to herself! "The little meadowlark is just around the corner! I can feel it!" Then she shouted! "Wait for me, little meadowlark! I won't be long!"

Yet when the animal loving pegasus rounded a bend, her hopes were almost immediately dashed upon discovering what the source of the whistling actually was. It was not a meadowlark, but a crusty old earth pony stallion with a dull brown coat. He had a gray mane and tail cut short, and faded green eyes. He was wearing a rumpled hat a shade of earthly green, and over his flanks rested a torn blue cloth (which covered up his cutie mark). The stallion was currently pushing a rake with his hooves, whistling a tune to himself as he did so.

An unhappy Fluttershy reluctantly asked the stallion. "Was that you I heard?"

"Yup," The stallion replied. "I'm Mr. Greenhoves, the official royal groundskeeper. And I love to whistle while I work." And he went back to whistling just as he'd finished speaking.

The animal loving pegasus reluctantly trotted away, just the tiniest bit unhappy about having been led astray. Fortunately, her hopes were raised when she spotted a whole bunch of exotic looking animals in a clearing just up ahead! She eagerly raced towards the animals! "My friends!" She shouted at the top of her lungs! Said shouting unfortunately ended up causing the animals to flee. Fluttershy was once again left with a feeling of disappointment. "Me and my big mouth." She lamented.

Rainbow Dash was having no better luck on her end back inside the ballroom. Spitfire and Soarin seemed to be the only Wonderbolts attending the gala (she thought she overheard Spitfire saying something about the other Wonderbolts having been called away for an emergency), and that unfortunately meant that countless ponies wanted to talk to them or have their picture taken with them. Spitfire and Soarin were too distracted to pay any attention to their invited guest, despite Rainbow's best attempts to engage them in conversation (even yelling in the hopes of being overhead).

In the main hallway, Twilight tried to take advantage of an absence of crowds to talk to Princess Celestia. Instead of jumping straight into a progress report, however, something that had just caught her attention was brought up instead. "Um, Princess Celestia? Why aren't you dressed for the gala? And how come there aren't any royal guards here even though you've always had guards with you whenever you travel somewhere?"

Turning away from the front entrance for a moment, Princess Celestia engaged her pupil. "I'm not really attending the gala, I'm just here to oversee it and greet ponies as they come in," She explained. "I don't really need guards while I'm inside the castle. I'm perfectly capable of protecting myself. Plus, I have guards stationed outside checking ponies as they arrive and depart to prevent theft. I'm sure they'd catch any trouble makers."

The studious unicorn breathed a small sigh of relief at that. "That's good, I guess. Now, about my friendship studies... well actually, there's something related to them I wanted to talk to you about. You see recently I..."

But just then the sound of impatient chatter from ponies alerted the sun princess to the fact that a long line had formed behind her in the brief amount of time she had not been paying attention. She quickly spun around. "Oh, my apologies, everypony," She extended a hoof and began briefing exchanging greetings with one pony after another. "Welcome to the gala. Thank you for coming. Nice to see you again."

Twilight unhappily sighed. A perfect opportunity for a progress report had been squandered. "Hope you're all having better luck on your end, girls." She said to herself, as she saw that the line of ponies wanting to talk to (or even just greet) Princess Celestia didn't seem to be diminishing even the slightest.

And as for Applejack, well, she hauled her stand all around the garden in the hopes of finding more customers to try her various apple treats. But despite her best salespony efforts, nopony was interested. Some even trotted right past her stand without even looking at it. The only sale she'd had at all this night was from that one pegasus who'd bought an apple pie. "I don't get what I'm doin' wrong," She muttered to herself as she slumped next to her cart. "Only one sale in sixteen minutes? This ain't goin' great."

Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and even Twilight all had to admit they had similar thoughts and feelings. None of their hopes, dreams, or expectations had been met so far this night.

But none of the six mares were willing to give up so easily! So what if the Grand Galloping Gala was shaping up to be a disappointment so far? The night was still young, there was still plenty of time for things to turn around if they just tried a little harder.

"So it was that Twilight Sparkle and her friends began to resort to drastic measures to try to make their dreams come true." Princess Celestia told her sister as she paused once again in her recollections.

"And we art to take it that thou did not plan for any of the events that followed to happen, even though thou should have informed thy student and her friends about things such as our nephew's reputation, or the exotic creatures being extremely shy?" Princess Luna questioned with what sounded like skepticism.

The sun princess was quick to answer. "Of course not, Luna. Never in my wildest imagination could I have anticipated any of the events that were to unfold. Much as I had hoped for the gala to be livened up, I would not have allowed things to get nearly as out of control as they did. My plan worked perhaps a bit too well."

"It would sound as if it did," The younger alicorn replied. "But we shalt decide for ourselves after thou hast told us the rest of thy story."

Celestia nodded, and continued reliving the memories as best she had been able to piece together. "Very well, Luna. The first pony to truly change her approach was Fluttershy, who quickly lost her patience and thus her temper."

Indeed, Fluttershy was already getting desperate, doing something she normally would never do to any animal. She was setting up a net, and using a carrot as bait in the hopes of trapping some unsuspecting creature. "Just like Twilight and Rainbow Dash always say, I have to be bold and assertive," She said to herself. "If they won't come to me, I'll make them come to me. I will make them love me if it takes all night."

As the animal lovng pegasus spoke it was possible to see her left eye twitching ever so slightly, which unnerved some of the animals who could still see her. Undeterred by this, she just cleared her throat and began to retreat, while holding a rope that, once released, would drop the net. "I'm so sorry to have scared you, my friends! But I'm leaving now, so you can all come out!" She intentionally spoke as loudly as possible, something she wasn't used to doing. Then she retreated to what she thought was a safe distance. Then she waited, and waited, and waited some more.

At last, the sound of something munching away on the carrot alerted the pegasus mare to the fact that an animal had emerged from hiding. "Now I gotcha!" She shouted and let go of the rope, dropping the net right on top of the unsuspecting creature. She then rushed over to her trap, eager to see what sort of animal she had caught. "Sorry I had to do this, but I just wanted to be your friend." She tried to apologize as sincerely as possible.

However, when Fluttershy inspected her trap, she discovered that instead of an animal she had snagged Mr. Greenhooves. Mr. Greenhooves, undeterred, just lifted the net off of himself and said. "Sounds good to me. The only friends I've known before have been the animals, and they don't talk much."

A groan escaped Fluttershy's lips as she watched the gardner trot off. Her trap was perfect, if only he hadn't shown up to ruin it! And so she vowed! "I'll catch you yet, my pretties! Oh yes! Just wait! Sooner or later, I will catch you! And then you'll be mine! All mine!" She proceeded to let out a laugh that, coupled with her twitching eye, betrayed her loosening grip on sanity and reason. It never occurred to her once that such a display was frightening the animals further, making it less likely for them to come out and see her.

Back inside the ballroom, meanwhile, Rainbow Dash had quickly decided that drastic measures would have to be taken if she wanted Spitfire or Soarin (or hopefully both of them) to notice her for more than a few seconds. Since she was within a confined space, any sort of flying or aerial acrobatics were out of the question. But that was okay, the rainbow maned speedster had plenty of impressive athletic skills that were completely unrelated to flying.

After quickly glancing around to confirm that nopony was looking, Rainbow not so secretly stuck out one of her back legs and kicked it! The kick knocked an unsuspecting unicorn stallion into the air for all of a few seconds! Then, Rainbow swooped in and grabbed him in mid-air. "You're welcome." Was all she bothered to say.

Spitfire happened to glance over from where she had been looking. She appeared to smile ever so faintly. "Not bad, Rainbow Dash. Kind of reminds me of me." But then she turned back to where she had been before and went on talking with somepony else.

Soarin, for his part, made no acknowledgement that he had witnessed Rainbow's little "stunt". He was too busy having his picture taken, and licking his lips to try to get the last few crumbs of his apple pie off his face.

The brash speedster snorted and narrowed her eyes. "What's it gonna take to make them notice me?!" She impatiently thought to herself! "How can I impress them if they won't even look at me?!" Clearly, far more dramatic (and drastic) performances would need to be performed.

Meanwhile, Rarity had followed Prince Blueblood back into the ballroom. She wasn't willing to let a bad first impression get in the way of her romantic dreams. "Just give him a chance, Rarity. His princely side is sure to come out if you're just patient." She said to herself, all the while she paid no attention to anything or anypony else.

Suddenly, the prince cried out and extended a hoof to Rarity! "Miss Rarity! Stop!"

The fashionista obeyed without hesitation. It took but a moment for her to see that she had just been about to step into a very large puddle of water. That would not have been pleasant in the slightest, and she was grateful for having been saved from an embarrassing fate. " Oh. Prince Blueblood! How chivalrous of you." She said and tried not to blush.

Prince Blueblood just smiled and bowed his head. "Think nothing of it, fair lady. I simply knew that it would be a travesty for one to slip and fall. One might easily break a leg, or an arm."

"Oh, indeed. One certainly would hate for that to happen," Rarity commented and smiled. "Thank you for noticing that puddle for me," Then a matter of great concern came to her. "But what are we going to do about it? We cannot simply walk around it, it's far too big."

"And teleportation is out of the question, I am not skilled enough to perform such a feat," The prince explained. "There is but one solution: One's cloak should easily take care of the problem." Then he turned to look at his accompanying companion for the evening.

The fashionista unicorn blinked in surprise. Why was the prince looking at her? Then, suddenly, it dawned on her. "What? Me?"

Blueblood firmly nodded. "I was kind enough to point out the puddle and save you from a nasty fall. It's only natural you return the favor by doing something chivalrous for me. You certainly didn't expect me to cover up that puddle, did you?"

Rarity grumbled as she reluctantly removed the cloak from her dress and threw it over the puddle, watching it get soaking wet before Blueblood trotted over it without fanfare. So much for chivalry.

And while Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy were all dealing with their own problems, Pinkie Pie felt like she had found a way to solve hers. The best way to liven up a party of any sort was with a song. She zipped over to the stage, whispering things into the ears of the ponies that made up the fancy band. Then, hopping up onto the stage proper, she grabbed a microphone and gave it a tap. "C'mon, everypony! I know what will make you shake those groove-thangs!" She declared with a bright smile. "Let's do The Pony Pokey!"

When at last the song had ended, Pinkie Pie stood on the stage and waited to bask in the applause she was sure would be directed her way.

The gala participants, however, did not applaud Pinkie's performance. In fact, one finely dressed earth pony mare in a dazzling pink coat berated the party pony. "Young lady, you ought to be ashamed of yourself! I don't know what you think this is, but I will have you know that the Grand Galloping Gala is not that kind of party." And everypony in the ballroom turned to leave.

Rather than realize the obvious, however, Pinkie said to herself. "Ohhhhhh... I get it now. They don't want to party. These ponies want a paaartay!" Of course, now it all made sense. The ponies of Canterlot got all dressed up for these fancy parties because they were the greatest parties in all of Equestria. Well, she could give it to them. She would just need to gather up some emergency "supplies" first.

And what about Applejack? Well, as it turned out, she had the good fortune of coming across Rarity and Prince Blueblood as the unhappy couple had left the ballroom and returned to the garden.

Blueblood was anything but pleased when he saw Applejack's stand. "You can't be serious, Miss. Rarity." He snorted and turned his snout upward in disapproval.

Rarity just flashed a knowing wink. "Oh but Blueblood, darling, you simply must try this food. It is absolutely divine. You've never tasted food like this before. It's my treat," Then to Applejack she placed an order. "Two apple fritters, please."

"Comin' right up," Applejack proudly proclaimed as she promptly produced the tasty treats for the two ponies. But even though they were for a friend, she couldn't bring herself to offer them for free. Informing the couple, she stated in no uncertain terms. "That'll be four bits, please. Ain't exactly runnin' a charity, you know."

"Right," Rarity nodded, and then glared at Prince Blueblood when he did not pay as she had been expecting. "Ahem." She audibly cleared her throat, hoping he'd take the hint.

The snobbish prince just "Ahem"ed right back at Rarity.

"Ahem!" Rarity tried again, much more forcibly.

But the prince just "Ahem"ed even louder and turned away, refusing to look at either Rarity or Applejack.

The fashionista reluctantly folded, much to her dismay. "Oh, alright. It is for a good cause, after all."

Yet the farm mare firmly insisted with a shake of her head. "No need, Rarity. It's on the house."

Yet Rarity produced four bits and hoofed them to Applejack anyway. "No, Applejack. I can't ask you to do that. You need the money more than I do. You're just trying to help your family, after all."

Applejack unhappily sighed. "Yeah, but so far I've got nothin' to show for it. You and the prince are the first customers I've had in almost an hour. I've only had one other sale this entire night! Can you believe it?!"

Meanwhile, Prince Blueblood reluctantly sampled the apple fritter given to him. After all, it was rude to decline food that someone else had paid for. Yet as soon as he took one bite of his apple fritter, his eyes widened in shock and disgust! He gagged and spat at the ground! "What is all this?!" He growled! "I had hoped the taste would be better than appearance led me to believe. But I see I was right to judge this book by its cover!"

"Why you!" Applejack snarled and narrowed her eyes! "How dare you disrespect my family's cookin' like that! I've got half a mind to teach you some manners, prince!"

"You wouldn't dare do anything to me! I'm of royal blood!" The prince boasted! "You, on the other hoof, are a mere peddler trying to con bits out of unsuspecting ponies like myself!" Then he turned to Rarity. "Is this your idea of a good time, Miss. Rarity? Fritters! Dumplings! Caramel apples! My royal lips have touched common carnival fare! At least the other mares who've had the privilege of courting me took me out for fine dining." And he trotted off in disgust and disappointment.

Rarity followed after the prince, her frustration with him ready to boil over at a moment's notice. "And just where are you going now, prince charming?" She sarcastically taunted with a roll of her eyes.

The snobbish stallion kept his head and snout turned up as he declared. "To the buffet table for some... hors d'oeuvres. And if you ask nicely, I might just save a little something for you. But don't count on it. You're skating on thin ice with me."

"I can't take much more of this! He is anything but the prince of my dreams!" Rarity thought to herself. Why had she been putting up with him all evening?

Applejack, meanwhile, had overheard Prince Blueblood's mention of a "buffet table". Needless to say, it sparked a realization in her. "Well, no wonder nopony wants to try my food. They're fillin' up on those fancy-schmancy vittles," She stomped a hoof. "I'll show them! My family's down-home apple cookin' is plenty good enough for this crowd. I just need to dress 'em up a little." And she set off to do just that.

"Sister," Princess Luna interrupted yet again. "Thou meanst to tell us that thou not only neglected to inform Rarity about thy adopted nephew's behavior, and neglected to inform Fluttershy about the shyness of the creatures in the royal garden, but also neglected to tell Applejack that there wouldst be catering at the gala?"

Princess Celestia sheepishly looked down at the ground in shame as her face flushed pink. "Not by intention, Luna. I really, truly did mean to tell them. But I've been so busy, not just with planning the gala, but with so many other things. You know, like breakfast with Mayor Mare, or having to deal with a parasprite infestation in Fillydelphia. The details about the gala just sort of... slipped my mind."

Luna raised a brow in skepticism. "Sister, forgive us if we art suspicious of such a claim. Thou did admit that thou wast hoping thy student and her friends wouldst liven up the gala, after all. How art we to know that thou did not intentionally choose not to inform them, so as to provide them with more motivation and encouragement to do what they did?"

Celestia lifted her head slowly, and somehow managed to regain her composure. "Trust me, Luna. I did not intend for any of what ultimately unfolded that night to unfold exactly the way it did. Even if I had hoped for Blueblood to be put in his place, and even if I had hoped for the gala to be livened up, the chaos that unfolded was not at all what I had planned. It was truly a not so happy accident. Though in my defense, nopony ended up getting hurt."

The younger alicorn then questioned her elder sister. "So what is it that ended up occuring at the gala that was not at all what thou had planned? What is it that thou hast been building towards all this time with thy story?"

The elder alicorn sister cleared her throat. Everything she had been talking about up to this point had been building up to this. "Well, Luna, it all started in the ballroom when Pinkie Pie decided to give the gala participants the kind of party she thought they wanted." And once again, she began recalling the memories from what she had been told about after the fact.

In the ballroom, Pinkie Pie had somehow managed to bring in a large turntable and turned on a musical record. That got the attention of all the nobles and other gala participants, who all stopped to look at her. "Alright! Come on, everypony! This is what you all wanted, right? You wanted a partay? Cause now it's a paaartaaay!" She happily squealed, running all about to try to get ponies to dance to the beat of the music playing from the turntable! "Oh yeah!"

Just then, Applejack came into the ballroom, pushing a large cart upon which rested a truly massive cake with pink and yellow frosting. She didn't seem fatigued in the slightest while doing so, instead proudly proclaiming to the ponies. "Okay, all you high-class ponies. Here's a highfalutin apple cake for your hoity-toity taste buds. This'll put any of that stuff at your buffet table to shame, I guarantee it!"

But it was at that very moment that Pinkie made a most costly mistake. "Stage dive!" She yelled at the top of her lungs, and shut her eyes as she jumped right off the stage without even looking! She landed on the other side of Applejack's cart, tipping it over and hurling the huge apple cake into the air!

The cake flew right towards Prince Blueblood, who hastily did the only thing he could think to do in so desperate a situation: He shoved Rarity in front of him, shamelessly using her as a shield. Poor Rarity had no time to react as the cake came down and splattered all over her, covering her coat and dress in frosting!

"Really? Really?!" Rarity snarled with a sneer as she turned around to face Prince Blueblood! "How can you treat a lady like this?! I can see now why nopony else has yet offered to marry you."

Prince Blueblood only coldly sneered. "So what? You think you're something special just because you had the privilege of being in my company? You are no different than the double dozen or so other mares who have courted me. There's nothing special about you at all, Miss. Rarity."

At that, the fashionista lost all patience she might still have had. She was quite determined to give this pompous prince a piece of her mind, and she proceeded to do so without care for who might see. "Oh, that's it! I have had it up to here with you!" She snapped, glaring at the prince. "You, sir, are by far the most uncharming prince I've ever had the displeasure of knowing. In fact, the only thing royal about you is that you are a royal pain in the neck!"

The prince whimpered, clearly not used to being called out for his behavior. He tried to shrink from Rarity's gaze as he held up his hooves and cowered in a corner. "S-stay back! I... I've just had myself groomed!"

"Oh, what's the matter, prince?" Rarity sarcastically taunted. "Afraid to get dirty?!"

"You wouldn't dare!" Blueblood protested, but was soon proven wrong when Rarity shook off the frosting from her face. It was flung all over the prince, who backed away in fright and disgust! As he did so, he unfortunately bumped into one of the large statues in the ballroom, knocking it off its pedestal.

Rainbow Dash immediately rushed to grab it! "I got this!" She boasted, delighted with another chance to show off. She was sure to impress Spitfire and Soarin with this! She quickly caught the statue, only to find out that she had severely underestimated its weight. "Uh, okay... um... might need a little help here!" She nervously called, before she lost her balance! She moved one way and then another, trying to keep the statue from slidding off her. In the process, she knocked loose several columns that fell one by one. Then the statue itself fell and broke, and all eyes fell upon the brash speedster in an instant.

Twilight and Princess Celestia had both heard the sound of a loud crash coming from the ballroom, and it made them jump! "What was that?!" Princess Celestia gasped as her attention was diverted away from greeting ponies.

"I'm sure it's nothing!" Twilight nervously insisted. "I'll go check!" She then lit up her horn and teleporated away, soon appearing in the ballroom. There, she was horrified to find everything in a state of chaos and pandemonium. And it was clear to her that her friends (or at least four of them) had caused it, all of them now looking quite ashamed.

Even so, the studious unicorn saw fit to tempt fate by asking. "How could things get any worse?"

And as if the universe had heard that declaration, the doors at the other end of the ballroom suddenly burst open! Exotic animals came running in, all of them clearly frightened of something! Or rather, somepony. That somepony was Fluttershy, who was panting heavily. "No... come back..." She shouted at the animals! " You're... going to LOVE ME!"

Twilight was horrified at the sight she was witnessing! Her friends were turning the gala into a disaster, a disaster that threatened to endanger the lives of innocent ponies if it wasn't stopped soon. To make matters worse, she could hear the hoofsteps of the approaching Princess Celestia (who had no doubt heard Fluttershy's shout and had decided to investigate). The studious unicorn now began to panic! What would the princess have to say if she discovered who was responsible for all of the destruction and devestation that had unfolded here?

Suddenly, an idea came into the unicorn mare's mind. It was the only thing she could think to do in this situation. She quicky gave a whistle and shouted to her friends. "We have to go, now!" And she raced to gather up her five friends before any of them could say or do anything in protest.

The six mares thus fled from the ballroom while everypony else was still in a state of shock. So frantic and desperate was their escape, that their gala dresses became torn and shredded. And in the process, Rarity happened to lose one of the glass slippers she had been wearing.

Pinkie Pie noticed this and called out to her fashion friend. "Ooh! Rarity, your glass slipper! Now your prince is sure to find you. Isn't that great?"

A look of utter horror flashed in the fashionista's beautiful blue eyes! She immediately picked up the slipper with her magic and tossed it out of the nearest window, causing it to shatter! Then she grabbed Pinkie by the hoof without saying a word, and took off as fast as her now bare hooves could carry her!

"Ah," Princess Luna commented in realization, once again ending the story telling for the time being. "So that explains all the nose that we heard whilst we were trying to sleep."

"Yes, sister," Princess Celestia confessed. "And by the time I reached the ballroom, Twilight and her friends had already fled. There was little I could do except clean up. I had to declare a premature end to the gala. And many of the ponies attending it were anything but pleased."

Luna remarked. "As they very well should be. Tis very rude to disrupt such an important gathering as the gala, regardless of whether thou meant to or not. Thy student and her friends owe everypony an apology for causing so much trouble, and not even staying to clean up after themselves. Surely, some of them werest raised better than that."

But Celestia protested with a shake of her head. "It's really my fault, Luna. I should've better informed them about the gala and about some of the things they were looking forward to. Even if I wanted things to be livened up, that's no excuse for allowing myself to be so distracted with other things that I couldn't inform Applejack about the catering, or Rarity about what my nephew is really like."

"But thou got thy wish in the end, sister," The night princess pointed out. "The gala was indeed livened up as thou hoped. And thy nephew was finally taught a lesson, just as thou intended. Tis not unlike how thou told us that thou had prepared for our return, even when it was as Nightmare Moon."

The sun princess then protested further. "Yet you know as well as I do that my plans didn't go exactly as I had hoped. I did not expect Nightmare Moon to come after me again, confident that she would remember last time. And by the time I realized I was her target, she had already imprisoned me within the confines of the castle, preventing me from aiding Twilight as I had hoped. It was fortunate for both of us that Twilight proved resiliant, and that she made friends as I had hoped she would. The Grand Galloping Gala is another case where any plans I might have had quickly got away from me. I am just as much to blame for what happened as Twilight and her friends."

Surprised by her elder sister's confession, the younger alicorn could only ask. "Did thou ever apologize to thy student and her friends for what thou unintentionally allowed to happen?"

Celestia's mood began to perk up ever so faintly, as she began to recall. "Yes. And you would not believe where I met them when I had to confess to my unintentional role in their bad night." And this is how the rest of her story unfolded:

Spike was sitting at the counter top at Donut Joe's donut shop. He had only Donut Joe for company, Donut Joe being a unicorn stallion with a light amber coat, a mane and tail that were short in style and a moderate organish-brown in color, eyes were a modest sap green, and a cutie mark that was a donut. Joe was currently wearing a white button vest and a matching hat.

The little dragon had been passing the night with mugs of hot cocoa and lots of donuts. He had been the only customer. And so, he was currently grumbling as he said to Donut Joe. "Hey, Donut Joe. Another donut, please."

Donut Joe trotted over and eyed Spike with skepticism. "Don't you think you've had enough for one night, little guy?"

Spike furiously pounded the table and slammed his half empty mug of hot cocoa down! "Listen, I'll tell you when I've had enough!" He then demanded! "Now bring me another donut, with extra sprinkles!"

Joe reluctantly agreed. "Okay, okay!" But before he could go fill the order, he was alerted to the arrival of other potential customers when the bell above his shop's front door rang audibly. A smile crept onto his face when he saw a very familiar looking unicorn mare with a light purple coat come trotting in, accompanied by five mares he didn't recognize. "Well well, Twilight Sparkle," He greeted with a friendly laugh. "Long time no see. You here to pick up your little dragon?"

Twilight shook her head from side to side. "No, Joe. You got room at the table for a couple of friends of mine?"

Spike smiled as he got off the counter top, and came over to greet Twilight and her friends. "You're back already, girls? How was your big night?"

Twilight sighed as she trotted over to one of the empty tables and sat down, then motioned for Spike and for her friends to join her. "Have a seat, Spike. It's a long story." Once everyone was seated at the table, she and her pony friends began talking all at once, each of them telling Spike how their big night had turned into one of disappointment.

The little dragon was quite surprised by what he heard. And when the story had ended, he could only comment in surprise. "Wow! That sounds more like the worst night ever!"

"It was." The six mares all said in unison, and then they all laughed.

Once the laughter had died down, however, Twilight Sparkle could only lament. "I just hope Princess Celestia isn't upset with us for ruining the gala."

But it was at that very moment that the sun princess appeared in the doorway, and in her usual cheerful tone of voice she declared. "Oh, you needn't worry. Nothing was done that can't be fixed. And personally, I'd say that was the most eventful Grand Galloping Gala I've ever seen!" She proceeded to trot over to join her student and her friends.

The studious unicorn blinked in shock and surprise. "What?! Pardon me, princess, but tonight was just awful. And what my friends and I did..." She hung her head in shame. "There's really no excuse for it. You invited us all to the gala, and we made a mess of it."

Princess Celestia simply replied. "Well, the gala's always been rather boring to me. It's really a formal event dating back to just after Luna and I took the throne. I must sadly confess that it had become routine, and rather dull. That is why I invited you all. I hoped you would liven up the gala this year, and you did."

At that Twilight gasped! "You knew all of this would happen?!"

Celestia shook her head from side to side and retorted. "Not exactly. I most certainly could not have anticipated events unfolding the way it did," Then she apologized. "I have to confess I bare some responsibility for the calamity as well. There are certain things I had wanted to inform of you earlier, but I allowed them to slip my mind until it was too late."

"But it's still our fault the gala turned out the way it did," Applejack insisted. "We all let ourselves get carried away with tryin' to make our dreams come true."

"Some of which we could easily make come true on our own time if we really want to," Rainbow Dash pointed out. "I don't need some fancy gala to hang out with the Wonderbolts and impress them. I already got to know them after the Best Young Flyer Competition. And I'm sure if I keep doing what I've been doing, the Wonderbolts will eventually take notice."

Rarity added. "And I really should've known better than to believe I could find true love in the span of a single night. Especially with somepony I hadn't even met before."

"Even if the animals were shyer than me, I never should've tried to force them to love me. I wouldn't like it if somepony tried to do that to me." Fluttershy commented in realization.

And even Pinkie Pie had to admit. "Guess I didn't really understand what made the gala so unique. But I definitely learned a few things about what not to do at a party."

Applejack could only sigh and lament. "Shucks, guess it was a lot to expect to be able to make enough money in the span of one night to solve all my family's problems. Still, I really thought I'd do better than I actually did."

Princess Celestia only smiled. "Applejack, I know how important Sweet Apple Acres is to Ponyville. I'm sure we can work something out to solve at least one of the problems your family is facing."

Twilight, meanwhile, glumly commented. "I'm sorry you had to see my friends like this tonight, Princess Celestia. Here I was hoping to give you a progress report and show you how far I've come since I began my friendship studies. I'd understand if you might have second thoughts about it all."

But the sun princess protested with a smile. "Nonsense, Twilight. I've seen the bond you and your friends have. I've felt it through every letter you've ever sent to me. One bad night isn't enough to make me doubt you or your studies. And you don't need to give me a progress report in pony. You've accomplished so much in so short an amount of time. But friendship is an ongoing study, there's always something new to learn. And I know you'll continue to make me proud no matter what," Then she added with a wink. "As a matter of fact, I believe you and your friends have all learned a very important lesson tonight."

The studious unicorn blinked for a moment. Then it dawned on her. "I think I get what you're trying to say, princess. Friends have a way of making even the worst of times into something pretty great. Even if the Grand Galloping Gala didn't turn out exactly like it hoped, we still have each other. And being together has truly made it..."

Then came a chorus from the six mares still in their torn, tattered gala dresses. "-The best night ever!" And then they all laughed, especially once Spike pointed out that being together was exactly what he had wanted to do the most.

"From there, I started talking with not just Twilight but with all of her friends, and even Spike," Princess Celestia explained as she finished her story. "And that's how I learned just what had happened at the gala that had caused such a disturbance."

"Ah, now it all makes sense," Princess Luna commented as she absorbed the last bits of information. "Thy student and her friends truly are incredible, sister. We can see why they werest able to purge us of our darker self and set us free."

Celestia nodded. "Indeed, Luna. The Elements of Harmony are safe with them. The future of Equestria looks bright."

The night princess then declared. "Perhaps we should pay them a visit ourselves, so that we might see for ourselves just how special thy student and her friends are."

The elder alicorn was quick to caution. "Are you sure that's a good idea, Luna? I haven't told them yet about how... different you look from the last time they saw you."

"We have spent far too much time in the background, slowly regaining our powers, sister," Luna firmly protested. "Tis time we made ourselves known to all of Equestria again. For how else does thou propose we art to change our reputation?"

Princess Celestia only commented. "At least maybe hold off for a while, Luna. I think Twilight and her friends will all need time to readjust after what went down at the gala tonight."

Author's Note

Here we are again, another set of rewrites and another explanation of each one in the author's notes. Considering this is the only other season finale that was not a two parter (and we know "Magical Mystery Cure" was at one point planned to be a two parter), and it was the only season finale until "To Where and Back Again" not to close out with a song, it's certainly an interesting one to return to.

The big problem I have with this episode is that it opted to go the route of "subvert expectations". Particularly, it was aimed at deconstructing the fairy tale cliche of a "Happily Ever After". Except in doing so it has to dash all of the mane six's dreams even when some of them had very selfless goals that they wanted to achieve. And others had to have their dreams changed, or even just have a dream added because they had no goal besides going to the gala.

In an attempt to fix all of that, I decided to partially draw on inspiration from long-time series indirect contributor Comickook. He proposed the idea of this episode focusing more on Celestia and Luna, and little on the mane six. I decided to use that idea to have the episode's story be told mostly through flashback. But I also wanted to change up how some of the events unfolded, as well as make it clear that the mane six did still sort of succeed.

I also wanted to address how the mane six are never really held accountable for their actions, and how it seems like Princess Celestia intentionally allowed for them to turn the gala into a fiasco at the expense of all the other attendees, and all because she claimed to be bored. As for the bit about Twilight planning to adopt Spike, that stems back to my rewrite of "Owl's Well That Ends Well", in which Twilight confesses to loving Spike like a son and promises to officially adopt him (which she ends up doing at the end of my rewrite of "Spike at Your Service").

As always, feel free to pitch any ideas for future rewrites. I might possibly consider dipping into G5 next year, at least for Make Your Mark if it's supposedly wrapping up for good in the near future.

~~The Best Night Ever~~
Sweet and Elite
Castle Mane-Ia
Power Ponies (Redo)
Bats! (Redo)
For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils
The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows
Stranger Than Fanfiction
Student Counsel
Between Dark and Dawn

S4 E7: Bats! (What If?) - Redo

Author's Note

Looking back on my original rewrite of this episode, I feel like I didn't fix the biggest issue with it: Fluttershy gets rewarded for not standing up for her beliefs, even after she admits that she thinks using her stare on the bats is wrong. And the catalyst for Fluttershy being a bat is still Twilight screwing up a spell inadvertently.

I decided to change that here so that, rather than compromise her beliefs, Fluttershy settles on a longshot idea that leads more directly into her becoming a bat/batpony. I did still want to keep the Apple family in the rewrite.

I also reluctantly decided to ditch "Stop The Bats", seeing as it basically just amounts to announcing that Applejack's plan is to round up the bats and then do nothing else. Assuming it's meant to imply she'll kill them, the lyrics are too vague to convey that. Plus, the song is used to just quicky gloss over everyone taking Applejack's side so that Fluttershy will look more in the right.

~~The Best Night Ever~~
~~Sweet and Elite~~
~~Castle Mane-Ia~~
~~Power Ponies (Redo)~~
~~Bats! (Redo)~~
For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils
The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows
Stranger Than Fanfiction
Student Counsel
Between Dark and Dawn

S4 E7: Bats! (What If?) - Redo

It was early in the morning at Sweet Apple Acres, the sun had not yet risen over the land. Yet Applejack was perched on a hill overlooking the apple trees in the orchard. They all looked to be full of apples ready for harvesting at a moment's notice. All that remained was the official signal, which would be the rising of the sun.

"Any minute now." The stetson wearing earth pony thought to herself. Her sap green eyes remained focused on the horizon, waiting for the sun to come up.

At last, with a crow of the rooster, the sun rose high into the sky! Sunlight crept over the land, eliminating all the shadows. Day had come.

"Yee-haw!" Applejack loudly cheered, announcing to all who could hear! "It's officially applebuckin' day!" Compared to the applebucking season of a few years ago, this one promised to be far less eventful. The farm mare had specifically taken care to get her whole family onboard with it, and made sure she had no other outstanding committments that could interfere.

With a smile on her face, Applejack lesiurely strolled through the orchard grounds, looking left and right at the apple trees and the apples upon them. "This is perfect!" She said aloud! "The bumper crop we've been waitin' for for years!" And she was excited at what those prospects would mean for her family.

Of course, the apples needed to be harvested first. And Applejack was so eager to get started that she didn't want to wait for the rest of her family to join her. "No time like the present!" She thought to herself. She trotted up to one of the apple trees and without a second's hesitation, she gave a swift kick to the trunk!

But to the surprise of the earth pony, the apples fell straight to the ground with a splat. "What?!" She questioned, and looked up into the tree. Now that she looked more closely, it seemed like the apples were all dried up and void of life. But how could that be?

Then, the sound of chittering and the flapping of wings filled the air. A look of horror flashed in Applejack's eyes! She knew those sounds could mean only one thing! "Oh no! They're back!" She gasped, and ran out of the orchard as fast as her legs could carry her! The bumper crop was in danger of being taken away.

Applejack knew she was going to need all the help she could get to protect her family's crops from these invaders. But she couldn't have known where this pursuit would lead, what it would do to one of her friends, who would end up taking a rather unusual approach to trying to solve the problem.

Applejack immediately raced back towards the barn, making as much noise as she possibly could in the hopes of waking up her family! This was a situation that necessitated every Apple family member to do their part! "Everypony, wake up!" She shouted at the top of her lungs! "It's a Sweet Apple Acres emergency! I need all hooves on deck, now!"

It wasn't long before Granny Smith, Big Macintosh, and Apple Bloom were wide awake. They all came trotting out, ready to help however possible.

"What's the big deal?" Apple Bloom questioned as she rubbed a sleepy eye. "What's got you all wound up, Applejack? You're not usually like this."

The farm mare was nervously pacing back and forth. "Sorry, Apple Bloom, but I can't be calm at a time like this," Then she looked to Granny Smith and Big Macintosh. "It's just as we feared. The vampire fruit bats are back! They've already invaded, and they're destroyin' our harvest as we speak!" She stomped a hoof down! "We've got to get rid of them while there's still a harvest left to save!"

Apple Bloom blinked in confusion. "But I thought the fruit bats never left the western orchard?"

Granny Smith could only shake her head from side to side. "Vampire fruit bats, Apple Bloom," She corrected. "They ain't like normal fruit bats. No, these vampire fruit bats are vicious! They suck all the juice right out of the apples, leavin' em as dried up husks that are no use to anypony. They're nothin' but trouble," Then she bit a hoof as she recalled. "I remember what happened the last time Sweet Apple Acres was invaded by 'em. It wasn't pretty."

"W-what happened?" Apple Bloom nervously asked even though part of her didn't want to find out.

Granny Smith brought a hoof up to her chin, recalling as best she could. "Well, it was a long time ago. My memory's a bit fuzzy. But I do know that it wasn't long after my folks and I settled here," She shut her eyes, remembering events long since passed. "We had a really good crop goin' for us and we were all set to harvest, then the vampire fruit bats came. Oh, to say we weren't prepared for what they'd do is an understatement! They dried up every last apple we'd spent all summer growin'. Luckily, we were able to chase 'em away and plant a quick relief crop to get us through the winter. But even then, we just barely got by."

"Well, what are we supposed to do, then?" Big Macintosh nervously questioned. "Even if we chase 'em off, what's to stop 'em from comin' back? How are we supposed to get rid of 'em if we don't even know what they're like?"

Applejack furiously stomped a hoof down! "I don't know! And I don't care how we do it, but we're not lettin' them ruin our harvest! Heck, there's one apple in particular I'll be darned if they think they can just sink their fangs into it!" She trotted off, pulling off a sheet to reveal a giant, lush, red apple. "My blue ribbon winnin' apple. With it, I'm sure to win first place at the Appleloosa County Fair's produce competition next week. Think of what that money could do for us," Then she snorted. "But it'll all be for nothin' if those darn vampire bats get a hold of it. Knowin' them, they'll shrivel it up like a raisin if they get half a chance."

"Then what are we waiting for?!" Apple Bloom eagerly exclaimed! "All we gotta do is chase those bats away, right? If it took 'em until now to show up, we just have to drive them out of the orchard. Then we can harvest all the apples before they come back, right?"

"Eeyup." Big Macintosh firmly nodded, lending his approval to the idea.

"Guess between Big Mac and I, we can both get enough apples bucked to make enough for us to survive the winter," Applejack seemed to agree while adjusting her stetson. "It's time we taught those bats a lesson! No one messes with Sweet Apple Acres and gets away with it!"

Granny Smith then hollered! "Enough chit chat, whippersnappers! We've got a bumper crop to save!" And the entire Apple Family raced off into the orchard as fast as they could, hoping to drive the bats away long enough for the untouched apples to be harvested.

The four earth ponies tried everything they could think of to get rid of the bats. They made lots of loud noises, made scary faces, threw things at the bats, even tried blowing smoke at them. But nothing worked, the vampire fruit bats and their vicious, juice sucking fangs wouldn't go away. All the while, more and more apples began to be sucked dry. At the rate things were going, there soon wouldn't be any crop at all left to harvest.

Wearily, Applejack called her family together outside the orchard so they could regroup and rethink their strategy. "This ain't goin' great, y'all." She frowned, wiping the sweat from her brows.

"I'm sorry," Granny Smith apologized. "I forgot all about how we drove them away last time they came around. It's been so long, and I never expected us to have to deal with 'em again."

Apple Bloom then said in between pauses to catch her breath. "If only there was a way to make those bats understand why we need our apples. If only there was some way we could make 'em see our point of view and get 'em to listen to us."

Upon hearing those words, Big Macintosh got an idea. "Wait, that's it! Why didn't we think of her before?!" He exclaimed.

"What are you talkin' abou..." Applejack began, before the realization slowly dawned on her. "Of course! Fluttershy! She's just what we need! Anypony who can make Discord behave is exactly the kind of pony who can get those darned bats to back off and leave us alone!"

"But how are we supposed to get in touch with her?" Apple Bloom questioned. "Her cottage is all the way on the other side of town."

The farm mare adjusted her trusty stetson. "Then there's no time to lose! I'll go and get her!" Turning to her family, she ordered. "The rest of you do whatever it takes to keep those bats from suckin' any more apples dry! We'll save our crop if it's the last thing we do!" And then she was off again, racing to Fluttershy's cottage in the hopes the animal loving pegasus would be able to tame the vampire fruit bats in time.

Applejack was nearly out of breath by the time she reached Fluttershy's cottage. Nevertheless, she was able to explain her dilemma fairy well.

Fluttershy, though briefly startled at the mention of "vampire" fruit bats, plucked up courage and agreed to help as best she could. And she was soon led back to Sweet Apple Acres as she could already tell how urgent the situation was. It wasn't like Applejack to be in a hurry, not unless it was something that couldn't wait.

It wasn't long before the two friends were approaching Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack hopeful that Fluttershy would come through. "You've got to try, Fluttershy!" The farm mare pleaded with her pegasus friend. "Whatever it takes, you gotta get through to those bats and make them go away!"

Fluttershy gulped and swallowed hard. "I'll try my best, Applejack. But I'd never heard of vampire fruit bats before." Still, she hesitantly trotted towards them. When she drew close, she looked up into a tree where the bats were currently resting after having depleted the tree of all its apples. To her surprise, they didn't look vicious or mean. Despite their darker fur colors, they seemed... friendly enough.

Applejack nudged the animal loving pegasus forward. "Go on! Tell 'em off! Use that stare of yours if you have to."

The pegasus mare with a beautiful yellow coat locked eyes with the vampire fruit bats and cleared her throat. Their attention immediately turned to her. "Oh, excuse me, vampire fruit bats," She was trying to be polite despite the circumstances. "Listen, I don't know if you realize this, but you and your bat friends are eating the inhabitants of this farm out of house and home. They'd appreciate it very much if you would go away and leave their apples alone. You've already done enough damage, there's no need to make it worse."

But the bats only turned their heads, clearly not interested in the slightest by what the pegasus pony had to say.

"How long is this gonna take?!" Apple Bloom impatiently called from afar as she, Big Macintosh, and Granny Smith all watched from afar with mixs of hope and worry.

Fluttershy didn't reply, she just kept staring at the bats while trying to get them to notice her. "Come on," She pleaded. "I know you can hear me. Please, you must leave. If you don't, you're going to make my friend and her family here very upset. They might try to hurt you, and your family. I'm sure you can find somewhere safer to do whatever it is you need to do."

For a moment, there was a strange silence. Then, one of the bats gave off a reply. It hissed, and spat seeds at the ground in protest!

The animal loving pegasus gasped! She was taken aback by the defiance! "Mr. Vampire Bat, that wasn't nice! I'm trying to help you out. But you must help me." She sternly scolded it. Her plea seemed to fall on deaf ears.

Applejack was most surprised when she saw Fluttershy come trotting back from the tree a moment later. "Well? What'd they say?" She asked in a hopeful tone of voice.

Fluttershy could only look at the ground in shame, hanging her head in dismay. "I can't seem to get through to him and the others at all," She reluctantly looked up as she insisted. "But I'm sure I can understand them if I just had a little more time to get to know them."

The farm mare snorted and narrowed her eyes. "Time is somethin' my family and I don't have, Fluttershy! Do you know how much TLC went into not only growin' that prize winnin' apple, but also growin' all them other apples for this bumper crop?! The longer these bats hang around, the greater the chance of the entire applebuckin' season bein' ruined becomes," She then commented. "I didn't want it to have to come this. But if those bats won't leave, then there's only one thing to do! They must be exterminated!"

The animal loving pegasus gasped! "Applejack! How can you say such a thing?! They have families too for pony's sake!" She then pleaded. "Please, just give me more time. The bats can help you. If you give them a small part of the orchard, they'll make it more productive. Not only will the seeds they spit out grow into new trees, but their natural fertilizer will help all your trees to grow bigger and stronger. You'll have an even better bumper crop next year."

Applejack rolled her eyes. "Give 'em a part of the orchard and they'll take the whole lot! Next year will be too late!" In a somewhat more sympathetic tone of voice she apologized. "I'm sorry, Fluttershy. I wish there were a better way. But my family and I have tried everythin' else. So if you can't help us, the least you can do is get out of our way!"

Fluttershy nervously tried to protest. "W-wait, what about everypony else?" Looking to the rest of the Apple family, she pleaded. "You all agree with me, right? There's no need to resort to such extreme measures just to get rid of the bats. You can drive them off peacefully if you just let them have one part of the orchard all to themselves."

Granny Smith shook her head in protest. "Sorry, Fluttershy, but Applejack's right. These vampire bats ain't goin' away, and we can't wait for your plan to work. Either the bats are goin' or we are goin', and we ain't goin' anywhere!"

Big Macintosh gave a firm "Eeyup", signaling his approval of his family's preferred method of handling their problem.

Even Apple Bloom found herself in agreement. "Applejack and Granny make good points, Fluttershy. I know you don't like it, but what other choice do we have?"

"Looks like you're outvoted, Fluttershy," Applejack declared as the rest of her family joined her at her side. "It's time for us to take back our orchard from those pests! Now step aside! We have to get rid of them while there's still an orchard left to save!"

A frantic Fluttershy didn't know what to do! She didn't want the vampire fruit bats to be exterminated, but she also didn't want Applejack and her family to lose their only source of income that could get them through the winter. "If only I could communicate with the bats better, make them listen to me," She thought to herself. And then, suddenly, an idea came to her. "Of course! That's it! If I want to understand those vampire fruits bats, I have to become one of them!" With her mind made up, she leaped in front of the Apple family before any of them could reach the orchard proper. "Wait!" She demanded as she blocked the way.

Applejack snorted and narrowed her eyes. "Fluttershy, I ain't gonna say it again! Get out of our way! This is goin' to happen whether you like it or not."

The pegasus mare only firmly replied with the most determined look flashing in her eyes. "Please, Applejack. You have to let me try this," She cleared her throat. "I'm going to become a bat. Or rather, a batpony. Once I do, I'll be able to properly communicate with the vampire fruit bats and get them to leave you and your family alone."

The farm mare rolled her eyes. "And how are you gonna do that, Fluttershy?"

Her expression did not change in the slightest as Fluttershy declared. "I'm glad you asked, because I already know the pony who can help me. Twilight."

A chorus of gasps rang out from the entire Apple family! "That's crazy talk!" Apple Bloom exclaimed as her eyes widened! "You actually want Twilight to turn ya into one of those.... those... pests?!"

"I know what I'm doing," Fluttershy firmly insisted. "I could never live with myself if I didn't do everything I possibly could to save those vampire fruit bats from extermination. I'm sure it will work. If you all just hold off on doing anything to the bats for a while, I know I can get Twilight to turn me into a batpony. It'll only be temporary. Once I've gotten the bats to listen to me, I'll have her change me back."

"And what if ya can't?" Granny Smith questioned. "What happens then?"

"That won't happen!" The pegasus pony protested as she stomped a hoof down. "Please! I have to do this! And I'm going to do regardless of what you all want to do." Then, with a swish of her tail, she trotted off to go find Twilight.

The Apple family was speechless. And Applejack was left to think to herself. "Those assertiveness lessons really have changed Fluttershy. She's so determined now that it's scary." Still, the farm mare decided she owed it to her friend to give her the benefit of the doubt.

When Fluttershy informed Twilight of what she wanted to do and why she wanted to do it, Twilight was naturally skeptical. "You sure that's a good idea, Fluttershy? It wasn't long ago that I couldn't even do age spells. And now you want me to turn you into something else?"

Fluttershy nodded while pacing back and forth on the ground floor of the Golden Oak Library. "I know you know your stuff when it comes to magic, Twilight. Your abilities have improved a lot since you became an alicorn. I've seen it for myself."

"Still, turning you into a batpony," Twilight gulped as she bit a hoof. "It's a very big risk. If I can't change you back, you could be stuck as a batpony forever!"

The animal loving pegasus dismissed the concern out of hoof. "I'm sure it won't happen, Twilight. I trust you. One way or another, you'll find a way to change me back even if I don't want to," Then she looked the young alicorn square in the eyes. "Please, Twilight. You're my only hope. If you can't help me..." Her lips began to quiver. "Then the vampire fruit bats will be exterminated, and it will be all my fault. I'll never be able to live with the guilt if that happens!"

Reluctantly, the young alicorn relented with a sigh. "Oh, alright. If you're really that determined to go through with this, I guess I can't stop you. But this is only until you've saved the bats, then you're turning back into a pony."

"Enough chit chat!" Fluttershy demanded. "I'm ready to be transformed, Twilight! So hurry up and do it! Applejack and her family don't have all day to wait!"

Twilight sighed anew and took a few deep breaths to steady her nerves. Part of her was still hesitant about doing this to a friend, to any of her friends. "Last chance to change your mind." She told Fluttershy.

The pegasus dismissed the chance without hesitation. "My mind's made up, Twilight! I'm ready when you are!"

The young alicorn lit up her horn, concentrating deeply as she pictured the transformation in her mind and pushed the still nagging concerns to the back. The reddish-violet glow of her horn soon began to surround Fluttershy, lifting the pegasus into the air. Soon, there was a bright flash of light! Twilight shut her eyes to block out the glare!

The light slowly dimmed, and Twilight saw that the transformation was a complete success. Fluttershy stood before the alicorn looking noticeably different: Her coat color had dimmed and darkened considerably, taking on the same shades as the vampire fruit bats. Her mane and tail also had lost some of their luster, looking much duller. Her wings had expanded slightly, looking much more like bats and less like a pegasus. Most noticeable of all, two large fangs were present across the mouth.

"How do you feel, Fluttershy?" Twilight reluctantly and hesitantly asked when the transformation was complete.

For a moment, Fluttershy was silent as she processed the changes to her body. In particular, it felt like her sense of smell had been made much stronger. Even from where she was, she could already detect the scent of apples wafting through the air. That told her that the crop at Sweet Apple Acres hadn't been completely ruined yet, though she suspected that would not be the case for long if she didn't hurry. So after quickly saying to Twilight "I'm just fine.", she was out the door of the library and taking to the air, flapping her new bat wings furiously!

Twilight nervoulsy watched her transformed friend fly away. All the while, she was thinking to herself. "I hope I'm not making a terrible mistake."

At Sweet Apple Acres, all members of the Apple family were shocked when they saw a vaguely familiar silhouette suddenly appear in the sky above them!

Applejack squinted, trying to get a good look at the figure as it rapidly descended towards the orchard! "Fluttershy?!" She said with a gasp!

Sure enough, the pegasus pony came swooping down before the Apples, revealing herself now to be a full fledged batpony. Every part of her body looked much more like a bat than a pegasus, and stood out in bold detail.

"Ya actually went through with it?!" Big Macintosh exclaimed in disbelief!

The newly formed batpony nodded. "Oh yes," Then she told the family. "Don't worry, I'll get those bats to listen to me now. Your crops will be saved. You're welcome." And after turning her back to them, she unfolded her wings and again took to the air.

Applejack, Granny Smith, Apple Bloom, and Big Macintosh all watched with widened eyes as Fluttershy flew up to the tree where the vampire fruit bats were perched, all of them spitting seeds on the ground without a care.

When the bats saw Fluttershy in her new state of appearance, they all turned to look at her and stopped what they had been doing. It seemed the transformation had gotten their attention.

Rather than speak with words, however, Fluttershy spoke with a hiss. As she did so, her tongue slipped out and grabbed hold of an apple from a nearby tree. She sniffed at it for a moment, then swallowed it whole in front of the bats! She didn't even spit out the seeds afterwards.

"What is she doin'?!" Applejack exclaimed with disbelief!

Fortunately, any confusion was cleared up when Fluttershy hissed again. The bats all hissed in reply, and then followed her as she flew off again. They flew all the way through the orchard until coming to the western edge, at which point they stopped.

Fluttershy then instructed to the bats. "Now you all remember to stay here. Never leave this part of the orchard for anything. Do you understand?"

The vampire fruit bats appeared to understand as they all hissed, but nodded their heads to signify that they had gotten the message.

The pegasus turned batpony then flew back across the orchard, landing once again in front of the Apple family. With a graceful bow, she informed them. "The bats won't be giving you any trouble anymore. I told them they are to stay within the western orchard, and that they are not to disturb you while you're harvesting the rest of the crop. As long as they do that, you won't have any need to exterminate them."

Applejack happily cheered, tossing her stetson into the air! "Yeehaw! The harvest is saved!"

"Eeyup!" Big Macintosh cheerfully chimed in!

Granny Smith then added. "Nothin' left to do now except sweep up the cores and start fresh in the mornin'."

Apple Bloom then commented to Fluttershy. "You're gonna go change back now, right? You're kind of..." She shuddered. "Scary lookin' when you're a bat... er batpony."

Fluttershy giggled. "I know. I'd probably even scare myself if that was possible. But don't worry, I promise I'll be back to normal soon." Yet as she spoke, it was possible to notice that her snout seemed to be pressed to the air, as if she were still taking in the scent of fresh, juicy apples.

The next morning dawned much the same as the first at Sweet Apple Acres. But this time, Applejack was convinced that she had nothing to worry about. Fluttershy had taken care of the bat problem, the harvest would go on as planned. "Alright, let's try this again." She said to herself, as she waited for Celestia's sun to peak over the horizon. With the crow of a rooster, her wish was granted.

"Yee-haw! Time to go collect those sweet, juicy apples!" Applejack shouted, and raced into the orchard once more! Rather than kick one of the trees that the bats had already gotten to the previous day, Applejack kicked a tree that she knew the vampire fruit bats hadn't gotten to. She made sure she had picked a part of the orchard where the apples had not yet been sucked dry.

Or so she thought. Much to the earth pony's surprise and dismay, the apples from the tree she'd just kicked fell to the ground with a splat. They too were all dried up. "What in tarnation?!" She blinked. Then she growled as she realized what must've happened. "Oh, those sneaky bats! I should've known they wouldn't keep their word!"

Furiously, the farm mare quickly trotted across the orchard until reaching the western end. To her surprise, however, all the vampire fruit bats seemed to be accounted for. It looked as if they hadn't left the western orchard after all, even though she was certain that they must've at some point. "Just what do you think you're tryin' to pull?!" She told the bats as she narrowed her eyes and glared at them! "Do you want my family to exterminate ya all?! I thought Fluttershy got you to agree to stay in the western orchard and leave the rest of our apples alone."

The bats blinked in confusion, none of them seemed to understand why Applejack was so upset with them.

"Don't you play innocent with me!" Applejack snorted. "Who else could've possibly gone and sucked the juice out of all them other apples before this mornin'? You're the only creatures I know who can do that," But then something dawned on her. "Although, come to think of it, how come I didn't any seeds on the ground anywhere but here? What? Now you like the seeds too?"

The bats just chittered something in reply, something that the farm mare couldn't understand. However, something else began to gnaw at her. "Say, do y'all know where Fluttershy is? She went and turned herself back into a pony, right? Right?"

Suddenly, in the distance, the earth pony thought she heard a high-pitched shriek! And was it her imagination, or did the shriek sound a lot like Fluttershy's voice? A look of horror and dred flashed in the stetson wearing earth pony's sap green eyes! "No! It couldn't be!" Hoping beyond hope to be proven wrong, she raced to where she had heard the shriek come from.

Alas, when Applejack reached her destination, her worst fears were realized! Hanging upside down from a tree branch was none other than Fluttershy, looking even more like a batpony and even less like a pegasus than she had the day before. "Gah!" Applejack exclaimed as she jumped back in fright!

Fluttershy didn't reply with words, she just replied with a hiss as she stuck out her tongue. She clearly didn't appreciate being woken up during the day.

"This... this can't be happenin'!" Applejack stuttered in disbelief. "You were supposed to go to Twilight and get changed back to normal!"

Fluttershy only hissed further, refusing to move or change her position. It was as if she had no memory of being a pony at all, and fully believed herself to be a bat.

Frantically, the farm mare did the only thing she could think to do in this situation! She ran away! She didn't stop until she had run all the way from Sweet Apple Acres to the Golden Oak Library. There, she frantically pounded on the door! "Twilight! You gotta open up! It's an emergency!"

Twilight quickly ushered the farm mare inside and locked the door behind her. "What's wrong, Applejack?" She asked, even though deep down she knew what the problem likely was.

"It's Fluttershy!" Applejack frantically confirmed! "She's gone full bat! She ain't Fluttershy anymore, now she's Flutterbat! She's even worse than the vampire fruit bats. If we don't find some way to change her back soon, there won't be a crop to left save. And that's the least of my worries," She hung her head in shame. "Oh, this is all my fault. I was only tryin' to protect my crops and my family's way of livin'. I didn't know it would lead to this."

The young alicorn just replied. "You weren't wrong for what you wanted to do, Applejack. And neither was Fluttershy," She sighed. "But this is exactly why I was opposed to turning Fluttershy into a batpony in the first place. I was afraid something like this would happen, and it seems I was right."

"Well what are we supposed to do now?!" Applejack demanded of Twilight. "How are we supposed to stop her and change her back?! She's not gonna listen to us."

Twilight firmly responded. "We'll have to catch her somehow, probably while she's busy at night sucking all the juice out of your apples."

The farm mare groaned. "How we supposed to catch somethin' that moves so fast?" With a sigh, she lamented. "If only Fluttershy were still herself. We could probably make her do her stare on her batself."

"Yes, I've heard that it's powerful enough to make even a cockatrice stand down," The young alicorn commented in reply. Then, right then and there, an idea came to her! A lightbulb went off inside her head as she exclaimed! "Wait, that's it! That's how we'll get Fluttershy back!"

"Uh, I don't follow, sugarcube." Applejack commented as she rubbed a hoof across her forehead.

Twilight was quick to explain. "Your comment about Fluttershy's stare, it gave me an idea. If we can trick her into looking at herself somehow, we should be able to distract her long enough for me to turn her back into her old pegasus self. But there's no way the two of us will be able to do it alone. We'll have to trap her, somehow."

The stetson wearing earth pony replied. "Well, I'm sure my family will be willin' to help. But for our trap to work, we'll need bait," Then, something dawned on her. "Wait, there's my blue ribbon apple I was plannin' to enter in the Appleloosa County Fair the next week!"

"Applejack, you're going to give that up?!" Twilight gasped! "You told me how hard you worked on that!"

"There's always next year," Applejack reluctantly replied. "I don't like the idea of it, Twilight, but sometimes scarifices have to be made. All that matters is that our plan works and Fluttershy is saved."

Twilight slowly nodded her head. "Then I guess we agree. We'll do it tonight! Go home and tell your family to get ready."

That night, the Apple family and Twilight had all gathered around the huge, red apple Applejack had intended to enter in the Appleloosa County Fair. Applejack had a huge carving knife clutched firmly in her teeth, ready to make an incision in the apple once given the signal. As for the rest of the family, they were holding up large mirrors as best they were able.

The plan was soon put into motion. "Okay, let's get our friend back," Twilight instructed to Applejack, and then to the rest of the Apple family she shouted! "Action stations, everypony!"

A very reluctant Applejack approached her prize winning apple. Despite knowing it had to be done to have any hope of attracting Fluttershy (or Flutterbat as Applejack had called her), she was still very hesitant to bring the carving knife towards said apple. Depsite the hesitation, however, she made the incision. Soon, the smell of juice began to seep out from the apple and waft through the air.

Far off in the distance, Flutterbat was already flying through the orchard in search of more apples to suck the juice out of. Suddenly, the familiar scent of apple juice reached her nostrils. She sniffed the air, and hissed when she managed to trace the source. She quickly flew towards the giant apple, unaware that it was a trap.

Twilight stood at the ready when she heard the audible hiss from Flutterbat! "It's working!" She called in a hushed whisper. "Get ready!"

Flutterbat soon swooped in, ready to sink her fangs into the huge apple and suck out every last bit of juice from it!

Reacting quickly and with trained precision, Big Macintosh, Apple Bloom, and Granny Smith all stepped forward and held up mirrors. Every direction Flutterbat might have turned to look, she found herself staring at her own reflection. She hissed in fright, but didn't know which way to turn or which way to go.

With Flutterbat momentarily distracted and disoriented, Twilight enveloped Flutterbat in her magic and slowly but surely turned her back into Fluttershy. The magic started with the ears that returned to pony ears. Then it worked its way up to the wings which were turned back into pegasus wings. Finally, the sharp fangs were turned back into regular pony teeth. All the while, Fluttershy's coat, mane, and tail grew brighter in color and shade.

At last, the reverse was complete. Fluttershy was back to her old pony self. And it seemed she had no recollection of what she had been doing up to this point, for she looked all around the orchard and blinked, her eyes reflecting a look of confusion and bafflement. "W-what happened? Where... am I?"

Applejack rushed up and hugged the pegasus tightly! "Oh, thank Celestia you're okay!"

"What do you mean? What happened?" Fluttershy blinked as her confusion deepened. "I... I remember that I was going to go see Twilight yesterday. Then... something inside of me felt off. There were... so many juicy apples. But everything after that is a blur."

"You mean, you don't remember?" Applejack questioned her friend.

"Remember what?" The pegasus pony remarked, sounding completely baffled.

Apple Bloom came trotting forward, explaining. "You turned yourself into a batpony, remember? You were doin' it to get the bats to stay in the western most part of the orchard. But it worked too well, you actually became a bat."

"What?! I did?!" Fluttershy gasped! "I didn't try to bite anypony or anything, did I?"

Apple Bloom shook her head from side to side. "Nope. You just tried to suck all the juice out of our apples. Lucky for us that Applejack found out. She made this plan so we could turn ya back to normal before you ruined what was left of our bumper crop."

Twilight simply blushed. "It seems my spell worked a little too well on you, Fluttershy. I guess I'm even stronger now than we might have thought."

"Oh, it's okay, Twilight," Fluttershy apologized. "You tried to warn me, but I wouldn't listen. All I wanted was to protect the bats, even when it meant taking extreme measures. And I ended up making the problem worse as a result."

"Well, I was probably jumpin' the gun on the whole 'extermination' thing," Applejack confessed. "I just got so mad and so frustrated with those bats when it seemed like there was nothin' my family or I could do to make 'em stop. I didn't want to consider that maybe your plan could work. I didn't want to consider that maybe there was a way to work with the bats, rather than work against them."

"You were just doing what you thought was best," The animal loving pegasus insisted. "I guess we never stopped to think about the other's point of view," She whimpered a bit. "And it nearly drove a wedge between us."

Granny Smith just commented. "Well, it all worked out, more or less. Ya got through to those bats, and Applejack says they stayed in the western orchard like ya wanted them to. There should still be enough apples left untouched for us to harvest them and make a good enough livin' until cider season. And next year at this time, I reckon we'll have an even better crop."

"So, if we agree to let the bats have a part of the orchard as their sanctuary," The stetson wearing earth pony proposed to Fluttershy. "Do ya promise you won't go doin' drastic things like turnin' yourself into a batpony again?"

Fluttershy happily nodded. "Yes, of course, Applejack."

And Twilight then pointed out. "You know, girls. I think you've both learned a lesson worth writing down in our journal. Compromise can be very important in any friendship. It's always good to stop and listen to the other side before you do something you might regret."

Applejack and Fluttershy looked across to each other, and then nodded in approval of Twilight's sentiment.

Unknown to everypony, however, the spell hadn't completely taken away everything that had made Fluttershy a bat. Secretly, a small fang was still visible if one looked closely. And it would eventually end up becoming quite a problem. But that wouldn't be for a very long time still to come.