The Average Trip to Canterlot
First One In a Thousand Years
In the magical land of Equestria, there lived the Princess of Friendship, Holder of the Element of Magic, Twilight Sparkle.
*Sigh*
"Bored"
And today, she was bored.
"What's the matter Twilight?" Her assistant and little brother/son, Spike, asked as he put his comic book down.
"That's just it Spike, nothing. I've somehow completely ran out of things to do." Twilight complains as she points around the entirety of the crystal library they're in, filled to the brim with books.
"Really? You've read every book here?" Spike asked, a bit befuddled on the idea of having read every single book in their enormous library.
"Yes!" She exclaimed as she banged her hooves on the table. "I've read everything here, three times over, from the basics of multidimensional travel to issue number 157 of Power Ponies: Plight of Seven Worlds! I even read this stupid library guide!"
"The one where Mane-iac becomes the guardian of the multiverse or the one where Hum Drum has to absorb everypony else's powers?"
"Both. And I read the alternate timeline!"
"Wow. You really did empty the library then." Spike said with a look of disbelief.
"I know, and now I don't have anything to do." Twilight responded as she groaned.
"Why don't you just visit other libraries then? I'm sure you'll find at least one book you haven't read before." Spike gave his idea as he heard a distinct sound from somewhere.
"I already checked." She said as she lifted a book from a pile. "This, was the only one I found that I, either didn't know, or haven't memorized in its entirety."
Spike curiously read the title while squinting his eyes. "Ducks and Bread, the need to associate the two"
"It was actually quite an interesting read. I never knew feeding bread to ducks was actually a bad thing." Twilight said as she stored the book back into a pile.
"TWILIGHT!" A gritty and rough voice calls out as the library doors burst open, revealing the cyan colored pegasus with a rainbow mane.
"Rainbow? What's the matter?" Twilight asked curiously. "Also, please stop kicking doors open." She added with a deadpan face.
"This isn't the time for that!" Rainbow yelled desperately as she quickly closed in on Twilight. Grabbing Twilights' face, Rainbow looks straight into her eyes with the most serious expression Twilight had ever seen on her.
Just as Twilight had gotten worried, wondering just what could have happened that worried her friend so much, she spoke.
"It's horrible! It's disastrous! It's more torturous than anything I've experienced!" She whined as she clutched onto Twilight.
"Calm down Rainbow! What is it? What happened? Did Tirek somehow escape? Is Chrysalis back!? IS THERE A NEW VILLAIN THAT'S SOMEHOW AGAINST BOTH READING AND HAVING FUN?!" Twilight kept asking as her voice kept growing louder.
"I'm bored"
"..."
As silence descended the room, Spike just sat feeling a bit uncomfortable from the atmosphere before excusing himself.
Twilight just stares with a slightly annoyed expression as she raised an eyebrow, silently questioning her friend.
"Alright, I get it, it ain't such a big deal. But you gotta help me! Isn't there anything that I could do." Rainbow asked with a pleading expression. "That isn't an egghead activity."
*Sigh*
"Sorry Rainbow, I'm also out of things to do. I was just thinking about whether I wanted to go ask the others." Twilight answered with a sigh as she pulled Rainbow off of her.
"Well that's too bad cuz we also go nothin' to do." A heavily southern accented voice rang out, catching both mares' attention as four ponies walk in.
"Girls! You're all here." Twilight exclaimed with joy and a bit of hope that was quickly extinguished. "Wait, you guys also don't have anything to do?"
"I'm afraid so darling." Rarity added with her Mid-Atlantic accent. "It's honestly incredibly rare that we all don't have anything to do."
"What about your businesses? I thought you'd be busier than ever with all kinds of orders from all of Equestria at once." Twilight asked as Rainbow Dash took a seat on the reading table.
"I completed the last of my orders just three days ago, so right now I'm completely free. I already went to the spa, and the only thing I've left to do is wait for new fabric to be delivered.
"Hmm, I see, what about you AJ?"
"Oh, Ah had chores to do, but Big Mac did it before ah could even realize. He said something about being late for a date and rushed everything. Honestly, it's a complete miracle that the chores were actually done right with the speed he finished it." Applejack said with a slight complaining tone, being not too happy about having someone else do her job.
The other five just stared for a slight bit before moving on.
"I also finished the orders and I have to wait for tomorrow before I can carry out my highest cupcake stack record which is currently seventeen layers of all different flavors which is actually a lot harder than you might think and that's just the tip of it be-" Pinkie pie was cut off with a small tap on her muzzle.
"We get it dear." Rarity exclaimed with a small eyeroll as she turned to Fluttershy. "What about you Fluttershy? If anything I thought you would be the busiest with your animal sanctuary."
"Oh, usually I would be quite tied up with taking care of the animals, but things have been quite peaceful. So, I actually have a lot of free time lately." She spoke up with a calm smile, albeit a little quietly.
"What about you Dash, don'cha got some Wonderbolts trainin'?" Applejack asked the mare who had been casually disconnected from reality.
"Huh, wha?" She asked.
"Your Wonderbolts training? Don't you practice pretty much every day?" Twilight joined in.
"Well, yeah, but we just finished a performance. Spitfire told us to fully rest before coming back in or we'll be getting cleaning duty as punishment." She finished with a shudder as she remembered the one time she got punished with it.
Murmurs of acceptance and agreement came from the girls as they fully realized the weird predicament they're in.
"I never thought we would in a situation where boredom was the enemy." Twilight said with slight surprise as she sat lazily on the floor.
The others agreed and just decided to join in on the carpet.
Except for the obvious one.
"That's right! How could we forget! We have Pinkie Pie!" Twilight sat up with enthusiasm as she pointed towards the vibrating Pinkie Pie who had one of her signature oversized smiles.
"Oh Yeah! Pinkie, could you whip up a party for us?" Rainbow asked as she floated in the air.
The girls stared with expectation as their party pony opened her mouth.
"Nope!" She answered with an extremely proud expression.
This dumbfounded the five as they just stared at Pinkie.
"Dear, are you alright? You're never one to not throw a party." Rarity added in as Fluttershy nodded behind her.
"Oh I'm fine, it's just that my Pinkie Sense told me not to throw one, which is extremely weird because I never actually had that feeling before, but I kind of just knew what it meant." She explained with her enthusiastic smile.
"Girls!" Spike yelled as he came in, swinging the door open in the process.
"Spike? What is it?" Twilight asked, naturally taking charge.
"I got a letter from the Princess!" He spoke as he held up a scroll with a symbol on it.
"Oh, thank you Spike." She says as she opened the letter.
"What's it say?" Rainbow Dash asked with a tilt of her head as the rest of them stared with curious glances.
"Dear Princess Twilight,
I send you this letter in hopes of you and your friends joining me and a few others to attend a casual event in Canterlot. I don't fully know why I'm still writing the letter like I'm writing to a normal acquaintance. Basically, I'm inviting you and your friends to a festival that will take place this evening. You won't need formal wear for this, but do bring a few bits for snacks if you're participating. There's quite a few good stalls that'll open up. I will shortly send details about the festival. Please answer soon.
Sincerely,
Celestia"
As Twilight finished reading the letter, she looked around her friends and got the same idea.
"Alright girls, we'll meet up at three o'clock, how about that?"
They cheer in agreement as Spike brings out a scroll to write their response.
"You're coming too Spike!" Twilight yelled, already on her way to wash up.
"Got it!"
"So." Rainbow Dash started as they all got off in front of the train station. "What exactly is this festival about?"
"Hmm. The letter only said that it was a casual thing that may or may not happen again, depending on how well it's received." Twilight explained while scratching her chin.
"I'll say, does it really matter. A festival means a party, and a party means a good time!" Pinkie Pie said as enthusiastic as ever.
"Ah won't have no problems if there ain't no underhoofed tricks." Applejack spoke up.
"It's a festival that the Princesses themselves would be attending. I'm sure there would be nopony foolish enough to attempt such." Rarity added with a bit of flair.
"I'm sure it'll all be fine, as long as nothing disastrous happens." Fluttershy commented with a small smile.
The others nod in agreement.
"Alright girls, and Spike," she quickly added. "The main event is supposed to start, 'exactly at Nightfall,?" She said with confusion written on her face.
"Well that's a bit inconvenient isn't it?" Rarity commented.
"Yeah, how's anypony s'posed to make it on time?" Applejack added on.
"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I can make it." Rainbow boasted as she stayed afloat.
Applejack rolled her eyes but still maintained a normal smile.
"Sure, just make sure you're not sleeping by the time it starts" Applejack said with a slight smirk.
"It was one time!" She shot back, before quickly realizing that her friends were snickering.
As she joined in on their laughter, Spike came out of the train.
"What'd I miss?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Spike, where's all our stuff?" Twilight asked back.
"Uh, you didn't bring stuff. I'm pretty sure I told you that in the train." He said with a slightly irritated expression.
"Girls? None of you brought suitcases, or even a scarf for that matter." Spike spoke up as the girls started to board the train.
They, however, were too focused on Pinkie Pie, who was currently making a cannon made entirely out of strawberry flavored chocolate that shot out blueberry muffins of carrying sizes. Somehow being functional despite not having any kind of gunpowder or any kind of explosives for that matter.
Spike followed them to ask them again, but the train doors closed right after he got in.
"Girls! None of you brought anything!" Spike told them with an annoyed face.
"Oh I'm sure it'll be fine, the train staff probably brought it in." Twilight replied with a distracted face as she focused back on Pinkie Pie, who was cutting into the cannon that had turned into a vanilla cake somehow.
"Ok then." Spike said with a shrug before taking his seat.
Twilight gave a few sheepish chuckles as she remembered.
"But, where could've all our stuff disappeared to?" Rainbow asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Ya think thay forgot ta actually take thair stuff ta tha train station?" Applebloom asked her friends as they stared at the stacks of luggage in the public library of Ponyville.
"I'm just curious as to why Rarity prepared fourteen different suitcases." Scootaloo added.
"Believe me, she takes about four times as much if it's something high class." Sweetie Belle commented with a slightly miffed expression, fully remembering the one time she went to a social party with her.
"Well, how's about we trah ta bring it to 'em?" Applebloom presented her idea.
"You sure that's a good idea?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Come on, they need our help, so why shouldn't we help them?" Scootaloo butted in with an excited voice.
"You just wanna go on an adventure don't you?" Sweetie asked with a suspicious expression.
"Yes." Scootaloo's answer was short.
"Then let's go!" Applebloom exclaimed as they somehow picked up everything at the same time and left.
"Anyways." Twilight spoke up, grabbing the attention. "Since we still brought our bits." Pinkie took out a bag twice the size of her head from her mane before putting it back. "And since we're going to meet the princesses, we can just ask them for help." She finished with a proud smirk.
"Cool, I'll be in there if you need me." Spike pointed towards a comic book store before running off with a small bag of bits.
"Try not to lose track of time!" Twilight warned him, getting a thumbs up.
"Well, since we got that settled, how 'bout we enjoy tha festival. Whatever it's s'posed ta be for." Applejack commented.
"Aw yeah! Let's get this festival going!" Rainbow shouted with excitement, getting a few stares from the random ponies passing by.
"Hold on, where is the festival taking place again?" Rarity asked.
"It's in, uhh." Twilight couldn't answer as she thought about the letter again and again. "Canterlot?" She said with a nervous smile.
Silence descended as the four stared with incredulous expression.
"Wait, where's Pinkie?" Twilight asked as she looked around, only spotting the bag of bits, now slightly smaller than it was, in the place of Pinkie Pie.
"Ok so, I want a bit of the strawberry banana ice cream, but make it so that the banana stands out from the banana and add the chocolate after mixing halfway, because it won't have the right texture otherwise." Pinkie continues her order as an employee with an extremely irritated expression and black circles under his eyes continue to listen.
"-And then make the blueberry part of the-" Her voice slowly gets drowned out as the worker only continues to stare, now hearing a screeching, loud static noise in his ears, worthy enough to debate whether it's better to hear than the massive order he acted like he was taking.
"Alright girls, we'll split up and search for Pinkie, look for clues to the festival while you're at it. We'll meet back here in about three hours." Twilight ordered her friends as she grabbed her bag of bits.
They all nodded in response before taking off in their own directions.
"Where'd everypony go?" Pinkie asked no one in particular as she somehow held up different kinds of snack and drinks, all of which there were seven of.
She was about to go to a random direction before she remembered a lesson from her foalhood.
"Don't wander off." She muttered to herself as she rubber her chin with the tip of her mane. "Ok then! I'll hang out with Spike until they come back." She talked to herself once again, this time with a cheery smile before hopping to the comic book store.
"Ok, if I was Pinkie, where would I be?" Rainbow asked herself as she flew through the air, watching over the streets as she tried to find her friend. "Somewhere fun?" She said with a small tilt of her head.
"Yo, Dash!" A rough voice, slightly similar to hers called out from behind her.
Looking back, she slowed down a bit as she noticed the familiar pony.
"Spitfire! Funny flying into you." Rainbow said with a smirk as she stopped to give a hoofbump to the pony.
"Could say the same to you Dash. What're you doing here in Canterlot? Hope you're not straining yourself, else I'll put you on cleaning duty again." Spitfire finished with a smirk, to which Rainbow shuddered in fear.
"Never again." She whispered to herself.
Spitfire chuckled a bit at her. Signaling with her head, she takes the lead as they start to glide slowly in the air. "So, why're you here? You usually don't come here without something happening"
"How would you know that?" Rainbow asked with fake suspiciousness in her voice.
"You told me." She said with a blank face.
"Oh, right"
An awkward silence envelops the two as they fly through the open skies. The golden glow of the sun gave off a calming sight, distracting the two from the silence. As the winds picked up a little speed, a satisfying feeling went through them as Rainbow thought about how she came to love flying. The refreshing breeze, the adrenaline when she feels when she flies so high up. The only thing missing were some tricks, though she knew she shouldn't, especially with Spitfire right next to her.
"So, you haven't answered my question." Spitfire broke the silence.
"Oh that, nah, there ain't a big reason really, I'm just here with my friends for a festival. Had nothing to do back in Ponyville, and this sounded good"
"The festival?" She asked with a curious expression.
"Yeah? Princess Celestia told us it was in the evening."
"You guys are pretty early then. The main event is supposed start at Nightfall, it's like four hours from now"
"Can you blame me? I was so bored, I was ready to do practically anything"
"Anything eh?"
"Hey! Practically anything. I am not going to Day Court again."
Spitfire laughed in response, fully knowing how annoying it could be.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, but those nobles made me want to just kick their flanks to the moon and back!" Rainbow shouted in irritation as she remembered experience all over again.
Spitfire let out a satisfied sigh as she wiped away a small tear. "Hey, you still got time before the festival right? How about you hang with the squad before you go back?"
"Wait, the others are here?"
"Should be, it was a last minute decision, and we did send you a letter telling you about it."
"Oh." Rainbow slumped with a slight frown as she remembered who the postal delivery mare is. "My letter definitely got lost."
"I'm invited to a hangout?" Chrysalis asks nopony in particular as a letter was held in front of her face in emerald green magic.
She was currently laying on her stomach on top of an extremely soft pony inside a very bright and pink room.
"Phpfft." Asked her fluffy marefriend, who was acting as a mattress with her extremely soft fur.
"Nah, I don't even know who Spitfire is." She said before the letter got burned to ashes by a green fire.
"Well it doesn't matter. What matters is how much cider you can drink." Spitfire told her.
"Oh I can drink alright!" Rainbow boasted pridefully.
"Let's see it then Dash!" Spitfire announced as she picked up speed.
"Yeah-he-heah!" She laughed mirthfully and followed suit.
A stack of oddly beautiful bottles, all glued to the table, broke down as a rubber ball hits them with incredible power.
"What in Equestria?" The owner asks himself with disbelief, fully knowing that the game was rigged.
"Ah'll take that one." Applejack pointed at a ridiculously large teddy bear stuffed toy with a smirk.
"Uh, Ma'am, Madam, Miss, please, you're killing my business here." He kept talking as he approached Applejack.
Unfortunately for him, she remained firm in her stance.
"Fine." He relented and grabbed the stuffed animal with magic.
"Here you go hun, trah not ta run with it." She gave the toy to a small filly, who was half the size of the teddy bear, as she ran off towards her mother.
Applejack chuckled a bit as she looked back at the owner. "You shouldn't trah these things, It'll only get you a bad rep." She left with that small advice.
"How else am I supposed to get business." The owner muttered to himself.
Just then, a mare with a flower wreath around her head passed by.
"Hey!" The owner called out.
"Huh." The mare stopped at his voice as he climber over the counter to greet her.
"Hello, did you make that yourself?"
"Uh, hi, yes, I did make the wreath myself."
"Great! Then I have a business proposal for you!"
"Nope, haven't seen anypony like that"
"Thanks fer your time then." Applejack replied and left. "Ah guess she didn't come here." She muttered to herself as she cruised through the carnival games.
After helping a few ponies get out of scams, Applejack found herself to be lost on what to do. Pinkie Pie obviously didn't go this way, and she now had nothing to do.
"I could get back to the meeting point, maybe grab a snack on tha way." She made her plans as she prepared to move.
"Miss!" A random voice called out.
Applejack turned around, meeting the face of a rather fancy dressed mare.
"Hi? Could Ah help ya with somethin'?"
"Ah, yes, I'm Rosie Styles, and I wanted to ask you something." She introduced herself with a cheery smile.
"Alright, Ah'm Applejack, pleasure meetin ya." She responded kindly.
"Yes, Miss Applejack, I couldn't help but notice your outstanding physique"
Applejack froze a bit as she worked out her next words.
"Excuse me?" She said with utter disbelief.
"You are very beautiful and your body is extraordinarily athletic." She continued with a clueless smile.
"Uh, sorry, but I'm not looking to date anypony right now." Applejack gently refused with a nervous smile.
"Eh." Rosie took a few moments to think about her previous words. "OH MY CELESTIA! I am so sorry, that was not my intention. I wanted to ask if you wanted to model for a magazine." She finished with an embarrassed smile.
"Oh." Applejack was genuinely surprised as she gave a few chuckles.
Clearing her throat, Rosie spoke up. "So, do you have free time? It'll only take about an hour or two." She asked with a hopeful smile.
Applejack was about to answer 'no', but she thought about it.
She can't find Pinkie Pie. She doesn't really have anything to do right now. And she said it'll only take an hour or two.
"Alright, Ah'm free. so why not?"
"GREAT! Please follow me!" She excitedly told her as she led the way.
"Hmm, I could use some music instruments in the house." Rarity talks to herself as she observed rows upon rows of stalls that all sold something related to music. "Then again, the ones I did have all got broken by Sweetie Belle and her friends"
"Achoo." Sweetie Belle sneezes as her friends look at her.
"Bless you." Scootaloo said.
"Thanks"
"Alright you two, we got one more hour before we reach Las Pegasus." Applebloom announced as she climbed down from the window.
"Wait, why did we pick Las Pegasus again?" Sweetie asked.
"It's cuz we agreed that those guys went towards some kind of celebration, so we picked the first city that came up in a book." Scootaloo explained.
"Wait a sec, ain't Las Pegasus a, well, ya know, a pegasus city?" Applebloom asked as she realized something.
"Yeah?" The other two asked back.
"How are we gonna get up there?"
The answer came back as silence.
As seconds ticked past, the three facehooved, fully realizing their stupidity.
"What do you mean he's not going to make it?" An angry and anxious voice yelled out, catching Rarity's attention.
Curiously glancing over, she saw a unicorn stallion yelling at a pegasus mare.
"It means he ain't making it. Simple as that." The mare replied.
"Why?"
"He got hit by a carriage. I told you this already!"
The stallion groaned as he held his head in his hooves.
"Uh, sir? Are you still going to buy the pick?" An employee at the store asked him.
"Yes, here you go." He responded and took the pick with him.
Just as they were leaving, Rarity stopped them.
"Hello there." She greeted them.
"Hello?" The stallion greeted back.
"I couldn't help but notice your, predicament, so I wanted to ask if there's anything I could do to help"
"Um, unless ya can play the guitar, there ain't nothing you could help with." The mare spoke up.
"That's convenient, because I do happen to know how to play a guitar." Rarity spoke with a slightly prideful voice.
The two looked at each other, seemingly having an entire conversation between themselves in the span of a single second before the stallion spoke up.
"It'll be quite intense, can you handle that?"
"I'll be fine."
The two held another silent conversation before finally nodding.
"Thanks for helping with the birdhouses Fluttershy." An aged unicorn mare spoke to Fluttershy.
"It isn't a problem at all Ms. Skies." Fluttershy replied happily.
Ms. Skies chuckled warmly at her response. "Oh don't be so modest, not many ponies are kind enough to tend to the park these days."
"Oh dear, have you asked Princess Celestia about this? A public space like the park would get taken pretty seriously by her."
"I have, and she did send help. She paid those who were willing, even going as far as to pay for whatever they needed."
"Oh, uh. I'm sorry, but, the park doesn't really look all that cleaned up." She told Ms. Skies as she stared at random piles of trash on the grounds, public property with graffiti all over them.
"Oh I know, it's just that those who volunteered were those hooligans." She spat out, sounding incredibly mad as she pointed her hoof at a group of ponies.
Of the group, some were sleeping while others were lazing around, leaving wrappers of all kinds as they grabbed snacks and drinks from a collection of plastic bags.
Fluttershy gasped loudly as one finished a can of soda and just threw it behind him.
"That's it, I will be taking care of these ponies. They dare destroy such a beautiful park such as this, what if they hurt the animals that are living here."
"Ah, are you sure Fluttershy? I was just going to report to the guards."
"Yes. I've learned that in times like these, we must act, or the situation will only get worse."
Ms. Skies smiled softly at her, seemingly proud of her.
"Alright then, just be careful." She said with a motherly smile.
"Girls, is it just me or does it feel like we completely messed up?" Scootaloo asked her friends.
"Yeah, I don't think they came here." Sweetie Belle agreed.
"Um, girls?" Applebloom nervously asked.
"Yeah?" The other two responded.
"Where are the bags?"
The other two looked around, noticing the very clear absence of suitcases.
"Uh oh"
"Um, girls? What're you doing here?" A very confused male voice calls to them.
"Huh?" They turn around to notice a group of ponies.
"What are you girls doing all the way over here?" Shining Armor asked, stepping forward with a disapproving stare.
"Don't give them too much trouble honey." Cadence told him as she nuzzled him slightly.
Shining tried to resist, but easily fell to her attack.
"Alright, alright." He relented as he turned to the platoon of guards following him.
"Well girls, we'll take you back to Ponyville on the way." Cadence told the girls.
"Actually, we need ta head ta wherever our sisters are at." Applebloom told her.
"Yeah, they kinds forgot to bring their luggage with them." Scootaloo added in.
Cadence looked around for a few seconds.
"Um, where is the luggage?" She asked with an amused smile.
"We lost it." They all said at the same time, getting a few chuckles out of Cadence.
"Well, if it's today, they're most likely at Canterlot."
"Why would they be there? Did another villain show up?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"There's a new festival that's going to be celebrated today, one that apparently hasn't been celebrated for an entire millennia." She explained with grandiose.
The three just glanced at each other. "Uh"
"A thousand years."
"Oooooh"
Cadence simply chuckled at their behavior.
She wondered if her own filly would grow up to be cute like them.
*Sigh*
Twilight let out a tired sigh as she sat down on a nearby bench, tired from her search.
"Can't believe that not a single pony saw her exiting the snack alley." She complained to the air. "Actually, that's completely believable"
Holding her face with her hooves, Twilight let out another tired sigh as she thought about a few things.
"Wait, don't ponies in Canterlot usually flock me by now?" She asked herself.
Suddenly, as if the universe was messing with her, ponies of all kinds of different businesses and social standings tried to talk to her. Constant speaking and questions came at Twilight. Yet she held on, as she has been subjugated to this popularity for a while now. Giving an unmoving and gentle poker face with a kind smile, Twilight talked while taking every word, every action in mind, making sure that not even a single scandal can pop up from nowhere as she thought about a plan to escape.
"Princess Celestia?!" Twilight randomly shouted, taking all the attention away from her.
As every reporter and every nobles trying to curry favor looked away, Twilight was gone with a flash of light.
Letting out a relieved breath, Twilight stood up as she looked down from the roof of a building.
"Well this just got a lot more annoying." She complained once again. "Why did I have to jinx it?" She asked herself as she started to fly.
Calmly flying through the air, she took a deep breath. Satisfaction filled her body as she felt her body relax.
"I guess I'll put off searching Pinkie for a bit. I mean, she's Pinkie but, she's still a grown mare right?" As she asked herself that question, her body felt exhilarated as she flew.
She looked down, noticing a detail she hadn't thought of.
"Have I ever flown this high before?"
As she kept going, her body felt more and more relaxed, yet so focused at the same time. Adrenaline mixed with total calmness, something that she doesn't feel a lot of the time. With curiosity and excitement slowly filling her, she remembers a few of the tricks she's seen her friend doing before.
"Alright, I've been flying for a while, and I've got magic to save me, so I should be fine." She told herself as a daring smile climbed onto her face.
Suddenly closing her wings, she rotated her body as she picked up speed, quickly falling to the ground. Right as she was about to hit a rooftop, she unfurled her wings as she gave a powerful flap, sending her back to the sky. Laughing mirthfully, she pushed her head backwards while raising her back hooves, initiating a flip in the air. Completing a series of backflips, she started to flap her wings once more, gaining more height to try others she could remember. As she picked up more speed, she took deep breaths, her mind calm, her surroundings passed by as if in slow motion. With the increase in speed and her extremely slowed perception of the world, she made tight turns, evading random clouds as she felt every small detail of the air around her. The sweat rolling down her forehead, the muscles in her wings flexing and relaxing, the smallest of winds brushing against her skin. With every flap, with every boost of speed, she felt more and more excited.
"This must be what Rainbow likes so much about flying." She thought to herself as she flew straight up. "I wonder." She told herself as she looked straight down. "This should be high enough"
With a deep breath, one bigger than the others she's taken, she closed her eyes and concentrated. Slowly opening her eyes, she lets out a sharp breath as she gave a flap of her wings, one stronger than any other she's done before. Except for the time when Tirek escaped Tartarus of course. Flying straight down, she concentrated every part of her body, picking up more and more speed.
The winds whistled against her face.
Physics worked to slow her body with air resistance.
The ground quickly approached, trying to scare her into quitting.
And then, she saw it.
Now fully gliding as she pushed the pegasus part of her magic to the utmost limit as she picked up more speed, the physical representation of the speed of sound. Breaking through it would mean success.
With utmost concentration, she pushed harder and harder as the sound barrier kept getting thinner and thinner.
Then, right as the ground was about to come into contact, she flew upwards.
But, with a different result.
There was no boom.
As the sound barrier flung her back upwards, she lost control of her wings as she looked around in panic.
With a chaotic but calm mind, she calculated every aspect of her current situation as her height kept increasing. Looking around, she realized that she flew under Canterlot. Calculating the speed at which she was going up and the amount of distance that she was away from Canterlot, she calmly waited for her speed to slow down.
As her speed kept slowing down, she saw that Canterlot grounds kept getting closer.
And right as she reached max height, she simply landed softly without the use of her wings, completely surprising a couple that were sharing a smoothie.
To them, Twilight had appeared out of nowhere.
With wobbly legs, she sat down on the ground, leaning against a railing as she looked upwards. "That was fun." She said with a satisfied smirk as she flew up once more.
Then she flew back down to a nearby café shop for half a dozen donuts and a cup of coffee before taking off again.
Loud crying filled the comic book store as the employees went along, giving out similar cries of sadness as a small group had been formed.
"I can't believe Owner of Thunder Zapp had to sacrifice herself like that!" Pinkie cried out as tears came out of her eyes like a water fountain.
"Curse you Crimson God!" An earth pony similarly cried.
"Wait! True Radiance still has one more eye left on her! Turn to the next page!" Spike yelled out, instantly pulling their attention towards the comic they were reading.
"What do you know, I still have the last eye of the first god." Pinkie Pie read it as dramatically as possible, fully creating a beautiful scene. "'But are you sure it'll work' The Last Matter-Horn asked True Radiance, 'She's already ascended without the eye, but what would happen if she consumes an item like that?', 'We'll have to try, the choice is either she will die or she might die' The Pinnacle of Speed told them with a cold attitude, 'Then it's the only choice' Holder of Truth Mare-velous added."
"YES!" The others cheered out in joy.
"As True Radiance holds the eye in the walls of the multiverse shaped like a cage, she slowly sends in divine power, carefully activating the properties of the eye." Pinkie shows them the comic page, like she's reading it to a group of foals. "Right as she was about to finish the procedure, a blast of pure crimson colored energy collided with her, completely destroying her concentration as she's kncoked out."
"NOO! THIS CAN'T BE!" A pegasus yelled in frustration.
"The Crimson God, now battered with a broken body, slowly emerges from the depths of the dark start, dragging Golden Drum, who has now lost his glow, with him. 'I'VE LOST, BUT I WILL HAVE THE LAST LAUGH' He yelled as he truly, gave the laugh of a villain, terrifying our heroes before falling. 'Oh no! The power of the eye is getting unpredictable! Somepony needs to contain it!' Screamed Matter-Horn as she realized the power coming off of the activated eye. 'Give it here!' Yelled a new voice as the ground shattered and a gray hoof rose from the dirt. There she was, Limitless Rager, as she climbed out of ghe ground, muscles bulging as she grabbed the eye with a heavy frown. 'This is our last chance, We'll have to make it count' and that's the end." Pinkie Pie fully finished her reading.
A round of rageful uproars rang throughout the store as the small group of four had somehow turned into a large squadron of thirty ponies.
"Sorry folks, next issue comes out next month." Pinkie told them with the attitude of an employee.
"Wait, I'm supposed to tell you guys that." A pony with a uniform suddenly spoke up.
Pinkie only shrugged in response.
"Well Pinkie, What'd you think of Power Ponies?" Spike asked as he and Pinkie got up to leave.
"It was pretty good, especially Multiversal Diplomacies. I never knew comic books for foals could have such amazing story writing." She happily replied with small jumps in her step.
"Well, it's all about the author really. The one we just read was written by a fan, which makes it technically disconnected from the original story, but Line Writer, the original author, took notice of the work and liked it so much that they collaborated with the fan and fully adapted a novel into a comic book." Spike explained with enthusiasm as he shared his hobby with someone.
Right as Pinkie was about to reply, something extremely weird happened.
"What the?" Spike said absentmindedly as he stared at the sky.
"Um, did I have too much cider? Rainbow asked the other Wonderbolts as they stared at the sky, equally confused as to what was happening.
"Oh, I think it's starting." Spitfire spoke up.
"What the hay? Did that really take that long?" Applejack asked her new friend as she stared at the sky.
"It didn't take that long." Rosie Styles commented.
"Oh, is it time?" Rarity spoke up, asking her temporary coworkers.
"Yeap, where's the axe guitar?!" Her base yelled out.
"Hmm, I guess it's time for the festival to start." Ms. Skies casually commented.
"Oh dear, had I really stayed here for that long?" Fluttershy asked as she looked to the sky.
"Boss! We're finished with the graffiti!" One of the ponies who were loitering came up with a fearful expression.
"Good, you get a gold star." Fluttershy stuck a golden star on his chest.
Twilight was laid upon a random cloud, happily munching on freshly baked goods as she sipped on one of the many juices that floated around her. After a tiring session of flying around and performing dangerous tricks, most of which almost caused her to crash, she was now relaxing with an admittedly unhealthy and heavy lunch.
Until the day suddenly changed to night.
"What the? What's happening?!" Twilight freaked out as she stared at the sun, now replaced by a moon.
Then, a sudden feeling of nausea came to her, signaling for a teleport.
Appearing with a flash of light, Twilight frantically looked around. Walls adorned in fancy materials. The front wall being made entirely out of glass. Several large sofas in the luxurious room with plentiful high end furniture. A bar with all kinds of innocent and adult drinks. A number of different snacks were in view as she looked around with curiosity.
Then she felt several weights falling on top of her.
"Ow." She let out as she climbed out of the pile.
"Oh, hey Twi!" Pinkie chirped up.
"Hi? Do you girls know what's happening? And where's Rarity and Fluttershy?" Twilight asked as she helped her friends up.
"Not really, I kinda just, appeared here." Rainbow told them with a slightly flushed face.
"Yeah, All ah remember is steppin' out of a place called Canterlot Candidates." Applejack said while rubbing her head.
"Me and Pinkie were just walking out of the comic store." Spike said as he wobbled to one of the couches.
"Hey girls." Fluttershy called out as she approached them.
"Fluttershy!" They greeted back and formed a group hug, except for one.
"Heya Flutters." Rainbow greeted back with an anxious expression.
Fluttershy was in front of her with speed rivaling Rainbow Dash herself as she stared straight at Rainbow's eyes.
"Have you been drinking too much cider again?" Fluttershy asked with dangerously narrow eyes.
The others looked on with slight surprise, seeing their most shy friend interrogating while exuding a terrifying aura.
"Oh, uh, of course not. What makes you think that?" Rainbow answered with a few very nervous chuckles mixed in.
Fluttershy's eyes somehow turn even sharper as she observed almost every detail of Rainbow Dash.
"You can cut her some slack Fluttershy." A regal voice told her.
All eyes turned to the white Alicorn that walked in.
"Princess Celestia!" They all called out, though none bowed.
Twilight ran up to her and gave a quick nuzzle.
"Please, none of you have to call me Princess in informal events, only Celestia. I believe that you all have contributed more than enough to at the very least be called an equal in terms of respect and status." She spoke with her regal tone, yet it didn't feel fake like any other she used.
"Did we make it in time?" Cadence asked everyone as she and a few others teleported in.
"Cadence!" Twilight greeted her with their small dance.
"Girls? What're you doing here?" Applejack asked the CMC as she and the other girls, except for Pinkie, all approached them.
Pinkie had simply went towards the snack table, somehow already started on making some kind of impossible contraption that she would consume later.
"Wow, what am I? Chopped hay?" Shining Armor asked Twilight with a smirk, who had almost completely ignore his presence.
"I don't feel too different." Celestia playfully complained with a small pout, getting a few chuckles out of them.
As they started to get comfortable, Twilight raised a question.
"Um, where's Pri-, uh, Luna and Rarity?"
"Oh that reminds me, please take these." Celestia replied as she brought out ear muffs for each. "It's a, just in case"
Everyone grabbed it without much thought.
"As for your question, Luna is going to be 'hosting' for the event. Rarity should have been teleported along with the rest of the ponies." Celestia finished with a thoughtful expression.
"The rest?" Twilight asked.
"Whoa! That's a lot of ponies." Rainbow Dash exclaimed, grabbing Twilight's attention.
Approaching the window, Twilight peered down along with the rest of the ponies. Under them were hundreds of ponies, almost reaching the thousands, all seated to face towards a stage. Dozens of employees were handing out free snacks and drinks.
"Well my little ponies, it's time for the main event." Celestia said with an excited tone as she dragged a couch to the window, along with a bunch of drinks and snacks.
The stage lit up, revealing a band of six ponies, all equipped with their own musical instruments, one of which were their very own fashionista friend. A single full silver double-edged axe the size of the average full grown pony, struck into the ground in the middle of the stage.
The ponies were dressed in an extremely unorthodox way. Spikes protruding from seemingly everything. Black being the dominating color of their extremely revealing or edgy clothes with deep blue or pure white being secondary colors.
Twilight took a seat right next to Celestia, feeling like she was sitting next to a living heatpad with how warm she was. Celestia looks, noticing her enjoyment, draped her wing over Twilight.
Then, a magical wave went across the arena, fully silencing the entire stadium, yet only for a small while.
Twilight looked to Celestia with slight worry, only for her to point to her ears.
Twilight quickly put on the ear muffs as she looked at the stage.
The beautiful night, always filled with stars surrounding the moon. But tonight, that was not the case. The stars disappeared one by one, leaving only the moon, which was slowly getting larger with each star that went silent.
Twilight tried to give her concerns. "..." Yet her voice wouldn't come out.
With the smallest of nudges from Celestia, Twilight looked towards the stage once again.
A misty smoke, filled with the cosmos moved down from the moon. As it fully landed down, it quickly expanded.
Then it popped.
Revealed now, was their very own Princess Luna, dressed in a terrifying battle armor that looked more scary than effective.
And standing right next to her, a very familiar alicorn the same height as Luna herself, dressed in the same battle attire, colored a full black rather than the deep shade of blue.
The two looked at each other with impassive faces, slowly reaching for the axe in the middle of them. Pulling at the handle at the same time, Nightmare Moon took the axe while Luna took one made of pure magic.
With a valiant shout, the two swung their axes at each other.
With the sound of metal bending, the axe broke as Nightmare Moon was lifted off the ground from the force of the swing. Turning into mist, Nightmare Moon tried to fly away, only for Luna to absorb the mist.
Now floating in the air, the broken parts of the silver axe came to her, forming into the axe again. This time, held together by pure lightning. The axe formed in her hooves, the handle looking up with the axe head looking down as she held it like a guitar.
She slowly placed her hoof at the tip of the handle, before slowly sliding it downwards while pushing into the handle. Seven strings made of pure lightning was left on its path. The sound of a guitar strings being played was the only thing that could be heard as she slowly reached the end of the axe.
Taking a deep breath, she gave a wide smile with eyes that looked like a predator's. Two fangs that terrified any creature who saw them. The slit eyes, telling you that you are simply prey. Yet, even with all these aspects, every being who were there, all looked with anticipation.
Finally releasing the breath, one of her hooves held the electrical guitar from under.
Thunder clouds appeared above the stage as lightning crackled inside of them. As all the electricity followed Luna's movements, she slowly raised her free hoof to the air. The lightning freaked out as it all concentrated on a single spot, slowly descending as if leaking out. Luna's metal clad hoof slowly reached towards it. Electricity made contact with her hoof.
And with an award worthy cry, her hoof fell down.
"Well everypony, how much did you enjoy today?" Twilight happily asked as Spike put one last bandage on her hoof.
The seven were currently staying inside a large guest room in Canterlot. Only sleeping together because they requested of course.
"It was pretty fun, met the squad today and the concert was a banger, literally." Rainbow responded while fixing a bandage that had gotten loosen on her wing.
"Ah'll say, ah never knew modeling of all things could be so relaxing. Everypony got pretty excited at tha end thou-ouch." Applejack winced as Fluttershy rubbed a lavender colored cream on a burn.
"It was too loud for my liking, but the muffs helped and I really liked the lyrics. They were very kind and inspiring." Fluttershy pipped up, being one of the very few ponies who didn't get hurt.
"I do apologize for that dear." Rarity spoke while taking a quick picture of her makeup, since it'll be a long time before she dresses up like that.
"Oh it wasn't much of a problem." Fluttershy replied.
"Well, apart from all the sweat from playing too hard, I certainly enjoyed my time." She finished with a satisfied smile.
"All done." Spike told Pinkie Pie, who was entirely wrapped in bandages, apart from her face.
"That concert was amazing, it was super duper intense, but it was also somehow lifting. All in all, it was amazing in all parts." Pinkie exclaimed from the inside of her mummy like binding.
"I liked it, just lucky that I managed to get on top of Celestia though." Spike shared his thoughts.
"So? Is it decided that we'll attend the next one?" Twilight asked the others as she tucked herself in.
A round of agreements came in.
"Alright, though next year, I'll make sure Celestia hires professionals rather than volunteers for the construction of the VIP booth." She said with a smile. "I still can't believe Luna took it down with only her yells."
Author's Note
Alright, a one-shot story.
I'll have to admit, this story pretty much wrote itself, like the idea at first was literally Nightmare Moon waking up with a hangover with other ponies in an apartment after a heavy metal concert. The idea was that she throws a concert so hard she gets a noise complaint from 3 different countries. 
The thought of what the Mane 6 were gonna do wasn't even on my mind until I actually started to write it.
Funny how stories can go that way.
This thing was planned to be like a thousand words long, then it just kept growing and growing until this 8000 word story got made. 
I feel like I just wrote a full on episode in the show.
Anyways, after maybe like a week of vacation or something, I'm going to continue working on 'Councelor in The Forest', so check that out if you want.
And thanks for reading this simple story.
