Moments in Time

Chapters

High Stakes Game
Paperwork
Auction
Field Test
Happily Hijacking Hegemony
Potions Produced by a Pink Pony to Prevent Petering Out
Surgery to Warfare
A Piece of Childhood
Talking With Nature
Searching for Treasure
Sailing in the Sky
Picking Up the Pieces
Extra Lessons
The Price of Victory
Observation Skills
Procrastination
Religious Holidays
A Good Idea
Pieces of the Puzzle
Career Change
Syphoning Life
A Welcome Surprise
An 'Evil' Parasite
Paranoia
Ending in Tears
Creating Worlds Through Prose
Sleep Aids
The Greatest Puzzle
The Most Important Decision of the Day

High Stakes Game

“There,” Twilight said. “Done, for now.” Floating in a violet aura in front of her was the lifeless body of a pink earth pony. The body had a poofy mane and tail and a trio of balloons on her flank. It was set down in the center of an arcane circle. She stepped outside of the circle to where a baby dragon stood.

“This isn’t a good idea,” he said. “We’re tampering with the very forces of nature itself. Many things can go wrong.”

“They can, Spike,” Twilight said. “But they won’t. So long as everything goes according to plan.”

“Do they ever?” Spike asked. Twilight was silent. “Of course not.”

“Spike,” Twilight looked straight into her baby brother’s eyes. “Just in case something goes wrong, I want you to know, I love you.” Spike wrapped his arms around Twilight’s neck.

“I love you too,” he said. Tears began to form in his eyes. Spike broke the hug and put a metallic glove on his hand.

“All of the letters are prepared?” the baby dragon nodded. “Good.” The metallic glove was placed on Twilight’s chest.

“See you soon, Spike,” she said.

“See you soon, Twilight,” the glove gave off a high pitched whine. Blue energy moved from its base and into Twilight’s chest. The purple unicorn’s eyes widened before the light faded from them. Her body fell to the ground when Spike removed the glove from her body. “Or if something goes wrong, good bye.”

When Twilight opened her eyes, she was standing in the library’s foyer. The body of the pink pony was still in the arcane circle and Spike was still standing outside it. The only new addition to the scene was the lifeless body of a purple unicorn. A cloaked figure silently approached Twilight from behind her. A chill ran up her spine as it got closer.

“Twilight Sparkle,” the figure said. “Your time has come.”

“Not yet,” she said turning around. Standing in front of her was a skeletal alicorn wearing a white cloak with a gold trim. A black ethereal tail flowed from the back of the cloak and the same energy moved under its hood. “I’d like to set a challenge. The spoils, my life.”

“You should know,” the alicorn said. “Very few mortals actually win these challenges.” A golden coin was pulled from one of Twilight’s ears.

“I like my odds,” the coin was held out in front of them. “Heads, I get to go back. Tails, and I follow your every order for eternity.”

“Interesting. Very well, Twilight Sparkle. Toss it,” the coin was flipped into the air. Both Twilight and the alicorn watched it make its ascent. It fell to the floor with a soft clunk and spun. The coin’s movements slowed down. After a few moments, the coin’s momentum stopped. Facing upwards was a picture of a stylized sun.

“Congratulations, Twilight Sparkle,” the alicorn said. “You’ve won the right to life. Now, let me reattach your mortal coil.” The alicorn’s horn emitted a gray aura. Both Twilight and her body were covered in a similar coloured glow.

“Not so fast,” Twilight said. “I have a second challenge for you, Death.” The glow disappeared.

“A second challenge?” Death asked. “You’ve already won your life back. What possible gain is there in challenging me a second time?”

“Her life,” a purple hoof pointed to the pink body. “I want her soul.”

“You do realize, that she’s been gone for quite some time now,” Death walked to the body. “This isn’t even her original body.”

“I know, I made that one,” Twilight approached the lifeless pink body. “But I want to see her again. I want her to bring happiness to everypony again, even if it’s just for one day.”

“I can’t bring her back permanently, but I can allow one day,” Death sat down. “Because you have already chosen a challenge, it’s my turn to choose our playing field.” Death’s horn lit up again. Gray energy swirled between both of them. The energy took the shape of a small square with a checkered pattern on it. At the ends of the board, two sets of wooden figures were brought into existence. One set was dark and the other was light.

“If you win,” Death began. “You get to bring Pinkamena Diane Pie to the mortal world for a single day.” Twilight moved a hoof to one of the figures.

“However,” Twilight’s hoof stopped. “If you should lose, you will be stuck in this existence when your mortal coil is cut. You will be on the mortal plane, but you will not be able to interact with them. You can see and hear everything they do, but you yourself cannot affect them. Not directly. Agreed?” One of Twilight’ figures was moved forward by two spaces. A figure on Death’s side was covered in magical energy and set in front of another piece. The two of them sat in silence as they played their game.

Paperwork

A red quill covered in a golden aura was moving along a piece of parchment in Celestia’s personal office. The princess of the sun had been working on government documents for what seemed like an eternity for her. To her left was her faithful pet, although she was in the process of moulting and the vast majority of her feathers were gone. Sitting to her right was a pile of papers that stood as tall as her. It had taken hours to go through them all and to decide whether or not the contents of each proposal were worth while. The quill stopped moving and the piece of parchment was sent to the top of the pile. Celestia cracked her neck and sighed.

“Finally,” she said. “I’m done. Now I have a chance to…” She looked around her and saw that there were six other piles standing as tall as the previous one. A groan left her mouth.

“Damnit,” she said. The top papers of one of the piles was covered in a golden glow and brought in front of her. “I don’t suppose that you’d be willing to help me, Philomena?” In response, Philomena coughed and lost more of her feathers.

“I thought not.” The title page of the proposal was flipped over and she began reading. Why do I keep letting Luna distract me?

The moon was near its zenith when Celestia was in her chambers. In front of her was a fifty page proposal asking for alterations to the current agricultural laws. She yawned as she skimmed through it. Even after a millennium of doing this, it’s still boring. It wouldn’t be so boring if the language in these things weren’t so dry. I think this is wording even drier then how it was a thousand years ago. A knock on her door interrupted her from reading.

“Sister?” a voice said from the other side of her door. With a thought, Celestia opened the chamber’s door. Standing on the other side was a midnight blue alicorn with a smile on her face. “Are we interrupting anything?”

“I’m just going through this proposal,” she replied, “Nothing too important at the moment. Is something wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” Luna said. “We were actually about to go to a local tavern with the Lunar Guard. And we were wondering if you would like to join us.”

“I’d love to, really. But I have to have this proposal read for tomorrow and…”

“Did we mention that Scarlett Rose is performing at the tavern we’re planning to visit?” A white blur ran past Luna as the question was asked. She chuckled and closed the door.

“Your Highness?” a mare wearing a navy blue blazer asked. She was standing in front of one of the many offices that resided in Canterlot Castle. The door was open slightly ajar and light was streaming from it. The mare tilted her head in confusion when she saw what was on the other side. Celestia was lying face down on the office’s desk with a small pile of papers sitting beside her. A sign with crude penmanship on it sat in front of her. The mare tiptoed inside and looked at the sign.

Hung over. Any and all requests can wait until I am better. If you have any proposals that you would like me to go over, they must be placed to my right.

—Princess Celestia

The mare shrugged and reached into her blazer. She pulled a small folder full of documents and added them to the pile.

Again, Celestia sat in her chambers going over some documents. Her sister opened the door and walked in.

“Luna,” she said. “I’m really behind on work, so unless this is an absolute emergency, I have to work.”

“This is not an emergency, but a manner of manners,” Luna said. “A new friend of ours came into Night Court today and we’d like you to meet her.”

“Luna, this work is important, I can’t drop it just to meet a friend,” Celestia said.

“Please? Just introduce yourself to her and have a quick chat. We promise that it will only take ten minutes at most.” Celestia sighed and placed the documents down.

“Alright Luna,” Celestia got up and walked to the doorway. “I can afford ten minutes. Before I meet this friend, can I ask for her name?” A mischievous smile grew on Luna’s face.

“Her name is Sour Diesel. And we know that you’ll like her. She’s in our chambers as we speak.” Celestia took the lead and walked down the hallway. Luna closed the door and quickly followed behind.

The last of Philomena’s feathers fell and she burst into flames. A few sparks flew to the document in front of Celestia causing it to set on fire. She quickly put the fire out before it was permanently damaged.

“That was close,” she said. “I have to be more careful, or these would have been lost forev…” Celestia’s eyes widened. The pile of ashes that was once Philomena formed a phoenix and again set itself on fire. With a wave of her wings, Philomena returned to her former self. She watched with curiosity in her eyes as Celestia moved about the room.

“Do you know where the lantern oil is kept?” she asked. Philomena pointed to a cabinet. The cabinet was opened and a large bottle full of a translucent yellow liquid was pulled out. Celestia opened the bottle and splashed liberal amounts of the liquid on the piles of paper. The piles of paper were then arranged in a line in front of Philomena’s cage. The cage’s door was covered in a glow and opened.

“Philomena,” Celestia said with a smile on her face. “Can you come here?” The phoenix responded by flying towards her owner. Each pile of paper caught on fire as her wings brushed past each one. She landed on Celestia’s head. Philomena shifted looking for a comfortable position as Celestia watched the piles of paper burn with a calm smile on her face. A maniacal laugh came from her while the papers turned to ash. A knock on the door stopped her laughter.

“Your Highness?” a female voice asked. “Are you done with those documents?” Celestia’s horn lit up and flames dwindled away. What was left was burnt pieces of parchment and piles of ashes. She breathed in the smell of burnt papers with a smile on her face.

“You say nothing,” she said as she approached the door. The door was opened and standing on the other side was a white unicorn mare wearing a pinstriped blazer. The only remaining stack of documents was brought over to her. “Here you are, these are the documents that I have finished working on. Unfortunately, because Philomena has been moulting, the others were lost when she returned to normal.”

“Oh don’t worry about that,” the mare’s horn glowed. In a flash, six piles of papers that each stood as tall as Celestia appeared before them. “We figured that this would happen, so copies were made.” Celestia’s jaw dropped. The pile that she handed the mare was covered in a blue glow.

“I’ll bring these to the Record Offices so that they can go over them,” the mare said. “I’ll come back later on today to collect the proposals that you’ve finished. Is that okay?” Celestia gave a weak nod. The mare smiled and walked away with a pile of papers in tow.

“Help?” Celestia asked looking at her pet. Philomena flapped her wings and flew in the opposite direction that the mare went. “Of course not.” The six piles were telekinetically brought into her office. Celestia sighed as she closed the door.

Auction

Just outside of Ponyville stood a relatively empty hangar bay. A stage was set up and a podium was standing atop it. In front of the stage were a large number of ponies, a select few zebras, a few griffins, and a dragon nearing adulthood. Quiet murmurs could be heard all around the hangar bay. A faceless blank flanked purple unicorn walked onto the stage. Following close behind her was a faceless baby dragon carrying a black box and wearing an emerald green coat. The unicorn stopped in front of the podium and cleared her throat.

“Good evening, ladies and gents,” she said. “Thank you all for coming. Now, you’re all hard working criminals. You probably have families to feed and bills to pay. It’s hard to do what you do without the authorities chasing you down. So what are you to do? You fight back. But the authorities usually have both magical technology and technological magic designed to stop you. Fortunately for you all, I can provide that as well.” The unicorn gestured to the baby dragon. He reached into the box and pulled out what looked like a gauntlet with wires embedded into it. It was covered in a purple glow and brought to the unicorn.

“This,” she said placing it on a foreleg. “Is something I call the Cold Compress. With it, all of your enemies will freeze in their place. The bidding for it starts at ten thousand bits.” The room was silent.

“Perhaps a demonstration is in order,” the unicorn flicked a switch on the gauntlet and humming came from it. Mist flowed from open spaces on it. “The Cold Compress has two settings on it. You can give the authorities the cold shoulder.” She put her weight on the floor. Ice quickly formed on where she was pressing the gauntlet.

“Or you could bring them winter's chill,” she pointed the gauntlet at a nearby wall. A high pitched hum came from the gauntlet as a bright blue light came from the end of it. After a few moments, a concentrated stream of mist flew from the end. When it touched the wall, a layer of ice that was the size of a pony formed. “So, who wants it?”

“Ten thousand bits!” a pegasus mare screamed.

“Twelve thousand!” a male griffin yelled.

“Seventeen thousand!” the dragon shouted.

“You’re all under arrest!” four voices exclaimed. Everyone in the room turned to four of the ponies. They all had weapons out and were pointing them at the crowd. “Don’t move. We have the building surrounded. Come quietly and no one gets hurt.”

“Well then,” the unicorn said. A small prism with a purple X at the top of it was held out in front of her. “We seem to have reached an impasse. I don’t want to go to prison, and you want to send me there. What seems to be the only logical way for us both to be happy?”

“There isn’t one,” a unicorn stallion said.

Unknown to the police officers and the others, the purple unicorn smiled. “Exactly,” a button at the top of the prism was pressed and thick white smoke filled the room. “Book it!” The unicorn threw the baby dragon on her back and ran to where she assumed was the exit. The sound of panic was echoed in her ears as every other creature struggled. Her horn lit up and in a flash, the two disappeared. The two of them reappeared in a dark foyer. The unicorn sighed as she lit up the room.

“So much for making a profit,” she said removing her mask. “We didn’t get to sell a single thing.”

“Don’t be so sure about not making a profit,” the dragon said after removing his mask. He reached into his coat and pulled out a small sack. “Guess what this is.”

“No way, you didn’t,” the dragon grinned. “Good job, Spike! How much do you think you got?” Spike tossed the sack a few times.

“If I had to guess, I’d say around two hundred thousand,” he said. “Not only that, but we still have the merchandise in case you want to try this again.”

“Very good,” the unicorn walked to a nearby bookshelf. She pulled out a deep red book. “Let’s see, we can’t do this in the Ponyville location anymore, the authorities know about it. Oh, we should probably destroy any evidence that we were there.”

“Already taken care of, Twilight,” Spike pulled a black cylinder with a bright red button on it from his coat. He pressed down on the button and the two of them heard an explosion in the distance. Twilight smiled at Spike.

“Atta boy.”

Field Test

“Twilight, is this safe?” Applejack asked. She, Twilight, and Pinkie were standing at the edge of a cliff. On both of the earth ponies’ legs were white metallic boots. Applejack and Pinkie were looking down the edge. Down below, they could see a brightly painted target with an X at the center of it. Sweat was falling from Applejack’s forehead while Pinkie happily hopped in place.

“No, it’s not,” Twilight said with a clipboard in front of her. “But that’s the entire point of this test. Besides, who am I going to get to test the boots?”

“You could always get Spike to do it,” Applejack said. “As a matter of fact, that sounds like a good idea. Get Spike to jump from this ten thousand meter cliff.”

“She can’t do that, Applejack,” Pinkie said still hopping. “She’d get in trouble by child services for reckless endangerment.”

“Yes, and I don’t want to get in trouble with them again,” Twilight scribbled on the clipboard. “And it’s not ten thousand meters, it’s thirteen thousand four-hundred and two. Are you two ready?”

“Yep!”

“No.”

Twilight sighed. “Applejack, please. I need you to help with this experiment. This invention could prevent hundreds of accidents from happening on construction sights, mountaineering expeditions, and airship accidents. If you don’t do it for me, at least do it for those countless lives that you might save.”

“Besides,” Pinkie said. “We’re not doing anything all that dangerous. All we’re doing is jumping from a thirteen thousand four-hundred and two meter cliff hoping that we survive the drop thanks to these shiny new boots! What can go…” a purple hoof stuck itself in Pinkie’s mouth,

“No,” she said. “Do not finish that sentence. Every time one of us does, bad things happen. When Spike said it while we were testing the repulsion gel, he got a minor concussion. When Rarity said it while we were constructing the Dream Diver, she got lost in the dream world for three days. When I had a prototype for the orbital cannon, it blew up before I could send it into the atmosphere. So do not say it, understand?” Pinkie squeaked.

“Why would you even build these kinds of things?” Applejack asked.

“Because.” The three of them stood in silence.

“Aren’t you going to finish that sentence?”

“No, no, that’s it. Because.”

“You sound like a genius about to go rogue.”

“So I do, go figure,” Twilight pushed her friends to the edge. “Come on, jump.”

“Don’t be scared, Applejack,” Pinkie began hopping again. “It’s just a hop, skip, and a juuuuuuuuuuu…” Her voice was fading as she fell to the ground. Applejack watched as her friend became a receding pink dot. Twilight scribbled on the clipboard.

“Is she alright?” Applejack asked. As if on cue, Pinkie shot up from the cliff with a wide smile on her face.

“Yes, yes I am,” she said. Gravity took control and sent the pink pony flying to the ground once more.

“Pinkie,” Twilight began. “Did you put repulsion gel on the bottom of your boots?” Again Pinkie’s face met them.

“Yep!” she said before falling back down.

“Great,” Twilight sighed. “The experiment has been compromised. I don’t have any data from her jumping. Applejack, you have to jump now.”

“Do it Applejack,” Pinkie said. “It’s fun! You can feel the wind rushing in your mane as you fall to…” Her voice disappeared as gravity took its effects on her.

“Fine, I’ll jump,” Applejack said. “There are safety measures in case something goes wrong right?”

“There are.”

“And what would they be?”

“If you break a leg, we have a doctor on the ground ready to work his magic on you. If you die, then I’ll get to play god and bring you back from the dead by testing another machine I have here.”

“Fun,” Applejack took in a deep breath. “Here goes something.” She stepped off the ledge and fell to the ground. Wind was rushing past her ears as a smile formed on her face. As much as Applejack would hate to admit it, Pinkie was right. Falling down like that was exhilarating. So this is what Dash feels when she’s flying. I can see why she likes it. The ground was quickly approaching her as the boots took effect. Her body tilted upwards having her hooves face the ground. After a few moments, her hooves landed on the ground with a loud thud. A large amount of dust was kicked up as the earth pony stood there. A bright purple flash appeared beside her.

“I take it they worked?” Twilight asked. Applejack nodded. Something was scribbled on the clipboard. “Great! Though I’ll admit, I was a little disappointed.”

“Disappointed?” Pinkie asked as she reached the ground. “What would you have to be disappointed about? They work don…” Her voice faded away as she flew upwards.

“If something went wrong, I would have gotten to test the anti-death machine.” Applejack smacked her forehead.

“Glad to know that even in death, I could have helped you,” she said. “So, Twi, what’s next on the list?”

Happily Hijacking Hegemony

Surrender, you’ll be happier that way. And be prepared for a visit.

-The Smiling Mare

“Your Highness,” one of the Royal Guards said. “This mare is not to be taken lightly.” Celestia was sitting in one of the meeting rooms of Canterlot Castle. Around her were government workers, members of the aristocracy, and soldiers working in the Royal Guard. Over the past month and a half, many cities and settlements had renounced Equestian rule. They all had chosen another leader to follow, a leader who claimed to be able to bring happiness to every citizen. All of the reports involving these settlements mentioned a single pony known only as The Smiling Mare. She and her steadily growing army were visiting settlements around the country and bringing them under her control. On top of the loss of Equestian soil, three of the Elements of Harmony had been stolen. A piece of parchment was floating in front of Celestia as the meeting proceeded.

“Ha!” Blueblood said. “This is just one crazy mare. All we have to do is take her down, and everything will return to normal.”

“Don’t be so sure,” a bureaucrat said. “According to the reports, all of the settlements willingly let her take control. Even if we take The Smiling Mare down, the areas under her control will refuse to rejoin us.”

“What has this mare promised?” Celestia asked. “If they joined her cause willingly, she must have said something other than her ambiguous promise of happiness.”

“That’s it,” the guard said. “All she promised them was happiness. We’re still trying to gather information on…” A loud distorted noise interrupted his speech. The door to the meeting room burst open and a unicorn guard was thrown into the room. Standing at the door way was a white unicorn mare with an electric blue mane and tail. She had purple shades over her eyes as well as a bright pink admiral’s hat on her head. A military jacket that matched her hat in colour was securely fastened over her body. Floating beside her were two speakers covered in a blue aura. The mare had a manic grin on her face.

“Who dares to interrupt our meeting?!” Blueblood screamed.

“I think we have more important things to worry about, nephew,” Celestia placed her parchment down. “This must be the visit you spoke of.”

“It is,” a cheery voice beside the white unicorn said. “But that was me who sent the message, not Scratch.” A pink earth pony with a poofy mane and tail walked to the doorway. She was wearing a cyan military jacket and had an admiral’s hat that matched it in colour. The pony happily hopped into the room with a wide smile on her face.

“Hi Celly,” the pink pony said. “Are you going to surrender?”

“Pinkie Pie?” Celestia gawked. “You’re The Smiling Mare?”

“I thought it would’ve been obvious with that pseudonym,” Pinkie giggled. “After all, who’s the literal embodiment of laughter? So, are you going to surrender? You’ll be happy if you do.” All of the guards in the room pointed spears at Pinkie. A few of the unicorn guards lit up their horns and pointed them at her.

“Well, well, well,” Blueblood said with a smirk. “Seems the reports were right. You are going to make me happy. Guards, if you wouldn’t mind?” As the guards approached her, Pinkie tapped her chest twice with it clinking with each touch. A bright blue party horn appeared beside her when her hoof touched the ground. Pinkie grabbed the horn and blew into it as hard as she could. A loud happy note came from it and the guards on the other end of it were thrown against the wall, knocking them unconscious. She turned around still blowing into the horn. The end of it was pointed towards each of the guards and government employees, and like the guards before them, they all were pushed back and knocked unconscious. Pinkie ran towards Blueblood tapping her chest. The blue horn turned into a party popper and rested in her hooves. The party popper was pointed at Blueblood and its contents were thrown at him. Blue streamers flew out of it and hit his face. The prince fell backwards onto the stone floor.

“Huh,” Pinkie said. “That was easier than expected. Back to the topic at hoof, are you going to surrender? Or are we going to have to bring you smiles?”

“That energy,” Celestia stood up. “You have the Element of Laughter, don’t you?” Pinkie continued smiling and began unbuttoning her jacket. After undoing the top three buttons she pulled her jacket open. Sitting on her chest was a golden necklace with a bright blue gem shaped like a balloon embedded into it.

“That I do,” Pinkie tapped the jewel again. “And I took Generosity and Kindness too.”

“Why are you doing this?” Celestia took a few steps towards the pink pony. “Why are you taking these cities from Equestia? Why are you storming Canterlot Castle?” Pinkie laughed.

“Oh Celly,” she said. “I thought you would know. I’m just trying to making ponies happy.”

“By taking away their freedom?”

“Is that what your reports are telling you? You need to get your facts straight,” Pinkie looked straight into Celestia’s eyes with a fire burning into her own. “I’m doing this, because I see ponies who are miserable. All around the country, there are ponies who are starving, sad, or hurting. Very often all three. I’ve seen them in every settlement, every village, and every city. While there are those miserable, there are also many who are rich and happy. They could use their resources to help these ponies, but they don’t. Why is that?”

“I’ll tell you why,” Pinkie looked down at Blueblood. “It’s because for the majority to prosper, a minority has to suffer. That needs to change. And the only way to do that is to remove the power from the bourgeoise. Power shouldn’t be concentrated; it should be in the hooves of everypony. In all of the cities I’ve united under my banner, I’ve made the citizens happy. I’ve distributed all the food to keep ponies well fed, I’ve given the directionless purpose, and I’ve given everypony the power to right this wrong.”

“Pinkie, I know that ponies suffer, and I’ve been trying my best to…” A pink hoof placed itself on Celestia’s lips.

“You’ve done nothing,” Pinkie calmly said. “You’ve had over a thousand years to help them. But you haven’t done a thing. Even if you have good intentions, it’s going to be lost in all of the red tape set up by ponies like him.” Pinkie pointed to the unconscious body of Blueblood.

“There has to be change for everypony to be happy, and the one to bring that change will be me,” she said. “So I ask again, for everypony’s happiness, will you surrender?” Celestia crouched down in a defensive stance lighting her horn. The white unicorn at the doorway entered the room.

“I see,” Pinkie leapt backwards into the air and tapped the necklace. A bright blue speaker that stood three times as tall as Celestia rose up from the ground behind the white unicorn. A blue turntable connected to the speaker stood in front of the unicorn. Pinkie landed on it as it reached its full height. “Scratch, drop the bass.” A white hoof pressed on the turntable bringing the speaker to life. A loud distorted wave of sound came from the speaker, pushing both Celestia and the unconscious ponies back. A small shield was conjured in front of her. Despite her best efforts, she was still being forced back. The pony standing behind the turntable pushed a switch up, increasing the sound’s power. The shield broke causing Celestia to fly backwards. She and the unconscious bodies crashed through a window.

“That’s not going to keep her down,” the white pony said.

“I know,” Pinkie hopped down from the speaker as it faded away. “Take a few of the ponies in the Generosity Division with you. Keep advancing into the castle and try to get as many to join our cause as possible. If they don’t want to fight with us, take care of them. But don’t kill anypony, that would make others sad. I’ll meet up with everypony in Laughter to tell them what’s happened.” The white unicorn nodded and left the room. Pinkie walked to the hole in the window and looked down. She found Celestia holding to the unconscious bodies of the guards, Blueblood, and the castle’s employees in her magical grip. Pinkie turned around and sighed in relief. If everything went according to plan, nopony would have to die.

Potions Produced by a Pink Pony to Prevent Petering Out

When Twilight walked into the kitchen of Sugar Cube Corner, she expected to see what would commonly be seen in a bakery: multiple ovens, mixing bowls, ladles, egg beaters, etc., etc. To say what she found was unexpected would be an understatement. All around the bakery were beakers and jars full of unknown liquids and substances. Crucibles full of glowing powders and mortars were scattered around the surface of a nearby table. Standing at the table was a pink earth pony with goggles over her eyes. She was busy putting a blue powder and a bright yellow berry into a mortar. After she was done, she grabbed a clean pestle and began mixing the ingredients together.

“Pinkie, what is all of this?” Twilight asked. The pink pony continued mixing the mortar.

“This,” Pinkie began. “Is my laboratory. Well, it’s the kitchen of Sugar Cube Corner, but it’s also my laboratory where I mix ingredients together to create wonderful things! Then again, a kitchen does that as well seeing as a pony can mix ingredients together to make food. Hmm… if a kitchen is like a laboratory, then…”

“I get it,” Twilight said. “Why do you have all of these potion making tools?” Pinkie pushed the mixture in her mortar into a nearby volumetric flask.

“Because I’m a potion master,” she said. The flask was filled with a small amount of a green liquid. Pinkie lifted the bottle and swirled its contents. “Actually, technically I’m an alchemist. But I prefer to work with potions.”

“You,” a purple hoof pointed to Pinkie. “You’re an alchemist. As in, a certified alchemist with a PhD and everything?” Pinkie nodded.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t believe you,” the flask was set down on the table. A door underneath it was opened revealing a picture frame. Inside it was a diploma with Pinkie’s full name on it. Twilight gawked. “Well, that silenced any disbelieving voices in my head.”

“You have voices in your head?” Pinkie asked closing the door. “You should probably see a psychiatrist about that.” Twilight opened her mouth but was stopped by the flask being pushed in front of her.

“Help me out, will you?” Pinkie asked.

“Before I do, two questions,” Twilight pushed the flask aside. “First, what exactly do you need me to do, and second, what exactly are you doing?”

“I’m making a new kind of potion,” Pinkie said filling a series of bottles with a purple liquid. “I’ve decided to add a new potion to the ones I already have available. The only problem is that I need somepony to test it.”

“So I’m a guinea pig?” each of the bottles had a cork placed in them.

“Yes and no,” Pinkie placed each of the bottles in a nearby box. “Before you came to town, I had never had the chance to work with S-Class unicorn magic. I always had Rarity to help me with potions, but her magic level is B-Class at best. Even with B-Class magic, I’ve been limited in what I can create. But with your magic, I can make pretty much anything I can imagine!” The lid of the box was closed and tapped shut.

“So here’s what I’m thinking,” Pinkie lifted her goggles. “I’ll give you access to all of my equipment and materials to make potions. In exchange, you help me test my concoctions and provide magical energy for them. How does that sound to you?” Twilight looked around the room. All around her was equipment that she had no access to. She did have access to what was in the library’s basement, but those things were barely suited for a foal’s first science experiment. If she took Pinkie’s offer, she would be able to do science. Not just regular science either, Science with a capital ‘S’. A smile grew on her face.

“Alright, Pinkie,” she said. “I’ll help you.”

“Yay!” Pinkie grabbed the volumetric flask. “I need you to put magical energy into this until I say stop.” Twilight’s horn lit up. The liquid inside the flask had a purple aura surround it. As the aura moved around the liquid, it bubbled. As each second passed, the liquid became brighter and brighter.

“Stop,” Twilight’s horn stopped glowing. She looked at the flask in Pinkie’s hooves with curiosity in her eyes. Inside the flask was a neon green liquid. It gave off a bright glow that nearly mirrored the light of a fire. “Thanks, Twilight.” Pinkie took the liquid and poured it into a shot glass.

“I probably should have asked this first,” Twilight said staring at the glass. “But what are you making?”

“A rejuvenation potion,” Pinkie said. “Well, that’s not exactly true. It does rejuvenate a pony, but not physically. This is designed to enhance alertness.”

“So, an energy potion?” Pinkie shrugged.

“Well sure, if you want to go with the boring name for it,” the shot glass was pushed in front of Twilight. “Go ahead, try it.” The glass was covered in a purple aura and lifted off the table.

“This isn’t going to kill me is it?” Pinkie in response opened a nearby drawer. She pulled out a black sack with a golden feather embedded into it.

“If you do die, I can always bring you back with this,” she said tapping the bag. “I made some Phoenix Powder last week.”

“Isn’t Phoenix Powder illegal?” Pinkie put a hoof to her lips. Shushing came from her as she did so. “I see. Well, bottoms up.” The contents of the glass were thrown down Twilight’s throat. She set the glass down on the table as soon as it was empty. Twilight smacked her lips together.

“Mmm, tasty,” she said. “How long is it going to take before it takes effe…” Twilight’s eyes widened. Her pupils shrunk to the size of pin pricks as she looked at the pink pony in front of her. The entire world seemed to be moving at a snail’s pace for her.

“Twilight?” Pinkie asked. “Are you okay?” The words that came out of Pinkie’s mouth seemed to be moving a hundred times slower than they normally would.

“HOLYCRAP!THISISINCREDIBLE!EVERYTHINGISMOVINGSOSLOW!” Twilight shouted. “ICAN’TBELIEVEIT!IFI’MMOVINGTHISFASTTHENICANREADEVERYBOOKINTHELIBRARYANDSTILLHAVETIMETOVISITEVERYPONY!THANKSFORTHEPOTIONPINKIE!I’MGOINGTOHOLDYOUTOYOUROFFERANDUSEYOURLABAFTERI’MDONEREADINGALLOFTHEBOOKSINTHELIBRARYANDDOINGMYCHORES.SOUNDGOOD?OKAYTHANKSBYE!” A purple blur burst through the kitchen and into Sugar Cube Corner’s show room. Pinkie could hear confused shouts and Mr. Cake saying a string of impolite words as the sound of a door breaking reached her ears. She walked to the end of the table and opened up a notebook. Before she could begin writing, Twilight appeared beside her.

“HIPINKIE!” she shouted. Pinkie jumped in the air.

“AH!” she screamed. “Oh, Twilight, you scared me. I thought you had to read all of the library’s books and do chores before coming back.”

“IDIDALLOFTHOSETHINGSALREADY!” Twilight giggled. “ITONLYTOOKMETHIRTYSECONDS!ANDTHAT’STWENTYNINESECONDSTOOLONG!CANIUSEYOUREQUIPMENTNOW?CANI?CANI?CANI?CANI?” Pinkie stepped back from the vibrating pony.

“Um, yes?”

“HOORAY!THANKSPINKIE!” Twilight moved around the kitchen at a pace faster than Pinkie thought physically possible. The sounds of glass moving and mortars being used could be heard all around her. She returned to the notebook and began writing.

S-Class Hyper Potion

-creation successful

-causes pony move a thousand times faster than they normally would

-whether or not there will be a crash will be determined once their energy runs out

-memo to self, must figure out how long the energy lasts

Surgery to Warfare

“She’s fading fast!” a purple unicorn filly shouted. She and two others were standing around a body. A white unicorn with a blue mane and tail moved his hooves as carefully as he could. “Spike, get us a clean scalpel!” A baby dragon turned around and grabbed a small knife. He held it out in front of him and it was covered in a purple glow.

“Her heart rate is still dropping!” the dragon exclaimed. “Doctor Armour, Nurse Sparkle, what do we do?!”

“If you would both calm down,” the blue maned unicorn said. “And let me do my job, we’ll be able to save her. Now, Nurse Sparkle, siphon out this green goo. I can’t work on this area if that’s there.” A clear tube was brought over to the body. It was placed inside and a green liquid moved inside it. The white unicorn moved a pair of retractors inside where the liquid was.

“Good, Spike,” the baby dragon brought his head up. “I need you to reach into there and inject the solution, understand?” He nodded and reached for a hypodermic needle. The needle was brought over and placed in the body. A glowing blue solution moved when the plunger was pushed down. Spike moved his hands away from the area and the white unicorn did the same with his hooves.

“All done,” he said. “Nurse Sparkle, would you like to close her up?”

“Gladly,” the purple unicorn said. A needle and thread was brought towards them. The flaps on the body were closed and she began sewing them shut. Half way through her work, the assembled group heard rapid beeping. “What’s going on?” The white unicorn looked at a nearby heart monitor.

“Her heart rate has spiked to an incredible rate!” he shouted. “That’s impossible! We did everything right! This shouldn’t be happening, the chemical should have stabilized her. The only way that this could happen is if…. Spike, what colour was the solution in that needle?”

“Umm, blue,” Spike said.

“Oh… oh no,” the white unicorn pressed his hooves on the body. “Help me, we need to put weight on her or else we’ll lose her!” The filly and dragon followed the older unicorn’s example and put their weight on the body. As they pushed down, the heart monitor continued beeping at a fast pace. The sound became louder and louder with every passing second. After a few moments, a single continuous beep was heard. Spike looked at the heart monitor.

“She’s flat-lined,” he said. The three of them stepped away from the body.

“Twily, I’m so sorry,” the white unicorn said. Tears started to form in the filly’s eyes.

“No,” she said. “It’s not over yet.” Her horn was covered in a purple aura and brought towards the body. She lowered her head and touched the body’s chest.

“Clear!” she screamed. Purple energy moved to the body causing it to spasm. The monitor beeped once before returning to the continuous beep. “Clear!” Again, purple energy moved to the body. A white hoof stopped the filly from trying again.

“She’s gone,” the filly sobbed. “I can’t believe she’s gone.”

“I know,” the white unicorn looked at his foreleg. “Smarty Pants, deceased. Time of death, 2:30 pm.” The three of them sat in silence for a few moments.

“Twily? I hate to break the mood, but I have to go. I’m meeting Cadence and…”

“Don’t worry, Shining. I understand. Go.” The white unicorn turned around and left the room. Spike walked to the stuffed doll that sat in front of Twilight.

“You know,” he said. “There is a way we could bring her back.” Twilight brought her head up.

“Really?” Spike nodded. “How?”

“I read about a kind of magic called necromancy,” he explained. “The book said that it was magic used to bring the dead back to life. This particular spell I read required us to sacrifice a virgin in exchange for the soul we want.”

“That’s perfect! We can bring Smarty Pants back to life with that,” Twilight cheered. “One question though, what’s a virgin?”

“I have no idea,” Spike shrugged. “We can ask Shining Armour when he gets back from his date.”

“That won’t be for a while,” Smarty Pants was picked up and placed on Twilight’s back. “Until then, what do you want to do?”

“Can we play Storm Book Fort?”

“Okay,” Twilight ran to a nearby book shelf and started pulling books from it. “I get to storm the castle!”

“No fair! You were on the offensive last time! I want a turn!” Twilight stuck her tongue out.

“That’s what you get for losing,” she teased. “Come on, help me construct Book Fort.” Spike walked to the shelf and reached for a book. His hand stopped just as he was about to grab one.

“You know what, no,” he said. “I’m not going to help you build Book Fort. I’m going to make my own Book Fort. I’ll call it Castle Atlas, I’ll rule over it with an iron fist, and I’ll take Book Fort for myself.” Twilight stopped stacking books.

“Did you just declare war on my kingdom?” she asked.

“I did, Queen Sparkle,” Spike said grinning. “What are you going to do about it?”

“You can’t take Book Fort if I take Castle Atlas first!”

“I’d like to see you try!” The two of them began stacking and grabbing as many books as they could.

“May the best leader win, General Spike.” Spike grabbed a nearby piece of loose parchment.

“Not General,” he said folding the parchment. When he was done, he was left with a kepi made out of paper. The paper kepi was placed on his head. “It’s Emperor Spike. And I swear on my honour that Book Fort will be part of the Atlasian Empire.”

“Prepare to lose your honour then,” Twilight said with a smirk on her face. Both her and Spike began constructing their castles of books. They were fully prepared to risk everything for their upcoming battle. No matter who won the war, a paper kingdom would fall to ruin, unless dinner time came first.

A Piece of Childhood

To many who saw the castle in the Everfree Forest, it was a crumbling building. A display of an era long gone, a show of how cruel time can be, and an example of what happens whenever one forgets. To Princess Luna, it was a place she called home. A small smile was on her face as she walked in the empty halls of the once great castle. Thousands of memories came back to her. Happy laughter echoed in her mind, smells of flora that no longer existed rested with her, and even the taste of banquets that were held long ago returned. The lunar princess was heading to somewhere important to her, and although time had drastically altered her old home, she knew exactly where to go. She turned to her left to find a perfectly preserved wooden door. Cobwebs and dust had formed on it over the years that it had been neglected, but other than that the door was perfectly intact. A midnight blue hoof wiped off a layer of dust on the center of the door. Underneath it was a crescent moon facing downwards with a star underneath it engraved into the door. A pair of wings sat at the side of the moon. Luna’s smile grew. Even after all these years, the spell still works. She turned the handle and entered the room.

On the other side of the door was a relatively small bedroom. Sitting in the corner of the room was a dilapidated four poster bed. At the foot of the bed sat a large chest shaped object covered in a foot of dust. Beside the bed was a drawer with all of its chests missing. Across it was a desk with scattered pieces of parchment all over it. Luna walked towards the desk and opened up a drawer. Inside it was a small journal with yellowing paper. Embedded into the cover of the journal was the same symbol as the door. The journal was covered in a blue aura and placed on the desk. She turned to the foot of the bed and looked at the chest. Luna took in a deep breath and blew onto it. Dust flew around the room causing her to cough. This was a poor decision in hindsight. Sitting underneath the dust was a purple wooden chest with a lock on it. Luna’s coughing died down and she brought the journal towards her. The cover was opened revealing a silver key attached to the back of it. The key was removed and placed into the lock. With a single turn, the lock clicked. The top of the chest was opened up and Luna looked inside. Inside the chest were things that were worthless, but to Luna, they were her greatest treasures. There were five objects in the chest: a paper hat folded out of what looked like a map, a purple baby blanket, a photo album, a star shaped rock, and something that Luna had been searching for since she returned to Equestria. She smiled as the hat and blanket were covered in a blue glow and brought out. The hat was placed over her head and the blanket tied around her neck. Luna turned to the entrance and looked to the door facing her room. Though dust had formed on the door, she could see a stylized sun with a wreath underneath it engraved into the door. With a thought, she opened the other door and walked towards the room. The smile on her face turned into a smirk. You never let us in here when we were children. We wonder what you were hiding from us.

To say that the castle staff was shocked to see the lunar princess’ current state would be a vast understatement. Happily moving towards the princesses’ personal dining hall was the younger of the two. On top of her head was a paper hat and around her neck was a small purple blanket. She was skipping towards her destination with a wooden chest following close behind her. As the princess skipped, she left a pile of dust wherever her hooves stood. When she reached the hall’s large oaken doors, the guards opened it without any question. As she passed the guards, they coughed from the dust flying off of her. Sitting at the end of the room’s table was the solar princess. She raised an eyebrow as she saw the state her sister was in.

“I see you’re trying to make a new fashion statement,” she said. Luna placed the chest down and sat at the other end of the table. “I take it you found what you were looking for?”

“Indeed we have, Celestia,” Luna said. “But we found other things too.”

“Like the layer of dust on your coat?” Luna inspected herself. Just as Celestia had said, a thick layer of dust was on her coat. She stood up from her seat and shook herself. Dust flew all around the room. Both Celestia and the castle staff currently in the room coughed. “A shower would have been more efficient.”

“This was is faster,” Luna retorted. “After so many months of searching, we finally found him.” The chest opened and a small, white, stuffed tiger was pulled out. The tiger was wearing orange robes, a long necklace of black beads was around its neck. Luna brought the tiger to her face looking straight into its eyes.

“Hello, Brother Bengal,” she said. “We’ve missed you.” Brother Bengal was brought close to Luna and embraced in a hug. Celestia giggled at the sight.

“Luna, that is adorable,” she said. “But you’re acting a little childish.”

“What’s the point of being a grown up if you can’t be childish from time to time?” Luna asked letting Brother Bengal go. The hat and blanket were removed from her and placed on the table. “Besides, we know that you’ll be the same as we are as soon as you see what we’ve found. And you in particular could be a little more childish.”

“I highly doubt that,” Celestia said. “When we took over the country, I put my childish nature behind me. I grew up to lead. I don’t think that I’ll be acting like a…” Her sentence stopped when Luna pulled a second object out of the chest. A beige stuffed ram was floating in Luna’s magical grip. The ram had a long white beard and was wearing a black vest. In its left hoof was a stuffed brown cane. Celestia’s eyes widened.

“He was missing a leg and a horn when we found him,” Luna said. “But with a simple time spell, we’ve managed to fix…” The ram was yanked out of Luna’s grip and brought over to Celestia. She hugged the stuffed animal and she squealed with joy.

“Ambassador Aries!” she said rubbing her cheek against the ram’s. “I haven’t seen you in centuries! We have so much to catch up on. I can’t wait to hear all of the things that you’ve…” Celestia looked up at her sister. A smirk was on Luna’s face as she held onto Brother Bengal. A blush appeared on Celestia’s face

“Ahem,” she coughed. “I mean, thank you for finding and fixing Ambassador Aries for me, Luna. I’ll admit that he’s one of the treasures that I forgot when we vacated Castle Everfree.”

“We require no thanks,” Celestia sipped from her tea. “Your diaries that we found are thanks enough.” Tea shot out of the solar princess’ mouth.

“What?!” three red diaries with stylized suns on them were pulled out of the chest. “Luna, give those back to me at once!” In response, Luna stood up and stuck her tongue out. Brother Bengal was brought to her ear.

“What’s that, Brother Bengal?” Brother Bengal’s head was tilted forward twice. “Run from Celestia? Good idea!” Luna turned around and grabbed both the diaries and the chest in her magical grasp before running out of the dining hall. Celestia hopped over the table and chased after her sister with Ambassador Aries following close beside her. The ram’s head was tilted as she ran through the castle’s halls.

“It’s good to see you too,” she said. “Well, Ambassador, we have a job to do.”

Talking With Nature

“Where are we heading?” Twilight asked. Both she and Zecora were walking on a path through the Everfree Forest. The sounds of wild animals had faded long ago, leaving the two in an unnatural silence. The silence made Twilight uneasy, the Everfree was full of life, wild animal calls would normally be heard all around them. And yet, the only sound that accompanied the two was their footsteps on the dirt.

“We’re going to meet my friend,” Zecora answered. “Someone to talk to. And someone who has wished to speak with you.”

“Speak with me?” Twilight ducked under a branch. “Why would they want to speak with me?” Zecora pushed some leaves out of the way and gestured Twilight to enter. On the other side was a circular opening. Surrounding the opening were trees that touched the skies. Flowers of every size and colour bloomed at the base of each tree. In the center was a stone like circle that measured the size of a house. On the circle were lines and shapes similar to those found in an arcane circle. Twilight looked at the circle.

“I’ve never seen this kind of rock before,” she tapped on it. “It doesn’t feel like rock either. It feels almost like bone.” Zecora walked to the center of the circle and sat down. She waved her hoof asking Twilight to do the same.

“What is this place?” she asked.

“This, is Everfree’s Center,” Zecora said. “This is a place that is sacred, a place that very few dare to venture. It is here where we will meet, and it is here where our conversation will be complete.”

“Is somepony going to meet us here?” the zebra shook her head.

“No, they’re already here,” Twilight opened her mouth but was stopped by Zecora raising her hoof. “Let me warn you. If they do not like what they hear, you will disappear.”

“Is that a threat?”

“A threat? No. It is a promise that has not been fulfilled yet.” Zecora placed the ends of her forelegs together. She closed her eyes, took in a deep breath and sighed.

“Kuamsha,” she said. The word echoed around them. Twilight could feel magic radiating from the phrase.

“What’s going on?” she was ignored.

“Kuamsha,” the magic radiating from the word grew stronger. Twilight could feel herself being pushed back. Two vines from behind Zecora moved towards her. They wrapped around her neck and around her forelegs. She was lifted up a few feet off the ground.

“Zecora!” Twilight ran towards her friend. Her horn lit up as she approached the rising zebra. A wall of invisible energy stopped her just before she could reach Zecora. The energy pushed her onto her back. A third vine moved towards Zecora. It attached itself to the back of her skull. She spread her forelegs out and stopped rising.

“Kusema,” she said. A final burst of magical energy moved away from the zebra. Twilight was pushed to the edge of the circle. She watched in awe as Zecora floated in the air. She moved one of her forelegs causing vines to grab onto Twilight. Twilight struggled against them as she was brought in front of Zecora. When her eyes opened, they were glowing a bright spring green.

“Whatever you are, let go of Zecora!” Twilight shouted. “I know that you’re not her!”

“Very perceptive,” a distorted elderly voice said from Zecora’s body. “Most would assume that the shaman would be doing this of her own volition.”

“I said,” Twilight’s horn lit up. “Let. Her. Go.”

“After we’ve had our talk,” Twilight’s horn grew brighter. “She did tell you that someone wanted to speak to you, yes? That someone is me.”

“Who are you?” the elderly voice chuckled.

“I haven’t used my name for generations, I’ve forgotten it long ago,” Zecora’s body tapped her chin. “Call me as your people call me, Everfree.” Both Twilight and Zecora’s body were lowered to the ground. With a wave of Zecora’s hoof, the vines removed themselves from Twilight.

“Again I ask, who are you?” The vines around Zecora lifted her off the ground.

“I am the flowers you see around you,” Everfree said. “I am the trees that pierce the sky. I am the marsh that houses life. I am the roots deep within the ground.” Twilight’s eyes widened.

“You’re the forest,” she said. “How is that possible?”

“Because like you, I am very much alive,” Everfree touched Zecora’s neck. “The only difference is that I don’t have a way to speak. That’s why the shaman invited me into her body. But that’s not why we’re here is it? We’re here to have a talk.” Everfree began to move forward.

“Do you remember what happened two years ago on the longest day?” it asked.

“That was the Summer Sun Celebration,” Twilight replied. “Nightmare Moon returned and my friends and I stopped her.” Vines circled around Twilight and tied her. Everfree glared at the bound unicorn.

“That night, when you purified the moon’s avatar,” it said in an icy tone. “You did something to me as well. The power you used to cleanse her hurt me. Not like removing a tree or a berry, those kinds of physical wounds are temporary. But you did permanent damage to me. What do you think you did?”

“I,” Twilight stuttered. “I have no idea.”

“You burned a piece of my soul away,” the vine’s grip tightened. “That spot where the moon’s avatar stood was part of me. And when you burned her shell away, you burned my soul. It hurt more than your mortal mind can possibly imagine. Tell me, what happened when you sealed away chaos’ avatar?” Twilight was speechless.

“Nothing to say?” Everfree asked. “That’s fine. I’ll tell you what happened. You used that power again. And again, it burned my soul. Do you know what it’s like to have a piece of your soul burned away? Do you know what it’s like to have a fundamental piece of yourself missing? Can you even imagine what it's like to have the thing that makes you you ripped away?!” Twilight shook her head. The vines around Zecora’s right foreleg grew. They formed a three pointed claw on the surface of the hoof. The tips of the claws gave off a deep green glow.

“Well then,” Everfree pulled Zecora’s foreleg back. “Now’s the time to find out.” The foreleg was thrown towards Twilight’s chest. She closed her eyes. Strange, this doesn’t hurt as much as Everfree described. Twilight looked down to see the claws barely touching her. She looked up at the zebra in front of her to find that her left eye had lost its glow.

“Why do you stop me, shaman?” Everfree asked. Zecora’s mouth moved with her native tongue coming from it. “Is that so? Very well.” Zecora’s left eye blinked. When it opened up again they were glowing once more. The vines around Twilight loosened themselves and she fell to the floor. She lay there gasping for breath.

“The shaman has told me that you are very adept with magic. Is this true?”

“I’m not sure how to answer that,” Twilight said still gasping.

“She has told me that the sun’s avatar is helping you hone your abilities,” The purple unicorn stood up. “Once more, is this true?”

“It is,” she said.

“Then perhaps we can come to an agreement,” Everfree said. “There is a very old kind of magic that only Magic’s Bearer can use, a magic that has the ability to both heal and destroy. Because you wield that power, you can use it.”

“What is this magic?”

“Soul Magic,” Twilight blinked.

“I’ve never heard of that kind of magic before,” she said. “I haven’t seen it recorded in any books. How do I know it’s real?”

“It exists,” Everfree said. “Use it to repair my wounds. I will give you all the time you need. Do so, and I will not do the same as you have done to me. Agreed?” Twilight nodded.

“Excellent. But know this,” Four sharp thorns pressed themselves against Twilight’s neck. “I will be watching. My roots run far deeper than most think. No matter where you go, I will find you. And if I find that you have made no effort to learn Soul Magic…” The thorns glowed.

“Well, you can guess. Are we clear?”

“C-crystal,” Twilight stammered. The thorns moved away from her neck and the vines receded from Zecora. She closed her eyes and the vine at the back of her head removed itself. When she opened them, they were their original colours. Twilight fell onto the floor. “What have I gotten myself into?”

“A promise that must be kept,” Zecora answered. “That was the only available option. And you had no choice but to accept.” She walked back to where they came.

“Come,” she said. “You have much work to do.” Twilight followed her friend back to the path. As they walked through the forest, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being watched. Ordinarily, she would tell herself that she was being paranoid; however she knew that that wasn’t the case anymore.

***

A/N: The two Swahili words I used, the first translates to awaken and the second translates to speak.

Searching for Treasure

Night had fallen long ago and many in Ponyville were travelling to dreamland. The last two who needed to make the trip were in Ponyville’s library. A gentle fire illuminated the library’s foyer as Twilight sat in front of it. She had a book in front of her and was reading through it with a smile on her face. These quiet moments were rare for the librarian, and she savoured each one. Up until recently, the only company she had was the fire she sat in front of. Someone special to her had joined her in the quiet, and their company made the silence sweeter. The sound of footsteps came from behind her as she was reading. Twilight turned her head to find a zebra holding a tray with two steaming cups on it. The zebra had a smile on her face as she approached the unicorn. One of the cups was covered in a purple aura and brought to her.

“Thanks, Zecora,” Twilight took a sip from the cup. “This is delicious, what kind of tea is it?”

“Oolong,” Zecora sat down beside her. “It comes from the far east. The leaves are slightly fermented allowing flavour to be released.” Twilight flipped a page in her book. Zecora looked at the top of the page and saw the words ‘On Happiness’ written on it.

“On Happiness? Obviously this was written by one with clout. What is it about?”

“Happiness,” Zecora sipped her tea. “Well, that’s kind of obvious with the title. But it goes deeper than that. It’s essentially a collection of what some philosophers think happiness is. For example: a philosopher called Aurelius thought that the happiness in a pony’s life depended on the quality of their thoughts. Therefore, thoughts had to be protected. Another thought that happiness was balance.”

“Wise words from those long ago,” Zecora said placing her cup down. “But dear Twilight, there is something that you should know.”

“And what would that be?”

“All of those thoughts and songs are simply wrong.”

“What do you mean?” Zecora chuckled.

“Everypony has their own treasure that they are searching for,” she said. “It cannot be given, it has to be discovered while we explore.”

“What does this have to do with happiness?”

“Don’t you see?” Zecora asked. “The treasure we seek is happiness. It is not balance or thought. It is a treasure that has to be sought. Do you agree?” Twilight placed her cup down.

“A little,” she said. “How do you know that your belief is true?” Zecora nuzzled the pony beside her.

“Because I’ve already found my treasure,” a smile formed on Twilight’s face. “I’ve found you.”

“I see,” Twilight leaned against Zecora. “Then I too have found my treasure. My wonderful, irreplaceable treasure will be cherished and loved. I will stand with her and never leave. Though many would doubt, know that my words are true.” The two of them sat together with the fire keeping them company. When the fire was near the end of its life, Twilight yawned. Zecora brought a blanket over both her and the unicorn in front of the fireplace. As her eyes slowly drifted downwards, Twilight cuddled against Zecora. After a few moments, Twilight fell asleep with a smile on her face. Zecora kissed the top of her head causing Twilight’s smile to grow. She matched her lover’s expression before falling into slumber. After a long night, the last two citizens of Ponyville travelled to dreamland together.

Sailing in the Sky

The sun was making its decent over the horizon, signalling the moon to take its place. Celestia stood on one of the many balconies on Canterlot Castle. A smile was on her face as the sun moved lower and lower over the horizon. Stars began to dot the sky as the last bit of light disappeared. This moment was one of Celestia’s favourites. It was the moment when her sister showed how beautiful the sky could be. It was these moments that Celestia shared with somepony long gone. She sighed as the stars continued painting the sky.

“Beautiful,” a male voice said above her. “It’s always breath taking whenever I see Lulu’s work.” Celestia turned around and looked up. Sitting above the doorway was the silhouette of an earth pony. Through what little light there was, Celestia saw that the pony had a brown pinto pattern on his coat. Her eyes widened when she saw the pony.

“It can’t be,” she said. The earth pony stood up and leapt from the roof. He landed on the balcony’s railing and turned around. The pony sat himself down and looked to Celestia with a wide smile on his face. On top of his pinto coat, was a deep blue frock coat with a gold trim. A belt was attached to his waist and a scabbard with the hilt of a sword sat on his left. Over his head was a scarlet bandana that covered up part of a brown mane. Three scratches were over his right eye and a gold medallion with two swords crossing each other sat on his chest. “Commodore Pipsqueak?”

“Commodore,” he chuckled. “I haven’t used that title in a long time, Sunny. It’s Captain Pipsqueak now.”

“You can’t be here,” Celestia said. “I saw The Albatross blow up!”

“Rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated, as well as the deaths of my crew,” Pipsqueak said, “But I’m not an illusion or a hallucination. I’m really alive, Sunny.” A white hoof slapped his face.

“You don’t have a right to call me that anymore,” Pipsqueak rubbed his cheek. “Why didn’t you try to contact me?”

“What was I supposed to say?” Pipsqueak asked. “’Hello Sunny. It turns out that I’m not dead. I was just lost in the badlands for a year with my crew, and I’ve decided to leave the Equestian Sky Navy.’ Yes, that would have worked swimmingly. More importantly, how would I have contacted you?”

“You’re leaving the Sky Navy?”

“Sunny, both myself and my crew have been legally dead for a year, I highly doubt that we can get our old jobs back,” the medallion on Pipsqueak’s chest was held in his hooves. “Besides, I don’t think I’ll be happy there anymore. After the first treasure hunt, I couldn’t remember why I even joined the Sky Navy. The thrill of adventure, the rush that comes while searching, and the excitement of plundering, all of it is intoxicating to me. I don’t think I could go back to working for the Sky Navy even if I tried.”

“Why are you here?” the medallion was left to hang. “Everything you do has a purpose. So what is this visit’s purpose?” A hoof was stretched out to Celestia.

“Come with me,” Celestia blinked. “You always told me that you hated being tied down to the throne. If you follow me, you’ll be free. You’ll be able to explore the open skies without having the chains of responsibility anchoring you down, just like you wanted.”

“Pip,” Pipsqueak’s hoof was pushed away. “I can’t. No matter how much I want to fly, I have to stay grounded. I have a responsibility to all of the ponies of Equestria. I can’t just…” an explosion in the east end of the castle stopped her sentence. A smirk appeared on Pipsqueak’s face while Celestia turned to the source of the sound.

“What was that?”

“That, is telling me that part of my crew has just finished looting the Canterlot Archives,” Celestia faced Pipsqueak with shock on her face. “And it’s also my cue to leave.” He leaned back and fell off the balcony.

“Pip!” Celestia ran to the end of the balcony and looked down. Instead of seeing Pipsqueak falling to his death, she saw him standing at the end of a pole. The red dot that was Pipsqueak seemed to be rising. Celestia stepped back from the balcony as the structure holding Pipsqueak reached her. Pipsqueak was standing on the edge of a copper pole attached to a large airship. The entire airship had been constructed of copper and its body shared the likeness of a galleon. Three sets of sails stood on the ship. Each of them had glowing yellow hexagonal patterns on them. The center sail had what looked like a pony skull holding a knife in its mouth sitting above a pair of cutlasses that crossed each other. The sound of large propellers moving was in her ears as the ship continued rising. She looked up at the end of the ship as Pipsqueak passed the balcony. “Stand down!”

“Can’t do that, Sunny,” Pipsqueak mocked. He blew a kiss down towards her. “The Solar Tempest is set to land in Hollow Shades, and we can’t stop for anything, not even you!” Celestia’s wings opened up ready launch her into the air. Before she could fly up, a stone clamp wrapped itself around her wings. A slightly chubby grayish blue unicorn stallion had his horn pointed to her. Pipsqueak smirked at the solar princess. “Catch us if you can!” The air ship flew above the castle and headed towards its east end. Celestia turned into the castle and ran as fast as she could. Though she wouldn’t admit it to anypony, she was happy to see Pipsqueak again, even if he had turned to piracy. A game of Cat and Mouse, Pip? Very well, let’s play.

Picking Up the Pieces

Up above the showroom of Carousel Boutique, the proprietor was hard at work sketching new designs. The leaves had begun to change their colours which meant a new season was coming. And with a new season came new fashions. Rarity was standing in her inspiration room with a pencil at her side. She had three designs already completed and was working on a fourth. As her pencil moved on parchment, the sound of slow footsteps came from the hallway. Walking down the hall was a white unicorn filly with a purple and pink mane carrying a pair of saddlebags. Her head was looking down and she moved as if she was carrying the weight of the world.

“Hello, Sweetie Belle,” Rarity said still sketching. “Are you staying for the night?” Sweetie Belle gave a groan of confirmation.

“I unfortunately won’t be able to spend some time with you for a while,” Rarity continued. “I have to get at least six designs sketched out by tomorrow. I should be done in a couple hours. We can spend time together then, is that alright?”

“Fine,” Sweetie Belle said in a flat tone. “I needed time alone to work on my homework anyways.” The sound of Rarity’s guest room door closing reached her just as she finished her fourth design. The piece of parchment was placed on top of three others and a blank one was brought in front of her. Her pencil touched the parchment and began to move. Just after the first stroke of the pencil, Rarity’s head shot up. A muffled sound could be heard coming from her guest room. What is that? She set her pencil down and followed the sound. As she walked down her hall, the sound became clearer. When she reached her guest room, she placed her ear to the door. On the other side, she could hear gentle sobbing.

“Sweetie Belle?” the sobbing stopped. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” a strained voice said. “Go away, I have to work.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” Rarity opened the door. Within the guest room were three pieces of furniture. A desk sat underneath a window at the end of the room. To the right of the desk was a drawer with three handles on it, one on top of the other. A lamp sat on top of the drawer. Beside it was a double bed with Sweetie Belle sitting atop it. She was holding onto a pillow and her face was buried deep within it. “Is something wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” Sweetie Belle said through the pillow. “Go away.”

“Sweetie, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t lie to me,” Rarity closed the door. “Please, talk to me.”

“I said go away!” the pillow was thrown at Rarity. She moved her head out of the way just before it hit her. Rarity looked at her sister. Her eyes were bloodshot and tear stains were running along her face. Fresh tears began to form in Sweetie Belle’s eyes. “Please.” Rarity moved towards the bed. She sat down beside her sister as tears began to fall from her eyes.

“It’s not good to bottle up your emotions,” Rarity wrapped a hoof around Sweetie Belle. “You’ll only self-destruct on yourself if you do. Talk to me, Sweetie, I only want to help.”

“She lied to me,” Sweetie Belle quietly said.

“She?”

“She said that she wouldn’t leave me, but she lied about that.”

“What do you mean by… oh,” Rarity’s expression softened. “Sweetie Belle, I’m sorry about…” Small forelegs wrapped themselves around Rarity.

“It hurts, sis,” Rarity returned the hug. “It feels like my heart has shattered into a billion pieces. I don’t know what to do.” Sweetie Belle buried her face in her sister’s shoulders. Rarity closed her eyes as Sweetie Belle cried on her.

“Rarity, I’m flattered that you would ask me that. But…”

“But? Oh, that does not sound good.”

“Oh, no, it’s not bad news.”

“So is that a yes?”

…

“Is it?”

“No, it isn’t. I’m sorry, Rarity, but I don’t see you that way. You’re a very close friend and somepony I love very much, just not that kind of love.”

“I…I see.”

“What do I do to make the pain go away?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“You pick up the pieces,” Rarity answered. She broke the hug and looked into the crying filly’s eyes. “You pick up the pieces and rebuild your heart.”

“I don’t think I can do that,” a hoof wiped away one of Sweetie Belle’s tears.

“No, you can’t. Not while the pieces are still falling,” Sweetie Belle sniffed. “But when the last piece has fallen, you start picking them up. You rebuild your heart but not as it was before. You can never have your heart in the same shape after it has been broken. It has to be shaped into something new.”

“I don’t want to build a new heart,” another tear was wiped away. “I want my heart to be as it was before, whole and complete. I want things to be the way they were before.”

“That can never happen.” Rarity began.

“Rarity, I don’t want things to change between us.”

“I don’t see how they can’t. After what I asked of you, things will change.”

“Can’t things be the same as they were before?”

“That’s impossible. But the pain will go away, and things will get better. Just not today.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.”

“Things change, Sweetie,” she continued. “Your current relationship with her has ended. But a new one can come from it. It just won’t be as strong as the last.”

“When can I start rebuilding?” Sweetie Belle asked sobbing.

“That’s up to you,” Rarity said. “You can start once all of the pieces have fallen. You can start once you’ve created a foundation for your heart. You could start while your heart is under construction. Or you could start when your heart is completed. Me, I tried while my heart was being built.”

“Did it work?” Rarity offered a weak smile.

“I’ll let you know once I’m done,” Sweetie Belle rubbed her eyes. “Until then, let the pieces fall.” Rarity hugged Sweetie Belle. The filly returned it and tears once again began falling. After a while, Sweetie Belle fell asleep on Rarity’s shoulders. The blankets on the bed were pulled back and Sweetie Belle was placed underneath them. The pillow was covered in a blue aura and brought under her head. Rarity brought the blankets over her sister and wiped a tear away from her face. She slowly crept out of the room to return to her inspiration room. Once she was in there, her pencil was picked up and placed on her unfinished design. A weak chuckle left her mouth as the pencil made its movements. It seems heartbreak runs in our family. A knock on her home’s door stopped her designing. Rarity walked to the showroom floor and opened the entrance. Standing on the other side was a butter yellow pegasus with a pink mane and tail.

“Fluttershy,” Rarity said. “This is a surprise. Is something wrong?” Said pony shuffled her hooves.

“I need to talk to you about something,” Fluttershy said. “Do you have a little time to spare?”

“I always have time for you,” Rarity stood to the side of the door. “Please, come in.” Fluttershy walked into Carousel Boutique. Rarity closed the door and sighed. I’m still rebuilding my heart; I hope you don’t do anything to delay the construction.

Extra Lessons

Sitting on a tree stump deep within the Everfree Forest was a bipedal creature playing a soothing tune from a flute. The creature’s bottom half shared the likeness of a goat. Both of his legs had hooves at the end of them and were covered in light gray fur. At the base of his spine was a small fluff of fur forming a tail. The top half of the creature’s body shared similarities with a monkey. Instead of being covered in fur like its legs, it was bare with pale skin. Its head had short hair coming from the top of it and a pair of goat’s horns. The creature’s eyes were closed as its fingers moved across the flute. The tune seemed to calm the forest itself. Sounds of life, both being born and taken away, would ordinarily be heard in the forest. The only sound accompanying the creature was the sound coming from the flute. A rustling in a bush in front of the creature stopped its playing. It looked up and placed its flute down.

“Hello?” it asked. From the bush came a purple baby dragon. He was carrying a basket full of apples and a small wooden flute was around his neck. The dragon set the basket down, wiping his forehead. A smile formed on the creature’s face. “Hello there, Spike. Are you here for your lesson?”

“Hello Mr. Venu,” the dragon said. “I am. But first, I brought you something from Sweet Apple Acres.” Spike walked towards the creature with the basket in tow.

“That’s very thoughtful of you,” Venu said. He reached behind him and pulled out an identical basket. Instead of being full of apples, the basket was full of blackberries. “I know how much your guardian likes blackberries, so I picked some for the both of you.”

“Thanks,” Spike exchanged his basket for Venu’s. “Before we start the lesson, can I ask you a few questions?”

“Be my guest,” Venu bit into one of the apples. “Whatever you ask, I’ll try my best to answer.”

“Why don’t you leave the Everfree Forest?” Spike asked sitting down. “This place, it’s unnatural.”

“Is that what you’ve been taught? That this place is unnatural?”

“Well, yes.” Venu chuckled.

“Spike, this forest isn’t unnatural. As a matter of fact, when all of pony kind dies off, Equestira will be like the Everfree.”

“What do you mean?”

“Exactly what I said,” the core of Venu’s apple was placed beside him. “When you first walked into this forest, you felt something didn’t you?”

“Yeah, I did.”

“What do you think that thing is?”

“Umm…” Spike tapped his chin. “Supernatural mojo?”

“Supernatural, no. Mojo, yes,” Venu laughed. “This entire country is full of magic. Everything is guided by it. And when I say everything, I mean everything. The plants that the earth ponies grow have magic flowing through them. The pegasai are able to control the clouds themselves with their inert magic. And it’s rather obvious as to what the unicorns do.”

“What does this have to do with you not leaving the Everfree?”

“You’ll see. If all of Equestria has magic within it then the Everfree is no different.”

“But the Everfree is so wild and uncontrolled,” Venu snapped his fingers and pointed to Spike.

“That,” he said. “Is exactly why I make my home here.”

“I don’t understand,” Spike said.

“The magic in the Everfree Forest is wild and uncontrolled,” Venu explained. “It’s because of that, that I stay here. Some get lost within the forest, and those who do get lost, need a guide out. But others need a guide into it.”

“And that guide is you?”

“Precisely. But there is another reason I make my home here. And it’s because I genuinely love this forest. It’s alive, unpredictable, and wild. I love every bit of it,” A content smile was on Venu’s face. “Does that answer your question?”

“Yeah,” Spike looked around himself. The sound of bird songs echoed all around them. A small smile formed on his face. “I guess it does.”

“Good,” Venu picked up his flute. “Have you been practising?” The baby dragon took his flute off his neck and nodded. “Very good. Show me if you’ve improved.” Spike raised his flute to his lips. When he blew into it, a calm tune came from it. Venu closed his eyes as he listened to Spike’s flute. A gentle wind blew past the two of them as Spike played. The bird songs silenced themselves when he played. The wind grew in strength when sharp notes left Spike’s flute. He finished his song and placed the flute down.

“Well?” Spike asked. “How’d I do?” Venu opened his eyes.

“Very good,” he said with a smile. “You played a little too quickly in some parts of the song, and you could use a little more training when it comes to breathing, but other than that, you did fantastic.”

“Thanks, Mr. Venu,” Spike said. “Any ideas as to where to go next?”

“Just keep practising,” Venu idly moved his fingers along his flute. “You’re improving at an incredible rate. I wouldn’t be surprised if you master that instrument in a month’s time.” Spike rubbed the back of his head.

“You’re just saying that,” he said.

“I’m not,” Venu looked up. Light was fading from the sky. “It’s getting late. I think it would be best to get you home.” Spike mimicked his teacher and looked up.

“There’s still a little time before I have to leave,” he said. “There should be enough time to play one more song. Do you have time for that?” Venu brought his flute to his lips. A gentle melody came from it as his fingers moved. Spike brought his flute to his mouth and did the same as the faun in front of him. Smiles were on both of the flautist’s faces as they played their song.

The Price of Victory

Eight ponies stood around the statue of the god of chaos. The Elements of Harmony were being worn by their bearers and the diarchs of Equestria stood at attention. All of them were fidgeting and their eyes moved back and forth as if being watched.

“This isn’t a good idea,” Twilight said. “There has to be another option.”

“I’m afraid there isn’t,” Celestia turned her head. “They’re causing too much chaos. And there’s only one solution to that problem.”

“Even more chaos?”

“That’s correct,” Luna said.

Twilight smacked her forehead. “That makes no logical sense!”

“Exactly,” both diarchs said.

“You know, this wouldn’t have happened if you listened to me,” Pinkie complained. “I told you the first one was evil, but none of you listened! This is almost like the parasprite invasion.”

“Yes, because setting them on fire would definitely solve our problem,” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “At least a dozen of them are made of fire.”

“The first one wasn’t made out of fire! All of this could have been prevented if we just burned him to the ground!”

“Um, girls?” Fluttershy whimpered. “Look up.”

“Rainbow Dash is right, Pinkie,” Rarity said ignoring Fluttershy. “Besides, fire is such a messy way to murder them. We should have used poison to kill him.”

“Rarity, I’ve seen ten of them made out of poison smog,” Applejack deadpanned. “Poison’s not gonna kill them.”

“Girls?”

“Pinkamena was correct in her assumption,” Luna said. “Fire is the best way to get rid of plagues, and this scenario is no different.”

“GIRLS!” everypony turned their attention to Fluttershy. “Look up.” All of their eyes widened when they did so.

“I’ve found them!” a voice shouted. “They’re in the castle gardens right by…” A beam of yellow energy shot the intruder out of the sky. Celestia and Luna distanced themselves and lit up their horns. A two toned spherical barrier formed around the assembled group.

“Undo the seal,” Celestia said. “This shield will only buy us a little time. Hurry!” The Element Bearers nodded before turning their attention to the statue. They closed their eyes just as the Elements gave off a familiar glow. The stone began to melt away, slowly revealing colour. At the bottom of the statue, a puddle of stone formed. When all of the stone melted, a mismatched creature fell to the ground. He pushed his body upwards gasped for air. A sinister smile formed on his face as he panted.

“Yes,” he said. “Finally, after… I don’t know, what’s a dramatic amount of time? After a while, I’m free. Say goodbye to your precious harmony, Equestria, because chaos will rain from the sky!” The creature moved his arms before looking at them. Attached to his wrists were stone cuffs with red glowing arcane symbols on them.

“Did you really think that we’d release you without a way to keep you down?” Luna asked. “We knew that you’d try to start causing mischief, so we prepared those for you, Discord. They’ll limit your powers so we can negotiate.”

“You,” Discord said pointing at Luna. “One of two ponies who originally sealed me away, have decided to release me, the physical embodiment of chaos and anarchy?” Luna nodded. “Seriously? What have you been smoking to come to that decision?”

“Discord,” Celestia said. Discord snapped his talons and a glass of chocolate milk appeared before him. The glass was brought to his lips. “We need your help.” Glass shot out of his mouth and he fell into a coughing fit.

“I’m sorry,” he said between coughs. “I thought I heard something completely and utterly insane. And yes, I’m aware of the hypocrisy. Did you say that you need my help?”

“We do,” Twilight said. “This is something that the Elements of Harmony couldn’t handle. We tried to stop them with it, but it only made them stronger.”

“Now I’m curious. What is it that spooked you all so badly?” As if on cue, something landed on the shield. All of the ponies looked up with fear in their eyes while Discord quirked an eyebrow. Standing on the shield was an emerald green alicorn stallion. His mane and tail were flowing as if on fire and mechanical braces were on the base of his wings.

“An alicorn?” Discord asked. “That’s what caused you to release me?”

“They’re not alicorns,” Pinkie said. “They’re something else entirely. And they just keep coming and coming.”

“There’s more?” A second alicorn landed at the base of the shield. This one had a shaggy black and red mane and a short tail. His body was completely black and he had red stripes as if he were a zebra. On top of his eyes were bright red sunglasses. Another made of fire marched up beside him. An alicorn made entirely out of water stood on the other side of the shield, and more kept coming. Alicorns of every colour, substance, and design soon stood around the shield. Each of them raised a hoof and hit the shield. Cracks began to form on the shield.

“Ah,” Discord played with the solid piece of chocolate milk in his talons. “Them.”

“If you know what they are, why don’t you help us?” Rainbow asked.

“Patience, young Rainbow Dash,” a smile formed on Discord’s face. “You wouldn’t want this shield to break from the inside now would you?”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Applejack said. Discord pulled his arm back.

“Stop!” Celestia yelled. “Can you stop them?”

“That I can.”

“What will it take for you to help us?”

“Now that’s more like it,” a paw tapped the draconequues’ chin. “I’ll help you, under three conditions.”

“Name them.” The Element Bearers gasped.

“Princess Celestia,” Rarity said. “Surely you aren’t playing with the idea that you can…”

“Name them.”

“First, I’d like you to remove these cuffs. I can’t access all of my powers if I have them on.”

“Once you agree to help, they will be removed. What else do you want?”

“Second, I’d like twenty four hours worth of freedom. During that time, you and none of the Elements can stop me, no matter what I do.”

“Done.” The cracks in the shield were growing.

“Sister, is that really a wise decision?”

“No, dear Lulu,” Discord smirked. “It’s not.” Luna lit up her horn and pointed it at him. A white hoof pushed her back.

“What’s the last thing you want?” Celestia asked.

“One final request, and you’ll like this one, Pinkie,” he said. “Play a little game with me.”

“A game?!” stars formed in Pinkie’s eyes. “I love games! What are we going to play? Candyland? Pin the tail on the pony? Xiangqi? Go? Chess? Battleships?”

“Nothing like that, but it is a board game… in a way anyways.” A piece of the shield fell down.

“Agreed.” Celestia lit up her horn and the cuffs fell off. Discord snapped his lion’s paw and the shield disappeared. All of the alicorns stared at the assembled group with empty eyes. They slowly marched forward.

“I knew it!” Twilight screamed. “I knew he couldn’t be trusted!”

“So, this is how we die,” Rainbow said. “I can’t complain.”

“Girls,” Fluttershy said. “I want you all to know, you’re the best friends I could’ve asked for. I’m proud to call you my friends.”

“Same here,” Rarity fell to the floor and sobbed. Applejack placed a hoof on her. “I know, Rare. It’s going to be hard.”

“Oh for goodness sake!” Discord clapped. “Stop with the saccharine soaked speeches!” He sunk his claws into the air. Both were pulled in opposite directions as if he was opening a heavy door. A large hole slowly opened up as he did so. A strong gust of wind came from the other end of the hole, sucking in anything in front of it. An alicorn was sucked in and many soon followed. All of the assembled ponies held onto the ground as the alicorns were sucked into the void. Celestia lost her grip and join the group. Try as she might, Celestia could not fight against the wind.

“Princess!” Discord reached out, grabbing onto Celestia’s foreleg. He pulled her back and put her beside Luna. When the last alicorn was sucked in, Discord pushed the void closed. He cracked his neck before smiling.

“There,” he said. “All done.” The ponies stood up.

“What did you do?” Pinkie asked.

“And what were they?” Twilight added.

“They, are known as Sues,” Discord explained. “Think of them as poorly constructed fictional characters. They have outlandish designs for no rhyme or reason, and things just happen to them. Usually, these things lead to little or no conflict. They survive virtually anything due to convenient a power they miraculously have. Nothing can kill them except maybe Murphy’s Law.”

“What did you do to them?” Luna asked.

“I sent them to the place where ideas are born,” he continued. “They’re in a place where they can’t harm any living being. It’s strange though, normally they can’t leave the Collective Unconscious. If they came here, it means that ideas are falling into reality. But that’s not my problem.” Discord turned around with a smile on his face.

“You all have to live up to your end of the bargain,” all of the ponies save Celestia got into defensive stances. “Hey, I kept my part of the deal, now it’s your turn to do the same.”

“He’s right,” Celestia said. “I suppose you want your freedom now?”

“Actually, no,” the solar princess raised an eyebrow. “I want to play our game instead.”

“You never said what game it is,” Pinkie said. “So what is it?”

“First, let me explain the rules," Discord snapped his talons, bringing three objects into existence: a gold star with a pair of black eyes on it, a cube with numbers constantly moving on all of the faces, and a pile of bits. "Basic goal: collect as many of these stars as possible. Each of these stars are worth fifty bits. Who ever wins the game, gets to bring the money equivalent to the number stars they have back to Equestria." A long silence sat with them.

"What?" they said in unison.

"What's not to understand?" the draconequues shrugged. "I'm being generous, is it really that complex of an idea? One of your Elements are powered by it. So you of all ponies should get it."

"How do we play?" Rarity asked raising an eyebrow.

"Simple," the cube was brought forward. "Role a number, move along the board, play a special game after everypony has had a turn, earn bits, rinse and repeat." Pinkie closed her eyes in concentration. Her left hoof tapped her chin as each rule was explained. Pinkie's eyes shot open.

"Oh," she said. "Oh no. Anything but that."

"You'll get a more detailed explanation once the game begins," with another snap, the items disappeared. A grassy green pipe rose from the ground where they stood. The opening was wide enough to fit a full grown alicorn. "Step into the pipe, and the game can begin." None of the ponies moved.

"Come on, come on, you agreed to this," Discord held his talon out. "Or do you want the Sues back here again?"

"NO!" A brief silence passed by. Celestia took the lead and moved towards the pipe. She placed herself into the opening, falling into it. All of the others soon followed, with the exception of Pinkie. The pink pony stood in place with an empty look in her eyes. Twilight turned around.

"Pinkie?" she asked. "Are you okay?"

"No," Pinkie whispered. "Not the tug-o-war, not the rafts, not the bicycle, anything but the bicycle..." Both she and Twilight were lifted up by a gold aura.

"Oh, don't worry about her," the two were held over the pipe. "She's just played this game before." The aura disappeared, dropping the two. Discord flew into the air and dived straight in. The pipe lowered itself into the ground as the last of his tail flew in. The nine of them fell down the pipe with the vast majority of them confused. Pinkie's eyes were still empty, despite the fact that they were falling.

"Pinkie, Discord said you've played this before, is it true?" Twilight asked. Pinkie nodded. "What's going to happen then?"

"Oh, nothing," the pink pony said in a flat tone. "We're just going to have a party."

Observation Skills

Three members of the Apple family sat within their kitchen. The youngest Apple was away on a school trip, leaving them in a significantly quieter household. In front of each pony was a warm mug of cider. The stetson wearing family member took the last few sips from her mug and placed it on the table her family sat at.

“Thanks for the cider,” she said. “I’d best be heading to bed. Good night Mac, good night Granny.” She got up from her seat and began to leave the room.

“Before you go, AJ,” the elderly green mare said. “I have a question for you. What are you hiding from us?” Applejack froze in place.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Granny” she lied.

“Really now?” Granny Smith took a sip from her mug. “Then those creaks coming from your room aren’t you sneaking out in the middle of the night?”

“Nope,” Applejack’s eyes darted back and forth. “Granny, I can honestly say that I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Child, I’ve outlived three generations of Apples,” Applejack turned around. “You can’t hide anything from me. I’ve lived longer than you can even imagine. I’ve met every living family member we have, and I know them all like I know my reflection. I know all of our habits and ticks. And I can tell when we’re lying. You in particular are not a very good liar. So tell me, what are you hiding?”

“Nothing, nothing at all.” Again, Applejack’s eyes darted back and forth. A grin formed on Granny Smith’s mouth.

“Ah, I see,” she said. “Who’s the lucky pony?”

“What?!” Granny Smith took a calm sip from her mug. “I’m not seeing anypony!”

“Again with the lying, don’t you get tired with the paper thin lies?” Applejack shuffled her hooves. “It’s nothing that you should hide. Hell, I remember pulling the same thing you did when I was much younger. Oh, those were some fun days. Is it safe to assume that you’re having fun with your special somepony?” She pulled her stetson over her face to hide a blush.

“Fine,” Applejack said. “I’ll admit it. I’ve been sneaking out every night to visit somepony very special. And, as much as I’d hate to admit it, yes, we are having fun. Lots of fun with their boundless energy. Never thought a pony like that would be so energetic.”

“Why wouldn’t you tell me, AJ?” Granny Smith asked. “What possible reason do you have to hide the fact that you’re seeing some stalli…” Her sentence stopped in her throat when she looked to Applejack. She was looking to the side and could not look her in the eyes.

“I see.”

“Granny, let me explain…”

“Why would you hide this?” Applejack blinked. “Did you think I’d cast you out? Did you think I’d resent you just because you’re involved with a mare? I haven’t thrown Macintosh out even though he’s been seeing that saxophone playing stallion for a while.” At the mention of his name, Big Macintosh spat out his cider in surprise. He coughed a few times before turning to his grandmother.

“Making music?” she asked. “Is that what you youngins call it now a days? Back in my day we just called it se…” A red hoof slamming itself on the table stopped her. It then pointed to Applejack.

“Right, thanks for reminding me,” Granny Smith turned to Applejack. “AJ, even if you do love a mare, what right do I have to tell you that it’s wrong? I have no right to tell you who to love, just like I have no right to tell others how to live. I can guide them with my experience, but I can’t force them to change their life.” Applejack was silent.

“Just let me ask this one thing, does she make you happy?” Applejack smiled.

“Yes, she does,” she answered.

“Then that’s all I need to hear. Go on, you don’t want to keep her waiting do you?” Applejack returned her stetson to her head and left the room. When she heard the house’s door close, Granny Smith turned to her grandson. “Now, we need to talk about you denying your relationship.” Big Macintosh gave her a stoic glance.

“I honestly can’t tell whether or not you’re lying about that.”

Procrastination

Twilight had had a long day. For the first time that she could remember, the library had visitors. Ordinarily she would be ecstatic about this fact. Unfortunately, she was over worked. Roughly seven dozen ponies had come into the library an hour before it was scheduled to close. All of them demanded the same thing: books. Both she and Spike worked their best to satisfy the crowd’s demand, but they couldn’t meet everypony’s needs. Library hours had been extended so that each pony could take a book home. All of the ponies left the library with a book in tow and a smile on their face. Due to the sudden influx of ponies, the library was left in a mess. Twilight was walking around the foyer picking up dropped books. Each of the books were slid into their proper place on the shelves. When the last book was pushed in, a knock came from the door. The door was opened with a single thought. Standing on the other side were two ponies: a cerulean pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail carrying a saddlebag, and a pink earth pony with a poofy mane and tail carrying a purple pouch over her neck. Both of them had smiles on their faces.

“Hi Twilight,” Pinkie said. Twilight in response offered a weak smile. “Is something wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong, Pinkie,” she said. “I’ve just had a long day. What brings you two here?”

“It’s Wednesday,” Rainbow Dash said. “And it’s your turn to host.”

Twilight blinked. “Host? What are you talking abou…” her eyes widened in realization. “Oh. Oh!” She ran to the door and hugged both ponies.

“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” Rainbow pushed Twilight away.

“Whoa, easy there,” both Rainbow and Pinkie entered the library. “Looking forward to this?”

“You could say that,” Pinkie closed the door. “I just really need to unwind after today. You two brought everything we need?” The pegasus reached into her saddlebag and pulled a clear glass object out. It was in the shape of a gourd and had a long hooked neck. Sitting in it was a glass tube.

“That we did,” Rainbow smiled. “I just finished cleaning this today. So we’re going to get a real nice buzz from the stuff Pinkie got from Grand Daddy Purple.”

“Grand Daddy Purple?”

“You haven’t tried Grand Daddy Purple’s stuff have you?” Pinkie asked. Twilight shook her head. “Oh, you’re going to like this then. Before we do this though, I have to ask: is Spike here?”

“No, he’s not,” Twilight answered. “He’s staying at Sweet Apple Acres for the night.”

“Aww, that’s adorable how Apple Bloom invites him over,” the librarian blinked. “But that’s great! Well, not really since Spike isn’t here, but since he isn’t, I don’t have to be subtle!”

“You, subtle?” Rainbow laughed. “The day that happens is the day that Applejack grows oranges.”

“Like you’re one to talk,” Pinkie lightly jabbed her pegasus friend’s ribs. “I’m surprised your toast cravings haven’t given us away yet.”

“Hey! Toast is awesome, you can’t deny that.”

“I’m not arguing that it isn’t, but it’s kind of obvious to everypony else as to what we’re doing if you keep making toast.”

“Well we haven’t been caught yet, so there’s that,” Rainbow turned to Twilight. “Anyways, you prepared for this right?”

“I was wondering why I had bought so many snack foods and loaves of bread,” Twilight said. “Yes, I have everything we need. Just let me get two things first.” Her horn lit up covering two objects in a purple aura. A ring made of stone was brought over to her. She placed the ring over her horn causing it to glow with arcane characters.

“A magic limiter?” Pinkie asked. “Why would you need that?”

“Remember what happened when we did this two weeks ago?” both of Twilight’s friends shuddered. “Yeah, that’s why.” Again, her horn gave off a purple glow. A pair of round glasses with green lenses in them was brought to her face. The glasses’ temples were opened and placed over Twilight’s eyes.

“Okay, now I’m ready. Follow me to my room, we can do it there.”

A pale smoke drifted around Twilight’s bedroom as she and her friends sat on a pile of pillows. A gentle tune flowed around the room as they sat there. Between them was a pile of multicoloured blocks stacked on top of each other. Pinkie had her tongue out in concentration as she tried to place a red block on top of the pile. Rainbow had a near empty glass of an orange liquid to her lips while Twilight had her mouth over the gourd’s end.

“Hey Dashie,” Pinkie said. “Do you think you can get me some juice when you get up?” Rainbow moved the glass from her lips.

“Once I’m out of this stuff, then I’ll get up,” she tilted the glass upside down, staring at its emptiness. “And that would be now. What do you want? Mango?” The pink pony nodded. The pegasus slowly got up from her spot. She stumbled as she moved towards the room’s door. Along the way, she bumped into a desk. A piece of parchment fell from it to Rainbow’s hooves. She picked it up and brought it to her eyes.

“Twi,” said pony looked up at Rainbow. Her cheeks were puffed out and smoke was rising from the gourd. “I think this is yours.” Twilight’s horn glowed bringing the paper to her. Rainbow left the room as Twilight read through it. She coughed out pale smoke when she reached the note’s end.

“Holy… crap,” she said between coughs. “I forgot about this!”

“Forgot about what?” Pinkie tilted her head.

“This!” the note was shoved in front of Pinkie’s face. She moved her head back and began reading.

Friendship Report

Must be sent before Thursday at noon.

Princess Celestia is expecting one from you.

“I thought you didn’t have to send her so many Friendship Reports,” Pinkie said. “Why do you need to send her one before noon tomorrow?”

“I promised her at least one a month,” Twilight said panicking. “And the Friendship Report that I have to write has to be sent tomorrow! What do I do?! What do I do?! What do I do?!”

“Just write one,” Twilight blinked. “If you need a report, try writing one.”

“That’s brilliant!” a second piece of parchment and a quill in an ink well were brought over to Twilight. “I can’t believe that I didn’t think about that. But first, I probably should take these off.” She placed her hooves over her glasses and removed them. Immediately, her forelegs covered her eyes.

“Gah!” she screamed. “Colour!” The sudden noise caused Pinkie to knock her tower over. Her forelegs quickly moved to her ears.

“Noise!” she moaned. “Terrible, terrible noise!” Twilight removed her forelegs from her eyes and blinked. She looked down at the parchment and grabbed the quill. Pinkie reached for another block with her foreleg. The block was placed on the ground. Another was soon stacked on top of it and the process repeated itself.

The door to the room opened and Rainbow walked inside. She was carrying a plate on her back with eight pieces of toast piled on top of it. Both of her wings held glasses of mango juice, and a third glass with a white liquid in it was on her muzzle.

“Twi,” she said. “I brought you some lychee juice. Do you think you could get this glass off my stout?” The glass was covered in a familiar glow and brought to Twilight’s side. Rainbow walked to Pinkie and passed one of the glasses to her. The plate was put down and she sat down beside it. Rainbow looked at her purple friend. She was staring at a blank piece of parchment with a quill in her magical grip.

“How long has she been like that?” Rainbow asked.

“How long have you been gone?” Rainbow looked up at a nearby clock.

“As of now, twenty minutes.”

“Twenty minutes then,” Pinkie answered, placing another block on her tower.

“Twi, you’ve been staring at that parchment for twenty minutes,” Twilight looked up at Rainbow. “Don’t you think you should stop?”

“I can’t!” she said. “I have to write a Friendship Report to Princess Celestia before noon tomorrow. Or else!”

“Or else what?”

“I don’t know, but it’s going to be bad!” Rainbow sipped from her glass.

“Do you have any idea what you’re going to write?” she asked.

“Well,” Twilight said sheepishly. “No.”

“Are you in any condition to write anything coherent?” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Okay, I'll admit, that was a stupid question on my part. Let me suggest something. Write about your experiences of what we do on a weekly basis. You’ve tried it enough times to know what to write, and you can talk about how a pony shouldn’t have preconceived notions before trying something.”

“Brilliant!” the sudden outburst caused Pinkie to once again knock her tower down. All of the ponies cringed at the sound. “Sorry. But I can’t even write a coherent sentence. What do I do?”

“Do it when we wake up tomorrow,” Rainbow shrugged. “Just wake up before noon, and write as fast as possible.” Twilight looked down at the parchment.

“Just relax,” Pinkie said. “If you don’t, the buzz will go away faster. Listen to Dashie, she knows what she’s doing.”

“Against my better judgment, I’ll do that,” Twilight pushed the quill, ink well, and parchment off to the side. “As soon as I wake up, I’ll write the Report.” The glass beside her was brought to her lips. She smiled when she placed it down.

“Really, Rainbow?” Twilight asked. “Toast?” The toast in Rainbow’s hooves stopped its journey to her mouth.

“Hey! Don’t judge me! I’m not the one procrastinating here.” Twilight raised a hoof for a retort. After a few moments, she put her hoof down and shrugged. She looked around for the gourd, but found that Pinkie was using it. She lifted her head and passed it to Twilight. Pale smoke exited her mouth.

“Twilight?” Pinkie asked. “Do you think you’ll make it in time?” Twilight shrugged before putting her glasses on her face. She put her mouth to the top of the gourd; a bubbling sound came from it as she inhaled. For the moment nothing mattered to her. As soon as the sun came up, she could worry. Until then, she decided to lose herself in the pale haze.

Religious Holidays

Early morning was starting for the country of Equestria. The sun was beginning its ascent over the horizon and many animals began to wake from their slumber. Many of the citizens of Ponyville were returning from their trip to dreamland. In a cottage near the Everfree Forest, the owner was hard at work. Her and a small group of birds were cleaning the cottage. While a mundane activity, it held meaning beyond having a clean home for the owner given what day it was. Fluttershy stood outside with a bucket and a stone statue sitting with her. The statue depicted a pony sitting with his hind legs crossed over each other. The ends of the statue’s forelegs were pressed together at its chest and what looked like a robe was etched into it. Fluttershy took the bucket and gently poured its contents over the statue. Water gently flowed over it. The bucket was tilted back, leaving the statue to dry. The smell of perfume came from the statue as it dried. Six birds flew out of a window and waited in front of Fluttershy.

“All done with the cleaning?” she asked. The birds nodded. “Thank you, friends. I have one more favour to ask: can you make sure that this statue doesn’t get dirty while it’s drying?” Again, the birds nodded.

“Thank you again,” a pot being banged three times turned Fluttershy’s attention to inside her home. “I think Angel wants to see me. I’ll see you later, and I’ll award you all tomorrow.” The birds happily chirped as Fluttershy walked inside. She followed the sound of the banging to her kitchen table. Sitting on top of it was a large pot, a white rabbit wearing a chef’s hat, and two bowls. Inside each bowl was a thick porridge made out of rice with green onions and shredded white radish on top of it.

“Angel, you made chok?” the rabbit hopped to one of the bowls and nodded. “That was very considerate of you, thank you.” Fluttershy sat down. Before she could start eating, Angel made gestures with his paws.

“Plans for today?” Angel nodded. “Well, after breakfast, I was going to go visit my friends.” His paws again moved around.

“Of course I was planning to do that. It wouldn’t be Songkran if I didn’t,” Angel’s eyes gave Fluttershy a pleading look. “Yes, you can come with me, Angel. After we eat breakfast.” He happily hopped in place before bowing to her.

“สุขสันต์วันสงกรานต์ to you too, Angel.”

Fluttershy was carefully flying to Sweet Apple Acres with a bucket in her mouth and Angel on her head. Like Fluttershy, he was carrying a small bucket full of water. The water was important, and not a single drop could be wasted. As soon as the empty fields turned to apple orchards, Angel tapped his foot. Fluttershy landed in the orchard before looking around. A tree in the distance shook and lost its apples. She walked towards the tree, hearing hooves making contact with wood as she moved forwards. After a few moments of walking, she saw an orange earth pony mare with a stetson on her head. Her hind legs were in the trunk of a tree and apples were falling into baskets. She took off her hat and wiped her sweaty brow.

“Hello Applejack,” Fluttershy said. Applejack turned around. She placed her stetson back on her head with a smile on her face.

“Howdy Fluttershy,” she said. “What brings you here?”

“There’s something that Angel and I have to do today,” Fluttershy placed the bucket down. “And we decided that you’d be the first one we do it with.”

“What exactly are you planning to…” a splash of water to the face stopped Applejack’s sentence. Angel had his bucket out in front of him with a smirk on his face. “Granted, I needed something to cool me down, but that was uncalled for you little…”

“สุขสันต์วันสงกรานต์,” Fluttershy said with a smile. Applejack blinked.

“Songkran? Today is Songkran?” both Fluttershy and Angel nodded. “Alright then. I guess I can’t fault the little varmint. Happy Songkran to you too.” Applejack grabbed Fluttershy’s bucket and threw a small portion of its contents at the pony in front of her. Both Angel and Fluttershy were drenched in water. Angel looked to Applejack with a disgruntled expression while she smiled. Fluttershy’s smile stayed in its place. She took the bucket from Applejack, waved goodbye, and flew to town.

“What do you want to do?” Pinkie asked. She and Rainbow Dash were walking through downtown Ponyville. The two of them had planned an outing together but forgot to plan actual things to do.

“I have no idea,” Rainbow answered. “We can always go pranking, but we don’t have any new pranks to pull. The old ones are starting to get stale. Maybe we could go to the library to get some pranking books.”

“All of those books are garbage,” Pinkie deadpanned. “None of those pranks are creative. They’re mechanical, it feels like they were made by somepony who’s never pranked a pony before. You won’t learn anything substantial by reading those…” Both Pinkie and Rainbow were splashed by water. The two of them stopped in their place.

“Wow!” Pinkie shook herself. “That felt good. Thanks whoever splashed us with… Fluttershy?” Fluttershy had her bucket out in front of her. Angel stood on her head and like her, had his bucket out in front of him. Rainbow pushed part of her mane out of her eyes.

“Hey Fluttershy, hey Angel,” she said. “สุขสันต์วันสงกรานต์.”

“สุขสันต์วันสงกรานต์ to you too, Rainbow,” Fluttershy put her bucket down. “สุขสันต์วันสงกรานต์ Pinkie Pie.”

“Suk san what now?” Pinkie asked. “What does that mean? And why are you throwing water at us?”

“It means Happy Songkran, Pinkie,” Rainbow answered. “Today’s Songkran. It’s a holiday that’s essentially…”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Pinkie pushed her hooves in front of herself. “Back up. Today’s a holiday? How come you know about this, and why was I not informed about it?”

“I grew up with Fluttershy,” Rainbow shook herself. “She and her family celebrated it every year. I asked her what Songkran was, and she showed me how to celebrate it when we were younger.”

“It’s a religious holiday, I don’t think anypony who isn’t a practitioner celebrates it on a regular basis,” Fluttershy said. “Like Rainbow was saying, it’s like New Years. Splashing water on others is a way to celebrate it. It’s a sign of cleansing and renewal as well as respect.”

“So basically, ponies go around splashing water at each other and nopony gets angry?”

“Well, there’s more to it than that, but yes that is part of the celebration.”

“Dashie,” a wide grin appeared on Pinkie’s face. “I know what we can do today.”

“Way ahead of you,” Rainbow launched herself into the air and flew away. Pinkie happily hopped in the direction that the cerulean pegasus was heading. Fluttershy looked into the bucket.

“I only have a little water left,” she said. “Angel, who do you think we should visit before refilling?” Angel pointed to the library. Though off in the distance, Fluttershy could see an empty gold chariot take off beside it.

“The Royal Chariot,” she picked her bucket up and moved towards the library. “That means that Princess Celestia is here. I’m sure she and Twilight won’t mind celebrating.”

Twilight and Celestia walked out of the library with smiles on their faces. Despite the fact that she had made several errors that most would notice, the solar princess either didn’t notice or smiled despite them. Twilight believed it was the latter.

“Princess,” she said. “Where would you like to go first?”

“You’ve told me so many wonderful things that you and your friends have done,” Celestia replied. “Do you think we can visit them?”

“I don’t see why not,” Twilight looked up. She could see a butter yellow pegasus with a white rabbit on her head approaching them. “Actually, I don’t think we have to visit, one is coming to us.” As the pegasus got closer, Twilight noticed that she and the rabbit were holding buckets.

“Hello Fluttershy,” Celestia said. Fluttershy in response bowed.

“Hello your Highness,” she said. “Hello Twilight.”

“It’s good to see you, Fluttershy,” she looked at the bucket. “If you don’t mind me asking, why do you have a bucket?” Water to the face answered her. Twilight looked to Celestia. Like her, she was drenched in water. Her normally flowing ethereal mane was flattened against her head and on the ground. Both Fluttershy and Angel had empty buckets in front of them and smiles on their faces.

“สุขสันต์วันสงกรานต์,” panic grew in Twilight.

“Fluttershy!” she screamed. “You can’t throw water at Princess Celestia! You’ve literally assaulted royalty!” Twilight turned to Celestia.

“Princess, I am so sorry that Fluttershy did that. I’ll find a way to punish…” Celestia raised a hoof stopping Twilight.

“Songkran?” she asked. Her horn glowed and the water came off both her and Twilight. Each droplet merged together in front of her forming a ball of water. “I didn’t think anypony here would celebrate that.” The water was thrown onto Fluttershy and Angel. Both of them were pushed back by its force. Fluttershy’s mane covered her face while Angel’s ears were flat against his head. Celestia giggled.

“สุขสันต์วันสงกรานต์ to you too, Fluttershy.”

A Good Idea

The light of a full moon shined down on Ponyville’s graveyard. Dozens of headstones and memorials were scattered around. Many were in poor condition with the words engraved into them barely readable. Others were brand new with barely a crack in them. Sitting in front of one of the headstones were three fillies and a baby dragon. A volumetric flask sat between them as well as various powders and liquids. Beside each occupant was an obtuse object: to the pegasus’ side was a shovel with a sharpened spade, at the unicorn’s side was a baseball bat, with the earth pony was a table leg, and two knives duct taped to the end of a broken broom sat at the baby dragon’s feet. The baby dragon held a piece of parchment and a quill in his hands.

“Okay,” he said. “Let’s go over this one more time. Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, do we have everything?”

“Read out the list,” Apple Bloom said. “We’ll check off each item if we have it.”

“Alright then,” Spike looked at the parchment. “A copy of Necromancy for Foals?” Sweetie Belle held up a deep blue book with a silver pentagram on it. A red rectangular piece of plastic sat in the middle of the book. On the book’s cover was what looked like a small colt wearing a black hooded robe and a large smile on his face. The words ‘Necromancy for Foals’ were at the top and bottom of the book.

“Check,” Spike checked off an item on the list.

“Flammable liquids?” Scootaloo picked up two glass bottles. One had a translucent yellow liquid in it while the other had a clear liquid in it.

“Check,” another item was checked off.

“A source of fire?” Spike was poked by a yellow hoof.

“Check,” the four of them chuckled.

“Good,” Spike said rolling up the parchment. “We have all of our safety measures. Sweetie, turn to the bookmarked page and we can work on the solution.” The book was opened up and the rectangular plastic was removed.

“How do you even have a copy of this?” Scootaloo asked. “I thought all the copies in Equestria were burned after what happened thirty years ago.”

“All the copies in Equestria were turned to ash,” Spike replied. “Nopony said anything about acquiring a copy outside of Equestria.”

“That doesn’t explain why Twilight has an original printed copy of this book,” Sweetie Belle said. “What, did she go out of Equestria when she was a filly to get this or something?”

“Time spell,” all of the fillies nodded in understanding. “That, and morbid curiosity.”

“Is Twilight performing experiments that spit in the face of creation again?” Apple Bloom asked.

“I’m not at liberty to say,” Spike’s eyes darted back and forth.

“That’s a yes then,” a white hoof placed itself on a page of the book. “Half-Life Potion. First, we need a teaspoon of an alluring scent.” Scootaloo opened a bottle of perfume. She poured a small amount of it into a spoon then into the flask.

“A tablespoon of sweetness,” Spike opened up a bag of sugar. He scooped a small amount onto a spoon and dumped the spoon’s contents into the flask.

“A piece of desire,” Apple Bloom opened up a diary. She flipped through the pages until she found a page with a heart drawn around written words. She ripped it out, tore the paper, and threw the scraps into the mixture. “Is that Applejack’s diary?”

“Shhh,” a hoof was over Apple Bloom’s mouth. “She doesn’t know about this. Besides, all I took was one love poem she wrote about somepony. There’s at least ten of those in here. And all of them revolve around one pony.”

“Aww, that’s so sweet,” Sweetie Belle looked back at the book. “A pinch of alicorn from an alicorn.”

“What’s alicorn?” Scootaloo asked.

“It’s what unicorn horns are made of,” Spike opened up a pouch with a white powder in it. His fingers pinched a small amount of the powder.

“How’d you get that?” Spike shuddered. “Okay, best not to ask. What’s left?”

“Two more things. A portion of the sky,” Scootaloo dropped a small cloud into the flask. “And two shots of life.” Apple Bloom opened a test tube full of a blood red liquid. She slowly poured its contents into their mixture. When she was done, Spike picked up the flask. He swirled its contents, carefully examining them. After a few moments, the ingredients fused together and gave off a deep red glow.

“I think it’s done,” he said. “Ready to go?” Sweetie Belle shut the book and placed it in a saddlebag. She and her friends picked up the objects beside them. They crouched down into a defensive stance with determination in their eyes. Spike picked up his broomstick and turned to the headstone they stood in front of.

“Here goes nothing,” the flask was turned over. A drop of the glowing liquid spilled into the soil. Spike took a few steps back. The four of them stood there waiting. “I don’t think it…” The earth shaking interrupted him. From the base of the headstone, they could hear frantic digging. A rotting green hoof pushed its way out of the dirt.

“It worked!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. “I can’t believe it worked! Do you know what this means?”

“Yeah,” Sweetie Belle said. “We get to do something that nopony has ever done before!”

“And hopefully we get our cutie marks from it,” Scootaloo grinned. A second hoof breached the surface.

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADER ZOMBIE HUNTERS! YAY!” they screamed at the top of their lungs. The hooves pushed on the ground pulling up the body they were attached to. The head of a green earth pony stallion rose from the dirt. He had a purple mane and a similarly coloured goatee. A pair of round glasses were over his eye sockets. The left socket was empty while the right had a milky white eye in it. As he pulled himself from the ground, pieces of flesh fell of the pony.

“Braaaains,” he said as he got on all fours. “Braaaaains.”

“Gee,” Spike said. He placed the flask down. “Way to break a stereotype.”

“Braaaains,” the zombie continued. The zombie stumbled forwards approaching the four youths. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle ran to its left while Scootaloo and Spike ran to its right. Sweetie Belle tilted her head and hit the zombie’s foreleg. A loud snapped came out from the impact of the baseball bat. He moaned in pain and leaned to his right. Apple Bloom took her table leg and did the same as Sweetie Belle. Spike and Scootaloo swung their weapons from under his right legs. Both legs were cut off. The zombie fell to his side squirming and flailing his broken limbs. “Braaains.”

“Well now,” Spike said returning to the flask. “That was easy.”

“I know,” Scootaloo said. “TV shows and movies make it seem a lot harder.”

“Maybe it’s because we used a small amount of the potion,” Sweetie Belle placed her bat down. “If we used more of it, maybe we’d get stronger zombies.”

“Girls?” Apple Bloom asked. “You’re forgetting something important. Did we get our cutie marks?” The three fillies quickly turned their heads to the flanks. Like at the beginning of the night, they were bare.

“Awww,” they said. Spike kneeled in front of the zombie with the flask in hand.

“Maybe you didn’t get it because we didn’t kill it,” he said. “Who wants to go first?”

“Me!” Sweetie Belle shouted. The sudden noise caused the zombie to jerk his head. His head knocked the flask out of Spike’s hand. It flew into the air spilling the potion on seven other graves. Spike hopped back from the zombie as Sweetie Belle raised her bat over her head. She dropped it on the zombie’s head. The bat pushed through its skull. The zombie’s limbs stopped their movements. Sweetie Belle struck the zombie’s broken head two more times. She wiped her brow with a smile on her face. When she turned to her friends, they had blank expressions on their faces. “What? I had to make sure that it was dead.” Sweetie Belle turned to her flank. Again, it was blank.

“Rats,” she said. “I thought I would have gotten it this time.”

“I think we have more important things to deal with,” Spike said. “Look over there.” He pointed to seven graves behind the one they stood in front of. Seven zombies were pulling themselves out of the ground. Each of them were almost fully out of the earth.

“Oh boy,” Apple Bloom said with wide eyes. “This is bad. We can’t take out seven zombies!”

“Why not?” Scootaloo asked. “We took out this one, why can’t we stop seven?”

“Because they’ll be attacking us at the same time,” Spike said. “And they all got more than a drop of the potion, they might be stronger. Look, we’ll try this again tomorrow. We’ll focus on one at a time like we did tonight. For now, I say we burn them down. Anypony disagree?” Nobody there said a word. The zombies started stumbling towards them.

“Braaaains,” they moaned. Sweetie Belle grabbed the bottle with the clear liquid in it. She opened it up and splashed all of the zombies with a liberal amount of the solution. She and the other crusaders stood behind Spike. He took in a deep breath and puffed his cheeks out. A jet of green fire flew from his mouth as he exhaled. His head turned from side to side, dousing each of the zombies in flames. The moaned for a few moments before their ashes turned to purple sparks. The sparks swirled together into a circular mass before flying off into the distance.

“Sweetie,” Spike turned to the white unicorn. “Which one of the flammable bottles did you spill on them?”

“The clear one,” she answered. “Why?”

“That wasn’t the sight of zombies burning,” he pointed off into the distance. “That was the sight of something being sent via magical fire. Scootaloo, where did you get the liquids?”

“The lantern oil I got from home,” Scootaloo said. “The clear stuff I got from Twilight.”

“Oh no,” Spike dropped his weapon. “She must have given you the stuff we soak parchments in.”

“Is that how you send letters via fire?” Apple Bloom asked. Spike nodded. “So if the zombies were covered in the stuff that gets sent by magical fire, then that means…” All of the crusaders’ eyes widened. They stood in their place in absolute silence. A gust of wind passed by them.

“We need a scapegoat,” Spike said breaking the silence.

“Agreed.” All of the scattered materials and weapons were picked up and packed away. The four of them ran out of the graveyard as fast as their hooves and feet could carry them. Out of all the materials they brought, one was left behind: the flask. It sat on its side with a small amount of the potion dripping onto the ground. The earth underneath it shook and a hoof breached the surface.

Pieces of the Puzzle

All of Canterlot was participating in a game. On a whim, the younger of the two princesses had decided to organize something that the entire population could participate in. She had dozens of ideas floating around in her mind. They ranged from the mundane such as a chess tournament, to practices that had been outlawed for centuries such as gladiatorial combat. Eventually, she had decided to go with a scavenger hunt. The victors could ask for a favour from both of the diarchs of the country. No matter how absurd the favour, they had to follow through with it. Ponies were to be paired up with another to find a certain object. In this case, they were to find golden puzzle pieces. Two thousand puzzle pieces had been scattered around the city. They were hidden in the open, in places few could reach, and in places that nopony could even dream of hiding things. The only restriction to the hunt was that magic and flight could not be used while searching. Two ponies participating in the hunt were standing at the base of a four story apartment building. One was a pink earth pony with a poofy mane and tail, and her partner was a violet unicorn with two strips in her mane and tail. A velvet pouch was over the unicorn’s neck and a compass was held in front of her. The compass was pointing skywards and both of their heads were pointed in that direction.

“It’s here,” the unicorn said. “It’s at the top of this building.”

“Well, what are we waiting for?” the earth pony asked. “Come on, Twilight. If it’s at the top, then let’s go to the top!”

“Pinkie, it’s not that simple,” Twilight pointed to the building’s entrance. “What do you see?” The double doors of the apartment complex were worn out. Two pieces of wood were nailed across the doors preventing anypony from going inside. The bricks the building were built out of had faded due to neglect. All of the windows were boarded up and a demolition notice was in one of them.

“An abandoned building caused by gentrification?” Pinkie asked.

“Well, yes it is that. But what else do you see?”

“Proof of leap frog development?”

“I don’t think this was caused by leap frog development. Think on a basic level.”

“In-filling?”

“You’re just listing things that are part of urban sprawl aren’t you?”

“Maybe.”

“The entrance is blocked,” Twilight sighed. “If the entrance is blocked, we can’t get inside. And if we can’t get inside, we can’t get to the roof where the piece is.”

“Just because there isn’t a direct entrance,” Pinkie walked to the side of the building. “Doesn’t mean that there isn’t a way up there.” She stopped in the alleyway with a wide smile on her face.

“Look over here,” a pink hoof pointed to the side of the building. Twilight followed where it was pointing. A set of metallic stairs were built into the side of the building. Many of the railings were covered in rust. Instead of reaching the ground, the stairs stopped at the second story. A flight of stairs that led nowhere was hanging from the platform. An open dumpster sat a few feet away from the stairs. “That’s our way up there.”

“A barely safe fire escape?” Twilight asked. “I don’t think we can reach the roof by using it. Besides, there’s no way to get up to that platform. I can’t teleport us there without being disqualified.”

“Silly Twilight,” Pinkie giggled. “We don’t need teleportation or flight to get up there.”

“Then how do you suggest we get on the fire escape?”

“Close the dumpster for me,” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Trust me.” She walked to the dumpster and closed it. A loud metallic thud echoed in the alleyway. Pinkie took a few steps back. She ran towards it and jumped on top of it. Once on top of the dumpster, she leapt towards the fire escape. Her forelegs caught onto a railing and she hung from it. Pinkie pulled herself over it and stood on the platform.

“See?” she said. “Easy.”

“I don’t think I can do that,” Pinkie walked up the stairs. They creaked with every step she took. “And I don’t think that it’s going to support both of our weight.”

“Are you calling me fat?!” Pinkie gasped with fake shock. “I’ll have you know that I’ve been properly watching my weight and following a strict diet of vegetables, fruits, and a cake a day. Wait…” Twilight giggled.

“That’s not what I meant,” she said. Twilight looked up as Pinkie was half way up the third story. “I meant that because the fire escape is weak, we both might…” She stopped as the fire escape let out a loud noise.

“Huh, would you look at that,” Pinkie said. “Motivation to hurry up.” She hopped up the flight of stairs and landed at the highest platform. The roof was still at least a few feet above Pinkie. Pinkie walked to the railing and put her weight on it. When she saw that it could hold her, she climbed on top of it. It creaked under her as she turned to the wall. The majority of her weight was placed on her hind legs. She pushed herself off the railing causing it to break off from the fire escape. A loud clang came from the railing as it touched the ground.

“Pinkie!” Twilight shouted. “Hold on, I’ll get you down.” She closed her eyes in concentration.

“No!” she looked up. Hanging on the roof of the building was Pinkie. “Do not use magic. I don’t want to be out of the game yet.” Pinkie pulled her body over the ledge and tumbled forward. Twilight ran back to the front of the building. She stepped back from it and looked up. After a few moments, the silhouette of a pink earth pony stood at the edge of the roof with a foreleg extended. In her foreleg was a bright piece of gold.

“Got it!” Pinkie yelled. “Catch!” The gold was tossed down to Twilight. She took the pouch off her neck and opened it up. Just as the gold was about to fall into the pouch, a cyan blur jumped in between Twilight and the gold. The blur rolled on the ground before standing on her hooves. A rainbow maned pegasus mare held a gold puzzle piece in her mouth. Like Twilight, she had a pouch over her neck.

“Rainbow Dash?!” Twilight exclaimed. Rainbow placed the puzzle piece in her pouch. “You can’t steal that from us! It’s not fair.”

“Nothing says that we can’t take pieces from other participants, Twilight,” Twilight turned to her right. Approaching both her and Rainbow was a white unicorn mare with a purple curled mane and tail. She had a smile on her face. “Thank you for getting that for us. That’s the last piece we needed to find.”

“Hi Dashie! Hi Rarity!” Pinkie shouted. “How are you doing in the game so far?”

“You just gave us the last thing we needed,” Rainbow replied. “Thanks!”

“You’re welcome.”

“Pinkie! You’re not supposed to say ‘you’re welcome’ to somepony who stole from us!”

“Why not? It’d be impolite not to say that after being thanked.” Twilight smacked her forehead.

“Well,” Rarity said. “As much as I’d love to stay and chat, Rainbow Dash and I have to get to the castle. See you two later.” Rarity galloped passed the two ponies. Rainbow followed after the white unicorn.

“Twilight,” Twilight looked up. “Come on! We have to get to the castle.”

“But we don’t have five hundred pieces.”

“Sure we do,” Pinkie tossed another gold puzzle piece to the ground. “That wasn’t the only one up here.” Twilight’s mouth hung open. Pinkie ran to the edge of the building and jumped. She flipped in the air before landing on the building beside the apartment complex. Twilight’s mouth touched the ground. Pinkie looked down.

“I think you have a problem with your jaw. It seems to have unhinged itself,” Twilight put the gold into her pouch before putting it around her neck. “Come on, I think we can beat Rarity and Dashie to the castle.” Pinkie ran across the roof and jumped to the next building. Twilight ran across the ground with a smile on her face as she followed the pink pony hopping from building to building.

Career Change

If there was one downside to being a near immortal being, it was boredom. After a countless number of years, things would eventually become boring. The younger diarch of Equestria was experiencing this first hand. Even after having a thousand year sabbatical, things were still the same. And they were still boring. It was the same routine over and over for her: wake up, raise the moon, prepare for the night, breakfast/dinner, Night Court, overwhelming boredom, dinner/breakfast, lower the moon, bed, rinse and repeat. For Luna’s sanity, she needed something different. Two captains within the Lunar Guard had suggested a career change. Much to their surprise, Luna agreed. She was in her personal chambers with two bat winged ponies. An eye patch was over the left eye of one of the bat ponies. Sitting between the three of them was a dartboard. Scraps of paper with careers and titles written on them were pinned to the board. All three ponies were writing on pieces of paper. Once they were done, they placed their paper on a blank spot on the dartboard.

“Let’s see,” the eye patched pony said. He had a fountain pen in his mouth and moved it along some paper. “Pretty, pony, princess.” The piece of paper was placed on the board.

“Sunshine Smiles,” Luna said. “Why would you torture me with such a boring career prospect?”

“Come on, Lulu,” the other bat pony chuckled. “You have a one in forty-five chance of hitting that. Your chances of hitting that are less than one percent. Actually, if you want a concrete number, you have a…”

“Zero point zero two percent chance of hitting it. I am aware of the math, Frolicsome Meadowlark,” Luna looked at the board. There were two empty spots left and both Luna and Sunshine had run out of paper.

“Are you going to give any ideas?” Sunshine asked.

“In a minute,” Meadowlark said. “I’m trying to think of careers that haven’t been put here.” He held his fountain pen is his mouth, idly moving it up and down. After a few seconds, Meadowlark’s eyes widened.

“Eureka!” he cried. The fountain pen quickly scribbled on the two sheets in front of him. Both sheets were placed in the empty spaces. “There, all done.” Sunshine and Luna both raised an eyebrow.

“What?”

“Super villain?” Luna asked. “Really?”

“Hey! Being a super villain would be awesome! Besides, you already have an army, you’re half way there.”

“True,” Sunshine said. “But keep in mind, the last time she tried that things didn’t go so well.”

“Fair point. But remember, zero point zero two percent chance.”

“Right,” a midnight blue hoof pointed to the second scrap of paper. “I’m more concerned about that one.”

“What’s wrong with that suggestion?” Meadowlark asked.

“It’s illegal for one thing,” Sunshine deadpanned.

“So are half of your suggestions.”

“Fair enough. Luna, why are you concerned about it?”

“Perhaps concern wasn’t the right word,” Luna tapped her chin. “Interested seems more appropriate. I like the idea though; being a mafioso could be fun.” The dartboard was covered in a blue aura and lifted from the ground. It was placed on a nearby pinwheel. Sunshine and Meadowlark walked to the sides of the wheel. Sunshine spun the wheel letting it roll counter clockwise. Meadowlark stopped it from spinning and did the same only clockwise. Both bat ponies grabbed onto the dartboard stopping it.

“Ready?” Sunshine asked. Three darts were brought in front of Luna. She tied a deep purple blindfold over her eyes.

“Am I in front of it?” she asked.

“Take three steps to your right,” Meadowlark said. Luna shuffled to the right. “Perfect.” A gray hoof spun the wheel clockwise. The bat ponies stepped away from the wheel. “Okay, go.” A dart was thrown forward. It landed on a sheet of paper with a thunk. Sunshine stopped the board. He chuckled when he saw where the dart was.

“So?” Luna asked taking her blindfold off. “What’s the result?”

“Take a look for yourself,” Sunshine chuckled. Luna took a few steps forward. The dart was stuck through a piece of paper near the center of the board. The words ‘Pretty Pony Princess’ were written on it. Meadowlark was attempting to hold his laughter. He was failing miserably.

“That doesn’t count,” Luna stepped back and put her blindfold back on. “Remove the dart, and spin it again.” Sunshine pulled the dart out and spun the board. After ten rotations, another dart was embedded into it. Meadowlark stopped the board’s movements. He fell to the ground laughing and Sunshine laughed along with him. Once again, the dart was through the sheet of paper that said ‘Pretty Pony Princess’. Luna puffed her cheeks out.

“One more time,” the dart was removed and the blindfold was put back on. The board was covered in Luna’s magic before being spun. The final dart was thrown. Sunshine stopped the board as soon as the dart made contact with it. His laughter grew in strength causing him to fall on the ground. Meadowlark was rolling and hitting the floor. For the third time, the dart had landed on ‘Pretty Pony Princess’. Luna’s face heated up. “Faust damnit!”

“Dear Faust,” Meadowlark laughed. “This… this has to be the best thing ever.”

“I’m done,” Sunshine snorted. “Nothing will be funnier than this moment. Nothing!”

“This isn’t funny!” Luna cried. The two Lunar Guards ignored her cry and continued laughing. After a few moments, their laughter died down. “Done?” They pushed themselves off the ground.

“Just give me a second,” Meadowlark held up a hoof. He took in a deep breath and laughed again. A hoof wiped a tear from his eye. “Okay, now I’m done.”

“So,” Sunshine said. “Though highly unlikely, you’ve managed to hit ‘Pretty Pony Princess’ three times. You’re already one, so are you going to stay with it?”

“As boring as the job is, yes,” Luna looked to the dartboard. “If I hit it three times, it means that it’s my destiny. This is going to be a boring eternity.”

“Here’s the thing, Lulu,” Meadowlark wrapped a hoof around her shoulder. “You’re near immortal. Eventually, ponies won’t need you and your sister to watch over them. Eventually, they’re going to find a way to govern themselves. And when that happens, you’ll be free to do whatever you choose.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

“No, the first three drinks on us at the pub are.”

“What pub…” both Meadowlark and Sunshine smiled at her. Luna slowly matched their expression. “I see. Well then boys, shall we?” The three ponies left Luna’s chamber.

“You could always do this again,” Sunshine said. “Just try once more without the ‘Pretty Pony Princess’ idea on the board.”

“Perhaps at a later date. Besides, there’s one good thing that eventually came from the years of doing the same boring tasks.”

“And what would that be?”

“I acquired some very important friends, you two,” a blush appeared on Sunshine’s face.

“Aww, that’s so sweet of you to say, Lulu,” Meadowlark turned to Sunshine. “Are you blushing?”

“No, not at all.”

“You totally are! That’s adorable.”

“Quiet you!” Meadowlark continued laughing at his friend. Luna giggled at the sight of the two bat ponies fighting. Though politics and Night Court was draining, all of her political duties were worth it because she got to spend time with her friends.

Syphoning Life

“How did you think of this?” Rainbow Dash asked. She stood in one of Ponyville’s many parks with a long nail in her hooves. Fused to the head of the nail was a bit. The nail was gently pushed into the ground. Rainbow stepped back from it before a hammer pushed it further down. At the other end of the hammer was a pink earth pony. She had a wide smile on her face as she continued using the hammer. “It’s brilliant. I don’t think I could have ever thought of this. What’s your secret, Pinkie?”

“I don’t have one,” she said swinging the hammer. “Well, that’s not true. I have plenty of secrets. But as for the secret of how I thought of this, I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” the hammer hit the nail.

“It just came to me one day,” the bit sank into to the ground. Pinkie placed the hammer down and inspected her work. The bit appeared to be sitting on the ground as if somepony had dropped it. “What do you think? Does it look suspicious?” Rainbow circled around the bit. After three laps around it, a large smile formed on her face.

“It’s perfect, Pinkie,” she said. “Come on, let’s hide before somepony sees us.” She walked away from it to a nearby bush. Pinkie picked up the hammer and began to walk away. As she moved her hooves, she noticed them becoming stiffer with each step. She stumbled forward dropping the hammer. No, no, no! Not now!

“Pinkie!” Rainbow’s head popped out of a bush. “Hurry up before somepony sees you.” The pink pony crouched down grabbing the hammer. She hopped as fast as she could towards the bush with the hammer in her mouth. Rainbow’s head sank back into the bush as Pinkie dived into it. She dropped the hammer and sat behind her friend. The two of them sat there for what seemed like forever to them. During that time, Pinkie’s body became stiffer and stiffer. The sunlight that was on her made her feel as if she were on fire. She bit her lip to stop herself from screaming in pain.

“Where is everypony?” Pinkie asked. “Isn’t this park usually full of ponies by now?”

“Patience, Pinkie,” Rainbow murmured. “Yes, I’m aware of how strange that sounds coming from my mouth, but the point still stands. All we have to do is wait, eventually somepony will come around.” A silent groan came from the pink pony. She looked at Rainbow. She was so strong, so energetic, and so very full of life. Her back was turned to her leaving her completely vulnerable. Pinkie turned her head to the hammer then back to Rainbow. It would be easy to place it into the back of her skull. It would be quiet too so nopony would notice. Though easy, she would be losing somepony very close to her. The very thought was sickening, but she would at least be alive if she went through with it. Pinkie sighed as she reached for the hammer. She could barely move her joints due to how stiff they became. Her forelegs were outstretched as she picked the hammer up. The hammer was slowly brought over her head. Tears formed in her eyes as she turned to Rainbow. I’m so sorry, Dashie. I don’t want to do this, but this is a last resort. I need your life to save mine. Just as she was about to drop the hammer, a cyan hoof gestured to Pinkie.

“Somepony’s coming!” Pinkie dropped the hammer beside Rainbow’s tail. She made a small hop to her friend’s side. Her eyes looked out of the bush. Two earth ponies were walking along the park path, a cream coloured earth pony mare with a magenta mane, and a fuchsia earth pony mare with a blond mane. The fuchsia pony noticed the bit. Both her and her companion stopped in front of it. “Oh, this is going to be good.” Silent snickering came from the pegasus. Pinkie took in a deep breath as Rainbow snickered. Her body felt slightly softer and the burning became a little bearable. The fuchsia pony reached down and put her teeth over the bit. She tried to pull it up but was stopped. Her eyes held confusion as she held onto the bit. More effort was put into trying to pull it off the ground. The mare pulled with as much effort as she could manage. After a few moments of struggling, she tumbled backwards. Rainbow pointed her hoof out and laughed. The laughter held happiness, energy, and most importantly, life. Pinkie followed Rainbow’s example and laughed. As she did, the energy from Rainbow’s laughter was syphoned to her. The stiffness in Pinkie’s body was going away and the burning nearly disappeared. The cream coloured pony helped her friend up and approached the bit. Like the fuchsia mare, she tried to pick up it up. And like her, she failed to do so. Rainbow fell back and continued laughing.

“Dear Faust,” she said wiping a tear away. “This is hilarious. Pinkie, don’t stop doing whatever you do to think of these pranks.” Pinkie’s laughter slowly went away. She smiled at Rainbow and stuck out a hoof. Rainbow cupped the hoof and was pulled up. She pushed her head out of the bush.

“They’re gone now,” Rainbow said. “Want to move the bit?”

“As long as it’s still funny,” Pinkie replied. Both ponies moved out of the bush. Rainbow had the hammer in her mouth and used it to remove the bit from the ground. Pinkie hopped to her side just as the bit was pulled out.

“Follow me,” Rainbow launched herself into the air. “I know a place where we can set this up.” She flew off with the bit in her mouth. Pinkie picked up the hammer. She moved each of her legs and her neck. Her body was still slightly stiff but the burning was no longer there. A smile was on her face as she hopped towards the rainbow trail left by the receding pegasus.

A Welcome Surprise

A bar is a common set piece in stories, and why wouldn’t it be? Within bars, there is life. There is interaction between all kinds of different ponies. Many go to them drown their sorrows, to celebrate, or to relax. Thousands of stories can be told from within a bar and each and every one of them would be different. That was what Berry Punch believed when she opened her establishment. And it was a belief that had been constantly proven. She stood behind a counter mixing drinks. Bottles of every size and colour sat behind her. Four taps were installed to her right, each attached to a locally made brew. To her left was a bronze gong. She wore a white dress shirt and a black vest. A black bowtie was around her neck while a red armband was around her left foreleg. Her eyes were looking out past the counter as she shook a cocktail shaker. Booths with red velvet seats were lined up against the wall and an entranceway sat between two booths. A large number of them were filled with ponies talking with one another. Tables were scattered all around the floor. Like the booths, they were filled with ponies. In front of each of the patrons was a drink poured by Berry herself. She pulled a martini glass from under the counter. The contents of the cocktail shaker were poured into it and an olive with a toothpick in it was placed in the glass. The glass was placed on a serving tray along with a glass full of an orange liquid and a pint full of cider. A yellow unicorn mare wearing clothing similar to Berry’s outfit lifted the tray in her magical grasp. When she moved to a nearby table, the entrance opened. A butter yellow pegasus mare with a long pink mane and tail walked into the bar. She was wearing a white coat with a brown faux fur trim along the hood and cuffs. A weak smile was on her face as she approached the counter.

“Hello Berry,” she said.

“Hey there, Shy,” Berry said. She turned around and grabbed a bottle full of a dark brown liquid. The bottle was opened up and its contents poured into a shot glass. Berry pushed the glass to Fluttershy. “Here you go.”

“Thank you, but I can’t handle whiskey,” Fluttershy pushed the glass back to Berry.

“It’s on the house,” the glass was pushed back. “And I can tell that you need it.”

“I don’t need it, Berry,” Fluttershy said. “I feel fine.”

“And yet,” Berry started. “Your smile says differently.”

“I…”

“You’re nervous,” she continued. “Something inside you is making you tremble. I don’t know what exactly that is, but I can see you shake. Take this, it’ll calm your nerves.” Fluttershy looked down at the whiskey. After a few seconds of staring at it, she sighed. It was picked up and thrown down her throat. The glass was placed on the counter with a pained expression on Fluttershy’s face.

“Better?”

“Actually, yes. Thank you, Berry,” Fluttershy shuffled her hooves. “Do you think you can lend an ear?”

“That’s part of my job,” Berry began filling a pint with an amber liquid. “What’s eating you?”

“Nothing… well, that’s a bit of a lie,” the pint was slid across the counter. A blue unicorn stallion caught it and slid four gold coins back to Berry. “I need to talk to Pinkie about something. Something very important and potentially life changing.” The gears in Berry’s mind began turning.

“And… well, I’m not sure how to say it,” a small ding went off in the bartender’s mind. “Any advice?”

“Be kind,” Berry chuckled. “Though knowing you, it shouldn’t be that hard. But since it’s Pinkie, you’re going to have to be really gentle. I don’t want a dramatic scene in my bar. Understand?” Fluttershy nodded.

“Can I get a booth?” the purple mare nodded. “And could you direct Pinkie to it when she gets here?”

“Of course. Lucky,” a gray earth pony stallion carrying an empty tray turned to Berry. “Bring Miss Fluttershy here to an empty booth. Would you like a drink?”

“Could I get a screwdriver?” again Berry nodded. She gestured to Lucky who lead Fluttershy to a booth. Fluttershy was lead to a booth off to Berry’s right and within her line of sight. When she was finished mixing the drink, Lucky returned and placed it on a tray. After a few minutes of serving drinks, the entrance way opened. Three ponies left the bar while another one entered. A bright pink earth pony wearing a baby blue jacket walked into the bar. She had a wide smile on her face as she hopped to the counter.

“Hi Berry!” she chirped. “Can you make me a sweet cranberry martini?”

“Sure thing, Pinks,” Berry began filling a cocktail shaker with cranberry juice. “You seem happy.”

“Why wouldn't I be?” vodka and cointreau were thrown into the shaker. Berry grasped it in her hooves and began shaking. “This place holds a lot of happy memories for me.”

“I'm glad to hear that,” a red liquid was poured into a martini glass. A lemon wedge was placed on the rim of the glass before being pushed to Pinkie. “Here you are. By the way, Fluttershy’s waiting for you.”

“Is she here?” Berry nodded. “Shoot, I thought I wouldn’t be late. Can you tell me where Flutters is?” A purple hoof pointed to the right. “Thanks Berry!” Pinkie walked to where Fluttershy sat with her drink at hoof. When she reached the booth, the two of them shared a brief kiss. Pinkie removed her jacket and sat down. Berry returned to her bartending but kept an eye on the two ponies.

Fifteen minutes after Pinkie had ordered her drink, Fluttershy’s face took on a serious expression. Here we go. Her mouth was moving and Pinkie was captivated by every word. As Berry was pouring a pint, Pinkie’s eyes widened. There it is. I better get ready for the heartbreak. The pink pony said something that Berry couldn’t hear. She reached over and held onto Fluttershy’s hooves. Based on the expression on Pinkie’s face, Berry assumed she was pleading. Fluttershy giggled and pushed Pinkie’s hooves away. Okay, that’s new. She reached into her coat and pulled a small blue velvet box from it. The box was opened up and Fluttershy said something. Sitting in it was a gold ring with a balloon shaped diamond on it. Both of Pinkie’s hooves shot to her mouth as tears began to form in her eyes. Fluttershy began to say something but was stopped by pink hooves grabbing her face. Pinkie pulled herself forward and locked lips with the pony in front of her. Berry smiled. Well, this is a pleasant surprise. She opened up a mini fridge under the counter and pulled out a bottle with gold foil wrapped around its neck. Two narrow glasses were placed on the counter as the foil was torn away. A snifter was filled with a light brown liquid.

“Lemon,” a yellow unicorn passing by Berry stopped in her place. “Can you bring these to those two over there once they’re filled?” The unicorn turned to where Pinkie and Fluttershy sat. A smile appeared on her face and she nodded. A cork sat in the bottle. Berry turned it to the gong and pushed on the cork. It flew from the bottle and hit in the direct center of the gong. A loud clang echoed in the bar causing every patron to turn to the counter. Each of the narrow glasses were filled with a fizzy yellow liquid. The glasses were covered in a light blue aura and brought to Pinkie and Fluttershy’s booth.

“Fillies and Gents,” Berry said. “I’d like to propose a toast.” She lifted the snifter into the air.

“To the soon to be newlyweds,” she continued. “May their lives together be filled with happiness and prosperity. And may their love shine brighter than the sun itself, lighting their way through the darkness of the unknown. Cheers!”

“Cheers!” all of the patrons echoed. Glass clinking together could be heard all around the bar. Fluttershy’s face became a deep shade of red. Pinkie lifted her champagne flute and smiled at her new fiancée. She matched her expression and lifted her champagne flute. Both of them clinked together before being brought to yellow and pink lips.

An 'Evil' Parasite

The leaders of the Crystal Empire were moving down a hallway at great speeds. They were being lead by a magenta earth pony mare with a white cap on her head and were accompanied by a purple unicorn with a baby dragon on her back. The princess was sitting in a wheelchair holding onto her midriff with a pained expression on her face while the relatively new prince was pushing her.

“Twilight,” Cadence said. “You’ve sealed, annihilated, and or exorcized evil before right?”

“I have,” Twilight looked to the mare in the wheelchair. “Why do you ask?”

“Because I need you to get this… thing out of me,” a scowl formed on the princess’ face. “It’s evil, and it’s bringing me great pain.”

“Sweetie,” a voice said behind her. “That’s why we’re here. And I don’t think that we should be referring to…”

“You!” light blue energy poured out of her eyes. “You did this to me! You’re the reason this parasite is in me! I’ll make you pay for what you’ve done!” Small hook shaped knives formed around her horn. The circled around it making them appear to be a single knife. Cadence tilted her head to the side before swinging it around to Shining Armour’s neck. A small purple shield appeared before the knives made contact with his neck. Sparks flew in all directions. Twilight and the baby dragon stared at the sight in horror while Shining Armour had a calm smile on his face.

“Cadence,” he said. “Calm down. Nothing will get accomplished if you kill me in a public setting.” The energy coming from Cadence’s eyes faded away and the knives disappeared.

“You’re right,” she said. “I’m sorry, Shining. I’m just nervous…and in more pain than most males can only imagine.”

“Don’t worry about it.” The baby dragon chuckled.

“Anypony getting a case of mood whiplash?” he whispered.

“Trust me, Spike,” Shining whispered back. “This isn’t the most violent thing she’s done in the past eleven months.”

“Really? What’s the most?”

“Well….”

Cadence sat in front of a mirror with a brush moving through her mane. A smile was on her face as the brush moved. Shining walked behind his wife and kissed the top of her head.

“Hey you,” he said. The smile on Cadence’s face grew.

“Hey you,” the brush was placed down. “Shining, can you get me something? I’m having a craving.”

“Of course,” a nearby pantry was opened up. Various candies and dried sundries covered in a purple aura were brought over to them. “Do you want something sweet? I just restocked that licorice that you like. Or do you want some sour candies? Or do you need something like dried tomatoes again?”

“Actually, I really want tacos,” the candies and dried sundries were returned to the pantry. “Do you think you can go to that place on Winston and get me two tacos?”

“Sweetie, it’s ten o’clock at night,” Shining rubbed the back of his head. “I’m pretty sure that they’re closed.”

Cadence’s face became blank. “What?”

“Even if I wanted to, I don’t think I could get you some tacos right now.” Cadence’s horn lit up. Her eyes had blue energy slowly pour out of them. The room the two were in started to shake. Shining looked around the room with wide eyes. Cadence stood up and turned to his face.

“Dear,” her voice was calm but had a razor edge to it. “Tacos. Now. Or else.”

“Or else what?” Cadence chuckled. The aura around her horn became brighter and the room’s shaking became more violent. “I… I’ll see what I can do.” The glow disappeared and the energy from her eyes faded away. A bright smile appeared on Cadence’s face.

“Thanks, Shining.”

“There’s something that sex-ed didn’t teach me while I was in school,” Shining said. “Or if they did, I wasn’t paying attention. Whenever a magic user is pregnant, their magic increases at an exponential rate. And since Cadence is an alicorn and already has a firm grasp of magic…”

“I see,” Spike said. “How dangerous was she at that moment?”

“If she wanted to, I think she could have made a city the size of Canterlot crumble on itself.”

“Shining, you got a part of that story wrong,” Cadence said. “If I wanted to, I could have made the country collapse onto itself.”

“I don’t think a single pony has that kind of power,” Twilight said. “It would probably take at least a million unicorns to…” Cadence screamed. The magenta mare leading the four turned around. She placed a hoof on Cadence’s midriff.

“I believe that it’s time,” she said. The mare pointed to Twilight and Spike. “You two will have to wait here in the waiting room.”

“I can’t believe this is happening,” Shining smiled. The nurse signaled Shining and Cadence to follow her. “I’m going to be a father! I can’t wait to bring them into this world.” Cadence turned to Shining as the three of them were approaching a door at the end of the hall.

“You can’t wait to bring them into this world?!” again, energy flowed from Cadence’s eyes. “You’re not doing anything! I’m the one who’s going to be in pain, I’m the one who has to hold onto this evil little parasite for Faust knows how long! You just get to sit there and watch you sadistic little…” Cadence’s voice faded away as they passed through the door. Twilight and Spike sat themselves down on a pair of seats in the waiting room. Spike played with his thumbs while Twilight looked at the ceiling.

“Hey Spike,” she said. “Can you do me two favours?”

“That depends on what they are,” he replied. “What do you need?”

“Can you make sure that I’ll be a good aunt?”

“Only if you make sure that I’ll be a good uncle,” Twilight giggled. “I’ll take that as a yes. What else do you need?”

“If and whenever I become pregnant, can you make sure I don’t hurt you when I become mad with magic?” Spike chuckled. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing. It’s just that I was already planning an escape plan for when you do.” A purple hoof ruffled the spines on his head.

“I didn’t think you could plan that far ahead.” Spike pushed her hoof away.

“Well, after living with somepony like you for a guardian, you tend to pick up habits like that,” he said. “We’re going to be here for a while, what do you want to do to kill time?” Twilight’s horn gave off a purple glow. In a flash of light, a chess board with all of the pieces set up appeared between them. Spike moved his knight forward while Twilight moved a pawn two spaces ahead. It would be a long and tiring night, for both Twilight and Spike as well as Shining Armour and Cadence. But at the end of the ordeal, they’d all have a new family member waiting for them.

Paranoia

As time changes, so do customs, behaviours, and terminology. Words that were commonly used fifty years ago can be seen as obsolete and foreign to those in the present. If there is a large gap between fifty years and the present, then the gap between a millennium and the present can be considered immeasurable. The younger of the two diarchs of Equestria needed to learn as much as she could about the citizenry as possible and as fast as possible if she was to be a good leader. Under a suggestion from her sister, she had decided to immerse herself in the current cultural landscape. Among the things she learned about the present society, there was one activity that she did on a regular basis. A small amount of the population did something that was illegal. Despite the possible consequences they continued to do it. To learn more about it and the ponies who did it, Luna had decided to try it herself. After the first try, she knew why they did it. While trying it she felt a euphoria that she had never felt before. Everything was better while in that special state of mind. After trying it, she tried to change legislation to make this activity legal. But, due to bureaucracy and other government policies, her crusade to make it legal was halted. It didn’t matter to her though. She still had access to the substances needed for this activity and a place to go to.

On a rather ordinary night, Luna walked out onto the Canterlot streets from a vapour lounge with two other ponies. She had a smile on her face and a pair of round red glasses over her eyes. Like Luna, the ponies accompanying her had smiles on their faces.

“Will you two be safe to walk home?” she asked. The two ponies nodded. “Have a good night then.” They waved to Luna as she walked away. Luna skipped down the street silently humming to herself. After a few moments of skipping, she looked up at the sky.

“Wow,” she said. “The night sky is so beautiful. I should probably thank the pony who painted it… oh wait a minute, I did that.” Luna giggled to herself while standing in the middle of the street. She began her trek back to the castle still giggling to herself. A sudden noise caused her giggling to stop.

“Who’s there?!” Luna stopped in her place. A rat scurried out of a nearby alleyway. A sigh left her mouth. She resumed moving towards the castle. “Just a rat. Calm down, Luna. There is nothing out here that can kill…” Again she stopped in her place. Luna’s eyes were as wide as saucers as she stared in front of her. Standing a few feet away was a large shadow coming from a tree. Its branches were spread out causing the shadow to look like claws. The shadow cast by the leaves formed what looked like a head and the spaces between the leaves created eyes.

“A…a monster,” her horn lit up. “DIE MONSTER!” A beam of blue light flew towards the tree. The tree burst into flames causing Luna to cover her eyes from the sudden light. She moved her foreleg and stared at the burning tree.

“Oooo, pretty,” she said. “Wait a minute, something’s wrong. There was a monster coming after me in the middle of Canterlot. I’ve never seen a monster while out in the middle of the day. So that must mean… oh no.” Luna’s head moved back and forth. Her eyes were wide and sweat was forming on her brow. She galloped towards the castle as fast as she could.

“I thought I could trust it, but it appears I was wrong.”

Walking down the halls of Canterlot Castle was the elder diarch of the country. She had a sleepy expression on her face and a parfait was floating beside her. A yawn left her mouth as she turned a corner. When she entered the new hall, she noticed something different about it. All of the windows had their curtains drawn and the hall was incredibly well lit. Further down the hall, silver coloured objects were scattered around. The spoon in the parfait went into Celestia’s mouth. This is new. She continued her walk back to her room. Celestia stopped in front of the silver objects. They were pieces of a suit of armour that were placed in between an alcove. A pair of round red glasses was sitting by the armour’s helmet. What in the name of… Celestia’s ear twitched. From up above her, she could hear barely audible muttering. She closed her eyes in concentration in an attempt to translate the mutters.

“I’m not safe. No matter where I go, it is always there waiting for me. I have to hide from it, but there’s nowhere to hide…” Celestia looked up. Hanging from the alcove was a midnight blue alicorn. All of her legs were fully extended and pushing against the sides of the alcove. Her mouth was moving and her eyes were constantly moving back and forth.

“Luna?” Celestia asked. “What are you doing?” Luna looked down.

“Celly!” she moved her legs and dropped down. She landed on the ground with a dull thud and her wings fully extended. “I need your help with something insignificant…no, wait that’s not true. I need your help with something of the utmost importance. You see, I can’t…. is that a parfait?”

“Yes it is, and I’ll help you if you answer a few questions,” Celestia looked into Luna’s eyes. Both of them were glassy and had a light shade of pink in them. “Why are the curtains drawn, why is this armour scattered across the floor, and why were you hanging in this alcove?”

“Interesting questions,” Luna answered. “But they all have the same answer. To hide.”

“Hide? Hide from whom?”

A midnight blue hoof pointed to Celestia. “Not whom, but rather what.”

“Okay, what are you hiding from?”

“Something I thought I could trust. Something I work on a regular basis.”

“And that would be?”

“The night,” Celestia blinked. “The night has betrayed me. And I can’t trust it anymore. What do I do?!”

“I don’t understand.”

“What’s not to understand? The night has stabbed me in the back! I can’t trust it anymore, it’s out to get me. And I have to hide from it to be safe.”

“Luna, the night can’t hurt you. It’s completely harmless,” Luna pointed at Celestia in horror. “Is something wrong?”

“You,” she said. “You’re working for the night! I can’t believe it, I trusted you. I thought you could keep me safe from the menace trying to kil…” A spoon covered in a gold aura was stuck in Luna’s mouth. Luna blinked. The spoon moved out of her mouth and a pleased smile replaced it.

“Mmm, tasty,” Luna said.

“Feel any better?” Luna nodded. “Good. I have to get some rest. Try not to exhaust yourself. Have a good night, Luna.”

“You too!” Celestia walked down the hall before entering a door to her left. Luna walked in the opposite direction humming to herself. After a few steps forward, she stopped. “Wait a minute. Night, night, night. Why does that sound important?” She tapped her chin in concentration trying to remember why that word was important.

“Oh, right. The night betrayed me,” Luna continued her walk down the hall. She reached a door with a stylized crescent moon carved into it. It had wings at its sides and a star was underneath it. Her eyes widened as her hoof was reaching for the door. “The night betrayed me!” Both of the doors were covered in Luna’s magic. They swung open and she ran straight into it. Immediately she hid underneath the blankets of the room’s bed. She sighed in relief as the doors closed. There. The night can’t find me here.

Ending in Tears

There are many things worth celebrating, and many of those celebrations involve the birth of something new. Holidays like Hearts and Hooves Day celebrate the birth of love while Hearth’s Warming Eve celebrates the birth of a country. And birthdays obviously celebrate the birth of an individual. Weddings, much like Hearts and Hooves Day, celebrate love. And like Hearts and Hooves Day, they celebrate a new type of love that has been born. Many were experiencing this idea as they sat within a wedding reception held in the Canterlot Gardens. All around the gardens were tables set up with ponies sitting at them. The three princesses of the country were scattered around the reception talking and enjoying themselves. Off to the side was a pair of speakers and sitting in between them was a turntable. Beside the set up was a baby grand piano and various instruments sat around it. All of the musicians were sitting at a table talking with one another and enjoying themselves much like the other guests. A long rectangular table had been set up at the end of the garden allowing those who sat at it to watch the entire scene. Sitting at it were a pink earth pony and a purple unicorn both wearing wedding gowns, the bridesmaids, three flower girls, and a lone groomsman. The groomsman was a purple teenage dragon wearing a tuxedo and had a top hat over his head. He stood up and picked up a martini glass full of a redish brown liquid and a cherry inside it.

“Excuse me,” he said tapping the glass. “If I could get everypony’s attention.” The crowd at the reception ignored him. The dragon sighed and reached behind his seat. He picked up a cane with a spherical piece of brass at the end of it. With the cane in hand, he jumped over the table. The martini glass was picked up with his left hand before he approached the piano. As he moved to the piano, the cane idly moved between his fingers causing it to swing in a circle. The martini glass was brought to his lips. He reached the piano and raised the cane above his head. The end of the cane was dropped onto the piano’s keys. A deep note vibrated across the garden causing every guest to turn to the piano. The cane was lifted from the piano and twirled around. The martini glass was placed on the piano just as the end of the cane was put on the ground. The dragon placed both of his hands on the brass end of the cane with a smile on his face.

“Do I have your attention now?” all of the guests and those at the long table nodded. “Good, now I can make that speech that always seems to happen at weddings. But before I do, I have a question to ask you all. How many of you thought that the newlywed’s relationship would end in tears?” The guests looked at each other with nervous expressions on their faces. The purple unicorn gave the dragon a glare while the pink earth pony giggled.

“Go on, show me. I’m not afraid to admit that I thought that it would end that way. If you thought that that would happen too, please raise your hoof,” the elder diarch of the country slowly raised her hoof into the air. After seeing it, more hooves moved upwards. The three of the princesses of the country, the siblings of both of the brides, the flower girls, the bridesmaids, the brides’ parents, and even the pink bride had her hoof in the air. The purple unicorn looked around the reception with an annoyed expression on her face. The dragon chuckled. “Everypony else thinking that isn’t really a surprise, but you, Pinkie? That’s rather surprising.” He took a sip from his glass.

“And why wouldn’t you all think it would end that way?” he asked. “It’s the only logical answer. The two of them are polar opposites. Twilight is obsessed with order, everything has to be just perfect for her or she won’t enjoy herself, no matter what the situation. And as clichéd as it sounds, Pinkie is Pinkie. One is order, while the other is chaos. No matter how hard one tries, they can’t mix together. Hell, when the two of them shared that they were in a romantic relationship, me and their friends gambled on how long we thought their relationship would last and how it would end. By the way, Rainbow Dash, you owe me thirty bits.” The reception chuckled.

“But while the two are complete opposites,” he continued. “It should be no surprise that they found a way for their relationship to work. Order and chaos are two opposites, they chase after each other creating harmony. And like the two fundamental forces of the universe, these two constantly chase each other and balance one another out. You know how we all thought their relationship would end in tears?” Many of the guests nodded.

“Well, we were right,” murmurs moved around the reception. “Not in the way you think though. There is a kind of sacredness in tears. They’re not the mark of weakness like many think, but instead they’re a show of power. They can communicate more than ten thousand different languages. They are a sign of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition, and, most importantly, of unspeakable love. Their relationship did end in tears, but they were tears of love instead of sadness. As a matter of fact, the day that Pinkie proposed, Twilight cried. I’d never seen her so happy before. But mixed within the happiness was a slight bit of disappointment. Not because of anything you did, Pinkie, far from it. It was there because Twilight didn't get to go through with her planned proposal. You would have liked it. She was planning to propose with a Rube Goldberg machine that was the size of one of the towers of Canterlot Castle. But, I seem to have deviated from my original point.” Again, the dragon sipped from his glass.

“While their old relationship ended, a new one grew from it. That’s why we’re all here today. We’re here to celebrate their new relationship. And I hope that it’ll be a long time before it ends in tears again,” the martini glass was raised in the air. “Here’s to their new relationship. May it have a long life without ending in tears. But if it does, may those tears be tears of joy rather than tears of sadness. Cheers!”

“Cheers!”

Creating Worlds Through Prose

Hundreds of thousands of words exist, each of them are used to describe reality. In a single language alone, there are at least a hundred thousand words capable of describing the world. It would take an eternity for a sapient being to count up all the words used in every language. Even with an eternity to count, they would only scratch the surface. All of the words in the universe are used to describe reality, and it is a writer’s job to string them together to create a cohesive world.

Up above Sugar Cube Corner, a writer was creating a world. The Writer was hard at work putting prose to paper. They were writing in a black notebook and a crimson quill was moving through its pages. Every word was important and every word shook the very foundation of the world they were creating. The Writer set their quill down after placing a period on the page. They flipped through the book’s pages looking for where they started. After flipping through a few pages, they reread their work, hoping that every detail was to their liking.

The purple unicorn who had taken residence in Ponyville’s library was hard at work restocking the shelves. On an ordinary day, she would have her assistant do that. But, today wasn’t an ordinary day. Today was the day that she did something life changing for her. For the life changing moment, she needed a certain pony with her. That pony was helping her with restocking. A pink earth pony mare with a poofy mane and tail was standing on her hind legs pushing a book in a shelf above her. After sliding the book in its place, she fell onto her forelegs.

“There we go,” she said. “Are there any other books left, Twilight?”

“Actually,” Twilight said. “That’s the last book. Thanks for helping me, Pinkie.”

“You don’t have to thank me,” Pinkie giggled. “Helping other friends is what friends do.”

“Very true,” Twilight shuffled her hooves. Her head was down as she tapped a spot in front of her. “Pinkie, we’re close right?”

“As close as two ponies can be, why?”

“Well,” the tapping slowed down into a steady beat. “Hypothetically speaking, what if I was worried about sharing a part of myself to others?”

“You don’t have to worry about that, Twilight,” Pinkie stood on her hind legs. A bright backdrop appeared behind her and started rotating. “I’ll accept you! Friendship is the fruit and vegetable market for worries! All you have to do is come shopping if you’re worried.” She tapped her left shoulder with her right hoof twice before pointing at Twilight.

“Does that mean I’m shopping for worries?”

“Yep! Wait, no. That doesn’t sound right…” Twilight giggled. Pinkie landed on her forelegs with a faint blush on her face. “Okay, I’ll admit, that’s a bad metaphor. But you know what I mean. If you’re worried about something, all you have to do is talk with me. No matter what comes out of your mouth, I won’t stop being your friend.”

“Alright then,” Twilight took in a deep breath. She sighed before looking straight to Pinkie. “I need advice on something.”

“I can’t help unless you tell me what’s going on. Talk to me, Twilight.”

“Okay, here’s the gist of it. I want to ask somepony out. But if I do, I might lose what I already have with them. I don’t want that, what should I do?”

“What happens if they accept your offer?” Twilight blinked. “You didn’t think of that did you?” The librarian looked down and shuffled her hooves.

“Don’t be sad about that, most don’t think of the positives,” Pinkie said. “I say go for it. Ask this pony out. If they say no, then shrug it off. It may hurt for a while, but you’ll still have them. If they’re a good friend, they’ll stay with you no matter what. Does that help?”

“It does, Pinkie. Thanks.”

Pinkie stood on her hind legs again and bowed. “Always a pleasure to help. Anything else I can help you with?”

“Actually yes, there’s something else I need to ask you.”

“Go ahead.”

“Would you like to join me for dinner?”

The Writer looked over their work with a smile on their face. They turned the page over and read another piece of their work.

Pinkie was happy. While that statement was rather mundane given who she was, this happiness was different. Her hooves felt lighter than air and each step didn’t feel like a step. Her heart was soaring and thoughts of love danced in her head. She had just been asked out by somepony that she had her eyes on for…

A wooden door opening stopped the Writer from looking over their work. The quill was placed in between the notebook’s pages and they were quickly pushed under a bed. The Writer turned around before being swept up in pink hooves. Pink cheeks rubbed themselves against their own.

“Oh Gummy,” a female voice said. “I’m so happy! Twilight just asked me out! Can you believe it?!” The Writer blinked.

“I know!” the voice continued. “I was planning to ask her out, but she did it for me! I’m just so excited for the date!” A gasp left the pink pony’s mouth before she dropped the Writer.

“What if I do something wrong?!” the voice panicked. “What if I do something during the date that will make Twilight hate me forever?! Gummy, what should I do?” The Writer gurgled.

“That’s perfect! I’ll talk to Mister and Missus Cake and ask them about their first date! I can learn what to do and what not to do during the date. That’s perfect! Thanks Gummy. You always give good advice. I’ll get you something nice as a reward.” The pink pony hopped to the entrance of the room. The sound of the door opening reached the Writer’s ears. The Writer reached under the bed and pulled the notebook back out. As the door to the room closed, the notebook was opened. The pages were turned and the Writer briefly skimmed through their contents. All of the actions that the Writer experienced and all of the dialogue coming from the pink pony were already written in the notebook. The Writer smiled and flipped to a blank page. Their neck was cracked before picking up the quill. The quill was placed on the page and again, prose was put to paper.

Pinkie was nervous. It was the very first date she would have with Twilight. And if everything went well, it would only be the first of many.

Sleep Aids

Whenever one closes their eyes to rest, they begin a journey to another world. This world can be reached by any living being and it is one that many look forward to visiting. In this world, one can be whoever they choose, they can be presented with their desires, they can face their darkest fears, or they can see the very forces of nature itself. While any living being can reach it, sometimes a little push is needed to go in the right direction.

Deep within a lab hidden underneath Canterlot Castle, the younger diarch of Equestria was hard at work creating something that would speed up the process of traveling. She had a white lab coat over her and a pair of glasses rested on her stout. Her ethereal mane had been tied back into a pony tail to prevent it from mixing with the various materials she had spread out. Sitting on a table in front of her were four cauldrons. Each of them had a transparent powder in them causing smoke to flow of the cauldrons’ top. Her horn lit up causing a silver pocket watch to float in front of her. The blue aura around the watch moved to the center of it, pushing its way inside.

“Now,” she said. “To dream of ages long gone or the future to come, the prison that holds nature’s cruelest monster.” The watch was dropped into a cauldron to the far left. A bright teal light exploded upwards from the cauldron. Luna covered her eyes from the sudden light. When she removed her hoof and looked at her mixture, she found sparkling teal sand sitting at the bottom of the cauldron. A small smile formed on her face. Her horn lit up once more bringing three other objects to her.

“To dream of joy,” a vibrating bottle was held out over a cauldron in the center. “Laughter from those free of evil.” The bottle was dropped causing an explosion of gold light. Once the light faded away, a pile of glittering gold sand remained in the cauldron.

“To dream of love,” a knife with its blade dipped in chocolate floated over another cauldron in the center. “The sweet pain that affection brings.” A rose coloured light came from the cauldron once the knife touched the powder, leaving rose coloured sand.

“To dream of darkness,” a diamond was held out in front of Luna. She closed her eyes and focused on her magic. When she opened them again, her eyes were glowing with a sickly shade of green. Black energy flowed from both her eyes and her horn. The diamond’s colour slowly changed to black. “Proof that even the purest light can be changed to shadows.” Once the diamond’s colour changed completely, it was dropped into a cauldron to the far right. Deep purple light shot upwards from the cauldron leaving similarly coloured sand behind. Luna looked inside each cauldron inspecting the sands. She smiled when she saw the byproducts of her work. Five jars were brought to her and four were opened up. Each of the piles of coloured sands was sent into one of the jars. The jars were closed and put into the pockets of Luna’s lab coat. She headed for the exit of her lab and ascended a set of spiral staircases.

The sun was setting on Equestria as a small section of the floor in one of the many halls of Canterlot Castle was flipped upwards. Luna slowly pushed her head out from it. The sudden light from the setting sun caused her to shield her eyes. When she climbed out of the floor, her horn lit up. The sun was almost past the horizon and the moon needed to be lead above it. As Luna focused on her magic, the moon slowly crept up in the east. Her horn stopped glowing and the door was closed. She began to walk down the castle hall with the empty jar still in front of her. After an hour, she reached a door with a stylized sun carved into it. A midnight blue hoof tapped on the door.

“Come in,” a regal voice said. Luna pushed her way past the doors. On the other side, a white alicorn was sitting on a four poster bed. Piles of scrolls sat around her and a pair of reading glasses were on her stout. “Hello Luna. Why are you wearing a lab coat?”

“Because I’ve been doing SCIENCE!” Luna proclaimed. A bright blue backdrop appeared behind her and it rotated clockwise. “That is why, Celestia.”

“Was the blue backdrop really necessary?” she asked. The backdrop behind the lab coated pony disappeared.

“Absolutely,” Luna smirked. “Are you comfortable?”

“As comfortable as I can be sitting on a bed that costs just as much as a small settlement,” the glasses on Celestia’s face were placed on a nearby drawer with a glass of water on it. “Why do you ask?”

“No reason,” the jar full of gold sand was pulled out of the lab coat. It was opened up and a small amount of it was placed on Luna’s hoof. “Working hard?”

“You have no idea,” Luna held the sand in front of her stout. “I have to read over all of these before Day Court tomorrow, and I have to sign at least six propo…” She blew on the sand causing it to fly to Celestia’s face. Her eyes felt heavy as small clusters of sand flew around her. A large yawn escaped her mouth before she fell forwards on the bed. Luna lifted all of the scrolls in her magical grasp and placed them on a desk across from the bed. Celestia was covered in a blue aura and the same happened to the blankets under her. The blankets were pulled back before Celestia was placed on the mattress. Luna pulled the blankets over her sister while humming to herself.

“Stars shining bright above you,” she sang. “Night breezes seem to whisper ‘I love you’.” Luna removed her glasses and the lab coat. The jars were pulled out of the pockets and floated around her. She walked to a window and opened it up. The glass of water was picked up and brought to Luna’s side. She climbed out of the window and flew upwards.

“Birds singing in the sycamore trees,” she continued singing. “Dream a little dream of me.” Luna flew high above Canterlot Castle and high above the mountain that held the capital city of the country. She flew higher than the clouds and almost touched the stars themselves. The water in the glass was spilled out and covered in Luna’s magic. After a few moments, it turned into a cloud. She sat on the cloud with the jars around her.

“Say nighty-night and kiss me,” the jars holding the sand were opened up and their contents were poured into the empty jar. “Just hold me tight and tell me you’ll miss me.” Once all of the sand was in the jar, she closed the lid and began shaking it.

“When I’m alone as can be,” a small part of the cloud she was sitting on was ripped off. It was stretched out and shaped into a table circling around her. “Dream a little dream of me.” After shaking the jar, she poured the sand on the cloud around her.

“Stars fading but I linger on dear,” Luna took in a deep breath. She exhaled causing the sand in front of her to fly. Her body turned around in a circle causing all of the sand to take flight. “Still craving your kiss. I’m longing to linger till dawn dear. Just saying this.” The sand drifted off in all directions. Luna watched the sand descend on cities, on towns, on villages, and on small camps off in the distance.

“Sweet dreams till sunbeam finds you,” she sang. “Sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you.” Small clusters of the sand still remained in the air. They sparkled under the moonlight making it seem as if the stars were dancing.

“But in your dreams whatever they be, dream a little dream of me.”

The Greatest Puzzle

Multiple pecks to the face woke Spike from his slumber. He slowly opened his eyes to find a small baby phoenix pecking a spot between his eyes.

“Alright, alright, I’m up,” he said. The phoenix flew a few inches away from him as Spike sat up in his basket. He reached for a nearby clock. “Peewee, it’s 4:20 in the morning. What could possibly be so important that you had to wake me up?” Upon closer inspection, Spike could see that the phoenix had a disgruntled expression on his face as well as bags under his eyes. Peewee pointed to the exit of the room where light from the library’s foyer spilt in. Spike got out of his basket and headed to the foyer with his phoenix following him. When he entered the foyer, he found his guardian pacing in front of a chalk board. Peewee silently squawked.

“Seven hours? Really?” Spike asked. Peewee nodded. “Well, that can’t be good. Something wrong, Twilight?” The purple unicorn looked up at him and the phoenix on his shoulder as they descended the staircase.

“Nothing’s wrong, Spike” she said still pacing. “I’m just trying to solve a puzzle.” When Spike reached the bottom, he looked at the chalkboard. On it were three balloons made out of chalk surrounded by a heart. Two of them were cyan while the other was yellow. The baby dragon rubbed his eyes.

“Great, this again,” he mumbled. “Twilight, this is the fourth night in a row that you’ve been constantly pacing in the middle of the night. You’ll only tire your mind if you keep doing that. Rest for a bit. You might find a solution in the morning. Besides, you’re keeping Peewee up. You don’t want an angry fire bird in a place full of books do you?”

“Fine,” she said heading to their shared room. “But you’re going to help me with this first thing in the morning.” Peewee flew from Spike’s shoulder and into a cage. A blanket was brought over it as Spike yawned. He slowly made the trek back to his basket with his eyes getting heavier with each step.

The sun was slowly rising over the horizon as Spike returned from dream land a second time. When he opened his eyes, he found Twilight staring at him with bloodshot eyes.

“Sweet Celestia!” he screamed tumbling backwards. He untangled himself from a pile of blankets and basket and stood up. “Have you been standing there staring at me the entire night?”

“I said that you’d help me first thing in the morning,” Twilight replied. “And it’s the first thing in the morning.”

“I never agreed to that,” Spike walked to the library’s foyer with Twilight following him. “And that didn’t answer my question.”

“I used a time spell to propel my mind forward,” Spike removed the blanket from Peewee’s cage. “So my body is physically rested while my mind may not be. And no, I was not staring at you for the entire night; I was staring at you for the past hour.” Twilight blinked while Spike placed birdseed in the cage.

“Huh, blinking has never felt this good before. Weird. Anyways, I need help solving the puzzle.” The pair made their way to the kitchen where Spike put two pieces of bread in a toaster. He filled a tea ball with tea leaves and placed it in a kettle.

“Tea?” he asked holding the kettle. Twilight shook her head. “Suit yourself. So, the puzzle that you’ve been trying to solve. It has to do something with Pinkie, and based on the heart on the chalkboard, I can safely assume that it has something to do with love. Am I wrong?” Again, Twilight shook her head. Steam rose from the kettle’s stout. Spike poured the kettle’s contents into a nearby tea cup.

“Tell me, what seems to be the problem?” he asked.

“I can’t solve this puzzle,” Twilight answered.

“Clearly, but what exactly about this puzzle puzzles you?” two pieces of toast were launched into the air. Spike held out a small plate and the pieces of toast landed on it. “Do we still have hummus?”

“Check the fridge,” she said. “I’ve been planning. I’ve planned out dates that the two of us can go on. I’ve planned out both quiet and extravagant things that the two of us can do, but no matter how hard I try, I can’t figure something out.”

“And what would that be?” Spike asked. A beige substance was spread on his toast.

“What’s the first step to actually getting Pinkie to going out with me?” Spike’s toast stopped its journey to his mouth.

“Have you thought of asking her out?”

“Of course I have. But I haven’t decided on the right method to do it.”

“What about being direct?” Spike said with toast in his mouth.

“That’s the tenth fallback plan. But that’s only going to be used as an emergency. Rarity said that something like this should be done with a grand sweeping gesture.”

“Rarity knows best when it comes to these things. So it’s probably a good idea to listen to her,” he placed his tea cup down. “What have you thought of so far?” Twilight’s horn glowed and a piece of parchment appeared in front of her. A pair of spectacles were on her stout as she looked over the paper.

“Let’s see,” she said pushing her spectacles up. “I could go with a romantic sonnet, a song, a message using magic, a love letter telling her about how I feel, or I could move the heavens themselves.”

“That last one doesn’t seem doable,” Spike poured himself a second cup of tea. “And besides the song, none of them seem Pinkie-ish.”

“What do you mean?”

“Pinkie is a happy chaotic pony who works to make everypony happy. Besides the song, do any of these things seem like something that Pinkie would do to win somepony over?”

“No, they don’t,” A second tea cup was pushed in front of Twilight. She held it in her magical grip and brought it to her lips. “What do you suggest?”

“Let’s think like her for a bit,” Twilight blinked. “I know, it sounds impossible, but humour me. She’s happy, childish, smarter than most give her credit for, and very passionate about what she does. Out of those four personality traits she has, which one do you want to appeal to?” Twilight sipped her tea.

“The happy part,” she said. Spike took one final bite into his toast. Both him and his guardian sat in relative silence for a few moments. The sound of chewing was in both of their ears.

“I’ve got an idea,” Spike said lifting the second piece of toast. “Pinkie likes games and puzzles, they make her happy right?” Twilight nodded.

“So,” he continued. “What if you tell her how you feel though a puzzle and then ask her out after she solves it?” Twilight placed her tea cup down.

“That’s… actually really clever,” she said. “How exactly am I going to tell her through a puzzle though?”

“Buy a five thousand piece jigsaw puzzle,” Spike wiped crumbs off his fingers. “Paint the surface pieces white, assemble it, and then write out whatever message you want. Knowing her, she’ll solve it rather quickly. The message should have a balance of both heartfelt emotion and romantic language.”

“Perfect. One problem though,” she said. “I’m not a romantic. I can write out heartfelt emotion, but I can’t write like a romantic. Not like the modern definition of a romantic anyways.”

“Peewee and I will help you,” a squawk came from the room beside them. “We’ll help you find the right words.”

“Thanks Spike,” Twilight got up and headed for the exit. “I’m going to go to the toy store to buy a puzzle. I’ll pick something up for you and Peewee as a reward.”

“Thanks!” he yelled. As soon as the library’s door closed, Peewee flew in front of Spike’s face and let out a large string of angry screeches. “Look, I’m sorry that you’ve been volun-told for this instead of you volunteering for it. But you have the soul of a poet, and you’re much better with words than me and Twilight. Are you willing to help?” The baby phoenix landed and turned his back to Spike.

“What will it take for you to help?” Spike asked. Peewee turned around and looked at the remainder of Spike’s toast. The toast was put on his plate and pushed forward. Peewee chirped happily as he stood in front of the plate. He then began to sing.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down,” Spike said. “Let me get a piece of parchment to write this stuff down. This is perfect for Twilight.” He ran off into the library’s foyer as Peewee happily pecked at the toast.

The Most Important Decision of the Day

“That’s a stupid idea!” an orange pegasus filly shouted.

“You’re a stupid idea!” a yellow earth pony filly yelled. In a tree house on Sweet Apple Acres, two fillies were having an animated argument. Four other ponies sat at the side of the tree house watching their bickering: a white unicorn filly, a purple unicorn filly, a pinto patterned earth pony colt, and a light gray pegasus colt. Their heads moved back and forth as the two ponies continued to argue.

“Question,” the purple unicorn whispered. “How long have they been arguing like this?”

“Since Pipsqueak and Sweetie Belle came in,” the gray pegasus replied.

“How long ago was that?”

“Long enough, Dinky,” Pipsqueak whispered. “They were in the middle of their argument when we came in. I think Rumble saw it start.”

“Should we stop them?” Sweetie Belle whispered. “This may get out of control.”

“Why would you want to stop them?” Rumble asked. “This is entertaining. Not only that, but what they’re arguing about is a big decision.”

“I’ll kill you!”Apple Bloom screamed.

“I dare you to try it! No, I double dog dare you to try!”

“Well, that escalated quickly. Time to step in,” Sweetie Belle ran between her friends. She held both of her hooves up separating the two fighting ponies. “That’s enough! Both of you stop and apologize.”

“But she…” Sweetie Belle turned her gaze to Apple Bloom. Her eyes were filled with a darkness that Apple Bloom couldn’t comprehend. Seeing it sent nearly all of her emotions running away. The only one that remained was fear. The earth pony shrunk from her stare. “Okay, I’ll apologize.”

“Ha!” Scootaloo cheered. “I guess that means that I win this…” Light green eyes turned Scootaloo. Like Apple Bloom, Scootaloo shrunk from their gaze. “I’m sorry, Apple Bloom.”

“So am I, Scoot,” Rumble let out a low whistle.

“That was impressive,” he said.

“I’m a little scared now,” Pipsqueak added. “Dinky, remind me never to make Sweetie Belle mad.”

“Only if you can promise to keep me safe from her when she is,” Dinky said.

“I’m right here you know,” Sweetie Belle said. She turned to the other three occupants in the room. They all held their hooves over their eyes and cowered from her. She sighed before turning to the two formerly arguing ponies. “Okay, what’s this about?”

“That,” Scootaloo pointed to a jar full of bits. The words ‘Cutie Mark Crusader Budget’ was written on it in black marker. “We were arguing about what to spend that on.”

“We did agree on one thing though,” Apple Bloom said. “Given the time, we decided to spend it on something for all of us. The only problem was that both Scoot and I have different ideas on what to spend it on.”

“Time, time, time,” Dinky tapped her chin. “Oh! Now that makes sense.”

“What do you mean?” Pipsqueak asked.

“They were arguing about what to buy for…”

“Okay,” Sweetie Belle interrupted. “Here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to vote on what to spend our budget on. Whoever gets the most votes for their idea, gets to decide what we spend the budget on. Agreed?” Apple Bloom and Scootaloo nodded.

“Good,” Sweetie Belle turned to the other three ponies. “If you want to go with Scootaloo’s idea, raise your hoof.”

“What is Scootaloo’s idea?” Dinky asked. Scootaloo opened her mouth but was stopped by a white hoof.

“It doesn’t matter, just vote,” Scootaloo, Rumble, and Dinky raised a hoof. “Three votes. And those in favour of Apple Bloom’s idea?” Apple Bloom, Pipsqueak, and Sweetie Belle raised their hooves.

“Surprise surprise,” Dinky rolled her eyes. “A tie. Now what?” Rumble flew to the jar. He opened it up and pulled a single bit out of it.

“Scootaloo, Apple Bloom,” the two ponies looked at him. The bit was flipped in the air. “Call it.”

“Heads!” Scootaloo yelled. The bit landed on the floor with a stylized sun facing upwards. “Ha! I win!”

“Rats,” Apple Bloom said. “I’m not really in the mood for Mediterranean today. Oh well. Rumble, take the jar with you. Scoot, you’re leading the way.” Apple Bloom tossed the bit into the open jar. Rumble closed it and flew out of the club house with it in his hooves. Sweetie Belle, Pipsqueak, Dinky, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom left the club house’s entrance. Scootaloo lead the five other ponies down a dirt path.

“Where exactly are we going?” Pipsqueak tilted his head.

“We’re going to get lunch,” Scootaloo answered. “And since I won the coin toss, I get to decide what we eat. Ever have dolmas before?” Pipsqueak and Rumble shook their heads. “Then this is going to be new for you. I hope you’re hungry.”