It Was a Beautiful Day in Ponyville

by gloamish

Rating: teen
Tags: Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Spike, Horror
Length: 1010

Damage to a vinyl record can cause the needle to skip from its groove, interrupting normal playback.

It was a beautiful day in Ponyville.

pewter medal in thousand words iii (horror)
translations: russian
reviews: louderyay

Published 2024-07-06 06:50:00 UTC
Last updated 2024-07-06 06:50:00 UTC

It Was a Beautiful Day in Ponyville

It was a beautiful day in Ponyville. Birds sang, the sun shone, and ponies trotted to and fro in the market.

Twilight Sparkle smiled as she stretched. It was probably going to heat up as the day went on, but right now the temperature was perfect. Not only that, she had nothing on her schedule. A full day of reading was ahead of her, maybe in the little nook below the window on the second floor, or maybe out on the balcony where she could feel the breeze... Or both! She had the whole day, after all.

Taking it slow, she ambled downstairs and began fixing herself a cup of tea. She loved the view of Ponyville from her kitchen window: she could see everypony going about their days, but the covering of leaves lent a feeling of privacy so she didn't feel as if everypony could see her too. The routine of tea-making comforted her as it always did, and she briefly wondered if it would be strange to visit Canterlot just to have tea with her teacher.

A spoonful of black tea, a sprinkle of dried bergamot rind, and hot water was all it took to suffuse the kitchen with a wonderful aroma. She was a little sore still from yesterday's work at Sweet Apple Acres. She couldn't buck trees like an earth pony, but helping Applejack haul the wagon meant less trips back to the barn, so the work got done faster. The ache in her back where the traces had tugged at her felt good, in its own way.

THHHRRRUUUMMM

It was a beautiful day in Ponyville. Birds sang, the sun shone, and ponies trotted to and fro in the market.

Twilight Sparkle smiled as she sipped her tea. Today felt just right. Not too hot, not too cold, not too windy or still or loud or quiet. And the tea was perfect too. Judging by the taste, it was brewed by either her or the Princess, and the Princess definitely wasn't here. She put the mug down on the table as worry steeped in her mind. When had she brewed it?

Twilight knew ponies didn't get senile at her age. She'd checked. Often. It was probably just a boring morning — sometimes she forgot whether she'd washed her back in the tub, and that was normal. Or she'd prepared tea in her sleep? Spike might not have been joking about that. Or maybe her brain was still a little tired from yesterday.

There wasn't any sense in being reckless, so she scribbled down a note on a scroll and annotated it with an estimate of when she made her tea. Satisfied, she picked up the mug in her magic and drained it. Nothing a long day of reading couldn't fix.

THHRRRUUUMM

It was a beautiful day in Ponyville. Birds sang, the sun shone, and ponies trotted to and fro in the market.

Twilight Sparkle smiled as she looked out the window. She didn't have anything scheduled today, so maybe she'd take a walk before it got too hot out. On her way to the door, her hoof bumped something. There was an empty mug lying on the floor. Huh. She retraced her steps and found a note on the table, written in her own mouthwriting.

Memory lapse? ~8:15AM

Her brain clicked into analysis mode. She didn't remember writing the note, so that made two lapses — a pattern. She glanced at the clock. Half past. Then, the case of what she thought was heatstroke yesterday at Applejack's... She jotted down the estimated time of the latest event and ran figures in her head.

Maybe they'd happened in the night, too... That meant the events were getting closer together, and she was already running out of time! She jumped out of her chair and grabbed the scroll in her magic, scrawling an addendum at the bottom. "Spike!" she yelled up to the bedroom, hoping he was already awake. "I need you to send a letter to the Princess!"

THRRUUMM

It was a beautiful day in Ponyville. Birds sang, the sun shone, and ponies trotted to and fro in the market.

Twilight Sparkle smiled as she stood in her kitchen. Today felt like it was going to be a good day. As if to disprove her, a loud clatter sounded out. Turning around, she spotted Spike sitting at the bottom of the stairs, rubbing his head.

"You okay, buddy?" she asked, trotting over.

He groaned, but nodded. "Must not be awake yet..." he mumbled. Then, he glanced around her. "Oh, did you have something you wanted me to send?"

"Huh?" Twilight followed his gaze to a scroll and scanned it with growing dread. She didn't remember writing either time, so there were at least three events this morning, and they'd wiped her short-term memory each time. At the bottom was scrawled:

EVENT INTERVALS DECREASING!!!

Her head whipped back to Spike. "Send it!"

THRRUUM

It was a beautiful day in Ponyville. Birds sang, the sun shone, and ponies trotted to and fro in the market.

Twilight Sparkle smiled as her ear flicked. Maybe she would go for a walk in between books today.

"Did you call me, Twilight?"

She turned to see Spike at the base of the stairs. "Oh, hey Spike. Nope."

THRRUM

It was a beautiful day in Ponyville. Birds sang, the sun shone, and ponies trotted to and fro in the market.

Twilight Sparkle smiled. "Hey Spike, wanna go for a walk?"

THRRUM

It was a beautiful day in Ponyville. Birds sang, the sun shone, and ponies trotted to and fro in the market.

THRUM

It was a beautiful day in Ponyville. Birds sang, the sun shone, and ponies stood in the market.

THRUM

It was a beautiful day in Ponyville. Birds were silent, the sun shone, and ponies smiled with glassy eyes.

THRUM

It was a beautiful day in Ponyville.

THRUM

It was a beautiful day in Ponyville.

THRUM

It was a beautiful day in Ponyville.