A Very Minty Summer Sun Celebration

As twilight settled, lights began to appear around the fair grounds. In the gathering gloom more and more of them flickered to life, transforming the scene into a new wonderland for the visiting ponies. Back in Ponyville they had candles and firefly lanterns, and not much else. Now they saw warm lights at the vendor stalls, colorful lights on the rides, and bright white lights supported on columns above the paths that wound through the fairground.

Pinkie and Minty marveled at this and pranced about with excitement, but only briefly as the long and eventful day was beginning to wear down even their natural, exuberant energy.

“Isn’t there going to be a fireworks show?” Star Catcher reminded them, and then she added, “I’ve never seen one of those. We don’t have any fireworks on Butterfly Island.”

Pinkie gasped. “You’ve never seen fireworks?”

“Have you? I thought only unicorns knew how to make them.”

Pinkie and Minty both nodded. Pinkie said, “There’s a unicorn that comes to Ponyville every fall for a couple of days to visit with Kimono. He always brings some fireworks in his cart, and he gives a fireworks show down by Cayuse Creek.”

“The old goat!” Minty chimed in.

“That’s what some ponies call him,” Pinkie nodded. “Because he has a beard sorta like a goat, and he’s a grumpy-pants sometimes. But he’s not a meanie-pants. And he’s not a goat.” She jabbed lightly at Minty. “His name is Star Swirl.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot,” Minty admitted. “I loved the fireworks, though! I got to see them one time.” Then she frowned and lowered her head. “But he never let me come back after that.”

“Yeah, Minty. He was pretty burned up about what happened that night. But I’m sure all the scars are healed and he’s forgot about it since then.” Pinkie moved closer to Star Catcher and whispered, “Let’s keep Minty way back from the fireworks, OK?” Star Catcher glanced toward the mint green pony and nodded vigorously.

They made their way toward the fairgrounds where the jousting had happened earlier in the day. It was easy to tell they were going in the right direction, since ponies were beginning to drift to the same place. They paused only to grab some more hard cherry lemonade, which they’d taken quite a liking to. Berry Punch’s stand was fairly mobbed with customers by this time. After the wait in line, and drinking their lemonade, they had to hurry to catch up with the migrating crowd.

When they continued, Pinkie Pie said softly, “I’ve never seen so many ponies in my life. I didn’t even know there were this many ponies in the world.”

Even outside the stadium, on the grass and on rooftops, ponies were gathered to watch the show. Minty wondered, “Are they going to try watching the show from out here? How can they even see it? Those must be some powerful big fireworks that they’re gonna set off, way more than anything Old Goat ever had.”

The three of them found a spot where they could see the stage, and Minty pressed herself against Pinkie and Star Catcher so that she could feel a little bit more secure. She already knew how loud fireworks could be.

As the crowd settled and an expectant hush fell over the stadium, Pinkie Pie bounced in place with anticipation. She loved fireworks! This was going to be so exciting!

Suddenly, with a loud boom that made everypony jump, a bright red firework exploded in the sky above them, sending out a shower of sparks. Minty squeaked and pressed herself against Pinkie's side.

"It's okay, Minty," Pinkie reassured her friend. "They're supposed to be loud."

A cheerful music started playing from up on stage as hundreds of tiny sparkles lit up the night sky like stars. It was breathtaking as even more colorful lights started filling up the sky creating patterns that weaved in and out of each other, forming circles, stars, hearts and all sorts of shapes that looked like they were made out of rainbows. Fireworks were shot off from different places across the ground making it appear as though an entire galaxy was exploding in front of them in a dazzling array of colors and shapes.

Minty peeked out from behind her hooves, which she had been using to cover her eyes. "Wow," she breathed. "That's so pretty!"

More fireworks followed in rapid succession, each one more dazzling than the last. Green, blue, purple and gold sparks lit up the night sky in intricate patterns. Some of the fireworks whistled and crackled as they ascended before exploding in bursts of color.

Star Catcher watched in amazement, her eyes wide.

"Ooh, look at that one!" Pinkie exclaimed as a particularly large firework burst into a shimmering silver star shape.

The show continued, building to a grand finale that left the ponies breathless. Dozens of fireworks exploded at once, filling the sky with a dazzling array of colors and shapes. The booming echoed off the surrounding buildings, making it feel like the whole city was shaking.

As the last sparks faded away, the crowd erupted into cheers and applause. Pinkie bounced up and down, whooping with glee. Even Minty was grinning from ear to ear, her earlier nervousness forgotten.

"That was amazing!" Star Catcher said, still staring up at the sky in wonder. "I've never seen anything like it!"

"I told you fireworks were awesome!" Pinkie said, giving her friend a playful nudge. "But you're right, that was way bigger and better than anything Star Swirl showed us back home."

The crowd began to disperse, and the three friends followed. Leaving the fireworks show behind, Minty and Pinky wandered groggily. For a few minutes they could only tell one another how amazing the fireworks had been.

“Did you see the one with all the gold sparkling things like bees?”

“I know! Did you see the ones with the purple things that went everywhere?”

“I know!”

And so forth. After a few minutes, though, fatigue began to set in, for they’d had a long and eventful day. They'd already gathered that the tradition at this festival was to party all night, until the sunrise ceremony, and there were certainly many festivities still ongoing. In practice, however, a fair number of ponies around the fairgrounds were finding comfortable places on the grass and among the little groves of trees where they could grab a nap. Instinct led the trio to one such grove. Star Catcher nuzzled the other two and said, gently, “I’m going to roam and investigate some things. If you want to rest here for a little while, I’ll find you later. Perhaps at the sunrise procession that so many ponies have mentioned?”

They agreed and hugged her, and she wandered off into the fairgrounds. Minty said, “Is it weird that I have to keep reminding myself that she’s not my mom?”

“I know!” said Pinkie. “Her voice is so full of love and warmth. Until she starts giving orders, and then I feel like I was caught raiding the cookie jar. But I don’t think she’s even that much older than you and me.”

They walked into what seemed like a peaceful copse, but it was not as empty as they had assumed. There they saw a small tent among the trees, and a lantern filled with fireflies hanging by the entrance, which was draped with flowing, gauzy material. Illuminated by the lantern was a wooden sign with cracked but still colorful paint. There was the image of a large orb, a crystal ball, sitting on a pedestal, and strange symbols surrounding it. Above it, as though gazing into the orb, was the outline of a long, slender face with two graceful horns curving upward. Below the image were the words:

MADAME MARIMBA
SEES ALL
KNOWS ALL

There they paused, at first still thinking of a place to lie down, but then their attention was drawn to the sign, and the inviting glow and aroma of incense that also came from within the tent. An exotically accented voice called out to them:

“Come in, and enter without fear! Marimba knows why you are here.”

Pinkie and Minty glanced at one another. Minty said, "Ooh! I want to have my fortune told by a unicorn. C'mon, Pinkie Pie, this'll be fun!"

Pinkie pulled back and argued, with a strained laugh, "Haha! Fortune telling? What do you think, that a pony can have a twinge or a sneeze and knows what's going to happen? That's just crazy talk!"

Minty was already nosing her way into the tent. "What do you mean?"

"It's fake," Pinkie said. "Everypony knows that. A trick to get silly colts and fillies to spend their bits."

"Let's find out!" Minty said, and pushed forward into the tent. Pinkie followed reluctantly. Then the two ponies looked around in wonderment as their eyes adjusted to the low lighting in the tent. The walls were of richly patterned fabric and hung with beaded strings, tapestries and feathers. Oil lamps cast a flickering light over wooden shelves filled with strange objects and bottles of oils and incense. On a low platform at the far end of the tent was an elaborately upholstered chair, behind it stood a sort of being that neither Pinkie nor Minty had ever seen before: an antelope with a glossy brown coat and long, spiraled horns.

Madame Marimba smiled warmly at Pinkie and Minty, her horns curved elegantly above her head. She wore a long robe of shimmering purple velvet, encrusted with sparkling jewels. Her eyes were heavy-lidded, warm like honey and glowing with wisdom. This exotic being greeted the two ponies:

"Welcome, dear ponies, to my mystical den, where destiny is revealed to those who enter in. I am Marimba, seer of the unseen; in my crystal ball, your destinies will gleam. Step forward, brave souls, and let your hearts be light, for the secrets of tomorrow shall be unveiled tonight."

Pinkie grabbed Minty and whispered (not terribly quietly) in her ear, "That's no unicorn!"

Minty stage-whispered back in kind, "But look at those horns! She must be twice as magical as any unicorn."

Marimba laughed and said:

"Thank you, kind miss, for your words of praise! Now, if you'll take a seat, I'll gaze. . ."

She waved a slender, cloven hoof, indicating the table.

"Into my crystal ball to see what unfolds, and tell you what the future holds."

So saying, she moved to take her seat at the table, and motioned for the two ponies to take their place at the other side, upon a plush ottoman. They did so, and watched expectantly.

The fortune teller cleared her throat and gestured towards a bowl by the side of the table containing a few coins. A small sign read: 5 BITS

Minty eagerly put her coins into the bowl, and Pinkie did as well, though with less enthusiasm. Minty said, "Me first, please!"

Madame Marimba smiled and nodded, then reached for a small, dark crystal ball that was sitting on the table. After placing her cloven hooves on either side of the sphere, Madame Marimba began to speak in a melodic voice:

"Behold the ancient glass of my sight, wherein the secrets of your future take flight! Let me look deep within the depths of its soul, and the scrolls of fate we shall unroll.

Lamp light bounced off the glass and seemed to be drawn inside, like a whirlpool. The interior of the orb began to glow with a silvery light as Marimba moved her hooves over it in slow circles, sending sparks of colored light swirling around within.

Then she leaned forward with an expression of concentration, murmuring softly under her breath. The crystal ball seemed to spin on its own as images began to appear within the depths.

The antelope frowned as though puzzled. She said:

"Mystic crystal globe beyond reason and rhyme, let me see the through the eyes of time! Two ponies are here, their fates entwined. The turn of tide, cycle of season, will it be kind?"

As she recited this, her long face became more furrowed with distress. She muttered, “I dimly see. . . No, this can’t be!” Eyes wide with shock, Marimba looked to Minty, then Pinkie Pie. Then she jumped up from the table and said, in a harsh tone, “You must leave! I can't give you the fortune you seek. Go, now!” She pointed with a hoof toward the exit.

The ponies cringed, and Minty almost cried, "But why? I don't understand."

Pinkie said, "Yeah, and we paid you for a fortune reading too."

Marimba reached over and shoved the money bowl toward them. "Take your coins! You have no future. I can't help you. Nobody can help you." Then she turned and fled through a fabric flap in the rear of the tent.

The two friends sat stunned for a moment. Minty sobbed, "What did I do wrong this time?"

Pinkie hugged her and said, "You didn't do anything wrong, Minty. Maybe she's crazy, or she's trying to scare us." Pinkie Pie looked at the money bowl and said, "Well, that's a shame. I guess we lost our chance to find out what happens in the future."

Minty sniffed and nodded. "Come on, let's go."

Thus the two ponies left the tent, feeling disheartened and confused. They crossed a foot bridge and found a place where they could lay down on the grass, where the sounds of ongoing revelry were softened by distance, and a tree provided shade from the cold glare of the moon. As they lay down, Minty said, “Longest day of the year means shortest night too, doesn’t it?”

“That’s how it works, yep. We’ll just grab a little shut-eye, then get up and be ready for those Unicorn Wizards to raise Mister Sun.”

“I wonder if Old Goat—I mean, Star Swirl—will be there? How many unicorns does it take to raise the sun?”

“Lots! But I had no idea there were even this many unicorns in the whole world, before we came here.”

“Where will they do it?”

Pinkie scratched her chin, and shrugged. “Not sure. But if we follow all the other ponies, I’m sure they’ll lead us right to the ceremony.”

That was obviously sound herd-animal logic, so the two of them settled down to sleep.