List of tributes, Ponyville, 153rd annual Pony Royale

Stallions:
Big Macintosh
Carrot Cake
Filthy Rich
Flim
Snips
Flam
Snails
Caramel

Mares:
Fluttershy
Rarity
Twilight Sparkle
Rainbow Dash
Applejack
Pinkie Pie
Cheerilee
Trixie

Chapter 0

There was a series of gasps as the train rushed out of the tunnel, and into a large expansive valley. On the left-hand side of the train, one could see rolling green hills stretching out into infinity. On the right-hand side the ground quickly sloped upward into a massive, white, mountain range that towered over the valley floor. It was these sights that were the cause of the ponies’ exclamation. Such grand vistas were rarely seen from such a short distance away.

“Whatcha lookin’ at Twilight?” said Pinkie Pie (mare #6), snapping Twilight Sparkle (mare #3) out of the trance induced by the looming mountains overhead. Pinkie Pie was an energetic pony, never to be in one place for very long. Though she worked down at the Ponyville bakery with Mrs. and Mr. Cake (stallion #2), Pinkie was best known for her parties. There wasn’t a single pony in all of Ponyville that couldn’t call her a friend.

“Oh, the mountains I guess. I’ve never seen them up close before,” said Twilight.

“Booooring,” said Pinkie, “Anyways, where do you suppose we are?”

“Somewhere in between Ponyville and Canterlot,” said Twilight.

They were on their way to the Grand Galloping Gala, an event held in Canterlot once a year. Usually, only VIPs and bigwigs could get in, but Twilight happened to be a personal friend of Princess Celestia. In fact, she was one of her best (if not the best) students. Twilight had taken up residence in Ponyville to begin the next level of her studies in the magic of friendship and the Elements of Harmony.

Just then, Caramel (stallion #6) trotted over to Twilight and Pinkie’s seat. “What time do you think we’ll get there?” he asked, smiling shyly. Caramel was a relatively new resident of Ponyville, arriving only shortly after Twilight. He mostly kept to himself, taking up jobs here and there. Twilight had tried engaging him in conversation, but resulted in failure. Pinkie Pie seemed to be the only one he could talk to. Most ponies had assumed it was just Pinkie’s friendliness, but Twilight saw something else in the way he looked at her.

“I haven’t the slightest idea. This is a different route from what Princess Celestia normally has us take,” said Twilight, realizing all too late that Caramel just wanted an excuse to talk to Pinkie Pie, and had little interest in their estimated arrival time.

While Caramel engaged Pinkie Pie in a stuttered conversation, Twilight slipped back a daze, this time losing herself in the affairs of the ponies within the train. Up at the very front, Fluttershy (mare #1) sat on the right-hand window seat, next to Rainbow Dash (mare #4), who seemed to be engaged in a heated argument with Applejack (mare #5) across the aisle, most likely sports related. Fluttershy had little interest in the argument. Nature being her passion, she seemed content with gazing up at the snowy mountains. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were very close friends, mainly because they were both pegasi. Rainbow Dash was very competitive and athletic, although quite lazy as well. Rainbow Dash did her best to help Fluttershy be more assertive, while Fluttershy tried to improve Rainbow Dash’s work ethic.

Rainbow Dash would have been considered the most athletic pony in Ponyville if it wasn't for Applejack. Applejack lived on the apple orchard Sweet Apple Acres with her older brother Big Macintosh (stallion #1), her little sister Applebloom, and their grandmother Granny Smith. The orchard provided the Apple family with almost constant work. Applejack was honest and hardworking, but incredibly stubborn. It was this that led to the constant conflict between her and Rainbow Dash. Unfortunately, Applejack was an earth pony and Rainbow Dash was a pegasus so there wasn’t any fair way of settling the rivalry.

A couple rows back, Flim (stallion #4) and Flam (stallion #6) were preforming one of their spectacular sales pitches to Snips (stallion #5) and Snails (stallion #7), who were mindlessly chanting “Cider! Cider! Cider!” even though they had already witnessed the exact same pitch many times before. The Flim-Flam brothers were not the most respected ponies in Ponyville. A few months before, they had attempted to monopolize the cider business in Ponyville by trying to get rid of the Apple family’s modest cider stand. The scheme ended in failure when the residents of Ponyville refused to buy their cider.

Behind them, Trixie (mare #8) sat distraught and infuriated at the complete lack in constant praise coming from her ever-shrinking fan base. She was pretending to be completely oblivious to Snip and Snail’s lack of interest, and carried on with her magical illusions without an audience. Trixie was another less favored pony among the community. Her ego was far too big for her own good, and she often ended up undertaking the impossible for the sake of revenge.

Behind Trixie, Big Macintosh (stallion #1) and Cheerilee (mare #7) were sitting side by side, without a care in the world. Big Macintosh was not very talkative, and spent most of his time working at Sweet Apple Acres. Cheerilee was a teacher at the local school. She was loved by her students, one of whom happened to be Big Macintosh’s younger sister, Applebloom. They had become recently known as the town’s newest couple, and one of the latest accomplishments of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Twilight then shifted her gaze to the seats behind her.

Carrot Cake (stallion #2) and Filthy Rich (stallion #3) were sitting directly behind Twilight. Filthy Rich was consolidating Carrot Cake. Cup Cake (Carrot Cake’s wife) couldn't make it on this year’s trip to the gala due to the recent arrival of Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake. Pound Cake was a pegasus, and Pumpkin Cake was a unicorn, which made them quite the handful, especially for the two earth ponies. Despite the massive work load the newborn ponies brought with them, Cup Cake insisted that Carrot Cake go to the gala so he could tell her about it when he came back. As one may guess, Carrot Cake wasn’t the happiest about leaving his wife and children behind for several days.

“I’m sure their fine,” said Filthy Rich, “You’re going to worry yourself sick.”

“But what if something goes wrong?” cried Carrot Cake, “What if she needs me to fix the sink again?”

“You checked it before you left, didn't you?” said Filthy Rich, “If you’re so worried she couldn't handle the task, then why didn't you just hire a sitter, and then you could both come? I would gladly pay for it if you couldn't afford such a thing.”

“And put our babies in the custody of somepony we barely even know?” said Carrot Cake, “I know we let Pinkie Pie baby sit them that one time, but that was for not even one day, and Pinkie is a good friend of ours. But a complete stranger? Cup Cake would have none of it.”

“Then come now,” said Filthy Rich, “what’s done is done. Try to forget about it and have a good time at the gala.”

“I suppose you’re right,” said Carrot Cake, dropping the subject, though it was clear he wasn’t any less anxious about the events that were transpiring back home.

Rarity (mare #2) was also in great distress, taking up two whole seats just to swoon. Surrounding her seat were her many bags, all opened up, with various articles of clothing and other “necessities” that almost any other pony would have thought unnecessary. “This is horrible!” she moaned, “One simply doesn’t just forget her eyelash curler!”

Rarity was a very well-known fashion designer in Ponyville, and made outfits for all of Equestria’s up and coming celebrities and pop-stars.

Taking pity on Rarity’s situation, Twilight Sparkle turned around to address her problem. “If it makes you feel any better, we’ll probably be in Canterlot in just a few more hours now, though I can’t know for sure,” said Twilight, “I’m sure you can buy one when we get there.”

“But I need one now!” Rarity complained.

“I don’t know what to tell you then. I would suggest borrowing somepony else’s, but everypony else has their luggage in the luggage car,” sighed Twilight, easily agitated by Rarity’s discomfort. This train ride had better end soon, thought Twilight, The gala will do us all good. I just hope it will turn out better than last year.

Turning her gaze away from the two worriers in the back of the train, Twilight once again stared out the window. They were nearing the other side of the valley, were they would enter another tunnel, to be once again shrouded in darkness for whoever knows how long.

They were in the tunnel. The train was almost completely dark, except for the small light coming from the conductor’s booth, at the very front of the train. Everypony was quiet. As Twilight shifted her gaze around the train, she saw that ponies who were moments before socializing were now completely asleep. They’d been travelling for a long time, but not long enough for anypony to be going to sleep, let alone the entire passenger population of the train. Her eyes shifted back up to the conductor’s booth. The conductor seemed to be wearing some sort of mask.

Is it, gas that is making us so sleepy? She thought. She was having trouble thinking. Her eyelids became very heavy. She looked over at Pinkie Pie. She was completely zonked out. Twilight had never seen Pinkie so peaceful. Looking past Pinkie, on the other side of the aisle, she saw Caramel, still conscious.

He was trying to get the window open, but to no avail. It was clear that he was becoming weaker by the second. I’ve got to help him, Twilight thought, but she could barely move. “Damn,” She heard Caramel mutter, as he finally gave in and drifted to sleep. Twilight struggled to keep her eyes open, but the temptation to let sleep take her was just too powerful. Her eyes drifted shut and remained closed.

The last thing she heard before she slipped into oblivion was a phone call the conductor was making. “Yes, we’ve got them all out cold. We should be arriving at the rendezvous point on time, so you can inform the Princess we’ll be starting soon.”

16 ponies remaining.

Author's Note

If you're reading this, then I hope that means you like my writing, which means you should keep on reading. I promise to finish this story, which is easy because it's already finished. There are three parts, each of which I will be publishing within a few weeks of each other. As you can see, part one is up already. So... yeah.