"Twiliiiiiight. Twilight we're heeere!"
Twilight Sparkle mumbled something unintelligible and shifted away from the source of the noise. She had been sleeping and most certainly wanted to continue doing so. Whatever Princess Celestia wanted her for would require lots of rest and she had found herself surprisingly tired at the start of the train ride to Canterlot.
Unfortunately for her a certain pink party pony found such a notion absolutely ridiculous and was poking her in the side with her hoof and whispering in her ear.
"Come on, sleepyhead, we're in Canterlot now!"
"Oh dear, is she still not awake?" sighed the voice of her fashionista friend Rarity.
"Mgphmrhn," Twilight grumbled.
"Ah think she's awake, she's just still plum tuckered out," chortled the voice of Applejack.
"I say leave her," said the voice of Rainbow Dash. "The train will head back to Ponyville and she'll miss whatever it is that the princess wants her help with." Rainbow Dash sighed. "The princess is gonna be really bummed out."
Immediately Twilight's eyes snapped open and she shot to her hooves. "NoI'mawake!" she cried.
Her five friends chuckled around her and Rainbow Dash and Applejack high-hooved. "Works every time," Rainbow Dash giggled.
Twilight glowered at her friend and scanned the train compartment for her saddlebag. Spotting it under the seat she had recently been resting on, she ignited her horn, encasing the bag in her magical glow and levitating it onto her back. "That wasn't funny," she scolded the pegasus.
Rainbow Dash snorted. "Oh lighten up, Twi. We needed you awake and you're awake now, aren't you?"
"The ends justify the means," said Rarity with a smirk.
Twilight rolled her eyes. "Come on, girls. The princess said that she's have a carriage waiting for us and we don't want to keep her waiting."
After the rest of the ponies secured their saddlebags on their backs, the six ponies trotted out of the train. It was a nice spring afternoon and the train station was packed with ponies bustling around and doing whatever it was they had to do. Twilight led her friends towards the clock tower where Princess Celestia had told them she had a large carriage waiting to take them to Canterlot Castle. Twilight scanned the crowd. "Do you see our carriage?" she asked.
"No I don't see... wait, there it is!" said Fluttershy, pointing towards a pony in front of a large carriage holding a sign that said 'Elements' on it. Twilight smiled and led her friends up to the carriage.
"Hello, sir, we're the Elements," she said.
The stallion opened his mouth to respond but he was cut off by a brutish, nasally voice behind them. "How can you be the Elements when we are?!"
The group turned around to see a pair of rather portly earth ponies, one mare and one stallion, dressed to the nines with their noses in the air. "It is impolite to steal somepony else's carriage you hoodlums!" said the mare as she trotted over to them, stepping on her ornate feather boa the entire time.
Twilight frowned at them. "Last I checked you weren't the Elements of Harmony." She motioned towards her friends. "We are."
"Ha!" cawed the mare when she stopped in front of them. "Elements of Harmony? I've never heard of them; I'll bet that's a title you made up on the spot to gain entry to our carriage!"
The stallion holding the sign put it down on the ground. "Er, actually the Elements of Harmony saved Equestria..."
"Oh who cares about inflated deeds?" scoffed the mare with a wave of her hoof. "The point of the matter is that this is our carriage so you need to go away now before I call the authorities!"
Twilight glowered at her and took an aggressive step towards her, backed by Applejack and Rainbow Dash. "With all due respect ma'am, what makes you think that a carriage where the driver is holding a sign that says 'Elements' belongs to you?"
The mare sputtered for a second before drawing herself up to her full high and addressing Twilight with the most pompous voice she could muster. "We are Mr. and Mrs. Precious Elements, owners of the finest jewelries in Canterlot!" She glared down at the six ponies. "And we are certainly more important than the likes of you!"
Rarity raised an eyebrow. "Indeed? I've never heard of you two. The last I heard, Fancypants and Hoity Toity touted Fine Diamond's jewelry as the finest in Canterlot."
The mare's eyes widened and she sputtered indignantly once more at Rarity. "Well, I don't know who these two ruffians are, but they don't know anything about the jewelry business!"
A small smirked formed across Rarity's face. "Really? Well it seems to me that you might not even be who you say you are then if you don't know who Fancypants and Hoity Toity are." Rarity leaned in and examined the gold and diamond studded choker the mare was wearing. "And what kind of jeweler goes around wearing rhinestones?"
"You insolent ruffian!" squawked the mare. "I'll have you know that these are the finest diamonds that money can buy!"
Rarity rolled her eyes. "If that's true then they wouldn't be fake." She turned her attention back to their chauffeur. "Might I ask which of us you were sent here to pick up?"
The stallion, who had becoming increasingly more uneasy with the whole thing as the argument went on, flinched back at being addressed but recovered and motioned around to Twilight and her friends. "The princess hired me to deliver the Elements of Harmony to Canterlot Castle. I don't know who those two are."
The mare once again began sputtering indignantly and trying to insist that she was a very important pony who had this carriage but the Elements paid her no heed and happily, and in Rainbow Dash's case gleefully, hopping into the carriage. When they were all inside, the chauffeur hitched himself to the front and pulled away, despite the repeated protests of the two ponies that they were the ones who had the carriage. As they pulled away, an evil grin crossed Rainbow Dash's face and she stuck her two front legs out of the carriage and twisted them into an unseen gesture. The mare and stallion both squawked and Rainbow Dash sat back down, laughing her mane off. "That was too rich," she chortled.
"I must say that they were rather ghastly ponies," said Rarity as she pushed her saddlebag under the seat. "I suspect that they were con artists based on the way that they were dressed. The turned her head towards Twilight. "What do you think Twi...?”
But the purple mare had fallen asleep once more.
Applejack cocked her head with a frown. "What do ya suppose has got her all tuckered out?"
"I think Spike said that she thought that this might be a secret test so she was up all night studying," said Fluttershy.
Applejack scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Consarnit girl, when are y'all gonna learn that not everythin' the princess is askin' ya to do is that big of a deal?" she muttered.
* * * *
The carriage stopped in front of the castle within twenty minutes and, after waking up Twilight with another utterance of 'the princess will be sad if you aren't there', the six ponies walked up the castle stairs and were met with a trio of royal guards who escorted them to the throne room. The two guards in front of the throne room saluted the approaching ponies and opened up the door revealing a surprisingly empty room.
The six ponies walked inside and Twilight frowned. "I would have thought that there would be more ponies here or at the very least the princess," she said.
"Well I would imagine that she's quite busy," Rarity observed. "Even if she did call us to Canterlot she is still the princess of all of Equestria."
Twilight nodded and scanned the room as if expecting Celestia to pop out from behind a pillar or something. The sound of Pinkie Pie proinking around the throne room, eagerly examining everything her eyes landed on was even louder than it was in Ponyville as the emptiness of the hall meant that there was no noise for that to compete with.
As the group stood around the throne room, Applejack walked up next to Twilight. "So Twi, Ah never got the chance to ask ya since you were sleepin' on the train and in the carriage, but did Princess Celestia actually tell ya what we're doin'?
Twilight shook her head. "No, she just said that it was very important that we come to Canterlot. She didn't say why or what we'd be doing, but it sounded important."
"That's because it is important," said a serene voice that echoed throughout the hall.
The six ponies gasped as Princess Celestia walked through a side-door of the throne room. They all sunk to the ground in a bow. Princess Celestia chuckled. "Please, you six do not need to bow to me. You have saved Equestria so many times that you are my friends before you are my subjects."
The six ponies rose to their hooves, each smiling wide at the princess' declaration. Twilight in particular seemed pleased and she ran up to Celestia and the two exchanged a hug. "It's so great to be here, princess," Twilight said happily.
"It is wonderful to have you here, Twilight," Celestia replied. "I have a very important task for you and I believe that you six are the best ponies in all of Equestria for the task."
Twilight's eyes widened and she backed up a few paces. "What is it, princess? Is it some sort of test? Did Discord get out again?"
Celestia laughed softly and shook her head. "I assure you that what I have for you is nothing bad at all." She walked a few steps closer to the ponies. "But that does not mean it is not important, for it is one of the most important jobs I have given you thus far."
"What is it?" asked Fluttershy nervously.
Princess Celestia motioned a wing towards the throne. "Perhaps it is best if I show you."
The alicorn of the sun ignited her horn and shot a bright gold beam out of it. The beam twisted into a circle in midair and slowly began expanding until its circumference was nearly the size of the room itself. Once it had stretched to its full height, it began sparkling with electricity, causing the seven ponies in the room to cover their eyes lest they be blinded by the white light that was now filling the circle. Finally, with one final large flash of light the electricity stopped crackling and the blinding light faded away until the ponies in the room could see again.
They looked where they light had come from and what they saw made their jaws drop. The golden circle was still in the room, standing as tall as it had been but it was now filled in with a swirling light blue mass. Twilight's eyes went wide and she took an uneasy step towards the magic. "What is this?" she whispered.
Princess Celestia walked up next to Twilight and smiled proudly. "This, my dear student, is a portal."
Twilight gasped and looked up at her teacher. "A portal. A portal as in 'a doorway to another dimension'? That kind of portal?"
Princess Celestia chuckled and nodded. "It is indeed that kind of portal, Twilight."
The rest of the ponies walked up to Celestia and Twilight's level, each staring at the portal in awe. "Why did y'all make a portal here?" asked Applejack. "And what does it have to do with us?"
Princess Celestia fired up her horn once more and shot another golden beam into the portal. Instantly the swirling blue light was replaced with the image of a great field, on which hundreds of creatures of all shapes and sizes gathered. They all seemed to be at a sort of fair. The six saw booths laden with food the likes of which they had never seen, tents selling trinkets of all kinds, gigantic creatures that would easily tower over a pony playing rough games while other watched on, and even different creatures just standing around and talking.
Twilight watched the images flashing before her with wide eyes. "What is this?" she whispered in awe.
Princess Celestia put a hoof on Twilight's shoulder and motioned to the portal with a wing. "Twilight Sparkle, this is The Great Gathering."
"The what?" asked Rarity.
"The Great Gathering," Celestia repeated. "Long ago, a race whose very name has been forgotten by time discovered the magic behind portals and used them to travel between worlds, seeing the sights, experiencing the different cultures, and meeting the different beings behind all of them. It came to the point where they became so enthralled with the euphoria that came from discovering a whole new culture, that they shared their portal technology and magic with the other universes and created The Great Gathering: an event that happens but once a millennium where the beings from the different universes come together and share culture, ideas, food, technology, and whatever else they would like without fear of conflict. It is a time of learning and fun, there is no fear of violence there."
"And you want us to go," said Twilight breathlessly. "You want us to represent Equestria at the next one."
Celestia nodded. "Indeed I do," she said. "You six are lucky in that you are alive when The Great Gathering is being held. You are the wielders of The Elements of Harmony. I could think of nopony better than you to represent Equestria at the upcoming event."
Princess Celestia fired up her horn one more time and the portal faded from their sight. When it was gone, Twilight collapsed onto her haunches, a look of shock still on her face. "I can't believe this," she muttered to herself.
Applejack scanned the expressions of the other four ponies. "That makes six of us Ah'll wager," she muttered. The farmpony looked up at Celestia. "What exactly do ya want us to do there?"
"While Equestria is not the most technologically advanced of nations, we do make some of the best food in existence if I do say so myself," said Celestia. "We are allowed three booths to showcase our food."
A wide grin split Pinkie Pie's face in half and she began excitedly bouncing up and down in the air. "Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, cupcakes, cupcakes! We gotta have a lotta stuff from Sugarcube Corner!"
Princess Celestia nodded. "Of course we do," Celestia agreed. "And I take it that you would like to set up your apple carts there, Applejack?"
The farmer managed a grin and she nodded. "Ah think that'd be great, Princess," she said. "Mah apple fritters are gonna blow their horseshoes off and make Equestria proud!"
"I'm sure that they will," Celestia chuckled. "I admit that I myself find them quite delectable."
At this Fluttershy found it in her to speak up. "Um... you said that we got three food booths?" Celestia nodded. "What is the third one going to be?"
Princess Celestia's smile faded into a thoughtful frown. "I'm not sure," she said. "What would you liked to do? Do you have any ideas?"
Fluttershy's ears flattened slightly and she glanced at the floor. "Um... I've always wanted to try a lemonade stand... I mean, if that's okay with you."
Rarity, who had anticipated Fluttershy's nerves and had leaned her head in close to her yellow friend raised an eyebrow in interest. "A lemonade stand?"
Fluttershy slowly nodded. "I never got to do one when I was a filly and I've... kinda always wanted to try one." Fluttershy's ears perked up and she gained a bit of confidence. "I make really good lemonade."
Twilight tapped her lower jaw thoughtfully. "Well that is true, and we do need a third stand. Applejack's going to be selling cider at her stand, right?" The apple farmer nodded in confirmation. "Right. Pinkie Pie is going to be selling things like milkshakes and such, so..." Twilight paused thoughtfully for a second before a wide smile crossed her face. "A lemonade stand sounds pretty fun! I know we're representing Equestria and all, but I don't actually see a problem with a lemonade stand and..." Twilight flattened her ears and blushed. "I've always kinda wanted to do one too."
Princess Celestia laughed good-naturedly. "Well it is settled then. Equestria will serve apples, confectioneries, and lemonade at the Seventieth Millennial Great Gathering!"
* * * *
Two weeks later saw Twilight and her friends back in Canterlot, ready to travel to The Great Gathering. The portal had been opened once more and the friends stood in front of it, ready to be off. Princess Celestia had only had them bring two boxes of whatever they needed apiece as there would be beings there that could make whatever it was that they were selling endless, something that made Applejack and Pinkie Pie particularly happy.
As the ponies gathered their materials, Twilight trotted uneasily up to Princess Celestia and nuzzled her right wing. The goddess looked down at Twilight and smiled at her. "Is something the matter, Twilight?" she asked.
Twilight sighed and kicked at the ground. "It's nothing much, it's just that I'm really nervous about this whole thing." Twilight's eyes flickered up and she scanned her group of friends. "They all are, I can tell."
"But they are also excited, Twilight," Celestia observed. "Are you not excited as well?"
Twilight's eyes widened and she shook her head vigorously. "No that's not it at all, I'm very excited about all of this, it's just that..." Twilight hesitated for a second before responding. "It's just that, what if I mess up? If I do I'm not just misrepresenting Equestria to some griffin dignitary, I'm misrepresenting Equestria to hundreds of races across the known universe!"
Celestia smiled warmly at Twilight and sat down next to her. She wrapped a wing over Twilight's shoulder and pulled her in for a hug. "Twilight, I was nervous for my first Gathering as well. Luna and I went to the last two that were held and both of us were very nervous about our responsibilities. However, we learned something very quickly while we were there."
Twilight looked up at her mentor. "What's that?"
"Do you have any idea how casual The Great Gathering is? Yes all of the beings there are trying to represent their cultures to the best of their abilities, but I did not meet a single being who was there to act as some stuffy, boring dignitary. Most of the beings there just want to have fun. Do not think of it as representing Equestria, think of it more as going to a science fair." Celestia leaned her head down and nuzzled Twilight. "You'll do fine, my star student, I have every confidence in your ability to make me proud."
Twilight managed a small smile and leaned her head in to Celestia's chest. "I'll make you proud," she said. "I'll make Equestria proud."
"Twi, we're waitin' on you, girl!" said Applejack excitedly.
"You're already an egghead, don't be a slowpoke too!" Rainbow Dash called out.
Twilight smiled and stood up, breaking away from the hug with Celestia. "I'm ready, girls." She walked over to the last box and levitated it onto her back. It was surprisingly heavy but not so much that she couldn't lift it. She walked over to the portal just as Pinkie Pie and Rarity walked through, each with their own boxes balanced on their backs. Rainbow, Applejack, and Fluttershy followed suit, leaving Twilight left with Celestia. The purple unicorn gave Celestia one last nervous glance before she turned her back to Celestia and walked through the portal.
The first thing that she notices was how instantaneous it was. She had expected there to be some sort of travel time where she would be in the space between spaces and the time between time, and she supposed that there was, but before she knew it, she was standing just outside the large field she had seen through the portal two weeks ago.
She had to admit, seeing it distorted through a portal did not do the sheer scope of the place justice. The field and the beings that were inhabiting it for the time being seemed to stretch on for miles. They were on a hilltop overlooking The Gathering but even here the sights and sounds and smells from the field below assaulted their senses. Twilight closed her eyes and took a moment to inhale, jut to take in the smells of all of the good food that was being prepared in the field down below. She hoped that they weren't going to be running the stand all of the time as she really did want to do a lot of exploring.
Before she could think more on that, a voice to her right brought her out of her reverie. "Welcome, Equestria delegates, to the Seventieth Millennial Great Gathering." Twilight opened her eyes and looked to her right to see a tall humanoid creature with long, braided hair and pointy ears wearing ornate red and gold robes walking up to them. He inclined his head in a bow and the six ponies did the same. "I am Lord Elrond of the Rivendell Elves," he said, "and it is my pleasure to welcome you here today."
Twilight walked up to Elrond and bowed her head again. "Hello, Lord Elrond, My name is Twilight Sparkle and we are here representing Princess Celestia." Twilight put the box she was carrying down beside her. "These are my friends, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Fluttershy." She pointed to each friend as she named them off and Elrond gave each of them another tilted head bow.
"We have been expecting you," said Elrond. "It is my understanding that you are bringing food from your culture to share?"
Applejack grinned and nodded vigorously. "Yesiree!" she chirped. "Ah brought a lotta apple type foods and Pinks here brought a lotta stuff from Sugarcube Corner. The rest of 'em are doin' a lemonade stand!"
The corners of Elrond's mouth tilted up in a small smile. "I look forward to seeing what you bring to The Great Gathering. I trust you will find your stay pleasant."
"I hope so, sir," said Twilight. "I know we're all looking forward to this!"
All of a sudden a loud booming noise filled the air, startling the six ponies. Elrond didn't flinch but merely pointed up into the air where large words were scrawled in bright red smoke.
ANNOUNCING THE ARRIVAL OF THE NINE EQUESRTIAN DELEGATES
A large cheer echoed through the field below but a large grimace stretched across Elrond's face. "Confound those hobbits," he grumbled.
Before Twilight and the others could ask what was wrong, another boom echoed through the air and new words appeared in the sky.
SORRY, WE MEAN EQUESTRIAN, NOT EQUESRTIAN our mistake
Another cheer rang through the field but it was slightly more subdued than the one before it. Elrond grumbled something to himself but he beckoned the ponies onwards. Twilight put her box back on her back and the six ponies followed him. "You have been given some history of the event I trust?"
"Yes that's right," said Twilight.
"Good. Then you know that ill will of any form will not be tolerated. This is a place of peace and learning, not aggression and violence. The land that I hail from, Middle-Earth, was put in charge of making sure everything goes well and we will know if anybody is not following the basic rules."
Elrond stopped in his tracks and motioned to the west horizon. The six ponies looked and gasped when they saw what Elrond was pointing to. It was a giant black tower, stretching almost to the heavens. On the top of the tower there was a giant flaming eye, constantly moving around and scanning the field. Twilight and her friends all took an uneasy step backwards as the gaze of the eye shifted and they were bathed in a bright orange glow.
"It's looking at us!" Fluttershy mewled.
Elrond scowled and the eye quickly turned away to scan another part of the Gathering. Elrond grumbled something and beckoned the ponies onwards. "The Eye of Sauron," he said simply. "If you are doing something that you should not then it will know."
Applejack chuckled nervously. "It's... uh... impressive," she said lamely.
Rarity scoffed. "I think it's a dreadful eyesore. Black against this skyline? Perfectly unacceptable."
Twilight glanced up at Elrond and was mildly amused to see that he had a look on his face that indicated that he completely agreed with Rarity but the stoic elf said nothing. He led them into the bustling fields and past all of the various other beings setting up their stands or just wandering about. A few of the other races greeted the ponies, verbally or otherwise, and they returned the gestures with nods of their own.
As they walked past a tri of Stormtroopers, Applejack trotted up to Twilight. "Say Twi, did Princess Celestia give us any official Equestrian greetin' fer these folks? Ah feel weird when they're saying stuff ta us like 'live long 'n prosper' but Ah'm just replyin' with 'hi'. Did she give us anythin' neat to say?"
Twilight shook her head. "No, I don't think so," she said. "I think she just wanted us to be ourselves. She told me that we're just here to have fun and learn. I think that those greetings are traditional ones from their home-worlds and since we don't have one, I think just what you would say to ponies everyday will work."
Applejack uneasily glanced up at a large humanoid in a tattered outfit and hockey mask that walked by before looking back over at Twilight. "If ya say so. Ah just feel weird not havin' something ta say to the folks that come up to mah stand that's unique ta Equestria."
"I get what you're saying, Applejack, but since all of these beings have their own unique things, maybe 'hi' is going to be a foreign thing to them too."
Applejack seemed mollified by this answer for now so Twilight turned her attention back to Elrond who had led them to a trio of empty food booths. "This is where you will be serving your wares," he explained. "You are responsible for your own advertisement so any signs you wish to have will have to be made by you." Elrond turned around and looked at Twilight. "I understand your race is a magical one. Are you capable of making the food you brought multiply or do you require somebody to assist you?"
Twilight flattened her ears and looked down at the ground nervously. "I can, but I need to do the spell every time I need to multiply the food and I couldn't do it all day."
Elrond nodded. "I understand. I will get somebody for you to ensure you do not run low on your supplies." He turned back to the booths. "You may set up in whichever booth you desire. The specifics have not been assigned to you, these are merely reserved for the Equestrian delegates. Do with them what you wish." With that, Elrond bowed his head once more and walked off to find them somebody who could help them with their food situation.
Twilight and her friends walked behind the booths and put their boxes down. "Okay girls, here's how it's going to work," Twilight began, "Sweet Apple Acres will be the left booth, Sugarcube Corner will be the right, and the lemonade stand will be in the middle, sound good?" The other five ponies smiled and nodded in agreement. "Good, now let's show The Great Gathering what Equestria has got!"
The ponies cheered and began moving the specific boxes to the corresponding stands. Rarity helped Applejack with her box, Rainbow helped Pinkie Pie, leaving Twilight to help Fluttershy set up the lemonade stand. She levitated the two boxes directly behind the stand as was about to open them up to get the supplies out before a voice stopped her.
"Hello," said the voice.
Twilight looked up and saw a group of three humanoid creatures, a few heads taller than the ponies were, standing in front of their stand, half-smiling at the two of them. There were two females and one male, and the first thing that Twilight noticed about them was how pale they all were. Each of them were wearing hoodies with the hoods up, but even underneath the hoods they seemed as if they had never seen sunlight. She did also notice that each of them looked like they were made of marble and chiseled to perfection by some unknown artist.
Twilight dropped the boxes she was carrying and smiled at the newcomers. "Hello to you as well," she greeted. "My name is Twilight Sparkle and this is my friend Fluttershy."
Twilight extended a hoof--admittedly unsure of whether it was the proper thing to do but the male shook it anyway--and the smiles of the three widened ever so slightly. "It's nice to meet you, Twilight Sparkle. My name is Edward Cullen and this is my wife Bella Cullen and my sister Alice Cullen."
Twilight shook their hands in turn. "It's nice to meet you. We're ponies from Equestria."
"We're vampires from Earth," said Bella. "We're vacationing here with our family."
"Oh are they around here too?" asked Twilight.
Edward nodded and pointed back at the stand directly across from the one where Twilight was. "Yeah we decided to set up a food stand just for fun so they're getting that going."
Twilight nodded and gave am amused grunt. "That's cool. What are you guys selling?"
At this Bella smiled and leaned her head in on Edward's shoulder. "We decided to go back to our roots a bit here and do something simple. We're selling lemonade."
Twilight's eyes widened and she let out a gasp.
"WHAT?!"
Applejack and Rainbow Dash glanced uneasily at each other as they watched Twilight pace angrily around an open space behind their booths. She had not stopped walking around like this since the Cullens had told her that they were also running a lemonade stand and it was beginning to worry them.
Applejack cleared her throat to get her friend's attention. "So... remind me one more time why it's such a big deal that those vampires are runnin' a lemonade stand too?"
Twilight glowered at the apple farmer but kept right on pacing. "It's the principle of the matter!" she growled.
Rainbow Dash cocked her head confusedly. "Huh?"
"We're the ones supposed to be running a lemonade stand, not them!" Twilight cried. "It just defeats the purpose of running one if we can't be the only ones who have one!" She screeched to a halt and looked wildly at her friends. "What happens if they sell more lemonade than we do? If they sell more lemonade than we do then that will reflect poorly on Equestria! It will mean that out lemonade isn't good enough for all of these people!"
Applejack shifted uncomfortably and Rainbow Dash uneasily scratched the back of her neck. "I don't think that's how all of this works, Twi," said Applejack. "Remember when ya said that the princess told ya that this was all casual?"
"That was before vampires decided their lemonade was better than Fluttershy's!" Twilight screeched.
"I don't think they're thinking the same thing that you are, Twilight," scoffed Rainbow Dash. She turned her head and looked at the Cullen's booth. "I think they're just wanting to have fun and experience the cultures."
"Kinda like we're supposed ta be doin'," Applejack deadpanned.
Twilight let out a frustrated sigh and shifted her own gaze to the vampire's stand. "It's not that they think that they're better, it's more that I can't go back to Celestia and say 'hey princess, the event went well but our lemonade stand was a complete failure because some vampires made better lemonade than we did!" Twilight resumed her pacing. "I'm not going to let the princess down like that!"
Rainbow Dash and Applejack exchanged a look that clearly said 'well, we can't talk her out of this state' and walked back to their respective stands. Twilight saw her friends go and sighed to herself. Maybe she was being a little paranoid. Maybe the vampires weren't so bad after all and this wouldn't have to be a competition. Still, she couldn't help but shake the feeling...
She shook her head and walked back up to the lemonade stand where Fluttershy was mixing up the first pitcher. She allowed herself a small smile as the butter yellow pegasus hummed to herself as she poured just the right amount of sugar into the mixture. Few ponies knew that about Fluttershy, that she knew exactly how much sugar belonged in a certain drink or dish. Twilight glanced over at Pinkie Pie and silently mused that the same could not quite be said for her.
Fluttershy put the wooden spoon she was using to stir the lemonade down and picked up a small paper cup with her hoof and poured some of the lemonade inside of it. She turned to Twilight and offered her the cup with a large smile. "Here you go, Twilight. I wanted to make sure that this was the best that it could be before we started selling it."
"Of course, Fluttershy," said Twilight with a smile as she took the cup in her magical aura, "I'm sure that it's wonderful."
Twilight raised the cup to her lips and downed the whole thing in two gulps. She placed the cup back down on the both and smacked her lips and gave Fluttershy another grin. "Perfect," she said happily. "Absolutely perfect."
"If that's the case, do you mind if we try some?"
Twilight turned to the source of the voice and had to hold back a grimace as she saw Bella, Edward, and a new vampire that was built like Big Macintosh walk up to their stand. All three of them had those awkward half-smiles on their faces. "If we're going to be selling lemonade too then we've got to know how good the competition's is," said Bella.
Twilight's right eye and left ear twitched simultaneously and Fluttershy gave the faintest traces of a frown. "Competition?" she asked.
Edward chuckled lightly. "Just a joke."
A look of realization washed over Fluttershy's face and she managed a smile. "Oh I get it," she chuckled. "Of course you three can have some of our lemonade."
The pegasus took three more small paper cups off of the stack she had in the box behind her and quickly filled them to the brim with her lemonade. Edward thanked her for the three of them and each of the vampires raised the cups to their lips and drank the lemonade. When they had finished, the bigger vampire collected the paper cups from his fellows and turned to a nearby trash can and tossed the cups inside. He pumped his fist into the air and muttered 'two points' to himself.
"So how was it?" asked Fluttershy. "Did you like it?"
Edward smiled at the butter pegasus. "I liked it and I think my wife did too." Edward turned to the large vampire. "Emmett? You?"
Emmett shrugged. "It was okay I guess," he said casually. "Ours is better."
Edward elbowed Emmett as Twilight's eyes widened in shock at the vampire's bluntness before quickly narrowing in anger. She put her front hooves on the booth to balance herself as she stood on her hind legs." Excuse me?" she growled.
Emmett raised an eyebrow. "Uh, sorry if I was being tactless," he said.
"You'd better be, bucko." She leaned in closer but still found herself majorly dwarfed by the vampires. "Listen here, our lemonade is the best in all of Equestria so you'd better watch yourself."
Emmett snorted and gave Twilight an amused smile. "Oh really? You think your lemonade is better than ours?" Twilight put as much venom as she could into the replying nod which only made Emmett snort again. "Well then maybe you'd like to put that to the test?"
Edward shifted uncomfortably and motioned for Bella to go back to the stand. "Emmett, this isn't the type of place for competitions."
Twilight was about to respond but she saw Rainbow Dash walk up to the stand with a confused look on her face. "What's going on?" she asked. "I saw you guys trying the lemonade; is it any good?"
"Not really," said Emmett with a nasty grin. "Like I said, ours is better."
"Oh that does it, mister, you're going down!" Twilight snarled.
Edward cleared his throat and moved in front of Emmett. "Look, we don't need to be competitive about this. I'm sorry for my brother's lack of tact, but I'd like it if we could move on and just enjoy ourselves. Your lemonade was perfectly fine."
Emmett laughed. "Yeah and that's the problem. It’s just fine. Ours is better than fine, ya know?"
While Twilight had been irate with the vampires before now, that particular snark crossed the line for Rainbow Dash who took to the air and was soon snout-to-nose with Emmett. "You think so, huh?" she growled. "You willing to put that to the test?"
Emmett took a step backwards, clearly unaccustomed to having a flying pony in his face but he soon regained his swagger and returned Rainbow's anger with a smirk. "I believe we were discussing terms of a bet with your purple friend before you showed up. I was saying that we can sell more because ours is better."
Rainbow Dash snorted. "Oh yeah? We'll sell twice as much lemonade as you!"
"Emmett this is not the way to do something like this!" Edward chastised. "We're here to have fun, not compete."
Emmett and Rainbow Dash both turned their heads to Edward at the same time. "Competing is fun!" they both cried simultaneously. They turned their heads back to glare at each other.
"So what are the terms?" Emmett roared. "When you lose what do you have to do for us?"
To the surprise of everybody present, it was Fluttershy's voice that rang through the heated conversation to voice her suggestion. "Um... the losing team has to buy the other team dinner."
Emmett, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight all gave Fluttershy a bemused look while Edward managed a larger smile than he had previously displayed. "Yes, yes that sounds fair, if we have to compete, the prize is dinner at the booth of the other's choice."
Emmett opened his mouth to protest but Edward cut him off with a glare. "Or I get Carlisle to make sure we don't compete at all!" he snapped.
Emmett grumbled something under his breath but he sighed and extended a hand to Rainbow Dash. "Fine, the losing team buys dinner."
Rainbow Dash sighed and shook Emmett's hand. "Dinner it is, then," she mumbled.
The two exchanged a curt nod before the two groups went back to their respective booths. Rainbow Dash beckoned Twilight and Fluttershy towards the empty space behind the booths as she flew past them. She landed on the grass and turned to face her fellow ponies. Twilight looked quite satisfied if her smile was any indication while Fluttershy was nervously pawing at the ground.
Rainbow Dash took a deep breath and looked over at the vampire's lemonade stand. "Girls, this means war."
Author's Note
On the next Arrested Development... er, I mean, Mane Six Lemonade.
Spike makes his appearance just in time for the opening ceremonies. The Lemonade War begins just in time for the final three Equestrian delegates to make their appearance.
Twilight Sparkle smiled to her friends and rolled up the parchment that she had laid out on the ground. "And that, my friends, is our plan!"
Rainbow Dash smiled confidently at Twilight while the rest of them just stared at her in utter disbelief. Applejack was the first one to speak up. "Uh, Twi... you do realize that the only thing ya put on the paper was 'sell more lemonade than they do' right?"
Twilight rolled her eyes and stuffed the parchment back inside one of the boxes. "Well duh," she deadpanned, "what else are we able to do short of sabotage? I don't think advertising is allowed so we're kinda low on options."
"Maybe we could ask one of the beings running the event if we could advertise," Rarity mused. "As much as I dislike the idea that we're competing, if we have to then I would rather not be the one buying dinner for those brutes." Rarity's eyes flickered over to Emmett who was in the process of giving his mostly bemused family a pep talk. "Particularly not him," she muttered.
Applejack groaned angrily and rolled her eyes. "Ah don't see why we all hafta be competin' with them in the first place!" she grumbled. "Is this really what this whole thing is about?"
"Well no," Twilight admitted, "I'm sure that's not what the original plan for this gathering was, but they started it! That big one said that their lemonade was better!"
"And?" said Applejack. "Have you considered that he might be right? Maybe it is."
Twilight's eyes narrowed and a frown etched itself on her face. "It may be, but it's the principle of the matter that's at stake here!" Twilight sighed and began pacing. "I just don't want to go back to Celestia and say 'hey, we got in a competition with a family of vampires but we totally got our plots handed to us and dishonored Equestria for the next thousand years'. Yeah, I can see that one going over well."
Applejack groaned and put a hoof on her friend's shoulder to calm her down. "Twi, Ah think that the princess would be more disappointed that ya competed in the first place. If it was a friendly competition then Ah'd definitely be up fer that, but y'all seem so mad at each other!"
"He insulted Fluttershy's lemonade!" Twilight retorted.
Fluttershy blushed and hid her face in her mane. "For the record, I really don't--"
Fluttershy's words were cut off when another loud blast echoed throughout the field. The six looked up and saw more giant words in the sky.
THE OPENING CEREMONIES WILL COMMENCE IN FIVE MINUTES!!!
"I believe that's our cue to go," Rarity observed. The white unicorn levitated a map that had been placed on their booth over to them and scanned it. "If this map is correct then we need to make our way to the center of the field which should be..." Rarity's eyes flickered over to the left and she pointed in that direction. "That way."
"Shouldn't we wait for Spike, though?" asked Rainbow Dash. "Wasn't he coming?"
"He needed to get some stuff done at the library first," Twilight explained. "Lyra can't watch it until tomorrow so he's holding down the fort until then."
"Oh yes that's right," said Rarity as she beckoned the others to begin following the mass of beings that were going towards the center. "He also said that he would feed Opal this evening."
Twilight nodded and the group continued following the crowd. Twilight saw the vampires about ten feet in front of them but as Applejack was still slightly miffed about the whole thing, she refrained from any snarky remarks in their direction. She instead focused on all of the beings around her to see if she could do some basic observations. She had to admit, she was excited to get to interact with some of these creatures. Her eyes landed on a duo of boys walking beside her with a greenish beaver looking thing waddling between them. The first thing she notices was how odd they looked. One had an elongated head that seemed to be half of his body and the other boy's head was shaped kinda like a triangle. The boy with the triangle head noticed her looking and smiled at her. "Hello, what's your name?"
Twilight returned his smile. "I'm Twilight Sparkle and I'm one of the Equestrian ambassadors."
The boy's smile widened. "That's so cool! I've never heard of Equestria before. Is it a cool place to live?"
Twilight chuckled to herself. She didn't know why, but this boy's enthusiasm was infectious in a way that almost reminded her a little of Pinkie Pie. "It is a pretty cool place," she admitted. "I like living there."
"Well it's always nice to like your home," said the boy happily. "My brother Ferb and I are from a town called Danville. We live there with our parents and sister."
"Danville," Twilight repeated, "Sounds nice. What kind of place is it?"
"It's just a small suburb not too far from the city," the boy explained. "It's quite the exciting place to live."
Twilight grinned and nodded before glancing over at the beaver thing between the two boys. "By the way, what is that?" she asked, pointing at the animal. "I've never seen one before."
"You don't have platypuses in Equestria?" asked the boy, his eyes widening in shock. "You're missing out." The boy smiled and scratched the platypus' head. "This is our pet platypus Perry." At the sound of his name, Perry mate a growling noise that Twilight had never heard before but she found it somewhat pleasant nonetheless. "I'm Phineas, by the way."
"Well it's a pleasure to meet you, Phineas," said Twilight happily. "My friends and I are running some food booths back that way, you should stop by sometime and visit. I'd love to hear more about Danville sometime."
Phineas grinned and nodded and as he did, the crowd in front of him stopped. "I think we've reached the center, Ferb," Phineas observed. Ferb nodded and pulled out something that looked like a water pistol. He pointed it at the ground and pulled the trigger and instantly three large boxes appeared out of nowhere. "Now we can watch what's going on," Phineas explained.
Twilight frowned and looked in front of her. She hadn't thought about the fact that as a non-pegasus pony who was considerably shorter than a lot of the beings around, including the ones directly in front of her, she might not be able to see what was going on. She turned back to Phineas who was in the process of climbing on top of the nearest box and cleared her throat. "Um... do you think that maybe my friends and I can use that? I hadn't thought about not being able to see.
Phineas smiled warmly at Twilight. "Sure! No problem at all." Phineas looked behind Twilight where Applejack, Pinkie, and Rarity were straining to see between those in front of them while Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash had taken to the air. "You need four, right?" Twilight nodded and Ferb handed Phineas the box maker. Twilight instructed her friends to take a few steps back and Phineas made four boxes for them. Twilight thanked him and hopped onto her box and smiled when she saw that she could see perfectly.
"Thanks!" she said. "This is much better." Twilight's eyes trailed down to the box maker. "So you guys use magic in Danville to?"
Phineas chuckled and shook his head. "No, my brother and I built this when we figured that we might not be able to see when we came here."
Twilight cocked her head. "Wow! That must have taken you a while to complete."
"All morning!" said Phineas proudly. "We're rather happy with how well it works."
"It's technology?" Twilight gave an impressed grunt. "Wow, you'll have to let me study it sometime."
"Sure. We'll do it when we come over to your stand."
Twilight's reply was cut off when the magically amplified voice of Lord Elrond rang through the crowd, silencing all conversation.
"Good morning to all of you, and welcome to the Seventieth Great Gathering!"
The gathered beings cheered, Twilight and Co. included. Lord Elrond held up a hand to silence them, and the noise died down.
"For the next two weeks, we will all join together in a celebration of our cultures. There will be food, games, and general revelry." Elrond's vague smile suddenly hardened, and he subtly glared at the crowd. "Any and all ill will shall not be tolerated, and our security detail shall not hesitate to remove any group that does not comply with the peace we have worked to create here today." Elrond's small glare faded away, to be replaced once again by his subtle smile. "Should all rules be obeyed, then we shall all have an enjoyable time. You have all been given schedules, so you know when it is your time to sell your items, and when it is your time to enjoy The Gathering. With that said..."
Elrond turned to a nearby elf and inclined his head in a nod. The elf returned the nod and walked over to a nearby chest. He opened it and pulled out a small torch, which was set alight by a small creature that Twilight assumed was a hobbit. The elf then walked over to a large pot on the stage and lifted the torch into the air.
"We of the land Middle-Earth declare that the Seventieth Great Gathering has begun!"
* * * *
A half-hour later, the group found themselves back at their food stands. Twilight grinned with delight when she saw that Spike was behind the lemonade stand, setting up a few small boxes. She ran over to him and the two exchanged a hug. "I'm glad you're here, Spike!" said Twilight.
Spike grinned and let out a small chuckle. "I almost wasn't here. I got through the portal just before it closed."
"Yes, Lord Elrond did mention something about that," said Rarity. "Apparently none of us are allowed to leave until The Gathering is over."
"We're here fer two weeks," said Applejack.
Spike nodded and was about to speak again, but he was cut off when a voice came out of one of the boxes.
"Didja hear that? We're gonna be here fer two whole weeks!"
"We're sure to get our cutie marks here! There's no way that we can't!"
Twilight gasped at the voices, and slowly trotted over to the box in question, followed by Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash. Slowly she opened the box in front of them revealing not food supplies, but three grinning fillies who most certainly should not have been there.
"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS EQUESTRIAN DELEGATES ARE GO!"
Author's Note
Yeah, sorry it took so long to get this out. I had MAJOR writer's block on it, so I decided to focus on some other ones instead.
