The Wonderbolts Headquarters, home to the most distinguished fliers in all of Equestria and possibly the world. Now it's also home to one of Equestria’s most daring surprise parties. The inside of the headquarters wasn't childishly decorated outside of a random banner here and there, however the stallion in charge of getting the refreshments together was a bit befuddled at the moment.
“Soarin, put back the Crown Cider…” His wonderbolt comrade Gale Force said from his neutral corner where he tried his best to stay uninvolved.
“Yea, put back MY Crown Cider!” Fleetfoot exclaimed while flying in with a very large bag of chips.
“Do we even know if they can drink alcohol, they're not exactly like us?” Another wonderbolt with a dark red mane added in as he trotted towards the flight pad doors.
Soarin just shivered at the thought of not being able to drink any booze. If he was anything that couldn't consume alcohol; he just wouldn't have been meant to exist. In the midst of his nonsensical thoughts, the main door was kicked open by a fiery Pegasus mare that everypony in the room knew. You could hear a pin drop at that moment, everypony just slowly turned their heads in silent blame towards Soarin. He was just as quiet as the rest as he uncorked the cider and took a large gulp before hacking a bit at its strong burn.
“Explain.” The mare’s voice was low and guttural.
“Look Spitfire I-”
“Captain!” The furious mare instantly corrected.
“Captain Spitfire, we-”
“You.” Gale also corrected from his corner.
“Fine… I just thought it would help if they got a real welcome you know, Not all that boring diplomatic whatnot.” Soarin tried his best to casually explain. However Everypony should have noted that he was failing miserably at it, and it only got worse as Captain Spitfire got closer.
“That boring diplomatic whatnot is what stops wars Soarin!" The Captain went into full drill mode as she was shouting in his face. "Not Crown Apple Cider!”
“Bu-”
“But nothing, I know you're all up in one of the Elements fluff… ugh, but this… this is not your job lieutenant.” The Captain's anger slowly ebbed away as she looked at the blue stallion's broken posture. At that point he was no longer looking at her, his eyes were expertly trained on the ground.
Silence filled the room for what felt like forever. Fleetfoot however decided it was high time to get her Cider back as she hovered over the broken stallion ready to snatch it. Yet it wasn't meant to be because right at that moment another mare trotted through the main door stealing everypony’s attention.
She was quickly identified as Fluttershy, the Element and the lieutenant’s marefriend.
“umm… Is everything ready Soarin?" Fluttershy barely squeaked while under Spitfire’s intense scrutiny. "The-they're almost here.”
Soarin just simply blinked as Spitfire slowly turned away from Fluttershy to give him a look that could only be described as impending death.
“You mean to tell me they are coming now.” Spitfire said through clenched teeth.
“Surprise!” Gale shouted sarcastically from his corner.
Sensing the problem immediately, Fluttershy inhaled a large breath and centered herself for what she was about to do.
“Umm Miss Captain Spitfire... mam” The butterscotch mare called out, a bit louder than usual.
Still looking at Soarin, Spitfire morphed from a demon ready to unload, to a mare ready to greet a young filly as she turned on point to look at Fluttershy. With an oddly courteous yes, the exchange Soarin had dreaded… was just now initiated.
“The Party was all my idea Miss Captain mam, I didn't have any help and Soarin volunteered himself.” Fluttershy lied, like she had been doing it all her life.
Spitfire just tilted her head.
“If I have broken any rules, I'll personally pay the price for them… After we… have the party.” Fluttershy stuttered a bit at the end, losing much of her steam.
“I see.” Spitfire said, honestly she wasn't born yesterday. But the Element of Kindness was currently petitioning on the behalf of her idiot lieutenant.
“Captain don't!” Soarin tried to intercede, but his face was met with Spitfire's outstretched hoof.
“If they are already coming, you'll take full responsibility for whatever happens here.’ Spitfire paused for a moment. "Then it's settled, Wonderbolts; let's make a good impression.”
There were a few shocked and disbelieving faces in the room. Even Soarin was frozen as Spitfire casually trotted past him, stealing the Cider right out of his hoof to take a long swig of her own.
“Hey, can I not have anything nice!” Fleetfoot complained.
Both Soarin and Fluttershy released the breath that they were both holding to look at each other with relieved expression. Fluttershy then looked beyond her stallion to see the causal set up of the Wonderbolts HQ. It was clear he was able to rally some more help even after Twilight and her got done the night before. She was almost proud of him, and herself to a lesser extent. Still they had much to do, and Twilight couldn't keep them busy for long. Especially that Applejack, much like herself, that pony wasn't much of a small talker.
“I'm sorry, but I gotta get back to Twilight…” Fluttershy said quietly, causing Soarin just to simply step forward and gently kiss the mare on her cheek.
“Be safe, and thank you.”
The couple were both Blushing immensely after the display of affection. Fluttershy was the first to flutter away through the door, leaving Soarin feeling very justified for everything he had done. On the other side of the door and now down the corridor, Fluttershy was feeling exactly the same way. The butterscotch Pegasus never dreamed that she’d find herself in the position she was in now. A very important element, a committed relationship, and two friends that cared unconditionally for her. She could almost attribute much of her success to an old friend that would set an example for her day in and out. The same friend that… lost her life protecting her to the very end. But before her mood could be entirely dampened by bygone memories, Fluttershy saw something strange from outside a window she passed.
Stepping back, Fluttershy squinted hard to see Rarity out in the shade of the east courtyard with the two stallions that had accompanied the Prince. She knew she shouldn't, but whatever Rarity was doing out there seemed strange to the Pegasus. So calming herself, Fluttershy closed her eye’s to allow the Element of Kindness to reach out and absorb the aura of the situation. One of the stallions was completely enamored with Rarity, the other seemed reluctant to give any ground to her friend. Being interested in whatever Rarity was doing to have that type of effect on the stallions, she focused harder on her friend.
“Oh my…” Fluttershy couldn't believe what she had felt. The emotion was so different from what she had ever experienced from her friend that it shattered her concentration.
Still gazing out the window, Fluttershy didn't even notice Twilight and the Lunar Elements turning the corner. Twilight was still chatting up Applejack when she noticed Fluttershy's stuck form before her. Pinkie just followed her gaze out the window to spot the white Unicorn talking to the stallions from their meeting. Her stance was provocative and blue eyes half lidded, Pinkie could literally see the stallions melting in front of the young mare. Admittedly she wouldn't have minded being in their positions.
“Nice.” Pinkie said out loud, breaking Fluttershy's trance.
“Huh, oh Fluttershy did you check on things?” Twilight asked, unsure of the context of the pink mare's comment. Looking out the same window, Twilight saw nothing besides the usual fauna and statues out in the courtyard.
“Yes…”
“Great, now if you'd follow me. We’d like to show you the Wonderbolts Canterlot Headquarters.” Twilight had her best tour guide impersonation going at the moment.
“Them Wonderbolts suppos’ to be the best Fliers in the world?” Applejack asked uncharacteristically, much to her little sister's amusement. Who was currently piggybacking on Applejack at the moment.
“I well… Yes that's the claim, their Capitan holds several impressive records among the majority of worlds flying race's. And the rest of them are all highly esteemed as well, the long past Captain Easy Glider was the first to claim as such." Twilight finished, however she was now curious as to why the large Everfree mare would ask such a question. She had barely spoken much outside of the conference room. "If you don't mind me asking, so your ponies already know of the Wonderbolts?”
Applejack looked down at the little Unicorn at first. But decided to reply as she had now just stopped their progress down the hall. But it seemed as though Apple Bloom had something on her mind.
“I bet Colors is faster than them!” Apple Bloom blurted out much to the Lunar Elements surprise.
“Consarnit Bloom…” Applejack sighed.
“What?” Apple Bloom failed to understand the problem.
“Colors?” Twilight was now interested as well.
“Nopony important, but to ya previous question. Yes, we have a similar organization ya could say. They were modeled after them Wonderbolts ages ago.” Applejack said, surrendering a little bit of information.
“Fascinating!" Twilight nearly scared the daydreaming Fluttershy out of her feathers. "Sorry, so you do know of events and culture’s outside of the Everfree.”
“Ah wouldn't go that far.”
“I see…” Twilight internally cursed at hitting another conversational wall with the large orange mare.
As they silently turned the corner to the Wonderbolts corridor, Twilight stopped short of tripping over her own hooves when she saw Rarity. The previously absent mare was courteously waiting next to the entrance, it didn't take an expert to tell that something was astray with the young Unicorn. It didn't take long to see what was the problem as the two stallions from the conference came into view from the adjacent hallway to nervously stand next to Rarity.
“Why girls, these two fine gentlecolts would like to introduce themselves.”
The Unicorn stallion to the right of Rarity first stepped forward, a bit hesitant however. “My name is Pen Esquire, owner and chief editor of the Canterlot Esquire.”
Twilight instantly felt like a fool for not recognizing him. He was short, round, brown, and his taste for tacky suits should've been signal enough. Pen Esquire had always been a thorn in the Princess's side when it came to political squabbles. Often enough his paper catered to the Canterlot Elite and their pocketbooks, making him little more than a puppet to the likes of the Prince. Still even if Twilight failed to notice him immediately, the princess wasn't the type to forget faces. Meaning it wasn't her nephew's intervention per se that caused her alarm, it was his extended company.
“Allow me to introduce myself as well, My name is Regal Ring. I might be lesser known to the public than my associate, but I-” The second puffed up Unicorn was rudely interrupted by Twilight before he could even finish.
“You own one of Equestria's most exclusive banking sectors… Also a financier for Canterlot's School for Gifted Unicorns.” Twilight prattled off.
“Ah, I see you're very knowledgeable. I apologize for my becoming nature. But I hope we're not intruding because we've been invited to, oh how should I put it.” The Unicorn tapped his chin for a moment. “Tag Along.”
Steps away, just a few of them till everything would either come together or unravel. Now with what Rarity had thrown into the mix with, Twilight was extremely unsure of herself and their so-called party. The Lunar Elements so far had barely shown the slightest interest in things outside of the conference. Not saying she didn't understand why, they seem to have a lot more on the line at the moment then they do.
That was it, Twilight was falling back into Plan B. She couldn't go through with it now.
“The more the merrier.” Pinkie said in a monotone voice that completely betrayed the context of her words. But what was more shocking was her taking lead over Twilight.
The pink mare stepped past the two stallions and crossed paths with Rarity for where in a brief moment they made eye contact. Pinkie’s full expressionless blue eyes met Rarity's vibrant seas of blue, there was more than just understanding crossing them. They were both playing the same dangerous game, just on different boards.
“Well then, I see no further reason to stall.” Rarity stated joyfully.
“Yes…” Twilight responded hopefully.
Wanting to regain control of the situation and not let her plans fall completely to the wayside, Twilight trotted ahead of the forward pink mare. Rarity stayed close to the two unpleasantly invited Stallions, as Fluttershy swallowed her embarrassment and fell in line.
Applejack didn't understand that alabaster unicorn one bit. The way she provocatively swayed her hips in front of those stallions as she walked, and the conceited grin that she maintained was nothing but trouble. The large orange mare could see a temptress when she crossed one. Her guard was up, yet Pinkie seemed as though she was enjoying the distractions. Her undisciplined nature was aggravating Applejack to absolutely no end. Frustration once again was taking hold, that was until she felt Applebloom's grip tighten on her back.
“Sis, ya alrigh’.” Apple Bloom whispered.
Applejack, almost forgot about her little sister, decidedly chose to remain silent. If it wasn't going to be Pinkie, then she had to keep her wits about her.
“Well without further interruptions, I present to you…” Twilight gulped as she began to open the door with her magic. “The Wonderbolts Headquarters.”
With the doors now wide open, Applejack just blinked in total confusion. She turned her head to see the two stallions with the same expression written on their faces as well. The place was oddly decorated with a few banners and what not randomly strewn across the place. In the center of it all was a table filled with snacks and food, however there were no Wonderbolts in sight.
“A party?” Pinkie's question filled the void.
Nopony could gauge the context behind the mare's question. She didn't seem insulted, nor did she seem surprised in the slightest. Instead it was Soarin who swooped down from the entryway to salvage the wavering situation.
“Long time no see, eh?” Soarin at that moment was visibly sweating as he landed in front of the group, seemingly from out of nowhere.
“Ha” Pinkie's Face broke into a terrifying face splitting smile. Bringing all of her vociferous teeth to bear, she turned back to the petrified speaker, her voice still betraying the words coming out of her mouth. “Let's have some fun.”
Soarin glanced at the two uninvited stallions and cursed under his breath as he recognized the short pudgy one. He had no idea what was going on to involve Pen Esquire, but the captain was really going to flip top on him after all. With his own demise impending, Soarin threw caution to the wind and swung his hooves open in invitation.
“Welcome to The Wonderbolts Canterlot HQ… uh, make yourself at home!” Soarin’s theatrical display did cause a bit of tension to unwind as Everypony could hear Fluttershy giggle a bit from behind the group.
Twilight even cracked a small smile as she took the first few steps into the place. And as soon as Everypony was inside and getting settled, something that could be considered as ‘chill’ music began to play. Which confused most of the Wonderbolts as they had no clue where the music was coming from. That was until Everypony honed in and slowly turned to an occupied Pinkie fiddling with two large speakers.
“What in the?” Soarin was in disbelief.
“Were they not yours?” Twilight's question was answered with a simple shake of the head. Twilight then turned to the unamused Applejack, who looked as if she’d seen worse.
“She does that.”
“What materializes objects out of thin air?” Twilight rebutted.
“Yes.”
Twilight just looked up at the lunar element with a hint of annoyance. How could she just leave it at a yes, what was just performed was nothing short of a miracle.
“Well here are the guests of the hour… and company?” Spitfire said, while entering the room to see a face she loathed like no other.
“My dear Spitfire, sadly I'm not here to interview you on your interesting methods of leadership today.” Pen Esquire said all proudly while straightening his suit with his magic. “But I must say, treating our esteemed diplomats to this little soiree is interesting to say the least.”
Spitfire's left eye twitched as she scanned the room to find her lieutenant expertly hiding behind his marefriend. But right before she could release fire and fury, she was approached by Rarity.
“I'm sorry darling for their intrusion, but it was pertinent that they joined us tonight.” Rarity tactfully stated.
“Yea, I'm sure.” Spitfire muttered under her breath wondering if it all was a set up.
“Ahem, allow me to introduce you to Applejack and… where did she go?” Rarity gestured to the now unoccupied music.
Applejack cursed under her breath, they didn't need to go through this at the moment. Sitting down where she was at, she allowed her little sister to slide off her back. Without a word even spoken, Apple Bloom knew what she had to do.
“No matter, from what I understand you're the one who does most of the conversation anyway.” The gray stallion known as Regal Ring stepped towards Applejack.
“Hm?” Applejack wasn't too sure of him, and with Pinkie awol…
“No need to be so guarded my lady, may we speak over some of the refreshments the Wonderbolts have graciously provided.” Regal extended a polite hoof for her to lead. “Everything Equestria has to offer must be vastly different where you come from.”
As Regal Ring began to chat up Applejack, Twilight looked around. Fluttershy was with Soarin because of course she was, and Rarity was steering Pen Esquire towards the food all the while keeping his attention. The little Unicorn sighed, everything was almost going according to plan, however she didn't like how Pinkie just vanished in the middle of the room, what was her game?
“Sup.”
“Gah!” Twilight nearly jumped out of her skin at the sight of her dragon assistant Spike, who was currently munching on a cupcake. “Spike!”
“Heh, it's alright Twilight, you know I don't bite.” Spike all but snickered with a mouth full of cupcakes.
“Don't talk with your mouth full… and where did you even get that thing?” Twilight asked. Scanning the table where the majority of the food and Wonderbolts were at, she didn't see a iota of sugary sweets.
Spike kept chewing for a second before replying the second time around. As he swallowed his last bite, he pointed a claw to the Wonderbolts flight pad outside. “The creepy looking pink pony gave it to me.”
Twilight just blinked, firstly Spike just took food from a creepy looking pony he didn't even know, secondly why was she out there. The little Unicorn slowly made her way towards the door to the flight pad with spike in tow. Getting closer to the clear glass doors, she could clearly see three ponies outside. Pinkie, Applejack's little sister, and Spitfire all sitting looking out into the setting sun. Opening the doors with her magic she was able to understand what they were saying.
“And she was like, oatmeal… are you crazy?” Pinkie's distinct dull voice was easily recognizable.
The other two ponies began to laugh earnestly at what seemed to be a joke Twilight completely missed.
“I’ve always liked that one!” Apple Bloom exclaimed.
“Gotta hoof it to you, it was pretty good.” Spitfire said, while nursing a drink.
“I know.”
Twilight could almost hear it, the Pinkie from the dreamscape flashed before her mind. She nearly stopped breathing at her sudden revelation, all of her prior preconceptions of what the Lunar Elements truly were may have been entirely false. All though her new thesis couldn't be formed from a metaphorical light bulb. Pinkie's casual display of her abilities are the only thing she has to go on, Applejack had yet to reveal what honesty or her connection to Alicorn magic was capable of. Not to mention the absence of the bearer of Loyalty.
“Twilight, you're doing it again…” Spike dead-panned.
That stole the attention of the three ponies sitting on the pad.
“Miss magic, care to join us?” Pinkie beckoned, causing Twilight to blink away her thoughts and slowly approached the trio.
“Hi.” Twilight feebly replied.
“Trying to imitate the cute yellow one?” Pinkie teased in only a way she could.
Twilight was trying to fight back the blush from her sudden fumble, but luckily Spike was there to recover for her.
“Hey, that's not nice!” The little drake puffed up, trying to give an air of dominance.
A dominance that was immediately shattered by the Pink mare turning slowly to loom over Spike. She slightly tilted her head to the right, allowing her cascading dark pink mane to fall to one side. With an unblinking stare, Everypony was deathly silent. Spike could almost feel his soul ready to leave his body at that moment.
“You want another cupcake.” Her words were balanced, but contained an honesty that only Applejack could match.
“Y-yes.” Spike stuttered.
“How about you Bloom?”
“Do I!” Applebloom's reply was a bit more expect of a child getting ready to receive sweets.
Pinkie Pie looked between the confused Twilight and Spitfire before waving a hoof for the two young ones to lean in close to her. They both did so without hesitation, which surprised Twilight, because Spike was scared half to death there for a second. Pinkie leaned down to the two and shielded a hoof between them and the two other ponies present. She whispered for a few seconds, leaving Twilight pondering what she was saying.
“Really!” Spike replied ecstatically.
“I'll Pinkie promise ta that!” Apple Bloom jumped.
Pinkie then glanced at Spike.
“Oh, right… I Pinkie promise!” Spike did a few exaggerated actions to follow along.
“Huh?” Before Twilight could mouth off a question, both Apple Bloom and Spike shot off back inside.
“Huh is right.” Spitfire extended, taking another swig of what was in her cup.
Pinkie sat back down, now looking at nothing but the last vestiges of the setting sun. She could feel the so-called party inside, some were having fun, others not so much. The dull pink mare wondered what it would take to make it all work, and in her current state that answer was far from her reach. But looking over to the Wonderbolts captain, she saw familiarity. That mare was what Colors could've been, instead of-
“You're a strange one you know.” Spitfire commented nonchalantly. “But you mean well, I respect that.”
“I- well if you don't mind me asking, why aren't you two inside?” Twilight questioned.
“Hey, I found her out here.” Spitfire playfully defended from her sitting position.
“I needed some air.” Pinkie responded next.
As Twilight decided to settle in as well, a loud bang was heard inside. Pinkie didn't even turn an ear to it, but Spitfire hopped up on defense, and when she could hear the arguing voice of Fleetfoot, it was an emergency. Without a word, the captain nodded to the two before swiftly flying back through the glass doors. That just left magic and laughter sitting outside. Neither one of them spoke for a few minutes, just opting to watch the moon take the sun's place in the vast sky.
“That was the real me.” Pinkie said seemingly out of nowhere, somehow clued in on Twilight's thoughts.
“Then who… no, what are you?” Twilight instantly switched in research mode, bringing back much of her confidence from the prior evening.
“Was hoping to find that out myself.” That time Pinkie had decidedly made eye contact, and the sincerity was evident in her full blue eyes.
“I see…” Twilight averted her gaze for a moment to reflect. “I want to help you.”
“Hmm?”
“The magic you possess, it's painful isn't it… Alicorn magic is extremely volatile and even with your element as a cage presumably, it still seeps into you.” Twilight grew in intensity as she saw the full moon on display. “I'm sorry.”
Pinkie blinked in surprise at the little Unicorn's pity. All in all, that was the first time in a long while somepony displayed anything like that around her. The gift of the Everfree was nothing to be pitied by the Council's standards at least, but she knew her gift was nothing more than a gifted wrapped curse. It was alleviating to hear another pony say it in a way, even if it was indirect.
Pinkie concluded her thoughts by getting up and turning towards the door. Twilight just looked up at her, wondering if she was offended by what she said.
“...” Twilight didn't know what to say.
“Come on, it's a party.” Pinkie said, giving her a small smile that was perhaps the most sincere thing Twilight had seen from her up to that point.
Twilight looked to the full moon once more and thought it was a bit strange. But she could put a hoof on it at the moment, so she turned away from it and followed Pinkie towards the glass doors.