Episode 3 – The Ticket Master
The sound of knocking caused me to wake up. I looked around lazily to see where the noise was coming from. I exited the bed and walked to my front door.
I opened the door and saw Twilight standing outside with a smile on her face.
"Hi, Alex! I was heading over to Applejack's farm to help her out a bit. How would you like to come?" She asked.
"Um…" I thought for a moment. I wasn't going to be busy with anything today. I guess I could go… "Sure… I'll go."
"Great!" Twilight exclaimed. "C'mon! Let's go!"
When I was walking with her outside, I noticed she had the baby dragon on her back. She noticed me notice her dragon and spoke.
"Oh! Sorry, I forgot to introduce you to Spike! He's my assistant with my studies."
"Hey there!" Spike greeted me.
"Hey… I'm Alex." I replied.
"I heard you helped Twilight defeat Nightmare Moon! I can't believe you're the hidden element that no one even knew about!"
"Okay Spike, no need to get excited. Don't overload him with questions; I think he just woke up." Twilight told Spike, giggling a little.
I just continued walking.
"But, Twilight, I really want to know!" Spike whined.
"Oh, Spike. Stop acting like a baby." Twilight responded.
"But I AM a baby!" Spike replied.
They both laughed and I tried to cope with the situation.
When we both arrived at Applejack's farm, she stood at the gate to greet us.
"Well, howdy there, Twilight! I see ya brought… I'm sorry I never caught ya name." Applejack said.
"It's Alex." I responded.
"Well howdy, Alex. I'm glad you could be joining us." Applejack smiled.
"Why don't we get to work, then?" Twilight announced cheerfully.
And so, we began harvesting apples where Applejack had a lot of apple trees that covered up everywhere I looked. We had on saddles that contained two empty buckets on each side for picking apples.
We each chose our own group of trees and began picking apples. While I was placing apples in my baskets, I could see Spike sitting lazily on Twilight's back.
He must be a handful…
Once we all filled up our baskets, we grouped up together and began walking back to the barn.
"Thank you kindly Twilight and Alex, for helping me out. I bet Big Macintosh I could get all these golden delicious in the barn by lunchtime." Applejack thanked with a hop, while Spike was on Twilight's back tossing out Apples with a "Nope" for each one. "If I win, he's going to walk down stir up street in one of grandma's girdles!" She giggled.
"No problem at all, Applejack. I'm glad the goal is lunchtime. All this hard work is making me hungry!" Twilight replied.
"I KNOW, RIGHT?" Spike interrupted, as he tossed another apple which bounced off of Twilight's head.
Twilight gave him a mean stare, "Oh really, Spike? You've been lounging on my back all morning while WE worked!"
"EXACTLY!" Spiked responded. "You guys were taking SOO long that I missed snack time!"
Twilight's stomach grumbled. She laughed nervously. "Well I guess we better get some food."
Spike continued sorting through the apples in the baskets, tossing out ones that he didn't like for some reason. "AHA!" He finally pulled out a bright red shiny apple from the basket.
Twilight licked her lips. "Oh, Spike! That looks delicious!"
However, Spike immediately forced it in his mouth and chomped down.
"Spike!" Twilight scolded.
"What?" Spike questioned.
Spike immediately burped and something formed with his smoke that even surprised me. It was a scroll letter…
"It's a letter from Princess Celestia!" Twilight exclaimed.
Spike grabbed the letter and cleared his throat. He opened the letter and read what was inside. "Here ye, Here ye! Your grand royal highness, Princess Celestia, of Equestria is pleased to announce the Grand Galloping Gala to be held in the magnificent capital of Canterlot on the 21st day of… yadda yadda yadda… cordially extends an invitation to Twilight Sparkle plus one guest!"
Both Applejack and Twilight gasped. "The Grand Galloping Gala!"
Applejack and Twilight continued to jump around and dance, repeating the same words of which I did not know.
"What's the Grand Galloping Gala?" I asked.
The both gasped and looked at me.
"You don't know what the Grand Galloping Gala is?" Twilight asked.
I shook my head.
"It's only THE annual royal ball held in Canterlot!"
I still looked confused.
However, Spiked looked annoyed and he opened his mouth to make a disgusted look, but he suddenly burped out two golden tickets.
"Look! Two Tickets!" He announced.
"Wow! Great! I've never been to the Gala, have you Spike?"
"No! And I plan to keep it that way! I don't want any of the girly frilly froo-froo nonsense." Spike replied.
"Aw, come on Spike! A dance would be nice!"
"Nice?" Applejack interrupted. "It's a heap good more than just nice. I'd love to go. Land sakes, if I had an apple stand set up, ponies would be chowin' our tasty vittles till the cows came home. Do you have any idea how much business I could drum up for Sweet Apple Acres? Why, with all that money, we could do a heap of fixin' up 'round here. We could replace that saggy old roof, and Big Macintosh could replace that saggy old plow, and Granny Smith could replace that saggy old hip. Why, I'd give my left hind leg to go to that gala."
"Oh… well in that case… would you like to-"Twilight was interrupted by a scream.
"Are we talking about the Grand Galloping Gala?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed after she had fell on top of Applejack and Twilight.
"Rainbow Dash! You told me you were too busy to help me harvest apples! What were you busy doing? Spying?" Applejack demanded.
"No!" Rainbow Dash immediately responded. "I was busy… napping. And I just HAPPENED to hear that you have an extra ticket?"
"Yeah but…" Twilight was interrupted once again.
"YESS! This is so awesome! The wonder bolts perform at the Grand Galloping Gala every year! I can see it now…"
Rainbow Dash was already going to begin her story.
"Um… I'm just going… to put the apples in the barn…" I said.
But the ponies seemed to be too busy discussing about the Grand Galloping Gala. I grabbed the baskets of apples and managed to carry them over to the barn. I placed them where they belonged and sat down for a moment, catching my breath after carrying three baskets of apples at the same time.
Geez, they're so obsessed over the "Grand Galloping Gala", what's so special about it? Besides it being a royal ball, of course…
Who knows? Maybe it's just my negative thinking…
I shook my head and decided to get back to the others. When I arrived back near the apple trees, I saw Rainbow Dash and Applejack leg wrestling on a tree stump.
"Aw, Forget this!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed and flew out of the area.
"You're not getting away from me!" Applejack ran after her.
I sighed. I guess I better go after them… I ran after Applejack who led me into town. When I stopped to catch my breath, I could hear her saying, "Wait just another minute!"
"Applejack! Were you following me too?" It was Twilight.
"No! I was following THIS one!" Applejack pointed to Rainbow Dash, "to make sure she didn't try any funny business…still trying to take my ticket…"
"YOUR TICKET?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
"But Twilight's taking ME!" Pinkie Pie interrupted, who was obviously a part of the group too.
Soon every pony was joining in, trying to win their way to the extra ticket.
Okay, this was getting on my nerves.
"GIRLS!" I shouted.
They all looked towards me.
"Don't you think you girls are getting a bit out of hand? I know this 'Grand Galloping Gala' is a huge deal for you, but that doesn't mean you should be fighting for it! Twilight is the one with the extra ticket and she'll take whoever she wants, now just leave her alone, so she can think about it!"
"Yeah! What he said! Now go on, shoo!" Twilight exclaimed.
Every other pony except Twilight started walking out of the area, muttering under their breaths.
"Don't worry I'll figure this out!" Twilight yelled out to them.
Twilight sighed and looked at me. "Thanks Alex. I can't think straight! Especially since I haven't got anything to eat."
"Well now's your chance." I replied.
"You're right." She smiled. "I'm going to get Spike and grab a bite, want to come?"
"Sure…" I didn't really know what I wanted to do… so I just went with the flow.
We walked for a moment until she grabbed Spike who was waiting in the library in her home after the whole situation with the other ponies.
"Took you long enough…" Spike said.
"Not now Spike… I just want to get something to eat. I'm SOO hungry!" Twilight replied.
"Oh boy!" Spike quickly changed into a positive mood. "Let's go!"
Twilight sighed again and looked over to me. "C'mon Alex, let's go before I starve to death."
We arrived at a nearby Café. We sat in a table with Spike across Twilight and I being in the middle.
"Oh guys, what am I going to do? All five of my best friends have really good reasons to go to the Gala!" Twilight said. She then looked over to me. "Alex, I'm sorry."
"For what?" I asked.
"I didn't even ask if you wanted to go."
"No, thanks, I'm alright."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah."
Twilight sighed. "Well at least you understand Alex…" She then used her magic to peel leafs from a flower in the plant. "Applejack…or Rainbow Dash…Pinkie Pie, or Fluttershy…Rarity? Oh, who should go with me?"
After hearing her stomach growl, she even licked the petals off the table.
"Have you made your decision?" The waiter asked.
"I CANT DECIDE!" Twilight yelled out loud.
"Twilight, he just wants to take your order…" Spike said, pointing to his menu.
"Oh…" Twilight said. She told her order to the waiter.
"And for you, sir?" He asked me.
"The same." I replied.
"Do you have any rubies?" Spike asked. After Spike looked at the waiter's face, he said, "No? Okay… I'll have the hay fries… extra crispy!"
"Well what do you think Spike?" Twilight asked.
"I think we have to try another restaurant, I mean I like grass just fine but would it hurt anybody to offer some gemstones?" Spike replied.
"I mean about that gala and the ticket and who I should take!"
"Oh…You're still on THAT?"
"Spike! LISTEN! How do I choose? And when I do choose, will the other four be mad at me? I mean I can give up my ticket and give away two, but that would still leave three disappointed ponies! What if I-"
The waiter had come by and dropped our food.
"Oh thank you… this looks SO good." Twilight shared while Spike ate away on his fries. "I'm sure everything will be MUCH clearer once I eat."
I had been thinking for a moment, and I finally thought of a solution that might save us all from this mess.
"Twilight." I called.
"Hmm?" She said as she was about to take a bite of the sandwich using her magic to pick it up.
"Why don't you just-"
Suddenly, many ponies began running near us. They had all headed towards the inside of the building.
"Uh, madam. Are you going to eat your food in the rain?"
Rain?
Twilight dropped her sandwich and explained, "It's not raining."
Suddenly, the whole area was bombarded with water droplets. Everywhere except our exact spot.
"What's going on?" Twilight asked.
"Hi there, best friend forever I ever ever had! Enjoying the sunny weather?"
We looked up to see that it was Rainbow Dash who was holding a cloud open.
Twilight grew an annoyed look on her face. "Rainbow Dash… what are you doing…?"
"What do you mean? I just saw the smartest, most generous pony about to get rained on, so I thought I'd kick a hole in the clouds to keep her dry so she can dine in peace! That's all."
"Rainbow… you're not trying to get extra consideration for the extra ticket by doing the extra special favors… are you?"
"Meee? No no no, of COURSE not!"
"Uh huh…"
"Seriously! I'd do it for ANY pony!"
However, we saw many other ponies running to get shelter in the rain.
Rainbow Dash saw this and she giggled nervously.
"Rainbow…" Twilight began. "I am NOT comfortable accepting unwanted favors, so I'd appreciate it if you close up that rain cloud RIGHT NOW."
Rainbow Dash groaned and did as she was told.
"That's better!" Twilight was about to finally eat the sandwich, but it got soaked along with her in the rain. She groaned in frustration. Spike on the other hand, began snickering.
That's when my eyes caught sight of another pony… a pony with an umbrella… uh oh… this is not going to go good…
"TWILIGHT! It's raining!" Rarity exclaimed.
"No… really?" Twilight replied, sarcastically.
"Come with me before you catch a cold!" Rarity grabbed Twilight and rushed her over to her beauty shop.
Spike and I looked at each other and sighed. We had followed Twilight and Rarity along the muddy road. Once we arrived, I saw Twilight shaking her hair. I did the same.
However, Twilight realized that the water she shook landed on Rarity. "Oops… Sorry"
Although, Rarity changed her look and said, "Oh no! It's quite alright! After all, we ARE the best of friends, are we not?"
Here we go… I rolled my eyes.
"And you know what the BEST of friends do?"
Twilight was speechless, "Uhhh…"
"MAKEOVERS!"
Rarity began messing with Twilight behind a cover. All I could hear were her struggles.
"There! Oh, you're simply darling!" Rarity exclaimed. I saw that she had placed a dress on her.
"Uh… yeah! It is kinda pretty, isn't it?"
Spike made a disgusted face, but Rarity went over to him. "And you! Oh Spike, I have a dandy little outfit for the dashing gent!"
Rarity then captured him the same way she captured Twilight and placed him in an outfit.
"Now you just need a hat!" Rarity placed one on him.
"Bleeh!" Spike shouted. "I told you! I don't want any part of this girl gala gunk! See you back at the library!" He raced off ahead.
Rarity laughed. "Oh, who needs him anyway? This is all about you. How fabulous you'll look at the Grand Galloping Gala!" Rarity tried to persuade Twilight, as Twilight continued observing herself in the mirror.
"Wait… the Grand-"
I walked over to the corner and sat down to continue to listen to Rarity's persuasion about the Grand Galloping Gala. I decided I would just wait until she was finally finished.
Finally Twilight figured out her scheme and said, "You're just going to have to wait for my decision like everyone else!" as she threw the accessories Rarity gave back at her.
"Now if you excuse me, I'm been trying all day, just to get some lunch!" Twilight exclaimed as she started heading out the door.
Before she could say something to me, Applejack appeared out of nowhere. "Did some pony say lunch?" Applejack took Twilight to a cart full of apple treats outside. Applejack then tried to persuade her with her food. Twilight grew angry and left in a hurry.
I sighed and walked up to Applejack. "Why can't you guys just wait for her decision? She's stressed enough about being hungry."
Applejack sighed. "You're right…" She grew a disappointed look.
Rarity came out, looking for Twilight. "Where did she go now?"
"She left, Rarity." Applejack explained. "Because of our selfishness… Alex here made me realized it…"
Rarity thought for a moment and realized it as well. "Oh no… I've been a fool too…" Rarity grew sad too. "If only I can tell her how much I'm truly sorry for the way I've been acting."
"Darn right." Applejack agreed.
"C'mon we can still catch up to her." I suggested.
"That's true… Oh no!" Applejack suddenly cried out.
"What is it?" I responded quickly.
"If other ponies find out she has an extra ticket, they won't EVER leave her alone!"
"Then let's hurry!" Rarity exclaimed and we all rushed over to Twilight's home.
When we arrived, the lights were off and it was nighttime. I hope it wasn't too late…
We opened the door to her home just to finish seeing Twilight staring at Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash. She turned to us when she noticed we came in.
She screamed and spoke. "I can't decide! I just can't decide! It is important to all of you and I just can't stand to disappoint any of you, and giving me some gifts and doing me favors won't make any difference because you're all my friends and I want to make you all happy and I can't! I just can't!"
Applejack walked gently up to her. "Twilight, sugar. I didn't mean to put so much pressure on you. And if it helps, I don't want the ticket anymore. You can give the ticket to some pony else. I won't feel bad. I promise."
"Me too." Fluttershy flew near Twilight. "I feel just awful that I made you feel so awful."
"And me too!" Pinkie Pie joined as well. "It's no fun upsetting your friends!"
Rarity walked over to Twilight. "Twilight, it was unfair of me to try to force you as I did."
"YES! THAT MEANS THE TICKET IS MINE!" Rainbow Dash laughed as she chanted.
We all looked at Rainbow Dash with an upset look on our faces.
Rainbow Dash realized this. "You know… I haven't perfected my signature move for the wonder bolts anyway… I don't need that ticket either."
"We all got so gung ho about going to the gala, that we couldn't see how un gung ho we were making you…" Applejack confessed.
They all apologized to Twilight and I finally received my chance.
"Now… I was about to explain to Twilight about this idea I came up with before we were interrupted…"
"What is it, Alex?" Twilight asked.
The other ponies leaned towards me, wanting to know.
"Why don't you ask Princess Celestia if she could give you enough tickets for every pony that wants to go? I'm sure she would understand…if not… then you could return the tickets and no one can go. After all, it's better to not go and stay together than to fight over the tickets… right?"
Every pony was silent for a moment until Twilight spoke to Spike.
"Spike, take down a note."
Spike got his utensils ready.
"Dear, Princess Celestia. I've learned that one of the joys of friendship is sharing blessings, but when there's not enough blessings to go around, having more than your friends can make you feel pretty awful… so… though I appreciate the invitation, I am returning both tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala."
"WHAT?" Every pony exclaimed.
"I agree with Alex. If all you ponies can't go with me, then I don't want to go either. And I know I can ask for more tickets… but I don't want to risk upsetting Princess over this situation… so I am returning them."
"Twilight…" Applejack began. "You don't have to do that..."
"Nope, I've made up my mind. Spike, you can send the letter now."
Spike opened the window and sent the letter with his breath.
"Now you won't get to go to the gala either…" Fluttershy said.
"It's okay… if you all aren't there…, my best friends, then I couldn't possibly have a good time."
Every pony went up for a group hug, but I stayed away. Spike made a disgusted face for the third time today already. However, he looked as if he was going to throw up.
"Well wallow my withers, Spike. Isn't that just like a boy who can't handle the least bit of sentiment…"
He burped up something else… it was a letter!
"A letter from the princess?" Twilight exclaimed, surprised. "That was fast!"
Spike grabbed the letter and opened it to read it. "My faithful student, Twilight. Why didn't you say so in the first place?"
Something popped out of the letter. Spike grabbed them and held them up in the air.
"Seven Tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala!" He cried.
Every pony gasped.
"Now we can ALL go!" Twilight announced.
Every pony cheered.
Twilight's stomach rumbled. Rarity walked over to Twilight. "Allow us to treat you to dinner!"
They began walking out the door, grabbing their own ticket on the way. When each of the ponies received their ticket, Spike walked out with his in his hand as I followed behind him.
"Spike!" Twilight told Spike.
"What?" He questioned.
Twilight used her magic to slip the ticket from Spike's hand and place it in front of me, "Here." She said with a smile.
"Me…? Why?" I asked.
She began explaining while Spike tried to jump to retrieve the ticket. "You were a really BIG help today, Alex! You deserve to go."
"But… it's alright… Spike should have it."
Before Twilight could argue, Spike burped something else out. It was another letter.
"And one for you, Spike." He said as another ticket came from the letter. He grabbed it with much excitement as he began laughing and skipping, but after he saw us and the rest of the ponies, he quickly returned his excitement. "Oh well… looks like I have to go too!" He began walking "cool" at first, then after being far enough, he continued his excitement. Every pony began laughing, but I kept my mood. I really wanted to have fun… but it just seemed that for now… that wasn't going to happen…
We all headed towards a pizza parlor, grabbing a table large enough for all of us. Every pony began talking to each other excitedly; especially pertaining to how they expect the Grand Galloping Gala to be. I kind of wanted to talk… but it was like I didn't have the energy to. So I just listened to every pony and tried to talk when the moment was right.
The girls ordered a large pizza with hay toppings. Twilight had asked me if there was anything I wanted, but I said I was alright with whatever. Spike made sure to have his slices covered with rubies. After hearing Rainbow Dash's flight bragging, Pinkie Pie's laughter, Applejack's apple bucking, Rarity's new ideas for her fashion designing, and Twilight's new studies for spells, I truly learned a bit more from my new friends. I may have not talked much, but I am certainly a great listener.
After every pony's bellies were full, they started to go their separate ways for the night.
"I should get some sleep! I gotta wake up mighty early for some more apple bucking!" Applejack said.
"Yep! Those clouds don't push themselves, you know!" Rainbow Dash added.
"I need to study anyway." Twilight explained. "It's Spike's bed time and I should get him to bed."
"Absolutely, I need my beauty sleep!" Rarity said.
"Sleep? Who needs sleep? I'm wide awake!" Pinky Pie began jumping around.
"Pinkie Pie… you're going to wake the whole town…" Twilight replied, shushing her a bit.
"Aww… I guess I could go to bed with some cookies and milk…"
Every pony laughed. They all said goodnight and left. Twilight hung around a bit.
"I'm glad you could join us, Alex." Twilight thanked, picking up Spike, who was already asleep, and placing him gently on her back. "Maybe another time?"
"Sure." I responded.
She walked off, saying goodnight.
I looked around and noticed that I had not even seen Fluttershy. It looked as if she left early.
I decided that I would end my day by walking through the park. The star filled night sky was perfect. There was a slow, cool, and gentle breeze. I began walking through the park, enjoying the scenery.
However, I suddenly heard a faint sound of singing. When I walked closer to where the noise was coming from, it slowly grew from a faint sound to a beautiful voice. When I finally reached where the noise was coming from, I saw Fluttershy… she was singing with a couple of birds. She sat down on an edge of a cliff where below was the magnificent ocean.
I slowly walked up to her and called her name. "Fluttershy…?"
She gasped and quickly turned around to see me. She looked terrified as she was sort of flinching.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you… I'll just be on my way…" I said as I started to turn around.
"Wait." Her voice called.
I turned back to her.
"…You're Alex… Right…?"
"Yeah…"
"Oh… I'm sorry I haven't talked to you…much…"
I walked over to where she was and took a seat next to her.
"That's alright…" I answered.
"No, No. It isn't… I'm just…" She couldn't really finish her sentence.
"Shy?"
She looked down at the ocean. "Yes…"
"I know how you feel…" I looked up towards the sky. "Don't worry about it… I don't mean to put any pressure on you, or any other pony…"
"That's nice…" she replied.
After a moment of silence, I asked, "So… what do you do, Fluttershy?"
"What do you mean…?" She asked.
"Like… do you help the animals?" I asked from seeing her with the birds.
"Oh… yes, I do!" She started showing some excitement, but it was still very soft. "I love sweet little animals! That's how I got my cutie mark!"
"That's amazing." I said as I turned to look up at the sky again.
"What about you, Alex?" She asked.
"Me?" I was a bit caught off guard.
"Yes… what do you do?"
I felt a little uneasy… I didn't really do anything but…
"Well… I guess… I just help ponies… I don't know if I have a special talent…"
"Helping ponies is really good! But I'm sure you have a special talent! What about your mark?" She noticed the wolf mark.
"My…mark?" I nervously replied.
"Yes. How did you get it?"
"Um…" I quickly responded. "It's… It's a long story. Don't worry about it, it's nothing."
"Alex…?" She looked a little worried.
I sat in silence for a moment. "Um, I should probably go… It's getting really late."
"Oh…" Fluttershy looked a little sad. "Ok, then... maybe I'll see you tomorrow…if that's okay...?"
"Yeah…" I responded, while standing back up. "Good night…"
"Good night…" she replied.
I began walking back to my house. When I arrived, I jumped on my bed and thought about what just happened. I started getting this feeling that I have never really felt before… what was this feeling…?