Laughter is the Best Medicine
The golden chariot was on the move. Closer and closer her destination of Ponyville became. She would be more enthusiastic, if only Princess Celestia believed her about the ‘Mare in the Moon’ tale. Instead, she suggested she go make a few friends. And of course, Spike just had to believe with the Princess on that front.
She lounged her upper body off the side of the chariot, taking in the view among the clouds. She didn’t look peachy. “Make some friends” she heard Spike say, repeating the message Princess Celestia sent her regarding her task.
She groaned, dipping her head down off the side.
“Look on the bright side Twilight,” Spike encouraged, “The Princess arranged for you to stay in a library. Doesn’t that make you happy?”
Happy? Being alone with books? Of course! “Yes!” she replied, perking up. But it wasn’t the only reason she liked the idea of staying in a library. “Yes it does,” she continued, prodding her head forwards in front of Spike, almost taunting him, “You know why? Because I’m right.”
She looked to her side, wondering her mind out loud. “I’ll check on the preparations as fast as I can, then get to the library to find some proof of Nightmare Moon’s return.”
“Then... when will you make friends like the Princess said?” Spike asked, almost whining it.
“She said,” Twilight replied, elaborating her point, “To check on preparations. I am her student, and I’ll do my royal duty. But the fate of Equestria does not rest on me making friends.”
The golden chariot came to a halt as it landed on the ground, the two pegasi stallion guards pulling it whinnying. “Thank you sirs” Twilight said, thanking the two guards, before heading around.
“Maybe the ponies in Ponyville have interesting things to talk about” Spike suggested, using his hands to gesture the entire town to Twilight.
There was a mare approaching the two of them whilst their small conversation went on. She was pink, had a very puffy mane, and was happily trotting along to them, possibly to even greet them. Twilight looked edgy when the pink pony stopped in front of them, just smiling at them both. The mare had sky blue eyes, and if Twilight could make it out properly, three balloons for her cutie mark; two blue and one yellow. She seemed incredibly friendly, as much as Twilight didn’t want friends.
“Come on Twilight, just try” Spike offered, giving her the perfect chance for friend making.
Twilight took a moment to ready herself. “Uh...” she got out, before coming up with the most perfect way to introduce herself she could imagine. “Hello?”
She would have thought the pink mare would have simply said “Hello” back, or something as friendly as a hoofshake. What she wasn’t expecting though, was for the pink mare to jump up and gasp as loud as she could, mouth fully agape, before speeding off without a word and explanation.
“Well that was interesting all right,” Twilight said with a lowered eyelid, confused at the action of the strange pink mare. She set off in a general direction, Spike sighing as he followed.
***
“Summer Sun Celebration official overseer’s checklist” Spike claimed, holding a scroll and a pencil. “Number one” he stated, as the pair entered a farm, “Banquet preparations: Sweet Apple Acres.”
The duo was now inside of the farm, after passing the arch above with a dangling wooden board holding an outline for an apple. How fitting, Twilight thought, the farm is named after apples, the fruit they so obviously harvest here.
“Yeehaw!” a voice shouted. Both Twilight and Spike turned towards the calling voice, spotting a mare charging towards a tree.
The mare had an orange coat, a few freckles on her face, blonde hair for both her tail and mane. She ran up towards the tree, turned around, and smashed her two hind legs into the trunk.
Nothing happened. The only result was a few leaves falling and rustling, while an apple or two wiggled on their stem. All of the wooden buckets placed by the tree trunk did not change in weight at all.
The mare, which looked like a cowpony, lost her look of satisfaction and gazed up at her work, spotting that no apples had fallen and that her bucking failed. “Aw dang nab it!” she bellowed, stomping a hoof on the ground in frustration.
Twilight finally got a good look at the orange earth pony. But she didn’t believe it.
She looked... familiar. Very familiar. Her mane and tail. They were puffy and scruffy, just like that pink mare’s. The cutie mark too. It contained two blue balloons and only one yellow, in the exact same configuration. Everything was the exact same; that mane style was identical right down to the strands.
Twilight approached the mare with caution, suspicious of foul play. “Good afternoon, my name is Twilight Sparkle,” she claimed, looking rather proud of the fact.
She immediately got alerted when she opened her eyes again, only to spot the cowpony jump into the air and gasp from seeing her.
Just like the pink mare. She did the same thing. Exactly the same. Except for running away.
“I ain’t seen you around here before!” the cowpony shouted, before rushing over to Twilight and crushing her with a hug.
Twilight’s eyes almost bulged out of their sockets as the suspicious mare kept her struggling for breath. When the pony finally released her tight grip, she gagged just from the little asphyxiation. “Sorry,” she spoke, rather embarrassed, “Have we met before?”
The cowpony shook her head. “Eenope! I woulda known if I met you, ‘cos I know everypony in Ponyville!” She started to bounce up and down on the spot while revealing her teeth, rather jolly.
“Are you sure?” Twilight asked, frowning, “I could have sworn I saw you a few minutes ago. Only more... pink.”
The pony raised a hoof to her chin. “Hmm, I don’t think I ever turned pink, but that could be fun!” She extended her hoof. “Name’s Applejack!”
Twilight had a little doubt meeting the orange hoof halfway with her own. As soon as the hoof reached Applejack’s, it was shaken like crazy, vibrating her entire body from the mare’s apparent strength. “I always like making new friends!” Applejack claimed.
“F-Friends...?” Twilight thought out loud, frowning again. “I... uh...”
“So Miss Twilight!” Applejack started, releasing her iron shake on Twilight, “What can I do ya for? Oh! How about a party!?”
“A... party?”
“Sure! I plan parties all the time!”
Twilight didn’t know what to think. This Applejack didn’t exactly look like the pony that would put on a party. She spoke in that cowpony way, her name was blatantly related to farming, unless it was supposed to mean the alcohol variety, and it just didn’t look right. The curly and same mane as the pink mare’s was also weird too. Why were they the exact same, as well as the cutie marks? Are these two ponies related?
“Uh...” Twilight staggered, “No thanks. I’m here to supervise preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. I assume this farm is handling the food?”
“We sure as sugar are!” Applejack cheerily replied. “Would you like some?”
Twilight stammered, not really sure herself. “I... I don’t know.”
Applejack sped over towards a triangle, violently smashing it with a metal rod. “Soups on everypony!”
Twilight had little time to react as a whole bunch of ponies in the double digits came hurtling past her from behind. They really seemed to come out of nowhere. All of the new ponies gathered around a table, somewhere where Twilight and Spike ended up surrounded.
“Now,” Applejack said, popping her head from under the table, “Why don’t I introduce y’all to the Apple family?” Applejack waved her hoof through the air, revealing many, many earth ponies in the vicinity.
Twilight knew that she couldn’t waste any time. She had a basic understanding that the farm was providing the food, but now she was being pressured into meeting the cowpony’s family. She had to get a move on to read up more on the Nightmare Moon tale.
Also, she didn’t like apples.
“Thanks, but I really need to hurry...” she tried to reason, but was stopped when an apple product on a plate was presented in front of her. She mentally groaned inside just from the item alone. It looked horrible to her.
“This here’s Apple Fritter!” Applejack stated, bouncing again.
Twilight zoned out for a full minute as one by one, Applejack introduced her to her entire family with a bubbly voice every time, sometimes with a giggle. Every single relative was related to apples in some way, and each one presented food that corresponded to their cutie mark. Red delicious, golden delicious, she had lost count.
But why was Applejack different? Her cutie mark was obviously not related to apples, her personality didn’t match that of a cowpony and she didn’t really look like she belonged on a farm.
Applejack said every single one of her relatives, before shoving an apple into Twilight’s mouth, announcing the final member of the family; Granny Smith.
She really didn’t like apples.
As Granny Smith started to talk, all Twilight could think about was how disgusting the apple tasted and how she could get rid of it without looking offensive. It finally hit the cord when she heard Applejack remarking about her being part of the family. She spat out the apple, relieved of doing so, but putting on a nervous face.
She chuckled. “Haha, well. I can see the food situation is handled, so we’ll be on our way.”
She couldn’t wait to leave, but her progress was halted when a small filly talked. “Aren’t you gonna stay for brunch?” she asked, the one named Apple Bloom. She put on a pouting face, trying to guilt her into staying. She wasn’t falling for it.
“No,” she said sternly, before trotting off, the Apple family saddened by her sudden departure. Spike followed her, not saying a word at all, when Applejack rushed over towards the pair.
“You sure are fun Miss Twilight! I can’t wait to hang out with ‘ya some more!” Without a word, she sped off back towards her family, leaving the unicorn and dragon to themselves.
“That Applejack sure was weird,” Twilight said, the pair leaving the farm. “Did she seem familiar to you?”
Spike raised a claw up to his chin. “Now that you mention it, didn’t that pink pony act just like her? And didn’t she have the same cutie mark, as well as the hairstyle?”
“Yeah...” Twilight wondered, lowering an eyelid. “That sure is strange.”
***
The pair had made their way back towards the center of Ponyville. They had to continue on with checking out the preparations, but Twilight could only think of the crazy mares she had run into.
That pink one and Applejack. Same mane, same tail, same personality, same cutie mark. Was it a coincidence? She couldn’t figure it out.
“Foods all taken care of, next is the weather,” Spike stated, holding the quill and pencil once more, Twilight dragging behind him.
“Wait,” Twilight said, pausing in her tracks. “If the Summer Sun Celebration is being held indoors, why must there be good weather? We won’t get wet if it rains.”
Spike stopped as well, blinking just trying to come up with an answer. He couldn’t come up with any explanation. He shrugged his shoulders before continuing on his way, Twilight joining him again. “Anyway, there’s supposed to be pegasus pony named Rainbow Dash clearing the clouds.”
Twilight looked around above her, seeing that all the clouds were still in the sky. She furrowed her brow. “Well, she’s not doing a very good job is she?”
Karma had to come back and bite her, as a pony came crashing into her, sending her into a pile of mud, the other pony on top. She grunted from the contact, as the mud splashed her face and coat.
The other pony got off her and let off a chuckle “Hehehe, excuse me?”
Twilight only groaned. The other pony laughed again. “Here, let me help you,” the pony said, leaving the small scene temporarily. She returned with a small cloud, placing it in the air a bit above Twilight, before bouncing on it, the rain falling and soaking Twilight.
Twilight was not amused from the entire scenario that had happened. She was sat in a puddle of mud and her entire coat was soaking. But she managed to lift herself from the mud, albeit grumpily, finally getting a good look at the pony that violated her personal space. She had a cyan coat, a rainbow-styled mane and...
She didn’t want to believe it...
Her mane and tail, just like those two other ponies. Her cutie mark, exactly the same; two blue balloons and one yellow. The other pony just stared back at her too, lips parted, and if Twilight could see, the irises of the cerise eyes shrinking rapidly.
The pegasus pony launched herself from her cloud, gasping and hanging her jaw as low as she could, just like those two other ponies did. Third times the charm? Twilight asked herself.
The pegasus pony jumped down onto the ground in front of Twilight, before bouncing up and down on the spot. “Hi! I haven’t ever seen you here before!”
Twilight didn’t know what to think. This seemed rather familiar, and it hadn’t even been a whole day. “Uh... hi?” she replied, uncertain she wanted the conversation to continue.
The pegasus giggled a bit, before gasping. “I know!” In no time to react, she started to circle Twilight at blinding speed, creating a miniature rainbow tornado, drying off Twilight.
She stood back in front of Twilight when her glorious work was done, ready for the result, certain the lavender unicorn would appreciate her help. What she was met with only made her gasp again. “Oh my gosh! You look like me!” she shouted, pointing towards the now ruined mane Twilight had.
Twilight inspected her mane. It was slightly similar to the pegasus’s, and for matter, those two earth ponies, but it was the result from a careless pegasus, rather than a chosen hairstyle. Spike looked at it and laughed, falling to the ground, but the two ponies ignored him.
“This is awesome!” the pegasus continued, throwing her hooves in the air. “We can hang out, have parties!”
Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Parties?”
The pegasus grinned back at her, nodding her head. “Yep! I plan and throw parties all the time for all my friends!”
Who doesn’t throw parties in this town, Twilight mused. She analysed the pegasus once more, coming to a conclusion. “Let me guess, you’re Rainbow Dash.”
Rainbow Dash halted her active springing, rushing over towards Twilight, inches away. “How did you know?! Are you a spy?”
Twilight felt very uneasy at the second violation of personal space, but she would have guessed the answer was easy. The rainbow mane gave it away after all.
“It’s uh... on here,” Spike said, finally giving his input, pointing at the scroll.
“I heard you’re supposed to be keeping the sky clear,” Twilight added.
Rainbow Dash lifted a hoof to her chin. “I am? Woopsie, silly me. I was too busy thinking about something else. Let me get right on that!”
Twilight and Spike observed as Rainbow Dash took to the skies, bucking and removing every single cloud in the sky within a matter of seconds. She didn’t waste any time in the slightest, but she had fun with every cloud she hit. Twilight could tell, because the pegasus giggled every time a cloud vanished.
“How was that?” Rainbow Dash asked, dropping back to the ground.
“That was amazing!” Spike shouted, complimenting the mare for her fast work.
“Well, it seems the weathers been taken care of then...” Twilight droned on, ready to get moving.
Rainbow Dash frowned. “Aww, so no parties? I want to throw a party for... I don’t know your name.”
“It’s Twilight Sparkle,” she revealed, somehow feeling anxious that revealing that information will come back at some point.
“Ooh! My new best friend! I can throw you a party in ten seconds flat!”
Twilight cocked her eyebrow. “Really? Prove it,” she challenged the mare, narrowing her eyes.
Rainbow Dash gasped yet again, before leaning in closer. “You’re on!” Without a word, she sped off like a bullet, leaving Twilight in the dark regarding where she went.
Twilight and Spike waited ten seconds, but nothing happened. They looked at one another, the pegasus not returning at all. “Well... she’s gone...” Spike said.
“Uh-huh,” Twilight agreed, making a move towards a large cylindrical building with a spire.
“You know... she said you were her new best friend...”
Twilight scoffed. “Oh please Spike, she probably ate a whole lot of sugar this morning. She’d likely say that to anypony. Besides, that’s not important right now.”
“I guess...” Spike replied, walking beside Twilight.
***
Twilight and Spike entered the building they found out was the Town Hall. It was the venue for where Princess Celestia would show up and raise the sun, but it was unoccupied. It still needed to be set up, and yet Twilight couldn’t spot a pony inside.
There were streamers and balloons located around the huge hall, so somepony had been in there. The current time was the middle of the afternoon too, so the ponies were likely slackers.
They continued on through the room, checking out the detail put into it. It was actually very well set up. A few tables stood at the side, ready to hold refreshments. A few tapestries were hanging from the ceiling, symbolising the celestial princesses.
“Decorations,” Spike said, looking up from the scroll.
“This doesn’t look so ba—“
There was an interrupting noise, as well as a sudden wind. Both Twilight and Spike froze in their actions to check out what had happened. Looking around, their attention was caught again when that same noise appeared, but this time carried a blur speeding past.
They couldn’t pinpoint the figure rushing around the hall, appearing and disappearing in the blink of an eye every time. Each location ended up with another decoration put up, likely from this speedy creature.
“Uh, Twilight?” Spike said worriedly, tugging at Twilight’s hoof.
“Relax, it’s fine. I’m sure somepony just had a lot of coffee.”
Twilight saw a blue aura surrounding a few objects, which ended up shuffling around through the large room. She knew right away that whoever was responsible for this was a unicorn.
“Look out below!” A voice shouted out, also cooing it at the same time.
Twilight looked up for a brief moment, before a tapestry fell right on her. She groaned.
A white unicorn fell to the ground, a smile on her face, using her magic to lift the tapestry off Twilight.
Twilight got a good look at the other unicorn, and in all honesty, she should have seen it coming. It was the exact same as the three previous ponies. Cutie mark; three balloons, check. Puffy mane and tail, check. It certainly explained her rather speedy personality. After all, all of the others seemed the exact same. Why not add hyper speed to the list of what these ponies could supposedly do?
That is, if these ponies are somehow related at all. How exactly did they get the same cutie mark?
Twilight was rather shocked, as the unicorn did not jump into the air and gasp. Even though these crazy ponies are the same, they still have some differences. This unicorn was definitely different though; she seemed to put a lot of attention into her figure.
And it would have paid off, except that she had that one mane style. It didn’t suit her, so it was effectively worthless. The purple hair went well with the white coat though. She almost looked like a marshmallow.
Twilight looked down at Spike, who seemed rather confused. It looked like he was supposed to say or do something, but didn’t. After a while, he only gazed back down at the scroll.
“So sorry about that,” the white unicorn apologised with a sheepish smile.
“It’s fine,” Twilight lied, lifting the remainder of the tapestry off her. “I’m here to check on the decorations, and then I’ll be out of your hair.”
The white unicorn looked up at her mane, like it was supposed to mean something. She then fixed her eyes on Twilight’s mane, before realising they looked similar, though Twilight’s was a result of Rainbow Dash. “My my!” she started, bouncing on the spot, “That’s an excellent mane style!”
Twilight raised her eyebrow. “I’m sorry?”
The unicorn giggled. “Your mane! It looks like mine!”
Twilight realised how assumptious it was. The mane was certainly different, yes, but it wasn’t her true look. The second pony to state the obvious was also apparent. She was starting to wonder if any other ponies would add to this crazy list. After all, there have now been four ponies that all seem to share the same look, personality and cutie mark. Why not make it the entire town?
And why hadn’t she seen these crazy ponies who, going on a whim, like to party a lot, in Canterlot? With all the gossip around there, she would have thought she’d heard the legend about the crazy party mares of Ponyville.
But then again, she didn’t have any friends, so she didn’t get any gossip.
“I’m Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight said, wanting to introduce herself.
The other unicorn gasped, before getting closer and hugging Twilight. “I’m Rarity! We’re going to be the best of friends!”
Twilight was a little taken back. “F-Friends...?”
Rarity rolled her eyes. “Why of course, it was meant to be! In fact, why don’t we celebrate right now with a—“
“Party?” Twilight finished off, putting little enthusiasm into it.
Rarity gasped again. “How did you know?”
“Just a hunch,” she boldly replied, rolling her eyes. “Unfortunately, I have to check the rest of the preparations for the celebration. I assume the decorations are going fine?” She looked at the fallen tapestry soon afterwards, unsure herself of the answer.
“Oh yes yes, of course!” Rarity lifted up the tapestry with her magic, perfectly aligning it in place back from where it came from. She turned around to smile at Twilight. “We’re going to be best friends, you and I!”
Twilight’s eyes bulged out at what she heard. It sounded and looked creepy.
Very creepy.
She awkwardly walked away from the scene, Rarity gone back to bouncing around the giant empty room.
***
“Well how about that?” Spike asked, perched up on Twilight’s back, “She wants to be your friend.”
Twilight staggered. “I... uh... don’t know. Didn’t she seem awfully... weird to you?”
Spike shook his head. “No, not really." He scratched his chin with a claw. "I do get the feeling like I was supposed to do something though.”
“Well, that’s over now anyway. So what’s next?”
Spike pulled out the scroll containing the list, before clearing his throat. “Music. It’s the last one.”
As the speak of the devil itself from the mere mention of music, Twilight and Spike heard birds chirping to a rhythm. With the last task to check up on nearby, she relaxed, knowing that it would all be over soon, and that she would rest in her luxurious library. For whatever time she had to depict the ‘Mare in the Moon’ tale at least.
She presented a grin, hoping it wouldn’t take long. However, her demeanour soon dropped as soon as she saw the mare by the birds. She was a pegasus, butter coloured, with a pink mane.
But that was the thing. The mane. The same, just like the other four. The cutie mark as well.
“Who puts these ponies in charge?” Twilight asked herself. She dropped Spike off into the nearby bush. “Stay here.”
She trotted up towards the action, where a bird was horribly out of sync with the others. “Stop please!” she heard the yellow mare say, stopping in her step as instructed.
The mare flew up towards the bird that was off-key. “That’s was nice, but could you change the rhythm just a tiny bit?” The bird nodded. “Great! Let’s have some fun!”
“What the...” Twilight thought out loud.
“From the top everyone! A one, a two, a one two three—“
“Hello!” Twilight shouted, interrupting the music, though she didn’t know why she blurted it out.
All of the startled birds flew away, whilst the yellow pegasus turned around. She only stared at Twilight, not reacting at all.
Twilight at this point was expecting her to gasp aloud, but it never happened. Instead, the pegasus dropped down to the ground in front of her. The pink on her mane looked almost identical to the pink mare’s she first met. Perhaps they were sisters.
Twilight shuffled around a bit awkwardly. “I’m Twilight Sparkle. What’s your name?”
The pegasus just blinked. “Fluttershy,” she replied with no trouble.
“Fluttershy?” Twilight asked to confirm.
“Fun?” Fluttershy asked.
“Fun?”
“Fun.”
Twilight didn’t know what to say. Fun was all Fluttershy came out with. She heard rustling behind her, Spike emerging from the bush.
“Ooh!” Fluttershy exclaimed, “A baby dragon!” She rushed over towards Spike, barging Twilight away in the process. “I’ve never seen a baby dragon before. What’s it like? Is it fun?”
“Fun?” Spike asked.
“Fun,” Fluttershy stated again.
Spike shrugged. “Eh, it’s got its ups and downs.”
Twilight rose from her temporary dizzy spell. “I’m sorry about your birds by the way.”
Fluttershy grinned, dismissing it with a hoof through the air. “It’s ok. Say, I haven’t seen you in Ponyville before. Are you new?”
“Uh... sort of. I’m here to overlook the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. I guess the music has been going well?”
“It’s been going more than well. It’s been a lot of fun!”
“Fun?”
“Fun.”
“...Ok then.” Twilight looked down at her assistant. “Spike, I think it’s time we go to the library.”
Spike climbed back up onto Twilight’s back, also ready to head to their temporary home. Fluttershy though, had other plans. “Oh oh, can I come with you? Please?”
Twilight turned back to see Fluttershy presenting a pleading face, almost pouting. Looking back forward, she rolled her eyes. “Fine.”
“Yay!” Fluttershy cheered, bouncing with a spring in her step. “What’s your name?” she asked the dragon.
Spike realised he was being talked to, and snapped to attention. “Oh. I’m Spike.”
“That sounds like a fun name!”
“Indeed it is.”
“Wow, I bet you have a lot of fun stories.”
“Well of course. Would you like to hear them?”
Fluttershy frantically nodded her head, while Twilight dipped hers. She groaned out loud as Spike began his life stories and tales.
Minutes and minutes went by which Twilight could only hear stories from Spike’s past and the bouncing sound of Fluttershy behind her. Every time a story was finished, Fluttershy would say something nice, but would always fit in that one word.
Fun.
How did she think everything was fun? She had the same personality of those other four ponies she met, but this one liked the idea of fun a lot. Come to think of it, they all had something different. The cowpony liked apples, the rainbow one liked parties, the marshmallow was creepy and the pink one was... weird.
Twilight had arrived at the library while she was ignoring the bickering behind her. It was a huge treehouse, and it was right in front of her. At last, she’d be able to read in peace and figure out the truth behind Nightmare Moon.
“Well...” she bluntly started, ready to escape from Fluttershy. “We’re here.”
“Already?” Spike asked, twisting around to see the library.
“Aww...” Fluttershy said, dipping her head. It only lasted a second, as she gasped when an idea came to her, something that Twilight had an inkling of what it was. “How about we have a party?!”
Twilight knew it. But she didn’t want to believe it. With another groan, she charged into the darkened library, slamming the door behind her. Spike jumped off of her as she rubbed her eyes from all the crazy activity she went through. Through the door, she could only hear one word.
“Fun?”
She smacked her head with her hoof. She forced herself up again, walking into the room with no lights.
“That wasn’t very nice,” Spike accused her, folding his arms.
“I’m sorry Spike, but I’m just so tired. All these ponies trying to throw a party every second, not to mention how they’re all the exact same. It’s baffling, and frankly, I just want a little rest. We’ve checked out the preparations, but with these ponies trying to be my friend, as well as acting overhyped, I’m tuckered out.”
Without a warning, the lights of the library turned on, revealing a huge crowd of ponies. Twilight gasped as she scouted the room, spotting a lot of ponies in her home, as well as a party that seemed to have been set up.
“Surprise!” an unfamiliar voice called out. The source of the voice appeared right in front of her grumpy exterior, revealing the very first pony she came into contact with; the pink one.
“Surprise!” another voice shouted, coming from behind her. She twisted her head to spot Rainbow Dash, the weather pony.
Two more shouts of “Surprise” were yelled, coming from two other sides of her, the sources being Applejack and Rarity.
She didn’t know what to say, or even know what to do. But what really hammered it in was a fifth shout of “Surprise”, followed a few seconds later by “Fun”. It could only be Fluttershy.
Twilight dipped her head from depression alone. She wasn’t going to be left alone at all, no chance to study Nightmare Moon. “Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie,” the pink mare said to her, finally revealing her identity.
Twilight had a brief thought. Maybe this Pinkie Pie was the ringleader for this group of party ponies. Perhaps they all study under her. Or maybe she was just annoyed that five mares that shared the same mane style, cutie mark and personality were all surrounding her.
“I threw... oops, I mean we threw this party just for you!” she carried on, finishing off with a grin. All four of the others started bouncing afterwards, sending that same sound pulsing through Twilight’s skull.
She groaned before making her way towards a refreshment table. After all the hours spent, she could at least do with something. She threw off an argument about libraries being quiet, but all of them dismissed it claiming that was boring. All the while she forcefully made her way through the party, the pink mare started blabbering about how she was the first mare she saw in town.
Apparently, she knew right off the bat that Twilight didn’t have any friends. She also claimed to know everypony in Ponyville, which the other four claimed too shortly after. She hadn’t even realised she was drinking from a bowl that contained hot sauce as the five mares shared about how stupendously amazing parties were.
At some point, Rainbow Dash claimed she had helped set up the surprise party in ten seconds flat.
But Twilight’s major concern was the huge burning feeling in her throat. Desperately, she charged off towards her bedroom, where perhaps she might just get some relaxation from the five party crazy mares as well as rest, on top of cooling off her tongue.
***
The next few hours were a bit of a blur to Twilight. She didn’t pay attention that much, all because the five mares never kept quiet. She only kept attention focused on the important stuff, which was primarily Nightmare Moon’s return. She was right, and nopony believed her. She would have rubbed it in their faces.
If she gave a damn.
She had to find the Elements of Harmony though. She knew they were the only hope of vanquishing Nightmare Moon, so she had head off through the Everfree Forest. The five party hungry mares had followed her. They all said they were her friend, and she knew she wouldn’t be able to turn them away. In a weird way to her, they were rather nice to be around, if a bit hyperactive.
Together, they had safely ventured the forest and found the ruins of a castle. Twilight had met Nightmare Moon and had a lovely little chat with her. Unfortunately, Nightmare Moon destroyed the stone elements, satisfied that the night would last forever from the lack of super powerful magical objects.
The five mares stuck with Twilight though, and that is when she realised there was a deeper meaning to the elements than books let on. The spirits of the elements lived inside the bearers, not just a force from an object. Because of that, they were able to stand up to Nightmare Moon.
But of course, Twilight just had to announce all of that to Nightmare More before they destroyed her.
“You think you can destroy the Elements of Harmony just like that?” she asked Nightmare Moon. “Well you’re wrong. Because the spirits of the Elements of Harmony are right...”
“Here!” she announced, revealing all six of them together, five of them bearing a huge grin. And if Twilight didn’t know any better, she could have sworn she heard Fluttershy say “fun” after her short monologue.
The shards around Nightmare Moon’s hooves began to levitate, ready to travel towards the bearers. “What?” asked Nightmare Moon, not believing what was happening.
“Applejack,” Twilight began, “Who tickled me when I was in doubt to fall off the cliff so that I could be caught by Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, represents the spirit of... Laughter!”
A few shards flew over towards Applejack and circled around her.
“Fluttershy, who tamed the Manticore by having fun with it, including the use of a rubber ball, represents the spirit of... Laughter!”
A few shards flew around Fluttershy.
“Pinkie Pie, who banished fear by giggling and singing in the face of danger, also followed by everypony else in a song number, represents the spirit of... Laughter!”
Pinkie Pie was the third to gain flying magical shards.
“Rarity, who somehow made the serpent pass out from asphyxiation from her terrible jokes so that we could cross the river on his unconscious body, represents the spirit of... Laughter!”
Rarity oo’d at the flying shards around her.
“And Rainbow Dash, who could not abandon her friends, deciding to fix the bridge straight away so she could have a party, represents the spirit of... Laughter!”
“The spirits of these five ponies got us through every challenge you threw at us.”
“But hang on a minute,” Nightmare Moon protested. “How can this be possible? The Elements are made up of Generosity, Laughter, Honesty, Kindness, Loyalty and Magic, which you still don’t possess.”
Twilight blinked a few times, before shrugging. “I don’t know, but I know the real spark happened. A different kind of spark that ignited in me as soon as I met these party ponies. I knew it from the moment I met them, that this was meant to be, and from that alone, the spark, it is enough to bring forth the sixth element: Magic!”
“But hang on!” Nightmare Moon protested again. “I’m missing something here. You can’t have five bearers of Laughter and one Magic! It doesn’t work that way!”
Twilight looked over her group, all of them still bearing large grins. “Apparently, it can.”
There was a shine as an object appeared in the air, spearing out even more blinding light. One by one, the five party ponies felt the shards of their elements combining together to form necklaces, all of them containing their cutie mark.
Five golden necklaces with a blue balloon.
A sixth object emerged, a larger one, a tiara, forming on top of Twilight’s head, bearing her different cutie mark to the others.
All six of the mares, from the power of their elements, floated in the air, light giving off from them all as two streams of rainbows came from them. The two streams formed a helix with one another, before they combined together at their apex.
Nightmare Moon was on the border of laughing at the rainbow streams, all because they didn’t look like magic rainbows at all. They were, in fact, rainbow coloured streamers being fired at her, and she wasn’t taking it seriously.
The rainbow streamers landed by her hooves, before wrapping around her in a vortex. The tornado of streamers was doing something to her, making her weaker, as much as she didn’t see it. A few shots of confetti blasted out from within the vortex, making a sound as if they were fired from a cannon at the same time.
She grunted when the confetti blasted into her, wishing it would stop. She could feel her power draining away rapidly, so she could only do one thing.
Scream as loud as her lungs would let her about her impending defeat.
Light shone from Twilight’s eyes, and at last, the one-sided battle was over. All six of the mares were left on the floor, a bit dazed. A few of them groaned from the experience, but they ultimately got up in no time.
The group huddled close together, the five party mares giggling and bouncing when they could. “Well girls,” Twilight began, “I think we did it.”
All five of the mares nodded in agreement. “That was fun,” Fluttershy added.
Twilight took a few breaths from everything she went through, allowing the thought that it was finally over to flow through her mind.
“Y’all know what this calls for?” Applejack asked the group.
Twilight opened her eyes immediately, to see all five of them giving each over knowing looks, their smiles only growing. She winced as she prepared for what was to come.
All five of the party ponies took a large inhale.
"A PARTY!"