As the chariot descended, the trio got their first look at Ponyville. Right away, they could tell it was a very different place compared to Canterlot. There was no quickness in the ponies movements, unlike Canterlot where every second mattered to them. The fast paced lives of constant yelling nobles and street ponies trying to make money was not here. Even the way the town was constructed looked very laid back. Instead of the buildings being jammed into wherever they could fit them, the houses were spaced out as if the builder just decided to place them wherever, no concern for room or anything.
Flash couldn't help but agree with what Grand Hoof had said. Maybe one day he too would kick up his hooves here. Definitely seemed like a great place to retire.
They soon landed and Twilight thanked their drivers, the Pegasi duo quickly taking to the skies back to return to their duty in Canterlot.
"Maybe the ponies in Ponyville have interesting things to talk about." Spike said, trying to persuade Twilight.
"Here, let's at least talk to one pony," Flash continued, noticing a pink Earth Pony walking up to them, "How about that one?”
Twilight sighed and turned to the pink pony who had stopped in front of them. Flash cocked his eyebrow as he observed her Cutie Mark, which seemed to be three party balloons.
"Er...hello?"
At that moment, the Earth Pony gasped, floating in the air as it suddenly shot off to who knows where, leaving a trail of dust.
Twilight turned to Flash, giving him a look. He chuckled nervously in return. "Best two out of three?"
"Come on." Twilight groaned as she motioned to Spike to tell her the first destination. The dragon complied as he told them that the food would be catered by a place named Sweet Apple Acres.
“Sounds like a good place.” Flash remarked as they headed to their destination.
“Sounds like a waste of time.” Twilight moaned as she trudged toward the farm. “Let's get this over with so I can do my research.”
"Right...so, who do we talk to?" Flash asked as they passed a sign for the farm.
"YEE-HA!" said a loud female voice with a county accent, quickly catching the trio's attention. They looked over to see an orange Earth Pony wearing a stetson. She had three apples for her Cutie Mark. The Earth Pony was running towards a nearby apple tree, spinning around to kick it as it knocked the apples loose as they fell into some buckets. Flash cocked his eyebrow as he found himself impressed with the mare's strength.
Twilight instead, just sighed as she walked up to the mare. "Let's get this over with." she groaned as she trotted over to her, "Good afternoon. My name is Twilight Sparkle-"
But before she could say anything else, the Earth Pony grabbed her hoof and began shaking it vigorously, "Well howdy do Miss Twilight!" the Earth Pony said, "A pleasure making your acquaintance. I'm Applejack. We here at Sweet Apple Acres sure do like making new friends!"
"Friends?!" Twilight exclaimed, trying to comprehend the situation as she felt like her hoof was about to be shaken off. "Actually I-"
"So!" Applejack interrupted, finally letting go of Twilight's still shaky hoof, "What can I do yah fer?"
As Spike grabbed Twilight's leg to stop the shaking, Flash stepped forward. "Greetings. My name is Flash." he explained with a slight bowing gesture. "Myself and Twilight are here to oversee the Summer Sun Celebration preparations."
"We heard you were in charge of the food." Twilight groaned as she rubbed her hoof.
"We sure as sugar are." Applejack replied with a cheeky grin, "Would you care to sample some?"
"As long as it doesn't take to long." Twilight said, hoping she didn't regret her decision.
"Speak for yourself." Flash moaned as he rubbed his stomach. "I haven't eaten anything in ages."
“That's because you train all the time, mister muscles.” Twilight shot back.
“It's my job Twi.”
"Then come take a seat. We'll fill yah right up!" Applejack said, dragging them to a table before ringing a triangle bell. "SOUPS ON EVERYPONY!"
From seemingly out of nowhere, hundreds of ponies appeared in a dust cloud surrounding them. Applejack soon appeared between them with a giant cheeky grin, "Now, why don't I introduce you to the Apple Family?" and with that she began listing off names. As she listed every name possible related to an apple, a new pony would quickly come to the table and drop a plate of whatever their name portrayed. Eventually, a small mountain of food towered above them, threatening to topple over the trio. Flash licked his lips as he observed the treats while Twilight let out a small gulp. Before she could say anything, Flash began to chow down, mostly into the apple desserts.
"Best apples ever." he said, licking his lips before wiping his mouth from the gorging of food.
"Glad ya think so." Applejack replied with a tip of the hat. "I'd say ya'll already part of the family."
The statement caused Twilight to spit out her apple crumble in shock.
"Okay, well I can see the food situation is handled." she spat as she tried to clean her face. Quickly turning around, Twilight then said, "So, I believe we'll be on our way now."
"Aren't yah gonna stay for brunch?" asked a small filly as she walked up to them. Her name was Apple Bloom and she was giving a face that was so cute, it should be illegal. Seeing Twilight cringe at the sight, Flash decided to speak up.
"I'm sorry." Flash said, kneeling down to the filly's eye level, "But when you have important duties like us, sometimes you have to put fun things like this on the back burner for a while." Everypony around them moaned at this. "But if we finish our work quickly enough, I'm sure we can come back later."
After hearing that, everypony cheered and said their goodbyes to the trio. As they walked out of the acres, Twilight let out a huge sigh of relief, causing Flash and Spike to roll their eyes.
"Good work Flash." Twilight said once they were out of earshot, "Who knows how long we would have been stuck there."
"Another reason you should hang around ponies more Twilight." Flash replied as he rubbed his face for any last crumbs, "You'd learn how to talk yourself out of problems like that."
“Yeah whatever.” Twilight rolled her eyes and turned to Spike. "What's next? I want this done and over with already."
The purple dragon turned to his check list, his eyes shifting back and forth. "Food is done...next is weather." he explained as he looked up, "there's supposed to be a Pegasus Pony named Rainbow Dash clearing the clouds."
The two ponies looked up, only to see the sky was full of clouds. "Well, she's obviously not doing a very good job is she?"
Flash would have said something, but his heightened senses picked up on something heading their way. His ears twitched as he felt a small wind blustering by. Somepony was coming at them, and at high speeds. "Look out!” he yelled as he tackled Twilight. As the duo hit the dirt, a blue blur zipped past them before landing in a nearby mud puddle.
"Not again." a female voice said with a moan. As Twilight and Flash slowly got up, they turned to see a blue Pegasus Pony with a rainbow-coloured mane and tail. Her cutie mark was a white cloud with a rainbow lightning bolt under it, while her body was coated in mud.
"You okay?” Flash asked asked he walked up to her and presented his hoof.
"Yeah, no sweat. Happens all the time." she said as she shook violently, causing mud to fly off of her and splatter onto them. "Oops." she chuckled seeing this, "Sorry."
"Let me guess." Twilight said, wiping the mud off of her muzzle, "You're Rainbow Dash."
The blue Pegasus smirked as she bragged, "The one and only. Why? You heard of me?"
"I heard your supposed to be keeping the sky clear." she replied as she removed the last bit of mud. "I'm Twilight Sparkle. The Princess sent me to keep an eye on the weather, which you are clearly not doing your job."
"Yeah yeah, I'll get to that in a moment." Rainbow Dash said as she quickly began laying on a cloud, "I'll do it once I'm done practising."
"Practising?" Flash asked, "practising what?
"My routine to show the Wonderbolts." Rainbow Dash replied in an ecstatic tone, "They're gonna perform at the celebration tomorrow night and I'm gonna show them my stuff!"
"The Wonderbolts?" Twilight replied as she rolled her eyes.
"Yep."
"As in the number one flight team in Equestria?"
"The very same."
"Please." Twilight said with a waved hoof. "They'd never recruit a Pegasus Pony who can't even keep the sky clear for one measly day."
"I have to agree with her, you're making our species look bad." Flash remarked with a cheeky grin, making Rainbow Dash growl.
"I bet I could clear this sky faster then your coltfriend ever could." she challenged as growls became louder.
"He's not my coltfriend." Twilight hissed back as she pointed to him, "And he's an apprentice knight to the great Grand Hoof. I bet he could fly circles around you."
"Please don't bring me into this." Flash said with a raised hoof, as he knew he wasn't in a bragging mood.
"Too late pretty boy." Rainbow Dash replied with a challenging grin. "You and me right now." she said as pointed to the clouds. "I take one half and you take the other. First to clear their section wins."
"We really don't have time for this." Flash groaned with a face palm.
"Oh, come on!" Rainbow yelled "What's that old saying? A knight never flees from his foe?" Flash sighed and turned to Twilight, giving her a 'are you serious?' look.
"Just humour her." she told him as she pointed to the list. "If it'll get her off her flank and make do her work, then we can move on. Deal?"
Flash sighed and nodded. The two stood back to back looking up at the many clouds they had to bust. Spike stood between them and raised his claw. "Three...two...one...GO!"
They shot into the sky at equal speed, both kicking clouds as best they could, their bodies zooming through the air. Twilight stood there, her eyes trying to keep up with Flash's blinding movement. "I got twelve," Flash said after about ten seconds. He then turned around and gasped, his eyes couldn't believe what they were seeing. Half of Rainbow Dash's section was already cleared
"Thirty-three," she said as she broke through one. "Thirty-four," she broke through another, in no time at all. Her section was soon completed while Flash's was only two-thirds complete. "I win" she yelled as she landed next to Twilight, whose mouth was hanging low. The speed from the pegasus caused her mane to be swept into a tidal wave shape.
"H-h-how did-" was all she could say.
"Believe it or not, I've actually been having an off day" Rainbow said, "but I'd never leave Ponyville hanging.”
"Okay," Flash said, landing in a huff. He could feel his body sting as he tried to keep up, "Maybe we underestimated you. Then again, I'm a solider, not a weather pony."
"Ya think?" she replied, laughing, "You guys are a riot! Didn't catch your name though."
"Flash Sentry."
"Well, Flash Sentry," she said with a smirk, "Whenever you're up for a rematch, just give me a call." she said as she flew off into a blue blur.
"Wow." Spike said as he tried to follow her. "She's amazing." he then turned and laughed as he saw Twilight's new do, causing Twilight to scowl and walk off. "It's really nice once you get used to it!"
"Bud." Flash said, patting Spike on the head. "You're just deepening your ditch. Stop digging in it pal."
They some arrived inside the town hall to check off the third item on the list, "Decorations." Spike said as he looked up from the list. "Beautiful."
Flash had to agree. Their were many pretty streamers and ribbons around the hall, coupled with an assortment of flowers. “Not bad. Reminds of the hallways of Canterlot Castle.”
"No, not the décor." Spike answered as he began pointing at something, "Her." Flash turned to see a white Unicorn. She had a flowing purple mane and tail along with three light blue diamonds for her Cutie Mark.
The Unicorn then levitated a bunch of ribbons around her, quickly dismissing them as she kept switching to other decorations. "No, no, no, oh goodness no."
"How are my spines?" Spike asked as he started patting himself down. "Are they straight?"
Twilight just rolled her eyes and walked up to her. "Good afternoon”
"Just one moment please," the Unicorn said politely, not looking at Twilight, "I'm in the zone as it were." she replied as she concentrated on a glittery red ribbon that she soon tied around a column. "Ah yes, sparkle always does the trick."
"I'll have to take your opinion on that." Flash said in a slight deadpan tone.
"Oh don't be so modest." she then turned around and gasped like she had seen something truly horrifying. She quickly pointed to Twilight's mane and exclaimed, "OH DARLING, what happened to you crinière?"
"She got wind swept by Rainbow Dash." Flash explained with a snicker.
"Oh...Rainbow Dash. Of course." she moaned with a facehoof, "Well, come with me dear." she said as she began pushing Twilight towards the door, "Rarity will have you looking better then ever." Soon, they found themselves in what was possibly the most extravagant building in Ponyville, on par with those in Canterlot. It appeared to be a boutique of some kind, with many different clothes and other gems arranged inside.
Rarity was currently squeezing Twilight into a tight corset. "Go on darling." she said with a gleeful grin. "You were telling me where you're from."
"I've.." she replied in a whisper as the air was constricted from her lungs, "Been sent from Canterlot to-" Rarity let go of the string in shock, sending them flying in separate directions.
"CANTERLOT?!" Rarity screamed, getting up with gems shining in her eyes. "Oh I am so envious! The glitz, the glamour, the sophistication! I have always dreamed of living there!" she then turned to the purple unicorn who was still on the floor. "We haven't been formally introduced. I'm Rarity, the owner of Carousel Boutique."
"I'm Twilight Sparkle." she replied as she strained to talk from the outfit, "I was sent by the Princess to oversee the preparations of the Summer Sun Celebration." she then turned to Flash and pointed at him. "That's Flash Sentry, apprentice knight to Grand Hoof."
"Knight you say?" Rarity suddenly shot over to stand up next to him. She quickly scanned him over, "My my, you do seem the knight in shinning armour type. Good muscles and everything.”
"Err...thanks." Flash said, backpedalling from the nosy mare.
"Maybe sometime after the Celebration, you and I could enjoy an evening dinner" Rarity said, her eyes blinking seductively.
Flash blinked at the sight, not sure what to say. Thankfully, Twilight was there to help. "Unfortunately, Flash and I will be heading back to Canterlot after the celebration is over."
Rarity blinked as her eyes shifted between the two and suddenly smirked. "Oh, of course my dear. I didn't mean to come between you two lovebirds."
"He's not my coltfriend." she replied before beginning to take off her corset, "And we really need to finish are preparations. Are we done here?"
"Yes yes." Rarity said as she helped remove it. "But we must get together sometime and talk about Canterlot. Oh, you and I are going to be the best of friends!" she then noticed something and gasped, "Emeralds?! Just what was I thinking?!" she stated as she started to walk away, "Let me get you some rubies."
"Quick!" Twilight almost yelled as she noticed Rarity leave the room, "Before she decides to dye my coat a different colour!”
Agreeing with her, Flash grabbed Spike who was still staring at Rarity in love filled trance. Once they had finally reached a safe enough distance, Twilight slowed down enough for the boys to catch up.
"Well, that was an experience." Flash moaned as he pulled Spike by his tail.
"I'm sure you wouldn't have minded staying longer." Twilight said with a slight glare.
"She's not my type." Flash replied with a deadpan stare.
"She better not be." Spike warned, having been woken up from his daze.
"Relax bud." Flash with a chuckle. "The only reason she paid me any mind is when she heard about me being a knight."
"Yeah, she did..." Spike said before snapping his fingers. "Do you think the Royal Knights accept dragons?"
"I don't know Spike." Flash said, chuckling, "It's a twenty four hour job and requires early mornings."
"How early?" Spike asked, getting Flash to turn and look him dead in the eyes.
"Real early. Like...crack of dawn early."
"Dang it." he moaned as he head drooped down with a sigh.
Finally deciding to meet the last part of the preparations, they soon arrived at the park where they were meant to meet the one choreographing the music.
"What's that sound?" Flash asked as his eardrums picked up something.
"I don't hear anything." Twilight replied as she shook her head.
Flash's ears twitched, honing in on a sound. He followed it as he motioned Twilight and Spike to follow him. As they followed him, they eventually arrived at a little area where a yellow Pegasus with pink mane and tail. She was hovering around some birds who where singing in unison. They soon saw that her cutie mark was three pink butterflies.
"Just gorgeous." she said in a gentle voice as she nodded to the birds.
"True that." Flash said as he came out of hiding. The motion scared the mare, making her scream. Seeing this, Flash quickly apologised. "Sorry! We just heard the music and wondered where it came from."
"That's okay." she replied with barely a whisper. Thankfully, Flash's heightened sense of hearing allowed him to hear it.
"Hello." Twilight said before Flash could reply, "I'm Twilight Sparkle. The Princess assigned me to watch over the music preparations."
The Pegasus whispered something under her breath which only Flash could hear.
"Fluttershy?" Flash asked, not sure he got her name right, "Your name is Fluttershy, right?" she then nodded, causing Flash to smile.
"I'm guessing you're the one in charge of music?" Twilight asked, to which Fluttershy nodded again, "Well, it sounded beautiful.”
"Thank you." she whispered.
"You're welcome" Flash replied in a firm tone, causing her to hide her face from them, as if embarrassed by something.
"Well..." Twilight said, trying to go back into hurry-mode. "we best be going." she turned away and looked towards Spike, not noticing Fluttershy was about to look at the dragon as well. Twilight shined a small smile, "That was easy."
"A BABY DRAGON!" Fluttershy suddenly exclaimed as she shot next to Twilight, accidentally slamming her away. "I've never seen a baby dragon before, he is so cute!"
Spike smirked back at Twilight, puffing up his chest. "Well, well, well."
"Wow! He talks! I didn't know dragons could talk." Fluttershy gasped as she put her hooves over her mouth. "That's just so incredibly wonderful, I-I just don't even know what to say."
"How about 'Hello, my name is Fluttershy.'" Flash said in a snarky tone.
"Yes! Yes, you're right." Fluttershy replied, all of her timidity gone as she turned back to Spike. However, it was this moment that Twilight picked him up with her magic and flew him onto her back.
"Well, we'd better get going." she groaned, walking away.
"Wait!" Fluttershy exclaimed, following them as she kept getting closer to Spike. "What's his name?"
"I'm Spike." the purple dragon replied, happy for attention.
"Hi Spike! I'm Fluttershy. Wow, a talking dragon...so, what do dragons talk about?"
"Well, what do you want to know?"
"Absolutely everything." she replied as her eyes shined with glee.
Twilight just groaned again as Spike went on a rant about his life. This continued all the way through town until they reached a large oak tree shaped building.
"And that's my whole life up until today." Spike finished, causing Flash to chuckle. "You wanna hear about today?"
"Oh yes, please!" Fluttershy replied with a nod.
"I'm so sorry. How did we get here so fast?" Twilight interrupted as she pointed towards the library with a sarcastic glare, "This is where we're staying while in Ponyville and my poor baby dragon needs his sleep."
"No I don't." Spike tried to argue before Twilight bucked him off of her back.
"Oh, look at that." she said with a fake smile at Fluttershy. "He's so sleepy, he can't even keep his little balance."
"Seriously Twilight?" Flash said with an arched eyebrow. However, Fluttershy believed her and picked Spike up.
"Poor little thing, we simply must get him to bed." she replied as she flew inside the Library, followed by Twilight who pushed her back outside.
"Yes, yes, we'll get right on that. Well, good night." she said as she shut the door, forgetting that Flash was still outside, leaving the two alone.
"Sorry about her." he said with a sigh. "I guess she's a lot like you, only with books instead of animals."
"That's okay." Fluttershy shook her head, suddenly returning to her quiet, shy demeanour.
Flash opened the door and walked in. As he did so, he was met with a super loud, "SURPRISE!"
Suddenly, the pink Earth Pony they had met earlier appeared in front of them, "Surprise!" she said again, "Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie and I threw this party just for you!" she said in a super fast tone. "Were you surprised? Were you, were you?!" she jumped around them as she talked. Seeing this as a notion to find out what was going on, Flash looked around and saw that everypony he had seen in town today was there. The inside of the library was decorated for a party, streamers and everything.
"Very surprised." Twilight said in an angered tone.
"Shockingly surprised." Flash nodded, chuckling.
"Libraries are suppose to be quiet." Twilight moaned as she wanted to facehoof.
"Well that's silly!" Pinkie Pie replied with a cheeky grin. "What kind of welcoming party would it be if it were quiet?! Duh! It'd be boring! You see I saw you when you first got here remember? You were all like hello and I was all horrr, remember? You see, I never saw you before and if I never saw you before that means your new, cause I know everypony and I mean everypony in Ponyville and if you're new, that means you haven't met anypony yet, and if you haven't met anypony yet, that means you might not have any friends and I know you two have each other, but that's only one friend each and that's not enough friends! So, I thought to myself, what's the best way for the two of you to make friends and than it hit me! A party! So, now you have a whole bunch of new friends, isn't that fantastic?!" she said as she finally ended her rant. In that moment, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Fluttershy appeared next to her.
"It's great." Flash said before looking at his best friend, knowing that Twilight wouldn't like this. "But, I think you might have overdone it. Twilight isn't very social."
"I am social!" Twilight argued, pouting. "I just like my alone time."
"If you had your way, you'd have nothing but alone time." he rebutted with a stuck out tongue.
"Man, get a room you two." Rainbow Dash said with a mischievous smile.
"We are not a couple!" they both yelled before Twilight began walking upstairs. "As much as I enjoy all of your....work, it's been a long day and I would like to just rest and relax."
"Sure sugarcube." Applejack said with a nod. "We'll be here whenever you're ready for some fun."
"Yeah, fun." Twilight said before disappearing upstairs with a moan.
Flash turned back to the five girls and smiled, Twilight might not have wanted to make new friends but he was glad to meet some more kind ponies. Much better than the snooty nobles of Canterlot. Seeing this opportunity, he spoke up, "Got anything good to eat?"
Pinkie pushed him over to the snack table and waved her hoof, "Try some hot sauce cupcakes, they're delicious!"
"If you say so." Flash gulped, knowing he didn't have the tongue for hot food.