Twilight Sparkle strolled through the Main Hall wearing a cloak with gold trim, attempting to locate any pony she knew to latch onto and not get drawn into another fancy pony's long winded story of how they accumulated their fortunes. Having decided to try the outer edges of the Main Hall, mainly the wallflowers, Twilight hoped to find Fluttershy or even perhaps Alex Papyrus there. Instead, Twilight happened upon Pinkie Pie who still seemed to be hard at work trying to keep the party on schedule.
"Let's move it every pony! Go! Go! Go!" Pinkie Pie yelled aloud.
Several Flame Ponies pushing metal carts, carrying an array of baked goods and treats wheeled past Pinkie towards the courtyard. The delicious smell caused quite a few heads to turn in wonder and many a fancy ponies began herding themselves towards the courtyard.
"How's it going Pinkie?" Twilight asked curiously.
"How's it going? How's it going!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed in distress. "It's actually running quite smoothly."
"Well I'm glad to hear that. Have you seen any of the girls?" Twilight asked optimistically glancing around the Main Hall.
"Let see, Rarity arrived at pricelessly four o'clock, while Fluttershy arrived ten minutes later, Rainbow Dash has been here since this morning, and Applejack was last to arrive at five thirty." Pinkie Pie replied, reviewing her chart.
"Well do you know where any of them are at the moment?" Twilight asked, glancing over Pinkie Pie's shoulder to look at her chart; to her surprise it was just a picture of a cupcake.
"Sorry, I can't help you out there, Twilight. I've got my hooves full trying to keep these ponies on their hooves." Pinkie Pie said motioning towards the Flame Ponies till wheeling out trays of treats.
"I guess I'll just keeping looking around and hope I run into a few of them." Twilight said trying to sound optimistic.
"Enjoy the party!" Pinkie Pie said happily, waving goodbye to Twilight.
Twilight turned to leave and nearly ran right into Argo Fleece who stood almost directly behind her.
"Mr. Fleece, excuse me, I didn't see you there." Twilight said quickly.
"Don't mention it." Argo replied, stepping around her.
Twilight watched Argo approach Pinkie Pie, carefully tapping her on the shoulder through his cloak to get her attention.
"Argo! We're nearly done getting the food out to the courtyard, we're keeping to the schedule, and Sparky is still making his rounds through the crowds of fancy ponies. We haven't had any issues with the decorations, accommodations, or even minor burns." Pinkie Pie reported looking down at her slate.
"Pinkie." Argo began, putting his hoof on the slate and lowering it. "I want to apologize."
"Apologize?" Pinkie asked sounding a bit confused.
"I've been horrible to you and your friends. I took every opportunity to berate and chastise you, even when you offered your help for next to nothing." Argo said solemnly.
"That's oka-" Pinkie Pie began but Argo cut her short.
"It's not. It really isn't. You've done an unbelievable kindness to this Kingdom, to our King, and most importantly, to myself; something I didn't deserve." Argo continued. "There isn't any excuse for what I said or did, but I wanted to show my gratitude to you in a way that you'd know best."
Argo cleared his throat, seemingly trying to conjure up the will needed to make this attempt. Twilight found herself leaning in, trying to hear what he was going to say.
"Two ponies walk into a bar, what does one pony do that the other doesn't do?" Argo asked, with a real attempt of sounding whimsical.
"What?" Pinkie Pie asked in awe.
"Duck." Argo said.
Twilight could feel her own stomach turn at how poor Argo's attempt at a joke was but was pleasantly surprised to see Pinkie laughing up a storm. Pinkie Pie's fit of laughter seemed to have Argo starting laugh, even though he did his best to contain it. Twilight thought it best to take her leave and continued on her quest to find some pony to keep her company.
Having continued to scour the edges of the Main Hall, Twilight eventually happened upon Fluttershy and Applejack who were wearing similar gold trimmed cloaks. Surprisingly, Fluttershy and Applejack seemed to be the focal point of several fancy and Flame ponies grouped together with them. Twilight moved in closer to get a sense of what was going on.
"My cousin Rick has held Sweet Apple Acres in high regards ever since he went to Ponyville on holiday, he insists that your Apple Cider is simply divine." A fancy pony remarked to Applejack.
"Well I don't know about that, but we put a lot of effort in providing the very best cider each and every year. You should come on down for yourself and try it the next time it's in season." Applejack replied humbly.
"I have a brother-in-law that has been struggling with the local fauna on his farmland, namely gophers and squirrels. Do you have any recommendations on how to deal with such pesky creatures?" Another fancy pony asked directing it towards Fluttershy.
"I've known squirrels and gophers to be quite friendly; if not misunderstood. Every little animal needs a place to call home, just like any pony. Perhaps he should try to make friends with them, and then I'm sure they can work something out." Fluttershy replied softly.
"Speak to the animals? Of course, a civilized course of action. A grand idea indeed." The fancy pony remarked in surprise.
"Ms. Applejack, upon my arrival I spied a rather quaint grove of grapes growing somewhere out in the fields. Am I correct in assuming that this is your doing?" An aristocratic mare asked curiously.
"No ma'am, that there's the hard work of Mr. Tiff Pitchstone." Applejack stated, turning to Tiff who stood idly beside her.
"I-I-It isn't r-r-really anything-" Tiff mumbled in embarrassment.
"What exactly do you intend to do with your grapes, Mr. Pitchstone?" The aristocratic mare asked curiously.
"Juice." Tiff said meekly, obviously not one for the spotlight.
"How splendid, is there a chance to sample it tonight?" The aristocratic pony asked.
"Mr. Pitchstone is planning to toast King Smolder tonight with the first ever grape juice to be grown, plucked, and stomped here in the Ashen Fields in over two decades." Applejack answered for him.
There was a sudden wave of excitement in every pony's voice in the group at the prospect of tasting such a rare drink.
"I'm sure the young fillies and foals will be excited to partake in that event." A fancy pony remarked.
"Oh, there aren't any foals or fillies here tonight. There's a curfew." Fluttershy replied.
"I dare say I saw at least a foal and a filly darting behind a few pillars and statues tonight." The fancy pony said looking a little puzzled.
"What?" Mr. Tutor asked stepping out from the group of ponies.
"I didn't get a very good look at the two of them but one was colored a rather brilliant shade of licorice." The fancy pony thought back on it.
"Lionel and Licorice?" Fluttershy asked looking surprised.
"Which way did they go?" Mr. Tutor asked quickly, looking none too pleased.
"I believe they were heading towards the courtyard." The fancy pony said pointing it out.
Mr. Tutor left without another word, he didn't seem all that angry but rather annoyed by the news of this.
"Oh my, please excuse me, I should help Mr. Tutor recover the little ones." Fluttershy said, following after Mr. Tutor.
Twilight could tell that Applejack and Fluttershy had their hooves full tonight. Cutting her losses, Twilight moved back into the large mass of ponies conversing in the center area of the Main Hall. Luckily, many ponies were already in conversation with each other, creating several clusters and groupings of ponies, allowing Twilight easy passage. There was a sudden feedback of a speaker that gathered mostly every pony's attention, drawing their gaze to the platform that Smolder had stood upon to give his speech but it was now taken over by a group of ponies with instruments.
"Hey…" The pony said into microphone, giving it a few taps with his hoof to test if it was working. "Good evening every pony, it's nice to be here tonight, nice to be playing for you."
The pony at the microphone adjusted the strap on his shoulder, adjusting the tuners on his guitar.
"My name is Eric and I play the guitar and sing. To my left is my good friend Pete, he's also on guitar and can also sing; believe it or not." Eric said jokingly as Pete nodded. "We have Gordon on the bass, but he's more than capable of playing any instrument; might even have a solo career if things go his way."
"We have Stewart on drums, best drummer in the world and that is indeed a fact." Eric continued as Stewart gave a wave.
"We're the Cream of Clopton. Clopton is my last name by the way, just in case you were wondering. Everything tastes better with cream these days." Eric announced.
Twilight, like many of the other fancy ponies, seemed at a loss to what this pony was saying. In most Royal gatherings there has always been a sort of formal band that played classical pony music but this seemed to be turning into a rock show.
"Before we begin I'd like to thank the Pink One and the King for giving us this chance to play; it means a lot to us." Eric said into the microphone. "Our first song is called 'Forever Pony', it's for any pony trying to be everything and more for that special some pony."
The song began with a rift consisting of the bass and guitar while Pete fronted a synth keyboard. The sound was quite uplifting considering the rather melodramatic pretense Eric had alluded to before. Twilight noticed that many ponies were starting to slowly bounce to the music, surprised by their own interest in it and opted to dance all the same. Deciding to forgo dancing for the moment, it would have been rude to throw down her super cool moves and put every other pony to shame, Twilight cleared the dance floor.
"Twilight!" A voice rang out.
It was rather muffled over the music being played but it was enough to have Twilight look around for the source of her name being called and spied Rarity, Spike and Stitch standing off to the side of the dance floor. Rarity wore a gold trim cloak, while Stitch wore an oversized blue trim and Spike had no need for it.
"Hi Rarity, how is every-" Twilight barely got the words out before Rarity quickly pulled her aside and hushed her.
"You almost ran into Crow and Rose, darling." Rarity hissed to her.
"I did what?" Twilight asked, looking very confused.
"Crow and Rose, Twilight, the young, love stricken ponies who have yet to make their true feelings known to one another." Rarity explained pointing to particular Flame Ponies on the dance floor.
Twilight could see Crow attempting to dance in a very awkward fashion that had him consistently looking down at his own hooves trying not to trip over himself. While Rose, who had a rather lovely dress, seemed to have some serious skill in dancing did her best to help him along, while doing her best not to laugh at his meager performance.
"Can we go try some of the food now, Rarity?" Stitch whined, doing her best not to let the cloak consume her completely.
"How can you think about eating at a time like this? True love is slowly playing out right before our very own eyes and you want a sandwich? For shame, Stitch." Rarity scoffed at her.
"I'd take a pie over stupid love any day." Stitch mumbled struggling to keep the hood from draping over her face.
Twilight noticed Spike standing idly by, doing his best not to seem over protective of Rarity as fancy ponies strolled by attempting to catch the eye Rarity but was met with a glaring dragon instead.
"What have you been up to, Spike?" Twilight asked curiously.
"Well after helping Wingston, I decided that the best place for me to lend a claw was at the new bakery." Spike explained tapping her claws together.
"That's nice of you, what did you help them do?" Twilight asked curiously.
"Well, I taste tested the apple, sampled the scones, tried the bread, reviewed the pies, and checked the cakes." Spike tallied off his jobs on his claws.
"Sounds to me like you ate everything." Twilight remarked, not sounding at all impressed.
"Ruby needed some pony to try her food before selling it to other ponies. I just did my part the only way I knew how." Spike said in his defense crossing his arms.
"Well don't expect me to carry you around if your tummy starts to hurt." Twilight warned him, poking him in his belly.
"I'll have you know I helped keep the shelves stocked with pastries and fueled the ovens with fire when we ran out of wood to burn." Spike said in a matter of fact way.
"How have things been going with you Rar-" Twilight began to ask her but saw that Rarity was no longer standing with them.
Rarity was pulling Stitch by the end of her cloak across the center hall, following Crow and Rose who were moving towards the courtyard. A group of colts started to follow after Rarity as it spurred Spike to run after her.
"See you later, Twilight!" Spark hollered, racing to be the fancy ponies.
Twilight rolled her eyes. Once more left to her own devices, Twilight's list of possible ponies to hang with was growing shorter and shorter. Figuring that Rainbow Dash wouldn't have any desire to hang around fancy ponies all night, Twilight concluded that she might be hanging around outside with some of the Royal Guard ponies. Deciding to head to the courtyard to begin her search of Rainbow Dash, Twilight moved around the edge of the Main Hall to avoid the dancing ponies still partaking in the musical entertainment.
Before reaching the corridors leading to the courtyard, Twilight happened upon some familiar faces, concerning those of Private Nightshade, Private First Class Cosmic, and Specialist Peanut of the Royal Guards of Canterlot. They seemed to be escorting a pony dressed in a cloak with gold trimmings that Twilight couldn't quite put her hoof on but was sure she had seen her somewhere before.
"Hey." Twilight said approaching the group of ponies.
"Twilight Sparkle, what a pleasure it is to meet you again." Cosmic said in a very formal voice, bowing his head to her.
"Cool your jets, hot stuff." Peanut remarked rolling his eyes.
"I'm just being polite." Cosmic snapped at him.
"More like desperate." Nightshade mumbled.
"Hello there, I don't think we've met before." Twilight said to Tea.
"I'm Tea Herbal, a friend of Smolder's." Tea introduced herself.
"Oh! I thought I recognized you, you were there the night we plotted to banish the Mad King." Twilight said, placing her face.
"That's right." Tea said with a smile, nodding.
"So what are you ponies doing here?" Twilight asked curiously.
"We were discussing if we should move to the courtyard to get something to eat and find a good spot to admire the fireworks." Nightshade explained.
"Or, we can stay here and mingle." Cosmic added.
"You're the only pony that's looking for a date." Peanut remarked.
"I'm not looking for a date! I just thought it would be nice to meet some new ponies, make some new friends, that sort of thing." Cosmic said, sounding very defensive.
"Why not split up?" Twilight offered.
"Cosmic insists on having a wingcolt." Tea said, flatly.
"A wingcolt?" Twilight asked looking confused.
"It's a pony who talks about all the amazing things Cosmic has done to hopefully fool some poor unsuspecting mare of how much of a dork he really is." Tea explained.
"Tea! You wound me! My heroics are nothing but the honest truth." Cosmic said, scanning the Main Hall.
"Like how we guard an empty room all day?" Nightshade asked.
"Details, Shades, details. You weren't there but Peanut and I were on the front lines facing off against the Mad King. Even Twilight can support that claim." Cosmic said turning to pat him on the face.
"Well that much is true." Twilight had to agree.
"Excuse me, sirs?" A voice called out, seemingly speaking towards Cosmic, Nightshade, and Peanut's authoritative guard uniforms.
"Yes, how can I-I-I-I-I…" Cosmic began but was suddenly unable to finish his sentence.
Golden Fleece had approached them, wearing a blue trimmed cloak looking as if she had lost something. Cosmic seemed to freeze up on the spot, mouth agape, unable to blink as Goldie stared him unsure of what he was doing.
"What can we do for you, Miss?" Peanut stepped in to assist the awestruck Cosmic.
"Goldie. Well, Golden, but every pony calls me Goldie. I was wondering if any of you ponies have seen my father?" Goldie asked.
"Who's your old colt?" Nightshade asked curiously.
"Argo Fleece." Goldie replied.
"You're Argo Fleece's daughter?" Twilight asked in great surprise.
"I know, big surprise. The thick headed, mean, old Mr. Fleece got married and had a filly." Goldie said amusingly.
"Well we're not really from around here…" Nightshade said slowly looking around the Main Hall.
"I saw him not too long ago." Twilight spoke up.
"You have? That's a relief. Can you tell me where you saw him?" Goldie asked.
"Argo was speaking to Pinkie Pie, she's coordinating the festivities this evening. She and Argo were speaking over there when I last saw them. They might be out in the courtyard by now." Twilight explained, thinking back on it.
"Thank you so much… uh… sweet Celestia, I didn't get any of your pony's names." Goldie said looking rather embarrassed.
"I'm Twilight Sparkle, and this is Tea Herbal." Twilight introduced herself and Tea.
"This is Peanut, and I'm Nightshade, this is our mascot, Cosmic." Nightshade introduced the three of them.
"It's a pleasure to meet all of you, thank you so much for all your help." Goldie said with a smile before heading down the corridor towards the courtyard.
Every pony was now looking Cosmic's way. He seemed to be in a sort of trance. Nightshade took the initiative to slap some sense back into him, and he did just that. It wasn't long before Cosmic fought back against Nightshade's slaps, snapping out of his thousand yard stare and quickly glancing around the hall.
"Where is she? Where did she go?" Cosmic asked quickly, almost in a panic.
"She's on her way out to the courtyard." Peanut told him, gesturing to the corridor.
"I'll catch you ponies later, don't leave without me!" Cosmic hollered to them as he took off down the corridor.
Tea and Twilight couldn't help but giggle to themselves while Nightshade and Peanut rolled their eyes.
"I guess Nightshade isn't the only colt who goes to pieces in front of a pretty pony." Peanut remarked glancing at Nightshade.
"I think it's naturally hard for any colt to speak to a mare he genuinely has feelings for." Tea said watching Nightshade give Peanut a cold stare.
"I was meaning to ask if you've seen Rainbow Dash tonight?" Twilight asked.
"We heard some of the other guards talking about the new flyers and Rainbow Dash showing off some of their flying techniques out in the courtyard." Peanut replied.
"Thanks, I'll try looking for her there. I hope you ponies have a great night." Twilight said, excusing herself and making her way down the corridor.
"I hope Cosmic doesn't try to do something embarrassing to impress Ms. Fleece." Tea said, sounding rather worried for him.
"Besides from staring with his mouth open at her? I'm sure that ship has already sailed." Peanut said amusingly.
"Excuse me." A voice spoke up once more.
Peanut, Nightshade and Tea turned to see Gleam Fizzle, wearing a blue cloak, standing before them. Gleam was looking up at Peanut who stood staring back at her. He did not move, nor did he blink, it was safe to say that Peanut had stopped breathing all together. Although, Gleam was still waiting for a response from him or any pony.
"How can we help you?" Nightshade asked, stepping in for Peanut.
"Hi, I was wondering if you would know what the best spot to view the fireworks was at. It's going to be my first time seeing them and I'd like it to be a memorable one." Gleam said, sounding very hopeful.
"Well I can-" Nightshade began.
"It would be an honor and privilege to escort you to such place, Miss?" Peanut cut Nightshade short and stepped forward holding out his hoof to her.
"Gleam. Gleam Fizzle." Gleam said carefully taking his hoof through her cloak.
"Charles Carver, my friends call me Peanut." Peanut introduced himself and led her towards the corridor.
"Why do they call you Peanut?" Gleam asked curiously, smiling at the amusing name.
Nightshade stood wide eyed, as did Tea who simply couldn't believe what they had just witnessed.
"Peanut was smoother than non-chunk peanut butter." Nightshade said in disbelief.
"I'll say." Tea agreed.
Twilight wandered around the courtyard where dozens of ponies were crowding around the tables with food, discussing amongst themselves on what was next to be tried. It wasn't long before Twilight noticed the familiar rainbow streak come stretching across the night sky above the fields, twirling and spiraling in intricate patterns. Although, there was a second streak mimicking the trail that Rainbow Dash had laid out, but this one was made of fire.
"Twilight!" Princess Cadance called out to her from one of the tables in the courtyard.
Twilight could see her, Shining Armor, Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna sitting at one of the tables with an assortment of treats cluttering the top. Twilight quickly moved over to their table, unable contain her excitement.
"Good evening, Twilight." Princess Celestia said happily, using her magic to pull out the chair for her to sit down.
"Hello everypony." Twilight said brightly, seating herself down. "I thought that every pony would be busy speaking with the representatives inside."
"There really isn't much to talk about, at least concerning us. Smolder is the one every pony wants to get on good terms with tonight, we're just here for the emotional support." Princess Cadance explained.
"And these apple turnovers." Shining Armor remarked, eating another one whole.
"Has any pony seen Smolder since the crowning?" Twilight asked curiously, helping herself to one of the apple turnovers her brother was raving about.
"We spoke to him briefly before the Coronation, but we haven't seen him after his speech." Princess Luna replied, making short work of her slice of apple pie.
"Did any pony else think Smolder sounded a little depressed during his speech?" Twilight asked, thinking back on it.
"It was to be expected, things concerning his family is a rather tender issue for him right now. Taking up the crown at such a young age is asking a lot of him. Considering that he is very underprepared when compared to Cadance or Sapphire that spent many years studying and putting it to practice." Princess Celestia explained trying some of the custard cream pie.
"We can make ourselves available to him if he finds himself needing a pony to talk to or seek help from." Princess Cadance added.
"He hasn't reached out to any pony in these last few months. It was Wingston who sent us a letter detailing Smolder's exhaustion." Princess Celestia pointed out.
"He must have wanted some time alone to deal with what happened." Twilight mentioned.
"In any case, Smolder has had a very relaxing and trying week all the same." Princess Luna pointed out.
"We were surprised to hear that an Orc was still lurking around in the old mining tunnels here in the Ashen Fields." Princess Cadance commented.
"We all were. Especially the part with the army of Spiders its been accumulating for nearly twenty years." Princess Celestia said.
"The Crystal Empire deals with spiders on rare occasions and I know that Canterlot has only a few more cases then we do every year. We're unfamiliar with how spiders attack in large groups." Shining Armor admitted.
"The Flame Ponies have battled them for years, if the Orc ever does make good on its threat the Flame Ponies will be the ones to orchestrate a defense for us all." Princess Celestia explained.
"Do you think it will come to that? Will the Orc try to destroy the Ashen Fields?" Princess Cadance asked in a serious tone.
"The last time an Orc attacked the Kingdom of Flame Ponies, it changed Scorch and not for the better. The Last Orc was grandstanding and liked to ridicule Scorch for every pony to see. Flaunting his spiders and openly attacked the Kingdom and its roads." Princess Celestia explained sipping some apple juice. "This Orc has chosen to remain hidden, raising a spider army in secret, and has yet to have a single spider show its face."
"So we're dealing with a coward." Princess Luna stated.
"No. Whoever this Orc is, it has been biding its time. For years even. So far it has proven how cunning, secretive, and resourceful it is to remain undetected for so long. It has become an obsession at this point, almost personal for this Orc, and when it decides to unleash its army you can bet it will be for all or nothing." Shining Armor interjected.
"Why would it wait so long to attack? The Ashen Fields was in a horrible state for so long, wouldn't it have had multiple chances to attack during that time rather than waiting until the Kingdom was on the rise?" Twilight asked trying to put things together.
"Perhaps this Orc knew the previous one, the one Scorch defeated many years ago." Princess Cadance suggested.
"That would prove motive, but what sort of Orc would hold a grudge like that for so long?" Shining Armor questioned.
"Perhaps a son." Princess Celestia remarked.
"The reports did claim that the Orc was young and extremely strong. An adolescent Orc would be nearly too old given the time span from then till now." Shining Armor concurred.
"Entertaining the idea that this Orc is the son of the Last Orc, it is clearly outmatched in every possible way. It's clad in iron armor, a poor defense against fire, it has an army of spiders but it faces three kingdoms with armies three times its size. It can't possibly conceive a victory, so why even make the threat in the first place?" Princess Luna asked.
"I posed a similar question to the Summit when the Mad King made it clear he intended to cover all of Equestria in fire. We had strong defenses, our armies outnumbered him ten to one, but every time we met on the battlefield he always seemed so confident that he would win in the end." Princess Celestia said thinking back on it.
"He must have had an idea or a plan." Twilight said.
"Whatever it was, it never came to light. We banished him before he could do anymore harm and that was the end of it." Princess Celestia explained.
"Perhaps the Orc has a similar plan. One that gives him confidence that he will win." Princess Luna remarked.
"I shudder to think of what that might me." Princess Cadance said looking uneasy.
A sudden explosion from above drew the eyes of every pony in the courtyard as Rainbow Dash had performed her Sonic Rain Boom for all to see. There was a roaring applause at the sight of it, there were smiles on every ponies face. Even the Orc that sat upon the North tower admiring the view from his perch, clutching the Spider Queen's fang and rolling the gold coin between his fingers.