//------------------------------//
// Whinny Land 
// Story: CMC: The Next Generation 
// by DisneyFanatic23 
//------------------------------//

Whinny Land was the Number One amusement park in all of Equestria, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were thrilled that they were able to come on this Saturday afternoon. The first-generation Cutie Mark Crusaders were playing a concert later this evening and had offered to take their nieces and nephews. Unfortunately, most of their family members were busy and the only ones able to come were Prism and Gemstone. The Tri-Pies were invited too since it would be unfair not to include them.

By three o'clock, the adults' hooves were filled with stuffed animals that had been bought and won (mostly by the Tri-Pies) and the fillies were nibbling on cotton candy.

"Man, the twins don't know what they're missing!" Prism said, taking a huge chunk out of her treat.

"I'm glad you brought us along, Aunt Sweetie Belle," Gemstone said. "I hardly get to spend much time with you."

"I know," Sweetie Belle said. "Sorry about that. It's just I've been writing songs for our new album."

"Ooh, how's that going?" Blueberry asked.

"Great, but our managers Snips and Snails think we should include a love song, because like ninety percent of the songs in the world are about love."

"Awwwwwwww!" Raspberry cooed. "I love a good love song!"

"Me too, but…lately I haven't really been inspired."

"Is it because you don't have a boyfriend or girlfriend?" Cherry chimed.

"Cherry, that's not nice!" Raspberry said, scowling.

"No, she's right." Sweetie Belle shrugged. "I haven't been on a date since Featherweight, and that was years ago!"

"Really?" Gemstone asked, tilting her head. "I would've thought you'd have a lot of stallions asking you out, Aunt Sweetie Belle. I mean not only are you gorgeous, but you're a celebrity!"

"I think that's just the thing. You wouldn't believe how many big-time celebrities have asked me out, even Justin Beaver."

Prism snorted. "Ponies still listen to that guy?"

"I don't wanna date some rock star. I want…well, I don't know what I want."

Sweetie Belle was silent for a moment and then put on a big smile. "Okay, enough about my nonexistent love life. What do you girls wanna do next?"

"Ooh, there's an arcade!" Cherry said, pointing. "Hey, Blue! Bet ya can't beat my skeeball score!"

"You're on, sis!" Blueberry said.

The two of them bolted into the arcade tent and the other fillies followed.

"Guess we're playing some games," Scootaloo said with a shrug.

The rock stars were about to go in when two unicorn stallions in dark suits and sunglasses, one tall and skinny and one short and stout, zipped into their path.

"There you girls are!" Snips said.

"We've been looking everywhere for you!" said Snails.

"We need you at the stage for sound check! Stat!"

"Can't we do it later, boys?" Scootaloo groaned. "We can't leave the fillies all by themselves."

"Aw, they'll be fine," said Snails. "They're like, what? Thirteen? We were way younger when our parents let us wander around by ourselves."

"Well I better get down there," said Apple Bloom. "The tech is my gig."

"And I better see if my keytar works," said Scootaloo.

"I don't have an instrument," Sweetie Belle said. "And you don't need my voice to check the mic. How about you two go down to the stage, I stay with the girls and meet you later?" She turned to their managers. "Is that fine with you, boys?"

Snips and Snails looked at each other and muttered a few words.

"As long as you're at the stage by five so we can rehearse," said Snips.

"Deal," Sweetie Belle said.

"You sure you can handle all five of them?" Scootaloo whispered. "I mean I'm used to watching them but…"

"Relax. I've had to babysit both my nieces. It'll be no trouble at all."

"Okay then, Sweetie Belle," said Apple Bloom. "We'll see ya."

As her friends and managers left, Sweetie Belle went into the arcade tent to find the fillies. Then she stopped when she saw a grown stallion playing a video game. He was a brown earth pony with auburn hair and eyes, wearing a blue blazer. His cutie mark was a yellow joystick with a round red handle.

"Take that, skeletons!" he yelled at the game. "Thou shalt face the wrath of my blade! Heeyaw!"

Smirking, Sweetie Belle crept up behind the stallion. She watched the screen as his knight character sliced an 8-bit animated skeleton in half.

"Nice job there."

"Gah!"

The stallion jumped, distracting him long enough for a zombie to bite into his character's head. The words 'Game Over' flashed in red.

"No, no, no!" he screamed. "Ugh! Thanks a lot, lady, you made me lose the…"

But when he turned around his eyes widened. Sweetie Belle was trying to contain her laughter.

"Sorry, Button, I couldn't resist."

"Sweetie Belle?" He scoffed. "I can't believe it! How long's it been?"

"Too long, if you ask me. I tried looking you up in Ponyville, but your mom said you had gone to Applewood."

"Yup," he said, proudly straightening his jacket. "I'm actually the CEO of a video game company."

"Seriously?!"

"Uh-huh. That's why I'm here. I like to see for myself if there are any glitches."

She shook her head with a chuckle. "You always were one for video games. Looks like things turned out well for you."

"You too. I have all your albums."

She blushed. "I could sign them for you if you'd like."

"Oh, darn!" He stomped his hoof. "If I had known, I would've brought them with me!"

While they laughed, Gemstone was acing a dance game not too far away.

"Well what do you know?" she said as she beat the high score. "My dancing lessons with Cherry paid off!"

She looked to her opponent, whose head was down. Gemstone suddenly lost the urge to gloat.

"What's wrong, Raspberry? I thought you loved this game."

Raspberry sighed. "Sorry, Gem. I'm just sad my little Lemony Drop couldn't come here with us. It was too bad his moms had already planned a trip to Manehattan this weekend."

The unicorn laid a hoof on her friend's shoulder. "Oh, I understand it can be hard to be away from your special some pony…"

She rolled her eyes. "How would you know? You don't have a special some pony."

Gemstone stiffened. "Well, now! That was uncalled for!"

"Sorry again. I know your dad doesn't allow you to have boyfriends."

After making a quick glance around the arcade, Gemstone leaned in towards Raspberry and whispered, "Can you keep a secret?"

"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," Raspberry said, making the gesture.

Leaning in closer, the unicorn muttered, "Daddy never really said that. He actually trusts me. I just made that up so I could reject colts politely."

Her friend's eyes widened. "You mean…every time you put a colt down…?"

"I just simply didn't like them."

"But what about Dunkin? You're always hanging out with him."

"Dunkin's a sweetheart, but…I don't know. I'm not really prepared to be courting right now. I mean there's so much going on in my life. I have my baby sister, piano lessons, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, my dyslexia. I'm not like you, Raspberry. I can't juggle so many things around."

"So…you don't want a coltfriend?"

"Maybe someday. I don't know. It's not that I don't enjoy ro—who's that over there with Aunt Sweetie Belle?"

Raspberry followed her gaze and gasped when she saw Sweetie Belle laughing with a strange brown stallion. She sniffed the air.

"I smell romance! Let's go meddle!"

She bounced over to the couple and Gemstone followed her.

"Oh, there you are, Gem!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed. "Button, this is my niece Gemstone and her friend Raspberry Pie."

"Any relation to Pinkie Pie?" Button asked.

"I'm her daughter!" Raspberry said. "One of them, anyway. My sisters are around here somewhere."

"Girls, this is Button Mash," Sweetie Belle said. "We went to school together."

"Maybe you two can help me," Button said, kneeling down to the fillies. "I'm CEO of a video game company and I'm trying to widen my audience. Do you know how I can get more fillies interested in my games?"

Raspberry tapped her chin. "I'd say have more girl avatars. I don't mind playing as a boy, but it'd be nice to play a girl character every now and then because I am a girl and it'd be cool to see one kicking bad guy butt! The girl doesn't always have to be the one in trouble."

He nodded. "That's a very good point. I hadn't thought about it that way."

"I guess there are so many damsels in video games," Sweetie Belle said with a wink, "because most young boys wanna save the girl."

"Well," Button said as he rubbed the back of his neck, "pretty girls are…worth saving."

As he and Sweetie Belle made eye contact, their cheeks reddened and Gemstone and Raspberry glanced excitedly at each other. Button suddenly gasped.

"Oh my gosh!"

Then he rushed off, making all three girls frown.

"Was it something she said?" Gemstone whispered.

Sweetie Belle shrugged. "I'm sure Button's just busy now that he's a big important CEO. I get that."

"Out of curiosity," Raspberry said with a smirk, "was he your boyfriend?"

"What?!" The mare blushed. "Oh, no, no, no, no! Button and I were just friends. I mean…we used to play video games together and get milkshakes at Sugar Cube Corner." She smiled. "I don't know, I mean I sometimes thought we'd…" She gasped. "Oh my gosh!"

She started to rush out of the tent but then quickly went back to the fillies and said, "If you need me, I'll be on that bench over there!"

Gemstone and Raspberry watched the mare confusingly as she ran off excitedly. They turned to each other.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Raspberry asked.

The unicorn nodded. "I've never seen Aunt Sweetie Belle so flustered! They obviously have a thing for each other!"

"It's the classic childhood friend who comes back a big success and all grown up and totally handsome scenario!" She sighed dreamily. "So romantic!"

"Strange though, isn't it? They were obviously pleased to see each other but couldn't quite express their feelings."

"Well you know. Some ponies don't know what they're feeling when they're feeling it. Of course I knew my little Lemony Drop was the one for me right away. Some ponies just need a little nudge." She gasped. "We should totally set them up!"

Gemstone tapped her chin. "I don't know. Don't these things take time?"

"This is an immense tourist attraction! She's here on vacation! Who knows when they're gonna see each other again?! If they're ever going to realize their feelings, we have to act now! So, are you in, Gem?"

"Well…"

"Come on, don't you want your aunt to be happy?"

The unicorn smiled at the thought of her aunt cuddling up to the colt. "I'm in."

"Operation: ButtonBelle is a go!"

They sealed it with a hoof bump.





"So what do you girls want to do now?" Sweetie Belle asked when the fillies came out of the arcade.

"We haven't gone on Nightmare Moon Mountain yet!" Prism said.

"Eh," Cherry said with a huff. "We went on that thing fifty times when we were little. It gets boring."

"Gem, you coming?"

"No thank you," Gemstone said with a shiver. "I haven't really been comfortable with roller coasters since that incident at Uncle Discord's."

Prism turned to their chaperone. "Sweetie Belle, is it okay if I go alone?"

"You can go ahead," Sweetie Belle said. "But as soon as the ride's done, you are going to wait for us at the exit. Do not try and look for us."

"Can do!"

The pegasus filly galloped into the line for the space-themed ride.

"Can we go to the Haunted Stable while we're waiting for her?" Blueberry begged.

"Ooh, I heard that ride's scary!" Cherry chimed.

"No scary rides!" Gemstone said.

"I'm with Gem," said Raspberry, winking at her. "We have…other plans."

"You two can go to the Haunted Stable," Sweetie Belle said, "but wait at the exit for us."

"See ya!" Blueberry and Cherry called as they trotted up to a tall, frightening black barn.

"So what do you two want to do?" Sweetie Belle asked the remaining fillies.

"Hey, look at that!" Raspberry pointed. "The Tunnel of Love! Doesn't that sound great, Gemstone?"

"Hmm?" Gemstone said as Raspberry nudged her. "Oh! Yes! That sounds…fun!"

Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow. "Not judging, but don't you have a boyfriend, Raspberry?"

"Oh, no, no, no!" Raspberry said, waving her hoof. "This isn't for romantic purposes! This is for Gemstone!"

"Me?" Gemstone questioned.

"Of course! You don't like roller coasters and you don't like scary rides! The Tunnel of Love is a riverboat ride with no sharp turns or loops, and it's full of mushy gushy decorations, ergo not scary! It's the perfect ride for you!"

The unicorn filly caught her drift. "Yes, you're right! That's the perfect ride for me!"

Sweetie Belle scratched her head. "Well…okay. I'm certainly gonna be asked a lot of questions about this."

She followed them to the Tunnel of Love, a pink building with a large heart framing the entrance. The line was filled with young pony couples holding hooves, but the pony at the end of it stood alone. Sweetie Belle's eyes widened when she saw who it was.

"Button? What are you doing here?"

"What are you talking about?" Button said. "Didn't you want us to meet here?"

She scrunched her muzzle. "What?"

"That Raspberry filly told me you wanted to meet me here precisely at 4:03PM."

"Did she now?" Sweetie Belle said as she glared down at the earth filly.

"Oh, would you look at that?" Raspberry said, squeaking. "The line's moving!" She began pushing the two adults towards the ride. "We better hoof it!"

Button looked strangely at Sweetie Belle. "Any idea what's going on?"

"I have a few," she replied as she continued to glare at the fillies.





"Man!" Cherry groaned. "This line is taking forever!"

"It'll all be worth it once we see the ghosts." Blueberry squealed. "Ooh, imagine! Real live ghosts!"

Cherry tilted her head. "Uh, Blue? You do realize this isn't a real haunted barn, right?"

"That's what you think, but I've heard stories about fillies and colts who loved this ride so much, when they died young, their parents sprinkled their ashes on the ride and the foals' spirits haunt the place. Also there's this one animatronic called the Headless Ghost, it's this headless horse in a cape who walks around carrying his head. It was only on the ride for a week, before it mysteriously disappeared. Not even the engineers who built the ride knew what happened to it. But some claim they saw the animatronic in the bride's basement where it originally stood."

"Ooh, creepy."

"Some say these are just legends, but I intend to prove them wrong! I mean right! I mean…this place is really haunted!"

"But how can you prove it? There are a lot of fake ghosts in there, there's no way you can tell which ones are real, especially if you're riding through it."

"That's the best part." Blueberry smirked. "We won't be riding through it."

Her sister raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

Whispering in her ear, Blueberry explained her plan and Cherry listened with wide eyes.

"Gee, I don't know, Blue. We might get in trouble." She grinned and rubbed her hooves together mischievously. "Let's do it!"





Prism let out a sigh of relief when she finally reached the track with the rocket-shaped carts, but when she stepped up to it the ride attendant held up his hoof.

"Sorry, kid, we don't allow single riders. You and that colt over there are gonna have to ride together."

He pointed to the colt standing off to the side and Prism gasped. Kicks waved weakly.

"H-Hi Penguin."

"No!" Prism looked pleadingly at the stallion. "You can't let me ride with him!"

He rolled his eyes with a groan. "Look, kid. I got a lot of ponies here waiting. Don't hold up the line."

Prism hung her head as she went to the next empty pair of seats. Kicks excitedly sat beside her.

"Won't this be great? The two of us." He yawned as he stretched his foreleg towards her. "On a ride together."

"Touch me and you die," she snapped.

"Okay," he squeaked as he tucked his hooves into his lap. "Still, fancy meeting you here in Whinny Land."

"If you've reduced to stalking me…"

"No, no, no!" He held up his hooves. "I seriously had no idea you'd be here! My parents are just in Applewood for a kickboxing tournament. They're practicing for the finals tomorrow and they dropped my sister and me off here."

She looked at him. "Where's your sister?"

He bit his lip. "She's…"

He was cut off as the ride attendant pushed the safety bar down on their laps. Another attendant spoke through a megaphone.

"Alright, ponies. Remember to keep your hooves, tails and wings inside the vehicle at all times. Pegasi, don't try to fly out of the cart. Unicorns, don't use your magic to make the ride go faster or slower or stop or do loop de loops or any magical tampering of any sort. Thank you and enjoy the ride."

The rocket train started and slowly rolled towards the dark tunnel ahead.

"Look, you don't have to talk to me," Kicks said. "This ride doesn't take very long so just try to enjoy it, okay?"

Prism groaned. "Fine."

As the train entered the tunnel, it dropped forward and Prism clung to the safety bar as the ride accelerated. She and Kicks screamed out of instinct. They found themselves in an endless night sky with an infinite amount of stars. The whizzed past planets and suns.

"This ride is so cool!" Prism shouted.

She screamed louder as they went into a loop de loop but then shrieked when the train suddenly came to a halt at the top of the loop. Every pony was upside-down.

"Sorry, folks, we seem to be experiencing some technical difficulties. Please remain in your seats and we will be restarting momentarily."

Prism glared at Kicks. "When we get off of this ride, you're so dead."

"Oh come on!" he whined. "You don't seriously think I planned this!"





"I give 'em pointers for the special effects," Cherry said as she gazed down at the ballroom full of dancing ghosts.

"Eh," Blueberry said, waving her hoof. "They're just cheap projections cast by some unicorn workers. They're not the real ghosts we're looking for. Hmm, let's see." She glanced around, curving her neck to look behind the buggy they were in. "If my calculations are correct, we should be descending into the bride's basement in three…two…"

The buggy turned and slowly dropped down into a dark room filled with boxes and tattered paintings. The fillies' ears were filled with the sound of a beating heart as they approached a ghostly figure dressed in a wedding gown, holding out a bouquet of dead flowers and a candelabrum.

"This is it," Blueberry said, pointing past the bride. "The last known sighting of the Headless Ghost was right there." She held her hoof out toward her sister. "Screwdriver."

Reaching into her mane, Cherry pulled out a small screwdriver and handed it to Blueberry. She took it and went to work on the screws of the safety bar.

"Lefty-loosy…" she murmured. "Quarter-turn to the right and…done!"

With a click, the safety bar popped up, allowing the two fillies to slip out of the moving buggy.

"Quick!" Blueberry whispered. "Hide behind that pile of Styrofoam suitcases!"

With one swift leap, they ducked behind the fake suitcases and snickered as they watched their empty buggy disappear around the corner.

"Okay, now let's go find that ghost," Blueberry said, taking her sister's hoof.

"But where?" Cherry asked. "I mean there's not like there's a trapdoor that leads to a secret tunnel that…oh wait, there's one there."

Sure enough, there was a trapdoor embedded in the floor. The two fillies slowly lifted it up to find a dark tunnel with a ladder.

"Age before beauty," Blueberry said as she began descending the ladder.

"You're only older than me by seven minutes!" Cherry whispered as she followed her.

"It's still enough to make me the oldest, therefore making me the responsible one. Therefore, it is my sworn duty as the responsible one to go down this creepy ladder first so that in the event that the ghost shows up he'll attack me giving my baby sister time to get away."

Cherry grinned. "You really are the responsible one."

When they reached the bottom, Blueberry held out her hoof, saying, "Flashlight."

Cherry handed her a flashlight which she had taken out of her mane. Switching it on, Blueberry illuminated their surroundings.

"Look at all the pulleys and cogs and controls and mechanical junk," Cherry said.

"We must be in one of the control rooms for the ride," Blueberry said. "Though judging by the cobwebs, it looks really old."

"Hey, Blue, check it out!"

Cherry pointed to a large red button on the wall. Underneath it was a dusty metal plate. Blueberry brushed the dust away with her hoof and gasped. The plate read: "Headless Ghost."

"This must've been the button they used to operate the animatronic!" Blueberry exclaimed. "I don't think it's been pressed in years!"

"Ooh, creepy," Cherry said with a shiver. "Let's press it!"

"What? You crazy?"

Cherry blinked. "Have you met our family?"

Blueberry rolled her eyes. "I'm just saying, there's no telling what this button will do now that the Headless Ghost has disappeared."

"But if the animatronic's been missing for years, then we have nothing to worry about, right?"

"Unless…" Blueberry's eyes widened. "It'll actually make the Headless Ghost appear!"

Cherry's hoof reached for the button, but Blueberry stopped it.

"I'm not letting you take this moment from me," the older triplet said. "We'll do it together."

With a nod, the two sisters slowly raised their hooves towards the button, lightly touched it, then pressed down on it with a click!

They waited for something to happen. After twenty seconds, they glanced around in confusion.

"Huh," Blueberry said. "I guess it really doesn't do any—"

"What are you doing down here?"

As the fillies spun around, the flashlight shone on the silhouette of a stallion's body…but they couldn't make out his head. The girls screamed as Blueberry dropped the flashlight.

"IT'S THE HEADLESS GHOST!" they shouted as they embraced each other.

"If this is the end Cherry, I just want you to know," Blueberry said with a gulp, "I'm the one who ate the last chimmy-cherry-changa!"

"That's okay, Blue!" Cherry exclaimed. "Cuz I ate the stack of blueberry pancakes you hide under your bed!"

"I broke your party cannon!"

"I'm the one who let the gator out!"

"I still pick my nose when no pony's looking!"

"I'm in love with Gemstone!"

"I…" Blueberry looked at her. "Wait, what?"

Just then, a light switched on. Standing over by the ladder, his hoof on a switch, was a tall, lean stallion draped in a black cloak. His coat was a dark blue, his eyes were pitch black and his head had no mane. He looked down at the fillies sternly.

"Hey, you're no Headless Ghost!" Blueberry said. "Your head is right there where it should be!"

"Phew!" Cherry said, sighing in relief. "Wait. You broke my party cannon?"

"What is all this nonsense about a Headless Ghost?" the stallion asked. "And again, what are you doing down here? This is a restricted area."

Blueberry and Cherry crossed their back hooves in embarrassment.

"Gee," the latter said, "we're awfully sorry, Mister…"

"You may call me," the stallion said with a slight bow, "H.G."

Blueberry gasped. "Like H.G. Wills, the science-fiction writer?"

"No," he said bluntly.

"Oh. That would've been cool."

"You work here, H.G.?" Cherry asked.

"You could say that," H.G. said, running his hoof along the wall. "I've been here since before this attraction opened." He looked back to them. "But you still haven't answered my question. What are you doing down here?"

"We didn't mean to cause trouble," Cherry said.

"We were just looking for the Headless Ghost," Blueberry said. "You know, that animatronic that disappeared a week after the attraction opened?"

"Ah, yes," H.G. said with a nod. "He's become quite a legend around here. I remember back when that ghost was functioning properly."

Blueberry gasped. "You've seen the Headless Ghost?"

"Indeed. But every now and then, he would break down. The ghost's head would fall out of his hoof, making him look more comical than frightening." He sighed. "The guests would not stop laughing throughout the rest of the ride."

"Gee," Cherry said. "That mustn't've been fun for the ghost."

"I imagine it wasn't."

"So do you know what happened to it?" Blueberry asked. "Have you seen it since it disappeared? Is it possible that it may actually be a real ghost?"

His expression was unreadable. "And if he was a real ghost, why do you wish to know so badly?"

Cherry shrugged. "Seeing a ghost would be really cool, I guess."

Blueberry sighed. "I just wanna find out what happened to the animatronic, why it disappeared, because…well, it's a question no pony's been able to answer, and I'd like to be the one to answer it." She picked up the flashlight. "It's like when I saw that picture of my mom with that strange Cheese Sandwich guy. Turns out it was my dad before he went into hiding and went through a bizarre identity crisis. When I have a question…I want an answer, you know?"

She felt a hoof on her shoulder and she looked up at H.G. He gave her a small smile.

"I do know, little one," he said. "You're an explorer, and explorers have inquisitive minds." He lowered his hoof. "But has it ever occurred to you that perhaps the Headless Ghost doesn't want to be found?"

She scrunched her muzzle. "What do you mean?"

The stallion looked up at the ceiling. "Ponies laughed at him because he didn't work properly. It must have been torment for him. He was meant to frighten ponies, not make them laugh." He returned his gaze to her. "Now that he's gone, now that he's draped in mystery, he is not so comedic anymore. Perhaps he would like it to stay that way."

"Gee," Blueberry said, tapping her chin. "Hadn't thought about it like that. But wait. Are you saying that…the animatronic had a mind of its own?"

He was silent for a moment. "What do you think?"

Blueberry blinked. "I think…maybe some mysteries are…better left unsolved." She grinned. "They're a lot more interesting that way."

"What do these gears and pulleys do, anyway?" Cherry asked, leaning towards one of the moving mechanisms.

"Get away from there!" H.G. shouted, grabbing her. "You could lose your head that way!"

Cringing, Cherry said, "Mom and Dad would really ground me if I did that."

H.G. gave Blueberry a look that said, "Seriously?"

"Our family's not very good at getting their priorities straight," Blueberry said with a shrug.

Setting Cherry down, H.G. said, "If I show you the way out, will you promise to leave me alone and not touch anything else?"

"Ooh!" Cherry exclaimed, clapping her hooves together. "Can we take advantage of our situation and scare a few ponies first?"

H.G. stared at her hard.

"Like I said," Blueberry said, "priorities." She grinned brightly. "Although…if we really wanna keep the Headless Ghost legend alive, my sister and I would be happy to…help it along."

After a moment of silence, H.G. smiled slightly. "Exactly what did you have in mind?"





Meanwhile, Nightmare Moon Mountain was being evacuated. Pegasi security officers were helping the passengers out of their upside-down seats.

"Can you kids fly?" one of the officers asked Prism and Kicks.

"I can," Kicks said, pointing to Prism. "She can't."

"Okay then." He flew over to Prism and held up his hooves. "Grab hold of me. As soon as my colleague disables the safety bar, I'm going to carry you to the catwalk." He turned to Kicks. "You can just fly right out, but stay close to me."

A pegasus mare disabled the safety bar by using a screwdriver in her mouth. Prism quickly threw her hooves around the stallion's neck and dropped into his hooves. Kicks flew swiftly out and held his head once he was right-side-up again.

"Yeesh," he said, his eyes rolling all around. "That's a lot of blood rushing to the head."

The non-flying passengers were placed on a catwalk and escorted to an emergency exit.

"Your parents on this ride?" the stallion asked the kids once they were outside.

"My chaperone's taking my friends on some other ride," Prism said. "She told me to wait at the exit."

"Err," Kicks said, biting his lip. "Yeah! What she said!"

"I see," the officer said with a smile. "Not all parents are able to go on the same rides as their kids." He pointed over to a bench against the wall of the ride. "Just wait over there until your folks come." He bent down to whisper, "If any pony strange comes up to you, I'll be standing guard over there."

"Thanks," Prism said, walking over to the bench.

When she sat down, she noticed Kicks taking a seat beside her, which made her scowl.

"What?" Kicks said. "This isn't stalking you! I'm alone in this park too!"

"Whaddya mean?" Prism asked. "What about your sister?"

Kicks hung his head. "She's hanging out with her boyfriend. They've been in a long-distance relationship for a while and he lives here in Applewood. She said she wanted time alone with him since she hardly gets to see him."

She turned to him in surprise. "And…she's left you all alone?"

"Not really," Kicks said. "I mean she gave me some snack money and told me not to talk to strangers and to meet her outside this ride at five so we have time to grab seats for the CMC show later."

Prism was silent for a moment. "I can't believe your sister would just leave you like that."

He shrugged. "I'm used to being on my own. After all, my parents are always busy training and my sister has her own stuff to do."

She sighed. "I know what that feels like. Even before my parents went off to Afghanisteed, they were always off with the Wonderbolts, and the twins are usually hanging out with their pals." She flopped her head onto her hoof. "Even Aunt Scootaloo has her band."

"Looks like your Crusader friends abandoned you too."

She shot him a dangerous look.

"Sorry, not helping."

She turned her back to him and neither of them said anything for a while. Kicks glanced over at a clock on the wall of Nightmare Moon Mountain and then at the Haunted Stable ride nearby.

"You know," he said, "I don't have to meet my sister for another half hour, and it doesn't look like your friends are back from their rides yet, so…" He grinned slyly. "What say we take a quick ride through the Haunted Stable?"

Prism looked back at him with a cocked eyebrow. "You trying to get me alone in the dark or something?"

"No, no, no! I just thought…" He twiddled his hooves. "Since I'm alone and you're alone, and we've got some time, we might as well…make the most of it, you know?"

"I don't know," Prism said, glancing around. "What if Sweetie Belle comes and I'm not here?"

"Just tell her you were coming back from the bathroom. You can't help the call of nature, after all."

"Still," she said, looking back at the Haunted Stable, "that line is pretty long. We might not make it back in time."

"So we just take the Single Riders' line, which is ten times shorter, and pretend we're not together."

She crossed her hooves. "We aren't together."

He leaned forward to whisper, "Exactly."

She smiled once she caught his drift. "Okay. At least you're not suggesting the Tunnel of Love."

"Please," Kicks said with a huff as he hopped off the bench. "Like you'd be into that mushy stuff."

Her grin widened as she followed him. "Maybe you do get me."





As soon as they were at the front of the line, Gemstone and Raspberry shoved Sweetie Belle and Button Mash into the swan boat.

"Go on, hurry up!" Raspberry said. "Can't leave the swan waiting!"

"Don't worry about us!" Gemstone said. "Have fun!"

They pushed the adults so hastily that Button fell into Sweetie Belle's lap. Blushing, he quickly sat up.

"Girls," Sweetie Belle said, "if this has anything to do with what I said earlier…"

She and Button Mash shrieked as Raspberry slapped the end of the boat, casting it off.

"Get crazy, you adorable lovebirds!" Raspberry hollered.

"Ahem," the ride attendant, an earth mare said with a cough. "Are you two fillies riding together?"

"Oh," Gemstone said with a blush. "Well, um…I suppose since we came all this way…"

"It'll just be two filly friends riding a swan boat through a lovey-dovey tunnel," Raspberry said, throwing her hoof around her friend's neck. "Nothing weird about that!"

She pulled the unicorn into the next boat.

"Besides," Raspberry said in a whisper, "this way, we'll be able to check progress on Operation: ButtonBelle."

"But how?" Gemstone said as the boat moved forward. "They're way up ahead of us."

"Hang on," Raspberry said, reaching into her mane. "Oh, shoot! The binoculars are in Cherry's mane! Oh, wait a minute." She pulled out a cardboard tube. "Guess this'll have to do."

She looked through the tube at the boat up ahead.

"What's happening?" Gemstone asked.

"Don't know," Raspberry said. "They're just sitting and saying nothing. Wait. I think Button Mash is about to say something!"

The unicorn leaned towards her. "What? What?"

"Again, don't know. Blueberry's the one who can read lips." Raspberry lowered her tube with a sigh. "I miss my sisters."

Meanwhile, in the boat up ahead, Button and Sweetie Belle were shifting uncomfortably in their seats. Sweetie Belle rubbed her foreleg awkwardly while Button looked up at the giant heart decorations.

"You know," he said, "this ride isn't too bad. Kinda reminds me of Sugar Cube Corner." He looked over to Sweetie Belle. "Remember our old milkshake races?"

"Yeah," Sweetie Belle said with a snort. "You always got a brain freeze before you could finish."

He chuckled. "Yeah. I was quite the goof, wasn't I?"

"You're still a goof." She nudged him playfully.

"Hey!" he said, massaging his foreleg.

"Don't be offended. I always liked that about you."

He blinked. "Really?"

"Well…yeah."

They locked eyes for a moment.

"You know your niece and her friend are watching us through a toilet paper tube, right?" Button Mash said.

Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes. "Yup."

"Any idea what their deal is?"

She groaned. "I think they're trying to set us up."

"As in," he said with a gulp, "like a date?"

"Yup," she said with an annoyed expression on her face. "Like a date."

"Oh." He blushed. "This, uh…must feel pretty awkward, huh?"

"Oh yeah."

"Oh," he said, hanging his head sadly.

"Not in the way you think!" she said quickly.

His head perked up. "Oh?"

"Because," Sweetie Belle said, looking away with a blush, "I was…going to show how I felt about you another way."

"Oh?" He grinned brightly. "That's so weird! I was going to show how I felt about you another way too!"

She looked at him in surprise. "You were?"

"Yeah!" Reaching into his jacket pocket, he pulled out his notebook. "See, the girls got me thinking, when they were talking about how they'd like more female heroes in video games rather than have them be the damsel in distress and…what if instead of the princess being in trouble, she's the one battling monsters?"

Then he showed her a sketch of a unicorn mare with a curly mane. She was clad in armor and wearing a small tiara on her head.

"I wanted to ask you first, but," he said shyly, "I was thinking of calling this new character…Princess Sweetness."

Sweetie Belle's eyes widened.

"I…modeled her after you, Sweetie Belle, because…" He looked down at his hooves. "Even when we were foals, you…you've always been a princess in my eyes."

Sweetie Belle put her hoof to her heart, and her eyes never left his until the ride was over.

"Did it work?" Gemstone asked as their boat approached the end.

"I think so," Raspberry said. "They were smiling and staring into each other's eyes the whole ride! I think it's safe to say that Operation: ButtonBelle is a success!"

"Operation: ButtonBelle?"

The fillies looked up to see Sweetie Belle glaring down at them with her hooves crossed. Button Mash stood beside her, his face stoic.

"So I was right," Sweetie Belle said. "You were trying to set us up."

"Um," Gemstone said, smiling nervously. "Maybe?"

"But it's only because you two looked so cute together," Raspberry said, hopping out of the boat before helping Gemstone.

Sweetie Belle shook her head. "Don't you know better than to meddle in other ponies' love lives?" She sighed. "I suppose this is karma for that time we tried setting up Big Mac and Cheerilee."

"But Big Mac and Cheerilee got together," Gemstone said. "And they're happy."

"Yes, but they got there on their own and didn't need me and my friends interfering. I know your hearts were in the right place, but…that was really embarrassing!" She groaned. "Well, at least you didn't try a love potion."

Gemstone hung her head. "We're sorry, Aunt Sweetie Belle."

"I'm not!" Raspberry piped.

After sending her a glare, Gemstone continued to say, "It's just…you were complaining about how dull your love life is and…you seemed to like Button Mash so much that…"

"And I do like Button Mash," Sweetie Belle said.

"And I like Sweetie Belle," Button said. "I always have."

"And, if you hadn't meddled, we would've confessed our feelings in our own time."

Gemstone blinked. "Really?"

Button showed them the drawing. "I created a new video game character in Sweetie Belle's image."

"Ooh," Raspberry said, taking the notebook. "A princess fighting monsters! Now that's more like it!"

"And what about you, Aunt Sweetie Belle?" Gemstone asked.

"Yeah," Button said, turning to Sweetie Belle. "You still haven't told me what you had planned."

Sweetie Belle smirked. "You'll see. Which reminds me. We better get your friends so we can get ready for the show tonight."

She turned around and headed for the ride's exit.

"Wait, wait," Raspberry said, chasing after her. "So are you two together or not?"

"Yeah!" Button shouted. "I'd kinda like that answer too!"

"I said you'll see!" Sweetie Belle called over her shoulder.

"Aw, come on! You can't just leave me hanging like that!"

"Yeah, Sweetie!" Raspberry said, hopping to her side. "You can't just leave him hanging like that! There's such a thing as too much romantic tension! What about…?"

She was cut off by Gemstone's hoof covering her mouth.

"Why don't we just let nature run its course, Razz?" Gemstone said, winking at her aunt.

"Trust me." Sweetie Belle returned her wink. "It'll be worth it."





Prism jumped in her seat as a ghost in a sheet popped out from behind a suitcase. Kicks smirked at her.

"What's the matter? Scared, Penguin?"

She scowled. "I wasn't scared! I was just surprised!"

"Ya know," Kicks said, scooting closer to her, "if you're scared, you could always hold my hoof if it'd make you feel better."

"I'm not scared!"

"This whole ride is lame anyway. I mean look at this stuff! It's totally fake and…"

Suddenly, a tall figure jumped out from a pile of suitcases and whinnied at them. It was the silhouette of a headless horse draped in a cape.

Kicks screamed, throwing his hooves around Prism. "IT'S A HEADLESS HORSE! THEY DO EXIST!"

Prism rolled her eyes. "Relax, it's just a…"

"GET ME OFF THIS RIDE!" he shouted, kicking his legs against the safety bar. "GET ME OFF THIS RIDE! THE GHOSTS ARE REAL!"

The figure ducked back behind the suitcases. The cape slid off to show Cherry sitting on H.G.'s shoulders, for she had been holding up the neck of the cape. Blueberry was on the stallion's back, holding the megaphone she had used to make the spooky whinny sounds. The three of them snickered.

"I will admit," H.G. said, "that will definitely keep the legend of the Headless Ghost alive."

"And ponies will remember him as frightening too!" Blueberry said.

"Not to mention it was funny!" Cherry said with a snort. "Did you see how scared Kicks was when he screamed and held onto Prism for dear life?!"

Blueberry's laughter died down. "Wait. Did you say Kicks and Prism?"

Cherry grew silent and looked down the way the buggies were going.

"As fun as that was," H.G. said as he bent down to let the fillies off, "I believe we had a deal."

He led them back down the trapdoor and into the old control room. He opened another door to reveal a staircase going up. Sunlight shone from up above.

"Thanks, H.G.," Blueberry said as she trotted up the stairs.

"It sure was nice meeting you," Cherry said, following her.

"Next time you have the urge to solve a mystery, girls," H.G. said, "try not to wander off."

"We'll keep that in mind," Blueberry said.

When the fillies reached the top of the stairs, H.G. called, "Oh, and girls…"

They turned back to H.G., who smiled as his head rolled off his shoulder and into his hoof. The two triplets' eyes widened in horror.

"Come back soooooon," the head said in a low, eerie voice.

The door slammed shut. Blueberry and Cherry looked at each other in disbelief.

"Was that…?" Cherry said.

"It couldn't…"

"How…?"

Blueberry glanced back down at closed door. "Maybe…this is one mystery that should be left alone." She looked at her sister. "And should be kept to ourselves."

"Agreed," Cherry said with a quick nod.





As they returned to the bench outside Nightmare Moon Mountain, Kicks and Prism laughed about their experience.

"Those mummies were so fake!" Prism exclaimed.

"You could even see the wires!" Kicks said.

"But they were still more convincing than your headless horse," she said, elbowing him in the side.

"Hey!" He jumped back in protest. "I told you, I was just playing it up so you wouldn't feel bad about being scared!"

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. You were totally wimping out."

"Was not!"

The pout on his face made her laugh even harder. After a minute, Kicks started chuckling along with her as they sat down on the bench.

"Why don't we ever do stuff like this more often?" Prism asked.

Kicks shrugged. "Because it'd ruin our reputation as sworn enemies?"

"Yeah." She paused. "Why do we have to be sworn enemies again?"

He opened his mouth but then stopped himself. "You know what? I'm not even sure."

The two of them sat in silence for a long while.

"Look, Kicks," Prism said, turning to him. "Let's face it. We haven't really been enemies for quite some time now, not since…" She blushed. "Well, you know. And frankly…I'm tired of us fighting."

"Me too," Kicks said, crossing his back legs. "So, uh…" He looked at her hopefully. "Does that mean we can be…?"

"Stop." She held up her hoof. "I know what you're gonna say, and the answer's still no."

He frowned. "But…we've been having such a great time together. We even connected with our mutual loneliness."

"Yeah, I know, but…" She shifted uncomfortably on the bench. "I just…don't think we're in a place to be…anything more than friends. I mean…you like it when I punch you."

He shrugged. "Might have to do with being raised by two pro kickboxers. But…yeah, I see your point."

"All I'm saying is that I think it's time we stop being enemies and…at least try to be friends?"

She held out her hoof and he stared at it for a long while.

"And," he said unsurely, "maybe…in the future we could…?"

She narrowed her gaze. "One step at a time there, Romeo."

Grinning, he took her hoof. "Deal."

"Prism?"

The two foals turned upon hearing Gemstone's voice. She, the Tri-Pies and Sweetie Belle were standing in front of them, staring.

"What…what are you doing with him?" Gemstone asked, glancing suspiciously at the colt.

"Oh," Prism said, dropping her hoof from his. "Kicks and I met in line and we've been, um…"

"Talking," he finished for her.

"Yeah, talking."

"Uh-huh," Blueberry said, crossing her hooves. "Is that all you've been doing?"

She and Blueberry looked even more suspiciously at Kicks.

"S-Sort of," Prism said. "Actually, we just called a ceasefire."

"Yeah, no more picking on you girls," Kicks said.

"Really?" Raspberry said.

"What's the catch?" Cherry asked.

"No catch," Prism said. "We've just…grown up, is all."

"That's good to hear," Sweetie Belle said. "Prism, are you bringing your friend to the concert?"

"Kicks!" a female voice called.

"That's my sister," Kicks said, turning to Prism. "I'll catch you at the concert later."

"'Kay," Prism said, waving as he hopped off the bench. "Later!"

When she looked back at her friends, they were scowling, especially Gemstone.

"What?"

"Let's go, girls," Sweetie Belle said, helping Prism down from the bench. "We better get to the soundstage, or else Snips and Snails are gonna have my neck."

As the fillies walked behind Sweetie Belle, Prism saw that Gemstone was still glaring at her.

"It's not what you think, Gem," Prism whispered. "Kicks is not as bad as he seems."

"Is that so?" Gemstone said gruffly. "Well then, what were you doing before we got here?"

Glancing at their chaperone, Prism replied, "I'll tell you when we're alone."





The whole amphitheater cheered as the CMC band came out onstage. The current generation of Crusaders jumped up and down in the front row. Kicks stood beside Prism.

"Good evening, Whinny Land!" Scootaloo said into her mic.

"Y'all ready to rock?" Apple Bloom said, getting her guitar ready.

The crowd cheered.

"We're gonna start off the show with a brand new single," Sweetie Belle said. "And I mean new." She looked shyly down at her hooves. "I…came up with it today while running into an old friend."

She locked eyes with Button Mash, who stood in the row behind the fillies.

Turning to her bandmates, Sweetie Belle shouted, "One, two, three, four!"

Apple Bloom strummed hard on her guitar while Scootaloo's hooves flew across her keytar. After a few measures, Sweetie Belle began to sing in an upbeat voice:

"Fancy seeing you after all this time.
It's been what, like, ten or twenty years?
I really missed you and what do you know?
When you said the same, it was music to my ears.

Must admit I have been thinking 'bout you quite a lot
Not a day goes by when I don't wonder what you're up to.
I have lived my dreams and become a whopping success.
And hey, how 'bout it? It turned out that way for you too.

Remember when we'd play them video games
You lost a life saving me from a zombie.
Now you're all grown up and I really must say
You're still as cute as a button to me."

She winked at Button Mash, who wore a bright grin as he put his hoof to his chest. Gemstone and Raspberry noticed this and giggled.

"I suppose they didn't need our help after all," Gemstone said.

"Guess there are just some things that are better left alone," Raspberry said. "True love, perfect cupcake recipes…"

"And urban legends," Blueberry said.

"Woo hoo!" Cherry cried, pushing between Raspberry and Gemstone. "Go, CMC!"

As she wailed, she grabbed Gemstone's hoof and shot it into the air. Laughing, Gemstone grabbed the hoof beside her, Prism's, and did the same. Then Prism grabbed Kicks' hoof, forming a cheering chain.

Raspberry's cheering stopped when she noticed something strange about the four foals holding each other's' hooves while jumping up and down.

"Hey, Blue," Raspberry whispered, elbowing her sister. "Do you see what I see?"

Blueberry looked to where she was pointing and squinted.

Cherry was casting a sideways glance at Gemstone while Kicks had his full attention on Prism. He wasn't the only one, for Gemstone's eyes were flitting from the stage to the pegasus whose hoof she was holding. Prism, meanwhile, didn't notice either gazes, as she was too focused on the performance in front of them.

"Yeah," Blueberry said with a slow nod.

Raspberry looked to her. "What do you think it means?"

Blueberry blinked. "I'm…not sure."

Blueberry then remembered one of Cherry's confessions back in the Haunted Stable. At the same time, Raspberry recalled Kicks' confession about Prism a few months back, as well as what Gemstone had revealed to her in the arcade.

"Maybe," Raspberry said slowly, "this is another thing that should be left alone. For now."