//------------------------------// // 1 - The Mane Event // Story: The Not-So-Grand Galloping Gala // by Starpony999 //------------------------------// Two unicorns stood side by side as their horns glowed. One was yellow, the other pink. Their magic hues lit up the room with tints of blue and green. Their horns grew brighter with each passing moment, signifying the build-up of a spell. "Are you sure this is going to work?" Their friend asked. The purple pegasus had been at the bakery since before the yellow unicorn had arrived, and the two had been standing there for quite some time. She certainly was not a unicorn, nor had she often seen unicorns performing advanced magic, but Twilight was certain that this was overkill. It had been an awfully long time to charge up for a single spell. Especially considering that there were two qualified ponies casting it. "Certainly you have read ze story, no?" The yellow unicorn retorted. She did not open her eyes to look at the pegasus, no matter how much the purple mare tended to get on each the unicorn's nerves. She kept her eyes tightly closed to ensure her concentration. "Yes, yes I have Fleur. I have read every book in this entire town." The pegasus countered, hoping her friend would remember that she was not using a hyperbole. "I don't think a spell from a fairy tale is the best course of action. It is fiction, you know!" "You're one to talk about fiction," Fleur spat. "What with you and your bug ponies." "Hey--" "Ah, hush." The other unicorn spoke up. "I've done spells from fairytales before. They've worked out fine." She said with a wave of her hoof. "You mean like the time you turned Trixie's brother into a frog?" A small purple and green dragon asked as he descended down the stairs into the main party room. "How was I supposed to know that only a Princess could break the spell?" The pink pony opened her eyes briefly enough to give him a glare. The drake met her glare with a dead-panned stare of his own. "It's literally written out as the only way in the fairytale, Dawn." Dawn chose not to respond. She instead closed her eyes so she could return her focus upon the spell. "I honestly can't believe a magic spell could take this much prep!" The pegasus muttered, pacing around the room. "You should see her 'party cannon' spell, Twilight." The dragon replied with a chuckle. "She took hours to charge that one up last time." Dawn hissed. "Gummy." She warned, a frown gracing her face. "I....think I heard someone at the door," Gummy said, quickly retreating out of the room into the main hall. As he backed out, he heard an actual knock at the door. Thanking Celestia for his good fortune, Gummy turned around and went to greet the newcomer. He opened the door to two country voices speaking in unison. "Why howdy there, Gummy!" It was the Apple twins who had saved him from humiliation. Well, Gummy wasn't sure if they were actual twins or just simply sisters, but they were roughly the same age. Either way, Gummy was just glad they were here. The orange pegasus, Apple Jet, was balancing a pumpkin on her back, her wings twitching every so often to ensure that it did not fall. Rainbow Zap, a blue earth pony with rainbow hair, was carrying a set of saddlebags that were, if Gummy recalled correctly, filled with stable rubbers (which, if his brief stay at Fleur's house a couple weeks ago had taught him anything, was apparently the best coat brush there was) and Rainbow's seller's permit. Thankfully she had listened to the drake's tales of parties past where vendors came in unannounced and got renounced by the Princess herself. Rainbow had taken the necessary steps and precautions to receive permission to set up her apple stand at the Gala. "Hi girls," Gummy greeted, "They're waiting for you in there." He pointed toward the old party room through the hall. The two cowponies trotted inside and in the direction in which the young dragon was pointing. Gummy took some time to close the door behind them, stalling as long as he could. He'd rather not incite his mentor a second time in as many minutes. The sisters trotted into the back room, which, if AJ remembered correctly, used to be the old cafe’s party room. “Howdy, ya’ll” The pegasus greeted. “Ya know, I haven’t been in this room since my cutiecenra.” She carefully set the pumpkin down on the floor before stretching her wings and adjusting to a mid-air hover. “Yeah, that would be true,” Rainbow smirked, “Seein’ as everyone got their cutiemark before you did.” AJ scoffed, "Well, at least I have mine.” Her sister snickered. “Who doesn’t?” Dawn grunted, interrupting the sisters’ bickering. “Gummy?!” Her call was quite distressed. It sounded as though she had been hanging onto the edge of a cliff with both forehooves, waiting for help to come, and one hoof had just slipped. The young dragon came barreling back into the room. He was grateful that he was being called back, it meant that the likelihood he would get blasted with confetti was significantly smaller than when he had exited the room moments beforehoof. On the other hoof, Dawn sounded hurt. “What is it Da—“ He cut himself off, realizing the moment he saw her what was wrong. Her eyes were squeezed tight, her horn was bright, and her lip was bleeding (probably from biting it too hard). She couldn't charge the spell any further, nor could she hold the magic steady for much longer. He rushed over to the pumpkin and slid it to the middle of the room, and pushed everypony else out of the way. “Watch out!” Not more than a second later, twin beams of blue and green zapped from the unicorns’ horns and blasted the pumpkin. The teal color of the combined magic enveloped the fruit and lifted it off the ground. It was pulled and stretched up, down, and sideways, growing larger and larger with each disfiguration. The color slowly faded from the bright orange to a shimmering white. The green stem grew and curled around the pumpkin in swirling patterns, turning to gold as well. Within moments, what was once a pumpkin now was a large, ornate carriage with seating for seven. All the girls gasped and awed at the product of the magical spectacle. At that moment, Rarity came into the room. “You should probably lock your door, darliiING, Oh My Celestia!" "Hi, Rarity," Twilight greeted, already flying in through one of the windows to check the interior. "Darlings. That is one... ahem, ornate carriage." "Isn't it just lovely?" Fleur replied, taking to fanning herself with her hoof since she didn't think she could summon enough magical power to use her actual fan at the moment. "But...It's so big." "Well, it has to fit all of us," Dawn replied. "Well, sure, but, how are we going to get it outside?" Dawn and Fleur shared a look as they realized the truth of that statement. "We could've just gotten a smaller pumpkin and you could've used a smaller spell if you had just thought of this first, you know." Gummy commented as he followed his mentor out the door. "The spell would've have been just as powerful anyway," Fleur replied, "Plus, It's kinda cold out here. Do you know what that'll do to my coiffure?" "Not to mention that this size spell isn't permanent," Dawn added, setting the now tiny carriage down out on the Ponyville road. "Everypony step back." As everyone did as they were told, with Gummy muttering something how he was being grouped in as a pony again, the carriage went from hoof size to fitting-six-grown-mares-inside size in a giant flash of orange. "What's up with the orange?" Twilight asked. "What's wrong wit' orange?" Apple Jet retorted. "Nothing!" The purple pegasus exclaimed. "I just meant that Dawn's magic is usually blue, and Fleur's is green, so where did the orange come from?" "I think it has something to do with the fact that that was the opposite of my spell." Dawn replied. "Like, I mean, my spell was being undone." Twilight nodded. "That would make sense. Orange is the opposite of blue." Rainbow Zap snickered. "Does that mean my sister and I are opposites?" Rarity just shook her head and entered the carriage. She opted for a window seat, mostly just so that she could look out the window forlornly as if she was in a moving picture. Fleur followed after her, taking the middle seat beside the earth pony. Twilight took the other window seat on that side, and the other three sat opposite of them. Dawn was opposite Rarity, so that she could use the window to steer them with her magic. And as AJ closed the door behind her, they were off. "Isn't this just so exciting?" Fleur gasped daintily. "We're going to be the Cinderbells of the ball!" "What in the hay are you trying to say?" AJ asked. "Well, it's a figure of speech, mon chou." "That's not how it goes." Twilight retorted. "That is by far the weirdest zeugma I have ever heard. Sounds like some kind of book ti---Wait a second...." Fleur looked everywhere but at the pegasus while the realization dawned on her friend.