Chapter Two: Prelude to Calamity
Twilight sat stiffly as she watched the hands on the clock. It seemed to take one minute for the second hand to move at all. But then again, time always went by this slow when you were waiting for something. Twilight was surprised by how fast the time seemed to go by when she was reading the mysterious book. Usually she read books way larger than that in an hour or two. Twilight jumped as she heard a knock at the door. Excited as ever, she shot off towards the door before Spike could get the chance to answer it.
"Hello?" Twilight called, opening the door. It was Applejack.
"Howdy there Twi!" Applejack called as she stepped into the library without waiting for an invitation.
"Uh, hey Applejack! Where is everypony else?" Twilight asked, closing the library door behind her.
"Ah dunno. Ah didn't meet up with em." Applejack told Twilight.
The two just sat in silence for a few minutes, waiting for the other ponies to arrive. Fortunately for Applejack, Twilight broke the unnerving silence. "So Applejack, did you bring anything special for tonight's sleepover?" Twilight asked.
Hearing this, Applejack chuckled a bit. "Yep. I brought sumthin' purty special all right!" she began to chuckle again.
Twilight looked Applejack over. "Umm... I don't see anything." Twilight deadpanned.
"Well... let me tell ya sumthin' Twilight." Applejack said, motioning for Twilight to get closer. "That's because the special thing ah brought is right up here!" Applejack yelled in Twilight's ear, touching the top of her head with her hoof.
Twilight cringed when Applejack yelled in her ear. She began to wonder if Applejack was okay. "Applejack, are you feeling alright?" Twilight asked.
"Yep! Never been better! Ah'm jus' so excited! Ah can't wait for everypony else ta get here!" Applejack exclaimed, beaming at Twilight. Hehe, Ah can't wait to scare the hay outta everypony with that dandy story!
Applejack nearly screamed when excessive knocking was heard at the door. Obviously, it was Pinkie Pie. Twilight went to open the door, but this time, Spike did his duty and beat her to it.
"HEY EVERYPONY!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, nearly knocking Spike off his feet with the sheer power of her voice. Spike got up, wondering if even the Royal Canterlot Voice could compete with Pinkie's obnoxious yelling.
It was then that Pinkie noticed there was only Twilight and Applejack there so far. Embarrassed, she went over to sit by Twilight and Applejack.
"Hey Pinkie, how have you been today?" Twilight asked.
"Oh, I've been just super today! Earlier, there was this green mare, and she wanted me to make a huge cupcake, and she wanted it with sprinkles, so I got the tray, and I poured the batter in, and blah blah blah blah blah."
Pinkie Pies words began to fade as Twilight's eyes began to glaze over while she listened to Pinkie's never-ending monologue. Applejack had gone over to the window to scout for the others, so she was paying absolutely no attention to Pinkie's rambling.
Then Twilight came back to her senses as Applejack walked over to them. "Ah spotted Rarity heading down the road, she'll be here any minute!" Applejack informed the two.
Pinkie continued to speak. "And then I opened the cupboard, and something fell on my head, and then I looked down, and I noticed it was a..." Pinkie was cut off when there was a knock at the door.
This time Applejack was closet to the door. So naturally, she went to open it. Rainbow Dash and Rarity stood outside.
"Howdy ya'll! Come on in!" Applejack greeted them warmly. More than happy to accept the invitation, the pair stepped inside.
"Hey Pinks! Hi Twilight!" Rainbow Dash greeted them.
"Hi Rainbow, how have you been?" Twilight asked.
"Oh, pretty good." Rainbow Dash lied, not wanting to tell her friend that she wasn't sleeping well due to her nightmares.
It was really quite embarrassing actually. Ever since the Flim-Flam brothers had challenged Applejack's family to the cider-making contest, Rainbow Dash had been having nightmares about the un-qualitized cider that the brothers had made when they started losing. Rainbow Dash would always remember that day. In her nightmares, instead of her drinking Applejack's cider, she would always find herself drinking the brothers' cider. As she tilted the cup back into her mouth, she would always see the tree roots and apple cores, but regardless, she would still drink it. Then her stomach would feel really weird, but she kept on buying cider from the Flams anyway. Finally, after about five cups, her stomach would really start to hurt. Then she would look around, and see the crowds of ponies staring at her, pointing at her with their hooves, looks of fear on their faces.
She would then look down at herself. That's when she saw it. When she looked down, she would see a gnarled, twisted tree root protruding from her chest. Then she would try to scream. Bad idea. As she opened her mouth, no sound came out. Instead, she would feel her voice get cut off as a tree limb forced it's way up her throat. Unfortunately, that activated her gag reflex. She then proceeded to vomit up apple cores. Hundreds and hundreds of apple cores. That was how far each nightmare had went before she woke up in a cold sweat.
Rainbow Dash shied away from the memory as she snapped back to her senses. As her eyes came into focus, she saw two large blue eyes, and a beaming smile looking down on her.
"Hi! Are you okay Rainbow Dash? I said hi earlier, but your eyes were like..." Pinkie's irises and pupils started to drift off towards the sides of her eyes in a perfect impression of party of one.
"Yeah Pinks, I'm fine." Rainbow Dash sighed.
Pinkie Pie frowned. "Rainbow Dash! Don't look so down! Let's turn that frown upside down!" Pinkie exclaimed. "It is a sleepover, after all!"
Looking at the pink party pony, Rainbow Dash couldn't help but smile. There was something about the way happiness emanated from Pinkie that seemed to infect other ponies around her. "Thanks Pinkie, I needed that." Rainbow Dash said.
"No problem! It's my job to make everypony smile you know!" Pinkie replied cheerfully.
Rainbow Dash looked around the library, and noticed that Fluttershy had arrived.
"Hey Fluttershy! What's up?" Rainbow Dash called.
"Oh, not much Rainbow, not much. I was just thinking how amazing this sleepover was going to be. You know, umm... I've never been to a sleepover, or had one. Unless you consider the night that the Cutie Mark Crusaders spent the night a sleepover." Fluttershy responded.
The two were interrupted by Twilight's voice. "Everypony, if I may have your attention please!" she yelled.
Everypony stopped their conversations and gave their attention to Twilight. She was looking down at a book, and mumbling to herself. She then closed the book, and looked at the rest of the ponies with a gleam in her eyes.
"First of all..." Twilight began, gathering pillows unsuspiciously. "PILLOW FIGHT!"
The other ponies had no time to react, as Twilight launched the pillows with her magic. Hoping to avoid a repeat of her last sleepover, Twilight made herself a clear target for all of the others. Rainbow Dash was repelling the incoming projectiles by flapping her wings rapidly. Applejack was bucking the pillows with great force; stunning everypony she hit.
Meanwhile, Fluttershy was squealing with fear as she tried to dodge all of the hostile pillows. She knew that she was going to get hit eventually, but it didn't hurt to try and stay alive. Rarity claimed the first hit on Fluttershy.
Fluttershy gasped, and glared at Rarity. But Rarity was too busy engaging on pillow to pillow combat with Applejack. Fluttershy picked up the pillow and stared at it as if her life depended on it. Screaming with rage, she hurled the pillow back at Rarity.
The room got quiet, and no more pillows were launched as everypony looked at Rarity and Fluttershy. "Haha! Got you!" Fluttershy yelled, grasping a whole new meaning of fun.
"It... Is... ON!" Rarity yelled, launching the pillow back at Fluttershy.
The other ponies quickly joined back in as they realized that all was well between Rarity and Fluttershy.
* * *
"Tia! Move! I can't see!" Luna protested as Celestia hogged up all of the window space.
"Shh! They'll hear you!" Celestia told Luna, as she looked into the window and watched the girls pillow-fighting. "All they're doing is pillow-fighting anyway!"
Princess Celestia had cast a spell on the window that let her and Luna see through it, but the ponies on the other side could only see the normal scenery outside of the window.
"Tia! I want to see! I've never had a pillow-fight before!" Luna pouted.
Celestia stuck her hoof in Luna's mouth. "Shh! Fine!" Celestia stepped aside as Luna sidled up to the window.
Luna stared in awe at the sight that greeted her. The library was littered with pillows, and the ponies causing the catastrophe weren't letting up. Luna giggled as Rainbow Dash nailed Applejack in the face, knocking Applejack's hat off.
"Why you!" Applejack called, bucking pillows at the rainbow pegasus.
All of the pillows hit their mark, knocking Rainbow Dash back a bit. Luna was eager to see Rainbow's counter. A bit too eager. As she leaned in close, her nose met with the glass, making a thunk sound.
All of the ponies inside stopped as they heard the noise. They all looked at the window suspiciously. Outside, Luna had stuck her own hoof over her mouth as Celestia glared at her. "Whoops..." Luna said sheepishly, with a goofy grin on her face.
* * *
Twilight and her friends had gathered in the center of the library. The pillow fight had come to a halt, due to the strange noise at the window.
"What do you think it was?" asked Twilight.
"Probably a little squirrel who dropped his nuts!" Fluttershy answered.
All of the ponies looked at Fluttershy, but said nothing.
"If you ask me..." Rainbow Dash growled "... I would say it's somepony spying on us!"
Fluttershy gasped. "Like... like peeping colts?" she asked.
"Of course darling! You can't expect us gorgeous mares to go around un-noticed!" Rarity put in.
"If ya'll ask me, ya'll are crazy as hay!" Applejack said.
"Enough!" Twilight said, stamping her hoof. "Whatever it was is gone now! We should just carry on with the sleepover!"
The other ponies mumbled agreement as Twilight went back to her sleepover book.
* * *
"That was close..." Celestia muttered, keeping a stern gaze on her sister.
"Sorry Tia! It was just so interesting that I..." Luna began.
"It's okay little sister, it's not your fault." Celestia said.
"Lets not dwell on this for long. We might miss the next activity." Celestia added, moving back to the window.
The two princesses watched as Twilight and her friends began giving each other makeovers. It was dreadfully boring, but they had to wait for Twilight to begin her story. So they just stared into the window, waiting for their stories to be told.
* * *
Ms. Cheerilee hummed to herself as she headed home from the restaurant her and her date had went to. So far, their relationship was doing good. The only thing that scared Ms. Cheerilee, was what Applejack would say if she found out. Big Macintosh was a good, strong stallion. He was also very kind, strong-willed, and quiet. These were the qualities that drew her close to Big Macintosh. Ever since the Cutie Mark Crusaders had introduced them to each other, they had known they were meant for each other. They just tried to keep it a bit hush-hush.
As Ms. Cheerilee passed by the library, she remembered that Twilight was having a sleepover that night. She wondered if she should drop in and say hello, but she decided against it. So she continued on her merry way, spotting the princesses peeping into the library window. After going a couple of hooves, she stopped in her tracks. Why were the princesses peeping into Twilight's window? Ms. Cheerilee thought about saying something to them, but changed her mind. She didn't want to interrupt the princesses' happy time. Skeptical about the princesses', and the future of the kingdom, Cheerilee just shook her head as she continued the rest of the way home.
* * *
Thank goodness! They're finally going to start! Celestia thought, gazing into the window with her sister. They watched as Pinkie pulled a flashlight out of an odd location in the library. They could hear them speaking now.
"I keep flashlights hidden all over Ponyville in case of an emergency!" Pinkie told the rest of her friends enthusiastically.
The other mares just shook their heads, knowing better than to question Pinkie's ways.
"Tia! You're hogging up the window again!" Luna complained.
Celestia scooted aside, as she focused her attention back on the dialogue inside.
* * *
"Spike, are you SURE you want to listen to these stories?!" Twilight asked the little dragon. Her and her friends knew how much he hated scary stories.
Spike looked unsure for a moment, but then straightened up, a look of determination crossing his face. "Every dragon's gotta grow up, right?"
The ponies exchanged looks.
"Are ya sure Spike? Ya don't gotta do this." Applejack said.
"Of course I'm sure!" Spike snapped. "What kind of dragon's afraid of a little scary story?"
"Didn't we already go over the fact that you're not a normal dragon?" Twilight asked.
Spike opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by Rarity. "Of course little Spiky-wiky isn't like a normal, brutish dragon. He's far too adorable to be classified with the rest of those fiends!"
Spike let some steam out of his nose, slightly peeved at being thought of as adorable all of the time. But, coming from his Rarity, he couldn't help but blush a little.
"Everypony leave Spike alone! If he wants to listen to scary stories, then let him! Just don't cry when you get scared out of your scales!" Rainbow Dash said.
"I'm not scared!" Spike yelled.
"Everypony be QUIET!" Twilight yelled. "You too Spike."
All of the ponies (and Spike) grew quiet as they looked to Twilight. "Alright! Everybody gather 'round! It's story time!" Twilight said ominously. She took the flashlight from Pinkie Pie, and shone it on the bottom of her face.
"Wait!" Fluttershy called. Everypony looked at her. "Umm... can we l-leave the l-l-l-lights on?"
Everypony groaned and face-hoofed. All except for Spike, who looked kind of relieved.
"Fine!" Twilight said. "Everypony ready?" All of the attenders nodded. "Okay! Here we go!"
Nopony inside noticed the eager faces of Celestia and Luna pressing up against the glass, as they eagerly anticipated the fear that their creations would cause.