Knocking on heavens door
Pinkie had payed for the train to Canterlot, since she still had some of the crystals.
Maud even asked for one, but she didn't want to spend it, she only gave it a really close look, biting and smelling on it to specify what kind of crystal it really was and give a proper calculation about its worth. "Its worth a lot".
The two had got to town and despite Pinkie being on mission, she could not help to run into one or two big fancy stores, selling candy and other funny things. Maud just kept walking towards the castle, to be caught up and left alone by Pinkie a dozen times.
"Pinkie, what are you doing?"
Her sister carried four huge bags filled up with candy, toys, streamers and many more things, starting to slow and huff below the weight.
"Sorry, i'm nervous!"
Maud stopped and took the four bags on her back like they been just empty paper.
Her sister showed her relieve in a big smile "Thanks" but already was looking for the next store.
"Pinkie."
"Oh right, sorry again... still nervous."
It would only take one more street to pass and they would reach the castle entry, when Pinkie spotted a sad looking filly, sitting on a nearby park bench... she was orange and had a pink mane with purple eyes, but lacked a cutie mark yet.
"Hey there, whats the matter?" Pinkie asked the young one.
"The others making fun of me, cause i cant fly yet" moving her tiny wings in an attempt to lift up, but unable to get of the ground fore more than a couple seconds.
"Oh, you poor thing, but you know what, today is your lucky day!"
"How could it?" the filly frowned.
Pinkie waved her sister closer, searching through the bags, while throwing balloons, streamers and other fun things into the air all around them, making the young one looking confused, when the mare squeaked "Founnnd it!"
She pulled out a brand new scooter from the bag.
It was the pro-scooter-6000. It had a deep blue color with flames painted on its small side flaps and a bright red handles, connected by a shining steel pole instead of a wooden one like cheaper models would have.
"Here, its all yours!"
The filly was amazed "Really!?"
"Giveee it a tryyy" handing it over to her, to see the young pony make her first shaking attempts to steer the thing, but it wasn't so easy to hold balance, while pushing your self with one hoof.
"Maybe you need a little more practice" Pinkie assumed.
"She could use her wings" Maud suggested.
"You are genius Maud!" Pinkie cheered "Try your wings, flap them! And flap them fast!"
The foal did as told and got the hang of it really fast, as she used her small wings to give her self a boost, while having both backhooves right on the scooter, able to gear a lot better now – spinning a bunch of quick circles and a small jump around them.
"Amazziiing!" Pinkie cheered as other pony's around noticed the stunt show, as well some of the other filly's which had been flying nearby.
Now the young one was the center of attention and not an outcast anymore, driving back in front of Pinkie Pie and her gray sister.
"Thank you so much!!" she almost shouted, hopping up and down on her new scooter.
The pink pony got sheepishly "Awwww... don't mention it" waving it of a little, while blushing as well, right before cramming once more in the bags to put hand her a fitting helmet and safety equipment and a attachable flag – showing a lightning strike on it. Now the filly was ready to become a big scooter star... or at least to have a lot of fun for a long time.
In the background a few more filly's had landed to show in envy at the presents, when they also got waved over by Pinkie, which split her the remains of the bags onto them "And don't be mean to another... and now go and have some fun!" giving them a little push towards park, as the crowed ran of, lead by the cool scooter girl.
"That was nice" Maud said.
She might had lost all her precious toys, but felt now so much better than before, she could burst in glee.
The sisters made her way to the other side, walking over a big round place, which was made, so chariot's could take and release passengers and pony's had space to meet up, before heading to the main gate.
Surprisingly enough the place wasn't to crowded, probably most pony's assumed what her parents already had told her, that without proper invitation nopony would even get past the first wall.
When they was about to walk by a white mare, she spoke up to both of them in a unfamiliar accent "That was really generous of you two"
The two turned to the mare, which probably just had got out of a chariot her self, having a similar looking filly next to her, carrying a fashionable backpack.
"Uhm... thanks, it was fun watching the kids" the pink one responded.
"If i may introduce my self, i'm Rarity and this is my lovely sister Sweetie Belle" pointing on her, who was about to put down the backpack with a -whomp-
It probably was quite heavy.
"Sweetie, don't be rude" the older said.
"Sorry, the bag is quite heavy" now turning to the others "Hello, i'm Sweetie Belle" even performing a small curtsy.
"I'm Pinkie Pie! And this is my sister Maud!" putting a hoof around her and pressing her cheek against hers, like to prove how alike they look.
"Hello".
"Ouh, they are sisters too" Sweetie said, but her sister just rose a eyebrow "Of... course." looking at the two non-a-like pony's.
"Weee are going to the princess... what about youuu?"
"Oh, we also had a quite important matter to talk about, with her" Rarity declared with a noble move of her hoof, as she performed it slightly to fast and had to bite her teeth together.
"You okay sis?"
"I'm fine sweetie" forcing her self to a smile.
"My sister had an accident, i she should be in bed right now"
Pinkie looked asking at her sister "Maybe a boulder hit her" – this made sense. Maud never was wrong and the other two didn't deny.
"Hey we can go together!" Pinkie suddenly cheered, jumping circles around the other three "Okay? Okay? Okay?"
"Okay, okay" the white filly chipped in, before she was stopped by her older sister "We would be glad to join."
"Glad to join" her sister repeated it, like a parrot" but having a grin on her face.
"Yay! Then lets go!".
The white mare slowly got up and stumbled towards the gate, where some ruckus was going on, while the filly tried to lift up the bag again, before Maud walked back and lifted it up on her own back, with a swift move.
"Wow, you must be really strong!"
"I guess."
On the gate sat a yellow pegasus and a blue one was shouting at the guard.
"You got any idea who this is!?" she shouted, while pointing on the shy pony on the ground "That's the greatest flight-artist in all of Equestria!"
The guard, a big gray stallion in golden armor, didn't care at all. Not even watching her into the eyes, while denying access to the castle.
"Can you believe that guy!? He must been standing here for the last decade or so, he has no idea!"
"M..maybe we should try later?"
"Later!? Are you kidding me? I wont let you get bullied by this squarehead!"
"But he is not bullying me" the shy pegasus said.
"He s blocking our path, he sure is and i will teach him if he doesn't move soon" as she performed some quick jabs with her hooves, hoovering half a meter over the ground.
"Ha! How rude" the white mare said mocking "some pony's got no manners"
"You talking to me, Missy?" the wild pegasus asked.
"Oh please, let me show you how a lady handles this" as she made her path to the guard and gave it her best attempt to charm him "Oh hello, you are quite some good looking stallion, why don't you... leave your post for a while and we get to some place nicer" letting her hoof slowly slide down his armor, while making big eyes, blinking at him with a moue.
The guard still didn't move at all.
"Hahaha... good try!"
The white unicorn withdrew... "well, must been my slightly rumpled appearance..." as she used her hoof to fix her mane a little.
Now it was Pinkies turn to try her best.
She walked straight up the the guard, gave him a serious close look into his eye and took a deep breath.
"I got balloooons!" holding up a really nice red balloon in his front.
This time the guard actually moved, but just to give a short, but none the less, really confused glance towards the pink mare.
She let go of the balloon and it flew up to the sky as the guard allowed itself to look after it, without moving its head, just to return to his lion pose – starring straight forward.
"Gave it my best" she shrugged, walking back to her sister and the others.
The pegasus looked at the four new candidates "So... you all want to the princess as well? Well tough! It looks like nopony is going anywhere!"
"We just have to think of something...." the shy pony said "... maybe"
"Royal guards don't fall for our kind i fear, unless somepony has an invitation... which we don't have, do we?""
All of them shook their heads except one.
The one that did, that seventh pony of the group - looked like it was stuck somewhere in between the others, when it was about stile.
For once her orange fur was shiny and her hooves were in perfect shape, but she also wore an old cowboy hat on her head, which didn't seem to belong on her well tamed yellow mane.
"I sure do, so would ya please so kind and step aside?" the cowgirl asked, as five pairs of eyes starred onto her with envy ... and one more without any expression at all.
"Hey, than you could let us in, right?" the blue pegasus asked right away.
"Please" Rarity added, trying once again her big blue eyes, this time on the mare.
"If, maybe... that's no trouble for you, please" the shy one said.
"In in in in in!" the pink one got excited.
The filly just tried to mimic her older sister, giving her best shivering lip impression.
The gray just sat there and done nothing. "I can wait here."
"I´m sorry, honestly, but i cant."
It somehow didn't sound like a cheap excuse and the group let her heads hanging when the mare stepped between the pony's to the guard, to hand him a golden pass.
The guard took a close careful look on it and checked some kind of visitors list after, before stepping aside with an short "You may come in".
"So much about that" Rainbow cursed.
"Maybe we find somepony else who is more generous?" Rarity suggested quickly after, so the last spark of hope would not get stomped, by this blue brick.
"But what about Discord!?" the pink one frowned, as she swung her hooves around her sister.
The Cowgirl stopped in tracks "Sai, what again?" she turned around "who said that...!?"
The eyes of the pony's now jumped back and forth between Pinkie and the orange mare.
"That last part, who said that!?"
Maud gave her sister a small nudge to make her aware, when her sister came up sobbing "i just.. said -what about Discord-"
Her eyes grew wide and she had to lick her lips, having a dry mouth all of a sudden.
"Anypony else... does know him... ?" she asked, letting her sight wanders slowly around.
An awkward pause set in, as Rainbow was the first one to lift her hoof, followed by Rarity and finally Fluttershy.
All of a sudden all pony's felt connected, at least the ones which had direct contact. Only Sweetie Belle and Maud didn't feel to really belong, both had just been here to support their sisters.
Applejack put her hoof in front of her mouth for a moment. Like to make sure to say nothing wrong. "I´ll be back as fast i can, please wait." the orange mare said and run of into the castle.
"Well, this gets an seven on my awkward scale!" Rainbow said.
"Meh, just a two" Pinkie added.
Rarity had no idea what kinda scale the two are talking about. Had it something to do with weight? Looking down on her self. This darn hospital food.
The group waited almost half an hour and the mare hadn't returned.
At first everypony wanted to talk about him, but Rarity had made a good point, its maybe not to wise to talk outside about him... somepony might would get the wrong impression... probably causing mass panic in the process... so they tried to past time in other ways.
Pinkie Pie probably had the hardest time doing so, since she would like to ask this incredible familiar looking yellow pegasus a few hundred things, but right now the others been right - it was better to keep a low profile for now or she might would never see her friend again.
So she let go and got back to some happier toughs.
Pinkie and Maud shared some of their rock candy with Sweetie Belle, which really seemed to enjoy it "itsh a bits crunsshy, but rly goosd" trying to make her sister give it a try, which refused to get those sticky rocks any where near her.
The blue pegasus and her yellow friend had started to train some basic moves for their new flight show, going trough the same steps over and over again, just to add one when the other moves had become perfect in synchronous motion.
"I´m not quite sure if she really comes back" Rarity said worried.
"But she said she would!" Pinkie replied stubborn.
Rarity didn't want to bring the others down, but found a hard time to keep up her own patience "Sorry Darling, but some ponies are just liars" giving a sigh.
"Maybe she is right" Maud agreed.
"Oh please, just a little longer" she begged her sister, which gave her a single nod on this.
Sweetie Belle could not help to gaze at this kind of family bond.
Her sister sure had tried her best the past days, but it sure would take a long time, until they had this level of bonding she figured.
Rarity noticed how she starred at the other two, while they played an Pie-Family game, using a small rock, they had found somewhere nearby.
She just had to try something... so she put her hoof around her sister, carefully, when the younger reacted a little strange towards her unusual attempt, as her sister pointed on the two artists, which started to spin flying screws around another, to perform a half looping and began to fly another screw upwards, even faster this time.
Sweetie sure loved it. Maybe she would not take this long after all?
The castle guards all looked quite similar to one another, almost like they would be brothers, so it would take a close look in order to tell them apart. So when a guard called them in, they just thought the first one had changed their mind for some reason.
The new guard led them right into the castle. It was really big and let alone the walking took almost fifteen minutes to get to their destination. Know they knew where at least half of the waiting time was spend on.
The castle had huge places, gardens and towers reaching almost as height like the mountains behind them, giving an spectacular sight where ever they looked.
Many more guards was found everywhere on the walls, walking patrols and at times doing some random checks, as well leading other groups in and out - giving everypony the feeling to be part of a giant bee hive. Still the guards wasn't any close to be the most common pony's around, since hundred of servants of all kind walked past them, being busy. Gardeners, housemaids, backers and so on, making sure everything was just right for everypony inside this impregnable walls.
They came across some kind of small lake with fountains framing it, surrounded by trees, all which looked identical to one another and later on there was some kind of hench-maze in the distance and some stone statues as well, making every pony in the group shiver. Those might been also real pony's, turned to stone?
Like the guard could read their mind, or maybe he was told to mention it, he assured those are just ordinary statues, made by payed artists and given as presents towards the princess.
Still, who knew if the guard told the truth, so the pony's could not help to feel watched by the status as they walked by and Sweetie Belle accidentally slipped "Maybe the princess turns us into stone as well" before she even understood what she just had said, making her sister really nervous, as she tried to act natural "well, at least i will be pretty art..." closing with an unconvincing laugh.
The guard pushed open a gate and stepped aside, to get into the same pose like the gate gaurd, pushing out its chest and starring straight forward.
Everypony just walked past the guard, except for Pinkie, which walked back, gave the guard a close look and licked his cheek for some inexplicable reason – but he didn't move.
"You guys are odd..." she stated and happily caught up to the others, when finally the guard pulled a face and wiped of the spit "GOTCHA!" Pinkie shouted, jumping around the corner of the door, when the guard quickly got back in pose, slightly blushing. The pink pony grinned pleased and caught up with the others once more.
The inside of the castle reminded Pinkie a lot on Discords. Everything looked magnificent and clean, but it was a lot more consistent in his architecture, which made it kinda boring to look at,
still the others found it to be quite impressive and Maud even counted the number of different rock types used. Twelve, in this room. Twenty-one total.
The red carpet lead them straight to a audience room, some of them had thought to meet Celestia right away, but there was just a purple mare sitting in it, having the orange cowgirl from before next to her.
"Please have a seat" the unicorn said, pointing on the remaining chairs. Pinkie ran from seat to seat, unable to decide which one to pick, "Oh this one has better light, but this one looks so soft, no wait- i want sit next to the unicorn, but ending up between her sister and Rarity, since took to much time, running circles around the table.
The orange mare put her hooves onto the table, my name is Applejack, leader of Apple Inc.,
this is a good friend of mine, Twilight Sparkle and the reason you are all here.
Twilight looked a little embarrassed "My brother is married to princess Cadance" rubbing on her neck.
Rarity leaned a little towards her sister, whispering "...told ya", as the filly nodded upon her wisdom.
"I think it would be the best to introduce us to one another" and so they did, everypony said clearly his name and mentioned how they got to know Discord ...except Fluttershy which just mumbled her name... until the round was done, back to Twilight.
"I see..." it was just as she had assumed, nothing of this made sense at all.
Right after her first quick look up for AJ and the encounter with the incarnated history, she had digged every single sheet of paper – from kids books, to ones which been copies others- reaching back a thousand years and even checking on old citizen´s for story's about their grand grand... grand fathers.
All of which had pointed out one fact: Discord was evil to the core.
Behind all his pranks and wacky appearance, he just enjoyed most to see pony's suffering.
Applejack of course had mentioned his minor attack on the workers, but also news about a miraculously recovery.
Only state of being was the destroyed town, but once again, no pony had been hurt in the process.
If he would had been the same... the one from the books... the pony damage had gone into the thousands, or higher.
Just thinking about it... no... she could not. It was just to horrible.
The pony's had started to wild across the table, when she unsuccessfully tried to get everypony's attention. -whomp- - everypony turned heads towards Applejack, which had knocked on the table.
"Thanks" Twilight said, turning to the rest of the group, after taking a look up on a clock above the door "we are gonna meet princess Celestia...", giving a moment for everypony to respond, some of them haven't thought to come this far at all "in one hour she will take time for us, to speak with the ones that have met him..." pausing once again before continuing "she also had noticed his new behavior and that's why she is willing to see us, asking questions and hopefully find some answers."
The white filly now was the one to whisper to her sister "...and then, stone!" making her moan silently, when Sweetie and Rainbow started to giggle at this.
"Everypony has to be on their best behavior" Applejack said "giving a serious glance towards the jokesters, as well the emotional one, in order to silence all of them.
At least some of them knew how to behave. The yellow and gray mare just sat on their chairs and starred at each other, but the shy one seemed to get more and more nervous, since the other mare didn't had blinked once the entire time, like she tried to pierce her with her looks, when she could not take it anymore and jumped onto the floor, covering her self up "stop it!"
Pinkie looked at her sister "Maud?"
"The sculpture, its basalt." pointing on a statue behind Fluttershy's chair.
Applejack had to sigh, putting her hoof up her face "Sweet Celestia".