//------------------------------// // To The Hollow // Story: My Little Mages: End of the Rainbow // by Foxhelm //------------------------------// The spring has come to Magiville as many of the residents were out and about, some were shopping, others engaged in other business matters and some just chatting with one another. However, it wasn’t just spring that arrived, but also Princess Twilight Sparkle’s School of Friendship’s Spring Break. Which was very fortuitous as Pinkie Pie popped almost out of nowhere and in a sing-songy voice said “Road trip!” Everyone in the town just shrugged their shoulders and went about their day. “Okay, not technically a road trip, because we're taking that,” Pinkie added as she pointed to a small hot air balloon. She then started to skip in the direction of the balloon before she was almost knocked off her feet as Rainbow flew by. “Uh-huh. Whoa!” she exclaimed as she skipped to catch Rainbow. Once the two were neck and neck, “Beat ya to the balloon!” Rainbow shouted. Pinkie giggled, “Silly Dashie.” she said before she kissed Rainbow on the elementalist’s left check.  Rainbow blushed slightly as her ethereal wings stopped beating. “BUCK!” she screamed as she landed with a thud. “Is this some sick joke!”  “I'm gonna beat you!” Pinkie called back in a singsong as she skipped ahead. Rainbow got back to her feet and zipped to catch up. As the elementalist caught up with Pinkie and the two continued to run/fly. “I'm gonna beat you!” Pinkie declared as she continued to run. “No, I'm gonna—” Rainbow challenged before she gasped at something and Pinkie gave an ‘eep!”  What the two saw was Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy already in the basket of the balloon. The paladin took off her hat, “Howdy.” she said as she tipped it and put it back on. Both Pinkie Pie and Rainbow then tripped over each other and rolled until the rest of the way. Once they got there, the two grunted as they got back to their feet. Rainbow groaned, “Okay, I was fourth.” she said acknowledging that the three other beat her and Pinkie. Pinkie smiled, “Yeah?” she asked before she skipped ahead, “Well, I was fifth!” she counted and giggled, happy with herself and her accomplishment. Rainbow raised her hand as her mouth hang open and was about to question when recalled that this was Pinkie. She gave a frustrated sigh and flew to join the rest. However, there was someone to remind the two of the situation,  “Y'all are both still late!” came Applejack’s voice scolding the two. Both froze like they were getting reprimanded by their own fathers, “Pinkie you’re the one to book the balloon, given Twilight’s skyboat in drydock for maintenance, yah should have been here first.” “Sorry AJ,” the trickster said as she looked down to the ground in guilt. Applejack then turned to Rainbow, “And you’re always boostin’ about how fast yah are and yah’re the one reason we’re goin’.” “Sorry, AJ.” Rainbow apologized as she looked down just like Pinkie. Applejack took a breath and let it go with a shake of her head as she stepped back into the basket to make sure the fuel for the burner was gonna last the trip there and back. She then looked at the time, “We’ve got to shove off soon, or we'll miss the tailwind.” Fluttery opened the basket to let Pinkie and Rainbow in, “Don't worry. We wouldn't have left without you.”  Rarity nodded, “Well, that goes without saying, darling.” she commented before she turned Rainbow, “After all, Dashie is the guest of honor at this year’s Hope Hollow Rainbow Festival.” she pointed out. Rainbow smirked as she patted herself on her back. Everyone shook their heads at the elementalist’s ego. Fluttershy looked around and noted the absence of a particular member of their group. “Where’s Twilight?” the druid asked. Everyone looked around noting the absence of the demigod. The druid then commented, “She’s usually never late for an adventure.” Just then they all heard, “I'm coming, I'm coming!” They turned to see Twilight flying, panting all the while, with Flash and Spike in tow. Once the three arrived. “Sorry, but Flash and Spike wouldn’t let me take more than two books.” She said as she showed her backpack. Flash and Spike gave bitter laughs, “Yeah, after you packed all the papers to grade and wanted to take half the library.” Spike snarked. “And let’s not forget having to spend two hours to pry the grading key from you.” Flash anded and earned the groan from Spike. The girls nodded in understanding. Flash then turned to Twilight and kissed her. “Now, remember, you’re there for fun, which means following Pinkie’s example.”  Twilight sighed, “Fine.” she pouted.  Flash kissed her again, “Now, go and enjoy yourself.” He then looked to Rainbow and then back to Twilight, “Just try to get RD’s ego in check,” he asked.  Twilight nodded and kissed her fiance before she got into the basket, “Remember the order of what’s to be graded and keep an eye on things. Love, you.” “Just make sure to tell us what happened,” Flash added. “Love you too,” Flash said back as he readied to undo the last anchor rope, “Ready when you are.” He called.  Applejack then turned up the gas of the balloon and the heat of the flame and the balloon started to rise higher. Flash undid the line as he and Spike waved goodbye.  From the balloon, the girls gave various goodbyes to the two.  As the hours passed the balloon floated from Magiville to the west. All the while everyone was watching the scenery change and the beauty of Mystica, even the Everfree, that could only be seen from the air. After a while, Rarity spoke, “If I recall there was a spa in…” she trailed off as she tried to remember the name of the city they were heading. “Say, where are we going again?” she asked. Rainbow reached into her backpack and pulled out a letter that was sent to her, “Hope Hollow,” she read the return address, namely the town. As she handed it to Twilight, “Or what I’m gonna call-” “Scootaloo lives in Magiville.” Applejack pointed out which made Rainbow shut her mouth. The paladin then turned to Rarity, “Say isn’t that your folks’ hometown?” she asked the enchantress. Rarity thought for a second, “I’ll have to get back to you on that.” she answered before they all then turned to Twilight and nodded asking the demigod to read the actual letter.  Twilight unfolded the letter and started to read, “‘Dear Rainbow Dash, thank you for agreeing to be our guest at this year's famous Hope Hollow Rainbow Festival. The many members of your fan club are looking forward to your visit.” Twilight looked to Rainbow and then back to the letter, “‘You and your friends will be staying at our famous luxury Rainbow Resort and Spa, where your every whim will be catered to.’” she continued as she looked to Rarity as she finished the sentence.  Rarity giggled, “oh, ho, I accept their challenge.” she laughed, “I have so many whims.” she said with a massive smirk. Everyone rolled their eyes as Twilight continued, “‘Feel free to walk in our butterfly garden.’” Twilight turned to Fluttershy as she finished the word ‘garden’. Fluttershy smiled at the prospect. Twilight then continued, “‘Also try our rainbow trout catch-and-release activity.’” Applejack smirked, “Now that sounds right up my river. Ah hope we can take pictures because Dirk’s in for one mighty fine fishing tale and Ah ain’t giving him any wiggle room tah call me a liar.” The paladin laughed. Twilight returned to the letter, “‘You can eat treats at the traditional Rainbow Bakery Booth and sing your favorite rainbow-themed songs at the karaoke competition.” she finished the main body of the letter. Pinkie let out a small squeal of joy, “Bakery and karaoke?! It's like they see into my soul!” she said as tears of joy started to form in the corners of her eyes. Everyone smiled with joy for a second. Twilight then turned back to the letter and had a thought, “Hmm.” she said as she rubbed her chin as she mused. “Y'know, it's strange that we never heard of this festival before, especially since everything in the town seems to be well-known.” she finished as she pointed out the lack of information they had on the town. Everyone shrugged as they didn’t have an answer, sans Pinkie. “Who cares?” Pinkie asked. “We get to watch the mayor give Dashie an award!” the jester declared. She then reached into her hair pulled out her party cannon. “I call dibs on the cheering section!” she shouted before she squealed in delight before party cannon went off. “But what for, exactly?” Rarity asked. Rainbow just gave a smug and shrugged her shoulders not really caring what the reward was for. “Well, we're so glad you invited us along,” Twilight said as she placed a hand on the Rainbow’s shoulder in gratitude. Everyone nodded before Pinkie spoke, “Yeah!” she cheered. “It's gonna be one long party, which starts... now!” she declared. Pinkie then started to bob her head before she started to sing, “A hundred bottles of pop on the wall A hundred bottles of pop,” The rest then joined in, “Take one down, pass it around Ninety-nine bottles of pop on the wall Ninety-nine bottles of pop on the wall Ninety-nine bottles of pop…” the six sang as the balloon floated on. Hours later as night had already enveloped the sky, everyone sans Pinkie was sitting in the basket tired. Pinkie, however, was still singing, “One bottle of pop on the wall One bottle of pop Take it down, pass it around No bottles of pop on the wall.” She finished the song. However, she was far from done as she shouted, “And a-one more time!” she said in a singing like voice. “A hundred bottles of pop on the wall,” she started only to stop as everyone else gave a collected moan of exhaustion. She looked at her friends in their state, “Sorry, I guess we sang it six times too many.” she apologized before giving a weak laugh.  “It’s not Pinkie,” Rainbow groaned, “But we should’ve been there by now.” the Elementalist complained again.  “I thought so, too.” Applejack mused. “Maybe we should've turned left at that last mountain instead o' right.” the paladin contemplated not sure about where they were. “It’s pretty late as it is.” she added noting the starry sky and started to try to find a clue to where they were, as did everyone else, “Can’t see much.”  “I spy with my little eye…” Pinkie trailed before she pointed just ahead of them, “A rainbow!” she declared. Ever one turned around to what she was pointing at and they saw what looked like the very center of the arch of a rainbow that seemed to go all the way to the ground. Everyone was transfixed in awe for a few seconds as they approached the rainbow. “Wow!” Twilight spoke for the group, “That's the biggest rainbow I've ever seen.” As the got closer to the rainbow, Rainbow chuckled, “It’s a good thing rainbows aren't solid. We’ll pass right throu…” she trailed off as the balloon actually struck the rainbow with a clear thud. “What just happened?” Rainbow asked as the balloon bounced back off of the rainbow. Twilight was the first to figure out what they just hit, “That’s not a rainbow, it’s a rainbow billboard!” There was a loud creak as the rainbow started to sway slightly, granted away from them, “Ah got a bad feeling about this.” Applejack muttered. The billboard then started to sway towards the balloon.  “Oh, no!” Fluttershy cried as they all registered what was coming. Twilight was the first to form a plan, “Hang on, everybody!” Twilight shouted before she took a breath and conjured a shielding bubble around herself, her friends and their luggage and teleported them to the ground. Once everyone was on the ground they all sighed in relief before the basket, balloon, and billboard came crashing to the ground. Thankfully the bubble shield held as the debris fell around them.  Once it looked like the last of it fell, “Phew! That was too close.” Applejack stated as Twilight lowered her shield. Everyone looked around, “Where... are we?” Fluttershy asked with a shiver. Pinkie spotted something which turned out to a ground-level town welcoming sign, “Uh-huh!” the jester said before she started to read. “‘Welcome to Hope Hollow: Home of the Famous…’” she stopped as there was a crash from the last of the billboard, which didn’t hit anyone. Pinkie then continued to read, “‘...Rainbow Festival’!” she shouted as she turned back to face her friends. “We’re here!” she cheered. Rarity looked around, “The guest of honor arrived and no one’s here to greet us, even at this hour?” she asked. “Ah don’t know about yah Sugarcube but given what just happened with the balloon and sign,” Applejack countered, “Ah think we’re blessed that no one else was here.” Rarity silently consented. “So where is the hotel?” Fluttershy asked.  Twilight pulled out the letter Rainbow gave her. “‘The center of town.’” Twilight read. She then rubbed her chin, “Hmm…” she trailed off in thought. “Doesn't really help much when you don't know where the middle is.” She pointed out. She then looked to the small path in the tree line that led to the actual town. “Let's start looking,” she said. As the talked, the darkness while still revealed the basic outline of each structure of the town, much of it was still hidden from the sight of the group. “Funny. You'd think a big luxury resort would be sorta, well... easier to spot.” the paladin commented. “Yeah!” Pinkie pointed out as she paused as she looked around, “It seems like the whole town's shut down.” she pointed out given how dark everything was. “Oh, look.” Fluttershy said as she pointed to a building that had its front door opened showing the outline of a woman with two ponytails, one on each side of her head, “There's somebody.” the druid pointed out. “Hello!” Twilight called as the six approached the woman. The woman gasped at first as she turned to face the people who called her, with an ‘Oh.’  As the group approached they say that she had a … that had a stylized five-petaled flower on her right side. She was dressed not unlike Cheerilee with a rendering of two different flowers on her skirt as her aura mark. “Sorry for startling you, but we might be lost. We’re here for the Rainbow Festival.” Twilight started. The woman tilted her head slightly to the right in confusion, “Rainbow Festival?” she asked, sounding not too dissimilar from Rarity’s mother in how she spoke. Rainbow then flew up, “Yeah, you know, the one where I'm the guest of honor?” she asked as she pointed to herself and laughed with a proud smirk on her face. The woman covered her face with her left hand and shook it with a slight scowl on her face, “Oh, for cryin' in the mud, what's Sunny done now?” she asked in anger softly, as she thought that she wouldn’t be heard by the six. “Excuse me?” Applejack asked the paladin made it clear that the woman was heard. The woman turned back to the six, “I mean, um, you'd best go to city hall in the morning and talk with Mayor Skies about that tomorrow, don'tcha know?” she finished with a question.  After a second, “Is there somethin' I can help ya with?” she asked the six. “Hopefully,” Rarity started not sure if the woman could in fact help, “but could you direct us to the Hope Hollow Luxury Resort?” The woman giggled at what Rarity said as if it was a joke. After a second of silence as the six looked at her in confusion. Once she realized that it wasn’t a joke, “Oh! Oh, you mean the hotel?” she asked. The six nodded in agreement. The woman then turned back to the door of the building they were in front of, “That's easy. There's only one in town and you found it on your first try.” she said as she opened the door and stepped in turning on the light. Something seemed odd as everything in the building and even the woman had no color save black, white and shades of gray. As the woman guided the six to the front desk, “Hotel Hope,” she then pointed toward their right which was another desk with brooches, and other things that were ready sources of information “which also houses the Town Information Center and,” she then turned to what was behind her and showed large room that would house a “Library!” Everyone then turned back to the woman, “My name's Petunia Petals, by the way. Helloooo!” she waved her left hand greeting them and finally introducing herself. “I'm the town librarian, here and the information guide, town historian and the hotel’s manager, chef, portrait painter—” she started to list off her jobs as she pulled out and replaced various hats. However, before she could continue, “Good to know,” Rainbow cut Petunia short, “I'm Rainbow Dash,” the elementalist started to introduce herself and her friends, “and this is Princess Twilight Sparkle, Applejack Apple, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rarity Crumbles-Flanks.” this was the first time she introduced her friends by their full names. “Crumbles-Flank?” Petunia asked at Rarity’s legal surname. “Yes,” Rarity groaned, “it’s a rather odd name, you see my father was…” “Hondo Flanks and Cookie Crumbles is your mother,” Petunia finished. Rarity nodded in surprise. “Well looks like I get to update the town records tomorrow. But right now, I’ll take ya to the room.” She then pulled out a key and started towards the stairs. This confused them, but before Rarity commented, Applejack shook her head and Rarity and Rarity kept her tongue. After they reached the top of the stairs Petunia opened the doors, “The Royal Suite!” she declared as turned on the lights to the room showing it. The room had a noticeable amount of dust, with webs in the corners, and there were only three beds, all three looking in poor shape. Before Rarity could gasp, Applejack covered her mouth and shook her head. Rarity sighed and kept silent. Everyone else didn’t need the silent lecture, save Rainbow. “Um, I couldn't help noticing there are only three beds.” the elementalist said before one of the beds broke in two with a thud. “Okay, four.” she adjusted. Petunia then walked over to one of the walls, “Oh, there's a pop-out, too!” she declared and tried to pop the bed out of the wall with a few grunts. “It can be a little tricky,” she added before Applejack came up the wall and was able to pull-down the pop-out bed with a thud. “Thank you,” Petunia said with a smile. She pointed to the bed, “Sleeps two.” she said. Petunia then started to leave the room, she gave Twilight the key to the room, “You'll be all fresh and ready to see the mayor in the mornin'.” Petunia then stepped out of the room, “Sleep tight.” she said and shut the door behind her. With their host gone, the six got ready for bed. Yet Twilight couldn’t help but point out, “Did anybody notice anything strange about Petunia?” she asked. Rarity was about to comment about what Petunia called the room, but elected to let it go. Applejack the one to speak up, “Ah don’t know if it’s the light or the dust, but she looked a little gray,” Rainbow groaned, “Sorry, everyone.” she apologized to her friends, “I didn't know what I was getting you into.” as she dipped her head in shame. “Aw, this room's not so bad.” Pinkie said as she patted Rainbow on the shoulder reassuringly, “All it needs is some…” she started before as got a bemused look from Applejack, “I’ll save them for the festival.” she said with a weak ‘teehee’. Fluttershy the hover to one of the corner’s in the ceiling, “Huh? And look. It comes with a cute little spider.” she said as she pointed out a spider on one of the webs that looked more like a jumping spider than a webbing spider. “Hello, spider,” she said to the spider which squeaked happily. “Awww.” she cooed softly. Rainbow shook her head still annoyed at it all, “Well, the most important thing is we're all together.” Twilight said as she tried to reassure her friend. Applejack gave a tired sigh, “As long as we have beds to sleep in, we're set.” the paladin said as she sat down on one of the beds and then laid on the bed. Within a second she was snoring. “And she wonders why I didn’t go camping with her and why I never wanted to be her tent mate back in our school days.” Rarity groaned before she too sat down and swiftly fell asleep. The other four were just left in a stupified state as they noted that the enchantress and paladin were sharing the pop-out.