AUTHOR'S NOTES
So I have been thinking of making a fanfic for a while. I am good at making stories, but for one reason or another I lose interest and never finish them. I hope this doesn't happen here, but this is also my first time entering the fanfic world. I have read many great fics and decided that making my own couldn't hurt. I am apprehensive at what opinions will be flung my way, but I am still proud that I have enough confidence in my ability to tell a story that this will work. If it doesn't, no skin off my back, I can write something more serious and intense. But I hope you enjoy this first little opening into a story that has been galloping (get it) in my head for a bit.
Happy Hunting :3
The chiming of the bell tower overwhelmed the gathering of ponies from all over Ponyville. A heavy curiosity hung in the air as everypony was in excitement at what Princess Celestia had to say. She rarely ever has time to come to the town, but when she does she sure does bring a crowd.
Nothing was explicitly said as to why she was making such a visit, or what she had to say. It didn’t stop the crowd from talking about it in hushed whispers
“I heard from Mrs. Cake that it was because the Princess was gaining a few pounds”, said an awfully cheery pony with pink and blue swirls in her mane.
“‘Ave a right mind to think she is going to congratulate us on a job well don’ on this here harvest”, was the idea from a brightly orange pony.
Still more and more rumors were popping up at what it could be that the Princess wanted of the small time ponies.
Within the crowd of ponies however there stood a fairly unnerved one in the very back. She seemed to not pay any attention to any real conversation at that time. She wasn’t really paying attention to anything, except the muffin under her hoof.
Derpy Hooves was having enough enjoyment peering longingly at it. It took a little effort, but she finally was able to snag this particular muffin from the hooves of a baker. Putting on her best trickery, she stealthily grabbed it without any notice. Right below her was her reward for her “hard work”.
As she started to lower her head to take a snag of it however, there was a loud gasp in the crowd as all the townsfolk looked into the sky. Up above the clouds, falling fast, was a chariot of shining elegance. It was Princess Celestia’s personal chariot being towed by her faithful soldiers. Descending lower and lower, the crowd started to get even more excited if that was possible. The cheering started almost abruptly, but sure enough the excitement reached a peak.
The chariot carrying the prestigious royalty finally hit ground next to the town podium. Gracefully stepping out, Celestia took her steps with such pride to take her place at the podium’s top.
There was a short cough and silence befell the murmuring crowd. Not a word left the any mouth as the Princess was about to prepare what has been a much anticipated speech.
“Hello everypony”, said the Princess with a cheerful tone in her voice. “I have come to give what I hope will be a short, but very important speech. It has come to my attention that there has been a bit of strife coming from here.”
It was a bit of an understatement. The crops were harvested with well met responses, but there have been a few late havocs to enter the town. From the parasprite invasion, to a heard of wild animals; the random assortments of disasters can go on and on in such a short time. Hopefully she would remedy all this, with whatever she had in mind.
“I know that you have all fared with much vigor in spite of all this. This is why we, as in me and my sister, have come up with what we hope to be a brilliant plan. We feel like with all these disasters, that there can be only one solution.”
Here it comes. Maybe she will lend Ponyville a sum of funds to help with the repair costs.
“This solution will make sure that everypony is fairly treated.” she continued becoming more excited with every word.
Or maybe she has a plan for the neighboring lands to help. That could also be a valid plan. It sure would bring community-wide respect into play.
“...We will also make sure that nopony has an advantage over the other. That way all have a chance to win”. Wait what?
The words “advantage” and “win” seemed to resonate oddly in the crowd of confused ponies. It wasn’t sounding like whatever the Princesses had in mind was any way to actually fix up the area. Mysterious as this speech was becoming ever second, Derpy remained uninterested. Now gnawing away at her delicious muffin, she was pretty content with whatever was going on.
“That is why we have come up with our only solution...to hold a GRAND MUFFIN WAR!” the echo from the mike rattled through the area. Not a single word was coming out. It seemed as if time froze itself from the unmoving expressions on the sea of crowd members.
Mouths agape and eyes wildly fixated on the princess, not a single word was coming out. “Uh...” was all Celestia could muster. It has seemed that whatever response she was hoping for, she didn’t receive.
Among the crowd of stunned ponies, there was however one who stood out among the rest. Derpy was pulling off a much different expression than the other onlookers.
She was pulling of the biggest grin that anyone had ever seen.
After a good few moments, there was finally a pony with enough guts to speak.
“Uh Princess Celestia, did you say Muffin War?” said the purple unicorn. Well not just any unicorn, but Celestia’s very own student Twilight Sparkle.
“Why yes my faithful student I did. Why do you ask? I would have figured a much more...” the Princess pondered her thoughts for a moment before coming up with a respectful response “...excited response than what I am getting. Does nopony understand?”
The looks from the crowd expressed what everyone was thinking. With a disheartening sigh, the Celestia decided to continue on with whatever was left to recover of the ruined speech. “I figure I should be more specific on what this will entail.” She breathed another sigh, but this one filled with much more pep than her previous. Her recovery was quick. “Let me elaborate a bit more. The problem we were noticing is that there was so much havoc happening, and there was nothing we could do about it. Even if we fixed all the damages that were being caused, it wouldn’t fix all the stress that was arising out of you all. With that in mind, we figured the only way that could be handled would be through a contest of sorts. We needed something to relieve all the stress, while we fix the damages.”
Slowly, but surely the glued-on faces of all the ponies was dissipating and were instead being replaced by solid nods of approval. Some jubilant murmuring was coming up that showed some interest in what was going to take place. As the shocked faces turned into wide smiles, Princess Celestia started to grin and even chuckled a little at how fast everyponies mind changed.
“Well now...” Celestia started with a wide-grinned face, “...it seems that you all are interested in what this entails.” She stated with a hint of mystery. A wide array of approval was coming from the crowd to let the princess know she could continue.
“This Grand Muffin War will be quite an experience I am sure. You will all receive a list of what will be given so we can begin as efficiently as possible. Since we haven’t had a good war in a while, we felt it was time to have some fun with one.” She took a heavy breathe to compose her happiness and continued, “We will begin at the rising of the sun three days from now. That will be your only preparation time, and then you will have to compete. The list will contain all the info that will be needed to compete. So I take your leave and hope you all do well”.
With those fleeting words, she left the podium to a loud clopping of the ground. Getting in her carriage and flying away left the crowd to disperse with the list of items they will receive and what they will need to prepare for.
Even after the enormous crowd had left, there was still one gray pony left in the small square. With just a big a grin as when the word “muffin” was said.
The day had passed just as quickly as has come. The lights from inside the houses lit up parts of the town, but no more than a few sections. All was quiet on the outside, but the inside of Derpy’s home was far different. She did a little dance as the events of the day finally settled in. She had been doing her daily mail runs, but got sidetracked into wanting to find out where the alluring smell of the muffins were coming from. Only being able to acquire one was enough to satisfy her until she could get home and get her hooves onto the stash of muffins in her kitchen.
Then of course there was the speech by Princess Celestia which sealed the deal on the day’s course.
Quickly snatching up a loose muffin she decided to unravel the letter which contained all the info that would be needed for the war. The letter unfurled very quickly and seemed to flatten itself at whim. Derpy looked over its contents to see exactly what all was needed. Looking closely, Princess Celestia’s handwriting was clearly visible:
DEAR PONYVILLE RESIDENT,
You have been selected to participate in the Grand Muffin War which will commence on Friday. The list of necessary apparel and equipment will be shipped express the day before. That way to ensure we have everything properly sorted beforehand. The list of rules can be found below. Take heed and look them over carefully so as to know full well how this will be handled
RULES
1. No cheating shall be conducted during the event. This can include the use of wings for longer than a select amount of time and the use of magic. NO MAGIC WHATSOEVER.
2. You will wear the proper attire or be disqualified on inspection.
3. The tools you will be given are the only ones that will be issued and used for fair play
4. You may use whatever muffin you find on the fields of battle. There will be a diverse amount, but note that eating your “ammo” can be unhelpful towards your goal
5. Finally I must say to have fun and assuredly try your hardest to win this wonderful event. The prize that will be given to the champion pony strong enough to triumph over the others will be revealed Friday. Be sure to rest up and have lots of fun
-Yours truly, Princess Celestia
Derpy made sure to read through the letter a couple of times so as to fully understand what she must do. With a pleasant “woo” she retreated to bed. Her dreams being filled with blissful bubbles and scrumptious muffins for all her enjoyment...
The time flew by quickly as Friday was finally upon the citizens. All the ponies had started gathering early enough, but there were a few who woke up mere moments ago. All of them very excited for the war.
All the ponies had a customized vestment on, made of a strong metal alloy of some kind. It had a zipper attached to the front so if it needed to be removed it could be. They were all different from the others in terms of color and symbol. All the vestments had the cutie mark of the pony attached to them, plus the pony’s favorite color or scheme.
Derpy’s had a gray overall color with some blue on the chest. On the very end of it lay her bubble cutie mark which she proudly shook. Today was going to be the beginning of a fun adventure in her mind.
Suddenly a noise disturbed the conversations that were taking place and all looked over to the podium. Princess Celestia blushed a little at the embarrassment of having to knock the mike to get a response, but quickly recovered her composure. “Good morning everypony”, she said with jubilance.
The crowd around the area responded in kind.
“Today marks the beginning of what I hope will be a very good time for all. With that said, I believe I have a duty to uphold”.
The crowd started stomping their hooves and crouching down in preparation for the rising of the sun, Derpy stood vigilant.
Sunshine overtook the darkened skies above as the moon was lowered and the sun in kind rose in very quick succession.
With a loud command in what can only be the Royal Canterlot Voice “LET THE WAR BEGIN”!
And so we go...