//------------------------------// // The Contents of the Book is What Matters // Story: Sweet Pink Sunset // by Annon56 //------------------------------// "So that's it then," Jokey Bizarre commented blatantly as he tossed his hooves behind his head, "starting tomorrow morning the six of you will be training under our care." "That is in fact what Princess Luna told us," Rarity added, seemingly annoyed that she now has to get herself into physical and unclean practice. After a semi long talk with Luna and the main six shortly after their arrival back to Ponyville, it was discussed and agreed that starting the very next day, the Defenders will help the wielders of the elements in their training of combat. The easy going jokester Jokey Bizarre will train Rarity and Twilight, the misleading and somewhat blank pegasus Arrow Distorton will train Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, and the hot tempered all-serious Boa Quakes will train Applejack and Pinkie Pie. Unicorn with unicorn, pegasi with pegasi, and earth with earth. And what was Forest to do? He walked back to the group whilst thinking of the short meeting which he had just had with Luna. -Flashback- "Forest," Luna began in a pleasant tone, "thou hast shown great care for the protection of thy town and loved ones, but do not blind thine self with raging emotions... I want you to focus on your own training until you are capable to help the others." "Yes, your highness, I understand." Forest replied respectfully, showing complete understanding, but his thoughts differed. 'What, she thinks I'm too enraged to function? I don't have problems with anger and I'm pretty stable, I'll tackle things the way I want to thank you very much, and it will work out... like it always has when I was alone in the past... heck, I got to Ponyville going my way, right?' Of course Luna meant no ill will towards Forest, but who was wrong and who was right in this situation? Luna has lived longer and was wise enough to give proper formidable advise, then again, does she really know Forest? Or on the another side, does Forest really know himself? At that moment, Luna had received a note from royal guards of the other keeps, holding information that they have found spies and gathered knowledge on when the attack would on the South Keep would happen. She passed on the information to Forest who would pass it on to the others. -End- "One week," said Forest, gathering the groups attention. "Um, one week until?" Twilight Sparkle asked, with everyone else looking as equally confused on what the deep orange unicorn was on about. "Until the south keep will be attacked by the so called Metamor Legion, that's all the time we have to get the six of you familiarised with combat." "Wha- one week?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed in worry, "it took me my whole life to just a get noticed by the wonderbolts!" "And it took me my whole life to get to where I am with magic now..." Rarity added, "and it's tailoring magic..." "And it took me my whole life to become such a great baker!" Pinkie Pie blurted, the mares gave a disgruntled glance to Pinkie Pie, "well it did!" "I- I'm not even sure i- if I can really get into this type of stuff," Fluttershy uttered, her confidence dropping. Everypony broke into discussion of what to do, unsure if they can really get passed the week with enough time to actually catch up to the skill they really need. The sight of absolute doubt and anguish is something that Forest did not like, not one bit. For one who was quite confident and also an enthusiast, standing by and watching is against his characteristics. "Hey!" Forest exclaimed, immediately infecting the atmosphere with silence, gathering everyponies attention, "yeah sure, you can go ahead and start doubting yourselves when danger is right around the corner, or you can get rid of all that doubt and start believing." "Dude, I hear ya on this," Jokey complied, "but how exactly can we get them to our level in just a week?" "Well sitting around a moping about it isn't gonna get us anywhere. By doing this, we're just gonna remain at level zero, but if we set our minds straight and just advance by even one step on a fleet of stairs, then it's progress! Don't you see? Now we're ten ponies who each hold amazing power, so what if you can't manage to use your own natural energy to harness all your powers within the week? You've got the elements of harmony to help boost that for you! The most powerful source of magic in all Equestria! I'm sure that if we start immediately by tomorrow there's absolutely no doubt that we'll be able to get passed this obstacle!" Everyone's confidence began to build up as Forest spoke out his motivational speech. "Fluttershy!" Forest blurted, startling the pegasus, "you just so happen to have the ability to confront a fully grown dragon and even make it cry! Yeah, that's right, we all heard about it!" "W- well, yes I do!" Fluttershy responded with a wide smile as she began to hover a tiny distance above the ground. "And Rainbow Dash! You were in fact just a filly when you made your first sonic rainboom, and then you did it again at the young flyers competition and got recognised by the wonderbolts! You've also got the wing power to top it off!" "Heck yeah! that's right!" Rainbow Dash shot up in gleaming confidence. "Rarity, you've got the courage to go way out of your way to help someone, you proved that your quite the gutsy type and can still be one heck of a lady! I'd say your definitely suitable to pass this!" "Oh! well I supposed that's true! I did in fact survive against those filthy and grotesque diamond dogs!" Rarity giggled as she recalled the event. "Applejack, you've got the strength to stop avalanching high-speed carriages! And the amount of Round-ups you've won is a crazy achievement! I'm talking about the most dependable of ponies aren't I?" "Why, shoot," Applejack grinned with a faint pink blush, "I reckon that's one of the titles I'm known by!" "Twilight, Princess Celestia herself told you that she had never seen such raw magical power from a pony for a thousand years when you were just a filly! And with your amazing talent in magic you should be able to grasp the tricks of combat magic with no problems! You levitated an Ersa Minor all the way back to it's cave and can teleport like crazy." Twilight's eyes shined as she grinned widely at Forest's statement, "He's right!" "And Pinkie Pie, in the night of Nightmare Moon, you where the essence that built up the bravery to continue past the scares ahead! Giggle at the ghosties, am I right? No to mention you also saved Ponyville from an entire horde of Parasprites! If it wasn't for you, Ponyville would've looked like Swiss cheese for months!" Pinkie Pie jumped up in the air with excitement, "I did do that! Forest is right! If we managed to get big things like that done in one day then there's no doubt we'll get as much or even more done in a week!" "Yeah! That's what I'm talkin' about!" Forest turned to look at the other defenders, "hey, if we managed to fend off an Ursa Major, then I say we got no problem in helping out our friends with their skills!" "Haha! Yeah, for sure!" Jokey added. Everypony began to cheer and pump their hooves up in the air, the support and addition of confidence was an overwhelming state, proving them more than ready to tackle their task properly. "Let's get it on!" They all shouted in unison, high-hoofing each other at once. "YEAH!" A rough and manly voice exclaimed from behind the group, they turned around to find a large white pegasus who was crazily muscular, he returned a toothy grin to them and flew away. Rainbow Dash, looking confused turned back to the group, "you know, I didn't really mind before, but, who is that guy?" x The night time sky rose up to take over for the remaining hours of the day, and for the night, Luna had decided to show only a crescent moon and not a full moon. It was indeed a bright night as many stars gathered round the sky in order to make up for the absence of a full moon, during a crescent moon the stars seemed to shine dazzlingly as if they were gems in the sky instead. The trickling of shooting stars soon dashed across the sky with every few minutes. "Captain Distorton," the voice of a royal guard called out dragging Arrow's attention away from the sky. "Yes, is anything the matter?" Arrow replied. "No, sir, our night shift is about to start, are you sure you want to stay up late?" "Please do not worry about me, I will be fine." The guard replied with a nod and turned back to continue his shift. Arrow looked back up into the sky and pondered over Luna's decoration, 'Princess Luna... I wonder if this is how you try to tell us that everything will turn out for the best... that there is always hope at dark times, for it is truly a wonderful sight. A peaceful start to a peaceful evening... or at least I hope it will be peaceful.' "Oh, Arrow, there you are!" the elegant voice of a mare called out, once again rendering Arrow from his thoughts. He turned around and what came to him was a surprise as he saw Rarity looking up at him with warm smile. He immediately flew down to her, landing softly to avoid startling her. "Hello, Rarity," he began, popping a small grin to her, "how are you this fine evening?" "Well I'm feeling splendid now, and I have you to thank for it after all, if you hadn't saved Sweetiebelle and myself then only Celestia knows what could have happened!" "Oh, you are most welcome, it was my pleasure to bring you to safety," Arrow said delightfully, he then quickly looked down and placed his hoof over his lips and hid what seemed to be a very faint blush. Rarity smiled heartily at the stallion as placed her hoof on top of his, bringing it back to rest on the floor. "Arrow," she intoned to him, "would you like to accompany me to home? We could take this opportunity to get to know each other over some hot chocolate perhaps?" The question took Arrow by surprise as his wings shot up, an overwhelming joy lit up in his heart, 'she has invited me to her residence?' "I- I would love to... but..." Arrow uttered, causing Rarity's smile to fade, "you see, I feel as though I need to keep watch... and-" "Oh, nonsense darling! That is why the royal guards are here is it not? And besides, I'm sure if something were to happen they would make their best efforts to alert you immediately. Don't you think so?" "Well, yes, I suppose that does make sense." "Marvellous, I'm sure after today you require some sort of repose." "Well that is true, we do have a big day to go through tomorrow... yes, Rarity, yes, I would much rather like to spend the rest of the night with you." Arrow replied comfortingly setting an atmosphere of glee for Rarity once more. x Arrow held the door open as both Rarity and himself entered the boutique; Arrow was once again greeted with surprise as he saw the door across the main hall which led to Rarity's room was already repaired. That and the wooden models. "It seems that the boutique is all in one piece again," Arrow said in his usual unmoved tone. "It's simply lovely again, isn't it?" Rarity replied, "that friend of yours is quite the craftsman." "Who? Forest? Oh, yes that is right, he used to work as a carpenter during his adventuring times around Equestria." "And because of that, I'm able to display my latest dresses again! Tell me, what do you think about this one?" Rarity asked the stallion as she levitated one of the wooden models to them. Arrow felt the material and analysed the dress thoroughly leaving a few long seconds of silence which made Rarity feel slightly awkward. "A cascading silk dress that trails," Arrow began, " studded with the finest blue-purple rhinestone that gives a shimmering and sparkling effect when the cream coloured silk moves. The dress elegantly comes up to the neck in a turtle neck with a diamond shaped gap on the chest area... having the top buttoned with with a circular cut clear blueish gem and a royal purple sash along the waist compliments the whole dress itself... the shoes are simple but have rhinestones lined into them to match the dress..." Rarity was shocked to see that Arrow was able to pick up on the scheme of the design, most stallions would give a simple phrase such as, 'it looks great.' Arrow continued, "To sum it all up, it is absolutely astounding. Not only is the dress magnificent but the colour co-ordination makes it suitable for a mare of any coat colour." "Why, y- yes! Precisely!" Rarity replied in delight to his understanding, "the main idea for this dress was to be coat colour friendly, and you noticed that straight away!" "Well... actually, I paint as a hobby so I am quite familiar with the use of colour and their backgrounds." "Really? Well, that sounds just lovely. You should show me your paintings sometime, I would be more than happy to take a gander at them." 'So he does have an artistic side, 'Rarity pondered as they walked into the kitchen, 'this just might be the start of something grand.' After nearly two hours of chatting and connecting over a cup of hot chocolate, Rarity and Arrow felt closer to each other. It was their interests in art and its many forms which had them showing understanding to each other. Arrow, who seemed so blank and emotionless turned out to be quite a profound stallion, Rarity had seen this the moment he had saved Sweetiebelle and herself from the clutches of the enemy. Her opinion on him was now only enhanced further, although, something was on her mind. Why is it that Arrow is like that? Why is it that he seemed so emotionally blank yet his personality stretched beyond his social attitude? "So your horn just took you to a large rock filled with jewels?" Arrow's eyes widened as he asked Rarity. "Indeed, quite the unusual story, is it not?" Rarity complied with a grin. "Quite. I had no idea magic worked in these types of levels... it is as if it was your destiny to fabulous." "Oh, come now," Rarity smiled softly with a faint blush, "I'm really not that fabulous-" "Gorgeous?" "O- oh, my..." Rarity began to blush deeply as she attempted to hide flattered smile. 'This is great!' Arrow thought to himself, 'We seem to be getting along quite well and I am managing to make her smile! I think this is going to be a wonderful night... I know! I will take her to that area. It is the perfect night for it after all.' "Rarity, there is a place here in Ponyville that I believe you would enjoy wisiting... actually, I sort of made the place myself. Would you like to go?" "Oh dear, right now? Well I'd love to, but-" the creek of the kitchen door followed by a loud thud guided Rarity and Arrow's eyes to the source. On the floor were three cutie mark crusaders who happened to be listening in, "Well... there's your answer," Rarity continued. "Cutie marks in eavesdropping, huh?" said Sweetiebelle, both Apple Bloom and herself looking at Scootaloo, who just shrugged in reply. "Now that I think about... it does sound pretty lame," Apple Bloom added. Rarity had allowed Sweetiebelle to invite her friends for a sleepover earlier today in order to help cheer her up from what had happened earlier today, just managing to escape from the Metamor Legion. If Arrow had not noticed the string of Rarity's hair, there's no telling where they could have ended up. "Girls," Rarity started, in a calm and surprisingly cheerful manner, "it's quite late, why aren't you three in bed?" "We were tryin' ta sleep Rarity, honest!" Apple Bloom began. "Yeah, but we were just too excited," Scootaloo stated immediately afterwards. "I guess having candy before bed was a bad idea?" Sweetiebelle uttered, giving a toothy grin, "your not mad, are you Rarity?" "What? Of course not, Sweetiebelle!" how could she be mad at them? After what happened, Rarity wanted her sister to feel as much ease as possible. "Although," she continued, "the three of you should really be in bed by now." "But we're feeling too active..." the three little filly's said with a sigh. "Well, this gives me an idea," Arrow stated, "Rarity, why not let them come along?" The girls immediately looked up at the two adults with joy in their eyes. "I wanna go to the place Mister Arrow was talkin' about!" Apple Bloom blurted. "Me too!" Scootaloo added. "And me three!" Sweetiebelle complied. Arrow edged closer to Rarity, "I know it is late, Rarity, but it is a weekend for them tomorrow, and if it makes a difference we will only be there for at least forty-five minutes maximum." "Well, I suppose there's no harm then." Rarity answered with a warm smile. Rarity had locked the entrance to the Carousel Boutique before their department and had stopped to ponder on how they were going to reach this strange area that Arrow had mentioned. "Pardon me, Arrow, but where exactly is this place?" "It is on a large hill side near the stargazing hill, I am going to fly us there in order to savour the time we have left." "What? Fly us there? Heavens darling! Are you sure you can support all that weight?" "Woah!" The cutie mark crusaders blurted in surprise as Arrow held them with his front hooves, he turned his back to Rarity and then spread his wings out. "Just place your hooves around my neck and hold on to my back," He said as he turned his head to look at Rarity, his smile comforting and reassuring that he has the situation handled. With little persuasion needed, Rarity trusted the white pegasus and had done as he had asked her; as she got on to his back, she picked up the distinct scent of his mane which was slightly robust in a sweet way, a popular calone amongst gentlecolts of Canterlot which gave her nostrils a pleasurable greeting. Arrow began to flap his wings slowly ascending into the air and began flying to the secret location past the stargazing hill, thankfully it was not too far from the boutique. He flew them up a large and unnaturally curved but safe hill landing on lower level just below the top. The area was quite wide for a hill side; there was a tree that had moon flowers sprouting out from the top of its leaves, they reflected the moonlight in such a way that it made the flowers themselves look like the were glowing, fireflies hovered around the tree only emphasising its beauty. A river at the center had a gentle stream flow that went to the edge of the hillside creating a silent and small waterfall. There were several thorn-less rose beds located on the other side of the river, the grass was very smooth and was almost equivalently as soft as the finest mattresses. The three little fillies looked around in admiration and awe, they frolicked around the area and explored the new terrain, to the rose beds across the river and to the fireflies around the tree. Shooting stars fell once more across the cresent moon sky. "My goodness..." Rarity uttered under her breath, "You made this?" Arrow nodded after clearing his throat, "Remember when I told you that I am able to reshape terrain? Well, there was this giant purple dragon that attacked Ponyville not so far back and it trampled over this hillside and I sort of rebuilt it after it left." "That's... simply wonderful," Rarity replied whilst looking around once more, 'I guess he does not know that dragon was Spike,' Rarity giggled after the thought. Rarity placed her hoof around Arrow's, "Thank you for bringing me here," she then placed her hoof to the side of his chin, gently beckoning him to lower his head. As he had done so, their lips had connected for a short and tender kiss. x Back in the home of Pinkie Pie and Forest, the two were just about ready to go to bed. "Well, we had a long day today," Forest began, "and tomorrow's gonna be even longer." "Personally, I'm really excited!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed as they hopped into the bed, "I wanna know what it's like to be out there in the zone like you are all the time! Ya think I'll be able to do all those flashy super duper power moves thingy like Boa? With all the bang and the pow and bif!" "You forgot boom!" "Boom!" she added. Forest Chuckled lightly, "Boa's powers are related to the seismic plates, and since your also an earth pony then you just might have the same thing. Or, it could be something different, earth related of course." "I can't wait to know what it is!" "yeah, I'm eager to know as well... Oh! I almost forgot!" Forest pulled out the Thundertred Book of Magic from underneath the bed, "check it out, I think I've finally figured out the secret to this book! That guard said something about a concentration point and I'm almost certain it's gotta be the gem at the back of the book... here!" Forest turned the book to the back and pointed at the yellow gem. "Finally! Well, what are you waiting for? Let's solve this case!" "Al-right, here it goes!" Forest prepared the magic reveal spell, the light emitted from the tip of his horn once more, he then tapped it against the gem, it began to glow a faint yellow aura which streamed across the silver crest design on the book. Forest's and Pinkie Pie's eyes widened as the book began to glow vividly. The magical aura then immediately came to a halt and the gem popped out, Pinkie Pie caught it before it leaped away from them. "That's it?" she asked in a confused manner as they both stared at the gem. Forest opened the book and quickly flipped through the pages, "No change... nothing..." he then threw himself back and groaned in annoyance at the pointless result. "I'll never figure out the secret to this thing..." he continued. "Well, maybe there's something else you gotta do," Pinkie Pie complied as she placed the gem and the book on the shelf of the dresser next to the bed, "I'm sure there's more to it than just that." She turned around to find a floating Gummy who s lips were in sync with Forest's voice, "Now what makes you say that?" Pinkie Pie laughed heartily at the event as she threw herself down on the bed. "Boo." Forest uttered in a silly tone, Pinkie Pie then turned around, now lying on her belly, and looked down from the edge of the bed to find Forest poking out from underneath. "When did you?" she asked, still giggling and smiling widely. "When you weren't looking." As she calmed down, she began to gently rub the side of his ear with her hoof, "Anyway, I', sure we'll figure out something, besides, we've got our friends to help us too." "Yeah... we do..." he replied, his smile quickly fading afterwards. "You didn't tell them about the book yet, did you?" Forest shook his head, "I didn't get the proper chance to..." Pinkie Pie then swooped away and appeared next to him under the bed, "you should tell them tomorrow," she said in a soft tone, "it's been making you sad lately, you know I don't want you to be sad, right?" she continued as they placed their heads together. "I know... I'm sorry, I'll tell them all about it tomorrow, I plan to do that anyway," Forest smiled comfortingly at her, she smiled back and gently brushed the edge of her nose against his. Finally, it was time to go to sleep.