One day, in the magical world of Equestria, a train made its stop in Ponyville. Among the passengers was the Changeling Kingdom’s Princess of Friendship, Ocellus, who was sent to Ponyville by King Thorax to serve as the kingdom’s ambassador of friendship to Ponyville. Although she was excited to finally see Ponyville up close, she was nervous about serving in this new role.
Upon getting off the train, Ocellus took a deep breath and reassured herself. “Okay, Ocellus. You can do this. Don’t mess up.”
As she walked through town central, she accidentally bumped into a citizen, a teenage colt with pale green fur and a cyan male and tail that both looked shaggy-looking.
“Oops, sorry about that! I should look where I’m going.” the pony said.
“Oh, it’s okay. I just arrived in Ponyville so I don’t exactly know my way around.” Ocellus explained.
“Well, in that case, welcome to Ponyville! I’m Sandbar. I’m out running errands to get ready for the Summer Sun Celebration tomorrow night. You should go. It’s really fun!”
“The whaaaaaaaaat?”
“The Summer Sun Celebration. It’s a day to celebrate the thousand year anniversary of the defeat of Nightmare Moon. We even get to see Celestia raise the sun.”
“Well, that does sound interesting. Okay, I’ll think about it. But that isn’t a guarantee. I’m the Ambassador of Friendship from the Changeling Kingdom. I’ll have a lot on my plate.”
“Okay, I understand. Have a great day!” Sandbar said as he walked away.
“You too!” Ocellus called.
As she continued walking, she saw a young, blue griffon decorating the Ponyville Town Hall for the Summer Sun Celebration.
“Aaaaaaaaaand done! The Summer Sun Celebration’s gonna be great!” the griffon exclaimed as he finished decorating.
However, his tail accidentally hit a bucket of paint, causing the paint to fall onto the ground, right where Ocellus was standing. Letting out a gasp, the griffon raced to the ground.
“Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry! I guess my tail hit the bucket and you almost got paint all over you!” the griffon exclaimed apologetically.
“It’s okay. We all make mistakes.” Ocellus replied.
“Phew, that’s good to hear! Say, are you thinking of going to the Summer Sun Celebration tomorrow night? It’s fuuuuuuuuuuuuuun!”
“I’ve heard about that. I’m new to Ponyville so I don’t exactly know what goes on here. I’d like to go, but I don’t really know if I can. You see, I moved here from the Changeling Kingdom to serve as Friendship Ambassador.”
“Does that mean you’ll be too busy to come? I’m sure your leader will make some sort of exception.”
“I hope so. I really like what you’ve done with the place. It looks beautiful!”
“Why thank you! The mayor wanted extra help, so I thought I’d give her a couple extra talons.”
“Oh, well, that’s nice of you.”
“Heh heh, well, that’s me. Name’s Gallus by the way.”
“I’m Ocellus.”
“So, should I call you ‘your majesty’ or is just Ocellus okay?”
“Just Ocellus is fine. There’s no need for such formalities. So, do you like decorating?”
“It’s okay, but what really has me sign up is the food they have at the celebration. It’s so good! Whatever’s edible, they have!”
The thought of the food served at the celebration suddenly made Gallus’s stomach rumble.
“It sounds like all that decorating made you hungry.”
“Yeah, it was a lot of hard work! Hard work makes ya hungry, y’know.”
“Yeah. Come on, I’ll go get you a snack.”
“Okay. There’s a little bakery I like to go to that’s just down the street from here. I’ll lead the way.” Gallus said as Ocellus followed him to Sugarcube Corner.
When they arrived, they saw a pink hippogriff with a bluish mane and tail walking out of the establishment.
“Thank you!” she called out.
Suddenly, the hippogriff noticed Ocellus.
“Hey, aren’t you the princess of friendship from the Changeling Kingdom?” she asked.
“Yes I am. My name is Ocellus. How did you know I was the changeling princess of friendship?” Ocellus asked.
“My aunt is Queen Novo of Seaquestria. I’m her niece, Silverstream. Because I come from a royal family, I pretty much know most of the world’s leaders.” Silverstream replied.
“Wow. That’s interesting.”
“So, what brings you to Ponyville?”
“I was sent here by King Thorax to serve as the Friendship Ambassador to Ponyville. Right now, I’m taking a little self-guided tour of Ponyville and getting some food in this griffon’s belly. He’s been hard at work decorating for the Summer Sun Celebration.”
“Hey! That’s tomorrow night! Are you gonna go?”
“I’m not too sure. Now that I’m Friendship Ambassador, my schedule’s gonna be packed!”
“I don’t think your schedule would be too busy around the Summer Solstice. Usually, leaders give those working in their governments a break so they could go. Anyways, I gotta go check on the celebration. I hope to see you soon.” Silverstream said as she walked away.
A short time later, Gallus and Ocellus were seated at a table inside Sugarcube Corner, having finished their lunch.
“Thanks for the recommendation, Gallus. This place is great.” Ocellus said.
“Glad you liked it. Here, a ticket to the celebration on me.” Gallus smiled as he gave the ticket to Ocellus.
“Thank you, Gallus. That’s very sweet!” Ocellus replied.
“Now, I’d love to talk, but I gotta get going. I need to get back to town hall and check it out. Hope I see you tomorrow night!” Gallus said as he left Sugarcube Corner.
“Okay! See you later!” Ocellus called out before glancing at the ticket Gallus gave her.
“Such a sweet, little griffon. I better get going too.” Ocellus said as she put away the ticket and walked out of Sugarcube Corner.
As she got back outside, she saw a brown yak appearing to run through several brick walls. As the yak ran through the walls, they all crumbled.
“Excuse me!” Ocellus called out to get the yak’s attention.
“What are you doing with those bricks?” she asked.
“Yona practice smashing walls. Yona perform in Summer Sun Celebration this year.” Yona replied.
“Well, that’s interesting. So, I take it your name is Yona?”
“Yes.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Yona. My name is Ocellus.” Ocellus said as she extended a hoof with the intent of shaking hooves with Yona. However, Yona licked Ocellus’s hoof.
“Ooooooooooooookay?” Ocellus awkwardly exclaimed.
“That yak way of meeting outsider.”
“Well, that’s…interesting. I’d love to talk, but I need to get going. It was nice talking to you, Yona!” Ocellus said as she walked away from Yona.
The next morning, the creatures Ocellus met gathered at town hall to conduct final preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. As Ocellus was walking through town central, she noticed the crowd.
“What’s going on here?” Ocellus asked.
“We’re making final preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. I’m glad you could join us. We’re just about ready fo-“ Gallus started, but was interrupted by something flying above them.
“What was that?” Gallus panicked.
“Gallus, relax. It was probably just a bird. Now, carry on.” Ocellus assured.
“Okay, so we’re close to ready fo-“ Gallus was interrupted again by the same flying object.
“There it is again. It’s a dragon and I think it wants to cook us! Everycreature, ruuuuuuuuuun!” Gallus said as he and the others, with the exception of Ocellus, ran and hid from the orange and purple dragon.
Ocellus stayed where she was, just curious of why the dragon was flying above of them.
Suddenly, the dragon landed on the ground. “What’s up with them?” she asked Ocellus.
“Beats me. I think they haven’t seen a dragon before. I haven’t.” Ocellus replied.
“Relax. I’m not gonna hurt you guys. I was just doing a lap around town.” Smolder assured.
“Okay guys. You can get out of your hiding spaces now!” Ocellus called out as the rest of the group went to meet the dragon.
“A-are you gonna hurt us?” Sandbar asked.
“You’re not gonna turn me into fried chicken, are you?” Gallus asked.
“I know I’m a sea creature, but I taste terrible!” Silverstream added.
“Yona too big to be eaten!” Yona added.
“Relax, I mean no harm. I was only taking a lap for exercise. My name’s Smolder. What are your names?” Smolder assured before the others introduced themselves.
“See, we’re all friends here, right?” Smolder asked.
“Well, I’m new here. I barely know any of you.” Ocellus chimed in.
“Hey, Smolder. Would you like to join us tonight for the Summer Sun Celebration? I have an extra ticket.” Gallus offered.
“Eh, sure. I’ll go.” Smolder said as she collected the ticket.
“Great! We’re just about done with preparations, right guys?” Gallus asked, everyone else agreeing.
“Okay. I’m gonna go home and get ready. See you guys tonight!” Sandbar announced as he went back home, the others following suit.