//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Preparing For The Friendship Festival // Story: A Place in Equestria V: The Storm Awakens // by GoebelTron //------------------------------// Meanwhile, Thomas was riding his tricycle for a stroll around Canterlot enjoying the beautiful sunny day. Thomas then saw a snack stand, and then went over for two chocolate cupcakes with frosting and sprinkles that looked like a rainbow on each swirl. “Excuse me? Can I get two of those?” The sales pony nodded and gave them to Thomas after he paid for them. When Thomas finished his cupcakes and went on another stroll, he pedaled over to the royal gardens for some privacy and some fresh air. Thomas then decided to pick some flowers to give to his adoptive mother, Fluttershy, the pegasus mare who gave him a home and made his life better with all the care and love he deserved. “Momma’s gonna love these flowers, I hope,” Thomas said, as he finished picking out flowers for his mother and then got back on his tricycle and pedals back downtown to see his mother and aunts. “Yes!” Rainbow Dash said, as she began zooming through the clouds, clearing them out as fast as possible. “Sky's cleared and ready for the festival!” Pinkie Pie then blew up a few balloons, tied them up while they made squeaking noises, and set them up nicely for the festival, but one accidentally deflated out of control. “Whoa!” Fluttershy orchestrated the birds as they whistled in harmony until the balloon came zooming by, scaring all the birds away. “Whoa! Heads up, Fluttershy! Out of control balloooooon!!” Pinkie Pie said chasing the balloon. “I don't think it's the balloon that's out of control, Pinkie Pie!” Fluttershy said, nuzzling a bird on her hoof. “Hey, y'all!” Applejack said. “Anypony up for some free samples of my family's apple cider?” Rainbow Dash saw the mug, and zoomed over amd took it for a sip, “Thank you!” She them zoomed and put it back on Applejack’s hoof empty. “Loved it!” Rarity hummed while setting up the stage with blue diamonds on each pinkish red ribbon. “Wow, Rarity. It's a fine job you're doin' there. 'Course it might not get done 'til after the concert,” Applejack commented. “Applejack, darling, anypony can do "fine". Twilight asked me, so clearly, she's going for fabulous, and fabulous takes time,” Rarity said. “Fabulous takes forever! But "awesome"...” Rainbow Dash zoomed all over the stage setting up the ribbons, but not neatly as Rarity planned. “...can get done in four seconds flat! Faster if I do my sonic rainboom!” “Aah! Nono, oh no! Don't you dare, Rainbow Dash! It looks wretched enough already,” Rarity said, until fixing the ribbons and diamonds on them. “Oh come on, it's fine!” Rainbow Dash argued. “If you were raised in a barn! Ahem, no offense, Applejack,” Rarity said. “None taken. Especially since I wasn't raised in a barn. My family just happens to have a barn. Where I was born. And... spent most of my formative years...” Rainbow Dash then cut Applejack off very quickly. “Raised in a barn!” “Is she always that thirsty for apple cider?” Sunset asked. “Most of the time. Care for some?” Applejack asked. “Don’t mind if I do,” Sunset said, and then Starlight took some as well. “Wow, this is really good,” Starlight said. “Yeah, I mean it’s like a whole new level of amazing!” Sunset said. Applejack then nodded, “It’s my family’s traditional secret for freshly squeezed apple cider.” “Okay, just two hundred and eighteen things left to do and we're ready,” Twilight said, checking off her checklist. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Starlight, Sunset, and Pinkie Pie saw her and Spike coming, “Hey, Twilight!” “Hello, Spike,” Rarity said sweetly. “Uh, hi, Rarity. Heh heh,” Spike said nervously with a blush on his cheeks. “How'd it go with the other Princesses? They like your idea?” Applejack asked. Pinkie Pie bounced while following a flying balloon, “I bet they loved it!” Twilight sighed, “Not exactly. They think I can make the festival perfect without their magic.” “Uh, they said that they’ll think about it,” Spike said. “And they are absolutely right, darling,” Rarity said. “This festival is your brilliant idea and we know you're up to the task!” “But what if I'm not?! What if Songbird Serenade hates the stage?! Or nopony makes a new friend?! And if I fail at the festival, then who am I?!” Twilight asked frustratingly. “Twilight, look at me! This will be the biggest celebration Equestria has ever seen! As the Princess of Friendship, you cannot fail! This day will define who you are! The pressure is intense! It's almost too much for any single pony to handle!” Pinkie Pie screamed. The other ponies gasped. “But you have us! So stop worrying.” Twilight made a nervous smile on her face, until Applejack helped her up. “You’ll always have us to help, Twilight,” Sunset said, as Starlight nodded. It's time to show 'em what you've got It's time to go and get things done But you don't have to do it on your own 'Cause you've got friends right here to make it fun We got this, you got this We got this together Sometimes the pressure gets you down And the clouds are dark and grey Just kick them off and let the sun shine through And scary as it seems, more help is on the way 'Cause friends have friends that wanna help out, too We got this, you got this We got this together It's the Festival of Friendship And we can get it done A festival that they won't forget A party to be proud of A day of games and fun Just you wait and see A magic day in perfect harmony You got this A bird whistled the melody and then Fluttershy smiled warmly. We got this together With friends and family, you are never alone If you need help, we've got your back You can be honest, let your problems be known 'Cause you got us to pick up the slack We got this We got this together Pay attention to the details Every gem even-spaced Make the colors perfect Takin' one or two to taste Inside and out, beautiful throughout Generosity is what we're all about You got this You got this We got this together Today needs to be perfect, it all comes down to me I don't know if I'm ready For all the things they need me to be I am the Princess of Friendship But that is more than just a crown It's a promise to bring ponies together And never let anypony down We've got an awful lot to bake Each pony needs a piece of cake Oh, wait! There's something better we can do We're gonna need some more supplies To make a really big surprise She'll be so shocked—she's sure to love it, too! You got this! We got this together! It's the Festival of Friendship Together we are one A day we will never forget And now everything is ready So when the day is done The weather The banquet The style And music All will be in perfect harmony! Twilight gasped and yelled as Pinkie Pie accidentally launched a huge cake on top of her, until it tumbled into a huge spill. The ponies gasped at the accident as Twilight popped her head out. “Pinkie!” A candle landed on her horn. “Oopsie! Guess my easy bake confetti cake cannon needs a little bit more fine tuning!” Pinkie Pie said. Twilight groaned and then blew out the candle on her horn. Thomas suddenly saw his family on the other side, and probably didn’t feel like he wanted to disturb the moment right now, so he backed up and listened closely. He suddenly saw Songbird Serenade appear. She was a pegasus mare with light greenish white fur, a huge pom pom stylish bob cut mane and tail that were split with two sided shades of very dark persian blue with dark grayish persian blue highlights on the right and pale gold and with light gamboge highlights on the left and had a huge dark pink bow on the back of her head. She had dark sapphire blue eyes, a black shirt with gold studs on the collar, and her flank had a cutie mark of a cloud sprinkling hearts in red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. “Hi, I’m here for the ceremony. Is anypony here the one in charge of this?” Songbird asked. “Oh! Hi! Sorry about that,” Twilight said nervously, then she cleared her throat. “Hi, I’m Princess Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship. And you probably know why you’re here.” “Yes. To perform for the Friendship Festival in three days?” Songbird asked for clearance. “Mmhmm. I just want you to have time to practice while we get everything set up for you,” Twilight said. “Okay. And it looks like you’re gonna need some clean up to do,” Songbird said. Thomas suddenly saw some camera flashes as Songbird Serenade and her security guard ponies passed by, blinding his vision, until he suddenly tripped over a rock and then fell into a wagon full of eggs laid by a few chickens until it went backwards and then he suddenly saw himself heading towards a produce tent. “Whoa whoa! Whoa! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!” Twilight and the others heard the screaming and crashing, until all the ponies gasped at the moment and saw a few chickens running while clucking and flapping their wings. They all ran over to the crash site and then saw a couple of ponies helping him out and then they saw him covered in fruit and vegetables and egg and surrounded by chickens pecking their beaks on the ground, nesting while sitting, or walking around the crash site. “Thomas?!” Fluttershy exclaimed until she went over and gently held him towards her chest with both hooves after sitting on her haunches, as he made an “ow ow ow ow” over his cuts. “Baby, are you alright?” Fluttershy asked, while holding him. Thomas nodded, “Yes, Momma.” “Oh, darling. You look like a complete mess,” Rarity clicked her tongue. “But never fear, precious. We’ll take care of getting you cleaned up later.” Thomas nodded. “Where have you been?” Rainbow Dash asked. “I was enjoying the nice sunny day out here. But I went to the royal gardens to give my Momma these,” Thomas said, and then he showed his mother the flowers he picked out. Fluttershy smiled warmly, “They’re lovely, sweetheart.” Thomas smiled warmly and then he nuzzled with his mother. “Sorry, everypony. We’ll continue with the preparations tomorrow. Why don’t you all get some rest or go enjoy yourselves while we deal with our little nephew?” Twilight asked, and then the ponies of Canterlot went on the either go home and get some rest while some stayed to clean up the mess from earlier today. Meanwhile, after Thomas had a bath provided by Rarity and Fluttershy, he got himself dried off and into his pajamas, which were a forest green long sleeve top and forest green and dark sapphire blue plaid footed pants. When he came out of the bathroom, he went over to Fluttershy for a cuddle as she picked him up and held him against her chest and wrapped her hooves and wings around him to keep him warm and he then hugged her fur while he had his teddy with him. Rarity brought over a plate full of chocolate chip brownie cookies with a glass of cold milk, and then Thomas took it so he can dig in on one cookie at a time. “Momma? I’m sorry I ruined today,” Thomas said. “No no no, sweetheart. No. You didn’t ruin anything. It was only an accident,” Fluttershy said. “Thomas? Are you feeling better now?” Twilight asked, and then Thomas nodded in reply. “Yes, Auntie Twilight. Umm... who was that pony from earlier?” “Oh, that was Songbird Serenade, pop singer from Manehattan we hired for the festival,” Twilight said. “She’s an excellent singer, darling,” Rarity said. “Can I meet her?” Thomas asked. “Yeah, sure,” Sunset said. Thomas smiled warmly and then started to yawn after finishing his last cookie and drinking his milk. “I think my darling little nephew needs his beauty sleep,” Rarity said, until she kissed him on the cheek. “Mind if I tuck him in?” Fluttershy nodded, and then they all said goodnight to each other and went to their rooms for the night. Rarity then placed Thomas onto his guest bed and then tucked him underneath the covers. “Goodnight, precious. We’ll see you in the morning,” she said, giving him a kiss on the forehead. “Goodnight, Auntie Rarity. I love you,” Thomas said. “Auntie Rarity loves you too, darling. Now get some sleep,” she said, after leaving the room with the candle lit on halfway so he wouldn’t be scared of the dark and then he started sleeping.