//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Of pies and sparkles // Story: The Great Equestrian Foam Sword Fight // by crimsongraph //------------------------------// -({Twilight’s home} 1:13 P.M)- Twilight stared out from her tree abode, looking out to the ponies mindlessly bludgeoning another with a variety of foam. With a smile on her face, she headed to the innards of the tree. Twilight was searching for the objects and saddlebags she would need to venture out into the harsh open environment called Ponyville. With a checklist at the ready, she set about gathering the things she would need. First on her list, she gathered a spare pair of striped lavender socks in case she got cold. Next was some suitable reading material. With a fruitless search for a book in her library she had yet to read, she decided that ‘An eggheads guide to pick-up lines’ should do. What could possible go wrong with reading a simple book? The third step being absolutely essential, Twilight required the newest invention to grace Equestria. A technological advancement that allows two ponies to converse using a hybrid of magical and scientific power. The walkie talkie. After searching and finding the magical contraption, she returned to her checklist. To complement the already dangerous package, she ended up bringing twelve foam swords lined with a variety of chemicals that could cause permanent damage or other unknown effects. She quickly stuffed most of the items into her spacious saddlebags, being forced to carry two swords in her magical field. A pony must always have these things available, no matter the situation. One would never know when they would need to force dangerous chemicals into another pony’s body. With her checklist of destruction ready, she headed upstairs to inform a sleeping spike he had the day off; to which Spike responded with a half-hearted cheer as he dozed off again. Satisfied with the response, she headed to the one thing protecting her from a foam beating. She stared at the wooded door, a gateway that separated her from a foamy defeat. Twilight and her friends had planned to group together for the most part of the competition to ensure that one of them would win the fabled prize. With plans set, the group decided that once the competition started that they would meet up at the park to discuss strategies. With a sigh, she opened the doorway and was greeted with sunshine. The beautiful sun radiated a feeling of safety, a safety that was quickly shattered by a foamy smack to the studious unicorn's face. -({Pinkie Pie's room} 1:05 P.M)- Pinkie was bouncing around the room, an unknown energy source fueling her every move. With every bounce, an audible ‘sproing’ resonated throughout the room. This is how she would usually plan things, quite literally bouncing ideas off a wall. With each bounce, a new idea came to the pink pony’s mind. With each idea came a variety of new scenarios, and how to get the desired result. To a common pony, the way Pinkie brainstormed would likely result in severe head trauma. Pinkie knew it was not the case, seeing how the cakes demanded a psychiatrist to evaluate her sanity. Sure, she had a few disorders, the major one being multi personality disorder, but that does not mean she was unfit to work for the cakes. Besides, she was great with foals. Having finished her daily brainstorming session, she begun to do the one thing ponies would never imagine her to. An act so out of nature, one would think that Discord had returned. She was organizing the things she would need for the foam filled adventure. With a small, yet needed checklist, the pink party pony pranced thought her pink room. With a quick look at her rather clean room, she decided that a checklist would make things dull and boring. With that notion in her mind, she quickly threw away said checklist and gathered her saddlebags. Next, she closed her eyes and set about stuffing anything she could into her bags. A flurry of a variety of objects flew around the room, each of them finding their mark in the safety of the bright pink saddlebags. After a few minutes of throwing, she opened her eyes and quickly closed the saddlebags. Now it would even be a surprise for her should she open them. With a twitch of her tail, she turned to look up, only to be met with a face full of green scales. With Gummy on her head, the idea of leaving her pet alligator suddenly dawned on her. Would she leave her poor scaly pet behind? Pinkie stared at the unblinking gator, before it suddenly blinked once at her. With the persuasion the gator had just given, she quickly grabbed its green body and placed him on her back. Having finished her haphazardly thrown together checklist, she began to trot to the door with her green pet behind her. With a smile on her face, she stared at the wooden door. The wooden door was the one thing protecting Ponyville from the pink menace raining down foamy destruction. With a grin still adorning her face, she stepped out and was greeted with the sounds of foam hitting objects. Pinkie looked around, only to see Twilight stepping out of her library. With an idea forming in her head, she shoved a hoof into her saddlebag and pulled out a foam sword that should have not fit in said saddlebag. Satisfied with the result, she quickly looked back to Twilight, only to see her relaxing with both eyes closed in the warm sunny day. Pinkie quietly approached the relaxed mare, careful not to make a single sound. A few paces away from the lavender pony, Pinkie stopped moving. She craned her neck back to secure Gummy, before suddenly jumping on Twilight. Said foamy hit caused a yelp to spew from the unicorn’s muzzle, effectively dazing her. -({Ponyville streets} 1:24 P.M)- Twilight looked up to her attacker, only to find a mesh of pink that wore a smile staring back at the purple pony. With a small yelp of surprise, she quickly got to her feet and glared at the party pony. "Pinkie! What the hay!?" She screamed at her pink attacker. The pastel pink party pony only kept on staring at Twilight, who only grew more annoyed, before responding to the lavender pony's question. "Well, I wanted to drop in and say hi!" Pinkie said, emphasizing the word 'drop'. "By hitting me in the face with a foam sword?" Twilight deadpanned. "That was actually Gummy's idea. He is very convincing when he wants to do something." She finished off by turning around, revealing the green alligator. Said reptile only blinked when confronted with the unicorn. Twilight only glared at the alligator, before continuing her conversation with Pinkie with a sigh. "Anyways, are you ready to go to the meeting place?" She questioned the pink pony. With a unsettling casual response, Pinkie responded. "I have no idea! I closed my eyes, and stuffed anything I could into these babies!" She finished by motioning to her saddlebags, before continuing. "That way, it will even be a surprise for me when I open them." Once again, another sigh escaped the unicorn’s muzzle. "Pinkie, why would you do that?" A tone of annoyance visible on Twilight’s voice. "Well, Gummy told me to!" Realizing that she was getting nowhere with the pink pony's answers, Twilight gave up the argument and instead decided to head towards the designated meeting point with a sudden loathing for a green alligator. -({Ponyville park} 1:34 P.M)- As Twilight and Pinkie made their way to the park, they both began to notice the eerie silence. The sounds that littered Ponyville had all but disappeared, as if all the fighting had stopped. The occasional thudding sound of foam hitting flesh had disappeared, as well as the voices and screams of 'banana'. Soon, the only sound to be heard was the dull hoof steps between Twilight and Pinkie. The eerie silence did not go unnoticed, as Twilight's ears perked up. "Pinkie, do you hear that...?" Twilight asked with a soft tone of confusion. “Well, what do you mean by that silly? I don’t hear anything!” Pinkie blabbed, not caring at all about privacy. With a motion to be quiet from Twilight, they both began to pay attention to their surroundings. Both of their ears were met with a deadly silence, the only sound being made were the natural sounds of the area they occupied. “That’s the problem Pinkie, there is no sound. Where did the other ponies go? Why did the sound of fighting disappear?” A tone of worry soon overtook the one of curiosity for the lavender mare. “Hurry up Pinkie, we need to get to the meeting area. I worry something has happened…” With the words leaving the unicorn’s muzzle, she and her pink companion quickly sped off to the one spot all six friends decided to meet at. The closer to the hill at the center of the park they got, the more prominent a low sound of fighting became. Soft foamy smacks soon became hard hitting hits as they approached the hill. The known sound of fighting soon filled the air, as a crowd of ponies had congregated at the top of the hill, fighting an unknown enemy. Screams of bananas filled the air as the bright blur that was a pony continued to drop her targets, wielding small foam weapons. With each pony the mysterious blur managed to defeat, more ponies took their place. To the side of the crowd, Rarity was fending for herself. A pony could clearly see she was struggling to hold off the mass of ponies slowly making their way to the marshmallow colored mare. With small, yet precise hits, she was ever-so-slowly managing to defeat pony after pony. Both Twilight and Pinkie stared at the scene before them, before the blur that bounced around the depths of the crowd made a bee-line for the duo. With a hard collision, both ponies looked up to their attacker, only to be shocked at who it was.