//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: The Apple's Desire // by ZStrike37 //------------------------------// It had only been a couple months since Twilight's brother, Shining Armor, had his wedding with Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, or simply Princess Cadance. Since that time, all had been quiet and Twilight and her friends were definitely enjoying the time of peace. Spike had thrown his bachelor party for Shining, but Twilight was never able to get her brother to tell her what had happened. Since nopony had really informed Spike what a bachelor party was, he had apparently taken quite an interesting guess, or so Shining had told her, but that was all he would say. The sneaky dragon wouldn't tell; it was either because he was too embarrassed or maybe even too pleased with himself, who knows? Twilight awoke as the sun was peeking in through the window in her bedroom. Her eyes opened and shut a few times before she fully registered she was awake and gave a long yawn. Loud snoring could still be heard a few feet from her bed. Apparently, her number-one assistant was still lost in his dreams. Slowly, the unicorn crawled out of her bed and precisely rearranged the sheets so that each side of her bed was covered equally with her magic showing off her perfectionist tendencies. “Another beautiful day eh, Spike?” she quietly asked the snoozing dragon who remained, most assuredly, asleep. Twilight chuckled. “Go ahead and take all the sleeping time you need, Spike. I'll get started on today's big task. You can join in whenever you decide you've had enough rubies to eat in your dream.” She magically fluffed Spike's pillow and placed his cover back over him. The unicorn scholar eagerly headed downstairs, which was being watched over by her number-two assistant. “Owlowiscious, did you have a pleasant night?” she asked as she looked over to the window where the owl kept his vigilant watch. He twisted his head around completely from looking outside at the sunrise, meeting Twilight's gaze and gave his usual response. “Well, I'm glad. Go ahead and get some rest then. I've got some work to do. It is time for my monthly reorganization of the entire Library. I can't wait!” Twilight squealed at the task with delight, clapping her hooves together a few times. She gingerly trotted into her kitchen for a quick, simple breakfast of toast spread with apple jam. Hey, nopony wants to start working on an empty stomach! Oh yes, she could feel it. Today was going to be great. She came out of the kitchen and into the main room of the library, marveling at all the books that were around her. For a few moments, she sat there drinking in the expanse of written words and complex formulas that surrounded her. Violet light surrounded the vast amount of tomes causing them to lift from their slumber and gently fall into what could be called an orderly mess, encircling the mare in their wisdom and comfort. Twilight glanced around the array of books and brought a hoof to her chin. “Hmm, now how should I go about sorting and rearranging this time? Last time, I organized by genre. The time before that it was alphabetical by title. Maybe I should try alphabetical by author? No no no. Perhaps by personal favoritism? Yeah right! How could anypony possibly choose between classics like The Relationship between Levitation and Magnetism and Starswhirl's Study of Spellcraft! Celestia knows I couldn't.” She was in no hurry. As far as Twilight could remember from her schedule, she didn't have any activities with her friends planned for the day, except later tonight for a party with her friends at Sugarcube Corner. It was Tank's birthday according to Fluttershy and Pinkie was itching for any reason to throw a party. While thinking of what crazy antics Pinkie would come up with for this party, Twilight let out a gasp of sudden enlightenment. “That's it! I'll sort by author and then genre, followed by title! It'll be simple and efficient.” --- There came a knock-knock at Fluttershy's cottage door. “I wonder who that could be,” the pegasus mused aloud as she finished putting leaves of lettuce and slices of carrots into Angel's bowl for his lunch. Opening the door, Fluttershy was taken aback slightly by the glowing smile of a pink earth pony that shined brightly into her eyes. “Oh hello, Pinkie. How are you today?” “Hiya, Fluttershy. Doing super fantast-a-rific! I hope you're still planning on coming to Tank's birthday party this evening. I've already put up all the decorations.” Pinkie's head turned up as she looked at nothing in particular as she began to wonder out loud. “Although I suppose I could put up even more. A party can't have TOO many decorations, can it? Pfft, no! What a silly thought!” Pinkie looked back to Fluttershy who, used to this by now, simply sat there, smiling and waiting patiently for Pinkie to refocus. “Oh yeah! I needed to ask you something about tortoises. Do they like punch? Gummy loves punch, but only the special flavor I make for him.” Lest she get wrapped up into another one of Pinkie's long-winded tales, Fluttershy quickly spoke, “Uh, punch? Well, I'm not so sure. I never gave him any punch while he was living with me. But as long as there's not too much sugar, I don't think it will be a problem.” Pinkie seemed to cower a bit at the mention of 'not too much sugar'. She recovered a few seconds after some heavy breathing. “Whew. Yeah, ok. Huh, weird. I've never heard those words used like that before! 'Not too much sugflpthplbb'.” Pinkie blew a bit of a raspberry at the end. “I can't even finish that sentence! Oh well, I guess I'll just have to make another batch of punch with not... too... much... sssshhhhhhhuuuuuhhhhhhhflpthplbb.” Another raspberry. “Oh darn, I thought if I spaced it out I could say it! Oh well! See ya later tonight, Fluttershy!” Pinkie gave a bit of a salute to the yellow pegasus. “Bye, Pinkie. Yes, I can't wait for the party tonight. I think Tank will be very happy that you went to all this trouble for him.” With this, Pinkie turned and began her usual bounce-hopping back into town, her face lit up with a happy smile that radiated its own light. Fluttershy closed the door and felt a tap on her hind leg. She looked down to see Angel holding his bowl. “What is it, Angel?” Angel went through a series of gestures, motioning to the bowl, his mouth, and finally his stomach. “Oh, you'd like seconds? Of course you can have more.” As Fluttershy filled Angel's bowl once again with the delectable veggies, she wondered about what she should get Tank for his birthday. When Tank moved in with Rainbow in her home in the clouds, Fluttershy had already given her everything she would need to take care of him. “Hmm, what would be something that Tank or Rainbow Dash could use?” While she was thinking, she looked out her window. A quick figure seemed to flash by in but a mere instant. Her first instinct was to shut the curtain and hide behind her couch, but the thought of her animal friends being in the slightest danger mustered her courage. She made a loud gulp, getting the attention of Angel who had now gotten his fill. Fluttershy timidly walked over the window and opened it, peeking outside. “H-hello?” She looked around but saw nothing except the sun shining down on the green fields around her cottage. The wind lightly blew through her mane and she brought her head back inside. Before closing the window, Angel hopped up and took a look outside for himself. He looked back at Fluttershy with a flat expression on his face, crossing his paws. “Yes, I suppose it was just my imagination.” Angel's look didn't change. “I know. I shouldn't get so worked up over something I'm not even sure is there.” At this, Angel smiled as he hopped onto Fluttershy's back and gave her neck a warm, bunny-hug. Fluttershy couldn't help but giggle a little as she found herself smiling, all worries receded. “Come on, Angel. I have an idea that I think will work as a present for Tank.” The white bunny rested on her back as she gently flew upstairs. --- Rainbow Dash flew quickly to her next destination. The large, library-tree came into view and she landed just in front of the front door, setting the large, rolled-up rug on the ground next to her. She lifted her hoof and gave a few rhythmic raps. It was Spike who opened the door. He looked up and was clearly excited to see her. “Rainbow Dash! Oh thank goodness you're here. Please tell me you need my help to deal with something important!” He brought his claws together in a pleading manner, looking up at Rainbow with wide, hopeful eyes. “Uh, sorry, Spike, not today. I'll let ya know, though.” Dash spoke in a quizzical tone. Spike's head fell with a defeated gaze filling his eyes as if the pegasus had just told him gemstones were illegal in Ponyville now. “Everything OK, Spike?” The tiny dragon-assistant let out a long sigh and looked back up at Rainbow with a sad stare. In a hushed, secretive voice he whispered, “It's just that today is Twilight's day of completely reorganizing the library.” As he finished, he opened the door wider so Rainbow could see the horror that lay within. The interior looked like a library Discord would have loved. In the middle of the room, a worn-looking unicorn was locked in a battle of wills with a single book that levitated in a violet cloud in front of her face. Twilight let out a loud, annoyed, and frustrated growl as she threw her hooves into the air, her eyes staring daggers at the ceiling. “Which is it?!? From Swords to Stars by Olivia Goodmare, how do I categorize you!?” She turned her head down to resume her fierce glare at the book she was levitating. “Under 'G' for Goodmare, but she has other books, too, so now I have to sort you by genre, but that's the problem! You contain completely exaggerated story elements and not-real locations set in the Pre-Classical Era of knights and peasants, so you should be considered fiction. However, you also include other locations and notable figures and events that have been documented as historically correct and accurate, meaning you are also non-fiction! But then, you have the nerve to start talking about space exploration and encountering other lifeforms in your later chapters, going into the genre of science-fiction! Ahh!!” Twilight continued to rant and rave over these same points over and over again. At the door, Rainbow could only just stare at what her friend was going on about. The cyan pony looked down at Spike, now fully understanding what he was asking for, a reason to leave and let Twilight be alone for a little bit. Rainbow leaned her head down to quietly speak to Spike. “Is she always this bad when reorganizing?” She could only guess how Spike put up with it, given how long he's been with Twilight. “Nah, this isn't the worst I've seen it. Not by far. It's just annoying because she'll call me over, ask me a question, I'll give an answer, she'll tell me I'm wrong and explain why I'm wrong, send me away to do something else, wait ten minutes, and call me back over to ask another question to which she'll tell me I'm wrong again.” he answered in a similarly hushed voice. “Spike! Come here, I need to ask you a question!” Twilight called out without taking her eyes off the book. Spike gave out a long groan. “Here, Spike, let me lend you a hoof here,” Rainbow said as she walked past the little dragon hoping that she could help. Rainbow approached the crazed unicorn who was muttering something under her breath. “Heya, Twilight! What's up?” she casually asked, hoping Twilight wouldn't freak out on her as well. Twilight dropped the book and sheepishly looked up at the new pony in the room. “Rainbow Dash! Uh, hi. Sorry about the library being a mess. I'm just trying to reorganize everything is all.” She gave her friend a guilty smile. “No worries, Twilight. I came by because I wanted to know if you could help me out with some of your fancy magic.” The once-delirious unicorn was coming back to her senses. “Of course. I'll help if I can. What do you need help with?” Rainbow gestured for Twilight to follow her outside. The two ponies passed Spike, who took this time to quickly run into the kitchen as if he hadn't had the opportunity to eat lunch, which given by the roaring of his stomach, he likely hadn't. Right before she exited the library, Twilight gave another menacing look at the book she had dropped, as if to tell it that she would be back for it shortly. The book gave no response to her challenge. The rolled-up rug Rainbow had left was still there, lying on the ground. “I need your help with this.” Twilight looked at the rug, confused, and was about to ask some questions, but Rainbow had anticipated this and continued before Twilight could say anything. “Not with the rug, exactly. But it's going to be my present for Tank. I wanted to know if you could enchant this rug with that cloud-walking spell so it could stay in my house on the bottom floor. But it's not really for me, or anything. It's just that Tank and I have to be careful about how long he can stay in the air at my place before he needs his propeller recharged. I'm always worried that it might fizzle out or something mid-flight and he'll fall. But, I figured if there was something that could catch him, like this rug that won't fall beneath the clouds, I wouldn't have to worry! I just spread it out over the entire floor and bam!” Rainbow struck the ground with her hoof for dramatic effect. “Problem solved.” “Oh, OK! I understand what you mean. That is a good idea! Just let me think for a second. Casting the spell on ponies was only mildly challenging, but casting it on an inanimate object shouldn't prove difficult at all.” Twilight closed her eyes and concentrated for a few moments before her horn glowed and the rug was enveloped in a violet aura. The magical mare opened her eyes as the spell finished it's casting. “There! Taken care of. Easy.” “Wow, so that's it, huh?" “Yep. That's it. Well, for now, anyway.” Rainbow gave her a confused expression. “Just once every two weeks, I'll need to recharge the spell, it won't last forever. So either you can bring it back down here, or, maybe even easier would be for me to come up there. I'll just need a helping hoof actually getting up there, or I guess a helping wing actually.” “Heh, no problem, Twilight. Thanks, this is awesome! Oh, and by the way. About your, um, categorization issue. What if you just filed it under 'multiple' for multiple genres?” Rainbow gave Twilight an uneasy smile, not sure how this suggestion would be taken. The bookworm sat for a second, staring at the pegasus athlete. Suddenly, the faithful student exploded with delight. “That's brilliant, Rainbow! Just create a new category for books with a multitude of genres! Of course, why didn't I see it!!” She began laughing and her flying friend soon joined her. After about a minute of laughing at this oversight, Twilight composed herself. “Thanks, you saved me a lot of grief.” “Don't mention it. I may not be an egghead like you, Twilight, but I always have awesome ideas.” Rainbow closed her eyes and smiled in triumph. She opened her eyes and looked to her friend. “Anyway, I gotta get this back home and hide it so Tank doesn't find it. I'll catch ya later tonight at the party! Thanks again, Twilight!” “Always happy to help a friend. See you later tonight.” They both hugged for a few moments before the light-blue pegasus grabbed her gift and soared back into the sky. Twilight headed back inside, closing the door behind her. “Now, where was it? Ah yes. From Swords to Stars, prepare to be categorized!” Her dragon companion came out of the kitchen and resumed his task of helping Twilight. Together they made short work of the remaining books. --- Applejack approached Carousel Boutique with her present for the upcoming party secured to her back. Rarity would sometimes be more than fashionably late to a party if she had a hard time deciding what she would wear. AJ gave a couple quick knocks at the door. Rarity opened the door looking just slightly worn out and her hair just barely hinted at the smallest amount of being disheveled. “Oh, hello, Applejack. Please, do come in.” Rarity motioned Applejack into her shop. “So why is it you've stopped by, can I help you with anything?” “Ya OK there, Rarity? Ya look just a tiny bit ragged, sugarcube.” It was now that the country mare got a look at the mess of the place. The designer pony turned her head away and brought a hoof up to cover her face. “Oh, I know! It's awful, isn't it? I've been spending most of the day trying to figure out what I should wear for the party this evening, but I just cannot for the life of me find that one special outfit that simply screams 'Me, Rarity! I'm the fabulous dress you're looking for!'.” “Rarity, it's just a birthday party for Tank. Ya don't really need to show up in somethin' all that fancy,” Applejack remarked, rolling her eyes at her friend's fondness for dramatics. “But that's where you're wrong, dear Applejack. It's been so long since we've all been together for a special event and I need to look glamorous for it!” The two mares had walked up the stairs into Rarity's room. The white unicorn went over to her open closet looking through it, probably for the 15th time that day. “What do ya mean, 'it's been so long'? We all got together for lunch just a few days ago,” Applejack stated with a hint of impatience in her voice. Rarity gave a sigh as though she were telling her sister an obvious truth. “Yes, but that was a public social event. This, however, is a private social event and demands a bit more flair.” Rarity emphasized that word with a wave of her hoof and a large smile on her face. “Well, Ah hope you haven't forgotten to get the lil' critter a present.” The fashionista stopped for a moment and turned to face the orange earth pony, with a guilty gaze. “Uh, well, you see, not yet. I've been awfully busy as 'twere. So, no, I don't have a present, but rest assured, that I will definitely figure something out.” Rarity gave a bit of a haughty laugh and resumed looking through her extensive wardrobe, pulling dresses out, examining them, and putting them back in. Applejack planted a hoof to her forehead. “Rarity, the party is for Tank!” The dress-maker didn't seem to hear the farmer's words. “Sheesh! Jus'... wear somethin' green!” This advice in what to wear certainly got the unicorn's attention and she turned to look at her friend with a shocked expression. “Applejack...” Rarity continued to stare at the farm pony, who looked back with a confused expression. “That is a marvelous idea! After all, green is the color of the turtle and–” “Tortoise,” corrected Applejack. “Yes, yes, the tortoise. Green is his color so why not wear an outfit that compliments the color of the guest of honor! Let's see," she muttered as she began mulling over the situation as she knew it. "He is a combination of dark and light greens so perhaps if I were to mimic that same style... oh, oh, IDEA!” Were Applejack to say anything, it wouldn't have mattered. The country pony knew all too well that look in the white mare's eyes and could tell that she was lost to the rest of the world. Rarity found a small notebook and pen and began sketching out designs with renewed vigor. Applejack was not about to stick around in case a model was needed. She began to back up to the stairs leading down. “Well, I can see ya have everything under control here, Rarity, so I'll be lettin' myself out. Jus' don't be too late to the party, ya hear! It's in two hours.” “Mhmm,” was the only response AJ got before she headed downstairs and out of the shop, relieved she was able to escape in time. “Well, I might as well go see if Pinkie needs any help finishing up decorations for the party.” Applejack smiled and laughed a bit as she headed for Sugarcube Corner. “Tonight's gonna be mighty fine, I can feel it!” Feel... yes, she could feel something. She slowed down slightly and looked around, but only saw a few other ponies going about their business. Nothing out of the ordinary. “Huh, weird.” --- The party was a great success. Everypony had a good time. Tank enjoyed his own batch of Pinkie's reduced-sugar punch. After cake was eaten (the party pony even went so far as to make reduced-sugar cake for the tortoise) presents were given for unwrapping. The ponies wrapped the presents in a way that all Tank had to do was give a slight pull on a string and the whole present would unwrap. Fluttershy gave Tank a pair of earmuffs and scarf if it ever got cold up in Rainbow's cloud-house. Twilight gave Rainbow a book, of course, called Understanding Reptiles: The Tortoise in case the rainbow-maned pony needed a reference guide to learn anything she wanted to know about her pet. Applejack had gotten some of the tastiest apples she could find and cut them up into small, bite-size pieces for Tank to easily eat. Rarity, who was wearing a dark green gown with a black trim and light green blouse, had put together a gift basket for Tank, which included a file for his feet, polish for his shell, and some oils that were supposed to help get rid of wrinkles. Pinkie's gift was a huge box, but within was an object way smaller that what the box would indicate. It was a tiny, white orb, barely a centimeter in diameter. Rainbow was the one to ask what everypony had been wondering. “Pinkie, what in the hay is that!?” “It's a night light silly! I figured it must get pretty dark in his shell at night,” Pinkie explained with a grin on her face and a 'duh!' expression in her eyes. “So that's when I thought it would be a super-neato present!” Rarity stepped forward with an unsure look in her eyes. “Pinkie, dear, I'm not sure...” but she stopped. They all looked down as Tank had already taken the white orb into his shell, which was now emitting a soft yellow glow from inside, as if a candle were lit within. The light went out and the tortoise emerged from his shell, a smile slowly forming on his face as he did so. “N-never mind.” Rainbow didn't have her present there, but assured Tank he'd get it when they went back home after the party. There was dancing, singing, and of course pin-the-tail-on-the-pony, which, once again, Pinkie emerged victorious. Time passed as the friends all laughed and had a great time. Eventually, the party came to an end and everypony said their goodbyes, shared hugs, and thanked their illustrious party-friend for proving once more why she was the master of all shindigs. When Twilight got back to the library, she found her legs feeling like jell-o and she longed for the soft comfort of a bed that seemed so far away at the moment. Right as she closed the door behind her, Spike came in from the kitchen, munching on a shard of amethyst. “Hey, Twilight. Have a good time at the party?” “I did, thanks. The party was just as enjoyable as I thought it would be. It always is when Pinkie Pie is involved. I still think you should have come with me," she playfully teased her number-one assistant, recalling his earlier decision of staying home. “Nah. You girls get together and I just feel out of place. I'm fine with just hanging here with Owlowiscious. By the way, a letter from the Princess came for you just a little while ago, I left it on your bed to read. As I thought, you look pretty tired and I figured you'd want to go to bed when you got back.” Spike crossed his arms and held his head high as his prediction was right on the nose. “Thanks, Spike. I'm going to go up and read it now, then I'm turning in for the night.” Twilight gave a yawn as she began climbing the stairs leading to the sanctuary of her beloved bed. She eagerly imagined those warm sheets wrapping around her and nestling her deep within their comfort and solace. “Yeah, I'll be up for some shuteye, too, as soon as I finish this.” He took a bite out of the shard and watched as as the exhausted unicorn went out of sight into the bedroom above. “Or maybe as soon as I finish two more,” he murmured deviously as he scampered back into the kitchen. Twilight found the letter, just as Spike said, on her bed. She levitated it up out of the way as she laid down on the bed, getting swallowed in the sheets she had missed dearly. She magically loosed the binding of the parchment, smiling at the sound of it unfurling. To my most faithful student, Twilight: First and foremost I must insist that you do not reveal this letter nor it's contents to anypony, not even your friends... --- The moon was now well over the horizon as Applejack trotted back up the winding road of Sweet Apple Acres. She had a great time and was ready to get some sleep quick so she would be able to get up early enough to get her work done. The crickets chirped their song as farm-pony strode in rhythm. A breeze rustled the leaves and shook the loose dirt around her hooves as she made her way through the orchard and up to her house. Right as she was about to open the front door, she felt something. There it was again, that feeling. Applejack stayed her hoof and looked around. “Now what is it?” she wondered out loud. This was different than that first time. The first time, she looked around and saw nopony suspicious. This time was different. There was a shadow of a pony between some trees further off in the distance and it was...looking at her. “Who in blazes could that be?” the orange pony whispered to nopony as she squinted, but it was no use with no sun out. She trotted out towards the stranger, head held high, ready to find out who this pony was. She drew nearer and spoke loud enough so she was sure the pony could hear the words. “Hey, you there! Whatcha doin' on Apple family property this late at night? Ya lost or somethin?” No response came and Applejack picked up her pace to meet the stranger. Probably some no-good thief lookin' to get a few free samples! she thought to herself as she came closer and closer to the pony. It was a mare, that much was obvious by now. The mare was definitely facing Applejack as the annoyed pony drew near and was not even poised to run away. In fact, the mare sat down as Applejack approached. “Are ya gonna tell me who ya are or what?” demanded Applejack. The shadow of a nearby tree covered the mare so Applejack couldn't get a good idea of how she looked, but AJ didn't dare get any closer. The feeling she had now felt like an earthquake in her stomach. Her vision blurred ever so slightly. The mare tilted her head slightly and warmly smiled at the apple farmer, unnerving her a bit. “Why, Applejack, don't you recognize me?”