//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: The Invitation // Story: LAIR OF THE BADALISC!!! // by Doctor Fluffy //------------------------------// It was three days after Hearthswarming, and Rarity had fashion on her mind.  All around her, the paraphernalia of this wintry holiday was being carted off to… wherever it went. Rarity had never really understood that, or rather, she’d never taken the opportunity to think about it for more than a few seconds, which amounted to the same thing. Was there some massive warehouse of Hearthswarming decorations that sat, letting them gather dust during Winter Wrap-Up? Rarity silently imagined the absurdity of accidentally finding herself in a little pocket of Hearthswarming Eve in the middle of spring.  What she was clear on was the new line of Hearthswarming dresses and suits she had planned for next year, using all the detritus of the holiday to create something new. She wasn’t too clear on some of the details yet, but she had a decent haul already in her cart. Her stomach rumbled, suddenly. I suppose I should stop by Sugarcube Corner, she thought, glancing in the direction of one of Ponyville’s most lavishly designed buildings. Have some hot chocolate, see if they warm up a brownie… She shook her head. No, I -  Her stomach became more insistent. Curse you, stomach. I’m supposed to be dieting for my next shoot, Rarity thought, sighing.  She walked towards Sugarcube Corner, feeling almost resigned. Though she did have a smile on her face, all the same. Nopony did pastries like Sugarcube Corner. Nopony. “We made sure of that!” Pinkie had said. Speaking of Pinkie Pie…  Rarity wondered how she was doing. She’d been hanging onto Rainbow Dash’s every word at the party in Twilight’s castle, chugging Applejack’s cider, and following her to one of the castle’s spare rooms. And then Rainbow Dash had left for Wonderbolt Academy. She’d received another promotion. “Sooner or later you’ll run out of space on the uniforms!” Rarity had said, laughing playfully as she looked over the lapels of Rainbow’s uniform coat. “That’s how many medals, now?” “There’s the Most Responsible Wonderbolt Badge,” Rainbow had said. “So, I’m thinking… five? Six, now with the…” She sighed. “I always get bored before I finish it.” “Finish what?” Fluttershy asked. “The medal’s name,” Rainbow said, sighing, one hoof to her head in either a facehoof or an effort to massage a growing headache. “It’s too long.” “How bad could it be, Dashie?” Pinkie Pie asked. Rainbow looked to one of the nearby windows, reached into the coat with her right foreleg, and pushed it out, squinting into the glass. “The Order of Stalliongrad for Exceptional Leadership Under F… far, no, fire, and Selfmless Heron… heroinism…” She squinted harder. Rarity genuinely wondered if she was closing her eyes and too drunk to notice. “It ends in ‘One Who Has Saved Many Children From Birding… no, burning Buildingsh,’ Rainbow said. “How’d you earn that?” Pinkie Pie chirped. “I saved them from a collapsing building full of birdsh,” Rainbow Dash explained. “I think they were herons.” almost wanted to laugh once she saw it, and regretted it instantly. The poor dear, she thought. It’s just like all those years ago. Pinkie Pie stood outside the pink mailbox in front of Sugarcube corner. She reached for the lever on the side, smile wide with anticipation, and… Her face fell. Eyebrows narrowing in disappointment. “Aaaanytime,” Pinkie Pie said, staring into the depths of the mailbox. “Aaaaaaaaanytime, now…” She closed it again, sighed, and within seconds, it was as if none of that had happened. A smile spread across her face, her eyes widened, and anticipation was written all across her f- Nothing this time, either. Perhaps I should… do something, Rarity thought. I know how Pinkie gets, after a- She shook her head. No, no. There was no need for that. Pinkie was her friend. Just because they seemed to rarely talk to each other, that was no reason to let the gulf widen. “Pinkie, dear,” Rarity said. “Rainbow only just got word it was time for her leave. You need to be patient.” “But I’ve been so looooonely lately!” Pinkie said. “Twilight’s off doing princess things, Fluttershy and Discord are joined at his second hip, and….” “We still see them fairly often,” Rarity pointed out. “And, after all, I’m still here. Why not go and talk to Applejack?” “She spends so much time trying to fix tools with Apple Bloom and… she’s not always in the mood for what I want to do. And it’s just… it’s not the same not having everypony,” Pinkie Pie said. “I feel like a balloon pony someone started deflating.” She sighed. Her mane looked lank, dishevelled.  Rarity’s eyes widened. Oh no. Not again- She knew the signs. She knew exactly what to do.  “Well then, let me remedy that, darling,” Rarity said. “How about we buy some coffees and cupcakes from Sugarcube corner, and have a heart to heart in Carousel Boutique? It’s been awhile since I made a dress for you.” “It sure has,” Pinkie said, a smile on her face.  “My treat,” Rarity said. “You’re sure?” Pinkie asked. “I get an employee discount.” “Trying on a different element, are we?” Rarity asked, restraining a light chuckle. “No, just consider it thanks for inviting me over,” Pinkie said. Then she gasped. “But what about the mailbox?!”  “Pinkie, dear,” Rarity said, “The mailbox will be here when you come back, and Rainbow Dash will be just as ready to send letters. It’s not like checking it every ten seconds-” “Every 11.4 seconds!” Pinkie interrupted. “Every 11.4 seconds will have any noticeable effect,” Rarity said. “Please, come in, let some steam off.” Pinkie Pie’s personal preferences skewed towards… well. After enough party planning, it soon became abundantly clear to her that not everyone enjoyed balloons, tulle, organza, and pink everywhere. In addition to her usual tools of the trade. For example, she was once hired to decorate and cater for Dethklop, Equestria’s most popular death metal band. And while it hadn’t been what she would’ve done, they were the bosses. There’d been a lot of leather and spikes that day. It’d been a lot of fun, and her neck hurt from all the headbanging the next morning. Rarity’s rooms in Carousel Boutique reminded her of that experience. Except there was less leather and studs, no metal, no cider everywhere, and no house-sized speakers, so really it wasn’t anything like working for Dethklop at all. Where was she? Oh! Right. How Rarity’s room was like working for a death metal band, except in all the ways it totally wasn’t. There was something relaxing about the way Rarity had constructed the apartments in Carousel Boutique. All subdued, cool colors in lighter purples that complimented Rarity’s mane, chairs you could just sink into, and overall it seemed as far from Pinkie’s usual tastes as the moon was from Equestria.  So that was why I was reminded of Dethklop, she realized. That makes perfect sense! Wait. No it doesn’t. As was typical for an outing with Rarity, the fashionista unicorn had decided to relax by taking measurements for a new, personalized ensemble.   The two of them had been discussing a new dress for Pinkie, and they were deep in discussion on that. “I’m not sure that giving you a pink dress is a good idea,” Rarity said. “Why not?” Pinkie asked.  “Well, you’re already pink, aren’t you?” Rarity asked. She hadn’t asked what’d been bothering her all this time. There was something reassuring about that.  I’ll tell her when I’m ready, Pinkie thought, taking a deep breath. Yes. “It might just blend with you,” Rarity continued. “You’ll need something that contrasts or complements it.” “That makes sense. How about, uh… a dark rose color, then?” Pinkie asked. “Or maroon? I like saying maroon.” “How do you know what that color looks like?” Rarity asked. “I learned every shade of pink!” Pinkie proclaimed. “Including heliotrope, but… that seems like it’d be too bright on me.” “Couldn’t agree more,” Rarity said. “It would be positively gaudy.” A pregnant pause followed.  “I don’t even think it’d even work as accents!” Pinkie added, nodding vigorously. The words felt strange to Pinkie and Rarity alike.  The two of them stared at each other in silence. It was clear to both of them that something was going unsaid. “Pinkie, dear, what was bothering you? I haven’t seen you that way in years.” Pinkie Pie took in a deep breath. So many thoughts were racing through her head. It was like Rarity had blown open the floodgates, like that dam that Ponyville may or may not have had. You’d think I’d remember having a hydroelectric dam in town, Pinkie thought. We don’t seem to notice it that often and aaagh, FOCUS, PINKIE! She thought furiously. YOU CAN’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO, PINKIE!! She thought. YES I CAN, PINKIE! BECAUSE I AM YOU, PINKIE!! When did that happen? She shook her head. No, no, no, no. She had to collect her thoughts. Rarity was staring at her, a concerned look on her face. “Take your time, darling,” Rarity said, a warm smile on her face. She exhaled. Inhaled again. Pinkie Pie had absolute confidence that out of all the feelings she had, she’d be able to summarize them. The loneliness she felt sometimes, when her fellow elements were off doing Element things. The way she missed Rainbow Dash. The mundane terror of her everyday existence. The way she felt as if she’d never truly make the perfect lemon poppyseed cake. That last one haunted her sometimes. “IjustmissallouradventuresandeventhoughIlovehowhappyweallareIjustfeelsolonelyandlistlesssometimes… and… itsjustnotthesameandIbarelyfeellikethesameponyanymore!!” Rarity nodded. Pinkie could tell from that simple gesture that she understood perfectly. “I know how it feels,” Rarity said, nodding. “When I’m visiting my new locations in Baltimare or Fillydelphia, I feel so lonely sometimes. I’m off socializing with new faces everywhere, ponies that I…” She drooped. Ever so slightly. “I just spend a lot of time wishing that I had a friend by my side,” Rarity said. “It’s meant the world to me when you accompany me to those.” “Thank you, Rarity,” Pinkie said, smiling. It was something she’d missed “Even though high society parties are…” “Boring?” Pinkie Pie asked. Rarity blushed slightly, a hoof over her mouth. “You said it, not me, dear.” “I mean, they’re not all bad,” Pinkie said. “That release party you had over at the Tasty Treat, all the times I’ve hired Vinyl Scratch or Neon Lights, but all the times it was the five of us at some party where everyone has to pretend to drink champagne and cider and just stand around… is that even a party?” She paused. “I’m seriously asking.” Rarity looked at her, raising an eyebrow. “Honestly, I think you may be on to something.” “It’s like an anti-party,” Pinkie said. “You’re supposed to cut loose and enjoy yourself at a party, but that’s the opposite!” “I suppose you’re right,” Rarity said. “But… I always think of something while I’m there, while I meet new ponies.” “What's that?” Pinkie asked. “No matter how much you want to, you can’t go back to the past,” Rarity said. Pinkie cocked her head to the side. Wait. Really? Something about that didn’t add up to her. “Really? Twilight did,” Pinkie asked. “Same for Starlight. Several times, too!” Rarity blinked. “Oh. Right.” Pinkie could see Rarity stumbling over that one. “But, I…” Rarity said. “You can’t…” One eye twitched.  Ohhhhh. Oh no. This was another one of those things, wasn’t it? Where people said something and meant the opposite. Sarcasm, right? And she’d been so good! She’d been trying her best to get it. I bucked up again, didn’t I? Pinkie thought.  “It’s okay, Rarity,” Pinkie said. “I know what you meant.” Pinkie would breathe a sigh of relief at that first syllable from Rarity. It was a relief to have friends like her. It wasn’t as if Pinkie didn’t know she didn’t think like anypony else - she’d been tripped up on sarcasm before, or just hadn’t noticed the signs from someone. Or even noticed that there could be signs. “Do you?” Rarity asked, a note of hope in her voice. She totally didn’t. “Is it how trying to change the past is irresponsible, and you have to learn to be content with what you have?” Pinkie asked. “Like that one comic with that guy who has a chainsaw hoof that tells the protagonist that you have to stop changing the past, or that thing with Twilight-” That had been a random guess, but it seemed like something worth learning. “...you’re not wrong, but that wasn’t what I was thinking,” Rarity interrupted. “Though I do like that comic. And not as literal. It’s more… that time passes, and everything changes. You don’t truly have control over most of it. Like my new boutique in Fillydelphia!” “But… you bought the location,” Pinkie said. “We fought a pony ghost made of bees and discovered the real axe murderer was love all along. You had plenty of control over this.” Rarity sighed. Oh no, Pinkie thought. Not again. “I promise, I’m getting to it,” she said, a warm smile on her face. “I just felt so lonely there, sometimes. When I was having my open house, trying to find new customers and make my mark on Fillydelphian society, I wished to Celestia that you all could’ve been there. But you were busy at the Apple Family reunion, Twilight… was Twilight... and I couldn’t expect any of you to cross the continent on such short notice. So I had to take it on myself to make it the best night I could.” She laid a hoof on Pinkie’s barrel, just above her right foreleg. “Pinkie,” Rarity said, “You control what you do with your life, and you can make the best memories you can. Sometimes, you have to get out there and decide for yourself.” Her face took on a warm, almost motherly expression. Is she really that much older than me? Pinkie thought. Then her mind wandered back to the Secret Party Cave’s files. “Rarity - aged Rude To Ask.” That definitely sounded older than whatever age Pinkie was. So Rarity was probably allowed to act motherly. “And wishing for others to be there won’t change that,” Rarity continued. “And neither will checking the mailbox every ten seconds-” “Eleven point four seconds,” Pinkie said. “Eleven point four seconds,” Rarity finished. “You have to be ready to stand on your own and create new memories. You can’t wait for it to come for you. You have to and seek it yourself.” Pinkie held a foreleg under her chin.  “You’re right, Rarity,” Pinkie Pie said. She felt a fire burning within herself, a desire to get out into the world, to steel herself and dig her hooves into the ground and Do Things. She was going to find new friends, she was going to believe in herself. By the end of the week, she’d find something fun.  “I can’t just wait for the next opportunity to just walk up to this door,” Pinkie Pie said. “I need to work to move forward.” She trotted towards the door, and slid one foreleg through the door handle. She flung it open, to reveal- “Uh… hi?” asked a mare with a letter in her mouth.  Standing in the doorway was a grey pegasus mare in a postmare’s uniform with a yellow mane, holding a letter in her mouth. It was none other than Derpy Hooves, Ponyville’s perennial mailmare, of… questionable reliability. “Uhhhh… is Pinkie here?’ she asked. Her voice was oddly deep for a mare. The letter fell out of her mouth, dented with tooth marks and falling to the floor. “Yes, Pinkie is here,” Rarity and Pinkie said at the same time.  “We heard she was looking at the mailbox every 11.4 seconds,” the mailpony said, “so we figured we should get this to her.” “Thanks, Derpy!” Pinkie said. “Wow, I can’t believe this!” “Neither can I,” Rarity said, an expression of pure confusion on her face. “You’re welcome,” Derpy said, pushing the letter towards Pinkie with one foreleg. “Yeah,” Derpy said, “Whoever sent you this really wanted you to get it! They marked it priority and told me to get it to you as soon as possible.” “Thanks, Derpy,” Pinkie said. “It’s-” Her jaw dropped when she read the address. “AUDIBLE GASP!” she yelled. “Pinkie, what is it?” Rarity asked.  “It’s from Cheese Sandwich!” Pinkie yelled, as question after question raced through her mind. How’s he doing?! Is he off in another town? Has he met somepony else? Does he need something? Can I send cupcakes? How many? What can I do for him? The two of them rarely communicated outside of the occasional meet-up for a day or two, and infrequent, staggered bursts of letter writing. They’d hammer out letters that could range from paragraphs to novellas over the course of a few days, and then they could go weeks without hearing from each other. But most importantly? What in Equestria is the letter about?! “That’s great!” Rarity gasped. “What does it say?” “Good question. I have no idea!” Pinkie replied. She sandwiched the envelope between her two forelegs and gently bit down on the top, tearing the paper with her teeth. “Dear Pinkie Pie,” she read.  “It feels like just yesterday that we met up at the Tasty Treat. I know you might be relaxed in Ponyville, but I couldn’t do this without asking for your opinion. I’m visiting my extended family in the northern foothills of Caballonia for an eponaphony-time tradition. They want me to plan a party for the entire town! There’s meant to be several days of festivities, all for an entire town as we celebrate togetherness and honesty. And it’s so much for just one super-duper party pony. I struggled with this, but family’s family… ...and you were the best mare I could ask to help! Pinkie Pie, will you be my co-party-planner for the festival of… THE BADALISC? Pinkie Pie gasped. “Where did that noise come from?” she asked. “What noise?” Rarity asked. “That spooky melodramatic movie noise?” Pinkie asked. “Sorry,” Rarity said. “I left the phonograph on.” Her horn glowed, and she lifted the needle up from a nearby phonograph. There’s so much to do in Cavallocade! There’s skiing, cider-tastings, a spa,great restaurants… so we’ll have plenty to do in our off time. Just send me a response to this return address and let me know what you want to do. Sincerely, Cheese Sandwich Pinkie dropped the letter, and it fluttered to the floor. It sat there silently, Rarity and Pinkie staring at it in confusion. “Oh, okay,” Pinkie said. “I’m not really sure what I’ve learned from this.” “It is a bit strange, isn’t it?” Rarity asked. “You were just rewarded for everything we complained about.” “Good thing that never happened during any of our friendship lessons or we’d be in a real pickle!” Pinkie chirped. “I wouldn’t say it all goes against it,” Rarity said. “Opening that new boutique and fighting that bee ghost thing with you wasn’t just a weird couple of days, it was an opportunity. Just like meeting all those new fashion designers. I think that you should absolutely take this opportunity, Pinkie.” “I was already going to!” “Dear Cheese, That sounds super-duper funeriffic!” Pinkie wrote, a pencil affixed to her hoof by a strip of cloth wrapped around one foreleg. “I would absolutely love to plan this party with you, and there is not enough yes in the world for how much I want to do this. But… as long as I can get to Manehattan afterwards to plan for that musical Coco Pommel is designing the costumes for, then we’re golden. I’ve checked the calendar, and it’s… two days after the festival is over. I’ll have to leave pretty soon.” See you soon! Pinkie Pie The next few days would fly by like Rainbow Dash at her fastest. Appropriate, given that she’d come back to Ponyville within hours of Pinkie receiving a return letter from Cheese. There was a lot to read on that letter, but the sentence that jumped out to Pinkie Pie like her from a prop jack-in-the-box was this one: Buy a ticket to the town of Cavallocade, and I’ll be waiting for you at the station. The nine of them, Discord included, sat just outside at Cafe Hay. Twilight had ordered an eight-creature lunch for all of them, and so they sat at the fanciest table at one of Ponyville’s most respected restaurants. “You’re really heading out into Caballonia?” Rainbow Dash asked, her eyes narrowed. Pinkie had catapulted herself into the seat next to Dashie - or at least, next to the spot Dashie would land after pacing around repeatedly. Of course she said yes. Of course she had scrawled out a letter hastily scrawled with the words, “Yes, I’d love to!” But there was a problem. One that she couldn’t quite wrap her head around, not least because even with Pinkie’s flexibility, there were limits.  “I’ve never even heard of Caballonia,” Starlight Glimmer said. “It’s in the mountains, on a peninsula not far from the Dragon Lands extending out from the Eponines,” Twilight said. “It’s most well known for the volcano, Mount Vehoofius.” Pinkie’s eyes went wide, and she looked to Twilight. “I didn’t know that!”  “You were all gung-ho about heading there, and you didn’t know?” Twilight asked. “That seems… foolhardy. How were you thinking about getting there?” “I was just thinking I’d take the train like we always do,” Pinkie said. “If we can get to Griffonstone and the Crystal Empire that way before the Crystal Empire even reappeared, why not?” “You don’t know if there’s a train there?” Twilight asked. “There actually is, darling,” Rarity said. “I’ve had to visit it for fashion shows a number of times.” Pinkie breathed a sigh of relief. “Phew. I was worried this was going to be harder than I thought! Though there’s… one more question I have.” “What’s that, sugarcube?” Applejack asked. She’d taken the seat at Rainbow Dash’s right side. “...I have no idea what a badalisc or eponaphony-time are,” Pinkie said.  “Well,” Twilight said, “A Badalisc, despite everything, has nothing to do with a basilisk. It’s a creature from Northern Caballonia, and… I don’t know much else.” “They look like big, furry tubes with a mouth, horns, and eyes,” Applejack explained. “Like Discord?” Pinkie asked. “No, it’s nothing like that!” Discord protested. “I’m not a furry tube with…” His voice trailed off. “Oh. Huh.” “You also have scales and feathers,” Fluttershy pointed out. Discord breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks, Fluttershy. I was worried for a few seconds there.” “But no, it’s not like Discord,” Applejack said. “They’re more… fat, and wide, and wooly. Kind of like a yak, but with more teeth. And they don’t float. What they do is come down into town, and reveal everyone’s secrets. Because apparently, they know the innermost secrets of everyone in town. And then they make a big show of getting captured, and the town celebrates their togetherness.” Pinkie stroked her chin with one forehoof. That sounded vaguely familiar. But from where. Where... The entire table went silent.  “Even Twilight didn’t know that. How do you know that?” Rarity asked. “She probably has a cousin there,” Rainbow said off-hoofedly, shrugging. “It’s not like an actual Badalisc visits Sweet Apple Acres.” “Right on the money, Rainbow. Got a couple out there,” Applejack said. “So then what’s eponaphony time?” Pinkie asked. “After the new year, but before Winter Wrap-Up, in some parts of Equestria, they use it to celebrate a new year,” Twilight explained. “I’m guessing the festival of the Badalisc is to celebrate a fresh start of some kind.” “Interesting,” Pinkie said. “That sounds like the thing we were talking about earlier, Rarity!” “So it does,” Rarity mused. “Sounds like?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Pinkie, are you sure you’ll be okay?” She placed her hooves on Pinkie’s shoulders, just above where her forelegs began. Is Dashie okay? Pinkie wondered. Her wide, staring eyes bored into Pinkie. And suddenly, panic stabbed through Pinkie Pie. What if I say something wrong? What if I drive him off? What if I’m too… too whatever and he can’t even look at me? What if we can’t stand each other? “I… don’t know if I will be,” Pinkie said. “I just… I barely know Caballonia, I don’t know anything about planning a badalisc party, and I don’t know what he’ll say.” She started taking short, shallow breaths. “You’re twilighting hard, Pinkie,” Twilight said. “Are you-” Everyone in the room turned to stare at her, jaws dropped. “What?” Twilight asked. “You spelled out all the symptoms to me.”  She paused. “What’s bothering you, Pinkie?” she asked. “I just feel like there’s so much I might do wrong,” Pinkie said. Rainbow Dash’s wings were flapping like a hummingbird’s. Her eyes were narrowed, and she was fluttering to and fro. ...she’s not okay, Pinkie thought. “Then let me come with you, or read up on it, or get some backup,” Rainbow Dash said. “You’re going further than any of us have been since the Storm King invaded, and you’ll be doing it alone!” Pinkie considered reaching out to push one of Dashie’s forelegs away, to admonish her for being silly, but... She looked at the faces of her other friends. Nobody quite looked like they knew how to respond to this. Fluttershy’s eyes were wide, and Spike looked like he was on the watch for a Changeling. “You alright there, sugarcube?” Applejack asked, trotting up to Rainbow Dash, green eyes practically glowing under her hat. “You, uh…” “You don’t quite seem yourself,” Fluttershy said. “Like I said, I’ve done this before,” Pinkie said. “Pinkie and I were just talking about that,” Rarity said. “Though, I have one question.” “Which is?” Applejack asked. “Why are we talking so much about what we used to do,” Rarity started, “When we’re all here?” Dead silence. Before the whole table burst into laughter. ONE DAY LATER CAVALLOCADE “I can’t believe she’s actually coming here!” Cheese Sandwich said, fretting with a bowtie he wore over his yellow polo shirt. “It’ll be okay,” said his brother, Tomato Sandwich. His physique was, in many ways, Cheese’s opposite. Where Cheese was tall and lanky, Tomato was shorter, and stouter. Where Cheese was unkempt with his wild tangle of brown, Tomato had a tightly coiffed pompadour that was… ...also brown. Okay, so they weren’t total opposites. He tapped his brother’s barrel, just above the spine. “Look, if I know anything about you and Pinkie Pie, it’s that you two get along like peanut butter and chocolate.” “This is all just so sudden, though!” Cheese said. “And we haven’t seen each other in months…” “It has been a month and a half,” Sans Smirk said.  “Thanks for the…. Reminder,” Cheese said, sweat dripping down his face. Nervously, he twisted at his bowtie again. As Cheese did not have hands, it was more like he was repeatedly slapping his neck, and having the tie inexplicably stick to his hooves, and then watching it come into place. “...how are you doing that if you don’t have talons?” asked Giovanni the Griffin.  Cheese just shrugged, aligning his forelegs into a ’W’ shape. “I dunno, it’s just… one of those things?” “Ohhhh,” Giovanni said, with a practiced slow nod, as if that explained everything to him. “I get it! That makes perfect sense!” It didn’t, but from what Cheese knew of the griffon, it was just Giovanni’s way of saying ‘I still don’t get it but it’s too much effort.’  Giovanni made a show of taking a huge swig of cider. The four of them - Cheese, Tomato, Giovanni, and Sans Smirk - sat at Cavallocade’s local pub, The Odd-Shaped Room. It boasted quite the diverse clientele,full of ponies and griffons, even a few Changelings and Hippogriffs. Sure, Sans and Giovanni had pointed out that Cheese and Tomato easily could’ve gotten them drinks at the Mascar-Pony, the family inn across town. At least, Cheese thought it was across town.  The Odd-Shaped Room had a tendency to migrate across Cavallocade, finding its way into buildings it hadn’t been in yesterday. Once, it had been neighbors to the Mascar-pony. Then it had been across the street.  But dining at the family inn would’ve required being among family right now. And sometimes, that could just feel… overpowering. So Cheese and Tomato had headed off to the Odd-Shaped Room, a favorite colthood haunt for when they’d needed to relax anonymously, away from family. It wasn’t that the entire Cheese family were bad, or that Cheese and Tomato didn’t like them. It was just that their family could be… a bit much. And sometimes, they needed space. The bar had been decorated to perfection by Oak Barrel, the proprietor, main brewer, and distiller. Orange and yellow streamers hung from the ceiling, in between lanterns alternating between those same colors, and between their pools of light, creatures of all shapes and sizes, wearing headbands with stylized ram horns, towering brown and green hats, and dancing to and fro. Also, something with two many tentacles and one staring green eye sat at a barstool, several tentacles covering a mug. The liquid in its glass steadily drained. “She wanted to come here to see you, after all,” Tomato reminded his brother. “And… and I’ve heard how you like talking about her. Pinkie saved my gag business, Pinkie changed my life, Pinkie helped me hide Bighoof when he was using my belt sander…” He sounded almost annoyed, but there was a strange sort of kindness to the way he said it. “Why do you even have a belt sander?” Giovanni asked. “Construction,” Sans Smirk said.  “I’m not going to stop her from coming, she already said she would,” Cheese said. “It’s just that… she sent me that letter. She said she wanted to come. If she knows I have family here, what else would she know?!”  It’d been one of the great mysteries of Cavallocade, or at least among Cheese’s immediate social circle and family. So it’d ended up being one of Cavallocade’s greatest mysteries: How did Pinkie Pie send a letter asking to meet Cheese for the Festival of the Badalisc when she didn’t have his address? “Maybe you told her about it at some point?” Tomato asked. Cheese looked down, confused. “I… don’t think I did.” “If I may?” Sans Smirk asked. “I happen to know a lot about relationships.” “I’m sure you do,” Tomato Sandwich said, voice completely deadpan.  “Thanks for your vote of confidence,” Sans Smirk said. Cheese could never quite tell just what was going through his business partner’s head as he said things like that. “She knows how you feel, and you know how she feels. And clearly you mean a lot to her. All you have to do is put it out there.” “What if that fails?” Cheese asked. “What if it hangs over your heads and you feel stuck?” Sans asked. “I can say with complete certainty that if you let that happen, you’re gonna have a bad time.” En route to Rainbow Falls Two Days Later Twilight had sprung for first-class tickets on the Griffonstone Express, and so for hours upon hours, Pinkie and Rainbow would sit in the lap of luxury.  It hadn’t exactly been a tearjerking, emotional goodbye. But there’d been a lot of emotions. “Now just remember, sugarcube,” Applejack had said, holding Rainbow Dash in both forelegs, “anything bad happens, you just call me.” “How?” Rainbow asked. “I don’t think there’ll be a dragon there, and…” “That don’t matter, sugarcube,” Applejack said. “I heard you once flew the length of the Mustang Marathon to get to Spitfire, I’m sure you can figure something out. Anything bad happens to you, and I’ll come runnin’.” “Almost makes me wonder why you didn’t come,” Rainbow Dash said. “Well, things’ve been… busy over at the farm,” Applejack said. “We need all the hooves we can get right now, so I can’t leave for a vacation.” They’d gotten on the subject of Pinkie’s trip to Caballonia. “And Caballonia looks like so much fun!” Pinkie said. “Apparently, they have the best pizza and pasta in Equestria, and so many great desserts! There’s this thing called a tartufo, which is a chocolate-cherry dessert, and their main exports are gold, wine, leather, olive oil-” “Since when you do you know so much about it?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Last night’s party!” Pinkie chirped. “Pinkie, that was two days ago. Are you telling me that…” Rainbow started. “Wait. Nevermind. Also, what was that last one?” Rainbow asked. “Olive oil?” Pinkie asked. “Well, it’s great on - Oh, and Cavallocade is in the Eponine mountains, so I think there’s good skiing there, which’ll be really fun-” “Have you ever gone skiing before, Pinkie?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Nope! But I can ice skate, so how hard could it be?” Pinkie asked. “According to Double Diamond, you do a lot of skating while skiing,” Rainbow Dash said. “You’ve talked to him?” Pinkie said.  “Fleetfoot told me about unique flying techniques she learned from thestrals for the Mustang Marathon, so I thought it’d be nice to get another perspective,” Rainbow Dash said. “It was pretty fun! We had s… sh... soooooooo much hot co… cocoa at the end of thr day.” The way she said “cocoa” made Pinkie genuinely wonder if it was actually hot chocolate. Dashie did  get pretty attached to cider. Even if it wasn’t hard cider. Wait. Is this hard cider? Pinkie wondered. I don’t feel a thing here. I get more of a buzz from beer. And yet Dashie was starting to slur her words. I feel like I shouldn’t question this one, Pinkie thought. Desperately trying not to think about that, she found herself saying: “I feel like Sugar Belle’s the only one from back then I still talk to.” “Oh, yeah?” Rainbow asked. “Yeah, her cutie mark is in baking so she knows more than I do,” Pinkie said. “She taught me how to make a polenta crust for pizza! It’s great if you can’t eat gluten.” “We eat plants and some of us can’t eat gl… glue… gluten?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Well, it’s more common in other species but yes!” Pinkie said. “Also yeesh, I hope we don’t eat glue…” There was a brief pause. The train rattled along, passing through a small logging town - it looked to Pinkie like it was barely even a town, just a couple of outbuildings around a spur line. A large, slightly lopsided-looking steam locomotive with the boiler pushed to the side and no visible pistons sat in front of a shed, lightly steaming. Pinkie snapped a picture of it, biting down on the shutter with her upper jaw. Maybe if I get hired to do a train-themed party that’ll come in handy, she thought. Far off in the distance, Pinkie could see the lights of Rainbow Falls.  “So, Dashie,” Pinkie said. “I thought you were so busy with, uh… Wonderbolt stuff?” Pinkie didn’t quite understand what a lot of said Wonderbolt stuff was, but Rainbow Dash would always get so amped-up while talking about it. “I did, but I asked Spitfire for some leave,” Rainbow Dash said.  “You still have to ask for it?” Pinkie asked. “Not for long,” Rainbow Dash said, a light smirk on her face. “She says someday, I’ll be commander and then I… still have to ask, but there’ll be less paperwork.” “So what were your plans at Wonderbolt Camp?” Pinkie asked. “Spitfire has a new training exercise planned,” Rainbow Dash said. “We’re gonna be practicing a new way to fly in the middle of windstorms.” Pinkie stared at Rainbow Dash in awe, her eyes wide. On the rock farm, and even in Ponyville, storms had always been a good reason to hunker down in a warm room with either hot cider or hot cocoa. “That sounds dangerous,” Pinkie said, her eyes wide. “Why would they even let storms run loose like that?” “I’ve been talking with Flutters and Applejack,” Rainbow Dash said. “It’s because of ecology or something?” It was… abundantly clear that Rainbow Dash wouldn’t be able to explain it very well. “Anyway, sometimes ponies don’t know how dangerous they can be, and refuse to move out of the way. And sometimes, they’re too big to control, so we have to redirect them,” Rainbow Dash said. She gestured to and fro with her foreleg, growing more and more animated. It all sounded very fascinating to Pinkie.  On some level, she felt like she’d always wanted to fly, to glide through the air like a pegasus. But on the other hoof, it all felt so far out of reach for her. The ornithopter was fun, but it made me feel like I was riding a fridge with wings, Pinkie thought. She’d always felt like it couldn’t possibly keep up with Rainbow Dash in any meaningful way. “So why’d you decide to come with me?” Pinkie asked. Rainbow Dash looked at her, eyes wide. “You seemed so... “ Rainbow Dash said. “I don’t know, scared.” “Me? Scared?” Pinkie asked, her eyes wide. “Look, I can just laugh it off and I’ll-” “No, you were…” Rainbow Dash started. Then she sighed. “No, no, I don’t know how you felt. But you seemed like you might want a friend while we go there. So… here I am!” I was scared? Pinkie thought, her eyes widening. “It’ll be just like old times,” Rainbow Dash said, chuckling a little. “Faust, remember when I didn’t want to hang out with you back before Gilda came to town?” “Why didn’t you want to?” Pinkie asked. “I was pretty new in town by then,” Rainbow Dash said offhoofedly. “And I just… buck, I was so lazy back then. And you were a bit…” Her voice trailed off. Pinkie felt a sudden stab of fear. Oh no. She’s going to say ‘annoying!’ I did it wrong, I did it wrong again, stupid, stupi- “There was… a lot of you,” Rainbow Dash said, haltingly. “You were always on, all the time, and I just wanted to sleep all the time. I know your heart is always in the right place, but we just… didn’t connect back then.” “Sometimes it feels like we barely do anymore,” Pinkie said. “Something feels… off… about you being with me. But I’m glad I’m with a friend right now.” “You and me both,” Rainbow Dash said. “Faust, you’ve changed so much since then,” Pinkie said.  They were drawing even closer to Rainbow Falls now. It was just before the sunset turned the sky a riotous canvas of pinks, yellows, purples, and oranges, and the rainbow colonnades of the falls still shone effervescent in the orange light. Blues, reds, greens, yellows, all glowed in the half-orange light. Dashie chuckled a little and nodded. “Yeah, I…. I was happy in Ponyville, sure. But at some point, I realized I couldn’t be a wonderbolt by just lying on my back. I had to just… get out there, y’know?” “When did you realize that?” Pinkie asked. “Did you have a depressive episode where you saw someone who was mentally stuck in flight camp, they talked a big game about how happy they were despite having such an empty life, and you realized that you always have the ability to change, inspiring them to move on as well, then ending on a hopeful note?” Rainbow Dash stared at her for entirely too long. “...No!”  “Huh,” Pinkie said. “Sometimes I have depressive episodes and learn something from them. But at least the writers never let that overcome my original characterization.” “Yeah,” Rainbow Dash said, chuckling a little bit as she nodded. “I know what that’s like-” (Pinkie knew that she totally didn’t) “-but no, that’s not what happened,” Rainbow Dash said. “I just… I realized that as much as I liked it in Ponyville, I liked who I was when I was trying. There was a pegasus pony I met in Las Pegasus named Mercury, and he told me something that really stuck with me.” “What was that?” “He said that as much as you like the good old days, you can always make new good old days,” Rainbow Dash said. “...Wow,” Pinkie said, jaw open, eyes wide. She stared out the window, lost in thought. To make new good old days… there was something so captivating about that sentence, so- “...you’re distracted by the falls, aren’t you,” Rainbow Dash sighed. “...Yes,” Pinkie said, hanging her head sheepishly. The two of them laughed together. “Maybe we’ll make some new good old days of our own this time!” Pinkie chirped. “You, me, and Cheese, enjoying the Festival of the Badalisc, with absolutely nothing going pear-shaped and nothing weird or supernatural happening!” The two of them stared at each other for a few seconds… “PFFFFFTBAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHHAAAAAAAAA!” Pinkie giggled. Rainbow Dash almost simultaneously cracked up as well. “Oh, you’re killin’ me, Pinkie! Oh, oh that is good. That is good.” “Thanks!” Pinkie said, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes. The two of them were laughing about that one for hours, nurturing that memory like a campfire on the way to Cavallocade, even as Celestia drew the sun lower and lower. They still chuckled at it a little by the time the train slowed with the expectant caution that spoke to a nearby station. As the train emerged from a tunnel, rounding a bend, Pinkie and Rainbow caught their first glimpse of the town. It was situated in the middle of a valley that was probably green and verdant in the summer, but was at the moment covered with drifts of snow. In the blaze of colors that came only from a mountain sunset, the snow looked almost purple, and farmhouses made of colored stone and stucco shone a rainbow of colors. Craggy mountains, each one almost purple in that bright orange light, lined the valley, though one taller, rounder mountain stood guard over the valley. It was streaked with white, though it grew balder and thinner towards the top. Pinkie saw the telltale lines of ski lifts from top to bottom, some of which extended into the very edge of the town in the middle of its valley.  Ooh, skiing! Pinkie thought. I wonder if I’m good at skiing. I bet Dashie would love it here! “It looks beautiful out here,” Pinkie said, eyes wide. The town itself was made of the same materials as the farmhouses the train passed. All colored stone and stucco, in yellows, blues, greens, and pinks, sometimes rough-hewn stone thrown together with mortar. Though something about the proportions of the town was off. Buildings looked far too thin somehow and jutted upwards and outwards in unpredictable clusters, rising in spires and trees of architecture. One building (Pinkie wasn’t quite sure what it was) looked to be a mansion of some kind built on a stack of wood-and-stucco stories, expanding slightly towards the top like the branches of a maple tree to reveal a house of dark, weather-beaten wood built on plans that looked like an architect made them up as they went along that leaned precariously above the whole town. Houses stood on stilts, built on top of still other houses, and flat-roofed buildings boasted gardens and even houses of their own standing guard above narrow streets below them. And yet all that failed to capture the two Elements of Harmony’s attention quite like the massive bulbous thing that stood above the town. “What is that?” Rainbow Dash asked, her jaw wide open. “It’s,” Pinkie said, struggling to find words, “uh….”  A thing of blotched purple-brown-red that looked like a flower of mouths and eyes ringing one gargantuan maw studded with cracked yellow ivory, shrouded by green-gray clouds. Tentacles as large as (if not larger than) the train they rode on, forested in a frost-covered riot of heliotrope, orange, and green moss and fungus splayed outward from it in seemingly random directions, running in and out of the ground and its surrounding environs like roots of a tree or poor stitchwork. Beneath these tentacles or roots, something draped towards the ground like the roots of a plant anchored in a now-excavated clump of dirt. “Yeah, I have absolutely no idea,” Pinkie said. “I hope we wouldn’t have to blast that thing with the elements of harmony or use the rainbow,” Rainbow Dash said. “Maybe.. Maybe I should let Applejack know. Just in case.” She glanced nervously out the window at the town’s grotesque sentinel. “Wait, how would we do that?” Pinkie asked. “Is there a telegram at the station? Or a phone? Or a nearby dragon?” “Well, she said she’d come running if we called,” Rainbow Dash said. “I… we’d be able to find something, right?” “Probably,” Pinkie said, nodding. The train’s slow descent into the depths of the town continued. The strange topography of Cavallocade knit around the railroad tracks, in convoluted arches and branches. The train rounded yet another bend under a cubist arch of apartment blocks that had seemingly grown together like two nearby trees, hugging the habitation-encrusted slope of the valley.  Sunset light and electric light blazed overhead as the train drew into the station. It was a modest affair, with two tracks, a couple of sidings, and another steam engine at rest (this one heavier than theirs) tended to by a motley crew of griffons and ponies alike. Pinkie only momentarily noticed any of that, because one thing commanded her attention more than anything. “AUDIBLE GASP!” Pinkie yelled. “What, what is i-” Rainbow started, before she saw him. And there he was. Cheese Sandwich. Waiting at the platform of the town’s tiny railroad station. The first thing Pinkie would do upon getting off the train was to break into a running tackle like a hoofball professional. And then, minutes later, they would head off into town bask in the forbidden yesterdays of tomorrow’s moonlight promises.Whatever that meant.   But unbeknownst to Pinkie and Rainbow, Cheese was not the only one who waited for Pinkie.  “She received my letter,” said a mare who stood under a set of stairs leading into the offices above Cavallocade’s train station. “Now, we can begin.” A mare in a cloak stepped forward. She was followed by a heavyset maroon-colored stallion, a mare who wore a wide-brimmed hat, and another stallion so tall and so thin he looked like he might collapse in a stiff breeze. “She will be isolated from her friends in Caballonia,” the mare said. “Ja, isolated from all of them except Rainbow Dash,” the thin one said. “Was this… was this part of your plan? Were you hoping for her to come?” “Admittedly, no,” the cloaked mare said. “But this… it provides an opportunity. You’ll get the revenge you so desired thanks to her presence.” “I don’t see how, but okay,” the thin stallion said. “And what of Cheese Sandwich?” asked a rather heavyset maroon-colored stallion, who had stood near her.  “What about him?” asked the second follower, a mare who hid most of her features under a wide-brimmed hat. “He’s no different from her. He won’t be a threat.” She looked to the thin one. “The fate she deserves - the fate  you so demand - will be visited upon her tenfold,” the cloaked mare said. “As we deserve. Together, we shall finally make Pinkie Pie pay for her crimes.” A smile like an open wound spread across the maroon stallion’s face. “I’ve never wanted anything so much in my life.”