December 31st, 3095 Imperial Calender (1522 AD)
Scootaloo's House
Depressi made his way down the stairs, DJ behind him. The two of them had been drawn from their room by the smell of cooking coming from the kitchen; not all that unusual on weekends or during the break from school. However, unlike most of those days, this time the smell was different.
"What is that?", DJ asked. "You have a better nose than me. What is it?"
Depressi replied, "I don't know. Let's see... *Sniff, Sniff* Apples. Cinnamon... Some sort of wheat?"
The two of them entered into the kitchen, watching as Rumble pulled something out of the oven. As he stepped away after setting a cooking tray on the stove, the two of them saw several apples, their tops cut open and filled with some sort of baked crumble. Their aunt Scootaloo, who had been pouring steaming hot Cider into several mugs, turned and smiled at them.
"Good morning. Oh, and happy New Year", she said.
"Yeah", Rumble said, taking a pair of oven mitts off of his wingtips. "I wanted to do something a bit special, so I borrowed a recipe from Apple Bloom, and... Is something wrong?"
Depressi and DJ blinked, shaking off of their confused looks. "Isn't New Year in... six weeks?", DJ asked.
"Yeah", Depressi said, before his eyes widened in realization. "Oh, no wait. This is the Equestrian New Year, right?"
"Uh-huh", Scootaloo said. "Forgot you guys do yours later."
"Or you do it early", DJ muttered.
"Enough", Depressi admonished, before taking an offered mug with his wing. "So, besides making these... dishes-"
"Baked Apples", Rumble said.
Depressi said, "Yes. Anyway, besides that, what else do you do for your celebration?"
"Well, it's sort of just a somewhat typical party", Scootaloo said. "Mayor arranged a big thing in the Town Square, where there will also be the Ball dropping."
"The what?", DJ asked.
"Ball dropping", Rumble said, frowning when he saw the suggestive look on DJ's face. "No, it's nothing dirty."
"Poor choice of wording though, don't you think?", DJ asked.
"Despite my brother being his typical degenerate self, I find myself agreeing with my brother", Depressi said. "It is poor wording."
"Yeah, well, we didn't come up with it", Scootaloo said. "Anyway, it's just this big thing we rig up on townhall and lower down with a pully. It signals in the coming of the new year."
The two of them looked at one another, before DJ sighed. "What is with you Equestrians making things needlessly complex?"
"To be fair, what we do for the New Year isn't that simple", Depressi said.
DJ said, "By comparison, brother."
"Trust us, it'll be fun", Scootaloo said.
"We never said we thought we wouldn't", Depressi said. "I'm sure you're right."
"We can discuss some more of the stuff over breakfast", Rumble said, setting out plates that had the Baked Apples on them. "Dig in!"
+++++~+++++
11:45 that night
A large amount of the town had gathered in the town's main square, just in front of the Town hall. Several tables had been piled high with food brought as part of a potluck, with various ponies occasionally doing a run down the length of it and piling their chosen food on a paper plate. Games of all sorts had been set out as well, ranging from beanbag and ring tosses to even an Arcade Machine hooked up to a Magic Crystal.
It was at this latter game where DJ, Depressi, and several of their friends had met. Depressi looked over the shoulder of Pound Cake, who was furiously tapping on the plastic button on the surface. "Come on, come on, come on, com-NOOO!"
"Hmm?", Depressi asked, watching as Pound Cake backed away from the screen. As he watched, Depressi saw a small red pony fall off of the bottom of the screen before it went completely black. Afterward, yellow text appeared on it, asking for the insertion of tokens to play. "What is this thing?"
"Arcade machine", Maraschino said. "They're still pretty new, and Mr. Button Mash only has this one because his uncle is a part of the development team. Not sure how they work exactly, but they use these magic crystals as an energy source."
"It works by turning on and off individual lights in accordance with the positioning of various things on the screen", a voice said behind them. Turning around, the two of them saw a smiling brown stallion who had just come over.
"Mr. Button Mash", Pound Cake said, pressing both of his forelegs against the older stallion's shoulders. "HOW!?"
"Do you win?", Button Mash asked, being greeted by enthusiastic nodding. "Get good."
Pound Cake opened his mouth to protest, only to be cut off by a loud rumbling that echoed through the square. Almost all of the conversation ceased, turning up to the stage set up outside of the Town Hall. The mayor, a pink mare with a light pink and white mane, cleared her throat and adjusted her tie.
"Good evening, everypony!", she called, to which she was greeted with scattered applause. She raised a hoof, waiting for the cheers to die down before she continued. "Anyway, we'll be lowering the ball soon, and I just want everypony to remember to clean up any mess they make before they go home afterward. Just because I have a few volunteers who will be packing things up doesn't mean you all don't have the responsibility to clean up your own mess. But, enough of that; we'll drop the ball in five minutes!"
As another round of cheers went up through the assembled ponies, Depressi saw his brother appear next to him. He had a paper plate piled high with food: chips, cookies, several dipping sauces, and at the least four hay dogs. "Is that the entire thing? Lowering so glowing ball?", DJ asked, flicking his head over at the structure on the top of the Town Hall.
"Evidently", Depressi remarked, before looking down at the plate. "Do I even want to know how unhealthy that is?"
"Brother, this is the land of fat and sugar. The only reason we haven't put on a few pounds is my training and runs and your fly-bys and helping out Rose at the Orchard", DJ said, taking a bite of one of the hay dogs. "Besides, it's the closest thing to meat I can get my paws on in this town."
Five minutes went and came quickly, and soon the ball above the Town Hall was once again lit up. Once again, almost all conversation stopped as it flashed lightly, then began to lower. As it did, the citizens all began to count down: "Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five-"
DJ and Depressi looked at one another, both shrugging, before joining in. "Four, three, two, one."
The ball hit the base of its conveyor, its lights once again flashing. Fireworks accompanied the finishing of its descent, spraying the sky with bright lights and loud cracks. Depressi saw his brother go tense, before wrapping a wing around his torso. DJ looked over at Depressi with panic in his eye, to which Depressi merely shot back a calm smile. DJ nodded slowly, setting the plate down on a table and taking a deep breath. He looked back up, returning a weak version of that smile, before the two sat down, simply taking in the jubilation of Ponyville around them.