//------------------------------// // Ponyville's Harmony Feast // Story: You're not Twilight // by Miner //------------------------------// The day before, at Ponyville’s Harmony Feast, Misty was surprised at how large this Ponyville is. From what Flutter has told her, it sounds like a small rural town, but that is not the case here. If she would have to guess, this place is about as big as Maretime Bay, if not bigger. It reminds her of a small city that is stuck in the Middle Ages. She feels like she has traveled back in time with everything around here. The ponies interacting with each other, the stone roads and houses, the giant crystal castle in the middle of town, the biggest Apple orchard in Equestria, and the silver knight’s armor ponies patrolling the streets. Suddenly she doesn’t feel out of place with her outfit, but it is getting annoying to be mistaken for a princess by the locals here. She sits at a table, waiting for Aaron to return from his conquest. It turns out that Ponyville holds a festival once a year at the start of the year known as the Harmony Feast. The Harmony Feast was a festival held in memory of the Ancient Heroes of Equestria, the Manesix, or the Elements of Harmony. The festival lasts for three days before everypony journey to Canterlot to pay their respects to the Fallen. At least that is what she got from the brief reading of the brochure she received when they arrived, but she could be wrong. She thinks it mentions something about the princesses of old, but that is not important. When they first got here, both were in awe of this town, but Misty seems to have underestimated how much being here would affect Aaron. She looks at one of the stalls in the festival, where a few of the vendors seem to be trying to refill their prizes with anything available for other ponies to win. Some might think that many ponies must have come to their stall and won their prizes but no. This was the work on one stallion. One hyperactive determined stallion. Shortly after getting here, Aaron bolted into the festival, only returning with spoils of war for her. At first, it was sweet, but then it starts to get a bit much. She looks to her left at her sizeable pile of assorted goods ranging from dolls to small plastic statues of the manesix and random ponies she couldn’t identify, along with other collectible items, which now stand as tall as her. She grumbles as she sips from her new refillable Princess Twilight Sparkle cup with a picture of said princess cutiemark and matching colors scheme all over it. One of the few things that he got for her, among other things. She looks down at her New Princess dress. The main part is pink with a golden sash rapping behind her with a small pink bow on each side. The neckline has a golden collar with a red stone in the center. And at the end of the dress, there is a long white skirt. She was also given golden sabatons for each hoof with a purple gem shaped like a star and a matching tiara. She must admit it’s a beautiful outfit, but something tells her that it was meant for somepony else. She glances at Sparky, now sporting a Twilight wig dragging behind him with fake feathery wings covering his real wings so that they move alongside his real wings as he tries to fly but fails. She didn’t ask him for her new outfit, not that she is complaining, mind you. But one might wonder how he can continue to gain the spoils of war when he has no bits to speak of. He wasn’t stealing anything of this. Oh no, nothing like that. Was it because of the type of games they have that made the prizes easier to obtain? Maybe, but she believes it has something to do with the cost of admission. She stares disappointedly at the sight before her, “Let's go to Ponyville, he says; it will be a grand old time, he says; we can stop by the museum, he says,” She says to herself as Sparky climbs up on the table and sits next to Misty, ‘I know that he was an oddball when we first meet, but he was normally so composed and rational. What happened to him?’ She thinks to herself before giving Sparky a small Twilight plushie from her horde. Sparky plays with it before trying to get it before trying to squeeze its stuffing out. An earth pony stallion makes his way beside her with concern as he stares at the pile of goods. “Uhm, excuse me,” Misty turns her eyes to him, “But are you his companion?” He gestor back to one of the stands in the festival, Misty turns back to see Aaron wearing a fake golden knight’s armor with a sword strap to his side, his clown outfit long since discarded. He has successfully beaten another Carnival game and walks away with more loot in his bag of goods like a successful hunter. The vendor stares in disbelief at what just happened. “Why do you ask?” “Well, we would like it if you could convince him to stop for a while and leave some prizes for the other ponies. We are starting to get some complaints about this,” Misty is confused at this as she sets her cup down, “Why don’t you talk to him about this?” He looks back at Aaron winning more prizes before turning back to Misty, “Well, we did, and his response was, and I quote, ‘Stay away from my precious.’ End quote. Whatever that means,” “Ok, but what are you answering me for? What do I look like, his marefriend?” Misty says jokingly, taking another sip, “Well, yes,” Misty does a spit take, causing the stallion to question himself, “Oh, was I mistaken?” Misty ponds her chest clearing her airway, her face lightly flushed, not sure between the lack of air or the statement he just made, “No! I mean, Yes. I mean, we are friends at best, but no, Aaron is not my special somepony. What makes you think such a thing? Ahahaa,” Misty eyes swirl as she panicky trying to clear up any misunderstanding looking away from the stallion, The stallion tilts his head, unsure what to say, “Well, I thought that after his consent offering to his princess, I thought-” “I AM NOT HIS PRINCESS!” Her face is heavy with a blush, “He is doing that just to annoy me. He only wants me to look after his horde, nothing more,” She taps the pile of goods as some prizes fall from the top of the pile, “But what do you want me to do? He started acting this way after one of you ponies told him that everything is free so long as you can earn it since there is no currency here,” She declares, calming down her blush, “Yes, but most ponies would have some form of self-control when attending a village festival,” Misty chuckles at this as another vendor cries in disbelief in the background, “Oh, he has self-control, all right. It went right out the window after he saw the Giant Princess Twilight plushie,” The stallion rubs his head before looking back to see a vendor physically blocking Aaron from playing at her stall, “I have never seen a stallion so obvious with a winning everything before.” Aaron shrugs before moving to the next stall but notices that there has been an increase in ‘out to lunch’ signs for some reason, “That makes two of us,” Misty grumbles sipping her drink, “But I am sure that he will get tired eventually and stop on his own. See here he comes now,” Aaron returns to Misty and presents her his current loot bowing to her, “I have returned my Princess with more spoils of war,” Misty blushes at this but chooses to keep a neutral face, “What are orders, your Highness?” She looks away, turning to hide her face from him, “I require a refill,” She dangles her cup before him, “Fetch me some water, sir knight,” “Your wish is my command,” He takes the cup and leaves them as Sparky chooses that moment to jump into the pile of goods, making a mess. The stallion from earlier looks between the two of them, but Misty cut him off before he could say anything, “Not a word,” He tries again, but she glares at him, “I can tell him to get me all the prizes in the festival if you want,” The stallion closes his mouth, knowing that the threat is not a joke and choose to leave her alone, “That's what I thought,” Misty smiles triumphantly before becoming sad with a hint of anger as she sees Aaron winning another Twilight prize. He smiles, squeezing the prize next to his cheeks before moving on to the next stand to get her refill, “Why can’t you look at me like that?” She looks away, sighing, not seeing a group of fillies and colts staring at her treasure pile. Meanwhile, at Maretime Bay, “What do you mean that Misty is missing!” Queen Opaline shouts at Shadow Cloak as he rubs his ears at her outburst, “It would appear that Misty is not at the daycare and is missing in the woods nearby town,” Her eye twitches, baffled, “How? WHY!?” “I am not sure of the details myself since the investigation is still underway. From what I can tell, there was something to do with the Canterlogic prototype crashing into the forest, and Misty was there for some reason. This really puts a damper on our plans,” “And nopony knows where she is?” He shakes his head, “No, A search party of ponies has been dispatched to look for her, but they have yet to return. They also mentioned that a pony named Aaron and a baby dragon also went missing alongside her,” Opaline frowns, not sure what to make of this. ‘On one hoof, Misty is lost with the baby dragon. Perhaps she did it on purpose to steal the dragon and bring him to me to steal his magic, but that wouldn’t explain Aaron.’ She groans angrily. ‘Aaron this Aaron that. Ever since this stallion has shown up one way or another, he is involved somehow, and everything has gone out of control, and I don’t like it.’ “We are going to have to deal with this Aaron. He is starting to become a nuisance,” Shadow Cloak smiles, “As long as you are willing to pay me. I can deal with him,” “On second thought. He is not a priority,” Her eyes look away, quickly changing her mind when a thought occurs to her, “And this search party you mention. Do you know who is in it?” “I believe Sunny and her group were leading the search party,” “Perfect,” She rubs her hooves together, “If they are all looking for Misty, then I can go after the unity crystal at the Crystal Bright house,” “I won’t recommend that, your highness,” Shadow Cloak quickly informs her, She groans in distress, “What is it this time?” “A rather large beehive has made a nest near the Crystal Bright house and has scared away anypony trying to get close. And before you ask, these bees are the size of ponies, so I would think twice before going anywhere near the Crystal Bright house,” “I see,” She looks away in shock, not expecting to hear that, “Well, in that case, I will have you go there instead,” “Are you sure?” He raises an eyebrow, “This is not part of the original agreement. This will cost extra,” The Queen grunts, clenching her teeth, “Can’t you give me a discount since I have been a loyal employer?” He scoffs at her comment, “We both know you are many things, but loyal is not one of them,” “Fine!” She barks at him, “Charge the extra. But get me that Unity Crystal!” “Very well,” *Ping* Shadow Cloak looks at his phone before cutting off the communication with one final word, “Tomorrow,” He laughs to himself, hearing the half scream of rage coming from the other end, “When you are desperate your highness you can easily be taken advantage of,” He looks from his window to the Crystal Bright House concerned, “Now how to deal with you?”