//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Strategies of War // by TheSharp0ne //------------------------------// Chapter 1 |Normal| |Adventure| |War| “Alright, are you going to be able to take care of the library while I’m gone?” asked Twilight, heading down the stairs and towards the door of their home. “Yes Twilight, gosh, you’re only going to be gone for like, 4 hours!” Spike complained, donut still in hand from his recently-finished lunch. It’s not like he had to do much; he already finished cleaning the library, and the books didn’t need to be reorganized- at least, he hoped they didn’t. “Yes, but I’m almost always in Ponyville when I am away. If something goes awry I am never more than a few minutes away. But today, I’m going to be heading all the way to Canterlot, and it’s at least an hour long trip by hoof.” Twilight countered. She trusted her assistant fully, and didn’t really expect anything to go wrong, but it never hurt to double check. Besides, she WAS going to be in Canterlot for a few hours, and didn’t want the small dragon left without help if he needed it. “I’ll be fine, Twilight. Besides, it’s not like a lot of ponies even come here anyways.” The small dragon said. This left Twilight slightly irked. But it was true- Ponyville was a rural community, and no pony was really interested in books. But that’s exactly what her trip today planned to help solve: ever since Nightmare Night, she had thought about starting a weekly history session for everypony to partake in. She had then thought of expanding it to include basic magic and flight lessons, for the little pegasi and unicorn fillies and colts. Though, she still had to work on convincing Rainbow Dash to help with the flying lessons. The stubborn mare refused every time she asked. “Alright, well, just be careful.” Twilight chuckled, nuzzling Spike, much to his dismay. She smiled at his remarks of discomfort and opened the door. “And remember: Rarity has agreed to help you if you need it, but please don’t cry wolf just so she will head over.” Twilight pleaded, waving a hoof and closing the door behind her. She made way for the market, intending to pick up a few apples from Applejack’s stand for a snack along the way. It was an unusually cloudy day, but Twilight guessed that the weather pegasi had a larger than normal storm planned in a few days. She reminded herself to check the schedule when she got back. As Twilight neared the stand, she noticed that instead of Applejack or Big Macintosh running it, there was a blue pegasus in their place. “Rainbow Dash? What are you doing here? Where’s Applejack?” Twilight asked the rainbow-maned pony. She noticed that the mare looked fairly bored, her cheek resting upon her hoof and half-opened eyes just staring with an uninterested look at ponies as they passed. “Oh, hey Twilight.” Rainbow Dash greeted, perking her head up as the unicorn approached. “Well, I was flying past and Applejack called me over. Said she had to go get more apples or something, since her stock was running low. Asked me to watch the stand while she was gone.” Rainbow explained, reaching a hoof into an almost-empty cart of apples, then picking one up and taking a large bite out of it. “Shho... Whats uhp whif you?” she slurred, mouth full of apple. “I was just here to buy a few apples for my trip to Canterlot.” Twilight stated. “Are um.. You allowed to sell apples?” Twilight asked, a little wary about handing her bits over to her friend. It’s not that she didn’t trust Rainbow; she just wanted to make sure Applejack got the payment, and Rainbow Dash was always a little... forgetful. “Well, duh!” Rainbow exclaimed, turning towards the cart. “How many do you want?” she asked. Twilight was glad she didn’t pick up on the implications of her quip. “Oh, I’ll take six.” Twilight said. Though as she was about to take the apples from Rainbow’s grasp, Applejack came trotting up with a cart full of ripe, red apples. “Woah there, RD! Here, let me take care of that.” Applejack said, replacing the six Rainbow Dash had put out with six from her full cart. “These are fresher.” the mare said, as she moved the empty cart out of the way and replaced it with the new one. Twilight couldn’t tell the difference between these new fruits and the other ones, but decided not to argue it with the apple farmer. “Thanks, Applejack.” Twilight said gratefully, as she placed her bits on the stand. Applejack was about to grab them, when a blue hoof scooped them up instead. “I’ll be taking these!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed with a sly smile on her face. She quickly launched herself into the air, and took off in the direction of her normal training area. “Consarn’it!” Applejack shouted fervently. “I swear, that filly’s nothin’ but a no good-” “Woah, Applejack! She was just taking payment for watching the stand for you.” Twilight interrupted, before Applejack could continue any further with her ranting. “It wouldnt’a been much of’a favor if she wanted payment.” Applejack retaliated, the frustration in her voice apparent. Twilight looked over in the direction Rainbow Dash had flown off to and shrugged. “Well, I have to start heading to Canterlot, otherwise I won’t make it back before dinner.” Twilight stated as she levitated the apples into her saddlebags. “Why d’you gotta go t’ Canterlot?” Applejack asked, counting the bits in the stall’s money bag to make sure the blue mare hadn’t taken any extra “payment” while she was gone. “Oh, I just have to go pick up some new books for the library. I figured instead of just waiting for them to be delivered, I’d pick them up myself and visit the palace while I’m there.” Applejack simply nodded, having lost interest at the word ‘books.’ “Well, anyways, I’ll see you later, Applejack,” Twilight said as she started along her path towards Canterlot. She heard the orange mare mumble her goodbye in response, still obviously focused more on counting her bits. Twilight trotted through the marketplace, saying hello to the other ponies who had stalls in the marketplace. She noticed that Carrot Top was doing very well with her sales, while other ponies such as Bluegrass weren’t doing very well at all. She once tried to do research into the trade business, but the inconsistencies based on supply and demand quickly caused her to discontinue her efforts. Twilight noticed that Derpy, the local mailmare, was attempting to give a package to a dark green pegasus stallion whom Twilight had never seen before. Twilight wondered who he was, as Ponyville didn’t get too many new residents. She shrugged off the thought, figuring she’d meet him soon enough once Pinkie Pie found him. ------------------- “Thank you, come again!” the storekeeper said as Twilight left Novelty Novels. Twilight assumed the store had opened up after she had moved to Ponyville, since she knew of every book store in Canterlot. Despite the store name, they carried much more than novels. You name it, they had it. Biographies, encyclopedias, and most importantly, textbooks. They had everything Twilight needed to get. All that was left on her agenda was to visit the palace. More specifically, the Canterlot Library. She hadn’t been to the palace library since she moved to Ponyville, and she was rather curious as to who was running it. Twilight pulled an apple out of her saddlebags and snacked on it as she trotted towards the palace. On the way, she saw a few of the ponies she knew when she lived in Canterlot. Some of them were friendly and said hi, while most of them just stared at her strangely- no doubt due to the fact she spent almost all of her time studying instead of getting to know them when she lived here. The bookstore wasn’t far off from the palace, and Twilight reached the outer walls quickly. She trotted towards the main gates, but was stopped by the two Royal Guards standing post. “Only ponies with proper authority are allowed in the palace.” The guard on the right said. Twilight stood there slightly dumbfounded, a confused look on her face. “What? I’m Twilight Sparkle, Personal Student to Princess Celestia.” Twilight said, still confused over the fact she was being denied access into the palace. “I.D. and proof of authority please, ma’am.” the Guard on the left said. “What are you talking about? I’m Twilight Sparkle! You can’t tell me you don’t know who I am!” Twilight was now getting thoroughly annoyed. “We know who you are, ma’am, but we are just following protocol.” the Guard on the left said, with somewhat of an apologetic tone. “Protocol? Since when has this been protocol?” Twilight was raising her voice now at the two guards. “Ma’am, please refrain from shouting. If you do not have proper identification, we will have to ask you to step back ten paces.” the Guard on the right was speaking this time. Twilight was utterly shocked at this, but instead of arguing, she huffed and trotted around the corner. Once she got out of sight of the guards, she teleported herself inside the palace walls. Normally the magic barrier that was fused within the stone of the walls would have kept her teleportation spell from working, but after years of sneaking outside the castle to get new books at night, Twilight had managed to work around the barrier. As she walked through the palace, she noticed several rooms were guarded by the Lunar Guards, the grey ponies with black and blue armor that guarded Princess Luna. The only other time she had seen the Lunar Guards was when Princess Luna made her rather dramatic entrance into Ponyville. Twilight would never admit it, but their appearance scared her a little. While she knew none of them, it didn’t surprise her when a few off-duty Lunar Guards greeted her by name. A few even tried flirting with her, but they were quickly reminded of who she was by their superiors. ------------------- As Twilight entered the library, she immediately noticed things had changed. For one, the organization was completely different. There were shelves where previously there had been none, and the look of the entire room was different. She passed a turquoise mare with a blue mane that Twilight assumed was the new librarian. She seemed concentrated on a book she was reading on her desk, so Twilight decided to not bother her. After several frustratingly long minutes of searching for a book on astronomy, Twilight quickly realized the new organization of books did not allow her to find what she was looking for. “Excuse me,” Twilight said quietly, attempting to get the librarians attention. “I can’t find any books with this new method of organization, could you help me?” The librarian didn’t even bother looking up from her book. “New method of organization? The books haven’t been reorganized since the old librarian left. Gosh, I can’t even see how she could find anything with her set up. Everything was organized in the most irrational ways. She even went as far as to organize based on colo-” the librarian stopped herself, having looked up and saw the pony she was addressing. “Oh! I’m so sorry ma’am, I didn’t mean to-” Twilight held up a hoof, cutting off the now red-faced mare. “It’s alright. Can you just help me find a book?” Twilight was quite used to her method of organization being criticised, and she learned to ignore it over time. ------------------- Twilight was thoroughly exhausted by the time she got to Ponyville. The extra load from her bulging saddlebags weighed her down quite a bit on the return trip home. Though it was worth it; for the majority of the time Twilight was in Canterlot after getting to the library was spent chatting with the librarian, who said her friends called her Bookworm. Twilight and Bookworm talked about many of the subjects of books the Canterlot Library had. While Bookworm was a very intelligent pony, Twilight, having spent several years living in the library, knew much more. Despite that, Twilight enjoyed much of the conversations between Bookworm and herself. As she neared Ponyville, Twilight was relieved to see the familiar shape of her home. She briskly trotted towards it and opened the front door. “Spike! I’m ho-” Twilight began, but cut herself off when she noticed somepony else in the room. While the library did have one or two chairs for ponies to sit and read, the ponies that actually came for books just checked out their book and left. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know somepony else was in here.” Twilight said apologetically. Twilight realized this is the same pegasus stallion she saw earlier. He had a dark green coat, and a smokey black mane, which was a little more unkempt than Rainbow Dash’s. He looked slightly more muscular than your average stallion, and he was definitely a few inches taller. She noticed his cutie mark was of an open book with two crossed swords behind it. “I’m the librarian. My name is-” “Twilight Sparkle. Personal Student to Celestia. Extremely intelligent, to the point of it being a fault. Mild case of OCD. One of the Elements of Harmony. Second ponysonification of the Element of Magic, to be exact. Yes, I know who you are.” Twilight was utterly dumbfounded by the spur of information that came out of this pony. And what was that last bit? Second what? “Yes, well, um, if you’ll excuse me, I must, um, speak with my assistant.” Twilight stuttered, still in shock. “Uh, Spike, who is he?” Twilight said quietly, as she got up the stairs. Spike was cleaning some of the furniture in the loft as he answered, “I dunno. He came in like thirty minutes after you left and asked which sections are which. He’s just been reading a bunch of stuff since then.” Twilight turned and looked over the railing, and saw the pegasus was once again reading from his book. “Are you new to Ponyville? I hadn’t seen you around until this morning.” Twilight asked as she descended the flight of stairs. The pegasus stallion closed his book and stood up, facing Twilight. “Yes. I moved here last night. In fact that is why I originally came to the library, to look at some maps of the village and see if I could find a grocery store,” he explained. “But, as I’m sure you know, I could not find one.” he continued, wings slightly unfurling at remembering his previous frustration. “Well, there is no grocery store in Ponyville, only a market. Though the foods just as good! Ponyville has some of the best vegetables and fruits in Equestria!” Twilight exclaimed proudly. The stallion’s face remained stern and unreadable. Twilight smiled awkwardly at the silence that followed. “Yes, well, I must be off. I still have a bit of unpacking to do at home,” he groaned slightly. “Yes, unpacking... The one thing I despise about moving. Though Ponyville seems like a nice enough place. I shall... enjoy making this my new home-” he was suddenly cut off by a loud and lengthy gasp that had come out of no where. Suddenly, Pinkie Pie appeared like a flash of pink lightning in front of the pegasus. “YOU’RE NEW TO PONYVILLE?!! OOH OOH OOOOOOH! That’s so exciting! NormallyIknoweveryponythatlivesinponyvilleandwhenIseeanewponyitgetsmesoexcitedbecausetheyprobablydon’tknowanyponyandyouknowwhatweshoulddonow??” Pinkie fired off her words fast enough that Rainbow Dash would be humbled. “Let me guess,” Twilight interrupted, “a p-” “A PARTY!!!” Twilight brought her hoof to her face at the exuberance of the pink pony, who had already began bouncing around the green pegasus spurting out party ideas at breakneck speeds. The pegasus stallion quickly walked towards Twilight, Pinkie Pie oblivious to his movement. “I’m sorry, I probably should have told you. It’s sort of a tradition in Ponyville that Pinkie holds a party whenever a new pony moves in. You’ll be the Guest of Honor, obviously.” Twilight chuckled after she was finished, still quite embarrassed from her friend’s actions. “Hmph.” The pegasus did nothing but grunt in response, so Twilight turned her attention towards Pinkie. “Pinkie, what time’s the party going to be at?” she asked, once she got the earth pony to stand still long enough to talk to her. “I dunno. How about seven?!” Pinkie exclaimed with glee, a big smile on her face. Twilight figured this was reasonable, and turned towards the stallion with a questioning look, hoping to get his feedback. His expression remained blank and unchanging. Twilight figured if he disagreed he would have said something. But no pony ever did. New ponies always went to their Welcome-To-Ponyville Party. By now Pinkie had already hopped out the door to go plan the party, not once faltering despite her eyes clearly being closed. The pegasus stallion picked up his book and placed it exactly where he had found it, and turned towards the door. “Well, I should be going now. I have a lot of work to do.” he said, heading towards the door. Twilight was about to say goodbye, when she suddenly realized something. “Wait. What’s your name?” she asked, surprised the question hadn’t come up by now. The green pegasus smirked- the first change in expression Twilight had seen from him- and turned his head back to address the purple unicorn. “It’s Blitz.” ------------------- Blitz’s smile faded as he closed the door to the library behind him. While he was a very serious pony, he did enjoy a flare for the dramatic now and again. He hoped his presentation had the effect he imagined it did. Knowing himself, it probably did. He noticed his stomach was rumbling, and realized he hadn’t eaten since breakfast. He needed to pick up some food to have at home anyways, so he began trotting towards the marketplace. The only type of food he knew was grown in Ponyville was apples, everything else (Aside from flowers) was shipped in. He’d have to keep that in mind for his decision. As if by chance (Even though Blitz didn’t believe in coincidences), he found himself drawing closer to the Sweet Apple Acres stand in the marketplace. He noticed an orange mare with a light yellow mane was manning the stand, and he instinctively recalled the information he knew about her. Applejack. Co-owner of the Ponyville branch of Sweet Apple Acres. Has an older brother and younger sister, all three of them live with their grandmother and oldest member of the Apple family, Granny Smith. She is the fourth ponysonification of the Element of Honesty. “Well howdy!” Applejack exclaimed as Blitz approached. “Are ya’ interested in buyin’ some o’ th’ best apples around?” Applejack continued with her well-rehearsed salespony spiel. Blitz was about to request twenty apples, when he realized he didn’t have his saddlebags. He kept his face expressionless as he mentally slapped himself repeatedly. “I’ll just have one apple, please.” Blitz said after a second of silence. Applejack’s expression turned to that of disappointment, and judging from the mostly full cart of apples, she wasn’t having the best of business days. Though she- rather reluctantly- pulled out a singular apple from the cart and set it on the stand. Blitz handed over the required amount of bits and was about to leave with the fruit before Applejack spoke up. “Say, I haven’t seen you ‘round Ponyville before today. Are you new here?” she asked, cocking her head to the side ever so slightly. Blitz sighed; this is another thing he didn’t like about moving. Everyone always asked you to state the obvious fact that you were new. He was tempted to ask if her coat was orange, just to point out the redundancy of the question, but he didn’t feel like being rude to the kind mare. “Yes,” he stated simply. “I moved here last night.” “Well that’s wonderful! It’s always good t’ see new ponies in th’ neighborhood!” she said happily, but then her expression turn to one of sly puzzlement. “Ya haven’t happened to have met Pinkie Pie yet, have ya?” she asked, hoping he said no. Applejack always got a kick out of the majority of reactions ponies gave when meeting Pinkie Pie. “Actually, I have. Apparently she has some party planned for me at seven,” he stated, much to Applejack’s disappointment. “Though as much as I’d love to stay and talk, Applejack, I really must be getting home. I may come back later and pick up about twenty or so more apples.” Blitz said, already turning in the direction of his home. “Alrighty then! Y’all come back now, ya hear?” she shouted after him, waving her hoof farewell. A look of confusion suddenly came across her face. “Wait! How’d ya know my name?” ------------------- Blitz sighed as he closed the door to his home behind him. Normally, you’d find pegasi make their homes in the sky, out of thick clouds. Though, he didn’t have the time nor the desire to make a cloud home. Despite being a pegasus, he preferred houses on the ground. They were much easier to manage, unlike cloud homes. The clouds, while very thick, did start dissipating every month or so, and he didn’t want to have to have to repair his house so often. He looked around the hallway and into the living room it lead into. Both were very bare, despite a couch and stacks of boxes that occupied the living room floor. Normally he’d immediately start to decorate his house. Liven it up some. But with all the traveling he’d been doing over the past eight months, he’d learned that he didn’t have the time to decorate any. Always moving, always packing. Luna, did he hate packing. Blitz walked into his living room and began looking at the stacks of boxes he had. Most of them were books that he would read at night before going to sleep. Though one box in particular drew his attention. He walked over to it and opened it up, revealing a large folded piece of what looked like paper. He pulled it out and unfolded it, looking at it intently. He picked it up, and began hanging it on the far end of the living room, over looking the main hallway. After he was done, he stepped back. He looked over it once more; his map of Equestria, with every single city and village labelled. Most of them had red markings on or near them. A single word for each. It was all that was needed. Though there was one village left, unmarked. And as Blitz stared at the name of the village, he knew his mission was almost complete. But that was a lie. And he knew it. His mission was only just beginning. ------------------- “And be sure to deliver to everypony! I made sure to make enough for the entire town, and then I made more!” Pinkie exclaimed excitedly, bouncing in place. Twilight smiled at the earth pony and headed out the door. It had only been an hour and a half since Pinkie decided to throw a party, and she had already baked enough cupcakes to feed Canterlot for two weeks. Because Twilight had nothing planned for the majority of the day, she volunteered to deliver the invitations for Pinkie so she could focus more on her party preparations. Twilight began trotting towards Fluttershy’s, deciding that since she lived the farthest from Ponyville and away from the majority of the town, it would be easier to deliver one to her first. To be quite honest, Twilight never understood why Fluttershy ever went to Pinkie’s parties. From what Twilight understood from her studies, parties were meant mostly as social gatherings. And Fluttershy was not a very social pony. The trot to Fluttershy’s cottage was admittedly a long one, but Twilight didn’t mind it one bit. She enjoyed taking in the sights of nature as she walked: the butterflies fluttering in groups with the wind, the squirrels playing in the bushes, it was all so peaceful and soothing. As she neared Fluttershy’s cottage, she was amazed with the sight she saw. Granted, she had been to Fluttershy’s cottage dozens of times, but the fact the area just looked so, one with nature, Twilight couldn’t help but be in awe every time she saw it. Twilight trotted up to the front door of Fluttershy’s home and knocked on the door. She heard a high pitched “Eeep!” followed by a quick thud. “W-who is it?” Twilight could hear Fluttershy squeak out behind the door. “It’s me, Fluttershy. It’s Twilight.” Twilight responded, trying to add a bit of a soothing tone towards the timid pegasus. Fluttershy opened the door slowly, and at the sight of her friend bore a smile. “Oh, hello Twilight. What can I help you with? Oh, and please, come in.” Fluttershy said, stepping aside for the unicorn to enter. “No thanks, Fluttershy,” Twilight said, putting her hoof up to decline the offer. “I’m just here to deliver an invitation to a party Pinkie is having tonight,” she continued as she levitated an invitation towards the pegasus. Fluttershy took the invitation in her mouth and set it down on a nearby table to read it. As she did, her eyes got wide with nervousness as she realized what it was for. “Oh, I don’t have to meet the new pony, do I?” she said softly, shrinking herself back at the thought of having to meet a new pony. She never was good with meeting new ponies. “Well, you don’t have to, but I’d hope you at least try to.” Twilight said, hoping to instill some confidence in her friend. Fluttershy lowered her head slightly, obviously not liking the idea. “Well, anyways, I have to get to delivering the rest of these. I’ll see you there, Fluttershy!” Twilight called back as she trotted off in the direction of Ponyville. Fluttershy said her goodbyes, and retreated back into the safety of her home. ------------------- Twilight was rather surprised when Applejack told her she had already met Blitz. Though, it made sense considering she was running the stand that day, and Twilight had seen Blitz in the market. Though, she supposed that was a good thing; having a few ponies he already knew at his party would make things less awkward for him. Twilight was just leaving Sweet Apple Acres when a rainbow blur shot overhead. She immediately recognized it as Rainbow Dash, who seemed to be flying back towards her normal training grounds on the outskirts of Ponyville. Twilight had only delivered two invitations so far, and Rainbow Dash’s training area was on the other side of Ponyville. But there was no telling where Rainbow Dash would be once she had finished delivering the others, so she began galloping after the blue pegasus. “Rainbow Dash!” Twilight called, hoping to get the rainbow-maned mare’s attention. She watched for a few more seconds as Rainbow Dash continued to do a series of flips, spins, barrel rolls and other maneuvers around clouds. “Rainbow Dash!” Twilight called once again, as Rainbow Dash took a pause in her routine. “What?” Rainbow Dash responded rather flatly, as she descended to talk to Twilight. “Pinkie’s holding a Welcome-To-Ponyville Party for a new pegasus that moved in, and I’m delivering the invitations for her,” Twilight said, handing a green envelope- which matched Blitz’s coat perfectly- to Rainbow Dash. Rainbow simply read it for a moment before responding. “A new pegasus ya say?” Rainbow Dash said, the tone of her voice making it obvious she was thinking about something devious. “Did he look like he was a flier? Hehe, I’d love to show him a thing or two about how it’s really done!” Rainbow Dash boasted, obviously thinking of how badly she would beat him in a race. Twilight thought for a second, before shaking her head. “No, he didn’t seem like he was a competitive flier. Though he did seem interested in a lot of books at the library,” Twilight said. Rainbow Dash snickered at this. “Ooh, just your kind of stallion.” she teased, poking a hoof at Twilight. Twilight rolled her eyes at the blue mare. “Oh, shut up.” she said, turning towards Ponyville. Rainbow Dash had already taken back to the skies, once more attempting to better her skill at flying. ------------------- Twilight sat at a table at the far end of Sugar Cube Corner, watching as the ponies of Ponyville entered. She had only finished delivering the invitations half an hour ago, but it wasn’t really a problem for the ponies who got their letters last; everypony always made time to go to Pinkie’s parties, despite how short notice they were. Twilight could already see Luna’s stars twinkling into existence as Celestia’s sun lowered itself behind the horizon. The pink, orange, and yellow hues of the daylight giving way to the purples, blues, and blacks of night. Twilight always did love this time of the day the best. Her namesake, the time when day gives way to night, the most magical time of the day, the twilight. Pinkie Pie was standing off to the side of the door, a huge smile on her face, as she waited for her Guest of Honor to arrive. By now nearly everypony in Ponyville had made it to Sugar Cube Corner. Though as more ponies came in, none of them were Blitz. But Pinkie Pie stood firm at her spot near the entrance to the sweets store, her smile ready to greet everypony that entered. Several minutes had passed without the party starting, and some guests started to become impatient. A young stallion called out asking when the party was going to start, and most of the crowd murmured their agreements. “Uh, Pinkie? Can we start the party now?” Applejack whispered to the pink mare, who had not budged from her stance even slightly. “Of course not, silly! We can’t have a Welcome-To-Ponyville Party without the Guest of Honor! Duh!” Pinkie exclaimed in her usual tone as she turned her head towards Applejack. Applejack nodded, and told the crowd that the Guest of Honor was probably just running a bit late, and to just wait. The waiting game gradually progressed from impatient silence, to mild chatter, and before anypony knew the party had started by itself. Though Pinkie Pie was completely oblivious to this, as she still stood at her post, her unfaltering smile plastered across her face, anxious to greet the new pony and make his welcome official. Twilight noticed this, and became slightly worried for her friend. She thought about going over and talking to Pinkie, but the energy and motion of the party caused her to get distracted, and before she knew it Twilight had joined in with the rest of them. Seconds turned into minutes, and a minute into ten, and ten into thirty. If anypony had been paying attention, they would have noticed that as time went on, Pinkie’s smile slowly started to fade, and her bubbly mane began to deflate. Though she still waited, as the party could not start without the Guest of Honor. Before anypony knew it, the party was over. Ponies began to gradually leave the venue, exhausted from their partying. Twilight felt just as tired as she sat down in her spot towards the back of Sugar Cube Corner, and her friends gradually joined along with her. She had a nice conversation with Rarity and Fluttershy, and they all laughed as Applejack and Rainbow Dash began arguing. Twilight had no idea what they were arguing about, but it was entertaining. Twilight suddenly realized there was somepony missing. “Where’s Pinkie?” she asked to nopony in particular, eyes scanning the store. She quickly found the pink mare, who was sitting on her haunches, head looking at the floor. Her mane was completely straight. “Pinkie!” Twilight exclaimed, galloping over to the pink earth pony. “What’s wrong?” she asked, worry in her voice. She was quickly joined by the rest of their friends. “He- he didn’t come...” Pinkie said softly, sadness clearly audible. “We... We can’t have a party without- without the Guest of Honor...” she said, hanging her head even lower towards the ground. “Wait,” Rainbow Dash said suddenly. “Is she talking about that Blitz guy? The one that this party was for?” she asked, trying to recall the events of the party. “Yeah, he never did show up, did he?” Applejack finished for her, looking around as if to find him in a corner somewhere. “Why that, that, that... ruffian! Not attending a party so graciously hosted for him! That is very disrespectful!” Rarity spouted her two cents, obviously angered at the pegasus. “Yeah! We oughta’ give him a piece of our mind!” Rainbow Dash finished for them. Applejack and Rarity nodded in agreement. “Oh, now girls, there’s really no need for that. Maybe he just forgot.” It was Fluttershy who had, until now, remained silent on the matter. But it was too late. Rainbow Dash had already flown out the door, Applejack and Rarity in tow. “Fluttershy, you stay here and help Pinkie, I’ll go make sure they don’t hurt Blitz.” Twilight called over her shoulder as she galloped after the trio. ------------------- Blitz sat enjoying the book he was reading, but was suddenly interrupted by a rapid succession of banging on his front door. He closed his book and stood up, walking briskly towards the foyer. He opened up the door, and was met with the faces of three angry mares, and one flustered purple unicorn. Blitz met their eyes with a blank expression. “Can I help you?”