//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Eager for the New Day // Story: Zodiac Brave Story // by Blankscape //------------------------------// Begin Chapter 4: Eager for the New Day * * * They entered the building, hesitantly following Sunny Surprise in while keeping wary of any tricks up their guide’s proverbial sleeves. Suddenly, the doors slammed shut behind them and the lights went out. “That’s it! I don’t know about everyone else, but I’ve had enough! Wait till I get my hooves on you.You’re gonna be in for it, you fancy-faker!” shouted Rainbow Dash, raring to go with wings flared in frustration. While the others were panicking and fumbling over each other in the darkness, Applejack somehow managed to restrain the aspiring wonderbolt. “Now, hold on thar, Rainbow! Don’t be goin’ all out hooves a blazin’ in here. If ya do, yer definitely gonna hurt somepony, and that likely won’t be that varmint here, now will it?” As the Pegasus realized the logic in the apple farmer’s words, a hearty laugh made itself heard as a spotlight from up the rafters cut through the darkness and shone down on the ponies. “Pinkie Pie’s missing!” pointed out Twilight in a quick head count. And without pause after the purple unicorn’s mention of the missing party pony, Rainbow Dash looked to the rafters and bawled in outrage, “Where is she and what have you done to her, you fraud!?” she demanded as she tried to make out the silhouette behind the spotlight. Just then, another voice erupted into jovial laughter that border-lined maniacal, bewildering the five mares who were kept in the dark. “Oh my GOSH!! Hahaha, you guys should see the look on you faces! Absolutely priceless! Hahahaha,” the jovial voice managed in its giggle fit. “Say what?” the cyan mare deadpanned unamusingly in recognition of that voice. Its owner made her way from behind the spotlight and glided down the rafters to their level, then stepped into the light to reveal herself as her laughs died down. It was the pegasus who introduced herself as Sunny Surprise and her off-white face was almost purple from the hilarity. She paced her way to the group while trying to not fall over and burst out laughing again. This further confused the ponies because this pegasus, who started off acting high-classed and well-mannered, was now acting a lot like their rambunctious pink friend. “What in tarnation is going on here!? Who are you exactly, and where’s Pinkie?” Applejack demanded while gritting her teeth in frustration. “Silly Applejack. This isn’t Tar-Nation. We’re in the great land of Equestria! Tee-hee,” the white pegasus chuckled. This response definitely sounded like the party pony. “Pinkie Pie, is…. Is that you?” Rainbow Dash questioned in disbelief. “Of course it’s me, good ol’ Pinkie Pie! Who else would it be, Dashie?” Upon confirmation of the mare in question’s identity, the five ponies trotted up to the now pegasus party pony giving her looks of displeasure. Rarity in particular began to scold her before the others could voice out similar complaints. She was feeling outraged at the antic which, in her opinion, had gone too far. “Pinkie! That was simply uncalled for!” Rarity rebuked in aggravation. “You planned everything? This entire escapade? You drag us down every known street, alley and dirt path in Ponyville for nearly half a day, potentially ruining the perfect sheen of my coat for the rest for the week, all for the sake of tomfoolery!?” “W-Why, Pinkie? It was a very mean prank, and um.. n-not nice of you to do,” murmured Fluttershy at a volume the party pony almost couldn’t hear. She was almost on the verge of tears, trembling in the back while the others had a look of confusion and resentment of what the party pony had done. “Ehehe… I’m really sorry, girls. It wasn’t my idea… Haha...honest but I just had to go along with it. This was the prank of the century after all,” she replied as she wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. She then turned to face the darkness. From it, a pink mare trotted up to the group whose Pinkie Pie voice still echoed in laughter. The party minus the now pegasus Pinkie Pie went slack-jawed at the sight of two party ponies together in one place. They had forgotten that the pony they thought was Pinkie Pie went missing in the first place when the lights went out. “Just… Just wait one gosh darn minute! Lemme get this straight,” Applejack confusingly demanded with a hoof to the head. “You’re Pinkie Pie, but now ya’ll got feathers now… So who’s this?” “Pinkie, just who exactly is this pony?” asked Twilight of the white pegasus, expecting her to answer. "I think it's about time we drop the disguises, don't you, Princess?" the party pegasus suggested. "Ehehe.. Yes, Pinkie Pie. I think so, too," the pink earth pony agreed. 'Princess!?' the five mares who were not in the know collectively exclaimed in thought while going slack-jawed once more. “Applejack, my little ponies and my most faithful student. I’m sorry, but this was a chance I just couldn’t pass up,” said the pink earth pony as a white light enveloped the white pegasus and the pink mare’s body to reveal their true forms. From dimming glow came Pinkie Pie, who once again, was a pink coated, pink poofy-maned, bubbly earth pony. The pony beside her, however, came as a shock to the Element bearers, causing them to nearly forget the upset disposition the prank had put them in. Next to the pink mare stood a tall, slender, and graceful pony of a coat purer than white snow with a multihued mane that flowed and swayed in an invisible, ethereal current and lovely magenta eyes that shone with solar brilliance. She had a long, alabaster horn and flawless majestic wings but none of the jewel-encrusted regalia she usually wore. “Princess Celestia!” everypony exclaimed in surprise except for Pinkie Pie. They all curtsied in reverence, then continued to stand in speechlessness, awestruck and puzzled as to what had just taken place while Pinkie had another fit of giggles. Before Twilight Sparkle could say anything, the princess raised a hoof to instruct them to hold off questions while she explained herself first. “Again, I must apologize for that prank, but like I said, I just couldn’t resist,” she clarified with a face that ached from laughter. “Pinkie Pie here found me out as I was surveying the town earlier, mapping out a route for the lark. She promised to keep it a secret in exchange for letting her in on this little prank.” The party pony impetuously stepped in to interrupt her by saying “Oh my gosh! I still can't believe it worked out so well! That definitely was the prank of the century, and I can't wait to plan the next one!" "Um, Pinkie?" Twilight tried to cut off. "Oh! And Nightmare Night with the Princess is gonna be an absolute blast! It'll be just you and me, Tia, scaring up flanks and pulling pranks!" the pink mare ambitiously envisioned with one hoof to the alicorn's shoulder and the other in the air as if grasping the vision in hoof. "Pinkie Pie!" Twilight yelled annoyingly for being ignored. "Yes, Twiley?" "Shouldn't you be explaining how in Equestria you just happen to stumble upon Princess Celestia?" "Oh, that? Well, it was all really so sudden, out of the blue, came out of nowhere and was completely unexpected like the time you gave up trying to figure out my Pinkie Sense!” she stated in comparison of the two events, much to the chagrin of the purple unicorn. She was getting ready for one of her long winded dialogues, the ones she could perform seemingly without a single pause for breath. “I was up early this morning to make a special batch of sweets just for little ol’ me and couldn’t decide between vanilla, blueberry, or pistachio filling! I tried lots of things to help me decide: magic eight balls, fortune cookies, lottery, pin the tail on the pony, eenie-meenie-mienie-moe, even my crystal ball didn’t work! When the sun started to rise, I pleaded for Princess Celestia to help me make up my mind! Then, all of a sudden, my hooves got all numb and jittery, and my mane stood on end which meant someone was in disguise planning a really, really, really, really,really, really, really, really, really, really, really,really, really, really, really, really, really," In the middle of the one word reiteration, Twilight, upon hearing the words 'jittery' and 'stood on end,' realized it ultimately meant that this was another case of Pinkie Pie's Pinkie Sense coincidentally acting up again. So she face-hoofed for not sparing herself, and the others of Pinkie's long-winded dialogue as the party pony continued her well-intended verbal assault on their ears. "really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, REALLY juicy prank, and I love pranks! You all know how much I love pranks. So when I got the feeling back in my hooves and my mane was all poofy again, I saw Princess Celestia snooping around and I was like ‘Oh my gosh, it’s the Princess!’ So I went over to her to ask her to help me decide, but when I got a second look at her, she had that pegasus disguise I had her put on me. So now, you must be thinking 'She was in diguise! How did you find out it was the Princess?' Well duhh!!! No magic can completely change a pony's cutie mark, not even the Princess's magic! Even when I was in disguise, I still had three balloons for a cutie mark. So when I ran into Princess Celestia this morning, she had her cutie mark covered by two clouds on the sides, so it just had to be her! That and she forgot to change her eye color. Yeppity yuppers! No two ponies ever have the same eye color inside the visible spectrum, and someponies would be missing a few gears in their heads if they actually mistook Princess Celestia's very unique shade of magenta for anypony else's." Meanwhile, the mentioned alicorn almost lost composure, nearly grinning sheepishly at the thought of overlooking such a simple mistake. Inside, she felt humbled that this hyperactive yet keen earth pony was the first to take notice of such a miniscule yet significantly tell-tale detail as her student glanced over, catching her mouth in a brief twitch, which confirmed that Pinkie's story checked in with the princess. "So I figured she must have been the one who was planning the really juicy prank because she was being all ninja-ee and non-princess-like and I got her to tell me what’s up. So, when she told me about her plan, I was all ‘Oh my gosh! You gotta let me in on this, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, PLEASE!’ cause I knew this really great prank I tried on Inkie and Blinkie where I got them to believe that foals came from cabbage! It was hilarious, and they really did believe it for a whole week! Hahaha!... I also have this other awesome prank I did on my pegasus friend, Surprise, where I hid a mmfmfffmffff…..” Twilight had put a hoof on chatty mare’s mouth with a sheepish grin facing Princess Celestia, just as she was about to veer into a tangent. “Sorry, Pinkie, but you can tell us all about that after we hear what the Princess has to say to us,” the purple unicorn suggested as she took her hoof out of the party pony’s mouth. With her friend’s hoof off, she replied, “Okie dokie, Loki!” in her usual Pinkie Pie vigor. “Thank you, Twilight. As you all know, running a country can be very boring, and often times, I never have enough time for any fun. Not to mention, the council, those selfish, high class, pencil pushers, were secretly planning on making a profit from the upcoming Summer Sun Celebration by charging admission to the viewing of the sunrise! The nerve of them. So, I took over preparations and decided that we should hold the festival here in Ponyville instead.” “Here!?” Fluttershy squeaked in dismay and at a volume so low, the Princess and her friends almost didn’t hear it. “Why yes, Fluttershy. Since we couldn’t completely see the festivities through last time on account of my sister’s return, I thought why not have it here again? So, I’ve arranged for a well known catering service to come and assist Pinkie Pie and Applejack with the food and other……………“ This bit of news had the yellow pegasus disappointed. It wasn’t like she was opposed to the idea, and attendance to the celebration wasn’t mandatory either. If it was and everypony just dropped whatever they were doing at the time to attend the ceremony, there’d be wide spread mayhem and disorder, the kind Discord would just love to be at the center of even if it were natural and not chaotically induced. Since she had come in a hurry to their little meeting earlier, Fluttershy didn’t pick up on the news that the festivities would be held here in Ponyville instead of Canterlot. Now that she was feeling better, Fluttershy hoped that she could see that strange plant in Dodge City before it blossomed and catch it in the process of revealing its magnificent splendor. Those hopes were fading fast in light of Celestia’s change of mind. And because she was an element bearer, she guessed it was highly likely for her to be assigned to some sort of position or responsibility pivotal to the success of the Celebrations. “And Fluttershy will once again be in charge of providing the music in the grand culmination at dawn. You, my dear, will be in charge of Feather Flock Harmonics as well, a group of song birds I hoof-picked from the Canterlot Aviary that will sing in conjunction with your feathered friends from last time.” And she was right. “So, any questions?” Princess Celestia finished. Applejack raised her hoof with a sheepish look. “Yes, Applejack?” The Apple farmer took a deep sigh before speaking. “Princess….. I.. um” She hesitated. “Yes, what is it?” “Ummm… B-back in the farm, you were all lookin’ like Pinkie for the prank… so.” “Yes, my little pony, I took that buck from your grandmother for Pinkie Pie,” interrupted the alicorn. “…….” The apple pony was silent as an even more sheepish grin formed on her face. “That bit was my fault on account of a minor oversight.” Princess Celestia smiled in nonchalance as she went on to explain. “I had originally planned to don that pegasus disguise and act as the escort, solely leading you all meandering about and around town for this prank... that is, until Pinkie Pie took notice of my plans and insisted that we switch places, since she wanted to spearhead, as she put it, 'the prank of the century.' She convinced me to add the visit to our itinerary because she said it would be more hilarious to pull at the leg of the bearer of the Element of Honesty, but she assured me that out of pure hospitality, you wouldn't dare buck a guest out the premises." Applejack had made a quick glare to the party pony in light of this, the latter sheepishly smiling in response. "I had completely forgotten about your grandmother, Granny Smith, however. Luckily, I remembered that not only does she make the best apple pies around...” the statement made Apple pony smile ear to ear with pride, hearing those words from the Princess herself as she listened to her explanation. “...she was also an efficient apple tree bucker back in her day. My flank is still sort of sore which a testament to her skill in old age. I just hope she doesn’t dislike me for defaming her cider with unfounded speculation.” “Ehehe. Don’t ya worry about none, Princess; she won’t. And ah don’t think ah should tell Granny right now for fear she could keel over n’ faint, and ah don’t wanna do that to her.” “Again, I apologize for the lack of foresight,” Princess Celestia finished while noticing at two more hooves raised by Rainbow Dash and Twilight. “Ah, about Pinkie’s wings, I take it.” The duo nodded in response to this. “An ancient transmogrification spell only Luna and I know….. And perhaps Discord as well, to a much greater and grander extent.” After the Element bearers cringed for a moment at the mention of that name, Rainbow spoke up. “So, Princess, how come Pinkie knew how to glide real well when she wasn’t a Pegasus for even a day?” “A good question, my aspiring wonderbolt. It was another spell I cast on her called Insight. It’s a high level spell that infuses magick into the transmogrified form gives the body a sort of intelligence that allows it to read the mind of the being and respond accordingly.” “A fascinating spell, indeed, Princess. Could you maybe teach me that some time?” wondered Twilight with stars in her eyes and an eager grin, ever the inquisitive spell seeker. “Ahahahaha………… no,” the alicorn joked with a deadpan tone, earning a pout of resigned disappointment from her faithful student and a chuckle from the others, except Fluttershy. She was still sad over the fact this newly appointed responsibility would bar her from possibly seeing the strange bud in Dodge City before it bloomed. Rarity took notice of the meek mare’s depressed look and called the Princess’ attention to this. “Pardon the intrusion to the mirth, my Princess, but I think something has our soft-spoken friend here upset.” “Yes, Fluttershy. Is something the matter?” the Princess wondered. “I sort of had plans already to go travel somewhere awhile,” she responed in a volume once again quieter than an army of marching ants. Rarity wouldn’t have the demure pegasus make the Princess ask again. “Fluttershy, dear, this is the Princess you’re talking to. Will you please speak louder? I’m sure she’ll listen to your troubles,” the seamstress requested of her with a blunt yet concerned tone. After a few seconds, the yellow Pegasus, spoke. “Umm.. okay,” she started then hesitantly continued. “W-While I was sick, I read this article about a strange plant found growing in Dodge City after a parasprite infestation, and I was sort of looking forward to going there and watching it bloom now that I’m feeling better.” “Are you confident you will be able to handle the preparations for the celebration by the time you return? A round trip to Dodge City takes about two days, if I’m not mistaken.” Though Princess Celestia had also arranged for back-ups in case any of the Element bearers somehow could not accept or fulfill their assignments, she was looking so forward as well to hearing Fluttershy’s song bird symphony in tandem with the birds from Canterlot. “Arranging the symphony won’t be too much of a problem, Princess. I think. After all, I am good with animals. I’m sure that even if I get back by Saturday or Sunday, three days worth of practice will be more than enough…i-if the birds from Canterlot would be kind enough to cooperate with me…that is..” reasoned Fluttershy with a tinge of confidence in her voice, eager to gain the royal pony’s approval for the trip. “Hmm… well,... I don’t see how that could be a problem. After all, I am, in a sense, imposing this responsibility on you, on all of you in fact,” Princess Celestia pointed out after a moment taking the meek pony’s wishes into consideration. “Well then, I’ll be sure to remind the Feather Flock to pay close attention to you and such. In any case, I hope…. Yes, Twilight?” said the Princess, seeing her student raise a hoof. “But Princess! Fluttershy! It’s the Summer Sun Celebration, the most imp…” the unicorn stopped as her mentor interrupted with a hoof to the muzzle. “Twilight, I know exactly what you’re going to say.” “You do?” Yes, I do, and quite frankly, I don’t care.” “What?” The unicorn felt confuzzled by her mentor’s words as Princess Celestia began to explain herself. “What I mean to say is that I don’t really understand why most ponies make such a big deal about this one single day that just happens to be longer than all the other days of the year.” Princess Celestia stopped for a moment with a sigh, this being the first time she ever told anypony aside from her sister, Luna, that she thought the festivities unnecessary. “Starswirl the Bearded was the pony who originally proposed the idea of turning it into a celebration after, by chance, seeing me raise the sun one particular dawn during one of his all-nighters all those centuries ago. He was extremely insistent that I declare it an official Equestrian holiday because everypony should be able to, as how he put it, ‘witness how magnificent and brilliant you are when you raise you glorious sun during the summer solstice," she said while doing her best impression of the mentioned historical figure, making Pinkie Pie giggle. “Anyway, I’m trotting off topic here. The lesson here, my faithful student, is that every new day begins with a sunrise, which I have not and will never fail to do. But there are a lot more important things that need attending to than watching me raise the sun. A lot of things in this world are so far and few in between, and even the most important things only come once in a lifetime. Things like Foalbirth, birthday parties, earning a cutie mark, business oppurtunities, finding your special somepony, matrimony, the death of a loved one……..and…consoling a beloved before things take a turn for the worse. The list goes on.” The alicorn went somber for a moment when she mentioned that last part. “If you don’t pay close attention, then you will have let these irreplaceable moment and opportunities pass you by or maybe not even notice them at all. Always remember that, my faithful student. I hope the same goes for the rest of you, my little ponies.” “We understand, Princess,” resigned Twilight at the new life lesson as the rest nodded in agreement. Happy in knowing that her student always took her words to heart, the alicorn turned back to the demure pegasus to ask “So, dear Fluttershy, when will you be leaving for Dodge City?” “Oh! U-umm… let’s see. The article mentioned that it’s expected to flower within this week, most likely Wednesday to Friday. So, if I leave tomorrow……” The meek mare trailed off into thought to count the days in her head. It meant a lot to her that Princess Celestia let her take this trip to see the strange bud bloom, but this also made her feel indebted to her. So when she came back, Fluttershy would make it up to the Princess in return, by arranging a symphony at least twice as good as the last. “Then I’ll be back this coming Saturday.” “Well then, you better prepare for your trip, and make sure you’re well rested. As I recall, the first train to Dodge City will be leaving at seven thirty tomorrow in the morning,” Princess Celestia suggested, not knowing if Fluttershy was informed of the next day’s train schedule. “Oh my! That’s a bit too early. I just hope I can get everything ready on time!” “Don’t worry, Flutters! We’ll help you get ready in no time,” Rainbow Dash assured. “And with my organizing skills, we should have everything ready in less than an hour,” Twilight added in confidence. The others chimed in agreement as well, all willing to lend a hoof to their friend in a pinch. “Oh, thank you all so very much! I wouldn’t know what to do if I didn’t have such wonderful friends!” the demure pony exclaimed in hushed voice. They all huddled together in a group hug that made the alabaster alicorn smile, her heart melting inside at the sight. After that, they continued to chat for awhile with their princess. As Twilight urged Pinkie Pie to apologize for having Princess Celestia take a hit on the flank in her place, and to Applejack as well, for suggesting that part of the prank, Fluttershy thanked the alicorn for this kind consideration and looked forward to the next day. After a few more pleasantries with her beloved ponies and restoring the sheen to Rarity's coat, the alicorn bade them a farewell and disappeared in a flash of light. They then made way for the library to pick up a quill, some ink, and a roll of parchment. When the group had arrived, Twilight found Spike at the foot of the stairs, who had fallen asleep waiting for her. She levitated him upstairs and tucked him in his basket. With the aforementioned items in hoof, they went over to the cottage to begin the preparations for her trip. When they arrived there, Fluttershy noticed that Angel Bunny had also gone to sleep ahead of her, so she instructed her friends to be extra quiet as to not wake the irritable rabbit and warrant the consequences of doing so. Rarity started sprucing the place up and attended to fix a few torn bed sheets and tablecloths. Applejack listened attentively to the yellow pegasus’s instructions on how to approach her animals as well as their feeding schedules, while Twilight jotted down a reminder for the Apple pony in addition to making a checklist for all the things their demure friend might need. The diligent unicorn also dictated to Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash what to assemble for the trip and had them perform other tasks and chores Rarity wouldn’t consider doing. As the clock chimed, announcing that it was one o’clock in the morning, Twilight felt satisfied in the fact that they finished as scheduled. Then, the girls partook of the snacks that Fluttershy had made to show her gratitude in the help they offered. After finishing, they all said their goodbyes and each of them made way for their respective homes for well-deserved rest. When they left, Fluttershy went straight to her bedroom, thankful for the fact she had nothing to worry about tomorrow, her belongings readied and home taken care of by her friends in her absence. As she tucked herself in bed trying to get into a comfortable position, she wondered in drowsy enthusiasm of the strange plant she was about to travel a long distance to see. What color would it be? What sort of aroma would come from it and dance in the air around it? What sort of beautiful and magnificent animals would be attracted by scent? In her eagerness to find out, she fell asleep and dreamt of the flower in bloom. * * * On a lazy afternoon of the midsummer month of June, a little girl ran home with hands held to her eyes, ready to burst into tears. She had just come from the playground with her verdant dress all scuffled and dirty. The little girl hastily made her way to a two-story hazel colored house with an orange picket fence and roof which stood out amongst the other hues of mostly blues, whites and grays that colored similarly built houses in the subdivision. The house was situated on the left corner of a T-shaped fork with the playground well in view from the backyard and kitchen, which was around a hundred meters or so in between. Inside the kitchen, a young woman, clothed in a pink sleeveless blouse, a long indigo skirt, and an apron was preparing dinner with the aroma of her success permeating the air. Though she delighted at the sight and smell of a job well done, the young woman opened a window to let the fumes waft out and a get a breath of fresh air, but instead was distressed to see the little girl crying as she ran from the playground. The crying lass entered from the back gate and made a beeline for the door which opened to let out the concerned woman. They met each other midway in an embrace more consoling than welcoming. The woman combed the little girl’s hair neat with her hands and wiped her face which was dirty and drenched in tears. “What happened!? Was it those bullies from school again?” the concerned woman asked. “Y-y-yes! Th-they threw rocks and dirtat me!” the little girl managed when her wails settled to loud sniffles. “Why did this happened?” the woman asked while dusting the dirt off the crying girl’s clothes. “I fell down from the swing and scraped my arm and tore my sleeve. I didn’t want to bother you, so I closed them up but they must’ve been nearby because they threw stones at me and called me a freak.” She had expected a scolding after saying those last words, but felt the young woman’s embrace tighten in response instead. “Never you mind them. This will all be over after tonight, and everything will go back to the way it was, like in your dreams,” the young woman consoled, shedding a few tears of her own in relief. “Tonight we’re finally going home.” The little girl kept silent in her sniffles, the truth of those words comforting her and settling her troubled mind. After she had stopped crying, she let out a yawn and laid her tired little body against the woman who lifted her up and brought her inside. “Like in my dreams?” she asked drowsily when feeling the steps of the stairs under her carrier’s feet. “Yes, just like in your dreams,” the woman assured as she opened the door to the little girl’s room. “We’ll be ready to go when you wake up from your nap.” She tucked the little girl snugly into bed and kissed her forehead after closing the blinds and turning on a night light and a ceiling fan. Before the young woman closed the door, she looked to her charge with melancholy in her smile as she bade the little girl a good night. “Pleasant dreams, Zach.” * * * End Chapter 4: Eager for the New Day __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________