The sun rose above the distant hills near the castle, the sky was a blueish orange as dawn left, and moved more towards afternoon.
A small pink butterfly fluttered by a small cottage, crested outside of the Everfree. From inside, you could hear the scuffling of animals rousing about.
Clouds were being placed and moved by the Ponyville Weather Patrol throughout the small town. Every cloud was white and fluffy as it filled the sky.
Farther into town, a baked goods store was just opening. The sweet smell of cakes and cookies filled the air through the small vent at the top.
A few blocks down, a dress shop was unlocking. Lights flickering on in the display cases revealing brilliantly stitched designs.
Just outside the town sat the huge farm equipped with hundreds of acres of apple trees. Ponies were already moving about as they began to complete their chores.
The village seemed normal, but an uneasy film of gloom hung in the air. It had been only days since Twilight Sparkle, the former librarian, had been turned into an alicorn and then moved to Canterlot to be a Princess.
As the day went by, the Town Center had remained almost silent, even though most were unaffected by her absence. At the library, two stallions were boarding up the door and windows. Nopony had bothered to accept taking over as a librarian, therefore they were forced to close it until somepony did.
***
Applejack reared back before slamming her hooves against the trunk of an enormous apple tree. Her younger sister held a bucket, dancing about catching every one of the falling fruits.
The orange earth-pony sighed, it was hard trying to do her job knowing that things may never be the same.
"Sis?" Her younger sister broke the silence.
"Ya?"
"Are we goin' to go to Pinkie's 'Going Away' party for Twilight?" The filly's eyes were wide, it was hard to tell if she wanted to, or was hoping they weren't.
"I think so, Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy are going. I suppose I should too." AJ hung her head down, ready to buck again.
"Oh, okay." Applebloom said no more.
The orange pony slammed back again, knocking more apples off. Twilight had helped her quite a few times on the farm. Including the time when the Flim Flam brothers came along and when she had decided to buck ALL of the apple trees, not getting any rest in doing so.
I suppose we awl' just need a little help...
***
Rainbow Dash landed, only one more quick session and she would be out of the Academy and back home.
I'm supposed to be at Pinkie's by 3. The mare thought silently to herself as she picked up to the air again, flying through some cloud hoops.
Spitfire shouted off some orders, mostly telling the pegasi to go faster, or work on turns. She could feel the cold 'Lead Pony' pin that was fastened on her chest. It's metal clip had slightly torn the flying jacket that was part uniform, but she didn't care.
Her mind was mostly clouded with thoughts of Twi, and how much they had been through together. Especially the day she came to Ponyville. A smile swept on Dash's face when she remembered crashing into the unicorn, making her land in a mud puddle.
***
Rarity pulled some deep purple thread through her sewing machine. It stitched itself into some magenta fabric, which was laced with silver stars and sparkles. She lifted it off the table and sat it on a mannequin. The white unicorn picked up some ribbons, trying to choose which color she preferred.
It was hard to make decisions, everything seemed all the same. Well, this was just because she wasn't focused. Rarity growled angrily and stomped away from the dress. "Nothing is right!" she sat down and stared into a mirror. Nothing ever seemed right any more.
Her grey and white cat meowed and padded up to her. "Oh Opal," the white pony sighed and petted the cat on her back.
After sitting for a few moments, her horn glowed opening up a closet door just a few hoof-steps away. Lit with her blue aurora was a scrolled up piece of paper. She unrolled it and looked at the sketch. It was the drawing idea of Twilight's Gala dress. The mare could feel her own heart sink as she lowered her head.
"Everything is going to be fine."
***
"Angel, come on just eat it!" A yellow pegasus pony pushed a carrot in the rabbit's direction. He shook his head stubbornly and snorted.
"You need to eat something!" Fluttershy wailed. Her voice was hoarse and her eyes were red. The mare had been quite upset. The day Twilight left, she cried herself to sleep,
Besides the fact that she had already remained quite anti-social, she had been separating herself even more than usual from her friends and the others in the town.
Fluttershy decided that she wasn't going to get to close to the ponies around town. If she ever lost another, she wouldn't be able to cope. Yes, she would keep in touch with Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Applejack, and Pinkie...but other than that...no. no more.
The pony turned her head and looked at the clock. A few minutes till 3:00 p.m.
"Well, I did promise Pinkie Pie I would come over for her going away party for Twilight..." Fluttershy sat down the carrot and made it towards the door.
***
A pink pony sat down, repetitively blowing up and tying balloons before throwing them in random directions. "Everypony should be here soon...I had better hurry..." she slowly got off the chair and began to set out punch, cookies, and other different cakes.
Instead of bouncing around, the earth-pony remained even. This wasn't exactly a party Pinkie Pie wanted to give. She was happy for Twilight, really she was, but other than that, all she could feel inside her heart was solitude. Even so, she couldn't wait until everypony came over. It would be the first she had seen of them since the new alicorn had left Ponyville.
As if on Que, there was a knock at the door. She opened it after pulling off a smile. She saw the familiar colors of Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. Welcoming the two in, she showed them to the food table. After, there was another knock and in came Applejack, which was followed a few minutes later by Rarity.
The five began to laugh again now that they were in the presence of friends.
I guess this won't be so bad after all... Pinkie Pie though to herself.
After at least an hour, there was another knock. It was the most unexpected.
"Who else did you invite, Pinkie?" Rainbow Dash asked, sitting down a cup of punch.
"Nopony, not that I'm aware of." she unlocked it and peeked out. It was Spike. Twi's trusted dragon.
Spike was staying in Ponyville a few days longer instead. He had wanted to make sure everything was taken care of, and that the unicorn's friends were okay before he left them alone. Twilight herself had wanted to do this, but the Princesses said she was needed immediately in Canterlot.
Rarity sat up. "Is Twilight with you?" there was a glimpse of hope in her eyes.
The pink pony let him in. "I'm afraid not. She wanted to come, really, but she couldn't. I thought I would drop by and see if there was anything you wanted me to tell her before I leave for Canterlot?" Spike was holding a quill and piece of paper.
The 5 mares spoke in unison. "Dear Princess Twilight," there was silence.
The purple dragon began to write.
Applejack stood forwards and took in a breath, "I think we all learned a very important lesson about friendship."
Pinkie Pie leaned over to AJ, and began. "Sometimes your friends might take a different path than you might have thought..."
Nopony said anything for a few moments, most likely one was trying to gain courage to say it. Rarity looked up and continued. "Or perhaps success may bring them somewhere when you least expect it..."
Rainbow Dash sighed and lowered her head. "And even though you might then feel small, or strange around them..."
Finally, Fluttershy spoke. "It's no reason to avoid them, or treat them any differently..."
They all spoke together at once. "Because it certainly won't change who they are inside."