//------------------------------// // The Ticket Master // Story: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic - Chronicles of the 7th // by mrthischarmingman2 //------------------------------// "No... Nope... Nope..." Spike droned on as he inspected the apples in one of the baskets Twilight as carrying on her back, just as he threw them out onto the ground. What was wrong with them, I have no idea, they all looked fine to me. It had been about two days since all that Nightmare Moon business, and I'd already felt like I'd settled in. Twilight had even taught me some basic magic techniques, like that levitation spell that all unicorns have learned at some point. It was pretty cool, being able to do that, but what I really wanted was to find out how use my wings. I'd have asked Rainbow Dash, but I doubt that she would be willing to teach me. "Thank ya kindly you two, for helping me out." AJ said as the three of us trotted towards the barn, "I bet Big Macintosh I could get all these Golden Delicious in the barn by lunchtime. If I win, he's gonna walk down Stirrup Street in one of granny's girdles." she added with a chuckle. Yeah, me and Twilight had been helping our farm friend buck apples all morning. I'm not usually the one to accept hard labour, but I had nothing else to do today anyway. Besides, it turned out to be pretty easy when I started, heck it was even enjoyable! Still, keep doing this for a while, and you realise how tough it really is. Thank God it was nearly lunchtime, I was starving! "No problem at all, Applejack." Twilight answered to the farm pony, snapping me out of my thoughts, " I'm glad the goal is lunchtime. All this hard work is making me hungry." "You're not kidding." I told her, "You have no idea how famished I am right now!" "I know, right?" Spike cut in, throwing an apple behind him which hit Twilight on the head. "Puh-leez," Twilight said, turning to glare at the dragon riding her, "Spike, you've been lounging on my back all morning while we worked!" "Exactly!" Spike protested, "The three of you are taking so long I missed snack time!" At that moment, Twilight's stomach gave off an audible grumble. She looked at Spike again, laughing nervously. "I guess we better get some food." she admitted. "Nope..." Spike continued sorting out the apples, throwing the ones he deemed bad onto the ground again, "Worm..." "Okay, Spike," I interrupted, snapping him out of his train of thought, "Are you being serious about all this? I mean, all of those apples look just fine, and your just throwing onto the ground without even looking at them properly." "It takes a fine eye in order to inspect an apple to every last detail James." Spike replied matter-of-factly. "Yeah," I answered back to him, "and it's something that you seem to be lacking!" The purple dragon scowled at me, before returning to his 'inspection'. He reached deep into the basket, and suddenly emerged with a very pleasant surprise. "A-ha!" he declared as he presented it for us all to see. In his claws he held a bright red, juicy looking apple, just ready to be eaten. "Oh Spike," said Twilight, licking her lips, "that looks delicious!". But before she could say anything else, Spike almost immediately shoved the majestic fruit into his mouth, which he was now munching on. "Spike!" Twilight scolded, glaring at him disapprovingly. Spike gulped down the contents in his mouth, before letting out a simple "What?" All of a sudden, Spike clutched his mouth and let out a loud belch, letting out a green flame followed by a trail of smoke. In a small 'puff', a scroll appeared, which proceeded to gently levitate down to the ground. "It's a letter from Princess Celestia!" Twilight exclaimed (Wow, I never would have guessed!). Spike proceeded to pick up the scroll, clear his throat and open it. "Hear ye, hear ye!" he read aloud, "Her Grand Royal Highness, Princess Celestia of Equestria, is pleased to announce The Grand Galloping Gala to be held in the magnificent capital city of Canterlot, on the 21st day of, eh, yadda yadda yadda, cordially extends an invitation to Twilight Sparkle plus one guest." Upon hearing this news, Twilight and AJ's faces lit up in amazement. "The Grand Galloping Gala!" they said together in excitment. "The Grand Galloping Gala!" Twilight and AJ repeated, leaping up and down, whooping and cheering. I stood there, watching them, unable to comprehend any reason to why they would start doing this. What was so exciting about this gala to make them start doing this? Am I missing something here? Should I be excited as well? I kept answering myself those questions over and over in my head as the two girls continued. As the little scene in front of us played out, Spike gave off an un-amused look; when all of a sudden he belched again, this time revealing two golden tickets which floated down into his claws. "Look!" he declared, "Two tickets!" "Wow, great!" Twilight declared, "I've never been to the gala. Have you, Spike?" "No," Spike answered, "and I plan to keep it that way. I don't want any of that girly frilly frou-frou nonsense." "Alright," I cut in, "am I missing something here? What's the Grand Galloping Gala? And what makes it so exciting?" The two ponies and the dragon stared at me, the three pairs of eyes staring at me in shock. "You've never heard of The Grand Galloping Gala?!" Twilight demanded, her voice full of surprise. "Twilight," I said calmly, "you need to remember that I've only been in Equestria for two days now. In the time span of those two days, you have been teaching me how to use magic, so I haven't had any time to learn much about Equestrian culture." The three sets of eyes continued to stare at me for a few second, before their owners relaxed and Twilight opened her mouth. "The Grand Galloping Gala is a royal ball held every year." she explained, "Princess Celestia chooses who is invited herself. The fact that we've been invited is a great honor!" A ball? Now that sounded really interesting! I was never the one for parties, but I'd gladly make an exception for something like this! I could see it now, me walking into the ballroom, as slow music began to play. Twilight standing there, as if waiting for somepony. I walk over, take her hooves and... Wait, what the hell am I thinking?! "Really?" I said quickly, snapping myself out of my thoughts. Twilight nodded tow my question, which didn't really need to be answered, "That sounds pretty nice I guess..." "Nice?" AJ cut in, "It's a heap good more than just nice! Ah'd love to go! Land sakes, if ah had an apple stand set up, ponies would be chowin' our tasty vittles till the cows came home! Do you have any idea how much business I could drum up for Sweet Apple Acres? Why, with all that money, we could do a heap of fixin' up 'round here. We could replace that saggy old roof, and Big McIntosh could replace that saggy old plow, and Granny Smith could replace that saggy old hip! Why, ah'd give mah' left hind leg to go to that gala." Replace that saggy old hip? Is she saying that she can't afford a chiropractor? Does she even know what it is? "Oh, well in that case," Twilight began to ask, "would you like to...?" "Whoa!" a new voice suddenly cried out from above. I looked up to see its' source, just in time to see a seeing a certain cyan mare crash on top of Twilight and AJ. "Are we talking about The Grand Galloping Gala?!" Rainbow Dash cried out in excitement. "Rainbow Dash! You told me you were too busy tah' help me harvest apples! What were yah' busy doin'? Spyin'?" "No," Rainbow answered , "I was busy... napping." Really? She actually used that as an excuse? Who does that? Seriously? "And I just happened to hear that you have an extra ticket?" Rainbow continued as he hovered upside down. You heard me right, she was hovering in the air, UPSIDE DOWN. Just go along with it alright? "Yeah," Twilight began, "but..." "YES!" Rainbow cried out, performing a midair back flip, "This is so awesome! The Wonderbolts perform at The Grand Galloping Gala every year. I can see it now. Everyone would be watching the sky. Their eyes riveted on The Wonderbolts, but then in would fly Rainbow Dash! I would draw their attention with my Super Speed Strut! Then, I would mesmerize 'em with my Fantastic Filly Flash. And for my grand finale, The Buccaneer Blaze! The ponies would go wild! The Wonderbolts would insist that my signature moves be incorporated into their routine, and then welcome me as their newest member. Don't you see, Twilight? This could be my one chance to show 'em my stuff. You gotta take me!" Suddenly, she jerked backwards, as AJ pulled her away from Twilight by her tail (which she kept in her mouth). "Hold on just one pony pickin' minute here." AJ said through her teeth, before releasing Rainbow's tail, "Ah asked for that ticket first." "So?" Rainbow retorted, "That doesn't mean you own it." "Oh, yeah? Well ah challenge you to a hoof-wrestle!" AJ challenged, " Winner gets the ticket!" With those words, she and Rainbow dashed over to a nearby tree stump, trying to pin each other's hoof onto the surface. But before they could get very far, Twilight, popped up in between them and pushed them away. "Girls!" she exclaimed, "These are my tickets, I'll decide who gets it, thank you very much. Whoever has the best reason to go should get the ticket, don't you think?" Why do I get the feeling that this is going to come back to bite her in the ass? "Drummin' up business for the farm?" AJ inquired, taking a step closer. "A chance to audition for The Wonderbolts?" Rainbow cut in, moving closer that AJ. "Money t' fix granny's hip!" "Living the dream!" Okay , if I had to choose between those two, I'd say that AJ had the better reason. I mean, she wanted to expand her business right? And she needed to fix her barn and all that. So for me, this would be a no-brainer. "Oh my," Twilight said, "those were all pretty good reasons, aren't they?". Suddenly, her stomach rumbled again. "Listen to that," she giggled "I am starving. I don't know about you, but I can't make important decisions on an empty stomach, so I'll, uh, think about it over lunch and get back to you two, okay?" "Sounds like a plan." I added, as Spike hopped back onto her back. Seriously, I was starving! 'Bout time we got a bit of scran. With that she began to trot back into Ponyville, with me following her posthaste. "So, who are you going to give the ticket to, Twilight?" Spike asked as we made though town. "I don't know Spike," Twilight admitted, "but I really can't think straight when I'm hungry, so where should we eat?" Suddenly out of nowhere, as we walked past Sugercube Corner; a sudden force coming from our left sent Twilight hurtling to the right, unintentionally taking me with her. Now before I continue, let me tell all of you about Sugercube Corner. It's actually a pretty decent bakery, with some really tasty goodies for sale, but it also has a dark side. For deep within, there lies an unspeakable horror. So... horrifying. So... evil. So... PINK. That horror was now lying on the ground next to us. "Gah! Bats! Bats in my face! Help" cried Pinkie Pie, unaware that the 'bats' were actually the two tickets, and now running around in panic. "Wait," she said, stopping abruptly in front of the tickets, which were now lying on the ground; "these aren't... tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala?!" she cried out, her eyes now seeming to sparkle, "It's the most amazing incredible tremendous super-fun wonderful terrifically humongous party in all of Equestria! I've always always always wanted to go!" And with those words, she began bouncing around us and burst into song: "Oh the Grand Galloping Gala is the best place for me Oh the Grand Galloping Gala is the best place for me Hip hip Hooray! It's the best place for me For Pinkie..." "With decorations like streamers and fairy-lights and pinwheels and piñatas and pin-cushions. With goodies like sugar cubes and sugar canes and sundaes and sun-beams and sarsaparilla. And I get to play my favorite-est of favorite fantabulous games like Pin the Tail on the Pony!" she rambled on before continuing the song. "Oh the Grand Galloping Gala is the best place for me Oh the Grand Galloping Gala is the best place for me 'Cause it's the most galarrific superly-terrific gala ever In the whole galaxy Wheee!!" " Oh thank you Twilight," Pinkie said as she shoved her face right in front of Twilight's, "it's the most wonderful-est gift ever!" " Um," Twilight began, "actually..." Suddenly, a new voice gasped in awe. Turning to see its' source, I saw Rarity standing next to Spike, who now held the two tickets in his claws. "Are those what I think they are?" Rarity asked. " Yes, yes, yes!" Pinkie exclaimed, " Twilight's taking me to The Grand Galloping Gala in Canterlot!" "The gala?" Rarity gasped, " I design ensembles for the gala every year, but I've never had the opportunity to attend. Oh, the society, the culture, the glamor! It's where I truly belong, and where I'm destined to meet him!" "Him?" I asked, "who the hell's him?" "Him." she emphasised, her eyes becoming misty, " I would stroll through the gala, and everyone would wonder, 'Who is that mysterious mare?' They would never guess that I was just a simple pony from little old Ponyville. Why, I would cause such a sensation that I would be invited for an audience with Princess Celestia herself, and the princess would be so taken with the style and elegance that she would introduce me to him, her nephew: the most handsome, eligible unicorn stallion in Canterlot. Our eyes would meet, our hearts would melt. Our courtship would be magnificent. He would ask for my hoof in marriage, and of course I would say, 'Yes!' We would have a royal wedding, befitting a princess, which is" she giggled, "what I would become upon marrying him, the stallion of my dreams!" That's... a pretty childish fantasy. I mean seriously, why would he be anything like that? Whoever the guy is, he's probably just a stuck up, pompous, arrogant little bitch. Actually, thinking about it now, I didn't know Celestia had a nephew! "Twilight," Rarity declared. " I simply cannot believe you would invite Pinkie Pie so she can... party, and prevent me from meeting my true love! How could you? Hmph." "Well, actually Rarity..." I began. "Hey!" Spike suddenly shouted out. Turning around in his direction, I spotted a small white bunny dashing way from him, with the two tickets in its' mouth, towards a certain yellow mare. "Angel," Fluttershy gasped, "These are perfect." "Uh, listen guys," Twilight said, "I haven't decided who to give the extra ticket to. "You haven't?!" Rarity and Pinkie exclaimed at the same time, turning to face her with their eyes wide. "Um... excuse me, Twilight." Fluttershy quietly inquired, "I would just like to ask, I mean, if it would be alright, if you haven't given it to someone else..." "You?" Rarity asked in disbelief, "You want to go to the gala?" "Oh, no." Fluttershy said flatly, before bunny tapped it's foot rapidly on her leg, "I mean, yes, or, actually, kind of. You see, it's not so much The Grand Galloping Gala as it is the wondrous private gated garden that surrounds the dance. The flowers are said to be the most beautiful and fragrant in all of Equestria. For the night of the gala, and that night alone, would they all be in bloom... and that's just the flora! Don't get me started on the fauna. There's loons and toucans and bitterns, oh my! Hummingbirds that can really hum, and buzzards that can really buzz. White-blue jays, and red jays, and green jays, pink jays and pink flamingos!" "Gee, Fluttershy," Twilight was unsure of what to say, "it sounds... beautiful?" "Wait just a minute!" a new, but familiar voice said from above. Looking above to see its' source, we saw that it was none other than... "Rainbow Dash." I said as she swooped down to land in front of me and Twilight, "Are you stalking us?" "Why would I follow some weird alien around?" she asked, her voice full of hostility as she eyed me in an unwelcoming way. "You never know." I said bluntly, "So if you're not following me, your following Twilight?" "No!" she declared, "I mean, yes! I mean, maybe! Look, it doesn't matter. I couldn't risk a goody-four-shoes like her giving that ticket away to just anybody!" Wait a minute, did she just say anybody? Doesn't she mean anypony? "Wait just another minute." a southern voice suddenly cut in. "Oh, AJ." I groaned as the orange pony trotted towards us, "Please don't tell me your were following us too?" "No. I was followin' this one to make sure she didn't try any funny business." she answered, pointing at Rainbow Dash, "Still trying to take mah ticket." "Your ticket?!" Rainbow retorted, now hovering in the air. "But Twilight's taking me!" Pinkie cut in. With those word, all of the girls surrounded us, arguing to each other over who should get the other ticket. "Girls." I said, trying to catch their attention. It did no good. "Girls." I repeated, louder more sternly. Once more, they ignored me. I was going to yell a third time, but it turned out that I didn't need to. "QUIET!" Twilight yelled, causing everyone to fall silent. "And then I said, 'Oatmeal? Are you craz...?'" Pinkie faltered before letting out a small "oh." "Girls," Twilight declared, "there's no use in arguing." "But Twilight..." Rarity moaned. "Eh!" Twilight cut her off, "This is my decision, and I'm gonna make it on my own, and I certainly can't think straight with all this noise..." her stomach suddenly rumbled, "not to mention hunger. Now go on, shoo." The five ponies trotted off, grumbling with their heads drooped down. "And don't worry," Twilight called out to them, "I'll figure this out..." her dropped down dejectedly. somehow." Damn, she hadn't had those tickets for that long, and already it was tearing at her. It's always hard making hard decisions, but being pressured in which one you should make? That's a whole diferent story. And the fact that you're on an empty stomach doesn't make anything any better! All this talk of lunch just kept reminding me about how hungry I was! "Come on," I said, placing a comforting hoof on her shoulder, "let's just go and find somewhere to eat. We can clear or heads an think this through, right?" Twilight gave off a sad sigh, before turning to me with a small on her face. "Yeah," she said, "let's do that. Maybe we can make a decision over lunch." "Know anywhere worth checking out?" "There is this one place that I've heard of, not very far from here. Maybe we should give that a try?" "Sure." I said, "Lead the way.". With those words, we started trotting off towards our destination. "So, James..." Twilight asked as we walked. I turned my head to face her. "Hmm?" "What's Earth like?" she inquired, "And how do humans live?" "Earth?" I began, "Well, it's actually quite similar to this world now that I think about it, but there are quite a few key differences. I guess the most obvious is that nobody raises the sun every day and night." "What?!" Twilight asked in a mixture of awe and disbelief, "How is that even possible?!" "To put it simply, the Earth orbits the sun and spins on its' axis, and the moon orbits the Earth. Because the Earth spins on its' axis, it's daytime for the side facing the sun, and night for the side facing the moon." "Fascinating." said Twilight in awe, "And what about the way humans live?" "For starters, humans have no access to magic whatsoever. Because of that, we advanced in the fields of technology, science and physics. As for our government, Earth is divided into separate nation states; such as the United Kingdom, the United States of America, the People's Republic of China, and the Russian Federation." "Really?" Twilight inquired with interest, "You don't have any sort of unity whatsoever?" "There is the United Nations," I responded, "an international organisation which has a representative from each country. It's goals are to uphold international law, human rights, civil rights and loads of other things; with the ultimate goal of ensuring world peace. Apart from that, my species has no unified government to speak of." "Wow." Twilight said in amazement, "You race sounds really fascinating! I ought to ask you more questions when I get the chance." "And I would be more than happy to answer them." I replied curtly. Twilight giggled in response, and I could have sworn I saw her cheeks go pink for a split second. "Ah!" she exclaimed as we walked towards a restaurant, with many diners eating outside and enjoying outside, "Here we are." "Finally!" Spike groaned, "I'm starving!" As we sat down with our menus, Twilight's face began to fall, and she placed her head on the table. "Something wrong?" I inquired. "Oh, James" she sighed sadly, " what am I gonna do? All five of my best friends have really good reasons to go to the gala." She began picking the petals of a flower in a vase on the table, "Applejack, or Rainbow Dash? Pinkie Pie or Fluttershy, Rarity... Oh, who should go with me?". She then stuck out her tongue and used it to place the petals in her mouth. "Have you made your decision?" the waiter asked as he walked over to our table. "I CAN'T DECIDE!" Twilight yelled in frustration. Several other ponies looked up. " Twilight," Spike said, "he just wants to take your order." "Oh." Twilight realised, "I would love a daffodil and daisy sandwich." "I'll have the garlic bread please." I ordered. "Do you have any rubies?" Spike asked. The waiter gave him an un-amused look. "No? Okay, I'll have hay fries. Extra crispy." Spike said disappointedly, tossing the menu behind him. "What do you think, James?" Twilight asked me. "Think of what?" "How do I choose which one of our friends to take to the gala? And when I do choose, will the other four be mad at me? I mean, I could give up my ticket and give away two, but that would still leave three disappointed ponies. What if I..." "If you want my personal opinion Twilight," I interrupted, in order to stop her fretting, "then I'd choose Applejack. The fact that she needs to raise money for her farm and business seems like the most important reason to me, but my opinion shouldn't have any impact on your final decision. It's your choice, and no one elses." Twilight sighed sadly again, "I suppose your right." The waiter returned with three plates. One with a sandwich containing daisies and daffodils, another holding a huge pile of fries (or as I would call them, chips, even though they aren't. Don't question me, I'm British!"), and the third with four pieces of warm bread, with garlic butter spread across each. The scent entered my nostrils, and I felt the inside of my mouth beginning to water. "Ah, your food." he said as he placed them on the table. Me and Spike didn't hesitate to dig in. As Spike shoved the fries into his mouth, I bit into a piece of bread, taking my time to feel the texture and fully appreciate the taste. I dare say it, but this was probably the best garlic bread I had ever tasted! "Oh thank you." Twilight said in "This looks so good. I'm sure everything will be much clearer once I eat." As she was about to take a bite out of her sandwich, all of the other ponies that were sitting outside suddenly raced inside the restaurant. "Em, madam? Monsieur?" The waiter asked, now standing just in-between the door leading inside, "Are you both going to eat your food in ze rain?" Rain? What was that Frenchy talking about? There weren't a cloud in the sky. "It's not raining." Twilight said. She spoke too soon. Around us, it was chucking it down, yet for some reason the sun seemed to shine around us. "What's going on?" she asked to no one in particular, looking up to see a hole in the clouds, which was where the sun's rays were coming from. "Hi there best friend forever I've ever ever had!", said a voice I'd heard enough times today to know who it was. A certain cyan pegasus made herself visible from the other side of the hole. "Enjoying the sunny weather?" she asked. "Rainbow Dash," Twilight questioned suspiciously, "what are you doing?" "Whaddya mean?" Rainbow asked innocently, " I just saw the smartest, most generous pony about to get rained on, so I thought I'd kick a hole in the clouds to keep her dry so she could dine in peace, that's all." "Rainbow, you're not trying to get extra consideration for the extra ticket by doing me extra special favors, are you?" "Me? No no no, of course not!". ('Arthur... Arthur... King of the Britons' anyone?) "Uh-huh." "Seriously," Rainbow insisted, "I'd do it for any pony." she then chuckled nervously, realising that many other ponies around us were getting soaked to the skin. "Rainbow," Twilight explained, "I am not comfortable accepting unwanted favors, so I'd appreciate it if you close up that rain cloud right now." "Fine." Rainbow groaned, before zipping up the hole in the cloud. "That's better." Twilight said, before levitating the sandwich towards her mouth. Before she could take a single bite, the rain hit the three of us, soaking us and our food. A real pity as well, I'd only taken one bite out of that garlic bread and now it was ruined! "Twilight, James," I turned my attention towards the new, but familiar voice, and there was Rarity. She was keeping dry thanks to an umbrella connected to a saddle on her back. "it's raining." "No, really?" Twilight asked sarcastically. "We never would have guessed." I added my own jab. "Come with me before you catch a cold!" Rarity exclaimed, grabbing Twilight and pulling her away from the table. Not wanting to spend much more time standing outside getting wet, I quickly followed post haste. We were now safely inside the confides of Carousel Boutique, where me and Twilight shook ourselves like dogs until we were dry. Unfortunately, as we turned round, we saw that Rarity was now twice as soaked as the both of us were. "Oops," Twilight chuckled meekly, "sorry." "Oh no," Rarity smiled it off, "it's quite alright. After all, we are... the best of friends, are we not? And you know what the best of friends do?" "Uh..." Twilight was clueless. "Makeovers!" Rarity trilled, using her magic to cover herself and Twilight with a screen. And I would say that only God knew what happened behind there, but he's not real is he? I could swear that I heard the sound of drills behind there! "Ugh, Rarity," I heard Twilight protest, "ow, this really isn't fixing it. I mean, thank you but, ooh, that's too tight!" "What the hell's going on back there?!" I demanded, just as the screen was moved to the side to reveal Twilight, who was now wearing and dark blue saddle. "There." Rarity said, "Oh, you're simply darling." "Uh, yeah," Twilight admitted, "it is kinda pretty, isn't it?" "And you." Rarity directed towards Spike, "Oh Spike, I have a dandy little outfit for the dashing gent!" "D-ah," Spike cried out as he tried to escape, before being obscured by the screen, "ow, oh, hey, wow, watch it, whoa!" The screen once again moved away, now revealing Spike wearing bright blue Georgian Style suit and a blond wig, mush to his horror. "Oh, Spike." Twilight giggled at the scene. "Now you just need a hat" Rarity finished, placing a large black hat on the dragon's head. " Ugh," Spike groaned, "I told you, I don't want any part of this girly gala gunk, see you back at the library." With that, he immediately dashed out through the door, leaving behind his embarrassing outfit. Rarity giggled somewhat forcefully; "Oh who needs him anyway?" she asked, pulling forward a mirror in front of Twilight, who began to check herself out. "This is all about you, and how fabulous you'll look at The Grand Galloping Gala!" "Wait," Twilight realized, "The Grand... "And oh, my goodness," Rarity gasped, "what a coincidence. I happen to have an ensemble of my own that matches yours to a T. We would be the belles of the ball, you and I. Everyone would be clamoring for our attention. All eyes would be on us, and then everyone would finally know, the most beautiful, most talented, most sophisticated pony in all of Equestria is Rarity the unicorn. Ah, and Twilight Sparkle, of course." she added, laughing nervously. "I see what's going on." Twilight said, clearly agitated, "You're just buttering me up so I give you the extra ticket. Well it's not gonna work." she threw off the saddle she was wearing, "You're going to have to wait for my decision just like everyone else. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've been trying all day just to get some lunch." she finished as she headed for the door. Lunch. Jeez, I forgot, I was still hungry. Damn I was going to have some delicious garlic bread earlier, but I only managed one bite out of it! Clearly the weather didn't like me, or else in wouldn't have rained! "Did somepony say lunch?" Twilight was suddenly yanked outside by a certain orange pony. I rushed out of the boutique, and there was Applejack with a cart fool of food products. "You've got to be kidding me!" Twilight exclaimed in disbelief at the site. "Ah got apple pie, apple fritters, apple tarts, apple dumplings, apple crisps, apple crumblers, and apple Brown Betty!" AJ declared, "Uh, the dessert, not my auntie. What do ya say there, best friend?" Twilight's stomach grumble once again, "Is that a yes?" AJ asked. "No. No." Twilight said in clear frustration, "I don't know who I'm giving the ticket to, and all these favors aren't making it any easier to decide. In fact, I'm less sure now than I was this morning. Ugh!" "So, that's a maybe?" the orange farm pony guessed as the purple unicorn galloped away. "AJ," I said, "do yourself and Twilight a favor, and stop all of this alright? No good is going to come out of you continuing!" I didn't wait to her answer, I just galloped off in the same direction which Twilight had galloped away. "Ugh," Twilight groaned as we trotted towards the library's front door, "I never thought being showered with favors would be so aggravating.". Opening the door, what we didn't expect to see inside were four birds and squirrel, led by a yellow pegasus mare who was humming to herself as they tidied up the library. "Fluttershy," Twilight said in disbelief, "not you too?" "Oh, well, hello Twilight. Hello James." Fluttershy said sweetly, "I hope you don't mind, but we're all doing a little spring cleaning for you." "It's summer." Twilight deadpanned. "Oh, well, better late than never, right? It was Angel's idea.". The white bunny in question was wearing a chef's hat and mixing up a salad. "You're not doing this for the ticket, are you?" Twilight questioned, arching her eyebrow in suspicion. "Oh no," Fluttershy insisted, "I'm doing this because you're my very best friend. Right Angel?". The white bunny gave her disapproving glance. "Oh, yes," she admitted, still smiling, "we are just doing this for the ticket.". With those words, Angel rushed up to Twilight, offering her the bowl full of salad. Twilight's stomach rumbled once again. "No, no, no!" she exclaimed, "Well, this was all very nice of you and Angel, but I'm not accepting any extra favors until I've made my final decision, so I'm going to have to ask you to leave." she said sarcastically, opening the door. "SURPRISE!" a band a voices suddenly cheered outside, accompanied by the sound of party whistle and some confetti. Suddenly, a pair of pink hooves grabbed Twilight and yanked her outside. I rushed out to see what was going on, and saw a crowd of ponies, including Pinkie Pie, toss Twilight into the air. As they did so, Pinkie began to sing: "Twilight is my bestest friend Whoopie, whoopie!" "Pinkie..." Twilight said, failing to get the pink pony's attention. "She's the cutest, smartest, all around best pony, pony!" "Pinkie." Twilight repeated, again getting no reaction. "I bet if I throw a super-duper fun party, party!" "Pinkie!" Twilight said, now protesting. "She'll give her extra ticket to the Gala to me!" "PINKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIE!" Twilight finally yelled, making all of the other ponies the back away, and causing her to fall to the ground with a *thud*. "Yes, Twilight?" Pinkie asked innocently, blinking her eyelids rapidly. "At least the other ponies tried to be subtle about the ticket!" Twilight exclaimed. "Wait, what ticket? What gala?" one of the ponies asked. "Oh, you didn't know?" Pinkie declared, "Twilight has an extra ticket to the Grand Galloping Gala!" "The Grand Galloping Gala?" all of the ponies cried out in unison, before surrounding me, Twilight and Spike. "Ever told you how much I love your mane?" I heard one them ask. "I'll wash your dishes." I heard another say, but by that time the three of us were trying to get away from it all. However, before we could escape, we ran into another pony holding some unearthed flowers in her hoof. "Would you like any help with your gardening?" she asked. We turned around, but there was another mare standing right in front of us. "I have a cartload of extra carrots." she offered, as the others proceeded to surround us. "What are we gonna do?" Spike asked Twilight, as he tried to climb onto her back. "We're... gonna... RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!" Twilight exclaimed, leaping into the air and dashing off, Spike holding on to her tail. I didn't need telling twice, and I followed her just as quickly. I don't really know how I can describe what happened next, it all happened so quickly. To put simply, we went all Benny Hill with this, which I don't really think is very funny. I mean, all he does is run around like an idiot. League of Gentlemen is way better! As well as Monty Python of course! But I digress, back to the story. Eventually, we reached a dead end, and the mob surrounded us. This day was turning out to be the worst ever! I'm starving, got my lunch ruined before I could enjoy it, and now I'd been chased by a mob of ponies obsessed with going to a royal ball! Suddenly, there was a flash of white light, accompanied by a *poof*ing sound. When everything was visible again, we were suddenly back in the library. Then it dawned on me. Twilight had told me about a teleportation spell during our little lessons, something that I was unable to do at the present time. If I tried doing it now, I don't think the results would be very positive. She must have used it to get us away from the mob, thank goodness! Spike looked the worse for wear however, looking like he'd been set on fire to put it bluntly. "Warn me next time you're gonna do that." he moaned at Twilight, struggling to keep his balance. "I didn't even know it was gonna happen!" Twilight protested, "Now quick, lock the doors!". With that, we turned out all of the lights inside the library, and locked the doors like she said. The three of us sighed in relief, only for the light turn on, revealing our five friends (or four in my case) standing by our beds. "Yaaaargh!" Twilight screamed, "I can't decide, I just can't decide. It's important to all of you and I just can't stand to disappoint any of you, and giving me gifts and doing me favors won't make any difference, because you're all my friends and I wanna make you all happy and I can't, I just can't!" she exclaimed, crouching on the floor in despair. That did it for me. After seeing Twilight get so worked up because of what they had been doing, I couldn't contain my own rage and frustration. "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ALL OF YOU!!" I yelled at the top of my voice, "YOU'VE ALL PRESSURED HER INTO GIVING YOU THE BLOODY TICKET AND HAVE'NT EVEN CONSDERED HER WELL-BEING! I THOUGHT YOU ALL KNEW BETTER THEN THIS, BUT YOU'VE JUST LET IT TEAR YOU FRIENDSHIP APART!" "Oh yeah?" Rainbow retorted flying up to me and getting all up in my face, "You've been doing just the same! You've followed her around all day so that you can that ticket all for yourself!" "Actually Rainbow," I snarled, gritting my teeth, "I was just trying to spend some time with my friend, maybe get a bit of lunch as well! But nooooooo! The ticket has been such a priority that we aren't allowed to eat at all!" "Twilight, sugar," AJ said to Twilight, sounding concerned and sincere, "ah didn't mean to put so much pressure on ya, and if it helps, ah don't want the ticket anymore. Ya can give it to somepony else. Ah won't feel bad, I promise." "Me too." Fluttershy added, "I feel just awful that I made you feel so awful." "And me too." Pinkie cut in, "It's no fun upsetting your friends." "Twilight, it was unfair of me to try to force you as I did." Rarity admitted. "Yes!" Rainbow exclaimed, "That means the ticket is mine! Ha ha, I got the ticket, I got the ticket..." she chanted in a sing song voice, until everypony in the room glared at her dissaprovingly. "you know," she said quickly, "I haven't perfected my signature moves for The Wonderbolts anyway. I don't need that ticket either." "We all got so gun-ho about going to the gala that we couldn't see how un-gun-ho we were making you." AJ said. "We're sorry, Twilight." they all declared in unison. Twilight smiled in relief, getting back up on her hooves. "You should take someone who hasn't tried doing any favors for you like we did." Rarity added, "A pony who deserves to go with you because of their patience and tolerance. Someone like James." "You're right." Twilight said in realization. She turned to me and asked "Would you like to go to the gala James?" My eyes widened in surprise. Me? Go to the gala with Twilight? Just me and her? Why hadn't I thought of that before? That sounded like a great idea! Yet, I shouldn't really be any different from the other girls. I wasn't anyone special, so why should I be the one to go when the other couldn't? "Twilight," I answered, "I said it earlier today, "It's your choice, and no one else's. As much as I would love to go, what I want shouldn't have any impact on your final decision." Twilight nodded in understanding. She paused for a moment, before saying, " Spike, take down a note.". Spike had a scroll and a quill at the ready as Twilight read her note aloud: "Dear Princess Celestia, I've learned that one of the joys of friendship is sharing your blessings, but when there's not enough blessings to go around, having more than your friends can make you feel pretty awful. So, though I appreciate the invitation, I will be returning both tickets to The Grand Galloping Gala." "What?!" the girls cried out in disbelief. "If my friends can't all go, I don't wanna go either." Twilight announced. "Twilight," AJ protested, "ya don't have to do that." "Nope. I've made up my mind." Twilight reaffirmed, "Spike, you can send the letter now.". "With those words, Spike opened the window and blew a green flame onto the now sealed scroll. The flame flew out of the window, turning into smoke before disappearing. "Now you won't get to go to the gala either." Fluttershy said sadly. "It's okay girls." Twilight reassured, "I couldn't possibly enjoy myself without my best friends there with me," we all crowded round her happily, "so I would rather not go at all." That was probably the best thing I'd heard all day. While it did seem sad that she wouldn't be able to attend the gala, I knew Twilight had made the right choice. We're all equal in friendship after all, and nothing like that should cause a rift, even though they usually do. Suddenly Spike covered his mouth tightly, as if he was going to hurl. "Well wallop mah withers, Spike!" AJ scolded, "Isn't that just like a boy? Can't handle the least bit of sentiment!" Suddenly, Spike belched loudly, a wisp of smoke emerging from his mouth. "Whoa Nelly!" AJ exclaimed in surprise, ducking down as the smoke flew through her the gap between her head and her hat. The smoke formed into another scroll, which Spike proceeded to catch. "A letter from the princess?" Twilight said, "That was quick." Spike cleared his throat and began to read: " My faithful student Twilight, Why didn't you just say so in the first place?" He grabbed something that must have come with the letter, and presented them to everypony in the room, "Seven tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala!" The girls gasped in amazement. "Now we can all go!" Twilight declared, and the other girls cheered. Then, Twilight's stomach rumbled loudly. She laughed nervously as Rarity trotted up to her. "Allow us to treat you to dinner." the white unicorn said. "What a great way to apologize!" Rainbow declared as we all walked out of the door. "And to celebrate!" Pinkie added, "Come on everyone, the cupcakes are on me!" You know what, forget what I said earlier about what was the best thing I'd heard all day. This was the best thing I'd heard all day! As we walked out, there was another belch coming from behind me, as well as a flash of green light. Soon enough, Spike rushed out through the door, holding another ticket and giggling to himself. Then he realized that I was standing right there next to him, to which I gave off a small smirk. "I mean, gross, I have to go to?" he moaned, before rushing off, continuing his giggling. I couldn't help but chuckle as well. Some things never change it seems. Suddenly, I heard my own stomach rumble, and continued on to catch up with the girls.