//------------------------------// // Chapter 12: Unexpected Guest // Story: Past, Present, and Future // by Bpkyle777 //------------------------------// “SURPRISE!” Pinkie jumped out in front of us as we opened the doors to the barn. Smith and Sunny both flinched backward and I chuckled. “Pinkie, it’s not a surprise party,” Twilight pointed out. “You gave out invitations and everything.” “I know,” Pinkie put on her trademark grin. “I just love to yell SURPRISE!” she yelled again. Rarity rolled her eyes. After we left the boutique, Rarity offered to come with us, since she was coming here anyways. “I just hope it doesn’t start raining on us on the way there,” she had said as we left. "It could ruin my beautiful mane." Clouds had already started forming the oncoming storm, and looked pretty bad. I looked up now and noticed that it had only gotten worse. The sun was entirely hidden from view, making 4:00 feel almost like midnight. “Well, as much as I love a good storm,” I said as a few droplets began to fall, “I think we had better get inside.” Everypony else nodded. “Oh!” Pinkie said. “My bad.” We followed her inside and shut the doors. “Dashie said she’d be here when they had gotten the storm going.” I nodded and looked around. It seemed like nearly everypony in town was crowded in the barn, all talking and trying to look our way. Either this is a really big barn, or only a fraction of the town could attend. To the left was a long table coated in cakes, candy, and other confectionaries. Random balloons were strewn about and colorful streamers hung from the ceiling. On our right was a small stage, only about half a meter off the ground, with, would you have guessed it, Vinyl Scratch, a.k.a. DJ-Pon3 on turntables, ready to start the first song. Pinkie hopped up on the stage and pulled a mic from… eh, somewhere. “Fillies and Gentlecolts!” Everypony looked up at the stage. “Meet the three new ponies in town!” She pointed towards us and motioned us up. Twilight and Rarity remained next to the stage where AJ and Fluttershy were already waiting. “This is Blast Shield,” she said as she stood on my back, “the most spectac-orific magic-casting Pegasus around!” I waved as some ponies applauded and some ooh-ed. Pinkie popped up behind Smith. “This is his best friend and former Royal Guard, Silver Smith!” He quickly hovered up in the air and flexed his forelegs. I yanked his tail back down to the ground, getting an angry glare and a few chuckles. “And this,” Pinkie stood on the other side of Sunny with an even more ridiculous grin on her face, “is his new special somepony, Sunny Skies!” That threw us all off guard, even Twilight and Rarity. “How did-” I started, before we got a huge applause out of everypony. Apparently, that’s a big deal… “Have fun!” Pinkie told us, her mic disappearing somewhere, and she bounced off into the crowd. We all looked at each other in confusion as Vinyl Scratch started up the music. We all trotted offstage, but before we could discuss the Pinkieness of what just happened, a certain wall-eyed mare trotted over. “Hi, Blast! Hi, Sunny! Congratulations!” Ditzy congratulated. “I’m so glad you were able to find your friend and special somepony.” She nudged my side and my face heated up. Sunny giggled. I cleared my throat. “Well, because of you and Pinkie,” I said, “Nurse Redheart came and found us, telling us where my friend was. Thank you, Ditzy.” Ditzy beamed. “No problem!” She held a hoof out to Smith. “Hi! My name’s Ditzy Doo, but you can just call me Derpy.” Sunny raised a brow. Oh yeah, I didn’t introduce her as ‘Derpy’. Smith chuckled and shook her hoof. “It’s nice to meet you, Derpy.” Ditzy turned back to me. “Is it true? Can you really do magic?” She sounded excited for some reason. “He sure can!” Smith said, patting my back. “He’s the best magician around!” “Aside from Twilight, the Element of Magic herself,” I quickly amended. Twilight blushed. “Well, I’m technically your apprentice right now, so…” she trailed of, looking away in embarrassment. “Oh, please. What kind of magic could some Pegasus perform?” That voice… Please, oh please don’t tell me… I slowly turned around and saw a blue mare standing in the doorway of the barn with a magical umbrella above her. Her mane and tail were a very light blue, almost silver, and her cutie mark was a wand with a trail of stardust behind it. “Trixie…” I said. “I can’t believe you just did that!” Smith exclaimed as we ran down halls of the castle. “Why not?” I asked, nearly out of breath. “He deserved it!” Smith rolled his eyes and we turned a corner. There’s my room! “I know, but he’s the Captain of the Royal Guard!” Smith pointed out. “You don’t prank the bucking Captain of the bucking Royal Guard!” I laughed as we entered my room and I slammed the door closed. These doors magically lock and cannot be opened unless the room’s occupant opens it. That should keep us safe for now. We both splayed out on the floor to catch our breath. “Well,” I tried to continue, “you know… I can’t stand… ponies who are so… full of themselves!” I attempted to stand back up. “He has had that coming… phew… for a while! My only regret… was that Luna couldn’t be a part of it. She hates the guy.” I trotted through the door on the left side of the room and entered my study. “What if he finds out… we were the ones… that did it!?” Smith called from the other room. I laughed and grabbed a book off the shelf, bringing it to the previous room. “He won’t,” I said as my horn lit up, making us both glow. “I had us turned invisible, remember?” My horn stopped glowing and my muscles no longer felt sore. Smith grinned and stood up like he was well rested. “Thanks, dude. I love that spell,” he said. I chuckled and teleported the book back to its place. “I guess you’re right, though. There’s no way he could know-” *KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK* Smith jumped. “OH, SHI-” I stuffed my hoof in his muzzle, and slowly shook my head. “Open the door, Knight! I know you’re in there!” the Captain called. “Calm down. I got this,” I whispered to Smith. I turned and went to open the door. “Hello Captain, how can I help- Whoaha brigata fla!” I mindlessly exclaimed in fake panic. The Captain stood in the doorway, a very angry glare on his face, his blue mane missing and replaced with a green rat’s nest, similar to Rarity’s in Boast Busters. His normally large gold armor was turned pink and shrunk to look like a shiny bikini. “What the buck happened to you?!” I asked, laughing inwardly. He jabbed my chest with his hoof. “You did!” “Wha, ME?!” I defended. “Yes. Everypony in the castle knows how much you love to pull pranks, and this looks like your work!” I scoffed in faux offense. “So you just assume it was me? I’ll have you know, I’ve been in here studying and hanging with Silver Smith all day!” I motioned behind me where the Captain saw Smith doing some weird pushups on the floor. Smith looked up and waved at the Captain. “Good evening, Captain.” He went back to ‘working out’. The Captain hmfed. “Well, if it wasn’t you, it must’ve been Luna.” He looked me in the eye. “But I’m watching you!” he said and turned to leave. I shut the door and after a few moments to make sure the Captain was out of earshot, Smith and I laughed as hard as we possibly could. “That, that was hilarious!” I said. Smith rolled around on the floor. “That was probably the funniest prank I’ve ever seen you pull!” After some time to recover, I stood back up. “Hehe, well, we ought to go warn Luna. You coming?” I asked. Smith chuckled. “Sure, why not?” He stood next to me and we blinked out of the room. “Trixie!” Twilight yelled and charged at her. Oh, she’s gonna get it now! I grinned as Twilight got closer. What’s Twilight gonna do to her? She leaped in the air. Some kind of magical powerdriver? Buck her out in the rain? Maybe she’ll- Twilight wrapped her hooves around the blue mare’s neck and squeed in delight. “I’m so glad you could make it!” My jaw nearly fell. “Like Trixie would miss Pinkie’s supposed ‘Bash of the Year’,” Trixie said. Huh. I guess the show missed something. I trotted over to her as Twilight let her go and turned to me. “Trixie, this is Blast Shield,” Twilight said. “Blast, this is Trixie.” I smiled and offered my hoof. “It’s nice to meet you, miss Lulamoon,” She recoiled a little, not grabbing my hoof. “How’d you know my last name?” Trixie asked. I shrugged. “Maybe it has something to do with the kind of magic this Pegasus can perform.” Twilight rolled her eyes and smiled. Trixie just scoffed “Oh, please. Show me something then.” I focused my magic and my entire body lit up cyan. All of the nearby ponies ooh-ed and ahh-ed. “Hmm,” Trixie said after I stopped glowing. “So you can do some fancy light show. Big deal.” She turned to Twilight. “And did Trixie hear correctly that you were apprenticed to this amateur?” “Well, he-” Twilight started. “Oh, well! Can’t win ‘em all, I guess,” I quickly cut her off. “Put ‘er there.” I offered my hoof again. Trixie looked hesitant, but eventually extended her hoof, only for it to go right through mine. “Huh!?” she exclaimed as the image they were looking at vanished. Everypony except Smith and Sunny gasped. “Wh-where’d he go?” I laughed, and it echoed through the barn. “What in tarnation?” I heard AJ say. Ah, memories. At least this barn has great acoustics. Vinyl stopped the music for a moment and looked around as well. “Is this good enough, Beatrix?” I asked, still sounding like it was coming from everywhere. “U-uh, I-I…” Trixie stuttered, rapidly looking everywhere. Oops, she looks almost terrified! Not what I was going for… I walked out from behind a nearby haybale and everypony turned to me. “Uh, sorry,” I apologized to Trixie. “I didn’t mean to scare you.” I rubbed the back of my head. She just stared at me wide-eyed, until she shook her head and cleared her throat. “What are you talking about? Trixie does not get scared!” “Hahaha! What are you talking about? You should have seen your face!” Dash hovered down from the rafters laughing hysterically. Trixie hmfed. “Yay! You made it, Dashie!” Pinkie said, running over to her. “Yeah, sorry I’m late.” Dash pried Pinkie off of her. “The storm ended up worse than we thought. Everypony should be careful going home tonight,” she said to the whole barn. A few ponies murmured in worry. “Don’t worry, everypony,” I announced. “I’ve got a solution.” They all looked at me confused. “What?” Ditzy asked. I looked her straight in the eye(s). “Bubbles.” ---------------------- “And remember,” I told Roseluck as she walked to the door, “the spell wears of as soon as you enter a building.” She smiled and waved from underneath her cyan bubble shield. “Thanks again, Blast. This party was, well, a blast!” Rose walked out into the heavy downpour, the magical bubble I conjured protecting her. I waved to everypony as they left a few hours after the party started, some in dark purple or cyan bubbles, and others in a lighter purple bubble. I had taught Twilight and Trixie some of the components of the spell so they could help with the casting. I looked back inside the barn to see that only the mane six, Ditzy, Trixie, Sunny, and Smith remained. “That was an incredible party, Pinkie,” I said. “I’ve always wanted to experience a Pinkie Party.” She grinned ear to ear. “Thanks! I did say this would be the bash of the year!” I laughed and looked over at Trixie chatting with Twilight and Rarity. Hmm. Aside from the third-person thing and doubting my abilities at first, Trixie seems really nice. “Hey, AJ.” I called. She looked up from the leftovers on the table. “Can you come over here?” She complied and trotted to me. “Whatcha need?” she asked in that cute southern accent. “What happened? You know, after the Ursa Minor thing.” I looked at Trixie laughing at something one of the girls said. “Like I said before, a lot of behind the scenes things were left out, so I don’t know what happened to Trixie after Twilight saved the day and she ran off,” I explained. AJ nodded. “Well, despite all the mean things she did, Twilight still felt bad fer her, so she went out to find her an’ make friends. At first, Trixie didn’t want nuthin’ to do with Twi, saying that she was th’ reason for her failure.” AJ shook her head. “Yeah, but Twilight was almost as stubborn as AJ here,” Dash continued, after hearing our conversation nearby. “She kept on and on, and even offered to get Trixie’s wagon fixed for her. After a while, Trixie gave in and returned to Ponyville with Twilight.” “An’ let me tell ya, she was a huge pain in my flank!” AJ said. “Despite returnin’ to make amends, she was still just as boastful an’ annoyin’ as ever.” I nodded. “I see that she’s different now, though.” Well, aside from the third-person thing. Seriously, what’s up with that? “It took a few months, but Trixie eventually became bearable.” Dash said. “She still travels an’ puts on shows in that ol’ wagon o’ hers, though,” AJ continued, “but she makes sure to visit a lot. Twilight an’ Trixie have become real good friends.” “That sounds like a friendship report I never got,” Sunny said, walking up next to me. “Meh,” I said. “You can ask her about it later, I guess.” I leaned on Sunny and smiled. Dash grinned devilishly. “Is her name really Beatrix?” she asked. “Yes,” I said, “but Dash? Don’t. Just don’t.” “What? Why not?” she asked. “I had the name Sapphire, remember? Don’t pick on somepony’s name. It’s not pleasant.” Dash huffed and Sunny giggled. I looked at the table to see what was left and saw Smith and Pinkie plowing away at the leftovers. Uh, nevermind. I’m good. “Well, I think I’m going to take off,” Ditzy said, trotting up to us. “I need to get home to check on my little muffin.” “Huh?” Dash said. “Why do you need to check on a muffin?” Ditzy giggled. “No, Silly. That’s what I call my daughter!” “Dinky, right?” I asked. “Yeah, how’d you know?” Ditzy asked in confusion. “Lucky guess,” I shrugged. “Here you go.” My hoof glowed as I casted the barrier spell around Ditzy. “Thanks Blast!” she said as she turned to leave. “I’ll see you guys later!” Ditzy opened the barn doors and a rush of wind and water immediately flew into the barn. She was unaffected, though, because of the bubble. Once the door was shut, I looked at Dash to ask about the weather, but she looked upset about something. “Dash, are you alright?” “Huh? Oh, yeah,” she said. “It’s just,” she looked at the door where Ditzy just left, “I had no idea she had a kid.” “Yeah. Her name’s Dinky,” I said. “She’s actually in the Crusaders’ class.” Dash instantly looked even more upset. Seriously, what’s up with her and Ditzy? After a little more conversing and laughing, I spoke up to everypony. “I think we should all head home now. It’s…” I conjured a ghostly clock in front of me. “Almost 9 o’clock.” The clock vanished. Twilight looked amazed and Trixie was just wide-eyed again. I chuckled and walked over to the door to peak outside. Bad move. As soon as I cracked the door, the wind kicked it inward and I flew across the barn and landed upside down against the back wall. The others attempted to force the door closed again as I straightened myself up. “Whoa. That… was… AWESOME!” I yelled. “I want to do that again!” I ran to the door but was stopped by a golden glow. “No,” Sunny said. “You’ll just hurt yourself again.” “Aww, come on,” I pleaded as she pulled me to her side. “I said no.” I pouted and looked at the others. I noticed Trixie’s blank stare at Sunny’s glowing forehead. “Uhh…” I intelligently tried to explain. “What the buck?!” she exclaimed. “What’s with all the Pegasi performing magic? Can you do magic too?” she asked Smith, his mouth full of treats. He swallowed and smiled at her. “Nope! I’m as Pegasus as they come!” “Then can somepony please explain what’s going on?” Trixie asked. “Well simply put,” I said, “I’m a Unicorn turned Pegasus, and she’s an Alicorn in disguise.” I smiled at Trixie’s contorted face. Great, more explainations. I sighed. “Sit down, I’ll explain everything.” I looked at the front door. “We may be stuck here for the night anyways…”