//------------------------------// // Ticket #3 // Story: Pure Imagination // by SYNTH4 //------------------------------// Chapter 6: Ticket #3 But the moment Apple Bloom walked out the door; something smashed into her face, and covered it. “Hey, what’s going on” she asked as she pulled at the thing that had blown onto her. But with a good huff, she managed to pull it off. Looking down, she saw that it was a newspaper. “And when are you from?” she asked. She turned to the front page (ignoring the front story) and looked at the date. “Oh, it’s todays. Well let’s see what’s…GOLLY” she screamed, seeing the title on the front page. ************************* Back at the Apple Farm, the Apples were sitting around the fireplace. A stack of cards sat in the middle of their circle, and each was looking at the others with great care. “So Big Mac…got any fives?” asked Applejack. “Nnnope…Go Fish” said Big Mac. Applejack groaned as she picked up another card. “Alright Applejack, do you have any…” Big Mac couldn’t even finish his sentence before the front door burst open. Apple Bloom came running in with a newspaper in her saddle bag. “Everypony, I got news. They found another one” said Apple Bloom as she took the newspaper out of her bag and placed it over the deck of cards. “What in hogs name are you talking about sis” asked Applejack. “Just read the page, you’ll see” said Apple Bloom. So the three Apples looked down at the front page. It was mostly filled with a large image of a young filly. Her smile spread across her entire face, and she was holding something in her right hoove. And at the top, the headline read: “Third Golden Ticket Found!” “Well I’ll be a hog tied buffalo. I can’t believe they found the next ticket so fast” said Applejack. “I don’t count anything against fillies and foals nowadays. So who’s the lucky filly” asked Granny Smith. Applejack read the paragraph beneath the photo. “The third ticket was found by a filly called…Scootaloo.” ************************* Of all the cities in Equestria, there is one that is so much different from the rest. Not only is it occupied by just Pegasus, but it’s the only one that can travel around the country. And the name of this great city is called Cloudsdale. This city is, not surprisingly, made entirely of clouds. All the buildings, streets, machines, and pretty much everything else is made of clouds. Because of this, the only Pegasus can live there as they are the only ones who can walk/touch clouds. But Cloudsdale also serves a very important role in the life of Equestria. Whenever a town starts winter, Cloudsdale comes and delivers fresh snow clouds for the Pegasus’ to move into place. And the Rainbow Factory is where all rainbows in Equestria come from. But today, ponies in Cloudsdale weren’t worrying about any of that. Instead, all the Pegasus reporters from across the land were converging on a house in the middle of the city. Non reporters lined the streets, while those who either got there first or were very important were inside. A few unicorn reporters were there to, since they knew a spell allowing them to walk on clouds. And one determined earth pony had tied balloons to his middle section to allow himself to get a good story. And the story they were trying to get was from a small Pegasus filly standing in the middle of a large trophy room. Shelves upon shelves of trophies lined the walls along with blue ribbons and pictures. Each one showed a blue Pegasus winning competitions. The filly that was in the middle of it was a Pegasus mare with a dark purple mane and an orange pelt. And held in her hoof was a rectangular piece of gold paper with the words “GOLDEN TICKET” writing in large black letters. Next to the filly was a much older Pegasus mare. She had a mane that was all the colors of the rainbow and a light blue pelt. Her cutie mark was a thunder cloud with a lightning bolt coming out of it. But the lightning bolt was also all the colors of the rainbow. And both were grinning for the flood of photographers that were in the room with the reporters. “Scootaloo, are ALL the trophies in this room YOURS” asked a reporter. The filly smiled “No, these trophies all belong to Rainbow Dash. She’s the one who competes in and WINS all the competitions.” The blue Pegasus rubbed Scootaloo’s head. “Hey, I didn’t find a Golden Ticket? That’s all on you Scoots, and I know you’ll blow all the other ponies out of the water.” “So Rainbow Dash, what exactly are you to Scootaloo? Mother, Sister, Cousin, I don’t think we have a clear idea” asked the Earth Pony reporter. Rainbow Dash let out a small laugh. “No, I’m not any of those things. I’m her friend/sister figure. We’re not related, but I fill the role of sister in her life. And, not to brag, but I’m her personal coach as well.” The reporters quickly wrote down the touching/inspiring information. “How did you achieve this goal Scootaloo” asked another reporter. “Well when I heard about the competition, I started buying up all the Pinkie Bars I could get. Course when I heard that two other ponies had already found tickets, I got a little nervous. But I kept looking, and eventually I found one,” said Scootaloo. “Ever persistent, just like I taught her” said Rainbow Dash. “So Scootaloo, how happy are you to be going to see Pinkie’s Chocolate Factory?” “I’m really excited. The poster said that one of the visitors will win a really special prize. Personally I don’t care who those other four are. The foal that’s going to get that prize, and be better than all the rest, is going to be me” said Scootaloo confidently. “Tell them why Scoots” said Rainbow Dash with a smile. ************************* “Because I’m going to be a winner, Just Like Rainbow Dash!” The Apple Family was gathered around the radio by the fireplace listening to the report on the third Golden Ticket find. The news stations had been talking all about it since the story first broke out. “That filly doesn’t sound right in the head to me. And I don’t mean she’s crazy or mentally challenged. I mean she’s too hung up on winning and nothing else” said Applejack. “Eeyupe” said Big Mac. “Sounds pretty despicable to me” said Granny Smith. “But she still got one. And now there are only two Golden Tickets left” said Apple Bloom. “Yeah, makes you wonder when they’re going to pop up” said Applejack. “And we once again give our congratulations to…hold on, we’re getting some breaking news from our outside sources.” The Apple Family listened closely. “What’s going on now?” asked Apple Bloom. “…SWEET CELESTIA FOLKS, We have some fantastic news to share. It seems the FOURTH Golden Ticket has been found!” The whole Apple Family gasped. “And the name of the lucky foal…is…Button Mash!”