"Thank you all for coming, everypony!" said Twilight, currently standing in the middle of Golden Oaks Library and addressing her audience of five.
"As you all know," she continued, "we are on the precipice of disaster. We cannot stay at Diamond Tiara's house for much longer.
"I have been tasked with finding a solution to this problem. We have already determined that everypony else just simply does not have enough room for everypony at their own homes. Therefore, the only solution is to make our own home. But I know that I can't do this alone. That is why I asked for help from you all!
"Rarity, there was a sewing machine in your boutique. Could you please bring it here? We're going to need it.
"Meanwhile, Applejack has agreed to go to her farm and grab as much rope and hooks as she can, and will bring it back here.
"Everypony else, help me get all of these books off of these shelves. You can just pile them up in the floor for now, I guess, but be careful not to damage any of them."
"Behold!" cried Twilight. "This is the place where we will be staying for the foreseeable future!"
"The community gym?" asked Applejack in surprise.
"Yes!" acknowledged Twilight. "This is the largest interior space in all of Ponyville, from what I have managed to find. The ceiling here is also much higher than usual, which is a plus. It is also located in a central location in Ponyville, unlike Diamond's house, which means that we can easily bring things here from nearly anywhere in town without traveling too far. Particularly food. Now, we need to get all of this exercise equipment out of here so that we can make room for the Fort!"
"What is your vision for this 'Fort', exactly?" asked Rarity.
"Do you see those struts up there, near the ceiling?" asked Twilight. "We're going to stitch together a whole bunch of blankets and hang them from the ceiling so that they drape down around us. That is where you come in, Rarity. Basically, we're making a really big tent.
"By the way, somepony is going to need to fetch blankets for Rarity. Any volunteers?"
Nopony raised their hooves.
"Everypony else is going to have to help carry those heavy book shelves from the library all the way over here," added Twilight.
Fluttershy raised her hoof.
"Excellent," said Twilight, pleased. "Now, while Rarity is putting the super-blanket together and Fluttershy is helping her, the rest of us will bring the book shelves from the library here and we are going to set them up in a big circle over there, pointing inward. Once we drape the super-blanket over the shelves, they will serve as both a wall and as storage space. Naturally, we need to leave a spot clear so that we can get in and out of the Fort.
"So, is everypony clear on what we each have to do? ... Alright then, let's move out!"
"So," said Twilight, carrying a bookshelf through the town with the help of Pinkie, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash. "Applejack," she continued. "You are the only one of us who was actually born here in Ponyville?"
"Ah suppose so," said the farm pony. "Mah family has lived her fer generations."
"But you don't know anypony here?" asked Twilight.
"I sort of know Rarity," said Applejack. "Not that well though. More acquaintances, really. I've also seen Pinkie's family visit town before, but before this whole fiasco, never spoke a word to the filly herself."
"And you are from Cloudsdale, Rainbow Dash?" asked Twilight.
"Yep," answered the pegasus. "Both me and Flutters. Can't say that my family has lived there 'for generations' though. How would I know?"
"Did you like it there?" asked Twilight.
"Of course I loved it there," said Rainbow. "Cloudsdale is incredible. I mean, I can understand that an aspiring weather pony like me would have to move away to actually become a weather pony, but Cloudsdale is one of a kind. You know?"
"Kind of," said Twilight. "Actually, I'm from Canterlot, but I always wondered if I would move somewhere else when I grow up. Canterlot is not an easy place to grow up, especially for me, I suspect. I think Spike was right, I needed to move away."
"Yeah, Canterlot's full of snobs," said Rainbow.
"Not everypony is, Rainbow!" cried Twilight. "Just... a whole bunch of them..."
Twilight shook her head.
"So, Pinkie," she continued. "What about you? Where are you from?"
"I live on a rock farm a few miles out from Ponyville," said Pinkie, earning her several strange looks.
"Congradulations everpony!" said Twilight. "The book shelves are all in place! Unfortunately, we're not done yet. Now we have to go get a bunch of couches from that sofa store so that we have places to sit and sleep."
"I still can't believe you were hiding inside one of these things, Pinkie," said Rainbow Dash as the group hauled a sofa through Ponyville. "I mean, how random do you have to be to come up with that?"
"And you all never saw it coming!" said Pinkie proudly.
"Spike tried to have us hide inside a comic book," said Twilight.
"Inside a book?" said Rainbow in confusion.
"Apparently, this particular kind of comic book is magically enchanted to suck the reader inside of it so that they can have a 'hooves on' adventure."
"So, the comic book would have just been there," said Applejack, "but you and Spike would have been nowhere to be found?"
"That was his plan, yes."
"Oh," cried Rainbow. "that would have been sooooo cheap! So, you made him pick a fair spot instead?"
"No," said Twilight. "I didn't even know what he was trying to do at the time. It didn't work anyway. Apparently, the magic in those books don't work in Discord's duplicate version of Ponyville."
"We're almost done with the furniture," assured Twilight, once again in the gym. "Now that the sofa's are in place, we just need to grab a few tables so that we can have solid and stable surfaces to set out stuff on. Rainbow Dash, this time you stay behind and help Fluttershy and Rarity raise the roof. By which, I mean hang the super-blanket up over the Fort."
"Rar-ity," said Rainbow in a complaining voice. "Stop staring at those stupid blankets and just stick them together already!"
"This is a tricky business!" insisted Rarity. "These blankets are all of varying themes and color schemes. If I am not very careful in my selection, they will clash terribly!"
"Of course they're going to clash!" shouted Rainbow. "They'll all just random colors! Just do it!"
"Now rainbow," said Rarity. "While there is value in abstract artistic style, it simply will not do to stitch them together at random. There must be a method to the madness, so to speak. Now please, let me concentrate!"
"Whatever," said Rainbow dismissively. "It's your time that you're wasting, not mine. I'm going to grab a cloud and relax."
"Rainbow Dash," said Twilight. "What are you doing just laying around?"
"It's not my fault that I have nothing to do right now," protested Rainbow from atop her cloud that she had pushed into the gym. "Rarity keeps on insisting on getting everything 'just perfect', so here I am, waiting."
"Well, I have a new job for you," said Twilight, grinning. "Go outside and gather up some more clouds and bring them in here."
"Well," said Rainbow Dash, sitting on a sofa inside the now finished Fort and looking up. "I gotta say, this is the biggest jury-rigged tent I've ever seen in my life. And it's awesome.
"That's a compliment toward you, Rare," continued Rainbow, looking toward Rarity. "I was seriously expecting the ceiling in here to look like a giant mess. Which, I would have been totally fine with by the way, but still, I like this. I don't know how you did it, but it looks more like... um... Cool, you know?"
"Thank you, Rainbow," said Rarity with a smirk. "I told you that it would grow on you."
"The lighting, I was not expecting," continued Rainbow. "The way that the light shines through the colors of those blankets, I mean, whoa. It's like... a disco in here, or something.
"And the clouds were totally a must have. This place was shaping up to be spacious already, but with those clouds up there, us pegasi can hang out up high and keep out of everypony's way."
"There is just one more thing to do," said Twilight happily. "We need our stuff! Everypony go back to their own places and grab whatever you want. Food, games, books, blankets, decorations, whatever!"
"Oooh!" cried Rarity. "Personalization? This place could use a little something extra."
"But," continued Twilight. "Before we actually do that, we should head back to Diamond's house and have dinner. After that, we'll have everypony come see what we've set up. And then after we get our stuff, we'll be ready for bed."
"Sounds like a plan," said Rainbow Dash. "I'm starving."
"You've built a giant indoor tent," said Diamond Tiara in awe. "You did this in just one morning and afternoon?"
"I had help," answered Twilight with a smile. "So, do you have anything you want to add?"
"Hmm. Well, I definitely want to grab my pillow. And my makeup. I need that."
"I know what I'm putting up!" cried Rainbow, holding up a Wonderbolts poster. "I got this from my house. I like the way my adult self thinks!"
"I think this calls for another party!" cried Pinkie. "I've got balloons!" cried Pinkie as she released said balloons from apparently nowhere.
"Hey!" cried Rumble from directly overhead. "Watch where you're releasing those things! There are ponies up here, you know!"
"And a stereo!" continued Pinkie, apparently not hearing Rumble. "And all kinds of goodies!"
"I skipped your first party," said Twilight. "But I think I'll be staying for this one."
"Good!" cried Pinkie. "Because we're going to party all night!"
"Think fast, Twi!"
Something soft hit Twilight in the face at high velocity.
"Hey!" cried Twilight as she grabbed at the pillow.
She stopped in confusion. There was no pillow.
Her hooves slowly sank deeper into the cloud that Twilight only just realized she was holding. She marveled at the fuzzy sensation for a moment before realizing she was rapidly losing her grip on it.
"You've never held a cloud before, have you?" said Rainbow Dash with a grin.
"No," admitted Twilight. "I never have." She decided that actually gripping it might not be the best idea, so instead she put a hoof under the cloud. It seemed content to simply hover in place, so she put her other front hoof under it too. "This is weird."
"Yeah, I suppose for you it would be. I guess the only reason you can hold it at all is because two things can't exist in the same spot, otherwise you'd just phase through the cloud completely. It would be way easier for you to hold clouds if you had wings like us."
The room instantly went awkwardly silent.
"Um, did I say something wrong?" asked Rainbow in confusion.
Suddenly, Twilight rapidly spun around, utilizing the centripetal momentum to sling the cloud away with force straight into Rainbow.
"Cloud fight!"