//------------------------------// // 1. Another boring day - Part 1 // Story: My Little Pony - The Legend of Friendship // by Danieru //------------------------------// Six ponies live their daily life, destined to save Equestria. Chosen by six Elements that bring harmony. In the little town of Ponyville. But there is one pony that is thrown out of his boring life to accompany them on their journeys. Chosen by an unknown Element of Harmony. Learning the meaning of friendship for the first time. Even though he doesn't want that at all. But what can he do about it? This is his new life after all... Is he even meant to do something like that? Soon everything will make sense and he will find out the whole truth about the Elements of Harmony... My Little Pony - The Legend of Friendship A new morning in Equestria began... Princess Celestia, the ruler of all Equestria, used her magic to raise the sun and the moon each and every day. She did that from her castle which was located in the capital of Equestria, Canterlot. Today, it was no different. Early in the morning, the sun was slowly rising in the sky and gave everypony a sign that a new day was about to begin. The same goes for the ponies in a little town, not too far away from Canterlot. Ponyville... It was a small and quiet town, filled with ponies of all kinds equally...Earth Ponies, Pegasus, and Unicorns. Of course, being a small town like that, there was usually not much going on. The perfect town to live a quiet and normal life. And today was just another day like this. Ponies began to walk around on the streets after the sun was up. The Pegasus started to clear the skies and removed the clouds because today it was set to be a sunny day. They were usually very early since Cloudsdale, the city in the skies, home of many Pegasus and the center of the weather management in all of Equestria, was not too far away. Shop owners, opened the doors of their shops, ponies who worked on a farm, began to get to work on the fields, fillies and colts were on their way to school, and so on. However, not everypony was up just now... The beams of the sun also began to shine through the window of a wooden house and into the still closed eyes of a light green coated stallion. Awoken from the sunlight, the green coated pony looked out of his window and saw the sun rising on the horizon. It was a beautiful sight outside but the pony didn't seem to be impressed at all and let out an annoyed sigh. He slowly got out of his bed and stretched a little. He had enough sleep but he slowly crawled through the room as if he was half-asleep. "...Another boring day begins," the pony said with an almost expressionless voice accompanied by a bored face. The pony walked past a goldfish bowl that was sitting on a small cupboard. "Morning, Comet," the said half asleep as he walked past the bowl where an orange fish was swimming in, motionless with its eyes pinpointed in front of it, even after the pony's greeting. After getting out of bed the pony started his daily morning routines as well, like showering, eating breakfast and brushing his teeth, while still in a half asleep state. In his house were two floors. The ground floor was his living area. There was a wooden table in the middle of the room and three doors that lead to a closet, the kitchen, and the bathroom. On the upper floor was only his bedroom with a window next to it and a cupboard where his goldfish was standing on. He was taking it really slow, as usual. If there is one thing that he hated, then it's stressing himself in the morning. After his morning routine was done, he attempted to leave his house but not before taking a quick look at his mirror to check if he was ready. He was an earth pony with a light green coat, a dark green mane, which has five spikes scattered on his head like a star, light green eyes, and a dark green tail which ended with six spikes. He also had no Cutie Mark and therefore hasn't discovered his destiny or his special talent yet. Other ponies would find this rather weird because you usually get your Cutie Mark when you are younger. But this pony was already full grown and couldn't give any care about something "minor" like that. When he looked into the reflection of his eyes, inside of the mirror, he quickly noticed the bored look on his face and tried to get rid of it and forced himself to make a more relaxed face. "Well then, let's go to work," he said in a more optimistic but also really forced tone. Maybe it was sarcasm or maybe he tried to put a smile on his face. Whatever it was, it didn't work and the smile quickly vanished and turned into a more neutral and slightly grumpy expression. "Well...that should be enough..." He said, deciding to leave it at that so that he could finally go to work. He left his house and walked towards his destination while inspecting his surroundings in Ponyville. It was always the same things going on. Some Pegasi clearing the sky, ponies opening their shops, some fillies who were going to school and more. For some reason, It felt more lively than usual and most of the ponies looked pretty excited for something. It was almost suspicious. "Why is everypony so cheerful today?" The pony wondered as he looked over all of Ponyville. At first, he tried to figure out what this was all about but after putting some thought into it, he decided to just not care about it. That would make things easier for him. The pony avoided eye contact with anypony and had his sight focused in front of him again. For him, it didn't matter what every other pony was up to. All he had to do was to take care of himself and his own life. Everything else didn't matter. Thankfully, Ponyville was a relatively quiet town. Nothing ever happens here, to which he was very thankful. If Ponyville was filled with ponies this early in the morning, for some unknown reason, then just the thought of other bigger towns being filled with even more ponies was enough to get the pony a little uncomfortable. The pony shortly arrived at his destination, a workshop which was formed like an anvil with a big sign over the entrance that said "Iron Hammer". A brown coated Earth Pony with a silver mane and a hammer as his Cutie Mark stepped out of the workshop and noticed the green coated pony. "Good morning, Star Twinkle," the brown pony greeted with a smile. "Morning, Steel Hammer," Star Twinkle replied grumpily. Steel Hammer was the owner of the "Iron Hammer" and Star Twinkle's boss. He was the classic hard worker type of pony who enjoyed his job and was not afraid to take every advantage to boost his business, much to Star Twinkle's dislike because it usually involved him doing either some additional work or something else. Steel Hammer was anything but mean to Star Twinkle and didn't put much pressure on him but Star Twinkle is not that kind of pony who speaks much with anypony and Steel Hammer was no different for him. This caused the two of them to share a very neutral relationship. For Star Twinkle that was more than enough. He was well aware that he was not a very social pony and that others were not fighting over him in order to spend time with him or something like that. But that is exactly the way he liked it. Steel Hammer was carrying some wooden planks and placed them in front of the workshop while greeting Star Twinkle. After that Star Twinkle and Steel Hammer walked inside the workshop and both ponies started their work. They were both carpenter ponies. Their work includes repairing or building of furniture for other ponies and general repairs in Ponyville, including houses, town properties or anything else that could be fixed again with some wood or metal work. Clearly, it wasn't his destiny or his special talent to work with wood or tools because of the absence of a Cutie Mark but if there was something that he was remotely good at, then it was repairing stuff so he didn't mind his job that much. "Let's get started and finish our work for today! it's a special day after all!" Steel Hammer said excitingly. "Really?" Star Twinkle asked confused. "Really?" Steel Hammer replied surprised "Don't you know what day it is today?" He asked almost shocked. Star Twinkle took a few seconds to think, but couldn't find an answer that Steel Hammer probably expected. "Ehm...Tuesday?" He said, which was probably not the answer that Steel Hammer wanted to hear. There was clearly a disappointment in Steel hammers facial expression, which Star Twinkle noticed. Star Twinkle was thinking but couldn't find the answer, it was just another boring and uneventful day for him, that is all that he knew. Eventually, Steel Hammer decided to explain things to Star Twinkle. "Hello!? Today is the Summer Sun Celebration, the longest day of the year!" He said with an excited smile on his face. "Oh," he replied Star Twinkle with an emotionless tone in his voice. "That would explain why it was a little more lively today," he figured. "What ya mean OH?!" Steel Hammer said almost shocked. "Today is a big day and all you have to say is "oh?"" "What's so special about this day being the longest day of the year? What am I supposed to be excited about?" Star Twinkle replied. He clearly didn't show the same enthusiasm than his boss. In fact, he didn't care about it one bit. "I don't understand it either, to be honest," Steel Hammer agreed. "But!" He then exclaimed, causing Star Twinkle to flinch for a moment. "The sun rising may be the highlight of the day, but what most ponies are looking forward to is what follows. Spending time together with each other, going to a party or just having a bunch of fun with your friends," he said, clearly getting excited about all of this already. Star Twinkle was well aware what the celebration was about but that didn't change anything for him. He had his sight focused on his tools gave a quick answer. "So it's Just another boring day..." he said in an emotionless tone. Steel Hammer looked at Star Twinkle with a concerned look on his face. He probably didn't expect this cold answer. "Well let's start work I guess," again, there was little emotion in his voice, but that was probably intended by Star Twinkle. Grabbing some tools and putting them in a saddlebag, he went off to his work, while Steel Hammer just followed him with his eyes, before going back to his work. Steel Hammer let out a sigh because of Star Twinkles behavior, even though he was used to it. "...This pony really needs some friends to comfort him. It must be hard to live like this every day", he said with concern. Later... Since it was the day of the Summer Sun Celebration, the Iron Hammer closed a little earlier than usual. It actually worked kinda in Star Twinkle's favor since he didn't have to work too much. Steel Hammer said that he had to prepare for some kind of party that he was about to attend. He even asked Star Twinkle if he wanted to join as well but, not surprisingly, Star Twinkle refused. The green coated stallion left the workshop after all work was done and started to head home. He was not sure what to do with the rest of the day since it was still a little early so he decided to walk back home to somehow skip time till Princess Celestia raises the sun. “It's gonna be a loooong day now,” he said in an annoyed tone in his voice. "Does Princess Celestia really expect me to wait this long so that she could raise the sun?" He started to complain. “Should I take a nap until then? It's not like I have anything better to do anyway...Argh...but everypony will be up until Princess Celestia raises the sun...I don't think that I can sleep with all those noises outside!” The longer he thought about what to do, the more frustrated he got. Whenever something bothers him, he could not help but complain. Events like the Summer Sun Celebration were not his cup of tea. He liked it when it was quiet. But sadly, every now and then some events force him to get out and do something really annoying. Like staying up all night until Princess Celestia arrived in Ponyville. The Summer Sun Celebration hasn't even started and he was already annoyed to no end. But then suddenly, Star Twinkle's thoughts were interrupted when he noticed how a golden chariot landed in the middle of the road from Ponyville. He noticed how a purple-coated unicorn and another creature he didn't recognize left the wagon. Something like that was quite unusual in this quiet town. "Well, there's something you don't see every day," he said surprised. The chariot was pulled by members of the Royal Guard, a group that was under direct command of Princess Celestia. "Is she royalty or something? With an entrance like that...and was that "thing" her pet or something?"he thought to himself, trying to figure out an answer. "Maybe some royal who came here for the Summer Sun Celebration?" The purple pony and the other creature walked past him, not even noticing Star Twinkle. He didn't mean to eavesdrop but he could swear that they were both talking about the Summer Sun Celebration when they walked past him. He couldn't resist but to turn his head after her out of curiosity. "Is it really worth coming to a boring place like Ponyville to celebrate the Summer Sun Celebration? Maybe this pony was some kind of important guest or something?" All this thought were going through his head but in the end, he ignored the purple pony and decided to go home again. It had nothing to do with him after all. "Whatever..." He said before he continued to get on his way home again. He arrived at his house again and instantly went upstairs to his bedroom and laid down on his bed, facing the ceiling. Star Twinkle didn't have many hobbies so it was always hard for him to spend his time in some way, so he usually laid down on his bed and thought about things. He is often lost in thoughts, probably because he spends too much time alone or because he doesn't speak much with anypony else. He could spend his time with some friends but the problem is...that he doesn't have any. But what could he do about it? He has no interest in making friends. He is happy the way it is right now. It may be a boring and uneventful life but it wasn't complicated, full of responsibilities or troublesome. Having friends means way too much trouble. At least that's what he keeps telling himself. He didn't like thinking about this matter but he quickly found out that this was much harder then he thought because no matter where he was going, there were always ponies hanging around with their friends somewhere so it kept coming back to him. "I could just stay here and do nothing...like always," he mumbled to himself before looked out of his window next to him. "Or I could go to the town hall to wait for the Princess...like everypony else..." He was playing with this thought but couldn't decide. Either way, it would still be the same. He would be alone and bored. There were no friends waiting for him in the town hall so he would just stand there on his own in some corner, waiting this day to be over. He kept focusing his eyes on the ceiling while thinking but closed them after a while and napped through half the day. Eventually, as time passed and Star Twinkle actually decided to make his way to the town hall of Ponyville to celebrate with everypony else...in his own way. As expected, the town hall was filled with ponies. Every one of them, talking with their friends, laughing and having fun. Not the best place for Star Twinkle. “Sure is crowded here,” he said looking across the hall, already regretting to come to this place. If there was one thing that Star Twinkle didn't like at all, then it was crowds. Like parties, where you are surrounded by ponies from everywhere. One of his life goals is to stay away as much as possible from anypony as often as possible, to avoid conversations. But at the same, he also didn't like to stay in the center of attention, which most likely will lead to other ponies talking to him. So he decided to get closer to the middle in order to "fit in". But not too much since he wasn't used to talking with other ponies. It's not like, he is turning into a stuttering idiot or anything but he just doesn't know what he should talk about with anypony. His life is not exactly exciting and would probably bore everypony who was asking him about it. As soon as he would tell anyone how he spends most of his days at home doing nothing, it would be over. At the same time, he was also not interested in the life of other ponies. Hearing how their life was either just as boring or more exciting as his own would not leave an impression on him. He would just pretend to listen if somepony was telling him his or her life story or find a way out of the conversation. While trying to fit his way in the crowd he accidentally bumped into somepony. Both of them got startled a little and after noticing what just happened, Star Twinkle quickly apologized. “Uff!...sorry about that”, he apologized. The Pony he bumped into turned around in confusion but seemed to didn't mind much. It was a gray Pegasus mare with a yellow mane and bubbles as a Cutie Mark. Star Twinkle also instantly noticed that she had crossed eyes. Of course, he wondered what was up with that but he tried not to stare at them in order to be polite. "Sorry about that. You're not hurt are you?" He asked showing a little concern. The gray pony looked at Star Twinkle but didn't say anything. Right now, the worst thing that could happen, happened, he was caught in a conversation, and a really awkward one to top it all of. It's exactly those situations, that made him uncomfortable. He doesn't know how to talk with other ponies and talking with a pony with the same problem will only end very awkwardly. Star Twinkle was feeling really awkward about this whole situation and just wished that it would end. Until... ”Muffin?” All of the sudden, the mare had a muffin in her hoof, probably offering it to Star Twinkle. “What?” He asked surprised, not sure what he should say. The gray pony just smiled, while Star Twinkle wasn't sure what to do. “Ehm...no thanks?” He said with a forced smile on his face. After Star Twinkle's answer, the gray pony shrugged her shoulders and began to eat her muffin, while turning around again, leaving behind a really confused Star Twinkle. "Okay...you seem to be alright, I guess. Well, I am on my way then," he said while backing away from the gray pony and started to fight his way back out of the crowd again. "That...was terrible..." he thought after this encounter. He was thinking about staying somewhere in the back so that something like that would never happen again. And so he did, almost standing near the entrance, completely separated from the mass of ponies in the middle. It felt much better for him to stay away from all ponies, he didn't even care if could not hear anything from this far but then again, he didn't come to listen to the speech or anything. In fact, he didn't know why he was there in the first place. Maybe because he thought he had to? Or because he didn't have anything better to do? Again dozens of questions piled up in his head, making him wish that this evening would end soon so that he could go home. "Yup...this is just the way I imagined it to go. Me standing somewhere in the corner, waiting for this night to be over..." Star Twinkle mumbled to himself. While waiting for the Princess like everypony else, Star Twinkle noticed Steel Hammer from afar together with some ponies he didn't know. They were probably Steel Hammer's friends. He decided to stay alone, without even thinking about going over to Steel Hammer. There were too many ponies he didn't know, that would mean that he had to be introduced to them and THAT was something he didn't want right now. He waited like everypony else for something to happen. It felt like an eternity for him to stand there. "Can't they just get over with all that? What is so special about this day anyway? It's the longest day of the year, so what? It's a day like any other..." Star Twinkle thought with an annoyed look on his face, waiting that this day could be over soon. If there was one thing that Star Twinkle was good at, then it was thinking. Although that could also be considered a problem. Since he avoids talking with anypony as much as possible, he spends a lot more time thinking about various things. That usually puts him in a gloomy mood but at the same time, it kept him from going insane. Finally, a choir of birds began to sing who directed by a yellow Pegasus. Things were finally starting and the mayor of Ponyville stepped up and spoke to the citizens. Star Twinkle noticed the mayor as well and also focused his eyes on her, waiting that she could hurry up and get it over with so that he could leave again. “Fillies and gentlecolts, as mayor of Ponyville, it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration!” All ponies began to cheer after those words...except for Star Twinkle who was unimpressed. "Yay..." he mumbled sarcastically to himself. The mayor continued. “In just a few moments, our town will witness the magic of the sunrise, and celebrate this, the longest day of the year!" She said, causing another reaction from the crowd who were all cheering. "And now, it is my great honor to introduce to you the ruler of our land, the very pony who gives us the sun and the moon each and every day, the good, the wise, the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria... Princess Celestia!” After this words, a white unicorn lifted the curtain to reveal the Princess. But to the shock of everypony, she was nowhere to be found... All ponies in the hall let out a huge gasp at once after they realized that their princess is nowhere to be found. And just like everypony else, Star Twinkle was confused about what was going on. The mayor tried to calm down the citizens but it had little success and it didn't get better after the white pony reappeared from behind the curtain and said that Princess Celestia was gone, causing the crowd to gasp in shock once more. "Maybe Princess Celestia was busy? Or maybe she forgot this festival? Like me?" Star Twinkle tried to find some answers on his own so that he could calm himself down but it didn't work and he also became nervous. The ponies inside of the town were all whispering words to each other, trying to find an answer too. Some of them panicked, some of them screamed, some of them tried to listen to the mayor for an explanation. But all that stopped after something happened up on the balcony where Princess Celestia was supposed to appear, causing all the ponies in the room to release a loud gasp in shock. The dark mist started to fill the whole area. It was a dark blue cloud that looked like the night sky. The mist went up to the balcony where Princess Celestia was supposed to be and turned into a big figure. It was a pony who had the same size as Princess Celestia but at the same time, her appearance was completely different. Her fur was pitch black, her mane was dark blue and looked like the night sky. She also wore a blue armor and a helmet. Nopony had any idea who that was but whoever she was, she didn't look friendly at all. “Oh, my beloved subjects. It's been so long since I've seen your precious, little sun-loving faces,” she said in a calm voice. From afar Star Twinkle heard a voice who was probably speaking to the black coated mare. “What did you do with our Princess?!” The black mare just chuckled by this question. “Why, am I not royal enough for you? Don't you know who I am? Does my crown no longer count now that I have been imprisoned for a thousand years? Did you not recall the legend? Did you not see the signs? “ She asked, much to the confusion of everypony. “I did,” a voice then suddenly said from within of the crowd. Everypony turned their heads to see where this voice came from. Star Twinkle recognized that it came from the purple-coated unicorn that he saw earlier, this day. “That unicorn from earlier?” Star Twinkle thought to himself. “And I know who you are. You're the Mare in the Moon – Nightmare Moon! ” She said, as she glared over to the evil pony. And yet another gasp filled the hall while Star Twinkle tried to figure out what exactly was going on. “Well well well, somepony who remembers me. Then you also know why I'm here,“ Nightmare Moon asked. “You're here to... to...” she seemed to struggle with the last words hinting, that she knew something. “Remember this day, little ponies, for it was your last. From this moment forth, the night will last FOREVER! Hahahahahaha“ Star Twinkles whole body shivered after hearing those words. He didn't know how to react to this situation and just had fear colored in his whole face. He looked up to Nightmare Moon as she laughed at the despair of everypony while panic was quickly spreading in the room. "Mare in the moon? Nightmare Moon? The night will last forever? What is going on here?" To be continued...