//------------------------------// // A Wonderful New Day! // Story: Renewal // by Artisan //------------------------------// Equestria's known as a magical land; a country teeming with life of all kinds from bears to donkeys, griffons to mules, and most of all, ponies. Pegasi, Unicorns, and Earth ponies; each breed peacefully coexists with the other two, working together in harmony through the best and the worst of times. From the town of Apploosa and its desert stretches to the cosmopolitan megacity of Manehattan, Equestria hosts environments as diverse as the life within it. Blessed with a near unlimited variety of natural resources, water and farmland, ponies could pursue their passions and enjoy what life could offer them. And the citizens of Ponyville were no different. Walled off by mountain ranges and forests, Ponyville is a sleepy little village most of the time. Simple yet well built, the resident ponies lead a modest and slow-paced life, a sharp contrast to the high strung and high fashion Equestrian capital Canterlot just next door. Ponyville finds itself overshadowed by its neighboring Royal City and visitors are hard to find as a result. Nevertheless, its solid construction and friendly community leave its inhabitants wanting for little. The perfect picture of a quiet and idyllic village...most of the time. Only two weeks ago all of Equestria, including Ponyville, celebrated the most famous wedding of its recent history. The union of Princess Cadance, niece to the ruling Princess Celestia, and guard captain Shining Armor caused quite a stir for the nation. It was an event nopony would forget as the interruption of the wedding by the Changeling race marked the wedding as the most chaotic event in modern times, second only to the Lord of Chaos, Discord's, release months prior. Despite the upheaval, the wedding continued on and filled Equestrians all over with joy upon the lovely couple's wedding kiss. Even two weeks later cities and villages are still swimming in the excitement of the event. A beautiful mare and her lucky stallion. A stallion whose vigilance and temperance won him the hearts and minds of his fellow ponies. A stallion who is the captain of the Royal Canterlot Guard. A stallion who just so happens to be the brother of a certain librarian living in a tree in Ponyville. ******* Twilight Sparkle lay sound asleep in her bed. Her eyes stirred behind her lids, hooves gently reaching out as she dreamed. She mumbled incoherently and her whole body twitched furiously before settling down again, wrapping herself snuggly in her blanket. A soft sigh escaped her and caressed the lavender coat on her hooves, her nose twitching as the unicorn enjoyed her fantasy world. An ear shattering crash caused Twilight's eyes to flare open, just in time to see something hit her straight in the face. Immediately she thrust herself up from the bed, screeching in fright as she threw the object at the wall across from her. Another terrified scream rang out through the library. The purple baby dragon at the foot of the bed fell straight to the floor and scrambled to this feet. In a mad sprint he smashed his head against the same wall and fell flat. "Spike!" Twilight yelled, leaping from the bed to her dragon's side. The number one assistant lay dazed, but seemingly unhurt, on the ground. With Spike not in any immediate danger, Twilight looked down at the floor next to him. A pile of papers caught her attention and the words "Ponyville Express" told her it was the town newspaper. She whipped around and saw her broken window. Twilight rushed to find the one who threw the paper at her home, eyes darting through the earth and sky outside. "Good morning Ponyville!" a cheery, high-pitched voice shouted. A grey pegasus cruised through the sky carrying two brown saddlebags over her back. "Ditzy..." Twilight groaned exhaustedly, instantly recognizing the flying mailmare. She began to wonder if the pegasus somehow had it in for her. The last time she trailed a friend of hers Ditzy accidently dropped an entire carriage load of furniture on her head. Now she saw fit to drop a newspaper on her as well. Through her window. At four in the morning. A spark of fury surged through Twilight and she snarled briefly before calming down. Twice the clumsy mare had dropped something on her face now, but she was willing to overlook these accidents. Anymore though and she might seriously doubt these were "accidents". "Wake up Twilight! It's a brand new day!" the wall-eyed mare sang cheerfully, the wind blowing through her blonde mane as she flew toward the rest of Ponyville. "I'm fine, thanks for asking," Spike groaned sarcastically behind Twilight. "Sorry Spike," she offered softly and looked over to him, "How's your head? Do you need a bandage?" "No, it just hurts a bit," he lazily replied and jumped back onto the foot of the bed. Still concerned, Twilight gently massaged a hoof on his head. He didn't react beyond a slight wince of pain. There was no squishy feeling, so his skull was still intact. Twilight was surprised, hitting a wall that hard would seriously injure a pony. It had to be the scales; even a baby dragon's scales seemed thick enough to cushion him. Not wanting to think anymore, Twilight let out another groan as she turned back to the bed. Crawling back in, she eagerly closed her eyes and tried to sleep. However her heart still pounded in her chest and she soon found herself staring at the ceiling in frustration. Realizing she wouldn't be getting any sleep after nearly being scared to death, she climbed out of bed and trotted down the stairs to the lower floor. While her day wouldn't begin for another two hours, she could still use the time to freshen up before then. ******* Just outside of Ponyville the trees of the Everfree Forest slept in the morning air. An eerie silence sat over the forest, not a creature stirred within its shadows. A cool breeze suddenly passed through and the trees seemed to let an agonizing moan haunt the air. Bushes restled as a pale blue stallion emerged from the forest's depths. He leaned against a nearby trunk and let his head slump towards the ground, closing his eyes in exhaustion. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I absolutely hate trees now," he rasped, half smiling as he patted a hoof against the roots. A crippling pain in his gut almost caused him to fall over. Gently massaging his gnawing stomach with a foreleg the stallion slowly opened his eyes as the pain subsided. What he saw before him left him speechless. His jaw dropped in awe at such a vibrant display of life. The sky was lit up in a glorious blaze of orange fire. Endless fields of green, rolling up and down over hilltops, and a small dotting of clear blue lakes covered the countryside. All of it bathing in a sun just waiting to peak over the horizon. The idea that there was a land that could harbor such a rich ecosystem and breadth of life was almost impossible to fathom had he not been staring at it now. It was a sight his own home sorely lacked. As he looked out over the rolling fields, a set of buildings caught his eye. From the looks of it the buildings were part of a settlement or village of some sort, resting peacefully in the dawn's light. He allowed himself a sigh of relief before pushing off from the tree trunk. "I think that's it," he said to himself as he limped towards his goal. Suddenly his legs collapsed under him, his chest thumping against the dirt below, and he let out a painful bark as the wind was knocked out of him. His vision blurred as he stood up, a warm sensation flooding his head for a moment before subsiding. "Ok, let's just hope I can make it to the village," he rasped again, "then I'll go from there." With that he slowly trotted along fully aware that, despite journeying through that bloody forest and not having eaten or drank anything for days, the hardest part of his trip was fast approaching. ******* "Hi Pinkie Pie!" a yellow pony with a red mane called out, waving to the pink mare bouncing excitedly down the street. "Hello Rose!" Pinkie called back. "Where're you off to?" "To Twilight's! She invited me to join her on a morning stroll before we go to Sugarcube Corner! I'm going to show her my new 'Choco-Cardiac Arrest!'" Pinkie replied, acting out the last bit in a mock Iron Will fashion before giggling hysterically, "See ya later!" After waving goodbye Rose resumed opening her flower stand and Pinkie hopped off. After a few minutes Pinkie stopped in front of the Ponyville Library. Knocking on the wooden door twice, Pinkie hummed to herself as she awaited a response. The door opened soon after, revealing Spike with a sizable bump on his head. "Woah," Pinkie's eyes widened in shock, "I guess those books finally hit back huh?" "What?" A delightful smile crossed her face, "Never mind. Where's Twilight? She's usually so punctual." "I'm right here!" the purple mare sang happily. After looking herself over in the mirror one final time Twilight galloped over to the door. She smiled as Pinkie's big blue eyes and curly pink mane came into view. "Ready to go?" Twilight asked casually. Pinkie responded with a big smile and Twilight giggled before leaving her library, shutting the door on her way out. As the sun rose over the horizon Pinkie and Twilight began their walk through the village. Twilight had been living here for over two years now and yet each sight still seemed as beautiful as the first day she saw them. The grass fields on the outskirts stretched for kilometers. Twilight took a long sniff, letting the smell of freshly cut grass fill her lungs as they passed through the meadows. The pair then came upon the largest of Ponyville's peripheral lakes. Pinkie broke out into a run and dove into the cool water, resurfacing a few moments later and gave a relaxing sigh as she whipped her wet mane back. Twilight simply sat at the lake's edge, content to take a few sips of the refreshing liquid while Pinkie enjoyed herself. She looked out over the sapphire waters, taking in its bright shine before shutting her eyes to bask in the morning sun. A splashing sound drew her attention back to the lake. Pinkie sat near the shore in front of her, gently treading water. Twilight tilted her head curiously and stared at Pinkie, to which Pinkie returned an eager grin. She quickly thrust out a hoof, soaking the purple mare in a splash. Shielding her face from the wall of water, Twilight squealed in delight and returned the favor. Playfully laughing, both mares dived into the lake and splashed each other to their heart's content. After a few minutes the two breathless ladies called it quits and sat down to dry off. As they sat in the sun admiring the water again Twilight noticed the custodian, or "The Warden" as he liked to be called, of the lake come out for his twice-a-day cleaning routine of its waters. Briefly looking up from the other shore he waved to the guests of his lake, specifically to Twilight. Pinkie watched as her friend waved back with a smile and a rather interesting glow about her. With a sly smile Pinkie got up to resume their walk and Twilight followed behind her. "Now that was fun," Twilight sighed in relief, "Thanks Pinkie." "No problem! Say, wanna head over to Sugarcube Corner now?" "Sure! You indulged me, it's only fair that I indulge you!" The ecstatic mare leapt into the air. "Alright! You've got to try my new cake! it's a chocolate cake with chocolate fudge inside, sprinkled with chocolate chips, and all drowning in hot, sticky chocolate syrup!" Twilight watched as her friend literally drooled over the words. If anything could send Pinkie's heart throbbing it was dessert. "We're eating chocolate? At eight in the morning?" Twilight asked quizzically. "Why not?" she asked back, "Your stomach doesn't know what time it is!" Twilight couldn't argue with that, though there were plenty of older ponies who would contest it. Moving off from the lake they came back to the road to Ponyville when Pinkie noticed something lying in the grass by the roadside. As they drew closer, it became clear this object in the grass was actually a stallion. "Hello there-" Pinkie shouted before carefully pausing. "Um...uh oh," her eyes widened in horror, "Twilight! What's his name? Do you remember his name? I can't remember his name! A simple NAME!" In an instant the cheery mare was replaced by a sobbing, panic-stricken train wreck as the mare who knew everypony in Ponyville had forgotten somepony's name. "Pinkie," Twilight observed distantly, "I don't remember him being from Ponyville at all." "Really?!" the mare perked up with enthusiasm, "Then he's new! You know what that means! I'll get the Welcome Wagon!" "Pinkie wait," Twilight held a hoof in front of her excitable friend. She carefully watched the stallion lying in front of them. She found it puzzling that, despite Pinkie's overly dramatic performance, he had not moved at all to react to the commotion. Any other pony would have at least looked up to see what was happening. "Hello sir!" Twilight called out, "It's a wonderful day to enjoy the sun, isn't it?" Her greeting was met with silence. Normally she would have thought nothing of it: many ponies take a morning sunbath before it becomes too hot midday. However they usually lay down in the middle of the field, not by the side of the road. And he looked as though he tripped or fell over instead of lying down comfortably. "Sir? Are you alright?" Twilight asked as she approached the stallion. No response. Twilight lightly tapped him on the shoulder and his eyes fluttered. A dark golden eye starred out from his half open lid. He looked around, almost uncertain of where he was. His gaze settled on Twilight briefly before his eyes closed again. Looking him over she noticed his pale blue coat seemed to be withering. Where once there was merely curiosity, genuine concern now set in. Gently she placed a hoof over his neck, feeling for a heartbeat. She found it pounding in his neck, throbbing far too fast to simply be asleep. His breathing came in sharp, quick gasps. Twilight might not be an expert in the medical arena, but she read enough books on the topic to know a problem when she saw one. "Pinkie! Get to the hospital and tell the doctor's there's a stallion here that needs their help!" "O-ok, be right back!" Twilight watched Pinkie race into town, then turned back to the stallion. "Hang on, help's on the way."