Coming Attractions

by Rouis

Chapter Six: The Dusk Saga: New Woona

Coming Attractions
A MLP:FIM-fic by Rouis
Edited by GaintGamer

Chapter Six: The Dusk Saga- New Woona

Silver Screen sat on the corner of his bed he kept repeating the same sentence over and over again. “I won’t do it nopony deserves to see something that bad, even her!” The unicorn shuddered at thought of the book he had just finished reading.

The actual book was sitting on Long Haul’s bed, the crimson pony was reading it for himself. “No matter how horrible, this is what Lemon Tree likes, and that is our gateway to some good word of mouth buzz in this town!” Long Haul carefully closed the book and sat it on the shelf next to his bed. “You just need to show this story this once, then you can forget about it forever!” Long Haul had only read the first chapter of the book, and he could not take anymore of it. “Just remember to show the story exactly as you read it, and we will be fine.”

“I hope so, the last thing I want is for anypony to hate my stories.” Silver Screen said with just a hint of sadness. “So what do we have left to do before the performance?” He asked while tilting his head to the side for emphasis.

Long Haul got out of bed and made his way over to a piece of paper he had stuck to the wall it simple read:

Plan of Attack

1. Repair Caravan
2. Secure food plans
3. Pick a Story
4. Show Story
5. ?????
6. Profit!

“Later today they will arrive. It will be then that we sit them down for a meal inside the diner, and then once the meal is over we will sit them down outside where we will show the story.” Long Haul stomped a hoof on the floor and grinned like a madman. “We will succeed, and when this is over and done we will have so many bits we won’t know what to do with ourselves.”

Silver Screen lifted his head off of a pillow, and looked over at the scheming crimson pony. “I just hope this all goes okay, maybe Lemon Tree will be so happy with the story that she will actually start treating everypony like ponies instead garbage.” Silver shuddered at the thought of Lemon Tree actually acting nice towards somepony. Silver Screen got up off of the bed and reached out with his magic, taking hold of a folded sheet he had Stallion Stan make. “I’ll go set up the screen if you go check on the food!” The green unicorn said while trotting out the door.

Long Haul perked up and shouted back. “No fair, I don’t wanna go see Stackiekins that pony scares me!” After a few minutes of waiting, Long Haul realized that he was doomed to go over to the diner. The pony hoisted himself up and took himself outside. Looking to his left he saw that Silver Screen was struggling to get the sheet to cooperate, and stay between the poles set up to keep it in place. In front of the sheet a few cushions had been placed so that a pony could sit and relax while watching something on the screen itself.

Finally with the jingle of two bells hung over the diner’s door he found himself looking at the inside of Stack’s Diner. He could see that Java Chip was keeping herself busy and waiting tables as usual. “Hey Chip, Have you seen Short Stack around here?”

The coffee coated pegasus turned her head to face Long Haul and gave a reply. “He is in the back, feel free to go say hello!”

“Thanks Chip!” Long Haul replied while trotting towards the back, soon he found himself in front of the swinging doors that led back into the inner workings of the diner. “Now that I think about it I don’t think I have ever been back here.” He said to himself before taking a deep breath and stepping into the back.

The kitchen of Stack’s Diner was relatively clean, the most intriguing part about it however was the fact that the floor where the cooking instrument’s were had a raised floor to compliment Short Stack’s lack of any height whatsoever. A small set of steps helped short stack make the transition between the regular floor and the kitchen’s raised floor, and on top of this floor was the stallion himself. Short Stack moved with a certain grace in his natural environment. The tiny unicorn used his horn to levitate spatulas, ladles and other things about the space.

Short Stack himself had heard the hoofsteps of somepony else entering the kitchen and began to set the utensils down, and turned to face the newcomer. “Oh hey kid, come to check on the feast you ordered?” The tiny unicorn then levitated a small pair of glasses onto his face, and looked at the large order ticket he had pinned to the wall. “Everything should be ready in about an hour.” He said before taking the glasses off and setting them back on the counter.

Long Haul breathed a sigh of relief before giving a reply to the tiny unicorn. “Sound’s good Stack. I just have a quick question though.” He took a pause to think of how to phrase the question correctly. “Just how did you meet Lemon Lime in the first place?” He asked before sitting on his haunches.
Short Stack contemplated on whether he wanted to divulge the full story or not before decided to let Long Haul know a bit more about his past. “Well I guess I could tell you, but you will have to let me cook while I do. I like to keep on schedule kid.”

< Trottingham, 27 years earlier >

Twenty foals sat in school, watching as their teacher lectured them on the history of equestria starting with the reign of discord. As the teacher rambled on about the lesson, two fillies in the front row of desks giggled to themselves.

“Oh I can’t believe he asked you to be his special somepony! Your going to say no right?” The yellow coated unicorn filly with a green mane said, her flank as blank as the uncovered portions of the chalkboard.

The pegasus sitting next to her blushed slightly at the mention of her secret admirer. “I dunno Tree, he seems like a nice colt.”

“So Java Chip the beauty queen is going to go on a date with Shortie the loser?” The filly known as Tree then placed a hoof in front of her mouth and made a gagging noise.

In the back row of the class a chubby colt who was a little small for his age sat scribbling notes away in his journal, using magic to levitate the quill across the partially blank surface of the pages. His eyes dashed back and forth between glancing at the chalkboard and his own notes.

“-And that class is how equestria was made.” The teacher said before putting the chalk back down on his desk. “I expect to see everypony’s notes on today’s lecture in the inbox tomorrow along with the homework.”

“Yes Mr. Tweed.” The class replied before the army of school-foals got up out of their seats and slowly started to leave. Eventually the only one left was was the smaller brown colt still furiously writing down the rest of the day’s notes.

Two colts entered the classroom one more time, first a taller pegasus spoke up. “See I told you Short Stuff would still be in here.”

The other colt simply laughed at his friend’s poor excuse for schoolyard humor.

The taller of the two colts stepped up to the unicorn’s desk and placed a hoof over the notes he had been writing. “I’m going to need these for tonight Short Stuff, I have better things to do than sit around writing all night. One of these days I’m be famous, and I won’t get there by sitting around writing history reports all the time.”

The chubby colt then spoke up. “My name is Short Stack, and I need those so I can do my homework!”

“I don’t give a buck if you need this to do your work. I’ve got some flying practice tonight.” The pegasus colt then grabbed the journal off of the desk and placed it under his wing.

“Hey! Give that back!” Short Stack demanded, and got up out of his chair.

An earth pony then entered the room and saw the scene unfolding. “Hey, why don’t you leave him alone.” The green coated colt yelled before running up to the pegasus and snatching the book back.

The pegasus colt looked at the earth pony with a shocked expression before resuming his grumpy demeanor. “Fine, It’s probably all the wrong answers anyway. Let’s get out of here!” The two colts then left grumbling the whole way.

The green coated earth pony then placed the journal back down on the desk. “You really should learn to stick up for yourself kid, otherwise ponies are going to take advantage of you for the rest of your life.”

Short Stack looked up to the earth pony that had gotten his journal back. He had seen him in the class before but had never said anything to him. “Thanks for the help, My name is Short Stack by the way.”

The tall earth pony grinned before giving a reply. “The name is Lemon Lime, you better remember that name too. One day, I’m going to run this place.” With that the two colts turned and left the schoolhouse for the day.

< Present Day>

Short Stack smiled a bit at reflecting on his own past. “After that day Limey and I kept hanging out. It’s been that way ever since.” The small unicorn then finished plating the food for that evening. “You better go out and wait for them, It’s almost dusk!” He reminded.

Long Haul got up off his plot and walked out of the kitchen reflecting on the tidbit of his landlord’s past. “Man, why did it have to be schoolyard bullies that's so cliche! Why can’t they be like old army buddies or something.” He said to himself while trotting out to see what was going on.

In the lot across the way from the diner, Silver Screen was wearing the fakest smile of all time as he watched the family of four approach from down the street. “Hello there Lemon family! Welcome to our humble abode.” The green unicorn said while looking around nervously for Long Haul.

Lemon Lime was the first to step forward. “Well Hi there I’m guessing you're part of Long Haul’s performance group then?” He asked quizzically. Behind the mayor his son and daughter smiled happily at the situation while Lemon Tree wore a face of pure annoyance. Her expression however changed the second her daughter glanced over at her, instead looking happy and complacent.

“Yes sir,and if you would follow me into the diner we have some food for you and your family before the show.” Silver Screen nervously said while trotting into the diner.

Long Haul sat just inside and greeted the family as they entered. “Lemon Lime, good to see you again.” He said as the just as large mayor of Trottingham came in. Haul pointed over towards a table set at one end of the diner then spoke. “There’s a table set up over there with some lite fare if you're interested, and I’m guessing you must be the lovely Lemon Tree I have heard so much about.” Long Haul’s mouth burned from the lies he spoke as the icy eyed mare entered the diner.

Lemon Tree waited until her husband was out of auditory range and spat spoken venom at the stallion. “What are you talking about you're the ignorant buffoon who tried to steal my brunch at the festival” She then smugly trotted off to join her husband.

Long Haul simply sat there for a moment asking himself why he voluntarily put himself in front of non-literal trains all the time. He was then brought back to reality by the young mare and her brother walking past.

“Here there Mister! Don’t let my mom get you down. Why don’t you go ahead Juice, I’m going to catch up with our friend from the market.” Lemon Drop said before hurrying her brother ahead.

The little colt happily bounded after his mother and father who were busy picking at the h’orderves. “Save some for me!” He chirped mid-stride.

Lemon Drop then leaned in and whispered into Long Haul’s ear, she had to stand on the tips of her hooves just to barely reach the pony’s large height. “Between you and me, my mom has always had a tree up her plot.” She snickered at her own wisecrack and trotted off to be with the rest of her family.

Silver Screen was the last to enter the diner. He looked as though he had seen five hundred ghosts, and was shaking wildly. “So mean” Was all the pony could say.

Long Haul nodded to his friends comment “I couldn't agree more, which is why we are going to get over there, and socialize the buck outta that family.”

The two ponies then trotted over to the Lemon family ,and had a seat across from them in the booth they had chosen. Long Haul could not take the silence anymore and spoke up. “So what is it like being the family of the mayor?” He asked the Lemons.

Lemon Tree of course was the first to reply. “It is a privilege and an honor to assist my husband and support him in running this town.” She then leaned over and nuzzled Lemon Lime’s neck before resuming picking over the spread. Then her eyes lit up slightly as she posed a question of her own. “Come to think of it, I have never seen you two around this town before. Where are you from exactly?” She posed the question as if she were in the middle of an interrogation.

Silver Screen and Long Haul looked at each other nervously before each spoke at the exact same time.

“Baltimare” Long Haul said.
“Elkridge” Silver Screen nervously yelled.

Long Haul hoofed Silver Screen in the side.

Silver yelped at the touch of the probing hoof and spoke. “I meant Baltimare of course!” Silver then let his eyes shift from side to side, he couldn't have seemed any less suspicious.

Lemon Tree innocently sipped at some of her coffee while her eyes showed signs of someone making cold calculations in their mind, she then spoke again. “Really now, you two are street performers from the slums of Baltimare?” She coldly asked before being interrupted by her husband.

“Now honey I’m sure these two are splendid ponies, Long Haul has certainly left a mark on me. Why just the other day he helped save Stallion Stan from the collapsed rubble of his shop!” Lemon Lime added, all Silver Screen could focus on however was the mayor’s yellow goatee which bobbed up and down as he spoke.

Lemon Juice then interrupted his father’s story. “Yeah Mom, Long Haul is cool. He helped Drop and I construct our stand in the market!”

Lemon Tree then grinned as if she had been handed the keys to a mansion before speaking. “So Long Haul you're always there when something goes wrong, but you love hanging out with little foals.”

Lemon Drop practically launched herself in front of her mother’s disguised insult to save Long Haul. “Mom I am almost seventeen, and a fully grown mare. He was just passing by when he helped us out.”

The rest of the meal could not have gone more awkwardly. Lemon Tree kept taking cheap shots at the duo while her family kept making their own opinions known. Eventually they all made their way outside once the sun had gone down enough for the performance to begin. Lemon Tree sat next to her husband in the front, while Lemon Drop and her brother Juice sat behind them. All the way in back behind them sat Short Stack on a pile of cushions enabling him to see, while he had drawn the blinds at the diner to ensure that Java Chip could not see the performance of Dusk.

Long Haul stepped out in front of the small crowd and prepared himself to make the pre show introductions. He cleared his throat with a cough then spoke out to the crowd. “I would like to welcome you all to the first official performance of the coming attractions theater. We are a different type of performance group as some of you may have noticed from the word of mouth buzzing around town. I sincerely hope you all enjoy tonight’s performance of Dusk.” Long Haul then trotted back to where Silver Screen sat behind the rest of the crowd, and whispered in his ear. “Remember show it exactly as you read it.” He then sat down next to Silver Screen and watched the show begin.

Silver Screen’s horn flickered to life as the beam of light extended from the tip, the beam of light starting as a speck of light before growing to fill the screen. He let his mouth hang open as sound and music began to fill the area. The pictures on the screen slowly came to life and moved on their own. It was magic in its most pure form, bringing happiness to ponies.

Lemon Drop sat with her jaw practically on the ground, in her time in school she had barely learned any useful spells besides basic levitation. This magic she witnessed was something she had never seen before, and it made every fiber of her being happy. Her brother and father were also dumbstruck by the show that unfolded on the screen before them, but being more enraptured by the story than the act itself.

Long Haul watched as the small group before him gasped in awe, and laughed along with the story. He could imagine them all galloping home and telling all their friends what they had seen. This business venture may work after all, He also could not help but feel a little jealous of the unicorn at that moment. In the time that they had been in Trottingham silver Screen had practiced his magic daily, but Long Haul had not once tried to search out what exactly it meant to be an earth pony. He silently vowed to himself that he would eventually seek out a way to learn exactly what he could do besides the heavy lifting.

Everything was going well, and everypony sat transfixed by the performance. That is until an enraged Lemon Tree stood up and screamed at the halfway point. “Turn it off!” She screamed while stomping angrily back towards Silver Screen, who was incapacitated by the spell. She then reared up and used her front hooves to shove the unaware unicorn over, disrupting the spell and sending him back into reality.

Silver Screen woke up from his trance with a start and looked up at the raging mare before him. “I- I’m sorry I was just telling the story, what was wrong?”

Lemon Tree looked as though he had struck back at her violently when all the stallion did was ask an innocent question. “What was wrong? You took one of the most beautiful stories I have ever read and turned it into that dirty smut! You have ruined a timeless classic, how dare you!” The raging green maned unicorn raised a hoof to strike at Silver Screen before it was caught in the yellow magic of her daughter.

Lemon Lime galloped up to the scene and looked his wife sternly in the eyes. “Honey, I think it’s time we go home. Silver Screen and Long Haul, I thank you for your performance and the lovely food we will be heading home now . Come along kids.” The mayor said before leading his out of control wife along with him, Lemon Juice was the first to follow suit while Lemon Drop stayed behind for a moment.

Lemon Drop carefully trotted up to the bewildered and saddened Silver Screen, and ran a hoof through the sobbing pony’s mane. “It’s okay big guy, what you did was amazing. My mom was just being an intolerable plot-head.” She then gave Long Haul a nod of farewell before galloping off to join the rest of her family.

Long Haul looked down at his crushed friend and helped hoist Silver get back up. “I know Silver, she’s so mean.” Was all he could say before he noticed Short Stack hopping down from his perch and trotting over to the duo.

Short Stack looked at Silver Screen and Long Haul, before adding his own opinion on the situation. “Well I don’t know what you two unintentionally did to get under her coat like that, but I can tell you one thing. This is far from over you two have just unintentionally set the biggest drama queen of the town off, she’s probably going to do everything in her power to ruin your time here.” He then looked down the road where the family was last spotted, then looked up to Long Haul to finish his warning. “There’s a storm coming, and you two better be ready when it does. Chip and I will do everything we can to help you out, but once she gets her sights set on something she isn't one to give up easily. You two have a good night now!” The pint-sized stallion said before heading off to his home.

The two friends then made their own way home, taking a short trot into the caravan before shutting the door and going to bed in silence.

<Across Town at the Lemon’s House>

Lemon Lime paced in his study, the bill his wife had suggested on the way home laid out before him. “Honey I just don’t see why this is necessary.” Lemon Lime thought that the evening had been quite nice until his wife had her outburst.

Lemon Tree then trotted over and rubbed a hoof in her husband’s back. “Now honey, they turned a perfectly wonderful book into such smut and garbage. What if the kids in town had town had picked up some of that awful behavior. What If Drop or Juice had picked up that awful behavior.” She cooed, all the while continuing her massage. “It’s not just them either, all of these performers have been a blight on our town, the clowns, street musicians, and worst of all mimes. All of them have been leaving a blightful stain on our perfect town, your perfect town."

“Well, if it’s good for the kids.” Was all Lemon Lime said before taking the quill in his mouth and placing a signature on the parchment before him.

From the Desk of Lemon Lime
Mayor of The Equestrian township of Trottingham

I, Lemon Lime hereby sign into effect that street performances although being cultural and splendid are becoming a lewd blight on our township. I hereby pass into order a committee to regulate and approve all public and private performances of any kind from henceforth taking place within the Trottingham limits. The first appointed head of this committee shall be the pony Lemon Tree. I have a firm belief that this is the best course of action to take, and will lead to a better and brighter Trottingham for us and our youth.

This law shall forever be known as the :
Committee
Limiting
Outsider
Performances
act.

Comments

[The Checked King]

So the CLOP act? That's.... Interesting. I can dig it.

[musicluvr1974]

Heh... Equestrian irony strikes with a vengeance...! I told those guys not to provoke it, but did they listen? Noooo....! :

[Gi6791]

Lol the clop act XD