Dance of the Hours
Equestria
Canterlot Theater
Many hours later
After such a heartwarming memory, the audience applauds as Twilight prepares to announce the second-to-last number. She was certain the audience will have fun with this.
"Now we're going to do one of the most famous and popular ballets ever written by Ponchielli known as The Dance of the Hours. It's a piece of music telling the story of the hours of the day. We see first a group of Ostrich dancers starting off the delicate light of dawn. Then a second group enters, Hippos, to represent the brilliant light of noon day. As these noon turns to evening, a third group enters, Elephants, that suggest the delicate tones of early evening, surprisingly. Then a last group, all in cloaks, the somber hours of the night, Alligators, and there's one that takes a very keen interest in the female lead Hippo. Suddenly in a brilliant finale in which the hours of darkness are overcome by the hours of light. All this takes place in the great hall, with its garden beyond, within the palace of Duke Alvise, a Venetian nobleman. So without further delay, enjoy our Equestria Fantasia program's second to last number."
Twilight knows that the audience will certainly enjoy this but after Dance of the Hours... her walking starts to slow down once she disappeared from the crowd's sight when her mind reminds her of the last number, the last world she and her friends had gone to in order to get the last music sheet.
Symphony of Sorcery
The Orchestra Stand
Present Time
After their adventure within the Pastoral Symphony realm, our heroes took advantage of a well-earned rest. The Mane Six and Spike each kept themselves occupied while the orchestra was preparing for the next song. Twilight Sparkle, for instance, had spent the past few minutes studying the book Yen Sid granted her and with each turn of a page she grew fascinated with all the magic spells of which some she knew and then others she’d yet to learn. A door opens as Rainbow Dash emerged from the bathroom, an empty bottle of mouthwash is tossed out, and the Pegasus is wiping her mouth with her hoof.
“Finally got the taste out of my mouth,” Rainbow muttered. “Thanks again for the mouthwash, Pinkie!”
But answer there came none, as Rainbow Dash eyed the room.
“Pinkie? Hello?!"
“Shh,” Fluttershy hushed.
The yellow Pegasus points toward Pinkie Pie, who had been napping on the couch after all the wine she had been drinking.
“Boy, I’ve never seen a pony drink so much wine in my life,” Spike replied. “Even Berry Punch pales in comparison to Pinkie’s level.”
“I just hope she’s sober when she wakes up,” Twilight said. “Mark my words, once we get back to Equestria, the first thing I’m going to do is book her an appointment for rehab.”
“There’s no need to be hard on Pinkie,” Applejack said.
“Applejack, do you realize she could’ve had alcohol intoxication after Celestia knows how much wine she’s consumed? I would expect this to happen with Rainbow Dash…”
“HEY!” Rainbow cried, offended.
“No offense,” Twilight replied, turning to Applejack. “I’ll never forget the time Dash drank too much of Berry Punch’s… Well, ‘punch’, during Spike’s birthday party. She passed out for the rest of the day!”
“It was a ‘one-time’ thing, Twilight,” Rainbow retorts. “Come on, I’m sure ‘you’ did something like that long ago.”
The unicorn/alicorn princess merely gives Rainbow Dash a serious frown, even Rainbow would know when a friend is not amused.
“Uh, heh-heh… Maybe not.”
“So in other words,” Vinyl spoke, to Twilight. “You were boring?”
That question was enough to make Twilight’s eyes small as pinpricks.
“Boring?! Me?!” Twilight asked, offended. “Excuse me for using my brains before rushing into things. Somepony has to be more careful than others.”
“You know, Twilight, it ain’t that bad to do something crazy or stupid once in a while,” Applejack said, rubbing her neck. “I admit I’d know a thing or two.”
“Yeah? Name one,” Twilight said.
The red cheeks glowing on Applejack’s face, along with the wide eyes looking side to side, was more than enough to show the embarrassment. All the other ponies, even Spike, waited in anticipation.
“Well… There was the time when ah lied so badly, the whole family ended up in the hospital. Hoo-wee, learned mah lesson shortly after.”
“Heh, that’s nothing,” Vinyl shakes off. “You should’ve seen Octavia after she drank too much punch at the Grand Galloping Gala last year. She’s playing her cello like an electric guitar, banging her head like a rock star, so much her little bow tie snapped right off her neck!”
“I thought we agreed we’d never bring that up,” Octavia muttered.
Vinyl merely smirks and wraps an arm around her best friend, tugging her closely.
“It’s like I said, everypony will remember that for a long time,” Vinyl replied, leaning in. “Although, this coming from me, I love it when you get loose.”
The grey mare merely blushed in embarrassment, but she knew what her friend was talking about.
“I, too, did some silly things in my life,” Jiminy said. “But that’s a story for another time.”
Rarity feels a nudge on her shoulder and turns to the side. Applejack eyed her with a smirk, one front hoof folded over the other. Rarity frowns, she knew why her friend did that.
“Oh fine,” Rarity sighs. “One time, I accidentally used magical remover potion on my mane and spent an entire day being a total mess. But fortunately, thanks to my creative mind, I managed to make myself fabulous again with a look everypony would adore.”
“Oh yeah, I remember,” Rainbow recalled. “That punk outfit and mane job really fit you!”
Twilight Sparkle stood mostly silent as all her friends related their most embarrassing, even ‘dumb’, moments throughout the years. Most of which Twilight remembered, having seen that for herself, but others she’s only just hearing about. All this made Twilight really think before speaking her mind.
“Am I really that boring?” Twilight asked.
Everypony, Spike included, were silent with that statement while Jiminy Cricket looked at the group, one-by-one. Those who knew Twilight Sparkle well were wise to think and choose their words carefully. After all, there was no pony more sensitive than the Princess of Friendship… Except for Fluttershy of course, but that’s beside the point.
“Um…” Spike thought, looking around. “Well, uh…”
“No… Not really,” Rainbow shook her head.
“Depends on how you define boring,” Rarity suggests.
“Hey guys!” Spike interrupts, pointing. “She’s waking up!”
Saved by the bell, every pony turns toward Pinkie, who slowly opens her eyes and stretches out her hooves while releasing a great, big yawn. As she woke up, she scratches her head with her hind leg like a pup.
“Morning, guys,” She said rubbing her eyes. “What I miss?”
“Eh, nothing important,” Spike replied.
“How you feeling, sugar cube?” Applejack asked.
“Hmm… Despite a tiny headache, I feel… I feel… GREAT!” Pinkie cries, with glee. “I just had the craziest dream ever! So there I was, slowly falling and then I land on this platform that looks like those huge round stained glass windows. Like the ones in the Princesses’ castle, only I was the one in it, along with a few things I love. Candy, birthday cake, you guys… Anyways, there was this boy with spiky hair and a huge key… Ooh, I had one too! We were fighting these black-colored meanies that tried to steal our hearts, not the ‘romantic’ way, and we won! Then we had this fun party with a group of living puppets, not like Pinocchio since he’s made of wood, but the weirdest thing was most of them were animals. They were so funny; the bear is my favorite! Waka-waka-waka!”
Most of her friends were silent, as Pinkie Pie rambled on about her unusual dream. If you could just imagine the look on their faces, they didn’t even blink.
“So… You weren’t dreaming about cupcakes and balloons?” Rainbow asked, sarcastically.
“Oh, they were in there too,” Pinkie replied. “But most of my dreams are always about me and my friends.”
Pinkie pauses for a moment to face an empty wall, even tugging the screen toward her.
“But between you and me, this one was just to bring up fun references!” She whispered.
Let go of the screen, Pinkie Pie. *Tugs the screen back in place*
“Well, I just hope you’ve learned your lesson this time,” Twilight said.
“Yes, I know,” Pinkie nodded. “I promise to be more careful before drinking anything strong; but you have to admit, it was deeeeeelicious!!!”
Pinkie sighs dreamily, while Twilight just shook her head with a smile. Suddenly, Pinkie rose herself off the ground,
“Well, I’m awake now! Who’s ready to find the next sheet music!?”
At the end of the sentence, Pinkie accidentally gave a hard smack right on Rainbow’s flank. Rainbow’s eyes widen, feeling ‘where’ Pinkie smacked her.
“OOOOWWW!” Rainbow yelled, in pain.
The blue Pegasus flew up in the air as the group of friends looked on. After a few seconds, Rainbow landed right on the nearby couch rubbing the side of her flank where her scar was.
“PINKIE PIE!!! That’s where that God jerk hit me!”
“Who? Bacchus?” Pinkie asked, smirking. “Hmm… Kinky!”
“No, no, no, not him!” Rainbow defends. “The ‘other’ jerk… Zeus!”
“Zeus hit you?” Twilight asked.
“Hello! He hit me right on the flank with one of his lightning bolts!” Rainbow said, cringing with pain.
“Hmm?” Pinkie thought.
Pinkie lowers her hooves to the bottom of the page and pulls up the link to ‘Symphony No. 6 (‘Pastoral’) Op. 68: The Wine Festival and The Storm’. After observing that one paragraph, Pinkie nods.
“Oh yeah, I see it,” Pinkie replies, dropping the link.
“I’m sorry I didn’t notice that before,” Twilight said. “I did make sure you wouldn’t get hurt.”
Twilight takes a close look at Rainbow’s flank, as all the others came close. This was a bit embarrassing for the young Wonderbolt, not the way she wanted to get attention.
“Sweet Celestia!” Twilight cried. “He really hit you on the flank!”
“Tell me about it,” Rainbow muttered.
“Dang, girl,” Applejack replied, observing. “How does it feel?”
“Like my butt’s on fire… What do you think?!”
“Why not give it a little kiss to make it feel better?” Vinyl joked. “Just pretend we’re not here.”
Rainbow Dash glares at the disc jockey, a heavy blush on her cheeks.
“Don’t you have to remix songs on your little music table?!”
“Hey, I’m just joking,” Vinyl replied. “No need to be aggressive, okay?”
As Vinyl tried to calm the Pegasus down, Jiminy hopped over to Rainbow Dash. Putting on a pair of glasses, he observes Rainbow’s scar like an examination.
“It’s not too bad, Rainbow. You’re lucky it didn’t hit the meat; just straight across your cutie mark.”
Rainbow blew a bit of her hair out of the way, all the while nodding.
“The best we can do right now is bandage around it, to avoid infection,” The cricket continued. “Pinkie Pie, would you happen to have some bandages, disinfectant and ointment in that mane of yours?”
“Now that’s a silly question,” Pinkie giggled, approaching Dash. “Lucky for you, Dashie, I always bring them along on adventures.”
“Since when?!” Rainbow asked.
“Hush!” Pinkie replied, booping Rainbow’s nose with her tail.
As Rainbow twitched her eyes, Pinkie kept digging through her hair until she took out exactly what Jiminy asked. She starts unfolding the bandages and sprays some disinfectant onto a fresh, clean rag.
“Now, let’s see. Where should we start first?”
“Perhaps, I can be of assistance.”
The ponies, along with Spike and Jiminy, turn to the side and saw Deems Taylor, who had been listening to their conversation. He even held a chuckle after Vinyl’s teasing and all the funny stuff the equines brought up.
“How long have you…?” Rainbow asked, wide eyed.
“The whole time,” Deems replied, offering a hand. “Allow me, Pinkie.”
“Thanks, Deems!” Pinkie smiled.
Pinkie gives him the rag and bandages, which he took with pleasure. The Master of Ceremonies proceeds to kneel down, while studying Dash’s scar.
“Mmm-hmm, Jiminy’s right,” Deems said, holding the rag tightly. “Luckily, wounds like this are easily treated. It’s going to sting for a while, so it’s best to stay still.”
Beads of sweat escape Rainbow Dash, she nods while the rag gets close to her scar. Once it makes contact on the open wound, she hisses in pain as tears fall from her eyes.
“Be gentle with me,” Rainbow squeaks.
“Don’t worry, I will,” Deems assures.
Deems gently rubs the rag against the scar. Granted, it still hurt, but Rainbow did her best to stay still and keep a straight face.
“So, I take it you had fun in the Greek landscape?” Deem asked the group.
“You bet your life we did,” Rainbow replied, hissing a bit. “Some more than others.”
“It was beautiful, Mr. Taylor,” Fluttershy added. “It really felt like we were back in Equestria, and the inhabitants were very friendly.”
“Yeah, we helped tons of them,” Vinyl replied. “Rainbow taught this young Pegasus to fly and Rarity created fashion for the Centaurettes, the Centaurs went crazy for them after that. We even helped two centaurs who couldn’t find love, like real matchmakers. Not to mention Octavia rescued a unicorn foal, with help from Applejack and yours truly.”
“That’s wonderful,” Deems said, rubbing ointment along the scar.
“My favorite part was the party!” Pinkie said, gleefully.
“Of course, it was,” Deems nodded.
“That Bacchus guy, he was great!” Pinkie continued. “We danced, we played, and even drank together just like real pals!”
Every pony sighed and shook their heads at the mere mention of her drunk stage.
“Ooh, wanna see a picture of him kissing Dash…” She added.
“PINKIE PIE!” Rainbow yelled, angrily.
On one hoof, Rainbow Dash was still in pain. But when she realized what Pinkie was going to do, she gave that death glare.
“Come on, Dashie,” Pinkie smiled. “It’s funny!”
“No, it was the most humiliating, disgusting moment of my life!” Rainbow argues. “Every time I think about it, I have to wash my mouth again… And I’m all out of mouthwash! Pinkie, I swear, you break your promise that you wouldn’t show it to any pony, so help me…”
“Okay, okay, I won’t show it,” Pinkie said, then whispers to Deems. “I’ll show it to you later. Wink!”
“Didn’t you promise your friend?” Deems whispered back.
“Uh no… I only agreed if I ‘Pinkie Promised’, big difference.”
“Too bad Zeus had to ruin everything,” Spike said.
"We sure fixed him, didn’t we?” Rainbow replied. “No biggie!”
It was the perfect moment for Deems, to ask of their encounter with the king of the heavens himself. As he placed the bandage around the wound, wrapping it around her hip and leg, the next question came to mind.
“How did it feel standing face-to-face with a God?”
“It felt like fighting Tirek again,” Twilight replied. “Like facing an unstoppable force. I was scared, but I knew I had to muster up some courage to protect the inhabitants and my friends. I wasn’t sure how I’d beat him, so Rainbow and I decided to distract him instead.”
“Let’s just say he wasn’t very happy we disturbed his game,” Rainbow added.
“Ooh, when the storm ended, Bacchus and the others declared us honorary gods,” Pinkie smiled. “Pretty amazing, right?”
“Looks like you got yourselves a fan club,” Deems joked. “But more importantly, the inhabitants are safe, and you had a wonderful time.”
At the last moment, Deems made sure the bandage was wrapped tightly, as he rose onto his feet.
“Can you walk?” He asked Rainbow.
“I can try.”
Now Rainbow was no stranger to injuries. Her right wing had been in a cast ‘twice’, mostly because she had been inattentive. This time, it was her flank’s turn. She takes a few small steps, feeling almost no pain. As she walks around the stand and toward Deems, the wound stung a bit but otherwise not as badly as before.
“It hurts a little, but everything’s okay,” Rainbow said. “Thanks!”
“You’re welcome,” Deems replied. “Think you’re ready for the next musical realm?”
Everypony turns toward each other, then nod to Deems.
“Follow me,” Deems instructs.
Deems leads the group to the next songbook. Along the way, Twilight couldn’t help but notice a peculiar songbook with an ominous green glow. She had no idea what awaits her and her friends in there, but just looking at it gave her an uncomfortable feeling. Fortunately, that wasn’t the book Deems was leading them to… At least, not right away. Instead, Deems points them toward a different colored songbook: The Yellow one.
“I hope you’re in the mood for ballet,” Deems spoke.
“You mean like the Nutcracker Suite?” Fluttershy asked.
“Yes,” Deems nods. “Actually, it’s one of the most famous and popular ballets ever written: the Dance of the Hours.”
“Ooh! Will we see dancing clocks?” Pinkie asked, excitedly. “Or do we dance on a clock? Or dance with clocks? That would be cool!”
Deems couldn’t help but chuckle, shaking his head at the mare’s silly nature.
“Not exactly, Pinkie,” Deems explains. “The ballet is a pageant of the hours of the day and is also a well-known part from La Gioconda: The famous opera by Amilcare Ponchielli, one of the most important Italian composers after Verdi.”
“Ah!!!” Every pony nodded, understandingly.
“Uh, what does La Gioconda mean?” Rainbow asked.
“It’s Italian for ‘The Happy Woman’,” Deems explains. “The story is a bit tragic and dark, I’m not sure if you wish to hear it.”
“Ah, go ahead and tell,” Rainbow encouraged. “After ‘Rite of Spring’, we’ll take anything.”
Deems still wasn’t sure, especially seeing the expression on Fluttershy’s face. But still, he nods in agreement.
“Alright then. The opera’s based on a stage play by famous French writer, Victor Hugo. It is set in 17th century Venice, Italy, where a female singer named Gioconda gets harassed by an evil spy. The singer, however, is in love with a prince, who’s disguised as a seaman, but he’s in love with the wife of the Venetian Nobleman, Duke Alvise Badoero. The spy denounces both the prince and the duke’s wife and even despite her feelings for the prince, Gioconda saves both him and the duke’s wife, especially because the duke’s wife is also her mother’s protector.”
“Aw, that’s sweet of her,” Fluttershy sighed.
“But the duke was convinced his wife was cheating on him and planned to poison her.”
Everypony gasped in shock, as Deems continues.
“Luckily, Gioconda replaced the poison with a sleeping potion and took her rival to a safe place to be united with the prince.”
Everypony breathes a sigh of relief; unfortunately, the Master of Ceremonies wasn’t finished.
“The prince had been released from prison because Gioconda made a deal with the spy. If the spy helps her free the two lovers, Gioconda will become his forever. But in the end, she refuses to be his lover and kills herself, ending the story.”
Their eyes went wide hearing how the story ends.
“Okay, that sure is tragic,” Rainbow admits.
“I thought you said you could take it,” Deems repeats what she said.
“Yeah… But I didn’t expect it to be so… Dark.”
“It s a very sad ending,” Fluttershy nods. “But it was still very kind of Gioconda to give up everything to ensure her rival and the prince she loved are happy.”
“I agree,” Rarity added. “That was very generous of her.”
"Well, what do you expect in an opera? A happy ending?" Pinkie said and gave a wink at some invisible wall no other pony could see.
“But what does Dance of the Hours got to do with the story?” Applejack asked.
“As I mentioned, Dance of the Hours, or Danza delle ore in Italian, is a dance about the hours of the day,” Deems replied. “Dawn, noon, evening and night, all played during the third act of the opera.”
“Huh,” Applejack nods, understandingly.
“So, what do we face this time?” Vinyl asked.
“Nothing dangerous, I can tell you,” Deems assured. “No evil spies or people killing themselves. Nope, just various dancers doing their daily routine. Who knows? Maybe things will turn out differently today.”
“So… No bad guys to fight?” Rainbow asked, as every pony roll their eyes.
“None whatsoever,” Deems shook his head. “Just a little fun. You could use it after all the excitement you’ve been through.”
“You got a point there,” Applejack agreed. “Ah wouldn’t mind takin’ it easy for once in the next realm.”
“Me too,” Fluttershy said, as the others nod in agreement.
“Well then, I hope you’ll have a great time finding the sheet music,” Deems said, then realized. “Oh, and two more things. First, the dancers looks a bit different than you might expect. Secondly, I received these from Master Yen Sid. He asks you to wear them to fit in with the four groups you’ll meet along the way.”
Leopold pulls along a clothing rack with a collection of ballet costumes: Eight ballerina suits with tutus, each in a different color, and two black leotards for male dancers, one for Spike and a tiny one for Jiminy. This surprised our heroes completely.
“Ballet costumes?” Octavia asked. “For us?”
“That’s right,” Deems replied. “Go ahead, try them on.”
Everypony approaches the clothing rack, taking a good look at the outfits. It didn’t disappoint them at all.
“Oh my, these are adorable!” Rarity replied.
“Dibs on the blue one!” Pinkie called out, grabbing a turquoise blue ballet costume.
“I like the green one,” Fluttershy points out, touching her hoof to an emerald green ballet costume.
All of them couldn’t help but stare at the outfits. The only pony who wasn’t really interested is Rainbow Dash, even after Rarity made dresses for her and her friends for the Grand Galloping Gala a while back. Looking at the outfit, she admits the rainbow colors made the suit look awesome. But getting into it… Now that’s a different story.
“Is there a fitting room we can use?” Rarity asks, grabbing a purple suit.
“Rarity, do I really have to say it again?” Applejack asks, bluntly.
The white unicorn knew what Applejack meant, moaning in defeat. As she puts on the suit, it wasn’t long before the others dressed up as well. All, except one pony in the corner.
“Come on, Dashie!” Pinkie yelled. “Dress up!”
“WHAT?!” The blue Pegasus yelled, wide-eyed. “Oh, no! I may watch musicals and enjoy being pampered at the spa, but I’m not, I repeat… I’m NOT wearing a ballerina suit and doing ballet!”
“Hold it right there!” Pinkie yells, in a demanding tone.
Every pony turns toward Pinkie Pie, who slowly approaches Rainbow Dash, who looks uncertain. She stares at Rainbow Dash for a moment until…
“You actually like getting pampered at the spa?”
The blue Pegasus felt like she said too much, blushing with embarrassment.
“Come on, sugar cube,” Applejack ushers, wearing a brown suit. “Ballet can be fun!”
“You call dancing in a tight suit and tutu in front of every pony fun?” Rainbow asks, sarcastically. “I call it pure humiliation!”
“Oh pfft! That’s silly talk, darling,” Rarity objects. “Ballet is about grace and beauty. Those who mock are creatures who don’t appreciate such visualizing art.”
“Be that as it may, I’m NOT ruining my reputation wearing that,” Rainbow protests, pointing at her outfit.
“Didn’t you dance along with the thistles?” Fluttershy asked, already in her outfit.
“Hey, that was different! One, the dance was wilder and second, I did not have to wear a costume!”
"She does have a point about these suits,” Spike admits, stretching his leotard. “They sure are tight.”
Spike releases the leotard with a SLAP to the cheeks.
“Ow! Ooh, that smarts!”
“I think you look smashing, Spikey-Wikey,” Rarity complimented.
“Aw, thanks Rarity,” Spike blushed.
“I’m still not doing it!” Rainbow argues. “I’m not humiliating myself and there’s nothing you can do about it!”
Seeing Dash was being her usual stubborn self, the other equines whisper amongst themselves. Spike and Jiminy Cricket lean in, nodding understandingly. The equines nod as well before facing Rainbow Dash and walk toward her.
“Alright Dash, you win,” Applejack said. “Ya don’t have to wear the suit.”
“If that’s your decision,” Twilight said, once they encircle the blue mare. “We accept.”
“Really?” Rainbow asked, oblivious. “Thanks for understanding.”
Twilight turns to the others with a small wink. The others wink back in return.
“GET HER!”
The moment Rainbow dash heard, her eyes widening flat, it was too late. She stood no chance once all the Equestrians piled atop of her, holding her down to the floor while she struggled.
“Hey, what do you think you’re doing?! Let me go!”
But the others made sure she went nowhere, as Twilight looms over her with her horn glowing. The rainbow-colored ballerina suit floats next to the lavender unicorn/alicorn, hovering over Rainbow Dash, who gasps in fear.
“No! NO! Don’t you dare!”
Rainbow struggles harder, as Twilight slowly brought the suit close to the Pegasus. There is a struggle and a few tugs as she gets the suit on her. Finally, once released, Rainbow checks out the outfit she is wearing, blushing hard.
“Why?!” Rainbow asked, humiliated. “Why are you doing this to me?!”
“If we’re going to the realm in these, we’re doing it together,” Twilight states. “Whether some pony likes it or not.”
“Fine…” Rainbow frowns, folding her arms.
Once all the others were dressed, they approached Deems who stood next to the songbook.
“Oh my,” Deems replied. “You look absolutely gorgeous; your outfits fit you to a T.”
Twilight chose the yellow one, while the two musician ponies went for a pink suit with a black tutu. All three, including Fluttershy, had their manes tied into a bun. As for Jiminy, he too had trouble wearing a tight suit, but it didn’t take long to get used to it. Rainbow was still pretty mad, crossing her arms without saying a word.
“Thank you, Mr. Taylor,” Twilight said.
“Look at us, Tavi!” Vinyl said, wrapping an arm around her friend. ‘We have matching outfits, like duet dancers… In a non-romantic way, that is.”
Octavia couldn’t help but smile, as she knew her friend meant well. The DJ pony even decided to take off her trademark glasses for a little while.
“Guess we’re ready to go!” Applejack announces.
“Alright then,” Leopold nods. “This portal will bring you to Ca’ d’Oro, Duke Alvise’s palace. You’ll find all the dancers live there. Best of luck to you all!”
“And remember,” Deems added. “Have fun!”
Twilight nods, standing in front of the songbook.
“Alright, every pony. Gather around!”
Everypony approached Twilight, as she charged her horn and fires at the book. The portal opens, music notes surround the group and bubbles cover their vision shortly before fading away.
Eventually, our heroes look toward their surroundings and discovered they were in front of a huge palace. The Equestrians couldn’t help but stare in wonder.
“My stars!” Rarity explains, with sparkling eyes. “What a beautiful palace!”
“That must be the Ca’ d’Oro!” Twilight observed.
“Did you know it means ‘house of gold’ in Italian?” Jiminy asked, wonder if any pony knew that.
“Ooh, sounds fancy!” Pinkie said. “Looks fancy, too!”
“It does fit well,” Applejack nods. “Given this duke Alvise fella must be rich.”
“I wonder if we’ll meet him,” Rarity thought.
“I wouldn’t know for sure,” Octavia said. “Deems did say the dancers live inside and that they’re very different.”
“I wonder what he meant by that,” Spike pondered, scratching his chin curiously.
“Well, only one way to find out,” Twilight declares, walking ahead. “Come along, every pony!”
The ponies and their friends trot forward, approaching the staircase leading straight toward the palace doors. They noticed a symbol on each door: A lyre on the left side and a sundial on the right.
“That’s quite a door,” Applejack admired.
“I know!” Pinkie added, in awe.
Pinkie hops toward the door aiming to open it. Before she could, the doors seem to open all on their own. In a way, this moment was reminiscent as the doors that led to Yen Sid’s tower.
“What is it with doors opening by themselves, today?” Spike asked, startled.
Nevertheless, they continued their way inside, walking down a seemingly long hallway. If they thought the exterior was a sight to behold, they’ve yet to see the interior of the palace. Rarity herself couldn’t help but admire the architecture all around her.
“It’s so big here!” Pinkie said, gazing at the ceiling.
“Sure is!” Jiminy nodded. “It makes me feel even smaller.”
“I just can’t believe I have to go with you to a palace wearing this!” Rainbow grumbled, referring to her outfit.
“Oh, don’t act so rude, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity said. “You can learn a thing or two about ballet; besides, you look gorgeous!”
Rainbow silently growled until they stopped before a pair of curtains. Suddenly, the curtains part ways revealing a ball of black-and-white feathers with a pink bow atop a few marble stairs. Our heroes slowly ascend the stairs for a closer look.
“What is that?” Octavia asked.
“It’s so… Fluffy!” Pinkie said, reaching her hoof out.
“Pinkie Pie, don’t touch it!” Twilight warned. “We don’t even know what it is and if it’s dangerous or not.”
“What’s so dangerous about something that’s fluffy?” Vinyl asked.
“You have no idea,” Twilight replied.
Suddenly, the curtains up front open as well, revealing the light of dawn. All at once, the feather-ball began to stir.
“Step back, every pony,” Twilight said, ushering every pony backward.
While doing so, they watch as a leg appears from underneath, stretching upwards. It didn’t truly take long for a head to pop out as well. Now they could see just what this feather-ball truly was.
“It’s an ostrich,” Fluttershy smiled, surprised.
“With ballet shoes, a ribbon around the neck and a bow on its head?” Rainbow asked, raising an eyebrow.
“She looks lovely!” Rarity said.
“How do you know it’s a ‘she’?” Applejack asked.
“Isn’t it obvious? The pink bow? The matching slippers? Even the perfume she’s wearing gives it away.”
The flightless bird, oblivious to the equines’ presence, rose from the ground and yawned. It was then she noticed the Equestrians, much to her surprise. Yet, as she looked at them, she smiles warmly.
(Pause at 0:34)
“Oh, hello there,” The ostrich greets, with a French accent.
It was our heroes third or fourth encounter with an animal speaking to them, and it still took them by surprise.
“Uh, hello,” Twilight said, finding her voice. “Sorry if we disturbed you, Miss Ostrich. We didn’t mean to wake you.”
“Oh, don’t be, I’m an early bird anyway,” The ostrich replied, giggling at her own joke. “Get it? Early bird?”
Some of the ponies couldn’t help but laugh, even Spike and Jiminy released a chuckle.
“She's funny!” Pinkie giggled. “I like her already.”
“I bid you welcome to Ca d’Oro: The finest dance academy in the world,” The ostrich announced. “My name is Mademoiselle Upanova. What’s yours?”
“I’m Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship,” Twilight introduced. “And these are my friends: Applejack, Octavia, Vinyl, Spike, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Jiminy and Rainbow Dash.”
Every pony waved except the blue Pegasus, who was still peeved for wearing a ballet uniform.
“Sup,” Rainbow Dash spoke, dryly.
“It’s a pleasure,” Madame Upanova bowed. “What an honor it is to have a princess here! And your outfits are adorable, especially the pink ones. Pink is my favorite color.”
“What a coinky-dink!” Pinkie said, with a beaming smile. “Mine too!”
“Wait a sec!” Vinyl interrupts, surprised. “This place is a dance school”
“Doesn’t it belong to a Duke?” Octavia inquired.
“Oh, you’re referring to Duke Alvise,” Madame Upanova answered, understanding. “Well, you see, I can’t even say. None of us knows what happened to him. Word has it he disappeared ages ago, leaving the palace empty. Me and two other lead dancers bought the palace together and turned it into a ballet school. It’s a huge success, home to many students here. All of them girls.”
“You mean there aren’t any boys in your school?” Spike asked.
“No, but we make a few exceptions. Now if I may ask: What have you come to do? Dancing, I presume?”
“Not exactly,” Twilight admits. “We’re looking for sheet music, some friends of ours lost one. Have you seen it?”
The ostrich ponders hard before she finally answers.
“I don’t think so.”
“Are you sure?” Rainbow asked.
Madame Upanova nods, causing every pony to sigh with disappointment.
“Well, guess we have to keep ourselves busy until it appears like the previous realm,” Applejack concludes.
“We could use the time to learn ballet,” Jiminy suggests. “After all, Deems did say we should have some fun while we’re here.”
Every pony, except Rainbow, nods in agreement.
“Well, if you wish to learn ballet, you’ve definitely come to the right place,” The ostrich replied. “I wouldn’t mind offering a lesson; I was about to wake my students anyway.”
“Oh, you don’t have to,” Octavia said. “We don’t want to be a bother.”
“Nonsense, dear. We’d love to dance for you. Why don’t you sit at the bottom of the stairs, while I get my students in tip-top form?”
“We’ll do just that,” Twilight said.
The princess walks toward the bottom of the stairs to take a seat, while her friends follow close behind. The only member lagging behind is Rainbow Dash, who had an irritated look as if she were losing her patience.
“Crazy idea, Twi: Let’s skip this realm and go to another one. We can just tell Deems we tried our best to find the sheet music and we hit a roadblock.”
“WHAT?!” Twilight gasped. “How could you say that? We made a promise to Deems!”
“He’s counting on us to find them,” Applejack agreed.
“All of them?” Rainbow groaned.
“ALL of them,” Twilight emphasized, seriously.
“Alright fine,” Rainbow spoke. “You guys can go looking for sheet music in this realm all you want. Meanwhile, I’ll just wait in the orchestra stand until we can go to the next realm together.”
“You can try,” Twilight answered. “But the portal won’t appear until we’ve found the sheet music in this one.”
Rainbow was about to protest, but at this point she knew she had lost. She drops to her hindquarters along the staircase, retaining a grumpy look on her face which otherwise would be considered cute to others. Yet, this did not go unnoticed by a certain pink party pony, who leans toward Twilight.
“I know it’s because she’s wearing that outfit,” Pinkie whispered. “But maybe that scar on her butt is making her grumpier.”
“Could be,” Twilight replied. “I know she can be rude about some things, but this time she seems to be taking it personally.”
“Hey guys, look over there!” Jiminy points out.
The ponies turn toward the cricket’s direction, as the ostrich was dancing towards her sleeping students.
(Continue music)
The students were lying along the sidelines of the steps, folded into feather-balls. Madame Upanova moved gracefully toward the left, lifting a leg above one of them and gave a light stroke along the back.
“Step lively, girls,” Madame Upanova announced. “Rise and shine!”
Upanova walks away, while the students woke up. The only noticeable difference between the teacher and the students was how the latters’ bows and shoes were blue-colored rather than pink. Though yawning sleepily, they greet each other with a smile. Madame Upanova did the same along the right side, waking the others. One ostrich stood up completely doing her morning exercise by jumping, causing the other ostriches to stare.
“Looks like that one’s in the mood alright,” Applejack chuckled.
Once awoken, all the students performed various tasks: Some tightened their shoes, others stretched their legs, and a handful merely adjusted their feathers. All the while their teacher strolled down the stairs, past our heroes.
“Come along, dearies,” Madame Upanova announced again. “We have visitors.”
The students followed their teacher as she introduced them to the Equestrians, all of them were rather surprised.
“Girls, say hello to Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends,” The ostrich introduced.
As if on command, the ostriches greet the ponies and their companions one-by-one.
“It’s really nice to meet all of you too,” Fluttershy replied, shaking one of their wings.
“Now that we’ve all introduced ourselves,” Madame Upanova continued. “I believe we should grant our guests a light demonstration of our capabilities.”
“That would be lovely,” Octavia replied.
Upanova and her students took a few steps away from the Equestrians, who paid close attention to the steps. Upanova performs a pirouette, making the others walk around her in a circle. Once they’ve encircled her entirely, they position their wings in the air to cover their teacher while each student balanced on one leg. Suddenly, Upanova thrusts high into the air, as many feathers were shed, causing the Equestrians to open their mouths wide in awe.
“Wow!” They yelled.
Once high enough, the ostrich teacher slowly descends to the floor while twinkling her feet and fanning herself with one of her wings. The whole time Jiminy Cricket held his glasses over his eyes, as if to make sure his vision wasn’t deceiving him.
“Incredible!” Jiminy gasped.
“She’s divine!” Rarity complimented.
“She’s like an angel,” Fluttershy added. “I didn’t know ostriches could be as graceful as swans.”
“Looks like a show-off, but she sure is talented,” Applejack nodded.
While her students dance on their toes, Madame Upanova got closer to the floor. She spreads her legs, so her heels would touch it, but they spread too wide causing her to fall on her bottom with a hard thud. The Equestrians couldn’t help but laugh at that funny display, even the students could barely contain it while bowing their heads respectfully. Nonetheless, the ostrich teacher took it in stride, gracefully rising from the floor with her feet crossed. The ponies and their friends applaud the teacher as she turns toward them.
“That was truly magnificent!” Octavia cheered, clapping her hooves.
“A marvelous performance indeed,” Rarity agreed.
“Thank you, dear,” Madame Upanova bowed. “But that was merely the beginning. Now, if you’d kindly stand up, it’s time for your first lesson.”
“Oh goodie-goodie!” Pinkie clapped her hooves, excitedly.
“Oh brother!” Rainbow sighed.
They all stood up as Madame Upanova came closer to them, while all her students stood in a horizontal line behind her.
“Now, we begin with moving the legs in and out, followed by standing on the tips of your feet, or hooves in your case, and then we cross them.”
Although Pinkie Pie and Rarity were the only two who knew a bit about ballet, Madame Upanova noticed that this would be a first time for the others.
“Remember: Just do exactly what I do, and you’ll do fine.”
Upanova then turns toward the small cricket and the baby dragon. She flutters her eyes, followed by a flutter of her bow tie. The two boys couldn’t help but blush a shade of crimson pink.
(Pause at 1:59)
“I’m not dancing,” Rainbow complained, again.
“Rainbow, will you stop that?” Applejack frowned. “We’re all doing it, so it’s best you join along.”
The blue Pegasus grumbled under her breath, as she rose from the floor to join them.
“If the Wonderbolts ever hear that I’ve been doing ballet, so help me,” Rainbow muttered.
(Continue music)
With everypony at the ready, Madame Upanova performs a small solo dance, skipping to the left swaying her legs in and out a few times. She then skips back to the center repeating the same steps, before moving toward the right to repeat the dance again. Until at last, she arrives back along the center, standing on the tips of her toes and crossing them once.
Our heroes copy the dance as best as they could, but ballet was not something to take lightly. This dance proved more difficult than it appeared. Fortunately, Rarity helped her friends along by giving a few pointers to make it easier. Rainbow, of course, showed little interest and made smaller versions of the moves while keeping a sour expression.
As Twilight tried to keep up with the steps, she noticed a certain pink mare having no trouble with the dance. In fact, she was dancing ‘perfectly’ and was already enjoying it. As she danced, she couldn’t help but sing a tune.
“Hello Muddah. Hello Faddah. Here I am at Camp Granada!”
“Pinkie, what are you doing?” Twilight asked, confused.
“Singing, of course,” Pinkie replied. “You should try it; it always helps me. Bet you can’t tell me what the song is!”
Twilight shook her head, making Pinkie shrug and sing further.
“And they say we’ll have some fun if it stops raining.”
Meanwhile, Upanova’s students danced in-sync, getting closer to her while standing on the tips of their shoes and crossing their feet. There was one student who wasn’t keeping her head at the dance, but it didn’t take long for her to realize that before she quickly danced along with the others. Soon the students surround a pathway that led to a small pedestal by forming two lines.
Our heroes joined the students, while the ostrich teacher danced her way to the pedestal. From there, she grabs a cornucopia filled with fruit before dancing back toward the dancers and the Equestrians.
“Well done, girls,” Madame Upanova congratulates. “The same to you and your friends, Your Majesty.”
“Thanks, but you can call me Twilight,” Twilight offers. “I’m not entirely comfortable with the ‘Your Majesty’ thing.”
“Of course. However, I can’t help but notice your blue friend, Rainbow was it? Seems she could use a little more help. Perhaps with enough practice, you would be great ballerinas.”
“Don’t worry about her, Miss Upanova. We’ll help her any way we can… Right, Rainbow?”
The little unicorn/alicorn glared toward Rainbow, who folds her arms and rolls her eyes. Fortunately, Madame Upanova took no notice as she displays the fruit to her students.
“Alright girls, who wants a snack?”
The moment the students saw the fruit, their beaks smack together hungrily. Our heroes couldn’t help but feel hungry too.
“Ooh, ooh! I do! I do!” Pinkie waved.
The others agreed too, even Twilight couldn’t help but lick her lips.
“Alright, get ready,” The ostrich teacher said.
Upanova throws numerous fruit toward the Equestrians and her students. They quickly caught them in their hooves, while Spike caught two apples, one for him and the other to Jiminy, who stood along his shoulder. Pinkie took a banana, Applejack a simple apple, Fluttershy an orange, Rarity some green grapes, an apple for Rainbow as well, Twilight a pear, and a pineapple for Octavia and Vinyl to share. The other students, however, ate their fruit whole. Some of which lodged in their throat at first, but they managed to swallow them.
“Mmm… Delicious!” Twilight smiled.
“Boy, I really needed this!” Jiminy said, taking a bite from his apple.
Madame Upanova took a bunch of purple grapes for herself, throwing the cornucopia aside. Suddenly, the students start taking some of the grapes from their teacher.
“Hey, hold on!” Madame Upanova said. “Haven’t you had enough? Stay away!”
The Equestrians saw the ostrich teacher trying to keep away from her students.
“Uh oh, looks like they have a little disagreement,” Spike noted.
“Sounds like a job for… The Guardians of Harmony!” Pinkie declared.
Every pony turned and noted that their friend appears dressed in a superhero cape, a determined look across her face. Pinkie could see that her friends were confused.
“What? We got to have a group name, right? Now, most ponies call us the ‘Mane Six’, but sometimes that’s not always the case. I’m thinking, and I’m just spit-balling, why not ‘Guardians of Harmony’? It’s catchy, but we could use either-or. Depends on any pony’s taste.”
But this did not seem to help as the group was more confused than before.
“Pinkie, we’ll discuss this later,” Twilight spoke. “Come on, every pony! Let’s help those ostriches!”
Every pony nodded, agreeing that they needed to intervene. They follow the squabbling ostriches into the garden, one ostrich ran too fast and accidentally bumped against a pillar, making her slightly dizzy. Our heroes made a big slide before rushing outside. Applejack accidentally kept sliding, as a sound of crashing and items hitting the ground were heard.
“WHOOOOOOAAAAAAA!” She yelled.
The rest had reached the fountain where the ostriches still attempted to take the grapes from Upanova.
“Go away!” The ostrich teacher yelled.
Twilight tried to push between Upanova and her students, which proved a bit tricky.
“Easy girls, easy. Can’t you share? Share and share alike?”
“Keep away!” Madame Upanova yelled again. “These are my grapes!”
But the students wouldn’t listen, continually trying to take the grapes from her, using their long necks to their advantage. One of them got a grip, as both she and Upanova pulled hard. Suddenly, the grapes slip from the teacher’s beak and into the fountain.
“Aw, talk about losing your lunch,” Pinkie frowned.
To say that Madame Upanova was angry toward her students was a huge understatement.
“Now look what you’ve done!” Madame Upanova shouts.
“Don’t worry, I can try to fish it out or dive after it!” Pinkie said.
Pinkie held a fishing pole in one hoof and a diving mask with a snorkel in the other way, while every pony else watched the grapes sink. Just as she was about to go in, everyone noticed some bubbles emerging from the water.
“Bubbles?” Vinyl asked, confused.
The bubbles scared the ostriches out of their wits and our heroes watch them run away.
“Don’t go away!” Spike called. “It’s just bubbles!”
“Yeah, there’s nothing to be afraid of!” Pinkie added.
But despite their encouragement, the ostriches had faded into the distance and never came back.
“Okay, seriously?” Rainbow remarked. “You gotta be pretty lame to be scared of a couple bubbles.”
But none of them noticed that something else was emerging from the water. Jiminy Cricket looked behind him, as his eyes went wide.
“Uh, guys? I don’t think it‘s the bubbles they’re afraid of.”
They all turn back toward the fountain and before their eyes the large head of a female hippopotamus emerged. It looked toward our heroes with a flutter of her ears, followed by a snort of water through her large snout as she fully emerged from the water. She holds the grapes, which the ostriches lost from their earlier scuffle, and plops the fruit into her mouth. Our heroes couldn’t help but stare silently.
“Um, hello?” Fluttershy greets, breaking the silence.
“Oh hello,” The hippo spoke, sweetly. “Excuse me a second.”
The hippo wiggles her legs and shook her rear to shake off the excess water dripping along her frame.
“Pardon me, I wasn’t expecting guests today.”
(Pause at 3:45)
Though a bit bizarre seeing her stand on the fountain she swam, the Equestrians shook it off.
“That’s okay,” Twilight spoke. “But who are you?”
“Hyacinth, dear,” The hippo replied, emerging from the fountain. “Hyacinth Hippo.”
“Are you one of the lead dancers, who Madame Upanova mentioned?” Octavia asked.
“Ah, you met Upanova? She couldn’t be more correct. Doing her morning routine, I presume?”
“Yes, indeedy!” Pinkie replied. “She and her students ran away from the bubbles you blew though.”
“Oh, poor Upanova,” Hyacinth chuckled. “She and her students always get scared easily.”
“Kind of like a certain friend of ours,” Spike said, motioning Fluttershy.
The yellow Pegasus merely hid her face behind her mane with a blush as Hyacinth continued.
“But if I may ask, who are you?”
“I’m Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship,” Twilight introduced once more. “This is Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Spike, Jiminy, Octavia, Vinyl, Rarity and Fluttershy.”
“I’m truly honored, princess,” The hippo bowed.
“Please call me Twilight,” The lavender unicorn/alicorn replied.
“Of course, Twilight,” Hyacinth nods. “Anyways, have you come here to study dancing?”
“Um, a little. We’re mostly searching for a missing sheet music. I don’t suppose you’ve seen one of those around, have you?”
“As a matter of fact, I did!”
The ponies’ ears perk up joyfully the moment Hyacinth confirmed. Even Rainbow smiled, hoping this means they can leave this realm behind them.
“You did?” Rarity asked. “Where? When?”
“Along the garden, just this morning,” Hyacinth answered. “I’ve tried catching it for a closer look, but it simply floated away.”
When they heard that, the Equestrians lower their heads in disappointment.
“Oh….”
“Well, at least somebody’s seen it,” Jiminy said. “That’s a good thing.
“I’m sorry you missed it,” Hyacinth apologized. “Had I known it was that important, I’d sooner chase it and captured it for sure.
“That’s very kind of you,” Twilight said. “But I’m sure it’ll appear again one way or another.”
“She probably wouldn’t have caught it anyway,” Rainbow replied. “Not to mention dance with all that junk in the t…”
But before Rainbow could finish, Applejack placed a hoof over her friend’s mouth.
“R.D., ah’m no stranger to honesty,” Applejack explains, scowling. “But even ah know when I’m going too far and what you just said was plain rude!”
“She’s right, Rainbow,” Jiminy said, landing atop Rainbow’s muzzle. “I get you don’t like your outfit and have no interest in ballet, at all. But that don’t give you the right to insult people that way.”
“You’d be surprised what hippos are capable of,” Pinkie added, smiling.
Now it’s worth noting that the lead dancer of noon hour can be quite sensitive. But fortunately, she’s not easily offended.
“Would you like to dance along with me?” Hyacinth asked.
Everypony, except Rainbow Dash, accepts the offer with a smile.
“We’d love too,” Fluttershy said.
“Splendid!” The hippo clapped. “We can begin right now, if you want. Who knows? With enough practice and effort, you could be the next Pavlova or Baryshnikov!”
“I don’t wanna be the next anything!” Rainbow spoke up, suddenly. “I only came to this silly realm, dressed in this stupid outfit, because everypony made me!”
“Rainbow, for Celestia’s sake!” Rarity frowned.
At this point, all the Mane Six and their friends were getting tired of their friend’s rudeness. Hyacinth, on the other hand, crouches toward her level for a better look.
“Ah, you got fire in the belly and an excellent figure to ballet for a pony. Very good, but it takes more than a sleek body and belly-fire to be the next Pavlova.”
Rainbow felt a hand brush against her belly and slaps it away.
“Look lady, I hate to break it to you, but ballet is for sissies and wussies!”
Her friends gasped at her words, fearing Hyacinth would get mad. But to their shock, she merely laughed it off. Even Rainbow was confused with this reaction.
“I’m afraid you’re terribly misinformed, my dear,” Hyacinth explained. “Ballet is for the strong, the fierce, and the determined. But for sissies and wussies? Never!”
Despite everything the hippo said, Rainbow still didn’t seem convinced. Hyacinth decides a different approach was in order, so she stands up and calls out:
“Oh, girls!”
The Equestrians turn to the left, noticing six other female hippos, each dressed in a pink tutu with matching shoes, emerging from some pillars and danced their way down a small flight of stairs. They came in pairs, holding three items: A yellow tutu, a powder box and a golden handheld mirror. Our heroes couldn’t believe they were seeing dancing hippos, animals considered the heaviest on the globe.
“Told you they were surprisingly graceful for their size,” Pinkie smirked, to her friends.
“Sure could lose a few pounds, though,’ Vinyl replied.
“Vinyl!” Octavia frowned.
“Just kidding!” Vinyl answered, innocently. “But seriously, they could.”
That last sentence made Octavia frown again, even if she knew her friend could be rude at times.
Meanwhile, the hippos danced around Hyacinth as they placed the tutu around her waist. She was already wearing her yellow shoes; it was a miracle she didn’t have sore feet from either walking or standing on her feet. Hyacinth adored her tutu, as her students treated her like a queen. One hippo held the mirror before her, while another held up the powder box for her. Hyacinth grabs the powder puff, powdering her face and underneath her armpit while looking at herself in the mirror. When she was finished, she tiptoed towards the Equestrians.
“That’s better. Now, are you all ready?”
Everypony nods.
“You’re lucky it’s noon,” Hyacinth replied. “Now the lessons can begin.”
“You do whatever you please, but count me out,” Rainbow said, rudely. “I don’t need this.”
Rainbow was about to walk away, when a certain yellow friend of hers stood in front of her.
“Rainbow Dash, can’t you at least give it a chance?”
“No, Flutters!” The blue Pegasus responds, while walking. “I’ve never liked this fru-fru nonsense and I never will. I’m out of here and out of this stupid outfit!”
Rainbow tried removing her ballet outfit, but this proved very difficult. She even used her teeth, trying to pull it off but it seemed to cling to her body. But while she was busy pulling and tugging, she hadn’t noticed her body doing something she never did before.
“Come on, you stupid thing!” She grunts. “GET OFF!”
“Oh Rainbow, please!” Rarity plead. “Don’t ruin that… Outfit?”
It was then Rarity saw the most unusual sight, even the others couldn’t help but stare. Believe it or not, Rainbow Dash was dancing ballet without realizing it. All while Hyacinth looked on with her hands over her hips, as if to say, ‘Told you so’. Suddenly, Rainbow stopped trying to remove her outfit and acknowledged this strange feeling inside her.
(Continue music)
“Wait, what’s this feeling?” She smiled, dancing further. “Joy of movement increasing; love of dance impossible to resist!”
“Is she doing what I think she’s doing?” Vinyl asked, surprised.
“I think so,” Twilight said, smiling.
“Hoof tips… Twinkling!” Rainbow shouts.
Rainbow twinkled cutely with her hindlegs, making a big slide towards Hyacinth, who nods in approval.
“Look at me, everypony!” Rainbow announced. “The greatest flier in Equestria, doing ballet… AND SHE LOVES IT!”
“See?” Hyacinth points out. “It’s no crime to try; if you’re ready, just follow my lead.”
With that said, Hyacinth began dancing while the others did their best to mimic her every move. Even Rainbow danced along, but this time with enthusiasm.
“That’s it,” Hyacinth encouraged. “You’re doing great!”
“You were right, Pinkie,” Rarity said. “She is quite dainty on her steps.”
“Yeah, she’s not bad at all,” Twilight commented.
"It makes her adorable in her own way," Jiminy added.
Then Hyacinth danced toward her hippo students, all standing in a line. The first, the third and the fifth posed with their hands above their head, while Hyacinth exchanged handclaps with the second, the fourth and the sixth.
“Ooh, ooh, ooh! Now me! Now me!” Pinkie yelled, excitedly.
Pinkie Pie holds out her hooves, exchanging handclaps with the hippos as well. Or in her case, ‘hoof claps’.
"And now, le pièce de résistance," Hyacinth announced.
Hyacinth performs a few pirouettes, then twirls her entire body until all her body fat covers her head. Once she stopped, all that fat goes back toward her belly.
“Sweet dance,” Rainbow said, appreciating the dance. “Let me try something.”
She stands on one leg, then performs a few pirouettes and spreads out her wings while twirling her body till she soars high into the air. Everybody and every pony gazed toward her in awe. Soon, she folds her wings and plummets toward the ground while twirling, spreading her wings again and crossing her legs four times, concluding with a soft, graceful landing.
“Whoa!” The Equestrians and hippos said, in astonishment.
The whole time standing there, Rainbow Dash takes a few deep breaths after performing such a brilliant display.
“You see that? I did like a little arabesque, followed by some pirouettes to get in the air with the help of my wings and allow myself to drop to perform an entrechat quatre… Not that I’m into that kind of thing.”
“Bravissimo, Rainbow Dash,” Hyacinth clapped her hands. “You’re a quick learner.”
“Wow, sugar cube,” Applejack replied, nodding. “For somepony who ain’t into ballet, you gave a really great performance.”
“You totally got my respect, fly girl!” Vinyl added.
“You should totally add that during your Wonderbolt show,” Spike advised.
“Uh… Dancing in front of the Wonderbolts and other ponies?” Rainbow asked, eyes wide. “Yeah… No offense, Spike, but I rather leave this kind of dancing to Rarity.”
“Hmm… You seem very conflicted, Rainbow Dash,” Hyacinth noted. “You love ballet yet fear everybody will laugh at you.”
“They used to call me names back at flight school,” Rainbow whimpered. “That was the worst.”
Suddenly, Rainbow felt a light hand on her shoulder and turns toward the hippo’s eyes.
“Believe it or not, I know just how you feel. I, too, had been bullied when I was little. People laughed at me because of my… Physique. I always wanted to be a ballerina, but those bullies used to make me feel insecure. So much I almost abandoned my dreams.”
Twilight and the others couldn’t help but sympathize with her.
“That is so sad,” Twilight spoke, softly.
“Wow, I never realized you had it so rough,” Rainbow said. “But you didn’t seem offended by everything I said.”
“That’s because I have a good family and three great friends who support me through the most difficult trials,” Hyacinth explained. “If it weren’t for them, my dream wouldn’t be a reality. Since that day, the things those bullies said were nothing but empty words.”
Twilight smiled at her words, reminded of how she herself wouldn’t be the princess she is now without the support of her family and friends. While Rainbow Dash looked on awestruck, she placed another hand on her shoulder for comfort.
“Don’t ever let people keep you from doing something you like,” Hyacinth advised. “Even if it looks silly in their eyes, you need no one’s approval but your own. Even if you can’t face them alone, you always have friends to help you.”
“She’s right, sugar cube,” Applejack said. “We’d never laugh at you on purpose.
“Unless it’s funny,” Pinkie added, smiling.
“They have a point,” Jiminy said. “Bullies laugh at you just to hurt you, but sometimes you gotta take jokes when it comes to your friends.”
Rainbow turns to her friends, each giving her brimming smiles of confidence. It surely raised her spirits, filling her heart with determination.
“You’re right,” Rainbow agreed. “Why should I care what others think of my dancing? I love it, that’s important. Mark my words, at the next aerial show, I’ll show every pony how awesome ballet is. If they still laugh at me, so be it.”
The Equestrians cheered for her, stomping their hooves to the ground.
“That’s the spirit, Rainbow!” Jiminy cheered.
“I’m very pleased to hear that,” Hyacinth smiled, proudly.
Just then, she rose, stretching her arms and yawned loudly. Her mouth opens so wide you could see her uvula. After she stopped yawning, she rubbed her eyes and stretched her arms once more.
“Aw, somepony’s getting a little sleepy,” Pinkie said.
Just then, the hippos hush Pinkie with a single finger over their mouths. They quietly catch Hyacinth before she fell back, dragging her along to a nearby couch so she could rest.
“She gets very tired after her lessons these past few days,” One of them said. “It would be best not to disturb her.”
“Well, we don’t really have anywhere else to go,” Twilight noted. “Perhaps we could stay here and watch over Hyacinth. Just in case something happens, of course.”
“Not like something’s going to happen, if what Deems says is true,” Spike added, bluntly.
“You will?” Another hippo asked. “That’s very kind of you, thanks!”
“That’s what friends are for, right?” Rainbow asked, before winking at her friends.
“Well, we’d better be going,” Another hippo said. “Perhaps we’ll see you later.
Eventually the hippos start walking away quietly, so their teacher wouldn’t be disturbed.
“See ya later, partners,” Applejack said.
“You can count on us,” Pinkie added.
No sooner did the hippos leave when a great shadow loomed over our heroes. They look up to the sky as noon turned into evening. The Equestrians were completely surprised by this turn of events. Spike looked around, wondering if anypony else noticed.
(Pause at 5:24)
"Is it just me or did it just turned from noon to evening in a matter of seconds?" Spike asked.
“You’re not hallucinating, Spike,” Twilight assured. “It did change to a different time of day at a fast pace.”
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say time has a mind of its own in this realm too,” Octavia theorized.
“Could be possible, Tavi,” Vinyl Scratch replied. “Though I don’t see a dark cloud anywhere, so I guess it’s safe to say this isn’t like what we experienced in the Rite of Spring Realm.”
“You could be right, Ms. Scratch,” Jiminy agreed. “From the looks of it, only the hours of morning, noon, and now the afternoon are in control.”
“Guess that means ‘class dismissed’,” Pinkie said.
“Ah reckon so,” Applejack nodded. “So, what do we do now?”
Twilight pondered, turning to their hippo friend, who slept peacefully along the couch, which struggled against her weight. Twilight softly approached the sleeping hippo, amazed the couch didn’t collapse underneath her.
“I don’t think there’s anything else we can do except stay with Hyacinth,” Twilight said, softly.
“We better not make too much noise,” Jiminy whispered.
“Agreed!” Pinkie yelled.
Everypony grit their teeth, quickly turning back to Hyacinth, who stirred in her sleep. But otherwise, she didn’t wake up and the Equestrians hushed at the pink mare.
“Oops, sorry,” Pinkie whispered. “Agreed… Hippos get very cranky when they’re disturbed.”
“No… Really?” Octavia asked, sarcastically.
“Uh, guys?” Spike spoke, drawing every pony’s attention. “I think we got company.”
They noticed some figures behind the stone pillars: A group of elephants. Just like the ostriches and hippos, they wore pink ballet slippers and walked on two legs instead of four. If our Equestrian friends thought dancing hippos were new, they haven’t seen these elephants. But that’s just what they did: They danced their way out into the opening, approaching the Equestrians on the tips of their toes.
Vinyl and Jiminy rubbed their eyes, making sure they weren’t dreaming, until the elephants came close enough.
“Hello,” One of them said, with a cute girly voice.
Like the previous dancers, they were all female.
“Howdy ya’ll,” Applejack replied.
“Are you new around here?” Another Elephant asked. “Because you were pretty good.”
“Wait… You’ve been watching us?” Rainbow asked.
“Oh, yes,” The Lead Elephant nodded. “I’m Elephanchine and these are my students. And who might you be?”
Twilight and her friends introduced each other for the third time. The elephants were immediately excited to meet a princess in their presence.
“A princess?” Another elephant asked, a bit loudly. “How amazing!”
Every pony quickly hushed, pointing at Hyacinth, who somehow slept with little trouble.
“Oops, sorry,” The same elephant said, blushing.
“Oh, poor Hyacinth,” Elephanchine replied, sympathetic. “She gets tired so quickly.”
“If you’re going to dance, best do it quietly,” Twilight advised.
“Not to worry dear,” The lead elephant reassured. “We’ve done this many times before; she never wakes up. Alright girls, you know the drill. Quiet as a mouse.”
“Eeep!” An elephant squeaked, looking around nervously.
“You know what I mean?!” Elephanchine spoke, hushed “Right then, a one… A two… A one, two, three!”
(Continue music)
They silently dance on the tip of their shoes toward Hyacinth. They watch her, making sure she didn’t stir, and approach the fountain.
“So, we have ostriches, hippos and elephants,” Spike listed. “I wonder if there are other animals that dance around here.”
“I’m not sure, son,” Jiminy said. “Guess we’ll have to see.”
“Let’s check out their dancing,” Rainbow said.
As the ponies and their friends approach the fountain, the elephants dip their trunks inhaling a decent amount of water each.
“You must be quite thirsty to take that much water,” Vinyl said, jokingly.
“Not exactly,” Elephanchine explained. “Ballet can be done in various styles; we like to present our own.”
“Huh?” The Equestrians wondered.
The elephants pull their trunks out of the water, starting to blow bubbles.
“Ooh!” The Equestrians gasp, in awe.
“It’s a bubble ballet!” Pinkie shouts, loudly.
Pinkie quickly covers her muzzle, hoping Hyacinth didn’t hear her.
“Uh, I mean…” Pinkie spoke quietly. “Yay, bubble ballet.”
“That’s what they meant with various styles,” Rarity observed. “Just like the ice ballet we did on the frozen lake.”
The elephants danced, swinging their hips to the side. Their trunks follow their movements, blowing bubbles right to left and vice versa. Watching the dance, Pinkie came up with an idea.
“Light bulb!”
An actual light bulb was just above her head, before she turns it off. She sticks one hoof through her mane, taking out some big bubble blowers and a smaller one for Jiminy.
“Here guys, use these.”
Pinkie hands the bubble blowers to her friends, which they took without question.
“Go ahead, give ‘em a try. They’re already filled with soap water.”
They all gave their membrane a gentle swing, releasing large bubbles in the process. They look between the elephants and the bubble blowers a few times, knowing what their friend was trying to achieve. It brought a smile to their faces, walking towards them.
“Miss Elephanchine, would you mind if we join you?” Twilight asked.
“But of course, you are most welcome, sweetie,” The elephant leader smiled. “There’s always room for more, especially for a princess.”
Once again, Twilight mentions they don’t need to address her so formally. After all, Twilight has always been a mare who prefers being treated like every pony else. The elephants nod in agreement.
“Very smart to use bubble blowers by the way,” Elephanchine noted.
She decides to blow a large bubble from the end of her trunk. But the biggest surprise of all appeared to both her and the Equestrians, when a goldfish appears in the bubble from the elephant’s trunk. The elephant leader was about to shrug it off but couldn’t help but wonder how that was possible. Jiminy would say this goes against all laws of logic; however, he knew better after hanging out with Pinkie Pie for so long.
“That must be the strangest thing I’ve seen today,” Spike stated.
“You know what I think is even more strange?” Pinkie asked.
“What?” Rainbow asked.
“If we haven’t seen a fish like this one in the Nutcracker Suite realm.”
The Equestrians pondered until they saw the elephants slowly surround Hyacinth, the latter still fast asleep.
“What are they doing?” Applejack asked, suspiciously.
“Oh, my students like to tease Hyacinth while she’s napping,” Elephanchine explained. “We don’t actually try to wake her, of course. Although, there was that time when one of my students went a little too far with one prank. Hyacinth woke up and threatened to sit on her. Poor dear doesn’t like to be woken like that, definitely not a good day for either of us.”
“What was the prank?” Octavia asked.
“You don’t wanna know.”
Meanwhile, the elephants tiptoed slowly towards the sleeping Hyacinth, who was unaware of their presence. Once they were close enough, the elephants raised their trunks into the air, before bringing them down to the ground. They blew more bubbles, surrounding the sleeping hippo. With the task done, the elephants quietly and quickly retreat.
Hyacinth blinked her eyes open for a few moments before letting out a yawn, sucking all the bubbles into her mouth.
“Looks like nap time is over!” Pinkie whispered.
But the hippo turns to her side, resuming her sleep. Even when a bubble popped along her butt, letting a slight drop slide on her and all she did was tug her tutu down a bit.
“Or not.”
“Come, allow me to teach you the art of bubble ballet,” Elephanchine offered.
She and the Equestrians join the other elephants in their dancing, underneath the twilight sky. Like their previous lessons, our heroes mimicked the dance as best as they could. With their trunks and bubble blowers, they made more bubbles around them. Some elephants twirled around, causing the bubbles to cling along their midsection like a tutu. Others bounced them like beach balls.
Octavia, Fluttershy, Rarity and Vinyl Scratch tried the bubble-tutu dance while Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, Spike, Jiminy, and Applejack performed the beach ball dance. Pinkie Pie, however, managed to get herself inside a giant bouncing bubble and danced playfully.
“Hey guys!” Pinkie called, as her bubble bounced around. “Look at me! Boingy, boingy, boingy…”
The Equestrians couldn’t help but shake their heads, smiling as Pinkie bounced around the garden. They soon turn toward an elephant blowing a bubble, making it roll along her back and kick it off with her leg, before blowing up another, which floats down and, to their surprise, scoops her up into the air before popping.
“Wow, that’s ‘uncredible’,” Pinkie said excitedly popping her balloon with a needle.
“Still not a word, Pinkie,” Rainbow spoke, bluntly.
“Well, it should be. I only wish somepony could add it in the dictionary.”
“That sure was somethin’, all right,” Applejack said, astounded.
Despite that, they continue dancing through the garden. Most of the elephants repeated the same choreography the previous elephant performed: Allowing the bubbles to roll down their backs and kick them off. The Equestrians copied as well, with much success.
“This sure is fun, huh Tavi?” Vinyl asked, smiling. “I bet you feel inspired right now.
“It sure has some elegance to it,” Octavia admitted. “I kind of feel the spark of inspiration inside me, filling me with joy. Why even Rainbow Dash seems to be enjoying herself.”
The moment the athletic Pegasus accepted ballet, her face said it all: She loved it very much. True, she still thought of how her fellow Wonderbolts would react, but she remembered what Hyacinth told her and let it slip while she kept dancing.
Suddenly, while the elephants kept with their act, Elephanchine got her foot stuck in a bubble, which strangely didn’t pop. The elephant leader tried shaking it off, but that didn’t help.
“What the-?” Elephanchine questioned, trying to get the bubble off. “Come on, you. Get off!”
Twilight saw the frustrated elephant and rushed toward her.
“Need some help?”
“Oh, thank you dear,” Elephanchine replied, showing her the bubble.
It was indeed strange for the little unicorn/alicorn why the bubble didn’t pop. Then again, she has seen so many stranger things in her day. She taps the bubble with her hoof, attempting to pop it, but even that failed. Dumbstruck, she couldn’t believe the possibility.
“How could this be?” Twilight wondered.
“Maybe they’re magic bubbles,” Pinkie said, floating around in a bubble. “Maybe if you look for something pointy, maybe that’ll pop it.”
“Pointy?” Twilight asked herself.
It was then Twilight saw her reflection on Pinkie’s bubble, noticing her horn. Eventually she got the idea.
“Hold still, Elephanchine.”
The elephant leader held her foot still, allowing Twilight to use her horn to pop the bubble.
“Thank you, Twilight,” Elephanchine thanked her.
“You’re welcome,” Twilight smiled.
As they resume their dance, Spike and Jiminy were enjoying themselves, following the elephants’ movements perfectly.
“How are you holding up, little buddy?” The little dragon asked.
“It’s not easy, but I’m doing fine,” Jiminy answered. “How about you, son?”
“Couldn’t get any better.”
But while dancing, Spike’s eyes caught the snow-white friend, whom he teasingly kissed a while ago. Rarity, dancing graciously in the most beautiful way, the liquid drops from several popped bubbles sliding along her mane like dew and coursing along her frame. Spike could not keep his eyes off her; unfortunately, he was so distracted he steps on a bubble just like Elephanchine. He looked at his feet, then back at Rarity. But then he looked surprised at his feet again, seeing the bubble.
“Huh?” He asked, struggling to pry the bubble off. “Get off, stupid bubble!”
“Don’t worry, Spike,” Jiminy assured. “I’ll help ya.”
Jiminy tried poking the bubble with the tip of his umbrella, when both boys saw the elephants dancing toward them without a care in the world. The two boys look at each other and shrugged, deciding to deal with the bubble later. They carry on with their dance, joining their pachyderm friends, while blowing bubbles of their own.
Then all the elephants gather along with the Equestrians, blowing the largest amount of bubbles beneath Hyacinth’s couch lifting her in the air as if creating a pillar. Of course, our heroes were more concerned that she could wake up and fall.
“Aren’t you worried she’ll fall?” Twilight asked Elephanchine.
“Not to worry,” The elephant leader assured. “We wouldn’t let anything happen to her, not in a hundred-billion-million-trillion years!”
“Say that five times fast,” Spike smirked, jokingly.
Hyacinth, meanwhile, tugged her tutu again and still she slept, without the slightest idea of what’s going on.
“I must say,” Rarity replied, marveling. “This is quite a dazzling display.”
“Hey, somepony made a rhyme!” Pinkie smiled, at Rarity’s words. “And not from our zebra friend this time.”
Suddenly, a great gust of wind blew across the garden. The elephants, ponies, dragon, and cricket were taken by surprise, as the wind threatened to carry them away.
“What’s happening?!” Twilight yelled.
“Looks like we got ourselves a bit of a light breeze coming our way,” One of the elephants said.
“Ya call this ‘light’?” Applejack asked, struggling against the harsh blows.
“It could be a gale,” Rainbow suggests, struggling as well.
Then, everyone and everypony had this feeling they’d be blown away. Even Jiminy Cricket quickly grabbed hold of Twilight’s mane.
“Hold on to something, everybody!” The cricket yelled.
Twilight quickly held tight to one of the columns, while the other ponies grabbed each other’s waist. Spike grabbed the closest pony he could latch on, in this case Vinyl Scratch.
“Whatever you do, don’t let go!” Twilight yelled.
While the wind blew, a yellow-colored piece of paper flew along with it. This did not go unnoticed by the Equestrians.
“Look, the sheet music!” Vinyl announced.
They were almost tempted to catch it; however, they knew better following previous attempts.
“You know what happened in the previous realms, right Rainbow?” Twilight asked.
“Trust me, I know,” The blue Pegasus said. “I’m not that oblivious.”
For this one time, the Equestrians decided to leave the sheet music alone. They struggled against the wind but refused to let go. The elephants, however, weren’t so lucky. Despite their weight, they were blown away easily and were practically screaming for their lives.
“Elephanchine!” The Equestrians shout, toward their friend.
“Don’t mind me!” The elephant leader yelled, bumping against a column. “Oof! It’s all routine!”
The other elephants bumped against her, making her grunt even more. One elephant got herself stuck inside a bubble, desperately trying to get out but to no avail. And just like that, all the elephants were carried away by the harsh wind.
“We’ll see you later!” Elephanchine called out, in the distance.
Soon enough, the wind died down and all was calm again. Our heroes land gently onto the ground, processing what just happened.
“They’re all gone,” Pinkie concluded.
“Where do you think they went?” Spike asked.
“I don’t know,” Jiminy replied. “But I do hope they’re all right.”
“What’ll we do, Twi?” Applejack asked.
“I’m not sure,” The unicorn/alicorn pondered. “I guess we trust that Elephanchine and her students will be just fine. Otherwise, we’ll try to look for them if they don’t come back.”
It was then they noticed Hyacinth slowly descend to the ground. The bubbles that held her up began to pop one by one, leaving a big one to place her down without disturbing her even as it popped too. The Equestrians slowly approach her, while the evening slowly turned into night.
(Pause at 7:51)
“I can’t believe she slept through all that,” Rainbow said, in disbelief.
“Now that’s what Ah call a heavy sleeper,” Applejack admitted.
“Emphasis on ‘heavy’,” Vinyl added, jokingly.
“Vinyl!” Octavia frowned again.
“What? I meant no harm. You need to laugh with everything, so long as you don’t go too far.”
“That last one went a little too far for my taste,” Octavia said, still displeased.
They turn toward the sleeping hippo, who merely tugged her tutu slightly. Even the ponies couldn’t help but feel sleepy.
“You know girls, it’s pretty late,” Pinkie yawned. “All that dancing has got me feeling sleepy too.”
“Yeah, me too,” Applejack agreed. “Maybe it’s best to hit the hay.”
Twilight saw the tired look on her friends, it wasn’t long before her own eyelids felt heavy.
“Maybe it’s best to rest for the night,” Twilight said. “We’ll search for Elephanchine and the other elephants in the morning.”
They all lied down upon the ground, just inches from the couch. Pinkie brought out pillows and blankets from out of nowhere for every pony, but they were too tired to question it.
“I still can’t believe how the day changes so quickly here,” Jiminy said.
“Well, you know what they say,” Pinkie replied. “Time moves fast when you’re having fun; although, I wish time moved slower so we can have more fun in a single day.”
The ponies couldn’t help but giggle or smile at Pinkie’s statement.
“Let’s get some sleep,” Applejack said, tiredly. “We could use our rest.”
“Good night, everypony,” Twilight said.
(Continue music)
Before long, sleep took over the group as the clock chimes 6 pm and soon they drifted to dreamland. Little did they know, up on the roof, some strange hooded figures with gleaming red eyes watched them from above. Slowly, they move without making a single sound before their capes went wide as they stealthily ran. They were alligators with red capes, many in numbers with a dramatic flair and all of them… Males. As they perch along the roof, one of them points to the sleeping Equestrians and hippo, a sly smile appears on their faces. Their reptilian physiques gave them the advantage, slithering along the pillars ever so smoothly, ever so easily, before flaring up their capes in dramatic fashion.
The hippo and the Equestrians slept peacefully, while the gators advanced upon them. Once close enough, they held each other’s hand to enclose the group. They raise their hands over their heads, before lowering them and tucking them beneath their capes, never taking their eyes off the group. One of them whispers something to his fellow gators, while pointing at the sleeping figures, causing them to smile again.
Just then, another alligator appears on stage. He too wore a cape but had a red hat with a purple plume on his head. He was also slightly taller, making him distinguishable from the others. There was no doubt he was their leader. He looks around for his group and while doing so, he is shocked by what he saw. Quickly removing his cape, casting it aside, the gator drops from the roof. Landing on the ground, his presence frightens the other gators showing that his cronies have great respect for him.
Alone, the lead gator searches his surroundings till his attention catches the group of sleeping ponies, the dragon, and the cricket. However, his eyes were mostly focused on the hippo lying on the couch. A smile warps on his face, as he rubs his scaly chest in anticipation. He crawls on all fours, slithering past the Equestrians, creeping toward Hyacinth. At one point, he stopped and flinched when Fluttershy stirred in her sleep before crawling further behind the couch.
From there, the lead alligator eyed Hyacinth from several angles. His heart beats like a drum, his eyes fluttering like a butterfly. Just looking at her made his body gain wings, as if he could soar through the sky.
(Pause at 9:15)
In that moment, Hyacinth finally awoke as she slowly opens her eyes. But she had the feeling something wasn’t right. She turns behind her and spots the alligator; the very sight made her hide behind her tutu while screaming for her life. So loud that her friends immediately woke up, surprised and shocked.
“Urgh, talk about an early wake-up call,” Jimmy rubbed his eyes, sleepily.
“What in tarnation?” Applejack said, rubbing her eyes.
It wasn’t long before she saw the alligator, her eyes immediately widen.
“Wah!”
The others turned after hearing Applejack screamed, and when they saw the alligator it didn’t took long for their fighting instincts to kick in. As he approached the frightened Hyacinth, the ponies and Spike quickly step in front of her, assuming the attack position attempting to appear menacing towards the gator.
“Back off, buddy!” Spike warned, raising his fists.
“Wanna lay a claw on our friend?” Rainbow spike, in the same tone. “You gotta get through us first!”
“That’s right!” Twilight added, charging her horn.
Octavia and Vinyl, while not as tough as the others, did their best to hide their fears behind their ‘brave face’… Or at least, ‘somewhat’ close to brave.
The alligator, on the other hand, was completely surprised by their bravado and even more surprisingly he held his claws in front of him.
“Wait! Hold on!” The alligator spoke, with a smooth voice. “Don’t let my appearance frighten you. I mean no harm; I’m a friend.”
“Right, a stalking crocodile calling himself a friend?” Vinyl spoke, distrustful. “I don’t think so.”
“You can’t fool us that easily,” Octavia warned, though slightly uncomfortable. “If you believe we’re just going to let you eat that poor girl or worse, I’ll have you know…”
“Alligator,” He corrected.
“Beg your pardon?”
“I’m an alligator. We have a different snout and don’t have that little fringe on our hind leg.”
“He’s right, it’s a common mistake,” Jiminy agreed. “But are you sure you’re not a crocodile? Because you do have the exact same snout of one.”
“I’m quite sure myself unless I’m raised in the wrong nest. I haven’t asked my family lately.”
Everypony turned to each other yet kept their guard just in case.
“Perhaps some proper introductions are in order,” The alligator continues, removing his hat and bows before them. “The name’s Gator, Ben Ali Gator. Dancer extraordinaire at your service.”
“Ben Ali?” Rainbow asked. “Sounds like a boxer’s name to me.”
“Float like a butterfly, snap like an alligator,” Pinkie giggled at her joke.
“Wait, you’re a ballet dancer too?” Twilight asked.
“One of the best,” Ben Ali states, proudly.
Still, he couldn’t help but take a close examination of the group. He’s never seen ponies like them before, much less in the company of a dragon and a cricket.
“Forgive me for being forward, but may I ask where you’re from?”
Twilight Sparkle turned to her friends, uncertain whether to reveal where they're from at this time. But not to seem rude, she offers a more condensed answer.
“Let’s say we come from a land very far away from here,” Twilight replied.
“I see,” The gator nodded. “May I ask for your names?”
Once more, Twilight introduced herself and her friends, while keeping a close watch on the big gator.
“Well now, I never expected to stand face-to-face with royalty,” The alligator bowed. “Milady…”
“Oh, I’m not of royal blood,” Twilight corrected. “These wings were just a gift.”
“A magic gift,” Pinkie emphasized, creating an imaginary arc above her head.
“I see, course I fancy myself a royal too,” Ben Ali boasted. “Even my own accomplices treat me as such.”
“Accomplices?” Fluttershy asked, noticing the alligators hiding behind the pillars.
“You’re lucky I arrived just in time to scare them off,” Ben Ali assured. “Who knows what they were planning to do? They’re not bad guys, I assure you. They just get a little unpredictable and wild in everything they do.”
The Equestrians slowly start to lower their guard, sensing this gator truly doesn’t pose a threat. Even Hyacinth calmed down a bit.
“You see, nighttime is our hour of dancing and there’s no better place to dance than here in Ca d’Oro,” The lead gator explained further. “And may I say you ladies look simply ravishing in such exquisite attire.”
“Oh, thank you,” Rarity felt flattered. “A gentleman with good taste.”
Then, the gator turns toward Spike and Jiminy.
“And you gentlemen, you’re especially dashing. The color of your leotards, aside from red, is one of my personal favorites.”
“Thanks,” Spike answered.
Eventually, Ben Ali turns back toward the hippo, with big interest.
“And may I inquire this lovely creature for a name? Or shall you leave me to guess?”
The Equestrians turn toward Hyacinth, then back at the gator. The hippo, shy and flattered by his words, played with her tutu, and stammered with her words.
“Hi… Yah… Eh… I mean… I’m Hyacinth,” She answered, offering her hand.
“Charmed.”
But rather than shake her hand, Ben Ali kissed it with a peck. Hyacinth, shocked and surprised, felt her cheeks burn with a deep shade of pink. The Equestrians kept facing the hippo and alligator over and over… Until it finally hit them.
“Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho?” Rarity smirked, at the scene. “I see what’s happening here, right girls?”
“Yep, the timeless mystery of love,” Pinkie said, lovingly.
Though Rainbow Dash secretly likes romance, unbeknownst to most ponies, she couldn’t help but make a face.
“Ew…”
“A gator and a hippo?” Jiminy asked, intrigued. “Now that’s new.”
“Took the words outta my mouth, little dude,” Vinyl agreed.
“Nah, it ain’t that strange,” Applejack said. “We do know a certain little dragon has an eye on a very special pony.”
The cowpony gave Spike a smirk, making him blush a little.
Ben Ali looking lovingly at the hippo, while holding her hand and caressing it with another. The whole time Hyacinth was speechless.
“You are a true gem, don’t you know?” The gator spoke, in a dreamy voice. “A diamond among diamonds, so rich, so pure… So… Beautiful.”
“Me? Beautiful?” Hyacinth asked, timidly. “But, aren’t you a little… Concerned of my weight?”
“Why should I? I adore a woman with a little extra meat on her bones.”
“That’s more than a little,” Applejack whispered, while Octavia glared at her. “No offense.”
“Besides, I haven’t yet spoken of my favorite part,” Ben Ali continued. “Your eyes.”
“My eyes?” Hyacinth asked.
“Yes, they… Sparkle in the moonlight. They are… Luminous.”
“Luminous? Dang…”
The hippo couldn’t believe her ears; no one ever said such kind, lovely words to her before. She couldn’t help but fall in love with him too. In the meantime, Applejack paid close attention to the gator, to determine he’s lying or toying with her feelings. But one good look and she realized he meant no harm and every word he said rang with truth. Even if he was a smooth-talking show-off.
“Well, ah’ll be,” She said. “He really does love her.”
(Continue music)
“Hyacinth, come with me to a land far from everything else,” Ben said, kissing her hand in the process. “Let me treat you like an angel in heaven’s light, so our love may bloom like a beautiful red rose.”
“Aww, how sweet,” Rarity smiled, with a hoof over her heart. “For an alligator, he sure is charming.”
“And so lovely,” Fluttershy agreed.
“Oh, Mr. Gator, you flatter me with your words,” Hyacinth sighed.
“Please… Call me Ben,” The gator said. “Shall we dance the night away?”
“Yes… I’d love too,” Hyacinth whispered.
Ben Ali Gator, so happy, attempts to catch the hippo with his lips puckered up for a kiss. But Hyacinth slipped away, evading the gator’s attempt as if she were playing with him. Our heroes couldn’t help but watch and giggle, as Ben chased Hyacinth around the couch before she danced out of sight.
“Hey, where’s she going?” Rainbow asked, confused.
“I don’t know,” Pinkie replied. “Oh wait, here she comes!”
As the alligator twinkled his legs, the hippo returns at a speed that could rival Rainbow Dash and leapt high into the air. The Equestrians, their mouths wide open, were taken by surprise seeing her pull off such incredible speed and agility.
“Wow, that’s quite a jump!” Spike said, amazed.
“You can say that again,” Rainbow said, bewildered.
“Wow, that’s quite a jump!”
“I know hippos can run up to 18.5 miles an hour despite their weight,” Jiminy explained. “The jump on the other hand… That’s new for me.”
“He does make a good point,” Fluttershy agreed.
The alligator saw what she was doing, as he raised his arms above him to catch her. But as Hyacinth got closer, his eyes became small as pinpricks while standing in position.
“Oh, momma.”
BOOM! Ben Ali Gator was instantly squashed by the hippo’s weight.
“Ooh!” Every exclaimed, shutting their eyes.
“I felt that in my stomach,” Jiminy cringed.
But surprisingly, Ben survived while struggling to hold Hyacinth up. Even our heroes couldn’t believe their eyes.
“He survived that?” Octavia said, in disbelief.
“I know, he should’ve been as thin as flatbread pizza,” Pinkie said.
The gator held Hyacinth upside down, yet high over his head, as Rarity couldn’t help but blush and fan herself with her hoof.
“Oh my, he’s quite strong.”
The moment he saw Hyacinth’s face, he smiled. But he forgot about his strength, causing her to fall on him again. The Equestrians decided to approach them.
“Are you okay?” Twilight asked.
“Oh, I’m fine,” Hyacinth replied, lying on the ground.
“What about…?”
Before Twilight could finish, Ben appears from underneath Hyacinth, an exhausted look on his face. He turns toward the hippo, who lovingly fluttered her eyes at him. The alligator shook off his dizziness and smiled.
“You sure are tough, I’ll give ya that,” Applejack complimented.
“Why Ben, I never knew how strong you are,” Hyacinth said, seductively.
“Just a simple workout, nothing special,” Ben Ali said. “Shall we continue?”
(Pause at 9:55)
Hyacinth nodded, as they both held each other’s hands in a dance pose and began a pas de deux. Hyacinth stood on her left leg, her right one stretched out, while Ben supported her. The Equestrians watch how he dances around in a circle beside her, both of their eyes closed.
“This is so cute,” Fluttershy giggled.
The alligator opens one eye at the Equestrians, noticing them standing there.
“How would you ladies care to try a pas de deux yourself?” He asked.
“A pas-the-what now?” Applejack asked, confused.
“Pas de deux, a duet in which two dancers, traditionally male and female, perform ballet steps together,” Rainbow explained.
Her eyes widen as she realized what she just said, as everypony turned to her in surprise. The Pegasus looked left-and-right awkwardly, trying to maintain her image.
“Or so I’ve been told.”
“It sure sounds fun,” Jiminy said, but then noticed his tiny figure. “Too bad I don’t have the size to do that, seeing there’s no one close to my size.”
Twilight Sparkle felt sorry for Jiminy, when an idea came to her.
“Perhaps I can help you with that.”
She closed her eyes, as her horn glowed. Jiminy looked at Twilight nervously.
“Uh… What are you…?”
Jiminy never finished when she fired a beam directly at him, causing him to glow brightly. The Equestrians covered their eyes for a few seconds, until the light eventually fades. They lower their hooves for a good look and their mouths went wide open. No longer did they see the tiny cricket they knew so well, but a rather ‘tall’ cricket… Or at least approximately their size. Even Jiminy Cricket himself couldn’t believe it, as he studied himself. For once in his life, while not as big as a human, he was big enough to be the same level as his pony friends. Even Hyacinth and Ben were surprised, not so much the giant cricket, but mostly of Twilight’s magical skills.
“Well, I’ll be!” Jiminy said, checking himself out.
“Holy guacamole!” Spike yelled, surprised.
“Wowie Zowie!” Pinkie yelled, as well.
“Incredible!” Rarity said, wide-eyed.
“Whoa, Nelly!” Applejack exclaimed.
“I-I-I don’t know what to say!” Jiminy gasped, turning to Twilight. “Thank you, Twilight.”
“Oh, it was nothing,” Twilight smiled. “I figured you deserve a chance to dance with a live partner instead of one made of wood or porcelain.”
Jiminy couldn’t help but blush sheepishly, but he knew she was right.
“So…” Pinkie approached, with fluttering eyes. “Who do you choose first?”
The cricket pondered, though any could tell he was nervous. Not only because he’s dancing with a live partner for once, but also because it’s with one of his friends. The majority of which consists entirely of girls.
“Hmm… I don’t know,” Jiminy shrugged. “It’s a tough choice.”
You can always switch with one of us at some point,” Fluttershy said shyly. “If you want to that is.”
Jiminy Cricket seemed to agree with the idea if the intrigue on his face didn’t give it away.
“Well, in that case, I’ll choose… Applejack.”
Surprised, Applejack turned side to side making sure Jiminy was referring to the right pony. But sure enough, he was looking straight toward the Stetson hat wearing pony.
“Me?” Applejack asked, with a blush.
Jiminy nodded, offering his hand.
“What do you say?”
The cowgirl pony felt slightly embarrassed. Square dancing was one thing; ballet, on the other hoof, even with a partner was completely new for her.
“Come on, A.J.,” Rainbow encouraged. “If I can do ballet on my own, you can do this.”
“Well, alright then,” Applejack approved. “Ah’ll give it a shot.”
"Alright, may the fourth be with you," Rainbow said until she thought twice. "Wait. Did I just make a ballet pun?"
"Mm-hmm." Pinkie nodded.
Everypony couldn't help but laugh.
The cow pony took Jiminy’s hand, as they walked towards the middle of the garden. Hyacinth and Ben stepped aside, preferring to wait and watch their newest pupils. The cricket and the Earth pony kept hold on each other’s hand/hoof, staring at one another. Applejack was a tad nervous, but Jiminy knew how to remedy that.
“It’s alright, Applejack,” Jiminy said. “It’s just a friendly dance between good friends.”
“Yeah… Friendly,” Applejack nodded. “Ain’t nothin’ wrong or strange about that.”
Suddenly, a spotlight appears from nowhere, shining upon the pair. Pinkie took out a phonograph from her mane, places a record onto it, adjusts the tone-arm, and let the music play. The Equestrians, the hippo, and the alligator were silent, while Applejack and Jiminy danced the adagio.
The ‘dance term’, not the Siren leader. It’s a music term, for those who want to know…
Ahem…
… Fine!
They began to dance around the tips of their toes, followed by a series of graceful motions with their hands and hooves. Jiminy held Applejack by the waist, as support for the following steps, which made Applejack blush further.
“Now don’t get any funny ideas,” The cowgirl pony said.
“Don’t you worry about a thing,” Jiminy assured. “I’m decently raised.”
With that said, they performed various tricks: Pirouettes, lifting, and even a penché which was fitting for the music. The other Equestrians could not believe what they were witnessing, even Hyacinth and Ben were impressed.
“Magnificent!” Hyacinth smiled.
“They’re smashing,” Ben complimented.
“Who would’ve thought Applejack had it in her?” Twilight said, surprised.
“Not me,” Rainbow replied.
Even Spike shook his head along with Rainbow, seeing for himself but couldn’t believe his eyes. As soon as Jiminy and Applejack struck a pose so suddenly, a certain pink pony cheered them on.
“Alright, Jiminy and Applejack!” Pinkie cheered, hopping merrily. “Now it’s my turn to dance with Jiminy!”
Applejack shrugged, as Jiminy let her go.
“Ya sure did great out there, Jiminy. Ah really enjoyed it.”
“Ah, it was nothing,” Jiminy declared. “You were great too!”
The cowgirl pony smiled, as she strolled towards the other Equestrians. In the meantime, Jiminy prepared to dance with Pinkie.
“Ready?” Pinkie asked.
“Ready,” Jiminy said.
Most of the poses and moves were similar, but there were some new ones as well. While the two had fun, the Equestrians shared some light conversation with Applejack, while trying to determine who’d be next to dance after Pinkie.
“You sure were amazing, Applejack,” Twilight complimented. “Both of you, actually.”
“Didn’t know you had it in you, hey A.J.?” Rainbow smirked.
“It’s alright… Ah guess,” Applejack admitted.
“Alright?” Ben responds. “It was superb! That poise, the timing! Even Pinkie’s doing great.”
Indeed, the party pony danced swimmingly, performing a few pirouettes and leg stretches of her own, with Jiminy supporting her every step of the way. After a couple minutes, they paused so somepony else could dance along with Jiminy.
“Boy, that was super-duper fun!” Pinkie smiled. “Who’s next?”
“I could give it a shot,” Octavia volunteered, shyly.
“Alright!” Vinyl cheered. “You go get him, girl!”
Vinyl coursed Octavia offer with a bump along her friend’s flank. Octavia blushed a bit, but it was nothing to be embarrassed about. After all, she and Jiminy had become good friends and it wasn’t long before the two started dancing.
Soon after Octavia, Rainbow Dash excited danced with Jiminy. Then came Rarity, Vinyl, Fluttershy, despite her shy nature, and Twilight being the very last. All the while, each of the girls had a swell time dancing with the now tall cricket.
But there was someone else who desired to do a pas de deux. Being the only male in the group, other than Jiminy, isn’t always easy for someone like Spike. Most of his friends are girls, including a certain unicorn he’s had a major crush on for years. Still, over the years, he became very happy with their company, who in turn made him feel part of their world.
And yet, the baby dragon was slightly nervous to ask, though he had danced multiple times. Most of the group could already guess who he planned to dance with. All at once, an idea pops in his head.
“I’d like to do a pas de deux as well,” Spike spoke up. “But I could use some help from somepony with good attention to detail… Just to make sure I’m doing it right.”
Now Spike’s a good dancer, but he wasn’t lying about using help… Least not ‘entirely’. Jiminy knew where this was going, as a smirk forms on his face.
“Oh, I’m sure Rarity can help you with that,” Jiminy said.
“Oh, I’d love to!” Rarity smiled, in agreement.
“Really?” Spike asked.
“Of course, Spikey-poo, you only had to ask.”
“Uh… Yeah! Almost forgot that.”
The snow-white unicorn motioned the dragon forward, following her. They stood in the midst of the garden, staring into each other’s eyes.
“It's not very hard,” Rarity said. “To hold me during my poses, just place your claws upon my waist.
“Where?” The little dragon asked, wide-eyed.
“My waist… Of course, the hips are fine too.”
“Uuuuuuuuuuhhh…”
Spike was both speechless and nervous, as if his mind just shut down unable to find the words. Shaking her head, Rarity used her magic to position Spike’s claws upon her waist, making him blush harder.
“Here we go. Let’s start slowly.”
They dance to the music, slowly yet gracefully. Together, they performed poses such as the penché, a few pirouettes, and all the while Spike held onto her leg and abdomen. They tiptoed and jumped several times, all while raising their hooves/claws in the air.
During their dance moves, Spike couldn’t help but blush, his cheeks visibly red on both sides. He never expected to dance with Rarity this way, much less holding her this way. After a few more poses, the music stops as they bow to one another while Hyacinth, Ben, and the Equestrians applaud for their two friends.
“Bravissima!” Hyacinth cheered.
“Amazing!” Octavia added.
“Well done!” Twilight said.
“What a performance, what a performance!” Ben applauded gleefully. “You all truly possess the gift for ballet.”
“Why, thank you,” Rarity accepted the praise.
“Well, I am kinda awesome at everything,” Rainbow bragged.
“He was talking about all of us, R.D.,” Applejack stated bluntly.
“I know, I know. I don’t keep all the praise to myself, you know?”
Applejack raised an eyebrow as if to say, ‘Seriously?’.
“You must be very proud,” Ben said to Hyacinth.
“I sure am,” Hyacinth replied back. “They exceeded more than any of my students have done so far.”
The alligator held her hand, looking lovingly toward her face.
“How about we give them the grand finale, mi amore?”
“I’d love that,” The hippo blushed.
Before long, Hyacinth Hippo and Ben Ali Gator went hand in hand toward the middle.
(Continue previous music at 9:55)
Everypony watched in silence as Ben and Hyacinth danced once more. The alligator held onto Hyacinth again, dancing around in a circle while she stood on one leg with her eyes closed. At one moment, Ben stood still and twirled Hyacinth around twice by pushing her stretched-out leg. Then he jumps onto her leg to sit and ride around her while still holding her hand.
The Equestrians couldn’t help but look surprised and confused.
“That’s not dancing,” Octavia commented. “He’s using her like a carousel.”
“Maybe it’s a new pose,” Pinkie suggested.
“Ah’m not sure,” Applejack agreed with Octavia. “Ah’ve seen enough tah know that doesn’t look like dancing.”
Then, as Ben stepped off Hyacinth’s leg, she turns to him with her hands on her hips and a frown on her face as the gator gave a bow.
“That was it?” Hyacinth asked disappointed. “That was your grand finale?”
“Oh no, my sweet,” Ben assured. “That was just a warm-up; the best is still to come.”
The hippo shot her chin up, closing her eyes and took a few steps away from him. The smile upon Ben slowly disappeared, fearing he upset her.
“Uh oh,” Applejack spoke. “Guess he lit up her stove for sure."
“I do hope they don’t quarrel,” Fluttershy said worriedly.
Just when they thought things would turn out sour, Hyacinth turned back to Ben. No longer upset, she smiled and wiggled her eyebrows alluringly.
“Phew!” Fluttershy sighed in relief. “I thought she was really upset.”
The alligator was glad she wasn’t mad. But the look she gave made his jaw drop and his tail go up and down like an excited puppy.
“Yeah, but looks like that made his heart beat harder than my speakers,” Vinyl points out.
Soon Hyacinth takes off with Ben in hot pursuit. Her teasing worked, as she made sure he couldn’t catch her, laughing as she did. The ponies, dragon, and the tall cricket could do nothing but observe the scene.
Suddenly, three gators appear from behind the palace pillars, spreading their capes wide and startling the hippo. Yet she kept running, even dancing merrily. Three more gators startled her again while she ran. Ben sometimes stood on his tail just to keep up with her.
“Look at them go!” Spike pointed out.
“It’s like they’re playing a game,” Fluttershy giggled. “Run, Hyacinth, run!”
Hyacinth hid herself behind a pillar, while Ben stood on the other end. They both looked from each side several times like playing hide-and-seek. Then the alligator leader chased her around the pillar before searching both sides of the pillar again. Ben chased her around again until he realized she disappeared from sight. He paused to look around, scratching his head wondering where she could be.
Suddenly, she reappeared from behind the same pillar and ran over the alligator, flattening him like pizza dough on the ground causing everypony to laugh. He managed to recover and pursued his love, who spun around on the tips of her toes around the fountain. Once he embraced her, he span along with her like a spiraling top. The moment Hyacinth stopped and freed herself from Ben’s grasp, the gator span on his tail till he got so dizzy that he fell into the fountain with a big SPLASH!
“Ha-ha!” Pinkie laughed. “Good one, Hyacinth!”
Jiminy Cricket turned in the direction Hyacinth was going, spotting something unexpected.
“Golly! Look who’s decided to join the party!”
To everypony’s surprise, Hyacinth’s students appeared, dancing hand in hand. When Hyacinth ran towards them, they jumped high above her while she kept running.
“Huh, I thought they only dance at noon,” Rarity commented.
“Maybe they like dancing at night too,” Spike replied.
Just then, Twilight Sparkle spotted Ben’s gator accomplices running towards them.
“Um, guys? I hate to worry you, but I think those gators are targeting us!”
“We better go after Hyacinth!” Vinyl suggested.
“Come on, everypony!” Applejack called out.
All the ponies, including Spike and Jiminy, ran towards the hippos.
“Excuse us, coming through!” Pinkie yelled.
The hippos jump once more while our heroes pass through. Once Hyacinth’s students hit the floor, they dance on one leg unaware of the nighttime visitors. But once they saw Ben and his alligators approach, discarding their capes in the process, they flee in fear towards a huge opening on the other side of the garden where Hyacinth and the Equestrians ran off to.
The little group ran toward some pillars where, surprisingly, Madame Upanova, Elephanchine, and their pupils were standing.
“Hey guys!” Pinkie greeted, as she and the others ran passed. “Missed you! Sorry! No time to converse! Bye!”
The elephants and ostriches, confused about the situation, turned away. But when they saw the gators, they quickly hid behind the pillars. The alligators slowly crept closer and, as fast as lightning, searched around the pillars. They began grabbing ostriches and elephants left-and-right. Two gators, one pulling an elephant by the trunk and the other pulling an ostrich by the leg, struggled hard. It was almost as if the upper body of the elephant and the lower half of the ostrich were stuck to each other in one body, as seen from the front of the pillar. Two other gators did the same with Applejack and Twilight: The cow pony by the head and the smart pony by the tail.
“Hey, let go!” Applejack shouted.
“Ah!” Twilight yelled. “Not the tail!”
They tried to pry free, but it was all in vain. Other gators grabbed for the other ponies, ostriches, and hippos. Jiminy and Spike ducked, covering their arms, at the approaching stampede… But when they looked up, all the gators rushed by them seeing as they were guys.
“Hmph… Rude!” Jiminy remarked.
Another gator grabbed an elephant by the trunk, pulling very hard until he was comically dragged back. When that didn’t work, he used his strength to carry her above his head. Surprisingly, the gators possessed the same incredible strength as their leader, Ben Ali. They carried their partners toward the entrance hall. One elephant, however, got stuck between two pillars, the gator that caught her was oblivious… At first.
The mares, remembering what Ben said of his cronies, had no idea what’s going through the minds of the reptilian dancers. Quite frankly, it made them a wee bit nervous.
“Um, pardon me sir,” Fluttershy spoke anxiously. “May I ask what you’re going to do?”
“You better not try anything funny!” Rainbow warned, with a combative tone. “Or I’ll battement you into next week!”
Suddenly, Rainbow’s eyes went wide.
“Wait! Was that another one?”
“Easy on the outfit, please!” Rarity begged.
“This is very inappropriate!” Octavia added. “This gator keeps grabbing my… Whoo!”
Once again, the hippos danced hand-in-hand until they were lifted by some smiling gators. The rest put their selected partners back down, including the Equestrians, and began to dance with them. They perform various poses like a pirouette while holding Applejack high in the air. Rarity and Octavia were doing pirouettes themselves while their gator partners held them by the waist.
“Oh, okay,” Rarity said. “Easy now.”
Rainbow Dash was also held at the waist while she stood on one leg while stretching the other high in the air. Being an athlete gave her an advantage in performing these poses. Another gator twinkled his feet along with Pinkie.
“Yippee! Look at me!” Pinkie yelled, excitedly. “I’m dancing! I’m dancing!”
Many gators rode the ostriches like horses, holding them by their neck ribbons like reigns while the flightless birds danced on the tips of their toes.
All Spike and Jiminy could do was watch in confusion and astonishment.
“Things just took a strange turn,” Spike replied.
“You can say that again, son,” Jiminy replied.
“Things just took a strange…” Spike stopped, realizing. “Oh, right!”
They spot an elephant and ostrich with no partner, looked again at the other dancers and then at each other before shrugging.
“Well, if you can’t beat ‘em,” Jiminy quoted. “Join ‘em.”
That’s exactly what they did, as they walked toward the two ballerinas. They hold out their arms, silently asking for a dance, which they happily obliged.
The situation began to resemble like the dance the ponies and friends shared with the thistles and orchids… Absolutely chaotic. Everyone danced in the most imaginable and unimaginable ways. Like Vinyl and Octavia doing grand pirouettes, while Pinkie Pie danced along with the elephants, holding one by the tail while another used her trunk to grab the pony’s tail. One particular gator kept trying to pry the elephant stuck between the two pillars, but each time he bumped back into her. Then Pinkie and some elephants blew bubbles everywhere, while their gator partners hoist them in the air, spinning around. Applejack and some hippos held some gators by the tail and spun them wildly around. Twilight conjured some magic from her horn while another gator held her in the air. Even Rainbow performed an ensemble of dance moves, among other things.
Spike noticed Rarity dancing with an alligator, the desire to dance with the snow-white mare grew greatly. He quickly danced with another elephant towards the gator, tapping him on the back and he turned.
“Wanna switch partners?” The little dragon asked.
The big reptile nodded in acceptance and threw Rarity high in the air.
“AAAAAAH!” She screamed.
Rarity hit her head on the ceiling with an ‘OW!’, screaming as she fell down. As the other gator grabbed the elephant, Spike raises his arms and ran his stubby legs trying to catch her.
“Don’t worry, Rarity!” He yelled. “I got you! I got you!”
Meanwhile, Ben Ali span Hyacinth around while supporting her on his index finger, then his snout, feet, tail, right hand, tail again, and finally both hands before letting her fall on the ground, causing the floor to quake and some stuff to fall. The lead gator stood on her back in a victory pose while the hippo looked lovingly at him.
All the gators struck the same pose as their leader, while sitting on the back of their partners, even Jiminy held an ostrich up in the air. Suddenly, the palace doors slammed shut, collapsing on each other. It came totally unexpected to everyone.
“Not my fault!” Pinkie said, beneath a gator.
Rarity held her eyes closed until she slowly opened them. Strangely, she would’ve hit the ground by now… But she didn’t. She looked down and a saw a certain baby dragon holding her up, his arms and legs quivering and shaking.
“Spike?”
“It’s okay,” The little dragon replied. “I got you.”
As the dragon struggled to keep the unicorn from falling, the fashionista was surprised to see some muscle from the little guy. But he struggled so much that Rarity was held upside down, her face in front of his, causing him to grow smitten by her beautiful face. It made him lose his hold and Rarity fell on top of him.
“Oof!” The mare said.
Shaking her head, the mare looks up until she was nose-to-nose with Spike. His cheeks turned red as he smiled toward the unicorn.
“Hey…” Spike smiled.
“Hello…” Rarity answered, smiling.
Meanwhile, all around them, everyone stood in their poses trying to catch their breath. The gators and their partners turned toward their respective partners, the ponies and their friends panting just as heavily from all that dancing. Apart from that, all was quiet amongst the group and not another sound stirred from either partner.
Just then… A chuckle causes everyone to turn as Ben Ali slowly laughed as he gazed towards Hyacinth. It quickly turned into a giggle… Then a laugh, as Ben Ali clutched his chest and shook his head after all that chaos. Pretty soon, Hyacinth joined alongside her love, with a bellowing laugh as the two got to their feet. Soon everyone else, from the ostriches, the elephants, and the other gators were all laughing in unison as the ponies and their friends looked around. Turning to each other, the group shrugs and laughs alongside the group as they were helped to their hooves, feet for the boys, by the gators.
“Now that is what I call a grand finale!” Hyacinth declared.
“All for you, mi amore!” Ben Ali swooned.
“That was so much fun!” Pinkie shouted gleefully.
“Quite the finale!” Vinyl commented. “Right, Tavi?”
“Indubitably,” Octavia agreed. “Though those pirouettes made me rather dizzy.”
Octavia did indeed feel slightly nauseous, holding a hoof in front of her mouth. Fortunately, Vinyl was there to hold her and soothed her back.
“Whoa, easy now. Just breathe… And relax…”
Octavia managed not to throw up, sighing as she was able to relax.
“Thank you.”
“No problem,” Vinyl replied.
“That was pretty awesome!” Rainbow admitted.
“Sure was swell,” Applejack chuckled.
“Kinda lovely,” Fluttershy said.
“I enjoyed it myself, that’s for sure,” Twilight smiled.
As the girls settled down, Jiminy Cricket looked around and his eyes spotted something.
“Looks like we’re not the only ones who enjoyed ourselves,” Jiminy pointed out.
Everypony else turned toward Jiminy’s direction and met the strangest sight they’ve seen so far. Just as Ben fawned over Hyacinth, the other gators tried wooing the other hippos, elephants, and ostriches. Most of the female dancers fell for them, others weren’t quite ready yet. Even our feminine heroes gained a few admirers.
Spike, of course, grew jealous when two gators tried seducing Rarity. The other mares shared different reactions from all the attention. Fluttershy being… Well ‘shy’; Pinkie rather enjoying the attention; Twilight and Vinyl appreciated it; while it was difficult to know whether Applejack and Rainbow Dash were either flattered… Or uncomfortable… Or both. Octavia, in the meantime, found most of the gators fell on their knees for her. Of all the ponies, she was most uncomfortable.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Octavia answered. “I’m not sure I’m ready for a relationship yet.”
The gators, though broken-hearted, gave her the space as a result. Naturally, Octavia felt sorry for them, but better her opinion was mentioned now than never. She turned toward Vinyl Scratch, who stood casually with a smirk.
“Wow,” Vinyl commented. “And I thought that soundtrack fellow was your only admirer.”
“Being beautiful can be both a blessing and a curse,” Octavia replied. “Don’t get me wrong. It’s flattering to have attention and they’re very sweet. But sometimes, it feels a little… Rushed.”
The cellist pony then turns left and right, as if making sure no one else was listening, before turning to her friend.
“Can you keep a secret?”
“Sure,” Vinyl nodded.
“Promise not to tell anypony?”
“Hey! As D.J. and PFF, I ‘Pinkie Promise’ not to tell any pony.”
To prove her point, the D.J. pony gestured the very well-known ‘pinkie promise’ to which got Pinkie’s attention and she smiled approvingly. Taking Vinyl at her word, Octavia motions for her to come closer.
“I actually have an eye on somepony.”
“Really?” Vinyl asked, surprised.
Octavia merely nods in response, as Vinyl tilted her sunglasses down a bit.
“So… Who’s the pony?”
“Um…”
Before Octavia could answer, Octavia takes another look around. Slowly to the right… Then to the left… All the while making certain no one was eavesdropping. She leans toward Vinyl’s side and whispers softly into her friend’s ear.
“Oh!” Vinyl said, with wide eyes. “I see why you like him; I didn’t know you were into ‘those’ stallions.”
“Yes, he is a bit strange and not very bright,” Octavia admits. “But he’s very sweet and I believe there’s more to him than most ponies realize.”
“Well, either way, I’m very happy for you.”
“Oh, thanks, Vinyl.”
The two best friends hug it out, though it’s clear they weren’t the only ones gaining admirers.
Elsewhere, Jiminy Cricket and Spike had hippos, elephants, and ostriches fawning all over them. The butterflies in their bellies grew restless; to say the boys were flattered was an understatement. The boys did their best to put them down gently, without coming off as rather rude.
“Gee girls, you’re very kind and beautiful,” Jiminy said kindly. “But my buddy and I aren’t ready to give up the bachelor’s life.”
“Well, I already got a special somepony in mind, so…” Spike added.
“Aww!” The female animals sighed.
Though disappointed, all the girls understood and expressed their happiness for the little dragon. While everypony was busy, Pinkie Pie turns to the ceiling and points with a smile.
“Hey! Look up there!”
They all turned toward where Pinkie’s pointing, as a yellow piece of paper floated gently down. They didn’t have to guess to know what it was.
“The sheet music!” Spike smiled.
“As it slowly descends toward the Equestrians, Applejack snatched it with her mouth.
“Gotcha!” She said.
“Only one more sheet to go and we’re done,” Jiminy said.
“Alright!” Rainbow cheered, throwing her fist in the air.
All of a sudden, a bright glow causes everyone to turn. The portal leading back to the orchestra stand appears before their very eyes, surprising all within the room.
“What in the world is that?” Madame Upanova asked, bewildered.
“It’s the portal that brings us back to the orchestra stand,” Twilight explained.
“Back?” Hyacinth asked, sadly. “You mean you’re leaving?”
“I’m afraid so,” Twilight nodded. “Deems and the musicians still need our help. Not to mention we have to get back to Equestria to prepare for our own concert.”
“A concert?” Elephanchine asked, wide-eyed. “How lovely!”
“Yeah, well it’s not a concert since we don’t have the music just yet,” Pinkie points out. “But no worries, hopefully we’ll have them ready soon… Or at least before this fanfic comes to an end.
For real?
Octavia blushed when Pinkie mentioned ‘no music’ for the concert. But she feels a hoof pat her back and turns toward Vinyl.
“No sweat, Tavi,” Vinyl spoke. “Everything will be all right.”
“All the same, I hope it’s a beautiful concert,” Hyacinth sighed sadly. “I suppose this is goodbye.”
"No, darling," Rarity assured. “It’s never goodbye.”
“We’ll visit you all again,” Pinkie reassured with a smile. “I can’t say how or when, but we certainly will.”
“Still, it’s sad you have to leave after all the fun we had,” Elephanchine said.
“Indeed, you are some of the greatest dancers we’ve met so far,” Madame Upanova complimented.
“Especially Rainbow Dash,” Hyacinth added.
The Equestrians couldn’t help but feel happy and flattered. Even the cyan Pegasus rubbed her neck, unable to hide a blush on her cheeks.
“Well, I have to admit, ballet is ‘kinda’ awesome.”
“Kinda?” Applejack asked, with a cocky grin.
“Alright, alright!” Rainbow gave in. “I had a lot of fun! And I’ll never underestimate ballet again.”
“Though some of our moves could use a little more practice,” Fluttershy admits.
“More practice?” Hyacinth giggled. “My dear, you’re a natural. You all are!”
“And you boys as well,” Ben said. “Despite being small, you would be great additions to my troupe.”
“Gee, thanks, Ben,” Spike smiled. “So, what you gonna do now that you and Hyacinth are a couple?”
“Why, he can live here in Ca d’Oro,” Hyacinth said. “And his students too.”
“Really?” Ben asked, surprised.
“But of course. Our school leaves no one out, even alligators.”
Hyacinth ends the sentence with a ‘boop’ on Ben’s snout. The gator gives a toothy grin in turn, which some may consider scary, but the hippo didn’t mind.
“Oh, mi amore, you’re the best girl a gator like me could ask for,” Ben said.
The gator plants some small kisses along Hyacinth’s cheek and neck, making her giggle. Rainbow couldn’t help but stick her hoof in her mouth, while making a gagging sound. Fluttershy and Applejack couldn’t help but giggle at the scene.
“It’ll be a bit lonely without you,” One of the elephants said.
“And we’ll miss all of you too,” Twilight said, tearfully.
And so, the Equestrians and the animal dancers gather together for one big group hug, tears flowing down as they did. When they released and wiped their tears away, they were more than ready to get back to Deems.
“Okay, that’s enough,” Rainbow said, rubbing her eyes. “It’s getting too sappy for me.”
“Hold on, everypony,” Jiminy spoke, gaining their attention. “There’s one thing left to do.”
“What is it, Jiminy?” Twilight asked.
Jiminy points to himself, and it didn’t take long for the little unicorn/alicorn to put two-and-two together.
“Oh, right,” Twilight said, her horn glowing. “Are you sure about this?”
“Sure as rain, Twilight,” Jiminy spoke. “True, being big has its advantages and I enjoyed it very much. But… I’d rather be my good ole small-self.”
With no further questions, Twilight nods and fulfills Jiminy’s request. She zaps a beam of magic at him and, in a flash, he was restored to his normal size. The cricket checked himself out, satisfied to be small again.
“Ah, good to be ‘little ole me’ again,” Jiminy sighed.
He jumps atop of Applejack’s hat, which she didn’t mind at all.
“Alright everypony,” The cowpony declared. “Time to move our caboose.”
“Goodbye everyone!” The Equestrians waved.
“Goodbye!” The dancers waved back.
“And remember: Anytime you wish to return, our doors are always open,” Hyacinth said.
“We’d be more than happy to give you more lessons,” Ben added.
The ponies, dragon, and cricket nod as they jump through the portal one-by-one, before the portal itself vanished.
“I really like them,” Ben said. “I hope we see them again soon.”
“So do I,” Hyacinth agreed, turning to Ben. “So, where were we?”
“Ooh… I remember…”
Smirking, Ben leans Hyacinth to his right, as she giggles in his arms before the two plant a kiss to each other under the pale moonlight.
The Orchestra Stand
Deems checked all the sheet music, which his Equestrian friends collected throughout their journey. It didn’t take long before the songbook began to glow, drawing his attention. Once more, our heroes reappear before the Master of Ceremonies and all the musicians on the stand.
“We’re back!” Pinkie announced.
“Ah Pinkie, good to see you all back,” Deems smiled. “Did you have fun?”
“We sure did,” Applejack nodded.
“And boy, what a finale!” Jiminy cried. “Wow!”
“Yeah man, even Rainbow Dash enjoyed it,” Vinyl said.
“Really?” Deems asked, surprised.
“Well, uh… It’s kinda… Um…” The blue Pegasus stammered, blushing again. “Yeah, I did.”
“Are you kidding?!” Pinkie stepped in. “She LOVED it! That makes two things she enjoys as much as flying: Books and ballet. And it doesn’t make her less an awesome flyer than she already is.”
“First off, that’s my line,” Rainbow Dash smiled. “But… You’re right.”
“That’s great,” Deems smiled. “By the way, how’s your flank?”
“Much better, thanks for asking.”
“You’re welcome.”
Eventually, as they spoke of their experience, the whole group began stripping themselves of their uniforms.
“By the by, would we trouble you if we kept these?” Rarity asked.
“Of course not,” Deems brushed off. “Master Yen Sid fashioned them especially for all of you.”
The ponies, but mostly Rarity, smiled hearing that. Of course, Deems wasn’t sure how to react to the ponies undressing before him and the other musicians. But nevertheless, he listened as Twilight neatly folded the outfits and tutus in her saddle bag with infinite space.
“Hyacinth and the others were very nice,” Twilight spoke. “They taught us a lot about ballet.”
“They even called us the best dancers they’ve ever seen,” Spike said.
“And Twilight used her magic to make Jiminy bigger so he could dance with all of us at our level,” Pinkie explained further. “Oh, and I think we can confirm the Hyacinth/Ben ship is set to sail. True, they may be a hippo and an alligator, but that’s love for you. There’s not a more beautiful more powerful friendship than love, am I right?”
“It seems I missed all the fun,” Deems smiled, nodding.
“Oh, don’t worry, Deemsy,” Pinkie said, showing him pictures. “You can watch the pictures I put together in my picture book.”
“Deemsy?” The Master of Ceremonies chuckled.
Rarity watched along, wondering how Pinkie Pie pulled it off when she clearly didn’t see her take any pictures. She opened her mouth to say something, but then placed her hoof on her cheek.
“Never mind.”
“And what of the sheet music?” Deems asked.
“Here you go,” Applejack spoke through her teeth, holding the sheet. “Completely unharmed.”
Deems grabs the sheet, inspects it for damage, and places it neatly with the other sheets. As he does so, the ponies fixed their manes back to their original look. While Applejack puts her hat back on, Vinyl puts her glasses onto her muzzle. Jiminy wore his fancy garbs, which he received from the Blue Fairy.
When they were ready, Deems turned to them and smiled. The first time he met them, he never expected to meet the most unusual guests. The strangest ponies he ever encountered and not even of his world. And yet, when they offered to help, he got to know them more. He couldn’t be any prouder to call them his friends even Leopold shared the same feeling.
“You’ve all done well,” Deems spoke again. “I don’t know how to thank you.”
“No need,” Twilight smiled. “We don’t ask for anything in return; we do it because we want to.”
“So, there’s only one sheet music left, right?” Rainbow asked. “Well I say, bring it on!”
“I’m not sure, but I think there might be ‘two’ pieces,” Pinkie pondered. “I don’t guess it all depends how the next chapter is approached.”
It was during this moment, when Rainbow Dash brought that up, the worry on Deems’ face began to form.
“You don’t have to search for it,” Deems assured. “Our concert will be fine with just six.”
“Huh?!” Everypony asked.
Everypony had a different expression on their face: Shock… Surprise… But mostly, confusion…
“But you still haven’t got the last one yet,” Fluttershy said.
“It’s okay, Fluttershy,” Deems reassured. “The sheets we have are more than enough to perform for the concert.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! I don’t think so!” Rainbow waved her hooves. “Deems, we promised we’d find all your lost sheet music and bring it back here! We ‘never’ withdraw from our promises!”
“Yeah, leaving one number out of the concert feels incomplete,” Pinkie added. “It’s like trying to bake a cupcake without butter… The consequences could be disastrous.”
“I don’t believe my own ears, but Pinkie is right,” Octavia agreed. “Leaving any piece of music out, especially a good one you’ve planned, would be a regrettable decision.”
“I agree with both of them,” Vinyl agreed as well. “The last piece of music must be quite a masterpiece for your concert. Why leave it out?”
Deems had no idea how to say this gently. It was as if he was determined to protect them from something, but these girls (With two gentlemen) were stubbornly determined to complete their task.
“It’s something to do with that songbook, isn’t it?”
Once Twilight asked the question, Deems released a deep sigh and nodded. Everypony turned toward the songbook with the green glow, the book Twilight’s eyes caught before their trip to Ca d’Oro Palace.
“Deems, what’s wrong with it?” Twilight asked.
“There’s plenty wrong with it,” Leopold joined in. "It be wise to take Mr. Taylor’s advice, if you want to stay alive, leave it alone.”
“S-s-s-s-stay alive?” Fluttershy trembled. “W-w-w-what do you mean?”
“Girls, I know you’ve faced many challenges. The Rite of Spring, The Pastoral Symphony, just to name a few. But this… This is unlike ‘anything’ you’ve faced before. That place… It’s not holy.”
The Equestrians didn’t know what he meant, but those words alone made them very uncomfortable.
“You must understand that place is tougher than you realize,” Leopold spoke further. “Since there’s not one but two sheet music in there.”
“Two in one realm?!” Rainbow asked worried.
“Didn’t see that one coming,” Applejack spoke similarly.
“I knew it!!!” Pinkie snapped her hooves.
“We had the idea to combine two pieces of music, so different in construction and mood, to one that would set each other off perfectly,” Deems explained further. “The first one is called A Night on Bald Mountain, a symphonic poem written by one of Russia’s greatest composers: Modest Mussorgsky. One he remodeled a few times so it would be included in one of his operas. His mentor was critical about the piece and refused to let it perform. One of the operas he tried to include it, The Fair at Sorochyntsi, was unfinished and thus it never got the chance to shine.”
“That’s rather sad,” Octavia sighed.
Octavia felt for the poor composer, as Vinyl felt for her. The D.J. knew how it felt trying to publish something new only for it never to be shown or heard. Just as Octavia was feeling about their own concert back home.
“But it wasn’t over yet,” Deems continued. “After Mussorgsky died, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, another famous composer, who was also his best friend, published an arrangement of Mussorgsky’s work for his unfinished opera. The piece was finally played for the first time in front of an audience, becoming a success and a favorite.”
Rimsky-Korsakov was known for pieces of music such as ‘Flight of the Bumblebee’… Hmm, ‘Flight of the Bumblebee’… I’ll tell you about it later. Moving on!
The Equestrians were glad to hear that, especially the two music ponies. If that wasn’t a sign of true friendship, don’t ask what it is.
“How very honorable and generous,” Rarity nodded in approval.
“And so sweet to finish the work he couldn’t,” Twilight added.
“Took the words right out of my mouth, Twi,” Vinyl said.
“And now, that music…” Deems sighed. “That horrifying music created that land, just like the other sheet music created the other realms.”
“The last realm has a huge bald mountain towering over a sleeping village,” Leopold added.
Our heroes turned to each other, curious yet anxious, wondering where this story was going.
“I’m warning you, little ones,” Leopold continued. “That place is not what it used to be. You don’t want to die there, especially so young.”
The Equestrians shivered again, as the composer continued.
“Doom and death is all you’ll find there. Doom and death, so please… Don’t go.”
“I’m afraid Mr. Stokowski is not overreacting,” Deems spoke again. “It’s a place where nightmares are reality.”
“Oh, come on!” Rainbow spoke, causing everypony to face her. “We’ve faced scary stuff in our days.”
“Uh, Rainbow?” Octavia spoke up. “Didn’t you listen to what they said? Whatever’s going on in that realm must be serious.”
“Yeah, I listened. But come on, it can’t be as bad as they say.”
“Rainbow, must I tell you again about underestimating?” Twilight asked, seriously.
“I know, I know!”
The blue Pegasus knew what Twilight meant or at least ‘tried’ to. She hated being reminded of that fact again.
“Twilight has a good point right there,” Fluttershy spoke. “But can’t we at least try? I mean I know it might be tough… Or scary, but there must be a small chance.”
The Equestrians pondered on Fluttershy’s surprising bit of hope.
“I’m sure we could find something better than… Death,” Spike gulped.
“That village is under a spell,” Leopold points out. “A dark one at that.”
“In the past, it was like any normal village with little trouble,” Deems said. “But then came the Dark Age, when the world was haunted by fear and superstition.”
“Sounds like some old ghost story to scare foals and fillies,” Rainbow said.
“It’s not a ghost story!”
The serious tone in Deems voice caused the ponies to flinch back a bit. He then spoke further in his usual calm tone.
“In those days, many people believed evil spirits traveled the Earth in human form. Thousands of people, both guilty and innocent, were either hanged or burned at the stake for witchcraft and sorcery.”
“It’s true,” Jiminy spoke up. “Many people, mostly the innocent, died due to the ignorant and superstitious.”
“I don’t like this story,” Fluttershy spoke, frightened.
“Through the course of years, more darkness was born inside these people,” Deems explained. “And then, on Walpurgis Night, they gathered together on top of the mountain and did a very, very horrible act: They unleashed a monster from the depths of the Earth.”
“W-Walpurgis Night?” Twilight asked, shivering.
“The night of evil,” Leopold explained. “It shares many of the traditions as Halloween.”
“And Halloween is…?” Vinyl asked.
“I can explain,” Jiminy offered. “It’s another human holiday going back to ancient times. It is believed that the spirits of the dead walk that night. To celebrate, people dress as monsters, witches, and zombies and go in front of houses to gather candy.”
“Ooh! Like Nightmare Night!” Pinkie said, excitedly. “Wow! Our worlds have a lot in common when it comes to holidays.”
“But you won’t see dressed-up people or children collecting candy in there,” Deems warned. “In fact, after that first night, no human dared go outside. Many left that godforsaken place, never to return. Few live there, you can say it’s… Abandoned.”
The more Deems and Leopold explained, the more worried and anxious our heroes grew.
“Only one person managed to retrieve the two sheet music. Others who tried weren’t so lucky.”
The Equestrians cringed fearfully.
“And… Who was this person?” Twilight asked.
“The same one who came with the idea for this concert,” Deems answered. “The one I mentioned earlier when you first arrived.”
The purple pony pondered until it came to her.
“Walt Disney…”
Deems nodded silently.
“He managed to travel the realms and recover the sheet music, just as you did, including the last two. But he couldn’t have done it after facing… Him.”
“The monster?” Spike gulped.
“He, as so many others, saw evil in its purest form. A giant demon, born from nightmare and myth, older than the world itself. He is the black god, and they call him… Chernabog.”
When Deems spoke that name aloud, all the other musicians quivered with fear at the near-mention. Even the Equestrians didn’t like the name. They’ve heard small uncommon stories of demons before, but never one as this. They also knew how bad they are and one with a name like Chernabog is certainly not good.
“He’s merciless,” Deems continued. “A monster with dominion over a vast army of nightmarish creatures you wouldn’t like to meet in your worst nightmares. He even has terrifying powers, mostly fire and darkness. He can corrupt lost souls, forcing them to do his bidding, even kill and revive them if he wants to. He is said to be the closest to Satan, the devil from which is believed where all evil comes from. Trust me: You’ll never win against him.”
“End of story, right?” Spike asked fearfully. “Cause this whole thing got dark, even for me.”
“Such tales are not suitable for foals,” Rarity said.
“Ah don’t think they're suitable for anypony,” Applejack agreed.
“But there must be some way to beat him,” Twilight hoped. “Every creature has a weakness like with everything else.”
“It is said he doesn’t like the light, especially sunlight,” Deems said. “He doesn’t like church bells either. Walt was lucky enough to escape before he could get him. Chernabog’s deepest desire is to bring everything in existence in eternal darkness. No man or woman has ever dared to stand against him… And lived.”
“There are some who wish to serve and worship him like the ones who brought him into the world,” Leopold added.
“What about the second sheet music?” Octavia asked.
“That would be ‘Ave Maria’ by Franz Schubert,” Deems replied. “His most famous work in the entire world. It was used in a poem about a girl who, together with her father, flees from a vengeful king. They hid in a cave, praying to the Virgin Mary, a Jewish woman who gave birth to a boy from which was said to be the son of God. If you believe in that sort of thing, of course.”
The Equestrians turned to each other, clearly confused.
“I suppose you never attended Sunday School?” Deems asked.
“I don’t think so,” Pinkie said. “I’m not sure if we have something like that.”
“Well anyway, for our concert, Schubert’s Ave Maria symbolizes the light to drive the darkness away,” Deems continued.
“It is beautiful music,” Jiminy replied. “I can see why it would fit along with Mussorgsky’s piece.”
“But I can’t risk allowing you to enter the realm, it’s too dangerous,” Deems insisted. “Neither of us want to be responsible for your deaths.”
“But Deems…” Twilight said.
“It’s okay,” Leopold assured. “We’ll be fine.”
“Girls, I think it would be best we listen to them,” Jiminy agreed.
“I must agree,” Rarity said. “As much as I want to help, I’m too pretty to be killed by a demon.”
“What’s the plan, Twi?” Applejack asked.
Twilight thought hard about this. It was indeed best to take their advice, to not enter the realm. But it felt unfair they didn’t have the last two sheet music to complete the concert. They promised they would collect all of them but doing that could send them to their doom and she didn’t want to lose her friends. True, they faced a bloodthirsty T-Rex and a mischievous God. They were lucky to survive them both, but if they face Chernabog, chances are they wouldn’t live to tell the tale. This was a tough decision indeed until she said the next thing.
“I cannot break a promise we made. I’ll go to the realm myself; no one has to come.”
“What?!” Everypony gasped.
“Twilight…” Deems spoke, worried.
“I’m not afraid,” Twilight insisted.
“An unwise thought,” Leopold shook his head.
“The book brought my friends and I here for a reason,” Twilight continued. “If Walt managed to collect the sheet music before, at least there’s a small chance. I’m sorry, but I’m not leaving those sheets alone without a fight. And if I lose, I want you to watch after the baby dinosaurs and Equestria.”
Her friends, along with everyone in the room, were in complete shock. That this unicorn/alicorn was willing to sacrifice herself so willingly. They stare at her as she walked past them, slowly toward the songbook.
The Equestrians turn to each other, giving a determined nod and followed Twilight until they were beside her.
“Girls?” Twilight asked surprised. “Guys, what are you doing?”
“You didn’t think we’d let you do this by yourself, did you?” Rainbow asked. “If you’re doing something, we want in.”
“No, I said…” Twilight started.
“Sorry, Twilight,” Applejack interrupted, placing a hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder. “We ain’t lettin’ you lose to some demon no matter how tough he is.”
“I’m scared to go,” Fluttershy said, trying to be brave. “But I’m scared to lose you more.”
“I’m going too,” Octavia said, determined. “Even if it’s dangerous and unfit for a mare like me.”
“Count me in!” Vinyl smiled towards Octavia, who smiled in return.
“I’m ready!” Rarity said.
“Pinkamena Diane Pie reporting for duty!” The pink mare salutes.
“You’ll need a conscience to get you through this too,” Jiminy jumped onto her back.
“You know we’d never leave you behind,” Spike said.
“Guys…” Twilight whispered.
The princess smiled before every single one of them, then turned to Deems with a determined look.
“There’s no stopping either of you, is there?” He asked.
“Trust us, Deems,” Spike replied. “We can be very stubborn if it’s for a good cause.”
The Master of Ceremonies deeply sighed before answering.
“Very well then. You know the drill?”
“Yes,” Twilight said.
She, along with the others, stare at the songbook. Before Twilight could use her magic, Deems interrupts her once more.
“Twilight,” He said, causing The Equestrians to face him. “You have to realize what you and your friends are doing is risky, hazardous and suicidal. Stay away from the mountain; if you face him, you’ll never come back.”
Twilight gave an understanding nod. She and her friends face each other nervously, before she breathed in and out.
“Alright, everypony,” She said. “Let’s do this!”
Twilight fired a beam of magic toward the songbook, opening a portal for the last time.
As the process goes along, Leopold silently spoke with Deems.
“I can’t believe they’re willing to do this, even after the warnings we gave them. Are you truly assuming they’re going to die? Is there nothing we can do to help them after everything they’ve done? There must be something, Deems… Anything.”
Deems thought hard before speaking again.
“If they must succeed, they’ll need all the help they can get,” Deems declared. “Follow me.”
Once again, the Equestrians were surrounded by musical notes. Only this time, everything got dark as a giant mist covered everything.
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That was extremely amazing!!!!
Awesome
Happy to see this isn’t stuck on Hiatus and Twilight and her friends with meet Evil that makes their enemies look like its minions and possibly the version of Grogar
23k words, no wonder this one took you so long to write.
No matter, update here at last!
Where is Deems going?
It was a long time coming, much longer for nearly just about everybody (Much to some chagrin). But at long last, we come to one of the most fun-filled segments in all of 'Fantasia': The Dance of the Hours. So much was going on during this chapter: Rainbow Dash overcoming her prejudice toward ballet, Jiminy assuming the size of the girls, the interactions with all the dancers (Many of which given characteristics for this rendition), the chaotic dancing, and some of the most beautiful music to be heard. If anything, it helped to give the girls (And boys) something fun to do after that adventurous segment in Greece. And now that this one chapter has finally been complete, we can finally look forward to the grand finale of 'Fantasia'... Also probably the darkest segment in the entire feature.
With any luck, it shouldn't take too long to get this one done. But it's sure going to be an exciting segment to look forward to. Especially when they stand against one of the most famous Disney villains in the company's history: Chernabog.
10384518
Dino's had a bit of issues trying to get this one chapter together, among a million other things. But fortunately, all that hard work is paid off and we can assure that the story is going along rather swimmingly.
10384533
That's the idea, Mr. Ribbert. We are most pleased you approved.
10384567
The hiatus hopefully wasn't 'too long' and that the wait was worth it. Dino's been excited for this final chapter to finally get started, after getting through the 'Dance of the Hours'. He's got tons of concepts he wants to try... Which I am not at liberty to say.
10384608
Exactly! That's why Dino was hoping for the fans to bear with him. He is an artiste and as such he wanted this rendition of a popular feature to stand out amongst all the crossovers that attempted this before. And it was a brilliantly fun chapter to read, no wonder he had so much time to get this just right.
10384675
So this just a major hump he had to get over?
10384675
Glad to hear that. Because I'll be hnest with you man, there hasn't been much stories in the main group other than his stories. Sure there's Plenty of debates and conversations on this and that. Especially Disney crossover with nothing coming from it the end.
10384692
Well if you want to put it that way... Then yeah, sure.
We all do! We're all artists trying to make sure our work is worthy of our fans' praise. And even when we're not writing here, we must be putting some effort in whatever we're doing in terms of our offline jobs or any chores our parents ask us too. Otherwise, they'll think we can't amount to anything.
10384696
Well I'm sorry to break it to you, but our group is 'strictly' for the 'Disney Chronicles' only. It's not like those run of the mill groups where we can just add any story we want. If that wasn't the group you were expecting, I'm unfortunate to say you came to the wrong place. We tend to do things our own way with the group, treating these features with respect and dignity while at the same time adding some MLP flare to it.
10384702
Seriously only Disney Chronicles? Then what's the point of the other folders within the group? I'm confused. I must have miss something when I joined.
10384708
Mostly for discussions and plans on what we'd like to see for the series as far as feature films we plan to incorporate. I had it figured Dino was only doing movies from the 'Walt Disney Animation Studios' department alone, but then we started announcing movies from Pixar, a couple Live Action, and even off-studio productions (Disney related, all of them) and all of which was announced by Dino himself (I mostly do the threads for those movies). But everything else... Well, we try to think of ideas of what we think would be good for the series as far as a possible OC, some quotes to make up, etc., etc.
If that's not the answer you are looking for, I don't know what else to tell you. I'm just following the boss's orders. If this is too complicated to understand, you're welcome to depart at your own will.
10384718
No, no. I get it now. Thanks for clearing that up for me. Mistook this group for another common fanfic group is all. Most unusual i might add. But whatever. Thanks.
10384728
You are most welcome, I do appreciate the words of a reasonable gentleman.
What's Opera Doc? reference!
10384748
That's right. We figured someone who knows 'Looney Tunes' would automatically get that clever reference.
Hmmm, wonder if they'll let Luna in on the music for the next Nightmare Night ...
Glad to see you have updated this amazing story my friend and I am really really excited to see even more still to come. If you ever need any ideas for anything in the future, you know where to find me
10384730
Me, a gentlemen? Not too sure about that, if my comment on other fanfic comment sections isn't to go by. LoL.
Dino, you mad genius just made a very amazing chapter with the characters interaction and the cliffhanger before the epic showdown against the evil of all evils that even Walt Disney was spooked and survived from the scary mountain demon/monster.
I shall waited your final chapter and hope to be soon when you’re ready.
Also, again awesome chapter!👍
10384771
There's no guarantee to be certain. But Dino has something extra special planned for the rest of the story.
10384789
You're support for the series Dino greatly appreciates. After all, he's an inspiration for what made your series as it is today.
10384793
Yeah I still don't quite understand how Walt Disney himself managed to do it, even against that raging dark demon. But I'm sure the girls and the two gents will figure out what to do. It'll take everything they got if they want to come back with the last remaining sheet music up for grabs.
10384793
You said it
I was kind of hoping you went with the original version in which the Night on Bald Mountain featured the actual Devil rather than the retconned name. Still, glad to see you're alive and kicking after what happened.
10384875
Nope... It was Dino's decision to make the Chernabog name canon. The fact that he even resembles an incarnation of the Devil is more than enough there's no need to call him that. Besides, the Devil has historically assumed many names over the years. For Disney, he felt this name was appropriate.
10384675
Is this implying that Pinkie Pie met sora and the Muppets?
10384883
I don't quite understand the reference myself. I'm just assuming it's from an old fanfic. But I will admit it was hilarious when we decided to add it in. Because it's Pinkie Pie being... Well, 'Pinkie Pie'.
Great work Dino! I've noticed some hidden references in this chapter.
Kingdom Hearts the starting part in sora,'s dreams with the keyblade. Muppets. Sherk. And loony toons.
10384845
Dang straight about that. Might be best to stock on items. That demon on the mountain is no joke. Trust me, I still can't beat him In the game to proceed.
10384789
I'd be glad to.
10384793
Thanks, though I couldn't have done it with teensy bit of help. Especially from Drama.
10384880
Yeah, Satan, Lucifer, Beelzebub, Mephistopheles,...
10384883
She only dreamt it. And those are the exact references.
10384884
He's actually correct, even though she only dreamt it.
10384880
Even still, when you consider the fact that the movie flat-out calls him Satan, Chernabog (even though it's the Slavic Devil) sounds like a downgraded censorship. But that's a personal gripe.
10384896
All correct. I've done my homework on the dude.
10384899
The Kingdom Hearts deal I can believe, since there's tons of references to the game, including the fights.
Now The Muppets, on the other hand... While I don't know if they are 'entirely' Disney I don't believe, I'd see potential in the ponies teaming with the lot on their shenanigans.
10384918
Well at least Disney does make a mention to the devil in 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame', so you won't have to worry about Chernabog.
But you have to wait a while before that story comes up.
Love the Kingdom Hearts and Muppet references!! Anyway, it was well worth the wait. Good luck with Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria!
I can’t wait for the final chapter!
The final battle against Chernabog is gonna be sick
10384894
Of course.
Okay, did everyone suddenly forget about the "want it, need it" spell or the pearl stealing incident?
How about the future Twilight incident? I'm just saying. Twilight can be plenty stupid under the right circumstances.
10384998
What doe it have to do with the newest chapter of the Disney Chronicles?