Here Comes the Sun

by JapaneseTeeth

Keep Those Cheeses Rolling

“You found the cake!” Pinkie bounced leisurely next to Twilight as the unicorn galloped down the road. “You found the cake!”

“We haven’t found it yet,” Twilight answered. “My spell picked up the cake’s magical signature, so we know which way it is. The signal is really weak though. It must be all the way at the outskirts of town.”

“I knew it would be in the last place we looked!” Pinkie said sagely as she pronked along.

“Of course it would be in the last place we looked. Once we find it, we wouldn’t be looking anymore!” Twilight wanted to roll her eyes, but didn’t, because she knew that if she took her eyes off the road she’d probably run into something.

“Hey, look! Rainbow Dash and Applejack found it too!” Pinkie pointed.

Rainbow Dash was above them, flying in the same direction. Applejack emerged from a side street to gallop alongside Twilight, although for Applejack it was really more of a trot.

“You found the cake?” Twilight gasped.

“Dash saw it out by that road near where she parked her house. Right by Trixie’s wagon.”

“I sure hope Trixie didn’t do anything to it.” Twilight scowled at the prospect of having to encounter Trixie again.

“Maybe she’ll make it disappear!” Pinkie suggested.

“She had better not. We’ve wasted enough time looking for it already.” Twilight gasped. Trying to keep pace with the two earth ponies was harder than it looked. “Look! There it is! And it looks like it’s completely undamaged!”

“That’s great! Huh?” Applejack watched as Rainbow Dash somehow managed to skid to a halt in the air and make a beeline toward them. “What the hay is she doin’?”

Rainbow Dash blasted past them, shouting out a single word as she passed.

“RUN!”

---

Rarity eyed everything with suspicion. The plaza in front of the Town Hall was mostly empty, most of the ponies having snuck away from their responsibilities to take a break, and the ones that remained were occupied elsewhere trying to pick up the slack.

“It’s safe,” she said, and motioned at the door.

“I do not see why we must be so cautious,” Luna said as she emerged from Town Hall.

“After all the time and effort we have put into that dress, I will not see it damaged again before it can be properly appreciated at the celebration!” Rarity snapped.

Luna looked up at the sky, which was clear and blue. “I really do not think that the dress is in that much danger.”

“You would think that,” Rarity answered. “But this is Ponyville. There’s always some sort of disaster waiting around the corner. Who knows when there might be a rabbit stampede, or a swarm of parasprites, or any sort of disaster that could destroy the dress completely!” She shuddered. “It would be so much safer if we left the dress in the dressing room.”

“Perhaps if you had not sewn me into it, that would have been a viable option,” Luna said. “As it is, I must be at the train station to receive my sister. And even if I did not, I would still need to get out of that dressing room. I have been in there all morning, and must get some fresh air.”

“Fine, fine.” Rarity chewed her lip at the thought of what might happen. “Though I must be clear that should something… unfortunate happen, I will certainly not have time to do any more repairs. I am already a bit behind in my duties.”

“And I need to get back to my rehearsal!” Fluttershy added.

“Gah!” Luna twitched. “I did not realize that you were back there.”

“Sorry.”

“In any case, I am most grateful for your help and I will not impose on you any longer. The three of... “ Luna looked around. “Where did Sweetie Belle go?”

“Once I had Fluttershy helping me, I let her go find her friends,” Rarity answered. “After helping me all morning she deserved a break.”

“Well, if I do not see her before the festival is over, give her my thanks as well,” Luna said. “As I was saying, I greatly appreciate the help the two of you have given-”

A loud explosion rang in the distance, immediately followed by roughly a billion others. All three of them turned to look at it. At the edge of town, it appeared that a fireworks display had taken a flying leap straight to the grand finale.

“Wow,” Fluttershy said.

Rarity snorted. “You would think that they would wait until dark before firing those off. You can barely see them all!”

“Perhaps Trixie decided to do a practice run before her show tonight,” Luna offered.

“I suppose that is…” Rarity paused to think. “Wait, did you say Trixie?”

Fluttershy gasped. “You mean Trixie is AAHHHHH!”

She screeched in horror as a massive hunk of debris from the explosion fell from the air, landing smack dab on Luna with a resounding SPLAT!

“Princess Luna! Are you alright!?” Fluttershy wailed.

“I am fine,” Luna said. “I have taken much worse than a stray… is this cake?”

“Oh, thank goodness!” Rarity sighed in relief. “It’s just cake.”

“Good thing, too. Luna might’ve been really hurt if it was something else.”

“Oh yes. That is true. But if it’s only cake, the dress should be undamaged.” Rarity brushed at Luna’s flank, and the mess of cake and frosting slid right off without so much as a stain. “See? Perfectly pristine!”

“Wh… how is that possible?” Fluttershy gawked at the dress as she watched Rarity clean it off. “It should be ruined!”

“I must admit that while I am glad the dress is unharmed, I am also rather confused,” Luna said.

“After an… incident involving a cake at the Grand Galloping Gala last year, it was clear how badly stray baked goods can ruin a dress,” Rarity said. “As such, I developed a form of anti-cake spell that will protect textiles from that particular threat. I make it a habit to treat all of my materials with it.”

“If you did that, shouldn’t the original parts of the dress still be stained?” Fluttershy asked as she helped Rarity wipe off the fabric.

“Yes, it… appears that we got rather… zealous with replacing the materials.”

Luna cocked her head. “You mean…”

Rarity chuckled awkwardly. “It seems that we may have inadvertently replaced the dress entirely.”

“Wait,” Fluttershy said, rubbing her head. “Why didn’t we just make her a new dress from scratch, then?”

“That is a very good question,” Rarity said.

“Whatever the case, I must be on my way,” Luna said. “I must go receive my sister. My guards will accompany me. Thank you again for your help.” She gestured to her guards, and they proceeded down the road toward the station.

“As much as I enjoy my work, I must say I’m glad that that’s over,” Rarity said, sighing. She turned towards the site of the fireworks explosion, which was now just a large column of smoke. “I wonder why… wait a moment.”

Fluttershy swallowed. “Luna said that it was Trixie, didn’t she?”

Rarity nodded. “I was hoping I had misheard, but I suppose not.”

“Why would Trixie be here?”

“I don’t know, and that worries me. I suppose we ought to investigate.”

Fluttershy hung her head as if she had just gotten called in to work on her day off. “I guess so.”

---

Pinkie sniffed the air. “Mmmm! Sugar and sulfer! Smells like New Years!”

“What was that?” Rainbow Dash poked her head out from the tree where she had taken refuge.

“A fireworks explosion!” Pinkie poked her head out of the tree next to Rainbow Dash.

“Whoa!” Dash recoiled and fell out of the tree.

“I dunno how you didn’t know that,” Pinkie said. “You’re the one who saw it in the first place.”

“I mean… why?” Rainbow Dash stood and began picking twigs and leaves out of her mane. “Why was there a gigantic bag of fireworks sitting right next to a fire? Who would do that?”

“Uh, guys?”
Rainbow Dash and Pinkie turned to look at Applejack.

“I think Twilight is broken.”

---

Luna had no idea why Rarity had made such a fuss over her need to meet her sister at the train station. She arrived at the platform with exactly no complications whatsoever. Rarity had made her expect that she would’ve had to fend off a dragon or swarms of fruitbats or some other calamity. But no, she had reached her destination, and both Ponyville and her dress remained in perfect condition.

A puff of smoke in the distance informed her that Celestia’s train was about to arrive. She glanced at the clock that hung from the side of the station. Only three minutes late; practically early. The train’s brakes squawked as it slowed to a stop. Everything was going just fine. Everypony always got so worked up over nothing.

The car opened, but Celestia did not step out.

Suddenly, all of the horror stories that Rarity and Fluttershy had told her suddenly didn’t seem so far fetched.

“Sister?” She poked her head into the car. “Are you there?”

The car was empty, aside from a few guards.

“Is this not my sister’s personal carriage?” she demanded.

They nodded.

“Yet, she does not appear to be here.”

More nodding.

“I assume that she is, in fact, not in this car, and that she has not been turned invisible or some other such nonsense.”

Yet more nodding.

“Unbelievable!” Luna stormed back onto the platform and began to stomp up and down the platform. “How is this possible? How could she go missing now? Surely she couldn’t have missed the train. Which means that something must have prevented her from coming! Perhaps there is some sort of disaster in Canterlot. No, in that case she would’ve sent me a message. Which can only mean that she has been kidnapped! But who would be powerful enough to do so? Dragons, perhaps. They have always been a bit hostile. But kidnapping does not suit them. They would never be able to capture her without anypony noticing. The only ones who could kidnap her without alerting anypony would be changelings! That must be it! My sister has been kidnapped by changelings!”

“I haven’t been kidnapped by changelings, actually.” Celestia poked her head out of the train. “I was just in the dining car. For some reason it seems that tiramisu tastes better on a train.”

“How do I know you aren’t an imposter?” Luna gave her sister a sideways glance.

Celestia rolled her eyes. “Changelings? Really?” She nodded towards the sun, which vibrated a bit before doing a quick figure-eight in the sky.

“Ah.” Luna cleared her throat and adjusted the frills on her dress. “It appears you have not been kidnapped.”

“No. You’ve been spending time with Twilight, haven’t you?”

“Rarity and Fluttershy, actually. They were rendering some assistance with my ensemble for tonight.”

Celestia nodded. “The dress does look nice, though it isn’t the one I thought you were going to wear.”

“A button fell off, and it… more or less snowballed from there. It is a long story.”

“Things that happen in Ponyville usually are.”

“Where is your dress? Surely you did not go through the trouble of making me select a dress when you do not intend to wear one.”

“It’s still in the train,” Celestia said. “My guards should be unloading everything shortly. I’ll change at Town Hall. No point in wearing it around and getting it dirty. Or losing a button.”

Luna snorted. “Why is it that everypony assumes that if you wear a dress in this town that the destruction of said dress is an inevitability?!”

“That’s Ponyville for you,” Celestia said with a shrug. “Although I guess if you had been at the Gala last year you might see where everypony is coming from.”

“Perhaps. Did you plan on having your guards deliver the customary gift to the Twilight or to the Mayor? I hear that Twilight’s plate is already rather full, so to speak.”
Celestia stared blankly at her sister. “What?”

“Have I suddenly grown a second head? Why are you gawking?”

“What gift?” Celestia asked, confused.

“What do you mean, ‘what gift?’” Luna said with a frown. “The customary gift to the hosts of the festival! Remember how you suggested I bring that wheel of cheese… What is wrong with your face?”

Celestia’s lips and eyes were contorting themselves, as if they were trying to smile, frown, scowl, glower, and grin all at once. She gave up and snorted loudly.

“You thought I was serious?!”

“What are you talking about!?”

“The cheese wheel! You actually brought the cheese wheel here and gave it to Twilight?”

“Of course I did!” Luna said indignantly. “It was your idea!”

“I was joking! Why on earth would you bring a cheese wheel of all things to the Summer Sun Celebration!”

“You told me it was traditional!”

“Why would a cheese wheel be a traditional gift?!” Celestia sat and rubbed the sides of her head. “I realize that you’ve been absent for quite some time, but I would’ve thought you’d realize I wasn’t being serious! There was no cheese wheel at the last Summer Sun Celebration!”

“I… thought that everypony had devoured it before I made my appearance.”

“And there hasn’t been a cheese wheel at any official function that either of us has taken part of. Unless some dignitary brought you one while I wasn’t paying attention.”

“Yes, yes, I get it. I am gullible. I do not see what the big deal is.”

“And you gave it to Twilight?”

“Of course. She was the one who welcomed me to town, after all.”

“Now this I have to see,” Celestia grinned. “We’d better find her and let her know it was a misunderstanding.”

“Is that truly necessary? Surely somepony as intelligent as Twilight Sparkle would be aware that this was simply a faux pas on my part.”

Celestia chuckled, and shook her head. “You don’t know Twilight very well, do you?”

---

“Equestria to Twilight! Equestria to Twilight!” Rainbow Dash began to re-enact her usual royal guard routine. Twilight continued to stare forward at the now-empty space where the cake had been. “Nope. Nothing.”

“Maybe I could try another song?” Pinkie withdrew an accordion from her mane. “I’ll try polka this time.”

“How about not?” Applejack shook her head and stepped between Pinkie and the instrument. “I think that might make it worse.”

“Maybe we should take her to the hospital,” Fluttershy suggested. “She might’ve gotten a concussion from the explosion.”

“I don’t think so,” Rainbow Dash said with a snort. “I know concussions and this is no concussion. Besides, we were nowhere near the boom.”

“It really wasn’t even one explosion. More like a bunch of small ones,” Applejack said. “You’re right that we might wanna get her to a doctor though. Even for Twilight, this ain’t normal.”

“Maybe she got frozen by some kind of spell!” Pinkie offered.

“Nah, her eye is still twitching and she’s breathing and everything.” Rainbow Dash poked Twilight on the nose.

“It must be psychological,” Fluttershy said. “The shock of seeing the cake get destroyed must’ve been too much for her.”

“The other cake blew up? I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.” Spike shuffled up the road, trailing a partially unrolled scroll behind him. He paused as he saw Twilight. “What happened to Twilight?”

Applejack sighed. “She watched the cake go up in smoke-”

“And sparkles!” Pinkie added

“...and now she’s… gone into shock or somethin’. I don’t really know. We were about to go take her to a doctor.”

“Eh, she does that sometimes. Just a sec.” Spike walked up to Twilight and cleared his throat. “You’ve got a due date coming up!”

“GAH!” Twilight’s head snapped around. “I knew I missed something! What is it?”

“There’s no due date. You were just… you know.”

“Oh right, the cake.” Her eye twitched. “The cake exploded, and-”

“Well, before you get back to that, I have some good news. I just got back from checking up on the staging crew at Town Hall.”

“They didn’t mess up my decorations, did they?” Rarity asked.

“No, the decorations are fine.”

Rarity sighed in relief.

“Anyway, we were talking, and we figured out something to do with the cheese wheel. I’ll, uh, fill you in on the details later. It looks like you’re gonna have your plate full with the cake. And with… uh…”

“And with what?”

“HOW IS THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE SUPPOSED TO PUT ON HER SHOW NOW?!”

“Without fireworks, apparently,” Twilight grumbled to nopony in particular. “Which, and I know I shouldn’t be so dismissive but I have too much on my plate already, is entirely not my problem!”

Trixie stomped up to Twilight, her robe and hat now stained with frosting and soot. “How is Trixie supposed to perform without fireworks?”

“I’m sure you’ll work something out,” Twilight grumbled. “Surely the Great and Powerful Trixie wouldn’t have any trouble figuring something out!”

“Trixie is Great and Powerful, but not rich. I demand restitution! The delivery pony blew up the fireworks! And damaged my wagon in the process!”

“That was your fault!” Lyra poked her head out of a nearby bush, where she had dived to shield herself from the explosion. “You told her to put the fireworks there! It’s your fault for having an open fire back there!”

“It was not!” Trixie protested. “And besides, you’re the one who set up the delivery!”

“If you would’ve done it yourself, this wouldn’t have happened!” Bon Bon emerged from the bush, beside Lyra, twigs sticking out of her mane like a pincushion.

“If you wouldn’t have distracted me, I would’ve known not to put them there!”

Twilight slowly began to shuffle backward, away from Trixie and toward what was left of the cake. The rest of her friends had already done the same.

“There’s more of it left than I thought there would be,” Rarity whispered, trying not to draw Trixie’s attention. “The side that was facing away from the explosion is surprisingly pristine.”

“Well, I did make it double size,” Pinkie said.

“Way more than double size,” Applejack said. “We’ve been over this.”

“But what are we supposed to do with this thing?” Rainbow Dash said. “I mean, I know we have half a cake, but we kinda need a whole one!”

“Well, we would have had a whole one,” Pinkie said, “if somepony hadn’t flown into it.”

“You mean if somepony hadn’t teleported the cake in front of me while I was flying!” Rainbow Dash hissed.

“Actually, now that I think about it, we would have had a whole two cakes!” Pinkie continued. “Since there was that cake and this cake. But how we have two half cakes. So I guess we kinda do have one whole cake. It’s just not all in one place.”

“That’s it!” Twilight gasped, then put her hooves over her mouth. Fortunately, Trixie was too involved in her argument with Lyra and Bon Bon to notice. Twilight lowered her voice. “Applejack, Rainbow Dash, do you think you can get what’s left of the cake back to Sugarcube Corner without damaging it more?”

“Might need to bring a cart out here, but if we can get it on there I wouldn’t think it would be much hassle. If it survived gettin’ blown up, it can handle a ride, especially if we got Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash keepin’ it steady.”

“Great. You go get the cart.” She turned to Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. “You stay here and just make sure that nothing else damages the cake.”

“What about them?” Fluttershy waved at the three arguing ponies.

“...Just hope they keep ignoring you. If they try to bother you, just tell them to go see Luna. It was her idea for Trixie to perform, after all. Rarity, Pinkie, you two head back to Sugarcube corner and start fixing up what’s left of the other cake. We need to have everything ready to go as soon as possible to get this to work.”

Pinkie saluted. “Will do!”

“Great. I’ll meet you there shortly.”

“But where are you going?” Rarity asked.

“To get the cheese wheel out of the library. I don’t know what Spike has planned for it, but at this point I don’t have any other ideas.”

“You mean you’re just going to go with it?” Spike stared at her in surprise. “I thought you’d at least want to know what the plan is?”

“Honestly, I don’t. I don’t have time to come up with any other plan, so we might as well just go with whatever it is you have planned. Let’s just get the cheese out of the way and get back to the cakes.”

Spike shrugged. “Alright. Let’s go move some cheese.”

---

“You are certain that there is time for this?” Luna asked.

“Of course.” Celestia nodded. “I ensured that most of my duties were taken care of before I departed Canterlot. All I have left to do before the Celebration begins is rehearsal, and we cannot do that until they’ve finished decorating the stage.”

“I suppose.”

“Besides, after last year, I am quite sure that Twilight has already taken care of nearly everything, including things that she wasn’t assigned to begin with. It’s only right that I try to take something off of her plate.”

“I suppose. She did appear quite… stretched when I saw her.”

“I haven’t seen her yet today, but I’m certain that this is quite the understatement. Besides, after last year, even if something does go wrong, it probably won’t be a big deal. Everypony will just be glad that Equestria wasn’t almost destroyed.”

“As ever, you know how to find the silver lining.”

“After a thousand years of ruling a country, you take what you can get.” She paused, noting the column of smoke on the horizon. “Do I even want to know what that is?”

Luna shrugged. “A fireworks test, I believe.”

“I didn’t think that a fireworks show was part of the program this year.”

“Ah.” Luna looked away sheepishly. “I...may have made some small alterations. Nothing that changes the sequence of the presentation, of course. Have I overstepped my bounds?”

“Not at all.” Celestia shook her head. “Fireworks are great! If anything I was afraid that this year’s festival might have been a little too calm.”

“THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE DEMANDS AN AUDIENCE WITH THE PRINCESS.”

Trixie made a valiant effort to push her way through the line of Royal Guards that had been escorting the Princesses toward the town square, but found herself pushed back.

“Can’t see the princesses without an appointment,” the guard said wearily.

“Fine! The Great and Powerful Trixie will see only one Princess, then.”

“Uh…” The guards looked at each other. “I’m pretty sure you still need an appointment for that.”

“Trixie did not need an appointment earlier today!”

The guards looked at each other again.

Celestia nudged her sister. “So how long do you plan on letting your guards deal with her? I admit it is somewhat entertaining, but we really do have things to do.”

“I suppose so.” Luna cleared her throat. “You may stand down and let her pass,” she announced. “I will see her. Briefly.”

Trixie snorted before trotting past them. As she approached the Princesses, she paused to give a customary and exceptionally quick bow. She opened her mouth for another declaration, but noting that she now faced two alicorns, she thought better of it and simply took a confident pose.

“As you have no doubt guessed,” Luna said, “this is the Great and Powerful Trixie. I have given her special permission to put on a magic show for everypony as they are waiting for the celebration to begin.”

“Ah, yes. Twilight has written all about you in her letters.” Celestia extended a hoof to Trixie. “It is a pleasure to finally meet you.”

“Is that… so?” Trixie deflated slightly as she accepted Celestia’s hoof.

“What is the reason for your… visit?” Luna asked.

“A… mishap has resulted in the Great and Powerful Trixie’s supply of fireworks being… er…”

“Blown up?” Celestia suggested.

“Yes. The small amount remaining is hardly sufficient for an adequate performance, and Trixie does not have the funds needed to purchase more. The lack of pyrotechnics will ruin the quality of Trixie’s show!”

“I understand,” Luna said, nodding. “While the budget allotment for the festival does not allow me to give you any further funds, but I am given to understand that Ponyville has a store of fireworks set aside for various events. Perhaps if you were to talk to the Mayor, she may be able to provide you with any spare materials.”

“I see,” Trixie said, clearly disappointed to not be handed everything, but still glad that she had gotten some help. “In that case, Trixie will go to her. Trixie is indebted to your for your assistance.” She spun around and galloped back toward Town Hall before either princess could change their mind.

“Twilight wasn’t joking about her tendency to speak in third person,” Celestia remarked. “I must say, I’m quite interested in seeing how her show will turn out.”

“I thought you would be.”

“The Mayor, on the other hand…”

---

“Watch out! Cheese coming through! Everypony out of the way!”

The crowd scattered as the massive wheel of cheese rolled down the center of the street. Twilight galloped after it, with Spike clinging on for dear life. Ponies dove out of the way as the massive cylinder crushed everything in its path.

“Why did you roll it so fast?!” Spike said, trying to maintain his grip.

“I didn’t! Twilight answered angrily between breaths. “It started speeding up on its own! The road must be sloped!”

“Why couldn’t you just teleport it!”

“After what happened to the cakes? No way! I might accidentally smoosh somepony!”

“Well, can’t you at least use your magic to slow it down a little?”

“Easier said than done! I can’t just ignore the laws of physics! That cheese wheel probably weighs almost a ton! It would take a lot of energy to stop it!”

“So what do we do?”

“Try to keep anypony from getting run over. Watch out!”

More ponies scrambled out of the way. Unfortunately, one of them was towing a massive fruit cart. He sighed in resignation as the enormous dairy product bore down on him.

“Gah!” Twilight instinctively grabbed at the cheese. She felt its weight pull at her. It was impossible to stop; or even to fully grasp with her telekinesis. Instead, the magic latched on to the edge. The cheese rolled on, but in a slightly different direction. It clipped the edge of the cart as it rolled past, leaving it intact. The cart pony blinked in surprise as Twilight and Spike chased the cheese down the street.

“That’s it!” Twilight exclaimed. “I might not be able to stop it, but we can steer it enough to make sure it doesn’t hit anything important! Town Hall is almost a straight shot from here! We’ll just let the cheese move itself!”

“That’s a great idea!” Spike nodded in approval as Twilight began to maneuver the cheese so that it wasn’t headed straight towards the lines of booths set up along the road to the square. “Only one problem.”

“What’s that?”

“How do we stop it once we get to Town Hall?”

“Uh… Too late!” The cheese had arrived. Twilight gave it a final magic poke, sending it in the direction of the stairs leading into Town Hall’s main entryway. “Everypony watch out!”

The cheese rolled up the stairs, carried by momentum. It slowed slightly as it ascended. But only slightly. It maintained more than enough speed to ramp off the top of the stairs, bounce off the top of the doorway, and barrel into the hall with a loud crash.

Twilight and Spike cringed as the cheese vanished from sight. A variety of unpleasant sounds echoed from within.

“Rarity’s not going to be happy about that,” Spike said.

Twilight just sighed. “At least it’s here…”

Comments

[Yami Vizzini]

Ah well, at least they’re managing to pull some things together.