I Think It's Called Ponytown

by Lasairfion

For Ages 3+ Does not include Figurines

Scarcity was slightly more convinced by Rainbow's story. Rainbow could tell. It seemed that Pinkie's breakdown over puddings and buns had started to convince her friend that something was indeed amiss. Rainbow could also tell that Scarcity's usual pace of trotting had been hurried a little, as if the polish from her hooficure was less important now.

As they cantered through the town, Rainbow looked at each of the ponies they passed. There was that feeling of familiarity and yet each encounter was tinged around the edges with just a modicum of uncertainty. Like how finding half a cockroach in the bottom of your noodles put you at unease about the rest of your dinner. Particularly about where the other half of the cockroach now was.

There was Carrot Top, selling carrots, which made sense of course. But there was the nagging feeling that this wasn't actually her name. The flower sisters were also at their stall, selling baking ingredients. Obviously the Buns needed somewhere to get their supplies from, but Rainbow couldn't quite understand why three ponies with flowers for cutie marks were selling strong, plain and self-raising.

A grinning pony rushed past on her way to the Dentistry Office where she worked as an assistant. Rainbow struggled to recall her name at all. For someone with an hour glass on her butt, she seemed to be running very late.

As they turned down a side street they passed the Distinguished Furniture Society building; a huge warehouse with giant plate-glass windows, showing off an assortment of striking designer sofas and king sized futons; and on the other side of the road was the Honourable Partnership Stationery Supplies Consortium with their stylised quill logo.

They made good time to the castle and with perfect timing to just avoid the start of what appeared to be a small downpour. The large doors to the building were opened by a small red and gold dragon. Dragons were very lucky, and especially in this colour palette.

"Hello Point", said Rainbow.
"Hello Rainbow, Scarcity", said Point, the magic dragon, turning to each in turn.
Scarcity leaned down. "How is my dear Pointy Wointy then?" she exclaimed. Point blushed.

"Scarcity. You're all embarrassing him again", said Rainbow, who clearly had no patience for Scarcity leading the poor drake on all the time. She looked over at Point. "Is Twilight in? We really gotta talk to her."

"Er, well.. she's in the library", replied the dragon. "But we're having a bit of a problem."

As they trotted through the foyer, Point kept glancing up at the ceiling as if he expected it to come down around his ears. Rainbow, noticing his discomfort, stopped walking.

"What's up, Point? she said, pointedly, gesturing at him with her hoof. Point pointed at the wall and then cast his claw across the ceiling.

Now that Rainbow looked, she noticed a huge seam running up the wall, across the roof and down the other side. Water was starting to drip in from the rainfall, and wet the cold, hard crystal floors. On the far wall, the seam was interrupted by what could only be described as a series of giant hinges. "It wasn't like this a few hours ago, I swear", said Point. "I mean who'd live in a giant castle that was split in two? Twilight is trying to fix it, but now it's raining and...." He stopped. "The books!"

Point pelted across the floor, down the hallway and raced into the large library followed swiftly by the two ponies. Twilight was awash with purple magic as shields erupted over shelving stacks, umbrellas burst into being, unfurling across tables and soft furnishings, and waves of anti-cloud magic burst out in expanding rings against the encroaching rain clouds in the vicinity of the castle.

Levitating high in the air, her eyes glowing a bright white, a huge corona erupted from her horn and a searing wash of heat rippled across the air. There was the smell of burning socks, and crystal melted and fused across the gaps in the castle infrastructure.

Rainbow could taste metal and wondered if she'd accidentally bitten her tongue. She raced forwards on her wings, just in time to catch an unconscious Twilight as she plummeted towards the hard unyielding ground. Clutching her stricken friend, Rainbow wondered how she knew what burning socks smelled like. I mean, ponies barely even wore socks.

---

Mr Han was very good at his job. As Chief Engineer for this factory he was very proud of his ability to keep his machines in tip top condition, running at full steam through all the hours, with very little downtime indeed. He had built up a good team of highly qualified engineers who knew each machine inside-out.

All this did not explain why the new Ostentatious Sparkle Castle with Opening Action and Light Up Thrones seemed to all be permanently fused shut along the seam. Three engineers had checked the laser cutters, and the programmers had gone through the coding six times now. All the measurements were correct, and the laser should have easily cut through the soft moulded plastic. It was turning out to be one of those days. He just knew it.

---

Twilight's nose twitched. She sat up suddenly and for a moment wondered where she was; then realised that she was still in the library but wrapped in a cocoon of pillows, rugs and throws. Scarcity put the smelling salts away.

"Here, darling, have a little water", said Scarcity, holding out a glass. Rainbow could tell that the clothier was calculating in her mind's eye the rapidly increasing cost of the spa trip that this day was causing. Rainbow snerked to herself. "You look totally wrecked Twilight", she laughed, "but that was so awesome."

Twilight groaned, as Scarcity tutted at Rainbow. "Honestly Rainbow", she said. "You could have a little sympathy for Twilight here."
"I couldn't lose all the books again", gasped Twilight, having tree-related flashbacks. "Nothing is going to take my home away from me!"
"There, there, Twilight", said Scarcity, patting her friend gently with a hoof, "everything is going to be just fine now."

Twilight looked up at her friend. "Rarity... why are you pink?"

Comments

[Irrespective]

"Here, darling, have a little water", said Scarcity, holding out a glass. Rainbow could tell that the clothier was calculating in her mind's eye the rapidly increasing cost of the spa trip that this day was causing. Rainbow snerked to herself. "You look totally wrecked Twilight", she laughed, "but that was so awesome." Twilight groaned, as Scarcity tutted at Rainbow. "Honestly Rainbow", she said. "You could have a little sympathy for Twilight here." "I couldn't lose all the books again", gasped Twilight, having tree-related flashbacks. "Nothing is going to take my home away from me!" "There, there, Twilight", said Scarcity, patting her friend gently with a hoof, "everything is going to be just fine now." Twilight looked up at her friend.

May I humbly suggest throwing in either a space or an indent with each new paragraph? Makes it a bit easier to read.

And take that, Mr. Han! The magic of friendship wins yet again!

[Lasairfion]

8674940
It turns out that the auto-formatting on publish eats the indents at the start of paragraphs. I've tried to add a few extra lines between paragraphs instead.

[Zaten the Changeling]

There was Carrot Top, selling carrots, which made sense of course. But there was the nagging feeling that this wasn't actually her name. The flower sisters were also at their stall, selling baking ingredients. Obviously the Buns needed somewhere to get their supplies from, but Rainbow couldn't quite understand why three ponies with flowers for cutie marks were selling strong, plain and self-raising.

i have never once both adored and HATED someone for a pun as much as i do you, author person. good job. i am proud, and appalled.