Party Time
After a couple blocks, Twilight glanced over her shoulder. Confident that she was not about to get foalnapped again, she slowed down. Her face was still flushed heavily from the attention that had been lavished upon her, and she admittedly felt better than she had before.
She took a deep, calming breath. “Spike, what's next on the list?”
Spike cleared his throat as he was snapped out of his reverie by the sound of his name2. He pulled the scroll from his backpack and trailed a claw down it. “Uh, music! It's the last one!”
At a fairly sedate pace they approached the parkland making up the other half of Ponyville's center, moving towards what sounded like a flock of birds attempting to sing fanfare. They broke out of the bushes into a secluded grove, where a butter-yellow pegasus pony made conducting motions with her forehooves before an orchestra of songbirds of all sizes.
The pair listened in silence until the birdsong died away, leaving the grove quiet aside from the wind. Twilight cleared her throat and approached, waving a hoof to get the pony's attention. “Hello!”
The pony's reaction wasn't dissimilar to that of her birds, all of whom gave startled squeaks and squawks and flew off in a scatter. The pony's wings clamped to her sides and she landed, staring at the ground. Twilight swallowed a lump in her throat.
“I didn't mean to frighten your birds. I'm just here to check up on the music and it's sounding beautiful. I'm Twilight Sparkle.
What's your name?”
The pony scuffed a hoof on the ground and mumbled something. Twilight put on her best friendly smile and leaned in, perking her ears to hear easier.
“I'm sorry, what was that?”
The response was for the pony to shrink back a little bit, her voice growing even quieter if such a thing was possible, before letting out a helpless squeak. Twilight blinked, letting the stupid grin fall off her face as she watched the birds return and settle back on the pony before her. She scuffed a hoof across the pleasantly soft grass and puffed her cheeks out.
“I can understand social anxiety. I used to have a few close friends, but then something bad happened and we drifted apart. Your birds are back and the music sounds lovely, so I guess I'll leave you be.”
She turned and started to take a step, not noticing the way the pony's eyes sparkled when she noticed Spike riding on her back.
She definitely noticed the sweetly soft and slightly breathless voice of the pony Dapplering up at high speed. “A baby dragon! Oh, I've never seen a baby dragon before. He's sooo cute!”
Spike smirked at his older sister, who rolled her eyes as she started to walk back in the direction of the library. He leaned across Twilight's haunches until his nose nearly touched the suddenly sociable pony's. “I'm Spike.”
The pony took flight, her voice taking on a suddenly giddy tone. “Hi Spike, I'm Fluttershy. Wow, a talking dragon! And what do dragons talk about?”
Twilight groaned and tried her best to tune out their inane chatter as she trudged along.
Sunset's ears twitched as she heard the door chime jingle. She poked her nose out of the cellar stairwell and crossed the main reading room, leaning to check the door. She grunted and re-locked it.
“I know there's no way that you finished the whole list in less than half an hour, Twilight.”
She spun around at the quiet clatter of somepony attempting to sneak, and cocked her head when she found nopony there. She cleared her throat and made a point of staring ahead, grabbing a couple books in a telekinetic field and directing them towards their spots on the shelves. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed a blur of motion.
When she turned, she noticed that a banner now stretched across the reading room where it would be easily visible from the doorway, with “Welcome To Ponyville” daubed on it in Earthen Ponish runic script.
She cleared her throat and closed her eyes, stabbing around at random with telekinesis. Her efforts were rewarded with the loud thump of somepony suddenly no longer moving at speed, and a slightly squeaky “oof”.
She opened her eyes and stared down at the tangle of limbs before her. The other pony gathered herself up and smiled sheepishly.
“Sorry I was trying to decorate without you noticing. You must be Sunset Shimmer, I'm Pinkie Pie.”
Sunset narrowed her eyes and reached to grasp one of Pinkie's hooves. “Charmed. What are you doing here?”
The pink pony smiled sunnily as she shook the offered hoof. “Well see I bumped into Twilight as she was coming out of here and I thought she seemed lonely and like she didn't really have a place so then I thought I could show her that we'd welcome her here and that Ponyville could be her place so then I decided that I could throw a simultaneous ‘Welcome to Ponyville' and Night Watch party and so then I asked around where Twilight would be saying but Applejack said she didn't know and Rarity didn't know and Rainbow Dash was taking a nap but they all agreed to stall her while I got ready and Mayor Mare said she knew but made me promise not to break anything or make too much of a mess so I came over here to set up for Twilight's party so she could see that she had lots and lots of new friends to make here in Ponyville.”
Sunset blinked under the high-pitch, high-volume, rapidfire chatter. She took a deep, calming breath, and sat down, mental machinery chugging to parse through the pony's spiel. “Oh...kay. That all makes a certain kind of sense, I guess. Twilight could definitely use a boost since she thinks I don't believe her.”
Pinkie cocked her head, looking up from the task of spreading a cloth on the low central table of the reading room and setting up snacks and drinks. “Believe her about what?”
Sunset breathed out. “That Nightmare Moon is returning, tonight.”
Pinkie shook her head and smiled even wider than she had before, until her head seemed about to unhinge. Her voice dropped into the rolling rumble of Plain. “Keep ye the Watch of Nights. In the thousandth year of Sol Invicta, on the Longest Night, verily shall she make her Return. Yon stars shall loose her bonds, and she shall bring with her the wings of Nighttime Eternal.”
Sunset was impressed. She smiled a little and laid out a star chart she'd been in the process of concealing. “One interpretation is that these four stars are what the myth means. Tonight they shall align behind the Moon for the first time in one thousand years. Hopefully nothing happens and it's all just an old mare's tale.”
Pinkie nodded to herself as she watched Sunset roll up and put away the star chart. She shrugged a little and shoved her nose back into her saddlebags, rooting around for a moment. There was a clink of glass as she withdrew two bottles of cider and set them on the table.
“Well there's not much use in worrying about maybes! Que sera sera, either she Returns or she doesn't. Do you want to help me set up for Twilight's surprise party?”
Sunset almost answered in the negative. Her thoughts rolled back to a music box and the tiny dancer within, and the expression of unbridled joy on Twilight's face that had been missing for years.
“I think that between us, we can make this a Night Watch to remember.”
Twilight grumbled but bore the brunt of the chattering going on behind her. Not a minute too soon, the trio came across the front steps of the library tree, and she paused before it, turning and putting on her sweetest tone. “I am so sorry, how did we get here so fast? This is where I'm staying while in Ponyville and my poor baby dragon needs his sleep.”
Spike managed to get out a grumble about how he didn't really, before Twilight shifted her weight and dropped him bodily to the ground. He glared daggers and she smirked as she lifted him up with her nose. “Aww, wook at dat, he's so sweepy he can't even keep his widdle bawance!”
Fluttershy gasped and swooped in, gathering him up into her forelegs and cradling him against her barrel. “Poor thing, you simply must get into bed!”
Twilight cleared her throat and snatched him up in a field, drawing him back onto her withers. She opened the door behind herself and backed inside, hoping that the pegasus could take the hint. “Yes, yes, we'll get right on that. Well, g'night!”
Fluttershy looked like she was about to say something or offer assistance, just as the door slammed in her face. Twilight was struck by a sudden thought that the door made her really angry, but she couldn't put her hoof on why.
Spike raised an eyebrow. “Huh. Rude much?”
Twilight planted her forehead against the door and sighed. “Sorry, Spike, but I have to convince the Princess and my mom that Nightmare Moon is coming, and we're running out of time! I just need to be alone so I can study without a bunch of crazy ponies trying to make friends all the time. Now, where's the light…?”
She groped in the growing darkness of Nightfall, until her hoof struck the sturdy metal button that would click on the lights. She was grateful that this small town at least had electric lighting available. The lights came on with a cheerful snap, and she turned to face the reading room.
She managed about half a second of surprise before she was assaulted with a wave of sound, a crowd of ponies all shouting Surprise!
The loudest and most enthusiastic culprit was a mass of Pink right in front of her face. As Twilight gritted her teeth and pushed towards the crowd, the pony followed her, at one point cycling around in front and bringing their noses close enough to almost touch.
“I'm Pinkie Pie, and I threw this party just for you! Were you surprised?”
Twilight rolled her eyes as she folded her ears against the din of music and ponies in cheerful conversation. “Very surprised. Libraries are supposed to be quiet.”
Pinkie Pie blinked slowly, but stayed welded to her side. “Well, that's silly! What kind of welcome party would this be if it were quiet? I mean, duh, bo-ring! Y'see, I saw you when you first got here, remember? You were all "hello" and I was all,” her face warped in an expression of comical surprise, and she seemed to gasp in all the air in the room. “Remember? Y'see I've never saw you before except from your picture at the Foal’s Home and if I've never saw you before that means you're new, 'cause I know everypony, and I mean everypony in Ponyville!”
Twilight groaned and did her best to ignore the chatter building speed and volume directly into her left ear. She could actually feel brain cells dying. She glared at Sunset, who smiled back at her. She grabbed a bottle at random from the table and began pouring a cup, praying for alcohol.
“And if you're new, that meant you haven't met anyone yet, and if you haven't met anyone yet, you must not have any friends, and if you don't have any friends then you must be lonely, and that made me so sad, then I had an idea, and that's why I gasped so loud! I must throw a great big ginormous super-duper spectacular welcome party and invite everyone in Ponyville! See? And now you have lots and lots of friends, and your mom even helped!”
Twilight managed about one deep sip that drained about half her cup before her brain really engaged. Her tongue was overwhelmed by the taste of apples, but also fire. She gagged and coughed, feeling her face redden.
Applejack slapped her on the withers and chuckled dryly. “Are you all right, sugarcube?”
Twilight gasped for air and raced off up the stairs into the librarian's apartment, tears streaming from her eyes.
Pinkie smiled and congratulated herself on a job well done. “Aww, she's so happy she's crying!”
Spike picked up the bottle that Twilight had dropped, squinting at the curling script printed on the label. "Granny Smith's Special Liniment, one hundred ninety proof. What's that mean?”
Pinkie's eyes widened, and her ears drooped a bit as she began to panic. Applejack chuckled.
“Special reserve, brought out jus for Miss Twilight's party. Granny credits her livin so long ta swillin a big cup every day. Put some fluff on yer barrel.”
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Interesting change here. You have Luna coming back at a different time then in the show. If my memory serves me correctly it was during the longest day Nightmare Moon would return not the longest night.
LOL! What that means is that Scotty could use that in scrubbing the Warp Core Conduits and it still be potent enough to trash a Klingon with two mugs
9368346
It originally was a memory derp and then it just kinda stuck.
9368347
It's also spiced!
90 proof?! That is some strong stuff that will burn the hair on your chest and have it regrow
9368349
190 proof, or 95% alcohol. It's applejack, i.e. apple moonshine.
9368351
it will still burn the hair off your chest and have it regrow and maybe your throat as well
9368353 You could use it to launch rockets.
Sunset Shimmer, momtroll.
9368387
Makes sense when you consider her adoptive mom is Celestia.
9368353 9368380 It strips paint, removes rust, kills weeds and pests, cleans public toilets,and will make you grow BEARD the size of Texas... Still no word on it's effects on Chuck Norris.
9368348
Considering that the longest night is the first day of winter, why are they still setting up for Summer Sun? Why not something like Winter Moon or something?
Does this mean that she'll start telling ponies she's a Grimm bloody fable with an unhappy, bloody end?
Only now did I realize that "Plain Ponies" could qualify as a pun. And that's pretty shameful for a Magic player.
What TV-Y doesn't let you see.
It'll be interesting to see how Sunset handles both reclusive Twilight and Celestia's abduction. She definitely won't take the latter sitting down.
9368407
It's the source of his power.
9368420
Dealing with a cosmology in which the sun rises manually from the west. AKA "magic, don't gotta explain shit"
9368424
I don't follow.
9368461
Funnily enough I was just wrapping up typing out Sunset's response at the second you were posting this comment.
It's dialogue from "Meet The Demoman" from TF2. Demo's known for being four things:
1) being black.
2) being Scottish
3) having an eye removed by an evil wizard
4) being drunk off his ass most of the time.
The one time someone tried feeding Demo solid food and water, his body reacted as if it had been poisoned....
9368351 9368353
I can attest that applejack is not 190 proof; you can’t concentrate alcohol that much using freeze distillation. Granny Smith’s liniment, however, is clearly blended with other things (including the aforementioned moonshine) to give it that kick she needs to keep going, so that point is moot!
I can also attest that an applejack hangover is one of the worst things you can ever experience specifically because it’s freeze distilled.
Sunset is to observant for ninjas.
Reminds me of the one and only time I tried a shot of straight Everclear, never again.
Love how Sunset was so calm, when Pinkie broke in the library!
Oh, Twi gonna be SO drunk and SO soon...
So, would that mean that Pinkie's favorite beverage may not be "hot sauce"?
Either way, that was an amusing diversion from canon.
Poor Nightmare will never know what hit her, given that Hungover Twilight is going to be her opponent here...
So, now Twilight will have a fluffy barrel and dapples? <dies of the adorables>
Sounds a lot like Granny Aching's Special Sheep Liniment...
9376858
This AU Twilight is approved by the Multiverse Board of Twilight Approvers. You may collect your authentic seal of approval in person at the Nexus of Worlds. Try not to lose track of your portal home, because MBTA is not responsible for travelers permanently lost in interdimensional space.
9375299
Well, you can't do actual booze in a TV-Y show, so "hot sauce" may have been the next best thing...
9384322
so that request for a ride home was submitted for no reason? damn. my world was full of awesome robots, jetpacks, and flying cars. and Stan Lee lived to 155. that last one alone makes my world better than this one. kinda boring watching all the movies i have already seen while listening to people (poorly) guess what will happen next.
9384322
I've only just now realized the riff on the MBTA. Do you enjoy the time of night where all life stops waiting for the streetcars to catch up to the schedule too?