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Prologue1,418 words
The Friendship Festival1,887 words
The Fall of Canterlot2,078 words
The quest begins1,056 words
LUNA falls1,160 words
Klugetown1,406 words
Escape from Klugetown1,798 words
Battle above the Clouds1,709 words
LUNA Reclaimed1,431 words
Seaquestria1,740 words
Under the Waves870 words
Lost and Found812 words
The Battle for Canterlot-part 11,456 words
The Battle for Canterlot, part 21,919 words
Epilogue529 words
Credits299 words

The Friendship Festival

9 days earlier...

It was a truly glorious day in Equestria. The sun shone, the sky was (almost) completely clear, and everywhere you looked happiness abounded. And there was good reason for this happiness, for it was the day of the Friendship Festival, when Equestria’s most prized commodity and export was celebrated in all its glory.

Canterlot, the capital, was absolutely packed. It was full, and I mean FULL, of ponies of all species, colours, trades, and nationalities. The reputation of this festival was such that even foreign dignitaries did attend at times (though that time when the Griffon King had attended had nearly ended badly, as some of his delegation got drunk and ended up in a brawl with ERA troops). Nontheless, it was a happy occasion.

Canterlot was a truly massive city. Built upon a cliff edge, it had towering spires, streets full of half-timbered homes with thatched roofs, and wide thoroughfares to allow carriages through. There was also a railway station that got horribly crowded due to the fact it only had one platform.

On this most auspicious of days, Spike the Dragon was doing a supply run of important papers. He ran through the crowd, jumping off of objects and pushing through the throngs of ponies.

“Excuse me!” he shouted breathlessly. “Dragon on the move! Important Princess documents coming through!”

Nearby, two ponies were having a chat. “Wow!” said a white mare with red mane. “Everypony from here to Saddle Arabia is here!”

“I know, filly,” her friend replied. “We almost couldn’t book a stable!”

Up above them, two pegasi were also having a conversation.

“Princess Twilight must have her hooves full with this giant festival!” said the first, with lavender fur and purple mane.

“Are you kidding?” said the other, a yellow mare with brown mane. “She’s smart and organised, and cool under pressure! There’s nothing she can’t handle.”

Above the city, dominating the skyline, was a massive castle, constructed entirely of white brick, with stained glass windows and vast, vaulting roofs. The roof itself was plated with gold, such so that when the sunlight hit it (which occurred at least once every 24 hours, assuming a certain somepony wasn’t trolling people), it glowed brightly, a glorious beacon to all below.

Princess Twilight Sparkle

Princess of Friendship, Equestrian Royal Family

October 6^th, 007 SLR

Twilight sat there in the room of stained-glass windows, reflecting to herself. Eventually, she snapped out of it. “Oh, my goodness, I can’t handle this!” she exclaimed. “Nothing is working! I just need to get it together.” She started pacing up and down the room frantically. “Just go in there, and ask! This is your Friendship Festival! Everypony’s happiness rests in your hooves!” She sighed in frustration.

Spike suddenly appeared from behind her, entering through the door. “OK Twilight, got all your charts and graphs.”

“Oh, thank goodness you’re here Spike! I’m just so nervous about this meeting!”

“Whatcha talkin’ about?” Spike seemed perplexed.

Twilight sighed. “I’m about to ask the 3 most Royal Princesses a huge favour! What if they reject me?”

“It’ll be fine,” Spike said reassuringly. “Just remember the most important thing.”

Twilight gave him a manic grin. “Smile?” she suggested.

Spike shuddered, remembering a certain incident with Pinkie Pie. “No,” he said. “Just remember that you are a Princess too!”

“Right!” Twilight exclaimed cheerfully. Lighting up her horn, she opened to door to the throne room of the Castle of the Two Princesses (which, given there were now 5, was in dire need of a rebrand).

It was constructed of blue marble, with Doric columns every 12 feet. Tapestries lined the walls, and there were stained glass windows (what else?) between each column. A massive window sat above two thrones, in front of which was a podium, with two ramps leading down to the floor. Two murals, representing the sun and moon, stood above the thrones. And in the centre of the chamber, 3 of the 4 other princesses of Equestria stood, ready to hear Twilight’s suggestions.

Princess Celestia

Princess of the Sun and Diarch of Equestria, Equestrian Royal Family, Raiser of the Sun, Saviour of the People, Etc. Etc.

Celestia smiled as she saw Twilight approach. It had been so little time since she had sent the Unicorn to Ponyville, and look how far she had come! Amongst other things, she had saved Equestria countless times, saved Luna from herself, stopped Chrysalis, prevented time from being re-written, and countless other claims to fame to lengthy too list here.

Twilight spoke up as she entered the chamber. “Good morning Princesses!” she called. “I have an idea that will make the Friendship Festival the most wonderful celebration Equestria has ever seen!”

“Yes Twilight,” Celestia said, in her level tone of voice which permeated nearly every thought, word, and deed of hers. “We are very excited.”

Cadence spoke up to her left. “Ponies have been arriving from all over this morning!”

Luna cleared her throat. “I’d like to think it is us they have come to see, but I get the impression that Songbird Serenade is the star attraction!” She turned her attention to Cadence. “Which reminds me, who is looking after Flurry Heart given you are here and Shining Armor is overseeing security arrangements?”

“We got a foalsitter,” Cadence replied.

“Right,” Luna answered, not entirely convinced.

“Anyway!” said Twilight. “Serenade is indeed the ‘mane’ event, if you’ll excuse the pun. And to make it extra special, I need your help!”

Spike suddenly appeared, wheeling in a massive whiteboard. On it was a diagram of the stage which had been built in the centre of the city.

Twilight suddenly launched off into a hopelessly complex mathematical equation. “Songbird Serenade's performance is not scheduled to start until after you begin the sunset. And based on my precise calculation, to get the very best lighting for the stage, Princess Celestia, I was hoping you could make sure the sun stays about 28.1º to the south, and, Princess Luna, if you could raise the moon 62º to the north at the same time, it would reflect the sunlight on the other side and really frame the entire stage perfectly!”

“I...”

“But wait!” Twilight interrupted, to prevent anybody else from butting in. “There's more! Cadence, if you could use your crystal magic to create an aurora above the stage, the sun and the moon will shine through it and create a truly amazing light show!”

Spike leaped on top of the whiteboard. “Presenting Songbird Serenade!” he exclaimed. It would have been perfect, were it not for him falling off it a moment later.

“So,” Luna started, sounding hopelessly confused. “you're saying you want us to move the Sun and the Moon for the Party.”

“Well, I’d do it myself, except I don’t have your magic.”

Celestia sighed. “Twilight, each of us uses our powers to serve Equestria in our own way. You are the Princess of Friendship. You have all the magic you need.”

“So, that would be a no?”

Princess Twilight Sparkle

Twilight stepped outside, a bit saddened her request had been turned down. Outside, she could see the preparations being made ready for the event.

Rainbow Dash blasted through another cloud. “Woohoo!” the blue pegasus cheered. “Sky’s cleared and ready for the festival!”

Pinkie Pie was busy blowing up balloons. Unfortunately, she filled one with far too much air, and it flew away from her at incredible speed. She charged after it, barrelling past Fluttershy and her chorus of birds. “heads up Fluttershy! Runaway balloon!”

Fluttershy sighed. “I don’t think the balloon’s out of control, Pinkie.”

Meanwhile, Applejack wandered into the square, pulling a huge cart with a giant barrel attached to the back. “Hey ya’ll!” she called. “Anypony up for some free samples of mah family's apple cider?”

Pinkie Pie flew over, completely oblivious to this fact.

No sooner had she said this, then Rainbow had grabbed a mug of it. “Thank you!” she called, returning the mug 4 seconds later. “Loved it!”

Rarity, meanwhile, was humming as she affixed gems to the side of the stage.

“Wow, Rarity,” Applejack said. “It’s a fine job you’re doin’ there. Course, it might not be finished till after the festival.”

Rarity snorted. “Applejack, darling, anypony can do ‘fine’. Twilight asked me, so clearly, she’s going for fabulous, and fabulous takes time.”

Rainbow Dash snorted. “Fabulous takes forever!” she laughed. Suddenly she flew forward and attached the remaining gems in a roughshod and chaotic fashion. “But awesome can get done in four seconds flat! Faster if I do my Sonic Rainboom! Ain’t that true Scootaloo?”

“Sure is Dash!” yelled a voice in the distance.

Rarity looked as if she was about to have a heart attack. “Don't you dare, Rainbow Dash! It looked wrecked enough already!” She started working on getting the gems correctly aligned.

“Oh come on, it’s fine!”

“If you were raised in a barn!” Rarity snapped. “Sorry Applejack.”

“None taken. Especially since Ah don’t live in a barn.” She paused. “Mah family just happens ta have a barn. Which Ah was born in. And..spent most of Mah formative years...”

“Raised in a barn!” Rainbow called.

Twilight spoke in order to break the chaos up. “OK, just 218 things to go and we’re ready.”

“Hey Twilight!” they all called together.

“Hello Spike!” called Rarity.

“Uh, hey Rarity,” Spike replied. He kept quiet the fact that he had a crush on her.

“How’d it go with the other princesses?” Applejack asked. “They like yer idea?”

“I bet they loved it!” exclaimed Pinkie.

Twilight sighed, and looked down. “Notg exactly. They think I can make today brilliant without their magic.”

“And they are absolutely right,” Rarity cut in. “This festival, or at least this incarnation of it, is your brilliant idea, and you’re up to the task!”

“But what if I’m not?” Twilight despaired. “What if Songbird Serenade hates the stage? Or nopony makes a new friend? If this fails, then who am I?”

Pinkie leapt into action, seeing that Twilight was on the verge of an existential crisis. “Twilight, look at me!” she cried. “This will be the biggest celebration Equestria has ever seen! As the Princess of Friendship, you cannot fail! This day will define who you are! The pressure is intense!” She suddenly shoved herself directly into Twilight’s face. “It's almost too much for any single pony to handle!”

Suddenly, Pinkie regained her composure. “But you have us, so stop worrying!”

Before Twilight knew what was happening, she was sucked into the air.

Twilight emerged looking a complete and utter mess. “Pinkie!” she yelled.

“Oopsie!” Pinkie laughed. “Guess my cake mortar needs fine tuning.”

Suddenly, a pair of security ponies pushed the crowd aside. “It’s Songbird Serenade!” somepony cried.

Songbird looked over with a smile. “Hi, I’m looking for the pony in charge. I need to do my sound check.”

Twilight lugged herself forward, looking mildly embarrassed. “Ms. Songbird Serenade? I was just going to check on you.” She laughed. “I’m Princess Twilight, and I’m sorry about the mess. I’m not normally-”

“Caked in cake?”

“Heh heh.” Twilight extended her hoof, and covered Serenade in cake!

“You have visual on buttercream?” asked one of the guards.

“Visual confirmed. Go for cleanup.”

The moment was suddenly interrupted by a rumbling sound, and black smoke in the sky...

Author's Note:

Well, there's the second chapter!

Shoutout goes to HCLegend for spotting the CoD references in the Prologue.

It is from here the formula shall deviate a bit from the film. Stay tuned, next chapters hopefully up tomorrow!

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