If Chaos prevails...

by The Marshmallow

4 - The choice - Preparations

The morning Sun shone brightly over the Towers of Canterlot. A bit too brightly, even. Making the Sun 10% bigger for the day was just Discord idea of a celebration, and although some farmponies would have to use much more water than usual, it was nothing too dramatic. If it wasn't for Pinkie Pie intervention, though, it would probably have been some 50% larger, with all its consequences.

For the pink pony, that was just one of the many labours of that very hectic week. Explaining to a few foreign delegate and messengers why he wouldn't consider some foreign noble as a spouse (Surprisingly, or maybe not so surprisingly, many other princesses were interested in that kind of link with Equestria) wasn't easy. Explaining to some Councilmen from Canterlot why he wouldn't consider Cadence was even harder. The number of meetings she had that week was simply insane, as she also had to organize the following week celebrations and even arrange a few preliminary contacts for the wedding.

That day especially, exactly a week from the anniversary, she had to wake up at dawn. Just the time to have a quick shower and then she went to wake up Discord. Although he was a draconequus, and could go many days without any rest, he liked to sleep in until late every single day. Also, he didn't like was to be woken up early. Pinkie had even heard of some previous attendants turned into living clocks or pony-rosters hybrids after such attempts. Luckily she had her way with him and managed to defuse him easily and to receive all the necessary instructions. And then... He went to sleep again.

Her next duty was to quickly go to the palace's kitchens and make sure that enough breakfast was prepared. Not only all the cooks and maids had to collaborate, but also a few soldiers were needed in the colossal effort. Then she could go to the rooms that Discord poofed into existence the previous day, which lodged the plethora of possible brides or grooms that all the towns and cities in Equestria sent.

Waking them up was easy and quick for most. Staying in the royal palace, so close to the feared lord of the land, was quite enough for many to be on the edge. Others, instead, didn't hate the idea of meeting Discord at all. The chance of becoming the royal consort, even if the groom was supposedly a monster, was quite attractive for many members of the Canterlot nobility or of the Manehattan elite. They didn't stand a chance, Pinkie thought, taking a few notes about what she could observe. She hoped that it would help Discord with the choice later. She wanted all the process to go as smoothly as possible

"What do you mean she isn't up yet?" It wasn't meant to be, apparently. The Cloudsdale delegation was one of the first she went to call. One of the mares was having a hard time waking up. No big deal. She went to the other delegations and came back to them at last... But she was still sleeping. "I was here like fifteen minutes ago!"

"I... Uhm..." A yellow, very apologetic pony with a pink mane and a cute green dress was somehow the intermediary. Looking mostly at the ground and using a very soft-spoken tone she was trying to make excuses on behalf of her friend "I tried to wake her, but I really couldn't do it!"

Somehow, Pinkie didn't look surprised "Have you tried raising your voice a little?"

"Oh, I couldn't do that!" It seemed something impossible, almost an unfair request to her. She might have bothered someone, by doing so. "I..." When she raised her head to look at Pinkie's eyes, she revealed quite a beautiful appearance. Other delegations, especially from bigger cities, had a few celebrities and model... But few could even compare to her, especially as she sported absolutely no makeup. That was for the better, as that would probably soon be ruined. The yellow pony was apparently on the verge of crying "I'm very, very sorry... I wasn't good enough..."

"No, no... Don't worry." Somehow, now the Royal Advisor felt the need to comfort her, and was speaking with a very warm and friendly tone " It's not a Big deal yet!" Somehow, It felt surprisingly natural. Sure, Pinkie was always friendly with everypony. A great diplomat, even. But it felt especially easy to act friendly around her. It was even one of the names she most easily managed to memorize "Miss... Fluttershy, can I try?"

The same was true for the yellow pegasus, though. She felt somehow surprised at how easily she was talking with her (it might have seemed nothing, but those who knew here would have noticed) and at how easily Pinkie was calming her down. Fluttershy even managed to reply with a timid smile to the larger smile of the other "...Sure?" She replied, moving away from the door and leaving enough space for her to enter.

The interior of the room was made by Discord, and it showed. The only flat surfaces were the floor and the beds (for obvious functional necessities), everything else was made in odd, uneven shapes. That included tables, chairs and even the walls. As it was supposed to be a suite of the royal palace, also, the walls were full of the weirdest ornaments. Too full, probably, and many represented either discord himself in all different poses or strangely distorted (some might say abstract) figures. Basically, a toned-down version of Discord's bedroom. Did he want to have them get used to the idea?

Fluttershy was apparently the only pony to be completely ready (which was not surprising, as she wasn't using any makeup and her dress was really simple). Almost everyone else was trying their best to look pretty (or handsome). they were also doing a surprisingly good job, as all mirrors around the room seemed to have come straight from a funhouse. Two mares in a corner of the room were still trying their best to wake up their friend, although she was clearly resisting. Nobody had the courage to actually touch her, though. Maybe they feared her?

"Hello!" As Pinkie made a few steps into the room, every eye got on her. Even if she was calm and friendly, everyone instantly became extremely stiff. Like the previous day, nobody knew if they were supposed to kneel, or salute, or whatever else. "Don't mind me, I'm just here for her!" With a smile, she headed toward the sleeping mare, as all the others cautiously went back to their previous activities.

"Wake up, sleepyhead!" Playfully, Pinkie started to tease the mare a bit, using the hooves to poke her. Giving her a better look, she seemed to have quite the athletic body. A light blue fur, a rainbow-coloured mane (Discord might have liked it) and a cloud and lighting cutie mark. Weirdly, just like with Fluttershy, Pinkie immediately felt some kind of connection,

"Nnngh... Five more minutes" Still with her eyes closed, still trying to resist

"Let's go, it's a quarter past eight already!" the poking became a bit more aggressive

"Too early!"

Pinkie stopped for a moment, her tone getting more serious "You know, I didn't want to get to this... But you are making everything so difficult..."

With a quick gesture, the pink pony she took something from deep inside her poofy mane and got closer to the rainbow-maned mare. Without skipping a beat, she started her vicious attack. For a moment, everypony else stood still. They were staring at the scene in disbelief.

"Ahahahahahaha!" With two feathers Pinkie was tickling every sensitive part of the mare, exploring the weakest points of her body. She was somehow methodical, and her action was getting more effective by the moment "Anf... S-stop! Ah ah!"

"No can do!" She went on relentlessly, insensitive to her pleading. Even as Rainbow uncontrolled movements started becoming a potential hazard for those too close to her, Pinkie managed to stay out of danger and continue her offensive. "Just get up!"

"Ah ah ah! Ok!" The point was definitely getting across "Ok, just stop!"

As Rainbow Dash's eyes were now fully open, Pinkie finally stopped. The feathers went back to their hiding places "Okie dokie loki!"

It took a few moments to the pegasus to fully realize the situation, and to notice that the one waking him up (quite effectively she had to admit) was none other than the Royal Advisor. "Y-You?" her eyes were wide open in disbelief. She couldn't even contemplate an Equestrian official behaving like that, especially the spokesmare of the feared ruler.

As Pinkie Pie started trotting out of the room, she turned to the pegasus and smiled "You know, Rainbow Dash..." She remembered her name, apparently. Given the hair colour, it was actually an easy association "I'm not 'you'..." And apparently would have liked her to do the same "I'm Pinkie!" And then give her a nice wink.

Rainbow blinked twice, perplexed, but managed to answer "O... Ok. Pinkie..."

"Now, everypony get ready! Some nice pancakes are waiting!" And then she started trotting again out of the room, with everyone a bit more relaxed and a lot more confused than they were before. Fluttershy instead gave her just a well-deserved look full of gratitude.

On the contrary, Rainbow Dash just rubbed her eyes a bit, yawned and passed a hoof through her unruly mane. Then she just started walking out of the room, too "I'm always ready!"

Author's Note:

initially, I hadn't planned this chapter and was thinking to go right into the selection part... But showing all of Pinkie preparation at the start of that chapter would mess up the pacing a bit. So I took the chance to show Pinkie at work and give Fluttershy and Rainbow a bit of an introduction.
If you thought this was boring, don't worry. next chapter should be more exciting

With love,
The Marhsmallow

Comments

[Justanotherstory26]

ok

[PaintedPony]

It wasn't "boring" more players were being introduced and it's kinda nice to see Rainbow is still Rainbow.