Wool of Magic

by Zeprto678

The Test of Loyalty

Melon looked around and noticed that she wasn’t in Ponyville anymore.

“What the…? Where did that little fluff ball send me to?!” asked the melon pony, angrilly.

Melon looked around to see that she was in some sort of luxurious, tropical-themed hotel.

“I’m in a hotel? But there are no hotels in Ponyville,” melon pony remarked. “I better go look through a window and see where I am.”

The melon pony turned around until she saw a nearby window and trotted over to it. Once Melon was there, she looked through it to see that she was not just on the second floor.

Melon was surprised. “What the…? Where is everypony?” questioned the melon pony.

She had looked in all of the directions beyond the window, but there wasn’t a single pony in sight. The city, or at least the part of the city Melon was in looked empty.

“Either this city is abandoned, or everypony is hiding inside. Either way, I need to find somepony,” said the melon pony. “I should go check out the front desk or the Manager’s Office. Somepony has to be there.”

She started trotting down the hall, looking for the stairs.

An angry thought came to Melon’s mind. “Ugh! I can’t believe he would do that to us!” she shouted. A frown appeared on the melon pony’s face. “I don’t get it. It’s like he wanted to sacrifice his own life to defeat Nightmare Moon while sending us all off somewhere far away from Ponyville. Didn’t he believe in us?” Melon sighed. “I guess I’ll ask him when I get the chance. Right after I give him an earful.” Then, a determined look appeared on her face. “Knowing the others, they all must be heading to Ponyville as well so they could fight Nightmare Moon, so I should do the exact same thing as well.”

---

A Few Minutes Later

After reaching the steps and going down them, and continuing down even more hallways, she arrived at the Lobby.

Melon sighed. “Finally,” muttered the melon pony, relieved.

She was lucky as sitting behind the front desk was a cheerful, adult pegasus mare reading a comic book of some kind. The melon pony trotted over to her and rang the bell.

DING!!!

The cheerful pegasus looked up from her comic book to see Melon standing there. The mysterious pony placed down the comic book while also making a mental note of which page she was on.

The cheerful pegasus smiled. “Welcome to the ‘Coconut Hotel’. How long are you planning to stay here for?” she asked, wondering.

“Sorry, but I’m not staying here. I’m actually here because of two things,” Melon informed. “One: I want to know where I am. And two: Which way’s the fastest route to Ponyville?”

The cheerful pegasus continued to smile. “You’re in the town known for its beautiful beach, and tasty seafood and pasta meals, ‘Seadrakewoolie’. As for your other question, I don’t know,” she answered. The cheerful pegasus then had a sad smile on her face. “The last time I went to Ponyville was back when I was a filly, and that was back when me and my parents were visiting a family friend.”

The melon pony looked frustrated. “Darn. Looks like I’m going to have to go outside and ask around then, which leads me to some more questions that I’m going to need answered,” she said.

The cheerful pegasus smiled again. “Well, I’m here to answer any questions you have,” she said.

Melon raised an eyebrow. “Well, where is everypony? I’ve looked out a few windows and I don’t see anypony outside,” she said, curious. “And the same could be said about the inside of this hotel too. I didn’t come across any of your staff or guests, while trotting around. I don’t even hear anything else either. No voices, hoofsteps, or anything.” This was not only confusing the melon pony, but it was also making her kind of worried.

“For your first question, it’s because there’s some important arcade game team championship tournament happening right now. Everypony in this city is attending the tournament as either competitors, or a part of the audience,” answered the cheerful pegasus.

“If everypony’s attending, then why are you here?” asked Melon, wondering.

She sighed. “I already went, but after I did some advertisement, sitting around doing nothing while other ponies played was just boring. So I decided to just head back to the hotel during the Quarterfinals and wait and see if anypony would be coming after the tournament ends,” answered the cheerful pegasus. She then chuckled. “I hope my favorite team wins though.”

“Hold on a sec. So, all of the staff and guests all went to see the tournament as well?” said the melon pony. She looked around. “I guess that’s why the hotel is empty.”

The cheerful pegasus shook her head. “Actually, that’s because it’s not officially open yet until I hire some staff for the hotel. Until then, I’m filling in as the front desk receptionist,” clarified the cheerful pegasus.

“Oh…Wait,” she said. Melon pointed a hoof at the cheerful pegasus. “Your hotel? Doesn’t that mean that you’re the–”

She smiled. “Owner? You got that right,” confirmed the cheerful pegasus. “My name is Coconut Sunshine, and welcome to my hotel.” Coconut Sunshine then trotted out from behind the desk, revealing that her Cutie Mark was a coconut with the rays of the sun around it. “You like it, huh?”

The melon pony ended up nodding, agreeing. It did look luxurious to her even though Melon hadn’t seen all of the hotel.

“I have to admit, it does look luxurious, especially with all of the furniture and decorations you have,” admitted the melon pony.

The cheerful pegasus smile widened. “Thanks. It took lots of hard work and determination to earn enough bits to even have this place built,” she answered. “I saved up tons of bits for years for my goal. I had to find cheap property to buy or rent, and when that didn’t work, I decided to just go around and see if anypony was selling their business that had a big enough space, but sold it at a price that I could afford. Once I found it, I had to pay some ponies to both tear it down, remodel the space, and build my five-floor hotel. Then-”

While Coconut Sunshine was explaining everything, Melon was starting to feel kind of sad on the inside as the melon pony realized that even if she had enough bits, Melon would need to do some of those things that the cheerful pegasus did just to have her Inn built, which would cost the melon pony even more bits and more than a year to acquire.

“And that’s about it,” finished the cheerful pegasus. “It cost me tons of bits and lots of years to achieve, but I obtained my dream in the end. What about you?”

Melon was snapped out of her thoughts.

“Huh?” said the melon pony, confused.

“What’s your dream?” asked Coconut Sunshine, wondering.

“Oh. My dream is to open up my own Inn in Ponyville,” answered Melon. She smiled, but there was a bit of hesitation in it. “So far, I’m still saving up some of my bits every month to go towards my dream, but I’ll get there eventually.”

The cheerful pegasus smiled. “Well, I’ll be here cheering you on,” said Coconut Sunshine.

The melon pony smiled back. “Thanks,” she said.

“No problem,” said the cheerful pegasus.

Coconut Sunshine tapped her own chin as the cheerful pegasus thought about something.

She decided to share what she was thinking with Melon. “You know, to tell you the truth, you’re actually the sixth to visit my hotel today. Just like you, these five were wondering where they were too,” Coconut Sunshine informed.

The melon pony perked up as soon as she heard that. Melon had a sneaking suspicion on who the other four were.

“Really?” asked the melon pony.

The cheerful pegasus nodded. “Yeah. They arrived in the lobby a few minutes before you did,” she informed. “Four of them were a group of ponies that arrived together. Two of them were pegasi, and the other two were unicorns. As for the last one, they arrived a minute before you did. It was some sheep wearing a cloak.”

Her suspicions were correct as the four that Coconut Sunshine was talking about were Melon’s friends.

“It seems they all ended up here at the hotel before I did, including Jasper,” she thought. Melon frowned. “Now I can meet up with the others and then question him on why he sent all of us here.” The melon pony looked at the cheerful pegasus, determined. “Where are my friends?”

She smiled. “Follow me,” said Coconut Sunshine.

The cheerful pegasus trotted away, while Melon followed after her. Coconut Sunshine grinned widely as she led Melon to the others.

“Too bad. I wanted to give her a tour of my entire hotel, but I guess I’ll have to show her the most important place of all instead,” thought the cheerful pegasus. “Let’s see what she’ll think once she sees the centerpiece of the room.”

---

One Minute Later

The two arrived at the Dining Area.

Melon gasped. “What the…?!” she said.

Up ahead in the dining area, there was a big cage, and inside of it were Melon’s friends and Solight, who were all restrained.

“Hold on. I’ll get you all out of there!” shouted the melon pony.

She galloped over to the cage, worried about them all and was about to touch it when Coconut stopped her.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you. That cage is electrically charged,” she warned. “One touch, and you’ll end up zapped.”

The melon pony looked at the cheerful pegasus, angrily. “Why would you do this to them?! Release them,” commanded Melon. “Now.”

She pretended to think about it. “Mmm, how about ‘no’ to releasing them? As for your question, I want your friends to work for me forever,” said Coconut Sunshine.

The cheerful pegasus reached under the table right next to her and pulled out a bag.

Coconut Sunshine grinned. “I’m offering one million bits to you to leave them here with me at my hotel. Not only that, but I’ll give you a map back to Ponyville,” offered the cheerful pegasus.

The melon pony gasped at the sound of the amount.

She nodded. “With this amount of bits, you’ll be able to build your Inn. Your dream will finally be achieved,” said the cheerful pegasus. “So, what do you say?”

Melon felt conflicted. Coconut Sunshine was right as the melon pony did need the bits to open up the Inn, but that would mean leaving her friends behind at the cheerful pegasus’ hotel. In the end, the melon pony made her decision.

Melon glared at Coconut Sunshine. “Let my friends go,” she demanded.

The cheerful pegasus smiled. “Are you sure? This is a loooot of bits you’ll be passing up,” she said. Coconut Sunshine shook the bag of bits.

The melon pony’s glare didn’t change. “Positive,” said Melon, in a serious tone.

Her smile didn’t change either. “Well, then. I have one thing to say to that…” said the cheerful pegasus.

She rolled her eyes. All Melon wanted to do was take her friends, go back home, defeat Nightmare Moon, give Jasper an earful like the melon pony was planning to do, attend the celebration, and continue working at her watermelon stand the next day.

“What?” asked Melon.

“You’ve passed the test,” Coconut Sunshine informed. She clapped her hooves. “Congrats.”

That surprised the melon pony. “Wait. What?” she said, confused. “What test?”

The cheerful pegasus gestured her other hoof in a circle in the air. “This whole city, the hotel, me, and even your friends aren’t actually real. We’re all actually just part of a test known as the ‘Test of Loyalty’,” explained Coconut Sunshine.

Hearing that shocked Melon.

She continued on. “This whole test was designed to test your loyalty to your friends by making you choose between them and your dreams, and you’ve passed,” said the cheerful pegasus. “As such, you’ve been awarded the Element of Loyalty.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Element? What Element?” asked Melon.

Coconut Sunshine laughed. “The one that you’ve been wearing around your neck the whole time. I’m surprised that you haven’t noticed it by now,” the cheerful pegasus informed. “You’ve been wearing it ever since you first rang that bell.”

The melon pony looked down and saw it.

She grinned. “Cool, huh?” asked Coconut Sunshine. The cheerful pegasus placed the bag of bits on top of the table.

It did look cool, but now was not the time for her to be so focused on it. Right now, Melon knew that she needed to find her friends right now.

“If those aren’t my friends, then where are my real friends located?” asked the melon pony, wondering. As long as Melon knew where they were, then she could meet up with them.

“Well, four of your real friends are off doing their own tests to acquire their Elements, but I don’t know if any of them finished theirs. As for Jasper, with how much time has passed by, he must still be fighting against Nightmare Moon while waiting for you all to return,” Coconut Sunshine informed. “Let’s hope he can last long enough before it’s too late.”

That worried Melon, but before she could speak, she was interrupted by the cheerful pegasus.

“Though, it is strange. The one who is supposed to be taking the ‘Test of Generosity’ hasn’t arrived yet,” said Coconut Sunshine, confused. “Nor any of the creatures who have the quality of generosity.” She looked worried. “I think something or someone must be preventing Jasper from finding any of the ponies or creatures to take the test. I worry that without the Element of Generosity, it’s impossible for any of you to defeat Nightmare Moon.”

The melon pony knew that that sounded bad. “That means that all of the trouble that everyone’s going through for Jasper’s plan will go up in smoke unless we acquire that ‘Element of Generosity’,” thought Melon. “That doesn’t sound good at all.”

The cheerful pegasus nodded. “Yeah. Whoever’s behind this must be up to something,” agreed Coconut Sunshine. “By the way, if you were planning on leaving this hotel, then I would like to inform you that it’s impossible right now.”

That surprised her. “Wait. What do you mean that it’s impossible?” asked Melon, confused. “Can’t I just walk through the front door and I’ll be outside?”

She shook her head. “It’s impossible for any of you to leave your own tests or enter each other’s tests. Whether it’s during the test or after it, none of you can leave,” Coconut Sunshine informed. “Only the one whose test allows them to travel to everyone’s test can do it. Until that pony arrives to pick you up, you’re stuck here.”

That surprised the melon pony even more.

“What?!” shouted Melon.

The cheerful pegasus smiled. “Until then, if you have any questions about anything, you’re free to ask,” she informed.

The melon pony really hoped that whoever’s test did whatever Coconut Sunshine said, would get Melon out of her test, and soon.

Author's Note:

The Test of Loyalty was thought up by allyooops.

The name, "Seadrakewoolie", was thought up by Jet_Black1980.

Coconut Sunshine is someone I thought up to be Melon Grumps opposite for the test. Even the name "Coconut Hotel" was created to be the Melon Inn's opposite as well.

The drawing of Melon and her Element of Loyalty was drawn by allyooops.

The Psychopath proofread this chapter.

Comments are welcome.