Friendship is Weird

by Local Loco

Ga-La-La-La Part 1

Canterlot: home of some of Equestria’s upper class ponies and home to both princesses. Currently in Canterlot, the Grand Galloping Gala is starting to take place. The ballroom in the castle grounds is somewhat empty as the sun sets. At the moment, three ponies sit at the table reserved for the elements of harmony. Cookies is sitting on a seat, properly setting his side of the table. He is wearing a fancy black suit, using his black and white checkered scarf as an ascot. To his left is Hope, wearing a black and white checkered suit with a fancy top hat. The stallion is looking around the place rather curiously. To Cookies’ right is Alto. His suit is nothing special, a generic black suit you’d see worn everywhere for plays and balls like this. He is leaning up against the table with a bored expression.

“We didn’t have to come so early, you know.” The massive Pegasus spoke up.

“Oh, don’t be like that, my dear Alto. Think of it as a reprieve before the fun begins. No worrying about getting here on time if we get ready early enough.” Cookies responded as he placed a finely folded napkin in front of himself. “And there we go.”

“OOOOH I know, we can play a game! Like I Spy! I’ll go first. I spy with my little eye something…” Hope moves his head around, squinting his eyes as he does so. “Something white.”

“That’s a good one, Hope.” Alto complimented.

“Is it me?”

“Nope!”

“Is it your suit?”

“Nope!”

“Is it the table cloth?”

“Nope!”

“It’s the marble fountain we passed when we came in.” Alto interjected.

“Ding! Ding! Ding! And that is score one for Alto and Zero for Cookies. Alright, you guys can go.” Hope eagerly said with his usual smile on his face.

“Come now, Alto, we have plenty of time, just us three. Been a while, hasn’t it?”

“Feels like yesterday we set off on our first adventure together!”

“We haven’t returned home yet, so I guess we’re still on that adventure together.” Alto looked down at his hooves and then under the table where he left his instrument case. “How about we write a song together, us three?”

“You and me?”

“AND ME!”

“Of course. Should pass the time before everyone else arrives. We could even surprise the whole gala with an impromptu song. Give them some Fourtune as it were.” Alto began to audibly laugh.

“YEAH! I HAVE AN IDEA GUYS COME ON!” Hope said eagerly as he began to make a mess of the table, pulling out a pen from his mane as be begins to write down on a napkin. In a minute, he places his pen down on the now messy table. “There! This one has a bit of swing and a dance to it.”

Alto looked at the lyrics Hope wrote down while Cookies shook his head. The Pegasus tucks the napkin between his wing and begins to head in the direction of where the small orchestra will be set. “I will see about the instrumentals for this. Would either of you care to accompany me, it’d be very helpful.”

“OF COURSE! It’s my song I want to see it come to life! Let’s go, bro!” The white suited stallion said before zooming away from the table. Alto looked back at Cookies who smiled and gave him a little wave.

“Don’t you worry about a thing. I have to clean up this mess.” Cookies said with a reassuring smile. Alto shrugs as he heads over to where Hope went to. With his two friends gone, Cookies lets out a massive sigh. His horn lights up as he looks sternly at the table.

“Almost half a year since you went on your own and you still haven’t found that one unique innovation to make the family proud. Everything seems to already have been done, why can’t I find it? Distractions, have been everywhere and I’ve been focusing on them. I need the perfect recipe before father gets here. Thank goodness he didn’t press me about it last time he visited but half a year of independence and he probably expects something. Think Cookies. What culinary confection could count as a Cream innovation. Special cakes? Too gimmicky. A new candy? Too complex. A 5-star restaurant using my standing as the heir of the Cream family and being an element of harmony as a marketing ploy? Too scummy. Think Cookies, think! There has to be some-”

“I thought I’d be the only one of us here early. Looks like you guys beat me to it.” Cookies turned his head to the familiar voice as his horn stops glowing. The table is perfectly clean as EC stands in front of him. Her dress to the gala is a plain tuxedo, looks like it’d be easy for her to move around in especially as she still has her helm covering her face. “A-are you ok? Something wrong, Cookies?”

“Oh, just worrying about the future is all. Maybe some inspiration will ignite my innovation needs, but alas, my dear EC, there are too many thoughts on the mind as it were.”

“I-is there some way I could help?” While Cookies couldn’t see it, he could feel a smile emanating from the voice of his fellow unicorn friend.

“Do you have any culinary knowledge?”

“N-not really.” There was a moment of silence between the two as Cookies gave EC a rather confused look. It wasn’t long before his confusion had put a smile on his face and began to laugh

“Your loyalty to help your friends in the time of need despite lacking proper knowledge of the subject matter is admirable.”

“And your resilient smile against the pressure stacked against you is also admirable.” The mare said as she began to sit next to Cookies. “Let’s talk ideas together.”

“Yes, let’s.”

A couple minutes before the Gala officially starts. Ponies begin to gather in the ball room, some of which are seated at their tables. There was an aura of calm at all the tables except for one. The once clean and orderly table that Cookies and EC were once seated at had become a mess of napkins coated in Hope’s pen ink as well as the table cloth. Several ideas had been written down and immediately crossed off.

“W-why is coming up with a recipe so d-difficult.” EC stuttered as she leaned on the messy table.

“N-no need to worry my dear EC, there is still time before father shows up and asks me about it.” Cookies said with a faltering smile on his face. “OH! What if we used the technology they used for radios and made small, quick ovens for the kitchen to heat up food?”

“Microwaves are used throughout Canterlot. They already exist.” EC took a big gasp of air. “What if a cake was made of something like ice-cream, that way there would be many flavors of cakes and sprinkles?”

“Ice-cream cake is already a thing!” Cookies let out an exasperated sigh before planting his face on the table.

“Y-you ok?”

Cookies turned his head to the side; his smile has gone away. “We’ve tried all we could possible think of.” Cookies admitted defeated. His eyes, however, caught a glimpse of a punch bowl. The color of the liquid was that of a light pink nature and some ponies looked at the substance curiously before drinking it and having a refreshed smile on their faces. “That doesn’t look like an ordinary bowl of fruit punch…” Cookies got up with an air of curiosity and began trotting towards the bowl as EC follows suit.

“I think that’s watermelon. The flavor brings in a tang to Canterlot parties, gives something to talk about.” EC added as Cookies inspects the substance. With a cup filled with the aforementioned pink liquid, Cookies levitates it up to his mouth and takes a small sip.

“A bit sour, but not like lemonade sour. Somewhat sweet. Definitely different from the average fruit punch. Maybe…” Cookies pondered at the drink for a bit before he got a bump on his shoulder.

“Thought you’d be more interested in the food than the drinks, Cook.” Cookies turned around to see a towering sky-blue Pegasus with a well-conditioned flowing white mane, Sky Sonata. She is wearing a one-piece purple pleather dress which looks tight around her body. She extends her wings to gather herself a cup full of the curious substance. Slowly, she pours the liquid into her mouth, carefully swallowing the substance as Cookies stares at her in wonderment. “This melonade needs a bit of ‘punch’ in it if you know what I mean.” The massive mare gives the small stallion a wink.

Cookies shook his head first before speaking. “Please don’t contaminate the bowl. Hope is here.” The stallion said with a sigh.

“Nah. I don’t have anything on me. Dress is too tight and my mane can’t hold stuff like that. It’s too well conditioned. Here give it a feel.” Sky lowered her head to Cookies’ height.

Cookies hesitated for a bit, staring at the flowing mane. It wasn’t until EC had threaded her hoof through the silky-smooth hairs of Sky’s mane. “Very smooth. Mine gets into too many tangles.”

“I don’t know what it is, my hairs are just naturally silky smooth. Come on, Cookies, give it a good feel.” Sky turns her tail end towards the white unicorn, flourishing her tail as she does so. Again, Cookies acts hesitant, this time with a tint of blush on his face as he closes his eyes as he runs his hoof through the tail hairs of the Pegasus pony.

Time felt as though it came to a standstill for the unicorn as he threaded his hoof through his friend’s tail. The silky hair sent a shiver up the stallion’s body. The aroma of the mare reaching the nostrils of Cookies, causing his heart to skip a beat. His eyes opened, staring at the mare’s tail and his hoof smoothly sliding alongside it. The stallion was so distracted by the enticing senses that he didn’t realize that the mare’s rear end was approaching his head.

“PLBBT!” Sky made a sound with her mouth as she sat on Cookies head, the stallion laid limp as the mare giggled. “So easy to prank you, little guy. Come here.” Sky adjusted her body and grabbed the white unicorn with one of her wings, bringing him up to all four hooves, both the two at eye level. “Thanks for inviting me to the gala, Cook.”

Cookies shook the dirt off his head before looking back at Sky with a bit of concern. “Oh, come now, you can’t sit on the floor wearing that beautiful dress on you.” He extended a hoof to support Sky. She stared back it him, smiling as the lights of the gala sparkle within her blue eyes. Cookies gulped in anticipation as Sky places her wing on his hoof and getting up.

“Thanks Cookies.” Sky then uses her wing to brush off any dirt off of her tight dress.

“Well, well, well if it isn’t Princess Celestia. My boss has been waiting to get your response to be on my show and I-” A brown earth pony stallion in a slick black suit and sunglasses with a wild red mane bumped into Sky. “Wait a moment… Check 1, you’re not Celestia, but checks 2 and 3 reveal to me I am in the presents of the elements of harmony if my sources are to be believed Miss Enchanted Crown and the crop of the Cream himself, Cookies N. Cream. You should come on my show, Cookies, both your grandfather and uncle did, would only seem right to bring the next rising star.”

The three ponies stare at the smug new stallion, unsure of what to make of it. “I’m sorry, but do I know you?” Cookies asked.

“Shame really. Couldn’t even remember when we met at Luna’s coronation when I had to babysit your friend, Lucky. Mic Check, host of Equestria Radio on the weekends. Surely you’ve heard my well-spoken voice before?”

“Yeah… I just… Sorry, but it feels like I met you somewhere else before. I just can’t quite place my hoof-”

“HEY YA’LL OVER HEAR!” A familiar voice got everyone’s heads turned to the source. It was Lucky in a very colorful dress. The dress’s arc colored in the seven colors of the rainbow, ending on the cotton puff frills at the end; the cotton puffs colored black and gold as if it were a pot of gold. Her curly mane is straighter than it was before causing it to appear longer. Instead of a hat upon her head she is adorn with a golden tiara; whether it is gold or not would require a closer inspection.

“Oh no.” Mic Check muttered to himself before turning his head towards the group. “Well, I’ll let you all have fun out there. I have to sign autographs. This is Mic Check checking out!” With a salute, Mic Check dashes away from the scene.

“Ain’t dat ol’ Mic Check from dat there radio broadcast I was in?” Lucky came up to the group and asked rather jovially before giving EC and Cookies a hug. “Not dat it matters. We havin’ good times friends n’ all.”

“Well now that most of your friends are here, Cookies, I’ll get out of your hair.” Sky chuckles to herself as she begins to walk away from the group. Lucky and EC politely wave her goodbye, but Cookies rushed up to the massive Pegasus, placing his hoof in front of her.

“WAIT!” The white unicorn spoke up, eyes upon him from his friends and some ponies nearby. Sky stares at him in eager confusion, waiting for what her friend has to say. Cookies clears his throat before speaking again. “Come now, Sky. It’s a special occasion and may I remind you that your brothers are here. You’re always out traveling, doing your job making sure Equestria’s weather is up to snuff that you need a break every once in a while. My friends would gladly enjoy your company. Stay, let’s all relax and have a drink together.”

“Ain’t believe I had seen ya more than once t’ be honest with ya. Come now, girl, let’s get to know one another a bit more, ya know.” Lucky stated.

“Y-yeah. Feels like we’ve all been busy with our own ideals. W-we s-should take a day and… relax… Y-yeah. Spend time together without those worries.” EC added.

“SKY!” Hope’s voice could be heard from the other side of the gala as the white-suited stallion zoomed over to the group as Alto slowly followed, showing Cookies a piece of paper with some writing on it. “Oh Sky, it’s been so long since I last saw you! How have you been? How goes the job? Nice dress! How do I look?” Hope starts listing off question after question for Sky to smile and nod at, chuckling at every other question thrown at her.

“I’ve been doing just fine, Hope. Looks like your gang’s all here, then?” Sky asked, looking at those around her. Hope looked at each of the ponies too, but rather inquisitively.

“Where’s North?” Hope asked, looking at each one of his friends. Most of them give him a confused look or a tilt of the head. Cookies however was too engrossed with what was written on the paper. Hope shakes his head for a bit. “Mareian the mare librarian.”

“OOOH why’dnt ya’ll say so? I ain’t got a clue where that girl is. Thought she’d be with ya’ll.” Lucky stated in realization.

“Huh?” Cookies began to look up, noticing Lucky’s hoof pointed at him, his eyes darting around rather casually. “Oh yes, our dear Mareian. I do not believe that she was supposed to come along with us three. I thought she’d at least be with you, since you share living quarters together.” All eyes are now on EC, her nervous expression hidden underneath her golden helm.

“S-s-she and her b-brother have tickets. I-I-I guess they’re coming together. Not sure how long that will take them to get here.” EC stammered her way through an explanation.

“I’m eager to see her! She’s like, my best friend in all of Equestria!” Hope said with enthusiasm. “I wonder how long until she gets here?”

Canterlot’s private garden throughout the night of the gala remained peaceful and serene. The nature remained undisturbed until a figure bursts through one of the garden’s bushes. The figure brush’s themselves before looking around. Noticing no one around them, they let out a relieved sigh.

“That was a close one…”

“My faithful servant…” A voice spoke in a low growl, spooking the figure who is frantically looking around, however just as they checked before they are still alone in the garden.

“Boss? You shouldn’t be here. If anyone found out that you were… umm where are you?”

“You think me foolish enough to step into the capital of my enemy on one of the busiest nights of the year? You think of me as not powerful enough to use MY MAGIC to send you a message without BEING SEEN!?” The voice’s increase in volume caused some of the animals in the garden to scatter.

“Perhaps we can be a bit quieter then? If the tabloids found out that I’m talking to myself I’d lose the fame that I have that allows me to go anywhere I want and you wouldn’t want that, otherwise I couldn’t…”

“Your fame may give you power, but that does not give you power over me. I could easily replace you at a moment’s notice, but so far your actions have gone unnoticed by the general public… It’s time, my faithful servant…”

“Baltimare’s All-Mare Academy. I have familiarized myself with the location. They don’t question it, just a celebrity admiring academia. Won’t bat an eye if I ‘accidentally’ left it in their libraries. So now, boss, where’s this book you want?”

“I admire your willingness to have understood your target, however, it is not up to you how you shall complete your mission. Outside of Canterlot is a hollowed-out tree. Inside I have placed the book inside of a package addressed to the academy with the return address set to Canterlot’s School for Gifted Unicorns.”

“That’s good to know, boss. I’ll get to it when the gala is over- “

“You will get to it NOW!” The bushes and trees in the garden began to shake more than before with much larger critters scurrying about.

The figure lets out another sigh. “Gotcha boss… I’ll just leave, drop the book off at the postal service station, and be back before anyone notices that I’m gone.” A flash of light goes off, revealing the figure’s brown snout for a brief moment before being shadowed again in the dark night. “A camera!?!?” The figure turned their head, noticing a hot air balloon getting closer to the ground. Two green ponies and one pink pony are visible inside the balloon.

“Calm yourself, my loyal servant. No piece of technology or magic is able to detect my presence. I am, but a voice, my physical body is far away from our current location. Now GO!” The voice boomed as the figure rushed out of the garden in a bit of a panic.

“You have the camera, don’t you?” A green Pegasus pony mare with hazel eyes and a brown mane asked a pegasus stallion with the same color scheme. Both ponies are dressed well for the gala. The stallion is dressed in a light brown pleather suit while the mare wears a rather extravagant dress. The frills of her dress mix into orange and red hues as though it were on fire. The mare has on red lipstick and had a pair of fancy glasses draped over her head and snout. The glass lenses of the glasses were made out of clear plastic under closer inspection. The two were riding in a hot air balloon piloted by a pink earth pony mare in a pilot’s hat.

“Got it right here, North.” The stallion pulled out a camera from a satchel he had on his side. With it in his wing he snapped a quick photo of the mare.

“Dang it, Polo! Save the film for when we are actually at the gala!”

“Technically, my dear sister, we are over the gala.” The stallion added in a matter-of-fact tone in return receiving a menacing glare from the mare. “Hehe… sorry.” The balloon they are in lands with a thud. The Pegasus duo carefully exited their transportation. “Thank you, Miss Berry. Feel free to stop by Buckfield’s Library to get a book autographed by, non-other than, the element of honesty: Mareian!” The stallion begins to prattle on to the pink earth pony with salesperson-like pitches.

“Honesty?” The mare rolled her eyes as she muttered her way to the gala. “I’m the element of generosity… I think… Well generous enough to allow you to use my image to profit. At least he’s doing well for himself.” The finely dressed mare looks back at her brother, unknowingly bumping into a large white unicorn stallion dressed in a red uniform usually worn by high-ranking guards.

“Hey, watch where you’re going!” The stallion shouted, stepping in front of a purple unicorn mare in a starry dress as if to protect her.

“Easy there, bigshot, it was an honest mistake. Plus, it takes two to bump into each other, you could have dodged me.” She responded.

“Why you…” The stallion growled as he began to step forward only for the purple unicorn to step in between the two.

“Shining Armor, enough. I know this mare. She’s one of EC’s friends. Mareian, right?” The green mare nodded at the purple unicorn’s question. “I don’t think we got a proper introduction. I’m Twilight Sparkle and this is my big brother best friend forever, Shining Armor.”

“Only big brother best friend forever.”

“Uh… Yeah, a pleasure to meet you two.” Mareian says as she is caught by surprise by a flash. “South Pole!” She said angrily.

“Yep, that’s going up in the library. Element of Harmony meets Captain of the Royal Guard. I’m telling you, sis, business will boom with this kind of star power.”

Mareian rolls her eyes before looking over at Twilight. “And as you have shown me your older brother, allow me to show you mine by about two seconds. South Pole meets Twilight Sparkle. She’s a friend of a friend.”

South Pole could only giggle to himself as he stared at the photo he had taken. “South Pole? That name is too much of a mouthful. Polo? Now that is brand-friendly. Polo and Mareian, Equestrian’s daring duo of celebrity adventurers.”

The extravagant announcement fell on rather unenthusiastic ears. Twilight and Shining Armor look at the stallion in confusion while Mareian places her head on her hoof in disappointment. “Polo… You HATE adventuring.”

“Semantics. We are here and therefore we are adventurers on an adventure. Now, let’s get inside and take more pictures of us with celebrities.” South Pole brushes off Mareian’s questioning attitude. “Besides, we’re all here to have a bit of fun, so I’ll take as many pictures as possible thank you very much.”

“It’s nice that you have your own personal photographer then. I know Scales can’t be here due to safety regulations. Celestia has been having several conversations with safety administrations and Mr. Sour Cream.” Twilight adds. “I believe you are friends with his son as well? Small world it seems.”

“Friends!?” Mareian states with a bit of worry in her voice. She looks around and is able to spot a clock tower showing that the current time is 15 minutes past the start of the gala. “Oh no, we’re late. Come on, Polo, they are waiting for us.” The mare drags her brother using her wing to the gala entrance.

The sound of a creaky wheel follows the Pegasus siblings as Shining Armor stares with a puzzled look on his face. “Come on, Shining, EC is most likely waiting for us as well.” Twilight looks back at her brother, causing him to shake off his confusion.

“Coming!” The stallion trotted along. It wasn’t long until two groups of siblings made it to the main hall for the Gala.

“LOOK GUYS! SHE’S THERE!” A loud and excited voice caught the groups attention. They could see a bright orange stallion in a white suit wave his hooves wildly in the air. “OVER HERE, FRIENDS!”

“Heh… energetic as ever…” Mareian muttered under her breath. “Hurry up, Polo. This’ll be a good photo for the library.”

“No need to tell me twice.” The twins rushed over the table, greeted by a group hug for Mareian as South Pole steps back and takes a photo of them all before being dragged into the group hug as well. Shining Armor can’t help but stare back with a confused look upon his face.

“It’s fine, Shining.” Twilight passed her brother by as she rolled herself towards the group of ponies. “It’s just like I told you about friendship.”

“oh yeah… Friendship.” The stallion ponders over the word as he slowly approaches the group of mostly unfamiliar ponies, keeping a smile on his face as he whispers to himself. “Friendship is weird.”

Author's Note:

I GOT WRITERS BLOCK

Also I got distracted making a in-a-nutshell styled comic of this series and then turned it into a video series. I am not making promises for part 2 coming out anytime soon, but no I already have it's ending written down already... or part 3 depending on how I want to end this volume off.

See ya sometime soon.