> Somewhere > by Columba > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Everyone gathered around one of the statues. This one was odd-looking. It had arms and legs, horns, wings and a tail, each of a different animal. One hand clutched it's chest, while the other was thrown up in the air. It's face was one of amusement. Laughing at something. The little yellow Pegasus gazed up at the mismatched creature. Below, on it's pedestal, were words engraved in a silver plate saying The Lord of Chaos. The teacher was saying something about the statue that she couldn't hear. She immediately turned her attention back to what her teacher was saying. "...This certain statue has a very important part in history. The Lord of Chaos turned Equestria into an insane land-" "Filled with crazy-ness!" said a filly at the front of the bunch. "Uh.. Sure?" Fluttershy looked at her best friend, Rainbow Dash. The prismatic mare was drawing circles in the dirt, obviously bored. "Anyways class, we're running out of time, so let's get a move on!" Fluttershy looked up at the statue again. "Hey, Fluttershy?" asked a low voice. She sighed, and turned around to face Hoops. Her ears laid flat against her head. "W-what do y-you want?" "I just wanted to know if you wanted to come to dinner-" "T-that's nice and all, but uh... I uh... I'm... busy..." She muttered "Somepony else then?" He asked. "N-no! I'm only five years old. I-" "Then why-" "Hey, leave her alone! She needs nothing to do with ya," cried Rainbow. Hoops grumbled something and walked away. "Why do you get so tangled up with him Flutters?" Fluttershy stared at the ground. "T-thank you..." Rainbow trotted to catch up with the class. "Goodbye." She said to the statue. Wait... I'm talking to a statue. "Goodbye, little Pegasus." a small purple light emitted from the statue's chest as it said this. Her eyes widened. "D-did you just s-speak...?" "You heard me?" it said, horrified. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She quickly closed it an ran to catch up with her friend. Fluttershy sat on her bed, looking at one of the dolls she had made. It was white, with a blue mane and tail. She heard a knock on her door, which made her jump. She walked over and opened her door. "Hello, Rainbow." She said. "Hey." Rainbow Dash looked around the room. "I like how you've decorated." "Oh - erm - thank you..." Her walls were white, she had a bed with light green and pink blankets, a dresser and a desk, a nightstand with a lamp and a picture of her and Rainbow. "Um... Did you need something?" "Yeah. I was wondering if you wanted to go with me, and my dad, to the hockey game tonight." Fluttershy hid behind her mane. "I um... I would love to," she said. She wasn't very interested in sports, but she loved to be with her friend. "Great! We'll come pick you up at 5:30 'kay? Oh! And Ditzy is coming!" "Okay." Rainbow zipped out of the room. I'll bake muffins... She thought. She trotted into the kitchen and started to gather ingredients for her recipe. She took out the muffin tray, her hoof hitting the side of the oven. She winced, and as soon as she put the tray on the counter, rinsed her hoof in cold water. Her mother had asked her what she was up to a while ago. Fluttershy hoped she wouldn't notice. It wasn't a visible burn, but it was a bit red. She took the tray and carefully slipped the muffins out, six in total. She packed them in a plastic box, and put the box in her pouch. "Thethe are gweath muffthins, Flutherthy!" Ditzy said with a full mouth. Fluttershy giggled. With Ditzy, all muffins were great. As long as they looked like muffins. Rainbow nodded in agreement. "So who's winning? I'm lost" said Ditzy. "The Thunder Clouds." Rainbow's father said. "Which ones are they?" "The ones in blue." "Oh." There was five more minutes on the clock. Fluttershy was trying to keep up with what was happening, but she couldn't seem to follow the game the way Rainbow Dash could. Rainbow was cheering as loud as she possibly could. "Here, Flutters!" she said as she passed a dark blue flag to Fluttershy. The little Pegasus waved it above her head. She looked to her right to see Ditzy holding one, also waving it above her head. "Isn't this fun? I don't know what's happening, but everyone is cheering! That's good!" Fluttershy nodded. Suddenly a bunch of ponies cheered, making her jump. "Thunder Clouds won!!" screamed Rainbow Dash. She zipped in circles for a few minutes, then landed and followed her dad back to the exit. Fluttershy lay in her bed thinking about the statue. It hadn't really talked had it? She climbed out of bed, careful not to make a sound, and grabbed a pencil and paper. I'll be right back. If you're reading this before the usual time I wake up, I'll probably be back by then. If you- "I can't go now... Maybe tomorrow. She'll worry too much..." She crumpled the paper and threw in into the waste bin. "I'll ask her tomorrow if I can go. I don't want to frighten her... I just can't sleep..." She took another paper from her desk as started to draw a creature with a lion paw, an eagle claw, a dragon tail and leg, a goat head and leg, a bat wing and a Pegasus wing, a gazelle horn and a deer horn. "It's not... bad..." She ripped off a piece of tape and taped her picture to the wall. "I'd better get to sleep. I'm going to fly there right?" She yawned. She climbed into bed and pulled the blanket up to her neck. Her eyes slowly closed as she fell asleep. Flutttershy stared at the pedestal wide-eyed. It was empty, with the exception of crumbled stone. She ran to one of the guards. "Um, sir?" She asked. "The statue of the Lord of Chaos is gone." "I will inform the princesses immediately." He said, not breaking his stare. He galloped though a pair of double doors. Minutes later, the princesses and Fluttershy were at the remains of the statue. "Sister, do you know what this means?" Celestia asked. Her sister, Luna, only nodded. "Is t-there something w-wrong?" Fluttershy asked worriedly. Celestia's face was grim. "Discord, The Lord of Chaos has escaped." > Chapter 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Um... W-what do you m-mean escaped?" Fluttershy asked, terror in her eyes. Princess Cadence had come, as quickly as possible, when she heard the news. Princess Luna gritted her teeth. "A thousand years ago, Discord ruled over Equestria, which was filled with chaos and disharmony. My sister and I defeated him, encasing him in stone." The last words sounded almost sad when she said them. Then Princess Cadence whispered in her ear, "That's the short version. Trust me." "I strongly advise you to go home, little one. There is nothing you can really do to help find him." Fluttershy nodded. Celestia noticed the worry in her eyes. "Do not worry. He will not hurt anypony. If we can help it." The yellow Pegasus nodded again, before taking off in to the air. She flapped hard, though it did not help her by much. She bolted inside and climbed under her sheets, hiding her head. Her mother walked in. "What's wrong? What's scaring you?" She said. Fluttershy only whispered, "D-discord." Her mother raised an eyebrow. "The Lord of Chaos? It's just a filly's myth. That's what grandpa said." She gazed outside the window. Fluttershy saw her eyes widen. "What's wrong? Is he here? You said it was a filly's myth... Right?" "Right. I just... I think I'm seeing... Do you see that pink cloud there?" She pointed strait ahead. The filly looked. "Where?" "It just zipped... Away... I must be seeing things..." Her mother shook her head. "It's fine... Lunch? Rainbow Dash is coming over for a while, you might want to re-make your bed." She chuckled and walked into the kitchen. Discord couldn't stop wondering about the filly that had heard him. He figured it was just a sign that he was getting stronger, seeing as he had escaped the next night. He had seen her fly by earlier, and had followed her home. He was now hiding in a cloud, which a minute ago had turned into cotton candy then back again. He was having a hard time not using his magic for so long, but he had promised himself to wait a while, until the princess' guard was down. "Ugh. Tia and Lulu don't know how to have fun anymore!" He grumbled. He looked back though the window. The little filly had fixed up her bed again. And now there was another filly. This one looked slightly familiar too. It was blue with a rainbow mane. Then the mother came in again, bringing sandwiches. Both the little fillies were pegasi. The yellow one looked out the window, and jumped back. He had forgotten to hide. She cried out, and her mother ran in. The blue one was just frozen in shock. When her mother saw him, he snapped his fingers and teleported away. "Why didn't I think to hide?" He groaned. "Now they'll be more alert than ever." He slumped down onto the grass. "My freedom is making me itch for chaos. Or I'm allergic to grass..." He said doubtfully. He frowned. How can I be places without being spotted? "Well I would have to be a pony... That's it! I'll transform into a pony!" He snapped his fingers, transforming himself into a grey unicorn with a blue horn. His cutie mark was a tornado, and thankfully, his eyes were normal. Or, normal in pony standards. "Now I can- I can't grab anything with hooves!" He cried, his- hooves- in front of his face. He groaned, looking up at his head. "Thank Celestia, I'm a unicorn." Not that I should thank Tia for anything. He thought. > Chapter 3 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fluttershy sat down on the tuft of cloud. Rainbow Dash had begged her to join Flight Camp and she had agreed. Now she was regretting it. The coach called her name and she slowly walked to the ledge. She looked down and felt slightly dizzy. The coach nudged her hard, knocking her over. Her wings suddenly snapped to her side and she fell onto the gratefully soft clouds. She opened her eyes to see Rainbow holding out her hoof. Rainbow helped her up. Some of the ponies were laughing at her. "Thanks Rainbow." "No problem. You okay?" Fluttershy nodded. "I think the coach will let you go again if you ask." The yellow Pegasus looked at the laughing ponies and frowned. "I will." She flew up to the coach. "May I try again please?" He nodded at the hoop-shaped clouds. She walked to the ledge again. Her wings flapped and she flew though most of the hoops, but at the fourth one, she tripped and started to fall towards the cloud below. She shut her eyes. She hit the clouds again. "That was much better, Flutters! Rainbow Dash called. Fluttershy smiled. "Yeah. It was a bit better." Everypony else was getting into a line in front of a new challenge. Rainbow flew into the line and Fluttershy followed. The course in front of them was a line of cloud poles. Everypony had to dodge them all the way to the other side. Her ears laid flat against her head. Suddenly no pony was in front of her. It was her turn. She flapped her wings hard and flew around the poles carefully. She couldn't afford to fall this time. The ground was hundreds of feet below her. She lost concentration and bumped into one of the pillars. She fell, her wings unable to move because of the force of the air. The coach dove after her. Suddenly she hit something sticky and soft. The coach above her had pulled out of his dive and looked bewildered. Fluttershy got up off of her back and her face matched her coach's when she saw what had broken her fall. A cotton candy cloud. She flew off of the cloud as a pink earth filly in a hot-air-balloon lassoed the pink cloud and licked it contently, while somepony on the ground pulled her down. "Thanks! Bye!" Called the pink pony. Fluttershy and the coach flew back up to the normal clouds. "Fluttershy! Are you okay?" Rainbow was galloping towards her. "I'm fine. A cotton candy cloud caught me. I don't know why it was made of cotton candy though..." Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "It really was!" "I mean, I saw it was pink, but cotton candy? A cotton candy cloud? Really?" "Oh Celestia, that was close." Discord sighed with relief. Everypony else around him had seen the yellow Pegasus filly falling from the clouds. He had enough sense to create a soft landing, though he didn't think of making it look like a cloud rather than cotton candy. He was still in his pony form and had been for the last day. Even though he was sleeping in a- fixed- area of the Everfree, he spent his day watching the ponies. "You'd think she would have caught herself." a unicorn filly walked past him on her- hind legs? Her fur and her mane were turquoise. She had some white stripes in her mane. She stumbled and fell back onto all fours. When she saw his expression she frowned. "I'm Lyra Heartstrings. When I grow up, I'm going to be a human!" He stared at her and she continued walking. "That has got to be the craziest pony I've ever seen." He chuckled. "That's the craziest pony. I'm the craziest being in the universe. No creature will ever compete. I mean, you can't beat chocolate-filled-cotton-candy-clouds." He trotted to the edge of the Everfree, and disappeared. Fluttershy laid her ears against her head. She didn't enjoy sleeping outside of home. Rainbow was in the bunk to the right and was already snoring. Eventually, her eyelids grew heavy and she fell asleep. She was sitting in the soft, white clouds when she heard a cry. It was Rainbow Dash. She started to run towards the sound but, with every step she took, the voice seemed farther and farther away. Then she heard a scream and she was on the edge of Cloudsdale. Rainbow was hanging by a tuft of clouds. Fluttershy struggled to help her up, but failed. "You have to fly up! I can't help you! I'm not strong enough." Then she noticed Rainbow's wings were missing. Rainbow let go and fell, screaming. Fluttershy started to hear screaming all around her. The clouds beneath gave way and she too fell. She fell for what felt like forever. She heard voices around her. "You didn't catch me. Why didn't you help me? Why did you give up?" She tried to call out to the voice, but no sound came out. The dark suddenly turned into a garden with hedges and statues. The Royal Gardens. She turned around an saw a statue with different animal limbs. Suddenly, it moved. It lifted her up in it's palm and she squeaked. It grew bigger with each passing second until it was as big as the castle. It's hand closed around her and she woke, gasping. She sighed and shut her eyes. "I'm going to have to try harder tomorrow. I don't want to mess up again. I can't mess up again. I won't mess up." 'Remember your Father? He was one of the bravest ponies in Cloudsdale. You're shy and afraid, but you have his blood. You have his brave, kind, strong blood.' She sighed again. "I do. I am brave and strong. I just have to know when," she lay her head on the pillow, eventually falling asleep again. "Now if only I could be like Lulu for a night," Discord said to himself. He had watched the little filly wake up in a fright. He was watching the filly and the two Princesses through a piece of glass he had produced and enchanted. Though, when he watched Princess Luna, she had stared him straight in the eye. Something to do with being able to enter dreams. It was quite boring watching someone sleep. Especially Tia. She lay in one place the whole night, hardly moving, with the exception of breathing. If her chest didn't rise and fall with each breath, she would appear dead. The little filly was now asleep again. Discord lay his head on the grass. He had enchanted it to look checkered, but if it came into anybody's sight, it would appear normal and boring. "That's how ponies like things. Orderly and boring. And boring, boring, boring, and, oh, did I mention? Boring," he groaned. Now why was he so curious about that filly? His logical side told him he had been getting stronger, but the other side told him it was something about her that was different. No other pony heard him that day. Nor that night. She didn't have a cutie mark. Maybe she could talk with statues? He stretched and gazed at the starry sky. "I have to admit, Lulu does a good job of making it look slightly chaotic. I'll give her that. Although... It could be more chaotic." Just a bit. > Chapter 4 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fluttershy was at the ledge again. The one with the hoops. Her stomach turned and twisted. Maybe it was doing a circus act? She jumped and fluttered her wings, but barely made it off the cloud. She jumped and fluttered again, this time sliding off the edge. She squealed as she hit a flag. She fell to the soft clouds below and fumbled to get the flag off her face. When she looked up, Hoops and Dumb-Bell laughing. "Nice going, Fluttershy! They'll ground you permanently." "Yeah! My baby brother can fly better than you," they laughed more. Then she saw a rainbow blur above her head. Rainbow Dash landed in front of her. "Leave her alone," she said "Yeesh. Can't you guys pick on some pony else? Or you gonna stick with messing with me?" "Ooo, what're you gonna do Rainbow Crash?" Hoops said. "Keep making fun of her and find out!" "You think you're such a big-shot? Then prove it!" "What do you have in mind?" Rainbow grinned. The bullies sniggered. "How about a race? The dodo bird can be the flagman." "I- I'm not a d-dodo," Fluttershy whispered. Fluttershy stood on a little cloud in front of the starting line holding a checkered flag. Rainbow Dash, Hoops and Dumb-Bell were flexing their wings. "You're going down!" "In history, maybe!" Fluttershy waved the flag above her head and they zipped past her. When Hoops had flown past her ,though, he hit her shoulder and she fell. She screamed as she fell to the dirt and grass below. Then a wave of butterflies flew under her and caught her, somehow managing to hold her up. She stared around in amazement at the colorful wings. She had heard of butterflies before, but had never seen any. Creatures like these didn't fly as high as the clouds. She frowned. Weren't butterflies dusty and fuzzy? They weren't supposed to be leathery right? And these butterflies were bigger. Much bigger. She grazed her hoof over one of the butterfly's thorax. It was... feathery. She gently flew off the swarm and landed on the wet grass. She looked at all the other creatures around her. The squirrels chittered happily and the birds chirped cheerfully. When she turned back to where the butterflies, she heard a snap and they dissapered in a flash. Suddenly a loud blast was heard and Fluttershy looked up into the sky. A hoop of rainbow-colored fire was making it's way across the sky. All the animals around her started to run in a panic. The frogs jumped into the water and the bunnies hopped into the bushes. The birds flew into the trees and the squirrels ran into their holes. She turned around to find a creature she had only seen once. Those red, mismatched eyes stared at her. She stared back. Discord stared into the large, innocent, teal eyes. If he ran, she could give away his hiding place and he would no longer be safe. Same consequences if he sat there much longer. Then the little Pegasus frowned. "I've seen you before." He was startled at this and took a step back. "You're the Lord of Chaos." she swallowed. "You made t-the cotton-candy-cloud. I saw y-your horn's l-light go out. You w-were the grey unicorn. Weren't you?" She was still staring. And trembling. Quickly trotting up to a tree, she stuck her head in. "It's okay. You can come out now. A- friend- has come." She did he same at the stream and in a low cloud, each animal in turn coming out and following her to the next. She lay on the grass and some of the smaller animals came up and snuggled. Then her cutie mark appeared. It was three butterflies. She stared wide-eyed at her new cutie mark. Discord took this chance to teleport himself to a cave. He then snapped his fingers, erasing any of his tracks. When Fluttershy looked away, he had gone. She flew up high and found her way to Ponyville, hoping to take a balloon back to Cloudsdale. She couldn't fly that high. Yet. Discord sighed in relief. If she told the princesses where she had seen him, they would be far off track. He was hiding in a cave near where the Changelings had their hive. "Now I know why she could hear me. She can speak with all creatures. That explains how she knew I was the grey unicorn... kind of. And what did she mean 'friend'? Well, let's go see if the other five have gotten any where," he snapped his fingers and a misty image appeared in front of him. The purple unicorn also had her cutie mark. He snapped his fingers four more times. The prismatic Pegasus had hers too. And the orange earth filly, the pink earth filly and the white unicorn. "Hm. They all got theirs at the same time. Right after the Sonic blast," he grinned, clapping his hands together. "Almost there, my little ponies! This will be fun," he chuckled and snapped his fingers once again. "Sister!" Celestia looked at her sister, who was galloping in, eyes wide. A scroll was in her magic aura. "It is him." > Chapter 5 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The two Alicorn sisters stared at the scroll. I know your plan. I have one too. I just hope it doesn't affect your precious Elements of Harmony. Too much. Oh, and your plan is perfect. So absolutely perfect for my plan. Just perfect. As they read the letter, Discord's voice came from the parchment as if he were there, talking to them. At the end, it laughed at their stunned faces. "He knows. We have to hurry, or the Elements will be useless," whispered Celestia. She read the note again. "I am afraid we must put them to our test sooner than hoped." Fluttershy sat in her room reading one of her favorite fairy tales. A light flashed and Celestia appeared before her. "Oh, Princess! Wha-" Celestia's horn glowed and Fluttershy watched herself grow. Her hair grew longer, and she grew a bit taller. Then her surroundings changed. She was now in an open space near the Everfree, the sun and moon spinning around the planet. A little cottage appeared before her and flowers grew around. Then it stopped and she was inside the cottage, feeding a white bunny, who looked at her strangely. "What is it, Angel?" Can I have some water? "Oh, sure," she trotted over to the kitchen and filled a bowl with water. "It's hard to believe I've been living here for a year," she whispered to herself. Twilight Sparkle smiled as her baby dragon burped, a green flame coming out of his mouth. A scroll fell to the floor. "See? I knew she would want to take immediate action!" The dragon cleared his throat, "Dearest, most faithful student, Twilight, you know that I value your diligence and that I trust you completely." "Mm hm!" Twilight confirmed. "But you simply must stop reading those dusty old books!" She gasped. "What?" "My dear, Twilight, there is more to a young pony's life than just studying. So I'm sending you to supervise the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration in this year's location, Ponyville. And I have an even more essential task for you to complete... Make some friends." "W-what?" she uttered. There was a knock at the door and Spike walked over to answer it. There were to Pegasus Royal soldiers there. "We have been sent to a Miss Twilight. Is that you?" "Yes." "A chariot is waiting for you." Pinkie Pie walked through the streets of Ponyville when she saw a pony she had never seen before. She quickly trotted up to her and waited. The dragon next to the pony said, "Here's your chance!" the pony sighed, "Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle." Pinkie gasped dramatically and dashed off. Apple Jack hit the apple tree with her hind legs and the apples fell down into the baskets, few falling to the floor to bruise. "Ya'll need a hand with the bakin'? Ah'm done with the apple trees, or are ya'll alright?" Her brother, Big Mac only said, "Eeyup." "Yup, yer fine, or yup ya need help?" Apple Jack asked. Apple Fritter came out with a pan of, well, apple fritters. "We're fine, but thanks, Apple Jack," she said. just then, a purple unicorn walked in through the gate. "Good afternoon. My name is Twilight Sparkle-" Apple Jack shook her hoof quickly, "Well, howdy-do Miss Twilight? A pleasure making your acquaintance. I'm Apple Jack. We here in Sweet Apple Acres sure do like makin' new friends!" "Friends? Actually I uh-" "So, what can Ah do for ya?" she said, winking. Twilight cleared her throat. "Well, I am, in fact, here to supervise preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. And you're in charge of the food?" "We sure a sugar are! Would you care to sample some?" "As long as it doesn't take too long." Apple Jack zipped off and rand a triangle. "Soup's on, everypony!" Rainbow Dash zipped through the sky, doing loop de loops. She flew higher and higher until she was at over a hundred feet above the earth. She plummeted down and just before she hit the ground, swooped out of the suicidal dive, hitting a purple unicorn on the way. They both landed in a mud puddle and the unicorn groaned. Rainbow Dash chuckled, "Uh, excuse me? Lemme help you," she zoomed off and grabbed a grey cloud, pulling it over to the unicorn. She hopped on it and it poured rain onto the unicorn, now soaked to the bone. Rainbow laughed, "Oops. I guess I overdid it. Um uh, how about this?" She zoomed around the soaked unicorn, creating a mini, rainbow colored tornado, "My very own, patented Rainblow Dry," she landed, "No, no. Don't thank me, you're quite welcome." she said, dramatizing a bit. She looked over to the unicorn, who looked unamused and who's mane looked like a purple cloud. She stifled her laughter a bit, then, when she couldn't take it, burst out laughing. She fell to the ground and the unicorn's dragon looked at her uncertainly. He glanced at the unicorn and started to laugh too. "Let me guess, you're Rainbow Dash?" Rainbow Dash stood up, "The one and only," she said, "Why? You heard of me?" she zipped to the unicorn's side. "I heard you're supposed to be keeping the sky clear!" she took a deep breath, "I'm Twilight Sparkle, and the Princess sent me to check on the weather. "Yeah, yeah. That'll be a snap," said Rainbow, who was lounging on a cloud, "I'll do it in a jiffy. Just as soon as I'm done practicing." Twilight raised an eyebrow, "Practicing for what?" "The Wonder Bolts!" se pointed to a poster on a wall, "They're gonna perform at the celebration tomorrow, and I'm gonna show 'em my moves!" she loop de looped above her little cloud, then landed. "The Wonder Bolts?" "Yep." "The most talented fliers in all of Equestria?" "That's them." Twilight scoffed, "Oh, please. They'd never accept a Pegasus who can't keep the sky clear for one mealy day!" Rainbow Dash frowned in annoyance, "Hey, I could clear this sky in ten seconds flat!" "Prove it." "Now then, this post needs a ribbon," said Rarity. She levitated several ribbons from a chest and started to search, when a purple unicorn walked in. "Decorations," said the dragon next to her, "Beautiful!" "Yes. The décor is coming along nicely. This ought to be quick. I'll be at the library in no time. Beautiful, indeed!" "Not the décor! Her!" he pointed to Rarity who was still looking for the perfect ribbon, "No, no. No. Oh, goodness, no!" "How are my spines? Are they strait?" the unicorn rolled her eyes. "Good afternoon." "Just a moment, please. I'm in the zone, as it were. Oh, yes! Sparkles always do the trick, do they not?" she tied the red ribbon around the wooden post, "Oh, Rarity, you are a talent!" she said to herself, "Now, um, how can I help you? Eek!" she shrieked at the purple unicorn's hair, "Oh, my stars, darling! What ever happened to your coiffure?!" "Oh, you mean my mane? Well, it's a long story. I'm just here to check on the decorations, and then I'll be out of your hair," replied the unicorn. "Out of my hair? What about your hair?" she started pushing the unicorn out the door. "Wait. Where are we going? Help!" "Alright. Let's try again okay? Thank you. A one, a two, a one two three," said Fluttershy. The birds started singing. "Oh, um please stop, everyone," she flew up to a branch on the tree, "Um... Excuse me sir. I mean no offense, but your rhythm is just a teeny, tiny bit off," she said. The bird nodded and she flew back to the front, "Now follow me, please. A one, a two, a one two three." the birds started to sing again but then a friendly voice said, "Hello!" Fluttershy jumped at the voice and all the birds flew away, "Oh, my. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to frighten your birds." Fluttershy looked at the purple unicorn who had spoken, "I'm just here to check up on the music, and it sounded beautiful." Fluttershy landed and pawed at the ground shyly. "I'm Twilight Sparkle, what's your name?" Fluttershy hid behind her mane, "Um... I'm Fluttershy," she said. "I'm sorry, what was that?" "Um... My name is Fluttershy," whispered Fluttershy, who backed away. "Sorry, didn't quite catch that," said Twilight. Fluttershy whimpered. There was an awkward silence and the birds flew back onto the branches. "Well, um, it looks like your birds are back. So I guess everything's in order," she said, "Keep up the good work." Fluttershy whimpered again and Twilight started to walk away and a dragon came out of the bushes, "Well, that was easy." Fluttershy gasped. "A baby dragon!!" she cried. She flew in front of him, "Oh, I've never seen a baby dragon before! He's so cute!" the dragon looked at Twilight, "Well, well well!" he said. Fluttershy's eyes widened, "Oh, my, he talks. I didn't know dragons could talk. That's just so incredibly wonderful. I-I don't even know what to say!" she hovered in the air and the dragon was brought to Twilight in her magic aura, "Well, in that case, we'd better be going," she said. "Wait, wait! What's his name?" "I'm Spike." "Hi, Spike, I'm Fluttershy," said Fluttershy, "Wow, a talking dragon! And what do dragons talk about?" "Well, what do you want to know?" "Absolutely everything," she said. Twilight groaned. "Hi,I'mPinkiePieandIthrewthispartyjustforyou! Wereyousurprised? Wereyou? Wereyou? Huhhuhhuh?" she said everything at the speed of light. "Very surprised. Library's are supposed to be quiet!" Pinkie chortled, "That'ssilly! Whatkindofwelcomepartywoulditbeifitwerequiet?" she laughed, "I mean, duh. Boring! See, Isawyouwhenyoufirstgothere, remember? Youwereall "Hello" andIwaslike-" she imitated her gasp, "Remember? Yousee, Ineversawyoubefore, andifIneversawyoubefore, thatmeansyournew, 'causeIknoweverypony, andImeaneverypony, inPonyville!" Twilight groaned. She started to pour a substance into a goblet and Pinkie Pie continued to ramble on about why she made a party, "And I invited everypony in Ponyville! See? And now you have lots and lots of friends!" Twilights face turned red, not of embarrassment, but because she had poured hot sauce into her cup. Tears formed in her eyes, and Apple Jack said, "Are ya alrigh' sugarcube?" Twilight rushed upstairs and spit out the sauce. "Aw! She's so happy, she's crying!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie. Everyone looked at her in confusion. "Oh, yes! Hot sauce! Ahaha! Yes that was great! That reaction was priceless!" Discord laughed. "Ah, soon you'll have more to worry about than silly pranks. Much more."