The Box
It was Tuesday in Ponyville and all was peaceful. Despite a single cloud, the sky was clear and the world was bright.
Minty walked among the dirt road, taking in the beauty of the day. As she strolled she wondered what she was going to do to spend her day. Deep in thought, she didn't see a box in her path which she tripped on. When she got up, she inspected the box. It wasn't damaged, thankfully. It didn't seem like it wasn't out for long; There wasn't any dirt or dust on the gold wrapping or elegant silver ribbon - nor was there any signs of fading or bleaching.
"Hello?" Minty called out in hope of attracting the attention of the pony who dropped the box.
No passerbys paid her any mind. It was a shame. It was a very eye-appealing box. It shone in the light like a new bit.
“Yes?” answered a mare.
“Oh, nothing, Kimono.” Minty responded. “I just found this present laying around and I was trying to find the owner.
“Can I see it?”
“Sure.”
Kimono took the present box in her hooves. She turned the box slowly, looking at it from all angles, carefully scanning it.
Meanwhile, above the two mares, Rainbow Dash looked down from a cloud. What she saw was two of her friends staring at something. All she was doing was napping, so she had nothing better to do but to check out what was going on. She dove off her cloud in a fashion similar to that of a professional swimmer.
Down on the ground, Minty heard a low whistling.
“What’s that?” she asked.
Kimono didn’t take her attention from the present and took two steps to her right. All of a sudden, Rainbow Dash dropped down between the two.
“Whatcha’ got?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“We found a box.” Minty answered.
“That’s for me!” said Rainbow Dash, taking the box. “It’s the Wonderbolt shirt I ordered.”
Before Rainbow Dash could rip into the box, Kimono gave her a quick rap on her head and took it from her hooves.
“What was that for?!”
“Since when does the post office gift-wrap packages?” Kimono answered.
Rainbow Dash , slightly irritated, rubbed her head.
“I thought that’s what ‘special delivery’ meant…” she grumbled.
“Take a look.” Kimono told her, holding it out so she can see. “The ribbon is laced with real silver and the wrapping with actual gold. See how it hits the light? It’s real. That’s not the box of a normal present you’d give to anypony. You can’t just unwrap it.”
“I guess you’re right.” Rainbow Dash replied. “…Jeeze, it hurts when you’re right…”
"Hey!" exclaimed Minty. "You now what? This might be Rarity's!"
"Rarity?"
"Yeah. This is a real pretty ribbon and she likes ribbons and stuff just like this."
Rainbow Dash sighed. It seemed to her like Minty would never just get a clue.
"Minty…" Rainbow Dash groaned. "If it's going to be anypony's, it's going to be Pinkie Pie's. She has parties all the time. Duh… She probably dropped this on the way to a birthday party."
"Alright then." said Kimono. "Rainbow Dash, go get Pinkie Pie. We'll stay here and make sure no one steals this."
Rainbow Dash nodded and bolted into town, leaving behind a colorful blur.
"And I'll go find Rarity." said Minty, trotting off before Kimono could give an objection.
Kimono was now alone with the box. Now she was free to fully take in it's beauty. The gold wrapping had the radiance of Celestia's sun with the way it shone. The tying of the silver ribbon itself being a wonder of its own, embracing the gold like the moon in the bright day sky. What sort of god who crafted this masterpiece of a box was the mystery that it left in Kimono's mind.
"Hey." said some stallion, perhaps some their who's lustful greed drives him to take the box away.
Kimono jumped into a ready, battle stance prepared to lash at the pony who'd steal the box for himself.
The hooded stallion stood there frozen in shock, frightened by the mare's quick jump to aggression.
"Nice box…" he stammered, hooves in front of his face.
"Oh…" Kimono blushed as she slowly eased herself out of her fighting stance. "Thanks… Would this happen to belong to you or anyone you know?"
"Nope." the startled pony answered before he quickly walked away.
Rainbow Dash, with Pinkie Pie following her, approached and noticed the mild fright on the stallion's face as they passed each other.
"What was that about?" asked Rainbow Dash.
"He…uh…saw a snake…Then I picked it up and threw it in the bushes."
Pinkie Pie saw the box and her eyes swelled with foal-like wonder. She immediately rushed up to it.
"Wowee! Was this it?" she asked.
"Yep." Rainbow Dash answered. "So it this yours or not?"
Pinkie Pie picked up the box and looked at it thoroughly, looking at the bottom from below and the top from above.
"Nope. Sorry." she said. "I don't remember wrapping up something like this. But it is sooo pretty!"
"It… kinda does."
Kimono only nodded slowly in agreement.
"Just think…" Pinkie Pie said. "If the outside is so amazing… Think about what amazing thing is inside!"
This got the the three ponies got to thinking and imagining. In a few moments, Rainbow Dash knew what would just be so awesome to be in a box wrapped in gold and silver.
"It's probably a baby me from the past." said Rainbow Dash.
Dashie…" said Pinkie Pie. "That's just weird. How'd you even end up in a box on the side of the road?"
"I dunno, but that be pretty cool though."
Minty suddenly arrived with Rarity.
"… So do you recognize the ribbon?" Minty asked Rarity.
"Well, let me see, darling." Rarity said.
Pinkie Pie gave the box to her and, right away, stars in her eyes.
"My word…" Rarity muttered. "This ribbon is one of the rarest cloth materials ever! It's so hard to make. You'd have to go all the way to Canterlot to get some."
"What about Canterlot?" asked a mare.
The five ponies turned to see that Twilight was standing right behind them.
"Oh. I found this box-" Minty said.
"That's mine." Twilight answered.
"What?" all of the ponies asked.
"Yeah. My brother sends me these beautiful presents from Canterlot all the time. I'm just going to go to home now-"
"Wait!" shouted Rainbow Dash.
"What?!"
Rainbow Dash rubbed her head.
"I… uh… can you… open the box here?…"
"Wha- Why?"
"We just have to know - we want to see what you got."
"…And could I have the ribbon?" added Rarity.
Twilight looked around at the other five who all looked back at her with deep longing. A feeling of de ja vu and sympathy came over her.
"Fine…" Twilight answered.
Carefully with her magic, Twilight untied the ribbon and unwrapped the gold, getting to the cardboard. She opened the box and, suddenly, a pie shot out of the box splattering her face.
A laughing was heard.
Discord walked up to the box (holding back his laughter) and picked up the present.
"Oh! Here's where I left it!" he said.
He looked at Twilight whose face steamed.
"Sorry." Discord snickered. "I do have to learn to use tags. Who knows who could've opened it?"
Satisfied, Discord left (about to reset the present for Celestia).
"Who… was that?" asked Minty.
"Don't ask…" growled Twilight.
On that note, the ponies left and went their separate ways, continuing their days.
"A little Dashie in a box…" scoffed Discord. "Please!" He looked back to check and make sure nopony was around. "That would be pretty cute though. A little me in a box... Now that would be great."