Write Club was designed to be a small, friendly contest between members of the group 'Harmonists', where two members would be paired up and engage in a write off, resulting in a small 1K word one-shot. These entries would be compared side by side, and then a winner decided. The winning entry would be featured in a compilation published on FimFic.
This is that compilation.
The prompts are as follows: History, Attachment, and Dream.
Each chapter belongs to a specific contestant. If you liked their entry, then you are highly encouraged to check them out! We hope you enjoy this compilation of our work, and we certainly enjoyed writing it.
Have a good one,
HapHazred, contest administrator, editor, and hopefully, cool guy.
The stallion, tall and muscular, eyed the ponies in the room sternly. He hadn't wanted it to end this way... but his hoof had been forced. His powerful words sill ringing in his audiences ears, he continued his speech.
“And that's why we can't stand idly by! We're cornered on all fronts! The enemy is advancing into our territory and all of you are our last line of defence!” The stallion at the front of the room stood up to his full height, and puffed out his chest like a robin. “This is where we draw the line in the sand, ponies! Where we stand our ground! Where we look into our opponents eyes and tell them 'no', not one step further!”
He marched around the table with all the self importance of a penguin. “Anypony who can't take the heat... back out now, because things are about to get ugly.”
The room was silent as the grave. Not one of them dared to be the one to attract the stallion's ire. Neon swallowed nervously.
“Are... are our contracts seriously in that much danger?” he asked anxiously. “My wife is expecting, and I don't think...”
The stallion nodded. “Absolutely. Radio Underground has been stealing our ratings from every single time-slot. Neon, you've gone from the top male vocalist in Canterlot to third.”
Neon Lights bit his lip nervously. The manager looked around the table one more time. “Well? Are you guys ready to play dirty?” He slammed his hooves down on the table. “We'll strike aggressively: play the media, steal their contracts, sue them if we have to—...”
Slowly, one hoof raised itself above the others, pristine white. The manager set his gaze firmly on the owner of said hoof: a young mare with a violently fluorescent blue mane. “Yes, Vinyl?”
“I'm not playin' dirty, sir.”
The manager was speechless. “Say what, Vinyl?”
Neon turned towards his coworker, eyes wide and jaw dropped. “Scratchster! You're the toughest pony here! You can't just—...”
“I am,” Vinyl replied. “We do this fair and square, or I'm out.”
The manager's brow furrowed angrily. “Vinyl, we can't afford to play nice. We're standing next to Radio Canterlot's deathbed.”
“I've got buddies on the other side, boss-pony,” Vinyl retorted.
The entire table gasped.
“You... have a history... with the enemy?!”
“Since when have our competitors been our enemies, boss-pony?” Vinyl asked, sipping from her Minotaur energy drink as nonchalantly as she dared.
“Since they've been threatening to drive us out of business! Who do you know? Who's responsible for this defection?!”
“Classical hour. Musician by the name of Octavia,” Vinyl explained.
“But she's the one in your time-slot! She's the one who's been slicing your ratings in half!”
“Yeah. 'Cause she's a better musician, boss-pony.”
Vinyl got to her hooves resolutely. “I've been playing my heart out on this radio, and it barely competes with what those guys can do. It burns like hell, but I'm not compromising my past with my buddies just because of ratings, sir.”
She glared at her manager from behind her tinted glasses. “My history with my friends is worth more than a future without them. I'm out.”
“Somepony's been over-dramatic.”
Vinyl grunted in annoyance. “Well, it was something like that, anyways.” She sighed, and leaned back in her chair, balancing the phone between her shoulder and ear. “So? Can you pull some strings for me?”
The pony on the other end was silent for a few moments. For just a second, Vinyl felt her stomach churn. “'Tavi?”
“Hmm? Oh, yes, sorry. I was just figuring out how I'd ask my manager.” Vinyl let out a sigh of relief. Before long, Octavia continued. “Listen, don't worry. I may not be able to find you a full time position right away, but the entire crew here are well aware of how talented you are: we'll certainly be able to find a few odd slots as we figure something more permanent out.”
Vinyl grinned. “Thanks. You're the best.”
“Anytime, Vinyl. I'm glad our past together is worth something.”
“Likewise,” the young musician replied gratefully. "I mean, I knew you'd never leave me hanging, or anything, it's just..." Vinyl chuckled, shaking her head. “I'll keep in touch. Right now, I have to explain to my folks that I'll still have a job at the end of this mess.”
"And so, they have made it possible for the magic of friendship to spread throughout Equestria, stronger than ever before!"
I put down the feather quill next to the book on the desk and closed the tomb. It was finished, yet another chapter in the story of my best generation finished.
With a feeling of satisfaction I rose from my chair, walking over to the shelf closest to me and placing the now finished book next to it's older sibling, eyeing both books closely.
Hmm, season four is indeed much bigger than season three. I thought it'd be more tactical, but maybe I should have kept to the normal format instead..."
As I debate with myself whether or not it was a mistake to make season three of the fourth generation only half the size of the other seasons, I can't help but look around the room which I call home.
It's a fairly simple green painted room with sparse furniture. There is the desk which is set in front of me as I sit in my chair and write. There are two sofas, one in each end of the room, which I sit in to read.
Most noticeably, though, are the bookshelves. Hundreds upon hundreds of them. All but five are filled with books, and in the books are stories. My stories. Six generations, and an infinite number of adventures and lives.
But there is more. There is a painting. I only dare to look at it for a moment, before looking away. It causes me too much pain. Yet I can't get rid of it, because if I do, I get rid of the past. Of everything I hold tight to.
In reality, it's a beautiful painting. Me, my husband and my two daughters, happily smiling for reasons I can't remember. It's been a long time since I had them by my side. Since I made them happy.
Now that the forbidden thoughts have gotten grip of my mind, I might as well let them and their pain consume me. Let the hard, unfair reality wash over me and for once not do anything to stop it.
I desperately run through the room, the hollow echo of my hooves against the stone floor filling the emptiness around me, that is this life.
Despite not taking more than a few minutes, it feel like it takes years for me to run pass shelf after shelf that I've filled with my creations and stories, each one of them a brick in a gigantic wall I built. But now I do not want the wall. I want what's on the other side.
Finally there is no more shelves, and all that is in front if me is a sofa, and a stone wall. A real one, this time, not one of the mind, like my books. I'd hurt my face if I ran into it, and for a moment I feel tempted to do it on purpose.
Resisting the urge to crash, I turn left and manage to avoid the wall with a centimeter or so to spare before coming to an abrupt stop, toppling over and landing on the couch.
Stretching out on the couch, I used my magic to levitate something that would ease the pain in my mind, a painkiller, you could call it. I see the object I need steadily move forward through the air, forced to defy the laws of gravity by the warm red aura surrounding it.
As it come to a halt in front of my face, I extend my forelegs and take it in my hooves, causing the red aura to disappear. It’s a small, ugly thing made with drawing paper and an old carton that used to contain corn flakes. Yes, from the outside it certainly didn't look very special with the unevenly cut out, red painted cover and even more clumsily cut out and glued on letters spelling “The book about me”.
But for me, it was worth more than all the tales I’ve ever written combined, more than there were words or numbers to describe.
Using my magic, I carefully open the book on it’s first page, which, I notice, even have the number one written in the corner with a bright yellow crayon.
The page itself have the word ‘Family’ spelled on the top and a drawing of four alicorns cover the rest of the page. The drawings themselves are just like the rest of the book: simple and crudely drawn.
bringing the book closer to my face I study each one of the four alicorn. The upper-right one have a long red mane and tail and next to it it says ‘mom’. The one next to it is bigger and with green hair, and next to it it says ‘dad’.
But it’s the two one on the bottom of the page that break my heart. One is pink, and net to it it says ‘Celly’. The last one is the smallest and dark blue, and next to it it says ‘me’.
Feeling that this was a bad idea, I violently close the book and look around the room looking for a distraction.
My eyes stop at the painting again, and questions, filled with doubt, cloud my mind until I can’t think, not even think out an answer to a single question. But one question manage to push back the others, making sure that I can’t ignore it.
Why?
In reality it isn’t a question, because I know why. The sorrow that fill my heart hurt too much, so I used my talent and created an alternate world.
I created a world where me and my husband died, but my daughters, Luna and Celestia, the sun and the moon, survived. Because they should have survived. Not me, not their dad, them.
Because they gave us meaning. But now I got no meaning, all I got is my stories, depicting the world like I want it to been. Like it could’ve been. Like it should’ve been. Like it will be...
On the far edges of Ponyville was a lake. Situated in the middle of the forest, it was isolated and untouched for most of the year. Summer vacation, the time where it was a hot spot, was yet to come but the warmth of the June afternoon was just as suitable. In fact, the place started to feel comfortable once the snow melted, but many were not interested in coming during that time.
Two ponies trekked through the trail that led there. One of them was a yellow pegasus with a pink mane and the other was a white unicorn with a purple mane. Both of them were wearing white gowns and mortarboards.
As they reached the lake they stopped and gazed at their reflections, clear pictures formed by the tranquil water.
“Can you believe we used to come here every day, Fluttershy?” the unicorn asked.
The pegasus gently turned to face her friend.
“I know,” she said.
“Or the fact that it all ends tonight?”
She shook her head.
A soft breeze blew through the scene, rippling the water.
“You know,” the unicorn said, “you get so used to spending time in one place that you end up taking it for granted. You know you were there yesterday and you can always come back tomorrow….only now…..”
She stopped and jerked her head to Fluttershy, who was listening.
“Am I making you sad?” she asked.
“No, no, no,” Fluttershy interjected, “not at all. I’m happy for you, Rarity.”
The pegasus’s lips rushed upward, forming a small grin.
“Are you sure?”
Fluttershy nodded her head. Although it was nice to receive her friend’s approval, Rarity still felt a pang of guilt. And then, she reminded herself of something she occasionally forgot.
“Two years is a long time.”
But even with that, she still managed to reassure herself. She turned to Fluttershy and looked at her with reassuring eyes.
“You do know I’ll be back for Hearth’s Warming and New Year’s.”
“Yes,” the pegasus responded, “I know.”
Fluttershy turned back toward the water, which had settled back down. Memories resurfaced as she stared into the clear pool. Two fillies, having barely met, started a conversation with each other. The white one did most of the talking, though, with the yellow one listening and occasionally giving brief replies. The same girls were now older and were going out shopping; most of their purchases were fabrics and threads. The white filly occasionally asked her friend if she wanted something for herself, but her demure companion always declined— insisting that she didn’t need anything. And several years later the same friends were standing before the same lake, spending the summer days in peace.
Such nostalgic memories helped alleviate some of the pain from what was about to occur— a pain that made her feel guilty.
“I’m happy for her,” Fluttershy said to herself every time it came, “she’s pursuing her dream. I shouldn’t be selfish.”
She tried to indulge herself further into the memories and ignore any harmful thought. She tried to imagine the warm feeling of the sun beaming down on her skin, the sight of green grass surrounding her, and the gentle sound of birds chirping.
“Fluttershy,”
The pegasus was stunned by the sudden interruption of her fantasy. Her head turned from the water to Rarity, whose face was painted with concern.
“Something tells me you’re not alright.”
Fluttershy’s eyes widened and her mind scrambled to find a response. After a quick moment of half-baked thought, she hastily contorted her lips into a ‘U’ shape.
“No,” she said to accompany her face, “not at all.”
Rarity raised her white hoof and placed it on her friend’s shoulder. She then stared into her tense eyes.
“Fluttershy, I have known you since we were fillies. I know when something is bothering you and I also know that you try to hide it,” she said. “But I have told you before that you can tell me what’s wrong and I will be there to help you.”
Another breeze rolled by, slightly swaying both of their manes. Just like its predecessor, its life was short.
“Does this have anything to do with me leaving?” Rarity asked.
Fluttershy’s head lowered and her narrowed eyes pointed toward the ground. Seeing this, Rarity brought herself closer to her friend. The pegasus’s silence was something she had been used to but it occasionally concerned her; its persistence sent a pang through her body, demanding her to take action. And that action came in the form of a hug— a deep, soothing embrace.
Fluttershy was stunned by the intimacy of the moment. The blanketing affection was both exciting and sedating, creating a great form of bliss. The shape on her lips remained, however it was no longer strained. Her pain dissipated into the air like smoke after a fire.
The two held each other for what felt like ages; Rarity would’ve held on for eternity if it was rewarded with her friend’s happiness. The separation occurred slowly with each of them loosening their grip and sliding off the others’ shoulders. As they backed away, Rarity saw the smile that had grown on Fluttershy’s face.
“Thank you,” the pegasus said, “I kinda needed that.”
Such a sweet reply made her smile as well.
“I’m glad to hear that.”
Fluttershy turned to the lake once more and gazed at its clear reflection of the afternoon sky.
“I’m happy that we got to come here together one last time. I know that I’m going to need this place more than ever once you leave.” “I will write to you every chance I get,” Rarity replied.
The pegasus faced her friend and nodded.
“Okay.”
“And remember,” she said, “I am not going to be gone forever. I will come back during every school vacation. That is a promise.”
Fluttershy smiled and nodded once more.
“Deal.”
Taking another look at the lake, the pegasus attempted to calculate the time they had spent there. It took her a couple seconds to come to a conclusion.
“We should probably head back to the school; graduation is going to start soon,” she told her friend.
“Yes,” Rarity said, “let’s go.”
Rather than galloping back down the trail, Fluttershy decided to take one last look at the lake: a part of nature that she loved, a former meeting place for friends, and an escape from civilization. It felt right spending their last day together in such a setting. Although she would return, her eyes left the lake and she trotted away with her friend.
“The diamond dogs will hunt down all of the little ponies! And when the diamond dogs catch them we will feast!”
Princess Celestia looked across the conference table at the hulking diamond dog who was screaming at her, and smile sweetly. “Why, thank you, Chief Cujo. But that isn’t necessary. We are throwing this feast in honor of our peace conference. You don’t need to return the favor.”
Chief Cujo squinted at her. “Is the pretty little pony princess making fun of Chief Cujo? Chief Cujo can never tell for sure.”
Celestia smiled again. “I promise, Chief Cujo, you will never catch me making fun of you.”
“Oh, well, good,” grumbled Cujo. “So, what is this thing the ponies want Chief Cujo to sign?”
That would bring the number of those present here who are still confused about what we are doing to a grand total of one, thought Celestia. She understood, given how diamond dog packs fought for dominance, that the chief was always the biggest and strongest dog. But why was the chief also always the most stupid? Was stupidity and size genetically linked in diamond dogs? “I will explain again. We promise to leave you alone, if you will leave us alone. We are tired of these little skirmishes with your people and we want this to stop. This treaty will stop it.” “Little ponies do not think war is fun? Chief Cujo thinks war could be lot’s of fun!”
“You have lost every time you have attacked us.”
“Well, yes…” Cujo actually gave Celestia ‘sad puppy eyes.’ “That does take most of the fun out of it…”
“We have many of your citizens in our detainment camps,” said Celestia. “We want very badly to return them to you.”
“Fine,” spat Cujo. “Then what does the pretty little pony princess want?”
“Very little,” answered Celestia. “Yet, very much. We want a treaty that will last. A treaty cannot last if either side resents it, and so we have done our best to give the diamond dogs nothing to resent. We demand no reparations, we do not want to punish you for attacking us. We have drawn a map of your territory. Little ponies will not mine, or even dig, within these borders. Little ponies may use the surface, but we may not build anything permanent there. We feel we have been fair. If the diamond dogs can think of any way the little ponies could be more fair then please tell us, and we will make adjustments.”
“You have given Chief Cujo a map that he cannot read!”
“But you have wise advisors who can read it,” Celestia pointed out. She indicated a trio of diamond dogs, their pelts shot with grey, to Cujo’s left. “We little ponies worked out the map with their aid. If you trust your own dogs you can trust me, Chief Cujo.”
“Harumph!” Chief Cujo sat back, crossed his arms and glared at Celestia.
So long as Celestia was standing and Cujo was seated, Celestia could look levelly into his eyes. “Please sign, Chief Cujo, so that we may get on with celebrating this peace treaty.”
“Well… Chief Cujo will think about it.” The diamond dog made a big show of stretching, and looking off into the distance.
Please, please, please! thought Celestia. I can go no further, I can give no more! I have done my best! Don’t you realize that if we fight a war to extinction with you, we will win?! “Would it help if I mentioned we sought peace first, Chief Cujo? On that ground, you may claim you won the war. That is what you may tell your children, and their children’s children.”
Cujo stopped stretching, sat up, and looked Celestia straight in the eyes. For the first time during the entire peace conference Cujo spoke frankly, and showed that he might take any of this seriously. “Diamond dog’s feelings for little ponies are… mixed. But Chief Cujo can say this. Chief Cujo has come to trust the pretty little pony princess. Chief Cujo agrees to put his paw print on this treaty.”
The peace conference tent erupted in cheers. Celestia smiled contentedly to herself.
#
999 years ago…
“Please forgive us,” said Celestia. “But I do not understand why this conference has been called.”
She looked over the portable conference table at the diamond dog representative. They were in a hastily assembled tent city, set up on what passed for level ground on the barren land over the diamond dog’s warrens. It was much like the first peace conference the little ponies had with the diamond dogs. Celestia had not deceived herself into believing that was the last such conference she would participate in, and she did not kid herself about this current conference being the last either. But she still did not understand what she was supposed to negotiate for now.
“It concerns the sirens,” said Baskerville, the diamond dog’s spokesdog. “We were never notified of their activity, and the diamond dogs are feeling a bit left out.”
Celestia nodded. “But the crisis is over, Mr. Baskerville. Starswirl the Bearded, has banished the sirens. All the damage the sirens have done is being repaired. Those harmed are being compensated. That is why I am confused. No diamond dogs were harmed and no diamond dog property was damaged. There is no need for repairs or compensation. What exactly is it that the diamond dogs want, Mr. Baskerville?”
“It is, as you say, Princess Celestia, all over,” replied Baskerville. “The sirens attempted to raise an enslaved army to conquer all Equestria. The diamond dogs missed the whole thing. This saddens us, as the siren’s plan actually strikes us as a whole lot of fun! Our Chief asks, on behalf of all the dogs in the pack, is there no way the sirens could be called back for a short while so that we may be included?”
“Oh,” muttered Celestia. She signaled one of her stewards to please bring more tea. She sensed this was going to take a while.
#
Ninety years ago…
“Thank you for meeting with me, Mr. Jones,” said Celestia. “I do not wish to appear inflexible. But the new little pony settlement at Ponyville is outside your treaty borders. Your tunnels under the town are a clear violation.”
“I understand,” replied the diamond dog representative. “And I hope you know, Princess, that the diamond dogs know and appreciate how all your past dealings with us have been characterized by your flexibility. But we are very curious about the ponies of Ponyville.”
“And so you have tunneled into the foundation of their new town hall? Can’t you satisfy your curiosity by watching the ponies from the bushes? I cannot allow you into their basements. This is a privacy issue, Mr. Jones.”
The diamond dog smiled. “We will do our best to accommodate your citizens, Princess Celestia.”
#
Three years ago…
“Please forgive me,” said Princess Celestia. “But I do not understand why this conference has been called.”
“It is about Discord and his chaos storms, Princess,” answered the diamond dog.
“But Discord has been dealt with, all damage has been repaired, and anyone affected has been compensated. It all happened on the surface, and so there is nothing the diamond dogs own to be repaired, and no diamond dog to be compensated. What is the problem, Mr. Rover?”
“The diamond dogs were never told of Discord’s activities, and it was all over before we knew,” said Rover. “We feel left out. The chaos storms sound like a lot of fun! Could Discord be freed for a while, so that diamond dogs could enjoy him?”
“Oh,” muttered Celestia. She signaled a steward for more tea, as she sensed this might take a while. Then inspiration struck her. “Mr. Rover, could we adjourn while we add a local pony to this conference? We could send a messenger to Rarity and have her join us…”
“Rarity!!!”
The conference was over seconds later.
#
Today…
Princess Celestia was once again in a tent on the barrens over the diamond dog warrens, facing the diamond dog’s representative. She was arbitrating a labor dispute for a group of unicorns who had been contracted to magically find gems for the dogs.
“Your little ponies want twenty-five percent of all finds,” said Ambassador Indy. “This is too much. But they will not take the five percent the diamond dogs offer.”
“Make it ten percent, Mr. Ambassador,” said Celestia. “But the unicorns may take their share from first pick of any find.”
Indy’s face lit up. “Excellent! An excellent compromise. Diamond dogs prefer quantity, ponies prefer quality, and this will make everyone happy! Princess Celestia is brilliant. But then, we are not at her first conference table, are we?”
"Fascinating..." Flash Sentry ran a wing along the rack of crystalline helmets as he passed, craning his neck to peer at the lance on the rack above it. "Perfect condition. I almost don't believe it."
"Lieutenant Sentry?"
"Sup?" Flash glanced back over his shoulder, expecting one of the still-recovering crystal ponies he had just been placed in charge of. Instead, his ears plastered back against his skull and he whirled around, snapping to attention. "Prince Shining Armor, sir!"
"At ease, Lieutenant." The newly-crowned prince trotted into the armory, shaking his head. Flash knew what he was thinking. They sent this greenhorn to train my troops?
At least he didn't say as much. "How's it look? Can we be fit-to-fight?"
"Well, sir, the short answer is... no." He gestured around at the racks of weapons and mounted armor. "Enough spears for eight squads, lances and barding for two shock units, and enough longbows and arrows for a hell of a siege."
"So what's the problem?" Prince Shining Armor tilted his head.
Flash took a deep breath. "They're useless, sir. Crystalline weapons became obsolete nearly eight-hundred years ago, and worse, the Imperial Guard is trained to use them."
Shining shook his head. "Ok, now I'm seriously confused. Why is this a bad thing?"
"Sir, can you imagine any of your troops under Princess Celestia forming a phalanx?" Flash irreverently kicked at a large shield. "That's what these are for. Modern soldiers like us are trained differently. Ever since the advent of-"
"So what your saying is they all need a lesson in a thousand years of military history."
"Yessir."
Shining Armor scratched his chin with a hoof. "You have one afternoon with whatever our equivalent of a General is. Make it happen."
Flash's face fell. Well, shoot.
***
"H-hello, sirs." Flash winced as the assembled leadership all glared at him. "I'm, uh, I'm Second Lieutenant Flash Sentry. I'll be your military history instructor today."
"Correct me if I stray, Leftennant," Commandant Karat asked, the eyebrow not holding his monocle rising, "but are you not of—"
"—the lowest rank possible in the Royal Guard, yes sir. But I know military history, so I was sent here. The Crystal Empire is the perfect time capsule for many things, but I have a new job." Flash swallowed. "Class is now in session?"
With some annoyed huffing and at least two eye-rolls, the commander's sat down in the briefing room.
"Ok, so, here's our starting point. Sombra made into a pony-popsicle, and you all went poof. What kinda trouble might that have caused, fellas? Think military." Flash drew a line across the top of the board, and a small circle at the left end, spitting the chalk into the tray.
"Well, tis simple." Commander Quartz waved a hoof. "We nearly had a monopoly on the production of enchanted weapons. Ice arrows in particular."
"Bingo. And what were ice arrows primarily used for?" Flash asked.
"Dragons. Ice arrows are dragonslayers." Commandant Scintle said.
"On point, ma'am. So, what do you think hit the fan about a century after the Empire vanished, and the supply of existing arrows ran short, and nobody had access to the gems or craftponies needed to mass-produce more?" Flash drew an arrow, then circled it and crossed it out, attaching it to the timeline.
The commanders looked at each other, paling beneath their shimmering coats.
"Exactly." A crude dragon was added to the board. "The best part was that despite the fall of Discord, one of Equestria's most powerful warriors was... lost. I hope you all have heard the tale of Nightmare Moon by now? Good."
"Now imagine the futility of massed cavalry charges against a dragon. Princess Celestia could not be everywhere, and armies where getting devastated left and right. But then something crazy happened. Villages needed defenses, armies were not cutting it, and, long story short, heroes started popping up." Flash gave the chalkboard a kick, flipping it over to reveal posters for several classic movies. "Highwind, Noctiramius the Apocalypse, Highlander Appleseed... small groups of incredible ponies went and did incredible things, starting with running off dragons, but leading up to running off anything else! Now, it took a couple years and a few advances an metallurgy, a lot of which made weapons thinner and lighter, but armies steadily started to tend toward small, elite teams instead of huge platoons and formations. Why send a whole column of cavalry to knock down a gate when you could send a dozen agents to open it from the inside, or, better yet, just nab the villain and be done?"
Commandant Pyrria made a face, and Flash jumped on it. "Something to add, ma'am?"
"Indeed! Where has honor gone in this day and age? Hast thou none?" The ruby mare tossed her head.
"To the people, ma'am. What lacks more honor? Stopping evil with a swift, hard cut or letting it fester while recruits buck at it's walls?" Flash grinned. "And really, what's more heroic? An army charging, or a team of super-soldiers alone in enemy territory. That's why your here, today, to—"
"Too heavy." Commandant Quartz interjected.
Lieutenant Sentry blinked. "Sir?"
"Diamond armor. It's to heavy for a small team to use. Same for the lances, they only are good in large formations. A small team needs short-spears, crossbows and light armor to stay mobile." The commander trotted up to the board, flipping it over and marking a simple diagram in the middle. "A coordinated small team could cause massive damage to any size of unit, just by flanking and using bandit-tricks. It pains me to say it, but a fair fight is a foolish fight."
From the back of the room, the sound of applause came forward. Seeing the source, Flash snapped to attention. "Prince Shining Armor, sir!"
"At ease, at ease. Well." The prince looked at the assembled room and gave a chuckle.
"Heh. Glad to see time-travel's been treating ya' well."
It was a dark and stormy night. This weather wasn’t something unusual in Equestria. Although weather teams prefer to be nice and practical with their rain quota, there were instances when a storm was necessary to keep the natural balance. The problem was that, due to a miscalculation, it went too far from what should have been. The wind blew with all its might and the water fell like bullets being fired by the stars above, both ready to freeze into submission anypony insolent enough to dare to step outside.
Somepony dared.
”Let it go.”
A lone mare was walking down the streets. She could have stopped a long time ago, but something inside her prevented her from doing it. She was many things, but she would never quit, she would never surrender.
”I won’t let it go.”
She didn’t remember quite well where she was right now or from where she came. That wasn’t important anyways. The only thing that mattered now was where she was going. To that place, where everything began. As she advanced, the city around her was losing detail, slowly changing from the architectonic neo-gothic design that characterized it, becoming more and more like a blur around the mare.
”Please, just let it go.”
The more she advanced, the more it seemed like the world around her wanted her to stop. The rain from before, a soft mantle of water, was now as harsh as needles piercing her skin. The same happened with the wind, even though it started rough, now the wind was almost strong enough to toss back any other pony. But not this one.
”I can’t let it go.”
By this point in the story, even the ground under the mare’s hooves was unrecognizable. Just a mass of grey, barely solid enough to keep her advancing, that she couldn’t figure out between pavement and mud. Never losing her pace, the mare looked up at the sky. Or where she expected to see the sky. The indefinable background of the same grey as the ground was above her. The only change in the grey universe where the mare was submerged was the rain. The shiny little drops of white falling incessantly over her.
”Please, you could just rest. All you have to do is let it go.”
Focusing once again on her path, the mare looked around her, never stopping, until the scene around her began to take form again. The path of badly conserved concrete, mapped by an infinite web of cracks and fissures was now visible. Still walking, she looked again upwards, this time figuring out the different cloud formations. Finally, at her sides, there weren’t the building and houses from before. Instead, just bushes and trees. She finally managed to cross the city which name she couldn’t remember.
”I can’t let them go, I’m not ready.”
Eventually, although it was the first time, the mare encountered herself with an obstacle and she did the only thing she didn’t want to do in this moment of her life. That one thing the rain couldn’t do, that the wind failed to accomplish, that her own confusion and tiredness didn’t manage to achieve; The mare stopped, all because of an old and rusted steel fence.
”See? It’s futile to continue. Just surrender and you will rest.”
She examined the fence for a moment, looking for a way to pass through it and retake her path. When she looked at the lock, she noticed it was specially rusted and torn apart. The mare rolled her eyes, looking up at her own forehead, where a horn of the same azure as her fur was resting.
”I won’t disappoint them, I can’t.”
Although it would be more practical to just kick the lock, since the rust seemed to have done most of the job, the mare refused to do it. Instead, she closed her eyes and concentrated all she could. At first, nothing happened, but after struggling with herself, her horn finally lit up in a dark magenta light, barely shinning in the dark atmosphere of the storm around her. A quick shot later and the lock jumped out of its place, leaving the fence’s door free to swing open with the wind. The mare smiled.
”Even if you get to them it won’t do any good. Stop this and go on with your life.”
With the door open, the concrete road clean and her determination resolved, the unicorn mare of the azure coat resumed her tireless march under the rain. Just like before, her vision started to blur and the world around her began, once again, to lose definition. This time though, she willed her own conscience to stay focused. Without stopping, she shocked her head till the blur around her wasn’t formless anymore.
”I will reach them, even if it’s the last thing I ever do.”
She encountered a bifurcation in front of her. The single road of concrete was split into five different directions in front of her. At first, she slowed down, still not daring to stop again. But just for a moment, for her will to reach her objective kept her focused enough to remember it was the last path to the left where her destination awaited for her.
”Please, Trixie, it’s still not too late. Turn around and go back to your life.”
Just a couple of meters ahead of her, Trixie Silverlight Lulamoon, the fallen star, finally could saw the one place in this world that was still unaggressive to her. Nothing too complex, just a couple of square meters of ground, covered in grass, and two stones marking it. Tombstones.
“Here lies Scott Free, Mister Miracle. Freedom is what really matters.”
“Here lies Barda Free, Big Barda. A true warrior only wants peace.”
Trixie sat down before the resting place of the first ponies who ever showed her any kindness on this world. The ponies who saw a Celestia’s School dropout wandering alone in the streets of Neigh Orleans and gave her a home. Trixie sat down on the same place every year, on this same date. She would never forget about it. No matter how hard was doing the trip, she would never let them alone. She would never let them down. From inside her cape, Trixie produced two flowers, placing each one in one of the tombstones. Taking of her hat, Trixie let the rain finally reach her.
“Hi mom, hi dad,” she greeted the tombstones. “I didn’t forget.” And she didn’t. She would never forget them.
The now-sole ruler of Equestria looked up from the chip in the stone floor she had been examining, pulled back to the present and feeling like that was not the first time her attention had been called. "Yes, Brass? A message?"
Brass, the court herald, bowed respectfully. "No, your highness. Tis time to go."
"Go...? Ah." Princess Celestia rose, for the last time, from the old throne room. "Of course. We forgot it 'twas moving-day."
"The new castle 'tis stunning, your highness. Methinks you may like it." Brass fell into step beside her. "The view alone is a glory to behold. A fitting place for the heart of Equestria."
"Walls and vistas do not make a country, my little pony." The princess smiled. "Tis your hearts that make it so."
Brass bowed her head. "As you say, your highness."
The caravan of the last of the castle's goods and ponies waited outside, with a white carpet rolled out to give Princess Celestia a path to her chariot. She obliged, gracing her waiting student with a smile as she climbed aboard.
"Good morning, Kimono."
"Good morning, Princess! Is this not exciting?" Kimono, true to form, could barely sit still, and sprang into the back of the chariot after her.
"Verily. We have been looking to this event for some time." Princess Celestia let her gaze wander across the assembled ponies, and took a deep breath. "PROCEED! How are the fillies?"
Kimono took her hooves away from her ears, smiling. "Excited as well! And... begging pardons, somewhat frightened..."
Celestia nodded as the procession began moving sown the wide highway north through the Everfree City. "As are we, my faithful student. As are we..."
"Your highness?"
The princess closed her eyes, taking a steadying moment. "We have lived in this city for six-hundred years, Kimono. To change the capitol of a country is no mean feat, and We regret leaving some things behind. But we find peace knowing it is for the better."
"Of course it is, your highness." Kimono looked out over the edge of the chariot as the pegasai spread their wings and took off, carrying them upward. They sat in silence for some time, before Kimono spoke again.
"Y-your highness?"
"Yes, my faithful student?"
"Some things... or somep-oh!" She broke off as Princess Celestia flinched, doubling over as if cut. "I'm sorry, your highness! I... I just wanted to know!"
"We understand, dear Kimono, we understand." Princess Celestia screwed her eyes shut, holding in tears. "But I cannot speak of my sister yet. One hundred years may be a lifetime, but we shared so... so many together..."
"I just want to help..." Kimono sniffed, her own eyes watering. "I read the old scrolls, and they all speak of you as the very source of joy... but ever since I first saw you as a filly..."
Princess Celestia started as Kimono pressed herself into her teacher's chest, dampening her shoulder with a tear.
"You just seemed so sad!"
For some time, Celestia just held still, uncertain. Then, ever so slowly, she brought a wing around to encompass them.
"Oh, you silly mare." Kimono flinced at the princesses words, but Celestia lifted a hoof and made it a hug. "You wonderful, kind mare. We are sad. We will be sad for a long time. But it is ponies like you that let Us let go of the sadness and remember the past with joy."
Celestia pulled back a wing, tears flowing freely, as she looked toward the great mountain ahead of them, lit by the setting sun. "Raise your eyes, my little pony. Lay them on our new home..."
"Canterlot?" Kimono breathed.
It took little time for the chariot to reach the giant balconys atop the half-finished castle, alighting gently. Both teacher and student had dried their tears long before they stepped off. Princess Celestia accepted the bows of her waiting entourage patiently, then demanded her tour.
"Indeed! Take Us to the throne room, so that We may familiarize ourselves." Addressing so small a group, she did them the convenience of holding back the full power of her Voice. The Captain of the Guard beconed her to follow.
The throne room was every bit as impressive as the reports had stated, and Celestia smiled and complemented the architecture and details of the tile as she went. Her throne had been moved from the Everfree Castle, and sat alone on it's dais, causing a twinge of guilt. Looking closer, however, infuriated her.
"What is this?" She tapped a gilded horseshoe on the white stone steps.
"Your highness?" The architect shrank down.
"'Tis to small!" Princess Celestia knew she was being unreasonable, but she found it impossible to stop herself. "This platform! It holds but one throne? Where shall a second sit? There is no room!"
"B-but your highness..." The architect was quaking in his horseshoes now. "You rule alo-"
"Ceace. Pray, you do not finish that sentence." Kimono stepped foward. "You heard her highness. Redesign the dias to hold two thrones. Mind, design it to hold three. It is not just the Princess who holds sway in Equestria. Begone!"
With that, everypony fled, vanishing from the throne room. The architect disappeared so fast that Celestia thought he might have built a secret exit somewhere. Looking back at the throne, she felt her face redden with fury or shame, she did not know.
Even this far away, and without preamble...
The Nightmare was still with her.
"You will do well, princess." Kimono whispered. Princess Celestia gave a humorless chuckle.
"And how, pray, do you assure me so?" The whole incident had placed her in a foul mood, and she decided on the spot she quite hated the new castle. Her student's next words stopped her.
"You still have us. You can't protect yourself from your own heart, your highness. But your friends can. Is that not the secret of the Elements?"
Noteworthy sighs in bliss as he relaxes on his couch, pleased that another long day at work has ended. Not that he hates his job, but there are days where he wishes his job loved him as much as he loved it. That being said, a rough day has ended and he can relax and enjoy the sound of silence for a grand total of five seconds before his door is flung open and his roommate, Lucky, bursts in with the delicacy of a hydra in a china shop.
“Hey, Note, guess what!” says Lucky excitedly.
Without looking at Lucky, Noteworthy sighs and rubs his brow. “I don't. You got maced in the face again?”
Lucky snickers. “No, but a good guess.”
Noteworthy sighs and turns his head, about ready to say something to his roommate and questionable friend, but the words flee from his mind and mouth when he sees what Lucky wants to show him.
Attached on his shoulder, surrounded by a grotesque barrier of poorly healed scabs, terrible stitches, mangled flesh and rolled fur is a skeletal parrot with thin sheets of metal for wings, bright red eyes and a beak that gleams in the light like an assassin's prized blade.
Noteworthy's jaw drops, and for many long seconds only the chirping birds and distant quacks of ducks can be heard. The situation is made more awkward when Lucky's grin grows wider and the parrot turns its head to look at Noteworthy, its gears whirring and clicking and eyes snapping open and shut like the shutters of a camera.
“Lucky... What. Is that?” says Noteworthy when he regains some vocabulary.
“This is Jamal the Parrot,” says Lucky proudly. “I used all the money I got from my government checks and disability pension stuff and had this guy attached to my shoulder. Isn't he cool?”
“Lucky, do you have any idea what you've just done!” yells Noteworthy as he leaps to his hooves and gets in Lucky's face, trying to look furious, but coming of as more horrified than anything else. “These... These attachments- these things don't come off easy! And the guy that did this did a terrible job! Seriously, its like someone shoved your shoulder in a grinder, lit it on fire, then stabbed you with a robotic parrot!”
Lucky gasps and backs away. “Note, I thought you would be happy for me trying to be different! How often do you see ponies walking around with robotic parrots surgically inserted their shoulders?”
“There's a reason why nopony has robots fused to their bodies! What were you trying to do, anyway?”
“Pick up some chicks.”
Noteworthy's ears perk and his eyes bulge as his brain blows yet another fuse. “What?”
Luck smiles again. “Pick up some chicks. Attract some mares. Score some tail. Entice the opposite gender into my clutches so we can efficiently reproduce and make Lucky Juniors.”
Noteworthy shakes his head. “No, no, Lucky, that... no. Just no. We don't need more of you running around, and besides, nopony is going to want to hang out with you because of that disgusting thing on your shoulder!”
Lucky frowns and points at Noteworthy. “Okay, you've gone too far. Jamal is not disgusting. He is a parrot with feelings and dreams.”
“You mean dreams of being surgically attached to a pony's shoulders?”
“Yes. Besides, with me and Jamal working together, I will be the greatest pimp this side of the Everfree.”
“Well, Lucky, I hate to tell you this, but your plan is going to fail miserably and you-”
Noteworthy is interrupted by a knock on the door, and he and Lucky stare at the door, which is still open, and they see none other than Bon Bon standing in the doorway, smiling sheepishly.
“I'm sorry, I was just walking by and I saw that you had a robotic parrot attached to your shoulder,” says Bon Bon.
Lucky grins and pats the robot. “Yeah, his name is Jamal.”
“Jamal?”
Bon Bon licks her lips and purrs as she enters and rubs her body against Lucky's side, giving him an alluring smile that makes his heart flutter.
“That is such a sexy name,” says Bon Bon in a husky whisper, her had craned up like she wants to kiss him, but not really.
Lucky tilts his head down and Jamal tilts its head curiously as he returns the same look and speaks in the same tone with the same seducing smile. “That is what I thought, too, my little angel.”
Noteworthy feels like he's going to puke, and his legs give out where he has to sit on the floor when Bon Bon rubs her hoof up and down Lucky's chest in slow strokes like she is trying to feel is sculpted muscles underneath his coat.
“So, what's your name, stud?” asks Bon Bon.
“Lucky, and you?”
“Bon Bon, but you can call me 'Bonnie'. So, do you and Jamal want to... you know, hang out later?”
Lucky grabs the back on Bon Bon's mane and tugs her head back so she is looking directly into his eyes, getting a sharp gasp from her, followed by an excited giggle, and he says with a hunger in his voice. “Why wait? Let's hang out right now.”
Bon Bon smiles and hooks her hoof around Lucky's neck and brings him closer so their muzzles almost touch. “You're right. My place. Now.”
Bon Bon pecks Lucky on his lips and she slithers out of his grip and goes around his body, dragging her candy-like tail all around him, then she saunters out, purposefully brushing her tail under his nose. Lucky shudders, and with an eager giggle to go with his raging blush, he skips out the door, leaving Noteworthy alone in the doorway to wonder how Lucky can get so lucky with such an awful thing attached to his shoulder.
The first day of Spring arrive, and oh how much I wanted to be there with you.
I promised I’ll never leave, but in the end the choice was not mine. No, I did not get to voice my wish, did not get to tell them I needed to stay.
I see the life that cover the world today, it’s mild green colours awakening it all from it’s slumber. The birds singing, the flowers growing up beside the roads, simple yet full of life, a promise of the beauty and life summer shall give you.
Laughter, innocent and seductive, too pure to ever have crossed an adults lips. My ears flickered as it once more rang through the world, filling my vision with memories, memories of you.
On your great day, you know I wanted to be there. I promised to be there. We’d see spring explode, and it be the best of times I’ve ever know.
The greatest day, it’ll still be yours, but you won’t enjoy it, no. You’ll think of me, and the tears of silver which you cry, they’ll be on with the fire below.
I pray to live, live just a little longer, so I can be there. I’m not ready, ready to step away. We were going to fight, were going to make the world complete, and you’d trust yourself to me, because I know you’re brave.
I recognize the forest path moving beneath my hooves. Faster, every step taking me faster forward than the previous, until I see nothing at all, because it move too fast. But it doesn’t matter if I’m blind, when I don’t need my eyes know where to go. Been here before, more times than you know.
I feel the ground change beneath me, and I slow down, until I get my vision back. A big stone and two Juniper bushes in front of me and I know I’m here.
On the other side, is a cliff. We’ve been sitting there a thousand and one times. As we grew, we’d realize, how small it really was, how small our world really was. But it never bothered you, to know that you’ve limited yourself.
I can still feel the taste on my tongue, the taste of bittersweet cherry and wild apple. They used to grow here, next to the cliff. We’d stay and pick them on our way to and from school, enjoy them as often as we could.
I can still here you complaining, that late fall, when I stole the last apple and ate it. You where angry, but soon we’d be laughing anyway. A new summer would come, with new fruits.
And we got angry, so angry, when they cut them down. One day, they were just gone, and there was nothing to do.
A chilly breeze flow across the landscape as I sit down on the cold stone, kicking my legs around in the empty space in front of me for no reason at all...
Suddenly, I see you there, just across the street. I sit silently, watching as you cross the road, close the distance to me, until you're so close that I could kick you in the head. You bow down, you pick some of the spring flowers growing at the base of cliff.
It’s Bluebelles you’re picking, those oh so beautiful flowers which I always loved, but never dared to pick. I thought it was forbidden. When I finally learned that it wasn’t, it was too late. The days when I picked those flowers were long gone…
You’ve finished picking the flowers and climbed up the side of the cliff and sit next to me. Your face is beautiful, but worn down. You’ve met so much hardship, and I feel eternally grateful, that I got to share your pain.
But not only have I hold you tight, protected you the best I could, I’ve been protected too. You’ve been there for me when I’m sure I would have crashed without you. Without a smile, a wink, a hug.
“I got to hold your hoof, when you were forced to leave your dreams behind you, I was there when you finally came to terms with time itself. Yes, I even got to see you thank the world, in the end.”
That’s what he tell me, sitting there on the small cliff beside me during the first day of Spring. I smile and try to grab his hoof, but he doesn’t notice. He never do anymore, because that’s how he wanted it to be.
The flowers he picked for me is laying beside him, where I would have been. Where I am, even though he does not know it, does not see it.
I look at the flowers and recall our last goodbye, when he convinced me to let go of his hoof, so he would be free to go.
I didn’t want to go, I asked to stay, to live just a little longer. Because on your big day, i wanted to be there, be there with you. I asked to exist for just a little longer, so I could be ready, ready to go.
but through his eyes, I he showed me the foals and their laughter, he showed me the tears filling the darkness of the night, he showed me the first day of the spring.
From that moment, i knew I couldn’t stay, and therefor, right now, I give him a hymn, a song and promise, as I give up on staying, accept that I won’t be there on his big day.
It feel good, because I know he can make it on his own, know that he doesn’t notice me because of that he no longer need me by his side. He’s on his own now, and I know he’ll live long and happily.
Still, I know he’ll hear my hymn playing in the wind, and he’ll know I’ve moved on too.
Firefly groaned. The cacophony of foals screaming was doing nothing to improve her mood, and she was on the verge of running late. At her hooves, her daughter clutched the yellow and blue doll defiantly.
"Oh, jeez," she muttered, wondering once again why she, of all ponies, had decided to become a parent.
Sky High chuckled, earning him a stern glare. Her husband shrugged innocently. "What? She's a kid, they do this."
Firefly did not feel she needed reminding, especially right outside the preschool. She didn't like the idea of being shown up in front of teachers, kids, and worse, judgmental parents. They were always eyeing her maliciously in the gym, like it was abnormal somehow that a mother should balance her daughter on top of her weights and bench press her. It was to keep an eye on her, she told them, but they wouldn't have it.
It wasn't like she had been in any danger.
She turned her attention back to her husband, and snorted. "Well, kid or not, she shouldn't be so attached to a toy. I never pulled stunts like this, after all... I was too busy with—..."
"Oh, you did. You just don't like admitting it," Sky replied with a sly grin.
Time to change the subject, Firefly thought. She knelt down towards her daughter, doing her best to put on a kind, yet stern, expression.
Well, she got the 'stern' part right, at least. The little pegasus filly bravely held her gaze whilst sinking into the cloud they were standing on. Firefly did her best to soften, but was all too aware that 'soft' was not her strong suit.
"Sweetheart, you can't go to school with that," she told her daughter, gesturing at the doll. "You'll just lose it, or get bullied for it."
The young filly responded by gripping the doll even tighter. Firefly turned towards Sky High, watching the pair with amusement. "She'll not give up like that," he told her. "She takes after you too much."
"Help," Firefly mouthed, ignoring his previous quip. Sky shook his head, his mouth still curled into that smug smile he did so well
"Hey, kiddo, you don't need to keep a-hold of Commander Easyglider," he told her softly. "He'll be here when you get back."
Firefly grunted. "Wonderbolts... they haven't a patch on real flyers..."
Sky High eyed his wife. She held her hooves up in defeat, and left him to his arduous task.
"Besides, if you don't go to school, you won't be able to become a Wonderbolt," Sky High added. Suddenly, the young filly's attention was his.
"Become a Wonderbolt? I thought only awesome flyers could be Wonderbolts. I'm just—..."
"All Wonderbolts said that... before they worked hard and gave it their all." He held out his hoof. "C'mon: maybe one day you'll have your own doll."
Firefly watched, relieved and aghast at the same time, as her daughter handed Sky the Wonderbolts doll to her father with nary a sound. Sky grinned and got to his hooves, fluttering his wings. He was over the moon that he had managed to one-up his wife. "See? How hard was that?" he asked the foal, beaming.
The young filly returned him a smile, and fluttered her small, and rather feeble wings nervously. Firefly leaned closer and gave her a gentle nudge with her muzzle. "Off you go, now. Don't want to keep that teacher of yours waiting."
The little pony nodded furiously, and cantered off into the schoolyard. "Bye!" she shouted, giving her parents almost no time to wave her off themselves. She was fast, Firefly had to give her that much.
"Bye, Spitfire!" Firefly replied. "Study hard! And don't fall off the cloud!!"
"Wonderbolts don't fall off clouds, mom!" Spitfire shouted back confidently, much to Firefly's dismay. What has Sky High done?
Her husband tapped her on the shoulder, attracting her attention without a word. "Must you be so tough with her? Always?"
Firefly shrugged. "If I pull my punches, so will she. Just you wait, she'll turn out hard as nails." She narrowed her eyes. "But now, thanks to you, I'll have to put up with her going on and on about being a Wonderbolt. Do you know how tiresome that's going to get?"
"Oh, please. She's a kid: she'll just give it up for the next most exiting thing in a few hours," he told her. "Children only hang onto stuff like this for so long, you'll see!"
With that, he strode away, oozing confidence. Nothing his wife could say would distract him from the fact that he had got the doll from Spitfire, not her.
Firefly rolled her eyes again, and followed him with mock reluctance. "If you say so. But I, for one, would like my daughter to have a respectable job. On your own head be it if she pursues this her whole life!"
"Er, Twilight, not that I mind, but why did you decide on a picnic today of all days?” Pinkie Pie asked. “And why are we in the forest? I know it’s gonna be a fun place, as you all keep saying that, but where exactly are we going?”
“Today is a beautiful day to be hanging out.” Twilight paused as she looked up toward the tree branches. “Mhm.”
“We usually talk when we hang out.” Pinkie glanced at her friends.
“Fun.” Fluttershy whispered in response.
Pinkie’s hair bristled. “Besides constant reassurances that it will be fun, nopony is saying anything. Is something wrong?”
“No. Nothing is amiss.” Twilight answered with a flat voice.
Pinkie turned to the rest of her friends. Getting no reaction from them, she looked back to Twilight. “But don’t you have that thing in Canterlot today?"
"Hm?” Twilight raised her eyebrows. “Em, It wasn't that important and, em, I do want to spend more time with my special friends. Yeah, that's about right." Twilight nodded to herself.
Pinkie Pie gasped. "Celestia invited you to your own coronation and you decided not to go?”
"Oh. Em, that thing. That got canceled…" Twilight clenched her teeth.
"So, you're not going to officially become a princess then?" Pinkie Pie asked.
"Pinkie Pie, get off Twilight Sparkle's case, will ya’! She had, uhm, busy day." Applejack shoved Pinkie Pie with a hoof.
Pinkie frowned. "I didn't mean to pry—"
"Well, you kind of did, sweetie!" Rarity jumped in. "It matters little now. Pinkie Pie, why don't you be a dear and take the lead."
"Em… okay… So, em, this is the fun place you were all talking about?” She squeezed herself through the outgrowth then came to a halt as she gazed at the opening in the cliffside “It's a cave…"
"Go on, Pinkie Pie." Rainbow Dash pushed her with a wing. "It’s gonna be awesome and fun! I’m absolutely sure of it."
"Well, em, okay… I’ve never heard you all say the word ‘fun’ so many times before, so I guess it’s gonna be fun?”
All five of her friends grinned and nodded their heads.
“Oki… doki…" Pinkie Pie entered the burrow.
"Keep going.” Fluttershy whispered. “Don't be scared; it’ll be fun."
"I'm not scared, It's just a bit dark, that's all." Pinkie’s tail twitched more and more with each step forward she took.
"Well, let me light it up a little for you then." A green field enveloped Twilight’s horn.
The light illuminated black faces in the dark.
Pinkie froze as she recognized the shapes of the creatures.
She gulped her saliva as she shifted her eyes from side to side. The cave was full of changelings. They were staring at her in silence.
Her breathing ceased as she slowly turned around, stepping with her hooves ever so slightly. She lowered her head, as if she could still avoid detection. Assuming the prowl position, she was gathering the courage to sprint toward her trusted friends.
Pinkie focused toward the entrance trying to make out the shapes in the sunlight at the end of the tunnel. She breathed out in relief as she saw five silhouettes waiting for her, with the middle one lighting her way. They stood exactly where she last saw them.
The forms were hard to make out because the sun was shining from behind them. As she squinted with her eyes, she saw the light protruding through the holes in their bodies and their transparent wings. They were changelings, also!
“Aaa!” Pinkie Pie' eyes opened wide as she shook on her bed, bawling.
She swung her head, looking around her room, then sighed in relief. “It was just a dream.”
Despite the realization, the cold shivers kept running down her spine.Pinkie shoved away the covers. They were moist with sweat. She bit her lip and slowly shook her head. “You’re worrying yourself insane again, Pinkie Pie. Your friends will love your coronation party. You know this.”
“Right. It’s not like they expect me to do my best. Wait, actually, they do! What if my best isn’t good enough?” Her tail flapped.
“It’s just another party. You’ve done loads of them, and this one will be a success just like most of them are,” she said to herself.
“Yes, I’m right. There is no reason why this once in a lifetime party would go wrong. It’s gonna be just like the Galla. No! The Gala was a disaster. This party has to be the exact opposite of the Gala.” She hugged her tail to ease its shaking.
“You’ve done huge parties before. You know you can do it.”
“Yes! It’s true. I can do it! It will be like the wedding. Except that it won’t get ruined by changelings.” She started sweating again.
“They’ve already been dealt with for good. Celestia herself said so. There’s nothing to worry—”
The bell at the door interrupted her self-talk.
“A friend? That’s exactly what I need right now!” Pinkie Pie jumped out the window, anchoring her tail on the frame of it. Mid-air she swung her body around and hit against the facade with her back.
As her mane fell from her eyes, she saw Twilight Sparkle staring up on her. Her mouth was opened ajar
“Twilight, what are you doing here, shouldn’t you be at your coronation protocol practice?”
It was the worst place in all of Equestria to take a nap.
Raven was just about the last mare anypony would expect to find sleeping on the job. But the circumstances were extraordinary. Princess Luna’s secretary had suddenly been taken ill, and Raven had volunteered to take her place. It had been a long time since Raven had pulled an allnighter, but she thought she was up to it. Night Court was normally comparatively quiet, after all.
Of course, this turned out to be “the night everything happened.” A feud between clans of bat-ponies had to be arbitrated. It had come to the brink of violence over a fruit tree with limbs growing over the wrong pony’s garden.
They had to rule on a dispute between the night porters at Princess Celestia’s school and a group of students, on the subject of curfews. It was agreed that a proper punishment for curfew violations had to be imposed, and that locking the doors and keeping late students out all night was certainly not a proper punishment.
Flim and Flam had been caught by a night watch pony trespassing at the Equestrian School of Mining’s Energetic Materials Testing Site. The brothers were being held as “guests” of the Palace until it could be established exactly what it was they were up to. They maintained that they “had just gotten lost,” and that was the story they were sticking to.
Finally, a raid on a dive bar in Lower, Lower Canterlot had resulted in the arrests of several underaged mare from a University of Canterlot sorority. The palace throne room had been filled with frightened and tipsy mares and their very upset (and sleep deprived) parents until the wee hours of the morning.
And so, poor Raven began her third consecutive shift of work. The throne room was empty while Princess Celestia was outside raising the sun; and Raven took this opportunity to inspect the throne one last time. It wasn’t as if the housekeeping staff hadn’t done their jobs. It was just a good idea to double check. It wouldn’t do for crumbs from the cupcakes Princess Luna had snacked on to still be there when Princess Celestia took the throne.
During this quick little inspection Raven sat. And, as is appropriate for the Throne of Equestria, it was very, very comfortable. Raven found herself thinking, “I’ll just close my eyes for a moment. It will be refreshing, and I’ll be better able to serve my Princess today.”
Moments later, Raven was dreaming.
#
“All Hail Interim Princess Raven!” declared the Sergeant at Arms.
“Please, all rise,” said Raven, as she settled herself on the Throne of Equestria. “Court is in session. My the first petitioner please come forward and present their grievance?”
The brothers Flim and Flam stepped forward, and spoke in unison. “Your Highness, we protest that our treatment represents restraint of trade!”
“I see.” Raven carefully read the scroll documenting this case. “You are charged with running an unlicensed and undocumented shipping company.”
“Protests from competitors afraid of a little competition!” declared Flim.
“You arrived unannounced at several company loading docks, and presented ourselves as their regular carriers,” said Raven. “At which point you made off with whatever loads were ready for shipping.”
“Just trying to make an honest buck. your Highness,” said Flam.
“You know nothing of the routes, the addresses, the needs of certain special materials you ended up handling… you have disrupted trade in Canterlot for… dear me, I’ve no idea how long it shall take to sort it all out! Every order you touched was late, miss-delivered, improperly handled, outright lost, or a combination of the above.”
“All new start ups have their growing pains, your Highness.”
What would Princess Celestia do?” thought Raven. “Oh, I know!”
“Of all possible violations, the Crown of Equestria of Equestria is most concerned with the fact that your ‘new startup’ is completely unlicensed, unregistered, and unbonded. You have filled no official paperwork at all.”
“That’s restraint of trade!” cried the brothers.
“We will allow you to file now, retroactively, without penalty,” said Raven.
“The Princess is most gracious!”
“So, would the court pages please bring copies of forms SF-71, UB-40, 221B, GATT 10 through GATT 23, 2115 recursive, everything we have on hazardous or restricted materials… you know what? Just bring out the entire standard ‘Keeping Track Of Miscreants’ package.”
Soon, a parade of ponies arrived at the throne room, each pony heavily laden with a stack of papers. The line extended from the throne to beyond the room’s entrance, where it extended up the hall.
“This is outrageous!” declared the brothers, eyeing the paperwork.ed
“Well, you do have the option to reject the Crown’s ruling in this case,” said Raven. “In which case it will be settled in a municipal criminal court. We would be happy to schedule you a court date if you desire.”
Flam spoke to his brother out of the corner of his mouth. “Are their any judges in Canterlot who aren’t mad at us?”
“Probably not,” Flim whispered in answer.
“We accept the Princesses judgement,” said the brothers in unison.
“Good. Guards, please escort them to quiet alcoves with writing desks where they may work uninterrupted, for however long it is necessary. And we apologize, but the departments of Treasury, Commerce, and Transportation, as well as the appropriate departments of all local governments whose borders you have crossed in shipping, all need copies. Sadly, because of an unfortunate disruption of shipping, the Palace has not gotten our order of copy paper. All forms will have to be filled out by hoof. Oh, and as you have no contracts with any of the clients you poached I shall send them all a notice letting them know they are under no obligation to pay the bills for ‘services rendered’ you have sent out.
“But that’s not fair!”
“That is my final ruling. Do you wish to argue?”
“No, Princess.”
“Excellent. Sergeant at Arms, please bring forth the next petitioner.”
Oh, that was good fun! thought Raven. I do so hope Princess Celestia would approve.
At the very edge of the dreamscape, in a corner obscured by a pillar, where not even the dreamer could see them, two ponies watched it all.
“Thank you for showing me this, Luna,” said Princess Celestia.
“I thought it would do you good to see her dreams, Tia,” answered Luna. “Note how she calls herself “Interim Princess Raven.’ Even in her fantasies she cannot bear to take your place for long.”
“That sort of devotion you cannot buy, and you can hardly even reward it properly.” Celestia watched her personal assistant hold court, and her eyes began to glisten. “She even wonders what I’d do before each decision. Actually, I like her ideas. I can hardly wait for Flim and Flam to give me a chance to try that one.”
“What now, Sister?”
“I’ve given us a beautiful day, and I think we’ll move the court out to the garden to enjoy it. There’s no need to disturb Raven. She looks so comfortable.”
“She’ll be embarrassed that you let her sleep.”
“She’ll be mortified about this no matter what, so we might as well let her sleep. She will just have to accept that I let her rest because I care. It pleases me to take care of her, it makes me happy, and she’ll accept that I indulged myself. But what about you, Luna? Aren’t you going to retire now?”
“Soon,” said Luna. “But first I have one more dreamer to oversee. It wouldn’t do for her to have anything but pleasant dreams, now would it?”
Ditzy Doo sighed as she looked out the snow-encrusted window, as the white scenery passed her by quickly. This was quickly turning into the most boring train ride she had ever taken, to the most boring place she knew of: Stalliongrad. But she had to go, for the title of the Mare (Or Stallion, or any other creature who won,) with the Golden Pan was quite a prodigious one.
The rhythmic whirring of the train wheels started to get to her. She yawned as she tried to combat sleep. Her eyes flicked shut, but she quickly opened them wide when she noticed what had happened. She was starting to regret her self-promise that she wouldn’t fall asleep on the train ride. Looking outside, she saw several sheep jumping over a fence. Blinking a few times, she realized they must be training for something. What, however, she did not know. Another yawn escaping her, she closed her eyes, and before she knew it had fallen asleep.
It was, rather unsurprisingly, the perfect muffin. It would have to be, protected as it was. Ditzy looked at the clear crystal glass surrounding it, and sighed. Looking back at the muffin, she admired it more. It was the very picture of the perfect confectionary. It was the perfect size, not so large that it would take several bites, but not so small that it would be devoured far too quickly. Looking closer, Ditzy realized that there were actually blueberries inside it.
As her eyes wandered away from the perfect muffin, she noticed that there was nopony around. “Well, that’s strange…” she muttered. Normally there were quite a few ponies just mulling around. But it was completely empty, for some odd reason.
Looking back at the glass, Ditzy noticed the security system surrounding it. Light, being reflected from the best crystals of the Crystal Empire, shined down and around the glass case. Ditzy, however, knew a way around them. Taking a bubble wand from the pocket of the jacket she just realized she was wearing, she took a good look at the case. Holding back a laugh at how easy it was, she blew a gigantic bubble towards the case. The bubble passed through the lights, not disrupting them… somehow, and surrounded the case.
As Ditzy’s special talent was blowing bubbles, and controlling them, what happened next wasn’t surprising. The bubble slowly lifted up, and back towards Ditzy. And inside the bubble, was the case.
With a quick flap of her wings, the bubble burst, the case fell to the ground, and the glass shattered. Ditzy jumped at the sound, as she expected ponies to rush in any minute now. A few minutes passed, and no one showed up. Shrugging, she picked up the muffin, and looked over it. The smell of the perfectly cooked batter, mixed with the blueberries confirmed that this was most definitely the perfect muffin.
She leaned in close to it, and slowly opened her mouth. But before she could take a bite out of it, a pony appeared. “It is I, Trixie the Great and Powerful! And I am here to take back that muffin!” yelled the aforenamed pony. Having seen Trixie being run out of town by an Ursa Minor, Ditzy continued to call Trixie… Trixie.
Trixie started to rush towards Ditzy as her horn started to glow, a clear indicator of a charging spell. Ditzy was in dismay, until she looked downwards, and saw, beneath her hooves, the Golden Pan. Slightly surprised, but not about to question her good luck, she picked up the pan in her mouth, after putting the muffin down. Carefully.
As Trixie drew nearer, Ditzy turned her head, preparing to throw the Pan. Her crossed eyes were of use for once, for they allowed her to keep an eye on Trixie, even with her head turned. And when Trixie finally got close enough, Ditzy whipped her head back, and let the Pan fly. It hit Trixie with a satisfying clunk, as Ditzy smiled. Walking up to the unconscious mare, Ditzy looked down, and said, “There’s no need to panic over a muffin.”
Finally alone, Ditzy trotted back towards the muffin, and looked over it again. Stopping herself from drooling over the perfectness, she picked the muffin up, and ate it. It was the tastiest muffin she had ever eaten, and she had eaten a lot of muffins. Truly, it was the perfect muffin. She sighed, as she realized that there would never be such a muffin again.
A clatter of hooves upon hard stone alerted Ditzy to the presence of another pony. And bursting through the same door Trixie had came through, was the pony she knew as Time Turned. “There’s no need to fear, the Doctor is here!” he exclaimed, before he actually looked around and saw the broken glass, unconscious mare, and Ditzy Doo.
“Doctor? No, you’re Time Turner,” she said, looking at him in surprise. She didn’t think anypony could get a Ph. D in fixing clocks, nor did she think that even if you could get one, that your name would become Doctor.
“Hm? Oh yeah, I am Time Turner aren’t I?” he muttered absentmindedly, as he looked around. “Well, I passed several guards on my way here, there’s a broken display case, and you’re standing near an unconscious mare, with a dented golden pan near your hooves. By any chance, would you happen to like a ride out of here?” he asked, looking directly at Ditzy. This was a surprisingly hard thing to do most of the time, with her wandering eyes.
“Oh… uh…” Ditzy realized that she had better leave soon, lest she be caught. Not stopping to wonder just how Time Turner would help her escape, she replied, “Yes, I would.”
“Perfect! Follow me, quickly now,” he exclaimed as he ran out the door, barely giving Ditzy a chance. Being a Pegasi had an upside, however, and she quickly took off from the ground, and caught up to Time Turner.
A few moments later… she realized just how he was planning on escaping with her. In front of her was a giant muffin… with equally giant wings. She noted that they were the same color as hers, but she was far too in awe to really care about that part. Time Turner ran ahead, as Ditzy had stopped in her tracks to admire the muffin, and opened a door into the muffin. “After you, my dear Derpy!” he said, his head bowed low, as he kept the door open.
“Time Turner! I’d love t-”
The shrill shriek of the train’s whistle, woke Ditzy up from her dream. Looking outside, she noticed the train had come to a stop, and right outside was Stalliongrad. She sighed, got up from her seat, and trotted towards the exit. She wished that the rest of her trip would be anywhere near as exciting as her dream had been, as she stepped off the train, into the cold of the city of Stalliongrad.
Luna glared blankly at the moon, aware of the fact she was walking within the Astral World which was the general Dream Purgatory. This moon was the same moon of the real world, as it reflected the night and what the night was in the material world, but Luna could not feel it. She was aware of the fact the moon radiated a force which she understood, but she could not feel this force, whether it be gravity or magic or astral energy, she could not feel it no matter how hard she tried.
"I wield that same power," Luna said calmly. "As much as I do move that power, I can't feel it? What am I to the moon? Just a speck of dust? Is a dream the same way?"
Whatever did she mean? She did not know, as her logic limiters were severely low and burned out in this perplexed madness which she called a dream.
"You call that perplexed madness?" Discord announced from the moon as he floated down with the assistance of an umbrella.
Luna noticed him upon adjusting her eyes. Was he in her dream? Or rather... part of it? "Discord? What are you doing here? I was not aware you had the ability to dream walk."
"My dear Luna, dreamwalking is a form of magic, surely something I can accomplish. As a pony I know would say, all it takes is a hop, skip, and a jump." Discord did the "Hop, Skip, and Jump" to show Luna exactly what he meant. "Magic isn't too hard for me to accomplish, since I have Chaos Magic."
"Care to explain how that works?" Luna asked as she smiled in curiosity. She closed in on Discord, who chuckled at her advances.
"My my, You're so different from Celestia, Luna! So much like a filly, you are. You certainly have a certain spark to you that Celestia doesn't have."
The setting turned into a wide open ocean, deep and a dark blue, swarming with golden figures which seemed to circle around both Luna and Discord. Luna managed to bend the dream to keep herself standing in mid-air, and one of the golden figures lunged up from the water to eat them both, but whatever Luna and Discord were standing upon blocked it and snapped its neck easily. The alicorn princess giggled at the event rather freely, not bothered by the visuals as she was well aware she was in a dream.
"Really, Discord? Are you trying to spook me? My, even the Cutie Mark Crusaders have spookier dreams than this," Luna told him with a laugh, summoning a storm within the dream and churning the ocean to raise with the waves all of the golden figures, showing them to be massive whale sharks with rows and rows of razor sharp teeth. "What? I've been in the Moon for a thousand years, but even I am aware that whale sharks do not have teeth like this. In fact, don't they eat krill?"
"Meh, who cares?" Discord replied in an uninterested tone, snapping the dream to a dark forest. "That wasn't an attempt to try to scare you. I just want to have a Dream Duel with you."
“Dream duel? Do you really wish to have such an altercation with me?” Luna asked him with a cocky tone. “You do know who you’re talking to, don’t you?”
“That’s not what I meant!” Luna was engulfed by a dark magic, and suddenly morphed herself into Nightmare Moon. She stood tall and brandished a sword with a moon shaped guard. The moon shone down on her as the terrain returned to which it was before.
Discord applauded Luna’s power and control over this Dream Realm. “I’d imagine you had been perfecting this power for quite some time now, correct?”
“You are correct. This is a Dream. This is my realm. I control all and see all. Princess of the Night, the Princess of Dreams and Illusion. Is that hard to understand for you?”
Discord took control of the realm and turned it into a Minecraft terrain infused with a burning war-themed Call of Duty setting. Laughing in delight and spread out his arms and breathed in the chaos of the situation. Not nearly enough. “Don’t get on my case--”
Discord pulled a suitcase from under Luna’s hooves, causing her to fall. “--Fine, this is your realm, but I’ll show you I’m just as good at controlling it that you are.”
“Is that a challenge?” Luna growled, fixing her mane and standing up to point her sword at Discord.
“I did call for a ‘Dream Duel,’ didn’t I?”
Luna dodged a massive meteorite of blocks and guns shooting in omnidirectional laser beams coming from Discord, who was standing on a planetoid-sized white Kraken which leaked oil from the suckers in its tentacles. She had taken about 50 damage, and checked her health bar to see if that was significant in any way.
“I can’t cancel out this dream of his,” Luna growled to herself, taking her sword and clashing with the fifth tentacle of the Kraken, being launched back into the wall of a mountain and flipping up the side acrobatically. Getting to the top, she felt more control over this side of the dream realm.
Of course, the space in which the participant of the Dream Duel occupied is what they controlled. Discord, having the Kraken on his side, was able to occupy more than 80% of the battlefield, so the small part which Luna had with her miniscule body compared to the Kraken was to be used wisely. And luckily for her, the Kraken did not move.
“I see you are unable to move from your spot, Discord! I’ll turn your dream into a Nightmare!” Luna shouted at the top of her lungs, summoning with her sword a white headless horse only 10% of the size of the Kraken. “Now, let’s end this and prove that you’ve come to the wrong neighborhood!!”
“Oh calm down, Luna, I haven’t used my final attack yet. I’ve merely been playing with you,” Discord said to her from the top of the Kraken. “The real question is, how the hay can you hear me from down there? And… vice versa?”
Luna kicked the flank of the headless horse and shot it towards the Kraken. The horse burst into black flames and spewed a trail of infinitely looping, swirling and multiplying rainbows. The sky lit up with a moon of rainbow auras and threatened to destroy everything in its wake. “Take this, Discord! Years of dream invading and gaming have really paid off for me!!”
Discord brought together all ten tentacles of the Kraken and charged a hyper-condensed blast of chaos too chaotic to contain, and it blasted random spawning enemies of every video game to ever exist. The black nothingness of the orb of Chaos spawned worlds which collided with the current dream realm, and Luna had to summon her own worlds and minions to combat Discord’s.
“Give it up, Luna! I have 80% of the field, and you only have 20%! There’s nothing you can dream of to stop me! You can’t even stop me in your dreams, sadly!” Discord cackled. He lowered the orb of spewing chaos and continued to laugh while doing so. “I’ll be honest, this is the most fun I’ve had in a long time, Luna! We should do this more often!”
Luna smiled as the entire world turned to sketches under the intense light of her attack clashing with Discord’s. “I can very much so say the same!” Luna exclaimed as her mane flowed ever so more fiercely. She took this time to her advantage and twirled her sword around her body six times, each time unleashing an Element of Harmony, each tainted with her own magic so she could use them all with the utmost efficiency.
“Wh-What are you doing?!” Discord cried, watching as Luna’s attack tore straight through his and triggered a massive neutron-sized explosion which took the battle to space as it tore apart the entire terrain and sent the Kraken hurdling into the vast spatial abyss of the above. “Holy Faust!” And Discord, in a vision, saw a heavenly Fausticorn descending upon him. “Is this how I shall pay for my sins, oh great creator?”
Faust embraced him gently, and Discord felt warm suddenly, as if nothing else around him mattered at all, as if everything else had never happened in this whole Dream Duel ordeal. It felt nice for once. He felt at ease.
“Do you feel okay, Discord?” Faust asked him.
“Why… I feel free.”
Luna shot up from the dream earth below and ripped through the rest of Discord’s attack, and this woke Discord up from his trance. But Faust still held onto him, making him be unable to move. “You may have had control of the Dream Realm’s world down below, but up here is the Dream Void! Where none other than she who created the Realm itself may decide destiny!”
Discord was marveled at the pure badass level which Luna had escalated to. As her mane was a dark light flashing and her eyes shone like stars, she held in her hands a massive sword, with the hilt of the sword being a full moon crowned by a waxing and waning moon. The blade was black, but the handle was white, and Luna spun the sword to make these colors fuse for a grey. But that was not it. That was only the beginning.
Using the Dreaming Elements of Harmony, Luna stopped time around her, turning every single color in the Realm and the Void to a photonegative, and simply slashing the Kraken in half with one fell swoop, decimating each and every atom of it until the pire energy within its being released itself all at once, triggering an explosion to light up the whole galaxy in a bursting rainbow of stars and magnetic auroras of heavenly proportions, unseen and undescribed in any media to ever exist.
Luna spotted Discord fleeing from Faust, who disappeared into the light as she was only part of an illusion played on Discord, and she zoomed towards him like a hawk targeting its prey. Holding her sword in both hands, Luna prepared to swing at him to claim her victory and end the duel.
“Luna! Wake up this instant!!!”
Luna knew that voice all too well. She quickly opened her eyes to find Celestia standing over her bed, glaring at her angrily. “T-T-Tia?! Wha...What has you so--” Luna yawned “--upset? Huh?”
“Why don’t you take a look at all the angry letters sent to me by ponies and other creatures all over the world saying that somepony was tampering with their dreams and turning them into traumatizing nightmares?!” Celestia boomed at her.
Luna was dumbfounded, and she chuckled while scratching her head. “Yeah… Sorry about that… Discord and I were having a ‘Dream Duel’...”
“Dream Duel?!” Celestia screamed. “Then do it in your dream and your dream alone! If you do things like that in the Dream Purgatory, then the effects will be played on all dreams being had all over the known universe! Another mess up like that and you could rouse Faust’s creativity and end up triggering an apocalypse unseen by anypony to date! Imagine the trauma the fillies and colts feel, imagine how hard it will be to cope with the effects of these horrors! What were you thinking?--”
Luna had given up on listening a while back. Luckily for her, she had learned to sleep with her eyes open.
The air whipped through the recruit's mane as she surveyed the land below her, struggling to stay aloft among the powerful winds. Tendrils of broken cloud whipped at her hooves, wrapped in sky-blue lycra. The noise of the weather around her was almost deafening.
"Y'sure this'll be a tornado?" she asked. "It's windy, but I don't see—..."
"HQ never lies!" her partner shouted back. "If they're saying tornado, that means there's a tornado out here!"
The recruit believed her: after all, her partner was the greatest flyer she had ever seen, taking to the skies with playful determination, but all the speed of a bullet. Whenever she flew, it felt like she was just on the verge of disappearing into the horizon, slowing down only ever enough to keep up. She was a pleasure to fly with.
Just to check it was still there, the Wonderbolt's newest recruit checked her flank to see the world-famous badge of honour they wore: a winged thunderbolt. She smiled: it was proof-positive she was given license to fly with the bravest pony in Equestria, and it meant the world to her. She flapped her wings clumsily, and took off after her partner, lowering her goggles over her eyes as she flew, protecting her from the gale.
"See! Right on your two o'clock!"
She looked to her right, and sure enough, a funnel was beginning to form under the clouds, warped by the shifting air currents. She had seen them from her visits to the south, where tornadoes were commonplace, as well as from observing the pegasi work.
"How do we stop it?" she asked. Her partner looked back, grinning.
"It's spinning counterclockwise... we've just gotta' fly in the other direction! Drag it back to a standstill!"
The new recruit frowned. "Will that really work?" she asked, her suspension of disbelief starting to falter.
"Sure it will! It's like science!"
Like science, she thought to herself. It was hardly the most convincing of statements. But then again, she recalled, she knew next to nothing about how the weather worked, and so decided to trust in her partner, who'd never let her down. The pair flew as fast as they could towards the rapidly forming tornado. Small items of debris began to shoot past them, which they both dodged expertly.
After a few moments, her partner turned back to her, a confused look on her face.
"Hey..." she began. "Where are your wings?"
"Where are m—... Why, they're on my back, o'course."
Her partner tilted her head. "No... they're not. Look!"
She craned her neck, and to her surprise, she found her partner was right. She was wearing the iconic lycra Wonderbolt suit, but there were just two small holes in the outfit where the wings were supposed to go. She swallowed, her heart plummeting to her stomach.
"You're an Earth pony," her partner explained, with painstaking deliberation, looking crestfallen.
"B-but..." the recruit began, her words tumbling out of her mouth clumsily as she felt the sudden tug of gravity pull her downwards. "How'll I fly with you now?"
It was all too good to be true, she thought, and the tornado, the sky, and her partner became increasingly distant as the ground sucked at her, lunging at her like a monster from out at sea. But instead of being swallowed up by it, she instead felt a hoof wrap around hers.
All of a sudden, she felt lighter.
"It's okay," Rainbow Dash told her. "We'll just walk instead." She carefully put her back on the ground, and lifted her goggles up, revealing her stunning magenta eyes. "C'mon, slowpoke!"
Hey...
Applejack trotted after Rainbow, leaving the Wonderbolt's outfit behind.
Hey!
Applejack woke up.
"Y'okay, there?"
Applejack's eyes flickered around the pitch black room, quickly doing her best to get her bearings. Her attention was quickly drawn to the feeling of another hoof around hers.
"S'fine. Just a weird dream," she said quietly. "It got better near the end, though."
Rainbow Dash nuzzled her affectionately. "If you say so," she said. Applejack smiled.
If flying with Rainbow was just an impossible dream, then at least she'd have the next best thing.
