Princess Celestia herself has invited Dawn and Gummy to the event of the year, the Grand Galloping Gala. There's just one problem: everypony wants Dawn's "extra" ticket, but it belongs to Gummy!
"But the ticket's for Gummy!"
When Dawn receives two tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala, it seems like a dream come true! Gummy is obviously going to come with, but when Apple Jet hears about them she gets a little too excited. As does Twilight. And Fleur. And Rarity. And just about everypony else in Ponyville!
What will a pony do for a ticket? Apparently anything, even your taxes.
Two ponies walked away from the apple orchard towards the big red barn at the center. They had been working in the orchard since the sun had made itself known on the horizon. It had started out as a friend helping a friend, before evolving into an all-out competition of who could finish their side of the field first. As high noon neared and the sun raised to its apex, the two had slowed down and began to work together on the few remaining trees. Apple Jet had just bucked the last tree and the two were heading in to the barn to unload the apples before they would taste the deliciousness of Rainbow Zap's Red Delicious Pies.
"Thank you kindly, Dawn, for helping me out." Apple Jet looked back at her party planning friend. "I bet Rainbow Zap I could get all these Red Galas in the barn by lunchtime. If I win, she's gonna walk down Stirrup Street in one of Fleur's new ensembles." The orange pegasus chuckled, imagining her adoptive sister in a ball gown.
"No problem at all, AJ." Dawn responded. "I'm glad the goal is lunchtime. All this hard work is making me hungry."
The purple dragon on the unicorn's back added in his two cents. "I know, right?" He threw another apple out of his mentor's saddle bag, deeming it unworthy of eating.
"Seriously, Gummy." The pink pony exclaimed, turning her head to face the drake. "You've been lounging on my back all morning whileweworked."
"Exactly," Gummy confirmed, twisting the situation to fit his mold. "You two are taking so long, I missed snack-time."
Before she could retort, Dawn's stomach began to grumble. "Heh," the unicorn glanced down at her stomach. "I guess we better get some food."
"Ah ha!" Gummy exclaimed, turning the ponies attention back towards him as he held up the perfect apple. Its red surface glittered in the sunlight, drops of condensation adding that touch of juiciness. Just looking at the gala apple made Dawn's mouth water.
"That looks delicious Gum'..." The unicorn could feel the drool condensating at her mouth's corners. It was so nice of Gummy to pick that apple ou--
Gulp
And just like that, the juicy apple on the entire farm was gone. It had dissolved into the stomach of a baby dragon, never to be seen again.
"Gummy" Dawn stressed, obviously very disappointed with her assistant.
"What?" Gummy questioned, apparently not registering his mentor's rumbling stomach, water mouth, or look of hunger. Suddenly, the dragon put his claw to his mouth. His cheeks bulged as he made a retching noise. Dawn slid him off her back and stepped away.
"You'd better not throw up." Dawn threatened, although she knew that he had no control over a situation like that.
Suddenly he leaned forward, and burped. Out came a swirling green flame, which materialized into a slightly yellowed envelope. Now sitting with a sickly stomach ache for the close connection of eating and messaging, Gummy rocked himself on the ground. Dawn seemed to have ignored him, as her focus was now on the envelope. She grasped it with her sky blue magic and opened the seal.
"It's a letter from Princess Celestia." She noted. She removed the letter from inside and unfurled it. Her eyes rapidly scanned over the parchment. Slowly her eyes grew wide as she reached the end of the letter. "This is quite possibly the best. day. ever!" She exclaimed, before beginning to hop up and down in excitement. Gummy, annoyed as he always was when his mentor failed to read aloud letters, got to his feet so that he could grab the letter. He cleared his throat before reading it himself. He was about to read it quietly when he realized that Apple Jet was equally curious.
"Hear ye, hear ye. Her Grand Royal Highness, Princess Celestia of Equestria, is pleased to announce the Grand Galloping Gala to be held in the magnificent capital city of Canterlot, on the 21st day of, eh, yadda yadda yadda," He inserted, as he was never one to read all the details. Dawn would fill him in on anything that turned out to be important. "-cordially extends an invitation to Pinkamenia Diane Pie plus one guest."
The two mares gasped in unison, exclaiming, "The Grand Galloping Gala!"
"Woo-wee!" The orange pony exclaimed. "That's one hay of an invite!"
The young dragon felt his stomach rumble again. He covered his mouth as his cheeks went wide once more. Another burp produced another wisp of green smoke. This time, however, it materialized into two golden tickets with an apple emblazoned on the front. "Here are the two tickets," Gummy pointed out, grabbing the golden papers and holding them for the other two to see.
"This is going to be amazing!" Dawn exclaimed. "I've never been to the gala before. Something about nobles disliking the polka. What about you, Gummy?"
"No, and you should know that." The dragon deadpanned. Dawn always seemed to get like this when she was excited: mildly forgetful. "You are the one that hatched me from an egg after all. You're practically my mother!"
"Well, I did raise you." Dawn consented. "I'm sorry, I'm just so excited, you and I will be going to the Gala!"
"Why would I want to go to the Gala anyways?"
"It's not all frilly and froo-froo like you're thinking, Gummy." The unicorn responded. "Besides, it'd be a nice time to relax, and there would be free food." She paused, a devious smile coming to her face. "And since it'd be in Canterlot, I'd imagine they'd have some gems on the buffet...."
Gummy tried to keep himself from drooling.
"Free food?" AJ snorted. "The gala's a lot more than just free food!" She turned around to fully face her two friends. "Land sakes, there's so much to do there than eat food. There will be a bushel full of important ponies there. If I went to the Gala, I'd be able to drum up some more business for Sweet Apple Acres. I could get contacts with some of the fanciest business ponies around. We could expand our business beyond the borders of Ponyville. Maybe even get connections so I can pay for my family to have one of those fancy-smancy lawyers." The apple farmer paused a moment. "Every once and a while these two unicorn ponies come around showing off their newest apple-related machine, thinking they can put us out of business. We have a contract with the ponies of Ponyville--We're their only supplier, and those two are cutting in on our profits! A good lawyer could get those two troublemakers squared away for good."
"Well, I'd take you, but I'm pretty sure the ticket is for Gum-"
"WHOA!" A purple blur fell from the treetops above them. "Ugh. Are we talking about the Grand Galloping Gala?"
"Twilight Swish." Apple Jet scorned. "You told me you were too busy to help me harvest apples. What were you busy doing?" She got down on her forelegs and looked the sprawled out pegasus dead in the eyes. "Spying?"
"No," The purple pony retorted, jumping to her hooves. "I was busy fixing a hot air balloon. I just happened to fall into the trees after being knocked unconscious in the air by one of the sandbags. Then I just happened to fall into the trees after being knocked unconscious in the air by one of the sandbags. Then I just happened to wake up as you mentioned that you have an extra ticket."
"Technically speaking, but-" Dawn replied, trying once more to tell her friends for whom the ticket was actually intended.
"YES!" The new arrival shot into the air and did a loop-de-loop, cutting off her friend just as Apple Jet had done before her. "This is so awesome. The Magnabolts are at the Grand Galloping Gala every year." The pegasus landed on her hooves once more and made a dramatic sweeping motion with her front hoof. "I can see it now. Their latest invention broke down, and nopony knows how to fix it! Then, I, Twilight Swish, fly in through the clouds and use my good old-fashioned know-how and pegasus magic fix it! They would all be in wonder at my speed and smarts, they would beg me to teach them my secrets, and they would crown me captain of their team within weeks!
"Don't you see, Dawn? This could be my one chance to show 'em my stuff. You gotta take me!"
The pegasus was in Dawn's face at this point, so the latter was glad when Apple Jet yanked the other by her tail. "Hold on just one pony pickin' minute here." The orange mare spit out some of the hairs in her mouth from grabbing her friend's tail. "I asked for that ticket first."
"So?" Twilight blew a raspberry. "That doesn't mean you own it."
"Oh, yeah? Well, I challenge you to a wing-wrestle." She held out her wing. "Winner gets the ticket."
"You're on."
The two pegasi flew over to the nearest tree stump for an even wrestle.
"Girls! These are my tickets," Dawn said in a desperate attempt to stop their fighting. "I'll decide who gets it, thank you very much."
"Like whoever has the best reason?"
"Drummin' up business for the farm?"
"A chance to help the Magnabolts?"
"Lawyers to get rid of the frauds."
"Living the Dream."
"Those are all pretty good reasons." Another rumbling of the stomach interrupted the pink mare. She chuckled at the timing. "Listen to that, I am staaarrr-ving. I don't know about you, but I can't make important decisions on an empty stomach, so I'm going to go to lunch and get back to you two, m'kay?"
"Kay!" The lavender one said perkily.
"Right." The amber mare affirmed.
As soon as Dawn had departed, they returned to their wing-wrestling competition. Dawn swore she would never understand pegasi.
They were halfway through town before Gummy worked up the courage to ask Dawn her opinion. "So, who you gonna give the ticket to, Dawn?"
"It's meant for you, Gummy." She responded. "I don't know how I'm going to break the news to them, but I really can't eat--I mean think--on an empty stomach. Where should we eat?"
Of course, it was at that moment that Carrot Top was rushing through the marketplace with an almost overdue book. She brushed past the unicorn with just the right amount of force to knock the cotton-candy-colored mare over. The two apple embalmed, golden tickets flew out her hair where she had stashed them, and floated to the ground, directly in front of her blue eyes. "Gah!" She muttered.
It was just the starving mare's luck that Fleur-de-Shy would also be in the marketplace today.
"Dawn! Dear! Are you okay?" The yellow mare kneeled down so she could help her fellow unicorn to her hooves.
"Yeah, just got the wind knocked out of me." Her friend answered.
"Oh, and what are zese?" Fleur picked up the tickets in her turquoise magic. "Tickets to ze Grand Galloping Gala? Parasol Boutique designs ensembles for ze gala every year, with myself designing ze accessories, but I've never had the opportunity to attend." She sighed dramatically. "Oh, ze society, ze culture, ze glamour! It's where I truly belong, and where I'm destined to meet him."
"I'm afraid to ask, but who is 'him'?"
"Him. I would stroll zrough ze gala, and everypony would wonder, 'Who is zat mysterious mare?' Zey would never guess zat I was a simple pony who lived in little old Ponyville.
"Why, I would cause such a sensation zat I would be invited for an audience wiz Princess Celestia herself, and ze princess would be so taken with ze style and elegance zat she would introduce me to him, her nephew: ze most handsome, eligible pegasus stallion in Canterlot. Our eyes would meet, our hearts would melt. Our courtship would be magnificent. He would ask for my hoof in marriage, and of course, I would say, 'Yes!' We would have a royal wedding, befitting a princess, which is," She giggled uncharacteristically, "What I would become upon marrying him, ze stallion of my dreams."
Dawn stood in silence as she processed everything the mare had just said. After a few moments, she managed to respond. "Wow. You really thought this through, haven't you?"
"Well, I did meet ze prince back in Prance a few years ago. He was certainly a Knight in Shining Armor."
"Uh huh." Dawn was still unconvinced. Having recovered, she tried once more to explain the dilemma. "Fleur, the ticket is for Gum-"
"Oh, these are perfect Angelica!" Came a slightly high-pitched voice.
Of course, Dawn couldn't be left with only three of her friends to choose between. There was also the resident animal caretaker, Rarity....Dawn couldn't for the life of her remember what Rarity's last name was...was also in town that day. And of course she just happened to notice the tickets fluttering away in the breeze. It appeared that her pet bird had snatched the tickets up in its beak and had set them on Rarity's waiting hoof.
Dawn had tried to ignore the arrival of her other friend, and repeated her explanation. "Fleur, the problem with that is that the tic-"
"Pinkamenia?"
Dawn sighed. "Yes, Rarity?"
"I would just like to ask, I mean, if it would be all right, if you haven't given it to someone else--"
She was cut off by the fashionista. "You? You want to go to ze gala?"
"Oh, no. I mean, yes, or, actually, kind of. You see, it's not so much the Grand Galloping Gala as it is the wondrous private gated garden that surrounds the dance. The flowers are said to be the most beautiful and fragrant in all of Equestria. For the night of the gala, and that night alone, would they all be in bloom... and that's just the flora! Don't get me started on the fauna.
"The best part of it all, though, is the secret gazebo. During the night of the gala, deep within the gardens, the secret gazebo is able to be found. It's said not only to have the perfect acoustics, but it also is enchanted by magic to give inspiration to anyone under its roof."
"Wow, Rarity, that sounds... beautiful...?" Once again, Dawn was at a loss for words.
"Wait just a minute." Came a lower voice from overhead.
"Twilight Swish!" The ticket-holder accused, "Were you following me?"
"Yes." Seeing Dawn's face, Twilight thought better of her answer. "I mean, no." Okay so lying wasn't accepted either. "I mean, maybe? Look, it doesn't matter. I couldn't risk a goody-four-shoes like you giving that ticket away to just anypony."
Okay, now that definitely sounded like a quote from something Dawn had read in one of her books.
"Wait just another minute." Apple Jet was right behind her other pegasi friend.
"Both of you?" Dawn shook her head. "Apple Jet, were you following me too?
"Of course not." The cowpony retorted. "I was followin' this one to make sure she didn't try any funny business. She's trying to take mah ticket. I won that wing wrestle."
The purple pegasus flew up to meet her. "Only because you cheated!" She poked her friend in the chest.
"Well, who's to say either of you get the ticket?" Fleur jabbed.
Dawn was pretty sure Rarity added in something of her own, but her arguing was significantly quieter. The overlapping arguments got so loud that Dawn couldn't even hear her own belly rumble, although she could certainly feel it. Overcome by the discord and discomfort, the unicorn yelled,
"QUIET!"
"And then I said, 'Strawberries? are you craz--' oh." While Dawn was sure Twilight had at last a semi-good reason for saying this, now was not the time to ask.
"Girls, there's no use in arguing."
"But Dawn, dear-". Fleur tried, but got a taste of her own medicine when she was cut off by the addressed mare.
"Enough! This is my ticket, and I'm gonna give it to whoever its for. Now, I certainly can't think straight with all this noise..." Not to be forgotten, her stomach rumbled. "...not to mention hunger. Now go on, shoo." The unicorn made a shooing motion with her forehooves.
"And don't worry, I'll figure this out..."
Everypony left her, grumbling. Nopony was left when she finished her statement.
"What am I gonna do?" Pinkamenia Dawn Pie moaned. "All four of my friends have really good reasons to go to the gala." She began to point to the pictures on the menu. "Apple Jet and Twilight Swish." Her hoof traced across the page from the caramel apple to the cotton candy. "Fleur de Shy and Rarity..." This time she pointed at the daisy sandwich before letting her hoof drift to the blueberry side dish. "Oh, how do I tell them?"
"Just tell them the truth." Gummy offered as he looked over the menu at "May's Munchies." The duo was sitting outside in the enclosed area of the restaurant. "Hmmm...the gems salad looks good. Of course, it's the only gem related item, so it has to be good."
A beige unicorn stallion trotted over to their table. "Have you made your decision?" He asked.
Still trapped in her conflicting emotions, Dawn was caught slightly off guard. "IT'S NOT A DECISION!" She yelled in frustration, with her sheer volume pushing the waiter back a few inches.
Gummy whispered something to the stallion with an apologetic look. The unicorn nodded in understanding, he had had quite a few ponies throw temper tantrums during his shift, so he had learned how to take it in stride. The dragon then turned his attention back to his mentor. "Pinkster, he's talking about your food choice, not your friend choice."
"I'm sorry." The pink mare apologized to her fellow unicorn. "I'll have combo number 1." She folded her menu and passed it to the waiter.
"I'll have your gem salad. Can I have some extra gems?"
"Of course." The waiter did a little bow and backed away politely. That was the cool thing about May's. They treated you like royalty and offered your favorite comfort food.
And comfort food was exactly what the curly haired unicorn needed right now. "What do you think Gum?" Dawn asked as she rested her head on the table.
"I think we should eat at May's every day." The purple-scaled drake replied. "You could be a raging she-demon and they'll still treat you with the utmost respect."
"I mean the tickets! How do I break the news to them?"
"Oh, you're still on that?"
" I'm still on that? Gummy! If I don't solve this today, it will haunt me for the rest of my life! And then, it will haunt me in my death, so I won't get to live in the fields of Es--"
"Slow down there, Dawn." Gummy cut her off, not about to let his caretaker have a panic attack. "Your friends will understand, all you need to do is tell them."
The waiter brought the ordered items and left promptly.
"But HOW? This wasn't on any exam I took, or in any book I read!" She ranted.
Cloud Kicker dashed past the pair.
"Just eat your sandwich." Gummy insisted. "I'm sure everything will be clearer..."
Lemon Hearts wasn't far behind the pegasus, and she was followed by Diamond Mint.
"...with a full stomach." The cotton-candy-colored unicorn finished, feeling a little pride. "So you do listen to me when I lecture you."
Lyra Heartstrings just ran past as well. Was there a race today?
"Well..."
And there went Sweetie Drops. Gummy noticed she wasn't being particularly stealthy today.
"Ma'am?" The tan stallion called across the lot. "Are you going to eat in the rain?"
"Huh?" Dawn looked around her, it was all sunshine and rainbows....literally. Where had the rainbows come from?
Rose, a tanish-yellow pony with a multi-hued red mane, came to the unicorn's table soaking wet. "Dawn, it's raining down hard. You must have some pegasus friend looking out for you." The earth pony shivered. "What a pony would give." Apparently rested enough, the mare took off again for the shelter of the restaurant.
"That.....was weird." Gummy commented as he watched the mare galloped away.
"Not incredibly." Dawn pointed upwards where she had been staring for the past ten seconds. Up in the sky a hole in the clouds could be seen. "Rose, however out of place she was, was right."
An orange head peaked out from behind the clouds. "Howdy there, Dawn. How's my favorite pink unicorn doing?"
"Apple, what are you doing?"
"Just making sure my favorite student-of-the-princess's meal gets finished in peace." Apple Jet smiled widely.
"AJ. I'm not comfortable accepting any favors in return for a ticket that belongs to-"
"Fine, fine. No need to be sassy about it." The orange filly zipped the cloud right back up, leaving an instant downpour to rain on her friend.
"-Gummy." The unicorn finished with a frown as her bangs fell in front of her face.
"Dawn, mon chou, it's raining." The Element of Honesty stated.
"Oh is it now?" The wet mare snorted. Dawn was not in the mood for this. She looked over to see her yellow friend wearing some time of saddle with an umbrella attached to it. Despite being from Canterlot, Dawn had no earthly idea why anypony thought that was remotely fashionable. Fleur then pulled out another umbrella, one that was identical in color and pattern to the parasol on her flank, and offered it to the other unicorn.
"Here, use zis."
"As I just told AppleJet-"
"I'm not giving it to you. You're just borrowing it until we get to my place."
"But-". As it were, Dawn wasn't going to be finishing any sentences any time soon. She was quickly pulled off to Parasol Boutique, where she was allowed to shake the water out. It accidentally soaked Fleur, but she waved it off, using a drying spell on her coat. Although they hadn't known each for long, Dawn was pretty sure that was out of character for the mare. She watched Fleur with a careful eye. She was definitely after the ticket.
"Besides, you can make it up to me by modeling my newest gown and parasol!"
Seconds later, Dawn found herself standing on the runway she had stood on a few weeks ago. In the same fashion, she was also surprised to find an outfit already on her back. It was a sleek, orange-colored saddle with purple and pink frills attached to it. She still wasn't sure how Fleur managed to do that--All Dawn had done was blink.
"I know it's not much..." Fleur started as she circled the party pony slowly. "...but it really has a sort of elegance to it." She pulled out a small parasol that matched the saddle in color and frilly-ness. "Of course, no gala ensemble is complete without ze appropriate accessories." The parasol was now resting in Dawn's foreleg. How the fashionista managed to be here one minute and there the next was another aspect of Fleur that absolutely baffled Dawn.
"Wait a second, the Gala?" Dawn knew perfectly well what this was about, but she wasn't sure how else to act. She didn't want to outright accuse Fleur of bribery. Not only did that seem counter to her nature as the element of honesty, Dawn felt like that wasn't a very friend-like thing to do. But then again, neither was this favor-thing.
"Oh, and what do we have here?" Fleur asked, completely ignoring her friend's statement. "It seems I have managed to create another piece of magnificent fashion!" Suddenly, the Prenchpony was it an identical outfit, save the main color was green instead of orange. "And zey say orange and green don't go together! We match like, oh, how do you say it? Ah! Yes, like two peas in a pod. We will be ze Zinderbellas of the ball!"
"It's Cinderbell, bell of the ball, and the Grand Galloping Gala." Dawn corrected. It appeared Fleur really didn't have a firm grasp on local idoms. To say Dawn was annoyed to find her friend had not ceased her rambling about the gala was an understatement. Fleur had not not heard the pink pony's attempts to interject, appareently. Dawn tried again, a little louder this time. "Although I love your play on words, the ticket--"
"I see you've found me out!" Finally. But was Dawn ever going to get a chance to finish her sentence? "But you are welcome to keep ze saddle and accessories as a little gift."
"I'm. Not. Accepting. Any. Favors." Dawn replied, a little more harshly then she intended.
Fleur looked a little hurt. "I didn't say it was-"
Just then, there was a knock on the door. The yellow pony, a little down-trodden, trotted over to the front of the store to check on it. Surprisingly enough, it was Rose again. "Hello Fleur! I'm so sorry I missed our appointment, what with the down pour and all." She spoke as she trotted into the building. "Sometimes I don't know what to do with those pegasi." She shook her head before finally noticing tension she was walking through. "Oh Hi! I didn't see you there." She gave a little wave to Dawn. "That's a magnificent saddle you have there. Fleur? You don't happen to have any in stock do you? I'm kind of thinking a maroon would do good if you have one."
Dawn took this oppurtunity to remove the ensemble and slip around Rose. Fleur caught the unicorn's eye, causing Dawn to pause. She coughed nervously--which brought the earth pony's train of thought to a halt--before excusing herself more properly. "You seem pretty busy right now." She gestured to Rose while maintaing eye contact with Fleur. "I'll just see myself out." With that, the pink mare was out the door faster than you could say 'ten seconds flat.'
Rose immediately resumed her initial conversation.
Dawn began to walk towards the library, thanking Celestia that Rose had walked in. The tension that had built was unbearable. Much like this entire situation she found herself in. Maybe one of the books at the library would be able to help her figure out how to get herself out of this mess. Not to mention, there were a few more of her things from Canterlot that had finally been sent over... yet somehow it had all ended up at the library. Who was in charge of the mail anyways?
The party planner shook her head. "I never thought my head could be so full!" She exclaimed quietly.
"Are you still on that?" Gummy asked as he trotted beside his friend.
Dawn gave him the stink eye. "Have you not been with me the past two favors? They won't let me get a word in edgewise about how the ticket is yours. Even earlier today, during their dream sequences, they wouldn't let me!" She sighed dejectedly, waving her forelegs about in an exaggerated fashion.
"Perhaps you should just sleep on it. I remember hearing you say your special comforter was arriving today."
"Yeah. The mailmare sent it to the wrong address. That's one of the reasons were heading to the librar-"
The pink mare cut herself off when she noticed all of her stuff in a cart being slowly pulled away by a white earth pony with wavy purple hair.
"Rarity?" Dawn asked, after a long sigh. "What are you doing?"
"I'm...taking...your...things...to...your...house." Rarity replied through clenched teeth. She may have been an earth pony, and thus had magically enhanced strength, but this was probably the hardest load she'd carried yet.
Another sigh escaped the tired pony's lips. "You're not doing this because of the tickets, are you?"
"Well...I mean...I am the...element of...kindness...after...all." The earth pony gave a forced smile. "Right...Angelica?" Her pet bird, which was resting in the mare's mane, simply bent over and pecked Rarity on her head multiple times. "Oh fine," She stopped pulling the cart for a moment. "This is kind of about the ticket."
"Rarity, I'm sorry, really. I can't accept any favors in return for the ticket. You see Princess Celestia actually meant the ticket to be for-"
"PINKIE PIE!!!"
Oh for the love of... A flash of purple came zooming through the sky, landing itself right in between Rarity and Dawn.
"Twilight? What is the meaning of this?" The unicorn asked, exasperated.
"Surprise!" The dusk colored mare exclaimed, along with a hoof-full of other ponies. Dawn glanced around herself to find she was suddenly surrounded by, like, half the town. Rarity, meanwhile, ignored the scene and returned to her task at hoof.
Then, for the second time since Dawn had met her, Twilight burst into song.
"Pinkie is my bestest friend, whoopee, whoopee!"
"Twilight..."
"She's the cutest, smartest, all-around-best pony, pony!"
"Twilight."
"I bet if I throw a super-duper fun party, party,"
"Twilight!"
"She'll give her extra ticket to the gala to me~"
"TWILIGHT!"
"....Yes, Pinkie?"
"At least our other friends tried to be subtle about the ticket."
"Ticket?" Rose, who seemed to be everywhere today, perked up at that word. "Gala?"
"Yeah! Haven't you heard?" The lavender pegasus asked excitingly, despite the massive head-shaking from her unicornian friend. "Pinkie has an extra ticket to the Grand Galloping Gala!"
"The Grand Galloping Gala?!?!" Every single pony within hearing distance shouted, with most of them directly next to Dawn's ear. However, her ringing ears were the least of her problems.
Now, if Dawn thought her friends' actions were crazy, there was no way in Equestria that she would have been mentally, or physically, prepared for what happened next. Word spread like wildfire (and no, she did not mean Wild Fire, the leading earth pony in the Magnabolts), and soon enough, it seemed as if everypony in Ponyville knew about Dawn's supposed "extra ticket." In fact, Dawn wouldn't have been surprised if ponies in the next town over had heard about it, because there were mobs of ponies rushing this way and that, chasing desperately after Princess Celestia's personal protégé. Even Random Rose {as Dawn and Gummy now dubbed her} was there, keeping an even pace of five hooves behind the fleeing duo. The mob called out several favors, ranging from washing dishes to doing taxes. Dawn was embarrassed to admit she considered stopping for that last one.
After turning corner after corner, desperately looking for a place to hide, Dawn realized she still had no idea how the town was laid out. She was incredibly lost, and there was no time to stop for distractions, er, directions. Her heart was beating heavily in her chest as she galloped at a pace that rivaled the royal guard. Her eyes darted left and then right, frantically looking for an escape route.
"I'll run your bakery," Somepony called out.
"I'll polish your horseshoes." Called another.
Dawn flattened her ear against the back of her head. Her head was already swimming with all the possible ways that this event could turn out, and each favor yelled out behind her only added to the madness she was slowly descending into. Dawn had had enough. Tears flew down her cheeks as she shut her eyes, she was ready for this whole dilemma to be over. Her horn began to glow as her thoughts turned to her home at the bakery. She didn't even realize her horn was beginning to cast a spell until it was over. As a sky blue flash surrounded her and Gummy, she finally slowed her gallop to a stop. Ponies continued racing forward, apparently lost in the excitement of the mob.
Dawn stood still for the blink of an eye before collapsing onto the hardwoord floor of her room. Tears flowed freely as she began to cry, the stress of the situation completely overtaking her. Gummy slid off her back, moaning something about the headache he had acquired due to the teleportation. "Ugh...Warn me next time you're gonna do that." The dragon spoke up. In light of the extensive use of the spell over the last five years, it was odd that he still hadn't grown accustomed to it.
Dawn did not look up from the floor as she answered her assistant. "I didn't even know it was gonna happen." The pain could be heard in her voice. "Please, lock the doors, quick." Gummy was quick to do as she asked, rushing to every window and every door in the entire room before slipping out to the lower floors to do the same there. However, it seemed as though some pony had managed to slip through the door from which he had just exited.
"I..I can't do this, I just can't tell them." Dawn cried, unaware of the other pony in the room. "It's, it's important to a-all of them and I just, just--can't stand to disappoint any of my friends."
"Sounds like you could use a sweet to cheer ya'self up!" Came a slightly country voice.
Dawn mustered the strength to lift her head and turn towards the voice. The first thing she saw were soft, rose-colored eyes looking at her curiously.
"S-Sweet?" Dawn questioned, barely managing to move herself to a sitting position. Tears still trickled down her face as she wiped away her sunrise-colored hair from her face.
Rainbow Zap, the rainbow-maned pony in the room, came in front of the crying mare and sat down two pies in front of her. "I was downstairs in the kitchen testin' out some ideas I had, and I whipped up some excellent pies, if I do say so myself." She paused, taking a moment to sit down beside her friend. "I think you in particular would enjoy them."
"Not you tooooo," The unicorn moaned. "Rainbow, I can't accept any more favors. Not in return for hopes of something that is rightfully Gummy's"
"I have no idea on Equis what you are talking about. So hush that nonsense, why don't you? A friend doesn't need anything in return for gifts, that's not how generosity works." Rainbow slid one of the pies closer to her friend. "Here, have some pie. This one here is Zap Apple Pie, and this one over here is Rainbow Gem Pie."
Dawn was still hesitant, was this some kind of ploy? It was the kind of thing she had seen ponies like Fleur de Lis and Sassy Saddles do quite often. Oh sure, it was just a favor, you weren't supposed to give them anything in return. But now, you owed them. And they would consistently remind you of that. Someponies, like that one pony from magic kindergarten, would just lord it over you, reminding you that you owed them, and they would never, ever, redeem it.
Gummy returned to the room at that point, and was surprised to find two ponies in the room. "Dawn! I am so sorry, I could have sworn-"
"Relax Gummy," Rainbow cut the small dragon off, "I was already in the building." She paused, as a devilish smile spread across her face. "...making pies like this one." She slid the other pie across the floor, her Rainbow Gem Delight. There were visible rubies, sapphires, and emerald peaking out from underneath the top layer of crust. Gummy's eye's widened as he caught sight of the delicacy that was set before him. He could feel his mouth watering, but he held himself back. He looked over toward Dawn, apparently awaiting her approval.
Dawn made eye contact, but said nothing. Her tears had stopped flowing, but one could tell that they were still present in her eyes. Her stomach took that moment of silence to speak up. It rumbled. It was probably the loudest it had been all day. Rainbow pushed the pie ever so closer before wrapping a hoof around the pink mare to offer consolance.
"Come on, Pinkiems." The blue mare said gently. "Your stomach's a callin'."
Slowly Dawn gave turned to look at her friend. Her ruby-red eyes were full of sincerity. Maybe, maybe this wasn't just a favor. Maybe this truly was a gift. Generousity.... Perhaps it meant more than expecting something in return for a gift. Dawn wipe away the tears with her hoof and nodded at Gummy. He could enjoy the pie. And she would as well. She looked back at Rainbow and gave her a full-on hug. "Thank you." She whispered, before pulling back and slicing herself a piece of pie.
As she ate the pie, she began to recount the day's events so that Rainbow would know exactly why she had had such a breakdown. True, it didn't seem like much of a reason to have a complete mental breakdown, but thankfully Rainbow was willing to listen. She didn't seem to understand exactly, as she had never gone through a similar situation, but Rainbow made sure to make the point that it was a valid response. Maybe not the best, which Dawn herself agreed with, but it was valid.
Dawn took a deep breath as she wrapped up her story. "It's not that I don't want to tell them, I've been trying all day! Apparently not hard enough, though. I just can't figure out how to get the message across without hurting their feelings. It's important to all of them and I just can't stand to disappoint any of one of my friends, and giving me gifts and doing me favors won't make any difference, because they're all my friends and I wanna make them all happy and I can't, I just can't!" Once again, she burst into tears, receiving a hug from her earth pony friend.
"Dawn, sugar, I didn't mean to put so much pressure on you," A southern-sounding voice said. It was coming from the other end of the room, so it couldn't have been Rainbow. As Dawn released the hug, she found that Apple Jet had made her way into the room as well. "And if it helps, I don't want the ticket anymore. You can give it to somepony else. I won't feel bad, I promise."
"Me too." Came a small voice. Rarity stood next to Apple Jet, apparently having come in just after her. "I feel just awful that I made you feel so awful."
"And me too." Twilight apologized, right behind the white mare. "It's no fun upsetting your friends."
"Dawn, mon chou, it was unfair of me to try to force you as I did." Fleur added, honestly admitting her mistake.
"So...this means the ticket is mine?" Gummy asked carefully, trying, but failing, not to irritate any of the five other mares that weren't having an emotional crisis. "Nevermind," He murmured.
"We all got so gun-ho about going to the gala that we couldn't see how un-gun-ho we were making you." AJ spoke up again.
As if they had planned it, the four apologetic mares apologized formally in unison: "We're sorry, Dawn."
With a mix of gratitude, forgiveness, and sadness, the magician addressed her assistant. "Gummy, take down a note.
"Dear Princess Celestia,
"I've learned that one of the joys of friendship is sharing your blessings, but when there's not enough blessings to go around, having more than your friends can make you feel pretty awful. So, though I appreciate the invitation, I will be returning both tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala."
Again, they spoke in unison, with Rainbow joining them. "What?!"
"If my friends can't all go, I don't wanna go either."
"Dawn, please, you don't have to do that." The flying cowpony pleaded.
"Nope. I've made up my mind. Gummy, you can send the letter now."
"Wait." Rainbow placed her hoof on the dragon, stopping him from his given task. "What do you mean, we can't all go?"
Dawn glanced at her oddly, she had literally just told her entire story to this mare. "...I mean Gummy and I are the only ones with tickets."
"While ah hate to break this sappy moment up-" The cyan mare coughed a 'not really' into her explanation. "We all have tickets. Fleur," she turned towards the fashionista. "You weren't at home when Muffins delivered your mail. Since she knew we were friends, she dropped off this, ahem, 'very important envelope forwarded from Prance'." She pulled out said envelope from underneath her cowmare hat and hoofed it over to Fleur, who picked it up with her lime-colored magic. The green-eyed unicorn squealed when she opened the envelope and examined the contents.
"Muffins also dropped off the Apple's family tickets. Since the gala is named after our great-great-great-great-oh-so-many-greats Grandma Gala, who put the whole thing together, the Princess sends us these tickets every year or so in honor of Grandma Gala. Since Applebloom isn't yet old enough to go, we were given four tickets. Granny Smith is too old to go, and Big Mac isn't up for all that quote-unquote 'fancy smanchy girly froo froo stuff.' That leaves us two extra tickets for our two best ticket-less friends."
Immediately, all five girls raced up to hug Rainbow, who resisted it. "Ah, come on girls." Rainbow may have been a good listener, but she still wasn't a fan of overly emotional outbursts. "I was only stating facts!"
"This'll be the best night ever!" Twilight exclaimed.
The irony of the mare's statement escaped her, for while she was aware of the author, narrator, and reader, Twilight Swish did not possess any sort of 'Pinkie sense.'
It was quite the stormy night. Even the pegasi had all gone home. Only the bravest stayed outside, and that was why both Twilight Swish and Fleur de Shy were confused to find the other out in such a storm. Especially since their encounter took place underneath a picnic bench.
"Only the bravest, they said," Twilight replied to Fleur's question, a hint of anger in her voice. "That's why Rainbow Zap and Apple Jet were working together on trimming the trees. That's why they hadn't gone back to the barn. That's why I had to go for a flight out in the storm. To prove I wasn't a pussy. That I wasn't just an 'egghead' who stayed indoors all day."
"And that's why that happened?" Fleur asked, pointing to her friend's side.
Twilight stretched out her burnt wing gently, being careful not to let it touch anything. "Yeah. I didn't put two and two together until the lightning struck."
Fleur nodded.
"Well, what about you?" The pegasus asked. "What brought you out here? You're pretty far from the boutique."
Fleur chuckled a bit sheepishly, a small blush rising on her cheeks.. "I forgot about the storm. I was over at Pin Cushion's place looking at some of his new fabrics and got a little lost in...conversation."
Twilight opened her mouth before closing it. She hadn't known Fleur for long, but it seemed that this particular mare was colt-crazy. "You guys weren't talking about fabrics, were you." This mare was straight out of a Rain Blossom book.
Fleur opened her mouth to reply but was cut off by a holler from their right. "Twilight, Fleur! What are you girls doing out here?" Fleur mentally thanked Celestia that Gummy had interupted that train of thought.
Twilight growled. Of course Gummy would be in the ranks of the bravest of the brave. Didn't matter that he was a baby dragon, just that he was an actual dragon.
"You know what, never mind the why, you guys come with me, SugarCube Corner is right over there." He pointed with his claws across the street. Directly in front of the two mares was the often un-used dirt road that led to SugarCube Corner. Twilight mentally thanked Celestia that Gummy hadn't heard her grumbling in response to this easy option. Meanwhile, Fleur snorted, she couldn't believe she was being invited in to that dump.
Twilight slowly crawled out from under the table, her mouth still twisted in the frown. Even the element of laughter couldn't cover up how annoyed she was at this entire scenario. She hissed in pain as she bumped her wing on the edge of the table. Once out, she stood up and brushed herself off with her spare wing. She stood off to the side, waiting for Fleur.
Fleur didn't crawl out quite as quickly. In fact, she seemed determined to stay put. "Zank you, but no zank you. I am perfectly fine underneath zis table."
"Er, Fleur? It's dangerous out here." Gummy responded.
"I will be perfectly fine right here, zank you very much."
Lightning struck in the distance, the corresponding thunder rolling through the hills. The table shook at the barrier-breaking sound. Fleur didn't move an inch.
Twilight growled in annoyance. She may not be the element of loyalty, but she was still Fleur's friend. As an idea came to her, the pegasus smirked. "But Fleur, what about the mud?"
The unicorn quirked an eyebrow. "What mud?"
Twilight gave her spare wing a large flap, sending a wind current just big enough to send some rain under the table. It splashed Fleur in the face, causing her to slam her eyes shut. The water also seeped into the loose dirt beneath the table, turning it to mud. Fleur opened her eyes to see that the land where she was positioned had now completely converted to la gadoue, the substance commonly known around Ponyville as mud. She turned her gaze upward to Twilight and narrowed her eyes. "Fine. You win. Zis time."
Fleur teleported out from underneath the table. She reappeared directly next to Twilight, using a last flick of her magic to transfer the mud from her coat to the pegasus's. "Ha."
Twilight's eye narrowed, but she said nothing.
Gummy furrowed his brow, wondering what was going on between the two mares. He decided against questioning it, and instead gestured them toward the sugar-coated building. "I should warn you two though," He spoke, halfway to his home. "Dawn's in a partying kind of mood."
Twilight shrugged, wincing as she felt her wing move. "I don't see what's the big deal."
"Oui," Fleur added. "Dawn's always in a partying mood."
Gummy chuckled in a way that ever so obviously indicated that he knew something they didn't. "You guys don't understand. That's her normal mood." By now, the trio had reached the front door. "This," He said, opening the door ever so slightly. "Is her partying mood."
Instantly, a fluff of pink poked its head out the door. Fleur instantly recognized it as the mane that had graced her boutique only two weeks ago. Dawn grinned a smile that was too wide to actually fit on a pony's face. "Hi girls!" She all but yelled. "You girls want to have a sleepover??"
Twilight had to back up. Not only was Dawn's hair bigger and poofier than normal, but the entire first floor of the old cafe was covered in streamers, confetti, and balloons. The amount of festivities packed into the room was a bit much, even by Twilight's standards.
Dawn's smile widened (who knew that was possible) and stretched her forelegs out. Her left leg grabbed Fleur, and, by some unknown feat of magic, her right leg reached far enough to grab Twilight and drag her in as well. Gummy was left out in the cold as he shook his head. "This is going to be a loooooooong night." He muttered, following the three ponies into the cafe, shutting the door behind him.
