> Magic Falls > by TheIronPone035 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Pilot Chapter: Summer Vacation > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Summer Vacation - a timeframe when students aren't in school, giving fillies and colts a full two months of time away from their studies." "Some ponies hang around at the local park with friends, others get to go on fun trips with their families around Equestria, and some would simply stay indoors and read. I wanted to spend my summer reading and studying for my next year of school. But just like the old saying goes, you don't always get what you want." "AHHH!!!!" Two fillies screamed as they braced for impact while the rickety contraption they were in struck the dirt trail hard. Not far behind was a massive shadowy creature from a foals worst nightmare, determined not to lose its target. The filly behind the steering wheel of the contraption tried her best to keep calm, but the constant thumping of large footsteps from behind was certainly making it hard. Her purple fur hosted a few drops of sweat that had fallen from her brow, her dark blue mane with a stripe of purple and pink in them flailing in the breeze. Her cutie mark was of a purple star surrounded by five smaller white stars that seemed to sparkle in the light. The filly was also wearing a little dark blue vest and had a dark green hat on with a single star sewed onto the front of it. The filly's purple eyes were wide with horror as she frantically tried to twist the black steering wheel from side to side, the wheel guiding the skitting tires below the machine. The other filly sitting to the right in this machine spared a glance behind them, spotting the massive creature instantly. The filly had light pink fur as well as a darker pink mane and tail which made her look like she had just gotten out of bed. Her cutie mark was of three balloons, two colored light blue while the middle one was colored a light yellow. The filly was wearing a purple sweater with the image of a cats face surrounded by sparkles on the front. "My name is Twilight Sparkle, the one driving this rickety golf cart. The filly sat next to me is my friend Pinkie Pie. And I'm sure everypony reading this is wondering what two fillies are doing in a golf cart fleeing from a creature of unimaginable horrors through a forest? Well, don't worry, I've gotten straight A's on all my reports for school, so it shouldn't be hard to tell this tale." "It all started when a letter came home from my school with my teacher telling my parents about how I was that year. Apparently my teacher told them that I didn't really work or talk with anypony else (Which is the truth but I really didn't need friends to finish my studies)." "But my Parents thought otherwise and tried to think of a way for me to get to know more ponies over the Summer. Then, that night, they told me what they'd come up with at the dinner table." Twilight Sparkle took a moderately sized bite of her food before glancing over to the book she was holding in her magic. She read a page or two from the book before taking another bite and resumed her reading. This process repeated for awhile, just like it always did when dinner time came around. Sitting in a chair next to Twilight was her older brother Shining Armor, a colt who was on his way to becoming a stallion. He had snow white fur and a blue mane and tail with a stripe of aqua marine through them. He was talking with the two siblings father, Night Light who was sitting next to their mother Twilight Velvet on the other side of the round table. Their conversation quickly came to an end when Twilight Velvet whispered something into Night Light's ear. The blue stallion nodded and looked over at their daughter. "Twilight? Your mother and I have come up with something for you to do over the summer!" Night Light exclaimed cheerfully. Twilight lowered the book she was reading, her curiosity peaking up at the statement. Upon seeing her parents faces, she quickly began theorizing on what it could be. "Ooh! Let me guess!" Twilight begged, putting a hoof to her chin as she thought of all the possibilities and narrowed them down on a mental checklist. "Ummm, is it a new book?" Night Light and Twilight Velvet shook their heads. "A new notepad?" "Wait, you need another?" Shining Armor questioned, faintly remembering their parents buying a fresh school grade notepad two days ago. "Well, no. But I've learned that it's good to always have back up supplies." Twilight stated. "Nope." Twilight Velvet claimed. "What is it?" Twilight questioned. Night Light levitated a piece of paper out of a nearby saddlebag and rose it up for Twilight to see. "We've booked a trip for you to stay with your Aunt Dash in a sleepy little town called Magic Falls!" Night Light declared. Twilight's expression changed from excitement, to confusion. What in Equestria was her father talking about? "Magic Falls?" Twilight repeated, not recognising the name at all. Night Light rotated the paper he was holding, exposing a little old map that showed the names of several places across Equestria. But one name wasn't like the others. Each place had an X next to them signaling the exact point where the place was, but one X was very faded, along with the text above it. Night Light lowered the map onto the table and pushed it over to Twilight for her to see better. Twilight practically put her face on the map trying to make out what the text said. Finally, she was able to make out the words Magic Falls that blended in with a forest background. "Magic Falls was a beautiful place when we visited your Aunt. It was full of nice ponies and the forest surrounding the town seems to sparkle in the moonlight." Twilight Velvet stated, remembering the trip like it was yesterday. But that only rose another question in Twilight's mind. Who was her Aunt? She had never been told that she had an Aunt, let alone in a town she didn't know about, and she was a straight A student in almost every class, Geology being one of them. "Who's watching me?" Twilight questioned, flipping through an imaginary photobook in her mind. "Your Aunt Dash, she's a very nice Pegasus and will take good care of you." Twilight Velvet exclaimed. "I don't remember anypony talking about Aunt Dash." Twilight stated, the name not ringing any bells. "Me neither." Shining Armor followed up. Night Light levitated an old black binder out of its spot on a shelf and set it down on the center of the table. He opened it and flipped to a page that held several photos of Twilight's relatives. He outlined a single photo with his magic and gently took it out of the binder. "This is your Aunt Dash, she's never left Magic Falls ever since she moved there." Night Light explained. The picture showed the image of what seemed to be a Pegasus, but most of the picture wasn't developed, only showing the outline of Aunt Dash and part of a building behind her. Her fur color wasn't even shown in the picture. "Not sure why this is the only picture of her, but we lost our camera when we visited." Night Light claimed. Night Light put the picture back in the binder and set it down in its spot on the shelf before getting up and bringing the empty plates from dinner with him over to the sink. "When am I going?" Twilight questioned, wondering about what could happen on this trip. "Your Brother will help you get to the train station which will take you to the main Equestrian Depo. There, you can get on the train that leads right to Magic Falls." Twilight Velvet explained. "Better get packing." Shining Armor said playfully as he got up from his chair. Twilight also got out of her chair, before heading up to her room. If she was going on a trip across Equestria, then she was gonna need supplies, and lots of notebooks. > Train Ride > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "It didn't take long before it was time to leave, but luckily, I made sure to pack everything I might need." "You ready?" Shining Armor asked as he watched his sister levitated a few last minute items into her snow white saddlebags. Twilight had spent nearly a solid forty five minutes in her room taking everything out of her saddlebags to mark down on a list that they were there, before putting them back. But Twilight would then take them all out again to mark them on another list, before putting them back again. "Yep!" Twilight claimed, shutting the final saddlebag flap and locking it with a buckle in the shape of her cutie mark. Twilight stood up from where she had been sitting and trotted over to her brother's side. Her dark blue traveling vest had a few notepads in its pockets as well as some quills. Her saddlebags were also shut tight, shielding everything inside from the sunlight, except Smarty Pants whose head was poking out of one flap. Well he had to breath somehow. "You sure?" Shining Armor questioned, grinning. "I'm pretty sure! I made sure to triple check everything and mark them down on my checklist." Twilight said confidently. Shining Armor ignited his horn and levitated a small hat from a shelf and over to Twilight. He released his grip on the hat which quickly dropped right onto Twilight's head facing forward. "You forgot your hat." Shining Armor exclaimed, before shaking the hat playfully on the filly's head. "Oh, well it's good that I have my BBBFF to check my work!" Twilight proclaimed with a smile, before hugging her brother. "Well, if you're sure that's everything then let's get going!" Shining Armor declared. The train ride to the main depo wasn't that eventful, say for the occasional landmark that Twilight pointed out to her brother as they passed it. Once the two were at the depo, Shining Armor guided his younger sister to the correct platform, before getting ready to head back home. "You sure you don't want me tagging along on the train?" Shining Armor asked. "I'm sure! You must have lots of things to do and i'm 100% sure I know what to do. I'll make sure to call you as much as I can when I get to Aunt Dash's." Twilight exclaimed. Shining Armor smiled, before giving her little sister one last hug. "Be safe Twily." "I will!" With those last words said, the train rolled into the station and let out a loud whistle. Twilight waved to her brother as she hopped on and found a seat. Twilight put her saddlebags down in front of her seat before looking out the window of the train car. She instantly spotted Shining Armor waving to her and returned the wave, she kept waving until the train departed from the station. She watched the scenery from the window for awhile, before grabbing a notepad from her saddlebags along with a quill and a small portable ink bottle. "Entry number one. I have begun the trip to Magic Falls by use of the Equestrian Railway Systems. BBBFF is heading home, leaving me on my own until I am able to locate Aunt Dash's place in Magic Falls. But i'm sure I will be able to handle-" "HI!" A hyperactive sounding voice said next to Twilight, startling her enough to drop the notepad which landed with a thud on the train's floor. Twilight turned her gaze to the left, instantly spotting a pink earth pony Filly with a mane and tail that looked even more crazy than Shining Armor's when he got out of bed. The Filly's blue eyes were locked onto hers, a smile across her face. Her cutie mark was of three balloons, two blue and one yellow. She was also wearing a red sweatshirt that had her cutie mark's design on the front. "Uh, hello?" Twilight greeted back, not really knowing what else to do as she levitated her notebook back onto her hooves from the floor. "Sorry if I startled you, it's just that i've been on this train for awhile now and not a single other filly or colt has been around and none of the grownups seem to want to make friends with me. But when I saw you I knew that this would be my chance to finally make my first friend! I'm Pinkie Pie, what's your name?" Pinkie Pie asked, somehow in under twenty seconds. "I'm Twilight Sparkle, and sorry but I don't really-" Twilight trailed off as she remembered what her parents had said. "well I guess we could be friends." The second Twilight finished that sentence, Pinkie's smile seemed to somehow double as her eyes lit up. She cheered happily and jumped upwards, staying in the air for an impossible amount of time, and landed softly next to Twilight on the seat. "Thank you so much Twilight! I'm gonna make sure to throw you the best party ever once we arrive at your stop!" Pinkie exclaimed. "But don't you have a destination to go to on this train?" Twilight questioned. "Nope! All I wanted on this trip was to make a friend and I did! So now that my trip is over, all I have to do is wait for your trip to be over and then it's celebration time!" Pinkie stated, before reaching over to a single pink suitcase that Twilight hadn't even noticed until now. Pinkie opened the suitcase and fumbled around for a while until she retracted her hoof, revealing a...sandwich? Pinkie looked at the sandwich for a few seconds, before shaking her head and put it back in the suitcase. Her hoof went for another dive, this time taking out a rubber chicken. "Hmm, I know I have it in here somewhere." Pinkie muttered to herself as she set the rubber chicken down in between her and Twilight. "Sorry, give me a second." Pinkie continued on her mission to find the item she was looking for, putting anything else she found on the seat to be put away later. Twilight watched in shock as an overwhelming amount of objects were pulled out of the seemingly bottomless suitcase. There were Whoopee Cushions, Balloons, a set of Rocks, a package of Noodles, a pile of Snow, an Apple, a Cookbook, a deck of cards, a strange knitted thing that Twilight didn't even know the name of, and finally, a casing in the shape of a cupcake. "What cupcake flavor do you like? I personally like all of them equally because they're all so delicious and making a decision on only one would be impossible!" Pinkie stated, setting the case down between her and Twilight. Pinkie unlatched a few buckles and opened up the case, exposing at least thirty different types of cupcakes. Each cupcake had their own style and color of frosting, as well as the flavor. But the main factor that had caught Twilight's attention, was the fact that each cupcake was somehow untouched by the others even with the lack of barriers between them. Twilight picked out a cupcake and levitated it over to her face, examining the details that had been put into the frosting. This cupcake's frosting was midnight blue with several star sprinkles scattered about, making it look like the night sky. Pinkie Pie grabbed a cupcake for herself, before shutting the case and put it back in her suitcase. Before either of them took a bite, Pinkie Pie spoke up; "Cheers for meeting a new friend!" Pinkie Pie declared, clinking her cupcake with Twilight's like it was a glass of champagne. Twilight had several questions about this filly, mainly about her hyperactive personality and her Marey Poppins suitcase. But she couldn't help but smile as she watched Pinkie chow down on the cupcake she had picked out. Make a new friend, Check! > New In Town > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A loud whistle rang throughout the train, notifying the passengers that they had arrived at their destination. Twilight and Pinkie both looked out the window next to them, taking in the sight of the station. The Magic Falls train station looked as equally unused as the one at the main depo. Dust littered the platforms and the old style ticket building. The few light posts around the area had cracks in the glass, and only a hoof full of ponies were on the platform to enter the train. "Well, this is my stop." Twilight exclaimed, grabbing her saddlebags and hopping off the seat. To her surprise, Pinkie did the same. As Twilight went over to the train car's exit door, she noted that Pinkie was following her. She looked over at the filly with a confused expression. "Um, why are you following me?" Twilight asked. "If this is your stop, then it's my stop! I don't really have a destination to reach and I would rather stay with my new friend!" Pinkie Pie declared. Twilight was about to protest, but thought about it for a few seconds. What harm could Pinkie cause? Well, that information was unknown due to the lack of knowledge about Pinkie. But from what she had gathered from the train ride, it should be alright for Pinkie to stick around. "Ok, but i'm not sure if Aunt Dash will allow you to stay at her place. But I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask." Twilight said. Pinkie's face seemed to light up at that response. "Really!? Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" Pinkie wrapped her hooves around Twilight and gave her a tight hug, nearly causing Twilight to choke. "Now, at the time, I had thought that I might have made a mistake bringing Pinkie along with me. But after we met with my Aunt Dash, I quickly realized that it was one of the best calls I had ever made. Because without her, i'm not sure if I would of lasted a single week in that shack..." Twilight and Pinkie stared at the building, quickly realizing that the state it was in seemed somehow even worse than the train station. The building appeared to be an old rickety shack that had been turned into a Tourist Trap. Signs were everywhere around the area trying to draw people to the shack. Things like; What's Inside!? or This Way To The World Of Mystery!! There were even two massive signs on top of the shack. One had the words MYSTERY painted on it in black, while the other had five red letters that had been nailed onto the sign which spelled out SHACK. The S seemed to be barely hanging onto the sign, the slightest gust of wind making the whole letter sway left and right. "Reminds me of my family's old barn." Pinkie Pie claimed absentmindedly. As the two fillies advanced towards what they assumed was the front door, a massive blast of smoke stopped them dead in their tracks. The smoke quickly subsided, revealing a cyan pegasus with a greying rainbow mane and tail. The Pegasus was wearing a pair of black glasses which had a role of tape around the middle to keep them together. She was also wearing a black suit with a red tie as well as a red fez on top of her head which had the outline of her cutie mark stitched onto it. "Welcome Fillies, to the most mysterious place in Magic Falls! The Mystery Shack!" The Pegasus declared, however, her salesmare expression soon faded when she realized who one of the fillies was. "Wait a minute, aren't you that kid that I was told about? Umm," The Pegasus put a hoof to her chin as she tried to remember Twilight's name. "Twinkle?" At that answer, Pinkie Pie bursted out into a fit of laughter. White Twilight just shook her head. "Twilight, and you must be Aunt Dash. Sorry that we haven't met before, but I didn't even know this town existed until my parents brought it up." Twilight exclaimed. "No worries, this town is always overlooked. By the way, whose Miss Laughter over there? I thought only one filly was coming." Aunt Dash stated. "Oh, I met her on the train and we ended up becoming friends. She's-" Twilight was cut off as Pinkie Pie suddenly stopped laughing and bounced over to the elderly Pegasus. "I'm Pinkie Pie! It's always nice to meet a new friend!" Pinkie Pie said, bouncing in place. "Pinkie told me that she doesn't really know where to go and since we're apparently friends now, she wants to come with me." Twilight explained. Aunt Dash looked Pinkie over, from the sweater she was wearing, to the wacky pink mane and tail. "Eh, I could always use a few extra hooves around the shack. You can stay as long as you follow MY rules." "Okie Doki Loki! I Pinkie promise to follow your rules Dashie!" Aunt Dash rose an eyebrow, before mumbling something under her breath. "First rule, NEVER call me that again." She instructed. "After meeting Aunt Dash, she ended up giving us a tour around the Mystery Shack. But she said the only reason it was free was because we would end up having to work there all summer and should get used to everything. Pinkie seemed fine with that, but I honestly just wanted to stay in the town library and read." "Still have yet to go there." "Anyways, turns out that Aunt Dash also had a few other employees around the place. By a few I mean two. One isn't even a pony." "And this is the rock that looks like a face." Aunt Dash explained, pointing to a rock on display that had the outline of a face. Pinkie stared at the rock for a few seconds, before digging around in her suitcase and retrieved a party hat. She was about to set the party hat down on the rock but Aunt Dash stopped her. "Rule 33! Don't touch the merchandise!" Pinkie slowly put the party hat back in the suitcase, before spotting a figure standing on a step stool. Not a split second after that, she rushed off to greet them. Twilight turned around to see where Pinkie was, only to see the pink filly dash over to a strange figure. "Who's that?" Twilight questioned to Aunt Dash. "That's just Spike. He's the repair dragon who helps keep the shack running." Aunt Dash exclaimed. "You have a dragon as a repair pony!?" Twilight said, her jaw dropping. "No, repair dragon. Don't worry, Spike is as sweet as a cupcake once you get to know him." Aunt Dash stated. Sure enough, when Twilight looked back in the direction of the dragon, she saw Spike and Pinkie Pie chatting and laughing. Still keeping her guard up, Twilight advanced towards the two. Spike noticed Twilight and turned to face her, a smile across his face. "Hello! You must be Twilight. Ms Dash told me about you staying for the summer. I'm Spike." Spike greeted, extending one of his claws out in an attempted hoof/claw shake. Twilight's worry about Spike faded as she shook the dragon's claw. "Wow, i've never met a dragon before!" Twilight claimed. Spike chuckled, before answering; "If I had a bit for everypony that has ever said that to me then i'd be richer than the dragonlord himself." Spike glanced over at Dash who just gave him a motion of her pointing at an invisible watch. When he looked back down at Twilight, he was shocked to see the pony using a ruler to measure his feet. He already could already tell that this summer just got a whole lot better. "And this is the gift shop." Aunt Dash proclaimed, motioning with her hoof at the wide array of nic nacs and price tags that were scattered about the room. Pinkie Pie bounced around the room, making sure to not touch anything. Twilight on the other hoof just trotted over to a massive grey rectangle. "Aunt Dash? What in Equestria is this thing?" Twilight asked, trying to figure out the purpose of the rectangle. The grey rectangle had a long piece of glass on the front, exposing several candy bars and soda cans. Under each item was a price tag that ranged between one and two bits. "That's just a vending machine." Aunt Dash said flatly, wondering how Twilight didn't know about this common machine. Twilight reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a bit. She put the bit into an exposed slot and let it fall into the machine. The bit clanked as it rolled into the machine, triggering a faint light above a set of squares with symbols on them that were also located next to the price tags of each item. Twilight pressed one of the squares, watching in awe as a soda can suddenly started moving from its spot on a shelf and fall to the bottom of the machine. Twilight opened up a compartment on the bottom and spotted the soda can which she quickly grabbed with her magic. "First vending machine? I still remember my original reaction to the very first microwave." A female voice stated from behind Twilight, startling her. Twilight turned around to see a yellow unicorn with a yellow and red mane that gave off the vibe of fire. The unicorn was wearing an old lumberjack hat and her cutie mark was of a yin-yang red and yellow sun. Her cyan irises were full of amusement as she recalled the old memory. Pinkie wasted no time to make a new friend, dashing over to the counter with a huge smile on her face. "Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie!" Pinkie greeted enthusiastically, bouncing up onto the counter and extended a hoof out. "Sunset Shimmer," Sunset said, bumping the little Filly's hoof. "I take it that you're gonna be the one helping around this rickety shack?" "Yepperuni! Me and Twilight are gonna be here all summer! And i'd be more than happy to help out!" Pinkie exclaimed. Sunset Shimmer rolled her eyes, still grinning. "Give it a week and you'll already be bored out of your mind here." "After meeting Sunset Shimmer and Spike, Pinkie and I got situated upstairs in the attic where a room had been made into a joined bedroom. After wrestling with a goat that had somehow gotten inside and on my bed, we began are chores around the shack." "I honestly thought that this would end up being the usual routine every day until the end of summer." "Sweet Celestia was I wrong..."