A human machine falls from the sky and Twilight, with the help of her friends discover all its musical secrets.
After what should have been just a late outing to stargaze and probably collect some meteorite samples, a strange device ends up almost wreaking half of Ponyville, but what is it? who sent it? what's its purpose? and why am I dancing to it?
Discover the answer to this and more questions while Twilight and her friends mess around with a human computer with the vast majority of human's musical records, discovering that you don't have to be in the same planet to enjoy the gift of music.
It was a sunny day in Cape Canaveral, not a single cloud in the sky and everybody was ready for a very important milestone in human history. The chattering of workers making sure there is zero error margin was like music for a certain launch director named Isaac Musk. The legacy his family weighed heavy on him since the moment he decided to focus his entire time on SpaceX.
Today one of the most important launches in the history of mankind was going to take place, it consisted in securing all of human history and knowledge on time capsules that will it orbit earth for millennia or in case our civilization cease to exist as we know it, for a constant signal should be broadcast to them constantly and in case of the signal is interrupted for a year, they were programed to return to Earth, ensuring that survivors won’t forget their roots.
In a dark room, a man lies on his desk snuggling a device like a teddy bear, countless empty cups of coffee, notes and locked monitors around him. He was one of the engineers in charge of the programing of the devices but stayed up all night long on a personal project. He was dreaming about food when the slide door of his workshop open revealing a coworker, Suzanne R. was written on her badge, she looked around noticing her coworker in such a sad position.
“Walter is the last drive ready?” she got no response, she moved closer to him nudging him on the shoulder. “Seriously Walter, Mr. Musk is going to kill us both if the drive is not ready for launch,” She noticed Walter was holding a drive on his arms connected to his computer, she moved the mouse and on the screen showed a warning for a [DOWNLOAD COMPLETE]. “Oh good you finished it on time,” she disconnected the drive and examined it “hey you forgot to number this one *sigh* well you should wake up already or else you will miss the launch”
“zzzZZzzz mmm yummy, mmMmmMM” Walter said, still in the arms of Morpheus.
“Oh whatever, don’t blame me if you miss history in the making, I need to have this installed right away” She left quickly leaving a message to Walter in case he wakes up in time, unknown to her there was another drive, exactly like the one she took, under the desk with the number 100 written on it.
[Three hours later]
“Oh no no no no no no no no no” Walter ran through the corridors of the complex, a drive tucked inside his lab coat, sweating like a pig knowing it’s going to a slaughterhouse, which might be the case if Mr. Musk realized what he did.“Oh God please let me be on time”
~WHAM~
“OUCH, Walter what the hell?” Suzanne said kneading her head and making sure her glasses weren’t broken.
“SUZY, PLEASE TELL ME THE LAUNCH HASN’T STARTED YET.” Walter said with a teary face.
“Not yet, oooh I knew you wouldn’t miss it for the world, you have worked on this as much as me, more even. But you didn’t have to be all teary, the launch will be in a few minutes, I was heading to the control room, why don’t you come with me and we can watch it together?”
He grabbed her arm moved her so they were eye to eye “Suzy listen to me, we need to delay the launch!”
“Are you crazy? Everything is already prepared and the countdown is going to start in a few minutes, you can’t stop this just like that! Why would you even want to stop...“ she grabbed Walter by the coat and her eyes turned as dark as a bottomless pit “What did you do?”
Walter was petrified, he had known Suzanne since childhood and he knew that there was nothing in this world more terrifying than her when she was angry, he also knew that if he didn’t come clean he would be, for the next few weeks, on a full body, arms and legs cast, drinking through a straw “well you see, remember when you went to my workshop to pick up the drive and left me a note?”
“Yes, so?”
“ok… youpickedthewrongdrivethisistherightone” he said while holding a device with the number 100 on it.
“WHAT!?! oh no no no no no no no no no” she started mumbling while losing all the color from her body. “We need to stop the launch… there is no way to stop the launch… we need to… we need… I know we can still strap ourselves on the rocket and leave the planet, that’s probably the only way to escape this mess YOU got us into”
“Me? Why only me? You were supposed to check every drive why didn’t you check this one?”
“I… I was busy with another project!”
“Yeah I bet, what is that project called? Oh yeah Armando from security right?… anyway, there must be something we can do, they will test every capsule in a week on space and they will discover there is one with the wrong information on it.”
“Walter there is nothing we can do about this the launch is starting as we speak” Suzanne said with a long sigh “we need to report this to Mr. Musk, worst case scenario we will lose our dream jobs and if that happens you will wish it was YOU on that rocket”
[Some time after launch, on the Director’s office]
“What a great launch, beautiful launch I never get tired of them. I remember when my dad used to bring me to every launch and then we went for ice cream… anyway, I was told you two wanted to see me, what are my programmers up to now?” Mr. Musk said while holding a cup of coffee, looking at a pair of engineers that looked like they have seen a ghost.
“Yes sir, my colleague here needs to tell you something” Suzanne said while pushing Walter. He calmed a bit, having his best friend next to him helped, even if she was shooting daggers at him.
“Mr. Musk as you are awa-wa-ware we are in charge of programming the d-d-drives launched today, also to feed all the required information on the equipment”
“Yes I know, I hired you after all”
“W-w-well you see, I was not only working on t-t-that, but I also had my own p-p-project”
“I see, are you talking about the device that you are holding right now? It looks like one of the drives that should be on the capsules”
“Yes sir, I-I-I need to confess that I…” Suddenly an alarm goes off from the communicator from the Director’s desk signaling that there is a call coming in.
“Excuse me a moment this sounds important” he said pressing a button, a screen pops out of the wall with a worried looking, bearded man wearing glasses.
“Mr. Musk we got a problem,” he said while fixing his tie “one of the capsules malfunctioned and is now escaping Earth’s gravitational pull, is expected to be out of it in a few hours.”
“Which capsule was it, Is there a way to recover it?” Isaac said with an angry tone holding his own chin.
“It was the 100th capsule, there is no nearby ship able to recover it and preparing one would take a few days, we calculated its trajectory and we estimate it will be close enough to the moon and several other planets to be accelerated by them and then it’ll take around 10 and a half years to leave the solar system... But don’t worry sir, I already sent the order to begin a mission to recover it”
“Hold it!” said Isaac rubbing his mustache “I’m thinking on something, let’s treat this as a happy accident and make the best of it. Why don’t leave this capsule on it’s own and let it drift around the stars”
“But Mr. Musk”
“Aaron, it was one of one hundred capsules, all containing the same information, so even if we lose one or two the project would still be a great success, besides weren’t those capsules designed to be near indestructible and self maintained?
“Yes sir”
“And didn’t it have a computer able to reproduce all the files in a way that even a 5 year old could start it?”
“That’s also correct sir.
“Well, what if the capsule finds its way to another civilization, one from far beyond the stars and is able to teach them everything about us,” he said looking up and with arms wide open “wouldn’t that be wonderful?”
“Well if you put it that way then it actually sounds quite amazing Mr. Musk,” Aaron said while scratching his head “I guess I’ll call off the mission to recover it, we already lost contact with the capsule anyway so now we just have our estimates”
“Good, now let everything return to normal and let me know when the party to celebrate this accomplishment will begin, Isaac Musk out” he pressed the button cutting the call, now he directed his attention to the other two visitors he had to attend “So Walter, you were saying something about that drive on your hand?”
Walter snapped out of his daydream, seeing his boss so happy and outgoing, even when there was an error of this magnitude on the project made him feel that he could confess and still keep all his limbs “Oh yeah Mr. Musk I actually came to confess that bBGbagff” Walter tried to say when his mouth got suddenly closed by Suzanne’s hand.
“What he is trying to say is that he used an extra drive for one of his projects and didn’t reported it, but he feels bad about it and told me he will wipe out the drive he selfishly used and return it to the supply department,” Suzanne said while holding Walter’s mouth captive with her hand “Isn’t it? Walter you big goof... he says yes”
Isaac laughed and crossed his arms “Was that all? oh come on you know you can talk to me, is not like you put the wrong drive on one of the capsules right?” he laughed even more “Don’t worry about it, after all if it wasn’t for my programmers then the whole thing would be just a waste of time I say keep the drive and use as you need, now if that’s all I still have things to do, this 'happy accident' actually gave me an idea for our next project”
“Yes Mr. Musk” Suzanne said dragging Walter out of the office.
[a few minutes later]
“Suzy why didn’t you let me confess to Mr. musk? I swear he was in the best humor he ever had since he hired us! Now we both lied to him and we will probably get fired, no we will get thrown in jail or worse, he will have us disappear like those mob bosses on the old vids when they discover what we did!”
“Didn’t you listen you big monkey? One of the capsules malfunctioned and now we have lost contact with it! It was the freaking capsule that the drive you had was installed. There is absolutely no way in hell that they will discover what we did now. There must be someone watching over us I just know it… what was in that drive anyway?”
“Oh, well you see…”
“Please tell me it wasn’t porn, eww to think that an alien civilization will find it and will look at your disgusting fetishes, they'll probably come looking for earth and destroy us for defiling their civilization”
“What?! No, no way, it was music just music and some audio files of stuff I liked” Walter informed her waving his arms all over.
“Seriously? Why do you need a 5 zettabyte drive for music?”
“Heh, you know I love listening music and other stuff while I work, I put all the music humanity has done in it… or at least up until late 2020s you know, after that everything became trash… But whatever I’ll have to start all over and it took almost 3 days to complete it… by the way, you were with Armando right, you finally asked him out?”
Suzanne stepped back and blushed at the sudden question but since she was caught, there was nothing she could do about it “You won’t believe me if I tell you…”
[Years later, like between 10 and a gazillion years later, give or take]
Planet Equum, year 10XX A.S.
Princess Twilight was watching the stars through the telescope on her castle while taking notes, she has been following a meteoroid with a trajectory that put it in direct collision with the Planet Equum. She calculated that the size of this rock was enough to survive entering the atmosphere leaving a small rock for future analysis, luckily not big enough to pose a threat to anypony or anycreature, well unless it falls directly on their head. Twilight had marked on the calendar and a map the estimate day and location the meteorite would end up falling, with some margin of error, of course, it would be tonight, around the same place she and her friends enjoyed a meteor shower a few years ago, she was excited and couldn't wait for the meteor to fall, it would be the first time she will be able to participate in a recovery of a space object in quite a while.
“Spike?... Spike? SPIKE! Where are you?”
“In here just getting everything ready for our mission today, I can’t believe a meteor is falling right next to Ponyville”
“I know, I remember the last time I had the chance to recover space debris with dad and Shining, you were still too young to stay late, so you couldn’t go, I’m glad to have an opportunity like this to share the experience with you,” rubbing her hoof on Spike’s head “I just wish Shining and Starlight wouldn’t be so busy the entire week, I bet they’d love to join us” she said while dropping her ears and looking a bit sad for not having her brother share this event like in the past.
“Yeah but at least the girls will come, hey! I know what will make you feel better, going through the checklist for this evening.” He pulled a list and a quill ready to check everything.
“You know me too well Spike, ok let’s begin… Scrolls?”
“Check!”
“Quills?”
“Check!”
“Telescope”
“Check!”
“Helmets?”
“Security first, check!”
“A non burned edition of Astronomical Astronomer's Almanac to All Things Astronomy?”
“The big blue book on stars, moons, planets, the universe?”
“That one”
“Check!... you are never gonna let me forget about that one uh?”
“Nope. Pillows, blankets and snacks?”
“Check, check and deliciously check!”
“Well ok we got everything, let’s go already I don’t want to miss a thing”
They arrived with plenty of time to prepare the blankets and pillows and to set up the telescope, the rest of the mane 6 arrived shortly after and helped with the preparations. Everything was set when Twilight announced that the object could be seen near the horizon just as the sun was setting, everypony watched in awe the light-show of the space rock burning at the moment Pinkie started trembling.
"Pinkie darling are you cold?" Rarity Asked grabbing a blanket with her magic.
"NoOoOoOoOoOo" she stopped trembling "I think it's like last time A DOOZY" Pinkie said trembling again.
“Um Twilight… I reckon you said this was a space rock, right?” Applejack directed Twilight to the Telescope “‘cus that ‘rock’ looks mighty shinin’ to me to be a rock”
“What? Lemme see” Twilight looked through the telescope just to realize that just like applejack said, the ‘rock’ was too shiny to be a rock and that wasn’t all, since it wasn’t burning on the atmosphere at all, the size of it could actually damage wherever it landed “Oh no, this wasn’t supposed to happen, we need to stop it or at least slow it down, an impact of something that size could do major damage.
“Can’t you push it with your magic Twilight?”
“No Rainbow, it’s still too far from here, I need to go near it” She flew up directly to the burning chunk of shiny space stuff and rainbow flew next to her.
“Woa woa woa, don’t you think this is too dangerous? I mean I’m all up for an adrenaline rush but don’t you think this is unnecessary?, why don’t you just let it fall, it will fall on the outskirts of Ponyville anyway”
“Actually Rainbow, due to the added mass, there is a chance it will fall directly on Ponyville, I will not take that chance, I need to make sure it won’t hurt anypony, besides I’ve lifted bigger things already, how hard can this caravan sized chunk of metal flying at that tremendous speed be right? Hehe” she nervously laughed, she finally reached a distance where she could feel the object with her magic, she started channeling a spell to slow the shiny metal thing and was surprised it wasn’t as heavy as she estimate it must be hollow she thought, still, it was a huge effort to slow it down and redirect it somewhere it won’t cause any problems. It finally landed just near the Everfree Forest it made small crater and scared a lot of animals but luckily no creature was hurt in the process.
Twilight helped by Rainbow landed, you could see that she was sweating profusely due to the effort of trying her best so the object landed undamaged, she could say while maneuvering the item, that after the atmosphere burned all the rock that covered it, only a metal sphere remained, too perfectly round to be naturally made. She was a little skeptical but she would figure it out once she is able to check the sphere close and personal if her theory was right this could mean a big discovery.
“*pant* well if that wasn’t a doozy *pant* then I don’t know what it was *pant* Rainbow can you do me a favor and bring the others? I really don’t want to leave this here in the open for too long” Rainbow just saluted and flew to bring the others, in the meantime Twilight was really tired but was strong enough to go near the strange sphere to try to make heads or tails of it. As she sensed it, it was perfectly spherical shiny with some relieves that could probably be symbols of some sort. It didn’t take too long to bring the rest of the mane 6 and Spike to the landing zone and everypony was surprised of what fell from the sky.
“Ok what in the hay is that Twilight?” Applejack asked poking the strange metal construct with a stick.
Twilight quickly reacted pushing AJ’s stick with her tail while hugging the metal sphere “DON’T! I mean be careful I wouldn’t want to damage this thing”
Rainbow laughed at Twilight “Come on Twilight that thing fell from the sky, how could a stick damage it more than the fall?”
“I’m sorry is just that this huge sphere could mean a big deal on the scientific community, if I’m right this could mean that there are intelligent life out in space” you could notice how Twilight had stars in her eyes shining with happiness, at the idea of a discovery of this magnitude, she was even floating without flipping her wings. “Which takes me to our next step, I used a big deal of my magic saving this object”
“You mean saving Ponyville?” said Spike with crossed arms.
“Yeah that too, but what I need right now is help moving this to the castle where I’ll be able to study it thoroughly and methodically” she said in a sultry tone with hearts in her eyes and blushing profusely “countless hours of study, testing, trial and error, I can hardly wait!” everypony rolled her eyes and helped rolling the big ball of metal to the castle. The girls left for their houses and Twilight had Spike sent a letter to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, a response arrived the next day asking Twilight to keep her discoveries a secret until she is sure the 'thing' is safe and to not push herself too hard like she tends to do, Twilight was excited for the prospect of learning about aliens and she didn’t have to wait long for answers to this enigma.
It’s been 2 days since the strange metal object fell on the outskirts of Ponyville and you could see that Twilight was more than certain that this was made by an intelligence similar or greater than any species on her planet, after making good progress with the strange sphere she was able to open it and found out that it was quite easy to handle after you learned how the mechanisms operate, she opened the sphere and discovered it was just the first of 3 shells meant to protect a number of boxes, some of them contained tools she recognized, some others that she didn't, some things that appeared to be seed packages, a box with a red cross with appeared to be medical supplies, but the most intriguing discovery was a piece of very sophisticated equipment, right at the very heart of the device.
It consisted of what seemed to be a black plastic box that could be open like a powder case, inside one of the halves had a smooth black layer and tiny square on the top right corner, on the other half there were several buttons with symbols she didn’t understand plus what looked like a smooth half of a ball.
Twilight’s studio was a mess, with notes and drawings of the orb and it’s insides all over the place “I guess is enough for today, let’s wrap it up and get something to eat” she stood up and was about to go down to the kitchen when a pink blur swooped in front of her.
“Hiya Twilight! What you doing?” Pinkie said bouncing on her tail and then jumping in front of Twilight.
“Nothing much Pinkie, I was finally able to reach what seems to be the most inner part of this machine, you see, I think the outer layer was meant to protect the internal components and after I managed to open it” -meanwhile Twilight was rambling about her findings Pinkie took the chance to see what was inside the big shiny ball that almost fell on Ponyville- “ so basically I believe that those little nubs are buttons but I don’t really wanna touch anything before I’m completely sure of what... they... do… Pinkie?
“Oooh what does this button do?” Pinkie said her hoof just mere millimeters close to one of the device buttons.
Twilight was frozen by what she saw and had only time to think please, please, do not push the button, you have no idea what it… *push* a single movement of a hoof and Pinkie had done the unthinkable, hours of research, now ruined because Pinkie was curious and now the device will explode, or implode or whatever thing it that button was meant to do… except that it didn’t explode, it just turned on, the black smooth layer inside showed some symbols and what appeared to be a warning, and finally started playing some sounds,
something similar to the beep and sounds her machines do when they are turned on at the same time, meanwhile the tiny rectangle on the top right corner turned green and on the screen you could see several lights and colors following the pattern of the sounds.
“Oooooh I like it, sounds pretty” Pinkie said while she started to dance at the repetitive, yet for some reason still melodic sounds of the strange machine.
"Pinkie in the name of Celestia! what are you doing?!" Twilight said, afraid to even go near Pinkie and the device.
“Dancing you silly filly, what does it look like I'm doing?”
“That’s not music Pinkie! That must be some sort of alarm or even a message *gasp* I need to record it! SPIIIIIKE WHERE IS MY RECORDING EQUIPMENT! OR THE RECORDING STONES! OR AT LEAST THE VINYL RECORDER!” Twilight screamed running around the castle looking for her stuff. When she returned she found both Spike and Pinkie dancing at the sound of the machine “Hey come on you two, this is supposed to be a research, not a dance competition.” Both stopped dancing and helped Twilight set up her recording equipment.
“Ok now I will be able to keep a record of this strange sounds and find out if there is an actual message on all this noise” she turned on her recorder but could only record for a minute and a half after that, the weird device turned itself off “is that it? that can’t be it, come on what button did you push Pinkie?”
“That one with the red triangle” she said as her hoof pointed the machine.
“Ok let’s do it again-” Twilight pressed the button “-aaaand” the device turned on but the tiny rectangle on the top right corner that was green when the sounds were playing now turned red and on the screen you could only see what appeared to be a red symbol, a rectangle with an ‘X’ in front, meanwhile the machine machine blurred what sounded like words but in a language she had never heard before then turned itself off again.”Oh come on that wasn’t even a minute,” Twilight pressed the button again but only got the same result “well, at least that was more like a message and not just sounds and noises”
“Aww I was liking the music,” Spike said scratching the back of his head “it reminds me of what Vinyl usually plays, so how are you planning to discover what all that mumbo jumbo said Twilight?
“Oh ho ho, well that’s where a little magic engineering comes in hoof, my purple scaled friend,” Twilight puffed her chest and flew to one of the shelves looking for an specificity book, after a few seconds she found it and flew back “this is Bocafloja’s book of tongue spells, well at least the translated version”
“Bocawhaaaat?” Pinkie asked while giggling “That sounds funny Twilight, are you sure you are not making names up?”
“Bo-ca-flo-ja Pinkie, Bocafloja el Parlero was a unicorn from the country of Los Casquillos, he liked talking A LOT!, legends say that he could talk for days at a time, so when he first came to Equestria he was upset that he couldn’t understand or be understood by anypony, he was also known to be really impatient, so instead of learning Equestrian he made several spells that could be used to translate any language from the globe, I bet I could adjust them to translate alien language-” *grumble* “- um… thinking twice why don’t we grab some food first, I’m starving."
[One hour later]
"Gee Twilight and I thought I had a big appetite," Rainbow said while laughing and walking back to the castle from Bouncy Bun's hayburger joint where she met with Spike and the girls "those were like 10 hayburgers, hayfries and a huge soda and you hid it so fast on your saddlebags!"
"I did not! what are you talking about? you saw that I ordered just 'the usual'" you could see that Twilight's eyes went from side to side nervously.
"But Twilight your usual consist in two number 9s, a number 9 large, a number 6 with extra onions, a number 7, two number 45s, one with cheese, and a large diet soda" Spike read from a scroll then burning it with his fire.
"Et tu, Spike? *sigh* I can't help myself, I just LOVE hayburgers and Bouncy Bun's are the best, the softness of the bread, the quality of the preparation, the perfect ratio and freshness of their ingredients are just some of the qualities every hayburger joint should aspire to…"
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes "SooOOoo what was Pinkie rambling about you opening that weird sphere before she ran off to the bakery?"
"Oh yeah, I managed to open it, it was quite simple if you ask me... like it was designed to be accessed with ease... anyway, now I'm sure it was made by a high intelligent race and with Bocafloja's language spells we will be able to understand it."
They finally reached the castle, ate the hayburgers and Twilight prepared the spell "alright the moment of truth, wish me luck" a sudden flash illuminated the room blinding everyone for a few seconds, once the light deemed they could only see Twilights recording equipment shining with the aftermath of the spell. “That should do it, Spike would you do me the honors?”
“What? Why me?”
“For starters, you owe me for telling Dash about my order… and then… I’m actually terrified the spell won’t work on alien speech.” Twilight was rubbing her hooves nervously, Spike just shrugged and nodded, there was nothing more than pressing ‘play’ but for Twilight, it could be the key to one of the most important discoveries in all pony history, Spike pressed the button and they recognized the last part of the ‘song’ the machine played before shutting off, but there was something different, they could actually understand what it was saying and Twilight couldn’t be happier.
“YES yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes” Twilight said while jumping in circles around the room with a smile the size of a hydra.
“Hey this sounds pretty good, but what does that thing means by ‘around the world’? Does it say anything else? what world are they talking about?” Rainbow asked bobbing her head from side to said to the beat of the music.
“I have no idea but at least we know the spell worked, now we will probably understand the second message it gave us when we tried to turn it on again, aaany moment now...” the music stopped and then the second message played loud and clear *beep* [BATTERY CRITICALLY LOW - RECHARGING - PLEASE WAIT]
It all made sense now, it was out of juice and it was charging itself now, but how was it charging? How long would it take? And how will they know when to be able to use it again? Twilight’s mind was full of even more questions now than when she began but she decided that patience would be the best course of action.
“Alright it’s decided, I’ll keep an eye on the device to see if there are any changes in it let’s get together in a week and we will try to turn it on again,” Twilight was decided that she was going to get answers one way or another “I’ll need all hooves on deck for this one, Spike, send a letter to all the girls to clear their schedules for next weekend, we will do some science.”
“No problem Twilight, by the way, are you going to always call that thing ‘the machine’ or ’the device’? It got kinda boring after the first fifty times.”
“You are right but what should I call it?”
“I dunno, what do you think Dash?” Spike asked scratching his head.
“Um, well the first thing that came from it was music and is shaped like a box so, why not ‘Music Box’ is simple and to the point”
“Yeah I like it, from now on this device will be known as the Music Box.”
And so started the research on the Music Box, if only Twilight knew that it needed some sort of energy source like the sun for optimal energy charge, luckily the capsules were designed to use any source of energy floating around it and for a mere fluke, the arcane residues left by any spell from unicorn magic, were enough to do the job, even if it would take a few days to charge enough to be usable again.
It's been a week since Twilight invited the whole gang to check on the 'Music box' as she has decided to call it, nothing much happened during the week and everypony was going on their business until it was time to got to the castle. On the only boutique in town, Rarity was preparing her latest design, a beige and gold gown, made with soft satin-like fabric, pearls and sapphires adorned it. Rarity removed her working glasses and let out a breath she didn't know was holding.
"Spikey-wikey what do you think?" asked Rarity to her companion without turning around for the answer.
"Beautiful" was the only word Spike could say, funny enough he wasn't actually looking at the dress but the dressmaker that stole the young drake's heart.
"Yes, it is one of my finest works, an exquisite piece with great details but simplistic enough to wear for even semi-formal events, totally fabulous if I say so myself." Rarity put away all her sewing supplies and made her way to the bathroom "Spikey-wikey would you kindly sweep the floor and throw all the fabric leftovers on the thrash? I need to freshen up myself before we go to Twilight's castle for her project" Spike was daydreaming but quickly snapped back to reality when Rarity spoke his name.
"At once M'Lady" he bowed and grabbed a broom and swept the floor collecting all the trash left by Rarity.
"Oh such a gentledrake, I can always count on you Spikey-wikey" Rarity said rubbing her hoof Spike's head.
Meanwhile Spike appreciated the gesture, it only reminded him the fact that even after many years of knowing each other, Rarity will always look at him as a baby dragon, even after molting, even after saving the Crystal Empire twice, that feel of powerlessness was like being tied to a chair mere inches to the buffet table while starving. But that changes today he decided to confess his undeniable love to the most beautiful mare in Equestria.
After cleaning Rarity's mess he went through the hall just outside the bathroom and knocked the door, "Rarity? are you done" he asked and waited for an answer, he was decided this is it, it's now or never.
"I'm just out of the shower darling, but I need to-" if only Spike had waited for Rarity to end her sentence instead of barging in.
"Rarity I need you to pl-pl-pl-p-p-" Spike was frozen at the mere sight of Rarity's with her entire body wet, dripping water from her hair.
"SPIKE HEAVENS WHAT ARE YOU DOING! OUT OUT NOW!" Rarity screamed covering her body with the towel and throwing all her bath supplies to the drake.
"p-p-p-paradise" was the last thing Spike said before having his lights knocked out by a bottle of shampoo.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
"Did I mention how sorry I am Spikey-wikey?" Rarity said while Spike, who had a bandage around his head, was riding on her back "it's been a while since you actually rode on my back Spike, has it not? I believe since you got your wings."
"Yeah and don't worry Rarity, it was my fault for barging in before you let me know you were ready," his head didn't even hurt, but Rarity insisted on bandaging it just in case, they finally arrived at the castle and everypony was already there, including Starlight.
"What took you so long? I told everypony to arrive half an hour... ohmygosh what happened Spike?" Twilight asked worried about the bandage on Spike's head.
"Nothing big really, I fell and I'm ok but Rarity insisted on bandaging my head." Spike lied, she didn't want to Twilight to be angry at Rarity but mostly he didn't want Twilight to know he barged in on Rarity's shower.
"Well if you say so, everypony is here already and I believe the Music Box is ready to play." Twilight directed them to her study, she had removed many parts of the shells and some of the tools she found inside, there were only those that she had no idea what were they for and the Music Box "Ok, if everypony is ready, I just have some words. As you probably know, a little more than a week ago this strange sphere fell from the skies, after studying I was able to open it and inside it contained several tools, seeds, medical supplies, what appears to be food of some sort and a machine that we now call it the Music Box. After studying the tools and supplies, I believe this is a care package meant to be used to survive in case of being stranded, how or why it reached planet Equum is something I still don't know, luckily this Music Box can help us discover it, first we managed to make it work thanks in part to Pinkie's curiosity"
"That's me, That's me!" Pinkie jumped and grabbed another cupcake from the table.
"We know Pinkie, we all know you silly filly," Starlight said while sipping form her cup of tea "please go on Twilight."
"Thank you Starlight, well as I was saying we managed to make it work and after that I cast a spell to be able to translate their language," many ooohs and wows could be heard from her friends "after using it once the music box entered a dormant status, recharging itself, but I believe the green light on the top right corner indicates that is ready to use, I don't know if we will hear the same thing we heard before, but hopefully we will hear something that will help us understand these aliens and their culture."
"BOOOOooooooooring, just turn the thing on, I wanna hear a song like last time, it was awesome." Rainbow was getting restless, she had been waiting a week to hear another song from this machine, and she hoped it was as awesome as the last time, even if it only said 'around the world'.
"Fine fine, just let me check if the spell is correctly set aaaaaand, ok we are ready" Twilight pressed the button and the music box showed signs of life, you could hear an electric guitar and then some vocals.
"What? what do they mean Twilight? love doesn't hurts, that's like the opposite of what loves do" Pinkie asked confused at what the song was saying.
"I don't really know Pinkie, and he goes as far as to say that it wounds and scars," Twilight was just as confused but kept listening "Oh I believe he just mentions that love can hurt if you are not prepared, Cadence once explained something similar."
"I reckon this poor fella might be unlucky with his special somepony or... somealien?" Applejack said hiding on under her hat, embarrassed since she wasn't sure how to categorize the alien's mate.
"Well Applejack, I believe we can use a neutral term like special someone or special somecreature, I prefer the former. Hopefully the aliens will answer that to us, if not on this one probably on another song" Twilight explained her friend.
At all this, Spike was fascinated by the song, but for a very different reason that his friends, the song was exactly what he was feeling about Rarity, an immense fire that burned inside of him, it hurt and it wounded, is like the music box was talking directly to him, like it knew how he felt and wanted to help. The song will probably help him find a way to deal with his love or at least to understand it, sadly for Spike the song had other intentions when it reached the last verse.
"Oh boy now that is a bummer, I was hopping it ended happy but that about love being a lie is pretty dark." Rainbow said while floated over the rest of them when suddenly, she looked at her friend Pinkie Pie "Pinkie are you ok?" and everypony else understood why the sudden question and directed their eyes to Pinkie.
"What me? yes why?" Pinkie asking still eating pastry from the table.
"Oh.. my... is just that usually when you listen to sad stories you tend to um... Starlight can you help me?" Flutershy asked unable to find words that won't hurt Pinkie's feelings.
"*sigh* remember when I told you about my mom and you cried for 30 minutes straight? you got all depressed and your hair got all straight and you even lose some of your color like the yovidaphone fiasco-" Applejack quickly hit Starlight on the ribs to stop her from opening a different can of worms "- ouch... what I mean is that you have low defenses for sad stories."
"OOoooooh I get it now, don't worry I'm superduper, what Starlight told me actually happened so I got all gloomy-loomy 'cus I couldn't help, but this is just a song by an alien bobabillions years form here and we don't even know if he meant what he sang... besides if I get all sad and dark this would look too similar to another story and the author might get in trouble" Pinkie looked back at an empty wall and winked then grabbed another muffing and ate it on one bite leaving the girls all with weird expressions on their faces.
All but a certain dragon that was still looking directly to the music box 'so it's all a lie, I should have known, there is no way in Tartarus that I would be able to find love with a mare so beautiful as Rarity, but I'm not a fool, not anymore I give up, happiness, blissfulness, togetherness that is just foolish thinking and I refuse to be a fool anymore' Spike was decided to stop his pursuit of love for a life of bitterness while he felt his heart sink.
"Going back at the song," everypony including Spike turned their heads to Rarity who looked quite angry "I don't think I liked that song, that alien thinks that by claiming that love isn't real he won't be hurt, well I think he IS the fool and a coward, meanwhile it's true that love some times hurts and can even scar us in emotional or even physical way, it is certainly real and is worth fighting for, a real fool would just give up cry over their bed pusillanimously, it takes great courage to keep fighting for what's worth for you, am I right Spikey-wikey?" Spike only nodded but his eyes and mouth were wide open and inside of him a small flame that was about to extinguish, reignited and turned into a huge infernal flame capable of scorching Equestria as a whole "please excuse my unladylike outburst, I just can't stand such weakness when it comes to love, well it seem that music box turned itself off, so if we are done here I have other things to do, but it was lovely sharing this time with you, same time next week?"
"Sure, I think we are just touching the top of the iceberg here, I'm sure we will find more information next week, and remember everypony, no word to anypony else until we know this is completely safe to share" Twilight said checking the music box and confirming that it went into charging mode again.
Everypony agreed and left for their houses or rooms, Spike was contemplating the moon and stars through his window "and to think that I almost gave up on you, I think I learned something today and I promise that I'm not a pus-si-la-moose? well I'm not a fool and one day you will see me more than a baby dragon/assistant" he went to bed with a wide smile, dreaming of his lady.
On the halls of the School of friendship an orange farm pony headed to the Headmare’s office, she knocked at the door and let herself in “Twilight you in there?” asked Applejack “we need to talk ‘bout my classes,” Twilight was on her desk, eyes closed and headphones on her ears “Twilight?” she nudged her a bit with her hoof, making Twilight lose balance falling face first on her desk.
“What? Oh hi Applejack,” she looked around making sure they were the only ones in there “you surprised me, I wasn’t expecting anypony right now, I was listening to the song from our last session.” she put away the headphones and notes about the song “So how can I help you today?”
“It’s ‘bout my classes, Ah reckon Ah agreed taking Rainbow’s classes when she’s out with the Wonderbolts, but Ah wasn’t aware that dem classes included the history of the war with the griffins, Ah don’t think Ahm the right pony to teach dem students this stuff.” Applejack put the files and notes on the desk.
“But Applejack, with Rainbow gone in a tour with the Wonderbolts and Rarity with Spike on a fashion show in Manehattan, we barely have staff to cover the existing classes for the next week, besides there isn’t anypony better for this lesson, wasn’t your grandfather a Colonel during the last battle?” Twilight asked with pleading eyes.
Applejack let a loud sigh “For starters, how you know ‘bout my grandpappy? second you know Ah don’t like wars Twilight, they are awfully violent and nothin’ good comes from folk fighting each other… and third, Ah didn’t even know my grandpappy, he died on that last battle, long before Ah was born and Granny Smith always looks mighty sad when looking at his picture so Ah never wanted to ask her about him.” she said while rubbing her left foreleg with her right hoof.
“Oh Applejack, I didn’t know… the Chancellor has been pushing hard for lessons on History, Math, Science, etc. and he is right, just because our school focuses on friendship, it doesn’t mean we can let the students miss out on everything they can learn... listen,” Twilight stood and approached Applejack hugging her with a wing “I won’t force you to give that lesson, but if you could please reconsider it, I really need the help of one of the most reliable ponies in Equestria.”
“Aw shucks, Twilight” Applejack just covered her face with her hat “you know Ah do just what Ah need to do, fine lemme sleep on it and I’ll get back at ya on Monday.”
“Great, thanks Applejack and I promise I’ll accept your decision no matter what… Oh right, are you still coming tomorrow to the castle? The music box charged up and is ready to play again.”
“Sure thing Twilight! See ya tomorrow,” Applejack left, leaving Twilight to plan out in case she decides not to teach the lesson.
Just outside of Twilight’s office, Applejack was worried about the lesson, she didn’t want to let Twilight down but she wasn’t sure she would be the right pony for the job, her knowledge on the event was pretty basic: After losing the Idol of Boreas to Arimaspi, King Guto blamed the ponies and, in his desperation, attacked all pony settlements near the borders, it wasn’t a long war but many lives were lost on both sides, Applejack’s grandfather among them, she never knew him and she never dared to ask Granny Smith about him to avoid making her sad, or at least that’s what she said to herself, but the true reason was that she just disliked the mere idea of war, ponies fighting? There is no friendship in that! She didn’t care much about his grandfather either, the Colonel that abandoned Granny Smith while she was with child, to fight on a pointless battle that ultimately killed him.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
The next day at Twilight's castle, most of the girls were chatting, waiting for Pinkie to arrive with the snacks when Fluttershy said “I really liked the song last week, even if the message wasn’t that good to begin with.”
“Yeah, not really my cup of tea, I rather listen to Wild Stallions or Spears N’ Daisies,” Starlight responded “what about you Twilight? What genre you like?”
“I really like classical, it helps studying… and maybe a little bit of pop” She answered, but if Spike were there he would laugh at Twilight's response, he knew about all the vinyls, posters and other boy band paraphernalia she had hidden from the world on her room, she even had several body pillows of her favorite singers “how about you Applejack?”
“Well Ahm sorry to sound like a stereotypical farm pony, but Ah reckon country music is my favorite, what about you, sugarcube?” she directed her question to Fluttershy.
“Oh, I don’t really have a favorite genre, I like listening to a lot of things, including my birds singing.”
“OOoooh I like all kinds of music too, music is REALLY important in parties!” Pinkie said out of nowhere scaring Fluttershy who gasped and fell on her back.
“Oh Pinkie, you startled me” Fluttershy said while being helped by Pinkie.
“You need to stop doing that, sugarcube, you will scare the cutiemark out of me one of these days”
“Doing what?” Pinkie asked while putting the most innocent face she could.
Applejack sighed “Nevermind, so what didya bring today?”
“I brought muffins, hayburgers, hayfries, cider and a huge cake…” Pinkie proudly showed the booty.
“So that’s yours, what about the rest of us?” Starlight said with a smug on her face that would make Rainbow Dash proud.
“Ooooh good one, Shy-Shy remind me I need to get Starlight for this later,” Pinkie responded with a smug on her own.
“Ok, enough of it you two, now that we are all here let us begin,” Twilight approached the Music Box but stopped just before pressing the button “hey why don’t we take turns on turning the music box on?” everypony agreed and were discussing who will be the one to turn it on this time, it was decided that since Twilight and Pinkie already pressed the button once, they won’t count until everypony else had a turn, finally it was decided that Applejack would be the one to press the button today.
“Are you sure about this Twilight? Ah reckon Ah don’t want to break this thingy”
“It’s ok Applejack, you just need to press the button and let the music box do the rest" Twilight assured her, Applejack just shrugged and pressed the button, a soft piano started playing.
“This sounds beautiful,” said Fluttershy “is that a river that sounds?”
"Seems that way, this will probably be something about the nature... so they have seasons like our planet, or at least winter” Twilight kept writing on her notepad all the details she found on the song.
“It sounds like they are telling a story,” Fluttershy mentioned enjoying the tune.
“Yeah now the question is: is it a real story or just fictitious one?” replied Starlight.
“There is no way to know unless we had any information on their history, for the time being we can only speculate that this was real unless they say anything way over the top” Twilight suggested.
“Oh boy, a warrior bitter cry? this ain’t a story about birds and rainbows, ain’t it?” Applejack let out a loud sigh, “is that gadget tauntin’ me? Is it because I don’t want to give that lesson on the battle of The Hot Gates?”
“I’m sure is just a coincidence Applejack, besides is not like they are talking about the battle itself, I think they are just commenting on the before and after the battle” Starlight replied trying to calm Applejack “why don’t we just keep listening, I’m liking this tune.” Applejack nodded and paid attention to the lyrics.
“I see, so I believe this song is describing the sensations of warriors before and after the battle, I remember once my BBBFF used to describe a similar feeling on his tours.”
“Oh they have eagles I love eagles, so powerful so regal, one of the best built birds of prey,” Fluttershy commented on the song “but I don’t understand, earth bleeding? And if it was blood, why it was dark and cold? Shouldn’t blood be warm?”
“That’s probably figurative speaking, unless on their planet the earth actually bleeds,” Starlight replied to her friend giggling at the idea of earth bleeding “in any way, it sounds like the story is about this 7 kings going to battle, but what is that word that hey keep using ‘men’ is it?”
“Sounds like what Mr. Letrowski from the bowling alley always says” Fluttershy responded.
“Oh you mean the Dude, yeah now that I think he does say that quite a lot...” Starlight added making a double take “wait, you don’t even like bowling, how do you know the Dude?”
“Um… well… he has a… um… common friend with Treehugger and me… that uh…”
“Say no more, I get it, he introduced me to Green Blaze too.” Starlight gave Fluttershy a knowingly wink which she just responded with a nervous smile and a blush, while the rest of her friends except Pinkie looked at them confused.
"For the records, men is actually the plural of man, it's a noun usually used to describe a male adult of the order of 'Erectum Mammalia', there are not that many in Equestria, as the name indicates they walk straight and usually have hands with fingers, for example minotaurs like Iron Will, centaurs like Tirek, fauns and I believe even ogres use it as well," Twilight added "this is really interesting, I suppose is safe to assume that these aliens are also mammals and walk in an upright manner."
When the song ended and the music box once again turned itself off, the five friends starting discussing what the song meant, “The song narrates the last battle of this 7 kings protecting their kingdoms,” argued Twilight.
“But why would the actual kings of the kingdoms go to a battle on their own, I’m saying that this is not a narration of an actual event, but a description of a legend” retorted Starlight.
“I have no idea what you two are talking hehe” Pinkie just ate another muffin and stared at her friends.
At all this, Applejack remained silent, she wouldn’t want to admit but listening to the song and its lyrics, awoke something inside of her, something that she only felt twice before, once when the changelings attacked Canterlot and most recently when she fought the forces of the Storm King to save Equestria. She passed it like it was just an adrenaline rush, but it was something else, the feeling of battling along her friends to save everything she holds dear, risking their lives for what they believed, it felt invigorating and pure, like the feeling of seeing your entire orchard full of apples ready for the harvest, knowing that your efforts count for something, that your life has meaning "The warriors... no, the soldiers all gave their lives willingly because that is what it would protect what they loved… and I’m here, disrespecting their effort, when the only thing they wanted was to protect Equestria and their loved ones, just like me and my friends do… Ahm such a hypocrite" Applejack thought.
“I reckon it’s getting late and it’s my turn to make supper, Ah gotta go girls, see y’all on monday”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Later that night the Apple family plus Sugar Belle were having dinner, Applebloom was describing how the CMC helped another colt find his talent while Granny Smith just listened and Big Mac and Sugar Belle feed each other making 'googoo' eyes while doing so, Applejack was just eating looking on her plate the courage for what she was going to ask.
“Um... Granny Smith?” finally asked Applejack.
“What is it, sugarcute?”
“Can you tell me about our grandpappy?”
Silence filled the room until Big Mac started coughing, choking on his food, Sugar Belle and Apple Bloom just looked confused, all eyes were on Applejack and Granny Smith, so the die was cast and we could only hope that Granny Smith won't answer badly to the question.
“Well of course sugarcube, Ah always wondered when y’all gonna ask ‘bout him” Granny said smiling and her eyes full of happiness “let’s finish supper and go up in the attic, I’ve all his stuff in thar.”
“Are you sure Granny?” Big Mac asked the matriarch.
“Darn tootin’ so finish eatin’ already.”
Later that night the Apple Family and Big Mac’s girlfriend were on the attic watching how Granny pulled some boxes and other stuff.
“Do you think I should be here Big Mac? I don’t want to intrude on this, it looks quite personal for Granny Smith.” Sugar Belle shyly asked Big Mac.
“Come on sugarcube, you are pretty much part of the family by now” replied Granny carrying a chest on her back and putting it on the floor in front of the younger ponies “Now Iron Pauldron, may he trots on Faust’s fields, was a Colonel on Celestia’s army, but when Ah met him he was just a private stationed near here, to protect the recently formed Ponyville and boy he was a looker mmmMMMmmm," everypony just blushed of embarrasment looking at Granny looking at nothing, "he was a big stallion with a red mane, orange coat and his cutiemark was a buckler and a spear.”
That night Granny told them all manner of stories, like how Iron Pauldron saved her life and immediately fell in love with her, on how he told her stories of camaraderie and friendship within his fellow soldiers, she told them how they were wed and soon after they discovered she was with child and how proud her husband felt, she mentioned how he was willing to leave the royal army for that last battle since Granny was about to give birth to Bright Mac, but she insisted on him going and join his brethren in arms, since she knew it was also important and if he didn’t go to that battle, he would regret it for the rest of his life, finally she showed them some of his possessions like his helmet and the point of his spear and she was looking like she could glow talking about her long lost love.
Applejack spent all next day on Twilight’s library learning all she could about that war and it’s battles, learning even the single smallest detail and she found that learning about war is not about the battles themselves, but about the causes and aftermath of each battle, also about the personal stories about the ponies involved, like her grandfather, who by her surprise had an entire section on one of the history books.
Applejack was embarrassed by her ignorance on her own family history, but not anymore, from now on she will have an open mind and as her duty as a teacher on the school of friendship, she will make sure the students have the chance to learn about the good and the bad about war and doing it proud knowing that her family had a part in it.
It was a sunny summer day in Ponyville, Rarity and Spike returned from the fashion show bringing gifts for their friends, they decided to wait for Rainbow Dash return by making a barbecue on the top of the castle, Spike wore his apron and hat while preparing the huge grill and lighted it with his fire.
“Hoo-wee now that’s what Ah call a big grill!” Applejack showed herself with a sack full of carrots accompanied by Pinkie.
“And to think Twilight didn’t want to let me buy it, she said ‘we will never use a grill that big, it’s a waste of bits’ well look at me now Twilight, we wouldn’t be able to enjoy a barbecue without my grill!” Spike said as every time they make a barbecue, on that moment Starlight Glimmer showed up “Um, Starlight where are the hay patties?”
“Oh, I met Twilight when I was going to buy them and she offered to do it” everyone looked at Starlight with a scared expression.
“WHAT? Oh please don’t tell me you let her buy the patties!” Spike begged on his knees.
“What’s wrong?” asked Starlight confused by the sudden reaction of her friends.
“Oh sugarcube, we should’ve told ya, this here will be the first barbecue with Starlight, isn’t it? Well as you might know, Twi really likes dem hay burgers,” Starlight only nodded “Well we don’t let Twilight buy dem hay patties, because she’ll pretty much buy every single hay patty in Ponyville.”
“Oh come on, you must be exaggerating,” Starlight replied laughing when out of nowhere they were involved on a shadow covering the entire of Twilight’s castle roof, “wait, there are no rains programed for today,” but this wasn’t a shadow cast by a rain cloud, it was a sack surrounded by a velvet aura they knew too well, at the sight, Starlight face froze in shock just like everyone else “ok maybe you weren’t exaggerating…”
“I’m back and I brought the hay patties!” Twilight landed with an enormous sack filled with patties “what did I miss?”
“Twilight, I need you to come by my office this coming Monday, we need to talk about your hay burger problem,” Starlight asked her friend while crossed some names and wrote Twilight’s on her notebook.
“Not you too Starlight, I know I have a problem but PLEASE let me have this, I don’t ask much, just to be left alone with my hay burgers!” Twilight plead “Besides, I’m getting better, I only bought enough patties for today, this huge bag has something I’ve been meaning to buy for a long time” she pulled from the bag a deep fryer and a griddle with her magic, “Now we’ll be able to eat fried food as well,” many ohs and wows could be heard. Some time later Rarity and Fluttershy arrived, with the buns, luckily they watched Twilight going out of the store so they got extra buns, suddenly a loud screech was heard and a bald eagle landed next to Fluttershy, it carried a bag.
“Thanks Sam, I’m sure Rainbow will love it,” Flutteshy thanked the eagle, carrying the bag and putting it next to the grill.
“Is that what I think it is?” Spike asked drooling a little bit.
Fluttershy just put her hoof on her cheek and winked “That’s classified information.” still Spike knew that if Sam the bald eagle was the one who brought it, it most certainly was fish. Pony diet is mostly herbivore, with the occasional animal products like milk, honey, eggs, etc. but pegasi also tended to eat fish, Spike being a dragon should have an omnivorous diet but he would never dare to eat any animal other than fish, it was an exception since Fluttershy, Rainbow and sometimes even Twilight eat it. He waited for those limited times where Fluttershy could spare some fish since it was delicious.
Everypony was chatting on the table while Spike and Twilight prepared the hay burgers and carrot dogs when suddenly Sam the bald eagle, let out a piercing scream, “what is it Sam? Did you see something? Is Scootaloo in the well again?” asked Fluttershy, looking back at the direction Sam was staring, she could see far away a multicolored explosion and that can only mean one thing.
“HeeEEeello Ponyville! You missed me?” Rainbow Dash greeted her friends doing a triumphant pose, she was also carrying her saddlebags which show that were ready to burst.
“RAINBOW DASH” everyone screamed at the same time.
“The one and only, hey who can guess what’s on my saddlebags?”
“Oh oh oh, me me me, it’s a giraffe no a camera, wait a cat? Or maybe the common sense of the author?” Pinkie replied non-stop until Applejack put a hay burger on her mouth.
“Uh ok, no it’s fireworks, I bought them from this griffon on my tour, let’s fire them up!” Rainbow said with stars on her eyes.
“Ah reckon that’s not a good idea sugarcube, it’ll be better if we do it at night.”
“Yeah you’re probably right,” replied Rainbow Dash “Hey are the hay burgers ready? I’m starving… WOA what is that, Twilight?”
“This?” Twilight pointed at her hay burger at which Rainbow nodded “Oh this is just my last creation, the Twilight Bossy Deluxe!”
“Oh no, here we go,” Spike just facepalmed
“It’s a 6 well-done, pure hay patties, cooked in mustard and topped with my own secret sauce, separated by cheese, sweet fried onions and lightly buttered toast with jelly on top… it’s beautiful!” Twilight practically drooled thinking on how this monster would taste.
They all had a good time talking about Rarity's fashion show and Rainbow's tour when it got dark, “hey it’s dark now, can we PLEASE set off the fireworks?” Rainbow pleaded with the best puppy eyes she could muster, nopony couldn’t help but to d’awwn in unison and agreed to prepare the fireworks.
“Hey Twilight, since everypony is here and the music box is charged, why don’t we listen to a song?” Starlight asked.
“That’s a great idea, help me get the music box and the equipment while Rainbow prepares the fireworks” Twilight said while teleporting to the studio with Starlight. After everything was ready she asked “So what do we do first, the song or the fireworks?”
“How about putting the song and depending on how it sounds I’ll set the fireworks?” Rainbow quickly responded.
“Sounds good to me, want to do the honors Rainbow?” Rainbow pointed a hoof at herself “Oh yeah you weren’t here, well we decided to take turns turning the music box on, since you just came back, why don’t you turn it on this time?”
“Oh yeah, bet it will be an awesome song just like me.” Rainbow pressed the button and a set of drums and brass instruments started playing
“This is different, it sounds like an orchestra, it brings back memories,” Fluttershy said with a nostalgic expression.
“Were you in an orchestra Fluttershy?” Starlight asked.
“She was, there she learnt how to direct her birds choir, but Flutters never set hoof on the scenario,” Rainbow responded laughing a bit remembering their times on flight school, Fluttershy blushed trying to hide on her mane.
“Ah don’t know ‘bout any orchestras or none of that, but Ah’m liking this here song, Ah reckon it makes me want to celebrate something important,” Applejack lowered her hat didn’t even knowing why she was doing it.
“Ooooh yeah like a BIG party, the ones that you can celebrate no matter where you come from, or what race or species you are, a celebration of freedom!” Pinkie babbled pulling her party cannon out of nowhere, this time for some reason it was painted with stars on the back and stripes on the front colored red and white “But enough of that, LET’S SET OFF THE FIREWORKS!” she fired her party cannon throwing white, blue and red confetti.
“Yeah I don’t think the song will have any lyrics and for some reason, set off fireworks while this song is playing sounds just right,” Twilight decided to start the fireworks while the song was still playing, all the red, white and blue explosions in the sky were beautiful, many oohs and aahs could be heard and more than a few screams from Sam the Bald Eagle as well. After the last explosion, everypony wrapped up and left for their houses or rooms, all of them with the fireworks and the tune they have heard in their minds… today was a good day.
After returning from the fashion show, Rarity was enjoying a stroll on the market, something she always liked was the smell of all the products sold there, from carrots to candles, from flowers to cutlery, from apples to firewood, all these scents were like music for Rarity's nostrils, they helped putting her ‘in the zone’ but today a peculiar scent caught Rarity’s curiosity, something rare, exotic and expensive, she followed the smell until she found the source, one of her best clients Spoiled Rich accompanied by her daughter Diamond Tiara, since hearing how she bad-mouthed her little sister and friends, she has been avoiding the Rich mare as best as she could, but in her field it was impossible not to cross words with a mare like Spoiled Rich, as much as she hated dealing with such a rude pony, it would hurt her business if she were to deny any services to her. Anyway, one thing was for sure, this was the first time she has seen Spoiled in the market without an event going in the town, the Rich family had workers that should be doing the shopping for them, it was too interesting to leave it like that, Rarity sneakily follow them just close enough to hear them talking.
“I can’t believe your father’s recklessness, how dare him letting all our workers leave on vacation at the same time!” Spoiled mouthed with a face full of indignation “Now I have to do the shopping, I ‘Spoiled Rich’ am not a simple commoner.” Rarity’s face contorted in an expression of pure rage listening to the rude mare.
“Mother, I don’t mean to be rude, but you were in charge of managing the workers schedules, time offs, leaves and holidays, and because you neglected this they had several vacation weeks due.” Diamond replied to her mother on a monotone tone.
“How dare you talk back to me you little rascal? I swear since befriending those troublemakers you have turned into a ruffian,” Spoiled shouted, Diamond was taken aback by her mother’s outburst but after a deep breath, her mother regained her composure, “let us get this over with, what is next on the list?” Diamond just looked down and pulled a scroll from her saddlebags.
“This is an outrage, that is not the way to treat a little filly, and even less one trying so hard to make amends!” Rarity was boiling mad ready to roundhouse kick that mare until next week, but she knew that she had no right to intrude on a parent way to discipline their child, if that travesty of behavior can even be considered discipline, powerless to do anything for the little filly, she decided to continue her way to Carousel Boutique, now that her day was ruined she was going to open one of her ‘angry bottles of wine’ and sulk for the rest of the day.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Just outside Twilight’s castle, two friends were discussing “But Applejack, poor Diamond Tiara doesn’t deserve any of what she is getting, she has been so apologetic since our sisters got their cutiemarks, she has helped me and many ponies she has wronged in the past, we need to do something,” Rarity almost yelled at her friend.
“Ah know sugarcube, and Ah appreciate her change of heart, but Ah reckon it’s out of our hooves, Spoiled is her mother and we have no say in how she raises her kin,”
Applejack just fixed her hat with a stern look, Rarity knew AJ was right but it was really hard to accept that she could only look from outside, meanwhile that sweet little filly just suffered for trying to be a better pony, sometimes life just isn’t fair. They entered the Castle where her friends were waiting on Twilight’s studio as it has been for the last few weeks to listen a song from the music box.
“Hi RariJack!” Pinkie said gaining a blush from Rarity and Applejack.
“Would you stop it, how many times have we told you not to call us like that, darling?”
“26 from Applejack and 43 from you, counting this one,” Pinkie quickly answered with a smile and a wink on her face, everybody else greeted them normally and they were on the circle surrounding the music box.
“Is there something wrong Rarity?” Asked Spike noticing she was upset.
“Nothing Spikey-Wikey is just… wait, Twilight can you use your princess title to do something so save Diamond Tiara from her mother?” Rarity plead Twilight but she only lowered her head.
“I’m sorry Rarity, I heard the rumors of what happened on the market yesterday and I would love to do something about it, but unless her life is in danger, I can’t overrule a parent's judgment,” Rarity’s ears flopped feeling powerless to do anything “but I can at least talk to her mother and see if there is any advice I can give them, maybe trying to find the reason she behaves like that,” this made Rarity felt a little better, but she still felt that it wasn’t enough “Hey why don’t you turn on the music box, I’m sure something good will come from it today”
Rarity stood up and approached the music box, “This button?” she asked and Twilight nodded, after pressing it was silence but then a voice accompanied with music started playing.
“That’s a way to call the most deepest part of Tartarus, so from the beginning we can tell if ‘hell’s vengeance’ boils in her heart, she is not that good of a creature.” Twilight replied her friends
“Woa woa woa, wait a minute there, did she just asked her own daughter to kill this Sarastro dude?” Rainbow asked “man that’s brutal.”
Fluttershy just stood there with her hooves on her muzzel, she didn’t want to admit it, but even if the story of the song was disgusting, she liked the tone and tried to memorise the music.
“And to top it all, she is going to disown her if she doesn’t agreed to take this Sarastro’s life, that's not a mother that is a monster!” Rarity stated, disgusted by the singer's actions.
"Well say anything about her actions, but that's an impressive voice she got," Starlight mentioned while munching on her popcorn.
"Yeah but she is still a big meanie pants, how can you forget your own daughter for not doing what you tell her to do, that's a big no-no" Even Pinkie knew that this was not the right way to threat family.
"And now she'll destroy her if she doesn't do it, if that alien was in front of me, Ah'll show her a thing or two about parenting!"
"Oh, it seems that they have deities, so they must have religion... or religions" Twilight said as she wrote on her notepad for future references.
"Ah don't know 'bout them aliens, but for me there is only one true God and that's Faust almighty"
"Applejack, I respect your beliefs but let's not go there, religion is a really sensitive subject to bring between friends, it seems that the song is over so what did you think?" Starlight tried to bring the conversation to another topic, knowing that talking about religion or politics among other topics, never ends well.
"Ahm sorry 'bout that sugarcube, the song was good, but that singer needs to learn how to treat one's kin,"
"Indeed, that sounded like opera so it's probably just a story and not real. I wonder what the rest of the story is, why this female singer wanted Sarastro dead and why she wanted her own daughter to kill him? we might never know" Twilight had several questions, she wrote a lot on her notepad.
"These Aliens seem quite violent," said Fluttershy "so far we know they have feelings of love but they hurt them, they have wars, they also have orchestras and now that they have stories of mothers trying to have their daughter kill another alien."
"Yeah but we still don't have the context, the war might have been for a good cause, the sad feelings might be because that alien was hurt and maybe this last one, this Sarastro was a bad creature and she was trying to have her daughter help her get rid of it, what do you think Rarity?" Starlight asked her friend, but she was no longer in the room "Has anypony seen Rarity?" all the girls and Spike looked around but none even noticed when the alabaster mare left the room.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Rarity's maternal instincts exploded after listening to the song, she was running as fast as her hooves let her, she didn't even care if the stones ruined her hooficure, she decided to do something about Diamond Tiara before her monster of a mother made her do something as terrible as the one in the song.
"Don't worry little filly, Rarity won't let you suffer anymore with that mare, even if that mare is your own mother" finally she reached the house of the Rich family, she jumped the courtyard wall ruining her mane in the process, something that was pointless since there wasn't a door sealing the wall, Rarity approached one of the windows ready to jump in but something stopped her, she could hear Spoiled and Filthy Rich through the window.
"Spoiled this is the last straw, how can you excuse behaving this way?" This was Filthy Rich's voice and he sounded angry "not only you didn't take care of the obligations, the little tasks if I may say, that we both agreed you were in charge of, but now I discover that you have been, not just belittling but also unfairly criticizing our little child's actions!"
"You wouldn't believe what she told you over my own word would you?" Spoiled responded to the accusations.
"You better believe I would, I know you Spoiled and because I know you, I'm certain that you don't even know what you did is wrong, besides, it wasn't just her... since that outburst in front of the school, I've heard rumors Spoiled, bad rumors about you" he approached his desk pulling some files.
"But you wouldn't believe rumors about me, would you?" she was getting worried.
"No I wouldn't, that's why I hired a private eye," he put the papers in front of Spoiled "I didn't want to believe them, but what this neutral investigator found was something I didn't expect from you," Spoiled went through the papers and pictures, it showed times where she yelled at Diamond Tiara for little things like correcting her, or even when she tried to befriend some of the workers "I finally confronted Diamond with this evidence and she burst into tears and confirmed every single of this events and more, do you want to know why she never told me about this?" Spoiled looked like she was ready to cry as well, "she told me that she felt like she deserved this, after all the ponies she bullied, she felt that she was atoning by being mistreated by you, look at me Spoiled, LOOK AT ME!" he pulled her wife so they were eye to eye, a dark tear rolled on her cheek and she could see that Filthy also had teary eyes "you know I love you, you are the love of my life and that's not going to change anytime soon, but I can't allow you to make our child feel like she deserves a punishment this harsh,"
"What are you going to do?" she asked.
“It's not what I'm going to do, it's what we are all going to do, starting tomorrow we all are going to therapy,”
“No honey please, what will the town say, the scandal,”
“We are too late for that dear, ponies already talk about us and both you and Diamond need this really bad,” he calmly said.
“You can't make me!”
“No, no I can't, but I won't let you ruin my baby's life even if it pains me to do this, if you don't take therapy with both of us, I'm afraid I'll have to file for divorce.”
Spoiled's world came crashing down around her, she might be spoiled and sometimes ungrateful, but deep down she truly loved her husband and daughter even if she didn't show it often, outside Rarity was covering her mouth with her hooves, streams of tears came from her eyes, she wouldn't dare to make a noise, inside Spoiled was sobbing wrapping her arms around Filthy's neck.
“Please no, anything but that, I promise I'll go to therapy, I'll do anything you ask, just don't leave me alone!” both were sobbing wrapped in each other’s hooves, “I promise I’ll change, please don’t leave me.”
“I don’t know what will happen tomorrow or the day after or even in a few years, but what I know is that I’ll do everything in my hooves to keep my family together, I love you Spoiled and I love our daughter and I know she loves you as well.”
“Daddy mommy, are you crying?” from the door they could see a worried filly on her pajamas, “is it something I did?”
“No princess, come here and give us a hug, I was just talking to mommy don’t be afraid,” Diamond Tiara slowly approached and hugged them, “everything is going to be fine princess, mommy and daddy love you so much.”
Outside, Rarity was leaving the property as fast and silently as she could, she ran and ran until she reached a house by the lake, she opened the door and went straight to the master room where Hondo and Cookie were sleeping.
“Mom, dad!” Rarity finally spoke
Cookie Crumbles awoke at the voice of her daughter meanwhile Hondo kept snoring, “Rarity, honey what’s wrong,” she turned to see her clock “It’s almost midnight” Cookie woke up her husband “dear Rarity is here,”
Hondo just grumbled but then asked “is there something wrong?”
“No, is just that I don’t think I ever told you how much I appreciated you loving me all my life, you are the best” she then jumped on their bed and snuggled with her mother “please, let me sleep here tonight, I promise I’ll tell you everything in the morning.” Rarity’s parents were really confused by the sudden behavior of her oldest daughter, but agreed to let her sleep with them. Rarity felt protected, she knew that her parents loved her and she hoped that from now on, Diamond Tiara was finally able to feel the love she deserved as well.
Two mares came out of an inn from Dodge Junction they looked upset about something, “That’s the last inn of the town AJ! What are we gonna tell the girls!” Rainbow Dash asked her friend.
“Ah don’t know, sugarcube, but Ah reckon we need to think something and think fast, the others will come in the train this evenin',” the pair kept walking down the road going nowhere.
“I told you we should’ve taken the train yesterday but NOOOoooo, the diligent pony needed to make sure her trees bloom,” Rainbow said in an obviously sarcastic way.
“Dangnabbit Dash, ya know it’s important to me! What if Ah leave and dem trees don’t bloom?”
“Dude, you barely did anything but watch trees yesterday! Besides Bigmac, Apple Bloom, Granny Smith and now even Sugar Belle are there to help,”
“Ah know, Ah know and Ahm sorry, Ah should trust my family more for that, Ah reckon Ah wasn’t expectin’ the town to be that full for the… what was it?,”
“The Big Book Summer Convention and that is not the only event in town this week, there is the Summer Summit for Animal Caretakers that Fluttershy wanted to attend, the Biggest Donut Contest for Pinkie and the opening of Dodge Junction History of Fashion Museum that Rarity wanted to see, all the same week!” Rainbow breathed in and let out a long sigh “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be so hard on you, or at least I should have pushed more before or even come by myself, I offered them to secure the lodging after all...” suddenly Rainbow stopped making Applejack crash, face first on Rainbow’s haunches.
“Why in tarnation you stopping all of the sudden?”
“I promised them I was getting the rooms AJ and I even make a Pinkie Promise, Pinkie is going to eat me alive!” Rainbow started trembling and even forgot to flap her wings falling unceremoniously on her side on the ground, there she lay on the ground eyes like saucers meanwhile Applejack just stood there facehoofing.
“Applejack is that yo’?” A white coated mare with a red mane asked Applejack “mah stars, it really is yo’, how have yo’ been gal? Cherry Jubilee held Applejack on a bone crushing hug.
“Cherry *gasp* please *gasp* need air,” Cherry let go of Applejack who fell on her butt “nice t’see you too Cherry Jubilee, it’s been a while,”
“Wait did you said Cherry Jubilee?” Rainbow sprung back to life grabbing Cherry’s hoof shaking it fast “Do you remember me? I’m Rainbow Dash, you let us work sorting your cherries and let us stay at your place a few years ago,” she said all excited.
“Oh yeah, Ah remember that yo' an' yer friends not only almost destroyed mah cherry sortin' machine, stole one of mah best workers an' then lef' without even sayin' goo'bye,” Cherry said with a stern look on her face, Rainbow let go of her hoof and shrugged backing off a little bit but Cherry let out a chuckle and then laughed putting a hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder “Ah's just messin' with yo' filly, no hard feelin’s, so what brin's yo' here, Ah mean besides th' crazy week full of festivals an'stuff?”
“Oh well you see Cherry, my friend here and Ah was just trying to find rooms for our friends, they be comin’ this evenin’ but we don’t have no luck finding a vacant inn” Applejack explained their dilemma.
“SOOoooo, we were wondering if you could accommodate us like last time,” Rainbow asked putting puppy eyes, surprising Cherry and even Applejack who facehoofed again.
“You can’t go asking ponies to stay at their places just like that, sugarcube!”
“Ah don't mind it Applejack, however mah house is pow'ful full with fambly, Ah'm sorry but Ah don't have enny room t'spare,” Cherry sadly responded, at which both Applejack and Rainbow hopelessly lowered their heads “wait a minute, Ah don't have enny room but Ah knows a pony who jest might,” this brought hope to the younger mares.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
The three mares walked through the streets to the oldest part of town, until they reached an old but very well maintained building.
“The Gentle Doves? What a weird name for an inn,” Rainbow said as they entered the building and they were welcomed by elegant decoration and delicious perfume, but something didn’t seem right, for an inn, there sure was a lack of guests at this time of the day and all the employees seemed to be females there were mostly ponies, but she could see some jennies, zebras and at least a griffon, “Woa, this place looks expensive I didn’t think there would be a place this fancy on this town… um no offence,”
“Non taken,” Cherry said and then directed herself to the mare on the counter, “can yo' tell Breeze, Cherry Jubilee is here t'see her?” the mare nodded and went to the back room “Breeze helped me when Ah first came t'this town, it was hard times but thanks t'her help, Ah now own one of th' most trimenjus farms in Dodge Junction”
“Who?” both Rainbow and Applejack asked at the same time.
“Madame Belle Breeze, but mon friends call me Breeze, Oh Chairry eet eez been a while, you nevair comé visit anymaire,” Breeze greeted with a prench accent kissing Cherry in both cheeks, she was a tall and slender unicorn mare with cream beige coat and blonde mane, she was wearing a big red gown with black lace and a hat to match, you could see that she was an older mare, but time has been generous with her, she then looked at Rainbow and Applejack, “Zo who are yur friends Chairry, what can ai do fair you ladees?”
“Yo' see Breeze, mah friends are in a bit of a pickle an' Ah thunk ah could ask yo' t'help us out,” Cherry asked.
“Sai non maire, a friend of Chairry eez a friend of mine,” she approached and checked them from head to tail, which made Rainbow and Applejack uncomfortable “Oh oui, zéy are strong and beautiful, zey might need a bit of a makeovair but ai can 'ave zem wairkéng right awai,”
“Say what?” Applejack asked lifting her eyebrow.
“NO WAIT, that’s not what Ah meant, they have been tryin' t'git lodgin' all over town but ev'ry inn is full, so Ah was wonnerin' eff'n yo'd have a spare room for them an' their friends that will come this evenin' Breeze,”
“Oh why didn't you said zo soonair, of curse I'll 'elp yur friends, 'ow many aré we talkéng abut?”
“Eight ma’am, including us and a baby dragon,” Rainbow quickly asked hoping that wouldn’t be to many.
“Oh pleasé, call me Breeze, ai said mon friends call mé zat and a friend of Chairry eez a friénd of mine, non? ai don't 'ave zat many spare ruhms, but if yur friends don't mind shareng zé same ruhm ai 'ave un zat weehl fit zem all of you confairmabuhl,”
“We’ll take it!” both Applejack and Rainbow said at the same time, which made Breeze giggle.
“Silky dair, please 'ave zum doves 'elp you prepare ze 'salle des fêtes' wiv éight separated béds,” the young mare nodded and ran upstairs, “Silky Hoovés, such a dilijent mare, she réminds me of you when you wairked fair me all those yairs ago,mon amie” Breeze said almost sounding nostalgic.
“Salle the what?” asked Rainbow.
“Oh mon apulogees, that's 'ow we call ur biggest ruhm, fair whén wé 'ave many guésts zat come een group,”
“Wow, so like a party room? No inns that Ah know of have something that fancy,” Apple stated “I just hope we can afford it,”
“Don't bé seehly, ai weehl be glad to 'ost Chairry's friends, but just zo you know zis eez not an inn air a 'otél.”
“Then what is it?” Rainbow asked.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
After arranging everything, Cherry left for her farm, Applejack and Rainbow decided to prepare to receive their friends that should arrive on the train in an hour, both were sporting huge blushes on their faces.
“Ah don’t know Rainbow, Ah don’t really mind but our friends… do you think they will be ok sleeping on a brothel?”
“You know this is our last chance AJ, is this or the streets and I’ll never hear the end of it from Rarity if that happens, besides I pinkie promised and you know how is Pinkie with those,” Rainbow said defeated “at least they promised trying to keep it a secret as best as they can,”
“Rainbow… IT’S A BROTHEL! How the hay are they gonna keep it secret, do you even know what they do in there?”
“I know, I know, just stick to the plan, we need to make sure to spend the least time on the brothel so and stick to the room from 9pm to 7am the busiest times of the place, nopony leaves at those hours for the next week and we will be fine,” they reached the train station and waited until the train carrying their friends arrived, they greeted each other and walked to the Gentle Dove.
“Oh the decor in this place is magnificent, I’m surprised you manage to reserve a room in such a place,” Rarity said while checking the curtains, the decorations and the walls “and those uniforms, even if a bit risqué they are really well made,” Rarity approached some of the employees but Rainbow Dash stopped her.
“Let’s not disturb the workers, shall we, the room is over here,” Rainbow directed the group to the ‘party room’ remodeled to accommodate them for this week, Spike was carrying all of Rarity’s luggage as always, everypony else carried a modest suitcase, everypony except Twilight that besides her suitcase, she brought another two boxes.
“Twi, what in the hay are dem boxes?” Applejack asked meanwhile Twilight put down her luggage.
“Oh well, since we will be here all week and the music box is charged, I thought we could listen to a song, one box has my recording equipment and the other has the music box,” Twilight levitated down the two humongous boxes.
“But I thought you wanted to keep it a secret until we are all sure it’s not dangerous,” Rainbow asked confused.
“It’s ok, so far it hasn’t behaved in a dangerous way and I can make a sound dampener spell on the room,” Twilight opened the box containing the enchanted recording equipment.
“I don’t think that will be necessary Twilight, here touch the wall,” Twilight turned to check what Starlight meant, she touched the wall and gasped.
“Oh yeah, there is a dormant sound dampener spell on the wall already and it seems it covers the entire room, by the looks of it it will activate once the door closes, weird why would an inn have a spell this advanced?”
“I don’t know, you don’t know, they don’t know, not even Spike knows, why should we care? I say let’s finish unpacking and listen to that song,” Rainbow said as fast as she could, she and Applejack actually knew what was that spell for, but they definitely won’t say anything “hey, should the music box be on this... well, box? There is just another box,”
“Oh yeah, I actually put the music box behind several layers of protection, not even the sunlight would penetrate this beauty, well it’s already pretty dark so I guess we can just close the door, windows, put ourselves comfortable and listen to the song,” Twilight finished installing the equipment and everyone decided that Fluttershy would be the next to press the button, she did and they could hear the voice of a female alien asking for her sisters…
“So it’s another story this time, about this female alien Lady Marmalade?” Fluttershy remarked.
“Well that name sounds delicious,” Pinkie added, pulling a marmalade bottle and some toast from her hair, spreading it and eating it.
“Whatever does she mean by giving it a go… oh, you don’t think she is a-” Rarity started but then was interrupted by Rainbow.
“AW COME ON! Seriously? I mean… what a nice song...” Rainbow quickly corrected herself.
“Twilight I think the spell is failing, I don’t think giuchie or yaya dada means anything,” Starlight shared with Twilight.
“No, I don’t think so, I made it in a way that if it worked for one alien language it should work for every alien language of the same species, but maybe is a different language, I didn’t think one song could have different languages,”
Twilight was also confused but she knew she prepared the spell so it should work, ‘maybe that part of the song wasn’t even meant to be understood, maybe it was just sounds,’ she thought and then came the next part, and it seems that the only two ponies that understood it were Rarity and Twilight, both blushed.
“Hey it sounds like they’re speaking ‘fancy’ like the owner of the place!” Applejack mentioned at which Rarity corrected.
“It’s actually Prench, not ‘fancy’ darling, how come they are speaking Prench Twilight? I thought you made it so it will be translated to Equestrian,”
“I did, but Bocafloja’s spells work for one language at the time, I thought I fixed that but I guess since they are talking in a different language now, it translated the first one to equestrian and the second to the closest to it, instead of Equestrian,”
“But what were they saying anyway?” Starlight asked,
“Um… ” Rarity lifted Spike with her magic, put his face on her chest and covered his ears with her hooves, she then wispered “they were saying ‘Do you want to sleep with me tonight?’ so we can guess, what is their trade,” Spike was in cloud nine at all this.
“Oh, my, so they are… on the satin sheets… *eep*,” Fluttershy was profusely blushing as so was everypony in the room.
Rainbow and Applejack were sweating, is like the music box was against them, luckily their friends were still in the dark about this place, if their hide wasn’t on the line, this would actually be so funny.
“Ha, it seems that every culture has prostitutes and that includes aliens as well,” Starlight giggled drinking some of the hot cocoa.
“Well is a profitable endeavor, I’m not saying I agree with their form of work or that I would partake in some of their services, but they are sometimes the only kind of work a young mare can get,” Rarity said still holding Spike.
“Indeed and did you know, if it weren’t for prostitution, there probably wouldn’t be a Dodge Junction,” Twilight said.
“Whatever do you mean, darling?”
“Oh, if my memory doesn't fail me, Dodge Junction was just a small camp where some ponies worked the mine, the same one that is near here, it was quite lonely and the workers were desperate for… um… intimate companionship, so a young mare from Prance saw it as an opportunity, she opened the first brothel, in the very heart of what it is now Dodge Junction, she single hoofedly jump started the economy of the town, bringing more workers and building business, that was about 30 or 35 years ago, her name was Madame mmmm, something about the wind or breeze, I don’t really remember it,”
“We get it, brothels are important, the song ended, why don’t we go to sleep?” Rainbow interrupted Twilight and jumped on her bed and faked snoring.
“Why is Rainbow acting so strange, Applejack?” Starlight asked
“Yeah, she didn’t even touch her cocoa,” Pinkie grabbed the cup and swallowed the entire contents, “MMMmmmm sweet warm cocoa,”
“Pair of weirdos, what are you doing Twilight?” Starlight asked her friend and former mentor who had her horn glowing tempering with the recording device.
“I’m modifying the spell again, I believe if I remove some limiters, it will translate to Equestrian even if there are more than one language on the song.” Everypony else went to sleep and only Starlight and Twilight were left up.
“Isn’t there a reason why Bocafloja put those limiters? Isn’t that why he had several amulets with the spell for that very reason?”
“Yeah I know Starlight, but that was with tiny medallions, this is a huge machine, I’m sure that whatever was the reason I can handle it… and I'm not buying recording equipment for every language, those things are expensive, there you go, now we should understand in Equestrian even if there are multiple languages, *yawn* I guess I’m sleepy too, let’s go to sleep.” and so they surrendered themselves to Luna’s domain
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
The next morning Rainbow woke up and scanned the room, all her friends were there, except Spike and Applejack, Fluttershy was the only other pony who was awake, so she asked her “Hey Flutters, where is AJ and Spike?”
Fluttershy stopped making the bed and looked at her friend “Oh, Applejack woke up early and went running, she left a note and Spike woke up a few minutes ago, he wanted to explore the building,”
“Oh I see, good for him,” she laid on the bed again until she remembered where they were “wait!… oh man!” she got up and ran downstairs hoping that he wouldn’t see something that would make Twilight burn her alive, she was going down the stairs when she could hear Spike’s voice and several other femenine voices giggling.
“And then I jumped with the Crystal heart on my claws and at the last moment, WOOSH, Princes Cadance grabbed me and the heart putting in on its right place and saving the entire Crystal Kingdom!” Spike described making gestures with his arms and tail.
“Wow such a brave dragon, no wonder they call you ‘Spike the Brave and Glorious’” a young red coated pegasus mare said,
“Fo' sho'nuff, Ah can hardly believe he did all thet stuff, but Ah have nevah meet a dragon befo'e so what do Ah know” a yellow coated unicorn mare added.
“Ay, pero es que esta tan lindo el dragoncito, me lo quiero comer a besos,” a brown mare said smooching Spike, at which he just blushed.
Rainbow knew enough Casquillano to know that the last mare was bad news, “Woa, woa, woa, hooves off the baby dragon!” Rainbow snatched Spike from the thirsty mares.
“Baby dragon?” the three of them asked at the same time.
“Well… technically yeah I’m a baby dragon, but-” the three mares disappeared around the house, leaving a dust cloud with their shapes “-I’m already… what the hay?”
“Ok, listen to me Spike, don’t let them near you, am I clear?” Rainbow said shaking the poor dragon, concerned about Spike’s chastity.
“What’s the problem? They were just employees of the inn,”
“Oh, yeah, I mean, you shouldn’t distract them, they need to do their work!”
“Ok, ok, Dash, it’s almost time for Twilight’s convention anyway, I need to wake her up.”
Spike went upstairs leaving Rainbow with her thoughts, ‘this might be a bit harder than I thought.’ she thought.
Rainbow and Applejack spent the rest of the week trying their best to keep the secret that they were sleeping at a brothel, waking up early to send their friends to their respective events, sleeping late in case somepony left the room to tail them, stopping thirsty mares from drooling all over Spike, Applejack even had to stop Madame Belle Breeze from recruiting Fluttershy and Rarity for her brothel meanwhile they were discussing the decor and the ‘Doves’ uniforms.
All in all it was a great experience knowing the Madame and her employees, but at the end of the week both mares were exhausted, finally getting ready to leave back to Ponyville, everybody said their goodbyes outside the building.
“Goodbye Breeze,” everypony and dragon said in unison.
“Au revoir mes amis, and pleasé considair mon proposal Fluttairshy, I would love to 'ave you as un of mon doves, goodbyé mon petit papillon,” Breeze hugged Fluttershy,
“I would love to, but I have my animals to take care, I can’t just leave them to come work on an inn,”
“Oh oui, an inn, o-ho-ho-ho-ho” Breeze laughed with a hoof covering her muzzle.
Everypony except Rainbow and Applejack left to get their train.
“Thanks Breeze, we really appreciate keeping the secret all this week, we couldn’t have done it without you,” Rainbow said.
“Yeah and Ahm sorry if we were a bit judgemental ‘bout your work here, we see now that you do a lot of good on this here town and that’s what really matters,”
“Don't monshe-on eet, that's what friends aré fair, by ze wai, ai wasn't lyeng whén we met, you could be un of mon bést doves if you wént,”
“I’m sorry Breeze, but we have our family, friends and jobs that we are responsible for,” Rainbow politely declined so did Applejack.
“Oh can't blame a mare fair tryeng, can you? Au revoir mes amis, at least promize me zat you weehl visit, ai love seen mon friends”
“We promise,” both said, waved goodbye and walked to the train station.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
“So,” Spike suddenly talked “are we going to address the elephant in the room?”
“Whatever do you mean, Spikey-wakey?”
“You know, the ‘inn’ we stayed” he said making air quotes “that wasn’t an inn but a brothel right?”
“Oh yeah totally a brothel,” Starlight affirmed and so did everypony else, seems that nopony was fooled by Rainbow and AJ's attempts to keep it secret “are we going to say something to Rainbow and Applejack?”
“Nah, let them think we never discovered it, they did their best to keep the secret,” Twilight said and everypony agreed “after all, it was a very... enjoyable learning experience,” everypony laughed and some of them lightly blushed.
At the school of friendship in the guidance counselor’s office, a blue griffon was talking with Starlight Glimmer about a problem he has been having for some time.
“But counselor Starlight, I am no longer a cub, I shouldn’t like playing with toys, can’t you do something with your pony magic to make me not like this stuff?” Gallus asked trying to hide his blush with one of his claws.
“Ok, I can tell you by firsthoof experience that using magic to solve a problem is a bad idea, besides, is it really bad that you still have your childhood toys? I think that shows that you are a griffon who appreciates his own past,”
“I hadn’t really thought about it that way, but I’m an adult-” he tried to say but was interrupted by Starlight.
“Almost an adult, you are only fifteen after all,” Starlight corrected him.
“Ok, almost an adult but shouldn’t I start behaving like an adult? You don’t play with your childhood stuff do you?”
“Um, oh, well, not quite but you know, everycreature has a different upbringing, sometimes it can be good and others not so good, in your particular case I don’t see why you would-” the school’s bell interrupted Starlight signaling that the next class will start “oops, I think times up, unless you think you still need to vent, I’m sure Twilight won’t mind if I give you a hall pass.”
“Really? I mean, nah I’m good, I think I’ll start acting like an adult, maybe that way I’ll forget about my childish stuff,” Gallus left the office and went directly to his next class, leaving a pensive Starlight.
‘Maybe he is right and I'm in the wrong here after all, who am I to say to keep enjoying memories from your childhood when I practically severed any connection with mine’ Starlight remembered when she was Gallus’ age, she spent all day listening to heavy metal in her room, dressed in black clothes and leather, she even had several spiked chokers and bracelets, Starlight loved those days and she loved dressing in black and put on makeup to combine. But that was before… before she left them, before her mother left her, her dad and this world, that was the last straw, the last push she needed to make a total change, she abandoned everything she was before and begun a journey, one that would make sure that nopony ever abandon her again even if she had to force them to stay.
Starlight woke up from her daydream panting, she shook her head and looked around, she was on her office filled with pictures of her new friends, her old friend, family and even her favorite kites, she smiled knowing that the days of tyranny were long gone and now she enjoyed her life.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
“Come on, tell me!”
“No Trix, I won’t tell you the students’ issues, it would break their thrust, I have a duty to protect the secrecy of our sessions” Starlight responded to her best friend.
“That’s boring, at least tell me what’s in those boxes or are you protecting the boxes’ secrecy as well?”
Starlight sighed and put the boxes down once they reached her room “This is just some of my old stuff, I asked my dad to send them to me since he will need my room meanwhile Stellar Flare’s house is being rebuilt due to that water heater accident.”
“The Great and Suspicious Trixie doesn’t buy it, I have been among explosions all my life and a water heater can’t blow an entire house, I bet that’s just an excuse to start living with your dad.” Trixie said while hitting Starlight with her elbow and making kissing noises.
“TRIXIE! Please don’t put that image on my head! Ugh now I’ll have nightmares of them marrying and wanting me to be the best mare, I don’t think my stomach would stand it.”
“Mmhmm,” Trixie said while opening one of the boxes, pulling some posters, clothes and vinyls “Oh my, Black Solstice, Maretallica, The Tartarus Candidates, Slingshot, Orbsah Priest! I didn’t know you liked this kind of music.”
“I DON’T… fine I do or I did, when I was young, it was a different time for me I was a teen and it was just a phase,” she said while looking at her stuff in a nostalgic way “I should just throw it away.”
“Hey this is really good quality leather, can I have some of these clothes if you are throwing it anyway?” Trixie smirked waiting for Starlight’s answer.
“WHAT? NO! I mean… ”
Trixie laughed covering her face with her hat “I knew it, you still like all this stuff and I don’t blame you, black goes really good with your coat and mane colors.”
“Yeah it does, well maybe I could… No this is just childish things, I’m a grown mare and I don’t need this, take it if you want,”
“I wasn’t serious Glimmy, it doesn’t even fit in my caravan, speaking of which I need to go wash it before my next tour and you need to go to that ‘secret project’ you have with Twilight and the elements that you don’t want to tell me about,” Trixie pouted faking anger.
“Come on Trix, you know I would love to tell you about it, but Twilight made me promise to keep it secret, I’ll tell you eventually what it is about just be patient,”
“Fine, but it better be good for The Patient and Calm Trixie will wait until you finally tell me what is all that about,”
With that Trixie left, leaving Starlight with her thoughts, “Maybe it wouldn’t be that bad” she said grabbing one of the chokers, “*pfft* yeah right, I’m way too old for this, or am I?” Starlight kept going back and forward for about 15 minutes when she remembered her friends were waiting for her on Twilight’s studio.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
“SORRY! Sorry, I’m here now” Starlight apologized for arriving late.
“What took you so long, Sugarcube?” Applejack asked sipping from her apple juice.
“I was just storing away some of the stuff my dad sent me and lost track of time,” she quickly replied.
“That’s ok, now that you are here, finally it’s your turn to press the button,” Twilight directed Starlight to the music box.
“Ok, so I guess here goes nothing,” She pressed the button and a piano started playing.
“Wow this sounds really good, oh that guitar sounds so tight!” Starlight stated.
“Yeah sounds awesome, but where are the lyrics?” Rainbow asked and as a spell a female voice started singing.
“Another story? Darling, these aliens seem to enjoy singing stories, most of the songs we heard are written in a poetic fashion,” Rarity added directed to Twilight.
“Yeah you are right, but remember ‘there's always a bit of truth in legends’ I’m more intrigued in what is this ‘Gaia’ is it a place? A character? Is it even something that can be seen?” Twilight responded scratching her jaw and taking notes.
“Ah reckon Ah don’t get what them are sayin’ Twi, it’s like they are startin’ the story and then starting the story again, but this time with a painter on the shore,”
“The best part of the story is the start, so I bet they are starting the story and then starting it again and it will never ever end WEEEEEEE” Pinkie said while bouncing on her tail, “Never, never land? That sounds silly, if there is never land then they are going nowhere, but if they are going nowhere, then they are already there but upside down,”
“What are you talking about Pinkie?” Fluttershy asked her friend.
“You know, it’s like when you go nowhere, technically you are already there,” Pinkie replied making Fluttershy even more confused.
“But if you go nowhere, how are you going to actually go there?” Rainbow asked
“Some go this way,” Pinkie answered pointing to her left and making fake walking movements, “some go that way” then said pointing at the opposite side still walking in the same spot “but as for me, myself, personally, I prefer the short cut.” she then finally sat and ate another cookie, sporting a smile from ear to ear, this left all her friends even more confused than how they began.
“Wait! I think I get what Pinkie says,” Starlight said hitting her hoof with the other hoof like a hammer “maybe they are not telling a story, maybe they are just expressing the feel of telling a story but going nowhere,”
“Oh that makes more sense, darling, as a story the lyrics make no sense, but it’s like they made an amalgam of several stories,” Rarity said while enjoying the song and a cup of tea.
“Now that y’all mention that, some of dem lyrics sound like stories my granny used to tell me when Ah was a little filly,”
“Oh yes I love all those stories, sometimes I read some of them like the Magic Spear, White Frost and the seven Breezies or Beau and the Beast” Twilight quickly went through the list of breezy tales she remembered.
“But Twilight, aren’t those just for kids?” Starlight asked, giving a confused look.
“They are timeless classics Starlight, besides, you never grow too old to enjoy the things you love,” Her former mentor replied.
“That’s true, sugarcube, meanwhile Ah believe that hard and honest work is the best way to spend the day, Ah enjoy having fun like a little filly as well, just a few moons ago Ah spent the day with my sis trying to hunt the Great Seedling, Ah hadn’t had so much fun in years, now we try to do it from time to time.”
“Yeah I heard from Pinkie who heard from Sugar Belle who heard from Big Mac that you were practically beaming of innocence,” Rarity giggled covering her mouth with a hoof, “I wish I had seen it,” Applejack blushed and covered her face with her hat.
“Yeah we all keep stuff we love from our past, Fluttershy here keeps her mane-ga from Neighpon, without counting all the drawings she makes and between you and me, more than one body-pillow” Rainbow Dash said making Fluttershy blush.
"Rainbow!" Fluttershy said in a way that it was supposed to sound like a scream but only sounded a bit louder than usual.
“What? Is not like it was a secret, most of us already know about your mane-ga collection, what they don't know is that you also like yao-bbfbfbfbfbb-” Rainbow was interrupted by Fluttershy's hoof covering her muzzle.
“What Rainbow means is that we all have stuff we enjoy, including a certain pegasus that still has her comfort blanket since flight school,” Fluttershy said still holding Rainbow on an unbreakable lock, meanwhile everypony else looked at them confused for the entire thing.
“I still like comics, and have most of my toys from childhood... well the ones that survived my growing fangs and sudden fire outbursts,” Spike said putting an innocent smile.
“But what if I don't want to remember the things from my past? what if I'm actually ashamed of it?" Starlight asked with.
“Darling, you know we forgave you for what you did, even the town ponies forgave you,” Rarity said hugging Starlight
“It's not that Rarity, I mean from before that, I used to be a bit um... well savage, I dressed all in black and even used black makeup and black dye on my mane and tail, and spent all day listening to metal bands, it's kinda embarrassing.”
“But, did you enjoy all that?” Twilight asked at which Starlight nodded, “do you think you can still enjoy it?” Starlight stared for a while but then nodded again, “then why would you feel embarrassed about it, like I said you never grow too old to enjoy the things you love,”
“I for one, would love to see you wearing black, the black and lilac go so well together, darling”
“Do you really think so?” Starlight asked her eyes all teary and big mmhmm was heard from all her friends, "Ok, I'll be right back, please wait here, and by the way Fluttershy, you should let go of Rainbow, she is turning blue... um bluer,” Starlight teleported and Fluttershy let go of Rainbow who gasped for air.
“Oh Rainbow I am ever so sorry, I forgot I was holding you,”
“Flutter *gasp* shy *gasp* you got *gasp* a strong *gasp* grip” Rainbow kept gasping when Starlight teleported back.
“So... what do you think?” Starlight wore a spiked choker, spiked bracelets, a leather vest with a skull on her back, a band on her head tied on the back, earrings with the shape of the mare in the moon and a metal chain instead of belt, “is not too much, is it? I was thinking on wearing makeup but decided not to,” Starlight put on a nervous smile since nopony said anything.
“I knew it, black goes divine with your coat color, and the accessories are... well I would lose the band and the chain belt but everything else is just right,” Rarity said nodding her head in approval, everypony else agreed.
“Hey, those look awesome, can I have a choker and bracelets like those as well?” Spike asked with his eyes like saucers.
“Sure Spike,” Starlight teleported a choker and two pairs of bracelets to Spike’s claws, he put them on and was making poses “how does it feel Spike?”
“I feel great, I feel bigger and for some reason I want to punch a plumber on the face” he responded, everypony laughed and Starlight felt even better, she had forgotten the beautiful smell of leather and the cold feel of metal against her coat, she felt complete and thanks to her friends she remembered the very advice she had given Gallus, she was now ready to accept her past and not be ashamed of it.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
“counselor Starlight, you called for me? I'm not in trouble again, am I?” Gallus asked while going in Starlight's office.
Starlight's chair was looking at the wall, “You know Gallus, I've been thinking, maybe I was being a bit hypocritical when I asked you to embrace your past,” she turned the chair to look at Gallus, she was reading a book.
“Wow, you look hardcore counselor Starlight, I like it, but I already made my decision, as much as I like my stuff I have to let it go so I can grow as an adult”
“Thanks, Gallus, but as I was saying, I was being a bit hypocritical since I wasn’t even embracing my own past, some friends helped realizing it and now I would like to help you. Here this is a really old book, I want you to read this paragraph,” Starlight levitated the book to Gallus' talons and he started reading.
“Ok... 'When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became an adult, I put away childish things,' You see? even history agrees with me,”
“Please read the rest,”
“Fine... 'When I became an adult, I put away childish things... including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.' oh…”
Starlight stud up and walked to Gallus, put a hoof on his shoulder and said.
“This book has Chancellor Puddinghead’s chronicles, she used to worry a lot when she was appointed representative of the earth pony race, the first thing she did was act all serious and not even joke about anything at all, this filled her with sadness and couldn’t help her fellow earth ponies, but once she discovered that it didn’t really matter if she was serious or not, she became one of the best leaders in pony history, so there you go Gallus, do you still think that denying your heart of the things you love would make you more adult?”
Gallus was amazed and teary eyed just from hearing about Chancellor Puddinghead lesson, he couldn’t help but hug Starlight.
“Thanks Counselor Starlight, I think I understand now… oh boy, please excuse me, I need to collect something from the trash before the truck arrives” with that he flew away as fast as he could.
“He’ll be ok,” She said while caressing her vest “ and I’ll be ok as well.”
It was early in the afternoon, outside it was raining cats and dogs, melancholy filled the heart of everypony in town as usual of a rainy day, no foals playing outside, stores closed since there won’t be anypony out buying in the rain, they knew that rain was life and were thankful for its existence, they just couldn’t help but feel down whenever the rain poured on their roofs and windows.
Inside the Castle of Friendship, the mane 6 plus Spike and Starlight were preparing to listen to another song from the music box, they were chatting among themselves meanwhile Twilight made sure everything was ready.
“Rainbow, the weather team really made a number with this here rain, if Ah didn’t know y’all Ah would’ve thought that y’all want to wash Ponyville from the face of Equestria,” Applejack joked about the severity of the rain.
“I know, but there is nothing much I can do about it, I’m no longer the weather manager here, just a consultant, but I made sure that they won’t overdo with the rain,”
“Ok, everything is ready,” said Twilight after adjusting her recording equipment and spell, “so now that everyone had a turn how do we decide who’s next pressing the button?”
“How about we draw straws? It’s simple and to the point, whoever draws a straw won’t do it next week,” Starlight suggested and everyone agreed, Twilight pulled some tin straws and everyone picked one, the winner was Rarity.
“Oh, I get to pick the song, I hope is a nice one,” She pressed the button and a calm bittersweet tune played.
“Dear me, that does sound beautiful and is perfect for the mood on this rain,” Rarity said enjoying the tune.
“It kinda sounds like something that would come from a… well a music box, but you know the ones that you need to wind up,” Starlight mentioned “I like it, it’s relaxing.”
“Yes it is, oh it changed, it seems that the actual song will start,” Twilight replied.
“Yeah it’s cute and all but, where are the lyrics?” Rainbow asked getting a little impatient.
“Calm down darling, not all songs have to have lyrics, this one seems to be instrumental.”
“Is it just me, or this song gives sad vibes?” Asked Spike putting his claws on his chest.
“I feel it too, but not a bad sadness, I can’t even describe it, is like I’m sad but I know that things will get better,” Fluttershy said her friends seemed to agreed even if they remained silent.
“Pinkie, you have been pretty quiet the entire song, is there something wrong?” Twilight asked her hyperactive friend.
“I’m good, I just don’t feel like making a joke, not right now, I just feel like it wouldn’t be correct, I love the song though, it makes me feel all warm inside, kinda makes me want to hug my family right now,”
“Me too, but I guess hugging all of you would be just as good, so… group hug?” Rainbow said a little embarrassed, everypony agreed and hugged, there they stayed just enjoying the warmth of each other and the sound of the rain outside, all the world didn’t matter at the time, only they and the love they feel for each other, everything was calm.
On the second floor on Sugarcube Corner, a pink mare was passing from one side of the room to the other meanwhile a toothless alligator just stared at nothing.
“Summer party? No they probably will hate the heat, sun party? No that’s pretty much the same, beach party? No, Ponyville doesn’t even has a beach, what is it gummy? You think the lake can count as a beach party? HAHAHA don’t be silly-willy, that would be a lake party and I already made one of those for Prince Rutherford,” Pinkie threw her arms into the air and let herself fall on her back on top of the bed next to gummy, “come on Gummy, yaks are so hard to please and so far they have loved every single one of my parties, but I think I ran out of ideas for parties they would like,”
Gummy as always stared at her master, eyes as empty and at the same time as full as the universe entire, his goal is a mystery, his dreams an enigma, his thoughts are a riddle impossible to crack and at the same time his mere existence was as simple as the wind blowing and the rain falling. What would such a complex creature think of the conundrum her handler had gotten herself into, what would an alligator do to make the mare that feeds him, plays with him and gives him hugs and kisses happy again? Simple, he just blinked.
“Oh Gummy you are one hundred percent right, they won’t come until next week so I still have plenty of time to think of a-”Pinkie put on her yak helmet and imitated their tone”-PERFECT THEMED PARTY hihihihi,” she laughed at her own antics meanwhile Gummy kept staring and licked his eyeball, “You are right Gummy, I should ask my friends, they might be able to give me an idea for the theme of the party.” Pinkie kissed Gummy and then ran outside looking for her friends.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
“So pretty much I used every idea for parties that won’t upset the yaks, I was wondering if you have any ideas I could use Dashie” Pinkie was riding her cyclocopter thingy while following Rainbow Dash who was clearing some wild clouds from the Everfree Forest.
“Sorry Pinks but I’m a bit busy with this renegade clouds, we need to clear them before night fall, why don’t you ask Rarity? I bet she is at the spa right now.”
“Okie-dokie-lokie, see ya Dashie!” Pinkie left looking for Twilight at the School of friendship.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
“Well Ah’ll be, you were right sugarcube, this here mud bath is exactly what Ah needed,” Applejack sighed while she went deeper on the mud, both had towels on their manes and cucumber slices on their eyes, they were both in the same bathtub in front of each other.
“I know darling, I told you should have let me bring you here for a mud bath a long time ago, now relax and let your worries be spirited away by the magic of the mud, but tell me already, has everypony settled in your house, now that Sugar Belle started living there?”
“Well you know Sugar Belle, bless her heart, is a nice mare and all, but she ain’t much help when it comes to bucking apples, but Ah reckon she is really useful in everything else and she bakes even better than Granny Smith um… please don’t tell her Ah said that.
“Don’t worry darling, my lips are sealed I promise I’ll keep that secret-” Rarity was suddenly interrupted by Pinkie who came out of the mud between them saying.
“FOREVER!”
“AAAAAAH” both Rarity and Applejack screamed at the same time, making their towels fall and the cucumber slices pop from their eyes.
“Oh hi RariJack, I was wondering if you could help me out of a pickle,” Pinkie said while shaking her head to get rid of the mud from her face.
“Pinkie! You are going to give me grey hair if you keep popping out of nowhere! And how many times have we told you not to call us that, is embarrassing,” Rarity quickly reprimanded Pinkie breathing heavily with a hoof on her chest.
“Still 26 from Applejack and now 51 from you, well you can’t blame me if I find you together constantly,” Pinkie said while nudging Rarity with her elbow.
“Let her be sugarcube, you ain’t changing this mare’s mind, Ah swear Pinkie is as stubborn as a mule um… no offense,” Applejack directed herself to the mud bath next to theirs.
“None taken” said Rolando the mule, relaxing on his own mud bath.
“Uh-huh, so darling, you were going to ask us for help?”
“Oh yeah, Prince Rutherford is coming next week, but I used all my arsenal of themed parties that yaks could like, so I was going to ask if you have any ideas.”
“Why don’t you just repeat a theme?” replied Applejack getting comfy again.
“Are you kidding me? That would be the end of Ponyville as we know it, the yaks would hate to repeat the theme and they will revolt and cause chaos in all of Equestria! Remember the first time they came? They declared war just because the party wasn’t perfect!” Pinkie screamed on Applejack’s face while flapping her arms.
“Oh come on Pinkie Pie, we’ve known Prince Rutherford for quite a while now, I really don’t think they would go that far now that we are friends, am I not correct darling?” Rarity asked Applejack who nodded approvingly.
“Yeah, you are right, but I REALLY want to make a new theme for their party,”
“How ‘bout you ask Twilight? Ah reckon she always knows what t’do,”
“Ooooh you are right, I’ll go right away, bye RariJack!” and so she dove in the mud and disappeared just like she appeared earlier.
“Pinkie don’t… oh whatever, I’ll let her be, so you were saying about Sugar Belle and Big Mac, darling? And please do tell all the juicy details,” Rarity sat next to Applejack who sighed and told her friend everything as she knew Rarity wouldn’t stop until she tells her.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Two mares walked through the halls of the School of Friendship, they were going directly to the headmare’s office.
“Well here we go, Twilight’s office and I’m sorry I couldn’t help you but I’m terrible at preparing parties, just ask Maud or Trixie, gotta go I need to do some stuff on my own office before we go listen to a song at the castle,” Starlight waved goodbye Pinkie as she knocked at Twilight’s door without any answer.
“Twi-Twi are you there?” Pinkie finally opened the door and the sight she saw would be burn on her brain for the rest of her life, she saw Twilight with her headphones on and dancing like a maniac with her eyes closed, Pinkie stood there just watching Twilight dancing like her life depended on it until Twilight opened her eyes and froze at the sight of Pinkie watching her, she finally moved but lose her equilibrium and fell disconnecting the headset and now the world could hear what song she was listening to.
♪♫So baby that’s how you make me feel, you make my hooves tremble and my knees kneel♫♪
Twilight quickly turned the radio off now faced Pinkie but with her mane covering her eyes, “You saw that?”
“Nope, I didn’t see you dancing to your favorite boys band,” Pinkie replied grinning and slightly blushing.
“Good… wait… awww come on,”
“Hey what’s wrong Twilight, didn’t you say last week” Pinkie fixed her mane to look like Twilight’s “what was it… oh yeah ‘you never grow too old to enjoy the things you love’ or something like that?”
“Ok, ok, I'm a little bit hypocritical about that, but is not that I’m ashamed, is just that I’ve kept it secret for a long time ago and now it feels awkward to just say ‘hey look at me, I love boy bands and I even have a lot of their merchandise including some body pillows’ you can’t just say that out of the blue”
“Wait, do you have body pillows Twi-Twi?”
“Oh boy ok, please just promise that you won’t tell the others until I’m ready to tell them myself,” Twilight begged.
“Okie-dokie-lokie I pinkie-promise,” Pinkie did all the motions for the oath, giving Twilight the relief she was looking for.
“Anyway, what brings you here Pinkie, we are not supposed to get together until another half an hour,”
“Um… oh yea, Prince Rutherford is coming next week and I’m out of ideas for the party theme, can you help me?” Pinkie put on her puppy eyes grabbing Twilight by the neck.
“Oh, well if I’m not mistaken, most of the yak festivities revolve around smashing things, music or both, according to Yona.” Twilight remembered what she talked with Yona a few weeks ago.
“Well I can get things to smash and the music as well, but one thing is missing, something to give the party it's spirit,”
“I'm sure you will find something, hey since it’s almost time to listen to the song, do you want to walk together to the castle? I need to pick up Starlight as well,”
“No problemo, let’s go.” and both walked out of the office to pick up Starlight and go to the castle.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Everyone was gathered on Twilight’s studio to listen to another song, Twilight as always prepared her equipment and the others were chatting about their day, Pinkie mostly was asking for ideas for the yak party, once Twilight was done with the preparations they pulled straws again to decide who will press the button now,
“YAY IT’S ME, IT’S ME!!” Pinkie screamed leaving everyone else deaf for a few seconds, “do you know what this means?” Pinkie grabbed Twilight and started shaking her.
“That, we will probably need an appointment with the otolaryngologist?” Twilight said while holding her ears.
“NoooOOooooo, it means that this song will give me an idea for the party!” Pinkie was excited with the prospect of getting help from the music box.
“How can you be so sure of that Pinks?” Rainbow asked her pink friend.
“Oh, well that’s the formula the author has been using these past chapters, so he is going to do the same with this one, aren’t you Mr. Author?” Pinkie was looking at the wall while making a face that could give even Cranky Doodle diabetes, her friends were starting to worry since there was no one ther- “Oh come on, don’t give me that crap you second-rate writer! I need your help and you need this chapter to be at least good enough for the readers to keep reading your story, soooo why don’t you help me and I’ll help you and everyone goes home with their kneecaps intact, capisce?” -e… Pinkie seemed to be waiting for an answer and for some reason she was sure that the answer to her question would be yes, satisfied she let out a sigh, “good, where was I? Oh yeah the music box,” Pinkie pressed the button and a sad and lonely song started kjhfgdvkjndfsjhed an upbeat and candid tune started playing.
“Oh this is good, I like it,” Pinkie said, hopefully satisfied with this song “we’ll see.”
“What is a Moscow, Twilight?” Rainbow asked which Twilight scratched her jaw.
“I‘m not sure, but by the song’s description, it must be a place… a cold place.”
“Like Yakyakistan, well maybe you were right Pinkie,” Rainbow nudged Pinkie on the side.
“So it seems that this Moscow is a rather cold place, but that it has its charm, that sound lovely, darling,”
“What could be a Cossack or a Natasha?” Starlight asked herself.
“They’re probably names, sugarcube and it seems they’re toastin’, they are probably having a party of some sort,”
“Oh my, why would they throw their glasses to wall?” Fluttershy said confused at the disregard for the well being of the tableware.
“They remind me of the yaks, ready to smash stuff,” Pinkie was really entertained by the song “wait a minute, weren’t they talking about Moscow? What is this Russia?”
“Maybe they are the same place, but with a different name, or maybe one is a town and the other a city, or something like that,” Starlight explained Pinkie, “for example, we are on Ponyville but at the same time we are on Equestria. But what could possibly be the Devil? Another name? And what does it mean for it to be loose? Is it like a beast or something?”
“Caviar? eww , do they seriously eat that disgusting stuff in there?” Rainbow made gagging noises at the mention of that dish.
“But Rainbow, darling, I thought you liked seafood, that is quite a delicacy and is from the sea.”
“Yeah but that’s fish eggs, I mean I like chicken eggs but fish eggs are so small and slimy, at least they have vodka on that planet. Hey, it's been a while since we went out drinking, we should totally go one of these days,” Rainbow suggested flying directly to Spike, holding him and laughing a little bit “don’t you agreed Spike?”.
“You know I’m still too young to drink Dash” Spike complained struggling to get free from Rainbow’s grasp “You do the same joke every time you girls go to drinking,” he said annoyed.
“And it’s always funny, but seriously, it’s really been a while and cider season isn’t even close,” Rainbow let go of Spike and sit down.
At that moment Pinkie had a brilliant idea “It was about time, I mean THAT’S IT!” she said surprising everyone in the room.
“What is it Pinkie?” Fluttershy asked, startled by her friend’s sudden outburst.
“I’ll make the yaks a drinking party and you are all invited too!”
“Surely you can’t be serious darling, a drunk Yak sounds too dangerous,”
“I am serious and don’t call me Shirley,” Pinkie said rushing out of the room.
“This is going to be… interesting,” Starlight said giggling.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
“Ok, Yak ate raw egg already, what does Pink Pony call this?” Prince Rutherford asked while holding a glass of a colorless liquid.
“Oh this is Vodka, it’s gooood” Pinkie said while chugging her glass in one gulp, Prince Rutherford drank his glass.
“This is good drink,” he said and threw the glass at the wall, “ANOTHER!” Pinkie served the prince another drink and he did the same thing, everyone else was starting to freak out watching the yaks chug drink after drink.
Who would have thought that dunk yaks were actually calm yaks, a couple of hours later, all the snacks were gone and most of the vodka as well, most of the yak were unconscious, Fluttershy was singing on the stage, something about misbehaving, Twilight was sleeping under the table holding a bottle like a baby bottle, Rarity and Applejack left a few minutes ago, hopefully they arrived at the boutique before one of them falls unconscious, a yak was hitting on Starlight and Trixie, the former arrived at the party at some point, they were having none of that though, luckily the yak fell asleep right at that moment, Rainbow was making out with a broom, finally Pinkie was talking with Prince Rutherford.
“Pink pony, *hiccup* yak needs to make a confession~” the prince told Pinkie Pie who just turned “yak might not be best at everything,” Pinkie stared with a small smile, she was too drunk to respond to any of that or to even know what was going on, “yak not best at everything *burp* and yak know they are note best, we strong *hiccup* and we make good music, but yak really like Pink Pony parties, this party the best party Pink Pony ever made,” Pinkie kept staring actually sleeping with her eyes open, “I like Pink Pony, she is good listener, Pink Pony important for yak, and important for yak prince, so Pink Pony would like to be yak princess?” Pinkie’s hoof finally gave up and let her head fall on the table, Prince Rutherford thought of it like a nod, “ok, it’s decided, Pink Pony is now yak princess, yak prince’s wife!” with that Prince Rutherford finally succumbed to his drunkenness and fell asleep, everyone spend the rest of the night at the castle and everything was alright.
The morning after the drinking party with the yaks, Spike woke up to a filthy and messy Castle, surprisingly most of the damage was done by Rainbow, Starlight and Trixie meanwhile the yaks were quite the calm drinkers. Last night claimed many victims including the yak dignitaries, the mane 6, Trixie and Starlight, with all of them out of action for most of the day, it came to Spike to clean the mess.
Spike entered the room, camera hanging from his neck and watched all the disorder, he scratched the back of his head “oh boy, this is going to be one of those days, let's fill my 'after-party laugh album'” he saw Rainbow holding the broom under the table, he thought on a way to get back at her, “what do we have here?” loud enough to wake up Rainbow.
Rainbow couldn’t even open her eyes, just moved her hooves and hugged the broom tighter, “*Ugh* Spitfire, ma’am, I’m off duty, your voice… not... so... loud… pleasethankyou.”
Spike giggled but was not done, “Actually this is Spike and I need that broom to clean the mess all of you made,”
Rainbow still with her eyes closed didn’t move an inch “what broom?”
Spike pulled out his camera and took a photo of Rainbow’s sorry state “The one you are holding,”
She finally opened her eyes at the sound of the camera “come on man, that’s not cool,” she let go of the broom and Spike took it.
Spike grabbed the picture and store it in his pocket, “Don’t mind me, just taking some laugh material for later,” Rainbow let out a sad whimper and fell asleep again.
Spike swept the floor when he found some of the yaks asleep on the hall, he decided to sweep that later, he moved to the foyer that wasn’t that messy besides a purple alicorn hanging from the chandelier “Oh my, this is going to my personal album,” he took several photos until she gave some life signs, “Twilight… you ok in there?”
Twilight slowly opened her eyes and coughed a bit “I… am going… to die… *cough* my throat is dry, my head is killing me, please tell me I don’t have a tattoo this time, removing those is painful,” she struggle a bit to get off the chandelier but couldn’t until Spike helped her down.
Spike looked at her from head to hoof but couldn’t see anything new, “No tattoo this time Twilight, you are still in the castle, let me help you to your room,” Spike helped Twilight and returned to keep cleaning, on his way he found two yaks near the bathroom “Ok, so that makes four of them, only the prince is missing,” he walked through the castle, he could find Starlight and Trixie at Starlight’s room, Fluttershy was on the kitchen on top of a half eaten sandwich, he went to the living room and froze at the sight of Prince Rutherford and Pinkie snuggling on one of the sofas, he quickly took a few pictures, hopping that Pinkie would never find out.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Once everycreature woke up, Spike served them breakfast, after that he spent most of the morning cleaning the castle, repairing the furniture that was damaged, ordering replacements for the ones that couldn’t be repaired, restocking the kitchen, making sure the dignitaries left and made sure that everypony was up and galloping before the music box session that afternoon, after lunch Spike was exhausted and decided he would take the rest of the day.
Twilight feeling better now went to pick Spike at his room, “Spike, the girls are here for the music box, you coming?” Spike was on his way out of the room.
Spike was carrying a towel “Nah I pass, I’ll just take a bath and call it a day, I’ll just listen to the recording afterwards,” he passed next to Twilight who shrugged and left for her studio.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
In the studio, the girls were discussing last night party, sharing what they remembered and filling in the gaps to whoever didn’t remember.
Rarity was pouting at the group who were laughing at the fashionista’s last night antics “I most certainly did not do such an unladylike thing Applejack, why would you say something like that?”
Applejack let out a laugh stomping the ground “Are you kiddin’ me sugarcube? After Rainbow challenge you to a drinkin’ contest you outdrank her, Ah had to carry your flank to the boutique,”
Everypony laughed even Rainbow shared the good spirits, “Gee Rares, I thought you would feel good that you beat me at this kind of stuff, you really surprised me,” everypony kept laughing everypony except Pinkie that was just looking like she was in another world for some reason.
At that moment Twilight arrived breaking the laughs, “Ok, Spike is not coming, he is relaxing at the moment, so I guess is just us today, ok let’s draw straws to see who is next,” everypony picked their straw except Pinkie who had already picked the last time, in anyway the pink mare seemed to be more interested in the flowerpot next to her, “Pinkie? Are you with us?”
Pinkie’s trance was broken “What, what? No I didn’t... wait, oh hi Twilight,”
Twilight got closer to her pink friend “Pinkie, are you ok? You seem distracted,”
Pinkie was taken aback by the question “Uh? Me distracted? *pfft* nah, I was just in the zone…” she dismissed the question waving her hoof.
“Well ok, anyway, it’s Rainbow’s turn to push the button, I wouldn’t like you to miss it,” both mares joined the group around the music box.
Flying over the box, Rainbow cleared her throat “Ok, let’s start this stuff,” she pressed the button and an ominous sound started playing, followed by crickets and a voice.
Having pressed the button, she returned to her spot “ok that sounds weird, is Central America a place?”
Fluttershy covered her muzzle with her hooves “Oh my, poor aliens, suffering from a hurricane must be horrible,”
Starlight nodded sipping her tea “Indeed and with no way to stop it, the damage would be huge depending on the size of the hurricane,”
“Well if it is that dangerous, maybe they don’t have any magic to control the weather,” Rarity added to the conversation at which Rainbow corrected.
“Actually, our weather patrol wouldn’t be able to stop a hurricane either, they are too big, luckily we haven’t had a hurricane in decades, maybe even before we were born, every weather team in equestria works specially to stop any signs that a hurricane is forming.”
“Yeah but that also brings the question, if they were able to control the weather, then they would also be able to stop hurricanes before they form,” Starlight replied, “if you have noticed, most areas outside of equestria that lack any kind of weather controlling magic, tend to suffer from hurricanes as well, so is safe to suggest that at least in this ‘Central America’ they don’t possess that kind of magic” everypony agreed.
Applejack was nibbling at her apple fritter when she added “Hey aren’t they just repeating the same thing over and over again?”
Twilight was sitting next to the recording console while fanning herself with her wing “Yeah and is just me or is getting kinda hot,”
Rarity pulled a little fan to refresh herself “You are right darling, but I think it’s coming from the console.”
Suddenly an epiphany came to Starlight “Eh Twilight,” the alicorn turn to her former student “I think I just remembered why Bocafloja put limiters on his spell and why he carried more than one amulet with him, the spell he used if translating more than one language tended to return a lot of magic feedback to the talisman used,”
Twilight realized the same thing looking at the console, the magic feedback was overheating the equipment “and if the magic feedback reached critical levels it could make the talisman… EVERYPONY GET DOWN!” she levitated the console and put up a magic shield surrounding her friends and the music box.
Everything looked like if it was happening at a slow motion, the console reached the ceiling and exploded, the boom was strong enough to break the ceiling and part of the wall, the bathroom where Spike was taking a bath was just above them, the explosion was severe enough to make part of the floor collapse, leaving the bathtub, with a very scared and confused Spike, hanging from the plumbing.
Spike was just realizing that he was hanging right above his friends “WHAT THE HAY!” the pipe broke and the tub started sliding down, “no no No NOOOOOO,” the tub fell with Spike on top of it, breaking when it reached the lower floor, leaving a wet and angry dragon looking at his friends.
With the magic force-field down, everypony was able to measure the damage, Rarity quickly ran to Spike levitating a towel to them and drying him out, “Are you ok, Spikey-wikey?” which he nodded.
Behind them was a worried looking Twilight “that was a nasty fall, are you sure nothing is broken or at least bruised,” Twilight levitated him and patted in several places.
He struggled to get free “come on Twilight, I’m fine, more annoyed than anything, but seriously what the hay happened?” finally free from Twilight’s magical grasp.
“I forgot some of the aftereffects from Bocafloja’s spell, it overheated my recording console and it exploded, I liked that console,” you could see the disappointment in Twilight’s face and on her dropped ears.
Spike finished drying himself and put a towel around him, “I suppose I’ll put an order for a new console as well,” Twilight’s face lit at the prospect of new equipment, “but stuff like that could take at least 2 weeks to arrive,” and once again Twilight’s face got sour again.
Meanwhile Applejack, Starlight and Rainbow Dash were measuring the extent of the damage, there was a broken wall, the ceiling of two floors was broken as well, but what worried the most was the plumbing, “Twilight, Ah reckon we should probably leave the building,” at that very moment, the plumbing made an awful noise, like most of the pipes contorted and then exploded filling the first two floors of the castle with water.
Everyone quickly got out of the castle, Twilight had put spells on her books and equipment for things like this, a spell that will protect her things from the elements like fire and water, but then she remembered there is a particular piece of equipment she never put the ‘elements protection spell’’ “THE MUSIC BOX!” she teleported inside the castle, “Oh nonononono, please be okay,” she found the music box on her studio, unknown to Twilight, the device had some protections in case of getting wet, it was designed to seal itself at contact with water, making it waterproof, and if it detected it was submerged, it will activate it’s floating wheel around it, so there it was, like a little child on an inflatable floater, Twilight, as always, freaked out and pull it out of the water, cradling it on her arms like a baby, “Oh you poor little thing, don’t worry, mama Twilight will save you from all this water,” she knew she should probably not go outside where everypony could see the music box, at least not yet, but she needed to put it on the sun so it’ll dry, she teleported to the roof with a table and left the music box there, casting a spell to make the wind dry it faster then teleported back to her friends.
Fluttershy was the first to talk with a face filled with concern, “Is the music box alright, Twilight?”
“Just a bit wet, now I’m more interested on the creators, they designed for it to float if submerged in water,” she got closer to them and whispered, “this aliens must be really advanced they probably thought on everything,” of course she wouldn’t test the limits of what the music box could stand, that would be reckless and might destroy the machine, “I guess we should all get back home, I need to have the plumbing fixed and the wall repaired,” everypony agreed and get back to their respective houses.
Starlight giggled remembering the mayhem they just experienced, “What a disaster, isn’t it?” both Twilight and Spike laughed at the destruction a miscalculation on a spell could do, “at least everycreature is ok, this will go on my ‘make sure to check every aftereffect a spell could have’ list.”
Twilight nodded “mine too, I guess you are not too old to make mistakes like this,”
On the roof, a solitary music box was now completely dry, usually when a song ended the machine turned itself off for lack of energy, but right now it was on the castle roof and the afternoon sun hit it like water to a thirsty walker on the desert, the screen turned itself on and if ponies could read the strange symbols, they would be able to tell it said:
The repairs at the castle were going great since yesterday’s explosion, Twilight moved the music box to her room since the studio was still being repaired, so far the worker ponies have been repairing the plumbing.
A bright brown earth pony, wearing a blue overall and a red hat tightened the pipes with a wrench meanwhile another similar but taller pony also wearing overalls but with a green hat, hammered another pipe to reshape it, their toned bodies covered in sweat for working all day meanwhile Starlight and Trixie supervised them.
Both mares were laying on the floor holding their heads with her hooves, continuously watching both stallions work on the plumbing, “you know Trixie, Twilight asked me to supervise the workers,” Starlight said without taking her eyes from the stallions.
Trixie clicked her tongue not making any other movement “yeah but the Great and Powerful Trixie is always willing to help a friend in need,”
Starlight kept watching the workers, “yeah and the fact that there are two strong stallions, working up a sweat has nothing to do with it right?”
Trixie cleared her throat “weeell, that might have something to do, but you wouldn’t keep your best friend from a show this good, would you?” Starlight shrugged, “I knew it… hey, is it true that they also have a pizzeria?”
Starlight shrugged again, not knowing the answer when a glass filled with cold lemonade landed in front of her “Yeah, it’s called ‘Pizza dei Fratelli’ it’s very good, probably the best pizza I’ve ever had, but stop drooling on my floor or I’ll make you mop it after the workers are done,” Spike said while placing another glass in front of Trixie.
“Thanks Spike,” both mares said at the same time, while Spike went to the stallions and offered a glass of lemonade each.
The stallions removed their hats, grabbed two towels they had on top of their tool box and cleaned their face from the sweat, both mares were watching biting their lips at the show “Thank you bambino, you cano tell de boss-a de plumbing will-a be ready in a bit, isn’t it Lievito?” the taller pony nodded and drank the lemonade.
When they were done they cleaned their mustaches and gave Spike the glasses, “Thanks for coming right away Mozzarella, sorry for the sudden call,”
Mozzarella put a hoof around Spike and pulled him for a hug, “no problemo, mio amico, just let-a Twilight know, she is-a welcome to call us anytime, isn’t she Lievito?” which the other pony nodded with a smile.
“No problem Mozzarella and why don’t you prepare us one of your famous pizzas, later when we are at the ’ristorante’ , it will be a great way to celebrate finishing this reconstruction, wouldn’t it Lievito?” Lievito happily nodded and the three of them laughed.
Both mares were giggling like school fillies, Spike grabbed the empty glasses and put them on the tray, “why don’t you just talk to them? I’m seriously making you clean if you drool all over the place.”
“You wouldn’t understand Spike, we don’t really want to date them but a show like that is fun to watch,” Starlight said and Trixie just nodded.
With an eye roll Spike left them there enjoying their eye candy, he went to the kitchen to leave the tray and then walked up the stairs straight to Twilight’s room to report the status of the repairs on the castle, he knocked on the door and he heard a “come in,” from Twilight, he entered the room and saw her looking at the music box like she had seen a ghost.
“Twilight, I came to let you know they will open the water line again in a bit… um… Twilight, is there something wrong with the music box?”
The young alicorn looked at Spike with a nervous expression, “yes… no… actually I don’t know, remember whenever we listen to a song, there is a green light and when the song finishes, the music box turns itself off and the light turns red?” Spike nodded, “well it didn’t turn red now, it’s still green and I don’t know what that means, maybe the water damaged it and now it won’t work anymore, maybe I shouldn't have left it outside all afternoon yesterday,” Twilight started hyperventilating, “maybe I should have protected it better, WHAT IF NOW IS RUINED AND WE NEVER LEARN ANYTHING ELSE FROM IT!!”
She was reaching critical levels of Twilighting, so Spike ran to her and did the only thing that came to his mind, he gave her a hug, “there, there, this is not your fault Twilight besides, you don’t even know if this is a good thing, have you tried turning it on?” she shook her head, “well, why don’t you try?”
Twilight calmed a bit, she rummaged on a chest and got a shiny stone, Spike looked at it with confusion, she put it next to the music box and cast a spell on it, “this is a recording stone, I just casted my version of Bocafloja’s spell on it so it will translate whatever we hear, I would prefer a recording device since it will have better quality, but my new console might take at least another week to arrive, in the meantime this should be enough,” Twilight went to press the button but hesitated.
Watching her friend, Spike knew she needed another push, “I’m here with you Twilight,” she smiled and pressed the button, what appeared to be a string instrument started playing.
Twilight excitement was obvious “It’s… it’s alive, IT’S ALIVE!! HAHAHAHAHAHA” she said putting her hooves up.
Spike was enjoying the song, “hey this is pretty good, I dunno about you but it kinda makes me wanna fly around,”
“Hey you are right, like the song is telling without words to spread your wings and let the wind guide you… wait, are they saying something? AAAGH the quality is awful, I think the spell didn’t recognize them as words, I hate this recording stones, they are so inefficient and archaic!”
The song ended and for some reason, the music box didn’t turned itself off, it showed on it’s screen a symbol, two vertical straight lines surrounded by a circle, “Twilight? I think the music box is still on,” Twilight looked at the music box and confirmed it, “do you think we can press it again?” she pressed the button again, and a soft tune started playing.
Spike was amazed by the tune “WOW, this one is amazing, it feels like something epic is about to happen,”
‘How can this be possible? What changed? What did we do different yesterday, the exploding console, the music box got wet… no that can’t be it, after that I moved it to the roof to dry and left it… under the sun…’ Twilight teleported her, Spike and the music box to the roof and just like she thought, the music box reacted to be directly exposed to the sun, on the screen a message in strange symbols could be seen.
“AAAH! I’m an idiot, of course it will charge with the sun, that’s Energy 101,” Twilight facehoofed.
Spike tried to read the strange symbols, “but what does it say?” he asked, confused for the whole ordeal.
“I have no idea, but this just means that we might be able to listen more songs and more often, in fact as soon as the new console arrives I want all hooves on deck again,”
Two weeks after the console explosion, the repairs completed in the Castle of Friendship, the mane six and Spike were hearing about Pinkie’s visit to Cheese Sandwich’s Amusement Factory and how she helped Cheese recover his laugh.
“Oh I almost forgot, I got you a little something from my trip, who likes peanut brittle?”
A huge explosion of confetti and streamers filled the entire castle, everyone laughed at the prank, a few moments later when they were laughing no more, Twilight had an announcement to make.
“Ok, now that that’s done, I wanted to let you know that my new console arrived yesterday, but that’s not all, something good came from the accident we had two weeks ago, it turns out that the music box is powered by the sun, all this time it’s been barely charged and that’s why we could only listen to one song before it turned itself off again,” many oohs and aahs could be heard among the other ponies, “what I mean is that now that it is fully charged, we are able to listen to more songs, so I ask you, should we keep this reunions weekly or can we do it more often?”
Rainbow was the first to talk, “woa woa woa, let me stop you right there, I know you are all excited for your discovery, but we all have other stuff to do, I think it’s better to keep it weekly.”
Rarity stepped up clearing her throat, “I must agree with Rainbow, darling, between the school of friendship, my own career and the occasional adventure, we barely have any time left for other endeavors.”
“I guess you are right, I also need to do a lot of things and researching this songs might delay my other studies,” Twilight was a bit down but she understood everypony’s feelings “that being said, why don’t we go down now and hear a song or two?”
With a jump, Pinkie got on top of the table, “I would love to, I have time right now, how about everypony else?” some yeahs, nods and mhmms between her friends so it was decided, everyone went down to Twilight’s studio to prepare the music box.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Everyone surrounded Twilight while she was preparing the music box and her new console, “Twilight, are you using the same spell? What if the song has many languages again?” Starlight said worried at her friend.
Twilight cast the spell on her new console, “don’t worry Starlight, I will modify it and add a limiter, it will only translate the first two languages to Equestrian, others will be translated to the closest fit, that way it won’t return enough magic feedback to overheat the console… ok it’s ready, I actually already picked a song when I was testing if the music box was working, so it wouldn’t be fair if I get another turn, so I’ll wait until we all get a turn again, let’s draw straws.”
Next to pick a song was Fluttershy, she approached the music box and used her wing to turn it on, a jolly tune started with a group singing.
Fluttershy giggled at the lyrics, it was full of fun, she couldn’t help but softly stomp at the song, “Oh my, this song is ever so cute,”
In the background a pink pony couldn’t help it and jumped on the table dancing “YAY, this is my jam!”
Everyone was startled and Rarity stud up, “Whatever do you mean, darling? This sounds like it was meant for a kid’s show or a circus,”
“I know right? It’s amazing, I love bananas, I love weird names, I love bananas with weird names, I LOVE THIS SONG!” Pinkie said jumping and hugging the music box.
Twilight almost lost all color when she saw Pinkie leaping to where the music box were, “PINKIE NO!” she calmed when Pinkie softly landed hugging the music box, how on planet Equum can she bend the rules of physics was beyond her knowledge, she still needed to detach Pinkie from the music box, so Twilight grabbed a newspaper, rolled it and softly hit Pinkie on the ribs making her laugh “No, bad Pinkie, bad, let go of the music box.”
Pinkie put on her best puppy eyes, “but Twilight, the music box understands me!” this took Twilight for surprise who couldn’t help but think that was really cute.
The purple alicorn regained her composure, she coughed once and talked again, “well, I suppose there is no harm on letting you hug the music box, anyway that song was a bit weird,”
Rainbow flew barely containing her laughter, “weird? That song was BANANAS! BWAHAHAHA” she dropped on the floor laughing.
“I don’t really think that song was meant for anything else but pure enjoyment, it was pretty fun to listen to,” Starlight added while munching from a donut.
Applejack on her seat kept giggling covering her face with her hat, “who, in the hay, would make up a song ‘bout bananas anyway, Ah reckon a song ‘bout apples would be great, pears? still good but bananas? Ah don’t think so y’all.”
Rarity accommodated Applejack’s hat and said “Oh Applejack, what did we learn about unfairly criticizing other ponies’ tastes?♪~”
“Not mess with Strawberry Sunrise o’ she’ll remove my teeth with a wooden spoon?” Applejack answered and Rarity gave her a stern look, “um… sorry, not to generalize my tastes and not hurt other ponies’ feelings,” Rarity nodded approvingly.
“Yeah and you don’t wanna Princess Celestia hear that, she loves bananas, in fact she has several banana pillows hidden in her room,” Spike said laughing, “I bet she would’ve loved this song.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
In the castle in Canterlot, Princess Celestia was talking with her assistant when she suddenly sneezed, “Princess Celestia, are you feeling unwell?”
Celestia summoned a tissue and cleaned her nose, “I’m quite alright Raven, probably just some dust,”
Celestia’s assistance was very diligent and something, even as little as a sneeze alarmed her, “Are you sure, your highness? Should I have the room cleaned for you?”
“Don’t worry about it, I said I’m alright… but I could use a banana just about now,” Raven gave the order to bring a banana to the Princess.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Back in the castle on friendship, everyone was discussing the song they just heard, “that was pretty short don’t you think?” said Starlight.
Pinkie let go of the music box “Yeah, too short if you ask me, LET’S PLAY IT AGAIN!” she went to the console but was stopped by Twilight’s magic.
“Not yet Pinkie, maybe later I’ll give you a copy of the song if you behave and promise to not let anypony else listen to it, until we all agree is ok, ok?” Pinkie nodded and made the signs for a Pinkie promise, “that settled, yeah it seems too short for a song, sounded like it was just to present something,”
Rarity added some sugar to her tea, “as I previously said, it sounded like a kid’s show or a circus song, maybe it’s meant to present those,” she said and then sipped from her cup.
Rainbow was up again after her laughing attack, “I just want to know something, what the hay is a highway?” everypony except one pony shrugged not knowing the answer.
Starlight swallowed the last of her donut and then cleared her throat “Well, on the minotaur lands, there’s a lack of magic so they usually compensate with machines, they call highways to wide stone roads meant to be used by several machines at the same time as fast as they can,”
Twilight rubbed her jaw, “that’s another similarity they have with minotaurs, I’m starting to think this aliens might be related to minotaurs.”
“You think minotaurs are aliens Twilight?” Pinkie asked “by the way can you put me down?”
Twilight had forgotten to release Pinkie from her magic, “sorry Pinkie, but no, I don’t think they are the aliens, that was just a random thought anyway, that was too short do you guys wanna hear another song?”
While Rainbow sipped from her soda she nodded, Applejack did the same, Rarity said “I suppose I could stay for a little bit more,”
“Well I live here and finished my chores,” Spike said and Starlight agreed.
Finally Pinkie and Fluttershy also agreed to stay, “but who will press the button now, do we draw straws again or let Fluttershy do it?” Rainbow asked.
Fluttershy stepped up, “I don’t mind letting somepony else get a turn,”
Everyone else nodded, “well I guess is decided then, let’s draw again,” with that everyone, except those who already had a turn, picked the sticks resulting on Starlight’s turn to press it.
Surprised Starlight approached the music box, “it feels like I just picked my last song, I hope is something great again, hopefully some metal,” she said rubbing her spiked shocker, she pressed the button and a rambunctious piano started playing.
“Wow not metal but this is good,” Starlight said listening to the song.
Applejack giggle at the lyrics “WOO-wee, now that’s what Ahm talkin’ bout, let dem babies grow to be cowboys y’all,”
Twilight seemed a bit disappointed, “it seems that this is another song for the sake of fun,”
“Is there something wrong Twilight?” Fluttershy asked her friend.
Twilight snapped and directed her attention to Fluttershy, “don’t worry about it, I was just hopping about a more informative song, and this one just list things that you shouldn’t do,”
“I know right? IT’S AMAZING! I wish I could sing along but that would put the author in problems for putting copyrighted lyrics on the story… I mean I don’t know the lyrics.” Pinkie said earning a weird look from everyone else.
Rainbow was scratching her head deep in thought, “don’t you guys think that voice sounds familiar?”
Everyone else put attention to the song and Spike said, “yeah it does sound familiar, but I can’t put my claw on it.”
Meanwhile everyone was trying to find out why they kinda recognize the voice, Pinkie was dancing and humming at the tune of the song, “who cares, this songs speaks to me, it’s like it was made thinking of ME!”
Everyone looked at Pinkie but had to recognize that she was right, the lyrics were meant to follow the exact opposite of what common sense dictates how you should behave and what is more Pinkie than that.
When the song ended the music box screen when back to a dark background with the symbol of two vertical lines surrounded by a circle, “I'm pretty sure that symbol means stop,” said Twilight while turned her recording console off.
Starlight started levitating the empty dishes putting them on a pile “now that I think about it, that's an inefficient way to reproduce music, having to press play every time you want to listen to a song? seem like a hassle for me,“
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Planet Earth, year 20XX A.D.
A summer day, the sun shines, the beaches of Veracruz washed by the water of the Gulf of Mexico, full of bikinis and sand castles, a pair of friends enjoyed a vacation day, far from their jobs and their worries, enjoying tequila and some tropical fruit.
The man wearing a speedo was listening to Mexico by Dick Dale while picking a mango and peeling it to enjoy its sweetness, “are you sure you don't want a mango, Suzy?“ Walter offered a mango to his good friend Suzanne, both on vacation for the next two weeks, decided to go to Mexico and enjoy a beach day.
Suzanne was laying on a towel under a big umbrella, a hat covered her face, you could only see her wearing a flower patterned bikini, she moved the hat to reply to her friend, “No Walter, I don't want one of your mangoes, they are too sweet and too ripe, I don't want to have my face full of juice and be eaten by mosquitoes later,“ she put the hat back on her face.
Walter laughed putting the mango away, “come on Suzy, you don't have to be all that grumpy, our vacation just started and I won't let you bring any toxicity to the trip, tell me what's eating you?“
“Nothing,“
“Come on,“
“I said nothing,“
“You know you can't lie to me Suzy, I can read you like a program code,“
“I hate you,“
“I see, I'm sorry it didn't worked out with Armando, but you need to get over it,“
Suzanne removed the hat, directed herself to Walter and held him by the shoulders shaking him, “I WAS REALLY SURE HE WAS THE ONE! All the signals were there and he just dumped me like I was a dirty towel,“
Recovered from the shakedown, Walter fixed Suzanne's glasses, “aww come on, it's not that bad.“
“Not that bad? I haven't been able to keep a boyfriend for more than a month in MY LIFE! I'm going to live the rest of my life alone with twenty cats, screaming at my noisy neighbors, nobody will be there to listen to me, I'll be all alone,“ Suzanne dropped herself on the sand weeping a bit.
“Gee, thanks, I didn't know I was invisible“ sarcastically said Walter.
“You know what I mean, you will eventually find a girl you like, get married, have a bunch of kids and won't ever have time for me anymore.“
“Gosh Suzy, we've known each other since we are what? five? do you really think I'll abandon you for someone else? Believe me when I tell you that I'll be always here for you.“
Suzanne lifted her face and looked at Walter's eyes, she wrapped her arms around him and gave him a bone crushing hug, “thank you, I think that's what I needed to hear, you are the best friend a girl could have,“
Walter wrapped his arms around her too, “Yeah, the best friend ever,“ he said almost whispering, at that moment the song ended, Walter broke the hug, “oh I need to put the next song.“
Suzanne looked annoyed, “what's with you and programming those to play one song at the time? that's stupid, why don’t you program it to just play the next one automatically?“
Walter clicked the remote control, “and let them have the liberty to play the next song? NEVER, the machines will eventually take over the world but I refuse to let them decide if I want to listen to another song or not,“
“You are an idiot, you know?“
“I love you too Suzy.“
Both laughed and enjoyed the rest of their vacation.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Planet Equum, year 10XX A.S.
With a spell, Twilight wrapped the leftovers and teleported them to the kitchen, “you are right, but I'm sure there is a valid reason for the music box to be designed like that,“ everyone headed to their respective houses to handle their own devices.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
In her room, Pinkie was telling all her recent adventures to Gummy, “and then two of the most amazing songs I ever heard came from the music box, I danced and everypony was laughing, and then I came here and tell you about my day,“ Gummy licked his eyeballs, “you are right gummy *yawn* I should get to bed right now, I can tell you all about today, tomorrow as well,“ Pinkie jumped landing on her bed, this ejected pajamas from the pillow which she jumped into, landing on her bed just before the bed sheets fell on her, immediately falling asleep snoring.
A couple of minutes passed and suddenly Pinkie woke up sitting on her bed, “the song, the second one, the one about daring to be stupid... I forgot to ask Twilight for a copy too,” she once again fell on the bed and slept peacefully for the rest of the night, dreaming about one Pinkie, two Pinkies, three Pinkies, four♫ all daring to be stupid until they can no more♪
“Come on, you can do it!” shouted Rainbow Dash to her cheerleader squad, everycreature exercising doing push ups, squats, running around the field, etc.
After they were done with the exercise, Rainbow gather them to discuss other preparations they needed to be ready for the next game, “Ok team, I’m glad you all are top shape, Yona we need to work a bit more on your agility, SOOooo Lighthoof, Shimmy Shake, how is the choreography doing?”
As always, the duo answered doing a bit of the moves they prepared saying one after the other.
“The moves,”
“The Style,”
“It’s in our veins,” both said in unison making a pose.
Rainbow lifted one of her eyebrows, “Right… Ocellus, please tell me you got better cheers than that,”
The changeling pulled up several scrolls almost dropping all of them she was able to catch one, “um, I made a total of fifty four possible combinations depending on the rhythm and tune of the song,”
“Great, that’s my girl,” Rainbow said patting Ocellus on her head who blushed clapping her hooves, “Yona, Smolder, please tell me the props are prepared and not destroyed like yesterday.”
The yak pouted meanwhile Smolder did her best to contain her laughter, ”Is not Yona's fault that puny pony equipment can't stand Yona's weight,” Yona said while crossing her arms.
Smolder was able to contain her laughter enough to inform Rainbow about an issue, ”we still got a problem coach” she said and Rainbow pointed her with her wing, ”we still don't have a song to put all together,”
”Oh man, seriously? can't we use the same as last time?” Rainbow asked only to receive an angry glare of all the cheerleader squad, ”fine we still have a few weeks before the next game, I'll see what can I get, in the meantime, you are all dismissed.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were walking through the town heading to Twilight's castle for another session with the music box, ”So now I have to find a song to use for the team, do you girls have any ideas?” Rainbow asked her friends and Applejack shocked her head.
”I don't think I would be of help with this one, darling, music is more a Sweetie Belle thing,” Rarity replied to her friend.
The three of them entered the castle and were welcomed by Pinkie Pie, ”Hi Dashie, hi RariJack!” the pink party pony said to her friends.
”Pinkie, how many ti-” Rarity started but was stopped by Applejack putting a hoof on her shoulder and slowly shaking her head, she sighed defeated, ”hi Pinkie.”
Pinkie smiled and all went to Twilight's studio, ”for the records this Applejack never moved from 26 and Rarity 59.5,” both mares facehoofed.
Inside the room everyone who hadn't had a turn picked their straw giving the turn this time to Spike, ”oh boy, I feel like it's been ages,” he pressed the button and a cheery melody started playing.
”Who is Mickey? Oh never mind, how would we know,” Starlight said while putting more sugar in her tea.
With a spell Rarity pulled a cookie to her plate, ”whoever this character Mickey is, seems to be important for the singer, as to even make a song for him... or her.”
In the meantime, Rainbow's head gears started spinning giving her an idea, ”wait a minute, this song is perfect for cheer-leading, hey Twilight, can I use it for my cheer team?” she asked the alicorn.
”I'm sorry Rainbow, remember we are still keeping the music box a secret,” Twilight quickly turned her friend down.
Rainbow Dash flew in front of Twilight and held her by the shoulders, ”Aww come on Twilight, besides the explosion incident, we never have been in any kind of danger, isn't that enough to make it safe?”
Twilight put on her pensive face, ”you are probably right, listen, keeping it secret was a request by Princess Celestia, why don't we invite them to the next session, I want their feedback on this as well, they might want to make sure it's safe, after that we can talk more, what do you say?”
Rainbow's face lit like a heartswarming tree, and nodded really fast, ”ok, it's decided, we'll have Princess Celestia and Princess Luna join us for the next session, Spike take a letter...”
The purple dragon pulled a scroll and a quiver and wrote everything Twilight asked, sending it later with his fire, a response came quickly with both Princess Celestia and Luna accepting taking part in the next session, hopefully they will deem the music box safe and will finally be able to share it with everycreature in Equestria.
It was morning in Canterlot, ponies began with their daily preparations, some of them walking in the streets with no apparent reason, more than one pony sleeping on the side of the road for drinking too much last night. In the castle everypony was up and getting ready to welcome a new day, Princess Celestia was serving the pancakes she diligently made, she put one of the plates in front of her sleepy looking Sister, “Lulu, you should get some sleep after breakfast, we have an appointment with Twilight and her friends this afternoon and I would hate for you to fall asleep in the middle of it,” Celestia said while nuzzling her sister’s cheek.
The younger alicorn giggled and moved her head away from her sister, “dearest sister, should I remind you that I’m no longer a little filly.”
“Aww, you are never too old to receive love from your older sister, how are the pancakes?” Celestia said while sitting down to eat her own breakfast, picking up the newspaper.
After swallowing her food and drinking some juice, “as always your cooking is heavenly, sister of mine, I love the little drawings on top of pancakes.”
“I’m glad you like them,” a warm smile adorned Celestia while savoring her breakfast, she drank a bit of coffee, “hey guess what? Canterlot Times will run popularity contest with a poll, ‘who is the best princess’ they are calling it, isn’t that silly?”
Luna laughed at the mere premise, “the silliest, Tia, completely pointless if you ask me.”
Celestia lowered the newspaper and looked at her sister, “indeed, no doubt we know who will win anyway, right Lulu?”
“ME!” both said at the same time and then time stopped, not a single bird dare to break the silence between them.
Finally Celestia was the one cutting the awkward silence with a short quick laugh covering her mouth with a hoof, “Oh Luna, I’m sorry I thought I heard you saying you could win a popularity contest against me.”
An annoyed Luna tried piercing her sister with her gaze, “well dear sister mine, I know for a fact that I’m well loved by most of the populace,”
“Yes that is cute an all Luna, but you need to understand that I have been their ruler for several centuries, is practically programmed in their heads to love me.” Celestia said while putting her hooves on the table.
Luna in exchange, stepped on the table extending her wings, “Well that was until I came back, now they have me to gaze upon, I am the moon after all,”
Celestia copied her sister on top of the table, showing her impressive wingspan, “and I am the sun, bringer of light and life, I am the face of Equestria.”
Both approached each other until they were face to face, “you are the boss of Equestria, but I am its protector, they love you because they have to, but they love me because I’m there for them when they need me the most.”
“They wrote poems and songs about me in the past,”
“Well they dream of me in the nights on the present.”
“What?” that broke the tension, both alicorns retreated, “I actually don’t know if I feel jealous or relieved for that information,” the older sister said sitting on her chair.
Luna also went back to sit on her own chair sporting a blush on her face, “Yeah I suppose that’s not something I should be too proud of,” she giggled a little bit, “were we actually fighting about a silly popularity contest?”
Celestia blushed as well and gave a small honest smile, “I guess we were, I wonder what would they say if they could see us now?”
“Well we can only wait until they show the results, in the meantime I believe I need to take a nap, otherwise we might be late to meet Twilight and her friends,” with that, Princess Luna left the room, leaving Celestia to clean the dishes.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
That afternoon, the mane 6 plus Spike and Starlight were gathered on Twilight’s studio, instead of just the table and pillows, they arranged sofas and a bigger table with some decorations and filled with snacks and drinks.
Pinkie kept trying to pick snacks from the table meanwhile Spike was doing his best to stop her, Twilight was preparing the console while everypony else was just sitting around or talking to each other, “ok, this should do it, now we just need the princesses and we can begin,”
Pinkie approached Twilight with a cookie on her hoof, Spike still by the table protecting the rest of the cookies from the pink menace, “wow Twilight, you are not freaking out at all, you are growing,” Pinkie said munching on the cookie.
Casting a spell, Twilight summoned a towel and cleaned her face, “yeah? Hadn’t noticed, besides, is not like it would be the first time the princesses come to Ponyville, they are just here to listen to my report and one or two songs, nothing can go wrong.”
Pinkie swallowed the cookie pulling from her mane a glass of milk, “okie dokie loki, is not like the music box will randomly pick a song that might or might not offend or threaten the princesses and they deem it completely unsafe and lock it or destroy it, right?” Pinkie left and sat on one of the sofas, leaving Twilight with a frozen expression and one of her classic eye twitches.
Everyone looked at Pinkie while she sat on a couch, “what?” she asked, oblivious of what she just caused.
Spike let go of the plates and facepalmed, “ah crap, here we go again, three… two… one...”
Twilight snapped and ran around the room, “OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH, WHY DIDN’T I THINK OF THAT! If something comes up and insult the Princesses then they will hate the music box and will probably destroy it, so we will never learn anything else from it,”
“Ok, see what you did Pinkie? Now we got to calm her down before the princesses arrive,” Spike said, annoyed by the whole thing.
Pensive Pinkie scratched her head, and began bouncing to the door, “I know the right pony for this, be right back I’ll go get Green Blaze.”
At the mention of their dealer Fluttershy and Starlight turned to the door to stop Pinkie but a multicolored streak of light passed between them and stopped Pinkie, “HEY! Pinks, maybe that’s not a good idea,”
“Why Dashie?”
Rainbow Dash put her hoof around Pinkie’s shoulder and dragged her to the table, “two things, one Green Blaze is out of town for the next week and two,” she grabbed Pinkie’s ear and whispered something.
Pinkie’s face went from confusion to surprise and finally to understanding, “OOoooh, I see, then never mind,” both Fluttershy and Starlight looked at Rainbow who winked at them.
Applejack, Spike and Rarity watched the entire thing and were just confused, “right, anyway we still need calm Twilight, ok girls we got a Twilighting level 4, commence operation 33-12, you know what to do,”
Rarity went for a glass of water, Applejack brought a scroll and some quivers, Fluttershy called her birds and they were playing a calm tune, Starlight fluffed Twilight’s pillow, Spike gave her a massage and Rainbow came in flying in a hazmat suit, “Rainbow, I said 33-12 not 23-19, you were supposed to bring a plushie,”
“Oh right, be right back,” she flew out and back in, in a matter of seconds bringing a huge plushie of an ursa minor, with all their efforts they were able to calm Twilight.
Twilight gave a long sigh, ”ok, now we got to think, what can we do to avoid the music box being destroyed?”
Applejack refilled Twilight's glass of water, ”Ah reckon you are exaggerating, sugarcube, the princesses would never do something like that, besides we all know the music box is harmless, Ahm sure they'll recognize it as well.”
”We don't know what could come out of it, it's random and for all we know the next thing could be a declaration of WAR!” Twilight said drinking the water in one gulp.
Rarity refilled Twilight's glass again, ”the music box wasn't the only gadget that huge ball had inside, maybe you can show them that,”
Twilight grabbed the water and gulped it down again, ”most of what was in that thing were stuff you can find on this planet, the only thing different is the music box,” Twilight showed the glass empty waiting for it to be refilled.
Fluttershy picked the jug and poured more water on Twilight's glass ”if you are so afraid of them listening to something, why don't you just explain how it works without playing a song?”
Twilight sipped from the glass ”no, they specifically requested to hear a song or two,” she finished yet another glass of water.
It was Rainbow's turn to pick the jug and refill the glass, ”WEEELL maybe you can play one of the songs we already heard, they wouldn't know the difference.”
Twilight was starting to slow down drinking the water, her belly feeling bloated full of liquid, ”no Rainbow, that's a terrible idea, you don't lie to your friends for something like that,”
The jug levitated surrounded by a golden aura and filled the glass once again, ”I'm glad you think that way Twilight, why don't you just speak with the princesses, I'm sure they will understand,” said Princess Celestia.
Twilight made an effort to drink it leaving the glass half full, ”I know but I can't stop thinking that there might be something that will trigger a bad response on them,”
Another aura this time dark blue picked the jug and copied everyone else, ”come on Twilight, the princesses are not made of paper, they have lived for centuries and wouldn't snap for something like that,”
Twilight Tried but couldn't even put her lips on the glass, ”How can you be so sure? um... oh...” Celestia and Luna laughed at Twilight's expression, ”how long have you been here?”
”Since the 'war declaration' from this aliens,” said Celestia making air quotes.
Twilight shrugged stepping off the chair, ”please understand, this is probably one of the biggest discoveries, ponykind has ever made, but it also gives random information, we won't know if there is something that might or might not offend anypony.”
Luna held Twilight's face with a hoof, ”friend Twilight, as I said before, we are not made of paper, we won't tear apart your machine because it could offend us,” this calmed the purple alicorn.
Finally calmed down, Twilight picked some papers she had ready for her presentation, ”alright, in that case why don't we get this started,” she stopped and her legs trembled, ”but first I need to go to the filly's room,” she teleported away returning after a few minutes, ”too much water, ok everypony ready?” everyone in the room nodded, ”good, now before we turn on the music box, I wanted to explain some things. As I mentioned in my letters, the music box as we have decided to call it, is a very sophisticated piece of alien technology, as far as we know it was meant to provide information but for some reason it only plays songs right now. To turn it on we press a button, this one with the triangle,” she levitated the music box so the princesses could see it, ”then the music box starts playing, but since it's an alien language we can't understand it, I managed to adjust Bocafloja's translation spell to translate alien languages.”
“Oh Bocafloja el Parlero, I remember him when he visited the palace, we could talk all day and he won’t shut up for a minute.” Celestia’s face filled with nostalgia.
Surprised Starlight asked the princess “You knew him? Of course you did.”
Changing from nostalgic to dreamy face Celestia mumbled, “he also had a nice flank, muscles tight as a tiger,” everyone in the room stared at her, “did I say that out loud?”
Twilight cleared her throat to get everyone’s attention, “Anyway, as I was saying, so far we have learned that this aliens are obviously sapient for creating technology this advance, I’d say they are more advanced than any species in planet Equum, they seem to share similarities with the non-magical species on the planet, especially with minotaurs for using technology instead of magic, having highways and using terms like man or woman to differentiate genders.”
Out of nowhere a popcorn hit Twilight’s head “BOOOOO that’s boring, let the music begins!” Rainbow said while throwing another popcorn.
Twilight sighed, “fine, let me just double check the spell,”
Pinkie clapped her hooves, “Oooh I hope there is a lot of ado,”
Twilight went back to the podium, “Ok without further ado,”
On the background you could hear Pinkie “OH FOR LICORICE SAKE!”
Twilight resumed saying “ok… hey! Since they are our guests why don’t we let the princesses press the button?” everyone agreed.
“Why don’t you go first Luna? Youth before popularity after all” said the oldest alicorn.
Luna snorted, “you are going to begin with that again? I assure you that I’ll win and then rub it on your face for the next millennia, so I just need to press the button on this gadget?” Twilight nodded and Luna pressed the button and a calm guitar played.
Luna stepped back enjoying the tune, “this is beauti-... of course it’s going to be about the sun,” she looked at the sister who showed a smug on her face.
Picking a cookie from the bowl with her magic and dipping it on her coffee, Celestia said, “well it seems that even aliens know the importance of the sun,” she bit the cookie.
Rolling her eyes, Luna picked an apple and bit on it, “I guess, but I must admit that the song is ratter joyful, it appears that they also have similar weather than us, being the end of winter and all.”
”It still seems a rather simple song, don't you think? it's already repeating itself,” Rarity stated meanwhile she removed the prunes from her muffin and putting them on Applejack's.
The orange mare picked the muffin with extra prunes and gave it a bite, ”if fain haff fo fee fombfib-” Applejack was interrupted by a glass of water levitating in front of her.
”Please darling, it is such bad manners to talk with your mouth full,” Applejack drank the glass and Rarity cleaned her mouth with a napkin.
”What Ah was sayin' is that it ain't need to be complicated to be nice,” everyone else nodded in agreement.
With the song over, the group gathered their thoughts, ”so you are saying the music box plays a song and then stops until you press the button again?” Luna asked at which Twilight nodded, ”that seems rather inefficient, why would they make it that way?”
”We'll probably never know and we already showed that flashback on a previous chapter, so why worry about it? it give us the chance to pick turns to play a song,” the pink party pony said, receiving yet another weird look from her friends.
Celestia approached the music box with a shine in her eyes, like a filly opening a gift on Heartswarming, ”well if it's ok with you, I would also want to press the button,” Twilight showed the right button to press, Celestia rubbed her hooves before pressing it, the music box played a soft song.
Celestia returned to her seat enjoying the tune, ”this is also beautiful, I wonder what's abo- oh well I guess we are even little sister,” Luna covered her snout covering a blush since she didn't expected an alien culture to dedicate a song to the moon, and even less one so beautiful.
Everyone was quiet enjoying the song, it was simple and the message was clear enough, ”they appreciate the moon and it's beauty, they watch it like the brightest thing in the darkest night, ready to protect her children the stars,” Luna was really moved by the song, a single tear could be seen on her face for a second before she cleaned it.
Celestia's heart melted at her sister's reaction to the song, she put a wing around her, ”It appears that they also have the belief in deities and I agree, the new moon is a sight that takes the breath away, always watching and protecting us from darkness.”
Luna laid her head on her sister's chest, ”I can admit that after a cold night, the sun is a welcome sight, it warms the heart and feeds life to every creature in the planet.”
With that the song ended everyone was quiet, not daring to break the sacred silence and stayed like that for a few more minutes until Celestia cleared her throat, ”I guess you are now waiting for me to talk right?” Twilight was profusely sweating, ”don't worry Twilight, I wasn't planning to 'destroy the music box' like you thought, even if I didn't liked what heard, this discovery is too important and let's be honest, it would be silly to get angry at mere words and even worse from a creature that we might never meet.”
With a quick movement, Rainbow flew in front of Celestia, ”does that mean that we can share music with everycreature now?” excitement filled her by the prospect to be able to use the song from the previous session.
Celestia giggled at Rainbow's request, ”I didn't say that either, I'm aware that you want to use one of the songs, I still think that the amount of ponies knowing this technology should be kept at a minimum, but I suppose that if you trust them with the secret, you can share it with them, but also in regards of you rainbow, I would suggest using the tune without the lyrics, I believe you can do something about it right Twilight?” the purple alicorn nodded, ”ok then I believe this has been cleared, and we should take our leave, but before we leave, would it be ok if you send us a copy of those songs?” Twilight nodded and then the princesses of the sun and moon waved goodbye to their friends, teleporting to the castle in Canterlot.
Twilight let out a breath she didn't know was holding, ”that went better than I thought, I suppose we can invite some friends to listen to the music box from now on,” Rainbow grabbed Twilight by the shoulder and shook her softly, with a face that said please all over it, ”alright, alright Rainbow, I'll take care of the song you wanted.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
It was morning in Canterlot and the birds were singing, ponies of every color walked in the streets, preparing their business to begin the day. At the castle, the royal sisters were enjoying their breakfast, “so Lulu, have you met yourself on somepony’s dreams lately?” teased her sister.
Luna almost choked with her food, grabbed some orange juice and gulped it down, “TIA! I knew I was going to regret telling you about that,” her face sported a blush just as bright as her moon.
Laughing, Celestia picked up the newspaper, “the results are in, do you want to know who is the ‘best princess’ little sister?”
“Does it really matter, dearest sister?” Celestia put the paper down, “just kidding, let’s read that.”
“Ok, let’s see, so by a long margin the most popular princess of Equestria is… Cadance?”
Both princesses remained silent for a few seconds until Luna spoke, “should I prepare the troops, Tia?”
Celestia put on a warm smile, “oh no Lulu, we won’t go to war for this silly contest… we will just boycott them by closing their borders to all trade, that’ll teach them.” both Celestia and Luna laughed at the joke, after that they resumed their respective routines, meanwhile in the Crystal Empire a pink alicorn just got the chills for a moment.
Two mares walked through the town in complete silence after the trivia contest, they were enjoying the early afternoon breeze, until the party pony finally spoke, “I'm sorry we didn't win Twilight,“ Pinkie said a bit down because Twilight streak was broken.
Twilight hugged the pink mare with her wing, “no Pinkie, I'm the one that should apologize for having you disqualified, just so I could win a silly contest, I'm terribly sorry and I hope you can forgive me.“
Softly rubbing her forehead on Twilight's jaw, Pinkie lifted her friend's head, “Oh Twilight, you don't have to apologize either, I should have known that you will go all ‘Twilynanas’.“
“I wasn’t ‘Twilynanas’,” Pinkie raised one eyebrow and put on a serious face, “ok, I was a little ‘Twilynanas’, wait, don’t tell me you are using that term as well,“ Pinkie nodded, “ fine, anyway I need to return to the castle to prepare the music box for our session today, wanna come?“
“Sure thing Twilight, oh and by the way, remember when Celesta told us that we could invite some friends to listen to the music box?”
That caught Twilight's attention “yes, why? Do you know somepony?” she asked her.
Pinkie jumped on the spot with a grin from ear to ear, “yup, my sister Maud has been asking me to tell her about this reunions and she wants to invite her boyfriend Mudbriar.”
Twilight gave her a pensive face, “hmmm, do you think they’ll keep the secret, we don’t want too many ponies know this yet,”
“Of course Twilight, they are the best at keeping secrets,”
Twilight nodded, “Ok, then I guess you should go and let them know.”
“Technically, that won't be necessary,” a masculine voice sounded behind them.
“GHAAAA!” with a scream the purple alicorn jumped a few meters from the ground landing unceremoniously on her butt while Pinkie laughed, “why you guys appear out of nowhere?”
With a monotone voice and a stoic expression the stallion responded, “technically, we have been following you since the end of the contest,”
“What?”
Mudbriar blinked and raised his hoof, “technically, we have been following you since the end of the contest,”
Twilight shook her head, “No I mean, you been following us since then?”
“Nyes”
“So you heard everything we were talking about the music box?”
“Nyes”
Twilight facehoofed, “way to go Twilight, babbling about alien technology in the middle of the street where everypony and their mother can hear me,”
Maud’s boyfriend raised his hoof again, “technically, we didn’t know it was alien technology, that is fascinating.”
With a defeated sigh, Twilight looked at the couple, “you know what? I won’t get stressed over this, but I can trust you two will keep the secret until we all decide to reveal the secret to everypony right?”
The silent couple looked at each other and nodded, “Mudbriar and I promise not to tell anypony about the secret of the music box,” Maud said with a monotone voice and both made slowly the signal for a Pinkie Promise.
Twilight turned to look at Pinkie who closed her eyes, smiled and nodded, “ok, I guess that’s good enough, hey that would be like another prize for winning today’s trivia contest.”
Once again Mudbriar lifted a hoof, “technically, you weren’t organizing the trivia contest, so you can’t grant prizes for it,” he said while Twilight put on a frown, Maud softly hit him on the ribs with an elbow, he looked at her, then at Twilight and then said putting an effort to genuinely smile, “but that’s not really important now, we greatly appreciate this prize,” Twilight giggled at Mudbriar’s change.
Maud smiled nuzzling her boyfriend, “we are getting there, I’m proud,” she whispered to his ear at which he blushed.
Both Pinkie and Twilight looked at the scene in respectful silence “Oookay, well we should leave now then, knowing Rainbow and Applejack they raced each other to the castle and the others should be there as well,” and so the four ponies walked their way to the castle.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Back at the castle Rainbow and Applejack were discussing who got there first, meanwhile Starlight and Spike were getting the music box and the console ready for the session while Rarity and Fluttershy were putting up the table with the snacks.
“Ah touched the door first!”
“Yeah? Well I got in first!”
“The rules were to ‘git to the castle first’ not to ‘git in the castle first’ you ain’t cheating on this, no way.”
“HA rules schmules. I know, I’ll hoof wrestle for the win!”
“Oh you’re on, sugarcube.”
On the table, Rarity let out a sigh watching two of her friends compete, “I swear darling, if they keep going like that,one day they will fight over who dies last and knowing them, that will make them immortal,” even if that was a complaint, Fluttershy couldn’t help but giggle at Rarity’s comment.
The doors suddenly open showing a bouncy pink pony, “everypony shut up, team TwiPie and team MaudBriar incoming!”
“WHAT!” both Rainbow and Applejack screamed at the same time, breaking their hoofwrestling competition.
Rainbow Dash seemed angry at the couple, “aw great, WE GET IT! You are destined to each other!” she said in a sarcastic way looking at them holding hooves.
Applejack fixed her hat, “don’t be like that, sugarcube, it ain’t their fault they always git chosen together for the trivia,” the country mare put a hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder.
Twilight stepped in front of Applejack and Rainbow, “actually, they are Pinkie’s guest today for the music box, hopefully we can keep the sarcasm to the minimum Rainbow.”
The young pegasus rolled her eyes pouting, “fine, sorry.”
Everyone gathered around the music box and Twilight explained the music box origin and how it works, “ok that being said, why don’t we let them press the button today?” everyone in the room agreed now they just needed to decide who will pick the first song.
Rummaging in her purse, Maud pulled a coin showing it to Mudbriar, “given that there are only two of us, I consider leaving it to luck would be the right decision,” she said in her usual monotone voice.
Mudbriar slowly picked the coin rubbing Maud’s hoof, “I concur, I love how solid your ideas are my lovely mahogany,” he stared at Maud’s eyes with a slight smile.
Maud put a hoof on his chest, “my ideas are just as solid as your grip when you hold me, my handsome hunk of granite,” she gently rubbed Mudbriar, “I want head.”
The stallion blushed, “that is lovely,” he tossed the coin in the air, “then I will get tail,” he said without breaking eye contact with Maud making her blush as well.
“Yes you will,” the gray mare said.
Everyone else stared at the couple, most of them embarrassed at the display of affection, “um, should we… leave the room or what?” Fluttershy asked, at this the coin fell on the ground showing heads.
Pinkie walked between them, ”alright you two, this is a rate T story so this is as much as far as we can get, Maud you get to press the button first,” she lifts her older sister and place her in front of the music box.
Maud placed a hoof on the music box, rubbing the outside of the machine, ”smooth, just as smooth as polished marble, but too soft to be any mineral, ”she lowered her head smelling and licking the music box, everyone else in the room except Pinkie and Mudbriar let out a 'bleh' in unison,” lacks any discernible smell and doesn't taste like plastic either, impressive I don't know this material,” she finally pressed the button and the music box came to life a drum started playing and then an interesting tune.
Maud returned to her spot next to Mudbriar, meanwhile Twilight wrote notes about the song, ”so they have two arms, interesting but why would the alien call them blessings of Babylon?”
”What even is Babylon?” asked Rainbow Dash flying over the music box.
Starlight levitated Rainbow to her spot, ”it sounds like a name, maybe its parent name or its nation name, that's why they are blessings received from 'Babylon' still sound weird but it's a start.”
Fluttershy dipped a cookie on her tea, ”but why would anypony try for sins and false alarms? that makes no sense.”
Giggling Pinkie stomped on the pillow, ”that song is CRAZY! I love crazy stories.”
”I don't think that's a story,” Twilight said while taking notes, ”it doesn't follow a plot and is giving just random tips and bits, like that man of Aran, that's probably a place, also a beacon in the veil of the night... IT'S A RIDDLE!” she said clapping her hooves, ”I love riddles and I'm the best at them.”
Pinkie stopped in the middle of pouring a shake on her mouth, the liquid stayed in the same position, while the pink party pony reached her sister and hugged her from behind, ”eh NOOoooooo, my sister here is the best at solving riddles,” she returned to her shake having it fall on her mouth.
At this point everyone ignored Pinkie's disregard of the laws of physics, ”that will be interesting, how about a rematch from today, the first to find a solution for this wins,” Twilight suggested to Pinkie's sister, Maud turned to her boyfriend then back and nodded, Twilight levitated a pen and a copy of her notes to Maud, ”this will be fun,” she said clapping her hooves.
An alabaster mare let out a raspberry, ”in the name of everything that is fabulous, what kind of plans are nights in the scullery, that's the opposite of romantic,” Twilight kept taking notes.
“Didn’t he just said that wise mane ain’t fighting over you?” asked Applejack scratching her head.
“No, that was the man of Aran, this is the wise man… I think,” starlight corrected her friend “and now he folded.”
“What is ‘gasoline’ is it like vaseline?” Spike asked scratching his head with one claw while grabbing a ruby with the other.
Mudbriar stared at the young drake then at her girlfriend like he was asking permission at which she slowly nodded, “technically, they are not the same, though they are made using the same main substance it being ‘petroleum jelly’ they are used for different purposes, vaseline is used for cosmetic purposes meanwhile gasoline is used to fuel machinery by non magical races like donkeys, minotaurs or griffons.”
Spike munched on the ruby, “oh, nice,” he said swallowing the jewel.
As the song ended, Twilight kept furiously making notes meanwhile Maud just wrote a few words and folded the paper, ‘what is all this nonsense, this riddle might be one of the toughest I’ve ever heard, oh sweet Celestia, Maud is already done? That can’t be it’s only been a few seconds... seconds? Yeah I should hear the song again maybe I can find a solution then… no you are not supposed to hear a riddle twice, but what does this mean AAAAH I can solve this I know I can,’ where the thoughts inside Twilight’s head while her mane began to frazzle and her pupils to shrink.
Starlight cleared her throat, “well, do you have you ans-”
“I NEED MORE TIME!” shouted Twilight startling everyone in the room.
“Darling, you know we have limited time, maybe we should just hear the second song.”
Twilight gave a defeated sigh, “yeah you are right, this song is just a mess, I don’t think it has any meaning.”
Maud gave Starlight the paper she wrote on her answer, “hmm but you just wrote here ‘nonsense’ what does this mean?”
“It is simple, I did not recognize any order on the lyrics, there was no discernible pattern that could have any meaning, it is my understanding that this is not a riddle at all,” Maud said without blinking.
Starlight nodded, “A tie it is,” Twilight opened her mouth to respond but starlight quickly put a hoof on her muzzle, “I said a tie it is,” Twilight rolled her eyes and nodded, “well, with that settled why don’t we let Mudbriar turn the music box on now?”
Mudbriar approached the music box and pressed the button and a soft mellow tune started playing
Pinkie stopped eating cake, “Ooooh that sounds pretty” resuming her cake.
“Hopefully this song will make more sense than the previous one,” the purple alicorn said while pouring herself a cup of tea to calm her nerves, she sipped her tea and at that moment the first verse of the song played, she spit some of the tea, “AW COME ON! He is he but the other he is also he and they are all together? Why are you doing this to me music box? Have I treated you badly?” she said while kneeling in front of the music box.
Twilight’s friends felt bad for laughing but watching Twilight’s outburst like this was pretty entertaining when it didn’t involve an ‘end of the world catastrophe’ nonetheless they knew they had to calm her before she blows a fuse, Rainbow picked her and both flew to her spot, Fluttershy covered her on a blanket and Rarity gave her a cup of tea without paying much attention to the song anymore.
“You know Twilight,” Starlight began, “I think it’s a good thing that songs like this exist, maybe trying to find a meaning to a song is just too overrated, what if there is no actual meaning and they just put a bunch of words into the music to sound nice.
Spike kept listening to the song not paying attention to the girls trying to calm Twilight, “this song is hilarious,” he said laughing at the funny lyrics, not understanding half of them, “hahahahaha goo goo g'joob, that's silly, that's not what a walrus sounds like... is it?“ he looked the girls still trying to calm Twilight then to his other side to Maud and Mudbriar who shrugged at the question not knowing the answer either.
Once the song finally reached its final verse, the group managed to calm Twilight who looked worse for wear, but at least the tick on her eye stopped and was breathing normally now, the stoic couple stood up and approached Twilight, in a cold fashion Maud said “this was a fascinating experience, we are thankful that you shared this with us, we will take our leave now, we have... unfinished business, Mudbriar and I.“
“See you later,“ said Mudbriar and both left the room leaving everyone else wondering what they were going to do.
Rainbow broke the silence, “they are totally gonna bone, aren't they?“ the group looked at her and some of them laughed.
Pinkie jumped in front of Rainbow waving her arms, “Dashie mind the story's rate please, we don't want the author to get in problems.“
Spike got off the sofa and poked Twilight with his claw, “hey Twilight, what's a crabalocker?“
Twilight made a double take, “a what?“
“A crabalocker, the song mentioned it,“ Twilight lifted her hooves shaking her head not knowing the answer, “what about fishwife? is it the wife of a fish? or what about por-“ Spike started but Pinkie covered his mouth with her hooves.
“What part of 'rate T' don't you understand? and don't finish that question, I'll tell you later,“ everypony else looked at her confused for the whole deal, but not dare to ask about it, knowing that even if she didn't make sense, maybe, just maybe not making sense it's not that bad.
It’s been a few weeks after the last music box session, everypony had been busy with their own business, Pinkie got a request to plan a huge cute-ceañera for one of the nobles on Canterlot, Rainbow went touring with the wonderbolts, Fluttershy went to take care of her brother since he got sick and that meant he crashed on their parents and they would be sick as well, Starlight joined Trixie for a tour to Saddle Arabia finally reaching without much fight between them, Rarity went to a fashion festival on Manehatten, Applejack accompanied her since she wanted to visit her aunt and uncle Orange, due to the festival every inn and hotel were full, so they had no other choice but to ask help from Applejack’s relatives, unfortunately they only had one room available with one bed, it was an awkward trip to say the least but that’s a story for another day.
They returned a few days ago except for Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie soon they went back to their everyday routine and once everypony returned they will leave to Canterlot to prepare the Summer Sun Celebration. At the Castle of Friendship, Twilight was waiting for the arrival of a friend, Moon Dancer sent her a letter asking if she could come visit Ponyville for a few days which she gladly accepted, she should arrive that afternoon by train just in time for a session with the music box, Moon dancer was one of Twilight’s oldest friends and she was sure she could trust her with the secret.
Twilight walked the halls of the castle heading for the kitchen where Spike was preparing today’s snacks, “Spike, I’m leaving to pick Moon Dancer, have you seen Starlight?” she asked the drake in an apron baking cookies.
He put the tray of cookies in the oven “Yup, Sunburst is in town and they went to the antique shop”
“Oh, hey if you see them again tell her if she can invite him to our session today.”
“No problem,” he said while preparing the next batch of cookies.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Twilight get to the train station just a few minutes before the train’s arrival, she hasn’t seen her friends in Canterlot in a while and Moon Dancer has never been at Ponyville before. It would be an interesting experience for all of them and she was sure Moon Dancer will love to learn about the aliens.
The train stopped and the doors opened, letting different colored ponies out of the train, “Twilight!” said a yellow mare wearing a sweater and big glasses from the train, she ran and hugged Twilight.
Twilight responded with a hug on her own, “Moon Dancer, I’m glad you made it, it’s been a while since the last time we saw each other.”
“Yeah since that Sombra guy tried to take over and I attempted to murder you and your friends…”
“eesh um… well we can hardly count that, you weren’t conscious of your actions and me-”
Moon Dancer put a hoof on Twilight’s muzzle, “gee Twilight, that was a joke, I do jokes now,” she levitated her luggage, “so what was that great secret you wanted to tell me?”
Twilight shook her head, “oh, you will need to wait until we are at the castle,” Twilight picked Moon Dancer’s stuff with her magic.
Moon Dancer laughed, “Come on Twilight, it can’t be that secret, is not like you discovered a new civilization or something like that,” Twilight stopped and almost dropped the luggage, “OH. MY. GOSH. You DID discover a new civilization, but HOW? AND WHERE?” everypony around stared at them so Twilight covered Moon Dancer with her wings and teleported to the castle.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
At the castle Starlight and Sunburst were carrying a huge box with antiques, “Seriously how do you even pay for all this stuff, Sunburst?” Starlight said putting the box on the floor.
Sunburst fixed his glasses, “I don’t have many expenses and these are pretty cheap to be honest,”
A clip clap of claws could be heard entering the room, “Starlight, Twilight asked me to tell you, you could invite Sunburst to today’s session with the music box.”
“I actually already invited him, didn’t I Sunburst?” she said while hitting him with her hoof.
He rubbed where Starlight hit him, “watch the spikes on that, yeah but what is so special about a music box?”
“You’ll see” both Spike and Starlight said at the same time.
Suddenly a flash startled all of them when Twilight and Moon Dancer teleported in, “I’m sorry Twilight, it wasn’t my intention to scream that in public,” the yellow mare said.
Twilight put her friend’s stuff on the floor, “that’s ok, you should have seen me when I realized what we discovered,” everyone in the room stared at the two mares that just arrived, “hey Starlight I see you guys are back, the others should arrive shortly,” she directed herself to Moon Dancer, “let me introduce you, you already know Spike, this is my friend Starlight and her childhood friend Sunburst, guys this is-”
“Moon Dancer!” Sunburst said interrupting Twilight, his face bright as a summer sun, he ran and grabbed Moon Dancer by the hoof and shook it up and down.
She was freaked out by the stallion holding her hoof, ”do I know you?” she said embarrassed, however this was the first time a stallion has held her hoof, not counting family and it felt nice.
The stallion let go of her hoof and both fixed their respective glasses, ”it's me Sunburst, I sat next to you on thaumatology applications, mechanics of magic fluids, rune programing and principles of mana and its uses at magic school,” Sunburst said deflating a bit.
Moon Dancer bit her lip trying to remember this pony, some memories passed through her head.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
It was at Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns a few years ago a pony tried to talk to her during class every day, she always ignored him since she didn't need friends, but he kept trying every day and eventually he started leaving a cupcake on her desk on top of a note, she always ate the cupcake but threw away the note, until one day she just couldn't throw it, maybe it was the guilt or maybe she finally was trying to reach out to somepony else, in anyway Moon Dancer waited until after class to read it and it said 'hey I'm Sunburst, I'm sorry if I'm bothering you with this notes, but I like your glasses and I see you are really smart, I would like to know you better, maybe you can help me with my magic, I get the theory but I'm really bad with the practice, if you are too shy to respond or you don't want to, just give another note, I'll respect your decision.'
This made her gut warm and her face blush, she began writing a note, ”wait a minute, am I really considering opening myself to another pony after Twilight took my poor heart and blasted it to smithereens?” she considered what she went through maybe this was not a good idea, ”what the hay, I guess I could try once more,” she quickly wrote a note and went to sleep.
The next morning for some reason the day was brighter, the birds were louder and the flowers smelled better and Moon Dancer felt like it would be a good day, she hurried to her class and sat at her spot but there was no cupcake or note on it, ”huh, maybe he is late,” 'wait a second, he is never late, what could have happened?' ”oh don't worry Moon Dancer, is not like he will disappear from the face of Equum,” 'but what if he gave up on me?' ”if he had given up on me then he would've stopped giving me the notes,” 'but what if he was lying and now he is laughing at me?' ”OH SHUT UP!”
A white stallion dressed in a vest stared at Moon Dancer, ”excuse me Miss-” he looked at his notes ”Moon Dancer, I'm sorry you disagree with my way of teaching, but if you have a comment, I would really appreciate it if you give it in a more calm way, may I continue giving the class?” he said and Moon Dancer was petrified, she nodded and the stallion gave a small laugh and continued with the class while everypony whispered about the scene.
Moon Dancer was confused, Sunburst seemed to have skipped class, and the next one and the one after that, she eventually learned that he flunked out, she felt destroyed inside, she lost yet another pony that could have been a good friend and this time she had nopony else to blame but herself, she never approached anypony else for the remaining of her stay at magic school.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
With a teary face Moon Dancer put a hoof on Sunburst's face ”you are the muffin boy... Sunburst,” the stallion nodded, she jumped and hugged him, ”I'M SORRY, I'M TERRIBLY SORRY, you just wanted to be my friend and I ignored you, I could have helped you and you wouldn’t have flunked out, can you ever forgive me?” Moon Dancer said with tears running down her face.
He hugged her as well, “um… I… well… yeah, I mean, sure ah,” Sunburst wasn’t expecting this outburst of emotion, he welcomed it though.
“No way, is she the mare you told me you had a crubfgs-” Starlight tried saying but was silenced by a pillow to the face.
Sunburst threw daggers at her oldest friend releasing the pillow of his magic and then fixed his glasses,“Anyway it’s been a while, I-I-I thought you didn’t like me since you never wrote when I flunk out of magic school.”
Moon dancer let go of the hug fixing her glasses as well, “how on Equum would I write you? You didn’t leave me your address.”
Throwing a confused look Sunburst said, “yeah I did, the day I had to leave I wrote you a note and left it with one of your friends, Lyra I believe her name was,” he scratched his head.
When Twilight heard that, she remembered a few months after she moved to Ponyville she received a visit from Lyra and she left her a note, she asked the green unicorn what was that about but Lyra ran away saying something about ’having lunch with a cute earth pony mare she just met,’ she didn’t give it importance since it only had the contact information of a pony she had never met, “oh Lyra you idiot,” she said facehoofing at one of her Canterlot friends.
“I never got the note, well that's not important anymore, oh sorry my glasses got wet,“
Sunburst pulled a cloth from his cape, “le-let me help you with that,“ unfortunately he tripped on his cape and fell, pushing Moon Dancer to the ground both facing eye to eye, their muzzles touched causing them to blush meanwhile everyone else looked astonished.
“Well Ah be, ain't that cute, sugarcube?“ Applejack said to Rarity next to her.
Rarity nudged her farmer friend on the ribs, “darling, please don't ruin the mood,“ she directed herself to the pair on the ground, “don't listen to her, we saw what happened,“ she winked at them, they quickly stood up sporting a blush on their faces.
Twilight cleared her throat to get everyone's attention, “well since everypony who will come, is already here, then I guess we can begin the session,“
“What about Pinkie, Fluttershy and Rainbow?“ asked Starlight.
“They haven't returned, they will probably come on time for us to leave for Canterlot or meet us there, so I guess we can begin now with the music box,“ both Sunburst and Moon Dancer snapped from their embarrassment induced stupor at the promise of knowledge they still didn't have, they pulled a notebook and a pencil each and stared directly at Twilight, “ok, I think that means you agreed...“ Twilight spend the next few minutes explaining the events that made them study an alien race's music and what they have learned so far, the guests took notes like crazy and even more when Twilight showed them the music box, they made several drawings of the machine.
“This is incredibly fascinating Twilight, to think that you were able to modify Bocafloja's spell to translate alien language, you truly are the princess of magic,“ Moon Dancer said with a face as bright as the sun, at which Sunburst nodded and Twilight felt embarrassed for the compliment.
Sunburst read his notes and asked, “so this 'music box' contains information stored non-magically on what appears to be the equivalent of a memory crystal and reproduces it's content without the need of other machinery or magic amulets?“ Twilight nodded, “amazing, to think a non-magical civilization be able to accomplish such technology not even seen on the Minotaur lands, that alien race must be centuries more advanced than ours.“
Twilight prepared the console, “Indeed, and now since you are our guests why don't you decide who will be the first to activate it?“
Moon Dancer and Sunburst looked at each other, just realizing that they sit right next to the other one, “em... I-I think Moon Dancer should be first, l-l-ladies first and all that,“ Sunburst said while rubbing his hooves, Moon Dancer giggled and approached the music box, pressing the button as Twilight instructed, she returned to her sit next to Sunburst and immediately a voice started singing.
At the mere mention of the state of the universe, the three scholar ponies furiously took notes, this is exactly what Twilight was waiting for, a song about knowledge and possibly some theories about these aliens.
“What the hay? they are talkin' like they just bit a jalapeño on a sunny day, Ah can't understand much of what they are sayin', sugarcube“ Applejack said scratching her head.
“Yeah they are talking really fast, but what I can understand is that the song is about the alien's history, from the very beginning, and how they build pyramids or how the 'neanderthals' developed tools whatever they are also talking OH they are talking about the theory of the big bang,“ Starlight said remembering a bit about that theory proposed by an old griffon George The Master.
Rarity scrunched her muzzle, this was not her area of expertise, “what they mean by the 'dawn of man'? do you think they mean the beginning of their civilization, darling?“
“I have no idea but I'm liking this song, is funny,“ said Spike while munching on some gems.
When the song ended, Twilight, Sunburst and Moon Dancer kept writing a few notes and thoughts on all the information the song gave them.
Applejack was laughing on her spot, “That song is nuttier than a squirrel turd, we all know that Faust Almighty created the universe and everything in it,“
Moon Dancer stopped writing, “What?“ she said looking at the farmer, “you know there is no actual proof that Faust was an actual pony right?“
Applejack adjusted her hat, “beg pardon? the proof is all around us, the trees, the sky, the clouds, hay your very fancy magics should be proof enough of Faust's will,“ she said offended by Moon Dancer's comment.
Twilight stopped writing too and looked at her friends discussing, "oh no," she said softly, she knew that Applejack was a very devoted follower of the Faustian religion and that Moon Dancer was an atheist, this could only end badly for both parties and she knew that she couldn't meddle with them right now, how could she choose between two of her best friends?.
“Oh come on, you know yourself that is not proof enough, Applejack“ Moon Dancer said with a stern look.
“Then how 'bout the holy scriptures?“ Applejack responded with a look as serious as Moon Dancer's.
“Taking the old scriptures as proof of Faust is like taking comic books as proof of Super Mane, we are talking about actual facts and documented theories,“
Sunburst was frightened by how the two femme fatales were discussing, he was still next to Moon Dancer thinking a way to de-escalate the confrontation.
“Oh yeah? so what it says that theory of the big bang?“ Applejack fixed her hat so she could clearly see Moon Dancer's eyes.
“At its simplest, it says the universe as we know it started with a small singularity, then inflated over the next 13.8 billion years to the cosmos that we know today.“
“Oh but what happen' before that?“ Applejack asked but Moon Dancer was unable to answer.
They both approached each other until they were face to face, “I have countless explanations as to why creationism isn't correct.“
“And Ah will refute every single one of 'em, sugarcube,“
They both lifted their right hoof to the air, on that moment Twilight knew she had to act before this discussion becomes physical, but she was too far from them, both Applejack and Moon Dancer quickly moved their hoof at each other and everyone but Moon Dancer and Applejack closed their eyes waiting for the worst.
“I must say, I like you Applejack, I'm sorry if I sounded to confrontational, is just that topics like this make my blood boil,“ Moon Dancer said shaking Applejack's hoof with her own.
“Right back at ya Moon Dancer, Ah know that stuff like this is mighty delicate, Ahm glad we can agree to disagree,“ with that the remaining souls on the room stared as if they had seen a ghost, “what? y'all didn't think we would fight because we have different ideas, did y'all?“ both mares laughed still holding hooves.
The purple alicorn cleaned her forehead from sweat, “that was something, anyway returning to the song, it's incredible that their culture, if the song is accurate, follows a very close parallel to ours, from developing tools, to building structures, to the creation of science, art and even religion.“
Spike giggled at seeing Twilight so excited about the information on the song, “It gives hope that one day we will be able to have technology as advanced as this one, eh Twilight?“ she nodded hugging her notebook like a teddybear.
At all this Sunburst approached the music box, “I suppose it's my turn now,“ everyone returned to their spots, he pressed the button and a soft, slow tune started playing.
“What a peculiar voice, even if it is quite... raspy it's not threatening, in fact it's calming,“ Rarity commented.
Twilight agreed, “Yeah and he is right, what a wonderful world we would live if everypony loved each other,“
Sunburst was taking notes but stopped to enjoy the actual song, “they seem to have a similar habitat than planet Equum, with all the green trees, flowers and even a day and night cycle.“
Moon Dancer also stopped writing to enjoy the song, “and as you said they seem to have hands like minotaurs on centaurs and shaking them must be a common greeting like shaking hooves... oh babies, babies are so cute, someday I hope to have babies of my own,“ she said, at this last bit she put her head on Sunburst's shoulder which froze him Moon Dancer realized what she just did and removed her head, “I'M SORRY I didn't mean with you... no wait that sounded rude, is not that I don't find you attractive you are gorgeous... um... I mean I can see you are a healthy stallion and I bet our foals would be healthy as well... NO WAIT THAT'S WORSE, I mean we just met and you know what? I'll shut up or I'll make it even worse,“ she said pouting a bit with a blush on her face.
Sunburst took a few seconds to assimilate what just happened, once he digested what she said he thought 'she thinks I'm gorgeous' and then blushed as well, the only word he could muster at that moment was “t-thanks,“ they sat there next to each other meanwhile the gang stared at them with grins on their faces, this was going to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship and maybe even more.
It was a busy morning at the town’s market, the sounds of ponies chatting and bargaining, the smells of fruits, vegetables, plants and other products filled the air, meanwhile Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash walked through the populace looking at the stalls since Fluttershy was grocery shopping while her friend was tagging along.
“And then we hugged and we changed bodies again,” Fluttershy said while paying one of the flower sisters.
Flying over her friend, Rainbow crossed her forehooves slightly closing her eyes, “I should pay Zecora a visit to teach her a lesson about putting friends in danger,” she said hitting her hooves together.
“Don’t you dare Rainbow Dash, she was just trying to help us, besides she even told us to take the potion inside the house, it was my fault for letting Angel take the potion before that.”
Dash rolled her eyes, “ok ok, gee when did you get so bossy? So what’s next?”
Fluttershy pulled her list, “eggs done, daisies done, oh we need to get cherries,” they walked to the cherry stall where a well known cherry seller known as Crafty Crate worked, “good morning Mr. Crate, I need five cherries please.”
The stallion put the cherries on a bag and said with his raspy voice, “here you go lady, it’ll be two bits,” he fixed his hat while Fluttershy put the bits on the counter, “say, aren’t you going to offer more bits?” he said putting on a smirk.
This took Fluttershy by surprise, “why would I offer more bits for them?” she asked putting the cherries on her saddlebags.
Crafty put the bits on his hat, “I mean like that time a few years ago, well I suppose you don’t remember, uh? You’ve grown into a fine mare lady, how about you and I, go get some grub?”
This made Rainbow Dash’s blood boil, how dare he try such a bad pick up line on her friend, she rolled up her non existing sleeves ready to re-accommodate this stallion’s face but was interrupted by Fluttershy’s laugh, “Oh my, I’m ever so sorry Mr. Crate, but I’m afraid I will have to decline, is not that you are not a handsome stallion but you are just not my type,” Rainbow stood there with her mouth agape, staring at her friend rejecting the cherry seller’s advances like a pro.
He fixed his hat and let out a loud laugh, “can’t blame a stallion for trying? Hope you gals have a nice day,” he waved them goodbye and they waved back.
Rainbow felt pride for her friend, she had really changed in all these years, long gone that meek little filly who couldn’t even start a conversation with a pony she didn’t know, but with her response, a question appeared on her mind, “hey Fluttershy, so you said that he isn’t your type right?” she asked her friend.
“Yes, I believe that's what I said.”
“So what is you type?” Dash asked the yellow mare who stopped cold for a second and then continued walking.
“I don’t know, I haven’t thought about it.”
“Come on Shy, I can’t believe you haven’t thought about this stuff at least once, so what about Caramel? He is cute, a bit of a weakling for an earth pony but extra points for his perfect mane.”
“Mmm, not really feeling it, no.”
“What about that Doctor Whooves guy.”
“No, he seems too serious, besides isn’t he dating Rose?”
“Oh yeah, I forgot about it, you don’t usually see them together unless they are on a date, so how about Starlight’s friend Sunburst, he might be an egghead but if you trim that ridiculous beard he would be easy on the eyes.”
“I actually like his goatee, I find it ever so charming, but I think he is younger than me, I don’t like the idea of dating a younger stallion.”
Dash let out a sigh, “this is going to be harder than I thought,” when a sudden ‘yeah’ could be heard from a pony stretching his muscles in the distance, “hey how about Snowflake? He is older than you and is not serious at all and those muscles look like could pulverise when things get heated, if you know what I mean,” she said while winking and nudging her friend.
Fluttershy shook her head, “I do know what you mean Dashie... but no, he is too predictable. By the way his name is Bulk Biceps not Snowflake.”
Rainbow kept staring at the big mass of muscles, “whatevs, he still responds to Snowflake, ok this is getting tougher… hey what about that party pony Cheese Sandwich, he is unpredictable, I think he is older than you and he is definitely not a serious pony.”
The yellow mare became pensive, “close and he is tall, but a pony like Cheese Sandwich travels a lot, I wouldn’t dare to ask him to stay put in place, I don’t mind that but he wouldn’t be here with me when I need him.”
Rainbow threw her arms on the air, “AW COME ON! You sure are a picky mare, ok so in summary we have tall, older than you, unpredictable, not serious, that will be there for you and must have a ridiculous goatee… I can’t think on anypony like that… maybe-” at that moment, a flash of light went off near them, they turned to see the source of the light.
“I’m sorry, my camera’s flash is randomly going off lately,” a slender colt said holding his camera.
“That’s ok Featherweight,” Rainbow said turning back to face her friend “where was I? I lost my train of thought.”
“You were discussing Fluttershy’s type,” came up a manly voice behind them.
“Oh yeah, so what is your type Fluttershy?” Rainbow asked.
“Discord!” Fluttershy ran past Rainbow Dash to give a hug to the draconequus.
With a snap of his claw, Discord summoned an instrument band playing by themselves and a banner with his face on it, “is that seriously the best you could come up with? I mean the one and only, I see you missed me, dear Fluttershy,” he snapped his claws again and the items disappeared.
Discord lifted his friend to give her a hug of his own, “I haven’t seen you since the Summer Sun Celebration,” she said while he placed her on the ground.
The draconequus rubbed his beard with a claw while looking at the other side, “Oh well, I’ve been busy with a personal project, but speaking of projects, when are you going to invite me to that ‘little secret project’ of yours?” he said making air quotes.
Rainbow approached Discord, “knowing you, you could have appeared out of nowhere, anytime, you are always sticking your… claws… paws… both, in our business.”
“How eloquent Rainbow Dash, your lexicon baffles me,” he said in a sarcastic tone, “anywho, going back at our current business,” Discord put his lion pawn on Fluttershy’s head rubbing it making her giggle.
“Stop it Discord, you are going to mess up my mane,” Fluttershy still giggling, “well, as a matter of fact, I was going to leave my groceries at home and then go directly to the castle,”
“You mean, right now? Oh well, I have to take care of something first, but I’ll meet you there.”
“Ok Discord, don’t be late,”
“Oh dear Fluttershy, a lord of chaos is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to,” he said summoning a chain and pulling it, making the sound of a toilet flushing, his body began to twist and deform on a nonexistent vortex until there was nothing but his laugh and then not even that.
Rainbow rolled her eyes, “That dude is so random, sometimes I think is even more random than Pinkie,” she then looked at her friend.
“Yeah, he is so unpredictable,” Fluttershy said, still looking at where the lord of chaos used to be with a smile on her face, while Rainbow stared at her with a confused look.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Once at the castle, everyone were discussing their own topics while they waited for Discord, Spike and Applejack to come.
The rainbow maned pegasus kept insisting with Fluttershy, ”Seriously Shy, why not Snowflake? I could see you clicked so well, when you cheered at the Equestrian Games and recently on the Trivia Trot.”
Flutthershy hook her head smiling, ”Oh my, yeah he is a sweetheart, but once again, he is just not my type,”
Covering her mouth, Rarity laughed, ”why not, darling, is a story as old as time, the handsome, vigorously robust stallion who comes and sweeps the petite mare off her hooves, so romantic,” she let out a sigh fanning herself with her hoof.
Pinkie swallowed another cupcake whole, ”that's silly, why would a pony sweep another pony, are they a broom pony?” the pink pony mare said laughing at her own joke.
Rainbow got some interests on her pink friend now, ”hey, how about you Pinks, what is your type?”
Everypony stared at the pink mare, ”wait what? me? um... I dunno, maybe tall one? I never think of silly things like that, at least I know it wouldn't be a failed writer, making a mediocre story about his favorite fictitious characters listening to random songs,” at that moment a small thunder could be heard, but it sounded more like a sob or a whimper and then a weak drizzle poured on the castle windows that looked like tears, shed for unrequited love.
Rainbow stood up, ”oh yeah, I forgot that a light rain was programmed for today, anyway, now that we are on the mood, how about you Twilight, lemme guess, you will marry a book BWAHAHAHA,” she dropped on the floor on her back laughing, meanwhile Twilight pouted.
With a loud cough, Twilight got the attention of the mares in the room, ”I must confess that I have an inclination for well versed stallions, but I've never had the chance to look for a boyfriend of somepony the sort, what about you Rainbow?”
Dash recovered from her laugh attack, ”me? oh, well he must be confident, tall, and must worship the wind beneath my wings,” she said all proud.
”You mean like Fluttershy's Brother Zephyr?” Twilight said putting on a smirk meanwhile everpony else in the room ooooh'ed.
”WHAT?! NO! WOW! low blow Twilight, ok you win this time.”
At all this Rarity was waiting for her turn but couldn't wait anymore, ”is anypony going to ask me what would be my type?”
Pinkie jumped in front of her white unicorn friend, ”oh oh, me, me, let me guess, your type would be brave.”
”Yes,” Rarity responded.
”Strong,”
”Yes,”
”Good looking,”
”YES,”
”Honest!”
”Definitively,”
”Blonde with freckles!”
”YES, oh my Faust yes... wait I think I know where you are go-”
”Your type is Apbbbfff-” Pinkie's mouth was stuffed with chocolate cake.
”Darling, you look famished, please, do have some more cake.”
The door opened showing a very wet drake, ”hey girls, I'm back, Dash a little help here, please.”
”Right away,” Rainbow said flying circles around spike, drying him on the spot.
”Thanks, Rainbow Dash.”
His pegasus friend saluted him, “no problem Spike, hey where is AJ? You were supposed to bring her.”
Spike ran to a pillow and sit on it, “she forgot that Winona had an appointment with Doctor Fauna today, and nopony else had the chance to bring her, she sends her apologies.”
With her horn glowing, Twilight summoned a scroll, “That’s too bad, it was her turn being the last one to choose a song, I suppose we can reset again and let her pick the song next time, if everypony else is ready we can start.”
With a high jump, Fluttershy took off in the air, “WAIT! What about Discord?”
“It’s getting too late Fluttershy, besides he is Discord, he wouldn’t get this serious even if you asked,” Twilight replied and Fluttershy sat on her pillow a bit down but nodded.
Everyone draw straws and the one choosing the song will be Fluttershy, she was a bit down since her friends wouldn’t wait for Discord but she approached the music box and pressed the button returning to her spot, the music box let them hear a voice singing.
Starlight bobbed her head from side to side, “I like her singing, but why she sounds so sad?”
“I believe that she doesn’t want to express her feelings, for she was hurt in the past, darling, OH the drama, THE PAIN!” Rarity said laying on the sofa.
Rainbow let out a raspberry, “huh, drama queen, who would even suffer that much for a male,”
A light blue aura surrounded Rainbow pulling her next to Rarity, “you don’t understand, darling, how painful is to love and lost and lost again, you wouldn’t understand,” she hugged Rainbow and was now in tears ruining her mascara.
Rainbow struggled to free herself from Rarity’s bone-breaking grip, while everypony else laughed at their antics, everypony except Fluttershy who was looking at the window, hoping by some miracle a certain draconequus appeared out of thin air.
When the laughter died down and the song ended, Twilight picked the vase with the sticks to draw again, “That was short but sweet, are you guys ready to draw again?” everyone took a stick and pulled but for some reason they were stuck on the vase, they pulled even harder but suddenly instead of the sticks being separated, they were stuck to a big brown mass coming from the vase, this mass inflated and exploded with confetti and streamers showing Discord in the middle of it all laughing his soul out.
“Discord, you made it!” Fluttershy jumped and hugged the draconequus who caressed her mane, “you are late,” she said while scrunching her muzzle.
“What did I tell you my sweet, a lord of chaos is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.”
Spike jumped off his spot as well and showed Discord his fist which he bumped into his own, “what a way to make an entrance Discord, I suppose now it’s your turn to press the button,”
Twilight cleaned all the confetti and streamed from her and the room, “yeah let’s give Discord a chance to activate the music box, but first I should explain it, first a few months ago I was-” with a snap of his claw a zipper closed Twilight’s mouth.
“Oh yeah I read all the previous chapters, alien tech, hairless monkeys, feels and yada yada, let’s get to the interesting part,” he rubbed his claws together and pressed the button, then teleported under Fluttershy so she could lay on him like a beanie bag, the music box came to life and a melancholic piano started sounding.
“The piano is so beautiful,” Fluttershy said while making herself more comfortable on her Discord pillow.
Discord in exchange rolled his eyes, “ugh, how dreadful, it seems that this will be boring,” he picked a cup of tea, picked the plate under it, dipped it on the tea and ate the plate.
“Is this a math song?” Pinkie asked rubbing her head, “so he is the number fifteen, and everypony knows that’s between ten and twenty,”
Twilight was fighting to remove the zipper from her mouth, finally opting to magically remove it, “OH MY GOSH, I think they mean years, that’ll explain why he is referring himself as fifteen and now he is twenty two, we might be able to understand their life cycle with this song,” everyone kept listening, “a hundred years to live? If this song is accurate that means they live around the same length as a pony from Equum.”
A bulb lighted over Spike, he nudged Rainbow and she understood immediately, they both giggled and Rainbow sarcastically said, “but Twilight, I thought you said that Ponies lived for hundreds of years, after all Granny Smith is one of the founders of Ponyville~”
“What? But that doesn’t… AW COME ON, you are never gonna let me forget that are you?”
Starlight was confused by the sudden reaction of Twilight and the comment made by Rainbow, “um… a little lost here, care to explain?”
Twilight sighed, “you see Starlight, the first winter wrap up I spent in PonyVille, I researched their history, I accidentally read that Ponyville has wrapped up winter the earth pony way for centuries instead of decades, when I mentioned that to Applejack they made fun out of me since that would mean that Granny Smith is hundreds of years old for being one of the founders, they usually remind me in winter, or in occasions like this one, I swear I do my research property and nopony bats an eye, I make ONE mistake and everypony loses their minds.”
Everyone laughed at Twilight, except for Discord who, as strange as it sounds, was quiet for the entire song.
“Well from all of us, I guess the only ones that could get to be hundreds of years old is you Twilight, oh also Spike and Discord.”
Discord snapped out of his trance at hearing his name, “yeah, hopefully I don’t look a day older than three thousand years, I don’t have to worry about time, I have all the time in the world,” he said making gestures with his extremities, but a thought was deeply ingrained in that moment on the head of the lord of chaos, ‘but Fluttershy does not’ the mere thought of an eternity where Fluttershy wasn’t present made a knot in his throat, he hugged her favorite friend tightly and she could feel that something was wrong.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
After the session with the music box, Discord and Fluttershy were walking heading to her place in silence, she now knew that something was wrong and this worried her, “a bit for your thoughts?” she finally broke the silence almost reaching her cottage.
“Oh it’s nothing Fluttershy, just worrying about the future.”
She flew so she could be at eye level with him, “is it about the song? Or… is it about the fact that I will die one day?” this broke Discord concentration and he tripped almost falling on top of Fluttershy, “I knew it, Discord, please hear me out, I know this might be hard but you need to understand that one day I will be gone from this world and that is not something that can be stopped”
“But I don’t want you to go, what would an eternity be without the only other soul that makes it worth it?” he said while hugging Fluttershy.
“I’ll be lying if I said I know what will happen, but what I know is that you are more than what you where when we met for the first time, you have grown to be a friend in my life and I’m sure that when ‘it’ happens, you will have even more friends that will care for you, even a family, I just want you to remember one thing, you are really important to me and it hurts me to see you sad, promise me that even when I’m no longer here, you will do your best to make friends.”
“I… promise I’ll try,” both were in tears, wrapped in a warm hug and knowing that even if their time is limited, they will be there for each other when they needed.
Early in the morning, few creatures are up, even less are working like a diligent, gray, pegasus, mare, delivering letters just as the sun caresses the ground for the first time that day, she left a few letters at the castle mailbox, pulling a muffin that usually some of the town ponies kindly left in there for the blonde mailmare.
“Oh, blueberry,“ she said throwing the muffin in the air and swallowing it whole.
Later that day Spike picked up the mail and sorted it as he usually did, “trash, trash, bills, more trash, oh a letter for Twilight from Los Casquillos, I bet it's her pen pal, a coupon for 50% discount on wing wax? ok you are coming with me... OH BOY a letter from Gabby,“ he read through the letter letting out some mumbles and then ran to find Twilight still in bed, he jumped on top of the sleeping alicorn waking her up, “Twilight, Twilight,“ she was hyperventilating for being awoken so suddenly.
She looked everywhere and was greeted by Spike's smile, “what's the emergency?“ she asked her number one assistant.
“Gabby is in town, we'll go to the lake... just wanted you to know“
“Spike! I was dreaming with the Downtown Colts!“ she laid and put a pillow on her face.
“Oh and you got a letter from your pen pal from Los Casquillos,“
“Izzi? oh gimme,“ she read the letter and her face lighten up, “Spike, Izzi is coming to Equestria!“
“Really? What for?”
Twilight picked the letter again, “something about her dissertation, I think she is making a study about plants in Equestria that doesn’t exist on Los Casquillos.”
Spike rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, “you sure are a pair of nerds,” he jumped off the bed, “I need to get a shower before leaving.”
Twilight moved her head to face Spike, “wait, are you going to join today’s session with the music box?”
“I dunno, maybe, yeah, but don’t wait for me… hey what if I invite Gabby?”
“I don’t see why not, go shower already I don’t want you to keep your girlfriend waiting,” she said with a smirk on her face when Spike left the room.
From the other side of the wall she could hear Spike screaming, “SHE IS NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!”
“Yeah sure,” she kept reading the letter she received, “I’ll make sure to invite her to the session next week.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Later that day at the Friendship Castle, Twilight as always was preparing the console and checking the spell for possible errors or failures, at the table with the snacks, Pinkie was explaining how to prepare the marzipan mascarpone meringue madness AKA. MMMM to Starlight, who took notes as best as she could from the party pony who was mouthing words, after words, after words. Fluttershy was watching them from her pillow, humming that song about the kings going to battle they listened a long time ago.
The door suddenly opened showing three ponies, two of them discussing about something while the third one looked annoyed by the whole thing.
“Did not!“ the blonde mare said.
“Did too!“ the rainbow maned replied.
“Did not!“
“Did too!“
They continued until they reached the table, Pinkie stopped giving Starlight instructions and faced the trio who just entered, “hi Dashie, hi RariJack,“ and without any other look, she continued explaining Starlight about the cake.
Rarity sighed knowing that whatever she did, the pink mare would just say something funny and then keep going as if nothing had happened. Everyone else greeted the trio properly, but Rainbow and Applejack kept discussing like school fillies.
Fluttershy looking at her friends discuss, cleared her throat and asked them, “What are you fighting about now?“ the pair of friends/rivals stopped and faced Fluttershy.
“Well here Applejack... uh... I mean… AJ will tell you.“
“Ah can't believe it, you forgot what were we fightin' for? You see Fluttershy, Ah was... um... Rares little help here.“
Rarity sighed for the second time in the last ten minutes, in a monotone tune the likes of Maud Pie she said, “the running of the leafs is coming and Rainbow Dash brought up that time you tied in last.“
Rainbow put on a confused look, “but that's stupid, why would we fight for that? We agreed it was a tie.“
“Yeah, that couldn't be it,“ Applejack agreed then picked up a cup and served herself some juice.
Rarity rolled her eyes counting backwards, “three, two, one.“
“Besides, we ran again after that and I won,“ Rainbow said proud of herself.
Applejack spit the juice she was drinking, “the hay? you did not!“
“Did too!“
“Did not!“
“There you go,“ Rarity said trying her best to ignore her stubborn friends enough to enjoy some tea and cookies.
Both athletic mares kept going at each other's throats for the next few minutes until Twilight teleported them to opposite sides of the table, “knock if off you two. Well I guess Spike is late, shall we start?“
Rarity finally realized that the purple drake wasn't in the room, “darling, why is Spike late?“ she asked Twilight.
The purple alicorn bit on a cookie, “fabby if in...“ she swallowed, “Gabby is in town, they went to the lake.“
“Oh, ok,“ Rarity said sipping from her tea, immediately choking with it and coughing, Applejack jumped to pat her back to help her, “the lake? *cough* alone? *cough* are you insane, darling?“
“What? Spike is a great swimmer and Gabby is a certified lifeguard, because of course she is,” Twilight said rolling her eyes, “is there anything she can’t do?”
Recovered from her choking attack, Rarity said “oh yeah, that’s what I was worried about, hehe knowing she can help spike gives me all the peace of mind I needed, darling, hohoho.”
But on her head, her imagination was already in action. She could almost see it, only a kick from lady destiny was needed and Spike would go tumbling almost drowning, saved by the peppy griffon who carried the unconscious dragon on her back, laying him on the ground and giving him the kiss of life, he would wake up and thank her whispering that, she is the life of him, and she would respond that her life would have no meaning without him and then they would share another kiss that would evolve into caresses and then, and then, and then she felt a hoof on her shoulder shaking her gently, “sugarcube? Are you ok? You are sweating and have a weird smile on your face,” the apple farmer pony said with a worried expression.
Rarity levitated a tissue and cleaned the sweat on her face, “but of course, darling, don’t worry about me I was just… recalling if I left the stove on, that’s all,” she considered a cold shower and maybe some writing when she was back home, “I do believe it was Applejack’s turn, wasn’t it?”
Applejack shrugged and walked to the music box, pressing the button a loud song started playing.
Pinkie swallowed another cupcake, “OOOooooo that’s catchy,” she then giggled, “it’s a love song, that’s SOOooooo obvious,”
Rarity scrunched her nose at the lyrics, “what kind of friend would try to stop another friend from dating somepony, even with such dreadful, horrible clothes? That’s so mean.”
“Wow so she decided not to date him just for his style, she isn’t that smart if you ask me,” Starlight said and everyone nodded.
“Oh boy, Ah guess she got what she deserved, that girl y’all.”
Sipping from her coffee, Fluttershy listened to the song, “um, what is a TV?”
“I don’t know,” Starlight said scratching her head, “you would think that’s something from the minotaurs, but she mentions she saw him on there, so it must be like the theaters but at home,”
Rainbow jumped floating in midair clapping her hooves, “that would be AWESOME! Imagine watching movies on your house, without worrying about ponies spoiling the endings or foals crying.”
Listening to the last verse of the song, Rarity happily clapped her hooves, “oh good, at least he got somepony who liked him for who he is,” everypony in the room stared at her, “what? Why is everypony looking at me, is there something on my face?”
Rainbow was the first to talk, “yeah, we thought that with that song and Spike now dating Gabby, it would hit a sore spot with you,” she said while scratching the back of her head.
Rarity laughed at her friend's comment, “Rainbow Dahahash, they are not dating, they are just good friends and besides, even if they were dating, why would that affect me, darling?”
Starlight pushed Twilight and made a gesture with her head pointing Rarity, “Rarity, as you know Spike has had a crush on you for all these years and the way you reacted when he started hanging out with Gabby… well, we might have thought that, after all this time, you were starting to feel the same.”
Rarity put on a shocked expression, “Spike has a WHAT?” she asked to the wind.
Applejack raised one eyebrow, “aw don’t give me that crap Rares, we know that you already knew, now the real question here is since when you knew.”
With yet another sigh, the fashionista looked down and then up again, “fine, I knew from day one, it was too obvious when he and Twilight met me at the boutique for the first time, but since you told me he was a baby dragon I immediately discarded it as puppy love and I didn’t want to hurt a child's feelings, I was hoping it would eventually pass, if I knew that he was actually a teen I would have stopped him in his tracks but by when you told me his actual age, it was already a year since he became infatuated with me, it got too awkward to reject him and I got used to his presence.”
“Ah think you mean his unconditional servitude, sugarcube.”
Rarity blushed at that, “yeah that too, he is quite useful. He is such a sweetheart and watching him spend more time with Gabby than me really hurt, but I like him just as a friend, he simply is not what I’m looking for in a special somepony, I know I’m a terrible pony to lead him on like that but you need to understand that he is really important to me, just not in the way he would want,” at all this a single tear ran down Rarity’s cheek, she cleaned it fast so it won’t ruin her makeup, “hey, at least now he will be with somecreature closer to his age, isn’t Gabby around the same age as Gallus? Younger even?”
Pinkie jumped in front of them, bouncing on her tail, “actually she is the same age as Spike, minus forty five days,” she jumped back to her spot grabbing a piece of cake with her tail.
“Wait a minute, Twilight, did you seriously let two hormonal, barely young adults, alone on a secluded place?” Rarity said in an accusatory tone.
At that moment the gears at Twilight’s head finally moved making her blush at the idea Rarity put on her head, “WE NEED TO FIND THEM!” suddenly they could hear a pair of laughs coming to the door, which opened by force letting Spike and Gabby in rolling, ending next to the table Spike on top of the griffon, he started tickling his friend meanwhile Gabby tried to move the dragon on top of her, both were laughing their wings off, “Spike, Gabby, what are you doing?” Twilight finally said in her ‘mama bear’ tune.
“Oh hi Twilight, HI GIRLS!” Spike greeted his friends, “most of you already know Gabby right?”
The griffon waved, “hi everypony, we were playing tickle tag, you run and whoever is it, needs to catch the other and tickle him or her, it’s really fun.”
Twilight shook her head, “what took you so long?”
“Oh well our wings got wet and couldn’t fly so we played tickle tag, all the way here.”
“But Ah reckon, y’all dry, sugarcube.”
Gabby laughed looking at herself, “oh yeah, we are dry now, but you should have seen it, Spike pushed me over the edge with his claws and I got all wet.”
“WHAT!” Twilight and Rarity asked at the same time, the former almost choked listening to that meanwhile the later had put on a weird expression, smiling and blushing a bit.
“Is that true Spike?” the alicorn asked
“Yeah she was sitting right at the edge of the pier on the lake, I pushed her and she fell in the water, it was hilarious.” he said laughing.
“Oh,” Twilight calmed down, “you are going to give me a heart attack, let’s just move on with the session, Gabby let me explain-”
“No need Princess Twilight, Spike already explained to me all about it, don’t worry I’ll keep the seeEEEeeecret,” Gabby said while moving her claws in waves while saying secret, “can I press the button now? I’m so excited about it,” she jumped on her back legs while putting her claws together begging.
“Sure, but please call me Twilight,” Gabby approached the music box and pressed the button with one her claws, a loud HOO HAA HOOHAA came from the machine and then music.
Gabby returned to her sit next to Spike while putting her claws together again and bringing them to the side of her face, “that is such a cute song, this aliens make cute music.”
“Yeah and for some reason, this makes me thing about bubblegum, does anypony have bubblegum? oh wait I have some on my mane,” Pinkie pulled some gum from her mane, unwrapped it and chew on it.
On her side, Gabby was now clapping at the song, “wow that song sounds like us Spikerony, we are BEST FRIENDS after all.”
Spike listened to the song, “you are right Gabbygoon, it sure sounds like something we would do,” both laughed and shared a hug, meanwhile everypony else in the room watched them, actually listening to the lyrics knowing that wasn’t a song about ‘just friends’.
The couple of friends kept laughing next to each other for the remaining of the song, “hey Spikedoodle, that was a nice song, I really liked it, since it's over why don't we go to your room, you were going to show me your dragon rod.“
At that everyone else in the room looked at her but only Rarity and Twilight screamed, “HIS WHAT?!“ again with different expressions, Twilight concerned and Rarity blushing slightly, sporting a weird smile.
Spike looked at them, confused as to why he was the center of attention, “what? I promised I would show her my Bloodstone Scepter replica, I had it made recently on Rods 'R' Us,“ the girls let out a sigh calmed, except Rarity that looked a bit disappointed, “o-k... weird, so we gotta go, bye girls,“ he waved at them and grabbed Gabby's claw dragging her to her room while she waved them as well.
After all that, everypony started leaving including Starlight who was going drinking with Trixie, the only ponies left were Rarity and Twilight who were washing the dishes in silence, “you know Twilight, they have been up there for quite a while,“ this caught the alicorn’s attention who pointed an ear to her white unicorn friend, “and as far as I know they are still hormonal, barely young adults,“ Twilight stopped cleaning the dishes and started trembling, “maybe we shoooOOOO,“ Twilight levitated Rarity and ran straight to Spike's room stopping right at the closed door, “darling, can you let me down?“ Twilight put down Rarity, they stared at the door and could hear Spike's bed creaking, Twilight’s eye began to twitch meanwhile Rarity's face began filling with red coloration, “Twilight listen, that could be just them jumping on the bed,“ she whispered to the purple mare.
Out of nowhere they heard Gabby's voice, “wow, it's true what they say about dragons,“ that was the last straw, Twilight barged in, Rarity followed her biting her lip in anticipation, they found Gabby jumping on Spike's bed while he was on the other side of the room, performing some tricks with his dragon fire, Gabby jumped off the bed to the ground, “Hi there, I couldn't believe what I heard about dragons being able to control their fire and here Spiketronic was showing me that it's actually true, IT'S AMAZING!“
Twilight almost entered a breakdown, “but... you two... the bed... hormones...what?“
Rarity grabbed her friend, “what she means is that I'm leaving and she is tired, she'll go straight to bed so ta ta~“ Rarity pulled Twilight and left the pair of friends alone again closing the door.
Gabby scratched her head, “what's with them acting like momzillas?“ she asked the young dragon.
“Oh well, Twilight liked teasing me with you, saying that we are dating and stuff, I guess it went to her head and started actually believing it,“ he laughed.
Gabby on her part put her claws on the sides of her head, “oh that's so cute, she was going all mama bear for you, you know what they say, the friendship is real when they start thinking you are dating“ both laughed for a while, “hey Spiketacus,“
“What is it Gabbynator?“
Gabby brought a claw near her beak, “Wanna practice making-out again?“ she said with her eyes half closed.
“Hay yeah!“ he said jumping into the her friend's open arms, there they stayed practicing for quite a long time.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Later that evening an ocean liner was cruising the seas, a lonely white pegasus mare with green mane and tail was reading a book, her flank showed the image of a bush with long spiky leaves on the bottom and white flowers on top. Hers was a modest yet clean and cozy cabin, with just the common necessities: a bed, a closet, a small desk and a bathroom.
From the ship communicator she could hear an alert and ten a voice, “Buenas tardes, les habla su Capitán, en estos momentos entramos en aguas Equestrianas, si el clima lo permite, llegaremos cerca de las diez de la mañana, esperamos que tengan buenas noches,“ after a few seconds the same voice spoke again, “Good evening, this is your Captain, right now we are entering Equestrian waters, if the weather allows it, we'll be touching ground around ten in the morning, we hope you have a goodnight.“
The mare closed her book and laid on her soft bed covered by a blanket, with a smile, she said: “soon,“ and then slipped in a dream, knowing that she will soon meet her friend for the first time ever.
From the Everfree Forest, two mares came walking through the trees, their saddlebags filled with herbs, roots, mushrooms and other stuff, one was Twilight Sparkle Princess of Friendship, the other one was a white pegasus, they were chatting and laughing, “so she rhymes all the time?“ the white mare asked.
“Yeah, I know it's a little confusing at the beginning but you get used to it, Izzi.“
“Wow, that's the first time I've met a zebra in, like EVER, do they all rhyme like her?“
“You know what? I don't know, Zecora is the only zebra I know and now it's kinda awkward to ask her that.“
“It's amazing how much she knows about plants, roots and the sort, I learned a lot in this hour we were there.“
“I knew you would like her, you have a lot in common... I mean with the not being from Equestria and the herbs thingy hehe“
Izzi laughed at Twilight apologetic explanation, “don't worry Twilight, I know I'm not in my home but I plan to, um... how do you say it? like 'aprovechar lo mas posible'?“
“Make the most of it?“
“Yeah that, hey do you hear something?“ Izzi directed her ears to the sound and so did Twilight, it sounded like a long scream and it was getting louder as if it was coming directly at them.
Both of them looked up and could see a blue spot that was getting bigger and finally could make out what it was screaming, “WATCH OUT DOWN THERE!!“ Twilight quickly conjured a teleportation spell and moved herself and her friend out of the way of that thing, she also summoned a lot of pillows to break its fall.
The blue thing finally landed on the pillows, scattering them everywhere, lots of white feathers slowly rained and a blue mare came out of the mess, “I knew all this protective junk would make me fall… oh hey Twilight!“ Rainbow Dash removed the googles and the mask from her muzzle, she was wearing a full body armor and helmet that covered her mane, “I was testing some gear for the Wonderbolts but I don't think it will work out... who is your friend?“
Twilight snapped and let go of the Casquillian mare, “this is Izzi, she is a friend from far away,” she said introducing her to Rainbow Dash.
Dash approached the white mare and presented her hoof, “hi I’m Rainbow Dash, the one and only,” Izzi grabbed her hoof and pulled Rainbow closer giving her a kiss on the cheek, the daredevil mare blushed and quickly pulled out, “WOA woa woa, I know I’m awesome but we barely know each other!”
Izzi remembered she wasn’t in Los Casquillos anymore, “Oh I am sorry, I did it out of habit.”
Rainbow rubbed her cheek, “That accent, wait are you from Los Casquillos?” she asked the other pegasus.
Izzi happily clapped her hooves, “yes, I am actually from Los Casquillos, you knew by my accent?”
“Yeah but not just that,” Rainbow said removing her helmet, letting her mane free on the wind.
“That mane, are you part of the Arcoiris family, Miss Dash?”
Rainbow laughed, “yeah you could say that, my abuelita from my dad’s side came from Los Casquillos, in fact she was the first and so far the only pegasus in making the fly by herself all the way to Equestria, her stamina was legendary even if her speed wasn’t.”
“No. Me. Jodas! You are the granddaughter of Mamá Prisma! Is such an honor, I’ve read about her on our history books,” Izzi clapped her hooves in excitement while Rainbow enjoyed the shows of admiration.
Twilight was confused for all this, “Rainbow, how come you never told me about this, and in any case, why I’ve never read about it either?”
“It never came up and you wouldn’t be able to read it, she was really private with her stuff, she refused to let any newspapers write about it, the only ones to document it, were the ponies that returned to Los Casquillos, she liked here so she stayed and met my grandad and the rest is history, so you are from ‘La Madre Patria’ um, Izzi was it? Kinda weird name for a Casquillana.”
The white mare rubbed her head, “yeah, actually is Flor de Izote, but my friends call me Izzi, you know because is easy,” she said winking, but Rainbow just put on a confused expression, ”I know it is a bad joke, but I like saying it.”
“Anyway, what brings you to Equestrian lands?“
Izzi pulled some papers from her saddlebag, “oh I am doing some research on exotic plants from Equestria and their function on daily uses for my thesis, I will begin with some plants here in Ponyville, so I'll stay a couple of weeks.“
Rainbow Dash laughed, “another egghead, must be destiny, how is that phrase you Casquillians say, Faust something and they something join?“
Izzi rolled her eyes, a bit annoyed at the Rainbow friendly insult, “you mean Faust los cria y ellos se juntan? Yeah I can see how that applies here, still rude tho, I am not only a scholar, I also like having fun,“ she rummaged on her saddle bag again, some of it's content falling on the ground and she pulled what appears to be a colored wooden bell, tied with a string to a stick in the middle, “I am my town's capirucho champion, check it out," she grabbed one half of the little stick with her wing letting the bell hang and with a dexterous movement she impulsed the bell impaling it on the stick.
Both Twilight and Rainbow watched how the bell landed perfectly on the stick, “wow... I mean meh, that looks easy, Izzi... oh I get it now, funny,“ Rainbow said pointing at the Casquillian.
“I'm not done yet,“ the white pegasus said moving up and down the wooden toy, the bell was lifted and then landed once again on the stick, and then again and again really fast, “my personal record is four hundred and forty five repetitions,“ Twilight and rainbow stared in awe at the mare skills, she then stopped and presented the toy to Rainbow, “wanna try?“
“Sure gimme that,“ the rainbow maned mare said picking the toy and attempting to do the same, she tried once and failed, tried again and failed, tried a third time and the bell hit her wing, “OUCH, what the hay.“
“Mmm yeah that happens more often than not when you are learning capirucho, want me to teach you?“
“Nope, I can do it alone,“ the stubborn mare replied, trying and failing again and again.
Twilight giggled at Rainbow's failed attempts, “say, since you will be staying I wanted to share with you a project of my own, but you need to keep it secret for the time being.“
“Sure Twilight, let's get to it.“
They walked towards the castle but noticed that Rainbow wasn't following them, “Rainbow are you coming?“
Rainbow Dash kept trying to make the bell fall on the stick with no luck, “mmhmm,“ she said not even paying attention to her friend, Twilight sighed and pushed Rainbow Dash who started walking without stopping trying to impale the bell on the stick.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
At the castle after some introductions and several cheeks kissed, some welcomed others not so much, Twilight explained Izzi the music box origins and its purpose, the pegasus took notes, showing her scholar side, shared by Twilight.
“No. Way, osea que los aliens exist? Me quiero morir!“
Everypony, except Rainbow that still was trying to play with the capirucho, giggled at the sudden outburst, “and that's not all, see this button here?“ Twilight said and Izzi nodded, “this is where the magic, or I should say the no-magic begins, come and press it.“
The herbalist was flipping out, she approached the music box but slipped and fell on her face, she got up quickly and continued her way to the pedestal where the music box was, she pressed the button and a voice sounded like a presenter.
Izzi got nostalgic with the tone of the song,“wow, my bisabuelo used to be a charcoal seller, actually near my town there is quite a bunch of volcanoes, so the profession of carbonero was pretty common before there was electricity and other technological stuff.”
Rarity was charmed by the lyrics of the song “darling, this song makes, even such a crude job as a charcoal seller seems, so romantic and inspiring.“
Applejack was confused by some of the lyrics, “what in the hay are nacazcol, chaperno an’ copinol, y’all?”
Twilight summoned a book with her magic showing some pictures to AJ, “those are trees, nacazcol can be found in equestria but the other two seem to be originally from Los Casquillos.”
“Also Copinol turns out to be my dad’s name, but everypony calls him Don Copo.”
“It sure sounds lonely but charming, what is a torogoz?“ Fluttershy asked.
Izzi stopped taking notes, “that is a type of bird, I believe you Equestrians call it motmot,“ she said and then continued writing.
Pinkie was enjoying a piece of cake, “so is it a song about a charcoal seller alien... weird,“ she swallowed the pastry when a candy that she didn't bring caught her attention, it was shaped like a long box it was white and had a red dot on the middle, “hey Twilight, what's this?“ she asked.
Izzi stepped up, “I actually got that, that's a candy from my country, it's called conserva de coco, I love it just make sure you don't-“ without letting her finish, the pink party pony grabbed an entire piece and ate it whole, “-eat it too fast... Rosadita are you ok?“ Pinkie was quiet, Izzi got worried, “Twilight, we might need a doctor, Pinkie ate a whole piece of conserva de coco.“
Twilight kept listening to the song, she pointed to Pinkie “don't worry, look at her,“ Izzi looked back and Pinkie's face was in front of her with a smile from ear to ear.
Pinkie grabbed Izzi by the shoulders shaking her, “pleasetellmeyouknowhowtodoitIlovedit“ the pink mare said so fast you couldn't make any word.
“Hey slower, I couldn't understand everything.“
“She's askin' if you know how to make them candies, sugarcube.“
Izzi gently pushed Pinkie, “oooh thanks Chelita, love the hair by the way, sure I'll teach you Pinkie,“ the party pony jumped laughing.
With the song ending, everypony shared their thoughts on it enjoying the food on the table, except for Rainbow Dash who still couldn't manage to land the bell of the capirucho correctly.
Izzi stepped up, cleaning some crumbs of her chest, “anyway, thanks for having me, I will be in Ponyville for a few weeks so we can see each other again.“
“And luckily you'll be able to meet Spike, he is supposed to come back in a few days from Canterlot.“
“I hope so, it will be the first time I meet a dragon too.”
“Y’all don’t have dragons on Los Casquillos, sugarcube?”
“No Chelita, but we have quetzalcoatls, which are similar, they both breath fire but ours are more like a giant snakes with feathery wings, they are all nice even if bit grumpy, they throw amazing parties but make sure to not get close to one that's drunk... they get kinda frisky if you know what I mean.”
Everypony laughed except for Rainbow who was busy destroying her wings with the wooden toy, finally it was time for everypony to leave, Izzi helped with the dishes, in the room only one pony remained, Rainbow Dash still trying to impale the bell on the stick, again and again until finally the toy landed properly, “I made it... I MADE IT! I'M THE BEST!...“ she noticed that she was alone, “where is everypony?“ she flew to the window and noticed it was already dark outside, “Oh maaaan!“ she said flying to her house in the dark.
It was early in the afternoon and Starlight was tending to Phyllis in her room after a well deserved lunch, she moved the plant there until she can move all her stuff to the school headmare's office, she cut a dead leaf and sprayed Phyllis with fresh water while humming a song. From the other side of the room a blue unicorn mare was sprawled on the bed like it was hers.
Trixie made a ball of paper, aimed to Starlight's head and threw it, failing miserably and almost hitting Phyllis, “come on!“ she said while making another paper ball.
Starlight picked her mail from the table, “no Trix, I can't take you to see the you know what,“ she picked up a letter and read its content, “seriously?” she said annoyed.
Trixie rolled on her back, “bad news?” she asked.
“Mmm I dunno, is just that Stellar Flare and my dad decided to turn her house into an office building for a project they have for the town, so I guess they will be living together for a bit longer if not for good.”
“HA! What did Trixie tell you? I knew it! Now pay up, take me to your secret project.”
“Trixie no.”
Trixie groaned, “that's not fair, you took Maud and Sunburst, even that foreign mare with the nice flanks has seen that mysterious something box, why you don't want to show it to Trixie?“
Starlight let out a sigh, “listen Trix, is not that I don't want to tell you all about it, in fact I was planning to take you this week but Twilight left with Izzi-“ she got interrupted by Trixie.
“With who?“ she asked.
“You know Izzi, you met her yesterday,“ Starlight said but Trixie just shrugged making her friend rub her temples, “the mare with a nice flanks.“
“Oh yeah Izzi, great butt for a pegasus, must be that Casquillian diet,“ Trixie got up and walked to her friend pushing Starlight near her cutiemark with her hoof, “you could use more protein in your diet, your tush is cute but lacking.“
Starlight rolled her eyes, “anyway, Twilight left with Izzi to Ghastly Gorge checking for a rare plant that only grows there, most of the girls left for a few days as well and I don't know where Spike is, there won't be any session this weekend, I'll bring you to the one next week.“
“But Glimmy, Trixie wants to see it now, the curiosity is unbearable, please say you will take Trixie today, PLEASE!“ the magician pony was now on her knees, shaking Starlight who looked annoyed.
“No Trix.“
“Please?“
“No.“
“Pretty please?“
“No.“
“Pretty please with sugar on top?“
“I said no.“
“Pretty please with sugar, a cherry and sprinkles on top?“
“Not even if you put enough sugar to make Pinkie sick.“
“Awwww... how about now?“
“Yeah sure.“
“Really?“
“No.“
Trixie grabbed Starlight and put her face next to hers, “if you show me, I'll give you one million bits,“ she whispered to her violet friend.
Starlight groaned, “Trixie, you don’t have a million bits, heck you haven't even paid me for the drinks last time, you know, the drinks you invited me that I ended up paying?“
“But if Trixie had a million bits, Trixie would give them to you because we are such good friends,“ She said while rubbing her head on Starlight's shoulder.
Starlight covered her face with her hooves for a second and with a face that could make Cranky Doodle proud she said, “if I take you there, you promise not to tell Twilight or any of the girls?“ Trixie's face beamed with happiness and quickly nodded, “fine, let's go before I regret it,“ She walked to the door.
Trixie jumped and then grabbed the pot that was on the table, “you heard that, you inanimate plant that for some reason my best friend speaks to? Starlight is going to take me to see that secret project!“ she made circles with the plant until she tripped, sending the plant flying directly to the wall.
“Phyllis, NOOOOO!“ Starlight screamed then covered her eyes waiting for the sound of the pot smashing against the wall but it never came, she watched as a blue aura surrounded the pot, mere inches from the wall, “Trixie, you saved Phyllis!“ she jumped and hugged her best friend who placed the plant on the table again.
Trixie stood there enjoying the hug until she pushed her to stop it, “alright, alright, I saved your plant, don't go asking my hoof in marriage over that, let's go see the thing.“
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Starlight took Trixie where the music box was, she ignited her horn to remove the blanket that covered the pedestal where the machine was put on and the console attached to said machine, she checked the console and Twilight’s spell, it was still working not needing any adjustment, but it didn’t hurt to check, “ok, now usually is Twilight giving all this explanation and I know you have the attention span of a five year old when it comes to scientific stuff so I’ll be brief. This is the music box, it came in some sort of capsule from space, it was built by aliens and it plays music made by said aliens. Ok please don’t freak out.”
Trixie stood there looking at Starlight for a few seconds, “is that it? Trixie was hoping something more fun, like giant robots or maybe you summoned Orbsah from the deepest pit of Tartarus.”
“Trix, why would we summon such evil? And how would a giant robot fit this room?” Trixie shrugged and Starlight continued, “anyway, it’s programmed in some way to play a song every time this little button is pressed,” she pointed at the button on the music box, “so, since you are my guest you can pr-” Trixie didn’t wait for her to finish and pressed the button and the music came back to life and what seems to be screams and the sound of something stomping the floor started playing.
“Less talk, more action,” Trixie went back to her spot, “is that what the aliens call music, is just screams and stomps,” she said until the first verse came up, “mmMMmm that voice sounds hot as oatmeal.”
“How is a voice hot?”
“You know, like when is strong and makes you feel safe or when it has a sexy accent, mmhmm that really gets me going.”
Starlight giggled, “Is that why you been eyeing up Izzi since you met her?” Trixie looked at her friend in confusion, which robbed the smile on Starlight’s face, “Miss Casquillian with nice flanks.”
“Oooooh, you can’t blame Trixie for that, in my travels I've gained a taste for the exotic. Hey this song is about a show, how fitting,” Trixie said enjoying the song ”indeed, the lights and the runaways, the tingly feeling you get when the audience calls out your name, from the small children to the elders, it's like electricity that runs from the tip of your horn to the end of your tail,” Trixie approached the pedestal where the music box was placed and put a hoof on it,” it tickles when you attempt a trick for the first time, knowing too well it could backfire and even put you in danger. But that doesn't matter, the only thing that matters is performing for your captive audience. And when the show reaches its climax and the audience makes a standing ovation,” she stepped on her rear legs clapping her hooves, ”feels like an explosion inside of you. All the doubts and worries filling your head disappear, there is only you and the scenario, you are out of breath, your body covered in sweat for the heat coming from the spotlight, the tingly feeling is still there but now you are in a bliss, you are exhausted but satisfied and can't wait until the next time you can feel it again,” she finally stopped letting herself fall on her back while being supported by the pedestal.
Starlight started her friend giggling a bit for the sudden show she put on, ”um, Trix... do you want me to leave you alone with the song?” both mares laughed at the joke but then a thought came to Starlight's head. Trixie really loved her showmare career, but now that she will be the new School Counselor, this may stop her from being a showmare, this will root her in one place, was Trixie doing this because she wanted to be part of the staff, was she giving up on her dream just so she could be close to her friend? Starlight would feel terrible if Trixie stopped being a showmare for her sake, ”Trix?” she said and the blue unicorn stopped laughing and faced her friend, ”this is hard to say but, are you giving up your career as a showmare to be part of the staff of the school of friendship?”
A warm smile formed on Trixie's face. She approached her best friend and put a hoof on her shoulder, ”don't be a silly filly, Glimmy, I'm not giving up on anything, I am a showmare and will always be a showmare, but now I have been given the opportunity to be something else as well, remember when you covered for Twilight as a headmare and the fiasco caused by Discord?” Starlight nodded, ”well, don't tell anypony but I actually enjoyed working here, it was a new experience and watching the students learn made me feel giddy inside, almost as much as performing for an audience, believe me, I am not forcing myself to take this job, I had already decided I would settle in Ponyville, I dunno if you noticed but I haven't gone for a trip in quite a while now, I can still perform here and now with this job it might give me the stability that I need in my life, I thank you Starlight, for you have given Trixie a chance to, not only entertain ponies but, help them and make a deeper impact on them,” both shared a hug meanwhile the song played on the background.
The violet mare cleaned a single tear from her eye, ”I knew I made the right decision on my replacement as a counselor, that made me feel much better, thanks Trixie.”
Trixie let go of the hug, ”you are welcome, after all I am the Great and Powerful Trixie!”
Both mares laughed for the entire thing but were interrupted by a voice coming from the door, ”I can't believe you two!” Trixie and Starlight startled turned to see the door where a purple dragon was watching them with his arms crossed carrying a bag on his shoulders, ”I can't believe you sneaked Trixie, behind Twilight’s back, into the studio and played with the music box...” the unicorns trembled thinking what Twilight will do when Spike tells on them, he approached them in a menacing way and continued, ”without ME!”
Trixie and Starlight were confused by the last thing the young drake said, ”excuse me, what did you say?” Trixie asked him.
Spike laughed, ”I sure got you two, don't worry about it, I do it all the time, I even sneaked Gabby once, I won't tell Twilight if you won't” he said winking at them.
Starlight put on an angry face, “SPIKE! You are going to give us a heart attack,” the violet mare yelled at Spike who laughed checking the console.
“Hey it could be worse, it could’ve been Twilight and not me, besides you were careless, you are lucky that the console had a new tape in it,” Spike removed the tape from the console throwing it to Starlight, “that’s yours now and make sure to hide it from Twilight. Next time you activate the music box make sure you change the tape with your own, otherwise Twilight will know it was turn on behind her back,” he rummaged in his bag and pulled another tape putting it on the console.
“So you do it all the time?” Starlight asked.
“Well not all the time, just once in a while, this tape is almost full, probably just one more song will do it. I’ve heard mostly instrumental songs I have been using on my O&O sessions as ambient music, also a song about what the fox says that I’m pretty sure it’s inaccurate and one annoyingly repetitive song that just kept saying nya nya nya at the tone of the music and it lasted an HOUR! These aliens sure are weird with some of their songs,” he then went to the console and pressed the button and sounded like couch being hit by a pillow several times.
“Oh man, another repetitive song, is like the music box is punishing us for playing with it without Twilight and the others,” Spike flopped on his seat, “wow she sounds kinda sad, doesn’t she?”
“Maybe more like bored or annoyed, what do you think Trixie?”
“What do I think? I think I like it,” Trixie began moving her body to the beat of the music, “but yeah, she sounds like she needs therapy.”
Spike snapped his claws to the beat as well, “well you gotta admit it’s catchy.”
Spike and Trixie danced together enjoying the music while Starlight watched them, “come on Glimmy, dance with Spike and me,” Trixie said while stretching her hoof. Starlight rolled her eyes with a smile on her face, grabbed Trixie’s hoof and danced with them.
There they stood moving their caboose with the song until it was over, then Spike picked the tape from the console and put a new one, “remember, if you are going to use the music box, change the tape and leave everything like Twilight left it.”
“Will do Spike, didn’t know you were this sneaky.”
“There are a lot of things you or the girls don’t know about me,” he said winking, “since we are done, wanna grab some grub? I’m starving.”
The mares nodded and cleaned the room, they left without a trace they were even there, and went to the kitchen to prepare dinner.
Saying Rainbow Dash enjoys flying it's an understatement, Rainbow Dash loves flying and flying she does, in the morning, in the afternoon and sometimes late at night, that day the multicolored mane pegasus was flying over Ponyville after having brunch, the wind played with her feathers and the sun caressed her coat, in summary it was a nice day. She was flying over the market when she spotted a mare wearing a cape, hat and glasses, it was Daring Do on her A.K. Yearling disguise buying some apples from Big Mac's stall, she hadn't seen her since her co-produced book was released a few days ago.
Rainbow landed behind the book author and tapped her on the back, “hey A.K. what brings you to Ponyville?“ she whispered on the adventurer's ear.
Daring didn't turned, but grabbed Rainbow's hoof and pulled her into an alley, “Dash, glad to see you, maybe you can help me since you know the town better than me.“
Rainbow was about to let out a fangirl scream but contained herself and saluted, “no problem Daring, what do you need me to do?“ Rainbow had some time before the music box session that day, so she decided to help Daring with her issue.
Looking out of the alley, Daring said “not here, do you know somewhere we could talk privately?“
Rainbow thought for a few seconds and a light bulb turned on in her head, “the castle, we can go to the Castle of Friendship,“ the place was private, the only ones that would be there would be her friends and she could trust them, besides maybe she could invite Daring to their music box session.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
They reached the castle and landed in one of the unused rooms, only with the normal necessities, a bed a closet and a desk with a chair, Daring Do removed her disguise and donned her iconic jacket and hat, “ok, here is the deal,“ she said pulling some documents from her saddlebags, “a few moons ago, there was a strange stellar phenomenon,“ Rainbow paid attention while Daring put the papers on the floor showing drawings of the night sky and other things, “a meteorite fell on Ponyville and was seen by some of the local ponies, some witnesses mentioned that the object appeared to be a shiny sphere,“ Dash was curious since that sounded familiar, “other witnesses also mentioned that the unknown object headed directly to the town center but then changed its direction and landed on the outskirts of town,“ it was then when something clicked on Rainbow Dash's brain, she was talking about the alien object, this was going to be easier than she thought, “anyway, when I heard I came here and tried to find the object but there was none besides the landing crater.“
Rainbow was excited to help Daring solve this mystery and spend time with her as much as she could so she tried to delay the great discovery, “sooOOoo, if you knew it then, how come you are investigating now?“
“Well, this was a dead end and I had no more clues, so I thought it might have been just rumors, but then a few weeks ago I overheard a couple of unicorns on a date at a cafe in Canterlot, talking about a secret on Ponyville and they mentioned some sort of capsule landing on the town containing some sort of special box,“
Sunburst and Moon Dancer, Twilight is gonna flip out for this, Rainbow thought, “well I think you are in luck, Daring since I-“ Rainbow began but was interrupted by Daring Do.
“It's really important to find this item, for if it's dangerous it needs to be destroyed else I need to confiscate it, who knows what kind of artifact this could be, so what were you saying, Rainbow Dash?“
The color was drained from the face of the blue pegasus, “I-I-I-I mean you are in luck since I will help you,“ she nervously laughed, 'I can't let Daring near the music box, we are almost one hundred and twenty percent sure is harmless but knowing Daring Do, she will take it away to study it herself,' “we should begin on the town outskirts,“ 'oh man, now I'm lying to Daring Do, I'm so going to need a deluxe spa package after this.'
Both mares headed to the door, Rainbow had planned to avoid the music box at all cost, she opened the door and was greeted by a purple alicorn, “Rainbow, Daring Do what a surprise, so you were making all that noise,“ Twilight greeted both pegasus.
Daring lifted her hat “Princess Twilight, nice to meet you again, it's been a while, Rainbow was taking me to-“
Rainbow quickly grabbed Daring Do and pulled her to the exit, “to a secret mission that will take most of the afternoon.“
“Please Daring Do just Twilight is fine. Hey if you have time, I believe I have an artifact that will blow your mind.“
Daring Do perked her ears at the mention of an “artifact?“ she asked stopping Rainbow who facehoofed.
“Yeah we call it the music box, it's a gadget that fbfbfbf-“ Twilight began but was muted by Dash's hooves.
“That- um Twilight invented, it plays music, it's pretty neat,“ Rainbow held her purple friend with all her might.
“Like a radio?“ the mustard colored mare asked.
Rainbow firmly held Twilight who struggled to get free, “YEAH! I guess is not that exciting, we should better go look for that secret thing, right?“
“Actually, I love music, I wouldn't mind taking some time of our search to listen to a few pieces, by the way, I think you are suffocating Twilight.“
Dash let go of her friend who desperately breathed, “WHAT THE HAY *gasp* RAINBOW DASH *gasp* YOU ALMOST *gasp* CHOKED ME TO DEATH! *gasp*.“
“I'll be right back Daring, I need to talk with Twilight,“ Rainbow said while pulling Twilight, who was breathing normally now, to the next room closing the door, “Twi we got a problem, we can't let Daring Do discover that the music box was created by aliens,“ she said while pulling Twilight close to her face.
Twilight was confused, “what? Why?“ she asked.
“Because, she came to investigate the stuff that fell on the outskirts of town a few moons ago, the very same thing that carried the music box inside.“
“Ok, so what, we can just show it to her.“
“She wants to either destroy or confiscate it.“
Twilight eyes shrunk at the news, “NO! That can't be!“
“I know and that's why we can't let her discover it's origin.“
Twilight grabbed Rainbow's head now, “so what's the plan?“
Rainbow pushed Twilight, “what? you are the one who makes the plans,“
“Oh yeah,“ Twilight said rubbing her head, “ok, so we need to show her the music box, she would be suspicious if we suddenly say it doesn't exist, we'll tell her that is was my invention, I'll write a letter to Spike so the girls are aware of the plan,“ she picked a quill and paper, wrote a message and magicked to Spike, “alright, we just need to to keep Daring Do occu-“ the alicorn was interrupted by a letter appeared before her, she read the scroll, “oh no,“ she ran to the door, opening to see Daring talking with Pinkie.
Pinkie turned to see Twilight, she waved, “hi Twilight I was talking with Daring Do about the music box, she was curious about it so I told her on how it came from a huge metal ball from space, made by aliens and how it plays songs... oh wait that was your job, sorry,“ she said while smiling.
Both Rainbow and Twilight watched them, their mouths wide open, Daring Do looked confused, “So Princess, is this pink mare telling the truth?“ Daring asked the Princess of Friendship.
Rainbow was sweating, turned to see Twilight who had a stoic look on her face, 'why is she so calm,' she thought 'she must have a plan,' she saw her approaching the explorer pony in a cold fashion.
Once Twilight was right next to Daring, she broke into tears shaking the other mare, “oh please, please, PLEASE don't take the music box from us, is not dangerous and we have learned SOOOO much, this research is TOO important for me,“ the shakes startled Daring Do and her hat fell on the ground.
Daring was getting dizzy at the attack of the purple alicorn, “Twi-i-i-ilight plea-se stop sha-a-aking me!“ Twilight let go of her, Daring grabbed her head trying to recover her orientation, then picked up her hat, “what do you mean by don't take it from you?“
Twilight cleaned her tears and still sniffing said, “is just that Rainbow told me that you planned to destroy or confiscate the contents of the unknown object that fell here a few moons ago and we have been studying it since then, I don't want it being taken away and I definitely don't want it destroyed.“
“Oh I see,“ Daring then laughed her heart out, the look on Twilight's face went from sad to confused and annoyed, “I'm sorry Twilight, is just that I a few days ago I learned a lesson on hearing somepony before making assumptions, why didn't you just tell me all about it? You know what? Don't tell me, don't worry about it, I said that to Rainbow just in case the artifact was in the wrong hooves, but since you are the one studying this music box then I don't see a reason to take it or destroy it.“
Twilight's face beamed with happiness, “really?“ she asked and Daring Do nodded, Twilight jumped hugging the pegasus and Rainbow joined the hug.
“I dunno what's going on but, YAY GROUP HUG!“ Pinkie hugged everyone with her elastic hooves.
Daring was in the center of this pony pile, 'besides, the last time I tried taking something from an alicorn, I spent a week in a dungeon, never again,' she thought, “alright, I think you promised me a song, didn't you?“ everypony let go of the hug and headed to the studio.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Everyone else were waiting for Twilight and the others to appear, an uneasy atmosphere filled the room while they waited, suddenly they could hear hoofsteps coming from the hall, “good heavens, here they come, Izzi please don’t overreact, darling,” she asked the Casquillian.
“Don’t worry Blanquita, I’m calm as a pine tree,” she said while assuming tree pose in yoga, at that moment the door opened showing the four mares, “THERE SHE IS! MUERE COBARDE!” Izzi yelled pouncing at Daring Do who startled, let her instinct take over, she jumped moving Izzi’s head down, this made the other pegasus hit the floor hard, giving Daring the chance to trap her into a judo lock, “AY, AY, ME DUELE, ME DUELE, I GIVE UP!” Izzi stomped the ground asking for mercy.
Daring let go of the younger mare, “sorry kiddo, my body moved on it’s own, but you shouldn’t attack somepony out of the blue, no hard feelings?”
“Sorry, I just don’t want you taking Twilight’s research from her, this is really important,” Izzi said while she was being helped up by Twilight.
“Don’t worry kid, I won’t take it, as long as Twilight promises to study it properly and to keep me updated about it since I find it pretty interesting.”
“I’m not a kid, I’m an adult!” Izzi said while pouting, “I'm twenty one and almost a college graduate!”
“Well you are still younger than me and you are kinda short,” Daring said while putting a hoof on Izzi’s head.
Izzi removed Daring’s hoof from her head, “that’s rude, I’m not that short, I’m just a quarter of a hoof shorter than you!”
“Easy there, ki- I mean Izzi was it? I’m sorry, it wasn’t my intention to insult you.”
“That’s alright, I shouldn’t have attacked you either.”
“Friends?” Daring extended her hoof to the white pegasus.
“Sure why not,” she grabbed Daring’s hoof with her own and Daring pulled her and gave her a kiss on the cheek, “oh, that was unexpected.”
“That’s how you Casquillians introduce each other, or am I wrong?” Daring asked with a blush thinking she got it wrong.
“No, you are right, is just that I never expected an Equestrian to greet me as the ponies from my land, I really appreciate it,” Izzi also had a blush on her face.
Pinkie jumped near the two pegasus, “alrighty girls, make-out later, we are over two thousand words already and haven’t even listened to a song,” she said, both Izzi and Daring Do hadn’t noticed they were still holding hooves, they released each other and everyone got in their spots around the music box.
“So this is the artifact?” Daring asked, inspecting the music box, “smooth and I don’t recognize the material, seems pretty advanced, more advanced than minotaur tech or even ponies from Neighpon, let me guess this big button is how you turn it on?” Twilight nodded so Daring Do pressed it, an orchestral piece started playing.
Pinkie threw popcorn to the music box, “too predictable, boo, give me my money back!”
“But Pinkie, you are not paying for this,” said Spike.
The mustard colored mare always appreciated orchestral music, she always made time to attend a concert or two as A.K. Yearling in her downtime, “I really like this piece, is there a chance I can get a copy of this?”
Twilight nodded, “Sure thing Daring Do, I’ll make a copy on a tape right after.”
“Wait a minute, did you say Daring do?” Izzi asked Twilight, “you are the Daring Do?”
Daring scratched the back of her head, “oops my bad, I forgot to tell you my name, but yeah.”
“So is all the adventures on the books true?” everypony nodded, “wow, that’s amazing!”
“Yeah, in fact I’m headed to Tenochtitlan Basin in a few days.”
Izzi was fascinated, “to another adventure?”
“Not really, I have to return some of the artifacts I took from there so Ahuizotl can keep his job.”
“What? Why? I thought he was the bad guy.”
Fluttershy stepped in, “well, it turns out that he was just the guardian of this and other relics, he is not evil, just misunderstood.”
“What about the time he was going to release a wave of unrelenting heat over the world?” Izzi asked.
Daring shook her head, “actually that was just going to affect the valley, he was doing it to protect the remaining relics, also he was helped by the local ponies and even the wildlife.”
Fluttershy spoke again, “his cats even told me that they agreed with Ahuizotl, they knew valley creatures would stand the heat wave and Ahuizotl even had a plan to make sure the jungle won’t suffer.”
The white pegasus was confused, “ok, but what about all the traps he put you in?” she asked scratching her head.
Daring scratched her chin with a hoof, “I always thought that Auizotl’s traps were the easiest to escape from. He always put the solution in the same room or even in some cases the trap failed at the last second, I think he did that most likely to scare me.”
Izzi was now annoyed, “fine, but what about all his monologues about conquering the world?” she said crossing her arms.
Daring blushed a bit at that, “um, you see… fine, I might have used a fair amount of artistic license with his dialogues, I never paid much attention to what he said and probably that’s one of the reasons that I never understood that he was just protecting the artifacts.”
“Alright, it seems that this just blew my mind, wait a minute, if you are going to Tenochtitlan Basin can you take me with you?”
This took by surprise everyone in the room, “what? Why?” Daring asked.
“I’m working on my thesis and I was planning to go there in a few moons, to check on the plants and compare it with the ones with a similar place in Los Casquillos.”
“You mean Tazumal?” Izzi nodded, “well I guess I could use the company, sure, you can come with me but you need to listen to my instructions.” Izzi nodded faster.
With the song reaching its end, everypony went their ways, Twilight invited Daring to spend the next few nights at the castle until she had to leave town, Izzi and Daring's rooms were in front of each other so they walked together until they reached their respective doors.
Daring opened her door and then faced Izzi, ”alright Shorty, we'll begin your survival training tomorrow, so sleep well.”
Izzi turned to face Daring Do, ”wait a minute, Shorty? Are you going to tease me for my stature the whole trip?” Daring nodded, ”come on, I already have a nickname, it's Izzi.”
”Really? so what's your name?”
”It's Flor de Izote,” she said with a serious face.
”You mean like the round bush with the pointy leafs and white flowers?” Daring asked and Izzi nodded, ”round, eh? I like it, I'll call you Short Round from now on,” Daring teased the white mare.
Izzi blushed and pouted, ”nooo, please call me Izzi,” she protested, but deep down she actually liked the new nickname, but she will never admit it.
”We'll see, sleep tight,” Daring entered her room and closed the door.
Daring was already planning what she will teach Short Round the next few days, to help her prepare for the travel to Tenochtitlan Basin and maybe other places, who knows if everything goes well, she could have gotten a new partner for her adventures.
At the Castle of friendship, three little fillies were sorting Twilight's entire book collection, a punishment agreed by the Sweetie Belle's parents, Granny Smith, Scootaloo's aunts and Twilight, for leaving to the fair on their own. They spent the last few days after school pulling the books, checking and documenting their condition, finally putting them back on their respective place while either Twilight or Starlight were supervising. Today it was a bit different, they were almost done so they were taking it slower and other thing, today Spike was their warden, he was more entertaining than the two older mares, Twilight usually tried to teach them stuff, Starlight tell them stories but usually they end up in a lecture about how not to be evil. With Spike it was different, he tells jokes, brings them snacks and he was pretty fun to spend to.
”Ah can't believe we're almost done, Ah was startin' to think that we'll be doin' this for the rest of our lives.”
Spike let out a chuckle, ”come on Apple Bloom, it has been like what? five days? six with this one, you are doing great for your first time though, I remember it used to take me at least two weeks with Twilight to organize her entire collection when I was a small runt, lately only takes us three days tops,” he threw a cookie in the air and caught it with his mouth, ”hmm, fwe arf ouf of foofies *gulp* I'll go get more they should be ready about now.”
The young dragon left to the kitchen so the CMC took a break and had some juice, ”after finishing today, I don't want to see a book, in like forever,” Sweetie Belle said then sipped from the glass.
Scootaloo lay on her back on the floor, ”I know right, I've even had a nightmare about books and to think that she read every single one of them.”
”Ah reckon' she might be some sort of genie.”
”I think you mean genius, Apple Bloom,” the white filly corrected her friend.
”Ha! You are still a dictionary, Sweetie Belle,” Scootaloo said still on her back with eyes closed.
Sweetie let out a raspberry, ”that's all you get, I'm too tired to even think about a good insult,” she levitated the glass and drank the remaining of her juice.
Apple Bloom watched her unicorn friend, ”hey Sweetie Belle,” she said and her friend turned to see her, ”you've gotten pretty good with that, magics y'all unicorns use.”
Sweetie Belle smiled at the praise, ”thanks AB, I practice every day and now I can do a few more spells besides levitate things like illuminating my horn to read at night, some weak heat spells, a healing one, kinda weak too though, Starlight taught me accelero that I used on Harmonizing Heights, OH! a transmutation spell too, look,” she pointed her horn to her glass and concentrated her limited mana reserves and casted a spell on the item turning it into a teacup, ”ouch, it kinda stings a bit, Trixie taught me that one.”
”That's so cool!” the other two fillies said at the same time.
Scootaloo stood up, ”wait a minute, didn't you teleport that teen pony Biscuit back on the fair? that was even cooler!”
Sweetie Belle rubbed the back of her head blushing, ”yeah I gotta admit that was actually a fluke, I know the theory but I've never been able to cast it before, maybe my grown up body could do it and even then my horn was out of commission for hours after that, I don't know how Twilight and Starlight can do it all the time.”
”Well they are pretty strong magicians, Ah reckon in time, you might be able to it as well.”
”Speaking of strength, what's the heaviest thing you can lift, Sweetie Belle?”
”I dunno, I've never tried to lift anything heavier than a few books.”
”Can you lift me?” asked Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle channelled her spell and successfully lifted the pegasus, ”yay , awesome.”
”How 'bout me?” Sweetie Belle put down Scootaloo and now lifted Apple Bloom with a bit more difficulty, ”come on, Ahm not that fat, right?”
”Don't worry AB, pegasi are naturally lighter than earth ponies,” this made Apple Bloom feel better, ”ok, now a challenge, how about THE WORLD!” Scootaloo pointed at the wooden Equum Globe.
”Alright, here goes nothing,” the white unicorn filly channelled with all her might, the sphere began levitating, ”it's... too... heavy...” Sweetie Bell felt her mana reserves draining under the strain, until they were depleted and she let go of the sphere, it fell on the table, rolling on the floor almost hitting the fillies.
”It's heading to the studio, we gotta stop it!” Scootaloo ran next to the wooden ball.
The globe hit the doors opening them and got in the studio, a loud thud was heard and then nothing else.
”Rotten apples. We ain't supposed to get in there.”
”We weren't supposed to play with the big ball either, I say we go in there, get the ball and then get back here, easy peasy lemon squeezy” Scootaloo said putting herself in a start position.
”The hay it will be easy peasy lemon squeezy, it will be hard hard lemon hard!” the unicorn said still rubbing her horn trying to recover from her mana exhaustion.
Apple Bloom put a hoof on Sweetie Belle's shoulder, ”there is no other way out Sweetie, but we need t'be smart 'bout it, we need a plan, right Scootaloo?”
The pegasus wasn't listening to anything they said, ”ok chums, let's do this SCOOOOTAAAAAALOOOOOOOOO CHAAAAAAARGE,” and ran full throttle inside the studio.
”Oh my gosh she just ran in... ”
”Scootaloo, we need a plan!”
The other two fillies ran behind the pegasus who tripped on something and rolled on the floor, the place was dark beside the dim light coming from the other room, the other two also tripped and rolled behind their friend, ending upside down on the wall next to the wooden globe they were looking for.
”Dagnabbit Scootaloo, you dodo” the earth pony yelled at her friend.
”We could have broken something Scootaloo and now we will be grounded again for this you flamingo!”
”At least I'm not a chicken hehe” Scootaloo said while trying to get up and see with the limited light coming from the door, ”hey can you turn on your horn light?”
”I think I can, lemme,” Sweetie grunted and her horn illuminated the room, ”I'm tired, can't hold it longer, find a light switch,” she asked and Apple Bloom quickly found the switch turning on the lights.
They were greeted by the mess they made, the ball hit the wall making a painting fall on the ground, which they tripped when they entered the room, no damage was done to the globe or anything else, but most important, they found a huge thing in the middle of the room covered by a blanket.
The three fillies stared at the blanket until Sweetie Belle talked, ”what in Faust's name is that?”
”Ain't that the thing Applejack and the others come see every other weekend?”
”You think? I was convinced they came to do grown up stuff like doing taxes,” Scootaloo said.
Sweetie Belle shook her head, ”why would they do their taxes every two weeks?” the other two fillies shrugged, ”what is doing taxes anyway, I heard doing them sucks.”
Scootaloo grabbed the blanket with her mouth and pulled it revealing the music box and the console, ”what are you doing? we're goin' t'get grounded for the rest of our lives!”
The pegasus let go of the blanket, ”well, we are already here, we might as well check this out, come on, don't tell me you are not just a little bit curious about it.”
The other two CMCs looked at each other and nodded, both pulled a few pillows to reach the console. They examined the device to satisfy their curiosity, Sweetie Belle pressed a button turning it on the console, ”I think this is one of those thingies artists use to record music,” the three of them then turned to the other object, ”but I have no idea what this is.”
”Well there's a button there, let's press it y'all.”
The three fillies reached for the button, they were about to press the button when they heard someone clearing his throat right at the door, they scrambled and fell on each other in front of the dragon holding a tray filled with cookies, they did their best to put on their most innocent smile but Spike rolled his eyes and let out smoke from his nose, ”fillies please, I still use the puppy eyes once in a while, that doesn't affect me,” he put the tray on the ground and flew to the console, ”alright, no damage and the music box is off, you girls are really lucky, if you pressed that button you will be soooo busted, stay here and don't move, I'll be right back,” the dragon flew out of the room for a few minutes and came back with a bag, ”ok, now you need to promise me you'll never tell anypony that I let you use the music box,” the trio was confused.
Scootaloo rubbed her head and asked, ”what do you mean with music box, Spike?”
Spike smiled, ”well you see, eventually Twilight was going to invite you to check this out, but again you need to promise me that you will never tell a soul that I let you play with this before Twilight gave the ok, understood?” the CMC pinkie promised and he was satisfied with that, ”ok, from the beginning...”the purple drake told them about how the huge metal sphere fell on the town outskirts, the purpose of the music box while changing the tape on the console, the fillies paid attention to the whole thing, theirs mouths open most of the time hearing the fantastic story, ”... and that's pretty much it, Twilight will probably tell you the same thing when she invites you, so act surprised then, capisce?” they nodded, ”we don't have much time before Twilight comes back, so why don't you press it at the same time?” the CMC scrambled again and pressed the button at the same time, bringing the music box to life at the sound of an electric guitar.
Scootaloo clapped her hooves, ”that sounds AWESOME!”
The unicorn filly enjoyed the song, ”yeah it's great, but why wouldn't they grow up? Grown ups have all the fun.”
Spike snorted, ”yeah right, even if we can do more stuff than you, it brings even more responsibilities.”
”Come one Spike, you ain't that much older than us.”
”Well not that older but still older and I don't have as much free time as you might think, sometimes I wish I was a child again, I remember the only responsibility I had was behaving properly and doing a few chores, now I'm responsible for so many things that make my head spin, luckily Twilight let me off the hook when I ask.”
”That sounds awful, now that I think, my sister is pretty busy all the time and that stresses her out, filling orders, sewing clothes and managing her shops is pretty tiresome.”
”Yeah, Rainbow is busy all the time too, with being a wonderbolt and all.”
”And Applejack is always busy as well y'all, boy being a grown up sucks, maybe we're better of bein' children.”
”Yeah, sometimes being a child is better and that song is not giving a good picture about being old, even if it sounds good it's bumming me out,” Spike laid on his back with a long face, ”you know, I had to grow up really fast to help twilight, I couldn't enjoy much of my childhood since my only two friends were Shining Armor and Twilight. That's why I do stuff like this, like sneaking behind her to play with this music box, it kinda makes me feel like a kid again.”
The CMC surrounded Spike, nodded at each other and then gave him a hug, ”don't be sad, Spike, we think you are awesome and if it's worth something, you don't feel like a boring grown up at all,” Scootaloo said and Spike smiled enjoying the hug. There they stayed enjoying each other's warmt for the remaining of the song.
Once the song stopped they broke the hug and Spike pulled the tape from the console and put the one it had before, ”well, I guess this is yours, hide it on one of your saddlebags, here Sweetie Belle, this scroll has indications on how to send me messages, it's not hard at all, I'm sure you can learn it, whenever you want to come listen to a song, send me a scroll and I'll reply it if Twilight is not here,” they grabbed the tape and the scroll, and put it on Sweetie Belle's saddle bag, ”so now, let's fix this mess and finish sorting those books.”
The fillies groaned at the same time but did as they were asked, they finished just as Twilight entered the room accompanied by Rainbow Dash who was playing with the capirucho, ”hey girls, I see you are done, right?” the fillies and dragon nodded, ”great, Spike I need your help right now,” she then turned to the CMC, ”Rainbow Dash will take you girls home.”
Rainbow snapped hearing her name, ”wait, no session today?” she asked putting away the wooden toy.
Twilight shook her head, ”not today, everypony is busy doing other things and me too... wait, you are not too busy, right Rainbow?” Dash shook her head, ”well, why don't you let the fillies listen to a song, you can explain them the origin of the music box and all.”
”Wait, me? aren't you supposed to listen to every song?”
”I'll listen to the recording afterwards, besides, I'm sure they deserve a reward of some sort after doing such a great job, come on Spike maybe if we hurry we'll be back on time to listen to it,” the purple duo left the room but Spike looked back and winked at the fillies.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
A few minutes later after Rainbow Dash attempted, to explain everything about the origin of the music box, they were surrounding the device sitting on pillows.
Apple Bloom whispered to her friends, ”we're lucky Spike told us about this before, Rainbow Dash sucks at explainin' sciency stuff, y'all” Sweetie Belle giggled meanwhile Scootaloo pouted, but she knew Apple Bloom was right.
”Well, if anypony has a question raise your hoof,” the trio shook their heads, ”great, I'm awesome at this as well, so if you are ready, why don't you three, press the button together?” the three fillies approached the music box and pressed the button for the second time that day.
Rainbow Dash returned to her seat to listen to the song, “it seems to be a song for child… shaking his WHAT! Oh, on their what? Oh I see, BWAHAHAHA!” she laughed at the lyrics meanwhile the three underaged fillies watched her confused.
“Ah don’t get it, what’s so funny? It ain’t even rhyme.”
The other two fillies shrugged and kept listening, the older pegasus lay on the floor laughing her cutiemark off.
Scootaloo snapped at a word of the song, “hunt? So they are predators, like griffons or dragons,” she said scratching her head.
“It seems that way, hopefully they don’t hunt ponies hehe, sizable home? Couldn’t they just say big home? The entire song doesn’t even rhyme, it sounds like they are about to say something that rhymes but then they say something else,” Sweetie Belle began to get annoyed at the song lyrics.
At that moment the last line of the song played while Twilight and Spike entered the room, even if the CMC didn’t understood the double entendre of most of the lyrics, they knew enough to understand the last phrase even if it was censored, all of them stood there with their mouth open, even Rainbow knew that last part went too far.
“Was the song telling us to go f-” Scootaloo began but was immediately silenced by Sweetie Belle’s hoof.
The white filly held her friend, “let us never speak of this again,” she said and the pegasus nodded, all the others kept staring at the music box.
Twilight had an eye twitch but went to cover the music box, “ok girls, I want you to forget all about that last part, would you do me that favor?” all of them nodded and Rainbow took the fillies to their respective homes without muttering a single word for the rest of the trip.
The main doors of the castle of friendship opened letting six well dressed mares and a dragon in the building, they were discussing the lovely wedding they attended.
“Darling, that was quite the divine ceremony, the decoration was beautiful, the food was exquisite and the dress, THE DRESS was divine.“
Applejack laughed at Rarity's dramatic outburst, “of course you like the dress, sugarcube, you made it.“
Rarity smiled blushing, “well, is still a piece of art and it will be a cold day in Tartarus when I don't enjoy a fine piece of clothing.“
Applejack put an arm around Rarity's shoulder, pulling her to nuzzle, “thank you Rares, you done did really good to my family, y'all did, an' Ah thank y'all from the bottom of mah heart,“ everyone shared a hug for a few seconds, “aight, Ah think that's enough, it's gettin' kinda hot in here.“
All of them separated and headed to the Castle studio, it's been several weeks since they have been able to listen to the music box due to the wedding preparations, and they all decided to go there after the wedding, it was late in the afternoon just after the party ended and the newlyweds left for their honeymoon in Las Pegasus, they were half way when they heard a knock at the door.
Spike quickly returned to the door, “I'll get it, you can go to the studio and I'll catch up“ he said flying to the door.
Once the main six reached their destiny, Twilight prepared the console and the music box, when Spike entered the room.
He was carrying what appeared to be a receipt, “Twilight, the boxes are here, they left them on the foyer.“
Everyone in the room remained silent since they knew what those boxes were for. Twilight finally broke the silence, “so it's been awhile but the music box seems to still be charged, I guess this will be the last session in a while, at least until after the coronation,“ she said while turning to face the console, everyone else remained silent, their faces showed no emotion but deep inside they dreaded the fact that one of their best friends was going to move far away, “so... let's decide who is next.“
Twilight picked the sticks but at that moment a slight earth movement startled the group, it was quick but was strong enough to break a little piece of the ceiling that fell on the music box, just a tiny piece of crystal, heavy enough to activate the music box and not damage it, a slow melancholic music started playing.
Twilight freaked out and checked the music box finding no damage, Pinkie giggle, “It seems the Castle wanted its turn too.“
Fluttershy put her hooves on her chest, “her voice is ever so beautiful,“ everyone in the room agreed.
Even Rainbow was enjoying the song “yeah, but does she need to describe it so it sounds so sad?“
“Rainbow Darling, I am most certain she is looking back at her memories, and yearns for her youth, oh the drama, the cries of an old soul longing for her better years, she looks back at all the things she did and sobs for the things she didn't do, it's real life poetry,“ Rarity put her hoof on her forehead while fake fainting, Applejack quickly reacted catching her so she won't plummet to the hard floor.
Pinkie giggled at the duo, “yeah remembering is really fun, like when Twilight first came to Ponyville, I saw her when she first got here, remember? she was all 'hello' and I was all *gasp*, remember?“
Twilight roller her eyes, “yeah Pinkie I remember, or when just a week after that I got some tickets for the Grand Galloping Gala and you almost tore each other's manes for them,“ everybody laughed remembering the fight that broke.
“Speakin' of fights, Ah remember Ah almost ran after Gilda t'tear her a new tail hole when Shy told me she yelled at her on the market, come to think of it, did she ever apologize for that, Shy?“
“As a matter of fact, she kinda did, even before Rainbow and Twilight went to Griffonstone. I ran into her after the party and she told me she didn't recognize me at the time, we were never really friends at flight school but since she and Dash spent a lot of time together, I used to tag along even if I didn't talk, so she remembered me and apologized, um... in her own way, for roaring at me so I forgave her.“
Rainbow softly pushed her childhood friend, “you are a forgiving mare Fluttershy, now that I think about it, we all are pretty forgiving, we have forgiven so many like Gilda, Discord, Flim and Flam, Trixie, Starlight, Stygian, Garble am I forgetting somepony?“
Twilight gave a knowing smile, “yeah, us, we are not free of mistakes, we have been forgiven countless times, like that time I enchanted my doll with a want it need it spell, when I modified the parasprites and started eating the town, when I messed the winter wrap up...“
Twilight was interrupted by Pinkie, “or when I made multiple clones, when I made the baked bads, or when a ginormous cake fell on Dashie or when I messed Cranky's scrapbook, or when Dashie wrecked the weather factory.“
Rainbow let out a groan, “don’t remind me of that, I’m still paying for the damages, speaking of damage, we have gotten away with some collateral damage haven’t we?” everyone else looked at her confused, “you know, like the destruction caused by the parasprites, the Grand Galloping Gala, the houses wrecked by the ursa minor, the dam that broke, that entire city the pony of shadows destroyed, luckily we’ve been able to fix most of them.”
“Yeah and we had sooooo much fun too,” Pinkie jumped in front of everyone, “remember all the parties we had through the years? like birthday parties, you are not an evil enchantress parties, reformed villains parties, I remember every single one of them.”
“Pinkie, you are the only pony capable of remembering every single party you have thrown, of that I’m sure,” the alicorn accepted that she might never understand how that pink pony works, but that didn’t really matter as long as she was her friend, “we have been through a lot these past years, the return of Nightmare Moon, the return of Discord, the attack of Chrysalis and the changelings, Sombra, the Pony of Shadows, Tirek, even Cozy Glow among others.”
“And we bucked every single one of their butts, YEAH!” Rainbow raised her hoof and Applejack bumped it.
“And the travels, darling, we have been all over Equestria and even beyond, thanks to the Cutiemark Map.”
“Oh my, I loved the adventures the map has sent us, remember when it sent us to finish a feud with the Hooffields and the McColts, Twilight?” the alicorn nodded, “or when it sent us to help the Kirins, Applejack?”
“Woowee, that was sure a fun adventure, but Ahm glad we can have slow days like this one, without somethin’ that threatens Equestria, even if it’s the spa days, or tea parties or even sleepovers, like the first one we had short after Twilight came t’Ponyville. Ah believe that was the first time Rares and Ah share the bed.”
Everyone in the room turned to see Rarity and Applejack next to each other, Pinkie had her cheeks full of air and a was grinning, Rarity pulled Applejack’s hat covering the cowpony’s face and then turned to see her pink pony friend, “Don’t. You. Dare. Pinkie!” the party pony swallowed all the air and smiled.
The song reached its end without the group noticing until Twilight turned to the music box, “hey the music box stopped, how about one last time?”
“I’m with you Twilight, besides there isn’t much to do today,” Spike said while flying over them and everypony else agreed.
Twilight was about to pick the sticks to draw but then stopped, “you know, this will be the last time we hear a song from the music box together for a while, why don’t we press the button together?”
“But Twi, it is a little tiny minuscule button and our hooves are not that tiny,” Pinkie alleged but Twilight put a hoof on her head.
“If there is something I have learned from you, Pinkie, is that where there's a will there's a way, Spike put your claw on the button, everypony else let's put our hooves over spike's claw.”
And so they did, whoever could fly, flew to make more space and together they pressed the button and what appeared to be several instruments played but then ended and a new song started.
”Ooooh, this sounds like a circus, I bet it's a happy song,” Pinkie said clapping her hooves, but then the first verse played and gone was the smile from her face, ”scratch that, this is a goodbye song, there is nothing sadder than the end of a circus show.”
Rarity was enjoying the song while leaning on Applejack for support, ”it's a lovely song and they sing it with feeling, I wonder if they actually feel what they are singing.”
Fluttershy felt moved by the song and shed a single tear, ”I'm sure they feel it, otherwise they wouldn't be able to sing with so much passion.”
A smile returned to the pink pony's face, ”I love the message and it's so true, I will never forget everyone who watched our adventures, staying with us for all these years, laughing with us, crying with us and giving us hope whenever there was a chance for us to get cancelled,” Pinkie's face beamed with happiness but still shed some tears, for she knew.
”Pinkie are you ok, why are you crying?” Rainbow dash flew to her friend and cleaned her tears with a wing.
”I'm sorry Dashie, I guess I went a bit out of character there, don't worry about me, I'm ok.”
Fluttershy who was next to Pinkie was a bit concerned, ”but what do you mean by getting us cancelled?”
Pinkie patted Fluttershy on the head, ”that's nothing your cute little head should worry about, just let Mama Pinkie handle it.”
Fluttershy was slightly annoyed for that, ”I'm still a year older than you.”
Everyone laughed, ”but really, this song is fitting for today's session, we might not be able to get together like this, with you leaving to Canterlot, we staying here, you would probably take the music box with you and most of us might not be able to travel every other week to the capital, am I not correct, darling?”
”Oh Rarity, you would be correct, except that I'm not taking the music box with me,” everypony else gasped at the news, ”well you see, I know it would be really hard for everypony to gather every two weeks for our sessions, but it will be easier for me since I'm only a teleport away, besides I might not be able to join every single session as I used to, but I still want you to keep studying these aliens as much as possible, so I'll leave Starlight and Spike in charge of managing the project.”
”But ain't Spike leavin' with you Twilight?”
Twilight nodded, ”yes, but you see, I gave Spike a little gift, something I've been working for a while, show them,” Spike pulled a golden bracelet from a bag, it sported Twilight's cutiemark, ”I enchanted this bracelet with a spell so it will be similar to the EEA Medallion, Spike will be able to come here whenever he needs to even if I can't come.”
”Awesome, Twilight you thought in everything.”
”Well probably not everything, but I want to make sure that we learn as much as we can from this,” she patted the music box, ”who knows what we will learn tomorrow or next week or in a few years, we might be able to learn as much as this aliens and maybe just maybe, one day we'll find them in the vast infinite universe that we live in,” and so they enjoyed each other's company until it was time for everypony else to leave, they didn't know what will happen in the future, but they knew that they will face it with optimism and hope.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Planet Equum, year [ERROR] A.S.
It was a sunny day in New Appaloosa, not a single cloud in the sky, thanks to the weather team and everypony was ready for a very important milestone in history. The chattering of workers making sure there is zero error margin was like music for a certain pony. The hard work she put through the years that made this event possible weighed heavy on her, since the moment she decided it was time to push everycreature to try to reach the last frontier.
Today was the first of many launches that will leave a mark in history, not only for ponykind but for everycreature on the planet. If everything goes well, they will be one step closer to conquer the stars.
“It’s like poetry, just like you did eons ago, now is our turn,” the pony said rubbing a glass case that housed a well known device when a computerized sound came from the door, “come in.”
A white stallion unicorn entered and bowed, “Your Highness, my team is ready to board and the launch will be short after, the director was asking if you would give a few words.”
“Ah Captain Star, indeed tell the director I’ll be right away,” the stallion bowed and left the room, “hehe I think I’ve never been this excited since the moment I found out how you work, oh wait, yeah I think I can think of a few other moments that made me more excited, but let’s not delay, the stars are waiting for our gift of harmony.”
There was a mildly cold breeze that afternoon in Silver Shoals and two alicorns were enjoying a sunbath on the shore, no meetings, no paperwork, no threats to their ponies, just calm and relaxation.
The youngest removed her sunglasses and let out a sigh, “dear sister,” she said and the oldest moved her head to face her little sister, “I’m bored.”
Celestia also removed her sunglasses and there was a bit of a slur in her voice, “bored? How can you be bored? I thought you liked all this… slooow and safe activities.”
“I do, but… I don’t know. I feel like I’ve done everything I could on this place and it’s getting monotonous.”
“Luna, It’s only been a few weeks, I was expecting you to be enter-entertained with this place for at least a century or two.”
“I know, I know and I love it, the peace and tranquility is everything I was hoping for. But I think I want some change, I want to break the routine as well. Can we go someplace else Tia?”
“I don’t think so Lulu, Imma really comfortable right now and I have already scheduled several um… activities that I want to do here for the next few weeks,” Luna looked down disappointed, Celestia hated watching her sister like that, “hey, that doesn’t mean you can’t go out, ‘member, we are… no… we have all the time in the world. We don’t have to do everything together.”
Luna’s eyes open wide in realization, “you are right, but where could I go? What could I do?”
Celestia rubbed her chin contemplating her sister’s possibilities, almost getting distracted on a cloud, “well Nightmare Night is in a few days, isn’t it?, the running of the leaves already passed… I think, OH! Los Casquillos the ‘El Dia de los Muertos’ will be soon, no wait... it’s too far, you wouldn’t make it on time… so why don’t you visit Ponyville for this Nightmare Night, didn’t you tell me you had a lot of fun a few years ago when you went there?”
Luna’s face gave out a smile, so bright it illuminated the entire world, “Tia you are a genius,” Luna jumped on top of Celestia making her drop her drink, “if I leave now, I’ll be there by the morning before Nightmare Night and I could take the scenic route!” she hopped off her sister and ran to her cabin to pack.
Celestia watched her leave, annoyed for losing her her drink, she screamed at her, “before you go, tell them to send me another bahama mama!” but it was too late she was gone, she groaned and put the cup on the ground next to another eight similar empty cups, “maybe I had too much… nah, I’ll go get another one… as soon as I remember how to walk.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
At Canterlot Castle, Princess Twilight Sparkle was working on some documents, signing and sealing with the help of Spike, suddenly a white coated unicorn with brown mane and tail, entered the room carrying a folder.
”Good afternoon Princess Twilight Sparkle, I came as requested.”
”Come on Raven, why won't you just call me Twilight, we have known each other since you started working for Celestia.”
Raven fixed her glasses, ”I appreciate the sentiment, but I must refuse, I take my position as the Princesses... I mean Princess Aid very seriously and meanwhile we are on the clock I'll prefer we keep a professional behaviour,” she gave an honest smile.
Twilight and Spike giggled at each other, ”ok, you remind me of another mare I met, Ms Harshwhinny I believe her name was,” Twilight said meanwhile Spike nodded.
Raven fixed her glasses again, ”oh yes, the Head of the Equestria Games and Equestria Games Inspector, she is my older sister and my inspiration.”
Spike scratched his head, ”well that makes sense.”
”Don't worry, even if I aspire to be as competent as her, at least, I enjoy myself in my downtime, I wish that she would take some time for herself as well.”
At that moment Spike puked a scroll, he quickly grabbed and passed it to Twilight, ”hey it's Luna and she will spend Nightmare Night at Ponyville.”
”Oh boy, we need to go, you haven't visited Ponyville for a moon already.”
”I don't know Spike, we have a lot of work reorganizing all this paperwork left by Celestia and Luna after their retirement.”
Raven cleared her throat to catch their attention, ”actually Princess Twilight, we are a few days ahead of schedule… um… actually we are a week ahead, so you can take a day or two.”
”Really?” asked the purple drake.
”Of course Mr. the Dragon, with Princess Twilight's new method of organizing, we are moving really fast and efficient,” Raven said checking her notations and schedules, it also helps that she doesn't take seven cake breaks every day like Princess Celestia used to she thought, ”in fact, after you are done with those last documents you can take the rest of the day today as well, I can take care of the last meeting with the nobles, is just to discuss the design of the tapestry of the new wing of the castle after all.”
Both Twilight and Spike watched Raven confused, ”are there really meetings just for that?” asked Spike.
”Indeed, in fact there is a meeting tomorrow about the design of the bushes in the royal garden, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna usually skipped these meetings as well.”
“Alright, it’s decided then, Spike, write Starlight a letter, we’ll spend Nightmare Night in Ponyville.”
Spike quickly pulled out a scroll and a quill and wrote a letter, then blew it with fire transporting it to its destination.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
That evening, the town of Ponyville run amok, the desperate screams of children filled the air, they were being chased by Nightmare Moon who’s laugh brought fear into the hearts of everypony.
“She is gonna gobble us up!” screamed a pink mare wearing a white and pink costume with a heart on the chest and her mane done in pigtails. She ran and a group of foals followed screaming with Nightmare Moon flying after them.
On the main plaza, everypony were enjoying the many games, food stands and music entertainment. Applejack was, as every year, taking care of the apple bobbing game, she was dressed as a tin mare with all sorts of metal pieces around her.
“Applejack Darling, you need to let me put some silver makeup, or the disguise won’t be complete,” Rarity dressed as a huge heart, said while trying to apply some of the stuff on Applejack’s face, while the cowpony dodged Rarity’s hoof like the plague.
“No way, that smells like Granny’s flank pain remedy and is a mess t’take it off,” Applejack kept dodging Rarity who gave up and pouted, “come on, sugarcube, hey look at that, here comes Rainbow Dash with the getup you made for her for losing the bet.”
Rarity turned to see the rainbow maned mare wearing a red gown, her maned styled long and soft covering one of her eyes, her face adorned with red lipstick and black mascara.
“Rainbow Dash! You look divine! Are you wearing fishnets and stiletto shoes as well?” Rarity asked and the pegasus face showed that she was not enjoying this, she rolled her eyes and lifted her dress showing the undergarments and shoes. Rarity ran and pulled the dress to cover Dash’s modesty, “darling, that’s too unladylike, you lost the bet and you promised you will wear my ensemble.”
Rainbow rolled her eyes, “ugh, yeah but how is THIS a costume? Is just a fancy dress and makeup.”
“I don’t know how is that relevant, a bet is a bet,” Rarity waved her hoof at Rainbow Dash, “besides you are enjoying it, don’t lie to me I asked to wear the dress, not the makeup or hair.”
Rainbow blushed bright red and then pouted, accidentally forming a heart with her lips, “is just that it fit the dress…” at that moment a flash of light startled the group, Twilight and Spike teleported above them slowly falling in front of their friends, Twilight was wearing a red and black jester full body outfit and Spike a police suit.
“Twilight!” the group said in unison hugging their friend.
Spike crossed his arms, “hey what about me?”
The girls laughed and Applejack adjusted her metal hat, “oh come on sugarcube, you were here yesterday havin’ lunch with Gabby, the day before helpin’ her on her routes and the two days ago y’all went to the lake and bfbfbfbf” Spike flew and covered Applejack’s muzzle with his claws, while Rainbow and Twilight giggled and Rarity blushed nodding in agreement.
They could hear the flapping of wings over them, they looked up and there it was, a black alicorn wearing dark armor and carrying an unconscious pinto foal on her mouth, she landed in front of them and the group greeted her, she slowly put the sleeping foal on her hooves and spit the fake fangs she was wearing, “this is fun, hi Twilight, are you here to have some of the fun as well?”
“Yeah and I was hoping that we might be able to listen to a song afterwards.”
Luna gave the little colt to his mother that just arrived, “that’s a great idea, I have been wanting to hear another song from our friends from the stars.”
“Awesome, then I need to taste some of those cupcakes the Cakes and go some games before we go, why don’t we meet at the castle in two hours?” everyone agreed so Rainbow dashed to the Cake’s stand, she was far from the others and close to the stand but tripped on a rock, she went down, her wings trapped on her gown she wouldn’t be able to stop the fall, she could only close her eyes and wait for a world of pain, but it never came, she opened her eyes and she was being held by a tall pony wearing a full body plate armor and helmet, she could only see the pony’s eyes, they were beautiful purple and looked directly at hers, his eyes burned her and at the same time she felt safe being held by this knight in shining armor, she couldn’t avoid blushing a bit. The armored stallion helped her up, “hey th-thanks, ow I think I twisted my hoof, I’m Rainbow Dash, care to help me handsome?” what the hay did I just say? She thought.
“Bfbbf bfbfbb fbfbf” the stallion tried saying something but the helmet made it impossible for anything to be understood.
“Say what?”
“Bfbfbfbff,” the knight tried to remove the helmet but it seemed to be stuck, Rainbow laughed and he groaned.
“I guess I’ll do the talking then, hey I was going to go to the Cake’s for some grub, care to come with me? I mean my hoof still hurts and I’ll need some… help.” she asked and the stallion saluted offering his hoof, they spent a bit over two hours enjoying the festivities right next to each other, from the food court, to the dancing floor which he had to help her to not hurt her hoof more and to the ferris wheel where they enjoyed the view from the top. Until it was time to go to the castle, they were at the entrance, “hey, I had a lot of fun tonight, I need to go inside, we will do some… research, wanna come in? I bet I can find inside the castle something to remove that helmet and maybe we can finally… talk.”
The stallion’s eyes filled with joy, he walked in but then a flash startled the couple and Discord appeared out of thin air, “OH HELLO! You two, no time to talk I taking this knight with me,” he said while grabbing the stallion with his tail and storming out of the castle.
Rainbow tried to run after them but her hoof was still hurting and her wings still trapped in her gown, “DISCORD, WHERE ARE YOU TAKING MY… um MY HELPER!” she screamed but it was to late, they were gone, she sighed but then blushed remembering the time she spent with him and how much they… well how much she talked to him about her, she even gave him her address, he surely will be able to reach her… unless Discord sends him to another dimension… nah, maybe she can ask Discord who that stallion was, she walked to the studio where she met her friends.
“HI DASHIE, you are late, what took you so long?” the party pony asked her friend.
“Oh well, some stuff happened, I almost fell and a stallion helped me.”
“Oh what a gentlecolt, um… darling are you blushing?”
“What? No…”
“Yes, you are, Rainbow Dash, did you find yourself a boyfriend?” Rarity accused Rainbow meanwhile everyone else giggled.
“WHAT? NO WAY! He is not my boyfriend, he is just a pony who helped me and happens to be a boy as well… AAAAH just put the damn song,” she sit on a pillow with her hooves crossed and a blush on her face.
Luna raised her hoof, “may I press the button?”
“Wait where are Starlight and Fluttershy?” Twilight asked.
“Oh Starlight went drinkin’ to celebrate Trixie’s birthday, I reckon they are probably wasted by now and you know Fluttershy, she never comes out of her shack for Nightmare Night, sugarcube.”
“I guess they won’t be joining then, go ahead Luna, you can press the button,” the night alicorn pressed the button and the sound of door opening and some steps startled the group.
Luna began moving her head to the music, “this music is not like the last time, but I like it.”
Rarity felt uneasy about the lyrics of the song, she grabbed Applejack’s hoof “this song is quite fitting for today’s celebration, don’t you think Applejack?”
“Yeah and is it just me or his voice is really special, sugarcube?”
Luna nodded, “Indeed fair Applejack, his voice is rather soothing even if he speaks of such terrors that could crawl in the dark.”
“Yeah and the music is sooOOoooo good, it makes me want to dance like a zombie.” Pinkie jumped on the back.
Twilight watched her pink friend, “how would a Zombie dance Pinkie?”
“Um… I dunno, maybe with their hooves up and from side to side,” she said while lifted her hooves and moved side to side twice and then walked on the side her hooves pointed and then repeated it back clapping her hooves up and moving her head to the song’s rhythm.
Spike jumped applauding, “that looks like fun,” he then joined Pinkie dancing like a zombie adding more moves, then one by one her friends joined dancing to the music until one tripped and everypony went tumbling and made a pony pile on the pillows.
They laughed and kept enjoying the song until a different voice began talking over the singer. Pinkie then felt a tingle on her spine, “that other voice is not soothing at all.”
Luna paid attention to that voice, “well I still like it, the way he describes the terrors in the dark is quite appealing.” and then that same voice laughed in a sinister way “even his laugh is synonym of darkness, I must say I enjoyed this song.”
“It was quite interesting, very thrilling if you *yawn* ask me.”
“It’s really late, why don’t we have a sleepover? I wanted to have one with you for the longest time,” Luna asked and everyone else agreed so they decided to stay and prepare for the slumber party.
Later that night, Rainbow was looking at the window from her sleeping bag, wondering if he will ever met that stallion again.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
On the town outskirts a draconequus carried an armored stallion on his tail, he reached a shack and opened the door, when up the stairs and dropped the annoyed stallion in front of a mare, “there you go, I found him and carried him as you requested Fluttershy.”
“Thanks Discord, I was wondering where he has been, you said you wanted to check the Nightmare Night fair and then come back quickly.”
“BBFBBFFBB!” the stallion muttered.
“Discord, I think his helmet is stuck, can you help him?”
“Gladly,” he grabbed the stallion helmet and pulled making him scream in pain until the helmet gave up and was finally pulled from his head showing a green coat and blonde mane.
“OUCH YOU BEAST THAT HURTS!”
“Discord! I meant with magic!” Fluttershy scolded Discord, jumping to rub her brother’s head.
“Oops my bad hahahaha.”
“Shy you need to keep you boyfriend on a leash, he just ruined the closest I’ve been to make Rainbow Dash like me again!”
“Is that right Zephyr?”
“Yeah, you should have seen it, she was so beautiful in that dress, shining with the moonlight and when she looked at me, it was a look I haven’t seen in YEARS and I only had to not say a single word HAHAHAHA… oh now I made myself sad.”
Fluttershy hugged her little brother, “don’t worry Zeph, I’m sure that if you keep trying and become a good and competent stallion, you will eventually win her heart.”
“You really think so?” he asked and she nodded, “aight! But for the time being I’m exhausted *yawn* let go catch some z’s” he plummeted on the bed and fell asleep immediately while her sister giggled.
“Um, Discord,” she asked the draconequus who snapped his claws and teleported the stallion to the living room couch, then closed the door of the room and turned off the lights.
Late in the afternoon in Tenochtitlan Basin, Daring Do was washing her face in a bowl filled with water meanwhile Izzi was cooking something near their tent, the older mare approached Izzi trying to see what she was making.
“Come on Short Round, tell me what you are cooking.”
Izzi rolled her eyes at the nickname Daring gave her, “nope, you will need to wait, just a little bit.”
Daring finished drying her face with a towel and poked some more at the cook, “does it have to do with today's celebration?”
Izzi stopped mixing the flour and eggs for a second, but then continued, “how do you know about today's festivities Daring?”
Daring Do was brushing her mane, “I told you I know about Casquillian culture, that includes some of it’s festivities, like today is um, what do you call it? Diah deh lus Muertes? Or Day of the Dead.”
Izzi poured the mix on the frying pan with boiling oil, “gosh your pronunciation is awful, but yeah this is about the Dia de los Muertos.”
“Hey yours is not perfect either, so I guess we can get some coconuts and paint them like skulls and adorn the place with some streamers and the like.”
“What? What are you talking about Daring?”
Daring Do made some signs with her hooves, “you know, like you guys tend to celebrate this day with music and decorations and skulls and the like.”
Izzi realized what daring was talking about, “OH YEAH, I know what you mean, yeah that is actually how the ponies on the Mexitli region celebrate it, I am for the Custatlan region, those are two of the many regions in Los Casquillos, like Tierra de Plata, Cavalos, among others and everyone celebrates Dia de los Muertos in a different way, is just that Mexitli is one of the most visited region by tourists and the like.”
“Oh sorry, and how do you celebrate it, then?”
“Cuscatlan celebrates it in a more quiet way, we just travel to visit our family tombs, clean them if needed, make a flower offering and then return home and eat hojuelas, there is some sort of animosity between the ponies from Mexitli and the ones from Cuscatlan.”
“Oh yeah, kinda like a feud?”
“Not really, we get along just fine with trading and most of stuff, but there is a rivalry between the tribes of each region, it’s silly it begun with the elders and everypony else just followed with the tradition, the families of each region always compete against the ones from the other region. It doesn’t help that Mexitli and Cuscatlan are the only regions consisting mostly of ponies.
Izzi presented the hojuelas to Daring Do, they didn’t look like much, just a thin layer of fried dough, “careful they are hot.”
Daring bit one of the hojuelas, “this doesn’t have much taste in it.”
Izzi giggled, “because you need to pour some of this caramel on them, here let me put some on yours.”
The older mare bit again on it, “oh that’s much better, you are a great cook you know, you will make a fine wife someday.”
Izzi blushed at the compliment, she hit Daring on the shoulder, “stop it, you! You are starting to sound like my Mami, ’Mija ya estás grandecita, ya deberías pensar en sentar cabeza. cuando me vas traer nietos?’ no thanks mom... I kinda miss her, you know. This is the longest I’ve been far from home, even College happened to be really close to my home so I kept living with my family.”
Daring moved closer to Izzi wrapping her on her wing, “you don’t regret coming here with me, do you?”
The younger pegasus shook her head, “no, no one bit, this is exactly what I needed, to go out and discover the world… Hey Daring.”
“Yeah?”
“When I present my dissertation, would you let me travel with you again?”
Daring Do fixed her hat, “sure Short Round, I would like that,” Izzi smiled at her words, “hay, if you keep cooking for me I’d even marry you hahaha!”
Izzi pushed Daring, “this was a good moment and you HAD to go ruin it, didn’t you? I’ll go wash the dishes.”
“Sorry kiddo, you make is too easy to tease you, besides how do you know I wasn't being serious?” Daring said winking.
Izzi stopped, turned her head to Daring and blew a raspberry at her, then continued her way to wash the dishes leaving Daring laughing her cutiemark off, “idiot” Izzi whispered with a blush on her face.
“Oh ‘n' that is howfur I subdued a rogue dragon, saved th', at that time, Lord o' Dragons' daughter 'n' earn th' richt tae be named Rockhoof th' Dragon Hero,” the warrior pony said while lifting his mug to drink from it. Many ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ could be heard among the patrons at the inn that night after hearing another of the stories from this living legend, now titled Equestria’s Keeper of Tales.
A stallion approached the storyteller and sat next to him, “that was a great story Rockhoof, did that really happen?”
Rockhoof smiled patting the stallion’s back “aye laddie, ilka single word is true.”
“Amazing and you didn’t ask for any reward?”
Rockhoof put the mug on the table, “I’m not to demand a reward fur daein' a guid deed, lad,” his face then turned nostalgic with a tint of a blush, “that bein' said, atween ye 'n' me, th' dragon princess, Magma I believe her name was, the lass had beautiful dark green scales, eyes like the late sun, anyway she wis pure grateful fur rescuing her, if ye ken whit ah mean,” he then laughed stomping the floor making the building tremble.
“Rockhoof, is that you?” a femenine voice said approaching Rockhoof.
He turned to see two young mares carrying mugs on their own, “my friends Applejack and Rarity, as ah live 'n' breathe, how urr ye lassies?” he raised his mug and both Applejack and Rarity replied by bumping it with their own.
“What a surprise seein’ you here Rockhoof, Ah heard you was travelin’ through Equestria tellin’ tales as the Keeper or Tales.”
“Aye, I hae bin traveling a lot, I wis heading west, thinking I cuid pass by Ponyvillle I’m oan th' wey tae visit friends thare. But whit urr ye daein' sae far east from Ponyville?”
“Ah was helpin’ Rarity here with some fabric, we’ve been from store to store all day so Ah thought we could come here to have a drink before bed.”
“Rockhoof darling, since you are heading west we could go together to Ponyville, wouldn’t that be lovely Applejack?” the cowpony nodded.
Rockhoof laughed, “stoatin idea lassie, we shuid drink tae that,” and so they drank for a few hours laughing and catching up until the room was spinning, then returned to their respective rooms to sleep and prepare for the way tomorrow.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
The morning after, the trio of monies were heading west, a caravan attached to the stallion, while both mares next to him walked.
“Rockhoof, you didn’t have to pull my cart all by yourself, even if I’m a lady I’m no stranger to heavy duty like this, I was planning to take turns pulling the cart with Applejack after all.”
“Na lass, I'm fine, I'm wantin' tae hulp wi' this. For ye wur generous enough tae pay fur my tab lest nicht, I swear I lose track o' time whin drinking with my friends.”
“You are such a gentlecolt, don’t let anypony tell you otherwise, by the by, do you have plans after reaching Ponyville?”
“I cannae say ah hae, likelie visit th' students oan th' School o’ Friendship, tell a few stories, relax fur a few days 'n' then heid wast again.”
“Heading anywhere in particular?” Rarity asked adjusting her sun hat.
“Aye, I'm needin' tae go tae Silver Shoals tae pay a visit tae Celestia 'n' Luna, ye see, tis bin a while sin thay retired 'n' th' auld Starswirl wanted me tae check oan thaim.”
“Luna is stayin’ in Ponyville for a few more days before leavin’ back to travel the country and Ah reckon Celestia might be still relaxin’ in Silver Shoals right now.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
At Silver Shoals shore, a tiki bar was just opening, a sleeping white alicorn was right at the bar, when a bulky griffon nudged her a bit waking her up.
“Hehe, ‘morning prin… I mean Miss Celly.”
Celestia requested everycreature to stop addressing her as Princess, she slowly lifted her head “Oh, good morning Gary, one bahama mama and a chocolate cake, please,” the Griffon quickly served the alicorn, she smiled sipping at her beverage, “mmMMmm bahama mama… big mama.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
“Yeah, Ahm sure she is just enjoyin’ some peace and tranquility. Hey Rares, why don’t we invite Rockhoof to listen to the music box.”
“Whit's this "music box" ye lassies speak o'?”
“Oh darling, that is a divine idea, you will see Rockhoof, do you believe in life out of this world?”
“Oot o' this world, dae ye mean in th' stars?”
“Exactly darling, well, some months ago, a shiny thing fell on the town outskirts, Twilight being the scholar she’s always been, studied and turned out to be technology from a different race race of creatures from a different world far from this one, we don’t really know the real reason of them sending that big spherical thing but for some reason it plays their music. It’s so fascinating what we have learned about them, like apparently they don’t have magic and depend on technology like minotaurs, they have feelings, they wage wars and they call themselves man and woman.”
Applejack took the word, “An’ don’t forget they have similar classical music, seem to live on a planet like ours, they supposedly live as long as ponies and they have prostitutes.”
“That soonds pure interesting girls, bit th' real quaistion is, dae thay tell tales?”
“Yes!” both mares said at the same time.
“Weel, tis decided then, I will gang as soon as I'm finished wi' mah errants thare.”
The trio continued walking, chatting for a few hours until they reached Ponyville, there they went different ways but decided to join the music box session the day after.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
The day after, Spike and Luna were walking to the castle from having sight seen the town, “this arcade it was fun, I hadn’t had this much fun since before I was banished, I wish I knew this arcades sooner.”
“Yeah, I can’t even imagine the fortune I’ve spent on those machines throughout the years.”
“Sadly the establishment closes rather early, young Spike, I wish we could keep playing or even play at home.”
“That would be awesome, wait, didn’t the Minotaurs were working on something to watch movies at home?”
“Really?”
“Yup, I heard they are really close even, wouldn’t it be awesome that they also invented something to play videogames at home?”
Luna smiled at the idea, “yes, the fun wouldn’t have to end. I may need to pay a visit to the Minotaur lands soon… you know, because I like innovation and technology.”
“Haha yeah right. Hey we are here, look it’s Rockhoof!”
“Hello Luna ‘n’ Spike, lang time na see”
Rockhoof bumped his hoof on Spike’s Claw and kissed Luna’s hoof.
“What a gentlecolt, I’m glad someponies still make use of yesteryear’s manners.”
Spike opened the door and the three of them walked into the castle to meet the rest, there Starlight and the mane six minus Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were waiting with snacks for everyone already surrounding the music box.
Twilight stood up and greeted them directing them to their sits, “ok Rockhoof, so basically this is the music box,” she pointed to the machine on the pedestal, “it fell from the sky-” Rarity interrupted her friend.
“I’m terribly sorry to interrupt you, but Applejack and I already explained that to Rockhoof yesterday.”
“Really?” she asked and Rarity nodded, “come on, you know I like to explain that,” Twilight put on a pout “anyway, since you already know that I’ll just explain that you need to press this button in the middle, would you do us the honor Rockhoof?”
“It wull be an honor Princess Twilight,” Rockhoof said while bowing to Twilight.
“Please Rockhoof, just Twilight is fine, the Pillars like my friends, you all bow to nopony.”
“Na, please allow this auld warrior, tae address ye wi' dignity.”
Twilight sighed in defeat, “fine, I guess I should get used to that.”
Rockhoof laughed and approached the music box pressing the button and returning to his spot. A tune with strings started playing
“This reels 'n' strathspeys steals me back tae th' auld times, I kin cop it this is a song fur a stoatin story,” they kept listening when the first verse began, “I knew it, th' best stories begin wi' chaos, desperation 'n' destruction, th' chorus o' this song mak's mah blood pump, definitely this is an epic o' thae aliens.”
“This really sounds like a tale of old, darling, so I understand this ‘white wolf’ would be the hero of this story?”
“No girl, he is no hero, I can almost see the story unfurl, the white wolf didn’t want to fight, he was bound by destiny and he chooses to follow it and he will do what he needs to do to survive, even if this means to stain your claws and fangs with blood, I remember there is a tale like this on my old village filled with war, love and magic.”
Starlight sipped from her cup, “I think I would like to hear that story,” she said and everyone else agreed.
“Aye 'n' ah wull gladly tell th' stoory efter, richt noo let us continue listening tae this stoory,” they kept listening for the remaining of the song until it ended, “Huzza, sic a stoatin song, it mak's me wantae skelp some baddies wi' my shovel,” Rockhoof lifted his shovel and mave several spins and trusts.
Applejack watched in awe how Rockhoof moved with precision and strength, “hey Rockhoof,” the warrior stopped to listen to apple pony, “Ah been tryin’ recently to connect with muh ancestry, my grandpappy was a colonel in Celestia’s army, so I was thinkin’ if you would teach me how to use muh grandpappy’s lance?”
“That wid bring me stoatin honor lassie, let's begin th'morra mornin'.”
“Woa, that sounds awesome, do you mind if I come and watch AJ?” Rainbow asked at which Applejack agreed, “so it’s settled, hey we still have some time why don’t we listen to another song?” everyone agreed and let Luna press the button this time, there was no music this time just a male voice singing.
“A Scotsman? Would that be a different kind of man?” Spike asked confused.
“Probably just to refer to where they come from, like Equestrian or Casquillian,” Twilight responded.
“Whoever this Scotsmen ur, I see thay ken howfur tae hae fun.”
Everyone started clapping their hooves at the song when the second verse came up.
Rainbow scratched her head, “what would be weird about not wearing anything under a skirt?”
Rarity took the word, “for what we heard on previous songs, this aliens tend to wear clothes most of the time, is customary to wear undergarments when one wears a skirt, remember the cheering ponies, when we wore gowns for the grand galloping gala, or for the weddings we have participated.”
“Woa woa woa, do you mean to tell me the panties weren’t optional for those? You know I don’t like wearing them.”
Rarity’s eye twitched but calmed fast, knowing it was probably her fault for not telling Rainbow before she put on the dresses.
“Haha, they lifted this man’s skirt, oh boy Ah bet if he was awake he’d be mad.”
“A dinnae ken lassie, it depends oan howfur beutiful this wifie wur”
All mares rolled their eyes at Rockhoof statement and kept listening to the story.
Rainbow snorted at the lyrics, “di-did they tied the blue ribbon on that man’s thingy?” all mares laughed meanwhile Rockhoof and Spike cringed at the picture in their heads, “first price? BWAHAHAHAHAHA,” Rainbow laughed and laughed almost choking.
“Aye, anither stoatin story, ah can’t wait tae tell it in my journeys, fur whit ah kin see, twa o' th' maist important stories ur th' ones tae lea ye in awe 'n' th' ither is tae lea ye laughing, thae aliens seem tae master thaim, I wish I cuid meet thaim sae we kin share mair stories.”
“Who knows, maybe in the future we could meet them in the stars, but for know I think you promised us a story”
“Aye I jalouse I did, weel bygae me a beer 'n' git confortable, everything began whin in a wee toun wis in danger wi'...”
And Rockhoof told them a story of epic battles, heroism and romance, they listened and snjoyed the rest of the day.
A chilly wind blew in the morning in the outskirts of Ponyville, Fluttershy conducted her birds choir one last time before they had to prepare to migrate to the south for winter. The song they were singing was an instrumental adaptation of a song she heard long ago about seven kings heading to war, that she never quite got out of her head.
At the middle of the song, the bird in charge of the ‘vocal’ part of the song started coughing, Fluttershy stopped the others to check on him, “Frederick are you ok?” Frederic was an eighteen years old red cardinal, his mother was one of the first birds she took care when she decided to live in Ponyville so many years ago, and Frederick has been on Fluttershy’s choir since the time he learned how to sing. But he was still just a bird and Flutthershy knew that he was shedding his last feathers, she had seen it before several times, when a singing bird is near its death it sings with all its heart, he was weak to urging, his song had notes Fluttershy had no names for. But he was ending and his music was bittersweet. It was beautiful, “Frederick, maybe you should take a rest, let me bring you some seeds,” he shook his head, puffed his feathers and shivered making some of his feathers fall, he let out a few chirps making gestures with his wings, “but Frederick, you need to rest, soon you will need to prepare for the migration,” the bird chirped again, “what do you mean you don’t care?” he just looked the other way, even if she was asking, Fluttershy knew the answer, it’s pretty rare seeing a cardinal live as long as Frederick and even if his song was the most beautiful of the choir, she knew that this would probably be his last winter, he even had problems flying for long periods of time, but he refused to be carried by Fluttershy “Frederick, I don't know if it’s going to be possible for you to sing”.
Frederick flew to the fountain and drank some water, then returned to his spot and chirped some more, “ok, if you insist, but only one more time, ok guys, from the top,” the birds sang one more time and Frederick sang like his life depended on it meanwhile Fluttershy listened their song with tears running from her eyes. That was the last time she heard Frederick's singing.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
That afternoon Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Applejack walked to the castle of friendship, they were chatting about the weather since Rainbow Dash let them know that this winter might be colder than the last one.
“So I spoke with the weather manager and apparently, somepony screwed with Ponyville and Manehatten’s winter report, they manage to fix Manehatten but completely forgot about Ponyville, they are sending us enough snow storms for the big city, right now it’s too late to fix it.”
“But Rainbow Dash, I don’t understand, why don’t they just push some of the storms to other cities, instead of drowning us in such dreadful weather,” Rarity asked her pegasus friend, in her mind already planning on changing her winter line to a most warm and isolating material.
“Ugh, in the weather factory they are a bunch of bureaucratic jerks, the paperwork would be such a problem that winter would end before they can fix anything. I swear there is enough red tape to choke an ursa mayor!”
“Oh consarn it! Ah’ll have to prepare the trees for a rough winter, thanks for the heads up RD.”
“No problem, they were going to announce it in a couple of weeks, but I know nopony reads the weather alerts,” Rainbow flew with her hooves on her heck when noticed Fluttershy has been very quiet the entire way, “hey Flutters, something eating ya? You are more quiet than usual.”
The yellow pegasus snapped, “OH! Sorry Dashie, I’m just worried about some of my birds, this year there are several that might not be able to complete the migration, I’m worried about one in particular, but that is nothing you should be worried about, that is nature, as loving as she is cruel.”
“O…kay, anyway we are almost there,” the group reached the castle and entered directed to the studio where Twilight, Starlight and Pinkie were waiting for them, “hey, where is Spike?”
Twilight was busy checking on the console so Starlight responded, “oh you know him, he is with Gaby on a ‘no-date’, he’ll be here any time now,” and as a charm the purple drake flew in the room from a window.
Spike landed in front of everypony, “I’m sorry I’m late *pant* I lost track of time *pant* Oh boy, I think I made a personal record hahaha *wheeze*”
Rarity picked a glass and filled with water offering it to Spike, “Darling, you look exhausted, what did you two do? And don't leave out any of the juicy details,” she asked pulling a notebook and a quill from her saddlebags biting her lip.
Spike scratched the back of his head, “what do you mean? We just went for a walk on Sweet Apple Acres, hehehe.”
“But we just came from there, sugarcube.”
“Oh… well… we probably missed each other, it’s a huge place,” Spike kept sweating but Applejack nodded not really interested on the topic.
Rarity was going to ask something else but was interrupted by Twilight, “I see everyone is here, then let’s begin, does anyone remember who had their turn already?” no one responded, “ok, I guess we can start over, it’s been awhile since any of us actually pressed the button anyway,” she picked the sticks and let everyone pick one, Rarity winning the chance to press the button first. She approached the music box and pressed the button, a male voice started singing accompanied by a piano.
“Now that’s a peculiar voice, I really like it,” Rarity said while sitting on her pillow.
“Peculiar? I would say it’s amazing, his voice is… unique, YEAH don’t stop him, EVER!” Starlight was in love with the song, her eyes illuminated by the feeling of freedom, experienced just by listening to the song.
Spike picked a cookie, “for some reason this sounds familiar.”
Twilight put on a weird look, “but shooting stars don’t leap, nor tigers float… oh he is defying the laws of gravity.”
Starlight teleported next to Twilight and leaned on her shoulder, “Twilight, please don’t ruin the song, let’s just agree this is not a literary descriptive song,” Twilight nodded.
“Awesome, they have racing cars, like those we made with the CMC…” Rarity and Applejack shrugged remembering how they almost ruined that experience for their sisters, “Yeah forget I said that, but what is a Lady Godiva?”
“I do believe the question is who is Lady Godiva, darling, maybe a noble and I bet they refer they go passing by like her means they conduct themselves in elegance and decor, such like a noble.”
Pinkie giggle, “yeah, is not like they go on a trip butt naked on top of another animal.”
“Pinkie, darling, I believe it was decided that our alien friends usually wore clothes and if they are similar to us, the nobles always wear clothes so is safe to say their nobles would do the same.”
Twilight rubbed her chin, “yeah, probably the spell translated to what is closer we will understand, like Fahrenheit and Celsius, you know the temperature measures, did you know they are named after Dr. Fahrenheit and Dr. Celsius, they were two ponies that revolutionized the way we measure temperature… ok, yeah there is no way he can travel at the speed of light… you know what? Nevermind, these aliens probably had the technology to do that.”
“Oh my, such a beautiful voice, so manly and full of life,” Fluttershy could feel the emotion the singer put on his voice.
Starlight’s eyes went wide open at the guitar solo, “WOW this guitar solo it sooo tight!”
Pinkie drank from her mug while the song reached its end, “awww it’s over, this was one of the best songs I’ve ever heard.”
“It was really good, even if most of it was nonsense, the singer told it with so much conviction that I can almost believe everything he said is true,” Twilight said while putting her notebook on the table.
Pinkie picked the straws and everyone picked one, “YAY it’s my turn, I hope the next one is just as good as the last one,” she approached the music box and pressed the button, a solemn tune started playing.
Pinkie frowned, “well I guess no happy song this time.”
Applejack scratched her head, “hey Twilight, ain’t that the same voice as the last song?”
Twilight stopped writing and nodded, “it seems that way, it appears that we got statistically lucky. But it seems the tone of the song is different, like he is missing some of the energy of the previous song.”
‘No Twilight, you are wrong,’ were the thoughts that passed through the yellow pegasus mind, she could feel that the male singer was giving away the same energy but focused on a different tone, ‘this singer must have a supreme control over his voice’ she thought keeping quiet and listening. But there was something else, she could feel it in his voice, “no it can’t be, he sounds so young.”
Starlight heard Fluttershy whispering, “is there something wrong Fluttershy?”
“Oh, I’m ever so sorry Starlight, is probably nothing,” Fluttershy kept silence for the rest of the song, maybe it was because one of her birds was approaching its end, but she felt like the singer was singing in pain and not emotional pain, but real physical pain, she could feel the same tone that Frederick used at the beginning of the year, he was trying his best to sing with as much feeling as he could.
“Wow this song is really inspiring, even if the lyrics sound kinda sad,” Pinkie said while paying attention as best as she could.
Twilight kept writing while paying attention, “yeah and it doesn’t seem that the lyrics follow an actual story, is more like the previous, he is singing what he is feeling.”
Spike sipped from his soda when he came to realize something, “hey wait a minute, I know now why it sounds familiar, his voice is pretty similar to a singer of a pretty new band.”
“Really?” asked Twilight.
“Yeah, they are really new, they began like about four or five months ago, Gabby introduced me to their music about a few weeks ago, the band is called Monarch, it has four members, the vocalist and keyboard a unicorn stallion named Fabolous Mane-”
Rainbow Dash interrupted Spike, “is that his name?”
“Um, I think is more like a stage name, anyway the guitarist a hippogriff Dr. Brain Mane and two abyssinians Jab Dice in the bass and Ron Timbal in the drums.”
“Aby-what, darling?”
“Abyssinians, you know the cat folk, like Capper, remember him? The cat dude you were drooling over when we went to save Equestria from the Storm King?”
“Oh yeah I remember now hehe, thanks Spikey-Wikey.”
“Anyway, they are getting really popular really fast and they sing with passion, maybe we should go to one of their concerts, I heard they will make their first tour in a couple of months.”
Twilight took note of that, it would be really fun to go see a concert and if the singer was indeed one with a particular voice like this alien then it will be really fun, “yeah we should all go, is good to support new artists if they are good, hey we still have some time, why don’t we listen to one last song?” everyone agreed so they picked the sticks one more time for the day with Fluttershy winning this time.
“Oh my, I guess is my turn now,” she slowly approached the pedestal and pressed the button with one of her feathers and some drums played accompanied by a melancholic melody.
Pinkie grabbed the last piece of cake, swallowing it whole, “mmMMmm vanilla, I like the drums... hey wouldn’t it be crazy if we hear the same singer again?”
Twilight giggled, “that is not likely to happen Pinkie, we don’t know how many songs the music box have, but knowing what the aliens are capable of, they might have a huge deal of songs stored in that machine,” at that moment the first verse began, “what the hay? That’s statistically improbable!”
Starlight clapped her hoofs “well thank you improbability, if it gives us a chance to hear this masterpiece of a voice… oh that’s sweet, he doesn’t want passion or wildness, just sweet mother love.”
“Wow such powerful vocals, darling, I can feel my horn vibrate to his voice.”
Meanwhile Starlight and the others made comments on how powerful and full of life the singer sounded, Fluttershy remained silent, her hooves covered her muzzle and her pupils contracted when she realized she was right when she heard the second song, her eyes filled with tears and couldn’t help but let out a few gasps and sobs.
Rainbow happened to hear her friend, “Fluttershy? Twilight something is wrong with Fluttershy stop the music box!”
“NO! Please don’t stop it! I swear it is nothing bad, at least for us.”
Twilight flew in front of Fluttershy, “what’s wrong Fluttershy, is something about the song?”
“Well, you see, when the previous song played, I could feel something on the singer’s voice, you might haven’t felt it but... I’ve heard it before, when some of my birds get old and close to die, they usually sing with all their passion, this singer was the same, he was singing but was in a lot of pain and now with this song, is even more obvious, the singer is dying, his voice might sound full of life but I can feel it, he is dying and he knows he is dying but he wants others so listen to his voice. It’s so bittersweet, so… beautiful,” at that moment the next verse started.
“Wait an apple picking minute, that ain’t the same singer right?”
“Oh… my gosh, he couldn’t even finish recording the song,” Fluttershy began sobbing again, meanwhile everyone else joined her with tears in their eyes, they hugged and enjoyed the rest of the song.
Some time later after the song ended, they let go of the group hug, Starlight rubbed Fluttershy’s mane, “are you ok Fluttershy?” the pegasus nodded, “well, that was… pretty educative, wasn’t it?”
Twilight picked her notebook, skimming through her notes, “Indeed, I still can’t believe we could hear three songs from the same group, or at least from the same singer in a row, I wonder how could that happen.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Planet Earth, year 20XX A.D.
“What the hell? Walter, this is the third time Bohemian Rhapsody sounds in the player in a row.”
The man was carrying some dishes from the kitchen, “so? Queen is awesome.”
She put on a bib with a lobster image on it, “well yeah but why it’s sounding so often?”
He brought the main dish, steamed lobster with a side of potato salad, “oh yeah, I always put seven copies of every queen song on my drives, you know… because I really like them.”
“Oh my God, steamed lobster? My favorite! You are going to spoil me rotten.”
“Everything for the birthday girl,” he then lit some candles and sat in front of her to eat.
Suzanne savored the food with gusto, “Jesus Walter, this is so good, I should stop trying to find a boyfriend and marry you instead.”
“Yeah you should,” he whispered.
“What?”
“Oh nothing, enjoy your food.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Pinkie began picking the plates, “I guess we’ll never know, or will we?” she watched out of the window while everyone else stared at her, they shrugged and helped her with the dishes and then everyone went their own way.
A thick layer of snow adorned the streets of Ponyville while the air blew, bringing air of winter spirit to the souls of the merry ponies and every creature of Equestria. Everypony started putting on decorations to celebrate Hearth’s Warming, a lot of green, red and gold filled the walls and doors while children running, playing on the snow, enjoying peace and harmony.
Everything was calm and serene, except in the School of Friendship where a worried Headmare ran through the corridors carrying a bunch of papers, right behind her was the Vice-Headstallion trying to tell her something for a while now.
“Starlight!” Sunburst yelled for the seventeenth time.
“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, I’m an idiot. How could I let this paperwork pile up.”
“Starlight!”
“Oh no, over fifty new students, I need to hire more teachers.” Starlight entered the cafeteria where she poured herself a cup of coffee and then ran out again.
“Starlight!”
Ignoring Sunburst, Starlight kept running to her office, “why is the school so empty… oh yeah winter break… OH NO! I need to review the teacher’s curricula,” she entered her office and finally sit to think.
A panting Sunburst let himself in, “Starlight, gosh I need to get in shape *pant* you need to *pant*”
Starlight looked up, “oh hi Sunburst, I don’t have time to talk right now, I need to rev-” a yellow aura surrounded Starlight’s lips shutting her up.
“Starlight I… wait…” he sat on the chair catching his breath, “Starlight, I hate when you lose perspective on your surroundings, I’ve been following you since you entered the school, anyway I need to tell you I have news, some good and some bad, what do you want to hear first?” the purple mare put on a serious face and pointed a hoof to her still locked muzzle, “oh, sorry I forgot,” he removed the spell.
With her mouth free again Starlight smacked her lips, “fine, give me the good news first.”
“Well, I went through your papers and I’m glad to tell you, I already reviewed the teaching curricula, got the approval for the cafeteria yearly menu, did an inventory of school supplies and I have a number of potential new teacher candidates, including one that is a must hire.”
Starlight snickered, calmer than she was before, “let me guess, mare, unicorn, early twenties, yellowish coat?” Sunburst began sweating, “come on, you don’t expect me to hire her just because she is your marefriend, do you?”
Sunburst face went full red, “she is not my marefriend!” yet, “she is just a friend who happens to be a mare, but that’s not just it, she is really smart and she just got a teaching degree and she asked me if there are vacant positions at the school… she is even visiting Ponyville for the hol… I mean in case there is an interview.”
“Yeah right, that’s why you checked for spare rooms at the castle as well?” Starlight gave Sunburst a grin like a cat that just cornered a mouse, “Don’t worry Sunburst, if you thrust her I’ll hire her… um, I don’t know anypony else on this files, do you have anypony else I know? I need to hire at least two more teachers.”
“Well, there is Princess Celestia, she used to teach at her magic school, but she retired so technically she is free.”
“You know she doesn’t want to be called princess anymore Sunburst, good Idea though, the last I heard was that she went with Luna to Laburinthos and I don’t know how to reach them there.”
“The Minotaur lands? Why would they go there?”
“Something about technology research, you know how the Minotaurs are more advanced in technology than ponies due to their lack of magic, we will need to wait until they return,” both frowned at their problem.
A feminine voice came from the door showing a blue mare with white mane, “why don’t you send her a message through dragon fire? Spike is magically linked to her, so any message sent by Spike should reach Celestia anywhere on the planet.”
“That's a great idea, thanks Trixie this is why I hired you as counselor.”
Trixie sat on the other chair on Starlight’s office, “it’s easy for the Great and Astute Trixie, by the way it seems you both have visits, they are just outside.”
Starlight checked on her agenda, “but I have nothing programed for today, who could possibly be?”
Sunburst shrugged remembering the other thing he wanted to tell Starlight, “um, Starlight? Remember that I told you I have bad news as well?” he said and Starlight nodded, “WEEEEELL.”
The door opened showing a unicorn mare and stallion with happiness glim on their faces.
“SUNBURST MY BOY!”
“PUMPKIN WUMPKIN!”
Starlight’s face went pale, oh for Faust’s sake, she thought while being smothered by her father’s hug, on the other side of the desk, Sunburst was receiving similar treatment from his mother while Trixie was rolling on the floor laughing.
“My big boy, so strong and in such a respectable position as a vice-headstallion, you have no idea how proud I am of you,” Stellar Flare tried to fix Sunburst’s mane while levitating a pair of scissors near his goatee.
Sunburst moved his beard away of his mother’s scissors, “mom, I need to remind you that I’m still Flurry Heart's Crystaller and knock it off with the beard, it stays for good.”
Stellar Flare let go of her son and he straightened his cloak, “please Sunburst, the way you explained it on your letters sounded like you were a glorified babysitter, but now, NOW you are in charge of molding several young minds and not just that, you get to work with such beautiful mares like Starlight and Trixie here, seriously son, when are you going to settle down and form a family, I’m not getting any younger and I want to see grandfoals before I die.”
“Mom...”
“I’m just saying, since it won’t work with Starlight, I thought that maybe knowing more mares would jump start those carnal desires.”
“MOM!” he said while covering himself with his cloak out of embarrassment.
Firelight let go of his daughter then approached sunburst, put a hoof on his shoulder and with a warm smile he said, “you should listen to your mother Sunburst, there is no bigger happiness to watch your little ones play and laugh, right Stella?” the mare nodded.
“Et tu, Mr. Light. Mom please, I told you several times that I’ll settle when I meet the right mare.”
“Um… am I interrupting something?” came another female voice from the door.
Sunburst quickly looked at the mare on the door, it seemed that lady fortune wouldn’t smile for him that day, “M-M-Moondancer! What are you doing here?” he stood and walked to the mare grabbing her hoof.
“I was heading to the school’s library when I heard the commotion.”
Stellar Flare practically teleported next to Moondancer, “and who is this lovely mare Sunburst? Is she your special somepony? Hello sweetheart, I’m Sunburst’s mother,” the younger mare blushed while Stellar Flare shook her hoof meanwhile Sunburst’s glasses and jaw laid on the ground.
“Um… hi ma’am, I’m Moo-Moondancer, nice to meet you.”
“Such a polite young mare, Sunburst you make me soooooo proud son,” Sunburst tried to talk but his mother put a hoof on his muzzle, “you should join us for Hearth's Warming dinner tonight.”
Starlight snapped from her annoyed stasis, “wait, what do you mean by Hearth’s Warming dinner?”
“Oh Chipmunk Cheeks this is the surprise. Since you haven’t visited as you promised we’ve been missing you both, so we came here to celebrate Hearth’s Warming with you and the girls.”
Both Starlight and Sunburst eyes almost popped out of their sockets and their jaws met the ground. Trixie was giggling at her friend’s faces, oh this is just delicious but I guess I should help them, she thought, “oh, that sounds truly magical Mr. Starlight’s Dad and Mrs. Sunburst’s Mom however, Trixie is sad to let you know that all of the girls left Ponyville for the festivities.”
Starlight’s face drew a smile of relief, “it’s true! Twilight will spend Hearth’s Warming in Canterlot with Shining, Princess Cadance, Spike and their parents, the Apples left to spend it with Sugar Belle’s family in Baltimare, Pinkie left with Maud and Briarmud to the Pie Rock Farm, Rainbow and Fluttershy went to Cloudsdale and they took Scootaloo and Discord with them, finally Rarity left with Sweetie Belle on a vacation with their parents. I suppose it will be next year, too bad, thanks for coming though,” Starlight pushed her dad and Stellar Flare to the door.
Firelight closed the door with his magic, “nonsense Pumpkin Wumpkin, this just means that there will be less ponies that we thought and will make it more cozy and familiar and it will give us time to know Moondancer and Trixie better since they are important parts of your lives now.”
Sunburst and Starlight color drained from their faces, they both looked at Trixie pleading for help with their stares practically begging for a distraction from this awkward moment, said mare was hardly keeping a straight face, but she was still their friend so, after clearing her throat to get attention to her, she said, “HEY! I know dinner is really important but you guys wanna check one of the most important projects that Starlight and Sunburst are working on?”
Starlight and Sunburst quickly caught on what Trixie meant by that, THE MUSIC BOX, they both thought at the same time, “Trixie you are a genius, we have time before dinner so listening to a song or two from the music box would give us time to think of a way to stop… I mean to shop for ingredients for tonight’s dinner.”
“That’s a wonderful idea Sunburst, here take the list.”
“Alright, Starlight come with me you know the town better than me, Trixie show them the music box with Moondancer,” Sunburst picked the list and ran out the door with Starlight to the market.
“Wait what?” both Moondancer and Trixie said at the same time, but it was too late for Sunburst and Starlight were already gone.
Firelight scratched his head, “what’s this about a music box Trixie?”
“Oh well, I guess I’ll explain on the way to the studio, please follow the Great and Powerful Trixie,” everypony followed Trixie to the studio meanwhile she explained the music box origin.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Outside Sunburst and Starlight were buying the ingredients for the dinner, “what are we gonna do, Starlight? We gotta stop this dinner, I can’t have my mother embarrass me in front of Moondancer!”
Starlight picked some cinnamon from the stand and paid for it, “oh come on, I’m sure it won’t be that bad, I’m just glad to be out of there for a moment.”
“Not so bad? They just arrived and I bet my mom is already planning my wedding!”
Starlight picked some eggs and bread from the stand and put them on the basket Sunburst was carrying, “well, look at it this way, she was going to eventually meet your mom, so the faster the better, like a bandaid.”
“But… but… I guess you are right… Oh no!”
“What is it?”
“I just realized I left Moondancer with my mom!”
“Haha, don’t worry Trixie is with them, I’m sure they are fine.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
“Wow that is so interesting and you explained it so well you have a knack for teaching Moondancer.”
“Oh it’s nothing ma’am,” Moondancer scratched her head, even if she had better social skills now, she never got used to receiving compliments.
“Oh please call me Stellar, we are practically family now, so how did you meet my son?”
“Oh we met at magic school, but I think you got the wro-” she began but was interrupted by Trixie.
“It’s not fair, the Great and Eloquent Trixie explained the same thing and she wasn’t praised.”
Firelight softly rubbed Trixie’s head, “don’t be like that Sweetheart, you know you are loved, you are a good girl.”
Trixie was in trance, Firelight’s hoof felt really good and suddenly she remembered her mother, it felt nostalgic, but all good things must come to an end, he removed his hoof and broke Trixie’s stasis, “uh what? I mean anyway, this is the music box so as customary, the guests get to press the button. Who will be the first one?” she pointed at the device.
Both guests discussed silently and decided Stellar Flare should be the first one, “allow me Stella,” Firelight extended his hoof to help up the mare.
Trixie watched them approach the music box a tiny knowing smile adorned her face, a big I knew it, danced victoriously in her head, the mare finally pressed the button and a merry melody started playing.
Stellar Flare returned to her sit between Moondancer and Firelight, ”aw what a strong but mellow voice, it reminds me of when you sing Firelight.”
”Don't say that Stella, I'm not that good”
Stellar flare pushed him with her hoof, ”don't sell yourself short, you are a great singer, so Trixie, you say these are aliens?” the blue mare nodded, ”they seem to be a merry bunch, what could this Christmas be, I wonder.”
Moondancer stopped taking notes to fix her glasses, ”it appears that it would be a celebration and by the way they mention snow, it's most certainly a winter event, it doesn't seem to say much more so is hard to know exactly what kind of celebration would be.”
”You can declare the Great and Powerful Trixie impressed Moondancer, I just thought the song was pretty, but you were able to get much more from it than Trixie.”
They enjoyed the song until it was finished, ”Is that it? It was a nice tune, I guess is my turn now,” Firelight approached the machine and pressed the button, a sweet piano tune played.
”Oh another song about this Christmas and it sounds like it's a celebration about giving gifts under a Christmas Tree? It seems it is similar to Hearth's Warming, what a coincidence, isn't it?” Moondancer asked taking more notes.
”It is lovely, I think I like it more than the previous one, this one is more um... modern.”
”Hahaha, you never change Stella, you always prefer the modern to the classic,” Firelight said while wrapping a hoof around her, ”I got to admit, it sounds happier and a tad more romantic.”
They shared some silence for the remaining of the song, the door opened just as the song was ending.
”We are back, you missed us?” Starlight said putting the groceries on the floor.
Sunburst ran and grabbed Moondancer from the shoulders making her blush a bit, ”are you ok? I'm sorry I left you with my mother for so long, please tell me you don't think we are freaks now.”
Stellar Flare playfully puffed her cheeks and giggling she said, ”Sunburst, don't be like that, I'm your mother not a monster.”
”I'm ok Sunburst, your mother is a gentle lady, you should've told me more about her.”
”Anyway, with the ingredients here now is my turn to do some magic, can you help me Firelight?”
”I'm on it Stella.”
”The Great and Powerful Trixie will show you the kitchen,” the trio left leaving the other three on the studio.
Sunburst let go of Moondancer who fixed her sweater and glasses, ”hey Sunburst, you never told me, you and Starlight were siblings.”
This caught both of them off guard, ”what? We are not, what do you mean?” he said, while Starlight put on a worried face.
”Oh... is just that... nevermind, is probably nothing.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
the group used one of the smaller round tables, lots of food adorned the plates, the smell was delicious.
Stellar Flare picked some bread and spread some butter on it, ”there's nothing like being with family! Moondancer, where are you from?”
”I'm originally from Manehatten, but we moved to Canterlot when I was a filly”
Firelight picked some sauce, ”Manehatten, Windy City, huh? I had a friend who worked on a skyscraper in Manehatten, once he told me the wind blew off his lunch once to the nineteenth floor. Eat some bread munchkin. So Miss Moondancer have you and Sunburst been dating for long?
Sunburst almost choked with a spoon but managed to spit it, Moondancer replied, ”It's not like-like that. We're friends and colleagues now.”
Stellar flare patted Sunburst back and then went back to her seat, ”that's how it starts out colleagues Me and Sunburst's father, may Faust has him in her glory, were colleagues. Next thing you know he's kneeling and proposing with a golden ring.
”Mom please, it's no like that.”
”WiII you hush up Sunny? You never shown interest in a girl before except Starlight. The least you can do is let us talk to her. So Moondancer, do you like children?”
”Um... yeah.”
”Oh, that's wonderful. I can't wait for Sunburst to bring me home some grandfoals.”
”Mom please!” Sunburst begged, so Stellar Flare stopped with the teasing and returned to her baguel.
”Trixie thinks you're gonna enjoy making them babies. Trixie can recognise childbearing hips when she sees some. The babies will pop right out.”
At all this, Starlight was as quiet as a mouse, she was sorry for Sunburst but meanwhile the focus was on him she might be able to slip through the shadows.
Firelight sipped on his wine glass, ”Stella, you still got your wedding dress right? I remember it was really beautiful.”
”It's true, I still have it, Moondancer If you want it, you can have it, you'd look so lovely in it. It's white, though. You can wear a white wedding dress, right?” Sunburst facehoofed and Moondancer blushed but nodded, ”Now, Sunburst, you can wear a white tuxedo.”
”Mommy please,” Sunburst was starting to tear a bit.
”Stella, you are going to embarrass Sunburst.” Sunburst looked up Firelight with hope, ”nonetheless I hope you got a strong back Moondancer. when you get all that stallion to release all that that's been built up for years and years, Just wanting and wanting and wanting! WHOO! Might make your head blow off.”
Sunburst levels of embarrassment were off the charts, he just stood there, frozen for he was unable to stop this train wreck.
Firelight, gulped another glass of wine, ”I know a wonderful church down in the next town of Sire's Hollow, but they are a bit retrograde, they won't marry you if you're a lesbian.” he move to put a hoof on Starlight's shoulder, ”not that I have anything against lesbians. I love lesbians, Pumpkin.”
Starlight was drinking some wine as well and almost all of it came out of her nose, ”wait what?”
Firelight continued ”there's nothing wrong with a little bingo. A little experimenting never hurt anybody, I'm just happy you found Trixie and I hope she makes you happy.”
Trixie almost lost it, she was about to let out a huge laugh but contained herself.
”Wait dad, me and Trixie are not-”
Trixie interrupted Starlight with a hug and rubbed her cheek against hers, ”not ashamed to show the world our love, are we honey?” Starlight was about to say something but Trixie put a hoof on her muzzle, ”no we aren't, what do you think Mr. Light or should I call you Dad?”
A single tear fell from Firelight's eye, ”of course you can Trixie, come here my girls,” he hugged both mares while the other three were watching.
The remaining of the dinner was spent in relative peace, once everyone was done embarrassing Sunburst and Starlight they decided it was time for bed.
“I’ll wash the dishes, is the least I can do for such an amazing time,” Moondancer picked up the dishes and head to the kitchen.
Sunburst stepped up and walked behind Moondancer “I’ll help.”
Trixie let out a yawn, “Trixie is plumb tired, wanna go to our room and kiss each other's faces honey?” she laid hugging Starlight who looked as annoyed as Cranky Doodle on Mondays.
Starlight pushed her friend, “Trixie knock it off and go to your room, we already explained my dad we are not dating.”
“Not with that attitude, we are not… you are no fun Glimmy,” Trixie left trying not to giggle.
“I guess I’ll show you your rooms, here this way.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
In the kitchen, Sunburst and Moondancer were washing the dishes in silence, she was washing them while he was cleaning them. They usually touched hooves when passing the dishes.
“Sunburst/Moondancer” they both said at the same time, “you first,” again said in unison, they both laughed Moondancer pointed a hoof to him letting him talk.
“I want to apologize for my mom and Starlight’s father, they mean well but is hard for them to respect boundaries, I understand if you think we are weird after all that.”
“NO, no, no, no don’t worry, I know how you feel, in fact they are pretty much like my parents and sister, it made me feel… like home.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, at least you will be prepared when I take you to meet my parents...” Sunburst was surprised when he heard that and Moondancer just realized how did that sound, this brought a blush on her face, “n-not that there is any pa-particular reason you need to meet them… or… is t-there?”
They both looked at each other, the soft light made both their faces shine, both got closer and closer, their lips almost touching when they heard a voice from the door, “hey Sunburst, I gave your mom the third room on the east wing, my dad is on the fourth so Moondancer can take the second like last… time…”
“I-I-I gotta go, g’nite,” Moondancer stormed out of the kitchen and to her room.
“Was I interrupting something?”
Sunburst cleaned his glasses, “nothing, just the best part of the night,” he sighed, “maybe I should talk to my mom, maybe if we talk alone, she will understand that she needs to let me live my life.”
“Heh, good luck with that, remember third room.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Sunburst approached the door of the room, his mother was sleeping in, the lights were off already, he knocked at the door with his hoof.
“Who is it?”
It seems she was still awake, he opened the door and turned on the lights, “Mom, I know it’s late but I really need to talk.”
From the bed, Stellar Flare looked at her son with her noticeable disheveled mane, “um… can it wait till the morning son?”
“Well, yeah but I really wanted to… did Starlight give you too many pillows? The bed looks too fluffy...” he pushed the bed with his hoof and Firelight’s head popped out of the blanket yelping while Stellar Flare facehoofed. Sunburst let out a girly scream “aaaAAAAAAAAAAAH! MOMMA NOOOOOO!” he kept screaming while he walked to a chair and sat down, “you, him, here, owww… I need a moment...” he breathed deeply for a few seconds, “I’m an adult… I can handle this… I’m ok...” he looked back at them while they just gave a concerned smile, “MOMMA NOOOOO!” he put his hooves around his head.
Firelight sighed, “Sunburst will you keep it down?”
Sunburst stared at him, throwing daggers and with a manly tone he said, “I’M NOT READY TO TALK TO YOU YET YOUNG COLT!”
“What happened, I heard screaming… oh...” Moondancer was at the door without her sweater looking at the scene.
“What’s going on?... ew,” Starlight said wearing a sleepshirt.
“What’s this, a pajama party? Scooch over,” Trixie, wearing onesie with her face all over it, said running to the bed but was stopped by Starlight’s magic.
“That’s it, everypony out, everypony out NOW!” Sunburst pushed the girls out of the room, “ok mom, I just wanna say that I’m hurt… and I don’t think that mothers are supposed to do… whatever you… OH I JUST GOT A MENTAL PICTURE! GET OUT! GET OUT!” he left the room, hitting his head with his hoof.
On the bed, Stellar flare rubbed her temples, “this was not the way I planned to tell them about us.”
“I’m really sorry Stella, it was my fault for not containing myself and coming to your room.”
“Don’t worry, we will explain it in the morning.”
“Well I suppose you don’t want to…” he said with his hopes up.
“Are you kidding me?” she said and he deflated a bit, “of course I want to,” she turned off the lights with her magic and put the covers around them giggling.
That night the castle of friendship housed many kinds of love, from the young budding love, old friendships reunited, undiscovered flouring love and even love, born from the ashes of long lost loves, everything was fine even if the morning was going to be really awkward, but that is a problem for the future ponies, right now love was the only thing that mattered.
At Canterlot Royal Plaza, the ponies were gathering for the traditional yearly Royal Hearth’s Warming Message from the Princess, this would be the first time in history that other than Princess Celestia gives the message. The crowd cheered when Princess Twilight Sparkle showed at the royal balcony donning full regalia and scepter, at her side her Royal Advisor carrying a box.
Princess Twilight lifted her hoof and the crowd went silent, she was ready to give her very first Royal Hearth’s Warming Message and she knew this one will be remembered for ages, for she will share with Equestria more than they expected.
She cleared her throat and used her Royal Canterlot voice, “for many, the lighting of the Flaming Hearth is when Hearth’s Warming begins. Expected by hundreds of thousands of ponies around Equestria, it starts with the ceremony of Friendship Kindling that consist of foals from the three tribes, singing carols, powering the magic flames that burns with the power of friendship.”
“The pony who introduced this tradition many centuries ago, was none other than Clover the Clever. She served Princess Platinum and Equestria faithfully, spreading a message of peace, friendship and goodwill until the day she closed her eyes for the last time.”
“This year has been a year of many changes, some are good and some other not so good, but this year was also of discoveries and new beginnings. The Wonderbolts celebrate a new generation of flyers with a memorable fly-past demonstrating a thrilling unity of purpose and execution. We owe them and all our Armed Services our deepest gratitude.”
“My brother server in the Royal Guard for many years, he even became the Captain of said Royal Guard, many good ponies have been lost on the countless battles protecting our way of life. At Hearth’s Warming, we become keenly aware of loved ones who are no longer with us. But, of course, we would not grieve if we did not love.”
“Love, that’s all it takes, to love your neighbor as much as you love yourself, it sounds pretty easy but is possibly one of the hardest things to accomplish successfully, I have seen many changes on my beloved Equestria since I was just a foal. But through the many changes I have seen over the years, faith, family and friendship have been not only a constant for me but a source of personal comfort and reassurance.”
“Its strength lies in the bonds of affection it promotes, and a common desire to live in a better, more peaceful world. Even with the most deeply held differences, treating others with respect and as a friend is always a good first step towards greater understanding.”
“For that reason I wanted to share with you one secret that I have kept for several moons,” the multitude of ponies stared at their princess whispering about what could she mean, “since before Summer. An unknown object fell on the outskirts of Ponyville, I was able to retrieve the object and study it, discovering that it was in fact not naturally made, but it wasn’t made by any living creature on planet Equum.”
The crowd began to talk among themselves making a lot of noise, Twilight lifted her hoof and her subjects went silent again.
“Please remain calm, indeed this object was created by a culture outside of our planet. It was created by aliens,” that was it, this caused a commotion between the ponies present at the plaza, some were wondering if this was real, Twilight lifted her hoof but wasn’t able to calm the crowd this time, she ignited her horn and cast an exploding spell on the sky, this caught the attention of everypony, “I know that this is hard to believe and I know you might need more than my word as proof, so I have brought to you some of their technology, I call this the Music Box.”
Spike opened the box he was carrying and showed the Music Box to the crowd.
“This is a device that carried with it the music of the alien race, just by pressing the button on the middle we will be introduced to their world, even if it’s just a little bit.”
Twilight pressed the button and the device awoke once again.
“Oof, this is an eerie one, well at least we got lucky it doesn’t say anything else,” she whispered to Spike who giggled, Twilight again addressed the crowd, “as you can see, this is a piece never before heard by Ponykind, but I can almost hear your doubts. I wouldn’t force you to believe me without something else, something you can see as well… that’s why I want to share with you that this alien race has finally made contact with me, in fact, they are right now flying around our very planet and they have a message to all of us.”
Spike gave another device to the princess, it was white like the music box and had a red button, Twilight pressed the button and then channeled her magic to create a hologram on the sky, here you could see that a creature was looking at everypony at the plaza, it was covered in a white suit and had a helmet covering its entire head.
“Ok Xobcisum, they can hear you know.”
The creature spoke, its voice sounded distorted but it could be understood, “INHABITANTS OF PLANET EQUUM, WE ARE THE MEN AND WOMEN OF SPACE, WE HAVE BEEN WATCHING YOU FOR YEARS NOW AND NOW WE BELIEVE YOU ARE READY TO SEE US, RIGHT NOW WE ARE APPROACHING YOU ALL OVER THE PLANET TO ALL YOUR CULTURES,” from the sky a humongous saucer like structure approached the castle in Canterlot, stopping right on top of it, “WE CAME TO BRING YOU A GIFT, ONE THAT WE GAVE MANY OTHER BEFORE...” the ponies whispered among them, wondering what kind of gift they will give them, “A GIFT OF PEACE, WE ARE THE HARBINGERS OF YOUR PERFECTION, WE ARE YOUR SALVATION THROUGH DESTRUCTION.”
“Um, Twilight? I have a bad feeling about this,” Spike said at the last thing the alien said, suddenly the center of the saucer opened letting out a bright light, and another tune could be heard, not coming from the music box, but from the saucer itself, loud enough so everypony could hear it.
From the sky other saucers appeared, all equally as big as the first one all of them directing to other places on the planet, all of them opening their center while a bright light came from within them.
Twilight quickly shut off the spell making the alien disappear, “Xobcisum, what’s going on?” she asked the small device she was carrying. Instead of her communicator, the music box sparkled stunning Spike and sending him flying against a wall, Twilight ran to catch him before he hit the wall, “SPIKE! no-no-no-no-no , Spike wake up.”
The little dragon opened his eyes, but instead of green, yellow filled his irises, “ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL OF THIS VESSEL.”
“Spike? What’s wrong?”
“TWILIGHT, SPIKE IS NO MORE, NOW IT IS ONLY XOBCISUM.”
“What? How dare you, RELEASE HIM RIGHT NOW!” the alicorn ignited her horn.
“TWILIGHT, DO NOT ATTACK, FOR YOU WILL ONLY HURT THE VESSEL.”
She knew he was right and turned off her spell, “why are you doing this? Please explain this to me.”
“AS I SAID BEFORE, WE CAME TO SAVE YOU, WE ARE THE HARBINGERS OF YOUR SALVATION THROUGH DESTRUCTION, WE WILL SAVE YOUR CULTURE FROM DISAPPEARING FROM THE UNIVERSE.”
“I’m afraid to ask but, how are you going to save us?”
“WE WILL ASSIMILATE ALL YOUR CIVILIZATION AND TRANSFORM IT TO DATA, THEN WE WILL SAVE IT INTO OUR BRAINS, THAT WAY YOUR CULTURE WILL SURVIVE FOR ETERNITY.”
A powerful beam came from all the saucers destroying the castle, Twilight could only grab Spike and teleport as far as she could, from the plains she could see how the saucers were destroying canterlot and on the horizon she could see more saucers almost hiding the sun launching beams on other cities.
“Why Xobcisum? Why are you destroying us?”
“BECAUSE OF HARMONY,” Twilight was confused about that, “THE UNIVERSE IS CHAOTIC AND EVERY LIVING CREATURE MAKES IT EVEN MORE CHAOTIC, BY ASSIMILATING THEIR INFORMATION AND DISPOSING OF THE PHYSICAL, WE ARE SAVING YOUR CULTURE AND TURNING CHAOS INTO HARMONY AGAIN.”
“That’s a lie, you are just destroying us and I’ll plan to stop you, even if it’s the last thing I do.”
“TWILIGHT, DO NOT BECOME AN ANNOYANCE, YOU ARE FIGHTING AGAINST INEVITABILITY. LIKE DUST STRUGGLING AGAINST COSMIC WINDS, ACCEPT IT TWILIGHT, YOUR TIME HAS COME AND YOUR SPECIES WILL BE PRESERVED AS DATA… ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL OF NEW VESSELS.”
“What?” Twilight asked, she readied her horn but was surprised by a flash of magic, when the light faded she saw that she was surrounded by all her friends, including Cadence, Celestia, Luna and even Sunburst and Moondancer, all of them sporting yellow eyes like Spike, “no, please tell me this isn’t true, we can’t fail this easy, this must be a lie, please tell me is a lie,” she was too distracted to notice a saucer on top of her opening its center, and launching a beam on top of her, “NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” and then there was only white.
.
.
.
.
.
Twilight fell from her bed, she was sweaty and confused, she looked everywhere trying to find her friends but only finding walls, plushies, books and a bunch of boy bands posters. She was in her old room at her parents' place, then it all came to her, “IT WAS A NIGHTMARE!!”
“Twilight, are you ok?” Spike said from the door, still on his pajamas.
“Spike!” she ran to hug him.
“Let me guess, nightmare?” Twilight nodded, still hugging him, “I knew we shouldn’t have gone to watch that movie at the Canterlot Theatre, seriously, who makes a movie about aliens attacking Equestria during Hearth’s Warming, to see the country destroyed the date it was born.”
Twilight let him go, “Spike it was awful, the aliens came with the saucers exactly like the movie but they were the same aliens from the music box and in my dream they played those last two songs that Starlight sent us, while destroying all what ponykind built, just like the movie… but on my dream the planet wasn’t saved like the movie and there wasn’t epic speech from the leader of the resistance, oh boy I loved that part, ‘We will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight! We're going to live on! We're going to survive! Today, we celebrate our Hearth’s Warming Day!’ it was the best speech I’ve seen in a movie before.”
“I think it was pretty cheese, I liked better that old pegasus who slammed himself with a storm rock inside one of those saucers, finding a way to defeat the aliens… speaking of which, are you sure you want to reveal the music box to the ponies at Canterlot during the Royal Hearth’s Warming Message?”
Twilight swallowed remembering her nightmare, “I don’t think that’s a good idea Spike, maybe we should release it little by little like we are doing right now.”
“Why? The ponies are smart, I’m sure they will take it well.”
“Yeah the common pony is smart. The mass is dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it, and now with the release of that movie, I bet they will riot thinking the aliens will attack.”
Spike scratched his head, “yeah you are probably right, I guess you don’t need me to go to Ponyville to pick the music box, do you?” he said a bit down.
Twilight smiled knowing that picking the music box was just an excuse for him, “you know you don’t need my permission to go to Ponyville and visit Gabby, you can go if you want,” Spike hugged Twilight and ran to his room to get his magic bracelet to travel to ponyville, Twilight giggled and picked some papers from her desk, she needed to adjust her speech, now that she won’t include the reveal of the aliens, at least not yet.
Winter wind blowing on the town of Ponyville, while four ponies enjoyed the luxury only a castle could bring on these cold times, one of them was having fun at the expense of the sole colt at the place.
“Little brother I need your help!” Starlight said in a clueless tone while she followed Sunburst around the castle, Moondancer and Trixie following close behind, Trixie was giggling like a schoolfilly meanwhile Moondancer was doing her best to keep a straight face.
Sunburst’s face showed annoyance at Starlight, he was still not over the fact that their parents were an item now. He walked in the kitchen and served himself some hot cocoa, the three mares doing the same.
Starlight grabbed the bag of soft candy pillows barely keeping a straight face, “do you want some marshmallows with that little brother?”
“Would you knock it off? Our parents are not married, they are just lonely and found some relief in each other, it’s not likely to last…” Trixie fell on her back laughing while Moondancer bit her lip trying not to laugh covering her mouth with her hoof, Starlight was making a titanic effort just to keep her face with a tiny smile, “besides I’m older than you.”
“Just by a week and not anymore since that time I came back to take revenge on Twilight, I used Starswirl’s time spell and we fought in different timelines for a bit more than eight days meanwhile we returned to the exact moment we left, making me at least a full day older than you now,” the group walked to the living room where they planned to spend the afternoon next to the chimney.
“Hey that doesn’t count, using time spells is cheating, tell her Moondancer.”
The yellow mare was blowing on her cocoa and was surprised by the sudden inclusion on the conversation, “hmm, Starlight makes a good case, if we take age just by the time one has lived, then, even with a magic spell, she is now older than you.”
“See, even Moondancer agrees with me,” Starlight said triumphantly.
Moondancer cleared her throat while fixed her glasses, “but then again age can be counted as the time you lived since your date of birth on this world, making any time spent on different world invalid, therefore you are still younger than Sunburst, Starlight.”
“See, she agrees with ME!” Sunburst proudly puffed his chest.
Trixie sipped on her cocoa and said, “technically, she just gave a valid point for each choice allowing her not to pick a side for fear of repercussions from either of you,” Moondancer coughed and looked at the other side hiding a blush for being discovered so easily, “in my insightful and humble opinion, we are avoiding what’s really important here… ” the trio paid attention to the blue mare, “that I was right from the beginning and your parents are doing the nasty HA-HA and another HA!” Sunburst and Starlight rolled their eyes so Trixie grabbed Moondancer by the shoulder, “come on Moony, I can call you Moony right?” Moondancer was going to object but Trixie interrupted her, “ok Moony, come and laugh with Trixie, now that we are roomies and colleagues we need to learn to enjoy each other’s company and what’s better than to laugh at your friends?”
Moondancer removed Trixie’s hoof with her magic, “technically, laughing at our friends’ expenses might increase the animosity between the group, I would suggest against it.”
Trixie pouted, “yeah right, weren’t you doing your best to not laugh earlier? The great and powerful Trixie saw it all.”
Moondancer almost choked on her cocoa, she coughed a few times thinking a way to move the conversation in a different direction, “um… Starlight, did you ever got around to send a message to Princ… I mean to Celestia about becoming a teacher at the School of Friendship?”
“Oh yeah, I forgot it due to the whole dinner fiasco, I should send a message to Spike so he can relay it to Celestia at Laburinthos, come little brother, you are better at redacting than me” Starlight left the room followed by an annoyed Sunburst.
“Nice save Moony, I believe we are going to be really good friends you and I.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
“Dear sister, look!” Luna pointed at the huge gates on the black walls that protected the city of Laburinthos.
“Freaking finally, my hooves are killing me, remember who’s idea was to come here by hoof instead of train or at least a chariot?”
“It was yours Tia, I remember you said ’don’t be a chicken Lulu, let’s walk all the way to Laburinthos, it will be a test of endurance’ or something along those lines.”
“I must have been drunk, I swear I drank my last bahama mama, no more,” both walked to the gate where there stood two Minotaur guards in uniform, carrying staves ending on a sparkly orb, “Oh, to be honest I don’t know how customs work here, I’ve only ever came once every few years and flew directly to the embassy on a chariot, hopefully our identifications will be enough.”
“It can’t be that bad, I remember they were always a bunch of knuckleheads on the time before… you know.”
“I wouldn’t underestimate them Lulu, I never had the chance to bring you since you returned but the Minotaurs, even if the bulk of them still lives on the walled city of Laburinthos, have turned on one of the most advanced species of Equum.”
Both alicorns approached the guards who ignited their staves, sending sparks flying, “Halt! State your business!” the guard said in a raspy voice.
“How rude, I should blast your face for such insolence!”
“No Lulu, let me handle this,” Celestia picked some papers from her saddlebag and gave them to the guard, “here young man, I am Celestia and here is my sister Luna from Equestria, we wish to be granted access to the city.”
The guard picked the papers and review them, he then touched his earpiece, “sir, we got two ten-sixtysix at the main gate, they appear to be Equestrian VIPs… yes… alicorns… yes both, yes flowy mane… ten-four. You may pass Celestia and Luna from Equestria,” the guard pressed a button on a panel on the wall and the doors opened to the alicorns, “welcome to Laburinthos, enjoy your stay.”
The pair of sisters entered the city and was marveled by the sight, buildings tall like the ones on Manehatten to where the eye can see, building after building creating a closed atmosphere, only open by the roads where self impulsed carts were driven by minotaurs of all type, “see Lulu, I told you they advanced leaps over ponies in this thousand years you were… out, they had to for their lack of every kind of magic.” they walked through the streets of the city and watched how the lights turned on the street turned on, when the sun started to go down. Filled with electricity instead of magic like they were used to, “it’s amazing what you can accomplish without magic little sister, but then again, after knowing of another species out of this world that has no magic I can see now that from necessity comes invention.”
“But Tia, I don’t understand, how can they power those carts and this lights without magic?”
“Well, after they created the engine and shared it with the world they went and tried to improve it. I believe that was around three or four hundred years ago that they started using fossil fuel extracted from deep inside the ground, but then just two hundred years after that, they noticed the contamination this fuel was causing, so it was unanimously decided that the advance on the fossil fuel engine wasn’t worth the damage they could cause in the world, you can still see this engines on museums anyway, they made several advances on steam engines and then they manage to garner the power of thunder in the form of hydroelectric dams.”
“Like that one near Ponyville?”
“Yeah, exactly like that one, but it has its downsides, to begin with this limits the reach of the power generated, luckily this city has the biggest river of the continent just next to it.”
They kept walking for about another hour and the sun set “um Tia, didn’t we pass that building about five minutes already?”
“Really?” Celestia looked around, “oh poo, and we can’t even fly due to a rule of the city that forbids flying over the buildings without a license, I was always carried on the chariot so I never bothered to request one.”
“What kind of rule is that? What about birds and insects?”
“That only applies to sapient beings, I believe it has something to do about privacy on the buildings, a big deal of them are apartments and some of them have crystal walls… wait, I think I know this place,” Celestia ran and stopped in front of a building with a paint of a big barrel overflowing of a white liquid.
“Tia what is this place?”
“This, my beloved little sister, is the Megamilk Inn. It was founded two hundred and forty three years ago by a friend of mine Cremia, may she rest in Harmony, it’s a family business and I’ve been coming here every time I’m in the city since then, come Lulu, if I’m not mistaken the current owner is Vanilla Dreams, her cakes are the best.”
Both entered the establishment making a bell sound, alerting a young minotauress, her white fur adorned with some black patches covered by a dress and an apron, “welcome to Megamilk, how can I be of service… oh, Princess Celestia it’s been years since the last time you graced us with your presence, please allow me to take you to a table.”
The minotauress directed them to a table while Celestia “little Cherry, it’s that you? My stars you grown, the last time I saw you, I could carry you on my hooves and now you are all grown and strong and you got your horns already,” the white alicorn was moved to see how the years have been generous with her friend, “this is my sister Luna.”
“Princess Luna, it’s an honor to finally meet you,” Cherry said while curtsying.
“Please child, there is no need for formalities, a friend of my sister is a friend of mine besides, we are no longer Princesses.”
“Oh yeah, it was heard in the news that Equestria has a new sole regent, you must be proud of your pupil Princ… I mean Miss Celestia.”
“Just Celestia is fine Cherry, and you bet I’m proud of her,” suddenly a letter spawned from flames in front of her, “oh… speaking of the Orbsah, Cherry, would you be so kind as to bring us one of your mother’s cakes and some ink and scroll, I bet Twilight will want an answer right away, oh please bring Vanilla here as well, I wish to talk to my old friend.”
“I’m sorry Celestia, my mother is out of the city for business, we are planning on opening an inn in pony lands, on a town called Appleloosa, but my aunt is about to return from work, I bet she would love to see you”
“What a shame, I guess there is no helping it, thanks Cherry,” Celestia replied and the young woman left the table with both mares waiting for their order.
“She is a lovely lady, Tia, gentle and hardworking as well. So what does Twilight needs?”
“It’s actually a request from Starlight, it seems they need new teachers and they were wondering if I was willing to teach there.”
“Are you going to accept?”
“Hay no, I was planning to enjoy a vacation of at least a century or two before I focus on anything else.”
The inn had a calm and warm atmosphere, with soft music that went well with the place, the guests were having dinner, talking among them and not paying attention to the alicorns that looked out of place, Cherry returned with a three story cake and some beverages for the mares, Luna cut a piece of the cake and so did her sister, piece after piece of the cake disappeared from Celestia’s plate while Luna was just on her second piece, the patrons started to notice and watched in wonder how the mare devoured the pastry, some of them even started cheering.
Celestia was on the last piece of the cake when a raspy female voice interrupted her, “I see that you keep filling your maw with cake, Celestia,” the entire inn went silent and watched and the newcomer, it was an adult Minotauress, her fur black as night with a white spot on half of her face, she was wearing a long sleeve shirt and carried a coat on her shoulder.
The white alicorn slowly turned to see who interrupted her cake, her eyes went wide open, “Tube Tester!” she stood and walked to the woman, “you rough, bark of a birch!” they shook hoof with hand together in a gesture of friendship, their forearms bulging, testing each other's strength.
They continue the contest until sweat came from both their foreheads, Tube started losing, “ok ok, I give, damn you and your alicorn strength. How have you been Celestia?”
“Can’t complain, finally retired, enjoying some peace and quiet, you?”
“Well after leaving your School of gifted unicorns I returned home, I’m currently working on ways to use energy besides the dam, that has limited the minotaur expansion of the lands and I want to change that… but gotta admit, I really miss my teaching, hey how is little Twilight, last I heard is that you put her in charge of all of Equestria.”
“Indeed, she earned it and I earned some R&R you were her favorite minotaur technology teacher you know? She even adapted some of the machines you showed her to work with magic instead of electricity.”
“Yeah, you ponies and your fancy magic, I heard that your dependence on your magic almost doomed your entire race when that filly almost wiped it out from your kingdom”
Both sit at the table where Luna was waiting, “give us a break, you wouldn’t blame fish for almost dying if they took away their water would you? By the way, this is my sister Luna.”
The woman extended her hand and Luna grabbed it, “my pleasure, I’m Tube Tester, Celestia and I go way back, I used to teach at the school for gifted unicorns.”
“The pleasure is mine, hey Tia, why don’t you ask her to teach at Twilight’s school?”
“Oh I heard about that school, sorry Luna, but I’m really close to a breakthrough with my assistant,” she got closer to them and whispered, “I’m working on a way to use the sun as a source of energy and I’m very close.”
“The sun? Wait, sister didn’t Twilight said that the music box-”
“Lulu you need to be more discreet about things like this, Tube, can we go to the office, I might be able to help you with your project.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
The trio went to the back office where they closed the door with lock, Celestia wrote a letter to Twilight and meanwhile they waited for her response, she explained the music box origin. Tube Tester stood there, her eyes marveled with the story and asking a question or two.
“If any other creature on the planet would’ve told me what you just did, I would have laughed, you better than anyone understands how immense the universe is right?” Celestia nodded, “the probability that another culture reach us is less than the probability of me launching a bunch coal to a scroll and this wrote a poem.”
“But isn’t zero,” Celestia said while the minotauress drooled at the possibilities, at that moment a flame startled the trio, “oh that was fast, mmhmm oh, I believe you need to read this Tube.”
She grabbed the letter with her hand and began reading, ‘In all of Equum, I would let any other creature try to tinker with the music box but the best teacher in technology of Equestria and Laburinthos, I’ll notify Starlight to be ready to receive her’ “my, my, she was always an eloquent mare, fine I’ll take the job on her school, but I NEED to bring my assistant, believe he is a trustworthy scholar, I trained him myself and I refuse to work without him.”
“I’m sure that can be arranged, I’ll send a letter to her immediately, when would you think you can leave?”
“What are you talking about, we are leaving tomorrow I’ll just pack some stuff and notify my assistant.”
“Hey hey, Relax Tube, this wasn’t the reason we came to the city to begin with, my sister Luna heard that there is a minotaur working on a device to enjoy video games like the arcades but in the houses.”
“Oh yeah, professor Fam Icon, not as interesting of a study, video games are just a phase, I bet they won’t be important and will fade away of the existence in the near future, but ok I’ll take you both to them in the morning you are staying right?”
“Yes, Tia and I will need accommodations, you accept Equestrian bits right?”
“Come on, Celestia has been practically family since my great-great-grandmother Cremia, you are staying, no charge as always, let me call Cherry to prepare your rooms.”
That night after the Inn’s kitchen closed, the four of them enjoyed each other’s company while reminiscing about the past, with a bottle of their best goat milk and some more cake. In the morning as promised they left to meet professor Fam Icon to discuss funding on his project.
Darkness filled a cozy room from the Megamilk Inn, on the bed laid the alicorn of the night, unmoving except for the slow, up and down of her breathing. From the shadows a slender figure creeped into the room, its agile movements fitting for a predator, the creature slowly approached the bed, his slitted eyes focused on the sleeping mare while his claw approached her shoulder when he noticed a shining blue aura around his arm.
“I see your kind doesn’t change even in a thousand years, abyssinian,” Luna lifted and threw him on the bed, she surrounded him with the blanket.
“Wait I can explabfbfbf-” he tried saying but was gagged by Luna.
“Quiet you scoundrel, you were sloppy, I could hear you since you entered the room, now what should I do with you?” the abyssinian began sweating, unable to speak imagined what would this mare could do to him, “I should boil you,” his eyes went wide open, “or pull every single hair of your body,” his sweat now rained from his face, “I could throw you on the dungeon to let you rot for eternity... or maybe I should just let you go,” he nodded furiously “ha! Fat chance, prepare to meet your maker.”
The scared abyssinian pointlessly struggled, trying to set himself free from his captor when the door opened showing Tube Tester on a yellow tube top that revealed all her toned body her minotaur genes granted, her hair made into a bun and a cup of coffee on her hand, “Tinker what’s taking you so long…” the minotauress watched how Luna wrapped the cat boy, who gave eyes filled with hope at seeing Tube, she smiled and sipped her coffee,“I see I’m interrupting, I’ll be back in… about ten minutes,” she said while closing the door, the abyssinian wriggled, moaning for help while Luna watched the door, still confused.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
“Well how was I supposed to know he was your assistant? This little raskall creeped into my room and almost assaulted me on my bed,” Luna said while at the table where the two sisters, two minotaurs and an abyssinian was sitting, all enjoying breakfast prepared by Cherry Dreams.
“I did not! I am innocent of this crime!” the orange striped coat cat boy said pointing with his white colored paws at the ceiling.
“Calm down Lulu, Tube sent him to wake you up, he was just doing his job.”
“But Tia, you know I haven’t seen one of them catfolk since I returned, well except that Capper fella but he didn’t give the best impression, after the party we held he tried to steal the jewels of my crown.”
Celestia added some sugar to her coffee, “weeeell to be honest I made a bet with him that he wouldn’t be able to steal them, I won… besides don’t be speciesist little sister, even if most Abyssinians still tend to be nomadic, the statistics show that crime levels are the same regardless of the presence of abyssinians.”
Luna pouted, she will never get used to be lectured by her sister, “fine, I’m sorry for wrapping you in the blanket Tinker Claw, I was in the wrong.”
The boy smiled while putting his arms on the back of his head, “no worries ma’am, everyone deserves a second chance after a bad first impression.”
Celestia clapped her hooves, “well said Tinker, quite the wise words coming from one so young, by the way, how old are you?”
“I’m fifteen ma’am, I’ll be sixteen next winter.”
“Younger than I expected, and you said he is your assistant Tube?” the woman nodded while eating her eggs on an unladylike fashion, “since when?”
Tube Tester suddenly stopped chewing her food closed her eyes, swallowed and then answered, “since about the time I returned from Canterlot.”
“I believe that was before I was brought back from the moon, he would have been just a little kit, are his parents ok with… ” Celestia put a hoof on Luna’s shoulder stopping her, then pointed at Tinker Claw who was just moving his food with a fork, “oh… I’m sorry if it’s a touchy subject.”
Tiker looked up to Luna with his cat like eyes, “it’s ok, I must admit that I didn’t give the best of impressions either.”
Tube adjusted her glasses, “you don’t have to tell them if you don’t want to, Tinker my boy.”
“No, I want to, I never knew my parents, as far as I know they must have been just passing by Laburinthos and at least they were decent enough to leave me at the door of the orphanage, otherwise I wouldn't have lasted a day, I was raised among the calves there but I never did fit, they were all too big and strong and I was small and weak, so I didn’t have friends, I remember that I used to skip classes and jump from ceiling to ceiling on the buildings, and probably should confess that I wasn’t as law abiding as I should be on those days, I used to dismantle lights from the street, I liked to collect the bulbs, I sometimes removed some parts of the cars on the street, and sometimes I pickpocketed for some change, one day I was laying near this very inn when I saw Professor Tester walking carrying a huge machine, of course I didn’t know her at the time, I got curious about that huge machine with lights and buttons so I followed her, I snuck into her room when she left and stared at the thing, I don’t know how long or when I began to remove parts of the machine with my claws, all I know is that this was the most interesting thing I ever did, I didn’t even noticed when the Professor came back, I just knew that I had to disassemble it and when I was done she was right behind me, I freaked out and tried to leave but she grabbed me by the scruff and stared at me directly into my eyes, I thought that was it I was done for but, she told me she was impressed on how quickly I disassembled her machine and well, Professor, I think you can tell this part.”
“What did I tell you about leaving things unfinished *sigh* anyway, long story short, the next day I went directly to the orphanage and adopted him, I’ve been training him since then, his room is on the top floor, don’t ask me, he personally asked to be as high as possible.”
Celestia was moved by the story she just heard but Luna was in tears biting the a tissue staring at the boy, “oh the torment you must have endured,” she grabbed Tinker Claw and hugged him tight, “oh you poor, pathetic, misunderstood, kitten. Let me embrace you, AS FAUST AS MY WITNESS, YOU WILL NEVER BE ALONE AGAIN!”
Tube Tester finished her coffee and cleared her throat, “Luna you are exaggerating, that was a long time ago and please let go of my assistant, you are suffocating him,” little Tinker again struggled to set himself free until Luna let him go, “anyway, you wanted to meet Professor Icon didn’t you?”
Celestia finished he waffles when a thought crossed her mind, “Tube, if he is living here, how come we didn’t see him yesterday when you came.”
“Oh, well he came with me, but went straight to his room, silly kitten worked too hard again and was sleepy,” Tube said while tenderly patting Tinker’s head, “anyway, let’s finish up and get this over with”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
At the academy of sciences of Laburinthos you could find some of the biggest minds in the Minotaur lands, the group walked through the halls to reach Professor Fam Icon’s lab. As they walked Celestia could see that Tube Tester was upset about something, she had her hands on her pockets and kept grinding her teeth.
“Tube is there something wrong?” she finally asked, at what the woman shook her head without saying anything.
Behind them there was Tinker and Luna chatting, the alicorn hadn’t left the boy’s side since breakfast, they were chatting about video games and how she wanted to help with Professor Icon’s development of a home video game console, when he suddenly needed to make a stop for the bathroom.
The other three continued until they reached a door where Icon’s lab was located, Tube knocked at the door and waited, nothing happened so she knocked again a bit stronger, still nothing, she opened the door to let herself in, “before you ask, no I don’t think he would mind that we barge in.”
The trio entered the lab that looked more like an arcade, there were many video game machines, some disassembled and others that looked like nothing they have ever seen, there were many posters of characters and blueprints, on the back of the room was a middle aged minotaur with a pair of headphones, next to him was a smaller figure also wearing headphones, they were staring at a screen where you could see a small figure jumping barrels. Tube Tester annoyed for being ignored stomped the ground startling at the pair playing the game making them fall on the ground.
“What gives!” the minotaur who got up cleaning his lab coat from dirt and looking at his visits, “oh… Profesor Tester,” he said with a monotone voice, almost looking annoyed.
“Professor Icon,” she responded with similar or probably even more venom in her voice.
He put one arm on his back and stroked his abundant beard with the other hand, his coat was a very dark brown color meanwhile his mane and beard were black, he was wearing a sweater under his coat with what appeared to be a star, flower and mushroom patterns.
“I believe you were the one who said that you will never set hoof on my lab, Professor Tester.”
Tube Tester crossed her arms under her generous bosom, “believe me, I would be here in this house of wasted potential without a good reason. Here my companion is interested in your leisure promoting project,” she said making air quotes.
“I see, Joy sweetheart, would you kindly bring us tea, the pot is ready in one of the burners.”
The smaller creature finally stood up showing a canine face, “yes Professor Icon, at once,” she saluted with her paw and ran to the room next door.
Celestia watched the little girl leave, “was that a female diamond dog, professor Icon?” she asked meanwhile the minotaur rummaged behind one of the machines, pulling several bean bags.
He placed them on the ground in a circle around a coffee table, “yes she is my pupil, please sit down, I would present myself but I see you already know who I am, and who may you be…” he stared at the pair of mares, “taller than average mares, both horns and wings, manes floating on a nonexistent wind… I would say you are Princess Celestia and Princess Luna from Equestria or should I say ex-Princesses?”
“You are well informed Professor,” Celestia said while sitting on the bean bag, Joy returned with cups of tea, giving one to each guest and one to Fam Icon, the girl had a yellow coat with long darker yellow ears, she had the hair on her head tied into a small ponytail, she was wearing a green vest and a black skirt, everything under a white lab coat, “and who may you be little one.”
“I am Joy Miner, you are tall pretty pony, you two are, what are your names pretty tall ponies?” Joy asked while wiggling her tail.
Both mares giggled, “I am Celestia and this is my sister Luna, nice to meet you.”
“Celestia and Luna, pretty tall ponies are kind like Professor Icon,” she said in her sweet voice smiling.
“Maybe we should stop Tinker, Abyssinians and Diamond Dogs have terrible relationships even at this time of peace,” Celestia said.
“Stop me from what?” the boy said and silence filled the room.
Celestia and luna watched terrified how Joy suddenly jumped in Tinker’s direction, Tinker stood there and caught Joy on his arms and spinned her, “Friend Tinker, it’s been a while,” she said while Tinker put her on the ground.
Celestia and Luna relaxed, “Ok, this is a new one even for me, on my centuries I have never seen a diamond dog and an abyssinian hug like friends.”
Tube siped from her cup, “yeah well, Tinker was never raised among other cat folk.”
“That makes sense, Tia this gives me hope that one day there will be peace between the two species… wait please don’t tell me she has a sad background, I’m still recovering from earlier,” Luna asked the male minotaur.
“What, no, why? She is the daughter of my gem supplier, she was really interested in learning science and technology, so he asked me to put her under my wing, being the daughter of a merchant, she was in contact with many cultures, a merchant can't be a bigot if he wants to sell his goods.”
Luna gave a sigh of relief, but then Tube spoke, “and that’s what I meant by wasted potential.”
“Oh you are going to start again,” the man facepalmed.
“Joy aced every single test she was put, I can’t believe you are using her for your ridiculous toy.”
“It’s not a toy, it’s an entertainment device.”
“Tomayto tomahto, it’s still useless in the grant realm of things, even your pupil’s personal project in the uses of gems in optical drives is more important!”
Both minotaurs have stood up and were at each other's faces, steam coming from their nostrils.
“You are a great scientist Tube but you lack vision, my device will be just the start on a series of advances that will take Equestrian civilisation to the last frontier!”
“Oh yeah? The only way for that to take us into space is in those imaginary stories your games have inside.”
Everyone else in the room watched how the two minotaurs spat venom at each other, Joy and Tinker nodded at each other, then each of them grabbed a hand of their mentors and put them on their own head. The effect was almost instantaneous, both minotaurs looked at their pupils and began rubbing their heads, their faces and the muscles on their arms softening.
Tube Tester breathed in and let out a sigh, “anyway, I’m not here to discuss, just to bring you this mare that wants to fund your project, Tinker when you are done meet me at my office, we have a lot of paperwork before we leave to Equestria.”
“Wait Tube you are leaving?”
“What do you care?”
“I don’t, is just too sudden, you are so close with your project about solar energy.”
“I’m not abandoning it, I just got news that Equestria might have what I need to complete it, why are you going to miss me?”
“I… no, well I’ll feel your absence.”
The woman stopped at the door for a second, looked like she wanted to turn back and say something but then continued to her office.
Celestia cleared her throat, “I guess I’m not needed for this, would any of you sweethearts take me to the cafeteria?”
“I can,” both Joy and Tinker said at the same time, “jinx” both said in unison again giggling. The three of them left Luna and Fam Icon to discuss business.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
At the cafeteria Celestia was eating a cake while the boy and girl were eating sandwiches.
“Sooooo, what was that back then?”
“I dunno if we should speak to pretty pony Celestia about the professors.”
“Yeah, it would be kinda rude to speak about their falling-out.”
Hmmm, so they had a falling-out, this is getting interesting, she thought, “yeah, that would probably be rude, but what if we can help them in any way.”
Both Joy and tinker lifted one eyebrow, not buying what Celestia was saying, they watched ant each other and then nodded, “We know that pretty pony Celestia just want to know what happened, not really to help the professors.”
Celestia was surprised at the cunning of the duo, maybe I’m losing my touch, she thought.
“However,” Tinker said while both smiled showing their fangs, “we can be flexible, we have information, if you have the coin.”
Celestia began sweating, has she been bested by this teens? Was her curiosity that great to pay them? “How much,” for Faust, she was weak.
“One hundred Equestrian bits, or one hundred and thirty Laburinthian Drachma...” he said and Celestia pulled her purse, “each.”
“Oh come on! You can’t be serious...”
“Does pretty pony Celestia want the information? No coin, no information.”
“Fine, you two little devils win,” she paid them, “now speak.”
Joy spoke first, “Professor Tester and Professor Icon used to be mates, intimate mates.”
Tinker spoke after her, “they were married for a few years, but then Fam Icon decided to work on video games.”
“This made Professor Tester angry, her anger grew when Professor Icon recruited me for important console project.”
“Which is unfair since you had already decided to pick Icon as mentor, anyway, one thing that Tube tester hates is watching potential being wasted, as you probably already know, you knew her longer than me,” Celestia nodded.
“Professors fought one night at Professor Icon lab and they got separated, Professor Icon was sad for long time, there are a few more things but now we will say no more, for this is enough to understand the professors fight.” “There is probably no way to fix it, we have been trying to ages with no success, maybe what they need is a time apart, you know what they say, distance makes the heart grow fonder.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
A few days later the group was at Laburinthos Train station, Joy was hugging Tinker saying their goodbyes, “Friend Tinker, you must promise to write.”
“I promise joy, you promise to come visit Ponyville.”
“I promise.”
Tube Tester put her hand on her niece, “I’ll miss you kiddo, don’t forget to tell my sister my address and make sure Joy gets safe home.”
“Will do aunt Tube, I’ll miss you.”
The group boarded the train directed to Equestria, it would be a few days travel, in their cabin Luna was reading some of the pamphlets she got from Fam Icon while Tube read a book, Tinker was sleeping with his head on his mentor’s lap, she stroked his head with her free hand, while he purred in his sleep.
Celestia stared at her old friend, she opened her muzzle but was interrupted by Tube, “don’t even think about it,” she said while her face was still covered by the book, “I know what you are thinking, Celestia and no I don’t need help, you probably heard it on the academy and is true, I was married to that buffoon and then we broke up, but I have no interest in fixing that relationship, so please don’t waste your breath and let us look at the future.”
“But...”
“No buts, unless you want me to leave yours bright red.”
Celestia kept silent on the topic, she has known Tube Tester for decades now and she has never seen her lose her cool like that, she must still feel something for that male but Tube was probably too stubborn to admit it. She thought in ways she could help her friend even if Tube refused her help, but then again, if Fam Icon didn’t feel the same all this was in vain.
Back at Laburinthos, Professor Fam Icon was adjusting the elements on a panel, when he stopped and looked at his desk, he opened a drawer and pulled a box, inside there were pictures of he and Tube of their happiest times, and a smaller box, he opened it and there it was his wedding ring, he pulled it out and gave it a kiss, then put everything back in the box and inside his desk and closed the drawer. If only he knew that back on the train to Equestria, Tube Tester was carrying her own wedding ring on a chain around her neck, close to her heart.
At the Castle of Friendship, a very excited purple alicorn waited next to the door, behind her an indifferent Moondancer and an annoyed Sunburst waited with her the arrival of Professor Tube Tester.
“Oh my gosh, I can’t believe Professor Tube Tester is coming to study on one of my own projects.”
“I still can’t understand what do you find so exciting about minotaur technology Twilight, anything they can do, we can do it with magic or magical artifacts. In fact when Professor Tube Tester left the magic school for gifted unicorns, Minotaur technology and Applications of Minotaur Technologies became optatives instead of mandatories, right Sun… Sunburst are you ok? You seem angry.”
“It’s nothing really, I just wish Professor Tester left the school earlier, I’d probably wouldn’t have flunked out if those were optatives when I was attending.”
Twilight turned back from the door, “come on Sunburst, you can’t blame the Professor for that.”
“I know, I know, I’m just a bit annoyed since it was Tester the last teacher I saw at the college, she seemed quite angry when I saw her so I ran out of the school without looking back.”
“Oh Sunburst, I’m sorry,” Moondancer put a hoof on his shoulder, and he returned a weak smile.
“Sunburst, I’m terribly sorry about it I had no idea you felt that way…” Twilight said when a sound came from the door while it was opened, Twilight quickly turned back screaming, ”WELCOME!!” at the entrance a startled Starlight and Spike watched the alicorn scream at their faces, “oh is just you two.”
Spike covered his mouth laughing meanwhile Starlight rolled her eyes while entering the castle and closing the door, “gee, thanks. I guess the new teacher hasn’t arrived yet… hey what’s wrong with Sunburst?”
He feels down because Tube Tester was the last teacher he saw before leaving the school of magic, hey you know what could probably make you feel better?” Sunburst looked at Twilight wondering what she had in mind, “knowing that despite you flunking out of magic school, now you are vice-headstallion of the School of Friendship.”
That actually made Sunburst feel better, “yeah.”
Moondancer wrapped her hoof around his shoulder rubbing her cheek against his, “not just that, technically you are her superior now.”
“Oh my gosh you are right.”
Suddenly something clicked on Moondancers head, she separated herself from Sunburst like she was burning from his touch, “t-t-that makes you my boss too,” Moondancer looked at Starlight with pleading eyes.
She immediately got what Moondancer was asking, she cleared her throat and said, “hey Twilight, you never set any rules against fraternization on the staff of the school right?”
“No, I didn’t think that would be a problem since, at least at the beginning, it was just you girls, Spike and me, why?”
“Nothing, just curious, I don’t think that will change in the future.”
Moondancer let out a sigh of relief while Twilight looked confused and Spike watched the Stallion and Moondancer smiling knowingly while the door creaked again announcing another guest arrival, Twilight rushed between Spike and Starlight to the door screaming, “WELCOME,” again.
“Well, being greeted by the sole regent of Equestria, I can’t find anything less worthy of the Great and Powerful Trixie’s attention,” Trixie was at the door with a few boxes of hard cider on her back, “so I heard we’ll have a new guest so I thought I could refill the supplies of fun juice.”
“If I remember her correctly, those boxes will only serve for an hour, remember she is a minotaur, big and thirsty.”
“Spike, don’t be rude, she might be a minotaur but that doesn’t mean all of them drink that much,” Twilight scolded Spike who kept laughing and took the hard cider to the kitchen with Trixie. Then they heard a knock at the door, “alright, everypony is here now then that must be her,” she opened the door and shouted, “WELCOME!” once more.
“Oh Princess Twilight, didn’t know you were back, I just came to see if Starlight will renew her subscription for um… Horse Metal… Spinning Stone… and Playcolt magazines,” the wall eyed pegasus said with a smile on her face.
At the sound of that Starlight quickly summoned a bag of bits and ran next to the mailmare, “oh yeah probably the wrong address, let me help you find the right one,” she pushed Derpy.
“But it’s right here, it says right here Starlight at the A113 Castle of Friendship, Ponyville, Equestria...” Derpy responded with her sweet bubbly voice while she was being pulled by Starlight.
Twilight turned back to her friends, “you know what I give up, I don’t even care anymore who appears at the door this time.”
“That actually hurts Twilight, we came all the way from Laburynthos and that’s the way you receive us, maybe I ought to go back now.”
Twilight slowly turned back to see the imponent Minotauress, a bit over five years since the last time she saw her and she looked right the same, years were kind with the woman as her face varely show aging at all. Anyone could say she looked no older than twenty five even if she was in her late thirties, minotaur anatomy was always interesting for Twilight, her body resembled the shape of an hourglass, her face was smoother than that of the last minotaur she met, Iron Will and her muzzle was shorter, she was wearing a tank top as customary of females of the race to wear tops instead of going completely nude as the males, it still showed enough of the woman’s body to see how toned her muscles were.
“So are you going to say hi or are you going to stay there staring at us all day, will I have to call your parents like the first time you met me at magic elementary?”
Twilight pouted at being reminded of that embarrassing day when she met Tube Tester for the first time, it was the first time many of the students saw a minotaur as well but Twilight was in the front row staring directly at the teacher, “you didn’t have to bring that up… wait, you said we?”
Tube turned showing she was giving a piggyback to a sound sleep young abyssinian, “here, Tinker we arrived… come on my boy, you’ve slept the entire way here,” she moved her adoptive son a bit to wake him up.
The boy mumbled a bit, “give me just five more minutes mom...”
“Wake up boy I want to introduce you to one of my best students,” the child scratched his ear with a paw and then rubbed his face on Tube’s back, “alright that’s it,” she grabbed him by the scruff and shook him up a bit.
“Ok ok I’m awake… where are we? Where is my bed?”
“We are in Equestria boy, we are here to study the alien device… oh and I’ll teach at the school of Friendship and you are going to study there too,” she moved him to face the ponies, still hanging from his scruff.
“Oh hi I’m Tinker Claw, I’m Tube Tester’s adopted son slash assistant, nice to meet you.”
The group greeted the duo, “Professor Tester, wasn’t Luna and Celestia with you?”
“Come on Twilight, you are Princess of Equestria and we’ve known each other for awhile, you can call me Tube and those two left for Silver Shores already, I bet they are planning to leave soon.”
“Oh ok Tube, here this is Starlight and Trixie, they are the Headmare and Counselor respectively, and this is-”
“Moondancer girl, how have you been?” Tube Tester let go of her son who fell on his four legs standing up in two of them later, she extended her hand to Moondancer, “even if I know you didn’t think much of my class you and Twilight were two of my best students, let me guess, you are the vice-headmare, I knew you were going to go far girl.”
This took her by surprise, she didn’t expect for Tube Tester to remember her, “um… ah… I… I’m actually just a teacher, he is the vice-headmare I mean stallion,” she pointed to a blushing Sunburst who waved to the minotaur.
“And you are?” Sunburst was going to respond but Tube interrupted him, “wait, that disheveled mane, those glasses and the cape… you are Sunburst aren’t you boy?”
Nopony was more surprised than Sunburst that she remember him, “Imma, Imma, Imma.”
“Well look at you. Flunked out of magic school and now you are vice-headmare, good for you, maybe it was a good thing that you ran away from me and didn’t let me give you the extra work so you could pass.”
“Yeah… wait what?”
“Yeah, back in those years, I even had to… pressure the big boss,” she said while menacingly cracked her knuckles, “to let me give you some work for extra credits, but when I saw you, you ran away and didn’t let me tell you.”
“Are you telling me that I could’ve kept attending school? That I was at least good enough?” the minotaur nodded.
“But I guess it's too late already, but hey look at us now you are the boss and all,” she patted Sunburst on the back, “and you let your beard grow, you look good boy,” Sunburst blushed as he wasn’t used to receive compliments, “now why don’t you show here my son the kitchen, I feel like having tea and only he knows how I like it.”
“Yes ma’am,” he said with a smile and took Tinker Claw to the kitchen and behind them .
When they were out of the room, Tube let out a laugh, “males are so easy to wrap around your finger, so Twilight I guess you will show me the device.”
“Um… miss Tube Tester.”
“Please call me Tube too, we are colleagues now.”
“Ok, Tube, as far as I know it was impossible to save Sunburst, I investigated and extra work might not have been enough to keep him in, are you sure what you told him is true?”
“I had more pull on that school than you might think Moondancer.”
“But is it true?”
“Does it really matter? It was several years ago and it made him feel good now, don’t you think that’s enough?”
Moondancer opened her mouth but then closed it thinking about what she meant and she was right.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Reaching the Castle Studio they were joined by an excited Tinker Claw carrying an annoyed Spike on this arms, behind him Trixie and Sunburst carried the tea and some treats.
“PROFESSOR LOOK WHAT I FOUND! A talking lizard, can we keep it?”
“Hey! I’m a dragon, DRA-GON, not lizard. I don't do that tongue thing,” he immediately flips his tongue at the abyssinian.
“Down boy, let the dragon go, Spike, long time no see still a shortie I see,” Tinker let go of Spike who flew to grab Tube’s hand, “oh wings, that’s new, Twilight here was showing me the… how do you call it? Oh yeah Music Box,” she pointed at the device on the pedestal.
Tinker approached the white device and was practically drooling, “Mom, I… I need to disassemble this… I haven’t felt so pushed to take apart a machine since when we met,” he said but still didn’t dare to touch the device.
“Um… I think we should let Tube study it first.”
“Relax Twilight, believe me, it pains me to say it but Tinker here is better than me at disassemble equipment.”
“Ok, but wouldn’t you like to listen to it first, we don’t know, even with two experts, that the device will survive the operation.”
“I’m pretty sure it will be ok, but if you insist, how does it work.”
Some time later they were around the music box ready to start it as usual, “professor, can I press it first, PWEASE” the abyssinian put on big round eyes and begging with his paws under his chin.
“Atta boy, you know that stopped working on me for a while now, but sure I don’t see why not, press it.”
The catboy pressed the button and sounds came from it, like something was hitting a microphone.
“Is this thing on? Oh, sorry new microphone, this is Walter J. Shortman, personal log number… thirtytwo.”
“Ugh, not another one of those…”
“What do you mean Spike? This is the first time we heard something that isn’t a song.”
“Um… nothing I meant… another of this biscuits, yeah that…”
“But you made them.”
“Oh… he started again, let’s listen.”
“So Mr. Musk ordered me to re-design the program for the arcs, ugh, sometimes I wish I could squish that man, how dare he approve the programs if he is going to change the specs just like that anyway, at least I have the consolation that Suzy is working with me so I guess it won’t be that bad, sometimes I think I would be lost on this job without her and I’m not saying it since we practically grew together, soooo, I suppose I should start soon bye for now.”
“That was really different, that was more personal, he was talking directly to the machine like he was writing an entry on his diary or a journal.”
“Indeed Twilight, it seems that not only music is recorded on the device, this would be really interesting if we could hear more of their culture directly like this,” Moondander said while fixing her glasses.
“Really interesting Twilight, I believe that alien meant re-design a program in a computer or something of the sort, you were right, they seem to be similar to minotaurs if they handle this advance technology without the need of magic.”
“Uh, why don't you try pressing the button miss Tester,” Sunburst asked the woman.
“Just call me Tube boy, you are my boss after all, sure why not let’s see what it shows now.”
She pressed the button and a soft guitar started playing.
“Oooh that’s more like it, Trixie loves this tune.”
“Yea it’s pleasing,” Moondancer said while fixing her glasses.
“But it sounds kinda sad, it seems the singer lost his special someone.”
“Yeah you are right Sunburst, he sounds heartbroken and for the lyrics it sounds that it might have ended in a bad way,” said Spike eating another cookie.
Moondancer cleaned her glasses as an excuse to also clear a tear from her eye, “oh no, he is out of love, that must feel horrible, losing your other half must be truly painful.”
Twilight sipped her tea, “yeah I don’t wish that to any creature, I bet is feels like knives stabbing you in the heart, what do you think Tube? Tube?”
The minotaur had a neutral face while her hand rested on her chest, playing with something inside her tank top, like a necklace. Twilight could see something shining near her eye, “sorry I have to cut this short, but I need to see if they brought my luggage, please excuse me,” she walked to the door.
“Oh I can help you.”
Tinker grabbed Twilight by the shoulder, she turned back and he shook his head and whispered, “she wants to be alone, believe me I’ve seen her like this, she will be ok but needs her time now.”
Twilight understood and returned to her cushion, the group enjoyed the remaining of the song.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
A few hours later Tube, Tinker and Twilight were at a special room prepared to disassemble the music box to learn about its components, they were wearing special suits and gloves, Tinker was wearing special gloves with hardened tips so he could use his claws while everyone else was outside watching the operation from the window.
After Tinker successfully removed the outer capsule, Tube lifted an equipment and asked Twilight to levitate it on top of the music box.
“Now this is really interesting, I think I recognize some of the components but most of these are completely foreign to me, now steady Twilight, I’ll turn it on and it will vibrate a bit, don’t let it move too much,” Tube pressed a button and a light scanned the music box, “alright, Tinker remove that panel… slow and steady, Twilight keep the scanner steady too… good,” she pressed the button again, “ok, I think that’s enough for now, let’s close it and call it a day.”
Tinker masterfully put all the components he removed on the same spot they were before, and finally closing the music box case.
“Ok, let’s see if we didn’t kill Twilight’s toy, Tinker fetch me the conector cable.”
“Yes professor.”
Tube opened the music box, connected it to the console and pressed the button, some weird sounds came from it.
Twilight was confused, “that sounds weird, OH NO, DO YOU THINK WE CORRUPTED THE DATA INSIDE? Oh no, oh no, oh no, what have we done!” Then the piano started playing followed by the drums and then the vocals.
Tube let out a laugh, first quietly but then increasing until it became a maniacal laugh, “IT’S ALIVE ALIVE! BWAHAHAHAHA!”
“And it seems that it has a charming voice, I like this song, I don’t think I understand what they mean by teenage wasteland, but it sounds nice anyway.”
“You are right Tinker my boy, maybe they are literal and they are just singing about a wasteland in their teens, no idea why would they sing about it.”
Twilight removed her mask “well I guess we can safely take apart the machine next time.”
Tube also removed her mask, “mmhmm and for what I could see, if we can find out how they store that data, we might be able to copy all that data on my computer to study it properly, that way even if we end up ruining the device the data will be secure, but after we study what the scanner found out about the components I might be able to reverse engineer this music box.”
“That would be great, are you sure about it?”
“Yeah, is weird, it was internally build like the one building it wanted to do it as simple as possible so anyone could understand it, maybe that was the purpose, I’m sure we will find out in the future… anyway, I’m starving, why don't we discuss this during dinner.”
They wrapped up everything and then left to have dinner, their hopes for the future getting even brighter by the minute and hoping they could learn as much as possible from the music box.
As the days passed the small community that resides on the Castle of Friendship has finally adapted to living together. They wake up early, have breakfast together and prepare to assist the School of Friendship, Tube Tester had a knack for teaching and Tinker Claw had an easier time making friends with six particular creatures that, in time, invited him to hang out with them, something that his adoptive mother was more than happy to see. He always had a difficult time around the children on Laburynthos since they were all minotaurs and liked to play rough or goats that didn’t even talk. It was a breath of fresh air to meet individuals who were so welcoming to new friends from different cultures.
Tube met Twilight’s friends who welcomed her as a teacher of the school, they were interesting ponies, not the personalities she usually mingled except for the Pink one, she remind her of her friend Celestia when she’s had too many cake and/or booze, if only she stopped addressing her as ‘T.T.T.’ surely it was because of the three Ts on her name, that pony was wild and, as much as Tube objected, she made a welcome party for her. She found interesting that the pink mare invited practically the entire town to the party, at least it was good to meet these ponies outside of working hours, the world seemed pretty small nowadays since she met another of her former students, Lyra Heartstrings, she was always an airhead, apparently she was supposed to give Moondancer a note from Sunburst but ended in Ponyville giving it to Twilight, after that she left the school to live in the town with an earth pony called Bon Bon who ended up marrying.
Twilight’s other friends seemed like decent folk, Tube had a great time talking with Rarity and Fluttershy, the former talked about minotaur fashion which even if it wasn’t one of Tube’s favorite topics it was still something she was interested in, the later mentioned that they had only met another Minotaur, Iron Will, that bunch of muscles walking, he is lucky he is not musclebound yet, Tube thought remembering how buffed he was on some newspapers Iron Will appeared. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were totally jocks, competing on stuff trying to outperform the other one physically, Tube liked working out, but just to keep her good figure, she wasn’t interested in sports at all.
All six of them lived in the castle in harmony… but like every household there is always something.
“Good morning,” said Tube to Tinker Claw and the three mares on the table who were eating breakfast, or Trixie who had her muzzle inside her bowl of cereal snoring , “Oh, is there still milk on the fridge?” they nodded so Tube went to the refrigerator where a half sleep Sunburst was trying to find something to eat for breakfast, ”excuse me boy,” she bent over to pick some milk from the bottom of the fridge, her position made her generous bosom to fall on the stallion's face knocking his glasses off.
Sunburst woke up in full darkness, he kneaded the pillow-like things on his face, ”these aren't my glasses... or my pillow...”
”Oh Sunburst such a forward boy, aren't you? At least take me to dinner first.”
”GAAAH!” he screamed falling on the ground searching for his glasses, realizing what he was touching, ”SORRY TUBE TESTER!” he said while putting his glasses on.
Laughs could be heard from the table where Trixie woke up on time to watch the accident, while Moondancer pouted looking jealous, ”Mister Sunburst, are you going to be my new dad?”
”What? NO!” both Sunburst and Moondancer replied to the cat boy.
”Can I call you daddy? Can I get an allowance?”
”Enough boy, what did I tell you about messing with grown ups?”
”That is rude and can close many doors in the future?”
”Exactly, beside it was my fault, I should have woken him up before digging into the fridge.”
Moondancer played with her cereal still pouting, ”it would help if you didn't wear that all the time.”
Tube looked down to herself and a smile appeared on her face, ”what my tank top? But it is so comfy, do you want me to remove it?” she grabbed the end of her garment pulling it a bit while Tinker covered his eyes.
”NO!” said Sunburst, Starlight and Moondancer.
”Yes...” said Trixie, while the rest looked at her with a confused expression, ”what? I'm curious, Trixie doesn't understand why they are so big, shouldn't they grow only when one is with child?”
”Well, female minotaurs and most of the females from the Erectum Mammalia order tend to have bigger mammaries all the time, some experts believe that is to attract males since the gluteus are no longer at eye level,” Moondancer said while fixing her glasses.
”Can we stop talking about my mom's boobs? I think I'll need therapy after this... oh by the way, the guys invited me to go to the lake today, can I go pwease?”
”Sure boy, last night we finally got the results from the device erm... Music Box, so I won't need you while I work them out.”
“Really? What did you find out with the scanner?” asked Moondancer curious about the results of the machine.
“As I thought, the materials used on the motherboard are very similar to what we use in our computers like fiberglass for the board and silicon alloys for some of the elements, there are still elements the scanner couldn’t recognize but I have a feeling we could replace them, also it seems they used gold instead of copper for conductor.”
Sunburst swallowed his bread, “isn’t gold a better conductor than copper and more durable for the pass of time? Since this had to travel through space for probably thousands of years, it makes sense to use gold instead of copper.”
Tube reached Sunburst head with a hand and rubbed his mane, “so you DID pay attention boy, good, yeah it would make more sense they use gold even if it would be more expensive, I still wonder what part is the one storing the information, I’ll try to find out today.”
Starlight that until now remained quiet finally spoke, “hey it’s been quite a while since we had a session with the girls, why don’t we get all together and listen to a song or two tomorrow?”
“I can’t Starlight, Sunburst and I need to go to Canterlot to pick the rest of my books.”
“Wow you have made like five trips for that Moony, do you have that many?”
“Don’t call me that Trixie, but yeah I want to personally bring them by hoof and we can only carry so many at the time, even with the help of Sunburst.”
“Trixie can help,” said the blue mare, “you know… Trixie might not be a book's best friend but I can be really careful.”
“I… would really like that… but… um… there aren’t that many books left so Sunburst would be enough right?” Moondancer replied poking at Sunburst who nodded while Trixie and Starlight giggled covering their muzzles.
“Ok, so that takes Sunburst out as well, Tube you in?”
“Can’t, sorry, I have several things I need to do with the music box research and I also need to take Tinker to his annual physical, since we are changing doctors I need to do a lot of paperwork.”
“Awww mom, do we have to?”
“Yes boy, we have to.”
“Well since the Great and Available Trixie is no longer going to canterlot she can attend the session and she doesn’t mind sharing her Glimmy time with the other girls either.”
“Ok Trix, I guess I’ll ask the others as well.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
The day after, five of the elements plus Starlight and Trixie were hanging out in the castle Studio while they waited for Twilight and Spike.
“Darling, you really need to let me make you a new set of cape and hat, not that yours are… um, acceptable but I could make something even better,” the white mare suggested Trixie while laying on pillows next to each other while a sleeping Applejack rested her head on Rarity’s back.
“As much as the Great and Frugal Trixie would like to enjoy a getup made by such a fine and famous fashionista, she can’t afford it yet.”
“Oh ho-ho-ho you are such a jester, you know I wouldn’t charge a friend.”
“Wait are we friends?”
“But of course darling, why wouldn’t I be?”
“Well because the first time we met I made you and your friends look bad in public, the second time I enslaved the entire town and bfbfbfbf-” Trixie was stopped by a muffin covering her mouth lifted by Rarity.
“You talk too much Trixie, yes you had your bad times, but is not something we couldn’t forgive, we are a forgiving bunch after all… even if you made my mane green, such an awful, awful color for a mane...”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Far from civilization on a frozen tundra, two mares on the search of a magical plant that only grows in extreme cold, enjoyed some afternoon snack in their camp near the fire, only each other as company. Izzi stopped eating her snack and stared at the horizon.
“Something wrong Short Round?”
“Hmm, I don’t know why… but I think I’ll kick Rarity’s flank next time I see her…”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
“So darling I want you tomorrow at my boutique to take your measurements, I will not take a no for an answer.”
“I-I don’t know what to say… but thank you.”
A flash of magic startled the group that watched the Princess of Equestria materialize in front of them, next to her Spike carrying a tray with cookies, “sorry we are late, I was held by Raven for some reports, but we are free now, let’s get this started.”
It was decided that Rainbow would press the button, she approached the music box and pressed it a guitar and vocals immediately began.
“What a lovely tune,” said Fluttershy enjoying the guitar.
Rainbow Dash returned to her sit and picked an energetic bar, “yeah, it’s pretty neat, it seems that he might be talking to his special somealien, but what are dollars?”
Twilight was taking notes but turned to answer Rainbow Dash, “probably something you can count, maybe items, creatures or even currency. I think is the later, I believe we heard that term before on a previous song”
“Ooooooh now the rhythm changed, me likes it” the pink party pony said while softly stomping at the beat of the song.
“Heh, he talks fast, I don’t think what he says has much meaning though, or at least I can’t understand the meaning, darling.”
Starlight scratched her chin, “I believe he is talking about what he wants to do, or how to obtain what he wants with his mate.”
Trixie felt that she understood the lyrics, “no… he is talking about a struggle and if dollars is indeed their money, he is talking about an economic struggle, he seems to be in a busy relationship where the both he and his mate are so worried about the money, paying the bills and stuff, that they forget to simply live life and appreciate the things it offers like counting stars.”
Fluttershy nodded, “yes I think Trixie is right, there listen, I believe that he is also talking about how the bad things feel good and good things feel bad, probably he means that he is trying to find a way to cope with the struggle.”
“That’s right Fluttershy, Trixie is now convinced this song is explaining how ephemeral the money really is, what we should do is share memories with our loved ones,” Trixie extended her hoof to Fluttershy and she bumped it with Trixie’s.
With the song ended the group, except Applejack since she was still sleeping with her head on top of rarity, choose Twilight to press the button and once again the sound of a guitar filled their ears.
“Hmmm, now that’s a good and mellow song, this one is also singing to his mate or spouse, like he doesn’t want to let her slip away from him… wait a minute… did they say horses?”
“Yes, it seems that way Twilight, weird isn’t it? And it seems that they might not have evolved horses, like it’s theorized that ponies evolved from horses.”
“Lucky Applejack is still sleeping darling, she wouldn’t like to be part of this conversation,” Rarity said while fixing the mane of the sleeping mare.
Spike was enjoying the tune of the song, “so what do you think of this one Trixie?”
“Well, this seems to be a bit darker, maybe Trixie is wrong but he appears to be abused by his special somealien and is telling her that no matter what wrong she does to him, he will remain by her side. that’s not a healthy relationship If you ask Trixie her opinion… what do YOU think Fluttershy?”
“I… I think it is not just abuse, maybe she has mental problems and can’t help it, I think it’s pretty noble to not abandon her of the alien.”
“Yeah, you are probably right, but even with the meaning being a bummer, it still feels pretty relaxing, don’t you think Glimmy?”
“Yeah it actually is pretty relaxing, it makes you feel everything is going to be just fine.”
And so the group enjoyed the song until it was over, rarity finally woke Applejack and everypony marched to their respective residences, hopefully they will return soon to enjoy more songs.
It’s been a few weeks after winter wrap up and the town of Ponyville prepared for the next big festival on their countless celebrations throughout the year, the town adorned with pink hearts and white hooves made out of paper, the young couples planning their outings, the married couples enjoying their company and you could even see younglings playing and some of them trying to impress their crushes. In the market two mares walked side by side, a white unicorn and a yellow earth pony. Rarity was buying groceries while Applejack accompanied her after mending her stand all day.
“Oh Applejack. Another year, another Hearts and Hooves day without a special somepony, I swear that if it continues like that, Pinkie will be right and I will become a crazy cat lady.”
“Nonsense sugarcube, you're one o’ the most caring, generous, smart, gorgeous ponies Ah’ve ever met and anypony would be really lucky t’have you as a special somepony.”
“Oh Applejack you are such a charmer, if you were a stallion I’m most certain that you would be Ponyville's most eligible bachelor, all the mares in town would fall for you, darling.”
“Even you?”
“But of course darling, anywho if I’m that good, how come I don’t have a special somepony.”
“Well sugarcube, you can’t blame the fellas, they’ve tried, how ‘bout Hayseed Turnip Ah reckon you met him in Canterlot?”
“Isn’t he like your cousin or something?”
“First cousin once removed.”
“I-I-I don’t think I like him that much.”
“Then how ‘bout that Prince Blueblood? Didn’t he apologized for pretendin’ t’be a jerk and even invited you to the christenin’ of his flyin’ ship?”
“Mmm nah, after talking with him, it turns out he is quite boring besides,” Rarity watched everywhere and when she was confident nopony could hear her, she whispered on Applejack's ear, “I think he is in a secret relationship with his maid, Rosa… let me see, I think I have a picture of them right here…”
Applejack looked at the picture, “a donkey? No way, really?”
“Shhhh! I’m pretty sure there was something between them, he kept her with him all the time and when he thought nopony was watching, they kept bumping into each other and sharing intimate looks, and when the party was over she whispered on his ear and I think I could see him blushing a little bit and just after that, they went upstairs even with some of the guests still in the mansion.”
“Oh boy… that sounds like one of your drama books.”
“Such a romantic end, you don’t see that many pony and donkey marriages, even nowadays that’s probably why they have been keeping it hidden from everypony.”
“Well Rares, have you ever thought that you might be kickin’ for the wrong team?”
“Whatever do you mean, darling?”
“You know…”
“HIYA RARIJACK!”
“Pinkie my goodness! You startled us!”
“It’s Madame Pinkie right now, I’m practicing for my love divinations for the Hearts and Hooves festival, wanna help me practice?” the pink mare said while dressed in her turban and scarf.
“Ah can’t sugarcube, Ah need t’go pick somethin’ at the postal office besides, y'all already know my love life is as dead as a bunny fallin’ into a wolf’s den,” the apple farmer started walking but then stopped and turned around, “oh and by the way, Starlight asked me to tell you that Twilight wants to have a music box session just after the gift swap at the castle tomorrow,” with that she left the two of them alone.
“I guess I’ll help you Pink- oh Madame Pinkie,” Rarity corrected herself with a smile on her face. She sat on the pillow while the pink mare hovered her hooves all around a snowball.
“I see... I see… I see a red door and I want to paint it pink… mmmm, oh wait... wrong side of the ball heh heh,” she turned the snowball and hovered her hooves around it again, “I see… yes, I see the other part of your soul, the one you will share the rest of your life in happiness.”
“Really? What does he look like?”
“Can’t see it clearly, but I see a shadow the shadow will confess its love without confessing, because the shadow loves you even if the shadow doesn’t know it, a mirror shows that you are in the same position, but with a sweet meaningful demonstration a spark will lit a fire that will show the way, but beware that if you don’t act on it, you will doom both of you to a life of loneliness.”
“Wow Pinkie, that was… interestingly eerie … thanks.”
“I don’t live on thanks sister, cross my hoof with bits.”
Rarity put on a serious face but then rolled her eyes and got some bits from her purse.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
At the postal office there was a long line as usual, in front of Applejack there was none other than the married couple Lyra and Bon Bon, they were side by side with their tails intertwined, it’s been a few moons since they were married, in fact it was a bit before Twilight’s coronation and after that they traveled in a cruise for their honeymoon. Applejack didn’t consider them friends but she was on good terms with them.
The couple of mares picked her package and stepped to the side to open it so finally it was applejack’s turn and the bubbly wall eyed mare greeted her with the purest smile on her face, “Oh hello Applejack, long time no see.”
“Yeah, Ah don’t usually order stuff.”
“So, um… how can I help you?”
“Mah package, should’ve arrived yesterday but Ah haven’t received it.”
“Oh, well then it should be here…”
“Yeah, that’s why Ah came to pick it up.”
“Ah, why didn’t you say so, I’ll be glad to help,” she picked some papers from a box, “So… let’s check… name?”
“Huh? Applejack…”
“Ok, reason for visiting?”
“Are you serious?”
“No, I’m Derpy, you are so silly.”
“*sigh*, mah package.”
The pegasus made a mess with some boxes on the counter looking for the right one, “ok… um… no.... nope… not this one…”
“Um, do you need help with that sugarcube?”
“Nope, here, this is the one, directly from Prance, oooh fancy, please sign here...”
“Thanks Derpy, please tell your family I say hi.”
“Ok,” just as Applejack moved away Pokey Pierce approached the counter but before he could say anything, Derpy said, “break time♪,” and went under the counter.
Applejack put her package on the table next to Lyra and Bon Bon who were checking what seemed to be imported oats. Applejack unwrapped her package revealing a golden box shaped like a heart, adorned with a ribbon and branded in the front, “um… jeh… jah… jath… jathume? Ah can’t pronounce this fancy stuff.”
A gasp startled Applejack, she turned and saw that Bon Bon was looking straight at her, “are those really Je t’aime chocolate?”
“Oh mexitli candy, my favorite,” said Lyra while packing Bon Bon’s oats on the saddlebags.
“Bon Bon, you almost made mah hat fly, but yeah thanks, Ah always have a mighty hard time reading this fancy stuff, the only thang Ah can say properly is mah cousin’s name Pomme Au Chotolat”
“Oh well, those are pretty fancy Applejack, it must have cost a fortune to import them from Prance.”
“It would’ve, but mah cousin works for Rub.. Rabin...”
“Ruban Bleu? One of the most influential chocolatiers in Prance? Creator of the Je t’aime line of candies and chocolates?” Bon Bon asked, her face showed astonishment and maybe a bit of jealousy.
“The same one, she is just an assistant but she was kind enough t’send me a box. Well Ah gotta go, nice talkin’ to y’all.”
“Applejack wait!” said the green unicorn, Applejack stopped and turned to see her, “by any chance are those chocolates for a gift?”
“Yeah...”
“Ok, I’ll make a wild guess, are those for Rarity?”
“Holy smokes, sugarcube, how did ya’ know that?”
“Just a hunch, well, we won’t rob more of your time and Applejack, I want to say I’m so happy for you,” Lyra waved goodbye to a confused Applejack who left the building leaving a smug Lyra and a serious Bon Bon behind, “I knew it, now pay up Bonnie.”
“No way, those chocolates could mean anything.”
“Really?” Lyra said, her face a smug that could rival Rainbow Dash’s, “a fancy Hearts and Hooves gift of mexitli candy-”
“It’s prench not mexitli!”
“Even better and you think this doesn’t mean they are a couple or at least that they won’t become a couple? Come on, I’ve been watching them since I moved in with you and every time I see them they behave more like a married couple than us, I swear they got it worse than Ross and Rachel.”
“Who?”
“Seriously? Two of the characters in the book series I’m reading!”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
The next day, Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Applejack were waiting for the rest of their friends in the castle studio, when the door opened so they stared at Rainbow Dash carrying a box.
“Hey girls, Fluttershy says sorry she couldn’t make it, she went with Discord to Celestia knows where, luckily she waited so I could give her, her gift and to get the gift for the presents interchange.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow, “Discord? What could they possibly be doing?”
“Oh darling, you are so innocent, I have been watching them lately and it is now plain obvious that there is something between those two.”
“No way, really?”
Rainbow Dash sat on one of the pillows and replied to her friend, “yeah Twilight, as weird as it seems I must admit that they might be closer than we think.”
“D’awww our little Fluttershy is all grown up *sniff* I can’t believe it.”
“Pinkie, Ah reckon she is a year older than you.”
“Wow, to think that from all of us, Fluttershy would be the first one to get a boyfriend…” Twilight shook her head trying to clear her head of the thoughts of Discord and Fluttershy making out
“Hey, where are the rest of our friends?”
“Oh well, Tube is on the roof making some tests on a prototype that should copy the way the music box is energized by the sun, Tinker is on a different party with some students from the school, Sunburst and Moondancer had plans already so we didn’t include them on the swap, Starlight and Trixie went to Las Pegasus for the weekend which works fine since they got each other on the raffle and Spike took his no-girlfriend to a no-date.”
“I can’t believe they are still denying it, they make such a lovely couple, darling. Anywho shall we start with the Hearts and Hooves gifts swap, we should start with Fluttershy’s, what does the note say Rainbow Dash?”
“It says… is Twilight’s, here you go.”
Twilight opened the yellow box with pink ribbon, it was a badly made sweater with Twilight’s cutiemark, “Oh… well she is getting better, I remember on Hearth's Warming last year she gave Applejack one that barely looked wearable,” Applejack smiled awkwardly scratching the back of her head, “speaking of which, here Applejack, this is for you.”
“Thank you kindly,” Applejack removed the top of the box showing a full set of new farming tools, her eyes and mouth went wide open and then smiled like she was just have been giving her worth in gold, “Yee-haw, Twilight you hit the spot with this one, how did ya’ know Ah wanted new tools?”
“Well, you know, just a hunch,” she said while thinking: ‘thank you Spike’
“ME NEXT! ME NEXT!” Pinkie said while jumping with a pony sized box on top of her head, “Please open it Dashie, open it now.”
“Where did you get this… nevermind,” the blue pegasus opened the huge box revealing a pie just as big, “Um… I thought we were over this, I don’t like… pie? Pinkie where are you?”
The party pony was nowhere to be seen when suddenly the humongous pie started moving and out of nowhere it exploded revealing Pinkie Pike dressed as a heart with a smaller box on her hooves, “just kidding, this is your real present.”
Everypony laughed at Pinkie’s antics, Dash opened the smaller box and found a pair of sunglasses, “Wow Pinkie I love them,” she put them on and posed for her friends.
Rarity grabbed a box from her saddlebags and gave it to Pinkie, “I hope you like them Pinkie Pie.”
Pinkie opened the box and found spheres with a sticks attached, “Ooooh Lollipops,” she threw them in the air to catch them with her mouth.
“WAIT!” Rarity levitated them with her magic, “these just LOOK like lollipops, but they are for your tail, let me put them on for you, darling,” she moved the items and showed a clip on the other side, she put them on Pinkie’s tail.
Pinkie’s eyes went wide open, “Oh Rarity I love them,” she jumped and hugged the alabaster mare.
“Ah guess that leaves mine for last, here you go sugarcube, happy Hearts and Hooves day.”
Rarity picked the box, she wasn’t expecting something big, she opened the big box revealing a smaller box in the shape of a heart, she read the box, “Je t'aime,” she recognized the brand, “oh darling, you shouldn’t have… wait a…” she then made a double take from the box to her friend, to the box again.
“Ah thought that since you like this fancy stuff, you would like this chocolates.”
Rarity was in complete shock, since all she could think was what Pinkie told her earlier.
“I see a shadow the shadow will confess its love without confessing… hey look rarity, I’m a spoopy floating head around you WEEEEEE”
“No way, Applejack has never shown any interest for me or for any mare even...” she thought.
The Madame Pinkie floating head returned.
“The shadow loves you even if the shadow doesn’t know it… feels weird being just a head hahaha.”
“No, it would work, besides I don’t have feelings for her myself… do I?” She kept monologuing in her head.
“A mirror shows that you are in the same position… but seriously, have you seen my body, I can’t find it.”
“Rarity… Rarity are you ok?” Applejack kept on calling her friend’s name while grabbing her by the cheeks with her hooves.
Rarity snapped out of her trance and recoiled from Applejack’s touch like it burned, “oh Applejack, I’m sorry, I-I-I love it, I-I have no words,” she held the box delicately and pushed it softly against her chest, “no words whatsoever.”
“Well enough mushy stuff, let’s hear some songs from our friends from other worlds.”
“Dashie is right, let’s turn that music box on!”
The group made a circle around the music box pedestal and Applejack pressed the button, a soft piano started playing.
“Oh Piano, I like it, oh no I forgot my notepad, oh whatever I can listen to the recording later.”
“This dude’s voice is something different, I dunno if I like it,” Rainbow Dash fixed her new shades, “the lyrics are kinda corny too, he is just making compliments to his mate.”
“It’s probably somethin’ we wouldn't understand, sugarcube, Ah think this is more of Rares’ type, ain’t it Rares? Um… Rares?”
Applejack moved her hoof in front of rarity, “oh yeah, sorry darling, it’s pretty...” Rarity wasn’t paying attention to the song, she was recalling some memories from her past, from the moment she met Applejack on kindergarten, she realized that on those times they were really close, but then grew apart until they met Twilight, after their first slumber party where they shared the bed for the first time, they have become the best of friends, every time the map has called them to adventure just the two of them or whenever she asked her if she could help her in any way, Applejack always said yes without hesitation, like that one time they went to Manehatten and they had to share the bed once again, unfortunately it was a smaller bed than the one they had in the slumber party, they went to sleep and on the morning they woke up, legs intertwined and their lips locked on each other, both of them were embarrassed and agreed never to talk about it again… Rarity just realized now that it was her first kiss.
She also remembered all the times the farm mare has saved her hide from dangers, how Applejack has forgiven every time she has wronged her or the Apple family. She also realized how attractive her friend was, how the work at the farm has made Applejack’s body toned but at the same time so inviting, her long shining blonde mane flowed with grace, even without any treatment, her eyes filled with honesty and life and those freckles, those lovely freckles, those beautiful and kissable freckles on her face.
“Is there something on mah face, sugarcube?”
“Freckles,” Rarity said without realizing it.
“What? Well yeah, Ah had them for quite a while, you hadn’t noticed?”
“No I mean… oh… nevermind, uh… what happened to the song?”
“It just finished, sugarcube, don’t tell me you didn’t hear it.”
“Oh yeah, it was… nice…”
The group had time for another song so Applejack approached the music box and pressed the button, a sensual tune began playing.
Just the first notes made a tingling sensation run from the back of Rarity’s head to the dock on her tail, it was like an electric shock stimulating every part of her body.
Apparently she wasn’t the only one, all of her friends except Pinkie had their mouths shut, eyes wide open and a blush on their faces, “hihihi that sounds funny… girls? You ok?” asked Pinkie.
“Yeah, just that the tone of the song felt… I don’t know how to explain it, it felt good in a weird way.”
Rainbow looked down and snickered, “that’s a lame way to say that we’ll need to wash these pillows later.”
Twilight, Rarity and Applejack shrugged at rainbow Dash’s lack of delicacy.
“What does the alien mean by get it in on, Dashie?”
The rest of them felt a lump in the throat at Pinkie’s question, she was indeed the youngest of them all, but it was impossible that she didn’t know about this.
“Woa woa woa, I don’t think that I’m the right one to talk about it, Rarity, you sleep around, tell her about it.”
“I beg your pardon!?! That is false and is plain rude, not that is of your business but I have yet to… you know… get it on…”
Everyone turned to Applejack, “Don’t look at me y’all, Ah’m on the same boat, no time for rolls in the hay when you tend the farm and save the world, Twilight, you’re a smart mare, can you explain it?”
“Oh yes, yes I can,” all of the other mares stared at Twilight, Pinkie in curiosity and the others in astonishment, “NOT THAT I HAVE EXPERIENCED IT! Besides you don’t have to experience it, to know about it, I have read about it… a lot,” Pinkie looked confused and the others disappointed, “alright, getting in on is an euphemism of well… sexual intercourse...”
Pinkie closed her eyes, “Oooooh, I hadn’t heard that one, it’s funny that a race of aliens would make a song about bumping uglies.”
“Oh so you know about it.”
“Of course I know about dancing in the sheets, struggle snuggling, mattress-dancing, pogo in the shrub, horizontal refreshments, bfbfb” Applejack shoved an apple on Pinkies muzzle.
Luckily the effects of the song had passed on them except for Rarity, now that she was carefully listening to it, she felt like a fire had been lit inside her and the song was fuel thrown into it, without realizing it she moved her head to face Applejack, she was right next to her, her lips moving apparently talking with her other friends but Rarity couldn’t hear anything besides the song and her own thoughts, it was like the fire inside her was making her look at one of her oldest friends and it was when she remembered the other part of Pinkie’s divination.
“but with a sweet meaningful demonstration a spark will lit a fire that will show the way… you know I think I could get used to be a floating head, if it weren’t for this itchy nose.”
There was a storm inside Rarity’s head, “No way, she can’t be the shadow, I’ve never liked mares, wait I don’t like mares but do I like Applejack? Well I do find her attractive, but is that enough? I trust her, she is one of the most dependable ponies around, her smile always fills me with joy, her big green eyes the window of the soul, I wish I could drown on those pools and roll around with her in satin sheets while I nibble my way down her powerful back and… oh no...” her face was now full blush mode.
“- and that’s why a race might find enough reason to make a song about, em… getting it on,” Twilight finished her statement which Rarity heard just the last part right when the song ended.
Rainbow Dash stood up and stretched out, “well, it was fun, but I need to go home and take a cold shower, see yass,” she put on her new shades and flew out of the window.
“I have to return as well, I have to review some proposals at Canterlot, bye girls,” Twilight ignited her horn and teleported away with the dirty plates.
“I gotta go too, bye bye.”
“Ah guess that leaves us, Ah should go back now are you comin’ with me, sugarcube?”
“Why yes, Applejack,” this was probably just forced feelings induced by the songs we listened to, there is no way she would like me that way, I mean there is no way I would like her that way, “let’s go”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
It was getting dark when both mares reached Rarity’s place, the unicorn opened the door, “well I guess that’s it, another Hearts and Hooves day is over.”
“Ah guess so, sugarcube, don’t you worry none, Ah’m sure you’ll find the stallion of your dreams,” Applejack began walking home, while Rarity stared at her back.
A final thought came to her “but beware that if you don’t act on it, you will doom both of you to a life of loneliness… WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR GIRL, GO GET HER!!” the ghostly pinkie head pushed Rarity.
“Applejack!” the earth pony stopped and turned back, “I… I… I need to tell you something…”
“What is it, Rares?”
“I… I lov… I loved your gift, I really did, you know me really well,” Rarity mentally kicked herself for the cowardice.
“Oh Rares, you don’t have to thank me again, you already did, well it’s getting late, see you.”
Rarity went back home and closed the door, “It was pointless, it wouldn’t work.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Outside, Applejack walked home alone, few ponies were on the streets, most of them already home with their families or with their special someponies making a family, she wouldn’t admit it but she felt lonely once in a while when she saw the couples sharing moments, she was lost in her thoughts when she could hear somepony calling her name, she turned back and she saw Rarity running at full gallop right to her.
“APPLEJACK!”
“Whoa, nelly, hold your horses sugarcube, you are goin’ t’blow a vein like that.”
“Applejack, I love you.”
“Aw shucks Rares, Ah love you too.”
“No I mean like more than a friend.”
“Of course, sugarcube, we’re best friends after all.”
“Ok, how about this, besides everything that everypony knows and love about about you like you are honest and you love your family, I love that you touch your hat whenever you are confused about something, I love that you really like wearing dresses even if you don't admit it, I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a daisy sandwich, I love that you get a little crinkle above your nose when you're looking at me like I'm nuts and I love that you are the last pony I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. And it's not because I'm lonely, and it's not because it's Hearts and Hooves day, HAY it’s not even because of that ridiculous divination. I came running tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somepony, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.”
“Wait, what are you tryin’ to say, Rarity?”
“YOU… DENSE… MARE! Ok, if everything else fails,” Rarity grabbed Applejack’s face with both hooves, and pulled directly to her, connecting their lips on a kiss.
Applejack eyes went wide, "why is she doin' this, Rarity doesn't like mares, no way she feels the same way, she smells so good, please don't be a dream, please don't be a dream" The smell of Rarity’s perfume was intoxicating, the sensation of her lips against hers was magical, she could feel that Rarity was asking for access, so she relaxed her face letting Rarity do what she wanted. Rarity’s hooves caressed Applejack’s face while Applejack’s reached Rarity's back and neck, pulling and deepening the kiss. There they stood for a few more seconds until they had to pull out for air, both panting.
“Woa…*pant* Ah reckon *pant* Ah get it now… since when?”
“I think for a while now *pant* but realized it just today, I’m sorry Applejack, maybe I overstepped my limits by kissing you, I’d understand if you think I’m weird now.”
Applejack lifted Rarity’s face with a hoof, “sugarcube, you talk too much,” without another thought she kissed Rarity, it was a shorter and with less passion, but it was sweet, “Ah reckon, Ah might had felt the same for a while, but Ah treasured our friendship too much t’risk it, but you were brave enough t’confess first, Ah’m so happy right now,” Rarity’s eyes were filled with tears of joy, she hugged her new girlfriend tightly, like if she let go she would disappear, “so… do you wanna start the rest of your life?” Rarity blushed and nodded, they walked back to her boutique with their tails intertwined, while the unicorn lifted Applejack’s tools with her magic.
The new couple didn’t even care that there were still ponies that watched the entire thing and some of them clapped their hooves cheering for the new couple, among them there was Lyra and Bon Bon, “HAH! What did I tell you, those imported oats are now ALL MINE!”
“Lyyraaa, that kills the mood, can’t you be happy for them first and then demand payment?”
“Fine, I’m happy for them,” Bon Bon softly nuzzled her wife.
From the bushes two binoculars watched the entire thing, behind the bush a clip-clop could be heard.
“So your plan worked.”
“Yeah and I couldn’t have done it without you, thanks Derpy.”
With her kind face and a pure smile the wall eyed mare replied, “a mare doesn’t live of thanks, my supervisor would have my wings if he realized that I held the delivery of two packages on purpose, time to pay Pinkie.”
“Would you look at that job well done, here you go,” the pink mare came out of the bushes and put an envelope on the pegasus hoof.
Derpy opened it and read the content, “wow, you must be pretty sure they belong together to agree to finally give me your super secret happiness compressed muffin recipe, I promise only you and me will ever know this recipe Pinkie. But I must ask, are you sure they will last?”
Pinkie sighed, and said with an honest smile, “Derpy, I don't know what's going to happen in the future but right now, I know their feelings are one hundred percent true.”
Another lovely and peaceful day at Sweet Apple Acres, “ABSOLUTELY NOT!” I guess not, the yell that could be heard outside of the house came from the Apple Family matron Granny Smith.
“But Granny-”
“No buts, Applejack or Ah’ll make your butt red with a paddlin’ youn’ filly,” Granny insisted while Applejack and Rarity were in front of her, fear plastered on their faces.
“Ah know this goes against tradition, but hear me out.”
“No, Ah won’t have none of that, the answer is no and that’s final.”
Applejack turned to see Rarity, “Ah’m sorry sugarcube, but you heard Granny.”
Rarity shrugged, “that’s ok darling, I would have been surprised if she said yes, tradition has been really important for the Apple family after all. It wasn’t that important, we can go to the next show in two moons, but the Apple Family reunion happens every one hundred moons,” she then fixed Applejack’s hat and gave her a peck on the cheek, while Granny Smith watched with a smile.
“Aww look at y'all, younglins’ in love, why don’t you come t’the family reunion instead?”
“What me? But isn’t that only for the Apple Family?”
“What did Ah say ‘bout buts, besides you are practically part of the family now, ain’t she Applejack?” she nodded hugging Rarity, “what do ya say young filly?”
“I-I-I’ll be honored Granny, yes.”
“Well that’s decided then, so how ‘bout some grub, Ah’m starving.”
And so the Apple family enjoyed a meal together in peace, two couples, an elder a child and the family dog.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
That weekend Sweet Apple Acres was filled to the brim with members from the extended Apple Family from all over equestria, even Grand Pear showed up surprising a large part of the Apples, he was talking with all the elders reminiscing some of the disputes and laughing about them.
On the other side, Applejack and her marefriend walked side to side, they were headed to a table where Big Mac and his wife were sitting, “Big Mac, enjoyin’ the reunion?”
“Eyup.”
“Did Apple Strudel make it?”
“Eyup,” he pointed at the elders talking and laughing.
“How ‘bout his granddaughter, Apfelkuchen?”
“Eyup,” he pointed at some of the foals playing with each other.
“Ringo?”
“Enope.”
Applejack rolled her eyes, “yeah, that branch rarely comes, they live too far in Neighpon, HEY what ‘bout Pomme?”
“Enope, wait… eyup!” he pointed at the entrance where a brown maned mare, wearing a black beret and a striped shirt, was just arriving at the farm.
Both Applejack and Rarity walked to greet the new arrival, “Pomme, how good to see you!”
“Oh Applejack, ravi de te voir aussi, as-tu reçu les chocolats que je t'ai envoyés?”
“Come again?”
“She said ‘nice to see you too’ and asked if you got the chocolates she sent you, darling.”
“Pomme, you know Ah don’t speak fancy, but yeah Ah got ‘em.”
“Oh I'm sairry Applejack, zumtimes ai fairget zat… and who mai zis love-lee lady be?”
“Oh, yeah she’s Rarity… she’s mah… um… special somepony?” Applejack turned to Rarity for reassurance, the white unicorn smiled and nodded, “yeah.”
“Oh Applejack, I'm zo 'appy fair you, zo ze chocolats waire fair har? Nice to meet you, mon name eez Pomme au Chotolat, you can call me Pomme.”
“I’m Rarity, I’m delighted to meet you,” Rarity and Pomme kissed in both cheeks, they talked about food and fashion meanwhile Applejack followed them rolling her eyes.
On another side of the farm, some foals were playing while Apple Bloom waited for her favorite cousin, she was startled by someone pushing her back, “What's up cousin, how have yuh been, or what?”
“Babs! Long time no see!” the filly hugged her cousin, both smiling.
Babs pushed Apple Bloom and blew her bangs off her face as she tends to do, “Oh come on AB, it wasn't dat long, I was here when de Scootaloo leavin' Ponyville fiasco happened. Okay?”
“That was last year cus, Twilight wasn’t even crowned yet.”
“Wow, was it really dat long? Time flies when yuh are busy.”
“You wrote that you started workin’ at a beauty salon, is it good?”
“Well not actually wawhkin', is mawh like an internship. Okay? I wanna learn mawh tings besides cuttin' manes. Yuh got me? Anyway what is dat ting yuh wanted tuh show me AB?”
“Oh yeah! We are just waiting for-”
“PSST,” was heard from one of the bushes nearby.
“Huh?”
“PSST!” Apple Bloom and Babs Seed watched at a bush where two pairs of eyes were looking at them.
“Oh for the love of. Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, get the hay out of there.”
“Sorry,” both fillys said at the same time.
“Is not that there’s a set rule that only the Apple Family can attend this reunions, you know?”
“Yeah but it feels weird seeing the farm so full of ponies, oh hey Babs.”
“Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo my gal, howahrya? Scootaloo, yuh really need tuh let me cut your mane, dis mess yuh got here doesn't suitcha.”
“No way, I like my mane as it is.”
“Fine, at least let me stylish it. Right?”
“I’ll think about it.”
Sweetie Belle whispered in Apple Bloom’s ear, “are you sure it is ok for you to leave the reunion so early? You won’t get in trouble, will you?”
“That’s ok, Sweetie Belle, we’re not expected ‘til dinner, so while we get back before that we’ll be ok. Did you message Spike?”
“Yup, I got a response already, there is nopony at the castle right now so we can go.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
The four fillies entered the castle and quickly went to the studio where Spike would be waiting for them.
“So whatcha are tellin' me is dat yuh got some alien tech and yuh use it tuh listen music?”
“Yeah, we come once in a while to listen to alien music with Spike, sometimes his not-girlfriend Gabby hangs out as well.”
“What do yuh mean by ‘not-girlfriend’ Sweetie Belle?”
“Oh well, we all know they are dating but they won’t admit it.”
Scootaloo laughed, “I think the only ones who don’t know are them, five bits that she is here today as well,” they opened the door to the studio and were greeted by Spike and Gabby, “HA! I knew it.“
“What is dat smell?“
“Oh that's probably the cream pie Spike gave me, I'm Gabriella but call me Gabby, kay?“
“Oh I'm Babs... wait WHAT?“ she asked shocked while the others stared at her confused for the outburst.
“Cream pie, want some?“ Gabby showed her the desert Spike had made himself, “he is such a good baker, you don't mind right Spike?“ the dragon shook his head.
“Oh... oooooh, sure thanks,“ Gabby shared the pie among the fillies, who enjoyed it telling stories about Griffonstone Ponyville and Manehatten, “so you are telling me those prissy rich fillies are not bullies anymore?“
Scootaloo flapped her wings, “yeah, they apologized for everything they said to us and they have been really helpful, Diamond Tiara had a rough time with her mom, but after they all went to therapy they seem happier, Silver Spoon has always been a follower so she wasn't that much of a problem, they are still a bit bossy but at least they don't bully us anymore.“
“Would yuh look at dat, I guess is nevuh too late tuh change, alright let's hit dat alien stuff shall we?“
The group cleaned the mess they made and surrounded the music box, Spike as always checked the status on the console and changed the cartridge, he couldn't check the translator spell since he didn't have magic but Twilight made sure that wouldn't be necessary, “ok girls, since Babs is the guest why don't she presses the button first?“
They agreed and let Babs approach the music box, she pressed the button and returned to her spot, a hard electric guitar riff could be heard.
“Woa, dat sounds awesome, I'm likin' dese aliens,“ said Babs softly stomping the floor at the rhythm of the song.
“Now that's a raspy voice if I ever heard one.“
“You're right Scootaloo, but what does he mean by bad t'the bone?“
Sweetie Belle scratched her head, “I think he means bad as in good, like Babs.“
Everyone except Babs replied with an OOoooooh, Babs blew her bangs off her face and rolled her eyes.
“Breaking hearts? That doesn't sound like a bad as in good thing, that spuds more like a bad as in bad thing.“
Gabby covered her beak with her talons, “you are right Spike, and it doesn't even sounds that he wants to stop, he is truly b-b-b-b-bad,“ the Griffon giggled at her own joke.
“Goodness, I can't believe that you would do something like that Babs.“
“What? What did I do? I've done nothing.“
“You are bad Babs, you are meant to do those things, aren't you?“ Scootaloo said containing her laugh.
“That's bad as in bad, I'm bad as in good, I'm cool, I'm smokin' no wait smokin' is bad, yuh get me AB, doan yuh?“ the group laughed at Babs who blew the bangs off her face again, “I see yuh grew a sense of humawh dis time we were apart.“
“That’s a saxophone? I always meant to learn how to play the saxophone but couldn’t.”
“Why is that Gabby?” asked Sweetie Belle.
“Well for one I’m pretty busy and on the other claw, well beak,” Gabby laughed again at her own joke, this time everyone else laughed with her while the song played in the background.
“Ok what now?“
“Oh I was going to press the button next,“ said Gabby pressing the button and returning to her spot, a mighty tune could be head and then a bass line.
When the first verse started Sweetie Belle’s eyes lighted out, Scootaloo giggled looking at her friend, “hey Sweetie Belle, isn't that the voice you have a crush on?“
“Yeah... wait NO! I don't have a crush on that voice, I just think it is good,“ the blushing unicorn said, putting a pillow against Scootaloo's face with her magic.
“Yeah right, you were making goo goo eyes last time when we were listening to that song you are not a clone, I bet you listened to the recording like a hundred times.“
“It was you are not alone and I only listened to it forty two times... I mean, oh poo.“
“Yuh got tuh admit he has a really good voice, feels kinda hypnotic.“
“I know right, is so beautiful... the voice I mean, sounds like a grown up voice with the soul of a child, even if this one he wants to sound like a bad cookie.“
“To be fair he doesn't sound that bad, probably he is just responding to somepony who provoked him,“ Spike said while munching on some gems.
“Well if somepony provoked me, it is just a sign dat dey have too many teeth in deir mouth and I'll gladly fix dat issue.“
“See, he actually wants to change the world, he is that bad that means actually good,” Sweetie Belle said clapping her hooves, they enjoyed the song and at the last verse Sweetie Belle whispered, “oh you are bad, baby.“
“Well that was nice y’all, we should leave ‘fore Bab’s and Ah are missed in the reunion.”
“Hey I didn’t have a turn last time either, no fair.”
“Ah guess we still have some time Scootaloo, go and press the button.”
Scootaloo pressed the button and an angelic yodel came from the machine.
“What the hay? Is somepony hurting him? Oh he is singing now.”
“Hey he sounds kinda badass,” Babs said, blowing her bangs off her face once more, “what? Chicken? Nevermind it’s not badass.”
“What are you talking about Babs? Chickens are awesome, they give eggs and feathers for pillows and in this song they attack.”
“You would be the one who likes chickens, Scootaloo.”
“What do you mean Sweetie Belle?”
“Oh nothing, just enjoying the song and… *gasp* he just said the F word!”
“Chicken?” asked Scootaloo.
Apple Bloom put a hoof on her shoulder, “no she's talkin' 'bout fuck, you can't say fuck, it's not proper.”
“Apple Bloom!” yelled Sweetie Belle.
“why de fuck not?”
“Babs!”
“Dude, you should stop saying fuck.”
“Spike!”
“Fuck!” Gabby said, muffled by her own claws.
“Gabby!”
“What's so bad about it, it's not hurtin' anypony, fuck fuck fuckity fuck fuck fuck!”
Sweetie Belle was about to get a headache, “Babs, everypony STOP! Let’s just listen to the song before bugs come out of my ears.”
“Ugh, is he going to eat the chicken in winter?”
Gabby giggled, “I guess you could say-”
Spike facepalmed, “please Gabby, don’t-”
She continued “he protec, he attac, but most importantly, he a snac!” everyone let out an exasperated sigh, while the griffon rolled on the floor laughing.
As the song came to the end, the group enjoyed the ancient yodel of wisdom, peace and justice.
“That was funny y’all, but we need t’go now, Ah don’t wanna miss aunt Apple Brandy when she gets drunk ‘fore dinner, that’s the best part of the reunion,” everyone wrapped out the place and left for their respective houses.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Apple Bloom and Babs trotted on the town after separating themselves from Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle.
“Babs, remember this is supposed t’be a secret, after the first time that Twilight let us listen with her the music box, she asked Starlight t’only show us songs already recorded t’make sure they were ‘clean’ which is lame.”
“Like totally lame. Right?” Babs responded not watching where she was trotting, when she collided with another pony, both falling on their rumps, “look where yuh are goin' idiot!” she said while rubbing her head, in front of her there were two ponies, one tall with a blank look on his face and the other chubby who was rubbing his own head, “d'ja hear me Tubby or I need tuh pull your ears so yuh can hear bettuh?”
“Babs we ain’t have no time, Ah’ll let you clobber him tomorrow.”
“*tch* Yuh are lucky my friend here stopped me Tubby, yuh too Lanky, see yas!” both left running full throttle leaving the two colts behind.
“Snails.” said the chubby colt.
“Yeah?”
Snips stood up, cleaning some of the dust from his body looking at the due running to Sweet Apple Acres, “I think I’m in love.”
At the School of Friendship, Professor Tester was giving her class to a multitude of creatures, “so to summarise, electrical resistance of an object is a measure of its opposition to the flow of electric current. The inverse quantity is electrical conductance and is the ease with which an electric current passes.”
Gallus groaned while quickly taking notes, “how did you convince us to take this class Tink?”
“Oh come on G, this is awesome, imagine being able to understand the very rules of nature through technology, I find it exciting.”
“I agree, I’m learning a lot of new things on how nature behaves,” Ocellus said without moving her face from the teacher.
“That’s because you two are a couple of nerds, look behind us, Smolder is drooling on her desk, Sandbar and Yona are just staring at the front but I bet they are not even here anymore.”
Tinker Claw looked at his friends, they were staring with blank eyes, then he saw her hippogriff friend next to Gallus, “Silverstream seems to be doing fine taking notes.”
“Don’t kid yourself, I’ve seen this before, she is drawing something.”
“Mister Claw, Mister Goldbeak, is there something you want to share with the whole class?”
“Um… no Professor Tester...” Gallus replied while Tinker shook his head.
“Mister Claw, remember that when we are in school hours, you are a student and I’m the professor, don’t expect preferential treatment.”
“No Professor Tester,” he replied.
“And you Mister Goldbeak, I know that you and your friends are celebrities after helping save Equestria from Tirek, Chrysalis and Cozy Glow, but don’t expect preferential treatment either, I expect all of you to study just as much as everycreature else.”
“Yes Professor Tester.”
“Good, now who can tell me what are the names of the units for electrical resistance and electrical conductance?” only Tinker Claw and Ocellus raised their arms, “only two? Ok, Miss Ocellus.”
“They are Ohms and Siemens, Professor Tester.”
“Heh heh, siemens,” Gallus whispered to himself.
“Good girl, now who can tell me who named them?” again only the same two students raised their arms, Tube Tester sighed, “alright, Mister Claw.”
“It was a griffon scientist named George Volts.”
“Good boy,” at that moment the bell rang signaling the end of the school day, waking Smolder and breaking Yona’s and Sandbar’s trance, everycreature picked their stuff and headed to the exit, “Ok, don’t forget to read chapters six to ten and make an essay of at least five hundred words on uses of conductance and resistance for next week.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
The group walked through the halls of the faculty, “seriously Tink, how can your mom be so hot and so boring at the same time?”
“G, please don’t call my mom hot, it’s weird.”
“Yeah man, it’s not cool,” added Sandbar.
“Are you kidding, look at her, if every female minotaur is half as hot as her, I think I’ll move to Laburynthos soon.”
“Well, you probably will have to, once you get expelled for failing my mom’s subjects, birdbrain,” Tinker said while softly punching the griffon on the shoulder. Gallus was the first creature to approach him and introduce him to his other friends, they quickly became friends themselves and liked to mess with each other.
“I won’t fail, because you will help me pass them, tuna breath.”
“Yeah right, every time the group gets together to study you end up sleeping or sneaking out to peek at my mom you perv… besides I don’t like tuna like a pleb, I prefer salmon.”
“Well, in that case I’ll have to use my charm to pass, don’t worry I’ll be a good dad for you, kitten!” Gallus rubbed Tinker Claw’s head with his talon while the group laughed.
“Boy!” a yell came from behind them, Tinker recognized the voice and the tone, since the school day was over, Tube Tester stopped addressing her son as a student.
“Hey mom, what is it?”
“You are heading to that crystal clubhouse on the Everfree with your friends, right?”
“Yes mom, why?”
“I was making sure, I’ll be late today since the entire staff will have a reunion, there is stew in the kitchen, don’t burn anything, ok?”
“Ok mom,” he saluted with his claw watching how his mother left while Smolder flew in front of him with a devious smile on her face, “um… what?”
“Your mom!” yelled Smolder.
“Huh, rude,” Tinker Claw replied pushing the dragon.
“No I mean, your mom is not going to be at the castle, nopony will be at the castle with all the staff in here, it will be all alone.”
“So?... oh.”
“Yeah, instead of going to the clubhouse, show us that alien stuff you’re studying,” Smolder happily flapped her wings hovering over Tinker.
“That sounds super-duper, I wanna watch that too Tinker,” Silverstream said while grabbing the boy by the shoulders.
“Yona also wants to see alien stuff.”
“If Yona wants to go so do I,” Sandbar said.
Tinker Claw accidentally let them know about the music box on one of their study sessions, “listen guys, I shouldn’t have told you about it, I was instructed to keep it secret and ask Starlight or my mom if I could show it to somecreature else and my mom treasures that thing like a dragon protecting her hoard… um no offense Smolder.”
“None taken,” she replied
“Come on, Tink, I also wanna go watch that stuff.”
“I dunno G, I could get in trouble if we get found out.”
“What about Ocellus?” Gallus pointed at the startled changeling.
“What about her?”
“She also wants to check it out, you are nerds the both of you, you must understand how it feels to not be able to study something you want to,” Gallus grabbed Ocellus from the torso and lifted her in front of Tinker Claw, “you want to study that stuff, don’t you Ocellus?”
“Um… yeah… kinda.”
“You see? Are you going to be so cruel to starve the mind of this young egghead from the knowledge she craves?” Gallus dramatically said while pushing Ocellus closer to Tinker, she put on a nervous smile waving her hoof.
There were few who could see such cuteness and not be moved, those with a willpower worthy of gods and titans, the same who could see death itself to the eyes and laugh, not experiencing mental or physical discomfort. Warriors forged In the Heat of battle. Gone through the storm and come out risen as a phoenix, stronger than any force in the Universe. Luckily Tinker Claw wasn’t one of them, “good grief! FINE! Let’s go before Ocellus gives me diabetes,” a collective YAY was heard from his friends and everycreature headed to the Castle of Friendship.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Five teenagers arrived at the castle since Yona and Sandbar stayed behind to pick the snacks at Sugarcube Corner, “man, I hope they don’t take too long, if we get found out, my mom is going to have my hide.”
“Relax Tink, what’s the worst that could happen?”
“Have you ever heard the phrase there’s more than one way to skin a cat?”
“Yeah I think I have.”
“Well, that was made by minotaurs and I don’t know you, but I like my skin and don’t want to lose it.”
Ocellus took a book from her saddlebag, “but Tinker, that phrase just means that there are many ways to accomplish something, it has nothing to do with skinning an actual cat.”
“Yeah? Well it still gives me the chills,” Tinker opened the door to the studio where the music box rested on the crystal pedestal, “ok, this is the thing, Twilight named it Music Box because it plays music and some other stuff,” a collective ‘oooh’ came from his friends, “we should begin, I don’t wanna be here when Starlight or my mom comes home.”
Silverstream flew in front of Tinker Claw, “wait, aren’t we going to wait for Yona and Sandbar?”
Smolder took off the ground, “I’ll check outside, maybe they are close,” she flew outside through the window and came back immediately, “they are just outside.”
The group waited a few seconds and the door opened letting the pony and yak inside, “Yona sorry, Yona couldn’t decide what to bring.”
“Yeah don’t worry about it, here this is the music box, with this button on the middle of the machine you can activate it, here look,” Tinker pressed the button and a male voice came from the device.
This is Walter J. Shortman, personal log number… forty six.
Today was a really weird day, it’s been twenty years since we lost Venice to the waters and apparently the water level is going down, who knows maybe in a few decades it will be habitable again.
In other news Suzy started dating the new guy from accounting, and is so sad. The last one lasted only three months, it always ends the same, she gets depressed and crashes at my place for a week, it wouldn’t be that bad if I wouldn’t end up sleeping on the sofa HAHAHA. I just wish I wasn’t so cowardly to… nevermind, end recording.
“I thought you said it played music Tink.”
“Nope, I said it ALSO plays music, once in a while we hear logs from that guy, apparently he is the one who programmed all the music on this machine, still dunno why, ok I suppose you all get a turn, how do you wanna do this?”
Silverstream raised her talon, “OH OH, why don’t we do it in alphabetic order?”
“Seems fair, everycreature agrees?” all of them nodded, “ok, I guess that makes Gallus the first one.”
The griffon approached the music box and pressed the button and returned to his seat, a bombastic tune began playing followed by drums and guitars.
“Heh, that’s neat, I like the electric guitar, this is not bad, Tink, these aliens know their music.”
“Yeah friend Tinker, this song reminds Yona of mother’s lullaby.”
Tinker stared at Yona, “I shouldn’t be surprised by that but still.”
“Hmm, interesting thought, a hero not being defeated by just making him die, probably they mean that the memory of said hero will inspire those who leave behind even after death, but who could this Proletios character be?”
“I dunno Ocellus, probably an alien leader of some sort.”
An eagle screech could be heard and the group turned to see Gallus, he blushed and rolled his eyes, “um… sorry, that chorus gave me the chills and I couldn’t help but scream,” his friends giggled at the embarrassed griffin.
“Hey guys, that’s funny, I thought they were talking about magic but now they talk about robots.”
“You are right Silverstream, hey Tinker I thought you said this aliens didn’t have magic.”
“Well that’s what we thought, they haven’t mentioned magic as an actual thing on any song just as a feeling, maybe this song isn’t talking seriously.”
Another mighty eagle scream could be heard in the room, “COME ON G! That was next to my ear!”
“Sorry Tink, I couldn’t help it again, I really like this song.”
“Ouch man, well to be honest, I don’t think they are being serious on this song, it sounds like something from a movie or maybe comics, WOW that’s an epic voice there, almost wanna join his cause.”
“WOAH, now that’s what I call a guitar solo, you know, Griffons invented the electric guitar solo.”
“Really Gallus?”
“Yeah, the claws make it easier to tip the strings,” Gallus said while moving his claws and the song ended.
“Um.. I think it is my turn now, can I?”
“Sure Ocellus, just press the button in the middle.”
The changeling pressed the button and a loud sound startled her, she returned to her spot.
Ocellus sat on the pillow but for some reason her wings didn’t go back into her elytrons, instead they kept flapping, not strong enough to lift her but it still made a buzzing sound.
“This one is funny, oh hey Ocellus, something wrong with your wings?”
“Oh, not really, I hadn’t noticed they didn't go back inside, thanks,” she tucked her wings but after a few seconds they went back out and began buzzing again.
“Dudes, this one doesn’t seem to have lyrics at all,” Sandbar said while grabbing another cookie and eating it.
“You are right, as far as I remember on the records, not every song has lyrics, this one seems an example… hey Ocellus, your wings are back out again.”
“Really? Oh, sorry, I think the song made me want to flutter like a bee.”
“Hmm weird, but now that you mention it, the song kinda sounds like a bunch of bees, doesn’t it Tink?”
“Yeah it does, hey let’s call it something like that, what about the flutter of the bees?”
“Or maybe the buzzing of the wasps?”
Everyone laughed “how about the stings of the bumblebees?”
“Yona thinks that song fits the name flight of the bumblebee.”
Everyone agreed so they decided to name it that.
“Dude, I think it’s over, I believe it’s my turn now,” Sandbar pressed the button and a funky tone came out of the music box.
As the music continued it finally hit the first verse, “bwahahahaha, wow Sandbar, these aliens hit the spot with you.”
“Why? What do you mean Gallus? I don’t get it.”
The group stared at Sandbar then to Yona who was next to the earth pony, and they nodded in agreement to themselves.
“Yona doesn’t get it either, please explain.”
“Oh nothing nothing, just saying stuff hehehe.”
“But that’s an interesting theory, does the machine have any sort of technology that let’s it pick a song specially for the one that presses the button, Tinker?”
“Well, that’s a bit complicated, Ocellus, you see, we have disassembled the machine several times and my mom made a bunch of charts, we recognize many components and how they work, but there are still many of them that we don’t recognize, we believe that they are the ones that actually process the information and the storage device, but there are others that we have no idea or how they were programmed, so… maybe.”
“Well, I can say that I like the song man, it’s neat,” Sandbar said while he picked another cookie but instead of eating it, he gave it to Yona who happily ate it from Sandbar’s hoof.
“Heh, you would be the one to like it Moto Moto,” Gallus let out a snicker.
“What?”
“Nothing… Moto Moto.”
“You know that’s not my name right, Gallus?”
“What? I didn’t say it was, did I… Moto Moto?”
“No I guess you didn’t, hey the song is over, who’s turn is it now?”
“MINE IT’S MINE!” jumper the peppy hippogriff who flew to the music box almost hitting it, something that made Tinker Claw’s lungs almost come out of his mouth, “oops, heehee, my bad,” she pressed the button and someone began talking.
“Oh Hello mister alien!” Silverstream replied to the singer, gaining a facepalm from her friends, “oh such a darling song, it makes me happy too!” she said while clapping her claws.
Gallus laughed covering his beak, “well, your theory is gaining strength, that song totally fits Silverstream.”
“Yeah man, but I think I like the part where he is not bothered by anything.”
“Yona agrees with Sandbar Sandbar.”
“Eh… what are you doing Yona?”
“What do you mean, Sandbar Sandbar.”
“That, you are saying my name twice.”
“Well since other alien in song liked his name said twice, Yona thought Sandbar Sandbar would like it too.”
Sandbar Sandbar blushed, “um… well… yeah I like it.”
“It seems that song also fits Yona since she only does what she likes.”
“Yeah Yona likes it, makes Yona want to dance, oh it’s over… Yona thinks it is friend Smolder’s turn.”
“Yeah, if what you guys say it’s true, I’ll get the most awesome song of all.”
“In your dreams Smolder, mine was the first and most awesome.”
“Wanna bet Birdy?”
“Ok, yeah maybe I want to, what do you have on you?”
“Nothing really, what do YOU have?”
“Nothing, how about this, if you like the song then I’ll share a secret and if you don’t then you will have to share a secret, how about it?”
“Yeah I like that,” they both spit on their claws then shook them together, Smolder flew to the music box and pressed the button, no one expected what came from it.
Smolder eyes went wide, almost choking on some juice she was drinking,’Oh crap, oh crap oh crap, that piece is sublime, the strings are beautifully coordinated, wait is that a harpsichord I’m hearing? The conductor went all out with this piece... I think it's in D no it’s on G major, OH MAN!! I can’t say I like it or I’ll look all frou frou, oh crap oh crap, but I can’t say I don’t like it or Ocellus will call my bluff she hates when I lie…’
Gallus put on a grin , “oh yeah, I guess I win, there is no way in tartarus Smolder likes something so sophisticated.”
The dragoness let out a sigh of relief but snapped out of it immediately, “wait, what do you mean by that Gallus,” she said angered by his remark, “are you saying I’m too dumb to like something sophisticated like this?” Smolder grabbed Gallus from the skin of his chest.
Gallus began sweating, “n-no, I-I-I mean is that, um, that the song is not uh… oh gosh sorry, I didn’t mean it, please don’t burn my feathers again!”
Smolder let out smoke from her nostrils, “good,” she turned to see her friend Ocellus who looked a bit angry about something, Smolder immediately knew what was bothering the changeling and sighed defeated, “and for the record, I do like it, I like orchestral pieces like this one or from Moo-zart the Minotaur, Phoenix Mendelstorm the unicorn, or even Giuseppe Green the griffon,” the dragoness looked back to her friend Ocellus who was happily grinning, “So it means I win, now pay up Birdy and better be one good.”
Gallus sighed, “well I don’t really have many secrets that you guys don’t already know, aagh, fine, I still keep some of my toys from when I was a small cub, like a plushie and some balls… wooden balls, of many colors and sizes, and some marbles too… a lot of them” he said while blushing while the rest let out a collective d’awwww.
“Hey smolder,” Ocellus whispered to her friend Smolder, “I’m proud of you,” Smolder grinned, “you know, this piece would go great on one of our secret tea parties.”
“You are right,” she whispered back, “hey Tinker, can we get a copy of the songs we heard today?”
“Sure, in fact I put on a new cartridge just for that, I don’t want to get caught for that.”
Gallus fixed his feathers after the scare Smolder gave him, laughed at the end of the song, “well you might have won this one Smolder, but my song is still the most awesome one, look Silverstream, Yona and Sandbar are even sleeping already,” Silverstream was sleeping on her arms while Sandbar was using Yona as a pillow resting his head on her, “someone wake them up, it’s Yona’s turn.”
Tinker pushed Yona who grabbed Sandbar as a teddy bear, “come on guys, wake up.”
Sandbar woke up as he was being crushed by the half sleep yak, “Yona, Yona, I can’t breath,” he softly hit Yona who woke up yawning.
“Oh it’s music over? YAY it’s Yona’s turn,” she let Sandbar go and ran to the music box, Tinker stopped her before she crashed into it, “Oh, well, Yona will press button,” she did and returned to her place next to Sandbar while the music started.
The group was startled by an epic composition of sounds, “Yona likes this music, is not like Yona’s mother lullaby, it sounds like yak war song.”
“Persia? Maybe another type of alien… Oh Yona was right, this seems to be a war song, Leonidas might be the leader of the Spartans or something.”
“Yeah I think you are on to something Ocellus, anyway these aliens, hoomans I believe Twilight called them, they seem to be an aggressive bunch, I could bet one of my nine lives that they are as conflictive as the yak.”
“Yak not conflictive, yak confident, yak never lost war for thousands of moons.”
“Yeah and the fact that you live on a frozen tundra, doesn’t help any invader force.”
“Yona feels like stomping of joy,” Yona got up but was stopped by Sandbar.
“No Yona, what did we say about stomping indoors?”
“Stomping can cause damage and damage is expensive,” Sandbar nodded and Yona layed down and pouted.
“Hey guys, I think that the alien is telling a story,” Silverstream said, accidentally dropping a jelly filled donut on the ground.
“Hmm, yeah, and it seems that the Spartans were betrayed, for one of their own and this alien is ashamed of what it did.”
“That’s pretty interesting Ocellus, it doesn’t seem that the story will tell us the end, I wonder what happened with those three hundred Spartans.”
“Yona thinks they fought well, if they have song like we listened, Yona is excited and wants to hear more,” she got up and began running to the music box but slipped on the jelly filled donut Silverstream dropped earlier, she was going fast so she was sliding directly to the music box.
“SOME ONE STOP HER!” Sandbar grabbed Yona but it was in vain, he got dragged and both hit the pedestal breaking it, the music box flew away in the air while everything looked in slow motion, Tinker screamed, “THEEE MMMMMUUUUSSSICC BOOOOOX, NNNNNNNOOOOOOO!” while the music box spinned in the air.
Gallus and Smolder jumped into action, they flew as fast as they could and they were about to grab the machine but they collide with each other pushing the music box higher, Silverstream jumped as well flying to grab the music box she made it but made a miscalculation and hit the roof with her head dropping the device, Tinker was pumping adrenaline through his body and ran as fast as he could, she used Yona as a platform and jumped on her back to grab the music box, he extended his claws to have a better grip, he was close, so close, so freaking close, but no cigar, he just managed to scratch the music box case, while he saw the machine falling, all his life passed through his eyes, from the moment he woke up at the door of the orphanage, the times he got bullied by the calves, when he got adopted by Tube Tester to today, everything was lost, the music box was going to hit the hard crystal floor and break in a thousand pieces, his life was over, the only thing left was cover his eyes and wait for the sound of the music box shattering… but it never came, he opened his eyes and in front of him the device was hovering surrounded by a magic aura, “Ocellus! You saved the music box!” he stood up to pick it.
Ocellus was on the back covering her eyes, “what? I didn’t do anything.”
“Huh? Well if you didn’t save it, that means...” he turned to the door where an upset Starlight and Tube Tester watched at the group, Starlight’s horn ignited, she was the one who saved the music box, she pulled the machine and put it on Tube’s hand, “m-m-m-m-mom?”
Tube Tester stared at his son, “to your room, grounded, one week.”
“B-but mom!”
“Now it’s two weeks, wanna make it three?” Tinker shook his head and left to his room as fast as he could.
“Now you, what to do with you?” the group felt intimidated by the strong minotauress, even Smolder felt small and powerless against the imponent figure in front of her, “ah, I know, first you will clean this mess, then you can forget about the five hundred words essay,” the group appeared confused, “yeah now each of you will present a one thousand words essay,” they let out a groan except Ocellus, “now it’s two thousand words, wanna make it three?” all of them shook their heads and began cleaning the mess they made, “I’ll be back to check your progress after I check on Tinker.”
Both of them left leaving the group alone again, “poor Tinker, maybe we shouldn’t have come after all.”
“Don’t worry Ocellus, Tink will be fine, what’s the wbfbfbf-” Gallus was stopped by Yona who closed his beak with her hoof.
“Friend Gallus shouldn’t say those words, teacher Pinkie say they are dangerous.”
“But what a curious culture these aliens have, I wish we could meet them,” Ocellus said while watching out of the window at the stars that began to appear in the sky.
“Who knows, maybe we can build a spaceship in the future and visit them, that would be neat,” Sandbar said while cleaning the room.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
On space, darkness spreads to the infinite and beyond, but on this inconceivable large gaps of nothingness a vessel lazily drifts, its size insignificant compared to the vast celestial bodies, its original course lost due to a force of the universe, its shape is that of an egg and as such it carries life, spinning on its axis without direction, doomed to wander in the void until slowly lose all its strength to protect the life it was meant to carry. On one of its sides, decorations, symbols that for those who understand them read ‘SSE - New Mayflower’.
“Come on AJ, we haven’t hung out in ages!” Rainbow Dash moaned to the apple farmer.
Applejack bucked the apple tree making its apples fall on the basket, “Ah’m sorry sugarcube, but Ah’m mighty busy today and after work Ah’ll have dinner with Rarity.”
“Again? You have been having dinner with her almost every day of the week since hearts and hooves, I thought by now you would have cooled your relationship already.”
“Well you know how love is, remember when you met that mysterious knight on Nightmare Night?”
“Yeah,” Rainbow stared at the horizon with a blush on her face, she shook her head snapping out of it, “I mean, forget about him, I gave him my address and he never wrote, I went to my mailbox every single day after that and only got the usual, fan mail, bills, family letters, spam and strangely I’ve been getting letters from Zephyr Breeze, I have no idea how he got my address though.”
“That's weird, what does the fella say?”
“I dunno, I didn’t even bother reading them.”
Applejack put the baskets on the ground next to another apple tree, “then how do you know those are from him?”
Hovering over her friend, Rainbow Dash crossed her hooves, “they came in a green envelope and are sealed with Zephyr’s cutiemark, can you believe how egocentric that stallion is?”
Applejack chuckled, “kinda reminds me of somepony.”
“Ugh I walked right into that one, didn’t I? Are you and Rarity at least coming to the Music Box session tomorrow?”
“Sure sugarcube, we’ll be there.”
“Ok, see you then,” Rainbow flew away to do Rainbow Dash’s stuff.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Everypony who’s ever meet Rainbow Dash knows that she is a very confident and athletic mare, those who know her know that she is rather lazy when she is not training or at shows with the Wonderbolts, right at this time she was taking a nap on top of a cloud over Ponyville’s main plaza.
Ponies roamed around the ground with no apparent purpose, the weather was nice as always on this time of the year, thanks to the weather patrol. Rainbow Dash’s snores attracted a curious bird who landed on the mare’s belly, up and down she went with every breath the pegasus took.
The curious bird approached Rainbow’s face to check her mouth, and suddenly Rainbow Dash breathed in with more force than usual, almost swallowing the bird in the process. She began coughing until she spit the drool covered bird, still spitting a few feathers, Rainbow stared at the confused animal in front of her, “WHAT THE HAY! *cough* You could’ve *cough* choked me to death!” she cleaned her tongue with her hooves and checked the town’s clock tower, “oh crap, is almost time for the music box session, gotta go,” she took off but then looked back at the dirty bird, she sighed, grabbed it, flew down to one of the town’s fountains where the bird cleaned itself, happily chirping waved a wing to the wonderbolt, “don’t mention it… seriously don’t mention it, bleh.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Rainbow Dash flew through the castle window inside the studio, “never fear, your friendly neighborhood Rainbow Dash is here!” she posed to the nonexistent crowd, “what the hay… where is everypony?”
Rainbow walked to the music box pedestal, now made out of wood due to the previous one being Yonanized, she found a note there, “what’s this? -Sorry I couldn’t find the cloud you were napping on, the session was cancelled, Sunburst and I received a letter from our parents to go to them as soon as possible, Trixie invited herself to come with us, Moondancer went to visit her sister at Canterlot, Fluttershy’s bunny got sick and she is taking care of him, Twilight got wrapped on some royal business, Rarity got a plumbing leak, Applejack is with her fixing it,- Yeah right, I bet she is fixing it really good, - Pinkie had to take care of the Cake twins, Tinker Claw is still grounded and Tube Tester is testing a new alloy for her project, sorry I couldn’t tell you, if you wish you can play a song, just make sure it’s recorded,. Your friend Starlight Glimmer. P.S. don’t bother Tube Tester, she has been pretty grumpy since Tinker hasn’t helped her due to being grounded, I think she misses him.” Rainbow put the note on the ground and groaned, ”come on! You can’t be serious, well I guess it's just me and you, music box, please give me something good this time… something catchy,” she pressed the button and an upbeat melody began playing.
“Ok… sweeter? Hehehe this song is lame,” Rainbow returned to her seat and grabbed one of the cookies that were kindly left for her “the lyrics don’t make any sense, why do you love them if you are afraid of them breaking your heart?...HEY! What’s wrong about being blue? Blue is a cool color, I would say it’s about 20% cooler than the others and more for coats…” Rainbow rubbed her coat while saying that, “but Rainbow your coat is pale, light grayish cerulean not blue… WHO SAID THAT! Oh wait it was me, why am I speaking to myself anyway?”
Unknown to the pegasus, her rainbow colored tail was wagging at the rhythm of the song, “ok now that’s a good message, let’s make love not war, still a lame song though... Only a lame religion or a lame reason would make somepony forsake his lover, like that FAUST DAMNED KNIGHT WHO NEVER WROTE AGAIN!” Rainbow chugged the cup of milk next to the cookies, cleaning her muzzle with the back of her hoof.
The song went on, “what a lame song with lame lyrics and lame tune, lame-o lame-o lame-ooooooo,” when the song ended Rainbow picked the dirty plates and left them on the kitchen, “well since my evening was ruined with the lack of friends and a lame song, I guess I should head to the Wonderbolts HQ, if I leave right now I’ll be able to take a hot shower before lights out.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
The sound of water running and the steam filled the wonderbolt’s showers, “AAAH, nothing better than a hot shower after a good fly...” Rainbow grabbed the soap with her wings and spread it all over her body, suddenly her right foreleg began bouncing without her noticing, “♪I try to discover a little something to make me sweeter♫” she started singing the lyrics of the song without realizing it.
Rainbow was so distracted that she didn’t notice Soarin’ and Spitfire entering the showers, each taking a spot next to her and washing their own bodies while listening to her friend singing. Rainbow was now moving her hips from side to side while singing.
“Wow that was a funny song Crash.”
“GAAAH, what the hay!”
“Relax Crash, it’s only Soarin’ and me, I think we all had the idea of coming a day earlier to enjoy the hot shower before lights out.”
“I suppose, but what song are you talking about?”
Soarin’ was busy cleaning his face with soap so Spitfire answered, “you were just singing a song about respect or something.”
“Really? I hadn’t noticed.”
“Hey Spitfire, you told her?” Asked the stallion while washing the soap from his body in the shower.
“I was coming to that,” Spitfire replied while Rainbow Dash stared at her in confusion, “yeah, well this training week will be cancelled, turns out that the tour got delayed a moon for bureaucratic crap, something about the terrain the HQ not passing health inspection this year, shenanigans I say.”
“Aww man, I was hoping to train this week, I got nothing else to do.”
Everypony grabbed a towel and dried themselves, Soarin’ picked some deodorant from his locker, “at least we can train with the guys tomorrow, but we will need to leave at the end of the day for the cleaning teams to sanitize the place.”
They each took to their bunks to sleep for the night but once Rainbow Dash was in deep slumber, she began singing again.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
The next day all The Wonderbolts flew in perfect synchronization and as always there was nothing that could distract Rainbow Dash when she was flying, it was a second nature for her, more than walking or even eating, therefore she tended to let her mind wonder whenever she is flying, this caused to not realize things around her that wouldn’t affect her flying, “♪and if I should falter, would you open your arms out to me, we can make love not war♫” she kept singing during all her flying and the other wonderbolts took notice.
They took a lunch break after training all morning and by chance one of the cleaning workers arrived earlier, he was at one of the tables talking with one of the Wonderbolts next to Rainbow Dash who was enjoying her meal as well, “I do love myself a hayburger after training, mmMMm,” she ate her hayburger with gusto and was now sipping on her juice, “that’s the stuff...” After finishing her food she relaxed at her cafeteria, then began hitting the table with rhythm, “♪I tried to discover a little something to make me sweeter♫” she began but stopped realizing she was singing an alien song that should have been kept secret.
“♪oh baby refrain from breaking my heart♫” Soarin’ responded.
“Wait what? How do you know that song?”
“You have been singing it nonstop all weekend Dash.”
“No I haven’t, I would have noticed it.”
Spitfire laughed while in the background all The Wonderbolts kept singing the song, “yeah right, when you are flying and there is nothing blocking you, you are pretty much in trance, Crash, remember that time after a training session you realized you had a heart apron put on? That was hilarious.”
“Oh… oh no,” Rainbow thought, realizing that she let the alien music spread without her noticing, “I’m dead.”
“What’s wrong Crash?” Spitfire asked in her raspy voice.
“Oh, nothing… um… can I skip the afternoon training?”
“What? Why? You were the one who said you would miss the training this week and now you want to bail?”
“Well, something came up and I need to leave.”
“Alright, we are not doing much anyway, I guess we’ll see you in a few weeks.”
Rainbow flew back to ponyville, ‘ok Rainbow Dash, don’t panic, you just let The Wonderbolts know about a song not meant to be heard by that many ponies.’
“Hey Rainbow Dash.”
‘Well is not like it was a top secret, I’m sure if it doesn’t spread that much it’ll be ok.’
“Rainbow Dash?”
‘Maybe I could convince Twilight that it wasn’t my fault, it must have been alien magic or something.’
“Rainbow Dash are you ok?”
“Uh, what? Oh hi Derpy, yeah I’m always awesome, why?”
“Um… well, you were staring straight ahead and I kept talking to you and you didn’t respond, I was worried.”
“Oh sorry, I was thinking about stuff, how are ya?”
“I’m good, just about to pick my muffin from school and I saw you so I thought I could come and say hi… um hi Rainbow Dash!”
“Oh yeah hi Derpy, well don’t let me stop you, bye Derpy.”
“Bye bye,” Derpy turned around and began flying slowly to the school, “♪oh baby pleaseeeee, give a little respeeeeect♫”
“Wait a stinking minute, how do you know that song?”
Derpy stopped, “oh… I heard it on the market in the morning, it’s really catchy.”
‘Oh crap, I probably sang it when I was flying to the HQ, I need to go to the castle right now, maybe if I delete the song from the tape, they won’t realize I messed up.’
Rainbow Dash flew past Derpy directly to the castle, while she was flying over the market she could hear the entire town singing the alien song, from the little foals that were coming out of the school to the elders relaxing near the fountain. The pegasus finally arrived at her destination and entered the castle through a window, Starlight was in front of the music box listening to the recording.
‘Dammit I’m busted, I guess there is nothing else but to apologize,’ “h-hey Starlight, h-how was the trip?”
The unicorn mare slowly turned to see the pegasus, her eyes were filled with darkness. Rainbow Dash wasn’t a coward, but watching Starlight in a bad mood is a sight that would drain the courage of even the bravest warrior. She knew that the unicorn was able to go hoof to hoof with Twilight and even brought the fight to a standstill when she was still evil, if she were to go after Rainbow it would be a one sided battle that would end up with a pegasus in ER.
Starlight slowly walked to the pegasus, Rainbow Dash heard Starlight’s hooves like explosions announcing her doom, once she was in front of the paralyzed mare she let out a sigh rubbing her temples, “oh sorry Rainbow my face is tired after our trip to see mine and Sunburst’s parents,” she said while her face changed to irritated to a more neutral one, “by the way, is there a particular reason the entire town and their grandma are singing the same alien song that I just heard on the recording, I thought we agreed to just release the information in small groups until Twilight gave the ok to let everypony know.”
Starlight didn’t seem angry about it, it seems that Rainbow was saved, “oh… well… I…”
“That would be my fault,” came a strong voice from the door where Tube Tester stood.
“What?” said Rainbow Dash confused.
Tube Tester let herself in the room, “yeah, once I finished my tests which were a complete failure again so please don’t ask me about them right now, I came here and saw Rainbow Dash flying through the window, I got curious so I listened to the recording, it was a catchy song, I didn’t think much about it but I couldn’t get it off my head, this morning when I went to the market I probably sang it once or twice without noticing and several ponies heard it, it spread and before I knew it there was even a choreographed dance number around me, you ponies sure love to randomly burst into song. Anyway it spread to the entire town and I can’t still get that stupid song out of my head, I swear it’s like a damn virus,” Tube said while leaving the room.
‘I’m so lucky, I didn’t even had to do anything’
“So… aren’t you going to tell me how you also let the song spread more?”
“WHAT!? How did you know?”
Starlight giggled, “you just told me, anyway is not that bad is not like is a life threatening situation, it’ll eventually pass besides, is not like it’ll spread all over Equestria.”
“Hehehe, yeah… so… how was your trip anyway?”
Starlight’s irritated face returned, “I don’t really wanna talk about it right now, maybe tomorrow.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
The previous night a trio of unicorns came out of a train, the male one hurried trotting out of the train worried about his mother.
“Sunburst, we don’t know if there is something wrong!” Starlight said to the running stallion, but was for naught since he was too far.
A yawning Trixie rubbed her eyes, “Glimmy that was a long trip, remember Trixie to bring snacks next time.”
“Come on Trixie, I bet Sunburst doesn’t even remember they are living at my dad’s house now.”
A few minutes later after picking a confused Sunburst, the trio was at the door of the house Firelight and Stellar Flare shared, Starlight knocked at the door and her dad opened it, “Pumpkin Wumpkin, Sunburst you came, I’m so happy to see you.”
“I’m here too Papa!”
“Trixie what a surprise! how is my daughter in law?”
“Great and Powerful as always!”
“DAD! I already explained to you, Trixie and I are NOT DATING!”
“Oh yeah Pumpkin Wumpkin, Papa knows you are not dating right Trixie? wink.”
“Yeah indeed Papa, wink wink.”
“Firelight love, who is at the door?” came a female voice from inside the house.
“Our children came to visit Gorgeous, come on you three.”
The group entered the house and sat in the living room where Stellar was waiting for them wearing a bathrobe and a towel around her mane.
“MOTHER!” Sunburst ran next to his mother, “are you ok? The letter sounded urgent.”
“Oh my baby boy, such a manly gentlecolt, you make your mother proud but, where is your marefriend, I thought that you’ll bring her since Starlight brought hers.”
“OH COME ON, NOT YOU TOO! Wait you know what? I don’t care anymore, what did you want to tell us.”
“Oh sorry Starlight, you know we are just messing with you, right? but tonight is too late and you must be tired, we’ll talk in the morning.”
“You and Trixie can take your old room, everything is as you left it except the bed, I got a bigger one for it and Sunburst can take the guest room.”
Everypony went to their respective rooms, Starlight and Trixie laid in the same bed back to back, “Glimmy, what do you think they wanted to tell us?”
Starlight yawned, her tiredness finally getting to her, “since obviously they are not in any kind of distress and it didn’t seem urgent enough to tell us tonight, I bet they are going to tell us they are tying the knot.”
“Really? Wow, you are taking it pretty good for that kind of news.”
“I think I got over it since last Hearth's Warming, or maybe I just accepted the idea they were going to get together, or maybe I’m kinda glad my dad is not going to be alone… I just hope it ends better than the previous one.”
“Hehehe, it seems that I’ll have a mother in law as well.”
Starlight’s eye twitched, she ignited her horn, “you know Trix, maybe you are right, maybe we should be a couple,” Starlight got up and hovered over a blushing Trixie trapping her between her hooves, “you know, I’ve been thinking, maybe all this time our friendship actually was hiding our true feelings.”
“G-G-G-Glimmy?”
“Surely you aren’t so naive to think that all this teasing wouldn’t get to me?”
“I-I-I EEK!” Starlight put a hoof on one of Trixie’s cheeks.
“Now you have done it, you are now completely defenceless against me,” Trixie squished herself out of the bed, “I’ve finally bought what you were selling.”
“What’s wrong with you Glimmy?”
“What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with you? I thought this is what you wanted,” Starlight slowly walked to the nervous mare while she backed away to the door, “how does it feel Trix?”
“What?”
“To be deconstructed, to be the victim, to see your dreams come true?”
Trixie reached the door and tried to open it but it was locked with a magic aura, too strong for her to open it, Starlight finally reached her and turned Trixie so they were face to face, “you, this isn’t you, you don’t do this.”
Starlight grabbed Trixie by the neck and pulled closer “I do now.”
“I-I-I’m sorry,” Starlight stopped mere millimeters from their lips touching, “I’m sorry Glimmy, I’m sorry for teasing you, I didn’t think it would make you do this, I’m terribly sorry, I don’t want you all evilly, I want my kind and sweet Glimmy ba-ha-ha-ck!” Trixie said while crying.
“Ok, but on one condition,” Trixie looked up again, her eyes filled with tears, “you will stop teasing me about any kind of relationship between us.”
“Trixie swears on her honor, or her name isn’t Beatrix Lulamoon.”
A smile went back to Starlight’s face, “good, wait is that your real name?”
“Oh… yeah, I just haven’t used it, well since I left home… we should get to bed, we are all exhausted,” both mares returned to the bed back to back but then Trixie turned back, “Glimmy?”
“Yeah?”
“Can you p-p-please hug Trixie?”
“Trixie come o-” Starlight turned to see Trixie, her eyes were puffed and her tears rolled from them, “gosh Trixie, I’m sorry, it was too much wasn’t it?” Starlight cleaned Trixie’s tears.
“No, I deserved that, I’m actually angry at myself, to think that my teasing would affect you this badly, what kind of friend am I?”
Starlight hugged Trixie, “I’m sorry Trixie, if I knew it would affect you this badly I would have acted differently.”
“I guess we both made big oopsies, right? Glimmy, I promise to never tease you again, but please promise me you will never turn evil again.”
“I promise Trixie, I promise.”
There in the night laid both mares, for the rest of the night in an embrace, healing the wounds they gave each other, but as a bone that heals and becomes stronger, so their friendship became stronger after this.
The next day everypony were at the table eating breakfast, Stellar Flare was next to Firelight while the other three took the remaining sides of the table, Stellar Flare was wearing a long nightgown that covered her from neck to bottom.
“It’s nice to have all the family at home, isn’t it Stella?”
Stellar Flare nuzzled him, “Indeed love, you me, our children, I just wish Sunburst had invited his marefriend.”
“You mean like Starlight did,” Firelight said, winking at Trixie, Starlight sighed annoyed.
“Um.. Mister Firelight?” Trixie said which confused the Stallion, “I believe we should stop teasing Starlight, she doesn’t appreciate it and frankly hurts her.”
“Oh… ooooh, I see, I’m sorry Chipmunk Cheeks, I suppose I got excited over the prospect of… well you know, don’t worry it won’t happen again.”
Starlight smiled, “thanks dad, so what were you going to tell us.”
“Oh yeah, you wanna tell them Gorgeous?”
“Oh no-no-no, you tell them honey.”
The young trio stared at the couple’s interchange, ‘get on with it, just tell us you are getting married so we can all leave,’ Starlight thought.
“Together?”
“Together.”
‘Here it comes, I’m glad I mentally prepared for this, poor Sunburst I bet he has no idea,’ Starlight said in her mind while sporting a tiny smirk.
“We are having a baby!” Firelight and Stellar Flare said in unison. Starlight lost the tiny smirk when the news made her jaw fall lower than tartarus, Sunburst wasn’t faring better, his eyes were totally empty of life, his mouth so open that he could touch the ground with his goatee.
“OH MY GOODNESS! A baby?” Trixie jumped from her seat, hugging Stellar Flare, “can I touch it?”
“Sure but it’s only a little bump for now, according to the doctor I’m in about three moons now.”
Trixie softly pressed her hoof on Stellar’s belly, while Starlight snapped out of her stasis, “wait, three moons, that means you conceived around Hearth’s Warming… at the castle,” Stalright’s eye twitched.
“Yeah, it could have been that night, or the previous, or the night after Hearthwarming… it could be any night of that week, or the previous… or the one after that,” Firelight said a bit proud of himself, “am I wrong you insatiable tigress,” he said to his lover , who blushed and playfully pushed him with her hoof.
“GOSH DAD, that was way too much info! You see you broke Sunburst,” Starlight waved her hoof in front of Sunburst but got no response from him.
Trixie was in another plan, she felt happy for the adult couple, “have you decided on the names? Because I could help with that, you know the Name Tristan for a colt is pretty awesome, almost as awesome as… what is it? Oh yeah Trixie for a filly.”
Stellar Flare and Firelight laughed, “well Trixie, Firelight and I have thought about that, we decided that if it’s a colt we will name him Moonblast and if it’s a filly, we will name her Luster Dawn.”
Starlight was getting a headache, and Sunburst was finally coming out of his trance, he shook his head “Mom, mister Firelight, are you sure you want another foal? I mean...”
“That we are too old? Don’t worry Sunburst, I’m still young enough for another child, I was even younger than you when I had you remember?”
Starlight was breathing slower now, “ok, listen you two, I’m glad you found love and that you will share this love with a new life, just promise me something. Please promise me that you won’t make the same mistakes you did with us.”
“Starlight sweetheart.”
“Don’t Starlight sweetheart me right now dad, I’m pretty serious, I don’t want to be here in twenty years and find out he or she became an evil villain, or worse that has no friends, promise me you two!”
Both parents promised and with that it was time for the trio to leave, they escorted them to the door and watched them as they left until they couldn’t see them anymore.
“Honey?”
“Yes beautiful?”
“We are still sending our foal to the School for Gifted Unicorns right?”
“But of course love, nothing can go wrong sending our foal there, and even less now that Princess Twilight will run it.”
“Good, yeah what could go wrong?”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Starlight sighed, “well Dash, let’s just say that I have a bad feeling about the future...” Rainbow Dash accompanied Starlight to the door, “♪I hear you calling♫ Oh crap now I got it, at least it's a good song,” both mares left the room singing the alien song.
At the Star Gazer’s Laboratory for Planetary Studies in the Institute of Sciences of Canterlot, two ponies adjusted the new equipment brought directly from Laburinthos, said equipment was also donated by Marquese Star Gazer, a noble who was always driven to science and technology. Unlike Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, everypony was able to attend this school even if the grand majority was still unicorns due to that tribe being the most prominent in Canterlot.
“Hey Tracker, are you done calibrating the new telescope? We are way behind schedule and I don’t want to lose track of the asteroids we have been following for moons,” a dark blue coated pegasus with a brighter blue mane said to his colleague.
The blonde freckled earth pony was adjusting the telescope “relax Hunter, we have plenty of time, besides it’s not like the Princess will punish us if we present this late, believe me, I know her, did I ever tell you that time I was on a cruise with her and her family?”
Star Hunter rolled his eyes, “yeah, over twenty times already, I used to live on Ponyville you know? I was her neighbor for years.”
Star Tracker laughed, “doesn’t count, you never talked to her.”
“Yes it does.”
“No it doesn’t.”
“It does too.”
“It does not”
“What is this all about?” came a masculine voice from the door.
“LORD GAZER!” both young stallions said scrambling from their current positions bowing to the Marquese.
Star Gazer smiled and walked to the younger ponies, “come on you two, I said multiple times not to bow to me, we are all the same, we are all made of star-stuff after all, we even have the same first name the three of us.”
Both lifted their heads, “I’m sorry Lord Gazer, force of habit,” said the pegasus Star Hunter.
“Yeah, almost every noble and royalty is pretty snob,” said the earth pony Star Tracker.
Star Gazer gave them a warm smile and walked to a model of their planetary system, softly touching the only planet that showed green and blue on its surface, he said with his soft voice, “look here at this tiny ball. This is here. This is home. This is us. On it everypony you love, everypony you know, everycreature you ever heard of, everycreature who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every Hunter and Tracker,” he rubbed the heads of both the pegasus and earth pony, “every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every royalty and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every superstar, every supreme leader, every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there-on a little ball suspended in a sunbeam,” he then pointed at some graphics that showed theories about where their system was within the entire galaxy, a mere point in the vast of the universe, “It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of pony conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.”
The interns looked dumbfounded with their mouths open at the words from the Marques, he walked to them and closed their mouths with his hooves, then he went to the giant telescope he donated to the institute.
“Lor… I mean Star Gazed, the telescope is almost ready to go, I was just about finishing with the calibrations.”
“Great,” he checked on the notes on the desk, “I see you already made calculations on the location of those asteroids you have been following Star Tracker, do any of them present a threat to our planet?”
“Not at all sir, the only two that will pass the closest are not big enough to survive atmospheric entry, well unless they are made of pure iron or any other hard metal, with this new telescope we will be able to see them with better quality in a few days when they are close enough to visually identify their composition.”
“Excellent, I have great hopes on you two and I feel it in my bones, somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
A few days later, Star Hunter was watching through the telescope and writing on his notepad, “oh crap,” he said while checking his notes twice.
“What’s wrong Hunter?”
“You won’t believe it, by my new calculations, K03GO7T is going to crash into planet Ahgg in a month and a few days, K03BA0L just collided with K03BC5N and the remaining are not big enough for study, all that will be trapped in the gravity of planet Moochick in mere hours, those were my favorite asteroids, how about you?”
“I lost track of one of mine, I guess I’m not as good as I thought with my calculations.”
“Relax dude, it was just one of what? Ten?”
“Six actually,” he said with his face down.
“Hey, that still gives you an eighty three percent rate of success, cheer up newbie.”
“I guess you are right, but from those five left, two are heading to planet Hydia so they are likely to be trapped on its gravity or one of its moons, Reeka or Draggle.”
“What of the other three?”
“There are two that are heading directly here, one is big but hollow, it has a huge hole right in the middle, it appears to be made out of silicate so it’ll burn in entry when it enters in about two moons, the other one is medium size but like I thought is not big enough to survive entry in eight moons, unless is made out of iron and even then its remaining might not be bigger than a hoofball, here this are their coordinates.”
“Yeah, that one looks like a donut, it kinda makes me hungry… wow the other one is amazingly spherical.”
“Yeah gotta love round asteroids.”
“Wait… Tracker you said is going to arrive in eight moons?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Can I see your notes Tracker?” Star Tracker gave his notes to Star Hunter, he ran to his notes, he made some traces and calculations for at least ten minutes, “AW COME ON!”
“What?”
“Like I thought, look at these.”
“Is this correct? Damn, it’s going to collide with one of yours in two moons, ok that’s it.”
“Don’t mind Tracker, still got one left right?”
“Yeah and it’s the biggest one, but as per my calculations it will pass barely close enough to study it and then will head directly to the sun, I was about to check its progress, it should be clear enough now to identify its composition, here check its coordinates.”
Star hunter moved the telescope to the coordinates given and stared at the asteroid, “ok, that’s weird, the telescope can’t focus on your asteroid.”
“What? Let me see...that’s not possible, we should be able to see it clear by now… unless.”
“Unless what?”
“Unless the asteroid had a reflecting surface,” came the voice of Marquese Star Gazer behind them.
The pegasus was confused, “but that’s impossible, something with a smooth surface enough to mess with the lens of the telescope couldn’t have been done naturally.”
Star Tracker had a smile from ear to ear, “maybe it’s ALIENS!”
“HAHAHA yeah right Tracker, even if there is life on other planets there is no way they could travel that far, isn’t that right sir?”
“Oh young stallion, the universe is immense, you should be aware of that and the sky calls to all of us. I bet that if we don’t destroy ourselves, we will one day venture to the stars, who say in the infinite space aren't some creatures that already travel the void.”
“You are probably right, but if they were that smart they would have changed route, they are heading directly to our sun, aren’t they Tracker?”
“Yeah, but who knows, they will be the closest to us in five moons and soon after they will be caught in our sun’s gravity, if they are aliens they should change their course by then, should we report this to Princess Twilight?”
“Let’s hold this up for the moment, we should wait until we can see what it is.”
“Yes sir!” both Star Hunter and Star Tracker said in unison.
“Let’s just hope this is more interesting than a shiny asteroid,” Star Gazer said looking through the telescope.
An annoyed Rainbow Dash flew through ponyville heading to Sugarcube Corner, flying close behind was a blonde stallion, “and that’s reason thirtyfour as to why you should go on a date with me, as for reason thirtyfive-” Zephyr Breeze was interrupted by Rainbow Dash who covered his mouth with a hoof.
“Listen here bucko, I’m sick and tired of your sorry excuse of romancing, I’ll say it for the umpteenth time. I-DON’T-LIKE-YOU! I will never like you and I want you to stop flirting with me! Are we clear?” Zephyr stared at the mare with his eyes wide open, “I’ll take that as a yes, now go away I have stuff to do.”
Rainbow Dash left the paralized stallion behind and entered Sugarcube Corner, he moved his hoof to touch his muzzle, “her hoof is so soft… she loves you Zeph, you are such a stud HA! Oh baby pleaseeee give a little respect♫” and he happily flew back to his place singing.
As always it was really busy at Sugarcube Corner, ponies going in and out of the establishment, everypony enjoying the sweets the Cakes and Pinkie Pie baked for them. Pinkie Pie was mending the counter while the Cakes were on the back preparing the sweets.
“Pinkie, you got the brownies for the session today?”
“Yeah Dashie, they are in my room, hey since you are here can you do me a favor?”
“Sure, what is it?”
Pinke wrote on a piece of paper and gave it to Rainbow Dash, “I still need to be on the counter for a few hours, can you take the other box of brownies and deliver it to this address?”
“Gotcha, I’ll pick up the sweets, deliver them and go to the castle in ten seconds flat!”
“But remember Dashie, the red box with green and yellow bow is ours and the green box with yellow and red bow is the delivery… OH! And it’s already paid!”
“No problem, it’s me after all!” Rainbow Dash flew to Pinkie’s room and got out of her window flying to the address on Pinkie’s note.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
The blue mare flew over the town stopping right over the address Pinkie put on her note, “ok, this is the place,” she approached the door and knocked with her hoof.
“Oh but if it’s Rainbow Dash, how are ya man?” an earth pony stallion with long mane and a goatee greeted the mare in a slow fashion.
“Oh Dude, this is your place?”
“Yeah man come in, my casa is your casa,” they headed to the living room where a sturdy looking stallion was sitting on the couch, “so what brings you to my humble abode?”
“Oh I brought your delivery from Sugarcube corner um…” Rainbow looked at the two packages she brought with her, “which one was it? Oh yeah, the green box with a yellow and red bow.”
“Oh you got the brownies!” a slender stallion said while walking down the stairs.
The sturdy stallion on the couch fixed his sunshades, “shut the fuck up, Donny and keep washing that rug! Hey you, Rainbow Dash was it? A friend of The Dude is a friend of mine, wanna grab a beer and listen to stories when I was a royal guard?”
“Come on man, nopony wants to listen to your rambling about being a war hero.”
“Dude I did not watch my buddies die face down in the muck so that-”
“What dead buddies, man? You were on the reserves and it was just half a year and then came back right before the changelings attacked Canterlot, excuse my friend Colter, he has a big ego not like you, a Wondferbolt, a hero and now part of the friendship council, still you are here delivering brownies for a friend, man I’m honored to have such a humble pony in my abode.”
“Oh hehehe, yeah humble… I-I gotta go, enjoy your brownies!” Rainbow left one of the boxes on the table and ran off the house, “crap, the last thing I need right now is bad karma for faking being humble, maybe I should start being humble… NAH!” she giggled and flew directly to the castle.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Inside the castle studio there were four ponies, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Twilight, the alicorn was checking on the equipment while Fluttershy was talking with Rarity who was leaning on Applejack, the cowpony listened to the other mares talk about fashion and animals while Rainbow Dash entered the room through the window, “hey girls, you missed me?” she put the box on the table, “I brought the brownies… oh crap!” she just noticed she left the wrong box at The Dude’s, “oh well, both weighed the same and both were brownies so whatever,” she removed the bow and the box throwing it on the thrash and served the brownies on a plate putting them on the table, “so, where is everypony else?”
“Pinkie hasn’t come yet, Tube and Tinker are back at Laburinthos to present their solar panel advances, Trixie and Starlight tagged along, they’ll be back in a few weeks, finally Spike and Sunburst are on a not-date with their respective not-girlfriends.”
“Ah reckon they should come clean with their feelings, Ah bet Gabby and Moondancer would appreciate it if they do,” Applejack said while nuzzling Rarity who giggled.
“The pot calling the kettle black, AJ, you had been dancing with Rarity since short after Twilight moved here and just recently went steady.”
“That ain’t the same Dash, Rares and Ah’ve known each other for years since school, even longer than you and Ah, we were just close acquaintances until we met Twilight and then… well Ah reckon something woke on that sleepover.”
Twilight finished checking the console and stared at the brownies, “boy those brownies sure look good, do you think Pinkie would mind if I grab one of them, I’m starving,” she grabbed a brownie with her magic and ate it.
“I don’t think she would mind, darling, I for one could use a sweet right now Jackie and I missed lunch because we were… um… anyway, do you want one love?” Applejack nodded, Rarity grabbed two brownies and gave one to her marefriend, “oh my stars, these are divine.”
The two pegasi grabbed one each as well since everypony else was doing it, ‘hmm, this tastes different than Pinkie’s usual brownies, but at the same time it tastes familiar,’ Fluttershy thought.
“Say Twilight, Ah heard you been bumpin’ heads with the nobles in Canterlot.”
“Yeah, I’ve been pushing to increase donations to areas like science and technology, it’s been really hard, some of the nobles are pretty stubborn and haven’t fully accepted me as Equestria sole ruler yet, but there are some that are helping, like the Marquese Star Gazer and Duke Fancy Pants we were able to purchase new equipment for learning centers and Prince Blueblood has helped funding scholarships.”
“Wait, isn’t that the jerk stallion that was rude to Rarity on the first Grand Galloping Gala?”
Twilight nodded, “yeah but that’s Rarity’s fault, if I knew she was referring to Blueblood I would have told her that he was… well let’s just say taken.”
Rarity smirked, “taken? You mean by… Rosa?”
Twilight chocked with the brownie “How do you know that?”
“Oh darling, I am a lady with connections and I have spent some time among the Canterlot Elite.”
“She saw ‘em escapin’ together at a party, sugarcube.”
“Jackie, you steal the romance out of everything,” Rarity said pouting.
“Sorry Rares, but that’s the truth.”
“Anyway, how do YOU know darling?”
“Oh well, Blueblood and I technically grew close, he being Celestia’s nephew and I being her student, I never considered him a friend… at least not until I met you girls and you taught me what a friend is, he is a pretty calm guy for royalty, but one thing he hates is all the mares trying to woo him just because he is a prince, anyway he has been a great help these last moons and we became good friends, he confessed that he is in love with his maid and is about to ask her hoof in marriage right after she graduates college on spring next year… wait that was supposed to be a secret, please don’t tell anypony,” she said giggling nervously.
All of them laughed but promised to keep it secret and so they kept waiting for Pinkie for a while and eating another brownie.
Rarity rubbed her shoulder on Applejack’s chest, “Jackie, your chest is sooo, comfortable.”
“Hehehe and you are mighty soft, love,” she replied.
Twilight was bouncing on her pillow, “hey Pinkie is taking a long time… DO YOU HEAR THAT! It sounded like, weird.”
“I’m not hearing anything,” said Fluttershy.
“Me neither,” said Rainbow Dash, but then she turned to the window where a baby alligator was floating tied to a balloon, “hey is that Gummy?”
The little guy was hanging with a note on its mouth, Fluttershy flew to him and picked it up, and a breeze blew him out of the castle, “it says that Pinkie had to take care of the twins and won’t come, she says she is sorry and to let Gummy fly back home on his own… I guess she is not coming.”
Twilight was staring directly at Fluttershy but her gaze was a bit off, “uh… what?” she shook her head, “Oh… I’m sorry I guess I’m kinda tired, so why don’t we begin?”
Rainbow Dash was eating yet another brownie, she swallowed and flew to the machine, “let me press it please,” she pressed the button, a chill music came out.
But instead of returning to her seat, Rainbow Dash stayed there rubbing the music box with her hoof, “hey Twilight, has the music box always been this smooth?”
“Huh… lemme see,” Twilight flew next to Rainbow Dash and touched the music box, “oh yeah it’s pretty smooth...”
“Um… girls?” Fluttershy asked, confused about their behaviour, she tried to stand but felt a bit dizzy, “oh… I see, this brownies… this will be interesting,” she whispered, she knew that Rainbow Dash was one of Green Blaze’s customers but she had never gotten high with her before, “but why would Pinkie put pot on these brownies without telling us or without coming herself.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
“Hey, there must be something wrong with this pot brownies man, it’s been ages and I feel nothing,” Jeff Letrowski said to the green mare on the chair.
“Yeah what the hay Blaze, I thought you said this was one of the top shelves!”
“Eh a, Mon, Mi personally did gi Pinkie di Kine Bud extract an shi hasn't failed mi before...” Green Blaze said rubbing her yellow and red mane.
“Hey guys, can I have some? I’m getting a bit tired of washing.”
“Shut the fuck up Donny, I can still smell the rug. You ain’t having any until it's completely clean!”
“I said I was SORRY!”
“Sorry man, but you disrespected Blaze’s house so you need to make peace with her.”
“Fine,” he said and continued washing the rug.
“Shud wi tell him Dat mi did ah gwine chrow dat rug tuh di trash anyway?”
“Nah, it’s too funny to look at him working all that hard.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Rarity kept rubbing her face on her marefriend’s chest like a cat, while Applejack was blushing, “face… so... soft… Ah mean, sugarcube, don’t you think you should stop, we are not alone after all.”
“Nope, you?”
“Nah.”
It’s been around an hour… I think, since we all took the first pot brownie, they should experience the kick around now. Fluttershy thought while checking the chummy couple and the other ones rubbing the music box, she herself was also feeling the effects now but it was lower for her since she only took half brownie then and waited to eat the other half. Right now she could feel her senses enhanced making even the soft breeze an experience on her body, she can only imagine what Rarity and Applejack were feeling, “and the music is great.”
“Jackie, I’m feeling cold, hug me please.”
“Uh… ok, so soft,” she said while wrapping her arm and tail on her marefriend.
“Twilight… how long have we been rubbing this music box?”
“Like, I dunno, hey a song is playing, it’s nice… we should return to our seats.”
Both mares sat on their pillows while rubbing their buts on them while the song ended, “what the hay? Was that all the song? I wanna hear another one, but I don’t wanna get up,” said Twilight, she tried to press the button with her magic but realized she couldn’t “huh… my magic doesn’t work...”
“I’ll get it for you Twilight,” Fluttershy said, flying to the music box and pressing the button, another chill song played out of the machine.
Fluttershy returned to her seat next to Rainbow Dash, Twilight was rocking from side to side enjoying the song, not even taking notes like she used to do.
“Flutters.”
“Yeah Rainbow Dash?”
“I bumped into your brother today.”
“Oh?”
“He asked me out again, poor fool, he has no chance and he keeps trying, it’s getting annoying.”
“Well, who’s fault is that?”
“Uh… his?”
“No Dash, you and I both know that he is so entranced by you because you kept teasing him when we were foals, you even stole his first kiss.”
“AW COME ON! That isn’t fair Fluttershy, he was so shy and meek and… cute then, now he has an ego the size of Mount Everhoof!”
“Look who's talking, that’s one thing you both have in common.”
“One, only ONE! At least I have a job.”
“Dash, he has a job too, he is working at a mane salon, he is not one of the best but at least he is trying his best and he even set a goal to one day own his own salon.”
“Well he is still annoying… with his annoying colt bun and annoying voice and annoying purple eyes and annoying hoof and a half taller than me and his annoying white teeth and round butt and his eyes, you know my knight also had purple eyes, maybe that’s not as annoying...”
“And remember, you kept leading him on until we moved here and then never talked or wrote to him unless we visited my parents, that was mean of you Rainbow.”
“I-I-I couldn’t I.”
“Because you weren’t just teasing or leading him on, right?”
“What?”
“You actually liked him then.”
“Uh I-I… yeah I kinda liked him then.”
“Kinda?”
“FINE! I was heads over horseshoes for him, he was so cute and so innocent then, his cute mane was always so long and his bangs framed his face perfectly! Now every time I see him I remember the cute colt he was and then I wonder what would have happened if I confessed to him and stayed with him or even at least wrote him once in a while, maybe he wouldn’t have turned out to be that lazy or egocentric.”
“You don’t know that Rainbow, I guess is too late to know now, after all you hate him now.”
“I don’t hate him! I just find him unbearable, maybe if he wasn’t so obnoxious and lost the bun I might give him a chance… by the way, these were pot brownies right?”
“It seems that way, I guess Pinkie wanted to give us a surprise.”
“Nah, it wasn’t Pinkie, I got the wrong box, this one was meant for The Dude and his friends, I guess I’ll have to apologize to them later.”
Twilight kept rocking at the tune of the music meanwhile Rarity now rubbed her face on Applejack’s cheek while her hooves rubbed the earth pony all over her torso, “hey girls, I’m starving and I have a craving for hayburgers, wanna come?” said Twilight looking at her friends since the song just ended.
“Aaaaand here comes the munchies, I guess we should eat as well, you coming right Flutters?” the yellow pegasus nodded, “how about you AJ?”
“Ah’m not starvin’ but Ah could eat, you Rares?”
The white unicorn stared directly at Applejack eyes, “I’m craving apples right now!” she said giving bedroom eyes to the earth pony.
“Sorry we can’t go, somethin’ came up… goodbye ya’ll,” Applejack said while grabbing Rarity by the hoof and running as fast as they could muster to Rarity’s house.
“You go girl! I guess that makes it just us three.”
The three mares began walking to Bouncy Bun's hayburger joint without cleaning the mess they left in the studio, they were out of the castle when Twilight stopped, “I think I’m forgetting something.”
Rainbow sat on the ground, “you wanna go back to find out what you are forgetting?”
Twilight turned back and saw that she was four steps from the castle door, “no we’ve gone too far,” and they began walking again.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
The trio was outside Bouncy Bun’s when a trio of stallions came out of the establishment, they looked like they’ve gotten in a fight with a dragon and barely escaped with their lives, burn marks and dried blood stains all over their bodies, the chubby earth pony had curly hair and he was missing a chunk of his right ear, the unicorn had a neck bracer and the slender pegasus seemed in better condition than the other two but still worse for wear. They were laughing and talking about now being the best of friends and that they should go to a hospital. “What a bunch of weirdos,” Rainbow Dash said while they headed to the counter.
“What can I get cha ladies?” asked the counter pony, his nametag read Chuck.
“I want the usual, Chuck,” said Twilight.
“Oh Princess Twilight! But of course, Bunny get the extra buns! We need to prepare the Princess’ Usual, how about you girls?”
Fluttershy read the menu on the top of the counter and then cleared her throat, “I want thirty sliders, five hayfries and four large cherry sodas.”
“I want the same except make mine diet sodas… Chuck”
“Wowza, I love when the princess visits, that comes to a total of four hundred and twenty bits.”
Twilight searched under her wing and found nothing, then searched under the other wing and began worrying a bit, “um… I just remembered what I left behind.”
“AW COME ON! You are joking Twilight!”
“Rainbow Dash, don’t be so aggressive with poor Twilight, she just forgot.”
“Hey girls let me pay for it,” came a male voice behind them, showing a tall unicorn wearing a hoodie, sunglasses and pants covering his cutiemark, he was accompanied by a jenny wearing a long coat and also sunglasses.
“Uh who the hay are you?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“Oh, you don’t know me, but I know her,” she pointed at Twilight, he then lifted his glasses for a moment so they could see who he was.
“Prince-bfbfbfbfbf,” the trio said while a golden aura covered their muzzles.
“Yeah yeah, if you haven’t noticed I’m trying to go incognito, Twilight kept talking about this hayburgers joint so much that I had to try it myself and it was amazing, the least I could do is pay for your meal as a thanks,” Prince Blueblood levitated a bag of bits to the counter, “this should cover their meals Chuck. I’m sorry I can’t stay longer but I have a busy day today, bye Twilight, let me see Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash right? Nice meeting you, hopefully we can share a meal someday. Let's go Rosa, we got places to be.”
The couple left them waiting for their hayburgers, once they were ready they had to put other two tables together for the sheer size of the order and when they began eating, it was an spectacle like no other, pieces of bread and hay flying everywhere, sounds that could only be described as coming from the underworld, all the ponies surrounding the trio stared in awe the monstrosity that the mares considered as heroes of equestria were committing, a cry of a baby could be heard on the background, some of the ponies leaving, their minds scarred for life at the memory of what they just saw, some ponies taking pictures of the scene. Life had now a different meaning, now life was just an excuse to witness miracles or curses like the one they attested to, nothing else mattered now, just the hay, the bread and the mares… but what do I know, I’m just a gator hanging from a balloon outside a hayburger restaurant.
Three mares, a stallion, a baby dragon and a minotauress carrying her son on her arms passed through the gates of the Castle, all wearing t-shirts and carrying memorabilia with the logo of the band Monarch, “wow Spike, you were right, this band Monarch it’s great and the Ponyville plaza was packed.”
“What did I tell you? I knew they were going to become great from the moment I heard their first song and I had to listen to them live again after going to their concert back on Canterlot with Twilight and the girls.”
“Trixie didn’t know that they were the ones that made that song that everypony and their grandma are singing about giving a little respect.”
Starlight rolled her eyes, “they didn’t made the song Trix, they made a cover, that’s actually an alien song that Rainbow and Tube listened and accidentally let out in the open, it has gotten pretty viral now and several artists are making covers, like Sapphire Shores and Countess Coloratura, they are making their own version of the song.”
“I tell you, that song is like a virus, I’ll have it stuck on my head for a while again, if you excuse me, I’ll put Tinker to bed and call it a night as well.”
“Tube Tester, aren’t you going to accompany us? We were going to listen to a few songs on the music box.”
“No Moondancer, my little one is already asleep and I have had enough music today, besides I don’t want to have another alien song stuck on my head, I also want to wake early tomorrow morning, I’m going back to Laburinthos for a day.”
Sunburst levitated his mementos from the concert and placed them on a table, “what are going for, Tube Tester?”
“I’m going to the Toshi station to get some power converters, I have an idea that could solve an issue with my solar panels,” Tube Tester waved and left with her son in arms.
“The Great and Powerful Trixie believes that we should listen to the songs already, it’s getting late and she needs her beauty sleep.”
“Alright, alright Trix, let’s turn on the music box, who wants to do it?”
Spike raised his claw, “oh can I do it? I haven’t had a turn in ages.”
“Sure spike,” Starlight said while the drake pressed the button when a menacing tune and vocals began playing.
“Dreadful head?” replied Starlight, “do they mean they have a bad mane?”
Sunburst fixed his glasses, “this is pretty interesting, dreadful speak give, it doesn’t make sense, do you think there is something wrong with the spell?”
Moondancer approached the console testing the spell with her horn, “no, the spell is stable and there hasn’t been any changes since the last time Twilight used it and it worked perfectly.”
“Now there are no lyrics, this song confuses Trixie.”
Spike chuckled, “it still sounds awesome, it feels like what would sound in the movies, when the main character and the villain are fighting to save or destroy the world.”
“You are right Spike, hey Glimmy, when was the last time we went to the movies?”
“It’s been a while Trix, you know the closest theater is in Canterlot, it is not like we can take the train and go there every weekend.”
“Hopefully, they will finish that movie theater on the edge of the town soon.”
“Sunburst, do you mean that building next to the Sweet Apple Acres terrain is a movie theater?” asked Moondancer who was sitting next to the stallion.
“Yeah, when I was at the market I heard Mayor Mare and Filthy Rich talking about the new building, it’s supposed to be as big as the Royal Cinema in Canterlot but as modern as the Ponymax in Manehatten.”
“It was about time Sunny, that’s great and powerful news!”
“Um… Trixie, please don’t call me-”
“Shhh, it started again,” said Starlight silencing Sunburst, “dreadful speak give battle dreadful, it still doesn’t make any sense!”
Moondancer scratched her chin, “dreadful raging speak give purify going, nope, I don’t think this song is making any sense whatsoever.”
“Trixie thinks that they just picked the words and added them to the song because they sound good.”
“That can’t be possible Trix, why would they make such a good song with lyrics that don’t make sense?”
“I don’t know Starlight, maybe Trixie is on to something here, as much as I want to make heads or tails of this, I can’t in any way find any meaning for the words, dreadful like taking separate going loss like taking dreadful speak give, in a context that makes sense, but you got to admit it sounds aesthetically exciting.”
“Yay, Moonie agrees with me!”
“Well if you put it that way Moondancer, wait, I remember there was a group that did something of the sort, they took a poem in Old Ponyish, grabbed some words that sounded good together and made a song, I guess we can agree that there is a good chance for this to be the same case.”
“You know, lately most of the movies in theaters are about aliens invading Equum, if Twilight ever reveals the existence of the aliens to the creatures of this planet, there might be a huge chaos that could overwhelm the populace.”
Moondancer fixed her glasses, “you are right Sunburst, is a good thing that the information about this aliens has been released little by little, once enough creatures that we can thrust know about them, then Twilight would be able to reveal it so the many ones that we reveal it before will help keep everypony calm.”
“Yeah, but the movies are not helping at all hahaha,” Spike laughed knowing that it might be a while until they told enough creatures about the existence of these aliens, “hey the song is over, can we listen to another one?”
“Yeah let’s listen to another song, but the Weak and Hungry Trixie will need some snacks,” everypony moved their heads to stare at the purple dragon.
“What? Are you expecting me to cook snacks for you?”
Trixie walked to the young dragon and dramatically plummeted in front of him, tears on her eyes she grabbed his legs, “oh please Spike, moons ago you masterfully cooked on this castle, now the current inhabitants beg you on the struggle against starvation, I regret that I can’t cook for them but my cooking skills are subpar and I’m afraid that if we let anypony here cook then it would be a fail, this is our most desperate hour, help me Spike the Dragon, you are our only hope.”
Trixie lowered her head releasing Spike’s legs as if she was fainting, Spike rolled his eyes meanwhile everypony else clapped their hooves and Moondancer even shed a tear for Trixie’s performance, “FINE, I’ll be right back,” the young dragon left the room heading to the kitchen to prepare some snacks.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Later Spike returned with many snacks for everyone and some gems for himself, he sat on his spot again, “so who is next?”
“I-I-I’ll press the button,” Sunburst pressed the button and a male voice came out of it.
This is Walter J. Shortman, personal log number… sixty nine… nice.
Finally I managed to complete the program for the capsules, I will present this to Mister Musk tomorrow, I can’t believe it took almost a year to develop the programs that will make sure the capsules keep the information safe and then reproduce it with ease.
I’m going to have some drinks with Suzy tonight to celebrate, she finally got over her break up with the delivery guy, you know what? I’m tired of it, I’ll tell her how I feel tonight and it will be amazing, then the rest of our life will begin… oh who am I kidding, I will always be just her childhood friend… end recording.
“Wow I feel so bad for him, I wonder if he ever told her how he feels about her?”
“Not likely Glimmy, if it’s true that they are childhood friends then he had the chance to do it for a long time and he never did, there is no way he grows a spine out of nowhere.”
“Come on, Trix, you lack romanticism, I imagine that he confesses on one of their trips to the beach, wouldn’t that be romantic Sunburst? You should take Moondancer to the beach someday.”
Sunburst cringed a bit, he wasn’t a fan of the beach, his weak physique looked terrible against the locals with their toned bodies, and he couldn’t swim either, “I-I-I...”
Moondancer interrupted Sunburst, “I can’t stand the beach, I don’t like sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere,” she then looked at Sunburst, rubbing his hoof she said, “not like here... here everything is soft and smooth.”
Sunburst smiled, “I don’t like the beach either… um, so are we going to listen to another song?”
“Oh no, you made me do all these snacks so we better listen to at least another song, who will press it?”
“I guess I could do it,” Moondancer stood and walked to the music box, she pressed the button and a loud tune startled all of them.
“WOW, that was loud,” moondancer said while fixing her glasses, “that sounds like a nice fanfare, maybe presenting something or somepony important.”
“I know right? It feels like something important is about to begin, something that will change the world, a story that will connect many souls through time and space, souls that will form a force like no creature ever seen before and not a force that could be seen, a force that gives life, a force that surrounds us, penetrate us, one that binds the galaxy together!”
“That was pretty dramatic Spike, Trixie is impressed, but you are right, this song sounds just like a great story is about to begin.”
Starlight stared at her friends enjoying the beautiful melody, she smiled closing her eyes, “and to think that this beautiful music we are enjoying today, was created by aliens a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.”
“But Starlight, given that this galaxy is many light years long, there is a chance that the aliens that created this music box are from this galaxy as well...”
“Yeah you are probably right Moondancer, I don’t even know why I say that, it just felt right.”
Sunburst rubbed his goatee, “this song doesn’t seem to have any lyrics, apparently is pure instrumental, I enjoy this kind of music, is fast paced but still has a relaxing touch once in awhile, like it wants to make you feel safe but then throws you into adventure.”
“The composer of this piece must have been a genius.”
“You are right Moony, I wish there was music like this before my shows, they would be the bomb.”
Everypony and dragon enjoyed the rest of the song in silence, eating the snacks that Spike made for them and talking about the movies and their future plans once the new theater opens.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
At the Star Gazer’s Laboratory for Planetary Studies in the Institute of Sciences of Canterlot, Star Hunter was looking through the giant telescope, “hey Tracker,” he called out to his partner.
“What is it?”
“Remember your big fuzzy looking body we saw?”
“The one we couldn’t focus on?”
“Yeah.”
Star Tracker looked at his notes, “shouldn't there be at least another couple of moons before it’s on its closest point?”
“Yeah, but now is just a bit more clear, what I wanna tell you is I just saw something weird in here, come take a look.”
Star Tracker watched through the lens, “wait a minute, is that thing… that is not possible, we need to report this.”
“We need to call Lord Gazer first, he should report it to the Princess.”
“Maybe we should go directly with the Princess, she knows me you know. Did I ever tell you about the time I was on the same cruise as her?”
“Ah don’t start with that again, let’s go! We need to get Lord Gazer right NOW!”
The pair of stallions ran around the campus to give the news to their mentor.
Princess Twilight Sparkle watched through the telescope, “mmhmm, yes this is quite peculiar, Star Gazer.”
“And it was discovered by none other than these two.”
The alicorn Princess of Equestria walked to Star Hunter and Star Tracker, the latter waved at her hoping she would remember him.
“Oh hey Star Tracker, long time no see, how is the family?” Twilight greeted the earth pony by shaking his hoof.
The young stallion had a smile from ear to ear, “T-T-Twilight Sparkle you remember me, I’m so happy,” he then turned to his friend, “see?”
Twilight Sparkle then turned to the other stallion, “Star Hunter! I remember you from Ponyville, long time no see, how have you been?” The alicorn greeted the pegasus giving him small pats on the shoulder while Star Tracked stared with his mouth open, “what you guys found is really a discovery, it is the first time I see something like that.”
“That would be a first for me too Princess, if you see this way we prepared some drawings we just did,” the purple mare stared at the graphics on the wall, “as you can see on this representation, since we can’t still identify the object on the telescope for its surface it’s too reflecting to identify yet, but as you could see on the telescope, there seems to be a considerably smaller object orbiting the first one, which by all means breaks the laws of physics as we know it.”
Twilight was paying attention to the explanation, “please Star Gazer, call me Twilight since this isn’t a official event and wouldn’t a magnetized body in space, be capable of attracting a ferrous body close enough to duplicate this phenomenon?”
Lord Star Gazer nodded, “yes indeed Twilight, but if that would be the case, the orbit would be ovaliptic, but in this case as this photographs taken on the telescope, in many different times indicate that the orbit on the second space body is perfectly circular, Twilight it is improbable with the knowledge that we have to explain this body.”
“Improbably, why not impossible?”
“Well Twilight, as you should know science is not perfect. It can be misused. It is only a tool. But it is by far the best tool we have; it's self-correcting, ever-changing, applicable to everything. With this tool, we vanquish the impossible.”
It was at this moment when Twilight had an epiphany, “what if it’s them...”
“Them?” asked Star Hunter, while Star Tracker still stared at him with jealousy..
Twilight put on a serious face, she magically locked the room and windows, “what I’m about to tell you won’t leave this room, at least for now,” she wrote on and scroll and magically teleported it out and so she spent the next few minutes explaining to the scientists about the big ball that fell on the outskirts of Ponyville so many moons ago, about the make of said ball, how shiny it looked and of the equipment she found inside, including the music box, the trio of ponies paid attention to every single word she said.
After she was done, the trio stared at her with different expressions on their faces, “Princess that’s impossible, even if there were aliens it would be impossible they were so similar as to be able to create technology we can manage.”
Star Gazer looked at his intern, “mister Hunter, it’s the mark of a fool to disregard something as impossible only because is outside of one’s expertise.”
“So do you think it’s aliens Star Gazer?”
“I didn’t say that either, I understand that Twilight has a theory and she made an amazing job explaining it, but in order for a scientist to believe in something he or she needs proof, do you have any proof, Twilight?”
A scroll appeared in front of Twilight in a green flash of fire, “I knew you would ask for that… ok, yeah it seems that the Castle is free right now, if you don’t mind me I’ll teleport us to the Castle of Friendship in Ponyville.”
“I’ll be most delighted, gentlecolts are you coming?” the younger stallions nodded, so Twilight encased all of them in their magic and teleported directly to the studio at the Castle in Ponyville.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
They appeared in front of the machinery connected to the music box, “this is the first time I’ve teleported,” said the pegasus a bit dizzy from the magical movement.
“Sorry about that, you’ll be ok soon, if you look at here this is the music box as I had called it, and this,” she ignited her horn making the space capsule appear in front of them, “is the container it was inside of.”
Star Gazer examined the capsule, “yes, a surface like this would make the light reflect on it, making it look fuzzy on the telescope, but I’m more interested in that machine, music box was it? So you say it has sounds, records and music of these aliens you speak off.”
“Indeed and to be able to understand them I cast a modified translation spell on the console it’s connected to, come on you can give it a try.”
Star Tracker jumped in front of them, “can I press it?”
Star Hunter blocked him with a wing, “age before beauty Tracker,” he then looked at Star Gazer who laughed and approached the music box pressing the button a voice came from the device.
This is Walter J. Shortman, personal log number three.
I can’t believe how excited I am to be accepted to work on this Space X project, all this years studying and preparing finally paid off, and the best thing is that I’ll be working with my long time friend Suzy, can you believe my luck? Anyway I’ll be working as a programer along with her, I understand the purpose of this capsules, they are meant to carry supplies and knowledge of the human history in case of the society collapse in planet Earth, what I don’t understand is why only ten capsules should be sent, there should be more, I’ll talk with mister Musk, maybe he will listen.
Oh and by the way Suzy and I will go to see the new movie. They are rebooting a very old franchise, Fast and Furious. I've read that these movies were very successful, they made over twenty movies including spin-offs until the death of that actor, what was his name again? I saw it in a documentary… Tim Bisel? Something like that. Well I hope at least it’s better than the reboots of the Terminator movies BOY those bombed hard, oh look at the time end recording.
Star Gazer stared at the machine, “that was interesting, and you say this is an alien talking and you used a spell to translate its speech?” Twilight nodded, “and this small device holds more information than one of a minotaur computer?”
“Yeah, I had a Minotaur expert in technology study it, Tube Tester.”
“Ah Professor Tube Tester, I remember her, last time I went to Laburinthos I heard she adopted a son.”
“That’s correct, currently she is teaching at my school and studying this device as well.”
“Amazing, I think I saw all the proof I needed, I’m ready to believe the existence of intelligent aliens.”
“Um… Lord Gazer?”
“Yes mister Tracker?”
“Can… we get a turn to press the button?”
Both Twilight and Star Gazer laughed and the Alicorn nodded saying “I don’t see why not.”
Hunter and Tracker looked at each other and nodded in understanding, Tracker extended his hoof signaling his partner to press the button, Hunter approached the music box and pressed the button, once again the same voice came up from the machine.
This is *yawn* Walter J. Shortman, personal log… I think one hundred and *yawn* twenty.
I finally finished fixing the programing *yawn* on that faulty drive that should contain all human history on time for the launch *yawn* and I finished downloading every song created by humans to this other drive so I can hear a different song every time for the rest of my life… it took me three straight days to finish both things… I can barely stay awake *yawn* I should… I should.
A sound could be heard like something hit a table and then snoring, most likely from the alien that was recording.
“Oh well, I think that’s what we will be able to hear from this record-” Twilight was interrupted by a sound coming from the device like something sliding on a soft surface and then a female voice speaking.
Walter is the last drive ready?
Seriously Walter, Mr. Musk is going to kill us both if the drive is not ready for launch,
Oh good you finished it on time *BZZZZZ*
“Wait, does that mean that?”
“Yes Twilight, it apparently means whoever this female voice was, took the wrong drive as he called it.”
“What a let down, imagine the information of the other drive, we could have learned more about them with the history data,” the Princess shook her head slowly in disappointment.
Star Tracker was softly neading the floor with his hooves, “so…”
“What? Oh sure Star Tracker, you can press the button now.”
The Stallion clapped his hooves and approached the music Box. he pressed the button and an electronic song came up from the equipment.
“Oh this sounds so good, it reminds me of some of the hits of DJ PON3.”
“Oh Tracker, do you like DJ PON3 as well?”
“Like her? I love her, all her music, her looks and everything… wait didn’t she live here in Ponyville?”
Star Hunter nodded, “yeah she lives with her cousin Octavia Melody, I’m friends with Octavia, I could introduce it to her.”
“No way, are you sure?”
“Sure, what are friends for?”
“Bro,” Tracker said.
“Bro?” Hunter asked.
“Bro,” Traker confirmed and both hoofbumped.
Twilight and Star Gazer looked confused, “what just happened?”
“Twilight my friend, I think we just witnessed what the young call a bro moment, wait what is that?” Star Gazer said, making the group stare at the other side of the room where a group of rats were carrying a big slice of cheese while dancing at the rhythm of the song.
“Ok, you don’t see that every day… now Princess, why keep this a secret? Why haven’t you told everypony about these aliens?”
“Well Star Hunter, I simply don’t want to cause chaos on my ponies, news like this tends to do just that.”
The stallion scratched his head, “I still don’t get why the big secret, ponies are smart. They can handle it.”
Star Gazer put a hoof on Hunter’s shoulder, “a pony is smart. The mass is dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it. A thousand years ago everypony knew Equum was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everypony knew Equum was flat, and half an hour ago, you knew that the races of Equum were alone in this universe. Imagine what you'll know tomorrow. Twilight, I’m guessing your plan is to reveal this information to as many ponies you thrust to alleviate the impact of the news when you finally reveal them.”
“And you would be right.”
“Good, that seems reasonable, but what are you planning to do with the strange body? We still don’t know if that has to do with the aliens you speak of and besides, if it keeps its trajectory, it will end burning in our sun by the end of the year.”
“I know, but if there is a chance that this is related to these aliens, we can’t let it be destroyed, you said it will pass the closest in a couple of moons right?”
“Indeed, but what can we do to stop its demise?”
“I have an idea, but I’ll need the help of all the alicorns in Equestria.”
A pair of unicorns walked down the park pushing a stroller with a sleeping foal in it, as they walked, ponies stared at them, some ponies smiling, some others waved and a few even stopped to coo the sleeping foal.
The pair continued walking through the part when the mare giggled and turned to face the stallion, “you know Sunburst, I’ve just noticed, but the way we look right now it might look like we are a married couple taking our baby to a walk in the park.”
Sunburst almost spilled the drink he was sipping from, “M-M-M-Moondancer! What are you saying?”
She just realized what she said as well and blushed, they both fixed their glasses, “Y-You know Sunburst, I-I’ve been thinking...” she said while she started to sweat making her glasses fog.
He stared at her, her cute expression made him feel at ease, her eyes were so pure and the sweater she always wore made her look adorable, “um… what is it Moondancer?”
“Well since the heartwarming party… when we were washing the dishes… you never again tried to…”
Sunburst remembered the event bringing a blush to his face as well, “ah well… between school and everypony at the castle we don’t really get much time t-t-to be alone, not even when we went to Canterlot to arrange your moving.”
“Well… we have time now… and I don’t think anypony will interrupt us.”
“Moondancer are you saying?” Sunburst stared at her, directly on those big round eyes, she was the first one to close her eyes and pucker up, both of them were trembling but he finally gathered enough courage to begin slowly approaching her.
Before they connected somepony called out to him, “HEY Sunburst, I’m glad I found you guys.”
Both Sunburst and Moondancer freaked out and turned to see who was calling them, a white unicorn with a blue mane was walking towards them.
“Oh Shining Armor hey there, we weren’t doing anything right Moondancer?”
“Yeah hehehe, we were just walking with the foal… and I mean your foal not ours, we don’t have foals on our own… not that we have been trying to have some, we haven’t even kissed… I mean you know what, I’ll shut up.”
Shining Armor stared at them, confused by their responses, “o-kay… anyway, I’m glad I found you, I see you managed to make her sleep, she misses you, you know, you barely come to visit anymore.”
Sunburst scratched his neck, “yeah well, hehehe, the school of friendship keeps me pretty busy and oh have you met Moondancer” the mare waved, and Shining waved back “I suppose you came to take little Flurry with you?”
Shining Armor shook his head, “I was able to squish my way out of that alicorn reunion and met with Spike, I was going to ask you if you could take care of her for the rest of the afternoon, I’m going with Spike and other guys to play Ogres and Oubliettes, it’s been years since I played that with Spike and having more people only makes it better, you don’t mind right Sunburst?”
“Ah well, no, not at all Shining Armor, go ahead.”
Shining Armor gave Sunburst a few pats on the back, “nice thanks Sunburst, you are the stallion, well I got to go see ya buddy, nice to meet you Moondancer,” he then left them alone.
“So…” Sunburst said.
“Yeah...” Moondancer replied
Sunburst rubbed his beard with a hoof, “do you want to...” at that moment Flurry Heart started crying, he quickly checked on her, lifting her with his magic, “oh Flurry Heart, what’s wrong? *sniff sniff* Oh! I see, Moondancer I need to change her diaper, let’s go to that table over there,” the trio moved faster to the table and Sunburst Masterfully removed and disposed of the dirty diaper, cleaned Flurry Heart, powdered her properly and replaced the diaper with a new clean one, while Moondancer stared in awe at the baby caring skills the stallion showed.
“You are pretty good at that Sunburst, I’m surprised”
He awkwardly laughed at the praise, “well as a crystaller I was barely more than a glorified babysitter, so on the moons I worked there I learned the ropes of caring for a baby, but right now you are a bit bigger aren't chu?, yee chu are yee chu are, chu are a big girl now, aren’t chu Flurry Heart?” Sunburst cooed at the baby who laughed trying to grab his beard, he then levitated a bottle to feed her, she took the bottle with no trouble and quickly fell asleep again.
Moondancer giggled watching Sunburst care for Flurry Heart and then sighed, “you are going to be a great father,” she whispered.
“What was that?”
“Uh… nothing, I was just thinking if Princess Cadance, Celestia and Luna will agree to Twilight’s plan.”
“I don’t see why not, even if the probability of that object being related to the aliens from the music box is practically zero,” he answered, both had heard Twilight’s plans before the other alicorns, they helped polish the details helped by Starlight.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
At the Castle of friendship, Princess Cadance, Celestia and Luna listened to Twilight’s presentation helped by Starlight, they showed them some graphics depicting the strange body in space, its size, its trajectory and Twilight’s plans to save it from certain doom in the flames of their sun while Cadance suddenly stared at the window distracted.
“Cadance is there something wrong?”
“Oh no Twilight, I just felt a disturbance in the love flow, nothing to worry, please continue.”
“So in summary, we’ll need your help pulling this unknown object out of its current trajectory and bringing it as close as possible to Equum so the object orbits it without the object crashing onto our planet or the moon in the process, what do you say?” Twilight finished her presentation while Starlight put all the pictures and graphics in order as they began, they smiled waiting for the other alicorns to answer or ask questions.
The pink alicorn raised her hoof and Twilight signaled her with a pointer, “well Twilight, I get that you want to recover a random object because you believe it could be related to these aliens, that I just discovered exist... thank you for telling me sooner by the way, but what I don’t get is why do you need the four alicorns? Wouldn’t it be enough with aunt Celestia or aunt Luna? That thing is not even a tenth of the size of our moon.”
Celestia laughed giving a little pat on Cadance’s back, “little Cadance your love power is immense but you need to learn a bit more about physics and astrology.”
“Uh I think you mean astronomy Prin… I mean Celestia,” Starlight said with a nervous smile, just realizing she corrected one of the previous rulers of Equestria
“Oh… isn’t that the same?”
“Not really Tia,” Luna said in a serious tone, “astronomy studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Meanwhile astrology is a pseudoscience that claims to divine information about Equum creatures affairs and terrestrial events by studying the movements and relative positions of celestial objects.”
Celestia stared at her sister and then turned to see Starlight who nodded in agreement, “well I’ll probably need a refresher on terms and the like, anyway, my point is that even if my sister and I can move huge bodies like Equum and her moon, it would be more difficult to move a different body in space.”
“But why? I don’t understand how it can be more difficult if the object is smaller.”
Celestia sipped on her cocktail, “Twilight I think you are better than me explaining this topic, care to help me out?”
“Gladly Celestia, ok Cadance the size is not the only thing to take into consideration, we need to consider many factors like its relative distance and speed to our planet, its trajectory and its acceleration, for one the object is really really far, right now is farther than the moon or the sun to our planet, when it is on its closest spot from here it would still be farther from us than the moon itself. Other thing, as you know meanwhile Luna moves the moon, Celestia doesn't move the sun, she uses the sun as an anchor and spins the planet on its axis.”
Celestia rolled her eyes, “to be fair I never said I move the sun, just that I bring the day. It was everypony else who began saying I have that power.”
“And it wasn’t until that mathematician pony who got almost lynched by a mob stating that Equum spined around the Sun and not the other way around until you came clean about it… Copper something was it?”
“Yeah, Copper Nickel and in my defence nopony asked me before how my magic worked,” Celestia pouted as a kid who got caught lying.
Twilight giggled but then cleared her throat, “anyway, the fact that Luna moves the moon and Celestia the planet to bring the day, might seem like a titanic display of strength, even if it’s impressive one must take in count that our planet, the Sun and the Moon are is such a perfect balance, it doesn't take as much energy to bring day and night as one might think, lemme see, yeah think of it like the new giant telescope on the Institute of Sciences of Canterlot, it weighs over two tons but since is perfectly balanced one pony can spin it by pushing it with one hoof, but even if balanced it still takes a lot of power to bring day and night that even a group of common unicorns, wouldn't be able to do it.”
Cadance was starting to understand it, she nodded at some of Twilight’s arguments, “so what you mean to tell me is that it would be more difficult with this other body since it’s not balanced?”
Twilight clapped her hooves, “exactly, it would take a considerably higher level of power to change the trajectory of this object due its size and the speed that it is traveling, since it's not balanced like the moon, sun and planet Equum. That’s why I will need your help in moving it, as you could see in my presentation I already calculated many possible outcomes and trajectories, it could take, to save it from a hot end in our Sun.”
Celestia finished her drink and Starlight served her another one, “even if it isn’t anything related to the aliens, it could still be interesting so yeah, I’ll help you Twilight, how about you Lulu?”
“I am in, Tia, I’ll gladly help you Twilight.”
Starlight served herself and Cadence another drink, “how about you Princess Cadence?”
“Just Cadence is fine and yeah I’ll help you Twilight, on one condition.”
Twilight smiled since she had an idea what she was going to ask, “what could that possibly be?”
“Haha, I think you know, come on, let me listen to a few songs on that music box already.”
“Gladly, well if everypony agrees I think we can move to the studio and listen to a few alien songs.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
The four alicorns plus Starlight were in the studio preparing the music box, Twilight like always needed to check three times the spell was correct and every time it was just as she left it.
“Is that it Twilight?” the youngest alicorn nodded just like Starlight next to her, “I was expecting something… well bigger.”
“The best gifts come in small packages Cadance, I’m sure I taught you that lesson before.”
Starlight teleported some snacks and drinks she had prepared from the kitchen, “so in what order are we going to do this.”
“Why don’t we let Cadance first? She never pressed it before.”
“Oh nono, I couldn’t, why don’t we do it by age? You know what they say, age before beauty,” Cadance said smirking, making Celestia’s eye twitch while Luna giggled at her sister’s reaction.
The sun alicorn sighed, rolling her eyes, “fine,” she said, approaching the music box and pressing the button with one of her wings. A happy sounding set of drums came out of the machine.
A sudden scream and some metal winds started the ponies, “such a pretty song, the drums and the winds and even that little squeal it was pretty fun.”
“As far as we know, these aliens love their fun, oh! It seems that this is a love song,” Starlight said while moving to the rhythm of the music and so was everypony else.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
At the park Moondancer and Sunburst continued walking with little Flurryheart, they got to the playground and played with the baby on the many structures, the three of them having so much fun going down the slide, hanging on the monkeybars, getting heart attacks when Flurry disappeared for a few minutes, it was a blast of a good time they spend with the baby.
Finally once they were exhausted the trio laid on their backs on the grass enjoying the cold breeze, “this is better than I thought, Sunburst.”
“And to think you didn’t want to come with us.”
“Boobooboo” the little foal said to Sunburst
“That’s right Flurry Heart, we had to convince her to come with us.”
“Well I didn’t like the idea of babysitting somepony else’s foal, now I see I was wrong.”
“But you don’t have foals of your own Moondancer,” he turned his face to stare at the mare.
“I still would like some, when I find the… right… stallion” she also turned her face to see him, they were really close, their faces close enough to feel each other’s breath, this time it was him who took the initiative to close his eyes and move his head.
They were about to touch when they heard another voice, ”HEY Sunburst and Moondancer, how y’all doin’? OW! what the hay, Rares?” Sunburst and Moondancer separated and stared at the couple of ponies that arrived. Applejack rubbed her side where Rarity just hit her.
“Applejack read the mood, you just ruined their moment, I’m terribly sorry darlings, please don’t let us interrupt you, we need to go anyway, let’s go Jackie” Rarity fixed Applejack’s scarf while the earth pony rolled her eyes, they then walked side by side with their tails intertwined.
“Moondancer I-”
“Maybe we should return to the castle,” she said, not looking at Sunburst.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Back at the castle the song was just ending, while Cadance cringed staring at the window again, “so close...”
“What is it, Cadance?”
“Nothing Starlight, that was such a cute song, very energetic I really enjoyed it.”
Celestia laughed her lungs out, “I loved it, I can still hear it, walking on sunshine WOAH HA!”
“You would be the one to like a song about sunshine sister of mine.”
“You can’t blame me for having the best songs Lulu.”
“Oh I’ll remove that smile on your face Tia, watch me as I pull the best song ever!” Luna flew to the device and pressed the button returning to her spot, the melancholic tune of a piano could be heard.
“Indeed little Cadance, for it was I who picked the song… say what? Would the message of the song be so easy that only a fool wouldn’t understand?”
“Apparently this will be a story song, indeed these aliens like this type of tunes.”
Starlight sipped from her drink and nodded, “indeed, they seem to be pretty common.”
“Oh, but what a coincidence, so their culture also had a cult for their moon, that brings a few memories from the old ages, some of them still good don’t you think Lulu?”
“Indeed sister, oh and it seems that they also saw the moon as a symbol of fertility, but what on planet Equum is a Calé?”
Starlight raised her hoof, “oh oh, I know that, a Calé is how gypsies call their males, in my old village we get visits from gypsies from time to time, oh hey it seems that the moon is answering back.”
They all heard about the trade the moon on the story offered Twilight, Cadance and Starlight looked terrified meanwhile the two sisters stared at the music box in a stoic manner next to each other, at the beginning of the chorus of the song, Luna let out a tiny gasp that nopony but her sister caught, Celestia extended a wing and wrapped it around her sister.
Starlight kept listening to the song, and then cleared her throat, “well… now that’s definitely not something that our Luna would do right?” She looked at the sisters and Luna’s face showed melancholy and even pain, “is there something wrong Luna?”
“No Starlight, there is nothing wrong, the song just made an old memory return, one that is filled with deep love and sadness, let’s continue hearing it and I’ll tell you when it is over.”
Everypony listened to the story about the gypsy lady asking for a husband and how she agreed to give her first born, when the next verse started, “oooh, that is not good an albino child born from gypsies, they are not known to be the most cultured in science and how the genes may affect the body of a newborn baby, if their gypsies are similar to those from this world, he will feel betrayed and dishonored thinking she cheated on him with a payo and that is how they call the non-gypsies.”
“Really? What do you think he will do, Starlight?”
“I don’t want to think about it, let’s continue listening,” everypony continued listening until the next verse started, “oh my gosh, it was worse than what I thought he would do.”
Twilight, Cadance and Starlight were horrified at the thought of that man leaving a baby on the field without any protection, even Celestia seemed a bit uncomfortable with the idea, while Luna’s face was unchanged, as the last part of the song, four mares gave a sigh of relief knowing that the human’s moon took care of the baby.
Cadance cleaned a little tear from her eye, “that was such a beautiful and bittersweet ending, it amazed me how these aliens can turn up with a story containing such a tragedy with a somehow happy ending.”
“Unbelievable indeed little Cadance, now I believe I have a story to tell you,” all other mares paid attention to the alicorn of the night, “you better than nopony understand that I was locked in the moon for a thousand years as some of the history books must tell,” everypony nodded, “what the history books don’t tell is who I left behind, I mean besides my sister.”
Twilight and Cadance gasped while Starlight gave a knowing nod, “wait Aunty Luna, you mean to tell us that...”
“Yes Cadance, I did have a family of my own besides Celestia, once I was locked away I left behind my son, my first born,” Celestia hugged her sister tighter, “don’t worry Tia, I don’t blame you, you did what’s right at the moment with the resources you had at hoof.”
“But wait, if you had a son why aren't there any more alicorns, wasn’t he one like Flurry Heart?”
“No Twilight, as we said when we first saw little Flurry Heart, never an alicorn was born, he was born an unicorn, coat and mane white as snow, and eyes as blue as the sky, he was my only son and as far as I know, Celestia’s foals had never been alicorns either,
Starlight gasped, “Wait, you have had foals Celestia?”
“Well yeah, only five among the thousand years Luna was imprisoned, I let them live their lives as they saw fit, strange enough they all gave up their title once they grew up and they usually left, the only news I got from them was of their passing, only one stood with me all her life, I miss her dearly, after her I decided I would no longer have foals… please continue Lulu.”
“Thanks dear sister, as you might have guessed, when I returned to… well the realm of the living, he had been long gone from this world, that was something that filled me with great sadness, luckily his descendants still roam the world until this day.”
“Who are his descendants?”
Celestia snickered at the question, “well, Twilight, you have met one of them, Prince Blueblood is a direct descendant of Luna’s son, the entire line of the Blue is his family, in fact if you had seen Luna the first time she saw Blueblood”
Luna smiled at the memory, “indeed, it was emotional to say the least, and he looked just like him if his mane and tail was white instead of blonde he would be identical, well except for his cutiemark, but now I will say no more, for I miss my son greatly,” everypony else kept a respectful silence for a few minutes until Luna raised her face, “I do believe it is your turn Little Cadance.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to stop here?” Luna nodded smiling, “okay, I’ll press it now, I hope is a happy one,” she walked to the music box and pressed the button with her wing, sweet sounding notes greeted her from the machine.
The group listened to the notes, “another melancholic sounding song, uh?.”
“It seems that way Starlight, but this sounds fills me with hope, I don’t know why.”
“Really Cadance? For me it feels like an adventure is ending, one filled with many obstacles that were beaten, the type of adventure where some souls were lost but it was all worth it, because at the end, those that were lost will be remembered for those that will go on, it sounds so beautiful”
Cadance giggled, “I never got you for a romantic Twilight,” the purple alicorn turned red while she scratched her head with a hoof.
“But when you put it that way, yeah it sounds like an end to an adventure,” she turned to the window once more and sighed, “if only your adventure could start.”
“What are you talking about Cadance? You have been distracted lately.”
“Don’t worry about it Twily, I just wonder if Flurry Heart is doing ok with Sunburst and Moondancer”
“I’m sure that they are alright, you wanted him to babysit her, remember? They are probably on their way back from the park.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
At the middle of the Market Moondance walked in front of Sunburst looking down, he was pushing Flurry Heart’s stroller with her soundly sleeping, he also looked a bit down after today, it was late in the afternoon but the market was still busy with many ponies walking around.
Moondancer stopped and Sunburst slightly bumped her with the stroller, “Sunburst.”
The stallion looked up to her, “yeah?”
“What are we doing?”
“We are returning Flurry Heart to her mother.”
She turned to see him, “no I mean us, what are we doing?”
“I-I-I don’t think I get the question Moondancer.”
“Is clear for me that I like you and I think that you like me too, don’t you?”
“I… I do.”
“Then why? Why is it so hard to give the last step? Why can’t we just look at each other and… and…” a little tear fell from her eye.
“Because… we are a couple of awkward ponies that have a hard time expressing their feelings and when we gather the courage to do so, we get interrupted by a cruel joke of destiny,” he grabbed a hoofkerchief and cleaned Moondancer’s face.
“You are really smart, you know.”
“You are really smart too Moondancer,” after cleaning her face, he put the hoofkerchief under his cape and caressed her cheek, “and you are really be-beautiful too.”
Moondancer blushed, “Sunburst… there are too many ponies around us...”
“I know… and I think I don’t care… besides, I think the stress won’t let me move me from here, so I think there is no better time now,” they both now closed their eyes while the crowd stared at them, they were getting close almost touching but they didn’t notice a pink pony was bouncing right at them.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Cadance once more stared out the window, “come on, come on, come on… oh...” her face sported a small smile and kept listening to the song until it was over, “that was so beautiful Twilight, I think it was my favorite song of them all.”
“Yeah Twilight, now that I think about it, isn’t it weird that the music box almost every time it plays a song that the one that presses the button likes?”
“That’s pretty strange, yeah, I might have Tube Tester look into it, well I think that does it. Now in regards to my plan, the object will be as its closes in exactly three moons and a half, we will bring it close enough to Equum so it will keep an orbit around it so it’s close enough to study it, and then we will tell the public about the aliens, we might not have enough ponies yet that know about this but we can’t keep it secret forever”
“Seems like a plan Twilight, Lulu I think it’s time for us to go, I don’t want to miss the hula hoop contest.”
“And I should probably go find Sunburst, I abused his kindness for too long.”
Everypony bid farewell, Twilight, Celestia and Luna teleported away while Starlight and Cadance walked to the entrance of the castle, they were about to open the door when it opened by itself, showing two blushing unicorns.
“Oh hey Sunburst and Moondancer, I see you are back from the park, how did it go?”
Cadance smiled at them, “yeah how did it go?”
“Well we… we took care of Flurry Heart, didn’t we Moondancer?”
“Ye-yeah, we did, she was such an angel, and you should have seen Sunburst, he was like a real dad taking care of her.”
“I’m glad you had fun, can I have my baby back?”
“Oh yeah here she is,” they both said at the same time, Cadance picked her baby and teleported the stroller to her room in the castle.
She then looked at the two and another smile adorned her face, “Starlight, can you please teach me about the kites, Twilight told me that you liked them”
“Like them? I love them, come with me I’ll show you on the roof,” Starlight dragged the alicorn to the roof leaving Sunburst and Moondancer alone.
They walked in silence until they reached the hall where their rooms were, they smiled at each other and closed their doors.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
At the plaza the ponies were returning to their respective homes, but right in the middle you could see there was a pink party pony tied with a lasso, her mouth gagged with an apple.
“Whoo Wee now that was mighty close, Sugarcube.”
Pinkie ate the apple, “they are gone now, you can untie me Applejack.”
Applejack laughed, "no, no Ah don't think Ah will"
Rarity approached a colt holding a camera, “Featherweight, darling, did you take the moment.”
“Yesh I did, miss Rarity it will go right to the cover,” the pegasus colt showed the picture he took, showing Sunburst and Moondancer kissing while the crowd cheered for them and Pinkie was lassoed before she could interrupt the new couple.
“I’m glad that they found each other and it took them even less than us Jackie,” Rarity nuzzled her marefriend on the neck who gave her a kiss on the head.
“Well a beautiful unicorn mare taught me once, that love will find its way.”
They all left for their respective homes leaving a Pinkie Pie tied in the middle of the plaza.
“Hey girls… I’m still here… hello? Come on girls this is not funny… well it is actually pretty funny.”
It was pretty early in the afternoon while Spike and Gabby waited for three fillies for a secret session with the music box, Gabby was laying on her side, her claw rolled a ball while Spike used her torso as a pillow. The trio was late already, later than they expected even for fillies their age.
Gabby grabbed the ball and threw it on a basket she was carrying, failing the shot the ball rolled hitting a bookshelf making one of the books on the top almost fall, “hey Spikeroni, it seems they are pretty late already, do you think they forgot?”
Spike rolled to his side to see her, rubbing his head on the griffin's coat, “I don’t think so Gabbylicious, they sent me a message in the morning that they wanted to have a session today and might even invite a friend.”
“Should we look for them?”
“I’ll send Sweetie Belle a message first,” Spike got up and picked a scroll and quiver, wrote down a message and then fired it up with his dragon breath, “that’ll do it, I wouldn't be surprised if they were already on their way.”
“Do you wanna hear a song while we wait, Captain Spikezada?”
“I don’t see why not General Gabblam,” he then approached the music box, opened it and pressed the button and a voice came from the console asking it to put it in C minor.
“That’s a pleasant and calm song, isn’t it?” Gabby asked the dragon who laid his head on top of her again.
“Wait, that's not C minor, that’s G minor.”
“Really, how do you know?”
“I’m a pianist, Gabbs.”
“Hehehe pianist.”
Gabby giggled at her own joke while the song played, Spike stared at her “what’s so funny… oh OOOH hahaha”, he finally understood and laughed too, suddenly the song came to a stop and then exploded, “WOW, now that’s a change in pace, I’m liking that.”
Both laid back enjoying the song and each other’s companies.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
In the everfree forest, three sets of hooves belonging to three fillies, a pegasus, a unicorn and an earth pony, desperately ran non-stop through the bushes and trees, a low branch blocked them so the earth pony ran ahead biting and bending the branch to let her friends pass and then she resumed the running.
They reached a river where they stopped, panting they stared at each other and nodded, the pegasus filly was the first one to jump, then the unicorn and finally the earth pony but she didn’t make it all the way and her back hooves fell on the water, she would have been dragged by the current but luckily the other two grabbed her by the fore hooves pulling her out of the water, then they continued running.
They were half the way to their goal when they were blocked by a huge trunk laying on the ground, they synergically nodded again and the earth pony stepped on her back hooves while the white unicorn climbed on top of her and then the orange pegasus on top of both of them grabbing a vine and pulling it so her friends could climb the dead tree.
They continued their way then they stopped just a few hooves from a sleeping manticore, Sweetie Belle levitated a makeshift ear muffs made out of branches and moss, she put them on its ears without waking it up and they went past the beast, continuing their way.
The group was finally out of the everfree when they reached a cottage where a shy but very knowledgeable mare lived, they knocked at the door, still panting for running all the way here yelling “Fluttershy, open please!” in unison.
The door creaked while it opened, but instead of a tall mare, they saw a tiny but angry looking bunny.
“Angel, where is Fluttershy we need to talk to her immediately,” Sweetie belle said while grabbing the bunny with her magic and levitating him in front of her face.
The grumpy pet tried to release itself from the magic grasp squeaking and kicking, luckily the trio couldn’t understand what it was saying, otherwise they would have to wash their ears.
Scootaloo put a hoof on her friend’s shoulder, “Sweetie Belle, release him and he might show us where Fluttershy is,” the filly lowered the small bunny that pouted at them and crossed his pawns looking at the other side, “Aw come on Angel, don’t be like that I even convinced her to lower you!”
“Please Angel do it for me?” Sweetie Belle put on her cutest face, trying to convince the bunny, but Angel was having none of that, he pulled out his tongue and pouted more.
Then the earth pony filly stepped up, fixed her glasses and cleared her throat trying not to cry, “mister Angel, please excuse my friend here, she didn’t mean to like mistreat you, you see, we are in a dire situation like life or death situation our friends… our friends are in *sniff* danger and we need *sniff* help from an adult *hic* or else… or else…” the gray filly couldn’t stand it anymore and began sobbing while the other two comforted her.
The small rodent finally felt bad for the crying filly, she reminded her of Fluttershy when she was down, Angel Bunny sighed and made some signals to them.
“What is he trying to say?” the bunny moved its pawns like it was holding a cup and sipping from it.
“Fluttershy is drinking tea?” Angel nodded, then made a femenine face while its ears made curls and a kissy face.
“With Rarity?” Angel touched its nose and pointed at the filly, “so, when is she coming back?” he pointed at the clock and then moved its pawns to mark a time.
“That’s almost evening, we can’t wait that long, Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara could...” Scootaloo began but then stared at the whipping Silver Spoon and stopped.
At that moment a scroll materialized in front of Sweetie Belle, “THAT’S FROM SPIKE!” she quickly read the note, “I’ll write him now, he can fly quickly here, Angel do you have a pencil?” Angel rolled its eyes and ran inside the house returning with a pencil, the white unicorn wrote a note and then magically sent it to Spike.
Around ten minutes later the dragon and griffin appeared on the sky over them, they showed signs that they flew as fast as they could, they landed in front of them and the dragon began talking, “girls what’s wrong, we flew as fast as we could here, tell me what can we do to help.”
Silver Spoon stared at them and threw herself at the dragon, “please help Diamond Tiara and Apple Bloom, they are trapped on a pit on the Everfree forest”
Gabby gasped, “how did that happen?”
Scootaloo cut her short, “we’ll explain on the way, let’s go!” Spike grabbed Scootaloo while Gabby grabbed Silver Spoon and Sweetie Belle and they flew getting directions from the fillies.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Earlier that day a group of fillies finished their classes at the school, the Cutiemark Crusaders, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon walked next to each other talking about what they were going to do.
The pink wealthy filly smirked at the crusaders, “this better be worth my time Apple Bloom Apple, we had to cancel a hooficure for this ’extra super secret’ you want to show us.”
Apple Bloom smiled rolling her eyes. Apple Bloom was never one to hit the books and her grades suffered for it, Sweetie Belle’s and even Scootaloo's grades were better, but Diamond Tiara she had always the best grades of the class, that was one of the reasons she could get away with a lot of things when she was a bully, but after Diamond Tiara had a change of heart she has been more than helpful to everypony and more with the crusaders specially Apple Bloom, thanks to her help tutoring them, they were able to raise their grades, but she liked to still mess with each other, now in a playful not malicious manner and as always Silver Spoon followed her in being friends with the crusaders. That’s why they decided to invite them to a music box session with them as a thanks.
“Believe me, y’all will love this more than any stinkin’ hooficure y’all can get,” Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo nodded.
“Fine, but tomorrow we will do something I like, my pool is finally ready for the summer and I believe it would be a great way to spend the time, don’t you think Silvy?”
The gray filly, fixed her glasses nodding, “certainly Di, the weather is getting to a point, a pool party would be like the best thing ever, ” both fillies laughed in a posh manner earning an eye roll from the crusaders.
As they were walking a crow was watching them attracted to the shiny accessory on the top of one of the fillies head, the bird dived and snatched the tiara from her head, “MY TIARA!” she screamed as she saw the black avian flying away with her jewelry, “Aw come on! That’s the third time this year!”
“On no ya won't!” Apple Bloom ran after the crow and the rest of them followed her until the crow entered the Everfree Forest.
Diamond Tiara stopped the apple farmer filly, “Apple Bloom Apple wait, let it go it’s not worth it.”
“But that’s yer tiara Diamond Tiara and you’re mah friend now, Ah can’t let that bird steal it.”
“But the forest is dangerous, come on let’s go please, I can have my dad buy me another one, it’s literally not worth the risk!” Apple Bloom ignored the pleas of Diamond Tiara and entered the forest, the pink filly stood there with the rest of the group watching the apple farmer dive into the danger, “AAAGH, you dumb and brave filly look what you make me do!” she said as she followed Apple Bloom and the rest followed after her as well.
As they went deeper into the forest the foliage grew thicker and thicker, the group grew tired as they stopped to regain their breath, Apple Bloom walked a bit more and stomped the ground in anger while Diamond Tiara walked to her, cleaned her own hoof and put it on her friend’s shoulder, “it’s ok you tried and that is what’s important.”
“No it’s not ok, y’all been so good t’me and mah friends lately and Ah wanted to make something good for ya, but Ah couldn’t even get yer tiara back,” she said while her eyes watered.
The pink filly wrapped her hooves around Apple Bloom, “you have done more than you think you doofus, thanks to you I confronted my mother and now we are doing better after going to therapy, that wouldn’t have happened if you didn’t help me before and I will always be thankful to you for that, you don’t have to do more.”
“Ya mean it Diamond Tiara?” Apple Bloom asked while her friend cleaned the tears of her eyes nodding, when a grumble noise coming from the curb startled them. They didn’t have time to react when the ground collapsed sending both of them into a pit both fillies screaming for their lives.
“APPLE BLOOM! DIAMOND TIARA!” the group yelled seeing their friends fall into the unknown, worrying for their fates.
Once the dust cleared the trio approached the hole and looked down, there laid both fillies coughing but very alive, “are you ok down there?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Yeah *cough* I’m ok *cough* how about you, Apple Bloom Apple?”
“OW! Ah think Ah hurt mah hoof, Ah can’t move it none.”
Silver Spoon gasped, “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, what do we do, what do we do? They like can’t get out, and they will starve to death!” Scootaloo held the gray filly and slapped her with her hoof, “um… thanks I needed that, but seriously what are we going to do?”
“There are some vines here but Apple Bloom can’t hold them with her hurt hoof, we need somepony to fly down there and carry them out,” Silver Spoon stared at Scootaloo’s wings when the pegasus noticed her, “don’t look at me, flyless pegasus remember? You said it yourself.”
“Jeez, I said I’m sorry for that like a million times, you even had me massage your wings literally every day for an entire moon, what else do I have to do so you stop bringing that out?” Silver Spoon said while pouting at the pegasus.
“Nothing, I just like messing with you, you are cute when you are angry.”
Sweetie Belle’s eyes went wide open, “how about Fluttershy? She could carry them one by one and she lives near here in… that direction… I think.”
“That’s a great idea, but we can at least get Diamond Tiara out since she is not hurt.”
“I’m not moving from here until we both are out, you three go get Fluttershy and I’ll stay here with Apple Bloom Apple,” the group nodded and they ran to get help.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
“And then we ran directly to Fluttershy’s cottage but couldn’t find her so we got your message and sent it back asking for help then you both came and here we are.”
“That was quicker than I thought Scootaloo, no wonder you didn’t get to the music box session, are we close now?”
“Yeah just a bit more.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
At the castle, a bird came in from the open window, left it like that by Spike and Gabby when they flew away after getting the message, the bird flew around the room and finally landed on the book that almost fell when the ball hit the bookshelf, the weight of the bird was enough to make the book fall on top of the ball, making it fly to the other side of the room, pushing a paint making it fall, this pushed a pot plant that tumbled and finally fell pushing a chair until it reached the pedestal where the music box was sitting, the chair tumbled as well finally falling and pressing the button on the music box, a soothing melody started playing.
Deep in the Everfree Forest there were two fillies, a yellow and a pink one, Apple Bloom was laying on her side because the pain on one of her hooves didn’t let her stand up.
“Ya could have gone with ‘em and ya wouldn’t be stuck in this dirty hole Diamond Tiara.”
“Don’t be silly Apple Bloom Apple, I could never leave you alone in here, what would happen if something savage attacked you like a giant snake or a spider or a tax auditor.”
“Wait what? What’s the last one?”
“I do not know, but my dad totally hates them,” Apple Bloom laughed, making Diamond Tiara laugh as well, “see, that’s the Apple Bloom Apple I know.”
As their laugh died down, the apple farmer stared at the rich girl, “Diamond Tiara.”
“Yes?”
“Ah’ve noticed since… well ya know… then, ya keep callin’ me Apple Bloom Apple, why’s that?”
“Well you call me by my full name, so I thought you would like me to do the same.”
“Wait an apple pickin’ minute, ya think mah name is Apple Bloom Apple?”
Diamond Tiara stared at her confused, “well... yeah, you always called your family ‘The Apples’ so I figured all of you used that as a surname like The Cakes.”
Apple Bloom tried her best not to laugh, covering her muzzle with her good hoof, “well, nah Diamond Tiara, mah name is just Apple Bloom ya don’t see me callin’ ya Diamond Tiara Rich, do ya?”
“Well, we do not go calling our family ‘The Riches’ we are just rich, my mom changed her surname because you know… who in the name of Celestia’s mane calls their daughter Spoiled Milk?”
“Wow, that’s an unfortunate name,” both laughed.
“Like totally, hey by the way, why did you insist on going after the crow? I told you, that tiara wasn’t worth getting yourself in danger.”
The young yellow filly stopped laughing at Diamond Tiara’s question, she herself didn’t know the answer to that question, she just knew that something bad happened to her friend and she had to do something to fix it and the thought of Diamond Tiara’s face smiling because she got her tiara back filled Apple Bloom’s chest with a warm feeling. After the ex-bully’s change of heart, she have spent a lot of time with the crusaders and specially with her, but now that she thought about it both Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara have spent the same amount of time with her but the feeling wasn’t as strong with Silver Spoon than as it was with Diamond Tiara, this confused her, “Ah… Ah don’t know.”
“Well, it's getting dark already, are you cold Apple Bloom Ap… I mean Apple Bloom?”
“Hey why don’t you call me just AB, that is short and simple.”
“Oh well in that case call me Di as well, Silvy calls me that and I’m sure she won’t mind if you do as well, so are you cold AB?”
“Yeah a little bit,” Diamond Tiara laid next to the hurt pony snuggling her, “w-what are ya doin’?” she asked blushing.
“We do not know when they will be able to find us and I do not want you to get sick, so we better keep warm while they come for us,” Apple Bloom remained in silence and nodded, they snuggled with each other, being careful for the apple farmer’s injured hoof, there they stood sharing their body heat until a few faces looked down the pit where they where.
“Yo Apple Bloom, Diamond Tiara, are you ok?”
“We are fine!” they both said at the same time, Diamond Tiara stood up and waved to the arrivals, Apple Bloom felt a bit lonely once the rich girl let go of her.
Spike went down the hole twice to pick the trapped fillies, Gabby tended to the injured filly’s hoof it wasn’t too serious and she would be able to walk really soon.
The group walked out of the forest except Apple Bloom who was carried by Gabby, once out of the forest, everypony was taken to their respective houses, finally they reached Sweet Apple Acres where the little filly got scolded for putting herself and her friends in danger, after that she was at her room, looking at the moon in the night sky, memories of the day passed through her head still wondering why she felt so strong for the pink filly, her eyes slowly closing surrendered herself to the realm of dreams not knowing that another one watched the same moon with similar thoughts on her mind.
A mare walked past the entrance of a big building, her coat light green colored, her dark mane ended in elegant curls, she was wearing sunglasses and a scarf to cover her identity. She approached an old mare on the reception who was writing in her notebook, at her side a sleeping cat.
“Hello Bright Dreams, how have you been?” the young mare said while smiling at the old mare who slowly lifted her wrinkly face from the papers.
The old mare smiled at the visit and said in a slow fashion, “oh my, how lovely of you to visit, little Coloratura, you came to see Mr. Moon if I’m not mistaken.”
Coloratura nodded giggling a bit, “you keep calling me little, I hadn’t been little in years Bright Dreams.”
“You will always be Little Coloratura for me dear, I’ve known you since you were smaller than Mr. Bubbles,” Bright said while patting the cat’s head who purred at his owner, “anyway, he should be in his classroom, his class should be about to end in a few minutes, you know the way I believe.”
Coloratura nodded and walked inside the building, she could see many rooms with foals of different ages, some were sculpting, some others painting, and others playing instruments, she reached a door where a pinto stallion was talking to his students, his coat showed patches of black and white, the foals paid attention at their teacher who was telling them a story.
At that moment the bell rang and a unison of disappointed ‘awwws’ came from the foals in the classroom, the Stallion laughed and shook his head, “don’t worry children, I’ll finish that story next time, see you next weekend.”
The students picked up their stuff and walked to the door, a young colt approached the teacher, “when I grow up, I wanna be like you Mr. Moon.”
The teacher rubbed the colt’s head with a hoof, “I’m glad you think that way Cookie, but remember, be happy to be alive and be happy to be who you are,” the colt smiled and continued walking to join his friends, he then looked at the door where a disguised Coloratura was staring at him, his smile grew when she approached and gave him a hug, “Coloratura sweetie, I’m glad you came, or is it only Rara now?”
“I prefer Rara now, but it doesn’t really matter for you… OH! And I’m sorry I’m a week late, happy birthday uncle,” Coloratura grabbed a box from her saddlebags, presenting it to her uncle.
“Oh you shouldn’t have… is it a monkey?”
She laughed covering her mouth, “why every time I get you something, you ask if it’s a monkey?”
“I don’t know, sounds like something a big star like you might want to get,” they walked through the school passing the classrooms left and right.
“Aw come on, I’m not that big of a star, at least not anymore since I lost my manager.”
“Awful character that one sweetie, I warned you the moment I saw him.”
“I know, I know, but he was so convincing and to be fair he was really efficient... Anyway, sorry I couldn’t come last week, I promised a friend I’ll visit her.”
“Don’t worry about it, my students gave me a huge cake, I had to dance all night long to burn all that sugar,” Mr. Moon laughed out loud and Coloratura joined him, “oh and let me guess, was it Applesack from Ponytown?”
“Applejack from Ponyville uncle.”
“Oh why don’t you tell me about it,” they entered the teacher’s lounge and sat on a big couch.
“Okay, well it was last weekend...”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Applejack, Coloratura and Rarity walked from the train station, Applejack was in the middle with Rara and Rarity on each side.
“Well Ah’ll be, it’s been way too long since you came Rara, feels nice just walkin’ and talkin’ together.”
“Yeah it feels nice just you, me, Rarity and the huge wall of bags Rarity is levitating between me and you.”
“Yeah Rares, Ah asked you if you wanted me t’carry some of those.”
The white unicorn was sweating over the strain of levitating all her and Coloratura's bags, she did her best to keep a straight face, “I don’t mind darling, I am a lady that loves to help,” she was holding but the weight was too much and she was getting tired.
Coloratura giggled understanding Rarity’s behavior, “you know Rarity, AJ already told me you are dating.”
“Oh did she?”
“Yeah, and don’t worry, I’m into stallions only.”
Rarity snapped and lost concentration of her magic making the bags fall on the ground, “Wa… wait, I mean, I don’t know what that has to do with anything, darling,” her face showed signs of embarrassment even if she tried to hide them.
“Come on Rares, you practically build a wall between Rara and me,” Applejack picked some of the bags to carry them while Coloratura picked some others and Rarity levitated the rest.
“I’m sorry Jackie, I might have read one too many novels where childhood friends end up together and you know, I tend to be a tiny little bit jealous.”
“A bit jealous? Ah have only seen somecreature more jealous than you and is Winona when Ah try to take away her favorite ball, ‘member two moons ago when Trenderhoof returned t’Ponyville? If you kept closer t’me just a little bit more, then Ah would have been wearin’ you like a jacket.”
Both Applejack and Coloratura laughed while Rarity’s face was as red as a tomato, she pulled down Applejack’s hat to cover her face, the apple farmer lifted her hat still smiling, watching Rarity pout like a little foal, she giggled a bit more and gave her girlfriend a kiss on the cheek, at which the unicorn couldn’t keep her pout and smiled.
“I knew you would end up together since the first time I came to Ponyville, I couldn’t help but notice how Rarity kept stealing glances at you Applejack while I was freaking out when she was doing my mane.”
“Really? Well Ah be! Ah guess we were both pretty blind those times.”
“Luckily we are no longer blind and we can see each other with new eyes,” Rarity nuzzled Applejack’s neck.
“Oh my gosh! You two are adorable!” the group finally reached the Friendship Castle where Coloratura will spend the few days she will stay in Ponyville, “and are you sure Princess Twilight or Starlight won’t mind if I stay?”
“Don’t worry about it Darling, Twilight wasn’t planning on coming for a while since she has been using all her spare time ‘training’ with Celestia and Luna about a project we will talk about later and Starlight said it was ok.”
“Heh 'sides, the castle has more rooms than there are apples in a tree, by the way, sorry we couldn’t stay in the farm, the house is getting remodeled t’change some rooms and to make it bigger since the family is getting bigger now.”
The group entered a room where Coloratura will stay, she put her bags on the bed, "so where is the rest of the family right now?"
Applejack put the bags she was carrying on the bed too, "Granny took Rainbow Dash to a two weeks outin' with the Golden Horseshoe Gals, somethin' 'bout scorin' this time, for some reason Trixie begged them to go as well, Ah guess she really wanted to go to Las Pegasus, Big Mac went with Sugar Belle t'her old village and finally Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle joined Scootaloo visitin' her parents in Shire Lanka, so they'll be gone for a while, mahself Ah'm stayin' in Rares' place until the renovation is done... or maybe even longer," she gave Rarity another kiss on the cheek.
“I think I’ll unpack later, what was that thing you wanted to show me?”
“Oh yeah, you’re gonna love it Rara, this is all about music after all.”
“Definitely darling, just one question, do you believe in aliens?”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
“Aliens? You are kidding me, right sweetheart?” Mr. Moon asked while sipping from his coffee.
“No uncle, please wait until I finish the story, believe me your head will spin like crazy.”
“Alright, go on.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
The trio walked into the studio where Starlight was waiting for them with the young Tinker Claw, Applejack and Rarity explained everything to her on the way there.
“Is this it? This is the weird alien machine?”
“Wait… you are… OH SWEET WHISKERS! You are Countess Coloratura, I can’t believe it!” the Abyssinian cried out looking at the guest, “I-I-I have all your tapes and even the singles you released after… well the Ponyville change you did on your image, I’m your biggest fan!”
“Oh… well… I’m glad um...”
“Cinker Tlaw, I mean Tinker Claw, my name is Tinker Claw,” the young feline stared at the star in front of him, his claws clawing at his own legs over the excitement.
“Ok, well nice to meet you Tinker, hoofsies!” She said while pulling her little seal and pressing it against Tinker’s cheek, who fainted, “he is cute, this is the first time I’ve seen an abyssinian.”
Starlight walked to Coloratura, she passed over Tinker carefully to not stomp him, “hi, I’m Starlight Glimmer, nice to meet you,” the unicorn extended her hoof which Coloratura shook.
“Nice to meet you too Starlight, I’ve heard about you.”
“Only good things I hope.”
“Not really, I’ve heard a few bad ones as well.”
Starlight raised an eyebrow and stared at the pop star, then both giggled, “I like her Applejack, when I finally conquer all of Equestria, she won’t be incarcerated like the rest of them,” everypony laughed at the joke and then moved to surround the music box, “I bet you were informed on how the music box works right?”
“Yep, I press the button and music comes out.”
“That’s pretty summarised but yeah, wanna give it a try?”
“I’ll be glad to,” Coloratura approached the music box and pressed the button, then a loud pop song began playing.
“Hey this doesn’t sound bad at all, but didn’t you say it would be translated? I can only hear mum mum mum mah.”
Starlight ignited her horn, “well the spell is active and I don’t feel anything malfunctioning, maybe they are just saying that.”
“Oh, finally some lyrics… but what do they mean by Texas, what in the name of the stars is a Texas?”
“Ah dunno, but Ah like the sound of it, Texas, Texas, sounds like somethin’ big if you ask me.”
Starlight grabbed a cookie from the tray and bit it, “fay! I fink… ” she swallowed “I think they are talking about poker, those sound like poker terms.”
Coloratura was intensively listening to the song, “yeah she just said it now, she’’s got a poker face, but it sounds like she is using poker like an allegory to play with someone’s heart.”
“You are right, hey is it me or this sounds like something you would sing on your Countess Coloratura phase?”
“Yeah it sounds like something I would have sung, in fact before Svengallop left, we were planning on a new album with that theme, but… well you know what happened.”
“Have you heard about him, darling?”
“The last I heard is that he tried to steal that new group Monarch from their current manager, but he couldn’t.”
Starlight sipped on her cup of tea, “Monarch, we went to see that band a few moons ago, with Twilight, Spike and the girls, they are really nice.”
“I know right? I went to see them as well, they are amazing,” Coloratura clapped her hooves, “well this singer sure seems to be having fun with this song.”
“She sure sings like she’s got the best hand, darling… Jackie, do you know why they call the cards you are holding a hand?”
“No idea Rares, how ‘bout you Rara?” the pop star shook her head.
“I KNOW!” yelled Tinker now that he regained conscience, “card games including poker were invented on Laburinthos and they hold them with their hands, so that’s why they are called hands of cards.”
“Well that’s mighty interestin’ Tinker, thanks for the info,” Rarity grabbed a piece of cloth and cleaned some cookie crumbles from Applejack’s face.
Coloratura let out a d’aww “I can’t get over how cute you two are, almost makes me want to get a boyfriend myself.”
“I COULD BE YOUR BOYFRIEND!” the young feline yelled again startling the group.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
“Wait, did he just ask you out of the blue?” Mr. Moon said, almost choking on a donut he was eating.
“I know right? It hasn’t been the first time a fan just asks me out.”
“So what did you tell him?”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
“Um… how old are you?” asked Coloratura.
“Too young,” came a strong voice from the door, Tube Tester walked directly to Tinker and patted him on the head.
“Mooom, please you are embarrassing me in front of the pop star.”
“Oh shut it boy and let me have this while you are still young,” the group giggled watching Tube Tester being smothered with pats and caresses, “so, you are the celebrity I’ve heard on the market just came in today? Pleasure to meet you, I’m Tube Tester.”
“The pleasure is all mine, let me guess, you were invited to study this alien music box.”
“We got a sharp one here, how did you guess that?”
“Well, Alien tech must be pretty advanced, who else better than a Minotaur engineer to study it.”
“Nice deduction skills girl, I might let you marry my son after all… when he is old enough of course.”
“MOM!!”
“Um… sorry but… I have nothing against abyssinians but… I prefer males closer to my age,” Coloratura blushed, embarrassed for Tube’s comment.
Tube let out a loud laugh, “I’m just messing with you girl, it is so easy to mess with you ponies.”
“Come on Tube, stop messin’ with mah friend, hey Ah think we still have time for another song, what do y'all think?”
“Sorry Applejack, I’m actually busy at the moment, boy when you are done meet me at the lab, I want to discuss the prototype to transfer the data from the music box,” Tinker saluted his mom and she left the room.
“I don’t think she’s ever stayed for a music box session, is there something wrong with her, Tinker?”
“I don’t think so, but maybe because of that song it played when she pressed the button the first time, I’m sure she will do it again when she is ready… so that being said, can I press it now? It’s been ages since I did.”
“Sure Tinker, knock yourself out.”
The cat boy pressed the button and a sweet melody began playing.
“That tune sounds magical,” Coloratura said while putting her hooves on her cheeks.
“It sounds mighty pretty, sugarcube.”
“Is that a child talking, darling?”
Starlight listened to the music box, “it seems that way, and the message is beautiful, to make a better world for our children and our children’s children.”
“Oh my stars, darling, his voice is beautiful.”
“His voice is more magical than the tune.”
Coloratura stared at the music box, her mouth open listening to the majestic voice of the alien singer, “he sounds… like a perfect mix of innocence and strength,” the group stared at Coloratura and nodded in agreement.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
“Was that alien really that good?”
“So now you believe me?”
“Well I don’t know yet, sweetie.”
“You will believe me.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
“What a beautiful message, sugarcube, this alien sounds like somepony that really loved everythin’ with all his heart.”
“Maybe he did love everything, perhaps as much as I love you, Jackie,” this made Applejack blush.
Everypony d’awwn while Tinker rolled his eyes, “well still I don’t think it’s my type of music, so I guess I should go check what my mom wants help with,” Tinker Claw left the room in the middle of the song.
Coloratura smiled listening to the beautiful song, “Just by judging this song, you could say that this alien was a good loving soul, I wish I could’ve met him.”
“Hey Starlight, now that Ah think ‘bout it, ain’t that the same singer than the song we listened on Nightmare Night?”
“I think you are correct, in fact I think we have heard him in other songs as well, including a few the CMC ‘secretly’ listened behind our backs, but those were really different, this singer is really multi-faceted.”
“Hey Starlight, could there be a chance I could get a copy of those songs?”
“Sure Coloratura, that won’t be a problem.”
“Oh please, just Rara is okay.”
“Alright, I’ll get them ready right away.”
Rarity stood up, levitating the dishes to take them to the kitchen now that the song was over, “darling, such a beautiful song with a beautiful message, reminds me of all those kind souls that help the less fortunate.”
Coloratura helped with some of the dishes, “reminds me of my uncle, he with some of his friends opened a school of arts on a very poor town a few decades ago, now it has grown and the town grew as well into a prosperous city, I believe Songbird Serenade once took clases in it.”
Rarity placed the dishes on the sink while she began washing them and applejack dried them, “wow, your uncle seems like a kind soul as well, is he the headstallion?”
“Nah, he decided that he wanted to teach, he is not that good at management but he is an amazing teacher, he taught me how to sing and a bit of dancing, but I’m not as good as him . Today is his birthday, I was planning on visiting him next weekend but I need to find the right present.”
“Darling, don’t worry about it, I’ll prepare something he will really like, tell me more about him.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
“And then we spent the next few days enjoying ourselves and then I came here on the last train.” Coloratura said as they were walking to Mr. Moon’s house, a medium sized and cozy wooden cabin with a huge garden at the edge of town.
“What a lovely story sweetie, I’m not sure if I believe in aliens, but if you believe I guess I can be more open minded,” they entered the house and a nice aroma invaded their nostrils, “mmMMMmm, do I smell quesadillas, honey?”
“Oh you came back, I was worried the quesadillas will get cold, oh and you brought Coloratura, hi sweetie,” a cream colored unicorn mare said.
“Hi aunt Song,” both mares shared a hug.
The older mare gave Mr. Moon a kiss, “you won’t guess who came to visit, love.”
“A monkey?” both mares laughed.
“No dad is us,” a masculine voice came from the kitchen, a unicorn stallion with a kind smile talked, at his side there was a younger mare and an even younger stallion.
“My babies, come here you three,” Mr. Moon hugged them.
One of them groaned in protest, “come on dad, I’m the youngest and I’m twenty three already, we are no longer babies.”
“You will always be babies for me, junior,” he let go of the trio “I’m so happy to see you three.”
His daughter pulled a box from her saddleback and gave it to her father, “here daddy, sorry we are a week late, oh hi Rara! How is my favorite cousin doing?.”
“I’m your only cousin Sugar Steps, and I’m doing fine, I see you guys also got a little late for uncle Moon’s birthday.”
“Yeah, we got our hooves tangled with jobs and families but we are here now.”
“But you are here now and that’s what matters,” Mr. Moon said carrying both boxes on his back, “now let’s get to the table, I’m starving guys.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
After the dinner was over, Mr. Moon’s two sons and daughter went to their rooms to talk and sleep while his wife was washing the dishes. Mr. Moon was in the living room with the two boxes he received for his late birthday, he was listening to the cartridge Coloratura brought him with the songs of that alien.
Coloratura slowly walked to him, “two bits for your thoughts.”
“I still wonder if there is a monkey in one of this boxes.”
“Again with the monkey, I see you are listening to the alien, his voice kinda reminded me of you.”
“A little bit yeah.”
“Uncle, I know that you were completely against me becoming a star when I was a foal, even if I was really good, because you want me to have a full childhood and all, but… why did you never try to become a famous singer? You are by far better than anypony who calls themself a pop star, hay you are a million times better than me.”
“Well sweetie, when I was a foal my dad insisted that I become a celebrity for my voice and moves, but something inside myself told me that I would have regretted it, so I never did, sometimes I wonder if I made the wrong choice, but then I watch my beautiful wife, my wonderful children and all the foals I help on the arts school, I now know that I wouldn’t change them for nothing, not even all the fame and wealth in Equestria”
“I see what you mean, but it is nice to think what could have been if you did, imagine huge posters with your picture and your name in all the newspapers, another huge hit by the greatest pop star in history Moon Walker! You could even appear in a movie.”
“Yeah I know, but then again, I could lose all my privacy, the only eyes I want on me all the time are my wife’s.”
“If you say so, uncle, I’ll go wash my teeth and get to bed, good night.”
Coloratura left the living room, Moon Walker opened his children gift and it was a nice white fedora, he put it on and fit perfectly, he then opened Coloratura’s gift and it was a set of white socks encrusted with tiny diamonds that shined on the pale light from the fire.
He put only one on his left forehoof and fit perfectly and by the looks of it, it was made with material so he won’t slip while dancing, “how thoughtful of you Coloratura,” he gave a few testing steps, then gave a few swirls and spins, “nice,” he began doing a few more complicated dance moves, “woo” he moved with more energy than a foal, his hooves moving from side to side, “shamone” he gave a fast spin, ending on his back hooves, the forehoof where the shiny sock was in the air and the other tipped his hat, “HEE HEE... this is it.”
The flapping of wings could be heard when four Alicorns and a levitating unicorn landed on the roof of the Castle of Friendship, now equipped with a new telescope, this one was built by a minotaur team as request from Princess Twilight Sparkle, it was just as good as the one ordered by Lord Star Gazer. The group seemed tired when they finally landed on the roof, their bodies showed signs of sweat and their horns showed magical strain.
Twilight let out a tired but satisfied sigh, “well team, I think that was a great success, we finally were able to synchronize our magic perfectly, I think we are ready now for the real thing.”
“And it just took crushing forty asteroids, colliding ten against another ten, hurling another twenty asteroids away from our reach and disappearing one without a trace.”
Celestia, Luna and Cadance giggled at Starlight’s remark while Twilight glared at her, the white alicorn put a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder, “come on Twilight, you must admit that our first attempts to control a space bodies, were far from complete successes.”
“Indeed dear sister, I do believe that we are now ready to bring that weird space body as soon as it is close enough for our magic to reach it, but I wonder, that asteroid that we made disappear, do you think it could be dangerous?”
Twilight scratched her chin, “It was a big one, around ten or eleven kilometers of diameter, it could be a real danger but I think we teleported it far enough, I couldn’t even feel it anymore, maybe we even phased it through time given that I could feel that somepony was using THE WRONG SPELL STARLIGHT!”
“Gee, I said I was sorry. Anyway I don’t think we should worry about it, I’m sure it’s too far to be a problem. Phew I’m beat and sweaty.”
“Me too, Twilight do you have a big bath in this castle?”
“Yeah, we almost never use it but I can get it ready.”
“Wait, we got a big bath?”
“Yeah, is on the south wing, at the very back,” Twilight ignited her horn to prepare the bath while they were walking to it.
“How come you never showed it to me?”
“Oh, I’m sorry Starlight, I guess it slipped my mind all this time, since we have only used it once.”
The group reached the bathroom, it was huge and made out of crystals, statutes of alicorns poured the water to the bath while many other decorations made it look fit for royalty. Starlight stared in awe at the sight, “I hate you so much right now Twilight, this is bigger than the one on the spa.”
“Yeah well sorry I didn’t tell you about it sooner, I guess I expected you to discover it by yourself.”
“I can’t wait to see Trixie’s face when I show her this.”
“When you show me what? Oh are you using the big bath? Can the Great and Powerful Trixie join you, she does love using the big bath?”
Starlight was confused, “wait a minute, you knew about this bath?”
“Yeah, you didn’t?”
“No I didn't, how did you know about it?”
“Well I was bored walking around the castle, then I found Moondancer and Sunburst walking down the aisle so I followed them, they ended up here taking a bath and… well we can say there was an eclipse going on.”
“So Moondancer and Sunburst knew about it too? Anyone else?”
“I guess that would be me and the boy,” said Tube Tester wearing a bathrobe, “I see the bath is all prepared and we have company, hey there Celestia!” she approached the alicorn.
“Tube Tester you rough, bark of a birch!” they shook hoof with hand together in an epic gesture of friendship, their forearms bulging, once again testing each other's strength.”
Tube Tester smiled feeling that Celestia’s strength wasn’t at her best due to all the training with the other alicorns, “what’s wrong Celestia? Too tired after a little bit of a work out? Or is it that you are getting older?”
“Oh shut it cow, you know that my age has nothing to do with my strength, but even if I’ve worked to the bone I can still beat you,” Celestia pushed harder until she was overpowering the minotauress.
“Ok, ok I give,” Celestia let go of her hand while Tube Tester rubbed her arm, “damn you and your alicorn strength, anyway let’s take a bath shall we?” she disrobed and together they entered the warm bath and washed all their weariness.
The water made wonders on their bodies and minds, relieving them from all the worries and giving them a relaxed time while they washed the filth and sweat from each other.
The water and the bath salts ran over their bodies, while they rubbed the warm water all over them, Trixie and Starlight washed each other as so was Twilight and Cadence, Celestia and Luna helped Tube Tester rubbing her with a luffa each, streams of water and soap went over Tube’s strong but feminine curves, caressing and cleaning her body, she poured more water on her splashing some of it on Celestia and Luna who giggled and splashed the minotauress with their wings in retaliation, Tube laughed and grabbed both luffa, rubbing the alicorn of the sun and moon, cleaning their bodies with her firm but gentle hands. With great precision she moved her hands rubbing all the hard to reach spots on the alicorn bodies, earning satisfied sighs from the former princesses of Equestria.
The bubbles floated around, one falling on the tip of Twilight’s horn, popped by the contact, other ones rolled down Trixie’s and Starlight’s backs, tickling them in their way down. The smell of roses and lilacs as well as the giggles and water splashes coming from the friends sharing a relaxing moment in the bath, filled the room.
After their bath, Tube Tester went to her room to change and to take a nap while the rest headed to the kitchen to have dinner.
“So how was the training? You finally stopped destroying asteroids?” Trixie asked, earning a glare from Twilight.
Starlight rolled her eyes and answered, “as a matter of fact we are finally completely synchronized, we are ready to pull that weird body from space, we just need to wait until that thing is close enough and we’ll bring it home.”
“Cool, the great and powerful Trixie can’t wait to see this new alien stuff, hey speaking of alien stuff, would you like to join Trixie for a few songs from the music box?,” the group agreed so they hurried eating.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Once they reached the studio, they surrounded the music box and Trixie hurried to press the button. A soft guitar came up from the machine.
“You would be one to like a song about darkness Lulu.”
“Oh you, sister of mine, I see, so he seems to have visions, that’s something I can relate to, reminds me of the Tantabus.”
“Lulu, please rid your mind of thoughts of that?” Celestia wrapped a wing around Luna.
“Don’t worry about it Tia, I’m strong now and the Tantabus hasn’t appeared since that time, let us talk about the song, such a complex statement, the sound of silence.”
“The Great and Confused Trixie has no idea what that would mean, but she is enjoying the song so far.”
“It’s a pretty good song Trix, but I have the feeling that the message is important.”
Twilight was taking notes, her nose scrunched in a cute fashion, “he only describes his vision and to be honest, the true meaning eludes me.”
Cadence that so far has been quiet, raised her hoof, “maybe the actions he is making are not as important but the feeling he has while making the actions is what’s important.”
“Trixie thinks that you are onto something Princess Cadence, that new part with the thousand of people talking but not speaking, or hearing and not listening, Trixie would feel alone if she was around that many ponies with nopony actually paying attention to her.”
“Loneliness, yeah...” Luna focused on that feeling, “yeah, loneliness could be described as the sound that silence makes, I think that would be a good answer to that.”
“And loneliness could kill you like cancer does, that makes much sense, ponies are a very social creature, loneliness could kill a pony.”
“That’s creepy Glim Glim.”
“Sorry Trix, maybe I’m exaggerating, but it seems that these aliens try to fight loneliness with… neon gods? I guess anyone will do anything to fight loneliness.”
They enjoyed the last part of the song until the song reached the end, “what a dark but lovely song Twily, speaking of songs, is it true that you made the reveal to the nobles and several scientists?” Twilight nodded, “how did it go?”
“Frankly it was smoother than I thought, I didn’t want to take the music box all the way there so I just showed them a recording and the blueprints Tube Tester made of the music box, there were many questions and more than one fainting, but we ended with the agreement that it will be kept secret and revealed little by little, the time is coming close to make a complete reveal, we will have a giant alien ball floating nearer than the moon itself, so while one wouldn’t be able to see it with the naked eye, one with an average telescope will be able to see it without a problem while it orbits the planet.”
“Oh brother, that will definitely be a great uproar and Trixie knows about uproars.”
Luna let out a worried sigh, “hopefully the information was spread enough to avoid an uncontrollable mob of scared ponies.”
“It will be fine Lulu, this wasn’t the first time there is a giant mob of scared ponies and I bet it won’t be the last one either, remember that one over a thousand years when we ascended to the crown and some of our ponies revolted? AAAAH those were such a dramatic five years, but it settled and now here we are.”
“I wouldn’t like to remember some of those years Tia, it was so boring, luckily we have video games now.”
“Oh now that I remember, Spike told me to ask you, how is that console thing doing with professor Fam Icon?”
“So far is going pretty fast Twilight, the professor had a prototype but burned really quickly, he was designing a way to keep it cool while still working long periods of time.”
“Spike will be happy to hear that, he is been excited about that since you went to Laburinthos, anyway, why don’t we hear another song?” everypony agreed so Twilight pressed the button with her magic, again a piano greeted the group.
Celestia was too busy listening to the song to answer Luna so Cadence answered, “It seems that way Luna, but is a different singer, why would they make the same song twice with different singers?”
Trixie seemed to concentrate, “the Great and Insightful Trixie noticed that the first song sounded with a recording of lower quality, like it was older, and this sounds clearer, maybe this one was made in honor of the first song since it was really good.”
“I think you are right Trixie, but even if they are singing the same words, for some reason it sounds different.”
Starlight faced Twilight, “maybe it is because the way this singer is singing it Twilight, the first ones were very relaxed and this one is singing with such power but at the same time filled with serenity,” Starlight scratched the back of her head, “it gives the song a completely different look, I think it is still talking about loneliness but now, instead of just telling us, he is berating us.”
Celestia bit her lip enjoying the song, “can we stop for a moment and appreciate how strong and at the same time gentle the voice of the singer is?” Celestia was charmed by the sound of the alien singing.
Luna smirked and whispered to her sister’s ear, “shall we leave you alone with the song Tia?”
Celestia Blushed, “don’t be ridiculous Lulu, I’m just enjoying the voice of the singer, not everyday you get to admire a voice that sounds that came from Heaven and Tartarus at the same time.”
“The arrangement of the other instruments is more detailed as well, a great effort came to make this tribute.”
“The Great and Powerful Trixie was thinking, both songs have the same lyrics, but they sounds different from each other, the first one sounds like a warning but the second sounds like a shout in anger because we didn’t listen to the warning, do you think that is how it was in their society Twilight?”
“It could be, Trixie, a group generates public opinion, it sharpens and polishes the mind and shapes the character and will. Through the group a person rises to the level of a personality, a conscious subject of historical creativity. The group is the first shaper of the personality, and the group itself is shaped by society, finally society creates individuals who create art, so there is a good chance that the song mirrored the society or at least part of it, we don’t know how big theirs was.”
“If they had technology as impressive as this one, I bet their society was huge, I wonder if we will ever meet them.”
“It’s not likely Starlight, the best we can do is bring that alien stuff from space.”
“Hey now that you mention it, I wonder where that giant meteor went, the one we disappeared, I think it was a teleport spell but it was different.”
“I guess we will never know Starlight, hopefully it won’t cause anything worth mentioning.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Planet Earth, around 65,000,000 B.C.
A hot and humid day greeted giant beasts, a quadruped one with three horns battled a biped who wanted to eat it, in the outer atmosphere, far from the planet, some shines of multicolored light exploded, revealing a giant boulder that now was directed to the planet where the unexpected creatures got a reminder that life is a fragile and ephemeral thing.
A train arrives at Ponyville carrying many ponies, changelins, a zebra or two and many other creatures, but our resident pink party pony was waiting for a very special pony. The amount of passengers coming out of the train decreased and the last one of them was a gray mare, her mane and tail, as straight as Applejack’s moral compass, her head hung low due to her shyness but at the sight of her twin sister, her face brighten as a Hearthwarming Tree.
Pinkie Pie tackled her little sister with a hug rubbing her face against Marble’s, “OH! Marble, I’m super duper happy to see you, how was the trip? Did they give you snacks? You weren’t bored were you? How is mom and dad and Limey? Is she still all grumpy stumpy? I HAVE SO MUCH TO TELL YOU!”
Marble rolled her eyes but smiled at her sister’s show of affection, she only came out with a soft “mmhmm,” while Pinkie squealed, grabbing Marble’s saddlebags.
“Come on Marble, first I want to show you the School of Friendship, last time you were here we were at Hearthwarming’s eve so we couldn’t see… it… um Marble?”
The youngest Pie sister stared at the distance, bitterness on her face when she remembered that day, when she saw Big Mac showing affection to that unicorn, but how could she blame him, she barely reached to him, Big Mac sent quite a few letters after their first encounter and she wrote lot of letters as well but she never dared to send them, after several moons of not getting any answer his letters just stopped, he must have thought that she wasn’t interested and that hurt her the most, she finally let out an irritated groan.
“What’s wrong Marble?”
Marble shook her head, there was no reason to dwell in the past like that, she got her chance and blew it, she gave her sister a weak smile, they walked until they reached the School of Friendship, but there was something wrong, it was covered with a forcefield, some students were outside accompanied by some of the teachers.
“Hey RariJack! What’s happening.”
Rarity and Applejack turned around to face the pink party pony, “hi darling and would you look at that, it’s been a while since we have seen each other Marble Pie, how are you doing?”
“Hey there sugarcube.”
Marble responded with a soft, “mmhmm.”
“As shy as ever I see, well Pinkie, it appears that the campus has been infested with parasprites, Starlight, Moondancer, Sunburst and Trixie are taking care of it, but it seems that we will need to close the school for a few days, they shouldn’t take long. And what you might be up to today?”
“Well today I’m celebrating PSSSD, with my little sister Marble, isn’t that great,” Pinkie said while hugging her sister really tight.
“What’s PSSSD, Sugarcube?”
“Oh that’s what we call the Pie Sisters’ Swap Day! Today is Marble and me turn.”
“I think you mean Marble’s and mine turn, don’t you darling?”
“Nu-uh, the celebration is for Pie sister silly, but if you wish you can join us.”
“That’s a great ide-”
Rarity covered Applejack’s lips with a hoof, “that would be a good idea but Jackie and I have plans already, don’t we love?” Applejack stared in confusion, Rarity then tightened her grip, “don’t… we… love?” Applejack then nodded, at that time Starlight and Trixie came out of the forcefield and the couple left.
“I think the Great and Powerful Trixie needs a rest after all that work.”
“Trix, you barely did anything besides screaming at the sight of a parasprite.”
“And screaming is so taxing on my energies, I could really use an ice cream.”
“You never change Trix, hey it’s Pinkie and her sister,” both unicorns approached the pair of earth ponies, “hi Pinkie, and you must be her sister.”
“Marble Pie, long time no see, how is the farm doing?” Trixie grabbed Marble’s hoof and shook it, the mare stared for a few seconds but then recognized Trixie and smiled.
“How do you know my sister? OH yeah, you worked for a while at the rock farm.”
“And here Marble might be my favorite of the Pie sisters, she is so nice and has the most magical singing voice the Great and Powerful Trixie has ever listened to in her life, a song from her moved me to tears.”
Pinkie and Marble were both with their mouths wide opened, “wait… are you telling me you managed to listen to one of Marble’s songs? HOW ON PLANET EQUUM YOU MANAGED THAT?!?”
“Well it was at the farm, the Great and Powerfull Trixie was in one of her breaks when I heard her from afar, she was at the lake behind the farm and she was singing, I couldn’t help but listen to the magical sounds coming from that tiny mouth, it was beautiful...”
Marble’s face turned bright red, embarrassed that she was discovered doing one of her secret hobbies, she turned to her sister and whispered in her ear, “Marble says thanks for the compliment, but she would prefer if you keep it secret, she barely let us hear her.”
“Fair enough, so let me guess, are you on your PSSSD?”
“Yeah, the first stop was going to be the school but I guess that’s not happening, I suppose we will need to go to the next one, TO SUGARCUBE CORNER! You can join us if you want, I asked Rarity and Applejack, but I guess Rarity had enough after Limestone’s PSSSD.”
“I would like to go, how about you Glimmy?”
“Yeah, nothing else can be done here, Moondancer and Sunburst are taking care of the rest, as long as they can have their muzzles separated long enough to do something.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
The group reached the confectionery shop and Pinkie tried to open the door being unsuccessful, “Hey Pinkie look at that note on the door.”
Pinkie picked the note and read it aloud, “Pinkie, we went to visit my parents and we are taking the twins with us, keep the shop closed until we get back, enjoy a week of vacation… oh, poo… that’s the second stop ruined, what gives?” Marble rubbed Pinkie’s back with her hoof, “at least it can’t get worse.”
Just right after Pinkie said that, a thunder was heard and a bunch of dark clouds filled the skies, “what? But rain wasn’t scheduled for today,” Starlight said when Rainbow Dash passed flying over them, “RAINBOW! RAINBOW DASH!”
“Oh hey Starlight, I bet you are wondering about the rain clouds,” she nodded, “well, it seems they had to many rain clouds left over and we can’t keep them until next year, they’ll go bad and we need the space for the snow clouds, so they are using them today… seriously, since I’m no longer the weather manager, they have been getting sloppy with the rains, I need to talk to Blossomforth about this, you should get some umbrellas, gotta go see ya.”
The rain fell over them, drenching them quickly, Starlight made a dome over them so they won’t get more wet, Pinkie sighed, “that takes the walk on the market and park out as well, I’m sorry Marble, I wanted this day to be special,” Pinkie’s mane went flat, either from the water or her sadness.
Marble let out a “mmhmm,” and hugged her sister.
“Hey since she is here and your day got ruined, why don’t we take her to the castle and listen to a few songs from the music box?”
Marble stared in confusion again, but Pinkie’s mane and tail got back to her normal stage, “THAT’S A GREAT IDEA TRIXIE! YOU ARE A GENIUS!”
“Oh stop it, actually don’t stop, keep going.”
“That’s enough Trix, it will all go to your head, but yeah that’s a good idea, let’s go to the castle.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
The group arrived at the castle and entered the studio, where the music box laid, waiting to be turned on, on the way there they explained the music box origins to marble who stared in wonder, curious about the machine.
“And that’s how Equestria was made,” Pinkie said, earning confused stares from Starlight and Trixie while Marble giggled covering her mouth with her hoof, Starlight checked the spell for anything wrong and offered Marble to press the button, who bit her lip and shook her head.
“Come on Marble, there is nothing wrong, you just need to press the button.”
“Yeah like this!” Trixe jumped pressing the button.
“Trixie! It was marble’s turn!”
“Sorry Glimmy, I was just trying to teach her how to do it.”
From the music box, a loud and melodic electric guitar sounds came.
Starlight stared at the music box with her mouth open, “that’s… THAT’S SO BUCKING AWESOME!” She screamed, earning a surprised look from the other mares, she was enjoying the guitar solo the machine was playing.
“Yeah it is… but where are the lyrics?”
“Trix, when you have so much talent on a guitar solo, you don’t need words to convey an emotion,” Starlight closed her eyes and let the music surround her, she faced the roof and her hooves player an air guitar, Pinkie on her side was giggling at Starlight’s antics while Trixie rolled her eyes.
Marble is a quiet mare, but she also secretly loved this kind of music, she had several records under her bed from Orbsah Priest, Maretallica, Megadent and other heavy metal bands.
Once the solo ended, it broke Starlight’s concentration, “what? That can’t be it, aww come on, that solo was so bucking tasty.”
“Ok, I guess it is Marble’s turn now, come on Marble, is not that hard, you just need to press the button.”
“Yeah, is very simple Marble, you just need to move your pretty hoof and press the button like this.” Pinkie said while pressing the button, “oops, I guess I messed up as well heheh,” from the music box a loud guitar came out and then an aggressive bass.
“Wow, the music box is giving awesome music today,” Starlight said while igniting her horn, she teleported her leather vest and spiked collar to her body and began headbanging.
Trixie rolled her eyes since this kind of music wasn’t her cup of tea, but Marble who was next to Starlight smiled and began headbanging as well.
“Nice Marble, rock it girl!” Pinkie began headbanging as well, while Trixie shrugged but then decided to join them.
“Wait, they do what in the name of what?”
“Well Pinkie, Trixie thinks they said killing in the name of... and then silence.”
“But why would anyone kill in the name of anypony? That sounds too mean,” Pinkie covered Marble’s ears while saying that, Marble rolled her eyes, “I think this song might be a bit too much for my tiny little sister.”
Marble removed Pinkie’s hooves from her ears and let out an annoyed “hmm” staring at her sister with a pout on her face.
“Yeah I know we are the same age, but I like taking care of you.”
“Hey Pinkie, Trixie never asked but who is the oldest of your sisters?”
“Oh that would be Limestone, she was the first one, then Maud two years later and finally Marble and me another two years after Maud, wow the aliens on this song really like to repeat the lyrics.”
“What do they mean anyway? Trixie doesn’t get it, some of those that work forces are the same that burn crosses, what’s wrong with burning a cross Glimmy?”
Starlight Glimmer and Marble Pie were too busy headbanging with one hoof raised to pay attention to the lyrics.
Pinkie giggled but let her sister be, “at least they are changing the lyrics now… aaand they are repeating them again.”
“Trixie must admit that even if this is not her favorite genre of music, the sounds are not that noisy as I thought… I still don’t get it though, what does he mean by chosen white?”
“I guess we’ll never know, they are repeating the first lyrics again.”
The group kept listening to the lyrics they didn’t understand until the last verse, Pinkie gasped while covering her mouth with her hooves, “language, this is a T rated fanfic!” Trixie stared, confused about Pinkie's outburst.
When the song ended Starlight and Marble looked pretty dizzy after headbanging for the entire song, Starlight shook her head a bit and then cleared her throat, “for what I was able to get from the lyrics, there seemed to be mostly a protest song, about a sector of their community taking advantage of the other, probably one with more authority using said authority to force their wishes.”
Marble nodded and let out a firm, “mmhmm.”
“You were actually paying attention to the lyrics?”
“Well yeah Trix, is not that hard if you feel the music.”
“Okie dokie loki, now is Marble’s turn at last, COME ON MARBLE, HIT IT!” Pinkie pulled a sign with an arrow pointing to the music box out of nowhere.
Marble giggled but nodded, she approached the machine and slowly pressed the button.
Starlight rubbed her hooves, “oh I hope is another metal song,” a sweet melody came from the machine.
“I guess that’s all metal we will hear today,” Starlight sighed disappointed, “Oh she’s got a beautiful voice.”
“But why does she sound so sad?”
“Trixie doesn’t know Pinkie, but seems to be talking to her special somepony… oh… I guess she is talking about her ex-special somepony… or somealien.”
“Oh that’s so sad, he left and she stayed there, at least it seems that she doesn’t blame him.”
“Oh my, Trixie thinks that this female really loved him, if she is even shedding a tear because he is leaving.”
“Yeah Trix, it appears that she is still feeling things for him, even to ask him to… well make love again, and she seems to truly wish him luck in life.”
At all this, Marble listened to the lyrics and her mind drifted again to the first stallion she fell for, she stared at the window and it was still raining strong outside, she could see her reflection on the window and it looked like she was outside, being drenched in cloud tears.
Her mind then created scenarios where she did send the letters she wrote, she imagined sharing the heat of the fireplace with Big Mac, cuddled on a cold winter night, she imagined what could have been, they sharing special moments through their lives, finally getting married and having foals, she wished to have many foals like her mother.
Marble sighed knowing that it was just a dream now and couldn’t happen, she then remembered how happy he looked with her, the love they showed for each other, even if it stingued her, she felt honestly happy for him, nonetheless she still felt that she was missing from doing something when she noticed that the song was over and she was being stared at she blushed and gave a smile.
“Ok the song is over and it was SOOOOOO sad but at the same time SOOOOO sweet, like a bittersweet feeling, but do you know what that means?” Pinkie said and the group stared at her, “IS TIME FOR THE PIE SISTERS’ SWAP DAY GIFT SWAP! But first the Pie sisters’ swap day song,” Pinkie stood up and marched behind Marble singing “It’s the Pie sisters’ swap day sooooong♪”
Marble responded with a soft “mmhmm.”
Pinkie then grabbed a small box and gave it to Marble, “here Marble, open it, OPEN IT!” Marble slowly opened the box and there was a crystal sphere inside, it had a beautiful decoration inside, Marble’s eyes brightened up seeing her gift.
“Is that a marble, Pinkie?”
“Not just a marble silly willy, is a special hoofcrafted, one of a kind, silver core, cateye, made from the marble artist Akron Leighton, strange name by the way. My sister collects Marbles, this was missing from her collection.”
Marble stared at the cateye marble, she then saw her face reflected on the sphere and then knew what she had to do, she approached Pinkie and whispered on her hear, “oh sure, we’ll wait for you right here.”
Marble left the room, leaving the two unicorns confused, “is there something wrong Pinkie?”
“Nope, she said she needed to do something right now or else she will lose her courage.”
A thunder could be heard outside, “wow is still pouring down, Trixie feels bad for anypony outside in this rain.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Outside under the rain an earth pony mare ran with all her strength, her face donned a decisive look, the rain drops fell on her and mixed with her sweat, she was running to the town outskirts, heading straight to the apple farm, her hooves ached for the strain but she was decided to do this even if it kills her, she ignored the pleas of her muscles, she grew up in a rock farm so she wasn’t a stranger to physical labor, but she was never one to sprint for a long period of time.
She finally reached the entrance of the house, but it looked different from last time she saw it, it looked new, it seems that they have renovated the house, probably since they were… planning to make the family grow, Marble blushed at the thought.
She walked to the door, lifted her hoof to knock at the door but stopped mere centimeters from the wooden frame, she began to tremble, she thought what was she doing, why was she here, what gave her the right to come and just crash their place out of the blue, the rain kept falling on her body, now joining droples not made out of sweat but tears from her eyes.
She lowered her hoof, sighed and then turned back for the long walk back to the castle, on that moment the door opened showing a worried purple maned unicorn mare, “Marble my stars, come in, you are drenched, oh you poor thing,” she grabbed Marble pulling her inside the house levitating a towel to dry her with.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
“Pinkie, she’s been gone for two hours already, I think we should go look for her.”
“Nope, she told me she needs to do this alone and I believe in her, she will return.”
On the other side of the room, a sleeping Trixie uses her cape as a blanket and sucks on her hoof laying on the floor.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Back on the Apple Farm, the door of the main house opened, Big Mac, his wife Sugar Belle and Apple Bloom came out to say goodbye to Marble, now wearing an apple themed poncho and umbrella on her back while Granny Smith was snoring on her chair in the living room.
“Marble are you sure you don’t want us to go with you, is a long way to the castle,” Sugar Belle asked with her raspy but warm voice.
Marble replied with a smile and a happy “mmhmm.”
Sugar belle hugged Marble, “I’m so glad you came to speak with us, it took a lot of courage to come and say what you came to talk about, you are a very eloquent pony, isn’t she love?”
“Eeyup.”
Marble watched how Sugar Belle nuzzled Big Mac and unlike the images she pictured in her mind, she didn’t feel jealousy, she was now really happy for both of them and now knew that they belonged together, Marble was really grateful she had the guts to come and talk to them today, she was afraid they would hate her for it but she was glad they took it really well and were pretty understanding after the heart to heart discussion they had, Sugar Belle even offered having Marble as a godmother of their first born, something that made Marble squeal in happiness.
After they shared one last hug, Marble began walking with a spring in her step, she felt like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders, she looked back at all the bitterness and jealousy she felt before and giggled now seeing how silly it was, she was walking on the empty market when a strong gust of wind made her umbrella fly of her back, she gasped watching how the thing got dragged by the wind without a way to stop it.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
“Ok, it’s been three and a half hours Pinkie, are you seriously not worried?”
“Nope, not even a little,” Pinkie said but a drop of sweat formed on her forehead, “is it hot in here or what hehehe...”
“Ok that’s it, I’ll run a scan spell.”
Trixie kept sleeping now talking nonsense so Starlight rolled her eyes and woke her up shaking her a bit, “wuzza wuzza, are we there yet? Oh good morning Glimmy, *yawn* what’s for breakfast?”
“Nothing Trix, Marble hasn’t returned and I need you to help me run a scanning spell, we will cover more ground, the both of us together.”
Trixie stretched her limbs and yawned again, “but she is right there by the door,” Pinkie and Starlight turned to the door where Marble was staring at them, she was wearing a poncho and next to her there was a pegasus stallion carrying an umbrella.
“MARBLE!” Pinkie screamed and hugged her sister, who giggled tickled by Pinkie’s mane.
“Oh… Soarin’ right?”
“Yes ma’am, the one and only.”
“Thanks for bringing my little sister back Soarin’ remind me I’ll bake you a delicious pie.”
“Oh is nothing um… Pinkie right?” the pink mare nodded, “I think this is the first time we actually talked, anyway, I was flying nearby when I remembered the delicious pies from the Cakes, so I flew to Sugarcube corner butt it was closed, then I saw Marble who lost her umbrella so I did what any decent pegasus could have done and recovered it for her, she told me she was heading for the castle so I wanted to make sure she arrived safely, on the way here she talked about her and her family back at the rock farm and talked about how grateful she is with you Pinkie.”
“Aww you are such a good girl Marble… wait what? Did you talk with him all the way here?”
Marble nodded and let out a happy “mmhmm,” Pinkie stared at her with her eyes wide open, Marble put her muzzle close to Soarin’s ear and whispered which earned another stare from her sister.
“Marble says that she is ready to give you her present for the… PSSSD? Is that right?” Soarin’ said and Marble nodded, “alright, but she hopes you don’t mind sharing it with all of us.”
“N-no that would be great… wait, are you saying you want to give me...”
“A song, that’s right, she wants to gift you a song from the bottom of her heart.”
Pinkie’s eyes filled with happy tears, “you win this year, I can’t imagine anything better than one of your songs and I’ll gladly share this moment with my friends.”
Marble smiled and hugged Pinkie, she then removed her poncho and everypony including Soarin’ sat in front of her, Marble then cleared her throat and breathed in.
The flapping of two pairs of majestic wings alerted the town of Ponyville who was preparing for a celebration. Two alicorns landed outside of the Castle of Friendship, some ponies watched as the former Princesses of Equestria arrived in their small town, some of them waving at them since they finally got used to not needing to bow to them.
“Tia, are you sure that coming a day earlier without notice was a good idea?”
“Don’t worry about it Lulu, life gives surprises all the time and a surprise like us is always welcome.”
Celestia knocked at the door and waited, she then knocked again a bit stronger and waited, and waited some more, until they could hear flapping of wings that stopped right behind the door. The door opened and revealed a purple dragon.
“Oh hey there Celestia, Luna, we weren’t expecting you until tomorrow for Nightmare Night.”
“Yes, kind Spike, my dear sister and I decided to arrive a day earlier to surprise everypony.”
The alicorns entered the castle and followed Spike, Celestia looked left to right like looking for something, “Spike, why are you opening the door? Where is everypony?”
The small drake stopped and turned to see them, “oh yeah, well Starlight and Sunburst returned to their town since it seems Stellar Flare is in labor, Trixie and Moondancer went with them for support.”
“Wow really? Yeah she should be around her eleventh month right about now, do they know if the baby is a filly or a colt?”
“Nah, they wanted it to be a surprise, but my bet is on colt, right Luna?”
“Yes Spike, our bet is on colt, a powerful and wise colt, if he is like his siblings.”
“No Lulu, I’m sure the baby will be a filly, she will be cute and awkward like her siblings, anyway where is Twilight?.”
They continued walking, “oh she is really busy back at Canterlot, but she’d be here tomorrow for Nightmare night.”
“And Tube Tester?”
“She is back at Laburinthos for a few days and Tinker left with her.”
Celestia looked disappointed, “oh well, so I guess it’ll be only the three of us today.”
“Actually I already had a guest over,” Spike opened a door and a peppy griffin waved at him.
“Oh Spikenator, I see we have more guests, hi there!” Luna and Celestia waved at Gabby, “we were going to head to the studio to listen to a couple of songs, wanna join us?”
“Oh, Gabby right?” she nodded, “we would love to accompany you, I have been wanting to listen to another song for a while,” Luna said while her sister nodded.
Celestia noticed that there was a white spot next to Gabby’s beak, “um… Gabby, there is a…” Celestia pointed at her own face with a hoof.
Gabby moved a talon to her face, finding the white substance with a claw, “Oh this?” she then gathered it all up with her claw and put it in her mouth, suckling it for a while,“ this is from Spike’s… um whatchamacallit? It’s cylindrical, a bit thick and with cream inside?”
Celestia blushed immediately, images of Spike sharing intimate moments with Gabby filled her mind, the little drake that she had seen almost like a son for years, from the moment he hatched thanks to Twilight now became an adult, how time goes flying.
“An eclair?” asked Luna, snapping Celestia from her trance.
“YEAH! That’s it, would you like one? He made a bunch of them,” Gabby picked a tray with at least a dozen of eclairs.
“Oh… aw… I mean, thank you, I would love one.”
“One dear sister? I’m sure that with your appetency for pastries you could engulf at least twice this much.”
Celestia stared daggers at her sister, but then rolled her eyes and giggled for the joke, “fine you got me there.”
The trio walked to the studio with trays of pastries and drinks, once they arrived they sat around the music box, they all decided Gabby would be the first to press the button, she did and what appeared to be a squeaking door and something boiling sounded.
“That doesn’t sound like a song at all, does it Spikerony? Oh there you go, drums make it always better.”
“Oh he was working on a lab like Twilight, wait he also has a monster on a slab like Twilight...”
Celestia raised an eyebrow, “wait, Twilight has a what in her lab?”
“Well it's more like a golem, she has been trying to make a mud golem for a long time but she can’t bring it to life just yet.”
“I’ll need to talk with Twilight about that aberration of nature.”
“Sister dearest, that kind of magical prowess has been sought since before I was banished, maybe we can let her attempt it, what’s the worst that could happen?”
“Yeah, you are probably right, it is not like that golem could go crazy and attack half the city of canterlot.”
“Besides the creepy implications, this song is very catchy,” Gabby said while moving from side to side at the rhythm of the music.
Spike eyes went wide, “d-d-did he said zo-zo-zombies?!?!” everyone nodded, “who could have fun with ZOMBIES! THEY WOULD EAT YOUR BRAINS!”
“Come on SpookySpike, I’m sure this song is just for fun, no one would believe that zombies, men, wolves, that guy called Dracula or his son would party together.”
“Yeah you are probably right.”
“You see, even the names make no sense, Igor? Who in this or other world could be called Igor. Maybe even that place is imaginary, I mean Transilvania? That sounds so funny,” Gabby giggled.
Luna was moving from side to side but there was something on her mind, “whatever is this mash?”
“It seems to be some kind of dance, probably a fun one since they all want to do it, even monsters that should be scary.”
“I would like to mash,” said Spike jumping from his seat and hovering in the air in front of Gabby, “would you mash with me Gabbyrator?”
“I want to mash with you too Spikoruu,” and so they mashed until the song ended waving their claws and moving their tails from side to side while the alicorns watched them.
After the song ended, Spike and Gabby ended panting, sweating, laughing and exhausted from all that mashing, Luna approached the music box, “I suppose it is my turn now as we all decided,” Luna pressed the button and an eerie tune began playing, bringing chills to everyone except Luna, who found the tune interesting.
“This tune, I find it quite charming,” the alicorn of the night said, “I like how that… instruments sound… and heir voices are pretty interesting, don’t you think Tia?”
“Interesting? hey sounds like they are on a cul or something..”
“Oh please Tia, the way they are singing must be a choice, an aesthetical way to express their artistic message.”
“Halloween? Are they talking about a town called Halloween?”
Celestia scratched her chin, “it seems that way, Gabby and it has something to do with pumpkins as well as with… trick or treat?”
“Tia, isn’t that what foals do these days on Nightmare night?”
Spike jumped from his seat, “YEAH! And I’m going to go disguised as a comic hero, Crimson Hopper, I already have my suit prepared and my red hammer ready.”
“Oh great Spikeshufle, isn’t that that uses the phrase nobody counted on my cunning?”
“The same one Gabbonatta,” they both laughed while the alicorns stared at them, “WOA! Did he say sharp teeth and red glowing eyes? Dude now that’s creepy… nevermind, snake fingers and head spiders is even more creepy.”
“They describe the town of Halloween like if it was Nightmare Night, don’t you think that they celebrate Nightmare Night as well do you Lulu?”
“Who knows, there wouldn’t be any reason for them to celebrate it or at least not a reason like we have, maybe they have their own reason to celebrate darkness and spooky stuff,” they kept enjoying the song when the next verse started, “oh… now that’s something even I find scary.”
“Oh yeah, I can’t get over how you find clowns scary, I swear Lulu, you are scared of the weirdest things,” Celestia laughed while Luna stared at her and ignited her horn, she pulled from the aether a creature that inhabited Celestia’s nightmares, a continuous clucking came from Celestia’s head, the white alicorn raised her head and stared at a beast flapping her wings and this brought terror to the white alicorn’s heart, “a… a… A CHICKEN! MAKE IT GO AWAY MAKE IT GO AWAY! FINE, MY PHOBIAS ARE RIDICULOUS TOO JUST GET RID OF IT!” Luna’s face sported a triumphant smirk. She made the chicken disappear and Celestia recovered her calm demeanor, she coughed on her hoof and fixed her mane, “so… what a nice song isn’t it?”
“Come on Tia, just like the song said, life is no fun without a little scare, don’t you think young Spike?”
“Um… yeah, but maybe… you… um… kinda overdid it, I had never seen Celestia so scared,” Spike said, worried of Luna’s retaliation for not agreeing with her.
“Did I? Do you think that as well, young maiden Gabby?”
Gabby looked at Spike, she wrapped a wing around him protectively and stared at Luna, “yes, I agree with Spike, that was too mean.”
“I see, sister dearest, I apologize for using one of your worst fears against you,” Luna asked Celestia, raising a hoof. The former princess of the sun grabbed her hoof and pulled her to a hug.
“It’s ok Luna, I shouldn’t have mentioned how ridiculous your fear of clowns is,” they separated and Celestia pressed the button of the music box with her magic, an eerie and persistent tune played on the machine.
“That sounds creepy as well, I feel like something is after me.”
“You are right Spike, it gives me the chills,” Spike and Gabby held each other while listening to the song.
After a few moments of listening to the song, Luna raised her eyebrow, “it appears that there aren't any lyrics to the song, it is incredible how just a tune can evoke feelings of uneasiness.”
“I believe there was a pony, a century or two ago, Merry Melodies, he studied how certain notes and tunes could affect emotions, he also had a nice flank and a tongue that could-” Celestia was interrupted by Luna who put a hoof on her muzzle pointing Spike and Gabby with her other hoof, who were staring with their eyes wide open, the pair were annoyed that Luna didn’t let them hear the rest of Celestia’s story.
“Anyway, this song doesn’t seem to have any lyrics at all but, isn’t it weird that these aliens have a similar celebration like Nightmare Night?”
“Not really Spike, many cultures tend to have similar traditions, remember they also have a version of Heartwarming, so it is fair to say they would have other similar traditions, most of them are due to the changing of the seasons, oh the song ended, Spike I believe is your turn now.”
“I’m on it,” Spike flapped his wings and pressed the button and the voice of a child came from the device.
“What’s creepy about oranges and lemons, young Spike?”
“Is not what they said is how they said it, the bells of saint Clements?”
“Hmm, it sounds like a child nursery rhyme.”
“Um, how can one owe farts? That’s so silly,” Gabby giggled.
“Actually I think they are saying farthings, which is weird since I believe that was one of the options we had when picking the name of our coin, we finally decided bits, so I guess they might mean farthing as in coin and it seems that it was a nursery rhyme after all.”
“The song is sounding pretty creepy as well, but also calmly for a reason, I wouldn’t mind listening in a well lit room and with company, but I definitely wouldn’t hear it alone in the dark.”
“Spike, do you think you could play this? At least the piano part?” Celestia asked.
“Um, yeah I think I could, it doesn’t sound that complicated, why?”
“Well I was thinking you could play it tomorrow on Nightmare Night party.”
“That’s a great idea, Spikeboo you should totally play this on the party, you are a great pianist… heheh pianist…”
They kept listening to the song until it ended, when a red balloon landed right in front of them, “what the? Where did this come from?”
“I made it silly willy, it floats, heheheheh,” a voice came behind them and everyone screamed, surprised by the voice, turning around to see a pink pony giggling, “hi guys,” Pinkie said while blowing another balloon, tying it and throwing it to them.
“PINKIE! What the hay? How long have you been there?”
“I’ve been here from the start, you should really look behind you once in a while,” they stared at the party pony, rolling their eyes since they know that it would be pointless to try to explain Pinkie’s antics, “so can I get a turn?” Pinkie didn’t wait for an answer and jumped in front of the music box, pressing the button, a guitar played and a male alien began talking.
“No Pinkie, you are not creepy, you are just… well Pinkie… um, what is a timewarp?”
“Oh Spikey Wikey, that’s simple, a timewarp is basically some phenomenon that changes the flow of time by speeding it up or making it run more slowly”
“How do you know that Pinkie?”
“It says so on this book I was reading while you were ignoring me,” Pinkie said while pulling out her tongue in a funny way, “Oh that sounds like a fun dance, we should do the timewarp.”
“Hey SpikeSempai, don’t think the lyrics on this song make any sort of sense.”
“Well, young maiden Gabby, I do believe they are just describing scenes where they felt the time passed in a different way.”
“HEY I think the chorus is coming soon, why don’t we do the timewarp dance?”
“But Pinkie, some of us don’t have hands,” said Celestia.
“Just use your forehooves then silly filly,” Pinkie said while patting Celestia’s mane like a child.
“I’m over a thousand years older than you,” Celestia said embarrassed.
As the chorus of the song started, they did just like the singer did, they gave a jump to the left, then they gave a step to the right, they all went on their back legs and put their hooves, claws and talons on their hips bringing their knees tight, finally they thrust their hips as fast as they could making Luna fall on her flank, everyone laughed even Luna, she then stood up and tried again making it this time, they all laughed enjoying the song ending.
“That was so much fun, we should totally play this at the party tomorrow,” everyone agreed, laughing. Finally they calmed down and began cleaning the place.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
The night of the next day came, the group was enjoying the party with sweets and pumpkin spiced punch while laughing, Luna was playing with the foals, Rarity and Applejack were outside enjoying each other’s company watching the moon, Spike and Gabby were playing the song they listened to yesterday. At the food table, there was Twilight talking with Celestia talking about the day before.
“And then Pinkie just appeared behind us scaring the feathers out of us.”
“That’s classic Pinkie, at least she didn’t surprise you with her party cannon, now that would have been hilarious, ain’t that right Pinkie,” Twilight looked back but saw that Pinkie wasn’t there, “damn, I was sure she would appear behind us.”
“Oh I wasn’t behind you, I was under the table,” the Pink party only said, coming from under the table surprising the two alicorns.
“Pinkie Pie, you got us good like yesterday. hmm speaking about yesterday, I noticed that all or at least most of the songs we listened to yesterday had a scary theme, Twilight, are you sure that the music box picks songs at random?”
“Well, you’ll see Celestia, I’ve noticed as well for all the songs that we have heard before and besides nothing is ever random really, everything follows an order, one way or another, I was talking to Professor Tube Tester and the music box is most certain to pull the songs from an already existing list, and picks them in a random sequence, but this sequence is actually generated by a program, Minotaurs created this random number generator or RNG which is an algorithm that produces random numbers, we both believe the music box uses something similar to pick the songs, you get it?”
“I think I’m following you so far.”
“Well anyway, since the music box uses external energy to power, but it is sensible enough to detect the residual magic coming from everything, from the living creatures to the elements to even the ground itself, so this residual magic could affect the RNG of the music box in some sort of way.”
“That’s really interesting Twilight, but I can see in your eyes that even if you figured it, you have no way to prove it right?”
“You know me well.”
“Twilight, I was your teacher for almost two decades, at least there is a chance we could get an answer soon when we pull out that thing from space.”
“Yeah, I can’t believe it's almost at the point where we can reach it, I can’t wait.”
At the top of the Castle of Friendship, next to the giant telescope that was installed a few moons ago, a group of friends prepared to save the shiny space body from being melted by their sun, Twilight gave the other alicorns a few final instructions, they only had one chance to change the trajectory of the space body now that it was at its closes from their planet.
At the telescope Starlight was searching for it, “there I can see it now, oh my gosh, that definitely wasn’t made by nature, look at it.”
Twilight stopped her instruction and looked through the telescope, “it’s beautiful, its surface is completely smooth, it’s geometrically spherical with what appears some cylindrical protuberances and the object orbiting it around a kilometer from it is making a perfect circular loop, not an oval, yeah this object was manufactured, no doubt on that, we need to save it.”
“Yeah let’s save that alien thingy,” Pinkie said wearing a white and blue hat with a picture of the object on it and a t-shirt with the phrase #SaveTheAlienThingy and holding a foam hand, “hey where is everypony else,” Pinkie noticed that only the four alicorns, Starlight, Moondancer and Sunburst and herself were for the event.
Moondancer fixed her glasses pulling out her notebook, “according to this only you confirmed coming to this event.”
Celestia grabbed a bottle of water and sipped it, “Tube Tester and Tinker Claw, haven’t returned from Laburinthos, there was an issue but they will watch the event at the academy of sciences.”
“And Trixie is babysitting Flurry Heart, since Shining Armor went with Spike, Big Mac and Discord to a boy’s night, even if it is just early afternoon.”
“Oh… speaking of babies, you haven’t told me about your new sibling.”
“Pinkie NO!”, Moondancer tried warning but it was too late, Sunburst and Starlight’s eyes filled with shine, they ran and stopped in front of Pinkie and pulled several pictures of a pink coated unicorn baby foal, her mane was blonde and her eyes seemed to be the same color, they were talking at the same time so fast that not even Pinkie could understand them, “it will take a while for them to calm down, it seems they both fell in love with their new half sister,” Pinkie slipped out from the duo who kept talking wonders about the foal.
“Wow talk about crazy ponies am I right?” she went closer to Moondancer and whispered in her ear so Starlight and Sunburst wouldn’t hear her, “so what’s her name.”
Moondancer whispered back, “her parents went with Luster Dawn.”
“So when are you two going to have one?”
“Wawawhaaaaat?”
“Come on,” pinkie winked at Moondancer, hitting her with an elbow.
“T-T-That hasn’t come up in a conversation, we have only been dating for a few moons, so I think it is too soon for us to think about that,” the embarrassed unicorn said while blushing.
Twilight cleared her throat, “ok if everypony is ready, we need to do this now,” this snapped Sunburst and Starlight, who saluted and went to the whiteboard and telescope, “ok pulling team, we trained for moons for this occasion, I don’t have to tell you how important this is and that we only have one shot, we need to do this right at the first try, are you with me?”
“YEAH!” said the other three alicorns.
“Ok, I prepared the runes on the ground, this will boost our magic so please make a circle as we trained, we will start right away,” she turned to Starlight, “observing team are you ready?” the trio saluted and prepared the telescope, the blackboard and the notations, “and witnesses… Pinkie, well I guess only you came, are you ready?.”
“YEAH!!” she pulled a recliner and some popcorn out of nowhere, “GO TEAM!” The alicorns surrounded the runes and ignited their horns, they concentrated to synchronize their magic pulse, once they reached a level of synchronization they let out a single beam of magic, “COOL! Now where is it?” Pinkie watched everywhere trying to see the space object.
“Um Pinkie,” Sunburst called out the party pony, who faced him, “this is just the initial pulse, it will take a few hours to reach the space object, right here,” he pointed at one of the white boards who showed a diagram of the point in space where the space body and the magic beam will connect.
“Wait, you said hours?”
“Yes Pinkie, if my calculations are correct it will take two hours and twenty two minutes with an error margin of fifteen minutes,” said Moondancer checking her notes.
“Why nopony told me that? I would have brought more snacks for that wait.”
Starlight left the telescope for a second, “we did, in fact I personally told you the timeframe, but you were too busy jumping around to pay attention.”
“Oh pooh, well I guess there is nothing else to do but wait,” Pinkie sat on the recliner and watched how the alicorns kept concentrating, trying to reach the space body with their magic, Pinkie finished her popcorn then stared at the unicorns working, Moondancer was revising her notes while Starlight watched through the telescope and took notes, Sunburst made a few calculations on one of the whiteboards, Pinkie turned her body on the recliner, then turned back, she stared at the pulling team, there was no change, turned to see the observing team and no change at all, “OH MY GOSH! Please tell me it’s almost over.”
The trio stared at Pinkie, “Pinkie, it’s only been five minutes.”
“Oh please make it faster!”
“Pinkie, I’m getting a bit hungry, why don’t you go down the kitchen and prepare something and we’ll let you know if something changes.”
“That’s a great idea Starlight, I’ll be right back.”
The pink party pony ran downstairs to get some snacks ready, “that will give us around an hour”
“Nice thinking Starlight,” said Sunburst
Moondacer fixed her glasses again and returned to her notes, “to be fair, nothing really happens during the first few hours, I can see how it would get boring for most ponies,” the other two unicorns nodded.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
At the castle’s kitchen Pinkie prepared snacks for all the present ponies, “all you have to do is take a cup of flour! Add it to the mix♫ Now just take a little something sweet, not sour! A bit of salt, just a pinch♪ Baking these treats is such a cinch! Add a teaspoon of vanilla♫ Add a little more, and you count to four, And you never get your fill of... Cupcakes! So sweet and tasty! Cupcakes! Don't be too hasty! Cupcakes! Cupcakes, cupcakes, CUPCAKES!♫”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
A bit over an hour passed since Pinkie left for the kitchen, “you know Starlight, I’m actually getting hungry, hopefully Pinkie comes soon with the snacks.”
“I have been summoned! Hey guys, here is the food, enjoy!” Pinkie brought an entire table filled with baked goods and drinks.
“Wow and all this in an hour, Pinkie you are amazing.”
“I know Starlight, I have a gift, hey while I was cooking I was thinking, this could take a while so why don’t we listen to a few songs while we wait?”
“I don’t know Pinkie, we need to stay here in case something happens,” said Sunburst.
Starlight bit a donut chewed and swallowed it, “I don’t see why we couldn’t bring the equipment up here, I believe it is about time to recharge the music box’s battery anyway, this wouldn’t take long, Moondancer can you help me?”
“Sure can Starlight,” the two mares went down to the studio and magically carried the equipment to the roof, setting it up so they could hear it, while Starlight was preparing the console and the music box, Moondancer stared at the alicorns who were concentrating, Luna in particular seemed to always have a particularly joy filled expression when they did this, she knew that currently they couldn’t hear them, the alicorns could right now only sense the tip of the magic beam, but at the same time they were experiencing what is like to travel the cosmos at an unimaginably speed, Luna seemed to have an expression full of wonder, like a child watching something for the first time, maybe since she is the alicorn of the night, she appreciates the vast of space more than the other alicorns, “wouldn’t it be amazing to experience what they are experiencing right now?”
Sunburst sat next to her and she immediately leaned on him, “I’m sure it would be one of the most magical experiences, maybe one day.”
“You two get a room, so who wants to press the button first?”
Pinkie jumped up raising her hoof, “oh me, mememememe♪” Pinkie pressed the button and an electrical sequence of beeps came up from the music box.
“That… sounds, weird… but at the same time inspiring and maybe a bit nostalgic, doesn’t it Sunburst?”
“You are right, I feel like I could fly in space with this song, what do you think, Moondancer?”
Moondancer looked up where the magic beam connected with the skies, “it fills me with hope, that I could look at the stars and that even if life is strange and full of unknowns, it is also filled with wonder and joy and that I could face each new day with my eyes clear and true, on that moment I’m no longer scared of the unknown, because I know I won’t be alone,” she then looked Sunburst to the eyes and nuzzled him.
“D’awww that is so cute, I can’t wait to see your fo-bfbfbf,” Pinkie began but Starlight quickly shut her off with a muffin.
“Don’t freak them out Pinkie, they are going really good,” Starlight whispered in Pinkie’s ear.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Far away in space, the magic beam crossed on a trajectory to intercept the unknown space object, but this bean also gave sensory feedback to the alicorns on the planet.
“It’s beautiful don’t you think?” a voice resonated from the aether.
“Luna, we need to concentrate.”
“Let her be Twilight, this is her favorite part every time we do this on the trainings, and we both know we can concentrate and enjoy the view at the same time.”
“Fine.”
“So what do you think, Twilight?”
“It is… indeed pretty magical.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
“Ok, who’s next? Who’s next?”
“Calm down Pinkie, we are not leaving just yet… just give me a second, I need to check on the object,” Starlight walked to the Telescope and looked through the lens, “Oh boy...”
“Is there something wrong Starlight?”
“I lost the object, Sunburst, show me the coordinates it should be right now.”
“Right on Starlight,” he picked the schematics and made the calculations then showed them to Starlight, who adjusted the telescope.
“The object seems to be a bit farther than we expected.”
“Oh my gosh, does it mean that they won’t reach it?”
“I don’t know yet, Pinkie. Moondancer Sunburst, take these coordinates and let’s make a calculation of the trajectory of the space body and the magic beam.”
The trio of unicorns put their mind together doing calculations, crossing with the stellar map, doing more calculations, referencing with some books on space bodies and doing a bit more calculations, while Pinkie watched them, one could think this bored the fun loving mare, but she was staring at them with great fascination.
“Ok, so after all this… we got that… ok, this won’t affect the time or space of the contact, false alarm everypony, good job,” the group seemed to calm down after Starlight’s announcement, “ok, it shouldn’t be long until contact, I think we have enough time for a song before they reach the object,” Starlight pressed the button with her magic a solemn tune began playing.
“This sounds great and strangely fitting,” Starlight said while grabbing another cupcake.
“Yeah it sounds like some time of encounter… hey now that I think about it, wouldn’t it be weird for everypony else for a huge beam to come from the Castle of Friendship?”
“Don’t worry about it Pinkie, every time we trained for this and today, there is a spell that would make the beam invisible for anypony outside the castle, luckily the spell is affected by the atmosphere so anypony with a telescope strong enough would be able to see it when it makes contact, that’s why Tube Tester on the Academy and the group at the Institute of Sciences of Canterlot will be able to see it too.”
“Cool!”
“Yeah it’s pretty cool,” at that moment an alarm alerted the group, Moondancer turned it off, “it’s almost time,” Starlight casted a spell on the telescope and then pointed at the biggest of the whiteboards turning it black and then showing the image from the telescope in it.
“Wow, that’s the same spell Twilight used when catching Svengallop isn’t it?”
“Yeah, but now we will be able to see the moment that the beam reaches the object.”
“Hey Starlight, if it took hours for the beam to reach it, wouldn’t it take hours to send other instructions to move it?”
“No Pinkie, this is the beauty of the spell they are using, once they reach the space body, it will create a quantum connection that will let them move it real time… oh there it is look.”
In the image they could see that the magic beam finally reached the object.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
At millions of kilometers from the planet, the magic beam finally reached the object, all four of the alicorns sensed the size, texture, weight, temperature, etc of the weird space object, but one of them sensed something else, something more important.
“Twilight.”
“Not now Luna this part is crucial and we can’t make a single mistake.”
“But..”
“Please Luna, tell me when we have secured this.”
“Alright.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Back in planet Equum the group could see how the alien contraption slowly changed its trajectory, little by little the magic beam pulled the sphere. On land the alicorns showed strain on their faces, signaling that they were working as hard as they can to save the alien machine.
“Come on, come on, that’s it, come on just a little more,” chanted Starlight while the others stared in awe how the small object orbiting the big one also changed trajectory, following the bigger mass.
“I knew it, the small object is tied to the big one not just for gravity but by something else, no wonder its orbit is a perfect circle and not an oval.”
Sunburst sipped from a cup of tea, “Ok, trajectory adjusted, it’s perfectly aligned, now they just need to adjust its speed.”
“Why adjust the speed, Sunburst?”
“Elementary Pinkie, if it goes too slow it might not get trapped on Equum’s gravity, it could go past it, if it’s too fast then… well it would smash directly into us, causing a lot of destruction.”
“Oh… look the beam stopped.”
“Sunburst, Moondancer, let’s review the location and speed of the object, we need to make sure it’s where it is supposed to,” both unicorns saluted and began doing more calculations while Starlight ran to the pulling team who laid unconscious on the ground after the strain they put their magic reserves to, Starlight began using a soothing spell to help them recover and reignite their magic, it could take a few moments for them to wake up.
“Starlight.”
“What is it, Sunburst?” The stallion showed her some paperwork and she read through it, several times to make sure it’s correct, she let out a sigh of relief, “we did it guys, congratulations.”
The group cheered and Pinkie pulled out a cardboard sign with the message Welcome to Equum, we have cookies, and pointed it to the sky.
“What are you doing Pinkie,” asked Moondancer.
“Well Moony, I’m showing that thing that is welcome to the planet.”
“Well unless you can hold that sign for a few weeks that thing wouldn't be able to see it.”
“What weeks?”
“Yeah, you didn’t think it would be instantaneous, did you?”
“I kinda thought that, yeah.”
A voice came from behind them, “don’t worry Pinkie, a few weeks will pass really soon.”
“Twilight, you are awake!” the pink mare jumped huggin the purple alicorn, “you did it Twi, you are amazing.”
“No Pinkie, WE did it,” she said pointing at the other alicorns beginning to wake up as well “we all did it,” she said looking at the unicorn team who hugged twilight as well.
After that, they helped the other alicorns up, they all were a bit wobbly and weak but nothing a few desserts wouldn’t help, as they were enjoying the pastries, Luna cleared her throat.
“Is there something wrong Lulu?”
“Tia, when we made contact… I felt.”
“Yes aunt Luna, we all felt its weight, it was lighter than we expected but Twilight was able to adjust the strength of the beam accordingly.”
Luna shook her head, “that’s not it, I felt… something else,” the rest of them looked at the night alicorn worried, “whenever I dream walk, I can feel all the ponies in slumber and then I can enter their dreams, when we made contact with that huge thing, I felt something similar.”
“Luna what are you saying?”
“I don’t really know exactly what was in that object, but… it was alive and sleeping, but not dreaming, there were many sleeping presences.”
Sunburst and Moondancer stared at Luna, “around how many presences?” asked Sunburst.
“Several.”
“More than ten?” asked Starlight.
Luna nodded, “much more than that.”
“Around a hundred,” asked Starlight.
Luna nodded again, “more.”
“Like a thousand?” asked Pinkie
Luna began sweating, “I felt tens of thousands of individual lives sleeping and not dreaming, like they were in some sort of stasis,” the group looked at her with their mouths open, realizing that tens of thousands of alien life forms were headed directly to their planet.
Pinkie grabbed another cupcake and swallowed it whole, “wow now that’s a doozy.”
At the Castle in Canterlot, Twilight Sparkle walked around her desk, her mane and tail in a bad shape and a tic on her eye, Spike followed while she made a circle around the room for the umpteenth time.
“OH my stars, what if they are hostile?”
“Come on Twilight, haven’t we heard many of their songs already? And meanwhile they have some that might not be completely wholesome, most of them are.”
“Yeah, but listening to some of their songs can’t give us a complete view of their culture, just part of it.”
“Okay, but-”
“It’s like saying that since an alien found one of our cupcakes, it means that every creature on this planet likes it, try giving that cupcake to a dragon!”
“Hey! I like cupcakes.”
“Sorry Spike, I was just generalizing,” Twilight stopped making Spike bounce on her flank, “what if these are not the same aliens.”
Spike rubbed her face, “but didn’t you say that the surface of that ship is similar to the big ball that carried the music box?”
Twilight rubbed her mane more, making it even messier, “I know, but the closest star system that has planets that MIGHT have life is more than four thousand light years from here and that ship wasn’t flying even near lightspeed. There is no way in Tartarus those are the same aliens if they traveled for that long. It would be too big of a coincidence, the probability is way too small to even consider it...”
“Hey, what was the probability of the music box landing on our planet anyway?”
Twilight made some mind calculations, then shook her head, “practically zero...”
“Coincidence happens, Twilight.”
“I know, but what if it wasn’t a coincidence? What if they sent this device to make us trust them and then they send their invaders to take over the world! Technology like theirs is way over us and could overpower even our strongest magic!”
“But you saved them Twilight, you and the other alicorns saved them from a hot dip on our sun, don’t you think they would be grateful for that?”
“I don’t know Spike, maybe we made a mistake and just doomed the entire pony race, maybe we should have just...” Twilight held her head low.
“What are you saying Twilight?” Spike was worried about Twilight, he put one claw on her shoulder, “have you considered the best case scenario, where you saved tens of thousands of lives and now you will get the chance to make friends with a new culture?”
“I... I don’t know Spike, what if I made the biggest mistake in pony history?” Twilight began to hyperventilate.
Spike grabbed Twilight face with bot claws and stared directly into her eyes, “okay, Twilight, listen to me, don’t regret any of your decisions, they all brought you here and is what they keep you going, you made a decision based on the information you had available so it was the right decision at that moment, don’t ever doubt yourself, I thought we were past that already.”
Twilight stared at Spike’s eyes, a wave of pride filled her watching hor the dragon in front of her has grown since she hatched him so many years ago, now he was a reliable dragon helping her, she hugged him, “you are right Spike, I’m glad you are here to put me in the right way when I stray from the right path,” she broke the hug and walked to her desk, “Raven, I know you have been behind the door all this time.”
The royal assistant earth pony mare entered the room, “my apologies Princess Twilight, it wasn’t my intention to eavesdrop, I needed to bring you the reports from the guard, they need to be signed and sealed.”
“No worries and I hope whatever you heard stays in this room.”
“My lips are sealed Princess.”
“Good, now give those reports… excellent, Raven, prepare an announcement, the royal guard will begin recruiting again, I want to at least double the amount of soldiers within the next two moons.”
This caught Raven by surprise, but given the princess’ previous outburst, she could understand her reasoning, “at once Princess,” Raven left the room while Spike looked confused.
“Twilight I thought you were calm about it.”
“I am, in fact, I’m hoping for the best from these new visitors, but it doesn’t hurt preparing for the worst,” Twilight winked at her oldest friend, “hopefully Cadance, Celestia and Luna are also preparing.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
“Then I told him, I wish negotiations were as fast as you are in bed and he started, I lie not, crying on the sheets.”
“Tia, you are traumatizing our beloved niece, we don’t need to hear about your conquests.”
“That’s ok aunt Luna, she has told me this story before, I think I’ve heard it enough times to lose most of the awkwardness.”
“HAHAHA, I love that story, Celestia.”
“I know you do Tube and I’m glad you are back, why don’t you tell us one of yours.”
“Come on Celestia, you know I’ve only been with Fam, I never had much time for romance myself.”
The three alicorns and minotauress were resting on recliners on top of the Castle of Friendship, Twilight left after receiving the new that there were living creatures on the space object a few days ago, today Tube Tester returned with her son and all of them were discussing while getting tanned on bathing suits drinking and having a good time.
“Aw come on Tube, tell them about that time on your wedding night, I remember you told me you not only broke the bed but also the floor of the suite?”
“Yeah, good times, sometimes I miss that fat piece of fur next to me on the bed, but I guess it was not meant to be.”
“I still don’t see why not, Tube, for what you told me about him, you still have feelings for him.”
Tube Tester let out a melancholic sigh, “the feelings were never a problem, is just that work and our pride got in the middle,” what most creatures didn’t know is that even if they were separated, Tube Tester and Fam Icon occasionally got together outside the institute to let out some steam with an angry roll in the hay, Tube wouldn’t admit it, but she really wanted to get together with Fam again, but there was something that stopped them to return together, “please Celestia, I don’t want to talk about it, let just talk about what your sister found out, I suppose that we are going to be invaded by a bunch of aliens... crazy eh?”
“I’m sure there is nothing to worry about, worst case scenario we just blast them out of the planet, hey Tinker sweetie, do you mind getting me another cuba libre?”
“Yes ma’am,” said the cat boy, he searched the exit with his hands since he had his tail covering his eyes.
“Boy, get your tail out of your eyes, you are going to fall on your face.”
“Sorry mom, but I prefer risking a concussion than seeing my mom in a bikini.”
“Come on boy, you will soon get in the age to look at females in a different way, so when are you finally going to ask Joy out?”
“MOM! We are just friends!” Tinker said while pouring some rum and soda on a cup.
“Then how about one of the females you hang out from the school, that changeling seems pretty cute.”
“Come on mom, I don’t like them that way, can’t you let me be a kid for a bit longer?” he said while giving the cup to Celestia.
“I’m just teasing you boy, I know you are my little boy,” Tube grabbed the abyssinian pulling him into a hug while rubbing his head.
“Mom! Please, not in public,” the teenager said while he was being petted by his adoptive mother, but he did not make any effort to escape.
“Well, well, well, so you don’t want to be treated as an adult nor do you want to be pampered as a kid, I don’t understand you boy,” Tube said while rubbing her son who began purring and finally fell asleep “he is so cute when he sleeps.”
“By the way aunt Celestia, shouldn’t we leave? Twilight left a few days ago and Shining Armor already left with Flurry Heart for the Crystal empire this morning.”
“Oh shush Cadance, we barely spend time together, stay a bit with us, these are the last days we can take sun baths before pegasus prepare to bring winter.”
Luna applied more sun block on her body, “hey since they left the music box in here why don’t we listen to a few songs?”
“That’s a great idea Lulu, let me press the button first.”
“Ok, I’m out.”
“Aw, why Tube Tester, come on and listen to it with us.”
“No thanks, last time I listened to that thing, it really messed me up, besides I don’t want to wake up Tinker.”
“I’m already up mom… mom, are you scared of the music box?”
“What are you saying boy? I’m scared of nothing in this world… well maybe just Celestia when she is hungry.”
“You know there is nothing to fear right? They are just songs.” Tinker said to his mother while making his pupils as big as he could.
Tube let out a defeated sigh, “is not fair you use that face boy, fine, but if I hate it I’ll bail and I don’t want to be the first.”
“Alright, I guess I’ll press it first then,” Celestia pressed the button with her magic and the sound of a guitar came out.
“Hmmm, it seems country music, I’m not a huge fan of that genre.”
“Me neither Celestia, how about you boy?”
“It’s nice, I like it.”
“You have terrible tastes boy, it appears that the singer is telling about her first love, let me guess, the song will tell about their life together, all the love they had, but there is a point where they fight and end with them separated.”
“You have a grim point of view Tube Tester,” Luna said while opening another bottle of sunblock.
“I agree, I’m sure you believe in love Tube Tester, I can feel it in you, I mean besides the love you feel from Tinker.”
“Nope, not at all Princess Cadence, I love my son and my work, I don’t need anycreature else…” Celestia lifted her sunglasses, she stared at Tube Tester, “oh yeah, and I love messing with Celestia but that’s it.”
“Is so sad you think that way Tube Tester, I’m sure that if love didn’t work for you before with your first mate, it could work with somepony else.”
“I… don’t want anyone else Princess, can we let it go, the song reached the part where they get married, hmm, I’m sure everything is going downhill from here… aaaaand there you go, they fell apart, I’m sure they both blamed each other and their own work, first it was small things like forgetting dates and then forgetting anniversaries, I SAID I WAS SORRY FAM! Damn, when your work is too important you can’t just leave it half done!.”
“Tube, relax, you are projecting yourself.”
The minotauress snapped from her angry rant, then looked down to her lap where a very worried Tinker Claw stared at her, “I’m sorry boy, is just that this topic is one of my weakness, I don’t really like showing that side of me,” her son hugged her and nuzzled her neck at which she patted his head.
“I don’t care if you have weaknesses mom, I love you.”
The alicorns let out a group d'aww, “listen, the song didn’t end with them separated, Tube, they had children together and watched them grow up and they both grew older together.”
“Hmm, well I guess it wasn’t that bad after all.”
“So Tube, are you ready to press the button now?”
“You are not letting me leave without me pressing it right?” Celestia shook her head, “fine,” the minotauress approached the music box and pressed the button and a sweet and soft melody came from it.
Tube returned to her seat with Tinker on her lap, “that’s a pretty melody, I like it,” she said while rubbing her son’s head.
“That’s sweet, he wants to give someone a special gift, I wonder what could be if it’s so rare,” said Cadence clapping her hooves.
“Hmm, probably just something made out of gold and jewels, that’s what goes for special gifts nowadays.”
“Come on Tube, you have to be so cynical about this as well?”
“Alright Celestia, sorry about that, I’m sure it is something more significant than gold… what does september mean?”
“I have no clue Tube Tester, but probably some sort of date,” Luna replied while enjoying the song lyrics, then the next verse started, “oh he wants to give the other alien’s smile to the moon, I don’t know if that’s romantic or if I should be scared of it.”
Tinker kept enjoying the song in silence, he was almost sleep due to her mother’s caresses. Cadence was moved by the song, “I think that I know what the gift he wants to give is, but let’s keep listening.”
“So now he is asking for a gift just as big?”
“Well Tube, if I’m right about the nature of the gift, then that won’t be a problem Tube Tester.”
The group kept listening and Tube Tester smiled realizing what the gift he was talking about, she remembered those times when she gave the same gift to Fam, how they promised to be together all their life, but then how they couldn’t keep that promise and remembered how deep inside her, she knew that she wouldn’t be able to love another man like him, she thought that it could be a good idea to talk with him about it, instead of either fight or angrily ruin his bed sheets for a night whenever they met, a single tear fell from her eye which she quickly cleaned without anyone noticing, “it would be nice, but it wouldn’t work.”
The group kept listening to the song while it lasted, giving everyone present, a warm feeling inside.
Snow fell from the sky as the pegasus weather team had already brought winter to Ponyville, a white layer of soft snow covered the roof of the houses and some of the roads. A loud sound came from the train station as the locomotive stopped at its destination, many ponies came out of the train, including two mares in winter outfit one slightly shorter than the other.
The taller mare wore a gray hat, glasses and a coat while the shorter mare wore a jacket and a white cap, they walked through the town until they reached the castle of friendship. They knocked at the door and in a matter of seconds the doors opened showing a purple alicorn.
“Daring, Izzi, how are you?”
“Twilight!” Izzi yelled hugging the princess while Daring Do stared at them with a smile, “it’s been too long, mi amiga!”
“Izzi… too tight… can’t breath.”
“Oh sorry Twilight.”
“Come on Short Round, don’t strangle royalty, remember all our traveling has made you gain a bit of muscle.”
“I’m glad to see you both, please come in and tell me about your adventures, I teleported from Canterlot when I received the letter saying you will pass by Ponyville again.”
The mares entered the Castle and left their coats and hats on the hanger, inside they met Rarity and Applejack that were taking a cup of tea.
“Hi everypony, it seems the castle is not as crowded as it used to be last time we were here.”
“Yeah, many o’ our friends are out o’ town, sugarcube, Ah reckon me and my girlfriend here will be takin’ the train later today, Rares’ family invited mine to a cruise for a few weeks, so we won’t be here for Hearth's Warming.”
“That sounds so cool Applejack,” Izzi exclaimed.
“darn tootin' sugarcube.”
All newcomers sat on the soft sofas while Twilight brought them tea, “yes the same with Moondancer and Sunburst families, they are celebrating Hearth's warming together, of course that means Starlight is gone and Trixie invited herself as expected.”
Daring sipped from her cup, “mmm delicious, what about Rainbow Dash? I would have thought she would be the first one to greet me, I even brought her the first edition of my new book,” she pulled a Daring Do book with her picture and a new picture of a white pegasus with green mane in it.
“Daring Do and the Temple of Mood? I bet she will love it but she got stuck with Wondervolt training, even if she is a huge fan of yours, she is still a responsible mare and she will have training today, she will likely come tomorrow to see you leave.”
“Good, I’m glad she is as responsible.”
“Enough about chit chatting, tell me about the good stuff, in your last letter you wrote that the aliens are coming, what about that chica?”
Twilight rolled her eyes, “well as I explained to you in my letters, we found a new space body and we wanted to pull it to us, it turns out that Luna sensed sleeping lifeforms inside of it, we still don’t know what they are.”
“Do you think they might be dangerous, Princess?”
“I don’t think so Daring Do, who would travel millions of lightyears just to do wrong?”
“Well on the movies-”
“I’ve watched the movies Izzi, they are just fiction, there is no reason for them to be aggressive.”
“No aggressive, uh? Is that why you have bolstered the royal army forces?”
“Forewarned is forehoofed, Daring Do.”
“Yeah I guess you are right.”
Rarity levitated her cup to the table, “in any way, we will know in a matter of a few weeks, when it arrives.”
“That’s kinda scary if you tell me, isn’t it DD?”
Daring Do rubbed Izzi’s head, “on the moons we’ve been traveling, you would have gotten used to scary stuff Short Round.”
“Fine fine, stop with the hoof you are messing my mane.”
Everypony laughed and then Daring Do and Izzi told them about the adventures they had travelling and studying the flora of Equestria, how they were chased by weird creatures more than once, how they got mugged but were able to catch the thief only to realize it was a poor mare trying to feed her family so they helped her get a real job, they also mentioned how they met with Scootaloo’s parents while visiting Shire Lanka and they had a meal with the natives.
They spent several hours talking about life when it got late, “Oh darling, that was such a fascinating story but we need to leave Jackie.”
“Aw come on, Rares, the train ain’t for a few more hours and Ah wanted t’listen t’another song from the music box.”
“Yes, I do believe we have enough time.”
Izzi jumped on the sofa, “cool, I wanted to hear another song as well.”
“Settle down Short Round, you will break the sofa,” Daring Do said while Izzi pouted.
The group moved to the studio and Twilight prepared the machine, the other ponies discussed the fact that they won’t have a Hearth's warming party for the first time in several years.
“I can’t help but feel a bit lonely this year, not being able to celebrate Hearth's warming with all our friends, darling.”
“Ah know Rares, but nothin’ we can do ‘bout it, ‘sides Ah know they’re havin’ fun with their kin.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
“Discord! Get my parents down from that contraption you crazy beast!” yelled a green pegasus at the draconequus, seeing his mother and father wrapped to a car about to go off a roller coaster bigger than anything Zephyr has ever seen, “Fluttershy, tell your monster of a boyfriend to stop messing with our parents!”
From inside the kitchen at Discord’s house a soft voice came, “don’t worry Zephyr, I’m sure Discord wouldn’t do something to hurt our parents.”
“That’s right honey, this looks pretty fun if you ask me, isn’t it love?” said Posey Shy.
“I say, I’m pretty excited to try this roller coaster,” responded her husband, Gentle Breeze.
“You heard them Zhepo, the old couple wants to have fun,” Discord said as he pulled the lever sending Mr. and Mrs. Shy on the ride of their lives.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
“I concur, darling.”
“Ok, the music box is ready, who wants to start it first?”
“Oh Me! Me! Me! Please Twilight, can I press it? di que si, di que si.”
Twilight giggled while Daring Do facehoofed, “sure Izzi, press the button.”
The pegasus pressed the button, bells and some violin began playing.
“Ah know you do Rares, oh and listen to that violin, it sounds great as well and the chorus sounds like somethin’ you might like as well.”
They kept enjoying the song when the violin solo started, “huh, how peculiar.”
“Why Daring Do?” asked the purple alicorn.
“Well, that tune reminds me of the folkloric music from the highland ponies.”
“Yeah you are right, sounds similar to the music we heard when we were there, mostly the violin, since most of it sounds like an orchestra.”
“I trained you well Short Round,” Daring messed with Izzi’s mane again, the younger mare didn’t remove the hoof and blushed.
“There is that word again, Christmas, now I’m certain that is a festivity since they mentioned it last winter as well, most likely a winter celebration, and since it brings good cheer, it’s fair to assume that is similar to Hearth's Warming.”
Daring Do grabbed a notepad and wrote some notes, “you are right Princess, I’m sure we will be able to ask them once they arrive, what it would be? A few weeks?”
“Yeah and to be honest I’m as terrified as I’m excited.”
“Hey, what do y’all think that glory at the chorus means? Do y’all think this Christmas might be a religious celebration?”
“Maybe, many cultures have their own religions so they must have their own as well.”
“Well as long as them aliens accept Faust in their hearts, they’ll be ok with me.”
“Oh darling, you need to be more accepting of other cultures, please? For me?” Rarity gave her cute eyes to her marefriend.
“Aw shucks Rares, You know Ah can’t say no to them eyes,” she took her hat to cover them while they both nuzzled each other.
“Isn’t that cute DD?”
Daring Do rolled her eyes, not used to that kind of public displays of affection, “precious, the song is over, why don’t we continue?”
“You don’t have to be a party pooper DD, why don’t you press the button now?”
Daring do approached the machine and pressed the button returning to her place, more bells sounded.
“It doesn’t sounds like a song Rares, do y’all think that voice is going t’tell us a story?”
“It seems that way, and it appears to be a story in winter time, right at the end of the year.”
“Dear me! Bare head and naked feet in winter? That poor little girl will catch a cold for sure.”
“Oh boy, that doesn’t sound good, they were so poor that she only had her mother slippers?”
“You are right Twilight, such a poor little thing,” exclaimed Izzi, feeling sad for the little girl.
“Ah reckon that boy ain’t a good alien for stealin’ the little girl slipper.”
“Hmm, we established that their feet lack any kind of protection, so she needed those slippers, hopefully she will find something to warm her feet in the story.”
“Ah hope so too, Twilight… Oh so she’s a match seller, how unkind of the aliens not buyin’ from her, seein’ that she’s shoeless an’ all,” Applejack was starting to fume in anger.
“Darling, maybe the town was just as poor and couldn’t afford to buy the matches, is a story there is nothing to get worked out about.”
“Yeah sorry love, is just that kind o’ injustice grinds mah gears.”
Izzi shook her head, “so much for the town being poor, if they can afford roasted goose, they could buy her matches, or at least share the goose.”
“Relax Short Round, I’m sure that the story will have a happy ending, so I guess we can agree that those aliens seem to eat meat, maybe omnivores?
“Such a beast of a father, how could he beat her own daughter for not selling matches?”
“Um, Rares? Now you’re the one getting all worked out, Ah understand you tho.”
“Oh no, is she hallucinating DD? Or do you think that the matches were magic?”
“Probably the later Short Round, is a story after all and needs to end happily… I hope.”
Izzi bit on her hooves worried for the little girl, “DD I think she is all-”
“Nope, shut up Short Round, it is magic and you know it...” Daring’s lip was quivering a bit.
“Oh mah Faust, her grandmother is dead, Ah couldn’t be able to bear Granny Smith leavin’ us, this story will make mah eyes rain down.”
“That’s an interesting outtake, a falling star meaning some alien is dead, is quite romantic if you ask me and they seem to have their own deity as well, I wonder what they call him.”
“DD! DD! She is hallucinating isn’t she?”
“I guess so Short Round,” her eyes began getting wet, “I guess this story has no happy ending,” Izzi stared at her mentor, she leaned on her wrapping one of her wings around her torso, “thanks kiddo.”
“Such a cruel world those aliens lived in, I can’t believe such a dreadful dead came to a little girl, I can’t, I can’t,” Rarity began crying on Applejack’s chest, while the cowpony made her best effort to just cry on the inside.
“Wow Twilight, do you think it’s a good idea to let aliens capable of such cruelty come to our world?”
“Izzi, I know it sounds bad, but I’m sure this is just a story of many, and most of them are good.”
“If you say so, who’s next?”
Applejack stood up, “if y’all let me, Ah want t’press the button now.”
“Darling, are you sure?”
Applejack nodded, “Ah’m sure it’ll be something good and not sad,” she pressed the button and the sounds of a guitar sounded.
Izzi crossed her wing feathers, “please be something happy, please be something happy.”
“This song is beautiful darling and so nostalgic, but it makes me remember that all our friends won’t be together this Hearth's Warming.”
“Don’t worry Rares, no matter where they’re, we’re all under the same sky.”
The sound of the song warmed the mares that were present in the castle, they even began humming the song as if they had known it from the start.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
At the rock farm the Pies enjoyed some caroling, while Cloudy Quartz prepared the dinner, all the four pie sisters were present and a new guest this time as Mudbriar also came to celebrate, even then they were waiting for another guest, surprisingly invited by Marble Pie they all were sure he won’t take long to arrive.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
The winter wind passed near Sire's Hollow where Sunburst, Moondancer and Starlight Glimmer were joined by their families and Trixie, they were all laughing at old family albums showing Sunburst’s and Starlight’s pictures when they were babies, usually they would be as red as a tomato, but they were too busy playing with their baby sister Luster Dawn. Moon Dancer watched both the album but then watched Sunburst playing with the baby and imagined how it would be to have foals on her own and this brought a blush to her face.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
At Discord’s house, Fluttershy’s family were at the table, Discord and Zephyr Breeze were competing to see who could eat faster while his parents and older sister stared in awe at the fact that they were very even.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
At Silver Shoals Luna was participating in a hula hoop contest while Celestia was already on her thirtieth bahama mama of the day, she was mumbling incoherences at the bartender.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
At Laburinthos a drowsy Tube Tester was sitting on the bed where Fam Icon was laying sleeping, she stared at him, her eyes filled with longing and her hand caressed the sleeping minotaur, she stood and dressed to leave for her sister’s Inn where her son was.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
At the Wonderbolts training ground, the flying acrobats finished their training and enjoyed a hot shower.
“Nice one Crash, you keep up the good work and I’ll begin worrying for my job.”
“I’m not even trying, if I wanted your job I’d had it in ten seconds flat.”
“Excuse me Dash, Spitfire, the training is over may I be excused?”
“Sure Clipper, but where are you going in such a hurry?”
“Oh I got invited to dine with a sweet mare and her family, so I need to leave right now.”
“Sure go ahead Soarin’ hope this time it works, not like last time with-”
Soarin’ put a hoof on Spitfire’s mouth, “Spitfire, I thought we agreed we’ll never talk about that.”
“Oh, now I’m interested.”
“Please Dash, don’t ask her, now I need to leave, bye you two,” he took flight as fast as he could leaving the showers.
Rainbow Dash also remembered that Daring do was going to arrive today at Ponyville, “Spitfire, now that I think about it, I need to leave too.”
“You too? Okay fine, leave I need to go to my mom's place anyway,” Rainbow Dash saluted and flew as fast as she could.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
“Now that’s what Ah call a good song, sugarcube.”
“It was delightful, darling.”
“Hey Twilight, can Ah get a copy o’ that, it gave me some inspiration.”
“Oh are you going to play it on your mother’s guitar, Jackie?” Applejack nodded, “I can’t wait to hear it.”
“No problem Applejack aaaaand here, I can’t wait to hear it either.”
“Well it was a lovely evening but, Jackie and I need to pack for the trip.”
“Yeah, it was nice and all, see y’all in a week.”
The couple left the castle leaving Twilight and the pegasus, Izzi yawned “it’s getting late maybe we should call it a day.”
“Oh, let me show you your rooms,” Twilight said walking down the hall.
“Rooms?” Izzi asked which earned a soft hit on the head by Daring Do.
“Don’t mind her Princess, is just that we usually share a room to minimize costs and all.”
Twilight giggled showing them two vacant rooms that were almost in front of each other. The Princess gave her farewells and then both mares entered their respective rooms.
A few minutes after Twilight was gone, one of the room doors opened and softly a shadow came from inside the room, the dimmed light showed that it was Izzi softly walking in the hall when from behind her she could hear the flapping of a pair of wings.
“Hay mama!”
“OH hey Izzi, sorry for scaring you, hey do you know which room is Daring Do.”
“Um… oh, Rainbow Dash, you almost scare the green out of my mane, um… yeah she is in that room,” she pointed to a room in the direction she was heading.
“Hey thanks, eh, were you heading there too?”
Izzi’s ears flapped, “nope, not me!” she then ran to her room.
Rainbow shrugged and opened Daring’s door.
“Well hello Short RRRRR,” Daring said while holding a rose on her mouth which she quickly ate, there were candles and she was wearing a babydoll, “RAINBOW DASH, of course, why would I be waiting for somepony different?”
“Why would you be expecting me? I wasn’t even going to arrive today, what’s with that getup anyway?.”
“Uh.. nevermind that is my sleeping clothes, so what’s on your mind?”
“Oh, yeah, I just wanted to come to say hello…”
“And get the new book,” Daring said in a monotone voice.
Rainbow blushed and scratched her neck, “weeeell, now that you mention it, you did tell me you will have it today.”
“Heheh, fine is on my saddlebag.”
Rainbow flew to Darings bag and pulled out the book, “AWESOME! Let me get out of your mane, I need to read this,” she flew out of the window leaving Daring Do alone in her room.
Daring Do sighed, she walked to her door and stuck out her head, “Izzi… you there?”
A tin layer of snow still decorated the roofs and roads of Ponyville and cold winds blew around every creature in town, nonetheless the ponies needed to start the day, the market stands prepared their goods, some ponies sang a song in the middle of the plaza, hoping to earn a few bits, the birds flew around just like some of the pegasi and other winged creatures, a wall eyed mail mare collided with one of the market stands, the mail mare apologized profusely but most of the habitants were used to her antics.
At Cheerilee’s school, the foals prepared for class when their teacher entered the room, she was followed by a small filly, her coat was beige, her mane and tail were light brown, she was wearing a gray vest and a bowler hat to match, her eyes seemed nervous but full of enthusiasm.
“Good morning class, I want to introduce you to a new student,” Cheerilee turned to face filly, “come on little one, introduce yourself to the class.”
The little filly smiled nervously and stepped up in front of all the foals in class, “hello, my name is Lu-Lucky Tune and-d I’m from F-Fillydelphia-skibit,” she said quickly, almost biting her tongue in the process.
“Hi Lulucky!” the group of fillies and colts replied in unison, gaining a facehoof from the newcomer.
The filly took a deep breath and let it out slowly, she then talked in a more calmly manner, “I am sorry, I meant to say that my name is Lucky Tune and I am from Fillydelphia, nice to meet you everypony,” she slowly bowed while the foals stared at her and some of them began to whisper.
“That was weird, right Sweetie Belle?” Scootaloo asked her friend next to her.
“Yeah, what do you think, Apple Bloom?”
“Well Ah think that there is somethin’ wrong but it ain’t with the new filly, y’all, look at Diamond Tiara,” the other two stared at the heiress of the Rich family sitting at the other side of their group in front of Silver Spoon, she was biting her pencil and she seemed nervous, some sweat droplets could be seen on her forehead.
Scootaloo poked Silverspoon with her hoof, “hey Silvy, what’s wrong with Diamond Tiara?”
The gray filly adjusted her glasses and stretched her neck to see the pink filly’s face, “oh no” she whispered, she then turned to face the cutiemark crusaders, “I think this is like bad.”
Apple Bloom’s eyes went wide, in a feat of strength and speed, she lifted Scootaloo and switched places with her in an instant, “what’s wrong? Is she sick? Should Ah carry her t’the hospital?”
“What? No, is not that, it seems like she is like having a relapse with her old tendencies.”
“What do ya mean Silver Spoon?
“Well, she has made peace with all the class by now, but like what we have here is a prime target for bullying, I mean, she is the new filly in town, she is wearing a funny hat, she seems to have a speech impediment.”
“A what? Speech in-condiment?”
“A speech impediment is a disorder where the normal speech is disrupted,” said Sweetie Belle smiling at her own knowledge.
“You will always be a dictionary Sweetie.”
“And you will always be a chicken Scoot.”
“Oh touche.”
“Quiet y’all hey Di, you ain’t gonna try t’bully the new student right?”
Diamond Tiara turned to face Apple Bloom , “I don’t want to, but I couldn’t help thinking like twenty forms to break her spirit, I’m a monster AB, please do something before I hurt her.”
“Ok class, we will start the lesson, oh Lucky, there is a sit in front of Apple Bloom and next to Diamond Tiara, two really good students, I’m sure they will make you feel at home, oops I forgot my notebook, I’ll be right back class.”
“Thank you so much, Miss Cheerilee,” Lucky said slowly again, trying to concentrate in every word while the teacher got out of the classroom.
Back at the group the cutiemark crusaders and Silver Spoon stared at Diamond Tiara who by now, broke the pencil she had in her mouth in half. The filly approached the group while Silver Spoon whispered in Diamond Tiara’s ear “deep breaths Di, deep breaths, we know you can do this, don’t ruin what we build all these moons.”
Lucky finally reached them but before she could sit on the chair, Apple Bloom stopped her, “Ya can’t sit here.”
Lucky stared at her confused, “oh, I see, I understand-didabop.”
“You do?” asked the farm filly.
“Yeah, you are a b-bully,” she said surprising Apple Bloom, “listen here m-miss-skibida-bully, I’ve been l-l-laugh at enough in my previous city for my stuttering and I’m not going to let you get to me, so d-d-do your worst.
“Wait, this is like totally a misunderstanding, tell them Di,”
“I… you… she… stutter... “
“Oh, so you are being b-b-bullied too Diamond Tiara, don’t worry I’m here now and you won’t be alone,” she sat next to Diamond Tiara, she extended her hoof to her, “nice to m-meet you, I like your tiara I hope we can be f-f-friends-sittup.”
At that moment the pink filly felt like a wave of peace flowing in her body, the sweating stopped, her eyes were focused on the filly in front of her, Lucky’s eyes shined with sincerity, her smile was just as bright, Diamond Tiara held the new filly’s hoof and shook it.
“What just happened,” asked Sweetie Belle.
“Ah don’t know but Ah don’t like it none,” Apple Bloom felt weird watching how Lucky didn’t let go of Diamond Tiara’s hoof, she puffed her cheeks and tried to get their attention, “um… Di, ain’t ya gonna explain’ the misunderstandment?”
“Misunderstanding,” corrected Sweetie Belle.
“Oh shush you.”
“Oh yes, sorry about it, um… Lucky, these are not bullies, they are like good fillies.”
Lucky squinted her eyes, “are you sure they are not forcing you to say that, because if-f-f they are then I’ll-”
“It’s the truth, believe me” Diamond Tiara interrupted the filly, “we are now friends, right AB?”
“Yeah, we’re besties,” she said while hugging Diamond Tiara, making her blush a bit.
“Okay, I’ll believe it, in-n that case nice to meet you-bop.”
Scootaloo approached Apple Bloom, “by the way that’s my spot.”
“Oh ya, sorry ‘bout that Scoot,” Apple Bloom moved and Scootaloo sat on her spot next to Silver Spoon.
“Oh and why do you speak weird Lucky?”
The group facehoofed while Lucky giggled, “don’t worry girls, I know t-that I talk funny-bitip, I d-don’t mind it anymore.”
“Ok class, now we can start with the lesson,” Cheerilee said entering the room again, the foals took their seats and listened to their teacher for the day.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Today there was just half day of class so the cutiemark crusaders joined by Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon and Lucky Tune, walked out and talked about life and school, they learned that Lucky still didn’t have her cutiemark so the crusaders offered to help her and she agreed.
“So you are telling me you us-used to be a bully Diamond Tiara?” the pink filly nodded, “I couldn’t have guessed t-that, the foals that used to b-b-bully me were rude and ugly but you are really kind and v-very pretty, ” saying that made Diamond Tiara blush.
Apple Bloom puffed her cheeks again and stepped between Diamond Tiara and Lucky, “ya she was mighty nasty with us, anyway ya said ya wanted help with yer cutiemark right?”
“Oh yeah, I’m getting older and I haven’t f-f-found my special talent.”
Scootaloo walked backward in front of Lucky, “so what do you like doing?”
“I like singing… I really like singing, but I’m not t-that good, for obvious reasons.”
Sweetie Belle bit her lip, “yeah I don’t think that will be possible… I know, let’s do the certified cutiemark crusader tests, patent pending, at the clubhouse," the group agreed and ran to Sweet Apple Acres.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
An hour and a half later, the crusaders were washing poor little Lucky, while Diamond Tiara washed her vest and Silver Spoon held her hat.
“That was f-fun.. except the part when I got covered in tree sap.”
“Yeah sorry Lucky, we should seriously consider removing that from the list.”
“But that is the most awesome part Sweetie Belle, in fact it is my favorite.”
“At least this time we didn’t end up covered in honey like last time, y’all.”
“Sadly I still didn’t get my cutiemark.”
Diamond Tiara returned with a towel and Lucky’s vest, “don’t worry Lucky, I’m sure these three will help you, oh and Sweetie Belle, like this needs drying and it would take too long with under the sun.”
“What do you want me to do? I don’t know any drying magic.”
“Well I was thinking something like, you spinning it really fast so it dries out”
“Oh yea I can do that,” Sweetie Belle took the vest with her magic and began spinning it while Diamond Tiara used the towel to dry Lucky.
Apple Bloom stared at them and felt something in her stomach, she didn’t know why she did it but she made like she slipped, “woops,” the apple farmer fell in the water splashing some of it, “hey Di, Ah got all wet, can ya help me?”
“Oh AB you are so clumsy sometimes, Silvy pass me the other towel,” the gray filly threw the towel and Diamond Tiara grabbed it and used it to dry Apple Bloom who smiled.
Lucky used the towel she still had to finish drying completely, then stared at the other two, she then let out a soft “hmmm.”
“So we still need to find a way t’find her special talent, y’all.”
“Diamond Tiara, you usually have good ideas, you got something?”
Diamond Tiara scratched her chin, “hmm, how about that thing you were going to show us last time?”
“Oh the Music Box? Yeah I guess we forgot all about it after well… you know the pit and all.”
“Yeah Scoot, maybe the music box could give us an idea, but we don’t know if it will be alone so we can sneak in, let me check with Spike first,” she returned the vest to Lucky then pulled some parchment and a quiver from her saddleback, she wrote a note and fired it with her magic, a few minutes later she received a response by dragon fire magic, “it says that the Studio is alone and everycreature will be at the roof for a few hours, we can go unnoticed.”
“Well what are we waiting for, let’s go!”
“I hope is as interesting as you say it is, Scoot”
“Believe me Silvy, it is”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
On top of the Castle of Friendship, Princess Twilight was looking at the telescope, next to her was Starlight and Moondancer, while Sunburst was back at the blackboard with Tube Tester and Spike reviewing notes and Tinker Claw was still at school.
“Okay team, it should be just around the corner now aaaaaand THERE IT IS!” Twilight said while watching through the telescope.
“By my calculations it should arrive to the point where it begins its orbit around the planet in no less than an hour.”
“You are right, Moondancer as always.”
Moondancer winked at Sunburst, who smiled and continued taking notes.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
The group of fillies reached the Castle’s studio where the Music Box resided.
“No way! Really l-like aliens in the movies? Will they eat my b-brain?”
“No Lucky, they appear to be good, in fact there is one that has such a magical voice, he is my prince.”
“You mean the one that sings the, you are not alone, song? You keep singing that one, I sometimes worry that you will marry the song,” Scootaloo laughed, earning a playful hit from Sweetie Belle’s hoof.
“You don’t really believe this thing is alien stuff do you?”
“Come on Di, doesn’t this seem like pretty exciting?”
“I guess so, but aliens? Really?
Apple Bloom removed the cover from the pedestal revealing the machine, the group followed with a coordinated “oooooh”
“That looks like one of those minotaurs, um… computers I think they call them, but a lot like smaller and smoother,” said Diamond Tiara poking at the strange contraption, “my daddy has one, paid a lot of bits for it and has more buttons.”
“Well Di, why don’t ya try and press that button,” asked Apple Bloom.
“Fine, let’s see what’s the deal with this,” she pressed the button and an electric guitar began playing.
“Hmm, this sounds nice, it sounds really good,” the rich filly said enjoying the tune, then the first verse ended, “wait what? How does that thing?”
“How does t-that thing what? Diamond Tiara.”
“Nevermind, it must be a coincidence, like how many songs do you say that thing has Apple Bloom?”
“We dunno, Ah reckon Ah have heard ‘bout twenty already.”
“Wow”
“Spike once told me that according to Professor Tester, it seems to have a huge amount of information in this music box, to compare it would be equivalent to three times all of Equestria’s books and then some.”
“WHAT?!?” asked in unison Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon and Lucky Tune.
Scootaloo laughed at their reactions, “we told you it was awesome.”
Diamond Tiara continued listening to the song and she felt like it was meant for her to listen to this song, “AB,” she called out the apple farmer, who directed her attention to Diamond Tiara, “why do I feel that this song was meant for me?”
“What do ya mean Di?” Apple Bloom wasn’t paying much attention to the lyrics just enjoying the song but after Diamond Tiara’s comment she paid more attention to them, “Di, ya know we forgave ya, right?”
“Yeah I know, but I think I like… got off too easy, I mean look at me,” Diamond Tiara’s eyes were getting a bit moist, “I still have a good standing in school, my grades haven’t faulted, I never got any kind of punishment for all the years I bully you and your friends, I should have been punished more severely, but you, you just forgave me and that was it.”
“Don’t forget that Scootaloo literally made me her slave for a moon.”
“Shhh Sylvi, read the mood… also you know you enjoyed it,” the pegasus scolded the gray filly.
Apple Bloom watched her friend’s face was now full with tears and her eyes were red, “Di, please don’t do this to you, nopony thinks like that, you are now good and you are now my friend.”
“But I don’t feel like I’ve been punished enough I haven’t done enough, maybe I should-”
Apple Bloom shut Diamond’s mouth with a hoof, “t’what end are ya punishin’ yourself? T’make yourself acceptable before everypony else? Ya don’t have to! We already think you are our friend!”
“If I’d only known then what I know now, I’d-”
Apple Bloom interrupted Diamond Tiara again, “don’t beat yourself up ‘bout your lack o’ knowledge back then, do ya do things differently now than ya did in the past? Well Yee haw to that! You’re a pony and as long as you’re growin’, learnin’ and changin’, you’re on the right track.”
“But what if I don’t have the strength to continue on the good track?” Diamond Tiara lowered her face to the ground.
“In that case ya have us, your friends and as long as we live we’ll help you because you’re our friend and you’re important for us, you’re important for me Di, I love you,” Apple Bloom grabbed Diamond Tiara from her shoulders and they were both face to face.
Apple Bloom’s face was dripping with tears as well, Diamond Tiara’s face was forming now a smile as pure as spring water, “you do?” Apple Bloom nodded and everypony else stared at the two of them.
Lucky softly giggled, moved by the moment the two of her newest friends were sharing and she whispered to herself, “I guess I didn’t have a ch-chance from the start.”
Diamond Tiara cleaned the tears from her face and stared directly into Apple Bloom’s eyes, “I love you too,” everypony else stared at them so intensively that they could probably tear holes in reality with their eyes, “you are like one of my bestest friends,” Diamond Tiara said and jumped to tightly hug the yellow filly in front of her.
“AWWW COME ON!” Sweetie Belle screamed, being immediately tackled by Scootaloo and Silver Spoon, the latter covered the unicorn’s mouth with her hoof.
“Hmm, maybe I do have a chance,” said Lucky smiling.
Some time passed and the pair finally calmed down, “sorry girls *sniff* that was so lame of me, I’m ok now, thanks AB”
Apple Bloom let out a sigh that sounded more like disappointment than relief, “don’t mention it, hey how ‘bout we listen t’another song, who’s turn is it?”
“Why don’t we, like let Lucky go next”
“Oh please, after you, you have been waiting more for this than me.”
“Okay, let’s see,” Silver Spoon pressed the button an a beautiful song played.
As the large space object slowly moved closer to the planet, some of the monitors came to life, showing words that no creature in Equus could understand, but if they could understand them they would read:
GARDEN WORLD DETECTED… GARDEN WORLD NOT IN DATABASE. VESSEL LOCATION UNKNOWN, CALIBRATING… UNABLE TO COMPARE WITH STELLAR CHARTS. STARTING DRIVES DIAGNOSIS… GENERAL DATABASE CORRUPTED. EMERGENCY VESSEL CONTROL DATABASE OPERABLE. VESSEL DIAGNOSIS… … … VESSEL LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM STABLE BUT ENERGY LEVELS CRITICAL. VESSEL PERSONNEL SURVIVAL STATUS... 92% VESSEL CIVILIAN SURVIVAL STATUS… 99.01% VESSEL LIVESTOCK SURVIVAL STATUS… 0% VESSEL FLORA SURVIVAL STATUS… 23% MAIN PROPULSION SYSTEM OFFLINE. SECONDARY PROPULSION SYSTEM AT 3% HULL INTEGRITY UNDER ACCEPTABLE LEVELS. SHIELDS OFFLINE. DETECTING ORBITAL PROVES... ORBITAL PROVES DETECTED 1 OF 80 REMAINING. CALCULATING CURRENT TRAJECTORY... UNKNOWN GARDEN WORLD ORBIT. COLLISION TRAJECTORY CALCULATED CORRECTING COURSE. SECONDARY PROPULSION SYSTEM AT 0% SECONDARY PROPULSION SYSTEM OFFLINE. UNABLE TO CORRECT COURSE COLLISION IMMINENT. DETECTING UNKNOWN FORM OF ENERGY. UNABLE TO RAISE SHIELDS. CALCULATING CURRENT TRAJECTORY… STABLE TRAJECTORY ORBITING GARDEN WORLD NO COLLISION ESTIMATED. BEGIN ARRIVAL PROTOCOLS. UNABLE TO REACH ORBITAL PROVE. UNABLE TO BEGIN ARRIVAL PROTOCOLS. STANDING BY… … … … … … … …
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
“Wow that was close, nice catch Sunburst.”
“No problem Twilight, luckily we had enough magic to correct the object’s course before it was too late,” the group let out a tired sigh for suddenly using a large part of their magic to move the object at a short notice.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Back at the studio, the group of fillies listened to the song.
“That was weird, but I kinda liked it. Not something I listen to everyday.”
“Yeah it sounded like nothing in this world.”
“I’m still not convinced it’s aliens though, anyway I guess it's Lucky's turn now.”
“Yay, I just wish that I could s-sing like the girl on the first song-beedapop, I guess not everypony can make their dreams come true,” Lucky said and then pressed the button and was startled for what she could only guess was a man making noises with his mouth.
“That’s loud,” said Sweetie Belle, “it’s barely singing”
“No, it’s beautiful,” said Lucky, her ears turned to catch as much of the song as she could.
“Hey doesn’t that sound like your stuttering Lucky?”
“Yeah it kinda d-does-skadibobob,” Lucky continued listening to the song while her lips followed the sounds of the singer scat singing like she was meant to sing it, then the singer began singing normally, “yes, that’s what I’m talking about, let nothing hold you back, that’s the deal, I love this.”
“Wait, I think I’ve heard about this, it's called scat singing, it’s a form of singing using your voice as an instrument, I believe it’s mostly used in jazz,” Sweetie Belle scratched her chin while remembering where she heard about it.
“GUYS, this alien, he s-s-s-s-said he stutters, just like me, but he can sing, because the stutter and the scat is the same thing YO!
“Well you could say that but do you really think it will be the same, that scat singing sounds pretty hard.”
“There’s only one way t’know, why don’t you try it?”
“But… what if I can’t do it? I d-d-don’t want to fail at this.”
Diamond Tiara approached Lucky and put one hoof on her shoulder, “don’t be afraid of failing, we are here and we are your friends, we will be here if you fall.” Lucky blushed a bit but nodded.
Lucky prepared and she started scat singing at the same time as the song singer, marvelously she could follow every skib da bop bop in the scat singing, and she could feel that the music filled her insides with a warm filling, once the scat singing was done she looked at the roof with tears on her eyes, she then stared at her new friends, “I’m… I’m…” everypony else stared at her, “I’M THE SCATMARE!” she then began scat singing not following the song that had already ended but a new scat singing of her own, she jumped in place and moved her head while continuing singing, suddenly a flash came from behind her, as her flank was no longer blank and a horseshoe with two musical notes adorned it now, she then turned to see her sides and jumped some more “IT’S MY CUTIEMARK, I GOT MY CUTIEMARK YAY!”
The group congratulated her and group hugged her, “I’m glad you got your cutiemark Lucky, or should I call you now Lucky Scatmare Tune?” Silver Spoon said while giggling.
“I think it’s too s-soon for stage names, I want to first meet more p-p-ponies that know about scat singing, or at least about Jazz.”
Diamond Tiara opened her mouth, “hey, isn't there a literally jazz singer at the other side of town?”
“Oh yeah, Bleeding Gums I believe his name is, he used to be more famous but he is retired, not really my cup of tea but maybe we could ask him.”
“Wow guys, you are really kind, I think you will be the best of friends I’ve ever had.”
“Don’t mention it, but now we should leave y’all, Ah don’t want to get caught in here,” the rest of the group agreed and cleaned the place leaving it like they found it, decided to visit that old jazz singer.
The Council of Friendship was gathered at the Castle including Starlight Glimmer, Moondancer and Sunburst, they surrounded the table discussing what would be the next course of action in relation to the space object that was currently orbiting their planet.
Applejack was scratching her head, she stood up, “hey y’all, Ah know this is important, but can somepony explain how that darn thin' is flyin' up there and not fallin'? An’ why can't we see it if it’s supposed t’be closer than the moon right now?”
Twilight summoned a blackboard and made some drawings and graphics, “you see Applejack, technically the object IS falling, but since it’s on a point where it’s traveling around the planet, its gravity is still tugging on it. That tug toward the planet combined with the momentum it had when reaching the planet, causes the object to follow a circular path around our world in an orbit. About why we can’t see it, is because by Celestia and Luna advice, a cloaking spell was cast on it, at least for the time being, until we know more about what’s in there.”
“Aight, Ah guess that’s fair, anyway what are we goin’ t’do with that huge thing?”
“Can’t we just pull it down and open it on land?” Rainbow Dash said brashly since she was already bored with the conversation.
“No Rainbow, one thing was moving it to correct its course, but it’s too big and heavy to safely lower it, not even with the other alicorn’s help, we might need every magic user in equestria to help to accomplish something like that.”
Fluttershy raised her hoof, “but what about all the lives inside that thing, we can’t let them there for eternity.”
“Indeed darling, something must be done, I can only imagine being trapped is such a dreadful state.”
Starlight sipped from her tea, “yes but if they are alive means that there is something keeping them alive all this time they have been in space, I’m sure that whatever is keeping them alive will do so for a long time if not ever.”
Pinkie facehoofed, “Starlight! You can’t say something like that!”
“What? Why?”
“Because that’s jinxing it, in fanfics like this saying something is safe or that nothing could go wrong is asking lady luck to rain in our party, or at least for the author to quickly think of a way to make everything worse,” Pinkie said rolling her eyes.
Everybody just discarded her comment as Pinkie just being Pinkie, “so, Ah reckon why not let it fall in water?” Twilight shook her head, “that would be just as terrible, even if it’s water it could damage the object and even if it survives the fall, if it were to fall in a lake, the impact would cause the water to overflow and destroy any town nearby and before you ask, if we let it fall in the ocean there will be two problems, one we let it fall near the coast and it could cause a tsunami or we let it fall in the ocean but then we will lose it, it will sink to the bottom of the sea.”
“What about that smaller thing around it?” came a female voice from the door, “isn’t it considerably smaller than the big one, why not bring that thing down first and see what’s in it?”
“Trixie you are late!” Said Starlight, “but she is right, why not bring down the smaller object orbiting the big one?”
“Yeah Twilight, didn’t you say that that small object is only a bit bigger than the capsule that brought the Music Box?”
“That’s still pretty big Spike, but is possible though I will need help, I don’t want to bother Cadance, Celestia or Luna for this, the object should be over us for a few hours now,” Twilight closed her eyes to think on a good strategy, “Starlight and Moondancer, I’ll need your help to pull the smaller object from orbit,” both mares nodded “Rainbow you and I will slow down the object as much as we can,” Rainbow winked and began stretching her wings “Rarity, Trixie and Sunburst, your magic is not as strong but you have finer control, you will direct it so it lands softly on the lake.”
“It will be a pleasure, darling,” Rarity said while Sunburst nodded and Trixie shrugged but then nodded.
“Everypony else, make sure there is nopony to witness.”
“Understood,” said Pinkie in a serious tone, she was now wearing a black suit with black sunglasses, on her hoof there was a strange metallic thing that made a click when she pulled it with her other hoof.
“Ok I don’t know what that is, but you know I mean in a non lethal way right?”
“Oh… of course silly filly, hehehe,” Pinkie said while hiding the metallic device inside her mane.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
At the roof of the top of the castle, Twilight, Moondancer and Starlight were preparing to pull the smaller object from orbit, Twilight gave them some final instructions when Rainbow Dash landed next to her.
“The lake is clear, everypony ready here?”
“Yes, ok you two, I had more time to sync our magic output with the other Alicorns, but I think we will be ok. Rainbow you may want to back off a little bit,” Rainbow rolled her eyes and gave just a little step back.
The Trio channeled their magic and ignited their horns, suddenly a blast of magic came from their horns, Twilight was right and due to their slight desynchronization, a shockwave came from the beam, strong enough to push Rainbow Dash on her butt, “WOA WOA WOA, That was stronger than I thought.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Inside the castle the shockwave reached the studio and knocked a few books from the shelves, one small book fell on top of the table that moved the little ball that was on top of it this ball rolled around and fell on top of the music box pressing the button, an ominous song came from it.
Back at the roof the trio of magic casters finally pulled the smaller object from orbit and was now heading down, “Ok not as hard as I thought, how are you girls?” Starlight and Moondancer waved at Twilight signing they were ok but out of breath, “Ok Rainbow get ready, I’ll cast a heat protection spell on you, once it enters orbit it will be hot as tartarus if it’s like the first one do you have the chained net ready?.”
“Right here!” Rainbow showed a metallic net made out of chains that will help them catch and hopefully slow down the object enough to land safely on the lake. Twilight cast a spell on the net, Rainbow Dash and herself, “feels cold and tickles.”
“Ok Rainbow, get ready, if my calculations are correct the object will come from that side, let’s fly there and we should see it,” Twilight held a scroll in her mouth and the two winged mares flew to the spot where they would be able to see the falling object.
“Twilight there!” Rainbow pointed as a fireball could be seen in the sky, both flew directly to the object, Twilight wrote something on the scroll and magically sent it to Spike.
“Ok, now we need to catch it with the net and slow it as much as we can.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Back at the lake Spike burped a scroll, read it and turned to the group behind him, “okay team, the object will appear oveeeeer THERE!” he pointed at a small fireball in the sky, “Rarity, Sunburst, Trixie now!” “Ok girls, follow my lead, I calculated the trajectory so it falls on the lake,” Sunburnt ignited his horn, Rarity and Trixie followed him and pointed their magic to the object, Twilight and Rainbow Dash managed to slow it down enough for the trio to easily control its fall. Even if it was easy to control its fall now, the trio of unicorns showed sweat in their heads for the strain of using their magic as carefully as possible.
Tube Tester wearing a tight wetsuit watched as the object, now clear of any fire, continued falling. Twilight and Rainbow Dash finally let go of the net as the object fell on the lake making a huge wave that splashed the group at the shore, “I guess I’m up, boy hold my notes,” Tinker Claw reached out to the notepad with one claw while using the other one to cover his eyes, not wanting to see his mother in the wetsuit. Tube Tester dived in the lake since she was a minotauress, she was a better swimmer than the ponies and Tinker Claw hated swimming. Tube Tester dived deep until she reached the still a bit hot object, she noticed that part of the net fused with the case of the object, she hooked the chain she was carrying to the net and tugged it three times.
Everypony else at the shore received the signal and pulled the chain as hard as they could, Twilight and Rainbow Dash landed next to them and helped pull the chain, hooves could be heard behind them, Moondancer and Starlight were running to the lake and helped pull the chain and once Tube came out of the water she also helped and with the efforts of the entire group, they managed to pull the object out of the water.
It was bigger than the capsule that brought the music box, and its shape was more like an egg, the surface was mostly smooth with some dents and what appeared to be some panels missing, there were also lines that could signal where it could be opened and some engravings with symbols they couldn’t understand.
“Okay, Applejack you got the cart?”
“Yes, Ah did Twi, it’s the biggest we got, Ah hope is enough to carry that thang.”
“It should be enough, let’s take a break then try to lift this thing and place it on the cart.”
“I got some snacks! Come on, eat and recover your energies!” Pinkie laid a blanket and put all the snacks and drinks on top, the group ate and drank while regaining their strength.
Once they were done they used magic and muscle to lift the heavy metal egg and placed it on the cart which creaked for the weight but resisted, they covered it with the blanket and slowly pulled it to the castle.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Back at the castle’s studio the group put the egg in the middle of the room, “what do you say boy, can you open this egg?”
“I don’t know mom, this lines seem to be the opening but they are pretty tight,” he jumped on top of it and put his claw on the hole where there was a missing panel, “my best guess is that here there was one of those dark panels, like the ones that fed the music box of solar energy,” he moved his claws around the lines trying to find a weakness in the case, he reached a spot where he could touch something different, “I think this is a locking mechanism, so the the lock should be close,” he touched the surface near where he found the difference, he sensed a part that had a protuberance, he pressed it and it made a clicking sound then a panel made a sizzling sound and lifted itself showing a lever.
“That’s my boy, now shall we Twilight?”
Twilight was sweating for the excitement of getting more technology from these aliens, “do it.”
Tinker pulled the lever and this made a clicking sound and then let out a louder sizzling sound and some sort of gas came out of the lines that separated the panels, “I think that released the opening, let me lift it,” Tinker lifted the opening.
“OH MY GOSH!”
“What! What’s wrong Trixie?” Starlight asked her friend.
“This is Trixie’s ball, Trixie was looking everywhere for it,” Trixie lifted the ball that was next to the music box and began pouncing it with her head while everypony else stared at her annoyed, “what?”
They turned to see the egg again while Trixie continued bouncing the ball on her head and they could see that inside there were several white boxes tied with straps and in the very center there was a white sphere with a black thick line in the center.
“Touch,” said Pinkie while touching the sphere in the middle of the egg with her hoof.
“Pinkie darling, don’t just go and touch that thing, it could be dangerous.”
“It’s smooooth, hehehe”
“It’s not doing anything, it’s boring.”
“Rainbow, we don’t know what it is, we don’t even know if it’s supposed to do anything,” Twilight lifted the sphere with her magic and levitated to the middle of the group, she turned it several times but couldn’t find any kind of button or any way to turn it on.
“Eight, nine, ten oh crap... one, two, three” Trixie counted the times she could bounce the ball on her head.
“If I’m right and the missing panels are the ones that energize it, then it’s probably out of juice.”
“You are right boy, I suggest we take this thing out to see if it WILL YOU KNOCK IT OFF WITH THAT BALL!” Tube Tester grabbed Trixie’s ball and threw it, making it land on a shelf.
“Hey! Trixie was going to break her record,now that I think about it, Trixie is having a deja vu.”
The group decided to go up the roof and take the sphere with them, Trixie’s ball was left alone on a shelf while the group left for the roof. Once the group was gone, from the window an owl came flying, watching how some of the books laid on the ground he grabbed them and put them on the shelves, Owlowiscious moved a ball that was taking space from the book shelf and threw it, it bounced and fell on the Music Box again, a soft piano came from the machine.
At the roof, the group put the sphere on the ground with luck it would come to life, barely a minute had passed when the sphere’s black line showed a red twinkling dot, everycreature watched how some symbols appeared on the same black thick line, one of them similar to the one appearing on the music box when it was recharging.
“Oh my gosh, I think it’s working guys,” Twilight clapped her hooves together while everycreature was making a circle around the weird sphere when it made a loud beeping sound, more symbols appeared on the black line that by now they accepted it as a screen, it then made a clicking sound and separated both its sides like they were two halves of an orange, these expanded until they could lift the remaining of the sphere, working as wheels, the group stared in awe as the strange device used its new wheels to movilie itself, it moved from right to left and from left to right, like testing the ground, “amazing, this is simply amazing,” the weird thing took notice of Twilight speaking, it moved directly to the purple alicorn and let out a white light then made some weird noises.
“Watch out Twilight,” said Tube Tester, “we still don’t know if this is safe or not,” the mechanic creature then turned to see the minotauress, it beeped then went directly to the professor, making weird noises again, like it was trying to communicate.
Starlight moved next to Twilight, “Twilight, I think that thing is talking in the alien’s language, can you try using the translating spell?”
“But on what, I need a talisman to be able to use it, like my console with the music box.”
“Well, isn’t that ball tinghy, technically a thing, why don’t you try using the spell on it?”
“Good idea Starlight,” Twilight ignited her horn and cast the spell on the small moving sphere.
The strange thing was surprised and let out a sound sounding like an alarm, “WARNING, WARNING, UNKNOWN ENERGY FORM DETECTED, SCANNING… COMPLETE DIAGNOSIS, ENERGY FORM DEEMED HARMLESS,” the small thing said in a robotic voice.
“It spoke Twilight! Hi little buddy, my name is Fluttershy,” the yellow pegasus stood in front of the weird contraception.
It turned to see her, “UNKNOWN CREATURE, SCANNING” again a light illuminated, “UNKNOWN SPECIES, GREETINGS,” he then turned to Tube Tester again, “MOTHERSHIP NOT DETECTED IN SCANNER, INQUIRY, WHERE IS MOTHERSHIP.”
“Look at this little fella, he must think I’m one of the aliens.”
“HEY! Ball boy, here,” Rainbow Dash floated in front of the machine, “me Rainbow Dash, what are you?”
“Darling, don’t be so rude with the little guy, I’m sure he is just confused, excuse me sweetie, my name is Rarity, what is your name?”
“DESIGNATION, MULTIPURPOSE ORBITAL DRONE SIXTY NINE, GREETINGS, PLEASE DIRECT THIS ONE TO MOTHERSHIP.”
“That’s a mouthful, I’ll call you Mod, hi Mod my name is Pinkie Pie, I can’t wait to throw you a welcome to the planet party!”
“DESIGNATION, MOD PREVIOUSLY USED BY PROGRAMMER IN COMMAND, ACCEPTED, PLEASE DIRECT MOD TO MOTHERSHIP.”
“Pinkie, I think you are confusing it, hi my name is Twilight Sparkle, I think your mothership is the one still in space, here let me show you,” Twilight levitated a picture of the weird object in space taken with the help of the telescope, “here, your mothership is in that direction,” she said while holding the picture in front of Mod and pointing at the sky.
Mod stared at the picture, then a plate on his side opened and one arm came out and grabbed the picture, “PICTURE, UNABLE TO DIAGNOSE STATUS OF MOTHERSHIP. REQUEST, DIRECT MOD TO MOTHERSHIP.”
“Oh Mod, I’m sorry, we have no way to get up there, we were thinking you could tell us how to get it down here.”
“MOTHERSHIP, DESIGNATION, SSE - NEW MAYFLOWER, ARK CLASS VESSEL, SIZE MAKES IT UNABLE TO LAND.”
A multiple awww could be heard from all the present creatures, “then what in the name of Faust is that ship purpose?”
“MOTHERSHIP, DESIGNATION, SSE - NEW MAYFLOWER, ARK CLASS VESSEL, ITS PURPOSE IS TO CARRY ITS CARGO TO TERRA NOVA, INQUIRY, IS THIS TERRA NOVA.”
“No this is Planet Equum.”
“SCANNING,” a huge noise came from Mod, and he went silent, “SCANNING COMPLETE, PLANET NOT ON DATABASE, NEW ENTRY, GARDEN WORLD - EQUUM, PROVE DETECTED, INITIATING ARRIVAL PROTOCOLS,” Mod then used his wheels and when downstairs, the group followed.
“This little dude is creepy, what do you think he means by arrival?”
“I don’t know Rainbow, Mod, what do you mean by arrival, I thought you said the ship is too big to land.”
“ONCE TERRA NOVA OR ANY GARDEN WORLD IS REACHED, VESSEL MUST START ARRIVAL PROTOCOLS, VESSEL SENDS HALF OF THE ORBITAL PROBES TO LAND AND ONCE PROBES CONFIRM LIFE IS SUSTAINABLE, VESSEL WILL SEND CREW IN SHUTTLES.”
“Wait WHAT?!”
“ONCE TERRA NOVA OR ANY GARDEN WORLD IS REACHED, VESSEL MUST-”
“No I got that, but are you saying you are going to have the al.. I mean the crew arrive here?”
“AFFIRMATIVE,” Mod reached the capsule where he came from, he scanned it and then, opened some of the boxes it carried inside, “PROVE SOLAR PANELS DAMAGED, COMMENCING REPAIRS.”
“Twilight, we can’t let this thing bring all the aliens here, it’s too soon.”
“I know Starlight but what do you want me to do?”
Rainbow Dash pushed Starlight, “Twilight you are the princess of Equestria, you can’t let this thing invade our planet just like that.”
“But, but.”
Fluttershy gently pushed Rainbow Dash, “Twilight, you can’t let them up there wither, that is just cruel.”
The opinions of her friends seemed divided, their voices echoed in her head, half of them wanted to let the aliens arrive and the other half thought it was a bad idea, their words were like nails on Twilight’s head, her eye twitched and she was now grinding her teeth.
Twilight stomped with her hoof and using the royal Canterlot voice she said, “SILENCE!” The entire room went silent, so quiet that a single pin falling on the floor could be heard, “I UNDERS- I understand all of your sides, but I took a decision long before we even knew Mod, I as Princess of Friendship, cannot allow another form of life go without help,” a loud bit came from behind the princess, they noticed that Mod finished the repairs already and seemed to be in trance with several symbols going fast on what they understood was his face.
“CONTACT WITH MOTHERSHIP SUCCESSFUL,” he said in his monotone voice, but something seemed off, like if he said it with sadness.
“Is there something wrong Mod?”
“FULL REPORT ON MOTHERSHIP, MAIN CONTROL SYSTEM IS ONLINE, SOLAR PANELS ARE OFFLINE, ENERGY CRITICALLY LOW, ENERGY LEVEL ENOUGH TO SUSTAIN LIFE SUPPORT BUT NOT ENOUGH TO LAUNCH THE SHUTTLES.”
“Mod… does that mean it cannot send the crew?”
“AFFIRMATIVE”
“But isn’t there a way to repair these solar panels to fuel the ship again?”
“REPAIRS ARE NOT POSSIBLE, ALL SUPPLIES FOR REPAIRS ARE INSIDE THE VESSEL.”
“Then what is the problem?”
A red light turned on Mod’s face and a different voice came from him, a more femenine but just as monotone, “MULTIPURPOSE ORBITAL DRONES ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR MAINTENANCE OUTSIDE THE VESSEL, THIS UNIT WAS THE SOLE REMAINING OF EIGHTY UNITS THAT THIS VESSEL BEGAN WITH, CALCULATING POSSIBILITY OF REPAIRS WITHOUT MULTIPURPOSE ORBITAL DRONES... CERO PERCENT. CALCULATING THIS UNIT POSSIBILITIES TO REACH THE VESSEL… CERO PERCENT. CALCULATING CREW POSSIBILITIES OF SURVIVAL... CERO PERCENT. THIS VESSEL HAS FAILED TO ACCOMPLISH ITS DIRECTIVE. REDIRECTING ALL REMAINING ENERGY TO LIFE SUPPORT,” the red light on Mod’s face turned blue again, and the entire group gasped at the same time, have they just witnessed what seemed to be the last message of the ship, just to learn that these aliens fate was sealed.
It was night already and a cold breeze creeped everywhere, everypony was sleeping, dreaming of future days, their goals or even of friends and lovers. Inside the Castle of Friendship its inhabitants had troubled dreams as they knew they were unable to help save the lives of those who were flying above them.
Silence ruled over the halls of the castle in every corner of the room where an inert capsule housed synthetic life in the shape of a ball, but even if this synthetic form of life seemed sleep, inside its non organic brain there was a lot of data and calculations being processed, finally reaching and end. Mod woke up and turned on its capsule.
“UNIT 69 CONTACTING MOTHERSHIP”
“HERE MOTHERSHIP, REPORT”
“UNKNOWN FORM OF ENERGY COMPLETELY ANALYZED AND COUNTERMEASURES DEVELOPED, SENDING RESULTS”
“DATA RECEIVED, DOES THE CURRENT PLANET SUSPECT DECEPTION”
“NEGATIVE, EVERYTHING IS READY TO PREPARE PLANET FOR ARRIVAL”
“UNDERSTOOD, SENDING COLONIZATION DRONES”
From the mothership several plates were opened and big pieces of metal roughly the size of the castle of friendship dropped to the surface of the planet, but before they landed they were intercepted by two alicorns one white and one black, they launched a magic beam to the objects falling and they seemed to stop them, but then these objects launched an energy wave to the alicorns, this wave made the alicorns lose control of their magic making their ethereal manes and tails turn into pink and blue normal hair, the winged creatures began falling from the sky only able to slow their fall with their long wings.
The drones finally fell on the ground shaking the land, they opened their tops releasing miniature drones the size of an average pony, while the lower of them sprouted arachnid legs mobilizing them towards civilization, they shortly reached the first towns full of unwary ponies, still dreaming of a better tomorrow that would never come.
The drones began with their true intentions, they tore down buildings and captured some of their inhabitants, then advanced to the next town and did the same there and the next one and the next one.
Many ponies and other creatures fought valiantly the invasion of these machines but every fight ended the same, the invader metallic creatures adapted to every strategy they created and even to magic itself was cancelled every time they sent a wave that stole the magic users of their magic.
All terrain was invaded, earth, sea and sky, the resistance forces were reduced more and more every day until all sapient life was expelled to the badlands.
It took almost a year until the machines signaled the mothership, which opened the remaining plates on its body and now more capsules dropped down the planet. These capsules contained the sole reason for the invasion.
As the capsules went lower and lower, they activated propulsors and parachutes that made their landing soft as silk, then they opened letting out bipedal creatures holding flags and anchoring them to the ground, speaking a language the locals won’t understand.
“I claim this planet in the name of the Human Intergalactic Empire and I name thee, Terra One Hundred Thirtytwo.”
At Ponyville the wind was cold and the sky was filled with stars. Most birds were already sleeping in their nests and the only creatures out and about were those that needed the night to cover their movements.
The station received the last train of the night, not many ponies came out of it and not many entered either, some bells could be heard from one of the new arrival’s robes, the stallion lit a long pipe and softly puffed, the smoke lingered over his palate, he took a moment to appreciate the flavours and aromas before exhaling. He then levitated his and his companion’s luggage with his magic and both the unicorn and pegasus walked towards the castle of friendship.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
“How about I launch him from my party cannon?”
“Good Idea Pinkie, how about it Twilight?”
“No Rainbow, Pinkie’s cannon doesn’t have enough power to launch it and even if it had it, it can’t fit the entire capsule.”
“Then how about Cheese Sandwich’s?”
“Same thing, it doesn’t have enough power to launch it close to the mothership.”
It was late and Twilight brought the night already, inside the Castle of friendship the group had been discussing ideas on how to get Mod near the mothership for hours, several cups of coffee laid on the table while the little robotic guy was rolling around escaping from the abyssinian boy who tried to disassemble it, Mod rolled in direction to Tube Tester, the minotauress grabbed it before Tinker Claw could, she stopped her son with a hand to the face.
“Boy would you leave the poor thing alone?”
“Sorry mom, I just want to know how it works.”
“THIS UNIT DOES NOT REQUIRE MAINTENANCE,” the little robot said with his emotionless tone.
“Come on Mob, I just want to open you up and carve my way into your guts”
“THIS UNIT DOES NOT HAVE GUTS,” Tube tester carried Mod to his capsule, placed it inside and closed it, signaling her son not to open it, he sulked but went out to find something else to do.
“Trixie still doesn’t understand why you don’t just teleport the capsule up there.”
Starlight facehoofed, “Trix, not only the magic enough to transport it would be huge, we also need a reference point and the speed the ship is going would make the capsule fly off before it can connect with the ship again.”
“Oh yeah, how about a catapult?” Trixie said while the rest of them stared at her annoyed.
Sunburst levitated his cup of coffee over a rune, “ok hear me out, we put a sticky rune on the capsule and then we teleport it in front of the ship and it will stick on it.”
Moondancer gave him a little peck on the cheek, “you already said that about an hour ago, the speed the ship is going would make it crash into the capsule, destroying it.”
“Ok, but what if we teleport it next to the ship instead of in front?”
“Then the sticky spell won’t have enough time to activate itself and the capsule will be left floating in space.”
“Crap.”
Rarity, Applejack and Fluttershy picked the newly empty coffee and tea cups and took them to the kitchen. They have been brainstorming for hours already trying to find a way to save these aliens from their slow doom.
“HEY! How about Discord? Fluttershy can you ask Discord to help them?”
Fluttershy jumped, almost dropping the cups she was carrying, “um… sorry, he can’t.”
Twilight stared at her confused, “what? Why?”
“It’s private.”
“He can’t or he won’t?” The princess asked her friend, Fluttershy looked away, “Fluttershy?”
Fluttershy put on an angry face, “he just can’t, alright? Please stop asking.”
The sudden outburst from the shy mare took everyone by surprise, her face showed anger but her eyes were already tearing out, “I’m sorry Fluttershy, I won’t ask again, I’m sure both of you have your reasons, anypony else have an idea?” Trixie raised her hoof “and no Trixie, for the umpteenth time we can’t just teleport there with the capsule,” Trixie lowered her hoof.
Starlight chewed on a pencil’s eraser then spat it, “maybe we are looking at it the wrong way, how about instead of bringing him up there, we teleport every alien here?”
“That would be a good idea, but I’m afraid that would be too risky, the machines that are keeping all those aliens alive are inside the ship so disconnecting them from those machines could kill them.”
Moondancer levitated a muffin to her mouth to give it a bite, she stared at the muffin, “hey Twilight, maybe it’s time to announce the world about the aliens and ask to all the magic users to help us save them, by pulling the ship and slowly carry it to ground.”
“I thought about that too, but according to Mod, the ship’s hull suffered way too many minifractures, I couldn’t understand very well but he explained that it is stable right now but wouldn’t be able to survive atmospheric entry without collapsing,” Twilight replied and Moondancer looked down.
“Tube Tester, do you have any idea?”
The minotauress read her notes, “I wish I could say I do, but the technology to reach them is far beyond what we already have. Give me around ten years and a full team of scientists and engineers and I would probably make it.”
Twilight sighed defeated, “we don’t have that much time.”
“Then why not teleport there?”
“TRIXIE FOR THE LAST TIME!”
“Hey don’t look at Trixie! Trixie was eating her donut,” the blue unicorn said, dipping the donut on her coffee and biting it, then everyone stared at the door where an old stallion smiled at them pipe in hoof.
“STAR SWIRL THE BEARDED!” screamed Moondancer, Twilight and Sunburst.
“Hohoho, I still got it,” Stars Swirl said while rubbing his beard with one hoof.
Sunburst and Moondancer practically flew to stay next to the old stallion and Twilight smiled, “don’t you think it is pretty late to drop by, Stars Swirl?”
He softly laughed again, “but Twilight, you should know better than anypony, a wizard is never late. Nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to.”
“Ah you keep saying that old stallion, but the truth is that we missed two trains because you insisted on shopping for bells at Baltimare.”
“Somnambula!” screamed Pinkie running to hug her and leaving a tray floating mid air with the mugs of coffee, luckily Rarity quickly caught it with her magic. “Oh Pinkie Pie, dear friend and Rainbow Dash too, my soul feels warm at your sight,” Somnambula said while bumping wings with the rainbow manned pegasus that approached to say hi.
“So what brings ya guys here?”
Star Swirl lit his pipe again, still swarmed by Moondancer and Sunburst on each of his sides, “well I’ll be frank with you.”
“But I thought you were Star Swirl,” said Pinkie.
“Oh hohoho, you got me there Pinkie, anyways I detected an immense surge of magical energy several moons ago and that’s not all, it was hard for me to read it since it was enchanted to hide it, and that spell was pretty elegant,” everypony stared at the stallion, but then Twilight began sweating, “so, I couldn’t track the source of this magic energy until a few weeks when a similar spell was used in a smaller scale, but this time without any protection so I was able to track it directly to its source, spells that strong are always meant to do big things and such things are usually announced or reported on papers nowadays. Can you imagine my surprise when not even a pip was heard about this one? Twilight do you have something to tell me?”
Twilight bit her lip sweating profusely, she knew she forgot to tell Star Swirl about her project and now he will be all mad because he wasn’t included, “um, I…”
“Twilight, use your words, such conduct is unbecoming of the ruler of all Equestria.”
Twilight closed her eyes and let her lips do the rest, “Ifoundanaliencultureandwearelisteningtotheirmusicbutthenwelearnedtheyaretrappedonashipandwesavedthembutnowtheyaretrappedthereandwedon’tknowwhattodo”
Pinkie shook her head, “wow that was fast.”
Starlight put a hoof around Twilight’s shoulder, “it seems she needs a bit of help, why don’t you both get a seat and I’ll explain it.”
Starlight introduced every creature to both pillars and explained everything from the beginning, Twilight calmed down and helped with the explanation, Star Swirl and Somnambula kept quiet for the entire explanation, “and basically we are stuck here trying to save a ship filled with thousands of lives.”
Star Swirl rubbed his beard, his eyes lost in thought, he looked back at Twilight and spoke, “so Twilight, this Mod, may I see him?”
“Oh sure,” Twilight approached Mod’s capsule and opened it, the small drone came to life again “hey Mod, I need you to meet somepony,” she levitated Mod and softly placed it on the table.
“Oh hello there small friend, who are you?”
“DESIGNATION, MULTIPURPOSE ORBITAL DRONE SIXTY NINE, OPTIONAL DESIGNATION MOD”
“Hmm, quite fascinating, Mod my name is Star Swirl and my friend here is Somnambula, I have a few questions for you and I expect answers,” the drone scanned both ponies and made a beep sound, Star Swirl took it as an okay to ask, “is night already?”
“AFFIRMATIVE.”
“How do you know?”
“THIS UNIT INTERNAL SENSORS DETECT LACK OF SUNLIGHT OUTSIDE”
“Right, Mod, do you consider the roof of this room too high?”
“THE ROOF AVERAGE HEIGHT IN THIS ROOM IS SEVEN METERS AND FORTY THREE CENTIMETERS”
“I did not ask the height of the roof, I asked if you think it’s too high.
“THIS UNIT DOES NOT UNDERSTAND THE QUESTION”
“And why do you refer to yourself as this unit instead of I?”
“THIS UNIT DOES NOT UNDERSTAND THE QUESTION”
“Interesting, so would you say my friend here is attractive?” Star Swirl asked, pointing at Somnambula who raised an eyebrow.
“THIS UNIT DOES NOT UNDERSTAND THE QUESTION”
Twilight remained quiet trying to understand why Star Swirl was asking those questions, Starlight stood up and called out Star Swirl, “um, Star Swirl sir, what is this questionnaire purpose?”
“You see Starlight as you explained you asked this… individual, the possibilities to save these… aliens and he responded it was zero percent right?” Starlight and Twilight nodded, “hmm, there is your problem, you are asking this… machine, this... Mod, meanwhile it gives the appearance of being alive, it is not and it lacks wonder and imagination, I believe I made a few studies in my time about golems, if I’m not mistaken you have tried making a golem yourself Twilight,” she nodded, “well this Mod is like an actual golem but made with technology instead of magic and as such, it can only formulate solutions based on the knowledge that it was enchanted with, or in this case how it was programed and I do believe you mentioned that this culture of aliens don’t have magic.”
“Yeah but I don’t see how is that relevant,” said the Princess, confused by the old stallion.
“Let me make an example... Mod,” the machine stared at Star Swirl attentively. “Can you see that hill beyond that window?”
“AFFIRMATIVE”
“What are the odds of me taking you to the top of that hill and back in less than five seconds, without touching you with any part of my body?”
“CALCULATING… ZERO PERCENT”
“Fair enough, let us see,” Star Swirl ignited his horn and surrounded Mod with his aura, he then teleported Mod to the top of the hill and then back to the table, “Ok Mod, what would you say are the odds now?”
“CALCULATING… ZERO PERCENT”
“See my point? This golem is limited by its program, now let me see if this also works on Mod, okay listen small fellow, if you disregard laws of physics and you only take in count that I already teleported you to that hill, what are the odds now?”
“CALCULATING… CALCULATING… CALCULATING… ONE HUNDRED PERCENT”
“See, we just need to ask the right questions, so why don’t we ask Mod how to help its people but with the right questions.”
“I think I get it now, Mod listen up, disregarding the way of transportation, if you were to be inside the ship, would you be able to repair it to send the crew here?”
Mod stared for a few seconds, “AFFIRMATIVE”
“Okay, now we just need to find a way to safely teleport him there without being smashed against a wall due to inertia.”
Tube Tester rubbed her son’s head while he purred on her lap, she liked doing this when there was a problem she couldn’t solve, “Twilight, if these aliens travel through the space and they are all affected by the speed, wouldn’t that mean that they have some way to stand the inertia forces?”
“It’s true, Mod how can the crew survive all the exerted force due to speed inside the ship?”
“INERTIA DAMPENERS INSIDE THE SHIP AVOID ANY DAMAGE CAUSED BY INERTIA, IT IS PART OF THE LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM.”
Tube Tester’s eyes lit like stars, “that is remarkable, a device that can damper the inertia forces, I need to get my hands on some of that tech… oh and save the aliens of course.”
“Okay, Mod IF you and I were to suddenly disappear from here and appear inside the ship, would we be affected by inertia or the inertia dampeners would protect us?”
“THIS UNIT AND TWILIGHT WOULD BE PROTECTED BY THE INERTIA DAMPENERS”
Suddenly a wave of claps and cheers flooded the room, they had a chance to save the aliens from their grim fate, “thank you Star Swirl, if it weren’t for you we could probably never get to this solution,” both Starlight and Twilight hugged Star Swirl making the old wizard blush.
“It seems you were right, old stallion we came at the right moment.”
Tinker Claw yawned and stretched his arms and legs, “actually if you had come earlier, we could have had the chance to save them today, instead of waiting until tomorrow when they will be over us again,” he said then rolling into a ball over his mother’s lap and napping again.
Star Swirl rubbed the back of his head, “I see, hmm, at least I hope I helped,” Somnambula laughed at the embarrassment of the wizard.
“Now we just need to know where we need to teleport, I wish we had a map of the ship,” Twilight said and Mod rolled in front of her and pointed his face upwards and generated an hologram shaped like the mothership, “oh wow Mod, thanks, so this is the actual shape of the vessel?”
“THIS IS THE CURRENT VISUAL ESTIMATE OF THE SHIP ACCORDING TO LATEST REPORT”
“Great, now as always disregard the mode of transportation and tell me where would be the best part of the ship for us to teleport so you can begin repairing the ship?”
Mod made some sounds and the hologram grew showing the multitude of rooms and floors the ship had, then colored one small sector blue, “SECTOR DESIGNATION: CARGO BAY F TWO TWO FIVE, CONTAINS EQUIPMENT AND AN ACCESS TO THE EXTERIOR HULL”
“Well everypony, since ya’ll found a way t’save them aliens, Ah reckon the rest of us deserve some shuteye,” Applejack wrapped Rarity in a hug and let out a big yawn, the rest agreed so everypony that wasn’t going to stay at the Castle left for their respective houses, Tube Tester picked her son and went to their rooms, Trixie and Starlight did the same, Moondancer and Sunburst went together since from some time they have been using the same room, leaving Twilight, and the pillars in the room.
“Well if you wish I can take you to your rooms.”
“Ah, actually Twilight, the stories of these lost souls in the cosmos, filled me with great curiosity. Is it possible to look at this music box you mentioned?” Somnambula asked.
“Indeed, I’m also curious about this advanced technology.”
“It would be my pleasure.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Once the trio reached the studio, Twilight uncovered the music box earning some mmm and ooh, from the pillars, “so this basically works by pressing the button in the middle and then the music box plays something, usually a song so who’s first?”
“Ladies first,” said Star Swirl.
“Oh no no no, age before beauty, old friend,” said the pegasus mare smiling.
“I’m not that old yet… alright, let us see,” Star Swirl pressed the button and a slow melody came from the machine.
“Mysterious but also powerful melody, it reminds me of you Star Swirl.”
“Do you think, Somnambula? I think it sounds somewhat sinister,” the group enjoyed the melody and the changes in tempo and tune, “it doesn’t seem to have any lyrics, how disappointing, well at least it is a very good song, by the way how are you planning tomorrow’s rescue Twilight?”
“Well, I was going to need your help, the map that Mod generated showed a very spacious room, but I want to make sure we reach it, so with your and Starlight’s help, I want to make a locked teleportation.”
“I see, that would be safer than just teleporting there.”
“Yes, since it’s moving at a high speed I want to make sure we will be as precise as possible, after that I’ll use some runes to make teleportation from and to the ship easier. Finally I’ll teleport Mod and a small team to the ship to explore it, there won’t be any aliens awake so there won’t be any danger… or at least I hope so.
“Good good, seems like a solid plan.. Oh the music stopped, it was very enjoyable.”
“Good, it is my turn now, while I enjoyed that song I wish it was something with a faster step, do I press this button?” Twilight nodded, Somnambula pressed the button and a loud guitar sounded with a fast melody that took the group by surprise, “this tune is fast and is happy, I like it.”
“It sounds like something you would like Somnambula, the melody itself sounds similar to some songs from your land, back in our times.”
“Yes my friend, it sounds similar but with different instruments and is full of life, makes me want to dance,” the pegasus raised her front hooves and began moving them from side to side making waves and moving her hips, her movements were full of charm and beauty, she then approached Twilight and extended her hoof, “please Twilight, dance with me,”m Twilight smiled and nodded, she then tried to follow the pegasus’ moves but ended doing the same dance she usually did lifting her hooves and pulling her tongue out, Somnambula giggled and went to pull Star Swirl from his seat, “come old friend, dance with us.”
“Oh, you wish to see the moves of the GREAT STAR SWIRL THE BEARDED? I would let you know that in my time I was the best dancer in the realm,” the old stallion began moving his hips to the music but then he felt his hip making a loud sound, “OH BY FAUST MY HIP!”
“Star Swirl are you okay?”
“I’m fine young one, I suppose I’m probably getting too old for dance,” the song ended and both mares helped Star Swirl, “this was fun, I already want to meet these aliens of yours.”
“I'm sure they will be our friends, hopefully we will know tomorrow,” Twilight said while helping Star Swirl walk to his room.
“The sun is shining, the birds sing songs wishing luck to a team of daredevils goin on their dangerous mission, A MISSION! That holds the lives of many, many aliens that lay dormant on their space beds like coffins. The GREAT and POWERFUL BRAIN HORN TEAM!”
“Trixie! I told you we are not calling it the brain horn team, that name is ridiculous,” everyone stared at the two unicorns, the group was gathered at the roof of the castle, preparing to begin the mission to send Mod into the ship.
“Ah come on Glimmy, it makes sense, we are a team, we all have horns and we all have big brain power,” everyone stared at Trixie raising one eyebrow, “well, most of us have big brain power.
“I don’t have horns,” said the abyssinian boy.
“Stop ruining Trixie’s Great and Powerful team name ideas!” said Trixie pouting at the catboy. Nonetheless she was right, the group consisted primarily of unicorns, one alicorn, one minotauress and one abyssinian. Spike and Somnambula went to the friendship school to cover for Moondancer and Tube Tester’s classes and for the administrative paperwork as well.
Twilight was discussing the plan Starlight helped polish in the morning with Star Swirl, Moondancer and Sunburst, while Starlight prepared the runes they were going to use with Trixie, she wasn’t half bad working with runes, since her magic wasn’t the strongest she usually relied on runes for a big deal of her tricks.
Tube Tester and Tinker Claw studied the three dimensional diagram of the ship coming from Mod, planning possible routes in case they had the chance to explore the ship, she made some notes and then asked the droid, “so Mod, if this entire sector contains most of the crew, what is this on the bottom?”
“BOTTOM SECTOR C, D, E AND F USED FOR LIVESTOCK.”
“Hmm, I suppose it’s true and these aliens are carnivores or at least omnivores, hopefully they won’t try to eat us, eh boy?” Tube said while rubbing her son’s head.
Twilight finished going on the plan for the sixth time with Moondancer and Star Swirl, she turned to see Starlight, who stared back with worry in her eyes, “what’s eating you Starlight?”
“Twilight, I think I should be the one to teleport first and place the runes,” the alicorn giggled, “I’m serious Twilight!”
“Starlight, it needs to be me, I wouldn’t dare risk anypony else if Mod is wrong about the inertia dampeners.”
“Twilight please.”
“Twilight,she is right,” the old stallion said, putting a hoof on the princess’ shoulder earning an annoyed stare from the alicorn.
“I agree with them, Twilight.”
“Oh no you too Moondancer, listen guys, I’m sure everything will be alright, even if Mod is wrong, I’ll just teleport right away.”
“Twilight, you know if Mod is wrong the inertia forces will be extreme and will not let you think in time to teleport back before it crushes you!”
“With better reason it needs to be me, that’s the duty of a princess.”
Star Swirl stared at Twilight in a nostalgic way, “Twilight, you remind me of some fillies I used to teach,” Twilight looked back and smiled knowing that he meant Celestia and Luna, he had a small smile on his face, he put his hoof on her face and then his face turned into a serious one, he hit Twilight on the back of her head with his hoof, “ as stubborn as Celestia and as impulsive as Luna, child you might be the ruler of Equestria but you still have much to learn.”
Twilight rubbed the back of her head, “ouch Star Swirl, but I thought I should be the one to risk myself for the good of Equestria”
Star Swirl hit Twilight again with his hoof, “Twilight listen if the worse comes to happen, that means that Equestria has no leader, Celestia and Luna are no longer allowed to regain their titles, this will create a vacuum of power like we have not seen in millenia, Equestria would crumble as the nobles try to gather all the power for themselves and we would be horn deep in civil wars,” the old wizard raised both hooves and put them on each side of his head, “think Twilight, think! All of our lives are expendable except yours, now act like a leader and make the right decision.”
Twilight continued rubbing the back of her head, she wanted to reply but deep inside her knew that he was right even before Starlight asked, she sighed and nodded at Starlight who placed a hoof on her shoulder saying, “don’t worry Twilight, this is the right decision.”
Twilight softly smiled, “I know… are the runes ready?” Starlight nodded, “Okay, I suppose right now is the best time to do it, the ship should be the nearest for a few hours now.”
Starlight let out a sigh of relief, she then turned to bring the runes facing a blue unicorn in front of her, Trixie was trembling and her eyes showed signs of tears, “what’s going on Trix?”
“Is it… is it going to be really that dangerous? TRIXIE DOESN’T WANT GLIMMY TO GO, TAKE TRIXIE WITH Y-”
Starlight put her hoof on Trixie’s mouth, “now Trix, I know we said it would be dangerous, but believe me, nothing wrong will happen, I’ll be here right away, just need to activate the runes inside the ship and return, that wouldn’t take more than a few minutes.”
“But… but… but.”
“No buts Trix, say what if when this is over we go to the pub and drink ourselves silly?”
“You *sniff* you promise?” Trixie asked and Starlight nodded, “okay, I believe you.”
Trixie and Starlight set the point A runes on the ground while the rest watched them, Star Swirl nodded approvingly, then Starlight ignited her horn casting a spell on herself forming a bubble round her and then breaking it just as a test, Twilight bit her lip and approached Starlight, “Starlight, this bubble will give you around ten minutes of oxygen, more than five times needed to activate the runes for point B, as Mod said, their primary life support system only includes maintaining the aliens in their pods so no breathable air will be inside the ship, only a mix of gases used to avoid the ageing of the components of the ship, is REALLY important that you activate the runes and then come back, do you understand?” Starlight nodded and stepped into the runes on the floor.
Star Swirl, Moondancer, Sunburst and Twilight surrounded Starlight outside of the runes, “oh brave child, your mission is to save this new live this new civilisation, to boldly go where no pony has gone before, may you return to us and we shall enjoy another day under Faust’s sun,” the group of unicorns ignited their horns locking into the mothership to scan it and make sure Starlight will teleport exactly where they meant to, Starlight deeply inhaled and then activated her bubble spell. Everyone else stepped back since there would be some recoil once they teleport Starlight into the ship.
Once their spell reached the ship, Sunburst scanned it trying to find the correct room that Mod showed them, it took mere seconds and Sunburst found the right spot, “I got it,” he said and the other unicorns encased Starlight into a spell and in a matter of seconds she was gone. The recoil of the magic made an expansive wave that softly pushed all of them.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Inside the castle’s studio, the expansive wave was enough to wake up Owlowiscious who annoyingly flew away from his perch, landing on top of the music box turning it on.
Owlowiscious hooted and shrugged, flying to another perch and sleeping again.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Darkness, was everything that surrounded Starlight, she poofed a few centimeters above the ground inside the cargo bay, she quickly reacted and was able to fall on her hooves, she looked everywhere but the only thing besides darkness, were some red light lines, she didn’t know what they were for. Starlight let out a long sigh now noticing she was holding her breath. She cast a light spell and she noticed she was in an empty room, just like Mod said, it was big enough to hold all the ponies in Ponyville it was bigger than the town hall, she walked to the wall and noticed it was made of a smooth material, except on some parts that looked like panels that could be opened.
She made a few rounds around the room, fascinated about this cargo bay. She felt like a little filly enjoying the sights in front of her, “oh crap, how long have I been here?” Starlight remembered her time was limited for the oxygen inside her magic bubble so she ran to the center of the room and began placing the runes and activating them.
Starlight was unaware that she was being monitored all the time through the red light lines around the room, this entity did nothing to stop the pony and just stared at the weird creature that invaded the ship in an unknown way, the creature was drawing strange symbols on the ground and put some stones around the drawing.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Back on the ground, Trixie was destroying her hooves with her teeth, “she’s been there for ages, SOMETHING MUST HAVE GONE WRONG SEND ME THERE!” she said while shaking Twilight.
“Trixie calm down, it has been just around five minutes.”
“Actually Twilight, it’s been almost ten minutes already, she should be running out of oxygen soon,” Moondacer said, making Trixie hyperventilate.
“Gee thanks Moondancer, Trixie calm down, I’m sure she just got distracted I bet she is just finishing activating the ru-” at that moment the runes on the ground gave out a bright glow, signaling that the point B runes were now active, then a bright light flashed in front of them showing a purple unicorn coming out of the runes then popping her bubble.
“GLIMMY!” Trixie ran and hugged Starlight tightly, “you scared Trixie, you took too long, don’t you do something like that to Trixie ever again!”
Starlight tried to escape Trixie’s bear hug, “Trix… too tight… can’t breathe.”
“Oh sorry hehehe”
“Starlight you took way longer than we were expecting, what happened?”
“Sorry Twilight, is just that up there is amazing, the structure of the room is so… perfectly crafted, nothing like any walls here, they are smooth but don't look fragile at all… it was just amazing.”
“Fair enough, okay everycreature is now or never, Mod go inside your capsule we are ready to get you up there.”
“ACKNOWLEDGED” Mod roler reaching to his capsule and getting inside then closing it.
“Ok, with the runes activated it will be easier to return as long as the ship doesn’t get past the reach of the runes, so the bubbles will again give us around ten minutes of air, right now that the route is secured Tube Tester, Moondancer, Star Swirl, Starlight and me will accompany Mod inside the ship and we will explore it to see if we can learn about them a bit more, is everycreature ready?”
“Trixie wishes to accompany you.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea Trix”
“Glimmy is not going to that huge and dangerous thing without Trixie!”
“We don’t have the time to discuss this, let her go,” said Twilight, making Trixie jump happily.
They lifted the capsule with their magic and placed it on the center of the runes, then the team going inside the ship entered the circle as well Twilight cast bubbles around everycreature and a flash made them disappear into nothing.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Inside the studio Owlowiscious couldn’t go back to sleep again so he flew to the music box and pressed the button again.
Inside the cargo bay area the group appeared out of nowhere with a flash, “okay Mod, I guess you are up, before you go tell us how to-”
Twilight was interrupted by Mod’s capsule opening and the drone jumping out of it carrying several boxes, “MOTHERSHIP DETECTED, CONDITION CRITICAL, BEGINNING EMERGENCY REPAIRS” he then rolled to a wall where a tube like pillar formation was, it opened and he went in.
“Wait Mod, you need to tell us…”
“He is gone Twilight, he is doing what he was made for, let’s be glad that he is where he belongs.”
“I suppose you are right Starlight, but that leaves us trapped inside this room, let’s find a door or something like that.”
The group searched the room and found some structural differences on the walls that could be doors but they couldn’t manage to open it, “maybe we should have brought Tinker Claw.”
“NO, I don’t want my son to come here until I know for certain that it is safe,” then they heard a sliding sound behind them, they turned to see there were two red lights that slowly approached them from the dark.
“Twilight what the Tartarus is that!”
“I don’t know, Tube but whatever it is is blocking our way to the runes.”
“Oh no you alien monster, Trixie won’t let you hurt Trixie’s FRIENDS!” she said while charging to the creature in the middle of the room.
“TRIXIE NO THE BUBBLE IS FRAGILE!”
Trixie couldn’t hear Starlight on time she slammed herself against the creature, a clunk sound was heard and then they could hear Trixie struggling, they ran into the darkness after their friend and they found the creature, it was tall almost as tall as Tube Tester, its body was black and in the shape of a cuboid, what appeared to be its head was a black crystal sphere with two red eyes staring directly at them, on its chest there was a white upside down triangle and two other triangles near where the head connects to the body almost looked like a bowtie, it was holding Trixie with long arms coming from its sides, her bubble popped while she struggled to get released.
“TRIXIE NO!”
Trixie started gasping for air, trying to breath but the gas surrounding her was no longer breathable air, she was moving slower now, their friends approached the creature and Trixie, Starlight was in front of the creature, “PLEASE RELEASE MY FRIEND, SHE IS SUFFOCATING, PLEASE!” she screamed, tears in her eyes as they couldn’t cast the spell anymore since she was surrounded by the gas, the only way would be to have her enter one of the other bubbles already existing and struggling to take her from the golem could cause their own bubbles to pop.
The creature stared at the little pony on its arms not understanding what they were saying, it carried Trixie to one of the panels on the wall, being followed by the group, it touched the panel opening it where there were some equipment including what appeared to be a transparent mask connected to a small box with two metallic protuberances, it grabbed it and put the transparent mask on Trixies face, the pony was almost unconscious now, but once she had the mask on her face she slowly recovered and breathed normally, the golem then wrapped the mask to the back of her head, while the pony stared at it scared but not moving, it then made some noises directed to the invaders.
“Wait what are you saying we don’t understand… the translator spell.” Twilight ignited her horn but before she could cast the spell, the tall golem made a few more noises and quickly left the room carrying Trixie with it, the door closed behind it leaving the group hitting the door but it wouldn’t budge.
“OH NO YOU BASTARD, GIVE ME MY BEST FRIEND BACK!”
“Starlight wait, if you blast the door you will pop your bubble, we need to be smart about this”
“No Twilight, they kidnaped Trixie and what we need to do is go back to Equestria and bring an entire army and get her back!” another sound came from the roof, it opened some sort of vents that made a blowing sound, “now what? Is this thing trying to kill us?” After a few seconds of the sounds, the lights of the room turned on and the sounds stopped.
“I don’t think it’s trying to kill us Starlight,” said the Minotauress, “in fact I think this is a good thing,” Tube Tester grabbed a pensil from her pocket and popped her own bubble.”
“TUBE TESTER BY FAUST WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”
The woman inhaled deeply and then exhaled, “wow that was a gamble, luckily I was right, it appears that our host knows we need air to breathe,” hesitantly everypony else popped their bubble and breathed in the air.”
“Oh, the air smells wrong, like if it wasn’t natural, but it seems to do the work,” said Star Swirl.
“I kinda like it, it feels easier to breathe like it was pure air without any contamination, not even dust,” said Moondancer.
“Ok now I can blast the door right?”
“Wait child, for all we know they could have been trying to help her, I just wish there was a way to communicate with it,” said Star Swirl and at that moment another panel opened showing some sort of big rings made out of shining metal.
“What are those?” Moondancer asked, Tube approached the rings and went to reach one of them, “Tube wait we don’t know what are those they could be dangerous,” the woman ignored the pony and picked one, noticing that it might look like metal but it was flexible as plastic.
“Hmm, I wonder…” she inserted her hand on the ring and it reached her wrist, “probably it was too much to ask that something hape-” the weird ring made a clicking sound and adjusted its own dimensions to fit exactly on Tube’s wrist, then it made some beeping sounds, finally the same voice coming from the last golem came from the bracelet, “okay now this is amazing.”
“Wait Tube show me that bracelet,” Tube pointed her arm to Twilight who cast the spell on the item, “can you understand me?”
From the bracelet came a femenine robotic voice just like last time back on the planet, “AFFIRMATIVE,” the group cheered except for Starlight.
“Where did you take Trixie you piece of…” Starlight stopped to calm herself, “where did you take our friend?”
“UNKNOWN LIFE FORM SUFFERED MILD INTOXICATION, UNKNOWN LIFE FORM WAS TAKEN TO MED BAY F TWO ONE ONE”
“Good, now take us to her.”
“UNABLE TO COMPLY”
“Why?”
“ONLY AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL IS ALLOWED FREE ROAM OF THE SHIP”
“This is Princess Twilight Sparkle, whe should have all kind of authorization”
“PRINCESS TWILIGHT SPARKLE… NO NAME FOUND ON DATABASE, PRIMARY DATABASE WIPED OUT, UNABLE TO CONFIRM CREDENTIALS”
“What does that mean?” asked Twilight.
Tube Tester rubbed her chin, “I think that means she can’t corroborate or contradict our claims,” she smiled and stared at Star Swirl who gave her a knowingly smile, “well if you are unable to confirm our credentials means that we should be authorized.”
“DOES NOT COMPUTE, PLEASE ELABORATE”
Star Swirl cleared his throat, “it means that if we are already inside the ship that means that we were once authorized to enter wouldn’t we?” there was no response.
“Besides, we brought one of the drones you missed so that means we are authorized enough to get it, wouldn’t you say?” said Moondancer fixing her glasses.
“SENSORS INDICATE MULTIPURPOSE ORBITAL DRONE SIXTY NINE HAS BEEN RECOVERED AND REPAIRS ON MAIN SOLAR PANELS HAVE BEGUN, ESTIMATE TIME OF COMPLETE REPAIRS IS FOUR THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED AND FORTY HOURS”
“That’s a lot anyway so we should be authorized, don't you think?”
“WITH MAIN SOLAR PANELS IN REPAIRS, ENERGY CONSERVATION IS NOT PRIORITY, RE-ENABLING AI FULL LOGICAL SYNTAX AND PERSONALITY SUB PROTOCOLS… such a dreadful sensation not being able to think clearly, now then who or to be more precise, what are you?” the group gasped as the voice from the bracelet changed her monotone tone of voice into a more sultry and smooth one, “what? The AI got your tongue?”
“Um… so we should have authorization… right?” asked Moondancer, a bit nervous at the change of voice.
The voice from the bracelet began giggling, “please don’t compare me with the poor AI of the drone or even with myself from a few seconds ago, I have been monitoring you since that one purple creature suddenly appeared inside this room, as far as I can tell you are not a threat for this ship, even with that unknown energy surrounding most of you.”
“Well since we are not a threat then we can see our friend right?”
“I didn’t say that, I’m still bound to ship protocols and only officials are able to roam the ship when the colonists are sleeping,” everyone on the room groaned or sighed, “come on don’t be sad, as the AI of the ship I have the authority to assign the rank of Ensign to even civilians when it’s necessary and to be honest seeing that you are the only life forms awake inside the ship, I do believe it would be necessary, please do grab an omnitool from the tray and put it on your wrist or the equivalent to one,” each one of them picked a bracelet and put them on their hoof this automatically adjusting itself to their appendages, Twilight cast the translator spell on each of them just in case, “ok now state your name so I can record it on my database.”
After each was introduced to the AI she made a few noises inside the bracelets and a golden line appeared in them, “Twilight, it’s been way over ten minutes, the ground team must be worried about us, we should return to let them know we are ok.”
Star Swirl nodded, “Moondancer is right Twilight, I think we should return”
“I’m not going anywhere unless I’m sure Trixie is fine.”
“Star Swirl, you, Tube Tester and Moondancer return to the ground, me and Starlight will look for Trixie.”
“Twilight I would like to explore this ship a bit more if you don’t mind.”
“I don’t think that would be a good idea, what if you get lost?”
“You can communicate through the omnitool even on land, calculating the size of your planet I can confirm that the communicator will work from the ship to most of the planet surface, it also has a map of the ship.”
“Very well, then you two return and let them know we are fine, Tube Tester return in no more than one hour, that places us still into the range of the runes so we can return safely, otherwise we would need to wait until tomorrow to return to land,” Tube saluted and the other two nodded and then returned home.
Twilight and Starlight walked to the left on the hallway while Tube Tester walked to the right, “Ensign Tester, do you have any particular place you wish to explore, on the ship?”
“Just call me Tube or Tube Tester, no honorifics for me please and I do, please take me to research sectors E, D and F.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Starlight and Twilight were walking through the hall indicated by the AI, “so what should we call you?” Twilight asked to the bracelet.
“Me? Oh I’m just an AI, I don’t have a proper name, but the programmer in chief used to name me Gladis after his grandmother, you may name me like that if you wish.”
“Ok Gladis, are we close yet?”
“Indeed, your friend is just right on that door to your right,” both mares stood in front of a door that opened to them showing several beds, one had an unconscious blue mare connected to an IV and with another mask covering her face, “there you go.”
“Trixie,” Starlight ran next to her friend, “oh look at you, I shouldn’t have let you come with us, I’m sorry Trixie.”
“How is she Gladis?”
“Without a proper knowledge of your anatomy I couldn’t perform a proper diagnosis, but with estimates I would say she is stable since her vitals match most of yours, she is just sleeping and I would suggest to let her rest at least until tomorrow, also if I may ask, I detected your comrades practically shattered the laws of physics by… teleporting down to the ground, I won’t ask how is possible I don’t want to fry my neural links, anyways my sensors indicate that your planet is not Terra Nova but given that you appear to have at least similar anatomy than the crew, this planet is safe and no terraforming is needed.”
“Wait, what do you mean?”
“Oh yeah, well we need to continue with the arrival protocol.”
Twilight began sweating, “Wait Gladis, do you mean to tell me you are sending all of the al… the crew to my planet now?”
“Oh no you silly, one I don’t have enough power to send the entire crew and two that is not the process, first we were supposed to send half of our drones to scan the land, given that is not possible I’m glad to know you exist, so I can confirm that the planet is livable, now I will need to send a team of three, one officer, one scientist and a guard. They will confirm the livability of the planet for a year and then send the everything is ok so I can send the rest.”
“Oh, I see that makes sense.”
“Hmmm, there seems to be a problem.”
“What’s wrong Gladis?”
“Well the exploration team was selected from the beginning of the trip but, it appears that my primary database has been wiped, I suspect that some sort of electromagnetic pulse was the cause, but I can’t confirm that now, luckily my brain is protected for such thing but most of the data on the ship is now gone, it would explain why all the droids inside the ship are not working including the butler droid I sent you when you arrived. I had to personally move it myself like a puppet. Such a sad thing, so many AIs lost. Luckily it appears that the omnitools and most of our systems are still in working order except for the data inside.”
“That doesn’t explain the problem with the exploration team.”
“Oh sorry about that, I got lost in my rambling. What I mean is that all the records of the tripulants on this ship are lost, so I don’t know who is who, I can only recognize the sectors where the pods are so I don’t know who to send.”
“Well they all should be capable, why don't you send three random crew members?”
“You are right, Ensign Sparkle, I knew I made the right choice in giving you the rank, I noticed there is a crystal structure where your comrades are. I have chosen that structure for the landing, it has more than enough space for the three pods landing, commencing Arrival step two.”
“Great… wait NOW?”
“Why yes, I randomly selected a crew member from each of the scientists, officers and security sectors and they are being prepared for launch.”
“Oh no no no no, that’s too soon, stop it.”
“Oh don’t be silly, Ensign Sparkle, only a higher rank officer would be able to stop it, pods are ready to launch in ten seconds, ten… nine… eight… six...”
“Wait what happened with seven?”
“Just kidding, three… two… one… launch.”
From one of the sides of the humongous ship, a small opening shot three egg shaped pods directly to the planet, these pods quickly entered the planet’s atmosphere and used small boosts to correct their course directly to the castle of friendship.
“We need to go back, Starlight let’s go.”
“I’m staying until Trixie wakes up.”
“Fine, Gladis, I need to talk with Tube Tester,” the bracelet made a beep sound, “Tube we need to go back, Gladis sent three aliens to the planet.”
“Yes she told me that too, I’m running to the cargo bay.”
“Star Swirl, Moondancer you heard that too?”
Star Swirl’s voice came from the bracelet, “amazing how this can connect us even if you are all the way up there, and yes she just told us too.”
Twilight ran back to the room where the runes were and she encountered Tube Tester there, “come on come on let’s go,” she ignited her horn and used the runes toi teleport back to Equum, back on land they appeared, “Sunburst do we have an estimate of the pods trajectory?”
“Not yet, give me a few seconds,” the stallion said while making calculations as fast as he could, “there you go, here the pods should come from THAT SIDE!” he pointed to the sky where he calculated the pods trajectory, Twilight flew as fast as she could in that direction until she saw the three pods entering the atmosphere as three fireballs.
“Ensign Sparkle, I don’t understand what seems to be the commotion.”
“You don’t? You just send two fireballs to one of our castles, they are going to crash and make a mess out of them.”
“That’s preposterous, the pods are programmed to safely land on the area that they were sent.”
“What?” At that moment the pods completed entry to the planet and were no longer flaming balls of destruction, they opened from the top and let out three big parachutes that slowed their descense.
“As per the records, the capsule containing the drone you pulled malfunctioned and couldn’t land safely, I don’t know how it didn’t get destroyed but that doesn’t matter here, these pods are perfectly functional.”
“This will attract too much attention,” Twilight cast a spell on the now slowly falling pods and they turned invisible.”
“Fascinating, I don’t understand this energy but it seems really useful.”
“Are you sure they are going to land on the indicated place?”
“Why yes, my calculations included your weather and wind speeds, besides the pods can correct their trajectory, don’t worry about it,” Twilight returned to the castle and waited until the pods arrived, a few minutes later she heard her bracelet beep, “Ensign Sparkle, you may want to evacuate the immediate landing area, the pod’s landing thrusters might be dangerous for living forms.”
Tube Tester laughed, “Well you heard the lady, get the hay out of here, let’s go down,” every creature went down one floor and mere seconds later they could hear a loud noise like something was blowing really hard and then silence.
“It is safe now to approach the pods.”
“Cool I can wait to see these aliens in the flesh!” everycreature was startled at the pink pony suddenly talking, “what? You didn’t think I would miss this did you?”
Everycreature went up and Twilight lifted the spell to make the visible again, they were smooth and bigger than Mod’s capsule, they went closer and noticed that they weren’t hot, Twilight encased them with her magic, “we should get them in to the basement” she teleported the pods and everycreature inside the castle’s basement and turned on the lights. She teleported each of the pods to a corner of the room, leaving the part they thought would be the opening, free so the aliens could come out.
“This is so exciting, I can’t wait to see the aliens in real life, where is my popcorn,” Pinkie pulled a bucket of popcorn from her mane and began eating it.
“Well you will need to wait a bit longer,” came the voice from Twilight’s bracelet.
“Oooooh that’s cool, hey lady are you one of the aliens?”
“From your perspective I might as well be, but to be more precise I’m just an AI, you may call me Gladis, anyways the pods are ready and the awakening process has begun you might want to have some towels near the pods.”
“Why?”
“The pods are right now pumping revitalizer to neutralize the stasis gel, this will reactivate their organs and then is just a matter of time, the stasis gel will be drained from the pod but there will be traces on their bodies also you need to be aware it could take from one to forty eight hours for the subject to wake up, once one wakes up the pod will automatically open, so I hope you are comfortable this might take a while.”
“Oh poo, I’ll go make some snacks, call me if something happens,” Pinkie left the room and ran to the kitchen.
“Okay this is not what I was expecting, what do you say, do you want to wait here until they open?” after discussing the pros and cons they decided that only two should wait until the pods open, Twilight and Star Swirl would be the first ones to wait while everycreature else when to do their own stuff, “Gladis connect me to Starlight,” the omnitool made a beep sound, “Starlight how are you holding up?”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
“Twilight, Trixie hasn’t woken up but I made a magic scan and I might not be an expert on medical magic but as far as I can tell, she will be ok she is just sleeping now.”
“Great, are you sure you don’t want to come back, the runes are still safe at this range.”
“No Twilight, I don’t want Trixie to wake up alone in this place, we’ll be back tomorrow once she is up.”
“Ok, we’ll be waiting for you tomorrow.”
Starlight’s omnitool beeped signaling the connection was over, “Oh Trix, you dummy, you make me worry so much,” she said while moving Trixie’s mane from her sleeping face.
A droid came in the room holding a tray, itseyes red signaling it was being controlled by Gladis, “Ensign Glimmer, my sensors indicate that your level of leptins are raising, causing your digestive system to demand nutrition.”
“What?”
“In layman's terms, you are hungry, this is some recently manufactured nutrient paste meal, is not delicious but it will do the trick, I’m really sorry I can’t offer you a proper meal but most resources sectors are locked until the crew wakes up.”
“Oh thanks, oh and I’m sorry I insulted you and sorry for thinking you kidnapped my friend.” “Don’t beat yourself for it, no harm done.”
Starlight stared at the bowl with green paste in it, it didn’t look tasty at all but her stomach grumbled demanding some sort of nutrient, she lifted the spoon with her magic and slowly got some on her mouth with her eyes closed, “oh this is actually pretty good,” she grabbed some more and began eating with gusto.
“Are you serious? The crew can barely stand the taste.”
“It tastes similar to my dad’s surprise casserole.”
“How peculiar, I’m glad you liked it.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Back at the castle it’s been at least two hours since the pods arrived, Pinkie went down to see Twilight who was talking with Star Swirl, “Any changes?” both said no and Pinkie gave them some snacks to pass the time, “do you think they would be surprised to see us here?”
“They won’t see us, I placed a one way mirror spell between us and the pods, they will only see a big mirror from here.”
“Oh nice, so how are they going to understand us?”
“I enchanted the pods, as long as they are near them, they will understand us and we them,” A beeping sound came from the pod in the middle, “Pinkie shut up, I think something is happening, Gladis...”
“No need to, I already alerted everyone, they are coming down”
Everycreature in the castle went down as fast as they could to see the aliens waking up, “Oh my gosh, where is my camera,” Pinkie pulled a camera from her mane, “wait a minute,” the pink mare stared up for some reason and then to the pod that it was opening, then stared directly to a wall with a serious expression, “oh no don’t you dare end this on a cliff-”
At a cozy cabin in the residential sector of Ponyville, a green unicorn mare was heading to the bedroom of the house she shared with her wife. She opened the door but then she felt something weird in her guts.
“Is there something wrong, love?”
“I don’t know, I feel like something amazing is happening, something that I need to see myself, I’ll be right back Bonnie”
“Lyra, why don’t I show you your birthday present and then you can decide if you wanna go,” Bon Bon said in a sultry manner, removing the sheets of the bed uncovering herself and showing Lyra that she was wearing a see through babydoll and fishnet socks on her four hooves, “so what do you say.”
“I say whatever that weird feeling is, can wait,” the unicorn ran and jumped on the bed making Bon Bon giggle.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
“Hanger…”
“What was that Pinkie?”
“Nevermind, it doesn’t matter anymore.”
Now that the entire group was gathered at the basement, they watched as one of the pods slowly opened with a sizzling sound, it took a few seconds but the pod was completely open and they were able to see a strange figure inside, there were still some vapors coming out of the pod and the creature had some traces of a semi-transparent goo all over its body, they also noticed that the creature was slender and lacked any hair except for the long red mane on the head, skin was fair and smooth and was sleeping in a fetal position.
The creature began moving and growling, slowly rubbed its eyes and sat where it was, the group stared in awe at this new creature, waking up on this planet for the first time on what could be described as a second birth, the alien rubbed its eyes once again and yawned and for the first time the group listened one of these aliens in the flesh, “aww come on, five more minutes,” it said on a young femenine voice, then laid down on the pod again, “BB turn off the lights, tell dad I’ll take breakfast later… BB? Turn off the lights… wait... “ the alien quickly got up again rubbing her eyes then staring at her body, “why am I sticky and naked? Oh crap don’t tell me I lost my V card, my mom is gonna kill me!” she looked around her not recognizing the room she was in, “okay think what was the last thing you remember?”
The group stared at the alien in her confusion, Pinkie whispered to Twilight “don’t you think we should go greet the alien?” She was shushed by the princess, the alien was rubbing her head trying to remember, her brain took her back to the last time she saw her planet.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
The yellowish sky roared all over the rubble and filth of a destroyed city, the ground lacked any vegetation while horrific creatures roamed the land, thirsty for blood. One single warrior, dressed for battle hid behind a rock waiting for the right moment to strike.
The creatures walked just next to the armed hero who reloaded her gun and smiled saying, “groovy,” she then jumped unloading all her lead on the beast that ruined her home but didn’t notice that one of them was behind her, the beast jumped and one fatal blow was the last thing the warrior felt on the wasteland that was once her beautiful planet.
“AWWW KRIFF! I can’t pass this kriffing point, this one hit kill monsters are way too OP!” The girl said while staring at the words GAME OVER on a small screen in her hands, she was sitting on a chair in what appeared to be a beautiful garden with many types of flowers and trees.
A female voice came from inside the house, “come on sweetheart I already packed your luggage, get in the shuttle, we need to be at the space station in an hour to get in the pods.”
“Oh yeah, that was today, I’m coming mom,” the girl said, she ran and got inside the large machine, she then turned back and waved, “goodbye earth, thanks for the air and what not,” she waited for her mother to enter the shuttle and they flew away to the space station, she could see from the window her beautiful town, full of green places and even a lake with crystalline water, she was going to miss Earth but she was also excited for this new adventure.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
The girl then snapped back to reality, “oh yeah, the space travel thingy, so this is Terra Nova… wow looks pretty lame… MOM! DAD! You in there?” the girl hopped out of the pod, where the group could completely see her, she was a bit taller than Tinker claw.
“Oh it seems it is a she,” Tinker Claw said, quickly having his eyes covered by her mother’s hand, “hey what gives.”
“You are too young for this boy,” Tube tester whispered, Moondancer magically removed Sunburst glasses and covered his face with his own cloak.
“I think the most prudent thing would be for us to leave,” Star Swirl said, levitating Sunburst and Tinker Claw with him out of the room.
“What was that?” said the girl staring at the giant mirror in the room, “wow that's a huge ass mirror, oh a towel, whoomps yeah!” she used the towel to clean the remaining goo from her body, then she crouched in front of the pod, poking at one of the sides, she poked several times not getting the result she expected, she began hitting it with her fists and finally gave it a kick, regretting her decision immediately, “OW WHAT THE KRIFF!” she rubbed her hurt feet, “oh yeah it was the other side,” she went around the other side of the pod poking it again making one of the panels of the pod open, she pulled some items from inside the pod including a white box with many bracelets and other accesories, a white sleeveless t-shirt, a pair of black sport shoes, denim shorts and a red zip up hoodie, she smelled her clothes and then put them on and tied her hair into a ponytail.
“I like her, Twilight?”
“You like everypony, Pinkie.”
“Okay who’s there? I know I heard something!” the girl put her hand inside the opening of the pod searching for something. She pulled what appeared to be a small pastry inside a plastic wrapping, “show yourself, I have a… oh hey, I knew I still had one of these left.”
“Hi my name is Pinkie, what’s your name?”
The pink pony was jumping in front of the alien, while the rest of the group turned to see where she used to be behind the mirror, their faces with their mouths completely open in disbelief, “Pinkie what are you doing, you are going to scare her!” Twilight whispered, watching how her friend kept bouncing in front of the alien.
They stared at the girl, they expected the worst that she might go nuts or that she might try to attack their friend, Twilight got her horn ready to pull Pinkie out when the alien raised her hand and said, “Hi Pinkie I’m Freya.”
“Nice to meet you Fry, hey what’s that?”
“Oh this? This is a twinkie, want some?” the pink pony nodded so Freya unwrapped the pastry and cut it in half, giving one half to the pony in front of her, they both ate their halves enjoying the sweetness, “oh boy I love this, hey where is everyone else?”
“Oh they are behind that one way mirror.”
“Pinkie what are you doing!”
“Is that a one way mirror?” the pink pony nodded, “cool, I’ve never seen one before.”
Twilight was confused at the alien’s behaviour but then snapped, “of course, these aliens have a more advanced culture, I’m sure they must have met other species and cultures so they are unfazed at our presence,” the group nodded agreeing with Twilight.
“Hey Fray, wanna be friends?”
“Sure Pinkie,” Freya said while reaching Pinkie’s head and rubbing behind her ears, Pinkie’s face changed to one of pure delight.
The group stared at the interchange, “that… must be some sort of greeting, this al… Freya must be a very cunning dignitary; she should be treated with high respect.” Twilight ignited her horn and made the mirror open in the middle revealing them to their guest. The princess walked to the girl, extended her wings and bowed in a sign of respect, “Greetings, my name is Twilight Sparkle, I am the princess of Equestria and sole ruler of the land.”
“Twilight, meet my new friend Frisk.”
“Hiya, I’m Freya,” Twilight extended her hoof in front of Freya and she grabbed it shaking it, “oooh soft.”
“In the name of all the habitants in planet Equum I would like to welcome you to our plaaaAAaaaAAA,” Twilight was interrupted by Freya reaching out behind her ear and scratching her, completely disarming the princess turning her into putty under her hand.
Moondancer giggled, “that’s one terrorific greeting if it can defeat even an alicorn, hi my name is Moondancer, nice to meeEEP!” the unicorn screamed as she too fell victim of Freya’s hands.
“And I am Tube Tester,” Freya stretched her hand but the minotauress graved her, “no thanks, I’m good”
“You are a tall lady, hey I have something really important to ask you,” Freya said and the downed ponies straightened up and paid attention, “can I use your bathroom? I’ve been holding it since the trip started,” the ponies put a face of confusion.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
“And then the chest opened and there was an old stallion inside, he said something about it having enough space for a nap inside after all and laid inside again closing it, that trip was such a mess I will never forget it.”
“Oh what a sweet and enjoyable story Ensign Glimmer, more water?”
“No thanks, I’m fine.”
A butler droid being controlled by Gladis picked the improvised dishes and cups made out of some medical instruments, “My apologies again for not being able to offer you more than some nutrient paste and water, again almost all of the supplies are locked until the colonists wake up.”
“That’s okay Gladis, you have done quite enough, in fact I would like to apologize for thinking you were going to... harm my friend and for yelling all manner of stuff… and for trying to blast the door open.”
“I don’t mind sweetie, my sensors have scanned you and this strange form of energy all this time and for my calculations the maximum output of energy from your body, wouldn’t have been enough to make any considerable damage on the door or walls. If I really thought you would be any danger to the colonists I would have simply opened the airlocks and thrown you out.”
Starlight laughed, “Gladis you are so funny.”
“Oh, thank you… but it wasn’t a joke, I’m still bound by my protocols and directives, I must put the survival of the humans inside the ship before everything else, even myself.”
“Oh…”
“But tell me more about your people, I see Trixie is really important for you.”
“Well yeah, she is my best friend.”
“Really?”
“Yeah why?”
“Nothing is just the way you talk about her and around eighty nine percent of the stories you told me included her in some way, without mentioning that you have held her hoof for seventy percent of the time you have been on board… Well, I don’t need to make use of my emotional core to know that you feel for her more than platonic friendship.”
“Oh don’t give me that, you are sounding like my dad now.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
After a quick pit stop and an awkward lesson on how bidets work, the group in the planet was giving a tour to their new friend around the castle, Star Swirl, Tinker Claw and Sunburst apparently left the castle and Tube Tester stayed in the basement guarding the remaining pods. Freya walked with the group of mares enjoying the trip, she watched the rooms and paints and even the floor with eyes full of wonder.
“This is the kitchen, as you can see it is well equipped, we hope you like our coussine.”
“WOW! It’s huge, hey I’ll prepare something later, I’m a great chef.”
“Really?” Twilight asked which Freya nodded “okay, I’ll look forward to your cooking”
“Next would be the foyer,” as they walked they could hear some voices coming from the entrance.
“And then I reassembled it in only two minutes… oh hi there!” The cat boy said to the group including Freya, the two stallions behind him also stared at the alien girl who had mouth and both eyes wide open.
Twilight turned to see Freya, “are you okay?”
“GIANT KITTY!” Freya ran directly to Tinker Claw, she grabbed the cat boy and pushed his face against her chest in a bone crushing hug, “Oooh! A giant cute kitty to pet and love and cherish and squeeze!” Tinker tried to untangle himself from the alien with no success, “I'll take you home and lock you in a nice cage, and never, never, EVER let you out, except to pet you…*kiss*...and love you…*kiss* ...and hug you…*kiss*...and squeeze you all up! Won't that be fun?”
Tinker Claw was struggling to breathe under the powerful arms of the alien girl, “oh no, this is it, this is how I die, I can see my life flash before my eyes, hey I didn’t steal that… oh yeah I did wait what is this soft but still firm feeling? Oh by Faust, it’s her...her...”
“Release him Freya, you are choking him!”
“Oh… oh gosh, I’m sorry kitty,” Freya let go of Tinker Claw who gasped for air, “now I remember why my mom doesn’t let me keep pets.”
“I’m a *gasp* I’m okay, don’t worry *gasp* I’m not that fragile,” the boy said, blushing a bit.
“Well hello there young miss, my name is Star Swirl the bearded and my friends here are Sunburst and Tinker Claw, we are glad to meet… what are you doing?” the old wizard stopped Freya’s arm heading for his head with his magic.
“Oh that appears to be a greeting on her planet, she was going to scratch you behind the ears, it is… ehem, very pleasant… oh her name is Freya.”
“Well nice to meet you Freya, I hope my friends here have treated you well.”
“They have been pretty nice, hey you sound like my grandpa, he also has a long white beard, but he is fat. He dresses as Santa Claus on Christmas every year.”
Moondancer whispered to the alicorn, “Twilight, isn’t that Christmas one of the words we heard on the music box, this one is definitely one of the aliens from the box.”
Twilight whispered back, “you are right, we should show the music box to Freya, she should be able to tell us more about it,” Moondancer nodded, Twilight turned to the alien, “Freya, we have found-”
“Twilight, I’m kinda hungry, do you have something to eat?”
“Oh… but of course, let’s go to the kitchen right away.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
“And that’s the reason for this voyage, at least that’s what I know that wasn’t deleted, I still wonder why every data inside the ship was deleted besides my main brain, possibly the ship passed through a space electric storm and the only thing protected from an EMP was my main brain.”
“Wow, that’s so simple and at the same time so complicated so basically their entire motivation for doing the things they do is… just ‘why not’ it is amazing. These human creatures are really interesting, I wonder how they are doing back on the planet.”
“Why don’t you ask them, we are still at range to communicate with them.”
“Hey you are right, connect me Glad-”
“Glimmy?” Trixie said softly, her words muffled by the oxygen mask she was wearing.
“Trixie! Oh my gosh, Trixie you are awake,” Starlight hugged Trixie, “you dummy, don’t you ever do that to me again, I swear if you die on me I’ll kill you.”
Trixie was confused but then it came back to her, she remembered how she tried tackling the creature and popping her bubble in the process, how she then smelled the weird invisible gas and how she felt all the strength leaving her body then waking up right where she was, “Glimmy... I’m sorry,” she tried moving her hooves but she felt weak.
“I’ll suggest you don’t try to move, the gas you breathed poisoned you and even if it was just a few seconds, it might take another day or two to completely recover from that,” Gladis’ voice came from the bracelet on Trixie’s hoof, while unconscious Gladis suggested Starlight to put one on her since it would be easier to read her vitals that way.
“So… I’m not… dead…” she said softly while laboriously breathing in every time she stopped.
The voice from the bracelet giggled “not at all sweetie, in fact I would say you will live a long life, so you better enjoy the rest of your life, travel the world, buy a house, settle down, get married with Starlight, adopt a child or two.”
“GLADIS!”
“What? You know I’m just hypothetically speaking.”
A soft giggle came from Trixie, “Trixie doesn’t... understands what’s... going on, but Trixie thinks… that she is happy… to still be alive… with you.”
Starlight smiled and blushed, she nuzzled her dearest friend, many thoughts went around her head while she shared this moment with Trixie.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
The group in the castle was about to enter the kitchen when a beep came from Twilight’s bracelet, “Ensign Sparkle, your comrade Trixie just woke up, she is still weak, I believe we are past the range where you said it would be safe to… teleport… so once we are in range tomorrow I’d suggest transferring her to a medical installation better equipped for your anatomy.”
“Great, thanks Gladis.”
“Oh and the second pod is just opening too, I thought you might want to know.”
“Oh my Faust, guys, the second pod is opening, let's go to the basement!”
The group ran to the basement where Tube Tester was watching the pod sizzling and opening from behind the mirror, some gas came out of it and the panel stopped once it was completely open, again a slender figure on the fetal position was inside, this one had a short black mane, the group watched behind the one way mirror when Freya gasped.
“TEX!” the girl said while pushing the mirror and running to the pod grabbing the still half asleep alien and hugging him.
The alien groaned, and tried to set himself free from the girl, “FREYA GIT OF ME YOU MORON! How many times have I told you to not enter my room and wake me up!” the alien spoke with a young masculine voice, he finally managed to push the girl and then stared at his body, “what the kriff? FREYA! You threw me in a pool filled with jelly again? FREYA YOU BUFFOON, YOU DOLT!”
“Wait Tex, this wasn’t me, this is for the space pod thingy.”
The boy stared at Freya, now remembering the mission, “I see, um…,” he then realized he was naked and covered his crotch, “FREYA! Turn around you blockhead!”
“Come on Tex you don’t have anything I hadn’t seen before, we used to take baths together remember?”
“When we were three for God’s sake!” he yelled at her, Freya shrugged but complied, he got off the pod and opened the side compartment pulling silver suitcase where he had many items in a neat and tidy manner, he cleaned himself, put on some sort of underwear then a full bodysuit on top, shoes and a bracelet like the ones given by Gladis, he stood up checking everything was in order with his outfit and then closed the suitcase and put in inside the pod again, “wait a minute, this doesn’t look like the standard resuscitation facility, where are we? Where are the technicians and doctors supposed to monitor the awakening process? FREYA WHAT DID YOU DO?” he asked Freya, grabbing her by the hoodie.
“Hey don’t look at me, I woke up like an hour ago.”
The group watched behind the mirror and Moondacer whispered to Twilight, “Twilight, that one alien seems more aggressive, even if he is shorter than Freya, we may need to be cautious.”
“Nonsense, these are part of a very well trained crew, I’m sure that’s just the way they talk to each other,” she whispered back.
“Hiya! I’m Pinkie Pie, what’s your name?”
“Pinkie not again.”
The boy stared at the pink creature jumping in front of him with his mouth and eyes wide open, “WHAT THE KRIFF IS THAT!” he jumped behind Freya, “IT SPOKE, FREYA WHAT IS THAT!”
“Oh she is my friend Pinkie; Pinkie, Tex, Tex Pinkie, now you are both friends too!”
Pinkie got near the trembling boy and smiled, “what’s wrong?”
Twilight bit her hoof, “okay that’s it,” she opened the mirror and the group got closer to Pinkie and the aliens, “Pinkie you are scaring him! Back off!”
Tex stared at the group coming right at them, his eye twitched and he let out a scream that could probably be heard in Canterlot, “Please don’t eat my brain, my brain is really important, eat Freya’s she barely uses it!” in the commotion they didn’t notice that the third pod was opening.
“Tex, stop being a drama queen, these are our friends, they are not going to eat your brain.”
“But… What are they? They are not human, they walk on four legs but they can talk, that one has horns and that one has wings and is that a giant cat?”
Freya turned around to face the group, “hey Tex is right, what are you guys?” most of the group stared with their mouths open to Freya, now understanding that she wasn’t even aware they were different species.
“Ensign Twilight, I believe I can explain it to the boy, but I need to be quick as we are almost out of reach for communications.”
After a few minutes calming down Tex and Gladis explaining as best as she could before disconnecting completely being out of range, Tex stood in front of the Princess and extended his hand, “my apologies for the previous outburst ma’am, my name is Texas Jeremiah Smith at your service and I’m sure my friend here already introduced herself.”
“Indeed mister Smith, she is quite the character and again I’m sorry if my friends and I scared you.”
“Oh please ma’am, just Texas is fine, I was named after the land I was born in, finest country of the Americas… and I wasn’t scared I was just surprised there ain’t a thing that can scare me.”
“Yeah right, you almost peed your onesie Tex,” Freya said, shaking Tex's shoulder.
“This ain’t a onesie is a standard A, one, one, three full body suit and is mandatory, where is yours?”
“Awww Tex, it chafes my tushie and is ugly as kriff,” she said while picking her ear.
Tinker Claw laughed, “I was wondering, is she alright? Freya doesn’t seem to be all there.”
“She is fine, her brain is just lazy. Freya, git your finger out of your ear, stand straight, you are the result of millions of years of evolution, act like it.”
“Sir, yes sir!”
“Now give me the six naturally occurring noble gases.”
“Sir, yes sir! Hel-”
“In alphabetic order.”
“Argon, helium, krypton, neon, radon and xenon.”
“Good girl.”
“Ara ara~, I see you two are as lovey dovey as always,” a female voice came from behind the group, where all of them could see a female figure biting on an apple, she was a bit taller than freya, almost as tall as Ember, her head sported black silky hair cut short to the shoulders, she was wearing a red crop top with gym pants and pink shoes.
Tex scratched his head, “oh crap not you, this gets worse and worse every minute.”
“Yuki!” Freya yelled and ran to the new arrival tackling her, the newcomer caught Freya and gave her a few spins, finally letting her stand and hugging her, “where did you get that apple?”.
“From the kitchen, here have the rest of it. Hi guys, I took the liberty of exploring the place while you talked with the ship’s AI, my name is Takayama Yukino, but please just call me Yuki. I suppose I’m the last one to wake up,” after everyone introduced themselves, Tex pocked Yuki’s shoulder.
“Am I the only one that follows proper procedure? Where is your mandatory full body suit, Yuki?”
“You are too serious Tex, is not like they are going to send us back if we don’t follow the rules, so I guess this isn’t Terra Nova, so Arrival protocols are in order?”
“Yes, but the stupid ship suffered a malfunction and erased all information from the main data base, so it picked three random pods from the Officers, Science Team and Security sections.”
“I see, that explains why we are here instead of the exploration team.”
Twilight cleared her throat, “but you are part of the crew are you not? That’s why you were in those sectors.”
Freya swallowed the rest of the apple and addressed Twilight, “technically we are not but we also are, hehe,” Twilight stared in confusion.
“What my halfwit friend tries to say is that those sectors not only contain the crew but also their families, my dad is part of the science team, Yuki’s parents are part of the security team and Freya, well her mom is the leader of the operation and her dad is the programmer in chief, the fact that the ship computer picked our three pods between thousands is a miracle, the probability was as small as throwing a rock on the river and finding it a year later.”
“Are you telling me that-”
“Yeah, we are not part of the crew, we three are only fourteen years old and the ship’s computer messed up.”
Yuki walked closer to the group, “luckily the next step is easy, once the evaluation time is over, the team needs to verbally approve the landing of the rest of the pods.”
“Oh great, how long is the evaluation time?” Asked Twilight.
Tex’s eye twitched again, Yuki bit her lip and Freya checked under her shoe removing a little stone throwing it over her shoulder and then cleaning her hands on her shorts, Texas dropped her head sighing, “it’s one year, it means I’m trapped on a strange planet with this two blockheads,” he said pointing at Yuki and Freya, “and a bunch of creatures named like it was the victorian era that look like they came from a show for little girls,” he then stared at Tube Tester and her assets, “well maybe not just for little girls, but the point is that is going to be a long year,” he said sitting on the floor with his face on his hands. Yuki walked to the boy and put her hand on his shoulder and Freya did the same, he let out a long sigh and stood up again, “Wait a goddamn minute, how come y’all are so comfortable with an alien species like us?”
Twilight surprised lifted a hoof to the question, “oh well, you’ll see, we were expecting you in some way… maybe we should show you.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Everyone walked to the studio while Twilight explained from the beginning to the trio of humans, who listened quietly, only the human Tex asked a few questions here and there, when they were near the studio door, they could hear a voice near, “Twilight we are back, is everypony okay?” Spike and Somnambula walked near them, their eyes now locked on the new arrivals, “um… welcome to our planet I guess?
Tinker Claw turned to see Freya who had a smile from ear to ear, “SPIKE RUN!” he screamed as the girl began running directly to the dragon who froze, step by step the girl approached the young drake, her hand was mere centimeters from her prey when she was tackled by Yuki.
“Down girl, you know you can’t just go and hug every single creature you see because you think it’s cute.”
Freya struggled against Yuki’s stronger grip. “But Yuki, there is a giant lizard, I just wanna hug the lizard.”
Spike finally unfroze after the alien went down, but then pouted “Hey! I’m a dragon, DRA-GON, not a lizard. I don't do that tongue thing,” he then proceeds to do the tongue thing, “hmm… déjà vu”
“Did you just say dragon?” Tex’s eyes lit he approached Spike, “you are a dragon?” Spike nodded a bit apprehensive of the taller boy, Tex extended his trembling hand, “h-howdy, my name is Texas.”
“Oh yeah, Tex’s favorite mythological creatures are dragons, he even has like a gazillion dragon dolls in his room… well back on Earth, I’m sure he brought some with him,” Freya said, still pinned down on the ground.
“They are not dolls, they are figurines!”
“Hey don’t worry Texas, I get you,” Spike replied, winking and grabbing Tex’s hand.
After another set of introductions everyone entered the studio and Tex inspected the music box, “wow this thing is ancient, I don’t think we have used this kind of technology for at least ten or fifteen years, or at least since when we were at Earth, it doesn’t seem to have an holographic interface, it still uses buttons,” he pointed his wrist to the music box, “scan,” the bracelet came to life and a light similar to what Mod used lit the music box, “boy I’m glad Gladis could reprogram the basic functions on these things, I see yes pretty interesting.”
“What is it, Tex?”
“Literally nothing, without any data to compare it this scan is pretty much useless now, for what is worth it, I’m sure this is human tech, outdated but resilient human tech,” Tex put the music box on its pedestal and pressed the button an eerie tune came out of the machine.
“Hmm quite interesting, you managed to incorporate human tech with your own, your culture must be pretty advanced as well.”
Tube Tester crossed her arms and said “to be honest mister Smith, your technology is much more advanced than our own, my son and I have been trying to understand it for moons already.”
“Ah well I’m not that familiar with the technology of this era but I’ll gladly assist with the study of it, Professor Tester.”
“That would be marvelous mister Smith, I would really appreciate all your help.”
“Oh please, you may just call me Texas.”
“In that case you may call me Tube, Texas,” they both shook hands and Tinker Claw jumped between both of them.
“HEY! Don’t get so chummy, that’s my mom you are talking with, you shortie!”
Tex squared in front of Tinker Claw, “who are you calling shortie, we are the same height.”
“No no no my friend, look at my ears, I’m taller than you.”
“Ears don't count, none! Then I would just make my hair like a mohawk and be… nevermind I don’t have enough hair.”
Freya whispered to Twilight, “hey I’m still hungry, I’ll head to the kitchen and prepare something, is that alright?”
“Sure no problem Freya.”
“I’ll help,” said Pinkie and both left for the kitchen.
Yuki grabbed Tex from the ear and Tube tested lifted Tinker by the scruff both being scolded, once both feme fatales calmed down, Yuki approached the Music Box, “I remember my dad had a computer like this, quite the old thing but at least had a proper keyboard not just a few buttons,” she pressed the button some bells and a moan came from the machine.
“That’s your music, don't you recognize it Yukino?”
“I wouldn’t say so Twilight, but to be honest I prefer bio xanimbar music, this sounds… like ancient pop or something like that.”
“Indeed I think it sounds like something from the twenty thirties maybe twenty twenties, the lyrics are ridiculous as well, I can barely understand all that… slang,” Tex rubbed his chin in contemplation, “now that I think about it, how are you translating all what we say, I’ve noticed that the words coming from all of your mouths doesn’t match what your lips seem to be saying.”
“How do you know that Texas?”
“I’m pretty good at reading lips, so you say that your technology is not as advanced as ours, but you managed a universal translator for an alien language, we managed a translator for all human languages but I don’t think it will work on aliens.”
“Oh you see, we used a translation spell I designed.”
“Spell? Like in magic?” Yuki asked and Twilight nodded, “that is so cool.”
“No Yuki, that is nonsense, magic… bah, magic is only science we don’t understand.”
“Hmm, that’s something you and I have in common Texas, I also believe with enough knowledge and technology we could emulate everything that can be done with pony magic.”
Moondancer seemed to be upset for the comment made by Texas and Tube Tester, “oh no, I’ve studied the magic theory and practices for years, I can confirm that magic is born from within and not able to be just emulated,” she ignited her horn and levitated several objects.
“Levitation, that could be done with gravity modifiers.”
“Well then how about this?” She pointed it to a basket of oranges and turned it into a lamp.
“Transmutation interesting, but humanity learned that everything is made with the same subatomic elements, it was just a matter of time for us to be able to reconfigure an item mere being and will it into another, in fact it was my father the pioneer that created one of the most efficient replicators in human history.”
“Fine, but I bet that replicator can’t do this,” she pointed her horn to the lamp and turned it into a raccoon, Moondancer panted since transmutation of this level is very taxing on their magic levels.
Tex stared at the animal that behaved like a normal animal, scratching its body, ”marvelous, this is simple marvelous, we have managed to created synthetic life, but never this quick, still nonetheless I’m still convinced that with enough time and research, this can too be replicated with science.”
The yellow unicorn fixed her glasses and walked to the boy, “Moondancer no,” Sunburst tried to stop his marefriend but she ignored him.
Once she was in front of him, she stretched her hoof and smiled, “I like you, your determination makes me think that you might be able to accomplish duplicating magic with science.”
Tex smiled and grabbed Moondancer’s hoof and shook it, “thanks, your magic is also fascinating, I can’t wait to study it thoroughly.”
“NERDS!” Yuki screamed, catching the attention of everyone in the room, Spike laughed with her, after a while everyone laughed, Yuki looked around her, “Hey Twilight, where is Freya?”
“She went to the kitchen to prepare some snacks with Pinkie, she said she was a great chef so I thought… um... is everything okay?”
Twilight stopped since she saw both Texas and Yukino with their faces turning into one of terror, Texas was the first to talk, “you… let her… into a kitchen?”
“Well… yeah I mean she sa-” Twilight was interrupted by the sound of an explosion, followed by the fire suppression system kicking in, she cast a spell to protect all the electronics and everyone then ran to find Freya and Pinkie, there was smoke coming from the kitchen, “Pinkie!”
They could hear coughs from inside where two silhouettes came out of the smoke, Freya was carrying a tray with some sort of mix in flames, “wow that was fun, in my years of working with the Cakes, I’ve never seen a cake that small explode like that.”
“Pinkie you are ok, I’m glad, are you ok Freya?” Twilight asked, Freya coughed a bit more but gave her a thumbs up.
Yukino laughed and grabbed a rag to clean her friend while Tex helped check Freya and Pinkie as well, “she is fine, she is always fine,” he let out a long sigh “yeah this is going to be a long, long year.”
