Friendship is Weird Part 1

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Equestria, the world of sentient talking ponies. Some have wings and can fly, others have horns that allow them to use magic, and then there’s the normal pony. Pegasus, unicorn, and earth ponies each have their own unique role to play displayed by an image on their flanks called “Cutie-marks.”

This story follows three friends, a unicorn, a pegasus, and an earth pony, as they travel over Equestria coming into situations that some may call “weird”. Cookies N Cream, the somewhat effeminate white bodied, black and white swirly mane and tailed unicorn stallion with a chocolate chip cookie cutie-mark, reads a book in a wagon pulled by a fairly huge, blue bodied with a cloud shaped cloudy white mane and tailed pegasus stallion with a half note and a beamed note in one whole 4 note measure on his flank, Alto Tenor. Circling them is a light orange bodied, dark red mane and tailed earth pony, Hopeful Journey, has a light red heart shape on his backside. Their eyes, gray, light blue, and dark blue respectively. The three of them approach the small town of Buckfield.

“Cookies, are we there yet?” The orange stallion inquired.

“There? As far as I know, we’ve been wandering aimlessly that I’m actually surprised that there is a town up on horizon. So, I guess the answer is no then.” Cookies said with a slight chuckle.

“Is that place host the Summer Sun Celebration?” The orange stallion pointed toward Buckfield.

“My dear Hope, sometimes I worry about your reading level. There is a sign on the outskirts of that town that says in big letters ‘Welcome to Buckfield.’ I’m sure even Alto here can read it.” Alto Tenor nodded in agreement.

“Aww phooey. Al has eyes like a hawk and you probably used some sort of spell from that book you’re reading to read his mind. I don’t got the eyes and the magic for that stuff.”

“oh, ho ho! You make me laugh, but this isn’t a spell book. It’s a cookbook.” Cookies shows Hope the pictures of food in the book. After a brief pause, both Cookies and Hope burst out into laughter. Alto Tenor let’s out a muted chuckle with them.

The trio enter Buckfield and park their wagon by a fountain in the commercial district. Cookies N Cream puts a couple of bits into two small sacks and tosses one to Hope while putting the other in his saddle bag. Alto Tenor lifts an instrument case out of the wagon.

“Here’s the deal, friends. I’ll look for somepony that can get us to Ponyville or is able to direct us to the place. Alto, play that instrument of yours. Gather up a crowd and get us some bits for the road. Hope…” The unicorn looks around the area before pointing at a building. “There is a small library over there, see if they have any spell books. You can also see if they have one of those picture books you are oh so fond of.” The two then separate, leaving Alto Tenor by the wagon as he sets up a spot to play his instrument and gather tips.

Hopeful Journey enters the library he was directed to. Inside is a rather camped room with full bookshelves up against the wall. At the center of the room is a pegasus mare with a dark green body and an auburn brown mane and tail. On her flank is a compass with the red needle pointing at the N. She stands behind a desk where there is a movable name plate that says “Facing North: Mare Librarian.”

Hopeful Journey approaches the mare whilst looking at all the books. Upon reaching her, he squints at the name plate before looking back at her. “Excuse me miss… Mare Librarian… do you have any spells books?”

The mare rolls her hazel eyes at the confusion of her name. “It’s Facing North, but most call me Mareian.” She says with a sigh. “This may be a library, but this isn’t Canterlot’s School for Gifted Unicorns. We may have one spell book if you would like me to check?”

“That would be nice, thanks.”

Back at the wagon, Alto Tenor gathers a plethora of ponies, enjoying the performance given to them; some even leave some bits in his instrument case. “How are you able to bend your wings that way? I can’t even write with mine.” Alto shrugged in response to the pony’s question and continued to play his instrument.

Wandering through town, Cookies N Cream goes from pony to pony. “Excuse me, but do you know how to get to Ponyville from here?” Each time he asks he gets similar responses all amounting to no. “Excuse me, but do you know how to get to Ponyville from here?” he asks again and again receives the same results.

“Buckfield is the Nowhere of Equestria. Not many ponies here know anything outside of here.” A brownish stallion with fiery red mane and tail wearing sunglasses approaches Cookies N Cream. On his flank is a microphone held up by a mic stand. “You should be asking if ponies know a pony who knows the ways around Equestria.” The stallion removes his glasses revealing a similarly brown pair of eyes.

“Pardon me, but who are you?”

“You’ll know who I am when you see my name up in lights, but that’s not the question you need to ask.” The stallion waves over a nearby pony. “You over there, do you know of any ponies who know the way around Equestria?”

The pony pondered, placing a hoof on their chin. “Oh yeah! South Pole did some traveling with his sister in order to get books outside of our little town. They work at the library.”

Cookies eyes widened at the word ‘library’. “Thank you very much.” The brown stallion thanked the pony. “It was good meeting you little unicorn lass, but I have to meet my agent for lunch. If you’re going to Ponyville for the Summer Sun Celebration then I’ll see you there.” With that the stallion trotted away from Cookies N Cream who immediately rushes back to the wagon.

The crowd gathered around Alto has grown rapidly. The area is so dense with ponies that any normal sized pony wouldn’t be able to make their way to the source. However, after a string of apologies, Cookies N Cream is able to reach his friend. “Collect all the bits you’ve gathered, Alto, because I think I’ve found somepony who may help us.”

“Found it!” Hope exclaimed.

“The book you are looking for?” Mareian asked.

Hope shows her an issue of Cheese Mare #5 “Even better, CHEESE MARE! You know, earlier issues are hard to come by. This one is special because it introduces Cheese Mare’s sidekick, Onion Colt.” He then starts turning the pages and intently ““““““reading”””””” the comic. “Even though he’s Onion Colt, he’s older than Cheese Mare herself. One of my favorite running gags.” Mareian rolls her eyes and continues sifting through the bookshelves.

“Excuse us!” The library door opens to reveal Alto and Cookies. “Is this the place where we can find one South Pole and sister?”

“Facing North.” Mareian says and then she slowly approaches the duo with an eyebrow raised. “Polo isn’t here right now can I help you with anyth-”

“SISTER!!!” Before Mareian could finish asking if the two needing anything, a voice from upstairs. With the voice came the sounds of hoof steps from the ceiling eventually leading to the stairwell in the back corner of the library. All eyes lay on a pegasus stallion with the same colors as Mareian but with a shorter tail, shorter mane, and on his flank, instead of a compass, is a map with a dotted line leading to an X. “This giant virtuoso is headed straight for our…” He pauses as his eyes lay on the two who have already entered the library. “…library… heh heh.” He smiles as wide as he possibly can as his cheeks begin to turn a shade of pink.

“As I was saying,” Mareian turns herself toward Alto and Cookies. “can we help you with anything?”

“Hi Cookies! They have Cheese Mare #5!” Hope waves to his friends with the comic in his other hoof.

“Hello there, Hope.” Cookies greets his friend with a smile before turning his head toward the mare in the room. “Yes, miss North. My companion over there may have asked you for a spell book, but I’ve come here asking for a traveling companion. You see, we are looking for a way to Ponyville for the Summer Sun Celebration, but unfortunately none of us are navigators. I heard through the grapevine that South Pole and his sister have traveled outside of this town to other places across Equestria and was wondering if they could take my companions and I to Ponyville.”

“I didn’t think I was that famous.” The green stallion said.

“It’s a better rumor than entering buildings and homes through a window Polo.” Mareian scoffed. “Hate to break it to you, but Polo isn’t much of a navigator, more of a cartographer; he writes his directions but is unable to follow them. I’d gladly assist you, but I can’t afford to close the library for a non-business venture.”

Before Cookies could begin to barter, Alto places a large sack containing bits on Mareian’s desk. The mare begins counting all the bits as they pour out the sack. “That’s a lot of bits, sis.” South Pole points out. “But you’re too worried about this place. I can handle the library business myself and these ponies gave us enough bits to pay the bills and then some.” South Pole places his hoof on his sister’s shoulder. “Follow your dreams, North, you don’t have to be with me all the time.”

There was a brief silence before Mareian teared up and hugged her brother.

“FOUND IT!” All eyes point toward the mood ending Hope who is trying to pull a book out of a bookshelf with his teeth. “I’h shehs sbellboo wan wah cober.”

“Don’t speak with food in your mouth, Hope. How many times have I told you this?” Cookies removes the book from his friend’s mouth and brings it to himself. “‘Grogar’s Spells for Experts’ and it’s been translated 18 times so chances are that the title and spells are not properly…” Hope sighs with a frown as he tries to take the book from Cookies. “…But I think I can finagle some of these spells into something useful.”

Mareian wipes her eye as she steps away from her brother. “Polo, get the map from upstairs.” Mareian asked her brother. “Listen here, Ponyville is a long way away from here, at least on hoof. Instead, we will be going to the nearest place with a train station, which should be…” At this point South Pole lays out a map on the library desk. “here.” Mareian plants her hoof on the map to a location marked ‘Los Pegasus’. “The train there goes to Appleoosa to Ponyville so we’ll be making a stop there, but it’s the fastest way to Ponyville that I know of.”

“Sounds neat.” Cookies says with a smile on his face. “Get to the wagon every pony, looks like we’re going to Los Pegasus.”

With Facing North, AKA Mareian the librarian, as their navigator, the three, now four, pack all their things into the wagon and leave Buckfield. South Pole waves her sister goodbye as Alto pulls the wagon out of town. Every once and a while, Hope switches out with Alto when it came to pulling the wagon. Eventually they made it to Los Pegasus.

The Evening sunlight shines through the ‘Ponywood’ sign as the group parks the wagon at one of Los Pegasus’ biggest public parks. “This is Los Pegasus? I thought Los Pegasus had bright lights, rollercoasters, and fireworks.” Hope pondered.

“huuuuh” Mareian sighed, “That’s Las Pegasus. This is Los Pegasus, where films are made and celebrities all over the place, at least that’s what the welcome sign suggests.”

“Never mind that, my friend. We’re a bit low on bits at the moment. Could you and Alto become street performers to earn us some bits for the road?”

“You can count on us, Cookie.” Hope answers with a tiny salute. “Come on, Al. I’ll go juggle some pinecones. You play that fancy instrument of yours.” Alto and Hope trot a fair distance away and start performing for passing ponies.

“You know, I never met a trio of kooky stallions until today. Mind if I ask you some questions about your little group.” Mareian asked the white and black unicorn.

“Ask away, Miss North. As long as I get the opportunity to ask you a thing or two.”

“Deal.” Mareian lifts her hoof up to Cookies and the both shake on it. “First question, what’s the relationship between you three?”

“Is it that difficult to understand? We’re childhood friends… though if you want to know when we first met, my father and their father were and are rather close so when Mister Thunderstorm and Missus Sound would come to visit, they’d bring Alto and Hope with them.” Cookies starts to look down with a bit of a blush. “and sometimes they’d bring Miss Sky with them.” He clears his throat before looking back at Mareian. “Back at Buckfield, your brother mentioned something about following your dreams. What exactly are your ‘dreams’ that would warrant you to help three strangers navigate their way to Ponyville?”

“There isn’t anything ‘dream’ worthy about wanting to leave Buckfield. I just couldn’t leave my brother behind, but he didn’t seem to want to leave. It pulled at my heartstrings at how supportive he was with me leaving.” Mareian rubs her eyes. “Great, now you got me teary eyed. You said ‘their father’ but only seemed to mention one Mister and one Miss, did I mishear something?”

“Your ears are perfectly fine. Mister Roaring Thunderstorm and Missus Speed Sound are the parents of Alto Tenor, Hopeful Journey…” Cookies looks down and blushes again. “…and Sky Sonata…” He then lifts his head back up again. “They may not look like it, but Alto and Hope were raised under the same roof for as long as I can remember. Now, how did you start getting interested in ‘navigation’?”

“It all started when my brother and I got lost in the woods when we were foals. We took some time to think and how we could get back home until Polo was able to scribble up a map retracing our path the way back home. Unfortunately for Polo, he was unable to get his bearing right, but fortunately for us I could understand where we were on the map. Once we got home, we began to literally glow and, wouldn’t you know, we got our cutie-marks.” Mareian let out a sigh. “My next question: you have, what looks to be, a baking related cutie-mark, but you have a strong desire to study magic. Is there any reason for these differing hobbies?”

“A pegasus like you would never understand how useful spells can be. I use a spell that is supposed to heat up the targets body in the extreme cold to warm up food and, in some cases, make something delicious. There are time manipulation spells that I use to speed up baking. There is also teleportation, use sugar instead of salt? With a bit of concentration, you can clean up every little piece of sugar without throwing everything you poured sugar onto away. In a word, convenience.” Cookies taps his hoof on his chin for a moment. “Were you… aware…o-o-of-f-f-f-f-f.”

Towering behind Mareian, is a large pegasus mare. Her fur is a sky blue while her long and flowing mane is colored white, a lighter white than on Alto. Her cutie mark is that of a blue jay singing to a cloud. The sun reflects off of her deep blue eyes as she smiles at the black and white stallion. “I didn’t expect to see such a familiar face in Los Pegasus.” Cookies quickly composes himself and immediately stands up straight. “I did expect to see unfamiliar faces. Is this your marefriend?” The near Celestia sized pegasus said with a light giggle.

Any composure Cookies had melts away as he tries to speak. “ma-ma-ma-MAREFRIEND!? No, no, no Sky, you got it all wrong.” Cookies curly mane uncurls and droops itself in front of his eyes and inside his mouth.

“Sorry, you must be mistaken. We barely know each other. I’m essentially a guide for him and his friends as they head to Ponyville.” Mareian buts in.

“Oh, I know that. Cookie isn’t the type of stallion to jump into a relationship like that. I just like teasing him is all.” The mare slightly raises her hoof to Mareian. “My name is Sky Sonata.”

“Facing North.” Mareian raises her own hoof and the two shake hooves. “Most ponies call me Mareian. So, you are the ‘Miss Sky’ this fool was talking about?”

Sky faces her head toward Cookies, who is brushing his mane by hoof into the usual curl. “Still using formalities, aren’t ya?” A shocked gasp exits his mouth as his mane flops onto his snout. With a giggle, Sky turns her head to Mareian. “Indeed I am. Nice to meet you, Mareian.”

“SIS!” A shout draws the two mares’ attention. “OVER HERE!” A short distance away they see a crowd where tiny balls of fire hop up and down along with a familiar orange hoof. “WHOOPS!” A loud thud rumbles through the park as the dense crowd begins to disperse revealing Alto and Hope along with a couple of small black ball-like things. The orange stallion starts charging toward Sky and almost tackles her with a hug. “What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing? (We’re trying to get to Ponyville.) I’m inspecting the weather factories around Equestria and today is the day I’m checking this town’s factory.” Sky said with Mareian interjecting. “It’s great to see you all but I should get going. I’m still on the clock after all.”

“SKY WAIT!” All eyes point toward the small white stallion who finally arranges his mane back into a curl. A moment of silence freezes the group. All Cookies N Cream could say was: “It was good to see you.” The gargantuan mare nodded with a smile before flying away.

Alto Tenor arrives to the scene, tossing a sack of bits toward Mareian. She looks at the sack and over at Cookies. “You know, I could have already bought the train tickets to Appleoosa, right?” Without much of a reaction, Cookies’ curly mane plops straight down.

The group head down to Los Pegasus train station and bought 5 tickets for themselves and the wagon for the next train to Appleoosa. A short moment later and the group is transported to their destination without much of a problem.

Out in the desert lies the town of Appleoosa, covered in the blue hue of the moonlight. At the train station waits a daisy yellow pony with golden locks for a mane. On her flank is an upward facing horseshoe detailed with seven four leaf clovers with a rainbow going through the gap of the horseshoe. She is styled with a red bandana as a scarf and a brown cowboy hat. Despite the lack of light at night, her eyes sparkle a light green tint. She looks to the train approaching, taking a couple deep breaths as it docks into the station.

Four Ponies exit the train. The first to come out is a light orange earth pony, followed by a green pegasus mare, a below average sized black and white unicorn in the middle of reading a fairly large book, and at the end and halfway out of the train is a giant blue pegasus attempting to pull the wagon out of the train. They are then greeted with a “Welcome to APPLEOOSA!!!” by the daisy yellow earth pony. Extending her hoof into a welcoming arch, she hits a lantern hung by a hook causing it to rotate on the hook until it gets launched into the face of Hopeful Journey, knocking him out to the floor. The force of his fall causes Mareian to be pushed into the spell book Cookies was reading, hitting Alto Tenor with a loud *THUNK* causing Alto to then collapse on top of Cookies, who was unable to react in time before being crushed by his significantly larger friend. Mareian, on the other hand, successfully dodged the falling giant, however in doing so she flew upwards and ends up hitting her head on the ceiling beam of the train station. The wagon that Alto was pulling wheels itself back into the train as it leaves the station. All four ponies lay unconscious in front of the yellow pony who had welcomed them all. “Not again…”

Hope awakens in a hospital bed with a bandage wrapped around his head. Looking around, he sees three other beds containing the three ponies he came to Appleoosa with. The clock in the room shows the time to be roughly 6:15. With one swift turn of his head, his snout comes into contact with a familiar daisy yellow snout. It was the mare from the train station who was in the middle of fluffing his pillow. “G’morning Hope.” The mare said with a scrunched snoot, looking Hope straight into his eyes.

There is a motionless silence between them as their snoots remain connected. “Good morning?” The sound of the ticking second hand of the clock in the only thing that can be heard and the only thing moving in this still scene. “Who are you and how do you know my name?”

“Oh yeah!” The mare pulls her face away from Hope causing him to lose balance, but thankfully not fall out of his bed. “Well, ya see, you’re the last one to awaken, given that blunt force trauma ya received. Yer friends woke up an hour later. That Cookies n Crem feller told me about ya.” The mare helps Hope carefully place himself correctly into bed. “Name’s Horseshoes. Lucky Horseshoes. Sorry about everything.”

Hope let’s out a hearty chuckle. “I don’t see what you have to apologize for. Accidents happen all the time.”

“Well… there’s more to that. It’s jus’ that Crem was asking where ‘the wagon’ was and it turns out that during that accident ya’lls wagon wheeled itself back into the dang train.” Hope’s eyes shrunk as his jaw dropped. “Fortunately, that train made one las’ trip to Canterlot and, double fortunately, I have to ship some product over there, which, triple fortunately, finished growing today.” With that final note, Hope let’s out an exasperated sigh as he closes his eyes.

A few hours and a release from the hospital later, the gang find themselves back inside a train with them is Lucky Horseshoes and several planting pots. Inside the pot, as expected, is dirt, but what grows inside each pot are bountiful clumps of four-leaf clovers. Hope looks at the clovers with wide eyes while Lucky waters a couple of them. Alto looks out of the window while Cookies sits on the train seat and read his book from the night before. Mareian stares directly at Lucky with a raised eyebrow.

“Seems kind of convenient that you just so happen to know where our wagon is?” Lucky turns her head to Mareian and nodded. “It also is rather convenient that, not only do you have to make a delivery to the same place, but that you were able to get enough ponies to help you do this in one trip?” Lucky nods her head again. “Not just any delivery, you are delivering four-leaf clovers to the Princess for the Summer Sun Celebration. It may not be Ponyville, but it seems awfully convenient that our destinations at the end of this all are similar?”

“My life’s fulla conveniences, normally at the inconvenience of others.” Lucky answers with a shrug. “The wagon should be at the lost and found where most of my ‘accidents’ end up”

The answer left a blank expression on Mareian’s face. Before being able to make a retort, the train makes its stop at the Canterlot train station.

“Come on, fellers, I’ll show ya’ll the way. Make sure to bring them clovers.” The group follow Lucky, carrying the pots along with them. They enter an area marked ‘Lost & Found’ with a pony in uniform standing by. The employee looks at Lucky in the eyes and then with a smile and a scoff points them to the direction of a wagon. An orange red blur whizzes by them and straight to the wagon.

“Is it here? Where is it? WHERE IS IT!?” Hope rapidly sifts through the contents of the wagon, tossing out each item in his way. Alto is able to catch his instrument case in his hooves. Cookies gets one of his books tossed at him, landing open on his face. “IT’S GOTTA BE HERE!” Papers fly out of the wagon. Mareian tries to collect each one of them in the air before they scatter on the ground. “FOUND IT!” The group regain their focus back to the wagon. Slowly an object is being raised with an angelic note courtesy of Hope’s mouth. In Hope’s hoof is a wicker picnic basket with “Hopeful Journey” woven on the lip of the basket mouth.

“uhh… that there’s an ordinary baskit, was it all necessary to toss ‘round the other stuff?” The yellow earth pony asked.

Hugging the basket tenderly, Hope replies with a smile, “Yes.”

Walking down the halls of Canterlot Castle, there is a young mare wearing a helm that covers her face accompanied by a grassy green dragon. The mare is of a deep purple shade with a turquoise mane with light purple highlights, mane exploding out the helm in a volcanic fashion. Her tail is straight and trimmed in its turquoise colors. On her flank is a helmet similar to the ones the royal guards wear, shined in shades of blue and purple. The purple eyed dragon accompanying her on all fours, trots underneath her pony partner. His scales are as green as the grass with a light red and greenish yellow belly with asymmetric yet smooth horns of the same color.

“You know, EC, you’re a real hard worker for the princess.” The dragon spoke.

“Well, she is the princess, Scales. She’s the reason why we’re here together, whether directly or indirectly. She holds a tremendous amount of respect and I would do anything for her without hesitation.” The mare in the helm echoed.

“Would explain why you didn’t flinch when she told you that you’d be spending time in Ponyville even after the Summer Sun Celebration. But hey, you are, the one and only, Enchanted Crown.” The dragon responded with a shrug.

Marching down the hallways is a tall white stallion donning purple and gold armor. His mane covered by his helm, but his tail shines with shades of blue. “Captain Shinning Armor!” The helmed mare exclaimed, standing aside for the stallion with a salute. Scales slowly joins alongside Enchanted Crown in her salute, but is more relaxed in his posture.

“At ease, Miss Crown.” The mare stops saluting but still looks forward, standing straight and tall. “Relax EC. You’re not a member of the royal guard so you don’t have to act like one around me.”

“Sorry sir.” Enchanted Crown tilts her head downward as the rest of her body slumps. “It’s just that, well… you’re the CAPTAIN of the ROYAL GUARD. You’re one of the most respected ponies in Canterlot that isn’t the princess herself.”

“It’s nice of you to say that, but don’t forget that there are some ponies that respect you. Twily admires your fearlessness, despite the fact that you cover your face all the time.” Shining Armor lifts Enchanted Crown’s chin up with his hoof.

“Twilight really thinks that way about me? If anything, she’s the fearless one. After… that time… I heard ponies saying that she wouldn’t be much of anything compared to the rest of Celestia’s students, but she’s overcome all the obstacles and is able to keep up with me.”

“Don’t be too hard on yourself. You’ve done some pretty spectacular things too.” Shinning Armor nudges to Scales who has been moving all around the hall while the two were talking, going unnoticed. “Anyways, I’d love to stay and chat, but the princess sent me and my platoon on a mission to take on some monsters running rampant in the Badlands. So, I’ll see you when I get back… hopefully.” Shining Armor begins to trot away.

“Scales, send a letter.” The dragon sighs and pulls out a scroll and a quiver and begins writing.

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

I apologize for contacting you this way, but seeing that I’ll won’t be in Canterlot in the foreseeable future, we’ll be writing letters to each other from now on. Since I won’t be in Canterlot, my library of books will go unread, so I grant you permission to use my study… although you could already use it implicitly. Am I being too rude, Scales? Scales, why are you still writing? Stop. What do you mean “too late”? Ok ok…

You are a dear friend to me and there is no one else that I can trust with my study other than you. Who knows, maybe you’ll discover something in the books there that I didn’t notice… not that I left something for you… UHG! Scales, you don’t have to write everything I say! Never mind that. Hope you have a great time there.

Sincerely,

Enchanted Crown

P.S.

Lol spike, what’s up?

~scales

Having finished writing, Scales then breaths fire on the scroll, turning it into ashes in the wind. “I will never understand how burning a letter magically sends it to the correct place, but hey, that’s life.” Scales said with a shrug.

“D’livery!” The castle doors burst open revealing a wagon and a group of five ponies carrying a potted plant with them. “One d’livery fer Princess Celestia from Appleoosa. Ya’lls clovers be ready now.” The yellow earth pony in the cowboy hat and bandana scarf.

Enchanted Crown calmly approaches the group with Scales slowly following. Upon a closer inspection of the group, the potted plants that they have contain four-leaf clovers in them. “Ah yes. Celestia told me that the clovers would arrive at the castle sometime soon.”

“’Kay, G’bye.” The yellow mare turns around and start trotting out the door.

“Wait!” Enchanted Crown shouts. “Celestia said that the clovers would be coming one at a time and that once that happens, I’d leave for Ponyville with them, but since you already brought a crew to bring them here, would it be so hard to change the destination?”

The yellow mare lets out a deep sigh. “Will ya be paying fer our labor?” She looks back at her with a raised brow.

“Hahaha!” The loud laughter comes from the wagon, drawing Enchanted Crown’s attention. “Looks like we’re getting a ride straight to Ponyville, boys. And helping out with the Summer Sun Celebration directly is always a plus.” A small bodied, white and black unicorn hops off the wagon. “Miss Mareian, we are no longer in need of your service, but you are free to join us the rest of the way.” The unicorn says, turning his head toward a green pegasus.

The pegasus scoffs. “You think I’d pass up an opportunity to help and possibly meet the princess? Besides, once this is all over, you’d still be lost without me.”

“WE’RE GOING TO HELP THE PRINCESS! WE’RE GOING TO HELP THE PRINCESS!” The orange and red earth pony sang as he hopped around a gigantic sky blue pegasus, who keeps on a straight face all the while.

“Miss Horseshoes, if you are worried about pay, then I’ll pay you for it.” The unicorn says to the yellow mare. He then begins to trot toward Enchanted Crown and Scales, extending a hoof out to them. “Cookies N Cream. Pleasure to meet you miss…?”

“Crown.” She raises her hoof and begins to shake Cookies’ hoof. “Enchanted Crown, and this here is my dragon, Scales. Pleasure to meet you too, Cookies N Cream, and to you all as well.”

“Facing North”

“Lucky Horseshoes”

“I’m Hopeful Journey, and this is my brother, Alto Tenor.”

“Well ponies, looks like we’ve got a train to Ponyville to catch.” The group then begins to trot out of the castle.

“WAIT!” They all turnback toward Enchanted Crown. “There is another way to Ponyville that we can take.

In the sky, there is a hot air balloon and a wagon being charioted by 4 pegasus of the Royal Guard. In the wagon is Hope as he leans his body out of the wagon, looking down at Equestria below with wide eyes. Tied below the wagon is Lucky, whose bandana covers her eyes as she mimics walking in the air. Flying near Hope, keeping an eye on him is Alto. Over at the hot air balloon are Cookies and EC with the potted clovers taking up a majority of the space. Flying nearby is Mareian. Barely visible, clinging onto her is Scales.

“Wow, you three sure seem to have gone a long way if you had ended up at Buckfield from where you started.” EC pointed out.

“None of us knew exactly how to get to where we wanted, but they’re my best friends, they’re fun to be around. I guess time really does fly when you’re having fun.” Cookies let’s out a light chuckle. “So, what’s a mare like you doing in Canterlot Castle?”

“There isn’t much to that answer. I went to Canterlot School for Gifted Unicorns and become one of the few students to pass a test to study magic directly under Celestia. That’s how I met Scales as well.” EC turns her head to Mareian, who has a scrunched-up muzzle and furrowed brow. “He likes to hide in plain sight, sorry about that.”

“Yeah, sorry ‘bout that. If only the sky could be greener, anytime of the day.”

Mareian rolls her eyes. “Oh well, guess I’ll add ‘dragon sitter’ to my resume alongside ‘royal escort’.” She then proceeds to casually fly away from the balloon.

“My father wanted me to get accepted to that school.” Cookies says as he looks over to the wagon. “I passed all the tests needed to get accepted, but Father said that it didn’t matter if I went there or not. All that mattered was proving that I was gifted. So, I ended up not going and staying with them back home.”

“Wow, your father must really care about how you live your life then. I find it admirable that a parent would allow his child to choose between a highly prestigious school and their own dreams.”

“Pfft… Father just wants me to follow in his hooves is all. He also refused to attend that same school and still inherited the family business. My grandfather also did the same so I don’t think even he would care that I refused to go. Once I get that spark of inspiration, I’ll create something worthy of the family business, but hey, that’s the ego of the Creams.”

“For somepony with, what looks like a baking cutie-mark, I wouldn’t have expected you to be proficient enough in magic to be accepted into Canterlot’s School for Gifted Unicorns. We might have been classmates.” EC said, raising her hoof to the chin part of her helm. “Though, I’m glad you didn’t, cause then I wouldn’t hear such a fantastic story about your friendship… and we might never had talked to each other.”

“Maybe it’s hindsight, but I don’t think that would be the case. It doesn’t seem like me to leave a mare such as yourself by her lonesome.” Cookies turns towards EC, giving her a gleaming smile. “With that said, goodbye.” His horn begins to glow a white aura that slowly envelopes his entire body. He then turns towards the direction of the wagon, 2 meters below and roughly 10 meters in front of them. Cookies then leaps up to the lip of the basket of the hot air balloon and pushes himself off. Enchanted Crown lets out a gasp and looks down to find him, only to find that he hadn’t fallen the way she expected him to fall. In fact, he’s barely gone down an inch but still kept the forward momentum from when he pushed himself off. He ‘flies’ over the wagon with and lands causing no problem whatsoever. He then lays in the wagon, aura dispersing off his body, and onto a book, which is promptly opened and placed in front of Cookies.

The entire sequence of events left Enchanted Crown speechless. Trying to figure out why a pony would reject being a part of a school for gifted unicorns knowing an advanced level spell such as Feather Fall. She then shakes her head and begins to shout over at the wagon. “HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT KIND OF SPELL? WHY DO YOU KNOW THAT KIND OF SPELL?”

“I told you, I need to get a spark of inspiration. Part of the inspiration comes from the creativity of how you use certain spells.” The book closes and is presented to EC. “I collect and read spell books to find the right kind of spell to apply to everyday situations.” Cookies shouts, bringing the book back to himself, open.

The wagon makes a rather uncomfortable landing on the outskirts of Ponyville. A shriek is heard from underneath the wagon accompanied by a loud and low rumble. The wagon doesn’t make contact with the ground by the time the royal guards stopped moving. Instead, Lucky stands underneath, shaking. Not from the weight of the wagon, but in a futile attempt to remove her bandana off. A white glow envelops the bandana, adjusting it to be below. Lucky looks around herself, seeing that she’s on land she lets out a loud sigh.

Once the wagon has been properly placed down and the balloon lands, every pony grabs a pot from the balloon and into the wagon. Whilst doing so, a particularly pink pony stares at them as each one carefully positions the plants into the wagon. She stares at them until she gains the attention of Hopeful Journey. They stare blankly at each other as the stallion trots toward the mare.

“Hi.” The pink pony shrieks herself into the air before zooming away from the scene. “Neato.” Hope turns toward the group. “These Ponyville ponies sure seem fun.” He turns his head back into the direction that the pink pony zoomed off to. “Or at least that one had ‘fun’ written on her face, and party as well. I think she might be throwing a party for us.”

The remark piqued the interest of a certain pegasus mare. “How can you tell that? Not like she said anything to hint that.”

“Well, the same way I could tell that Lucky was more concerned about us getting paid for this rather than herself.” The gang all turn their heads towards Lucky, who could do nothing but sheepishly smile with a squeak.

“Do you still want me to cover for Miss Crown, Miss Horseshoes? Or are you fine with no pay?” Cookies says with a smug grin running across his snout.

Lucky lets out a defeated sigh. “It jus’ didn’t feel right. Ya’ll didn’t seem that mad after the incident, ya even went out of yer way to help me make this d’livery. It’s a kindness I don’t really deserve.” Lucky continues to place the last pot into the wagon. “I don’t even deserve the bits you were gonna give me. So puhlease, don’t bother thinkin bout it.”

“You said it yourself. Your life is full of conveniences.” Mareian lays a hoof on Lucky’s shoulder. “But please, don’t worry that you’re an inconvenience to us, because you’re not.” The two ponies embrace in a tight hug, or rather a quick hug as a small green dragon pops his head out between the two, gasping for air. Lucky and Mareian take a step back from each other as Scales faceplants onto the ground. “Oh yeah, almost forgot you were on me. How long were you planning to hitch a ride off me, anyway?”

Scales yawns. He gets up and stretch on his two legs, his joints and bones can be heard cracking as he does so. “Until I woke up?” Scales says with a shrug followed by a chorus of laughter from all the ponies.

“That was a good laugh every pony, but we should focus on delivering the clovers to the mayor.” EC says as she begins to pull the wagon with her magic.

The group nod in agreement and join in, whether by pulling or getting in the wagon. It doesn’t take long for them to reach the town hall, especially with Mareian taking the lead. As they approach the town hall building, a brown earth pony with a rather gray mane is exiting. She is spooked by the approaching group. “Oh my…” she gasps.

“Good afternoon, Miss Mayor. I have come from Canterlot Castle to look over the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration.” EC magically levitates one of the potted clovers to the mayor. “We have brought the 4-leaf clovers for the decorations. Would you direct us to who’s in charge of the other aspects of the celebration?”

“Kind of early for all that, but you know what they say, ‘the early bird gets the worm.’” The mayor says with a giggle. “Other than decorations you can go to Sweet Apple Acres and see if the Apple Family at the barn have everything ready or, at least, have all the ingredients they need for the banquet. There’s also the bird choir being trained by one of our greatest animal keepers. You should find her on the path to Everfree Forest.” The mare points her hoof briefly towards the path. “There’s also the weather, but our pegasus pony is one of our fastest workers, so when you find the time to tell her to do her job, she’ll get it done in a jiffy. In fact, I believe that she’s being informed of her duties as we speak by a weather mare.”

“OOOH BARN!” Hope bursts out as he patiently waited for the mayor to finish speaking. “Cookie, can we go to the apple barn please, please, please?” Hope pleaded to his unicorn friend.

“Well, Hope, I was also interested in the barn as well. Perhaps I can offer my culinary assistance.” Cookies says with a flourish of his hoof. “How about you, my dear Alto, care to join us to Sweet Apple Acres?” Alto Shakes his head, pointing to the direction that the mayor pointed to.

“I can’t go to Sweet Apple Acres no more, on account that I buck the apple trees so dang hard that the apple tree started uprootin’” Lucky stated. “Though the apples did land in an empty barrel at the barn, I’m still banned. So, I guess I’ll see this here bird choir.”

A light growl can be heard from Scales’ stomach. “hehe. Almost forgot that I hadn’t had anything to eat today.”

The same rumble can be heard from EC as well. “That’s okay Scales, I forgot to eat anything as well. I guess we’ll go to Sweet Apple Acres with you two.” EC stated.

All heads turn toward Mareian, who had yet to answer. “Oh! Uhm… I guess I’ll go with Alto and Lucky to keep things even.”

“With that all settled, let us all agree to come back here and check up on the decorations, yes?” Cookies asked, with a nod from everyone involved. “That’s good. Goodbye for now.” The gang then splits into 2 groups going opposite directions.

“Hey, Miss Mareian.” Lucky whispers to the green pegasus mare. “Whad’ya think bout this here biggin, Al-Toe T-nor. Havn’t heard’m say a thing.”

Mareian glances at the giant blue pegasus who casually trots along with them, looking straight ahead as he carries his instrument case. She leans towards Lucky for a whisper. “Haven’t heard him speak since I met him. Judging from his actions, he is a musical virtuoso though I have no idea what instrument he plays. Other than that, I know that he has an older sister and Hope is his brother.”

“They’re brothers? Oh yeah, that Hope feller did mention something like that at Canterlot. Wouldn’t know by looking at them.” Lucky says, garnering the attention of Alto Tenor. Mareian looks back at Alto with a wide smile and a tiny wave. “But what I wanna know is, why doesn’t he say anything? He must be keeping a secret of sorts, like maybe he’s actually a she, or maybe he sounds lighter than he appears to be.” Lucky presses on with her whispers.

“Or maybe he’d rather let his music do the talking? I’ve seen him draw a crowd before. We don’t need to press him on this, nor do we need to know.”

“‘ave ya tried talkin’ with’em?”

Mareian’s face flushes red in embarrassment. She hadn’t even spoken to him throughout the journey they’ve been together. Mareian trots along a bit closer to Alto. “So… umm… you play music?” Alto nods his head. “What kind of music?” Alto nods his head. “Oh, on what instrument?” Alto nods his head.

“Alright, that’s it!” Lucky steps in front of the two. “Can you show me whut’s in that case, puhlease?” She asks giving the most pleading face she can.

Alto pauses for a moment, staring at the mare who wants to see his instrument. He answers her plea with a nod. Placing the case gently on the ground, he begins unlocking the latches on the case. The case opens toward Lucky with a shine. Her eyes widen and her mouth left a gape. Mareian contains her curiosity by focusing on the path they have taken, though it seems that their destination is closer than expected as she can see a yellow pegasus standing in front of a choir of birds. Musical chirping can be heard in the distance.

“Ok you two, looks like are destination is over there.” Mareian points to the source of the chirping. “Enough gawking around, let’s check out how these birds are doing.”

“D’aww, I wanted to ask’m where he got that thing…” Lucky whines. Alto takes a moment to draw an image of a gift into the dirt with his wing before closing his case. He taps Lucky’s back, showing her the image before they all walked to the source of the bird chirps.

The yellow pegasus mare with a long light pink mane and tail conducts for the bird choir as the three approach her. She stops the choir to confront one of the birds, unaware of the oncoming trio of ponies. “Mister Bluejay, you were singing an octave too low. Do you think that maybe you could sing a bit higher? For me? The bird gives an understanding nod. “Ok. Places. And a one, and a two, and a one, two, three, four.”

“Howdy!” Lucky greets but the yellow pegasus only squeaks in reaction before looking at the ground, every once in a while, glancing at the trio. The birds fly away from their choir perch. “Me and muh frens here are checkin’ the prep for the Summer Sun Celebration. Name’s Lucky, n yers?”

“It’s Fluttershy.”

“Sorry, couldn’t hear ya. Could you repeat that fer me?”

“I’m Fluttershy.”

“Ah… yes… Nice to meet’cha miss…”

“Fluttershy”

“Formalities don’t matter, Lucky. It’s not like we’re the only ones to check up on this.” Mareian interrupted. She pushes Lucky away from the pegasus. “You are in charge of the music for the Summer Sun Celebration, right?” The yellow pegasus nods in response. “That’s good. Don’t mind us and continue what you were doing. It sounded nice.”

The yellow pegasus turns back to the choir perch. In due time the birds begin to place themselves on the perch. “A one, two, three, four.” The mare said, leading to a beautiful chorus sung by the birds. Somewhere in the middle of it all, Alto quietly plays his instrument to the tune of the choir. When the birds were done singing, Lucky started clapping her hooves together.

“Bravo! Encore! Whadever else ponies say. That was amazing there, Yellow Quiet.” Lucky cheered, scaring away the birds again. “Oops. Muh bad. Lemme help.” Lucky trots to the perch and looks to the sky. “Tweet tweet tweet!” She shouted to the sky. Much to the shock of the others, the birds actually return to the perch.

“Wow, Miss Lucky. I didn’t know you spoke bird.” The yellow pegasus compliments.

“Aww shucks. Ain’t nothin’ t’be impressed by. Jus hear them little winged fellers makin them noises so I thought ‘bout doing the same.”

Mareian sighs as she places her hoof on her forehead. “What exactly was I expecting?” She says to herself. “I think I’ve heard enough. You two can do whatever you feel like, I’m heading back to the town hall.” Mareian trots off with a wave. Alto and Lucky wave back.

“See Ya!” Lucky shouts, not scaring away the birds this time. “Alright, how ‘bout a little improv? Come on Al-to, let’s jam.”

“…and that’s how I got this wonderful cutie-mark.” Cookies informs EC. The trio of Cookies, EC, and Hope featuring Scales the Dragon have reached eyesight of Sweet Apple Acres with the barn in sight.

“Wow… I wish I got mine that way.” EC says, turning her head to her flank. “Mind has too much baggage on it.”

“Oh, don’t beat yourself up over that, miss Crown. I’m sure that friend of yours really appreciated you being there for her.” Cookies interjectionally consoles.

“Besides, I don’t remember how I got mine. You’d rather have one of those you can remember than one that’s always been there.” Hope remarks.

“Please, you don’t have to be so formal. You can call me Enchanted Crown, though my friends call me EC for short.”

Hope gasps. “So… what you’re saying is… you consider us your friends?” Hope asks with the widest smile.

“Considering that she considers those she knows but rarely talks to as acquaintances, you guys are just above the acquaintance level.” Scales informs the two stallions.

“Well then, EC, let our friendship grow ever onwards as time passes us by.”

“Yeah, yeah. Our friendship level will rise like pancakes… ooh, Cookies, when are you gonna make some of your delicious pancakes?” Hope asks.

“Maybe some other day.” Cookies responds as the group reach the gate to the barn. “But right now, let us let someone else cook for you.”

“Huh, what’s this?” EC ponders at a piece of parchment placed precariously on the gate. On it is an image of a pony with a short and rather curly mane wearing a cowboy hat and a bandana under her snout. The word “BANNED” is written above the pony’s face as well as “Apple Tree Uprooting” underneath. “You know, I thought that friend of yours was exaggerating when she said she uprooted an apple tree.”

“You think that was an exager-whatsits? She got us all hospitalized the moment we stepped foot in Appalacha.” Hope stated as though what Lucky had done was an amazing feat.

“Oh, so that’s why you have a bandage wrapped around your head.” EC pointed out.

Cookies sighs. “Yes. Unfortunately, dear Hope had the worse for wear.”

A loud and low rumble can be heard from Scales’ body. “Yeah, yeah. We can talk about it later, but can we please just eat already?” The dragon pleaded.

“YEE HAWWWWWWWWW!” And orange blur whizzes past the group and stops at one of the apple trees. The blur turns into a light orange earth pony mare mid buck, striking the tree and causing the apples to land in the barrels surrounding the tree. The mare then approaches the group after wiping a bit of sweat off her brow. “Sorry ‘bout that, had one las’ tree t’ buck fer t’day. May I help ya’ll?”

“No trouble at all. My name is Enchanted Crown and we came here to-” Before EC could finish, the orange earth pony started vigorously shaking hooves with her. “OoOoOoveRrRrR SsEeEeEe FoOoOoOoDdDdDd. AaAaHhHhHh.”

“Nice to meetcha miss Crown. W’lcome t’ Sweet Apple Acres. Muh name’s Applejack.” The light orange earth pony stated while EC was still talking. “Here t’ oversee the food fer the Summer Sun Celebration, Sugar cube? Maybe a bit too soon t’ be checking up on food? Ha! Ain’t no probl’m, it’s ‘round lunchtime anyway.” Applejack releases EC’s hoof from her grasp. The helmed unicorn is frozen in position, her hoof still held up in the air. Scales helps EC literally place her hoof down. Applejack trots over to a triangle stand. “Hope ya’ll er ready fer the Apple Family.” She says before ringing the triangle. “SOUPS ON!”

At that moment, a stampede of colorful earth ponies drag the four newcomers over to a nearby table. Applejack begins to introduce them to each member of the Apple Family starting with Apple Fritter who places an apple fritter on the table. Hope and Scales get a bit riled up as they start banging on the table as the introductions come at them with the addition of food. EC does not move a single bit during the introductions. Cookies N Cream, on the other hand, smiled graciously at the apple fritter for a moment, but when the next family member places their apple related dish on the table, Cookies smile slowly faded away. And then another apple dish followed suit. And another apple dish, and another apple dish. The sight of all these apple related dishes that they are expected to eat nauseates Cookies, from puffed up cheeks to covering his mouth with his hooves until he couldn’t take it anymore.

“Excuse me.” Cookies says without a strain in his voice before bolting out of Sweet Apple Acres.

“Oh drat, I didn’t know that coming here would make Cookie sick. Maybe I should go check up on him?” Hope contemplates, but Scales lays a claw on his shoulder.

“Listen, buddy, you got that head wound of yours, maybe you should sit back and relax right now. Besides, I’d feel bad about eating ALL THIS and not leaving anything for you.”

“Now, come on ya’ll, let our new friends dig in!” Applejack says.

The word “friends” is heard by Hope in slow motion. A small devil image of himself hovers over his right side. “You heard what the dragon said, relax…” The devil Hope said rather smoothly. “Also, she said that you were friends, you can’t just refuse your friends.”

An angelic version of Hope poofs over his other side. “He’s right, you know. She did say the F word. It’d be rude to leave new friends like that.”

“Okay.” The real Hope nods. His angel and devil poof out of existence. “LET’S EAT!!!” Hope and Scales rapidly chow down on the apple dishes. While EC remained frozen in shock from the sudden situation, but is knocked out of it when Scales shoves a handful of food through the mouth hole of her helm. She joins the two in scarfing down the abundance of food in front of them.

“BLECH!” Cookie vomits into a bush far away from Sweet Apple Acres such that there is not an apple tree in sight. “I don’t think I’ll be going back there anytime soon. How unfortunate, I was looking forward to a meal, but I seem to have lost my appetite.” Cookies finds himself on the outskirts of Ponyville. “Guess I’ll walk back to the wagon.”

“Hello?” Mareian enters town hall. The place is somewhat decorated, but there are boxes all around filled with a variety of decorations for the Summer Sun Celebration. At one of the long curtains of one of the windows there is a white unicorn working on it. “Oh, Cookies. You’re here too? That was quick.” The unicorn does not respond to Mareian, seemingly to distracted with the curtains to answer. “Cookies N Cream? Equestria to Cookies N Cream.” The unicorn continues on, unresponsive to Mareian’s call until she makes physical contact.

“Oh, were you talking to me, darling?” The unicorn asked. Upon closer inspection, while this is a white bodied unicorn with the same swirling curl mane and tail as Cookies, this pony is definitely not him. “Apologies, my dear, but I was so focused on stitching each individual clover into the hem.” The mare says showing off her work. “Isn’t it just FABULOUS, darling?”

“Didn’t know you had an eye for fashion, Cookie.” Mareian said, ignorantly unaware that the pony she’s conversing with is not the pony she thinks.

“oh-ho-ho Darling, we just met, and it’s Rarity.”

“Yeah, sure is a rarity that we met, but it seems like no one else is here so let’s gather everyone else before they get lost.” Mareian says, dragging the mare along with her.

“Now where is the wagon?” Cookies N Cream ponders, finding himself lost in Ponyville. The unicorn was about to give up on finding his way back and hoping that one of the others would find him, but he heard a familiar voice.

“Listen, Rainbow Dash, I know you know what to do for the Summer Sun Celebration, but for the sake of your job and mine I have to tell you the obvious.” Cookies heard the familiar voice and begins to carefully follow the source of that voice. “Weather Control wants the clouds cleared up before the morning of the Summer Sun Celebration, but from the reports I have of you, it should take you about ten seconds flat.”

Cookies finds the source of his familiarity. Sky Sonata stands tall facing away from him a quarter of the way as she casually gives orders to a bright blue pegasus mare with a colorful mane and tail. “Sky?”

The Amazonian-esque pony turns her head back such that her eye meets Cookies. The casual smile on her face grows a bit as she begins to confront him. “Cookies, so glad I could see you again before the Summer Sun Celebration. I’m busy all over Equestria that I wouldn’t see you until the event begins.” Sky says. Before Cookies could respond, Sky interjects. “So, where’s your mare friend?”

“Who?” Cookies blanks out for a moment causing Sky to burst out into a gaggle of giggles.

“oh, ho ho, don’t tell me you’ve broken up with her already, it’s only been a day… unless…” Sky stops giggling as she leans in closer to Cookies. “You have a harem, don’t you?” Sky’s serious face quickly breaks as she bursts out laughing. Cookies, in comparison, is still blank faced from when she said mare friend.

“What?” Cookies asks with a blank faced tilt of the head.

The cries of a screaming mare approach the three, causing them all to turn their heads to the source. It is revealed to be Mareian, cradling the mare from the town hall in her wings. “Jeeze, I didn’t think you’d cry so much from me dragging you around. Calm down already, I see that mare friend of yours. Will that dry the water works?” After turning her head back to Sky, Mareian notices that Cookie is already over by her, his blank face slowly becoming a bit disturbed. Mareian looks at the mare she’s been dragging across Ponyville and back and Cookies a couple of times before carefully placing the mare to the ground and trotting towards Cookies. “Hey, Cookies… when and where did you manage to clone yourself?”

“Why!?”

A voice in the sky draws all of the ponies’ attention. A scream of terror falls toward the ground. The rainbow pegasus, notices that the voice is that of a pony falling to their doom and so she springs into action, successfully catches the falling pony who instead of thanking her savior continues to flail around. “Put me down!” the pony screams flailing, hitting her Pegasus savior. The fallen pony calms down when finally placed on the ground. “Thank ya kindly.”

“Lucky?” Mareian says, recognizing the daisy yellow earth pony without her cowboy hat.

“Eyup. T’one n only.” Lucky says, her hat gliding from the skies to her head.

“HOW!?” Both Cookies and Mareian shout in unison. Meanwhile Sky bursts out uncontrollably laughing.

“Cookie, I was only kidding when I said that you were starting a harem but now there are mares literally falling for you.”

“I twern’t fallin’ fer Crem there, Missy. T’was gettin’ uh cat from the tops’ve one of them trees.” Lucky responded. “Nice to meet’cha there, Missy, name’s Lucky… Lucky Horseshoes. Whatcher name and yer relation to Crem there.” She introduces herself to Sky, but when referring to Cookies she directs to the pony the Mareian dragged along.

“Sky Sonata.” Sky replies, shaking Lucky’s hoof. “And that one is Cookies.” Sky motions over the real Cookies N Cream.

Lucky looks to Cookies and back to the mare that Mareian dragged along. She does this a couple of times before looking back at Sky. “I ain’t gunna lie t’ya, but those two’re identical.”

“Identical? Darling, you MUST have something in your eyes.” The doppelganger walks right next to the shocked and slightly confused stallion. “He has a MAGNIFICENT swirl for a mane that flows back into a swirling dangle. While I have FABULOUS curl that goes backing into an even more FABULOUS curl.” She says, flaunting her mane in comparison.

“What about the tails?” Mareian asked in a deadpan manner.

“Second verse same as the first, Darling.” The doppelganger proceeds to flaunt her tail and then goes back to showing off the still unphased Cookies’ tail. “FABULOUS curl, MAGNIFICENT swirl. Don’t tell me you don’t know the difference between the two, Darling?”

“I think the difference is a lot bigger than what you’re pointing out, Miss.” Sky interjects. She then looks at both Mareian and Lucky. “Do you two not know the difference between mare’s and stallions?”

“You know, with the very limited time we’ve spoken, it doesn’t surprise me that you’re a pervert.” Mareian says. Sky bursts out into hysterical laughter.

“Ha he, No, hehe, I’m talking physically.” Despite Sky trying to explain herself, she cannot stop laughing. It takes a good minute of laughter before she calmed down. “Phew… It does sound kind of perverted doesn’t it. What I meant was that stallions have rather cube like snouts while mares, like you and I, have more of a curve to our snouts. Not only that, stallions posture themselves-”

“Ahem!” The rainbow pegasus interrupts Sky’s lecture of pony anatomy. “Sorry boss, but are we done here?”

A lightbulb went off in Sky’s head, lighting up her eyes, metaphorically. “Ah yes, Rainbow Dash. Your profile says that you see yourself as a Wonderbolt in five years, right?” Sky asks the rainbow horse, who nods in response. “So, you see yourself performing in those air shows in your future?” She nods again with a confused look on her face.

“…Yeah…? I’m sorry, Boss. Why are you asking?”

“We have an audience here, why not take out two birds with one stone?” Sky winks at the pegasus.

The blue pegasus that goes by Rainbow Dash’s eye widen. “Ohhhh… Don’t worry, Boss. I’ll finish this in ten seconds flat.”
In the span of 10 seconds, a rainbow blur flashed all around Ponyville, taking care of all the clouds in the sky. All the mares looked up in amazement at the speed that the Pegasus was going. Cookies was also looking up in amazement, but his vision wasn’t on the rainbow blur. The world had slowed down for him as he stared at the profiled head of Sky Sonata, she blinks as a rainbow passes by. She turns her head toward him, smiling as a circle of colors forms behind her. Her lips move slowly, forming words that Cookies is unable to hear. Noticing that she was staring back at him snaps Cookies back to reality.

“I… uhhh what?” Cookies says a bit flustered.

Sky responded with a giggle. “I said, do you like what you see?” The question reddened Cookies into a stammering mess, causing Sky to laugh some more. “hahaha, I’m talking about Rainbow Dash over here, she put on quite a show in a blink of an eye.”
“Ten seconds.” The rainbow pony said as she landed and stretched herself. “Flat. Can I go home now, boss?”
“You did good, Rainbow. Enjoy the Celebration.” Rainbow Dash salutes before flying away in a flash of colors. Sky turns to the other ponies, still stunned in amazed silence by Rainbow Dash’s quick work on the clouds all over town. “I’d love to stay and chat, but I have to report to Cloudsdale on the condition of Ponyville. Tell my brothers I said hi.” Sky then turns to the doppleganger. “Sorry for the confusion, Miss…”

“Rarity, of Carousel Boutique.” The unicorn replied.

“Rarity. I’m sorry for my friends here. I wish you the best on the rest of your days.” Sky says in a serious tone before blurting out: “See ya!” in a bubbly girlish voice.

Lucky and Mareian are still left dumbfounded before Lucky speaks. “waita minnet, Brudders? What’s dat big lady talk’n ‘bout?”

Mareian shakes her head and faces Lucky “oh, she’s talking about Alto and Hope… wait, I already told you about her.”

“Now that ya mention it, she does look similar to that Al feller. I guess I was expectin’ some pony smaller than him, like GOLLLY she’s plum near the size of Celestia.”

“Ahem.” Rarity coughs. “I do believe I am owed an apology.” Both Lucky and Mareian stare at Rarity and Cookies, noting every single difference between the two.

“Yeah, I guess she’s right. She has a curve and he has a blocky snout. Sorry for dragging you around town.” Mareian apologized.

“No a’fense, Crem, but ya’ll a bit smaller than she is. Don’t much help the case ‘ere.” Lucky points out.

“All is forgiven, darling.” Rarity nods her head to Mareian before turning to Cookies. “As for you Mister… Cream, was it? If you ever need a suit to bring out your dashing masculinity, come to Carousel Boutique and I can fashion one up for you, Darling. Au revoir.” Rarity trots herself off the scene, leaving Cookies, Lucky, and Mareian together.

“COOKIES!” a familiar voice can be heard through the crowd of ponies. Emerging is none other than Hope, who is turning his head all around as if searching for something before landing his eyes on Cookies. “Oh, there you are. I was worried about you. You looked like you had a stomach ache from seeing all the food at the farm so I was going to go and check up on you, but you taught me that it’s a bit rude to refuse food from a friend, so I ended up eating all the barn food with EC. Boy did she look happy, or at least that’s what I got from her. She said she’d be at the town hall place like we planned, but I kinda got a little lost looking for you.” Hope explained.

“I’m also here… *BELCH*” Scales reveals himself to have been clinging on to Hope as he ran all over time. “Though I wish I ha*BELCH*dn’t. Oh man, that was a lot of food.” The dragon groaned. “Can someone take me to bed?” The ponies laugh as the dragon groans.

And so, they headed back to the town hall. They hear the voice of EC trying to have a conversation with Alto Tenor. “Do you know where she went?” Alto responds by pointing his hoof to the sky. “What about Mareian?” Alto shrugs. “Do you consider us to be friends?” Alto pauses for a brief moment, placing his hoof on his chin. He shrugs but reluctantly nods his head. The others appear within eyesight of EC. Noticing them, she trots toward them. “Oh, there you are. It appears that we’re done for the day.”

“Goo*BELCH*d… uhg… Did you happen to find out where we’re stay*BELCH*ing?” Scales asked in pained groans.

“Wait, it’s over?” A disappointed cry came from Hope. “Will still see each other tomorrow, right?”

“Sorry ther, pal. My home’s back in Appleoosa. I’ve got obligations o’er ther. Can’t just drop them all jus t’ stay with ya’ll.” Lucky said. Suddenly a gray Pegasus mare with crossed eyes drops by wearing an Equestrian Postal Service uniform, offers her a letter. Lucky promptly opens it as the mail mare files off. She carefully reads the letter over once, an eyebrow raised and a reassuring smirk on her face. “Welp, guess ahm stayin’ seeing as I’ve been selected as a representative ov Appalosan cull ter an’ muh responsibilities back home are well, takn care of.”

Hope gives lucky a big hug, squeezing not too hard. “THAT’S GREAT NEWS!!! We’ll all get to play and have fun together all the way to the Summer Sun Celebration. Oh, I don’t think I can sleep with all this EXCITEMENT!”

“Yeah, sleep.” Mareian said rather casual. “Speaking of sleep, Cookies, did you make any reservations at the inn? There’s a big event happening here in a couple of days so I’d expect the inns to have little to no vacancy.”

“Reservations?” Cookies scoffed. “My Father made reservations months ago.” Cookies uses his magic to pull a piece of paper from the wagon. “Vacant C.’s Vacant Inn 4321 Hay Lane Reservation for one Sour Cream.” Cookies read.

“Fer one?”

“S-S-Sour Cream!?”

“You’re not Sour Cream.” Mareian stated. “They aren’t going to let you in.”

“THE S-S-S-SOUR CREAM!?”

“Iz it lyke fer one pony o fer one room?”

Cookies looks flabbergasted. “I do not see what the problem is. I have the official reservation document right here.” Cookies looks back at the reservation paper. “I think that the ‘for one’ refers to the reservation itself. Father told me that the original plan was 3 rooms, parents, mares, and stallions.” He then looks over at EC. “Yes, THEEE Sour Cream is my father. Did I not tell you when I was talking about the family business?”

“Y-Y-Y-You didn’t specify. I-I-I’ve been in the presence of The Sour Cream and they w-w-way you described him…” EC trembled before the gang. “That pony… he… he…”

“Guy has absolutely no reaction.” Scales interjected

“Yes, Father is rather refrained in public. Have to keep up appearances an all. He should be arriving after a big meeting back home.” Cookies explained as the gang made their way to Vacant C.’s Vacant Inn.

“It doesn’t matter that you’re Sour’s son, I doubt that a place like that would let one pony and their handful of friends because you are the son. A big day’s coming up so anyone can just say they’re the son of some famous millionaire.”

“Overdramatic reaction Mareian. I have the papers, what could they possibly turn us away for?”

“Nice try, Rarity!” A lankly beige stallion with a house cutie-mark shouted at Cookies. “Just because Sour Cream, or Fancy Pants, or Prince Blueblood, or any other famous stallion stays here doesn’t mean you can pretend to be their friends and/or family member just to have a quote unquote business deal. This is the last time little lady! You’re banned!” a door slammed at Cookies face.

“Overdramatic reaction?” Mareian said with a furrowed brow. “Where are we going to stay now?”

“Excuse me.” EC Interjected. “Seeing as you all do not have a place to stay for the night and how you helped me with organizing the town today… Wo-wo-would you like to spend the night at my place?”

“Way to go EC! Celestia be proud.” Scales cheered which got a stern head turn from EC.

EC took a deep breath. “It should only be until your father shows up. I’m told I’ll be living in an unused library and I never really needed that much space.”

Cookies, Mareian, and Alto stare at EC Straight faced until Hope wrapped his hooves around them all with a big smile along his face. “SLUMBER PARTY SLUMBER PARTY SLUMBER PARTY!” Hope chanted. Scales and Lucky also join in on the chant and start jumping. Alto smiled and joined in on the jumping. EC, a bit embarrassed as she chants with a stutter. Cookies let’s out a heavy sigh as he happily joins the chatting.

Mareian rolls her eyes. “Lead the way princess. Slumber party away!” She said in an unenthusiastic voice.

“YAYYYYYY!”

“EC, was it?” Mareian asked as the gang stood around a tree with a door on it.

“What is it, Mareian?”

“This is a tree.”

“With a door.”

“You sure that this place can fit all of us?”

“It’s a big tree.”

“Can you two stop bickering already and go inside, I think I overate at that farmhouse.” Scales interjected. Nodding her head, Enchanted Crown trots up to the tree and opens the door.

“SURPRISE!!!”

As they enter the tree, the gang is greeted with a blast of confetti. Inside are several ponies in party hats. Party decorations scatter throughout the library. The gang recognize some of the ponies, including Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and the quiet yellow Pegasus. Hope in particular recognizes a certain pink pony.

“I knew it! I told you all that she was going to throw a party for us.”

“Wowwee, I didn’t know that one of the new ponies was a psychic!? Read my fortune.” The Pink pony pulls out a table with a crystal ball at the center. “Tell me, am I having fun?”

Hope took a moment to look at the crystal ball, his reflection glistening in the orb, and then looks back at the pink pony with stars in her eyes. “Of course, you’re having fun.” Hope said with a smile.

“Wowwzers, you really are a psychic!” She then grabs hope and drags him further into the party. “HEY RAINBOW! I GOT A PSYCHIC!”

“I can’t deal with a pa*BELCH*rty. I’m going to find a bed and enjoy this white noise.” Scales scurried off, traversing through all the ponies.

“Shouldn’t someone check up on Hope?” Mareian asked only to find the others are preoccupied. Cookies reading his book from the library, EC unmoving; frozen in fear, Alto is jamming to the music, and Lucky seems to have found a group of ponies to play with. Mareian rolls her eyes with a sigh and decides to join Lucky. “What are you all playing?” She sees the ponies seated in a circular formation with a bottle at the center.

“Summin’ culled ‘Spin da bottle’ but e’rytime I hit this darned bottle, it keeps pontin’ at lil old me and I’ve gotsta spin again.” Lucky answered, spinning the bottle again and again, each time the bottle points at her.

“Why doesn’t someone else have their turn?”

“It’s so mesmerizing, she just got here, but already spun twenty times and each time landing on herself.” One of the ponies in the circle said. “Why not sit back and have some cider.” The pony hands Mareian a cup filled with bubbly cider.

“Ehh one drink wouldn’t hurt.”

“95! 96! 97! YOU GOT THIS LUCKY!!! WOOOOOO!” Mareian cheered. Her mane and tail in a tufted-up mess. At her hooves is one empty knocked over cup.

“Calm down Mareian, I key pon spinnin’ an nothin’ changes, ya’ll sure ya don’t wanna giver a spin?”

“98!”

“Hey L-l-lucky, M-m-Mareian. Mind if I joined?” EC stuttered.

“Why of course EC. Yer njoin’ yerself?”

“99!”

“Wait!” one of the ponies in the circle shouted. “There are too many mares here now. WE NEED A STALLION OVER HERE!”

“DID SOMEBODY ASK FOR A PSYCHIC!?” The pink pony from before places an even more bandaged up Hope into the circle. “Try not to break him.” She giggled away.

“100!” The ponies cheered then turned into a sudden shock when the bottle instead of landing back on Lucky instead pointed at the orange bodied and red maned ‘psychic’.

“Oh hey, it’s pointing at me!” Hope said with an enthusiastic grin.

“Oh… yeah I gess eet iz ain’t it?” Lucky scratches the back of her head and looks around at every pony in attendance who are all left stunned mouths agape. “So any ya’ll kno’ whadd I do now?”

“KISS!” an intoxicated Mareian jeered.

“No, I’ve played this before. Ask me: truth or dare?”

“uhhh dare?”

“Hmmm no thanks. Last I played I did dare so I’ll go with truth.”

“errr what?”

“What what?”

“What’s the truth?”

“No you got to ask me a question.”

“Ain’t I askin’?”

“I think it’s more of asking personal questions about yourself.”

“‘Bout me?”

“KISS ALREADY!”

“No, Mareian, she has to ask me about myself.”

“Ya wanna kiss?”

“Is that your final question?”

“Naw, ims jus messing with ya. How ‘bout who’s yer favorite pony?”

“Hmmmmm…” Hope took a moment to ponder, with a hoof tapping on his chin. “Favorite pony? Well, Pinkie Pie did throw this awesome party just for us and the Apple family had some amazing food to share. Let’s not forget all these cool ponies who decided to come to this party just to see us. It’s rather heartwarming to see. Then there’s EC.” Enchanted Crown lets out a noise, standing up stiff. “EC gave us such a fantastical trip to Ponyville, gave us a reason to explore the place, and most of all she honestly wants to make friends here. Can’t forget about you, Lucky. You’re a big ball of adventure and fun, whether or not we get all scratched up haha.” Hope rubs his bandaged head. “Mareian tends to be a sourpuss, but she’s very kind and even in her state she wants us all to have a good time. Then there are the Creams. Mr. and Mrs. Cream are the sweetest ponies I know, I feel like I’m part of their family. Cookies is the most kind and responsible pony I know. Cookies is an honorary brother to me and best friend. His little brother can be a bit hyper imaginative but aren’t all colts? Mom and Dad are great, though they tend to be the busiest ponies I know. Can’t forget about my brother, Alto, either. He’s a creative soul, sensitive too. He knows just the kind of music I want to hear.”

The room had quieted down as Hope monologued. The ponies in the circle stared in awe at Hope as he spoke kindly about every single pony that he met in his life. Some even had tears trickle down their snouts.

“But if any pony were my favorite pony…” Hope continued. “It’d have to be my sister Sky.”

The group of ponies stared at him and silences, expecting something more for him to say, but Hope doesn’t say anything more.

“Well, that was a lot’ve thought put in ta dat there fer a family member, I sure know I’d’ve picced least one of my six sis’s after sum duhlibriting.” Lucky breaks the silence. “Now, it’s yer turn to spin this thang.”

Hope nodded and proceeded to spin the bottle. This time landing on Mareian.

“Dare, stud. Hope, you’re*hic* ready for these supple Pegasus lipsssss” Mareian stated in slurring words, closing her eyes and preparing her lips for a kiss.

Hope darted around the rooms, eying each pony in the circle. “OH! I know!” Hope turns Mareian head towards EC. “I dare you to give her a hug.”

Mareian squinted at the mare her head was facing before widening as she chuckled “Oh-ho-ho. So that’s your taste huh?” She struts herself towards EC. “Com’ere shy gal. Let Mama Mareian give you some sugar.” She wraps her hooves around the helmet clad unicorn, using her wings to caress her hugging target. “Huh, you’re taller than I expected.” Marian muttered.

EC’s body went from straight and stiff to a bit more relaxed. “Oh, thanks.” She gave Mareian a hug in return. “I needed that.” Mareian’s pony body slumped to the floor. She snores loudly as everyone watches. “Oh… I guess I’ll spin then.”

Cookies is sat over at a table reading his books. Though the low lighting of the night would make it difficult to read, his horn causes a glow on the book making the words more visible at night. Every once in a while, he’ll take a sip of grape juice from a cup. With the lighting as low as it is, others might think that he was being approached by his doppelganger.

“Surprised to see you here, Darling.” Cookies’ head turns his head to find a familiar unicorn. “From what we were told, the library would be the new residence of one of Celestia’s faithful students. And their name is Enchanted Crown.”

“Oh, ho, my dear Rarity, Miss Crown graciously gave us a ride to Ponyville. She was in need of assistance, so we obliged.” Cookies closed his book and left in on a shelf. “But, for some reason, the proprietor of the town inn thought I was you and promptly removed me from his establishment and said that I, or should I say you, are banned.”

“My word! Mister Chateau always jumping to conclusions. Some of my clients tend to want to discuss commissions in somewhere a bit more private than my boutique. Mr. Sour Cream wanted to keep knowledge of how he gets his dresses out of public knowledge to prevent the hassle of paparazzi questioning me and others about personal things we learned from him.”

“That sure sounds like father. Always wants eyes off of him but unfortunately there are always ponies willing to leech off his fame.” Cookies took another sip. “Most outside of our home town probably don’t know that he has a family to take care of.”

“Darling, he never even told me he had any foals to speak of.” Rarity gasped. “My apologies for being indirectly the reason for your removal from your reserved stay at the inn. Perhaps you can stay at the boutique and we could discuss some form of dress you could wear. Maybe a necktie or a scarf?”

“There is no need to send the offer. Were I to leave my dear friends, Hope and Alto, they’d surely starve. Those two are in their own little world.” Cookies looks over at Alto. The massive Pegasus moves with the flexibility and agility of a break dancer. He then looks over at Hope and sighs. Everyone in the spin the bottle game are all hugging EC, with Hope trying to wrap his hooves around as many ponies that he can.

“Woah, Rarity, when did you copy yourself?” The rainbow Pegasus interrupted. “That is so… AWESOME.”

Cookies and Rarity both look at each other in confusion. “Rainbow Dash, weren’t you there when all the commotion about our differences were discussed?” Rarity asked.

“Oh yeah, I remember something being said about differences but, too be honest, I wasn’t really paying attention. Head in the clouds, you know. Like literally. Did you see how fast I cleared those clouds.”

“Yes.” Rarity replied

“N-no.” Cookies Muttered.

“CLONES!” A pink earth pony got between the two white unicorns. “Wow, Rarity, I didn’t know you cloned yourself. Huh… Maybe I should give that a try?”

Rarity rolls her eyes and groans while Cookies lets out a hearty chuckle. “Maybe we really are clones, my dear Rarity. A blue Pegasus more focused on their dreams than their surroundings. A hyperactive earth pony with a wild imagination. Your friends and mine, Rarity” Cookies wipes a tear of laughter off his cheek. “We’re more similar than you can imagine.” Cookies trots himself over to the pile of ponies, brings a pillow over there, and prepares himself to go to sleep.

“Wow, Rarity. Your clone sure is a stallion.”

Friendship is Weird Part 2

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The days before the Summer Sun Celebration were rather relaxed for our 6 ponies and a dragon. Cookies found himself spending most of his time at Sugar Cube Corner, often there to volunteer baking while Pinkie Pie was off. Alto invested himself in the musical side of Ponyville, finding the resident musicians to be a duo of a classical artist and a DJ. Lucky had been given a luxurious room as a representative of Appleoosa, unfortunately the room was not big enough to house more than 1 pony so the rest of them stayed at the town library. Hope spent most of his time meeting every single pony in Ponyville. Enchanted Crown helped Mayor Mare with the organization of the festival. With EC out of the library, Mareian took over as a more proper librarian, with the help of Scales, she was able to properly organize the library.

“Took us a while but now this place is finally up to code.”

“I can’t believe they left us with the mess after the party was over. I didn’t even join in! I went straight to bed.” Scales complained to the green Pegasus he’d been assisting all week. “You’d think SOME PONIES would join in.”

“I doubt any of them used this library to begin with. There’s dust in between the books and the only one’s not covered in dust is the one Cookies got from my library.”

“I can see why they call you Mareian. A mare librarian is definitely a thorough description.” Scales sat down on a pillow seat in the library. After a few seconds he belches out a letter. “oh boy.” Scales unfurls the scroll. “This doesn’t look good.” He said calmly.

“Sounds like something EC needs. Need a ride?”

“Nah, I need to stretch my legs and get out of the house. But you do you.” Scales hops out of the library window. Ponyville was bustling with ponies from across Equestria as well as the ponies of Ponyville doing their best to keep up with them as well as make final preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. Scales managed to avoid bumping into other ponies by slithering on the ground, holding the letter in his tail. It does not take him long until he reached the town hall, where Mayor Mare is waving at EC who is trotting away from her.

“Oh, hey Scales. Did Celestia send a letter today?”

“Worse, it’s a letter from Twilight. It seems rather serious.” EC used her magic to unfurl the scroll in front of her.

Dear Enchanted Crown,

I apologize for bothering you while you are at Ponyville, but in my studies in your study I have discovered that Nightmare Moon shall be making her return at the Summer Sun Celebration. I’ve informed Celestia but she laughed it off and told me that everything will be fine. I’m not liking this one bit.

Be careful EC. Danger is around the corner.

Yours Truly,

Twilight Sparkle

“Huh, not even a remark from Spike in this message. Rather worrisome, but I trust in Celestia’s decision.” EC gave the scroll back to Scales. “A simple ‘Dear Twilight, everything will be fine. Have faith in Celestia. EC’ would be good to send her. Right Scales?”

The green dragon rolled his eyes. “I dunno, shouldn’t we at least ask Celestia?”

“We’d more than likely receive the same response that Twilight got. Besides, Celestia is what keeps Equestria held together in times of crisis. I’m sure that if this is true, she has a plan to counteract it.” Scales writes on the scroll given back to him before setting that aflame. “Come on Scales. Let’s head on down to Sugar Cube Corner to see Cookies and have a good lunch.”

Pancakes! So soft and fluffy

Pancakes! They make you stuffy

Pancakes! Pancakes Pancakes PANCAKES!!!

As EC arrived at Sugar Cube Corner, she heard the familiar voice singing. Over at one of the tables she saw a light orange earth pony who had just been levitated a dazzled stack of pancakes. Chocolate chips, whipped cream, syrup, strawberries, blue berries, with a bit of butter on top. The earth pony messily gobbled down the super pancakes in front of him.

“Now now, my dear Hope. Eat more slowly and enjoy the flavor. Also, you might choke eating too fast if you’re not careful.” Said the white unicorn behind the counter. He turned his smiling stallion snout over to EC. “Good to see you, EC. How might I trouble you on this fair day?”

“Pancakes for lunch? I’ll have what he’s having!” Scales slithered up to the counter.

“Not for me though, Cookies. I’ll have some strawberry oatmeal.”

“One Hopeful Journey and an oatmeal with strawberries. That’ll be 12 bits.” EC used magic to give the bits to Cookies who also used magic to count and place the bits into the register. “One moment as I get your orders ready.”

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!

Cooking these treats is such a cinch!

Add a little bit of butter!

Add a little more, and you count to four,

And you never have to wonder...

“WHO IS SINGING MY SONG!?!?!?” A pink earth pony pulled stretched her head into the room. She stared at Hope who was the culprit. “Listen here Mr. Psychic, you should know that I do not like when other ponies take my songs. Okie Dokey Loki?”

“Okie dokey loki.” Hope says with a salute to the pink pony.

“Okie Dokey Loki!” The pink pony replies with a smile and a much cheerier demeanor.

“I can’t help it.” Hope takes another bite of his pancakes, thoroughly chewing before swallowing. “That song is just so catchy.”

The dragon and the helmed unicorn make their way towards Hope. “Hello, Hope. You seem to be enjoying yourself today.”

“Well, yesterday I told Alto that I’d check out what he, Octavia, and Vinyl made. Octavia said it was “experimental” but I could tell Al was enjoying himself. They said they’d be ready to perform tonight, just before the Celebration. Did you want to check them out?”

“Thanks for the offer, Hope. We’re bound to hear about it as we’re ending the night off making sure everything is in order.”

Hope smiled at EC, but then looked at Scales. The dragon is sat down but his eyes are looking at the ceiling with his front claw rubbing his chin. “Is something wrong, Scales? Something on your mind?”

Scales closes his eyes and lets out an anguished sigh. “Can’t hide anything from the psychic, can I?” He looked over at EC before looking back at hope. “Twilight sent us a letter, trying to warn us about something, but EC puts her faith in nothing going wrong and I guess I’m just a bit worried.”

“Scales, no need to go into details.”

“He’s an empathic psychic. He’d make me spill my guts out with guilt because he knows I’m bothered by something.”

“Humor her.” A plate of pancakes and a bowl of oatmeal floats towards Scales and EC. “You can’t rely on others to be this perfect monolith of pure perfection. Sometimes you have to lend a helping hand here and there.” Cookies approached the group. “That’s how Hope, Alto, and I get along. We’re always there for each other when things go awry”

“Hmm.” EC pondered as Hope gave a big hug to Cookies. “Maybe you’re right.” She took a spoonful of her oatmeal to her mouth hole of her helmet. “Oooh this oatmeal is surprisingly sweet.” Cookies bows his head as EC and Scales shovel down their food.

After finishing their meals, the unicorn dragon duo proceeds to the library. They find Mareian relaxed on one of the seating cushions only for EC to trot right pass her and pull a couple of books off the shelf. Mareian shows a raised eyebrow of annoyance seeing the unicorn make a mess of a freshly cleansed library only for Scales to come up to her and give a few words. All the green Pegasus could do was sigh as she stands up and joins them in rummaging through the books in the library. Hours pass, and the sun has almost set. The search for the right book continues as EC wipes a bead of sweat dripping off her helm.

“Hey ya’ll!” The yellow earth pony enters the library. “Der’s sum music festivities all o’er dat founin.” Lucky looks at those inside the library only to find none of them looking at her. “err ya’ll need help with summin?”

“We’re looking for a book that will give us an idea as to what Celestia used to battle Nightmare Moon like a thousand billion trillion years ago.” Scales responded.

Lucky gives a confused look and grabs a book off the shelf with her mouth onto a nearby table. “L’ments of Hairmony? Hey ya’ll, dis book has images of a white pony blasting a dark pony with deez six balls and colours.”

“Should’ve known Lucky would find something first try. Next time, ask her. She’ll break all the timed records for how quickly she’d find something. Now if you need me, I have a library to clean up per usual.” Mareian states as she starts putting books back on the shelves.

“Come on now, girl. You’ve been cleaning dis here place. Les go enjoy da music.” Lucky’s argument got a defeated sigh out of Mareian who proceeds to exit the library before Lucky.

With the book in hoof, EC and Scales make their way out of the library and towards the sound of the music Lucky had mentioned. Music fills their ears as they approach the fountain at the center of town. They see a gray Earth pony with a cello playing next to a white unicorn with sunglasses in a DJ booth. Near them playing his instrument to the rhythm of the others is Alto. The smile on his face is noticeable to those watching. The most noticeable audience member is Hope who is cheering vibrantly while dancing to the music.

“Gotta say, they did a good job. Never heard anything like it before.” Scales says.

EC nods in agreement. “It is certainly unique, blending electronic noises with classical music.” She looks over at Alto, keeping the rhythm going despite the noises coming from the other ponies contrasting music. “I’m just surprised Alto’s able to keep up with them.”

“OF COURSE, HE CAN KEEP UP!” Hope trotted up next to the group trying to be heard over the music. “WOOOOO! ALTO! ALTO! ALTO!” He cheers on.

As the music begins to die down, a brown earth pony with red mane and tail appears in front of the musicians about to give a speech. “Check One Check Two! Mic Check is here for you Ponyville.” The audience bursts into cheers. “The Summer Sun Celebration happens once every year but THIS YEAR Celestia raises the sun HERE IN PONYVILLE!!!” The crowd bursts louder than before. “ALRIGHT! Give it up for these talented ponies for volunteering to hold these musical festivities as we head into the night before the LONGEST DAY! The Apple Family have provided the catering over there. I’ve been Mic Check, Checking out. I’ll see you all when the princess arrives.” The stallion trots away as the music continues.

“Who was that?” Hope asked.

“Oh, that was the announcer that Celestia had hired for the Summer Sun Celebration. He’s not exactly a big actor. Small town earth pony with the charisma that draws attention. I hear that he does a radio talk show on the weekends.” EC informed Hope.

“Oooh Radio. Cookies’ dad has one of those, but he uses it to get the news around Equestria. He says it makes it easier for to understand the market better.” Hope turns his head around from left to right. “Speaking of which, have either of you seen him? Haven’t seen him since pancake lunch.”

There is a shrill voice can be heard nearby. “My precious little angel food cake is the most independent pony I love. You’ve been keeping your mane well kempt, you got a job, and by the sounds of it you found yourself a place to stay since the Inn didn’t take you in. How dare they not accept MY son. My adorable son. My SUPER SON WHO I JUST LOVE SEEING GROW UP OHOHOH!”

The group turn their heads towards the voice which was followed by a groan. “Yes, yes, mother. I don’t think I’m all that independent. I came with my friends remember.” The voice had come from a familiar white unicorn who was being huggingly dragged by a yellow-orange unicorn mare. Her blonde mane is short and kempt. She is wearing a lot of jewelry with sapphires on them. On her flank is a golden whip. Following them is another white unicorn. He wears glasses and has his light black hair short and slick. On his flank is a blue bowl filled with white and a drama sad face next to it. Trotting close to him is a young unicorn colt whose mane is similarly styled to Cookies, his color scheme is more yellow like the mare before and both sharing blue eyes.

“Signed receipt documents, Cookies. Undeniable proof that you have purchased what you say you have purchased.” The spectacled unicorn says, face showing no emotion. “I’ll speak to the proprietor about their mistake and make sure they never do that again.”

“I have no idea what to say father. It was all mistaken identity; you don’t have to go that far.”

“I say you aren’t going far enough Sowy dear. SUE THEM FOR EVERY BIT THEY ARE WORTH!!!” Fire was almost coming out of her mouth.

“Oh hey! Mr. and Mrs. Cream! Over here!” Hope hollered over at the group of unicorns

“Hope!” The yellow colt ran up to the red stallion embracing Hope’s front leg. “Daddy says you got your cutie mark so early that you don’t even remember. When do you think I’ll get mine?”

“Bananas! Don’t be worrying too much about that. You’ll get yours soon enough.” Hope encouraged the young unicorn. The two of them laugh as the other unicorns approach the group. While Lucky and Mareian give a confused and annoyed look respectively, EC is standing stiff jointed. Scales meanwhile gave the same emotionless face as the white stallion and waved at them.

“Oh good, you are all here.” Cookies sighs in relief and begins to introduce his parents to his new friends. “Mother, Father, and my dear younger brother. On my journey here I have made some new friends. Miss Facing North, Lucky Horseshoes, and Enchanted Crown. And I believe, father, you and Miss Crown have already met.” When Cookies mentioned EC you could hear a squeak coming from her. Cookies father merely nods his head emotionlessly. “Friends, my father Sour Cream, my mother Whipped Cream, and my younger brother Banana Cream.”

After a moment of his and hellos, Cookies mother brought him in a bit closer and whispered “That’s an awful lot of mares you befriended. You find any of these girls attractive.”

Cookies politely pushes his mother off of him “Oh Mother, I don’t go rushing off into relationships so soon.”

“Well when ARE you!? You’re older than both of your friends and the only other mares I know in your life are that brooding unicorn Hope took to prom and Alto’s older sister. You haven’t taken any steps and I want to see my son start a family.”

“I’m working on it, Mother. Speaking of Alto’s family, do you happen to know if they’ll be arriving in time for the Summer Sun Celebration?”

Sour Cream sighs. “Roaring Thunder has a meeting in Cloudsdale. His wife accompanied him.” Cookies’ father said with a bit of a somber tone. “The daughter we saw when we entered town. She’s currently at the inn.”

“Dis Crem famly shore iz a bit a unique buncha cornheads don’t ya think?” Lucky whispered to Mareian.

“With how Cookies acts, I’d assume his family would be more elegant. I’ll give the father some credit though, a soft spoke stallion who doesn’t wear his emotions.”

“Shhhhh.” EC shushed the two mares. “The Creams are known for mane and tail care products, but Sour Cream is the most legally aware and branched the family business off into safety and insurance agencies. He is unreadable but he COULD SUE US for talking out of place.”

“Relax EC. You worry too much. He didn’t do any of that in his visits to Canterlot.” Scales said without the thought of secrecy.

“Thank you, Dragon.” Sour Cream thanked Scales. This caused the three mares too gasp with an audible peep. “And Hopeful Journey is here. Would you kindly escort young Banana around for a while. I have some very important ponies to have a discussion with.”

“Aye Aye Sir!” Hope said with a salute.

“Aww but Sowy, I wanted to spend time with my son’s new friends.” Whipped Cream whined.

“You may stay with them if you’d like, but I will miss your company.”

Whipped Cream laughed in a lustrous way. “Oh, you sure know how to tie me up into emotional knots. I love it.” She trots side by side with her husband. “Take care of my beautiful babies!” She waved goodbye at the group.

As the unicorns left the music died down. The trio of music players start to pack up their things and participate in the night’s festivities. “AL!” Banana rushed over to the giant Pegasus who just put his instrument away. “Al that was SO COOL I wish I could do all the things you can do and perhaps get my Cutie mark along the way.” Alto gives the colt a pat on the head as he trots with him to the others with an accomplished smile on his face.

The group continued to enjoy festivities of the Summer Sun Celebration. Though the food was plentiful, the amount of apple related dishes had left Cookies a bit queasy, but he stayed strong with the group. Banana played some sideshow games with Hope and Alto only to be impressed when Lucky joined in on a ring toss where she almost caused a riot as the pony in charge tried to reason why she shouldn’t get the prize. Despite the drama they all had a good time. During which EC and Scales were looking through the book they found at the library.

“Laughter, honesty, loyalty, generosity, kindness, and the unknown 6^th element. What do you think that could be, Scales?” EC pondered through the crowd.

“I dunno. Magic?” Scales stated in an unsure tone.

“Seems illogical though. All the elements are already magical so the 6^th element being magic would be rather redundant, don’t you think? Plus, that wouldn’t fit with the others which are more like… emotions… should we ask what Hope thinks about this?”

“Ask me about what?” As if on cue, Hope appears out of nowhere with a smile on his face looking at the faces of the dragon and unicorn reading a book. “Is that a spell book? Cookies might want to have a look at that.”

“Actually, Hope, this is more of a history book discussing the lore of these magical objects called the Elements of Harmony. Twilight wanted me to be prepared for danger so I’ve been looking for books on how to stop Nightmare Moon that she was talking about and these elements were the ones that sent her to the moon. This book says the elements are honesty, loyalty, generosity, kindness, and laughter but there is also a 6^th element that we can’t seem to figure out.” EC informed hope of the situation.

“Hmmm” Hope pondered for a moment. He took a look around at all the ponies celebrating. “Some of these elements remind me of some of the ponies here in Ponyville. Laughter, for example: Pinkie Pie fits that description with how she throws parties to put smiles on ponies face which also fits Cookies with how he tries to find the right way to bake treats that’ll make anyone happy.”

“So, you think that the elements are supposed to represent a living creature, like a dragon?” Scales say with a bit of optimism.

“Maybe, Scales. You aren’t as generous as Mareian is with her time. Not as kind as Lucky is with helping out where she can. Not as loyal as EC is here, nor as honest as Alto.”

“Mr. No Talk? Honesty? I haven’t heard him say a single word since we all met a week ago. Come on Hope, give me something here.” Scales complained.

“Well now, Al more prefers actions over words, but sometimes his words can be powerful. Who knows, Scales? Maybe you can be the element of tolerance if that’s the 6^th element.”

EC can’t help but sigh. Celestia should be arriving soon and with her is the potential of there being Nightmare Moon. All she has is the knowledge that there exists these Elements of Harmony and the speculation that they represent the characteristic traits of ponies and potentially dragons and even more speculation on what this 6^th element is and who is supposedly supposed to represent it.

“Mares and Gentlecolts, the night is upon us and soon shall be THEE longest day in Equestria. The Princess’s chariot shall be arriving here soon and if you look close enough at the night sky, you’ll just be able to see her.” The aforementioned announcer said. “Please, don’t bother her with autographs UNTIL the sun rises, but you can bother ME anytime you want. This has been Mic Check, checking out until the princess arrives. I’ll be signing photos over there.”

EC took a look at the sky and with a sigh of relief she could see the princess’s chariot on the way to Ponyville. Though the darkness of the night made the chariot look a bit darker, EC was still able to recognize the Princess and the two guards pulling her chariot. “Looks like we’re in the clear Scales. The Princess is fine, so we were all worried about nothing.”

“hehe, I guess the whole ‘Mare in the Moon’ was just an old pony’s tale.” Scales laughed but EC just stood unmoving.

“Wait… ‘Mare in the Moon’? If that’s supposed to be an old pony’s tale like you said, Scales, then why is there a book here about the magical items that were used to send her to the moon? Unless…” If EC wasn’t wearing her helm, one would be able to see her eyes widen. The moon that usually had the shadow on it, no longer had it. And as the Princess’s chariot came closer and closer to the bright and bristling Ponyville, the dark shades of the chariot and guards and even the Princess herself didn’t change.

“To all the ponies in attendance, we appear to have an early arrival of the PRINCESS. Please graciously bow to your ruler of Equestria.” All the ponies bow following the red maned announcer. All except for EC who was bracing herself for the horror that she knew was coming. What should have been Celestia was instead a mist of night blue shrouded the chariot. A Black figure emerges from the mist, her wings large and her horn long. She wore a blue helm with a chest piece that had a crescent moon on it.

“Oh, my beloved subjects. It’s been so long since I’ve seen your precious little sun loving faces.” The figure laugh, looking at all the ponies who have bowed their heads. “It seems I’m still royal enough for you.”

“Of course, Princess Ce-” The red maned earth pony announcer lifted his head up and then immediately back down. “Your Majesty is always welcomed to the wonderful town of Ponyville, the mayor told me so herself.”

“What have you done to our princess?” EC muttered. The dark alicorn had turned her head towards the only pony not bowing.

“Is my crown no longer count now that I have been imprisoned for a thousand years? Did you not recall the legends? Did you not see the signs?” The alicorn marched towards EC as she said that. She caught a glimpse of the book that EC had been reading earlier and her eyes narrowed. “Ah, so you have read about the Elements of Harmony. Tell me, little pony, do you know where they are?”

EC gulped, feeling the weight of the alicorn’s gaze on her. Before she could say anything, Scales stood up between the two. Usually on all fours, Scale’s was just barely the height of the average pony, but standing up on his hind legs he could just meet eye to eye with Nightmare Moon. “Pfft, you’re scared of some magical rocks that beat you centuries ago? I got news for ya, princess. You never faced a dragon before.”

“After a thousand years and dragons still have the pride larger than the moon itself.” The alicorn’s horn starts glowing, its aura encapsulating Scales before launching him into the dark night sky. During this moment, EC skims through her book in hope to find some sort of clue.

Elements

Everfree

Sisters

Castle

Before she could get any other hints, a starry aura disintegrates the book. If her face weren’t obscured, Nightmare Moon could have witnessed the terror on EC’s face firsthand. “Enough fooling around. I shall not have one as pathetic as yourself get in my way. Darkness shall rule over Equestria for all of eternity!” And just like that, the menacing alicorn flew away into the unwavering night sky.

Some of the ponies slowly raised their heads up, looking cautiously. Cookies, Lucky, and Mareian rushed over to EC. “My goodness, that sounded quite serious. My dear EC, what in Equestria is going on?” Cookies asked the unresponsive unicorn. Alto and Hope were predisposed to taking care of Bananas by playing games with him to be bothered by the happenings. Mareian gives an annoyed sigh while Lucky gives a confused look.

“Summtin bout dem l’ments of harm or summ’in?” Lucky could only guess, but that’s all that she could possibly know.

EC knew she had to act fast. She closed her eyes and focused her mind, recalling everything she had learned about the Elements and their location. Suddenly, a vision flashed before her eyes. She saw a clearing deep in the Everfree Forest where the Elements were hidden, protected by a powerful enchantment. “I-I see it.” She informed the questioning ponies. “The Everfree Forest… I think there is a castle there in a deep clearing where the elements of harmony are. We need them in order to stop Nightmare Moon and bring back the sun.”

“Evah free?” Lucky asked. “Aww shoot! Why didn ya say so erlier. I go through dat locale erry time I make a trip to Ponyville. I can ezly get ch’all ‘round dere.” Lucky stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

EC breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s great, Lucky. I don’t suppose you know about a castle being there at all would you?”

“More or less.”

“Adventure!?” Hope popped his head into the conversation. “Oh boy! And we’re gonna save Equestria! AL GET THE CART!” Alto begins walking away from the crowd, Bananas tried to go with him but Hope had already lifted him up by one hoof back into the group. “Sorry Bananas. Your dad entrusted me with you and I take my tasks very seriously.” Hope says to the Colt who has a bit of a frightened look.

“I don’t think a foal like myself should be going on such dangerous adventures.” Bananas said with a gulp.

“Nonsense! What could possibly go wrong?”

At Everfree Forest travel 7 ponies with a cart. Lucky taking the lead followed by Cookies. Alto slowly pulling the cart while looking at the creepy surroundings. Hope, Mareian, EC, and Bananas are all huddled in the cart under the blanket, shivering.

“Oh come on now.” Cookies said. “Most of you are fully grown ponies and a bit of darkness starts to spook the hairs off your bodies.”

“N-N-Nightmare M-M-Moon.” EC stuttered

“So dark… Just like then… oh brother where art thou?” Mareian spoke with dread.

“B-Big bro… I don’t like those monsters looking at me.” Bananas informed Cookies

“Y-Yeah. Those emotionless eyes… I can’t read them.” Hope added.

Cookies gave them all a stern look before turning around to see the ‘Emotionless eyes’ that Hope spoke of. With a glow of his horn, he showed that the eyes looking at them were branches before looking back at all of them with the same look. Hope and Bananas sighed in relief and Alto started to move the cart a bit faster catching up with Lucky. The Pegasus and the unicorn were still shaking in fear. Cookies couldn’t help but laugh.

“Are-are you laughing? This-this is no l-laughing m-matter.” EC said still shaking in fear.

“No, no, dear EC. Laughter is the best medicine. For you see…” A bit of music starts to play as Cookies begins to sing.

When you're scared and feeling blue,

There's one thing you can always do.

Just take a deep breath and let out a laugh,

And soon you'll forget all about that gaffe!

Ha ha ha, hee hee hee,

A good old-fashioned giggle is the key!

Ha ha ha, ho ho ho,

Your worries will melt away, you'll know.

So come on now, let's give it a try,

Let's laugh and laugh until we touch the sky!

Ha ha ha, hee hee hee,

Let's all laugh together, you and me!

Cookies little song and dance stopped any would be jitters from EC and Mareian can’t help but join in the laughter with the others. Cookies took a bow on the back edge of the cart. “Thank you. Thank you. Not exactly the emotion I want to share with song, but with times being tough and all a smile is worth more than a million bits.”

A sudden bump on the path causes Cookies to fall backwards and the momentum of his fall caused the cart to unwillingly change direction to a downward slant. Gravity causing Alto’s wings to be pinched by the cart as they all begin building up speed toward a spikey canyon. They knock a big boulder what had been embedded with moss onto the earth and it began to roll down the hill with them. Cookies and Lucky ran as fast as they could towards the cart. Mareian flew upwards off the cart. Hope covered Bananas with his body and a basket embroidered “Hopeful Journey.” EC decided to jump towards Alto, hoping that the force would get him unstuck. The force tumbles them both off the cart, but now in the path of the boulder barreling towards them. EC uses her magic while the two of them are tumbling to stop the boulder which she was able to do so in time. Unfortunately, EC is barely hanging on to Alto as she is beginning to slide off the cliff and into the canyon. Fortunately, Alto has one of his wings wrapped around her hoof but his other wing got caught under the boulder.

“Save yourself, Alto. I wasn’t prepared for this in time so just let me go.”

“Don’t let go.” EC couldn’t recognize the origin of the soft-spoken voice. A tone so serious yet at the same time as calm as a clam. “I can get us both to safety.”

“Who?” Before EC could get answer to her question she was pulled up by Alto’s wing. The wing had twisted and contorted in a way she wasn’t used to, but it managed to place itself back into its original position. EC then noticed his other wing was caught underneath the boulder which she kindly lifted with her magic and tossed in into the canyon. “By the way Alto, did you hear a voice just about now?” Alto just tilted his head, raised an eyebrow, and pointed one of his hooves towards himself. After a few seconds, EC spoke. “OH! That was you? Sorry I just… you don’t ever speak I thought… sorry.” She said at a loss.

Meanwhile the cart that had just about launched itself into the canyon had found itself coated in a magical white aura along with the two ponies and items inside of it. Mareian is carefully dragging Hope, who has his basket on his head, out of the floating mess. Slowly but surely the cart is magically placed firmly on the ground. Cookies collapses as the aura disperses and Bananas runs up towards his brother for a hug.

“Bro THAT WAS AWESOME.” Bananas shrieked. “We were all like ‘ohno!’ and you were all like ‘not on my watch’ and used your super awesome magic and caught us all and so THRILLING to float without wings bro you are SO AWESOME!” Bananas continues to fanboy over his older brother, Cookies, while he just lays down and give an accomplished smile.

“Jus glad that wasn me in dat dere mishap.” Lucky stated. “Tho, we need t’git ovr da otha syde of da crevace dere.” She says pointing to the other side. All the ponies look at each other. Alto tries to flap his wings, but he could barely get any air from his injured wing and falls to the ground. Cookies is still laying down exhausted with Bananas hugging his older brother. “Naht it!” Lucky said with a raised hoof.

“Not it!” Hope joined in still with the basket over his head.

Mareian looked over to EC who is slowly raising her hoof, but before she could Mareian grabs EC’s hoof with her own. “Oh no you don’t. I’m not going out there alone in the dark. You’re coming with me and we are going to make a bridge if we have to.” The Pegasus drags the unicorn, flying them both to the other side of the canyon. They spot two stakes at the other end and a wooden rope bridge connected to them but it is dangling off the cliff. “I don’t suppose you can use your magic and bring the other end back up?”

EC’s horn lit up, but nothing came up. “I think it’s stuck on something. I can’t see what it’s stuck on, it’s too dark for me.”

“Too dark for you? Girl, if you expect me to go down there in the darkness, you have another thing coming.” EC cast a spell on Mareian causing her to glow a bright light that shines as far as 10 feet away from her. “…Thank you. This shouldn’t take long.” She said politely before slowly descending down along the cliff.

A bush rustled, causing EC to turn her head. “Who’s there?” She called out. Two stallions appeared before her. They looked like Celestia’s royale guards, except darker. Their eyes were red and their armor was more like Nightmare Moon’s.

“Well, well. If it isn’t Celestia’s meekest student.” One of them said in a mocking tone.

“Can’t blame her, really. Celestia was all laid back around her. She’d never have been placed in any REAL danger. Nightmare Moon will train you to your perfect form.”

“Yeah little filly. Celestia is the reason that you are weak. Nightmare Moon will make you strong. She won’t let you hide behind a royal guard helmet and pretend you are all chummy with the captain.”

“News flash, he’s engaged.”

“Yeah, to a mare who really gets around. We all know what that heart REALLY means.” The two of them start laughing.

“Say what you will about me…” EC quietly muttered. “But don’t you ever…” She takes a deep breath. “DON’T YOU EVER TALK ABOUT MY FRIENDS LIKE THAT AGAIN! Especially not Celestia!” She shouted at the pair who are taken aback before running out of sight into the forest.

“Wow… I get launched up into the sky and you get enough bravery to stand up for yourself… Cool.” Scales appeared from the bush on all fours. He swiped off some of the branches of his scales.

“Not now Scales. I’m a bit peeved at that situation.” EC said in a sour tone. She then immediately turned her head to Scales and stared at him. “When did you get here, Scales?”

“Two words. Dragon Wings.”

“No, I know that but it was less of a question of why and more of a how.”

“Seven colorful ponies and a single cart doesn’t exactly ‘blend in’ especially from a bird’s eye view.” Scales informed the unicorn. Though I did lose you guys in the darkness of Everfree. The screams were helpful.”

Mareian interrupted the conversation. “Hey! I got the end of the bridge! Can you see it!?” She shouted. EC immediately looked over the edge and lit up her horn, sending the other end of the bridge to the other side with Alto, Bananas, Cookies, Hope, and Lucky. It wasn’t long before they carefully crossed the bridge along with the cart.

Cookies is still exhausted, leaning his head on the spell book he got from Buckfield and looking at a framed photograph. The photo contains thirteen ponies. On the left and right of the photo are Sour Cream and Whipped Cream respectively. Next to Sour is a dark Pegasus stallion with a whiteish mane wearing a hard hat. He has his wing rapped around Sour and the two give a relaxed smile to the camera. Next to Whipped is a rather larger Pegasus mare in Wonderbolts bodysuit and goggles. Though her body is covered with a suit, you can see that her snout and wings are blue. Her mane looks like it has gone through high speeds and is a faint bluish white. She too also has her wing rapped around Whipped. While both are smiling, Whipped is looking at what’s at the center of the photo. Bananas lays on the ground with Hope sitting behind him. Behind Hope is Alto sitting, and behind him is Sky Sonata with Cookies N Cream on her shoulders, all of them smiling to the camera. Cookies sighs nostalgically.

EC had decided to check up on Cookies at this time and saw him staring longingly at the photo with a smile on his face. She recognized most of the ponies in the photo. “Last family photo?”

“Most of us are adults, Miss Crown… It’s best to enjoy the time you still have together before you won’t be able to see each other again.” He places a hoof on the photo where Sky’s face was. “Being this close to her made me the happiest pony in town. I wonder if we’ll still have time to spend together or if she’ll have work obligations outside of Equestria. Will she still be at Ponyville by the time we’ve resolved all this?”

The helmed unicorn listened to Cookies’ words and could sense the feeling of uncertainty in his voice. She took a moment to think before responding. “I think that everything will be alright in the end. Even if things don’t go according to plan, you’ll still have all the good memories of the past. And even make some more in the future. There’s always a chance, right?” EC explained. “And no need to be so formal with me remember. We’re friends.”

Cookies gave a light chuckle. “I guess you’re right.” He adjusted his head a bit before closing his eyes.

“Hol’ up ya’ll!” Lucky exclaimed, causing Cookies to sit back up, sleepy eyed. They had stopped in front of a roaring river. “Dis line of water ain’t normly dis rappid.” The earth pony explained.

“OH BOO HOO HOO!” A voice cried in the river. Rising from the water thrashing around causing the chaotic water movement is a purple sea serpent monster with a fancy orange head of hair and mustache, except that one side of the moustache is uneven and poorly cut. “Oh WHY must there be a TACKY little cloud of smoke TEAR of my BEAUTIFUL moustache.” The serpent cried dramatically.

“Good grief, you sound like my brother.” Mareian said in an annoyed toned before tearing off one of the beast’s scales. The serpent collapses in shock as Mareian heads back to the cart and pulls out a tube of Dandy Cream’s Dandy Cream™. She looked at the hairs of the serpent and looks at her tail hairs. With a sigh, she cuts the hairs of her tail, applies the tube of hair care on it and attaches it to the serpent’s moustache as though it were glue. A couple more applications of the hair cream to make both sides of the moustache look symmetrical. “Dandy Cream’s Dandy Cream for all your dandy emergencies.” Mareian read off the tube.

The serpent opened its eyes to see that his moustache is now complete, though the color of Mareian’s tail did not match the other the beast gave a smile and a joyous laugh. “Oh thank you thank you THANK YOU. I wouldn’t know how to LIVE without my moustache. Is there ANYTHING I can do to repay you?”

“Always glad to lend a hoof where I can. You don’t have to do anything. It was merely a force of habit.”

“NONSENSE darling. Here…” The serpent lifted the cart that had all the ponies in it to the other side of the river. “It’s the least I can do. Sorry for all the commotion.”

After thanking the serpent, the ponies continued their journey. Lucky lead them through the forest until she came upon a dying plant. “Hol’ up, y’all! We got a plantation emergency.” She starts digging the plant up and placing it closer to a nearby pond, applying some water on it. “Ok, y’all. LES GO!” As she walked away the others just stared at the plant for a moment and saw it magically grow into a bulbus sharp tooth monstrosity. The ponies let a fearful gasp until the plant turned around and chomped up some timber wolves that were charging after the ponies. This all led up to a collective sigh as they follow Lucky through the woods.

It wasn’t long until they reached the ruins of a castle. EC took on ahead. “You all stay here. We don’t know if Nightmare Moon has set a trap for us.” She enters the castle with the others left outside. She finds five of the elements of harmony on a chandelier. “Five? Where is the sixth one?” She asked.

“Good question.” Scales appears from the darkness much to the surprise of EC. “Maybe there was never a sixth element?”

“Scales!? I thought I told you to stay outside with the others.”

“You weren’t looking at me when you said that, so I thought I was exempt.”

“If Scales gets to go then why can’t we all come?” Hope came and asked.

“Hope… *wheeze* she said *gasp* to stay.” Cookies chased Hope out of breath and legs wobbling. He is followed by Bananas who in turn is followed by Alto, Lucky, and Mareian in that order.

“I swear you are the most childish stallions I’ve ever met.” Mareian stated with a roll in her eyes. She looked over at EC. “Those the elements we’re looking for? They don’t look all to magical… or six.”

“I’m working on it.” She turned her head towards the elements and started to apply her magic on the elements. While the others are standing a bit back, Hope takes a closer look at the elements. “Hope don’t get too clo-” Just as EC was about to warn Hope, a dark and starry aura appears and sucks in the elements as well as Hope. EC reacted faster than anyone else in the room and jumped in after him with Scales following suit, but before Cookies could jump in after them, the magic aura dispersed.

“HOPE!” Cookies screamed. He tried to stand up but wasn’t able to and collapsed immediately. “Gah…”

“Don’t you think you’re over doing it there?” Mareian said in a bit of a worried tone.

“As the oldest of our group, I feel the most responsible for the youngest.” Cookies took a deep breath. “We need to find them. Hope… Despite being a rather well-built stallion… he can’t fight an alicorn. He can’t.”

Alto had lifted Cookies onto his back. “He’s my younger brother. If it’s anypony is responsible for him, it would be me.” Alto looked at Mareian and Lucky and waved them over to follow him. Bananas was already following him.

“Did he jus say… WORDS. Liek, ACTUAHL words?” Lucky spoke in a surprised tone.

“A lot of things have already happened today, Lucky. The quiet one actually speaking is not all that surprising.” Mareian remarked, following Alto as she does. Lucky shook her head and followed suite.

In a distant part of the ruined castle, the magical aura appears and releases the elements, Hope, Scales, and EC from its grasp. The five elements were sent to one end of the room while the earth pony, the unicorn and the dragon slide to the opposite end. By the time they got their bearings, Nightmare Moon appears, surrounded by the elements of harmony.

“Alright! Ready for round two, Princess?” Scales states as he stands up into a kung fu pose, goading Nightmare Moon to make the first strike.

“You’re kidding… You’re kidding, right?” Nightmare Moon scoffs as she lights up her horn. Her aura envelopes Scales’ body and is about to launch him out the window, but another magical pink aura cancels it out allowing for Scales to re adjust himself and launch himself at the alicorn.

“He’s not alone.” EC stated with her horn lit up. “I will not let you harm any more Equestrians nor my friends.” EC joined in the charge against Nightmare Moon.

“Hmph. So be it.” The alicorn’s horn lit up and fired a beam of magic, knocking Scales and EC to the side. Hope had been out of the way the whole-time getting glimpses at Nightmare Moon. “Your elements couldn’t even help you get yourself out of a bag of straw. Let me DEAL with them.” With a menacing cackle and stomp, the elements shattered.

“NO!” EC shrieked in defeat.

“Quit your crying! These elements are the reason for all the bad things Equestria has to offer. No pony will miss them! No pony will need them! No pony will want them!!!” Nightmare Moon shouted with intimidation.

A sparkle shined in Hope’s eyes. He slowly trots towards the alicorn, no fear on his face. “I understand now.”

“Hope RU-” Scales tried to warn Hope but was shot away by Nightmare Moon’s magic.

“Dragons forget how weak they are to magic with there hardened scales. BAH!” Nightmare Moon scoffed before looking at Hope. “An earth pony? Don’t make me laugh! I could strike you down, even without magic.” The alicorn boasted. Hope remains unphased by the predicament and is smiling his way toward Nightmare Moon. She remained on the defensive curious at what Hope was planning to do to fight her. She knew that she was more powerful, so no matter what kind of attack the earth pony had, she knew she could counter it. But the earth pony never attacked. He never rushed at her or prepared a strike. Instead, Hope simply reached out his hooves towards Nightmare Moon in an embrace.

“It’s all ok.” Hope said. “I can see it in your eyes… on the outside is this dark foreboding presence, but on the inside, I see a lost pony. This isn’t you.”

“In the books,” EC added “you were… no you ARE Princess Celestia’s sister, Princess Luna.” EC got up and spoke with determination. She walked towards the hugged alicorn. “I think I understand it as well. Ponies can change, even Alicorns. Some can be corrupted but can also be easily uncorrupted.” She joined in on the embrace as well. “The elements don’t matter, but friends do.”

“HOPE!” A scream could be heard coming from the other side of the room. It was Cookies, still on Alto’s back. Following them are Lucky, Mareian, and Bananas. Cookies got off Alto’s back and rushed towards his friend alongside Alto, but the two slowed down as they got closer, realizing that their friend isn’t in any danger. Cookies and Alto looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders before joining in on the group-hug pile. “Welcome to Hopeful Journey’s Trademarked Hug Therapy Session, Princess.” Cookies said.

“OOOH GROUP HUG! LES GO GIRL!” Lucky said to Mareian before rushing ahead for a jumping hug to the group-hug pile.

“Hey, slow down! It’s not a ball pit, somepony could get hurt.” Mareian yelled out to Lucky. She rolled her eyes and looked at Bananas. The young colt was about to run in after them, but Mareian was able to stop him with one of her wings. “Woah there. I don’t think your father would approve of you just jumping into a pile of ponies. He could sue us if you get hurt. Just stay in our sights, kid until the adults sort things out.” Mareian scolded Bananas before joining in on the hug as well.

Nightmare Moon was flabbergasted. She expected the ponies around her to shiver in fear, not calmly approach her for a hug. She could feel a warmth feeling deep down inside her. She didn’t notice the tears trickling down her face and snout. Just then, the shattered remains of the elements of harmony started emitting magic around the six ponies and the alicorn. The sixth element floated down from above. After the light of the magic settled down, Nightmare Moon was no longer there. Instead of the tall dark alicorn, was a smaller, light blue alicorn in her place, with tears still trickling down her snout. The six ponies that had been hugging Nightmare Moon had been hugging this blue alicorn instead.

“Did y’all see a lite ‘r summing? I had my eyes closed an’ feels like sum pony shined a light attem.” Lucky says. She is the first to remove herself from a hug where she notices that she’s wearing a gold necklace with a gem in the shape of a four-leaf clover on the front. “How’d dat git der?” She asked.

Mareian is next to get off. She looks over at Lucky. “Looks like the clovers on your cutie mark.” She tells the mare.

“Wel y’all got one too!” Lucky points her hoof at Mareian. “An’ yer tail has grown back.”

Mareian looks down at her own necklace and sees a circular silver gem with a straight red accent that looks like it’s pointing. “Well, what do we have here?” She ponders. Looking back at her tail she sees that it is no longer short after cutting the hairs not too long ago. “Oh yeah…” She says as if she forgot about it.

Alto and Cookies top hugging and look at the two mares discussing and then look at themselves. Alto had his in the shape of a music note while Cookies had a chocolate chip cookie. Cookies looks over at EC who is still hugging they newly reformed Princess Luna. “Excuse me, EC. I just need to have a look at something.” EC obliges and reveals that she too has a necklace in the shape of a helmet just like her cutie mark.

“THAT WAS SOOOOO COOOL!” Bananas screamed from the other side of the room. He rushed at his older brother, Cookies, and gave him a hug. “There was these shattered rocks and they floated and this floating orb that came from the ceiling and then a light happened and then I got dizzy but the big dark scary winged unicorn was gone!”

“Alicorn, Bananas. Just like Celestia.” Cookies took a look at Princess Luna. “Oh, come now. No need to cry, dear princess. No harm, no foul. All is ‘forgive and forget’ as it were.”

“No harm? Speak for yourself.” Scales crawled out of some debris he was left under after he had gotten hit with magic.

“As I said, forgive and forget.” Cookies told the dragon. He looked at Princess Luna who was still being hugged by Hope. “Now, now, Hope. give the Princess some breathing room.”

“It’s fine… I needed this for a while.” Princess Luna says as she finally embraces Hope.

The sun shines through one of the windows. It has finally risen. And with the sunlight appears Princess Celestia. Most of the ponies bow to her except for Hope who is still hugging Celestia’s sister. With a smile on her face, Celestia spoke “My little ponies. You have overcome adversity not through sheer force, but through the power of friendship.”

“What about Twilight?” EC asked the Princess. “She told me that you laughed off her concerns.”

“I had meant to reassure her, as I had sent one of my most loyal subjects to Ponyville to make some friends…” She started chuckling to herself. “But she had already made some interesting friends before she even left Canterlot. Isn’t that right, EC?”

EC put her hoof on her helmet and pushed it off with a bit of a struggle. Her turquoise mane had gone everywhere, it was hard to tell where the light purple highlights began and where they ended. There was a bit of sweat was dripping off her mane. Here eyes shined with a golden yellow hue, and her mouth stretched with a smile that almost brings out a tear. “Thank you Celestia. It was an honor.”

Celestia smiled at her student and looked over to her sister still being hugged by the orange bodied earth pony. “Pardon me, may I have a word with my sister?” Hope looked over at Celestia and then over to Luna before nodding his head. “Thank you.” Hope began to trot off until Celestia stopped him, noticing that he, too has a necklace with his cutie mark on it, a big red love heart. “You too have an element of harmony? That one is the most magical of all. It represents the magic of friendship. May I know the name of the one who saved my sister from eternal darkness?”

“Hopeful Journey is my name!” Hope said with a salute. “Most ponies call me Hope for short.”

“With a heart as big as yours I wouldn’t be surprised if you were the Hope Equestria needs.” She said with a laugh. Hope joins in on the laugh as well. And even though there were tears on her face, Luna too started to laugh. “Enjoy your times together, my little ponies. A new day is ahead of us. Let this be a time for togetherness.” The ponies cheered as Celestia hugged her sister and with a light of her horn, the two princesses were gone.

“Did… did the princess just leave us stranded here?” Mareian asked as she pressed her hoof between her eyes. “We’ve been up all night and now we half to go back to Ponyville on our own.”

“We could fly. Two Pegasus and a dragon. We pull the cart together. We could make it back to Ponyville in a short amount of time.” Alto states, flapping his wings to show they are better.

Mareian sighs. “I liked you better when you didn’t talk.” She says sarcastically before patting Alto on the back. “Come on, boys! We got a wagon full of ponies and their destination is Ponyville.”

The six adult ponies, one foal unicorn, and a dragon took to the skies. Mareian, Alto, and Scales pull on the wagon while Cookies, Hope, Lucky, EC, and Bananas remain inside the wagon. Bananas had fallen asleep inside the cart while EC and Hope hold on to a rather panicking Lucky. Hope had put his basket on top of Lucky’s head to cover her eyes while he wears her hat. Cookies, meanwhile reads the spell book next to his little brother. EC notices the book Cookies is reading, but as she’s about to ask, Lucky starts bucking causing EC to hold her down even more. It wasn’t long before they made it to Ponyville where they were greeted by a crowd of onlookers.

“Is that them?”

“Did they raise the sun?”

“IS THAT A DRAGON!?!?”

The murmurs in the crowd continued until the group finally landed. The first pony to approach them was the mayor. “I think I speak for all of us when I say thank you fo-” before she could finish, Whipped Cream brushed past her like a yellow-orange blur.

“OH THERE ARE MY PRECIOUS BABIES.” She yanked both Bananas and Cookies out of the wagon with her magic. Cookies puts his book away while she does this and Bananas is still asleep. “oh, my little one stayed up oh so late don’t worry my precious little pumpkin Banana spice.” Mrs. Cream cradled Bananas with her magic and let Cookies go. “Oh and Cookies de-” She notices the necklace on Cookies baring the element of harmony. “Son, necklaces look tacky on you. Get something more organic like a scarf or a bow tie. Anyway, your father would like to speak with you.” Cookies sighed before trotting off with his mother.

“SIS!” Mareian is tackled by a similar looking stallion Pegasus, South Pole. “I-I-I panicked! The night didn’t stop so I had to use a cannon to launch myself to the skies above Equestria and let gravity take me to Ponyville and I couldn’t find you and now I just want to go home, North.”

“It’s been a long night, South. We can stay at the library here.” Mareian reassured her brother. “Let’s go. I need my beauty sleep.”

Alto is approached by three ponies: Octavia, Vinyl Scratch, and a light green unicorn with a lyre cutie mark. “Come now, Alto Tenor. We have garnered another member of our new music club. We must prepare for our next experimental music session.” Alto smiled and nodded at Octavia before extending a hoof to the new unicorn.

“Lyra Heartstrings. I just moved here from Canterlot and haven’t gotten accustomed, but you guys know how to jam.” The unicorn introduced herself.

Lucky had launched herself off the wagon and started to hug the dirt. While she was enjoying her moment of being firmly on the ground, Lucky is approached by a yellow stallion earth pony with an apple cutie mark. He had green eyes, golden locks of mane and tail, with a brown vest and cowboy hat to boot. “Howdy Lucky.”

“Howdy Braeburn!” Lucky responded.

“Sorry to drop in on ya like this, but it turns out that there was a confusion over at the postal service. I was the one who would have shown Appleoosan culture. You with your…” The stallion stumbled over his words for a bit. “Your talents would have been no problem taking over for me, but it turns out that they went by description in the post office… haha.”

“Awww shoot.” Lucky swore. “I had such a gran’ ol’ time here in Ponyville and made sum fond memories with mah new friends. Do I hav t’go back?”

Braeburn gave an embarrassed smile. “Well, it’s no problem. We can sort this all out with the officials over at Appleoosa see what they say.” Braeburn extended his hoof out to Lucky. “Now come on, girl! We gots a train to catch… to.”

“APPLEOOSA!” The two earth ponies shouted and ran off.

EC got off the wagon next, but as soon as she saw all the ponies around her, she tried to put her helmet back on to no avail while Scales sighs and draws a ponies face on a paper bag before forcing it on EC, causing her horn to pierce through the bag.

“EC?” A voice came from the crowd. It was a purple unicorn with a sparkle cutie mark, but she was being supported on her midsection with a pair of wheels that pulls her back half forward.

“Twilight?” EC used her magic to cut eyeholes out of the bag so she could see. She rushed over to the wheeled unicorn. And gave her a hug. “It’s so good to see you again.”

A purple dragon appears at her side. Scales stealthily approaches the other dragon. “Sup, Spike?”

“Sup, Scales?” The two dragons give each other a fist bump of approval.

“I tried to get here sooner, but last second train tickets to Ponyville are hard to come by.” The unicorn sighed. “But it looks like everything went well with you. Thanks for lending me your study by the way.”

“It’s been a long week, Twilight, to say the least. I know of a place that sells the best sweets. We can celebrate over there for the survival of another day.” The two mares start giggling as they walk off, dragons in tow.

This left Hope staring at the tens of ponies that are just looking at him. The mayor approaches the orange stallion. “Well if it isn’t Hope? Perhaps you may… inform these worried ponies about what just happened?”

Hope stared back at all the ponies. While there were some smiles here and there, there were a lot more confused and concerned looks. Understandable as an unknown alicorn had come to their town to stop the sun from rising on the longest day of the year. Hope was taken aback, collecting all the thoughts and memories of the past 24 hours before he said with a smile on his face. “THE PRINCESS’S SISTER HAS RETURNED AND THEY ARE HAPPY TOGETHER!!!” Hope cheered which immediately turned all the frowns in the area upside down. “Oh, and we got these magical necklaces. Mine represents the magic of friendship. That’s what the princess told me.” Hope continues to retell the events of what happened as the ponies of Ponyville celebrate a joyous occasion.

At the front of Vacant C.’s Vacant Inn are three ponies: Sour Cream, the inn’s proprietor, and a tan earth pony stallion with slick black hair and a tie with a money symbol on it. His cutie mark was three bags with money symbols on them.

“No, no no, Mr. Cream I didn’t ban your son. I didn’t even know you had one. I banned this pesky mare that tries to claim she has ‘business meetings’ with my client.” The lanky proprietor pulled out a piece of paper that depicts the face of a pony that looks like rarity, but do to it not being colored in, one could say it’s Cookies. Sour pulls out a pencil to color in Cookies mane, removes the eyelashes, and adds a few dots on the cheeks of the photo.

The beige stallion next to Sour chimes in. “Well, I don’t know about that Sour, I’ve been to Rarity’s Boutique and she’s not exactly a mare to be easily confused with any pony let alone a stallion.”

SOWY THE KIDS ARE BACK.” Whipped cheese enters the scene with a cradled Bananas in her magical grasp. Behind her is Cookies, who is dreary eyed from the entire day.

“Good morning father.” Cookies said.

“THERE SHE IS! I thought I told you not to come back here, Rarity!”

“Excuse me, Mr Cream, did I hear my name just now?” Behind the trio of stallions was Rarity who had in her magical grasp a black and white checkered scarf. “I had this made for your darling son, Cookies and when you asked me to meet you here, I thought it’d be a FABULOUS idea to give it to you to give to your sone, right?” The two stallions next to Sour looked at Rarity and then back over at Cookies. “Oh Cookies, you’ve returned to Ponyville so suddenly as you left off with your friends. Here, this’ll add that bit of masculinity we’ve talked about.” She wraps the scarf around Cookies neck, covering up his element. “You look fabulous darling.”

“Why thank you, Rarity.”

“And that is another thing you’re wrong about, Mr. Rich. You should stop making foolish bets unless you know the outcome.” Sour looked at the money dressed stallion next to him.

“Pocket change, Sour. Even that discount I gave you on that house barely did a dent in my profits.” The stallion pulled out a small bag of bits from his clothing. “I’ll be off then, before I miss breakfast with the wife and daughter, you know.” The stallion trotted off to his own business.

Sour Cream gave a menacing look over at the proprietor of the inn. “I’ll go prepare you the Grand Galloping Feast with no added cost to your bill sir.” The stallion meekly offered as he rushed back into the inn.

Sour looked at Cookies before using magic to give him a set of keys. “Happy early birthday Cookies. I bought a summer house here in Ponyville and am putting you in charge of it. Understood?”

Cookies nodded his head and had the keys nestled in his newly acquired scarf. “Understood father, but after all I’ve been through the past 24 hours, I think I earned myself a well-kept bed to sleep on.” As Cookies is about to enter the inn, he bumps into a rather large Pegasus.

“Going to sleep at this time of the day? How naughty.” The Pegasus was Sky Sonata and she gave a rather mischievous smile at the black and white unicorn. “Come on, sleepy head. Let’s head to this house you got.” She picks up Cookies with her head, placing him on her back. “Later Mr. & Mrs. Cream.” After all the goodbyes, Sky flew up high with Cookies in tow.

“DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHERE WE ARE GOING!?!?!?” Cookies shouted over the sound of the roaring wind.

“Ehh, shouldn’t be that hard.” A yellowish aura envelops Sky’s head. “Especially when your mother uses her magic to tell me where we need to go. It’s over there.” Sky said calmly. They land in front of the new summer home. The outside is fairly upper middle class, bricks and wood put together in the form of a two-story house with plenty of windows. “After you.” Sky placed Cookies down and allowed him to open space. The inside had fine wood flooring and tall, open rooms. There were four bedrooms with one of them containing a double bed. Cookies took advantage and jumped into this new bed. Just as he’s about to close his eyes, Sky also joins him in getting in the bed, though much more carefully. “Nice house.”

Cookies could feel his heart practically beat out of his chest. His body was tired but his heart prevented him to rest, not when a beautiful Pegasus is on the same bed as him. Cookies took a deep breath. “Better than being cramped in a library for the past couple of days.”

“Oof. Even when you have the free time… wait… YOU SPENT THE NIGHT WITH THAT LIBRARIAN MARE DIDN’T YA!?” Sky said in a rather joking tone. It gets a laugh out of Cookies.

“Yes, and both of your brothers and a dragon. And here I thought I was the element of laughter.”

“Huh?” Sky asked. This causes Cookies to explain what had happened in the Everfree forest and how Princess Luna had come back after a thousand years and how he and his friends hugged her and that they suddenly got given an element of harmony after the fact. “Cookies… I was bad at history, you know that. We were in the same class.” Sky rubbed a hoof on her chin. “Say… when was the last time we hung out just me and you? Every time there’s always some pony there when we have the time to see each other again.”

“Senior prom. Hope and his date had won prom King and Queen due to the number of friends he made in school.”

“Yeah, Hope is quite popular pony. He even got the students to vote for that goth mare Starshine Glamour. Wonder what happened to her.”

“Her father and mine along with another unicorn would discuss the economic structure of home and I haven’t heard anything about her.” Cookies shakes his head. “Anyway, you had tuckered yourself out on the games and dancing that happened so you sat next to me and drank chocolate sundae swirls. Neither of us said anything but I remember enjoying your company.” There was an awkward silence between the two. Sky had blushed and looked away and Cookies just nervously smiled. “Maybe we could spend more time together. Maybe you can stop by Ponyville and say hi. Maybe we could have a picnic together. A friend had recently told me that even if things don’t go according to plan, we’ll still have all the good memories of the past. And even make some more in the future. So why not take a chance and make some more memories, Sky?”

Sky had looked back at Cookies and smiled with a bit of a blush. “Of course, Cookies. How about next weekend?”

“I’ll be waiting, Sky.” With one last smile, Cookies’ head fell into contact with a pillow on the bed.

“I know Cookies. I know.” Before leaving the house, Sky had tucked Cookies firmly into bed. She looked back at the house with a smile on her face and a tear in her eye before flying away.

On the outskirts of Ponyville, to shadowing figures meet up in an unnoticeable location. “Hey, hey, hey, Bossman! I didn’t expect that prediction of Nightmare Moon returning would come true, but I bet you didn’t expect this: the pony that I got to go to that library in the middle of nowhere to get that book you had me donate was one of the ones to stop her. Can you believe that?”

“Fate has its bizarre meanings. However, it should stir enough chaos to release the draconequus from his prison. The seeds have been sewn for now. I have another task that I want you to do. Next time I send for you, I’ll have you deliver another book to the all-mare’s academy on the north east coast. But for now, we shall lay low.”

“Lay low? It’d be even more suspicious for me to lay low with that charismatic magic you’ve bestowed upon me. Charismagic as it were.”

“At the very least, do not come looking for me. The ponies knowing of my existence would spoil future plans.”

“In that case, I’ll see you when I’ll see you, big boss. Forever indebted to your service.” The taller figure walks away from the other figure.

“Be yourself, my faithful servant.” The other figure magically dispersed into darkness.

“And you keep being cryptic, boss.” The figure that had walked away said and then sighed. “This friendship is weird.”

Author's Notes:

The second half is where I started getting reinvigorated in writing. At this point I had debated whether or not to incorporate "musical numbers" since I myself am not a musician and I couldn't just take someone else's song. So I had a short parody of Cupcakes except this time to be about pancakes. Later on I'd have to have Cookies do a sort of "Giggle at the Ghosties" song, but the idea was too hard to make a vague song about not being afraid and just laugh so I asked an ai to write a song. Ai prompts have definitly helped me figure out how to transition from one paragraph to another, but the whole "ha ha ha he he he" song was all an ai thing. Future songs are written by me.

Also in this au, Twilight has a disability. I wonder if there is something plot related about that?

Who Who Who to Give the Ticket to?

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It had been a few days since the Summer Sun Celebration and the town of Ponyville felt some changes going around. Some ponies started seeing Princess Luna in their dreams and gossip started to spread about the new ponies that just recently moved in. Cookies N Cream, Alto Tenor, and Hopeful Journey had moved into a house owned by Sour Cream. After a couple of days away from Ponyville to their old homes, Enchanted Crown, Facing North, and Lucky Horseshoes returned and with the Library more vacant than before, the three decided on staying there for housing. These six now represent the elements of harmony. Cookies N Cream representing the element of laughter, Alto Tenor representing the element of honesty, Enchanted Crown representing the element of loyalty, Lucky Horseshoes representing the element of kindness, Facing North representing the element of generosity, and Hopeful Journey representing the magic of friendship.

“Hey, EC!” A green dragon, Scales, entered the Library only to find a green Pegasus with a compass cutie mark is organizing the shelves with books while wearing a badge that says ‘Facing North: Mare Librarian EoG.’ “Mareian, have you seen EC anywhere?”

“Another letter from Princess Luna?” the Pegasus asked.

“No, this one’s from Celestia and it came in an envelope which usually means something important.”

The Pegasus turned to face the dragon. “I don’t know where she went. Aren’t you supposed to follow her around everywhere?” She said with a bit of snark before looking at the envelope. “What’s this say?”

“Well, A: She’s more like a sister to me than me being her sitter. And B: The letter is not meant for you. You don’t go around reading other pony’s mail even if you’re the courier.” There was a brief silence before Scales sighs before opening the envelope. “If I have to belch it out, I’ll just end up opening it for her anyway.”

To My Loyal Student, Enchanted Crown,

I hope this letter finds you well. After all that you and your new friends have been through for my sister, I would like to extend to you an invitation to attend the Grand Galloping Gala at Canterlot Castle. It will be a night of elegance, beauty, and a fun time for you and your friends. I Hope you will join us.

Sincerely, Princess Celestia

“Oh, it’s an invitation to the Grand Galloping Gala.” Scales says after not reading the letter out loud. He pulls out two tickets from the envelope. “Two tickets? The princess does realize there are five other elements of harmony that are EC’s friends, right?”

“Well…” Mareian started. “When South and I went back home, the mayor had congratulated me and gave us both tickets to the Gala already, so EC won’t be bringing me. What about you?”

“Yeah, no. Dragons aren’t allowed at the Gala due to safety issues and flammability, so Spike and I usually hang out at Donut Joe’s while all the others are at the Gala.” Scales says, waving the tickets around in his claws. “That’s how we met Sour Cream. Celestia wanted us dragons to come to the Gala and wanted Mr. Cream to work on some kind of way to flame proof everything and every pony in the Gala. He said it would take a while so who knows.”

“The book is still locked up in Canterlot, EC. You saw it there. It’s not possible for there to be another one in existence given how old and secured it has been.” Two purple unicorns enter the library. One of the unicorns has her back half held up by wheels while the other has a helmet on that covers her head.

“I know what I saw, Twilight. The cover as clear as day said ‘Grogar’s Spells for Experts’ I know that the name isn’t the same as the one back there but maybe some pony translated it into another language and there was a loss in translation but IT WAS THE SAME COVER, TWILIGHT!”

“Hey, EC.” Scales interrupted the two unicorns. “Celestia got you two tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala.” He hands the helmeted unicorn the tickets.

“Oh, you got tickets, too?” Twilight said. “My brother invited me, but Celestia also gave me one too for being one of her students. I think I’ll be going with Moondancer.” Twilight looks over at EC. “Who do you plan on bringing with you to the Gala?”

“But what about the-” EC was booped by Twilight mid-sentence.

“The real book is at Canterlot. This fake book is with your friend. Have a little loyalty why don’t ya.”

EC sighs. “Mareian would you-”

“Already have a ticket, and it isn’t yours.” Mareian deftly shuts down ECs offer.

“Then who should I ask?” An audible hoot could be heard inside the library.

“Great, we have unwelcomed guests.” Mareian looked at the ceiling before sighing and looking back at EC. “Well, given Lucky’s luck she probably found a ticket just by walking around town. Go over to the boys’ house. Surely one of them could use a ticket.”

“I’ll keep you up to date on things, Twilight, but it looks like I have other plans for today. Come along, Scales.” The helmed unicorn said as she trotted off, dragon in tow.

“Later Twilight. Tell Spike I said hi.” Scales said on his way out.

“Tell him yourself!” Twilight retorted at the dragon. She looked back at Mareian, who is giving her a raised eyebrow. “So… an owl problem? They’re supposed to be nocturnal.”

A hoot can be heard from above. “Maybe we’re keeping it up with are constant chatter since libraries are supposed to be… quiet.” Mareian sighed before leaving. “I’ll go find that yellow quiet horse.”

The Cream summer home was in Ponyville’s residential district and wasn’t too far of a trot from the library. After about five minutes EC and Scales were already at the house. While Scales tried to look through some of the windows to see if Alto, Cookies, or Hope were inside, EC simply rang the doorbell. In no time at all the door opened and the unicorn and dragon are greeted with a smiling orange bodied, maroon maned earth pony stallion with a love heart cutie mark.

“Oh hey! EC! Scales! It’s so good to see you two.” The stallion said with a big goofy smile before hugging the two. Scales and EC smile and return the hug. “So, what brings you to the ‘Crème al la Crème’ today?”

“It’s good to see you too, Hope.” EC says as the hug breaks off. “We’re just here to see if one of you guys would like to go to the Grand Galloping Gala. I have an extra ticket to offer.”

“OH! Did Princess Luna send you guys a ticket as well!?!?”

“Luna?” Scales asked in confusion, looking back at EC before looking at Hope. “Celestia sent us the tickets… I don’t recall being sent a letter from Luna to you though.”

“Bizarre right? I KNOW!” Hope said a bit excited. “I had this dream last night and Luna was there and she was like ‘Hopeful Journey, I bequeath you this invitation to the upcoming Gala over in Canterlot.’ It was a white void and she gave me a letter in the dream before fading away. I woke up to find a ticket on my snoot. You can ask Alto or Cookies though. Alto should be over at Octavia and Vinyl’s house. Cookies said he’d be at Rarity’s Boutique to prepare for the weekend.”

“Well, I’m not going to go on a wild goose chase to hand a pony a ticket, EC. I’ll go see Cookies, see if he wants the ticket. You go see that mute and see if he’ll say something to you like you say he does.” Scales grabs one of the tickets and makes his way to the boutique. “And if they both don’t have tickets, then we’ll just ask Celestia or Luna or even Mr. Cream for another one.”

EC sighs as she heads the other way. “Fine… I had some questions for Cookies but sure.”

“BYE GUYS! WE SHOULD HANG OUT THIS WEEKEND!” Hope waves the two visitors off.

EC found herself far from Ponyville, and each step away the sounds of music get louder and louder. She can understand why a couple of musically talented ponies choose to live so far away from town. She reached a house that had a music note hedge and half the house having a different color scheme from the other half. She rang the doorbell which caused the pipe organ chimney to chime, but after a while there was no answer. EC tried knocking, but she could barely hear herself knock. She put a hoof on her chin, pondering on a solution to the situation she is in. She could stare through the window and knock at it to get some pony’s attention but she thought it would be too creepy for a pony in a face obscuring helmet to do. She thought about trying to open the door, knowing that this is the location for the Ponyville music club they’d leave the door open to new members, but same problem as staring through the window might just scare every pony. It’s also rude to come in unannounced. She knew a sound-muting spell that stops sound from traveling in an area and then knocking on the door, but that would be rude to interrupt the sounds going on in there.

“Excuse us, Miss Crown, did you need something?” A gray earth pony with a black mane opened the door while EC was still pondering. This pony was Octavia. With the door opened, EC could see two unicorns she wasn’t familiar with, and Alto with a crystalline instrument next to him while he is looking at her. One of the unicorns had sunglasses and headphones while the other one was levitating a lyre over her head.

“S-s-sorry to bother you.” EC stammered. “I c-c-came because of Alto. I w-w-wanted to know if he wanted to go to the G-G-Grand Galloping G-G-Gala.” She pulls out a ticket.

“Oh dear.” Octavia said with a look of concern. She looks over at the neon green unicorn who trots over to see what’s going on. “The new Ponyville Experimental Music Club had been hired to perform at the Gala after the events of the Summer Sun Celebration.”

“Yep, three tickets.” The green unicorn known as Lyra pulls out a ticket. There was a moment of silence as EC began to count all the Pony’s.

“B-b-but there are four of you?” EC said a bit confused and a bit nervous.

“Yep. Al gave me his.” The green unicorn replied. “Didn’t explain why though. For being one of the elements for honesty or something, you’d assume he’d talk more, but nah. Not one word.” The white unicorn in the back of the room pressed a button, causing a one note beat to play.

“Indeed. At the very least I understand Vinyl after spending years with her, but this stallion refuses to go any further than a shake of his head when ask him. Never have I ever heard him utter one word.” Another beat is played. The unicorn gives a sly look over at Octavia as she starts to use her magic to play her lyre, building up to the beat.

(One Word!) He comes and plays his music

(One word!) and makes a sound just for the world

(One word!) But his attitude makes me sick

Because he hasn’t said One word (One word)

No, he doesn’t sing

His instrument is that thing

Not a chuckle out of him so don’t expect him to

His voice just doesn’t ring

But that’s our musical King

No words but action all he has he doesn’t need to say one word (One word!)

It may seem like I’m angry (One word)

To tell the truth, I’m fine with that (one word)

I’m but a mare that’s classy (one word)

He’s a colt whom I haven’t heard spat one word (one word)

No, he doesn’t sing

His instrument is that thing

Not a chuckle out of him so don’t expect him to

His voice just doesn’t ring

But that’s our musical King

No words but action all he has he doesn’t need to say One word (One word!)

One Word! (One Word!)

Can’t make him say One word

One Word! (One Word!)

No, you can’t make him say

One Word!

With the song finished Alto stood up and approached EC. “Cookies dad gave me a ticket before he left after the Summer Sun Celebration. Cookies probably has one too if his father gave me one.” He then trots back over to his spot. The unicorn and earth pony duet just stood there, mouth agape. It wasn’t until Alto’s crystalline instrument transformed into a gong, which he played to bring them to their senses.

“Good grief, Al. We had worked hard on that.” Lyra said a bit annoyed.

“Apologies, Ms. Crown. Ms. Heartstrings thought that we should try our hoofs on this ‘Ska’ thing.” Octavia apologized.

“No need to apologize. I thought every pony did a good job. I especially liked the duet you two had. It was rather catchy.

“Thanks!” Lyra said hopping around with a smile on her face.

“I should get going then. Thanks for the amazing music.” EC trotted off as Lyra and Octavia wave goodbye. “One word… One word…. One word… can’t make him say one word.” EC hummed on her way back.

Scales had made his way to Carousel Boutique, opting to take a long, and more convoluted way to get there while avoided the sights of ponies. He hums a very action movie tune while he did so. On the inside are two similar looking white unicorns. One has a purple mane and tail while the other has one that is black and white. The one with the purple mane is using a measuring tape on the one with the black and white mane unicorn.

“I’m not sure I have a suit in your size, darling given your youthful size. Looks like I’ll have to make you a custom-made checkered suit a la Rarity.” The purple haired unicorn said as she used her magic to wrap a scarf around the other unicorn. “You can use the scarf as an ascot for the attire, the ladies will fall in love with you.”

“Rarity, there is only room for one mare in my life. At the very least this should deter my mother from any more inappropriate comments.” The black and white one said with a chuckle.

Scales enters the room and approaches the purple haired unicorn. “Hey Cookies, Celestia sent EC two tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala and we’ve been trying to find a pony who wants to go. You in?” The purple haired pony rolls her eyes while the one in the scarf places his hoof on his forehead.

“Scales… I’m over here.” Scales turns around and looks over at the black and white unicorn to his side. He then looks over to the pony he was just talking to. He does this a couple times more with an unchanging expression.

Scales sighs. “I’m sorry, but you can’t blame me. You both look and act so much alike.” Scales starts pointing out the similarities. “You’re both white unicorns with the same flamboyant manes and tails.”

The two unicorns gasp, stroking their manes and tails. “I am appalled. I have been assisting Cookies here on his looks ever since he came to Ponyville.”

“Scales, I’m Cookies N Cream, food conjurer. That is Rarity, fashion specialist. Also, she’s a mare and I’m a stallion.” The black and white unicorn cleared.

A sinister smile came across Scales’ face. He races off to one of Rarity’s drawers. Before either of the unicorns could say or stop the dragon, Scales returns with blue contacts, purple spray-on hair dye, a make-up kit, and a piece of paper and starts going to work on Cookies. With all four of his claws and his tail, Scales managed to cover up any black dots on Cookies’ face, dye his mane and tail purple, cover the cookie cutie mark he has with a piece of paper, applying eyeshadow and eyeliner, and carefully placing two blue contacts. After Scales got off Cookies, he used the remaining blue eyeliner to draw Rarity’s cutie mark on the paper.

“There. Two identical ponies.” The dragon snickered.

“Hey Rarity.” A filly had come from upstairs. She trotted up to Cookies and said “I finished my homework. Would it be alright if I went out and play?”

“But of course (Sweetie Belle)! Just make sure you come home safe, my dear.” The two unicorns said in unison.

“Uhhh… ok…?” The young filly casually gives a raised eyebrowed look at the two similar looking unicorns. “Bye Raritys.”

“Buh-bye, Sweetie Belle.” Rarity says as Cookies tries to wipe off the eyeliner and makeup while using his magic to remove the paper on his flank.

“I have to say, Scales. That was quite fun.” Cookies says to the dragon before looking over at Rarity. “Perhaps we should try something similar at the Grand Galloping Gala to see if any pony notices.”

“Oh Darling, that would double my workload for this.” Rarity said with a chuckle. “But I would find it humorous if the Pony’s at the Gala thought I was the famous Sour Cream’s son.”

“So, both of you have tickets to the Gala, then?” Scales asked.

“Mr. Sour Cream personally thanked me for helping him with a bet by giving me a ticket to the Gala. I did not think he was a gambling stallion.”

“My father gave me two tickets. He already had given one to Alto, so I plan on offering my spare ticket to miss Sky Sonata.” Cookies said to Scales and then looked back to Rarity. “And father only bets in areas he has 100% certainty in. Back home he speaks to a historian and a real estate expert. They both give him information on locations. Turns out they knew about Nightmare Moon and about your looks and your trouble with the inn. If any pony’s a gambling stallion it would be Filthy Rich.”

“Oh Darling, that sounds JUST like Mr. Rich. That stallion could give away a couple houses in residential or commercial districts and it wouldn’t even make a dent in his profits.” The two unicorns start laughing as they begin gossiping about Equestria’s Elite.

“I guess all be off then.” Scales sighed as he jumped through an open window. Rarity and Cookies were too engrossed in their gossip to see him off.

Both Scales and EC return to the library, still having their tickets with them. Inside the library are Hope, Twilight, Mareian, and a yellow Pegasus that EC knew from the Summer Sun Celebration but never properly met. Hope is reading a paper covered book with art of a mare firing blasts of cheese on the cover while Twilight is reading a hard cover book with birds on the cover. The yellow one and Mareian are flying to the ceiling, carefully pulling out a sleeping owl.

“Huh, owls don’t actually have eyeballs. So that’s why they twist their heads like crazy.” Twilight said still reading the book.

“Huh, Onion Colt’s debut wasn’t as big as I thought it was.” Hope said a little dejected but then brightens up seeing his friends enter. “Hey, guys! Did you find a pony to give that ticket to?” Both EC and Scales look at each other, showing the other the ticket that they still have. Both audibly sigh. “Aww come on guys don’t be so downer and dreary. I could see a bit of smiles on your faces.”

Scales looked over at EC, her face obscured by the helmet she always wears. “You could see a smile through that?”

“No, but I did recognize her voice humming a tune on the way here. You don’t go humming a tune on a bad time.” Hope gleefully stated.

“Hmph.” Scales laughed. “I did give Cookies a new makeover over at Rarity’s. Or should I say ‘Rarity #2’ but the dye and make up I used should wash away pretty easily. You should have seen it. Rarity’s sister asked Cookies if she could go outside and play and they both responded the exact same way.”

“And I heard some wonderful music when I went to see Alto. He seems to talk to me more than his club members though.” EC said.

“That sounds about like Al. Let’s his music do the talking for him. Whatever he can’t express he just straight up tells ya.” Hope compliments Alto. “What a great big brother. And Cookies too! Sounds like something that would happen with him and Bananas when their parents weren’t home.”

“And their tickets?” Twilight said putting her book down. She looks over at EC. “The Grand Galloping Gala is a very exclusive invitational. Having an extra ticket on you would just be a waste.”

“Have you asked Lucky?” Hope said.

“Ha!” Mareian laughed. She was shushed by the yellow Pegasus with her. “Sorry Fluttershy.” Mareian quickly apologized. “Knowing the absurdity of her luck, she probably has ten tickets on her and twenty more hidden somewhere in the library.” All the ponies and dragon stared at her. “Hyperbole. I’m saying that with her luck, she already has a ticket.”

“Howdy Ya’ll!” Bursting through the door is the mare that was on every pony’s mind in the library. The yellow bodied, blonde earth pony with a red bandana and a cowboy hat. It’s Lucky Horseshoes. Just as she enters, the owl hoots and immediately flies out through the door out of the library. Mareian gives an annoyed look. “Whatchall doin all up in ‘ere?” She asked looking around.

“I was just here to take care of the owl, but it seems you took care of that for me.” Fluttershy muttered.

“Reading.” Twilight said

“Having a good time with friends.” Hope said with the sincerest smile upon his face.

“Pest removal” Mareian said with a roll of her eyes as she landed on the floor and started cleaning the bookshelves.

“Trying to find some pony to take to the Grand Galloping Gala.” Both EC and Scales manage to say in unison.

“Well GOLLY Galla? Ain’t never bin t’ one b’for. Ya’ll still lookin fer yer plus one?” Lucky said with a wink.

“Of course, Lucky. I’d be glad to have you come with me to the Gala.” EC said.

Lucky came up to EC and gave her a big hug. “Thank ya, thank ya, Easy, girl. Ya’ll sure I’m da elment of kindness. ‘cause you are oh so kind.”

“Did I lose a bet?” Mareian asked. “I feel like I lost a bet in saying that this exact thing wouldn’t happen. You know what… Here. Everyone wins bits on me.”

All the ponies in the room cheer. EC uses magic to give Scales a scroll and pen. “Scales, I need you to send a letter.”

Dear Princess Celestia,

After you sent us the invitation to the Grand Galloping Gala, I have spent most of the day finding a pony to take with me. As it turns out, most of my friends were already invited through other means. Whether it be Cookies wealthy father, Luna using dream magic to send a ticket directly, or through governmental means. Out of all my friends to have a ticket, we were sure that Lucky would have already had one through her absurd luck. We were all shocked at the revelation that she had never even been to the Gala let alone have a ticket. In the end, we all learned not to judge a pony based on past experiences, as Mareian found out, leads to poor assumptions. We will be happy to see you at the Gala

Your loyal student,

Enchanted crown.

Scales wrapped a ribbon around the scroll before breathing fire, magically sending the letter to Princess Celestia. “And that’s our friendship report for the week.” Scales said. The dragon opened up a chest in the corner of the library and pulled out a board game box. “Who wants to end the day with a game of Capitalist Pone?” Hope and Lucky, with smiles on their faces, gleefully go to the table that Scales is setting the game at.

Mareian rolls her eyes. “You know how this is going to end when playing with her… I’m in.” Mareian says as Fluttershy quietly joins them at the table.

“Wow, EC. Your new friends sure have a… unique… aura around them.” Twilight tells her old friend.

“I’m just glad to have those around me who cherish our friendships as much as me.” EC replies.

“Yeah.” Twilight agrees. The two of them watched as the first round of rolls ended with Lucky landing and getting three spaces of land while all the other players had to draw chance cards and paid taxes. All of them seemed to be enjoying themselves. “Friendship is weird.”

First Picnic Date

View Online

“GOOOOOOOOOOOOD MOOOOOORNINNNNNNNG EQUESTRIAAAAAAA Check one, check two, Mic Check here live broadcasting from Baltimare for Equestria Radio. Guess after the events of the Summer Sun Celebration, the higher-ups thought they could poach me before my peak. Speaking of the SSC, time for this MC to give you the Weekend Wrap-up. *Sponsored by the Cloudsdale Weather Facility* Turns out, fillies and gentlecolts, Celestia had a sister, but I did well in history and already knew that. Princess Luna returns and ponies are now able to have peaceful dreams; no more nightmares anymore. After being stuck in the moon for a millennium, she returned corrupted only to be saved by six friendly ponies who would represent each of the elements of harmony. They’re names are, let me check my notes for a second… Enchanted Crown, Alto Tenor, Lucky Horseshoes, Hopeful Journey, Facing North, and… Cookies N Cream... Cream? Hey, boss! Cream as in the Hair Care Pony!? …yeah…? We’ll that’s fantastic. Dandy Cream Junior was my inspiration to become the voice that I am today. If he’s still kicking, we’ll have to invite him to the show for an interview. Tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala are on sale and they are selling like hotcakes. Yours truly will be attending so if you want an autograph, you can spend the absurd number of bits that the scalpers are trying to peddle. Ten Thousand Bits? You buy off these guys and you probably won’t be able to afford anything for the rest of your life. Haha. Anyway, here’s a song for you all to dance the night away to. Countess Coloratura-The Spectacle.”

The radio started to play a pop song in Cookies room while the unicorn himself is looking in the mirror. “Ugh, to think that my name would be on the news, not because of my culinary capabilities but because my friends and I saved Equestria.” He pulled a hair out of his nose with a tweezer and winced. “And even then, they were more focused on Papa rather than Father. At least my uncle managed to form his success with anonymity from the family.” Cookies made his way down to the kitchen as he wrapped his scarf around himself. He started cracking a few eggs into a bowl and adding butter, flour, and sugar.

“Morning Cookies!” The unicorn is greeted by is over enthusiastic childhood earth pony friend and roommate, Hopeful Journey. “Whatcha baking?”

“Cake, Hope. Nothing too complex.” Cookies replies. “At least nothing to complex for yours truly.” He said with a laugh.

“Yeah, but it’s the weekend! You had plans for something, right?”

“As always, my dear Hope, you read me like an open book. I am baking for a picnic with Sky today to catch up on lost time. I just hope she enjoys these sweets I am bringing with us.”

Hope had a smile of excitement on his face, but he had noticed that the smile on Cookies’ face was more of longing, like he’s about to accomplish something. “Well, don’t worry about me then. I just realized that I have someplace to be and I just looked at the time and I’m gonna be late and I gotta go. See ya later Cookies.” And just like that Hope was out of the house.

“Hope I’d worry for you, but past experiences tell me you’ll be fine.” Cookies said, too distracted by his baking to notice Alto Tenor leaving the house with his instrument case. “Red velvet cake, you shall be the one to make her love me.” Roughly an hour passes as Cookies carefully perfects his confectionary affection. By the time he cuts the cakes up and wraps them in cellophane wrapping, he hears the doorbell ring. He goes up to the door to find a pony much taller than him. His confidence crumbles as Sky Sonata stands before him. The towering height of the light blue Pegasus mare compared to the rather short black and white unicorn stallion before her left many ponies around them staring.

“Hey, Cooks.” Sky said to the unicorn. “You settled in to your new home yet?” She doesn’t wait for him to say anything as Sky makes her way inside. “Ooooh red velvet. This for that picnic we were planning?” Cookies nodded. “You always know how to go after my sweet tooth. I only brought this.” Using her wings, Sky placed a six pack of hard lemon cider and a bag of carrot sticks.

“Carrot sticks?” Cookies asked?

“Carrot sticks!” Sky answered. “Now where are we putting all our stuff anyway?”

Cookies eyes narrowed. He had forgotten to get a basket for the picnic. You can’t have a picnic without a picnic basket. He had only recently moved in and there were a lot of things that the house needed and the top priority to him were the food stuffs. What felt like minutes but were actually a couple of seconds had passed until Cookies found Hope’s basket. “We could put it in your brother’s basket.”

Sky laughed. “I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t mind. I used it as a lunchbox on my first day on the job.” She started putting her stuff in there. “I’ll keep a close eye on it for him. It’s a very important… uhhh… I guess you could call it a family heirloom.”

“More of a clue to his past. At least friends remind him of the present, though he should be thinking about his future.” Cookies carefully places the cake into the basket. “Alto at the very least can garner bits through being a musician, but I don’t think he can make a living off being friends.”

“Hope can do music.” Cookies gave Sky a raised eyebrow. “He can’t really read music, but the notes he plays on the bass sound good.” She uses her wing to carry the basket. “Enough talking about others though. Let’s go have some fun.” Cookies sighed as the mare of his dreams went outside before following soon after.

The two ponies walked to a small lake near Ponyville. While they had many odd looks with how tall Sky is and how her mane flowed like Celestia’s causing some ponies to bow, neither one was distracted by it. Cookies just stared at Sky while following her and Sky was more focused on getting to the picnic spot. When they finally made it, Cookies spread out a light blue blanket on the ground from the basket. Sky joined in too by laying down and munching on some of the carrot sticks.

“How’s life been treatin’ ya, Cooks? Element of harmony must have its perks, right?” Sky asks audibly munching on a carrot.

“Well, not really. After the Summer Sun Celebration, the only thing that happened was Princess Luna coming into my dreams to say hello. She’s a bit of a night owl instead of an early bird, it seems.” Cookies takes a small bite out of one of the carrots. “She wanted us to have a dream get together of sorts. Seems like she’s trying to get permission before forcing us out of our dreams it seems.”

Sky had a bit of red in her cheeks. “She didn’t tell you what I dream about, did she?”

Cookies cocked his head with a raised eyebrow. “She saw you in my dream, but she didn’t pry.”

The worried look on Sky’s face turned into a devious smile as she deftly chomped on one of the carrots. “Oh, you had a dream about me? I sure hope it wasn’t something lewd. You didn’t scar the princess of the night now, did you?”

Cookies didn’t react to her comment in the way she had expected. Cookies stared at their reflections in the water for a bit before he responded. “I like to think I have normal dreams. This conversation that we are having right now could all be in a dream right now and I have yet to notice how off the things around us are.” Cookies looks around the area. “However, there doesn’t seem to be anything out of place that would make you realize that this is a dream. The only thing to do is to do something that would make you feel a physical feeling.”

There was a moment of silence as the two ponies stared at each other. “You want me to pinch you?” Sky broke the silence as she made a pinching motion.

Cookies horn glowed, encapsulating the massive mare body of Sky in the white aura before flinging her towards the lake. Sky started to fly before she hit the water and did a loop, giving Cookies enough time to take off his scarf and get a running start into a cannonball. Both ponies landing in the water and popping their heads above it at the same time. “A-a-and thus… N-n-not a dream.” Cookies said shivering, his curly mane falling straight.

“Oh you.” Sky splashed Cookies, causing his head and body to be submerged unwater. She gasped and started sifting her hooves through the water as her wings kept her afloat. “Cookies? Where are you?”

A splash could be heard behind her. “Right here, Sky.” Cookies was using his magic to dry his mane off on shore. Sky furrowed her brow and started to chase after Cookies, from swimming to wading until she got to the shore with him.

“You’re a slippery one, Cookies.” She said building up an evil laugh. Her wings were able to grasp him quickly. “Here’s a little payback!” Sky tossed Cookies with her wings to the lake, except she started to notice that he was barely falling but still maintaining his forward momentum. When Sky noticed the magic surrounding him, she launched at him as though she were a Wonderbolt. She was able to tackle him midair and they both crashed to the other side of the lake. Thankfully a bush had broken their fall and she had landed in such a way where she’d also break Cookies’ fall.

“Ow.” Cookies said, rubbing the back of his neck. He poked Sky, who had closed her eyes and let her tongue hanging from her mouth. After a few more pokes, she tackled him and the two rolled around on the ground for a bit, both of them laughing as they do. They stop rolling with Sky on top of Cookies. For a moment time had stopped for the unicorn. He could see the blue Pegasus upon him smile as she laughed, the sunshine sparkles in her deep blue eyes. Her hair long and flowing, like he was inches away from a steam cloud. Confetti, as if on cue, came in at just the moment the two of them made eye contact.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” A group of voices roared. Cookies and Sky turned towards the direction the confetti had come from to find five ponies: Hope, Alto, Mareian, Lucky, and EC with Scales being the one to pop the confetti popper. They had the wagon with them with a banner that said ‘Happy Birthday Cookies’ with the banner running out of space on the end. The wagon was stacked with a couple of presents.

Sky turned back to Cookies and pressed her hoof against his snout. “Happy birthday, Cookies.” She said with a smile. “Glad you were able to get things ready.” Sky wrapped a hoof around Hope who in turn gave her a big hug.

“Yep, yep, yep.” The hug ends as Hope places a big wrapped present on top of Cookies. “Open it! Open it! Open it!” He chanted.

Cookies looked over at the other side of the lake where the picnic was set up. “As much as I would love to, our things are over at that side of the lake. Would it be alright if we reconvened over there?” Cookies asked.

“No problem!” Hope tossed the present back in the wagon and energetically put his friends in there as well as he rushed over to the picnic area. The amount of time it took to get there gave a bit of whiplash. Hope placed Cookies on the picnic blanket and put the big present on top of him. “Now open it! Open it! Open it!”

With a smile, Cookies uses his magic to unwrap the gift and open the box. He pulls out a stuffed pony that looks just like him. The toy looks to be crafted by hoof as there is no tag sticking out, but it’s too small to justify the big box. Cookies pulled out three more toys that look like Alto, Hope, and Sky. Each one of them proportionally the same size as their real counterpart. The box fell over revealing a toy of Lucky, Mareian, EC, and Scales of varying degree of quality. “Very crafty, Hope. I love them just as much as the real ones.” Cookies words brings a smile to Hope’s face, leading to a big hug.

Lucky approaches Cookies next. In her mouth is a chain of four-leaf clovers, a total of seven of them linked together from stem to stem. She wraps the clovers around Cookies horn. “Ain’t da only crafty one. Bet even fer unicorns, can’t tie covers quite like me.” Lucky boasted. “Should give ya good fortune for years to come. Happy birthin’ Crem.”

“Wow, I don’t think I could do that.” Cookies muttered as he looked at his reflection in the water. “I appreciate the wish of good luck.”

Mareian is the next one to come up to Cookies. She has in her wing a box covered in wrapping paper. Not as big as Hope’s gift, nor coated in ribbons. “Happy birthday to the birthday boy.” She said in her usual tone of voice.

Cookies unwrapped the gift to find, not one, but two books. One is a book called ‘Canterlot Cooking’ and the other is a spell book titled ‘Spells of the Crystal Empire’ which looks more like a textbook that are offered at schools. “These will surely come in handy for me. Thank you, Mareian.”

The last physical gift is hovered over to Cookies. Not as big, or as extravagant looking as the previous gifts. Cookies opens it to find an empty picture frame. He looks over at EC, with a confused look. “I wanted you to have something new to look at.” She pulls out a camera from the wagon. “We can take a new photo of all of us together to put in there.”

“THAT’S AMAZING!” Hope exclaimed. “Are we going in order of age? We always did that for family photos back home.”

“Like from left to right, or top to bottom?” Sky chuckled. “If it’s the latter I may need to have Cookies on my head again.”

“Hold ya horses.” Lucky interrupted. “Wat make’s ya tink that non’a us ain’t in the inbetween?”

“Is today your birthday, too?” Sky asked. In response, EC, Mareian, and Lucky shook their heads. “What about tomorrow?” Sky got the same response. “Not like it matters. Cookies and I were born a few hours apart. He was born first and then I came out the next day.”

“Please do not refer to birth like that again please.” Mareian said in minor disgust.

After a bit of discussion and finding everyone’s ages, the alignment had Hope laying on the ground with Lucky and Mareian to his left and right with Alto sitting behind him. EC and Sky are both standing tall with Cookies on top of Sky’s head. Scales is the one holding the camera getting ready to take the picture.

“Hey, this is a bit of a serious picture, don’t you think?” Mareian said, poking EC’s helmet.

“Yeah. This is about friendship.” EC responding, taking off her helmet revealing her golden eyes and frazzled mane as she smiled at the camera. “This is nice.”

Scales took the picture and ran off “I need to get these developed quickly!” the dragon said in a rush.

“Oh… but he’ll miss Al’s present.” Hope said a bit disappointed. EC, Lucky, and Mareian all look at him with raised eyebrows.

“He… brought a present?” EC asked surprised.

“Ain’t no other present brought.” Lucky stated Confused

“It’s a song, isn’t it?” Mareian said in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Ooooh. You’re a good guesser, Mareian. We should play more guessing games together.” Hope excitedly exclaimed as Alto pulled out his instrument case from the wagon. After opening it a bright light shined from the case, leading Alto to pull out a crystal ukulele. He sat up against a rock and got into a position he could comfortably play. The music got Lucky to tap her hooves to the beat. “OH NO! I forgot my bass. I gotta improvise.” Hope started to make bass sounds to go along with the music. Alto began to sing.

Another year

We’re both here

Another celebration to

The one who inspires me to do

A song

Please don’t get me wrong

‘cause of all my friends

You’re the best one to the end

Happy birthday

My best friend

We have our ways

To spend our days

We focus on both our plans

Making sure everything lands

Quite right

Every day and every night

I know that you’ll feel the same

As you know since you became

My best friend

Happy birthday

My best friend

Some might say our Friendship’s Weird~

But those don’t know the accomplishments that we’ve cleared~

And I don’t let them bother me

Because it doesn’t have to be

So downer so sour can’t you see?

Best friendship is the key.

Happy birthday

My Best friend

Happy Birthday.

Tears were streaming down Cookies face. “Alto Tenor.” He said, wiping the tears from his face. “We’ve been together most of our lives. I never really put too much thought about how to describe our relationship. Best friends… Yes, I’d say that we are. Through thick and thin. In peace or in danger. We have each other’s back.” Cookies gave Alto a hug, to the massive Pegasus stallion’s surprise. “Thank you.” Cookies whispered.

“Alright time to get this party started. WHO WANTS CIDER AND CAKE!?” Sky shouts while holding up the picnic basket. Hope tries to grab a bottle but his hoof is slapped away by Sky’s wing. “Sorry little bro. Can’t have you drinking until your birthday.” Sky said to Hope.

“Don’t mind if I take that then.” Mareian grabs the bottle that Hope was reaching for.

“Oooh, a feisty pegasus pony aren’t ya? How about a little drinking contest.” Sky challenged the green mare who gave a smug look and nodded back at her. “Alright, on three. One. Two. THREE!” The pegasi started chugging their drinks to the hoots and hollers of their friends. Both finish their drinks at the same time. Both are a bit off balance until Mareian is the first to fall. “HA! You ReAeAeAllllllllly are da secn’d youngest.” Sky said, slowly slurring her words before trying to open one of the two extra bottles. “Down the lemony hatch!” Sky took one sip before falling over backwards and landing in front of Cookies who had been sparingly taking sips of his drink. “Oh heEeEeEy birthday boy. *hic* Stallion… *hic* boy. Yous enjoyin today?”

Cookies stared at Sky with a bit of a blush. “Well, it’s been rather well so far.”

“Now whe’res my *hic* present birthday bo*hic*oy?” Sky clasps her hooves on Cookies cheeks.

“Oh ummm.” Cookies used his magic to pull out a ticket to the Grand Galloping Gala from the basket and put it in between their faces. “I was going to ask you if you wanted to go to the Gala with me.” Cookies quickly realized what he said. “I mean, I’ve already got a ticket to the Gala already and if you didn’t have a ticket…”

Sky slowly got up, her limbs and body swaying from left to right making her movements rather water like. “Gotcha!” Her wing lunges forward to grab the ticket, but stumbled forward onto Cookies. “Aww thanks for the su*hic*support little birthday boy.” Sky turned her head to the others. “HeEeY, Group Hug! *hic*”

From behind, Cookies receives another hug from another intoxicated Pegasus pony in the form of Mareian. “T-thought I’d get lost? *hic* Had lost? *hic* I gots the birthday boOoOoOoy!” She said vibrantly swaying her hips.” Cookies looks over at his other friends who are just staring at his situation while he blushes furiously.

“Shoodn we help Crem, or summin?” Lucky asked EC. Hope had already made his way to Cookies for the group hug.

“I feel know we should. The real question is how?” EC pondered. At this point Alto trotted to the birthday unicorn stallion for the group hug. “Yeah, let’s just go with the hug. Nothing could go wrong with that.”

With all the ponies together in a group hug, Scales returns with the camera in his claws. “Hey guys. The photo guy said it wouldn’t be ready for another hour so we can pick it up…” He notices the group hug in front of him and his eyes roll. “…then.” He pulls the camera up and takes another picture.

The day had passed with fun festivities for the friends. Hope and Alto were showing Lucky how to keep a beat going. Mareian and Sky intoxicatingly play with the stuffed toy versions of each other. Meanwhile, EC and Cookies laid at the picnic blanket together eating cake as Scales placed the photograph from earlier in the picture frame.

“Came out good didn’t it.” Scales said in a rather proud tone. The two unicorns laugh.

“Of course, Scales.” Cookies said. “I couldn’t have asked for one to do a better job than you.” The compliments got to Scales as he blushed, nodded his head, and slithered away to Mareian’s back. “What a nice dragon.” Cookies sighed with a satisfied smile.

EC nods before staring at the spell book that Mareian had got Cookies. “Hey, Cookies, I’ve been meaning to ask you something.” Cookies had turned his head towards her and nodded. “At the Everfree Forest I saw you with another spell book. I saw ‘Grogar’ on the cover. Cookies, Grogar was a dangerous spellcaster.”

Cookies looked at his friend with confusion. “Dangerous? I think there might have been a translation error somewhere because the book you are referring to explained the eccentricities of magic and how certain emotions can power our magic. Fear leads to a weakened magic while anger leads to a stronger much more powerful, yet uncontrollable magic. The Grogar in my book said that happiness and being relaxed was the best outcome for most spells and explained how they discovered it when observing a tribe of Kirin.”

“Well, that’s reassuring at the very least it didn’t tell you a spell to destroy Equestria.” EC sighed. “Sorry for burdening this on you on your birthday, Cookies.”

“Oh posh, my dear EC. I’ve been meaning to discuss specifically how I use spells with you. That book made sense when I tried baking angry when Hope had eaten the cupcakes that I had made for a bake sale back when we were foals. The number of wooden spoons broken were… not numerous but not just one. It felt more like a history book if you were to look at it. Inside are basic spells listing off how emotions affect each one of them. Desperation being powerful but draining, sadness leading to hiccups, etc.”

EC laughed. “Well, there was a specific lesson about anger-based spells in Canterlot. Good to know you have everything in check.” The two continue to eat their cake, Cookies way more slowly than EC. They watch as all their friends have a good time together.

It wasn’t long until Mareian and Sky passed out after going to have another drink of the lemon cider. It was at that time that the friends bid farewell and took their unconscious friends’ home. Lucky and Scales had to carry Mareian back to the library with EC, while Sky was placed in the wagon with Cookies, the basket, and all the other gifts he had gotten and Hope and Alto drag them back to the Cream Summer Home. It wasn’t long until the three stallions brought Sky to the house and placed her in the guest bedroom. While Hope and Alto left the room, Cookies stayed making sure that Sky was tucked in nicely and that the ticket to the Gala was on the bedside table with a note saying “Happy Birthday Sky!!! ~CNC”

“Hmmmh Cookies…” Sky mumbled. Cookies turned to Sky who was tossing and turning in the bed. It did not seem like she was awake so Cookies began to leave the room only to be surprise grabbed by Sky’s wings to be closer to the bed. It was a rather large bed that had been meant to be for Cookies’ parents when they would come over. “Gotcha goober.”

Cookies blushed a bit and began to stammer. “D-didn’t mean to wake you, Sky. Did you need something before I go?” He did not get a verbal response. Rather, Sky’s wings brought Cookies on the bed as she made room for him. Cookies was too nervous to say anything at this point and kept looking at the door in case one of the others decided to check up on them. After a few minutes, Sky started loudly snoring and her wings let loose their grip on the small unicorn. Quietly, Cookies made his way out of the room, gently closing the door on his way out. He let out a sigh.

“When are you going to confess to our sister?” Hope said with Alto giving Cookies a menacing glare. Cookies had to stifle a shocked gasp.

“W-well I… uhhh…” Cookies pondered as Alto and Hope stared intently at them. “I can’t just confess to a mare at random like that. The confession needs to happen after a brave and daring adventure, where a confession of love holds more weight and the pressure of it all wouldn’t compare to the dangers that the adventure would entail.” Cookies explained with a forced smile.

There was a bit of silence before Hope spoke up. “Oh yeah just like Cheese Mare #103 where the Pegasus turned hummingbird, Peep, confessed his attraction for Cheese Mare after an alien armada almost destroyed Equestria.” Hope gave a light chuckle before trotting over to his room. “Night guys!”

Alto didn’t let his eyes off Cookies for one moment. The two stallions stared at each other. The massive Pegasus stallion had an intense look in his face as the rather small unicorn stallion looked back at his friend while holding a forced smile. Alto sighed before tapping his best friend on the chest with his hoof. “Go get her, tiger.” With that said, Alto went off to his room for the night.

Cookies slumped over on the ground, sighing. It had been a long day for him and not exactly the one he planned. He was looking forward to the alone time he would have had with Sky today, but forgot that both of them had birthdays this weekend. This didn’t make the day a waste in his mind though. Being able to spend time with his friends was a blast and the gifts he’d received were even better. Cookies had set the eight stuffed toys at the kitchen counter and hung the framed photo above them. He looked at them all and smiled.

“Huh…” Cookies scoffed. “Ponies say this friendship is weird?”

Author's Notes:

I like writing the Cookies N Cream x Sky Sonata parts of the story. Boy I wish someone would draw them together because I for sure can't draw. Didn't want to start the relationship too early so I had to figure a way for the gang to interrupt them so it became Cookies and Sky's surprise birthday party.

Let's talk about Mic Check. Originally Mic Check was a main character for a CYOA project that went nowhere because I felt that I had to draw everything and as stated earlier, I can't draw. We'll be seeing him a lot more of him in the future as his celebrity status increases.

Pegasus can't hold their cider due to air pressure, hence Alto is a teetotaler and why you won't see him drinking. Originally, I wanted to point out how young Hope was at the treehouse party in chapter 1 but since I had problems trying to continue writing from there, it had to be left out.

Speaking of eating/drinking habits, Cookies has a very selective taste where if he eats too much of the same food he would get sick. A bit of a show/don't tell fact from chapter 1 as well.

Four Tune Four

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With the weekend finalized, Ponyville was bustling with ponies at work. One pony had brought a wagon to the center of town. Her wagon was modified to act as a small stage for her to perform on. With her starry cape and hat, she climbed to the stage and boasted. “PONIES OF PONYVILLE! I the GREAT and POWERFUL Trixie shall deliver a buffet of magic and sorcery that you will MARVEL at until the end of time!” The mare threw down a smoke bomb, causing ponies to watch in anticipation of what would happen next. She pulled a rabbit out of a hat, separated three conjoined rings, and with an audience participation from a tubby colt, she sawed them in half and put them back together.

An orange earth pony dragged a white unicorn closer to the events on stage. “Look Cookies, stage magic! Entertainment!”

“Quite right Hope, quite right.” The unicorn agreed rather calmly. A massive blue Pegasus followed the two.

“Ah but this is not entertainment. These are the many feats of the GREAT and POWERFUL TRIXIE LULAMOON!” The unicorn on stage boasted some more. “Not even the maw of a chimera strikes fear into one as GREAT and POWERFUL such as myself.”

“Boo!” A light blue Pegasus mare with rainbow mane and tail heckled the stage magician. “Talk about feats? I flew so fast I broke the sound barrier with a rainbow boom. I don’t need to bring out a monster to show I can do that! Boo!”

“Perhaps I should show you personally how great and powerful the great and powerful Trixie is?” Trixie’s horn glowed with magic, enveloping the rainbow Pegasus, Rainbow Dash, with her magic, causing her to fly wildly while Trixie laughs.

“Show? Great?” The gears were turning in Hope’s head. His eyes widened as he rushed the stage and squeezed his hooves against Trixie’s cheeks, causing her magic to dissipate. “Talent show! Talent show! Talent show!” He looked over at Rainbow Dash, who had just steadied herself in the air. “Talent show! Talent show! Talent show!” He then faced the audience. “Talent show! Talent show! Talent show!” There was a brief silence until some of the ponies in the crowd started to join in on Hope’s chant. It wasn’t long until the uproarious chanting garnered the attention of Mayor Mare, who was looking for the source of the noise disturbance. She too got on the stage.

“Excuse me.” She said to Trixie. “Ponies of Ponyville, your mayor has heard you and will be making an impromptu talent show for the weekend. We’ll have sign-up sheets as soon as they are available, but for now can we keep the volume on low?” The mayor explained. The ponies in the crowed kept their mouths shut as they nodded their heads. “Good. See you this weekend!” With that said, the earth pony mayor mare went back inside town hall. Murmurs started, some ponies talking about the talent show while others talking about Rainbow Dash and Trixie.

Trixie scoffed. “A talent show? The great and powerful Trixie has all the natural talent that she will SWEEP the competition.”

“Natural talent? What kind of pony saws another in half without proper practice? That’s why I will win the talent show.” Rainbow Dash said.

“I think it’ll be fun! Don’t you think it’ll be fun.” Hope trotted off the stage to Alto and Cookies, ignoring the two bickering mares that are still on the stage. “What do you guys want to do for the talent show? Music? Baking?” Alto gives a nod while Cookies merely sighs.

“My dear Hope, no pony would sit around for almost an hour to watch baking.” The white unicorn, Cookies N Cream, informed his earth pony friend, Hopeful Journey.

“Ain’t sure ‘bout ya’ll, but I find watchin pones bakin to be fascinatin.” Alto, Cookies, and Hope turn around to find their daisy yellow earth mare, Lucky Horseshoes. “Wazzit ‘bout a talent show?” The four of them begin to trot away from the wagon stage where Rainbow Dash and Trixie are still bickering, causing the audience to disperse.

“Looks like we’ve got a couple days before the weekend. We should all do music!” Hope suggested. “Don’t Octavia and Vinyl have a lot of different instruments in their home?” The stallion looked at Alto, who nodded in response.

“Well, alrighty then, this talent thingamajig’ll be a big hoot!” Lucky said. “Well actually I ain’t ever touched an instrument in my life but it’ll be an experience dats fer sure.”

“That’s the spirit!” Hope exclaimed excitingly. “And how about you, Cookies? Thinking you’ll join us on our musical marvelous mayhem of massive word that starts with the letter M?”

Cookies sighed. “Hope, I don’t know how to play any instrument.”

“But you can sing.”

Immediately defeated, Cookies takes the lead. “Let’s just go to the music club already.”

It didn’t take long for the four of them to reach Octavia and Vinyl’s house on the outskirts of Ponyville. Usually, the sounds coming from inside were a combination of cello and synth, but something eerie was being played inside their house. Alto was the one who opened the door as the other three with him were a bit hesitant. Inside the house, they could see Octavia and Vinyl staring at Lyra as she used her magic to create spectral claws to move around two metal rods on a radio looking box. The movements corresponded to the pitch and volume being emitted from the strange item. Lyra looked over to the door and waved, stopping her magic and the sounds in the progress.

“Hey Al!” The light green unicorn with golden eyes waved.

“Absolutely mesmerizing! And you say that they had this at the costume shop?” Octavia interjected.

“Totally! The owner said that they only ever use it for nightmare night and I thought it was just SOOOOOOO cool that I, you know, bought it off him.” Lyra bragged as she played another eerie tune. Lucky and Hope approached the thing with amazement.

“What in tarnation is dat thing?” Lucky asks pointing her hoof at the noise emitting box.

“That, my little pony, is called a theremin.” Lyra said with a bit of pride to her voice. “See, this pole makes the pitch higher, while this pole effects the volume of the noise. While most ponies would have just used their hooves, having nimble appendages like claws or fingers would be more accurate to the noise you want to make so I used these magic hands to play it.”

“A… what?” Cookies entered the room slightly perturbed by the sights and sounds in front of him while his two curious earth pony buddies look at it all in awe. “Never mind the explanation. We came because the mayor had just announced a talent show thanks to Hope instigating a chant to quell an argument. I guess we’re joining you three on your musical crusade then?”

“Join a talent show? No no no the Ponyville Experimental Music Club is a professional club. We’ve been practicing every day and it wouldn’t be fair for those without the time to prepare. However,” Octavia explained as she grabbed hold of her cello and headed for the exit. “I have no qualms about temporary ending the PVEMC until the talent show ends so that some of us may show off our own musical talents. Good day.” And with that, Octavia took her leave.

There was a bit of silence in the room before Lyra continued playing the theremin much to the amazement of Hope and Lucky. Cookies put one of his hooves to his head and sighed. Meanwhile, Alto went over to a closet in the room. Inside it were a bunch of different instruments and Alto had pulled out a guitar and a bass. He nodded over to Vinyl who nodded back and put on her head phones. Alto placed the Bass up against Hope while he placed the guitar up against the nearest wall. Next Alto went to set up a drumkit, after placing a stool Alto had lifted Lucky and sat her at the drumkit, taping the drumsticks on her hooves. At this point, Hope and Lyra realized what was going on. Hope picked up the bass and leaned up against the wall while Lyra took her leave with her theremin.

“Well, you guys seem busy. I’ll just prepare a presentation for the talent show then. See ya!” Lyra left with a goodbye.

“Alright! We’re gonna ROCK Ponyville!” Hope began strumming on the bass and stopping so he could scream: “ROCK! HARD! ROCK! Can I get a rock hard?”

“Umm, Hey Al, whatchu meanin when ya’ll place me in this hot seat?” Lucky asked. In response, Alto lead her drumstick taped hooves to each of the drums and cymbals and showing her how to use the kick pedal for the bass drum. Lucky moved her own hooves and was able to get a good beat ending off with a cymbal clash. “Golly, Al, I sure have a knack for this her beat’em up instrument.” Lucky said as she continued bashing the cymbal.

“It’s great that my friends are able to play their instruments, but I need a song to sing if I were to be a singer.” Cookies sifts through a stack of records in the corner. “Which band should we play songs of, Al, Tweezer or Metalopera?” He pulls out a blue record holder and a black record holder to which Alto shakes his head at him.

“Come on Cookies! This is a TALENT SHOW! We can show our musical abilities AND writing capabilities. Now let’s do this again but I need you to be the one to say ‘this is how you rock hard’ and then we’ll work from there.” Hope said eagerly.

Cookies sighed. “Sorry, Hope. I do not want to make a fool out of myself on a weekend. Not when Sky could be watching. However, if we were to stick with original music, I’d prefer asking Alto to write one.”

“Awww but I like writing stuff.” Hope said a bit dejected, but he got a reassuring hug from Alto. “Thanks, big bro. ALRIGHT LET’S JAM!” Hope, Alto, and Lucky had a jam playing their instruments together in Octavia and Vinyl’s house. Without any lyrics to sing, Cookies had gone over to Sugar Cube Corner as a volunteer baker for the rest of the day.

Four days until the Ponyville talent show. Cookies N Cream had been woken up, not by the sound of his friend, Hopeful Journey, but by a consistent pounding of his house’s doorbell. The unicorn stallion got out of his bed, wrapped his black and white checkered scarf around his neck and opened the door with a yawn. He is greeted by a daisy yellow earth pony mare who is his friend, Lucky Horseshoes. She is still hitting the doorbell over and over. She smiles at Cookies after a while, still hitting the doorbell.

“Oh hey, Crem! Are ya’ll ready to sign us up fer da talent showcase thing?” She looks back at some buildings that have posters for the event on them. “Looks like they’re takin signins at the city hall. I ain’t much a writer so I came fer help signing us up. Early bird getting da werm an all dat.”

Cookies yawned. “Alright then, take the lead then.” Wiping his hoof against the opposing eye, Cookies followed Lucky through town.

“Yepper, this thing’s getting da word ‘round. They even posted them info things in the train station and on one of the trains itself. Whatcha thinkin the mayor is thinking pulling out all these stops?” Lucky asked as they passed more and more posters for the talent show.

“Publicity and tourism, my dear Lucky. At least that’s what one of my father’s hometown associates says with regards to advertisements. I think that’s how most ponies heard of the Cream brand. At least, in the hair care and public safety department.”

“Never heard of no Crem hair before, Crem. Appleoosa ain’t one of them fancy gay ted communisms ya’ll benn livin in.”

“It’s not a gated community. The gates at Sire’s Hollow are merely decorative and don’t keep any pony from entering contrary to what you may have heard.” Cookies yawned. “Ponies would see a closed fancy gate and they’d assume they can’t get in. Pegasus can fly over it I tell you.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever ya say, Crem. Ain’t ever been to fancy fine towns and such. Mostly Ponyville and Appleossa with a visit or two to Canterlot. Now Canterlot on the other hoof has its doors open when ya’ll leave that their train station.”

Cookies let’s out another defeated sigh. “Very well then. I never got the chance to ask Alto nor Hope about your musical jam sessions yesterday. Has a coherent song been formed yet?”

“Well, we did play all through the night to the point Octavia had come back to kick us outta da house. Most the time we spent goofin and gaffin, but Hope got us to play his song.”

“The ‘Rock Hard’ one?”

“Yepperooni.” Lucky said with an eager smile and a nod. “He said he needed to work on the in-between main lyrics that you’d be singing.”

Cookies groaned. “Please tell me that Alto was working on a song for me to do.”

“Well, I mean…” Lucky muttered. “Al would get a grand piano out of that crystal of his. Don’t know what any of that stuff is, Crem. Why does it become a piano?”

“Oh that? Father gave that to him for his birthday. The Concerto Crystal. Through the power of imagination, it brings to you the instrument of your heart’s desire. Very powerful, very rare, but father has his ways in generosity as well.”

“When will ya think he’ll come back to Ponyville? Your father I mean.” Lucky asked.

“Father is only readable to a select few. Not even my mother understands him and I think that’s why she fell in love with him. But at the very latest is the Grand Galloping Gala.” Cookies shook his head for a moment. “Enough about my family, Lucky. What about your family? You mentioned you were the youngest of seven, are they all at Appleoosa, or have the baby birds flown from the nest, as it were?”

“Well…” Lucky began. “Elder sister, Cobbles, works as a Canterlot Cobbler cobbling horseshoes for the fine and fancy there. Silly Filly went down to Los Pegasus to start an entertainment career. Over in Manehatten is my sister Hand Grenades. HG works at the police force over there. Fishsticks is a fishermare in Van Hoover, don’t know why we ponies need fish though. Roma is still in Appleoosa. She always has this longin look in her eyes like when you get that look when that big Pegasus that out drank North.” Cookies blushed as he heard that last part. “And then there’s Ballot!”

“BALLET!” A daisy yellow earth pony with a chic golden mane and short tail yelled at Lucky from a table with a banner that says ‘Talent Show Sign-ups’ with a few ponies lined up.

“See, she’s right over there!” Lucky pointed over to the mare at the table. “Hey sis!” Cookies followed Lucky as she approached the mare at the table.

“Back of the line!” The mare sternly told Lucky with a piercing look with her blue eyes. “There is no line-cutting special treatment just because your family. Or that you became some form of royal special service.” The mare muttered.

“But-”

“No buts. Back of the line.” Lucky and Cookies went to the back of the line while the mare at the table took a look at the sign in sheet. “That’ll be good, miss Melody. Thank you.”

As they waited in line, Cookies looked over at Lucky. “So, Ballet is the sister who lives in Ponyville, then?” He asked.

“More ‘r less. Politics and all dat jazz sends her all o’er Equestria like your marefriend.”

“M-m-marefriend!?!?!?” Cookies eyes finally woke up, but his mane and tail drooped down to the ground. “I do not have marefriend, Lucky, so I have no hint at whom you are referring to. Nor do I have any cream to bring back my mane and tail to its illustrious swirl.”

“Now I ain’t much of the knowledge haver of romance as Roma, but you and that big mare lady at yer birthday gave each other them goo-goo eyes and did the ol’ rough and tussle in the bushes.”

“THAT IS NOT WHAT HAPPENED!” Cookies yelled before he covered his mouth with his hooves. Some of the ponies in line gave him odd looks to which Cookies just waved them off with a smile before turning to Lucky. “Miss Sky and I were rolling around in the dirt together like we were foals again.”

“Ain’t da both ya older than us? Born hours apart? Sounds like dem sol mates if ya ask me.”

Cookies let’s out a defeated sigh again. He couldn’t argue against some pony like Lucky, he knew that. “I guess I must admit that I do hold a greater feeling towards her than any pony else, however there has never been a confession of love and therefore no marefriend.” Cookies explained in a hushed voice.

The line moves forward a bit as Lucky starts staring around at all the ponies. Near the front of the line was Trixie who Lucky could barely hear her boasts of how great and powerful she is through some of the murmurs in the line. At the very least the line isn’t that long so Lucky had to find a less awkward way to pass the time. “Oh! Almos’ forgot.” Lucky said as she looked over to Cookies. “We got a name fer our group.”

“I’ll humor you and ask what that name is. What is it?” Cookies asked.

“Well, we put it to a vote. Hope wanted us to be the Neon After Party Express, because he liked the word ‘Nape’ and I said that we should be called Fourtune.” Cookies looked at her waiting for her to continue.

“That’s it?” Cookies asked.

“Yep. I said ‘well, der’s four o’ us and we play a tune so we shoud be Fourtune’ and Unanimously it won the vote.”

Cookies just stared at her in silence for a bit as the line began to move forward. “That’s… rather clever. It makes me want to make one of those chocolate bits and put the number four on it… maybe for the talent show. Good name, my dear Lucky. Good name.”

“NEXT!”

“Oh hey, we’re next. Hey Ballot!”

“Ballet. Names and talent?” The mare at the table said sternly.

“You know me, Ballot. (My name’s Ballet.) It’s yer yunger sis Lucky Horseshoes! And this right here is Cookin Crem. And we’re in a band!”

“That’s great that you were able to make friends outside Appleoosa, but you can’t write. I was talking to the friend of yours. The name of this band?”

While the two sisters had talked, Cookies was already in the filling out the form on the table. “Oh, we need to put that on there as well. We’re Fourtune.” Cookies said as he spelled out 4Tune on the paper. “That’s all, miss Ballet. Now Lucky, if you need me, I shall be practicing baking those treats for our performance.” Cookies trotted himself away from the line, heading back home.

“ALRIGHTY CREM! SEE YA AT PRACTICE TOMORROW!”

“Please don’t hold up the line, Lucky.”

Three days until the talent show and Cookies N Cream is on his way to Octavia and Vinyl’s house to practice with his friends today. Despite not seeing them when he got out of the house that they all live in, Cookies had assumed that they were at Octavia’s since that is where they last got together. When Cookies knocked on the door, he was greeted by Octavia herself. The only other pony inside the house was Vinyl who is in the corner of the room listening to the music that she produces.

“Oh, Mr. Cream. I would have thought the others would have informed you last night. I’ve decided to practice in the privacy of my own home and politely asked them to practice their lovely tunes elsewhere.”

“I’ve been busy baking all day yesterday, Miss Melody. I haven’t seen Hope nor Alto between now and the last time I saw them and we live in the same house. I don’t suppose you’d know where they might have relocated?” Cookies asked as she hands the mare a chocolate coin with a 4 on it.

“Not really.” Octavia took a bite out of the gimmick chocolate. “If they didn’t head on over to your place afterwards, then perhaps they went on over to miss Horseshoes place?”

“The library? You’d think they’d use such a place to make noise. Rather counter intuitive for a library if you ask me.”

“Ponies in Ponyville don’t read in the library, they merely borrowed books to read elsewhere. Besides, the covers of the books absorbs sound, so you can be as loud as you want and don’t disturb the public.” Octavia looks at the insides of her house. “If we had the space for bookshelves, we would have chosen to live more closer to the residential district, but alas we needed the space for instruments.”

“I appreciate the input, Miss Melody. I shall not disturb you any longer.” Cookies said goodbye as he rushed off to the tree Library. Bursting open the door, he announces himself. “I’m here for practice!”

“Practice what?” The voice of Mareian asked. The inside of the library only had the Pegasus mare librarian, Facing North and Scales the dragon. The two of them were playing a game of chess when Cookies barged in. Scales moved one of his pieces with a smug grin only for Mareian to move another piece immediately. “Check.”

“Oh, I was…” Cookies looked around the library. “Is Lucky here?”

“Lucky? She told us she’d be at your place. Did you not see her on your way here?” Mareian informs Cookies. Scales moves another chess piece, visibly sweating. With a swift motion, Mareian moves another one of chess pieces. “And that’s checkmate.”

“Gah!” Scales lifted his arms as if he were about to flip the chess board, but held back and frustratingly started putting the game away.

“Unfortunately, not. Speaking of which.” Cookies pulls out a bag of his chocolate Fourtune bits. “We’ll be performing at the talent show this weekend under the band name ‘Fourtune’ and I made these to commemorate the performance. Or market the performance. Whatever they shall be used for, I have plenty left and the time to make more.” He gives the chocolate to Mareian and Scales, unwrapped. Mareian eats it nonchalantly while Scales looks at it with amazement before placing it on one of the shelves.

“Band? Never heard you guys play before.” Mareian says with her usual snark.

“I can assure you that Alto, Hope, and Lucky are extremely talented with how they play, at least from what I’ve seen from them. I just don’t have a song to sing with them yet.”

“Heh, well chess may not be my forte. I can sing.” Scales said with a grin. “They don’t call me ‘Scales’ for nothing.”

“I thought they called you ‘Scales’ because you’re a dragon.”

“Tch. That’s what they want you to think. A poor little dragon like me couldn’t possibly sing the hearts out of all the ponies in Ponyville, right? Well, that’s what I’m gonna do at the talent show.” Scales pulls out a record that has a stylish pony on the cover. “I will be singing the latest song by Countess Coloratura. They will know what it means to be ‘razzled’ and ‘dazzled’ and they’ll be cheering my name over the course of the night.”

Cookies laughs. “That’d be wonderful Scales. Perhaps if Fourtune gets popular enough we could have you do backup vocals.”

Scales snaps his claws and points them in a cool way at Cookies as he gives the unicorn a wink. “Anytime, Cream. Anytime.”

Mareian rolls her eyes as the two share their excitement for working together. “Well, thanks for the chocolate and all that, but your band isn’t here. You should probably go to town hall and see if they came by to get their instruments pre-checked for the event. They gotta know whether or not you guys are prepared for the event at some point.”

Cookies let’s out a troubled sigh. “I guess that’s a start then.” Cookies turns towards the exit. “Wish me Luck.”

“You’ll need it.” Scales and Mareian said in unison.

Cookies had no luck finding his bandmates and friends that day. He met up with EC, the mayor, and Lucky’s sister at town hall, but they did not see them so he left them the Fourtune chocolate coin. He stopped by Sugar Cube Corner, but the Cakes nor Pinkie Pie saw his friends. Leaving behind chocolate coins everywhere he went, Cookies was unable to find out where his friends went. At the end of the day, he returned home where he found Lucky, Alto, and Hope sitting at the bar island in the kitchen. Each of them drinking a cup of water.

“To the song!” Hope said raising his cup. “To Fourtune.” They all took one big sip of their waters and took a big gasp of air. “Oh hey, Cookies. Where have you been?”

Cookies was left flabbergasted. “Where have I been? Where have YOU been!?” Cookies angrily said. He took a deep breath before continuing. “I’ve been searching all over for you so that we could all practice together, but I never saw either one of you today until just right now.”

Hope looked over at Alto and then over at Lucky before finally looking back at Cookies. “Did you check the basement?” Hope guided Cookies over to a trap door down to a cellar like basement. The carpeting on the floor is very soft and along the walls are bookshelves with hundreds of books. The door to the basement has an extendable stairway with padded steps.

“Sound proof cellar…” Cookies muttered.

“I know! Alto found it a couple of days ago and has been slowly building up the place to play music. I can’t wait to see the Ponyville music Club play here.” In the back of the cellar is a stairway to a pair of double doors that presumably go to the backyard.

“My apologies, my dear Hope. I had been extensively busy the past weeks getting used to living in Ponyville that there are still some new things I need to discover.” Cookies apologized before looking over at Alto. “So, what song will I be singing today?” Alto pointed his wing at Hope, who had a piece of paper in his mouth containing the lyrics to the song he wrote. Cookies let out a light chuckle. “I’ll humor you, this time, but I will be singing your song at the talent show.” Cookies uses his magic to pull the lyric sheet out of Hope’s mouth.

“Cookies’ will sing my song! Cookies will sing my song!” Hope gleefully sang as he hopped in a circle with a confused Lucky Horseshoes.

Cookies carefully read the lyrics, trying as hard as he could to read Hope’s bad calligraphy and slight misspellings, but as he read further and further on Cookies eyes shown with amazement. “This is remarkable! I thought your song was a bit… to tell you the truth I thought it would be nothing but screaming the same words over and over, but this taught me not to prioritize one friend’s work over another.”

“I’m getting one of them deja moments. Didn’t EZ learned about being judgmental about a friend’s predetermination.” Lucky questioned.

“Oh no, I was there for that. It was more about assuming things about your friend based on past experiences. This is more about relying more on one friend than the other when both are equally helpful and being able to appreciate the work of both, in a sense.” Hope said. “Hey Cookies, you should write what you learned to Princess Celestia like EC did!”

“Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll have time for that before the talent show.” Cookies laughed with his friend. “Speaking of ‘Fourtune’ I made these for our group.” Cookies pulled out the sack he had held the chocolate bits in only to find that the sack had been emptied after he gave them all away to the ponies in Ponyville. “Oh…” With that, Cookies collapsed, exhausted from searching for his friends all day.

“Looks like Mr. Worrywart over exhausted himself, isn’t that right, doctor Alto?” Hope looked at his brother who nodded in return. “Verily well do, shall we discharge the patient to their room.” The Pegasus and earth pony carried their unicorn friend on their backs like a stretcher before taking him over to his room.

Lucky is left alone in the kitchen. She looks at her cup of water before finishing it in one chug. “Welp, time to head on home.”

The next two days before the talent show had been filled with Cookies making a boat load of coined chocolate, all while memorizing the lyrics to Hope’s song. The other band mates would practice and invite Cookies to join in when he had the time. Hope had visited Rarity to get the group some costumes since she had already got their measurements ready for the Grand Galloping Gala, informing them that their costumes would be ready in no time at all. With everything set to go, the day of the talent show arrives.

“GOOOOOOOOOOOOD MOOOOOORNINNNNNNNG EQUESTRIAAAAAAA Check one, check two, Mic Check here live broadcasting from Baltimare for Equestria Radio. Word has gone around that Ponyville has started an impromptu talent show. Stage magic, music, athleticism, knowledge, oooooh boy Ponyville sure seems to be the bright spot of talent this week. Unfortunately, your favorite voice of the weekend cannot make the showcase due to how impromptu it all is. But you know what isn’t as impromptu, fillies and gentlecolts? That’s right, this year’s best young flyer’s competition shall be announced by yours truly. With the assistance of my wonderful agent, Mouth Piece, she was able to convince the Wonderbolts that an earth pony like me can hold the voice to lead the Pegasus into battle. Hahaha just messing with ya, though I’m certain I saw my earth pony mail mare participate in last year’s competition. With a final word, we here at Equestria Radio are holding a surprise raffle. Just send us your name and we will draw a lucky contestant out from a hat and send you a correspondence ASAP. Now back for today’s hits.”

“Hope, could you please turn off that racket. I need this batch of Fourtune cookies to come out perfectly. So, I’d need complete concentration or else they’ll burn.” Cookies told Hope as he continues to make his chocolate bits for the talent show. Hope responds in kind by turning off the radio. “Thank you.”

“Hey Cookies, Alto, Lucky and I are going over to get our manes and tails done for the performance. Don’t worry about yourself though, we based our color scheme on you, but can you go see Rarity. She has our costumes for the show.” Hope said to Cookies as he and Alto begin to leave the house. “We should be back in an hour or so for one last band practice before the show ok bye.”

With the information given to him, Cookies first finishes his final batch of chocolate coins before the show. He heads on down to Carousel Boutique where he finds Rarity with a clothes rack holding four rather comfy looking black and white outfits with three of them accompanied by black and white checkered scarves. One of them has a short, black cowboy hat. The mare looks over at Cookies with a shocked expression.

“My word, Cookies!” Rarity exclaimed. “You look like you haven’t gotten an ounce of beauty sleep for the past week.” She pulls out one of the mobile mirrors from one of the dressing rooms to show Cookies how he looks. He has black under his eyes and his hairs are a bit frayed in certain areas.

“It’s been a busy week, Rarity. Care for a chocolate?” He offers her a chocolate bit but Rarity is unamused. Sighing for the hundredth time of the week, Cookies used magic to apply some eyeshadow, darkening his eyes as he puts on the band’s outfit. The outfit was a black marching band jacket with white highlights. He takes one last look in the mirror. “I’d say the color really matches the atmosphere.” He said wrapping his scarf in a more of an ascot form.

“Looks like Cookies is ready for a night out on the town.” A familiar voice sent chills down Cookies spine. “I know we said we’d meet on the weekend, but even I don’t have a dress with me.” At the boutique entrance stands Sky Sonata, her head barely missing the doorway.

“Then perhaps we can get you one, darling? You would look good in white, but unless you were getting married, I’d have to advise against that.”

“Purple.” Sky said. “I like purple.”

“Then one purple dress coming right up, darling. But first I shall take your measurements.”

Sky looks over at Cookies for a moment. Cookies face blushing red until his curl of a mane droops down into a straight look. “Now THAT is a look. I think that Sunlight Glitter had that same look back at school. I think Hope takes a big influence from her.” Sky says as Rarity begins to measure her body.

Cookies feels the need to look away. “S-sorry for staring. I wouldn’t be surprised. Hope had really tried his hardest to be friends with that girl. Plus, the outfits were his idea. We’re performing at the talent show tonight. A band called ‘Fourtune’ since there are four of us and we play our own original tune.” Cookies used his magic to bring a chocolate bit up to where he thought Sky’s face would be. “I-I made these for the band’s debut.”

“Oooh snackies.” Sky gleefully chomped on the chocolate bit. “Staring? Ain’t nothing wrong with staring, Cookies she’s just doing her job. Plus, most ponies don’t wear clothes anyway so it’s not like you’re seeing anything naughty.” As she says this, Cookies eyes were fixated on the measuring tape pressing up against the mare’s blue body. His eyes going all along her neck following the measuring tape.

“Well, um, if you don’t mind. I do like looking at you… RESPECTFULLY, you know keeping eye contact with the one you are talking to should be done and … uh enjoyed by both parties.” Cookies said, his eyes visibly conflicting as to whether or not to look Sky in the eyes.

“Oh yes. RESPECTFULLY…” Sky said as she then muttered some words that were inaudible to Cookies, but Rarity started blushing profusely as Sky moved her lips.

“Well, it looks like I’ve got all your measurements, you two should get going, wouldn’t want to be late to whatever it is the two of you shall be doing today. Ta-ta!” Rarity said in a rushed tone. Her face blushing harder than Cookies was not too long ago. She closes the door on them once before opening her doors again to place the costumes that Cookies had come to pick up on his back before closing the doors yet again.

“This is rather inconvenient then.” Cookies said with three scarfs draped over his head.

Sky chuckles. “Let me help you.” While Sky removed the scarf from Cookies head, Cookies had expected her to use her wings to assist him. When Sky uncovered Cookies eyes he could see that she had used her mouth and that the two of them were now face to face. Cookies could feel her warm breath on his face. He couldn’t blink, even if he wanted to. The two differing ponies stared at each other for a few seconds. “Boo!” Sky said unprovoked, but still Cookies remains unblinking for a few seconds more.

“Oh, I have to go to give these clothes to the others. They should be ready for me to drop on by for their costumes.” Cookies excused himself as he heads towards the day spa, unknowingly being followed by Sky.

At the day spa, Hope, Alto, and Lucky have just gotten their mane and tails dyed and stylized by the spa employees. Hope’s rounded pompadour red mane had been turned into a four-pointed black mohawk that has two right angled branches at the end of each point, tipped off with a bit of white. His tail remained the same but dyed black with a white streak going through it. Lucky had her mane and tail dyed black with white tips and a streak going through her tail though her blond roots were more visible than Hope’s. Alto’s mane remained the same with the only differences being a streak of black going down his cloudy mane in the shape of a lightning bolt. Alto’s tail on the other hand was shaped into a lightning bolt and completely dyed black. The three of them are currently getting their faces painted, with Lucky and Alto receiving black accents and eyeliner and Hope just getting a big white lightning bolt on his face. As they are doing this, the alicorn princess of the night is lounging on one of the nearby seating arrangements, looking at them all.

“I can’t wait to see the look on Cookies’ face when he sees us. I don’t think he’d be able to recognize us at first glance.” Hope said with an eager smile on his face.

“Ya’ll think I can go to Sweet Apple Acres like this an’ not get tossed out at first sight?”

Luna smiled at her friends. “I’d say that you all are looking quite nice. It makes me excited to see you perform at the talent show tonight.”

“It’s great to see you here in Ponyville, Luna.” Hope said with an even bigger smile on his face. “It feels like every single pony I know out of town comes and visits on the weekend. Like last weekend, my sister, Sky, she’s just under your sister’s height and her mane and tail flow along the wind like clouds instead of whatever Celestia does with her hair”

“Blue bodied? Blue eyes? Cutie mark of a bird singing to the clouds?” Luna questioned Hope, who nodded at all three of her questions, though Luna had a lot of worry in her eyes.

“Oh, you saw her in her dreams? What does my sister dream about?” Hope asked as one of the employees places the final touch to Hopes face lightning bolt. “Thank you.”

“Well, she doth hath dream quite like young Alto there. Less visually and more definitive auditory stimuli.” The Alicorn said with a bit of a pause here and there to find the right words to give to Hope. “Very emotional filled dreams.”

“Wow. I wish I had such dreams like by siblings. All I dream about is spending time with all my friends. They sometimes make it hard to tell from reality though.”

“Oh, but thou hast the finest dreams. You shouldn’t abandon them to be similar to your kin. I have, learned that the hard way. Just continue being yourself, Hopeful.”

At that moment, Cookies came bursting through the door, magically placing an outfit to each of his bandmates. “That’s one for Hope, one for Alto, and one for Lucky plus her hat. The talent show is today so let’s get one last practice in before. Alto, I trust that you finished your song?” Alto nodded at Cookies in response. Cookies was surprised to see Princess Luna at the Spa as well. “Hello Princess Luna.”

“Good day, Sir Cream. Doth thou fair well?”

“Indeed so. Care for a chocolate bit commemorating my friends and I debuting a musical performance for the night?” Cookies uses magic to levitate a chocolate bit towards Luna only for it to be swiped by a long blue wing.

“Yoink!” Sky said before gleefully chomping the chocolate. “Cookies, can you stop waving those around, I have a bit of a sweet tooth.” She chuckled. “Heh… bit… Oh, hey you’re that mare that went into my dream that one time. Like what you saw?”

“Ummm… Thou doth protest too much. I hath many a pony to check on in the dream realm and thought there was a problem but there was not so I thought it best to let you alone.”

“Oh, I say, doth not protest enough!” Sky laughs as she wraps her hoof around Luna. “What say you to seeing a performance with me, tonight? Starring these fancy looking ponies right here!” Luna looks at the group, all the members looking like they could be on the cover of a goth punk magazine.

“Ah feel a bit shorter without mah hat. Thisin a bit off the top, innit?” Lucky asked Alto who had just shrugged at her.

“Cookies, are you letting your hair down for the performance? What about your delectable ice cream mixer of a swirl?” Hope asked his friend.

“Not enough time for that, Hope. Time is not on our side at the moment so we should return home for one quick practice before heading down to the theatre.”

“Oh, don’t worry about us getting in you guys’ way. I think me and your princess friend here should do some… ‘sisterly bounding’ as it seems. We’ll see you at the show Cookies.” Sky said to the group before they all left, waving for some of the spa employees over to her.

Over at the soundproof basement, Alto, Hope, and Lucky get their instruments ready for practice while Cookies stands over near Alto. “So, where is the song you have been working on, Alto?” Cookies asked his friend. Alto responds by grabbing a piece of paper laying around with his wing and offering it to Cookies. He eyed the lyrics his friend wrote, reading every word until he raised an eyebrow. “Alto, some of these lines are said over another one, do you plan on Hope to be shouting over me?”

Alto is holding another piece of paper on his wing. On it is a depiction of what appears to be Cookies and Sky Sonata on the piano with the smiling faces of Lucky, Hope, and himself underneath the piano. With his other wing, he brought the pencil up to Cookies’ and Sky’s faces and drew a love heart with them in it. Cookies bit his lip and looked away.

“Nah, as much as I would love to duet with Cookies, I much prefer my role as song writer slash bassist slash background singer. Don’t want to hog the spotlight.” Hope interrupted.

“Der hogs be where now?” Lucky asked.

“Never mind all that. Let us, as Hope would say, show these ponies how to Rock Hard.” With Cookies saying that, the band practice finally began.

The talent show is ready to go at the Ponyville Theater. The attendance was high with some ponies whispering at Princess Luna attending. By her side is Sky and both of them had dark makeup on with Luna having her mane all starry and wispy. Some Pegasi are placing a number of clouds inside the theater for one of the performances. Backstage are a litany of ponies ranging from Trixie setting up her stage magic to Lyra and checking a projector making sure all the slides are in place. And Scales was there with a record player. Fourtune was behind one of the curtains on stage left where no pony in the audience could see them.

“Fillies and Gentlecolts! Ponyville Theater proudly presents the show you asked for a couple days ago: THE PONYVILLE TALENT SHOW!” Ballet came out on stage to introduce the show. “And we have some of Ponyville’s best here to give it their all. So please give a warm welcome to our first contestant: RAINBOW DASH!” Ballet took an exit to stage left, smiling, and waving until she was out of sight before she grabbed a nearby trashcan and started dry heaving.

“There there, sis.” Lucky consoled her sister. “Ya did great out there.”

Ballet pulls her head out of the trash to look back out at the stage to see Rainbow Dash waving with a smile on her face, exiting the stage towards them. “Great, can’t have a minute of respite.” She gulps before entering the stage again to introduce the next act.

“So, did you guys see that?” Rainbow dash asks the group.

“Not really.” Cookies replies as Hope and Alto shake their heads. “Just as the audience isn’t supposed to see us, we in turn cannot see when you fly into the audience.

“Nice! So fast you didn’t even notice. Ever so closer to doing a sonic rainboom just by flying.”

“ah sonice watsit?” Lucky asked. “Beg yer pardon?”

“Oh, taking credit for an obviously natural phenomenon, are you?” Trixie comes by overhearing the conversation. “Every pony knows that the so called ‘sonic rainboom’ was caused by two powerful magic users engaged in an epic battle.” Trixie swoons. “One day I will show you that I am GREATERER and POWERFULERER than two unicorns.”

“Hey, blue wizard hat thing. Keep it down.” Ballet returned, back to her senses seeing something amiss. “Also, you’re the finale of the show, go to the dressing room and not back here making noise.” She said to Trixie before looking over to Rainbow Dash. “And you already did your act. Both of you back to the dressing room.”

“Fine. I’ll just take a nap. Wake me up when I win this shindig by a landslide.” Rainbow Dash puts on a pair of sunglasses that were lying around on before heading off.

“Oh, but why can these nobodies stay here with you?” Trixie said, catching the nerve of Ballet.

“Nobodies?” Ballet asked in a hushed angered tone. “One of them happens to be my sister. The other ‘nobodies’ are a borderline mute, a fairly sophisticated mare, and a kind young stallion. So far, they haven’t been a bother. But YOU are. I can call Amethyst Star right now and she’ll organize the security to properly escort you out of the theater before you say ‘great and powerful’ so get to the dressing room before I make that call.”

“The only call the GREAT and POWERF-”

“Hey Amethyst, is security available?” Ballet said into a headset. Trixie’s eyes widened before she zoomed off backstage. “No, I just wanted to prove to some showboat that I don’t bluff. Everything is fine, thanks.” Ballet let out a sigh.

The next act had finished their performance leading to Lyra coming on stage with a theremin and her projector. “Good evening Ponyville! My name is Lyra Heartstrings. I came to live in Ponyville from Canterlot not too long ago. I have done studies on mythical creatures and the one that caught my eye were these creatures called ‘human beings’ and they used to live on the other side of a magic rainbow.” The projector turns on revealing the first slide being a drawn stick figure with an arrow pointing at the end of the stick figure’s arms labeled ‘hands.’ “See, humans have these little appendages called ‘hands’ and they are a bit like the claws that a dragon or a gryphon has, but these digits that they have are not for clawing an enemy’s face off but instead for much more nimbler actions.” Lyra heads to the theremin and uses her hoof to play it a bit while she conjures up a pair of spectral hands that would also play it as well. “Such as instruments. Using your hooves to play something with complex movements such as a theremin or a guitar would be a struggle to play unless you had years of practice… or wings… or magic… But that’s beside the point. For you see…”

Lyra sings a song about her fascination for these mythological creatures and the types of things that they are able to do. “Well, ain’t that a hoot. Thisin being one of them edutainment talents ya’ll only see in the school house. I luved those days.” Lucky reminisced.

“At least, she was able to introduce herself.” Ballet looked at the schedule list. “You guys are called FOUR tune and yet they have you here as the fifth act. Talk about ironic.”

“Hey, sis, didn’t the Mayor set this up? Ya’ll know where she’d be? I want to ask her if that’s her real name like how Mareian’s name is Facin North an’ all. Whatcha thinkin her real name is?”

“Who? The Mayor is busy dealing with a problem with the mailing service. Apparently, there’s some kind of raffle going on in Baltimare and the mail mares have been overloaded with letters. I hear some ponies have been sending more than one letter at a time.”

“Ay, don’t be goin’ lookin at me. I only sent seven yesterday. I just so happened to have been up at 3am to hear the first announcement fer da raffle.” Lucky admitted.

“I’m a stallion by the way.” Cookies interrupted. “Apologies, the name is Cookies Neapolitan Cream. Despite my elegant stature I can confirm that I am indeed a stallion.”

“My sister says stallions have blocky snouts while mares have curvy snouts. Cookies has a blocky snout and must be a stallion.” Hope added.

Ballet placed her hoof on Cookies snout before putting it on her own snout. “Yeah, short, and blocky snout. Can totally tell the difference.” She said in a sarcastic tone.

Lyra had finished her informative song on humans leading to the pony audience to erupt in an uproarious applause. Lyra took a bow as a pony tossed a rose over at her. She took her exit stage left with a happy smile on her face as she traded places with Ballet, who gulped as she made her way on stage to introduce Scales performance.

“Alright, gang. We’re the next act. Get your instruments ready.” Cookies said as Hope and Alto strapped on their bass and guitar over their shoulders. Lucky went over to her drum set that was on a wheeled platform. They all are behind the main curtain so that “Don’t forget these.” Cookies used his magic to give each his friends one last bit before the performance. “I guess you could say that tonight, we’ll be making a fortune.” The group of friends laugh with each other as Scales ends his singing talent by accidentally setting the main curtain on fire, revealing the band.

“Oops.” Is all that Scales says before running off.

Cookies took a look at the scene in bafflement. Ponies had shocked and terrified expressions on their faces. Some of them calling out the fire. With a deep breath, Cookies enveloped all the fire into a magical bubble that slowly shrank. He unwrapped the chocolate bit and tossed it in his mouth along with the fire. Cookies flips his mane after swallowing, bringing his mane back to its usual swirl form.

“Delicious.” The roars and cheers of the audience were louder than Lyra’s. “Hello every pony. We are Fourtune, here to bring you the fortune of song and the fortune of snack.” Cookies releases his bag of chocolate bits onto the audience, creating a rain of candy coins. The audience reacts with overwhelming joy. “My name is Cookies Neapolitan Cream. With me are my great friends. Hopeful Journey on the Bass, Alto Tenor on the guitar, and Lucky Horseshoes on the drums. We’re here to teach Ponyville how to Rock Hard.”

“ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!” Lucky screamed counting to start the song.

(ROCK!)

(HARD!)

(ROCK!)

This is how you rock hard (ROCK HARD!)

All the music in the world

Converges to the same verse and the same song

So turn that tune into a swirl

Come on up and jam right along

Not everything is soft like all those lilac dreams

A Rough and tough instrumental strum can give you all you need to

(ROCK!)

(HARD!)

(ROCK!)

This is how you rock hard (ROCK HARD!)

(ROCK!)

(HARD!)

(ROCK!)

This is how you rock hard (ROCK HARD!)

Grab a drum or a guitar and add a piece of metal

And let your heart shred out a tune

With the music score you have to settle

Now play that song out to the moon.

It may not be the choice you first came up with

That lovely taste, the flow, the fame, You have it

(ROCK!)

(HARD!)

(ROCK!)

This is how you rock hard (ROCK HARD!)

(ROCK!)

(HARD!)

(ROCK!)

This is how you rock hard (ROCK HARD!)

(ROCK!)

(HARD!)

(ROCK!)

This is how you rock hard (ROCK HARD!)

(ROCK!)

(HARD!)

(ROCK!)

This is how you rock hard (ROCK HARD!)

And we showed you how to rock hard.

Cookies was breathing heavily. He had put a bit of head movements and twirls into his dance routine to entertain the crowd. The silence was deafening. And so was the ravenous cheers a few seconds after the song ended.

“I LOVE YOU, COOKIES!” Screamed a mare in attendance.

“I LOVE YOU, ALTO!” Yelled another mare.

“I LOVE YOU, MR JOURNEY!”

“AND I LOVE YOU TOO, WHOEVER SAID THAT!” Hope replied with a cheery smile as he started posing for the fans.

A pink unicorn with a three-diamond cutie mark and a purple mane and tail took center stage. “Attention all in attendance. Due to the recent fire, we will need every pony to evacuate the building. Since the fire has already been taken care of, we would still need to replace the curtain. Think of it as an early intermission and go get some fresh air.”

Cookies, Hope, Alto, and Lucky were loitering around the backstage exit. All of them silent especially after what happened at their performance. Their emotions are mostly all over the place. Hope, per usual has a big happy grin on his face. Cookies has a hoof on his head, constantly sighing. Lucky is staring at her hooves that still have the drumsticks taped on them for the performance, her face as confused as ever. Alto is the most relaxed of the group, maintaining the same face he’s had since they performed with a bit of a smile.

“There you guys are!” A voice came from around the corner of the theater. It was EC, who was followed by Mareian, who had a tub of popcorn in her wings. “Are the four of you well? I am sorry that Scales started a fire, I didn’t know what he was thinking.”

“Pretty cool entrance though.” Mareian said as she tossed some popcorn into her other wing which had Scales hiding underneath. “Was some pretty quick thinking from you, Cookies. Eating fire is not something I’d expect from some pony like you.”

“It was a trick I used for kneading dough. Pressing out all the air while keeping the dough inside of my magic, though instead of dough it was a fire.” Cookies explained as he pressed his hoof harder into his face. “Did either one of you scream something at us?”

“I was laughing during the whole thing.” Mareian answered

“Can confirm.” Scales affirmed.

“I was assisting the lighting team during the show. We were in a soundproof room, so there is no way you could have heard anything we said.” EC explained.

Cookies sighed. “This mental anguish is a bit too much for me.”

“Oh, don’t be like that Cookies. That was fun!” Hope gleefully said.

“You should listen to my brother.” Sky said. She was on top of the theater roof as she slowly descended down using her wings alongside princess Luna. “Whatever you heard it was probably Luny and I acting like your biggest fan. Right Luny?”

Luna ashamedly blushed, covering her face with her hooves as she reached the ground. “I must say thou performed the most stellar of musical performances.”

“See, really big fan. We even got all gussied up to match you guys. No pony else did that.”

Hope wrapped his hooves around Sky and Luna. “Look Cookies, our first fans! You are the best fans a pony could ever ask for. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”

Sky gently pushed her brother off herself and Luna. “Easy bro, you guys really knocked our socks off tonight.” Sky laughed showing her hoof to Cookies. “Though we didn’t have the time to buy striped socks for the show.”

“We would have had striped socks, but Alto said that it would get caught in our instruments, though Cookies could have worn some, right?”

“The week has been very busy, my dear Hope. The thought never occurred to me until right this moment.” Cookies said, hoof still firmly planted on his face, unable to see those around him.

“Since, w’all finish our setup backin there, ya’ll think I can go back t’ mah usual hat and bandana?” Lucky asked.

“If you want, you can, Lucky, but we still need to stay for the curtain call.” Cookies sighed. “Can we all enjoy a calm moment together after a rather thrilling scene, please?” The group looked at each other before snuggling up against the small unicorn stallion. Cookies started to feel more relaxed as he took his hoof off his face and laughed. “Thank you. I needed that.”

“You could say that again.” Sky whispered into Cookies’ ear. She had sat herself in a position where she was above Cookies; her hooves wrapped around his to keep him steady as he tried to jerk himself away on instinct.

“No, no please. My ears are sensitive. Haha.” Cookies said laughing as he is able to tumble out of the pony snuggling pile. Unfortunately, Sky had her wings wrapped around him so the two would go off tumbling and rolling around with Sky whispering things into Cookies ear.

“Those two are rather close, don’t you think?” Mareian asked to which she got confirmation from the others with Alto holding up the image he had drawn earlier that day and nodding.

“Thou wouldst be surprised with the dreams thine friends have.” Luna said staring at the two rolling ponies. “They hold two very opposing dreams of each other being blatant fantasy and surprising realism.”

“Don’t spoil who has which dream, the idea of that crazy Pegasus having normal dreams and the polite unicorn having fantasies so far from reality that he can’t comprehend the thought that she’s actually interested in him.” Mareian interrupted the princess of the night. “Also, you mentioned having some kind of dream gathering amongst friends in my dream a few nights ago. Are we doing that tonight?”

“Alas, there be conundrums in Canterlot for a coronation to place me as an official princess, and I hath come to Ponyville for a marvelous makeover.” Luna said, wiping off some of the dark make-up. “I do enjoy the lavishness of the day spa though. The workers the provided luxurious product for my mane.” Luna strokes her starry mane.

The ponies enjoy the time they had together watching two of their friends roll around in the dirt as one whispers in the ear of the other to tickle them. It wasn’t long until Hope overheard an argument around the corner. “Excuse me, I’ll be right back.” Hope quickly trotted around the corner to see two blue mares arguing.

“Were the GREAT and POWERFUL Trixie a Pegasus, she would have not used clouds to showcase speed. Those clouds would have stopped the fire from spreading in the first place!”

“Oh, the fire was stopped alright. With unicorn magic and I didn’t see you out there putting it out. WAIT I did see you. You were running around in a panicked state screaming for your life!”

“I’ll have you know that my hat and cape are NOT fire retardant. I leave the fire fighting for the fire fighters since that is their job!”

“As AWESOME as fighting fires would be, MY job is to clear the clouds from the sky. What’s YOUR JOB!?”

“Uncultured. You wouldn’t know a magician if one were staring right at one!”

“And you wouldn’t see a magician if you looked in the mirror!”

Rainbow Dash and Trixie were in a heated argument it seems. Hope finds his place to speak. “I enjoyed your stage magic, Trixie.” Hope said causing Trixie to shut her mouth and blush. He turns his head to Rainbow Dash. “And I don’t think that the fire is on the fault of any pony here let alone you, Rainbow Dash.” He wraps his hooves around the two mares in a big hug. Trixie remains blushing flustered while Dash rolls her eyes. “Besides, this is an event where we can have fun sharing the things we love doing with each other. To me, this isn’t a competition. It’s getting to see ponies do the things they are passionate about.”

Trixie continues to blush while Rainbow Dash raises an eyebrow. “Perhaps the great and powerful Trixie was acting a bit rash. Mistakes happen and there is no blame in making mistakes. No pony can be perfect.”

“It’s fine. Sorry for hassling you about what you do. I think that having passion in something is totally cool.”

“Yay! Forgiveness!” Hope sang gleefully clapping his hooves, releasing the two from his grasp.

“Weren’t you backstage when the fire started? How was it delt with?” Trixie asked out of curiosity.

“OH, Cookies took care of that, easily. He ate the fire.” Hope told the two in the most casual way one could possibly say that. The two mares’ eyes widened. “It was everywhere and the Cookies grabbed all the fire with his magic, shrank it, and ate it with the Fourtune branded chocolate bit.” Cookies pulled out his bit only to find that it had melted in his coat pocket. “Whoops.” He wipes the chocolate off on his outfit. “Well, good to see things are working out. You’ll do great out there Trixie!”

Roughly an hour later, the theater had reopened and continued the talent show. Octavia put on a stellar classical cello performance, Pinkie Pie played a bunch of instruments together while riding on a unicycle, even Lucky’s sister Ballet was able to get a dance out there though her eyes were closed the entire time. The showcase had ended with an illusionary performance by Trixie. It wasn’t long before the ponies in the audience casted their votes for the best talent. A line up of all the performers were upstage as Mayor Mare entered from stage right.

“Sorry for being late, every pony. There was a bit of a mix-up at the post office that needed mayoral intervention. No pony is going to miss their letters in my town.” Mayor Mare said at the center stage garnering an applause. The pink unicorn from before placed a box in front of the mayor with three envelopes labeled 1, 2, and 3. The mare uses her magic to open the letter and showing it to the mayor. “Thankfully we are able to count the ballots. Thank you all for participating in tonight’s event. In third place we have…” The mayor squinted her eyes at the paper in front of her. “TRIXIE LULAMOON!”

A spotlight shone on Trixie who gasped in surprise at her placement. She sheepishly smiled as she approached centerstage. “The Great and Powerful Trixie appreciates you.” She said as she waved towards the audience.

“In second place we have…” The mayor adjusted her glasses before her eyes widened. She looked over to the unicorn holding the letter. “That’s second place right? THAT many votes? Ahem…” She coughed. “In second place is Lyra Heartstrings!” The audience erupted into a massive applause, startling the mayor while Lyra smiles and bounces her way downstage. “And finally in first place is…”

The audience didn’t need to hear what the mayor was going to say. They kept chanting “Four-tune” as the mayor carefully read the placement.

“Taking first place by one vote, is none other than Cookies N Cream, Hopeful Journey, Alto Tenor, and Lucky Horseshoes. Otherwise known as FOURTUNE!” The audience explodes into an absolute deafening applause. The four ponies took a bow as the audience began chanting for an encore, much to Hope’s joy and Cookies dismay. Hope quickly bolted backstage and brought back all the instruments and tossed Alto’s Concerto Crystal at the center for it to form into a piano. Alto slyly placed the notes and lyrics on the piano.

“Ahem. Thank you all for voting Fourtune tonight for the talent show. I especially would like to thank my dear friend, Hope, as he was the writer for the last song.” Cookies thanked his friend, as the crowd cheered. “Our next song is written by Alto Tenor. He wrote it to be a duet, and seeing how the lyrics are written we’d need to have a mare sing the other half. Lucky would volunteer, but she said she liked just playing the drums a bit more than singing.”

“Hehe. Ya’ll got dat rite!”

“So would a… lovely m-mare in the…” Cookies was about to ask but a tall, blue Pegasus mare had stood up and got on stage. It was Sky Sonata with her mane caught in a pony tail. “Well, I guess that settles that. Fillies and Gentlecolts: Sky Sonata.” The audience clapped with some very suggestive whistling as the two sat together on the piano seat.

“Didn’t know you played piano, mister baker.” Sky whispered into Cookies ear, which twitched in response.

“I don’t.”

“Well thankfully I do.”

Once there was a Stallion

He ruled the land with the heart of a lion

Until one faithful day she met a mare with quite a contrast temper

There was a mare who had ruled with an iron hoof

Not one could stand before her without looking aloof

Until she met a guy who cooled her ember

He stood there strong unblinking King inside of the danger zone

She stood there laughing since she’s no longer alone

Then the King (Then the Queen)

Started speaking to the mare (Made the king her favorite toy)

He would sing (She’d turn him green)

Her a song as he longingly stared (With her constant teasing filling her with joy)

And that’s the story

Of a feisty queen and the kind king

The king had loyal servants

The queen received such loyal service

And she would find life is more than just war

The queen had a lot of fun

But the serious of this was never done

Because she found her heart at her core

The king would bring a wedding ring and propose on the grand floor

The queen had been super flustered busted, but she want more

And so the King (And So the Queen)

Became OH SO very Happy (Had accepted his proposal)

He could just sing (She had turned pink)

But a song right now’d be sappy (felt a tickle in her nostril)

There ends the story

Of a hot-head queen and calming king

As the performance continued, Mayor Mare found her way to the sound booth where EC had been working. “I’d say that’s a successful night, just look how happy every pony is.”

“My friends sure are happy out there.” EC said as Alto began to play a guitar solo mid song. “I’m happy that they could find a way to strengthen the core of their friendship.”

“Yep. Don’t forget we’re having a meeting to discuss Ponyville’s current situation this week.” EC acknowledged what the mayor said with a nod as the two of them stared back at Cookies and Sky being rather close on the piano. “Friendship, eh? Friendship is weird.”

Dragon Quest

View Online

Over at Ponyville Town hall, a meeting is taking place. There are five ponies sitting around a table with organized papers on them. At the table are Filthy Rich, Mayor Mare, Amethyst Star, Enchanted Crown, and Ballet Horseshoes.

“Good morning every pony. I’d love to give a warm Ponyville welcome to the council for miss Enchanted Crown. Your thoughts and input are well valued being sent here by Celestia herself.” The mayor welcomed the helmed unicorn to the group. “First up, finances. Filthy Rich, how is Ponyville doing financially.”

“Ever since the events of the Summer Sun Celebration, tourism to Ponyville skyrocketed. Train tickets to Ponyville have been the highest that they have ever been and with impromptu events like that talent show and this place now being home to the mythical Elements of Harmony, I don’t see us having any form of financial problems for a long time.” The earth pony stallion said oozing confidence.

“Good. Ballet, make a note of our financial situation being great for the next couple of months.” The mayor looked at Ballet who signed and started writing with a pencil in her mouth. “The annual Running of the Leaves race will be happening around the corner and with how well he did at the aforementioned Summer Sun Celebration, it would be in Ponyville’s best interest to hire him again as an announcer. All in favor?” All the ponies around the table raised their hoof. “Unanimous vote. Amethyst, could you schedule him appear then and rent a hot air balloon as well.”

The pink unicorn nodded as she began to leave the room but stopped as soon as she noticed something outside the window. “Umm, mayor.” Amethyst motioned to look outside. Every pony gathered around the window. Outside was smoke emanating from one of the mountains in the horizon. Some ponies outside are starting to show some concern.

“Oh, T-that’s dragon smoke.” EC spoke up. “A dragon must be l-living in a cave up there.”

Mayor Mare sighs. “Before leaving for Baltimare, Amethyst, could you reassure our residents that ever thing will be fine. Enchanted Crown, would you please send a message to Canterlot, to Celestia if she is not busy to send some pony to deal with a dragon?”

“I’m on it.” EC said with a salute before making her way out of town hall.

“May Celestia help us.” The mayor prayed.

On the outskirts of Ponyville, EC had gathered three ponies. Those ponies are Hopeful Journey, Lucky Horseshoes, and Mareian. Hope with an eager smile on his face while Lucky and Mareian have looks of confusion and concern.

“In order to protect the innocent ponies of Ponyville, I have elected, with the approval of princess Celestia, to send the elements of kindness, generosity, and magic to take care of the dragon problem looming over this small town.”

“Of friendship. Celestia said I represent the magic of friendship.” Hope exclaimed.

“What in tarnation iz Kindness gonna provide?” Lucky asked

“Hey, EC, can I have a private word with you.” Mareian wrapped her wing around EC and trotted away from the two earth ponies. “HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND!? A DRAGON AND YOU ONLY SEND THREE PONIES UP THERE!?!? HOPE’S NOT MUCH OF A FIGHTER AND I DON’T THINK LUCKY’S LUCK WILL BE ABLE TO TAKE DOWN A DRAGON!?!?” Mareian whispered in an angered tone. “Sending me makes sense. Wouldn’t want to get lost on the way to defeat A DRAGON WHY NOT SEND THAT CHEF FACED COOKIES!?”

“You aren’t going up there to battle the dragon. They aren’t these unreasonable wild creatures. I want you three to befriend the dragon.”

“What!?” Mareian shockingly exclaimed.

“Befriend?” Hope eagerly said.

“Eh, sounds doable.” Lucky stated.

“It sounds like we’re all in agreement. You two follow Mareian to the dragon’s den where you will politely ask the dragon to be a bit less threatening.”

Mareian let out a frustrated sigh. “Fine. You win. Come on you two, let’s go friendship a dragon.” Mareian grabs the two smiling earth ponies using her wings towards the mountain with smoke coming out of it.

“Friendship adventure!” Hope shouted with glee.

“Ya’ll ain’t gonna fly us up there aren’t ya?”

“If I flew I’d have to deal with your flailing. Besides, Hope would be disappointed if we took a shortcut and by some miracle you toss a rock at the dragon scaring it or, best case scenario, putting it in a coma.”

“Aww, you do care.” Hope said lovingly.

“Well, ya ain’t gotta drag us by our scruff all the way there.”

“If I let go of either of you, you’d get lost or discover some sort of mythical cursed object that I’d have to get Cookies or EC’s advice on it and then, oh I don’t know, the dragon swoops on down from its mountain and razes Ponyville to the ground.”

“We ain’t foals anymore.”

Mareian stops dead in her tracks and looks at Lucky with a twitch in her eye. “Out of our little friend group to take on a dragon, EC sends THE THREE YOUNGEST. We’re practically newborn ponies in this situation and I am not taking the risk of one of us getting hurt.”

“I just think that-” before Lucky could finish her thought she gets interrupted by Mareian singing.

There’s tons of danger abound

You don’t know what we have gotten into

Don’t run around

I know just what we have to do

Stay by my side, can’t you see

I let you go, you’ll be lost without me

There are Timberwolves out there

And this dragon could be coming for us

Yet you don’t seem to care

Bravery is indeed a plus

Can’t be slacking off

Equestria is in need of saving

The journey is tough

Just please don’t go out misbehaving

Stay by my side, can’t you see

I let you go, you’ll be lost without me

Think it’s easy? It won’t be

I let you go, you’ll be lost without me

Fine if you wanted to be free

I’ll let you go but you’ll be lost without me

You’ll lose your way, stuck in a tree

I let you go, you’ll be lost without me

There’s no one else, just us three

I let you go, you’ll be lost-

“WOAH!” During the musical number, Mareian had let go of Lucky and started taking riskier steps especially as they got higher and higher up the mountain. Mareian had slipped off the edge of the mountain, unable to balance herself since she was still holding on to Hope with her wing, but to her surprise Hope was able to catch her before she could tumble out of control.

“Gotcha!” Hope said, pulling Mareian closer to himself. “Are you ok?” He gave her a reassuring smile.

Mareian blushed a bit. Her heart racing whether by close proximity to Hope or how she almost got the both of them seriously hurt. She shook her head and gave Hope a stern look. “Why are you still holding on to my wing? I let Lucky go so why didn’t you follow her?”

“Because this was fun!” Hope stated in his usually cheerful tone of voice. “I’m not much of a leader myself, or at least I don’t like going out on my own. It’s no fun going on adventures with no friends around to enjoy them with you, so I say you lead, I follow.”

“That doesn’t mean you can just hang on to my wing all the way there, dummy!”

“You were the one that was holding on to me.”

“Ugh, touché Mr. Journey.” Mareian conceded before she started looking around. “Where did Lucky go?”

“Up here!” Lucky’s voice echoed above them. She was at the next level of the mountain. “I think I can see the cave. Can ya’ll hurry up on in here?”

“Oh! Sheer mountain climbing, that sounds fun!” Hope trots up to the mountain side and begins to place his forehooves on it. He slips as he is about to place a hind hoof on the mountain. “Ha… a little help please?”

Mareian rolls her eyes. With her heartbeat steady, she lifted up Hope as the two of them practically flew to make it look like Hope was climbing up a 95-degree angle. His smile ever so vibrant as they were able to catch up to Lucky. The three of them were able to spot the entrance to the dragon’s den.

“There it is.” Mareian said looking at the cave emanating smoke before looking back at her two earth pony companions. “Now which one of you wants to bother it first?”

Hope had dashed to the opening of the den almost immediately upon the question Mareian asked. He stuck his head inside. “Hello! Mr. Dragon! We are here to make friends!” Hope pulls his head out and looks at Mareian and Lucky. “I think he’s asleep!”

“It is already past noon an’ dis dragon gone be sleepin’ in al day? Not on my watch it ain’t.” Lucky went to the den as well. She picked up a rock and chucked it inside. “Wake up consarn it!” A low rumble shook the mountain. While the smoke did stop, out came a red and yellow adult dragon rubbing his head with his claw. Mareian’s eyes widened as she zipped over to Hope and Lucky who were firmly grounded and unmoving with smiles upon their faces.

“Sorry to bother you. We of Ponyville came to ask you to be our friend.” Hope said.

“Apologies fer throwing that there rock at ya. The day’s halfway over and we couldn’t wake ya with our words.” Lucky apologized.

“Yeah, the residents of Ponyville are a bit scared of the smoke coming out of the mountain, so why don’t you come on down to Ponyville and show every pony there that you’re not so mean and scary. Our friend, Cookies makes some of the best baked good. I bet he can make you the best pancake you’ve ever had.”

“WHY ARE YOU TALKING TO THE ANGRY GIANT DRAGON!? RUN!” Mareian screamed at the two unmoving earth ponies.

“It’d be darned rude to run away from a dragon without ‘splainin’ why yer botherin dem in da first place.” Lucky told the Pegasus before looking back at the dragon. “Ya know, how ‘bout we do introductions. I’m Lucky! Lucky Horseshoes at yer convenience.”

“I’m Hopeful Journey, but you can call me Hope for short or Mr. Journey I actually like that one.”

“And I’m afraid.”

The two earth ponies looked back at the Pegasus. “I thought ya’lls name were Facin’ North?”

“I thought your name was Mareian?”

“Razer.” The dragon let out a low growl. This left Mareian frozen in fear.

“Alrighty then, Razer. Les get on down t’ Ponyville and show’em all ya ain’t that big of a bad guy. Here, lemme close yer cave fer ya.” Lucky bucked the side of the mountain which causes a piece of it to slide into a perfect position to act as a door for the cave albeit a door too big for a pony to open. “Let’s walk n’ talk since I ain’t a big fan of flying an all.” Lucky begins her walk down the mountain followed by the dragon.

“Come on Mareian, let’s go!” Hope grabs Mareian by the hoof, causing her to lose balance, but thankfully Hope was there to support her. “We’re gonna befriend a dragon today! Isn’t that amazing!?” The sparkle in Hope’s deep blue eyes and his toothy grin shines in the bright daylight. Instinctively, Mareian’s wings shot up and soon started flying, being dragged in the air by Hope like a kite.

“So anyway, Mr. Razer, whatcha doin’ all da way up in dat mountain of yers anyways?” Lucky asked the dragon as she slid down the mountainside to the next ledge.

“Treasure.” The dragon said after merely leaping to the next ledge. Hope practically surfed on his hind hooves while holding onto Mareian like a paraglide.

“Ain’t ya excited on making new pony friends Mr. Razer?”

“You ponies are… intriguing.” The dragon replied in a tone that would briefly stop Mareian from flapping her wings as she now begins trotting with Hope, the two holding hooves, yet her wings still up stiff.

“I know!” Hope retorted. “My sister goes around all of Equestria making sure all the weather is up to standards and my brother is out making experimental music with his new friends. If that isn’t ‘intriguing’ then I don’t know what is, Razer.”

“The two of you… no fear at the sight of a dragon.”

“Ya’ll ain’t the first dragon we’d done seen. Scales, when standin’ upright, is ‘bout da size of our princess. Yet he is somehow able to hide on that Pegasus right there.”

“Could you not call me out like that.” The green dragon emerged off of an unflinching Mareian. “It’s called, circumference by the way.”

“You ponies are… VERY intriguing.” Razer said again.

“Not sure if this is what EC wanted but I am not going to stick around to find out. If she asks, tell her that I’m that dragon.” Scales says pointing to Razer before flying off. “I don’t care if I’m lost without you, better than being in your chaos!”

“Bye Scales!” Hope waves goodbye to his dragon friend while maintaining his balance on Mareian. He looks over to Razer. “I just want to make as many friends as a pony can. Whether it be pony or not, I cherish every type of relationship I’ve had! That’s why I’m the element of the magic of friendship! Dragon, griffon, pony, or creature, we’ll be friends. It’s nice to meetcha.” The way Hope expresses his enthusiasm for friendship causes Razer to give the first genuine smile he ever had in his lifetime.

“I like you… Mr. Journey, was it?” The dragon asked.

Hope Rapidly nodded his head, turning into a blur of a white smile and red mane on an orange body. “Well, it’s not really a surname. Don’t know much about my real parents except for the fact that they left me a basket with my name on it. Even then the family I got adopted into don’t use surnames they just have two first names it seems. A bit odd but I was never a mathematician, so there could be a pony with infinite names. And what about you? Is Razer a surname or how do dragon families work?”

“Dragons… are complicated… With the way the dragon kingdom rules a majority of dragons without a biological family and instead they are organized by egg groups.”

“Ohh. Those are like family.” Hope said. “A family of friends is like a family.”

“Ah mean, I gots a big family, so seeing and being with those you hatched out with would kinda make ya like family I guess?” Lucky added.

The dragon chuckles. “In a way… you’re right.”

It wasn’t long before the group made their way into Ponyville. The residents looked at the group in terror. One painter pony was working on painting of a bowl of fruit, saw the group and panickily painted before rushing into their home. The painting had become a dark and dreary one with a dragon breathing fire in the background as a hat wearing pony officiates a wedding between a Pegasus and earth pony.

“Over there is the residential.” Hope pointed and somehow maintaining his balance on the still shocked and stunned Mareian. “That over there is the treehouse library place. There’s town hall and over there is the theater. Lucky and I played there last weekend with my brother and the baker I was talking about earlier.”

“Gosh, all ya’ll ponies actin like ya never seen a dragon before even though one lives here. AND he nearly burned down the theater. So don’t ya’ll act like a dragon ain’t been here.”

“Hmmm… Nice place.” Razer said uncaring for the screaming ponies nearby.

“Oh! There’s Sugar Cube Corner! That’s where Cookies is. Come on, Razer!” Hope rushes into the bakery dragging Mareian by her hoof followed by Lucky. Razer only able to slither his head through the door.

“Welcome to Sugar Cube Corner! What can I… bake… for you.” Cookies said starting off energetic before his tone became slightly more annoyed ending with a sigh. “A dragon this time, my dear Hope?”

Mareian shook her head, releasing her hoof from Hope’s hoof, and blinked a few times. “This time? Hope brings dragons to you?”

“Dragon, griffon, pony, or creature, he’ll make friends. It’s nice to meet you.” Cookies said as if he were reciting a poem. “Back at Sire’s Hollow, he brought a giraffe thinking it was a long-necked earth pony. It was a long day.”

“So, Mr. Journey… speaks the truth? How intriguing.”

“Pancakes please, Cookies.” Hope ordered for them all. Cookies went back into the kitchen while the group took a spot at a table nearest to the door so Razer could eat with them. “Of course, I would tell the truth, unless if not telling the truth was part of some elaborate roleplay like in that one table top game. I like using my imagination for fun stuff all get along with. I’d sing a song about pancakes but because I had taken it using the beats and rhymes of Pinkie Pies song, she got mad at me.”

“And I still will be mad at you, silly willy.” Pinkie Pie appeared out of nowhere to say this. “Oooh big dragon. Is it yours?”

“I belong… to nobody.” Razer said with a growl that caused all the pots and pans to shake in the building.

“PINKIE! MR. AND MRS. CAKE ARE OVER AT THE HOSPITAL. WOULDN’T IT BE IN YOUR BEST INTEREST TO BE THERE FOR THEM!?” Cookies yelled from the kitchen.

“Okie Dokey Loki!” With a salute the pink earth pony vanished in a flash. It wasn’t long until Cookies came to the group’s table, using his magic to bring them all what they wanted.

“One cup of espresso extra caffeine, one plate of a fruity deluxe, one Hopeful Journey Special, and a double triple Stacker Hopeful Fruity deluxe special with extra cream.”

Mareian was the first to chug down her drink. Hope dove his face head first into his pancakes while Lucky delicately eats her pancakes with a fork and a smile. Razer wraps his tongue around one of the three stacks of pancakes before him, pulling it into his gullet with hardly a moment to chew.

“Hmmmm… Delectable.” Razer said with a satisfied moan.

“B’old ya!” Hope said with a mouth full of soft, chocolatey pancakes in his mouth, almost choking in the process. Thankfully, Cookies used his magic to pull out some unchewed food so that Hope could breathe.

“I’ve told you countless times to eat more slowly and to enjoy your meal. Speed eating as you do will someday end you up in the hospital were I not there to save you.”

“Aww…” Hope said a bit dejected before carefully chewing and swallowing his food. “By the way Cookies, this is Razer, our new dragon friend who had caused the smoke up in the mountain. Razer this is my childhood through adulthood friend, Cookies N Cream.” Hope introduced the two.

“You are a… rather talented baker.” Razer said with a smile as he goes for another stack of pancakes.

“Glad to know my culinary capabilities reach to more than just ponies. I thank you for finding such kind words to say, Mr. Razer.” Cookies thanked the dragon with a prideful smile before heading back into the kitchen.

“I feel a… poking sensation.”

“WHAT IN CELESTIA’S NAME DID YOU PONIES DO!?” A voice could be heard screaming outside the bakery. Hope poked his head out the window to find the mayor with an angry look on her face. “YOU! Why is there a dragon in my town!?”

“His name is Razer and we are treating him with a Ponyville welcoming: pancakes at Sugar Cube Corner.”

The mayor’s eye twitches as though she heard an impossible tale. She places her hoof on her forehead and chuckles. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I was speaking to the element of LAUGHTER, because there’s no way you let a DRAGON into PONYVILLE just to have lunch together?”

“Yeah that’s right. Isn’t that right, Razer?” Hope asked the dragon who responded with an affirmative growl.

“Now wait one goldarn second.” Lucky manages to squeeze her body out of the window before approaching the mayor, her hat perfectly landing on her head as she does so. “Ya’lls throwing a hissyfit ‘cause a DRAGON calmly walks into town with their PONY friends? Ain’t this jus’ racism?” Lucky confronted the mayor. “Haven’t ya’ll forgotten dat cha’all LIVE with a dragon. Ain’t no baby dragon neither, got wings an’ errythang.”

“We’ve been living with a dragon?” Ponies were starting to gather around Lucky, leaving their hiding spaces. Razer, Mareian, and Hope all exit Sugar Cube Corner.

“Yeah, but he don’t want to scare ya’ll so he jus’ sneaks around Ponyville every which way he goes. I ain’t even sure how ya’ll could jus’ collectively forget that Scales was in the talent show not too long ago.”

“That was a dragon? I thought that was an animatronic.”

“I thought the fire was a staged incident.”

“That thing lived here?”

The voices of the Ponyville citizens grew louder as their faces of fear were replaced with straight faces and some smiles.

“There ya go, there treating dragons like they’re thangs ‘nstead’ve an equal t’ ponies. Reminds me of the ongonin’ APPLEOOSA buffalo problem in all, actin like ya’ll got somethin’ t’ lose by cooperatin. The town ain’t on fire, ya’ll. The terrifyin’ smoke is gone, ya’ll. Not relocated, nor ended by some fantastical warfare, but ended by simply askin’ and befriendin. Love thy neighbor whether Pegasus, unicorn, or earth pony, so what’s the problem with adding other intelligent creatures like Razer here. They have names too so why can’t we get along with them as we do each other?” Lucky said. There was a moment of silence from all the ponies gathered around them, some giving each other concerned looks. Razer, awkwardly scratches the back of his neck.

“We befriended a DRAGON!” Hope cheered. The mood swiftly changed from concerned looks to optimistic smiles and cheers from the ponies around them. Razer smiled now that the ponies changed their tune about him being in Ponyville.

The mayor sighs. “You win this one. Just as long as Ponyville isn’t razed to the ground, I’ll see to it that dragons are more welcomed here.” She says as she heads back over to town hall.

“You ponies stood up for me… Thank you.” Razer said as he carefully strided his way out of Ponyville, making sure that he wouldn’t cause damage on his way out of town until he’d reach the outskirts where he would fly. “Goodbye… My friends!”

“Bye Razer!” Hope waved goodbye to his new dragon friend with an eager smile on his face.

“Ahem.” A voice coughed besides Hope and Mareian. It was EC who had a scroll with the markings ‘Dear Princess Celestia,’ at the top of the parchment hovered around her with a feather pen and ink. “So, you’ve solved the dragon problem. Might there be a lesson learned from all this to report to Celestia to?”

“I din’t learn nuthin.” Lucky stated.

“Can’t say I learned anything besides friendship being awesome.” Hope added.

“Give me that.” Mareian took the feather and ink and started writing on the scroll for a good minute before giving it back to EC. “Here, now if any of you need me I’m going to have a relaxing stay at the day spa.” With that said, Mareian trotted off.

A gray Pegasus mare in a postal service uniform came over to Luck and gave her an envelope before she quickly went back to her mail route. Lucky quickly tore open the letter and began reading, a wide smile forming on her face as she does so. “YAHOO!!!” She tosses her hat up in the air and begins to dance with the hat perfectly landing back on her head again. “Imma be on da radio. Imma be on da radio.” She sang.

“Hmm the radio?” EC asked.

“Yepperooni. I mailed in to enter a raffle and I won the grand prize of bein’ the special guest for this Weekend Wrapup.” Lucky replied. “Imma be on da radio. Imma be on da radio.” Lucky continued to sing.

“She’s gonna be on the radio. She’s gonna be on the radio.” Hope joined in on the singing and dancing.

“This weekend? That’s Luna’s coronation. Aren’t you going to the coronation as well?” EC asked.

“Oh, I’m sure I’ll figure somethin’ out don’t you worry.” Lucky said as Hope continued to sing. “I’m Lucky!”

Over at Canterlot castle, Professional ponies scramble around to set up for the coronation ceremony. Princess Celestia sits at her throne while a carpenter works on a smaller throne next to it. Luna sits on the ground next to her sister with a rather bored expression on her face. It wasn’t long until a trail of fire came above her and formed an unopened scroll. Celestia uses her magic to open it and begins reading.

Dear Princess Celestia,

EC asked us to write to you on what we learned today and it doesn’t feel like we learned anything that made since. There was a dragon looming over Ponyville and instead of sending the royal guards to send the dragon packing, you have your Loyal Student decide on how to solve the problem and she sends the element of generosity, kindness, and whatever the sixth element Hope is supposed to represent. You want to know what we ended up doing to the dragon?

WE BEFRIENDED IT!

Through blind luck and hopeful determination, courtesy of Lucky and Hope, we managed to have a nice pancake and coffee meal without destroying anything except for the calm that all the residents had before we came in with a dragon. Somehow Lucky and Hope turned it into a race issue and like that the residents became welcoming to dragons.

What did we learn? Just because we’re the youngest of our group does not mean we can’t take on a dragon. Racism against dragons is like racism against buffalos: bad. And I could really go for a spa day after this.

See you at Luna’s coronation,

Facing North.

“Hey Luna, you know who the elements of harmony are, right?” Celestia asked her sister.

“Thou art referring to Hopeful Journey, Alto Tenor, Cookies Neapolitan Cream, Enchanted Crown, Lucky Horseshoes, and Facing North, yes?”

“That last one yeah. The name isn’t familiar to me.”

“That would be because most ponies refer to her as the ‘mare librarian’ to the point the two words combined into Mareian.”

“Oh right, haha. I’m so glad those ponies became such good friends with you.”

“And I as well. It has been millennia since I felt that form of happiness.”

“Yeah.” Celestia said before she laughed a bit more. “Friendship is weird.”

Author's Notes:

Alright, that chapter was more of a wild ride than I thought. I was expecting the chapter to be "haha they brought a giant dragon to Ponyville acting like no pony there wouldn't be terrified." and then it turned into Dragon racism. Friendship really is weird.

The original plan wasn't to have each chapter end with a character saying "Friendship is weird" until I got to the end of the second chapter and thought it was a banger title drop. I tried avoiding using the word "weird" to make it so that every time it appears in the story is as a title drop so every "Bizarre" or "Odd" are just me replacing the word weird lol. NO ALTO'S SONG DOESN'T COUNT YOU DON'T COUNT LYRICS.

Let's talk about Hopeful Journey.
Out of all the characters that went through the most changes from the conception to now would be Hope. While his origins are still a mystery, Hope was originally more of a "garry stu" than the loveable oaf that everyone loves. He was going to literally make a mountain out of a molehill because he wanted to and be able to beat the tar out of a thief and at the end of the nightmare moon arc would reveal he is an Alicorn with another personality.
Now he's a pacifist empath who is socially awkward, but you love his positivity he sends. Now that I'm further into writing it feels like the Stallion trio of Hope, Alto, and Cookies represent this past, present, and future vibe to them with Hope finding out what his past was and his Cutie mark he was too young to remember and Cookies trying to plan for a future as the next "heir" of the Cream lineage. And then Alto just lives in the moment.

Up Next is going to be the 7777* word Chapter: a day in the life of Lucky.
May take a while to write that but I have already written the "musical number" for that, but we'll talk about the musical numbers another time.

*May or may not include the title

A Day in the Life of Lucky

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“GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD MORNINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG EQUESTRIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! Check one! Check two! MIC CHECK bringing you the weekend wrap-up but first,

Let me introduce our lucky guest

On the radio

She is the element of kindness

On the radio

She won our lottery

Her name is lucky

And now I’ll have her explain the rest

On the radio on the radio

Hello, Gooday

I’m Lucky

That’s what I say

I’m Lucky

The weekend’s here

Ya’ll needn't fear Ya know

Cause I’m Lucky

Elment of haarmny

That’s Lucky

I play the Drummy

That’s Lucky

You ain’t believe

The thangs I’ves seen

Ya know

I am Lucky

That’s not how the whole week went…

On the radio

You went on a dragon quest…

On the radio

Guided by a Pegasus

Got the dragon out of its nest

Now please continue the week’s events

On the radio on the radio

Luna’s my friend

I’m Lucky

Got bits to spend

I’m Lucky

The dragon I did friend

The problem did end

Why?

I’m Lucky

Hello, Goodbye [We are]

I’m Lucky [off topic]

Don’t need to lie [on the radio]

I’m Lucky [on the radio]

‘fraid of the sky [please get back]

I’m Lucky [on it]

I guess that’s why [on the radio]

I’m Lucky [on the radio]

Hello, Goodbye [this week was]

I’m Lucky [pretty hectic]

Don’t need to lie [on the radio]

I’m Lucky [on the radio]

'fraid of the sky [and we're both here]

I’m Lucky [to end it]

I guess that’s why [on the radio]

I’m Lucky [on the radio]

Lucky Horseshoes, the daisy yellow earth pony with bright green eyes, is sat in a recording booth with a brown earth pony stallion. The stallion had long locks of a red mane and his eyes were behind a pair of sunglasses, though at the right angle one would be able to see his equally brown eyes. The stallion looks over to the booth window where a lime green Pegasus looks at them with disappointment before looking back at Lucky.

“That’s a lot of stuff to know about you, Miss Horseshoes. The news of the week is that Ponyville now has a dragon as a mascot? Am I hearing that right?”

“OH, ya’ll heard of Razer? He ain’t a mascot. Razer is jus’ livin’ his life on top da mountains making sure not to harm the ecosystem with dragon smoke an’ all dat. I consider’em a good friend.”

“You heard it here first folks, the elements of harmony have befriended an adult dragon. Adventurers eat your heart out.” The stallion said as he got closer to his microphone. “You say you are friends with Luna right, but she’ll be having her coronation later today at Canterlot and you’re all the way in our lovely little studio out in Baltimare.”

“Ain’t no need fer no fretting. Am sure’ll find a way there in time.” Lucky responds with a big grin on her face. The stallion before her turns his head to the clock in the room.

“If you think an hour is enough time, then go right on ahead.”

Lucky’s eyes widened before slamming her front hooves on the table. “AN HOUR!?!?!?” She exclaimed as the table broke through the force. Lucky begins to make her leave. “Sorry, ya’ll I gotta run.”

There was a bit of silence from the room as the lime green pegasus mare in the window started screaming only for it to be muffled. It took her a second to find and write down on a piece of paper. “FOLLOW HER!!!”

A smile formed on the stallion’s face. “Attention to all the ponies with their ears open, it seems that we have the opportunity of a lifetime. That’s right, Equestria Radio is about to go on the road with an hour-long segment: A Day in the life of Lucky Horseshoes.”

“One ticket to Canterlot, if ya please.” Lucky placed a couple of bits on a train station counter for the employee to take.

“The last train just left. You’ll have to wait two hours for the next one to arrive.” The station worker informed Lucky.

“I ain’t got two hours! Only da one, consarnit!” Lucky took her bits and trotted away from the station.

“Well well well. Looks like little Lucky lost her luck, Equestria.” Mic Check approached Lucky wearing a jacket with a lot of tech on it as well as a microphone jutting out just in front of him. “How does she make it to Canterlot in time for the Princess’s coronation? Find out on this exciting broadcast of Equestria Radio.”

Lucky squinted her eyes and looked around. Her attention focused on the nearby docks where she is able to spot a familiar boat. “Quit yer yappin, overcoat. I spot me a new way outta dis mess.”

“An eye full of determination fellow listeners. Our daisy yellow element of harmony has decided to head towards the docks, because as we all know there ain’t no better way to Canterlot then sailing.” Mic check laughed into his microphone before following after Lucky.

“Fishsticks! O’er here! It’s yer sister!” Lucky yelled at one of the boats, labeled ‘HMS Horseshoe’s Bounty’ on the back side. The pony at the wheel turns over to look at the docks before yelling something over at their crewmates. The ship sets ancho and the pony swung from one of the ropes of the boat to land right in front of Lucky.

“Aye if it be my little lass of a sister.” Before Lucky was a heavy coated earth pony mare who had a tricorn hat and a black eyepatch covering one of her presumedly blue eyes. Despite the coat, one could tell that her body had a tanned brown coloring to it and her tail shaggy with a dark gold tinge. Her cutie mark is that of a horseshoe on a string with a fish caught on it. “What ye be doin’ roamin’ about like the silly lil’ landlubber ye’re?” She says with a gravelly voice as she picks up her hat off the docks.

“Howdy, sis. Imma be needin a teensy bit of a favor in you.” Lucky says motioning her hoof in a way to emphasize how small of a favor she’d be asking of her sister. “Ya see, my friend’ll be havin’ her coronation ceremony thang at Canterlot an’ I only gots less an hour before the plum thing dang starts. Can ya help a sista out?”

Her sister laughs a hearty laugh. “Yar be thinkin’ Cap’n Fishsticks’ll sail yer sorry lil flank t’ royalty? Lemme give ye some advice. Number one: Canterlot be landlocked, no boat o’ mine be travelin’ thar. Number two: the Horseshoe’s Bounty has been struggling the waves of narrow rivers to get from North Luna Ocean to Celestia Sea an’ me crew be rather irritable. And number three: we have a treasure trove o’ mackerel destined for port in Griffinstone an’ we can’t be detourin’ ‘cause some pretty little landlubber like yerself asks yer sis fer help. Savvy?”

Lucky took a second to ponder, placing her hoof on her chin before a lightbulb popped up over her head. “I need ya’ll t’ fire me outta a cannon aimin’ fer Canterlot.”

“WHAT!?” Mic Check yelled out in shock while Lucky’s sister chaotically cackles.

“Ya’ll jus’ sail yer way t’ Griffinstone and fire me outta one o’ yer cannons I know you keep in case o’ giant squid attacks an’ such.”

“Yar be more the jokester than SF I tell ya.” Lucky’s sister turns back to the boat and yells. “OI LADS AN’ LASSES! WE GOT A COUPLE OF LANDLUBBERS WHO WANT TO FLY LIKE THE BIRDS WE DILIVERIN’ TA! RAISE ANCHOR AN’ SET SAIL!”

“AYE AYE CAPTAIN FISHSTICKS!” The boat roared with several voices and started to burst with a motion that wasn’t there before. Lucky’s sister wrapped her hoof around both Mic Check and Lucky as she held on to the rope she swung from earlier.

“Wait wait can’t we talk about THIS!” Mic Check tried to interject but the trio were launched up into the air for a brief moment before landing back on the boat. Mic Check is unable to land on all fours and slams his body to the ground before slowly getting back up. Lucky’s hat floats in the air for a bit before finding its way back on top of Lucky’s head while Lucky’s sister’s tricorn hat merely lands on the boat, off her head.

“BRING OUT THE CANNON BOYOS!”

“THE CAPTAIN’S CANNON! THE CAPTAIN’S CANNON!”

“To those who aren’t able to keep track with all the noises and accents that we are hearing, it would seem that our girl, Lucky, has found her pirate captain sister on a route to Griffonstone. She thinks that by launching ourselves from a cannon will get her to Canterlot. I for one, dear listeners, believe that she has a death wish and, if it weren’t for the fact that not going with her would be the end of my career, I guess I do to. Am I allowed to say that? Unfortunately, I don’t have my boss around to tell me the words I’m not allowed to say for a wide audience. Mouth Piece, if I don’t make it, make a golden statue of my good looks out in front of the Baltimare city limits. I don’t care if you have to wring all the necks of the city hall to do so, this stallion here is risking his life to ensure the popularity of our workplace. And if these are my final words, this has been Mic Check of Equestria Radio. Check one. Check two. Checking out for one last time.” Mic Check said tearfully into his microphone.

“Quit ya belly aching ya lily living landlubber.” Lucky’s sister grabs Mic Check by his tech laden jacket and chucks him headfirst into a large cannon. Lucky has her bandana wrapped over her eyes as one of the crewmates assists her going in the cannon flank first, closing the cannon up with her hat. “Ye got lady Lucky by yer side! YAR HAR HAR!” She pulls on the cannon’s ignition, launching the two earth ponies into the sky towards Canterlot.

Up in the skies over Filly Delphia is a lavender colored hot air balloon that has a pink love heart shape emblem on it with ‘ROMA’ written inside of it. A faded yellow earth pony mare with a brown wavy mane, sharp blue eyes, and a cutie mark of two horseshoes forming the shape of a love heart, is using a machine that dispenses clouds. She is spelling out ‘MARRY ME’ into the sky and is carefully trying to end it off with an exclamation point. Just as she gets to the finishing touches, her balloon is hit by two objects, or in this case two ponies, one of which punctured a hole through and managed to land safely into the balloon’s basket revealing herself to be Lucky Horseshoes, while the other one was holding on to the edge of the basket for his dear life.

“Sœur? Que faites-vous ici? Ce n'est pas ‘très bien’!” The mare said holding on to Lucky as she screamed.

“MAYDAY! MAYDAY! MIC CHECK STILL ALIVE TELLING ALL OF EQUESTRIA TO LOOK OUT BECAUSE WE HIT A HOT AIR BALOON AND, IF MY GEOGRAPHICAL KNOWLEDGE IS ANYTHING TO GO OFF OF, WE’RE HEADING STRAIGHT FOR MANEHATTEN. BRACE FOR IMPACT!”

The three ponies screamed in terror as their descent began picking up speed towards the highly populated area. A trail of clouds traced the arc that the balloon’s trajectory as it reaches Manehatten. Ponies look out of their windows with faces of fear and terror. A group of uniformed pegasus attempt to slow the descent of the air balloon but are swatted away by a flailing Lucky who is being held firmly by the mare who was originally piloting the whole balloon.

“Attention ladies, this is your heatshield here informing you that WE ARE ABOUT TO CRASH INTO ANOTHER BALLOON!” Mic Check screamed as he continued holding on to the basket for his life. There is a massive rainbow balloon in the air that manages to slow the trio’s fall and redirect their eventual impact to an empty park.

They are greeted by a bright yellow pony with clown makeup and a rainbow wig on. Her eyes are crossed every other time she blinks her green and blue eyes. She has on her flank a balloon in the shape of a horseshoe for a cutie mark. With her is a wagon full of balloons and an air pump. She giggles and jumps around from side to side as she stares at the dazed Mic Check.

“Are we on land yet?”

“Vhy, yez! I do believe we are en ze ground. Très bien!” Lucky and the other mare managed to crawl their way out of the wreckage with hardly a scratch on the. “Merci monsieur stallion. You could zay zat you fell for me in a vay that iz so Très bien!” She leaves Mic Check a purple card marked with fancy hearts.

“Roma Horseshoes: Appleoosan Romancer?” Mic Check read the card allowed before shaking his head. “Well dear listeners, in the short amount of time, we were fired from a cannon, struck down a hot air balloon, and crash landed in a Manehatten park in…” Mic Check looks at the nearby clocktower. “Fifteen minutes FLAT.”

The clown mare honked a horn in Mic Check’s face rattling him a bit. The mare giggles as she receives a hug from both Lucky and Roma. “SF! Merci beaucoup ma chère soeur.”

“Silly Filly, what in tarnation are ya’ll doin’ here in Manehatten?” Lucky asked the mare. Lucky is given a piece of paper and a laugh from the clown. “CORONATION DAY PARADE!? Consarn Manehatten draggin’ erry single celebrity t’ one location.”

“Hey, I take offense to that!” Mic Check said, still shaken up from the crash.

“Whaddya takin’ a’fence fer? Ya’ll are in Manehatten!” Lucky retorted, helping the stallion get up on all four hooves.

“Bah! Work obligations. Even if I were invited, the weekends are my turf for being the #1 RADIO STATION EQUESTRIA HAS TO OFFER. That’s right, we’ve polled. You’ve answered. An almost unanimous decision that leads Equestria Radio to be the number one radio station that you’ve heard of. We’re also the first radio station, but let’s not get into the semantics, listeners.”

“OI!” A voice yelled through the tarnished balloons. Out from underneath the mess is a yellow earth pony in a police uniform. Her green eyes are covered by sunglasses and her main is tied into a cinnamon bun to be kept underneath her police hat. Her cutie mark appears to look like a police badge with a hoofprint on the badge and behind the badge making it look like a pony is showing it off. Whaddaya think ya doin’? Ya know how much Propetty damage ya causin?”

“Well, ain’t this a hoot. Four of the seven Horseshoe sisters in one place.” Lucky raises a hoof to the police mare. “Howdy Handy.”

“Dat’s Chief Handgrenades to ya. And ya sorry flank is getting’ FINED f’ litterin’.” The police mare pulls out a note pad and pen from her uniform’s chest pocket and begins to write on it before tearing a page out and stamping it on Mic Check’s snout.

“Non, non, grande sœur. Et waz MY balloon zat caused ze crash. If any pony should take responsibility, it should be moi.” Roma confronts the police chief while having her hooves wrapped around Mic Check.

“Ha! Ya eva listen t’ radio, Roma? Won’t surprise ya t’ know Erry pony’s listenin’ t’ some unprepaed disc jockey followin’ aroun’ a trottin’ landmine like Lucky. Betcha bottom dolla dat them Apples in Manehatten were listenin’. Da amount o‘ calls sayin’ ‘da jynx is comin’! Da jynx is comin’!’ and I can’t help but laugh.” The police mare chuckles before scratching her chin with her hoof. “Where was I goin’ with it? Oh yeah! We got evidence placin’ this guy as an instigata’ n’ willing participant in deez actions against da state o’ Manehatten. Sorry, eh, but I can’t just let the action slide because ya family neither sis.” She stamps another fine, this time on Lucky’s hoof.

Lucky stuck the fine in her hat. “Nothin’ I know I can’t pay fer, but how ‘bout a sisterly hug fer ol’ time sake?” Lucky asked, raising her hoof in acceptance of a hug. The clown mare honked her horn and joined in on the hug.

Roma also joined in on the hug with Mic Check still in her clutch. “Now, now, grande sœur, you mus’ cherish familial bondage. Et iz so très bien!”

“Aight, ya made ya point. Ain’t no pain in family.” The police chief conceded and participated in on the hug. “Been a while hasn’t it? How ya doin?”

“I’d say mah life is as chaotic as it is normally. An’ how ‘bout you, Roma?” Lucky asked her sister.

“Az usual, everything is très bien!” Roma says wrapping her hoof tighter around Mic Check. “Ze Appleoosan clientele ‘ave spread ze word ALL AROUND EQUESTRIA! Loverz know no bounds, no? Hopefully that pony in Filly Delphia iz happily engaged despite ze sloppy ending. Otherwise zat would not be très bien.” The conversation is broken up by the clown honking her horn, showering the sisters all in confetti.

“Well, you heard it here first folks, a sisterly reunion, a group hug, and a fine in the triple digits…” Mic Check let’s out a groaning sigh as he’s able to slink his way out of the hug. “I bet some of you listeners out there hold a bit of jealousy with the amount of action your host, Mic Check, has been receiving from the mares, but I can assure you that this stud of a stallion still is out here open and free for you and me baby.”

“I am zorry, but whom iz zis handsome stallion, Lucky? Vhy iz he talking into hiz jaquette?” Roma asked.

“I’ve been askin’ myself that since he followed me t’ the train station back in Baltimare, but I know he’s a radio host fer Equestria Radio. I won a grand prize raffle to be on the radio but that still don’t explain why he’s followin’ me.” Lucky responded.

“I bet the listeners at home are dying to know!” Mic Check said with a shiny grin and a wink. “A bit experimental, but this tech right here is mobile radio. The jacket holds all the important stuff and it even has a microphone for ponies to speak into. It’s incredibly hot though, most likely due to the batteries making sure the electronics are all on. And as for why I’m following you, miss Lucky, you won our grand prize in the raffle which states that at the very least we spend an hour together. You left three minutes after we started and boss lady back in Baltimare wanted me to go after you so you wouldn’t sue us. AIN’T THAT RIGHT MOUTH PIECE!?” Mic Check said the last part of his explanation louder and had his mouth very close to the microphone before readjusting it back to its original position.

“Mon chéri, may I ‘ave a quick word for all those out there listening?” Roma asked Mic Check who merely just nodded as she got uncomfortably close face to face with him. “‘ello every pony. If you are looking to woo ze love ov your life? Come on down to-”

“APPLEOOSA!” Both Roma, the police chief, and Lucky said in unison as the clown pops a confetti cannon that spells out Appleoosa both in the air and as it lands on the ground.

“Roma ze Romancer shall be your guide for ze matrimonious and romantique of occasions. Jus’ ask for Roma Horseshoes and ze love will be no issue.” Roma places her hoof on Mic Check’s cheek and gives it a gentle stroke before giving him a gentle kiss on his cheek. “Merci, mon amour.”

Mic Check was visibly blushing as he pulled down his jacket a bit further down his body. “At the very least radio is an audio based medium and not a visual based one, because I would not want the viewers to see me in the state that I am in. Speaking of state…” Mic Check Looks back at the clock. “What’s the plan now, mis Lucky Horseshoes? There’s only thirty-five minutes until the coronation ceremony.”

“GOSH DARN IT! We still nowhere near Canterlot. Handy, please tell me dat the train station’s still open?”

“HA! Train station has been full for ages, especially so with the thought of some world ending balloon comin’ in. If it wasn’t already full, then it is now with ponies evacuatin’.”

“I feel az though I am, how you say, ‘out of ze loop’ Lucky. Pourquoi? What iz happening in Canterlot zat you need to be there?”

“My friend’s gonna be a princess an’ Imma be missin’ out on it. I can’t hurt a friend by missin’ out on one of their grandest days. Ya’ll know that.”

“Wayda minute, ya tellin’ me that ya befriended Celestia’s returunin sister?”

“Not surprising that she did, given she’s an element of harmony. She also befriended an adult dragon all the way in Ponyville. Or at least that’s what my sources say.” Mic Check adds to the conversation.

“Ya gotta point, small fry. Lucky could out gamble a casino without cheatin’. Bet she could take my job had she not gotten invested in her frilly plant hobbies.”

“I’ve told ya’ll a thousand times before, I find herbology best suits me. Ain’t no chances I’m doin’ it right, jus’ plant seeds an’ water ‘em. Ain’t no luck I tell ya.”

“But how, pray tell, vill you be getting to Canterlot in time for ze ceremony?” As if on que to answer Roma’s question, there is a loud honk. The four ponies turn around to see that the clown pony had turned the hot air balloon into a blimp using a massive inflatable balloon. “Oh, zank you SF.”

“Nice one, sis! Should make it to Canterlot in no time at all.” Lucky said as Mic Check, Roma, and herself got into the basket alongside the clown mare who was just all smiles and giggles. “To Canterlot, girls!”

After a moment of traveling less than a quarter of the average speed of an average pony walking, Mic Check speaks. “You heard it here first, my dear listeners. In a mare made balloon traveling at zero miles per hour, we shall make it to Canterlot in no time… As in we won’t make it to Canterlot period.”

“Ya may need some thrustas. Hold on a moment, we busted two stallions earlier today for reckless endangament. Should speed things up.”

“No, go ahead. We’ve only got half an hour. Plenty of time for you to bring us a rocket that would launch us to the moon faster than magic.” Mic Check says with a defeated sigh. He looks up to see Roma staring back at him in distress while Lucky and the clown mare start playing patty cake. “Do I have something on my face?” he asked.

“Non, non, Monsieur. Et haz been a rather hectic day today, iz it not? Vhat would you normally do to destress ze frustrations of ze day?”

“Are… are you trying to start a conversation with me?” Mic Check asked the mare who nodded. The stallion laughed. “And here I thought I was the one to be asking the questions that every pony in Equestria wants answered. Being the most dashing stallion and pony in general that I know, what tends to ease my ever-racing heart is one good look in the mirror. The smile on that gorgeous stallion’s face would soothe the heart of any mare he comes across. And then I remember that the pony that I am looking at is me, and my self-esteem skyrockets.”

Roma giggles at his response. “Et seems reasonable after all you are quite charming enough to host a radio show.” Mic Check began to smile a bit. After all the craziness he had been through in less than an hour, it’s nice for him to get a bit of breathing room. “Are ve still live? Hello, I am Roma in case you all forgot about me.”

“If we weren’t live, I’d probably be fired. Besides, if we weren’t live then your police chief of a sister wouldn’t have gotten so many calls specifically about Lucky.” Mic Check brings the microphone closer to his mouth. “Which I would like to thank the responsible listeners out there well prepared for the potential demise of their civilization. You are the ones who keep Equestria Radio afloat.”

“Are zey really?” Roma asked with a sparkle in her eye.

“Maybe, but who really knows? I’m just thanking my polite and ever vigilant listeners for staying with me on this impromptu stray of the norm.” Mic Check sighs. “I should be back in the booth playing the latest hits.”

“How violent! Ze hits, vhy do ze ponies want to listen to such horrid actions!?” Roma reacts in an appalled way.

“Musical hits. Like songs that did really well that they hit the top of the charts. It’s a metaphor.”

“Oh, I see.” Roma went from a face of disgust to a face of smiling intrigue. “So, monsieur Check vas it? Might I ask to know you better? Vhat iz your favorite colour?”

“That’s Mic Check, baby. And you better remember that name because I swear to you and to all those ponies listening to me right now that Mic Check will be the name that are up in lights everywhere you go. From Las Pegasus to right here in Manehatten or even Griffonstone.” The stallion said exuberating with ego. “Also, my favorite colors are shades of beige and brown like our studio at Baltimare.”

“Beige and brown you zay?” Roma strokes her own brown mane and blushes a little. “Brown like my mane or brown like your fur, Mic Check?” Roma clicks her tongue when she says the stallion’s name as her face gets closer to his.

“Uh…. Ha… I consider myself to have a more mahogany brown, while your mane is more an auburn brown…” Mic Check looks around the rather cramped basket for another shade of brown to compare it to. “Like this balloon basket. Not quite bright, but not quite dark either, showing of that nice industrial shade of brown that I love so very much, but if YOU want your very own Mic Check Mahogany color in your house you can order the Mic Check Marketable Plushie coming to a store near you… once they get approved that is.”

“Got da thrustas!” The police mare jumped into the basket between Roma and Mic check and started to clamp on two rockets onto the basket. “Trajectory set t’ Cantalot. Hold on tight, girls, because we about to go from zero t’ sixty in a second.” The police mare flipped a switch as every pony else on-board dogpiled Lucky. The force of the thrusters was immense enough to force them all to one side of the basket while the police mare kept a firm grip on the thrusters themselves. The elasticity of the new balloon kept it taut and maintaining the momentum of the thrusters. It wasn’t long until the were above the commercial district for the police mare to find an open area to land. “Ya can stop screaming. We’re here.” She said managing to land the balloon safe and sound in the rather empty commercial district.

Lucky is the first one out, kissing the ground as she does so. “Sweet mercy let this be the last time I go off flyin’ again. The dang stress is startin’ t’ get t’ me.”

“All ze ponies, zey mus’ be aht ze coronation ceremony.” Roma looked around the empty streets of Canterlot. The clown mare had tied an extra-long balloon that seemed to stretch across from where they left Manehatten to where they are at now. She giggles as she stick a sticky note saying ‘return trip to Manehatten’ on the end of the balloon.

“Not every day we get a new princess, ya know.” The police mare carefully exited the aircraft. “Cantalot civvies prolly deep in the coronation zone t’ experience this event.”

“Well folks and colts at home, it was a heart racing less than an hour, but we finally made it to Canterlot in time, with…” Mic Check checked a nearby clock tower. “ten minutes to spare. There were plenty of detours and false stops, but we made it. And so ends this segment of ‘a day in the life’ featuring Lucky Horseshoes. I’ve been your live host Mic Check, checking out for the day.”

“And so ends? Ya’ll gots yer brain bangled? We ain’t even at the coronation. Hurry on ya’ll, let’s give good ol’ Luna a Horseshoes’ sisters salutations.” The four sisters and Mic Check begin looking around town for signs of any pony.

“Miss Horseshoes, we assure you, we hold the best of intentions.” The four mares turned their heads to the voice.

“Yes, listen to my brother. We hold a familial bond that will allow our dreams to become reality! You’re familiar with familial bonds, yes? So why not help us two brothers out with your expert smithing capabilities?” The sisters and Mic Check come across and see two lanky banana yellow unicorn stallions talking to an earth pony mare at what looks like a smithy. They both have green eyes and red manes with a slick white streak going through them.

“I tell you what man, you both are dang ol’ unicorns I can’t see much why you don’t, you know, make you dang ol’ machine yourselves. Talkin’ about metal moving metal going all CLANG, but a real hoof in hammer you know will keep things steady. I’m talkin’ about why me and why not yourselves man. It’s really easy for you, man.” The mare spoke in a fast way. She is wearing a rather thick apron and a welder’s mask. Her mane is visible and kept short and potentially bleached as her brown roots are visible. She takes off the welder’s mask to reveal a pair of basset hound like green eyes and an orange face with yellow freckles on her face. “And talkin’ about familial bonds, those are my sisters: Lucky, Roma, Silly Filly, and police chief Handgrenades, you know.”

“COBBLES!” The sisters say in unison accompanied by giggles and honks followed by a group hug.

“Oh, this is even better! A Flim Flam Horseshoe Fam Collaboration!” The stallion with the mustache said.

“Yes, yes. Miss Cobbles with you and your sister’s collaboration, we’d be able to make our machine at an efficiency of ten thousand percent.”

Mic Check approaches one of the stallions. “Family drama, fellow listeners out there. May I ask you for the ponies at home, what is this well-meaning machine that you are trying to make a…” He looks over to the mares in a group hug, noticing the new cutie mark of a horseshoe with a nail being hammered in as well as noticing that the outdoor market spot. “Cobbler? You are asking a pony that makes horseshoes for a living to make… something that isn’t a horseshoe?” Mic Check places his hoof on his forehead.

“Not just a cobbler. Miss Horseshoes is the Canterlot royal guard armorer. If any pony knows their hoof around a hammer and nail around here, it’s no pony else but her.”

“We swear that the Flim Flam brothers are honest and good ponies wishing to bring refreshments all over Equestria with our new invention…”

“The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000!” The two of them said in unison.

“6000?” Lucky asked with a raised eyebrow. “What evah happened t’ the others before that one?”

“Dang ol’ marketing, man. Using large numbers man to convince simple minded mares that it’s better you know. I tell you what, the Pain Stopper two point oh greaves that them guards wear is a dang ol’ first generation man. Some pony else made the dang original pain stopper so when that Shining Armor fellow asked me to make him something I tell you I was just winging it. Dang ol’ lawyers came up to me and bought the rights and took the blueprints but I still get complaints man. Not from Shining Armor though, I tell you what.” Cobbles takes off her mask. “I tell you what, if I make your gosh dang cider machine, will you leave me and my family alone?”

“Why we’ll get out of your hair right now.” The mustachioed stallion said, placing the blueprints down on the counter.

“Just make sure you leave the finished project at our address.” The other stallion uses his magic to give her a card.

Cobbles turns her head from the two stallions trotting away over to her sister, Lucky. “Lucky, man, it’s good to see all you girls here on this dang ol’ quiet day in Equestria man. Every pony gone off and attended that there Luna coronation thing I ain’t too familiar with. Likely to assume you going there too, sis? I can show you the way so you don’t get, you know, lost and going out there causing trouble for the folk here at Canterlot. I don’t even want to know how you were able to gather all these dang ol’ sisters in one space. Just missin good ol’ captain Fishsticks and…”

“Ballot!” Lucky said

“Ballin!” Handgrenades exclaimed

“Ballét!” Roma stated

“BALLERINA!” Silly Filly giggled.

“Dang ol’ Ballet man.” Cobbles added

An annoyed sigh came from a mare in a fancy baby blue crystal dress who was behind Cobbles. It was Ballet, Lucky’s sister. “I knew I would find at least one of my sisters today. Just not most of them.”

“I saw Fishsticks almost an hour ago.” Lucky added.

“Good for you, but your friends have been looking for you and we’ve got two minutes before they close the gates.” Ballet grabbed Lucky and rushed around the corner with the other sisters and Mic Check following them. They are all stopped by two guards standing guard at the entrance of the Canterlot Castle.

“Halt. Gates are closed and we aren’t taking in any more ponies.” One of the guards said

“I was just in there, plus I got one of the elements of harmony who has a reserved seat left empty. Just let her in, I can skip this out.” Ballet made the offer to the guards.

“Sorry. The capacity for the castle has been reached and it would cause a health problem to let any more ponies in. Captain’s ORDER!” The other stallion said, ending his words at attention as an airship with a pirate logo on the side flies towards the Castle. Silly Filly begins to blow a big balloon just as one of the airship’s cannon’s fires something directly at them. The shot firmly lands safely on the balloon which reveals Captain Fishsticks was shot out of the cannon as she is covered in black powder.

“Yar, Landlubbers! I ain’t late am I?” Fishsticks asks as her tricorn hat lands fast on the balloon causing a loud pop in the faces of the guards, knocking the duo out.

Ballet sighs while the other sisters cheer at Fishsticks’ entrance. “On time. Now let’s all get inside before we get arrested or witnesses show up.” Ballet opens the gate and one by one each of her sisters go through before stopping Mic Check. “Hold up. No tail gating. We’ll seriously get in trouble if we do.”

“He iz with us.”

“He’s with us.”

Lucky and Roma both wrap their hooves around Mic Check and forcibly drag him inside as Ballet dejectedly sighs. “Alright, but I need to check up with him after to ask him about a thing for the mayor when this is all over.”

“The elegance. The fortitude. The courage to do so with hundreds if not thousands of ponies staring against you. Truly is a once in a lifetime sight to behold. Two sisters facing each other, both respecting each other as the royalty the two were born in after a thousand years almost brings a tear to this lucky pony’s eyes. Once the crown is firmly placed on her head, filly’s and gentlecolts, Equestria will officially have two recognized royal figures holding their throne here in Canterlot castle. Luna approaches Celestia in her magnificently starry night dress. Very glittery if I do say so myself and you all listening at home know that I do say so myself. The royal scepter is passed over to Celestia by a royal… court pony? I’m not too sure who that is since coming here wasn’t a part of my day so I have no idea what’s going on. Celestia takes the scepter and places it on both of Luna’s sides and-” As Mic Check told a play-by-play radio broadcast, the castle was filled to the brim with a deafening applause. He waited for the noise to die down before speaking again. “I think I may have to go see a doctor about my ears after this. Maybe my spine too… this day has been pretty hectic, but we can finally say that this was the impromptu day in the life section featuring Lucky Horseshoes. Whether or not we’ll do this again is up to you. This is Mic Check, checking out for the day on the one and only Equestria Radio.” Mic Check groans after flipping a switch jutting out of his jacket.

“So, you’re telling me that you followed my sister on her way he, and it was recorded? I hope you’re able to live down that pain.” Ballet said. Ballet, Mic Check, and the other sisters were lined up at one of the furthest walls from the coronation. “So did you get the memo about coming to Ponyville for another gig?”

“Mouth Piece, my agent slash boss is theone you’d need to talk to about that, not me. Boss lady will probably accept since the only thing I have going on is this weekend radio schtick.” Mic Check laughs which then turns into a sigh.

“Vell I for one can assure you monsieur that you have a very big fan in me.” Roma comforts Mic Check.

“Been a while since all seven of us were together in one area, ain’t it?” Chief Handgrenades said looking over at Lucky who is on the other side of the castle courtyard with her friends. Silly Filly giggles and nods her head. “Not includin’ the eleven degrees o’ separation that Lucky has.”

“I tell you what, Handy, I remember the last time all seven of us were together it was dang ol’ time when Fishsticks got hitched to that foalhood sweet heart of hers. Dang ol’ Buried Treasure is the name coming to mind and even then that was back in the day when Lucky, Roma, and Ballet were practically babies as they almost ruined the wedding back then I tell you what.”

“Oh yeah, I remember that now. I signed up to the academy just after.” Handgrenades said in a reminiscing tone. “Hey, how’s that son of a gun doing?”

“Burry is doing fine I’ll make sure to tell him that, but please don’t mention him to my crew.” The harsh gravelly tone that Fishsticks had was gone and replaced with a much more softer and innocent sounding voice when she said those words. “Savvy?” She said with her tough tone returning.

“Den, let’s ask one of ya. Any of you fillies seeing a colt in your life?” The police chief looks at the line of her sisters, some are shaking their head while others are looking away.

“I am zeeing monsieur Mic Check.” Roma says with a tight grip wrapped around Mic Check’s body.

“Whoa nelly, we only just met like an hour ago and while I do propagate the idea of love at first sight when available, I don’t necessarily believe that.” Mic Check weaseled an explanation out of the relationship.

“Ve shall zee what your audience thought about us.” Roma said with a bit of a mischievous grin and giggle.

“Ovah here gang!” Lucky’s voice grew closer. “I was able t’ get all my sisters up in one place.” The crowd began to disperse with the coronation ceremony at an end making both Lucky’s friends and Lucky’s sisters visible to each other. “Ya’ll know Ballot from the talent show?”

“Ballet.” Her sister corrected her.

“That’s police chief Handgrenades, captain Fishsticks, Cobbles, Roma, and Silly filly.” Lucky introduced her friends to her sisters. “And these are my friends Cookies N Cream, Alto Tenor, Hopeful Journey, Facing North, an’ Enchanted Crown.” She then introduced her sisters to her friends. “I know ya’ll be great friends.”

“Friends? OF COURSE! Why wouldn’t we be friends. I love making friends!” The orange earth pony named Hopeful Journey said.

“Love?” Hearts sparked on the blue battlefield known as Roma’s eyes.

“Cool, your sister is a clown I love her.” He said going over to clap hooves together with Silly Filly causing the hearts in Roma’s eyes to quickly break.

“It is a pleasure to meet you all, my dear Horseshoes sisters. I too wish for the best of us in our times spent together…” As Cookies looked at the sisters, Mic Check had caught his attention. “Say, haven’t I met you somewhere before? You look familiar I just can’t put my hoof on it.” The petite white unicorn stallion asked Mic Check.

Mic check took a moment to respond by taking a deep breath in. “I don’t think I’ve met you properly before, but if I may seem familiar to you then you may have recognized me from my stellar performance at the Summer Sun Celebration. Or you could recognize my voice on the radio and put the perfect image in your head. Am I right? The name’s Mic Check.”

Cookies shook his head for a moment. “My mistake, I may have briefly seen you at Ponyville at that time, as you say. You remind me of a pony I forgot to thank is all.”

“Well, I can’t have any lookalikes wandering Equestria then. Hope you all are avid listeners of Equestria Radio on the weekends because that is where you’ll hear me.” With that said, Mic Check makes his way out of the castle courtyard with Roma following him.

“Wait for me, monsieur Check. Ve shall take ze balloon. I would love to know where et iz you live.” Roma says in an eager tone to which Mic Check

“Yar, I best be going with’em as well. Me ship’s weighed anchor over thar Manehatten port.” Fishsticks says.

“If it’s Manehatten ya want, Silly Filly here made us a balloon bridge. Should blow us over to Manehatten in no time.” Handgrenades explains as Silly Filly nods, smiles, and giggles. And so, the three mares give their goodbyes to Lucky and her friends as the three leave the castle courtyard.

“Your sisters sure are fun, Lucky.” Hope said with his usual cheery grin and optimism.

“I tell you what, man, you come on back here in Canterlot I’ll show you how to make a dang ol’ horseshoe you know. That being my job and everything. Swinging a hammer down on hot metal with al that clanging and banging. Some other time though because them dang ol’ Flim Flams convinced me to work on their dang machine man I tell you what. Shouldn’t take me more than a day or two to fix that up man.”

Hope stares back at the fast-talking mare, his eyes darting around the room. “Wow… Yeah!”

“Oh, you’re that horseshoe cobbler Shining Armor told me about. He really likes your work, though he would always point out the inferior versions that the other guards wear.” EC informed Cobbles.

“Manufacturers man, they only care about the dang ol’ quantity over quality philosophy you know. One mare can’t make enough for all of Equestria and all that. I tell you what the offer is still open to you as well. Can even make you a more comfortable helm you got, giving your mane air to breathe you know.”

EC places a hoof on her helm. “I think you might be right. I’ve had this one for a couple of years and now I have to essentially oil up my head to even fit. Thank you for the offer.”

“No problem, little lady, but I should probably get going making that metal contraptions you know man. Dang ol’ unicorns will end up bothering me until I pass I tell you what. Good seeing you.” With that said, Cobbles begins to exit as the other ponies’ wave goodbye to her. Just as Cobbles exits the courtyard, a loud and continuous noise filled the air.

“Ah! What was that?” Mareian says as she covers her ears with her wings as the loud noise continues.

“That’s the sound of air escaping from a balloon.” Ballet says unflinching. “Silly Filly would always make balloons for the soul purpose of riding them from place to place. They’re usually pretty big so the noise will continue for a while.”

“WHAT!?” Mareian said in agony, continuing to cover up her ears even as the noise stops. “The ringing won’t stop!” A white aura envelopes Mareian head as well as the others. The pained moans stop. “Oh, thank you that was absolutely an awful experience.”

“When a cake is left in the oven too long, my dear EC, I use that spell to set it back to perfection.” Cookies nudged EC as he spoke. “And there are no thanks necessary. First it was that loud pop, then the applause, and finally that last sound. We’d probably all be deaf if there weren’t spells like these.”

“Aren’t you the midday baker for Sugar Cube Corner?” Ballet asked.

“It’s more of a bit of volunteer work, but yes I do bake over at that fine establishment.” Cookies answered the mare’s question.

“A baker, a singer, and some sort of high-level magic user. Gee Lucky, your friends are a bit of a kooky bunch aren’t they?” Ballet nudged her sister.

“Well, friendship is one o’ the mos’ important aspects t’ life.” Lucky said as she took off her hat and smiled. “And ya know what they say, sis, Friendship is weird.”

Author's Notes:

I'm never doing a "word goal" ever again. A chaotic chapter to be sure and I enjoyed writing the """song""" On the Radio/Lucky.

Speaking of Lucky, let's talk about her shall we?

I've always wondered about the idea of a character whose luck is so far off the charts that it affects those around them. Thus lucky was born. I see her more as an ancillary character, but as I get back into writing I feel like she could be the main in some chapters. I'm not going to do 7777 word goals for her this is the only time that it happens.

Her family was not as thoroughly thought out unlike Mareian's brother and the families of the stallion trio. The idea slowly developed into each one of them having their own accent as you can tell by how their dialogue is written. Fishsticks is a pirate talker, Handgrenades has a newyorka accent, Roma has a french accent... and speaks french... hope that doesn't get me in trouble for adding google translated french words and sentences here and there by I liked writing her the most. Silly Filly the clown is based on an autistic family member of mine with how she's always happy and giggling. There's Cobbles who's dialogue and mannerisms is based on Boomhaur from King of the Hill which helped with the word count. And finally there's Ballet, the only one whose dialogue doesn't give me a headache in trying to write it.

Oh yeah, Lucky speaks in that Applejack country dialect... obviously. You ever notice that how every time she should lose her hat, it still manages to stay on her head? to contrast this, I had Fishsticks' hat always fall off and she had to pick it back up.

Anyway Lucky number 7 chapter is over. I might take a bit of a break from writing given how exhausting writing chapter 7 was in a timely manner with a specific word count. Chapter 8 will come just not at as consistent of a speed. maybe in two weeks who knows.

Dreams of Friendship

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“Who’s they?” Ballet asked Lucky. Lucky looked back over to her friends, Hope, Mareian, Alto, EC, and Cookies before looking back at her sister, Ballet. The Canterlot courtyard slowly becoming less crowded as the audience takes their time to leave.

“Alto say that they say it, ain’t that right?” Lucky looks back over at the massive blue Pegasus stallion who merely shook his head and waved a hoof at her. “Well, I fer one like the sayin’. That the bizarre adventures we have bein’ fun and all that because of friendship.”

Ballet sighed before looking around the courtyard. “That’s one way to look at it. It was nice for all of us sisters to be together if only for a brief moment, Lucky, but I shall be heading back to Ponyville and tell the mayor how everything went.” The earth pony said as she trotted off, waving goodbye which received goodbyes from Lucky’s friends as well.

“Y-you sure have a big family, Lucky. Glad you were able to make it here on time with them.” EC said.

“Yepperooni. Horseshoes sisters be all around Equestria. Ain’t an apple to the core, but a Horseshoe forever more. Family motto and all or something like that.” Lucky explained.

“Sounds more like a family feud if you ask me.” Mareian interjected with an eyeroll.

“Friends are like family, and I like to think we are one big happy family!” Hope said with his usual chipper tone with a smile that shines brighter than the sun itself. “I mean, we all have living spaces together if that isn’t a family dynamic, I don’t know what is?”

“I wish that our Gala suits were ready. Seems like such a special occasion to do so.” Cookies says almost sounding disappointed.

“Thou mustn’t pain yourself.” The group are startled by the newly crowned princess Luna. With the castle courtyard basically emptied, she was able to approach the group unperturbed. “My greatest friends being here has sextupled my happiness.”

“YAY! The fun has been sextupled!” Hope says as he brings all his friends in together with Luna into one big hug.

“Yes, it is great to see you too, Mr. Journey.” Luna laughed alongside with Hope. “Thou must be ready for the night of fantastical stupor.”

“Night?” Mareian said, a bit squished from the hug. “The sun is still up and it feels like I just woke up two hours ago.”

“Less time for dreams it seems. Perhaps we should all go out together in the waking world then, my dear Luna?” Cookies mentioned. “We have a whole day together in Canterlot, so what do you say?” A smile formed on Luna’s face. The alicorn wrapped her wings around her friends, smiles on each of their faces.

The rest of the day flew by with event after event. They had lunch at a fancy restaurant where Hope stuffed his face and Cookies kept his pallet to a minimum. Next they had gone to an arcade where Lucky and Alto had a mountain of tickets set at a counter in exchange for a large teddy bear for Luna. Finally, they went through an arts and history museum where EC and Mareian had given educational tidbits on ancient relics and paintings. With the night upon the group, they return to Canterlot castle for one last meal together before being sent to a guest room that had seven separate beds lined up next to each other.

“Ahh finally!” Lucky jumps onto one of the beds, all her hooves spread out. “Been a LONG day ain’t it.”

“It is getting late.” Cookies said carefully laying himself into one of the beds. “Luna, is there anything else we have to do for this?”

“Thou need not to worry.” Luna comforted the stallion. “The minimum requirements for this spell is for thou all to be asleep. I shall make the connection one by one to interlink your dreams. Thou must rest your heads first.”

Each of the ponies quickly chose a bed to spend their night in. It wasn’t long until almost all of them were asleep. “This is so exciting I can’t sleep!” Hope said in a hushed excitement. “Luna, can you sing me a song?”

The alicorn princess of the night stared at her smiling blue-eyed friend as he lay under his blankets with a twinkle in his eye. “…What?”

“A lullaby! Sky would always sing one to me when I was younger and couldn’t get to sleep at a reasonable hour. Then Cookies was the one that started singing to me after I bothered him enough times. Pretty please princess please?” Hope said with puppy dog eyes.

Luna couldn’t help but smile, looking down on her young friend. “Of course.”

La la la la la

La la la la la la Luna Lullaby

La la la la la

La la la la la la Luna Lullaby

Hush now my friend

The day reached its end

And its time to go into the land of dreams

Your body needs rest

This is for the best

Close your eyes and let’s imagine sunbeams.

La la la la la

La la la la la la Luna Lullaby

Your friends will be there

In the place that doesn’t wear

In our dreamscape friendship is everlasting

You can trust it will be fun

Close your eyes, it shall be done

In our dreams we shall be together forever laughing

La la la la la

La la la la la la Luna-

Hope fell into a snoring slumber. Luna looked at all her sleeping friend with a smile before her horn glowed with magic, enveloping herself and her slumbering friends in her magic. Luna took one last look at all her friends before closing her eyes, ready to enter her friends’ dreams.

Sugar Cube Corner isn’t normally bustling with ponies, but today is the day where the heir apparent of the Cream family dynasty, Cookies N Cream, created a culinary masterpiece. The menu had a red circle and arrows pointing in one specific area. The ponies inside had similar manes and tails with colors being varied, but they all had smiles on their faces as they ate their delicious treats. The doors open revealing a tall sky-blue Pegasus mare with a long and cloudy mane. Every pony inside starred at the pony with wide sparkles in their eyes, enamored by the mare as she trotted her way to the counter. The white unicorn stallion turned around as a smile appeared on his face and his magnificent swirl of a mane flowed effortlessly from the movement.

“Is it the weekend already, Miss Sky?” Cookies asked with a sparkle in his eye.

The mare in front of him let out a soft giggle. “Not today, Cookies. I’m here for a routine weather checkup and thought about stopping by here to see you.” Sky said.

At this moment, Luna appeared out of Cookies sight as he talked to Sky. She noticed at first glance everything was close to reality, but as her sights strayed she noticed some odd things happening outside of Cookies point of view. While the ponies’ faces were blurred is a common occurrence in dreams for Luna, what isn’t common are the bizarre fauna growing in the cracks of the floorboards. Mushrooms of varying colors were sprouting out of the counter as purple carrots peaked from the cracks.

“I’ll try that RLMCCEOAA of yours.” The large Pegasus said, spooking Luna with the garbled-up words she said.

“No need to wait. I’ve already prepped one just for you.” Cookies places a plate down with a blurred object on top of it. The stallion notices the alicorn out of the corner of his eye and as he does so all the odd crops and mushrooms disappeared. “Ah, Luna. Good to see you. May I get you anything today?”

Luna looks over at Sky, her smile ever radiant, but knowing the real Sky she would have a much more sinister smile than that. “Thou art in a dream, young Cream.”

“Oh, don’t be so silly. How can I be dreaming when everything looks so real?” He looks around Sugar Cube Corner quickly but notices one of the mushrooms that had grown behind him. “I see what you mean.” The stallion takes a bite out of the mushroom. “How shall we be getting into the dreams of the others?”

“Like so.” Luna casts a portal behind Cookies and tackles him through with her. They couldn’t see anything but a bright white light. Once the brightness had died down, the two of them opened their eyes. Massive bookcases adorn the walls of the wooden structure that they were now in. At the center is a counter and at the counter is none other than Mareian. She has her face deep in a book which is giving off visual animated imagery. Cookies accidentally knocks one of the books down, gathering Mareian’s attention which stops the animation coming from the book.

“Hey! This is a library! Keep it down.” She said, slowly losing interest in the two, but as she looks at them, an animation plays from the book. A goldish tanned Pegasus is rushing through a jungle as though she is being chased. “Kids stories like that aren’t my favorite.” Mareian says nonchalantly as the book in her hooves plays a romantic moment between two ponies.

“I did not take you for a romance connoisseur, my dear Mareian.” Cookies said, causing Mareian and her book to look back at him.

Mareian raises an eyebrow and smirks playfully, her eyes gleaming mischievously. “When I am not out and about, I work in a library or book store. When there is nothing to do, I read the books. Some stories catch my eye while others don’t, but I think you should take a page out of this Cherry Heart classic.” She rips out a page from the book and tosses it at Cookies. A scene plays out between two ponies in an old-time fashion.

“But Jack, I am too much of a stay-at-home baker to go on those boisterous adventures with you. I just can’t do it.”

“Frankly, my dear Honeybuns, I don’t care about the adventures as long as I spend the rest of my life with you.”

“Oh Jack!” The mare in the animation wraps her hooves around the stallion, ending it with a kiss. Cookies looks back at Mareian who still has a smug grin on her face.

“Well, I think it’s cute anyway.” Mareian sighs as she grabs another book.

“Thou must acknowledge, Facing North, of the dream thou art having, yes?” Luna asked the Pegasus.

“Sounds about right.” Mareian says as the book in front of her depicts two ponies, a massive blue Pegasus mare and a small white unicorn stallion holding hooves on a hill as the sun sets. “This is one I think about writing.”

While Cookies looks at Mareian with a skeptical raised eyebrow, Luna casts another portal, dragging the two with her into it. As before there was a bright white light for a while and then darkness. The ponies had opened their eyes in the dreamscape but could only see darkness. They could, however hear a symphonic melody playing.

“Hey, Luna, where are we?” Mareian’s voice could be heard.

“I always suspected he’d have these kinds of dreams, though I assumed it would be on a grand stage and not darkness.” Cookies’ voice added.

“This is rather troublesome for our dream ventures. I do not have the visual means to send us to the next dream.” Luna said, her voice worried. “That is to say, if I can’t see you I may accidentally leave you behind in young Alto’s dream.”

“OH, I can help with that!” Hope’s voice could be heard as the music dies down. “Luna, can you do that thing you did to get here in the first place pretty please?”

The sound of magic could be heard and after which the startled screams of the three dream invaders could be heard. As before everything went white before the ponies opened their eyes. The dream they were in was an everchanging scene of events as the ground below them kept moving. From lush forest to skyscrapers to beaches and it was all done on what felt like a spinning platform. Hope was gleefully hopping around with a smile on his face waving to cardboard ponies he’d come across. He noticed Alto, Cookies, Mareian, and Luna and stopped his movement with an audible record scratch. His smile grew larger than normal as he rushed towards his friends.

“Hey guys, you wanna go on an adventure? Come on it’ll be fun. You don’t have to do anything you can just sit in the wagon and I can drag you guys along.” As if on cue, the wagon fell from the sky leading Hope to lift his friends quickly up and inside of the wagon before dragging it along at unimaginably fast speeds where the scenery quickly changes into blurs before he manages to slow down when he reaches the white void. “Oops. Went too far again.”

“I must say, thou hath the most hyperactive imagination in all of Equestria.” Luna stated a bit dazed. After shaking her head, the princess casts the magic portal in front of Hope. “Perhaps you could take us through that portal, if you please?”

Hope’s ears perked up with excitement as he saluted to the princess of the night. “You can count on me!” and with that said, Hope rushed to the portal in a flash carrying his friends with him on the wagon as he does so. It disappears as a white light engulfs the group. “Wow, that was fun!” Hope opened his eyes to find a war-torn battlefield. Shades of gray overshadow any other form of color. Ponies looking like the Canterlot Royal Guards are battling it out against these bug-like ponies.

“STALLION DOWN!” A familiar voice could be heard. The group rushed over to one of the trenches to find EC, her hooves around a white unicorn in blue armor. The stallion is covered in scratches and bumps, while EC looks unscathed in comparison with a few dirt smudges here and there. Her helm properly shows her golden eyes and her main in unobscured. “Some pony get a medic!”

“Young Crown, thou must remain cal-” Luna was the first to approach EC but is soon interrupted by one of the dream ponies.

“Princess GET DOWN! EVACUATION! WE NEED AN EVAC STAT!”

“Wait, thou must be mistaken.” Luna gets dragged away by the ever-increasing number of Equestrian militia. “My friends, we have reached a nightmare. Thou must convince her! Thou must tell her!” She tells her friends as she disappears in the horde of Equestria’s finest warriors. Alto, Cookies, Hope, and Mareian look at each other in disbelief.

“What are you four doing here?” EC looked at her friends, her voice filled with urgency. “This is a warzone. You can’t risk your lives out here.” A sudden realization stuck on EC’s face. Her panicked face turned to anger as she lay the pony down beside her. “You changelings… you pretend to be innocent ponies caught in a warzone… I can see right through your facade.”

“Wait, EC, we’re your friends remember?” Hope said with a pleading smile. Cookies got in front of him.

“Reasoning won’t convince those trapped in a nightmare, my dear Hope. We have to stand our ground and fight.” Cookies stated as his horn began to light up. “I’m going to ask you two to keep Hope safe for me, ok?” Alto nodded while Mareian rolled her eyes.

“As always, I’m the babysitter. Come on boys, let’s… I dunno save Luna?” Mareian says as she grabs Hope with her wings.

“CHANGELINGS!” EC Yelled gathering the attention of the war ponies towards Mareian, Alto, and Hope.

“Celestia curse this nightmare army. Al, stick to the skies. I’ll take Hope through these trenches and we’ll meet back with you. And Cookies…” Mareian ordered last looking over at her unicorn friend. “Cook up a storm for us.” With that said, Alto launches himself up in the air, causing some of the war ponies to look up with some of the Pegasus ponies chasing after him. With the distraction, Mareian was able to grab Hope and swiftly dive into the trenches as the other war ponies struggle to chase after them.

“I won’t let you hurt the captain. He’s like an older brother to me!” EC screamed as her horn lit up a turquoise aura which she released into a burst of force, pushing Cookies back a bit. “Disguising as my friends as you do so… ONLY MAKES ME ANGRY!”

Cookies scrunches his mouth as he just barely manages to avoid a blast of magical energy. With a composure regaining sigh, Cookies looks back at EC with a straight face. “Well then, EC, I guess I can show you all those spells I had learnt. Let’s just hope these dreams don’t hold back our magic.”

Tension rises in the battlefield as the two unicorns came face to face. With a horde of ponies rushing Alto in the sky and clogging up the trenches to find Mareian and Hope, it had left both EC and Cookies alone together. EC was standing her ground, waiting for Cookies next move, and also protecting the pony over by her. Cookies horn emanated a light, but before he could do anything, EC quickly used her magic again to release another magical push to knock Cookies out of his concentration. Seeing this happen again, Cookies was ready for the next attack as he deftly dodges it as he rushes over to EC. At the time he was inches away from her, a portal similar to the one Luna used to send them to each other’s dreams. Cookies attempts to tackle EC but she stands stiff and unmoving. He had his hoof on the head of the stallion that she was protecting, causing her eyes to light ablaze. EC used her magic to launch Cookies into the sky at highspeed. At the peak of his height, Cookies uses his magic to slow his fall. Nearby he notices Alto, surrounded by Pegasus ponies.

“Alto!” The white unicorn called after his blue best friend. Using his magic, Cookies is able to separate his friend from the horde of ponies trying to tackle him, but the consequences of this action caused Cookies to fall at the normal rate gravity was pulling on him. He managed to stop his acceleration but was still plummeting to the ground. Alto dived after his friend, able to catch him and using his wings be able to redirect their speeds away from the ground. “Oh no, my dear Alto. I need you to aim for EC!” Cookies directed the Pegasus to the helmed unicorn standing her ground in front of a portal, staring daggers at the two. With a nod, Alto redirected their trajectory towards their friend. EC had used her magic to set up a barrier around her and the stallion at her hooves. Using his magic to counter, Cookies created an ever-growing pinhole, building tension as they got closer and closer ending with Alto, Cookies, and EC disappearing through the portal.

In the claustrophobic nature of war-torn trenches, Hope, led by Mareian, squeeze their escape from a seemingly never-ending wave of guards. The two don’t stop, in the fear that they might get caught. In a fork, the two went down one way only to be blocked by a pair of war ponies. “Eat Hope-chuck, chumps!” With a heavy twist, Mareian swung Hope’s body at their opposition as she reoriented herself and Hope to go to the other path.

“That wasn’t very nice, Mareian. Hurting ponies doesn’t feel very good.” Hope said a bit upset.

“They’re not real, Hope. This is a dream and those ponies have no feelings. They aren’t going to be our friend no matter how hard you try.” Mareian harshly said.

Hope was frowning as tears began flowing down his face. Mareian tried dragging him about, but he kept his hooves firmly planted. He was not budging. “They’re real to me.” Hope sobbed as the ponies began slowly encroaching on them. “Hurting those weather, they are my friend or not twists my stomach in all these knots. I just want us friends to be happy!” The stallion bawled. The faces on the ponies surrounded them had a concerned look on their faces as they watched the fully grown stallion cry his eyes out.

“Hope?”

Hope turned his head around to hear the familiar voice of EC call his name, snot and tears dripping down his snout but all that was there were the ponies that had been chasing after them. He continues to cry leading to an awkward moment where Mareian slowly approached him while looking around and gave him a pat on the back.

“Uhh… There there, my little pony. It was something in the heat of the moment and my thoughts were more focused on our safety than on our beliefs. I…” Mareian sighed as she wraps her hooves around Hope in a tight embrace. “I’m sorry, Hope.” She says in a softer and more serious tone as she closes her eyes tightly. The stallion howled out in sadness. Unable to cope with the situation, Mareian cried too. As Hope and Mareian embrace, their tears mingling, a moment of vulnerability and understanding washes over them. The cries of anguish turn into a cathartic release of emotions, the weight of this war-torn nightmare and chaos finally finds an outlet. The two ponies held onto each other tighter and tighter as the nightmare war ponies slowly approached them.

“These can’t be changelings.”

“Some pony, get these civvies out of here! Take them to the princess where they’ll be safe.”

The sobbing duo, blinded by their tears, were carried out through the trenches. Their cries deafening each other from their new situation. It wasn’t long until they were placed in a well-guarded and padded room with princess Luna sitting in the corner. The alicorn can’t help but stare at the lamenting pair.

“Oh good. Thou hath arrived. Watching from this secluded space worried me thusly.” The princess said. Hope and Mareian didn’t notice her as they continued to cry. “Perhaps I should send you to a relatively calmer dreamscape.” Her horn glowed as another portal appears by the two blubbering ponies. Luna gently pushes them through the portal. “They are safer in that area, at the very least. Let’s see how the others are faring.” The princess phases through the dream walls towards the direction she last saw EC. She was still there standing, looking towards the sky. What perplexed Luna was a portal that was behind EC that she never put down. Looking up in the direction the EC was facing towards to see Alto and Cookies plummeting down towards EC in a curve as if to push her through the ‘portal’ behind her. Luna’s eyes widened as she quickly cast a portal in the exact position as the other one was at before they all collided through it all. Luna slumps with a sigh. “Mine friends doth bring a hoof full of trouble.”

Hope’s eyes were closed, but his eyelids could sense a bright light enveloping him. Slowly he started opening his teary eyes with a hiccup. He was no longer in a war-torn trench crying with Mareian, he was now in Sugar Cube Corner. He noticed that he was hugging Mareian, which made him more relaxed especially with the new atmosphere. Mareian was still crying on his shoulder. He didn’t think much of it, but his tears stopped so he returned the favor and comforted Mareian. There was a moment of sobs, followed by silence. The two separate and find themselves seated in one of the booths.

“Thanks… Sorry… I don’t know what to say anymore.” Mareian said as she calmed herself down until she noticed something odd jutting out from the table they were sitting at. “Is that a mushroom?”

Hope leans forward and takes a bite of the substance. “This must be Cookies dream, right?”

Just as Mareian was about to say something and caught herself before she responded, another portal opened up and a dogpile of ponies came bursting through. Alto had landed in the corner of the place while Cookies and EC landed on opposing ends of the counter. While all of them were a bit dazed, Cookies was the first to regain his composure and smile at his friend.

“Good morning, my dear EC. May I get you your usual oatmeal?” Cookies said, pulling out a bowl from under the counter.

“…Huh? Where am I?” EC dizzily asked.

“Where are you? You’re in Ponyville! Come to see your friends over at Sugar Cube Corner.” Cookies points his hoof over to Hope and Mareian. “Over there are Hope and Mareian, sharing a seat together.” While Hope smiles and waves at EC, Mareian scrunches her face, blushes, and scoots herself away from Hope. “Alto is over there playing some smooth jazz.” A saxophone appears in front of Alto as well as a pair of shades and a fedora landing perfectly on his face. Alto begins to play the instrument.

“Oh… am I… dreaming?” EC said as she noticed mushrooms and various odd-looking flora popping into existence outside of Cookies field of vision.

“Hey!” The upside-down head of Sky Sonata appears in front of EC. The blue Pegasus mare towers over the unicorn in such a way where EC is under her. “You’re one smart cookie to be able to figure that out. Not unlike Cookies here.”

EC sighed as she went over to Hope and Mareian. “I’ll take the oatmeal, please.” As she sat at the table, the oatmeal floated over to her with a spoon. She takes her helmet off, revealing a silkier turquoise mane than the tangle mess she usually has when removing it before she takes her first bite of her meal. “So, is this the dream of my friends dating each other again?” She asks pointing towards Cookies and Sky staring at each other smiling and then to Hope and Mareian still sitting next to each other with Hope having one of his hooves still wrapped around her.

Cookies and Mareian slammed their heads with a loud thud on the surfaces before them, screaming. Alto stops playing, before raising an eyebrow, his eye peaking over the sunglasses he was wearing. Hope remained smiling, though a surprised look did arise on his face. “Oh, you have those dreams too? Though the ponies I see dating are mostly cardboard looking like and seeing them only lasts a couple seconds.”

“LUNA!!!” Cookies and Mareian yelled out.

As if on cue, another portal materializes with Luna strutting out of it. She looks at her friends with a relieved smile. “I see thou all art doing well. Perhaps we can see how miss Lucky is doing in her dream, yes?” Luna uses her magic which causes the portal to distort for a bit. “Come, my friends. Let us all go to the climax!” Luna is the first to go through the portal followed by Hope, Alto EC and Mareian. As Cookies walks around the counter to the portal, the dream Sky brings him in for a kiss.

“Only in dreams, lover boy.” She said before tossing Cookies through the portal.

Lucky lays lackadaisical on a hammock in her dream. She’s on a resort island at sunset with nothing but the sound of the waves and seagulls there soothing her mind. It wasn’t until her friends, guided by princess Luna disturbed her seaside lazing. Lucky looks to the loud disturbance, seeing her friends, which brings a smile to her face.

“Took ya’ll long enough.” She gets out of her hammock and onto the sandy shoreline. “I gots me one of them ‘waking dreams’ ya know. So, I thought of a nice beach for ya’ll t’ relax an’ have fun in.”

“Yay! Swimming!” Hope is the first to jump into the water, though he was still holding onto Mareian.

“Hey wait a second, HOPE!” Mareian pleaded before the two were submerged in the water. The two pop their heads out of the water with Mareian splashing Hope.

“Come on in guys, the water’s fine!” Hope said, waving over to his friends.

“CANNONBALL BOYOS!” Lucky leaped into the water after them. Cookies and Alto calmly lead EC through the water, though she is hesitant getting into the water. EC dipped her hoof before pulling it back. Alto pushes her fully into the water causing her to gasp in surprise, but since it’s a dream the water’s temperature is rather comfortable.

“Wait for me my little ponies!” Luna chuckles before trotting to the shore. “Sister was right. Friendship is weird.”

Author's Notes:

And there ends the Luna Coronation arc. Wasn't sure where I would be going with this chapter despite it being planned. At least it starts where chapter 7 ends and I found that funny.

With how the series treated the whole nightmare moon situation differently from the original mane six, I've treated their relationship with Luna as close friends as compared to the show where she was left to herself and would blame herself for stuff. LUNA HAS FRIENDS HERE AND THEY CARE ENOUGH ABOUT HER TO BE AT HER CORONATION GUYS.

This chapter was more slice of life instead of actiony as it ended up being, but then again why have a dream chapter without wild out of nowhere action, drama and stuff. There was going to be a scene where Sky's dreams get shown here to be shown to be rather lewd ending with Cookies casting a spell to erase everyone including his own memory of the situation. Anyway, Chapter 8 is finished. I will get started on chapter 9 soon enough. Thank you for being patient with me <3

~LL

Hopeful Journey Gets a Job

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Outside of Ponyville resides a quarry filled with gems hidden in the rocks. Rare few Ponyville citizens come to this location. One such pony is Rarity, here to find the perfect gem for an order for Sapphire Shores, one of her clients. She isn’t alone on her mining expedition. Dragging a cart with him is Hopeful Journey, ever smiling as he helps his friend. Inside the cart is Scales the dragon, lazing around the cart as if waiting for something to happen where he needs to help.

“Thanks for giving me this job opportunity, Rarity.” Hope said with his usual eagerness, smile, and optimism as he looks around the quarry.

“Think nothing of it, darling. I’d need a couple of big strong boys like yourselves to help me bring the perfect gems back to Ponyville.” Rarity replied to the stallion as she looked at the stones around them readying her pickaxe.

“I think nothing of this. EC just wants me to ‘work for the community’ after the whole Razer incident. Need to boost a positive point of view about dragons here.” Scales says with a sigh.

“Oh, darling, your previous actions for the town have just gone unnoticed for far too long. Such as the time when…” Rarity took a moment to think before speaking up again. “That time you did a well good makeover on Cookies at my boutique.” As she is about to strike a rock with her pick axe, the ground below her rumbled as a hole formed nearby and a bunch of gray dogs with red vests pop out and grabbed Rarity, dragging her into the darkness as she screams. Hope and Scales look on in horror as their friend and current boss gets dragged into the darkness.

“Oh no.” Scales said annoyed as he stood up on his hind legs. “Hope, call for help. I’m going in!” Scales dove headfirst into the hole, leaving Hope by himself. In a panic, the stallion ran away leaving the wagon and hole behind.

“COOOOOKIEEEEEEEEEES!” Hope bursts through the doors of Sugar Cube Corner with tears trickling down his snout. The customers inside gave the stallion odd looks and raised eyebrows as he reached the counter that Cookies was manning. “They took Rarity into this large hole and Scales went after them and now I don’t have a job, but Rarity is in trouble and I can’t do anything please Cookies I know you can do something about it please.” Hope messily garbled.

A tall yellow lanky stallion came out from the baking area to check what all the commotion was about. “Cookies, if you need to step out, I can assure you that my wife and I can handle things here.”

Cookies looks over at the yellow stallion with a smile. “I appreciate the sentiment, Mr. Cake. I’ll make it up to you somehow.” Cookies steps away from the counter to console his crying friend. “Now, my dear Hope, could you SLOWLY tell me where I can find Rarity?” The two exit the confectionary together as the white unicorn asks his friend.

“W-we were in the quarry… A-and…” A sudden shocked look appears on Hope’s face. “I LEFT THE WAGON BY THE HOLE THERE!” Hope tries to dart away but is stopped by Cookies magic.

“Calm yourself. Emotionally you’re in no condition to do something so heroic. If Rarity is that way then I will go that way. You stay here and try not to cause a panic. I can sort things out for you. You can trust in me.” Cookies gave a reassuring smile to his trembling friend before he left him in the middle of Ponyville to head off in the direction he was sent to.

Hope sat there with a dribble of snot coming down his nose. He shook his head before running off towards the library. Inside are two Pegasus ponies with similar color schemes. One was Hope’s friend, Mareian, and the other was her brother. South Pole.

“I’m telling you, North. Business started booming after the Summer Sun Celebration. Ponies are ACTUALLY READING.” The green stallion said to his sister.

“MAREIAN!” Hope cried out before hugging his friend while sobbing uncontrollably, causing South Pole to chuckle a bit.

“Can it Polo.” She said glaring daggers at her brother before wrapping her hoof around Hope. “Hey, hey take it easy. You’re safe here in the library now. No need for snot bubbles.” Hope slowly but surely was able to calm himself down to only a few hiccups. “That’s better, now what’s the problem today?” She asked her friend in a reassuring voice.

“Today?” South Pole said and immediately received a slap on the hoof for his response by Mareian.

“I wanted to have my very own job and be a responsible pony so I worked for Rarity and she got kidnapped by some dogs and now I think I’m unemployed and now I feel like a horrible pony who can’t do well for society. Hope said, wincing at the mistakes he made.

“Did you tell Cookies about it?”

“Yes I told Cookies about it.”

“Well let’s not dwell on the past then. Find a new job.” A devious smirk appeared on Mareian’s face. “Say, Polo, weren’t you telling me how business savvy you are? Why not teach Hope here how to make it in the employment market?” A lightbulb popped above Mareian’s head. “In the form of a song.”

“What!?” South Pole exclaimed.

“OOOOH educational songs, I love those. Teach me! TEACH ME!” Hope said going from teary eyed to excited. Sparkles in his eyes and a smile as grand as the sea.

“Here, Polo, let me drop a beat on you.” Mareian starts to beatbox.

Uhhhh

Yeah

I guess we’re doing this?

Alright

Five days a week you get the 40 hours of them

Not including the mandatory half hour luncheon

I’m gonna tell you about supply and demand

Make a lot of bits with a lemonade stand

Though my knowledge and degree is based on cartography

I dip into business skills so we can pay our bills

So that the government doesn’t take our house away

I am now upper management because I now can pay the rent

I’ll tell you how to do you job, trust me kid you won’t get robbed

Because I’m sure the check will come in the mail some day

But the bits aren’t the issue I just want to contribute to society as a whole.

Well in that case...

In order to not be a slob you got to form a resume

The companies have a job to put you to work day by day

Grab the door by the knob and make your path your own way

You shall not be a blob so enjoy hip hip horray.

That’s good to know and all, but do you know of any jobs here to apply to?

While Mareian continues beat boxing, South Pole looks over at his sister with an annoyed look before looking back over at Hope. “Look kid, I live in Buckfield, not Ponyville. Go around and ask.”

“Isn’t that what I am doing?” Hope asks as the two siblings stare at each other, Mareian having stopped her beatboxing, snickering at her brother.

“North, can you stop your coltfriend from bothering me?” South Pole asked Mareian who just blushed in response.

“H-he’s not my coltfriend!” Mareian stammered.

“We’re not friends?” Hope said with his eyes tearing up, quivering his lips as he looks over at Mareian.

“I-I mean that you’re a STALLION friend. You’re not a colt anymore just like that comic with Cheese Mare and the Onion Stallion or something along those lines and Polo PLEASE DO NOT DISTRESS HOPE LIKE THAT EVER AGAIN or I will give you an earful that you won’t be able to think straight for weeks.” Mareian caught herself while threatening her brother.

“That makes sense!” Hope wraps his hooves around Mareian and South Pole with a smile. “I’m your stallion friend! I’m your stallion friend!” The stallion friend chanted.

At that moment a pony enters through the library doors. With an exhausted or perhaps a bored look on her face. Lucky Horseshoes, the daisy yellow earth pony, sighs her way inside the library. She pulls out a book from one of the shelves and opens it while lying down in a pillowy corner of the library, despite the fact the book she has is upside-down. “Buhhh.” Was the only word to escape her lips.

Mareian pushed herself out of the hug that Hope had her and her brother in. “Nothing happening today, Lucky?”

“Very much so, but every pony else be havin’ things t’ do. Passed by Crem ‘rlier lookin’ all serious an’ stuff, but he said he had e’rythang is in control. An’ then Big Macintosh I see buckin’ the trees with a limp, but his sister went off on me wen I tried to offer’em help. Don’t blame her considerin’ I uprooted a tree las’ time I bucked one of dem trees.” Lucky sighed as she turned the page. “Wen do the pictures come in?”

Mareian sighs before taking the book away from Lucky, giving it back to her the correct way up. “Daring Doo is not a picture book. You have to use your imagination for that.” Mareian looks over to Hope who is curiously looking back at her while strangling her brother with a hug. “Looks like applications are open at Sweet Apple Acres. Why not pay them a visit and lend them a hoof.”

Hope smile beamed with excitement that can only ever be seen on the faces of foals during the festive holidays. “THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!” Letting go of South Pole, Hope rushed out of the library in a flashy blur.

“You’re welcome.” Mareian said patting her brother on the back as he finally gets air back in his lungs.

Sweet Apple Acres, Ponyvillle’s bountiful source for fresh apples. On one of the hills along the pathway to the Apple family Farm is Applejack, setting up a couple of baskets underneath the tree in order to catch the apples from the tree. With a quick buck from her, the apples landed perfectly in each basket. Applejack wipes a bead of sweat off her brow as Hope approaches her.

“Hey Applejack!” Hope surprised the mare.

“Oh, howdy Sugarcube.” Applejack greeted the stallion. “What can I help ya out with, partner?”

“I had heard from Lucky that-”

“No! She is capital B BANNED!” Applejack interrupted with a bit of a scoff.

“We’ll… sort that out some other time, but I’m here to be a productive member of society!” Hope exclaimed with a salute.

“What in tarnation are you on about?”

“ooh Applejack I want to help. Please let me be a helper I just want a job. Pretty please?” Hope begged Applejack. His face getting as teary as an abandoned puppy. Applejack tries to look away by covering her face with her hat, but it’s too late. The image of a begging Hope is already ingrained in her mind.

“I can’t say that ya don’t have a charm to ya.” Applejack admits while holding out her hoof. “Welcome to the family there, Hope.” Hope’s smile grew three sizes at that moment. The sun sparkles in his eyes as he wraps his hoof around Applejack’s for a firm shake.

“Thank you so much I promise that I will work as hard as you need me to I won’t let you down.”

“Calm down there, Sugarcube.” Applejack pressed her other hoof against Hope’s snout to calm him down. “Les’ see how ya buckin’, ya look like ya’ll could buck a tree no problem.” The two of them approached an unbucked tree. “Well now don’t ya’ll go gawkin’. Get at it.”

Hope looked unsure as he approached the tree, patting the base with his hoof while nervously laughing. “Sorry about this tree.” Hope readies himself, setting his hind legs directed towards the tree. He closes his eyes as he lifts one of his legs and kicks at the tree. At the tree, but missing.

“Ya got the force, but not the dorm Sugarcube. Use both yer legs and give it a try.” Applejack advised Hope. The stallion nodded at her before closing his eyes again and going for a wind-up. Instead of bucking the tree, Hope plants his body to the ground. “No, ya gotta be quick about it, else ya plant yerself flat on yer face. Now geddup once more.”

Hope takes a deep breath. “Both legs…” He whispered to himself. “Got the force…” Hope took one last deep breath. “GOTTA BE QUICK!” With swift motion, Hope’s hindlegs struck the base of the tree, shaking it to the core and causing all the apples to fall.

“YAHOO! Ya did it!” Applejack cheered. Hope’s nervousness turned into an excited smile. “Come now, we got an entire orchard t’ do!” And so, the duo had spent the rest of the day bucking apples off of each tree that they went to, collecting apples as they do so. By sunset a good quarter of the orchard had been collected. Both of them wiping the sweat of their brows before waving each other goodbye.

Over at the ‘Cream Summer Home’, Cookies is opening all the cupboards in the kitchen, his eyes looked somewhat glazed over and unblinking. Hope enters through the front door, with an exhausted pant. He sees his small unicorn friend searching for something. “Hey Cookies! You looking for something?”

Cookies jumped in surprise before turning around to look at Hope. “Ah yes, my fair…” Cookies took a look at his hoof before speaking again. “My fair Hopeful Journey. Do you happen to know where I happened to left my spell book?” The unicorn asked.

“Hmmm.” Hope took a moment to look around the room, but all that was in the kitchen are cook books. “Have you checked your room?” He pointed up the stairs.

Cookies slapped his hoof on his forehead. “Ah yes, how careless of me. Thank you Hopeful Journey.” The unicorn eagerly struts his way up stairs before coming back down with the spell book he got from Buckfield. There is a four-leaf clover bookmark in wedged in it. Cookies pulls out the bookmark revealing it to be seven chained clovers pressed in an airtight seal. “What a magnificent bookmark.”

“Huh?” Hope looked at Cookies with a raised eyebrow and a pant. “It was your idea to turn Lucky’s gift into that.”

“Ahh yes…” Cookies said, his eyes darting from Hope to the bookmark. “I was just admiring. Can’t let a wonderful gift go to waste and all that.” Cookies opens the book to a random page, his eyebrow. “Memory sharing spell?” Cookies looks back over to Hope who had laid down on the pillow couch that they had. “Would you like to help me out with this spell my fair Hopeful Journey?”

Hope sat in a more proper position before smiling at his friend. “Oh course! What do you need me to do?”

Cookies approached Hope with the spell book in tow. “It says that the target must think really hard about a past event.” He looks back at Hope, who has an eager smile on his face. “Have you thought of one already?”

“I want to know who my parents were.” The seriousness of Hope’s statement had Cookies caught in surprise.

“But your parents are…”

“I know that I am a part of their family, but this has been a mystery eating at me my entire life, Cookies.” Hope gets up and pulls out the basket with his name woven into it from out of the corner. “I just want some closure in my life.” Hope sits back down on the couch with the basket next to him. He stares back at Cookies, unblinking. “I’m ready, Cookies.”

With a sigh and a bit of a concerned look, Cookies lights up his horn, his magic enveloping Hope’s head. A bit later, the magic started to produce sound, rain. The magic attempted to show a visual representation, but it was mostly a static blur. Nothing stood out and there were no other sounds then the hoof steps and the rain. Cookies released his magic, letting out a bit of a strained grunt. Hope stared at where the magic was, a tear trickling down his face as any form of optimism went away.

“Rain… such a soothing sound.” Hope said, a bit glum.

“Hey don’t be like that.” Cookies reassured his friend. “How about some happy memories? Like when you and I first met?” The frown that Hope had slowly turned upside-down as he nodded at Cookies offer. Cookies would do the same as he did before. This time an image of a somewhat empty bedroom was visible.

“Hey that’s my old room!” Hope stated, wiping a tear from his eye.

The magic played out the scene as a knock could be heard, there was a blur before the image of a door opening up was shown. Behind the door peaked out a rather large Pegasus mare in a blue bodysuit. Her mane looking like it was stuck blowing through the wind looking a faded blueish white. Her wings were visibly blue as well as other parts of her body not covered by the suit such as her snout.

“Come on out, kiddo.” The mare said. “The neighbor’s kid’s here. Make a friend.”

When the mare said ‘friend’ the visuals started to blur before changing the scene two see a two blue Pegasus foals. One of them is playing nursery rhyme songs on the violin while the other is eating a pancake.

“One pancake ready for you, madam.” A white unicorn colt came into the room, setting down a plate with a small singular pancake. The unicorn looked into the perspective view. “Hello there! Welcome to Chef Fancy. Do you have any reservations?”

There was a bit of silence before the Pegasus started whispering. “Pst, Hope. Tell him your name.”

“I-I am Hope.”

“Your full name, mister Hope?” The young unicorn had pulled out a pad and pen with his magic.

“H-Hopeful Journey! My name is Hopeful Journey.”

“I see. Well Mr. Hopeful Journey, you shall be seated with Ms Sky Sonata. My name is Cookies Neapolitan Cream, your waiter and chef. Charmed to meet you.”

“Charmed!” The blue filly at the table raised her empty glass into the air.

“Charmed!” The blue colt playing the violin raised his bow in the air.

“Charmed!”

“I will be back soon with your pancake.” The colt walked away to a toy oven, making motions of preparing food.

“My dear, Hope. Would you please pass the buttah?” The filly across the table asked in a rather posh accent with her lips pursed to make her face look slimmer. It was at this point that the magic started to fade.

Cookies sighed. “Takes a lot out of one to cast that spell it seems.” The unicorn smiled as he looked over at his earth pony friend.

“Thanks Cookies, reminiscing with you really brightened my day. Glad you found such a spell.” Hope’s smile then turned into a surprised look. “Oh! Did you manage to save Rarity from those dogs?”

“Who?” Cookies said before slapping his mouth with his hoof. “OH! It was a bit of diplomacy is all. You’d be surprised how reasonable they can be with a well-made cake. It’s a trade deal that I won’t bore you with, my fair Hopeful Journey.”

“Oh, that’s good. Thanks for being there for me Cookies. You’re a good friend.” Hope said with a smile that beamed brighter than the sun’s rays. “Thank you for being my friend.”

Cookies’ eyes remained glazed over as a smile appears on his face as well. “Our friendship is a rather unique one, it seems, but it would never bother me if any pony say that our friendship is weird.”

Author's Notes:

>Shorter chapter
>Only 1k words less than average
What did I mean by this?

But yeah, this chapter was originally planned to be a "What does Hope do on a day to day basis?" chapter since Cookies volunteers/works for the Cakes, Mareian and Scales spend most their time cleaning the Library, EC is a member of Ponyville's council, and Alto is a part of the Ponyville Experimental Music Club with Octavia, Vinyl, and Lyra (We'll get more of them in a future chapter, though probably in volume 2 if not chapter 11)

WhAt AbOuT lUcKy?
TAKE A WILD GUESS WHAT SHE DOES
BECAUSE I HAVE NO INTEREST IN WRITING THE CHAOS SHE GOES THROUGH ON A DAY TO DAY BASIS. Having to write another 7777 word chapter will drive me mad.

Anyway, what's up with Cookies at the end? He seems to be acting weird. Maybe he's hiding something. Memory spell is cool. And HOPE BEING SERIOUS FOR ONCE!?!?!?
wowee things are being set up for future arcs amirite?

Heart Racer Part I

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Inside the Cream Summer Home are three ponies: Cookies N Cream, Hopeful Journey, and Facing North. Cookies is casting the memory spell he had used on Hope a couple of days ago to show their green Pegasus friend what he had learned as well as Hope eagerly sharing his childhood memories to his friend.

“We’d always do fancy pancake diner every time Cookies came over. Mostly to make Cookies feel at home. Right Cookies?” Hope said with a smile

“Huh?” Cookies was left confused for a moment, losing concentration as the memory sharing spell dissipates. His eyes lacked the sparkle that it normally does. “I can’t say I’ve ever noticed the uhhhh… pattern I guess you could say.”

“What say you, Mareian?” Hope looked over at Facing North. The green Pegasus had her face scrunched up with a bit of a blush as she still stared at where the memory once was before looking away.

“C-cute.” She responded.

“KNOCK KNOCK BOYOS! MAMA’S HERE!” The front door bursts open revealing a rather larger Pegasus wearing a wonderbolts body suit. She looks just like the one in Hope’s memory.

“Ma!” Hope rushed towards the door to give the mare a hug. “What are you doing out here in Ponyville?” The earth pony asked.

“Eh, the young flier’s competition is coming up and wanted to see how my boys were doing athletically.” She looks around the room for a bit. “ALTO! MAMA’S HERE!”

“Alto Tenor is spending time in his music club on the outskirts of Ponyville.” Cookies explained, his eyes lacking any shine to them.

“Well, if it ain’t the older Cream boy! Ya figure out what you’ll be doing with your life, kid?” The mare got up in Cookies face that he could see the purple eyes behind her goggles. “Still learning spells, I see? Good for you. One of these days you’ll use that ingenuity of yours and make something of yourself. Cloudsdale wasn’t built in a day!” She laughed before catching Facing North in her sights. “And who must you be? Never met ya before today.”

“Oh. My name is Facing North, but most ponies call me Mareian because I’m a mare librarian.” Mareian sighs.

“Nah, Imma call you Shark Face. You got that menacing aura around you but when you get close you’re a real sweet treat.” The mare holds her hoof out to Mareian. “Speed Sound, Wonderbolt drill instructor and former captain of squad 33^rd Codename ‘Wonderwings’. You ever need a coach, Shark Face, I’m your gal.”

Mareian blinked in surprise at the new nickname given to her. She hesitated for a moment before extending her own hoof for a shake. “Uh, nice to meet you.”

“OH OH! Ma, the Running of the Leaves is happening soon too! Three days I think? Let’s run! It’ll just be like those training days you gave us!” Hope said excitingly before zooming off. “Come on guys! Race ya to the library! It’ll be fun!”

Cookies and Mareian both look at each other confused before Speed Sound pushed them both with her wings. “Shark Face, Cream. Get a move on! GO! GO! GO!” The drill instructor commanded them causing the two ponies to zoom out the door as well. Hope has a great lead with his head start, however Mareian is beating her wings to catch up with him.

“Hey, no fair I don’t have wings.” Hope complains.

“Sorry!” Mareian peeped out as she blushed. Her wings stiffen upwards as she starts slowly trots. This allows Hope to pass her as the two reach the library.

“First!” Hope cheered as he started a sweating dance after tapping the door with his hoof. “You can really keep up, Mareian.”

“Heart check!” Speed Sound came up from behind the library and went up to Hope, placing her wing on his chest. “Good heart rate, son. Stay healthy.” She then went to Mareian. “Woah Shark Face! Breathe, your heart’s racing, but you aren’t even beating a sweat…” She lifted her goggles, revealing her purple eyes as she looks at Mareian’s, following her eyesight over to Hope. “OH!” She says in realization as her goggles snap back into place.

“W-wait… up!” Cookies finally arrived, sweating, and panting up a storm.

“Cardio Cream, you really need work on that. Maybe eating more to give you that energy you need.” Speed Sound checked Cookies heartbeat before chuckling off to Mareian. “Hey, Shark Face! If you want to keep up with Hope here then I can help you out with that.” She said, placing a wing around the ever-smiling Hope.

“Oh yeah, Ma is a great source of encouragement! She can help you I know it!” Hope said.

“ARE YOU A WONDERBOLT!?!?!?” A blue blur with a rainbow dash following it zoomed in. It was Rainbow Dash.

“Sure am, Rainbow!”

Rainbow Dash gasped. “How do you know my name?”

“Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet. Those are the colors that hubby told me makes a rainbow.” Speed Sound rattles on. “He ain’t the fastest Pegasus I know, but he sure for one is the smartest.”

Hope and Mareian are both trying to catch their breath as Rainbow Dash fangirls over the Wonderbolt standing before them. “Wow! Could you make me a Wonderbolt? Don’t mean to brag, but I can clear the entire skies of Ponyville in ten seconds flat.” Rainbow Dash boasted.

“Ain’t my call to bring ponies into the Wonderbolts, but you could get the attention of Spitfire she might let ya in the academy. She’ll be at the Best Young Fliers contest coming up so make your mark, Rainbow.” Speed Sound responds as she heads over to Mareian, who is breathing irradically. “Besides, I got my eye on Shark Face right here. Gonna put her through the wringer to keep up with my son on hoof before I take her to the skies.” She gives Mareian a swift pat on the back, causing her to cough, getting her breathing back to normal.

“I-*hack* What?” Was all Mareian could say in her state of shock.

“My *gasp* fair *breathe* Hopeful *inhale* Journey *wheeze*” Cookies struggled to get on all four of his hooves as he begged over towards Hope.

“Don’t worry Cookies, I got you.” Hope lifted up his unicorn friend using his head. “Alright Ma, I’m going to head back. If you’re staying in Ponyville, we have a guest room that you can stay at. Love you!” And with that the earth pony carrying his unicorn friend trots back to where they had come from.

“Love-”

“Love you too, Sweetie!” Speed Sound waved her son goodbye before putting her attention back to Mareian. “Sorry were you saying something?”

“Oh no it was just a force of habbit.” Mareian said blushing a bit.

“Sure… habbit…” Speed Sound said skeptically. “So, Rainbow, some other day I’ll make room for you, but right now I gotta turn Shark Face into a trotting machine. Strictly working on that hoof work, you know.”

“Oh, like for the running of the leaves? Ha! I can run just as fast as I can fly.” Rainbow Dash boasted.

“Tell you what kiddo, if you can beat Shark Face then I’ll gladly take you under my wing to becoming the next top Wonderbolt.” Speed Sound held out her hoof to Rainbow Dash. “Deal?”

“Oh, you are so on!” Rainbow Dash without hesitation shook Speed Sound’s hoof before darting off. “Catch ya at the finish line, book mare!”

Mareian just stood there speechless. A bit shook from the events as well as being out of breath. “What did I sign up to?”

“You signed up to be my boy’s close friend.” Speed Sound said strapping her wing around Mareian, bringing her in close. “You’re a heart racer, Shark Teeth. That heart of yours tells your body to go hard especially when a certain red-headed loving little earth pony is involved.”

“W-What? No Hope and I are just friends and sometimes he needs some pony there for him and he practically drags me along. I don’t know why he does that, but since the others don’t go along with him side by side as he seems to want I use my generosity to… give… him… my hoof. Oh, sweet Celestia.” Mareian tried to explain before she had come to a realization.

“I can still feel your heartbeat, Shark Face.” Speed Sound laughed as Mareian scrunched up her snout as a ting of blush formed on her cheeks. “Come on, kid. We got some training to do.”

On the outskirts of Ponyville, Speed Sound sets an obstacle course that she’ll have Mareian go through. They go through a montage of attempts throughout the day starting with some slip ups and distractions by Hope as a punk rock rhythm begins to play.

Keep your head up

Don’t get in a rut

You’ll find a way around

We’ve got three days

To prepare this race

Good thing your coached by Speed Sound

Shark Face

You’re gonna give it your all

Stay Braced

In case that you should fall

Don’t forget you need to BREATHE

Heart Racer

Strong Base

You got the perfect form

An Ace

They’re in for a storm

Just Hope that he’ll be able to SEEEEEE

You Heart Racer

Don’t mind my son he can be fun

Focus on your goal this day is won

I think that we’ll be the talk of the town

Breathe in then out, let your body flow

Your mind your body is in your control

Don’t forget that you’re coached by Speed Sound.

Shark Face

You’re gonna give it your all

Stay Braced

In case that you should fall

Don’t forget you need to BREATHE

Heart Racer

Strong Base

You got the perfect form

An Ace

They’re in for a storm

Just Hope that he’ll be able to SEEEEEE

You Heart Racer

You’re a

Shark Face a hard case

You heart racer.

Shark Face

You’re gonna give it your all

Stay Braced

In case that you should fall

Don’t forget you need to BREATHE

Heart Racer

Hard Case

A tough nut to crack

Got Space

To send them to the back

Last Place

is where they’re gonna BEEEEEE

Heart Racer

Fast Paced

Quicker than my boy

Such Grace

He’ll gladly be your toy

My son will be able to SEEEEEE

a Heart Racer

Strong Base

You got the perfect form

An Ace

They’re in for a storm

I can say you’ll win FINALLYYYYYYYY

Heart Racer

With the montage ended, Speed Sound shows the exhausted Mareian a stop watch she had been holding in her hoof. “And that, Shark Face is a new record. Don’t think my boy can keep up with that pace. And in two days too. Now get some rest, Shark Face. Equestria’s gonna see a real athlete come tomorrow.” Mareian let out a couple of gasps as Speed Sound told her this before collapsing to the ground.

“GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD MORNINGGGGGGGGGGGGG PONYVILLE! Check one! Check two! Mic Check, not on the radio, but up in the skies today to bring you what should be an exciting Running of the Leaves ceremony. Now while this event isn’t supposed to be a competition, the mayor will be providing medals for the ponies that are able to run the fastest of them all. From first place gold to participation medals. Riding here on this hot air balloon with-”

“Bonjour. It iz I, Roma ze Romancer charmed to be with ze rather hanzome Mic Check in my balloon. Yes, so très bien!” Two voices could be over heard from the skies above Ponyville. A hot air balloon balloon that has a pink love heart shape emblem on it with ‘ROMA’ written inside of the heart floats above the bustling little town. Speakers have been installed on the sides as well as a satellite dish. “OH! I zee ma sœur in ze lineup!”

“Oh boy, Lucky’s in this one. Don’t be placing your bets on this race.”

“Non, non. Iz Ballét! She iz not normally ze competitive type though. But yez, Lucky iz in ze lineup as well.”

Bellow the balloon, several ponies have been lined up at a starting line with numbers taped to their sides. The only pony there that doesn’t have a number on their flank is Speed Sound. The Wonderbolt still has her bodysuit on as she gives Mareian a massage with her wings.

“You got this Shark Face. All the hard work is going to pay off right here. Win this race…” A sly smile appeared on her face “…and you’ll win the heart of my son too.” She whispered into Mareian’s ear.

“Hey!” Mareian swatted Speed Sound away with her wing as she blushed.

“Ha! You got some fight in you! Use it.” With that said, Speed Sound slaps Mareian on the back before trotting away. “See you at the finish line, kid.”

“I should be saying that.” Rainbow Dash stood in front of Mareian with an 11 marked on her side. “I should be the one getting trained by a Wonderbolt and not some bookworm like you.”

“Foal’s adventure books seem more your read. I’d recommend Daring Doo for you.” Mareian retorted. “Though, now that I think about it, those books don’t have any pictures for you ogle at to get the story.” Mareian gave a sly chuckle.

“UGH! Bookworms!” Rainbow Dash trotted herself away from Mareian. “See you at the finish line, kid.” Mareian looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

“Wonder what got her in a twist?” A voice from behind Mareian caught her by surprise. It was the Celestia bodied sky-blue Pegasus known as Sky Sonata and with her is Cookies N Cream, whose eyes look as though they have life to them as compared to the last time Mareian saw him.

“Oh. It’s just that she saw me training for this race with a Wonderbolt and she got a bit jealous.” Mareian responded, a bit relaxed.

“Yeah, yeah I saw you hanging out with my mom just a second ago. She wears that outfit so others would be able to recognize her status, but she hasn’t done any pro flying after Alto came to be. She keeps talking about how she isn’t ‘aero enough’ anymore. Practically retired outside of being a drill instructor.” Sky explained.

“Granted, Miss Sound is a very fast flier at her age.” Cookies added. Mareian stared at Cookies skeptically, causing Cookies to sweat and look around nervously. “I-is there something in my mane?”

“You look… different. I can’t quite nail it down, but you have some vibrant aura around you or something.” Mareian shook her head. “Nevermind that, I forgot to ask you about that memory sharing spell.”

“Memory what?” Cookies asked before quickly putting a hoof in his own mouth. “Oh yeah, that. Now’s not a good time though looks like the race is about to start. Ta ta!” The unicorn stallion quickly moves away from Mareian. Sky and Mareian exchange amused glances before Sky snickered over back to Cookies.

“Time to have some fun out there.” Sky nudged Mareian with her wing. “See you at the finish line, kid.”

“Am… am I… Do I look that young?”

"Fillies and gentlecolts!” Mic Check’s voice boomed from above. “You better line up because the Running of the Leaves starts in about sixty seconds!” Mareian shook her head as she heard the announcement. She checked her flank making sure that her number, 50, was there and it was. She got up to the starting line and prepped herself for the run of her life. “THREE! TWO! ONE!” a bang could be heard in the skies, causing all the ponies who had lined up to start running. “And they are off!”

“Excuse moi, but how are we able to commentate on zis auspicious event?”

“That’s easy. Reddish orange is in the lead followed by a pink and some blues and another orange with two yellows behind them… Hold on a sec… Do not tell me that Lucky Horseshoes is acting as a wall between 7^th place and the rest of the ponies because the gap between those places is IMMENSE! WHERE ARE YOU GOING!?!?”

Mareian couldn’t stop to think. She had closed her eyes and ran as hard as she could. She didn’t even hear the voice above her. When she opened her eyes, she saw that there was no pony in front of her. She looked behind her and saw nothing as well. In fact, it looked like she had climbed on the sheer mountain side along the trail. She looked over to her sides to find ponies running on each end. One pony she could recognize on pure size alone was gleefully trotting.

“Ha ha! Come on Cookies! Let’s make these leaves fall!” Sky Sonata said cheerly. Behind the massive mare is a small stallion struggling to keep up, unable to reply. “I think I saw Hope headed this way! Let’s go, Cookies!” At this point Mareian had caught up to and zoomed passed the two. Sky could only giggle. “Yep, mom did teach her, huh Cookies?”

“In-*inhale*-deed.” The unicorn managed to say.

Mareian couldn’t stop to chat. She had a goal in her mind and needed to be put on the right track. Her eyes were open. She could see ahead of her a yellow rump. As she got closer and closer, she noticed the number 7 taped to the side, but she is unable to pass it as every time she does so, she’ll trip and get sent a bit back.

“Oh heya, Mareian. Ya’lls in this here race as well?” The daisy yellow earth pony said. It was Lucky Horseshoes and she was in seventh place. “Ya get lost? I might’ve accidentally hit a signpost a way getting it spinnin’ and all. No one got hurt there didn’t they?”

Mareian could only shake her head as she stayed close behind Lucky. The two of them weren’t reaching the lead any closer. Her hooves pounded against the ground as she stayed closely behind Lucky. Despite her best efforts she couldn’t pass her friend. With time dwindling, Mareian had to come up with a plan to get further ahead.

“Ya’ll keep tailin’ me, girl. Ya must really wanna stick together, huh?”

A lightbulb went off in Mareian’s head. Instead of coming at Lucky from the side, Mareian directly positioned herself behind Lucky and started running as fast as she could, pushing Lucky as she does so.

“Woah there!” Lucky said shocked as the two of them rocketed forward. It wasn’t long until they reached the pony who was in sixth place. Mareian could only see the light blue hooves as she began to slink underneath Lucky to perform a perfectly timed switch from eighth place to sixth place while keeping Lucky in seventh.

“Hey!” Mareian took a look back at her victim to see a rather annoyed Rainbow Dash yelling after her. As Rainbow tried to speed past Lucky, she ended up tripping between her forehooves landing face first.

Mareian quickly looked forward with a twinge of guilt. With Lucky out of the way she could actually see the ponies in front of her. So far there are only three ponies though by her calculations there should be five ponies in front of her. The closest one is a light orange earth pony with a cowboy hat. Mareian doesn’t recognize the pony outside of a few passing glances as she gives the mare another passing glance. The mare has a surprised look which starts to turn into panic.

“Aww nah Sugarcube, ya ain’t putting me closer to that there jynx behind us!” The mare shouted at Mareian who at this point had passed Alto, who seems to be the most relaxed of the three and unbothered by the happenings around him. “Pardon me big fella, I need the distance.” Alto nodded as she let the mare pass him.

Mareian was reaching to the third-place pony who was another daisy yellow earth pony. He hooves had a sync going on with an elegance and grace of a dancer. She wasn’t struggling to keep her pace and as the two made eye contact, the mare smirked.

“Ah, it’s you. Some Wonderbolt paid me to make sure you wouldn’t get first place. I’m just surprised that you managed to pass my sister though. I won’t bother pushing myself so you can pass me.” The mare said as Mareian tried to pass her but struggled as her breathing became heavy. “That is if you have the energy to do so. See you at the finish line, kid.”

A nerve was struck as Mareian’s eyes began to turn red. Her anger brought her to a stomping fit as she rushed past the mare. The stomps causing some leaves to fall on her head and lose balance. Everything around Mareian was but a blur as her heart started pounding faster and faster.

“Hi there!” A voice said to Mareian. She couldn’t see anything but a pink blob that she had just passed. “Maybe this’ll sweeten you up, silly.” A cold splash of water doused the angry flames of Mareian’s rage. Mareian had to stop and take a few coughs and deep breaths. “It’s ok to take a break here. No pony around, so let’s get your heart resting before the real party starts.” Mareian’s vision finally comes back to her as she sees a pink earth pony smiling at her. She has a water bottle in her tail and a yellow and white sweatband across her forehead. Mareian can only recognize her as the pony that threw a party at the library and never came to get a book.

“Why-” Before Mareian could finish, the pink pony blasted water into her throat.

“No time to talk, silly. A Wonderbolt paid me to hydrate you when I could and I was like ‘no thanks I’ll do it for free’ and then I see Hope up in first place and he’s having the time of his life.” The pink pony gasped. “You’re his friend! You should be up there with him! Let me help you with that.” The pink pony lifted up Mareian and swatted her flank with her own flank causing Mareian to fly towards the correct path. “See you at the finish line!” The pink pony waved.

The brief moment in the air felt relaxing. Mareian spread out her wings to glide forward and safely descend as her hooves maintained her speed. She was breathing normally. Her heart had calmed to a normal pace. She was happy with her place.

“Oh hey, Mareian. Glad you could make it!”

*THUMP*

*THUMP* *THUMP*

*THUMP* *THUMP* *THUMP* *THUMP* *THUMP* *THUMP* *THUMP* *THUMP*

Mareian was trotting side by side with Hope. Despite being in first place, it doesn’t look like he is exerting himself to stay in his position. Or at least what was his position as Mareian took the lead away from him. He wasn’t upset that she did so, on the contrary he gave his happiest smile that he had ever given to Mareian. This smile would normally be a calming sight, but for Mareian it just made her heart beat faster than it had ever done in her entire life. She wasn’t able to respond to Hope as she had collapsed to the ground, her face a shade of pink.

“North!” Hope shouted in a panic. The orange stallion looked around, pacing his hooves together. In an instant he had decided to lift Mareian onto his back as he ran faster than any pony has ever seen a pony run. A run that would have taken roughly five minutes, Hope was able to cut it down to one minute as he reached the finish line. Before he actually crossed the line, he had tossed Mareian across the finish line as gently as he could. “MEDIC!” There were a few ponies waiting at the finish line and they began to scramble. Hope began checking up on Mareian’s health as best as he could. He started pressing his hooves onto Mareian’s chest to a rhythm as he counted down from five. He took in a deep breath.

“Hmf!” Mareian’s eyes opened as she felt something press up against her snout. Time almost stopped as she could see Hopeful Journey pressing his lips against hers. There was a brief flash of light coming from the corner of her eye. She could feel her heart skipping a beat before it got jolted by Hope exhaling all the way down to her lungs. Time moved forward as Mareian pushed Hope aside, blushing and coughing. “Hope, what in Equestria do you think you’re doing?” Mareian scoldingly stammered trying to cover up the smile on her face.

“North…” Hope’s eyes began to tear up before going into a hug. “You collapsed all of a sudden. You weren’t breathing. I-I…”

“oh, sweet Celestia I forgot to breathe.” Mareian thought to herself as a white earth pony wearing a hat with a red cross came up to the two giving them an awkward glance. “I’m fine, Hope. Just a little over exerted.” She reassured her friend before looking over to the mare that had come up to them. “I just need some water, thanks for the checkup.”

“N-North I’m just glad you’re ok.”

“Sheesh, calling me by my real name.” Mareian said rather meekly. “Only my brother ever bothers to call me by that name. Heh…” She sighs as she gives Hope a hug in return. The mare from before came up to them again, with a bottle of water. Mareian opens her mouth to receive a torrent of water from the mare as she slowly separates herself from Hope. “So where are all the other racers at?”

“UNBELIEVEABLE! A LANDSLIDE OF PONIES! A RAINBOW OF MULTICOLORED PASTEL COLORINGS! THE UNMATCHED FORTITUDE! ARE THEY EVEN RACING AT THIS POINT!?” The voice from above could be heard followed by a loud tremor. They all turn their heads towards the finish line to see a hoard of tumbling ponies dangerously approaching them.

“EVERY PONY GET DOWN!”

“We are gathered here today to commemorate the official end of the Summer season and on towards colder weather.” Mayor Mare spoke on a hastily crafted stage made out of broken materials. On the stage is a sports podium with three ponies on top. “Under normal circumstances I would have handed out participation prizes for those not in the top three spaces, but unfortunately we don’t have enough ‘7^th place’ medallions for all you ponies that tied for that position.” Groans could be heard in the audience. Bandaged ponies looked on in anger as the mayor placed a bronze medal on a daisy yellow earth pony. “3^rd place goes to Lucky Horseshoes.”

“Ya’ll sure I got 3^rd? I feel outta place.” Lucky asked as the crowd stared daggers at her.

“I can assure you that our photographers got every shot at every angle and most ponies can attest that you were the front of the pack.” The mayor says as she pulls out a silver medal and places it around Hope’s neck. “2^nd place goes to Hopeful Journey and if we had one laying around we’d give you one for excellence and bravery as well.”

“All I can say is that I’m glad that all of you had fun and in the end that’s all that matters.” Hope smiled, causing the audience to go from groaning to aweing.

“Last and most certainly not least, miss Facing North, over exerting herself to the point of collapse takes 1^st place.” She places the medal around Mareian’s neck as the Pegasus just raises an eyebrow. “I’d like to thank Mic Check for being able to broadcast this event for all of Equestria. We are eager to see more new faces come to our fine town. Have a wonderful day every pony.”

The crowd erupted into an applause as Mareian stares at her medal. Her face reflected unsure in the gold. She sighs and is the first one to get off the podium. Lucky and Hope tried following suite but were swarmed by an angry mob and an adoring public. The first pony to approach her was Speed Sound, a snarky smile upon her snout.

“Way to go, Shark Face.” Speed Sound said with a hint of sarcasm. “Not only kept up with my boy, but first place *whistle* can’t wait to see how ya do at the Young Flyer Competition, because I can tell ya the competition there will be tough.”

Mareian shook her head. “Why should I participate in that?”

“Because my boy will be participating…” Speed Sound says only getting a raised eyebrow from Mareian. “…And my girl too…” Mareian sighs as she begins to head off. “And if those two are there then my Hope will be there to support them.” Mareian gulped as her wings sprung up.

“Oh, hey mom. Congratulating your protégé on winning the race?” Mareian turned around only to find that Sky Sonata had approached Speed Sound. “Congratulations on winning the race! You go girl!” The large Pegasus gave a playful nudge.

“Oh, she’s deserving of some congratulations alright! You know why I was training her to begin with?” Speed Sound approaches her daughter and begins whispering in her ear, pointing at Mareian and then to the crowd surrounding Hope. Sky’s eyes widen.

“You can’t be serious! BA HAHAHA!” Sky laughs as her mother finishes whispering and joins in on the laughter as well.

“You should have seen it when they crossed the finish line. I think one of the photographers got a shot of it.” Speed Sound wiped a tear off her face. “Hey, Shark Face, I’m gonna get an artist’s interpretation of your victory so keep an eye out on your mailbox.”

“Mother that is the best thing I think you’ve said all my life.” The two continue their laughter as Mareian starts trotting away unamused.

“Learn anything today?” Mareian was approached by EC. She has a scroll and pen magically prepared to write down what Mareian is about to say.

Mareian sighs. “Learn anything? Like about friendship? I can’t say that I have. It feels… unresolved.” The Pegasus laughs. “I guess you could say I learned how to breathe, but don’t we all?” She looks back over to Speed Sound and Sky then over to Hope. “I may have gotten first place, but the victory seems hollow when things don’t go the way you want them to.”

“Can I help you?” Despite her preparedness to write down what Mareian said, during her answer EC had put away her things and waited patiently for her friend to let it out. “You sound like you could use a bit of help from your friends.” The sincerity in the unicorn’s voice had brought a smile to Mareian’s face.

“That would be nice, EC, thank you.” Mareian gave her friend a hug. The two were more relaxed than the hectic environment that they were in. “Heh, a Pegasus trained me to run and now a unicorn is going to train me to fly. Next an earth pony will train me on how to use magic.”

The two of them laughed as they separated from their hug. “I won’t let you down, Mareian. I’ll make you the best flyer out there. I promise.” Though Mareian couldn’t see it, she knew that under EC’s helmet was a bright smile almost as big as Hope’s.

“OH! IS THIS A SET UP FOR THE NEXT PART!?!?” The pink pony from before came up in between the two friends. “Can I say the line? Can I? Can? I Can I?”

“P-part? L-line?” EC stammered

“What are you talking about?”

“You know, when you guys end off one event by talking about another and then some pony comes into the scene and says…” Pinkie takes a deep breath, grabs ahold of some invisible object, looks at it, and screams: “FRIENDSHIP IS WEIRD!”

Heart Racer Part II

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Another bright sunshiny day in the town of Ponyville. The streets bustling with busy ponies on their busy way. At the center of it all are two ponies, a green Pegasus mare and an orange earth pony stallion. The stallion has an eager smile on his face as the two continue to trot around town. The mare looks nervous but still has a smile on her face.

“This has been a fun day, Mareian.” The stallion says as happy as always. “You’re my best friend in all of Equestria!”

“Well Hope, I’ve been meaning to tell you something.” The mare took a deep breath before looking back at the stallion. “Every time I am around you my heart beats out of control and to tell you the truth, I kind of like it… what I am trying to say, Hope, is that I want to be more than your friend… I love you.” The world around them slowly cracks into darkness as the stallion frowns.

“I prefer stallions.”

The world shatters around the mare as she falls into the darkness. She sees the stallion trot away with another stallion that looks just like her. She screams as multiple disembodied heads of the stallion she confessed to circle around her with varying emotions.

“I think of you like a sister.”

“You’re not Cheese Mare.”

“No Mareian, best friends don’t do that.”

“I love Lucky!”

“You’re just like all the other mares in my life. After me, but never my heart.”

At her breaking point, the mare screamed into the darkness, flailing her wings and legs as she does so. Suddenly a bright magical aura lit up the darkness. Coming out is a dark blue alicorn. “Princess Luna!?” Mareian screamed.

“Facing North, thou must calm thyself. Tis only a nightmare. Your dreams can never harm you.” Mareian began to relax herself a bit, though still suspended in the air of the dark void the two of them were in. “Is there a reason thou hath dreamt of young Hopeful Journey? You may confide in me for I am your friend.” The princess of the night asked.

Mareian took a deep breath, or at least she did in the dream. She had reached a calm as Princess Luna’s comforting presence enveloped her. “Luna, it’s Hope. Something about him makes me feel… special.” She sighed as she explained herself. “Always so eager on everything. Facing off against a dragon, your coronation, getting a job. His smile never seems to waver…” Mareian takes one last deep breath as she finally meets eye to eye with Princess Luna. “Really makes me envy Cookies. His relationship with Sky… Hope’s sister…GAH!” She slams her hooves into her face and begins to float backwards in somersaults.

Princess Luna teleported closer to Mareian and smiled at her, her voice calm and resolute. “It is ok Facing North. The choice is yours. Always remember that thou hath friends who are better suited to aid through these times.”

“I can’t ask Cookies. He’d give me some kind of baking analogy and I’m not going to talk to his partial mute of a brother. Worse case of asking Lucky is that she might have the same kind of feelings towards him knowing her luck. That just leaves EC and her dragon that claws my sides.” Mareian lets out a disappointed groan. “I just know if I tell him, he’ll say ‘I love you too’ and then continue behaving the same way he always does.”

Luna chuckles a bit. “Mr. Journey is the type to behave as you say. If that is what thou considers a worst-case scenario then thou hath none to worry. In the end the choice is up to you my little pony. Sleep well.”

Mareian awakes from her slumber. She is in a bed facing towards another bed with her friend, EC in it. On the floor is Lucky, peacefully sleeping on four big pillows with her hat gracefully on her head. Mareian takes a look out the window and sees the dark clouds.

“Rain.” She sighs. “I guess that means no training with you, EC.”

“I wouldn’t count on that.” A voice came from underneath Mareian’s covers. It was Scales the dragon. His purple eyes illuminated in the dark dawn lighting as be pulls himself from under the covers. “Royal guards don’t skip training because of the weather, so don’t go counting on that. Get ready because her internal alarm should be going off right about…” Scales pulls out a pocket watch showing that it is mere seconds before the hour. “Now.”

As if on cue, EC lift’s herself up out of bed. Her hair and mane is a mess but her golden eyes meet Mareian’s hazel ones. “Alright girl, it’s time to get ready for our training. Time is limited so let’s use all the time we have to make you the best mare you can be.” She looks out the window. “That’s good, I don’t have to call the weather team to bring up a storm. Come on, Mareian!” EC uses her magic to get herself an umbrella meant to cover her face.

“Told you.” Scales got off the bed and followed EC. With a sigh, Mareian follows suite as they exit the library.

“Let me guess, you want me to clear the skies today? Should be simple enough.”

“No.” EC opens up her umbrella as she steps outside. “These raindrops are an enemy invasion firing arrows at us. Your mission is to scout Ponyville without getting hit.” EC said but Mareian only gave her a confused look, staring over at the smug looking Scales. “Fly as fast as you can around Ponyville trying not to get soaking wet. Stick to the road, but stay flying until you make it back here. Got it?”

“Ma’am yes ma’am!” Mareian says with a friendly salute.

“Ready? Set.” EC looks over at Scales who has his pocket watch still out and they both nod at each other. Mareian takes a deep breath. “GO!”

Without missing a beat, Mareian flies out of the library at high speed. She followed the path that EC suggested. Not many ponies out on a rainy day and those that are out have their umbrellas opened. Mareian’s bird point of view can’t distinguish which pony is under what umbrella except for a black and white umbrella heading for Sugar Cube Corner. The path is rather long and Mareian is starting to get soaked. She beats her wings faster and faster until she finally reaches the library again.

“Good time.” Scales said, showing the pocket watch revealing that two minutes had passed.

“But not good form. You’re soaking wet.” EC stated before looking over at Scales, giving him a nod as he starts to breathe fire on Mareian.

“Woah careful!”

EC’s horn glows, enveloping Mareian in her magic. “We have to speed up your drying process. The Best Young Flyer competition isn’t a race. You are going to be judged on your form as well as your speed. Sure, you can fly from point A to point B pretty fast, but if it’s all just a quick and easy straight line they’ll think of you as too simple, which is why some do tricks at the competition, to show that they are fast and quick thinking. The reason I used the enemy invasion analogy was for you to think and act quickly on how to avoid the rain. Now that I’ve told you, do you think you can come back drier?”

Mareian takes a look down the path that she had gone. There were several awnings that she passed that could have provided as cover from the rain. If she stayed low enough to the ground while still flying she could shield herself from the rain. She looked back at EC and nodded. “I’m ready.”

Scales stopped breathing fire on Mareian and gave EC a thumbs up. EC nods and looks back at Mareian, dissipating her magic. “On your mark, get set…” Mareian got into her racing position as she waits for the call. “GO!”

With a burst of energy, Mareian launches herself forward, her wings propelling herself through the rain-soaked air. Using her agility and quick thinking she’s able to find shelters from the rain ranging from awnings to trees and even open windows to keep her dry. Flying low, she was able to use roaming ponies and their umbrellas as protection though she kept apologizing to each one she had to use. She was making great time, barely a drop of water on her fur. She has a clear path back to the library.

*SPLASH*

“Oh hey, Mareian.” A chipper voice said as Mareian wipes all the mud off her face. “Sorry about that. Jumping around in the rain is so fun and calming I wasn’t paying attention.” Mareian feels a hoof press against her face and sliding off. She blinks a few times to clear her vision and is able to see Hope right in front of her.

*THUMP* *THUMP* *THUMP* *THUMP* *THUMP* *THUMP* *THUMP* *THUMP*

“Hope, what are you doing without an umbrella?” Mareian was able to snap herself out of her silence, heart racing as she does so. Despite the interaction, she still remains in the air, wings flapping. “You’re going to catch a cold.”

“You make a good point, but I’m pretty sure I’m locked out of the house.” The stallion said with a smile on his face. “What about you? Why don’t you have an umbrella?”

Mareian had opened her mouth to explain herself, but EC’s words came to mind. “You are going to be judged on your form.” “…do tricks...” “Think and act quickly on how to avoid the rain.”

“Sweet Celestia I am not the brightest bulb in this shack of friends we have.” Mareian stated, a bit glum.

“I’m not the sharpest tool either, so that makes two of us.” Though he is covered head to hoof in mud, Hope gave Mareian a smile that shine through the grime. He reached out and wrapped his hoof around hers. “Come on, we can head back to your place and get all cleaned up.”

Were her cheeks not covered in mud, Hope would have clearly seen how much he made her blush. “M-my place!?” She stammered.

“Yes. Your place!” He said with no hesitation. “I said I was locked out of my house so we should go to your place to get clean.” The stallion pulled the Pegasus closer to him, only for her to stay flying. He looked at her in confusion before a smile brightened up on his face. “YOU’RE TRAINNING FOR THE YOUNG FLYER COMPETITION!?” Hope pressed Mareian’s face together with his hooves as his sparkling blue eyes stared directly into her hazel orbs.

Mareian tries pulling her head away, but Hope has it firmly in his grasp. All Mareian can do is look away as her heart pounds out of her chest. “Y-yeah…” She said shyly. “EC wants me to fly through Ponyville without getting wet. Now that I’m thinking about it, she probably meant for me to do so with her umbrella as a way to multitask flying at high speeds whilst holding on to something.”

An ever-brightening smile grew on Hope’s face as if a light had gone off in his head. “Let me be your umbrella!”

Before Mareian could potentially deny the offer, Hope went from wrapping his hoof around hers to wrapping all of his hooves around her body, hanging on to her like a koala cub. They were connected, belly to belly. “How is this an umbrella?” Mareian said strained from the weight of the stallion below her.

“Wrap your hooves around me, fly forward, and flip over. That way I’d be on top of you!” The two of them were getting strange looks from the passing by ponies. It didn’t help that the last words out of Hope’s mouth were words you just couldn’t look away at.

With a groan, Mareian followed Hope’s instructions and flew the rest of the path back to the library. She couldn’t help but feel the beat of Hope’s heart. Nothing about it is abnormal for a pony jumping around in the rain. Something about it was rather calming to Mareian. Not even the strain of the exercise was bothering her in this moment as she felt her own heart slow to sync with the stallion on top of her. She couldn’t see Hope’s face as both ponies were looking forward, but through the sound of his cheering voice, Mareian could tell she was making him happy. It wasn’t long before they reached the library.

“H-Hope? M-Mareian?” EC looked flabbergasted as the earth pony practically hovered over to her. During her wait, she had put on her helm for the day; her main exploding out of it as it usually does.

“We’re gonna take a break right now. Some pony got locked out of their house and needs a warm bath.” Mareian let go and flipped Hope off her, leading him into the library holding hooves. “Come on. Let’s get you all fresh and cleaned.”

EC and Scales both look at each other, the unicorn looked confused while the dragon looks annoyed if not done for the day. Scales shakes his head as the two go inside the Library. Mareian and Hope head into the bathroom and once they do, the sound of running water vibrates the library.

“Whassa!” A surprised sleepy sound came from upstairs. “Ya’ll bathing down there!”

“A certain somepony decided to play in the mud!” Scales hollered back up the stairs. “Go back to sleep, Lucky!” Scales decided to relax in the pillowed reading corner of the library as EC rummages through the ‘romance’ section of the library. She pulls out a book titled ‘Heart Racer: A Romance Author’s Guide to Real Romance by Cherry Heart’ and begins skimming through the book.

“Y-you’re a grown pony, Hope. You can bathe yourself, by yourself.” Mareian exits the bathroom with a lot less mud on her face than when she entered, though still soaking wet. She placed a hoof on her chest as she took a couple of deep breaths.

“Excuse me, Mareian, could you come over here for a moment.” EC beckoned Mareian over to her.

“Umm, sure…? Do you want Scales to dry me off first or…?” As Mareian approaches EC, the unicorn’s horn lights up, coating Mareian with magic before quickly pulling off all the water off her fur and tossing it out an open window. “…you could always do that? Since when?”

“Cookies put the idea in my head when he talked about how he applies spells when he works in the kitchen, but that’s not important.” EC brings the romance book to Mareian. She doesn’t say anything but she looks at Mareian before looking over at the bathroom and nudging her head towards it.

Mareian’s eyes widened as she swiftly stepped closer to EC and pressed the book up against her mouth. “Why yes, I know about romance author, Cherry Heart. I like how she makes her characters interact with one another and all that. Good times EC, but I flew around Ponyville twice and it feels like I just woke up. We can talk more when we don’t have a GUEST in the bathroom.” Mareian said with a forced enthusiasm as if to brush the conversation under the rug. She makes her way up the stairs while EC sighs and places the book back down on a shelf.

“Not really much to say to her then.” EC says a bit dejected as she heads on over to Scales and lays in the pillow corner. “Friendship problems are one thing, Scales, but love is another. You got any ideas?”

“Do I look like I do romance? I dunno, but Hope seems like the kind of guy who’d love anything so that’s all my input on the matter.” Scales says with a roll of his eyes. EC stares at the door to the bathroom and then looks back up the stairs and then finally at the bathroom again as Hope exits the room looking clean, but wet.

“That’s so refreshing!” The stallion says relieved. He notices EC approaching him and gives his friend a warming smile. “Hey, EC. You got something you need me for?”

“Hope, I have a friendship question related to you. How is your friendship with Mareian?”

“She’s fun!” Hope said without hesitation, smile beaming as usual. “I can tell she likes to liberate herself every once in a while and I like going on adventures!” He starts to chuckle. “I’m glad to have her around. She’s like a guide to me whenever I’m away from family or Cookies.”

“Or Cookies?” Scales speaks up with a raised eyebrow.

“Yep, or Cookies! He isn’t family yet, but I like to think of him as family. Heh… I like to think of you all as my family. A close-knit family of friends. Brotherhood and sisterhood. Companions until the end, even though I never want it to end. So yeah, Mareian is like family to me in a sense.”

“I…see…” EC says as she uses her magic to levitate an umbrella over to him. “Stay safe out there.”

“Won’t Mareian need it when you send her out again?” Hope asked.

“Don’t worry about that, we have more umbrellas. Plus, she’d worry about your safety so take it.” EC levitated the umbrella up to Hope’s face who smiles and grabs it with his mouth as he exits the library. EC smiles as best as she can waving him off. With Hope out of sight, EC sighs, levitates the romance guide, and begins to trot back upstairs. She finds Mareian laying down in her bed, her head in her pillows.

“Is he gone?” Mareian asked muffled through one of her pillows.

“Yeah.”

“Good…” Mareian removes the pillow from her face, revealing a stream of tears running down her face. She starts to verbally bawl while maintaining a smile on her face.

“Umm… it’s ok you can let it all out…?” EC said a bit confused.

“So-so liberating.” Mareian babbled, her breathing erratic. “I am e-elated. So-so happy… EC, I-I-I…” Mareian took a big gulp before looking back at EC, teary eyed and an unwavering smile. “I think I’m in love with him.”

There was a silence between the two. EC levitated the book she had and started to flip through the pages. “Chapter 11: Adventurous Stallions and How to Wrangle them.” EC read out loud.

Step 1

Find that stallion

Step 2

Make sure you’ll have fun

Step 3

Don’t forget to breathe-

Heart racer...

Step 4

Ask him out on a date

Lewd stuff

So, we’ll skip to step 8

To which you’re both happy-

Heart racer…

“As long as the two of you have fun together, you both will be happy.” EC holds out her hoof to Mareian. “And I know you’ll be happy; I can promise you that.”

Mareian wiped away her happy little tears and held her hoof out to her friend. “Thanks EC. You’re a good friend.” The two ponies came in close for an embrace.

“Can ya’ll cut the lovey dovey nonsense? I am tryin’ t’ sleep in.” Lucky jokingly complains as she lay on the floor below their hug. The three ponies look at each other before smiles form on their faces and they start giggling.

“So, I guess we should get back to training huh?” Mareian says looking out the window and into the rainy skies.

“I don’t think that’ll be necessary anymore.” EC explained, getting surprised looks from both Mareian and Lucky. “Physically, you’re more than able to do well in the competition, surpassing my expectations both times even though you were soaking both times. You have it all figured out and what’s more important is for us to be there for you.”

Lucky smiled and nodded in agreement. “Yeah, girl! I know I’ll be there cheerin’ for ya no matter what…” Lucky’s eyes start darting between the two mares. “Where we gonna go anyway?”

Cloudsdale, a city in the sky comprised of clouds. The Pegasus ponies gather at the Cloudsdale stadium for this year’s Best Young Flyer competition. There are Wonderbolts and royal guards in attendance as well as princess Celestia. Some earth ponies and unicorns are also in attendance though they have to stay on wagons and such objects that can hold them up on. In one such wagon is a daisy yellow earth pony quaking in fear and covering her eyes with her hat.

“WHY CAN’T YA’LL HAVEN THIS THANG ON DA GOUND!?” She screamed.

“Fillies and Gentle Colts! LIVE IN THE CLOUDSDALE STADIUM! CHECK ONE CHECK TWO IT’S THE ONE AND ONLY MIC CHECK HERE FOR YOU FOR THE BEST YOUNG FLYER’S CONTEST!!!” A voice boomed throughout the cloud stadium. The audience erupted into nonstop cheers. “We’ve got our wonderful Wonderbolt judges and hey, I even got a Wonderbolt here with me on commentary. Codename: Wanderwings, it’s drill sergeant Speed Sound.”

“That’s WONDERwings to you, flightless. We’re here to see a specticale of ponies performing their hearts out. My kids are even in this one and I know they got their little heart racer friend competing as well.” Another voice chimed in.

“Wonder wander. Gonder gander. That isn’t what the judges told me. We’ll get started with the event after a word from our sponsors.”

Inside the stadium’s waiting room is an anxious Mareian, pacing back and forth as she stares at the latest issue of Equestria Daily. She’s looking at an article titled ‘The Heart Racer, The Breath Taker & the Third Placer’ and the picture they used for the article was when Hope tried mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on Mareian during the Running of the Leaves, though without reading the article it looks like they printed a picture of two ponies kissing. It’s in black and white so it would be hard for any pony who wasn’t at the event to distinguish the two without reading first. Mareian looked at the picture with a dizzy smile.

“Wow, you two REALLY went at it. How did it taste?” Mareian was accompanied by two large blue Pegasus ponies: Sky Sonata and her younger brother Alto Tenor. The mare giggled as she mockingly asked Mareian.

“Don’t you have a small unicorn to tease?” Mareian snarked at Sky.

“I would, but I’m only number 5 so I have to wait here with you.” Sky replied. Both Mareian and Alto looked at their numbers: 10 and 7 respectively. “But seriously, how’d you rate that kiss, my pegasis?”

“My heart was beating so fast and I couldn’t breathe for a moment.” Mareian whispered.

“So dramatic! So ROMANTIC!” Sky said with exaggerated enthusiasm before giggling to herself. “Winning this competition won’t win his affections, silly. I know my little bro.”

“Same.” Alto added.

“Winning isn’t the plan.” Mareian sighs as she places down the issue of Equestria Daily. “I don’t even have a plan. Just do a thing and something good will come out of it. He’ll be happy that I took part with you two so in a sense just being here is already doing the job. I just have to not look like a fool.”

Sky let out a snicker. “You already did look like one at that race. Front page material too.” She tries to reach for the newspaper but her hoof is swatted away by Mareian. “Ow… Sorry, sis. Just saying it how it is. Can’t look any worse than that, right bro?”

“Injury is always worse.” Alto added.

“And since we’re up all the way in Cloudsdale, and we aren’t exactly head-to-head flying, what exactly are you gonna get injured on? Slip and land on a cloud?” Sky started to laugh as a lighter blue blur with a rainbow streak came into the scene.

“OH hey, you guys! I don’t suppose any of you would like to trade places with me?” Rainbow Dash had pulled out her number to show to the trio. It was 2. Sky had a mischievous smile on her face.

“You can take mine. I wouldn’t want my Ponyville whether mare to stress herself out on this, eh?” Sky yanked the number out from Rainbow Dash’s wing and let her own number gently float down on her nose.

“That was easier than I-” Rainbow Dash pulls the number off of her face and her eyes widen. “FIVE! You were already just about to go on?”

“I am!” Sky says as the announcer calls up number 2. “Wish me luck!” She looks back at the group and gives them a wink and a smile before heading off.

Rainbow Dash looks at Alto and Mareian with a sheepish grin. “I don’t suppose either of you want to be fifth?”

“THAT’S MY DAUGHTER! EVERYPONY THAT RIGHT THERE IS PURE GENERATIONAL TALENT MY SKY SONATA!”

“She JUST came out and waved. She hasn’t even started yet.”

The announcer bickered with Speed Sound. Over in the audience, Hope, Cookies, and EC begin to cheer in their wagon while Lucky is still screaming terrified. Their wagon is connected to a rather meek looking dark Pegasus stallion with a swishy white mane and tail. He wears a hard hat and glasses and on his flank is an image of a lightning bolt coming out of a dark cloud. He smiles at Sky coming out and gives her a wave with one of his hooves.

An airhorn signals Sky to start. Her movements, while not the fastest, show such grace as she flies. Going through a couple of cloud hoops, she gathers bits of the cloud in her hooves. When she reached a high enough height, she dived down towards the wagon with Hope and friends on it. Her speed increasing as the result of gravity. Just before she could have collided into them, she performs a backflip triple corkscrew whilst flinging the clouds that land on the faces of Hope, EC, and the hard hat wearing Pegasus. Cookies stares at her with amazement as she plucks out two of her feathers and blows them right into his nostrils. She flies back to the starting point, exaggeratingly swaying her hips from side to side as she makes her way back. She gives a final bow as the audience erupts into cheers and whistles.

“Well then…” Cookies snorted out the feathers from his nose, hiding them in his mane before his friends could notice.

“Wassat Mareian? Did I miss it?” Lucky, who had been blindfolded with her bandana and improvably strapped down, managed to lift her blind up a bit before she started trembling the wagon. “NOPE NOPE NOPE!”

Back in the waiting room, Sky is greeted by her brother and Mareian. Alto gives her a small wave with her wings, while Mareian is pacing back and forth still. “Woah there, I thought you’d have nerves of steel at this point with Hope being your target audience. He’s an easy please that’s for sure. Ever smiling stallion that he is.” Sky giggles to herself. “Easy please...”

“You and your family probably have done these athletic events numerous times, but I never had. Sure, my focus is on H-” Mareian shoved a hoof in her mouth before she could finish. “Hope and my friends, entertaining them and putting smiles on their faces because that’s what a good friend does you know but there are still several other ponies who have never seen nor heard of me because I work at a library and not at the gym they’d all frequent on a regular basis AHHHHH!”

“You need to work on your breathing, sis. You’re gonna pass out from lack of air.” Sky said.

“Yeah… breathing… can’t keep forgetting about that.” Mareian takes a moment to do a bit of breathing exercises.

“Ha! I managed to get 11!” Rainbow Dash bursts into the scene, waving her number in Mareian’s face, causing her to lose focus and start coughing. “Watching you flop is gonna make my life a whole lot easier going forward.” The rainbow Pegasus starts to laugh.

“Oooooh rivalries! How exiting!” Sky said with an almost sarcastic enthusiasm as she starts laughing to herself. “You guys bother amongst yourselves for a while. I need to freshen up.” Sky makes her way to the mare’s locker room the three Pegasus look on. Mareian and Rainbow Dash look at her in confusion while Alto looks back with disgust.

“Eh friendly rivalry never hurts as long as we don’t get too physical with each other. Worse thing that can happen to us is that we get injured. Right Alto?” Mareian looks over at Alto his face still scrunched up in disgust as he nods at her.

“Oh, you’re just saying that so it hurts less when I become the best fastest Pegasus out there tonight.” Rainbow Dash boasted.

Mareian sighs as she places a hoof on Rainbow Dash’s shoulder. “You didn’t ever make top three acts at the talent show.”

Rainbow Dash pushed Mareian’s hoof off of her. “Yeah, I got beat out by a bunch of musically talented ponies such as your friends. That’s what usually wins talent shows. It was just pure luck that quack got third place.”

“Quack? She was a magician. Not a doctor.”

“POTATO POTATO!” The two of them look at each other before they start to laugh. “You know, I’m starting to get why that Wonderbolt likes you.”

“You don’t even know the half of it.” Mareian said with exaggerated enthusiasm. As the two bonded through snarky bickering, the announcer had called for Number 7 to which Alto got up and headed over to the starting area.

“What’s up with that guy?” Rainbow asked. “Isn’t he that shredder of a guitarist in that one group from the talent show? Why is a music nerd here?” Just as she said that, a loud boom shook the stadium despite it being made of clouds. The two Pegasus ponies look around in fear for a couple of seconds before Alto had come back with a pizza box in his hooves.

“Alto… where did you get that?” Mareian asked the enormous blue Pegasus pony.

“Ponyville.” Alto pulls out a slice, showing it to be olives and mushrooms, and puts it in his mouth carefully chewing. A second loud boom overtakes the stadium again. Rainbow Dash and Mareian look at each other before looking back at Alto with a bit of terror in their eyes.

“OOOH Olives! My favorite.” Sky comes back rather clean and grabs herself her own slice of pizza and starts messily chewing. “What did I miss?”

“An AMAZING SHOWCASE so far by all of these wonderful winged warriors!” One of the voices in the loudspeakers boomed.

“They all got potential there, Mic, but only one can be considered the Best Young Flyer.”

“I’d say it’s cheating how two of these competitors were trained by an official Wonderbolt of you asked me, miss Sound, but I don’t make the rules here I’m a radio host for Equestria Radio for that wonderful Weekend Wrap Up. Up next is Number 10: Facing Nor-”

“HA! SHARK FACE DID COME AFTER ALL! Tally that as another pony I trained, Mic. That is if you count land training. I ain’t seen how this girl flaps her wings and right now I’m on the edge of my seat.”

“Facing North, Shark Face, Heart Racer, and I think her friends call her Mareian. This mare has many monikers, but we’ll see if she can take the one for Best Young Flyer.”

Mareian stood before a massive crowd. She looked around to find her friends, which didn’t take long as Hope was cheering louder than any pony else in the stadium. It also helped that he made a banner that said ‘A-MARE-ZING’ with her cutie mark crudely drawn on the left side and her face on the right. She felt a pang in her heart for a second before shaking her head. She pointed in that direction, moving her hoof vertically as if motioning towards that section, and then she raises her hooves. Hope raises his hooves which starts a domino effect as every pony else raises their hooves.

The airhorn sounds off the start of Mareian’s turn. She aimed herself towards Hope, flying as fast as she could towards him. Without missing a step, Mareian made it look like she was running upwards on the hooves of the audience before flipping back and kicking a piece of cloud through one of the cloud hoop obstacles. The audience cheers as she starts to fly through the obstacle course upside-down. Her movements, unwavering and elegant as she gracefully twists, turn, and spin past the obstacles without fail.

“WOOOOOOOO MAREIAN YOU GOT THIS!” Hope cheered as she flew by.

“Wait ya’ll, it’s her turn now?” Lucky took off her blind for a moment, but got startled by her surroundings and clung to the wagon with enough force to shake it. “NOPE!”

“Oop!” Hope loses his balance in the shake and falls off the wagon. Mareian watches as her friend starts to plummet down to the surface of Equestria.

“HOPE!” Mareian screamed as she dove after him. She didn’t care about the competition in that moment as she burst through cloud after cloud in her way. She could hear the screams of the stallion echo out. The two broke through the clouds, with Hope spinning on his way down Mareian had to spiral down so she could line up her hooves and catch him before they reached the ground. “Gotcha.”

*THUMP* *THUMP* *THUMP*

Hopes screams were not that of terror, but of excitement. Mareian had looked up at his face and could see a bright smile on his face. She noticed that the gray Pegasus near his wagon and Speed Sound had flown close to them, but stopped and softly smiled. Time felt to slowdown as a rainbow overtook the sky above them. Mareian couldn’t help but smile staring at such a happy earth pony free falling through the sky. She didn’t want it to stop.

*BAM*

Ponyville General Hospital has been bustling recently due to the recent outcome at the Best Young Flyer competition. Only one pony was injured at the event and what had happened to her had brought in droves of journalists wanting to get a prime story. For the first time in around a decade, another sonic rainboom cast over the skies of Equestria. In the past it was accomplished through the magic of two very powerful unicorns as they battled it out in the sky. Today, it was done by two Pegasus ponies reaching groundbreaking speeds. However, one of the two accidentally knocked the other out of the air, causing her to crash hard into the ground below.

In one of the hospital rooms are five ponies wait patiently for a doctor to arrive. Cookies scowls at the ground, unable to look any of his friends in the eye. Alto merely frowns, his eyes darting from his friends to different parts of the room. EC had been biting her lip in anticipation, giving the doorway to the room a thousand-yard stare. Princess Luna was attempting to start a conversation with her friends, but ended up stopping herself, sighing depressingly. The only one not in a down mood is Hope, the only one in the room with a smile present on his face. He too stares out the doorway, but on occasion he looks back at his friends. While they don’t look back at him, he holds no ill will towards them, understanding how they feel. He looks at Princess Luna with a warm smile.

“I know it’ll all be ok.” He spoke.

“Thou art ever an optimist, Mr. Journey. A trait that all could aspire to, myself included.” Luna smiled at the stallion.

After a good couple of minutes had passed, the nurses brought in a bed with a green pony on it. She was practically cocooned in bandages that you could only recognize her face only that her eyes are closed. A brownish stallion in a white coat enters the room looking at a clipboard. He notices princess Luna and is shocked by the visit. “Wasn’t expecting a visit from Luna today, but with all the paparazzi I could only assume she had celebrity status.”

“Facing North is a dear friend of mine. I came as soon as possible, but do tell, young doctor, how is she?” Luna asked.

“We’ve stabilized her, but with the head trauma and the fall she is left comatose. We don’t know when she’ll wake up. A week? A month? A year? We can’t make promises like that, but we will keep her here healthy. I’ll leave you all to your friend.” With that the doctor and the nurses exited the room.

There was a moment of silence as all the ponies stare at their friends. It was a good minute before Cookies sighed, breaking the silence. “I could have prevented all this… Instead of focusing my magic on something so stupid like food services! I should have followed my father’s hoof steps and helped him with safety protocols. I’m a shame on the Cream name.”

“Cookies you don’t have to-”

“No!” EC interrupted Luna as she slaps her helmed head. “I promised her that everything would be good, that she’d be happy. As her coach, I let her fall. As her friend, I let her down. I failed as both.”

Alto stomp one of his hooves. He didn’t say anything, but sighed as he shook his head and took his leave. Cookies watched his friend leave and so he too, with a somber look, stared back at the rest as he left. “He’s right… we can’t just mope about here… I’m going to go out and study for a bit.” With that said, Cookies carefully closes the doors behind him as he left.

There was a bit of silence until EC too stood up and made her way to the door. “I can’t stay in a hospital room and wait again… not again… I have to get stronger so that this may never happen again to my friends anymore. Sorry Princess… Hope… I’m going to become strong to protect my friends.” With that said, the helmed unicorn slowly opens and closes the door on her exit.

Despite the sour emotions that were in the room, Hope remains smiling at Mareian. “It’ll all be ok… Hey Luna…” Hope stared at the princess with a bit of a twinkle in his eyes. “Do ponies dream while comatose?”

Outside of the hospital, Scales paces back and forth at the entrance. Celestia is out there dealing with journalists and so are a couple other ponies who were at the event. Scales stuck to the background next to a sign that said ‘No Dragons Inside: Fire Hazzard’ waiting patiently for EC, Mareian, or any of the others to come out. Through the window he saw Cookies, but it seemed like he was taking the back exit. The first pony to actually come out was Alto, journalists swarmed him, but he had remained silent, making his way out of the area.

“Go figure. Better off interviewing a wall.” Scales snorted. At this moment, EC had exited the hospital and Scales was quick to catch up with her. “EC! How’s everything? Lucky came by and grabbed some of her things. Said she needed to do something at home. She said you guys were at the hospital. Things are crazy.” Scales said rather exasperated as they walked away from the hospital. Thankfully they weren’t bothered by the journalists on their way.

“I let her down, Scales. Another of my friends in the hospital and I can’t do anything about it.” EC said with a bit of emotion to her words.

“Woah, take it easy. Let’s head on back home and get some rest, ok?” Scales tried reassuring her.

“I can’t, Scales. She spent just as much time living there as me and I don’t think I can live there until she’s back. Sorry if I’m leaving you there by yourself Scales.”

“I get to have a place to myself so I’m not gonna complain, but where are you going to go to instead?”

“Here.” They stopped in front of a mailbox. In the fanciest of print, the word ‘Cream’ is plastered on its side. “Cookies has some spell books that I don’t think I’ve seen before. Especially that cryptic book he has. If there’s one place to learn how to protect my friends, it’s here.” She approaches the door and presses her hoof on the doorbell. It takes a minute before Alto opens the door.

“Woah… you got here fast.” Scales said with a bit of lightheartedness.

Alto stares at Scales and the back at EC with a slight frown on his face. “He’s not here.”

“Oh… I just wanted to borrow some of his spell books, if you don’t mind.” EC politely asked. Alto welcomes the two inside the house. “Thank you, Alto. I promise to return any such books that I borrow.” EC quickly trotted up the stairs into Cookies room while Scales and Alto hung around the living room area.

Cookies room is kept quite tidy. His bookshelves aren’t organized like a library would, but EC recognized that all the cookbooks were on one shelf and the spell books were on a different one. She sifted through the titles, but they were all either too simple, books she already had, and not the specific book that she wanted to look at. She sighed at her failed search. She noticed that Cookies has a mirrored wardrobe with the stuffed version of his friends Hope made for his birthday carefully decorated around it. She noticed that there are two photos hanging just above the mirror. One of the family photos he had before meeting her, and the birthday photo.

“Hello?” A familiar voice rang from downstairs accompanied by the door opening and closing. EC carefully went downstairs and saw Cookies. He looked different somehow. His eyes had a glossy look to them, and the emotions he held not too long ago were gone. She could only assume he had used some type of relaxant spell.

“Sorry for going through your room, Cookies. I was looking to borrow that spell book of yours.” EC apologized while Scales and Alto remained quiet, relaxing to the soothing melody being produced by a music box that Alto had his Concerto Crystal turn into.

“Well, my fair…” Cookies had to look at his hoof for a moment before looking back at EC. “…Enchanted Crown, you don’t have to apologize to me for anything. What, might I ask, was the book you were looking for?”

“That one I told you about. You got it back in Buckfield.” Cookies had to tilt his head confused at EC’s explanation. “The one with Grogar’s name on it.”

“OH! Oh…” Cookies had recognized what she was talking about before a somber realization came to him. “Unfortunately, I… left the book behind at work. Don’t want to invade the Cake’s privacy now that they have twin foals to deal with.” The unicorn embarrassingly explained. “But I can show you one from it. My fair Hopeful Journey assisted me with it. Come now, let’s end this dreary mood and share some good memories! May I have a volunteer?”

EC, Scales, and Alto looked at each other skeptically before Alto nodded his head and raised his wing. With a smile, the pony known as Cookies walked towards the large Pegasus stallion and cast his magic enveloping Alto’s head. The magic poured out a group scene poured out. All their friends were visible, staring at him as he played his instrument. The scene continued Alto’s voice could be heard singing a song, wishing his friend a happy birthday. EC and Scales were both impressed and had smiles on their faces, though ECs was hidden by her helm.

“That was a wonderful birthday present for Cookies, Alto. Even in memories it still rings well.”

“My birthday?” Cookies whispered to himself.

The door bursts open as the memory starts to fade away. “Expert level magic, eh?” a voice could be heard from the door. From the darkness of the night emerges a gruff white unicorn stallion. His fur has a black star pattern on his right eye, both of which shine a sparkly silver color. His mane is black and well kept, but it looks like it uses some product and dyes as some gray hairs are visible at the root. His tail is kept short with a shiny streak going through it. On his flank is an image of a mirror coming out of some purple smoke. “As one would expect from a Cream.”

EC, Alto, and Scales stare at Cookies in confusion. Cookies tries his best and speaks up. “Oh! Today I wasn’t expecting a family visit today.”

“Course not, Uncle Dandy doesn’t do diddly in advance. But that’s neither here nor there, nephew.” The stallion comes in close and wraps his strong hoof around Cookies. “See, I ain’t gonna live forever and I sort of need a pony to pass my legacy onto…” the stallion looks at EC and Alto. “And I see you got yourself some friends who would look great alongside you.”

“Excuse me, is there something we can help you with?” EC tries to ask respectfully.

“My apologies! I’m fairly sure my brother hasn’t told my nephew a lot about me.” The stallion starts posing as if he were showing off his muscles. “Dandy Cream The Third, but if you watch Pony Wrestling, you’d probably know me as DC3, baby. Multi-time world champ, tag champ, singles champ, you name it, I’ve done it in the wrestling circuit. At my age, I’m bound for retirement, and since I don’t got a family of my own, I thought about asking my brother’s kin to help me get to the top one last time.”

“I-I don’t know. Something just happened and we have a lot on our mind so-”

“Good, this’ll get whatever you have off your minds. I’ll train you all to be in the best shape of your life. Whatever obstacle you got, a monster you need to defeat, a friend to protect, a bully to stand up to, or even fame. I’ll make you all famous.” DC3 offered.

“We’re somewhat famous already.” EC added.

“I’ll make you famouser.” The stallion backed away and let out his hoof. “So, what will you say?” There was a bit of hesitation before Alto sat up and wrapped his wing around the stallion’s hoof. “There we go, big guy. What about you, nephew?” Cookies looked unsure at his uncle but sheepishly grabbed the stallion’s hoof. “There we go! You, royal guard looking mare. You got a good gimmick going on, the protector. I like it. I can make you an even better one than you are now.”

“A better protector?” EC said with a rising enthusiasm. She confidently strides to the stallion’s side, nodding at him. “I’ll do anything to protect my friends.”

“Alright! We got ourself a little stable of the next generation lead by the one and only D C 3.” The stallion said emphasizing each part of his name. “Let’s head on down to the performance center. We can get you all trained up there in no time.”

“Hey! Aren’t you forgetting me!?” Scales said getting in the stallion’s face with a nervous smile.

“No dragons. Safety reasons, bud.” DC3 begins to walk out of the house with Alto and Cookies following him. “Dragons have hard scales and breathe fire. We ponies are soft, squishy, and coated in very flammable substances in our fur. Sorry pal.”

“EC you can’t just go out without me again. I don’t want to miss out on this.” Scales begged EC who shrugged him off after a bit of hesitation.

“This isn’t a fun adventure we’re going on, Scales. We’re doing this for personal reasons, and I can’t in good conscious force you to join us on something you didn’t even have control over. It’s not you Scales… it’s us.” With that, EC left, joining the stallions on their way to the train station. Scales stood at the door with a mix of emotions ranging from angry to confused.

“FINE!” Scales shut the door, separating himself visually from EC and the others. “Friendship is leaving your dragon behind it seems.” Scales said with a bit of spite. “Friendship is weird.”

Uncle

View Online

WOAH---

I’ll make you famous

I’LL MAKE YOU FAMOUSER!

Los Pegasus, the home to A-list celebrities. It is also home to the Pony Wrestling League, also known as PWL. Over at the PWL performance center, three ponies are being trained by a pro in the business. Multi-time champ Dandy Cream the Third is training with his nephew Cookies N Cream and his friends Alto Tenor and Enchanted Crown. DC3, Alto, and EC are in a square ring with Cookies watching from the outside.

“We’re starting off with some basics. Whip me into the ropes for a rebounding offence. EZ you can start off with me.” Before EC could correct him, DC3 grabbed her by the hoof. “Ok now that you got me, you gotta pull me, like so.” The stallion guided the mare’s hooves as he flung himself over to the ropes and ran a lap. “Good work, EZ. Mare your size and strength will easily dominate the division. Now you’re up Big Al.” He holds up his hoof only for Alto to grab him using his wing. “You think your dinky little wing can lift a stallion my size? That’s not gonna cut it. Also, no wings, no magic. Thems the rules. Using them is a DQ and possibly some fines as well. So come on and give me your hoof.”

The training continues in a montage as well as the song.

WOAH---

I’ll make you famous

I’LL MAKE YOU FAMOUSER!

After a week of physical training, DC3 takes his trainees into the performance center, giving them sticks. “Alright, since you are in peak physical condition, we need to work on how you cut a promo.” He grabs a stick of his own with his hoof as the scene flashforwards to a live PWL event. The crowd is going wild and the flash photography is immense as the four ponies stand in the ring. “You see Rain Maker, you may have your little colts club of flippy nerds and muscle-less chumps, I’ve developed a legacy… no AN EMPIRE under my family name. We will have you and your boys down on the mat for three seconds flat. My nephew can AND WILL take your title while me and Big Al are gonna squash those tag champs of yours just look at the size comparison! And our mare EZ is already a maniac in the ring if you haven’t already seen her. The Cream Empire is here to SET THE STAGE and the curtain call is your loss at Ponymania.”

WOAH---

I’ll make you famous

I’LL MAKE YOU FAMOUSER!

It’s been roughly a month and a half since the group training started and they had just made their debut on PWL last week. Over at the performance center, DC3 is sifting through letters with his hooves, one of which catches his eye.

“Excuse me, Uncle Dandy?”

“Oh Jeeze!” DC3 was surprised by Cookies voice. Some of the letters start to scatter. One such letter lands in front of Cookies. “Don’t sneak up on a trained professional like that, I could have injured you if you were a crook.”

“My apologies, fair uncle.” The smaller unicorn said, picking up the envelope. He notices that it’s addressed to Alto and that the return address is the Ponyville post office. Before he could open it, his uncle swiped it away with his hoof.

“It’s fan mail, kid. And considering the amount of hate I get on the daily for playing the bad guy out there, my bet that’s hate mail.” Cookies’ uncle opens the envelope and reads it. His reactions were that of intrigue before he shook his head and pushed the letter back in the envelope. “Yep. Definitely hate mail. I ain’t letting you read it until you all are successful enough to ignore the haters.”

“I guess that’s… understandable.” Cookies said with a bit of concern. “Though, may I ask why you haven’t been training me?”

“Haven’t been?” His uncle looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “Kid, you’re a Cream. A legacy of savants in our blood. I’ve been training you by training your friends while you watch. Saves energy for the real fights. Speaking of your friends, go gather them. There’s one last thing I have to teach before our big night.”

“O-of course Uncle.” Cookies said a bit nervous, having his eye on the letter his uncle took a look at before stumbling his way to EC and Alto who were training on some bucking bags. It took no time at all before they all went on over to DC3. He leads Alto and EC into the ring with a weighted training dummy while Cookies stands outside watching.

“Alright, our big night is coming up: Ponymania! Sure, the Grand Galloping Gala is the big night for most ponies, but for us in this business that’s PM baby. Now, sure you can easily throw your opponents out of the ring… EZ, but the championships aren’t gonna be won like that. You are going to need a real finisher.” He trots over to the weighted training dummy, hooks his forehoof to its hind leg, and practically rolls over it before landing back on his own hooves with the dummy on his back. “This, my friends, is what I call the Dandy Driver.” With that said, DC3 jumps a bit and goes into a sitting position, causing the dummy to slide down his back and land head first.

“That looks rather dangerous, is that a legal maneuver?” EC asked, wincing as the move lands.

“It’s easy, EZ. Get the pony on your back and let them slide down. Unlike this dummy here, your opponent should have the self-preservation to tilt their head forward, landing on their shoulders instead of square on the cranium they should live to see another day. So, to ease your worries…” DC3 pats his chest and looks at the helmed mare. “try it out on me.”

EC tilted her head towards Alto who looked back at her and shrugged. With a bit of hesitation EC followed the steps needed to perform the move. Without struggle she had successfully performed the roll over maneuver to get DC3 on her back. Jumping up in the air, she begins to land on her flank, sliding Cookies uncle down on the mat seemingly landing head first. DC3 lays on the ground as though he was knocked out causing EC to check up on him.

“Boo!” The stallion opened his eyes and gave a wild face before quickly getting up, startling EC. “Ya did good, girl.” He looks over at Alto. “You’re going to have to practice a bit with the dummy, but with me as your tag partner, I can assist you. Remember: No wings. That’s the rule.”

WOAH---

I’ll make you famous

I’LL MAKE YOU FAMOUSER!

Ponymania, the night that the wrestling world in Equestria looks forward to. This is the year of Cream as the returning DC3 returns from injury, bringing with him his nephew and friends into the business looking to topple main roster over with his influence. The first match of the night was EC facing the Mare’s Champion. The match was fast pace with EC taking a few bumps, but in the end she was able to hit the Dandy Driver, ending the match and crowning herself as the new champion. She was smiling though hidden behind her helmet.

The next match for the Cream Empire was the tag match. Alto Tenor and Dandy Cream the Third go up against the tag champs. DC3 started off the match, not really dominating, but not doing a bad job either. He played to the crowd, giving the champs enough time to tag each other in while he continues to ignore Alto’s call for a tag. It wasn’t until a little over ten minutes that DC3 places one of the tag champs into his corner. He looks at Alto in the eyes.

“Get your hoof up! It’s time, kid!” The unicorn leans back, one of his hooves holding onto the ring rope for support. “SET THE STAGE!”

In one swift motion, DC3 slaps hooves with Alto, the referee of the match acknowledges and allows Alto to enter the ring. DC3 snaps the tag champ to the center of the ring before rushing to the other side and performing a dropkick to the champ’s partner, sending him to the barricades at ringside. As DC3 slowly climbed to the top rope, Alto waited for his legal opponent to stand up, hooking his foreleg to their hind leg before rolling over him to set up for the Dandy Driver. As Alto jumps up to hit the move, DC3 hops off the top rope, his foreleg aimed in such a way that essentially forced the legal champ to land directly on their head.

“Pin him, Al!” DC3 says while posing to the direction of a part of the audience.

The match official calls for the bell before lifting up the hooves of Alto and DC3. They are swiftly given their new title belts, to which Cookie’s uncle flaunts around in the ring. There was still one match left for the group though.

“The following match is scheduled for one fall! It is for the PWL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP!” The ring announcer announced.

Coming down first is Cookies wearing a long black and white robe with a star on the back, its size clearly meant for his uncle who is coming down with him but is more hyping up the crowd. Coming up from behind Cookies are Alto and EC who have their championship title belts hung around their necks. When the group make it into the ring, DC3 deftly takes off the robe in one swift motion as he puts it on himself.

Coming down next is a bright orange earth pony in a hotrod flamed robe and a gold belt strapped around his neck. Unlike Cookies, the stallion came to the ring alone. Also, unlike Cookies, the stallion was taller and more had slightly a bit more bulk. He had a bit of a foreign look too.

The match started with little to no action. Most attempts by the champ to tackle Cookies, the small stallion swiftly dodges. A couple minutes of dodging and the crowd starts to boo and hiss. DC3 presses his hoof against his head.

“Come on, nephew! Hit him or something! I taught ya that!”

Cookies turns his head towards his uncle, his dull silver eyes showing concern at his family member. “You didn’t teach me anything!” Just as Cookies turns his head back towards his opponent, he is met with a hoof to the face, knocking him down on the mat.

DC3 sighs as he mumbles to himself. “You want something done right, you gotta do it yourself.”

The champ has Cookies in for a pin, but before a count of 2 the stallion miraculously kicks out. It’s as if Cookies body moved on its own as the match continues to play out like a dramatic battle between the top gladiators. At ringside, Alto’s ear kept on twitching as if he was hearing something from DC3, but a look at the stallion shows that he wasn’t really doing anything the entire match. The match was back and forth, seemingly with no end in sight, but Cookies was able to take an opportune dodge and turn it into a Dandy Driver. Cookies ragdolls on top of the champ for the cover.

The moment that the bell had rung, DC3 slid into the ring to check in on his nephew with a few wake-up slaps. EC and Alto enter the ring by climbing the stairs set at the corner of the ring. Confetti was released onto the ring as the ref brought the championship belt to Cookies who is not responsive other than breathing. His uncle took that into account and grabbed the belt for Cookies. Not only that he also grabbed the belts hanging off of EC and Alto before going to one of the ring posts and raising all the belts, laughing as he does so.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I made you famous

I MADE YOU FAMOUSER!

“GOOOOOOOD MORNING EQUESTRIA! Check one! Check two! It’s Mic Check here with you and I’m not alone! With me here is a pioneer of acting and brand deals. The original DJ! I’m talking about Dandy Cream Junior. How you doing DJ?”

“Well, Micy boy I’m doing F-F-F-Fine and Dandy just Fine and Dandy. Ooh! Saying that gets me nostalgic back to when my wife and I were starting out in the acting business.”

“Hearing it first hoof here folks sending chills down my spine, but let’s talk a bit about your family. They seem to be finding their way into their own influential sphere as it were.”

“Ain’t no doubt! When Sour took over the business he was on the cover of magazines before branching out into a safety business with insurances and stuff. So serious and business savvy. He gets it from his mother I can tell you that.”

“We’re talkin’ more than Sour, DJ. I believe your grandson, Cookies, became one of the six elements of harmony representing the element of laughter.”

“HA! Really is my grandson. I should visit Sour sometime, see how they’re all doing.”

“Actually, the plan was to talk about what your other son has been doing with Cookies.”

“The Third!? Haven’t seen him since he graduated from that Canterlot school of special unicorn whatsits. Only Cream I know to actually go through that place. What’s he been up to all these years?”

“That would be Pony Wrestling.”

“Ain’t really much of a sports fanatic to be honest with you, Micy. Family, fashion, and fun entertainment is the DJ way. He taking Cookies in for sports? Last I saw he was but a frail colt. Who knows what kind of smoke and mirrors he’s pulling?”

“Well, he did turn your grandson into a champion so he must be some kind of master coach for that to happen.”

“Nah, Creams are naturally gifted. Whatever we put our minds to we end up doing it. Pa was a heck of a genius when it came to mane and tail care products, but he didn’t have the heart in him to shove product into ponies faces. Which reminds me, today’s non-sponsor segment is brought to you by Dandy Cream’s Dandy Cream™ keeping you Fine and Dandy on your worst mane day.”

“Right, we’ll be taking a break here, meanwhile you listeners at home can listen to the latest music from the Ponyville Experimental Music Club. I hear that they will be playing at the Gala. Coming in a couple weeks. You got a ticket, DJ?”

“Nope!”

“We’ll be right back.”

Another show of PWL is Live. Starting the night off in the middle of the ring is DC3 accompanied by Cookies, Alto, and EC. Cookies’ uncle wore sunglasses and had a smug smile on his face as he hyped up the crowd with all the championship belts strapped across his body. The others don’t share the same energy. Cookies is staring at the mat beneath them. It wasn’t until one of the tech ponies came up and offered DC3 a microphone did things begin to quiet down.

“What did I tell you? The Cream Empire runs this business!” DC3 yelled into the mic in his hoof. The audience reacted with a majority boos. “My nephew here is as naturally talented as yours truly, and with friends twice his size, it’s no wonder they all became champs so easily. Ain’t that right EZ? Easy? EZ? Get it? No mare could possibly take down a pony your size. And Big Al…” There was a bit of silence as the two ponies stare at each other, their facial expressions unchanging. “How about we get a few words from our new champ, everypony? Take it away, Nephew.”

Cookies looked at his uncle with his dull silver eyes before using his magic to levitate the mic to his face. “I’m not sure how this all happened. One moment I was in the ring with the one they call Rain Maker and then everything went black. Next thing I remember is being dragged out of the arena as my uncle waved around these gold-plated belts. The championship isn’t why my friends and I are here though. You see, one of our friends got into a serious accident. Doctors said they didn’t know how long she’d be in a coma for and my friends and I felt nothing but regret thinking that we weren’t strong enough to stop it. So, when Uncle came by to help us become stronger we seized that opportunity, but Uncle…” Cookies took a deep breath as he pulled out an open envelope hidden in his mane. “…Our friend has been awake for quite a while.”

“W-WHAT!?” EC was the first to speak up, using her magic to bring the letter over to her face. Alto looking over her shoulder to read as well.

“Nephew I told you that was hate mail.”

“Hate mail?” Cookies pulls out more envelopes out of his mane, most of which have red love hearts on them. One of which is green with a compass stamp. “You think I wouldn’t recognize how my fair H-friend would send his letters? They even marked it with their cutie-marks! Sent to the performance center for the past couple of weeks!”

EC opened the green envelope, carefully looking at it for a while before angrily stomping towards DC3 and quickly removing her championship belt off him, causing the stallion to yelp in pain. “Easy? Is that all you ever saw me as? I left behind my friends… MY BROTHER because you told me I could be strong enough to protect them.”

“But-“

“No! I’m going to stand up for myself and do the right thing. I’ll be returning this belt to the rightful owner before heading back home to the friends I have missed.” EC said, her voice ringing with anger despite her face being covered by her helm. She immediately leaves the ring without looking back. DC3 looked over at Cookies with a bit of a nervous smile before grabbing the mic with his hoof.

“Nephew I trained you to be the champion that you are now. Forgive my transgressions because all I wanted to better yourself.”

“Trained me!?” Cookies snatched the mic back from his uncle with his magic. “Forgive you!? In order for me to forgive you you’d need to have done something to me to apologize for and you didn’t do ANYTHING to me. I just sat and watched as you trained my friends. I’m done with this business, Uncle. It’s not for me.” Cookies let the mic drop to the mat before leaving as well.

DC3 looked around, getting booed by the audience. He scrambled to pickup the mic and looked back at Alto, the last pony in the ring. His face was neutral and the unicorn couldn’t read a thing off his face. “Al, EZ and Cookies… They didn’t need my help, but you… I ACTUALLY trained you. WE won OUR championships as clean as you possibly can. You’re going to be a star if you stay with me. So, what do you say, want to help me set the stage?” The white stallion with the black star over his eye dropped the mic he was holding to extend his hoof out to the Pegasus.

The crowd boos but there are chants among them saying “don’t do it!” over and over. Alto took no mind of the crowd noise as he extends his wing to shake the stallion’s hoof. The crowd erupted with negative cheers and more boos. DC3 smiled as he stared back at the massive Pegasus before him.

“You made the right choice, kid.” The white stallion didn’t realize it at the time, but the rather large Pegasus had leaned his head back while keeping an unescapable grip on his hoof. A swift headbutt to DC3 knocks him out cold. The crowd cheers as Alto finally leaves the ring with a bit of a bruise on his forehead.

“GOOOOOOOOD MORNING EQUEST-”

“Can it, E-lister! Hey Big Al, I heard you listening to this station so I thought I’d stop by so I can call you out in such a way that you have no choice but to listen.”

“Dandy Cream The Third everypony.”

“D C 3 and make sure you remember that. Current PWL champ and tag champ with myself, because unlike a certain somepony, I can talk the talk, walk the walk, and kick some *BEEP*ing flank.”

“I hope that the censors are able to get that. Can’t say that on the radio.”

“*BEEP*ing PG guidelines.”

“That’s redundant.”

“Not now, G-lister.”

“I’m no G-lister, check one, and check two the name is Mic Check here with you.”

“Fine! Your show, your rules. I’ll keep it clean. Big Al, I could hold a grudge against the others, but you made the cardinal sin of betrayal. My FORMER tag team partner left me for my blind nephew and that royal guard mare thing. But they don’t know the truth. Element of honesty you should know what it means and how hurtful a betrayal like that could be. Next week, I’ll have you calling me UNCLE in the DC3 first ever ‘say uncle’ match. No rules, and the first to get their opponent to say uncle three times is the winner. I WILL make you say your first words to me.”

“That’s cutting it close to the Gala though, aren’t you going?”

“The Gala? You really are a Z-lister. Of course, the legendary DC3 is going to the Gala to show off all this championship gold! So next week, Alto, you will be crying for uncle, for I have SET THE STAGE!”

“Good to hear! We’ll be right back.”

Another live event of PWL. Despite being a regular event, the main match of the night drew the eyes of many ponies across Equestria after the surprise callout on the radio. A match that hadn’t been done before between the two tag team champs, one of them being an element of harmony. It was time for the main event. Alto was standing back stage waiting for his cue along with EC.

“You can always back out, there’s no good reason to do this.” EC told her friend in a reassuring voice. Alto closed his eyes and shook his head before pointing his hoof to the audience, their faces showing a range of excitement. “You’d risk getting seriously hurt out there just to appease an audience?” Alto shrugged in response before being cued for his entrance.

The crowd cheers as the massive Pegasus stallion makes his way to the ring. Unlike all the other times, he uses his wings to flutter up to the center of the ring instead of climbing the steps. Suffice to say, the crowd went wild. In contrast to Alto’s entrance, pyrotechnics are activated for DC3 and instead of cheers the unicorn was met with boos. This did not deter the veteran as he trotted his way down to the ring with an exaggerated strut. He locked eyes with his nephew who was sitting in the front row, Cookies eyes glistening with light.

“Sorry that this didn’t go the way you wanted. Gotta break a few eggs ya know!” DC3 stated to Cookies only to get a raised eyebrow and a wave of his hoof from his nephew. The star-eyed stallion rolls himself into the ring, posing rather seductively for the audience before getting up in an extravagant way. It wasn’t long until he was squared up with Alto. The bell rang. “I’ll go easy on you. First move you make is free, but if you mess up, I’ll have you screaming your lungs out, kid.”

DC3 stood center of the ring with a smug grin on his face, tapping his hoof to his face as if to signal Alto to slam a hoof there. Instead, Alto had hooked the unicorn’s hind leg and swiftly rolled him over onto his back.

“Dandy Driver!?” The unicorn laughed. “I created this move and I can just as easily get out. You used up your free move, kid!” DC3 tries to roll himself in the opposite direction that Alto rolled him in, only to find him still on the pegasus’s back. It was at this point where the unicorn realized that he has been strapped onto the gargantuan pony’s back using his very large and flexible wings. It was also the same point where DC3 realized he’s being pulled, stretching out his spine as hard as possible.

*CRACK*

The unicorn yowled in pain. “W-what’s the deal here, Al. No wings. Thems the rules.” He pleaded.

“No rules, remember?”

*CRRRRRAAAAACK*

The screams of pain caused some ponies in the front row to wince. “If that’s how it’ll be. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” The faint sound of magic being ignited could be heard. After which Alto felt a strong pressure around his neck. No pony in the arena could see what was happening, but Alto was being choked. The choking didn’t stop Alto as he took one hop off his front forehoof holding the two up before pulling down as hard as he could.

*POP*

“UNCLE! UNCLE! UNCLE!”

With that said, the pressure strangling the life out of Alto was released, causing the stallion to take a couple of heavy breaths. Both ponies fell to the ground as a bell was rung. The official came up to them to raise one of their hooves.

“Here is your winner: ALTO TENOR!”

The crowd cheers as EC makes her way down to the ring to assist Alto. The two head on over to Cookies, jumping the barricade as some of the audience makes room for them to make their exit. The match official checked up on DC3 but was pushed to the side by the stallion who supported himself up with the ring ropes and waved over one of the tech crew for a microphone.

“Before ya go…” Cookies’ uncle called back at them, causing the trio to turn their heads for a moment. “Before I took ya’ll under my metaphorical wing, ya were sniveling whining babies who couldn’t do something with their lives. And lo and behold, you all stood up for yourselves and abandoned your wonderous teacher… This was all planned by ME to better YOU. I made you STRONGER. I made you FAMOUSER! And I made you BRAVER! And all that took was me being the bad guy in your eyes. So be it! Keep your lives to yourselves but always remember who bettered you. You may have your friendships, but I gotta tell ya I think friendship is weird!”

Author's Notes:

Been a bit busy but I finally finished chapter 12.

Introducing the first original antagonist to the series: DC3 AKA Uncle AKA Dandy Cream The Third. Originally the cream lineage wouldn't have branched out. First there would have been Dandy Cream, then Dandy Jr who got the cream family to become a household name, then Sour Cream, and finally Cookies and his little brother Bananas. Somewhere at the start of the year I asked myself: Why wouldn't Sour be named Dandy Cream? To which the answer became: because his older brother is Dandy Cream and has separated himself from the family name.

IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T REALIZED THE IDEA FOR DANDY TO BE A PRO WRESTLER IS BECAUSE EC3 DC3

So anyway, Chapter 13 was being made while writing this chapter so it shouldn't take that long to get the next chapter out.

Meanwhile

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Falling, that’s what they were doing. The green Pegasus mare known as Facing North was plummeting down to Equestria below with the orange earth pony stallion Hopeful Journey in her hooves. He screams in excitement, his smile rather infectious. Facing North couldn’t help but smile, feeling the warmth emitting from the stallion’s smile. The smile summoned a rainbow, that enveloped the two.

“North?” She heard his voice. The innocence in it made her heart skip a beat. “It’ll all be ok.” Out of the rainbow, she realized that the two of them were on a flowery hill overlooking Ponyville. The smell of it all hit a sweet spot in her nostrils.

“Thesen’ll be a scent t’ b’hold. If’n that don’t wake her in a cuppa days it should definitely relax her.” A weird voice had come out of Hope’s mouth.

“These flowers are nice, aren’t they North-er Mareian…” Hope’s lips moved again, sounding as he normally sounds. “They have a nice smell to them, but you should see them all together.”

“Y-you can call me North.” The mare said, blushing. “Not many ponies call me by my real name. At least outside a formal sense. It makes me feel special that you refer to me as such.” Her breathing quickened.

“Hey… umm… Shark Face.” She heard a familiar raspy voice. Rainbow Dash appeared as if out of thin air before them. “I’m not sure if you can hear me, but I am really sorry about what happened at the competition.”

“It was only some friendly banter, Rainbow Dash. Not sure how I feel about you calling me Shark Face as well.”

“It’s ok Rainbow.” The reassuring voice of Hope spoke. “Accidents happen and there’s no need to beat yourself up over it.”

“Hope, I ruined your group dynamic. It’s been over two weeks since I’ve seen any pony else come here besides you.”

“Lucky was here just a while ago with the flowers… Oh, it’s that time already?” There was a muffled echo sounding like a voice talking through layers and layers of pillows but in a big empty room. “We gotta go Mareian. See you tomorrow.” Hope approached Facing North, pressing his lips together for a kiss.

“Umm right now!!! In front of Rainbow D-” Facing North point towards the rainbow Pegasus only for her to fade away into nothing. Hope was still there pressing his lips together in front of her. All she could do was close her eyes, but when she opened them again she was in a void.

“FAC*** NO*** TH** AR* ** A DE** SL***ER. W*** *P!” A voice coming through the void kept coming in and out repeating the same garbled message again. Facing North closed her eyes and began to cover her ears for a while, checking every now and then if the noise stopped. She opened her eyes again to find herself and Hope back on the flowery hill.

“Good morning, Mareian!” He said in his usual chipper tone. “Looks like these flowers took on some age. I don’t know much, but Lucky sure does.”

“They’re wild Hope. It’s only been a day they look the same. And please, continue to call me North, I like that.”

A strum on a stringed instrument was played. “I’m not as musically gifted at every instrument like Alto, but with a bit of practice I can play a couple of chords. I wrote a song for you with some help.” A ukelele appeared around Hope’s chest as he begins to strum.

All the good times

That we had

Felt like a crime

But not bad

We had ourselves our friendship club

It’s just right now we need you to

Wake up-

Daylights going on there’s plenty of time to sleep

So, wake up-

Wake up-

There’s friends that miss you, so come on take that leap and wake up.

I was happy

You were happy too

Now we’re sappy

But I know what to do

You just need a friendly nudge

We just need you to

Wake up-

Daylights going on there’s plenty of time to sleep

So, wake up-

Wake up-

There’s friends that miss you, so come on take that leap and wake up.

WAKE UP---

Hope! What are you doing?

WAKE UP---

We’re going to get removed from the room.

“Huh?” Mareian opened her eyes slowly. Her body feels immobilized as if contained by something. There are some dry flower arrangements to her unoccupied side. She finds herself on a bed in an unfamiliar room with two ponies. Hopeful Journey laid half of his body on the bed she was in, his eyes closed with some tears coming out. His pompadour styled mane had grown out into bangs left unkempt. Behind him was Cookies N Cream, trying to pull hope off the bed with his hoof.

“WAKE UP!!!”

“Hope she is not going to wake… up…because you tell her to…”

“WAKE UP!!!”

“Wha-” Mareian tried to speak but she had found her lips were unbelievably dry and started coughing.

“Nurse!” Cookies had gone out the room and shouted.

“North?” Hope lifted up his head to look Mareian in the eyes. His blue ocean eyes were filling up with an ocean of tears. A combination of sadness and relief overwhelms him as he leans in to hug his friend. “I knew it was going to be ok.” He said in a mix of emotions.

It wasn’t long before what looked like a couple of nurse ponies came into the room. Some of them carefully removed the tubes and needles connecting to Mareian. One asked her some questions regarding her health and another brought her a cup of water for her to drink. They lead her to a big room and had her attempt to trot from one side of the room to the other, some tries with assistance and some without. It felt like all her limbs had been numbed to sleep on the first attempt but after a while she could walk more smoothly, however she limped on her right forehoof. They tested the flight capabilities of her wings which had thankfully remained unharmed and unchanged to her. By the end of it all, Mareian had been successfully discharged from Ponyville General Hospital, her hoof in a comfy sling. It was cloudy outside and she had felt a bit chilly, but warmed up at the sight of a smiling pony waving at her.

“HEY! OVER HERE!” Hope yelled over to Mareian. He had a dark green and orange accented winter hat with ear flaps on his head and wrapped around his neck is a rather plain red and black plaid scarf. It took her a bit to come to him so he ran over to assist her. “Sorry, I thought you were 100% when you woke up. Are you ok?”

The mare gave the light orange stallion a somewhat thousand-yard stare. Her heart was beating faster the moment he started acting as her new foreleg. “I-oh it’s fine. I… everything feels like it happened at once. It’s all giving me a bit of whiplash.” Hope slowly steps away from Mareian causing her to shiver. “Brr. When did it get so chilly?”

“Recently, I’d say. It’s fall and all, so in comes the cold and soon winter, hehe.” Hope joyously said as he wraps his scarf around her. “This is the least I can do on such short notice. I don’t mind.”

“It feels like the running of the leaves happened only a couple days ago and it feels like winter.” Mareian looked down at Hope’s scarf, a feeling of nostalgia overwhelms her. She notices that Hope’s smile slowly fades as the two trot back home. “Hope… how long was I in the hospital for?”

Hope had stopped in his tracks, causing Mareian to look back and stand in front of him. He had the most serious, unblinking face that she had ever seen him in. “It’s been over a month since the Best Young Flyer’s competition.”

Mareian’s eyes widened at the realization. She took a deep breath before nudging Hope with her slinged hoof. “Don’t scare me like that, jeez. I thought you were going to say that I was out for over a year. A month is much don’t get me wrong, but if I missed my first ever gala with you…” Mareian realized what she was saying and abruptly continued her sentence. “…guys I would feel awful.”

The serious look on Hope’s face lightened. A soft smile forming on his face as he looks at his friend. “I’m glad you’re awake, North.”

Mareian’s wings stood up stiff ash she tried to cover up her blushing face with Hope’s scarf. “O-of course I’d be fine. I’m the element of generosity. Generously giving my life to save my… friend.” There was an awkward silence between the two as they stood in the somewhat bustling pathways of Ponyville. “…you called me my name…” She whispered into the scarf.

“Hm?” Hope looked at Mareian with a curious look. “You said something?”

Mareian hesitated as she struggled to find the right words for her to say. “Why do you call me North?” Hope tilts his head, not understanding the question. “It’s that you called me Mareian when we first met. Every pony calls me Mareian because I’m a mare librarian and it’s a funny portmanteau, don’t get me wrong. Only my brother or in formal introductions do others use my real name, but you…”

“Did you not like it when I call you by your name?”

“NO! No, it’s…” Mareian sighs in frustration. “I like it. I just want to know why you call me that is.”

“Because you’re my best friend!” The words that escaped from the stallion’s mouth caused the mare’s wings to flutter as her face practically turned red, hidden by the scarf. “It’s like… For a serious moment you know. I’m not casually talking to the mare librarian. I’m having a serious moment with my best friend, Facing North.” The smile on Hope’s face pierced through Mareian’s heart that she couldn’t help but stumble flying a bit. “At least that’s how a see it, a casual conversation versus a heart to heart but if you don’t like it I can stop.”

“No!” Facing North stammered. “You can call me North if you want… I don’t mind. Hehe, it seems like I’m collecting all these names for myself. Mareian, Shark Face, North, Heart Racer…”

“And Best Young Flyer!” Hope interrupted.

“WHAT!?”

“Oh hey, look we’re here!” The two stop directly in front of the library. Hope squints his eyes at some lettering above the door. “‘Golden Oak Library’?” He looks over to the sign next to the door that has a clearly visible book before looking back at the tiny lettering. “I didn’t know this place had a name. Anyway, come inside!”

Facing North hesitantly entered the library, slightly worried about the mess. To her surprise, the library had been well kept. The books are properly shelved in the official Dewey Decimal System. The only ponies that she knows are herself and…

“NORTH!” a green stallion Pegasus with a map cutie mark tumbles down the stairs in a rush to give Facing North a hug.

“Polo?” She asked surprised. Looking around the library, it seems to have been decorated with more plants than she remembered last time she was here. “OW! Still hurts.” North yelps.

“AH! Sorry, sis.” The stallion backed away from her. “Happy get out of the hospital day.” He said with a mix of sarcasm and nervousness.

Facing North rolled her eyes and looked around the library with Hope sticking close to her. “Is that everyone? Where’s Cookies and the others for that matter?”

As if on cue, the entrance door swings open revealing the below average sized white unicorn stallion. “Apologies, my dear Mareian. The trip from the hospital to home to here took longer than expected.”

“Heya Shark Face! Glad to see you’re finally awake!” Bursting past Cookies is a large blue Pegasus with purple eyes. Facing North almost didn’t recognize Speed Sound at first since she came without her Wonderbolt bodysuit. She noticed that her cutie mark was that of an anatomically correct heart with lines around it as if it was beating. Coming up in between the two is a rather meek looking gray Pegasus stallion who North feels like she saw at the Best Young Flyer competition.

“Now, now, Speedy dear. The mare woke up not too long ago.” The gray stallion patted Speed Sound on the chest with his hoof. His mane and tail were white and shaped like clouds similar to Alto’s. On the stallion’s flank is the image of a storm cloud with a lightning bolt coming out of it.

“Oh Roary.” The words that came out of Speed Sound’s mouth came out less sarcastic and more romantic to North’s surprise. Sound notice’s North’s reaction and gives a knowing laugh. “Ya haven’t met my hubby yet, ain’t cha, Shark Face?”

The stallion gave a light chuckle as he smiled at North. “Seems my son has made very caring friends. I’m glad that ponies like you exist.” The stallion patted North on the shoulder. “Roaring Thunder. Thanks for looking out for my boys.”

“Uhh… no worries. Your son is cu-” North looks over at Hope quickly before staring back at his dad. “Cube snouted stallion yep just like his sister taught me.” The response got Roaring Thunder to chuckle with a warm smile.

“That he is, and Sky the ever observant one as well.”

Another pair of ponies enter the library along with a foal who is looking at the bookshelves. It was Whipped and Sour Cream, Cookie’s mother, and father alongside his younger brother Bananas. “Good to see everyone is here, but unfortunately timing couldn’t be more off.” Sour Cream stated in a monotone tone.

“Everyone?” North asked as she looked around the library. “Where’s Lucky? Where’s Alto? EC? Scales?”

“I’m right here you don’t have to worry, jeeze.” The dragon came off of the green stallion causing him to wince in pain.

“Do you have to cling on with your claws?”

“I’m a dragon, South Pole, I can’t help it.” Scales said as he stood himself up. “Alto and EC felt bad about the accident, feeling weak. Cookies’ uncle came over to train them all, but apparently it was a ‘no dragons’ training facility.” He said with a bit of spite. “They’ve been in Los Pegasus since then. I worried for a bit, but Cookies returned so it must not be all that bad.”

North looked over at Cookies, the light sparkling in his eyes as he nervously smiled before coughing into his hoof. “Yes, yes. And as for Lucky, she has been busy tending to her garden in Appleoosa. She’s been potting them and bringing them over here and it clearly shows how well she tends to these wonderous plants. Which reminds me, I need to message her about your condition.” He pulls out a stamped envelope with his magic from his mane.

“OH! Don’t forget to send this to Alto and EC!” Hope said with as be pulled an orange envelope with his cutie mark over it from his mane, giving it too Cookies as the unicorn leaves the library.

“Hope, deary, would you be a sweetheart and watch over my baby Banana. Soury has a meeting with Mr. Rich with some super serious adult time and I don’t want my sweetiekins to be bored. I hear that there is a party going on in that bakery restaurant my darling little angel son volunteers at, could you take him there?” Whipped Cream asked.

“Oooh a party! Come on let’s go!” Hope tugs at North’s wing as she gives a nervous smile.

“But mom!” Bananas whined. “There are so many cool books here why can’t I be here?”

“Kid look!” Speed Sound got up un the colt’s face and started to point her hoof at North while giving an exaggeratedly excited look. “That mare right there is the best young flyer of the year. She’s got stories that will blow your mind, and all you have to do is spend the day with her.”

“Really!?” Bananas said with a spark of excitement as the colt looked at North. Just as he does so there is a loud whooshing noise. In that brief moment all the parents had disappeared from the library. “Hey lady, Hope’s mom said you were fast, why’d you get to be like that? Does it have something to do with getting your cutie mark?”

“Uhhh… I don’t think so. I just know how to navigate myself.” North replied to the eager colt. “You’ll get yours soon kid. I believe in you.”

“Yeah! So, let’s go to the party and have fun and make more friends and discover things! It’ll be a fun adventure for us all, right?” Hope said with an excitement that shined in Bananas eyes. The stallion looked over at North’s brother and Scales who were indifferent to the idea.

“You two can have fun with the colt, I just need to finalize some things here before heading back home. Business is really booming, North. You should see it sometime.”

“I think I’ll observe. Not really much of a party dragon.” Scales says as he slowly slinks himself onto North’s back, practically unnoticed.

The group wave goodbye to North’s brother as they head towards Sugar Cube Corner. The party there was to celebrate a foal on getting their mark. There were tons of fillies and colts attending the party, though Bananas didn’t know any as he was not from Ponyville. It wasn’t until a pink filly alongside her grey filly cohort came up to Bananas.

“Looks like another uninvited blank-flank showed up to my party.” The pink one said.

“Yeah!” The grey one retorted.

North looked over at Hope nervously. “Shouldn’t we do something about this? This… this is bullying isn’t it?” She said to the orange stallion. His smiling expression didn’t change as he looked at her and then back at the fillies teasing Cookie’s brother. He took of his winter hat and sloppily placed it on North’s head, causing the mare to blush and hide her face more in the scarf.

“Now, now. We all have are playful ribs at each other. Blank flanks, book worms, adopted. But remember that we’re all here to have fun with each other and spreading good times all around. Be kind, courteous, and make some friends! Life’s a big adventure and you can’t just go around making enemies you silly little fillies.” Hope gave a smiling lecture to the two.

“Do you know who she is? Her dad is going to-” The grey one spoke up before the pink one shoved her hoof in her mouth.

“Of course, mister celebrity, whatever you say.” The pink one said with a nervous smile on her face. “Come on Silver Spoon, colt I don’t know the name of, let’s eat some cake and have fun.” She said rather scripted like.

“Yay! Friendship! Thanks Hope!” Bananas was off making new friends.

“C-celebrity?” North muttered to herself, unbeknownst that Scales was hiding on her and listening to what she said. The dragon put a couple of newspaper articles in front of her face.

“EQUESTRIA’S HOPE” said one that had a picture taken during the Summer Sun Celebration of Hope being paraded around as the sun rose. “FOURTUNE’S SCORE” read another article, showcasing Hope at the forefront of the talent show stage with Cookies right behind him. “DRAGON BEFRIENDED” was one article though no picture was taken, Hope’s name was plastered over it. “PRINCESS LUNA RETURNS” has a picture of Luna, but it was taken just as Hope had hugged her after she was crowned at her coronation. “APPLE SEASON CAME EARLY” shows Hope and that one mare that she had passed 5^th place at the running of the leaves race. The two smiled as they stood in front of several barrels of apples.

“Heh… guess Hope really is a talented guy.” North laughed, but Scales continued to hand news article. One she was well familiar with was the one about the running of the leaves. What had caught North off guard were the non-stop articles related to her incident at the Best Young Flyer competition. Nonstop photos of Hope giving his usual smile towards the camera while standing in front of the hospital.

SMILING VISITOR VISITS SAVIOR

It has been 3 weeks since the events of the Best Young Flyer and the winner of the event has been hospitalized since. Many ponies have come and gone from the hospital ranging from princesses Celestia and Luna to members of the Wonderbolts, but one stallion has caught many reporters’ eyes. Hopeful Journey (20) was a member of the audience at the event and was the one who had plummeted down to Equestria before the winner, Facing North (21), had swooped down to save him. Day in and day out of the hospital, this stallion has been visiting non-stop.

“Mareian (Facing North) is my best friend. I don’t want her to go a day alone. That’s what friends are for.” The stallion responded when asked about the relationship between him and the comatose mare. “I know it’ll all be ok.”

This wasn’t the first time that Hopeful Journey was interviewed by our reporters. The stallion had been on front page news ever since the Summer Sun Celebration back when he informed Ponyville of Princess Luna’s return or the time Ponyville was under the threat of a dragon and ended up befriending the beast. For now, we shall wait until Facing North meets a full recovery lest we face the dilemma of turning Ponyville’s sunshine smiler into a frowner.

“He… He visited me every day?” North asked as her face started turning red.

“Of course, I visited my best friend every day!” Hope exclaimed in a chipper tune. He noticed all the newspaper articles that Scales laid out on a nearby table. “Oh! I remember these moments. We should start a scrapbook about all our adventures as one happy little group of friends!”

“That’s why I carry these articles around, Hope. But all I have are these photos of you and that birthday photo.” Scales explained. “EC has her own scrapbook of her life, but I bet she’d be excited for one of her and her friends.”

North’s eyes began to wander around the party, looking for something to talk about. She noticed a booth that had a camera painted on the side. Didn’t look occupied from her perspective. “Hey, I think they rented out a photobooth for the party, we could all go there and start this scrapbooking thing… if you want that is. I don’t want to force you.”

North was surprised as Hope gently guided his hoof along her wing. “It’ll be fun. Let’s go.” He said with his every smiling sunny disposition. Lightly dragging her along to the booth, the trio find themselves seated with their faces towards the camera. Scales sets up the photo taking process while Hope takes off the scarf and hat North had on. “There! Now we can see your beautiful smile.”

North bit her lip as she looked away feeling her face burning but she couldn’t cover it without falling over. “O-ok” She could only mutter.

“Alright, get into positions guys. We’re starting this.” Scales said as he sat next to Hope, who was in the center position. A countdown appeared on the screen before them. Hope wrapped his hoof around North to bring her in closer. She tried to remain calm as she stared at the camera with a nervous smile. After a flash enveloped the room, the screen in front of them counts down from 10.

“OH! Let’s make silly faces!” Hope suggested as he begins to cross his eyes and give himself a bit of an overbite. Scales counters with a deadpan, sharp underbite while North just looks at the camera with her mouth agape. After the flash, Bananas barges in the booth with a colorful colt who looks to have a cutie mark of a color wheel but only is a patch of fur just on his one side and one colt who was kind of bland and a faded temporary tattoo where a cutie mark would normally be..

“Hey Hope, check out these new friends I made!”

“Sorry sir, ma’am, dragon. I tried to convince them not to bother you but-”

“HO! Hey there missy is that seat taken? You need some color in your life courtesy of Colour Wheel? OOH!”

The three blank flanks looked up at the confused mare, stallion, and dragon as another flash came up. It was at that moment that Hope wrapped his hooves around all in the booth, getting them all to look at the camera. “Say: Pickled Packaged Pumpernickel!”

The booth turned into assorted screaming as the final flash came and the three colts started giggling as they ran out. Hope came out with his usual smile while North was in a bit of a blushing daze trying to cover her face with her slinged hoof and a wing. Scales went up to the dispenser on the side of the both and got the photos.

“Yep. These came out well.” The dragon showed the results to Hope and North, bringing a smile to both their faces, or at least a smile to North as Hope was already smiling. “Another one for the scrap book. At least when we get back home. Let’s just grab some cake instead.”

“OH YEAH! Can’t have a party without cake. Come on, North, before there’s no cake left for us.” Hope said in unrestrained excitement as he instinctively grabbed her slinged hoof. North winced at first, but started to notice that she wasn’t feeling any pain. By the time they got to the cake table, she tried standing on her hoof and noticed that it wasn’t as awkward as it had felt back at the hospital. “Open wide!”

“Huh?” North turned her head from her hoof to Hope who had a fork that had some vanilla cake with pink frosting on the end of it. She scrunched her mouth closed first, but the pleading in Hope’s eyes made her relent as she closed her eyes and took a bite. “Thanks.”

“No problem! That’s what friends are for, right?”

North took a look around them. All the fillies, colts, and older ponies were all having fun with each other. Bananas and his new friends started talking to another group of fillies. The pink and grey filly from earlier are playing games and having fun with some of the other guests. Hope stared at North, with a patient yet warm smile across his face. “Y-yeah, friends and friendship and all that. Haha.”

“OH! Look! The ball game freed up! Guys let’s go!” Hope excitedly ran over to the basketball set up and started throwing the balls with one hoof. Scales appeared from his back and started throwing the balls as well.

North shook her head as she went over to join the two. She muttered to herself: “Friendship is weird.”

Ga-La-La-La Part 1

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Canterlot: home of some of Equestria’s upper class ponies and home to both princesses. Currently in Canterlot, the Grand Galloping Gala is starting to take place. The ballroom in the castle grounds is somewhat empty as the sun sets. At the moment, three ponies sit at the table reserved for the elements of harmony. Cookies is sitting on a seat, properly setting his side of the table. He is wearing a fancy black suit, using his black and white checkered scarf as an ascot. To his left is Hope, wearing a black and white checkered suit with a fancy top hat. The stallion is looking around the place rather curiously. To Cookies’ right is Alto. His suit is nothing special, a generic black suit you’d see worn everywhere for plays and balls like this. He is leaning up against the table with a bored expression.

“We didn’t have to come so early, you know.” The massive Pegasus spoke up.

“Oh, don’t be like that, my dear Alto. Think of it as a reprieve before the fun begins. No worrying about getting here on time if we get ready early enough.” Cookies responded as he placed a finely folded napkin in front of himself. “And there we go.”

“OOOOH I know, we can play a game! Like I Spy! I’ll go first. I spy with my little eye something…” Hope moves his head around, squinting his eyes as he does so. “Something white.”

“That’s a good one, Hope.” Alto complimented.

“Is it me?”

“Nope!”

“Is it your suit?”

“Nope!”

“Is it the table cloth?”

“Nope!”

“It’s the marble fountain we passed when we came in.” Alto interjected.

“Ding! Ding! Ding! And that is score one for Alto and Zero for Cookies. Alright, you guys can go.” Hope eagerly said with his usual smile on his face.

“Come now, Alto, we have plenty of time, just us three. Been a while, hasn’t it?”

“Feels like yesterday we set off on our first adventure together!”

“We haven’t returned home yet, so I guess we’re still on that adventure together.” Alto looked down at his hooves and then under the table where he left his instrument case. “How about we write a song together, us three?”

“You and me?”

“AND ME!”

“Of course. Should pass the time before everyone else arrives. We could even surprise the whole gala with an impromptu song. Give them some Fourtune as it were.” Alto began to audibly laugh.

“YEAH! I HAVE AN IDEA GUYS COME ON!” Hope said eagerly as he began to make a mess of the table, pulling out a pen from his mane as be begins to write down on a napkin. In a minute, he places his pen down on the now messy table. “There! This one has a bit of swing and a dance to it.”

Alto looked at the lyrics Hope wrote down while Cookies shook his head. The Pegasus tucks the napkin between his wing and begins to head in the direction of where the small orchestra will be set. “I will see about the instrumentals for this. Would either of you care to accompany me, it’d be very helpful.”

“OF COURSE! It’s my song I want to see it come to life! Let’s go, bro!” The white suited stallion said before zooming away from the table. Alto looked back at Cookies who smiled and gave him a little wave.

“Don’t you worry about a thing. I have to clean up this mess.” Cookies said with a reassuring smile. Alto shrugs as he heads over to where Hope went to. With his two friends gone, Cookies lets out a massive sigh. His horn lights up as he looks sternly at the table.

“Almost half a year since you went on your own and you still haven’t found that one unique innovation to make the family proud. Everything seems to already have been done, why can’t I find it? Distractions, have been everywhere and I’ve been focusing on them. I need the perfect recipe before father gets here. Thank goodness he didn’t press me about it last time he visited but half a year of independence and he probably expects something. Think Cookies. What culinary confection could count as a Cream innovation. Special cakes? Too gimmicky. A new candy? Too complex. A 5-star restaurant using my standing as the heir of the Cream family and being an element of harmony as a marketing ploy? Too scummy. Think Cookies, think! There has to be some-”

“I thought I’d be the only one of us here early. Looks like you guys beat me to it.” Cookies turned his head to the familiar voice as his horn stops glowing. The table is perfectly clean as EC stands in front of him. Her dress to the gala is a plain tuxedo, looks like it’d be easy for her to move around in especially as she still has her helm covering her face. “A-are you ok? Something wrong, Cookies?”

“Oh, just worrying about the future is all. Maybe some inspiration will ignite my innovation needs, but alas, my dear EC, there are too many thoughts on the mind as it were.”

“I-is there some way I could help?” While Cookies couldn’t see it, he could feel a smile emanating from the voice of his fellow unicorn friend.

“Do you have any culinary knowledge?”

“N-not really.” There was a moment of silence between the two as Cookies gave EC a rather confused look. It wasn’t long before his confusion had put a smile on his face and began to laugh

“Your loyalty to help your friends in the time of need despite lacking proper knowledge of the subject matter is admirable.”

“And your resilient smile against the pressure stacked against you is also admirable.” The mare said as she began to sit next to Cookies. “Let’s talk ideas together.”

“Yes, let’s.”

A couple minutes before the Gala officially starts. Ponies begin to gather in the ball room, some of which are seated at their tables. There was an aura of calm at all the tables except for one. The once clean and orderly table that Cookies and EC were once seated at had become a mess of napkins coated in Hope’s pen ink as well as the table cloth. Several ideas had been written down and immediately crossed off.

“W-why is coming up with a recipe so d-difficult.” EC stuttered as she leaned on the messy table.

“N-no need to worry my dear EC, there is still time before father shows up and asks me about it.” Cookies said with a faltering smile on his face. “OH! What if we used the technology they used for radios and made small, quick ovens for the kitchen to heat up food?”

“Microwaves are used throughout Canterlot. They already exist.” EC took a big gasp of air. “What if a cake was made of something like ice-cream, that way there would be many flavors of cakes and sprinkles?”

“Ice-cream cake is already a thing!” Cookies let out an exasperated sigh before planting his face on the table.

“Y-you ok?”

Cookies turned his head to the side; his smile has gone away. “We’ve tried all we could possible think of.” Cookies admitted defeated. His eyes, however, caught a glimpse of a punch bowl. The color of the liquid was that of a light pink nature and some ponies looked at the substance curiously before drinking it and having a refreshed smile on their faces. “That doesn’t look like an ordinary bowl of fruit punch…” Cookies got up with an air of curiosity and began trotting towards the bowl as EC follows suit.

“I think that’s watermelon. The flavor brings in a tang to Canterlot parties, gives something to talk about.” EC added as Cookies inspects the substance. With a cup filled with the aforementioned pink liquid, Cookies levitates it up to his mouth and takes a small sip.

“A bit sour, but not like lemonade sour. Somewhat sweet. Definitely different from the average fruit punch. Maybe…” Cookies pondered at the drink for a bit before he got a bump on his shoulder.

“Thought you’d be more interested in the food than the drinks, Cook.” Cookies turned around to see a towering sky-blue Pegasus with a well-conditioned flowing white mane, Sky Sonata. She is wearing a one-piece purple pleather dress which looks tight around her body. She extends her wings to gather herself a cup full of the curious substance. Slowly, she pours the liquid into her mouth, carefully swallowing the substance as Cookies stares at her in wonderment. “This melonade needs a bit of ‘punch’ in it if you know what I mean.” The massive mare gives the small stallion a wink.

Cookies shook his head first before speaking. “Please don’t contaminate the bowl. Hope is here.” The stallion said with a sigh.

“Nah. I don’t have anything on me. Dress is too tight and my mane can’t hold stuff like that. It’s too well conditioned. Here give it a feel.” Sky lowered her head to Cookies’ height.

Cookies hesitated for a bit, staring at the flowing mane. It wasn’t until EC had threaded her hoof through the silky-smooth hairs of Sky’s mane. “Very smooth. Mine gets into too many tangles.”

“I don’t know what it is, my hairs are just naturally silky smooth. Come on, Cookies, give it a good feel.” Sky turns her tail end towards the white unicorn, flourishing her tail as she does so. Again, Cookies acts hesitant, this time with a tint of blush on his face as he closes his eyes as he runs his hoof through the tail hairs of the Pegasus pony.

Time felt as though it came to a standstill for the unicorn as he threaded his hoof through his friend’s tail. The silky hair sent a shiver up the stallion’s body. The aroma of the mare reaching the nostrils of Cookies, causing his heart to skip a beat. His eyes opened, staring at the mare’s tail and his hoof smoothly sliding alongside it. The stallion was so distracted by the enticing senses that he didn’t realize that the mare’s rear end was approaching his head.

“PLBBT!” Sky made a sound with her mouth as she sat on Cookies head, the stallion laid limp as the mare giggled. “So easy to prank you, little guy. Come here.” Sky adjusted her body and grabbed the white unicorn with one of her wings, bringing him up to all four hooves, both the two at eye level. “Thanks for inviting me to the gala, Cook.”

Cookies shook the dirt off his head before looking back at Sky with a bit of concern. “Oh, come now, you can’t sit on the floor wearing that beautiful dress on you.” He extended a hoof to support Sky. She stared back it him, smiling as the lights of the gala sparkle within her blue eyes. Cookies gulped in anticipation as Sky places her wing on his hoof and getting up.

“Thanks Cookies.” Sky then uses her wing to brush off any dirt off of her tight dress.

“Well, well, well if it isn’t Princess Celestia. My boss has been waiting to get your response to be on my show and I-” A brown earth pony stallion in a slick black suit and sunglasses with a wild red mane bumped into Sky. “Wait a moment… Check 1, you’re not Celestia, but checks 2 and 3 reveal to me I am in the presents of the elements of harmony if my sources are to be believed Miss Enchanted Crown and the crop of the Cream himself, Cookies N. Cream. You should come on my show, Cookies, both your grandfather and uncle did, would only seem right to bring the next rising star.”

The three ponies stare at the smug new stallion, unsure of what to make of it. “I’m sorry, but do I know you?” Cookies asked.

“Shame really. Couldn’t even remember when we met at Luna’s coronation when I had to babysit your friend, Lucky. Mic Check, host of Equestria Radio on the weekends. Surely you’ve heard my well-spoken voice before?”

“Yeah… I just… Sorry, but it feels like I met you somewhere else before. I just can’t quite place my hoof-”

“HEY YA’LL OVER HEAR!” A familiar voice got everyone’s heads turned to the source. It was Lucky in a very colorful dress. The dress’s arc colored in the seven colors of the rainbow, ending on the cotton puff frills at the end; the cotton puffs colored black and gold as if it were a pot of gold. Her curly mane is straighter than it was before causing it to appear longer. Instead of a hat upon her head she is adorn with a golden tiara; whether it is gold or not would require a closer inspection.

“Oh no.” Mic Check muttered to himself before turning his head towards the group. “Well, I’ll let you all have fun out there. I have to sign autographs. This is Mic Check checking out!” With a salute, Mic Check dashes away from the scene.

“Ain’t dat ol’ Mic Check from dat there radio broadcast I was in?” Lucky came up to the group and asked rather jovially before giving EC and Cookies a hug. “Not dat it matters. We havin’ good times friends n’ all.”

“Well now that most of your friends are here, Cookies, I’ll get out of your hair.” Sky chuckles to herself as she begins to walk away from the group. Lucky and EC politely wave her goodbye, but Cookies rushed up to the massive Pegasus, placing his hoof in front of her.

“WAIT!” The white unicorn spoke up, eyes upon him from his friends and some ponies nearby. Sky stares at him in eager confusion, waiting for what her friend has to say. Cookies clears his throat before speaking again. “Come now, Sky. It’s a special occasion and may I remind you that your brothers are here. You’re always out traveling, doing your job making sure Equestria’s weather is up to snuff that you need a break every once in a while. My friends would gladly enjoy your company. Stay, let’s all relax and have a drink together.”

“Ain’t believe I had seen ya more than once t’ be honest with ya. Come now, girl, let’s get to know one another a bit more, ya know.” Lucky stated.

“Y-yeah. Feels like we’ve all been busy with our own ideals. W-we s-should take a day and… relax… Y-yeah. Spend time together without those worries.” EC added.

“SKY!” Hope’s voice could be heard from the other side of the gala as the white-suited stallion zoomed over to the group as Alto slowly followed, showing Cookies a piece of paper with some writing on it. “Oh Sky, it’s been so long since I last saw you! How have you been? How goes the job? Nice dress! How do I look?” Hope starts listing off question after question for Sky to smile and nod at, chuckling at every other question thrown at her.

“I’ve been doing just fine, Hope. Looks like your gang’s all here, then?” Sky asked, looking at those around her. Hope looked at each of the ponies too, but rather inquisitively.

“Where’s North?” Hope asked, looking at each one of his friends. Most of them give him a confused look or a tilt of the head. Cookies however was too engrossed with what was written on the paper. Hope shakes his head for a bit. “Mareian the mare librarian.”

“OOOH why’dnt ya’ll say so? I ain’t got a clue where that girl is. Thought she’d be with ya’ll.” Lucky stated in realization.

“Huh?” Cookies began to look up, noticing Lucky’s hoof pointed at him, his eyes darting around rather casually. “Oh yes, our dear Mareian. I do not believe that she was supposed to come along with us three. I thought she’d at least be with you, since you share living quarters together.” All eyes are now on EC, her nervous expression hidden underneath her golden helm.

“S-s-she and her b-brother have tickets. I-I-I guess they’re coming together. Not sure how long that will take them to get here.” EC stammered her way through an explanation.

“I’m eager to see her! She’s like, my best friend in all of Equestria!” Hope said with enthusiasm. “I wonder how long until she gets here?”

Canterlot’s private garden throughout the night of the gala remained peaceful and serene. The nature remained undisturbed until a figure bursts through one of the garden’s bushes. The figure brush’s themselves before looking around. Noticing no one around them, they let out a relieved sigh.

“That was a close one…”

“My faithful servant…” A voice spoke in a low growl, spooking the figure who is frantically looking around, however just as they checked before they are still alone in the garden.

“Boss? You shouldn’t be here. If anyone found out that you were… umm where are you?”

“You think me foolish enough to step into the capital of my enemy on one of the busiest nights of the year? You think of me as not powerful enough to use MY MAGIC to send you a message without BEING SEEN!?” The voice’s increase in volume caused some of the animals in the garden to scatter.

“Perhaps we can be a bit quieter then? If the tabloids found out that I’m talking to myself I’d lose the fame that I have that allows me to go anywhere I want and you wouldn’t want that, otherwise I couldn’t…”

“Your fame may give you power, but that does not give you power over me. I could easily replace you at a moment’s notice, but so far your actions have gone unnoticed by the general public… It’s time, my faithful servant…”

“Baltimare’s All-Mare Academy. I have familiarized myself with the location. They don’t question it, just a celebrity admiring academia. Won’t bat an eye if I ‘accidentally’ left it in their libraries. So now, boss, where’s this book you want?”

“I admire your willingness to have understood your target, however, it is not up to you how you shall complete your mission. Outside of Canterlot is a hollowed-out tree. Inside I have placed the book inside of a package addressed to the academy with the return address set to Canterlot’s School for Gifted Unicorns.”

“That’s good to know, boss. I’ll get to it when the gala is over- “

“You will get to it NOW!” The bushes and trees in the garden began to shake more than before with much larger critters scurrying about.

The figure lets out another sigh. “Gotcha boss… I’ll just leave, drop the book off at the postal service station, and be back before anyone notices that I’m gone.” A flash of light goes off, revealing the figure’s brown snout for a brief moment before being shadowed again in the dark night. “A camera!?!?” The figure turned their head, noticing a hot air balloon getting closer to the ground. Two green ponies and one pink pony are visible inside the balloon.

“Calm yourself, my loyal servant. No piece of technology or magic is able to detect my presence. I am, but a voice, my physical body is far away from our current location. Now GO!” The voice boomed as the figure rushed out of the garden in a bit of a panic.

“You have the camera, don’t you?” A green Pegasus pony mare with hazel eyes and a brown mane asked a pegasus stallion with the same color scheme. Both ponies are dressed well for the gala. The stallion is dressed in a light brown pleather suit while the mare wears a rather extravagant dress. The frills of her dress mix into orange and red hues as though it were on fire. The mare has on red lipstick and had a pair of fancy glasses draped over her head and snout. The glass lenses of the glasses were made out of clear plastic under closer inspection. The two were riding in a hot air balloon piloted by a pink earth pony mare in a pilot’s hat.

“Got it right here, North.” The stallion pulled out a camera from a satchel he had on his side. With it in his wing he snapped a quick photo of the mare.

“Dang it, Polo! Save the film for when we are actually at the gala!”

“Technically, my dear sister, we are over the gala.” The stallion added in a matter-of-fact tone in return receiving a menacing glare from the mare. “Hehe… sorry.” The balloon they are in lands with a thud. The Pegasus duo carefully exited their transportation. “Thank you, Miss Berry. Feel free to stop by Buckfield’s Library to get a book autographed by, non-other than, the element of honesty: Mareian!” The stallion begins to prattle on to the pink earth pony with salesperson-like pitches.

“Honesty?” The mare rolled her eyes as she muttered her way to the gala. “I’m the element of generosity… I think… Well generous enough to allow you to use my image to profit. At least he’s doing well for himself.” The finely dressed mare looks back at her brother, unknowingly bumping into a large white unicorn stallion dressed in a red uniform usually worn by high-ranking guards.

“Hey, watch where you’re going!” The stallion shouted, stepping in front of a purple unicorn mare in a starry dress as if to protect her.

“Easy there, bigshot, it was an honest mistake. Plus, it takes two to bump into each other, you could have dodged me.” She responded.

“Why you…” The stallion growled as he began to step forward only for the purple unicorn to step in between the two.

“Shining Armor, enough. I know this mare. She’s one of EC’s friends. Mareian, right?” The green mare nodded at the purple unicorn’s question. “I don’t think we got a proper introduction. I’m Twilight Sparkle and this is my big brother best friend forever, Shining Armor.”

“Only big brother best friend forever.”

“Uh… Yeah, a pleasure to meet you two.” Mareian says as she is caught by surprise by a flash. “South Pole!” She said angrily.

“Yep, that’s going up in the library. Element of Harmony meets Captain of the Royal Guard. I’m telling you, sis, business will boom with this kind of star power.”

Mareian rolls her eyes before looking over at Twilight. “And as you have shown me your older brother, allow me to show you mine by about two seconds. South Pole meets Twilight Sparkle. She’s a friend of a friend.”

South Pole could only giggle to himself as he stared at the photo he had taken. “South Pole? That name is too much of a mouthful. Polo? Now that is brand-friendly. Polo and Mareian, Equestrian’s daring duo of celebrity adventurers.”

The extravagant announcement fell on rather unenthusiastic ears. Twilight and Shining Armor look at the stallion in confusion while Mareian places her head on her hoof in disappointment. “Polo… You HATE adventuring.”

“Semantics. We are here and therefore we are adventurers on an adventure. Now, let’s get inside and take more pictures of us with celebrities.” South Pole brushes off Mareian’s questioning attitude. “Besides, we’re all here to have a bit of fun, so I’ll take as many pictures as possible thank you very much.”

“It’s nice that you have your own personal photographer then. I know Scales can’t be here due to safety regulations. Celestia has been having several conversations with safety administrations and Mr. Sour Cream.” Twilight adds. “I believe you are friends with his son as well? Small world it seems.”

“Friends!?” Mareian states with a bit of worry in her voice. She looks around and is able to spot a clock tower showing that the current time is 15 minutes past the start of the gala. “Oh no, we’re late. Come on, Polo, they are waiting for us.” The mare drags her brother using her wing to the gala entrance.

The sound of a creaky wheel follows the Pegasus siblings as Shining Armor stares with a puzzled look on his face. “Come on, Shining, EC is most likely waiting for us as well.” Twilight looks back at her brother, causing him to shake off his confusion.

“Coming!” The stallion trotted along. It wasn’t long until two groups of siblings made it to the main hall for the Gala.

“LOOK GUYS! SHE’S THERE!” A loud and excited voice caught the groups attention. They could see a bright orange stallion in a white suit wave his hooves wildly in the air. “OVER HERE, FRIENDS!”

“Heh… energetic as ever…” Mareian muttered under her breath. “Hurry up, Polo. This’ll be a good photo for the library.”

“No need to tell me twice.” The twins rushed over the table, greeted by a group hug for Mareian as South Pole steps back and takes a photo of them all before being dragged into the group hug as well. Shining Armor can’t help but stare back with a confused look upon his face.

“It’s fine, Shining.” Twilight passed her brother by as she rolled herself towards the group of ponies. “It’s just like I told you about friendship.”

“oh yeah… Friendship.” The stallion ponders over the word as he slowly approaches the group of mostly unfamiliar ponies, keeping a smile on his face as he whispers to himself. “Friendship is weird.”

Ga-La-La-La Part 2

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The Grand Galloping Gala, some ponies call it Equestria’s Best Night Ever, however for non-ponies, they keep to themselves. Some pony raised dragons will try to find comradery with native dragons. On the mountain side across from Canterlot, are four dragons engaging in a friendly card game. Scales is there and wearing a familiar brown hat and red bandana. He is accompanied by Spike, Twilight’s dragon, Razer, the dragon that Hope befriended, and an unfamiliar red adolescent dragon. Scales tosses a card to each dragon until they have two each. He then places the deck in the center between the four of them and places three cards face up: Ace of hearts, 4 of diamonds, and the jack of clubs, ending it with Scales placing a handful of gems as a full blind, with Spike following with a half blind gem stash.

“Why are we playing with these babies, Razer? We could be doing some cool stuff like burning trees and lava surfing, or hey, get this, tormenting those good for nothing ponies!” The red one spoke out.

“Garble…” Razer groaned. “The one’s that I met would have no problem dealing with you… call.” Razer tosses a couple of gems towards the center of the groups circle.

“Well now I know your poker face. You’re bluffing. Call.” A couple more gems are added to the center.

“Take it easy, Garble. It’s just a game.” Spike states as he tosses a few gems at the center. “Besides, we aren’t babies anymore. Scales and I came here on our own. Oh, Call by the way.”

“You came by on your own. I rode on Razer’s back. Check.” Without looking at his own hand, Scales reveals the next card as the 8 of spades. He looks over at Razer whilst raising his hat.

“I guess that makes me more mature than someone who got their wings before me.” Spike retorts while Razer pats his claws down, signaling a check.

“Bet. I don’t think you have anything Razer, so I’ll just take these babies precious gems all for myself.” Garble tosses another handful of gems at center before glaring at Razer.

“I JUST SAID…” Spike stated a bit infuriated before letting out a defeated sigh. “It’s only the first hand… Call.”

“You know, Garble, if they didn’t allow dragons at the Gala for safety reasons, I’d bet that’d you would make friends with at least one of the ponies I know, but unfortunately we are here. So, I’ll just call.” Scales says rather calmly.

“Just fold already, old man. I know you got nothing.” Garble scoffs, but is shocked when Razer places his gems into the metaphorical pot. Angered, Garble let’s out an exasperated sigh. “Check…” Spike and Scales follow suit, leading to Scales revealing the final card: the King of spades.

“Bad hand… If you don’t have the right cards.” Razer placed all of his gems at the center of the table. “All in.”

“He’s lying, plain as day! Call in.” Garble hissed as he pushed all his gems forward.

“Woah this is getting out of ha-“

Garble slams his hand down hard and glares at Spike, who he interrupted. “CALL IT.” He hissed to which Spike reluctantly complied. Garble then retains his focus and anger on Scales. “And you, are you even going to look at your cards or are you counting on all three of us to have worse cards?”

Scales merely smirks as he pushes his gems over to the center. “I played blind, and I’ll continue blind.”

“Alright, show your hands, losers.” Garble flips over Razer’s and Spikes hand revealing they had a 2 of clubs and a 7 of diamonds, and a 2 of hearts and a 7 of clubs respectively. “I KNEW you were bluffing.” Garble states triumphantly.

“Thought I’d get you to fold…”

“I was gonna fold, but Garble forced my hand.”

“That was just too easy of a victory.” Garble wraps his arms around the pile of gems before Scales slaps his arm, causing the teenage dragon to recoil.

“2 of diamonds. 7 of hearts.” Scales says as Spike reveals Garbles hand. “That looks like a tie between the three of you, that is if I have worse cards then ya’ll.” Scales let out a bit of an accent as he holds down the hat to his head and reveal his hand. “2 of spades.”

“No…” Garble states in sudden realization as Scales starts to reveal his other card.

“Ace of spades. Looks like I got a pair. Lucky me.” Scales brought his bandana up to his mouth to cover his smirk as he began to grab all the gems. Suddenly, Garble yanked, Scales’ hat off his head. “Careful! Got me on the nose.”

“You had to have cheated. There’s no way we all got duds and you got the only card to break the tie.” Garble said giving the hat a thorough inspection.

“It’s called Luck Gar-BAA!! I think you got dust up my nose.” Scales said, interrupted by Garble yanking the bandana around his neck, inspecting that as well and finding nothing. “ACHOO!” Green flames spew out of Scales mouth, the smoke is blown towards Canterlot.

“Where are those cards you little snake?” Garble shook Scales.

“Woah! Lay off him!”

“That’s enough Garble.”

“No worries, guys. That was fun, but we can’t have the fun end too early.” Scales begins to redistribute the gems back to the others. He gives a smug expression. “Now could I please have those Lucky charms back?”

The Grand Galloping Gala, Equestria’s best night ever, but for the princess it’s another night in her home. Celestia stands atop of the stairs in the gala hall standing beside her sister, Luna. The two siblings are wearing their usual attires, no dresses for this occasion.

“Sister, for a special night shouldn’t we be wearing formal attire?” Luna asked.

“Formal attire are for once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, sister, like a coronation. There will be a gala next year and the year after that and the year after that. Plus, if we played dress up every time we were out in public our citizens wouldn’t recognize us.” Celestia waves towards some of the ponies on the main floor, some of whom wave back. A trail of green flame approaches the princess of the sun and launches a playing card at her face. “Ow.”

Luna uses her magic to lift up the card, revealing it to be the 7 of spades. “Lucky number 7…” Luna’s eyes widen in realization. “Lucky! Oh dear. Pardon me, sister, but I have to find my dear friends.”

Celestia rubs the side of her head that the card landed on. “No worries, I’ll just observe the chaos from up here…” A waiter carrying a tray of cake slices passes Celestia, who takes a slice of cake for herself. “Chaos… I wonder how those six would deal with him.” The princess giggled.

“The Grand Galloping Gala… Equestria’s best night ever…” Mareian murmured to herself as she sat at a table with her rather talkative friends. EC’s friend, Twilight, is bothering Cookies about the spell book he got back in Buckfield, though the stallion isn’t at all focused on the mare’s questions and more on the cup of fruit punch in front of him. EC is chatting up a storm with Twilight’s brother, though not very casually. She sounds like a soldier giving information to her drill sergeant. Lucky is chatting it up with Alto and one of Alto’s musician friends who got second place at the talent show; she seems to have brought a blue and pink maned earth pony mare with her. And then there’s princess Luna, who just approached the group with a playing card, is now in a one-sided conversation with Hope, who is going on and on about what happened since they last saw her. Finally, there is her brother, South Pole, taking every single photo he possibly can.

“You seem to be lost in thought.” The green Pegasus is caught by surprised by the larger blue Pegasus in a tight purple dress. “Seems like everyone else is lost in their own conversations.”

“I was the last one to arrive and it seems that everyone else seems preoccupied in their own conversations. I feel a little left out, Sky.” Mareian said covering her face in shame.

“And what does that make me?” Sky leaned in towards Mareian’s ear. “Anyway, you got the stuff?”

Mareian shoved the large mare away from her head. “Yeah I got that, but not now. Not until I tell him how I feel.” Mareian sighs as she stares at Hope hoping excitedly around princess Luna.

“Well… Why don’t you tell him?” Sky says trying to stifle a laugh as her eyes dart back and forth from Mareian to Hope.

“Well why don’t you tell him!?” Mareian says a bit flustered as she points her hoof at Sky and one of her wings over to Cookies.

A knowing smirk comes across Sky’s face with a tinge of blush across her cheeks as she raises her head up and looks over at Cookies, the smugness of the smirk turning into a warm and welcoming smile. “Hey Cookies…” Her soothing voice attracting the attention of the small stallion. “I just wanted to let you know that I like you.”

While Mareian just stares at Sky in shock, Cookies rather distracted and tense face relaxed into a warm smile as well. “Thanks, my dear Sky. I like you too.”

Sky turns her head over to Mareian and gives her a wink. “It’s just that easy. Be true to yourself. That’s something dad taught us, helps us better understand each other.”

“That… that makes so much sense as to why your brothers are the way they are… Fine.” Mareian steps away from the table and makes her way towards the orange stallion in the white suit.

“And that’s how Alto and I said the song should go, like a full-on dance number you’d see in a musical.” Hope describes something to princess Luna, waving his hoof in exaggeration, accidentally bumping into Mareian. “Oh, hey. I was just telling Luna about this amazing song and OH WAIT LUNA LOOK!” Hope lifted Mareian’s right hoof up in the air and started to flap it around. “SHE’S HEALED! Isn’t science magical?”

“It doth not surprise me that the medical field has advanced in past one thousand years. My sister tells me one of her own students went through a far worse ordeal that she watches her every day even from afar.”

“Uhh… is she watching her now?” Mareian asked, looking directly at Celestia who is staring back at her direction. Luna turns towards her sister before turning again to reply to Mareian.

“Yes.”

“Oh uh ahem.” Mareian clears her throat while still having her hoof held up in the air. “Hope I want you to know that I like you.”

“I love you too.” There wasn’t a moment of hesitation, only the sweet sound of the stallion’s voice. There was a flash of light that moment as the two stared at each other. Princess Luna takes the awkward silence as an opportunity to move away and head over to where Cookies is at. South Pole, after taking the photo, runs away from the scene not before giving his sister an all-knowing wink. The green Pegasus could feel her face slowly turn a shade of pink before she realized that Hope had been holding on to her hoof. She quickly pulls her hoof away.

“Yeah I uhhh.”

“Well well well, if it isn’t the GREAT and POWERFUL Trixie’s generous BENEFACTOR.” A puff of smoke appears in front of the two ponies, with a blue unicorn in a starry hat and cape reveals herself. “And a fine hello to the great and powerful Trixie’s generous benefactor’s friend.”

“Benefactor?”

“Glad you could make it.” The tone of voice coming from the stallion hardly changes. “Mareian, remember when I was out job hunting that one time and your brother told me to apply for a job and so I got that job at the apple farm? Well, do you also remember the talent show several months back? This is Trixie, she is a friend, and I bought her a ticket to this gala as a sign of friendship. Trixie, this is my bestest friend in the whole wide world, Mareian.”

“A pleasure to meet such an esteemed companion.”

“Uh… likewise. I’ll leave you two to catch up.” With that said, Mareian darts away from the two, Hope smiling and waving back at her as if nothing were wrong.

“I’m just saying it as it is, I don’t need a ball and chain.”

“I ahm zaying, mon sœur Ballét, ze meaning ov lyfe iz nought meant for ze zolo adventures. Et iz not ROMANTIQUE!”

Mareian bumps into these two earth ponies, one fashioned rather plainly and the other in a peacock like dress. While their hairs are different colored, their resemblance to Lucky is rather uncanny. Though she met them once, Lucky would mention her sisters from time to time and the one dressed plainly is one of Mayor Mare’s assistants, Ballet. And while not a Ponyville citizen, Mareian recognized the peacock’s voice as one of the commentators at the running of the leaves. Roma the Romancer was the name that came to her mind.

“Oh, sorry.”

“Watch where you’re going!”

“My word!” Roma placed her hoof on her sister. “Zis iz ze race kisser I vas telling you about! Mon ami, you look ‘eartbroken!” Roma places a reassuring hoof on Mareian’s face, wiping away the tears from her face.

“Heartbroken? No not me never just maybe you know a bit overwhelmed and confused and not using my words correctly maybe he misunderstood maybe he’s teasing me I can never tell with that face that smile that wonderful smile.”

“Breathé”

“You talk as fast as Cobbles.” Ballet remarked. “Look, could you take us back to our sister, Lucky. She’s with your group and I have no idea where you came from.”

Mareian took a deep breath as she leads the two to their sister. “O-of course. I am a bit of a n-navigator… Not that anyone would recognize me as such other than a mare librarian.” The Pegasus muttered.

“Oh hey there girlie! Ya found my sisters.” Lucky rushes past the two mares that she had been conversing with Alto with to hug Roma and Ballet. “Took ya gurls long enough.”

“I was with the mayor discussion the current economic state of Ponyville.”

“I had ze customers zat needed ze ROMANCER. Speaking of which your friend ‘ere requires my assistance so I shall find ze perfect body tester.” Roma scans the room, looking at Shining armor, another white unicorn stallion with blonde hair, and South Pole. “No he iz in a relationship with ze princess’s niece, no he iz a target for a few customers, I ahm not sure how zis creep even got into zis event without security giving zhem ze boot.”

“Hey Lyra.”

“Yeah Bon Bon?”

“Who’s that?”

“The part-time dance instructor?”

“No, the mare in the peacock suit staring at all the stallions around.”

“Well, you know as a famous pony myself I recognize her voice on the radio. I think she has a talk show in the morning.”

“Oh yeah, I think she did a weekend thing with that Mic Check guy.”

“Et vas a one-time thing. He hazn’t returned my calls.” Roma turns to the gossiping ponies, before her eyes lands on Alto who was standing behind them. “Ah you vill do jus fine. Come here, mon ami! I vant you to hav ze practice dance with monsieur.”

Alto stared at Mareian’s slightly blushing face before looking over at Hope, who is currently being given a small magic show. The stallion can’t help but let out a snort.

“I AM NOT HAVING A DANCE WITH HIS BROTHER!” Mareian shouted a bit flustered but quickly closed her mouth.

“Zat is fine. LUCKY I need you for a demonstration for your friend ‘ere.”

“Alrightly.” Lucky says in a chipper tone as she stands in front of Alto.

“You zee, dearie, you mus’ virst ask him to dance, a slow song vill do but ze faster ze more your ‘eart races when ze song ends and you lean in for ze kiss.” Roma leads Lucky to dance with Alto before having her give Alto a peck on the cheek. “Ze kiss on ze cheek iz for formal usage but a kiss on ze lips is one of true passion, true ROMANCE, très bien!”

“If you want my opinion, you should be open and honest about your feelings to Hope, and if you still want to try dancing with him, you can tell him that we’re about to perform the song we just wrote. He’d be excited to show you how the dance that goes along with it goes.” Alto’s soft voice eloquently puts together, to the shock of some of the ponies.

“Alto, this is the most I’ve heard you speak ever.” The green unicorn stated.

“Same.” Lucky added.

“We’re all friends here. Come on, Lyra, let’s inform the others of the next song.” Alto pulls out his instrument case he had left under his seat and begins to trot over to the orchestra.

“Don’t have to tell me twice. Later Bon Bon.” The unicorn hugged the earth mare goodbye before going their separate ways.

“Alright sisters, ifin ya don’t mind stayin here fer a bit, I gotta let Cookies know he gotta sing soon.” Lucky trots away from her sisters but accidentally bumps into one of the gala’s tray carriers, causing them to stumble and spill on of their cakes onto Cookies. “Whoops… Sorry ‘bout that Crem!”

“You… got cake in my drink…” The confectionary covered Cookies muttered. EC rushed by his side to check up on him while Twilight wipes some of the cake off her dress.

“Cookies! Twilight! Are you two ok!?” EC called out in a bit of a panic.

“At ease, Crown, accidents like this happen.” Shining Armor called out to EC.

“It is as the captain says.” Luna licks the one drip of frosting that landed on her nose. “tis but a cake spill.”

“Yeah but I got cake on my dress. I’ll be back, Cream. This may take a while.” Twilight steps away from the table with cake over her head and dress and wheels herself to the nearest restroom.

“Cake in… a drink…” Cookies pondered over the mess on top of his drink. Without taking his focus off the drink, he casts his magic on his scarf and begins rubbing it all over his body collecting the bits of cake as if it were a food magnet before dropping the scarf back around his neck, leaving the food in his magic aura and leading it to a nearby trash can. “Cake drink… Yeah…” An excited smile widened on the unicorn bakers face. “YEAH THAT’S IT!”

“Uh… Crem?” Lucky prodded Cookies shoulder garnering the stallion’s attention. “Alto says we doin’ da song ya’ll wrote not to long ago.”

“Oh there you are, Darling.” Rarity, the fashion designer for most of the ponies at the table suits and dresses, approached Cookies. “Your father and mother are being held up by some of Canterlot’s Elites and wanted me to send you the message.”

“Perfect timing, my dear Rarity.” The white unicorn stallion wrapped his checkered black and white scarf around the mare. “Would you kindly take my seat while I go sing for my dear friends. If a purple unicorn asks you about spells you can just nod your head and spout ‘yes, yes’ and all that jazz. Thank you.”

Seeing Cookies trot away so casually with a wide smile on his face after that disaster, Sky can’t help but cover a bit of a laugh. “This will be interesting.” The mare turns her attention towards Mareian who had started trotting her way back to Hope. “Wish you luck girl.”

Her heart racing like no other time before, Mareian tries to hold a straight face on her as she approaches the stallion that makes her feel this way. The mare wipes away any stray tears away from her face as the unicorn distracting Hope takes a bow as the stallion claps his hoofs together.

“Woo! You got a lot of fun tricks, Trixie.” Hope says gleefully before turning his head over to Mareian, catching the Pegasus off guard. “What did you think about her performance, Mareian?”

“Oh… umm… definitely better than the last time I saw her… at the talent show.”

“But of course, the GREAT and POWERFUL Trixie does not let her sword grow dull, each day sharpening her craft to near perfection!” The unicorn boasts, but the sound of her stomach rumbling catches her attention. “Ah yes, the GREAT and POWERFUL Trixie requires sustenance. Talk to you later!” The mare gleefully skips away to the catering area.

“Later Trixie!” Hope returns the glee, waving the unicorn away. “Anyway, is there something you wanted to say? You look like you want to say something.”

Mareian shook her head for a bit of mental preparation. “Yes I uh… just wanted to tell you that I REALLY like you, Hope.”

“I love you too, Mareian.” Again, he says, smile on his face and a chipper tone of voice.

“Haha… yeah.” Marien’s smile wavers as she gulps before speaking her next words. “Alto says that they’re getting ready for the song you guys wrote earlier tonight. He says that there’s a dance to it and that’d you’d be able to teach me…” The mare tried to continue but the sparkling excitement in the stallion’s eyes. “…would you?”

“Yes.”

“MAY I HAVE EVERY PONY’S ATTENTION!?” Cookies found himself on the stage where the gala’s orchestra with a microphone in front of him. Some of the musicians being replaced by Alto on the Piano and Lucky on the drums. Some of the other musicians would swap out their instrument to another like the one playing cello to bass and the minty green unicorn from before attaching a wire to the lyre they had set up stage. “My name’s Cookies Neapolitan Cream, some of you may recognize me from Luna’s coronation, others may recognize the Cream name. A few of you may remember a talent show held in Ponyville several months back, the winner being a band of four friends calling themselves Fourtune. Well, we wrote a song for this special occasion at this special occasion a little over an hour ago, and with permission from the musicians that were up here, we can perform for you. Fillies and Gentlecolts… Let’s have a ball.”

Cookies signaled for the band to start as the played a tune in a bit of a swing like tempo. Hope drags Mareian over to the center of a dancing area leading to a domino effect of other paired ponies getting ready to dance.

Your bit stressed out in mindless competition

It seems like your life’s set to repetition

So why not kick back?

Simply relax.

It may seem just way too casual

Let’s have a ball!

(let’s have a ball)x3

Let’s have a ball!

(let’s have a ball)x3

All work, no play, HEY! That’s the job

But work too hard you might feel a bit robbed.

A fair day’s pay is all that you say

So, make today that one special day

Where you can skip just one little call

And Let’s have a ball.

(let’s have a ball)x3

Let’s have a ball!

(let’s have a ball)x3

At this point in the song, Sky trots towards Alto, pulling out his concerto crystal and turning it into a megaphone like device.

ATTENTION ATTENTION

CLASS IS NOW IN SESSION

PROFESSOR COOKIES WILL BE PROVIDING INSTRUCTIONS

THIS WILL BE ON YOUR FINALS

Set your body down but tail up way up high

Send a wave of motion to bring your head to the sky

Front hoof out back hoof back

Spin around then get back on track

That’s all the things you need to know

(you need to know)

That’s what you need to now to have a ball

(let’s have a ball)x3

Let’s have a ball!

(let’s have a ball)x3

Let’s have a ball!

(let’s have a ball)x3

Let’s have a ball!

(let’s have a ball)x3

We had a ball!

“This is your chance, North.” Mareian thought to herself. “Lean in close to him and give him a kiss on the cheek.” Before Mareian could do anything, a pony pushes their way through the two.

“THAT’S OUR BOY, SOWY! THAT’S MY BEAUTIFUL BABY COOKIES!” A light orange blonde unicorn mare bedazzled in a dress of jewels and gems, pushes her way towards the white unicorn singer, embracing the stallion in a tight hug. “GOOD BOY GOOD BOY GOOD BOY.”

“M-Mother… P-ponies are… staring.” Cookies gasped between each word.

“Heya Mrs. Cream.” Sky said to Cookies mother rather casually.

“Hello, dear. Your parents are here, but we got separated after Sowy got into talking with the elites.”

“Hey, Cream Cheese! We’re over here!” The voice came from a pegasus in a Wonderbolt suit who was dancing with another smaller Pegasus wearing a lab coat, hardhat, and glasses. The duo slowly trot their way to the orange unicorn.

“Hi mom and dad!” Hope shouted and waved before dragging Mareian over to Cookies.

“Y-you guys were great out there.” EC complimented followed by an annoyed Twilight with a nervous Rarity in tow as well as Shining Armor acting as a helicopter brother.

“I’m telling you I hold no ill will against your son, bro. He’s my nephew for crying out loud!” A rather arrogant voice pleaded.

“And what of Roary’s kids? You seemed rather irritated about Alto on the radio.” A calm and collected voice states as two white unicorns in suits approach Cookies.

“Hey that’s just the business I’m in. Any form of threats I give out are all works, you know that. Plus, it was a life lesson, or something about not everyone has your best interest in mind? Something like that.”

“There you are Sowy! Did you hear our baby sing like a baby bird?” Cookies’ mother used her magic to drag her husband to their son. She gives the other unicorn he was chatting to a mean glare. “Dandy…”

“Cookies…”

“Father…”

“Have you learned anything important since leaving Sire’s Hollow?”

“Father I have some good news for you.” Cookies beckoned for his father’s ear before whispering into it. The calm and straight-faced Sour Cream curls his lips in a somewhat sinister smile to those who aren’t familiar with him.

“Good news had all around.” Sour Cream raises his head before turning it towards EC and Twilight. “And you two, aren’t you normally accompanied by dragons? With the furniture and silverware embedded with crystals of fireproofing, dragons will no longer be a problem whether by accident or intentional. You should bring them to the gala next year.”

“Spike will never let me hear the end of this.” Twilight placed a hoof on her forehead.

“T-thank you Sour Cream!”

“I see a crowd gathering, and one of my most loyal students at the helm.” Celestia approaches the group with Luna following behind, casting a spell on a card transporting it to who knows where. “Now tell me, what did my students learn today?”

“Always have a spell in mind for cleaning messy foods.” Twilight grumbled.

“T-today? I…” EC took a deep beath, pondering her words carefully. “Tonight, I’ve been a bit on the sidelines, but just because my life goes on without my friends doesn’t mean that my friends lives stop all of the sudden. They have dreams you can assist with and it’s ok that you aren’t able to solve for them. They have wants for something, whether something physical or knowledge, and it’s ok to no be able to have the answers like that. As long as you’re open with yourself and your friends, friendship won’t ever end, Celestia. You see…” EC takes a deep breath as her magic envelopes her helmet, slowly removing it and revealing her turquoise curls of a mane and her golden eyes to the ponies around her. “Friendship is weird.”

“I wouldn’t call it ‘weird’.” All heads turn towards Hope. “The word implies that friendship isn’t a natural part of life, but you look around and see families. That requires friendship too wouldn’t you think? Birds make families, bugs makes families, and even pets are part of the family too and so they are all in their own little friendships. Sure, friendships can be unique, but that’s what makes them so very important to us all. Friendship isn’t weird. Friendship is magic.”

There was a moment of silence as all the ponies around stared at Hope. The stallion remains unphased by the looks he is given, keeping his usual happy-go-lucky smile upon his face. It wasn’t until princess Celestia started to laugh when the ponies turned their head away from the stallion.

“You really are the representation of the magic of friendship with a speech like that.” The princess chortled. “Equestria’s Hope, every pony!” With those words, the princess began to clap her hooves together, leading to a domino effect of applause in the gala hall.

“WATCH OUT!” A voice shouted from outside one of the gala windows. A ball of flame proceeds to pass through one of the open one’s before being immediately extinguished revealing two dragons, one dark green with wings and one purple without wings. The two dragons land on one of the catering tables, a cake barely breaking their land.

“Spike!” Twilight called out

“Scales?” EC joined

“Mah hat n’ bandana!” Lucky cheers gleefully as her usual attire safely lands in their usual placement.

“We’re ok!” Scales raises his arm, holding a playing card up in the air. It’s the 7 of spades with the words ‘Dragons allowed at gala’ written on it.

“I’d say speak for yourself,” Spike stands up rolling his shoulders about. “but you were the one that took most of the impact.”

Scales stands up, coated in vanilla cake frosting before cartoonishly licking himself clean of the dessert. “Nah, I think the table took most of the impact.”

“Wow, it sure seems like we have everyone together.” South Pole trots around as though he were a private detective with his fedora, jacket, and camera. With a smile he raises his camera towards the mass of ponies and dragons. “How about one big group picture?”

Most of the ponies in the group gave each other confused looks and murmured amongst themselves. “Of course! It’ll be like a family photo!” Hope said with glee. “Because we’re all friends and friends are like one big family!”

Without discussion, all in attendance agreed whole heartedly to do the picture as South Pole guided everyone. “Alright, the banana looking boy over there with the other Creams in front of the element of Cookies, Dragons on top of their caretaker’s shoulders, princesses to center. HEY SIS!” South Pole shouted at Mareian, who jumped in shock. “Could you put your wing on that orange guy next to you?”

Mareian looked over to see that the guy that her brother was referring to was Hope, she had just been following him not to get lost. The green Pegasus hesitates when suddenly a pair of blue wings gently pull on her own. “Yoink!” Sky said as she not only took the bottle of cider Mareian had concealed in her wing, but carefully placed Mareian’s wing around her brother’s shoulder and backed away to her space while mouthing the words ‘you’re welcome’ to Mareian.

“Alright now that everyone’s in place, on the count of 3 I want you all to say ‘cheese’, ready?”

“What about you, Polo, aren’t you going to set a timer and get to a spot?” To Mareian’s surprise, the words that would have come out of her mouth instead came from the stallion whom she had her wing around. “You’re family!” Hope said with his usual chipper tone.

South Pole looked down at the camera before looking back at Hope. “This camera doesn’t have a timer on it…” The smile on Hope’s face slowly flattened down to a frown, droopy ears, and all.

“Check one, check two, sounds like Mic Check can assist all of you.” A brown earth pony stallion in sunglasses and a suit came up to South Pole and carefully took the camera from him. “I got this man. I’ve worked with cameras before and if you want me in this picture as well I can photo edit and autograph the back as proof if you need that.”

“Z-lister!?” Sour Cream’s brother shouted.

“DC3! Good to see you. Shame your dad couldn’t make it. And the name is Mic Check.” The stallion lines the camera to get them all in. “Everyone’s set. On 3 I want you all to give me your loudest ‘Cheese Mare’ you can, alright? 1. 2. 3!”

“CHEESE MARE!”

*FLASH*

With the picture taken, they all slowly scattered about. Alto went back to Lyra and the other musicians. Lucky went to spend time with her sisters, Roma, and Ballet. EC was dragged around the gala, unhelmed by Shining Armor with Twilight Sparkle in tow. Sky had gone over to the watermelon punch and started pouring herself cup after cup of the addicting substance as Cookies just relaxes next to her, slowly enjoying his own cup, though Sky poured a bit of Mareian’s cider into both of their drinks without anyone else noticing. The only two who haven’t moved from their spot were Hope and Mareian, Mareian’s wing still wrapped around Hope.

“This is the best night ever. So many friends all in one place and we get to share special moments with them.” Hope says calmly smiling as he turns his head towards Mareian. “Don’t you think so?” Mareian was giving him a stern look. “Is there something on your mind?” He said, smile unwavering.

Mareian placed Hope’s head between both of her wings and began bringing her head closer to his. They had privacy in their own little green feathered room as Mareian kept getting closer and closer to Hope. From Hope’s point of view, Mareian’s face was telling him to look at her and only her, and he was gladly complying. His blue eyes remain unblinking staring at her unwavering hazel eyes. Finally, Mareian’s lips came in contact with Hope’s, the sensation was one the stallion had not felt before. He had received kisses from others and had given some of his own, but all of those had been friendly little pecks. Mareian was sucking him in. Time had essentially stopped as they both took in the moment. Finally, Mareian parts her lips. She steps back, taking her wings off of him and looks back at him with a shy smile.

“I love you Hopeful Journey.”

“I love you too, North.” The stallion said without hesitation and a warm smile on his face.

Mareian stepped back in a bit of elated shock. Her mouth remained open as tears started forming in her eyes. A flood of all the memories they had together poured into her mind. The day Hope entered her library back in Buckfield. Hope pointing at her after playing a song at the talent show. The day they befriended Razer the dragon. The high-octane action they went through in the dreamscape. The day she and her brother did an educational beatbox and rap about being financially stable for Hope. Running alongside him at the Running of the Leaves. Catching him in mid-air at the Best Young Flyer competition. Becoming foal-sitters for Cookies’ little brother and friends. The emotions that they had, pour deep in Mareian’s heart.

“I understand now.” She jumped at the stallion, wrapping her hooves around him. “You’re so kind… so generous, so funny. Your honesty is so blinding and you always stick by your friend’s side no matter what… I guess you really are the element of magic, huh?”

Hope didn’t respond verbally to Facing North. Instead, he adjusted her head to be facing his own. While Facing North’s hazel eyes carry a list of similar emotions, Hope’s blue eyes carry the simplistic happiness he always have, both sparkling in different ways. After a deep breath from both ponies, Hope kisses North just as she did to him. The mare’s wings begin to flitter in excitement. Both ponies became lost in their wonderful worlds. In the end she could say that it was the best night ever.

Friendship is Weird Volume I

Familial Bonds

End

He Brings Her Over (BONUS CHAPTER)

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How did this all end up like this? I’m standing outside his house… wearing my rubber ducky pajamas. It was two nights ago when I confessed my feelings to him. I was told throughout the night to be open and truthful to him, but I’d always hold back by saying that I’d like him. He’d keep replying ‘I love you too’ with no hesitation in any way whatsoever. I asked again and got the same response. It left me with only one thing to do: be open about my feelings.

I kissed him.

And to my surprise, he kissed me.

“I love you, Hopeful Journey.”

The words that were so hard for me to say echo throughout my mind.

“I love you too, North.”

It was a moment of clarity, a weight off my chest as well. I had spent the rest of the gala next to him. Oh yeah, the Grand Galloping Gala. What they say about it is true, best night ever. We were on a balcony looking up into the starry night sky. I clung on to him with my wing as he prattled on about how his dad and sister work in weather distribution and how clouds clump together in populated areas so any pony lost could navigate their way through Equestria. I was surprised by his knowledge of constellations, though I believe he learned them for the imagery as I had to correct him about the location of the north star.

“Actually, Hope, that’s the Little Dipper that has the north star on the handle. To find the north star from the Big Dipper you follow the edge of the ladle.” I used my free wing to trace the path from the constellation to the north star. “See?”

The stallion awed in his usually childish amazement. “Wow, North, you are so smart.” Not the most eloquent complement, but coming from him had me feeling flush at the time.

“Oh, it’s just the knowledge based around my talent, you know being good with navigation and all.” I had stumbled a bit over my words, but he had looked at me like I was the only interesting pony at the party.

“Commmmmeee oooooooooooonnnnn Coooooooooooooooooookieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees!” Thank Celestia that I wasn’t the biggest stumbling mess there. I knew I shouldn’t have brought that cider to the gala. “Jussssssss a kisssssssssss gooooooodniiiiiiiight.”

“I appreciate *hic* your loving intentions, my *hic* dear, but we are nowhere home.” Some things need to be seen to be believed. A Pegasus around the size of princess Celestia herself barely standing being propped up by a unicorn whose body size is well below average. “Excuse us. Hope, if you would assist me with your sister? It appears we are *hic* heading home now.”

“No problem.” Hope said so casually, it hurt a bit, but he looked at me with that heartwarming smile of his. “You coming?”

I wanted to say ‘yes’ so bad, but the dress I had worn needed to be returned to the boutique back in Buckfield. “I can’t, I have to head back home with my brother.”

“When you get back though we can have fun adventures together!” I couldn’t help but laugh. The stallion had such an optimistic and charming attitude. I smiled and nodded at him.

“Yooooooooooooooooouuuuuu guuuyyysss *hic* weeeeeeeeeee should have a slummmbeerrrrrrr paaaaaarrrrrrrrtyyyyyyyy.” The large drunk slurred.

“OOOOH A SLUMBER PARTY!”

The rest of that night is self-explanatory. I said agreed, I returned home with my brother, returned the dress, and the day that I come back to Ponyville, standing outside their house in the dead of night in rubber duck pajamas. I knock on the door only to be greeted by the small white unicorn himself, Cookies Neapolitan Cream.

“Yes, yes. If it isn’t our dear Mareian. Come in, we’ve been expecting you.” The unicorn welcomed me to the house. I don’t think I’ve ever visited here this late at night. He’s dressed in a maroon robe, but still has his black and white checkered scarf. “Care to have some cake? It was Hope’s suggestion. Thankfully I know what you order at Sugar Cube Corner.”

“Strawberries.” Shortcake; on a plate just for me. At times like these I forget how well-off Cookies and his family is to be able to get such a nice house. A hallway leading straight into an open room, one side having a kitchen, another a dining room, and another side being the living room where I can see Hope seated on the couch at the edge of his seat; excited as ever.

“North! You made it! Come sit over here!” I don’t think I’ve met a stallion as cute as he is. I could feel myself blush as I scrunched. Using one of my wings, I pick up the plate that the shortcake laid upon before embarrassingly trot my flank next to him.

“Strawberries? Ehh not my cup of tea.” A voice spoke from a blind spot from the kitchen to the living room. I didn’t notice her before, but none other than Sky Sonata, that Pegasus that got me in this situation. She’s in a robe similar to the one that Cookies, except the one she has on looks a couple sizes too small, Now that I think about it, Cookies’ robe looked a bit too loose on him. She was helping herself to her own cake. “I’m more of a cookies and cream type pony.”

“Did you need something?”

“I’m referring to the flavor.”

“My mistake.” The unicorn looks over to Hope. “Would you be so kind to fetch your brother?” Without a word, Hope leaves as Cookies places five glass cups on the coffee table between me and Sky.

“So… Mrs. Cream is it now?” I snarked at the Pegasus across from me as I took a bite out of my strawberry shortcake.

“Not yet, but Hope wanted us to play along with the slumber party gimmick. These are the only pajamas here. Feels like I’m wearing a foal sized shirt.”

“You don’t have to keep wearing it if it’s uncomfortable.”

“And I bet it wasn’t comfortable for you to march around town in ducky pajamas.” She had me there. She had the line of the sack toys Hope made for Cookies’ birthday a good half her wingspan away from her. Using one of her wings she grasps the finely craft version of Hope and the obviously poor craft version of myself. Makes sense considering the timeframe. We had known each other less than a month. I’m surprised he had the time to make these. “What’s your aim with Hope?”

What!?

“What?”

“Just looking out for my brother is all. I remember what you did that night. An elephant never forgets.” Should have raised my wings when he kissed me, but I think that any pony at a high enough angle could see. Shoot, I bet Celestia saw out of curiosity.

“I… want to protect his smile.” I shove forced those words out of my mouth, ignoring the odd phrase. Sky merely smirked a smug smile. Cookies had trotted into, seeming to have heard what I said with the raised eyebrow look he gave me.

“I got Alto!”

“Oh come on, he’s not wearing your brother’s pajamas.”

“I am not going to wear something that doesn’t fit.”

“Now now, no sibling bickering my dear friends.”

“We’re not bickering, I’m just expressing my disappointment in my little bro.”

“Sorry”

“Not you, Hope.”

“Arguing over petty things is by definition ‘bickering’”

“Mr. Element of Honesty thinks himself a wordsmith now?”

“You have to understand words to write lyrics.”

“What a way to start a debut.”

“Well will SOMEPONY get me out of these robes? I think my hooves are stuck.”

Hope trotted himself back to his spot next to me as they gathered around Sky, trying to disrobe the small robe off her. The cutie plants a kiss on my cheek as he does so, sending my heart aflutter as I instinctively placed my hoof on my cheek. I blink a couple of times, taking in the moment as I ignore the other three fumbling about. Hope looks at me with his usual smile on his face.

“Enjoying the shortcake?” I nod at the stallion, my mind going into auto piolet as I lift my plate up towards him. Hope doesn’t ask any questions as he opens his mouth, allowing be to stab a bit of cake with my fork and feed him. “Delicious.” Cute.

“Ahem” Cookies coughed now that Sky is free of her small robe. He shows us all a bottle of a brown fizzy liquid with the words ‘Cookie Cola’ written in a gray marker. “Today, my dear friends, I’d like to present a prelude to the next Cream family breakout: Cookie Cola, the cake flavored thirst quencher. And you four shall be the first to try out this prototype, but in order to get a clean test I shall request you to swallow in 3, 2, 1, now.”

There was a warm tingle in my mouth as the unicorn’s horn lit up. I swallowed on his cue, but almost choked thinking it would be on 1. “Felt like I got a routine dental check-up. You sure you aren’t a dentist?” I asked in a sarcastic tone.

“I prefer not having to look a gift horse in the mouth.” What is it with these guys and misusing phrases? The unicorn poured the liquid into all five cups before raising one into the air. “A toast to new, better, brighter futures together.”

“To friendship!” Hope chugged his glass after raising it in the air. “ooh vanilla.”

“To us.” I quietly said to myself as raised my glass and took a light sip. Sugary with a bit of vanilla to it. Something’s off about it though.

“Tastes watered down. Whatever you added for flavor needs a bit more.”

“Noted, Alto. Sky? Mareian?” Cookies looked between me and the mare sitting across from me.

“Better than water.” I spoke. Not really much I can add, I’m not a professional taste tester. Sweet Celestia I’m going to turn into one of Cookies’ taste testers aren’t I?

“Needs cocoa.”

“I’m not trying to make cocoa, but the idea of a carbonated cocoa is interesting.” Just as Cookies says that, the clock in the living room made a noise, signaling the next hour. “Would you look at the time? I have to get up early to assist the Cakes in the morning.”

“Yeah, gotta get up early and travel and all. Good night love birds.” Sky opened a door leading to another room. Alto had already trotted back upstairs as the clock went off.

“Oh cool. Where will I be sleeping then?” I asked, unknowingly about to get an answer that wasn’t ‘the guest room’ or ‘on the couch’ as Hope lead me upstairs. The room he led me to was well organized with a bunch of hoof-made crafts and posters of Cheese Mare and Daring Doo. A small bookshelf carrying an assortment of non-book related objects, like bipedal robots and a wicker basket that has ‘Hopeful Journey’ woven on the edge. The only books on the shelf appears to be a bunch of comics and a single Daring Doo book with a mark left very early on. “Wow.”

“This is where you’ll be sleeping.” Hope pats his hoof on the only bed in the room.

The only bed in the room? No this can’t be what Hope is getting at. He’s too innocent for that. Calm down, North. Put on a smile and breathe through your nose. Even if it is what you think it is, what’s wrong with that? Having him hold me and I hold him throughout the night would be just like those heart melting romance novels.

“Alright.” I say too embarrassed to look him in the eye as I lay myself down on the bed. I close my eyes in anticipation, waiting for the stallion to join. Except he didn’t. Instead, the bed began to shake followed by a click two loud thuds. I had to open my eyes and look at what the stallion did. He had turned off the lights but I could still see that he had pulled out another bed from a compartment under the bedframe. He was looking at the up at the ceiling before I peered my head over to him.

“You need something?” He said in his sweet voice.

“The night went by rather fast I just thought now we could… you know…” I JUST WANT TO HUG HIM WHY CAN’T I GET THE WORDS OUT!?!?

“Sky and Alto say I move around a lot when I sleep.” He responded. “I don’t want to cause harm.”

“What, no, I mean I doubt those two giants would give enough room anyway. They’re probably over exaggerating like I know Polo would move around a lot when he sleeps mostly to some subconscious desire to sleep at the foot of the bed.”

“I don’t want to hurt you. I don’t want to make that risk.”

“Then I’ll take that risk.” I climbed down from the bed onto the extendable bed below. I was above him, staring him dead in the eye under the shadows of darkness. I bit my lip in embarrassment not knowing what to say next. I place my forehoof gently on his chest and continued. “I love you, Hope, and it would mean a lot to me to remain at your side whether awake or asleep. I want to be open with you as you have been to me.” I slowly laid myself beside Hope, keeping my hoof upon his chest as I do so.

The silence was deafening. I could feel my body trembling. I couldn’t tell if he could see me, but I knew I didn’t have the best poker face.

“Let’s go on an adventure together!”

What?

“Huh?”

“I want to go on a grand journey. To see everything out there and make all the friends I possibly can. I’ve got a lot of energy to do something like that, but I think I’ll get lost easily.” At this point, a harmonic hum buzzes on one side of the walls. “You know your way around the world with your smarts and your talent and I was really excited to make friends with you when we met back in Buckfield and you were able to navigate us here. There’s no pony else I’d rather have with me more on this adventure than you.” Faint singing could be heard on two separate walls now, the voice of that unicorn and Hope’s sister could be heard.

He brings her over

They’re for each other

Plan for adventure

He’s eager to go

He brings her over

Just like my brother

He truly loves her

In highs and in lows

This boy knows how to make me feel special. I could feel the tears swell up in my eyes as I took what felt like an eternity to respond back to him. “I’d love to go with you, Hope. I-“ My words were interrupted as the stallion had wrapped his blue pajama wearing hooves around my ducky clad body and squeezed me tightly.

“Thank you thank you thank you!” The glee in his voice warmed my heart more than his body physically warmed me up, until he kissed me just like we did at the gala. “I love you so much, North.”

“Love you too, Hope.”

He brings her over (She ain’t no bother to me)

They are true lovers (My brother and bride to be)

She’s on his shoulder (a shoulder to cry on)

There is no other (fed to the lions)

The lullaby like noises continue as I gently close my eyes, taking in this warm sensation of emotions as I embrace Hope not only with my hooves, but my wings as well. He may not agree with me at the end, but love is weird and I love it.

Next time on FRIENDSHIP IS WEIRD VOLUME 2

A new threat looms over Ponyville

“Oh no, the evil Shadow Trotter has taken me prisoner.”

“They took her, Hope. I couldn’t stop them.”

But through the power of friendship…

“Celestia has always told me that the best way to solve problems is through the magic of friendship.”

And ancillary characters…

“ANCILLARY!? Alto, they jus’ called us ancillary. We are a core par ‘ta da group!”

“…”

Will keep things as good as gold

“Make new friends and keep the old.”

FRIENDSHIP IS WEIRD

VOLUME 2

FRIENDSHIP GOALS

RECAP (2024 Out of Season April Fools Joke)

View Online

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Space

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A WHOLE LOTTA SPACE

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A White void as it were

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You still reading this? Hey! Yeah you, the one behind the screen. You made it past a hundred thousand words, congrats.

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Huh

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That’s different

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Usually there are some words here that describe my physique and all that over and over to make sure you understand who’s speaking, but I guess not this chapter

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At least the text is blue

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Hi, I’m Sky Sonata, the Celestia sized blue Pegasus with a mane as white as the clouds in the sky from the rather obscure My Little Pony fanfiction: Friendship is Weird and today is APRIL FOOLS DAY!

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Ignore your calendar IT’S APRIL FOOLS DAY!

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Originally the April Fools day prank was going to be an ai chapter about how Cookies discovers a spell that can automatically write stories for him using the ai chatbot we use for punctuation and word transitions, but if you’ve ever tried feeding one of those things your story before you’d quickly realize how much it will butcher your characters.

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Take my little bro Alto here.

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You know, Alto Tenor. Element of Honesty.

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Hey the tag says “Alternate Universe” and besides, if our creator wanted those characters be the main focus then they’d BE the main focus. As he puts it “If they had the elements of harmony, some of the major story beats would have to change” and if I were to say what those story beats were then I’d be spoiling upcoming chapters

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Anyway, Alto Tenor. Element of Honesty. The big blue Pegasus with a short cloudy mane and double-jointed wings that allow him to play any musical instrument he pleases which is why he lugs around an instrument case containing a magically infused crystal that changes into a musical instrument that the holder desires. The Concerto Crystal I think it was called; those things are expensive. Anyway, my brother is a bit of a quiet one, only speaking when he really needs to, but he gets more comfortable talking when among friends. Speaking of friends, outside of our other main six, Alto has joined a music club in Ponyville consisting of Lyra Heartstrings, Octavia Melody, and Vinyl Scratch. He’s made an enemy too, I think, in the form of Dandy Cream the Third; Uncle of Cookies N Cream, multi-time world champion in the Pony Wrestling League. My brother defeated that old man in a “Say Uncle” match, by using his double-jointed wings to stretch that unicorn in ways he shouldn’t be stretched.

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What were we talking about? I think it was about ai, right? Yeah, those things would turn my brother from a mute into a blabber mouth

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Now my other brother, Hope, he’s the REAL blabber mouth

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Hopeful Journey, the Element of Magic? He’s an average sized orange earth pony with a pompadour red, what’s so magical about him? Maybe it’s his friendly aura, having a smile so heartwarming it causes others to smile; even former Nightmare Moon herself, Princess Luna. Always eager to go on adventures and make friends, from befriending a dragon up in the mountains whose smoke would have devastated the ecosystem of Equestria to encouraging a talent show to stop a fight. Despite living with Cookies and Alto, Hope is an independent pony getting himself a job bucking apple trees at Sweet Apple Acres. Even though he made money with his job, Hope didn’t spend it on himself and instead bought a ticket to the Grand Galloping Gala for Trixie Lulamoon, however implied that case was. An avid comic reader, having read several issues of the super heroine, Cheese Mare, and despite being as sweet as a strawberry shortcake, he sings like a death metal singer.

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I wonder how people interpret the songs written so far or if someone will actually turn those lyrics into an actual song

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But there’s no one else who finds Hope sweeter than everyone’s favorite portmanteau of mare and librarian, the green Pegasus with an auburn mane and hazel eyes, it’s Mareian. Real name: Facing North, Mareian used to be the librarian in the small town of Buckfield with her twin brother, South Pole, until the day she laid eyes upon my brother. Exaggerating of course, but it sounds so storybook to have it be love at first sight. She generously gives her time to my brothers, acting as their navigator on the way to Ponyville to make it to the Summer Sun Celebration which stands to reason as to why she’s the element of honesty. If you need to ask for directions, just ask our girl. Whether it be a war-torn nightmare landscapes or a basic climb up the mountains, you won’t be lost with her. Her heart, on the other hand, is lost to the dramatic emotion of love. Some say it started when the group explored each other’s dreams, others say it was during the dragon chapter, I for one believe she is the one who screamed “I love you!” at the talent show. Her heart kept racing every time Hope brushed by her, and my mother, Thunderbolt Drill Seargent Speed Sound, took her under her wing and trained Mareian for the upcoming running of the leaves race. Despite winning and managing to sneak a mouth-to-mouth kiss, she felt undeserving so she asked her friend, Enchanted Crown, to help her win the upcoming Best Young Flyer competition thing

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Good times that competition, I mean, I didn’t win it, but Mareian did

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At the cost of a month of being conscious after saving my brother from falling ‘till he go splat

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But she managed to confess her feelings at the Grand Galloping Gala and everything was fantastic

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A Pegasus taught her to run fast, a unicorn taught her to fly fast, what’s next an earth pony teaching her magic?

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Enchanted Crown, EC for short. Loyal student of princess Celestia, active in the socio-political situation of Equestria, and all the time wearing that helmet thing over her magenta head. You’d probably need a closer look at her just to see that she has a pair of golden eyes underneath her helmet, though her turquoise mane messily sticks out of some of the gaps and through the spot where her horn goes through. She’s willing to put her own life on the line for the well being of Equestria. As she is loyal to the cause, in too does she put faith in her friends, sending Lucky, Hope, and Mareian off to the mountains to take care of a dragon.

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Speaking of dragons, there’s Scales

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The black green little dragon that would rather blend in to the background than be on the foreground

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Went toe-to-toe against Nightmare Moon by himself

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Usually messing around with the others like dying Cookies’ mane purple to look more like Rarity

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Scales is usually just a side piece really. The gang needs an awesome intro: Scales sets the place on fire. They need someone to take a group photo: Scales is a photo hobbyist. Mareian in a coma and needs to catch up with current events: Scales collects news paper clippings for his friendship scrapbook. He is a very sly card dealer when he cheated in a game of poker with a group of dragons.

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Was that six? Including myself that’s six characters thus far so let’s talk about character number seven. Lucky Horseshoes, the daisy-yellow earth pony with the short golden curls and almost always wearing her red bandana and brown cowgirl hat. Eyes as green as a 4-leaf clover and sept times lucky, it’s even in her name. She doesn’t know how to play the drums, but she can play the drums by pure circumstance. She needs to reach Canterlot from Baltimare in under an hour to make it to Princess Luna’s Coronation ceremony because she won a sweepstakes to appear on a radio show? You know that she’ll make it to the coronation with plenty of time to spare, and getting to see all six of her sisters too in the same time frame. Can buck a tree out the ground but keep it rooted, collapse a cave entrance to protect a dragon’s gold, never suffers from nightmares nor others nightmares. An educated botanist or a lucky planter with how easily she can grow 4-leaf clovers. You’d definitely want her on your side for any luck-based game, otherwise you may be a casualty of her luck as she knocked out Alto, Mareian, Hope, and Cookies just by saying hello.

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And then there’s Cookies

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I have been waiting for this moment. My favorite pony to tease. The white unicorn with a black milkshake swirl of a mane; dark spots adorn upon his face. That’s right, HIS. Despite his below average size, Cookies Neapolitan Cream is in fact indeed a stallion.

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Oh ho ho I am loving this already.

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Privileged as he is being the son of Sour Cream, head of an insurance agency whose name escapes me, and privileged as he is being gifted a house in Ponyville as an early birthday present. Being the oldest amongst his group, Cookies acts as a calm and collected voice of reason with desires to make meals that will turn ponies’ frowns upside down. Willing to sacrifice his dignity for the emotional wellbeing of others. He’ll dance and do a silly song, sing a song you wrote, sing a song you wrote he doesn’t think will be good, and sing a song you wrote he doesn’t want to sing. P.S. Cookies has sung the most of the main cast thus far. As he should as he, Hope, Alto, and Lucky formed the rock band Fourtune at the Ponyville talent show and really tore the roof off, especially when Cookies used his magic to swallow a fire that Scales had accidentally started.

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He’s well skilled in magic to the point that he uses it to assist in baking outside of basic levitation for stirring ingredients and such. In fact, when not reading a cookbook or straight up cooking in the kitchen, you’ll probably find him skimming through a spell book.

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Or hanging out with me, but that’s only on the weekends. Being Equestria’s weather mare is a very travel centric and timely job. Luckily I also get Fridays off too.

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Cookies often reads spell books when not around his friends, lost in his own world on how he will be a success to the Cream name and also making sure that everyone he knows stays happy with a smile on their faces. I hear he has a recipe for a cake flavored drink but right now it’s in a prototype stage.

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Mareian has told me on one of our drinking days that Cookies will look strange some days and say things differently from how he normally says. Like he’ll say “my fair friend” instead of “my dear friend” to whomever he may talk to, insert their name for friend because saying “my dear x” sounds wrong for some reason. She also says that his eyes look glossy on those days and that those are the days he uses this memory revealing spell. I wish I could use a memory revealing spell or that he would use his spell on me so I can tease him some more, but thems the breaks. We all celebrated his birthday together over by a pond in Ponyville. Alto even sang him a song about being his best friend. And the day after was my birthday, but I drank too much cider that day so I stayed in bed.

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Let’s see, the return and befriending of Princess Luna. Lucky’s absurd luck getting her a ticket to the Gala. Cookies’ birthday party. Fourtune Four, dragons, and Lucky. Dreams, jobs, and love. Uncle comes over and then the Gala happens. Yeah that’s pretty much the story thus far.

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Anyway, thanks for reading this out of season April fools joke chapter that’s just an excuse by our creator to recap everything thus far and to stall for season-I mean volume 2. I’ve been Sky Sonata and a happy holiday, weekday, whatever have you to everyone reading.

Friendship is Weird April Fools 2024

Written by me

Directed by me

Edited by me

Microsoft Jenny as Sky Sonata

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Wait, credits? Was this supposed to be an animatic or is this also a part of the out of season April Fools joke?