"The Happiest Place in Equestria"
Written by
Alex Mann
Chapter I
Vacation!
The Ponyville Library was splashed with fire as the sun began its downward trek towards the horizon. The warm air lent a comforting haze to the interior of the massive tree, and Twilight Sparkle was enjoying the late afternoon lull. Her head was in a book as usual, and didn't notice when somepony knocked on the door.
After a few seconds, the visitor knocked again, a little louder. Getting no response, the mysterious pony let herself in.
"Twilight!" came a shrill shout, startling the lavender unicorn. Her vision was suddenly filled with pink. Lots and lots of pink.
"Hi, Pinkie," the purple pony said, picking herself up off the ground. "Can I help you?"
"Twilight! I won! I won!" The bubbly earth pony bounced in place, a giant grin plastered on her face. "I heard they were giving away a trip on the radio and so I called in, and I never thought that I'd win, but I did! So the tickets are coming sometime in the next couple weeks, so we can go when they get here! Isn't it exciting?"
"Tickets?" Twilight looked at her hyperactive friend, confused. "Tickets for what?"
"For the trip, silly!" Pinkie grabbed the unicorn by the shoulder, sliding one leg around her and pulling her in conspiratorially. "We're going to Disneighland!"
Twilight's eyes lit up and a smile crossed her lips. She'd grown up hearing about the fantastic amusement park in Aneigheim, but had long since given up hope of ever going. Now that a chance presented itself, she was absolutely overjoyed.
"Oh, I'm going to have to pack. Spike!" she called for the little dragon. She began to rush around, gathering up items that caught her eye as necessary. Pinkie looked on with interest, and, after a minute or two, cleared her throat.
"Twilight?" The unicorn looked up. "The tickets won't come for a couple weeks!" The earth pony giggled and turned towards the door. "I'm gonna go tell the other girls, okay? Don't freak out, it's just Disneighland!" She bounded a few yards away before abruptly swiveling to face her friend. "Oh, yeah! We'll be gone a week!" And with that, she was gone.
Seventeen days later, a blue pegasus with a multichromatic mane was hurriedly packing her saddlebags. She zipped around the castle of clouds she called her home, trying to find her Wonderbolt-brand flight goggles. Rainbow Dash tossed everything she could see into the air, hoping her goggles would be under the mess somewhere.
"Why did I wait till the last minute?" She asked herself, a hint of frustration in her voice. "Oh, wait, I know: because I'm lazy and procrastination-y! Applejack's always on me about that! GAH!"
She threw the blanket off her bed with enough force that it disintegrated upon impact with the floor.
"Great, now I'll have to make another blanket when I get home!" The pegasus flopped onto the cloud bed, exhausted. After a few seconds, she glanced at her alarm clock on the bedside table. She sighed. "And now I'm late. Perfect."
Sliding off the bed, she gathered her saddlebags and flung them onto her back. With one last look around her room, she flapped out of the house and positioned herself towards the Ponyville Library. As she shut the door, a pair of goggles fell off the doorknob onto the floor.
Twilight was pacing the floor of the library impatiently, stopping every few laps to check the time. Where are you, Rainbow? she thought, tapping one of her forehooves. As her haunches hit the ground, she heard a familiar smashing of glass from one of the upstairs windows. A second later, Rainbow Dash flew down the stairs.
"I'm here! I'm here!" she panted, landing on the floor.
Twilight rolled her eyes at her multi-hued friend. Everyone else had come to life with the arrival of the sixth pony. They began shuffling towards the door, eager to begin their journey. Pinkie bounced happily around the others, babbling on about all she knew about Disneighland, which quickly became a discussion on how Equestria became such a powerful country, which somehow morphed into her rendition of a comedy routine by Bobbed Newhoof.
The sextet were to travel by train across Equestria, a trip that would take approximately forty-eight hours, depending on weather and how quickly the train-ponies tired. Having gotten to the station, the six ponies boarded the 4-4-0 heading west. Settling in to their seats, they began excitedly chattering amongst themselves. Twilight chose a spot next to a window, content to watch the landscape fly by. Fluttershy sat down in the seat across from her, joining the purple unicorn in staring out at the dazzling scenery. After a while, the timid pegasus spoke up.
"It'll be nice to see what's changed," she said quietly.
"To see what's changed?" Twilight asked without turning away from the window.
"The park. I have so many memories from my foalhood; summer days spent on Splash Mountain, beating the heat on Pirates of the Caribbean. I wonder what's different now?"
During her short speech, the unicorn had locked her eyes on the mare across from her. "You mean you've been there before?"
Fluttershy nodded. "Yes, my family used to live a few miles from the park. We'd go there all the time and have so much fun. I was so sad when we moved to Cloudsdale..." She sniffed, holding back long-forgotten tears before giving Twilight a small smile. "But I'd've never met you girls if we hadn't moved, so it wasn't all bad."
Twilight smiled back and shifted her gaze once more out the window. They'd already passed Canterlot, where the Princess was most likely holding court. The horizon was covered in lush rolling hills, dotted here and there by trees, the silhouettes of towns in the distance. Feeling a little motion sickness set in, the unicorn turned from the window and levitated a book from her saddlebags: Mouse Tales: A Behind-the-Ears Look at Disneighland. She had requested it from the Canterlot book catalog, and had been poring through it, relishing in the stories and information about her fillyhood wonderland. She settled back and cracked the book open to where she had left off, and began reading.
They were on their way.
Author's Notes: I do not own My Little Pony or Disneyland, although I'd be happy with owning them. If the actual owners are reading this, drop me a message! All jokes aside, comments and criticism is always welcome! Have a good day, and I hope you enjoy the rest of your stay here at FanFiction dot Net!
