Disclaimer: All MLP:FiM characters belong to Hasbro and DHX Media. I do not own any of them except my OC.
I was walking around Ponyville again and was headed to a hot air balloon. Now you might be asking "Why would you be heading there? You have eagle wings. You can just fly to wherever you are going." You are right. Although that might be the case, there is a reason why. The thing is not everyone can fly like I can and if you have watched this episode before, you know what it means. Initially, I didn't even know it existed until I watched a YouTube video going over the MLP timeline years ago when I still was a teenager. It was a great video and I recommend you watch it. You can find it on the daspacepony YouTube channel in case you are curious. I heard Pinkie say "Roadtrip!" and I immediately headed to the balloon so I could get the gloating rights of being there first. Pinkie continued talking by saying "Okay. Not technically a roadtrip because we're taking that." AIRTRIP! LOL xD. Pinkie was about to hop on, but Rainbow came flashing by and said "Beat you to the balloon." Oh dear. Here we go with that. Pinkie said "Nope. I'm going to beat you." She took off and Rainbow raced after her. This almost looks like street racing, but pony version.
They both went super fast and Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy came up into the balloon as well. "I'm going to beat you!" I could care less. Rainbow said "No, I'm gonna-" before both of them realized the rest of us except Twilight were already here ready to go. HA! You just got beat by EVERYPONY! LOL xD. Applejack said howdy to them and I gave them both a victorious grin. They both rolled their way to the balloon like a tumbleweed out in the Australian Outback before coming to a stop. Rainbow got off of Pinkie and said "Okay. I was fourth." Technically, you were 5th, since there are now currently four of us in here. Pinkie said "Yeah, well I was fifth." Technically, you were sixth since I was the first one here and Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy came in after me. Rainbow was confused and said "That's not even-" before Pinkie said "Come on yeah." Rainbow said again "But I beat you!" I said "Does it matter? No. So stop your fussing and get your lazy butts in here." Rainbow was about to retort something, but Applejack said "He's right. Y'all are both still late. We got to shove off soon or we'll miss the tailwind." Whatever that is supposed to mean. Fluttershy said "Don't worry. We wouldn't have left without you." I would. Only reason is because they tried racing here despite the fact they both got beat by three other ponies and a lion prince. How humiliating. It was so embarrassing that it's not even funny.
Rarity said "Well, that goes without saying darling, after all, Rainbow Dash is the guest of honor." Uh huh. Sure. I said "You would think the "Guest of Honor" would be a little less egotistical, but whatever." Rainbow glared at me for my mockery of her, but I could care less. I regret nothing. Fluttershy asked "Has anypony seen Twilight?" Maybe. "It's not like her to be late for an adventure." I said "She probably is carrying a bunch of school papers or something." Twilight said "I'm coming! I'm coming!" I yelled out "Look who finally showed up. Took ya long enough. What the hay were you even doing anyways?" Twilight said "Sorry, I just had to pack up a few books and papers to grade." Figures. Spike flew up struggling and said "And by few, she means slightly less than I'm able to lift." I can tell. I said "See? What I'd tell ya?" They all nodded in agreement and Rainbow asked "Wait. You're bringing work to a festival?" Yep. That's her alright. Sounds like Frank, Greg's dad in Diary of A Wimpy Kid. Everything his family would go on vacation, Frank just had to do business work and brought his stuff along with him even though his wife told him not to.
Pinkie said "Yeah. It's supposed to be a non-stop autorama party!" Perhaps. Twilight said "Reading is fun!" I beg to differ on that one. "It's relaxing, and rewarding…" before Applejack said "Too much to talk about right now." Yeah really. She pulled the horseshoe thing and the fire on the balloon made the top of it float. We are all ready to go. Spike picked up that bag and dropped in there like he was carrying a piece of furniture or something. "Let her loose Spike." Here we go boys. Twilight said "Keep an eye on things for me and feel free to file those class assignments while I'm gone." Right. Since Rainbow invited me and the rest of the gang to this festival, Spike is left on managing duties while both me and Twilight are gone because there's no way I'm doing work on this "vacation." Spike said "It's my top priority!" It better be. Spike untied the rope and the balloon started to move. Well, sorta. We had an issue. Fluttershy asked "Um, why aren't we going anywhere?" I think I may know why. Applejack said "hmm. The baskets too heavy." I think that's quite clear here, Applejack. Rainbow asked "Rarity?" Nope. It's not her. Rarity was offended and said "How dare you! I brought the itiest ballies." Okay.
I said "I think I know how to fix this. YEET!" I threw that bag of papers out of the balloon and Twilight said "My papers!" She gave me a glare and I rolled my eyes. Spike had managed to catch the bag, but it hit him on the stomach and that looked painful. Applejack said "They'll keep till we get back." Exactly. Nothing to worry about. Twilight groaned in disappointment and we finally got moving. The gang said their goodbyes and we were finally in the air. On the road again, bois. Spike did say though "And remember, whatever happens at the Rainbow festival, I wanna hear all about it when you get back." I said "No problem. I'll make sure of that." We were traveling for quite a bit and Rarity asked "Did somepony mention something about a spa in where is it we're going again?" Oh dear here we go again. Rainbow said "Hope Hollow. Or as I like to call it, Rainbow Dash Fan Central." Right. Okay. Whatever. Applejack sighed in annoyance and said "You're gonna be like this the whole trip, ain't ya?" Pretty much. If you know Rainbow, she's very prideful which is something I absolutely despise by quite a bit. I don't hate her, it's just that feeling can turn into prejudice and other things that I had to deal with in my modern culture back home. It was disgusting and I want nothing to do with it.
Rainbow said "You know it!" What did I tell you? "I mean, look at this letter! They love me there!" I think I can see that. Twilight picked up the letter and began to read it. She said "Dear Rainbow Dash, thank you for agreeing to be our guest at this year's Hope Hollow Rainbow Festival! The many members of your fan club…" Oh dear me. Someone get me out of this mess. "Are looking forward to your visit." How wonderful. "You and your friends will be staying at our famous luxury Rainbow Resort and Spa." Oh goodie. I hope there isn't any creepy stuff like from Hotel Hell or something. Yeah, I still remember that. I'm quite an old fart at this point even though I'll be 26 pretty soon. "Where your every whim will be catered to!" Uh no thanks. I am a lion and I do not like being touched by other creatures with the exception of Twilight. She can touch me all she wishes. She's my marefriend anyway. I'm not going to go into details, but I think you can pick up what I'm putting down. Trying to keep this as PG-Clean as possible so the author doesn't get his account terminated. Rarity said "Oh, I accept that challenge. I have so many whims." Uh huh. Sure whatever you say. Fluttershy said "Oh look. There's a famous Butterfly garden too!" How wonderful. I don't care. Twilight said "Hmm. You know, it's strange we never heard of this festival before. Especially everything in the town is so well known." Yeah, very odd.
I said "Yeah, how weird. Usually I would know of every single place and event that would happen in Equestria, yet for some reason, the scepter never really picked that up. Either that, or the Tree isn't telling me something that I should know." I squinted my eyes at the scepter and everyone rolled their eyes. I didn't care. Rainbow said "At this year's festival, you can eat treats at the traditional rainbow bakery booth, sing your favorite rainbow themed songs at the Karaoke Competition…" Oh dear. Not that face. I see that one, Pinkie. Speaking of which, Pinkie looked like she was going to crap herself in excitement and said "Bakery and Karaoke?!" Yes Pinkie. You can eat your favorite sweets and dance to terrible Karaoke music. Sorry if you actually like it. In this modern culture, Karaoke is more kind of like a joke or meme rather than being taken seriously by humanity. "It's like they sing it into my soul!" Okay, whatever. Applejack said "And try our famous rainbow trout catch and release activity." Why does it sound like I'm in a KFC commercial? I remember all those Kentucky Fried Chicken commercials of Colonel Sanders where he said to try "my hot-popping fried chicken and $20 fillups" and stuff like that.
You know, speaking of KFC, I'm going to have that for dinner. Yes, I know. I'm a lion. I'm supposed to eat meat, but I still have human blood in me and I have always ate chicken for as long as I can remember. Also, eating chicken doesn't affect anything in my organs inside my body, so I can eat as much chicken as I like. "Huh. Now that sounds right up my river." Isn't it up my alley? Oh whatever. I don't care enough to do anything about it. Pinkie said "Plus, we get to watch the mayor give Rainbow Dash an award!" Oh goodie. I'm so excited I'm going to pee my pants. I'm being sarcastic for the uncultured people here. "I call dibs on the cheering session!" Go right ahead. I'm not standing in your way. Pinkie had to take out her cannon and fire confetti which only angered me a bit. When they fell on me, I blew off one of them with a glare on my face and the rest of them turned to ashes and fell to the ground. The point is, I was not happy at all. Rarity asked "An award for what exactly?" Who knows? I could care less and I doubt Rainbow would too. Speaking of which, she shrugged and said "Showing up. General coolness. All of the above." You make it sound like one of those participation awards where you get a trophy or medal or something just for participating which is quite bogus, but whatever. Twilight said "Well, we're so glad you invited us along." Yeah, allows me to get a break from the pile of work I had received when I returned to the School of Friendship. Yeah, I missed a year's worth of work. Boy was that painful.
Pinkie said "Yeah! It's going to be one long party! Which starts… Now!" Oh dear. What is she going to do this time? She sprinted over to the other side and started singing the 100 bottles of milk on the wall song. OH GOSH NO! Everyone started chipping in and I tuned out. I put on my sunglasses, put on my headphones, turned on some nice Skillet music, picked up my newspaper, and began to read it. The gang tried to get me to pitch in, but my magic blocked them from even touching me, so they just left me alone. I'm totally fine not doing that. You guys can keep doing that for hours on end. I can enjoy this in peace without having any sort of disturbance whatsoever which is pretty great if you ask me. They can have their fun while I have mine. I picked Skillet music because that's just what I like listening to. It's the right combination of rock music and Christian music into one genre. It's honestly pretty amazing. Also, I pick out a new newspaper every time when I do this only cause it would be boring to read the same story from the same one over and over again. I would have electronic devices, but the cell phone towers would just look weird here in this land, so I have this instead.
5 hours later…
After what seemed like 5 billion hours, everyone was actually tired. Most were laying down, but Rarity had her night mask thing on, and Twilight was snuggled up next to me with her eyes closed. When Pinkie kept going, Twilight groaned a bit and snuggled up against me even closer. Pinkie wanted to do it one more time and Rainbow put a hoof on her mouth to which I let out a sigh of relief. Pinkie asked "Six times too many?" Bingo. Rainbow asked "Shouldn't we be there by now?" Perhaps. But I don't care. Applejack said "I thought so too. Maybe we should have turned left at that last cloud instead of right." It probably doesn't matter. Fluttershy said "It's getting darker by the minute." I said "That's what you have me for. Any danger comes by, and I'll immediately get rid of it in an instant. Nothing to worry about there." Suddenly, Rarity yelled "I can't see anything!" I yelled back "How about you TAKE YOUR BLINDFOLD OFF?!" Rarity said "Oh" and took it off so she could see. Pinkie said "I spy with my little eye a rainbow." Oh goodie. Now we're playing that game. Rainbow said "Great. We're playing that game now?" Seems like it. Pinkie said "No. I really do see a rainbow." How so?" I looked over and actually saw one. Dang. That looks nice. Everypony gasped in amazement and Twilight said "Wow. That's the biggest rainbow I have ever seen." I've seen bigger.
Rarity said in a panic "And we're headed right for it!" We are? Rainbow said "Don't worry, Rarity. We'll pass right through it." Uh, I'm not sure about that. Normally, yes, you would pass through a rainbow because it's not solid, but this rainbow right here is made of cardboard, so you would definitely hit it. I said "Are you sure about that?" Rainbow drew a confused look when suddenly, the balloon hit the rainbow and it got pushed back. Applejack said "Tell that to the Rainbow." Eh. Twilight said "Zach's right. It's not a rainbow, it's a rainbow billboard!" The rainbow started to move and came crashing towards us. Not on my watch. Fluttershy said "Oh no!" and I got into battle mode. Twilight said "Hang on everypony!" Really, you're just gonna duck? I don't think so. I know what will happen, so let me not kill myself. I teleported out and tried pushing the rainbow away. I pushed it with my back legs, but unfortunately, that rainbow really was strong. I was able to push it back a bit, but then, the rainbow pushed me inside the balloon and tore a hole in it causing it to fall down towards the ground.
I saw them continue to fall, and I had to act now. So, I charged up my scepter and teleported everypony towards the ground where they couldn't crash and hurt themselves. Even with all of this overpowered alicorn magic, it's still difficult teleporting six ponies from one place to another. Even if it's just short distances. They let out an exhale of relief, but I said "Stand clear!" They were confused for a second, but saw the balloon coming, so they backed away and I destroyed the balloon with my magic. I didn't destroy any of my friends' possessions though. Just the balloon itself. "Well, that was definitely interesting. Good luck I caught ya in time or else you would end up like this basket." Everypony nodded in agreement and Fluttershy asked "Where are we?" I said "Who knows? It's quite hard to tell these days considering the fact there is a lot of undiscovered territory in Equestria." Pinkie looked around and said "Ah ha! Welcome to Hope Hollow! Home of the famous… *dust gathers up* Rainbow Festival!" Well then, we made it to the right place. Rarity said "We arrived and there's no greeter party to greet us?" I said "Apparently not. I think it's because it's so late at night and most ponies would be in bed by now. So that's probably why." Twilight said "Good thing too. The guest of honor and her friends just destroyed the town sign!" Yes, and I feel embarrassed about that one. Fluttershy asked "Rainbow Dash? Did your letter say where our hotel is?" No clue.
Rainbow grabbed the letter and said "Uh, the middle of town." I said sarcastically "Well, that doesn't help much. Middle of town. What kind of heresy is this?! Pathetic." Twilight said "Hmm. Zach's right. Doesn't really help much when you don't know where the middle of town is." I said "They should have been more specific. This would obviously anger a lot of tourists and drive them away because they have no idea where the hay that is because they hadn't been there before. Good grief." Twilight said "Let's start looking." Lets. Everyone except me and Rainbow were walking while we were flying and we went into the town looking for this hotel. As we got to the town, I said "This place looks like a ghost town to me. How creepy." Applejack said "Huh funny. You'd think a big luxury resort would be sorta, well… easier to spot." I agree. Pinkie said "Yeah! It seems like the whole town is shut down." What? As if this is Coronavirus all over again? Oh please. I don't need to be reminded of that crap. That was awful and I wish it will never happen again. Fluttershy said "Oh look. There's somepony." Uh okay. We went over and saw somepony at the door. Why does she look black and white? How fishy. I feel like this is probably how my brain looks on the inside. Basically like this town.
Twilight said to the pony "Maybe you can help us. We're here for the Rainbow Festival?" Why does that sound so cringe to me for some odd reason? The pony was confused and asked "Oh, uh, Rainbow Festival?" Don't tell me you don't know what that is. If you do, then you are an idiot and need to stop living under a rock. Rainbow said "Yeah. You know. The one where I'm the guest of honor." Oh no. Not this again. The pony said "Oh, for crying in mud, what's Sunny done now?" I beg your pardon? Applejack asked "Excuse me?" Yeah, please tell us what you mean, because that sounds awfully sus right there. Sus gus bus. Famous words from Ruffles. Go sub to him or else the repo man will come tow your car tomorrow morning. Anyways, moving on. The pony said "I mean, um, you'd best talk to Mayor Skies about that." Oh goodie. Talking to mayors eh? How wonderful. Twilight said "Great! And where would he find him?" Where do you think? The pony said "City hall. But it's closed till tomorrow don't you know." Makes sense as it's really late at night and everypony is probably in bed at this point. "Is there something I can help you with?" How about you tell us where the heck this hotel is before I rage in frustration? Rarity said "Uh, yes please. Could you direct us to the luxury resort?" Yes please do. The pony giggled and saw that we were actually serious. Yeah, I would not be joking about it right now.
The pony said "Oh, oh, you mean a hotel?" What else would it be? Everypony nodded and the pony continued. "That's easy. There's only one in town." You mind telling us where that is? Applejack asked her "Could you uh, give us directions?" I would greatly appreciate it if you did and not keep stalling out here in the freezing cold. Well, it's not that cold out here, but it isn't muggy like how it is in a Midsummer's Night Dream. Oh wait. That's a play written by stupid Shakespeare. Sorry. I don't like him. His sense of humor is really twisted and he offended his own gender by telling a really horrible joke. If you read Romeo and Juliet, you know what I mean. I believe it was from that play. If I'm wrong, let me know what that joke is from down in the reviews section once this chapter is finished. "No need. You're there." What do you mean by that? "I mean here." Oh. Right. Well, you could have told us from the start. We walked in and it was just more black and white. This hotel would look so much better if there was color in here. "Hotel Hope." That's a really interesting name for a hotel. And I don't mean the good kind of interesting. You know what I'm talking about. "Also known as the town information center and library." How wonderful. "My name's Petula Pedals by the way." Nice to meet you Petula. "Hello!" Okay, that high pitched voice sounds so cringe. Petula dashed over to another part of the room and held up a book.
"I'm the librarian here." How nice. "And the information guide." Okay. Nice, nice. "And the hotel manager." Alright. "Historian. Chef. Painter." Wow. Okay then. I think I get the point. Rainbow said "Umm, I'm Rainbow Dash, and this is everypony." I'm not a pony you know. I'm a human in the form of a lion. That made a lot more sense in my head. Oh well. We all said our hellos and Petula said "Well, hello everypony." I'M NOT A PONY! I'M A HUMAN IN THE FORM OF A LION! UGH! Crying out loud. "You'll just wait one hoofshake and I'll take you to the room." Okay then. Rarity asked with suspicion "The room?" Oh no. I hope it isn't what I think it is. I can't have Rarity watching me sleep at night next to Twilight just to see if any makeout sessions happen. Trust me. I can tell. She secretly loves doing that for some odd reason. Creepy in my opinion, but whatever. Petula said "There's only one." If there's only one, then why is this considered a hotel? How disgraceful. "It'll be easier to find." Uh, okay then. We followed Petula upstairs and I was starting to get suspicious. I feel like I'm staying in one of those motels down the road from where my house was in Tampa. "Here it is." Okay then. Moment of truth here. Petula put in the key in the door lock and turned it to open the door.
"The Royal Suite." We went inside and OH MY CELESTIA! WHAT IS THIS?! YOU CALL THIS ROYAL SUITE?! YOU'VE LOST YOUR MIND BOI! THIS LOOKS LIKE AN EXACT REPLICA OF HOTEL HELL RIGHT HERE! GOSH, THIS IS UGLY! Eww, and it stinks too. This is how you treat your guests?! That's disgraceful and Gordan Ramsey would just light it up in here with f bombs and other colorful language. Rarity said "Very rustic and charming." That's a massive understatement. Petula asked "Isn't it just?" Uh no. I think the opposite. Rainbow said "I couldn't help noticing, there are only three beds." Ouch. We got a problem. Welp, someone's gonna have to sleep on the floor. It ain't gonna be me though. Who knows what kind of crap is on that floor? There could be pee stains and dog turds under that carpet over there. "And quite old." Yeah, I can tell. Petula said "Oh, there's a popout too." Oh dear. I hope this isn't a disaster. She tried kicking it, but nothing except for the light flickering. Now I feel like I'm in a horror movie from the 1950's that's featured in only black and white. "It can be a little tricky." Don't break nothing now. The bed finally came down and a bunch of dust collected before it settled. Oh gosh. It's just as bad if not worse.
"There she is. Sleeps too." Right. You'll be all fresh and ready to see the mayor in the morning." I beg to differ on that one. She opened the door and began to head out. "Sleep tight." Creepy. She went out the door and shut it causing the thing on the door to fall down and smash into pieces. Twilight asked "Did anypony notice anything strange about Petula?" Uh yeah. A lot of things. Rarity said "Other than she just called this place "The Royal Suite." That is true. Applejack said "There ain't no tellin' with this light, but she looked a little gray, didn't she?" Yeah. I noticed that too. Rarity said "Probably from all the dust up here." Uh, I wouldn't say that. She obviously was grayish looking when we first saw her. Rarity tried blowing the dust away, but it collected again and she coughed heavily. Don't get the Rona on me please. I would greatly appreciate that. Pinkie said "Aw, it's not that bad." You are delusional if you think that. "All we need is balloons, streamers, *makes weird noises* and a pinata." Right. It does brighten up the room a bit, but it doesn't cover up the messiness of it. "Good thing I brought some." Sure whatever you say.
Fluttershy said "And look. It comes with a cute little spider." Ugh. Creepy. You can stay over there if you want. I would like that very much. "Hello spider." Cringe. Rainbow groaned and said "Sorry everypony." What did I say about calling me a pony? "I didn't know what I was getting you into." Clearly. But it's not your fault. You wouldn't have any clue. Twilight put a hoof on Rainbow's shoulder and said "The most important thing is we're all together." Uh huh. That is a fair point though. We're all still in one piece thankfully. Applejack got up on the popout bed and said "Yeah. As long as we have beds to sleep in, we're set." Suddenly, the popout bed retracted itself back up into the wall and it left Applejack stuck in there. Oh dear. Yeah, I'm definitely not sleeping in that bed now after that just happened. No way. Everypony looked nervous and I went to get Applejack out. I charged up my scepter and lowered the bed out of the wall and made sure Applejack didn't get hurt. She jumped off and I stopped using magic.
Applejack said to me "Whew. Thanks Zachary. That was something." I said "No problem Applejack. That did seem really freaky." Rarity said "Agreed." Rainbow then asked "So what are we going to do about this bed situation?" Everypony thought about it and I said "Welp, I'm going outside to sleep there for the night. This place looks horrid and I ain't sleeping here. So, I'm going to take my leave and be outside. If any of you want to join me, feel free. Otherwise, good night." Everypony was fine how they were and I went outside without them. Oh well. I offered and they didn't want to come outside. Fine by me. I set up my tent, and put all the basic necessities in there. I also put up a shield so either in case it rains, I won't get soaking wet, or if a creature decides to attack me, I won't get hurt. I didn't have a sleeping bag, but your normal twin sized bed. I even put carpet in here as well. I have everything in here. I would sleep with the rest of the gang, but there's no way I'm sleeping in that mess. That place looks creepy and there's too much dirty stuff to bear with, so I'm down here. Hopefully, none of them come banging on my shield bubble in the middle of the night because they rather be here or something like that. I looked outside one more time to see if any of my friends wanted to come in, but saw no one. So, I went back inside, closed up the tent, turned off the lamp, and fell asleep in my bed.
The next morning…
I woke up and had some lovely McDonald's breakfast to start my day. Too bad I didn't bring my Chevy Duramax 2500 with me. That goes with McDonald's for some reason. GM products give me a McDonald's vibe while Ford products give me a Taco Bell vibe. It's weird like that. Don't question it. I lowered my shield and I saw the gang come out all exhausted and everything. Twilight said "Well, it wasn't the worst night of sleep ever." I came out with my eagle wings spread out feeling great and whatnot and all of them were jealous that I actually got a good night's sleep. "I'm guessing you slept well Zach?" I said "Sure did. Man, did that feel great. That was actually one of the best night sleeps I've had in awhile. I'm guessing you guys didn't sleep that great last night?" They all nodded in agreement and I sighed. "Well, the door was open, but you wanted to stay there instead. It doesn't bother me, but eh. I don't even care anymore. Come. Let's begin the day shall we?" Twilight came up to me and said "Yeah. Come on everypony. Let's get this day going before it gets any worse." You got that right. Everypony nodded and they followed me and Twilight.
There was chatter amongst the ponies and Fluttershy asked "Why is everypony looking at us?" Probably because we are the only one that have color in this town and they are confused on why we haven't lost our color yet. Applejack said "Maybe they recognize Rainbow Dash." Perhaps. Rainbow said Or Princess Twilight or even Prince Zachary. But probably me." Of course. I said "I think it's probably because we are the only ones that still have color and they are wondering why we haven't lost ours yet." Twilight said "That is a good point." Rarity said "I agree. I think they're staring because we are the only ones that isn't gray." Pretty much. Pinkie asked "What do you mean?" Look around Pinkie. Rarity said "Look around." Yeah, this is pretty bad. "The colors here are gone." It was kinda obvious last night, but with it being daytime, it's now much more evident that is the case. Twilight said "That's strange." Definitely. "It's just like I noticed about Petula last night." Pretty much. "Everything's mostly gray." When you have this much gray, then it becomes an eyesore. Petula said "Oh hello." and we waved to her as well. Applejack said "Except for the stuff that's grayer." Yeah, which is kinda hard to tell. Fluttershy said "Oh my. I knew something was different…" before Rainbow said "This is so weird." You don't think we noticed that already, Rainbow? Welcome to the conversation! You're like 5 minutes late. Get here on time next time please.
A pony was looking at strangely while walking by and kept going. Rarity said "By the way they're gawking at us, it appears they think we're the odd ones." Makes sense. They probably haven't seen this much color in so long, that it's considered strange for them to even see it. Fluttershy said "Maybe they don't even notice." I think they do, Fluttershy. They are looking at us funny for a reason. "It might be rude to mention it." I could care less about what they think. I want answers, and if that means I have to offend someone in order to get them, so be it. Twilight said "I wonder what caused this." I think I might have an idea, but since I'm not too familiar with the episode, it makes it difficult to pinpoint what will happen. Applejack said "We can ask the mayor." That would be a good starting point. Rainbow said "Yeah. If we ever find him." I'm sure he's not too difficult to spot. I hope. We continued walking and there was some more chatter amongst the pony of the village. Dang, I wonder what they are even talking about. Suddenly, two fillies were pushing each other and stopped right in front of us. I spread out my eagle wings to see who they were, but when they looked at me, they seemed terrified and trembled away from me.
Huh. I didn't mean to be terrifying. I was just curious. This town is weird. We noticed two other ponies coming by and when they came into contact with an old stallion, neither party was happy. The old stallion said "Watch where you're going! You don't own the sidewalk, you know." Dang. Someone's cranky. They probably woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. The two ponies were offended and when they saw us, they trembled away in fear. Oh my gosh! What is going on?! I'm not trying to be intimidating here! Ugh! I just growled in frustration as my anger levels started to go up and Twilight put a hoof on my shoulder to get me to calm down. Of course it did work and I wasn't angry anymore. We walked to a different part of town and saw the balloon being repaired. I know that would leave you confused, since I destroyed it last night, but I summoned it again, because I knew someone was going to try and fix it. So, yeah that's why. Applejack said "Look at that. Somepony's fixin' up our balloon." Rainbow asked "Didn't Zachary destroy it last night?" I said "I did, but I knew somepony was going to fix it, so I resummoned it from how it was and it's been sitting there all night. It just so happens that somepony saw it and decided to pick it up."
We walked over to where the crane was and we heard a pony say "Oh goodness This is unfortunate." Pretty much. This might be the mayor right here. "We're inside a terrible… Excuse me. Sorry. Pardon me." HEY! Watch it! First, you seem terrified of my presence for no reason, and now you shove right through me without going around? How disgraceful. He stopped and turned back around. "Ooh. Well, stuff me in an olive and call me a Pimiento. It's the Rainbow Dash!" Yes, yes. We know. "You mean it." What do you mean by that? "Um, it is you, right?" Who else would it be? Rainbow said "Pretty sure. Yeah." The stallion got excited and said "Thank Celestia! I saw the balloon, thought the worst, and well, you're here." Right. You are pretty much spot on. "All of ya." Yes, everyone is here. No need to do roll call. "Welcome to the Hope Hollow Annual Rainbow Festival!" Uh, one question: Where the heck is it? Because last time I looked, I saw nothing. So, you better give me some answers or else we'll have a problem here. Twilight came up and said "I'm Twilight Sparkle. And you must be…" before the stallion in front of us said "Sunny Skies. The mayor of this lovely town and pleased as a popular treat to meet ya."
I stepped forward and said "Well, it's nice to meet you mayor. I am Zachary, Prince of Equestrian Defense and Guardian of the Tree of Harmony. You don't have to call me prince if you don't want to." The mayor said "I'll keep note of that." Fluttershy said "We're very sorry about your rainbow billboard, mister mayor, but it was dark and…" before the mayor said "Oh, don't give it a second thought." Are you sure about that? "That old thing needed repair anyway." I guess. "I haven't used it since uh, well, never mind. A-anyway, once your balloon's fixed up, torque can take care of the billboard." Right. "Everypony, meet Torque Wrench." That's an interesting name for a pony, but considering how strange some of them are these days, I don't even question them. "Our town handypony." Right. Why the hay does she have a welding mask on? "She offered to repair your balloon for ya." How nice. Torque lifted up her mask and said "He volunteered me." Well, she doesn't seem very nice. She basically got voluntold instead of volunteering. The mayor replied "She'll have it fixed in a jiffy." Are you sure about that? Torque lifted up her welding mask again and said "If by jiffy, you mean this will take all day." Dang, someone else I can exaggerate with. I feel left out for all these years. Now I can finally do that with others without looking like a fool.
Also, somebody has got an ATTITUDE! If you've seen Despicable Me 2, you know what I'm talking about. The mayor came over and said "So, you got in last night." Yes, yes we did. "I wish I'd known. I would've been here to greet ya." I don't think you would have wanted to greet us at like 10 or 11:00 at night. Yeah, that's how late it was. "Uh, where did you all stay?" The "luxury hotel." Rarity said "At the "luxury hotel." Yeah, luxury. Uh huh. That is heresy. Bois, load the guns. We gotta go fight some heresy out there on the battlefield. Make sure you have plenty of ammo and don't leave your personal belongings behind. Applejack said "Petula Pedals let us in." Yeah, a very weird pony indeed. The mayor said "Oh, well, of course she did. She's something I'll tell you what." Hmm. Sounds like somepony has a crush on a mare. "I'd be lost without her." Dang. That pretty much confirms it. His cheeks turned pink and explained himself while I raised a brow in suspicion. "I-I mean, the town would be." Deny, deny, deny. So shameful. Wish you didn't do that. Twilight said "Mayor, I hope you don't mind my asking, but is there a reason why your town is… faded?" The mayor got nervous and said "Oh, uh, you spotted that did you?" Pretty hard not to.
"Well, it's uh, long story." I'm sure it is, but we got time. No need to rush. "Why don't I show ya the town highlights first?" Oh dear. There are no highlights in this town! Everything is black and white! Everything is considered lowlights here. We went up to a fountain and saw some mud come out. "Here's our famous outdoor spa, with our all natural mud bath." Uh no thank you. I'm good. Rarity stuck her head down and some mud got on her after a mud bubble popped and landed on her face. "Pretty huh?" Not really. Maybe if there was some color, yeah. But until then, nope. Twilight said "Maybe we could see some of the Rainbow Festival activities from the brochure." Now there's an idea. The mayor said "Of course! The bakery booth is there." Uh, where? I don't see squat. "Or will be. We're still setting up, but we got a lot of great things planned." Bruh. Come on. Don't lie to me like that. I can legally arrest you for false advertising. Yeah, they made that illegal in Equestria. It always was back home, and I was able to get the politicians here to pass it with somewhat relative ease, so now it's part of Equestria's constitution. Fluttershy asked "And the butterfly garden?" I hope that's not fake.
The mayor said "Oh, that's right over here." We followed him and I was confused. Wait what?! Pictures of butterflies? Okay buddy. This is getting out of hand here. I think we're done here ponies. Fluttershy said "So none of the butterflies are actually…" before the mayor said "Real? Oh no. With the flowers not having color and all, the butterflies don't really come around much anymore." Gee, I wonder why. Applejack said "I'm almost afraid to ask, but the brochure mentioned fishin'." Let's see this disaster unfold right here. The mayor said "Fishing? Oh. Not sure what you mean." Something about rainbow trout. Twilight said "Our famous Rainbow Trout?" Something like that. The mayor said "Oh, yeah. Sure. Uh wll, you don't find fish from them exactly, you just kinda talk to them." Bruh! What is this?! I'm done here. Mayor, have a nice day. I'm going to take my leave and head back to Ponyville because this place is a FLIPPING JOKE! "Was looking for, uh, that's funny. Where'd our trout go?" Gee, look in front of you. Suddenly, a pony said "Oh, mister mayor. Uh, just taking my lunch now." Bruh! It's not even 11:00 yet. This town is weird. Can we go home now? This is stupid.
A pony in a flipping decolorized rainbow trout outfit eating an apple and slices of bread for lunch. How pathetic. Pinkie said "Yeah, so, no big deal." I don't know about that. "But, uh, actually yes, it is kinda a big deal, but the brochure also mentioned the Karaoke contest!" Prepare to be disappointed. If everything else was false advertising, then this one will be as well. The mayor said "Right here." We looked over and saw a tent that had music banners on it. Bruh. That's it. I'm done. Time to go home ponies. "Trout doubles on harmonica." I can tell. Fluttershy said "How multi talented of him." I guess. Pinkie said "Good thing I bring my own Karaoke party!" She pulled out some sort of gadget and started singing awful music. OH GOSH NO! PINKIE STOP THIS INSTANT! The mayor said "Well, uh, that's the big tour." Bruh. You call that big tour? How pathetic. The mayor just hummed and went along. Oh no you're not. YOU GET BACK HERE! I charged up my scepter and dragged him back over to where he was. You ain't leaving until I get my answers. I'll gladly wait all day if I have to.
Twilight said "Mayor Skies, I don't understand." Nor do I. "Your Rainbow Festival isn't quite as you described." That's false advertising for ya. Rainbow said "And the resort hotel wasn't what it was cracked up to be." Yeah, except the cracks in the walls and creepy spiders and stuff. Applejack said "Except for the cracks." Exactly. Rarity said "None of these are as pictured in your brochure." Yeah. Explain yourself. The mayor backed up a bit and said "Well, I uh, maybe exaggerated a little, but I uh, intended on having everything ready." I'm sure you did. I believe ya. "It's just kinda hard getting anypony excited about anything in this town anymore." I can see why mainly cause of the lack of color in this town. "I didn't think you'd come if you knew the truth." The truth you say? You know, you could have told us there was a problem and we would have gladly helped you. Instead, you lied about everything and you're getting nervous when we have confronted you. Twilight asked "The truth?" Yeah. I want to hear this too. The mayor said "Oh, there is no Rainbow Festival." Wait WHAT?! Okay hold on here. Uh huh. Yep, yes, definitely. Okay, now I see why he did this. The Tree of Harmony just told me so. Everypony gasped and Applejack said "No Rainbow Festival?" You heard him. Rainbow asked "No fan club?" I think there's a fan club around here somewhere though.
Everypony started talking over the mayor and didn't exactly give him the chance to explain himself. I understand the frustration, but I want to listen to what the mayor has to say for an explanation on why he did false advertising. I said "SILENCE!" That got them to shut up and I looked at the mayor. "Good. Now mayor, please do explain why you decided to commit false advertising. And be honest about it. I promise I won't judge. I'm only listening." The mayor said "Well, uh I guess I should start at the beginning." That would be good. "A long time ago, when my Grandpa Skies was mayor, Hope Hollow was different." Yeah, when there was still color in the town. "They used to call this town "The End of the Rainbow." I can see why. "Cause everything you ever want you could find right here." I guess that makes sense. The mayor went over to the staircase and began singing a song about how life was like back then and what happened. It was pretty sad. Pinkie started crying and said "That was the saddest song story I have ever heard!" Eh, I've heard worse. The mayor said "I've tried for a long time to get everypony interested in the festival again, to remember what it's like to come together as a community and share the fun." I see. "But nopony even bothered listening."
The coldness of their hearts is what keeps them from getting excited again. I've been there before. "That's why I wrote to you Rainbow Dash." Oh, I see now. She was his last hope and he thought if Rainbow could come over here and fix the problem, then everypony in this town will get their color back and this town will be relevant on the map again. Kinda reminds me of how Radiator Springs was in the first Cars movie. If you've watched it, you know what happened to that little town. If you don't, just ask someone or look it up on YouTube. "You were my last hope. I figured if a pony of your stature came to town, it would get everypony excited about putting on the festival again." Well, that obviously didn't turn out very well considering the fact everypony here fears us as if we're something dangerous or something. "I mean, Rainbow's even part of your name." Yeah, this is true. Rainbow said "Yeah, I can see that." I can as well. Twilight asked "Mister mayor, what kind of magic did you use on the rainbow generator?" Do you think he would have any idea? Of course not. The mayor said "Oh, I'm not sure." See? What did I tell you? "I didn't know what I was dealing with." Eh, it happens. "I only wanted to help." I understand, but sometimes that just isn't the right solution.
"But instead, I sucked all the color out of the town." I think there's more to it than that. "That billboard's one of the only things that didn't change." Yeah, cause it's a billboard. It's not going to whatsoever. "To me, it's a reminder of what we can be. Keeps the hope in Hope Hollow." Doesn't really seem like it to me. It seems like all the hope anyone had died years ago and they probably thought they were a fool for thinking otherwise. Twilight said "Hmm, if I'm able to find the type of magic you used, I might be able to reverse the spell." Perhaps. I'll come with you just in case. I know about the different types of magic just as much as you do. The mayor asked with hope, no pun intended "You mean, you're gonna stay?" Yep. We're determined to help you out with this. Applejack said "Heh, nothing we like better than a challenge." Tell me about it. "Especially when it comes to helping ponies." Yeah, we got some experience with that. The mayor jumped up and down and said "You don't know how clam happy this makes me feel. Thank you kindly." No problem. We got this one in the bag.
Twilight said "We'll do whatever we can to help you bring back your Rainbow Festival." Definitely. The mayor said "I won't fib to ya. It won't be easy." I know that, and I have come prepared. "It's gotten so low that nopony talks to each other anymore." That's what happens. Twilight said "Eh, it might be tough, but we have a little experience bringing ponies together." Yes, we do. We've faced challenges before, and we won't let this one stop us. Pinkie said "Yey! This is exactly like planning a party!" I guess. "We'll need bakers cause it's a festival." That is true. "Which means more cupcakes! Whoo-hoo!" Okay, we get it Pinkie. Now get moving. "I've got a date with a bakery booth." There we go. Get that train moving. Fluttershy said "Um, I better go with her." Yeah, make sure she doesn't get herself into trouble. Rarity said "Hmm, an overall stylistic look to unify the sediment of the celebration. That's what this festival needs." You do realize you are talking nonsense right? No one except you understands what the heck you are talking about, so use english please. The mayor asked "You mean like a rainbow?" Yeah, something like that. Rarity said "Yes, darling yes. But more complex. More fanatic. Something like… Ohhh. Something like that." Uh okay. She said something else and she walked away. Twilight said "The biggest challenge is getting your town interested in a Rainbow Festival and everything is so… gray." I think that's quite obvious Twilight.
"I think if we can bring the color back, it'll solve everything." Don't jump straight to that conclusion. The mayor said "I'm with ya there, but…" before Twilight said "Zach? Rainbow Dash? I need your help!" I said "Roger that. Coming." Twilight spread out her wings and flew off. After a few seconds, I spread out my eagle wings and took off as well. Rainbow eventually caught up and we sat on a hill watching the townsponies go by. Rainbow said "So, what's your plan?" I'm sure Twilight's got something up her sleeve. Twilight said "If magic caused this, maybe magic can solve it." I'm a little unsure about that. Twilight flew up and charged up her horn before blasting magic down on the town. Unfortunately, nothing happened and an invisible shield just absorbed the magic and it disappeared. Hmm. How odd. "Oh, I was afraid of that." I wasn't. "I've never seen any magic like this before." Hmm. Perhaps I can figure it out. Rainbow said "Let me try. I mean, Rainbow's part of my name, right?" I guess. Rainbow backed up a bit and took off the sky. She did a Sonic Rainboom, but the magical shield just prevented anything from happening. I noticed that the ponies saw it, but after it disappeared, they went back to doing their normal things.
"Yeah, that's all I got." I figured as much. I said "Let me try something here." I spread out my eagle wings and took off to the sky. I charged up my scepter and blasted the magic as hard as I could for magical evaluation. After a few seconds, I stopped the magic flow and flew back down. "I think I might know why this isn't working." Twilight said "What is it?" I said "It appears that magical invisible shield that's there comes from emotional magic. What that means is that emotional magic can easily block regular unicorn or alicorn magic. Since no pony in that town talks to each other and is so cold and distant, it builds up the shield's strength over time. Since this has been the case for so many years, the shield is now practically invincible to any kind of light magic whatsoever. Including mine." Both of them were astonished at my analysis and Twilight asked "How did you figure that out?" I said "Well, this scepter can do many things. What I just did was magical evaluation. It can do an analysis and collect data and after it's done recording it, it will tell me what kind it is and how to combat that." Twilight said "I didn't know your scepter could do that! That's amazing! I'll have to get you to do this more often." I said "Fair enough."
Suddenly, there were two fillies in the sky and they were going kinda fast if you ask me. They hit each other and crashed on the ground. Ouch. That looked like it hurt. I hope they're okay. Anyways, I went with Twilight to the library to see if we could find anything. I know I did a magical evaluation, but that's the what. We still need the how and why which is kinda the same thing in this circumstance. We walked inside and I'll admit, it was quite amazing. Twilight was in awe and Petula said "You like it?" Yeah, for once, I actually do. Twilight said "I love it! I just never thought-" before Petula said "That a teeny town like Hope Hollow would have a library this grand?" Yeah, pretty much. "We may be small, but we're well read." I can see that. "I make sure of it." Of course you do. "Mayor Sunny was right. You are something." Uh, Twilight? I don't think he meant it like that. From the way he looked and talked, he was talking about it in romantic terms. Petula said "Did he really say that?" Yep, I was there when his cheeks turned pink in embarrassment. "Oh, that silly unicorn." See? Get that romantic shipment going. "Did he say anything else?" That you are the most beautiful mare he's ever seen and he wants to marry you? Eh, probably. He didn't say it out loud, but I'm sure he thought that in his head.
"I mean, anywho, what can I do ya for?" Help us look for books on what happened to the town and why it turned gray. Twilight said "I don't suppose you have a magic section?" Dear, if this is a library, you know it's going to have a magic section. There are unicorns who live here. "Arching, elemental, or theory of." Okay then. Twilight got really excited and I rolled my eyes. This is how she always is. If she can deal with my terrible personality, then I can deal with her and her obsession of books. We looked through book after book and found nothing. Oh dear me. Is it really that hard trying to find a book that explains why the town is so gray and everypony here has cold stone hearts? I guess so. We heard some whispering, so me and her took a peek inside a bookshelf that was retracted and saw the mayor talking to himself in some secret room. Hmm. I wonder what this is. We walked in and Twilight asked "Mayor skies. What is all this?" Yeah. This looks really cool, but I have no idea what it is. The mayor said "Princess Twilight and of course Prince Zachary. Welcome to our town's Rainbow Room." I see. "Anything you want to know about each year's festival from the very beginning." Right. I saw a picture of the mayor as a young child with his grandfather next to him and Twilight said "The pictures! They're in color!" Of course. That's good they are.
The mayor sighed and said "Sure are. Oh, those are from happier times." It reminds me of when I was 17 and I was looking through photos of my past of all the great times I had before the stupid Coronavirus struck the Earth. Now that it's gone, I can still have these happy times. "Back when there was a festival." That must have been years ago. "Seems even though we faded, the memory never did." You would be correct. Memories never fade whatsoever. They will always live within you, even when times get tough. That's why you want to make them with the people you love as much as you can. Because you may never get that opportunity again. "I come here sometimes for inspiration." Makes sense. "I need plenty for this speech I'm writing." What even is it you're writing? "Biggest one of my life." I'm sure it is. "Oh, didn't see ya there." It happens. Petula said "Sunny, I didn't know you were here." You just missed why he does. Oh well. Too little, too late. The mayor said nervously "Uh, heh heh, just leaving." Sure you are. "I gotta finish this. We, uh See ya later!" I know he has feelings for her. I can see what his intentions are in his heart.
Twilight said "Whoa, the festival was really something wasn't it?" Yeah, pretty much. Petula said "It used to be wonderful." That sounds about right. "It brought the whole town together for a long time." Makes sense. "And these pictures are from the last festival." I see. Wait. Something about that photo seems off. One of those ponies seems annoyed and just walks away. Maybe that's the reason why this town lost it's color. "As you can see, it didn't go well." Definitely. Twilight said ""Right. The mayor's magic in the generator caused the colors to go." I'm not so sure about that one, Twi. Petula said "That's what Sunny thinks. He blames himself for it, but I'm still not convinced it was anything other than an accident." Hmm. How interesting. "Who does that sound like, Zach?" "Har har. Very funny Twilight. I still struggle with that, but I try to be better every day even though it's not easy. That's just part of being male. You always blame yourself for stuff that was never your fault. However, I don't think his mistake caused the town to lose its color." "What do you mean?" "Look at the photos Twilight. Somepony obviously isn't very happy and walks away. Does that give any context?" "Hmm. I think you might be onto something Zach." "I think so. We just need to continue investigating." Twilight looked at the photos and said "If only the generator hadn't been destroyed." I said "I don't think it was Twilight." Twilight looked confused for a second, but Petula said "He's right. Not all of it was." She pulled out what was left in the generator and put it on the table. Hmm. Don't see anything too messed up. It just looks like it got a fresh cut.
"I don't keep it out because I know it hurts the mayor to see it." I can see why. Just a painful reminder of why this town turned gray in the first place. Twilight asked "Mind if I borrowed this?" Petula said yeah and me and Twilight went over to where Applejack was to try and get this fixed. We flew down and presented the generator to the mayor. "I hope you don't mind, but…" The mayor looked shocked and asked "Where did you find that?" In the rainbow room. Petula walked over and said "I gave it to her Sunny. She has an idea." I do as well. The mayor said with guilt "Best idea would be just to throw that thing in the trash heap." I said "Give us a chance first before you make judgement." Twilight said "Based off of what Zach's analysis about magical evaluation was, my theory is that the generator magnifies whatever magic it uses, makes it stronger." That does make sense. "So if we could rebuild it, and use one of the reversal spells I just read about, it could work to bring color back to the town!" Hmm. Perhaps. But I still think there's one more element missing. The mayor said "Even if you could get it working again, which is quite a tall order…" Don't hold your breath on that.
Applejack said "Not for a gifted repair pony who just I happen to know." Torque came up and said "Let me take a look see. *looks at the generator* Yeah, I could give her a go." There we go. The mayor got a bit excited and said "I don't want to get my hopes up, but yeah-whoo!" Uh, that is getting your hopes up. Torque said "Don't worry. I'll get to work." I'm sure you will. She picked up the generator and walked to her repair shop. Petula said "Uh, how's your speech coming, Sunny? I'd be happy to help you with it if you like." hmm, from the shade of pink that's coming from his face, I can tell that he doesn't want you helping him because you are in his speech. We might get ourselves a marriage proposal right here. That would be hilarious if that were the case. The mayor said "Oh, no. You couldn't." Why not. "Thanks, but uh, I have a little bit of mayor type business don't you know." Excuses, excuses, excuses. That's all my generation ever was. "But I'll check back in a bit to see how everything's going." He dashed away and I rolled my eyes. This pony is being ridiculous. Petula said "Hmm, he's acting so peculiar." You think? Applejack said "From what I've seen of the mayor, how can ya exactly tell when peculiar kicks in?" Yeah. That's actually a pretty good question. Is it when V-tech kicks in? V-TECH POWER BABY! Sorry. Moving on. We went over to Torque's repair shop and the generator had been fixed.
Torque said "Welp, *bangs on generator* here it is. I had to get some of the parts myself, but it's good as new." I say, that does look pretty good. Applejack went up to it and she said "Whew wee, this looks amazin' Torque!" Definitely. "No pony else could have pulled this off." I might have, but that would be pointless. Twilight said "Thank you so much for your help." I said "Yeah, thanks." Torque said "It was a real challenge." I'm sure it was. "But turns out, it was part of the fun." You sound just like my Dad growing up. Even though fixing cars was a pain in the butt sometimes, he still loved doing it. He might not have always shown enthusiasm for it, but I could tell he had a passion for it. Twilight put in on the table, but Applejack saw part of the flower bed turn into color again. She said Woah, did-did y'all see that?" I said "I did. I believe that's the final piece to this problem." Twilight said "Now we need to test it." Right. Petula asked "Should we call the mayor?" Best not to. Don't want him to be let down. Twilight replied "Might be best to make sure it works first." That would be a good idea. "I'd hate to disappoint him." Yeah, that would suck. Twilight picked up the book and Applejack tried to tell her about the flowers being turned back to color, but Twilight didn't want to listen.
So, Applejack just gave up and turned on the generator for Twilight anyway, You'll find out soon enough, Twilight. She turned it on and it began to work it's magic. No pun intended. They were all amazed and I admit, it did look pretty cool. "Now we just add magic and…" I wouldn't do that. Everything went white for a second and after we could see again, I noticed everything was still gray. Told ya that didn't work. "I'm sorry. I thought for sure it would work." Well, that's what happens sometimes. Petula said "Let's not tell the mayor." Why not? "It would break his heart." That is true, but he deserves to know anyway. Twilight said "No. We have to tell him we failed." I wouldn't say we failed. "We can't bring the color back." I wouldn't give up hope just yet. Applejack looked at the flower bed again and said "Hmm. Twilight! I really think you should see this. You'd bet-" before Pinkie cut her off and yelled "We did it!" OH COME ON PINKIE! WHY?! JUST WHY?! Hmm. It seems everything else is going to plan. That's a good thing to hear. Everypony was here and came together in the center once more. I mean, most of this stuff is still gray, but we just need to lift the town's spirits. Apparently, Rarity had somepony make something for each of us. The nice pony actually gave me and Twilight something extremely nice to put on our wings. I spread mine out and put on my gift. Hmm. I wonder what the colors will be once the town has it's color back.
I said "Wow. This is amazing. Thanks." Twilight said "Yeah, this is great. Good job, everypony! You've done great work!" It appears so. "I just wish I could have done my part." I spread out my right eagle wing over Twilight just to provide some comfort. You tried. "I'd hate to admit it, but I'm stuck." Aren't you always? "I don't know how to make the town's color come back." I said "I wouldn't say that." Twilight looked confused, but then, Applejack came rushing over and dropped a purple flower on the ground. She said "He's right! That's what I've been trying to tell ya! It is coming back!" Pretty much. Twilight looked around and saw things start changing back to color and it left her stunned. In fact, everypony was. I knew it was coming, but it is pretty nice to see after staring at black and white all day. Fluttershy asked "What's happening?" The color is coming back. That's what's happening. Rarity said "Something wonderful!" That too. Twilight asked "But how?" I said "Allow me to explain. Since you guys got the town to build connections with one another, it lifted their spirits and shattered the cold stone that was lying in their hearts. Because of that, it is allowing the color to return and the invisible magical shield is getting weaker."
Twilight said "Of course! That makes sense! You're a genius Zach!" Heh, I try my best. "Come on! We have to get back to the library!" I spread out my wings and took off after Twilight with Petula following right behind us. Once we got to the library, Twilight looked back at the photos and knew what was going on. "I thought so! Look, in the second photo." I'm looking. "When the generator goes off, this pony is walking away." How selfish. "But when all the color is gone, he's back where he was." How ironic. "Which means…" Something. Petula gasped and said "We have to tell the mayor!" Yep. We should. The mayor came in and said "Tell me what?" Oh hey, mayor. What's up? How've you been? Is that speech going well for ya? Is there anything you're nervous about? Okay, I'll stop now. Petula said "Sunny! Have you been seeing what's happening outside?" I doubt he's been considering the fact he's been writing his speech the entire time. The mayor said "I've been in here for awhile working on my speech." Right. Twilight said "Maybe we should just show him." That would be a good idea. The mayor saw what was happening and gasped in excitement. He said "Oh, but colors. So you were able to reverse the generator?" I said "Not quite. It didn't have anything to do with the generator and it never did."
The mayor asked "So none of it was my fault?" Nope. Petula said "No, you big doofus." HA! That's hilarious. "How many times did I try to tell ya that? All those years, you blamed yourself for nothing." That's how a guy who's unsure of himself acts. Me included. Twilight said "These photos from the library explain everything." I'm not sure about everything, but it gives you a pretty good idea on what happened. "Once I realized they were out of order, it proved that the town's colors got dim before you turned on the generator." That makes sense. The mayor said "Whew, howdy, am I glad to hear that. But then, what did cause it?" I said "Basically, by the time the last festival happened, it was already too late because everypony had given up on each other. That basically created an invisible magical shield which as the years went on and the ponies grew more distant, it became stronger. They call that hopeless magic. Because of that, it was practically invincible by the time we came here. Outside magic wouldn't be able to fix the problem. But since ponies are coming together again and building a connection, it lifted the town's spirits and shattered the stone that was in their hearts which caused the shield to become weaker and have the color return."
Twilight said "He is right. And we better get it started. These ponies have been waiting long enough." Pretty much. Torque said "The generator's working again, mister mayor." Yep, we even tested it to make sure. "Just the way your grandpa built her." Pretty much. The mayor said "I just hope my speech lives up to the occasion." I'm sure it will. Twilight said "Attention, please! Welcome to the brand new Hope Hollow annual Rainbow Festival! And here's the pony who made it all possible. Mayor Sunny Skies!" Take it away my dude. The mayor went up to the podium and said "I'm as proud as a two-tailed peacock to see you all here today!" I bet you are after so long. "To once again celebrate our little town at the "End of the Rainbow." Everypony cheered and the mayor continued speaking. "And I can't give enough thanks to Rainbow Dash, Princess Twilight, Prince Zachary, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack." Thanks for the credit my dude. "My grandpa started this festival to celebrate us. The ponies of Hope Hollow. It's you who brought friendship back to our town and the bright colors that came with it." Suddenly, some more color came around and it put a smile on my face. "We just have to always remember to reach a hoof out to our neighbors." Exactly. It might not always be easy, but it will have a great impact in the end.
"To respect and listen and talk to each other." Yep. Pretty much. "You'll never know what just saying hello to somepony can do." That is very true. It might always seem that way, but I can tell you straight up that just saying hello will make a difference in someone's life. I've seen it happen before. "So, without further ado…" Suddenly, Pinki started singing her terrible Karaoke and everypony looked at her weirdly. OH GOSH! NOT AGAIN! PLEASE STOP PINKIE! I BEG OF YOU! Anyways, she stopped and the mayor pressed the generator to turn it on. Here we go bois. The rainbow shot up in the sky and color returned to the whole town. Even my wings turned into all shades of the Sun. Red, orange, and yellow. I looked over at Twilight and OH MY GOSH IS SHE BEAUTIFUL! If she wasn't attractive enough before, she most definitely is now. Twilight saw how my wings looked and she blushed a bit. I think she thinks I look hot or something. I don't mind. I think she looks very attractive with those colors. Purple, light blue, green, and yellow. Petula said to the mayor "That was a beautiful speech, Sunny." Now can we get the romantic shipment going? I've been waiting all chapter for this. The mayor said "Oh no. That wasn't my speech." Oh?
Petula asked "But then, what have you been writing all day?" I think you'll find out in a moment. The mayor said "Well, uh, another speech." Right. Whatever you say man. "I mean, it's for later, oh flapjacks." There's a new one. "I guess now's as good of a time as any." Uh, now you finally admit it. "Petula, you've never given up on me. Or the town. You always had hope when we had none and I can't imagine a day without you." Wait. I know what's happening. Wait for it. "You're the pony that brings color into my life." Almost there boi. "Petula Pedals, will you marry me?" THERE WE GO! LET'S GO BOIS! THIS WOMAN RIGHT HERE PROPOSED TO HIS FRIEND IN FRONT OF THE WHOLE TOWN FOR ALL OF US TO SEE! AND I GOT TO BE HERE FOR IT! YEAH BUDDY! LET'S GO! Petula said "Of course, you silly goose." They better invite me to their wedding. Ahh. There we go. The last two to change back into color. Suddenly, Rainbow was in the sky and she said "Attention, everypony! Introducing Hope Hollow's very own junior Wonderbolts!" Wow. That's pretty cool. Hopefully they become great one day. Oh wait. Those two kids were the last ones to change back into color. Never mind.
After they did their performance, Rainbow came back down and looked to the crowd. "Heh. Now this is something I'm proud to be a guest of honor for!" I can see why. Suddenly, all the butterflies came back and headed to the garden. Fluttershy said "And it looks like there is a butterfly garden after all." Pretty much. Pinkie said "Only one more thing could make this Rainbow Festival better." Oh dear. Not more Karaoke. Rarity saying my thoughts out loud "Oh no. Not more Karaoke darling." Yeah, please no. Pinkie said "What? No. A trout DJ!" Uhh, okay then. "Now that's a party!" I said "Eh, it's still missing one thing. Hold this for me, Twilight." I immediately flew up to the sky and was up pretty high. Then, I started flying down and accelerating as fast as I could and I was able to create my own "Sonic Rainboom" but the colors of the Sun edition. I flew back down and put my wing decorations back on. "That and one other thing." I immediately charged up my scepter and blasted magic into the sky which was basically Northern Lights but the colors that the Crystal Empire would show after the Crystal Heart is reactivated. Now it's song time. Twilight presented her wings in full length, and I presented mine as well.
Man, did the pony that Rarity helped do such a good job. I'm keeping this for a while. Once most of the singing was done, we went back to the balloon and we said our farewells. The mayor and Petula gave me a hug and I returned it with wrapping an eagle wing around them. After that, we all hopped onto the balloon and took off. However, I still had one surprise left. I activated my magic and fireworks of all the colors of the rainbow shot up into the sky which left everyone amazed. Well, that was an interesting trip. I can't wait to see all of them again. I'll definitely return for the wedding of Sunny Skies and Petula Pedals. I'll have to mark that on my calendar. As for now, I shall return to Ponyville and see what's next for me in Equestria. Another mission done.
AN: I am very sorry about this chapter coming out later than I intended to. I had school work I had to take care of and I was just unmotivated to write this chapter. Part of the reason why is because it was so long. After just watching it for like 5 minutes, I already had like 10 pages already. That's how long it was. Anyways, I got it done and that's all that matters. I promise the Season 9 premiere will come out very soon and I'll get right to it in the next day or so. Also, one quick thing. Congratulations to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for winning the Super Bowl. I was actually pretty hyped for it because of how great of a matchup it was. However, I was let down quite quickly. I feel bad for Patrick Mahomes because he was trying all night, but Tampa Bay just ran right over him like a freight train going down the tracks. It should have been closer, but oh well. That's what it is. Just to note, we'll probably never see something like this again with Tampa Bay being a wild card team, winning all three playoff games on the road, and winning the Super Bowl in their own home stadium. It will most likely never happen again. So enjoy it while it lasts. Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed the chapter!
Next Chapter: The Return of the King! When Celestia and Luna announce their retirement, they choose both Zachary and Twilight to take their place as Rulers of Equestria. While Zachary is not worried about it, Twilight has a complete breakdown and panics like crazy. While Twilight is scrambling around trying to get ready to be coronated, the ancient villain Grogar brings back Chrysalis, TIrek, Cozy Glow, and King Sombra. Sombra gets arrogant and doesn't want to be part of Grogar's plans to conquer Equestria as a group. So, Grogar sends him off to the Crystal Empire and attacks it. After he is disintegrated by the Elements, he goes to the Tree of Harmony to take care of business that could affect Equestria forever. Will the ponies be able to stop him, or will it be too late?
Until then, my fellow readers
