A/N I would like to thank The Feral Muse, Anubis the Muse, and TheKageKitsune000 for editing this. You should read their stuff. I certainly have absolutely no part in helping their works at all. I promise.
I broke my promise.
Originally, I wanted to release chapters weekly, then three every two weeks, then weekly again... I just have no clue on what to do. I meant to get this out on the weekend, but now just seemed right.
Oh well, you've heard enough of me rambling on. Read on.
"Twilight dear, you look awfully tired," Rarity called out from the dining room table, her head in her hooves. All around the table, Twilight's friends were acting in similar ways.
"And all of you look hung over," the purple unicorn said, opening the curtain. Bright sunlight filtered into the apartment, earning groans of pain from the gathered ponies as the light touched their eyes. "C'mon now, it was just some lemonade!"
"Some 'spiked' lemonade," Rainbow called out. Weak chuckling was heard from around the room.
"Are you guys trying to run the joke into the ground? Seriously, that's like the most obvious pun!"
A few hours later, along with several ice-cold showers, the group of mares was walking around Canterlot, admiring the shimmering and ornate decorations going up for the upcoming festival. Not only were there beautiful sun ornaments, but amazing moon ornaments were there as well, in the honor of Princess Luna.
Twilight saw some of her and her colleagues work as well; magic-infused gemstones, with pictures inside of them that went through the phases of the moon, as well as beautiful moving glass sculptures were present at one of the many hastily set-up stalls.
She also saw many ponies she recognized; Ms. Cheerilee, the teacher from Ponyville, was wandering around the market place, followed by her latest class of students. Twilight saw the mayor of Ponyville chatting up an earth pony vendor with a poker chip cutie mark; he was running some sort of game station. She even saw Lyra and Bon-Bon, who as far as she could tell, were entertaining some of the local children.
But off in the distance, she saw a distinct large red earth pony pulling an enormous wagon. She gestured to her friends, who took notice of the earth pony. They made their way through the crowd; finally, they reached the gigantic pony pulling the wagon, which had a large red apple painted on the side.
"Hey there, Big Mac!" Twilight called out.
"Eee... hello!" Big Macintosh replied, detaching his harness and turning towards them.
"Hey, who is that?" a voice called out from the cart. A yellow head with a red mane shot out of a window in the cart. "Twilight! Hey gals, how ya'll doing?"
Rarity was first to answer. "We're all doing fine, Applebloom. Is my sister with you?"
"Geez, Rarity. No, 'Hi, how are you?'" Applebloom retorted, earning herself a glare from Big Mac. "Ok, ok, I'm sorry. Nah, Sweetie Bell's coming with y'alls folks tomorrow."
"And Applejack?" Rainbow Dash said, settling to the ground.
"Um, she said she'd be heading out tomorrow. She wanted to talk to Granny." At that, the group bowed their heads in respect to the late member of the Apple Family.
"But she said that she would be heading out real quick-like once she paid her dues. She seemed real excited to be with y'all again," Applebloom said, cheering the group up. "Oh, did ya' hear? I got my cutie mark! Here, I'll show y'all!"
Applebloom tried to climb out of the wagon, but was only successful in getting her front half out. "Sour apples? I'm stuck!" She squirmed as much as she could, but to no avail. Big Mac walked over to his sister, carefully examining her predicament.
"So what's the sauce, big bro? Is it bad?" Applebloom asked, desperation in her voice.
"Eee... nope."
"So you can get me out?"
"Eee... nope."
"Caterpillars."
Big Mac turned to Twilight and company, gesturing for them to move along. As they did so, Applebloom's cries were clearly audible.
"Aww, I wanted to show them all! Oh well, maybe next time..."
As the group entered the town's main square, chuckles were shared amongst the mares.
"Well, at least she finally got it," Twilight spoke up. "She still didn't have it when I left five years ago. Hopefully, she won't be obsessive about it anymore."
"Don't be so sure about that one, Twilight. Applebloom got her's a year ago. She's still going on about it," Rarity responded to Twilight.
"Well, when something awesome like that happens, maybe she should show it off. I mean, she was the last pony to get hers after all. Even comparing her to Applejack, she was a late bloomer," Rainbow Dash snapped back.
"It is good to know she's found her place," Fluttershy said, gently stepping between the two.
"Yes, it is nice, isn't it? And now- wait. Where did Pinkie go?" Twilight said, glancing around.
Rainbow Dash brought a hoof to her face. "Is that even a question? She's probably getting ready to throw a party."
Pinkemina Diane Pie was, at that moment, not preparing to throw a party. Actually, she was engrossed in conversation with a few buffalo who had come to Canterlot as ambassadors of their people. After a bit, she moved on, but not before mentioning that if they ever stopped by Ponyville, she would be more than glad to serve them at SugarCube Corner.
The pink pony bounded around the city, meeting a number of exotic individuals; she met several griffins, a small delegation of zebras, and even a self-proclaimed beast tamer. As she passed from one group to the next, she invited each to stop by her place of work in Ponyville.
Well, in all honesty, Pinkie Pie was preparing for a party. Just not one in the immediate future. She intended to throw a small celebration for each of those that she had invited. It was simply the way she was, always looking to celebrate. She was bounding about, thinking of all the interesting folks she had met, when she was stopped by two words.
"Pinkemina Pie," a loud voice called out. Pinkie Pie stopped and turned slowly towards the voice.
"Hi dad."
Twilight and her friends had continued walking along the streets of Canterlot, admiring the wares of the many shop keepers. Twilight felt much more at ease in the city, especially since it had grown in recent years. The influx of the shopkeepers and townsfolk swiftly pushed the ratio of the upper-class down. Indeed, most of the ponies in the city were considered middle-class, those with their own trade. The wealthy upper-class was still preset; most of them funded the stores in exchange for discounted items.
Twilight grinned as she recalled the initial storm of ponies a few years earlier. She knew many were backed by Princess Luna, her own effort to make up for her past actions. Initial resistance was minimum as the stores quickly proved their value.
Since then, Canterlot's already bustling economy exploded. Some of the 'fancy' ponies still opposed the new stores, but their cries were largely ignored. Twilight continued walking, lost in her memories, until a voice snapped her out of them.
"You really should watch where you're going." Twilight looked at the owner of the voice. He was framed by sunlight, but she knew who the voice belonged to.
"Oh, Dusk, how good to see you again," Rarity called out, loud enough for the entire group to hear over the bustle of the crowds. Glances were exchanged as the group rapidly began to talk.
"Well then, I'm going back to that boutique we saw a few streets back," Rarity said, swiftly moving away.
"Um… I'm going to go and look at those animals at the market square. One of those turtles looked awfully sick," Fluttershy meekly let out. "It was nice to meet you, Mr. Rising Dusk," she said, backing away.
"Likewise," the unicorn stallion responded, a peculiar expression spreading across his face. He turned to Rainbow Dash. "And you, Flight Marshal? What's your excuse?"
"Well then, Head Advisor, I'm going to go check on my team. Make sure they're doing their drills properly," the ShadowBolt captain replied before flying off.
"It seems my friends have conspired against me," Twilight said softly, just loud enough for Dusk to hear.
"It certainly seems that way, doesn't it?" Dusk replied to the purple unicorn in the same tone. "Well then, I have a feeling that your friends are going to be busy for some time."
"So what should we do with our time?" Twilight asked, a glint in her eye. "I haven't read anything on this subject."
"Don't act so coy with me, Ms. Sparkle," the stallion replied, the humor evident in his voice. "I know there must be something you want to do."
"Well, there are some things I want to do around the city…" Twilight let her voice trail off, the questioning tone clear.
"Then let's see what we can do."
A/N We've gotten ambitious. Several writers and I have decided we are going to write a story. TOGETHER. Info on that will be coming out soon.
ITC: We saw Pinkie meet her father, Twilight and Dusk begin traveling through the pre-festival, and Applebloom's non-existant cutie mark.
Now then. I would like to thank Anonymous, who continues to review this story. Thank you, Anonymous! Onto other things, how many people think they know where this story is going? Cuz I would sure as hell like to, so I know what I need to write. Kidding, I know where the story is going.
Does anyone have any guesses? Other than Anubis. I would love to know what the readers think.
Now could you, perhaps, hit that review button? It makes me feel warm inside.