Yo, It's Ryan here, with another chapter! This is officially the longest fucking chapter I've ever written for anything; ever. Oh god, my head hurts. I'm going to go lie down for a bit...
Enjoy Chapter 2!
Chapter 2: Friendship Is Magic; Part 1
Ryan's POV
Five years. Five years had passed since I'd been straight zapped out of my life, and into a new one. Five years that I'd been Celestia's personal student, along with Twilight Sparkle. Five years of searching for a spell that would send me home. At this point, I think that I've accepted the fact that I might never be able to get back. That didn't stop me from looking though. I was currently in the school library, reading through a book on transportation spells. I was wearing the same red hoodie and jeans I had come here with. I was pretty much as tall as I would get when the transformation occurred, so they still fit me. I don't care how long I've been here, or what other ponies think of me, I'm not walking around without clothes, end of story. I heard someone walking past me. Looking up, I saw Spike headed towards the door. He was holding a small red gift box. Throughout the years, we'd become good friends, both of us being guys. "Hey Spike, where you going? A party?" He nodded.
"Moondancer is holding a one, and I was going to drop by." I nodded.
"Well, see ya later. Hope you enjoy yourself!" He smiled, and went to open the door. Just as he was about to, the door swung open, and sent him flying. Before he hit the ground, I caught him with my magic, and put him down slowly. He looked at me.
"Thanks Leo." I grinned.
"No problem." I looked back to the door, to see it wide open, with Twilight standing there. She was glancing back and forth.
"Spike! Spiiiike!"
"I'm right here Twilight! Jeez…" She looked at him.
"There you are. Quick, find me that old copy of predictions and prophecies." She galloped to the nearest bookcase. "She then noticed the red box that Spike was holding. "What is that for?" He looked down at it.
"It's a gift for Moondancer. I was just headed over to her party." Twilight rolled her eyes.
"Oh Spike, you know we don't have time for things like that." He groaned.
"But we're on a break!" Twilight ignored him, and started pulling countless books off the shelves, looking for the one she'd mentioned. Spike sighed, and walked over to one of the shelves on the other side of the room. He climbed the ladder, and grabbed a book from the top. In the meantime, Twilight was just getting aggravated that she couldn't find it. She yelled in frustration.
"SPIIIKE!" He called down to her from the top of the ladder.
"It's over here!" Looking up at him she used her magic to bring it down to her, taking Spike with it. I cringed as he slammed face first into the floor. "Ow…" She took a look at the cover, and then smiled.
"Ah!" She trotted off on the other direction, leaving Spike to clean up the mess that she'd made with the books. I stood up, and went over to him.
"Here, I'll help." He nodded.
"Thanks again… I really appreciate the help you give me all the time." I shrugged.
"What are friends for?" I picked him up using my magic, and levitated him to where each book needed to go. Behind me, Twilight was saying something about the mare in the moon. I wasn't listening to her rambling, but I knew what she was talking about. It was two days before the summer sun festival, and this is the time period in which the first episode of 'Friendship Is Magic' takes place. When I had first gotten here, I'd written down all of the events from the show that I could remember, so that I'd know when the time came. I reviewed it every now and then, just to refresh my memory. Celestia had told me a long time ago to make sure to not reveal anything about the future, even to her. She feared that it might change the outcome. I halfheartedly listened to what she was saying, until she seemed to have made a revelation.
"SPIKE! DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS?" I was startled by her sudden yelling, and accidently dropped Spike. Luckily, Twilight caught him on her back. She had already plopped a quill and scroll into his hand. "Take a note please! To the princess." He slid off her tail like a slide.
"Okeydokey!" He stood there, ready to write.
"My dearest teacher, my continuing studies of pony magic have led me to believe that we are on the precipice of disaster." Spike cut her off.
"Hold on, hold on. Preci… preci…" He looked to Twilight for help.
"Threshold?" He failed to spell that one too.
"Uh… Brink?" He just looked completely lost. She sighed in annoyance.
"UGH, That something really bad is about to happen!" Spike nodded and continued writing. "For you see, the mythical mare in the moon is, in fact, Nightmare Moon! She is about to return to Equestria and bring with her eternal night! Something must be done to make sure that this terrible prophecy does not come true! I await your quick response. Signed, Your Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle."
"Got it!"
"Great! Send it."
"Now?" She looked confused as to why he'd even ask.
"Of course!" Spike looked uneasy.
"I don't know Twilight… Princess Celestia is really busy getting ready for the summer sun festival! And it's like the day after tomorrow! Back me up here Leo!" I just shrugged. I didn't feel like messing up the space time continuum. At least not today.
"That's just it Spike! The day after tomorrow is the 1000th year of the summer sun celebration! It's imperative that the princess is told right away!" He just sighed, and sent it using his fire breath. The magical smoke flew out the window.
"There! Happy?" She grinned.
"Yes. Very." A few seconds later, spike burped out another scroll. Twilight was smug.
"See? I knew she'd want to take immediate action!" Spike picked it up and started to read.
"My dearest and most faithful student Twilight, you know that I value your diligence, and that I trust you completely. But you simply must stop reading those dusty old books." Twilight was appalled.
"What?!"
Twilight, Spike, and I were sitting in a chariot being pulled by two Pegasus stallions. Spike was reading the rest of the letter aloud for a second time. "My dear Twilight, there is more to a young pony's life than studying, so I am sending you to supervise the preparations for the summer sun celebration in this year's location, Ponyville. Also, I have an even more essential task for you to complete; make some friends! PS: If Leo wants to come, that's fine as well." She just sighed. While Twilight wasn't excited for the trip to Ponyville, I sure was. I hadn't visited anywhere out of Canterlot during my time in Equestria, so this should be a nice change of pace. Spike tried to cheer her up.
"Look on the bright side Twilight! The princess arranged for you to stay in a library! Doesn't that make you happy?" She suddenly perked up.
"Yes, yes it does. You know why? Because I'm right! I'll check on the preparations as fast as I can, then get to the library to find some proof of Nightmare Moon's return!" Spike seemed confused.
"But when will you have time to make friends like the princess said?" Twilight just rolled her eyes.
"She said to check on the preparations. I am her student, and will do my royal duties, but the fate of Equestria does not rely on me making friends!" Oh, how wrong you are Twilight. We had finally arrived, and the Pegasi landed in the middle of town. Twilight hopped out, and I followed after. She thanked the guards for their help, and turned to face me. "So Leo, what are you going to do? The princess didn't say that you have to help me with the check." I shrugged.
"I think that I'm just going to tag along with you. Perhaps we'll meet some nice ponies along the way." I saw a bright shade of pink headed our way. "Like that one." I nodded my head towards the pink pony trotting towards us, who I remembered from the show as Pinkie Pie.
"Maybe the ponies in Ponyville have interesting things to talk about!" Pinkie stopped in front of us, looking at us with a smile. "Come on Twilight, just try!" Twilight nervously looked at Pinkie.
"Um… Hello?" Pinkie jumped up in the air, and with a loud gasp, she was gone. Twilight looked at Spike.
"Well THAT was interesting alright…" Spike sighed. I put my front leg around her neck.
"Don't worry Twi, that's just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie. Nothing unusual." Twilight just rolled her eyes and started walking. Me and spike followed behind.
"Summer Sun Celebration official overseer's checklist; Number 1: Banquet Preparations, Sweet Apple Acres!" We had arrived at our first stop; Applejack's farm. As we walked through the gate, I saw an orange pony with a cowboy hat. She took off towards one of the closer apple trees, and bucked it hard enough with her hind legs to make every last apple fall off into the bucket place below. Twilight sighed and lowered her head to the ground, obviously unhappy.
"Let's just get this over with…" Walking over to Applejack, Twilight greeted her in a business like fashion. "Good afternoon. My name is Twilight Sparkle-" She was interrupted by Applejack. She had grabbed Twilight's hoof, and started to shake it extremely fast, making Twilight jitter up and down.
"Well howdy do Miss Twilight! A pleasure makin' your acquaintance! I'm Applejack! We here at Sweet Apple Acres sure do like makin' new friends!"'
"Friends? A-cc-t-u-all-y, I…" She was cut off by Applejack a second time.
"So, what can I do ya for?" She had let go of Twilight's hoof, but it was still shaking. Spike grabbed it, and it stopped. Spike giggled a bit, and Twilight just grumbled. Before she could get the chance to say anything, Applejack noticed me. "Oh, didn't see ya there! What's your name?" She reached out her hoof for me to shake it, instead of just grabbing mine. I smiled, and obliged.
"My name's Leonidas, Leonidas Craft. I'd prefer you just call me Leo though, It's easier." She smiled back.
"Well, nice ta meetcha as well, Mister Leo!" She turned back to Twilight. Twilight's eye was twitching a bit, probably from annoyance. She took a deep breath, and calmed herself down. Regaining her composure, she looked back at Applejack.
"Well, as I was about to say, I am actually here to supervise preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration; I assume you're in charge of the food?"
"We sure as sugar are! Would ya care to sample some?"
"Well, as long as it doesn't take TOO long…" Applejack was gone in a flash. She rang a metal triangle with a stick.
"SOUPS ON EVERYPONY!" I stepped a good three feet away from Twilight. She looked confused.
"What are you-" She was cut off as a stampede of apple family members carried her and Spike over to a wooden table. I walked over to the table to join them. She looked angry with me. "You could have warned me you know!" I smirked.
"But what would be the fun in that?" She was about to retaliate with her own snide response, but was cut off by Applejack.
"Allow me to introduce y'all to the Apple family!"
"Thanks, but I really need to hurry…" She was ignored, and the introductions begun.
"This here's Apple Fritter, Apple Bumpkin, Red Gala, Red Delicious…" She went on and on, each member of the family bringing their own special pastry to the table, until the pile was gigantic. I didn't really recognize any of the ponies she named until the end of the list, being Big Mac, Apple Bloom, and Granny Smith. The old pony was still asleep, and Applejack had to wake her up. "Up and at em Granny! We've got guests!" Granny Smith stood up slowly, and mumbled out things that were too random to really decipher. Applejack put her forelegs around Twilight and my shoulders.
"Why I'd say they're already part o' the family!" Twilight spat out the apple that the orange pony had shoved into her mouth. She laughed nervously.
"Okkaaay, well, I can see the food situation is handled, so we'll be on our way!" I could see all of the family was saddened by this. Apple Bloom looked at Twilight with ginormous puppy dog eyes.
"But aren't you gonna stay for brunch?" It was hard for Twilight to look the filly in the eye.
"I'm-" I cut her off.
"Of course, we'd love to!" There was a collective cheer thought the crowd. Twilight gave me the stink eye, but I just continued to smirk as the ponies dispersed to set up for the meal.
"Food's all taken care of; next, is weather!" Walking off from the delicious meal we'd just eaten, we were headed back into the main part of town for our next stop. Twilight just groaned and kept her head low.
"I ate too much pie…" While she was reluctant at first, she had a good time with the Apple family. She had also practically stuffed her face. You would think she'd have a bit more self-control. She was like Celestia with cake. Like mentor, like student.
"Hmm… There's supposed to be a Pegasus pony named Rainbow Dash clearing the clouds…" Twilight looked up at the sky. There were still a bunch of the white puffy masses scattered about the sky.
"Well, she's not doing too good of a job, is she?" Remembering what happens now, I put my hooves around Twilight, and moved her a few feet backwards. She looked confused, but understood when she saw a rainbow blur fly by, only a few inches from her face. Instead of Twilight being hit, Rainbow wound up crashing into Spike, the two of them tumbling into a mud puddle. Rainbow stood up, covered in mud. She noticed she had crashed into the poor dragon, and giggled a little in response. Looking down at him, she lifted him up and out of the puddle. He shouted at her.
"What was that for?!" She just laughed a little more.
"Sorry, um, let me help you." Flying out of sight for a moment, Spike started to wipe some of the mud off of him. Rainbow came back with a dark cloud, and positioned it over Spike. He noticed it, and looked up.
"Huh? What are you-" She flew on top of it and started jumping up and down. Rain poured out of the bottom, rinsing all the mud off of him, but also soaking him in the process. "Annnd now I'm wet… great." She just laughed again.
"Oops, might have overdone that a bit… Umm… How bout this!" She flew around Spike, generating quite the windstorm, and a whirlwind of rainbow colors. "My own patented Rain-blow dry!" She landed, smirking a bit. "No no, there's no need to thank me." After getting a good look at Spike, I saw that he was indeed dry, but there was more than that. His scales were extremely shinny and polished, and glimmered in the sunlight. Looking down at himself he was amazed.
"Wow! Thanks! This must be the shiniest my scales have ever looked!" She just continued smirking. "Not a problem! After all, it was my fault that you got all muddy!" She walked up to him. "Name's Rainbow Dash! What's yours?" She held out her hoof, and received a Bro-hoof from Spike.
"I'm Spike!" He pointed to Twilight and I. "These are my friends, Twilight Sparkle and Leonidas Craft!" She looked at us.
"Nice to meetcha! Now if you'll excuse me, I need to be practicing!" she went to fly off, but I grabbed her by the tail with my teeth. She looked down at me. "Hey! What gives?!" I let her go, and luckily, she didn't just take off. I nodded my head at Twilight.
"We were actually looking for you, Twilight needed to talk with you." Twilight looked at me with gratitude, and then turned to Rainbow.
"Thank you Leo. Now, Rainbow Dash, was it? We're here to check up on all of the preparations for the upcoming Celebration. Apparently, you're supposed to be clearing the clouds, but the sky is still full of the things." Rainbow nodded.
"I know, I'll do it as soon as I finish my practice!" Twilight didn't want her flying off, so she continued.
"Practice? For what?" Rainbow pointed at a poster on the wall, which portrayed a picture of the Wonderbolts, the most famous flying team in Equestria.
"The Wonderbolts! They're going to perform at the Celebration tomorrow, and I'm gonna show them my stuff!" Twilight got a sly look in her eyes.
"The Wonderbolts?" Rainbow sat on a cloud and closed her eyes.
"Yup!"
"The most talented fliers in ALL of Equestria?"
"That's them!"
"Pfft! Please! They'd never accept a Pegasus who can't keep the sky clear for one measly day!" Clever Twilight is Clever.
"Hey! I could clear this sky in TEN SECONDS FLAT!"
"Prove it." Rainbow's expression was one of determination to prove herself. Flying off at impossible speeds, she disintegrated every cloud in sight, and doing it with style. She managed to do it in exactly ten seconds. Twilight's face was one of complete shock and amazement. Rainbow landed on the bridge in front of us.
"Wha'd I say? Ten. Seconds. Flat. I'd never leave Ponyville hanging!" She laughed when she saw Twilight's expression. "You should SEE the look on your face! Hah, you're a laugh Twilight Sparkle! I can't wait to hang out with you some more!" I hoofbumped her as she passed me. "You too Leo! Rainbow, OUT!" She flew off into the distance. Twilight was still in shock. I patted her on the shoulder with my hoof.
"Never underestimate Rainbow Dash. EVER." Shaking off her amazement, she just sighed and started walking towards town hall. We followed, Spike continuing to admire his scales.
As we entered the building, we took the time to appreciate the artfully done décor of the room. While I didn't exactly love Rarity, she was good at her job. "Decorations! Beautiful!"
"Yes, the Décor is coming along nicely! This will be quick! I'll be at the library in no time! Beautiful indeed!" Spike shook his head.
"Not the décor, her!" Spike pointed at Rarity, who was going through different ribbons, trying to figure out which one looked the best. Spike was completely love-struck. He started to check his appearance, making sure that he was presentable. Twilight rolled her eyes and walked over to the white unicorn.
"Good afternoon-" Rarity stopped her.
"Hold on a moment, I'm in the zone, as it were." After about two more ribbons, she found the one she liked. "Oh yes! Sparkle always does the trick, does it not? Why Rarity, you are a talent!" She turned to look at us. "Now, um, How can I help-" She stopped mid-sentence and gasped. I saw that she was looking at Spike, obviously admiring his scales. "Oh my! Those scales!" She ran over to him. "So luminescent! It's simply amazing! I must make you something to complement them!" Spike was in heaven. Twilight put her hoof in-between Rarity and Spike.
"No, that's quite alright, we're in a rush at the moment! We're just here to check on the decorations, and they seem to be in order, so we'll be going now! Rarity shook her head, and grabbed Spike by the hand.
"But I simply-" I grabbed Spike with my magic and held him firmly on my back. He struggled to break free, but I didn't let him.
"No, we actually have to go now, but thank you for the offer!" And I ran out of there faster than I've ever run before. Twilight followed behind me.
"Leo! Why'd you have to do that?! UGH!" He was pretty much pissed at me for dragging him away from Rarity. Twilight tried to calm him down.
"Shush, Casanova. What's the next thing on the list?" He grumbled a bit, and cleared his throat.
"Music, it's the last thing on the list, so I hope you're happy." From somewhere over the hill, we heard the sound of birds singing. Following the sound, we found Fluttershy conducting a chorus of birds. Twilight was about to jump out of the bush and say hello, but I stopped her.
"You should probably let me handle this." I walked slowly towards the yellow pony.
"Hello?" She jumped a bit and turned around to see me. It was obvious how scared she was of me, so I tried to reassure her. "Don't worry, I won't bite! I'm just here to check on the music! My name is Leonidas Craft. What's yours?" She whimpered a bit.
"Um… I'm Fluttershy…" I smiled to make her feel less nervous.
"That's a nice name." I think I got her to make a slight smile.
"T-th-anks… Yours is nice too…" Good, I think that while she's still a little scared, she'll at least talk. I turned around to look the bush.
"Hey guys! You can come out now!" The pony and dragon stepped out of the shrubbery. Fluttershy's eyes widened.
"A BABY DRAGON!" I was head-butted by Fluttershy so hard that I went flying. I landed straight on my face. I stood up, and dusted myself off. Looking towards the other ponies, I could see that Fluttershy was completely ecstatic at the chance to talk to a real dragon. "I've never seen a baby dragon before! He's so cute!" Spike smirked and looked at Twilight.
"Well, well, well!" He looked back to Fluttershy.
"Oh my! He talks! I didn't know dragons could talk!" She flew up into the air. "That is just so incredibly wonderful! I don't even know what to say!" I could see the smugness on Spike's face. Before he could say anything, he was lifted in the air by Twilight's magic, and onto her back.
"Well, in that case, we'd better be going!" She started walking off, so I shrugged and trotted next to her.
"Oh wait! Wait!" Fluttershy ran up to us, and followed behind. "What's his name?" Spike was happy to talk to her.
"My name's Spike!"
"Hi Spike! I'm Fluttershy! Oh wow! A talking dragon! What do dragons talk about?"
"Well, what do you want to know?"
"Absolutely EVERYTHING!" Twilight groaned.
"And that's the story of my whole entire life!" Ironically, Spike finished talking just as we reached the library. "Well, up until today. You want to hear about today?" Fluttershy nodded.
"Oh yes!" He was stopped from saying anything when Twilight whirred around to face Fluttershy.
"I am SO sorry. How DID we get here so fast? This is where we'll be staying while in Ponyville, and my POOR baby dragon needs his sleep." He was about to protest, but I clamped my hoof over his mouth. I whispered in his ear.
"Don't you think talking for 2 hours straight is enough? Just GO with it." He sighed, and kept quiet. I looked back at Fluttershy. "It's been nice talking to you. We'll see ya later!" I opened the door and went in, knowing all too well what's waiting inside. Twilight and Spike followed. I could hear Twilight sigh in relief.
"I'm glad that's finally over… Now, where's the lights? Three, Two, one…
"SURPRISE!" The lights were turned on to reveal a crowd of ponies surrounding us. I think Twi's eye started to twitch, just a bit. Pinkie Pie hopped over to us, looking happy as can be.
"Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie, and I threw this party just for you two! Were you surprised? Wereyawereya? Huh Huh Huh?" Twilight took a deep breath, calmed herself down, and looked at Pinkie.
"Yes! Very surprised! Libraries are supposed to be QUIET." Pinkie didn't catch her sarcasm, and just giggled.
"That's Silly! What kind of welcome party would this be if it were quiet!? I mean, DUH. BORRING." Twilight just sighed and walked over to a punch bowl. Pinkie followed her and continued her rambling. Twilight grabbed a bottle of hot sauce with her mouth, keeping a pretty impassive expression the whole time. She poured herself a cup of it, and I'm still not sure if she did that on purpose, to have an excuse to get away from all the other ponies. I tapped her on the shoulder.
"Uh, Twi? You know that's hot sauce, right?" She just ignored me, put a straw in it, and started sipping it. I tuned back into Pinkie's speech, just in time to hear the end. All the ponies we'd met throughout the day had grouped together behind us.
"And now you have lots and lots of friends!" Twilight's cheeks started turn red, obviously from the sauce, and she jumped up into the air, her mane on fire in a cartoon like way. She then darted upstairs. I sighed, and turned to the five of them.
"Excuse me for a bit." I chased after Twilight.
I found Twi upstairs with a pillow over her head. She was trying to block out the music downstairs. I took a seat on the bed next to her.
"Why are you being like this?" Obviously I knew, but why not try to make her feel better? She looked up at me
"I just wanted to learn more about the elements of harmony, but I never got the chance. I'm worried, Leo. That those stories aren't just olden tales. That Nightmare Moon might actually be returning. I just don't know what to do. I feel like I have a responsibility, and that I'm failing to do it…" I rubbed her back and tried to comfort her, and she just buried her face in the pillow. Honestly, if I didn't know that everything turns alright, I'd probably feel the same way. We sat there for a while, not saying much. Eventually, I heard the door creak open behind us. Spike walked in.
"Come on guys! It's time to watch the sun rise!"
We stood in town hall, surrounded by every pony in town. All of them looked so excited, and I don't blame them. This is the first time that the Celebration has ever been held in Ponyville. Twilight and I stood side by side, waiting for it to start. We were both startled when a blur of pink appeared out of nowhere.
"Isn't this exciting!? Are you exited cause I'm excited I've never been so excited well except the time I saw you two walking into Ponyville and I went whaaaaaaoo but really, what can top that?!" My god, she's the exact definition of 'stream of consciousness'. Before she got the chance to continue talking, Fluttershy's birds started to sing. The ceremony was starting. I saw the spotlight focus on the Mayor of Ponyville.
"Fillies, and Gentlecolts. As mayor of Ponyville, it is my GREAT pleasure to announce the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration!" All of the ponies in the building started to cheer. "In just a moment, our town will witness the magic of the sunrise, on this, the longest day of the year!" I could see Twilight looking out the window at the moon. She had a worried expression on her face. "And now, it is my great honor to introduce the ruler of our land, the very pony who brings us the sun and the moon each and every day; the good, the wise, the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria, Princess Celestia!" The curtains opened to reveal…. Nothing. There was worried chatter among all ponies present. Rarity, looking backstage, confirmed that she was indeed… gone. Cue gasping ponies. Everyone in the room was shocked. Pinkie didn't really get how serious the situation was.
"Ooh, she's good…." Cue large cloud of black glitter. A black fog appeared where Celestia was supposed to be. A few terrified scrams resonated throughout the crowd. Annnd… Cue Nightmare Moon. The black glittery cloud swirled a bit, and formed itself into a pony, one the size of Celestia. I could almost feel fear resonating off of Twilight's body.
"Nightmare Moon!" Spike fainted dramatically. The princess of the night had a pretty smug look on her face.
"Ohhh, my beloved subjects! It's been so long since I've seen your precious, little sun loving faces. Rainbow was in full rage mode.
"WHAT DID YOU DO WITH OUR PRINCESS?!" She tried to fly at Nightmare, but Applejack grabbed her by the tail with her teeth.
"Whoa there nelly!" Nightmare just laughed.
"Why? Am I not royal enough for you? Don't you know who I am?" Pinkie took this as an opportunity to speak.
"Ooh, ooh! More guessing games! Hokey Smokes! How bout… Queen Meanie! No! Black Snooty, Black Snooty!" Applejack shut her up by shoving an apple cupcake in her mouth.
"Does my crown no longer count now that I've been imprisoned for a 1000 years?! Did you not recall the legend? Did you not see the signs?!" She was interrupted by Twilight.
"I did! And I know who you are! You're the Mare in the Moon! Nightmare Moon!" Collective gasp! Heh, watching this unfold is pretty funny. Nightmare smiled evilly.
"Well, well, well! Somepony who remembers me! Then you also know why I'm here!" Twilight cringed.
"You're here to… to…" She gulped. Nightmare laughed manically.
"Remember this day, little ponies, because it was your last. From this moment forth, the night will last, FOREVER!
DUN DUN DUN.
So yeah, each chapter will be the length of a single episode.
Don't forget to review!