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“Twilight?” The voice whispering in her ear seemed miles and years away, tiny, as if she could simply ignore it and it would go away. The soft nudge to the side of her head bridged that seeming gap of time and space, pulling her towards awakening again. With a soft groan, she opened her eyes, blinking rapidly to focus her eyes.

A pastel-yellow face with large, soulful blue eyes was peering at her with intense worry on her face, and Twilight couldn’t help but yawn, turning her head down to muffle it in the wooden planking she was laying upon; hardly the comforts of home.

“Y-Yes, Fluttershy,” Twilight managed to say through her yawn, looking up. “Are you alright?” “Mmmmh...” Her body ached and she felt extraordinarily tired. “I will be, if I can just... Have some time... To rest.”

“Twilight,” Fluttershy murmured softly, sitting down on her rump and peering down at, her face framed by her bubblegum-pink mane. “Did you get any sleep last night?” “Um...” Twilight honestly couldn’t remember, the prior day having been a fog. “I don’t know,” she weakly admitted, and Fluttershy frowned as Twilight looked up at her. “Did somepony put you up to checking up on me,” she asked, and Fluttershy shook her head. “Oh, no, Twilight. I wanted to check on you myself.”

Twilight crossed her forelegs together, and dropped her head into them. “Of course you did, Fluttershy... Thank you,” she murmured, grateful for her friend’s concern, and Fluttershy slid down to lay on the wooden floor as well, peering at her. “Twilight,” she asked, softly .”Are you... Scared?” “Scared? Me?” She blearily looked up, and yawned. “I’m terrified,” she admitted, candidly. “I know everypony’s been running her rump off to get everything done... I just... Feel like I’ve been completely useless, and I’m terrified that this will be a disaster to boot... And... I’m tired,” she whined; quietly, but genuinely.

Fluttershy bowed her head, her eyes closed. “I’m scared,” she whispered. “About all the same things.. I’ve done my very best, but... I...”

Twilight reached up, pressing her hoof to Fluttershy’s muzzle; pushing in against her nose, Fluttershy’s eyes focused down her leg at her face. “You’ve been doing spectacularly, Fluttershy. Everypony has except me... And I’m the only one who can’t keep her eyes open.”

Fluttershy nudged her, softly. “If you’re that tired, you should go to the caboose and catch some sleep. We’ll have plenty of time, don’t worry.”

Yawning, Twilight rubbed her eyes with her hooves. “Will you come with me,” she asked, softly, and her kindhearted friend smiled. “Of course I will.”

Fluttershy stood up, and nudged her head under Twilight, lifting her to her legs. She was shaky at first; she knew if she made any sudden movements, she’d become too awake to go back to sleep, which could be disastrous later on. She only had a little time to nap, after all, there was so much to do.

Her hooves felt as though they were made of lead as she trod through the train. Fluttershy opened the door to the back of the car she was in, and she gasped when she passed between the cars. “It’s dark!” Her heart started to thump, and she whined. “And we’re not moving. Oh no, what’s happened?” “Relax, Twilight,” her friend tried to assure her, but she didn’t feel relaxed. “D-Did I miss it? Did the train break down?” She jumped down from between the cars, looking around, blearily.

“Twilight, it’s two in the morning,” Fluttershy softly murmured, and Twilight felt as her heart had seized up. “T-Two in the morning?!” She looked straight up, and surely enough the moon was hanging high overhead. She felt a wellspring of despair come over her, and slumped into the gravel below her. “Oh, no... I missed the Gala? The Princess is gonna exile me.”

She felt the reassuring stroke of a hoof caressing her mane. “Twilight, it’s two in the morning before the Gala. We have plenty of time.”

Blinking, Twilight looked up at her. “We... We do?” Fluttershy nodded. “Then... W-Why was I on the train?” “You came to the trainyard to examine the train itself. See?” She pointed; at the head of the train Twilight had been on, there was no engine or tender, just an assembled consist of cars waiting to be hitched.

She could barely remember, and rubbed her eyes again. “I... I fell asleep inspecting the train? How did you know where to find me?” “You told us were you were going,” Fluttershy murmured. “Do you remember? Rarity and I were putting the finishing touches on the dresses. You’ve been running yourself all over Ponyville to check all of the preparations.”

It vaguely came back to her, and Twilight felt a quiver run through her. “Oh, no... Is everything -” “Everything’s fine, Twilight,” Fluttershy assured her. “Everything except the organizer being exhausted,” she said, with a bemused giggle. “Come on. Let’s get you to bed,” she murmured, nuzzling under Twilight’s belly, again helping the unicorn to her hooves. Twilight started to walk away from the train, and Fluttershy caught up with her quickly, laying her wing over Twilight’s neck. “Where are you going?” “Um.. Home?” She blinked, and when she saw the look on Fluttershy’s face, she knew that was wrong.

“Um...” “You need sleep,” Fluttershy softly said, tugging her back towards the train. “We’re pulling out of the station at six. Come on.” Fluttershy led her back to the end of the train, to the caboose, and nudged her up the stairs. Slowly, Twilight climbed up onto the high train, and entered the caboose, looking around. It was full of bunks, and she rubbed her eyes. “Nopony else is here,” she complained, and Fluttershy smiled. “I’m here. Come on.” Fluttershy lifted a weight from her back she hadn’t felt before, and Twilight realized that she had fallen asleep while wearing her saddlebags.

Fatigue washed over her, and she let out a quiet whimper, more crawling than climbing into the nearest bunk, and Fluttershy walked over, pulling the blanket up and over her. “Where’s Spike,” she asked, and Fluttershy smiled. “You don’t remember, do you? You sent him ahead to Canterlot to oversee the preparations there, stocking up the royal kitchens for when the Apples arrive and all that.”

Twilight sighed; she really couldn’t remember that at all. “When was that?” “Two days ago,” Fluttershy said with a smile. “Go to sleep,” she encouraged her, and Twilight nodded, closing her eyes. “Um... Owloysius?” “Zecora’s taking care of our pets,” Fluttershy replied. “She’s house sitting at my cottage until we get back.”

Twilight couldn’t remember that. “Um... Did I get her to do that?” “No, that was me,” Fluttershy replied, as she blew out the lanterns in the caboose. “Go to sleep. Everything’s taken care of except you.”

She heard the sound of wings opening, and surmised that Fluttershy was hovering up to a higher bunk, but lacked the energy to investigate. Instead, Twilight simply turned to face the aisle of the caboose, nuzzled her head into the pillow, and closed her eyes.

By the end of the first week since they had vowed to make this Grand Galloping Gala the Best Night Ever, everypony had been feeling the strain. Rainbow Dash had been been flying all over Equestria, taking letters penned by Applejack to her extended kin. The immediate Apple Family had been busy testing out recipes with stored apples, Applejack having recalled her prior experience at the Gala and decided that they needed to find ways to make their fare fancier.

Rarity’s workload had increased dramatically with the addition of six dresses that needed to be fashioned on short notice, especially given that, as she was nearing the Gala, she already had several ensembles in the works for other clients. Fluttershy had volunteered to help her, of course, but it had meant longer hours and much less leisure time for both of them as they put work into clearing Rarity’s existing workload.

Pinkie Pie, of course, had been her usual hyperactive self, rushing, galloping, and at times seeming to outright teleport around Ponyville and beyond; which was absurd, of course, because Pinkie Pie was an Earth Pony, not a Unicorn, and not many Unicorns could teleport at that, yet Pinkie Pie sometimes seemed to do just that.

Her group of best friends had been running themselves ragged indeed, and she in the middle, trying to organize everything, creating promissory notes in Princess Celestia’s name as Applejack and her family tallied fees for things they would be called upon to do, as Pinkie Pie made purchases or hired subcontractors.

Had it been anypony else, she would have been suspicious of being cheated, but she couldn’t in her wildest imaginations consider that the Element of Honesty herself would indulge in any price-gouging, or let anypony from her family do so. Pinkie Pie certainly wouldn’t, either; in fact, Pinkie seemed to be going all-out, which was worrisome, though not financially so. Though she wasn’t normally a meticulous pony, Pinkie had been keeping records of her outlay. Even as the weeks ground on and she purchased more and more decorations and hired entertainment, she still seemed almost to be struggling to actually spend all of her budget.

Finally, it had all become a blur, between the preparations and the various social and other events they had prior commitments to; the Sisterhooves Social had come up on them almost as if they’d forgotten about it. Twilight had only remembered about it when Spike asked if she’d decided not to go, on the day of the Social, and she had only barely managed to teleport out to Sweet Apple Acres in time to witness the race.

It had been short, but fairly spectacular, with a race layout which she was told was basically the same as the previous year’s run, but with the obstacles in different places and a few having been altered slightly. Having learned how important the race was to her younger sister, Rarity no longer balked at it, and had instead turned up in a wide-brimmed lace hat she had fashioned just for the occasion, with a matching hat for her sister.

The assembled sisters had charged from the starting line to a wall of crates, two thick on the bottom with one sitting in the middle on top; most ponies had simply gone over it by climbing; Applejack propelled Apple Bloom up and over by spinning and bucking her sister, who had jumped, their rear hooves striking one another and sending the light filly flying, then Applejack herself had climbed over; Rarity, on the other hoof, simply leapt to the top of the middle crate and pulled Sweetie Belle up behind her, and they had charged on together.

Apple Bloom had a commanding lead over the rest of the pack reaching the next obstacle, having been launched directly to it by her sister’s mighty buck, collecting her chicken egg and balancing it on her nose as she went toward the collection basket, but she stumbled and shattered it on the ground just as she reached the basket. Turning back, she reached the eggs just as the rest of the pack did. Sweetie Belle and Rarity put on the best showing, collecting their two eggs between their noses and walking them together to the basket, Rarity leading and walking backwards, while Applejack and Apple Bloom put the two eggs on Apple Bloom’s shoulders and Applejack held them in place with her nose.

The pack next reached the mud trench; being flat and very wide, it was, Twilight suspected, going to be the dirt-averse Rarity’s biggest obstacle; while most of the ponies tried to leap it and failed, landing in the mud and bogging down, Applejack and Apple Bloom simply charged through side-by-side, not bogging down as much as the ponies who had leapt and sank their hooves into the bottom. Rarity surprised her; she charged through it as well, but with her horn glowing a brilliant blue, the standing mud parted in front of her, letting her run more easily, while Sweetie Belle demonstrated an almost Pinkie-like ability to simply hop over the mud on the surface. The real gainers at the mud pit, however, were a pair of Pegasi, who spread their wings and made the leap across in it’s entirety by gliding. Twilight didn’t really know their names, though she recognized them on sight; the older sister was powder-purple-coated with a mane the color of bright honey, the younger a bright-eyed filly with a mane the color of her sister’s purple coat and a powder-yellow coat of her own, roughly the color of threshed wheat.

Twilight pursed her lips; Applejack and Apple Bloom had fallen to third place, and it was primarily because the Unicorn sisters had used magic (or whatever it was that Sweetie Belle had done,) and the Pegasi had used their wings. Applejack wouldn’t take kindly to that, but Twilight hadn’t heard any rules about magic or wings being considered cheating.

They had then galloped around a long, arcing turn, returning the way whence they had come, and proceeding to the next obstacle, conveying a tightly-bound bale of hay from one line to another. Most of the groups had to stop and hoist their bales onto the elder sister’s back; Applejack and Apple Bloom had bucked theirs together, catapulting it to the second line, while Rarity and Sweetie Belle hit theirs at a full charge, embedding their horns and hefting it up into the air. Twilight was impressed at that, and the Pegasi, who seemed awfully competitive, had also employed more creative teamwork; the older sister flapped into the air, pulling into a tight loop around her bale, the vortex she generated lifting it into the air, while her sister grabbed the bale’s tight cord, tugging it toward the line.

Twilight had begun to suspect that if anypony were going to give her friends a run for the win, it would be those two; the three pairs made it half-way to the next obstacle before the other ponies had dumped their bales of hay.

The next obstacle was a doozy; a long line of baskets and metal tubs on the ground. Applejack and Rarity hit it at the same time, going in tandem, their hooves falling precisely in the center of each basket as they progressed. Twilight suspected that Rarity could have pulled ahead, being one of the most precise ponies she knew, but that Applejack was in front of her and she couldn’t get by. Their two sisters - two thirds of the self-styled Cutie Mark Crusaders - fared better, bouncing from basket to basket and tub to tub, weaving back and forth with only a half-jump between them. The pegasi sisters hit the obstacle just after the two fillies did, and simply went over it, the older sister lifting her younger and flapping up and above the whole obstacle.

They took the lead, passing over the obstacle and touching down ahead of Applejack’s exit from the field of baskets, and reached the next obstacle; apple tossing, where one sibling had to hurl apples from a bench while the other caught them in a bushel. The older sibling deposited her filly sister on the wing, and landed next to the bushel; she picked it up, rearing up, while the younger sister took aim and started to let fly, hefting the apples individually and chucking them like balls with her hoof.

Then her friends cleared the obstacle field, and ran up to the apple-throwing bench. They were slowed again; the older sisters were evidently going to pitch, with the fillies catching, but both pairs of sisters had evidently had a similar idea; Applejack spun and bucked her bench, sending the applies flying, while Rarity leapt on the end of her bench opposite the pile of apples, outward of the bench’s legs, catapulting them up and over her body. Both of the members of the Cutie Mark Crusaders hefted the bushels onto their heads and caught the whole load of apples at once, setting them down and breaking into a gallop, their older siblings pulling up next to them, with the pegasi still in the lead, though it was a diminishing lead.

Rounding the last corner, the two groups came to the third-to-last obstacle; pies. Evidently all six ponies in the lead pack were both famished and feeling fiercely competitive, as six pies disappeared in one gulp that made Twilight wince to behold, the obstacle effectively being a speed bump to none of them. The second-to-last, however, was another matter; the grape vats from the year before having been replaced with the Apple family’s hoof-powered cider press.

There was only one press, but three teams reached it at the same time. As Twilight tried to work out the logistics of it, they became apparent; Applejack, the elder Pegasus sister, and Apple Bloom leapt upon the conveyor belt that drove the massive stone crusher wheel; Sweetie Belle and Rarity delivered apples from the bushels nearby to the press’s crushing wheel via the chute, with Rarity’s eye for quality picking out the good apples and heaving the bad ones into a ditch, and the Pegasus filly worked the tap, quickly lining up and filling three barrels.

The crusher must have already been mostly-filled, Twilight thought, to have filled three barrels so fast, and she suspected it was. Still, she was glad that none of the teams decided to declare the first barrel filled “theirs” and gallop on; all three had worked to fill the three barrels, then charged onward to the last stretch; a straight-line dash to the finish.

Applejack took the lead quickly, but her sister, however athletic she was, wasn’t a match for Applejack in a straight-line gallop, if only because her legs were too short, so Apple Bloom repeated her trick from the practice run that Applejack had taken with Twilight, leaping straight up onto her older sibling’s back and crowing out a triumphant “Yeeeee haw!” as Applejack broke into a flat gallop, her ponytailed mane and tail flying behind her. The pegasi siblings and the unicorns broke into a rough neck-and-neck gallop, neither of those fillies having too much trouble keeping up with their older siblings.

It seemed as if Applejack and Apple Bloom were going to take it, when Rarity did something unexpected; she bent down and slid her head under Sweetie Belle’s body, then lunged, catapulting her sister up and ahead, at the cost of falling flat on the ground herself. Catapulted up and ahead, Sweetie Belle landed just over the line, just ahead of the Apple sisters; the Pegasi pulled in together, and Rarity brought up the rear, just as the next set of sisters was reaching the cider press.

Twilight had cheered, though she couldn’t remember who for, if anypony; someone sounded a loud whistle at the same time, and the exaltation of the finale so strong she felt as if the very earth were shaking under her, yet nopony else seemed to be bothered by the earthquake.

In fact, the earth under was moving - or rather, the bunk under her was moving. “Twilight?” It was definitely Applejack’s distinctive twang, and blearily, Twilight Sparkle blinked herself awake. She was in a rocking bunk; the whistle she had heard was a train whistle, and she was onboard the train that would take them to Canterlot for the Grand Galloping Gala.

Gasping, she looked up; her friend was standing in front of her bunk. “Applejack? Is she okay?” In sharp contrast to Applejack’s twang and drawl, Rarity’s voice was in a high-class, cultured accent that seemed to be unique to Rarity alone. Applejack turned to nod to Rarity, as the white pony walked into view. “Goodness, Twilight,” Rarity said, reaching up and placing a hoof gently on her forehead. “We’re here, it’s okay, there’s no need to scream.”

She blinked; they both seemed worried about her. “Um... I was screaming?” Applejack nodded. “Y’all woke Fluttershy up, screamin’ for Rarity an’ me. She ran up to the cars we was in to get us.”

Twilight blushed, slightly. “Uh... I did? Sorry,” she apologized, slowly pushing the blanket off her body and leaning her head off the side of the bunk. “I, um... Sorry,” she murmured. “I was dreaming.”

“Well, what could you have been dreaming about that made you need Rarity an’ me in such a great gallopin’ hurry, sugarcube?” “Applejack seemed bemused; Rarity, relieved. “I...” She chuckled, softly. “I wasn’t screaming for you, I was cheering for you. I was dreaming about the Sisterhooves Social.” She frowned. “Funny, I can’t remember who won. I remember you two, your sisters, and two pegasi hitting the finish line, but I can’t remember what came after that.”

Rarity blushed and looked away; Applejack coughed. “Uh... Well, see, about that...” “It was you, wasn’t it,” Twilight asked. “You and Apple Bloom crossed the line first, right?” “Well, we sort-of did do that, strictly speaking, though Sweetie Belle got there just ahead of us.” “Oh... So Rarity and Sweetie Belle took the blue ribbon?” “Not... Exactly,” Rarity demurred, scuffing her hoof on the carpet. “I got Sweetie Belle over the line first, but I was the sixth pony across the line.” “So... What happened,” Twilight asked, blinking. “Did those pegasi take it?” “Nnnnno, they didn’t, neither,” Applejack said, and sighed. “Granny Smith disqualified the lot of us.”

“All of you? All six of you?” Applejack nodded glumly, and Rarity looked guilty. “Yeah,” Applejack said, sounding embarrassed. “She reckoned we’d all done cheated an obstacle; Rarity when she used her magic to make the mud jump out of her way, Cloud Kicker when she picked up Alula and flew over the baskets, an’ me when I carried Apple Bloom for the hoofrace.”

Rarity sighed, sadly. “Sweetie Belle was quite cross with me for not wanting to get dirty so much that I cheated... Honestly, I didn’t think we’d be disqualified, or I would’ve just gone through,” she said with a sad sigh.

“Wow,” Twilight said, blinking, sitting on the gently-rocking floor. “I’m... Well, I’m sorry,” she said. “If none of you won, who did,” she curiously asked. “Welp,” Applejack said, “Golden Harvest and her sister Noi pulled into the finish line neck-and-neck with Berry Punch and Pina Colada, so Granny named all four of ‘em the first-place winners,” she murmured. “Fair’s fair, I guess.”

Twilight nodded her head; though she was still sleepy, and yawned involuntarily in doing so. When she looked back, she pursed her lips. “I wonder why I can’t remember it,” she said with a frown, and Applejack chuckled. “You don’t remember?” Twilight shook her head, and Rarity chuckled. “You saw us cross the finish line and turned around to run all the way back to town, Twilight. I think you had wanted to see Pinkie Pie for something.”

“I did? Oh, wow. Sorry...” Twilight yawned again, and rubbed her eyes with her hooves, then looked back up, blinking. “The last month has been kind of...” “Crazy? I’ll say.” Applejack sat on the floor of the train car, and gestured forward on the train. “I got so much o’ my kin on this train that it’s like an Apple Family Reunion all over again. Rainbow Dash is just about comatose, she’s been flying all over Equestria so long and so hard, she hasn’t even woken up from us talkin’ or the hooplah you were makin’ earlier.” Applejack gestured again with her hoof, pointing to a bunk above and forward from the one Twilight had been sleeping in, and Twilight saw the tip of a distinctive rainbow-hued tail sticking out from a lump of sheets, without even any snoring issuing from above. “Rarity and Fluttershy have been working night and day to deal with their normal stuff and get our dresses made.”

Twilight thought back on it, but she couldn’t actually remember what the new dresses looked like; she couldn’t remember if she had forgotten to actually look, or if she had been in such a hurry over the last month that she only stopped in long enough to speak with Rarity. The white unicorn looked both tired, but proud, and Twilight supposed that meant they were finished. “So... They’re all finished?” Rarity nodded. “Every last one! Fluttershy and I were putting the finishing touches on ours last night.” She smiled, sleepily, peering at Twilight. “I think you’re going to love the way you look in the one we made for you.”

“That sounds great,” Twilight said; after the disaster preceding the first Grand Galloping Gala she had attended, with the dresses on which Rarity had done absolutely everything the rest of her friends had suggested and wound up creating monstrosities only the ponies who had dreamt them up could love, she had learned to trust Rarity’s keen eye and judgement in matters of fashion. “When can we see them?”

Rarity laughed softly, and reached up, pushing her hoof into Twilight’s nose. “When we’re ready to get into them. I want this to be a surprise.” “Okay, okay.” Twilight yawned, as Rarity climbed into a bunk. “Where’s Pinkie?” “Up front with the musicians, I suspect. she’s got two whole car packed just full o’ decorations, and another packed full of the music. She’s takin’ up nearly as much o’ the train as my kin an’ all our assorted apples.”

Twilight groaned, and leaned the front of her body over the edge of her bunk, pushing her saddlebags open with her hoof. “She went overboard, didn’t she? All I remember was trying to make sure she didn’t do anything that the Canterlot crowd would think was too juvenile and that she didn’t go overbudget.” She telekinetically lifted her ledger from the saddlebags, flipping it past Applejack’s page of the budget - which was basically a promissory note signing the entire catering budget over to Sweet Apple Acres to hire her entire extended clan of farming and food experts. She knew that no matter how much Applejack may complain about ‘fancy mathematics,’ it was a front to maintain her country filly status; her older brother may have owned Sweet Apple Acres, but it was Applejack’s keen business mind that managed it, and the responsible orange Earth Pony could be entrusted wholly with minding the money.

Pinkie Pie’s section of the ledger, on the other hoof, was several pages long, and full of itemized lists, with itemized sub-lists. She blinked at that; it looked organized and neat, it was her own writing. It swam back to her; she had been running around so often, primarily because she was running to Pinkie Pie to make sure the pink-coated Earth Pony hadn’t gone overboard. She flipped down to the last page. “Wow. She spent every last bit... And not a penny overbudget.”

“Well, she did swear to you she wouldn’t go overbudget,” Applejack said with a chuckle, and set her own saddlebags on the floor. “Here, try this, Twi. You must be hungry.” She lifted a box out of them and set it on the bunk Twilight had vacated; opening it revealed a dozen flat miniature cakes, donuts, really, but with elegant frosting around the rims, and a slice of Zap Apple sitting on the top. Twilight levitated one, and took a bite out of it; the cake shell was vanilla, but inside was rich, creamy zap apple frosting. She swallowed it down, and blinked.

“Wow. That’s...” She grinned at the flavors lingering on her tongue. “Amazing. I didn’t even know you could make zap apples into frosting!” “Neither did I,” Applejack said with a laugh. “I realized early on that even with all my kin working together, none of us had all that much experience fancifying things to the tastes of royalty. So I subcontracted the Cakes and Pony Joe to help us figure out ways to make our apples - which you know darn well are the best eatin’ for hundreds o’ miles - into the best lookin’ eatin’ they can be. They, um... Well, they took to the job, all right. I think the Apple family repertoire is gettin’ expanded once all is said and done.”

Twilight laughed, and plucked the slice of fresh Zap Apple off the top of the cake, biting down on it, her eyes closing at the fresh, sweet, multiflavored taste of the magical fruit, swallowing it down. “I think they’re going to love it,” she said with a sleepy grin, and finished off the rest of the pastry. She handed the box back to Applejack, who tucked it safely back into her saddlebag. “I guess I should go see what Pinkie Pie’s done with my own eyes, huh?” “Couldn’t hurt,” Applejack agreed. “If you’re not too sleepy.” “I can sleep on the ride home,” Twilight declared, and sighed. “Or on the ride there. We’ve got a few hours, right?” “Yep. We just pulled out o’ the station a little while ago. C’mon.” Applejack turned and led Twilight forward on the rocking train, as Rarity climbed into a bunk with a yawn.

Sleepily, Twilight slid out of the bunk and followed her friend, though she felt leaden and weak, moving slow and carefully planting each of her hooves as she followed Applejack to the front of the caboose. Applejack jumped between the shaking train cars easily, but Twilight balked, blinking a few times, squeezing her eyes shut and watching the lamp-lit gap between the rocking platforms at the ends of the cars.

“Twi? Y’all okay?” She blinked, and looked up at her earnest friend, who was sitting on the platform at the end of the next car, off to the side. “U-um... I... I just...” “Twi, that gap is shorter’n you are.” “I know.” She could easily have stood with her forelegs on the passenger car ahead of them and her hindlegs on the caboose. “I just...”

“Y’all are exhausted, Twi. You sure you don’t wanna crawl back inta bed?” “More than anything,” Twilight admitted, sitting down and lowering her head from her friend’s gaze, looking at the gap. “But I don’t think I’ll get any sleep without seeing what Pinkie’s done.”

Applejack chuckled, wearily, and leaned up, placing her forelegs atop the railing. “Alright. Jus’ sit there. Close yer eyes, and take a deep, long breath.” Twilight did as she was told, holding her breath in for several long seconds, before letting it out. “Y’all are gettin’ yer strength back, right? That cake I gave you should give y’all a good jolt o’ energy.”

“I’m pretty sure it takes longer than two minutes for energy from a donut to metabolize,” Twilight said, with a weary chuckle, and Applejack chuckled back. “Are you? That’s funny, ‘cause y’alls ears are perkin’ up.”

Opening her eyes, Twilight blinked; suddenly the gap, which had seemed so long and dangerous before was nothing, and she smiled. “It was probably the breathing technique,” she murmured, even as she climbed back to her hooves, and took a step back, then jumped over the gap, landing cleanly beside Applejack, clearing the platform’s edge by a good leg’s length.

“Twi’, I am worried about you. Y’all have been running yerself harder’n I’ve seen you run yourself in a while.” Applejack pushed her hoof into Twilight’s nose, and Twilight’s eyes crossed as she looked down the orange mare’s leg as Applejack booped her nose. “I’ll take y’all forward to see Pinkie, but then you promise me you go back and get at least six more hours o’ sleep, y’hear?”

Twilight nodded. “Y-yeah. I will.” “Good. Don’t make me ask Big Mac to loan you Smartpants to get you back to sleep.”

She blushed lightly at the mention of her childhood doll, which Big Macintosh had walked off with after the disastrous incident in which she had caused a riot by casting a “Want it, Need it” spell on the ragged old doll. “Th-that won’t be necessary,” she assured Applejack, who smiled back at her. “Good! Now get up, let’s go.”

The next car did, indeed, look like an Apple Family reunion; Twilight hadn’t seen so many Apples in one place since the first day she had arrived in Ponyville; Big Mac himself was to the right of the door when Applejack opened it, curled up on the floor instead of laying in one of the benches, next to the heater at the end of the car on a woolen mat. Looking down at him, Twilight saw that he was indeed laying mostly atop her old doll, few would have suspected him of having it without careful observation. She wondered why a grown stallion would want it, but decided his reasons were his own and not for her to pry into.

The car was packed full of Apples, but the only fruit in sight was to be found on flanks; evidently the food cargo was in another car. Twilight looked side to side as they passed through the car; ponies were laid out in the benches, with a few laying in the aisle beside someone. Most were sound asleep, but at the far end of the car was an older stallion with an earth-toned coat and snow-white beard, mane, tail, and moustache, wearing a green coat and a green hat with a feather pinned to it by a pin in the shape of an apple, reading a newspaper under the lantern. Applejack and Twilight drew near to him, and he turned the page.

“Er... Beg pardon, uncle,” Applejack whispered as they drew alongside his seat, “But oughtn’t you be sleepin’?” “Sleep?” He let out a quiet snort. “When you get to be my age, you realize you don’t have too much time left to waste sleepin’. I’ll sleep when I’m dead. Or dead tired, whichever comes first.” He flashed an irascible grin at them. “Why aren’t you asleep, mmmh?” “Ah... Well, Twilight here was hollarin’ for me in th’ caboose, so Fluttershy came an’ got me.”

“Mmmmmh. All right.” He smiled. “Go do whatever you two fillies need to do, but get back inta bed ‘afore you’re too awake to fall back asleep.” He took the feather from his cap, revealing it to be a cleverly-concealed quill, circled an article in his newspaper, and laid down, closing his eyes.

Twilight couldn’t help but smile, slightly, even though it made her feel a little sad. Applejack had an enormous extended clan; the Apple family was huge, and that wasn’t even counting the branches of the family who had taken on the names of other fruits, such as the Oranges of Manehattan. How she kept them all straight in her head, Twilight didn’t know; she would have needed a ledger with a genealogical tree to keep it all straight.

“Bit fer yer’ thoughts, Sugarcube?” Applejack had turned around, and Twilight found herself shaken from her reverie by Applejack’s face so near her own, and she blinked, smiling. “Sorry. I was just thinking about how big your family is... I’ve hardly got any family, really. I only know of my parents and my big brother and my sister-in-law... Heck, my friends in Ponyville outnumber my actual kin.”

Applejack smiled, and reached up a hoof again, crinkling Twilight’s nose. “That’s okay, sugarcube,” she whispered, leaning to the side and sliding her head alongside Twilight’s, nuzzling her cheek to cheek. “You’re from Ponyville now, an’ that means y’all have a family in all of us. An’ y’all are my best friends, too, so if y’all or any o’ our friends need a clan to call on, y’all’ve got the Apples. See? You needed us, and here we are.” Applejack gestured with her hoof behind Twilight, and Twilight closed her eyes, sitting in the aisle. It drew Applejack forward, as she’d expected, and Twilight raised her forelegs, wrapping them around Applejack’s neck and shoulders.

As expected, the Earth Pony stepped into the hug, wrapping her extended limb around Twilight’s shoulders in response, and Twilight sighed as she was embraced in turn. “Even though I’m a Unicorn?” “Even though.” Applejack leaned her head up, nudging Twilight’s horn with her nose, whilst grinning. “Nopony’s perfect, after all, but you’re one of mine, all the same.”

She knew it was just teasing, and Twilight sighed happily, squeezing Applejack a little tighter. “Thanks, AJ. I just wish I could remember everypony’s name.” Applejack let go, and grinned. “You’ll get it straight in your head if you spend time with ‘em. This here’s uncle Apple Strudel, fer instance,” she said, stepping back and gesturing with her head at the older stallion they’d spoken with for a moment. “Uncle, this is... Er... Uncle?” He was snoring softly, laid out on the bench, and Applejack’s face took on an expression of mirth. “Out like a light. C’mon, let’s go see what’s going on up front.”

They crossed to the next car, which was piled with cargo, with hardly any space to move through it; all of it was pre-loaded in large wagons which had been tied down, with extra bulk cargo hanging from the ceiling, in sturdy rope nets. It was very cold in the car, and probably intentionally so, so as to preserve the cargo. Twilight shivered, as they walked through the car, and chuckled. “Cold in here, huh?” “Yep. Don’t you recall enchantin’ the car to make it stay cold?” “Er... No, I don’t.” “Well, your ledger’s checklist says you did.” Applejack smiled. “I double-checked it when I found y’all and Fluttershy passed out.”

Twilight nodded, looking around. “Say, I was almost expecting to see Apple Bloom in there somewhere.” “Oh, me too. I haven’t seen her all day, though. I suspected she might’ve tried to sneak in with those fillyfriends of hers, but I checked all th’ cargo myself.”

“Huh... Do you think she’s upset that she didn’t get an invite?” “Probably,” Applejack admitted. “I kinda feel bad about leavin’ her outta all this - even without th’ party, she’d love havin’ all us Apples around, but if we’d brought her, there’s no way Rarity’d have been able to talk Sweetie Belle out o’ comin’.”

Twilight nodded. “And where two of the Cutie Mark Crusaders are to be found, you’re going to find all three.” “Yeah, and when all three of those rascals get together...” Applejack paused at the far end of the car, chuckling. “Well, it would certainly be an interestin’ night, for sure.”

Twilight shook her head, trying to imagine the havok the Cutie Mark Crusaders would wreak on the Grand Galloping Gala, and unable to stifle a snicker. “Oh boy. It would be a disaster. All those stuffy, stuck up, stodgy old ponies from Canterlot and Manehattan and all over, with those three running around?”

She couldn’t help but giggle. “I might like to attend that party, but the Princess would probably exile us.” “Naw. After last year, I get the feeling she’ll be happy so long as the night don’t involve arson, anarchy, or revolution. A stampede o’ the Cutie Mark Crusaders might be just what would make her night.”

Applejack opened the door, and Twilight followed her out, giggling as she hopped to the next car. “Probably, but the guests wouldn’t like it. It would make the Princess look bad, and she kind of did tell me to make her look good.”

“Do y’all think she was expecting you to hire us all?” “Knowing her?... Probably. Thinking back on it, that’s probably what she had in mind when she gave me the job, instead of, say, Cadance, or Shining Armor, or Princess Luna.” “Well then.” Applejack grinned, and pushed open the next car’s door. The next car was also full of food; beyond that was a car full of boxes of assorted things, but she spied Pinkie Pie’s infamous Party Cannon sitting in the corner, having been shined and polished for the occasion, and seemingly fitted with a new carriage with masterfully-carved wheels. She felt the urge to touch it, but thought better of it; like most things built by Pinkie Pie, it could only be fully understood by Pinkie Pie, and for some reason it seemed primed to blow at any moment, even when it was seemingly unarmed, and without the fuse being lit.

“I guess this is the decoration car, huh?” “I reckon. Pinkie’s been working her fluffy pink tail off fer th’ last month, you know.” Twilight nodded. “I know. That’s... What worries me.” “Awh, give her some credit, Twi’, she’s been takin’ this seriously. Well, as seriously as Pinkie Pie can take somethin’ without her mane goin’ all straight.”

Twilight nodded. “Even so... Well, it’s Pinkie Pie we’re talking about. Her last appearance at the Grand Galloping Gala wasn’t exactly a spectacular hit.” “Awh... Well, I do admit, that has me worried a bit too, but.... Well, you double-checked everything, right?” “I did,” Twilight admitted. “But honestly, I’m not sure if I remember half of it.” She focused her eyes, causing her horn to glow and shed light, with which she read the label of a particularly large box with a shiny black finish. “Property of DJ Pon-3.” Twilight narrowed her eyes. “I don’t remember... Wait... Two-toned blue mane? White coat? Unicorn with purple shaded glasses?”

Applejack nodded. “I reckon I remember her from Princess Cadance’s wedding an’ Rarity’s fashion show awhile back. Pinkie mentioned she’d taken care of the music.”

Twilight sighed, sitting on her rump, putting her foreleg over her eyes. “Er... Twi?” “I need to trust Pinkie Pie, you’re right, but... She hired a DJ? Really? For the Grand Galloping Gala, where they’re used to a live orchestra?”

“Well... Look, I reckon the Princess had to know that you were gonna turn to all of us fer’ help, right? And from your circle o’ friends, who’s the first pony you’re gonna turn to for help throwin’ a party?”

“Pinkie,” Twilight said without a moment’s hesitation. “But -” “No buts, sugarcube.” Applejack shushed her by placing her hoof over Twilight’s mouth. “Pinkie is the first and last stop when it comes to throwing a party in Ponyville, and a Gala’s nothin’ but a fancy-pants shindig. Whatever Pinkie’s done, it’s probably gonna be absurd.” Twilight nodded, and Applejack continued, “And whatever Pinkie’s done, it’s probably gonna be over-the-top. But she knew what she was gettin’ into, and she looked you in the eye and promised you she’d throw one fancy-pants party to rock Canterlot to its foundation, right?”

Twilight nodded again, and Applejack smiled. “Well then, what are you worryin’ about? The worst that can happen is that a bunch of old sticks-in-the-mud don’t like it, but the Princess will. And at the end of the day, it’s the Princess we need to worry about havin’ a good time. If a bunch of old sticks-in-the-mud hate it, and the Princess loves it, they can feel free to uninvite themselves next year, and the Princess can throw herself another shindig with a bunch of ponies she’s going to enjoy havin’ ‘round, right?”

“I... Think the Canterlot social scene is a little more complex than that,” Twilight murmured, though she felt she was hopelessly inept at navigating it. Rarity could probably talk their ears off about the hows and whys it was a terrible idea to risk offending the high society ponies of Canterlot, but Twilight was too worn-out to care. “I guess, in the end, you’re right.” She smiled up at Applejack. “The only ponies I care about having a good time here are my friends, the Princesses, and your family. If the ponies of Canterlot like it, then they can enjoy their first Pinkie Party. If they don’t, well, then they need to lighten up.” She giggled softly, and stood up, leading the way forward, pushing through the stacks of equipment and supplies, as Applejack followed her, chuckling. “There you go, Twi.” “I’m just too tired to care about anypony who could be so mean-spirited as to hate on a Pinkie Party,” Twilight affirmed with a soft giggle, and a yawn, opening the door and jumping to the next car. “That’s the spirit, sugarcube.” Applejack landed next to her, and nudged her with her whole body.

Twilight turned back to the door, but it opened on its own before she could, and Twilight found herself staring into the bright pink face of Pinkamena Diane Pie; bright blue eyes seemingly perfectly alert despite the unholiness of the hour, her mane curly and bouncy. “Oh! That’s convenient, we were just coming to see you!”

How Pinkie could be so chipper at such a wrong hour to be bright-eyed and alert was a mystery Twilight doubted she could solve even with years of research in libraries of ancient lore. Still, she smiled. “Well, Pinkie, we’re here,” she affirmed, as she leaned her head to the side; she doubted that Pinkie had started referring to herself in the plural, and was proved right when she saw Fluttershy, sleepy-eyed but awake, behind Pinkie. Beyond the two of them was another carful of ponies, though this time most of them she recognized as Ponyville residents. She also smelled the wafting scent of coffee, and saw Joe, aka Pony Joe, aka Donut Joe, standing beside a carafe on a cart, which was laden high with cups and donuts; Twilight saw more of the special donuts Applejack had given her one of, and several others; while the multi-colored hue of Zap Apples was prevalent, it wasn’t all-encompassing.

Coffee could have been the secret of Pinkie’s chipper smile; she hadn’t known Pinkie to turn down anything offered, but somehow, she doubted the coffee could do much compared to the simple, boundless energy of Pinkie Pie. “Why were you looking for us, Pinkie?”

Twilight stepped to the side as the bright pink mare stepped out onto the car’s end-platform, and Fluttershy followed her, closing the door and leaving the four of them standing close together in the lamp-light of the railcar’s end platform. Pinkie smiled. “Well, Fluttershy came forward to get Rarity from the car with everypony from Ponyville, and after Rarity headed back to see you, she told me how you woke her up screaming for Applejack and Rarity. We talked about it for a while, and we decided if something was wrong, then it must have needed all of us!”

Twilight smiled, sleepily. “Really? That’s... Thanks, Pinkie.” “After we had a cup of Pony Joe’s coffee and a donut, of course. Don’t want to head out on a midnight adventure on an empty stomach!” The pink mare reached back, rubbing her belly with her foreleg, and Twilight couldn’t help but laugh. “Of course not. But it’s okay.” She reached up, patting Pinkie’s bouncy, coiled mane. “There’s no emergency. I was just having a bad dream.” She yawned. “Actually, I was just getting up to take one last look at everything you arranged.”

“Oh! Well, okie-dokie-lokie!” Pinkie grinned, and darted back into the cabin, returning with her saddlebags, brandishing a ledger, with a pencil behind her ear. “I kept track of everything, just like you asked.” She coughed into her hoof, and started to run the tip of it down the list. “The first thing I did was buy three thousand yards of silver tinsel, followed by - mmmmfh?”

Twilight cut her off, placing her hoof on Pinkie’s muzzle and pushing in, crinkling her nose. “It’s okay, Pinkie. I don’t need to double-check your work.” “You... Don’t?” Pinkie looked at her in confusion, and Twilight shook her head. “No, Pinkie. On the way up here, Applejack reminded me that you’re all my best friends. I didn’t double-check her work on the food, I haven’t hovered over Rarity’s shoulder while she was making our dresses... I shouldn’t have hovered over yours, either. I trusted you to do this, so I shouldn’t have harassed you as much as I did.”

“Harassed me?” Pinkie beamed. “You haven’t harassed me, Twilight.” She put her ledger away. “Besides, you know how coco-loco I can get on my own. Remember when I asked you if you thought the Princess would like the rodeo clowns, if we dressed them all up in silver or like historical ponies?”

“Ah.... Well,” Twilight murred, thinking back on it. Reflecting, she thought the Princess might get a chuckle out of such entertainment. “Celestia might have thought it was funny, but it probably wouldn’t have gone over too well with the guests.” “Or when I thought about hiring a racing team from the Griffon Kingdoms to put on a show against the Wonderbolts?”

Twilight chuckled. “That might have gone better... Why did I say no to that one?” “You didn’t. You just kind of waved your hoof like you didn’t think there was anything particularly terrible about it. I wrote them, but they quoted a price that was too high. It was them, or the music, and it’s just not a party without music.”

Twilight blinked, and nodded, as Pinkie explained her reasoning for nixing what might have been a good act. It was well-reasoned and surprisingly sensible. “I... Huh.” “What? Did you think I’d just go coco-loco and do everything that popped into my head and run overbudget and need to get Applejack to give me some of her catering bill to cover it?”

“Well, honestly...” Twilight drooped her head. “Sorry, Pinkie. I shouldn’t have doubted you.” “Well, I did,” Pinkie admitted, and Applejack chuckled. “Yep! She ran thirty-three bits overbudget, so I covered her.”

“Thirty-three bits? That’s... not much,” Twilight said, looking up, and Pinkie frowned. “I know, I’m sorry, Twilight. I’ll pay it back just as soon as I can, next month. Promise.” “It’s not much, Pinkie, don’t you sweat it none.” “What was it for,” Twilight asked, and Pinkie’s ears drooped. “I feel bad about it, because it wasn’t, strictly, for the Gala,” her friend admitted. “But I’ve been so busy organizing the entertainment and decorations, I haven’t been able to do anything at Sugarcube Corner. The Cakes let me stay above their shop, but because I wasn’t able to get any work done this month, I didn’t have the rent money.”

Twilight blinked, frowning, reaching up to stroke Pinkie’s coat as what she said sunk in. “Wait... You didn’t have any money for your rent?” “I had twenty-seven bits left in my piggybank, but my rent’s sixty a month. So...” She sighed, and Twilight blinked again. “Wait, Pinkie... You didn’t put any of the entertainment budget aside to pay yourself?”

Pinkie shook her head. “I didn’t think of it at first, and when I was in the middle of it, I started to wonder how much was appropriate. But when I got to last week, I couldn’t make my mind up. I didn’t want to look greedy, and I wanted to help you give the Princess the best gala we possibly could. I forgot about the rent altogether until the twenty-first, a day after it’s usually due. I couldn’t decide what to knock off the list, so...” Her ears drooped. “I’m sorry. I went overbudget.”

Twilight couldn’t help herself, she leaned up and wrapped her forelegs around Pinkie’s shoulders, hugging her tight. “Pinkie, you... Oh, Pinkie. It’s okay.” She laid her head atop Pinkie’s crest, and the pink Earth Pony closed her eyes, raising her neck back into Twilight’s head. “It’s my fault, too. I was checking your numbers, I should have caught that and asked you where your salary was. You’ve paid everypony except yourself and that’s just so... So selfless, so giving and.. So Pinkie of you.”

Twilight couldn’t see it, but by the way Pinkie’s mane seemed to fluff up under her head, she was certain the vibrantly-colored mare was beamingly smiling. On the other side of her, Fluttershy had lain down on the platform, listening to them speak but not interjecting - or possibly she had fallen asleep on the gently-rocking train, despite the loud clatter and clanking of the trucks on the rails. Applejack took on a big-eyed look, and she laid her hoof on the Pinkie’s back. “Shoot, sugarcube, y’all didn’t tell me it was for your rent.” She shook her head. “You don’t have to pay me back a bit o’ it, girl, just go ahead and don’t worry a hair in your mane about it.”

“But, Applejack,” Pinkie said, looking up, and Applejack shook her head, putting her hoof down. “But nothin’. A friend ain’t gonna let a friend get turned out in the street. ‘Sides, technically, I am employin’ yer employers this month. We’ve all been tied up for the same event.” “That’s true,” Pinkie admitted, bobbing her head. “Applejack has been in and out of Sugarcube Corner all month, experimenting with the Cakes and other professionals they sub-subcontracted with, like Bon Bon, to make Zap Apples into hard candy and keep their flavor stripes intact.”

“Bon Bon?” Pinkie’s ears perked up. “You hired Bon Bon?” Applejack nodded. “Well, it was the Cakes’ idea, but I signed off on it, so yeah. Why?” “Because I hired Lyra.” Pinkie giggled, in Twilight’s embrace, and Twilight smiled, letting her go. “She and Vinyl Scratch have been working to electrify the music. It’s gonna be Pinkie Keen!” She grinned, and Twilight blinked. “Oh boy. You gave yourself a singing role in the entertainment, didn’t you?”

Pinkie’s grin couldn’t possibly have gotten any physically wider, but Twilight swore that it did, and she sighed. “Okay... How bad can it be?” “Uh... Are you rememberin’ Appleloosa, Twi’?” Twilight winced as Applejack reminded her, and Pinkie shook her head. “No, no, I swear, this is much better than ‘You Got to Share, You Got to Care’.” Pinkie grinned. “I’ve had time to work on this one, instead of coming up with it on the spur of the moment.”

Twilight took in a breath to voice a reservation, then let it out again, smiling. “Alright.” She grinned. “After all, we have to trust each other, right?” She poked Pinkie’s shoulder with her hoof. “I’m sure it’ll be great, Pinkie.” “Okie-Dokie-Lokie!” Pinkie bounced, leaping from the platform she was on to the cargo car behind it. “You wanna hear a recording Vinyl Scratch and I made a few days ago?”

Twilight shook her head, as she gathered her hooves under her and followed Pinkie, opening the door telekinetically and leading the way. “No, that’s okay, Pinkie. I’m sure it’s great.” She yawned, as she lit and lead the way through the cargo. “Honestly... I just want to go back to the caboose and go to sleep.” “That sounds like fun, too!” Pinkie leapt over her, and dashed forward. “Follow me!”

“P-Pinke! Wait up, y’all! Don’t jus’ crash through the second t’last car!” Pinkie pulled ahead of them, and Twilight sighed. “Do you have the energy to chase her?” “Nope. Fluttershy, do you feel like jumpin’ off the side an’ catchin’ up to her?” “N-Not really,” the shy Pegasus answered. “That doesn’t sound very safe, an-and I’m kind of tired.”

“I guess we’ll just have to deal with the Apple Clan when we get there,” Twilight murmured, following Pinkie Pie through the train, Fluttershy closing the doors behind them. Amazingly, the door to the Apple family car wasn’t opened; passing through it as quietly as they could, Twilight wondered if they had somehow passed her, but when they got to the caboose, Pinkie was already curled up in the top bunk above Rarity, seemingly sound asleep. Twilight looked back to Applejack and Fluttershy, both of whom shrugged, and Applejack simply mouthed the words Pinkie Pie.

Smiling mirthfully, Twilight nodded, and mouthed back good night, before crawling back into the bunk next to her saddlebags, tugging the blanket above herself. She then lifted a parchment and her quill from her bags, telekinetically, drawing them close and beginning a letter.

Twilight set her quill back in her saddlebag, and blearily re-read the note, focusing her eyes on it despite the bunk’s warmth and the gentle rocking of the train that was sucking her closer and closer to sleep. Thinking about it carefully, she thought it might have been silly, but decided to make the decision on whether to give it to Celestia in the morning. She put it in her saddlebags and yawned, expecting to go to sleep, when something flopped into her nose.

Opening her eyes, she saw a rainbow-colored tail had flopped down from the bunk above, and smiled. “Good night, Rainbow Dash,” she whispered, nuzzling her soundly-sleeping friend’s tail, sinking into the bunk. “Goodnight, Applejack,” she whispered to the room, “And goodnight, Rarity. Goodnight, Fluttershy, and sweet dreams, Pinkie.”

Yawning again, she tugged the covers up to just under her eyes, rubbing her head into the pillow, and falling asleep quickly and deeply.

Empire of the Moon on FIMfiction.net
Table of Contents (On Google Docs)
Next Chapter: The Grand Galloping Gala

Author's Notes:

So, here we go. Trying this again, now that I've been harangued into chapterizing the story on Google Docs instead of volumizing, I can import from Google Docs. Unfortunately, the formatting is still not great, I can't for the life of me seem to get the text to left-align properly, and FIMfiction doesn't have the fonts I like.

But at least it is properly grabbing italics/horizontal bars, so that's something. But still, for the full effect, including the footnotes which FIMfiction does not properly support, I most strongly recommend you read the story as a Google document, the way it was intended to be read. (And preferably with Firefox, as some readers have reported oddities on other browsers.)