Today marked the end of the Starfall Festival. Ponies everywhere were now taking time to disassemble all the booths and decorations while still more were boarding trains to head back home. Wayfarer was filled with an odd sort of feeling as he passed by the station and saw ponies packing into the passenger cars. It had been a week since he’d arrived but it felt more like a month with all the things that had been happening. When he arrived at the schoolhouse he was quick to get back to work, and Cheerilee was quick to inquire about his state of mind.

“How did it go yesterday?” Cheerilee asked as she stowed away some of her own decorations.

“Better than I thought it would.” Wayfarer responded. “Turns out Discord’s a classically trained musician.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I was kind of surprised too.” As the students arrived, Wayfarer prepared to move out of the classroom, but not before he overheard two of the students gossiping over something.

“I heard the construction workers were heading over to Princess Twilight’s house today.” Said the pink one to her friend. “Daddy said they’ve been pretty mad about not being able to get back to work even when they’re so close to being done. I don’t see why they’re complaining, they got time off for the Starfall Festival while we still had to come into school and learn about stupid space junk. I mean, who really cares about comets anyway?”

Wayfarer rolled his eyes, shaking his head and trotting out before he heard anymore.

It seemed like Wayfarer was becoming the go to playmate of a lot of ponies these days, to the point where he started getting pulled in two different directions towards the end of recess, with one group of foals asking him to play tag and another trying to get him to help them with their homework. He tried his best to give attention to the lot of them, though for the life of him he couldn’t figure out why. It wasn’t in his job description to spend time with the students, but for some reason he couldn’t resist saying yes to them when their eyes got big and they pushed out their bottom lips.

“That’s cheating.” He thought when they first tried this on him. Eventually they returned to the school house, leaving Wayfarer alone to check the fences along the road for any loose boards.

“Hello there Wayfarer!” Came a voice from down the dirt path. Wayfarer looked up to see Celestia, in her Sunny Skies disguise, trotting up to meet him.

“Hello Sunny. How are you doing?”

“Actually, I feel rather good.” She said with a smile. “It’s been a long time since I’ve taken an actual break. And even though I’m only here because of you know what, I still can’t help but enjoy the lack of ponies rushing to me with trivial political troubles.”

“Like Taxes?”

“That seems to be the ONLY thing they seem to care about sometimes.” Celestia said. “Especially my layabout of a nephew, Prince Blueblood. When I suggested lowering taxes now that we have a surplus, his only argument against it was that it would cut into his allowance!”

“You have my sympathies.”

“Thank you. So when do you get off? Twilight is spending time with her friend Rarity, and I just got done with some business at the castle.”

“What sort of business?”

“Well I’ve decided to have Gnowee scan as much of the caverns below as possible, every day, just to make sure no one is down there. I shudder to consider the idea that our foe prevailing just because of a lack of diligence. Anyway, I was wondering if you might join me for a trip to Sugarcube Corner, I never did get to try that cake.”

“It’d be my pleasure. I’ll be done here in a few hours, I’ll meet you over there.”

“Sounds like a plan, I’ll see you later then Wayfarer.”

Cheerilee only had a few other things for Wayfarer to do after the students were released, then he was off to Sugarcube Corner. As he entered into the establishment, he immediately saw Celestia sitting in the same booth she had before, conversing with Pinkie Pie. As he approached, he caught the tail end of their conversation.

“Now I have your word you won’t tell anypony, right Pinkie?” Celestia asked.

“Of course!” Pinkie Pie almost shouted. “Cross my heart and hope to fly stick a cupcake in my eye!” Celestia couldn’t help but snort at the silly promise and gestures as Pinkie made them. “Though I don’t really know why I’d HAVE to tell anypony.” Pinkie continued. “It’s so OBVIOUS who you are! Oh! Hi Farey!”

“My name is Wayfarer.” Wayfarer said flatly as he sat down across from Celestia. “Please don’t go spreading that nickname around, I REALLY don’t like it.”

“Okey Dokey Lokey! Would you like a slice of cake too? I could whip up another lemon cake with extra icing if you want!”

“A chocolate shake would do just fine Pinkie,” Wayfarer said. Pinkie smiled and bounced back behind the counter.

“I’m wondering if I shouldn’t have the Unicorn’s Guild in Canterlot have her examined.” Celestia whispered as Wayfarer sat down. “Whenever I’m around her I can’t help but feel some sort of… unease.”

“She seems harmless enough.” Wayfarer responded. “I mean, yeah, she’s a little spooky at times. But I wouldn’t say she’s dangerous.”

“I don’t think she is either.” Celestia said with a smile. “She’s the bearer of the Element of Laughter. I don’t think she could hurt a fly.”

“I’ve been meaning to ask about that, what are ‘The Elements’? You and Twilight mentioned them the other night and I was a little confused.”

“They’re crystallized harmonious magic that bonds with a pony or ponies and then resonates with their spirits to create miracles.” Celestia said matter of factly.

“...oh. Well that makes sense. I guess.”

“They’re magic gems grown from a magic tree. Simple enough for you?”

“... grown from a Tree?”

“They’re just magic Wayfarer,” Celestia said with a chuckle. “Don’t think too hard about it.”

“Ughh… you sound like some of my old unicorn friends. Always making things sound more complex than they actually are.”

Celestia giggled at that. “Oh I could probably teach your friends a few things about magic that would make their heads spin.”

“Ooh! That sounds like a neat trick!” Pinkie Pie said as she placed a slice of cake in front of Celestia and a shake in front of Wayfarer. “You think you could show me?” Celestia and Wayfarer just stared at the confections in front of them, letting their shocked gaze slowly turn to the smiling mare beside them.

“Pinkie.” Wayfarer said. “We just ordered what we wanted only a minute ago.”

“Actually it was only about fifty three seconds!” She said excitedly.

“How did you do that?!” Celestia and Wayfarer balked at the same time.

“Well I had some practice the other day when you two came in and ordered pretty much the same thing you did now!”

“But we… you couldn’t have…” Celestia stammered.

“Thank you Pinkie.” Wayfarer said. “They look great, regardless of how creepily fast they were made.”

“Thanks Wayfarer!” Pinkie exclaimed before turning to Celestia. “So how about that head spinning trick?”

“It’s… umm, a figure of speech.”

“Ooooooooohhhhh. I thought your disguise was going to include being a magician! Though I don’t see how that would work now that I think about it. Oh! You could be the world’s first Pegasus Magician! With a magic wand and everything!”

“Pinkie, I’m just visiting, remember?” Celestia murmured through gritted teeth as she pulled Pinkie’s head and ears down. “I just wanted to keep myself hidden and right now you’re putting a wrench in that plan.” Celestia casted a few glances around her to the other patrons, some of whom were looking their way in curiosity. Pinkie looked around too and then turned back to Celestia with a more serious look on her face.

“Alright, mums the word then.” Pinkie said in whisper. “I’ll plan your ‘Welcome to Ponyville Sunny Skies’ party with the utmost discretion.”

“Thank you Pinkie… wait, what?!”

“Woops! looks like it’s break time! See you guys later!” Before Celestia could say anymore, Pinkie once more lept back behind the counter, disappearing into the kitchen.

“Really?” Celestia said as she leaned back into her seat. “Even when I’m in disguise I get thrown celebrations? That’s just… aughh!”

“I wouldn’t worry too much about it.” Wayfarer said, reaching for his shake. “She did the same thing to me, and apparently she does it to every new arrival in Ponyville.”

“You think there’d be a few ponies who wouldn’t respond well to that.” Celestia said as she dug into her cake.

“I don’t know, I haven’t asked.”

“Probably something I should ask Twilight.” Celestia spooned a large helping of cake and icing into her mouth, then her eyes went wide as dinner plates as she swallowed. “OH MY GOODNESS THIS IS AMAZING!” Wayfarer smirked at that, then started to laugh when she looked around and apologized to all the ponies that had spun around to glare at her. The two continued in silence as Wayfarer slowly drained his glass and Celestia did her best to savor every bite of her cake. Eventually she set her spoon down and gave a contented yet sorrowful sigh. “I should have just asked for the whole cake instead of just a slice.”

“Don’t you think that would have been a bit much?” Wayfarer asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

“You can’t tell me when I’ve had too much!” Celestia said in a mock angry voice before snorting into a fit of giggles. “My sister would have rolled her eyes at that. She would have told me to control myself, lest ponies start talking about how my flanks are getting bigger.” Wayfarer started to blush furiously at that and turned his gaze to look anywhere but at Celestia.
“You don’t think I’m getting fat… do you?” she said, turning her laughing face into a very serious looking one.

“I… UM…” Wayfarer stuttered.

“Oh don’t be so jumpy!” Celestia laughed. “I’m just teasing you. You can take a bit of teasing right?” Wayfarer smiled embarrassedly, nodding his head slightly as he looked over at Celestia. “There aren’t a lot of ponies I could do that to back home. Everyone’s so stuffy and straight faced. There are a few exceptions thankfully. Like Fancy Pants, he’s a famous… heh, actually, I’ve no idea WHAT he’s famous for. Just that he always shows up at the biggest of Canterlot gatherings with about twenty other ponies surrounding him.”

Celestia seemed to have fallen into reminiscing at this point.

“I finally got a chance to talk with him without anyone else butting in, and he turned out to be quite the gentlecolt. I asked if he might be interested in meeting with me again, and unfortunately another one of the party goers caught that and thought I was asking him out on a date. The next morning my sister brought me the paper and, well, you can imagine the backlash that followed.”

“I don’t get it. Are you not allowed to date or something?”

“Not with stallions who are already taken.”

“Oh… Did Fancy Pants do anything about it?”

“He did his best to try and convince ponies that it was just friendly conversation, but not even he could sway the majority of the Canterlot elite who already didn’t see me in the best of light. In the end he sent a message to me saying we shouldn’t be seen together again until the ponies of Canterlot realize how silly they’re being. This was almost a month ago, and I’m not going to lie, but getting a break from all that is refreshing to say the least. I just wish it was under better circumstances.”

“It’ll pass.” Wayfarer said with a smile. “I’m from Baltimare. I know how high and mighty some ponies can get, but I also know how fickle they can be. They’ll find something else to gossip over.”

“Hopefully. I just wonder how they got this way in the first place?”

“Lack of having to do the hard work themselves?” Wayfarer suggested. “Never learned to just go with the flow? I’d almost say take a leaf out of Discord’s book and do something spontaneous to them when they least expect it.”

“I’m not about to go that far just yet.” Celestia said with a disapproving look. “Still, a little excitement never hurt anyone, if the Grand Galloping Gala from a few years ago was any indication. And speaking of parties,” she stopped and looked over to the counter, where Pinkie Pie had disappeared earlier. “Should I go to Pinkie’s party for me?”

“Wouldn’t it be nice to be surrounded by people who aren’t rushing up to you and bowing?” Celestia hesitated for a moment before smirking and looking back at Wayfarer.

“You’re right, it would be nice to take the time to live like a regular pony. Thank you Wayfarer.”

The two continued to chat some more as evening drew near. Eventually Celestia stood and Wayfarer followed. They left Sugarcube Corner in relatively high spirits, wondering aloud just what excitement Pinkie was going to spring on ‘Sunny Skies’.

Wayfarer and Celestia walked through town on their way back to the library, all the decor and booths gone without a trace, finally giving them a good look at the place when it wasn’t lit up like Hearth’s Warming Eve. It seemed even more simple and laid back then Wayfarer had thought.

As they arrived at their destination and stepped inside, they found Twilight, Spike, and Rarity gathered around sipping at tea. Rarity looked up at them when they entered and almost choked on her drink.

“Wayfarer! There you are… and with a mare I see.”

“Don’t get too excited Rarity.” Twilight said, barely looking up from the book she had splayed out in front of her. After another sip of tea though she lifted her head up, pursing her lips in thought. “Umm… Sunny? Can we talk really quick?”

“Of course Twilight.” Celestia said as Twilight closed her book and stood. the two walked out of the front room, leaving Wayfarer, Spike, and Rarity alone.

“So who’s this lucky girl?” Rarity asked teasingly.

“A friend from Canterlot.” Wayfarer answered. “What kind of tea is that?”

Rarity’s eyes lit up at the mention of Canterlot. “Is she a pen pal or something?”

“No I only just met her. The Tea?”

“Honeybrush darling. Go on, have some and tell me about this friend of yours.”

“It’s not nice to gossip about people you haven’t met yet.” Wayfarer said as he claimed a spare cup and had Rarity poor him some of the steaming tea.

“I can’t help it. It’s in my nature.” She set the teapot down and took another sip of her own. “This wouldn’t happen to be the same mare who helped you and Twilight with Mr. Cake would it?”

“Perhaps.”

“Oh stop being so secretive.”

“Stop being so nosy.”

“Nosy!” Rarity scoffed. “I am NOT ‘nosy’! I am curious!”

“Ugghh, fine. Her name is Sunny Skies, she’s here on business, and yes she’s the mare who helped me and Twilight. Happy?”

“... Drink your tea Wayfarer. You’re becoming a little snippy.” Wayfarer snorted and took a swig of his tea. It reminded him of Earl Grey, but slightly sweeter.

“So…” Wayfarer started. “How’s Rainbow Dash doing?”

“She’s acting like a child. Insisting she hasn’t trained enough and pushing herself beyond what she’s capable of. I wouldn’t be surprised if she ends up in the hospital with a broken wing again.”

“Did she say what exactly was bugging her?”

“Not a word, only that she needs to train more. I say she’s right where she ought to be as far as the Wonderbolts are concerned. Honestly I’m surprised Spitfire hasn’t had her performing yet.” Wayfarer sighed and drank more of his tea. Celestia and Twilight came back some time later, both looking slightly uneasy.

“Rarity.” Twilight said, sitting back down. “I can go to the play with you.”

“Oh wonderful darling!” Rarity said, clapping her hooves. “I was hoping you’d say yes.”

“Play?” Wayfarer asked.

“One of my connections in Canterlot,” Rarity explained. “Managed to get some extra tickets to the first summer show of ‘Wicked’ at the Fabulous Fox Theatre! And as a way of saying thank you for giving him a bit of friendly advice about his new line of suits, he sent them to me.”

“You’re going to Canterlot?” Wayfarer asked, turning to Twilight.

“It’s only for half a day.” Twilight said quickly. “Next Saturday, I’ll leave right before lunch and be back before the sun even goes down.”

“So sorry we can’t bring you along Wayfarer.” Rarity said. “But I only have three tickets, and the third one is going to Fluttershy.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Wayfarer said. “I saw ‘Wicked’ when it went on tour last year. Besides, I think my presence will be required here in Ponyville.” Wayfarer casted a glance at Celestia, who quickly nodded to him.

“Well then I guess that’s that then.” Rarity said as she stood up. “Thank you for the lovely afternoon Twilight, remember to mark your calendar for next Saturday. Good night all.” Rarity stepped out the front door as a chorus of goodbyes followed her. Celestia shifting slightly around as she looked at Twilight.

“Is there something going on I should know about?” Spike suddenly said, reminding everyone he was there. “Or are you just going to keep hiding whatever big secret you three and Discord have going on?”

“It’s nothing you have to worry about Spike” Celestia said.

“No, but when you guys keep telling me to leave when you want to talk about it, it makes me think it has something to do with me. And if Discord’s involved, that makes me REALLY nervous.”

“It’s not about you Spike,”Twilight said. “Don’t worry.”

The days after the end of the festival seemed almost eerily quiet in Ponyville. Wayfarer chalked it up to just being too used to city life, but there was the nagging feeling in the back of his head that at any moment he’d be dragged back into some other dilemma, either at the castle or by Discord. The Draconequus in question, surprisingly enough, seemed to try and keep his requests for Wayfarer’s company infrequent, as Wayfarer had only had to go and meet with him and Fluttershy one other time during the entire week. Now the weekend had arrived and Wayfarer was almost begging for something to happen. He quickly learned that that wasn’t something you should wish for when something very pink and very excitable once again leapt in front of him while he was walking around town.

“Hi again Wayfarer!” Pinkie shouted.

“JEEZ! Oh… Hi Pinkie.” Wayfarer said as his hoof flew up to his chest to try and relax his heart. “What are you up to?”

“Making final preparations for Sunny Skies’ welcoming party.”

“Oh, you’re still doing that? I expected Twilight’s library to be party central again on Tuesday night.”

“Twilight wouldn’t let me.” Pinkie said, her ears drooping. “Said something about Sunny not needing one. And I said that that was silly and that everypony needs a Welcome to Ponyville party. But she said that Sunny wasn’t staying and I should treat her like all those ponies who came to work on the castle. Then I asked if she meant I should treat Sunny like she’s a big tuff and burly stallion and Twilight just looked at me weird and shook her head before walking away.”

“Uhhuh… So where’s the party going to be?”

“Right here!” Pinkie said, raising to her back legs and gesturing all around her self.

“Here?” Wayfarer said, looking around in confusion. “In this street?”

“No silly! Here as in here in Ponyville!”

“Well, obviously. Wouldn’t be much of a ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party if it wasn’t IN Ponyville.”

“I know right? It’d be like a ‘Welcome to the area around Ponyville that isn’t actually Ponyville’ party! Ooh! I should try that some time!”

“What I meant, Pinkie,” Wayfarer said. “Is where in Ponyville is the party going to be?”

“The better question would be, where ISN’T the party going to be! And the answer is Twilight’s house. Per Twilight’s request, the Party will happen anywhere BUT the Library!”

“So what are you going to do? Decorate the whole town? Didn’t we just have one of those parties?”

“No, I’m not allowed to cover the town in confetti and streamers again after last time. I’m just going to put Sunny up on a float and drive her all around town so that everypony can meet her! It’ll be like a parade!” Wayfarer just stood there, staring at Pinkie as she smiled at what she must have considered to be a brilliant plan.

“Pinkie,” Wayfarer said, doing his best not to slap a hoof against his face. “You do realize that ‘Sunny’ is trying to get away from that sort of thing?”

“Really? I thought Celestia was the one trying to get away from parades and stuff.”

“Well yes, but I think you’re getting a little confused Pinkie. Just ask Sunny before you try and force her into this insane idea of yours, and if she says no, then don’t push the issue. Alright?”

“Aughh! You two are such party poopers! And I thought Sunny would have liked a big crazy party thrown for her instead of those snooty ‘so-called’ parties they hold in Canterlot! That Garden Party wasn’t any fun at all!” Pinkie huffed off in annoyance, leaving Wayfarer alone in the middle of the street again, until an unfamiliar tan unicorn Stallion with messy black hair appeared next to him.

“What’s got her mane in a twist?” the stallion said, giving Wayfarer a confused look, which Wayfarer returned.

“I’m sorry,” Wayfarer said. “Do I know you?”

“Oh Wayfarer I’m hurt, how could you not recognize your bestest friend in the whole world.” Wayfarer finally recognized the voice and his eyes started to go big.

“Discord?”

“At your service,” the stallion said with a short bow.

“What are you… why are you…”

“‘Sunny Skies’ is allowed to walk around town without ponies groveling at her hooves. I thought maybe ‘Scrawl’ could do the same, only without ponies running for the hills at the sight of him.”

“... ‘Scrawl’?”

“Yes?”

“Augghh. Alright, whatever ‘Scrawl’, what do you want?”

“Just wanted to take a walk around town, enjoy the sights and sounds of the simple country folk… oh who am I kidding, I’m bored again.”

“You’re going to have to put tonight’s recital on hold I’m afraid. I need to go to Pinkie Pie’s welcome party for Sunny and make sure she doesn’t torment her.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth he regretted telling Discord immediately, as his face turned up in a smile that just screamed dastardly plans. “No. Please, for the love of the sun and the moon, don’t ruin this for her.”

“Oh very well.” Discord said as he turned to leave. Wayfarer sighed, before trotting over and walking along side Discord.

“I can spare a little time for you,” Wayfarer said. “But when Pinkie strikes up the band, I’m out of there.”

Pinkie’s party, thankfully, wasn’t nearly as overblown as Wayfarer had feared. It was still overblown but at least Celestia wasn’t the centerpiece of her own party. The float turned out just to be a mobile confections table that made stops at some of Ponyville’s landmarks. It was more than a little weird having to walk everywhere in order to stay with the party, and Wayfarer had the sneaking suspicion that Pinkie wasn’t happy with how many party goers she lost during the transition to each location. Aside from that, the party was fairly enjoyable, and even Celestia looked to be enjoying herself. The only major gripe Wayfarer had though was that, once again, Pinkie just had to show the guest of honor around to everyone, and Celestia was interrupted several times when trying to start conversations with the ponies she was being introduced too. The frustration was evident on her face by the fifth time it had happened, and at that point Wayfarer was ready to roll out the rescue wagon. However, on his way over however he ran right into another pony.

“Oh sorry, I didn’t…” He stopped in the midst of his apology when he realized who it was. “Rainbow Dash?” Dash looked up at Wayfarer’s face and he saw that she really didn’t look so good. Her eyes had bags under them, and her mane was a complete mess. Even her head looked like it was having trouble staying up as it bobbed slightly.

“Oh, hey Wayfarer. Great party huh?” She said, trying to force a grin onto her face.

“Jeez Dash, you look like a mess,” Wayfarer said, looking her up and down, taking stock of her current appearance. “When was the last time you slept?”

“Umm… What day is it?” Dash asked, almost slurring her words.

“Saturday.”

“Oh, good. It’s only been about two days since I last slept.”

“ONLY two days?” Wayfarer said with shock. “What are you doing here then? Go home and sleep!”

“No. I want to be here to welcome the… the…” dash lost her train of thought for a moment, then her head slumped down so far that Wayfarer was just about to reach forward and catch her before her head snapped back up to attention. “I WASN’T SLEEPING MA’AM!” She yelled.

“Dash,” Wayfarer said with annoyance. “Seriously. Go to bed.”

“NO! I can keep going Captain! I’m gonna be the best Wonderbolt there is! You’ll see!”

“Dash! Snap out of it!” Rainbow Dash snapped her head to look right at Wayfarer. for a moment the two just stared at each other, before Dash slumped a bit and sighed.

“I’m sorry,” She said before giving a large yawn. “You’re right. I REALLY need some sleep right about now.”

“Good,” Wayfarer said, relieved that he got through to her. “You really seem out of it. You need me to walk you home?” Dash snorted at that and looked at Wayfarer with irritation.

“No,” she said with prideful irritation. “I’m not that tired.”

“Alright, whatever. How bout I just come by your place tomorrow morning to check up on you, we can talk over that Sports Team Idea.” Rainbow seemed to perk up slightly at that.

“... yeah, actually. That sounds like a good idea. I’ll- I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Wayfarer watched as Rainbow Dash did her best to drag her hooves out of the crowd. He hoped a good night’s sleep was all she needed, but the idea that something else was up was going to be bugging him until tomorrow morning. Turning his attention back to Celestia and Pinkie, Wayfarer made his way back over to them just in time for Pinkie to push her party victim over to another group of ponies to introduce her too. Thinking on the fly, he called out to them.

“Hey Pinkie!” He yelled at her as he approached. “I think we’re running out of punch.”

“Oh no! I thought I told Berry Punch not to drink so much this time!” Pinkie rushed off at that and Wayfarer took her spot next to Celestia.

“I’ll try to keep her busy, feel free to enjoy yourself.”

“No, wait.” Celestia said, putting a hoof on his shoulder while a grin slowly covered her face. “I have an Idea.”

She pointed over to a building with a jesters hat for a roof, and after a moment of thought, Wayfarer started to grin too. fifteen minutes later the Party was moving again, traveling in the direction of the center of town, by then Pinkie had scolded Berry Punch - who it turns out actually did drink all the punch - restocked the punch bowl and glasses, and was back to introducing ‘Sunny’ to everyone. Meanwhile, Wayfarer had some of the materials from the joke shop and was busy enacting the rather harmless prank Celestia had come up with, and then Discord showed up still disguised as Scrawl.

“Spicing up the party I see. What happened to not ruining this for Sunny?”

“It was her idea actually.” Wayfarer said as he discreetly poured a packet of lightish blue dust into several glasses of punch, then taking up one and leaving most on the table amongst the untampered ones. As Wayfarer walked off to find Pinkie and Celestia again, he caught Discord take up one of the glasses and start examining it.

Celestia was once more being introduced to several ponies by Pinkie, but instead of trying to start a conversation she relented to Pinkie’s obsession and let her do the talking. Wayfarer stepped up next to Pinkie and tapped her on the shoulder.

“Thirsty Pinkie?” he said as he held up the glass he’d taken.

“I am actually! Thanks Fare- Wayfarer.” Pinkie took up the glass and quickly started to down it. She licked her lips as a look of confusion started to cross her face.

“That’s funny, it tastes kind of like Numb Tongue Tablets. But that would be silly, those don’t tass goo ab aahhh.” Pinkie’s eyes went wide as she looked down at her tongue to see that it was hanging limply out of her mouth.

“AHHHHGGGGG!!” She yelled, her eyes going crossed before running off in the direction of the party table.

Several of the ponies in the immediate area started to laugh at this, while Celestia and Wayfarer just giggled at each other.

“That will give us, what, fifteen minutes?” Celestia asked.

“Maybe less, I kind of shared the wealth.” Wayfarer said smiling despite himself. “Come on, it’s time for part two.” Celestia raised an eye at this and followed Wayfarer back to the table, where Pinkie had caught site of Discord with several bags of prank supplies he’d somehow obtained. Celestia was confused for a moment before her eyes went wide and she turned to Wayfarer.

“Is that...Discord?” She asked quietly.

“It is.” Wayfarer said as both he and she started trying their very best to not burst out into laughter right then and there, and ruin the one sided shouting match now in progress.

“Mpthhh PThhh MAhh Thaaahhh!” Pinkie said.

“Sorry, I’m a trifle deaf in this ear, try opening your mouth a little wider when you speak.” Discord responded. Pinkie then pointed over at the punch bowl and then at her mouth several times as she tried to get more words out. Several ponies got what she was trying to say and those that had punch with them immediately dropped their glasses.

“If you mean to accuse me of having something to do with your speech impediment, I’m afraid you have the wrong prankster.” Discord then tossed a glance over to Wayfarer, who had a hoof in his mouth trying to keep back a howl of laughter. “Why don’t you go accuse Mr. Wayfarer and Ms. Skies for a while, I’ve got a few cheap party gags to try and get some entertainment out of.” Discord harumphed and walked off in a mock dignified way, while Pinkie turned to glare at Wayfarer and Celestia.

“Guilty as charged.” The two said. Several ponies laughed and started to clap their hooves while Pinkie sat and started to slap her tongue with her hoof, trying to get some feeling back into it. Wayfarer and Celestia walked over to her with semi apologetic looks on their faces.

“You alright Pinkie?” Wayfarer asked. Pinkie rolled her eyes and nodded her head slightly.

“Id wahhd kinnna hunnnah.” She said, a small little smile crossing her face.

“Give it another two or three minutes and try saying that again,” Wayfarer said, snickering. The smile disappeared and she glared at him. “It was Sunny’s idea, I swear.”

“Yeah I’ll take the blame on this one.” Celestia said. “At least it got a laugh out of some ponies.”

“You think you could get away with that in Canterlot?” Wayfarer asked.

“Ha! Not a chance in Tartarus! Although…” Celestia looked down at one of her hooves, then took a lock of her pink hair and looked at it. Then she smiled as a rather devious idea entered her mind. “I don’t think the guards can technically arrest a pony if she doesn’t exist.” Wayfarer and Pinkie looked at each other and grinned at this.

“Now that would be a fancy party I wouldn’t mind attending.” Wayfarer said.

Rainbow Dash had her face planted firmly into a pillow as her head raced around itself in thought and doubt. She hadn’t been this unsure about herself since the time her first application to the Wonderbolt Academy had been turned down. That, however, she was able to shake off with the thought of “There’s always next year.” and thankfully that thought had proven true, as her very next application had been accepted. This particular moment of doubt, on the other hoof, was something else.

“What’s the point.” she mumbled to herself as she turned over to stare at the ceiling, the corners of her eyes starting to water. “No one will even care if I’m a Wonderbolt, so why bother.” The shadows in her room seemed to grow all the darker when she said this, and a figure outside her window couldn’t help but grin before taking off silently into the night.

Author's Notes:

I've been feeling very conflicted about this story to be honest. On the one hand I think it's a story worth telling, on the other hand it's VERY hard to come up with a year's worth of material when you don't really know where it's all going to go.

I want to keep at this, but I'm going to have to pick up the pace a bit if I want to keep people's interests, which means cutting out a good chunk of stuff, and unfortunately the first thing on the chopping blocks in this story are the social links for the side characters. I will do my best to pull a "Persona 4: The Animation" and just abbreviate them, but I can't guarantee that.

I DO feel like I'm learning from this. And even if this story turns out bad, the least I can say is it gave me some experience that a desperately needed.