Chapter II

The next day the sun was high in the sky above Equestria. It was a clear, cloudless afternoon and the sweet scent of apples was carried on the wind away from Sweet Apple Acres and towards the village of Ponyville. The scent of the apples mingled with the other aromas of the town square; the flowery fragrance of Rose Luck’s flower cart, the smell of freshly baked bread from Pumpernickel’s bread stand and the sweet scent of baking treats from Sugar Cube Corner. Ponyville was a blissful town and a peaceful place where ponies of every creed came and lived together in harmony. All were glad to call it home and the streets were busy with the comings and goings of the pony folk.

In the town square, a tiny figure made his way through the crowd navigating through the ponies as politely and as carefully as he could.

“Pardon me, coming through!” Spike the baby dragon said as he brushed past a small group of ponies in front of a fruit stand.

The small dragon’s chubby little arms were loaded with scrolls of parchment. They were stacked so high that they rose above his little purple head and covered his eyes. He moved his scaly head from side to side as he tried to maneuver his way through the crowded village streets. Though his vision was obscured it was little more than a slight inconvenience to him. To get where he was going all he had to do was follow his nose. The pony stepped off of the street and stood in front of Sugar Cube Corner, his mouth drooling slightly at the scent of baking treats. Spike thanked the departing pony that held the door open for him and the little dragon stepped into the shop. It was busier than normal that afternoon. It was especially warm outside and the proprietors of Sugar Cube Corner, Mr. and Mrs. Cake were having trouble keeping their homemade ice cream in stock.

“Well hello there, Spike!” Mrs. Cake said smiling at the young dragon. “Can I get you a scoop?”

Mr. Cake grabbed a cone and began to pile scoops of ice cream onto it.

“We have banana berry blast, sweat cream surprise, chocolate thunderbolt, chocolate chip cookie dough chunk, fudge brownie batter blitz, cinnamon swirl supreme, raspberry sherbet, raspberry sorbet, birthday cake bash, cupcake supreme, strawberry fields, mint cookie breeze and vanilla!” Mr. Cake said.

Spike’s eyes had a hungry gleam in them as he stared at the towering ice cream cone that Mr. Cake extended to a Pegasus pony.

“We also have over a dozen different kinds of toppings.” Mrs. Cake said. “There’s-“

“Oh, uh- no thanks,” Spike said shaking himself out of his fancy. “I’m just here looking for Pinkie Pie. Applejack wanted me to get these scrolls to her.”

“Oh yes, she was just telling me about the little bash.” Mrs. Cake said giving a pair of cones to a duo of eager ponies. “Well don’t let us keep you. Pinkie Pie is in the kitchen working on the cake.”

Spike thanked the Cakes and maneuvered through the crowd of ponies to the doors that led into the kitchen. He pushed them open and was instantly greeted by the warm caress of the heat from the ovens and the homey scent of baking confectionaries. Pinkie Pie was humming tunelessly to herself as she bounced about the kitchen.

“Hey, Pinkie,” Spike said walking over to a free table.

“Hey Spike what’s up?” Pinkie said excitedly as she bounced over to him. “Are those the plans for the party?! I’m so so so excited! I've been working on the cake AJ requested all day and I’m just about finished with it!”

One of the oven’s timers dinged and Pinkie Pie bounced over to it chattering away.

“When I got the order ticket I was like “An oval shaped cake? What in Equestria would Applejack want an oval shaped cake for?” and then I thought she must want an EGG shaped cake! Then I wondered what she would want an egg shaped cake for? Is one of her hens having a birthday party? That would be so fun! I’ve never thrown a party for a chicken before! And then I read a bit further and realized she wanted green icing for the egg shaped cake and I thought “A rotten egg? Kind of in bad taste don’t you think?” Then I realized that she must want a green colored egg for a spring time Eggstravaganza Party! Then I realized it was June the twelfth! Spring has sprung and it’s the middle of summer!”

“I think the cake is for Applejack’s cousin, Pinkie,” Spike said.

“Oh! That makes tons more sense.” Pinkie said placing the cake on the decorating station.

Spike sighed and spread the scrolls out over the table.

“What are those? Party plans?” Pinkie asked.

“Well, those are Twilight Sparkle’s notes on self-sustaining magical energy shields and those are Applejack’s party ideas,” Spike explained.

“That’s it?” Pinkie Pie said looking at one of the scrolls that Spike had opened. “It just says cake!”

“Well, the second one is a little longer,” Spike said unrolling the scroll.

Pinkie looked at the second scroll and frowned.

“Punch and streamers?” She read slowly. “That’s it? Well, what kind of party is that?”

“Applejack said she wanted it to keep it simple. Twilight and I are going and then there’s Rainbow, Fluttershy, Rarity and you then the Apples of course and then Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell.” Spike explained.

“Well, what kind of cake is it supposed to be anyway?” Pinkie asked looking at the cake.

“I’m not sure,” Spike said thoughtfully.

“Well, what’s Applejack’s cousin’s name?” Pinkie asked.

-The Pony Scrolls-

“His name’s Wally,” Applejack said.

Across Ponyville, at Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash were getting everything ready for the party. A long wooden picnic table had been placed outside of the barn and Twilight was using her magic to lay a table cloth over it. Rarity was guiding Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash as they hovered in the air above the barn door, each of the Pegasi holding a separate end of a banner.

“A little higher.” The pale unicorn said. “Higher. Lower. A smidgen higher… Perfect!”

The banner was white and the material shined in the late morning sun, the word WELCOME was written across the shiny fabric in glittery golden letters.

“I’ve never heard you mention him before,” Twilight said as Applejack set a tray of plates down on the picnic table.

“Oh really?” Applejack said a little nervously. “Uh, that’s odd ‘cause I talk about ‘im all the time. Eeyup, Good ol’ Wally.”

The earth pony grinned awkwardly and turned away from Twilight. She began placing a plate at each place at the table.

“Mm-hm,” Twilight said suspiciously. “And how exactly is he related to you?”

“He’s my Aunt Orange’s cousin’s sister’s son,” Applejack replied. “Not exactly the closest member on the Apple family tree but he and his family have fallen on some tough times so he’s moving out here to look for his own land.”

“So he’s an apple farmer too?” Twilight asked.

“Uh… well, not exactly.” Applejack said. “Wally and his kin are uh… not like other ponies.”

“How do you mean?” Twilight asked.

She looked at each of her friends as they gathered around her. The stared at her expectantly and the earth pony sighed. Avoiding eye contact with her friends the earth pony muttered something that sounded like "memonmarmers" under her breath.

“What did you say?” Twilight asked.

AJ mumbled again, slightly louder.

Her friends exchanged glances and shrugged.

“They’re melon farmers.” She said as her head fell in embarrassment.

Her friends blinked and stared at each other in confusion.

“What’s the big deal?” Rainbow Dash asked. “You don’t like melons or something?”

“Naw, it ain’t that,” Applejack said. “Listen, the Melons are good enough ponies but they’re a bit… off.”

“How do you mean?” Rarity asked.

-The Pony Scrolls-

“You shall never defeat me Knight Stallion for I, Doctor Ponyferious shall vanquish you once and for all!”

“Not on my watch Ponyferious! Your plans for world domination shall never succeed for I have in my possession the Ray of Justice!”

“NOOOOOO!”

Wally trod down the path towards Ponyville. His coat was a dark green and his spiky mane was a violent shade of pink one could only describe as “loud”. He was wearing a ragged brown vest with various zippered and buttoned pockets under a saddle and a pair of rose colored sunglasses dangled from his neck on a piece of cord. His flank was adorned with a cutie mark resembling three black watermelon seeds. Attached to his saddle was a harness connected to a large wooden cart that was almost overflowing with watermelons. Hung from the sides of the cart was various farming supplies that were tied down with loose knots as if they had been added as an afterthought. Hanging in front of the pony’s face was a comic book that was dangling from a piece of string that was connected to a fishing pole that had been set up on the front of the cart.

“This issue is so awesome!” The green pony gushed. “I thought the Ray of Justice was lost back in issue number 29 but if Knight Stallion has it then that must mean he managed to save Bit Buster from the chaos realm! I wonder if they’ll do an issue detailing their escape! That would be so cool!”

Behind him, the watermelons in the cart began to rumble. A hoof shot out of a melon and a young filly burst to the surface gasping for air. She had a pale yellow coat with a light orange curly mane. Her eyes were a light green just like the pony that pulled the cart. Her flank, however, was bare save for a wet hunk of watermelon which she shook off of her leg with a scowl.

“That’s the second time I’ve sunk beneath these dang melons!” She muttered angrily as she shoved a melon out of the way.

She glanced up and gasped in panic as the green earth pony began to walk off of the path towards a stream.

“Ha! Good one Knight Stallion!” The earth pony chuckled completely oblivious to the dangers ahead of him.

The pale yellow filly grabbed the reigns in her mouth and pulled as hard as she could. The green earth pony turned back onto the path completely ignorant of the entire situation.

“Watch the road, Wally!” The filly yelled angrily. “Yer gonna get us lost!”

“Kay!” Wally said not looking up from his comic book.

The filly sighed.

“Are we there yet?” She asked impatiently. “My flank is falling asleep!”

“Almost there baby sis,” Wally said. “Enjoy the scenery a little. You’ve never been this far out of our farm have you Candy?”

Candy Melon sighed and leaned over the side of the cart.

“Oh look.” She said dully. “Another field. That’s a new development.”

She sighed again and fell backward into the watermelons. She immediately sat back up before she could sink again and turned to her brother.

“Why did you bring all of these watermelons anyway?” She asked.

“What do you mean?” Wally asked.

“What do you mean what do I mean?” She asked. “Why. Did. You. Bring. So. Many. Water. Melons?”

“You’re not making any sense Candy,” Wally said seriously.

She sighed dramatically and fell backward again.

“Are we there yet?!” She whined.

Wally didn’t reply. He had gone back to reading his comic book. Candy had jumped at the opportunity to accompany her big brother to Ponyville for the summer, relishing the chance to see "the big city". It was only as they traveled through the farmland and forests of central Equestria that she realized her own naivete.

“Something interesting had better happen soon.” She lamented as she gazed skyward. “I don’t care what it is.”

She blinked at the clouds above and began trying to make out shapes in the puffs of white.

“A bunny.” She thought. “A puppy. An owl.”

Suddenly the sky above lit up. It was just for a second but her surroundings seemed to flash white before everything returned to normal.

“Uh… Wally?” She asked.

“Ha! Take that evil doer!” Wally said.

“Wally?”

The wind was beginning to pick up as if a storm was brewing.

“I’ll bet you didn’t see that coming didja?”

“WALLY!”

There was an explosion from the nearby forest and a blinding flash of white light. The roar was deafening and Candy screamed as she felt the cart beneath her lift off of the ground.

“WALLY!” She wailed as her body was thrown from the cart.

“CANDY!” Wally yelled.

The world spun around and around as Candy and Wally went flying through the air. Watermelons obscured their vision and Candy screamed for her brother. She felt him lock her in an embrace as the cart flew past them.

“I GOTCHA SIS!” Wally yelled.

They rolled through the air and Candy felt as if she was going to faint from terror. The ground was coming closer. She let out a final scream and darkness took her.