???

She's late!

I tap my foot impatiently, drumming my fingers on my leg as I stand in a large field outside of Ponyville.

She was supposed to be here half an hour ago. What's taking her so long?

I hear a soft thud as something lands behind me. I don't need to turn around to know who it is.

"Rainbow Dash, where have you been?"

"Sorry, Mr. Quill." the pegasus says, shrugging as she walks into view. "I was trying some new stunts and getting them down took
a bit longer than I expected."

I look around and notice something missing...

"Where's Scootaloo?"

"Right here." she says as she flies towards us. "Sorry; I didn't get the message that you wanted to see me and Rainbow Dash until just now. I'll need to talk to Derpy about her delivery times again: she keeps changing them."

"That's all right, I suppose." I say, sitting down on the chair I'd brought for me. Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash sit down in the chairs I'd brought for them.

"Shall we begin?" I ask, getting out my quill and pad.

"Sure!" Scootaloo says. "It all started at last year's Summer Sun Celebration..."

"Careful now, Scootaloo! We don't want this falling over!"

"Sorry, Rainbow Dash!"

I was helping Rainbow Dash prepare for the Summer Sun Celebration. There was a lot to do. There were clouds to be cleared, decorations to be put up, food to be made, and Fluttershy's songbird choir had to be ready by tomorrow. Not only was this to be the second Summer Sun Celebration held in Ponyville, it was the third anniversary of Twilight's studies on the magic of friendship here, so it was extra special...

That Night

I step onto the porch of a small wooden house, the cool night air making me shiver slightly. Flowers grow in the garden off to the side, and a large bay window looks out on the drive. The blinds are drawn, but a soft orange light can be seen through the cracks in between them. I knock three times, and I hear footsteps behind the door as four locks are released. The door opens, and I see a face I've been waiting to see.

"Octavia Melody, I presume."

The door opens, and Octavia smiles as she waves me in.

"You must be the historian; Silver Quill, was it? You look cold; I have a fire going."

"Thank you." I say. I gesture at my coat. "Where can I.."

"Right over here." Octavia says, gesturing to a coat rack next to the door.

"Thanks." I say, hanging my coat and stepping into the small sitting room. A fire is crackling in the hearth, and two armchairs are placed near it, facing each other. We both sit, the fire warming me up from the chilly night.

"Where should we start?" I ask.

"Well, if you want to start at the beginning, I'm the wrong person to talk to." she says. "Scootaloo and her friends know more about it than I do."

"I've already interviewed them." I say. "They filled me in on some details, but I need to hear what you have to say."

"All right." she said. "My piece begins with my friend Vinyl."

A sad look crosses her face, and I nod understandingly.

"It can be hard to deal with the death of a friend."

She looks up at me, determination in her eyes.

"Vinyl is not dead. I will find a way to bring her back, I swear."

"All right, all right." I say, more to placate her than anything else.

She must still be in denial. Poor thing.

"At any rate, please begin."

"All right..." she says.

"Just over here, Octavia!"

I was reading a novella near the fire in my favorite cozy armchair when Vinyl burst in, babbling nonsense about fireworks and an orange pony and Trixie and the celebration. After I got her to calm down, she told me that she got a tipoff from some filly that that boastful magician Trixie would be adding to the celebration. She said the filly overheard something about fireworks. I was reluctant, but Vinyl insisted I go with her to see them. We picked one of Twilight's stargazing hills and set up a tent there...

The Next Day

I sit at a table in Sugar Cube corner, a plethora of pastries arrayed in front of me. There are so many choices I can hardly decide what to eat first, only serving to make me hungrier.

"That's okay. Take your time. It's kinda overwhelming at first, isn't it?"

I look up at the cheerful face in front of me.

"Yes it is, Pinkie."

I decide to start with a cupcake. I pick it up and admire its cyan frosting. I take a bite and see that the cupcake itself is a myriad of flavors. Looking at the bite in the pastry, I see rainbow-colored cupcake.

"It's a little thing I made with Rainbow Dash one day when she came to visit - and by 'with' I mean alongside, not out of. Who makes people into cupcakes? That's just weird. And the cupcakes probably wouldn't even taste good anyway. I mean, come on! Who'd wanna eat a cupcake made out of-"

"Pinkie." I interrupt. "Can you please just get on with your part of the story?"

"Okie dokie lokie, Mr. Quill!"

I don't really get it.
I was just sitting there, eating some muffins, when BOOM! I'm not a pony! I'm a 'human,' whatever those are.
The Rarity fairies visit me in my sleep, I guess, cause I'm wearing clothes when I wake up.
I know a lot more words though. Elbows, knees, feet, hands, fingers, toes - It's a lot to take in. So I take a nap. When I wake up again, Twilight's there...

Later That Morning

As I walk through the orchard admiring the apples, I start to hear a faint thudding coming from up ahead.

This must be the place.

I step into a clearing and see someone standing among the trees, a large hammer held in one hand. As I watch, she swings it at a tree, hitting it and shaking apples off of the branches into waiting baskets.

"You must be Applejack." I say.

The person in question turns and smiles, wiping the sweat from her brow.

"That's right. You must be the writer the others were talkin' about."

"Silver Quill at your service." I say, unfolding the chairs I'd brought.

"If it's all the same to you, I'd rather stand." Applejack says, resting her hammer on the seat.

"All right then." I say. "So, where do you come into this story?"

"There's a bit of info you need first; a setup, if you wanna call it that..."

The last two days have been an ordeal. First, there was the whole changin' into humans, then the creatures started to go...wrong - darker, more fierce, and crazy. Fluttershy's had her hands full trying to keep all her critters in line, and don't even get me started on the Everfree Forest...

That Night

I finally arrive home, exhausted and drained from a week's traveling.

There... It's all written down.

I sit at my desk, not ready to sleep yet.

Now to combine it all and publish it. This is the story that'll make me famous!

Author's Notes:

Now seems as good a time as any to make a prologue. This thing basically explains the context of the narration: the people/ponies who were involved retelling their adventure.

EDIT: Double-spaced and made more visually appealing in general.