The Day the Pony Stood Still

Disclaimer: I am in no way involved in the creation or ownership of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. In fact, I don't own ANYTHING in this fic. I make no money from this writing.

April Foals Day, or: The Day the Pony Stood Still

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April first. The first April first Twilight Sparkle would be spending in her home of Ponyville, and to celebrate the occasion, she had done something she had never, ever, ever done before her entire life at Canterlot. She played her first prank.

Glancing over at the little dragon that sat on her back as she trotted through the town square, she couldn't help but start giggling again. The dragon, Spike, merely shot her a half-hearted glare. "I never took a pony like you to be the prankster type, Twilight. Especially something like...well THIS!"

Spike motioned wildly at the pillow that at the moment covered the whole left side of his scaly face. Twilight rolled her eyes, smirking at the chuckles her prank got from some of the ponies they passed. "Oh Spike, relax! The glue spell will wear off at sunset, when April Foals day ends. Besides, this will just make it easier for you to take your naps!"

Spike blinked and brought a hand up to his chin. "Hmm, you know, you might have a point there. I can take a nap wherever I want now!"

"Oh Spike, you-"

"WATCH OOOUUUT!" Before Twilight could so much as say "whu", a rainbow blur barreled into her, sending Spike flying from her back. She and the rainbow blur kept going into a tumble, until a convenient apple cart brought them to a stop. The crash resounded throughout the town square and apples went flying everywhere, making every pony present look over, even the mailpony Ditzy Doo until she flew straight into a tree because she wasn't looking where she was going.

As the cloud cleared Twilight could be seen lying prostrate on her back, her eyes momentarily googly. "Ooh, my head..." She reached a hoof up and rubbed at her sore head, and then climbed to all four hooves and looked down at the cyan Pegasus who had ended up beneath her. "Are you okay, Rainbow Dash?"

The winged pony looked up from where she lay on her side and blinked. "Okay, which of you three Twilights asked me that?"

Twilight rolled her eyes and started to respond, before a fresh voice broke in. "Ah can't believe you two! Come on now, this is tha third time ah've had ta fix mah applecart in'a month's time!"

Both Twilight and Dash looked over at Applejack, an annoyed little frown on her face. Dash blushed and looked away first. "Uh, sorry Applejack, I kinda had trouble stopping in time. But wait!" In an instant Dash was back on her hooves and prancing nervously in place. "Something weird's happened at Fluttershy's place, I was just looking for Twilight for help!" She turned away from them and spread her wings. "There's no time to go there on hoof, both of you, grab my tail!"

A rather disturbed silence followed this shout. Twilight and Applejack looked at Rainbow Dash with raised eyebrows, shared a look with each other, and then looked back at Dash. "Uh...I don't really think that that's necessary..."

"Or desirable, I reckon."

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and gave her tail a flop. "Guys, there's no time to argue, come on!"

Twilight sighed. "I guess, if it's really important..." She began to lean forward to take a hold of Dash's tail, before stopping and looking over at Applejack. "Uh, why don't you do this while I go...track down Rarity, yeah...this is usually your thing anyway."

Before Applejack could ask what exactly was meant by "her thing", Twilight grabbed the unconscious Spike and teleported out of there, leaving her alone with Rainbow Dash, who still had her tail out. The cowfilly looked at her and sighed. "I'm gonna need a trip to tha' Swayback Mountains after all this nonsense is over. I can jus' feel it."

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By the time Twilight had found her fellow unicorn and gotten to Fluttershy's place, her curiosity about the whole thing had been piqued. When the two unicorns arrived Rainbow Dash and Applejack were already there, standing on the front porch with Fluttershy. "So, what exactly is all the excitement about?"

"Indeed," Rarity added, idly levitating a comb and brush to work on her hair. "What could be so important as to require drawing me from my midday beauty treatment? Do you know how long it takes to get these curls just right?"

Rainbow Dash just rolled her eyes and motioned a hoof at Fluttershy, who eeped and shrunk back a bit. "Hey, don't look at me, I'm just the messenger!"

At this everypony turned to look at Fluttershy. She squeaked and wilted under their collective gaze. "Um, well, you see, I was out on my rounds feeding the animals, when I saw...saw...oh, you just have to see it for yourself!" Fluttershy suddenly jumped and took flight, zooming off faster than any of them had ever seen her go before.

"Fluttershy, wait for us!" Twilight and the others took off after the pink and yellow blur, following her away from her house. Not in the direction of the Everfree Forest as they had been expecting, but away, to a quiet river that flowed just a dozen yards away. There they found Fluttershy waiting, but she wasn't alone. With her was...

"Is that Pinkie Pie?" Rainbow Dash, the fastest and first of the group to get there, asked.

Fluttershy nodded and kicked at the ground with a hoof, unable to say anything. Twilight walked over to the pink pony and looked her up and down. Nothing seemed to be wrong, except... "She's just standing there. Why is she just standing there!?"

"And where did she get that bow tie?" Rarity added, joining Twilight beside Pinkie Pie. "Such a thing is simply a fashion no-no!"

Twilight looked and, indeed, Pinkie Pie was wearing a bright red bow tie. Not sure what to make of this, she cleared her throat and spoke. "Hey uh, Pinkie Pie? Are you okay?"

Pinkie Pie made no response, or even any sign that she had been heard. She simply stood there, looking straight ahead. Suddenly Rainbow Dash flew up right in front of her and waved both forehooves in her face. "Hey Pinkie Pie, come on, knock it off! Yoohoo, Piiiinkiiieee!" No response, not even a blink. Dash growled and got right up to her ear. "PIIIIINNNKIIIIEE-eep!"

Dash was pulled back and away by the tail from Pinkie. Applejack spit the rainbow hair from her mouth and shook her head. "Listen Rainbow Dash, I have tha feelin' that yellin' ain't gonna help. However, I think I might have somethin' that'll get Pinkie moving!"

Twilight and Rarity parted to make room for Applejack, who trotted up to Pinkie Pie. Grinning, she dug out a cupcake from the pack she wore and held it right in front of Pinkie's nose. "Come on Pinkie Pie, how about an apple cinnamon cupcake, fresh from the farm?" No response came. Applejack's smile grew unsure, and she pressed the cupcake against Pinkie's mouth, smearing the light-yellow frosting across the pink pony's lips. Even then, no response.

Applejack gulped and turned to look at the others. "Ah ain't never seen her turn down one'a my apple cinnamon cupcakes before..."

Fluttershy, hanging around at the back of the group, suddenly threw her head up into the air and screamed. "IT'S THE END OF THE WOOOORLD!"

The pink-haired Pegasus collapsed into a sobbing pile, Rainbow Dash dashing to her side to try to comfort her as Twilight Sparkle began to pace. "Come on everypony, we need to calm down and think. Rarity!" she shouted, whipping her head around to look at her fellow Unicorn, who had piled up a massive number of hats and saddles from nowhere and was testing each one out on Pinkie Pie. "Stop fussing around with all that, nothing's going to match that bow tie!"

"Well I have to do something!" Rarity used her magic to briefly place a Baseball cap onto Pinkie Pie's head, only to rip it off a moment later and try on a Trilby. "She's not responding to her name, or cupcakes, she can at least look decent while acting weird!"

"Weird..." Twilight's face suddenly brightened into a smile. "Weird! Of course, this is Pinkie Pie we're dealing with here! Maybe she's just doing a really weird April Foals day prank on us!"

Applejack, who was still smearing cupcake frosting all over Pinkie's face trying to get her to eat it, looked over at Twilight and shook her head. "Ah've known Pinkie Pie for years, and ah ain't never seen her sit still for more'n a minute, at best. Besides, she has way better taste than somethin' like this."

A loud growl echoed through the area as Rainbow Dash left Fluttershy's side and began moving towards Pinkie. "Well whatever it is, I'm not waiting around to listen to Fluttershy cry anymore! Out of the way!" Rainbow Dash shouldered past Applejack, knocking the cupcake (which by that point was pretty much frosting-less) into the river. Next she pushed past Rarity, just as the white-furred pony was affixing a fez to the top of Pinkie Pie's head.

"There we go, darling! Hmm, this might be so strange it goes right back around t-hey!"

Rainbow Dash ignored Rarity's cry as she was pushed out of the way. Flaring her wings once, the blue Pegasus pressed her shoulder against Pinkie Pie and pushed. And pushed...and pushed... "Nnngh...come on...move already!"

Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy (who had stopped crying and now watched the proceedings from behind a curtain of pink hair) all simply stood to the side and watched as Rainbow Dash pushed with all her strength at the immobile Pinkie Pie. After several minutes of this Dash stopped and leaned against Pinkie, panting from the exertion, before retreating several yards away and jumping up into the air. Flaring her wings again she growled and zoomed toward Pinkie so fast she was little more than a rainbow blur. A rainbow blur that as soon as it hit the pink pony might as well have hit a brick wall for all that it accomplished.

Twilight and the others flinched as Rainbow Dash slowly slid down onto her back beside Pinkie Pie, all four legs sticking up into the air and her eyes all googly. "Ow...why won't she...move..." The fez placed on Pinkie's head slid off and onto Dash's. "Ow..."

Twilight shook her head, sighed, and began to pace. "Well, brute force looks like it's out. Come on Twilight, think, think...got it!" She looked over at Fluttershy. "Quick, use the Stare on her!"

Fluttershy meeped and back away a few steps, looking away from Twilight. "Um, n-no, I couldn't, never on a friend...."
"But Fluttershy..."

"Now hold on a minute, Twilight!"  Rarity stepped over to Twilight's side and smirked. "What if we don't need the Stare at all? We are Unicorns, my dear. Why, you've even lifted an Ursa Minor, remember?"

Twilight blinked, and then facehoofed. "Oh Celestia do I feel stupid."


"Oh don't worry dear. Not all of us can look as good and be as brilliant as I all of the time! Bwahahahahah!"

Giving her head a shake Twilight stepped so that she was between Rarity and Pinkie Pie. She focused her eyes on the pink pony, and spoke out as her horn began to glow. "Applejack, grab Rainbow Dash and get behind me. This is Pinkie Pie we're dealing with, so we need to be prepared for everything." Applejack nodded and twirled her rope, lassoing it around the still-stunned Dash and pulling her away from Pinkie.

With this done, and all her friends safely behind her, Twilight upped the power she was putting into her magic. Her horn glowed brighter, and soon a similar purple glow enveloped Pinkie Pie's form. A trembling seemed to the ponies to fill the air, and if one were looking close enough, they would see cracks begin to form in the ground beneath Pinkie Pie. Twilight grunted, sweat beading on her brow as she put more power into it. "Must be...all of the...sweets she eats...hnngh..."

The trembling increased, the air coming off in visible shockwaves from Pinkie Pie as more and more energy was focused on her. Sparks of magical electricity crackled in the air as the skies darkened, trees shook, and the river beside them churned. A second, brighter aura of power grew around Twilight's horn, her hooves digging into the ground as she poured everything she had into the effort. She had not had to strain herself so since the Ursa Minor incident...

"Twi, look!" Applejack shouted, pointing with a hoof at Pinkie Pie's tail. It was twitching. "Git yourself out of there before it's too late, sugarcube!"

"No, I can do this!"  Now sparks were flying from Twilight's horn and her whole body shook, her eyes clenched shut in concentration. Suddenly everything went calm, and Twilight had just enough time to open her eyes and think I can't do this, before her magic rebounded and sent her shooting up into the air like out of a slingshot. "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHhhhhhhh..."

The rest of the ponies (except Pinkie Pie) craned their necks to follow the flailing Twilight, who was quickly shrinking to a small purple dot in the sky of blue. "So uh...how high up do y'all reckon she'll go?"

"Pretty far I bet, with all the power she put into that."

"O-oh dear, um, I hope she doesn't go up too high..."

Rarity looked over at Rainbow Dash and poked her shoulder. "Don't you think you should go...catch her?"

The blue Pegasus sighed and flared her wings. "Yeah, I suppose should. Be right back!"

As Rainbow Dash zoomed off, Applejack sighed and trotted over to Pinkie Pie. Looking her fellow Earth pony over for a moment, she picked up and placed the fez back on her head. "Gosh darn it Pinkie Pie, I wish you would just tell us why ya just standin' there like that."

"Because I was asked to!"

Applejack yelped and jumped back from the smiling Pinkie Pie, into Rarity and Fluttershy and knocking all three to the ground. The cowfilly quickly shook her head and jumped back up to look at Pinkie Pie in shock. "Whu, why didn't ya ever say anythin' before?!"

"Because no one asked me, silly McFilly!" Pinkie giggled and tilted her eyes up to look at the fez on her head. "Oooh, nice hat! Thanks, Rarity!"
Before anyone else could form any sort of response to this, a rage-filled shriek filled the air. Everypony looked up to see Twilight Sparkle struggling to break free of a slowly-descending Rainbow Dash's hold. "LET ME AT HER, LET ME AT HER! JUST GIVE ME THIS!"

Rainbow Dash looked at Applejack for instructions. The Earth pony just shook her head and looked back at Pinkie. "But Pinkie Pie, WHO would ask ya to just stand around out here by yourself?"

Pinkie Pie smiled and shook her head. "No, not who, just-"

Pinkie Pie was interrupted and Twilight's enraged rant was cut off as a strange noise filled the air all. It was mechanical, like a mix between grinding and whirling, and grew louder by the second. It seemed to the ponies to come from all directions and yet none, and filled them all at once with hope, elation, and terror like nothing before.

Suddenly Fluttershy shouted "look!" and pointed with her hoof to a spot a bit away from them all. Before their eyes a blue glow filled the spot, ebbing and flowing with the grinding whirl. And then in this light an outline appeared, slowly fading into a tall, narrow box, painted blue with a small light affixed on the top. A set of doors was on one side of the blue box, and above the doors were written the words "police public call box."

After a few more seconds the whirling sound ended. Twilight, Applejack and the others gasped as the doors on the blue box opened, and out from it trotted a brown earth pony with a short, wavy mane and an hourglass cutie mark. Without sparing the gaping group of ponies a glance he trotted over to the smiling Pinkie Pie and started taking the bow tie off of her. "Thanks for staying right here and keeping an eye on this, Pinkie-darling. I knew, I knew knew knew you were the right pony for the job!"

"Of course, Doctor!" Pinkie said, beaming. "We wouldn't want any of those big meany Cyberponies getting their hooves on it!"

"Quite right, quite right," the Doctor said. "Well anyway, nice fez, happy April Foals day, always a pleasure seeing you, but I must be off!" The Doctor turned to walk away, and when he did he finally noticed Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash all standing there and gaping at him. Silence reigned in the clearing for a moment, the Doctor looking at the group, and the group looking back.

"Um...er...happy April Foals day?"