More images and memories from my Equestria/ MLP dreamscape. Petina and I had only been in Ponyville for a few weeks and were still staying guests of Twilight at the town library.

After the Annual Ponyville Kite Flying Festival [link] the next event of the summer was the summer meteor showers. This year was of particular interest since Luna was taking over mantle of running them again after a thousand year absence. It is a tradition that on the night of the showers that ponies all over Equestria gather outdoors to watch the spectacle. Large bonfires are built and starting in the late afternoon and continuing until the showers around midnight ponies gather by the fires to cook food, sing, dance, and swap stories, gossip, and tales.

Having only recently arrived and in my case still on the mends, Twilight invited me and Petina to join her for the festival. Since Twilight enjoys astronomy very much she had sets up several telescopes for ponies to view not only the showers but to learn more about the celestial bodies.

Applejack brought ears of corn for roasting in the fire along with apples and cider, both types, for drinking. Pinkie Pie made a giant vat of lemonade and also brought a huge amount marshmallows for toasting. Someone brought a whole army of sandwich irons and we spent the evening snacking on sandwiches grilled in the fire. Munching on corn on the cob, and washing it down with mugs of lemonade and cider. Dessert was blackberry cobbler and vanilla ice cream. This was one of those dreams that really enjoyed the fact I had my sense of smell and taste for.

Petina spent a fair bit of time dancing with any pony she could meet, but I was still very much on the mend and besides I have two left hooves when it comes to things like dancing. At least compared to her. Therefore I decided to take it easy and lounge around the fire.

Since my arrival in Ponyville with no cutie mark I had come to the immediate attention of the Cutie Mark Crusaders who had decided that maybe if they could solve my mystery of the missing mark they could get theirs to. So for the first few weeks they were like my constant sidekicks.

As the evening got later ponies gathered around the fire and started telling stories. You know the kind you tell around campfires. Soon tall tales and ghost stories were being told with varying degrees of approval from the listening crowd.

Scootloo had finished her story which involved scooters and zombie ponies and Celestia with an eyepatch. Don't ask. Just don't. She turned to me and asked what kind of stories I remembered from my childhood. Well this caught me broadside and since I had had probably one too many hard ciders along with my medication I wasn't firing on all cylinders. Of course any real stories from my childhood would have involved humans so I decided run with the first thing that came to my mind. "Have you heard the tale of Foaltron!" Well of course they hadn't, I'd just made it up so it was full speed ahead.

Long ago in distant pony kingdom Foalsom... Twilight later told me it was actually the name of a real correctional school for delinquent colts and fillies but at the time no one called me on it. Anyways. In Foalsom the wise king Regal Gallop had created a council of ponies from the three tribes to help him run his fair kingdom. The wisest ponies in the land would travel to his castle to give their advice and wisdom. Those whose advice was fair and just were often offered positions in the Kings own personal staff.

One day red unicorn stallion with gold eyes and black cross for a cutie mark appeared at the council and asked to address it. He was permitted to speak and upon taking the council floor began to tell the most amazing prophecies of the future and demonstrated the most wondrous acts of magic. King Regal Gallop had never seen such magic and knowledge and asked the unicorn to join his staff immediately. "What would be your name wise unicorn?" Asked the king. "My name is Crossroads said the unicorn."

Now Crossroads was actually a demon of great power who came to Foalsom with the intention of bringing the fair kingdom under his evil power. With subtle words and spells he soon had most of the palace under his sway. But not everyone was snared in his web of deception.

Three ponies. Proud members of the council saw the evil magic that Crossroads was using to poison Foalsom and started secretly building a weapon to defeat him and his growing army foul creatures that were starting to inhabit the kingdom. Ironhoof the earth pony master of machinery. Moonhorn the unicorn instructor or magic and Firewing the pegasus master of flight conspired to build a device mighty enough to stop Crossroads and his ever growing armies.

However they knew that were too old to operate the great artifact they were building so they secretly imbued the power to control the mighty device to their three colts. Thunderhoof the earth pony. Starfire the unicorn and Stormwing the pegasus. Unfortunately before they were able to fully brief their young colts Crossroads had them imprisoned in the Tower of the Forsaken! But Crossroads did not yet know that the young colts were the only ones who could operate the gigantic machine they had built.

Against desperate odds and deadly traps the three young colts figured out to activate the mighty construct Foaltron, and with the few good remaining ponies in Foalsom fought a desperate battle to defeat Crossroads, his evil legions and break the spell he had cast on the good king Regal Gallop.

For the most part the ponies present said they'd never heard anything like that before.