“Moondancer–?”
“What!? Oh. Minuette. It’s just you. What the hay are you doing!? How did you even get in my house!?”
“You… said I could come in? Any time?”
“I don’t remember that.”
“So long as the door wasn’t locked, you said –”
“I said that?”
“Uh, yeah. Last week, after we went to the movies and got ice cream, and you had Snozzberry Surprise because you thought it’d taste like mint? You don’t remember –?”
“Oh, that. Yes! Course I remember that! I’m not stupid. Or lucky.”
“Of course not! You and Twilight always were the brainy –”
“So. You’re here.”
“Ye-heh! Just little old me. Sorry, did I interrupt your reading? I just wondered where you’d b–”
“My next question is: Why are you here? Sorry, sorry, that came out wrong. I meant: What brings you here, Minuette? Uh… 'my little friend'… you…?”
“It’s OK. It’s just… only… you know there’s a party on right now?”
“Is there?”
“Yeah. We mentioned it to you? Here and there?”
“By ‘here and there’, you mean…?”
“All week.”
“Seriously?”
“Well, when it looked like you weren’t reading anything, and when we weren’t talking about Pinkie’s next birthday preparations and cake orders, I mean. See, you said you’d come over about three, and that was three hours ago.”
“I did? Uh… I must have gotten a little caught up. That’s all. Studying.”
“Heheh, a real page-turner, huh? Been there, all right!”
“It’s Alethic Impossibilities by Truth and Dare.”
“Um… well, Truth or Dare is my favourite sleepover game.”
“They’re the authors.”
“Ah. So… are you coming over? We’d really love to see you.”
“Yeah, yeah, gimme a sec. Wanna finish this chapter.”
“I kept some birthday cake for you.”
“Uh huh.”
“You missed the bit where the candles got blown out, but don’t worry: I took snapshots of every second so you wouldn’t miss a single moment!”
“What? Why?”
“Well, I knew you liked your books. But I didn’t want you to feel forgotten again. So I… Well, see for yourself. See? Photos. For you.”
“I missed the cake bit?”
“Er… just a little.”
“Just a little?”
“Well, yeah. But it’s OK, see, because I got you these photos –”
“Oh…”
“Moondancer, are you OK? Something wrong with your book? I know you don’t like it when we just show up out of nowhere like this, and I’ve always respected your privacy. Well, give or take the odd slip-up here and there, aheheh. But I thought from all the talks this week you wanted to give this birthday bash thing a try? It’s OK if you don’t, of course! Ponies can change their minds if they want. No harm, no foul, right? So if you really want a nice day in with a good book, just say the word and I’ll g–”
“What am I doing?”
“Er… I’m sorry?”
“What… am I… doing?”
“Er… you’re staring at a book. Oh, not anymore. My bad, heh heh! Moondancer…? Have you lost something?”
“Look, er, is there a bookmark? On the floor? Thought I had it right next to –”
“Aha! Found it!”
“Thanks.”
“Must have slipped off, I’ll bet. I sometimes do that when I’m really into a good Celestia thriller. Like one time I was at the beach reading Countdown to Sundown – I’d just gotten to the bit where Agent Orange –”
“There. Done.”
“You’re not finishing your chapter first?”
“Later. I can speed-read up to this point and then finish it later. What was I thinking!? Minuette, I’m so sorry for what I’ve done to you! I didn’t mean to lose track of t– I mean, I didn’t mean to… It’s nothing personal –”
“Heh, we know. Twilight used to get like that too. Still does, sometimes.”
“Oh drat, drat, drat! I’m such an idiot!”
“It’s fine. Really.”
“No, I know how special this party must be to you, and if I didn’t –”
“Moondancer! It’s fine! It’s really fine!”
“But it’s not fine. I didn’t –”
“– do anything I wasn’t expecting. Why do you think I came looking for you? Sure, I got a little worried something might have happened to you, but since it hasn’t, all’s well that ends well.”
“I’m a terrible friend, aren’t I?”
“Nah!”
“No, I’m worse. I’m the worst friend imaginable –”
“Oh, Moondancer, Moondancer, Moondancer. Don’t worry. Everyone slips up from time to time. It’s only natural, especially if you’re pretty new to it. And you’re not a bad friend at all.”
“No? Explain the last three hours, then.”
“Easy. The last three minutes.”
“What?”
“And then the next three hours. See? Now, we’ve got more than cake coming up, too. I haven’t even opened my presents yet. The waiting is half the fun!”
“Uh… Presents! Yes, presents! I have presents – I mean, a present! For you! Hold on a sec! Let me go find it. It’s upstairs somewhere.”
“OK… Want me to come and help you?”
“NO! It’s YOUR present!”
“Just asking.”
“Oh… drat… drat, drat, drat, drat, drat…”
“Er, I hear strange noises. Everything OK up there?”
“NOTHING’S WRONG!”
“Gotcha… Oh, did something rip?”
“NO!”
“Thought I heard… Are you wrapping it up there?”
“NO! STOP EAVESDROPPING!”
“SORRY! OK! JUST NATURALLY NOSY! Heh heh. Oh, hello again.”
“OK, OK, OK… Here it is. I mean, I present to you, for your birthday, Minuette… No, I mean… Oh, here. Just have it.”
“Ooh, nice. And the tape’s nice and fresh, too.”
“Yeah, yeah, come on, let’s get going, we’re behind schedule, chop chop!”
“No rush, no rush. No, indeed. This is a special present. I’m opening this one first…”
“Minuette, you don’t have to do that.”
“Not a problem: the wrapping’s falling off anyway. Wow, we need to give you Pinkie lessons on present presentation. I could teach you a few tricks of the trade all right.”
“Will you just look already?”
“Oh right. Of course. Aha! Ooh. And what have we here?”
“Er… it’s a book.”
“Oh. So it is. I can see that. Mm. Mm. Mm.”
“About sand.”
“Mm.”
“And, um, the uses. Of sand.”
“Mm.”
“And the history. You know, of the uses, of, um, sand.”
“Mm hm.”
“It’s a good book. Rated number two bestseller in the Smarty Pants section of Ars Academica magazine.”
“Mm?”
“Uh, it’s a first edition copy! Not many ponies own that one!”
“Mm hm?”
“See, sand. Because hourglasses. Like your cutie mark. It’s a book. A book on. Sand. Oh, what was I thinking, I can tell you don’t like it, what kind of sad loser buys a book on –”
“It’s perfect.”
“– sand, it’s the laziest, shallowest, most – Say again, sorry?”
“It’s absolutely perfect! You got me something I never would have guessed. I was expecting a clock book. Very creative choice! Look, they’ve even got a section on sand creatures and sand architecture and sand stars and everything! Sand of all sorts! Ooh, even a section on the Lost City of Sandamonium!”
“They do? I just looked up the hourglass section.”
“Wow, I didn’t know you could even get sandcakes! They say earth cowponies used to eat it hundreds of years ago so they could digest the tough desert plants by grinding them in their stomachs. Didn’t work, but they get an A for effort from me.”
“Ew, but… whoa. So, you like it?”
“I LOVE IT! I’ve never had a book on sand before. Cogwheels and quantum butterflies, yes, but sand? Madness!”
“That means… good?”
“T’chuh, yeah!”
“Oh, good! Not-not that I was worried or anything. I just didn’t want to get it too wrong. Been a while since I bought a gift, and all.”
“Nice! Maybe you’ve got a better knack for gift-giving than you thought.”
“Heh, thanks. So, um, party time?”
“Yup! I did mention cake! So long as Lemon Hearts hasn’t eaten it all yet. She’s such a scamp.”
“Will it take long? Sorry, that came out wrong. How long will it t–? Darn, how much of the party is there left?”
“Oh, you can leave early if it’s too much for you. I’ve thought of that too.”
“No, I meant – You know what? Never mind.”
“All right, let’s go! I got some more photos to take!”
“You know, I’ve got a book on the theory of photography, if you ever want to borrow it.”
“Sweet!”
“Happy Birthday, by the way, Minuette.”
“Ha! I remembered you were going to say that!”
