Twilight Sparkle lay on her bed, her eyes gazing out of the window into the horizon. She watched Celestia's bright red sun slowly dip beneath the dark silhouettes of the mountains in the far distance, twirling her dark violet hair through her hoof.
Twilight sighed. Not days ago she would have been watching the sunset from her rooms in Canterlot, perhaps while studying some advanced magic or mathematics. But now she had no clue what to do. The Princess had tasked her with helping the town of Ponyville for the Summer Sun Celebration, an important duty because Celestia would be attending the celebrations there. But with the extraordinary turn of events Twilight found herself the towns resident librarian, whilst studying the magic of friendship at the request of the Princess. But that's a story for another time.
Beneath the aperture the vibrant hum of early evening was beginning to take over the small town. Twilight knew that she would have to make an appearance. Pinkie Pie, one of her new friends, was throwing a party in honour of Twilight as a new member of the community. Everpony was bound to be there. According to other townsfolk Pinkie was the best at parties, nobody would miss it for the world.
There was a knock at her door. Twilight knew who it would be. "Come in." she said, shifting her gaze to the source of the knocking.
The door opened and her invaluable assistant Spike strode through the opening. "Heya Twilight." he said, "Don't forget Pinkie's party later." He was carrying a tray adorned with the components of early evening tea. A steaming cup of Earl Greymane, some buttered crumpets and a letter, presumably from the Princess.
"Of course I won't Spike." she said, enveloping the platter in her magic. "When did the Princess send the letter?"
"What? Oh, the letter. It's not from the Princess... I think. It came through the door about half an hour ago. I don't know who sent it." he said, scratching his chin.
"Thank you Spike." said Twilight.
With that the small dragon bowed gracefully and pattered through the door. Twilight didn't know whether he was being cynical but decided to leave it alone.
She turned her attention to the tray, taking a crumpet in her magic and setting the letter out in front of her. Biting into the fluffy delicacy she unrolled the parchment. To her surprise it was a letter from Rarity asking her to meet her at Carousel Boutique just before the party.I wonder what Rarity could want.
Twilight slid off the sheets adorning her oak bed, her hooves landing steadily on the floor. Levitating a saddle bag over to her he began to fill it with necessities. In her mind she checked off the items as though it was part of her daily routine, even voicing some items aloud. "Hmmm... Lets see. Two scrolls, two quills, a pot of ink and..."
~Ding~
Twilight's train of thought was interrupted by the tolling of the clock. "It's five thirty! And the party's at six. I must get to Rarity's now." Placing the saddlebags on her back Twilight cantered down the wooden stairs that led to the main area of the library. Her eyes darted through the room before landing on Spike who stood atop a stepladder, feather duster in hand. "Spike, I'm leaving now. I'll see you at the party."
Spike looked down at her. "Where are you going?" he asked.
"Rarity asked me to see her before the party. I'll see you there." And with that she slammed the door and cantered down the road in the direction of Carousel Boutique.
Spike sat at the top of the ladder and laughed bitterly. "I have to do everything around here."
Twilight's mind turned over as she ran through the streets of Ponyville. The few ponies that were still out at this time of day seemed to be nonexistent as she rushed past them. Not stopping to acknowledge whether they had greeted her or not. I wonder what it is Rarity wants to talk about. Could it be something to do with the party?
Over the past couple of days Twilight had memorized how to get from the library to her friends homes, she soon found herself panting for breath at the threshold of Carousel Boutique. Taking a moment to gather herself she raised her off and brought it to the button that presumably was the bell.
As she pressed it she could hear a faint chime emanating from the confines of the shop along with a small shout of, "Coming!".
After waiting what was inly a few seconds the door opened and Twilight found herself face to face with the fashionista. "Ah Twilight. Thank you for coming on such short notice. Please do come inside." Raising her hoof to point inside she ushered Twilight inside the store.
Twilight turned around. "So what was it you wanted to talk about?"
"Ah of course Twilight. I invited you here because I simply couldn't let you go to the party without an appropriate ensemble." said Rarity.
"An ensemble?" enquired Twilight.
Rarity looked at her flatly. "A dress my dear."
"Oh really Rarity that's awfully nice of you but I have an old dress of my mother's I can wea..."
Rarity cut her short. "Now now Twilight. I insist."
Twilight looked as though she was about to insist again that she was fine, Rarity knew what to do.
"Now darling I know you have simple tastes so I had to limit myself in making this, but I think the end product will be something you enjoy." As she said this she walked over to a red curtain in the corner of the room. To the side of it hung a golden cord. "I do hope you like it."
Suddenly the cord was enveloped in light blue magic which tugged it down sharply. The curtains parted to reveal a light purple dress, a colour that matched Twilight's coat. Twilight looked at it in wonder. "Why... thank you Rarity." That isn't very extravagant at all, she really must have held herself back.
"Oh it's really nothing darling. I simply enjoy my work." said the fashionista, stepping back to allow Twilight to properly look over the piece.
"It's beautiful Rarity. And perfect. So how much do I owe you?" said Twilight.
Rarity seemed taken aback. "Owe me? Twilight darling, you don't owe me anything. Consider it a gift."
Twilight opened her mouth. "Bu..."
The alabaster unicorn planted her hoof in the muzzle of her friend. "No buts Twilight. After all I am the element of generosity."
After the hoof was removed Twilight spoke again. "Are you sure Rarity?"
"Of course my dear. Now I think it's time to get ready. Pinkie Pie will be expecting both of us there." squealed the mare as she bounded up the stairs. "Feel free to use the dressing rooms to your right." And with that she disappeared from sight leaving Twilight alone.
The unicorn gave a sigh and looked at the dress. It was simple, but beautiful. "Oh Rarity."
Taking up the dress in her magic it evaporated in a flash and reappeared next to the lavender mare. Why do I need to use a fitting room? I can just use my magic to put it on now right? With another flash the dress appeared once again, but this time it contained the unicorn mare. She looked at the time. "Five to? Already? I'm gonna be late!"
She dashed up the stairs and rapped on Rarity's bedroom door. "Rarity!?" She yelled.
A muffled "Yes." came from the room.
"Do you want me to wait for you or should I go now?"
Twilight waited for an answer, which took a few seconds, presumably because Rarity was looking at a clock. "You go Twilight. I'll be there soon don't you worry."
"Okay I'll see you there then." Saying this Twilight turned from the door. "Bye Rarity, see you later."
As Twilight trotted down the stairs she began to think. She'd never actually been to one of Pinkie Pie's parties before, save of course the one that was thrown when she just arrived and even then she didn't really attend for more than a couple of minutes.
The door of Carousel Boutique flew open in order for her to leave, held open by the familiar purple glow. After she was clear of the aperture Twilight closed it quickly and hurried off in the direction of Sugarcube Corner.
The purple unicorn halted in front of the building that was Sugarcube Corner. The dark silhouette rose up above her like an oversized gingerbread house. From inside Twilight could hear the pounding music and the noise of ponies.
She held her breath and stepped in.
Suddenly she was grabbed by a flailing pink ball which turned out to be the one and only Pinkie Pie.
"Heya Twilight I'm so glad you're here come over here." The pink pony flew over a group of unsuspecting ponies. "We've got everything, chocolate, cakes, cookies, lemonade and best of all, Sarsaparilla." Pikie picked up a bottle of the mix in her hooves and poured it down her throat.
Twilight looked on. Confused. Perhaps even disturbed. She didn't even like Sarsaparilla that much. "Umm... Pinkie are you okay?"
The party maniac lowered the now empty bottle from her muzzle. "I'm better than okay Twilight, you silly filly. I'm great!" And with that she once bounced out of sight.
Twilight rolled her eyes. Pinkie truly was crazy.
"Hey Twilight. How's it hangin'?" came a voice from behind her.
Twilight turned around to find that the source of the interruption was none other than Rainbow Dash. "Hey Rainbow. Quite a party isn't it." The lavender mare said, enveloping a glass of lemonade in her magic.
"Yeah sure..." The pegasus trailed off apparently unsure of what to say.
"Are you alright?" said Twilight, though she had known them for only a short while Twilight still cared about her friends.
The cyan mare looked up. "Oh... yeah. Hey, that's a nice dress. I expect Rarity made it for you."
Twilight looked down at the clothes. "They're nice. I wouldn't normally wear something like this, but Rarity made it especially."
"Well I think it suits you." said Rainbow, a small tint of pink appearing across her face. Twilight didn't seem to notice, she was too preoccupied with her lemonade
"This lemonade tastes very odd." said Twlight. She was surprised to see Rainbow stifle a giggle.
"That's because it's not lemonade." said Rainbow, scrunching up her lip.
"Well then... what is it?" said Twilight, eyeing the pegasus with suspicion.
"Vodka..."
Twilight blinked at her. "Really? I've never had Vodka before."
Rainbow cocked her head. "You didn't really get out much in Canterlot did you?"
It was Twilight's turn to wear a small blush. "No. To be honest I've never really been to a party before."
"Well it looks like you could learn something." said Rainbow. "For starters why don't you mix a little bit of real lemonade with that Vodka."
