Well Kept Fences

by TrebleBass

Rating: everyone
Tags: Alternate Universe, Slice of Life, Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 6578

What if Twilight had time to make it to Moondancer's party?

After not receiving an immediately reply from her mentor, Twilight decided to kill some time and head to her friend Moondancer's party. She wasn't annoyed though; after all, the Princess has dozens of duties to perform, and even more responsibilities! It wouldn't be fair for Twilight expect to just skip to the front of the line. Besides, it wouldn't change too much if she sent her response an hour or so later. Would it?

Published 2015-08-27 02:20:02 UTC
Last updated 2017-04-22 06:19:01 UTC

A little late with the letter

I had put in a lot to plan a perfect party for my five friends. I was sure to check out a few books from the library on the topic. After all, it had to be perfect. I wasn’t much of a party pony, but I promised Minuette that I’d try and put myself out there more. While I refused to go out to random parties with them, we found a fair compromise in having a small get together with friends. While it was nice that my four friends showed up, it wasn’t as important to me as another pony showing up. I was nervous about if she’d come, knowing her habit, similar to that of my own, to study using her entire free time.

But Twilight showed up. That was really great, I had been excited to hang out with her more and this party was exactly the way to do it! I was wrong to think that she wouldn’t show up. Of course she would. While all of my friends were there, I spent most of my time with my best friend.

She brought Spike, her little assistant/brother, with her as well. They seemed to be under the impression that this was a party that required gifts, and I was quick to tell them otherwise. However, they insisted that since they got them anyway that I might as well have them. Spike gave me a cute teddy bear, whereas Twilight gave me a framed photo of the six of us. That was really nice of the both of them. I told them I’d put it right by my door.

We starting talking about our studies and all sorts of books when she brought up some old pony’s tale about ‘Nightmare Moon’. She seemed serious about it, so I let her complain to me about it. Twilight often overreacted to some things, but she didn’t seem to be simply ‘freaking’ out. She saw an issue and was trying to fix it, but nopony would listen to her.

Well… I listened to her.

After she told me the whole thing, I saw why she was so worked up. Pony tale or not, it wouldn’t be wrong to at least research it a little to make sure it was simply that. In the middle of us discussing the history of the Lunar Rebellion, she got a response from Princess Celestia about her previous letter. She seemed calmly pleased with getting a reply, though I could see the little signs of excitement from her. Her eyes gleamed as Spike opened it up and read it aloud.

“My dearest, most faithful student Twilight. You know that I value your diligence and that I trust you completely.”

She puffed out her chest a little, as she normally did when she was proven right. I couldn’t help but smile at those moments of hers. She was usually rather humble. But her pride tended to sneak through every so often.

“...but you simply must stop reading those dusty old books!”

Twilight and I gasped in unison. How could Princess Celestia talk about books like that? Books were always filled with facts and knowledge. Judging by the befuddled look on her face, I deduced she was thinking along the same line.

“My dear Twilight, there is more to a young pony's life than studying, so I'm sending you to supervise the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration in this year's location: Ponyville. And, I have an even more essential task for you to complete: make some friends!”

I tried my best to hide my giggles at that last part. While I wasn’t much better, Twilight could seriously use some socializing. Granted, I was a lot like her in the past, but that party was proof that I was trying. She, on the other hand, seemed offended by the idea.

“What? But I already have plenty of friends!” She rebutted.

Her eyes gave me a quick glance before going back to staring at the offending letter with wide eyes. Twilight took the list in her magic and brought it to her face. Her eyes darted back and forth as she read, and no doubt triple checked, every last word written to her.

“With all these responsibilities, I might not be able to research more about Nightmare Moon! Not in time, anyway!”

She started sweating a little, letting out a disgruntled sigh. I walked over and placed my arm around her as a way to comfort her apparent distress. At the touch of my hoof on her neck, she jolted upright and laid her wide eyes on me. I saw them move back and forth, kind of like how they were moving when she read the letter. Was she studying me?

“That’s it!” she shouted. Her sudden outcry of revelation sent me back onto the ground, my glasses sliding off my snout and laying awkwardly as I looked back up to see the my lavender friend leaning over me smiling. My own look of perplexity asked the question I hadn’t had the chance to verbalize.

Her voice gave away the eagerness she had built up while standing over me.

“MOONDANCER!”

“TWILIGHT” I returned at a similar volume, with excitement replaced by confusion.

“YOU!”

“ME!”

I probably should’ve yelled in a questioning tone.

She turned from me, walking over to Spike as she began writing on a piece of paper she didn’t have a few seconds ago. Knowing her, she probably had a pocket dimension of quills, ink, and paper. After all, I had one too.

Before I could question what had just happened, the letter had already been sent in Spike’s magic fire. I was still on my back on the ground, and my sense of confusion was at it’s maximum. She glanced back at me, with a look at satisfaction.

“Don’t worry, this shouldn’t take more than a minute.”

Okay. Now my confusion was at it’s peak. At least it’s current one. If the limits of my incertitude could be broken once by Twilight, no doubt they could be broken again. The moments ticked on, and it was then that I noticed the rest of our friends looking at us. Twilight, on the other hoof, was completely oblivious. She just stood there patiently waiting next to Spike with her head held high and lips in a grin.

Spike let out a belch, and out came a letter similar to the one Twilight had received earlier. Upon opening it, her previously wide grin seemed to have doubled in size. She turned around, and I was lifted up in her magic. I was still too shocked to process what was happening, so I didn't give a struggle as she carried me next to her as she walked.

“Sorry girls, looks like Moondancer and I have to leave early.”

My confusion levels broke their records yet again. Raising my eyebrow, I tried to capture the words flying around my head. Lyra, likely less confused, beat me to the punch.

“Uh, any reason why Twilight?” She tried to stop the mare, but Twilight just kept trotting towards the castle. She didn’t even look back as she bounced onward and out of the area of the party

“The two of us have to pack! After all, we have to go check on the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration!"

Eventually Spike caught up to us, and we were on our way to... well, somewhere. I was still in Twilight's grasp, so I didn't really have a choice to head to my own place to pack.

"Say Moondancer, have you ever rode in a Pegasus-Drawn Carriage?”

“No……Why?”

Author's Note

Well, guess who's back again. Maybe I can actually keep up with writing this fic.

Side note, while this story might not have any Moonlight shipping, it was partially inspired by the ending of "This Party Is Special" by Skreeran. (It's not neccesary to read it. But I do recommend it as it's own fic c:)

See any grammar/spelling mistakes? Feel free to tell me!

Introductions

Based on what I had heard about flying, I assumed I would find it rather enjoyable. Floating freely in the air, no bumping of train tracks or the sound of a train’s engine. It would be a calm, smooth ride.

I was incorrect in that assumption.

Instead, all I felt was the winds shaking the carriage. It wasn’t much, but the little lurching back and forth made my stomach churn. The one time I peeked over the edge, I was met with a dizzying sensation that forced my breathing to speed up. Towards the start of my oncoming panic attack Spike had given me a reassuring hug and, admittedly, it worked a little; I didn’t know him too well, but a hug is a hug. While my breathing slowed thanks to the comfort, my stomach was still flipping for a while. I eventually got to sleep with some help from Twilight; she read some of the books she brought along out loud. I tried my best to pay attention, but once I felt myself being taken by sleep I gave up.

The nap was pretty good, until a soft voice pulled me out of it.

I opened my eyes groggily from the nap I used to avoid the horrible upset stomach I was experiencing. I heard the soft voice again, but didn’t feel like responding. Instead, I opted to groan and close my eyes again. Hopefully sweet sleep would carry me away from this horrible contraption.

My hope flew out the window when I felt something poking into my forehead.

“Hey, Equestria to Moondancer! C’mon, we’ve got work to do!”

That voice wasn’t soft.

Despite another groan, Spike continued poke my face. I’ve found through hanging out with Twilight that he was usually a pretty intelligent kid, after all he had to keep up with her to some extent to be her ‘Number One Assistant”. But unfortunately, intelligent or not, he was still a baby dragon. And being a baby, of any species, tended to come with a lack of understanding when it came to what annoys some ponies. Rather than dealing with him poking me until I got a hole in my head, I stood up and hopped out of the loathsome form of transportation.

Twilight gave the pegasi guards our thanks and walked back to the two of us. Spike, who at some point deemed it appropriate, jumped on my back and took out Celestia’s letter.

He cleared his voice and spoke in what I assumed to be an attempt at impersonating the Princess’ royal tone.

“Don’t forget to complete your most essential task Twilight!”

Twilight did her best to ignore him, but he leapt off of me and onto her back. He then leaned over her head to make sure he had her full attention.

“Make some friends!”

I couldn’t help but snicker at that part. Twilight really needed to socialize a little more. And that was coming from me of all ponies. With a grumble from his carrier, Spike slid down onto her back and rolled up the letter.

“Maybe the ponies in Ponyville have interesting things to talk about. Come on, Twilight, just try!”

Just as Spike finished talking, an obnoxiously pink mare stood in front of the three of us. Okay, maybe not obnoxiously pink. Just…. pink. She had a light pink coat, and a slightly deeper pink mane that seemed to be made of cotton candy. She seemed to be smiling though, perhaps she was a pony that Twilight could test her friend making on. Maybe it would be a step in the right direction.

“Um... hello?”

My hope started to crumble when the mare jumped up and inhaled deeper than I thought anypony could. When she shot away, she took the rest of it with her.

“Well, that was interesting all right,” I gawked. With a little bit of magic, I pushed my glasses back up against my face. Spike sighed in defeat while Twilight attempted to suppress a laugh. Sarcasm, as I learned from our study sessions, was one of the few things to hit her funny bone; she couldn’t deconstruct the logic and fallacies like she, unintentionally, tended to do with other jokes.

“Right,” she continued, “Let’s get on with checking the preparations. Since there’s two of us we should be able to get through them in half the time, leaving us with plenty of research time.”

She gave a glance to Spike, motioning for him to do something with the letter. After receiving a puzzled look from her assistant Twilight picked the letter up in her magic and took a look at the list of preparations. When we had gone over it before, there seemed to actually be a minimal number of things we needed to check up on. Overall, it looked like we only had to go and meet four ponies. I didn’t know why Twilight had decided I needed to come along, there was no way it would take more than half the day.

Then again, she was also very big on contingency plans.

After divvying up our duties for the day, Twilight and I split ways. She left to go talk to the local applefarmer, while I went to town hall to check the decorations. On the way, I couldn’t help but get caught up in the sights of the small town. Having never gone outside of Canterlot before, I was fascinated by the interesting homes that lined the streets. Despite being made of the same few materials, each one seemed to give off it’s own personality. Even homes that appeared to be equal in size had their own little quirks in layout and exterior decoration. On the occasions that I saw a habitant at their abode, the belief entered my mind that they and their houses matched. Their homes fit them. I felt just by seeing them next to their house offered me a small peek into their lives and personality.

That, and the roofs were made out of hay.

Hay.

Finding town hall didn't take much effort. While most houses were placed relatively near each other, the Town Hall stood in the center of town with a sizable radius between it and the buildings surrounding it. Unfortunately, unlike the rest of the buildings in the town, there was a distinct lack of hay.

What did take much effort was catching the attention of the mare I was supposed to speak with. Standing in the middle of the hall stood a white unicorn, with a mane and tail style akin to the ones I’ve seen in canterlot’s fashion district. Floating in her magic beside her was a variety ribbons held by her magic.

“Excuse me, are you th-”

“Just a moment darling, I am in the zone, as it were.”

She stared down a multitude of ribbons as they floated past her sight. One at a time, she lifted ribbon after ribbon over their intended location only to pull them back down and move to the next in line. This went on for nearly fifteen minutes before she was satisfied with her choice, giving it a nod. I started making my way over to her, putting on a friendly smile once again.

“Okay, so now that you’re done, I’m Moonda-”

Arrangements of various flowers flew past my face as I was interrupted yet again. The surprise sent me falling onto my back, glasses left askew on my face. Before I could process the flora that flashed through my vision, she had begun a familiar process of deciding which flowers would be best suited to hang over one of the doorways while I laid ten feet from her.

I laid there on the floor for a while. I didn’t really want to get up. However, as per the increasingly usual, my desires were thrown into the garbage by a claw poking me in the head.

“Someone should get you a bell.” I groaned out. I stayed staring at the ceiling waiting for a response of some sort, whether it was in the form of a statement or another poke to the face. When neither of those came, I was forced to roll over and make sure he was okay. After adjusting my glasses to get a proper look at the dragon, I was mostly convinced that he was, in fact, not okay. He stood there, arm stretched out towards me mid-poke, with a blank gaze.

“Hey, Spike, you okay there?” I waved my hooves in his face, but his stare kept. I tried poking his face, to no avail. Next I tried lifting him up in my magic. At first he seemed to keep his stare, that is until I turned him upside-down in the other direction. With a couple blinks, he slouched into a position far more casual than ‘rigid with his arm stretched out’. Satisfied that he shouldn’t enter a stupor again, I placed him back down next to me. His arm lifted back up and I flinched expecting a possible poke attack. Thankfully, his arm stopped to point in front of him.

“Beautiful…”

I turned my view to follow his outstretched claw. The interior of the hall had transformed, to say the least, since the time I first walked in. Bouquets and ribbons lined the railings of the halls many overhangs, each it’s own shade of blue to create a gradient across the room. The white of the bouquets along with the greens of vines blended with the ribbons, and together they all stood out and complimented the halls brown walls. It was, admittedly, pretty beautiful.

“You’re right,” I confirmed, “the decorations are rather beautiful.”

“Not that, her!”

Standing on the other end of the room was the unicorn, inspecting her job well done. She held her head up in a show of pride before turning around and noticing the elephant, or dragon, in the room. Her eyes widened a little before dropping back down to a kind gaze.

“Oh hello there! Is there something I can help you with?”

“Yes, actually,” I answered, “I’ve been sent from Canterlot to check on the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. You’re Rarity, I presume?”

Her eyes seemed to light up once I mentioned Canterlot. “The one and only, darling.” She turned and waved her hoof towards the decorations filling the hall. “And as you can see, the décor is simply divine. Simple, yet elegant if I do say so myself.”

“I agree with that,” I gave the whole room another once-over to still find myself pleased with the look, “and I’m sure the Princess will too.”

“So tell me darling, what’s it like living in Canterlot? Oh how I’ve always dreamed of living there, with all it’s glamour and sophistication!” She looked into the air, seemingly in her own world. I would probably be stuck there for hours if I started talking to her, no doubt to be asked every question she could to find out about her fantasy home.

“As much as I’d like to regale you with my thrilling tales of life there, I unfortunately have to check on other preparations for the Celebration.” I tried to look not at all enthused about leaving. Granted, the fact that I wasn’t that enthusiastic about checking on the next preparations helped me with that look.

She, while looking momentarily heartbroken, took it in stride. She trotted up to my side and wrapped a hoof around me. I didn’t squirm awkwardly, that would be rude. Instead I just died a little on the inside and let her talk.

“That’s alright dear, but sometime during the event we just have to have a chat. I can’t wait to hear about it all! We’re going to be great friends, you and I!”

Okay, died a little more. Truth be told, I wasn’t too against becoming friends with her. She seemed like a nice enough pony, but I had work to do. Plus, if Nightmare Moon didn’t make a grand appearance and do something crazy, like kidnap Celestia, to put a hamper on the morning I kind of wanted to spend time at the Celebration with Twilight. We never really hung out enough prior to the party, so this would be a great opportunity to both talk with her and maybe get her to start coming out of her shell like me. Maybe I could introduce her to Rarity. She seems friendly enough.

I gave my goodbye and began heading towards the exit. As I walked under the doorway, I felt a certain dragon climb onto my back. I would need to ask Twilight about giving him a speech on personal space.

“So where to next?” He asked with a little too much excitement in my opinion.

“Aren’t you supposed to be with Twilight? Where is she?”

“Oh, she got held up having brunch with that Apple family. I wasn't really in the mood for all those apple foods.”

I shivered. Better her than me.

“Well, the next task she handed off to me was to check on the music for the event. There should be a pegasus named Fluttershy in the park somewhere that’s in charge of that.”

As if on cue, some birdsong could be heard in the distance.. We followed it into the middle of the park, where we saw a yellow pegasus conducting a line of birds in a soothing fanfare. I trotted up quietly, being careful not to interrupt. Following the etiquette learnt from years of going to Canterlot orchestras, I gently sat down a few yards behind the pony conductor and listened to the nice tune produced by the birds. I heard a soft thud with the sounds of a dragon falling into a bush and snickered. That’s what he get for jumping on ponies backs without permission, I thought.

Unfortunately, his interaction with the bush caught the avian musicians’ attentions. The music died to nothing as they all peaked around to see the commotion going on behind their maestro. She, having her small choir decide to stop and investigate, turned around to look as well.

“Oh… I uh… um… Hi.” I stammered out. The pegasus floated down to the ground a few feet ahead of me, keeping her eyes on anything but me. I could tell she was more on the timid side. While I wasn’t meek, I was on the side of not exactly being comfortable with strangers; I could understand how she was probably feeling.

“Um… Hi.” She whispered at a barely audible level.

“So uh…” I adjusted my glasses, “You’re Fluttershy?”

She nodded shyly. I smiled at her, both because we were making progress and because of the apposition of her name and the trait.

“Well… My name is Moondancer. I’m here to check on the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. Could you tell me a little bit about these birds of yours?”. Her face seemed to light up at the mention of the birds. Animal lover. Got it.

“Oh yes! Well, you see, they really enjoy singing. I mean, they’re songbirds after all! Usually they just sing around town on their own which seems kind of lonely, so I got them all together to try and maybe sing as a group! It’s been a bit of a rough start, but the towns ponies really love it! And not to mention how much the birds enjoy it!” She flew over to the tree where they were perched, giving a one an appreciative pat on the head. “Them being asked to sing at the Celebration is a big honor.”

“It sure is! You must be proud of the little guys.”

“Oh I am!” She was positively beaming at this point. It was probably a good thing that Twilight wasn’t checking on the music. She wasn’t that good with extraverted ponies, let alone introverted ones.

“I wish I could stay and listen more, but I have to go meet with the other pony that was sent to check on the preparations.” This time I didn’t need to fake being unenthused about leaving. The music was nice, and Fluttershy seemed like she would be a kind friend once you got to know her. And a lot less… overwhelming than Rarity. Not to say Rarity wasn’t nice but I wasn’t up for a game of twenty questions.

“Oh, I understand,” her smile seemed to fade a little, but it only took a little to tear my heart. This pony could probably guilt me into robbing a bank if she wanted to. Thankfully, her face perked right back up. “I’ll see you at the Celebration though, right? We can talk a little after the ceremony… if you’re not busy doing something more important of course.” If I was planning on doing something important after the ceremony, I had no doubt that I would change those plans.

“Of course!” I smiled reassuringly back at her. My smile, however, faltered when I felt a familiar weight on my back again. I looked back to unsurprisingly find a purple dragon.

“Spike, do you mi-”

“OH MY GOSH, IS THAT A BABY DRAGON?” Fluttershy flew excitedly up to my side, buzzing around Spike like a hummingbird. “Oh my gosh this is so exciting, I’ve never seen a baby DRAGON before. He’s so cute!”

Her excitement was adorable. I was smiling despite the subject of it. “Careful there,” I interrupted, “No need to let his ego get any bigger.”

“I’ll have you know,” he interjected, “That my ego is perfectly fine. It’s your head that we need to worry about growing too large.”

“Ha Ha Ha.” I said with as minimal emotion as I could.

“Oh my, he talks. I didn't know dragons could talk. That's just so incredibly wonderful I, I just don't even know what to say!”

“Well,” I added, “We have to walk all the way to the library where we’re staying, so you’re welcome to join us and ask him questions.”

There was that heart-melting grin again.

“Oh, I wouldn’t want to be a bother.”

“It’s not a bother at all! If anything, you’re stopping him from bothering me too much.” That earned me a flick in the back of the head. Seemed like I was rubbing off on him a little. That probably wasn’t good.

“Aw but how could such a cutie be a bother? What’s his name?” While it sounded like the question was aimed at me, her eyes were aimed at him.

“I’m Spike,” He said proudly.

“Hi Spike, I'm Fluttershy. Wow, a talking dragon! And what do dragons talk about?”

“Well, what do you wanna know?”

“Absolutely everything.”

I actually hadn’t known too much about Spike. It wouldn’t hurt too much to get to know him a little better. I decided pay a little attention as well as I made my way towards town.

“Well,” he started, “I started out as a cute little purple and green egg…”

Author's Note

Hey guys, Treble here. Finally got this chapter out, and will hopefully be getting more work on this story! If you guys see anywhere you think my writing can improve, please tell me! Hope you all enjoy it!

Also, I added the AU tag since this is technically an AU, even if only slightly.

Small Roadblocks

During our schooldays, Twilight and I mostly kept to our studies. There was the occasional lunch with the girls but not much else, meaning I never really knew what happened in Twilight’s life. I knew a few bits and pieces like her brother joining the royal guard and that one time she holed up in the library for a week but even that stuff was just basic information. But spike, on the other hoof, knew everything.

I knew that her brother entered the guard, but I didn’t know Twilight had taken his action figure hostage to make him not leave. I also didn’t know that during her week long study binge she made a book fort that she napped in. She was the Queen and Spike was her loyal jester. This and other similar stories was why my laughing could be heard across Ponyville.

To my left Fluttershy was trying her best to make giggle-riddled excuses for Twilight’s silly escapades, but even she couldn’t hold it in any longer when Spike mentioned the time Twilight pretended to be a dragon and, standing tall upon her book hoard, growled at her own family.

“I’ll be honest,” I spoke between giggles, “that sounds adorable. She did that just to make you feel more at home?”

The real dragon standing on my back had to stifle his own giggles to talk. “Yea, though of course I told her I felt at home whether they were dragons or not. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her face turn so red!”

It was when we were in the middle of crossing a small creek by bridge that I saw the tree. I remember that specific moment because I remember thinking ‘I really hope the tree building is the library’. It was really only a passing thought. The kind that you mostly forget that you even thought in the first place, which was what I did almost immediately.

“Hey look! That’s the library!” Spike said, pointing towards the tree building. We all stopped in the middle of the bridge to look in the direction of the tree building.

“Oh, is it near that cool tree building?” I asked, looking everywhere that way except the tree building.

“Actually, the tree building is the library!” Fluttershy said, smiling gently at me before looking back towards the tree building.

And then I had a moment because of a tree building.

“Oh my gosh,” I whispered out breathlessly, while focusing my vision on the tree building in the distance, “The tree building is the library.”

My jaw was dropped and my eyes were wide as I stared at the tree building that was also a library. I studied it. It appeared to have very little pony-made architecture to it; a door, a few windowsills, and what appeared to be a balcony coming out of the leaves.

“Uh… Moondancer?”

There were windows in the wood. In fact, the windows that weren’t meant to be opened seem to have branches in them. Branches in the windows that were in the body of the tree that was also a library.

“Hey Moondancer, are you okay? You’re kind of just staring. It’s a little creepy.”

Had I been in a staring contest with the tree building that was also a library, I probably could’ve won. Could have, that is, if a dragon claw didn’t poke my face forcing me to blink while looking at the tree building that was a library.

“Um… is this normal?”

It was a tree building.

“Not while I’ve known her.”

That was also a library.

“EQUESTRIA TO MOONDANCER!”

Spike yelling rudely in my ear broke my trance; It also caused my entire body to spasm due to being yelled at directly in the ear not being a pleasant thing. The violent shake caused my passenger to go flying up and over the bridge’s railing. By the time my body stopped shaking he was already on his way down towards the water. It was then, calmly and with grace, I went to catch him.

“OH MY GOSH SPIKE” I screamed very firmly, trying to calm him down. Quickly, I reached out with my magic and grabbed him mere inches from the water. I then lifted him back up and gave him an inspection to ensure he wasn’t going in shock.

“Spike are you okay?” I asked while floating him gently onto my back.

“Heh, I’m fine Moondancer. I only would’ve fallen a foot or two. That’s like nothing compared to falling off the top of the bookshelf ladder.” He dusted himself off; what he dusted off however, seeing as he fell through the air and was caught by magic, I had no clue.

“And how often does that happen?” Fluttershy inquired.

“Surprisingly often recently.”

My face scrunched up a little bit as I decided to have a word with Twilight in regards to younger siblings and heights. However, that thought was put on the backburner as I remembered a very important matter.

The treehouse that was also a library.

“Well, falling aside, I think we should get going.” I said trying my best to rein in the excitement, “After all, that library won’t be coming to us. It’s a tree!” I very awkwardly scoffed in humor. Fluttershy and Spike both stared at me. I gave the bridge a little kick as I looked down, a little embarrassed.

“I just… I think it’s really cool okay.”

Fluttershy gave a reassuring smile while Spike tried to hold back a giggle. She trotted up to me and placed a hoof on my shoulder, before nodding her head to start walking again. With that, we were on our way again to the library.

That was in a treehouse.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Standing in it’s proximity was just as breathtaking as, if not more than, seeing it from afar. I apparently went into a trance again as I felt dragon claws, for the umpteenth time this trip, poking the side of my face. I did my best to ignore it, even when I heard the two of them giggling. It wasn’t until I heard a different familiar voice that I snapped out of it.

“Moondancer! There you are!”

I turned my head with a jerk, much to the dismay of the dragon leaning on the back of my neck to poke my face, to see Twilight trotting up to me.

“Oh hey Twili- oh my gosh.”

“Yes.”

There was an abomination sitting where Twilight’s mane once sat.

“Twilight... you may not have noticed but your mane kind of… has some stuff going on.”

“I am aware Moondancer.”

“Okay just making sure.”

We stood in silence for a few moments, but my curiosity got the better of me.

“So uh… explanations?”

“Well,” she started “some rainbow-maned pegasus decided it’d be super great to ram me into a puddle.”

Spike snickered for a moment before Twilight cut him off with a glare.

“So following that, she gets an even greater idea of surrounding me in a small tornado to dry me off.” She finished her sentence off with a glare into space, most likely thinking up a lecture to give the pegasus on their next meeting.

Before she could glare a hole in space, Fluttershy gently inserted herself into the conversation. Somehow she had walked up next to me without myself noticing. I would’ve likely been startled… if she hadn’t spoken at nearly a whisper.

“Oh, um, excuse me,” Twilight shook the glare of her head and turned towards Fluttershy, “But I couldn’t help but hear you mention a rainbow maned pegasus. That would be probably Rainbow Dash. She can be a bit… much… b-but her heads always in the right place.” She shied back after that last part, hiding partially behind her mane and partially behind me.

“Oh uh… Twilight, this is Fluttershy. Fluttershy, this is my best friend Twilight,” I moved in closer to her ear and used a faux whisper that I knew Twilight could still hear, “She’s a grump right now, but she’s a good pony. Trust me.”

Twilight’s thankfully did her best to not scare Fluttershy off, donning a small smile. “Nice to meet you, you were in charge of the music correct?” She turned her head towards me, “How’d that turn out?”

“It gets a check from me,” I responded, “The birds sounded great, I’m sure you’ll love them as well when you hear them during the celebration. Fluttershy’s doing a wonderful job.”

Twilight gave a happy snort and raised her head, giving that prideful smile she always gets when she finishes a checklist. Fluttershy, on the contrary, held a more bashful smile. While she was less backed-off than at the beginning of the conversation, her body was still shrunk a little in embarrassment from the complement.

“Well then,” Twilight started to head towards the Tree-that-was-also-a-library's door, “With everything checked off, time to get some studying done!” She rose her leg to push the door open, “Finally some peace and quiet.”

Right as her hoof made contact with the door, Fluttershy let out a yell. Well, a yell by her standards anyway.

“Wait!”

Twilight stopped and looked at her, confused. I, on the other hoof, was partially flabbergasted at her raising her voice. Whatever she had in her to do so must’ve run out, because she shrank back with a blush on her face.

“Oh, um, I heard you say peace and quiet. And it’s just that, if I know Pinkie Pie, there’s probably a party waiting for you in there. A loud one.”

“A party?” Twilight turned her head in confusion, “Pinkie Pie? Was that the really pink pony we saw when we first got here?”

“The one that jumped, gasped, and ran away from us because you said hello?” I added, giving a teasing smirk. Twilight didn’t like the insinuation.

“Correlation isn’t causation Moondancer! She jumped, gasped, and ran away from us when I said hello. Not because.” She gave a stomp with a forehoof to emphasize the point before shaking her head. I could also see she was holding back a smile.

“That sounds like Pinkie Pie,” Fluttershy inserted into the conversation, “She probably saw you and realized she hadn’t met you before. Which means there’s definitely a party waiting in there.”

“But… that was only a few hours ago. How could she possibly set up a party in that time?” Twilight asked.

“She’s Pinkie Pie, when it comes to parties she can manage to do a lot of things.” Fluttershy said that very ominously.

I decided not to press further. Twilight seemed at a loss for words.

“Well uh,” I continued, “What now, then?”

“We could always do some magic practice, I guess.” Twilight was a bit dejected at not being able to do research. “At least then we’ll be prepared for if we need to use our spells.”

“Um. Prepared for what?” Fluttershy asked, a bit scared. Before Twilight could say anything, I made sure to interject.

“Just in case there’s a hitch in plans during the celebration. Maybe a table breaks, or somepony gets punch spilt on them. Gotta be prepared, right Twilight?” I slid up to Twilight’s side, and less than gently elbowed her. She thankfully seemed to get the memo, but still responded in a not very convincing manner.

“Punch! Yes! Can’t have stains during an event with Celestia, no siree! Hehehe…” She trailed off with a nervous laugh.

As I said; not very convincing. I quickly and seamlessly changed the subject.

“So, changing subjects, yea let’s go practice some magic. You want to watch Fluttershy?”

“Oh, I wouldn’t want to be a bother…” She said, obviously falling for my artful deflection of topic.

“Nonsense,” I said, walking up to her and placing my leg around her, “It’ll be fine.”

“Well… if you’re alright with that, it does sound interesting.”

“Wonderful.” I said, giving her a friendly smile.

Twilight walked up, smiling herself.

“You wouldn’t happen to know an empty area we could do it in, would you?” She asked.

“Well actually…”