Nightmares and Harmony

Although only an hour had passed since the pair had received the letter, Dawn and Gummy were in the air on "Celestia's Express" (as Dawn called it). Now Dawn would never go against her mentor and princess. No pony would ever believe such an accusation, in fact, it was quite appalling to suggest. However, by no means did that mean Dawn couldn't, nor wouldn't, spend the entire 40-minute flight complaining to Gummy and thoroughly explaining why there were exactly ninety-two-and-a-half other things she'd be better suited to do.

Before Dawn could explain why her last reason only counted as half a reason, Gummy suggested they review the letter once more before they landed, just in case they had missed something in their first read-through. The little drake could almost hear the twin sighs of relief from the two guards pulling the chariot when Dawn agreed to let him read it once again. Well, it could more accurately be described as Dawn visibly deflating and giving Gummy a non-commital 'Yeah, sure, whatever' as she leaned over the side of the carriage. Gummy grimaced as he unfurled the letter. Ever since Celestia had cut-off Dawn's privileges to throw parties, she had been getting more and more depressed. He couldn't even convince her to come to Saffron's party yesterday because she was so obsessed with finishing planning her 'perfect party' for Princess Celestia. Hopefully, she'd actually make some friends, like Celestia wanted her to.

"...My dear Dawn, there is more to a young pony's life than simply planning. So I'm sending you to supervise the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration, and the event itself, in this year's location: Ponyville. Also, I have an essential task for you to complete: make some friends!"

Dawn harrumphed.

"Oh, come on Dawnie. Look on the bright side. You'll be planning the best party of the year! Aaaaand the princess arranged for you to stay in an old cafe."

"Well, I guess that's cool. But it's not like I'm actually planning anything. Just overseeing." The unicorn pantomimed writing as she looked off in the distance. Slumping over the railing, Dawn recalled how Princess Celestia had seriously downgraded any soirees the young mare had tried to throw in recent years. She was no longer put in charge of anything that had even an air of importance to it. In fact, the Princess hadn't even let her throw a single party in months! Dawn had begun to wonder if she was worth anything at all. Party planning was her special talent, after all. Dawn had refused to let herself mope about Celestia's new rules, in fact, the situation had only pushed her harder into her studies and party planning. If Celestia wasn't happy with her parties, Dawn would finally plan, and throw, a party fit for a princess. Of course, that was what she had been working on when this whole fiasco had started. Dawn was so close to perfection, she could feel it! But now she was pulled away to do something boring called 'overseeing.'

"I bet if you do a good job, the princess will let you plan something else." Gummy singsonged, desperately trying to cheer up his best friend.

"You know what? You're right!" Dawn stomped defiantly on the carriage floor, causing the carriage to lurch as it came to a landing. The stallions pulling the carriage whinnied in opposition; it was uncomfortable for everyone when the carriage was rocked. As Dawn and Gummy stepped out of the carriage, the former apologized. "Sorry about that, good sirs. And thank you very much for the ride."

The pegasi, ever the silent type, simply bowed their heads in response before taking to the skies once again. They left quite quickly, leaving Dawn wondering if they didn't want to stick around Ponyville for some reason. Gummy, on the other hand, knew it was Dawn the guards weren't keen on sticking around.

Regardless, Dawn turned back towards her companion and continued, "I'm going to blow the princess out of the water with my amazing 'overseeical' skills so much so that she'll realize how capable I am of being put in charge of planning this celebration next year!"

With a relieved sigh, Gummy pulled out the checklist he had been given. Thank goodness Dawn's mood had turned around. Otherwise, it would have been a long day. "Well, let's see if anypony knows where the food is being taken care of." As if on cue, a purple pegasus with three gears for a cutie mark approached them. The pegasus had a windswept, indigo mane and tail, each with a hot pink strip down the side. Dawn opened her mouth to ask the pegasus, but was cut off by a resounding GASP as soon as said mare caught sight of Ms. Pie and made to jet off to the skies. Dawn reacted quickly, grabbing the pegasus with her magic and pulling her back to the ground. She was in no mood to deal with crazy today. She had to make sure everything was perfect for the princess.

"Before you fly off to who knows where again, could you please be a more polite pony and give me some directions?" Dawn asked, her voice dripping with all the distaste of a Canterlor noble pony.

The pegasus's eyes were wide as she realized she was no longer in mid-air. "I'm, er, sorry." She finally managed. "Where are you heading to?"

Dawn looked to Gummy who read off his checklist. "Banquet Preparations: Sweet Apple Acres."

"Sweet Apple Acres? Well, that rules out that area." The pegasus questioned, mumbling the second part to herself. She began to flap her wings, lifting her a few hooves off the ground. "Yeah, yeah, my friend lives there. It's that way." She pointed to the right, towards the edge of town. "There's a large red barn. You can't miss it."

"Thank you." The unicorn huffed. She was about to turn away when she realized she had forgotten some basic etiquette herself. "By the way, my name is Pinakamenia Dawn Pie, and I am in charge of the Summer Sun Celebration this year." Dawn struck a bit of a noble pose, hoping to get the pegasus to show some respect.

However, the pegasus seemed to do quite the opposite as she mimicked Dawn while hovering in the air. "Well, I'm Twilight Swish. Nice to meet you. See yaaaaa." She took off through the air again and dashed over the pink pony's head, apparently quite determined not to be magically caught once more. This 'Twilight Swish' was out of sight by the time Dawn turned her head to watch the pegasus leave.

"I feel like that mare would be in the Wonderbolts." The unicorn muttered under her breath, starting on the path to Sweet Apple Acres. "Although that attitude." She added absentmindedly. Gummy shook his head in disbelief. It seemed Dawn making friends was going to be a lot harder than he or the princess originally anticipated.