Elements of Canterlot

If Moondancer's friends were going to be here for this party, she was going to make sure it would be a good one. She looked over every single thing she'd brought for the occasion. The food? Check. The Balloons? Check. All the streamers and other decorations? Check. Everything was where it needed to be, including the gifts she intended to give to everypony, and as she took a moment to take off her glasses and give them a quick clean, she sighed.

"Okay, Moondancer. Everything will be fine. I know you're not a big party person, but this will all work out. Minuette will be here, Lemon Hearts will be here, Lyra and Twinkleshine will be here..."

A smile grew on her lips.

"...and Twilight will be here."

She giggled.

"I never thought her as one for parties either, but if she IS coming..."

She didn't finish, instead sighing again, looking simply satisfied with how everything was going. And it was right about this moment when she noticed, out of the corner of her eye, a pair of mares approaching her from the side. It was Twinkleshine and Lemon Hearts. And then, mere moments afterwards, she saw none other than Minuette coming in from the opposite side. She smiled widely at the arrival of her friends, but said nothing as Minuette spoke instead.

"Hey, Moondancer!"

The blue mare smiled just as much as her host when she laid her eyes on the food that had been prepared.

"Look at this spread, huh?"

Moondancer giggled again.

"Thank you so much for coming!"

"Of course!"

Moondancer turned to see the one who had spoken, Twinkleshine.

"We wouldn't miss one of our best friend's parties!"

But, as happy as Moondancer was that the three of them were here, there was one notable face absent from this gathering, and so she started looking around.

"Is Twilight coming?"

Having heard that question, the other three mares started to seem awfully concerned for some reason, with some of them even avoiding looking at her. Moondancer, at first, didn't understand why her friends were acting this way. But then, after the moment had sunk in for her, she gained a sense of realisation, and so started to droop her ears, her smile now gone completely.

"Oh...okay."

Nopony there was happy about seeing her like this, so upset and inconsolable. Twinkleshine and Lemon Hearts were at a complete loss on what to do, but thankfully, Minuette was there too. She perked right back up, and decided to try and elevate the mood of the party with her typical Minuette way.

"Hey! We'll still have fun, right?"

She giggled, but it was obvious to all of them that it was forced. Moondancer, on some level perhaps, appreciated the sentiment, but the knowledge that the mare she considered her closest friend would be absent was simply too upsetting for her. She got down from the table and, to her friends' dismay, started walking away.

"Sure."

Her tone was sombre and almost monotone, the kind of sound somepony made only when they were truly disheartened. Her three friends looked to one another, hoping that at least one of them would do or say something that would be able to help in this matter. But when it became clear that no help was coming, they too started looking down. That is, until a certain voice called out to them.

"Moondancer!"

The red-maned mare's ears perked up, for that voice had been very familiar to her. She turned, and as soon as she did, her smile returned once more to her face. It was Spike, running along happily towards the table where the mares were. But behind him, wearing an immensely-awkward smile, was Twilight Sparkle. Moondancer looked overjoyed by this, and walked right towards them, oblivious to the huge looks of relief the other three mares were having right now. Minuette even wiped away some sweat from her brow, but again laughed before looking over to her lavender friend.

"Hey! Twilight! You made it!"

Twilight looked to her, shrugging her shoulders slightly.

"Yes, well...there was a slight...change of plans."

She cast a brief glance down to Spike, who was in no way bothered by her glare. He was just happy to be here, and doubly so when Moondancer approached.

"I...I don't know what to say. Thank you. Both of you. I actually didn't think you were going to show up."

Spiked chuckled.

"Don't worry, Moondancer. Twilight's number one assistant always gets her where she needs to be!"

Moondancer giggled, placing her hoof upon the top of his head and giving him a friendly pat there.

"Thank you, Spike. Where would we be without you?"

The young dragon blushed to this, chuckling nervously, much to the amusement of Minuette, Lemon Hearts and Twinkleshine. Twilight rolled her eyes to her ward's behaviour, but then watched as he held up the picture frame he'd brought with him.

"I, er, I brought you this!"

Lighting up her horn, Moondancer brought it closer to her, seeing the picture of her and her six friends. She smiled warmly, giving Spike yet another thankful look.

"It's a wonderful gift, Spike."

She leaned forward, bringing him close to her in a hug, which he was sure to return. It was a heart-warming moment, but it was sadly interrupted when, all of a sudden, another voice called out from behind.

"Sorry...I'm...late!"

Everypony turned, and they all saw that it was Lyra, the one friend besides Twilight who had been absent so far. The green unicorn skidded to a halt, panting furiously, all while her friends watched with equal parts concern and curiosity. But they at least gave her time to catch her breath, and when she'd done so, she smiled to Moondancer.

"Well, here I am!"

Moondancer, naturally, was quite happy that all of her friends were here now, and after looking to all of them, she sighed, making her way over to the nearby table.

"Well then, I'll get everypony some food."

She merrily trotted over to the banquet table, using her magic to start plating up some food for each of them. Minuette, smirking over at Lyra, leaned in closer to her, bringing her voice down to a whisper.

"So, where did you get off to?"

Lyra frowned to her, then finally spoke.

"If you must know, I'm still looking at house prices."

Minuette nodded.

"Oh yeah, how is the hunt going?"

Lyra sighed.

"That part of Equestria does have a few places...but I'm still thinking about it."

Twilight, though a little intrigued as to what her two friends were talking about, soon turned her attention over to Twinkleshine and Lemon, who were starting to come closer to her.

"We're really happy to see you here, Twilight. When you told us earlier that you were busy..."

Twilight nodded, and took a moment to consider her answer carefully.

"Well...it seems that maybe my concerns weren't exactly...shared."

As one would expect, this cryptic choice of words left the other mares looking more than a little confused, to which Twilight couldn't help but giggle.

"Don't worry about it. I'm here now and...I guess we're having a fun party?"

Here, Moondancer arrived, levitating a number of food-covered plates, which she silently offered to her friends.

"Hungry, anypony?"

The others, all eager to try some of the delicious food, graciously accepted what had been offered, including Twilight. Even she had to admit that the food looked good, and in fact her stomach started to growl at the sight of it, much to her embarrassment. Twinkleshine and Lemon took themselves off, most likely to give Lyra their own greetings. And this left Twilight with the hostess herself, Moondancer. The two, for a time, said nothing, but eventually Moondancer looked over to her, bearing a soft smile.

"I really am grateful you're here, Twilight."

Twilight looked to her, surprised.

"Well, I'm sure you'd have had a fun party without me, right?"

Moondancer sighed after having heard that.

"You know that's not true. You're my best friend. It just wouldn't have been the same if you weren't here."

As Moondancer looked to her food, ready to take her first bite, Twilight was left stunned by what she'd heard. Her best friend? Is that truly how Moondancer saw her? It was something that, honestly, the young unicorn had never really considered, and yet there it was, spelled out for her right then and there. She looked down to Spike, who fixed her with a definite "I told you so" look. In that moment, Twilight wondered to herself how Moondancer might have reacted if she hadn't turned up here. It wasn't a pleasant thought, that much was certain, but at the very least twilight consoled herself with the knowledge that it was something she'd managed to avoid.

"So...Moondancer."

The other mare looked back to her.

"Yes?"

Twilight cleared her throat.

"This party, it's...it's very...nice?"

Moondancer smiled.

"Thanks. I've been planning it for a while now. But I'd never have been able to make it this good without Minuette's help."

Here, Minuette looked to her bespectacled friend with appreciation, but at least had the courtesy to sound humble about the whole matter.

"Thanks for the compliment, Moony, but you should really thank my pen-pal. She really knows her stuff!"

Twilight raised an eyebrow.

"What pen pal?"

The other mares looked to her with incredulity, and Spike, after slapping his forehead, gave her a quick nudge with his elbow, gaining her attention.

"You know, Twilight? The pen pal Minuette has been talking about for weeks every time we go to have lunch with her and the others?"

His tone was deliberate, and he gave quick jerking motions with his head towards the other mares. Twilight, though at first unsure of why he was acting like this, soon gained some understanding, and laughed nervously.

"Oh, right, that pen pal! Of course! How could I forget? I mean, you're always talking about her and stuff...right?"

Again, Spike slapped his forehead. Thankfully, none of the other mares seemed at all bothered by Twilight's forgetfulness, and all giggled together, Minuette especially so.

"Oh, Twilight, you silly! It's not like we're gonna get mad at you or anything!"

Twinkleshine nodded.

"Yeah! We know how important your studies are. So what if you've got your nose in your book while we're talking about this stuff?"

As had happened several times now, Twilight felt a measure of guilt, but otherwise seemed appreciative of her friends' sentiment. In the meantime, Twinkleshine looked back over to Minuette.

"Well, whatever advice this friend of yours gave you, I'm just glad we're having this party out here."

Moondancer looked over to her, reaching over and giving her a pat on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, we wouldn't put you in an indoor party. Not after last time."

Twinkleshine shuddered.

"I don't know what my family was thinking, giving me a Birthday in such a cramped room. They know how hard that kind of stuff is for me!"

Lemon too walked over to her.

"Don't worry about it, you're not gonna get stressed out here."

Twilight, despite being the one who hadn't wanted to come here, nevertheless smiled at this friendly banter between the other mares. As the other three continued to chat with themselves, Twilight glanced to Moondancer. The guilt she'd been feeling at various times today started to grow in her, and as she sighed, she walked over to their hostess.

"Moondancer...I need to tell you something."

The other mare adjusted her glasses before looking over to her.

"Yes?"

Twilight took a deep breath, then started explaining herself.

"The main reason I'm here right now...is because Spike convinced me to come."

She looked away.

"I was originally planning on just getting on with my preparation with going to help out with Celestia's Summer Sun Celebrations, as well as some...other work."

After a while, she looked back.

"I just...thought you should know."

Given how Moondancer had been feeling prior to Twilight's arrival here, it was no surprise that she seemed to feel a touch disheartened by this. But, to Twilight's surprise, that moment didn't really last long for her, as her smile soon returned.

"That's...that's okay, Twilight."

The lavender mare blinked.

"It...is?"

Moondancer nodded.

"Yep. I knew there was always a chance that you weren't going to show. I mean, you don't spend as many years together as we have without picking up on how devoted you are to your work."

She walked forward, putting her hoof on Twilight's shoulder.

"I'm just happy you're here. And I'm even happier that you were this open with me about it."

Though surprised by this reaction, Twilight soon smiled right back, feeling actually quite touched at her friend's words.

"Th...thank you, Moondancer."

The other unicorn giggled.

"Hey, that's what friends are for, right?"

Sighing with relief, Twilight gave a nod.

"Yeah...I guess so."

However, though the two would have undoubtedly wanted to continue their conversation, they were interrupted by the sound of sudden loud laughter coming from the other mares. Turning, they listened in to see that the conversation about this mysterious pen-pal friend of Minuette had taken a somewhat amusing turn.

"She really did all that?" Lemon asked.

Minuette nodded.

"Yep! Totally true!"

"Wow, she sounds like quite a character. Where was it you said she lived?" Twinkleshine asked.

Minuette smiled.

"Down in Ponyville."

Twilight's ears perked up to that, and even Spike looked to their blue friend with interest.

"Ponyville? Hey, that's where we're going!"

All eyes were upon the young dragon, which led to him explaining further.

"When this party's over, me and Twilight are being sent over to Ponyville for the Celebration."

Twilight, though a little irked at her assistant's decision to announce their plans like that, said nothing as Minuette gasped.

"Oh...my...gosh! Maybe I could come with you?"

Twilight's eyes widened.

"Wait, what?!"

Minuette giggled again.

"Come on! I can go and meet my pen pal in person for the first time in, like, ever!"

Then, Lemon looked like she just got an idea.

"Oh! Lyra? Isn't Ponyville where you're looking to maybe move to? You can come too! Maybe get a look at the place first-hoof?"

Lyra tapped her chin, considering that.

"Huh, that would be a good idea!"

Twilight, of course, was dismayed that her plans for just Spike and her to go there were being disrupted like this, but again, she watched as her friends continued to make their plans.

"What do you say, girls? Wanna tag along?" Minuette asked.

Twinkleshine and Lemon looked to one another, then back to her with wide smiles.

"Yep!" Lemon announced.

"Count me in!" Twinkleshine added.

The mares all looked over to Twilight.

"Well, looks like you've got company on this trip of yours, Twily!" Lyra stated with a smile.

Twilight blinked, quickly casting a frown down to Spike, who nervously shrugged his shoulders.

"Well...um...maybe it'll be nicer with friends?"

She wanted to be mad at him, and yet, as she looked back up to Moondancer, who continued to smile warmly at her, that anger soon subsided. She thought back to how much fun this party had been for her thus far, and how surprised she was at just how happy she'd felt to be able to spend time with her friends. She hadn't expected it, not in the slightest, and yet, there it was. So, after once more glancing to each of her six friends, she let out a long sigh, before finally breaking out into a genuine smile.

"Yeah...maybe it will be."