My Little Pony: When Friendship Shimmers

As much as Moondancer was happy all her friends were here for her birthday party, she was feeling a bit guilty with Twilight being there.

"Hey Twilight..." Moondancer said to Twilight.

"Hey Moondancer. You don't look like your having much fun. Something wrong?" Twilight asked.

"Well it's just that...I appriciate you being here but...I feel guilty keeping you from your studies." Moondancer said. Twilight just smiled.

"Actually, I don't need to do any studying for a while. Princess Celestia wanted me to take some time off for a few days." Twilight said.

"Oh..." Moondancer felt stupid now. "I legit thought you'd be doing some studying for a while." She said.

"Nah. Princess Celestia says I'm ahead in all my studies so we should make today about you." Twilight said.

"TWILIGHT, TWILIGHT WHERE ARE YOU?!" Sunset's voice could be heard yelling.

"...Sounds like Sunset needs you for something. Why don't you go to her? I'll be fine." Moondancer said.

"If your certain Moondancer." Twilight said before going to Sunset. Over the years, the purple unicorn has seen Sunset more and more like her big sister, and only their closest friends know that they aren't really sisters; Moondancer being amongst them.

"There you are little sis. How was Moondancer's party?" Sunset asked.

"It was fine, but Moondancer thought she was cutting into my study time." Twilight said. Sunset couldn't help but chuckle.

"You did tell her the princess gave you time off right?" Sunset asked.

"I told her as much, yes. So why were you calling out for me?" Twilight asked.

"Well as you know, the Summer Sun Celebration is in Ponyville this year. I asked Celestia if there was anything we could do for her regarding this, we'd be aviable." Sunset said. Suddenly Spike was heading up to them. Ever since hatching him, Twilight's family adopted the purple dragon.

"Guys...we have an important message from the Princess..." Spike said. "She wants you both to go to the summer sun celebration, oversee the process, and make some friends there." He said.

"Oh of all the things for her to tack on..." Sunset said.

"Come on Sunset. We can make time to chat with a few locals as we go." Twilight said. "Besides...something has come up in my books that worries me." She added.

"Like what?" Sunset asked.

"Tell me, do you know about the Mare in the Moon?" Twilight asked. Sunset couldn't help but start rolling on the floor laughing.

"That old mare's tale? That's what's got you so worried?" Sunset asked. "Come on little sis, I know your younger then me by three years, but you should be over believing in those silly old tales." She added. Twilight eyed Sunset questioningly.

"When Nightmare Moon suddenly appears later on at the Summer Sun Celebration, I'll get to say I told you so." Twilight said before heading off to catch their chariot.

"Nightmare Moon is just another Mare's Tale." Sunset said as she followed after her surrogate little sister.

"Instead of worrying about Nightmare Moon so much, how about you do as you wanted and chat with the locals." Sunset said as they landed and then disembarked.

"I guess worrying about that right now wouldn't solve the problem. I'm sure I'll find a solution eventually." Twilight said. She looked over at a Pink Pony. "Hello there, I'm..." Twilight started up before the pink pony gasped, jumped up in the air, and then took off.

"That...was weird." Sunset said. "Where do you think she ran off to?" She asked.

"No idea...but let's head to Sweet Apple Acres. Surely we can find more people to chat with on the way." Twilight said.

The duo arrived at Sweet Apple Acres soon enough.

"Was it just me, or did I see Lyra on the way here?" Sunset asked.

"It's not just you. Did you forget she moved away from Canterlot after she failed school?" Twilight asked.

"Must have slipped my mind..." Sunset asked. "But I have to admit, the way she plays that lyre is quite impressive." She added.

"You never saw her practicing out at night did you?" Twilight asked.

"...You actually go out at night?" Sunset said.

"I may have gotten my cutie mark in magic, but astronomy really interests me." Twilight said. "We're here." She added.

"Oh hey there. You two look pretty close. Are you a couple?" An orange earth pony asked them.

"What? No!" Sunset said. "My name's Sunset Shimmer, and this next to me is Twilight Sparkle; we prefer to think of each other as sisters even if we're not blood related." She added extending a hoof.

"Now that's an interesting yet very honest answer Sunset." The orange earth pony said before grabbing Sunset's extended hoof and shaking her very clearly. "Well we here at Sweet Apple Acres sure do like making some new friends. My name's Applejack." Applejack added.

"So...are you the one in charge of the food then?" Twilight asked.

"Not exactly, that would be my granny; Granny Smith." Applejack said. "But she's getting up there in years so she's left me in charge of making sure the food gets presented at the festival tomorrow." She said.

"Interesting..." Sunset said. "Hey, here's a thought: Why don't you give us a sample of your food?" She asked.

"Why, that's the best thing I've heard all day. Sure, I think we can spare a few things. After all, we just got done with our apple family reunion so I think we have some leftovers from that." Applejack said and sped off.

"...I just hope we don't overeat things here..." Twilight said.

TO BE CONTINUED