It was a dark, clear dusk in Canterlot. There was to be a birthday party for Twilight's old friend, Moon Dancer. Moon Dancer invited all her friends to come, including Twilight.
"You better come, Twilight," Moon Dancer said to herself. She put the invite to a package for Ponyville, where Twilight was in.
In Ponyville, Twilight was in her castle, when she received a letter from Spike.
"Twilight!" Spike called. "You have a letter!"
"A letter?" said Twilight. "From who?"
"From a pony named... Moon Dancer." Spike handed the letter to Twilight.
"Moon Dancer? What does she want to do with me?" Twilight read the letter. She gasped. "Tomorrow is Moon Dancer's birthday!"
"Ooh, a birthday party?" said Spike. "Sounds like Pinkie Pie's duty."
"You don't understand, Spike!" exclaimed Twilight. "I've been so busy with this 'Princess of Friendship' thing that I've forgotten all about Moon Dancer's birthday!"
"Oh..." winced Spike. "Well, you know now, so tomorrow, you could make it up to her by going to her party. So don't overreact."
"You're right!" said Twilight. "I'll just get a full sleep, so I could be ready for the party!"
So Twilight rushed off to bed early to be prepared for Moon Dancer's birthday tomorrow.
The next day, it was time for Moon Dancer's birthday party. Minuette, Lemon Hearts, Lyra Heartstrings, and Twinkleshine were there. They had come to celebrate her birthday on a patio outside.
"Happy birthday, Moon Dancer!" the four said to her.
"Aw, thank you, everyone," Moon Dancer said.
Suddenly, Twilight flew in. "Happy birthday, Moon Dancer!" Everyone looked at her. "What? I'm not late, am I?"
"You're just in time, Twilight," Moon Dancer smiled.
Then, Twilight noticed that the other ponies had presents for her. "Oh no!" she said to herself. "I didn't even get a gift for Moon Dancer!"
She was about to head off, but before she could, Minuette told her, "Come on Twi! We're gonna have a group hug!"
"I know, but I'll be right back!" And Twilight left in a hurry. Everyone was puzzled.
"What was that?" said Lemon Hearts.
"Don't ask me," replied Twinkleshine. "But you're right, seriously. Why could she be doing that, though?"
"Let's not worry about that!" Minuette interrupted. "How about we just celebrate Moon Dancer's birthday for the day? Hmm?"
Everyone nodded to that.
Meanwhile, Twilight visited a shop. She wanted to look for the best birthday gift she could give to Moon Dancer. So she looked and looked around.
"Hmm... which one is the best for Moon Dancer?" said Twilight as she picked up a box full of figurines from the shelf. "No, not that one." She put it back to where she picked it up from and took out another box — this time — full of cards. "This one won't work." And she also placed that one back on the shelf. Twilight began to look around frantically.
"Hello, can I do anything for you today, Princess?" an employee said.
"What is the best birthday gift for a pony?" asked Twilight.
The employee looked over at another shelf. Full of birthday cards, he was about to hand one over to Twilight, but Twilight was nowhere to be seen. "Eh? Where'd she go?"
Twilight raced back to Moon Dancer's party as fast as her wings could carry her. What does Moon Dancer want? the words repeated in her mind.
She reached the party. The other ponies looked at her in confusion.
"Twilight!" yelled Moon Dancer. "Where have you been?!"
"I had to go for a walk around Canterlot!" lied Twilight. "And now, here I am! Let's party!"
"We just started five minutes ago," Lemon Hearts pointed out.
"I know that!" Twilight noticed a table with a heavily-decorated vase on it. A-ha! she thought. Maybe a beautifully-decorated vase could be the perfect gift for Moon Dancer! So she was about to make an announcement. "A-hem. Sorry, everyone, but I—"
"Twilight Sparkle!" Moon Dancer shouted. "Do not even think about leaving again today! We're not going to have this party complete without you!"
"Yes, I know, but just let me go this last time!" Twilight backed up very slowly.
Moon Dancer sighed. "Okay. You can go. But this better not happen again. If this does happen again, I'm gonna have to ask you to leave and not come back here for the rest of the day."
"You got it!" And Twilight flew away in a hurry.
Moon Dancer was exasperated. "I don't know what's gotten into this alicorn. Why does she keep leaving us a lot, especially since today is my birthday?"
"Maybe she has things to do?" said Lemon Hearts.
"Or look for something to make you happy!" Lyra said.
"Hmph," Moon Dancer scoffed.
Twilight entered the shop again, looking for a beautifully-decorated vase. She thought that was the perfect gift for Moon Dancer.
"Where is it? Where is it? Where is it?" said Twilight. She looked around and found an old, but beautifully-designed vase. "Yes! This is the one!" She took the vase straight from the shelf and walked to the counter. "This vase, please!"
"5 bits," the cashier said. Twilight gave her exactly 5 bits. "Alright, you're all set."
"Can I have this wrapped in paper, too?" Twilight also asked.
"Sure, but I'm gonna have to charge you another bit," the cashier replied.
"Deal!" Twilight gave the cashier another bit. The cashier then used wrapping paper to wrap the vase.
"Alright, here you go. Have a great day, Princess!" the cashier called, but Twilight was long gone.
Twilight flew back to Moon Dancer's party as fast as she could. Moon Dancer and the others could see her.
"It's about time!" sneered Moon Dancer.
"She's comin' in way too fast!" gasped Lyra.
Then there was trouble. A bird had flown in Twilight's way! "Whoa! Watch out!" exclaimed Twilight. She narrowly avoided the bird, but lost control of herself and slid to a halt too sharply, causing her to lose her grip on the vase! Twilight and the others stopped and watched as the vase flew into the air.
"Nooooo!" cried Twilight.
With a crash and a bang, the vase cracked with a terrible smash. Everyone gasped.
"Oh no!" gasped Twilight. "The vase!"
"What?" questioned Moon Dancer. "What vase?"
"The gift!" Twilight said to Moon Dancer. "The reason I kept going back and forth here was to find the perfect gift I could find for you! But all I did was..." she stuttered. "...ruin it."
Moon Dancer smiled. "Twilight. You've already given me my birthday gift."
"What do you mean?" asked Twilight.
"You being here is one of the best birthday gifts I could ever imagine," said Moon Dancer, "especially since you're busy with that 'Princess of Friendship' stuff."
"So I was the gift for you?" Twilight said, her eyes almost watery.
Moon Dancer laughed. "Yeah! I see what you were trying to do here, but that wasn't what I ever wanted. Why? Because nothing's more important to me than all of my closest friends. Including you."
Twilight smiled slightly and went in for a hug. She sobbed quietly.
"There, there, Princess," Moon Dancer chuckled. "Just let it all out."
"Um, not to break the moment here," said Minuette, "but are we gonna continue?"
"We will. Just let the Princess of Friendship calm herself down first." Moon Dancer walked back with the others, while Twilight stood for a little.
I lost my cool there, haven't I? thought Twilight.
A few hours later, the party was over. Twilight went over to Moon Dancer.
"Hey, uh, listen," said Twilight, "sorry about what happened earlier. I mean, I hadn't realized it was your birthday today until yesterday!"
"It's alright, Twilight," replied Moon Dancer. "Just remember that next time, you don't have to bring in anything but yourself. That's what I'd appreciate the most."
"Don't worry," laughed Twilight, "I will."
"Anyways, don't forget about my birthday again, will ya?" said Moon Dancer.
"I'll get that dug into my brain." Twilight put her hoof to her forehead.
"Great! See ya later then!" And Moon Dancer walked away.
Minuette, Lemon, Lyra, and Twinkleshine walked to Twilight.
"Eh, you'll get used to it soon," Twinkleshine chuckled.
"Don't forget," reminded Lyra, "it's all just us she wishes."
Twilight laughed. "I know. She told me."
The five laughed together as a shooting star shot across from them in the starry night sky.
Author's Note
If you have watched Thomas & Friends, Series 19, Episode 5: "A Cranky Christmas", it's likely you might notice that there are some similarities in this to the latter. That is because I took inspiration from said episode to make this story. Also, the part where Twilight shouts, "Nooooo!" would've been in slow-motion, just like in the episode, but obviously, because Fimfiction doesn't allow transcript formats (which I usually write stories in), that's not happening at all.
