Books, Friendship, and Magic

Twilight Sparkle 1

Twilight Hermione Sparkle Granger sat reading on a grassy, green hill. She rubbed her chin, mildly perplexed, as she considered why she had been assigned this book. Princess Celestia had handed it over with a look of solemnity that she almost never saw on her almost permanently smiling teacher's face. This was extremely important in it's emotional significance to her teacher.

The answer was plain. This book of old pony tales was true. The Princess of the Day was clearly Celestia herself. There was a Princess of the Night somewhere, and the stars would aid in bringing about her escape very soon... Wait! Night time Eternal?!

She rushed for the Palace. She had to talk to Princess Celestia. She would be busy today, which meant, it would be better to send her a message through Spike.

"Dear Princess Celestia," the letter said. "I read the assigned book. According to my mathematics, the portion of the book that seems most likely to be historical fact warns us of swiftly approaching disaster. Please tell me that Night time Eternal is a mistranslation. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle."

The reply came quickly. "My dearest, most faithful student, as usual, you have hit the nail on the head of the matter. Night time is considered to be a hallmark and symbol of my sister, Luna. As immortal Alicorns, we are considered eternal by some. I don't know how true that is, but when friendship reigns over the dark heart of Nightmare Moon, it may be that my sister will be back with me for good.

Now, I'm sending you to Ponyville on a matter of some importance to the day ahead. I need you to set things up for the royal arrival. Go, meet with the local party planner, Pinkie Pie. She'll tell you who best to arrange to supply the food, the decor, the weather, and the music. Also, remember: in our darkest hours, ponies have traditionally leaned on our friends for the strength not only to defeat our foes, but also to redeem them. Yours truly, Princess Celestia.

Ps: the chariot is already waiting for you. Go on, my little Archmage.

Twilight and Spike got off the chariot in Ponyville, looking around for any sign of Pinkie Pie. Ironically, she was the first one they saw.

She gasped excitedly, then bolted. Twilight galloped after her, but was rapidly losing up. She fired up her horn, teleporting, and shouting, "Wait!"

Pinkie Pie skidded to a stop. "Hey! Who are you? My name's Pinkie Pie! I can tell you're new because I don't recognize you! Is there anything I can do for you? Huh, huh, huh?!"

Either this is a smaller town than it seems, or she has a prodigious long term memory.

"My name is Twilight Sparkle, and Princess Celestia asked me to be in charge of planning for the Summer Sun Celebration. She also told me to consult with you on that."

Pinkie Pie started dancing in elation, turning a side flip, and shouting, "Woohoo!"

"Let's get down to celebration business!" She clamored excitedly. "The food from Sugarcube Corner won't be enough! Nope! There's only one bunch that may be able to supply food for all the ponies that'll be coming to the Summer Sun Celebration!"

Twilight teleported down the winding, dirt path, closely following the pronking Pinkie. Twilight didn't know what to make of the strange young mare, and felt rather at odds about her. Princess Celestia said to make friends, and Twilight wanted friends, but was Pinkie the right sort of person to be her friend? 'Don't be silly, Twilight. You know if you only had Hermione's life, you'd be desperate to accept her.' Well, that was true.

"You're awfully quiet, Twilight," Pinkie smiled, not really knowing when to stop. "I bet you're an introvert, right?"

Twilight smiled back at Pinkie Pie. "I guess that's true. I have three ponies to whom I'm really close. My big brother, my teacher, and my old foalsitter." The smile turned wry.