High above the peaceful land of Equestria, the moon casts its ethereal glow all across the land, all the way from the desolated boarders of the Badlands, to the icy slopes of the Frozen North, illuminating every town and city far and wide. The only city to have negated the eerie glow of the massive rock was Manehattan, for every building wasn't without lighting, and thus casts its own glow in the night. At night, the bustling city is filled with an enormous crowd of ponies enjoying themselves to their full extent, either by shopping, drinking the night away at the local pub, or simply walking the streets talking amongst one another. Flocks of ponies trotted merrily along the walkways, while others prefer taking wagons and carts along the roads stretching far through the metropolis. It was a Invigorating sight to behold, one that can be seen for miles away, luring all walking lifeforms into its captivating presence, allowing any and all creatures to join in the city of progress.
Then as the moon began to descend into another part of the world, the commotion from Manehattan began to die out, making way for the ponies who sought to enjoy the daytime with enough sleep to push on through their errands. The city began to turn calm as the sun was rising, peacefully waking up the ponies from their slumber.
All except one
A long distance from the province of Manehattan stood a lone cabin on top of a foothill overlooking the city. Fields of dewy grass and violets surrounded the building, Pine and oak trees scattered all around the setting, expanding all across the distant mountains in great, big patches, and only one dirt trail leading straight toward the road to the city itself. Within the cabin rested a mare on top of her bed, her room scattered with masses of paper, maps, folders, and assorted utensils laying all over the floors and walls.
The sun was rising, shining its glorious light through the open window, and straight into the mare's face. She reacted with much disdain by throwing her blanket over her head, wanting to go back to sleep. She creaked open one of her eyes, only to find the glow resting on her cover. It wasn't bright, but it bothered her nonetheless. Finally, she kicked off the blanket, the sun revealing her white coat and burgundy mane. She got off of the bed, stretching first, then made her way to the window, where she precariously grabbed a dangling cord with her teeth and pulled, producing a row of plastic blinds that had finally shut out the sunlight. She stood there for a few seconds, then proceeded to plop back onto the bed, in an attempt to get a few more hours of sleep.
Then the abrupt ringing sound of her alarm clock began. With a low groan, she reached out for the alarm clock, missing a few times, and knocking it off the nightstand, nearly breaking it. There was a moment of silence before she sighed in comfort as she draped her blanket over herself once again, and snuggled deep in its warm embrace.
Not even ten seconds go by, and the alarm goes off again.
"Oh, come on!" Mayflower whined, almost acting like a foal who didn't have something its way. Once again, she launched herself out of bed with her blanket wrapped around her and decided to stomp on the screeching device instead of turning it off the normal way. She raised her left forelimb and was about to slam it down with tremendous force.... when she noticed the time. Just inches away from destroying the machine, Mayflower quickly picked up the alarm clock to examine the time presented on the face. From what she could tell with her still groggy eyes, the minute and hour hands were pointing at a time that she regretted waking up in; a time which made her grogginess go away in an instant.
"Ten-thirty?!" She exclaimed breathlessly. "Mother of Celestia, I'M LATE!"
Without skipping a beat, the panicking mare shot through her room, scavenging through her mess for the papers and maps that she needed, while at the same time gathering any essential tools and equipment she could get. As soon as she collected all of her belongings, she sped out of her room, and through the small hallway leading to the kitchen. She nearly crashed into the counter as she slid around the corner, but managed to keep her balance, passed the door leading to her living room, and galloped straight through the front door....
.... And into somepony.
It took a few seconds to collect herself from her mild headache, but when she came to, she was looking at a dazed gray Pegasus, who was laying there with a mass of letters dispersed all around the mail-mare, along with Mayflower's papers.
"Oh, I'm so, so sorry! I did not mean to run into you!" Mayflower said as she helped the bewildered mare up.
"It's Okay," Ditzy Do said, recovering from the impact. Shaking her head, Ditzy fumble through her mail bag until she produced two letters in her hooves. one of them was embroidered around the edges, with a seal containing a company logo on the middle of the seal. "Here's your mail, ma'am. That one is an important notice from Canterlot."
Mayflower did a double-take on the envelope before she thanked the mail-mare. When Ditzy flew away to continue her duties, Mayflower gathered all of the documents she dropped, and quickly trotted back into her cabin. She went toward the living room, where she decided to sit on her sofa and open the letter from there. She opened the Canterlot envelope with her teeth and began to examine its contents. It was a letter from her boss. Curious on why her boss would be sending her mail at this time, she began to read it:
Dear Mayflower,
I understand that you may have some outstanding information regarding the geography of the Badlands, and I would be most interested in taking a look at your work. Unfortunately, I will be taking a trip to Las Pegasus for a family visit, so there will be no work for you today. I will be expecting your data to be up to date next week. Sorry for the inconvenience.
With regards,
Bedrock
Canterlot Explorer's League
Mayflower sighed with relief as she realized that her boss would be out for the whole week, meaning that she too would be off work for the time being, paid of course. She dropped the letter on the floor next to her coffee table, and slumped onto the couch, where she began relaxing. She stared at the ceiling for several minutes, wondering what she was going to do for the rest of the week since she isn't going to work for what may seem like a long time to her. Then she glanced at the other envelope.
She grabbed the second packet in the crook of her hooves, and saw that this too had the Canterlot embroidering as well. The only difference was this one had a frilly ribbon wrapped on the corner of the envelope. Mayflower ripped the envelope open in one motion, and extracted the letter from within. She unfolded the letter, and began to read it:
Dear Mayflower,
I know it has been a while since we last spoke to each other, but I have been so busy with my career, that I have had little time to mingle with all of my friends. But now that I'm having a small break from Interior designing, I have decided to host a party so that all of my old friends (including you!), along with my new friends and co-workers, can hang out. And the best part about it: It's in the same city you live in! Isn't that exciting? I'll be in town tomorrow if you want to hang out before the main event. See you soon!
Love,
Garnish
Well, looks like I don't need a plan at all now, Mayflower thought to herself before she dropped the letter onto the ground. She smiled to herself, knowing that she would get to see her best friend once again. Even though they both work at Canterlot, both of their occupations were completely separate from each other. In a now cheerful mood, she hopped off the couch, and trotted back toward her room, hoping to get more rest, when she inadvertently tripped on a discarded umbrella, and landed on her face. "This is not going to be my day," Mayflower whined, flapping her wings in disgruntled anger as she dragged herself toward her room, where she finally crawled into her bed and slept.