//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3 
// Story: Love Prefers Twilight to Moonlight 
// by Charcoal Breeze 
//------------------------------//

	"We're gonna fly again?"
Twilight nodded, smiling at the pink pony's excitement. "Yep! Spike's not coming, so it's just you and me. That'll probably make it easier. Plus we don't really have to bring much."
"Yay!" Pinkie bounced over eagerly. "Do you have the present?"
Twilight nodded and presented the gift, neatly wrapped in white and tied with a red ribbon. "I hope nothing goes wrong on the way there. I have to hold you and this present and fly at the same time."
Pinkie nuzzled her cheek. "We'll be fine! You're great at flying!" Twilight softly kissed her nose, which made her giggle. "That tickles!"
"Alright, are you ready to go?"
Pinkie jumped on her, which caught Twilight off guard, making her drop the present. She picked it up again with her magenta magic as Pinkie said, "You bet I am!"
Pinkie leaned forward and hugged Twilight's chest, careful not to hug too tightly--it was a habit she was trying to break--as the lavender feathered wings spread out on her sides. From the entrance to Twilight's castle, they took off for Canterlot.





Today was the day!
Moondancer had prepared the potion, and it was sitting at her bedroom window--it was to be left in a sunny environment. The sunnier the weather, the more affective the potion would be. But it couldn't be too affective. The book said the original recipe ended up with the consumers of the potion getting too lost in each other's eyes to do anything else other than stare at each other. Plus, the cure called for avoiding looking in each other's eyes for an hour. Meaning the effects would wear off while Moondancer was asleep. That was why she altered the recipe a bit. It had to be just right. Twilight had to be in love with her, but not totally obsessed.
There was also a cake she'd made for her guests. It was vanilla with red icing. She'd just finished icing it, and was now back in her room, rereading the letter Twilight had written to her:
Dear Moondancer,
Yes, I'd love to visit you! Pinkie Pie's going to come too, if that's okay. Spike got sick, so he can't come, but he wants me to tell you that he said hi! We're going to come over on Friday. I can't wait to spend time with you! I can finally teach you Hayscartes' method. And Pinkie said she wants to get to know you better, too. I've just gotten done with a week of being busy, so this is just what I need. And we're gonna bring you a surprise, too! It's not much, but...consider it a gift of appreciation.
-Twilight Sparkle
It was short, but it was all Moondancer needed to be happy. Just as she read the cute cursive signature at the bottom of the yellowish paper, there was a knocking at the door. 
She smiled to herself, moved the letter back to its place on her nightstand with her telekinesis, and trotted to the room with the purple wooden front door. The hole that Twilight had accidentally made the last time she was here had been repaired since then, but the place where the hole was filled in was a slightly different shade of purple than the rest of the door, so it was still noticeable. With her pale pink magic, she pulled the door open. As she expected, Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie were standing there, Twilight holding a gift wrapped in white with her magenta telekinesis.
Moondancer smiled. "You came!"
"Of course we did! This is the surprise I told you about," Twilight said, gesturing to the gift that she was still holding. "Can we come in?"
Moondancer nodded. "Of course!"
She made way for the two ponies to enter. She was glad that Pinkie Pie had come too. They didn't really talk much at the party, so this was a chance for them to get to know each other better. The pink mare sniffed the air. "What smells so good?"
Moondancer felt herself blush. "Oh, um...I made a cake...I don't know how good it is, though..."
Twilight smiled at Moondancer. "I didn't know you could bake!"
"It has to be good! It smells delicious!" Pinkie seemed excited. She must've had quite the sweet tooth; Moondancer had noticed that at the party too.
Moondancer turned to the room behind her--the kitchen--and lifted the plate that held the cake with her magic and moved it to the kitchen table. "It's in the kitchen, if you want a slice. I've already cut it."
The three of them headed into the next room. "Oh, I forgot to get the plates!" Moondancer trotted over to the dark brown counter and pushed herself up a bit by placing her front hooves on the green countertop. She nudged open the door to the cupboard, where there were ceramic plates. She pulled out the top three with her magic and set them equally apart on the table. "I hope you like it."
Twilight used her own magic to lift out three slices and placed one on each plate. "Thank you, Moondancer."
"Yeah, thankies!" Pinkie knelt down and took a bite from the front. She chewed a bit and swallowed. "It's amazing! You can really bake!"
"Really?" Moondancer glanced away bashfully. "I just took a recipe from one of the books I have...I don't really bake that often."
Twilight used a fork--she was actually able to since she had a horn--to give herself a bite. "Mmmm," she murmured as she chewed. After swallowing, she said, "Are you sure? You should bake more often. I mean, if you want to."
Pinkie turned to Twilight. "Hey, where'd you put the present?"
"Oh, I put that on her stool in the other room." Twilight smiled at Moondancer. "Bring it in here. I want to see you open it."
Moondancer nodded and retrieved the gift. She loves me, doesn't she...? She got a gift just because she wanted to. Then again, it could've been Pinkie's idea...either way, it's definitely a good sign.
Pinkie was already done with her slice when Moondancer got back. She stared eagerly at Moondancer as she set the gift on the table and slowly unwrapped it with her magic.
It was a white box, just a bit bigger than her hoof. She nudged the lid off with her hoof. There was something shiny inside.
"We tried to find something when we went shopping, but nothing seemed good enough," Twilight told her, having now finished her slice of cake too. "So we had our friend Rarity fix something up for you."
Moondancer lifted the long, silvery thing out of the box. It was a moon pendant. The moon was a shiny purple, and it resembled the one on her cutie mark. She noticed, on the opposite side of the loop from the moon, there was a latch.
"You can use it as a bookmark too!" Pinkie told her excitedly. "You can latch it around the book to mark what page you left off on! Isn't that neato?"
Moondancer held the pendant in her hoof. "It's beautiful," she said softly. "Who's Rarity?" she asked, looking up at her guests, a bit louder. "Is she a jeweler or something?"
"Kind of," Twilight answered.
"She's a fashionista!" Pinkie added. "Except she doesn't usually wear clothes. But she can do what she wants."
"Oh, right, I think I've heard about her." Moondancer lifted the pendant with her magic and gently placed it back in the box, softly placing the lid back on. "I'll put this in my room. I love it. Thank you both."
She carried the box and the wrapping paper, which she was going to throw away, with her pale pink tekinesis as she walked into her room, which happened to be next to the kitchen. She opened the door and closed it behind her. She didn't want Twilight to see her, in case Moondancer did something else, like reread the letter again. Plus, the potion was still at her windowsill.
The green wastebasket was in the corner. As she gently dropped the box on her bed, she tossed the wrapping paper in, saving the red ribbon. It was a nice, shiny ribbon. I wonder if red is still her favorite color. It's still mine for sure.
She dropped the ribbon on the nightstand, on top of the letter from Twilight. She pushed open the door again as she turned to leave the room, and saw Twilight and Pinkie waiting for her.
"Why'd you close the door?" Twilight asked with curious purple eyes.
Ah...I hope I'm not blushing... "Force of habit," Moondancer said, trying to hide her embarrassment. "I, uh, like my privacy." That part was true, so Twilight wouldn't have to suspect anything. Not that Moondancer had been doing anything wrong. She just thought maybe Twilight would think it was creepy that she'd saved the ribbon. And her letter.
Thankfully, they didn't dwell on the subject any longer, as Pinkie asked, "What do you wanna do now?"
"Are you staying overnight?"
Twilight nodded. "We let our friends know. I'm sorry that I didn't talk about that in the letter. We were planning to stay for about five days, but we can leave earlier if you want."
"No, that's perfect," Moondancer replied. "But, I, um...I don't have a guest bed. I can get out and get one, but I don't know if I'll be able to afford two..."
"That's fine!" Pinkie inched closer to Twilight. "We sleep in the same bed all the time!"
Moondancer suddenly felt alarmed. The same bed...? She means platonically...right? "You do?" she asked, trying to sound casual.
Twilight blushed a bit. "Oh...I never told you, did I? Whoops..."
Pinkie kissed Twilight's ear, which flicked afterward. "It's okay! Everypony forgets things!"
They're dating, Moondancer realized, feeling her heart sink. Twilight's in love with someone who isn't me...