S5 E12: Amending Fences (What If?)
The sun had already set over Ponyville by the time Spike came back to the Castle of Friendship, the magnificent crystal tree that he and Twilight had slowly but surely come to call home. It probably helped that the map in the throne room had been thankfully silent since sending Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash to Griffonstone a few weeks back.
Of course, Spike knew that since then things had hardly been quiet. Events in Ponyville and even Canterlot had kept him and Twilight very busy. So he was looking forward to coming home and spending another quiet evening in the castle with her, simply reading his comic books and snaking on gems.
So the little dragon strolled up the castle's front steps and opened the big doors that led into the front hallway. Under his arms were tucked a couple of paper bags filled up with all kinds of groceries: Food, drinks, cleaning supplies, the usual things one might buy at a grocery store. One of the downsides to living in a castle with multiple kitchens and bathrooms meant that each room had to be fully stocked, and if even one room was running low on supplies it had to be refilled as soon as possible.
Spike was hoping Twilight would be there to greet him and help him unload the shopping bags (especially since they were getting pretty heavy). But when he entered the front hallway, he saw that the young alicorn was nowhere in sight. That was a little concerning. "Twilight?" He called out, hoping for a reply. There wasn't one. "Twilight?" He called again, slightly more nervously than he intended. But still, there came no reply.
The dragon set the bags down on the floor. He could unload them later on. Right now, he had to find Twilight and make sure she was okay! He tried to remember what the alicorn had told him she'd be doing at this time of the evening. "Twilight?" He continued to call as he wandered around the castle, checking room by room for her. "I'm back with the groceries you sent me out to get. I'll need a little help getting everything sorted out though."
Suddenly, as Spike rounded a corner and entered into yet another similarly looking hallway, he heard a faint sniffle and the sound of gentle sobbing. That immediately filled him with worry! "Twilight?!" He all but gasped and rushed to where the sad sounds were coming from! Something was wrong and he wanted to know what it was! Had she been hurt?! Was she sick?! Or what if it was something with one of their friends that had caused her to start crying?!
The little dragon didn't know, and that worried him greatly! Usually, it was Twilight who did the worrying, especially if Spike ever wandered off without saying where he was going or stayed out late without telling her first. "Twilight!" He exclaimed as he immediately rushed to her aid!
Twilight happened to turn around and lock eyes with Spike just as he entered the same room she was currently in. She appeared to have been staring at some framed pictures on a wall, and was just across the hall from one of the kitchens. "Oh, Spike," She greeted, trying to sound cheerful. Her eyes were stained red though, a clear indication that she had been crying about something. "Sorry, I... didn't expect you to be back so soon."
"What do you mean?" Spike questioned with concern. "I was gone for a while. You told me to really stock up this time, so I did! It's a good thing Barnyard Bargains is so cheap," And then he saw fit to ask. "Were you... crying?"
The young alicorn decided it was no use trying to lie to Spike, he knew her far too well. "Yes I was, Spike," She explained. "I was just washing the dishes a little while ago. I know I said it was your turn to do it, but I decided you were already busy as it was doing my grocery shopping."
"Did you cut yourself?!" Spike asked with concern. He couldn't see any marks, but maybe Twilight was hiding them with magic.
Twilight shook her head. "No, Spike. I'm not hurt, at least not on the outside," And she sighed as she explained. "Since it's been so quiet around here lately, I decided to relax the way I always do: With a good book."
Spike gasped, certain he knew what the problem was! "Oh no! I didn't burn your favorite book again, did I?! I've been trying not to touch any really dusty books."
"That's not it either, Spike," Twilight explained. "I was just thinking about the fact that ponies are coming to me for advice, or I'm busy trying to start negotiations with nations Equestria hasn't been in contact with for over a thousand years. And then, I happened to glance up at some of the old photos we were able to salvage from Golden Oak Library, photos from before our time in Ponyville."
Spike looked up to those photos, and immediately he seemed to realize what Twilight Sparkle was getting at. "You're thinking about the old days, aren't you? The days when you weren't as friendly or open to friendship as you are now," He commented and put a claw to Twilight's shoulder. "You're not the same pony anymore! And I'm not just saying that because you have wings and a royal title. You've come a long way, you're a great friend now. Ask anypony."
The young alicorn sniffled a little. "Maybe I am, but I wasn't always. I realize now that I had friends before I moved to Ponyville. Maybe I didn't see it that way at the time, but they sure as heck regarded me as a friend," She pointed a hoof to herself. "Yet I wasn't much of a friend to them. I always had my nose stuck in a book or was focusing on other things. I treated them horribly. I can't even remember their names now! I feel terrible just thinking about it!"
"So, what are you going to do about it?" Spike questioned with concern. He knew that when the alicorn got like this, she wouldn't be able to settle down until she was certain she'd rectified the problem.
Something seemed to flash in Twilight's eyes as she declared. "The only thing we can do, Spike. Make amends. So pack a bag, Spike! We're heading back to Canterlot! And make a list of my old friends' names while you're at it."
"Yes, Twilight," Spike obeyed. "Guess it's a good thing I kept records for you even back then," He blushed a bit. "Boy, are they gonna be surprised to learn that you're a mother now." And so he prepared to accompany Twilight on this suddenly announced trip to Canterlot.
Neither pony or dragon anticipated that making amends would be so difficult. At least, they would be for one old friend of Twilight's who had (unknown to either of them) taken Twilight's abrupt absence personally.
A short time later, Twilight Sparkle was flying into Canterlot in the dark of the night with only Spike for company. They'd been to the city many times before, but never like this. Usually, it was only when there was a summons from Princess Celestia or some other big event was going on. So it felt kind of weird to come back to the city unannounced and without anything or anyone prompting them to.
Upon touching down (and letting Spike get off her back), the young alicorn knew there was only one place to go to start her self-assigned mission: The old tower in which she'd once resided while she was Princess Celestia's student.
Spike was still doing his part to reassure the troubled alicorn. "Come on, Twilight. You're getting worked up about nothing. You were a student of the princess, I'm sure your old friends would understand if you got called away unexpectedly."
"That doesn't mean I had to go on ignoring them!" Twilight firmly protested. "I could've at least tried to get in touch with them. Or heck, I'm pretty sure they came to Ponyville a couple of times. I could've tried to catch up with them and just made sure there were no hard feelings," Then she sighed. "But I didn't. So the only way to go about this is to start at the only place possible: The beginning. And this is where it all began for me. It was the place where I was given the assignment that led to me making friends and discovering true friendship."
Spike couldn't argue with such logic. So instead he just decided to change the subject, pointing to a sign sticking out on the front lawn near the tower. "'For sale'. Kinda surprised this place hasn't found a buyer yet. Would've thought Princess Celestia would have it put up for grabs as soon as she decided we were gonna stay in Ponyville forever."
"Who would want a secluded place like this, Spike?" Twilight frowned. "If I wasn't so anti-social, I'd never have wanted to live in a place like this. I liked it because it was quiet and I could study, which was all I used to care about."
"No you didn't, Twilight," Spike protested. "You weren't always studying or trying to impress the princess. And it wasn't just holidays and birthdays that made you take a break from studying. You had me, and we had your family. And every now and then, your old friends would drag you into something whether you wanted to or not."
The young alicorn could only shake her head from side to side. "And I never really bothered to get invested in any of those hang-outs. Maybe you saw it differently, but I'm sure to my old friends it looked like I didn't care about them at all. I can't even remember their names, that's how bad a friend I was!" She made her way up the steps and pushed open the doors to the tower's interior. Everything was now dusty and covered with cobwebs. The few years that had passed since it had become vacant had not been kind to the place.
Still, Twilight felt the faint callings of nostalgia as she trotted inside and had a look around. "It's exactly how we left it, nothing's changed!" She declared, before spotting a familiar looking book. She blew the dust away and almost couldn't believe her eyes when she read the title! "Predictions and Prophecies! And it's still open to the Elements of Harmony!"
Then Spike noticed something too. It was sticking out of a small corner and looked like the remnants of some kind of present. "Hey, there's the gift I was planning to give Moondancer at that party she was hosting. And the rest of it's still here! Doubt she'll want it now, though."
The princess of friendship glumly looked out of the nearby window. She had already shed enough tears earlier, she couldn't cry anymore even if she wanted to. But still she asked. "How could I have let this happen?"
The little dragon walked up to Twilight and put a claw around her. "Princess Celestia gave you an assignment, Twilight. Nopony could blame you for that. You had to pack up your things and go."
Twilight protested. "But just look at how I left this place! It's a total mess!" She sighed and hung her head. "Just like I left my friendships. I didn't bother to say goodbye or even try to. All I could think about was myself," She then looked up and vowed. "I have to find some way to make it up to them, to make it up to..." But the alicorn then remembered that she didn't know the names of the unicorns she'd once hung out with from time to time.
Spike quickly pulled out a list he'd made and read it aloud. "Let's see here: Minuette, Twinkleshine, Lemon Hearts, Lyra Heartstrings and Moondancer."
"Oh yes, them," Twilight realized. "We'll start making amends first thing in the morning!"
The next morning dawned quickly, and Spike soon learned that Twilight had meant what she'd said about when to start the "making amends" process. "Spike, come on!" She all but shouted at him as she roused him from sleep in his old bed. "We've got work to do!"
Groaning and yawning, Spike opened his eyes. He was surprised to see what looked like bags underneath Twilight's eyes and he asked her with concern. "Don't tell you've been up all night?"
"Couldn't sleep," Twilight insisted. "Luckily, I made the most of it. I did some research and I was able to find out where Minuette lives. She's not far from here," She then asked Spike. "Minuette is one of my old friends, right?"
"Yes... but..." Spike began only to be cut off as he saw Twilight dash down the steps and head out the door. He just sighed. Hopefully, once Twilight saw for herself that her old friends bore no grudges, she would settle down and they could go back to Ponyville to rest.
As it turned out, Minuette's house was defined by the hourglass carving high above the door, along with hourglass shaped windows (and matching curtains).
"You know, it's not too late to just forget about this and go back home," Spike pointed out. "I don't remember much about those girls aside from the times you'd invite them over for study sessions when you were fillies," Then he recalled. "And I do seem to remember being especially fond of Moondancer, she always seemed to be just like you except a little more... withdrawn. Kind of like Fluttershy."
Twilight briefly giggled. "Yes, you and Moondancer certainly got along nicely. But all the girls loved to fawn and coo over you," She then sighed. "That's about the only good memories I have of them. The rest are... unpleasant. No doubt, they all probably wondered why their old friend would just leave them so abruptly. How their old friend could treat them like they were nothing. Intentionally or not, I took their friendships for granted. I have to make it up to them, or at least tell them I'm sorry," She then knocked on the door, and it was soon answered as she saw a pair of moderate sapphire blue eyes peaking out at her. "Minuette?" She hopefully inquired.
It was indeed Minuette, and as soon as the unicorn saw who her guest was she adopted the biggest smile either Twilight or Spike had ever seen! It could've rivaled the smiles Pinkie Pie was known to give (and known to value for that matter)! Her eyes sparkled with energy, her light cornflower blue coat glistened in the sunlight along with her toothpaste like mane and tail of moderate blue and light persian bluish-gray locks. Even her cutie mark depicting an hourglass seemed to look better than it had ever looked before. "Twilight Sparkle!" She laughed. "You old so-and-so! What are you doing back here?!"
Twilight tried to open her mouth to speak, only to find that no words would come out.
Minuette wasn't bothered for a second as she just trotted forward, admiring Twilight's wings. "Hey, Spike! Good to see you too! Oh my, just look at those wings, Twilight! Look at you, a big, important alicorn princess!" She then floated over a camera with the mulberryish gray magical glow of her horn as she instructed to Spike. "Hey, can you do me a favor, Spike? Grab a picture of me and the princess, will ya?! I've tried to tell my co-workers we used to be friends back when, but they've never believed me." She delivered the last line with a giggle, then stood next to Twilight and tried to pose as best she could.
Spike gave Twilight a glance, just as confused as she was about Minuette's apparent cheerfulness. But seeing as she didn't seem bothered for the moment, they decided it best to oblige her little request. Spike held the camera in his claws and tried to get both ponies in view, zooming in and out with the lens until he was satisfied.
Then Minuette seemed to get an idea as she looked to Twilight, more specifically to her wings. "Wait, wait, wait! Really fluff 'em up, huh? That way your wings will stand out more."
Twilight obeyed, "fluffing" her wings out to the best of her ability and trying not to blush at how awkward it looked.
The cheerful unicorn giggled a bit. "That's better," She turned to Spike. "Ready!" And she then stood in front of Twilight while maintaining that bright smile she'd been wearing for so long already.
In a matter of seconds, the picture was snapped as the camera flashed. Spike held out the finished photo and gave it to Minuette. "Hope you're satisfied." He told her and said nothing more.
Minuette admired the photo. "Perfect! This is all the proof I need!" She then turned to Twilight and locked eyes with her as she questioned in that still chipper and cheerful tone of hers. "So what are you doing back here? I mean, I know you're here all the time for important matters, but you never come to see me."
"Well, I was just thinking about you and the other girls. You know, the old gang?" Twilight Sparkle confessed.
The unicorn with a light cornflower blue coat beamed brightly upon hearing that confession! "Well why didn't you just say so?! I was just about to suggest we go hang out. Lyra's actually here in Canterlot today, visiting us like she often does. Wanna go say hello to them too?"
The young alicorn agreed. "Of course. I... kind of have something important to say to them all."
Minuette smiled and leaped into the air! "Oh, this day just keeps getting better and better! It'll be so great!" Then with a giggle she added. "Come on, let's fly! Get it? 'Cause you're an alicorn?" And she took off at a brisk pace.
"Seems like everything's okay with her," Spike pointed out to Twilight. "Told you you were getting worked up over nothing."
Twilight wasn't convinced. "Just because Minuette seems to be okay doesn't mean the others are. I still have yet to apologize to them. Besides, it'd be rude to turn down an invitation when we're honored guests. And I have a good feeling I know where Minuette's leading us."
Reluctantly, the little dragon sighed in agreement. "Oh, alright. Let's just hope the other girls aren't as 'traumatized' as Minuette."
A short time later, Minuette and Twilight were meeting up with three other unicorns at Donut Joe's shop. It took Twilight a hot minute to remember everypony's names: Lemon Hearts was the one with the lemon yellow coat, a moderate to light shades of light blue curly mane and tail, raspberry pink colored eyes and a cutie mark depicting three hearts (two were blue and one was green). Twinkleshine was the one with the whitish-gray coat, a somewhat curly pink mane and tail, arctic blue eyes and a cutie mark depicting three light blue stars. And Lyra Heartstrings was the one with the sea green coat, a bushy grayish-green and white mane and tail, brilliant orange eyes and a cutie mark depicting a gold lyre.
"No way!" Lyra exclaimed when Twilight informed them of a major development in her life (besides the obvious one involving her current state of appearance). "You actually adopted Spike and you're his mother now?"
Twilight blushed a bit. "I did, yes. It... definitely took some getting used to. But the hardest part was the adoption process. Never in all my life did I see so much paperwork!" She sighed a bit. "It all worked out, though."
Lemon Hearts, meanwhile, just smiled as she looked across to Spike. "I still remember when you were in diapers, and Twilight kept insisting she wasn't your mother because she didn't lay your egg. Boy, how the times have changed."
Spike giggled a little despite the embarrassing memory. "Yeah, they sure have. Nice to see you girls have been getting along just fine without us."
"It's true, I tell you!" Minuette exclaimed while pointing a hoof to Twilight! "Twinkleshine literally spit out her oats when she heard you were the princess of friendship! It was all in the papers, just like the invasion at the royal wedding or Tirek's rampage."
Now it was Twinkleshine's turn to blush even as she mentioned. "We all saw you at the coronation with your new friends. Now that was some shindig, almost as good as the ones Lemon Hearts is always planning. And you know Minuette's the finest dentist in all of Equestria. Lyra... she's got her 'research'. And as for me, well, I mostly just do odd jobs I suppose. But I do someday want to open my very own nursery and daycare to care for little ones. I remember the time Minuette, Lemon Hearts and I tried to babysit Spike for you. That... didn't go so well."
"I didn't mean to give you girls a hard time," Spike apologized. "I wasn't used to somepony other than Twilight, her family, Princess Cadence or Princess Celestia trying to look after me. I've gotten much better since then," Then he commented. "Although, is it just my imagination, or have I seen you girls around Ponyville? And not just Lyra either, I've seen all four of you... I think."
Minuette pointed out. "Well duh, of course you've seen us! Since Lyra lives in Ponyville, we're always going there to visit her or she comes here to visit us. We also thought about asking you to join our little gatherings, but we figured you just sorta moved on and made new friends."
"Oh," Twilight glumly commented as she now remembered what she'd wanted to apologize for. "Well, it's not like I meant to forget you girls or anything like that. I know you all considered me a friend even if I didn't necessarily see it that way. In fact, that's what I wanted to apologize for. For just leaving you girls so unexpectedly, didn't even say goodbye or give you a chance to."
Lyra was quick to ask. "So?" And her tone of voice made it sound like she wasn't particularly bothered by what her old friend had just pointed out.
The young alicorn just continued with her apology. "Before I left Canterlot, I didn't really appreciate my friends. And that's because I didn't know how important friendship was to me. But I've learned so much since I moved to Ponyville. I learned what it means to be a good friend. It's how I became the princess of friendship. I know that's no excuse for just forgetting about you girls for so long. I'm really truly sorry for any pain I might have caused you."
But to the surprise of Twilight Sparkle, her old friends didn't react with glares or harsh words. Instead, they all threw back their heads and laughed together!
Once again it was Minuette who was taking the lead in providing an explanation. "Oh, come on, Twilight! Don't beat yourself up about it! It wasn't your fault Princess Celestia sent you to Ponyville!"
"It kind of was," Twilight pointed out. "I was so fixated on my studies and on trying to prove a point. I turned out to be right in the end, but still. And even after that, I could've come back here even just once to see how you girls were doing. Just because I had new friends didn't mean I had to forget about my old ones."
Minuette simply smiled. "Hey, maybe it did sting a bit when you up and ran off to Ponyville without a heads up, but it's not like we weren't used to that sort of thing from you! You'd kind of been doing it all the time whether you meant to or not."
"Yeah," Twinkleshine added. "So we didn't take it personally. And you're here now, having donuts with us. So we're glad you remembered us now. Better late than never as they say."
Lyra smiled as well. "It's great to see you now, and Spike as well. You've grown a lot, and not just in size."
Lemon Hearts then proposed. "Hey! I just had the greatest thought ever! Who's up for a little blast from the past? It's my treat, seeing as the donuts are on my tab and everything. I did promise to pay for them, didn't I?" The other unicorns, Twilight and Spike were all in agreement. And all were quite curious as to what Lemon had in mind.
Lemon lead the others to an old building that none had seen for years. It was a building within the complex that made up Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, which was where Twilight had first met Minuette, Lemon Hearts, Twinkleshine and Lyra Heartstrings (and Moondancer too for that matter).
"I don't believe it!" Twilight exclaimed with a gasp as her eyes peered into the currently empty building through one of its windows! "It's our old science lab! I have so many fond memories of this place! Science was my favorite subject in school!"
Then Minuette fondly recalled. "Hey, remember that time Lemon Hearts got her head stuck in a beaker when she botched a teleportation spell?" And she, Twinkleshine and Lyra all shared a laugh.
Lemon Hearts frowned. "It was one time, girls! One time! Right, Twilight?"
But Twilight didn't answer. She was too busy thinking of her own memory of that particular event. Only now could the mare place that laughter she'd heard all those years ago.
Indeed, Lemon Hearts had gotten her head stuck inside an empty beaker. And she was being chased around by Minuette, Twinkleshine and Lyra as the three fillies tried to catch her. It didn't seem to occur to any of them that they could've just used their own horns to magically lift the beaker and set their friend free. They were having too much fun to think of that possibility.
Twilight Sparkle overheard the laughter but paid it no attention. She was too busy comparing notes with another unicorn filly about something their textbook told them to do. "But according to this book, Moondancer, you're supposed to add the sodium chloride first."
Moondancer was a cream coated unicorn filly with dark purple eyes. Her mane and tail had been styled to look just like Twilight's, but their colors were a shade of red with purple and grayish violet stripes. "I read ahead, Twilight," She declared while setting the heavy textbook down for a minute. "And to make a proper salt lick, you need to add the molasses first."
Twilight simply stated back. "Well, I read ahead too, Moondancer, and I'm sure it said sodium chloride first."
It was then that Moondancer noticed something about the book she was reading, especially when compared to the one Twilight had. "Oh, would you look at that? I've got the wrong book. That's so hilarious." She dryly remarked.
The filly with a light purple coat simply grinned. "What would you ever do without me, Moondancer?"
"I don't know, Twilight. I don't know." Was all Moondancer said in reply, also paying no attention to the laughter from the other fillies. If she had, she and Twilight might have been witness to the silly chase Lemon Hearts was leading the rest of her friends on.
The memory faded just as quickly as it had arrived. But it caused Twilight to realize that there was one mare who'd been part of the circle of friends, yet this mare was currently unaccounted for. "By the way, girls," She spoke up. "Whatever happened to Moondancer? You know, our other friend? I remember she was the only other one who ever took an interest in anything I did, and she looked almost like she could be my twin sister now that I think about it."
"Oh, Moondancer, right! I had a feeling we were forgetting somepony!" Twinkleshine exclaimed!
And Lyra recalled while putting a hoof to her chin. "Wasn't she the one holding that party in the castle the day Twilight left for Ponyville?"
Minuette smiled. "She was. I always liked her even when she wasn't hosting parties or inviting us over for sleepovers as a filly," Then she admitted. "But after Twilight left, we sort of lost touch. We tried to stay in contact with her, but her letters became so infrequent and then she just moved across town without telling us," She scrunched her face up as she tried to remember. "I... think she went to live out by the stadium, didn't she?"
"Well, let's go see! The stadium isn't far from here," Lemon Hearts suggested. "I just hope she still remembers us since it's been so long."
Secretly, Twilight whispered. "I hope she's as forgiving as everypony else has been today."
The unicorns led Twilight and Spike to a house standing by itself in the middle of the city, but a ways back from the actual road. The house looked like it hadn't been taken care of if the leaves on the red brick roof and the broken shutter on the window above the front door were any indication. The front door itself was a shade of purple with a crescent moon in the middle, surrounded by a small greenish-yellow patch on either side. The house had grayish-blue bricks and a window both up top and off to the left side. A small stone pathway led from it out only about halfway to the street.
"Well, I think this is the place," Minuette pointed out. "Although, I don't remember it always being this way."
"You don't think something happened to Moondancer, do you?" Spike nervously questioned.
Lyra gulped. "I sure hope not. If it did, I'd feel awful knowing we didn't know about it until now."
Twilight Sparkle reluctantly plucked up courage. "Well, there's only one way to find out. Here goes nothing." She approached the door and knocked on it, only to find that the wood was so rotten that a mere knock was enough to break it! She stepped back and gasped! The house was in worse shape than it appeared from the outside!
Suddenly, the door creaked open as a familiar looking cream coated unicorn poked her head out from the darkness. She looked exactly like everypony remembered Moondancer looking like, except for a pair of thick black glasses on her face and a tacky looking black sweater. It also seemed like she had re-styled her mane a little, two beads the same color as the stripes in her mane and tail now had the top of her mane styled into a bun. "Yes?" She grumpily called.
"Moondancer, is that you?" Twilight hopefully inquired.
The unicorn nodded while bitterly remarked. "It is. But what do you want from me? I'm trying to study," Yet once she got a good look at who it was that was talking to her, her eyes immediately narrowed. "Oh, it's you. Finally remembered me, huh? A little late for that now, princess."
"Hey, don't be like that!" Lyra protested to Moondancer! "Twilight came all the way back here to visit us, your old friends. The gang's all here again! Isn't that lovely?"
But Moondancer's reaction was not what anyone was expecting. She just grumbled, swished her tail and without saying a word slammed the door shut.
Minuette started to laugh again.
"What's so funny? This doesn't seem like a laughing matter." Lemon Hearts pointed out while looking across to her fellow unicorn.
The currently off-duty dentist profusely apologized. "Sorry, it's what I do when I'm nervous. It's how I cope," She adopted a somewhat more serious tone as she added. "Seriously though, that's old Moondancer for you. She always did like her books. Hey! Kinda like what you used to be like, huh, Twilight?"
The resemblance was quickly picked up on by the young alicorn. And for her it made her want to do anything but laugh. "Not just kinda, exactly how I used to be. In fact, I'd almost say it was worse. Even I never treated you girls that coldly, and I was pretty detached whenever we hung out," She sighed and lamented. "It's just as I feared, my leaving did have an impact on somepony. How could this have happened?"
A few days passed as Twilight, Spike and at least one of their old friends secretly kept tabs on Moondancer. They watched her movements to see if anything stood out.
But eventually, Spike lost his patience as the little dragon audibly complained. "Come on, Twilight! We've been watching her for three days now! Nothing changes! Library, house, library, house. That's it! Even her cutie mark is the same, it's still that purple crescent moon and those three pink stars."
Twilight Sparkle was more alarmed by what she'd picked up from watching Moondancer's small movements. "I don't get it. Nopony looks at her or says hello or even gives her a smile. And she never says anything in reply. It's like she doesn't even exist," Looking across to Minuette (who happened to be watching with Twilight and Spike that day) she inquired. "Was she always like this and I just never noticed before?"
"Sort of," Minuette answered. "I mean, she always was a little on the shy side even when we were hanging out. You seemed to be the only one she felt comfortable around, I guess you made an impression on her or something. Even so, there was a time when she was starting to really come out of her shell."
"You mean, like that party in the castle the day I left?" Twilight realized with a sense of horror!
The usually cheerful unicorn nodded in confirmation. "Yup, that's the one. But I think you were busy that day, seeing as you were going to be sent off to Ponyville and everything." And she began to recall that chance encounter with Twilight on that very day.
"Oh, there you are, Twilight! We were just about to come looking for you," Twinkleshine had declared upon happening to see the then unicorn. "Moondancer's having a little get-together in the castle's west courtyard. Whaddya say? Interested? All our friends are gonna be there."
But after looking back to her books for but a second, Twilight Sparkle had simply replied. "Oh, terribly sorry, girls. I'd love to come, really. But... you know me, I've got a lot of studying to catch up on. Er... tell Moondancer I said hello." And with that she had rushed away without giving the invitation another thought.
As the flashback ended, the young alicorn thought of something. "Say, didn't I hear one of the girls say something just before I was out of sight? Something about if I ever did anything besides study?"
Minuette seemed considerably less enthusiastic as she admitted. "I think that was Twinkleshine. And she didn't mean any offense by it. We all knew you were Princess Celestia's student. It was just kind of frustrating how you always seemed to find an 'excuse' whenever we wanted to hang out with you. Even if we got used to it it did still sting sometimes. At least Twinkleshine, Lemon Hearts, Lyra and I had each other. I don't think Moondancer really had anyone."
"I was afraid of that." Twilight glumly replied.
The unicorn with a light cornflower blue coat went on to say. "When Moondancer threw that party in the castle, we all thought for sure she finally might be letting her guard down a little. We kept trying to invite her out afterwards, and sometimes she would say yes. But for the most part she just chose to focus on her studies and always said she was too busy," She then reluctantly confessed. "Eventually, we just sort of stopped trying. We didn't mean to give up on her, but nothing we tried was working."
Meanwhile, Twilight Sparkle was lamenting. "I had no idea that party was so important to her. I know that not going to that party was the right decision to make in the grand scheme of things, but I still owed it to Moondancer to at least come back afterward and apologize for missing it. If I'd done that, she probably wouldn't be like this," But then she got an idea as she vowed! "I have to make it up to her somehow! I just have to!"
Twilight's idea of "making it up" to Moondancer involved tailing the reclusive unicorn to the Canterlot library and then not so subtly ducking inside to talk to her. She even intentionally gasped when she "bumped into" her fellow mare! "Oh, my gosh! Moondancer?! Is that—"
But the young princess had to be shushed by other ponies. She had to remember that she was in a public library and silence was appreciated.
A little later, Moondancer had retreated a ways into one of the sections within the back of the library. But she was still unexpectedly interrupted by Twilight who asked. "Moondancer, can I talk to you for a min—"
Moondancer moved to shush the alicorn, only to find a massive reddish-violet bubble surrounding her immediate area that was being powered by Twilight's horn. "What is this?" She questioned.
Twilight grinned. "A bubble of silence, of course," And she began to speak up again. "I haven't seen you in a while and I thought it might be nice to catch up. You know, just between old friends. There's something I really wanna say to you. If you'd like, we can go outside and discuss this where nopony but us has to hear it."
The reclusive unicorn only replied by using her own magic to pop Twilight's bubble. "Please just leave me alone." She grumbled after the bubble popping prompted more ponies to speak up and call for silence.
The young alicorn didn't reply either way to Moondancer's request, but she did seem to back off for the time being.
Yet Moondancer soon afterward was surprised when, while flipping through the pages of her book, an ink like drawing of Twilight appeared and began to speak in a whisper. "I'm sorry I skipped your party. I know you're not gonna believe this, but I ended up fighting a wicked mare of darkness who wanted to bring about eternal nighttime. It's not an excuse, though. I know how much that party meant to you and I want to make it up to you any way I can."
Moondancer screamed and shut her book right on the spot, once again hearing ponies call for quiet as she did so! She then opened the book up and glared at the ink like drawing of the alicorn while whispering (and growling). "Why won't you leave me alone, already? I'm trying to study, here! And besides, you've got the wrong pony! I don't have parties!"
But the voice of Twilight just replied through the drawing. "You did once. And I was so caught up in my own studying that I didn't take your feelings into account. At the least I should've been there in pony to tell you I couldn't make it."
Still, Moondancer was anything but happy as she whispered. "Look, Twilight Twinkle—"
"Sparkle." Twilight corrected.
The unicorn with a cream coat and a somewhat messy mane and tail only continued. "Whatever! You know what I meant! I don't care if you're the princess of friendship, I just need to be alone so I can study without some crazy pony trying to make friends, all right?!"
"Fine!" Twilight seemed to agree as the drawing of the alicorn marched to the next page.
But that was when the glasses wearing unicorn suddenly became intrigued. "Wait. How did you just get into my book like that? I didn't hear any spells be cast."
The young alicorn grinned before she popped out of the book by lighting up her horn. "Just a little something I picked up in my spare time. I still like to study as much as anypony else. I can only do it for a few minutes right now, but you'd be amazed how much you can pick up when you're actually in a book! Know what I'm saying?"
Moondancer was awe struck for a moment, before realizing that she had read about such a spell before. "Oh, is that all? And here I thought you had something special to show me. You've really fallen behind on your studies if you think I don't know that spell. It's one of Hayscartes' methods."
Twilight almost gasped in amazement! "You know Hayscartes too? I thought I was the only one."
Moondancer simply snorted and boasted. "Of course I know him! He's a genius! Starswirl the Bearded's got nothing on him! He wasn't some all powerful sorceress who tutored the princesses, Hayscartes got to where he was by studying and researching."
The young alicorn then proposed. "I know that too, Moondancer. But if you want to know more, I have a copy of his Treatise on Ponies. I'd be more than happy to let you have it. I can easily find my own copy back in Ponyville, I've got my own private library."
"Inside that castle of yours?" Moondancer grumbled. "Yeah, I read about in the papers. Hard not to hear about it when it was all anypony would talk about," But she added. "Still, I guess it would be nice to have that copy close at hoof. Maybe friends are still good for something."
"Knew you'd see it my way," Twilight beamed as she gestured a hoof. "Follow me."
This time it was Twilight Sparkle who was leading somepony to somewhere. In this case she was happily leading Moondancer to the old tower that she (Twilight) had once occupied. "Sorry about the mess. Nopony's lived here for years and nopony's bought it yet, so it's a bit of a fixer upper." She apologized for the state of the tower's appearance as she led the unicorn inside.
"What is this place?" Moondancer commented. "I don't remember it."
"This is where I lived when I was Princess Celestia's student," Twilight readily explained. "Guess I never had you or the other girls over. But in my defense, my studies did keep me busy. Princess Celestia was quite a teacher, studying under her was a whole lot different than just having a class be taught by her."
Meanwhile, Moondancer's dark purple eyes were drawn to a dusty old book that happened to be lying nearby. She picked it up within the light pinkish-gray glow of her horn. "A first edition copy of Principles of Magic!" But her happy mood didn't last long as she remembered something about the book. "Hey, didn't I lend this to you and you promised to give it back?"
The young alicorn gulped as she sheepishly and vaguely answered. "Uh... maybe. I mean, I had so many books it was kind of hard to keep track of 'em all. That's what Spike was for, he was made my assistant for a reason."
The unicorn frowned as she flipped open the book. "I did! And I even wrote something in it: 'To my friend, Twilight Sparkle. Thanks for introducing me to the classics. Moondancer.'" She was quick to sarcastically replied. "Sure seems like it was as valuable to you as it was to me, seeing as you left it here and all. At least you could've, I don't know, given it back to me? Would've been about as good a present as anything else you could've given me for that party."
"I'm really sorry about that, Moondancer, honest," Twilight insisted. "I was in a rush when I was packing up and your book just sort of slipped my mind. I'm not trying to make up excuses."
"So, what, you just brought me over here to get me away from the books?" Moondancer questioned. "I thought you of all ponies would understand. Books can't hurt you like friends do."
Twilight Sparkle was quick with a protest. "Believe me, I once thought the same to an extent. I thought books were the only thing I needed in my life, but I was wrong," Then she explained. "But the reason I brought you here wasn't because I wanted a reminder of how bad a friend I used to be. I brought you here to see if maybe you'd be interested in this place. It's pretty cheap, all things considered. I'll even help you clean up and decorate it to your heart's content, then you can come here whenever you want and study to your heart's content."
The glasses wearing unicorn was quite giddy at the prospect as a smile returned to her face! "Really?! You'd do that for me?!"
Sensing that she'd lured her former friend in, Twilight opted to lay down her terms for the deal. "Yes, but only if you agree to do something for me first."
Moondancer unhappily sighed. "Should've known there'd be a catch. What is it?"
"I want you to come to dinner tonight with our old friends. They're all gonna be there, and Spike will be there too," Twilight pointed out. "Minuette's already gone through the trouble of booking reservations at one of the best restaurants in town."
"So they did remember me!" Moondancer realized and glumly replied. "Great, now I feel bad. This was your plan all along, wasn't it? To guilt trip me into spending time with our friends from magic school?" She tried desperately to back out. "Look, it's not like I don't want to hang out with them or anything. But I'm not who I used to be, I'm not who they think I am. I've changed, I don't need friends anymore. I just wanna be alone to pursue my studies."
"That's not really the case," Twilight protested. "They never stopped trying to reach out to you and they know what you've become. They're worried about you, Moondancer, and so am I! Please, at least come to dinner tonight and give friend making one more chance! If not for my sake, then surely for your own. Princess Celestia once taught me that there's more to life than dusty old books! And she was right."
Still, the unicorn hesitated. "Well... I don't know. I tried friendship and it's just not for me. Besides, I was planning on reorganizing my biology scrolls."
The young alicorn decided to sweeten the deal with something she knew Moondancer would be unable to resist. "What if I taught you Hayscartes' method? If I do that, would you come to dinner?"
Moondancer let out a heavy sigh. "You're not letting this go until you get me to say yes, I can tell. Even when we were fillies you were always persistent when you thought you were right," And reluctantly, she agreed. "Fine. Just this once. But I'm not making any promises. If it doesn't it doesn't work and you have to get off my case!"
That night, the once friends gathered together at a reserved table for a private dinner. Oddly enough, when Twilight arrived with Moondancer she swore she could see an extra seat at the table. Had another friend she'd forgotten about until now decided to show up uninvited?
The alicorn shook the feeling from her mind. If such a friend existed Spike would've mentioned it. Besides, when she looked again she saw an empty seat with no menu or anything else to indicate that somepony had been there. Most likely it was just a spare seat that the restaurant couldn't move to another table.
So it was that one alicorn, one baby dragon and five unicorns all sat down to dinner. Even before they could decide on what to order, there was a long and uncomfortable silence around the dinner table. No one seemed to know what to say to get a conversation going. They all just looked at each other, giving each other the most uncomfortable glances. And it was clear to them that one guest was more uncomfortable and ill at ease than any other: Moondancer.
Eventually, it was Minuette who took the initiative and broke up the silence. She looked to Moondancer and asked her. "So, Moondancer, uh... what are you studying these days? It's been such a long time since I've heard anything from you, so I was just curious."
Moondancer bluntly and matter-of-factly replied. "Science, magic, history, economics, pottery. Things like that. I don't have a specialty at the moment. I study whatever catches my eye."
"Yowza! Never a dull moment, huh?" Minuette nervously chuckled. "So, what, you planning on becoming a professor or something? I think you'd be good at it, especially since Twilight doesn't seem like she's gonna be a teacher anytime soon."
"Well, you never know, I've always felt I'd make a decent teacher," Twilight sheepishly replied. "Besides, I kind of already tutor some young ponies on the side back in Ponyville. I just don't think every princess necessarily has to have a student right away," And she then proposed. "Unless, you'd like to fill that role, Moondancer?"
Moondancer shook her head. "No thanks, I've no interest in studying anything with you," And then to Minuette she added. "And to answer your earlier question, Minuette, I'm not planning to become a professor, a teacher or a scholar."
Spike slowly blinked. "So, what, you're just... studying for the sake of it? Even Twilight doesn't do that, her studies always have a point."
The reclusive unicorn only grumbled. "Can I go now? This isn't working."
"Come on, Moondancer!" Lyra pointed out. "You've barely been here five minutes! We're trying to get to know you, but you keep pushing us away like you did before!"
"I didn't push you girls away, we all agreed it was best if we stopped hanging out." Moondancer coldly replied.
Twinkleshine nervously commented. "But we didn't like that. We were still friends then. Heck, we're still friends now, aren't we? Friends don't just shut friends out."
"Twilight did. She said it herself, she never considered us friends back in the day," Moondancer grumbled. "It was silly of me to think otherwise," Then she glared at the alicorn seated next to her. "And now suddenly, she comes stomping back here on a whim and thinks all can be forgiven because she's a princess?! She has her own friends now, why does she care so much about us?! If she never came to see us before she got wings, then it's obvious what she really thought of us! She just up and moved away, never bothering to say goodbye!"
Spike immediately moved to defend Twilight! "She had an important assignment from Princess Celestia! If she had ignored it, Equestria would probably be suffering under eternal nighttime from Nightmare Moon, or eternal chaos from Discord, or who knows what other threat?! What matter is she's here now, trying her best to make up for everything!" And he then saw fit to question Moondancer. "Is all of this really because of one party she missed? It wasn't a birthday party or anything special like that. And you could've always come and talked to her whenever she was in Canterlot."
However, Moondancer replied with a choked expression! "That was the first party I ever threw, Spike! I finally worked up the courage to put myself out there, to be more social! And then the friend I thought I had more in common with than any other pony in Equestria couldn't even be bothered to show up in pony to tell me she couldn't make it! I know she was the princess' student, but she owed me at least a proper goodbye! I shouldn't have had to find out after the fact that she was some big hero! How was I ever going to compete with that when her new friends were clearly so much better?!" She began to sob as she got up from the dinner table. "What I was thinking coming back here? I... I should go before I say something I'll really regret!"
Twilight immediately followed after Moondancer when the unicorn left the restaurant, outright teleporting in front of the unicorn as she desperately pleaded! "Moondancer, please! You have to give friendship a chance! I don't know what else I can say or what more I can do!"
Moondancer seemed to be struggling to hold back tears. "You can't! You can't go back in time and I wouldn't want you to. Maybe it was just me all along. Maybe I was foolish to think I could ever befriend the student of Princess Celestia, or that you'd ever take any interest in me."
"But you can't give up on friendship because of that!" Twilight protested again. "I'm sorry I didn't realize how important that party was to you. I'm sorry I didn't see how much I meant to you as a friend. I'm being sincere. And even if you can't forgive me, you at least have four other friends who still wanna hang out with you."
"Yeah, it was their idea to host the party. Minuette practically begged and pleaded until I finally caved in," Moondancer admitted as she began to recall her memories of the party. "But then, well... you can guess what happened."
In the memory, Moondancer had completely styled her mane and tail to look like Twilight Sparkle's. If not for the glasses and the different colors on the coat, mane and tail, you would've thought she was Twilight's twin sister or something along those lines. She'd finally agreed to host a party for all her friends and had managed to rent out the west wing of the castle for it. Banners and streams had been hung up, balloons had been purchased, everything was ready.
Minuette's smile was so bright it could've rivaled Celestia's sun for its glow as she turned to her fellow unicorn. "Hey, Moondancer! Look at this spread, huh? Glad to see you took my advice! This party's gonna be amazing! And I'm loving your new look!"
Moondancer just smiled as she adjusted her glasses, witnessing two other unicorns approaching. "Thank you so much for coming, all of you!"
Twinkleshine smiled back. "Of course. We wouldn't miss one of our best friends' parties. Lyra would've come too if Ponyville wasn't busy getting ready for the Summer Sun Celebration."
"That's okay," The book loving unicorn replied while looking around. "I just wanna know if Twilight's coming. I'm really hoping she does. Maybe I can help her get her nose out of those books for once."
But Lemon Hearts had to break the unfortunate news to the party host. "A-actually, she can't make it. She said she was very busy with her studies. But she told us to tell you she said hello. And who knows, maybe she'll stop by later on?"
Moondancer's heart sank upon hearing the news. "Oh, I see." She tried her best to smile but it was obvious her heart wasn't into it anymore.
"H-hey now," Minuette tried to insist with a nervous grin of her own. "We can still have fun together, right?"
"...Sure," Moondancer replied at last. "Might as well after I went to all this trouble."
And just like that, the memory faded as Moondancer came back to the present. "The next day I heard about what happened to you in Ponyville, and I saw you'd made new friends. I realized then and there that it was pointless," She confessed to Twilight. "Whether you meant to or not, you'd forgotten all about me. And since Lyra had already moved to Ponyville, I figured 'Why bother'? It seemed everypony I tried to befriend ended up moving away sooner or later," She then began to trot off. "Thanks for trying, Twilight. But tell the girls to forget about me and move on, like I did."
Twilight was rendered speechless by the remarks! All she could do was stand there in silence with a sorrowful look on her face, watching as her one time friend wandered away into the darkness of the night.
Spike came rushing up to Twilight a moment later, immediately concerned when he saw the sad expression she was wearing. "Twilight, are you alright?"
The alicorn princess slowly snapped out of her state of shock as she sadly stated to Spike. "No. No, I'm not. I really messed this one up, Spike. All I did was make a bad situation worse. If only there was a way to get Moondancer to see how much she means, not just to me but to all our friends," Then, suddenly, something sparked in her mind and she knew at once what had to be done! "Wait, that's it! I know to fix this, Spike! But I can't do it alone. Luckily, I know another friend who can help me."
The next morning, Minuette happened to come by the tower Twilight and Spike had been staying at. To her surprise, she found that the tower doors were locked tight and wouldn't open even to magic. And neither was there was a note posted on said doors indicating where they might be.
The usually chipper unicorn just shrugged her shoulders as she thought. "Guess they went back to Ponyville unannounced. Well, it was nice seeing them again." And she turned to leave.
But Minuette had only just descended the spiraling staircase when suddenly she heard an energetic (and silly sounding) scream split the air! She looked up, and to her great surprise she saw Twilight and Spike flying back into town with a pink coated earth pony in tow! Before the unicorn had a chance to react, she was tackled to the ground by the flying convoy as it crashed into her!
Luckily, no one was hurt. And the pink coated earth pony even bounced up and twirled her tail like a propeller as she exclaimed! "That was awesome! We really gotta go flying more often, Twilight!"
Meanwhile, Minuette turned her attention to Twilight as she again greeted her old friend. "There you are. Figured you and Spike threw in the old towel and went home."
"Well I did go back to Ponyville," Twilight admitted while brushing off the dust. "But it wasn't to give up, it was to pick up reinforcement and get my secret weapon," She then cleared her throat as she prepared the introductions. "Minuette, meet—"
But there was no need for said introductions as Minuette instantly recognized the earth pony. "Hey, Pinkie Pie! Great to see you again!" She cheerfully exclaimed!
"Hiya, Minuette!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed in reply as the two hugged each other! Then she turned to Twilight. "You didn't tell me Minuette was gonna be here, Twilight!"
"Wait, you two know each other?" Twilight Sparkle questioned.
Pinkie happily nodded in confirmation. "Duh! You forget, she was one of Cadence's bridesmaids! We hang out all the time when she's in Ponyville! Didn't you know that?" She playfully ribbed the alicorn while teasing. "And you call yourself the princess of friendship. Guess you still don't know everything. Oh well, that's what you have me for," Then she turned her attention to Minuette. "Twilight briefed me on the way here. We'll need fifteen bags of confetti and as many helping hooves as we can get."
Minuette was eager to pitch in with the party pony! "Lead the way, Pinkie! And when we're done we can stop for donuts at Joe's!"
Spike then looked to Twilight. "And what are we gonna do?"
"Just come with me," The young alicorn replied. "Hopefully, everything will work out like I planned."
A little later, an unaware Moondancer left the library and prepared to head back to her house. But then she noticed a book laying on the ground. Her curiosity getting the best of her, she trotted over and picked it up with her magic, reading aloud its title: "A Brief History of the Wagon Harness!" Then she spotted another book nearby and picked it up as well and read aloud its title: "The Life and Times of Morari the Maneless?" From there, she could see several books lying on the ground. Suspecting nothing, she picked each one up in succession and followed the trail they created.
Eventually, the trail came to an end right by the west wing of the castle. And just as Moondancer picked up the last book, she could hardly believe her eyes! "W-what's this?!" She exclaimed, dropping all the books she'd picked up due to her brief spell of shock.
The castle's west wing had been decorated to look just like it had looked when Moondacer had hosted that party all those years ago. And all of her old friends were there, along with Spike, as well as a pink coated earth pony she didn't immediately recognize (but she knew it was one of Twilight's Ponyville friends). And they were all wearing party hats.
"It's a party. Just for you, Moondancer." Twilight greeted the cream coated unicorn.
The pink party pony happily bounced over, giving Moondancer her own party hat and party favor. "Surprise! A Pinkie Pie Party, boy are you lucky. You can thank me later."
The reclusive unicorn simply spat out her party favor and took off her party hat. "Thanks but no thanks," She told the host. "I appreciate the gesture, but I'm fine, really. Besides, I don't do parties anymore and you know why."
Twilight teleported over to Moondancer, preventing the unicorn from fleeing. "Indeed I do. And that's why I'm hosting this party for you, to make up for it."
"Big deal!" Moondancer replied in an unconcerned tone.
"You're right, it was a big deal!" Twilight insisted as she pulled her old friend close and gestured a hoof. "And now that I realize how important friendship is, I'd like to make up for my mistake with a new party. A party in honor of my friend Moondancer!" She then floated over a wooden bat while gesturing to a pinata that had been set up. "At least don't take your anger out on me, take it out on this pinata. Please, let me make this up to you."
Moondancer eyed the bat, the pinata and then Twilight as she took the bat into the soft glow of her horn. She seemed to briefly move the bat towards the alicorn before swinging it back around. "And you think this is gonna do it, huh?"
"Uh, yes?" The alicorn nervously smiled, unsure of what else to say.
Moondancer slowly moved the bat towards the pinata and gave it a few whacks. "Well, sure, why wouldn't it?" She spoke in a tone just barely above a whisper. "I mean, that was only the first time I put myself out there, and then you didn't even bother to show up!" She swung the bat back towards Twilight, pointing it like a stick while she scolded! "Then you just left town without saying goodbye even though we were supposed to be friends!"
"H-hold on now!" Twilight stammered and stepped back, terrified of what Moondancer might be about to do. "Please, calm down."
"No!" Moondancer snapped as the tears began to flow from her eyes! "I was humiliated! I felt like I wasn't important to you, to anypony! I never wanted to let myself be hurt like that again! Shutting myself off from the world hurt too, but not as much as it did when you just left without a word!" She moved the bat even closer to the alicorn despite the constant crying blurring her vision. "The others convinced me that I had value! That other ponies might like me and want to be my friend!" She held the bat right over Twilight's head as she shouted! "And you! Didn't! Show! Up!"
For a moment, it looked like Moondancer would whack Twilight in the head with the bat as she screamed! But she didn't! Instead, she broke down in tears and dropped the bat as she covered her face with her hooves. "Look at me," Moondancer sniffled between sobs. "I can't even stay mad at you without breaking down. I'm pathetic. No wonder you didn't want to be my friend. It really was just me all along."
Pinkie Pie saw the whole thing and whispered something to Spike, the little dragon wandering off without saying a word.
Twilight took no notice of development, other issues took front and center for her as she approached the crying unicorn and gently put a hoof to her back. "You're right, Moondancer. This party can't make up for the way I hurt you, whether I realized it or not. But please, don't let my mistake be the reason you can't be friends with anypony else. You still have friends, always did and always will if you just let them into your heart. You're not pathetic. You were hurt, but closing yourself off won't make the hurt go away. It'll only make it worse."
"We never gave up on you, Moondancer," Lyra firmly insisted. "You weren't the only one who was hurt when Twilight left so unexpectedly. But just as she was there for you when I went away, so too were Minuette, Twinkleshine and Lemon Hearts there for you when Twilight couldn't be. And they weren't the only ones." She then gestured a hoof.
Moondancer looked up and ceased her crying, wiping her eyes and then gasping at what she saw! A trio of ponies were standing before her, all of them unicorns that had been brought by Spike (who silently bowed and gestured to them)! From left to right there was: A unicorn mare with a grayish-blue coat, a bushy dusty black colored mane and tail with grey streaks, purple eyes hidden behind golden glasses and a cutie mark depicting two books. Then a tan coated unicorn mare with a curly golden mane and tail, green eyes hidden behind purple glasses and a cutie mark depicting a bee hive. And finally a unicorn mare with the same coat color and mane and tail as Moondancer, but with dark purple eyes (she was not wearing glasses) and a cutie mark depicting a coffee cup. All of them were wearing party hats, and all of them were instantly recognizable.
"What? The librarian: Miss Pages! The bookseller: Busy Bee! And my big sister: Morning Roast!" Moondancer commented in disbelief!
Minuette smiled. "They've all been your friends too, Moondancer. And they're just as worried as we are that you didn't wanna be friends with anypony anymore. We all tried for years to get to you come out of your shell again."
"Nopony is an island, Moondancer. We're social creatures by nature," Twilight pointed out. "I'm sorry it took me so long to realize that. Facing magical creatures, the end of Equestria, all sorts of things, none of that was as hard as having to confront what my own actions did to you," And she added. "It was one of the worst feelings I'd ever had. That's why I had to correct it. Not just because we used to be friends, but because I didn't want you to repeat the same mistake I once made in thinking I could live without friendship."
It was those very words that cut straight to the heart of the reclusive unicorn. Right then and there, she realized without saying a word how wrong she'd been. Friendship was something she was wrong to turn her back on just because of one bad experience. She sobbed a bit, before pulling Twilight into a hug. "Thank you, Twilight. I never realized how much I needed to hear that until now. I'm sorry I was so rude to you when you were only trying to help."
"It's okay, Moondancer. At least you got it all out of your system," Twilight Sparkle smiled. "And I hope it's not too late for us to start over as friends. My offer to give you my old tower still stands."
Moondancer smiled. "I'd be honored to take it, Twilight. Just as I'd be honored to be your friend again. I might even have to pay a visit to Ponyville one of these days," Then she declared. "Now come on, everypony! Let's party!" Hesitantly, she then asked Pinkie Pie. "Right?"
"Right!" Pinkie Pie smiled as she fired off her party cannon! "And if you ever need another party planned on short notice, just give me a call. After all, parties are what I do best!"
The party went on for several hours, lasting all day and even long after the stars had come out at night. But even a party as important as this one couldn't last forever.
Eventually, Twilight approached the guest of honor and told her in no uncertain terms. "I think it's time for Spike and I to head home, Moondancer. If you ever do visit Ponyville someday, feel free to come and see us. My door will always be open to a friend."
Moondancer smiled back at Twilight. "I'll remember that. Thank you for helping me make some new friends. Even if they are my old friends." She gave a slightly nervous chuckle upon saying that.
"Oh, we'll be sure to come back and visit you all again soon." Twilight promised.
"Really? That would be great!" Moondancer happily exclaimed! "After all, you've still gotta teach me that Hayscartes technique!"
Twilight readily agreed. "You got yourself a deal."
But just then, Spike remembered something he'd found back in the tower. "Oh, I almost forgot!" He exclaimed as he pulled out a battered and somewhat smashed up present box. "Here, Moondancer. It got kinda banged up, but it's a little something I was going to give you back at the first party. It's not much, but I hope you'll like it."
Moondancer unwrapped the present and was presented with a framed picture of herself back when she had looked exactly like Twilight. She and the other unicorns were all at Donut Joe's enjoying donuts with each other, while Twilight (as usual) had her nose stuck in a book. Moondancer was all too happy to accept the present, and the framed picture still hangs inside her house to this day. It serves as a reminder to her of the friends she had and the friends she hopes she'll always have.
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Again, you did a very good job on making the flow and reasoning of an already great episode make even more sense. Yeah, definitely appreciated Spike getting a bit more respect as was as Lyra getting included and Moondancer's further reasons for turning her back on friendship. Admittedly, I STIIL think it would make a lot more sense to have this episode replacing "The Ticket Master" as the episode immediately following the pilot (i.e. Twilight returning to Canterlot JUST long enough to pack a few prized belongings for the move to Ponyville and explaining things in pony to her parents and big brother before something made her realize just much she needs to make up for). Still, I can understand why you wrote it the way you did and I DO respect that.
Some possible ideas for Volume 15:
"Winter Wrap-Up": No rule against unicorns using their magic during Winter Wrap-Up (as that sounds WAY too tribalist, even if it WAS the only way the writers could think of to keep Twilight from getting everything done in three minutes) - but Twilight DOES get the idea about organization MUCH sooner after hearing from the girls about three of the biggest Winter Wrap-Up disasters (all shown in flashbacks).
"Best Night Ever": The episode is focused almost entirely on Celestia and Luna (especially since this is the latter's first Grand Galloping Gala since coming back) with Twilight and her friends only getting passing mentions throughout. In addition, there could be some Small Name, Big Ego crook trying to break into the Gala to try to rob everybody (I mean, come on, all of those celebrities, Princesses and other general rich ponies all under one roof? No way some crook wouldn't get sorely tempted) only to get constantly thwarted by the Guards. Celestia, of course, would admit to Luna that the Galas tend to be pretty dull, especially for somebody who has gone through them every year for more than a thousand.
"Of the Sweet and Elite": Rarity comes clean MUCH sooner, plus Spike is helping out the girls (in ways that DON'T come across as demeaning). In addition, Twilight's parents, Shining Armor and Cadance ALSO make appearances (JUST before Shining proposes to Cadance) to give Twilight birthday greetings.
"Hearts and Hooves Day": Instead of the focus being on the Crusaders, Mac and Cheerilee, the focus could be on Shining Armor and Cadance (to provide the latter with at least one appearance before the second season finale) and how they and other then-Canterlot couples celebrate the holiday. Plus, come on, the alicorn of love on a day devoted to love? How does that NOT make sense?
Anyway, definitely looking forward to more of this.
11153950 I could see about doing the "Hearts and Hooves Day" idea as a flashback episode, maybe as the replacement in Season 8 for "What Lies Beneath" since I integrated that into the events of "School Raze" and "A Trivial Pursuit".
11153977
Yeah. Thanks very much for thinking about that. Definitely really appreciated.