-My Little Pony, Equestria-
Twilight Sparkle exited The Golden Oak library and began strolling through Ponyville whilst deep in thought. She had no idea which one of her friends should receive the ticket to the Grand Galloping Gala.
'I suppose I could give it to Rarity, but then Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and…'. Twilight's train of though was suddenly interrupted by a certain pink mare being blown out of Sugar Cube Corner and crashing into her.
"Oh, hey Twilight!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie while smiling. The pink earth pony and the purple unicorn got up and dusted themselves off.
"Hi Pinkie Pie! I wanted to ask you something. Would you like to go to the Grand Galloping Gala with me?" wondered Twilight Sparkle. Pinkie Pie's smile grew even wider and stars seemed to appear in the pink mare's eyes.
"Of course! The Grand Galloping Gala is the most amazing, incredible, tremendous, super wonderful, terrificly humongous party in all of Equestria! I've always, always, ALWAYS wanted to go!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie, inhaling a lot of air afterwards.
'Oh the Grand Galloping Gala is the best place for me!
Oh the Grand Galloping Gala is the best place for me!
Hip hip Hooray!
It's the best place for me!
For Pinkie...
With decorations like streamers and fairy-lights and pinwheels and piñatas and pin-cushions. With goodies like sugar cubes and sugar canes and sundaes and sun-beams and sarsaparilla. And I get to play my favorite-est of favorite fantabulous games like Pin the Tail on the Pony!
Oh the Grand Galloping Gala is the best place for me!
Oh the Grand Galloping Gala is the best place for me!
'Cause it's the most Galarrific superly-terrific Gala ever!
In the whole galaxy!
Wheee!' Sang Pinkie Pie while hopping around Twilight Sparkle
"Thank you so much Twilight! It's the most wonderful-est gift ever!" exclaimed the pink earth pony yet again, stopping in front of Twilight Sparkle. The purple unicorn nodded in response to Pinkie Pie.
"Alright! Now that that's settled…" began Twilight Sparkle, getting abruptly interrupted by a familiar white unicorn walking up to her.
"I've heard you mention the Grand Galloping Gala!" said Rarity, looking at Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie.
"Yes, yes, yes! Twilight's taking me to the Grand Galloping Gala at Canterlot!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie as usual, while interrupting Twilight Sparkle in the process.
"I design ensembles for the Gala every year, but I've never had the opportunity to attend! Oh the society, the culture, the glamour – this is where I truly belong! And there I'm destined to meet him..." fantasized Rarity with a very delectable tone. Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle gave the white mare pretty confused looks, not knowing who she was talking about.
"Who?" questioned Pinkie Pie with a raised eyebrow.
"Him… I would stroll through the gala, and everypony would wonder… Who is that mysterious mare? They would never guess that I was just a simple pony from little old Ponyville. Why, I would cause such a sensation that I would be invited for an audience with Princess Celestia herself, and the princess would be so taken with the style and elegance that she would introduce me to him, her nephew: the most handsome, eligible unicorn stallion in Canterlot. Our eyes would meet, our hearts would melt. Our courtship would be magnificent. He would ask for my hoof in marriage, and of course I would say… Yes! We would have a royal wedding, befitting a princess, which is what I would become upon marrying him, the stallion of my dreams!" said Rarity, lost in her imagination. She then opened her eyes and gave Twilight a look of disbelief.
"Twilight! I simply can not believe that you would invite Pinkie Pie to the Gala so she can… party and prevent me from meeting my love! How could you? Hmph!" said Rarity, turning around and scoffing at Twilight Sparkle.
"Oh wow… I didn't know that both of you wanted to go to the Gala this badly…" Admitted Twilight Sparkle, now torn between giving one of the tickets to Pinkie Pie or Rarity.
"Um, excuse me, Twilight? Did you say something about the Gala?" wondered a voice behind the three mares. They turned around and saw Fluttershy, seemingly stopping from her stroll through Ponyville with her pet bunny, Angel, next to her.
"Yeah! I wanted to give Pinkie Pie the ticket, but now I really don't know how to give it to, since Pinkie and Rarity both want to go…" said Twilight Sparkle, feeling a tad down.
"Oh. Well, I would like to ask, if it would be alright, if you haven't given the ticket to someone else." Spoke Fluttershy, smiling.
"You? You want to go to the Gala?" asked Rarity, dumbfounded. The pony who she least expected to have a desire to go to the Gala just said that she wanted to go.
"Oh, no… I mean, yes, or, actually, kind of… You see, it's not so much the Grand Galloping Gala as it is the wondrous private gated garden that surrounds the dance. The flowers are said to be the most beautiful and fragrant in all of Equestria. For the night of the gala and that night alone, would they all be in bloom... and that's just the flora! Don't get me started on the fauna. There's loons and toucans and bitterns, oh my! Hummingbirds that can really hum, and buzzards that can really buzz. White-blue jays, and red jays, and green jays, pink jays and pink flamingos!" dreamily exclaimed the shy mare.
"Gee Fluttershy… It sounds… Beautiful?" responded Twilight Sparkle, at a loss for words.
"Excuse me darling, but where are your tickets?" asked Rarity, finally noticing that Twilight didn't have them.
"Oh, I left them at the Golden Oak Library!" said Twilight Sparkle, chuckling nervously.
"Now wait just a minute!" said a voice above the four mares. They all looked up and saw Rainbow Dash, standing on the house's roof, looking down on them. The blue Pegasus flew down from the roof and landed in front of her friends.
"Rainbow Dash, don't tell me you want to go to the Gala too!" said Twilight Sparkle, her tone having a noticeable amount of frustration in it.
"Of course I do! The Wonderbolts perform at the Grand Galloping Gala every year. I can see it now. Everypony would be watching the sky. Their eyes riveted on the Wonderbolts, but then in would fly Rainbow Dash! I would draw their attention with my Super Speed Strut, then, I would mesmerize 'em with my Fantastic Filly Flash. And for my grand finale, the Buccaneer Blaze! The ponies would go wild! The Wonderbolts would insist that my signature moves be incorporated into their routine, and then welcome me as their newest member!" daydreamed Rainbow Dash.
"Don't you see, Twilight? This could be my one chance to show 'em my stuff. You gotta take me!" begged Rainbow Dash, to which Twilight Sparkle hung her head. She now had an even harder time giving one of the tickets to her friends.
"I don't know yet girls… Just, give me some time to decide. I remembered that I promised to help Applejack today. I'll see all of you later!" said Twilight Sparkle, waving her hoof. The other ponies looked at their friend, surprised.
"But Twi-" Began Rarity, but was interrupted by Twilight Sparkle.
"Sorry Rarity, but no. This is my decision and I'm gonna make it on my own. I also can't think when there's lots of noise" Said the purple unicorn, starting to make her way towards Sweet Apple Acres, leaving her friends to argue between themselves on who gets the ticket. Upon arriving, she was warmly greeted by her friend, Applejack.
"Howdy, Twi! I'm glad that you could make it! So, let's not waste any time and start harvestin' apples, am I right?" asked the orange earth pony, to which Twilight Sparkle nodded. They worked together pretty well: Applejack bucked the trees and let the apples fall, while Twilight Sparkle used her magic to put the fruits into the baskets.
After an hour or so of applebucking, they managed to harvest a decent amount of apples. Twilight Sparkle and Applejack were carrying baskets full of apples, when suddenly, Rainbow Dash landed in front of them.
"Rainbow Dash? You told me you were too busy to help me harvest apples! What were you busy doing? Spyin'?" asked Applejack, narrowing her eyes at the blue pegasus in front of her.
"No. I mean, yes. I mean, maybe. Look, it doesn't matter. Twilight, I couldn't risk a goody-four-shoes like you giving that ticket away to just anybody!" said Rainbow Dash, getting closer to her friend, Twilight Sparkle.
"Now, wait just a minute 'ere. Am ah missing something? What ticket?" asked Applejack, due to her curiosity spiking. Rainbow Dash looked at Applejack and smirked.
"Twilight Sparkle has tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala and has some difficulty deciding which one of us she should give them to." Explained Rainbow Dash, making Applejack raise her eyebrow and smile afterwards.
"The Grand Galloping Gala?! Twilight, why didn't you tell me about it? I'd love to go! Land sakes, if I had an apple stand set up, ponies would be chowin' our tasty vittles 'til the cows came home. Do you have any idea how much business I could drum up for Sweet Apple Acres?! Why, with all that money, we could do a heap of fixin' up 'round here. We could replace that saggy old roof, and Big McIntosh could replace that saggy old plow, and Granny Smith could replace that saggy old hip!" said Applejack, excitement filling her voice.
"Why, I would give my leg to go to the Gala!" admitted Applejack. Rainbow Dash cleared her throat to catch the orange earth pony's attention.
"That's nice to hear, Applejack, but I believe that the ticket belongs to me." Said Rainbow Dash, smirking.
"Oh, yeah? Well I challenge you to a hoof-wrestle. Winner gets the ticket!" Responded Applejack, returning the smirk.
"Applejack, not you too! Girls, these are my tickets, I'll decide who gets the spare one, thank you very much." Said Twilight Sparkle, putting the basket full of apples on the ground. She then heard her stomach rumble, which made the purple unicorn frown slightly.
"Come on Twi, please! If I go, it will let me drum up business for the farm!" said Applejack, getting close to Twilight
"If I go, I will get the chance to audition for the Wonderbolts!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash, also walking towards Twilight
"The money will let me fix Granny's back!" spoke Applejack, a few inches from Twilight's face.
"If I audition for the Wonderbolts, I could start living the dream!" said Rainbow Dash, also a few inches away from the purple unicorn's face.
"Those are… Pretty good reasons I suppose…" said Twilight Sparkle, backing away from the two mares a bit…