“My dear Radiant Hope, there is more to a young pony's life than studying, so I'm sending you to supervise the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration in this year's location: Ponyville. And, I have an even more essential task for you to complete: make some friends!”
Radiant Hope groaned after Spike read the letter. She really liked to make friends, but after what happened with Sombra, she didn’t feel comfortable enough to make any friends.
“Look on the bright side, Hope. The Princess arranged for you to stay in a library. Doesn't that make you happy?” Spike asked, trying to raise Hope’s spirits.
Hope immediately smiled. “Of course it does! You know why? Because I’m right! I'll check on the preparations as fast as I can, then get to the library to find some proof of Nightmare Moon's return!” She said with determination.
“Then... when will you make friends, like the Princess said?” Spike asked Hope. “Spike, the princess told me to check on preparations. And studying under her, I’ll do my royal duty. But the fate of Equestria does not rely on making friends.” Hope replied.
The carriage then landed on the streets of Ponyville. Hope couldn’t wait to get this over with. “Thank you, gentlecolts.” She thanked the guards pulling the carriage.
Walking through the streets, Spike was still trying to convince Hope to make some friends. “You should try talking to them, Hope. Talking to other ponies might make you be friends with them.” Spike suggested.
“Spike, I’m not here to talk to ponies and be friends with them.” Hope told Spike. “But Hope, maybe the ponies in Ponyville have interesting things to talk about.” Spike said.
Just then, they saw a unicorn walking through the streets. “Hey, there’s a pony right there. Let's make a first impression on her.” Spike said happily.
Walking up to the unicorn, they can see a clear visual on what she looks like. The unicorn had a white coat, magenta eyes, a blue frizzy mane and tail, and a cutie mark of a two bridged music note.
“Are you sure about this, Spike?” Hope asked nervously. “Come on, Hope, just try!” Spike replied.
Hope took a deep breath and walked up to the unicorn. “Umm...hi, I’m Radiant Hope.” She said, introducing herself.
“OH MY GOD!” The unicorn screamed before running away. “Well, that was interesting all right.” Hope said.
Spike sighed. ‘So much for making a first impression.’ He thought.
~~~
Spike read the first thing on the checklist.
“Summer Sun Celebration official overseer's checklist. Number one, banquet preparations: Sugarcube Corner.”
Radiant Hope and Spike looked at the Sugarcube Corner place they were at. It looked like a gingerbread house but it smelled like candy.
“Well, let's get in there.” Hope said. Then, they went inside. And inside was an earth pony working the counter.
The earth pony had a dark blue coat, lime green eyes, a short grey mane and tail, and a cutie mark of a lime and two stones.
The earth pony looked at the two entering, “Well hey there. Welcome to Sugarcube Corner. My name is Limestone Pie, but you can call me Limestone.” The earth pony said, introducing herself.
Radiant Hope walked over to the counter. “Good afternoon, Miss Limestone. My name is Radiant Hope, but you can call me Hope.” She said introducing herself.
“Well it’s nice to meet ya, Miss Hope. Here at Sugarcube Corner, we really do like to make new friends.” Limestone said. Hope cringed when she said the word ‘friend’. She really didn’t like that word.
“Now, how can I help you?” Limestone asked. “Well, I am in fact here to supervise preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. And you're in charge of the food?” Hope asked.
“Of course I am. Do you wanna see what we got?” Limestone asked. “Well, as long as it doesn’t take so long.” Hope said. Immediately, Limestone dashed into the kitchen.
When she returned, she had brought a table with her that was full of cakes, candies, cupcakes, pies, cookies, and a whole lot of baked goods. Hope was shocked to see how much of the food there was.
“Yup, we got a lot of food we have here, and it’s all for the Summer Sun Celebration. I made most of the food, but Pinkie helped me here and there with some baking.” Limestone said proudly.
Hope knew that the food was good to go. “Okay, well, I can see the food situation is handled, so we'll be on our way.” Hope told Limestone.
“Well alrighty then. You got more things to check for the celebration and I know I won’t stand in your way. But make sure to come by Sugarcube Corner where it’s always sweet.” Limestone said.
“Yes, we will. Goodbye.” Hope said. And with that, Hope and Spike exited Sugarcube Corner.
“It’s always sweet...we should trademark that.” Limestone said to herself.
~~~
“Food's all taken care of, next is weather.” Spike said. Hope was still thinking about Limestone. “Man, that pony is one hard worker.” She said to herself.
Spike looked up to the sky. “There’s supposed to be a Pegasus pony named Derpy Hooves clearing the clouds.” Spike said.
Hope looked up to the sky. All of the clouds haven’t been clear. “Well, she's not doing a very good job, is she?” She said.
Just then, a Pegasus came speeding by and crashed into the ground. The Pegasus groaned for a bit for standing up. “Watch where you're flying, Miss.” Hope told the Pegasus.
The Pegasus had a grey coat, yellow wall eyes, a light yellow mane and tail, and a cutie mark of a group of bubbles. “Sorry about that. I’m not very good with flying.” The Pegasus said with a giggle.
Spike chuckled. “Is it because of your wall eyes?” He asked. The Pegasus smiled. “Well that, or that maybe my wings can’t flap right.” She said. She then tried to fly up, almost falling down, but immediately took control of her wings.
“Well I love to stay and chat, but I need to go find my friend. Oh, my name’s Derpy by the way.” The Pegasus said, introducing herself. “I knew that.” Hope replied.
“Really?! That’s so cool! I never thought somepony would know me before!” Derpy said happily. “I also knew that you were supposed to keep the sky clear.” Hope said strictly before calming down. “I'm Radiant Hope, and the Princess sent me to check on the weather.” She said.
“Don’t worry Miss Hope, I’ll clear the weather in no time! I just need to find my friend!” Derpy said happily. “And, who is your friend? Hope asked.
“My best friend is a pegasus named Raindrops! But I call her Rainy. She’s supposed to help me with this weather, but she somehow disappeared. If you find her, can you tell her that I’m looking for her?” Derpy asked.
Hope scoffed. “Really? Your best friend has left you? A ditzy Pegasus pony all by yourself?” She asked. “Well, yeah. It’s tough without her, but I’ll manage.” Derpy said with a smile.
“Oh please. Your friend won’t leave a ditzy Pegasus who can't even keep the sky clear for one measly day.” Hope said. That made Derpy angry.
“Hey! I’ll have you know that I can clear the sky in at least five seconds!” Derpy told Hope in a ‘I’ll show you’ attitude. “Prove it.” Hope said, challenging Derpy.
Derpy, determined to prove Radiant Hope, took off to the sky. She did tricks, loop de loops, and cloud kicking techniques to clear the sky. And five seconds later, the sky was fully clear.
“I told you I’ll do it in five seconds. Looks like you won’t call me a ditzy Pegasus any more.” Derpy said, proud of her achievement. Hope was shocked. ‘How can a ditzy Pegasus pony clear the sky in five seconds?’ She thought.
“You should see the look on your face!” Derpy said with a chuckle. “I can’t wait to hang out with you more, Hope. But I need to go and find my friend. See ya!” And with that, Derpy flew off.
“That pony truly is something, eh Hope?” Spike asked. “Yeah. She is truly something.” Hope said, still shocked about that Pegasus.
Looks like she knew that the ditzy Pegasus pony is something more than just ditzy.