Twilight paced continuously back and forth in front of the mirror, and then levitated the journal in front of her with her magic, flipping madly through the pages.
"Oh no… Why hasn't she replied yet? It's already almost six o' clock!"
A white unicorn approached Twilight, gesturing with her hoof to get Twilight's attention. "I'm sure she just got held up, darling."
A pale-yellow pegasus flew slowly towards them. "Rarity's right," Fluttershy said in her soft, hushed voice. "If you told her it was important, I'm sure she's not purposely trying to put it off."
"I guess you're right..." Twilight sighed, and then she smiled, a bit too widely. "I'm sure everything is fine...!" Her eye twitched…in a bit of an unhinged manner.
Fluttershy and Rarity shrank back a little. They knew Twilight could get a little comically anxious and fuss over the little details, but this was a little on the abnormal side.
"Everything WILL be fine when I can get the rest of these party decorations up!" Pinkie Pie shouted in desperation, bouncing up high to stick streamers on the wall. "It's just so short notice!"
"Why didn't you just use your party cannon, Pinkie?" Rainbow Dash asked, as she leaned up against the wall and rolled her magenta eyes. "It would have decorated everything in like, less than ten seconds flat."
"Well, I just reeeeeaaaally wanted this party to be super special! After all, we're going to make a new friend today, so her first party needs to have lots and lots of Pinkie care put into it!" The pink mare grinned with pride.
"That's awful sweet of ya, Pinkie." Applejack praised her. "Anyway, Twilight, ya got nothin’ to fret about! Sunset's comin', and she'll have a great time. I'm sure of it."
Twilight nodded with a nervous, less unsettling smile. She then trotted away to sit down by the refreshments table Pinkie had set up, and using her magic to lift a punch glass to her lips.
Starlight was across the room away from most of the group, sitting by Spike and chatting with him.
“Aww, don’t be nervous, Starlight. I’m sure you’re not gonna mess up your friendship lesson!"
“I’m not nervous about the friendship lesson!” Starlight hissed back defensively. A lie. “No Spike, it’s just… I love Pinkie’s parties, but sometimes… they’re just chaos.” She admitted to him in a whisper. Not a lie, exactly…
Suddenly, a loud poofing noise interrupted all their conversations, and a figure emerged out of nowhere. A very, very tall figure. Starlight looked up and gulped.
“Did somepony say… chaos?”
"Discord?!" Rarity squealed. "What in Celestia's name are you doing here?"
Twilight spit out her punch in surprise. "Gah!"
"Ah, haha! Didn't Fluttershy tell you?" The draconequus smirked mischievously, slivering over to Fluttershy and wrapping his lion paw around her. "She invited me to your little party. Who are we welcoming again? Sun-$%#* Sh-%##-er?" He chuckled darkly to himself.
"Discord! Such language!" Fluttershy shook her head. "I am very disappointed."
"It's Sunset Shimmer." Twilight rubbed her forehead with her hoof, annoyed. "And we need to welcome her politely so she can get back on her hooves. Without. A. Hitch."
"I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist! And yes, yes, I know. No chaos. Fluttershy made it very clear in her letter." Discord winked down at Fluttershy, letting her go. "You all insult me. I can control myself."
He transformed himself into a grey stallion with a dark mane. "Just look at how well I blend in."
Twilight smiled softly, rolling her eyes. He could be pretty funny sometimes. "Well, just be careful Disco—" Twilight's voice caught in her throat, as she heard the sound of magic bending and warping behind her. She twisted around to look.
The mirror was shimmering brilliantly, the surface rippling like water. All eyes were now on the portal, and everything was quiet.
After a few moments, a golden unicorn stepped out, wobbling on her hind legs, swaying about as she tried to regain her balance. She didn't stabilize herself until she was able to get down on all fours.
One of the first things Sunset could feel was the ache. Even though this was an entirely different anatomy than her human form, her joints were extremely sore. After she got her bearings, she smiled sheepishly at the group, taking a good look around. "Hey everyone..."
Starlight inhaled softly but sharply, seeing Sunset Shimmer for the first time. "Wow..."
"Sunset!" Twilight exclaimed, running up to Sunset for a hug.
Sunset smiled, wrapping her arms around Twilight. "Heh... how are you?"
"Well, I could be better, but I'm glad you're here. We all are." Twilight stepped back.
Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy came up to Sunset next.
"Howdy, Sunset! I would say we ought to introduce ourselves, but... I reckon you can figure it out." Applejack said as she crossed her hooves with a smirk.
"Yeah..." Sunset blinked, before shaking her head as if to clear it. "Sorry if I seem a little... overwhelmed. It's kind of a lot to take in, going through such a big change and seeing all these faces."
"It's cool!" Rainbow Dash flew in, looking down at Sunset. "...What's that?" She pointed her hoof to the bag on Sunset's back.
"It looks like some kind of saddle-bag," Rarity observed. "Oddly shaped, but stylish nonetheless."
"It's uhh, a backpack." Sunset answered distractedly, as her eyes wandered to the mirror, seeing her reflection. She hadn't seen herself as a pony in a while… and it was an adjustment. She reached up a hoof to touch her cheek. She also noticed the colors to her wavy mane and tail were bright once again.
"... How awkward." Discord muttered, flapping his mismatched wings and hovering above Sunset, casually pushing Rainbow to the side, earning him a glare from the cyan pegasus. Discord grabbed Sunset by the waist and spun her around, dragging her out onto the floor. "You really don't need be so shy. We have Fluttershy for that."
"Uh... Twilight, who's this?" Sunset said as she was dragged past her, confusion in her voice.
"That's Discord." The alicorn stated.
"Discord?! He's come back from stone..?" Sunset bit her lip, panic rising within her.
"Don't worry, my little pony. I'm back but I'm back reformed. Just like you." Discord grinned, before snapping his fingers, making the lettering on a cake magically change from 'Welcome home, Sunset' to 'Former-Baddie Buddies', featuring a frosting drawing of Discord hugging Sunset, his beard blocking out her face. "You like?"
"Discord!" Fluttershy protested. "No chaos, remember?"
"Right-right-right. Apologies." He let go of Sunset, bowing before her playfully.
"Heh-heh..." Sunset chuckled nervously, taking a couple steps back. She didn't get it... was Discord the one who Twilight talked about in her letter, who she wanted her to meet? "Thanks, Discord... Thank you, everypony. I really appreciate it."
Pinkie Pie coughed, and silence followed. "... It's waaaaayyy too quiet in here. PARTY TIME, PONIES!" Pinkie slammed a record onto the DJ turntable and pressed play, and an upbeat party song began to pulse out the speakers. Pinkie then shut the door and shut off the lights, making the room dark, before switching on her club lights.
Immediately, everyone began to dance or at least bob their heads to the music. Sunset slowly smiled and joined in, swaying back and forth, somewhat clumsily, and tapping a hoof to the beat. This was all pretty overwhelming, sure, but who said overwhelming couldn't be fun?
The only one reluctant to join in was Starlight Glimmer. But did they really expect her to dance? It seemed like a bit of a waste of time.
She watched everypony, all of them dancing in groups. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie were the most extravagant of the dancers in the room, taking up a large portion of the floor with their moves in dance-contest fashion. Rarity, Fluttershy, Discord and Spike were having their own little dance party in another corner. And Twilight and Sunset did whatever their equivalent to dancing was.
But here Starlight was, feeling like the whole ordeal was ridiculous. What happened to her having to befriend Sunset? She couldn't see how she could, with all the loud music and bright lights everywhere.
Or... maybe this was part of her lesson. Was dancing a required thing on the metaphorical checklist to becoming friends with Sunset? Spike had told her once before that even the steps that seem pointless could make a difference. Considering this, Starlight decided she'd give it a shot.
She trotted over to Twilight and Sunset, calling for them. "Twilight! Sunset! Can I dance with you?"
"Huh? What?" Twilight shouted, still dancing. "Did you say something, Starlight?!"
"I said, can I dance with you guys?!" Starlight shouted louder.
Sunset's ear twitched, and she turned, facing Starlight. This was the first time she'd really noticed her. "Oh hi!"
"What?! What did you say..?" Starlight shouted, the club lights dancing across her face, revealing a frustrated look.
"WHAT?!" Twilight yelled, stopping her dancing.
"I said... ugh! Nevermind!" Starlight turned, walking back to her wall, her ears pinned against her head.
Sunset blinked. "Twilight, is she okay?"
"WHAT?!"
Sunset groaned, using her magic to create a soundproof bubble, surprisingly without much struggle. "There." The thumping of music could still be heard, but it was now muffled. "I said, is she okay?"
"Starlight? I think she's okay. She was just probably frustrated we couldn't hear her. She's not exactly used to Pinkie's parties yet."
"Oh. Who is she, anyway?"
"She's my new pupil!" Twilight said proudly with a small smile. "She's the pony I wanted you to meet."
Pupil? Sunset felt something she hadn't felt since Twilight became the lead singer of The Rainbooms... a pang of jealousy. "She's your student? Wow..."
"Mmm-hm! You know, you should go talk to her. It looks like she could use a friend."
"I don't know..."
"Trust me!" Twilight pushed Sunset forward with her wing, pushing her outside the bubble. "You might find out you have more in common than you'd think!"
Sunset looked over her shoulder, about to scream 'WHAT' again, since she didn't hear that last part, but she decided against it.
The unicorn started to walk across the dance floor, but was violently bumped into by Rainbow Dash. "Sorry!" Sunset apologized hastily, squeezing past. Then Pinkie literally began bouncing off the walls, and bounced off the floor uncomfortably close to Sunset, making her freeze in her tracks. "S-Sorry!" She tried to speed up her pace to a trot, but tripped over Discord's tail, and fell over. "Gah! Sorry..." She groaned, rubbing her head.
Sunset looked up, seeing a hoof extending towards her. Sunset looked up, her eyes making out the hoof's owner to be Starlight. Sunset blinked, hesitating before taking Starlight's hoof, letting her help her up.
Starlight mouthed to Sunset, "Want to get out of here?"
Sunset thought about this for a second, and nodded, following the lilac mare out the door, happy to leave all the noise and chaos behind.