Luna was awakened by a beam of sunlight that had poked its way through a gap in the curtains to fall across her face. She was relieved to find that, although a bit stiff in her legs, she was free of pain. Looking over to the other bed, she saw that it was already made, and only then did Luna wonder just how much of the morning she had slept away. Getting out of bed, Luna started to stretch, then froze when she saw a mirror on the door. Walking over to it, Luna stared at the strange pony it showed. She knew she was seeing herself in the looking glass, but she still felt compelled to try to fake out her reflection. Starting with opening and closing one eye, she moved on to waving a hoof in front of her face, and then finally resorted to sticking out her tongue and waving her head back and forth. There was no doubt about it, she was the pony in the reflection.
The hardest part to accept, for her to come to grips with, was that there was no horn on her head. She missed her wings too, but she hadn't used them all that often. Most of the time she had been in the royal castle where it was considered rude to fly through the hallways. If she went out with her sister, they usually took a cloud chariot. But her horn? She had used her magic all the time. Just manipulating and carrying small objects was something she had done without thinking constantly. She had brought a telescope and writing materials with her - but without the fine control magic allowed her, she would at best be a clumsy operator, and at the worst be a complete klutz.
"Oh, good! You're up and about! Tell me, do you feel dizzy or have any sort of a headache?"
Luna jumped slightly in surprise. She had been so deep in thought, she hadn't heard Feather Down come up the stairs.
"No, I feel much better, and I'm not dizzy at all. Why do you ask?" Luna inquired as she turned to face the other pony.
"That's what the doctor told me we should be wary of when you woke up. Those are signs that your head might have been hurt. I think the word he used was concussed?" Feather Down shrugged. "Anyway, you should let us know if you start to feel like that, okay?"
Luna nodded. "I most certainly will. I don't think we'll have to worry about that. I'm feeling much better today. Nothing that stretching my legs some won't fix, I'm sure." Luna looked around the room. "By the way, what time is it? Just how long did I sleep?"
Feather Down chuckled. "It's a little past eight right now, so close to fourteen hours? C'mon down when you're ready, we have some breakfast waiting on you. After you've eaten we can make some plans and figure out what to do now that we've got you feeling like a pony again."
Spike the dragon teetered precariously at the top of a ladder, looking at various books. "Kettledrum's Collection of Conjured Costumes? Is this it, Twilight?" he called down to his unicorn friend, who was looking through a different shelf of volumes.
"Sorry Spike, but no. It's Teakettle's Tome of Transformations we're looking for. Pull that one aside anyways, would you? It might give us some insight into magical disguises." Twilight looked around in frustration. The two of them had spent most of the morning searching for the book that Princess Celestia had written about in the letter they had received just after breakfast. "I'm certain I saw that book around here somewhere before. If only the shelves didn't seem to throw every book onto the floor twice a week, we'd have a better chance to keep things organized. Okay, let's take a break for a moment, give our eyes a chance to rest."
"You don't have to tell me twice," Spike said as he climbed down the ladder. He took the book he had just found and put it on top of a small stack in the middle of the room. "That gives us five books to look through to learn about magical disguises, at least. Are you sure that's what Princess Luna is using?"
Twilight shook her head. "At best, it's just an educated guess. It would cause too much of a commotion if she went somewhere without one, I think. And there's no way to easily hide yourself using just a cloth and thread disguise. Magic just makes more sense, at least to me."
"Are we sure she's even here in town, though? It seems like we could be doing a bunch of extra work for no reason at all."
"I know, Spike, I know. It's just that there are so many small things that add up to Princess Luna hiding here in town right now that I can't leave it be. The travel time between here and Canterlot. That strange disturbance we unicorns felt. And shortly after that, a new pony moved into Ponyville, according to Rarity. I'd like to go meet this newcomer, but if it is Luna, I'm afraid she'd figure out that I've figured her out, and that may make her run elsewhere. At least if she is here in Ponyville, we can keep an eye on her from afar and watch out for her while Princess Celestia decides what to do."
"If she is Princess Luna," Spike emphasized. "For all we know, this other pony is just who she says she is, and would probably feel really put off by this kind of attention. What we need is some way to determine if the newcomer is using a disguise."
Twilight nodded. "Okay, let's split up our work then. I'll keep on looking for the book that Princess Celestia mentioned. You start reading through that stack there, and see what you can learn about magical disguises. Find out how they work, and how they can be seen through." With that, the two of them went back to their work.
After breakfast, Luna, Dewdrop and Feather Down went outside and started walking towards the center of town. "When Dewdrop and I bought our place," explained Feather Down to Luna, "we first had to go to the mayor. She keeps a list of all the available properties, and who to talk to about buying or renting them from if you're interested in doing so."
"Sounds pretty straightforward," Luna commented.
"It is," replied Dewdrop. "We're not exactly a large enough place for a realtor to make a full time job of it, and since the Mayor takes care of all of the deeds anyway, it makes it easier all around for her to have that list. Gives her a heads up that she might have some paperwork coming her way."
"So, what you are you looking for?" asked Feather Down.
"Well, nothing too large, obviously. I could make do just fine with a single story place, but I sure would like some sort of an attic, or a way to get on the roof to set up my telescope. Other than that, I really haven't given it too much thought."
Dewdrop and Feather Down shared a look. "Let me get this straight. You moved from one city to another without any sort of concrete plan on what you were looking for in your new house?" Dewdrop asked, disbelief audible in her voice.
Luna hung her head. "I know it sounds rather silly when you put it that way. I just meant that I'm not too fussy about where I live. One place is as good as another, as long as it keeps me dry in the rain and warm in the winter."
"Fair enough," conceded Feather Down. "So, do you have any furniture?"
"I didn't see any when I found her," said Dewdrop, grinning at Luna, "but then I don't think anypony in their right mind would carry it with them when traveling alone. Is it boxed up at a United Pony Service somewhere, or…?"
"No," replied Luna, thinking on her hooves. "I sold it all, with plans to just buy some replacements down here once I had found a place. No shipping costs that way." Luna felt her gut wrench in guilt. She had never wanted to have to lie like this. But she was coming to realize just how many details she had skipped over or hadn't known of until it was too late. Luna was saved from inventing further falsehoods when Dewdrop and Feather Down came to a stop in front of a tall, circular building with rose tinted windows.
"Here's the town hall. It doubles as our meeting place," explained Feather Down. "Unless she's been called away on business of some sort, this is where the Mayor will be." As the door swung open, Luna heard a small bell ring to announce their arrival. Inside, a large room dominated the ground floor with the ceiling way above their heads. Several ponies were slowly walking across the floor of this chamber, with one mare clearly being the pony at the center of the discussion. This beige earth pony with a grey mane wore glasses and a collar that gave her not only a look of importance, but also a matronly aura. Seeing the newcomers, she broke off her conversation with the other ponies and walked over to meet them.
"Hello Dewdrop, Feather Down. Who's this, and how can I help you girls today?" the Mayor asked with a kind smile on her face.
"Hello, Mayor!" Dewdrop replied. "This here is Moonbeam. She's looking to move here to Ponyville!" Luna nodded when the Mayor looked at her for confirmation.
"Then let me say welcome to our town, Moonbeam. I'm sure you'll love it here. So, how can I help you?"
"Well, Mayor, I'm hoping to find someplace that I can rent for right now. I was told that you had a list of places available?" Luna asked a little nervously.
"Of course! You said to rent?" After another nod from Luna, the Mayor continued, "Well then, please wait right here. I'll go get you a copy of the list from my office, Moonbeam. It shouldn't take me more than a minute or two. You and your friends just wait right here."
Luna watched the Mayor walk off in a mild state of shock. Friends? Had she already picked up two friends without even realizing it? She looked over at Dewdrop and Feather Down, who were idly conversing with each other as they waited for the Mayor to return. Luna had thought that they were just being kind to someone in need, doing it as a kind of charity. But looking back over the time she had been with them, she realized that there was a kindness, a warmth that went past anything that a simple good deed required. They had shown her genuine compassion and loving care.
Her train of thought was brought to a halt when the mayor returned with a couple pieces of paper in her mouth. Dewdrop used her magic to float them in the air so they could all look at them. "Thank you, Dewdrop. Now I can talk without mumbling my words," the Mayor chuckled. "First off, here is a map of Ponyville. We started as a little place many years ago, and have slowly grown outward from that over time, so we don't really have any sort of urban planning. I would imagine that a newcomer like you could easily get lost without this, so please take it." The Mayor then pointed to the other piece of paper. "And this is the listing of currently available rentals in Ponyville. If you find one that suits you, please return here with the owner so we can get the contracts signed, okay dear?"
"Thank you very much, Mayor, I will." Luna looked back and forth at the list and the map a couple of times, and then looked at her friends. "I'm sorry, but I can't make heads or tails out of these yet. Would you please help me out for at least a little bit more?"
Feather Down laughed. "What, did you think we were going to leave you at this point? Relax, Moonbeam, we both have the day off from work. We'll get through this list in a flash, just you watch." Turning to Dewdrop, she asked, "What do you think? Any of those places stand out to you?"
Dewdrop was still studying the list. "Actually… yes. This one here," she pointed at an address with a hoof. "I think it could be the one we want, but there's a couple of others on the way and it won't hurt to look at them too."
"Oh?" asked Luna. "What is it about that one?"
"You'll see," Dewdrop replied coyly, a small smile on her face that only made Luna even more curious to know. "But for now, let's stop by this other one first. It isn't too far from here."
During the next couple of hours, the three of them looked at several available houses. While they weren't terrible, they didn't make Luna want to move in either. One of them was a bit bigger than she was comfortable with, and another might have been perfect if it hadn't been surrounded by large trees on all sides. After all the trouble of carrying that telescope, Luna wasn't going to let her use of it be hampered by an obscured view if she could help it. The sun was now high in the sky, and Luna's stomach was telling her that it was hungry. "I don't suppose we could go someplace to get some lunch?" she asked, with a growl from her stomach emphasizing her question.
"Hang in just a couple more minutes, hun," Dewdrop answered. "See those trees just up ahead? We'll introduce you to one of our friends, who just happens to live a couple of houses down from that one place on the list I pointed out."
Luna looked at the trees that Dewdrop had pointed out. Even from a distance, she could tell that they didn't look like the other ones that grew around town. For one thing, they were a bit taller and narrower at the top than the others, and were also a much darker shade of green. "Oh, duh!" said Feather Down in an annoyed voice. "I should have recognized that we were near Pine Needle's place. You should get along with him just fine, Moonbeam. He just moved here a few years ago, so you already have that in common."
"Oh?" asked Luna. "Where from?" They were now close enough that she could see that the trees didn't seem to have leaves, but instead bunches of long green spindles. She hadn't even met the aforementioned pony, but she could already see where his name had come from.
"Stalliongrad," replied Dewdrop. "Try not to make fun of his accent, by the way, he's still a little sensitive about it. Mind you, most of it has gone away, but he still talks a little bit… let's just say different."
Feather Down galloped up on ahead to knock on the door. "Hey! Pine Needle!" she yelled through the door. "Care to treat some lovely mares to a quick lunch while we look for a place to move into?"
The door opened to show a grass green earth pony stallion with a light brown mane. Sticking his head out of the door he looked around. "What is this? Mine friend speaks of lovely mares, but I don't see any around here. Hmm."
Dewdrop and Luna chuckled at Feather Down's miffed look. With an exaggerated huff, Feather Down shot back, "I was referring to us, thank you very much! We've been searching for a place to rent all morning, and now find ourselves about ready to collapse from starvation!"
"What is this? Has your bed finally grown so huge that Dewdrop has to throw you out, before it eats her in her sleep? Oh, no, I see you refer to this pony I have not yet had the honor of meeting!" Stepping all the way out to meet Dewdrop and Luna as they finally arrived at his door, he took an exaggerated bow. "It is a pleasure to meet you. Mine name is Pine Needle."
Luna gave him a smile. "Nice to meet you, Pine Needle, my name is Moonbeam. Dewdrop and Feather Down have been amazing, helping me out so much. You're lucky to have them as friends."
"Ah, you speak the truth, very much so!" Pine Needle turned around, revealing that his cutie mark was a small pine branch, and led the way into his house. "Now, come! I happen to have some apples that I would love to share with the three of you, and we can talk as we eat."
During a quick meal, the girls got Pine Needle caught up on what had happened since Dewdrop had found Luna outside of town. At the end of the retelling, Pine Needle ended up joining them on their search. "I too have the day free of work, with no plans for the rest of the day, I can not think of a better way to spend the time than to help mine friends, both old and new."
Luna was a bit taken aback by Pine Needle's quick labeling of her as a friend. "A friend? But we've just barely met, I mean…"
Pine Needle let loose a loud, hearty laugh. "But how can we not be friends? We share the bond that all transplants have, still trying to figure our way out in a strange new place. Not to mention that you had the great sense to be found by Dewdrop, instead of some other pony." He finished with a wink to show he was partly joking. "Now, where is the next place to look at?"
"Just a couple of houses down, actually," Feather Down said.
"Ah! I think I know the place you speak of. Let us go then!" Pine Needle led the way out, with Feather Down right behind him. Dewdrop was about to follow, when she saw that Luna was standing still in a bit of a daze.
"He sure is something, isn't he?" Dewdrop said as she nudged Luna to help bring her back to Equestria. "Don't let him fool you though. He's quite the softie when he isn't trying to impress somepony."
Luna slowly walked outside. "I… Was he hitting on me?"
Dewdrop laughed. "Oh, goodness no, hun. He's just a bit over the top at times, that's all. And besides, he has a monster crush on 'She Who Must Not Be Named'. Me and Feather Down have tried to hook him up with other mares, but he only has eyes for her."
"She Who Must Not Be Named? Hunh?" For every thing Dewdrop cleared up, it seemed to Luna that she introduced another to replace it.
"Trust me, it's better if you don't know who he turns into a love sick idiot over. The very mention of her name is enough to get him started, and I'd rather avoid that today. So don't worry hun, he won't try asking you out on any dates or the like." Dewdrop looked ahead to the other two of their group. "Now let's go catch up with them before they they get too far ahead of us."
A short gallop later, the group was reunited. Checking the list, Luna saw that the building Pine Needle was walking up to was the correct one. Just from the outside, Luna already liked it much more than their previous stops that day. It was a small two-story house, but the upper floor was only half the size of the bottom story. From where she was standing outside by the front door, the right half of the top story was a deck with a railing around it. Dewdrop was looking at her with a proud smile. "I knew from what you said earlier that this was the kind of thing you were looking for. C'mon, lets go make sure the inside isn't falling apart."
The inside was quite dusty, and the group left hoofprints wherever they walked, but it did have a small smattering of furniture already in place. A table was in the room next to the kitchen, and they found a slightly sagging bed upstairs that made Feather Down turn her nose up in disdain, but Luna didn't think was all that terrible. Adjacent to the small bathroom next to the bedroom, Luna found a door that led out to the deck. While her friends talked about where they should look next, (and she was briefly surprised that she had already placed Pine Needle into that group), Luna stepped outside to admire the view. She could easily see the pine trees from up here, and she had a great, unobstructed view of the sky, save for the small part that was blocked by the bedroom behind her.
"Moonbeam! You about ready to check out the next place?" Feather Down called from inside.
With a smile, Luna turned to face the others. "Actually, no. I want this place."
"You sure about that?" asked Feather Down. "I'll admit this place isn't that bad, besides all the dust. But there are still plenty more places to check out if you want. There's no need to settle for something that isn't completely to your satisfaction."
Luna shook her head. "There's still plenty of time left in the day, so I can get the paperwork done, not to mention cleaning up some of the dust too. It's close to a friend's place, the deck is perfect…" Luna turned around in a circle, taking it all in with a bright smile. "This is it. This is my new home."
"Alright!" cheered Dewdrop. "I knew it! Moonbeam, I'll take you to meet the owner, he's an acquaintance of mine. Feather Down, could you please go and get my cleaning supplies from our place?"
"Oh, and my gem pouch too, please?" Luna asked. "I'll need it to pay the rent."
"You betcha! One Feather Down express run, coming right up!" With that, she took her leave of them and headed downstairs and outside.
Dewdrop turned her attention to the stallion. "Pine Needle, you have any other friends who might be willing to help us out with some house cleaning in a short bit?"
"Hmm." Pine Needle considered the question for a moment. "You know, Haystack's farm isn't too far away, I should have enough time to go find him and ask."
Dewdrop made a sour face. "Him? Well, better than nopony I suppose. Okay then, you go and find him, and me and Moonbeam will head off together. See you back here shortly." With that, they all exited the house and split up to go their separate ways.
Feather Down managed to catch up with them just before they reached the Mayor's place, and gave Luna her gem pouch before dashing off again. Luna marveled at how much the other pony liked to run, and commented as such to Dewdrop. "She's always been a good runner," Dewdrop explained. "I'd say she's one of the faster earth ponies in town. Of course, a pegasus pony could beat her easily in a race since they can fly, but still. I think she gets her energy from all the naps she takes whenever she has the chance. Two speeds for my friend, I always like to say. Fast and stop."
The paperwork and paying the owner took just a short amount of time. Luna was a bit annoyed at how terrible her writing looked, but nobody commented on it, so she figured that she wasn't making too big of a mess of it. 'Just another reminder of how much I used my magic in everyday life in the past.' Luna silently mused as she paid for a month's rent. 'A full month! I guess that's how it is usually done, but I was planning on staying a week at the most. Do I want to stretch it out that long?' Frowning at how complicated things just seemed to keep on getting, she wondered when she might start catching up on the chaos that her life seemed to have descended into.
"Should we stop by your place on the way back to grab my stuff?" Luna asked Dewdrop.
"No, we don't want your stuff taken there until we get that place cleaned out. I can't believe how little the owner did to keep it in shape," replied Dewdrop. "No need for your stuff to get dirty if it doesn't has too."
Luna nodded. "Sounds good to me." After a short distance, she turned her head towards Dewdrop. "Say, I just remembered. You didn't seem too thrilled about this Haystack pony. You could have said no if you thought he wasn't going to be able to help."
Dewdrop sighed. "It isn't that Haystack is a bad pony. Like Pine Needle mentioned, he has a small farm, which is rare for a pegasus…"
"Wait, a pegasus farmer? I though they all worked with the weather, and not that much else?"
"For the most part, they do, but not all of them. Fluttershy works with animals after all, and several pegasi help with the mail. Oh, we'll have to set you up at the post office too, thanks for reminding me. But yeah, Haystack inherited a small patch of land that's dominated by a hill. Not the greatest land to farm at all, from what I hear. But he takes extra special care with the clouds to make sure his crops get just the right amount of water so they don't dry up, or don't ruin the hill with erosion from too much rain."
Luna looked confused. "So, what's your problem with him then?"
"Well, let's just say that, for a pony who spends so much time in the sky, he has his feet planted way too firmly on the ground. I think I've seen him smile once in all the time I've known him." Dewdrop shook her head in a bit of frustration. "It isn't that he's a grouch or the like. He's just very serious."
Luna silently took in that bit of news. To her this Haystack sounded a lot like the Royal Guards at the castle in Canterlot. Soon, they were once again passing Pine Needle's place and his distinctive trees. "So, how comes Pine Needle is the only pony with trees like that?"
"I guess he brought down some seedlings from Stalliongrad with him when he moved here. I'm a bit surprised they've grown so tall so fast, but maybe he has a green hoof? Anyway, ask him for the full story. I'm sure he'll be glad to tell it to you if you're interested."
As they rounded the corner and passed Pine Needle's house, they heard the galloping of hooves from behind them. Turning around, they saw Feather Down running towards them with a loaded set of saddlebags on her back, and a broom being carried in her mouth. Luna did her best to hide her giggling behind a hoof in front of her mouth, and Dewdrop used her magic to relieve Feather Down of the broom.
"Pfah! Thanks Dewdrop, I'm going to need some water at Moonbeam's place to wash the taste of broom out." Feather Down stuck out her tongue to and made a sound of disgust.
Luna's giggling froze as Feather Down's words registered. 'Moonbeam's place.' She had a place of her own now. It wasn't a castle that she had a single (albeit plush) room to herself in, or a bedroom that she was sharing with friends. It was her very own place, all to herself. "I'll be glad to let you drink the first cup of water from my place, Feather Down! Let's go!"
As they arrived at the front door, they heard a voice call down from above. "Greetings!" Looking up, Luna saw a light brown pegasus pony with a black mane and tail glide down from the deck to meet them. On his flank was a cutie mark of a haystack with a pitchfork stuck in it near the bottom on the tail side of it. "You must be Moonbeam?" he asked. When she nodded, he continued, "As I'm sure you've guessed by now, my name is Haystack. Welcome to Ponyville, Moonbeam."
"Thank you, Haystack." Luna replied. "And not just for the greeting, but for being willing to help out a stranger you haven't met before with something like this."
"Nonsense." Haystack said in a tone that didn't leave any room for argument. "Not only is it the Ponyville way, I'm always glad to help out my friends." He gave Dewdrop a look with half closed eyes. "Yes, even you, Dewdrop." Dewdrop answered with a sniff and entered into the house without a word in reply.
Luna blinked at the cold mood between Haystack and Dewdrop, then followed the other ponies inside. "Well, what do you guys want me to do?" Luna asked, hoping to defuse things before they got too tense.
"Well…" Dewdrop started and then trailed off, as she pondered the tasks ahead of them. "Okay, how does this sound. Haystack, we'll start with you using your wings to try to blow out as much dust as we can through the open doors and windows first. That should help make the rest of it that much easier. After that, I'll tackle the kitchen, and Pine Needle will get the rest of the lower floor. Feather Down, you work on the bathroom upstairs, and Moonbeam can work on the bedroom. Haystack, I'd appreciate it if you gave the roof a good look over, see if any of the shingles need replacing, then after that you get the deck clean. Sound good?" When nopony raised any objections, Dewdrop smiled. "Okay then, let's do this!"
Luna hadn't really grasped the amount of dust that had been in the house until Haystack, with a mask over his mouth, went inside and started flapping his wings as hard as he could. From where the rest of them stood on the road out front, the house quickly became hidden from sight as the cloud of dirt slowly expanded and kept on growing. Finally, it faded away, and the flapping sound became replaced with a loud coughing. Luna raced in when she heard the sound to find Haystack hunched over with with his mask on the floor. "I flapped just a bit harder than I should have," he explained after he got his lungs cleared out. "Blew my own mask right off. I'm all right now though, thank you for your concern."
The ponies all went to their assigned tasks. Luna waited until she could hear the sounds of cleaning going on below before heading over to Feather Down. "Hey, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure thing, Moonbeam. What is it?" Feather Down put down the scrub brush she was using on the bathtub.
"Do you know why Dewdrop and Haystack seem to…" Luna paused to gather her thoughts better. "I don't want to say 'hate', but they haven't been all that friendly to each other."
Feather Down sighed. "If you ask me, they're both just being stupid. Neither of them has told me straight up why they act like they do to each other. My best guess would be that they're both used to being the 'mature' one in a group, and they don't like competition for that spot. That, or they just don't know how to handle each other is all. Try not to let it get you down, Moonbeam. They're both good ponies, and I'm sure they'll figure out a way to coexist someday."
"That's kind of sad, I guess." Luna stared at the floor in thought for a second, only to hear Feather Down start giggling. "What? It's not funny at all!"
Feather Down tried to wave aside Luna's protests with a hoof. "Oh, sorry Moonbeam, you misunderstand me. I'm not laughing at them, I'm just thinking how you already want to help them out, even though you've only known us all for just a day or so." She gave Luna a big smile. "You're a good friend, Moonbeam. I'm glad to have gotten to know you!"
Blushing at the compliment, Luna returned to her work by dragging the mattress out to the deck and giving it a few good kicks with her hind legs to shake the dust out. For the next couple of hours the group worked hard on their tasks until they were finally finished. Luna looked around, amazed to see the place sparkle so. Feather Down dashed off to grab Luna's possessions, and Haystack flew off to grab some food for everyone. "I'll make sure we have a proper housewarming feast for you today," he promised before taking off.
As the remaining ponies waited for them to return, Luna went back out onto the deck to look around again. She couldn't help but smile at what had happened today. Even more new friends, a house of her own to stay in… surely, this had to be one of the best days she had had since returning to Canterlot with her sister a month ago.
As the sun set, Twilight Sparkle collapsed on the floor of the library in exhaustion. She still hadn't managed to find that book, but by herself she had only managed to get through about half of all the books that were housed in the multi-story library she lived in.
"Well, Spike, how's that list coming?" she asked her dragon friend.
"I think I'm done, Twilight." Spike held up a clipboard with a couple of sheets filled with writing. "Some of these should be easy to enough to use to check a pony over without them noticing, but some of the others are just a bit too obvious."
"Don't worry about that, Spike. I think I've got that all figured out. We're going to do it Pinkie Pie-style."
Spike gave Twilight a look of confusion. "Pinkie Pie-style? Are we going to dress up as clowns and do the tests like that?"
"No, Spike."
"Then… you want us make her eat so many cupcakes that she can't run away from us?"
"No, Spike, I…"
"Oh! I know, you're going to break into a long song and dance routine, using that as a cover while I, hiding behind a cake, do the tests while disguised as a lamp!"
"No, I… what? No!" Twilight gave Spike a serious look. "Pinkie Pie-style, Spike. We're going to throw a party!