//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: Pre-Party Preparations // Story: 20% Sweeter // by VinylWub67 //------------------------------// The next morning, Twilight woke up early in anticipation to talk to Rainbow Dash. Now that she had been thinking about it, she was extremely worried about her best friend, and was anxious to get to the bottom of the situation. Once she had a small breakfast of apple slices, she left Spike in charge of the library, and instructed him not to finish off the rest of her fresh basket. As she stepped outside, Twilight couldn't help but notice how beautiful the weather was. The light blue sky seemed to have a certain cheery glow to it, and was dotted here and there with a small piece of white fluff. "Rainbow sure has been hard at work this morning," she said out loud to herself. "Well I figured that it should probably be pretty today. You know, for Gummy's Birthday Party," she heard a voice say behind her. As she turned around in shock, she began laughing as she almost bumped noses with Rainbow Dash hovering right behind her. "You really shouldn't sneak up on me like that!" "Oh, come on Twilight. I thought it was funny. You should have seen your face!" Rainbow then proceed to twist her face into a mix of panic and laughter. The end result was not very flattering, but caused Twilight to giggle a bit more. "Actually, Rainbow, I was looking for you. I've been doing a lot of thinking since you came and visited the other night, and I wanted to talk to you a little bit about what's going on," she said matter of factly. "Umm well I can't really talk right now, Twilight. I've got to finish helping Pinkie get ready. We can just talk at the party tonight," and with a quick flourish of her wings, she was gone in the distance towards Ponyville. Twilight giggle once more and started trotting down the small dirt path into Ponyville. She decided that, since talking to Rainbow was obviously out of the question for the time being, she might as go and take care of a few errands. First on the list was finding a good gift for Gummy, so she made her way towards Sugar Cube Corner. Once inside, she gasped at the eclectic design choices that were obviously Pinkie Pie inspired. All of the walls were covered in an untidy rainbow of colors. The walls were so loud that it was a veritable cacophonous assault on her eyes. As she stood there, mesmerized by the unconventional blend of colors and shades, she was snapped out of her trance by the voice of Mrs. Cake greeting her. "How are you doing dear? What can I get you?" she said with a smile. "I'm doing fine, Mrs. Cake. I was actually wondering if you had any idea what I could get Gummy since his party is tonight." "Oh dear, I'm afraid you're going to have to ask Pinkie about that one, but I think she ran off to the Carousel Boutique. Something about helping Rarity with an important project." Twilight let out a smile sigh of exasperation. "Well I guess I better get going then. See you tonight, Mrs. Cake." It was no secret that Rarity had been busy at work trying to prepare for this years Grand Galloping Gala. She had insisted that she make all of her friends new dresses because they just simply could not wear the same thing two years in a row. Naturally, no one wanted Rarity to go through that much trouble for them, but she was the Element of Generosity after all. As Twilight made her way into the Carousel Boutique, she could hear Rarity's voice coming from a back room, accompanied by an extremely bubbly giggle that could only belong to Pinkie Pie. She couldn't quite make out what they were talking about, but decided against eavesdropping and announced her presence by rapping hard on the door. "Oh hold on one second and let me see who that is. Oh, Twilight! So good to see you, darling. What brings you to my boutique?" Rarity greeted her friend with a smile as she opened the heavy wooden door leading into her very crowded Inspiration Room. It looked like a tornado had come through and littered every open surface with some type of fabric or fashion designing utensil. But Twilight decided that Rarity simply enjoyed working in this kind of "organized" chaos. "I was actually looking for Pinkie Pie. I wanted to ask her what I should get Gummy for his birthday tonight." "Oh tonight isn't his birthday, silly. I thought I told you that tonight is the PRE-birthday birthday party. Gummy's birthday isn't actually for another week. I just needed an excuse to throw a party because let's be honest with ourselves it's been far too long since we had a good party," Pinkie piqued up at Twilight's question. Twilight groaned at Pinkie Pie. "We JUST had a party like a week ago Pinkie. You even had DJ PON-3 there! Remember?" "Oh I know Twilight. It's been a whole week since the last party in Ponyville. I can't believe I've let it go that long!" Twilight decided it would be best to not try and understand the pink earth pony in front of her, and simply accepted it as her just being Pinkie. "Well, since Gummy doesn't need a present, and I've got nowhere to be, how about you let me in on these designs you have for the Gala, Rarity." ------- The party tonight. We can just talk at the party tonight. Rainbow Dash was sitting on a cloud just above the market square in Ponyville. Every now and then, she liked to rest up there and watch the other ponies as they went about their daily shopping, happy to be able to rest whenever she wanted to. She had taken extra care today to make the weather just perfect for Gummy's party, per Pinkie's request. The few clouds that were in the sky hung there as a reprieve against the somewhat harsh summer sun. "Oh who am I kidding. We aren't going to be able to talk at the party tonight. Knowing Pinkie, there's going to be super loud music. And knowing Twilight, she's just going to want to dance." A sudden, exciting thought crept into Rainbow Dash's mind. "I get to dance with Twilight tonight!" While it was true that they had danced at Pinkie's party earlier that week, that dance was simply between friends. There were no latent romantic feelings. But then again, Twilight was not aware of Rainbow's feelings yet. This could be a big night for her if she played her cards right.