Even down the street from Sugarcube Corner, Twilight could hear the festivities going on. Excited chatter from everypony in the building talking at once and music blaring loudly made it difficult to miss. Wincing, she pushed the door open quietly and snuck in.
Nopony noticed her come in, and it made Twilight pleasantly surprised to see nopony bowing to her. It was a welcome change, and reminded Twilight of the previous years, the years where she had just been Twilight.
She took a slow glance around the room and found that she recognized almost everypony. Sparkler and Sea Swirl were dancing in the middle of the floor with Golden Harvest and Bon Bon, Noteworthy and Thunderlane were eyeing up some mares quietly at the counter, Minuette and Time Turner were quietly conversing in the corner, keeping their voice to whispers and even Pound and Pumpkin were running around the room, playing tag with some of the younger foals.
“Excuse me, Berry?” She said, coming up behind Berry Punch, who was, unsurprisingly, at the punch bowl. Berry turned at the mention of her name with her cup to her lips, and dropped said cup when she saw who it was.
“Oh sweet Celestia!” She gasped, dropping to her knees. “Your Serene Highness, I’m so sorry! I-I didn’t realize-“
“Berry, stop that!” Twilight chided, looking around quickly to see if anypony had seen her, which luckily, they hadn’t. “I don’t want to make a fuss! You can stand up!” Berry looked up at her.
“A-Are you sure? I don’t want to seem disrespectful…” She started, but Twilight silenced her with a hoof to her lips.
“Berry, seriously. You’ve known me for years. It’s fine. I just wanted to ask you a question.” Twilight helped Berry Punch to her hooves. The earth pony nodded her head and took a deep breath.
“Right, sorry Princess Twilight. What is it that you need?” She looked to the punch bowl and licked her lips greedily. “Mind if I grab a glass while we talk?”
“Go right ahead,” Twilight replied as Berry eagerly grabbed a new red plastic cup and filled it up. “I was wondering if you knew where Pinkie Pie was. There are so many ponies here that I couldn’t find it even if I tried.”
“Uh… I’m not sure…” Berry muttered into her cup, her voice echoing. She took a long swig and sighed deeply afterwards. “Ah, that really hit the spot. Um, have you tried the kitchen? She might be grabbing more pastries for everypony. We’re going through them like there’s no tomorrow!” Berry laughed after taking another sip. Twilight looked to the kitchen and nodded.
“Alright, thanks Berry. I’ll try looking in there next. You’re probably right.” She turned to leave. “And uh, try not to tell anypony I was here, alright? I don’t want to stop the party just because of me.”
“Alright Princess Twilight!” Berry said, draining the rest of her cup and pouring in more. “My lips are sealed.”
Without another word, Twilight set off towards the kitchen, keeping her head low and her wings pressed firmly to her back, hoping to not be seen. Luckily for her, everypony seemed too caught up in their festivities to even notice her sneaking through the crowd. She shoved open the swinging wooden doors that separated the kitchen from the main lobby and trotted in.
“Pinkie? You in here?” She called out; keeping her voice level to ensure nopony outside could hear her. Sure enough, she saw the hyperactive pink earth pony standing at the far counter, back turned away from the door. She perked up at Twilight’s voice and turned around slowly. Twilight recoiled slightly at her wide eyes and rapidly growing smile. Bracing herself for impact, Twilight stood up tall and firm.
“Twiiiiiiiiilight!” Pinkie screeched loudly as she seemed to fly across the room and tackle Twilight to the ground. Twilight found herself in an overly tight, unescapably hug. “Oh my gosh, I’ve missed you so much and I can’t believe you’re here cause Spike told me that you were away at Canterlot on official Princess business and I missed you so much and I’m so happy that you’re back and I missed you so much and I threw a party to see everypony and I was so sad that you wouldn’t be here because you know, you were away and I just missed you so much and-“
“Pinkie!” Twilight laughed, taking a gasp of air. “I can’t breathe!”
“Whoops! Sorry Twilight!” Pinkie released the Princess and stepped back, allowing her room to stand and get her breath back. Twilight stood up and returned Pinkie’s happy grin.
“Thanks, Pinkie. It’s great to see you! I missed you too!” Twilight gave Pinkie a quick squeeze. “How was your trip?”
“Oh my gosh, my trip was great! It was great seeing Marble and Limestone again, and mom and dad were so happy to see me, and I threw them a big ‘hey everypony I’m finally home for a week so let’s put aside the rocks for a while and dance our hearts out’ party! It was so fun!” Pinkie grinned brightly. “What about you, how was Canterlot?”
“Unfortunately, it wasn’t a trip just for pleasure. I can’t discuss the details, but there were issues involving the griffons, which were luckily sorted out just in time for me to arrive back here today. When did you get back?” Twilight responded.
“Just last night! But I got here really late so I didn’t have time to see anypony! So I decided to throw a really big party today!” Pinkie exclaimed as she leapt up into the air, throwing her hooves up dramatically. Twilight looked back to the doors.
“I didn’t see any of our friends here. Where are they all?” She asked as Pinkie landed back on the ground. Pinkie put a hoof to her chin and thought for a moment.
“Oh, Dashie’s here!” She said. “But Rarity said that she had some big commission to work on, and Applejack told me that apple bucking season would be coming up soon and she had to help prepare for it!” Twilight’s face fell into a slight frown despite her best efforts to hide it. Pinkie noticed.
“Pinkie, did anypony tell you what was going on today?” She asked sadly as her mind drifted back to her empty library. Pinkie’s eyes went wide and she shook her head.
“No! Why, is something the matter Twilight?” Pinkie yelped, concerned. The pink earth pony leaned in and put her hooves onto Twilight’s shoulders as she shook her lightly. “Did something happen? Why do you look so upset? Was it something I said?! What’s wrong?!”
“I would have thought that our friends would have told you about it…” Twilight mumbled, her frown growing slightly deeper. I know that they helped me out a lot, but they couldn’t have told Pinkie that I was hosting something today?
“Oh, please don’t be mad at them if they did anything wrong, Twilight! Rarity and Applejack looked so busy that they barely had time to stop and listen to me, and the Cakes mentioned something about having to finish a giant order last night so they didn’t have time to talk either!” Pinkie exclaimed, taking her hooves off of Twilight. “What’s going on? Did I do something wrong?”
“No, you didn’t do anything wrong Pinkie,” Twilight sighed. “I was hosting a book fair today at the library in order to get more patrons and to get more ponies interested in reading. That big order that the Cakes were finishing last night was probably my order, and Applejack and Rarity were probably way behind their own schedules because I asked for their help earlier in the week.” Pinkie gasped and looked behind Twilight at her own bustling party.
“So… by me throwing a party today, nopony came to your book fair!” She moaned. “Oh no Twilight! I’m so sorry! I had no clue!” Twilight gave Pinkie a shrug and a smile.
“It’s fine, Pinkie. It probably wouldn’t have gone that great anyways. I couldn’t even get Rainbow Dash to come, and at least she reads sometimes. It probably would have failed anyways.” Twilight mumbled, turning to leave. “I guess I should head back to the library and tell Spike to wrap up the food again.” Just as she was about to reach the door, Twilight felt a firm hoof stop her.
“No way, Twilight! You and the rest of the girls put so much effort into this! You can’t just give up now! Just hold on and I’ll call in Rainbow Dash. Maybe all three of us can work out how to make this work!” Pinkie declared, and shoved Twilight back to the middle of the room. Without letting the alicorn speak, Pinkie skipped out and Twilight heard her holler Rainbow Dash’s name.
In a few brief moments, the rainbow pegasus was dragged into the room along with Pinkie Pie.
“So, what did you need Pinks?” She asked, and then looked ahead and seemed to finally notice Twilight. “Oh, hey Twi! Sorry, didn’t notice you there for a sec!”
“Dashie, did you know that Twilight had a book fair going on today?” Pinkie asked firmly, raising her eyebrows. Rainbow Dash’s face blanched for a second, and she turned to Twilight quickly.
“Oh my gosh, I totally forgot! I’m so sorry Twilight!” She gasped. “Pinkie, I would have told you if I had remembered!” Twilight sighed and gave Rainbow a smile, pulling her in for a hug.
“It’s alright, Dash. I know you wouldn’t keep that kind of thing from Pinkie for no reason. It’s fine.” Twilight chuckled. Pinkie’s face lightened and she joined in on the hug. After a few seconds, they released.
“Twilight, we need to find a way to move this party to your library and get the ponies interested in reading!” Pinkie declared, stamping a hoof on the ground. Twilight shook her head.
“No, no Pinkie, it’s totally fine. You obviously put a lot of work into decorating Sugarcube Corner and I don’t want you to have to give up your party-” Twilight started, but Pinkie cut her off.
“I didn’t put a lot of work into this, silly! I just fired up the party cannon and sent out invitations! I can throw another party next weekend, Twilight. Right now, this is about you. Now let’s think.” Pinkie said, deciding for the other three. Rainbow shrugged, and Twilight sighed, defeated. When Pinkie put her mind to something, you couldn’t change it.
“Well, I know that I would only come if something really cool was going to be there.” Rainbow declared. Twilight and Pinkie both looked at her.
“What do you mean?” Twilight asked. Rainbow rolled her eyes.
“Well, books are fun and all, but like I said earlier, I could just go to the library anytime I wanted to and take some out. If there was something really awesome that was going to be there – that isn’t usually there, mind you – then I would want to head over and check it out.” Dash finished, shrugging. “It’s just what I would do, though. I dunno if that helps at all.”
“Rainbow Dash,” Twilight whispered with wide eyes, drawing the attention of her two companions, “That’s it! I know how to get ponies to come to my book fair!”
“Really? How? Can we help?!” Pinkie bounced up and down on the spot. Twilight made for the door and pushed it open, turning around as she did so.
“Pinkie Pie, I need you to get all these ponies to the library! Tell them that there is going to be a surprise guest there that they won’t want to miss!” Twilight said. Pinkie saluted and nodded once.
“Got it, Twilight. But uh… who is the surprise guest?” She asked, confused. Twilight giggled.
“That’s a surprise. You’ll see in a little bit. Rainbow Dash,” She turned to the pegasus. “I need you to fly over to the library and tell Spike to set up a ‘shelf 16-42 section’ table, and then fly back here and help Pinkie if she needs it.” Rainbow Dash nodded slowly.
“Okay, but what in the hay is a ‘shelf 16-42 section’ table?” She asked, scratching the back of her head. Twilight gave her a wink.
“Spike will know. Now, I’m off! I should be back in about thirty minutes, if all goes according to plan!” Twilight said, running into the crowd. Pinkie and Rainbow exchanged looks before running after her.
“Wait, Twilight! Where are you going?!” Pinkie yelled after her. They only vaguely heard her response amidst the chatter and music of the party.
“Canterlot!”
~~~~~~~~~~
After Rainbow Dash had returned from the library – with Spike somehow understanding Twilight’s strange request – she and Pinkie stood in the kitchen, wondering how to get everypony to want to head on over to the book fair.
“Do you have any ideas? Twilight said she would be back in thirty minutes when she left, which means we only have about twenty minutes left to get everypony over there.” Rainbow sighed, fidgeting in her spot. Pinkie’s eyes narrowed into lines and her mouth formed a grim smile.
“Twilight’s counting on us, Dashie! And that means we can’t fail! Now, how did we impress Miss Peachbottom when we were in the Crystal Kingdom Empire?” Pinkie’s voice was low. Rainbow blinked twice, confused.
“Uh, we sang a song?” She guessed, and Pinkie nodded.
“Exactly, we sang a song! So let’s get out there and sing a song and get those ponies over to the library! Now, here’s what we’re gonna do…” Pinkie pulled Rainbow in and the two started whispering and forming a plan together.
Outside the kitchen, in the main lobby, ponies were starting to question where their host had disappeared to.
~~~~~~~~~~
“Hey everypony! Listen up!” Rainbow Dash called into the crowd. A few moments passed and nopony seemed to hear her.
“Hey! Everypony!” She yelled a little louder. Once more, nopony listened. Grumbling, she turned to Pinkie Pie. “You wanna help out?”
“HEY, HEY, EVERYPONY! WE GOT SOMETHING TO SAY!” Pinkie screeched while turning off the music. That got everyone’s attention. All conversation stopped, all dancing stopped, all running around stopped. Even the Cake twins and the others foals paused to listen.
“Dashie and me have an announcement to make! This party is officially over!”
“Awwwww!” A collective groan resounded in the room, but Pinkie put up a hoof and expertly silenced the crowd once more.
“But just because it’s over, doesn’t mean that it has to end!” She declared, thrusting a hoof into the air. At the sound of everypony in the room saying ‘huh?’ she turned to the pegasus. “Ready, Dashie?”
“Ready!” Rainbow Dash yelled, flying up into the air. She hit the light switch on the wall as she went up and plunged the room into darkness, and then went so close to the ceiling that her wings were nearly brushing it. Luckily for her, no other pegasi were flying at the time. Dash started pumping her wings and began making rounds around the perimeter of the room, leaving a rainbow contrail after her, which lit up the darkened room. The room filled with oohs and ahhs, which only fueled Rainbow Dash’s energy and made her go faster. Pinkie cleared her throat and started her cheer.
“Two, four, six, eight, name a book that’s really great!
One, two, three, four, that keeps you coming back for more!
Two, seven, nine, three, a place where we get books for free!
Four, three, two, one, the Golden Oaks Library,
It’s so much fun!”
Pinkie finished her chant while Rainbow Dash landed on the floor and panted lightly. The entire room erupted into applause and cheers.
“Let’s go, everypony! We’re heading on over to the Golden Oaks Library for a book fair! And I hear that there’s gonna be a speeeecial guest there waiting for us!” Pinkie teased, swinging the front door to Sugarcube Corner open. The rest of the crowd hesitated for a split second.
“Who’s the special guest?” Sparkler yelled out. Pinkie winked.
“If I told you, then it wouldn’t be a surprise, now would it? But believe me when I say that you won’t wanna miss it!” And that was all the enticing that the crowd needed. Murmurs of approval started rippling through the room, and the crowd began to shift towards the door to follow Pinkie and Rainbow, who were exchanging grins.
“Let’s go, everypony! Follow us! To the Golden Oaks Library Book Fair!”
~~~~~~~~~~
Spike stared in awe at all the townsponies pouring in through the door, led by Pinkie and Rainbow Dash. He had set up the table that Twilight had told him to and had laid out all of the books that the library had in stock, but it still seemed like it wouldn’t have been enough if everypony took out one.
Pinkie and Rainbow trotted over to him once everypony was inside and browsing through the selection. Pinkie had graciously brought over her record player from Sugarcube Corner and a light jazz now filled the room, low enough for ponies to still have conversations, but loud enough to fill the silences.
“So, are you gonna tell us why Twi went to Canterlot now?” Dash asked, raising an eyebrow at the baby dragon. Spike cocked his head to the side and crossed his arms.
“Really? You don’t know why? She’s picking somepony up!” He said plainly, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Dash’s brow furrowed.
“Okay, who’s she getting then?”
“Come on Dash, surely you of all ponies should know!” Spike laughed, punching her lightly in the foreleg. “She’s grabbing-“
At that moment, the door burst open, and a heavily panting Princess Twilight came bursting in. Everypony dropped down in reverence, but Twilight ignored them and trotted over to Spike.
“Spike, you set up the table, right? And you made sure that there are plenty of pens and ink wells, yes?” Twilight asked, taking a deep breath. Spike patted her on the back a few times.
“Yes Twi, don’t worry. I even made the sign, but I haven’t put it out yet.”
“Excellent. Go put it out, and I’ll go grab mom.” Twilight nodded, smiling. Dash raised an eyebrow, but otherwise said nothing while Spike ran off into another room to grab the sign that he had made. “You can come in now, mom!”
“Okay sweetie!” Velvet Sparkle called back, walking into the room slowly. The rest of the ponies in the room waved and smiled at the mother of the Princess, but looked otherwise uninterested. “Where should I sit?”
“Right here. We already have everything sorted out for you, so don’t worry about anything else. Thanks again for coming on such short notice!” Twilight laughed as she pulled out a chair for her mother, which Velvet took gratefully.
“Oh, it was no trouble at all, my dear! I’m always looking for an excuse to come visit my perfect little princess!” Velvet pinched Twilight’s reddening cheeks as Spike came running back in and unfolded the sign he was carrying. All the ponies crowded around the desk to see what was happening. What was written on the sign made them all gasp and squeal in delight.
‘Velvet Sparkle, also known as Silver Quill Scribelight, author of the famous Daring Do series, here for today only!
“Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh Twilight! You never told me that you mom wrote Daring Do!” Rainbow screeched, pushing her way to the front of the crowd. “Miss Scribelight – or, I guess, Mrs. Sparkle – it’s an honor to meet you!”
“We’ve met before, Rainbow Dash!” Velvet giggled, reaching over the table to give Dash a quick hug. “But it’s nice to see you again too. How have you been?”
“Oh sweet Celestia, Silver Quill just hugged me!” Rainbow Dash squealed, hyperventilating. Shaking her head and laughing, Twilight turned away from the spectacle and made her way over to the front desk, where Spike was busy desperately writing down titles and dates in the log book, and accepting bits for purchases.
Twilight beamed at her success. Without the help of her friends, she would have never been able to pull off such a fantastic book fair. The library was filled with ponies and more still were flooding in the door, returning with empty saddlebags, more bits and their friends.
“Come grab me if you need me for anything, Spike. I’ll be back down in a few minutes.” Twilight said to her assistant, who nodded without looking up at her. Giggling, Twilight trotted upstairs and sat down at her writing desk, pulled out a pen and paper, and began writing a letter.
Dear Princess Celestia,
I know you said that I don’t need to write you friendship reports anymore, so instead, I’m writing you today to tell you about my book fair.
To be completely honest, I didn’t think that it would even happen. Between arriving here so late due to being in Canterlot and Pinkie Pie throwing her own party today, I had my doubts that I would be able to pull this off. And truth be told, it wasn’t even me that pulled it off! It was only due to my dearest friends and my number one assistant that I was able to do it.
While in Canterlot, I wasn’t in correspondence with Spike or my friends, so I wasn’t sure how the preparations were going – was everypony doing everything right? Did we have everything that we needed? I had my doubts. But today I learned that no matter what, I can always count on my friends to pull through for me in the end, and I shouldn’t doubt in their abilities.
The library is absolutely packed right now! My mother, Velvet – or as she is more commonly known, Silver Quill Scribelight – got to attend, and the log book is filling up like crazy! Everypony loves the food and music, too. All in all, this day couldn’t have gone any better!
Your Former Faithful Student,
Princess Twilight Sparkle
Trotting downstairs, Twilight rejoined Spike at the counter, where the line seemed to have not gotten any smaller.
“When you get a moment, Spike, I have something for you to send.”
~~~~~~~~~~
Celestia smiled as she rolled up the letter that she had gotten from Twilight. The fire crackled before her in the dining hall, where she and Luna were eating lunch together.
“If you’ll excuse me, Lulu, I’ll be taking my leave now. I have important business to attend to.” Celestia said as she bowed her head slightly to her younger sister, who looked up from her sandwich with a half filled mouth.
“And where might you be off to?” Luna asked after swallowing. Celestia just grinned and looked down first at her letter, and then out the window, in the direction of a familiar little town where a certain Princess lived.
“I have a book fair to attend.”