Let's Dance!
Prologue: We Shall Have a Dance!
“So, everypony, anything new happening that you'd like to share?” The Princess of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle addressed her friends.
The lavender alicorn sat in her throne alongside her five best friends and faithful dragon assistant. The group were all gathered to catch each other up on their lives outside of their little circle and just chat and gossip with each other.
Surprisingly, it was Fluttershy who spoke up first. “I'd like to share something...Um...if that's alright…”
Twilight smiled encouragingly at the shy mare, “Go ahead, Fluttershy.”
Fluttershy perked right up at her friend's prompting. “Thank you, Twilight. I just wanted to tell all of you that a new litter of kittens were born just a few days ago. They are oh so cute!”
“AWW!!!” All the girls chorused together.
“Oooh! Oooh! Me next!! ME NEXT!!” Called the hyper-active ball of joy known to all as Pinkie Pie.
Twilight nodded her head, “Go ahead, Pinkie.”
Pinkie Pie took in a large intake of air then, all in one go, excitedly let it all out in a torrent of words, “Mr. and Mrs. Cake just received a huge order of cakes and cupcakes for Hearts and Hooves Day next week. *GASP* And I get to help make them!!” She finished with a huge grin.
“And speaking of Hearts and Hooves Day --” Rarity started, but was rudely interrupted.
Rainbow Dash scoffed, “Really, Rarity?” The prismatic pegasus rolled her eyes, already having suspicions as to what the white unicorn was going to bring up.
“Oh hush, Rainbow Dash. I was simply going to say that I always look forward to the surge in business I receive around this time of year. You’d be surprised at the number of orders for formal wear I've gotten, not to mention all the orders for more...ahem...intimate apparel.”
This last statement left the other mares in the room speechless, and a couple of them (mainly Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy) were sporting bright red blushes on their faces.
“Okay...well...that was quite the bit of information I didn’t expect to hear.” Twilight stammered out. “However, I am pleased to hear business is going well for you, Rarity.”
Rarity’s eyes lit up and she positively beamed at the praise her friend laid upon her. “Why, thank you, Twilight. Business is indeed going well for me. In fact, it’s going so well, I’m actually ahead of schedule. I was even considering, with some of the extra time I had, creating each of you brand new dresses!” She punctuated the end of her sentence with a light toss of her curly mane.
Twilight Sparkle brought a hoof up to her chest and smiled at her fashion-forward friend. “Oh, Rarity. You don't have to go through all that trouble for us.”
Rarity smiled back and waved a hoof dismissively at the alicorn’s comment. “Oh, nonsense, Twilight Sparkle! I absolutely insist!”
“Well, if you're sure, Rarity.” The princess replied unsurely.
The white unicorn was grinning from ear to ear. However, her personal victory was cut short due to the next question asked; not by any of the mares present, but by the lone dragon in the room.
“Not that you need a reason to make what will no doubt be more brilliant masterpieces, Rarity, but, is there a special occasion going on that I'm not aware of? It would be a shame to let such beautiful dresses go to waste, don't you think?”
Rarity was caught off guard for a couple of reasons; the first one being, Spike was completely silent up until this point and, truth be told, she kind of forgot he was still there. The second one being, Spike brought up an excellent point with the dresses.
“That’s an excellent point, Spike.” Twilight smiled at her draconic assistant then turned her attention to her fashion-minded friend. “I'm with Spike on this. Wouldn't it be a better idea to wait until we've been invited to some big event or the like before getting too ahead of yourself? I don't want you to be overwhelmed.”
“Uh...just one question, Twi. This is Ponyville we’re talkin’ about. What are the chances of there being a big, fancy party the likes of the ones in Canterlot being thrown here?” Rainbow Dash began hovering in front and just above the lavender princess when she posed her question.
Before Twilight could respond to Rainbow’s rhetorical question, Fluttershy surprised everyone in the room by speaking up for the first time in quite a while. “Um...we can...we can have our own...um...party…” Fluttershy hid behind her long, petal pink mane and tried to look as small as possible.
Pinkie Pie let out a gasp of mix happiness and surprise. She had the largest grin anypony in the room had ever seen on the pink mare’s face. “Oh my goodness! A big fancy party for Hearts and Hooves Day!? How amazingly super-duper funtastic would that be?” Pinkie bounced around, excited at the prospect of planning such an event. She then let out another loud gasp. “But, what kind of party will it be? What will we do at said party? Inquiring minds want to know!!” The poofy-maned pony was panting by the time her mini rant was over.
All eyes in the room were on Pinkie, looking on in bewilderment. All except Rarity who already looked to be deep in thought about the current conundrum. All the cacophony of chatter came to an abrupt halt with the next loud outburst; this time coming from a certain violet-maned unicorn.
“I GOT IT!!” Rarity glanced around at all the eyes of her friends that were now on her. “Ahem. What I mean to say is, I know what we are going to do!”
“Well, don't leave us in suspense like this.” Applejack urged her friend on impatiently. “What’s this big idea of yours?”
“Patience, my dear Applejack. I was getting to that.” Rarity chided. “As I was saying, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were onto something with the party idea. But, I figured why not take it a step further than that?”
“What did you have in mind?” asked a very confused princess.
At this, Rarity’s grin grew quite wide. “Why, I'm glad you asked, Twilight Sparkle.” The white unicorn mare climbed down off her throne and began trotting back and forth in front of the others, like a drill Sergeant rallying her troops. (All for dramatic effect, of course) “We are not going to throw just any old party. NO! We are going to throw a spectacular Hearts and Hooves Day celebration the likes of which nopony has ever seen before! In short, we shall have...A DANCE!”
The room was simply buzzing with excited chatter at Rarity’s announcement. “We need to get planning right away if we expect to pull this off.” Twilight spoke as she summoned her list making supplies; a full ream of parchment, and plenty of quills and jars of ink perfect for the task.
“Ohmygosh! This is gonna be so AWESOME!” Even a rough-and-tumble mare like Rainbow Dash could admit this was going to be a lot of fun.
“Indeed.” Rarity nodded in agreement. “I can hardly wait.”
Elsewhere in the castle, a certain mismatched being MAY or MAY NOT have been nearby where the Friendship Council was holding their meeting, and he MAY or MAY NOT have been eavesdropping on their conversations…
It’s not like he wanted to find out what the girls’ plans for the upcoming holiday were...That was a lie. He totally wanted to know what his friends were up to. And from the sound of things, it was going to be quite the shindig.