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It's in a book

Twilight Sparkle was idly milling about her castle, making sure that things were ready for Moon Dancer’s arrival. She felt slightly giddy at the thought hanging with her old friend once more, but this time it was to be here in her castle. Plus, Moondancer would have a chance to meet Starlight, what a conversation starter that was sure to be. Twilight was most confident they would get along well. Of course, Rainbow Dash had joked about it being the egghead convention when she had mentioned the get together (which did get a slight chuckle out of Twilight).

“Spike, are the cookies done yet?” Twilight asked, peeking into the kitchen, and seeing Spike pull the tray out of the oven while wearing that pink apron of his. The sweet smell of chocolate chip wafted in the air as the tray was set upon the counter.

“Yeah just pulled out the second sheet. Anything else that needs to be done, Twilight?” Spike asked, adjusting the apron.

Twilight tapped her chin, checking her mental checklist. “No, I think that’s everything. Oh, I just can’t wait. This is going to be so much fun!”

“This isn’t going to turn out like your first sleepover, is it?” Spike teased, watching Twilight’s wings flutter.

“That was just one time!” Twilight blushed, making her way into the lobby. “You weren’t even there, so stop joking about it.” The princess had just reached the stairs when the front door opened and Moondancer walked in, a saddle bag strung over her shoulders.

Moondancer adjusted the brim of her glasses, her jaw nearly dropping at the interior alone. The walk up t been just as awe inspiring, despite the fact that the castle could be seen all the way from the train station. “Wow, this is where you’ve been living since that old library blew up?!” She exclaimed.

Twilight came down the stairs and gave her friend a hug. “Hey Moondancer, so glad you made it!” She greeted warmly. “I’ve got everything ready for your visit, your favorite foods and everything.”

Spike chuckled. “Youll have to excuse Twilight, she’s really excited.” He teased.

Moondancer looked at Twilight’s beaming smile. “Yeah, I can tell. So Twilight, this is someplace you have here. Definitely fits the whole princess thing, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah it is pretty big, and can get a little lonely sometimes,” Twilight replied, before she added. “But on the plus side, there’s lots of room for books. Come on I’ll show you where you can put down your bag.” Twilight happily lead Moondancer down the long hallway, glancing around. She was eager to introduce Moondancer to Starlight Glimmer. “Hm, where did Starlight get off to?” Twilight thought to herself.

-----

Meanwhile, Starlight Glimmer was nervously walking down the stairs, breathing in and out. “Take it easy, Starlight,” She said to herself. “Remember what Twilight taught you. When meeting new friends be polite and keep the mood light.” She was halfway down when she heard Twilight and Moondancer talking, and gulped. She started to quiver as she thought, “What if Moondancer knows about my past? She is one of Twilight’s old friends, but does that mean Twilight’s told her everything about me?” She took another deep breath and calmed herself, then continued onwards towards the two mares, both of whom were talking and laughing. Starlight stood there for a few minutes, unsure of what to do, until she just nervously shouted, “Hello, I’m Starlight Glimmer!”

Both Moondancer and Twilight turned as Twilight smiled and greeted, “Oh hey, Starlight, this is Moondancer, one of my old friends from Canterlot. I’m sure you two will love talking about magic, Moondancer is quite book smart after all.”

Moondancer turned and eyed Starlight with a sullen gaze. Starlight gulped, as Moondancer looked her up and down, then simply replied. “Glad to meet you, Starlight.”

Moondancer held out a hoof, as Starlight took it and shook it slightly, before retracting it as she asked, “So, Moondancer..what...um do you like to do?” She put on the best grin she could manage.

Moondancer shrugged, glancing up at one of the tapestries. “Oh just read and study mostly.” She responded.

Starlight immediately replied by asking. ”Great! So, are you as powerful as Twilight is in magic?”

Moondancer shook her head, as she tapped her horn and explained, “Never really had the ability to use magic like Twilight does. I’m more theory than practice, though I do know some powerful spells. But I would debate who knows more about the subject.”

Twilight nudged her, “Oh I bet you’ve read more books than I ever did. Even back when we were fillies you seemed to be ahead of me when it came to reading.”

Moondancer gave a smug grin and joked, “Ah at last you’ve learned to accept defeat.”

Starlight blushed as she watched the two friends getting along so well, unsure of what to respond with. How much had Twilight told Moondancer about her? “I’ve read plenty of books too.” Was all she could force herself to say to break the uncomfortable isolation she felt.

Moondancer gazed up, seeming interested, “Really? What’s your favorite book?” She inquired.

Starlight looked around, unsure of what to say. “Oh, what should I tell her? I don’t want to look stupid.” She thought, and almost immediately she blurted out. “Um...I would say... ‘Arcane Spells’ by Starswirl The Bearded.”

Twilight smiled. Wanting to help Starlight along she spoke up and said. “Oh yeah, did you know Starswirl could combine spells? Isn’t that fascinating? In fact, he was one of the first to invent a stable matrix.”

Starlight gasped, “Really, he could do that?!” Both mares turned to Starlight as Moondancer eyed her, “Yeah. I thought you said ‘Arcane Spells’ was your favorite book?”

Starlight laughed nervously, “Oh yeah, right...um...just testing you.” She sheepishly answered.

Luckily Spike came in and broke the tension with a smile, “If any of you are hungry, cookies and tea are ready.”

Starlight left out a sigh of relief at the momentary distraction, following the group as they moved to the kitchen and sat down.

Moondancer adjusted her glasses before taking a nibble, staring at Starlight who awkwardly grinned. “Mmm, not bad,” She commented between bites, and then said to Starlight. “So, Twilight told me you could self-levitate, that’s pretty neat!”

Starlight took a few nervous bites from her cookie as she replied, “Oh..it’s..nothing. I learned it awhile back because I had..friends in Cloudsdale that I wanted to visit. But after a while we kind of stopped hanging out. So um...what else did Twilight tell you about me?”

Moondancer just drank her tea as she continued, “Nothing much, just that you're her student and you’re talented in magic.”

Twilight winked at Starlight. who sighed in relief again, “Oh thank Celestia she hasn’t told Moondancer about my past.” She thought.

Just then, Spike came in with a plate of gems and a cup of steaming cocoa for his snack, as he joined the group at the table. “Oh, you should see Starlight roll a dice,” He commented. “She’s pretty good at it.”

Twilight laughed a little, ruffling Spike’s head. “I don’t think Moondancer’s much into role playing or playing board games, Spike.”

But Moondancer perked up, “Did you say roleplay?! I’ve read every rule book and Quest book there is! I’ve just never had the chance to play with another pony! The girls always like hooves on activities like sports or parties.”

Spike smiled, ”Really?! Well, yours truly is a fan of Ogres & Oubliettes, if you want to peek.”

Moondancer shouted, “Of course I would! I had no idea other ponies enjoyed it!”

Spike exclaimed, “I do! I play it a lot, mostly with just Big Mac or Shining Armor, but they’re usually busy. Discord tried to play with us one time, but his method of playing wasn’t exactly what I would’ve liked.”

Starlight giggled, “I heard about that, didn’t he make you and Big Mac go into the game literally?”

Spike grumbled, “Yeah, though he also made the pain real. Took a lot of convincing for him to drop that on the second playthrough. He hasn’t come back since.”

Moondancer perked up, reached into her saddlebag, and pulled out a giant, hard cover book. The contents looked detailed, maybe 300 pages or more of words! “This book is a simple role playing game that requires no dice, just memorization,” She explained. “I play it by myself mostly. But I thought maybe I could play with you girls, if you're interested?”

Spike gazed at the book with a glow in his eye and smirked, “I'm ready for anything, bring it on!”

Twilight replied, “Alright, Moondancer. I’ll play and see how it goes. Shining Armor taught me about Ogres & Oubliettes, but I’m eager to learn a new game.”

Starlight gave a shrug, “I think it’s worth a try. I haven’t played a fantasy game, and it does look like fun.” In her mind she was thinking. “That will do the trick, a game with new friends. Just relax, Starlight you only make a good first impression once.”

“Cool,” Moon Dancer beamed and floated the book in her magic as they headed down the hall to one of Twilight’s reading rooms. The soft red couch and carpet made for a much more comfortable place to sit for long periods. The light yellowish-gray coated mare set the book down and took her seat at one of the tables The others soon sat around it as well and got comfortable.

“Oh, I forgot my hot chocolate! Be right back!” Spike commented as he turned back to the door and rushed off.

“Don’t worry, Spike, we won’t start without you. We’ll just take a look at the instructions.” Twilight commented, as she pulled the top open.

Moondancer leaned closer. “It’s rather simple, quite open-ended.” She explained, the others look at the pages, as Twilight flipped to find the right page to begin.

Moondancer cleared her throat and began to narrate, “The adventure begins in a far away land, where The Great and Powerful Lord of the Foals reigned.”

Starlight giggled, “Lord of the Foals?”

Twilight smirked as Moondancer continued, seemingly unaware of what she’d just said. “He ruled over Padded Land, a dimension where everything was padded and soft, so no creature could be hurt. In this land, there were the elements of cuteness that kept everything happy and adorable.”

Twilight eyed the book and asked, “Moondancer I don’t mean to be rude, but is this the right game? So far it sounds like something made for foals, un potty-trained ones at that.”

But Moondancer continued reading, completely engrossed in the book. “Suddenly though some meanie toddlers got jealous of the foals, stole the elements, and took them back to their lands. So the Land of the Foals began to lose its magic. Now ,I call upon you three to come save our world!” As Moondancer finished, she blinked and asked, “What just happened?” Then a stunning yellow magic held the group in place, even as they tried to struggle!

“Twilight, make it stop!” Starlight squirmed.

Moondancer did the same, trying to break free, as the book glowed brighter! Before the group could react, there was a bright flash, stunning the group for several seconds! “Gah, my eyes!” Moon Dancer whined her voice sounded higher for some reason. As her vision steadily cleared, she looked across the book at Starlight and rubbed her eyes. The others looked just as shocked. “S-Starlight! Twilight! Wh-what goin on?” She asked. Then they all heard loud crinkles, signaling what was to come.

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Foal Star

Foal Star #1 · Apr 19th, 2017 · 3 · ·

Loved it! I cant wait to see what else happens. Ecspecially considering that this is Moondancer and Starlight Glimmer's first encounter with each other.