Starlight Glimmer and Friends: Adventures in Equestria (Season 1)

by StormLuna

Saving the Sun (Part 1)

The Beginning

Another day arrived in Canterlot and like she often does on weekday mornings in the late spring, Starlight Glimmer, Celestia's protege, would study outside. The Summer Sun Celebration was fast approaching so she decided to do some reading on what the origins of the event were. Doing this frustrated her though because so little information is actually in the books about it. She grunted, "I know Celestia had to banish Nightmare Moon to the moon using the Elements of Harmony for trying to force eternal night on the ponies but what exactly are her origins?"

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Moondancer's Party

Soon it was nearing lunchtime so Starlight knew that it was time to get back to her tower to fix some lunch. As she was heading there she ran into four of her friends. Minuette began, "Starlight, we've been looking everywhere for you!"

Starlight replied, "Well I was out on the balcony studying."

Lyra added, "No wonder you weren't in the library."

Twinkleshine continued, "I told you that she always studies outside on days like that."

Lemon Hearts finished, "Girls, never mind that." She cast her gaze towards Starlight and continued, "Moondancer is having a get together in the west castle courtyard, want to come?"

While Starlight and Moondancer were the closest of friends, Starlight had completely forgot that the get together was that day." She banged her hoof up against her forehead and said, "How could I have forgot that was today?" She turned towards her tower and continued, "Look, I have to get up and get Spike and my present for her. Tell her I'll be there in a few minutes."

Before any of them could reply, Starlight took off towards her tower. When she got there she almost flew into the door she had become so frantic. When she got in she began saying, "How could I forget that? How could I forget that my best friend was having her party today?"

Spike was already carrying the present and heading towards the door when he heard Starlight. When he saw her in the nervous state she was in he asked, "Starlight, what's wrong?"

Starlight began to panic, "No time Spike, we have to get to Moondancer's party!"

She levitated him onto her back, grabbed the present in her aura and took flight. If there is one thing that Starlight couldn't stand, it was being tardy and she was tardy. Yes it was just for a party but to her, any kind of tardiness was bad. As she continued to increase her speed, despite having been flying for years, she began to lose control. As she headed down into the courtyard it looked like she was going to crash straight into the cake. Spike yelled, "Look out Starlight!"

In her state of panic Starlight teleported well beyond the table but Spike and the present hit the ground, narrowly missing the table and just missed destroying the cake. As soon as Starlight got up she found herself in Moondancer's tight embrace. "Thank you for coming Starlight!"

Starlight returned the embrace and replied, "You know I wouldn't miss a party that my best friend is throwing!"

Eventually Moondancer broke the rather tight embrace and they began their party. Like it is with most parties, there was cake, punch, ice cream, music and presents. After filling up on the food Moondancer began to open her presents. While she was impressed with most of them, it was Starlight's gift that she loved the most. When she saw the picture of them at the donut shop, feasting on sweets all with smiles on their faces her eyes began to tear up. She gave Starlight an embrace and cried, "Thank you Starlight, I love it!"

Starlight replied, "I'll admit, I was getting frantic over what to give you but I ran across this picture and remembered how happy you were that day so I had the picture blown up and framed it for you."

Moondancer tightened her embrace and continued, "I am happy with everypony's gifts but yours means the most Starlight because I know it came from the heart."

Starlight was beginning to become a little uncomfortable being held so tight but did not wish to make her friend feel bad so she allowed it to continue. Luckily for her, Spike would cough up a message."

*BELCH*

This caused Starlight to immediately break the embrace and read the scroll. What was a cheerful smile turned into a annoyed scowl and this brought out a lot of concern from her friends. Minuette asked, "What's wrong Starlight? Does Celestia want to see you?"

Starlight replied, "She wants to see ALL of us."

Moondancer looked around and sighed, "Well I guess we better get this cleaned up."

Everypony nodded and began to clean up the party. While Moondancer was happy that all of her friends showed up to her first party, she was visibly annoyed that Celestia would send a message and interrupt it. Once the party was cleaned up they headed to the castle to see what Celestia wanted.

Celestia's Request

Celestia was impatiently pacing back and forth when Starlight and her friends arrived. She asked, "What took all of you so long? Normally Starlight would make sure you're here within minutes of getting a scroll." She paused and sighed, "It took you almost an hour to get here!"

Before Starlight could reply Minuette said, "We're sorry but we were having a party."

Lemon Hearts added, "And we couldn't just leave a mess in the courtyard! We had to clean it up."

Celestia smiled and replied, "Thank you for being considerate but now for why I have summoned all of you."

Before she could continue Starlight asked, "What is it your Majesty?"

Celestia giggled, "Starlight, I've been telling you for thirteen years you don't have to call me that!" She became more serious as she continued, "Ok, as all of you know the Summer Sun Celebration is coming up here shortly and I want all of you to help prepare for it."

Starlight asked, "Where is it this year?"

Celestia replied, "It is in Ponyville."

Four of the six frowned while Starlight thought it would be nice to travel to a smaller town and Lemon Hearts was thrilled because she had family there. Celestia saw the disapproval coming from most of them and continued, "Look, it won't be for that long and this has to be done."

Starlight asked, "So what all do you want us to do to get ready for this?"

Celestia replied, "Well I need all of you to make sure the food is ready for this, I want you to make sure that the local pegasi have the skies clear, I want you to make sure the town hall is properly decorated and I want you to make sure that the music will be ready."

Starlight asked, "So who all do we have to talk to to make sure everything is ready."

Celestia replied, "First you need to talk to an earth pony named Applejack about the food...."

Lemon Hearts interrupted, "Applejack, as in Applejack of Sweet Apple Acres?"

Celestia replied, "Yes, that is her."

Lemon Hearts began to jump up and down, "Yes, yes, yes! I'll get to see my cousin!"

Celestia smiled, "Yes and perhaps you can really help her out with this." She paused and continued, "Then I need you to talk to one of the pegasi down there, Rainbow Dash, about the skies. After that I need you to talk to a white unicorn named Rarity who will be handling the decorations in the town hall and finally there will be a yellow pegasus named Fluttershy you need to talk to as she is the one who will handle the music."

It sounded simple enough to the six although a nagging voice in Starlight's head was telling her that this would not be a simple trip of making sure things would go ok. She had a feeling that some sort of disaster would arise that would cause not just her friends, but herself a major inconvenience but did her best to hide these feelings. She asked, "So when do you want us to get going?"

Celestia replied, "Now. The next train to Ponyville leaves in thirty minutes."

Celestia pointed her wing towards the door and they all headed towards the train station. Once they boarded the train they began to talk among themselves about who would handle what. Lemon Hearts immediately said, "I'll take care of checking on the food since Applejack is my cousin."

Starlight replied, "Sounds good. Now who wants to join me in making sure that pegasus is doing her job?"

Moondancer immediately raised her hoof and yelled, "I will!"

Starlight asked, "Ok, who wants to check on the decorations?"

Minuette and Lyra replied, "We will!"

Starlight asked, "Twinkleshine, will you be ok checking on the music?"

Twinkleshine replied, "Yes, I will."

Spike's stomach began to growl and while he would normally accompany Starlight, he decided to see if he could do something else. He asked, "Starlight, if it is ok with her, could I go with Lemon Hearts to check on the food?"

Starlight replied, "If it is ok with her, yes you can."

Lemon Hearts added, "I don't mind at all, maybe if we're lucky my cousin will let us eat something."

Spike immediately hopped over by Lemon Hearts as the train continued its journey to Ponyville. While she was glad that someone wanted to join her on her duty, she knew that he only wanted to because of the prospect of getting fed.

Checking on the Preparations

Making Sure the Sky is Clear

Forty minutes later the train arrived in Ponyville and they all disembarked. Before they parted ways Starlight asked, "Ok, does everypony know what they are supposed to do?"

Lemon Hearts replied, "Yep, check on the food."

Minuette and Lyra added, "Check on the decorations."

Twinkleshine added, "Yes, go and check on the music."

Starlight replied, "Good, now let's get going." Starlight and Moondancer headed off to try and find Rainbow Dash. Starlight looked around and couldn't help but scowl as the sky was full of clouds. She grunted, "Where is that pegasus and why isn't she doing her job?"

Just as soon as she got finished asking that a pegasus came crashing into her. The pegasus asked, "Excuse me?"

Starlight had been knocked into a mud puddle and was obviously not one bit pleased over this and the pegasus could sense her displeasure so she took a cloud and soaked her with water, washing away the mud. The pegasus saw this and immediately began to encircle Starlight to dry her off but Starlight knew that her mane would get ruined if she allowed this so she teleported out of the mini-tornado before it was too late.

The pegasus saw this and said, "Come on, I just wanted to get you dried off."

Before Starlight could say anything Moondancer interrupted, "I think she knows you meant well but I don't think she wants her mane messed up."

Starlight looked more closely at the pegasus and asked, "I take it you are Rainbow Dash?"

Rainbow replied, "Yep that's me! Why, have you heard of me?"

Starlight looked around at all the clouds and said, "Yeah, I've heard you're supposed to be keeping the sky clear." Just as Rainbow was going to reply, Starlight continued, "Look at this sky! It is a complete mess and Princess Celestia needs it clear for the Summer Sun Celebration."

Rainbow laughed, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll do it in a jiffy, just as soon as I'm done practicing."

Starlight asked, "Practicing for what?"

Rainbow replied, "Practicing for the Wonderbolts! They're going to perform at the show tomorrow and I'm going to........"

Starlight interrupted, "That's nice Rainbow but could you just clear the sky? You can go showboating later, just do your job for now, ok?"

Rainbow replied, "But....."

Starlight yelled, "No buts! Do I have to do this myself?"

Starlight took flight and began zapping the clouds with her magic. Rainbow's jaw dropped open when she saw Starlight flying around like that. Rainbow asked Moondancer, "How can she fly? She's a unicorn for pony's sake!"

Moondancer replied, "I don't know how she does it but she's had that ability for as long as I've known her."

Rainbow asked, "And is she always this impatient? Does she always have to take matters into her own hooves to get it done on time?"

Moondancer laughed, "Yes, she does. Now if you don't want her to replace you, I think it would be best if you focus on your job first."

Once the sky was clear Starlight landed and continued, "Now you can go practice for your precious Wonderbolts." Her voice became more intense as she continued, "Don't make a habit of ignoring your job because I can have Celestia replace you easily."

Rainbow grunted and flew off. Moondancer could tell that her friend was irritated and wanted to try and calm her down. She said, "Starlight, I know you want things done in a hurry but there is no need to go doing a pegasus's job for her."

Starlight snapped, "Well it had to be done and she seems to care more about the Wonderbolts than she does her job." Her stomach began to growl as she continued, "Now that we have this taken care of, let's go get something to eat. I don't know about you but I'm hungry."

Checking on the Food

While the other ponies were headed off to take care of their duties, Lemon Hearts and Spike were both headed to Sweet Apple Acres where they would immediately find Applejack apple bucking. While she would normally address a pony first before interacting with them, she rushed to Applejack and hugged her, "Cousin Applejack, it is good to see you!"

At first Applejack was unsure as to who this was because she had only met Lemon Hearts once but then realized who it was she asked, "Cousin Lemon Hearts, is that you?"

Lemon Hearts replied, "Yep, it is!"

Applejack asked, "So what brings you by? You've never come to visit before."

This brought a nervous smile to Lemon Hearts face as she replied, "I'm sorry I don't come to visit more but my friends and I have been sent here by Princess Celestia to check on the food situation for the Summer Sun Celebration."

Applejack sighed, "Well the food situation is coming along fine." Given that the Apple Family reunion was going on she continued, "Why don't y'all come and meet all of our relatives." She then noticed Spike and asked, "And who is this?"

As they headed towards the barn Spike replied, "I'm Spike and I am accompanying Lemon Hearts to check on the food."

Applejack smiled, "Ah'm going to admit, Ah've never even seen a dragon before and Ah've certainly never known of having them accompany ponies for any reason."

Lemon Hearts replied, "Well he is the assistant of a friend of mine, one who is here checking on other preparations but he wanted to come with me because he is hungry."

Applejack smiled and laughed, "Well Spike, we don't have any shortage of food around here."

Soon they reached the barn where there were many, many ponies gathered. She continued, "Lemon Hearts, Ah want to introduce y'all to the Apple Family." She then looked towards everypony and continued, "And Apples, this is Lemon Hearts, she is a cousin of mine so she is likely related to most of us."

After getting to know all the relatives she has never met, Lemon Hearts returned to Applejack and asked, "So, what all do you have food wise?"

Applejack pointed towards a table with food on it and replied, "Lemon Hearts, y'all are family so feel free to dig in on anything you want!"

Lemon Hearts saw that Applejack had prepared a large amount of food for the reunion and immediately began to dig in on the fritters. Applejack noticed Spike eyeballing the food and continued, "And Spike, feel free to dig in as well. Like Ah said earlier, we don't have any shortage of food around here."

After getting her fill of fritters Lemon Hearts commented, "Well it looks like the food situation is handled so Celestia won't have to worry about that."

Applejack asked, "So do y'all have to be someplace else or would you want to stay and mingle some more."

Lemon Hearts replied, "I'd love to stay and mingle! Besides, my other friends are handling other preparations so I don't have anywhere to be until after sundown at least."

Applejack said, "Well alright, Ah do hope that we can stay in better touch from now on."

Lemon Hearts replied, "Don't worry, we will."

Checking on the Decorations

After parting ways with the other ponies, Minuette and Lyra headed to the town hall to check on the preparations. While Lyra seemed rather carefree, Minuette was a bit more concerned as to whether they would meet what she would consider acceptable. Lyra could sense this and asked, "Minuette, you seem so stressed right now. What's wrong?"

Minuette replied, "I'm just hoping that these decorations will be up to Celestia's standards."

Lyra knew that Celestia didn't demand perfection out of decorations for a party, she knew that it was Minuette that demanded perfection. She laughed, "Yeah uh-huh. It is YOUR standards that have to be met, not Celestia's, huh?"

Before she could reply they entered the town hall and immediately Lyra was impressed by the job that had been done. Minuette began to inspect the decor closely, making sure that everything looked perfect. She soon saw the pony who was decorating, a white unicorn. She motioned for Lyra to join her and in unison they said, "Hello."

The unicorn replied, "Just a moment, let me get this one thing taken care of."

Once she finished she turned to the two unicorns. Minuette began, "Hello, my name is Minuette and this is Lyra Heartstrings."

Lyra continued, "And we are here to check on the decorations for The Summer Sun Celebration and they look spectacular!"

The unicorn replied, "Thanks and I am Rarity!" She then realized that the said that they were there to check on the preparations and continued, "You said you are here to check on the decorations. Where are you two from anyway?"

Minuette replied, "We are from Canterlot."

Rarity immediately grabbed the two and shouted, "Canterlot? Oh the glamor and sophistication! I've always dreamed of living there!"

Lyra replied, "Well....."

Rarity interrupted, "We're going to be the best of friends!"

Lyra replied, "Well we are only here until tomorrow and then we're heading back home."

Minuette added, "Yeah and we don't even know you so how could we be the best of friends?"

Rarity sighed, "Oh, well I just thought with you being from Canterlot we would be."

Minuette wanted to get down to business so she began to look around, "Hmmm....well this looks good. Yeah I'd probably have streamers and balloons but this isn't a birthday party so this will do."

Rarity looked at Lyra and asked, "Is she always like this with decorations?"

Lyra laughed, "Yeah, you have to understand. With her, parties and decorations are serious business." Lyra was getting hungry and was not in any mood to wait around any longer. She asked, "Well Minuette, shall we get going? I'm getting hungry and I'm sure Starlight will likely have more for us to do later anyway."

Minuette replied, "I'm getting hungry as well. I saw this sweets shop on the way over there and some cake sounds so good to me."

Lyra laughed, "You're as bad as Celestia, you have to have your cake!"

Before Rarity could add anything, Lyra and Minuette had left the town hall to go and get some food. Rarity stood in there for a minute and sighed, "They aren't very sociable!"

Checking on the Music

While other ponies were checking on things, Twinkleshine headed off to check on the music. She thought to herself, "Hmmm....I need to find a pegasus named Fluttershy."

As she headed towards the edge of town she saw a yellow pegasus floating in front of a tree with birds singing, in tune. She remembered the description that was given to her and realized that this was indeed her. She walked up and said, "Hello!"

The pegasus shrieked, causing all of her birds to fly away. Twinkleshine continued, "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare your birds but I'm here to check on the music, and it sounds beautiful."

The pegasus landed and hid behind her mane, which created a rather awkward situation. Twinkleshine continued, "My name is Twinkleshine, I take it you are Fluttershy."

The pegasus replied, "Yes my name, my name is Fluttershy."

The fact that a complete stranger knew her name really bothered her. She continued, "How, how did you know my name?"

Twinkleshine replied, "Princess Celestia gave detailed descriptions and the names of the ponies we are supposed to talk to."

This caused Fluttershy to crawl into a bawl and squeak quietly. Very soon the birds would return and Twinkleshine finished, "Well it looks like your birds are back so I'll let you get back to work."

Evening Meeting

Shortly before Sunset the six gathered outside of the town hall to discuss how everything went. Starlight asked, "So ladies, is everything ready to go?"

Lemon Hearts happily replied, "Yep, you bet it is. Applejack fixed more than enough food and her fritters are so good!"

Spike added, "Yeah and her pie is delicious!"

Minuette continued, "The town hall's decorations are acceptable."

Starlight sighed, "Let me guess, they didn't meet your requirements?"

Lyra laughed, "Nope, they didn't but then again impressing her is impossible!"

Twinkleshine continued, "I'll tell you, the music was good but Fluttershy is horribly shy. She would hardly even talk and curled up in a ball when she found out that Celestia gave us their names and descriptions."

Moondancer replied, "Well at least none of you got agitated." She began to laugh, "I swear, I think Starlight should apply for the weather job down here!"

Lemon Hearts asked, "Seriously?"

Starlight replied, "Yes, seriously." She took a deep breath before continuing, "As you all probably noticed when we first got here the skies were full of clouds. Well this pegasus, Rainbow Dash, was just lazing around on a cloud and when she found out who we were, she said she would clear the skies after she finished practicing for the Wonderbolts."

Everypony but Moondancer broke down laughing as they knew that they just didn't accept anypony. Starlight continued, "Yep, she thought she could get into the Wonderbolts by just flying around and neglecting her job so I did her job for her."

Moondancer sighed, "Yeah, she took flight and began zapping those clouds away on her own."

Starlight grunted, "Well it had to be done and she was ignoring her job. Personally I think Celestia needs to replace her but we'll see how she continues to do things."

After their meeting, Starlight looked around and saw a bit of light coming from behind the horizon, "Well ladies, we have a long night ahead of us. I don't know about you but I think that we should take a quick nap so we'll be awake in time for Celestia to raise the sun."

Moondancer asked, "Where? Celestia never provided us with any lodging!"

Starlight sighed, "Well we may just have to sleep on the floor in the town hall, that way we won't have to worry about not being awake on time."

Everypony nodded in agreement as they headed into the town hall to take their naps. Most of them were able to get to sleep but Starlight just couldn't. A voice in the back of her mind kept on telling her that something bad was going to happen and that neither her nor her friends would like it.

Author's Note:

Starlight Glimmer: Magic
Minuette: Laughter
Moondancer: Loyalty
Lyra: Generosity
Lemon Hearts: Honesty
Twinkleshine: Kindness

Comments

[HeartfireFirebrand]

Wait is Pinkie Pie around anywhere?