The New Moon Rises

by Kit Wolfkat

Lesson 9: Surprise Party

Lesson 9: Surprise Party!

Twilight Sparkle stood in silent shock as the scene unravelled before her. The lights flicked on, revealing the entire library decorated with balloons, streamers, a large banner read out the news to her in large pink letters:

Welcome New Pony/Being!

The unicorn’s mind raced through her thoughts and her eyes looked left and right around her surroundings. There were all kinds of beings surrounding her with smiles on their faces, from unicorns, earth ponies, a couple of changelings and even a thestral!

“Wha-” she tried to say a but a familiar pink mare with frizzy mane hopped towards her and leaned her head towards Twilight.

“Hi! Welcome to your surprise party!” she exclaimed with excitement, raising her hooves in a cheering motion. “You are gonna have a fantastic time here, you and your little buddy.”

The pink mare looked at the still fazed Twilight with a large smile.“Wha- how, th- the front door was locked!” she said in shock, “How did all of you get in?” she asked, looking between the attendees and the mare.

“Oh silly filly, the front door was locked tight but luckily we came in through the back door, and soon you’re gonna have the greatest new pony slash being party in Ponyville!” she cheered.

Twilight looked around the room again, trying to process the situation. She recognized a few of the attendees as residents of Ponyville, but there were also some unfamiliar faces. She then turned to look at the mare for a moment, at her coat, at her mane, before falling face into a deadpan expression as she realised who she was.

“Your name is Pinkie Pie, right?” she asked in a blank voice. “My name’s Twilight Sparkle.”

Pinkie Pie’s eyes widened as she looked at Twilight, “OOOH! Are you a mind reader? Or a psychic? Or a time traveller? OOH OOH OOH WAIT, YOU MUST BE AUTHOR OF THIS STORY!” she said in pointing towards Twilight.

“What! Of course I’m not!” Twilight shook her head in frustration. “What’re you talking about?”

Pinkie grinned loudly at Twilight’s probably funny frustration. “Okey dokey smokey!” she said, hopping cheerily in front of Twilight. “I have an alligator for a pet, I make amazing parties, fiestas, carnivals, festival, soirees and-”

Twilight placed her magic to stop the pink earthpony’s mouth from moving any further. She took a deep breath, reminding that at least she could try to deal with this.

“Look, I’m the royal supervisor of the celebrations today and I-”

Pinkie pulled out an extremely long checklist from her frizzy mane and gave it to Twilight. Twilight widened her eyes, astonished at the list of arrangements that the party pony already accomplished.

“Wha…”

“Finished, finished, finished, finishie, finishie, and finishola!” Pinkie exclaimed, her hooves raising up for a cheer, much to Twilight’s shock.

The mood in the party was lively as it started, someone brought out the library radio and turned the knob on the music station. Twilight gave the checklist back to Pinkie Pie, who quickly rolled it back and kept it back in her mane.

Twilight thought over her options for a moment, and looked around the library-turned-party house. The shelves were completely covered by long streams of banners, confetti was spilt all over the floor and some of the books she could see were completely rearranged in their category! Twilight thought of what she could do, and there was an idea, but she didn’t like it.

She turned to Pinkie Pie as she cleared her throat. “Well, I kinda need this library to uh, research, for a moment?” she said, hoping that Pinkie wouldn’t care.

“Oooh okey dokey!” Pinkie grinned. She turned to the rest of the party goers and took a deep breath. “EVERYBEING! TWILIGHT SPARKLE’S ABOUT TO DO SOME RESEARCH! SO BE A BIT QUIET!” Pinkie shouted at the top of her lungs.

Twilight blushed in embarrassment as she covered her face with her hooves.

This is one crazy mare.

Pinkie Pie turned to Twilight with a giggling smile, “There, helped you out! Now enjoy reading and researching!” she said cheerily as she hopped on away from Twilight towards some party games.

She turned to Spike looking for some form of help and assistance, instead he was at the dining table with a large basket of chocolate chip cookies.

“Ooh, little guy, you must really like the cookies. Freshly baked by me! And you’re gonna looooove it!” Pinkie Pie said to Spike as he gobbled a hoofful of chocolate chip cookies and stuffing it into his mouth.

Twilight sighed,turning to Spike as he chowed down on some cookies. “Enjoying yourself?”

Spike meekly returned a nod, his mouth still full of cookies. Twilight sighed again as she made her way towards the bookshelves. As Twilight walked towards the shelves, she noticed that they were completely disorganised. The books were arranged in no particular order, and some of them were even upside down.

This is gonna take time.

She took a look at her surroundings, some of the partygoers were dancing to a radio on the table, some were simply chatting with their paper cups of punch while a few were playing the party games. Spike decided to enjoy himself with some delicacies in the middle of the room.

Twilight let out a frustrated sigh, “You’re almost there Twilight Sparkle,” she muttered to herself.

“Hey Twi.” a voice called out behind her. Twilight turned around from the disorganised catastrophe towards the source of the voice. It was Winters, again. He had a paper cup of fruit punch in his left hoof.

“What do you want Winters?” she asked him in an annoyed tone.

Winters raised his hooves in a placating gesture. “Just wanted to check in on you, see how you’re dealing with all of uh.. this,” he said, gesturing around at the chaos of the party. “I’m guessing, not well?”

“No.”

“Oh..”

A moment of awkward silence as Twilight gazed her eyes at him for a few seconds. Sighing, she turned back to the disorganised book shelves to start organising them.

“You need help?” Winters asked as he walked over to her side, placing his cup on a nearby table.

Twilight thought for a moment before turning to him with a nod, “Actually sure.” She stepped aside, allowing for Winters to stand next to her in front of the bookshelves. “I need to organise them all by genre and also to find a book I need,” she explained to him.

Winters laughed for a moment and Twilight noticed this, “Why’re you laughing?” He stopped laughing and turned to her with a curt smile, “Of course the Twilight Sparkle will become a librarian just so she can find a book she wants.”

Twilight scoffed at this notion, “It’s a need, Winters. And besides, it’s only temporary for a day.” she said.

Winters looked at her in confusion as if he couldn’t believe what he’s hearing, “How’re you gonna be a temp librarian?” he asked incredulously. “The law doesn’t really allow for a resignation from a job for at least a month.”

Twilight lit her horn to pick up a couple of books and glanced at the title of the books, before placing them in order. “I can just ask the princess to negotiate on my behalf.”

“So you’re gonna abuse your position as a protege to get out of a temp job?” he said in a blank voice.

“Well if you say as if it’s illegal, of course. But it isn’t.” she said as she turned to him smirking, as she held another book in her magic. “If those politicians can ask for an early resignation from working for the government, why can’t I, as the protege of Princess Luna, ask for an early resignation from working in a library?”

Winters looked at her for a moment before smiling, “Touche.” he said, picking up another pile of books in his hooves to sort. “Just don’t get hit with scandal or something, we had enough of those in the last years.”

“Never planned, never will.”

They continued stacking the books for a few minutes. The atmosphere in the party slowly drowns out into a mild disturbance in Twilight’s mind. She turned to the wall clock as it ticked each passing second, reaching the final hours of the evening:

8:30

“Hey Twi, is this it?”

Twilight turned to Winters from the wall clock, he held a thick brown book in his right hoof as he showed it to her. She had a good look at the title.

Star Swirl’s Unabridged Magical Theorem of Space and Field Volume I

Twilight gasped in surprise, quickly lighting her horn and taking it from his hoof. “Finally! After so long in the streets trying to find the organisers, I finally have this in my hooves!” she exclaimed excitedly.

Winters laughed at her jovial state. “Well glad to be of your assistance!”

Twilight quickly flipped through the pages, detailing all of the information she ever wanted for the rest of her days.

This is great! Now- Wait a minute.

Twilight stopped flipping the pages and turned to Winters with an appreciative but quite confused smile, “Winters, how did you know what to find? I didn’t tell you anything.” she asked.

Winters bashfully looked down at his hooves, grinding them against the wooden floor. “Well, I may have asked Spike. He was a bit drunk when I asked him, but he did tell me what you were really here for so…” he trailed off.

Twilight smiled appreciatively, “Well thanks anyways Winters, now if you excuse me I’m gonna- wait, did you say Spike was drunk?”

Winters’ ears raised in alarm what she meant and his eyes widened in surprise, “Oh crud.”

Twilight glared at him before running off towards the dining table, with the book in her magic only to find a drunk Spike hiccuping as he sat at the table, surrounded by a bunch of half eaten cookies and a half empty paper cup, filled with fruit punch. There were two bottles on the table with one of them half opened.

Spike glanced at Twilight, his glossy eyes and his alcohol filled breath was almost intoxicating in her senses. “Hey -hic- Twi!~” he said, smiling at her.

Twilight let out an exasperated sigh, glaring at her assistant. “Spike! You know you’re too young to even drink this kind of stuff, what’re you thinking!” she exclaimed in anger.

Spike didn’t respond, instead he slumped over the table falling into a drunken sleep. Twilight bit her lips in silent anger, as there’s only one mare who could answer for this. She stomped off, passing an afraid Winters holding a paper cup.

As Twilight walked through the party guests, her eyes scanned the room until they landed on the one mare she was looking for: Pinkie Pie. The party mare was playing a game of Pin the Feather on the Griffon with the other partygoers.

“MISS PIE!” Twilight shouted to her. Pinkie turned and hopped over to Twilight, a smile as she did.

“Oooh, Twilight Twilight! Can I call you Twilight, I know I said that earlier but I really LIKE calling you Twilight because it sounds you’re my friend and EVERYBEING IS MY FRIEND!”

Twilight wasn’t in the mood for the pink earthpony’s antics as she glared at her. “Miss Pie, do you realise that my assistant is now drunk on that fruit punch?” Twilight said through gritted teeth.

Pinkie Pie looked at her in curiosity but still kept her smile. “What, I didn’t realise baby dragons could get drunk that easily? It was below level!”

Twilight was beyond frustrated with Pinkie’s nonchalant attitude towards Spike’s drunken state. She took hold of her tail, dragging her across the floor towards the dining table where Spike was passed out.

“Look!” Twilight pointed her hoof towards Spike, himself slumped on the table, sleeping away. “He’s dead drunk and asleep!” she said. Pinkie took a good look at Spike, snoring away at the table in a content state.

“Hmmm,” Pinkie placed a hoof on her chin, leaning closer to Spike. She took her nose and sniffed at Spike’s breath. Twilight looked at this in disgust.

“What are you doing, Miss Pie?” Twilight asked, her voice barely contained. “Can’t you see how serious I am here!” she shouted but Pinkie quickly raised her head up with a large smile and turned to Twilight, grinning evermore.

“Ah HAH! Detective Pinkie Pie realised that she forgot that baby dragon’s can sometimes have a different alcohol level than their adult counterparts, meaning that the only to get him back up is to drown him in-”

“STOP!” Twilight shouted over her lungs. The radio stopped playing and every partygoer and Winters turned to them both in surprise, seeing Twilight fuming and seething in anger.

This mare is off the rails INSANE. Drowning Spike is one thing, but being this troublesome to me? Screw that!

“Get out.”

Pinkie’s smile faltered a bit, “Uh, what?”

“I said. GET. OUT.” Twilight’s eyes glared into Pinkie’s eyes deeply.

Pinkie dropped a bit but she kept her smile and picked up a plateful of cookies from somewhere. “I’m super duper sorry, Twilight. I have cookies to help to cheer you up, and I can give some delicious cupcakes to your little assistant there.”

Twilight shook her head aggressively, “No!” she said. She pushed Pinkie behind her across the library floor, past the other partygoers in their shocked expression and out of the door. Pinkie felt the natural ground of the outside as Twilight stopped pushing her and glared at her, one hoof with a plate of cookies, the other on the stone ground.

Twilight turned her back from Pinkie and went back inside, “Uh, can we still be friends?”

“Never was, never will.”

The door closed quickly with a loud bang, leaving Pinkie Pie outside with a plate of cookies.

“On the bright side, I have cookies with me!” she exclaimed jubilantly, “On the bad side, I lost a friend.” her ears drooped, but it quickly sprang up as she giggled.

“I have an idea! I can get my other friends to get her to be my friend! She’s gonna like them so much that we’ll be the bestest friends forever and ever and ever!” she said to herself in excitement, hoping on the ground leaving tiny pebbles to be upturned on the road as she made herself towards the town hall.

---

Finally I don’t have to deal with a crazy ass- wait why is everyone looking at me?

The entire room was silent as Twilight closed the door and turned to them. Almost all of them looked at her in disdain, some of them whispered in each other’s ears while others simply stopped whatever they’re doing and started to walk towards the front door.

Twilight watched in silence as more and more party goers started to leave, she didn’t mind this however.

“What a party, when the host herself kicks the planner out.” one of them muttered on as he passed them.

Twilight turned to him quickly with an annoyed tone, “Hey! This is a public library, not a fun house!”

The stallion simply scoffed and walked out of the library. Soon almost every partygoers have exited, leaving the library in total mess. “Great,” Twilight grumbled to herself. Almost everyone left, leaving Twilight, Spike and-

“So uh, should I help you clean up. Or uh, should I just leave?” Winters said nervously as he looked around at the mess. Twilight looked around, party banners everywhere, paper cups on the floor, half eaten food on the table, and remnants of the party games scattered about.

She sighed deeply and walked over to the dining table full of unfinished foods. She picked up two cookies in her magic and poured them in a batch of chocolate sauce.

She turned to Winters with a tired look on her face, “I’m just tired of this place,” she said. “I had to meet a bunch of annoying ponies here today, and this?”

She waved her hoof, bringing Winters’ eyes towards the mess of the library. She looked at him in the eyes, an exhausted expression on her face. “This? Is the last straw I’m willing to take. Because the first thing tomorrow morning, I’ll be leaving.” she said, taking one of the chocolate chip cookies and eating it.

Winters looked at her with mild sympathy before taking a closer look at the bottle of chocolate sauce. “Uh Twilight?”

“What?” she asked, taking the other chocolate chip cookie covered in sauce and eating it.

“I don’t think that’s chocolate sauce.”

Twilight’s eyes widened in shock as she felt a hot sensation in her mouth. Her mouth burned with an extreme fiery heat and her ears began to water. She quickly ran into the kitchen and brought her head over to the sink to start dousing her mouth in cold water.

Winters watched this with amusement before quickly covering it as Twilight came back from her unfortunate mishap.

“Are you alright?” he asked her.

Twilight took a paper cup from the table and poured herself some fruit punch, along with some ice cubes. She drank the entirety of the punch in a few gulps, before setting it down the nearby table. She turned to him with an otherwise confident but tired look.

“I’m fine, let’s get outta here.”

Comments

[garbage_bin]

“What a party, when the host herself kicks the planner out.” one of them muttered on as he passed them.

Yeah, a party she didn't even ask for in the first place