Chapter 6

Spike had been extra busy all day delivering the invitations for Twilight's emergency secret meeting. He'd visited Fluttershy's cottage first. She politely accepted and asked Spike if he wanted to come inside and play with her new fruit bat, Toby. "He's ever so shy, and I think he could use a new friend like you, Spike," she said in her tiny, gentle voice.

"Sorry, Fluttershy! I have all these scrolls to deliver for Twilight. Maybe Toby and I can 'hang out' later!" Spike chuckled at his own joke, but Fluttershy looked confused. "Get it? 'Hang out'? Because bats hang upside down?"

"Oh yes, of course. See you at the meeting!"

Next, he found Applejack working in the orchard at Sweet Apple Acres. She bucked her hind legs against a tree and a batch of juicy apples came tumbling down into a basket. "A meeting for Twilight?" Applejack looked relieved. "Phew! Nopony has seen her around for a few days! I was about to send out the Apple family search party."

"Did somepony say party?!" An excited Pinkie Pie popped out from behind a tree. "Because my Party Watch just went off!" She held up her hoof to show Spike and Applejack a bright neon accessory. It looked like a watch, but instead of numbers it just had pictures of colorful balloons, streamers, and confetti with the word party spelled out twelve times. Little blinking lights rimmed the edge, and a honking noise was being emitted from a tiny speaker at the top.

"But where are all the numbers?" Applejack asked, confused.

"Who needs numbers?" Pinkie said, and shrugged.

"To see what time it is, silly!" Applejack threw her hooves in the air to illustrate her point.

"But it does tell the time! It's party time… all the time!" Pinkie shouted with glee. "Now who said the magic word, huh? Huh?!" She came up to Spike and looked him straight in the eye. "Was it you?"

"It's not a party, really… but here you go, Pinkie." Spike handed her a scroll. She quickly unfurled it and read the message. "A secret meeting party?! Oh goody, goody gumdrops! I have to go get ready!" And then Pinkie Pie bounced off towards her house.

"Thanks, Spike," Applejack said, shaking her head. "I guess you can count me and Pinkie in."

Rarity, on the other hand, was less thrilled about the invitation. She peered down at the scroll through her purple cat's-eye work glasses. "I'm in the middle of making a huge order of hornaments! Can this wait until later?" Rarity was always trying to finish some new garment or accessory for her Carousel Boutique. She was a very hard worker.

"Twilight said it was an emergency." Spike looked down at his feet. He didn't like to upset Rarity, because he really, really liked her. But she always responded to a few well-worded compliments. "Say, Rarity… have you done something special to your mane? It looks super-duper shiny today!"

"Well, actually, I did go to the spa this morning to have my hooves done and they gave me some new conditioner…." Rarity began to ramble. Five minutes later, Spike was still standing there. "… and then I said, 'Darling, if you must do my tail as well, just do it.' I knew it would be worth it!"

"Well, it looks great! Gotta run!" Spike quickly said before heading off down the road. He had spent quite a bit of time listening to chatter about the latest beauty treatments in Ponyville, and now he was running late. Luckily, he had only one stop left. Rainbow Dash was the last pony he had to

invite to Twilight's secret meeting.

"Special delivery for one Miss Rainbow Dash!" Spike shouted halfheartedly at the clouds. He was ready to call it a day by the time he reached Ponyville Park. It was directly under Cloudsdale, so there was a good chance of finding the Pegasus there. "Rainbow Daaaash!" he called out impatiently. "I have a very important invitation to a very secret meeting at Twilight Sparkle's cottage!"

"Hold your ponies, Spike," Rainbow Dash said, swooping down from a cloud. "I'm comin'!"

Rainbow zoomed by a cloud that looked empty, but hidden inside was nosy Gilda the Griffon— and she had heard every word!

Suddenly, the "secret meeting" was not so secret.

---

"So what in tarnation is this all about, Twi?" Applejack asked as she bit into one of the apple fritters she'd brought for the meeting. All five of Twilight's best friends had shown up, even though surely they had other important things to do. Twilight knew she was lucky that they'd come to help her, no questions asked. It filled Twilight with a sense of pride and warmth that made her new necklace shine doubly bright.

Twilight cleared her throat and looked at each of the ponies in the circle. "Thank you all for coming—" she began, and was immediately interrupted by Rarity.

"Is that divine necklace around your neck made of Cosmic Spectrum?" She stared at Twilight's new accessory with desire. "I have only seen pictures of it in books! My goodness, it's gorgeous! It almost looks like a mini version of the Crystal Heart." Rarity trotted over to get a closer look.

"Thanks! It was a present from Princess Cadance."

"You know what they say about Cosmic Spectrum…" Rarity added, turning to the other ponies. "When you wear it, you must remember—"

"Oh, totally. Yeah, I know all about it," Twilight said in order to keep the meeting moving. Twilight didn't want to listen to Rarity talk about gemstones right now. The clock was ticking! Rarity shrugged, a little hurt. She trotted back to her spot and plopped down.

"Anyway, thank you all for coming on such short notice." Twilight looked around at each of her friends with genuine gratitude. "I've asked you here because I desperately need your help—"

"Ooooh! I know!" Pinkie Pie interrupted with a squeal. "You're planning an undercover jewel- heist mission and you want us all to join 'Sparkle's Six'?"

Twilight shook her head. "Not exactly, Pinkie."

Pinkie Pie was wearing a tan trench coat and a fedora hat in an attempt to disguise herself for the meeting. She had also brought along a drink she called "Secret Punch" as a refreshment, but she wouldn't reveal what the ingredients were, because it was a "super big secret." As a result, nopony wanted to drink it. "Or… you volunteered to plan this year's Hearth's Warming Eve pageant and you need us to help?!"

"Pinkie, it's still summertime," Rainbow Dash said, rolling her eyes. "I don't think that's it."

"Whatever it is, can we just get started?" Rarity whined. "I have lots of work to finish back at the boutique! Those hornaments are due in Mythica, Neigh York, by tomorrow morning and they aren't going to finish rhinestoning themselves. Do you have the time, Pinkie?" Rarity motioned toward Pinkie's Party Watch.

"Sure!" Pinkie said, and looked at her wrist. "It's 'party.' "

"Pardon me?" Rarity didn't quite comprehend. Applejack and Spike couldn't help but giggle, since they knew what was coming. "The time is party?"

"It's party tiiiiime!" Pinkie cheered, and did a skipping lap around the room. Everyone laughed except Rarity, who just looked annoyed.

"Okay, everyone! That's enough," Twilight said. "Down to business."

The ponies finally listened as Twilight recounted her trip to the Crystal Empire, sparing no details. She told them all about Cadance's journey to find the Crystal Heart Spell. Twilight explained that the only way she herself would find it was with the help of her friends. Just like Cadance.

"So I'll need you all to come up with some ideas for my future kingdom. If you don't, I'll never find the spell and I'll never learn to be a leader and I'll never be a great princess!" Twilight said in one breath. She had the tendency to exaggerate things.

"Calm down, Twilight," Fluttershy said, patting her on the back. "I'm sure that we can all figure this out together."

"Together?" Twilight asked hopefully. "You'll help me?"

The rest of the ponies nodded and held up their full cups of Secret Punch in a toast. "Together!"