"Twilight? Can I just say that I think this is a bad idea?"

Shining's sister turned to him, frowning slightly.

"Shining. I know you have your issues with them. You're Cadence's personal guard, it's your job. But we need to make some proper overtures to the Lunar ponies."

She looked away from him.

"They need to know that we're their friends, not their enemies. So..."

Taking a deep breath, Twilight exhaled before finishing.

"...so they're coming over. And we're going to be gracious hosts."

Shining paused, taking in his sister's words, before turning away and walking off, looking like he was still very much concerned about all of this. As for Twilight, she shook her head over her brother's behaviour, before then looking to the rest of the main chamber of the library. Most of her friends had arrived here, and were hard at work in getting the place looking as neat and tidy as possible. Cadence was here also, working alongside Spike in coordinating everything so as to present the proper image to their guests. A large table had been set up in the centre of the chamber, with all of the appropriate cutlery and plates already arranged. Taking it in, Twilight smiled to herself, nodding slightly before speaking under her breath.

"Okay, Twilight, just calm down. It's just a dinner."

Suddenly, she was distracted by an unexpected poking in her sides, prompting her to look down and see that it was Spike, who looked up at her eagerly.

"Do you think tonight will help, Mom?"

Smiling, Twilight nodded back to her young charge.

"I'm sure, Spike. A gesture like this might go a long way towards building bridges between us. Just a few ponies sharing a meal and chatting."

Spike took that in, smiling back to her before heading off to join Cadence once more. But, as Twilight looked over everything that had been prepared thus far, her head turned upon hearing a sudden knocking on the library door. Immediately, all other eyes here turned towards the door also, and Twilight, in turn, looked to each of them, bearing a serious look.

"That'll be them. Places, everypony!"

Her friends all started moving around, getting to their respective spots around the table, including Spike. Twilight, meanwhile, cleared her throat a little bit before putting on a smile and trotting over to the door. Raising a hoof, she turned the knob, and upon the other side was found the serious face of Ambassador Rarity, to whom Twilight soon gave a greeting to.

"Thank you for coming, Ambassador."

The alabaster unicorn nodded, starting to make her way inside, and it was here that Twilight noted that she had been accompanied by Captain Aurora, who likewise nodded to her as she entered. Twilight nodded back, and waited until both mares were inside before closing the door. However, before doing so, she noticed that they had been joined by two other Lunar guards, who now stood watch outside the door. At that, Twilight closed the door in earnest, before then moving off to walk beside her guests. There was silence in the room for a time, but at the end of it, and after coughing in a slightly nervous manner, Twilight ended the silence by gesturing to her friends.

"Ambassador, I take it you remember Applejack and Pinkie?"

At the mention of their names, the two mares smiled and nodded to the Ambassador, who promptly bowed her head slightly in greeting. Then, Twilight's eyes turned to Fluttershy.

"And this is Fluttershy, a local animal carer."

Like Applejack and Pinkie, Fluttershy stepped forward, smiling to Rarity.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ambassador."

Again, the visiting mare gave a bow of her head, as indeed did Aurora. With the introductions largely over with, Twilight gestured over to a pair of empty seats nearby to them, to which Rarity soon understood the message. Together, both she and her Captain trotted over, taking their respective chairs, which led to everypony else doing the same. After taking her own seat, Twilight then looked over to Spike.

"Oh, Spike? Would you be so kind as to fetch some drinks?"

The young dragon nodded, before promptly starting to walk in the direction of the kitchen. Rarity, seeing this, kept her eyes upon the youth as he left, before then looking to her host.

"So, the rumours are true then? Your son is indeed...a dragon?"

Looking to her, Twilight, while taken aback by that question, nevertheless responded with a smile on her face.

"Yes, he is."

Rarity's face was hard to read as she spoke up again.

"I see. That's a rather interesting arrangement. How is it the two of you met?"

Nostalgia crossed Twilight's face at that, as she looked down to her still-empty plate.

"Well...it all began when..."

Unfortunately, she didn't get the chance to finish those words, as just then, everypony was taken aback by the sudden sound of somepony walking down the nearby stairs. All eyes turned to the one who now entered the room; Trixie. The show-mare, upon seeing everypony before her, took on an embarrassed look, blushing slightly as she made her way down the final set of stairs.

"Oh! Am...am I late?"

Smiling, Twilight shook her head.

"Don't worry about it, Trixie. We were just getting started."

The blue mare nodded to that, walking over to the table, at which point Twilight started to look as if she'd just realised something important.

"Oh!"

She turned to her main guest for the evening.

"I'd almost forgot! Ambassador Rarity, this is Trixie Lulamoon. She's staying with me and Spike for a little while."

But, to the lavender unicorn's slight confusion, she found that the Ambassador, in contrast to how she'd looked around everypony else, now seemed to be, for lack of a better word, surprised at Trixie's appearance. As for the show-mare herself, once she'd arrived by the Ambassador, she reached out her hoof, offering it to her.

"Trixie Lulamoon...a pleasure."

Unbeknownst to Twilight, there was a brief flicker of seriousness in Trixie's eyes as she'd said that, causing Rarity, just for a moment, to hesitate. But, ever the Ambassador, she soon composed herself, clearing her throat and taking the offered hoof.

"Yes...a pleasure."

Trixie smiled wider, before then taking back her hoof and making her way over to her own spot, before then sitting down and looking over to Twilight again.

"Was I...interrupting something?"

Twilight's face lit up at that.

"Oh! Right! Yes...Spike"

Again, she turned to Rarity, and again, she started to explain things.

"I was young when it happened. I'd been entered as a potential for entry to Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns."

Many of the other ponies leaned in closer, clearly interested in this story, all while Rarity and Aurora maintained their more stoic appearance as Twilight carried on.

"Eventually, it was my turn to show what I could do. I was given the same test as everypony else...to try my luck at a dragon's egg."

To that, Shining smiled a little, knowing what was coming. Twilight looked over to him, smiling back, before turning to Rarity yet again.

"Of course, nopony actually expected anypony to be able to hatch the egg. It was all a test to see how the colts and fillies dealt with a challenge like that."

Slowly, she looked down at the table.

"But with me...something happened."

Hearing that, Trixie took on a more intrigued expression, leaning in slightly closer as Twilight continued with her story.

"Something just...happened. It was like magic was coursing through me. I was casting spells left, right and centre. And at the end of it all..."

She looked over to the direction Spike had walked off to.

"...he hatched."

Silence fell, as many of the ponies looked to her with great interest over what had been said. Aurora, for her part, looked far more impressed with the story than Twilight would have expected her to be.

"Hatching a dragon egg? Not bad, Sparkle."

A blush crept onto Twilight's cheeks at that.

"Thank you, Captain."

Aurora nodded back, only to then turn to Cadence, who spoke for the first time tonight.

"Naturally, Twilight couldn't actually adopt Spike at the age she was. But, given how close they were after his birth, it was made official after she came of age."

Nodding, a smile grew on Twilight's face.

"And I've considered him my son ever since."

Slowly, Rarity gave a small nod of her own.

"An intriguing story. The child was fortunate to have somepony watching out for him."

Twilight looked over to her.

"I'd do anything for Spike, Ambassador."

Hearing that, Trixie narrowed her eyes slightly, only to take on her more jovial expression as soon as anypony else glanced in her direction. Meanwhile, Spike had finally returned, and was carrying a tray covered in small glasses of water. Dutifully, he started walking around the table, handing out glasses to each of the ponies present, who graciously accepted them from him. After reaching Rarity, however, he was taken aback when the Ambassador started speaking to him.

"You know, Spike...I have a daughter about your age. Perhaps the two of you could meet at some later date?"

Though surprised by this, the young drake soon responded.

"Oh...um...I think that'd be nice."

Rarity nodded to him, only to then come upon Twilight, who looked to her with curiosity.

"You have a daughter?"

Again, Rarity nodded, taking a quick sip of her water before explaining.

"Yes. Her name is Sweetie Belle. If everything goes according to plan, she'll be coming along with the rest of my staff when the embassy is finished."

At that, Fluttershy gained a smile of her own.

"Oh! Maybe we can get all our kids together for a little play-date?"

Looking to her, Rarity raised an eyebrow.

"...Perhaps."

Another silence fell upon them all, during which, most of them simply contented themselves with taking small sips of the water they'd been given. However, when that silence ended, it was by Shining, who got up from his seat and looked over to his sister.

"I think the food should be ready now."

He started to move away, and was soon followed by Spike.

"I'll help, Uncle Shining!"

Chuckling, the stallion looked down to him.

"Sure thing, Spike."

The remaining mares watched them go, and after yet another brief bout of quiet amongst them, Applejack gave a quick laugh, looking over to Rarity.

"Ah tell ya, Rarity. Y'all are gonna love these veggies! Mah family have been growin em special fer tonight!"

Rarity regarded her carefully.

"We appreciate the gesture, Miss Applejack."

The farmer tipped her hat to this, and just in time, for Spike and Shining now returned. While Shining was using his magic to levitate a number of plates of steaming vegetables, Spike was carefully carrying just one. The young drake carried his over to his Mother, who accepted it with a grateful smile. It was not long after when everypony else had their respective meals, and for Twilight's friends, this was a pleasant moment.

"Now this is a spread!" Pinkie commented.

As soon as everypony had been served, and both Shining and Spike were seated, Twilight smiled to them all.

"Well...dig in, everypony!"

And eat they did, looking very much like they were enjoying the food. However, it was not long before Twilight noted, to her confusion, that Rarity was not eating. Instead, she turned to Aurora, giving a quick gesture to her meal, which the Captain nodded back to. She got out of her chair and moved over to the Ambassador, before then started to take a small bite out of her food. Naturally, this caused some concern for the other onlookers.

"Um...Ambassador?" Cadence enquired.

Rarity merely raised a hoof to this.

"Don't worry, Ambassador Cadence. My Captain is merely ensuring the...quality of the food."

It didn't take long for everypony else to get the message, leading to Shining looking understandably irritated at the remark.

"You think my sister would poison you?!"

Rarity shook her head to that.

"I think nothing of the sort, Captain. But...one can never be too careful."

Moments afterwards, Aurora finished her bite, giving a quick nod to Rarity before getting back to her own seat. With that, the Ambassador used her magic to levitate a single bite of the vegetables to her mouth, and after swallowing it, she turned to Twilight.

"A fine meal indeed, Miss Twilight."

Chuckling slightly, Twilight turned to the rets of her friends, who bore both looks of concern and annoyance over what had just happened.

"Yes. I'm...I'm sure this will be...a very pleasant night."