Magenta aura released the long blue banner, tying them to either side of the stage in the front of the large room. Twilight looked at her work with a satisfied nod, the banner was perfectly centered.
"How's it going over there, Rainbow?" Twilight turned her head to look at the cyan blue pony, she was hanging rows of golden streamers on the walls.
"I just finished the last one!" Rainbow exclaimed as she landed beside Twilight. The Pegasus flicked her tail.
"I never thought we would finish. This is a lot, even for Pinkie." Dash folded in her wings; her magenta eyes were cheerful.
"She said that she wanted to make this the best gala ever, and you know how Pinkie Pie can get." Twilight responded as a vase on the table next to her caught her eye, it was slightly away from the center. She took the vase in her magic and moved it three centimeters until it was perfectly placed before she stood up straight.
"Now it's done." The alicorn walked over and sat at one of the tables before using her magic to teleport a teapot and two teacups. Rainbow Dash trotted over.
"What are you doing, Twi?" She asked as the princess poured some steaming tea into one cup and placed it in front of her before pouring another and putting it on the other side of the table. Twilight giggled.
"Has it really been that long since we last had tea, Dash?" The Pegasus walked over to the teacup sitting opposite of Twilight, looking at it, then looking at her friend.
"I just thought that with the Gala coming up, you would be really busy." Rainbow sat down, taking her cup in her hooves as she lightly blew on it. Twilight grinned as a small blush worked its way onto her cheeks.
"I did actually have a bit of preparation to do today for the Grand Galloping Gala, but I decided to delegate some of those meetings to Spike. Mostly because if I'm being completely honest, I am a little wiped. Celestia and Luna made being rulers look so easy." Twilight took a small sip of tea. Rainbow put her cup down.
"What do we do now?" She asked. Twilight took another sip.
"Pinkie should be here any minute now to tell us how we did, she's the expert." They were silent for a moment before a voice echoed through the room.
"Wow! You girls did great, this place looks super fun!" Twilight looked over at the pink pony close the big doors behind her before entering the room, her mane lightly bouncing as she trotted over to them.
"I'm glad you like it, Pinkie!" Twilight happily greeted her friend. Pinkie walked over to them and trotted around the two other ponies.
"It's great! It's even more amazing because we have two parties to throw! The Grand Galloping Gala and Rainbow's fifteen-year anniversary since Spitfire named her Captain of the Wonderbolts!" Pinkie finished with a squeal, rummaging in her mane for a moment before she took out a bit of confetti with a giggle and sprinkled it over Rainbow. Twilight gave a light laugh before she went back to regarding Rainbow Dash.
"I had nearly forgotten. Speaking of which Dash, is there any new talent sprouting in the Wonderbolts recently?" Rainbow nodded.
"Sure, there are lots of creatures in the 'Bolts now and some of them have potential." Rainbow must have seen the glimmer in Twilight's purple eyes because she gave a wide smirk and spread her wings as she continued.
"No newbie is going to outfly me yet! It will take more than a little bit of time to slow this pony down!" Rainbow settled again and turned to Pinkie, but before she could open her mouth, a familiar purple unicorn teleported in front of the table. Twilight forgot about the conversation and stood up when she saw the urgency in the other pony's gaze.
"Twilight! There's trouble!" The unicorn burst out. Panic spread into Twilight's chest; any number of things could have happened. Possibilities raced through her mind before she had to calm herself with an old trick Cadence had taught her. Twilight collected her thoughts and addressed the other pony.
"Starlight, what happened?" Starlight took a breath.
"I was walking through the middle of town when an argument broke out, I tried to interfere, but nopony was listening!" Starlight let out a frustrated sigh.
"I thought if they wouldn't listen to me than surely, they will listen to you!" Twilight cocked her head.
"An argument? I'll help but I'm not sure what the emergency is, friends can argue sometimes." Starlight looked at her former mentor, her purple eyes as dark as night when she spoke.
"This is no normal friendship quarrel, Twi." Twilight nodded, ignoring the ominous feeling creeping its way up her hooves.
"Lead the way." Twilight motioned with her left hoof, Starlight nodded and started to run out of the doors with Twilight on her heels. Twilight noticed that Pinkie and Rainbow were running on either side of her, they noticed her gaze and each nodded at her in their turn with determined eyes as Dash sped ahead. They spent two minutes running before they reached their destination. I was a hard to miss scene since a crowd had formed and shouts could be heard above the chattering of the surrounding creatures. Twilight moved herself to the front and walked in front of the quarreling ponies. The one on the left was a pony that Twilight knew. She was a lime green Pegasus mare with a dark pink mane, she had her hooves spread wide and a snarl plastered on her muzzle as she looked at the other pony. Twilight looked at the other pony, she didn't know this pony, he was a gray stallion. The gray pony was scowling at the Pegasus, his green eyes piercing with anger. Twilight turned to the lime-colored pony as she addressed her.
"Lime Wing? What is going on here?" Lime Wing pointed an accusing hoof at the stallion, but before she could speak, the gray pony interrupted her.
"This reckless Pegasus crashed right into me!" He drew is ears back in anger. Twilight opened her mouth to speak before she was cut off by Lime Wing.
"I lost my balance! I said I was sorry, and you started to yell like a mad pony!" Before Twilight Sparkle could collect her thoughts, the two ponies had begun to yell over each other until Twilight couldn't make out a word. The purple pony closed her eyes, frustration starting to creep its way into her mind. It had been years since Twilight had to stop a fight like this, not since the other kingdoms had started to mingle in Equestria. She spread her wings wide and opened her eyes.
"Enough!!" The alicorn asserted, her voice carrying across the crowd as she eyed the two ponies who were now looking down at their own hooves. Lime Wing opened her mouth, but Twilight raised her hoof to stop her.
"No excuses, either of you. If you two want to have a difference of opinion than that's okay, but for Equestria sake try to refrain from causing a fight in the middle of town." She took a deep breath, closing her wings as she continued.
"Look, I'm not upset but I am disappointed, we are all stronger together and petty arguments get us nowhere." The two ponies looked ashamed. Twilight turned to the gray stallion.
"Lime said she was sorry; I understand why you would be upset but can you please not let it escalate into a fight and try to settle things reasonably." The stallion looked up at her.
"I'm sorry, Princess Twilight." Twilight turned to the Pegasus.
"Is there something you both would like to say to each other?"
Lime Wing looked over to the stallion, her ear twitched.
"Sorry I landed on you; I really didn't mean it." The gray pony rubbed the back of his head.
"I'm sorry too, I should have accepted your apology instead of losing it like that." Twilight nodded.
"I'm glad you both admitted where you went wrong, I am proud of you two." She turned to the crowd as the two ponies walked away.
"You can all go back to enjoying this beautiful day!" The crowd dispersed, but some creatures were still whispering to each other. Twilight was left standing there with the three ponies that she had arrived with, she took a deep exhale as Rainbow Dash landed next to her.
"Well, that was. Something." The rainbow maned pony said simply. Pinkie walked up to them.
"I'm glad you were able to turn their frowns upside down, Twilight!" Twilight gave her a small smile.
''Thanks, Pinkie." She looked at Starlight, the purple unicorn looked relieved.
"Thank you, Twilight. I was worried things were going to get worse and I knew that they would listen to you." The princess nodded.
''I'm glad you brought me here Starlight, that needed to be resolved in a civil manor." Twilight started to walk back to her castle, turning back for a moment.
"See you all at the Gala." She said before she continued to walk, her thoughts were worrying. The argument seemed like a small escalation, but Twilight couldn't shake the feeling that something or someone had caused the friction between the ponies. Her thoughts drifted back to when Cozy Glow, Tirek, and Chrysalis tried to take over, they had caused so much distrust and unease in the land. Twilight needed to make sure that never happened again, Equestria and the lands beyond had to stay united, that's when they were strongest. Twilight tried to turn her thoughts more positive, but the thought that didn't leave her mind was that the argument between Lime and the gray stallion-it was only the beginning.