"Isn't it gorgeous out? Just gorgeous!"
A brown-gray pony exclaimed. Her name was Octavia. She, along with four other ponies, sat on a red-and-white checkered picnic blanket, with a nice lunch spread out before them. Another pony—a dark blue alicorn with an ever-flowing mane—levitated a picnic basket to the center of the blanket using her horn-spawned magic. It was a beautiful day, with only a few puffy white clouds in the crisp blue sky.
Hoofbeats thundered along, heading straight for the five ponies.
Another pony—a yellow earth pony with a bright orange mane named Carrot Top—drank from a glass of water with a straw.
The hoofbeats came closer.
The alicorn—her name was Princess Luna—or just Lune—brought an apple out of the basket. She was about to take a huge bite out of it, but dropped it at the sound of approaching hoofbeats.
"Lu—na!" The pony dashed up, breathing heavily. It was a lithe, sinewy pegasus mare with yellow fur and a spiky orange mane. Her name was Spitfire. She skidded to a halt in front of Luna.
"I—have—let me just—" She gasped, trying to catch her breath. Then she belched, spitting out a column of orange flames, and a sealed scroll. Luna levitated the message and unrolled it. A mint-green unicorn named Lyra looked over her shoulder as she read aloud.
"Dear Luna, I am sure you are as excited as I am about the upcoming wedding in Canterlot."
The alicorn frowned. "Wedding?" Then she continued.
"I will be presiding over the ceremony, but would very much like you and your friends to help prepare for this wonderful occasion.
"Lyra, I would like you and your songbird choir to provide the music."
Lyra's eyes glittered. "Oh my goodness, what an honor!" She said to Octavia.
"Vinyl Scratch, I can think of nopony better to host the reception." Luna continued. A white unicorn with a spiky blue-striped mane and sunglasses did a backflip, knocking over a teapot and leaving a hoofprint in the icing of a small cake to land in front of the alicorn.
"Hooray!" She yelled. Luna used her magic to smooth the icing of the cake and set the teapot right-side up as she continued.
"Carrot Top, you will be in charge of catering the reception."
"Well color me pleased as punch!" Exclaimed Carrot Top in her country accent.
"Spitfire," Continued Luna. The pegasus was sitting next to Carrot Top looking quite bored. "I would very much appreciate if you would perform a Sonic Flameboom as the bride and groom complete their 'I do's'"
Spitefire, who had been in the middle of a yawn, put her hoof in her mouth and her pupils dilated.
"YES!" She yelled.
"Octavia," Luna went on, "You will be responsible for designing the dresses for the bride and her bridesmaids.
Octavia's mouth fell open.
"Princess Faust wants me to ha—ha—" Her pupils dilated, losing the ability to speak as happiness washed over her. "She wants me to design a wedding dress—for a Canterlot wedding—?!" She yelped. Lyra leaned toward her friend as Octavia wobbled, delirious with glee. The unicorn tried to steady her, but Octavia fell flat on her back, a huge grin plastered on her face.
"And as for you, Luna," The Princess went on, "You will be playing the most important role of all. Making sure that everything goes as planned. See you all soon, yours, Princess L. Faust."
The alicorn turned the paper around to see if anything was on the back, and skimmed the contents again.
"But, I don't understand." She said, frowning. "Who's getting married?"
Spitfire perked up, and drew another scroll from her wing feathers. "Whoops, I was probably supposed to give you this one first," She said sheepishly. Luna sighed and took the parchment. She unrolled it, her friends gathering around as she read.
"Princess Faust cordially invites you to the wedding of Ditzy Haz Pezuñas and—"
Luna's mouth fell open, and her pupils dilated to tiny dots as she finished,
"Doctor Whooves?"