Tuesday Afternoon, 2:59 PM

Juniper was reading over her homework assignment when she saw Sunny approach her with a warm smile.

"Hey Sunny," Juniper said. "what's happening?"

"Not much," Sunny replied. "Um, I was wondering if...you wanted to come over after school." Juniper gave Sunny a happy grin.

"I would love to come over," Juniper said cheerfully. "what's the occasion?"

"Well, the party is a pretty important thing. I want to help you...prepare for it."

"Sure," Juniper said.

"Great," Sunny said, pulling out a list from her backpack. "Here is a list of things we are going to go over."

"Sure," Juniper said, her voice trailing off as she saw the list tumble to the floor, and roll a few feet away. She meekly took the list from Sunny. "This is...a long list." She said, glancing at it. "I never knew...parties were so complicated."

"Oh, you have no idea," Sunny said with exhaustion. She looked behind Juniper and saw Suri coming toward her, with her assistant Coco trailing behind her. Suri's eyes narrowed when she saw Juniper, and she began storming toward her, with Coco trying to keep up.

"OK, Juniper. I really have to go, see you at 5 PM," Sunny said quickly, before turning away from a confused Juniper. She ran toward the pair to prevent Suri from coming toward her.

"What did that loser want," Suri said with a snarl.

"Um..." Sunny said, thinking of something. "The...loser was asking me to hang out with her."

"And what did you tell her," Suri said with a glare.

"What do you think I told her," Sunny said, pretending to wear a cold smile. She struggled not to shake as Suri gave her the grin of a cruel beast.

"Good," Suri said. "We don't want trash like that around us," she turned toward her assistant. "Isn't that right Coco."

"No Miss Polo-I mean, Suri," Coco said meekly. "Not at all." Coco was even mousier then Juniper. If not for the face Coco and Suri's parents were business partners, the two girls would never interact with one another.

"Anyways," Suri said. "Let's head over to Party Place for supplies."

"Party Place is a really good place for supplies," Coco said in a sycophantic tone, "they've got-,"

"Shut up Coco," Suri yelled.

"Sorry, Suri." Coco looked down, away from the judging eyes of Suri. Sunny was well aware of Suri and Coco's so-called relationship. Normally, Sunny would ignore it, seeing Coco's problems as her own business. But today, she suddenly began to feel a pang of sympathy for Coco. She wouldn't reveal it to Suri: though.

"Anyways," Suri said, "let's get to shopping."

The trio stepped into Suri's luxury sedan, which Coco drove, as if she was some chauffeur. Suri and Sunny chatted about events.

"So the first hour is for truth or dare," Suri said, going over her notes.

"Yeah," Sunny said, looking at a notebook. "Second hour is pillow fight, third is karaoke..."

"I hope this year's party turns out better than last year's party," Sunny said.

"Oh don't worry," Suri said. "With proper organization and the right kind of people, everything will go smoothly." She saw the store coming up. "Here we are!" Coco pulled into the parking lot of Party Place. The three stepped out of the car.

"Get the cart," Suri ordered Coco. The short girl silently got the cart and began pushing it.

Suri and Sunny began collecting the items needed for a great party: food, decorations, party games, a few clothing items, etc. After an hour of shopping, the trio had filled the cart. Coco was exhausted pushing the now loaded cart, which only Sunny seemed to notice.

"You think she needs help," Sunny asked Suri. Suri's eyes were locked onto her phone, walking as if the entire world did not exist.

"Mmm," Suri muttered, clearly not paying attention. Sunny sighed with slight annoyance as she walked with Suri Sunny let out a small smile.

"Suri," Sunny said in a fake panic, "your skirt is on fire."

"Mmm," Suri said not paying attention.

After leaving the checkout counter, Suri having paid for everything with one of those unlimited credit cards, the trio went to the car.

"Coco," Suri said, gesturing with her thumb toward the trunk. "get everything loaded up."

"Yes Suri," Coco said, her voice betraying nothing. Suri thanklessly walked to the car, her eyes once again turned toward her phone. Sunny started at the girl lifting all the heavy plastic bags into a trunk. She watched as the girl grunted each lift. After a few moments, Sunny decided to approach Coco.

"Hey Coco," Sunny said. "Do you want some help?" Coco looked shocked for a moment as the suggestion, before letting out a happy grin.

"Sure," Coco said. "I'd love that." The two packed all the supplies into Suri's car, before taking off. After a half-hour of driving, Coco dropped Sunny off at her house.

"OK Sunny I'll be back tomorrow at 5," Suri said as Sunny got out of the car. "Coco, home," Suri ordered Coco.

"Yes Suri," Coco said. She stopped to let out a wave to Sunny, who returned it. "Now," Suri continued in a quiet, but nasty tone. Coco let out a sigh before continuing.

After about 20 minutes, Sunny saw a green SUV pull up. She saw Juniper in the back, with the driver window darkened. Juniper stepped out of the car, happily running toward Sunny.

"Hey Sunny," Juniper said, carrying a bag of stuff.

"Hey, June," Sunny Sunny replied. "Come on, let's go inside. We've got lots to discuss."

"OK," Juniper said.

Juniper stepped into Sunny's home. It had a beautiful atrium, a well-stocked and orderly kitchen, and a fancy den.

"So what do your parents do," Juniper asked. "And where are they?"

"My parents manage hedge funds," Sunny said. "They usually go to these parties and business dinners, so I only see them on weekends. Yours?"

"My mom is a housewife," Juniper said. "My dad is a car salesman."

"Was that the guy who dropped you off," Sunny asked.

"No, that was my uncle," Juniper said.

"What does he do," Sunny asked.

"Uh," Juniper said, stalling, "supervisor."

"Really, what does he supervise," Sunny asked.

"Uh, troubled people with maturity problems," Juniper replied, remembering the stress Uncle Canter had dealing with egotistical actors. He often complained being a director made him into a babysitter for a bunch of prima donnas.

"So, he's like a special needs counselor," Sunny discerned.

"Sort of," Juniper replied. "The people he works with have...really special needs."

"Anyways, let's go to my room," Sunny replied, pulling Juniper upstairs.

SUnny opened the door. Juniper looked in awe, as Sunny's room was as sumptuous at every other room in the house. A Persian carpet, a fancy king-sized bed with purple sheets, a personal bathroom, and a fancy drawer carved from really sturdy wood.

"OK," Sunny said. "Let's go over the schedule. Tell me the order of what we want to do." After a half-hour, Juniper tiredly said aloud the order of events at the party.

"You can memorize science stuff, but you can't memorize a simple schedule," Sunny asked with some jest.

"Party stuff isn't my thing," Juniper said, annoyed.

"OK," Juniper said. "Now what?"

"OK let's work on your conversation skills," Sunny said, her voice becoming serious. "You go off into tangents about science and stuff, and it is great and all that you love science. But people get annoyed if you dump info on them when they don't care." Sunny punctuated her point with a glare. "If you meet someone new, try and find something you both like to talk about, or at least talk to them about the things they care about. Got it?"

"Yes," Juniper said. "My parents told me the same thing. I won't bring up science at the party."

"Good. Now show me the outfit you want to wear," Sunny said. Juniper pulled out a pink top and a grey skirt that she presented happily. Sunny looked like she was swallowing lemon.

"What is it," Juniper asked, "did I do something wrong." Sunny's face turned to snarl.

"Are your parents colorblind," Sunny muttered, annoyed.

"What do you mean," Juniper asked in confusion.

"These don't match you at all," Sunny said with fury, throwing the tacky clothes on the floor.

"My mom said it was cute," Juniper said.

"That's exactly why you shouldn't be wearing it," Sunny muttered. "What makeup did you bring?" Juniper looked down.

"I don't normally use makeup," Sunny said. She was about to go to her bathroom when she saw Juniper looking sad.

"Juniper what's wrong," Sunny asked.

"Do you think I'm ugly," Juniper asked.

"No. Why would you-,"

"Well, you're making me wear different clothes and makeup," Juniper said sadly. "Is there something wrong with me?"

"No, why would you-,"

"Do people in this world only care about looks?" Juniper asked. My dad says they don't matter, but my mom bugs me about any issue with my clothes. Are people out there just shallow?" Juniper said sadly. Sunny paused trying to come up with an answer.

"Let me put it this way," Sunny said. "If you worked as an HR director, and you had to choose between someone who dressed like a slob, and someone who was well dressed, who would you pick?"

"The well-dressed guy," Juniper replied.

"If I go shopping, will you go to a clean, well-run store or a dirty, rundown store," Sunny continued.

"Clean, obviously. What is your point?"

"A nice outfit and makeup are more than looks," Sunny said. "They say to the word "You matter", they say to the world "I am going to catch it by the tail"," Sunny continued. "A good outfit tells people you are an achiever, and says that you have confidence."

"Well, I don't have much of that," Juniper said.

"Well, talking pride in you appearance is one way to build confidence," Sunny said. She looked at Juniper, who was sitting nervously on the bed. She bent her neck and gave Juniper a warm smile. "And if you have questions, I'm here to help you, rain or sleet." Juniper returned the smile with a grateful one.

"You want to build some confidence," Sunny asked, giving her a challenging look.

"Well-,"

"I said do you want confidence!"

"Yes!"

"OK," Sunny said. "Then get your butt into these clothes and try on some makeup."

After 45 minutes of trying on different sets of outfits, looking at different kinds of makeup, and wearing different accessories, Sunny declares her work complete.

"So, what do you think," Sunny asked Juniper, who was staring herself in the mirror. Juni[er's hair had been brushed and sprayed, and those movie reel-shaped barrettes were removed, allowing her hair to flow down naturally, where it almost shined after a lot of grooming. Her cheeks were lightly blushed. Her top consisted of a purple sleeveless blouse, while on the bottom, she wore mauve and white pants that revealed her ankles. On her feet were red high-heeled shoes.

"I, I," Juniper said. "I look great," Juniper said.

"And if you can look great, you can feel great," Sunny said.

"Thank you so much, Sunny," Juniper said, so happy she looked sad.

"No need to thank me," Sunny said. "Just do the best you can." Her smile turned sly. "Or, do the best a normal person who isn't you can do." Juniper let out a small snicker.

"I will," Juniper said.

Sunny let out some relief that Juniper was secure enough to take a little ribbing.

'Maybe this won't be so bad," Sunny thought.

'Being a Friendship Princess is hard,' Twilight thought tiredly, as she saw Sunset hiding underneath her bed, covering herself with her blanket, looking like a lump under the sheets.

"Sunset," Twilight said with frustration. "Come out from there. You've got notes to review."

"No," the lump said.

"Sunset," Twilight said. "You actually were able to capture some magic. That's good progress."

"Yeah, progress," Sunset said sarcastically from the sheets. "Breaking a window and burning some guy shows I am really progressing."

"That was an accident," Twilight said. "And that guy was wearing armor. You said it was an accident."

"Yeah, and it cost me 700 dollars to fix the window so the school wouldn't ban me from the labs," Sunset nearly yelled. "It's hopeless." Twilight gave her friend a grave look.

"Sunset," Twilight said. "Don't make me do this." Sunset said nothing. "I'm giving you one last chance, Sunset," Sunset said nothing. "OK, I warned you." Twilight took a deep breath.

"SUNSET SHIMMER," Twilight bellowed. The force of Twilight's yell blew Sunset off of the bed.

"Did you just do the Royal Canterlot Voice," Sunset muttered fearfully, and she pulled herself off the ground.

"YOUR EFFORTS HAVE BEN DISGRACEFUL," Twilight howled. "AS YOUR PRINCESS I COMMAND YOU TO GET BACK TO WORK!"

"But-"

"DO IT!"

"OK, OK," Sunset stammered, getting off of the ground and going to her computer.

"Works every time," Twilight said with a sly smile, as the red-haired girl looked at her computer notes.