Fabric

The day started like any other for Twilight Sparkle, notorious introvert and local librarian for the small town of Ponyville. She picked her slender, violet frame out of bed, brushed her teeth, completed a few meditation exercises, and proceeded to descend the stairs to her kitchen. However, today was slightly different - feeling slightly bold,  she decided to make breakfast for herself and her favoured assistant, Spike.

It was a fairly simple life, what with the peace that currently reigned over the land of Equestria. It had been only a short while ago that the evil king Sombra had been defeated in the Crystal Empire, to the relief of not only her residents, but to all of Equestria. So, as the inevitable drama and hype from such events began to die down, the clearly defined tracks of normal, everyday life became apparent, and were soon followed to the letter.

The rough oak wood counters creaked slightly as Twilight pulled out a cursed codex she had yet to tame - a cookbook. Although she attempted several times in the past to cook various meals, whether it be breakfast, lunch or dinner, they always ended as that: attempts. It was usually Spike who would grab the bucket of water placed directly next to the oven for those exact situations - he was also the same dragon who would make a proper, non-smoldering meal. Nevertheless, Twilight, in a fit of cautious yet ready enthusiasm, was attempting once more to create something worthy of both her and the violet dragon’s palate.

Unbeknownst to her, Spike had woken up minutes earlier, and was already reviewing a small pamphlet on proper fire safety procedure. The small folio had basic instructions on what to do when any sort of fire broke out, and because of Twilight’s various culinary escapades, the purple reptile could almost recite it by heart. His repetitive reviewing of its contents was less out of disdain for his friend's culinary prowess, and more out of a basic necessity for safety whilst dealing with such... delicate situations.

As Twilight readied a bowl (and Spike, his nerves), the sounds of a certain out of control prismatic pegasus became louder and louder. It all came to a peak when Rainbow Dash, athlete and partial braggart, came barreling in through a second story window, hitting the wooden floor with a dull thud, coupled with the crash of several volumes of various books. With a heavy sigh, Twilight put down her culinary utensil and made her way to the upper floor. Spike, stowed away under a small crevice beneath the stairwell, hopped into the kitchen while Twilight was away, proactively avoiding disaster at its source by taking over the doomed cooking operation.

“Rainbow Dash, how many times do I have to...  oh goodness me.” Twilight’s beration was cut startlingly short as she saw the multi-hued flyer buried under a pile of reference works. Between volumes one and five of the Encyclopedia Trotanica lay Rainbow’s head, while her tail was located between seven and nine. All the other volumes were haphazardly strewn across her physically fit, cyan frame. Twilight frantically scrambled to remove the offending materials, attempting to toss the volumes away from Rainbow’s body. Once uncovered, Rainbow spit out a copy of the “Canterlot Standard Dictionary” that had gotten stuck in her mouth, and blushed as her hoof moved to the back of her head.

“Eheh... Sorry Twilight... I guess I’ve gotta work on that landing.”

The only response from Twilight was an exasperated glare, followed by a deep sigh. “You do realize you’re helping me clean this up, right?”

Rainbow solemnly nodded as she stood up, beginning to pick up the mangled remains of a once organized set of Encyclopedias and other hardback publications, placing them in a slightly neater pile near the bottom of Twilight’s bedframe. Twilight began to reorganize the pile, attempting to once again attain a beautiful, organized set of books. Meticulously scanning each title, she started sorting each book into a proper stack of it’s corresponding alphabetical order.

 It wasn’t more than a few minute after this assembly line of bookkeeping started that Twilight happened to stumble on a peculiar title - a yellow book, with the words “FABRIC: Universe Theories and More” emblazoned in red lettering. She hadn’t ever seen this book in her collection, nor had she any memory of reading, or even purchasing such a book. Intensely curious, she set the oddity by her back hooves, saving it out for a read through once everything was finished.

Two heads proved to be far more effective than one, and in a period of about twenty minutes, the duo had finished the monotonous sorting job. By this time, Spike had finished preparing a healthy, non-singed breakfast - partially to the relief (and slight chagrin) of Twilight. Both Twilight and Spike implored Rainbow to stay for breakfast, to which Rainbow conceded.

As they ate, a thought entered Twilight’s head. “So, Rainbow,” Twilight started, trying to speak in between bites. “Did you have a reason for flying straight into the Library?”

Rainbow’s face flushed, visibly embarrassed by the question. “Er...I...em....uh...” Her hoof once again found purchase at the back of her head. After a few more moments of stuttering, her voice finally made its way back to her. “I... was just wondering... if... I don’t know... maybe you’d like to... getsomethingtoeatlatertoday?” Rainbow blurted out the last part, before snapping a hoof over her mouth, her cyan cheeks almost a bright crimson.

Twilight’s face was no better, shifting from a pastel violet to a very bright red. “Oh... uh... wow... I...” She began to answer, but Rainbow cut her off before she could say more.

“It was a stupid idea, don’t worry, just forget I even said anything!”

Twilight lightly chuckled. “No Rainbow! It just... caught me off guard, that’s all. Of course I’ll go out to eat with you.”

Rainbow’s face brightened. “Really? You will?”

Twilight nodded. “Of course! Why wouldn’t I?”

“Well, I just... thought you might find it... uncool... or something.” Rainbow’s face once again started ascending to crimson.

“Of course I wouldn’t! It’s actually kind of... well... cute.” Twilight’s voice dropped at the last word, almost mumbling it.

This was Spike’s cue to leave the room - this lovey-dovey stuff would just rot his brain, after all. After clearing his place, he hightailed it out of the dining room, and made his way back up to his comfy bed, wherein he planned to catch up on a little missed sleep.

Meanwhile, both Twilight and Rainbow were conducting embarrassed staredowns with the contents of their plates.

Twilight was the first to break the awkward silence. “So...when will this be?”

“Will six work?”

“Yeah, it should. Where do you want to go?”

“Well...” Rainbow pondered for a moment. “There’s a few options around here - maybe we could go for some Prench down at ‘Le fer á cheval’ - my treat?”

Twilight swallowed briskly, almost choking on a piece of soy pancake.

“‘Le fer á cheval’? The Prench restaurant that costs nearly 30 bits per person just to get a reservation?”

“Yeah, I don’t see why not. I don’t exactly... spend much - I only buy the necessities. I might as well use some of that excess money having a good time with a great friend.”

“Wow Rainbow... I’m not sure what to say...”

“Just say yes, and everything will be fine.” Rainbow attempted to speak seductively, only partially succeeding, but enough to grab Twilight’s attention. The two moved in closer to each other, bodies craning over the table.

“...So six?”

“Six.”

Slowly, they both moved in more. Time started to slow to a standstill as their wet lips softly touched, only lasting a brief second before parting.

*POMF*

Rainbow glared at her cursed appendages. Twilight’s cheeks were once more tinted red, and both of their gazes again shifted down to their plates.

“So... er... I guess I’ll... see you at six...” Rainbow awkwardly shuffled away from the table. “Alrightgottagoloveyoubye!” Rainbow completed the walk out the door, slamming the poor oak door with a great amount of force. Twilight couldn’t help but chuckle, amused by the cuteness of Rainbow’s slightly lovestruck awkwardness.

After clearing the table of the remaining two places, she headed back upstairs, where the mystery book yet laid, waiting to be opened and explored. She sat on her bed, with title in hand, and opened to the first page. With a relaxed sigh, she began to read.

The introduction was a healthy primer to several topics, namely those dealing with the primary mechanics in the interaction between magic and matter. The text, as the introduction stated, was a “formal inquiry into the true nature of these dynamics within the scope of the universe”. This was most definitely up Twilight’s alley, and she read on fervently.

Hours passed, and Twilight’s head was still buried in the book. Spike had attempted to get her attention several times, but Twilight downright refused to separate her eyeballs from the pages in front of her. Thoroughly exasperated, he assumed no response at all was plenty of permission to see if Rarity needed any help down at the Boutique.

More and more words flew by Twilight’s eyes - she had made it to a chapter on heavily theoretical “interaction waypoints” with dimensions, and upon examining the listed ley lines, she realized a lot of this seemed possible, given the right source of magical power. The inquisitive, experimental side of her awoke, and she racked her brains for potential source of power, ones large enough to sustain the opening of a waypoint multiple times.

Suddenly, it hit her.

The Alicorn Amulet.

Although Zecora was the last one to have it, she was sure she’d be able to get it from her - it was just for research, after all. How could she object?

“What do you mean you object?” Twilight yelled, exasperated.

“The cursed Amulet of which you seek, has been shown to corrupt the meek. I cannot trust anyone, even you, for fear a dictator shall rise anew.” Zecora answered.

“There’s nothing to worry about! I’m just using it for research - I’ll give it back when I’m done. Besides, I’ve got far too powerful a will for it to corrupt me!”

“I am terribly sorry, Ms. Twilight, but I cannot allow it, for it simply would not be right!”

Twilight let out a heavy sigh. “Fine. Impede valuable research!” With that, Twilight stomped out of the hut, grumbling to herself. “So help me Celestia, I will get my hands on that amulet!” Her thoughts were ablaze with covert plan for retrieving the Amulet, and as she walked through the Everfree forest back to her home, a deviously clever operation was beginning to be fleshed out.

Twilight had just learned a set of low-yield invisibility spells not a day earlier, and this would be the perfect trial run! She figured that later that night, while Zecora was presumably sleeping, she could cast the spell, sneak in, grab the amulet, and get out without anyone knowing. Although the evidence would overwhelmingly point to her as the perpetrator, she figured she would only need it for a short time, and that the problem would blow over once she had proved she could handle the immense power provided by the amulet. It was foalproof!

While waiting for night to descend upon Equestria, Twilight decided to try to finish reading the book, seeing if anything more could be gleaned from its amazing pages. Her eyes once again found themselves glued to the text, attached to every word written. The beauty and eloquence of the theories drew her in like a fly to honey. With her plan set in mind, and curled up with a good book, she had a feeling that this would be a wonderful night.