Twilight Sparkle Requires Belly Rubs

A slow drawling whine was the only reason I got out of bed today. I looked over at my alarm clock, red LED's shining a pitiful glow into the darkened room. I groaned as I read the time, 1:30, my job interview was only an hour away. I peeled myself from the shell of blankets I wrapped around myself and trundled off to the bathroom to take a quick shower. I turned the knob and after a second the pipes belched icy water on my bare skin. I finished my shower quickly and moved onto my wardrobe, a sad display with only a few shirts, some pants, and one tuxedo suit, shoes and all. Wasting no time I slipped on the tux and looked at myself in my mirror. A mop of brown hair fell down messily across my face I would have to fix my hair as soon as I got to Arcadia Inc. I checked my alarm clock again, 1:50. I had just enough time. I ran through my small drafty apartment complex, not grabbing anything to eat before I slammed the door behind me. I reached the bottom floor in record time and fumbled with my keys as I moved my way to the side of the building where my old junker car was parked. It was a gift from an old friend, which I found out later to be a liability when the engine nearly fell out ten miles down the road. As I turned the key it coughed and sputtered until I smacked the dashboard with a single slap, which caused it to roar back to life. I peeled out of the lot and started to make my way downtown, driving fast, car could break down, and I'm job bound... now I was singing to myself. Today was going to be a good day.

Equestria

Twilight Sparkle awoke with a foggy head and messed up fur. She removed herself gently from her improvised sleeping area, her desk to be specific. As she shook her hair to try and clear the fog, papers fell silently onto the carved wood of her tree. She levitated a brush to move her mane out of her eyes when she Spike's voice call from the downstairs, "Do you want some tea Twilight?"

"Coffee please Spike, and make it strong." She heard him humming downstairs as she continued to struggle with her mane. His footsteps echoed up the stairs and she smelled the freshly brewed coffee. "Thank you Spike." she said, and though her mane still blocked her eyes, especially with the defeated comb hanging off like a flag in a soft breeze. She brought the cup to her lips and before she was able to take a drink she noticed something odd. The aura around the cup which normally was supposed to be a smooth and purple was becoming erratic and was a sickly red color. Without any notice the cup sprang from the aura like it was a thief caught in a mansion. As it flicked towards Spike, his tail lashed and caught the mug in mid-attack, though as a repercussion the brew spilled sadly onto the floor. He set the mug down gently and strode over to Twilight, placing a clawed paw on her shoulder. "Are you ok?" he asked, removing the brush and tiding the rest of her mane.

"I'm fine." she replied, staring at the cup with a nearly offended gaze. "I'll need to ask Celestia about this anomaly. Can you stay at Rarity's until Celestia and I can figure out what the problem is? I don't want you getting hurt if something else is awry with my spells."

"Twi, I'm not a hatchling anymore." He said staring into her eyes. "I think I can take a little more damage than a few random cups being thrown at me." It was true, Spike had grown exponentially over the past couple of years, he was now a drake and though he did not quite have the potential of flight his scales had toughened and he assumed a more bipedal stance with a quite impressive tail that nearly acted a third arm during his chores. Of course Twilight had taken notes on her friend's increasing growth nearly filling a small library with all the information she accrued.

"I know that you are no longer a baby Spike." she said, shuffling her papers around looking for a scroll for Celestia. "Yet if all of my magic is reacting unexpectedly what could happen to the magical runes that protect our home and the archives? For all I know they could ignite, or make snakes crawl out of the storage boxes, or even..." She stopped, Spike finding the scroll and placing it in front of her. "Thank you." she said.

As she scrawled out the letter she heard Spike sigh again and look at the ground. "Ok." he replied chuckling as he put his hands around his head, "If you want to protect me that much I'll stay at Rarity's until this problem is solved." He turned and started to walk out until he heard Twilight give a small cough. He turned and saw her motioning the scroll with her hoof.

"Still remember how to send a letter?" she said with a trill of mild sarcasm. Against all of the stacking odds she still was keeping a clear head about her.

"I think these old bellows can still give a couple good puffs." he replied and took the scroll in his claws, igniting it with a pale green flame. "Stay safe." he said rustling her mane yet again before he left. She smiled at the passing drake, yet as he disappeared she looked down and frowned as she collected her fallen parchment. She began to document a record of the past five days before the incident. As she flipped through her planner and recorded the times one thought kept flowing through her mind. "What could of caused this?"

Earth

As I pulled into the Arcadia Inc. complex I immediately knew that something was wrong. The first thing that tipped me off was that there were no cars in the lot. "It's probably lunch time." I said to myself stupidly as I navigated effortlessly to the front door. As I pulled on the handles the second realization hit me like a cinder block and rebar hammer to the crotch. There were no lights on in the building, there was no receptionist waiting to let me in at the desk, so unless this company specialized in the selling to ghost customers then I was utterly and completely boned. As I racked my brain for something that I missed in planning I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I picked it out, it was an old flip-phone which had granted me many bouts of laughter from both my friends and my ex. One message glowed as an unopened envelope on the screen. I clicked a few buttons and the message that I read sent my blood directly from a liquid to solid state.

"Dear Mr. Calihan, we regret to inform you that your originally scheduled appointment has been cancelled. Looking back on you resume we decided to hire Ms. Clive for the assistant of Mr. Fontaine. We hope that this does not disrupt your normal life and I wish you a good day."

Signed,

Abigail Moore
My grip nearly crushed the phone. That bastard Jacob Fontaine, we grew up together at one point and even ended up at the same college. We never really close friends, but we respected each other's lives. That is to say before the woman (now my ex) Zoey Chanel came into both of our lives. I eventually won the war against Fontaine for Zoey's temporary heart but Fontaine was never the same. I had no idea that he ran Arcadia Inc. and I bet when he saw my resume and interest in a job at his corporation he gave that crooked grin he always had when he was a kid. He also got Zoey in the end, after she saw how difficult it was for me to earn an honest living, she decided to take the top rung of the corporate ladder by running back to Jacob like a bitch with her tail between her legs. After my silent ranting I realized how biting the early November air was against my exposed face.

I climbed back into the car and turned the key, nothing. "Oh no." I said to no one in particular as I climbed back into the whipping wind, my tux blowing around me like a makeshift parachute. I lifted the hood and only had to glance at the engine block to find the problem. Apparently ancient electronics and cracked coolant pipes did not do well to keep an engine cool. Some parts were nearing a semi liquid state, including the battery which was placed underneath the leaking coolant for some idiotic reason. I was not going anywhere anytime soon. I pulled out my phone again and punched in the towing company's number, I was one of their best customers, good for them, and a near epidemic on my bank accounts. "Alexander's car shop," came the gruff voice of the owner Alexander. "whatcha need?"

"Alexander," I started "it's Atlas, I need some help, I'm at Arcadia Inc. the engine overheated and the battery is toast, can you send someone out here?"

"Sure Atlas," he replied, "I'll send Bob out to fish you out. He'll be there in about an hour or two."

I sighed, Alexanders was nearly halfway across town. "Oh yeah Alexander, something came up and I might not be able to pay you this time."

He laughed, "Atlas, you're a brave enough bastard for taking that hunk of junk in the first place, I'll fix her up for you again, don't worry about it."

"Thanks Alexander." I said, closing the phone, cutting off the call and settling back into my two ton doorstop. I leaned my head back, closing my eyes. I needed to do some thinking, and maybe if I was lucky I would be able to get some decent sleep. Yeah right.