Libraries are supposed to be typically quiet places. However, Twilight Sparkle’s library had always been anything but quiet.
Especially now.
“It’s your anniversary today! Today! One year since you came to Ponyville, hurray! Hurray! It’s been a super duper awesome time so far! So far! And that’s cause you’re Ponyville’s super duper spectacular shining STAR!” Pinkie Pie sang, twirling around Twilight Sparkle’s library in her usual fashion.
Around her, ponies stamped their hooves on the ground in approval while Twilight Sparkle gave her friend a bright smile.
“Thank you, Pinkie Pie,” she said to the pink earth pony, who was already halfway through eating a large cupcake.
“Nfo fpwoblef!”Pinkie Pie replied, mouth full of pastry.
“What was that?”
The pink pony finished her cupcake, and grinned at Twilight. “I said, ‘No problem,’ silly!” she replied and giggled.
“And thank you for this party too,” Twilight said, looking around at her decorated home. Streamers were hanging from the ceiling and criss-crossing above their heads, colorful balloons practically filled the space in-between the streamers, and the Cake couple had taken care of the food: cupcakes, candy, cakes, muffins, and all kinds of sweets for everypony.
And it had all been a surprise. The morning of that day, Applejack had called her to Sweet Apple Acres for some help with their apple trees. While the purple unicorn was out, the rest of her best friends had snuck into the library (with the help of one baby dragon) and prepared a party to celebrate one year of Twilight being in Ponyville.
Rainbow Dash had been in charge of monitoring Twilight Sparkle, making sure she didn’t go back to the library before everything was ready. Rarity had been the one to decorate the library (with heavy doses of streamers and balloons at Pinkie Pie’s request). Fluttershy had asked her bird friends to be the music for the night, and they were sitting in the corner and singing sweetly for everyone’s enjoyment. Of course, Pinkie Pie had overseen the whole thing and invited practically every pony in Ponyville for the party.
Indeed, they were all somehow crammed into Twilight Sparkle’s library, and the purple unicorn surveyed the scene. Off to one corner, a gray Pegasus pony with wonky eyes was chatting with a brown-maned stallion about muffins and strange blue boxes. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were all over the place, and Twilight had heard them say something like “Cutie Mark Crusaders, party throwers!” She could also hear the popping of balloons and Mayor Mare shouting “Pokey!” and scolding the unicorn. Even the rest of the Apple family on Sweet Apple Acres had come down from the farm to join the festivities. She could see Granny Smith sleeping in a rocking chair, and Big Macintosh talking to Caramel and a few of the other guests.
She smiled, sipping a drink that had been put down in front of her. The whole scene was a little unorganized, maybe even a little chaotic (apparently, somepony had just challenged Rainbow Dash and the other pegasi to a game of “Extreme Pin-the-tail on the Pony”), but it was home to her. Living in Ponyville for a year had been more fun than all her years living in Canterlot, and the ponies of this town had made her feel more at home than the other unicorns in Canterlot ever did.
Twilight was broken out of her thoughts by Pinkie Pie bouncing up to her and screaming “Time for presents!” The pink pony dragged her friend to center of the library, where the guests had cleared a little space. Applejack and Big Macintosh pushed a heavy-looking cart of gifts to the center, all of them for the purple unicorn.
“All this?” Twilight gasped, looking at the presents. “For me?” She turned to her friends, an amazed expression on her face.
“A’course, sugarcube,” Applejack said, trotting over and patting her friend on her back. “We got a lot to be thankful for ever since you arrived here in Ponyville. You sure snapped me out of what I was doin’ last Applebuck season.”
“AJ’s right,” Rainbow Dash agreed from her spot hovering above everyone. “Twi, you also took down monsters that none of us would have been able to fight.”
“And!” Pinkie Pie chimed in. “There was the Winter Wrap-up where everypony was like ‘argue argue argue’ and you were like ‘we gotta get organized!’ and then we all wrapped-up winter just in time! That was super-dee-duper awesome of you, Twi!” she managed to say all in one breath.
“You helped us realize so many things about ourselves too,” Fluttershy piped up with a nod. “I would have never known I could stand up to a full-grown dragon…”
Rarity gave Twilight a hug. “Twilight, dear. There is so much you’ve taught us about friendship, and so much you’ve done for Ponyville all in just one year. It would be quite uncouth of us if we didn’t throw you a party to celebrate.”
If Twilight’s smile could get any bigger, it might have split her face in two. “But I couldn’t have done all that if it weren’t for all of you. The whole reason why we were able to those things was because we worked together, and supported each other,” she told her five friends and they all joined together in a group hug, eliciting “aw’s” all around.
“How cheesy,” Spike muttered, standing off to one side.
“C’mere, Spike,” Twilight said and pulled him into their group hug with her magic. The baby dragon resisted at first, insisting he didn’t want any part of this “girly” stuff, but gave in after a while, letting out a small laugh.
Their hug was broken by a bright light filling the library, and they all turned their gaze upward.
“Twilight Sparkle,” Princess Celestia called out, appearing in the light and descending to stand in front her faithful student and her friends.
“Princess Celestia!” Twilight exclaimed, bowing to her mentor. The other ponies followed suit, bowing to the princess. The princess smiled at her subjects and motioned for them to stand up from their bow.
“Hello there, my little ponies,” she greeted the party guests before looking at Twilight Sparkle. “My faithful student… For one year, you have written to me all about the magic of friendship, and all that you have learned. To celebrate your one year of being here in Ponyville, I give you the gift of wisdom.”
There was another flash of light and a glass case filled with old-looking books next to her. It was rather large, even larger than the cart of gifts that was brought to Twilight.
The purple unicorn’s eyes widened as she took in some of the titles and authors. “Y-you’re giving all this to me?” The last word was squeaked out, as if she couldn’t believe she was even worthy of such a gift.
Princess Celestia smiled. “Of course, my faithful student. You deserve it,” she said to Twilight before giving her a pat on the head. “And now, I must go,” she stated, looking at all her subjects. “It seems that royal business never wants me to take a rest.” The tip of her horn glowed, and there was another flash of light, and the royal princess was gone.
There was a second of silence.
“YES!” Twilight squealed, jumping around the glass case. “Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! YES!” This was the most excited she had been since the day she became Princess Celestia’s personal protégé. She looked at the glass case, let out an excited squeal, and continued her jumping around it.
“Ooh!” Pinkie Pie began, stepping towards the case. “What’s that, Twilight?”
Twilight turned to the pink pony. “It’s a collection of books! And…” She pointed to one of the books. “That one is the personal magic journal of Starswirl the Bearded!” She let out a little gasp and pointed to another. “And that one is all about the ancient magic that existed more than a thousand years ago!”
She took a deep breath and let out another squeal of glee. “All these books! All this knowledge and wisdom passed down from generation to generation! Ooh! I am going to have so much fun reading these!” She gushed about how rare they were, and how she felt her little library wasn’t even worthy of such amazing books.
“Of course you will, dear,” Rarity remarked, although silently agreeing with the consensus of everyone else that reading wasn’t exactly the most fun a pony could have. But it was Twilight’s night, and whatever made her happy would be fine for all.
As she kept going on about her books and the party began again around them, a certain red stallion was watching the purple mare. He had his own serene smile on his face as he stared at her, something that did not go unnoticed by his friends.
“Boy, Twilight sure looks happy,” Caramel began, nudging Big Macintosh.
“Eeyup,” he agreed. “She sure does.”
“And Miss Sparkle certainly seems to… Sparkle when she’s happy,” Pokey, the blue unicorn, remarked and chuckled at his own pun. Caramel merely rolled his eyes.
“Eeyup,” Big Macintosh replied, still distracted. “She looks mighty happy… And mighty pretty too.”
Caramel and Pokey exchanged glances, both of them wiggling their eyebrows. They came up to either side of the red stallion.
“So…” Caramel began.
“You think Miss Sparkle looks pretty, huh?” Pokey asked him.
“Eeyup. Always have.”
“What else do you think about Twilight?” Caramel pressed.
Still distracted by the sight of a very happy Twilight, Big Macintosh began talking. “I think she’s one the smartest ponies here in Ponyville, or maybe even in Equestria. She’s the princess’ personal… What was that? Pro-tay-jay? Eeyup, one o’ those…” His smile softened and a light blush stained his face. “She sure done some awesome things for the town… The Winter Wrap-up, that time she helped out during Applebuck season… She even helped around Sweet Apple Acres!”
“And… You liked it when she helped around Sweet Apple Acres?” Pokey asked him. “You liked it when you got to see her?
Big Macintosh nodded. “Eeyup.”
“So when are you gonna tell her you’re in love with her?” Caramel asked him directly.
“I don’t know, maybe—What?!” Big Macintosh turned and looked at his friends. “Uh… No! I mean… Twi…” He began stuttering and stammering. “Twi would never go for a simple farm stallion like me! I mean… She… She…” He began backing up and away from his friends.
“Big Mac,” Caramel began, his tone one of warning.
“She’s this fancy unicorn from fancy Canterlot and… I… I’m just a stallion from Sweet Apple Acres! And I…”
“Macintosh,” Pokey said, also in a warning tone.
“I… I…” Big Macintosh kept backing up until he felt his back hoof catch on something. It took a moment to process, but he realized he was falling backwards onto the cart of gifts that he had wheeled out with his sister. “Oh, horseapples,” he muttered before he fell into the cart and felt it moving.
“Everypony out of the way!” he heard his sister shout. “Look out, Big Mac!”
The stallion braced himself for some inevitable impact, and felt the cart smashing into something. Shards of glass rained down on him, as well as the mountain of gifts on the cart. When he opened his eyes, he was in darkness, covered by boxes and parcels, and dazed and disoriented.
“Big Macintosh!” he heard, and his heart skipped a beat when he realized it was Twilight’s voice. Purple magic enveloped the boxes on top of him and levitated them away. Before long, he found himself looking up at the purple unicorn, who had a worried expression on her face.
“Are you okay?” she asked him, pushing off more boxes that were on top of him. “Are you hurt?” She helped him up, brushing off the shards of glass on his coat. “Fluttershy, can you get the first-aid ki…” She turned and realized that everypony was staring at her with a shocked expression their faces.
“What’s wrong?” Twilight asked. She looked around her, noticed the toppled cart and pile of gifts, wondered why everyone was so shocked. Then she turned around, looked down and realized why there had been shards of glass on Big Macintosh.
He and the cart had crashed into the glass case of books that Princess Celestia had given her. Twilight stared at the shattered case, and she let out a little gasp. Some, perhaps a third, of the books had been torn and ripped by the glass and the crash, being old and a little more fragile than normal books.
Twilight Sparkle, a unicorn who did not like the destruction of even one normal book, was now looking at several old and rare books in a state of destruction. For a few seconds, she could barely speak, and felt as if she could barely breathe.
Finally, she broke the silence. “M-m… M-my… Books,” she managed to say, her voice shaky. Her eyes began filling with tears, and before anypony could react, the tears began falling. She wasn’t hysterical, but she looked more shocked and scared. “My… Books.”
Her five best friends approached her, and Twilight began crying harder. She began saying something about ancient wisdom, valuable books, and her mentor. Her shoulders began shaking, and her friends surrounded her, keeping the sight of the crying unicorn away from the party guests.
Rainbow Dash flew up over her friends, putting her hoofs on her hips and addressing the party. “Okay, everyone, party’s over. Thank you for coming, you guys know your way out, see you around Ponyville, and buh-bye!” she shouted, prompting everypony to move towards the door and leave.
Big Macintosh still sat off to the side, staring in shock. In a few minutes, Twilight had gone from being the happiest pony in Ponyville to crying and being comforted by her friends. He wanted to step forward and apologize, but he could not find his voice, and from the way his sister was looking at him, he was being told to get out and fast.
“C’mon, Big Mac,” Caramel said, dragging him out of the library with the help of Pokey. The two stallions struggled a bit to drag their bigger friend out, but they managed. Big Mac still sat there, dead weight, and dumbfounded. The last sight he saw before the door of the library closed was Twilight’s big purple eyes filled with tears locking with his.
His throat felt like it had closed up, and a wave of dread washed over his heart. It was only now that he realized what exactly he had done, and all the hurt it had caused the purple unicorn that he had feelings for.
He stood up, surprising his two friends. “I need to get home,” he told them, looking at the ground.
“You sure you don’t need help?” Caramel asked.
“Yes, you look rather shaken up by this evening’s events,” Pokey remarked.
Big Macintosh nodded. “I… I’m sure. I just need to take long walk and think,” he told them and began walking in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. He looked back at the library, sighed and then kept walking.
He took a long walk around the farm, mulling over what had happened. He also took the time to think about his relationship with the purple unicorn. They were friends, of course. She had always seemed happy to work with him on the farm, just as happy as he had been to help her haul new books from the trains whenever they arrived.
Tonight, he saw three sides of her that he probably would never forget. There was the happiness she had displayed when she got her books, the concern for him when she had helped him up, and the heart-breaking sadness at the end of it all.
The stallion shook his head, ashamed at his own clumsiness. When he entered his home, he was thankful for the fact that it was late and the rest of his family had already gone to sleep. He quietly went to his room, still thinking about the night’s events. Once he got inside, he shed the yoke he always wore, and settled down on his bed.
But he wasn’t able to sleep. He looked at his own small collection of books on other side of his room. Unlike what most ponies thought, he wasn’t a dumb farm pony. He had taken care of their farming cycle schedules, and had used his “fancy mathematics” (as AJ called it) to run the farm. He actually liked reading, and not just working on the farm.
Twilight was the first pony outside his family to see past his simple demeanor. He had gotten to talking with her once when she helped out, and he began explaining the math behind farming. The following day, she had given him a book entitled “Optimized Mathematics for Agriculture.” She admittedly, a little embarrassed (and blushing in the cute way that made Big Mac smile), that she didn’t really understand the book, but maybe it would benefit the Apple Family more.
He saw that book on the shelf, and it had a place of honor on the top shelf, right next to other books that he treasured. He realized that if any of those books were destroyed, he would be very sad, and now he could imagine the pain that Twilight was feeling right now. With a groan, he pulled his blanket over his head, as if it could shield him from the shame.
“I’ve gotta do somethin’,” he told himself. “I’ve gotta make it up to Twilight…” He wondered what he could do, and he came up with ideas ranging from arranging apples in a field to spell out “I’m sorry” (which he deemed really silly) to working at her library to help pay for damages (which he deemed difficult because those books were priceless).
He peered out from under his blanket, and saw his bookshelf again. Suddenly, he knew what he could do. It wasn’t a big or grand gesture, and would never measure up to Princess Celestia giving her faithful student all those rare old books, but it was something.
x
Very early the next morning, as the first rays of dawn began breaking through the night, Big Macintosh arrived at the library. He had his saddlebags on, and a very nervous expression on his face. He took a deep breath, and raised a hoof to knock on the door. He tapped it lightly.
No response.
He tapped the door again, a little harder this time.
When there was no response, he began regretting coming this early. Twilight was probably still sleeping, and he could not afford another trespass with her. He was just about to turn and run when he heard the door open.
“Good morning?” he heard a sleepy voice say. He looked up and saw Twilight standing in the doorway, her hair a mess and a very tired expression on her face. But what caught his attention were her eyes which were red and puffy, indicating that she had been crying a lot.
“G-g-good morning, Twilight,” he managed to say. Instead of being met with anger, he was just met with a sad look from the unicorn.
“Good morning, Big Macintosh,” she told him. “How are you feeling?”
He looked at her, wondering why she wasn’t hitting him and yelling at him for what happened. “I… I’m okay. You?”
“Oh, good… I thought you had been hurt from the… Uhm… Accident last night,” she whispered, still not able to look him in the eye. Obviously, she was still hurting from last night, but was trying not to show it to the stallion.
“About last night…” Big Macintosh pulled something out from his saddlebags and set it in front of Twilight, on top of the little shelf on the door meant for returns. He gently reached out with his hoof and tilted Twilight’s face up to look at the object in front of her.
It was another old book, a little worn from years of being read and re-read. In one corner of the cover, Twilight could see shaky writing spelling out “Macintosh Apple” in crayon. She looked up at him know, her head tilted to one side, asking him what this was.
“Twilight Sparkle… I’m sorry…” He took a deep breath, gathering up his courage and praying he didn’t turn and run all of a sudden. “I’ll do anything to make up for what happened last night…” He gestured at the book in front of him. “But I want to you have my favorite book. It’s not as grand as the ones the Princess has, but I hope you like it.”
He gave her a shy smile and pointed at the cover. “The book is called ‘The Little Pony Who Wished.’ When I was a colt, I used to read this book over and over, and even got my Granny to read it to me over and over. It’s about following your dreams, and being the best you can in everything in you do.” He chuckled. “It reminded me to always give it my all, even if I wasn’t sure I could do something…”
He braved a look at the unicorn, and noticed that she was smiling at him. It was a sweet smile, one that nearly made his legs buckle.
“Thank you, Big Macintosh,” she told him. “I’m not mad about last night, I know it was an accident and know you didn’t mean for it to happen.” She looked at the book in front of her, touching it gently as if it was something very special (which it was for Big Macintosh). “This is a lovely gesture. Thank you.”
Big Macintosh nodded. “I hope you like it, and enjoy it as much as I did,” he said before turning and beginning to walk away.
“Wait!” he heard her say, and turned back. She looked at him, hoof on the book. “Would you… Would you like to come inside for breakfast?” she asked him as he approached. “And… Maybe…” She smiled at him again. “Maybe we can read this book together?” she asked, a deep blush visible on her purple coat.
Big Macintosh’s eyes widened slightly in surprised. “I… I… I’d like… I’d love to…” He cleared his throat. “Eeyup, I would love that very much,” he finally said.
Twilight smiled and opened the door for him, ushering him inside.
x
Epilogue:
“Mommy! Can we read this one please?” a little lilac earth pony with a purple mane asked her mother, who was sitting next to her bed. She showed her mother a book, and her mother let out a chuckle.
“Again? But I read this to you just last night,” her mother remarked.
“Eeyup!” the filly squeaked. “But I like it so much! I wanna hear it again and again and again and—”
“Okay, sugarcube,” her mother said and giggled. A big red stallion came through the door, smiling at the sight in front of him.
“Glad I made it home just in time for the bedtime story,” he said and walked over to his wife and his daughter.
“Daddy!” the filly squealed and giggled as the stallion kissed her forehead. “We’re gonna read ‘The Little Pony Who Wished’ tonight!” she told him as he settled down next to her mother.
“Oh? Again?” he asked, giving the purple unicorn a kiss.
“Eeyup! It’s my favorite book ever!” she said, grinning widely at both her parents.
“Mine too, sugarcube,” Twilight Sparkle remarked, looking at the stallion next to her before opening the book to the first page.
Big Macintosh smiled at his wife, then his daughter, then began reading the words off the page.
“There once was a little pony who dreamed…”
