For you, Twilight

Chapters

For you, Twilight
Mystery (Re-done)
Return
Surprises
Beginning

For you, Twilight

By TCP127

This story and its message were inspired by three things, me, Acoustic Brony and his song crepuscularity, and a comment on his song by sergiostudios.

His original comment : When I hear this song I feel so lonely, sad like I’m alone in space, and know that the most beautiful creature in the entire Multiverse Is so far away from me, in another dimension she is there smile and cry with her friends, learning about friendship, and while that I’m here crying at night by know she is too far way for us to be together, I pass through the day and smile when I think about her, and cry when I open my eyes, and I wish that I can find someone that is like her but there is no one like Twilight.

I woke up slowly, taking in the small room and its meager surroundings. A pile of dirty clothes lying in the corner, a dusty old desktop that I cherished with my life and a small but surprisingly well-kept closet tucked into the somewhat claustrophobic space that I called the ‘master bedroom’.

Probably because I don’t use the closet that much I thought to myself, noting the three piles of clothes dumped into the corner and the nearly empty closet with one lonely shirt hanging in it. I sat up fully and took a glance at my old beaten alarm clock, somehow still working through the constant days of abuse during my time at U of I.

Twelve P.M., I thought to myself. Perfect. I climbed groggily out of bed, rubbing the excess sleep out of my eyes with my right hand. I walked over to the piles of clothes in the corner and began digging through the “Not so bad” pile for my favorite shirt to wear around the house.

No, no, no, no, where is it? I wondered, flinging aside other various bits of clothing. “Yes!” I declared out loud, happy that I found my favorite Twilight shirt. An Obama like picture of Twilight adorned the front, with a caption that said Read in a sort of blue and red color blend. Three wears in a row? This shirt is now twenty percent cooler. I thought to myself, as I mentally slapped myself at the lame joke.

I threw on some random pair of jeans and happily made my way to the main room, where my most expensive possession, a twenty-inch plasma TV sat, almost willing me to turn it on. Finally new episode, here I come. I delightfully thought to myself, allowing a small grin to creep across my face. And a Twilight one at that. I added on, thinking of the purple mare that I always dreamed about, but could never have. I even took it the point where I even began saying “Goodnight Twilight” whenever I went to bed, hopefully my goodnight reaching across the Multiverse to her.

Dreamers can dream, huh? I thought as my mind tried to think about the chances of that happening. I let out a sigh and flipped on the TV, punching in the channel number for the HUB, ready for the new episode. I caught the show as the intro was ending, going straight to commercial after seeing a glimpse of the My Little Pony logo. I groaned loudly and made my way over to the kitchen to fix up a bowl of Frosted Flakes for breakfast.

“Only thing commercials are good for anyway.” I grumbled to myself as I pulled a spoon out of the sink. I quickly grabbed a bowl and dumped a generous amount of cereal and milk in it, just now thinking about how hungry I was. I sat the milk back in the fridge and sat the box back atop, grabbing my bowl to plop back in front of the TV just as the commercial ended. Perfect timing. I thought as I let an even bigger smile go across my face.

Thirty minutes of laughter and a lesson learned later, the new episode was over and left with that longing of Twilight again. I sighed audibly, sure the episodes were great, but thinking about how someone-, I mean somepony, so perfect is out there, made me a bit sad that I could not have her here, right by my side was a bit depressing. She is just a cartoon, silly, My mind thought as it tried to bring me back to reality. There still was that light chance that she was still out there, so I clung onto that hope as I walked back into the kitchen to clean my bowl. I quickly washed the bowl and spoon, placing them into the small cupboard above the sink when I felt they were polished enough. I took a deep breath and walked through the small hallway that connected all the rooms together to my favorite room in the whole apartment, my study. It wasn’t so much a study as it was the place I kept my massive book collection, amassed long before I discovered My Little Pony.

It was actually the biggest room in the apartment and the only reason I didn’t chose it as my room was the glorious view it had of the Chicago, making it the only place I would want to read my books. I stepped up to the curtains and swung them open, greeting me with a not-so-typical Chicago March. The sun was almost directly overhead, leaving very few shadows to dilute the glorious view offered by the window. I watched as the various Chicagoans went about enjoying the unusual weather, joggers getting in their afternoon run, the surprisingly empty beachfront, and various boats and jet skis whisked their way through Lake Michigan. I smiled widely and moved over to one of the many bookcases that lined three of the walls. Unsatisfied with the selection in the first one, I moved onto the next, looking for something I could stand to read. Then I went to the next one, then to the next, and the next, and the next, and then the last three, nearly seething in disappointment to not find something that interested me.

I let out a groan of frustration and trundled out of the room, planning to get on the computer to occupy my mind. I opened my door and plopped myself into the chair, trying to get as comfortable as possible. I had a feeling I would be here awhile, however that feeling would be very short lived. I gave the power button a solid press and the old computer began to whip up, a little groggier than usual. Then, without any extra flair, it gave up with a dry sigh. It’s been a long eight years hasn’t it? I thought, remembering the first time I got this computer and how excited I was when my father bought it. I stood up and gave the tower a soft pat. “All that porn must have tuckered you out, huh?” I let out a dry laugh and walked out the room remembering the best time with that old desktop. “Looks like she’s finally gone.” I thought with a sigh and reminded myself to get rid of it later.

I wandered around the apartment for a little while longer, trying to think about something else buther. Just let her go, she’s just a freaking cartoon! A figment of someone’s mind! She is unable to exist with you in any way except in Imagination.My mind yelled at me, obviously trying to be the voice of reason.

“I can’t take this anymore, I need to think!” I yelled at myself, grabbing my notebook and a pencil off of my desk. I planned on going to the one place I could always think clearly, not bothering to grab anything else, knowing I wouldn’t need it.

I tucked the notebook under my arm, locking my apartment door behind me. I walked quickly through the fairly long hallway, desperately wanting to get to my destination as quickly as possible. I opted to take the stairs, not wanting to be bothered with the hopelessly slow elevators, and quickly made my way to the lobby three floors below. As soon as I got to lobby, I waved a friendly hello at the apartment landlord, who was currently manning the front desk. I walked out of the revolving doors and into the fresh Chicago air, the temperature somewhere in the comfortable seventies.

It’s pretty nice actually, living this close to the lake, you get the beauty of Downtown, along with the fresh lake breeze coming through, taking most of the rather unpleasant smells out of the area. My whole life was pretty nice actually, now that I think about it. I still have two alive and well parents, a nice degree in English from the U of I, a steady job tutoring kids who need additional help in English, a nice apartment downtown, and of course, My Little Pony.

But why do I still feel this way? That I’m attracted to something that can’t possibly exist except in stories? I thought in frustration as I walked the few blocks in-between my apartment and the lake. I guess I’ll find out later, when I finally get there. I came to a truce in my head, instead trying to focus on the things happening around me, weaving through a few crowds, crossing a few busy streets, waving hello to one of my old friends from college, and buying a Vienna dog and a classic coke-cola.

After what seemed like a few minutes of that, I found myself at the entrance of pier 14, gingerly unlocking the gate by putting an arm through the bars. With a successful click a few seconds later, I pushed the old metal gate open, forcing it to creak very loudly. After I was through, I gingerly shut the gate behind me, so no one would guess I was back here. I walked rather slowly to the edge of the pier, sitting down with a plop, and letting my legs dangle freely off of the edge. This is the place where I got the best ideas of my writing from, the serenity and quietness allowing me to think so clearly. Sadly, I didn’t come here for that, I thought as I let out a loud groan and let the truce in my mind drop, preparing for a worse war than those fought between the NLR and Solar Empire.

Surprisingly none came, and I laid my back on the wooden pier and let out a sigh of relief, I guess this place is more relaxing than I thought. I guessed with a wide smile all across my face. I laid there until the sun was nearly below the lake front, casting a beautiful twilight across the pier.

I sat up quickly, a wave of inspiration hitting me like a wave. I grabbed my notebook and started writing,

“For you, Twilight.”

Thirty minutes later, I finished my letter, signing it with a flourish of my name. I rolled it into a sort of scroll and placed it in the empty cola bottle. I screwed the top back on, and as strong as I could, threw it into the water, watching it hit with a splash. I smiled widely, and walked away, humming a happy tune and feeling much better than earlier.

Mystery (Re-done)

Chapter 2: Mystery

By TAB

A cool breeze whipped through the Everfree, chilling Twilight right through her coat as she made her trek through the often dangerous forest. Tugging her scarves and equipment closer to herself in a half-hearted attempt to warm up, Twilight quickly figured that the cold would be well worth the slight discomfort. Tonight was Luna’s biggest meteor shower since she had returned from the Moon, and was in celebration of her one year anniversary of being free of Nightmare Moon’s corrupting grasp.

Not wanting to diminish the beauty of such a meteor shower, Twilight had decided to observe the shower from a shore in the Everfree forest, free of the polluting light from Ponyville. With her she had bought a high-power telescope, several writing pads, and the materials to set up camp for the night. She had brought along the camping the materials to sleep right at the shore, as she did not feel like travelling through the Everfree at night.The telescope and notepads were also for after the shower, as Twilight wanted to observe how the sky behaved in the Everfree.

Continuing along the path in the waning light of a sunset, Twilight sped up, wanting to arrive at her destination before the more ferocious animals of the Everfree made themselves known. Within a few minutes, Twilight arrived at her destination, just in time to watch the sun finally dip below the horizon. With decided quickness, Twilight set up camp, using her magic to set up her tent and firepit, lighting the former with a blast of fire magic. With the heat of the fire warming her chilled body,Twilight moved with renewed vigor, setting up her telescope on a bluff overlooking the main part of the beach. She adjusted the dials and its stand to focus it on the sky. She took just a moment to admire the view from the bluff she was standing on, watching as the waves rolled in and out, lapping at the edge of the shore. The lake stretched out for some distance, to the point where Twilight could just barely see the other edge of shore if she strained her eyes enough.

With a few minutes to spare, Twilight grabbed her notepads from her saddlebags and was finally ready to watch the shower. Sighing in satisfaction, Twilight sat down on what she assumed to be sand. Momentarily confused as fell on her back, whatever she sat on rolling from underneath her in the process. Twilight recovered herself just in time to watch what appeared to be a bottle roll over the edge of the bluff, still confused as to what exactly just happened.

At the same time however, the meteor shower began, immediately taking Twilight’s focus off of the strange object. Grabbing her notepads with her magic, Twilight began watching in earnest, her original invigor returning as she excitedly jotted down notes. Some time later, after the shower had finally ended, Twilight began her observations through her telescope. Much to her astonishment, the stars moved into their own formations, reflecting how the Everfree itself operated. While Luna’s magic was able to manipulate them, they ultimately rebelled, moving into their own unnatural formations in the night sky. However, Twilight found these formations just as beautiful as they were intriguing. After Twilight continued her observations for several more hours, and was barely able to keep her eyes open for any longer, she finally decided to retire for the night.

Rising at the crack of dawn, Twilight began her solemn duty of packing up her camping site and equipment. Using her magic to shrink the tent to proper carrying size, and covering the cooling embers of the firepit with sand, cleaning up her camp took surprisingly little time. With everything organized and squared to go, Twilight moved back to the bluff where her telescope was situated. Sitting down on her haunches, Twilight took a moment to relax as Celestia’s sun warmed her coat with its heat. After taking a moment, Twilight began the process of taking down her telescope. In the process, she noticed a unnatural depression in the sand and she remembered the bottle from last night. Briefly, she wondered how a bottle even got this far into the Everfree.

For a moment, Twilight feared that she had stumbled upon some vagabond’s hideout, but quickly decided the absence of any other refuse contradicted that train of thought. Moving to the edge of the bluff, Twilight peered down the side. About fifteen feet below, the bottle lay, hardly moved from the lapping waves nearby. Wanting to remove the trash before it got into the water, Twilight casted a teleportation spell, disappearing off of the bluff with a purple poof and rematerializing a few moments later on the small patch of shore. She turned around to find a glass bottle with an unfamiliar name along the side, with something white on the inside of the strange glass,

“Coke-Cola, who is that?” Twilight wondered to herself as she read the name on the bottle sticking out of the sand. As she lifted the bottle out of the sand using her magic, she noticed that the strip of white was actually a sheet of notebook paper jammed inside.

Intrigued, she unscrewed the metal top and quickly began reading the paper, beginning with:

“For you, Twilight”

Fifteen minutes later, Twilight sat in the sand, her mind completely occupied by the letter she had just read. “Somepony’s in love with me?" Was all she could think as her thoughts raced with usual Twilight enthusiasm, Luna’s shower just an echo in the back of her mind. Suddenly, a new thought clicked into her head, “Who is it anyway? ”She began re-reading the letter and the only name it offered was a simple signature:

“-Daniel”

“That doesn’t sound like a pony name, maybe it’s an alias.” Twilight thought aloud, already casting the teleportation spell to get back up to the top of the bluff. Gathering her belongs and stuffing the bottle in her saddlebag, she set off, determined to figure out who her secret admirer was.

Author's Note

Re-did this chapter because I was bored and was tired of looking at how bad it was. Hope you all enjoy! For those who want to view the original version of the story, it can be found on GDocs Here.

-TAB

Return

Part 3, Return

By TCP127

It was late by the time Twilight arrived back in Ponyville, the stars and the moon casting a faint glow on the deserted streets as she quietly trotted through them, well aware of the fact that most ponies should be fast asleep by now. She eagerly wanted to get home, barely focusing on the things happening around her. She hadn’t been this worked up since the want it, need it spell incident, and the long night was taking its toll on her, giving her an uncomfortably strong headache.

“Ok I just get home first, then I can worry about the letter.” She reassured herself, temporarily stopping to calm down and focus on getting home to the library first. She began trotting again in silence, but the sheer beauty of Ponyville couldn’t keep her mind empty for long. The many picnics spent at the beautiful central park, dangerously sugary and delectable treats at Sugarcube Corner, tiring days spent with Rarity helping out at the Carousel Boutique, and even the time she and the others spent as “The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well” to get rid of Dash’s huge ego.

Twilight soon began grinning a little as a new thought popped into her head. “And how could I forget that?" Twilight reminded herself of the time she had agreed to go on a date with nice stallion her age named Clover. “He was nice enough, but not my type.” She thought, the events of the date playing back in her mind, she found herself chuckling to herself at the memories of the Cutie Mark Crusaders Explosive Experts, and then almost outright laughter at how they almost blew up poor Clover when he stepped in to stop them.

Within a few short minutes, Twilight found herself in front of the Ponyville library that doubled as her home. She absent-mindedly smiled as she gazed upon the large tree, a constant reminder of how much she loved Ponyville and its colorful residents. In fact, her love for the town had grown so much that she even wrote a letter to her parents, recommending that they should consider moving out to Ponyville, its idyllic nature a perfect change of pace from the hustle and bustle of Canterlot. To her disappointment, however, they declined; both of her parents fields of work were simply too important to just pack up and move to an entirely new place.

Twilight let out a sad sigh; it had been so long since she had last seen her family, who were often too busy to come out and visit her. The thoughts of her friends came back to her mind and she smiled, knowing that by now they were like a second family to each other.

Twilight gingerly grabbed the door with her magic, covering it with her signature lavender glow as she opened it gently, hoping not to wake Spike, who was probably fast asleep upstairs. She stepped inside as quietly as she could, her steps only producing a tiny clop with each step. Closing the door quietly behind her, she quickly slid her bags onto the floor, sliding the letter the letter out of one the bags with her magic.

Strangely, the library was even quieter than usual at this time of night. Noticing the open window near Owloysius’ stand, Twilight figured that he went hunting. Personally, she didn’t like the idea of creatures eating other creatures, the thought of it sending chills down her spine as she thought about it, but she understood its importance in the cycle of life.

Turning her attention back to the letter, she made her way to her private study in the back, grabbing her own notebook, her favorite quill, and a thick ledger of all the ponies in town, covering them in a lavender glow as they floated behind her. After casually setting her materials on her favorite desk, she quickly performed a sound-proofing spell to keep from disturbing her number-one assistant.

With a heavy sigh she sat down at her desk, cluttered with the materials she had brought. Using her magic, she brought the letter in front of her and began reading it again for what seemed like the millionth time,

For you Twilight,

I’ve always watched you from afar, your beauty one of the greatest things I’ve ever witnessed. Sadly, I was always unable to talk or even acknowledge my presence to you. Watching you for so long, admiring your beauty, your nerdiness, your flaws, heck, pretty much everything about you. But I only watched and admired, never acting on my impulses, eventually leaving a void that could only be filled by you in my heart. The void in my heart only grew and grew with each passing day, until finally, my heart was no more. But today, I wrote you this letter because I realized something, and that thing was. I love you, Twilight Sparkle. And if by some extraordinary chance you do get this letter, please, just please write back.

-Daniel

it finished with a flourish. The name on it was like nothing she’d seen before, causing her to believe is was an alias of an extremely shy pony. But somehow, just the sight of this letter made her ponder who this mystery stallion was, her imagination running wild with possibilities.

Twilight snatched the ledger with her magic, quickly levitating it over to herself. “This is emergency enough” she thought to herself, Ignoring the Mayor’s warning on the front to use only during emergencies or population census, quickly flipping it to the red tab that read ‘Stallions, ages 19-26’.

Putting her sharp intellect, as well as her knowledge of mystery and romance novels to use, she quickly came up with a list of qualities her secret admirer would likely exhibit that would help her screen out the suitable possibilities. “Somepony who is extremely shy, to the point where he would deliberately avoid other ponies” She thought, taking the obvious clues of the letter “but also a talented writer with extremely neat hoof-writing and a…… keen eye for details.” Twilight finished her thought, her lavender coat taking on a noticeably redder color.

With her list in mind, she began combing through the names, noting obvious fits in her notebook as she went along. When she finally finished, she came up with a list of forty two names that fit the majority of the description she had set. “Still too many for a detailed search.” Twilight thought, her face crumpling into a frown as she looked back over the list. Again, she found herself at a crossroads on how to narrow down the list.

Suddenly, a thought popped into her head, instantly raising her interest. “What if he was a unicorn? I’ve never seen any earth pony or Pegasus with that neat of hoofwriting, except maybe Big Macintosh, but that is an exception.” Twilight thought to herself, her thoughts already spinning at this new revelation “Not only that, but it meant it was somepony who could truly understand her at a magical level.” She finished, already grabbing her quill as she looked back over the list.

The sound of quill scratching began filling the air again as Twilight set about narrowing the list, diligently scratching out names up and down the list with quick swipes of her magic. Once the scratching ceased a few minutes later, Twilight let out an audible sigh of relief, pleased at her handiwork. Her list was now condensed into a list of ten stallions, all of whom were unicorns, save Big Mac, and they were nearly the description of what she was looking for.

The weight of the night had taken its toll on her; she could already felt her eyelids dropping on their own as she let out huge yawn. “I’ll get to work on the list tomorrow afternoon” Twilight thought to herself, already lying her head down on her desk. She soon found herself looked in the sweet embrace of sleep as her snores slowly began to fill the room.

Spike looked over the sheet again, still unsure on what to think about it. “Somepony wrote Twi a love letter? And she didn’t tell me about it?” Spike thought, mixed on whether he should be glad for her or disappointed that she didn’t tell him. In what he thought was usual Twilight fashion, she dedicated all her time and effort into one thing until she was utterly exhausted, and this was no exception.

The young dragon sighed, knowing his entire day would now be dedicated to finding this so-called ‘Mystery Stallion’. Already resigned to his fate, he began walking carefully out the room, quietly reminding himself to make a triple helping of coffee for Twilight.

The delicious aroma of daffodil coffee soon wafted through the library, prompting the lavender mare to stir. Mechanically, she stood up and rubbed at her eyes. Twilight stretched to get the kinks of sleeping at her desk out, when she realized the Spike was already up and fixing breakfast, now noticing that she was absolutely famished. She smiled eagerly and trotted out of the study, she had a good feeling about today.

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I'd like to offer a huge hug to CodeBrony for both editing and offering me some invaluable advice when I was making this, so when he posts his own stories, I'll send you guys a link to it.

Surprises

Part 4, Surprises

By TAB

I fumbled with the lock to the pier, my eyes clouded with frustration as tried unsuccessfully to unlock it. I let out an exasperated sigh as I stepped back, trying to find a way to calm down. With my anger partly in check I tried the lock again, this time rewarded with an audible click as the gate slid apart with a groan. I slammed the gate shut behind as I hurried through, not bothering to care if anyone had watched me come in.

The day had been worse than bad, nearly pushing me to the edge of my self-control as I forced myself to stay the few remaining hours with the little hell-spawn I had to tutor today. I saw now why his parents were paying me so much; he was a beast that would be better suited in a straitjacket and muzzle.

I plopped myself down on the edge of the pier, letting my legs hang off the ledge, trying to think about the positives of today. You made one hundred and thirty-five dollars in one day, that's a record you know. My mind reassured me, again being the voice of reason. I smiled, knowing that the money was helping me get a new computer and that, honestly, I really needed it.

I felt my anger simmer, having already reached its’ peak on my way to the pier. For once today, I almost felt kind of happy. Relaxing myself, I laid my back on the pier; my thoughts idly drifting away as I let the stress of the day slowly wear off of my tired body.

Surprisingly, the letter popped its’ way back into my head. Maybe she did actually get it. I thought, wondering how the scholarly mare would react to a letter like that. I chuckled at the thought, already knowing she would nearly drive herself insane trying to find out who I was.
It was then I noticed how late it was getting, the Sun already hanging low in the sky, gracing Chicago with a twilight almost identical to yesterday’s. I stood up lazily, feeling great for coming back to the pier again.

I was nearly out of the gate before I noticed an all too familiar coke-cola bottle washed up on the huge rocks lining the edge of the edge the pier. Guess you didn’t go far, huh, I thought, disappointed knowing my letter to her had failed.

Almost mechanically, I found myself jumping down to the rocks below, making my way to the bottle, laying only a few feet away. I quickly scooped it up, making my way quickly back to the pier. I hoisted myself back up, awkwardly regaining my balance as I got up. I made my way back to the edge of the pier, and was already about to heave it back into the water when I noticed something on the inside.

A thin purple line, nearly invisible even at this close a range, ran along the length of the page, effectively sealing the sheet into a roll. My interest was instantly piqued in the new scroll, wondering if Twilight had actually gotten the letter and replied to it. Unscrewing the cap, I could feel my heart in my throat; my hands shaking uncontrollably as I struggled to take off the small metal cap.

Finally getting it off, I took out the neatly rolled piece of paper, quickly breaking the purple seal with little affair. If the royal seal emblazoned at the top didn't hit me hard enough, the words right beneath it nearly made me faint.

“From Twilight”

My adrenaline was pumping as I burst through my apartment door, the seven blocks I had sprinted through barely even affecting me. My breathing was ragged, but I put up with enough to make my way into my study. I sat down at my desk, laying my head to its cold wood finish to try and clear my head.

I had to be losing my mind. There's no way she could have sent it from another planet, my mind reasoned, trying its best to rationalize the letter. It's a just a prank from another brony, I concluded, the only way I could even begin to believe it. I raised my head from the desk, now that my mind had acquired a rational way to explain this this letter.

Celestia’s royal crest at the top, an almost identical match to her cutie mark of the sun, baffled me as I looked at it. However, the crest seemed a bit different from how it looked in the show, displaying a certain level of detail that had obviously not been appreciated. It was hard to place, but it almost had a sort of glow emanating from it as I watched.

“Almost like magic,” I thought aloud, slightly gasping as my mind put two and two together.

As soon as I realized it, I tried shaking my head to clear it. I’m beginning to lose it aren’t I? It’s already been proven that magic doesn’t exist! ,What I really felt I needed was some good sleep, my eyes quickly flicking to the clock on the wall to check the time. 9:52. I had been up for almost fifteen hours, and the fatigue was making itself well known in both my mind and body.

I knew I needed it, but already I knew that sleep would never come with this letter hanging over my head. Instead, I just bucked up and prepared for the night that was to come.

I looked down at the handwriting of the letter. I could plainly see it was painstakingly written, and the writer was well practiced with an ink pen. That’s where things started to make even less sense than they did before. Who or what would invest this much time just to prank me, someone who he likely didn’t even know? My mind reeled, and I could feel just the lightest of headaches to form, compounding my on top of my already tired body and mind.

All and all, the letter just didn’t make sense, and my mind couldn’t even begin to explain it. Slowly, everything began to make sense.

The letter was real.

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Author's Note

A/N: I'm very disappointed with this chapter, and honestly, it feels kind of weak. It's been through about three months of development purgatory, and I think the effects of that wait are painfully obvious. More than likely, I'll end up rewriting this chapter along with chapter two.

I hope you enjoyed, and as always, I'm open to any and all kinds of criticism.

Beginning

Part 5, Beginning
By TAB

Twilight trotted into the library’s relatively small kitchen, the pleasant smell of coffee and pancakes wafting through the air. As she came in, a small dragon wearing a yellow apron manned the stove, years of experience with cooking coming into play as he finished preparing their breakfast. Laying on the cabinet beside him was Twilight’s usual breakfast, consisting of a huge stack of pancakes, grilled hay, and three mugs of daffodil coffee.

“Good morning Spike, the breakfast smells delicious.” The lavender unicorn greeted as she trotted into the room, a warm smile crossing her face as she sniffed at the appetizing aroma.

“Aw thanks Twilight,“ The purple dragon beamed with pride, flipping the last pancake onto the stack sitting beside the stove. Twilight levitated the plate of flapjacks and hay. Spike grabbed the two mugs as he ambled back to the table where Twilight was now sitting.

The sound of clattering silverware quickly filled the small room, the two digging into the pile of food. They continued eating for a bit before Spike decided to strike up a conversation.

“So Twilight,” He began, grabbing Twilight’s attention, “how was the meteor shower last night?”

“Oh, it was fine.” She replied in her best nonchalant tone.

“Just fine? You were excited about it for weeks!” The young dragon reminded her, recalling how giddy the mare was about Luna’s big meteor shower. Twilight knew that Spike was right about her acting like a little schoolfilly in anticipation. Heck, even she would have a hard time forgetting her previous actions if she was Spike.

“Oh, I thought it was nothing big. Honestly, I thought it would be better.” Twilight quickly lied, trying to dissuade the dragon from asking further questions. In reality, she had completely forgotten about the shower on account of the letter she had received the other day. Evidenced by the frown on his face, however, Spike appeared to remain skeptical about her claim.

“Well, that’s definitely what I was not expecting to hear...” Spike half-grumbled.

"I know Spike, I was definitely expecting better." Twilight continued, putting on her best fake smile to complement her lie.

Spike seemed to believe her ploy and they continued eating in an uncharacteristic silence. Twilight began eating a bit more quickly, trying her best to get out of the kitchen quickly. She actually began to think she was in the clear until Spike decided to try and strike up a conversation again.

"Anything else interesting happen last night? I heard you come in late last night."

"Oh, I just stayed out a bit longer than I planned to last night." She replied, trying her best to dispel whatever uncertainty might be lingering in her voice.

"Oh, okay then." Spike seemed to take the bait and dropped any further questions. The pair finished their breakfast in silence, ending with them cleaning up the leftovers from their breakfast.

While Twilight was glad breakfast was over, she still felt bad that she had to lie to her assistant. A little part of the nerd in her also berated her for missing the meteor shower. However, the letter still held Twilight's mind, and she’d have time to worry about the shower later.

Trotting out of the kitchen with two mugs of coffee in her magical grip, Twilgiht contemplated her problem. Obviously, this was going to take a lot more than just running up to the stallions she selected and asking them if they had written the letter or not. The librarian knew rumors would spread like wildfire if she did that, and she certainly didn’t need gossipers breathing down her neck for the morbid details.

Making her way back into her study, she sat down in her chair. She took a moment to sip at her coffee as she pondered over what she would do next.

Write an anonymous letter back? No, too risky...

How about spying on them? No, you know that’s wrong, Twilight... Her mind debated back and forth with ideas, each one being shot down with a thorough application of logic.

How about a test? Twilight put a hoof on her chin in consideration. It was quick and discreet, perfect for what the mare had in mind. She could easily mask it as a survey of some sort and very few ponies would question it. She certainly had very few other options.

In a sudden whirlwind of magic, Twilight brought the letter, a stack of paper, and several quills in front of her. This was simple task of rewording the letter to show she had gotten it. Whoever had written it would instantly get what she was implying.

Or at least she hoped. Honestly, Twilight had no idea how this was going to work. She had no idea how love worked, or how she could work in a relationship. Sure she had friends, but they were totally different from having a special somepony. Twilight buried her head in her hooves. She was full of conflicting emotions. Happy, sad, frustrated, relaxed, embarrassed and most surprisingly, confident. She didn’t know why, but something in her felt like this was it.

She sat up again, a strange mix confidence and adrenaline flowing as she grabbed her writing materials with magic. She began writing. It was barebones three questions but they could easily buffeted by more mundane questions befitting of a survey. She began writing again. Twilight was pleased with the results. It was a quick and easy six questions and could easily pass it off as a quick survey. Twilight let a deep breath; she felt nervous but great.

Twilight stepped into the fresh air of Ponyville, taking a brief moment to take a deep breath. Today was going to be a long day and she knew it. Her saddlebags glowed with magic as she quadruple checked for her test. Ensuring it was still in its comfortable resting place, she set out for her quest.

The park across from Twilight’s home was bustling with activity, full of ponies enjoying the unseasonably warm weather. Some seemed to be enjoying picnics, while others opted for a leisurely walk in the warm sunlight. Twilight still felt a slight gnawing in her gut as she walked, but the combination of her newfound bravado and the warm rays of the sun helped her put it off. She continued a bit on further into town before pulling her list out of her saddlebags.

The first stallion on her list was Northern Lights, a relatively well-known inventor. She knew him for his simplistic but efficient designs in all aspects of life. He had also come to the library more than a few times to check out research materials for his projects.

Lucky for Twilight, Northern’s workshop, which doubled as his home, wasn't far from where she was now. Twilight quickly returned the list to where its place back in her saddlebags and set out with her new destination in mind.

The trip to his shop was short and uneventful and Twilight soon found herself in front of the chosen building. The workshop was quite aways larger than the average Ponyvillian home, and decorated the usual bright pink and vanilla of the buildings around it. An overhang jutted out precariously on the right side of the structure, covered in a seemingly random arrangement of items; ranging from telescopes to artistic utensils and even a strange object with a canvas draped over it.

Twilight looked at the building one more time. Her earlier rush of adrenaline was already wearing off and a malicious second thought kicked into her head. She would choke, obviously. Make a foolish move and embarrass herself in front of the whole town. She zoned out on the spot, as increasingly ridiculous and warped scenarios passing through her mind as she wandered her own thoughts.

A clapping hoof brought her back to attention.

“Twilgiht, are you alright?” Twilight refocused her vision, bringing the new pony into view in front of her. The front of his hazelnut brown coat was stained black with ash, topped a barely tossed together red and blue mane led Twilight to wonder what had happened to the unfortunate stallion.

“What happened to...” Twilight tapered off her sentence, motioning with a hoof at the mess on Northern.

“Oh this?” He started, taking a glance at his ruined coat, “It turns out one of my new assistants apparently has a knack for blowing things apart that would rather like to remain whole.” He took a moment to glare back into his shop.

“Oh. Well, if it’s not too much of a bother, would you mind taking a survey? I could always come back if this is a bad time." Twilight backed away slightly, indicating her intentions.

"Considering my latest project just became a fireworks display, I figure I have some free time. Come inside." Northern turned around, holding open the door for Twilight to enter. She stepped inside, with Northern following close behind.

The room Twilight stepped into was surprisingly not unlike a regular shop. Various objects lined the walls, filling up nearly every inch of space on the shelves lining the walls. In the back, a simple counter lay, with a myriad of other tools and a register lying atop it. Behind the counter, a door leading to some unseen part of the building lay. Northern’s voice picked up from behind Twilight as she overlooked the shop.

“Would you prefer if we talked in the front or the back?”

Twilight’s mind went racing at the possible responses to his question. Yes. No. Do you love me? Another five thousand responses ran through her head as she contemplated her options. Giving herself seemingly the thousandth mental slap that day, she reigned in her thoughts into something coherent.

“The front.”

“Alright then, hit me.”

Without another delay, Twilight began her spiel of questions.

How do you feel about writing?

What are your favorite hobbies?

Where do spend most of your time?

Who would you consider to be a good friend?

A few more questions fleshed out the conversation between the two, although Twilight had already written him off as a possibility. As the conversation continued, Twilight let her mind wander again. What if she didn’t find anyone who wrote the letter? In all honesty, she didn’t know what she would do.

Hopefully, it wouldn’t be something she’d regret.

Twilight stepped out of Northern’s shop, scratching the stallion’s name off of her list as she walked. Only nine more to go, today is going to be a long day...

Author's Note

I knew I was going to finish this sometime soon. Onward to the next chapter!