Twilight's bitter meals

"Urgh," Twilight grunted as she became conscious. Her head ached and she had trouble focusing on anything in her room. "Wha-what happened?" She muttered, reaching for her covers and pulling them off herself.

She slowly moved her legs out and placed them on the floor, scrunching her toes up from the cold. Placing a hand on her head, she shook it and took a deep breath before pushing herself out of bed.

"Whoa!" Twilight felt herself fall and caught herself on her doorframe, groaning. "S-spike?!" She called out, beginning to get scared, "Are you here?!"

Hesitantly pulling herself along, the world spinning around her, Twilight managed to make it to the landing and look down to the library in horror.

Before her lay the remnants of the ground floor if the Ponyville library, it's contents scorched and blackened from fire and smoke. Where the beloved horse bust would normally stand, there was a large hole running straight down into the basement with cracks shooting off all around the interior of the library.

Twilight fell to the floor, tears beginning to fall from her eyes. She brought her hands up and covered her face, letting her emotions flow.

Just that second, Spike walked through the door with Applejack in tow. "I'm telling you, she seems fine, it's the building that needs your expertise."

"I'll be the judge of that, once I see Twilight of cou-" Applejack stopped as soon as she heard the heavy sobbing. Looking over, she dropped measuring tools she had and the pair rushed up to Twilight.

Falling beside her, Applejack wrapped Twilight in her arms and held her as Twilight leaned into the hug. "Shh, it'll be okay. We can fix this up, good as new."

Spike sat on the other side placed a hand on Twilight's shoulder for support. He felt his own emotions run high, but thankfully they were of pride for Twilight. She had saved him and brought him upstairs before passing out from smoke inhalation.

Applejack kissed her on the head and felt her friends crying slow until it was light enough for her to release Twilight. "Better, Sugarcube?"

Twilight let out a laugh and nodded, "Thanks AJ... what happened?"

"Spike said it was something to do with your experiment..." Applejack thought for a second and stood up, "I want you to stay at mine until this is fixed and I won't take no for an answer..."

"But..."

"Spike can stay with us as well, my house has enough space that's not being used." AJ helped Twilight to her feet and kept a hand around her shoulder for support. "But I think it's best you put some clothes on first, don't you?"

Twilight's eyes widened and she coveted herself up, "C-can you h-help me..."

"Of course," AJ said, picking Twilight up and walking her into her room. "Just this once."

~~~

Eventually, Twilight hobbled out of her room with Applejack as support and smiled at Spike, who had packed his own belongings and some of Twilight's already. She wore her lavender sweater, a long librarians skirt and her black shoes. "Thank you, Spike. Come here," Twilight said, opening her arms up to give him a hug.

Spike ran into her and held on for dear life, "I thought I was going to lose you.... I ran to Pinkie, just like you told me to."

Twilight felt her heart swell from hearing him, "And that's why your my number one brother." She kissed him forehead and squeezed him once before loosening the hug.

"I can come back for anything else," she said, turning to Applejack who shook her head.

"Nope, you shouldn't even be walking right now. I'll come back with my brother and get anything you need."

The way Applejack said it made Twilight shudder and she didn't want to imagine the punishment for disobeying her, so she nodded her head and said, "Okay, we should go so you can tell me what exactly happened.,. I get to make notes."

The three of them made it out of the library. The outside of the library didn't seem to have been too badly affected, yet there were still a few cracks about, mainly around the windows and door.

Twilight sighed and imagined what could have gone so wrong to make any of her experiments go so badly. She really wanted to curl up with Celestia and sleep it away, but unfortunately for her, she couldn't and found herself slowly walking down the road towards Sweet Apple Acres.

She past people who gave her smiles and eaves but couldn't bring herself to reciprocate, only put one foot in front of the other and she could barely do that.

Applejack rustled her from her daze and she squeezed her grip on Twilight's side, "Are you alright? You went a little quiet there..."

"Oh, I'm fine. Just a little tired," she replied, "Thanks though, for the rooms."

"Don't worry about it. It's what friends do." Applejack grinned and looked about, "Don't worry about the library either, I'll have that done before you know it."

"Oh, I don't think I'd mind waiting. Especially if Granny has baked anything recently..." Twilight said, licking her lips.

"Uh, Twilight, people are staring," Spike groaned, facepalming.

Twilight shook her head and blushed, "Sorry guys, got a bit carried away there."

Applejack chuckled, "Well, Granny did bake some food." She then leaned in and whispered, "So did I..."

Twilight looked at her in horror, "B-but what about the baked bads?!"

AJ returned the look with a hard stare, "That was one time and I was exhausted." She rolled her eyes and huffed, "I actually like it... it's relaxing."

"Good for you then," Twilight said, smiling. "I'd gladly try some of yours, as long as they don't kill me."

"Har har."

~~~

The three of them made it to Sweet Apple Acres and passed under the sign and onto the property. By the time they had made it through town, it was almost time for Celestia to set the sun and Luna to bring the moon out.

Applejack moved forward and held the door open for Spike and Twilight to pass through, reciving thanks. As Twilight entered, she froze as she saw Celestia silently sleeping on the couch in front of the roaring fireplace.

"She wore herself out with worry," Granny Smith said, making Twilight jump. "Oh," she chuckled, "Sorry young'un."

"It's alright," Twilight replied, turning around to face Granny Smith, "When did she get here?"

Applejack led Spike upstairs while giving a supportive smile at Twilight.

"Only ten minutes ago, she nearly wore a hole in my floor," Granny laughed, pointing to an area of the kitchen where it ever so slightly dipped.

Twilight turned to face Celestia again and walked over, making sure to not step on any of the creaky floorboards. She knelt down next to the Princess and gently roused her from her sleep.

"Princess..." she whispered, trying to wake her up slowly. "It's Twilight."

The Princess's eyes blew open and she lunged forwards, hugging her student and pulling her into her bosom. "Oh Twilight. I was so scared!" She said, stroking Twilight's hair and occasionally kissing her head. "I'm sorry couldn't drop in earlier, I had a meeting!"

"Primceth!" Twilight groaned as she rapidly lost air.

"Whoops..." Celestia giggled, pulling Twilight's head out of her bosom, "Sorry about that..."

"That's..." Twilight found herself lightheaded for a second and shook her head, "That's alright, Princess."

"I'm glad your okay. I'll be staying in Ponyville for a couple of days to oversee the library being rebuilt." Twilight nodded with a bigger than normal smile, "If you ever want to see me, for any reason, I'm staying at the horses hoof hotel."

"Sure." Twilight felt Celestia's hand cup her cheek and smiled, "Goodnight, Princess. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Goodnight Twilight, I hope you find quick sleep tonight."

Twilight rose, bowed and made her way upstairs to find Applejack. She passed a couple of closed doors before she arrived at the room with AJ inside.

"This is your room, Twi. The beds all set up for you." Applejack nodded and made her way to the door, passing Twilight as she moved in, "My room is opposite, Spike's is that one," she pointed to the room next to hers, "and breakfast is at half seven, I hope you can wake up early."

Twilight giggled and sat on the bed, "I'm sure I can remember how to."

"I'm glad you're alright, Sugarcube."

"Yeah, so am I."

Applejack left the room and closed the door, leaving Twilight on her own. She gazed around and smiled when her eyes passed over the pleasant sky blue wallpaper.

While the room was large by a normal houses standards, it was quite empty, with only a double bed, dresser with vanity mirror, a table and chairs and wardrobe.

Twilight pulled her shoes off and placed them on the chair, then undressed before crawling into the bed. Though she felt tired her mind refused to shut down, going over what could have possibly happened, time and again until she was forced to cast a sleep spell on herself.