The Note Bookby SyntChaptersDear Twilight Sparkle,Dear Applejack,Wolves and WoodpeckersDear Twilight Sparkle,SCRATCH SCRATCH SCRATCH "Aargh..." SCRUNCH SCRUNCH SCRUNCH Moonlight pierced the window of Rainbow's cloud house like a needle through silk, illuminating a certain cyan Pegasus as she crushed yet another piece of parchment into a small ball. Her eyes were bloodshot, her was a mane was a frazzled mess, and her mouth was set into an irritated frown. Rainbow Dash's prolonged sigh was hopelessly lost amongst the dull rattling of rain against her desk-side window, as she threw another failed attempt at literature over her shoulder, landing it perfectly atop a towering mountain of discarded paper, ink and trails of thought. "This is stupid," she mumbled bitterly, resting her head in her shaky hooves, her prismatic mane falling over her face like a tattered veil. "What am I even doing? It's, like..." She raised her head to spot the moon, silently peeking at her from betwixt the curtain of darkened clouds, its eyebrow silently and constantly raised in a fashion not unlike judgement. She blinked at it for a few seconds. "Three? Three in the morning. I've been awake for... Aargh!" In a sudden fit of run-down anger, she threw her quill against the window pane, causing it to bounce off uselessly, disappear behind the desk and disappear into the dust and shadows. Done now with her attempt at writing for tonight, she took a moment to indulge in one of her favorite pastimes for when she was hopelessly bored. Racing the rain. First, she would start at the top of the window and choose two raindrops, preferably ones that were close together, but not as close to each other that they would happen to collide mid journey. Next, she would watch them to see which one would reach the bottom of the window first, silently cheering for her favorite raindrop and booing when it was overtaken by it's rival. It was a game she had loved to play since she was just a little filly. It was at about halfway down the pane when the two chosen raindrops came dangerously close to colliding, and it was only then when Rainbow, for some odd reason, wished for them to collide. Then, just as they were millimeters apart, a third rogue raindrop swooped in and collided with the rival, knocking the two off course. Thus, ruining both the competition and Dash's already sour mood. Rainbow Dash sighed once more and looked over to her empty bed, it's sheets sprawled haphazardly over it's frame from hours upon hours of tossing and turning, and it's pillows slightly damp with broken fantasies and heavy emotions. sparing a moment to take a long, deep breath, bolster her mood and steel her resolve, Rainbow withdrew another piece of parchment from the imposing pile next to her and dipped a nearby quill into a pot of ink, briefly hovering it over the paper before scribbling out a few short words. "Dear Twilight Sparkle..." This was going to be a long, long night. Dash awoke to the morning sun, pleasantly waving to her as it crawled over the horizon, bathing the skies in warm shades of oranges and pinks. She shook her head in some vain attempt to shift her vibrant mane out of her vision. Yawning, she brought a hoof up to her head to push the unruly hair out of the way and tuck it behind her ear. The realization slowly sunk in that she had fallen asleep at her desk and not in her bed, which she noted was still in quite a state. Trailing her eyes across the room, she also noticed the large pile of scrunched up letter attempts behind her, and all the differently coloured quills scattered all over the floor. Then, it dawned on her. She slowly lowered her gaze to meet with her makeshift pillow. A completed letter sat before her, slightly smudged on the right side with her signature at the end trailing off to the margin. She eyed it warily before shrugging, picking it up and reading it through. Dear Twilight Sparkle, Hey, egghead! How's it hanging? I hope this note doesn't interrupt that little reading mode thingy you have going on sometimes cus I kinda wanna tell you something important to me... And hopefully to you too. And I don't want you reading this while your all grumpy or in a bad mood so do me a solid and put this letter down now if you are. Cheers. You good? Good. Anyway, I kinda have a teeny tiny crush on you. Yeah, I know. Sudden, right? Jeez, Rary'd flip if she found out about that. She'd probably burn my ear off with stuff like 'tact' or 'decorum', whatever they mean. But that's the thing. It was sudden for me too. One day I just... I start noticing how beautiful you are. Like it was the most blindingly obvious thing in the world, but I was looking the other way for four or five odd years. I start noticing how cute you are when you get angry with me for crashing into your house or messing with your notes. I start noticing your perfect smile or your perfect hair or your perfect eyes. And sometimes, I start noticing how boring the world is without you around to make it better. You make the world fun, Twilight. When you're around, I don't feel like I need to impress anyone or do tricks or build walls around me, y'know? I just want to sit by the fireplace and read books with you when it's cold or yell at the air conditioner with you when it's warm. This isn't love though. I'm not as naive as to jump to something like that. But, it could be. If we worked for it. And I get it. This is kinda cowardly of me, coating my heart in ink instead of presenting it to you myself, in all its messed up, broken glory. But I'm scared, Twi. I'm terrified, and I don't want to be hurt again. And we both know I'm not that good with words anyway. The best I'd probably do would be shouting a bunch of gibberish at you and spontaneously bursting into flames and tears at the same time. But, another way to look at it would be: 'It's kinda sweet, knowing my reading pattern to the T and successfully predicting exactly when I'd open the book with the note in, thoughtfully placing it at the end of a chapter so I wouldn't be cross with the interruption. In it's own, slightly creepy way.' And FYI, you should be reading this right after your 'after-dinner-read'. Make of that what you will. Point is, I'm just asking for a chance. We'll take it as slow as you want and although I can't promise I won't mess up, I can promise that I will put my all into this. I'm gonna be busy for the next week down in Canterlot, collaborating with the weather teams up there so it'll give you some time to think about it. And, if by some random chance, you do want to try this, I'll be waiting at Le Canter at seven, Friday. Yours truly, Rainbow Dash Rainbow sighed as she rubbed her muzzle. This was a bad idea, and she knew it, but it was the safest way. With steeled nerves and heavy heart, she sealed the letter within a pale blue envelope and tucked it under her wing. Dear Applejack,Author's Note WARNING: This chapter takes place after the chapter Dear Twilight Sparkle and is a replacement for the chapter Wolves And Woodpeckers. That chapter is no longer considered part of the story and I will most likely be dismantled and used in other chapters. I will, however, be keeping that chapter available for people who wish to read it. For the time being, at least. Cheers for all the support, as always. Love you guys. Dear Applejack, Twilight couldn't keep still. Just over there, across the room, on the table, sat a letter from one of her friends. A letter from Rainbow Dash. She briefly remembered the surprise when a page of the book she was reading slipped out and fell to the floor. She also remembered the utter relief she felt when she found that one of her precious books hadn't been tarnished by an uncaring customer or, Celestia forbid, herself. The page was mostly intact, unusually damp in some places, and covered in a series of scribbles that seemed to replicate the format a letter or a diary entry might take on. A letter from the prismatic mare wasn't strange in itself. Oh, no. Why, Twilight was simply overjoyed that Rainbow had taken a liking to the art of letter writing. But then she went and read it. The letter itself wasn't very long. In fact, it barely took up half a page. But what struck Twilight the most, was the undivided attention and care solidified within. It was surprisingly eloquent in the way it tried to explain to Twilight how exactly the author felt about her, and the fact that the letter 'i' in Twilight's name had been dotted with a star within a heart did quite a lot to push her toward the correct conclusion. The conclusion being that Rainbow Dash, her long time friend and reading buddy, had a crush on her. Now, this didn't come as much of a surprise as she thought it would. Just yesterday, the speedster had fumbled her way into the library, blushing profusely all the while, just to look at one book before bolting straight back out the door. One glance at the withdrawal log had also told Twilight that the Pegasus had spent the last few weeks withdrawing books from the rarely-used romance section. And there was also the fact that Rainbow had been acting uncharacteristically shy around her recently. Every time her group of friends had been called together for a picnic or meet-up at Sugarcube Corner, Twilight had spotted the prismatic mare staring at her before turning away quickly several times. The prospect that Rainbow liked her explained a lot of it. It all made perfect sense, really. But that didn't stop her from freaking the buck out about it. What am I gonna do? She yelled to herself. Turn up at the restaurant and say "I got your letter."? That wouldn't work! What if she doesn't turn up? What if this is just a joke? What if the letter was there for a really long time and I was supposed to read it earlier and she was waiting patiently for all that time? She paused. What if she actually likes me? She blinked. I've never been in this situation before. I could mess up and ruin our friendship forever. Then all of my friends would hate me for breaking her heart. She began to shiver. I'd have to move back to Canterlot and back in with my parents. Celestia would probably be disappointed in me and cancel my studies in friendship and then the elements of harmony would stop working and Equestria would be overrun by monsters! She collapsed to the floor. What am I supposed to do?! The library fell into the silence that it was used to, with the exception of Twilight, who was quietly mumbling to herself and throwing quick glances to the letter whenever she deemed it necessary. "Twi? You alright there, sugarcube?" Twilight immediately shot up and widened her eyes at the farm mare leaning in the doorway, who was regarding her studious friend with a look of concern. Twilight then began to quickly smooth out her frazzled mane and make a small show of clearing her throat. "Oh, hi Applejack!" She said as politely as she could. Just because she was questioning whether or not she had accidentally and inadvertently caused one of her to crush on her, didn't mean she couldn't at least be civil. "I didn't hear you come in," she then added, letting the statement hang openly. "Oh, well, I did knock." Applejack responded. "I'm sure you did," Twilight reassured. She briefly wondered whether the reassurance was aimed at Applejack or herself, but quickly filed it under 'unnecessary inquires' for further study. Preferably when she was alone. Despite it, she threw a couple of nods in there for good measure. Applejack smiled at her. A calm smile that somehow let on more peace than was originally instilled within it. Twilight didn't complain, however. A little bit of calm was preferable to stressing over a simple piece of parchment. Even if that parchment held more than just information. Twilight coughed lightly and smiled back. "Anyway, did you need something? Or did you come to check out a book?" She allowed a small amount of excitement to creep into her voice at the latter's concept, just to spite the utter unlikeliness of such an event taking place. Applejack chuckled, and fiddled with her stetson. "Oh, nah. I just popped over to check on ya, make sure y'all haven't suffocated in them books a'yours. Can't be having that, now can we?" She chuckled again, like she was remembering some old joke somepony had told her back in the day. In all likelihood, Twilight figured Applejack was just a content mare, and the familiarity of the usual company was enough to instill a bit of happiness. It all honesty, it was more than a little inspiring. But she digressed. "That's very kind of you, Applejack. I was just..." She paused, her hoof hovering in the air. "I was just reorganising some books. I've decided that sorting books in alphabetical order is better than that boring old Dewey Decimal method." She grinned internally at her cleverly constructed ruse. It was a fiendish lie, of course. The Dewey Decimal system was obviously superior. "Right. And I suppose that's why you were rolling about on the floor, stressing up somethin' fierce?" The apple bucking mare questioned, that signature smirk masking the constant hint of concern in her voice. Twilight's ears immediately went back. "Y-you saw that, huh?" "Eeyup." "And I don't suppose I can just explain it away with how organisation stresses me out sometimes?" She ventured, hopefully. "Eenope." "Figures." She mumbled. Applejack snorted. She went to respond again, but stopped herself. Maybe it was better to just let Twilight talk herself out of whatever state she had put herself into than to pry the information out of her. And even if she did choose the latter option, she didn't have any immediate advice to give that would fix everything. If she listened, she'd at least have some time to think up an appropriate response. So she did just that. A comfortable silence fell between the two friends, interrupted only when Applejack decided to stop hovering around the doorway and take a seat in the main room. The following few moments were made up of Applejack sitting, leaning forward, ears perked, and Twilight opening and closing her mouth as she tried to formulate a sentence that would explain the predicament in its entirety. Eventually, Twilight spoke. "...When I lived in Canterlot, I never really had many friends." She said, her voice taking on a hint of melancholy. "Well sugarcube, you already told us th-" "And the ones that I did have, I ignored so that I could focus on studying. I still kind of regret that decision." She quickly interrupted. Applejack was silent. "The point is, I never really got close to anypony other than Cadence, Celestia and my family. Because of this, I never had to worry about the inevitability of somepony wanting more than just a platonic relationship." It was at that point that Applejack sat up in her seat and regarded her friend with an odd look. "It isn't anypony I know, is it?" "It is, but I think that I should keep their identity a secret for now. It's nothing personal, but it's just that..." Twilight trailed off. "It's ok, Twi, I get it. Please, carry on." Applejack reassured her. Twilight nodded. "Right. Anyway, this particular pony has... asked me to go on a date with them." She finished cleanly, congratulating herself on the winning of the pronoun game. "So what's the problem?" Twilight's smile froze on her lips. "Well, I'm trying to decide on whether going on the date is the wisest decision. I mean, I don't think I could handle the repercussions if the date went wrong or if I said the wrong thing and insulted them. I don't want to ruin the friendship between us." Applejack was quiet for a while, before she suddenly spoke up. "Y'know, my granny told me this story. She said that there once was a group of earth ponies going for a balloon ride, and it was going fairly well all in all. But, suddenly the pilot knew the balloon was on track to crash into a cliff, potentially injuring the ponies on board. Even after throwing all of the sandbags overboard, the balloon was still too heavy to make it over the cliff in time, so the pilot decided that one of the ponies had to bail ship in order to make the balloon light enough." Twilight's eyes grew as she considered the implications of such a situation. "One of the ponies, thankfully, volunteered, and a rope ladder was lowered so that the pony was as close to the ground as possible. But just as the pony reached the very bottom of the ladder that she realised that she was scared out of her boots of the drop. And the longer she took holding onto that ladder, the higher up the balloon went and the larger the drop became." Twilight was on the edge of her seat as she listened raptly to Applejack's story. "But, in a sudden stroke of bravery, the pony let go of the rope and fell. Thank Celestia she only injured herself a bit, maybe spraining a leg or two. With the extra loss of weight, the balloon made it over the rocky cliff side and everyone got out of it mostly unharmed." Applejack grinned as she watched Twilight's body flush with relief. "The point still stands though, that if the pony had waited, she and the ponies in the balloon may have been seriously injured from the crash." "So, you're saying that I should let go of the concept of going on a date with this pony, and instead stay safe at home?" She pondered hopefully. "I'm sayin' that sometimes it's necessary to take risks. It may turn out a mite better than you expected it to." Twilight sat there, a thoughtful look on her muzzle as she thought about the concept of the story. "So..." She ventured. "You think I should give the pony a chance?" "Darn tootin'. But those are just my two bits. It might be worth chattin' to Rares 'bout this kinda stuff to be honest. Ah don't really have much expertise in this kinda thing, myself." Applejack admitted, chuckling. "That... actually helps, Applejack. Thank you," she said, smiling gratefully. Applejack nodded and smiled back. "I'm plum happy to help, Twi. It's just what friends do for each other." The two ponies sat there, smiling warmly, as they listened to the muffled cacophony going on outside. It was nearing the end of the afternoon, and the market outside was beginning its final wave of buying and selling wares. Twilight got up and stretched her legs, each joint clicking in sequence. She then regarded her friend with a content smile, before a thought suddenly struck her. "Oh! I forgot to offer you a drink. Would you like a glass of juice? I'm sure I have some apple juice left somewhere around here." "I'd be mighty appreciative, Twi. I'm parched." "Great! I'll get right on that." It was nearing the end of the day, and the sky was getting darker and darker as the sun descended below the horizon. The area around the carousel boutique was deathly silent, and the only movement that could be seen was the movement of the autumn leaves as they danced in the breeze. This was a stark contrast to the movement within the boutique, however, as the seamstress Rarity could be seen rushing from mannequin to mannequin, taking measurements and draping different pieces of fabric in a haphazard collage of cotton and silk. The floor of the boutique was a brilliant sea of colour, ranging from moccasin yellow to orchid pink, from peruvian brown to snow white. Rarity huffed as she scrutinized the design sheet in front of her, scribbling out measurements and cutting lines in order to replace them with almost exact replicas, the only difference being on a near-microscopic level. "Surely this will work, right? It simply has to! I have absolutely no room for error!" The pearly white unicorn said to herself. She huffed again, and charged back into the commotion of cloth, haphazardly waving her tape measure around and screaming a mighty war cry as she did so. A few hours later, after that bout of fabric wrestling, Rarity found herself sat at her desk, quietly sipping at a cup of earl grey tea. Behind her, around fifteen different dresses sat, finished and price tagged. The sun had set, and the moon was beginning its slow crawl into the sky. Rarity sighed a contented sigh and made to get up, before a piece of parchment popped into existence in front of her. Out of habit, caught the letter in her magic and removed the seal, before unrolling it and reading it to herself. Dear Rarity, I hope this letter finds you well. How are you today? Or should I say tonight? I did leave this letter to the last second. So sorry about that. I was hoping, if it isn't too much trouble, that you could come over sometime tomorrow. I have some information I would like to share with you. I would also like to ask you about some *ahem* romantic issues. There will be tea and biscuits, as well as other refreshments as per the usual. Thanks in advance, Twilight Sparkle Rarity's grin had widened to a broad, beaming smile by the end of the letter, and her squee could be heard for miles. Wolves and WoodpeckersAuthor's Note WARNING: This chapter is no longer considered part of the story. Read at your own peril. Wolves and Woodpeckers Today was the day. Rainbow Dash stood vigilant at the doors of Le Canter, moonlight washing over her in a vain attempt to slow the growth of the black pit in her stomach that painfully expanded with every second past. The cold air bit at her coat, causing her to shiver slightly at it's cool but harsh embrace. The warmth from the high class restaurant next to her beckoned, reaching out to her with the smells of hot soup and warm bread. Her wings felt like they were going to fall off with how much they ached. Every few seconds she could feel a dull throb as they complained of being overworked from the last week of weather management. Her eyelids felt heavy and her hooves moaned from bucking cirrus, stratus and cumulus clouds alike. But still she stood, unwavering. Her firm gaze locked on the moon and the moon alone, wishing, pleading that any second now, she would hear Twilight's soft voice call to her, to drag her back to reality. "Umm... Rainbow?" The soft voice barely registered to Rainbow as she closed her eyes, let out a heavy sigh and turned her head to see her friend standing next to her, letter in hoof. "Hey, Flutters. What brings you out here this time of night?" She asked, her ear flicking slightly. Fluttershy rubbed her leg with a hoof and dropped the letter to the floor, her wings fluttering by her sides. "I... Umm..." As the letter hit the cobblestone pavement, the words 'Dear Twilight Sparkle' in Rainbow's scrawled handwriting upon the cyan envelope were barely visible in the low light of the moon. "And why do you have my letter to Twilight?" She asked, a hint of a growl sneaking into her voice, her wings shifting in agitation. "I-I..." The canary pegasus whispered, hiding behind her mane. "Well?" She asked, taking a step towards her. "I-I'm sorry, Rainbow. I accidentally borrowed the book with your letter in. I didn't mean to, honest! Mr. Beaverton Beaverteath was sick and I-" Rainbow cut in, waving her hoof for her to stop the oncoming tirade of frantic apologies. "Wait. So, Twilight didn't get the letter?" "I... No. No, she didn't." Fluttershy whispered, staring at the ground. Dash let herself drop to her haunches, relief rushing through her like wildfire, the pit in her stomach disappearing. "Then there's still a chance. I can still pull this off..." Fluttershy's eyes immediately grew concerned as her mind flooded back to Rainbow saying those same, sad words once before. "Rainbow..." Fluttershy carefully craned her head around the gap in the door to see her dorm roommate, Rainbow Dash, sitting in the centre of their room, sobbing quietly. She didn't step one hoof into the room before Rainbow's pillow came soaring towards her. She only had time to squeak before it caught her, knocking her back out of the room and spraying white and yellow feathers everywhere. After a couple seconds of recovery, Fluttershy picked herself back up and entered the room again, only to find that Rainbow no longer there. Instead, she heard a muffled crying from a Pegasus sized lump of sheets on the bed across the room. Fluttershy immediately rushed over, awkwardly laying a wing around the pile of sheets and shushing it. Slowly, a small gap opened in the sheets to reveal two magenta eyes, glistening with tears. With a few minutes of shushing and hugs, Fluttershy tightening her grip on Rainbow whenever she started crying louder or attempted to form a coherent sentence without bursting into tears again and failing to do so, Rainbows cries eventually quieted into small sobs and whimpers. "S-s-she l-left m-me..." She eventually squeaked out. "Sshhh..." She whispered, stroking her through the sheets. "W-why did she l-leave m-me?" She asked, hiccuping. "Sshhh, it's ok." "I-I don't understand..." "Just give it some time. I'm sure you two can sort this out when you've both calmed down." "T-there's still a chance, right? She'll c-come back, right?" Rainbow asked quietly, looking for some form of reassurance in her best friends eyes. Fluttershy smiled back at her. "Of course. There's always a chance." Fluttershy shook her head, dispelling the bitter memory. "Rainbow, you know what happened last time. I don't want you getting hurt like that again." Rainbow visibly tensed at Fluttershy's words and narrowed her eyes at the canary Pegasus. "Shy, this is Twi we're talking about. She wouldn't... she would never do that," She said as she nodded, if only to reassure herself. Rainbow's almost forceful confidence caused Fluttershy to retreat behind her flowing, pink mane. "I-I know. Just... Be careful, ok?" Rainbow kept her eyes narrowed at her friend. "She's not like her, Shy. You know that." "Rainbow, please. I just don't want you hurting yourself again." Eventually, the cyan mare finally relented, smiling gratefully. "I will. Thanks, Shy," and with that, Rainbow scooped up her letter to Twilight and with a strong flap of her wings, took off towards her cloud house. Fluttershy remained where she stood, watching over Rainbow as she became nothing but a dot on the horizon. With a heavy, longing sigh, she turned and began her journey back to her cottage, singing softly as she walked. "If only, if only, the woodpecker sighs, the bark of this tree were as soft as the skies. The wolf sits below, tired and lonely. She sings to the moon, if only, if only." "Twilight?" Spike softly called as he descended the stairs of the library. "You still awake?" His only response was the light snoring of the lavender unicorn across the room, drooling onto the open page of an almanac. The young Dragon slowly walked over to her, being careful to step over any books splayed haphazardly upon the floor. "Twilight? Hey, c'mon, sleepyhead. Time to go to bed." He whispered as he poked her gently in the foreleg. "Mmm...." she moaned, swiping at Spike with the offended foreleg exhaustedly. "C'mon, Twi. This is the third time this week," he groaned, poking her again. "I need some sleep too." "Hmm? Oh... Hey, Spike. What-" She stopped to yawn, holding a hoof up to her mouth. "What time is it?" Spike rubbed his eye and glanced out the window. It took him a couple seconds to register how high in the sky the moon actually was. "It's late," he sighed. "Very late." Twilight took a moment to rub the sleep out of her eyes and blink a few times before giving Spike a grateful smile. "Thank you, Spike. I'll be right up." Spike nodded. Spinning on a heel, he walked back through the main room and started scaling the stairs again. Twilight, however, didn't move from her desk until she heard that the distinct thud of her bedroom door closing. When she did, she proceeded to stretch her neck and hooves until she felt a satisfying click in each. She let out another, louder yawn as she eyed the doorway to the kitchen across the room. "Might as well get myself a glass of water whilst I'm down here," she mumbled to herself as she climbed off of her chair, her hooves clopping quietly on the oak wooden floor. Whilst in the process of getting herself said glass of water, Twilight let her mind wander. She began to think about general things, such as her recent studies of animals, how incredibly helpful Spike was and eventually, her friends. But her mind stubbornly locked onto one of her friends in particular. Rainbow Dash had been out of town for the past week, on weather business from what the note on her door had said. Which was odd, because she had normally told Twilight herself beforehand, or right before she left, when she would be gone for a while. Which left her feeling... Betrayed? Angry? Left out? Worried? She shook her head. Rainbow was a good friend, sure, but not to the extent that she herself would worry if Rainbow were to leave for a few days. Rainbow was a grown mare, for Celestia's sake. She could take care of herself and there was little point in worrying about her. After successfully breaking herself from her own mind, Twilight noticed that her glass was overflowing from being held under the tap for too long. After tipping a little water into the sink so it wouldn't spill when she held the glass any way but perfectly vertical, she quickly gulped down the water in some vain attempt to quell the heat quickly spreading in her cheeks. "I mean, it's not like I..." She paused. "...Like her..." She paused again. "...Do I?" She shook her head, more vigorously this time, as if to make the idea lose it's firm grip upon her mind. Unfortunately, her magic was still flaring, causing the glass she was levitating to smash into a nearby wall, shattering it into a million, tiny shards. As soon as the dust cleared and silence returned, she could hear her bedroom door slam open and footsteps rocket down the stairs before a very disgruntled, purple Dragon stood hunched-over at the doorway, panting for breath. "A-are you alright, Twilight? I heard a crash." "Yes, Spike. I'm fine. I just got distracted and dropped a glass." "Are you sure?" Twilight quickly averted her gaze to the floor. "I'm fine, Spike. Really." Spike huffed and pulled a broom from seemingly out of nowhere. "Fine, whatever. Just go to bed, already. I'll clean this up." He said as he shooed her out the door. Twilight did just that. She slowly crawled up the stairs and entered her bedroom, flinging herself onto the bed and wrapping herself in her sheets when she got close enough. The faint memory of being sent to her room when she was a filly briefly surfaced before being unceremoniously crushed by the knowledge that she might have a crush on one of her best friends. "It's ok, Twilight. It's just your tired brain thinking up crazy ideas. Just get some sleep and you'll be fine in the morning," she told herself. Sleep didn't come easy that night.
Dear Twilight Sparkle,SCRATCH SCRATCH SCRATCH "Aargh..." SCRUNCH SCRUNCH SCRUNCH Moonlight pierced the window of Rainbow's cloud house like a needle through silk, illuminating a certain cyan Pegasus as she crushed yet another piece of parchment into a small ball. Her eyes were bloodshot, her was a mane was a frazzled mess, and her mouth was set into an irritated frown. Rainbow Dash's prolonged sigh was hopelessly lost amongst the dull rattling of rain against her desk-side window, as she threw another failed attempt at literature over her shoulder, landing it perfectly atop a towering mountain of discarded paper, ink and trails of thought. "This is stupid," she mumbled bitterly, resting her head in her shaky hooves, her prismatic mane falling over her face like a tattered veil. "What am I even doing? It's, like..." She raised her head to spot the moon, silently peeking at her from betwixt the curtain of darkened clouds, its eyebrow silently and constantly raised in a fashion not unlike judgement. She blinked at it for a few seconds. "Three? Three in the morning. I've been awake for... Aargh!" In a sudden fit of run-down anger, she threw her quill against the window pane, causing it to bounce off uselessly, disappear behind the desk and disappear into the dust and shadows. Done now with her attempt at writing for tonight, she took a moment to indulge in one of her favorite pastimes for when she was hopelessly bored. Racing the rain. First, she would start at the top of the window and choose two raindrops, preferably ones that were close together, but not as close to each other that they would happen to collide mid journey. Next, she would watch them to see which one would reach the bottom of the window first, silently cheering for her favorite raindrop and booing when it was overtaken by it's rival. It was a game she had loved to play since she was just a little filly. It was at about halfway down the pane when the two chosen raindrops came dangerously close to colliding, and it was only then when Rainbow, for some odd reason, wished for them to collide. Then, just as they were millimeters apart, a third rogue raindrop swooped in and collided with the rival, knocking the two off course. Thus, ruining both the competition and Dash's already sour mood. Rainbow Dash sighed once more and looked over to her empty bed, it's sheets sprawled haphazardly over it's frame from hours upon hours of tossing and turning, and it's pillows slightly damp with broken fantasies and heavy emotions. sparing a moment to take a long, deep breath, bolster her mood and steel her resolve, Rainbow withdrew another piece of parchment from the imposing pile next to her and dipped a nearby quill into a pot of ink, briefly hovering it over the paper before scribbling out a few short words. "Dear Twilight Sparkle..." This was going to be a long, long night. Dash awoke to the morning sun, pleasantly waving to her as it crawled over the horizon, bathing the skies in warm shades of oranges and pinks. She shook her head in some vain attempt to shift her vibrant mane out of her vision. Yawning, she brought a hoof up to her head to push the unruly hair out of the way and tuck it behind her ear. The realization slowly sunk in that she had fallen asleep at her desk and not in her bed, which she noted was still in quite a state. Trailing her eyes across the room, she also noticed the large pile of scrunched up letter attempts behind her, and all the differently coloured quills scattered all over the floor. Then, it dawned on her. She slowly lowered her gaze to meet with her makeshift pillow. A completed letter sat before her, slightly smudged on the right side with her signature at the end trailing off to the margin. She eyed it warily before shrugging, picking it up and reading it through. Dear Twilight Sparkle, Hey, egghead! How's it hanging? I hope this note doesn't interrupt that little reading mode thingy you have going on sometimes cus I kinda wanna tell you something important to me... And hopefully to you too. And I don't want you reading this while your all grumpy or in a bad mood so do me a solid and put this letter down now if you are. Cheers. You good? Good. Anyway, I kinda have a teeny tiny crush on you. Yeah, I know. Sudden, right? Jeez, Rary'd flip if she found out about that. She'd probably burn my ear off with stuff like 'tact' or 'decorum', whatever they mean. But that's the thing. It was sudden for me too. One day I just... I start noticing how beautiful you are. Like it was the most blindingly obvious thing in the world, but I was looking the other way for four or five odd years. I start noticing how cute you are when you get angry with me for crashing into your house or messing with your notes. I start noticing your perfect smile or your perfect hair or your perfect eyes. And sometimes, I start noticing how boring the world is without you around to make it better. You make the world fun, Twilight. When you're around, I don't feel like I need to impress anyone or do tricks or build walls around me, y'know? I just want to sit by the fireplace and read books with you when it's cold or yell at the air conditioner with you when it's warm. This isn't love though. I'm not as naive as to jump to something like that. But, it could be. If we worked for it. And I get it. This is kinda cowardly of me, coating my heart in ink instead of presenting it to you myself, in all its messed up, broken glory. But I'm scared, Twi. I'm terrified, and I don't want to be hurt again. And we both know I'm not that good with words anyway. The best I'd probably do would be shouting a bunch of gibberish at you and spontaneously bursting into flames and tears at the same time. But, another way to look at it would be: 'It's kinda sweet, knowing my reading pattern to the T and successfully predicting exactly when I'd open the book with the note in, thoughtfully placing it at the end of a chapter so I wouldn't be cross with the interruption. In it's own, slightly creepy way.' And FYI, you should be reading this right after your 'after-dinner-read'. Make of that what you will. Point is, I'm just asking for a chance. We'll take it as slow as you want and although I can't promise I won't mess up, I can promise that I will put my all into this. I'm gonna be busy for the next week down in Canterlot, collaborating with the weather teams up there so it'll give you some time to think about it. And, if by some random chance, you do want to try this, I'll be waiting at Le Canter at seven, Friday. Yours truly, Rainbow Dash Rainbow sighed as she rubbed her muzzle. This was a bad idea, and she knew it, but it was the safest way. With steeled nerves and heavy heart, she sealed the letter within a pale blue envelope and tucked it under her wing.
Dear Applejack,Author's Note WARNING: This chapter takes place after the chapter Dear Twilight Sparkle and is a replacement for the chapter Wolves And Woodpeckers. That chapter is no longer considered part of the story and I will most likely be dismantled and used in other chapters. I will, however, be keeping that chapter available for people who wish to read it. For the time being, at least. Cheers for all the support, as always. Love you guys. Dear Applejack, Twilight couldn't keep still. Just over there, across the room, on the table, sat a letter from one of her friends. A letter from Rainbow Dash. She briefly remembered the surprise when a page of the book she was reading slipped out and fell to the floor. She also remembered the utter relief she felt when she found that one of her precious books hadn't been tarnished by an uncaring customer or, Celestia forbid, herself. The page was mostly intact, unusually damp in some places, and covered in a series of scribbles that seemed to replicate the format a letter or a diary entry might take on. A letter from the prismatic mare wasn't strange in itself. Oh, no. Why, Twilight was simply overjoyed that Rainbow had taken a liking to the art of letter writing. But then she went and read it. The letter itself wasn't very long. In fact, it barely took up half a page. But what struck Twilight the most, was the undivided attention and care solidified within. It was surprisingly eloquent in the way it tried to explain to Twilight how exactly the author felt about her, and the fact that the letter 'i' in Twilight's name had been dotted with a star within a heart did quite a lot to push her toward the correct conclusion. The conclusion being that Rainbow Dash, her long time friend and reading buddy, had a crush on her. Now, this didn't come as much of a surprise as she thought it would. Just yesterday, the speedster had fumbled her way into the library, blushing profusely all the while, just to look at one book before bolting straight back out the door. One glance at the withdrawal log had also told Twilight that the Pegasus had spent the last few weeks withdrawing books from the rarely-used romance section. And there was also the fact that Rainbow had been acting uncharacteristically shy around her recently. Every time her group of friends had been called together for a picnic or meet-up at Sugarcube Corner, Twilight had spotted the prismatic mare staring at her before turning away quickly several times. The prospect that Rainbow liked her explained a lot of it. It all made perfect sense, really. But that didn't stop her from freaking the buck out about it. What am I gonna do? She yelled to herself. Turn up at the restaurant and say "I got your letter."? That wouldn't work! What if she doesn't turn up? What if this is just a joke? What if the letter was there for a really long time and I was supposed to read it earlier and she was waiting patiently for all that time? She paused. What if she actually likes me? She blinked. I've never been in this situation before. I could mess up and ruin our friendship forever. Then all of my friends would hate me for breaking her heart. She began to shiver. I'd have to move back to Canterlot and back in with my parents. Celestia would probably be disappointed in me and cancel my studies in friendship and then the elements of harmony would stop working and Equestria would be overrun by monsters! She collapsed to the floor. What am I supposed to do?! The library fell into the silence that it was used to, with the exception of Twilight, who was quietly mumbling to herself and throwing quick glances to the letter whenever she deemed it necessary. "Twi? You alright there, sugarcube?" Twilight immediately shot up and widened her eyes at the farm mare leaning in the doorway, who was regarding her studious friend with a look of concern. Twilight then began to quickly smooth out her frazzled mane and make a small show of clearing her throat. "Oh, hi Applejack!" She said as politely as she could. Just because she was questioning whether or not she had accidentally and inadvertently caused one of her to crush on her, didn't mean she couldn't at least be civil. "I didn't hear you come in," she then added, letting the statement hang openly. "Oh, well, I did knock." Applejack responded. "I'm sure you did," Twilight reassured. She briefly wondered whether the reassurance was aimed at Applejack or herself, but quickly filed it under 'unnecessary inquires' for further study. Preferably when she was alone. Despite it, she threw a couple of nods in there for good measure. Applejack smiled at her. A calm smile that somehow let on more peace than was originally instilled within it. Twilight didn't complain, however. A little bit of calm was preferable to stressing over a simple piece of parchment. Even if that parchment held more than just information. Twilight coughed lightly and smiled back. "Anyway, did you need something? Or did you come to check out a book?" She allowed a small amount of excitement to creep into her voice at the latter's concept, just to spite the utter unlikeliness of such an event taking place. Applejack chuckled, and fiddled with her stetson. "Oh, nah. I just popped over to check on ya, make sure y'all haven't suffocated in them books a'yours. Can't be having that, now can we?" She chuckled again, like she was remembering some old joke somepony had told her back in the day. In all likelihood, Twilight figured Applejack was just a content mare, and the familiarity of the usual company was enough to instill a bit of happiness. It all honesty, it was more than a little inspiring. But she digressed. "That's very kind of you, Applejack. I was just..." She paused, her hoof hovering in the air. "I was just reorganising some books. I've decided that sorting books in alphabetical order is better than that boring old Dewey Decimal method." She grinned internally at her cleverly constructed ruse. It was a fiendish lie, of course. The Dewey Decimal system was obviously superior. "Right. And I suppose that's why you were rolling about on the floor, stressing up somethin' fierce?" The apple bucking mare questioned, that signature smirk masking the constant hint of concern in her voice. Twilight's ears immediately went back. "Y-you saw that, huh?" "Eeyup." "And I don't suppose I can just explain it away with how organisation stresses me out sometimes?" She ventured, hopefully. "Eenope." "Figures." She mumbled. Applejack snorted. She went to respond again, but stopped herself. Maybe it was better to just let Twilight talk herself out of whatever state she had put herself into than to pry the information out of her. And even if she did choose the latter option, she didn't have any immediate advice to give that would fix everything. If she listened, she'd at least have some time to think up an appropriate response. So she did just that. A comfortable silence fell between the two friends, interrupted only when Applejack decided to stop hovering around the doorway and take a seat in the main room. The following few moments were made up of Applejack sitting, leaning forward, ears perked, and Twilight opening and closing her mouth as she tried to formulate a sentence that would explain the predicament in its entirety. Eventually, Twilight spoke. "...When I lived in Canterlot, I never really had many friends." She said, her voice taking on a hint of melancholy. "Well sugarcube, you already told us th-" "And the ones that I did have, I ignored so that I could focus on studying. I still kind of regret that decision." She quickly interrupted. Applejack was silent. "The point is, I never really got close to anypony other than Cadence, Celestia and my family. Because of this, I never had to worry about the inevitability of somepony wanting more than just a platonic relationship." It was at that point that Applejack sat up in her seat and regarded her friend with an odd look. "It isn't anypony I know, is it?" "It is, but I think that I should keep their identity a secret for now. It's nothing personal, but it's just that..." Twilight trailed off. "It's ok, Twi, I get it. Please, carry on." Applejack reassured her. Twilight nodded. "Right. Anyway, this particular pony has... asked me to go on a date with them." She finished cleanly, congratulating herself on the winning of the pronoun game. "So what's the problem?" Twilight's smile froze on her lips. "Well, I'm trying to decide on whether going on the date is the wisest decision. I mean, I don't think I could handle the repercussions if the date went wrong or if I said the wrong thing and insulted them. I don't want to ruin the friendship between us." Applejack was quiet for a while, before she suddenly spoke up. "Y'know, my granny told me this story. She said that there once was a group of earth ponies going for a balloon ride, and it was going fairly well all in all. But, suddenly the pilot knew the balloon was on track to crash into a cliff, potentially injuring the ponies on board. Even after throwing all of the sandbags overboard, the balloon was still too heavy to make it over the cliff in time, so the pilot decided that one of the ponies had to bail ship in order to make the balloon light enough." Twilight's eyes grew as she considered the implications of such a situation. "One of the ponies, thankfully, volunteered, and a rope ladder was lowered so that the pony was as close to the ground as possible. But just as the pony reached the very bottom of the ladder that she realised that she was scared out of her boots of the drop. And the longer she took holding onto that ladder, the higher up the balloon went and the larger the drop became." Twilight was on the edge of her seat as she listened raptly to Applejack's story. "But, in a sudden stroke of bravery, the pony let go of the rope and fell. Thank Celestia she only injured herself a bit, maybe spraining a leg or two. With the extra loss of weight, the balloon made it over the rocky cliff side and everyone got out of it mostly unharmed." Applejack grinned as she watched Twilight's body flush with relief. "The point still stands though, that if the pony had waited, she and the ponies in the balloon may have been seriously injured from the crash." "So, you're saying that I should let go of the concept of going on a date with this pony, and instead stay safe at home?" She pondered hopefully. "I'm sayin' that sometimes it's necessary to take risks. It may turn out a mite better than you expected it to." Twilight sat there, a thoughtful look on her muzzle as she thought about the concept of the story. "So..." She ventured. "You think I should give the pony a chance?" "Darn tootin'. But those are just my two bits. It might be worth chattin' to Rares 'bout this kinda stuff to be honest. Ah don't really have much expertise in this kinda thing, myself." Applejack admitted, chuckling. "That... actually helps, Applejack. Thank you," she said, smiling gratefully. Applejack nodded and smiled back. "I'm plum happy to help, Twi. It's just what friends do for each other." The two ponies sat there, smiling warmly, as they listened to the muffled cacophony going on outside. It was nearing the end of the afternoon, and the market outside was beginning its final wave of buying and selling wares. Twilight got up and stretched her legs, each joint clicking in sequence. She then regarded her friend with a content smile, before a thought suddenly struck her. "Oh! I forgot to offer you a drink. Would you like a glass of juice? I'm sure I have some apple juice left somewhere around here." "I'd be mighty appreciative, Twi. I'm parched." "Great! I'll get right on that." It was nearing the end of the day, and the sky was getting darker and darker as the sun descended below the horizon. The area around the carousel boutique was deathly silent, and the only movement that could be seen was the movement of the autumn leaves as they danced in the breeze. This was a stark contrast to the movement within the boutique, however, as the seamstress Rarity could be seen rushing from mannequin to mannequin, taking measurements and draping different pieces of fabric in a haphazard collage of cotton and silk. The floor of the boutique was a brilliant sea of colour, ranging from moccasin yellow to orchid pink, from peruvian brown to snow white. Rarity huffed as she scrutinized the design sheet in front of her, scribbling out measurements and cutting lines in order to replace them with almost exact replicas, the only difference being on a near-microscopic level. "Surely this will work, right? It simply has to! I have absolutely no room for error!" The pearly white unicorn said to herself. She huffed again, and charged back into the commotion of cloth, haphazardly waving her tape measure around and screaming a mighty war cry as she did so. A few hours later, after that bout of fabric wrestling, Rarity found herself sat at her desk, quietly sipping at a cup of earl grey tea. Behind her, around fifteen different dresses sat, finished and price tagged. The sun had set, and the moon was beginning its slow crawl into the sky. Rarity sighed a contented sigh and made to get up, before a piece of parchment popped into existence in front of her. Out of habit, caught the letter in her magic and removed the seal, before unrolling it and reading it to herself. Dear Rarity, I hope this letter finds you well. How are you today? Or should I say tonight? I did leave this letter to the last second. So sorry about that. I was hoping, if it isn't too much trouble, that you could come over sometime tomorrow. I have some information I would like to share with you. I would also like to ask you about some *ahem* romantic issues. There will be tea and biscuits, as well as other refreshments as per the usual. Thanks in advance, Twilight Sparkle Rarity's grin had widened to a broad, beaming smile by the end of the letter, and her squee could be heard for miles.
Wolves and WoodpeckersAuthor's Note WARNING: This chapter is no longer considered part of the story. Read at your own peril. Wolves and Woodpeckers Today was the day. Rainbow Dash stood vigilant at the doors of Le Canter, moonlight washing over her in a vain attempt to slow the growth of the black pit in her stomach that painfully expanded with every second past. The cold air bit at her coat, causing her to shiver slightly at it's cool but harsh embrace. The warmth from the high class restaurant next to her beckoned, reaching out to her with the smells of hot soup and warm bread. Her wings felt like they were going to fall off with how much they ached. Every few seconds she could feel a dull throb as they complained of being overworked from the last week of weather management. Her eyelids felt heavy and her hooves moaned from bucking cirrus, stratus and cumulus clouds alike. But still she stood, unwavering. Her firm gaze locked on the moon and the moon alone, wishing, pleading that any second now, she would hear Twilight's soft voice call to her, to drag her back to reality. "Umm... Rainbow?" The soft voice barely registered to Rainbow as she closed her eyes, let out a heavy sigh and turned her head to see her friend standing next to her, letter in hoof. "Hey, Flutters. What brings you out here this time of night?" She asked, her ear flicking slightly. Fluttershy rubbed her leg with a hoof and dropped the letter to the floor, her wings fluttering by her sides. "I... Umm..." As the letter hit the cobblestone pavement, the words 'Dear Twilight Sparkle' in Rainbow's scrawled handwriting upon the cyan envelope were barely visible in the low light of the moon. "And why do you have my letter to Twilight?" She asked, a hint of a growl sneaking into her voice, her wings shifting in agitation. "I-I..." The canary pegasus whispered, hiding behind her mane. "Well?" She asked, taking a step towards her. "I-I'm sorry, Rainbow. I accidentally borrowed the book with your letter in. I didn't mean to, honest! Mr. Beaverton Beaverteath was sick and I-" Rainbow cut in, waving her hoof for her to stop the oncoming tirade of frantic apologies. "Wait. So, Twilight didn't get the letter?" "I... No. No, she didn't." Fluttershy whispered, staring at the ground. Dash let herself drop to her haunches, relief rushing through her like wildfire, the pit in her stomach disappearing. "Then there's still a chance. I can still pull this off..." Fluttershy's eyes immediately grew concerned as her mind flooded back to Rainbow saying those same, sad words once before. "Rainbow..." Fluttershy carefully craned her head around the gap in the door to see her dorm roommate, Rainbow Dash, sitting in the centre of their room, sobbing quietly. She didn't step one hoof into the room before Rainbow's pillow came soaring towards her. She only had time to squeak before it caught her, knocking her back out of the room and spraying white and yellow feathers everywhere. After a couple seconds of recovery, Fluttershy picked herself back up and entered the room again, only to find that Rainbow no longer there. Instead, she heard a muffled crying from a Pegasus sized lump of sheets on the bed across the room. Fluttershy immediately rushed over, awkwardly laying a wing around the pile of sheets and shushing it. Slowly, a small gap opened in the sheets to reveal two magenta eyes, glistening with tears. With a few minutes of shushing and hugs, Fluttershy tightening her grip on Rainbow whenever she started crying louder or attempted to form a coherent sentence without bursting into tears again and failing to do so, Rainbows cries eventually quieted into small sobs and whimpers. "S-s-she l-left m-me..." She eventually squeaked out. "Sshhh..." She whispered, stroking her through the sheets. "W-why did she l-leave m-me?" She asked, hiccuping. "Sshhh, it's ok." "I-I don't understand..." "Just give it some time. I'm sure you two can sort this out when you've both calmed down." "T-there's still a chance, right? She'll c-come back, right?" Rainbow asked quietly, looking for some form of reassurance in her best friends eyes. Fluttershy smiled back at her. "Of course. There's always a chance." Fluttershy shook her head, dispelling the bitter memory. "Rainbow, you know what happened last time. I don't want you getting hurt like that again." Rainbow visibly tensed at Fluttershy's words and narrowed her eyes at the canary Pegasus. "Shy, this is Twi we're talking about. She wouldn't... she would never do that," She said as she nodded, if only to reassure herself. Rainbow's almost forceful confidence caused Fluttershy to retreat behind her flowing, pink mane. "I-I know. Just... Be careful, ok?" Rainbow kept her eyes narrowed at her friend. "She's not like her, Shy. You know that." "Rainbow, please. I just don't want you hurting yourself again." Eventually, the cyan mare finally relented, smiling gratefully. "I will. Thanks, Shy," and with that, Rainbow scooped up her letter to Twilight and with a strong flap of her wings, took off towards her cloud house. Fluttershy remained where she stood, watching over Rainbow as she became nothing but a dot on the horizon. With a heavy, longing sigh, she turned and began her journey back to her cottage, singing softly as she walked. "If only, if only, the woodpecker sighs, the bark of this tree were as soft as the skies. The wolf sits below, tired and lonely. She sings to the moon, if only, if only." "Twilight?" Spike softly called as he descended the stairs of the library. "You still awake?" His only response was the light snoring of the lavender unicorn across the room, drooling onto the open page of an almanac. The young Dragon slowly walked over to her, being careful to step over any books splayed haphazardly upon the floor. "Twilight? Hey, c'mon, sleepyhead. Time to go to bed." He whispered as he poked her gently in the foreleg. "Mmm...." she moaned, swiping at Spike with the offended foreleg exhaustedly. "C'mon, Twi. This is the third time this week," he groaned, poking her again. "I need some sleep too." "Hmm? Oh... Hey, Spike. What-" She stopped to yawn, holding a hoof up to her mouth. "What time is it?" Spike rubbed his eye and glanced out the window. It took him a couple seconds to register how high in the sky the moon actually was. "It's late," he sighed. "Very late." Twilight took a moment to rub the sleep out of her eyes and blink a few times before giving Spike a grateful smile. "Thank you, Spike. I'll be right up." Spike nodded. Spinning on a heel, he walked back through the main room and started scaling the stairs again. Twilight, however, didn't move from her desk until she heard that the distinct thud of her bedroom door closing. When she did, she proceeded to stretch her neck and hooves until she felt a satisfying click in each. She let out another, louder yawn as she eyed the doorway to the kitchen across the room. "Might as well get myself a glass of water whilst I'm down here," she mumbled to herself as she climbed off of her chair, her hooves clopping quietly on the oak wooden floor. Whilst in the process of getting herself said glass of water, Twilight let her mind wander. She began to think about general things, such as her recent studies of animals, how incredibly helpful Spike was and eventually, her friends. But her mind stubbornly locked onto one of her friends in particular. Rainbow Dash had been out of town for the past week, on weather business from what the note on her door had said. Which was odd, because she had normally told Twilight herself beforehand, or right before she left, when she would be gone for a while. Which left her feeling... Betrayed? Angry? Left out? Worried? She shook her head. Rainbow was a good friend, sure, but not to the extent that she herself would worry if Rainbow were to leave for a few days. Rainbow was a grown mare, for Celestia's sake. She could take care of herself and there was little point in worrying about her. After successfully breaking herself from her own mind, Twilight noticed that her glass was overflowing from being held under the tap for too long. After tipping a little water into the sink so it wouldn't spill when she held the glass any way but perfectly vertical, she quickly gulped down the water in some vain attempt to quell the heat quickly spreading in her cheeks. "I mean, it's not like I..." She paused. "...Like her..." She paused again. "...Do I?" She shook her head, more vigorously this time, as if to make the idea lose it's firm grip upon her mind. Unfortunately, her magic was still flaring, causing the glass she was levitating to smash into a nearby wall, shattering it into a million, tiny shards. As soon as the dust cleared and silence returned, she could hear her bedroom door slam open and footsteps rocket down the stairs before a very disgruntled, purple Dragon stood hunched-over at the doorway, panting for breath. "A-are you alright, Twilight? I heard a crash." "Yes, Spike. I'm fine. I just got distracted and dropped a glass." "Are you sure?" Twilight quickly averted her gaze to the floor. "I'm fine, Spike. Really." Spike huffed and pulled a broom from seemingly out of nowhere. "Fine, whatever. Just go to bed, already. I'll clean this up." He said as he shooed her out the door. Twilight did just that. She slowly crawled up the stairs and entered her bedroom, flinging herself onto the bed and wrapping herself in her sheets when she got close enough. The faint memory of being sent to her room when she was a filly briefly surfaced before being unceremoniously crushed by the knowledge that she might have a crush on one of her best friends. "It's ok, Twilight. It's just your tired brain thinking up crazy ideas. Just get some sleep and you'll be fine in the morning," she told herself. Sleep didn't come easy that night.
