A Tension Between Kingdoms
Today, the sky was clear blue and the crystal six-pointed star shined brightly. Celestia's Sun was low in the sky, and the morning birds chirped with glee. Meanwhile, inside the crystal-colored castle,that, being specific, was made of crystal, an alicorn was sitting on one of her plush couches, this one navy, her face shoved into a book called Pony History: Bat Ponies and Their Origins.
"Hmm, Spike?" The lavender and pink alicorn, Twilight Sparkle, called for her number one assistant as she used her magic to turn the page. There was a clattering sound in the kitchen and then a green and purple baby dragon appeared, holding a muffin.
"Ye-h, Twilight?" Spike said as he stuffed the muffin into his mouth. Twilight folded her book beside her and let out a snort of disapproval and amusement. "Well, first of all, next time you eat anything, don't shove it all in your mouth. It's better and more polite if you eat it in bites. Secondly, I was wondering if you might be able to get me one of those. But not any one that's burnt." She added hastily as Spike went back into the kitchen. She couldn't remember why she ever let him bake those. There was actually a simple spell on them Twilight had cast that made them taste better and made the burnt flavor go away. She heard footsteps coming down the hall and sat up. Today she was going to help Fluttershy gather more carrots and food for the animals. But that was in the afternoon, so now she could go back to relaxing.
"Err, Twilight? Where do you want the muffin to go?" Spike snapped Twilight out of her thoughts. She jumped a little, then smiled when she saw that the muffin wasn't burnt. In fact, it looked positively delicious.
"Thank you very much, Spike." She took the muffin with her magic and bit into it. It was blueberry. "Mmm. Jeez Spike, this is good!! What did you use to make them?"
"Well, I'm not exactly sure how they got so good. I'm pretty sure I burnt at least two of them, so yeah. You didn't have anything to do with it, did you?" He asked suspiciously.
Twilight smirked a bit, took another bit out of the muffin, then set it on the navy-colored couch. Spike grumbled angrily under his breath about Twilight not letting him learn how to cook. Twilight heard, and she chuckled a little. "Well Spike, I actually have stuff I need to get done today. Will you get my checklist?" Spike stopped grumbling and shot off towards the library where the parchment and quills were kept. Twilight got up and headed towards her bedroom, her hooves echoing as they hit the crystal floor. It's too quiet in here, She thought. She needed somepony besides Spike to be here. But, she supposed that all her friends would like to stay at their houses, and no other pony would think they would qualify to be in a princess's castle at all, let alone live with a princess there. Maybe sometime she would invite Cadence over if she wasn't too busy. Or have another sleepover. That might be a good idea.
Twilight halted as she got to her door, and opened it. Her room really could use some cleaning up. Books and paper were strewn about everywhere, and even the occasional sock was there. But as much as she wanted to, she resisted the urge to clean it. The big room felt more like home with her things there, more comforting and more welcoming. It gave her reassurance that the Golden Oaks Library was still there, in her memory.
After cleaning herself up by taking a bath and brushing her mane, Twilight came down to the library, passing by the throne room. She stared at it as she passed, remembering the wondrous feeling and the terrible loss she had felt when she first saw the place. Now, she realized, she still had the same feeling. Suddenly, Spike came panting and limping a little bit out of the room next to her throne room, the library room.
"Are you okay?" Twilight asked worriedly.
"Sorry, I kind of fell off the latter when I was trying to get a book. And yeah, I'm okay." Spike said to Twilight, who was looking at him a little more than strangely.
"Spike, why the hay would you want to read? You never read any of the books I give you." She said indignantly. "And, if you wanted that book, you could have just asked me. Is my checklist ready?"
"Yeah, it is. But you never actually told me what you need to do, so I didn't write what you were going to do. And yeah, about that book, could you please get that down for me? It's called The Land Beyond Equestria Volume 2: Griffon Empire." Spike told Twilight as they walked into the library. The latter was on the floor, Twilight picked it up with her magic and set it leaning up against a wall without a bookshelf.
"Wow Spike, are you sure you're okay? It looks like there was quite a ruckus in here." Twilight levitated the books, then put them all back on their selective shelves and then found the history shelf. "Is this the right one?" She pulled out a fairly thick volume with a blue and white cover and a golden spine.
"Yes, that's the one!" Spike said excitedly, and brought up the quill and checklist. "So, what are you going to do first?" He set down the paper and reached eagerly for the book as Twilight levitated it down.
"Well, I need to go to Rarity's first." Twilight gave Spike the book, and picked up the quill and ink and scribbled something on it. "Then I need to go pick up some donuts from the Cakes." Twilight headed out the door and Spike stood there for a little bit, admiring the book. Then he heard a whooshing sound.
"Twilight?" Spike called out the door. First, an ink bottle smashed across the pavement outside the castle. Then, a note he'd seen before drifted down to the ground before his feet. It was the checklist. But it didn't have any more things to do on it. There was just writing across the front, Twilight's writing. And it read, Help Me!