AMORE OBBLIGATO

Chapter 16: Rondo

Vinyl's pleasant dream about a certain Princess of the Night was ruined by the sudden intrusion of light, and a voice loudly proclaiming, “Up! We do not want to be late, Vinyl!”

Said unicorn opened one bleary eye to see the mare that always seemed to be the one to ruin her third favorite pastime with unreasonable expectations like being conscious before noon. She tried several times to speak before she finally loudly cleared her throat and said in a voice that sounded like someone opening a long forgotten tomb's stone door, “Octy, know that I love you very much, so don't take it too personally when I throw very large, heavy things at you for waking me at this insane hour.”

Octavia yanked the quilted down duvet off of the unicorn, exposing the mare, who was naked save for her panties, to the unforgiving light of day. She rolled her eyes at the familiar sight, but smiled. “Ten o'clock is hardly an insane hour at which to find oneself awake, you loafer. Beside which, you would not be suffering so, had you not taken Lady Heartstrings up on her offer to empty the entire bottle of vodka.”

Vinyl rolled over and glared at her. “The poor woman had never heard of Drunken Fruity Pebbles, Octy! How could I not?”

Sitting down on the edge of the bed, Octavia sighed. “Well, regardless of your current state, you need to get up so you may get ready; or would you rather miss out on reconnecting with Twilight?”

“That's dirty pool, Octy,” Vinyl replied. “Using that poor filly to do your dirty work is just unethical.”

Octavia gave a sharp bark of laughter. “You are one to talk about unethical, with the way you lead on stallions, but never deliver.”

“Exactly!” Vinyl quietly shouted as she sat up and swung her legs to the opposite side of the bed to stand. “If anypony should know unethical, it's me! After all, it takes one to know one.” She raised her arms above her head and stretched, feeling her spine pop in several places as she twisted her back.

The gray mare rose to her hooves and walked towards the door, without looking back. “Go take a shower. You reek of alcohol and B.O.” She paused as she opened the door, halfway out. “And if you are not out in twenty minutes, I shall return to drag you out by your tail, and you shall have to suffer through walking through the city in wet clothes.”

Vinyl's response was a silent, but well aimed pillow thrown at her ex-fillyfriend, which only hit the door as it closed.

(\ /)
( . .)
*(“)(“)

Twilight walked into the parlor and glared down at Spike, who was reclining on the couch, giggling at a comic in his hands. “Oh, Matterhorn. You're so uptight,” he said to the comic.

“Ahem!”

Twilight's loud throat-clearing startled the dragon into sitting up, though he didn't put the comic away. “T- Twilight! What are you still doing here? I thought you left for your appointment!”

The mare smirked at his stammered question. She walked over to him and stood, towering over the smallish dragon. “I was on my way out, when I remembered the tower. I would like you to get started on checking it out. I know I didn't leave any experiments running, so the worst danger you're likely to face is something in the fridge evolving into a dangerous species, but as it's been just over a year, I doubt you'll have to worry about that. I want you to go open the windows to air it out and start on dusting the books. I'll be by later to help you finish and categorize which ones we're taking back home with us.” She paused at his groan, but her smirk did not waver. “I know, I know, but it'll be a just a couple dozen books at most, and those will be going into my lab, not the library itself.”

Spike's gaze went back down to the comic in his lap, though he was too upset at the thought of the day's tasks before him to enjoy it anymore, not that he'd do something so rude as to read while Twilight was talking to him anyway. “Aw, tinder. I knew today was going too well for me.” He looked up at her, brows furrowed in a plea. “Can I at least get one of the maids to help me? The tower is so huge!”

“Spike, I am embarrassed to have that tower seen by them in that state! It reflects poorly on us, and besides, there's no sense in making more work for them than absolutely necessary. I know it's their job, but it shows that we respect them by not purposely leaving a huge mess for them to clean up!” She saw him flinch under her words, so softened her tone and sat down next to him. She pulled him into a quick sideways hug. “Look, I'm not expecting you to go right now, or do all the work yourself, but I would like you to at least be starting by noon, okay?” He nodded, albeit, reluctantly. “Tell you what, when I get to the palace, I'll get one of the maids to help out, and we can finish this task off today, and have all day tomorrow to play in Canterlot, okay?” Spike just sighed in response to the offer, but Twilight's smile widened. “That's the spirit!” she said as she patted him on the back. She rose to her hooves and walked to the door. “I'll bring some donuts when I come back, Spike.”

Spike's mood improved a little at the prospect of real Pony Joe donuts.

(\ /)
( . .)
*(“)(“)

Taking another sip of her coffee, Twilight mumbled equations under her breath as she went over her old thesis on the connection between music and magic. The papers held in her magic were almost five years old, but due to the magic of her pocket dimension, they looked as if they hadn't aged a day. She was startled out of her musings by a rather loud voice for a coffee shop.

“I told you she'd be the one hiding behind a stack of papers!”

Twilight let the papers drop just enough to peer over them, and was glad she had not set them down entirely to reveal her jaw which had dropped in surprise. Before her stood two ponies she had not realized how much she had missed until just now. Vinyl was virtually unchanged, but then, she had seen her just a few weeks ago, but her familiar lopsided grin was welcomed, nonetheless. However, Twilight only really had eyes for Octavia. The mare looked even more elegant than she had last seen her during high school. True, she had seen her at the Gala not too long ago, but that was from across the ballroom, and only between greeting guests and conversing with The Princess. In high school, Octavia was as refined as a young mare could get, and her beauty was truly something to behold. Now, with the weight of eight years to mature, she had indeed aged like a fine wine, as the saying goes. Gone was the eighteen year old near-mare, to be replaced with this vision of grace and gentility. The white, denim skirt/peach button-up blouse combo was accented by a beige blazer and a soft, patterned scarf that set off her gray coat like it was designed specifically for her, and her mane was perfectly coiffed as usual, not a single hair out of place. She's gorgeous. She shook her head to chase away the thought and sent the papers back to her dimensional pocket, smiling as she rose to greet her oldest friends. “Octavia, Vinyl! It's so...” Despite her promise to not cry, tears came to her eyes, and she could not continue her planned greeting. She was surprised when Vinyl came around the table and practically grappled her into a hug.

“We've missed you, Short Stuff,” the white unicorn said as she pulled her in tighter, then stepped back, but not releasing the younger mare's shoulders from her grasp.

Twilight's smile was less melancholic as she stepped back as well from the crushing embrace. “I've missed you both, as well. I... I don't know where to even begin.”

Vinyl was gently pushed aside as Octavia came forward and pulled Twilight into an equally strong embrace. Both mares were silent as they held one another, just breathing each other in. As much as they would have liked to continue to stand just like that, they were both aware of the scene they were causing, and stepped back, albeit, reluctantly. Octavia never took her eyes off of the young mare's before her as she said, “You've grown so much! Vinyl and I are very proud to be your friends, Twilight.”

“Yeah, we've been following your adventures in the news since we graduated high school, you know,” Vinyl said as she took a seat.

Octavia nodded as she took one herself, between Twilight and Vinyl. “One could say that you do not even need to say anything to us in order to catch us up, but we would very much like to hear it in your own words.”

They were interrupted as a dark green earth pony mare with a brown mane and tail silently dropped off two more cups of coffee and a plate of cheese danishes for the newcomers. When she was gone, Twilight said, “I figured you would be along soon, so I took the liberty of ordering for you.” She looked at the lids, and switched them around. “Mocha cappuccino for the deejay, and Lady Gray with honey for Octavia. Still remember your favorites,” she said with a smile.

Octavia removed the lid and breathed in the steam from the tea with a smile. “While mine has not changed, I am afraid you shall have to excuse little Miss Uncouth over there as she adds entirely too much alcohol to hers.”

Indeed, Vinyl was pouring a small measure of whiskey into her cup from a hip flask. She looked up at them in confusion. “What? It's before noon, and I'm lucky to have gotten more than four hours of sleep last night.”

Twilight chuckled and shook her head. “The way you two act like an old, married couple always cracks me up. Are... are you two still...”

Both mares caught the nervousness behind the partially asked question, but it was Vinyl who replied first. “No, we broke up before going to different colleges.”

Shocked, Twilight almost shouted, “What? But you two were like, perfect for each other! How could you-”

Octavia laid a hand on hers, immediately getting her attention and cutting her off. “It is fine, Twilight. We just... we wanted different things from our relationship. It's... it is better this way; not that we have not reconsidered-”

“Or regretted,” Vinyl interjected.

Nodding, the gray mare agreed. “Or regretted it. Honestly, we would have driven each other crazy. I would have gone spare pushing her to better herself until she could not take it anymore, and then we both would have done something we would regret even more than splitting up.” She looked over to Vinyl with a fond smile, then returned her gaze to Twilight. “Vinyl and I make better best friends than we would each others' wives. That's just not in the cards for us.”

Twilight's heart was thudding in her chest like a jackhammer. She didn't know whether it was because of the stress of seeing the two ponies she called friend or if it was... No. I can't. I won't. They deserve better. She deserves better. Besides, what would she want with a scrawny, awkward thing like me? She shook these thoughts away and gave them a sad smile. “That's the saddest thing I've heard all week. There wouldn't happen to be any room in that best friend circle for a filly who let life get in the way of a past friendship, would there?”

“Well, it wasn't done in malice, so I think we can forgive and forget,” Octavia replied.

“Yeah, we coo,” Vinyl added. She leaned forward and asked, “So, what has our little Criminale been up to? We know you were at the Gala, and your brother's wedding-”

“And you were instrumental in the downfall of at least three major threats to Equestria,” Octavia interrupted. “But what have you been up to since high school?”

Vinyl nodded. “Yeah, we want deets, filly. Dish, dish!”

Twilight laughed heartily at them as she started talking about what had been going on in her life since they had last met.

(\ /)
( . .)
*(“)(“)

Spike sighed as he took in the library before him. Granted, it wasn't even close to the size of the one back home in Ponyville, but after going over the lower apartment with a feather duster, he was just plain exhausted, and his dust covered pink apron proved it. And now he stood before a task that made that look like a dawdle. Not only did the bookcases have ten shelves a piece, but there were twelve of them, plus the upper tier which held another eight, and that wasn't even counting all the knick-knacks like trophies, awards, and scientific equipment scattered about the tower which needed to be dusted, some of which were so delicate that they had to be cleaned by hand. “I wish Twi would just summon an invisible servant to keep everything clean like other unicorn wizards.”

“I don't, because invisible servants still require constant supervision, lest they break something because they don't care about things like that.”

Spike dropped the feather duster and gave a short screech like a little filly in surprise. “Twi, I-” He stopped abruptly when he noticed that she wasn't alone. Standing behind her was Vinyl Scratch, Octavia Melody, and one of the Palace's maids pushing a cleaning cart.

“What rooms have you finished, Spike?” Twilight's tone was serious, but her expression was very mild, considering the state of her tower and the fact that she had not only brought the promised maid, but also guests.

The dragon went to attention and saluted like a soldier. “Bedrooms, kitchen and bathrooms dusted and straightened, Ma'am!”

Twilight folded her hand behind her back and walked around the dragon, taking note of the dust and grime on his clothes, and the open windows blowing in a fresh breeze to replace the stale air that had been trapped for over a year. She ran a finger along a shelf, noting with disgust just how much dust had accumulated. She rubbed fingers clean and walked back in front of the dragon and returned his salute. “Very good, soldier! Stand relieved, and report back in thirty minutes.” She held out a paper bag and a steaming cup.

Grinning, Spike snatched the bag of donuts and cup of hot chocolate, and ran out of the tower to eat on the grass, leaving behind four laughing mares.

Turning to the maid, Twilight gestured towards the already cleaned sections of the tower. “Why don't you get started on the rooms Spike went over, while I get started on this, okay?” The maid curtsied and turned to leave, but was stopped as Twilight added, “But stay out of the lab. I need to go over that myself first.” With another curtsy, the maid was gone, leaving the three friends behind. Twilight's horn lit up, conjuring a small spark of electricity, which moved among the shelves, collecting the dust, while her friends wandered around her private library.

Vinyl found herself standing before the largest hourglass she had ever seen. She smiled as she saw the curved glass distort everything on the other side. She was tempted to use a finger to make a smiley face in the dust, but decided that doing so in a unicorn's home would be ill-advised, but doing it in Twilight's home could be just suicidal, judging by the glowing runes inscribed on the frame.

Octavia perused the book titles as they became clear of dust, and was surprised at the number of tomes on music and musical theory. Obviously, music seemed to be a big part of her life, even now. With a smile, she pulled a familiar book that was in her own curriculum last year, and almost laughed out loud when she saw many of the same notations she had made, scrawled on a few pieces of loose leaf paper. True, there were many more mathematical equations, but many of the written notes were the same.

“So, does Spike know about that little trick of yours for dusting, or is it a unicorn secret?” Vinyl asked as she peered at an empty terrarium littered with a dried branch, mysterious debris, and sand. She was restraining herself from the temptation of touching by keeping her hands in her pockets.

With a small shrug, Twilight replied, “He knows. He also knows that if he could do that trick too, I would have no problem with him using it. But, I didn't really bring you two here to help with the cleaning, nor to talk about housekeeping tricks.”

“Especially since Vinyl absolutely neither the talent, nor the motivation to undertake such an endeavor,” Octavia butted in.

They both ignored the unicorn's raspberry she blew at them. With a polite cough, Twilight said, “I wanted to apologize again, and invite you both over to my place at Ponyville, if you have the time. I really have no excuse for neglecting you both, and I'd like you to meet my new friends there.”

Octavia walked over and gently took one of Twilight's hands in both of her own. “Twilight, we explained that we all share the blame for that.” She forestalled another protest from the younger, blushing mare by adding, “But we would both be happy to accept your invitation, right, Vinyl?”

Vinyl came over and roughly slapped Twilight on the back, causing her to stagger. “You bet your bippy we do!”

Unnoticed by all three mares, Twilight's spark flew out the window and exploded in a puff of dust.

(\ /)
( . .)
*(“)(“)

Spike returned to find the library not only dusted, but practically gleaming. He shook his head in wonderment, still not entirely sure how she got books to gleam and sparkle, but then, it was a family name. He found Twilight alone, standing at the window, staring out with her hands clasped behind her back. The dragon could see her reflection in the glass, and was worried to see her chewing on her lip, a crease of consternation on her brow. He was about to turn around and sneak away, when she spoke.

“We'll be bringing home some guests, Spike.”

He guiltily stopped in his tracks and turned back to her. “Octavia and Vinyl, I'm guessing?”

Twilight's shoulders tensed at Octavia's name, but she quickly schooled herself back into her calm, but commanding pose. Still looking out the window, she replied, “Yes. They'll have our room. You and I will be sleeping on the lobby couches when we return home tomorrow night, and possibly the following night, depending on how long they wish to stay.”

It was times like this that made Spike regret living in a town so small, that the closest thing they had to a hotel was a bed and breakfast run by Matilda and Cranky, which was full when they had left a few days ago, and was in the middle of one of their busier seasons. He would have suggested they stay there, but knew that Twilight would not hear of it; not for two ponies this important to her. “Is...” He hesitated to bring up his concerns, but her expression was worrisome. Twilight silently turned her head to look at him, one eyebrow arched in a question. Swallowing hard, he forged ahead. “Is everything... alright?”

Twilight returned to her vigil, looking out over the palace's courtyard. She watched a gardener work on a topiary for a moment before replying. In a flat tone that convinced no one, she said, “Yes.”

“Er...” Spike was unsure of what to do, so he started to slowly back away. “I'll just, uh... go... over... here?” He got no response as he sidled down the stairs to the lower half of the library. Once he was out of sight, he quietly dashed out of the tower and quickly made his way to the palace itself. Luckily for him, Twilight's attention was no longer on anything before her eyes, including the small, purple dragon crossing the courtyard.

(\ /)
( . .)
*(“)(“)

Celestia's smile was starting to creep out some of the nobles. It's not like they had never seen her smile before. Indeed, a smile of one sort or another was usually plastered to her face when she dealt with them, but this one was a smile that had rarely been seen in Canterlot for over a year, and the nobles had become unaccustomed to seeing it there once more. Of course, they all knew why it had shown up again, and just who put it there; not that they were pleased by knowing its source. Many of them bore an unreasonable dislike for the filly-turned-mare for the joy that she brought to their diarch that they never could. Jealousy was a most unreasonable beast.

Celestia knew that some of her ponies felt this way of course, and hoped that someday they would, if not understand, then at least get over it, but she wasn't about to hold her breath. She just couldn't help it. Every time Twilight found her way back to Canterlot, her heart lifted a little, even if she could not be with her. Just knowing she was close at hand was a balm to her soul. She had been smiling serenely at the court for close to a half hour now, and they were starting to get a bit antsy in their seats. None of them would dream of asking for a recess, as that was the Princess' prerogative, but she could tell that they were ready for some relief, as was she. As she was about to nod to the guard to announce a recess, her seneschal, Raven, stepped forward and stretched on her hooves to reach her ruler's ear in order to whisper into it, even though the alicorn was seated.

“Your Highness, Master Spike is here, wishing to see you about Lady Sparkle. He says it's not urgent, but he appeared rather agitated.”

She nodded and waited until her steward was a few steps away before announcing in a clear voice, “It seems some other important business has come up. We shall recess for one hour, and return thence.”

With a noise that echoed throughout the vast hall, the bailiff banged his staff against the floor three times. “Oyez, oyez, oyez. The court of the Sun is now in recess, to return in one hour hence.”

The alicorn followed her retainer out to a side chamber, where Spike was waiting for her nervously on the couch. Startled, he looked up as she walked in, and was about to jump off to go to her, when she held him back with a held up hand. “Would you be a dear and bring us some tea yourself, Raven? I have a feeling that this is something private.”

The white unicorn bowed as she left and quietly closed the door behind herself. Celestia walked over to the couch and sat down, putting a comforting hand on Spike's shoulder. “What ever's the matter, Spike? Whenever you look this troubled and come to see me about Twilight, it usually means something fairly bad.”

Spike began recounting to her about the past few days, when Twilight's melancholy had started, not even noticing the tray of tea appearing on the coffee table before them. In an absent manner, he watched as Celestia served them both a cup while he told her about the visit from Twilight's old friends this afternoon. When finished, her held the cup in both hands, letting the warmth seep into his palms, and inhaled the chamomile and honey steam that wafted past his nostrils, sitting in silence for a moment. He looked up into Celestia's eyes, a crease of worry furrowing his brow. “I'm just... It just seems like that time in high school, when she was almost done with her community service thing. She got real quiet and... distant? She was like a storm on the horizon. You can see it coming, but there's nothing you can do to avoid it. And, and she gets really... scary.”

Celestia nodded and sipped from her cup. “I suppose I should talk to her, then. Perhaps over dinner-”

“No!” Spike's outburst caught the alicorn by surprise. He was chagrined by it, and apologized. “Sorry, it's just that... Nana Velvet's been looking forward to having dinner with her tonight; a family meal kinda thing.”

Again, Celestia nodded in understanding. “Of course. I wouldn't want to stand in the way of a mother bonding with her daughter and grandson over a good meal.” The alicorn knew the real reason why Spike was so abrupt, and was disappointed that the mare still hadn't gotten past this. She had tried on many occasions to try to smooth things over, both in person and through letters, but still the jealousy and feelings of inadequacy persisted. Even though Celestia insisted that Twilight only get Mothers' Day gifts for her true mother, Twilight still insisted on getting her something as well, calling her “all of ponydom's mother”. While the gesture was sweet, and Celestia cherished every gift and card from her, she would rather her stop, so as to not cause any unnecessary friction with Velvet. “Perhaps it would be better to call her here tomorrow before you leave again.”

“Yeah,” Spike said with a nod. With a sigh, he leaned into Celestia's side, relishing the comforting warmth radiating from her. “It would be nice to have breakfast with you again.” He stiffened for a moment as he remembered something. “Oh. But Twilight's friends are coming back to Ponyville with us on the train.”

Celestia petted the dragon's head fins and smiled down at him, though he couldn't see it. “Then perhaps they would like to join us? I could ask Luna to see if she would like to join as well. I'm sure that she could use the socializing, and she does miss Twilight as almost as much as I. Then, while you and Luna keep them busy, I can take Twilight aside for a quick talk.”

Spike buried his face into Celestia's side and wrapped his little arms around her, not even close to making it all the way around.

Author's Note

I hate doing this, but I'm going to have to put this story on hiatus again. My muse simply refuses to work on this, and insists on taunting me with ideas for other stories. For the most part, I'll be adding chapters to my Daria and Transformers fanfics over at AO3, though I may start a new pone story as well. Sorry, everyone.