The Jealousy of Princess Twilight Sparkleby Metal Gear PINKChaptersTo FillydelphiaEmotional HealingIs Twilight Jealous?Only Twilight Would Research JealousyTo FillydelphiaPrincess Twilight Sparkle was in her library section of her crystal castle rereading a book titled Obscure Unicorn History. She was finishing up the biography of the great Starswirl before she felt and heard the familiar feeling on her cutie mark. She looked at it with glee. Finally, the map has decided to call on her. She wondered if everypony was coming with her, or one or two of her friends, but she decided not to question it. Besides, how do you question that map thing. She wanted to know where it came from and all that but its purpose was definitely clear to her. She bolted to her little throne room and glanced at the map. Her cutie mark was paired up with a cutie mark of three balloons. Twilight smiled. After all, nopony made as quick of friends to somepony else than Pinkie Pie. She saw it was hovering over the city of Fillydelphia, a city she had yet to see. Great, not only can she go out and do something, but she could learn all about a new city first-hoof instead of a book. Now, all she needed to do was to go get Pinkie, say goodbye to their friends and head out and a totally new adventure. She quickly teleported to the entrance of Sugarcube Corner when she heard crashing. She looked inside and it looked like Pinkie was zooming all over the place. Guess she knew about the entire map fiasco. After a bit of zooming around, Pinkie finally took notice to Twilight waiting at the entrance and decided to quickly rush over to her instead. “Hi Twilight! Where’s the map sending me? Who’s going with me or is it a solo mission? Is it going as quick as Rainbow Dash clearing the sky or as slow as Fluttershy trying to feed all of her animals at once because jeez-o that was a very busy day!” she rambled. “I’m finally going!’ she started to respond with almost as much enthusiasm as Pinkie was showing, “It’s sending us to Fillydelphia, a place with so many sights to see and history to relearn!” “...and friendship problems to be solved. Yay, it going to be great!” “Yeah, let’s go tell everypony we are leaving!” And so they rushed off, saying goodbye to their friends and getting packed. Twilight left the castle in hopefully Spike’s careful claws and teleported right next to a beaming Pinkie at the Ponyville Train Station. They both nodded their heads in affirmation that they were done and waited for the next train. The train didn’t come for a bit so while they waited, Pinkie suggested they start playing some games so they don’t get bored. So they proceeded to play I Spy, 20 Questions, Tic-Tac-Toe, and even Monopoly when Pinkie removed said game from somewhere in her poofy mane of hers. Just when Twilight was placing some hotels on a few of her properties did the train finally show up. “Wow, Pinkie. If I had known the train was coming this late, we could’ve waited at Sugarcube Corner.” “Eh, you can’t control when the train comes or not, but we should be glad it came now instead of not at all!” shouted Pinkie in an overly dramatic way. Twilight giggled a little bit at the display and ushered Pinkie into the Friendship Express. They chose a seat and decided to resume their Monopoly game until they had finally arrived at Fillydelphia. When the train finally arrived, Pinkie and Twilight exited the train and Twilight’s eyes grew at the sights. She loved visiting new towns and cities and loved it when Rarity invited her to the theater or at the little social gatherings at Manehattan and Canterlot. Of course, everypony would be well aware that the Princess of Friendship was their and try to show as much respect as possible, even when Twilight says they don’t have to. “So I know a pony who is willing to let us stay over at his abode for a while and I know you’ll like him because he loves to read books as well as you do!” informed Pinkie. “Wait, you know somepony here?” “Yep, he always helps me with backup supplies or when I need help to hold a big party here! As I said, you’ll like him. He’s a sort of a librarian like you except he doesn’t really own it.” “That’s sounds nice. I’ll be sure to say thank you when we encounter him.” “Oh, I already thanked him for the both of us. I’ll tell you a little something Twilight that you better Pinkie Promise that you won’t tell anypony else.” Pinkie said in a hushed tone. “Ok then. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” Twilight chanted while doing all the motions. “He’s secretly trying to get my little sister to go out with him. I said I’d help him since he’s such a swell pony, but if you ask me and Applejack, she’s way too shy to ask anypony out herself and I’m sure she doesn’t want the Choosing Stone to pick out her future husband for her. Though, Limestone doesn’t want to get married, but I think it’s because she more of a lone rock type of pie or something, I dunno.” “Choosing stone?” “I’ll tell you later.” “Wait, neither you nor Applejack said what was going on in your little get together!” “I said I’ll tell you later, Twilight!” Twilight sighed, all that she had gotten out of the get together was that something bad happened because the Pies celebrated Hearth’s Warming Eve and Day differently. She was big on religion and culture, but never got a shred of information out of the two ponies, but they also said that they couldn’t wait to do it next year. As she retreated from her thoughts, she noticed Pinkie Pie was miles ahead of her and had to rush over to her while yelling for her to slow down. Though Twilight wanted to see the sights as quickly as possible, Pinkie insisted that they get settled into their temporary housing quarters. When they reached a big fancy hotel and Pinkie stepped inside, Twilight was able to figure out that this old friend of hers was definitely a rich stallion, but most of all, she noticed that if he was a rich librarian, then they library he worked for would have fountains of knowledge ready for her to read. When Pinkie went to the person at the service desk, she smiled very brightly and quickly waved before the two started to converse. Twilight was only able to catch enough of the conversation to learn that they were good friends as well. Upon that revelation, she started to wonder why the map had sent them here. They knew it was going to be a friendship problem, but how would they know when it reared its ugly mug at them. Twilight retreated back out of her thoughts again. She knew not to question the map because questioning the map is sort of questioning her companion she had during this journey. She then felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see a beaming Pinkie who said exactly where they were going. Apparently, her friend was so well known that he managed to get the Platinum Suite for them. Twilight was about to ask how he got them such a fancy living area until she saw that he was none other than Fancy Hotel, the stallion who owned the best hotel in all of Fillydelphia as so she had read. She was amazed that he could maintain a big hotel business and fill in as a librarian at the same time. Quite the talent. When they finally reached it, they saw an amazing room with two private bathrooms, a gigantic closet, two separate rooms with queen sized beds, a mini-bar, and a gigantic kitchen. The Platinum Suite looked more like the most expensive apartment in all of Equestria and maybe even beyond than a suite. “Wow, Pinkie. How did you get to know this guy anyway?” Twilight asked. “I threw a big surprise party for his sister a few years back. We became quick friends and he even was about to ask me out even before Marble swooped in and grabbed his attention.” “Wait, what!” proclaimed Twilight. She felt a little twist in her gut when she learned that Fancy Hotel had almost asked Pinkie out. She couldn’t place where that feeling was coming from or what it was so she just decided to forget such a feeling. Anyways, he’s got eyes for Marble Pie anyway. Wait, wasn’t Marble Pie very shy? “What do you mean ‘wait, what’, I already told you that he’s going for my sister now.” “It’s not that, it's that you got a famous pony to almost ask you out.” “Would’ve said no anyway. Right now, I’ve got more things to deal with like this and still trying to figure out if AJ is truly my cousin or not. Besides, back then I wasn’t really dating material. Still don’t even know if I’m even dating material now, but I got lot’s of friends at Ponyville to support me and I don’t think I need anything more.” “Huh, never actually thought about dating before, but I’ve got a little too much responsibilities to carry out now to try to hold a successful relationship anyway.” “As they say, when you're still young, something about having fun. I don’t remember the actual quote right now but let’s get packing. I need a few cupcakes for our journey around this city again.” A few hours later of unpacking, Twilight and Pinkie were ready to wander the city to try to find the reason their map sent them here. They wandered the streets, being interrupted a few times by ponies who wanted to try and get Twilight’s autograph and such. They even visited the library that Fancy Hotel wasn’t able to attend due to something. Twilight went around to read while Pinkie just as quietly as she could, inspect everypony to see if they had a friendship problem that needed solving until she was kicked out for being a nuisance. Twilight though didn’t know her friend was kicked out. After a few hours of reading, she finally noticed the absence of one hyperactive pink pony and grumbled a bit. She exited the library to find Pinkie at a stand with crude writing saying: Friendship Problem Solving Here For Free. Pinkie was wearing a mustache and top hat while annoying several pedestrians. Twilight rolled her eyes before teleporting over to Pinkie Pie and convincing her that what she was doing wasn’t going to be the best way to find a friendship problem. After searching all day, Twilight was quickly becoming tired and told the bouncing pink pony next to her that it was time to call it quits for tonight. “Yeah, you can go. I’m going to stay out for a bit to search for this friendship problem. And don’t worry, I’ll find it if my name isn’t Pinkamina Diane Pie, unless my name isn’t. Oh no, Twi-” Pinkie was about to ramble on before Twilight shoved her hoof over Pinkie’s mouth while rolling her eyes.” “Of course that’s your name. And you call me a silly filly at times. Ok, you have fun. See you later.” “Bye, Twi!” Pinkie shouted as she bounded out of sight. Twilight quickly mustered enough energy to teleport to the entrance of the hotel and went there. Before she could get inside, Fancy Hotel exited the building and when his eyes found the Princess of Friendship, he quickly started smiling. He was a brown stallion with a fine-combed silvery mane and a trimmed silvery beard and moustache. He had brown eyes and seemed semi-built for such a librarian and business pony. He wore a fancy black suit with a purple tie and held a sort of professional air around him. For his cutie mark, it was a hotel with money signs all around it. “Ah, you must be Princess Twilight Sparkle, one of Pinkie Pie’s friends at Ponyville!” he said in a thick Trottingham accent. “And you must be Fancy Hotel, one of Pinkie’s dearest friends that we didn’t know about.” “Well.” Fancy Hotel chuckled, “There is lots that we ponies that don’t know about the mystery pony we call Pinkie Pie I’m afraid.” “I guess so.” “So, what brings the protege of Princess Celestia and one of her best friends to this wondrous city in the first place.” he asked with a bow. “Well, we’re here on official business, but it seems we cannot find our client I guess.” “What type of business endeavor if I may ask Your Highness.” “No need to be formal, just call me Twilight and you may ask. It is of the friendship kind I’m afraid.” “And I can’t help you with such thing, I know I know.” he nodded. He looked at the watch on his wrist and his eyes opened in alarm. “Well, enough dilly dallying around but I must excuse myself. It seems I’m going to be a bit late for my meeting. Nice meeting you Twilight and tell Pinkie I said hi!” He hailed a taxi and whispered in the driver's ear. The driver quickly nodded and bolted down the street at an incredibly fast speed. Twilight smirked and turned around to only bump into another pony. This one was female with very similar eyes to Twilight. She had a purely lavender mane and tail. She was also a light shade of blue and had a singular star as a cutie mark. Her once depressed looking face turned into a look of horror and confusion as the blue mare uttered, “Twilight!?!” “Yeah that’s me!” Twilight nervously smiled. She was about to say something else until the mare hugged her and swung her around. Twilight was completely confused and lost. Did she know this pony, how did this pony know her. So many questions filled her brain that she couldn’t even try to answer any of them until she choked out, “Do I know you?” The mare quickly stopped twirling around and put her down. “No, but I know you, Shining Armor, your mom and your dad.” “How?” With a sad look on her face, she came face to face with Twilight, boring her eyes into the poor purple pony princess’s inner soul. “Because Twilight Sparkle, I’m the sister our parents and brother never told you about.” Emotional HealingChapter 2: Emotional Healing Nightlight Sparkle gave Twilight some Chamomile Tea as they sat in her normal looking apartment. Twilight was still dumbfounded that she had a relative, a sister even, that she had never known about. Why didn’t Shining Armor or her parents for that matter tell her that such a pony exists. Twilight was also worrying about when Pinkie would be back because she was both mentally and physically not prepared for the talk they were about to have. “I-I bet you never expected this did you Twilight, I heard so much of your exploits in Ponyville and how our brother has even married a princess, the princess of love itself no less and I also heard that they have a royal foal on the way,” Nightlight softly spoke. Twilight could feel the depressive tone that this pony held. It reminded her of how miserable the ponies at the Crystal Empire where when they had just returned, maybe even ten times worse. Was this why the map sent both Pinkie and Twilight here? Pinkie to help bring cheer and friendship to this pony and Twilight because she is related to that pony. Well, if this was her mission she was going to do it, no matter how awkward the situation feels and maybe after Twilight can confront the rest of her family about this unexpected discovery. “Well, I never really knew I had an unknown family member. I wonder what else they’ve hidden from me.” “No, nothing else. I’m the only dirty little secret they held,” Nightlight said as she sat down on the chair in front of Twilight. “They had every right to anyway. I’m a disgrace to them, to Shining Armor, and now to you.” “Hey, don’t think like that! They probably didn’t tell me about them because… because…” Twilight started to think but could come up with no more reasonable explanations that her family would forget about Nightlight. “Don’t try to overthink things, please. It’s wonderful to meet you at last Twilight. I’ve been actually debating whether I should try to visit you in Ponyville but I didn’t want to waste your time.” “You could’ve visited. I’m more angry at my parents and brother hiding your existence from me anyway. By the way, why did you run away?” asked Twilight. “Because I was a terrible student and I had the feeling nopony wanted me around, especially our parents who got disappointed from the grades I had received. I was never going to be the prodigy that they wanted. They found that more in you and Shining Armor after all. You two are very lucky ponies while I have to live here and barely work enough to meet Mr. Hotel’s rent that I owe him.” ‘Well-” Twilight started before she heard somepony yelling her name and knocking on the door. On normal circumstances, Twilight would question how somepony knew where she was, but with the familiarity of the voice, she could tell it was Pinkie Pie. “Oh, I’ll go get it!” Nightlight announced as she got up and trotted over to the door. Once she opened it, a pink blur zoomed past her and halted right in front of Twilight, coming to a complete stop. Nightlight’s mouth dropped at the display at such an impossible speed and total ignorance to the laws of physics that she knew. “Hey, Twi-Twi. Why aren’t ya in the Platinum Suite. I was worried sick you got mugged by ponies who wanted your autograph or something!” Pinkie gasped, concern written all over her features. “Well, Pinkie, meet Nightlight, my uh sister.” Pinkie’s eyes quickly grew to the size of saucers as she turned around and looked at the pony Twilight introduced her to. A bright gleaming smile replaced the worried frown as she zoomed over to Nightlight and started rambling on about how she loved meeting new ponies and that she never knew Twilight had a sister before. Nightlight quickly glanced at Twilight with a look of ‘Help Me’ which Twilight quickly did. “Pinkie, settle down. I think you’re scaring her.” “Oh, you are right Twilight. Sorry about that, it’s just that I get a bit wacky at the prospect of possibly making a new friend. What’s your name?” Pinkie politely asked, somehow managing to keep her overexcitement down. “Uh, Nightlight.” she nervously responded. Twilight face-hoofed herself. Didn’t she already tell Pinkie Nightlight’s name. “Nice to meet you! My name is Pinkamena Diane Pie, but you can just call me Pinkie Pie!” “Uh, ok but I was in the middle of a conversation with my sister that I would love to resume,” Nightlight said nervously, hoping the pink pony would catch on. “Ooo, I’d love to chat with you guys!” Pinkie beamed as she hopped over to a chair. ‘I-I meant, oh, whatever.” After hours of catching up and awkward conversations with a few weird interjections from Pinkie Pie, they were able to catch up. When they left the apartment and said their goodbyes, Pinkie was quick to say a few things. “Jeez-o Twilight. That pony was a frowny-stick-in-the-mud pony. Do you think the map sent us here to cheer her up. Ooo, I hope it did because I love cheering ponies up.” “Yeah, I think so too,” Twilight responded as they started climbing the stairs that would lead them to their Platinum Suite. She saw Pinkie stroke her chin with a hoof like she was deep in thought and Twilight giggled a little at the display. They continued to walk up the stairs in eerie silence, silence that Twilight found unnerving because silence was a very rare thing when around a pony like Pinkie Pie. As soon as they reached the entrance to the suite, Pinkie Pie’s thoughtful look slowly morphed into a big wide beam of diabolical proportion. “We should totally throw her a par-tay!” Twilight rolled her eyes at Pinkie’s predictability and knew she was stalling for a more dramatic effect. “That sounds great, we should do it tomorrow.” Pinkie opened the door and nodded in agreement before bounding all the way over to the kitchen to start baking whatever she was planning on baking, perhaps getting ready for the part. Twilight knew that Pinkie was gonna ask her to keep Nightlight from her apartment tomorrow to try and spruce the place up, though she didn’t know who she might invite. Twilight was content enough to pull out a few books she checked out from the library before she had to leave. She looked over at Pinkie and saw her singing while bounding around while mixing some batter. Twilight cracked a smile at how adorable her pink friend was being before diving into the world of knowledge that her new books possessed. The next day, Twilight was startled awake as Pinkie started to sing her ‘Good Morning’ song very loudly. She looked over at the clock at saw it was 7:30 in the morning. Twilight groggily slipped off the bed and walked into the kitchen to see that Pinkie had already made chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. “Good morning, sleepyhead! I was planning on giving all of this to Nightlight because after all, who doesn’t like breakfast in bed! Soon we’ll make her frown turn upside down!” Pinkie declared. “How are you going to get all of it to her when you have tons of stairs to go down?” Twilight asked, cocking her head slightly. “Duh, you are gonna teleport them to her and I’ll just rush down the stairs super fast! You are an alicorn with that ability, remember silly!” “What about I teleport you too, silly,” Twilight said in a friendly mocking tone. “Touche,” said Pinkie, a smile plastered all over her features. Twilight then focused energy into her horn and teleported Pinkie, herself, and the food to Nightlight’s door which Pinkie knocked on repeatedly before Twilight used her magic to stop it. The door was slowly opened and Nightlight stepped out. Her eyes widened at the amount of food was being levitated and held by Twilight and Pinkie. “Good morning! We were hoping you’d accept our breakfast we made for you!” “Well, Pinkie, I didn’t really do anything,” Twilight mumbled to herself. “Thanks, how did you know that I love chocolate chip pancakes with strawberry syrup?” Nightlight asked Pinkie. “Just a hunch,” she answered with another innocent smile. “May we come in?” asked Twilight. “Sure,” Nightlight responded, fully opening the door and stepping aside to let Pinkie and Twilight enter her apartment. Twilight walked to a chair while Pinkie bounced to another. Twilight set the items on the table and split the pancakes evenly between the three. Nightlight also sat down and huffed. She didn’t expect company this early in the morning. After they ate and Pinkie asked a billion questions to get to know Nightlight quicker, which Nightlight depressively answered. Pinkie easily caught onto her behavior and started cracking jokes to help lighten up the mood which they repeatedly failed to do. After learning the appropriate amount of information needed for the party, Pinkie winked to Twilight who immediately knew the signal upon seeing it. “Hey Nightlight, I was wondering if we could explore the town a bit, that way it’ll be a bit easier to get to know each other in a different life,” suggested Twilight with a small smile. “Sure, why not. It does look like a beautiful day, I guess,” Nightlight softly responded. “Great. Pinkie, could you continue your ‘search’ for the thing that we’re looking for?” Twilight asked. “Abso-tutely-lutley!” she said with a big grin. After a couple hours of shopping, which Nightlight wasn’t that enthused in doing, Twilight would take her out to lunch and try to engage in a little small talk. Throughout their talk, it didn’t look or feel like Nightlight was into things like this. Twilight then started second-guessing the party idea, it might not even work for pony’s sake! Still, Twilight was willing to give Pinkie a chance because after all, Twilight was enjoying this friendship mission with her. After a few more hours just wandering the city, Twilight noticed it was getting very late and knowing Pinkie, she’d have the party done by now and all the guest where there. So after suggesting to Nightlight that it was time to turn in, Nightlight shrugged at the suggestion and sighed. They reached the hotel and climbed up the stairs right to the doorway of Nightlight’s apartment complex. Before she could open the door for Nightlight, said pony turned Twilight around and huffed. “I’m sure you didn’t enjoy my company today and before you say anything, you don’t have to waste your time with me,” she said depressively. “But-” Twilight started but Nightlight quickly cut her off. “You don’t have to try and hide it. Nopony has really cared about me much anyway, but thanks for at least trying. J-just leave me. Let me wallow in my pity. I have to confess to you, Twilight. The real reason I ran away from our parents was because I had fallen in love with a stallion whom they did not like and respect. They thought he was a bad influence on my life and tried to bar me from seeing him ever again. I was young back then, I didn’t understand why my parents didn’t approve of my relationship, but young love makes you blind to the obvious, I guess. He snuck into my room one night and said that he was here to take me away so nopony could ever forsake our love and so we ran. Months later, he started to abuse me, said that he was no longer in love with me and ran away. I’ve ached since that day, contemplated suicide even…” but before she could say anymore, she burst into tears and ran into her apartment which was quickly overcome with the words “SURPRISE!!!” Nightlight’s completely disheartened and sad look was quickly overcome with a look of confusion and awe at the amount of ponies that were in her apartment. There were streamers and balloons that decorated every inch of the apartment. There were cakes, cupcakes, muffins, and other various confectionaries on plates everywhere. There was a banner in the middle of the room that had the words, Get Happy Soon Nightlight Sparkle painted in a rainbow color. She couldn’t utter a word when Pinkie Pie was bouncing over, but when she noticed the tears running down Nightlight’s face, she quickly stopped and her happy face quickly turned into a sad face as her mane started to deflate. “Y-You don’t like it? I’m sorry, I just thought-” she started but she was quickly interrupted by Nightlight. “Y-You did this for me?” “Yes, but I’m sorry that you didn’t like it.” Nightlight didn’t know how to respond, but she quickly turned around and looked at Twilight and asked, “Was the shopping trip all a ploy to lure me away, to let Pinkie set up this party for me without me knowing?” “Yes,” Twilight simply answered. Nightlight’s muzzle slowly adopted a small smile. “Thanks Twilight. I thought I wasn;t...” She turned around and looked at Pinkie, “You have no idea how much this means to me right now, Pinkie. Are all these ponies here to see me!” “Yeppers, they thought it would be fun. Even Fancy Hotel showed up because he was worried about why you would barely leave your apartment and that you looked sad a lot and was worried about your well being and decided to even invite his friends and family to help cheer you up. This entire party was here to turn your frown upside down!” “Thanks,” she said, new tears of joy on her face. She then hugged Pinkie and went over to Twilight and hugged her. During the hug, Twilight simply whispered into her ear, “If you want anypony to talk to, you can come to me!” “Will do,” she whispered back. I guess there are some ponies who do care about my well being. Twilight felt her flank vibrate and saw her cutie mark was glowing, which meant a job well done. She looked over at Pinkie who had a smile of approval one her face. Pinkie quickly rushed over to the music area where Vinyl Scratch was set up and signaled her to start the music. She looked back on Twilight and Nightlight who had big smiles on their faces as everypony shouted, “LET’S PARTY!!!!!!!” Is Twilight Jealous?Chapter 3: Is Twilight Jealous? It had been six months since that day. Twilight and Nightlight had constantly kept in touch due to writing letters to each other and sending them back and forth. Nightlight had sent a letter to Twilight stating that she is currently visiting a therapist and that Pinkie has been visiting every Saturday to keep up her cheer. Even though Twilight was happy with Nightlight’s progress, especially after such a devastating confession, she felt a little negative towards Pinkie hanging out with Nightlight all the time. Pinkie would visit Nightlight a lot and even bring her to Ponyville to introduce her to Pinkie’s “Bestest Friends in the World!” Whenever Twilight would ask how things are doing with her, she’d usually answer back that hanging out with Pinkie Pie is a blast and has helped her get much more social, even befriending Fancy Hotel in the process. Twilight couldn’t help but feel a very unknown twang in her heart that she could not place. Was she getting jealous that Pinkie was hanging out with Nightlight? But why? Pinkie is just one of her very best friends. The first pony to ever greet her when she stepped hoof into Ponyville, the first to go through all the trouble to organize a party for her to make her feel welcome, the first she couldn’t fully comprehend, the first to ever make her second guess herself, and even the first pony to unquestionably help her whenever she went on a crazy exploit like that one time when she tried to stop time. Twilight quickly stopped herself by shaking her head as she started to ramble facts in her mind Twilight decided to shelve this alien feeling like she would with a book she’d finish reading 20 times over in a row. She couldn’t help but notice that she felt similar before, like she was during the wedding. She knew that even if that was a fake Cadence and that she was indeed evil, Twilight knew of the fact that she was feeling a bit of possessiveness towards her brother. Now thinking on it, Twilight did feel like this whenever Pinkie would hang out with her other friends, but she never really noticed it before. Maybe she should look into this sometime. She levitated her book back onto the shelf and decided to ponder a bit. Well, she would’ve if the door to her library wing of her castle didn’t burst open. Twilight turned around at the sudden interruption and saw Pinkie in the doorway, fully packed up for some reason, with a huge grin at least a mile across in diameter. “Twilight, I am cordially inviting you to the birthday party of your older sister, Nightlight. I’m all packed for it and everything and I thought you should be the first pony to know. Later, Twilight, I gotta invite everypony else. Ooo, this is gonna be so much FUN!” she shouted as she left as quickly as she came. Wait, it's Nightlight’s birthday tomorrow? Great, now she’s gonna have to fully rearrange all of her schedules again. Twilight shook her head again and decided it would be best if she started packing now. A couple hours waiting, the six ponies plus dragon had finally made it to the train station. Rarity, of course, was wearing a purple and pink scarf during the chilly autumn weather. Spike, of course, was swooning all over Rarity and would nervously compliment her every now and again. Rarity giggled a little at the display, wondering when Spike would finally get over his crush on her. When the train finally arrived, the ponies got on and decided to rest at their favorite cart place. “Ooo, I can’t wait to see the look on Nightlight’s face when she opens my present and see’s the beautiful ensemble I made for her. It matches her coat color so well,” Rarity practically squealed in delight. “‘Course you’d be excited for that one Rarity,” Rainbow Dash inputted. “Well, Rainbow, it’s better than what yer givin her,” said Applejack as she sorta came to Rarity’s defense. “What, nopony can’t resist the temptation of getting a Grand Galloping Gala ticket that I won during that race in Las Pegasus,” Dash pointed out. “How'd y'know she’s even interested in such things?” Applejack asked with a raised eyebrow. Rainbow Dash couldn’t think of a reply so she huffed at sat down with her fore-hooves crossed, beaten. The train ride had continued without a hitch the rest of the way and was a bit dull. When the rest of the ponies went to bed, Twilight decided to sneak outside at the back carriage and breathe in some fresh air. “Watcha doin’?” an innocent voice asked right next to her. Twilight jumped at the sound and noticed that Pinkie was right next to her. She quickly got over it and decided to stare out towards the stars that were hanging brightly above the two ponies. “I don’t know.” “Well, if you don’t know then, I guess I’ll just go back to bed.” “Wait,” Twilight called back, almost desperately. Pinkie turned back around and faced towards Twilight, her muzzle scrunched up in a confused expression. “What?” “It’s awful nice what you’ve been doing for my sister Pinkie and for that you have my sincerest gratitude.” “Don’t mention it,” Pinkie said as she wrapped Twilight into a hug. Said hug made Twilight’s heart beating faster by .5 beats a second as her breathing elevated slightly. When the embrace was over, such elevations were quickly lowered as Twilight watched Pinkie Pie go back inside the train. Twilight turned around and resumed gazing out towards the stars. What is going on with me? The next morning, the ponies were jolted awake as they finally arrived at Fillydelphia. They all got up and stretched while wiping the sleep out of their eyes that the Sandpony left behind. As they exited the train, Spike carrying all their suitcases and gifts, the ponies looked around the town and oohed and aahed at the sights except for Applejack, who still wasn’t used to big cities. The ponies quickly hailed a conveniently big enough taxi to hold all their stuff and the six girls all the way to the hotel that Fancy Hotel owned and where Nightlight was living. They went inside and climbed up the stairs all the way to Nightlight’s new housing quarters. Once inside, Twilight noticed how big it was compared to the other apartment and that their was a lot more space to party. Nightlight’s ears perked up as she saw Twilight and Pinkie and rushed over to hug them, her depressive state completely gone, showing a new pony. “Ooo, it’s so great that all you gals could make it. I can’t wait to see mom, dad, and Shining Armor again. I can’t even wait to meet Princess Cadence!” Nightlight squealed in delight. “Well, we’re already here!” a voice declared. The seven ponies and dragon turned around to see the rest of the Sparkle family and Princess Cadence. Upon seeing Nightlight, Mr. and Mrs. Sparkle quickly rushed over and hugged their long lost daughter. “We’ve missed you so much, we’re sorry that we didn’t tell Twilight about you. That was a mistake we won’t be repeating!” After the parents finished their long hugging session, Shining Armor and Princess Cadence stepped up. Shining Armor had tears in his eyes but kept claiming it was his ‘liquid joy’ upon seeing his sister again. Nightlight and Cadence quickly got acquainted. Before they could continue however, Pinkie ushered the Sparkle family to leave the residence and go shopping or whatever so that she, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Spike set up the party. The Sparkle quickly complied and left. Twilight did turn her head around to briefly smile at the retreating forms of her friends who were waving her goodbye before closing the door. Throughout the day, the Sparkle family did a tour that was very similar to what Nightlight and Twilight did exactly six months ago. They enjoyed it though as they got quickly caught up on the life of their daughter/sister they missed so much. It also seemed like Cadence and Nightlight became quick friends too. During lunch at the Hayburger though, Nightlight asked Twilight if she could speak to her in private. Twilight nodded at the request and they stepped outside and moved away from the very busy sidewalk into the alley. When they reached a private enough place, Twilight asked, “What’s important that you need to tell me in private?” Nightlight glanced nervously left and right, looking like she was looking for any eavesdroppers. She nervously chuckled and faced towards Twilight, “I never told anypony this but I’ve got a secret I want to tell you that I don’t want you to utter to anypony else. Can you promise not to tell, Pinkie Promise.” “Pinkie Promise,” was all Twilight could respond with while going through all the motions. Her curiosity was quickly skyrocketed as she wanted to know what was such a big secret that she couldn’t tell anypony else. “I,” she started as she nervously sweated, “I have a crush on your friend Pinkie Pie and I kinda want to ask her out today!” Twilight’s world instantly crashed as the feelings of jealousy crept back on her, stronger and more powerful than ever. What does she mean that she has a crush on Pinkie Pie? What does she mean she wants to ask her out? Why do I care so much who Pinkie Pie dates in the first place? Nightlight waved a hoof in front of Twilight’s face which was completely shocked. When Twilight responded, she could only blink. She shook her head to remove any leftover traces of her daze. She faced Nightlight and asked, “Why do you need to tell me?” “Because you’re one of her friends and my sister. So why not tell you? I know I made a foolish mistake all those years ago with that heartless stallion, but hanging out with Pinkie shows that she is a purely positive soul and a complete delight. I know there is a possibility with rejection, but I can deal with it, as long as we remain friends and Pinkie doesn’t peg me the type of pony to not do that at all,” Nightlight stated. Twilight couldn’t believe she didn’t see the signs earlier, but it wasn’t like she was a master romancer pony, that’s Rarity. She didn’t want Nightlight to date Pinkie, but she couldn’t bear to break her sister’s heart and declare no to her so she forced a smile and said in a slightly stressed tone, “Sure, you should totally go for it!” “Really?!” Nightlight perked up, a small smile on her face. “Really,” was all Twilight could respond with. Her heart tugged even more when she uttered all those words and as Nightlight walked away, Twilight quickly asked herself; do I have a crush on Pinkie Pie too? After a few more uncomfortable hours for Twilight, they could finally return to Nightlight’s apartment. The closer and closer they got to the hotel, the more and more Nightlight’s smile grew and the more and more Twilight felt sick. When they reach Ponyville tomorrow, Twilight is going to look into this feeling and see if her earlier hypothesis was true and if it was… she couldn’t even begin to plan for what she would try to do next. Plus, her studying would throw her scheduling even more out of whack than it already was, but Twilight knew it would be worth looking into. When they entered the hotel, climbed up the stairs, and entered her apartment; a big ‘SURPRISE!’ was yelled out. Twilight smiled and rolled her eyes; of course she would still try and surprise her. When the party started, Twilight could only sit on the couch as she watched Pinkie Pie and Nightlight dance next to each other to the music. The tugging in her heart was still there, growing more and more as the two ponies danced longer together. “Sugarcube, are ya alright?” a familiar southern accent l said to her. Twilight got out of her daze again, which she found she was entering a lot more often than usual, and looked at the concerned face of Applejack. “Yeah! I am alright?” Twilight assured her, forcing yet another smile on her face to try and deter the farmer from continuing. Applejack cocked a suspicious eyebrow as she asked, “Are ya sure ‘bout that?” “Yes, quite sure!” “Doesn’t seem that way.” Twilight sighed at Applejack’s stubborn personality so she decided to tell her the half-truth, “I feel a bit sick right now.” “Are ya sure that’s the full truth,” AJ asked while glancing at Pinkie Pie and Nightlight. Drat! AJ was on to her! Twilight didn’t know what to say next. She didn’t want to admit to Applejack that she might be jealous of Nightlight and Pinkie Pie’s friendship, she didn’t want to admit that she might have a crush on Pinkie Pie, she didn’t want to admit that she was worried Pinkie Pie would say yes to Nightlight when she asked her out. So she tried to put on her most genuine smile she could muster and repeat that she was just feeling a bit under the weather. She knew Applejack wouldn’t believe her, but she knew AJ would soon leave and just glance suspiciously at her which is what the farmer did. A couple hours passed, the cake was cut, wishes had been made, and supper was had. Twilight still barely budged from her spot on the couch. She did however flinch when Nightlight said to Pinkie, “Hey, can I talk to you in private?” Pinkie Pie nodded and followed her out the apartment. Twilight eyed everypony else to see if they were paying attention and when she confirmed that nopony was watching her, she followed Pinkie Pie and Nightlight out the hotel. She used her magic to try and cloak herself, using an invisibility spell she had mastered a year ago. They moved to an alleyway, much like the alleyway Nightlight confessed the identity of her crush. “So, what’s important that you want to tell me!” Pinkie excitedly asked. Nightlight started sweating profusely, switching her happy tone for a completely nervous tone. Twilight wasn’t in much of a different shape. She was torn between the two. She wanted her sister to be happy, but she also didn’t want her sister to ask out her best friend, possibly even crush. So, all she could do was wait patiently and deal with whatever situation is presented to her. “You’ve been so nice to me Pinkie Pie, you and Twilight and your friends and I am eternally grateful. You’ve helped change me so much from my depressive state to the pony I am today. And… and I want to quickly get this over with before I chicken out,” Nightlight said with a little tremble in her voice. Pinkie’s smile wavered a bit but still stayed in place, waiting for whatever Nightlight was about to ask her. “I don’t care if you say no or not because you’ll always be my friend, won’t you?” she asked as her hopeful and teary eyes latched onto Pinkie’s slightly confused but nonetheless happy eyes. “Of course I will, silly filly. I can Pinkie Promise to that,” she assured Nightlight while going through all the motions. Twilight heart rate quickened as the moment she was dreading for came closer. “D-do you… wanna go out?” asked Nightlight as she closed her eyes in a wincing way. “Like on a date?” Pinkie asked. “Yes!” Twilight’s heart was about to explode with anticipation and jealousy as Pinkie Pie slowly and caringly uttered to Nightlight, “I’m sorry, but I can’t!” Nightlight opened her eyes and looked at Pinkie. Her heart was obviously full of pain, but she knew there would be a chance at rejection. As she trotted away with her head held down, Pinkie immediately rushed to her and gave her a heartwarming hug, “But like I promised, we can still be friends!” Nightlight smiled and brushed the tears out of her eyes as she hugged Pinkie back. Pinkie, though, whispered something into Nightlight’s ears and Nightlight jerked her head back in shock. Pinkie nodded her head and Nightlight smiled back and said to her, “I wish you luck on that Pinkie!” Twilight quickly teleported to the door of Nightlight’s apartment and deactivated the invisibility spell. She tried to slow down her breathing as she was very close to having a heart attack. The door then opened and she looked directly into Applejack’s eyes which held a very stern glare. “And where in the blazes were you Twilight?” she said in an angry tone. Twilight smiled back and said, “I thought a little fresh air would relieve me of my sickness and it did!” “Right at the same time Nightlight and Pinkie left, huh,” AJ pointed out. “I guess?” Twilight replied in a nervous tone. Applejack continued to glare at her, even when she walked off to rejoin Rainbow Dash and Rarity. Twilight nervously smiled as she decided to get back into the party and try to enjoy it at it’s fullest because after all, Pinkie Pie was still available. Only Twilight Would Research JealousyChapter 4: Only Twilight Would Research Jealousy After getting back from the party to her castle, Twilight immediately went to the library wing to look and read books that would talk about romance and a book called The Psychology of An Average Pony’s Brain. All she could find was trashy romance novels and couldn’t find much about love/crushed/jealousy in the psychology book. She growled out loud which was quickly heard by Spike as the dragon rushed over to see if the lavender mare was alright. When he noticed the liter of romance novels; Spike smirked and asked, “So, why are you reading romance novels?” The alicorn looked over at Spike and looked at the books that were littered around her. In a flush of embarrassment, she magicked them away and said in an innocently sweet voice, “No reason.” “Uh-huh. So, who are you crushing on?” Spike asked as he folded his claws up behind his back and knowingly smiled at her. “Nopony. Nopony whatsoever, I was just… uh,” Twilight tried to think of a good enough excuse to why she was reading romance novels, but she couldn’t think of any. Of all the times her brain had to shut down or run out of ideas, it had to be now. “Is it that Flash Sentry guy?” Spike asked. “NO! That was a one-time thing. I don’t even know if we’re even compatible with each other.” “Is it Celestia?” Twilight froze and turned around to look at Spike and sputtered, “NO! She was my teacher and more of a mother figure than anything. Why would I be attracted to her? Why would you even think that?” “I dunno, is it one of your friends?” He asked, then he got his facial features changed more into an angry look and added, “It better not be Rarity! I already called first dibs.” “Why would it be Rarity, I don’t even know if she swings that way, especially after her crushes and fantasies about Blueblood and Trenderhoof anyway!” “Yeah, tell me about it,” the dragon whispered under his breath. He was thinking of another way for her to spill the beans because he so badly wanted to know. He thought for a little longer until he found the perfect way and with that in mind, a devilish smirk was on his face. “Hey, I told you my crush, now you're obligated to tell me yours. I won’t tell anypony else, Pinkie Promise!” After he went through all the motions, Twilight sighed in defeat. Maybe this entire jealousy situation would be better to deal with when she had her #1 Assistant by her side. “It’s… uh… P-Pinkie.” “Who?” Spike asked, for he didn’t quite catch what she had said. She sighed again before saying with louder volume, “It’s Pinkie Pie.” Spike’s eyes widened as he said, “Wow! Would’ve never have guessed it. Though if anypony was going to have a thing for Pinkie, it’d probably be Rainbow.” Twilight looked at him again and sternly stated, “Just because they hang out a lot doesn’t mean that they’re a thing!” Spike’s draw dropped and the sudden tone shift of his lavender friend. She just went from being anxious and embarrassed to stern and slightly angry. Twilight huffed and hung her head, noticing that maybe she was a bit rough with her tone. When he had said that line, her heart went through the now getting annoying feeling of jealousy. Spike looked at Twilight with a worried look and guessed that she was probably studying into these feelings of hers and looking for any knowledge on how to act upon them. He rubbed his chin in thought and snapped his claws when somepony who could help came to his mind. “Hey, if you wanna know about romance; why not instead of trying to take it from fiction and terrible written romance novels and go to Rarity instead! These things are kinda her forte and I bet she could help you out.” Twilight’s head raised with a smile planted on her muzzle and went over to hug Spike and whisper thank you in his ear as she took off for Carousel Boutique. When she entered the building, she spotted Rarity and Applejack talking about random stuff over tea. Rarity was quick to notice her as she waved her over to their table with a hoof. “Twilight! Nice to see you darling. Did you come here to say hello or do you need something?” asked Rarity as Twilight sat across from her. “Yes Rarity, I need your expertise on some matters,” Twilight replied with. She looked over at Applejack who was giving her yet another stern look as it had seemed the farm pony still didn’t forget about Twilight’s behaviour at the party. “Well, if you need a dress…” Rarity began before being interrupted by Twilight telling her it wasn’t about a dress but something about romance. AJ and Rarity raised their eyebrow at the strange request but before Twilight could say anything else, Rarity eyes widened as she smartly deduced why Twilight had come and a big smile overtook her beautiful features. “Sounds like somepony has a crush!” Rarity declared in a sing-song voice. AJ nodded as she finally got what Twilight and Rarity were referring to and was quick to say, “It’s over Pinkie, ain’t it?” Twilight and Rarity looked at Applejack with stunned faces as she looked smugly at Twilight and repeated, “Ain’t it?” “How did you know?” asked Twilight as Rarity looked over at Twilight with a shocked expression as she was thinking it was probably over that Flash Sentry guard over at the Crystal Empire. She also didn’t expect Twilight to be into mares and couldn’t place whether Pinkie was or not as that pink mare never said nor had she even dated before. “Well, it was pretty easy to tell as ya kept staring at Pinkie when she was gettin’ a bit to close that Nightlight gal. When Pinkie and Nightlight left and you were nowhere to be found, I reckoned that ya probably snuck after them. I may not be smart enough to do anything sciency or the like but I could easily figure that one out,” Applejack explained, her smug grin not once shifting on her face. Twilight gulped at such a look and shook her head. I wonder if Pinkie could easily deduce such a thing. Rarity cleared her throat so she could easily retain the flow of their conversation and once she got the two mares attention, she asked Twilight, “Tell me how you came across such feelings?” “I don’t know, they just sorta came out around the time when I found out that I had another sister, but I don’t know what to do with such feelings. Also, whenever she’s around Nightlight, I can’t help but feel twangs of jealousy and I don’t know how to deal with that either so Spike said it would be best to come over here and ask you how I should deal with this.” Rarity chuckled and with a dismissive wave of her hoof, she told Twilight, “It’s simple darling. All you need to do is ask her out on a date! Make her yours before you get overtaken by your jealousy or before she taken from you!” “I can’t do that,” Twilight said, looking away from Rarity, “She was just asked out by Nightlight and said no.” Rarity and Applejack quickly looked at their purple alicorn friend in shock. Rarity shook her hoof to signal Twilight to stop she could recollect her thoughts. As soon as they were recollect, she looked at Twilight and asked, “Nightlight asked Pinkie out! When?” Twilight kept her face away from Applejack as she murmured an answer that Rarity and Applejack were lucky enough to make out as, “At the party.” Rarity was about to say something before Twilight quickly added, “She told me she was going to ask Pinkie out during our trip around Fillydelphia while you guys were busy setting up the party. That’s why I felt sick and snuck after them when they left during the party. She also whispered something into Nightlight’s ears that I could make out. I don’t want the same situation to happen when I ask same thing to her. For all we know, Pinkie could be attracted to Rainbow or that Cheese fellow who pops up every now and then.” Rarity was quick to console the lavender mare as she said, “Well, thinking negatively will never help with anything darling. It’s best to go ask and found out than never to find out at all or else I wouldn’t have gotten over my ridiculous crushes that I had before. I’ll help you and everything and I’m sure Applejack will too.” Applejack was about to protest, to say that she wasn’t at all a romantic type, but shut her mouth when Rarity glared at her to. Applejack sighed and said, “Fine! I’ll try my best too.” “Thanks girls. I don’t think I’d have made it this far on my own!” “Don’t mention it darling, anything to help a friend.” Rarity reassured her, “But we’ll need to think of something fast, I may not be new to the dating scene, but I can bet my beautiful mane and tail that Pinkie has not been on a date. Wait, have you ever been on a date?” “Well, if you don’t count the Fall Formal over at the Human Dimension than I’d have to say no,” answered Twilight. “Well, I guess I know what we’re gonna be doing tomorrow, but for now; I think it’s best if we retire. We gotta lot of work today tomorrow. I’ll just close up the shop for the day.” “And I’ll have Big Mac take over the Applebuckin’ for me.” “Good, know go on Twilight. We can worry about this tomorrow!” “Ok, thanks for the tea and helping me through this,” she said as she removed herself from the table and trotted over to the door as she waved them goodbye and exited. When the lavender mare left, Rarity looked over at Applejack and smirked. Applejack found it unsettling at first, but then again, that white mare was a huge romance lover and couldn’t resist in helping up two ponies who could live their entire lives together. AJ just shrugged and got up to leave and thanked Rarity for the tea. As she left the boutique, Applejack couldn’t help but wonder what the hay she had just roped herself into. Back at the castle, Twilight was getting ready for bed when Spike said she received yet another letter from her sister Nightlight and he gave it to her. She tore it open and started to read it’s contents. Dear Twilight Sparkle, So at the party, I had asked out Pinkie Pie and sadly the answer was no. Don’t worry, I won’t enter yet another depressive state just because of a little rejection. We are still best friends after all and that all I could’ve ever hoped for. Maybe I’ll find love in somepony else, but in the meantime; I’ll live life as it is. Did you know that Pinkie was successful at getting Fancy Hotel and Marble Pie together? They just had their first date and while Marble was shy at first and could’ve sworn that Limestone was watching over her, ready to kill Hotel if he even thought of wronging her sister. Did you also know that Hotel wasn’t sure if Marble liked him or not since they barely saw each other. He said he was too afraid to admit his feelings that without Pinkie Pie; he would’ve never gotten the gall to ask her. Pinks can give hope to ponies so easily and I hope that she lives a fulfilled life. I guess it’s never too late to ask a pony out. Quick personal question: do you have any crushes that I can know about? You’ll probably not guess why I’m asking but I just want to know. Heard you’ve never actually fully fell in love and for the Princess of Friendship, I would’ve expect at least a bunch of suitors. Well, I hope you reply to this letter as soon as possible. Goodnight, Nightlight Sparkle P.S. Does your dragon assistant have a crush on Rarity? I keep getting this feeling he is. Twilight sighed at the contents of the letter. Guess there’s a lot of love going around. Well, if Fancy Hotel can ask Marble out than I guess I have nothing to lose when I ask out Pinkie. I might have to change my schedule, AGAIN! But it will be totally worth the time and the effort she hoped as she fell asleep on her comfy bed.
To FillydelphiaPrincess Twilight Sparkle was in her library section of her crystal castle rereading a book titled Obscure Unicorn History. She was finishing up the biography of the great Starswirl before she felt and heard the familiar feeling on her cutie mark. She looked at it with glee. Finally, the map has decided to call on her. She wondered if everypony was coming with her, or one or two of her friends, but she decided not to question it. Besides, how do you question that map thing. She wanted to know where it came from and all that but its purpose was definitely clear to her. She bolted to her little throne room and glanced at the map. Her cutie mark was paired up with a cutie mark of three balloons. Twilight smiled. After all, nopony made as quick of friends to somepony else than Pinkie Pie. She saw it was hovering over the city of Fillydelphia, a city she had yet to see. Great, not only can she go out and do something, but she could learn all about a new city first-hoof instead of a book. Now, all she needed to do was to go get Pinkie, say goodbye to their friends and head out and a totally new adventure. She quickly teleported to the entrance of Sugarcube Corner when she heard crashing. She looked inside and it looked like Pinkie was zooming all over the place. Guess she knew about the entire map fiasco. After a bit of zooming around, Pinkie finally took notice to Twilight waiting at the entrance and decided to quickly rush over to her instead. “Hi Twilight! Where’s the map sending me? Who’s going with me or is it a solo mission? Is it going as quick as Rainbow Dash clearing the sky or as slow as Fluttershy trying to feed all of her animals at once because jeez-o that was a very busy day!” she rambled. “I’m finally going!’ she started to respond with almost as much enthusiasm as Pinkie was showing, “It’s sending us to Fillydelphia, a place with so many sights to see and history to relearn!” “...and friendship problems to be solved. Yay, it going to be great!” “Yeah, let’s go tell everypony we are leaving!” And so they rushed off, saying goodbye to their friends and getting packed. Twilight left the castle in hopefully Spike’s careful claws and teleported right next to a beaming Pinkie at the Ponyville Train Station. They both nodded their heads in affirmation that they were done and waited for the next train. The train didn’t come for a bit so while they waited, Pinkie suggested they start playing some games so they don’t get bored. So they proceeded to play I Spy, 20 Questions, Tic-Tac-Toe, and even Monopoly when Pinkie removed said game from somewhere in her poofy mane of hers. Just when Twilight was placing some hotels on a few of her properties did the train finally show up. “Wow, Pinkie. If I had known the train was coming this late, we could’ve waited at Sugarcube Corner.” “Eh, you can’t control when the train comes or not, but we should be glad it came now instead of not at all!” shouted Pinkie in an overly dramatic way. Twilight giggled a little bit at the display and ushered Pinkie into the Friendship Express. They chose a seat and decided to resume their Monopoly game until they had finally arrived at Fillydelphia. When the train finally arrived, Pinkie and Twilight exited the train and Twilight’s eyes grew at the sights. She loved visiting new towns and cities and loved it when Rarity invited her to the theater or at the little social gatherings at Manehattan and Canterlot. Of course, everypony would be well aware that the Princess of Friendship was their and try to show as much respect as possible, even when Twilight says they don’t have to. “So I know a pony who is willing to let us stay over at his abode for a while and I know you’ll like him because he loves to read books as well as you do!” informed Pinkie. “Wait, you know somepony here?” “Yep, he always helps me with backup supplies or when I need help to hold a big party here! As I said, you’ll like him. He’s a sort of a librarian like you except he doesn’t really own it.” “That’s sounds nice. I’ll be sure to say thank you when we encounter him.” “Oh, I already thanked him for the both of us. I’ll tell you a little something Twilight that you better Pinkie Promise that you won’t tell anypony else.” Pinkie said in a hushed tone. “Ok then. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” Twilight chanted while doing all the motions. “He’s secretly trying to get my little sister to go out with him. I said I’d help him since he’s such a swell pony, but if you ask me and Applejack, she’s way too shy to ask anypony out herself and I’m sure she doesn’t want the Choosing Stone to pick out her future husband for her. Though, Limestone doesn’t want to get married, but I think it’s because she more of a lone rock type of pie or something, I dunno.” “Choosing stone?” “I’ll tell you later.” “Wait, neither you nor Applejack said what was going on in your little get together!” “I said I’ll tell you later, Twilight!” Twilight sighed, all that she had gotten out of the get together was that something bad happened because the Pies celebrated Hearth’s Warming Eve and Day differently. She was big on religion and culture, but never got a shred of information out of the two ponies, but they also said that they couldn’t wait to do it next year. As she retreated from her thoughts, she noticed Pinkie Pie was miles ahead of her and had to rush over to her while yelling for her to slow down. Though Twilight wanted to see the sights as quickly as possible, Pinkie insisted that they get settled into their temporary housing quarters. When they reached a big fancy hotel and Pinkie stepped inside, Twilight was able to figure out that this old friend of hers was definitely a rich stallion, but most of all, she noticed that if he was a rich librarian, then they library he worked for would have fountains of knowledge ready for her to read. When Pinkie went to the person at the service desk, she smiled very brightly and quickly waved before the two started to converse. Twilight was only able to catch enough of the conversation to learn that they were good friends as well. Upon that revelation, she started to wonder why the map had sent them here. They knew it was going to be a friendship problem, but how would they know when it reared its ugly mug at them. Twilight retreated back out of her thoughts again. She knew not to question the map because questioning the map is sort of questioning her companion she had during this journey. She then felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see a beaming Pinkie who said exactly where they were going. Apparently, her friend was so well known that he managed to get the Platinum Suite for them. Twilight was about to ask how he got them such a fancy living area until she saw that he was none other than Fancy Hotel, the stallion who owned the best hotel in all of Fillydelphia as so she had read. She was amazed that he could maintain a big hotel business and fill in as a librarian at the same time. Quite the talent. When they finally reached it, they saw an amazing room with two private bathrooms, a gigantic closet, two separate rooms with queen sized beds, a mini-bar, and a gigantic kitchen. The Platinum Suite looked more like the most expensive apartment in all of Equestria and maybe even beyond than a suite. “Wow, Pinkie. How did you get to know this guy anyway?” Twilight asked. “I threw a big surprise party for his sister a few years back. We became quick friends and he even was about to ask me out even before Marble swooped in and grabbed his attention.” “Wait, what!” proclaimed Twilight. She felt a little twist in her gut when she learned that Fancy Hotel had almost asked Pinkie out. She couldn’t place where that feeling was coming from or what it was so she just decided to forget such a feeling. Anyways, he’s got eyes for Marble Pie anyway. Wait, wasn’t Marble Pie very shy? “What do you mean ‘wait, what’, I already told you that he’s going for my sister now.” “It’s not that, it's that you got a famous pony to almost ask you out.” “Would’ve said no anyway. Right now, I’ve got more things to deal with like this and still trying to figure out if AJ is truly my cousin or not. Besides, back then I wasn’t really dating material. Still don’t even know if I’m even dating material now, but I got lot’s of friends at Ponyville to support me and I don’t think I need anything more.” “Huh, never actually thought about dating before, but I’ve got a little too much responsibilities to carry out now to try to hold a successful relationship anyway.” “As they say, when you're still young, something about having fun. I don’t remember the actual quote right now but let’s get packing. I need a few cupcakes for our journey around this city again.” A few hours later of unpacking, Twilight and Pinkie were ready to wander the city to try to find the reason their map sent them here. They wandered the streets, being interrupted a few times by ponies who wanted to try and get Twilight’s autograph and such. They even visited the library that Fancy Hotel wasn’t able to attend due to something. Twilight went around to read while Pinkie just as quietly as she could, inspect everypony to see if they had a friendship problem that needed solving until she was kicked out for being a nuisance. Twilight though didn’t know her friend was kicked out. After a few hours of reading, she finally noticed the absence of one hyperactive pink pony and grumbled a bit. She exited the library to find Pinkie at a stand with crude writing saying: Friendship Problem Solving Here For Free. Pinkie was wearing a mustache and top hat while annoying several pedestrians. Twilight rolled her eyes before teleporting over to Pinkie Pie and convincing her that what she was doing wasn’t going to be the best way to find a friendship problem. After searching all day, Twilight was quickly becoming tired and told the bouncing pink pony next to her that it was time to call it quits for tonight. “Yeah, you can go. I’m going to stay out for a bit to search for this friendship problem. And don’t worry, I’ll find it if my name isn’t Pinkamina Diane Pie, unless my name isn’t. Oh no, Twi-” Pinkie was about to ramble on before Twilight shoved her hoof over Pinkie’s mouth while rolling her eyes.” “Of course that’s your name. And you call me a silly filly at times. Ok, you have fun. See you later.” “Bye, Twi!” Pinkie shouted as she bounded out of sight. Twilight quickly mustered enough energy to teleport to the entrance of the hotel and went there. Before she could get inside, Fancy Hotel exited the building and when his eyes found the Princess of Friendship, he quickly started smiling. He was a brown stallion with a fine-combed silvery mane and a trimmed silvery beard and moustache. He had brown eyes and seemed semi-built for such a librarian and business pony. He wore a fancy black suit with a purple tie and held a sort of professional air around him. For his cutie mark, it was a hotel with money signs all around it. “Ah, you must be Princess Twilight Sparkle, one of Pinkie Pie’s friends at Ponyville!” he said in a thick Trottingham accent. “And you must be Fancy Hotel, one of Pinkie’s dearest friends that we didn’t know about.” “Well.” Fancy Hotel chuckled, “There is lots that we ponies that don’t know about the mystery pony we call Pinkie Pie I’m afraid.” “I guess so.” “So, what brings the protege of Princess Celestia and one of her best friends to this wondrous city in the first place.” he asked with a bow. “Well, we’re here on official business, but it seems we cannot find our client I guess.” “What type of business endeavor if I may ask Your Highness.” “No need to be formal, just call me Twilight and you may ask. It is of the friendship kind I’m afraid.” “And I can’t help you with such thing, I know I know.” he nodded. He looked at the watch on his wrist and his eyes opened in alarm. “Well, enough dilly dallying around but I must excuse myself. It seems I’m going to be a bit late for my meeting. Nice meeting you Twilight and tell Pinkie I said hi!” He hailed a taxi and whispered in the driver's ear. The driver quickly nodded and bolted down the street at an incredibly fast speed. Twilight smirked and turned around to only bump into another pony. This one was female with very similar eyes to Twilight. She had a purely lavender mane and tail. She was also a light shade of blue and had a singular star as a cutie mark. Her once depressed looking face turned into a look of horror and confusion as the blue mare uttered, “Twilight!?!” “Yeah that’s me!” Twilight nervously smiled. She was about to say something else until the mare hugged her and swung her around. Twilight was completely confused and lost. Did she know this pony, how did this pony know her. So many questions filled her brain that she couldn’t even try to answer any of them until she choked out, “Do I know you?” The mare quickly stopped twirling around and put her down. “No, but I know you, Shining Armor, your mom and your dad.” “How?” With a sad look on her face, she came face to face with Twilight, boring her eyes into the poor purple pony princess’s inner soul. “Because Twilight Sparkle, I’m the sister our parents and brother never told you about.”
Emotional HealingChapter 2: Emotional Healing Nightlight Sparkle gave Twilight some Chamomile Tea as they sat in her normal looking apartment. Twilight was still dumbfounded that she had a relative, a sister even, that she had never known about. Why didn’t Shining Armor or her parents for that matter tell her that such a pony exists. Twilight was also worrying about when Pinkie would be back because she was both mentally and physically not prepared for the talk they were about to have. “I-I bet you never expected this did you Twilight, I heard so much of your exploits in Ponyville and how our brother has even married a princess, the princess of love itself no less and I also heard that they have a royal foal on the way,” Nightlight softly spoke. Twilight could feel the depressive tone that this pony held. It reminded her of how miserable the ponies at the Crystal Empire where when they had just returned, maybe even ten times worse. Was this why the map sent both Pinkie and Twilight here? Pinkie to help bring cheer and friendship to this pony and Twilight because she is related to that pony. Well, if this was her mission she was going to do it, no matter how awkward the situation feels and maybe after Twilight can confront the rest of her family about this unexpected discovery. “Well, I never really knew I had an unknown family member. I wonder what else they’ve hidden from me.” “No, nothing else. I’m the only dirty little secret they held,” Nightlight said as she sat down on the chair in front of Twilight. “They had every right to anyway. I’m a disgrace to them, to Shining Armor, and now to you.” “Hey, don’t think like that! They probably didn’t tell me about them because… because…” Twilight started to think but could come up with no more reasonable explanations that her family would forget about Nightlight. “Don’t try to overthink things, please. It’s wonderful to meet you at last Twilight. I’ve been actually debating whether I should try to visit you in Ponyville but I didn’t want to waste your time.” “You could’ve visited. I’m more angry at my parents and brother hiding your existence from me anyway. By the way, why did you run away?” asked Twilight. “Because I was a terrible student and I had the feeling nopony wanted me around, especially our parents who got disappointed from the grades I had received. I was never going to be the prodigy that they wanted. They found that more in you and Shining Armor after all. You two are very lucky ponies while I have to live here and barely work enough to meet Mr. Hotel’s rent that I owe him.” ‘Well-” Twilight started before she heard somepony yelling her name and knocking on the door. On normal circumstances, Twilight would question how somepony knew where she was, but with the familiarity of the voice, she could tell it was Pinkie Pie. “Oh, I’ll go get it!” Nightlight announced as she got up and trotted over to the door. Once she opened it, a pink blur zoomed past her and halted right in front of Twilight, coming to a complete stop. Nightlight’s mouth dropped at the display at such an impossible speed and total ignorance to the laws of physics that she knew. “Hey, Twi-Twi. Why aren’t ya in the Platinum Suite. I was worried sick you got mugged by ponies who wanted your autograph or something!” Pinkie gasped, concern written all over her features. “Well, Pinkie, meet Nightlight, my uh sister.” Pinkie’s eyes quickly grew to the size of saucers as she turned around and looked at the pony Twilight introduced her to. A bright gleaming smile replaced the worried frown as she zoomed over to Nightlight and started rambling on about how she loved meeting new ponies and that she never knew Twilight had a sister before. Nightlight quickly glanced at Twilight with a look of ‘Help Me’ which Twilight quickly did. “Pinkie, settle down. I think you’re scaring her.” “Oh, you are right Twilight. Sorry about that, it’s just that I get a bit wacky at the prospect of possibly making a new friend. What’s your name?” Pinkie politely asked, somehow managing to keep her overexcitement down. “Uh, Nightlight.” she nervously responded. Twilight face-hoofed herself. Didn’t she already tell Pinkie Nightlight’s name. “Nice to meet you! My name is Pinkamena Diane Pie, but you can just call me Pinkie Pie!” “Uh, ok but I was in the middle of a conversation with my sister that I would love to resume,” Nightlight said nervously, hoping the pink pony would catch on. “Ooo, I’d love to chat with you guys!” Pinkie beamed as she hopped over to a chair. ‘I-I meant, oh, whatever.” After hours of catching up and awkward conversations with a few weird interjections from Pinkie Pie, they were able to catch up. When they left the apartment and said their goodbyes, Pinkie was quick to say a few things. “Jeez-o Twilight. That pony was a frowny-stick-in-the-mud pony. Do you think the map sent us here to cheer her up. Ooo, I hope it did because I love cheering ponies up.” “Yeah, I think so too,” Twilight responded as they started climbing the stairs that would lead them to their Platinum Suite. She saw Pinkie stroke her chin with a hoof like she was deep in thought and Twilight giggled a little at the display. They continued to walk up the stairs in eerie silence, silence that Twilight found unnerving because silence was a very rare thing when around a pony like Pinkie Pie. As soon as they reached the entrance to the suite, Pinkie Pie’s thoughtful look slowly morphed into a big wide beam of diabolical proportion. “We should totally throw her a par-tay!” Twilight rolled her eyes at Pinkie’s predictability and knew she was stalling for a more dramatic effect. “That sounds great, we should do it tomorrow.” Pinkie opened the door and nodded in agreement before bounding all the way over to the kitchen to start baking whatever she was planning on baking, perhaps getting ready for the part. Twilight knew that Pinkie was gonna ask her to keep Nightlight from her apartment tomorrow to try and spruce the place up, though she didn’t know who she might invite. Twilight was content enough to pull out a few books she checked out from the library before she had to leave. She looked over at Pinkie and saw her singing while bounding around while mixing some batter. Twilight cracked a smile at how adorable her pink friend was being before diving into the world of knowledge that her new books possessed. The next day, Twilight was startled awake as Pinkie started to sing her ‘Good Morning’ song very loudly. She looked over at the clock at saw it was 7:30 in the morning. Twilight groggily slipped off the bed and walked into the kitchen to see that Pinkie had already made chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. “Good morning, sleepyhead! I was planning on giving all of this to Nightlight because after all, who doesn’t like breakfast in bed! Soon we’ll make her frown turn upside down!” Pinkie declared. “How are you going to get all of it to her when you have tons of stairs to go down?” Twilight asked, cocking her head slightly. “Duh, you are gonna teleport them to her and I’ll just rush down the stairs super fast! You are an alicorn with that ability, remember silly!” “What about I teleport you too, silly,” Twilight said in a friendly mocking tone. “Touche,” said Pinkie, a smile plastered all over her features. Twilight then focused energy into her horn and teleported Pinkie, herself, and the food to Nightlight’s door which Pinkie knocked on repeatedly before Twilight used her magic to stop it. The door was slowly opened and Nightlight stepped out. Her eyes widened at the amount of food was being levitated and held by Twilight and Pinkie. “Good morning! We were hoping you’d accept our breakfast we made for you!” “Well, Pinkie, I didn’t really do anything,” Twilight mumbled to herself. “Thanks, how did you know that I love chocolate chip pancakes with strawberry syrup?” Nightlight asked Pinkie. “Just a hunch,” she answered with another innocent smile. “May we come in?” asked Twilight. “Sure,” Nightlight responded, fully opening the door and stepping aside to let Pinkie and Twilight enter her apartment. Twilight walked to a chair while Pinkie bounced to another. Twilight set the items on the table and split the pancakes evenly between the three. Nightlight also sat down and huffed. She didn’t expect company this early in the morning. After they ate and Pinkie asked a billion questions to get to know Nightlight quicker, which Nightlight depressively answered. Pinkie easily caught onto her behavior and started cracking jokes to help lighten up the mood which they repeatedly failed to do. After learning the appropriate amount of information needed for the party, Pinkie winked to Twilight who immediately knew the signal upon seeing it. “Hey Nightlight, I was wondering if we could explore the town a bit, that way it’ll be a bit easier to get to know each other in a different life,” suggested Twilight with a small smile. “Sure, why not. It does look like a beautiful day, I guess,” Nightlight softly responded. “Great. Pinkie, could you continue your ‘search’ for the thing that we’re looking for?” Twilight asked. “Abso-tutely-lutley!” she said with a big grin. After a couple hours of shopping, which Nightlight wasn’t that enthused in doing, Twilight would take her out to lunch and try to engage in a little small talk. Throughout their talk, it didn’t look or feel like Nightlight was into things like this. Twilight then started second-guessing the party idea, it might not even work for pony’s sake! Still, Twilight was willing to give Pinkie a chance because after all, Twilight was enjoying this friendship mission with her. After a few more hours just wandering the city, Twilight noticed it was getting very late and knowing Pinkie, she’d have the party done by now and all the guest where there. So after suggesting to Nightlight that it was time to turn in, Nightlight shrugged at the suggestion and sighed. They reached the hotel and climbed up the stairs right to the doorway of Nightlight’s apartment complex. Before she could open the door for Nightlight, said pony turned Twilight around and huffed. “I’m sure you didn’t enjoy my company today and before you say anything, you don’t have to waste your time with me,” she said depressively. “But-” Twilight started but Nightlight quickly cut her off. “You don’t have to try and hide it. Nopony has really cared about me much anyway, but thanks for at least trying. J-just leave me. Let me wallow in my pity. I have to confess to you, Twilight. The real reason I ran away from our parents was because I had fallen in love with a stallion whom they did not like and respect. They thought he was a bad influence on my life and tried to bar me from seeing him ever again. I was young back then, I didn’t understand why my parents didn’t approve of my relationship, but young love makes you blind to the obvious, I guess. He snuck into my room one night and said that he was here to take me away so nopony could ever forsake our love and so we ran. Months later, he started to abuse me, said that he was no longer in love with me and ran away. I’ve ached since that day, contemplated suicide even…” but before she could say anymore, she burst into tears and ran into her apartment which was quickly overcome with the words “SURPRISE!!!” Nightlight’s completely disheartened and sad look was quickly overcome with a look of confusion and awe at the amount of ponies that were in her apartment. There were streamers and balloons that decorated every inch of the apartment. There were cakes, cupcakes, muffins, and other various confectionaries on plates everywhere. There was a banner in the middle of the room that had the words, Get Happy Soon Nightlight Sparkle painted in a rainbow color. She couldn’t utter a word when Pinkie Pie was bouncing over, but when she noticed the tears running down Nightlight’s face, she quickly stopped and her happy face quickly turned into a sad face as her mane started to deflate. “Y-You don’t like it? I’m sorry, I just thought-” she started but she was quickly interrupted by Nightlight. “Y-You did this for me?” “Yes, but I’m sorry that you didn’t like it.” Nightlight didn’t know how to respond, but she quickly turned around and looked at Twilight and asked, “Was the shopping trip all a ploy to lure me away, to let Pinkie set up this party for me without me knowing?” “Yes,” Twilight simply answered. Nightlight’s muzzle slowly adopted a small smile. “Thanks Twilight. I thought I wasn;t...” She turned around and looked at Pinkie, “You have no idea how much this means to me right now, Pinkie. Are all these ponies here to see me!” “Yeppers, they thought it would be fun. Even Fancy Hotel showed up because he was worried about why you would barely leave your apartment and that you looked sad a lot and was worried about your well being and decided to even invite his friends and family to help cheer you up. This entire party was here to turn your frown upside down!” “Thanks,” she said, new tears of joy on her face. She then hugged Pinkie and went over to Twilight and hugged her. During the hug, Twilight simply whispered into her ear, “If you want anypony to talk to, you can come to me!” “Will do,” she whispered back. I guess there are some ponies who do care about my well being. Twilight felt her flank vibrate and saw her cutie mark was glowing, which meant a job well done. She looked over at Pinkie who had a smile of approval one her face. Pinkie quickly rushed over to the music area where Vinyl Scratch was set up and signaled her to start the music. She looked back on Twilight and Nightlight who had big smiles on their faces as everypony shouted, “LET’S PARTY!!!!!!!”
Is Twilight Jealous?Chapter 3: Is Twilight Jealous? It had been six months since that day. Twilight and Nightlight had constantly kept in touch due to writing letters to each other and sending them back and forth. Nightlight had sent a letter to Twilight stating that she is currently visiting a therapist and that Pinkie has been visiting every Saturday to keep up her cheer. Even though Twilight was happy with Nightlight’s progress, especially after such a devastating confession, she felt a little negative towards Pinkie hanging out with Nightlight all the time. Pinkie would visit Nightlight a lot and even bring her to Ponyville to introduce her to Pinkie’s “Bestest Friends in the World!” Whenever Twilight would ask how things are doing with her, she’d usually answer back that hanging out with Pinkie Pie is a blast and has helped her get much more social, even befriending Fancy Hotel in the process. Twilight couldn’t help but feel a very unknown twang in her heart that she could not place. Was she getting jealous that Pinkie was hanging out with Nightlight? But why? Pinkie is just one of her very best friends. The first pony to ever greet her when she stepped hoof into Ponyville, the first to go through all the trouble to organize a party for her to make her feel welcome, the first she couldn’t fully comprehend, the first to ever make her second guess herself, and even the first pony to unquestionably help her whenever she went on a crazy exploit like that one time when she tried to stop time. Twilight quickly stopped herself by shaking her head as she started to ramble facts in her mind Twilight decided to shelve this alien feeling like she would with a book she’d finish reading 20 times over in a row. She couldn’t help but notice that she felt similar before, like she was during the wedding. She knew that even if that was a fake Cadence and that she was indeed evil, Twilight knew of the fact that she was feeling a bit of possessiveness towards her brother. Now thinking on it, Twilight did feel like this whenever Pinkie would hang out with her other friends, but she never really noticed it before. Maybe she should look into this sometime. She levitated her book back onto the shelf and decided to ponder a bit. Well, she would’ve if the door to her library wing of her castle didn’t burst open. Twilight turned around at the sudden interruption and saw Pinkie in the doorway, fully packed up for some reason, with a huge grin at least a mile across in diameter. “Twilight, I am cordially inviting you to the birthday party of your older sister, Nightlight. I’m all packed for it and everything and I thought you should be the first pony to know. Later, Twilight, I gotta invite everypony else. Ooo, this is gonna be so much FUN!” she shouted as she left as quickly as she came. Wait, it's Nightlight’s birthday tomorrow? Great, now she’s gonna have to fully rearrange all of her schedules again. Twilight shook her head again and decided it would be best if she started packing now. A couple hours waiting, the six ponies plus dragon had finally made it to the train station. Rarity, of course, was wearing a purple and pink scarf during the chilly autumn weather. Spike, of course, was swooning all over Rarity and would nervously compliment her every now and again. Rarity giggled a little at the display, wondering when Spike would finally get over his crush on her. When the train finally arrived, the ponies got on and decided to rest at their favorite cart place. “Ooo, I can’t wait to see the look on Nightlight’s face when she opens my present and see’s the beautiful ensemble I made for her. It matches her coat color so well,” Rarity practically squealed in delight. “‘Course you’d be excited for that one Rarity,” Rainbow Dash inputted. “Well, Rainbow, it’s better than what yer givin her,” said Applejack as she sorta came to Rarity’s defense. “What, nopony can’t resist the temptation of getting a Grand Galloping Gala ticket that I won during that race in Las Pegasus,” Dash pointed out. “How'd y'know she’s even interested in such things?” Applejack asked with a raised eyebrow. Rainbow Dash couldn’t think of a reply so she huffed at sat down with her fore-hooves crossed, beaten. The train ride had continued without a hitch the rest of the way and was a bit dull. When the rest of the ponies went to bed, Twilight decided to sneak outside at the back carriage and breathe in some fresh air. “Watcha doin’?” an innocent voice asked right next to her. Twilight jumped at the sound and noticed that Pinkie was right next to her. She quickly got over it and decided to stare out towards the stars that were hanging brightly above the two ponies. “I don’t know.” “Well, if you don’t know then, I guess I’ll just go back to bed.” “Wait,” Twilight called back, almost desperately. Pinkie turned back around and faced towards Twilight, her muzzle scrunched up in a confused expression. “What?” “It’s awful nice what you’ve been doing for my sister Pinkie and for that you have my sincerest gratitude.” “Don’t mention it,” Pinkie said as she wrapped Twilight into a hug. Said hug made Twilight’s heart beating faster by .5 beats a second as her breathing elevated slightly. When the embrace was over, such elevations were quickly lowered as Twilight watched Pinkie Pie go back inside the train. Twilight turned around and resumed gazing out towards the stars. What is going on with me? The next morning, the ponies were jolted awake as they finally arrived at Fillydelphia. They all got up and stretched while wiping the sleep out of their eyes that the Sandpony left behind. As they exited the train, Spike carrying all their suitcases and gifts, the ponies looked around the town and oohed and aahed at the sights except for Applejack, who still wasn’t used to big cities. The ponies quickly hailed a conveniently big enough taxi to hold all their stuff and the six girls all the way to the hotel that Fancy Hotel owned and where Nightlight was living. They went inside and climbed up the stairs all the way to Nightlight’s new housing quarters. Once inside, Twilight noticed how big it was compared to the other apartment and that their was a lot more space to party. Nightlight’s ears perked up as she saw Twilight and Pinkie and rushed over to hug them, her depressive state completely gone, showing a new pony. “Ooo, it’s so great that all you gals could make it. I can’t wait to see mom, dad, and Shining Armor again. I can’t even wait to meet Princess Cadence!” Nightlight squealed in delight. “Well, we’re already here!” a voice declared. The seven ponies and dragon turned around to see the rest of the Sparkle family and Princess Cadence. Upon seeing Nightlight, Mr. and Mrs. Sparkle quickly rushed over and hugged their long lost daughter. “We’ve missed you so much, we’re sorry that we didn’t tell Twilight about you. That was a mistake we won’t be repeating!” After the parents finished their long hugging session, Shining Armor and Princess Cadence stepped up. Shining Armor had tears in his eyes but kept claiming it was his ‘liquid joy’ upon seeing his sister again. Nightlight and Cadence quickly got acquainted. Before they could continue however, Pinkie ushered the Sparkle family to leave the residence and go shopping or whatever so that she, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Spike set up the party. The Sparkle quickly complied and left. Twilight did turn her head around to briefly smile at the retreating forms of her friends who were waving her goodbye before closing the door. Throughout the day, the Sparkle family did a tour that was very similar to what Nightlight and Twilight did exactly six months ago. They enjoyed it though as they got quickly caught up on the life of their daughter/sister they missed so much. It also seemed like Cadence and Nightlight became quick friends too. During lunch at the Hayburger though, Nightlight asked Twilight if she could speak to her in private. Twilight nodded at the request and they stepped outside and moved away from the very busy sidewalk into the alley. When they reached a private enough place, Twilight asked, “What’s important that you need to tell me in private?” Nightlight glanced nervously left and right, looking like she was looking for any eavesdroppers. She nervously chuckled and faced towards Twilight, “I never told anypony this but I’ve got a secret I want to tell you that I don’t want you to utter to anypony else. Can you promise not to tell, Pinkie Promise.” “Pinkie Promise,” was all Twilight could respond with while going through all the motions. Her curiosity was quickly skyrocketed as she wanted to know what was such a big secret that she couldn’t tell anypony else. “I,” she started as she nervously sweated, “I have a crush on your friend Pinkie Pie and I kinda want to ask her out today!” Twilight’s world instantly crashed as the feelings of jealousy crept back on her, stronger and more powerful than ever. What does she mean that she has a crush on Pinkie Pie? What does she mean she wants to ask her out? Why do I care so much who Pinkie Pie dates in the first place? Nightlight waved a hoof in front of Twilight’s face which was completely shocked. When Twilight responded, she could only blink. She shook her head to remove any leftover traces of her daze. She faced Nightlight and asked, “Why do you need to tell me?” “Because you’re one of her friends and my sister. So why not tell you? I know I made a foolish mistake all those years ago with that heartless stallion, but hanging out with Pinkie shows that she is a purely positive soul and a complete delight. I know there is a possibility with rejection, but I can deal with it, as long as we remain friends and Pinkie doesn’t peg me the type of pony to not do that at all,” Nightlight stated. Twilight couldn’t believe she didn’t see the signs earlier, but it wasn’t like she was a master romancer pony, that’s Rarity. She didn’t want Nightlight to date Pinkie, but she couldn’t bear to break her sister’s heart and declare no to her so she forced a smile and said in a slightly stressed tone, “Sure, you should totally go for it!” “Really?!” Nightlight perked up, a small smile on her face. “Really,” was all Twilight could respond with. Her heart tugged even more when she uttered all those words and as Nightlight walked away, Twilight quickly asked herself; do I have a crush on Pinkie Pie too? After a few more uncomfortable hours for Twilight, they could finally return to Nightlight’s apartment. The closer and closer they got to the hotel, the more and more Nightlight’s smile grew and the more and more Twilight felt sick. When they reach Ponyville tomorrow, Twilight is going to look into this feeling and see if her earlier hypothesis was true and if it was… she couldn’t even begin to plan for what she would try to do next. Plus, her studying would throw her scheduling even more out of whack than it already was, but Twilight knew it would be worth looking into. When they entered the hotel, climbed up the stairs, and entered her apartment; a big ‘SURPRISE!’ was yelled out. Twilight smiled and rolled her eyes; of course she would still try and surprise her. When the party started, Twilight could only sit on the couch as she watched Pinkie Pie and Nightlight dance next to each other to the music. The tugging in her heart was still there, growing more and more as the two ponies danced longer together. “Sugarcube, are ya alright?” a familiar southern accent l said to her. Twilight got out of her daze again, which she found she was entering a lot more often than usual, and looked at the concerned face of Applejack. “Yeah! I am alright?” Twilight assured her, forcing yet another smile on her face to try and deter the farmer from continuing. Applejack cocked a suspicious eyebrow as she asked, “Are ya sure ‘bout that?” “Yes, quite sure!” “Doesn’t seem that way.” Twilight sighed at Applejack’s stubborn personality so she decided to tell her the half-truth, “I feel a bit sick right now.” “Are ya sure that’s the full truth,” AJ asked while glancing at Pinkie Pie and Nightlight. Drat! AJ was on to her! Twilight didn’t know what to say next. She didn’t want to admit to Applejack that she might be jealous of Nightlight and Pinkie Pie’s friendship, she didn’t want to admit that she might have a crush on Pinkie Pie, she didn’t want to admit that she was worried Pinkie Pie would say yes to Nightlight when she asked her out. So she tried to put on her most genuine smile she could muster and repeat that she was just feeling a bit under the weather. She knew Applejack wouldn’t believe her, but she knew AJ would soon leave and just glance suspiciously at her which is what the farmer did. A couple hours passed, the cake was cut, wishes had been made, and supper was had. Twilight still barely budged from her spot on the couch. She did however flinch when Nightlight said to Pinkie, “Hey, can I talk to you in private?” Pinkie Pie nodded and followed her out the apartment. Twilight eyed everypony else to see if they were paying attention and when she confirmed that nopony was watching her, she followed Pinkie Pie and Nightlight out the hotel. She used her magic to try and cloak herself, using an invisibility spell she had mastered a year ago. They moved to an alleyway, much like the alleyway Nightlight confessed the identity of her crush. “So, what’s important that you want to tell me!” Pinkie excitedly asked. Nightlight started sweating profusely, switching her happy tone for a completely nervous tone. Twilight wasn’t in much of a different shape. She was torn between the two. She wanted her sister to be happy, but she also didn’t want her sister to ask out her best friend, possibly even crush. So, all she could do was wait patiently and deal with whatever situation is presented to her. “You’ve been so nice to me Pinkie Pie, you and Twilight and your friends and I am eternally grateful. You’ve helped change me so much from my depressive state to the pony I am today. And… and I want to quickly get this over with before I chicken out,” Nightlight said with a little tremble in her voice. Pinkie’s smile wavered a bit but still stayed in place, waiting for whatever Nightlight was about to ask her. “I don’t care if you say no or not because you’ll always be my friend, won’t you?” she asked as her hopeful and teary eyes latched onto Pinkie’s slightly confused but nonetheless happy eyes. “Of course I will, silly filly. I can Pinkie Promise to that,” she assured Nightlight while going through all the motions. Twilight heart rate quickened as the moment she was dreading for came closer. “D-do you… wanna go out?” asked Nightlight as she closed her eyes in a wincing way. “Like on a date?” Pinkie asked. “Yes!” Twilight’s heart was about to explode with anticipation and jealousy as Pinkie Pie slowly and caringly uttered to Nightlight, “I’m sorry, but I can’t!” Nightlight opened her eyes and looked at Pinkie. Her heart was obviously full of pain, but she knew there would be a chance at rejection. As she trotted away with her head held down, Pinkie immediately rushed to her and gave her a heartwarming hug, “But like I promised, we can still be friends!” Nightlight smiled and brushed the tears out of her eyes as she hugged Pinkie back. Pinkie, though, whispered something into Nightlight’s ears and Nightlight jerked her head back in shock. Pinkie nodded her head and Nightlight smiled back and said to her, “I wish you luck on that Pinkie!” Twilight quickly teleported to the door of Nightlight’s apartment and deactivated the invisibility spell. She tried to slow down her breathing as she was very close to having a heart attack. The door then opened and she looked directly into Applejack’s eyes which held a very stern glare. “And where in the blazes were you Twilight?” she said in an angry tone. Twilight smiled back and said, “I thought a little fresh air would relieve me of my sickness and it did!” “Right at the same time Nightlight and Pinkie left, huh,” AJ pointed out. “I guess?” Twilight replied in a nervous tone. Applejack continued to glare at her, even when she walked off to rejoin Rainbow Dash and Rarity. Twilight nervously smiled as she decided to get back into the party and try to enjoy it at it’s fullest because after all, Pinkie Pie was still available.
Only Twilight Would Research JealousyChapter 4: Only Twilight Would Research Jealousy After getting back from the party to her castle, Twilight immediately went to the library wing to look and read books that would talk about romance and a book called The Psychology of An Average Pony’s Brain. All she could find was trashy romance novels and couldn’t find much about love/crushed/jealousy in the psychology book. She growled out loud which was quickly heard by Spike as the dragon rushed over to see if the lavender mare was alright. When he noticed the liter of romance novels; Spike smirked and asked, “So, why are you reading romance novels?” The alicorn looked over at Spike and looked at the books that were littered around her. In a flush of embarrassment, she magicked them away and said in an innocently sweet voice, “No reason.” “Uh-huh. So, who are you crushing on?” Spike asked as he folded his claws up behind his back and knowingly smiled at her. “Nopony. Nopony whatsoever, I was just… uh,” Twilight tried to think of a good enough excuse to why she was reading romance novels, but she couldn’t think of any. Of all the times her brain had to shut down or run out of ideas, it had to be now. “Is it that Flash Sentry guy?” Spike asked. “NO! That was a one-time thing. I don’t even know if we’re even compatible with each other.” “Is it Celestia?” Twilight froze and turned around to look at Spike and sputtered, “NO! She was my teacher and more of a mother figure than anything. Why would I be attracted to her? Why would you even think that?” “I dunno, is it one of your friends?” He asked, then he got his facial features changed more into an angry look and added, “It better not be Rarity! I already called first dibs.” “Why would it be Rarity, I don’t even know if she swings that way, especially after her crushes and fantasies about Blueblood and Trenderhoof anyway!” “Yeah, tell me about it,” the dragon whispered under his breath. He was thinking of another way for her to spill the beans because he so badly wanted to know. He thought for a little longer until he found the perfect way and with that in mind, a devilish smirk was on his face. “Hey, I told you my crush, now you're obligated to tell me yours. I won’t tell anypony else, Pinkie Promise!” After he went through all the motions, Twilight sighed in defeat. Maybe this entire jealousy situation would be better to deal with when she had her #1 Assistant by her side. “It’s… uh… P-Pinkie.” “Who?” Spike asked, for he didn’t quite catch what she had said. She sighed again before saying with louder volume, “It’s Pinkie Pie.” Spike’s eyes widened as he said, “Wow! Would’ve never have guessed it. Though if anypony was going to have a thing for Pinkie, it’d probably be Rainbow.” Twilight looked at him again and sternly stated, “Just because they hang out a lot doesn’t mean that they’re a thing!” Spike’s draw dropped and the sudden tone shift of his lavender friend. She just went from being anxious and embarrassed to stern and slightly angry. Twilight huffed and hung her head, noticing that maybe she was a bit rough with her tone. When he had said that line, her heart went through the now getting annoying feeling of jealousy. Spike looked at Twilight with a worried look and guessed that she was probably studying into these feelings of hers and looking for any knowledge on how to act upon them. He rubbed his chin in thought and snapped his claws when somepony who could help came to his mind. “Hey, if you wanna know about romance; why not instead of trying to take it from fiction and terrible written romance novels and go to Rarity instead! These things are kinda her forte and I bet she could help you out.” Twilight’s head raised with a smile planted on her muzzle and went over to hug Spike and whisper thank you in his ear as she took off for Carousel Boutique. When she entered the building, she spotted Rarity and Applejack talking about random stuff over tea. Rarity was quick to notice her as she waved her over to their table with a hoof. “Twilight! Nice to see you darling. Did you come here to say hello or do you need something?” asked Rarity as Twilight sat across from her. “Yes Rarity, I need your expertise on some matters,” Twilight replied with. She looked over at Applejack who was giving her yet another stern look as it had seemed the farm pony still didn’t forget about Twilight’s behaviour at the party. “Well, if you need a dress…” Rarity began before being interrupted by Twilight telling her it wasn’t about a dress but something about romance. AJ and Rarity raised their eyebrow at the strange request but before Twilight could say anything else, Rarity eyes widened as she smartly deduced why Twilight had come and a big smile overtook her beautiful features. “Sounds like somepony has a crush!” Rarity declared in a sing-song voice. AJ nodded as she finally got what Twilight and Rarity were referring to and was quick to say, “It’s over Pinkie, ain’t it?” Twilight and Rarity looked at Applejack with stunned faces as she looked smugly at Twilight and repeated, “Ain’t it?” “How did you know?” asked Twilight as Rarity looked over at Twilight with a shocked expression as she was thinking it was probably over that Flash Sentry guard over at the Crystal Empire. She also didn’t expect Twilight to be into mares and couldn’t place whether Pinkie was or not as that pink mare never said nor had she even dated before. “Well, it was pretty easy to tell as ya kept staring at Pinkie when she was gettin’ a bit to close that Nightlight gal. When Pinkie and Nightlight left and you were nowhere to be found, I reckoned that ya probably snuck after them. I may not be smart enough to do anything sciency or the like but I could easily figure that one out,” Applejack explained, her smug grin not once shifting on her face. Twilight gulped at such a look and shook her head. I wonder if Pinkie could easily deduce such a thing. Rarity cleared her throat so she could easily retain the flow of their conversation and once she got the two mares attention, she asked Twilight, “Tell me how you came across such feelings?” “I don’t know, they just sorta came out around the time when I found out that I had another sister, but I don’t know what to do with such feelings. Also, whenever she’s around Nightlight, I can’t help but feel twangs of jealousy and I don’t know how to deal with that either so Spike said it would be best to come over here and ask you how I should deal with this.” Rarity chuckled and with a dismissive wave of her hoof, she told Twilight, “It’s simple darling. All you need to do is ask her out on a date! Make her yours before you get overtaken by your jealousy or before she taken from you!” “I can’t do that,” Twilight said, looking away from Rarity, “She was just asked out by Nightlight and said no.” Rarity and Applejack quickly looked at their purple alicorn friend in shock. Rarity shook her hoof to signal Twilight to stop she could recollect her thoughts. As soon as they were recollect, she looked at Twilight and asked, “Nightlight asked Pinkie out! When?” Twilight kept her face away from Applejack as she murmured an answer that Rarity and Applejack were lucky enough to make out as, “At the party.” Rarity was about to say something before Twilight quickly added, “She told me she was going to ask Pinkie out during our trip around Fillydelphia while you guys were busy setting up the party. That’s why I felt sick and snuck after them when they left during the party. She also whispered something into Nightlight’s ears that I could make out. I don’t want the same situation to happen when I ask same thing to her. For all we know, Pinkie could be attracted to Rainbow or that Cheese fellow who pops up every now and then.” Rarity was quick to console the lavender mare as she said, “Well, thinking negatively will never help with anything darling. It’s best to go ask and found out than never to find out at all or else I wouldn’t have gotten over my ridiculous crushes that I had before. I’ll help you and everything and I’m sure Applejack will too.” Applejack was about to protest, to say that she wasn’t at all a romantic type, but shut her mouth when Rarity glared at her to. Applejack sighed and said, “Fine! I’ll try my best too.” “Thanks girls. I don’t think I’d have made it this far on my own!” “Don’t mention it darling, anything to help a friend.” Rarity reassured her, “But we’ll need to think of something fast, I may not be new to the dating scene, but I can bet my beautiful mane and tail that Pinkie has not been on a date. Wait, have you ever been on a date?” “Well, if you don’t count the Fall Formal over at the Human Dimension than I’d have to say no,” answered Twilight. “Well, I guess I know what we’re gonna be doing tomorrow, but for now; I think it’s best if we retire. We gotta lot of work today tomorrow. I’ll just close up the shop for the day.” “And I’ll have Big Mac take over the Applebuckin’ for me.” “Good, know go on Twilight. We can worry about this tomorrow!” “Ok, thanks for the tea and helping me through this,” she said as she removed herself from the table and trotted over to the door as she waved them goodbye and exited. When the lavender mare left, Rarity looked over at Applejack and smirked. Applejack found it unsettling at first, but then again, that white mare was a huge romance lover and couldn’t resist in helping up two ponies who could live their entire lives together. AJ just shrugged and got up to leave and thanked Rarity for the tea. As she left the boutique, Applejack couldn’t help but wonder what the hay she had just roped herself into. Back at the castle, Twilight was getting ready for bed when Spike said she received yet another letter from her sister Nightlight and he gave it to her. She tore it open and started to read it’s contents. Dear Twilight Sparkle, So at the party, I had asked out Pinkie Pie and sadly the answer was no. Don’t worry, I won’t enter yet another depressive state just because of a little rejection. We are still best friends after all and that all I could’ve ever hoped for. Maybe I’ll find love in somepony else, but in the meantime; I’ll live life as it is. Did you know that Pinkie was successful at getting Fancy Hotel and Marble Pie together? They just had their first date and while Marble was shy at first and could’ve sworn that Limestone was watching over her, ready to kill Hotel if he even thought of wronging her sister. Did you also know that Hotel wasn’t sure if Marble liked him or not since they barely saw each other. He said he was too afraid to admit his feelings that without Pinkie Pie; he would’ve never gotten the gall to ask her. Pinks can give hope to ponies so easily and I hope that she lives a fulfilled life. I guess it’s never too late to ask a pony out. Quick personal question: do you have any crushes that I can know about? You’ll probably not guess why I’m asking but I just want to know. Heard you’ve never actually fully fell in love and for the Princess of Friendship, I would’ve expect at least a bunch of suitors. Well, I hope you reply to this letter as soon as possible. Goodnight, Nightlight Sparkle P.S. Does your dragon assistant have a crush on Rarity? I keep getting this feeling he is. Twilight sighed at the contents of the letter. Guess there’s a lot of love going around. Well, if Fancy Hotel can ask Marble out than I guess I have nothing to lose when I ask out Pinkie. I might have to change my schedule, AGAIN! But it will be totally worth the time and the effort she hoped as she fell asleep on her comfy bed.
