The Jealousy of Princess Twilight Sparkle

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.