Big Brother Best Friend. Forever.by Butterscotch_SweetsChaptersA Royal VacationAnything...But the Confetti CannonApple Crumble CakeA Hot, Green MessInterventionCalm Before the StormA Royal VacationTwilight Sparkle rubbed her eyes as she sat up in bed. She welcomed the Autumn sun streaming in through her window with a smile and, not long after, a huge stretch and yawn. Twilight had been up all night helping her brother, Shining Armor, plan the finishing touches to a surprise vacation for himself and his new wife, Princess Cadence. Twilight loved her brother and was more than happy to welcome Cadence into her family, but she couldn’t help but feel a little jealous that Cadence was going to get to spend so much time with her brother in an exciting, exotic place and she was going to be left behind in Ponyville. She had shaken the thought out of her head many times in the past few weeks she had been helping him, as it was a selfish and silly thought, especially for a pony like Twilight. She got out of bed and used her magic to pull Spike’s covers off of him. “Time to get up, sleepyhead,” she said softly to him and nudged him gently with her hoof, "we have a big day ahead of us!” “Mmmm, no, I don’t wanna roast the hotdogs this time Pinkie Pie, you do it…” he mumbled, obviously still half-asleep. He rolled over and pulled the covers back over his head. “Whatever you say, Spike.” Giggling a little, Twilight lifted him up magically and put him in a chair at the table. He squirmed a little and almost fell over before he finally woke up and rubbed his eyes. “Today I’m going to need you to keep track of my checklist for me, as I‘m actually going to be DOING everything on the checklist. Can you do that?” Twilight asked the little yawning dragon. “Sure, Twilight. Anything for you,” he slurred to her, still trying to become fully awake. He was blinking hard now, trying to focus his bleary eyes. “Great! You wake up a little and I’m going to go visit Pinkie. It turns out Shining Armor wants to surprise Cadence with the trip at a surprise party and who knows better about parties than our Pinkie Pie?” Twilight smiled at Spike who merely waved halfheartedly as he grabbed the multi-page checklist and started reading over it. Twilight walked out the door and was almost immediately knocked down by a gust of wind. She steadied herself with a, “Whoa!” and looked to the culprit. Rainbow Dash was trailing a streak of rainbow, making curly-cues in the air and lots of other patterns. “Sorry, Twilight!” she hollered as she sped past. Making her way back over to the purple pony, Rainbow Dash made a zig-zag that almost looked like the lightning bolt on her cutie mark. “I learned a new trick today and I’m testing it out! Bet it would impress the Wonderbolts,“ she said with a smile and hovered in the air in front of Twilight Sparkle’s face. “I bet it sure would, Rainbow. Just be careful, alright?” Twilight smiled and shook her head as all she got in reply was a grin and nod before the blue pony was but a rainbow streak in the distance. Twilight sighed and looked at her pocket watch. “Not too far off schedule…just gotta make it to Pinkie’s without anymore interruptions.” She set off in a trot, eager to get this party planning out of the way so she could focus on her own work. She hadn’t been studying magic as much as she should have with all the plans falling so heavily on her and, though Princess Celestia was well aware of the planning and very understanding, Twilight could tell the Princess was a little disappointed in her progress. Once again her thoughts turned less-than-positive. She was doing all the planning, so why wasn’t she getting anything in return? She would get to see her brother happy… but it was taking a huge chunk of time out of her studies and social life and she was still trying to make this the best surprise ever. Of course, she didn’t HAVE to do the planning, but this was her big brother! She would do anything for him…anything… Anything...But the Confetti CannonTwilight’s thoughts were still a little muddled when she knocked on Pinkie Pie’s door, so when she was welcomed by the loud bang of the confetti cannon and a blast of trumpets, she was anything but amused. Pinkie Pie jumped out with a, “Ta da!” wearing a huge grin on her face. “What do you think!? What do you think!?” Twilight grimaced and, a bit harshly, replied, “Yeah, it’d be great if we want the guests deaf and comatose!” Pinkie’s smile immediately fell and her hair deflated a little. “Oh…I’m sorry…I’ll take them away right now…” No matter how upset Twilight was, seeing Pinkie so sad broke her heart. “Pinkie, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it. I was just a little caught up in my own head.” She comforted the pink pony and put an arm around her shoulders. “The confetti can stay, but I don’t know about the trumpets and the cannon. Maybe the confetti can just fall from the ceiling when Cadence comes in?” Immediately Pinkie’s hair fluffed up again and her signature grin spread across her face. “I can do that! I CAN DO THAT!” She squealed and danced around a little before remembering, “OH, and this is what the party is going to look like. It’ll be here, of course, right?” Pinkie handed Twilight an incredibly detailed drawing of an elegant party scene fit for a Princess. “Yes! Pinkie, I never knew you could draw like this!” Twilight’s jaw had dropped in awe. “Yeah, I do that all the time, I just never show anyone.” She giggled. “So what do you think?” “It’s perfect,” Twilight replied as she mentally checked anything with the word “party” in it off her checklist. “Thanks so much for the help, Pinkie. I’ve gotta be going to check out the rest of the party planning and talk with Shining Armor, but I’ll see you soon!” “No problem, Twilight!” Pinkie waved enthusiastically as Twilight trotted out the door and onto her next destination. While she was at Sugarcube Corner, she went ahead and visited the Cakes, who were in charge of the food for the party, as Applejack was busy with the Fall harvest. It was no surprise that the Cakes were on top of everything, making sure that everypony's favorites would be represented during the festivities. After that, she headed over to Fluttershy’s where the bird choir was already hard at work rehearsing Cadence and Shining Armor’s favorite song. Not wanting to disturb them, Twilight merely waved to the shy pony and stuck around for a few seconds to enjoy the beautiful music. As she left, she began thinking about what was left on her "To Do" list. Rarity had already finished the party banner. Mental check. And she figured Rainbow dash wouldn’t mind doing another Sonic Rainboom for when the couple left, so she’d just ask when she saw the speedy pony next. When the couple left…yes, when they go and leave you all alone…Cadence and your brother…they’ll be all alone too…and you know what they’ll do when they’re all alone… Twilight shook her head. She had never experienced such bad reoccurring thoughts before. It was almost like another voice was echoing in her head. And what business was it of hers what they would do all alone? ‘Jeez, Twilight, keep it together‘, she thought to herself. But then her mind traveled back to that last thought… What would they do all alone? Would they…you know…would they do that? Had they done that…? Shining Armor is very handsome. What pony wouldn‘t want to b- ‘Hey, hang on a second!’ Her thoughts interrupted the voice in her head. ‘My brother is a handsome pony, sure, but I can’t think like that!’ With that thought, she realized she had arrived at her own door. “Augh, shoot!” she said out loud, “I was supposed to go to the Ponyville diner to meet Shining Armor, not go back home!” She wasn’t sure why she came back to her own house. She guessed it was out of habit since she was distracted. As she checked her pocket watch, she realized she was only a little late for the meeting, so she practically ran, hoping she wouldn’t keep her brother waiting too long. Panting and very out of breath, Twilight entered the diner. She looked around for her brother and saw him talking with a cute female pony that was standing next to the booth he was in. Twilight decided to watch for a minute before she headed over to him. She didn’t know the pony, but it looked like he sure did. He was laughing with her and she was batting her eyelashes. Twilight was a little surprised at her brother’s behavior until she saw the pony try to give him her info. Her brother politely declined and presumably explained that he was married. The pony gave a half smile before shrugging her shoulders in defeat and walking off. That’s right, bitch. He’s MY stallion… Twilight literally covered her mouth as if she had said the word out loud. She knew she only thought it, but it surprised her. She didn’t know where this voice was coming from and it was making her so uncomfortable. She very much hoped it would stop soon. ‘Maybe I could get the Princess to look into it,’ she thought. When she looked up she realized Shining Armor had seen her and was waving her over. She put on a fake happy smile and went over to hug her brother. As she put her arms around him, she shivered slightly. It felt nice… “You okay little sis?” He said in her ear. She froze for a second when she realized what she‘d done, then stuttered a little. “Y-yeah, I’m great, why?” She let go and sat opposite of him, quickly busying herself with the menu. “You shivered a bit. You’re not catching a cold are you?” Shining Armor made to put a hoof to her forehead, but she pushed it away. “No, no, no- I’m fine, really. I think maybe the air conditioner just got to me for a second, I’m fine now.” Well if you’re so cold, let your big brother hold you tight… ‘No!’ she thought to herself and gritted her teeth. ‘GET OUT OF MY HEAD.’ “So what do you want?” he asked her, picking up his own menu. Twilight braced herself for the dirty reply of, “You, of course,” from the voice in her head, but it didn’t come. She was about to sigh in relief until she realized something… she already knew what the voice was going to say. Did that mean that she thought it this time? Of course, not. Her brother was her brother and that was it! “Twilghly?” came her brother’s voice from the other side of the menu. “Oh, uh, I’ll just get what I always get: a dandelion sandwich.” She put the menu down and tried to force her mind to be blank. ‘I have to focus on the task at hand,’ she thought and started asking him questions. She realized she had left the house without a quill and paper this morning so she ended up taking notes on a napkin while they ate. It was just more proof that she was tired and distracted. Shining Armor described how he wanted the party to go and the big reveal to happen and Twilight jotted down everything while still forcing her mind to stay blank and just concentrating on her magic. Though she was looking at her brother for the hundredth time in her life, she realized something new about him. His eyes were really pretty. ‘I mean, I could get lost in those eyes for quite a while, couldn’t I?’ she asked herself. She just listened to him talk for a long while until the pen, previously writing through magic, clattered onto the table. “And then I was- …uh…” Shining Armor stopped talking when he saw the pen drop, but Twilight Sparkle continued to gaze at him. “Uhm…” he started again, slightly gesturing to the pen and napkin. Twilight blinked a few times and realized the pen was laying on the table. “Oh, sorry, I guess I stopped…concentrating…” Her words trailed off as she looked down at the napkin. The words she had written had slowly stopped being legible and turned into doodles. Then right below the doodles were hearts. Lots and lots of hearts. With “SA” in them. She quickly snatched the napkin up. “Oh Celestia-” she started, panicking a little. “I am SO sorry, Shining Armor, I just-” “Hey, hey, it’s okay little sis.” He grinned at her. “I of all people definitely know what it’s like to be in love. I saw you wrote some initials in those hearts, but I didn’t see what they were. Do I know the guy? Who is it?” You. “It’s nothing, don’t worry about it,” she replied, blushing so hard it was making her feel like she was in a sauna. “Haha, alright sis. If you wanna go see him or something, you can go ahead and go-” NO. “No!” she said loudly. “I mean, no, it’s fine, we’ve got business to finish here, right?” “I actually think we’re okay. I may have even been going overboard, trying to make everything super extravagant. I mean, I just want to make everything perfect. I love her so much." Stop. “I can’t imagine what life would be like without Cadence." Better. “She’s the most amazing thing to ever happen to me." I’ll kill her. “I just want to make her happy.” “…I’ll kill her…” “What?” Shining Armor looked at his sister in confusion, snapping out of his daydreaming. “I-…I…uh…I mean-” You’ve done it now. Way to keep thoughts and speech straight in your head, dumb ass. “You mumbled! You were always bad about that sis.” He smiled a brilliant, gorgeous smile that made her blush harder, though she did relax a little when she realized Shining Armor had no idea what she had just said. “I said…I’ll thrill her.” Twilight smiled a wide, fake smile. “I’ll thrill her just for you, BBBFF. I know how much you care about her.” I just want you to care about me like that too, big brother. I want you to pay attention to me. Care about ME! Love ME instead! Love me. Love me! LOVE ME, LOVE ME, LOVE ME, LOVE ME, LOVE ME- The voice was practically screaming in her head as she smiled at her brother. “I, uh, I really should be going now though,“ LOVE ME, LOVE ME, LOVE ME, LOVE ME, “’cause there’s so much more for me to plan before the day is through. Thanks for the food! Send me a letter if you have any other ideas?” -LOVE ME, LOVE ME, LOVE ME, LOVE ME LOVE ME LOVE ME- “Of course, Twighly!” They both stood and hugged once more. -LOVE ME LOVE ME LOVE MELOVEMELOVEMELOVEMELOVEM- “I love you, sis.” He let go and smiled, paid the waitress, and left the diner. Twilight just stood there for a minute. She smiled at first. Then that smile turned into a grin…but it wasn’t a normal happy grin. She could feel it- something was a little off about this particular grin. She didn’t know what this feeling was exactly, but she knew she liked it. She walked out of the diner and all the way home with this grin plastered on her face. Even as she opened the door to her house and passed a snoozing Spike, it did not fade. It was clear what she must do now. The voice in her head explained everything. The sun had not even begun to start sinking in the sky, yet Twilight Sparkle curled herself up in bed, pulled the covers over her head, and laughed a loud, crazy, maniacal laugh. Apple Crumble CakeTwilight awoke to Spike nudging her. “Twilight, hey, you’ve been asleep for a long time. It’s past noon. You okay?” She rubbed her eyes and blinked a few times, quickly thinking up an excuse. “Oh, yeah, sorry Spike. I guess I was just so tired when I got home that I passed out.” She stretched and yawned. “Well that’s okay,” the purple dragon said, “You need all the sleep you can get with all the planning going on. And to think, the party is the day after tomorrow!” Twilight smiled. “Yeah, just one day…one day and everything will go according to plan…All according to plan.” She said the last part in a slightly sinister voice as she stared out the window, the gears in her mind almost visibly turning. “…Right…” Spike replied, backing away from her slowly. “Well, I’m gonna…go…uhm…yeah.” He turned away and sped out of the door of Twilight’s room, but she didn’t even notice him leave. Spike headed down the stairs and out into the bustle that was the mid-afternoon of Ponyville. He realized something was pretty off about Twilight, but he figured it must just be all the stress getting to her. He knew that if anyone could help, her friends sure could. The nearest pony he could talk to would be Rarity (he blushed a little at the thought), but he’d do anything to help Twilight feel better, even if that meant talking to the most beautiful pony on Earth. He made his way through the clopping hooves of all the busy ponies to Rarity’s front door. He made sure he looked his best before he knocked a couple times. Rarity opened the door and smiled. “Well hello, Spike!” She patted him on the head and ushered him inside. “It’s so good to see you, you adorable little dragon,” she said as she fawned over him for a minute. “Aw, Rarity, cut it out, the poor thang’s gonna get embarrassed,” said a voice from somewhere behind Rarity‘s doting face. Though Spike couldn’t see her, he could pick out the farmer pony’s voice just about anywhere…except maybe when he went to Apple Acres. Applejack placed her cup of tea on the table and walked over to them, gently moving Rarity away from Spike with a smile and a shake of her head. “What can we do for ya, Spike? You’re not normally out and about by yerself. Twilight is always watchin’ out for ya!” “Well that’s kind of why I’m here,” Spike began. “You see, Twilight has been acting a little off lately.” “I’m sure she’s just stressed out from all the planning, dear.” Rarity magically cleared away a pot and cups of tea on the table while simultaneously bringing out a small cake and setting it in the cups’ place. “That’s exactly what I thought too, so- Oooohh…” Spike was interrupted as the cake floated out onto the table. “That looks- and smells- delicious!” He walked over to the table and sniffed at the cake. “Mmmm..” “Thank ya, Spike. Made it this morning’. Thought it’d be nice to take a break, have lunch with the girls today, but everypony else was busy with party plans…’cept Rainbow, but who knows where she is. So it’s just me and Rarity right now.” Applejack sighed a little. “But what were ya sayin’?” She took a piece of cake from Rarity, who was now magically slicing it into small pieces. “Oh, yeah, I was saying that I hoped you guys could-” he was interrupted once again as a slice of cake was practically shoved into his mouth by Rarity’s magic. “-Fank oo, Wawity. I waz finking tha maybe oo guys-” he swallowed- “ could talk to her? Maybe see what exactly is going on and see if she needs any help? She’s kind of ignoring me.” “Of course, dear,” Rarity said with a smile while Applejack nodded. “And I doubt she’s ignoring you, Spike, she’s just busy. Chin up!” Rarity gave him one more pat. “And we’ll get Fluttershy, Rainbow, and Pinkie to help us out too,” Applejack assured him. “Thanks you guys, that means a lot to me and I know it’ll mean a lot to Twilight too,” Spike said as Rarity handed him another slice of cake. “I guess I’d better get back home to check on her.” Rarity and Applejack agreed and said their goodbyes. Spike walked back home, stuffing the cake in his mouth and finishing it before he was even halfway there. It really was delicious. He pushed the door open with a, “Twilight, I’m home,” but there was no reply. He looked around for her a minute before heading up the stairs to her room. A Hot, Green Mess“Hey Twilight, I-” Spike stopped dead in the doorway. Twilight was hunched over with her back to the door, her mane and tail a mess. There was smoke pouring from something in front of her he couldn’t see and a weird smell hovering in the room that fluctuated from delicious to rotten. “Twilight, is that a fire!? Are you okay!?” He rushed over to her, but she turned around quickly, hiding the smelly-smoke-maker behind her back. Her eyes looked bloodshot and were huge with surprise. “SPIKE, HI. Hello- I mean- hey! I- uh…I-wha-what’s up?” Twilight laughed nervously. “Where’ve ya been?! Hahaha…” “Twilight, what IS that thing?” Spike tried to get behind her back to find out what the strange thing was, but she turned with him so he was always facing her. “Just practicing a potion for my magic, it’s nothing!” Twilight replied quickly. She pulled it out from behind her back and showed him for about a second. All Spike could make out was that it was a green liquid in a jar. Twilight hurriedly turned away and stuffed it behind a pile of books, which proved to be pretty ineffective, as the smoke was continuing the billow out from the jar, along with the smell. “But wait, you don’t need potions, do you? I thought your magic would do just about anything you needed it to.” Spike scratched his head and stood on his tiptoes, trying to get another look at the concoction. Twilight paused for a second as the gears in her head turned once more. “Well, you see, Spike, “ she began, sounding like normal Twilight, “I don’t need to make the potions to do anything for myself. I just… found a book on them! And…realized I had no real knowledge of potion-making, so I figured I would study. This knowledge may come in handy one day!” She grandly gestured to a huge book that was sitting near her. It looked old and had no markings on it’s cover. Spike nodded hesitantly. “Okay, Twilight. I’ll trust you on this. You really should be resting, though. You’ve only got tomorrow to tie up all the loose ends to the party AND the vacation!” “I know that very well, Spike,” Twilight replied through gritted teeth. “I was just taking a few moments for myself. I never get to do that anymore…I JUST WANT TO DO IT EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE! SOMETHING WRONG WITH THAT!?” Her shout was unexpected and nearly sent Spike into a crying fit. His eyes teared up a little and he looked to the ground. “No…” He paused to sniffle. “I…I just want you to know…I love you, Twilight…and I hope you feel better soon.” With that he ran down the stairs and out of the house, crying silently the whole way. Part of Twilight hated the fact that she made Spike cry, but the other half, the half with the ever-persuasive voice, begged her to get back to her potion. It told her she would have plenty of time to check on Spike, but only one day to complete this. She slowly pulled the potion out from behind the pile of books and, locking her door, she opened the large, unmarked book in front of her to a page she had dog-earred. Looking down at it and reading to herself, she began to pull out strange bottles of ingredients from a cabinet. As she added each ingredient, the color of the potion lightened until it was clear and the smoke stopped billowing. Suddenly, there was no more smell. It was almost done. Twilight cackled softly to herself, poured the concoction into a flask, and put it up on her shelf for safe keeping. “24 hours…” she said to herself. She looked at her pocket watch. It was 5 PM. Gooood. The voice congratulated and complemented her in her head. Good, Twilight. Now all you have to do is wait. Just wait. You’ll have everything you want soon. She sighed and fixed her mane and tail, giggling all the while, when suddenly the normal Twilight part of her mind remembered Spike. She rushed down the stairs and saw that he wasn’t inside the house. As she was about to open the front door, someone knocked on it. InterventionTwilight slowly opened the door to find 5 other ponies standing there, each wearing a confused and wary expression on their face. “Evenin’, Twilight. Brought ya something‘,” Applejack said, sounding a little less than pleased, brandishing ¾ of the cake she and Rarity had eaten earlier. “Yeah…we thought we’d come say hi and you could take a break. Like, a REAL long one,” Rainbow Dash added, pulling out a container of carrot sticks from her saddle bag. “Yes, darling, you’ve obviously been working MUCH too hard…” Rarity tried to sound sweet, but the wariness and disappointment in her voice was all too evident. “Twilight, I also think you may have been working too hard, if you don’t mind me saying,” Fluttershy’s small voice piped up from the back of the group. Pinkie Pie, who was near the front of the group holding a couple balloons, remained silent, looking more stern than Twilight had ever seen her. A small, purple dinosaur peeked out from behind her front leg. Spike’s face was tear-stained and he was sniffling softly. “What is this all about, girls? You know I’m very busy.“ Twilight ushered Spike inside the house a bit rougher than she meant to and sent him to his room, slightly embarrassed that the girls had found him that way before she had. “It’s exactly that, Twi. Ya’ve been workin’ too hard and ya need to take a break. Ya made poor Spike CRY, for Celestia’s sake,” Applejack said, making her way into the house. The other ponies followed until they were all circled aroundTwilight. “Has something gone wrong, dear?” Rarity asked her, a bit of worry in her voice now. “I’ve never known you to act this way, even when you’re stressed.” “We’re just very worried about your health,” Fluttershy said softly, coming in closer to Twilight. “I- um, I just- You know, things are difficult and I-” Twilight tried to explain, but the other ponies had followed Fluttershy’s lead and were all closing in on her slowly, each offering their help and compassion. Get rid of them! Get rid of them NOW. No one must ruin this for us! Twilight tried once again to explain, but all the other ponies’ chattering made it hard to concentrate. She backed away into a corner. “I’m FINE! Really, I-” But she was cut off. They were all in her face, Rainbow offering to take over the entertainment, Pinkie assuring her that the party would run smoothly, Applejack apologizing for not being more help. It was too much. “IT ISN’T ABOUT THE PARTY, GOD DAMN IT!” Twilight screamed. In his room, Spike cowered under the covers and cried once more. All the other ponies froze at that moment, confused, hurt, and surprised. Pinkie Pie opened her mouth to say something, but even the happy, party pony couldn’t think of anything to say that would explain away this situation. It was as if a stun grenade had exploded in Twilight’s face. She couldn’t think straight and had no real idea what just happened. She merely stood there with her brow furrowed, her mouth furiously trying to make words. She gave up after a few seconds and everypony just stood there, staring at one another. Finally, after a full minute of silence, Rainbow Dash stomped her hoof and flew out the front door. Applejack slowly followed suit, looking over her shoulder and shaking her head before she walked out. Rarity and Pinkie Pie left together, whispering to one another and shooting accusing glances at Twilight. Only Fluttershy was left. It was as if she was glued to the floor. Her expression had hardly changed since the outburst, but she looked like she wanted to say something. “Look, Fluttershy, I-” Twilight began, but at her first syllable, Fluttershy squeaked in fear and flew out the door faster than Twilight Sparkle had ever seen her fly before. Once she was gone Twilight fell to the floor in a sad heap and began to cry. “I just don’t know what went wrong!” she yelled at herself. The girls said they had never known her to be like this and Twilight could agree that she had never known herself to be this way either. She had never felt quite like she did right now. Her soul was burning with conflict as she thought about Shining Armor and the party taking place in just one day. She knew deep down what she had to do for her own sanity, but she also knew that it was wrong. Very wrong. But if she kept herself in line and just did what she planned to do- In line? You want to control the love you have for your brother!? YOU WANT TO HARNESS IT!? That’s preposterous! You have to let this power run free…you have to let it take you. “No! I can’t! I just have to make him fall out of love with her. I can’t just-” Listen to me… The voice was crooning to her now, comforting her broken thoughts. Piecing them back together the way it wanted to. Now think. You can completely control him. You can do it if you really try, if you let this feeling consume you… “I just don’t want to hurt anybody,” Twilight whimpered to herself. OF COURSE YOU DO! It was screaming in her head again. You want to hurt heeeerrrr… “I…want to hurt…her…” Twilight’s eyes grew bigger in a trance of false understanding. Exactly. She stole what is rightfully yours. He should belong to you. Forever. “Forever…” With that last statement, Twilight smiled and walked up the stairs to Spike’s room. She opened the door to find him whimpering under his covers at the sound of her hoof falls. She pulled the covers back and kissed him on the forehead without a word. He trembled a little at her touch at first, but then saw she was smiling a normal, comforting “Twilight” smile. As she turned to leave, he spoke. “Twilight…?” “Yes, Spike?” She didn’t turn around, but rather cocked an ear back in his direction a little. “Everything is going to be okay now…right?” “Of course. Everything is going to be…perfect.” She walked out and shut the door without another word, intent on climbing into her own bed to have sweet dreams of the handsome pony that would be hers in just a little over a day. Calm Before the StormTwilight awoke before Celestia had even begun to raise the sun. She stretched and yawned and hummed happily to herself as she got out of bed. This was going to be a good day and she could feel it. She checked on her potion jar, picking it up with her magic and moving it slowly around. The clear liquid had started to develop within it a sparkly mist that lazily swirled around. "Perfect," Twilight said softly and placed the jar back behind a pile of books. It was much too early to wake Spike, so Twilight decided to go downstairs, have a cup of tea, and spend some alone time with herself and her party plans. Grabbing her checklist and a quill, she settled onto a nice cushion and sighed. She knew the drill by heart: Everypony would arrive at the Library to set up the food, decorations, and music. Shining Armor would be at the door to invite Cadence inside under the guise of "asking her something about a book he found on Crystal Ponies". Cadence walks in, everypony yells surprise, the merriment continues until Shining Armor reveals his wonderful vacation plans. And that's where you step in...hissed the voice inside Twilight's head. The only reason Twilight would ever dare let anyone have a party in the Library is if she got something out of the deal. Like Shining Armor. And the only place to safely keep her brother would be the basement of the Library Twilight had created herself...just in case things like this ever happened. Once she finished checking off everything on her checklist, the purple unicorn sipped the last of her tea and walked back up to her room. She knew exactly how she wanted to spend the next few hours. Plopping down on her bed, she stared at the jar of swirling sparkles until Celestia rose the sun. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Author's Note Sorry, this is a very short update, but this chapter WILL be longer very soon. I'm slowly getting back into the swing of this story and I just have to finish planning how the end of this chapter is going to go. I don't want it to be a rushed piece of crap or anything! Until next time, stay crazy pony fans.
A Royal VacationTwilight Sparkle rubbed her eyes as she sat up in bed. She welcomed the Autumn sun streaming in through her window with a smile and, not long after, a huge stretch and yawn. Twilight had been up all night helping her brother, Shining Armor, plan the finishing touches to a surprise vacation for himself and his new wife, Princess Cadence. Twilight loved her brother and was more than happy to welcome Cadence into her family, but she couldn’t help but feel a little jealous that Cadence was going to get to spend so much time with her brother in an exciting, exotic place and she was going to be left behind in Ponyville. She had shaken the thought out of her head many times in the past few weeks she had been helping him, as it was a selfish and silly thought, especially for a pony like Twilight. She got out of bed and used her magic to pull Spike’s covers off of him. “Time to get up, sleepyhead,” she said softly to him and nudged him gently with her hoof, "we have a big day ahead of us!” “Mmmm, no, I don’t wanna roast the hotdogs this time Pinkie Pie, you do it…” he mumbled, obviously still half-asleep. He rolled over and pulled the covers back over his head. “Whatever you say, Spike.” Giggling a little, Twilight lifted him up magically and put him in a chair at the table. He squirmed a little and almost fell over before he finally woke up and rubbed his eyes. “Today I’m going to need you to keep track of my checklist for me, as I‘m actually going to be DOING everything on the checklist. Can you do that?” Twilight asked the little yawning dragon. “Sure, Twilight. Anything for you,” he slurred to her, still trying to become fully awake. He was blinking hard now, trying to focus his bleary eyes. “Great! You wake up a little and I’m going to go visit Pinkie. It turns out Shining Armor wants to surprise Cadence with the trip at a surprise party and who knows better about parties than our Pinkie Pie?” Twilight smiled at Spike who merely waved halfheartedly as he grabbed the multi-page checklist and started reading over it. Twilight walked out the door and was almost immediately knocked down by a gust of wind. She steadied herself with a, “Whoa!” and looked to the culprit. Rainbow Dash was trailing a streak of rainbow, making curly-cues in the air and lots of other patterns. “Sorry, Twilight!” she hollered as she sped past. Making her way back over to the purple pony, Rainbow Dash made a zig-zag that almost looked like the lightning bolt on her cutie mark. “I learned a new trick today and I’m testing it out! Bet it would impress the Wonderbolts,“ she said with a smile and hovered in the air in front of Twilight Sparkle’s face. “I bet it sure would, Rainbow. Just be careful, alright?” Twilight smiled and shook her head as all she got in reply was a grin and nod before the blue pony was but a rainbow streak in the distance. Twilight sighed and looked at her pocket watch. “Not too far off schedule…just gotta make it to Pinkie’s without anymore interruptions.” She set off in a trot, eager to get this party planning out of the way so she could focus on her own work. She hadn’t been studying magic as much as she should have with all the plans falling so heavily on her and, though Princess Celestia was well aware of the planning and very understanding, Twilight could tell the Princess was a little disappointed in her progress. Once again her thoughts turned less-than-positive. She was doing all the planning, so why wasn’t she getting anything in return? She would get to see her brother happy… but it was taking a huge chunk of time out of her studies and social life and she was still trying to make this the best surprise ever. Of course, she didn’t HAVE to do the planning, but this was her big brother! She would do anything for him…anything…
Anything...But the Confetti CannonTwilight’s thoughts were still a little muddled when she knocked on Pinkie Pie’s door, so when she was welcomed by the loud bang of the confetti cannon and a blast of trumpets, she was anything but amused. Pinkie Pie jumped out with a, “Ta da!” wearing a huge grin on her face. “What do you think!? What do you think!?” Twilight grimaced and, a bit harshly, replied, “Yeah, it’d be great if we want the guests deaf and comatose!” Pinkie’s smile immediately fell and her hair deflated a little. “Oh…I’m sorry…I’ll take them away right now…” No matter how upset Twilight was, seeing Pinkie so sad broke her heart. “Pinkie, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it. I was just a little caught up in my own head.” She comforted the pink pony and put an arm around her shoulders. “The confetti can stay, but I don’t know about the trumpets and the cannon. Maybe the confetti can just fall from the ceiling when Cadence comes in?” Immediately Pinkie’s hair fluffed up again and her signature grin spread across her face. “I can do that! I CAN DO THAT!” She squealed and danced around a little before remembering, “OH, and this is what the party is going to look like. It’ll be here, of course, right?” Pinkie handed Twilight an incredibly detailed drawing of an elegant party scene fit for a Princess. “Yes! Pinkie, I never knew you could draw like this!” Twilight’s jaw had dropped in awe. “Yeah, I do that all the time, I just never show anyone.” She giggled. “So what do you think?” “It’s perfect,” Twilight replied as she mentally checked anything with the word “party” in it off her checklist. “Thanks so much for the help, Pinkie. I’ve gotta be going to check out the rest of the party planning and talk with Shining Armor, but I’ll see you soon!” “No problem, Twilight!” Pinkie waved enthusiastically as Twilight trotted out the door and onto her next destination. While she was at Sugarcube Corner, she went ahead and visited the Cakes, who were in charge of the food for the party, as Applejack was busy with the Fall harvest. It was no surprise that the Cakes were on top of everything, making sure that everypony's favorites would be represented during the festivities. After that, she headed over to Fluttershy’s where the bird choir was already hard at work rehearsing Cadence and Shining Armor’s favorite song. Not wanting to disturb them, Twilight merely waved to the shy pony and stuck around for a few seconds to enjoy the beautiful music. As she left, she began thinking about what was left on her "To Do" list. Rarity had already finished the party banner. Mental check. And she figured Rainbow dash wouldn’t mind doing another Sonic Rainboom for when the couple left, so she’d just ask when she saw the speedy pony next. When the couple left…yes, when they go and leave you all alone…Cadence and your brother…they’ll be all alone too…and you know what they’ll do when they’re all alone… Twilight shook her head. She had never experienced such bad reoccurring thoughts before. It was almost like another voice was echoing in her head. And what business was it of hers what they would do all alone? ‘Jeez, Twilight, keep it together‘, she thought to herself. But then her mind traveled back to that last thought… What would they do all alone? Would they…you know…would they do that? Had they done that…? Shining Armor is very handsome. What pony wouldn‘t want to b- ‘Hey, hang on a second!’ Her thoughts interrupted the voice in her head. ‘My brother is a handsome pony, sure, but I can’t think like that!’ With that thought, she realized she had arrived at her own door. “Augh, shoot!” she said out loud, “I was supposed to go to the Ponyville diner to meet Shining Armor, not go back home!” She wasn’t sure why she came back to her own house. She guessed it was out of habit since she was distracted. As she checked her pocket watch, she realized she was only a little late for the meeting, so she practically ran, hoping she wouldn’t keep her brother waiting too long. Panting and very out of breath, Twilight entered the diner. She looked around for her brother and saw him talking with a cute female pony that was standing next to the booth he was in. Twilight decided to watch for a minute before she headed over to him. She didn’t know the pony, but it looked like he sure did. He was laughing with her and she was batting her eyelashes. Twilight was a little surprised at her brother’s behavior until she saw the pony try to give him her info. Her brother politely declined and presumably explained that he was married. The pony gave a half smile before shrugging her shoulders in defeat and walking off. That’s right, bitch. He’s MY stallion… Twilight literally covered her mouth as if she had said the word out loud. She knew she only thought it, but it surprised her. She didn’t know where this voice was coming from and it was making her so uncomfortable. She very much hoped it would stop soon. ‘Maybe I could get the Princess to look into it,’ she thought. When she looked up she realized Shining Armor had seen her and was waving her over. She put on a fake happy smile and went over to hug her brother. As she put her arms around him, she shivered slightly. It felt nice… “You okay little sis?” He said in her ear. She froze for a second when she realized what she‘d done, then stuttered a little. “Y-yeah, I’m great, why?” She let go and sat opposite of him, quickly busying herself with the menu. “You shivered a bit. You’re not catching a cold are you?” Shining Armor made to put a hoof to her forehead, but she pushed it away. “No, no, no- I’m fine, really. I think maybe the air conditioner just got to me for a second, I’m fine now.” Well if you’re so cold, let your big brother hold you tight… ‘No!’ she thought to herself and gritted her teeth. ‘GET OUT OF MY HEAD.’ “So what do you want?” he asked her, picking up his own menu. Twilight braced herself for the dirty reply of, “You, of course,” from the voice in her head, but it didn’t come. She was about to sigh in relief until she realized something… she already knew what the voice was going to say. Did that mean that she thought it this time? Of course, not. Her brother was her brother and that was it! “Twilghly?” came her brother’s voice from the other side of the menu. “Oh, uh, I’ll just get what I always get: a dandelion sandwich.” She put the menu down and tried to force her mind to be blank. ‘I have to focus on the task at hand,’ she thought and started asking him questions. She realized she had left the house without a quill and paper this morning so she ended up taking notes on a napkin while they ate. It was just more proof that she was tired and distracted. Shining Armor described how he wanted the party to go and the big reveal to happen and Twilight jotted down everything while still forcing her mind to stay blank and just concentrating on her magic. Though she was looking at her brother for the hundredth time in her life, she realized something new about him. His eyes were really pretty. ‘I mean, I could get lost in those eyes for quite a while, couldn’t I?’ she asked herself. She just listened to him talk for a long while until the pen, previously writing through magic, clattered onto the table. “And then I was- …uh…” Shining Armor stopped talking when he saw the pen drop, but Twilight Sparkle continued to gaze at him. “Uhm…” he started again, slightly gesturing to the pen and napkin. Twilight blinked a few times and realized the pen was laying on the table. “Oh, sorry, I guess I stopped…concentrating…” Her words trailed off as she looked down at the napkin. The words she had written had slowly stopped being legible and turned into doodles. Then right below the doodles were hearts. Lots and lots of hearts. With “SA” in them. She quickly snatched the napkin up. “Oh Celestia-” she started, panicking a little. “I am SO sorry, Shining Armor, I just-” “Hey, hey, it’s okay little sis.” He grinned at her. “I of all people definitely know what it’s like to be in love. I saw you wrote some initials in those hearts, but I didn’t see what they were. Do I know the guy? Who is it?” You. “It’s nothing, don’t worry about it,” she replied, blushing so hard it was making her feel like she was in a sauna. “Haha, alright sis. If you wanna go see him or something, you can go ahead and go-” NO. “No!” she said loudly. “I mean, no, it’s fine, we’ve got business to finish here, right?” “I actually think we’re okay. I may have even been going overboard, trying to make everything super extravagant. I mean, I just want to make everything perfect. I love her so much." Stop. “I can’t imagine what life would be like without Cadence." Better. “She’s the most amazing thing to ever happen to me." I’ll kill her. “I just want to make her happy.” “…I’ll kill her…” “What?” Shining Armor looked at his sister in confusion, snapping out of his daydreaming. “I-…I…uh…I mean-” You’ve done it now. Way to keep thoughts and speech straight in your head, dumb ass. “You mumbled! You were always bad about that sis.” He smiled a brilliant, gorgeous smile that made her blush harder, though she did relax a little when she realized Shining Armor had no idea what she had just said. “I said…I’ll thrill her.” Twilight smiled a wide, fake smile. “I’ll thrill her just for you, BBBFF. I know how much you care about her.” I just want you to care about me like that too, big brother. I want you to pay attention to me. Care about ME! Love ME instead! Love me. Love me! LOVE ME, LOVE ME, LOVE ME, LOVE ME, LOVE ME- The voice was practically screaming in her head as she smiled at her brother. “I, uh, I really should be going now though,“ LOVE ME, LOVE ME, LOVE ME, LOVE ME, “’cause there’s so much more for me to plan before the day is through. Thanks for the food! Send me a letter if you have any other ideas?” -LOVE ME, LOVE ME, LOVE ME, LOVE ME LOVE ME LOVE ME- “Of course, Twighly!” They both stood and hugged once more. -LOVE ME LOVE ME LOVE MELOVEMELOVEMELOVEMELOVEM- “I love you, sis.” He let go and smiled, paid the waitress, and left the diner. Twilight just stood there for a minute. She smiled at first. Then that smile turned into a grin…but it wasn’t a normal happy grin. She could feel it- something was a little off about this particular grin. She didn’t know what this feeling was exactly, but she knew she liked it. She walked out of the diner and all the way home with this grin plastered on her face. Even as she opened the door to her house and passed a snoozing Spike, it did not fade. It was clear what she must do now. The voice in her head explained everything. The sun had not even begun to start sinking in the sky, yet Twilight Sparkle curled herself up in bed, pulled the covers over her head, and laughed a loud, crazy, maniacal laugh.
Apple Crumble CakeTwilight awoke to Spike nudging her. “Twilight, hey, you’ve been asleep for a long time. It’s past noon. You okay?” She rubbed her eyes and blinked a few times, quickly thinking up an excuse. “Oh, yeah, sorry Spike. I guess I was just so tired when I got home that I passed out.” She stretched and yawned. “Well that’s okay,” the purple dragon said, “You need all the sleep you can get with all the planning going on. And to think, the party is the day after tomorrow!” Twilight smiled. “Yeah, just one day…one day and everything will go according to plan…All according to plan.” She said the last part in a slightly sinister voice as she stared out the window, the gears in her mind almost visibly turning. “…Right…” Spike replied, backing away from her slowly. “Well, I’m gonna…go…uhm…yeah.” He turned away and sped out of the door of Twilight’s room, but she didn’t even notice him leave. Spike headed down the stairs and out into the bustle that was the mid-afternoon of Ponyville. He realized something was pretty off about Twilight, but he figured it must just be all the stress getting to her. He knew that if anyone could help, her friends sure could. The nearest pony he could talk to would be Rarity (he blushed a little at the thought), but he’d do anything to help Twilight feel better, even if that meant talking to the most beautiful pony on Earth. He made his way through the clopping hooves of all the busy ponies to Rarity’s front door. He made sure he looked his best before he knocked a couple times. Rarity opened the door and smiled. “Well hello, Spike!” She patted him on the head and ushered him inside. “It’s so good to see you, you adorable little dragon,” she said as she fawned over him for a minute. “Aw, Rarity, cut it out, the poor thang’s gonna get embarrassed,” said a voice from somewhere behind Rarity‘s doting face. Though Spike couldn’t see her, he could pick out the farmer pony’s voice just about anywhere…except maybe when he went to Apple Acres. Applejack placed her cup of tea on the table and walked over to them, gently moving Rarity away from Spike with a smile and a shake of her head. “What can we do for ya, Spike? You’re not normally out and about by yerself. Twilight is always watchin’ out for ya!” “Well that’s kind of why I’m here,” Spike began. “You see, Twilight has been acting a little off lately.” “I’m sure she’s just stressed out from all the planning, dear.” Rarity magically cleared away a pot and cups of tea on the table while simultaneously bringing out a small cake and setting it in the cups’ place. “That’s exactly what I thought too, so- Oooohh…” Spike was interrupted as the cake floated out onto the table. “That looks- and smells- delicious!” He walked over to the table and sniffed at the cake. “Mmmm..” “Thank ya, Spike. Made it this morning’. Thought it’d be nice to take a break, have lunch with the girls today, but everypony else was busy with party plans…’cept Rainbow, but who knows where she is. So it’s just me and Rarity right now.” Applejack sighed a little. “But what were ya sayin’?” She took a piece of cake from Rarity, who was now magically slicing it into small pieces. “Oh, yeah, I was saying that I hoped you guys could-” he was interrupted once again as a slice of cake was practically shoved into his mouth by Rarity’s magic. “-Fank oo, Wawity. I waz finking tha maybe oo guys-” he swallowed- “ could talk to her? Maybe see what exactly is going on and see if she needs any help? She’s kind of ignoring me.” “Of course, dear,” Rarity said with a smile while Applejack nodded. “And I doubt she’s ignoring you, Spike, she’s just busy. Chin up!” Rarity gave him one more pat. “And we’ll get Fluttershy, Rainbow, and Pinkie to help us out too,” Applejack assured him. “Thanks you guys, that means a lot to me and I know it’ll mean a lot to Twilight too,” Spike said as Rarity handed him another slice of cake. “I guess I’d better get back home to check on her.” Rarity and Applejack agreed and said their goodbyes. Spike walked back home, stuffing the cake in his mouth and finishing it before he was even halfway there. It really was delicious. He pushed the door open with a, “Twilight, I’m home,” but there was no reply. He looked around for her a minute before heading up the stairs to her room.
A Hot, Green Mess“Hey Twilight, I-” Spike stopped dead in the doorway. Twilight was hunched over with her back to the door, her mane and tail a mess. There was smoke pouring from something in front of her he couldn’t see and a weird smell hovering in the room that fluctuated from delicious to rotten. “Twilight, is that a fire!? Are you okay!?” He rushed over to her, but she turned around quickly, hiding the smelly-smoke-maker behind her back. Her eyes looked bloodshot and were huge with surprise. “SPIKE, HI. Hello- I mean- hey! I- uh…I-wha-what’s up?” Twilight laughed nervously. “Where’ve ya been?! Hahaha…” “Twilight, what IS that thing?” Spike tried to get behind her back to find out what the strange thing was, but she turned with him so he was always facing her. “Just practicing a potion for my magic, it’s nothing!” Twilight replied quickly. She pulled it out from behind her back and showed him for about a second. All Spike could make out was that it was a green liquid in a jar. Twilight hurriedly turned away and stuffed it behind a pile of books, which proved to be pretty ineffective, as the smoke was continuing the billow out from the jar, along with the smell. “But wait, you don’t need potions, do you? I thought your magic would do just about anything you needed it to.” Spike scratched his head and stood on his tiptoes, trying to get another look at the concoction. Twilight paused for a second as the gears in her head turned once more. “Well, you see, Spike, “ she began, sounding like normal Twilight, “I don’t need to make the potions to do anything for myself. I just… found a book on them! And…realized I had no real knowledge of potion-making, so I figured I would study. This knowledge may come in handy one day!” She grandly gestured to a huge book that was sitting near her. It looked old and had no markings on it’s cover. Spike nodded hesitantly. “Okay, Twilight. I’ll trust you on this. You really should be resting, though. You’ve only got tomorrow to tie up all the loose ends to the party AND the vacation!” “I know that very well, Spike,” Twilight replied through gritted teeth. “I was just taking a few moments for myself. I never get to do that anymore…I JUST WANT TO DO IT EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE! SOMETHING WRONG WITH THAT!?” Her shout was unexpected and nearly sent Spike into a crying fit. His eyes teared up a little and he looked to the ground. “No…” He paused to sniffle. “I…I just want you to know…I love you, Twilight…and I hope you feel better soon.” With that he ran down the stairs and out of the house, crying silently the whole way. Part of Twilight hated the fact that she made Spike cry, but the other half, the half with the ever-persuasive voice, begged her to get back to her potion. It told her she would have plenty of time to check on Spike, but only one day to complete this. She slowly pulled the potion out from behind the pile of books and, locking her door, she opened the large, unmarked book in front of her to a page she had dog-earred. Looking down at it and reading to herself, she began to pull out strange bottles of ingredients from a cabinet. As she added each ingredient, the color of the potion lightened until it was clear and the smoke stopped billowing. Suddenly, there was no more smell. It was almost done. Twilight cackled softly to herself, poured the concoction into a flask, and put it up on her shelf for safe keeping. “24 hours…” she said to herself. She looked at her pocket watch. It was 5 PM. Gooood. The voice congratulated and complemented her in her head. Good, Twilight. Now all you have to do is wait. Just wait. You’ll have everything you want soon. She sighed and fixed her mane and tail, giggling all the while, when suddenly the normal Twilight part of her mind remembered Spike. She rushed down the stairs and saw that he wasn’t inside the house. As she was about to open the front door, someone knocked on it.
InterventionTwilight slowly opened the door to find 5 other ponies standing there, each wearing a confused and wary expression on their face. “Evenin’, Twilight. Brought ya something‘,” Applejack said, sounding a little less than pleased, brandishing ¾ of the cake she and Rarity had eaten earlier. “Yeah…we thought we’d come say hi and you could take a break. Like, a REAL long one,” Rainbow Dash added, pulling out a container of carrot sticks from her saddle bag. “Yes, darling, you’ve obviously been working MUCH too hard…” Rarity tried to sound sweet, but the wariness and disappointment in her voice was all too evident. “Twilight, I also think you may have been working too hard, if you don’t mind me saying,” Fluttershy’s small voice piped up from the back of the group. Pinkie Pie, who was near the front of the group holding a couple balloons, remained silent, looking more stern than Twilight had ever seen her. A small, purple dinosaur peeked out from behind her front leg. Spike’s face was tear-stained and he was sniffling softly. “What is this all about, girls? You know I’m very busy.“ Twilight ushered Spike inside the house a bit rougher than she meant to and sent him to his room, slightly embarrassed that the girls had found him that way before she had. “It’s exactly that, Twi. Ya’ve been workin’ too hard and ya need to take a break. Ya made poor Spike CRY, for Celestia’s sake,” Applejack said, making her way into the house. The other ponies followed until they were all circled aroundTwilight. “Has something gone wrong, dear?” Rarity asked her, a bit of worry in her voice now. “I’ve never known you to act this way, even when you’re stressed.” “We’re just very worried about your health,” Fluttershy said softly, coming in closer to Twilight. “I- um, I just- You know, things are difficult and I-” Twilight tried to explain, but the other ponies had followed Fluttershy’s lead and were all closing in on her slowly, each offering their help and compassion. Get rid of them! Get rid of them NOW. No one must ruin this for us! Twilight tried once again to explain, but all the other ponies’ chattering made it hard to concentrate. She backed away into a corner. “I’m FINE! Really, I-” But she was cut off. They were all in her face, Rainbow offering to take over the entertainment, Pinkie assuring her that the party would run smoothly, Applejack apologizing for not being more help. It was too much. “IT ISN’T ABOUT THE PARTY, GOD DAMN IT!” Twilight screamed. In his room, Spike cowered under the covers and cried once more. All the other ponies froze at that moment, confused, hurt, and surprised. Pinkie Pie opened her mouth to say something, but even the happy, party pony couldn’t think of anything to say that would explain away this situation. It was as if a stun grenade had exploded in Twilight’s face. She couldn’t think straight and had no real idea what just happened. She merely stood there with her brow furrowed, her mouth furiously trying to make words. She gave up after a few seconds and everypony just stood there, staring at one another. Finally, after a full minute of silence, Rainbow Dash stomped her hoof and flew out the front door. Applejack slowly followed suit, looking over her shoulder and shaking her head before she walked out. Rarity and Pinkie Pie left together, whispering to one another and shooting accusing glances at Twilight. Only Fluttershy was left. It was as if she was glued to the floor. Her expression had hardly changed since the outburst, but she looked like she wanted to say something. “Look, Fluttershy, I-” Twilight began, but at her first syllable, Fluttershy squeaked in fear and flew out the door faster than Twilight Sparkle had ever seen her fly before. Once she was gone Twilight fell to the floor in a sad heap and began to cry. “I just don’t know what went wrong!” she yelled at herself. The girls said they had never known her to be like this and Twilight could agree that she had never known herself to be this way either. She had never felt quite like she did right now. Her soul was burning with conflict as she thought about Shining Armor and the party taking place in just one day. She knew deep down what she had to do for her own sanity, but she also knew that it was wrong. Very wrong. But if she kept herself in line and just did what she planned to do- In line? You want to control the love you have for your brother!? YOU WANT TO HARNESS IT!? That’s preposterous! You have to let this power run free…you have to let it take you. “No! I can’t! I just have to make him fall out of love with her. I can’t just-” Listen to me… The voice was crooning to her now, comforting her broken thoughts. Piecing them back together the way it wanted to. Now think. You can completely control him. You can do it if you really try, if you let this feeling consume you… “I just don’t want to hurt anybody,” Twilight whimpered to herself. OF COURSE YOU DO! It was screaming in her head again. You want to hurt heeeerrrr… “I…want to hurt…her…” Twilight’s eyes grew bigger in a trance of false understanding. Exactly. She stole what is rightfully yours. He should belong to you. Forever. “Forever…” With that last statement, Twilight smiled and walked up the stairs to Spike’s room. She opened the door to find him whimpering under his covers at the sound of her hoof falls. She pulled the covers back and kissed him on the forehead without a word. He trembled a little at her touch at first, but then saw she was smiling a normal, comforting “Twilight” smile. As she turned to leave, he spoke. “Twilight…?” “Yes, Spike?” She didn’t turn around, but rather cocked an ear back in his direction a little. “Everything is going to be okay now…right?” “Of course. Everything is going to be…perfect.” She walked out and shut the door without another word, intent on climbing into her own bed to have sweet dreams of the handsome pony that would be hers in just a little over a day.
Calm Before the StormTwilight awoke before Celestia had even begun to raise the sun. She stretched and yawned and hummed happily to herself as she got out of bed. This was going to be a good day and she could feel it. She checked on her potion jar, picking it up with her magic and moving it slowly around. The clear liquid had started to develop within it a sparkly mist that lazily swirled around. "Perfect," Twilight said softly and placed the jar back behind a pile of books. It was much too early to wake Spike, so Twilight decided to go downstairs, have a cup of tea, and spend some alone time with herself and her party plans. Grabbing her checklist and a quill, she settled onto a nice cushion and sighed. She knew the drill by heart: Everypony would arrive at the Library to set up the food, decorations, and music. Shining Armor would be at the door to invite Cadence inside under the guise of "asking her something about a book he found on Crystal Ponies". Cadence walks in, everypony yells surprise, the merriment continues until Shining Armor reveals his wonderful vacation plans. And that's where you step in...hissed the voice inside Twilight's head. The only reason Twilight would ever dare let anyone have a party in the Library is if she got something out of the deal. Like Shining Armor. And the only place to safely keep her brother would be the basement of the Library Twilight had created herself...just in case things like this ever happened. Once she finished checking off everything on her checklist, the purple unicorn sipped the last of her tea and walked back up to her room. She knew exactly how she wanted to spend the next few hours. Plopping down on her bed, she stared at the jar of swirling sparkles until Celestia rose the sun. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Author's Note Sorry, this is a very short update, but this chapter WILL be longer very soon. I'm slowly getting back into the swing of this story and I just have to finish planning how the end of this chapter is going to go. I don't want it to be a rushed piece of crap or anything! Until next time, stay crazy pony fans.
