Heartache: Cherished Friendship {Book the First}

Her friends wouldn’t be able to help. Rainbow was back to the Wonderbolts, Fluttershy was busy caring for her animals, Rarity was busy making three dresses, Applejack was busy on the farm, and Pinkie...Twilight had no idea what she was doing. Pinkie never told her, since she zipped away during the meeting yesterday.

After lunch, she and Starlight decided to reorganize the library. Twilight was unusually quiet throughout the day. Spike and Glimmer knew it was an effect of her nightmares, but they couldn’t help asking how she was. Every time, Twilight would answer “Fine,” in a dead voice. She seemed to have died inside, and she didn’t even use her magic or wings to help herself rearrange the books.

When dinner came, they were long done with the books. As Twilight walked towards the kitchen, she spotted Spike. She froze in place, stopping right in front of him, staring at him. He stared back, and looked behind him. All he saw were bookshelves. So, Twilight isn’t looking there, unless she really wanted to reorganize the books. He turned back towards Twilight.

Twilight suddenly snatched Spike, lifting him off his feet. Eye vessels were visible in her eyes. Through gritted teeth, she said, “Spike! Why didn’t you wake me up when I overslept?! You knew something was wrong, didn’t you?”

Spike was shocked and terrified by this.

“Well,” he replied. “You seemed to be needing sleep, so I decided to let you rest for a bit. I never meant to do anything wrong!”

“What’s going on?” Starlight asked, coming from the kitchen. Twilight huffed.

“Nothing.” She let Spike go. “But,” she added. “If I begin oversleeping again, wake me up immediately.”

She walked into the kitchen, preparing to eat dinner. She was acting very strange indeed.

While they were eating, there was a sudden BOOM! Then, Pinkie dashed into the kitchen, hugging Twilight fiercely.

“OH! Twilight! I’m so sorry! I should have known you’ll have a worse nightmare than all the others! That’s what I meant when I told you to be careful! Please forgive me!” she squeaked, then zipped away.

Twilight blinked. Like the others, she looked utterly confused, but in her head, she thought, Please don’t return. Please don’t hurt me.

After dinner, Twilight walked into the library yet again. Having nothing to do, she decided to reorganize the library. Again. Starlight saw her mentor entering the library, and decided to ask the same question. “Are you alright?”

Twilight nodded and walked over to a bookshelf. She noticed that the front doors were kicked down, which explains the loud boom when Pinkie arrived. Starlight noticed as well, and called Spike. He immediately went to work, fixing them.

The rest of the day was dull, so dull there is simply no need to describe it. All Twilight did was making sure the books were nice and tidy.

When the night came, Twilight continued to do what she was already doing. Later, Spike waddled over to the library, and said, “Twilight, it’s time to go to sleep.”

Twilight shook her head. She had other plans. “Sorry, Spike. I’m going to stay up late. Why not you get some shut-eye?”

Spike decided not to question her behavior. He went upstairs, preparing to go to sleep.

Twilight’s plans were simple, at least to her standards. She would stay up all night long, reading books to keep her occupied. There would be no doubt that at some point she would fall asleep, but Twilight has a solution. She would conjure up a rope, tie it to her mane, and tie the other end to the ceiling. The rope will tug at her mane if her head starts to fall asleep. It might be slightly painful, but it would never match the pain in her nightmare, and she’s going to avoid it completely.