A Different Assistant
B_25
Gone.
It was the word that pained immortal souls the most, the word they feared and the word they cried, knowing all soon to be lost into the oblivion that is the word itself. Lost and away were but temporary situations, but the connotations of gone could never be remedied: no matter the magic or the power invested.
Twilight Sparkle knew this all too well as she slouched in her chair, gazing down into the photo held between her hooves. A gentle melody wafted over the ballroom, but its notes were paid no mind, as she instead stroked the faded faces of the photograph. A hiccup slipped past her lips, the act startling Twilight, who held a hoof to her mouth to suppress any further noises. She stayed like that for some time, listening only to the distant hoofsteps of distant dancers.
The ballroom was filled with life, of laughter and giggles, the atmosphere rejuvenating even those who had been partying all day. Even still, when a pony needed a break, all they had to do was wander outside and feast upon the night sky: their heart would be calm in an instant.
Twilight raised her head, over the crowd of ponies afar, through the glass that peered into the night: never before had the pinpricks of distant stars been so bright, nor the glow of the moon so enamoring.
Twilight held her breath, trying to lose herself in the distant sky, but her hooves wouldn't stop shivering. She let her eyes slip-close, her vision nothing but darkness and her hearing gone deaf, and for the first time in the night, Twilight Sparkle felt at peace.
Then something shook her shoulder.
"...miss, miss?"
Twilight 's eyes cracked open, her pupils made sensitive by the temporary darkness, and momentarily blinded by the hanging, ceiling lights. A few blinks later, and the haze of the world cleared around her, the first thing to do so was the brown Pegasus next to the white-clothed table, standing before her.
She frowned; he was wearing a Wonderbolts uniform.
"Oh, splendid! You hadn't passed out." The pegasus quickly blinked at his words, leaning forward out of shock. "Not to imply you had been drinking! And certainly not to excess! I was concerned with your slumbering form—not that you were slumbering!"
Twilight sat back in her seat, her face blank as her eyes watched him sweat. Then she began giggling into her hoof, mirth washing across her face, and pure horror across his.
"At ease, Wonderbolt," Twilight said once her giggles cease, removing the hoof from her mouth, placing the photo inside pocket in her golden dress. "Your words have done no harm, and besides, a night declaring the next year should be stripped of most formalities, wouldn't you agree?"
The stallion stood upright, giving a salute. "Yes, Ma'am!"
Twilight raised an eyebrow and crossed her forelegs.
The stallion sighed, let his shoulders drop, and dipped his head. "I mean yes, lady Twilight."
Twilight rolled her eyes, leaned forward from her chair, and brought a forehoof to his spiky mane. "I guess that will have to do." She riled up his hair, the sensation evoking memories of the tiny creature she did this too many years ago. "You remind me of someone, young one."
"Uh-oh," he said, pulling away from her hoof, looking down at her with a concerned gaze. "Is this a good someone, like the kind that helped you save Equestria? Or is it a bad someone, who, y'know, tried to take over Equestria?"
"A bit of the former," Twilight said, her smile then fading. "A bit of the latter." She let her dip as more memories came rushing to her vision, but she quickly shook them away, and looked back up with a smile. "But the former in the end."
"Oh thank goodness!" The stallion sighed of relief, his muscles relaxing. He took a breath before speaking again. "So, what became of this someone?"
Twilight lost her smile, and this time, for good.
"I'm...I'm so, so sorry, miss." The stallion stood straight, then bowing his head. "In my momentary bliss, I had forgotten about the tragedy to befall you." He kept his head low, letting his words sink in. "If I may be so rude as to express myself, hearing of the dreadful news wounded my heart more than you could ever know."
Twilight looked back at the stallion, who's rose his head upon feeling her gaze. He spoke with a soft smile. "The duration of my childhood was spent listening to the adventures of the Bearers of Harmony, of reenacting the countless battles and applying all their wisdom. Why, after seeing a few of her shows, it was miss Rainbow Dash who inspired me to join the Wonderbolts."
Twilight blinked again, the sadness leaving her face.
"I imagine that if she were to see me now," the pegasus began, laughing and looking away, "she would question just how low the Wonderbolts had fallen."
"She wouldn't think that at all," Twilight said, rising from her chair. She stood taller than the stallion, who looked up confused into her eyes. "Rainbow Dash prided loyalty and personality above all else, and I sense you have those two in spades. If she saw you now, she'd give you a pat on the shoulder."
The stallion had his mouth agape, his eyes widening when he felt her hoof lay on his shoulder.
"So I'll have to do it for her," Twilight said, patting him like she would a colt. "I hope that's okay?"
The pegasus didn't move an inch, the implication of such delayed to his mind, but once he comprehended just what this simple act meant, he quickly lowered all four of his legs, pressing his forehead against the polished floor. "Of course. Thank you, my majesty."
The pegasus felt her hoof leave his shoulder, and when he looked up, he was meant by a knowing look on her face. He quickly flashed an apologetic smile. "I mean, thank you, Twilight."
Twilight gestured upward with a hoof, and just like that, the stallion rose. She went to say something to him, when, over his shoulder, she saw a mare at a distance staring at them both. She was a sky blue pegasus, leaning against one of the many alabaster pillars, turning her head upon having her gaze caught.
Twilight giggled. "So do you have a date tonight?"
"Me? Goodness no," the pegasus laughed at himself. "Very few are willing to give me a chance. Though, if you are free with nothing better to do, would you care for a dance with me?"
"Hmm. Well, now that depends." Twilight tilted her head right while looking into his eyes, and it took him a few moments to get the hint. "Would you rather dance for the formality of it, or for one of those few mares willing to be close to your heart?"
The pegasus gulped, his voice strained. "T-T-The latter, of course, but I very much doubt that—"
"Look over your shoulder."
He did so. He caught the distant mare who blushed in his gaze, who quickly looked away. He returned to looking at Twilight. "You mean her? She hates my guts!"
"She may hate your guts," Twilight said, failing to stifle a giggle, "but she doesn't hate your heart."
"How do you know that?"
"Because I do," Twilight replied, putting her hooves on him and turning him around. "I'm the Princess of Friendship, that, and I was also was babysat by the Princess of Love. I can tell the difference between the two, and that mare is waiting for you to approach her.'
The stallion kept staring at the mare, tugging at the collar of his outfit. "D-Do you think I have a chance."
"Rainbow Dash said that anypony with confidence stands a chance." Twilight pushed him forward, right into the mare's gaze. She looked at him, and he looked at her, both frozen in one another's gaze. "So go and make her proud; ask the mare out."
The stallion kept standing still. He went to look around, stopped, sighed, and lowered his head. Then he took a few sharp breaths, held his head high, puffed out his chest, and glanced backward at the Princess. "I will. Thank you, Twilight."
She only nodded and watched the affair go down.
The stallion approached the mare, deflating slightly upon acquiring her harsh gaze, but kept tall anyway as his lips begin to move. The music and chatter were far too loud for Twilight to hear anything, but seeing their expression was enough to convey the status of the situation—especially when the mare threw her hooves around his shoulder in glee.
Twilight felt her fur stand up on their own, even more so when he placed his hooves around her neck, and before she knew it, the two began to dance. "Not quite a friendship lesson," she said under her breath, "but close enough."
The duo was soon lost to the sea of ponies dancing, and Twilight was happy to finally see everypony together, even if she was the only one alone. It reminded her of before all this, before Princesshood and before she had met her friends, when she would watch ponies gather together in school, she the only one without a friend. That was only partially true, but the reminder was enough to zap away her happiness.
Twilight sighed to herself, knowing that her mood would just attract more wanting to help her. This ballroom was so filled with life and happiness, and thus, it should be rid of any drains hampering the perfect night.
Above the tables and the dance floor, the silhouette of a figure stands, watching the Princess leave the floor below. It promptly followed.
The bedroom was awash in darkness, the wooden table and the bed illuminated only by the faint moonlight pouring in through the glass doors of the balcony. When Twilight steeped inside, she did not light her horn nor any candles, instead of digging a hoof inside her dress. She pulled out the faded photo, and took off her dress.
Twilight stopped in place before the wooden table. A thin layer of her magic was covering her dress, undoing her zipper as her gaze was solely on the photograph. She didn't even look back once the dress was off, tossing it into the darkness without a care, and placing the photo on the table.
"It's almost been a year," Twilight said, her voice wavering, "and I still can't get you girls off my mind." She tried to smile but felt only tears. Her body began to shake. "I go to these Galas and I meet these new ponies, and yet, I keep comparing it all to the times I spent with all of you."
Twilight brought herself to the chair, clambering atop it, never breaking eye-contact with the faces of the past. "I'm trying to hard to live in the present, to move on to inspire the generation of next year, but I don't want to leave the last one we all spent together."
Twilight broke contact for a moment, only to spot the wine bottle on the table. She picked it up, it shaking as much as her hoof, brining it over to the glass already standing before her. She brought the corkscrew to her lips, biting down on it and pulling back, but the thing wouldn't budge. She tried harder and harder, that was, until something took it from her hooves.
"A Princess unable to open a wine bottle?" a voice tut-tut, before pulling the bottle into the darkness. A popping sound was heard. "Just what is Canterlot coming to? Here, allow me."
The voice didn't have a chance to do anything, for Twilight had risen from her seat and charged up her horn, throwing herself at whatever creature had invaded the privacy of her room. She expected herself to tower over the intruder, but surprise washed across her face at feeling her hooves only touch against its chest. It was hard under her chest.
"Surrender at once!" Twilight cried, pushing the creature forward with all her might. She gasped as he started walking backward. "A-And reveal yourself, o-or feel the wrath of my spell!"
She expected the creature to throw itself down on its knees. What she didn't expect, however, was for it to clamp its hand around her horn, ceasing her magic and inducing fright into her system—even more so when it wasn't her intruder wasn't a pony.
"A spell that inflicts mustaches?" the creature said, his voice deep but his tone playful. "Is that really the punishment you give nowadays?"
"Oh, trust me, yours will be a thousand times worse!" Twilight tilted her head down and thrust her horn into his stomach, causing the creature to let go and stumble backward. She pushed on for few steps, and when she heard his back slam into the glass doors, she stretched out her wings and used them to rise a few inches an height: just enough to press her horn against his throat. "Reveal yourself and the reason behind this intrusion! And if you make a move, I won't hesitate."
"A new year, a dead me," the creature said, swallowing. "If I said I was an assassin, would you kill me here and now?"
"Not until you revealed yourself."
"See, the issue with that is if I tell you who I am, you may just kill me on the spot." The creature rose his hands, the moonlight revealing them to be claws. "But if we play this guessing game for a little longer, then maybe your heart will warm up to me, and I can scratch my throat another day."
"Speak your name."
"Nuh-uh."
"Do it."
"Or what?"
"I'll wound you."
"I bet you won't."
"I totally will!"
"Nah."
"What!" Twilight pulled back an inch, scrunching up her muzzle. "What do you mean, nah?!"
"I don't think you have the guts for it," he said.
"I'll spill your guts!"
"Oh really?" he said, chuckling. "Prove it."
"I-I will! What, do you want to die?"
"Not at the moment."
"So why are you asking me to kill you?"
"Because I know you won't."
"I totally will!"
"...and now we're back where we started."
Twilight held her horn at his throat, conflicted between killing him now or finding out his identity, and then killing him. Her horn became alight in a lavender glow, as she stepped away from him ever so slightly, and gazed upon the creature illuminated by the moonlight.
"N-No way." The glow ceased from Twilight's horn, and her eyes widened at the sight of the purple dragon. "S-Spike? Is that you?"
Spike smiled from again the door, half his face in light and half covered in darkness. "Kinda. You happy or mad to see me?"
Twilight was lost for speech, blinking her eyes and shaking her head. She took a few breaths, and when her voice came to, she spoke again. "A bit a both. How are you..."
"Here?" he finished, looking down. "And at this size, much less?"
"I-I sent you away!" Twilight began to walk backward, watching him with narrowed eyes. Her voice became stern. "What are you doing back here? What...what do you want?"
"What do I want?" Spike played with the words, looking over his shoulder, gazing at the distant moon. "Well, to be honest with you, the scent of this wine has been filling my nostrils for the last minute, and I could really go for a glass."
Twilight tilted her head, eyes still narrowed.
"So, instead of killing me, or getting upset because I may have knocked out two of your guards, how about we sit down and talk over wine instead?" Spike looked back to Twilight, stepping towards her, with both claws still raised. "Maybe hash a few things over before you sentence me to death?"
Twilight stared at him for a few moments longer. She closed her eyes, bit her lips, scrunched up her face, then exhaled. "Fine." She opened her eyes, looking up at him.
"If you...if you have everything under control, then I wouldn't be opposed to a drink."
