Twilight slowly awoke in her warm bed, the early morning light of Celestia's sun beaming in through her window. Spike wasn't in bed, but the smell of toast and cinnamon told her where he was. She slowly got out of bed, looking into her mirror, smiling at all the pictures of her adventures, friends, and achievements.
"Twilight, it's time to wake, I made us breakfast," Spike called up to her from the kitchen, his voice echoing up the crystal walls of her castle. Twilight made her way down to the dining room, being joined by a sleepy Starlight Glimmer, her mane still disheveled.
"Does he have to yell so loud every morning?" Starlight grumbled as they both walked together. The closer they got to the dining room the better and better the food started smelling. Twilight started smelling roasted honey treats, cinnamon toast, and warm coffee, all of which were inviting to her, as she was procrastinating about today. She was assigned to be head-cordinator of Ponyville's upcoming festival, she was informed specifically by Celestia that she were to lead this festival.
"Twilight?" Starlight asked, waving her hoof in front of her face. Twilight blinked and returned to her surroundings. "You stressed about this week?"
"Yes and no, I'm not stressed about messing up or failing, I'm just not looking forward to being up from dawn till dusk every morning," Twilight told her pupil, a smile pressing her lips up. "I'm fine Starlight, really."
"Alright, well, I've gotta go help Pinkie make preparations for this weeks party," Starlight told her, a mouth full of food. "Mmm, this is good Spike, thank you."
"You're welcome, I woke up extra early to make this big breakfast for us all," he beamed as we all ate. I finished first, leaving my dishes for Spike to clean, as I walked back to my room to grab my essentials. Clipboard, quill, ink and paper. I heard a knock from behind me, turning to see Spike. "I still don't understand what this festival is for, did Celestia ever tell you?"
"Yes, it's a raising the moon ceremony Celestia has seceretly inacted, to help Luna with her remaining guilt over what had happpened over a thousand years, but you can't tell anyone, Spike," I told him. He nodded before doing a Pinkie Pie Swear. "Good, now, I'll see you when I get home my number one assistant."
Twilight left quickly, ready to face the day and get her week long task started. Her first stop was Applejack, to see if the Apple family was able to provide drinks and food. She closed the front door of her castle behind her as she walked down the front steps of her castle, looking to the left seeing the massive School of Friendship, closed for the summer. Walking down the path leading from her castle to the main road of Ponyville. Twilight looked up and smiled as she saw Rainbow and the Wonderbolts training above Ponyville.
The air was clean and sun was warm, a perfect summer day. Twilight's face was turned up in a bright smile that seemed to reflect the day itself, a smile full of purity of warmth. She turned her attention back to the ground and walked up to the sidewalk, then down the street to the Apple farm. Her walk was occasionslly interupted by a sharp cough or a sniffle of a runny nose, but she kept on, thankful she didn't have allergies. After awhile, she walked under the large wooden sign, reading 'Sweet Apple Acres' in a stylised font.
"Oh, good morning, sugarcube," Applejack greeted her friend with a hug, the farm mare already mated down with dirt and sweat. "Why are you down here?"
"I came down here to see if your farm would be willing to come up with food and drinks for this festival?" Twilight asked her friend.
"Well, of course I would, sugarcube, We have a few barrels of cider, but I'm sure we could make some more," Applejack told her friend, leaving her to go make some more after they said their goodbyes. Twilight marked one down and continued on to Rarity's boutique to see about decorations.
Again, like the walk from her castle to AJ's farm, a few coughs and sniffles joined her trip. She knocked on Rarity's front door, waiting for the fashionista to answer. Twilight looked down when she saw Sweetie Bell at the door, lookint up at her.
"Oh, hi, Twilight, do you need something?"
"Um, yeah, is Rarity here right now?" Twilight asked and Sweetie nodded. "Good can I talk with her about something?"
"I'm sorry, Twilight, but Rarity is really sick right now, she can barely get out of bed, she was up all night screaming, I don't think she'll be much help."
"Do you want me to help you take her to the hospital, she doesn't sound too well," Sweetie shook her head. "What, why not?"
"She refuses to go to the hospital, but it's okay, Twilight, I can take care of her," Sweetie told her before closing and locking the front door.
"Um, o-okay?" Twilight marked Rarity's name off the list and decided to travel to Fluttershy's house. Luna loves night animals, so if anypony would have any it would be Fluttershy. Fluttershy's house wasn't on any real trail, just a trail marked out by grazing animals and hooffalls. The singing of birds and the soft humming of Fluttershy eased Twilight's mind. She walked into Fluttershy's backyard, seeing the scrawny yellow pegasus singing with her animals. "Hello, Fluttershy."
"Oh, hello, Twilight, did you, um, need anything?" Fluttershy asked her, her voice quiet as always.
"Yes, I was wondering if you had more nocturnal animals, Owls, Black-Sky Pheonixses?" Twilight asked her. Fluttershy bite her hoof.
"I gave away my last Owl yesterday, but I could find some in the forest, and as for a Black-Sky Phoenix, well, that'll take a few days to have shipped from the Griffon Kingdom," she told me. "That's okay right?"
"Of course, thank you, Fluttershy," she hugs her friend then leaves her to sing with her birds. She marked off Fluttershy, but saw Rainbiw's name next and crossed her off too, not wanting to bother her and the Wonderbolts training. That just left Pinkie and Starlight, the ones organizing the main events and providing food, along with AJ. She started walking towards Sugarcube Corner, home of the best party planner in all of Eques.
Her walk was quick, as Sugarcube Corner was closer to the outskirts of town, but whe was there soon. She looked at the sky, seeing the sun sitting in the center sky. She walked into Sugarcube Corner, finding it empty.
"Hello, is anypony here?" Pinkie silently came in, before tapping her on the back, making her jump. Twilight held a hoof to her heart. "Pinkie, don't do that!"
"Hehe, sorry, silly, but I think you'll want to see this," Pinkie led her around the counter of the bakery, as Twilight saw a beautiful night blue frosting cake. "Starlight made that, it's a devil's food cake mix with powdered sugar frosting."
"Wow, that's impressive, where is she by the by?"
"She's around putting decorations up, I noticed Raroty was sick when I went to wake her up this morning, so I sent Starlight to do her chore, she should be done by this afternoon," Pinkie told her. Twilight frowned.
"I hope Rarity is okay though, I hope she will be okay," Twilight told her friend before hugging her and turning to leave.
"HELP!" Twilight and Pinkie both stopped and rushed outside, looking for the origin of the scream, seeing a mare collapsed on some stairs. They both rush over and look for what's wrong, before seeing the problem wad the mare herself. Her coat was matted down with sweat, her mane and coat was falling out in patches, her breathing was shallow, she felt cold to the touch, her eyes were bloodshot, her teeth were black, and breath smelled of death.
"P-Pinkie, go get a nurse, and clean your hooves, don't touch your face," Pinkie nodded, her slightly deflated as she ran to get a nurse. Twilight rolled the pony on her back, watching her coat fall off in her hooves. "O-Oh sweet Celestia."
"T-The pain... I-It hurts so much," the mare murmured softly as she grabbed Twilight's arm. "K-Kill me, please, make the pain stop!"
"It's okay, somepony is gonna help you, you'll be okay," Twilight told her as a nurse stopped next to her. Twilight backed away and waited for the nurse to have the entire situation under control, before going back to the Sugarcube Corner and washing her hooves down with soap and scalding hot water, before collapsing and crying.
"T-Twilight, dear, what's the problem?" Mrs. Cake asked her. Twilight looked up and wiped her eyes.
"Y-Yes, I'm fine, just stress," she smiled before leaving quickly and returning to her castle. Wanting today to have been a horrible dream. She slammed into the front door of her castle, sending it flying on it's hinges as she ran to her room, ignoring Spikes questions and alarms of concern. She collapsed in her bed and cried, the image of that mare begging Twilight to kill her stuck in her head. "I-I can't do that to somepony, I couldn't."
She kept crying until a knock at her door stopped her. She saw Pinkie, Starlight, and Spike at the door. She wiped her eyes, and looked at her friends.
"Y-You left your stuff at the bakery, so I thought I'd drop it off," Pinkie put her stuff on Twilight's dresser. "But... What got you so shook up?"
"T-The mare, the sick one," Twilight told her friends slowly. "S-She begged me to kill her, so the pain would stop."
"O-Oh my," Spike's face turned sad, as Pinkie's and Starlight's ears drooped. "U-Um, dinner is ready when you want to come eat."
"Twilight, i-it might have just been a really bad allergic reaction," Pinkie told her. "I had this one bad allergic reaction where I wanted to die, but I got to the hospital and they helped me, like they will that one mare, it's okay Twilight."
Pinkie hugged her friend before telling her goodnight, and returning to the bakery to clean up and close up. Starlight sighed softly.
"P-Pinkie was right, it's just I've never been begged by a pony for me to kill them before," Twilight told Starlight, before wiping the tears from her face and standing up with a half hearted smile. "Let's go eat, shall we, don't want to let dinner go cold."
The two walked to the dining room together, seeing Spike had made a large salad containing fruits and vegetables from Twilights Greenhouse on the top floor of the castle. It was made better as Twilight saw a small glass of wine next to her bowl. Twilight sat down and smiled down at Spike.
"Thank you, Spike, this is really generous of you," Twilight thanked her assistant, before eating the delicious salad. Starlight sat down as well and ate, thanking Spike as well.
"Please, you too, it wasn't a lot, really, it took maybe twenty minites to make, it's fine," Spike told them, before eating his meal as well.
"Goodnight, you two, I'll see you tomorrow," Starlight told them before excusing herself from the table and heading to her room. Twilight finished next, taking her bowl to the kitchen and washing it out, then heading to her own room, the darkness of night crushing her as she walked. Her room filled with the cold of Luna's moon, but it was just what sent Twilight into a deep sleep, as she laid down and closed her eyes.
