The Last Mage

The Last Mage

Chapter 11: The Adorkableness has been Doubled!

You remember that episode where Rarity and Applejack get stuck having a sleepover with Twilight because of a storm and wind up more or less reconciling their differences? Yeah turns out the show got it in the wrong order: The sleepover happened after the events with Zecora, not before. So that's why once Luna had left and Twilight began to wake up – on a side note, it turns out that Luna and Celestia do have to do that flying thing to raise or lower their respective heavenly bodies – that I along with the other residents of Ponyville were preparing for the storm. After a few hours of work, I went back to the library to find, you guessed it, Twilight reading a book and Spike was apparently in Canterlot.

“Hey Twi.” I said.

“Oh, hey Istar. Um... Thanks for... last night.” she said, looking up with a blush on her face.

“Not a problem Twi. Everyone has bad dreams sometimes. I'd be happy to do it again if need be.” I told her with a smile that she returned. “Oh, and AJ and Rarity are both hiding under a picnic table to avoid the storm. We should probably get them.”

“Applejack! Rarity!” she yelled before rushing to the door. “Applejack! Rarity! Applejack! Rarity!”

“Twilight?” they called in unison.

“Come inside girls, quick.” Twilight called back.

“Whoa, nelly. Is inside a tree really the best place to be in a lightning storm?

“Magic lightning rod.” I interjected from the couch.

“Hah! We are most grateful for your invitation.” said Rarity.

“Thank ya kindly for yer hospitality.” said AJ as she tracked mud on the floor.

“Uh, do be a polite house guest and go wash up please, won't you?” asked Rarity in an annoyed tone.

“If I gotta spend one more second with that fussbudget Rarity today, I can't be held responsible for what I'm gonna do.” grumbled Applejack.

“Some storm, huh? The Pegasus ponies sure have outdone themselves this time. I hope you and Applejack don't have any trouble getting home.” said Twilight in a concerned tone.

“It may indeed be a problem.” said Rarity.

“Well, you're welcome to stay if need be. Spike is away in Canterlot on royal business. It's just me and Istar here tonight. You and Applejack should totally sleep over! We'll have a slumber party! I've never had one before and that time you all stayed to get to know Istar doesn't count.” Declared Twilight.

“Oh! Uh, goodness. Uh, I do believe I have another engagement scheduled for this evening that completely slipped my mind until just now.” Rarity laughs nervously. “Ah, silly me, I can't possibly stay here all night -- with Applejack.”

“Slumber 101: All You've Ever Wanted to Know About Slumber Parties But Were Afraid to Ask.” Rarity reads off as the book is levitated to her.

“My own personal copy. It's a fantastic reference guide. You should see the table of contents. I've been waiting for a chance to use it, and today is the day! This is gonna be so great!” Twilight said. Oh gods she is fucking adorkable!

“Yes, uh, great.” Rarity laughs nervously again.

“What in tarnation... Now wait just a goll-darn minute. Ya make me wash the mud off my hooves, but it's okay for y'all to have mud all over yer faces?” said and incredulous Applejack.

“Silly! This is called a mud mask. It's to refresh and rejuvenate your complexion.” said Rarity.

“We're giving each other makeovers! Eee-hee! We have to do it, it says so in the book.” Squeed Twilight.

“Slumber 101: Everything You... Oh hey, heh, would'ja look at the time. I gotta skidaddle on home quick. I'm powerful late for, uh, fer somethin'.” said Applejack. I pulled her back with my magic.

“C'mon AJ, even I'm doing. If nothing else do if for Twi. Please?” I begged her.

“Alright I'll stay.” she said while crossing her for... arms I guess.

“Hurray slumber party!” Said Twilight.

“Blahch. What in the world is this for?”

“To reduce the puffiness around one's eyes, of course.” Replied Rarity.

“Puffiness-schmuffiness! That's good eatin'!” exclaimed AJ as she ate one of the cucumber slices.

“Hee-hee! Isn't this exciting? We'll do everything by the book, and that will make my slumber party officially fun.”

“Did you hear that, Applejack? You certainly would not want to do anything that would ruin Twilight's very first slumber party, would you?” insinuated Rarity.

“Before you two get into it, just stop. You two are going to stay here and get along until you reconcile your differences. Believe me, the last one to ignore a wizards advice wound up getting killed because he became obsessed with a magic ring.” I said, rolling my eyes. They just stared at me before getting back to it. This is going to be a long night. I just tuned them out until Twi began to tell her story. I took out my Light Pipe and began to weave a puppet...

One ghost story later.

“...and just when the last pony thought she was safe, there, standing right behind her, just inches away was -- the Headless Horse!” finished Twilight. As she did I made the form of the Headless Horse appear behind her. Rarity and Applejack screamed and clung to each other. Then the illusion dissipated, and they realized what they were doing, and quickly pulled away. Twilight and I were laughing.

“Ghost story, check. Now, who wants s'mores?” asked Twilight. I had a few with them, but for the most part I was reading about various forms  of magic to try out.

“I, uh, I think we should check off Truth or Dare and move on. Let's see what our next fun-fun-fun thing is, shall we? Hm, what does this mean? Pillow fight?”

“Oh, please. I am not at all interested in participating in something so crude.” said Rarity, the very image of self importance. Until a pillow hit her in the face. “Oh! It! Is! On!?

“Oh, I get it! Pillow, fight! Fun!” Said Twilight before being buried under a pile of pillows. She popped back up and she looked adorable.

“Twilight Sparkle.” I said in a serious voice. They turned to look at me. “I did not think that it was possible for you to be any more adorable. I was wrong.” I said with a grin. Twilight blushed then spat out the feathers in her mouth. The adorkableness has been doubled!

“Maybe we should just call it a night and get some sleep?” suggested Twilight, still blushing.

Rarity and Applejack began to argue about the bed. Of course, and they woke up Twilight.

“I hope you're happy, both of you. You've ruined my very first slumber party. The makeover, the s'mores, Truth or Dare, the pillow fight... I mean, is there anything else that could possibly go wrong?” yelled Twilight, hooves waving in the air. Then lightning happened. “Sorry I asked.”

“Murphy's Law Twi! If something can go wrong it will!” I yelled down from my room. The girls gasped upon seeing the damaged tree.

“Ya see? That's why we needed to take down all those loose branches in town, not spiffy 'em up.” said AJ.

“But I--” tried Rarity.

“Outta my way, missy! Time's a-wastin'.” declared AJ as she pulled out a lasso from... wherever these ponies keep stuff.

“Wait! Stop! Don't!” yelled Rarity.

“No waitin'! No stoppin'! Doin'!” said AJ, lassoing the tree...  and then pulling on it. “And that, my friends, is what we call gettin' 'er done.” Rarity and Twilight yelled as the tree came crashing in.

“I tried to tell you it would come crashing down in here.” cried Rarity.

“Well, ya should'a tried harder. I'm mighty sorry, Twilight.” AJ sighed at Twi.

“It's... Well, it's not okay. There's a giant tree branch in the middle of my bedroom, and the book doesn't say anything about having a giant tree branch at your slumber party. Or at least I haven't found that entry yet. Ooh... ah!” said Twilight as she began to frantically look through her book.

“What in tarnation are y'all doin' over there?” asked AJ as she saw Rarity trying to tidy up a small shelf in the room.

“Cleaning up this mess some pony made. Who was that again? Oh, right, that's you.” Rarity said.

“We gotta do somethin'!” yelled AJ.

“Baking... BFFs... Brothers... There's nothing in here about branches.” shouted Twilight.

“Rarity, for pony's sake, stop sweatin' the small stuff and help me get rid of this thing! I said hussle over here and help me! Look, I'm sorry, alright?” said AJ in desperation.

“What was that?” asked a shocked Rarity.

“I said I'm sorry! I should'a listened to you when you noticed where this here branch would end up. Yer annoyin' attention to detail would'a saved us from this whole mess. But right now, ya need to stop bein' so dang fussy pickin' up all the little things and help me move the one big thing in here that actually matters! Please!” yelled AJ.

“Uh. Uh, but I'll get all icky.” complained Rarity.

“Consarnit! What the... eh... you... I mean, yes, ickiness is often a side effect of hard work. But y'all need to get over it, on account I just can't fix this mess I made myself. I need your help.” said AJ, trying to convince Rarity.

“Oh. Let's do this.” replied the white unicorn.

“Well, they do have a section about backyard slumber parties. Is that what we're doing right now? Does this count as camping?” Asked Twilight as she began to become frantic. AJ and Rarity grunted as they worked at the tree. Finally Rarity converted the branch into several hedge-trimming like things.

“U-ugh. Oh, I look awful.” complained Rarity. AJ walked over and put some cucumber slices over her eyes.

“Better?” she asked.

“Hmph, thanks.” replied Rarity. They both smiled. A while before I had come down to try and calm Twilight as she had completely freaked out. She looked up and saw the hedge things.

“Oh, pretty! Where did these come from? They're not in the book either.” She sniffled out. We all laughed.

“Well you'll probably have trouble sleeping again after this. Want me to sing to you again?” I asked Twi. She nodded, blushing. “Alright girls, back to bed.”

“What's going on? Singing?” asked Rarity as she and AJ got back in bed.

“Yeah.” was Twilight's sheepish reply. I began to sing.

“I come in sleep, bringing dreams,

I'm old as mountains, New as dawn,

Not all you know is as it seems,

Before you wake I'll have gone,

I sing my song while you sleep,

As you fly through sky, and swim in deep,

Before you wake I'll have gone,

But not before I sing my song,

Not all you know is as it seems,

I leave you with these pleasant dreams.

While you sleep I'll go away,

But this is surely not the end,

I'll come back some other day,

I'll be waiting round the bend,

While you dream of mountains high,

While you dream of oceans deep,

While you dream of endless sky,

I leave you with this song to keep,

Though I'll be gone, one thing I'll say,

I will come back to you some day.”

By the time I had finished they were all sleeping. Another good day, I just hope they last.

************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Author's Note: Here's that episode List I promised.

Swarm of the Century

Winter Wrap Up

Fall Weather Friends

Feeling Pinkie Keen

Sonic Rainboom

A Dog and Pony Show

The Cutie Mark Chronicles

The Best Night Ever

Return of Harmony

Lesson Zero

Luna Eclipsed

Hearth's Warming Eve

Heart's and Hooves Day (Special gift for Twilight.)

It's About Time

A Canterlot Wedding

there will be Non-episode chapters as well. Also: we'll be getting a bit of troll/molestia soon enough. /wink.