Something Halloween

It was weekend, but that wasn't as fun as it used to be. Twilight did sleep in until nearly nine o'clock, but then it was straight to her laptop to catch up on Pony Society monthly reports and other paperwork. In particular, Clarissa had prepared the next month's plan and Twilight was just going to check it and correct where appropriate. Heck, she might even be done before lunch, so Anon and she would get to do something. The thought made her smile. That movie night on Thursday had been absolutely delightful and the sex after it was outta this world.

It made a certain kind of sense, though. The mare wasn't from Earth. Just thinking about it made her tail flag a little, but Twilight ruthlessly pushed the thought down and focused again on her spreadsheet. Useful invention, that. When her work on Earth was done she'd have to think up a way to bring laptops to Equestria. They were just so handy for organizing lists and numbers! There was a faint clink and the mare turned an ear towards the kitchen. Anon was making them coffee and it sounded like he was almost done. She listened to the sound of him stirring in some coffee into her bowl of sugar and milk. It made her smile in an absentminded kind of way.

Not long after he walked into the living room with both cups and she smoothly accepted hers with a delicately controlled levitation spell. Her horn was almost completely back to normal! A very encouraging thought, especially after all the damage it had sustained in those early, scary days on Earth.

"Any luck?" Anon asked as he sat on the cushion behind her. Her ears had followed him, but without Twilight's conscious control.

"Almost. Gotta finish reading this report, then it's just the budget plan for November."

The name of the month reminded the man and he put a hand on her rump to play with her fur. "Oh, that's right! What are we gonna do for Halloween?"

This was too important and Twilight looked away from her document as she thought. "Hmm..." she murmured.

"Don't tell me you're going as that Starswirl guy again!" Anon chided gently. "You know no one on Earth knows about him, right?"

"Almost no one." Twilight refuted, but then shook her head anyway. "You're right, though. I was thinking something different this year. Like- maybe... Steve Jobs?"

Anon seemed thoughtful, but he quickly brightened up. "That's actually not a bad idea. How are you going to pull it off?"

"Fake glasses and a turtleneck with Apple logo," the mare answered quickly.

"Might be too subtle, though," Anonymous pointed out. "Not that it matters, really, as long as you're having fun."

"Mhm. You're still going as Sherlock Holmes?"

Anon grinned and gave her back a pat. "Yep! The original one, though, not Cumberbatch," he clarified in case she forgot.

"What's wrong with Cumberbatch? I thought he was hot! You should go as the Cumberbatch one instead! You know what they say: hot guys get all the best mares!" They laughed at this, but then Twilight turned back to her screen. She wanted to finish her work so that maybe - if no emergency came up - she'd have Sunday entirely free. Next week would start again with those 22-hour days, so the alicorn needed as much sleep and relaxation as she could get.

Before she found her place again, though, there was a flash of light above the living room table and a heavy package thudded down. Despite it being a relatively common occurrence it still made both of them jump. This time they at least didn't spill their coffee. "Holy crap, you gotta tell Celestia to send you mail somewhere else, Twiley!"

The mare shook her head. "She does, usually to the office at the Pony Society. This one is special." Even while she was explaining the mare picked up the tightly wrapped parcel in her magic and floated it over. She tore the paper up to reveal a very old, very foxed book. "It's here! I can't believe she sent me this! I thought I'd have to beg forever to get it!"

Anon was leaning over to see better, but there was no title on the cover, just a stylized image of the sun inlaid with a crescent moon. "What is it?" the human asked.

"Sleeping Magic, by Night Breeze," the mare explained curtly as she started leafing through the pages.

"Sleeping magic?! Why the hell do you need something like that. You're not having trouble sleeping," Anon exclaimed. "You're having trouble because you don't get enough sleep!"

Twilight shook her head. "No, it's not for that. Well, actually, there's spells for that, too. What I'm really looking for is this!" She held up the book open at the correct page for Anon to read. He took one look at the neat rows of magical writing and shook his head.

"You know I can't read that!" he complained.

"It's a very special spell. It makes it so you don't have to sleep."

Now the man looked worried. "Why the hell would you need something like that?"

His strange reaction worried Twilight a little bit, but she pursed her lips and pulled the book away, as if afraid he might try to snatch it away from her. "I can't go on like this, Anon! I'm working two jobs - three, if you count all this diplomacy stuff! - and I hardly get time to sleep. This way, I get extra couple of hours' time each night and I won't feel completely wrecked the whole day. It's a win-win."

Anon put one hand under her chin and brushed her cheek with a thumb while his other slid up to her withers. "Twilight, you don't solve that problem by stopping sleeping. Sheesh."

"Well, what do you suggest?" She tried getting annoyed at him, but couldn't, not with those magical fingers massaging two very sensitive spots.

Anon sighed. "You solve it by not working as much. I told you, the company is doing well, you can take some time off. And with Clarissa in the Pony Society you can stop pushing yourself that hard. Take some you time."

She was already shaking her head. "I wanna help at the company, Anon. It's my company too. I'm the competitive edge, remember?" It was true and Anon knew it. He frowned just a tiny bit as he sought for a way to deny it and couldn't find anything. She laid a hoof gently on his knee. "Look, it's just for a couple of months, okay? You're right, Clarissa will take over at the Pony Society and then I'll remove the spell and everything will go back to normal. I just need to get through the next couple of months."

He was still doubtful, but Twilight knew she had won. Well, not exactly won - she had convinced him not to object to her plan. "Well, I'm still not sure. That stuff sounds really dangerous," he tried for one last time.

His concern was heartwarming and Twilight smiled at Anon. "I know, and I'd agree. But I'm me, Anon. You know? Magical prodigy and so on? That's how I got these, remember?" She wiggled her still-growing wings a little to prove her point, then wished she hadn't reminded herself. Those early Earth days really had been the stuff of nightmares. It was pure luck that her wings would regrow in time.

Anon glanced at them, then smiled and gave her withers another pat. "Okay. I guess if anyone knows what they're doing when it comes to dangerous magic, it's you. Just be careful okay? Any weird side effects and you take the spell off."

When she didn't reply for a while Anon's face fell. Of course he understood what she was thinking. He'd held her often enough when she'd woken up screaming from the nightmares. He also knew what to do now and put both his palms around her head, then kissed her nose. "It's fine, Twiley."

It was an effort, but Twilight managed to shake free. She wrenched her mind back to the present and forced a smile. Those thoughts belonged in the past and she made her voice cheerful as much for Anon's benefit as for her own. "Of course! I'm not stupid, Anon!"

The matter resolved, he put his arms around her barrel, lay down across her back and laid his cheek against her neck. "How about you trust Clarissa with the budget and we go for a drive?" he suggested. "It's been ages since I took my girl in my fancy car to the park for ice cream."

Twilight's expression was filled with longing as she glanced at the window and the beautiful sunny day outside. It was autumn, but the Saturday was absolutely cloudless and completely gorgeous. It would be a shame to miss it. She looked at the screen a little doubtfully. Maybe she really could trust the girl to have handled it. Besides, even if there were problems, they'd just solve them when they came up.

She opened her mouth to say yes, but Anon misinterpreted her expression and his hug tightened. "Pleeease?" he whined. "Chocolate chip and mint ice cream!"

She damn near started drooling right there! "Oof, low blow. Really low. How can a mare say no to that?"

Anon grinned at her beatifically and gave her a quick kiss on the tip of her nose. "Gotta take every advantage I can find to keep you from overworking yourself!"

She just gave his face a lick and then closed the lid on her laptop so it'd go to sleep and conserve battery. "Okay, fine, but I'm driving your fancy car!"

"Deal!"