If there was one thing Twilight was known for getting incredibly involved with, it was her to-do lists. Walking through town, she was quite unlike her brother, for when other ponies would wave or smile to her, her response was to keep her eyes on the parchment in front of her, as though it was her entire world. In fact, the only time she'd even bother to look up from it was when she arrived at some particular place mentioned upon it, complete with a quiet muttering to herself. "Road patched up? Check. Fence repaired? Check. Lamps re-bulbed? Check." On and on this went, and after a while she eventually broke out into a small smile, wrapping up the scroll and giving a hearty nod. "Well, that's my chores done." She sighed. "All I need now is for those royals to get here and I can finally get my inventions noticed."

"All according to plan, eh Twilight?" a familiar voice said to her from behind.

Her smile widening, Twilight turned to see her brother walking up to her. "You know it, Spike. I've been hoping the things I make will get adopted for official use for years, and now, with the actual royal family coming here, I might at last get my chance!" Once Spike was finally beside her, Twilight glanced down to his grocery basket, seeing not only the food he was getting but also a rolled-up newspaper. At this, she looked to him with some curiosity. "Anything good happening in the world?"

Shrugging, Spike reached into the basket to hold out the paper in question. "Nothing spectacular besides the talk of the princesses coming along. Some grumblings from the griffons to the north, a few sightings of dragons in the skies above the capital..." He arched an eyebrow afterwards. "Oh, and it seems some fishers out at sea spotted a familiar fin or two in the waters."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Spike, you know as well as I do that the fourth tribe haven't wanted anything to do with us for generations. They're not going to start now."

Spike placed the newspaper back into the basket before chuckling. "Hey, we live in hope."

His sister patted him on the shoulder before speaking up again. "Indeed we do, and I hope that today's big event will finally see my work get appreciated for all the good it can do." She frowned as she turned away from him. "All my life I've heard the same things over and over. That my inventions have no use. That they're pipe dreams. That I should focus my efforts on more important things." Her smile returned. "Well today will change all that. Today, the princesses will see what can be done when ponykind truly tries to innovate and change things! Today, my creations won't just be dismissed as fantasies!"

For a while, Spike watched her, so passionate, so sure that what she was planning was going to be something amazing. It was hard not to get caught up in the sentiment, at least a little bit. But, being the kind of drake he was, other thoughts began to surface, and instead of sharing Twilight's enthusiasm, he began to grow concerned. After scratching the back of his neck, he stepped forward, gently placing his clawed hand upon her shoulder, gaining her attention. "Twilight, I realise you put a lot of love into the things you make. But I want you to stop and think for a moment. I..." He paused, taking a deep breath before continuing. "I don't want you to build yourself up if there's a chance something might not go right. I don't want to see you put yourself out there and risk disappointment. You might feel that your inventions will be seen by others as something worthwhile, but that doesn't mean they will. I just..." Another sigh. "I don't want to see you get hurt by this again."

Twilight had been standing quietly, listening carefully to every word her brother had said to her. And during that silence, Spike began to worry if his concerns had been absorbed in a bad way. That Twilight would hear him and instead interpret it as him having no faith in either her or her work. Instead, he found her smiling to him, moving forward and, in a move that took him aback, hugged him. With her eyes closed, Twilight spoke, her tone soft and loving. "Thank you, Spike. I'm grateful you're worried about me." Though Spike had been surprised by her gesture, he soon found himself returning the embrace, making sure to put his basket down before doing so of course. After staying together for a minute or two, they parted, with Twilight looking him in the eye before continuing. "And you're right. There's no guarantee this will be any more of a success for me than it's been before. No way to tell if the princesses will have any higher opinion of what I've made than what I've heard a thousand times over." She paused, looking around the village. "But, you know what Mom and Dad always said, right?"

Spike smiled again, giving a small nod. "Yeah...you never know unless you try."

Again, sister and brother looked to one another, and again they hugged, this one lasting only a few moments before they moved away in earnest. "Right you are, brother," Twilight remarked. "And I'd rather try to get the powers-that-be to notice, and fail...than play it safe and spend the rest of my life wondering if this could have been my moment."

Another nod from Spike. "Yeah...I guess it'd drive me crazy too." He looked up, to the hill and the windmill that the two of them called home. "I guess you'll be heading back to get your wings prepped?"

She gave him an enthusiastic wink. "You know it!"

Spike laughed, then picked up the basket to hand over to her. "In that case, would you mind taking this back for me? Since you're heading there anyway?"

Twilight gladly accepted the task, taking hold of the basket and turning to begin her trek back home. Before she got too far away though, she halted, looking back to Spike. "Keep your eyes on the skies, brother. Before today is over you'll see me up there showing everyone that nothing is impossible when you put your mind to it!"

Her draconic sibling's smile widened as he saw her happily gallop back to the windmill, and after a while he exhaled deeply, turning to see most of the local Ponyville crowd begin to head to the edge of the village. "Good luck, Twilight. You deserve all you hope for."

Author's Note

I was a little nervous about writing Spike's concerns for Twilight, mostly because of the chance of his worry coming across as lacking confidence in her doing what she set out to do. Hopefully I got the balance right