A Matter of Time

All was peaceful as dawn broke over Ponyville. Birds twittered as the light autumn fog evaporated, leaving the last of the clovers and dandelions in a light morning dew. Spike vainly attempted to stifle a yawn as he waited for the coffee to percolate. When it was finished, he poured a cup for himself and took a deep quaff before filling Twilight's mug. With a candle in one hand and the mug in the other, he climbed the stairs into the darkness of Twilight's cavernous nook. He placed the candle on her nightstand before nudging her.

"Twilight, it's time to wake up," he sing-songed, forcing himself not to yawn again. "We have a lot to do today."

Twilight groaned and rolled away. Spike approached the window and drew the curtains back, flooding the nook with golden beams. Twilight responded by bolting upright, covering her eyes, and hissing at the sun. If only night could last a few more hours! she might have thought, were she cognizant. Spike brandished her mug, and tried to blow the steam towards her. The rich, caffeinated aroma quickly calmed her into a more typical morning state, and she levitated the mug out of Spike's grasp. After a quick sip, then a long, thoughtless draught, she mumbled a weak thank-you and climbed out of bed. Spike went back into their small kitchen as Twilight began washing in the basin. He was putting bread in the toaster when she sat at the table, and while she didn't appear as though she'd just rolled out of bed, her mood hadn't improved by much. With another gulp from her mug, she conjured a small leather-bound journal--a birthday gift from Spike. The merchant who sold it to him said it was enchanted, but the only enchantment it appeared to have was reducing the amount of parchment Twilight used.

"What's on the agenda today?" She idly asked, opening the book to the last filled page.

Spike sat at the table with a couple plates of toast, pushing one to Twilight. "Grocery shopping this morning. We need eggs and milk."

Twilight nodded. "Dusting the library, no plans for lunch... afternoon tea with Cheerilee..."

"And butter. We're almost out of butter."

Twilight frowned. She looked at the calendar on her wall, and her frown only deepened. Unless one of her friends had some sort of existential crisis or catastrophe struck somewhere near Ponyville, the coming week was going to be quite uneventful. She shrugged. This week, Celestia would have to settle for another chapter of her steamy romance novel-in-progress.

Settle? She thought. This is the chapter where Berry and Lumen consummate their love... again! "Lumen gently caressed Berry's skin, elliciting a delightful gasp. As he looked into her eyes, he could tell she was ready to beg for his touch..." She noticed she'd began staring into the space behind Spike, who was meeting her gaze and munching his slightly-burned toast.

"Something wrong, Twi'?" He asked, reaching for his coffee.

"N-no, nothing." Twilight blushed a little and drank some more. The remainder of breakfast passed without incident.

Twilight hummed merrily as she walked to the market, and Spike followed closely, journal in hand. As they approached the edge of the market, Fluttershy swooped down and greeted them, beaming.

"Hello, Twilight. Hello, Spike. How are you this morning?"

"Hey, Fluttershy, we're doing great," Twilight answered. "How's it going?"

"Well, Macintosh said he was going to come by today, and that got me thinking; today's exactly five months, three weeks, and two days since we, you know, really met."

Spike tried hard not to roll his eyes as Fluttershy prattled on about her coltfriend. It wasn't that he disapproved of her relationship with Big Mac. After all, he couldn't think of anyone better for her. He didn't even care that their relationship dominated almost all conversation for the last five months, three weeks, and two days. What bugged him was the fact that he had no real place in their friends' conversations. Sure, he had his own opinions on most topics, but Twilight did most of the talking when they went anywhere together, and when Twilight wasn't around, it was usually because she'd left Spike at the library to tidy up. Ignored, he slowed his pace, and sighed as they walked ahead. He idly scanned the market as Fluttershy continued to talk Twi's ear off, noticing familiar faces and waving to a few that recognized him.

A strange stallion stood at a vegetable stall--Spike couldn't tell if he was a Unicorn for the black bowler he wore--and something about this guy had caught Spike's attention. Ponyville was a pretty big town. Ponies came through all the time for all kinds of reasons. Logically, seeing a stranger shouldn't be a big deal at all, but for whatever reason, he stood out. Spike opened up the journal and scribbled his observations under the grocery list. In market, saw gray stallion. Black mane, bowler hat, possibly Unicorn. He glanced up to note the subject's cutie mark and saw the stallion was looking back at him. Embarrassed, Spike quickly looked away. A moment later he tried to sneak another glance at the stallion, but he'd disappeared into the crowd. Before he could think about any of this much, Twilight called him. She and Fluttershy had covered quite a bit of ground, and Spike hurried back.

In the kitchen, Twilight levitated the groceries out of her bags, sorting and storing them in the cabinets. Before hanging her bags, she produced the journal from one and magicked it onto the dining table, crossing out "grocery shopping." She noticed Spike's scribbles about the pony he'd seen, and decided to investigate. "Spike, please come here," she called.

He entered a moment later. "What's up, Twilight?"

She pointed out his note in the journal. "Is there any... particular reason you wrote this down?" she asked, sounding worried.

Spike shrugged. "Well, that line was marked for notes, and I thought the guy was pretty noteworthy."

"Was he acting... suspicious?" Twilight inquired. "Did something about him stand out?"

Spike scratched his chin, thinking. "No, he wasn't suspicious. I don't know what it was, he just seemed... different, somehow."

Twilight's brow creased with concern. She pulled him into a hug. "Spike, no matter what you do, you'll always be the dragon I know and love. If there's ever anything you feel like you need to tell someone, you know I'm always here for you."

Spike was quite uncomfortable with this. "Uh, sure. You're the first person I'll come to."

"I just wanted you to know that, Spike," Twilight said, releasing him. "I know your age was difficult for me to handle, even with both my parents' support, and it must be even harder being a teenage dragon when you're surrounded by ponies, but I'll always be here for you."

"Right... uh, thanks." Spike responded, then left the kitchen. Her matronly tone was unnerving, and he had a library to dust.

"...I mean, barring Rarity, he hasn't shown any interest in anybody. Except his crush on her, there's no evidence he isn't homosexual," Twilight said between sips, "and I don't have any idea what health risks there might be in a sexual relationship between a stallion and a drake. Then it hit me: I have no idea what health risks there might be in a sexual relationship between a mare and a drake!"

Cheerilee nodded in acknowledgement before sipping her own tea, and glanced across the schoolyard to make sure the foals weren't getting too rough.

"Given the size of a fully grown dragon, I can understand why no one's bothered to conduct a study, but realizing that the subject is a scientific frontier and not just a personal one is terrifying." Twilight stated, making an effort to keep her voice down.

"I see where you're coming from, Twilight, but what's more important is that he knows you're there for him." Cheerilee replied. "As a sort-of maternal figure to him, that's worth more than anything else you could do."

Twilight sighed. "I can't even tell him in good conscience to use a condom because I don't know if they even make condoms for adolescent dragons. I just hope he'll tell me if he gets into that kind of relationship."

"You don't need to worry so much. Spike's a reasonable, responsible young drake. If there's anything he needs to tell you about, I'm sure he'll talk with you about it before doing something that might end badly." Cheerilee assured her, "If it would make you feel better, I could go over the sex-ed lesson with him, and--" Cheerilee paused, gaping at her teacup, which had started rattling on the saucer. A moment later, Twilight could feel the chair under her shaking. The two looked onto the schoolyard, where most of the fillies and colts had fallen silent and were looking around. Moments later, the tremors ceased, but a dead silence hung over the yard.

Applebloom was the first to speak up. "Did you feel that?"

"Of course we felt that!" Scootaloo confirmed. "That was an earthquake!"

"Can we get our cutie marks for this?" Sweetie Belle joined in.

The three of them suddenly shouted, "Cutie Mark Crusader Earthquake Survivors! Yay!" and began chattering once more. Though the three fillies largely reflected the quick return to normalcy at the yard, Twilight and Cheerilee were quite unsettled. Ponyville had only rarely been subject to any natural seismic activity, and the last time Twilight checked, the princesses hadn't taken up random terraforming as a hobby. She pulled the journal from her bag and noted the earthquake under the "tea with Cheerilee" heading.

Twilight woke at daybreak the next morning to the sound of her furnishings and a thousand books rattling and rumbling in the sonorous chamber of the hollow oak. Spike came climbing up the stairs with a candle.

"Twilight! Should we stand under a doorway? Or should we get in the closet, or hide under the mattress? Why don't we have disaster plans specifically for ponies living inside trees?!" He climbed back down the stairs. He was panicking, and the only thing keeping Twi' from doing the same was probably her early-morning stupor.

"Out! Out of the library, now!" She cried, vaulting down the stairs after him. She'd have broken down the door if she hadn't magically opened it, crossing the library faster than most would expect from such a bookworm. Outside, Twilight saw some ponies were standing in the streets, looking around. She could hear a few screaming in their homes. Window panes here and there shattered, causing more frightened screams, and then the only things shaking were ponies' knees. Silence rang throughout Ponyville, and Twilight walked around, observing the damages as ponies gathered themselves. There was no real structural damage; the only things it seemed the quake had caused were fear and broken windows.

When Twilight returned to the library, Spike had a scroll and quill ready. "We should write to the princess about this."

"Agreed," she replied. "Spike, take a letter.

Dear Princess Celestia,

I don't know if you're aware, but there has recently been unprecedented seismic activity in Ponyville. To my knowledge, there are no fault lines or active volcanoes for hundreds of miles, at least. If there is any known cause for such, or any counter-measures I and the rest of Ponyville can take to minimize damage in case of future earthquakes, please let me know as soon as possible.

Your Faithful Student,

Twilight Sparkle"

Spike rolled the parchment and lit it with his magical breath. With the letter sent, Twilight headed to the broom closet. As she swept the glass, she heard Spike's fiery belch outside the library again. He entered, unrolling Celestia's prompt response and read it aloud:

"My Faithful Student,

I am indeed aware.We have also felt the tremors in Canterlot. I have already sent for Equestria's top geologists and seismologists, for I cannot be sure of the cause without proper academic insight. Let all residents of Ponyville know they should secure any loose objects in their homes and store fragile posessions close to the floor. If any windows have broken, simply clean up the broken glass, and do not yet replace the panes.

I have instructed my guards to place seismographs around Canterlot, and I highly suggest you do the same in Ponyville. I have included schematics for a seismograph with my letter, as I know from your previous letters Ponyville is quite lacking in disaster-analyzing equipment. The devices can be assembled quickly, and with common materials. Be quick, Twilight, as I fear worse may come.

Sincerely,

Princess Celestia"

As the princess had written, a second page detailed all the parts they would need, and how to put them together to build one of the seismographs. After disposing of the glass, Twilight examined the page, then rolled it, putting it in one of her saddlebags. Spike followed as she exited the library.

"Spike, I need you to find Pinkie and Rainbow Dash," she said. "We need to get everypony together if we're going to tell them what the princess has told us, and those two are a lot faster than anyone else."

Spike nodded. "Got it. Should I fetch Fluttershy, too?"

"Yes. Tell them to bring everypony to the town square." Twilight replied. "This is going to be big."