Raising Fire

Sunset had always been a smart mare. Not alot of natural skill at magic, but acamdemiclu brilliant. Though she didn't have to be to know that somthing was terribly wrong.

Yesterday night, she had slept on the balcony with Pheonix again, but woken up in her bed with her husband next to her, an occurance that was surprisingly rare. He was acting differently, smiling more which was wonderful, but he looked slightly deranged. He had refused to see the doctors about his increasingly rugged and sleep derprived appearence and insisted it was stress, but now..it was hard to describe. Before it looked like a temorary thing, like when you wake up and you look horrible but only for a while, it looked like it was just a passing faze he was going through, it wasn't really him. But now, now he looked like an insane copy of himself, in a creepy way, it suddenly seemed he was meant to look like.

He didn't talk much, he just mumbled somthing about meetings and left the room. She watched him go, worrying. She really was worried, the staying up all night on the balcony, looking sad when she smiled, somtimes unable to make eye contact. She thought he was ill, but why he was refusing to speak to the medics was beyond her.

She finished styling her mane in its usual loose bun, and trotted out the door cheerfully into the castle corridor. Pheonix was sick, she was certain of that now, but the princess would help her. Twilight was like a older sister figure to her, they talked somtimes, mostly about Pheonix, and she was certain that she had seen a side to the princess that very few had.

Twilight would understand, she would talk to him and in would all be ok.

She reached the throne room, and greeted the princess cheerfully before taking her seat next to the throne. She busied herself for half an hour with whatever was on the top of her paperwork pile, then looked up at the princess curiosly.

She hadn't said anything and barely greeted her when she walked in. Right now she was reading a piece of parchmeant with a stupid smile plastered onto her face. This was very odd, as years of watching her monarc read parchmeant had taught her, when Twilight read, she narrowed her eyes and bit somtimes bit her lip slightly. She never just sat there smiling at it.

"Princess, are you alright?" She asked cautiosly.

"Yes, Sunset, why do you ask?" She turned towards her, head cocked slightly to one side and eyes narrowed as if trying to figure out her own question, like a confused puppy. This was very odd, the princess never looked like that.

"You were just acting differently, that's all." The royal's expresssion changed as soon as she finished the sentance, she now looked mildly insulted, the princess almost never got angery at her, especialy at a harmless comment.

"I am acting as I always do, now Sunset. Get to work I have important things to do."

Twilight turned back to the parchmeant and continued to smile like a foal.

Sunset absorbed the informasion. Twilight had never gotten angery at her, she had never acted like she was a slave or that she had better things to do then talk to her, and had always taken whatever she asked her seriously.

This was not Twilight.

She didn't talk to the princess for the rest of the day and worked furiosly through her paperwork in record time, all the while pondering this impossibility. Nopony else seemed to notice the change in the behavior of their princess , somthing which infuriated her even further.

She would ask Pheonix tonight if he knew anything about why she was acting so different, it was really starting to scare her how her husband and boss/oldersister figure were acting this way.

Her parents were all the way back in Filydelphia and frankly, she felt very alone.

She couldn't really even look forward to seeing Pheonix, because of the way he was acting latly.

By the time she finished her work she was truly miserable and depressed. All she wanted was somone to talk to and her ture love to stop acting the way he was.

And to improve her mood her husband wasn't even there when she got back, or for the rest of the night. Nopony knew where he was, so she suspected he was just flying around in some remote part of Equestira for what ever reason he couldn't even be bothered to tell his wife.

She magicly undid her hair and slumped against the pillows of her silk bed. She loved Pheonix more than life itself, but all she wanted was for him to tell her why he was changing and if he was really ill, and other warnings that he may be disappearing some nights.

She rolled over, face into pillows, tears stinging at the courner of her eyes.

Did he not love her back? was he avoiding her eye because of that?  She didn't want to believe it, and she didn't think it was true but what was she supposed to think?

She lay there feeling alone in the world and wishing with all her heart that when he came back in the morning, he would be the same as he was the day they first married.