Twilight and Rainbows Kismet

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Cancelled

Chapter 1

As Twilight regained consciousness from her restless slumber she changed position to lie on her back. She slowly opened her eyes and brushed the few stray strands of hair which obstructed her view, even though she knew what time it was Twilight over to looked the clock and groaned, “Ugh 3am Again”. Twilight sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and let out a small yawn, knowing she would get no more rest this night she decided it was best to just get up.

Twilight quietly lowered her hooves onto the floor, since she didn't want to deal with a groggy Spike this time in the morning. She certainly didn’t want a repeat of the other night. As she crept across the room she grabbed her brush with her magic and headed for the bathroom, she repeated her usual morning routine which involved a shower, brushing her mane, then her teeth. However this routine took a lot more time because of the lack of sleep she had been getting these last few weeks.

“I should really go to the hospital and see a doctor, maybe he can prescribe me some sleeping pills” Twilight thought to herself. "It's about time i made my way downstairs, since i'm up I might as well make the most of it. As Twilight dragged her exhausted hooves down the stairs she tried to keep her mind off of one thing, the one thing that has been the cause of these sleepless nights, actually the Pony who has been the cause of them, and that Pony was a cyan mare by the name of Rainbow Dash.

“Ok all I need to do is create a list of the things I need and want to do today, that should keep my mind occupied and my thoughts away from her” Twilight tried to convince herself with this mental statement and levitated some parchment, a quill and an ink pot from her desk.

“Let’s see, what do I need to get done today” Twilight muttered as she tapped her hoof on her chin in thought “Well it is Mom’s birthday soon, so I should pick her up a cake, I can also have a little talk to Pinkie while I am there, to see if she can help me with my “problem”, considering she can keep a secret. Oh and I need some more parchment and ink (we always seem to run out quickly I wonder why), Oh and I should probably pick up some more groceries as well. well that’s all that we need item wise. I should probably start reading that latest Daring Do Book as well later this evening, I've been putting that off too long, Luckily Rainbow didn't take long reading it...”

And then Twilight's mind did exactly what she didn't want it to do. It thought about Rainbow Dash, suddenly Twilight's mind was filled with memories and what ifs. She imagined all the great times she has spent with Rainbow. Thoughts of her beautiful eyes and her toned body, Imagined flying high in the clouds with her arms wrapped around that strong neck, Twilight quickly shook her head to try and rid her of her wandering thoughts.

Twilight moaned in anger and grabbed her list, rolled it up and placed it on her desk for later. Even though it had only been about an hour since Twilight had awoken she decided she couldn't ignore her stomach’s occasional growling, so instead of waiting for Spike to wake up and cook Twilight decided to make her own breakfast.

After about 15 minutes of fiddling around in the kitchen and Twilight had finished making her breakfast, it was nothing special just a simple bowl of oatmeal, she then proceeded to enter the main room and sit on her couch to eat it, Before she sat down she turned her record player on and listened to some DJ-PON3 (She has all her albums, most people wouldn't expect Twilight to be into this sort of music, but ever since she heard it at one of Pinkie’s parties she was hooked).She made sure to keep the music on low volume though since she didn't want to wake Spike or the rest of the town.

After finishing her breakfast her thoughts slowly wandered back to Rainbow.Twilight sighed, a lone tear ran down her cheek, “It’s no use, i can’t stop thinking about her” Twilight looked up to the right to her mantelpiece at a photo of all her friends, a small smile pulled at her lips but it slowly faded “She’ll never go for a Mare like me,Pfft can you imagine it the jock and the nerd hah, hay i don’t even know if Rainbow even likes mares, i don’t have a chance with her even if she did.”
Twilight levitated over the book she started last night and began to read in hopes of finishing it and for the book to distract her from her stray thoughts.

“Hey Twilight you’re up early,well earlier than usual. Did you not get much sleep again” Spike said with a hint of concern in his voice
“Huh?” Twilight said as she came out of her reading trance “Oh hey Spike sorry i was just finishing that book off, what did you say?”

“I said did you not get much sleep again last night?” Spike repeated

“Oh no i didn't, i was thinking about picking up some Pills from the hospital later on to try and help with that” Twilight replied while Finding the shelf where the book was supposed to go.

“I’m going to make breakfast Twilight, what do you want today?”

“Oh i have already eaten Spike so don’t worry about me” Twilight spoke and slightly raised her voice as Spike was in the other room, Spike poked his head around the door frame with one eyebrow raised.

“You made breakfast for yourself already?” Spike questioned, slightly surprised since Twilight hardly ever cooks for herself.

“Yeah i was too hungry to wait for you to wake up and cook me anything so i decided to cook something for myself,what’s so surprising about that” Twilight queried

“Oh nothing, it’s just that you usually let me do all the cooking”

“That’s because you’re a better cook than me, you know my skills in the kitchen are very limited” Twilight spoke matter of factly.
“Yeah Yeah, you know sometimes i feel i'm like your personal slave.” Spike deadpanned.
Twilight just rolled her eyes and started tidying up the rest of the library.

Spike walked back into the main room of the Library with a bowl of cereal sprinkled with emerald dust, “So, what have you got planned for today?” Spike mumbled through a mouthful of his food

Twilight cringed a little at the sight Spike don't talk with your mouth full. I just need to head to the market to pick up some groceries and stationary, then i need to head over to sugar cube corner and ask if they can make a Birthday cake for Mom, since her birthdays is coming up soon” Twilight said half her mind focusing on talking to Spike the other half levitating stacks of book and placing them onto the appropriate shelves.

“Wow it's her birthday already? don’t forget to pick up a card as well Twilight”

“Wow thanks Spike, you just saved me a second trip out to the market” Twilight panicked and grabbed her list to add the card onto it.

“No Problem Twilight, that's what i'm for” Spike announced in a smug voice with a pose.

Twilight rolled her eyes at the sight of Spikes pose, “thanks number one assistant, what would i do without you” Twilight managed to say while giggling .

Twilight glanced out the window and saw the first set of ponies on their way off to work, she then proceeded to look at the clock and noticed the time announced “The market will be open in about a half hour Spike, which means you have to look after the library until i come back, okay?”

“Sure thing Twilight” Spike barked in his military voice while saluting “I won’t let you down”

Twilight left the room and headed to the bathroom to freshen up before she left the house.

Twilight left the library and started the small trot to sugarcube corner, greeting ponies as they went off to work or other activities, a small smile graced Twilight's face when she saw sugarcube corner.

Twilight approached the door and opened it, she immediately Jumped back and screamed in surprise “Gaah Pinkie what the hay are you doing, you scared the hell out of me”

“Hey Twilight, Oh i saw you coming while i was by the window so i thought i would come and greet you at the door” Pinkie said with her usual cheer.

Twilight, who was currently lying on the floor looking at the sky, stood up and brushed and herself off “well i appreciate the thought but can you try not to scare me to death next time i visit?”

“Sure thing Twilight” Pinkie said with her grin never leaving her face “Come on in, so what brings you here today?”

“Oh, well it’s my Moms birthday soon so i was wondering if you could bake her a cake” Twilight gleamed all hostility leaving her voice from earlier

“Well good thing you came to me, since baking is what i’m best at! well actually parties are what i’m best at but baking is a close second! or maybe third since i’m pretty good at making ponies smile...”

“Yes” Twilight deadpanned as she raised a hoof to silence Pinkie “That’s exactly the reason why i came here, now how much will a custom birthday cake cost me?”

“Oh, for you nothing! since you’re one of my bestest friends in the whole of Equestria” Pinkie beamed with excitement

“Oh no no no. Pinkie i couldn't do that, how much?”

“Fine, a custom birthday cake costs 20 bits” some excitement leaving Pinkies voice

Twilight hoofed over the correct amount of bits “Well, um Pinkie there was another reason i came to see you” Twilight’s voice acquired a more serious tone.

“Is it about your crush on Rainbow Dash” Pinkie blurted out a few decibels below that of a shout

“Pinkie” Twilight practically screamed “How in Equestria did you know that?! I haven't told anypony about this! anyways you can’t just go shouting that out in a public place it's supposed to be a secret!” Twilight’s voice took on more of a panicked tone than an angry one

“Well that's an interesting story! the other day when i was baking I got a mane poof then a tongue itch followed by a warm feeling in my heart, and that usually indicates that somepony has the hots for another mare, I finally figured out it was you after i talked to Spike, he said you had been acting a bit differently than usual, so i just put two and two together!. Oh and i'm sorry Twilight i didn't know it was a secret” Pinkie whispered

Twilight let out an exasperated sigh. “Sometimes Pinkie you give me a headache and I don't even want to ask how you knew it was Rainbow, so let's just drop it. Look can we go somewhere more private to discuss this” Twilight questioned in a hushed voice.

“Sure thing Twilight, we can head up to my room for some privacy. let me just write your order down to make sure that i remember”

“Thanks Pinkie” a small smile returned to Twilight as she turned and walked towards the stairs.Pinkie soon showed up at Twilight's side and started bouncing up the stairs, Twilight followed Pinkie to her room.

As Twilight entered the room she was assaulted with confetti, streamers and other various party accessories “Woah Pinkie, i expected your room to not be as neat as mine but... this is a tad overwhelming”
“Really? you should have seen it before i tidied it!” Pinkie beamed

“Wait, Before you tidied it?! you mean this is tidy to you?!” Twilight’s OCD was going into overdrive, a slight twitch appearing on her right eye.
“Uhhuh, so let’s get down to business, what’s been bothering you Twilight” Pinkie spoke in the most serious tone Twilight had ever heard from her.

Twilight took a deep breath and explained the situation she was in, she explained how she felt about Rainbow, how she can’t stop thinking about her, how she has been losing sleep for the past couple weeks and how she doesn’t know what to do about the situation.

“Well in my opinion, you should throw a party for her! a ‘I secretly have feelings for you party’!” Pinkie was practically jumping for joy at the thought of another party

“I’m not throwing a party for her Pinkie” Twilight deadpanned

“Aaaw too bad it would have been a super duper awesome party!. Twilight i’m not really the pony to be talking to about this sort of a thing, since i don't have much experience but i am glad you decided to come to me with this first”

Twilight sighed “well thanks anyway Pinkie, can you please keep this a secret for now? i don’t really want anypony else to find out at the moment”

“Of course i’ll keep your secret Twilight I Pinkie promise. Cross my heart, hope to fly,stick a cupcake in my eye” Pinkie recited while going through the motions

“Thanks Pinkie” Twilight said a little disappointed with the fact her problem wasn't anymore solved than before.

“Oh Twilight, before you leave i suggest seeing Rarity for this sort of problem, it seems more of her area”

“Thanks Pinkie, i will head over there as soon as i have finished visiting the market” Twilight smiled as there was still hope in solving her problem by the end of the day.

Chapter 2

Twilight departed sugarcube corner with mixed feelings; on one side she was let down that Pinkie Pie couldn't help her, but on the other she was happy that she might be able to get an answer on how to solve her emotional turmoil by the end of the day.

With her visit to Pinkie over, Twilight decided to go to the next item on the agenda: picking up her weekly supplies. Twilight made her way towards the center of Ponyville where the market was held.

Unfortunately for her she was arriving at a bad time, since the mid-morning rush had already began; the mid-morning rush was the time that everypony usually got up to do their shopping for the day.

Making her way through the bustling center of the market, Twilight browsed through some stalls in hope to find the items she required. The first stall she came to was owned by an old farm stallion, an earth pony who had a pale brown coat and a dirty yellow mane.

“Hello there sir, nice day today isn't it?”

“Morning young lady, why yes it is”

Twilight grabbed a small paper bag and filled it with some carrots, potatoes, lettuce and other various vegetables. Twilight hoofed over the bag of vegetables to the old stallion using her magic, the stallion grabbed the bag using his mouth, and proceeded to place the bag on the scales.

“That’ll be eight bits dear”

Twilight searched her saddle bag for the correct amount and hoofed it over to the clerk. “Thank you sir, Have a nice day”

The stall owner said goodbye as Twilight turned and headed towards her next destination. She spotted the store she needed to visit through the crowd, the store she was heading to went by the name ‘Quills and sofas’. The reason being because it sold quills, sofas and other assorted stationery. Twilight always thought this was an odd combination of items to sell but didn’t complain.

She entered the store and picked up her weekly order of Quills and parchment. She payed the stall clerk said her goodbyes and left.

‘Vegetables - check, stationery - check. All I need to get now is a card and some fruit’. Twilight made her way to the card stand first, since buying the card first would take less time, she flipped through the cards until she found the perfect one, “Ah-ha, I’ll take this card sir”

“That will be two bits, mam”
Twilight levitated two bits out of her bag, took the card said her thanks and left. ‘Card - check, now all that is left is to buy some fruit, I think apples would be nice this week’

Twilight quickly remembered that she wanted to pick up a ruby for Spike as a gift for being so helpful recently. Twilight approached a stall where a mare was selling some jewelry and gemstones.
“Hey there, I was wondering how much that ruby over there will cost me?”

“Oh this one?” The mare pointed here hoof towards a ruby about half the size of her hoof

“Yes that one will do nicely”

“That particular ruby costs fifteen bits”

“Mmm that is rather a lot to be paying for one gem, but i guess Spike does deserve it.” Twilight grabbed the amount she needed and slid it over the stall with a little hesitation.

“Thank you, have a nice day” the stalls owner said with a smile

Twilight spotted Applejack’s stall a short distance away and decided that she would continue her shopping and collect some apples.

“Howdy there Twilight!” Applejack beamed to the lavender unicorn with her usual cheer.

“Oh, hi Applejack, how is business today?”

“Doin’ great as usual, how’s the library?”

“Just fine thank you, may I have a bag of red delicious apples please?” Twilight pointed to the bag she wanted and levitated it towards her saddlebag.

“‘Course ya can sugarcube, that’ll be five bits. It’s been a while we since hung out Twilight”

“Well you are awfully busy out on the farm, and I have to keep up my studies for the princess. I tell you what, we will get together sometime next week if that is alright with you?” Twilight hoofed Applejack the remainder of her bits and turned to leave.

“Sounds Great Twilight, see ya later!”

“I will pop by soon and give you the details, bye”. With all her shopping done Twilight decided it was best to head back home and drop it off.

Twilight entered the library and let out a sigh, she was glad to be inside and out of the busy streets of Ponyville. “Spike can you put the shopping away please?”

Twilight heard Spike groan in response. “Fine Twilight, I was just about to take a nap though”

“Sorry Spike, I just need to relax for a bit, it has been a long morning”

“Don’t worry, but you owe me one y’know?”

Twilight chose this moment to pull out the ruby from her saddle bag. “Spike, catch”

Spike caught the gem in his claws, he was already drooling from just the sight of the gemstone. “Wow thanks Twilight”. Spike ran over to Twilight and gave her leg the tightest squeeze he could before running into the kitchen to put away the groceries.

Twilight approached her sofa and collapsed onto her back. She levitated a book from the top of her ‘read later’ pile and looked over the cover. The lavender unicorn read aloud “Teleportation: A study on modern theories and applications”. A smile broke out on Twilight's face. “This is going to be good”.

‘When trying to work out the equations for long distance teleportation you have to be extremely accurate unlike what you have to deal with when working out the equations for short distance teleportation, since you do not want to be teleported inside a wall or to teleport too high and fall to your death. This is mathematically speaking of course, you only really need to use the math when teleporting to an unknown location, make sure to take in account the distance you will be teleporting, the height plus your mass and surface area...’

~CRASH~

Twilight shot up in surprise from the sound of splintering wood and heavy objects tumbling to the floor. The lavender unicorn got off of her sofa, placed her book on the reading stand and walked to where the wreckage of one of her book cases was, where she could see a certain cyan flank sticking out from the debris.

She stopped abruptly suddenly lost in thought at the sight of her crushes flank. ‘Wow she has a great plot, it’s so perfectly toned...’ The lavender mare suddenly had the feeling of butterflies fluttering around in her stomach, her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Spike entering the room to investigate what had happened.

“Rainbow Dash, are you alright?” Spike took note on how often he used this sentence when Rainbow Dash popped by.

Twilights cheeks flushed red at the realisation that she was staring at her friends flank, she shook her head to rid her of anymore stray thoughts. She used her magic to levitate Rainbow out of the mess and gently dropped her onto the ground, before speaking she coughed to regain her composure. “I would say, ‘How nice of you to drop by Rainbow’, but I feel like I have overused that joke these last couple weeks”

“Heh-heh” Rainbow nervously chuckled while rubbing the back of her neck with her hoof, “Sorry about that Twi, I can pay for a new book case if you want”

“No, no it’s fine, I have learnt to keep a few spare considering how many times you decide to use one as a crash mat” Twilight used her magic to open her basement door and levitated up another book case from the stack in the basement while simultaneously sweeping and separating the books from the debris.

“Hey! I do not crash that often” Rainbow dash closed her eyes, crossed her hooves and pouted. she cracked one eyelid open to see Twilight giving her an unamused look.

“Are you kidding me, you do this nearly every week! I mean seriously, it’s like you purposely aim for my library”

All Rainbow could do to respond was sheepishly grin towards her.

“So Rainbow, what was it this time did you lose control while doing some trick or did another bug fly into your eye?”

“I was just practicing more some tricks, got to keep up my daily routine for when I show it off to the wonderbolts!”

“I hope your routine doesn’t involve crashing into my house each time” Twilight levitated all the debris outside and into her bin. and then began to re shelve all the books that had fallen.

“So Twi what have you been up to today?”

“Well I just got back from the market, I popped into see Pinkie Pie when I went to sugarcube corner and I also bumped into Applejack. But before you crashed I was just reading this book about advanced teleportation, it’s rather interesting”

“So you aren’t busy?”

“Well not really, other than my book and wanting to visit Rarity later I have nothing to do”

“Well do you want to come and watch me fly?!” Rainbow said a little too eagerly. She suddenly found herself nervous and was shifting her weight from one side to the other. “I mean...eugh... cos I don’t know why I keep messing up this trick and er... I think if you came to watch then you could... umm help solve my problem. You know since you’ve probably read a bunch of books on this.” Rainbow quickly added onto the end of her last sentence.

“Yeah I have read a few books on flight. I will come and watch, my book can wait until later I guess. Ooh this will be so fun I can take notes on pegasus flight maneuverability and aerodynamics. I can bring my anemometer as well so I can see if we can improve your speed as well.”

“Awesome” Rainbow turned and headed towards the door, “Come on egghead it’s time for you spend some time outside of the library, forget the notes and anem...anemo anemoma-thingy and just come.”

“Hang on let me just grab a quill and parchment so that I can take notes” Twilight frantically looked around the library for her supplies.

“Twi...”

“I’m sure I put them somewhere, Spike where did you put the new batch of quills”

“Twilight...”

“Spike where in Equestria did you put everything?”

“TWILIGHT!” Rainbow raised her voice enough to break the unicorn out of her trance.

Twilight came to an abrupt stop and looked over to Rainbow.

“Yes Rainbow?”

“Twi, forget the quills and parchment and lets just go, I don’t need a full report on what i’m doing wrong I just need some advice on how to get it right and what i was doing wrong”

“Oh heh, sorry about that. I sometimes get a little carried away”. Putting on apologetic smile, she headed towards the door.

“Ya don’t say, now come on we’re wasting time that I could be flying” Rainbow was at the point where she couldn’t stand still, trotting on the spot.

‘Rainbow kind of looks cute when she’s antsy’ . “Spike i’m going out all right, make sure you keep an eye on the library!”. She rushed out of the door to avoid any objections and hide the blush she was nursing.

Twilight sat outside on the top of a hill on the outskirts of Ponyville. She thought it would be best to move away from the town center since there would be less obstacles and in case Rainbow did crash, she would have a softer landing, rather than smashing into a wall or crashing through windows.

As Twilight watched Rainbow fly she couldn't help but think of how majestic her friend looked when she was flying in the sky, this was the place where Rainbow was most at home and in her element.

What Twilight didn't notice was the small smile that gradually began to grow as she watched Rainbow fly or the warm feeling that glowed in her heart. What she did notice was the spiraling form of Rainbow flying towards the ground in a corkscrew maneuver at an incorrect angle. ‘She’s approaching the ground too fast and at too steep of an angle, if my calculations are correct then i’m going to say that she will land face first into the ground.’

As Twilight came to this realization it was too late to stop Rainbow from crashing into the ground. Twilight watched as her friend slid on her face for about ten hooves, as she watched her she cringed. ‘Ouch that must of hurt’.

“Hey Rainbow dash, are you okay?!”

Rainbow Dash raised her hoof to signal that she was fine, to a certain extent anyway. The Pegasus picked herself up off of the ground, spat some dirt that got lodged into her mouth out and walked over to where her friend was sitting. Twilight ran over to inspect Rainbow to see if she had any severe injuries.

“Don’t worry Twi, i’m used to having the occasional crash, nothing to worry about. Anyway it was certainly a softer landing than your library.”

“Oh, good. Well good news I think I can see where you were going wrong with that maneuver.”

“And?”

“Your approach vector is all wrong, you are coming in at too steep an angle and at too high speed. All you need to do is come in at a shallower angle and you should get enough lift to stop you from crashing. It would also help if you angle your wings so that the front of them is higher than the back, that way you can get maximum lift if you don’t want to compromise your speed. Got that?”

“Uh sure, shallower approach vector and angle my wings differently to gather more lift” Rainbow recited the key points back to show that she understood what Twilight was talking about.

“Wow, you understood that, I completely expected you to ask me to explain it in more ‘simpler’ terms” Twilight stated with an eyebrow raised.

“Twi you forget that I went to flight school in cloudsdale. I may not be as smart as you but I know flying like the back of my hoof.” Rainbow put on a cocky grin and held her head high.

“Well I wasn't sure of how many advanced flight classes they taught you”

“Okay i’m going to try this again with the adjustments.” Rainbow Dash shot into the air leaving her trademark rainbow trail leaving Twilight on the hill.

Twilight giggled at Rainbow’s enthusiasm to get back into the air and perfect her trick.

A small shiver went down Twilight’s back caused by a gust of cold wind. She watched Rainbow as she approached the maneuver she was struggling with, Rainbow pulled up into a loop followed by series of barrel rolls at high speed.

She watched Rainbow as she approached the ground still barrel rolling and showing no chance of pulling up, until at the very last moment Rainbow unfurled her wings and pulled up, Rainbow’s stomach was so close to the ground a few stray strands of grass were actually brushing against her coat.

“Awesome! I knew I could do it” Rainbow screamed with clear joy in her voice.

“Trust you to leave pulling up till the very end!”

Rainbow could sense a touch of concern in Twilight's voice.

“Twi it’s a lot more fun if you wait until last second. If I pulled up earlier then it would take out a lot of the fun and danger. There’s no need to worry about me, i’m the best flyer in Equestria!“

Twilight rolled her eyes at that. “Anyway I better be getting back, I can’t leave Spike in control of the library for too long. It has been nice spending time with you Rainbow.” Twilight turned to face the direction of her house.

Rainbow flew up until she was hovering next to Twilight, making sure she stayed at the same pace as her. “Oh, okay then, we should do this more Twi! I only really get to see you when I pop by the library” Rainbow said feeling a little dejected.

‘Is that a hint of disappointment in her voice?. No it can’t be’. “Well I can’t exactly come visit your cloud house, can I”. She pointed a hoof to her back to indicate the lack of wings. “and I don’t really feel like spending an hour prepping the hot air balloon”

“Oh yeah, well i’ll be sure to call in or you more then. Somepony needs to get you out of that stuffy old library.”

“Hey, I do get out, well sometimes. And at least i’m studying in my spare time. Unlike you who only does four things; eat, fly, work and nap”. She turned her head so that she was facing Rainbow and stuck her tongue out at her.

“Hey! I do more than that” Rainbow crossed her front legs and pouted in mock offence “now I have to go and na... I mean do stuff, cool stuff.”

“See you later Rainbow” the lavender unicorn called off to Rainbow who had started making her way towards her cloud house.

“Later Twi”

Twilight continued walking towards her home, happy with how the day has gone so far.

Author's Note

Here's chapter two for you guys. Originally this chapter had a lot more planned for it but I added an extra scene which was not originally planned so I decided to split it in two. Hopefully I will be able to publish a chapter a week! A big thank you to My friend Mike who proof-read and edited this chapter for me.

Chapter 3

So far today had been a good day for Twilight, she had gotten all her chores done by mid-day, started reading the book on long distance teleportation (which had been in her ‘read later’ pile for far too long) and she even got to spend some time with her crush.

So when she saw the three monsters also known as the cutie mark crusaders, running away from the golden oaks library in her direction, she knew something had to of happened.

“Hey Twilight." The cutie mark crusaders said in unison without even stopping.

“He-”

“Bye Twilight." Shouted the three fillies, cutting Twilight off before she could even get one word out.

The lavender unicorn lifted her hoof up and rubbed her temple. “I should’ve expected this. Something always goes wrong and spoils my day." Twilight continued her trot back to her home with her mood considerably dampened.

As she arrived at the front door of her library, Twilight took a deep breath to compose herself so that she was prepared for any problem she might face when she opened the door.

The lavender unicorn opened the library door with her eyes firmly squeezed shut, she opened her eyes and audibly gasped at the sight. Literally every book in the library had been torn from the shelves and had been tossed into a pile as large as the mountain Canterlot was built on.

Twilight fell to her haunches, absolutely speechless.

“I-I-I can explain Twilight, i-it wasn’t my fault!” Spike pleaded to the lavender mare, but she still sat on her haunches speechless with her left eye twitching. Spike saw signs of her trying to speak but all Twilight could do is move her mouth up and down with no noise escaping.

Spike frantically started to pick books up and put them onto shelves, tripping over nearly every other step. He stopped and ran over to where Twilight was sitting and started to wave his arms in front of her face to try and break the trance, he repeatedly said Twilights name, the volume increasing every time he called to her.

The lavender unicorn blinked a couple times and shook her head vigorously, her horn lit up in her signature magenta glow as she started levitating the books from the pile, the books started swirling around Twilight and each time a book would pass in front of her eyes she would read the cover and levitate it over to the correct bookshelf.

“I’m sorry Twilight, I didn’t want this to happen”

“Don’t worry Spike”

“I tried to stop them but they wouldn’t listen to me.”

“Spike it’s alright I forgive you, it wasn’t your fault. I know how those fillies can be sometimes, remember this isn’t the first time they’ve made a mess of the library.” Twilight looked down to Spike and gave him a reassuring smile.

“Thanks Twilight. So where did you go earlier on? you never actually told me.”

“Oh I didn’t? well Rainbow asked me to help her with a new maneuver, you know the one that made her crash into the library in the first place”

“Oh. How could you possibly help Rainbow Dash with one of her tricks? you don’t even have wings!”

“I may lack wings Spike but flying isn’t just a physical activity. There is some math involved as well. I helped Rainbow figure out the right approach vector so that she wouldn’t crash, considering she kept coming in at a too steep an angle with too much velocity.”

“Sounds fun.” Said Spike voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Yes, yes it was rather fun.” said Twilight oblivious to Spikes sarcastic comment. “Actually I’m kind of hungry Spike. Would you mind making me a daisy sandwich?”

“Sure thing, I’ll be back in a second Twilight.”

‘There all done, that was a lot quicker than I thought I was going to be’. Twilight turned around to grab her book on advanced teleportation from earlier when she realized that she accidentally put all of her ‘read later’ books back onto the shelves.

‘Oh pony feathers. Lucky I made a list of the books I had on that pile.’ Twilight walked over to her desk and opened the top draw and the first thing she saw within it was her medal from the running of the leaves.

She levitated the medal up in front of her face and her mind flooded full of happy memories of that day. She remembered how fun it was to compete in one of Ponyville’s many traditions and she also remembered Rainbows look of disbelief and shock when she beat her in the race. Twilight started giggling at this fond memory of hers, one of many she had gained since moving to Ponyville.

“Twilight here’s your sandwich. Hey what are you giggling at?”

“Thanks Spike. Oh nothing really, just found my medal from last year and it brought back some good memories.” Twilight put the medal back into the draw and pulled out her list, while taking a bite out of her sandwich she scanned the shelves and plucked the books that were on her list off and placed them onto her desk.

“There everything back to how it was before” Twilight trotted over to her reading cushion and laid down and then glanced up at the clock. “Oh boy is that the time! I wanted to go see Rarity today. I better head over there now”

“Did you just say you were going to Rarity’s!? can I come?” Spike practically shot over the table and appeared by Twilights side once hearing the prospect of being able to see his crush.

“Sorry Romeo, I need to talk to Rarity about some personal issues. Maybe you can come next time I visit?”

“Aaaw fine” Spike dejectedly walked back over to where he was sitting before and sulked, staring at the table in annoyance.

“Bye Spike, I won’t be too long.” Twilight opened the door and headed towards Rarity’s boutique.

Twilight arrived at Rarity’s boutique fairly quickly (considering it wasn’t that big of a distance to travel). She walked up to the door and gave it two light taps hoping Rarity was within earshot to hear them.

“Coming!” came the muffled voice of Rarity through the front door. Rarity quickly opened the door and upon seeing Twilight she relaxed to be more informal since she is in the company of a friend rather than a potential customer. “Oh hello Twilight darling, how nice of you to come by.” Rarity moved to the side and motioned for Twilight to enter the boutique.

“Hello Rarity, it’s nice to see you”

“Yes, it has been a while since I saw you last." Rarity said as she closed the door to the boutique, she then trotted next to where Twilight was standing. “Please take a seat in the other room while I go make us some tea." Rarity gestured to a doorway which led to the living room.

Twilight trotted through the doorway and took a seat on the couch. Getting slightly bored by the amount of time Rarity was taking. She decided to look around the room at the various trinkets and photos placed on the tables, fireplace and walls. She even spotted the same photo that she had on her mantelpiece on Rarity’s. She stopped her scanning of the room when she heard hoofsteps approaching. She turned her head to see Sweetie Belle in the doorway with her eyes wide in surprise.

Sweetie Belle sprinted across the room and was on her knees begging Twilight to forgive her.
“Twilight, pleeease don’t tell Rarity that we wrecked your library. I’m so so so sorry please forgive me!”

Twilight looked down to see the most heart wrenching face known to pony. “Sweetie Belle don’t worry that’s not why I’m here.” chuckled Twilight.

“Its not?” Sweetie Belle stood up, her facial expression changing from one of pleading to confusion.

“No it isn’t. But I do accept the apology nevertheless.”

“Oh, well then why are you here?”

“To see me of course." Rarity said as she walked into the room while levitating two cups of tea. “Now Sweetie, would you kindly leave the room so that me and Twilight here can catch up? Maybe you could go out and visit the rest of the crusaders?”

“I can’t. Applebloom promised to help Applejack with the chores this evening and Scootaloo got caught by her parents. She was grounded and wasn’t meant to be out. Thats the whole reason I came back here!”

Rarity grabbed her purse from the table next to the sofa and levitated a few bits out and passed them to Sweetie Belle. “Then take this and grab a milkshake or something at sugar cube corner.”

“Milkshakes usually cost a little more than that.” Said Sweetie Belle with a mischievous smile spread across her lips. Rarity just rolled her eyes and dropped a few extra bits into Sweetie Belles saddle bag.

“There, thats all you’re getting for today.” Rarity called to Sweetie Belle as she ran out of the room. “Now Twilight dear, how was your day?” Rarity walked over to the sofa opposite Twilight and sat down, lifting the cup of tea up to her lips using her magic and taking a sip.

“Not bad I guess. I got a lot done today. Did my shopping for the week, visited Pinkie Pie, did a little light reading and I helped Rainbow with a little problem she had. Oh, and then there was the fiasco at the library. So all in all a good day. How was yours?”

“Oh you know, the usual. I had to complete a few orders so that they could be shipped off to Canterlot by tomorrow and I worked on a few new design ideas I came up with over the weekend. Not that it’s any of my business, but what problem did Rainbow Dash have?”

“Oh nothing serious, she was just having a little trouble working out her descent angle to speed ratio.”

“Well that doesn’t seem like anything Rainbow Dash would have a problem with.” Rarity stated with an eyebrow raised, the gears in her brain rotating to try and figure out what Twilight had just said.

“Well everypony has trouble with something they enjoy doing or are good at. At one point or another even you must of had a lack of inspiration for a dress.” Twilight watched Rarity, who was currently staring at the wall in thought. Rarity suddenly smiled and giggled leaving Twilight a tad confused. “What’s so funny?”

“Oh, nothing.” Rarity snickered.

“Fine don’t tell me.” Twilight looked away from Rarity and pouted.

“Don’t worry Twilight dear, you’ll find out soon enough” Twilight didn’t like the grin that was plastered on her face when she spoke. “Anyway I was just thinking earlier on that it has been a while since us mares all got together. What do you say we arrange a night out soon?”

“A night out? What, like a meal?”

“No, something a little more exciting than that. I was thinking more of going to some clubs!”

“A club? Wow Rarity, I didn’t think you were one for the club scene. No offence.”

“Twilight even a lady has to blow off steam occasionally. No, I don’t go often infact I have only been once or twice really, but I did enjoy it while I was there. And I think it would be a good thing for you to try.”

“You say that like I have never been to a club.”

“Well Twilight dear I think it’s safe to assume that you haven’t.”

“Well you’re wrong, I have been. And you shouldn’t just assume I haven’t just because I’m not as socially active as others.” Twilight said taking slight offence in Rarity’s words.

“Sorry Twilight, I just didn’t expect somepony as...” Rarity paused for a second trying to find the right words in the situation she got herself into. “Well read as you would ever step hoof in a club. Anyway when did this happen, because I assume it happened sometime after you moved here to Ponyville.” Rarity finished the rest of her tea and placed it back onto the table, she then proceeded to levitate the teapot from the kitchen to refill her cup.

“Well you know after my brothers wedding princess Celestia requested to talk to me and I stayed a couple extra nights in Canterlot?” Rarity gave a nod, showing that she remembered what happened (who couldn’t especially after the changeling invasion made it so memorable).
“Well in truth all she wanted to do was have a little chat to me which didn’t take longer than an hour or so. The rest of the time I spent with Vinyl Scratch. She was the dj for the wedding.”

“Oh yes I know her, I hired her to do my fashion show remember? May I ask how you two met?”

“Well I had a chat with her when she started setting up for the wedding and that’s when I asked her if it was okay if I were to sing at some point. That’s how we initially met anyway, the morning after I ran into her and she somehow convinced me to stay another night and go to a club with her.”

“Well you will have to take us to the club you visited when we go to Canterlot.”

“Actually while we were out Vinyl actually said that Manehattan was a lot better for the club scene. She even has her own club set up there.”

“Well then why don’t we go there instead?”

“I guess I could do with a weekend off... and it has been a while since I blew off some steam.” Twilight said tapping her hoof to her chin, still contemplating whether or not to go.

“Well I will inform the rest of the girls tomorrow .I’m sure Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie won’t say no, Applejack might take a bit of convincing to have a weekend off from her farm, although she’s mostly working in the market this time of the year. And I’m sure if Fluttershy will go after a little convincing. Ooh this is going to be so fun!”

“Then I’ll have to close the library for the weekend, but the princess did request to see Spike whenever he had time to spare so this kind of works out perfectly. And if I remember correctly trains heading in that direction set off at mid morning to late afternoon, so shall we all meet at the station at around 11:45am?”

“Sounds great.” Rarity said while clapping her hooves together in excitement.

“Okay I better head back home now, I want to finish of this book I started reading.” Twilight got up from the sofa and headed out and towards the entrance of the boutique. Rarity followed behind so that she could see Twilight out.

“Goodbye Twilight dear, see you soon and if not I will see you on saturday!”

“Goodbye Rarity. It has been nice talking with you.”

The lavender unicorn turned around and headed back to her home, with the sun hanging low in the sky. Twilight was just in sight of her tree home when she started getting a funny feeling.
‘I feel like I've forgotten something.’
Her hoof gently collided with her face and she groaned.
‘I can’t believe I forgot to ask Rarity for advice about asking Rainbow out. Well it’s too late to go back and ask her now. I will just have to go back sometime this week or something.’

Twilight opened the door to the library and was welcomed by the smell of food being prepared, she wandered towards the source of the scent which was the kitchen. As she entered she saw Spike in his frilly apron he always wears while cooking. “Wow Spike that smells delicious, what are you making?”

“Oh this? just a mix of grilled vegetables with a side of tomato salsa, saw it in one of our cookbooks and thought we should try it.”

“How long will it be? I’m starving.” Twilight trotted over to her kitchen table and started laying out plates and cutlery, she took her seat at her usual spot at the end of the table.

“I was actually just about to dish up.” Her dragon assistant moved the vegetables from the pan and laid them onto the plate, he spooned some salsa onto the side and placed the plate in front of the lavender unicorn.

Twilight waited for Spike to sit down before digging into her meal. “Wow this is delicious Spike!”

“Thanks I wanted to make up for the library incident.”

“I told you it wasn’t your fault, there was no need to do this especially for that, but thank you anyway.”

“Still it was no problem.”

“Well I appreciate it nonetheless.” Twilight quickly ate down the rest of her meal and placed her dish into the sink. “Spike I’m going to my room to do some reading tonight. Oh and in the morning can you help me clean out the spare room and move all the stuff down to the basement to be stored?”

“Why are we moving the stuff from the spare room, do we have visitors?” Spike said, curious as to why Twilight decided to suddenly move out the stacks of supplies and random furniture from the room.

“No we don’t have any visitors coming, but I was thinking that you’re a little too old to be staying in my room, so I’m giving you the spare room!”

“I’m getting my own room!” The baby dragon ran up to Twilight and gave her the tightest hug he could muster. His face plastered with the biggest grin Twilight had ever seen. “Thanks Twilight, you’re the best!”

Spike let go of the lavender unicorns leg and ran off to finish off some odd chores. Twilight walked over to her desk, grabbed her book and headed up to her room to do some evening reading while she still had time.

Twilight lit a candle on her bed side table using her magic, she then walked over to her bed made sure everything was neat and proceeded to climb on and lie down. She levitated the book and placed it in front of her so that it was easier to read. Twilight flicked through the pages trying to find out where she stopped reading last time considering she didn’t place her book mark in it earlier in the day.

The studious mare found the page she was looking for and proceeded to read from where she left off. It wasn’t long before she started to grow tired, her head dipping every so often when she closed her eyes.

‘Come on, just one more chapter. I’ve stayed up later than this reading before!’ Twilights brow furrowed and eyes squinted in concentration in an effort to stay awake. She made her way through the next line before she fell asleep face first on her book.

The exhausted lavender unicorn awoke twenty minutes later with a small pool of drool on the book and a blanket draped over her back. ‘Spike must have came in not long ago and put this here, I must remember to thank him in the morning. Okay I’m officially too tired to read, this will have to wait till morning.’ Twilight placed the book on her nightstand and crawled under her covers, she then proceeded to extinguish her candle. Stray thoughts of the day and spending time with Rainbow drifted through Twilight’s mind as she drifted off to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The girls were sat on a picnic blanket on top of a hill on the outskirts of Ponyville, enjoying the beautiful mid afternoon sun which drifted lazily through the sky just hitting the midway point of it’s journey.

“Oh oh. The other day this really fancy couple came into the store meanwhile I was out back baking this massive cake for a upcoming party I had literally just finished icing it so I decided I should get it out of the way before I bumped into it or something so I carried it out of the kitchen and into the front of the store so when I got out of the kitchen I started to wobble because the cake was super heavy! then I walked onto this patch of slippery icing and you’ll never guess what happened next! that fancy couple got right in the way! So I toppled over and the cake landed right on top of them! they were furious, and I was just there lying on the floor in a laughing fit!” Pinkie explained with over exaggerated movements.

Twilight sat listening to the story that Pinkie was telling, enjoying the time spent with her friends. Something that doesn’t happen often due to some of the groups busy schedule.

“I certainly have noticed rather a lot of people from Canterlot recently.” Rarity chimed in after her fit of giggles died down.

“Yes with the frequent visits from the princess’s, the noble’s of Canterlot have been drawn down here for a break from city life. From what I have gathered from my parents anyway.” Twilight replied to Rarity, then proceeding to grab an apple from the picnic basket and took a bite from it.

“Well the increase in tourists is certainly doin’ well for mah farm. Big Mac says we have a increase in profit of twelve percent already this year.” Applejack said with her mouth still full of apple pie.

Rarity gave Applejack a stern glare before speaking. “Well that’s marvelous Applejack, I have also had a flux in customers. I’m getting even more orders coming in from Canterlot. to be honest I’m not sure I can keep up with it all.”

“Well Fluttershy could always help you right? I mean you saw how well she made that dress for you!” Rainbow Dash said lazily hovering off the floor looking into the picnic basket looking for some food.

“Oh no I couldn’t possibly ask Fluttershy to help me out, she has her animals to take care of.”

“Oh don’t worry Rarity I can help out if you really need me to.” Fluttershy said in her usual quiet manner.

Twilight just sat idly listening and joining in on the conversation when suddenly she got a weird feeling, like something was missing. She checked her surroundings and then looked backed to her friends where only four of them sat. ‘Where in Equestria did Rarity go?’

“What’s the matter Twi? something wrong?” Rainbow Dash said noticing that the lavender mare was acting strangely.

“Where’s Rarity?” Twilight answered, with clear confusion in her voice.

“Who?” Replied Rainbow Dash giving Twilight a scrutinizing stare.

“Rarity, you know white unicorn, owns the boutique, doesn’t like getting dirty and the element of generosity!” Twilight said with even more confusion to why Rainbow had asked who she was.

“Sorry, don’t know who you’re on about.” Rainbow turned back around so that she could carry on talking to the rest of the group.

Twilight shook her head to try and pull herself together. ‘What in the name of Celestia is going on, this must be some sort of joke.’

Twilight looked back at the rest of her friends who were still conversing, she then got another feeling of unease, she looked around to determine what was wrong but couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary, until she looked over to where Ponyville was located and all that was there were rolling green hills.

Twilight looked back and forth between her friends and the space where Ponyville should have been. “Hey girls have any of you noticed that Ponyville is kinda gone?”

The four mares turned to face Twilight each with a confused look etched onto their face’s.

“Twilight are you okay?” Rainbow Dash said in a sincere worried voice.

“Yeah you seem to be acting a little odd.” Chimed in Fluttershy.

“Yeah you should probably lie down.” Added Pinkie.

“Okay girls this isn’t funny anymore, can you stop it with the joke?” Twilight asked with a nervous chuckle.

“Twilight what are ya on about?” Applejack said clearly confused to why Twilight was acting this way.

“Oh stop, you know! the illusion Rarity cast to hide Ponyville when she snuck off.” Twilight said gesturing in the direction of where Ponyville was once located, she then glanced back over to her friends and immediately jumped back. “Okay this is seriously not funny anymore! where is Fluttershy?!”

Twilight turned and began running back towards where Ponyville would have been. She glanced back at where her friends were sitting. She focused on them and saw that they were all there still. The lavender unicorn turned around to face away from the spot her friends were sat upon and she came face to face them, all just sat there eating as if nothing had happened.

‘This can’t be possible, I just ran the complete opposite direction!’ Twilight turned to face the spot where they once were to see nothing on top of the hill.

Suddenly Twilight was very aware of the uncomforting silence that surrounded her. The birds in the trees had stopped chirping, the wind ceased to blow the leaves and her friends had gone silent. Twilight turned around to glance back at everypony and her eyes immediately widened in shock, she took a couple hoofsteps back because what she saw scared her.

What lied in front of her were five ponies, not her friends but five blank templates of ponies, all a ghostly grey, none with manes, wings or horns but the worst thing was that they had no face. They all suddenly snapped their heads forward to face Twilight and slowly started their menacing approach.

The world was slowly draining itself of colour, the lush blues and greens of Equestria slowly turning to malicious greys and blacks. Twilight tried to keep her distance from the blank Ponies taking one step back every time they took one step forward until her back hoof slipped off the edge as the land suddenly came to a halt, what Twilight saw when she turned her head to look was a sheer drop off of a rocky cliff, at the bottom of the cliff lay a blanket of water viciously assaulting the cliff face pulverizing some parts where it hit.

The lavender mare turned around to find that the menacing ponies had got even closer, never ceasing their slow approach, Twilight dreaded to think what was going to happen once they reached her. Twilights back hoof slipped off of the edge once more, she tried to regain her footing only for the ground to crumble under her other hoof, Twilights whole rear end was dangling over the edge of the cliff, she was barely keeping her grip with her front hooves.

Twilight started to lose her gripping on the ground and started slowly sliding off of the cliff. “No no no no no no no no, Please help me!” She called out at random, in hope that some random pony could save her.

The menacing ponies were only a hoof or two away from Twilight when suddenly they all raised up onto their hind legs and slammed down on the ground in front of them all at once, the force of the impact shattered the earth beneath their hoofs.

The whole world seemed to slow down as Twilight fell down to her demise, all she could do is watch as the cliff face grew further and further away as her descent into the hungry ocean grew.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight shot up from her bed with tears streaming down her face, she blinked her eyes a few times to clear her vision of the tears, she shook her head and sighed, collapsing back into the embrace of her pillow and covers.

‘Yet another nightmare. And they all have the same recurring element; all involve my friends and those weird ‘blank’ ponies. I should order some books from Canterlot on dream theories’

Twilight got up out of bed deciding that she might aswell make the most of the extra time from waking up early. She grabbed a journal where she had been jotting down what she could remember from these weird dreams and headed downstairs to take care of the library for the day

Author's Note

Okay so I decided to take some advice and not have a deadline for each chapter, I will aim to get them out ASAP. It's just that this chapter took me a little longer since I wasn't in the mood to write (which could explain if this chapter is bad). Big thanks to The Original PWD for editing this chapter.

Will start writing the next chapter soon so don't worry.

Chapter 4

Twilight climbed out of the shower and started to dry herself off with a towel that was on a railing near by, she had just completed her morning routine. She opened the curtains and looked out of the window of her bathroom to see the sun sitting low in the sky. Recently it had been a common sight for her too see it so low in the sky, due to her nightmares and lack of sleep.

The lavender unicorn turned away from the window and used her magic to dry the towel, a trick she had learnt at an early age in Canterlot. She placed the towel back on the railing and turned back to the window and sighed. ‘Ponyville is so peaceful in the mornings, especially since nopony is up this early.’ Twilight turned around and headed for the bathroom door so that she could begin her day.

Twilight made her way down the stairs to the central room of her library and made her way into the kitchen to make herself some breakfast. She proceeded to get two slices of bread from her bread bin and popped them in her toaster. While waiting for the bread to be toasted she put the kettle on and made herself a cup of coffee. A few minutes later and the toast popped out of the toaster. Twilight grabbed it with her magic and placed them onto a plate.

Twilight took a seat at her kitchen table and grabbed a jar of jam from the top cupboard in her kitchen and proceeded to spread it onto her toast. Twilight was just about to take a bite out of her breakfast when she heard a knock on the door.

‘Who the hay could that be. Nopony is usually up at this time in the morning.’ Twilight made her way out of the kitchen and towards the front door, she unlocked it and opened it to find that nopony was there. Twilight took a step out of the library and looked around before turning around and walking back into her library muttering something about wasting her time this early in the morning.

The lavender unicorn returned to the breakfast table and hastily finished her meal, she placed her plate into the sink leaving it to be cleaned later on in the day. She then entered the central room and grabbed a random book from the pile on her desk and sat down and tried to read, but no matter how much she tried she couldn't get into the book so she tried to grab another and read but it had the same effect. Twilight was lying on her back staring at the ceiling in boredom, she flailed her legs and huffed and groaned in disappointment.

Her mind started to flood with images of the dreams she had been having, the lavender unicorn shook her head to try and rid her of the images that had been haunting her dreams.

‘I need to get some air and take a walk to take my mind away from these thoughts.’ Twilight rolled back over and stood up and headed out of the door, she turned left and trotted in the direction of the park.

As Twilight was trotting through Ponyville she started to see the first signs of ponies waking up. Some were going out to their mailboxes to check if they had received anything letters or bills, others were just starting to make their way to work. The lavender mare waved and greeted all who passed her way.
‘Even though Ponyville is nice, quiet and peaceful, I do miss Canterlot sometimes.’ Twilight mused.

Twilight spotted the first of the weather pegasi leaving Ponyville’s weather hub building. “Hey Cloud Chaser! what’s the schedule for today?” Twilight called out before Cloud Chaser took off.

“Oh hey Twilight, It’s clear skies most of the day. We do have to organize a storm for this evening though so make sure all your windows are secure.” The lilac pegasus said as she hovered over the ground. “Anyways, I better head out before I get yelled at for slacking. See ya!” she said before catching up with the rest of the weather team.

“Bye!” Twilight called back before continuing her walk to the park. ‘This is exactly what I needed, some fresh air. Maybe I do need to get out more. I could bring a book and read under a tree. I mean Spike can look after the library when I’m out, As long as the library doesn't get wrecked again that is.’ Twilight mused to herself.

Twilight reached the entrance to the park and stopped to take in the sight of it; the park had just been re-designed, three new flower beds had been planted, one to represent each of the princesses. The first was filled with bluebells and larkspurs and speckled with violets to represent Princess Luna. The next was filled with white and yellow daffodils and daisies arranged in the pattern of Princess Celestia’s cutie mark, and the final flower bed was filled with rhododendrons and carnations in the colours of Princess Cadance.

Twilight smiled at the sight of the flower beds as she walked past them. ‘The gardeners have really outdone themselves this time.’ Twilight walked past the flower beds and took a seat by the small lake which was in the center of the park.

Twilight let out a sigh of content as she sat and watched the world go by.‘Okay how am I going to go about telling Rainbow my feelings for her, I can’t just walk up to her and tell her. Or can I? Or maybe I should do some big romantic gesture like write a love song or poem... No that sounds stupid, Rainbow wouldn’t like that. I could just hint at it until she asks me out? That way I could avoid asking her and getting nervous! No that is also a bad idea.’ What Twilight was currently unaware of though was the rainbow maned pegasus that was watching her cycle through expressions of thought and confusion and shaking her head every so often.

‘No the direct approach is probably the best idea. But what do I say to her, do I confess the feelings I have had for her or do I just ask her out on a date and see how it goes from there? Or should I just wing it, that’s what Rainbow would probably do. No this sort of thing takes planning, so when I get back I’ll figure out what I will say to her when I see her next!’

Rainbow Dash just sat next to Twilight on the park bench prodding her ribs and saying her name repeatedly trying to break her away from whatever was occupying her mind at the time.

“Twi!” Rainbow said her name louder and prodded her a little harder and suddenly she disappeared in a magenta flash and reappeared ten hooves in front and in the air, Rainbow watched as Twilight fell into the lake.

The lavender mare poked her head above the surface of the water and gave the cyan pegasus a death glare before climbing out, Rainbow just sat there giggling at the sight of her soaked her friend.

“Hey Twi you want another of my rain-blow dries?” Rainbow managed to say after her fit of giggles died down before starting up again up until the point where she was clutching her sides in pain from the laughter.

“No! No, I think I’m fine thank you.” Twilight surrounded herself in the magenta glow of her magic, and with extreme focus lifted all of the water that coated her and dropped it back into the lake.

Rainbow instantly stopped laughing and watched as Twilight performed her magic. “Wow! Twi that was awesome! where did you learn how to do that?” Rainbow exclaimed.

Twilight turned her head in an attempt to hide her blush. “Oh that, that was nothing, just a little trick I learnt from reading a book.” she said as she pawed the floor with her left hoof.

“Awesome. With magic like that I would want to show it off, not try and hide it like you do. Anyways what’s on your mind? I was trying to get your attention for awhile.” Rainbow hopped off of the bench and walked over to where Twilight was standing.

“Oh you know... Stuff!... Egghead stuff! Yeah stuff you would find boring.” Twilight’s eyes widened and she put on the most convincing smile she could muster.

“Okay then... So what are you doing out. Shouldn’t you be running the library?”

“Oh, I just needed some fresh air and to clear my mind so I thought a walk in the park would help me. So I assume it’s your day off today then?”

“No actually, but I finished clearing the sky ages ago. I don’t know why they even bother letting the other weather ponies work when I’m on duty, since I can clear the sky in ten seconds flat!” Rainbow said as she puffed her chest out.

The lavender mare giggled. “Probably because once you’ve cleared the skies the first time you go and have a nap, and then while you’re sleeping storm clouds drift in!”

“Hey that was one time! Well three... but it’s hard work being the most awesome pegasus in Equestria, I have to take time to nap! Talking about sleep, you kinda look a bit tired, are you alright Twi?”

“Oh don’t worry about me, I’ve just been up late studying again.”

“Like I’ve said before you need to lay off the books a bit, I mean Daring Do is awesome but I couldn’t imagine reading anywhere near as much as you do.”

‘Come on, now’s your chance to ask her out. All you have to say is ‘Rainbow you want to go out and get a meal with me sometime?’ one sentence and that’s it!’

“R-rainbow... I was j-just wondering...” Twilight stuttered out at a barely audible level.

“Yes Twi?”

“Um...” Twilight said, suddenly very interested in the ground.

“What is it?”

“Uh Don’t worry. Oh look at the time! I better get going. Bye!” Twilight blurted out at incredible speed which Pinkie Pie would be jealous of, before disappearing in a magenta flash and leaving a very confused Rainbow Dash standing by the lake.

Twilight re-appeared in the central room of the library and about five hooves in the air, she landed on the floor with a cacophonous crash. “Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.” The lavender unicorn said as she lay on her back in the center of the library.

Another audible crash was heard followed by another set of smaller thumps as Spike fell off of a ladder from which he was previously shelving books on, said books also landed on top of his head. “Ugh ouch. Morning Twilight. Where did you go this morning?” Spike scampered back onto his feet and started picking up the books that had just assaulted him.

“I just needed to go out and get some fresh air. I needed some time to think a few things through as well, I thought you could take care of everything when I had left.” Twilight surrounded herself in her magenta aura and flipped herself back onto her hooves.

“Oh okay, did you sort everything out?”

“Yeah, well I kinda did. Up until last minute that is.” The lavender unicorn to a seat at a nearby table and started swirling her hooves in circular motions on top of the table.

“Why what happened?” Spike started climbing up the ladder again with a stack of books just taller than him, he got about halfway before swaying left to right and falling back down onto the floor again.

Twilight started giggling at the sight of her dragon assistant falling to the ground “Oh don’t worry, nothing you need to worry about.”

“Twilight it’s obviously bothering you, please tell me?” Spike pleaded.

“Sorry Spike maybe another time. Anyways, do you want to start clearing that room out for you?” Before Twilight could get out another word Spike had shot up the stairs.

Twilight sighed then took in a deep breath and made her way up the stairs towards the spare room. ‘I’m never going to be able to tell Rainbow how I feel if I teleport away from her each time I get nervous.’

“Spike, I forgot to say, I will be going away with the rest of the girls this weekend and you will be going to Canterlot to visit the princess.” The lavender mare said as she entered the spare room where Spike was already moving the smaller items out.

“Canterlot? Why am I going there?” Spike looked over Twilight with a quizzical expression.

“I couldn’t say. Princess Celestia just said that she needed to have a word with you sometime in the near future, she didn’t give me an explanation. I’m going to write a letter once we finish telling her you’ll be going this weekend, maybe she can shed some light in a reply?” Twilight grabbed a couple spare tables and a telescope with her magic and began carrying them down towards another empty room down in the basement.

Spike lay in the center of his new room puffing and panting from all the “heavy” lifting he had done. “Wow I’m glad we got that done quickly. All that heavy lifting tired me out!”

“Spike you barely carried anything down, and then you stopped half way to have a nap and left me to do most the work!” Twilight said struggling to fit the spare bed through Spikes bedroom door frame, she finally squeezed it through and placing it by the far wall. “Anyway I know it isn’t much but we can get some more stuff in here once I get back from Manehattan.” The lavender mare said gesturing around the room.

“Don’t worry about that, I’m happy enough getting my own room!”. The baby dragon ran across the room and jumped on top of his new mattress, his face plastered with a massive grin.

“If you need me Spike I will be in my room okay?” The studious mare said as she left the room, she received a hum of conformation in return.

Twilight walked into her bedroom and opened the window slightly to let some fresh air in, she then proceeded to pull out a small box from beneath her bed. She climbed onto the bed and placed the box in front of her.

She opened the box and inside was her private diary and a few stray photo’s she liked to look at from time to time. The lavender mare searched and picked out the photo she was searching for, It was a picture of Rainbow Dash the day she won the best young flyers competition, Twilight lay there staring at the photograph tracing her hooves around the edge of it.

Twilight let out a sigh as she thought to herself. ‘Will she ever reciprocate my feelings for her. I doubt it, we’re two completely different ponies.’ Twilight let out another sigh getting lost in her own thoughts once more. ‘I’d probably be too boring for her I mean she likes to read, but nowhere near as much as I do, she probably wants somepony that could keep up with he-’ Twilight's thoughts were interrupted once more by Spike barging into her room.

The lavender mare panicked and tried to place the photo back into the box but it instead fell onto the floor topside down.

“Hey Twilight, what’s this?” Spike bent over and reached to pick up the photograph.

“Spike don’t touch that!”

Spike ignored Twilight and picked up the photo of Rainbow Dash, he smiled and looked over to Twilight. “So Twilight, what are you doing with a picture or Rainbow Dash?” his smile had transformed into a mischievous grin, even though he knew why she had the photo he couldn't miss out on the opportunity to tease Twilight.

Twilight shot Spike a death glare and grabbed the photo from his claws, with a face as red as a tomato from a mix of embarrassment and anger of Spike barging in. “Not a word! You understand, tell no one.”

The baby dragon gulped and mumbled a quick “Yes Twilight.” Not wanting to anger her any more he quickly evacuated the room.

Twilight placed the photo back into the box and pushed it back under her bed, she took a few breaths to calm herself down from her outburst and to try and rid her of the blush she was currently nursing.

Twilight left her room and headed downstairs to where Spike was currently situated, she sat on the couch opposite to where Spike was sitting. After sitting in the room for five minutes with no attempts at conversation and only a few coughs Twilight decided to talk.

“Spike I am sorry for lashing out like that, but could you please knock next time?”

“I will and I promise I won’t say a word, even though I kinda already knew.” Spike looked up from his feet and gave the lavender mare an apologetic look.

“How did you know?” Twilight’s eyes shot wide in panic. ‘The only person I told was Pinkie Pie, and she couldn't have possibly told Spike, she Pinkie Promised!’

“Twilight it’s kinda obvious from the way you act around her, I mean the amount of times I have seen you blushing when you two are talking is a dead give away.”

“Oh well *cough*. Spike fetch me some parchment and a quill, I need to write that letter to Princess Celestia.”

Spike quickly grabbed the stationery and handed it to Twilight. “Is there anything else you need?”

“No thanks Spike, I should be fine.”

Twilight levitated the parchment in front of her and tapped her hoof to her chin a couple time in thought before starting her letter.

Dear Princess Celestia

Not long ago you sent me a letter requesting Spike to see you when he had the free time, I hope this isn’t too short a notice but I am sending him to Canterlot this weekend so that you can have the talk that you wanted.

While Spike will be in Canterlot with you, I will be staying in Manehattan with the girls for the weekend so if you finish earlier than expected I would appreciate it if he stayed in the castle until I return back home to Ponyville.

As always, Your faithful student

Twilight Sparkle.

“There all done, it seems a little short but it will have to do. Spike could you send it for me?”

Spike took the scrolled up letter and engulfed it in his dragon breathe so that it would be sent directly to the Princess. “Is that all?”

“Yes Spike, you can have the rest of the day off.”

“Yes!” Spike rushed over to the front door and ran out, then came back in and said goodbye and proceeded to depart.

“Bye Spike!” Twilight said as she sat down at a table with her books and began to settle down and read for the rest of the day.

Chapter 5

Twilight lay in her bed staring at the ceiling with blood shot eyes. Sleep teased her at times but never actually came during the night. The first rays of sun started to stretch through the small gap in the curtains and reached across the bed. Twilight turned herself away from the on coming beams that seemed to seek out her eyes.

Twilight rolled off of her bed and onto her hooves, she approached her wardrobe and pulled out a medium sized saddle bag. Twilight grabbed a list she had prepared the night before and started grabbing the essential items she would need for her trip to Manehattan.

It was only an overnight trip so she didn't need much, just her mane brush , tooth brush, a headache potion from Zecora that she had requested a while back and a few books for the train journey. Twilight reached into the wardrobe and pulled out a knee high chest which contained some of her savings, she pulled out a reasonable amount; enough to cover the train ride, her stay and any drinks she wanted to buy during the night.

She lifted the saddle bag with her magic and placed it by her bedroom door. She lifted a hoof to rub some of the sleep out of her eye and let out a yawn. She walked out of her bedroom and straight into the bathroom. She proceeded to fill the sink with cold water and splash herself with it a few times to make sure she was fully alert for the day.

Twilight approached the shower and turned it on, lifting her hoof in to make sure the temperature was reasonable before she got in. The sleepy mare hopped into the shower and let out a sigh of content. Twilight just lay in the shower for about fifteen minutes before noticing the temperature of the water was slowly decreasing, she jumped into action and began washing her mane and body.

After finishing her shower and drying off,she unlocked the door but teleported straight to her room. ‘This is too early, even for me.’
Twilight thought as she took a glance at the clock ‘Quarter to five, a new record!’ Twilight walked over to her saddle bag and pulled out her list again, she double checked the bag to make sure she hadn't missed out anything of importance.

Happy that she had packed everything she needed for the weekend Twilight walked over to her dresser and pulled out a spare mane brush and started to brush her mane to get rid of any tangles and knotted hair so that she looked presentable.

Twilight was interrupted by a very groggy Spike, he entered the room gave Twilight a scroll and walked back out again. ‘I assume this is from the princess then.’

To my faithful student Twilight Sparkle

As per our arrangements a carriage will be arriving to pick Spike up, even you planned on letting him take the train I thought we could make the most of our time if he arrived as soon as possible. The carriage should arrive at around half past eleven so make sure that Spike is up, ready and packed by that time.

On a side note, it would be nice if you came to visit us here in Canterlot sometime since it has been a while since we have had a chat and I would like to catch up with your progress in magic.

P.S. Sorry for this arriving so early in the morning, I didn’t have time last night to write this since I was renewing a treaty between Equestria and the Zebras, took longer than I had initially thought it would.

Princess Celestia.

Twilight placed the letter from the Princess in the chest with the others in her closet. She walked over to a notepad which was on her bedside table and scribbled a reminder to organize a visit to the Princess soon.

She dove back into her closet in search for the small suitcase Spike uses when they need to travel anywhere for an extended amount of time “Ah ha!” Twilight exclaimed after a small amount of searching. She pulled the suitcase out and opened to check whether it was empty or not, she found one lone jewel in the bottom. ‘Spike must have hidden this for later and forgotten where he had placed it.’

Twilight walked out of the bedroom and towards Spikes room, she was about to knock when she heard the sound of Spike snoring, the lavender mare quietly turned the doorknob so that she wouldn’t wake Spike. She entered the room to see the baby dragon face first on the bed lying on top of the covers. Clearly he had been too tired to even lift them after he returned to bed. She proceeded to hover over a couple formal suits from Spikes dresser and neatly placed them into the case. ‘He’ll need these if he has any meals with the princess’.’ She grabbed Spikes travel toothbrush and toothpaste and put them in a side compartment.

She grabbed a few comic books from a stack Spike had by his bed and a few scrolls of parchment and placed them in the case along side the suits, she also placed the jewel in for a surprise when he arrived.

Twilight picked up the suitcase and place it by Spikes door, she walked over to the alarm clock and set it to go off at 7am.

The lavender mare entered the kitchen and prepared herself a bowl of oatmeal, she placed it onto the table, spooned some honey on and began eating. As Twilight ate her breakfast she went through her mental checklist to see if she had forgotten anything important. ‘Tickets- check, Saddle bags packed- check, saddle bags double checked- check, Spike’s bags packed- check.’ She put a hoof up to her chin in thought, “I feel like I’m forgetting something...” she thought out loud to herself. ‘Tickets! that’s right, I forgot to put them in my saddlebag.’ Twilight looked over to the fridge, where the tickets were stuck on via a magnet. She used a teleportation spell to send the tickets to her saddle bag. ‘I should probably bring a few snack for the ride, the food isn’t too great on the train.’

Twilight put her empty bowl in the sink and then proceeded to make herself a small packed lunch consisting of a daisy sandwich and an apple, once made and put into a container she used the teleportation spell to send it to the saddlebag with the rest of her stuff.

Deciding she had done everything she needed in preparation for the trip, Twilight grabbed her book sat down at the table again and started to read to pass the time.

“Why’d ya set my alarm so early Twilight?” Spike mumbled as he made his descent down the stairs.

“I wasn't sleeping!” Twilight suddenly exclaimed, who had just been woken up by Spike.

“Uh huh. Sure you weren't. Oh by the way, did you pack my suitcase for me while I slept?” Spike approached the other sofa which wasn't occupied and jumped onto it and lied down.

“Yes I did, you didn't need much so I just put in the essentials and some reading material.”

“Thanks, that gives me more time to relax and nap!”

“Spike before you fall asleep again grab some breakfast and wash up. That way you won’t be rushing around last minute like you usually do when we travel.” Twilight said as she performed a book cleaning spell to the now drool covered book she had been reading.

“Fine.” Spike flopped off of the sofa and dragged his feet up the stairs, clearly annoyed at the fact he had to move around this early in the morning.

Twilight got up from her chair and quickly stretched while Spike started his morning routine. ‘Okay I have to focus on staying awake, I don’t want to oversleep. I can always catch a little while on the train ride.’

Twilight trotted to the stove and put the kettle on, she grabbed her coffee mug and filled it with coffee and sugar. She patiently waited for the kettle to boil while tapping her hoof on the kitchen counter.

Twilight trotted back into the central room with her coffee, she picked up her book and began to read, now more alert than she was before.

“Hey egghead, whatcha readin?” Questioned Rainbow Dash who had snuck into the library.

“Ahh!” Twilight exclaimed in surprise as she fell off of the sofa. She looked up to see Rainbow Dash leaning over the back of the sofa with a massive grin plastered on her face. “Rainbow don’t do that! You scared me! How did you even get in? the door is locked.”

“You left the window in kitchen open a smidge so I opened it and flew in!” Rainbow Dash said as she gestured towards the kitchen.

“You know you could just knock like a normal pony.” Twilight stood up and turned to face Rainbow Dash.

“Where’s the fun in that?!”

“Anyway, what are you doing here this early?”

“Well I got up early since I didn’t want to oversleep and miss the train, so I got up and packed, then I got bored so I came here!” The cyan pegasus removed the saddle bag she was wearing and placed it to the side of the sofa.

“What time did you wake up?” Questioned the lavender mare.

“About ten past seven.”

“Rainbow it’s seven-thirty, it really took you less than fifteen minutes to pack and get bored? Did you even have breakfast?”

“Actually now that you mention it, no I didn't.” Rainbow dash put on a sheepish smile as she looked towards the lavender unicorn.

“Fine I’ll make you something to eat.” Twilight made her way around the sofa and into the kitchen.

“No you don’t have to do that.” Rainbow followed the lavender mare into the kitchen.

“Rainbow we’re going on a train ride to Manehattan later on, and that’s a long journey, plus the food is terrible on the trains.” Twilight dove into the bread bin and pulled out a couple slices of bread, then she bent over and grabbed some roses from the bottom of the fridge.

Twilight turned to speak to the Pegasus who was currently sat at the kitchen table. She turned just in time to see the blush Rainbow was nursing as she looked out the window. ‘Was she staring at me a second ago? Nah I’m probably just imagining it.’ “Is a rose petal sandwich okay Rainbow?” The lavender mare stood up and walked over to the counter top to start preparing her meal.

“Uh *cough* yeah that should be fine thanks.” Rainbow said avoiding eye contact with Twilight.

Twilight placed the sandwich on a plate and put it in front of Rainbow. She exited the room and re entered carrying her coffee mug then put the kettle on again. “Want anything to drink? Tea? Coffee?” She asked.

“A cup of coffee would be nice, thanks.” Rainbow answered with her mouth still full of food. “Are you alright Twi? you look tired.”

“Yeah I’m fine, I didn't get any sleep last night though, I’ll just have a nap on the train or something.” Twilight used her magic to grab another mug out of the cupboard and placed it next to hers before adding coffee and sugar. “How many sugars do you take?”

“Four please.”

“That’s rather a lot, two is usually sweet enough for me.” The lavender mare walked over to another cupboard and pulled out some cookies and laid them onto a small plate.

She placed them in the center of the table and put Rainbow’s mug of coffee down as well. Twilight the teleported an alarm clock into the kitchen and set the alarm to eleven-thirty in case she lost track of time and Spike wasn't ready in time.

The two mares sat in the kitchen idly chatting about any topic that came up, they talked about what Manehattan would be like since neither of them had actually been and Twilight only read about it in books. They were interrupted by the sound of the alarm going off, making both of them jump.

“Wow it’s half past eleven already?” Rainbow questioned looking at the clock.

“Yeah, I didn't think it was that late yet. Spike?! are you ready?” Twilight called through the doorway, when she received no reply she decided to go check where Spike was. “Two seconds Rainbow, I’m just going to see where Spike is.”

Twilight walked up to Spikes door and knocked a couple times but received no answer. She walked in to see if Spike was in there to find him lying face down on his bed snoring, she walked over to him and gently nudged him a couple time “Spike wake up you’re going to be late!”

“Wuh? Can’t I stay in bed for five more minutes?” Spike’s voice was muffled through his pillow.

“No Spike you’ll be late for the carriage if you don’t get up now.” Twilight said giving the baby dragon another nudge.

“Fine. I’m getting up now.” Spike hopped off of the bed and walked over to his suitcase, picked it up and walked out of the room.

While Twilight was up stairs she grabbed her saddle bags and checked all the windows to make sure that they were secure before returning downstairs.

As she walked past the front door of the library she was interrupted by three knocks on the door. Twilight turned to face the door and opened it. “Oh hi Rarity. I wasn't expecting you here, I thought we were meeting at the train station?”

“Hello Twilight, it’s nice to see you. Can I come in?”

“Certainly.” The lavender mare stepped aside to let the alabaster unicorn enter.

“I thought I would stop by for a little chat before we met up with everypony else.” Rarity followed Twilight as she entered the kitchen.

“Would you like anything to drink?” Questioned Twilight.

“Yes tea please. anyw-” Rarity stopped speaking when she saw the rainbow maned Pegasus sitting at the kitchen table. “Oh you already have company, I see.”

“Is that a problem?” Rainbow said taking offence in Rarity’s words.

“No, it’s just that I wanted to speak to Twilight in private about some personal matters.”

“Spike you better wait outside for the carriage to arrive if it hasn't already, I’ll come out with you.” Twilight said trying to escape the tension that had suddenly built in the room.

Twilight and Spike exited the room and headed for the front door. “Bye Spikey-wikey I will see you when we get back from Manehattan!” Rarity called out to Spike as he left.

As expected the carriage Princess Celestia had arranged was waiting outside of the library, Twilight loaded the baby dragons luggage into the back of the carriage. “Have a good time while in Canterlot Spike. Don’t get into any trouble.” The lavender mare leaned down and nuzzled Spike goodbye.

“Don’t worry, I won’t. I’ll see you when I get back, have a good time in Manehattan.” Spike hopped up into the carriage and signaled to the pegasi who were escorting him that it was okay to go. As they took off he turned around and waved goodbye.

Twilight waited until Spike’s carriage was just a small blob heading in the direction of Canterlot before re-entering the library.

“Can’t you just drop it Rainbow Dash? Just because I wanted to have a private conversation with Twilight doesn't mean I don’t trust you as much!”

“Whatever.” Rainbow sat on the chair pouting, the sight of this brought a smile to Twilight’s face.

“Rainbow I’m sure whatever Rarity wanted to talk about is a private matter between me and her, I’m sure she trusts you as much as she trusts me.”

“Okay Twi.” Rainbow said in defeat.

“What time was the train again Twilight dear?” Rarity questioned taking a glance over to the clock.

“Ten to twelve is the time the train arrives at the station and we’re meant to meet everyone there at quarter to twelve. Why?”

“Because it’s quarter too now so we should probably make our way there now.” Rarity replied.

“Don’t worry. Twi can just teleport us there, can’t you?” Rainbow Dash got out of her seat and hovered a couple hooves off of the floor.

“I guess I can, it will take a lot of energy out of me though.” Twilight levitated her saddle bag from the door and put it on. “Brace yourself girls. 5...4...3..2..1” All three mares disappeared in a magenta flash and reappeared at the train station next to the rest of the group.

As soon as they appeared Fluttershy jumped and hid behind Applejack and let out a high pitched “Eeep”.

“Sorry we’re late. Twilight, Rainbow Dash and I lost track of time while talking in the kitchen.” Rarity said as she looked over to Rainbow Dash who was as green as the leaves on Twilight’s library.

“Twi did you feel this ill when you first teleported?” The green face Pegasus said trying to get as much oxygen into her system.

“Yes eventually, took me a couple time to get used to it. But unicorns do have a better tolerance to magical effects. Although that one did take a lot out of me since I was already tired before teleporting.” Twilight walked over to the bench and sat down.

The train whistled as it approached towards the platform, the girls walked over to the edge of the platform and waited for the train to come to a stop. The train came to a stop and the conductor stepped off. “Tickets please.” The conductor said as the six mares approached.

Twilight hoofed over the six tickets and then hopped onto the train, since they weren't going on a night trip they had just booked a private compartment to make sure they had some privacy for the long journey.

The lavender mare opened up the door to their compartment and grabbed the window seat, she was shortly followed by the rest of the group. “So Twi, how long is this train ride going to be?” questioned Rainbow Dash as she took a seat next to Twilight.

“Around about seven hours, that’s if we don’t have any trouble on the way. I have brought a few books to keep me entertained on the way.”

“Yeah I brought the latest Daring Doo so that I wouldn't get too bored of sitting still for too long.”

“And I packed monopoly!” Pinkie cheered as she placed the box onto the table between the seats.

“So Rarity. Where will we be staying tonight?” Fluttershy said in her usual gentle voice.

“Well a client recommended a few places to me, nothing too expensive and all in close vicinity to the club. The place I picked is named ‘The Gilded Lily’.”

“‘cos that don’t sound fancy a‘tall.” Applejack murmured.

“I assure you the name only sounds high class because they want to draw customers in.”

“Don’t worry Applejack, I made sure the place Rarity picked wasn't expensive. You should have seen the original list of places she gave me.” Chimed Twilight.

“All aboard!” The conductor yelled, the train whistled and slowly began it’s departure from the station, soon picking up to full speed.

“Do any of you know the layout of the city?” Fluttershy asked.

“No, but the city’s streets are laid out in a grid system so it shouldn't be too hard to find, plus there is usually a place nearby the train station where we can buy a map.” Twilight said, turning her head to look out of the window.

“How much time do we have before the club opens Twilight? Since I would like to have a little look around before we enter.”

“Fluttershy I’m sorry but we won’t have time for any sightseeing, by the time we get in and get our bearings the club will be opening. How about if we’re feeling up to it tomorrow we can look around a bit in the afternoon and get a late train back?”

“Okay, yeah that sounds better. We’ll have more time to look around that way.”

“Sorry Twilight I've got’ta be back at that farm to help out, so ah’m going to be gettin’ an earlier train back.” Applejack said taking an apple out of her saddlebag for a bite to eat.

“I’m afraid I will have to go home a little earlier as well, I need to complete a few orders and I can’t afford that much time off.”

“Don’t worry about it girls, I understand you have jobs you've got to get back to.”

Twilight pulled one of the books she packed from her saddlebag and began reading, Rainbow did the same with her Daring Doo book. Pinkie started setting up a monopoly game between her Applejack and Fluttershy while Rarity pulled out a fashion magazine and started flicking through it.

An hour into their journey and the monopoly game was in full swing. They had made it past the small towns and settlements and the only upcoming stops were for major cities.

“How d’ya keep doin’ that Pinkie?!” Applejack exclaimed trying to keep her voice as quiet as possible so she wouldn't disturb other passengers.

Pinkie had yet again landed on one of her own properties, she had yet to land on either Fluttershy’s or Applejack’s.

“You pretty much own one side of the board and have most of the banks an’ our bits!”

“I told you two half an hour ago that you wouldn't be able to beat her. She says it’s just ‘luck’ but I have my doubts sometimes.” Twilight blearily said looking up from her book and letting out a suppressed yawn.

Applejack rolled the dice again and landed on community chest, she picked up the card and read aloud. “Go directly to jail. Do not pass go, do not collect 200 bits. That’s it ah’m out” Applejack said in a huff chucking the card back onto the board.

“Aww spoilsport, looks like it’s just Fluttershy and I left!” Pinkie said handing Fluttershy the dice.

“Actually Pinkie I think I have had enough for now, it’s not like I had any chance in winning anyways.” Fluttershy said pushing the dice away.

“Fine.” Pinkie pouted and turned to Twilight. “Hey Twilight wanna have a game?” Though Twilight had finally fallen asleep with her head resting on the table top.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight awoke to the sound of thunder, she blearily opened her eyes not recognizing her surroundings. The room flashed a blinding white which incapacitated the lavender mares vision for a short period of time.

When the lavender unicorn came to her senses she stood up to find that she was not where she fell asleep. She found that she was at the very back of the train on the caboose, she wasn't even on the inside; she was on the small porch directly at the back.

Twilight looked around at her unfamiliar surroundings, mostly everything which was in the distance was obscured by a thin layer of fog and the torrential rain which was pouring down. Not sure where abouts the train was in Equestria Twilight decided it would be best to enter the cabooses room so she didn't get more drenched than she already was.

She turned the doorknob with her magic and entered the carriage to find an intricate room with oak paneled walls and a snooker table in the center, it also had a few antique chairs scattered in the corners of the room and a bar to the side. Twilight stood there in awe of this carriage that was fit for even the princess’s.

Another strike of lightning that was dreadfully close to the carriage blinded Twilight, the train shook and the lavender unicorn lost her balance; toppling to the floor Twilight tried to grab a hold anything that could keep her stable, she found her balance and stood up rubbing her eyes with her right hoof.

The carriage had lost all the light it had from the magical lanterns. “That last lightning strike must have interfered with the magic somehow.” She stated to no one in particular. She suddenly noticed something very alarming, all colour was void from her vision, a sensation which can only be described as deja vu overcame Twilight.

“That’s funny. I feel like I have experienced this before...” The unnerved mare took a few tentative steps forward. She reached out with her magic and grabbed a snooker cue and snapped it in half; Taking the larger end for herself. A cacophonous roar of thunder rung through the train and another strike of lightning too close for comfort drew her attention to the window, this time not anywhere near as blinding but still enough to make Twilight close her eyes.

When she opened her eyes the elegant beauty the room held had disappeared. The room looked like it had aged about 100 years, the carpets were worn, a stale odor hung in the air and a sheet of dust covered every surface.

“Not creepy at all...”

‘I think it’s time I tried to find my friends.’ Twilight walked towards where the bar was located and grabbed a rag that was behind the counter, doused it with alcohol and wrapped it around the broken end of the cue. She used a pyrokinesis spell on the rag to set it alight.

“There.” Twilight made her way to the door and exited into the next carriage, she held the makeshift torch in front of her with her magic, this carriage was in the same decrepit state the caboose was in.

Twilight looked through one of the private compartment windows to see four ponies all wearing raggedy moth eaten clothes, they were all staring out the window towards the raging storm, the lavender mare accidently knocked the door alerting the ponies in the room.

The four ponies turned their heads in synchronization to reveal their blank faces, the sight of this made Twilight jump back from the compartment window and drop the torch, she hurriedly picked up the torch and scampered down the carriage checking all the compartments for her friends.

Each booth she passed had more ponies with blank faces and worn clothing, each one followed her as she passed with their gaze. More amount of lightning strikes and roars of thunder increased but Twilight ignored them, she was more focused on getting back to the safety of her friends.

She ran through the carriages only stopping for a split second to check each compartment, she grew uncomfortably aware of the sound of hoofsteps following her each time she moved, but whenever she looked back nothing was there.

Twilight finally reached the last carriage of the impossibly long train, she made it about mid way when she found them, well... what she thought was them. “Girls?!” The lavender mare called out, The five mares were only distinguishable since they were the only things on the train which were in colour.

“G-g-girls? is that you?” A tear rolled down her cheek, all hope of finding her friends and safety had been lost, Twilight was very aware of how alone she was in this world. She started to break down in tears, sobs making her shudder every time she breathed. The ghosts of her friends, these blank ponies, started to advance. Twilight stumbled backwards and fell to the floor, crawling backwards to get away from whatever horror was next.

“Twi.” An echo of a voice faintly called out resonating from outside this world. The voice was unclear, distorted and muffled. “Twi!”

Suddenly the train shook as if it was being shoved off of the tracks, it bounced from one set of wheels to the other before settling down. The screeching sound of metal being crushed rang off from the distance.

“Twi?!” Another tremor shook the train once more, this time it was more powerful causing the train to almost tip over. Twilight rushed into the corner of an empty compartment and curled into the smallest position she could.

“Twilight?” This time the unknown force managed to push the train hard enough to send it tumbling, the screech of metal being crushed and stretched rang through the world, a terrifying roar of pain swept over the compartment as she heard the faceless ponies scream.

Twilight closed her eyes and quietly wept letting the darkness take her as she tumbled violently in the crashing train.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Twilight?” Rainbow Dash questioned and she prodded the lavender mare in an attempt to wake her up.

Twilight shot up eyes wide and blurred with tears, she just sat there staring at the table breathing heavily from fear of the nightmare she just had.

Twilight jumped a little as she felt herself being wrapped in a warm embrace. “Huh?”

“Shh Twi, It’s alright it’s all over now.” Rainbow said in a calming voice as she held Twilight, the rest of her friends looked over at the lavender mare with worried expressions.

As soon as Twilight realized what was happening she happily returned the embrace, happy to be out of the nightmare. As soon as Rainbow Dash felt Twilight's sobs die down she pulled out of the embrace. “Are you okay now?”

All Twilight could manage in reply was a weak nod in response, she turned her head to look out of the window to hide the blush she had from being so close to Rainbow.

“Wanna talk ‘bout it sugarcube?” Applejack said trying to comfort her friend.

Twilight took a deep breath in and turned away from the window. “Not really, it doesn't matter anyway.”

“ Doesn't matter? Of course it matters, it must have been bad for you to react like that dear.” Rarity said in concern.

Before any of the others could say anything Rainbow Dash spoke. “Look Twi obviously isn’t up for talking about it right now, how about we drop it for now and she can explain later.”

“Thank you Rainbow.”

“Next stop Manehattan!” The conductor announced down the train carriage.

“Okay girls let’s grab our stuff and get to the door, Manehattan’s underground system can get rather crowded from what I read.” Twilight stated using her magic to put the book she had previously been reading into her saddlebag.

The six mares all stood up and made their way to the nearest door, as they were walking down the hall all light suddenly disappeared, only to reappear again via magically powered lanterns installed in the ceilings.

The train started to slow down on it’s approach to the main platform of the Manehattan underground station, suddenly the tunnel they had been travelling through opened up into a massive room, the brakes squealed as the train came to an abrupt halt.

Rarity opened the door using her magic and stepped out, followed by the rest of the passengers including her five friends, when all the girls stepped out and looked at the sheer size of the stations central room.

Massive ornate archways held the ceiling in place, each of these archways had an intricate magically powered chandelier to make sure the station was well lit. But the girls didn't have time to stand in awe, they were already being ushered by the other passengers.

The six mares weaved their way through the sea of ponies, all sticking as close as possible to each other in fear of getting separated and lost. ‘Wow I didn't expect this station to be so big, the picture in my book really didn't give it any credit.’ Twilight thought as she made her way up the first flight of stairs that led to the surface.

“Wow this is a lot of stairs!” Rarity commented as she made her way next to Twilight.

“Yeah we must be really deep under Manehattan, I think I can see the top though.” Twilight replied gesturing forward to where the ceiling flattened out up ahead.

“Ah remember comin’ through this station when ah was a lil’ filly, doesn't look like it’s change much since ah was last here.” Applejack said as they reached the top of the stairs.

Twilight spotted a tourists booth with a stand holding a bunch of maps of Manehattan on them and started heading in that direction. “Ah! Perfect, just what we needed a map.” The lavender mare grabbed a map and stored it in her saddlebags before grabbing a couple more. “Here girls take these, that way if any of us get separated then we will know the way back.” Twilight hoofed out the maps to Fluttershy and Rarity then continued her trot towards the exit.

“Why only hoof out two extra maps?” Pinkie questioned.

“Well I thought it would be better it we stuck in pairs if we’re going to go anywhere. Some parts of the city aren’t exactly safe or a nice place to be lost by yourself.” Twilight replied.

“How about if I go with Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy can go with Applejack and you can go with Rainbow Dash?” Rarity said winking towards Twilight.

“Sounds good to me.” Fluttershy said trotting over to stand next to Applejack.

“*cough* Okay let’s get going then.” Twilight said pulling out her map and finding the street the hotel was located on. “Luna avenue should be this way.” Twilight stated and started walking in the direction of the street followed by the rest of her friends.

Author's Note

Thank you to The Original PWD for editing this chapter, you're doing a great job. There won't be a chapter next week since I'm going away to visit some relatives and I don't have a laptop to do any work on. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Cancelled

Okay here's a little explanation for the reason why I cancelled this fic. I had fun writing while I did but when writing this story I didn't really plan out where it was going and any ending that I had thought of didn't seem satisfactory, I was going through writers block every time I tried to write a chapter of it. My other fic 'Night Out' was my attempt to get past my writers block on this fic but that didn't work out. I will possibly be writing more fan fiction in the future, maybe when season 4 kicks off and I'm more involved in the fandom again and there is the tiniest chance I give this fic another try but that is only a small chance.

I would like to say thank you to everyone who enjoyed this story, your praise made me actually feel good at something ^>^

~Harry