The smell of frying potatoes wafted from the kitchens of the Castle of Friendship.
The magic that had built the castle, Spike thought, had quite sensibly built the kitchens at the correct scale for… well, for a castle - the kind of place that had guards, and staff, and streams of visitors, and had to keep all those ponies fed day in and day out.
Spike was looking forward to Twilight finally relenting and getting herself some of the perks of Princess-hood. Such as, say, ponies to take care of the castle and the grounds, instead of a single dragon who was, after all, technically still an infant.
“Some cleaning staff might be nice,” he muttered to himself, flipping pancakes. “And you don’t see Princess Celestia out trimming the hedges, do you?”
Here he was, preparing breakfast in a vast kitchen meant to be operated by a dozen ponies at least – all by himself.
The pleasant smell brought in one of the castle’s other residents: none other than Twilight Sparkle herself.
Spike turned with a smile, his grousing about Twilight almost completely forgotten at the sight of his oldest and dearest friend.
“Mornin’ Twiligh – whoa, you look like you got swatted by a manticore!”
Twilight’s mane was matted all around her head and neck. Her mouth hung slack-jawed, and bloodshot eyes with shrunken, glazed pupils gazed at Spike. Well, mostly at Spike.
“Gffzlmgh,” she managed.
“Uhhh, there’s tea in the pot,” Spike said. He turned back and scooped the pancakes off the griddle, setting them on a hotplate.
Twilight stepped slowly and deliberately around the island and over to the counter. There was a homey teapot covered in a jarring hand-knit cozy. (The cozy was, as Spike recalled, a gift from Sweetie Belle, as what passed for its craftsponyship showed. Twilight had kept it, replacing its store-bought predecessor because it had, as she had said, been “made with love”.)
“Uhh, are you up for levitating things this morning?” Spike asked. Most of the time, he would have been teasing when asking such a question. This morning, his tone of voice didn't suggest teasing.
Twilight shot him a flinty glance before pulling a mug down from the cupboards with her magic. A single spoonful of sugar floated over from the jar at the back of the counter, near the backsplash, and poured itself into the mug, before it was joined by steaming hot liquid.
The mug, which was off-white on the outside and tea-stained on the inside, had the words “#1 Princess” etched on it. It had been a Hearth’s Warming gift from Spike. (“Because it’s true!” Spike had said with considerable enthusiasm, much to Twilight’s embarrassment.)
A teaspoon stirred the tea and sugar together, before floating off to the sink. Twilight took a long swig of tea, then sighed contentedly with her eyes closed. When they opened, they were larger, brighter, and more awake-looking.
“Good morning, Spike!” she said. In contrast to her cheerier mood, she let out a big yawn.
“Did you stay up all night again?” Spike asked, sounding annoyed.
“No, no, I thought I had a full night’s sleep. It’s funny: I feel like I hardly slept at all.”
She looked around. “Is Starlight coming for – oh, she was getting up early to go help Fluttershy, wasn’t she?”
“Yep. Should be back soon, though. Fluttershy feeds her animals early.”
“Actually,” Twilight began, her voice taking on a didactic tone, “Fluttershy feeds her animal friends according to the dictates of their habitual diurnal, nocturnal, or alternate feeding patterns. Taking Harry, for example –”
“Okay, okay, I get it!” Spike interrupted.
Twilight floated a plate over from another cupboard, and Spike laid down some pancakes, apple slices, and potatoes on it. After pouring syrup on the pancakes, Twilight was soon tucking in.
Spike watched her. Although the tea had perked her up, Twilight was still slumping over in her seat. He narrowed his eyes and “hmmmm”-ed, tapping his chin with a claw. This wasn’t her first morning like this recently, was it? Spike would be the first to admit that he didn’t recall little details about things the way Twilight could, but there was something niggling him about it.
“Twilight,” he said at last. “If you’re waking up so tired after getting a good sleep, maybe you should be seeing somepony about it? Like a doctor?”
“Maybe,” Twilight confessed with a yawn. “Maybe it’s just cabin fever. Haven’t been sent out by the Cutie Map since the Wonderbolt flight school. That was ages ago!”
“Maybe,” Spike said, doubtfully.
His attempt to engage Twilight further on the subject of her health was cut off by the sound of other ponies approaching the kitchen.
“I hope you learned a little something about caring for animals,” came a soft voice.
Fluttershy and Starlight Glimmer entered from the far door.
“For starters, I don’t particularly care for watching the otters eat fish,” Starlight grumbled.
“Oh, but it’s perfectly natural and normal for them. They are predators, after all,” Fluttershy said indulgently.
“Fair enough,” Starlight said, “but I don’t have to like watch- oh, hi, Twilight! Morning, Spike!”
“Heya, Starlight,” Spike said. “How did feeding animals go?”
“Oh! Well, ummm, Starlight worked hard and, uh, was very helpful,” Fluttershy said bashfully.
Starlight smiled ruefully. “What Fluttershy didn’t say was that I probably shouldn’t give up my day job.”
“Oh, I’d never say anything like that,” Fluttershy said breathlessly.
Spike chortled, then stopped, looking thoughtful. He scratched the back of his head. “Come to think of it, Starlight, what is your day job?”
“Uhhhh…” Starlight said. Her pupils shrank. “I-don’t know? Majordomo for the Princess? No, that’s your job, Spike. Special… personal assistant? Princess’ apprentice?”
“Major what now?” Spike asked, perplexed.
“She means washing dishes, announcing visitors, and keeping Twilight fed,” Pinkie Pie whispered loudly.
There was a long, awkward pause.
“Uhhh… Pinkie Pie, what are you doing here?” Twilight Sparkle asked.
“Oh, don’t mind me, I’ll just show myself out!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed brightly. She backed out of the room with a big grin, Pinkie-squeed, and slammed the door shut.
There was another long, awkward pause.
“So… what makes you think caring for animals isn’t something you’d be interested in pursuing further?” Twilight asked, casting about for a way to resume the conversation.
Starlight blinked before responding. “Apart from finding otters tearing into fish revolting? Or apart from caring for animals being Fluttershy’s destiny? I guess… I just don’t really like animals that much. I mean, most of them are cute and all – well, the otters were before they got into the fish – but not cute enough to want to spend over an hour every day to help take care of them.”
“And I’m sure it’s all right,” Fluttershy said graciously. “You were willing to try it once, and you did your very best.”
“Thanks, I guess,” Starlight said.
“Speaking of trying one’s very best,” Twilight said, “aren’t you taking a big step forward with singing in public today, Fluttershy?”
“Oh… I didn’t know many ponies knew about that,” Fluttershy said nervously.
“Come on, Fluttershy,” Spike said, “you agreed to sing with the Pony Tones at the schoolhouse. How could Rarity not gush about it to Twilight?”
Fluttershy shrank into herself. “But if she’s telling everypony, then everypony will want to come, and I’m not sure I could manage that.” She began to tremble.
“I’m sure it will be all right,” Twilight said confidently. “Rarity told me that you’d asked her not to make a big deal of it around town. She went on and on about it to me so she wouldn’t go on and on about it all over Ponyville. She’s proud of you, Fluttershy.” She got off her bench and came over to take the yellow pegasus in an embrace. “And so am I,” she added.
Fluttershy beamed, calming after Twilight’s reassurances. “Thank you very much, Twilight.”
After they separated, Twilight let out an enormous yawn.
“Wow, I thought I was the one who was up late last night,” Starlight said.
“Oh, dear,” said Fluttershy. “I didn’t think you’d been up late. Oh, I wouldn’t have asked you to meet me so early this morning if I’d known – ”
“It’s all right, Fluttershy,” Starlight said, giggling. “I’m used to it.”
“The thing is, I wasn’t up late,” Twilight said, breaking out of the yawn. “I got home from being out with the other Princesses, had dinner, and went straight to bed. Wouldn’t know it with how I feel this morning. What kept you up, if you don’t mind my asking?”
“That spell I whipped up – you know, the Time Stop spell. I’ve been trying to figure out a way to cut down on or even get rid of the nasty side effects. No luck so far, despite all the hours I’ve put into it. I didn’t try testing it last night, since I didn’t want to cancel on Fluttershy this morning. I think I’ll just stick with Acelero.”
“I know all about letting sleep fall by the wayside when you’re trying to polish up some some magic,” Twilight said, with a slightly guilty look, stepping back to the table and her food.
“Does she ever,” Spike added.
“Now, Starlight, I hope you take better care of yourself,” Fluttershy admonished. “It’s not good to go without a good night’s sleep for too long.”
“Oh, I know,” Starlight said. “I can’t help it someti – ”
“Help me.”
The kitchen fell silent again.
Fluttershy, Starlight, and Spike all shared sidelong glances in between staring at Twilight.
“Uhh, Twilight” Spike asked, “did you just say something?”
Twilight looked up at him, a forkful of pancake hovering in front of her mouth. “I’m sorry?”
Spike’s eyes darted to Starlight and Fluttershy. “I thought I heard you say something just now,” he said.
Twilight took a moment to gulp down the pancakes.
“Well,” she said after swallowing, “I didn’t, but since you’re bringing up me saying things, that reminds me: there is something I’ve been meaning to tell you and Starlight.”
“Should I be leaving then?” Fluttershy asked. “Is it something private?” She wilted.
“Not at all, Fluttershy,” Twilight said reassuringly. “I just had an idea for a research project. Spike and Starlight would probably be helping me with it. I mean, you could help too, if you wanted.”
“Maybe,” Fluttershy said, hesitating. “I might like to help, I guess.”
“Another research project?” Spike asked. “I thought you were still corresponding with Dusty about your friendship research!”
“Professor Tome is the lead researcher of that project, Spike. I’m barely involved in the day-to-day work anymore. That’s why he was the keynote speaker at my conference, remember?”
“I’ve been trying to forget,” Spike muttered darkly, rolling his eyes. “Besides,” he continued, louder, “you had to push off a bunch of Princess-work yesterday to go off with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.”
“I’m not saying I won’t get that done,” Twilight said. “I just wanted to discuss my idea with you. Well, that, and I wanted to talk to the Cutie Mark Crusaders about getting Twilight Time started again.”
“Twilight Time?” Spike and Starlight asked simultaneously.
“I thought you didn’t have time for Twilight Time anymore,” said Spike.
“It’s related to my research idea. Remember that speech I gave at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns? I mentioned the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ unique cutie marks. At the time I had thought to start looking into the magic of their cutie marks in a bit more detail, but we kind of got distracted.”
Starlight coughed awkwardly.
“Anyway, it occurred to me while I was out yesterday that I should relaunch that particular project. Spending some extra time with the Crusaders by getting Twilight Time going again would be a great way to start cutie mark research.”
“I’m sure the girls would love to spend time with you again, Twilight,” Fluttershy said.
“Well, okay,” Spike said doubtfully. “I don’t know how you’re going to fit it in with everything you put off yesterday, plus getting yourself ready to observe that astronomical conjunction you’ve been going on about, plus packing to go visit your family in Manehattan next week.”
Twilight gulped down the last of her food. She swung her dirty dishes over to the sink and smiled confidently down at Spike.
“Not to worry, Spike,” she said, “I’m sure it will all work out in the end. Now, did you make any more food? No? Well, I’m going to run out to pick up a few apples or something, because I’m still starving. See you back here soon! Oh, and in case you’re gone when I get back, have a great day, Fluttershy!”
And with that, she was gone.
Spike gazed at the door Twilight had stepped out of before looking back at Starlight and Fluttershy.
“Ooooo-kay,” he said. “Since when has Twilight ever said it would all work out and actually meant it?”
Starlight giggled. “You’re telling me! I was expecting her to be up to her eyeballs in checklists this morning.”
“She did seem to be awfully calm about it. That's not really like her,” Fluttershy added.
“Maybe she’s too tired to be obsessing over every single little detail of what she has to get done?” Starlight conjectured.
“Yeah, maybe,” Spike said. “Anyway, I better clean up here. Twilight will probably be worried sick about all her Princess-work by the time she gets home. I should probably get breakfast all cleaned up so I can help her sort it all out.”
“Yeah,” Starlight said, looking thoughtfully at the door through which Twilight had left. “Probably.”
“And before I forget, what is Twilight Time?”