The pages of a book could be heard turning in the exceptionally quite room. A lone pony sat sprawled on the floor reading a rather thick tome. Notes were scattered around the pony as she studied. Her brow furrowed, not from a complicated passage, but from the sense of eyes staring at her.
“Hi Pinkie,” Twilight Sparkle said aloud without looking up from the book.
“Wow you’re good today! That only took you six minutes and twenty-three seconds to notice! I think that’s a personal record.” The pink pony stepped out from the wardrobe across the room from Twilight.
Twilight Sparkle was about to ask how Pinkie Pie got into her room. She made sure to lock the door and magically seal the window shut. There should have been no means of entry, but Pinkie somehow managed to get in every time. Twilight also learned to stop asking and just accept the fact that it was Pinkie.
Pinkie Pie bounced over to Twilight and snuggled right up against her. Pinkie smiled to herself as she peered over Twilight’s shoulder to see what she was reading.
“How to lose a stallion in 10 days,” read Pinkie out loud, “that’s kind of a funny book to be reading Twilight; I mean you’re not even dating a stallion. Why should you worry about that when you got me anyways?”
Twilight continued to read the book without saying a word, despite the invasion of private space. She had tried to explain the concept of personal boundaries to Pinkie Pie, but usually got a boop on her nose from a pink hoof in the middle of her explanation.
Twilight’s brow furrowed as she thought back on how this situation started.
How long had this been going on, thought Twilight, several months? Her brow furrowed even more as she thought.
It still baffled Twilight that for whatever reason, Pinkie Pie was dead set on liking Twilight and not just as friends. Pinkie made that point very clear every single day.
At first the sentiments were cute and Twilight simply dismissed it as something that would pass with time, but Pinkie was becoming more clingy and obsessive; to the point that Twilight had to cast her shield spell around her bed at night to avoid waking up in the embrace of a specific pink pony.
The most frustrating point was the reaction of everypony else. Twilight was hoping that her friends would help discourage Pinkie and to give up on her ridiculous infatuation, but instead they completely supported Pinkie. Her own friends congratulated Pinkie on finding her special somepony. Rarity went as far as commenting on how cute of a couple they made.
Twilight was seething, quite literally, after that conversation and had no luck with the rest of Ponyville as it seemed every pony was fine with this kind of relationship. Maybe it was because it was Pinkie Pie being well, Pinkie; unusual and eccentric.
Twilight’s thoughts were brought abruptly back to the present as she felt warmth against the back of one of her ears. She didn’t notice Pinkie had slowly draped herself over her back and was breathing directly over her right ear as she read with Twilight. Pinkie was the only one that could distract Twilight from deep thought, though usually in a very inconvenient fashion.
Twilight stifled a building sigh; she knew that Pinkie Pie wanted a reaction from her antics. Well, thought Twilight, that’s just what she’s not going to get.
Pinkie’s muzzle brushed up against the velvety fur of Twilights ear as she sensually whispered, “You know I love you.”
An audible sigh escaped Twilight’s lips.
Pinkie made it her personal goal to let Twilight know of her undying love as frequent as possible. Pinkie’s methods for doing so varied from the most extravagant designs as a light show with fireworks to the simplest gestures such as today’s verbal reminder.
“Pinkie, you already know I don’t feel the same way.” Twilight had risen from the floor as she spoke.
Pinkie either didn’t understand Twilight’s remark or chose to ignore it as she helped clean up the mess in Twilight’s room with her usual smile. Twilight counted it a blessing as they cleaned in silence for a few moments.
Still smiling Pinkie stopped cleaning for a second to look at Twilight. Her smile did not falter as she finally responded to Twilight’s comment.
“You silly filly, yes you do,” said Pinkie matter-of-factly.
Twilight stopped half way from putting the book back on her personal book shelf as she turned back to look at Pinkie Pie with a quizzical look. It wasn’t the first time she heard Pinkie say that, but it still bothered her.
“And how do you know that Pinkie; did your pinkie sense tell you,” asked Twilight sarcastically.
Pinkie’s smile faltered for once as she looked quizzically at Twilight.
“Now that’s just silly, why would I need a twitch-a-twitch warning about love?”
Pinkie regained her smile almost instantly as she looked back to Twilight.
“You will see it’s just something you know. It’s something you feel from here.”
Twilight looked even more puzzled as Pinkie pointed to her head.
Twilight held her hoof out and poked Pinkie in the chest.
“Don’t you mean here Pinkie?”
Pinkie immediately fell to the floor laughing.
“Ah, help! I’m being tickled by Twilight!”
Twilight rolled her eyes berating herself for knowing something like this was going happen. Instead, she walked past the still giggling Pinkie Pie and continued down the stairs to eat breakfast. Twilight glanced out the window as she continued to the kitchen and thought maybe lunch was more appropriate due to the suns position. Either way, it was time to eat.
As she entered the kitchen, Pinkie Pie was placing some plates and glasses on the table while she finished setting up lunch for the two. Twilight swiveled her head to look back up the stairs where she could have sworn she still heard Pinkie giggling.
Pinkie smiled to herself as she continued to prepare lunch. Twilight sat with an audible grunt from the building irritation. She knew the day was going to be interesting since Pinkie decided to grace her presence earlier this day. Pinkie must have the day off from Sugar Cube Corner, or maybe she is somehow here and… Twilight stopped her thought process before giving herself a brain aneurysm.
Twilight ate in silence while Pinkie watched, despite having a plate of her own food to eat. Pinkie just sat and stared dreamily as she rested her head on the table.
Twilight finished her meal in silence not caring that Pinkie Pie just watched. Twilight had grown accustomed to Pinkie being there to just be there.
A magenta aurora gripped the dishes as Twilight washed her dirty dish from lunch. She turned to grab the uneaten lunch from Pinkie but found Pinkie holding her dishes completely empty. Twilight was about to ask when she had eaten her own food but was interrupted by Pinkie.
“I have to get back to work. We just got a huge order and it looks like the Cake’s are panicking again.”
Pinkie leaned forward and gave Twilight a quick peck on the cheek.
“I will see you later!”
Before Twilight could finish processing what Pinkie said, the party pony was gone in a blur of pink and confetti. Twilight looked out the kitchen to the front door and noticed it was still locked, but found a trail of confetti leading right into a wall.
Twilight sighed again as she rubbed her head with a hoof.
“Spike! I need some aspirin!”
***
Twilight tried to smile but ended up frowning instead. Twilight knew she shouldn’t find fault with Miss Cheerilee’s class, but they still tried her patience.
A young filly continued to look back and forth at the two books in her hooves as she tried to make a decision. Twilight was about to help but was interrupted by the filly shoving one of the books in Twilight’s face.
“I want this one. It has a prettier cover,” said the young filly.
Twilight didn’t say a word as she stamped the checkout slip of the book and levitated the book back to the filly. The filly quickly grabbed the book and ran off to join the rest of the class as they gathered to leave.
Cheerilee looked over her class to make sure each student had their book before looking back to Twilight.
“Class I want you all to thank Miss Sparkle for helping you find a book for your report,” said Cheerilee.
“Thank you,” shouted the whole mass of students at once.
Twilight cringed from the assault on her eardrums, but forced a smile as she watched them leave.
Cheerilee thanked Twilight once more before leaving the library.
Twilight looked out the window to the dark night sky. “Where had the time gone,” thought Twilight aloud.
Spike simply shrugged as he continued to re-shelve books.
Though the class was small it took the majority of the evening for both Spike and Twilight to help the fillies and colts make a decision on a single book.
Twilight exhaled noisily as she helped Spike clean up the library.
Twilight organized and cleaned on auto mode as she preoccupied her mind on other subjects.
Why didn’t Pinkie come by like she said she would? It would have been helpful to have had an extra helping hoof, thought Twilight.
Twilight shook her head of the thought as she placed the final book back to its designated spot.
With a sense of accomplishment both Spike and Twilight smiled at the hard work of cleaning up after the disaster creating ponies known as Miss Cheerilee’s class.
Spike was already heading up stairs to his basket while Twilight took her normal precautions of locking anything that could open, including cupboards, cabinets, and drawers to prevent a specific intrusive pink pony from any means of entrance into the library. Twilight double checked her mental check list of necessary items to lock before retiring upstairs to her room.
Twilight sat on the floor with the book from the other morning and opened it slowly as she looked over her shoulder expecting to find a pair of blue eyes watching her but felt… nothing. It kind of felt strange to be alone in her room. She shrugged and turned to the last page she was on.
***
The morning light forced Twilight’s eyelids open as she groggily lifted her head from a book. She looked down at the book that now had a pool of drool. She frowned at the prospect of wrinkled pages from her own doing.
“Pinkie, why didn’t you wake me up,” groaned Twilight.
Twilight looked around expecting the mare to be lying next to her. She was greeted by silence. The only noise was the light snores from a sleeping baby dragon in his basket.
Twilight cleaned the book the best she could and placed it back on the shelving.
Twilight’s eyes scanned the room and found everything in place, but still felt something was amiss. She hated that feeling.
That’s why she obsessed over lists so much, that way she ensured not forgetting a single thing.
She opened the door to her room and walked cautiously down stairs.
Twilight craned her neck to slowly peek around a wall when she reached the bottom of the stairs; just in case Pinkie was waiting for her.
The library interior was just the way she left it the day before; even a few bits of confetti were still on the ground.
Twilight sat on her haunches deep in thought. Why did the room feel so… empty? Twilight enjoyed a bit of peace and quiet. It was easier to study without distractions, so why did it feel like it wasn’t right.
A light knock on the library door stopped Twilight’s thoughts.
Who the hay knocks on the door this early? Thought Twilight.
A quick glance at the clock indicated the time to be 10:37 in the morning.
“Oh, well I guess I am actually opening late today,” said Twilight as she unlocked the door to the library.
A package was thrust into Twilight’s face as Derpy Hooves hovered in the air holding her mail.
“Morning delivery,” said the bubbly mailmare.
Twilight signed for the package and thanked Derpy before taking her mail inside. Once inside she placed the various items on the table along with the package.
Twilight’s stomach complained for want of sustenance, so she decided breakfast would be the first item on her list of to do for the day; right after waking Spike up.
Spike moaned as a purple hoof prodded gently at his scaly stomach.
“Spike, it’s time to get up.”
“Five more minutes,” mumbled Spike as he rolled over in his basket.
Loud snarling caused the dragon to roll out of his bed and look around for the beasty.
Twilight rolled her eyes as Spike finally looked at her as her stomach growled again.
“I guess that’s my cue to get breakfast made,” said Spike.
“That’s not the only reason I woke you up,” said Twilight, “We need to redo todays schedule.”
Spike looked confused until he looked at the clock on the wall.
“Why didn’t you get up on time today,” questioned Spike, “You are usually pretty good at getting up on your own.”
Twilight opened her mouth ready to explain herself, but was at a loss of words. Instead she held her hoof up in the air as her mouth hung slightly open for a few seconds.
“I don’t know,” Twilight finally said as she lowered her hoof.
She thought on it for a moment. Why did she feel out of sorts today?
Twilight didn’t want to think about it anymore and concluded that all would be well after re-doing the schedule.
Spike was busying himself with making breakfast as Twilight sat herself at the kitchen table.
The two ate in relative silence as they enjoyed their food.
After cleaning up from the meal, Twilight entered the library proper and sat at her scheduling desk. She pulled out various charts and calendars as she scrutinized the scheduled events and activities to see what could be moved around.
Spike stood ready with a quill and parchment in claw.
Then there was a swift knock on the door as the first costumer of the day entered the library.
Twilight scowled at nopony in particular as she placed her scheduling utensils back on her desk.
“How can I help you?” Asked Twilight as she smiled to the pony browsing through some reference books.
***
Twilight grinned as she sees the shade of pink out of the corner of her eye. Twilight’s grin faded as she turned to see that it was just Berry Punch looking through one of the magazine racks.
“This isn’t the book I asked for.”
Twilight turned her attention back to the pony she was helping.
“I asked for a book on rakes, not cakes.”
Twilight looked down at the cake cook book in her hooves and quickly placed it back in its proper spot on the shelf.
“Sorry about that,” said Twilight as she quickly browsed the shelf for the requested book.
Twilight apologized again as she finished helping the pony.
Spike watched with concerned eyes.
“Hey, are you feeling alright?” Asked Spike.
Twilight looked bewilderingly at Spike.
“Yes?”
Spike gave a flat look.
“Twilight you just answered a question with a question.”
“I don’t know,” answered Twilight, “I feel like something is out of place but I can’t fix it.”
Spike placed a claw on Twilight’s shoulder as he looked her in the eyes with concern.
“I think you should call it a night, I don’t think everypony is looking for a book on cakes.”
“That was only one pony,” retorted Twilight.
“Two, Twilight, you did that twice.”
Twilight lowered her head as she conceded. “Alright, but I don’t think I’m that out of it.”
“Don’t worry yourself about it, just go upstairs and rest. I will take care of the few ponies still here and close up soon. It’s about time we closed any way,” said Spike.
Spike motioned for Twilight to get moving as he went back to helping the last pony find a book.
Twilight absent mindedly squeezed some tooth paste on her tooth brush as she lazily levitated the items about.
Why do I feel so…bleh!
Twilight spat out the frothy foam in her mouth and looked at the tube still in her magical grasp.
“I must be really out of it today; I can’t believe I just brushed my teeth with Spike’s scale cleanser,” said Twilight aloud.
Twilight finished getting ready for the night the best she could, trying to be cautious to avoid any other mishaps.
Twilight contemplated reading but decided her mind wasn’t in the mood to obtain or even retain knowledge right now. That left one option, which was to just go to bed.
As Twilight rested in her bed, she felt the covers move as something crept into the bed from the bottom half. It slowly slinked its way up the bed until it was flush against Twilight’s body. Twilight didn’t move but continued to look towards the window in the bedroom.
“You know it’s your entire fault I couldn’t do anything right today. I couldn’t focus and my schedule got messed up and everything felt out of place.”
Twilight turned over in her bed covering to come face to face with Pinkie.
“I would have come earlier but we had the biggest catering job that took a whole day and a half to complete,” said Pinkie, “the whole shop is filled to the rafters with pastries. That’s why I decided to sleep here again.”
“Pinkie you sleep in the upstairs of the shop,” Twilight said with a straight face.
“Yeah I know that silly, but we had to use my room for more pastries; and the cakes said I had to stay somewhere else in case I get the midnight munchies again. I don’t think they are ever going to forgive me for the one time I emptied their entire fridge.”
Twilight couldn’t help the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. Pinkie must have noticed because she began to beam at Twilight. Instead of allowing Pinkie her victory, Twilight rolled back over to look out her window again.
Pinkie pulled Twilight into a warm embrace as she gently wrapped her hooves around her; pulling her closer to her warm body.
Twilight didn’t fight back; she didn’t want to. Instead, she smiled as everything finally felt right.
Twilight snuggled closer into Pinkie and wrapped her own hoof over Pinkie’s as the two mares fell asleep quickly their warm embrace.