Chapter I: Just an Average Day
Ew... Sunlight...
Twilight Sparkle desperately fought the urge to roll away from the offending window and add to the few hours of sleep she had managed to get after yet another all-night study session. For a few moments it seemed that the urge was winning, until the unicorn's body was enveloped in a purple glow as she manually hoisted herself to a sitting position, her eyes still shut and a pout on her lips.
Her droopy morning mood quickly shifted when she suddenly found herself in the embrace of the most delicious smell she had ever known in all her life; it alone was enough to turn her pout into a small smile and convince her to roll out of bed and join the world of the living.
Mmm... Spike's cooking...
It was not until her roll had reached the point of no return that she was greeted by her aforementioned assistant's voice--oddly close to her projected landing spot.
"Mornin', Twilight! I was starting to think you'd never wake OOF!"
All at once Twilight felt half of herself collide with a thick, scaly head, while the other half splatted into what could only have been pancake syrup. After a moment of groaning she found her face drenched in the normally pleasant aroma of apples with a glass hanging upside-down on her horn. She continued to lie there a few moments longer before speaking, wondering how many more times her mood could change before she had been awake five minutes.
At last she managed to find her voice, raspy from being awoken so early and having been through so much trauma already. "Spike?"
"Yeah, Twi?" her assistant replied, still dazed beneath her.
"How many times does this make?"
"Sixteen, I think."
Twilight finally gathered the strength to roll off of the baby dragon. "Maybe you should stop trying to surprise me with breakfast in bed."
Spike grunted in wholehearted agreement as he began cleaning himself of pancake residue with his reptilian tongue.
Twilight managed a giggle. "And that's still gross."
Rainbow Dash paced about her cloud home. She couldn't quite place the source, but she had the strangest feeling of unease. She had at first attributed it to the fact that she had woken up four hours earlier than usual with none of the usual tired feeling, but it only grew as she went about her morning routine. Tank took full notice, and tried his best to have his eyes keep up with the agitated pegasus's pacing as she told him about it for the third time.
"-and I don't even feel like flying!" she practically screamed. Concern was evident in her voice, as it was in her tortoise's eyes. "I don't get it! I've never felt like this! Maybe... Maybe something's wrong with me... Maybe I've got some horrible mental disease that'll rip apart my MIND until it-" She suddenly took notice of how much more worried Tank's expression was in the process of becoming. She forced herself to slow down and think.
"Okay... Maybe I've just got too much built up energy. But then why don't I feel like flying?" She thought especially hard for a minute before her thoughts shifted to a more purple hue. "I know! I bet Twilight'll know what's wrong with me!" Before Tank had even processed what she had said she shot through the nearest window, leaving a rainbow trail headed in the direction of town.
Once Tank realized what had just happened, he simply shrugged and headed back into his shell for a nap.
"Remember to do your chores, Spike," Twilight reminded her favorite assistant as she opened the front door. After cleaning up from the breakfast fiasco, and considering how hard she had hit the books the previous night, she felt that the best thing for herself today would be a nice long walk.
Spike moaned indignantly from his ladder in front of the bookshelf. "I know, I know."
Twilight giggled quietly to herself. She would have to be sure to pick up a nice, big gemstone for her number one assistant while she was out.
The unicorn stepped out into the cool autumn air, taking a moment to inhale all the scents floating about. The crisp fragrance of her tree home's leaves mingled wonderfully with the aromas of produce and baked goods from the nearby market. With a contented sigh, she almost subconsciously set a course for said market, specifically Sweet Apple Acres' stall, with hopes of both seeing a certain one of her five best friends manning it, and picking up something delicious to make up for the breakfast she had flattened.
"What the hay is wrong with you guys today?" Rainbow rhetorically asked her wings. The flight from her own home to Twilight's had taken a strange turn about halfway through the trip, nearly tripling the pegasus's travel time. At first it had seemed like her wings wanted to go downward of their own volition, and ever since a moment after she had felt like they wanted to turn around. She couldn't think of any disease she had heard of, mental or physical, that could give pegasus wings a mind of their own.
Regardless, the polychromatic mare was able to keep them under control enough to make it to the door of Twilight's library, which she actually managed not to crash through for a change. She knocked hard on the door several times, and after a minute a curious looking Spike appeared.
"Oh, hey, Rainbow. Looking for Twilight?" Spike's friendly grin turned to a slightly nervous frown when he noticed the pegasus's somewhat worried expression.
Rainbow Dash nodded in reply. "Yeah, is she home? I think there's something wrong with me and she's smart about that kinda stuff."
Spike shook his head. "Nuh-uh, she left around half an hour ago for a walk. What's wrong? Are you sick?" The baby dragon's face had shifted toward concern as he spoke.
"I dunno," Rainbow replied. "I've never heard of this stuff happening to anypony from being sick." She looked away, then back at Spike. "I woke up way too early for me but I've had tons of energy all day. And on top of that my wings feel like they wanna go somewhere on their own." The mare flared out her wings in an attempt to quiet the itch to turn around and fly off.
Spike held a claw to his chin in thought. "Hmm... Well, did you try following them? Couldn't hurt, right?"
Rainbow glanced back at her wings anxiously before speaking again. "I... guess it couldn't. Guess I'll give it a shot. Thanks, Spike," she said as she turned around to take off, the itch in her wings sated but another rising in the back of her mind.
Author's Notes
Well, there's the boring first chapter out of the way. Next episode: a trip to the hospital!
I must admit I hate how short it is, especially considering that it is, after all, the first chapter. That said, I plan for future installments to be at LEAST double this in length, if not more.
Comments, concerns, criticism, suggestions, etc. are welcome. This being my first fic in a long while, I'm sure it could use some improvement, so don't hesitate to point anything out!