Another Love Story?
Chapter 1
Night time had fallen over the snow covered Canterlot as Moon Song and Sweet Rose raced towards the study through the castle hallways. After a long day of studying and practicing magic, the two students were off to see their teacher for a story and some hot coco. As they entered, the Princess was sitting beside an inviting, warm fire that glowed with red flames.
“Why don’t you two come and sit down and warm up by the fire. Hot coco is on the way. I hear Chef Banitsa is baking a couple of pastries to go along with them.”
The two ponies both smiled at the same time as they approached the fire, levitating a couple of pillows over for themselves. They sat down on either side of the Princess as she levitated a book over from the nearby shelf.
“Excuse me… Princess?” questioned Moon Song.
“Yes Moon Song?” Her voice was dominant in a motherly way.
“Can you tell us about your friends and the Hydra?”
“Moon! She’s told that one so many times already! You should let her pick one.”
“Now Sweet Rose, he is entitled to request a story.” She said with a smile on her face.
“Fine.” Sweet Rose said with a huff.
“Now should I tell you about the time we fought Discord? Or perhaps the time we helped Princess Luna celebrate Nightmare Night.”
“How about the story about Night Robin?”
Everyone looked towards the door as Princess Celestia walked in and sat down beside the fire.
“I suppose that I should, seeing as I never told you this one.” Said the Princess with a devious smile on her face.
Moon and Sweet were quite eager to hear this story as whenever Celestia suggested a story, it was for a particularly good reason.
“Now… where shall I begin?”
It was a typical day in Ponyville, birds were singing, the sun was shining, and there was a giant three headed dog running around. A Typical day indeed.
“It’s okay everyone. I’m just going to take him back to Tartarus.” Twilight announced to the crowd of ponies now attempting to run away from the dog.
As Twilight lead Cerberus away from Ponyville and towards Tartarus, she stopped for a second as she saw a pony she didn’t know but also seemed familiar.
“Pinkie?”
“Yes Twilight?” Pinkie Pie said as she managed yet again to appear out of nowhere. Twilight remembered to add that to the ever growing list of things Pinkie can do.
“Do you know who that pony is?” Twilight said, making sure that she didn’t take her eyes off of the mysterious pony. She had this odd feeling that if she let him out of her sight, that she would never see him again.
“What pony is that Twilight? There’s no one else here.” Pinkie was confused by Twilight’s comment.
“What do you mean?” Twilight was giving this confusing look to Pinkie like she was insane. Which normally wasn’t a hard thing to do, but even Pinkie Pie should have seen him standing right th…
She realized she took her eyes off of him and quickly looked back to where he was. It’s like he just disappeared. She could still see his dark blue coat and dark red hair.
“I… I guess it’s nothing.” Twilight was worried. She wasn’t sure why she was worried but she was.
***
It was some months before she would see him again. Just after her brother’s wedding, as she was heading home on the train, she saw him through the door in another compartment. She slowly walked over to the door, making sure that she never took her eyes off of him. He was just sitting there looking out the window, like he was staring into a far off place, reminiscing about his past. She opened the door and a few other ponies looked at her, and then looked away, but he didn’t even flinch. She slowly made her way over to his seat, being careful not to draw attention to herself.
As she sat down, she could feel the nervousness in her chest. She wanted to run away, hide, and not come out until this feeling left her. But she could no longer move; she could only sit there looking at the mysterious pony.
“Ahem” Twilight finally broke the silence between them, but he still didn’t move a muscle. It was almost like he was frozen solid, just staring out the window.
She reached out to touch him and felt like her stomach was turning over multiple times. She was so close that she could feel the heat from his body. Their bodies connected as Twilight put her hoof on his shoulder, and he spun around and gave her a blank expression, almost as though he could not see her. He changed his expression to one of confusion very quickly.
“How the…” he started.
“Hi, my name is Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight said, completely unable to do anything else except ramble for a few seconds. “I was wondering who you were as I had never seen you around before. But I suppose that I shouldn’t have invaded your personal space like that. It was very rude of me. I am sorry for any trouble I have caused you. I’m sorry to have both…”
“How can you see me?” he interrupted.
Twilight gave him an inquisitive look. “What do you mean? Are you not supposed to be able to be seen normally? Oh this is most interesting.” Her mind started going through all the possible spells that were available to turn someone invisible. There were thousands of spells for making ponies avoid you, making them look in another direction, fooling some ponies senses, and forcing your fur to turn the color of the background.
“I mean how can you see me? I have an Avoidance spell on right now.”
“That would explain why I want to look away from you right now.” Twilight said curiously. She had studied these types of spells and the effect that it can have on ponies.
“That still doesn’t explain how you can see me out of all the ponies here.” He said, looking more and more annoyed with each passing moment that the mystery went on.
“Hmm… if I might offer a suggestion? I think it might be because I am quite adept at magic and everything connected to it. After all, I have studied under Princess Celestia for some years now.” Twilight said, puffing out her chest in pride at the last statement.
He closed his eyes while he thought this theory over. “It’s quite possible, The Princess was the only one other than those I chose that can see me.”
“The Princess? Why would she be the only one that could see you?” Twilight was very curious now.
“Sorry. I can’t tell you that. But I can tell you that it’s very important. Otherwise I wouldn’t have to use this spell. I’m sorry but I have to go now. I believe that this is both of our stops. “
He was correct of course, although she did not wish for the ride to end yet. The sun was setting on the horizon and the stars were just becoming visible. Twilight always enjoyed the time of day that was her namesake, but something about this twilight was extra special to her. Was it because she is home? Or because of the fun she had at her brother’s wedding? Or perhaps…
“Twilight?”
She shook her head clear of the thoughts as Rainbow Dash shook her slightly.
“Huh? What is it Rainbow?”
“It’s time to get off the train. Who were you talking to anyway?”
“Oh I was talking to…” Twilight turned to the empty seat beside her. “No pony.”
Rainbow was giving a look like Twilight was crazy. “Well, the girls already went home, and I’m going too. Are you going to be okay to get home?”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Pinkie is still having her party tomorrow?”
“Yeah, she’s pretty excited for it too. It should be fun.” Rainbow said with a smile growing on her face.
“Alright then, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Twilight said as she grabbed her bags with her magic and walked out of the train.
I wonder if I will ever see him again. Twilight thought as she walked casually towards her tree library. Maybe next time ill actually get his name. She thought as she opened the door to the library and walked in with her luggage. She turned on the bath faucet from downstairs and set her bags by the stairs. She locked the door and turned off the lights downstairs before heading upstairs. Spike was staying in Canterlot for a few more days so she had the place to herself for the time being.
As she climbed the stairs she could hear the water running in the bathroom, the warm bath was just what she needed after the past few days. She was glad that she could relax and enjoy a quiet night. She climbed into the warm bath, hoof by hoof, making sure that she didn’t slip on the bottom. She lowered her body into the water and let it run over her back.
A few hours later, she walked out of the bathroom feeling quite refreshed from the bath. Twilight was not feeling very tired so she decided to take a walk. Midnight was fast approaching and the moon was already close to its peak in the sky. Ponies were heading home now and the night club and bar was just opening. A nice crisp night, not too cold and not too warm either. As she walked along, her thought turned to the mysterious pony that she had talked to that day. She had thought about sending a letter to Celestia in hopes of catching his name but quickly decided against it as she would seem too pushy.
Perhaps he is still in town. She hoped that she would run into him again. She would have to remember to try and see him seeing as he had that Avoidance spell on him. I wonder if there is a spell to counter that pesky avoidance spell so I could see him.
Twilight breathed in heavily and sighed. “I doubt that I will meet him again though… didn’t even get a chance to ask for his name.” Twilight said her thoughts out loud, a common habit she had, although she was getting better at controlling it.
“It’s Night Robin.”
Twilight spun around on the spot looking in the direction of where the voice had come from too see a dark blue pony with red hair. Instantly, she could feel herself lighten in his presence, almost as though some great weight was taken off of her shoulders. He wore a smile this time around, but it still seemed like he was looking right through her rather than at her.
“Excuse me?”
“My name… it’s Night Robin. You were just saying how you didn’t get a chance to ask.” He said.
“Oh.. I didn’t realize I was talking out loud again.” Twilight said as a blush formed on her face.
“I was actually wondering, if you would like to come walking with me tonight. I might be able to get to know you more.” He seemed nervous as he spoke.
“Sure. I would love to join you.”
The two ponies started walking with no particular destination in mind; they just wanted to be in each other's presence. They talked about trivial things like what their favorite music was, weather they read any good books lately, seen any good movies, or meet any new people. They went on for hours and hours, walking and talking, getting to know each other. They laughed together and learned each other’s quirks, like how Night Robin could not eat daffodils without harsh sneezing. Or how Twilight could not put a book down when she got into the story. Similarly, Night could not stop reading when he got towards the end of a book, even if he didn’t particularly like it. They shared many things in common, such as the same taste in music, and the fact that they were both recently interested in ancient runes and other types of spell casting. Then as the night neared its end, they walked as slowly as they could back towards Twilight’s library home.
“I really enjoyed tonight, thank you so much for inviting me.” Twilight said; a blush permanently on her face since they started talking.
“Please, it was my pleasure.” He replied, a smile always on his face.
“There’s something I have wanted to ask.” Her blush slowly faded as she knew what the answer might be.
“Go ahead; as long as it’s not about my work, then I’ll answer you as best I can.” He held his smile.
“Why does it seem like you aren’t looking at me but rather through me?” Her heart fell as soon as she asked the question, but she needed to know for certain that it was the case.
“You already know the answer don’t you.” His expression unchanging but his voice held sadness as he talked, like he was reliving memories long forgotten. “But I suppose that won’t do will it? Very well. Yes, I am blind. No, it is not painful. And no, there is nothing that can be done for me.”
Twilight took it all in stride as she processed this new information she was given. “Why do you use the Avoidance spell then?” Twilight’s curiosity got the better of her.
“Well, there are actually two reasons. You already know that it’s for my work, but the other reason is so that people don’t run into me while I’m out and about walking or buying groceries, or talking to a beautiful mare.” He said as he looked towards Twilight.
Twilight’s blush returned to her face. She pawed at the ground while she waited at the door to her house. She had read many love stories and knew what was going to happen, that did not prepare her for what was going to happen though. She was so nervous that she didn’t want to look up at him, but eventually, he put his hoof under her chin and moved her head up to face him. He leaned in really close and then th…
“Twilight!”
They both backed away from each other rather quickly and then they looked in the direction the sound had come from. There, walking towards them was Spike, having returned from Canterlot early of course.
“Spike!” Twilight said as she galloped over to him and hugged him. “I’ve missed you”
“Thanks Twilight, sorry about being later than I said.”
“Wait… what did you just say?”