Twilight stepped off of the train to ponyville – only to be immediately buried by her friends, all swarming around her into a group hug.
“Woah! Girls – hi!” She cried both happy and distressed as her lungs were crushed under her friends. “Can’t… breathe!” she gasped.
“Girls, girls, let the poor dear go. No doubt she’s had a long weekend,” Rarity said pulling away from her friend. The others backed away to allow Twilight the joyous comfort of having air in her lungs.
“Oh, I’m sorry!” Fluttershy backed away. Twilight coughed – then smiled widely.
“That’s fine! It’s all right, girls – and Spike,” she added quickly when she got a glare from her assistant. “I’m happy to see you too!”
“What are you waiting for, Twilight?” Pinkie shoved her face into Twilight’s. “We’re going to be late for your ‘welcome back’ party!”
“Welcome back party?” Twilight blinked. “But I’ve only been gone two days…”
“So?” she laughed. “Well,” Twilight said with a giggle; “I should probably go home and unpack quick – I’ll meet you all at Sugarcube Corner then?” she asked, and they all agreed.
Twilight galloped home – she probably shouldn’t have, considering she was tired both from lack of sleep and her long weekend in Canterlot, but she hey, she didn’t want to make Pinkie wait either!
She sighed stepping into the library. She looked around; everything seemed to be in order. She wasn’t even sure what she was checking for, but she couldn’t remember ever really leaving Spike home alone for a whole weekend.
Not that she expected badly from her Number One Assistant, but still.
She trotted up to her room, dropping her Saddlebags next to her bed. She’d unpack and organize everything later. As she made her way down the steps and out the door; she heard a soft, far off ‘Don’t leave’ she hesitated, but walked out the door.
~~
The party was definitely one of Pinkie’s best – but then again, every time she threw a party it was her best.
Either way, despite her lack of sleep and aching muscles, Twilight had a lot of fun.
Naturally, everypony in Ponyville was invited, although, some chose not to come. (After all, going to a party every single week could get a little old for some…)
At around midnight, everypony had left and Twilight and Spike had stayed behind to help Pinkie clean up.
Actually, more like Spike sat around and ate the leftovers while Pinkie and Twilight cleaned up.
“That was a great party, Pinkie,” Twilight congratulated her friend. “Thanks for throwing it for me.” she smiled.
“No problem! I mean, when I heard you’d be leaving for two days I immediately knew I had to throw a ‘welcome back’ party for when you got back! I started planning immediately!” Twilight tried to listen to Pinkie Pie talk, but Pinkie’s words were drowned out by something else…
Twilight found herself staring off into space. She listened intently. Was somepony trying to call out to her?
“Twilight?”
Twilight was pulled out of her own thoughts. “Huh?”
“I said: Why did you throw the whole punch container away?”
“I did?” Twilight looked down – the entire punch bowl – still full of punch, had been dumped in to the trash can. “Oh my goodness! I’m sorry Pinkie, I didn’t mean to do it!” She levitated it out trying to catch as much of the flavored drink as she could. “That’s okay!” Pinkie said, taking the bowl and holding it on her head. “I’ll just rinse the punch off, and it’ll be good as new!”
How do you rinse punch off? Twilight thought, but didn’t ask. It was Pinkie after all.
She made a mental note not to drink any more punch from Pinkie Pie, though.
The two finished cleaning up, and said their goodbyes. Twilight levitated a half asleep Spike onto her back and set out for home.
As she walked, her thought’s begun to wander. She looked up at the night sky, the stars twinkling brightly against the black curtain that Luna draped across Equestria every night. She wondered what Luna was doing. Royal duties, probably. Twilight looked at the moon; such beauty. She wondered how Equestria’s past ponies could have possibly shunned this beautiful thing, it was amazing. With a sigh, she stepped into her home. She made her way up the steps, and gently levitated the baby dragon off of her back and into his bed. She tucked him in and crawled into her own bed. She looked out the window at the moon one last time before drifting off into sleep.
~~
Twilight awoke with a stretch and a yawn. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and dragged herself out of bed. She stumbled to her dresser, with dreams still lingering in the corners of her mind. She lazily ran a brush through her mane and tail with her magic, and when she was satisfied, she set the brush down and trotted down the steps, still half-asleep.
She found Spike in the kitchen, munching on an emerald. “Good morning,” he said.
“Good morning, Spike.” She plopped down at the table and levitated a box of cereal, a bowl and spoon and some milk from various parts of the kitchen. She poured herself some, than put the cereal and milk away.
She yawned, “You know,” she said, “I had some really weird dreams last night.”
“What kind of dreams?”
“I can’t even remember now, just that they were weird.”
“Huh,” Her assistant said, taking another bite of gem.
Twilight tried to remember the dream, but couldn’t. Just a flash of bright light, that’s all she remembered.
Once she finished her breakfast, she rinsed out the bowl and headed upstairs to unpack the saddle bags she’d left on the floor the day before.
She magically opened them and levitated out her things: a few books, a candy bar, and a bracelet Luna had given her. She put each book away carefully; making sure they were put back in alphabetical order and such. She stuffed the candy bar and bracelet into her nightstand, then she used her magic to pick up the saddlebags.
She trotted over to her closet, and unceremoniously tossed them in.
A yellowed scroll fell out of them, rolling across the floor to her hooves. She stared at it. “What’s this?” she said, levitating it up. It was rolled up, but had tears and cracks on the ends; and was sealed with a black wax seal, with a crescent moon.
“Did… Luna put this in my saddlebags or something?” she thought aloud.
Using magic, she tried to remove the seal. It took quite a bit of effort, but finally it popped off. The scroll opened on its own accord, and Twilight was hit with a blast of ice cold wind that chilled her to the bone. She gasped, dropping the scroll. It never hit the ground; it turned into pale blue mist before disappearing completely.
Suddenly, Twilight’s whole body jolted. She was whisked away, zooming fast through a void yet she didn’t move at all. There was a massive clouding of dust, and she hit something hard, rock? Stone? She felt her whole body, shivering, freezing, cold! Stars twinkled in the dark blue sky above her, and all around was a gray, pale landscape. Rocks, just rocks. Dust.
And cold!
And just like that, it was over. The image jerked, and then disappeared completely, as did the freezing cold. She was in her room, in the library again. Twilight’s ear twitched. “What was that?” Another chill swept over her. Something twinkled in her peripheral vision, and she looked down, and gasped.
Sitting on the floor in front of her, reflecting the sun that was pouring in the window, was an indigo chest plate with a pale turquoise crescent moon in the middle.