Princess Twilight Sparkle had been having a bad day.
She’d been in Canterlot all day, working with Princess Celestia’s staff on a proposal for a new inter-library system of lending books via teleportation kiosks. There were so many books to be acquired, and so few ways to send those books out to smaller libraries, outside the prohibitively expensive Pegasus Mail System. They had weight limits, after all; and most healthy and able mailponies could only carry a dozen or so books before becoming dangerously encumbered. It would be rather expensive to create the teleportation kiosks, but Twilight was certain that in the long run they would pay off.
Princess Celestia hadn’t been so certain, though. While she agreed that it was a shame that it was so difficult for books to be transported to various libraries, the initial start-up cost was rather high. Twilight’s normally inscrutably pleasant mentor had actually choked on her tea when she read the estimated bit cost.
The proposal had gone downhill from there.
Twilight and Celestia had debated at length, discussing the merits and the costs and everything that was involved with starting a major project. They’d been forced to cut their talk short after Celestia had been summoned away to deal with an awkward situation involving an amorous minotaur diplomat and a hapless dairy farmer, leaving Twilight with the distinct impression that her dream of instantaneous inter-library lending may have to wait indefinitely, or at least until she could discern a way to cut down the start-up cost.
The moon rose over Ponyville as Twilight trudged through the empty streets. She was more than happy to see the branches of the library’s upper canopy come into view. It had been a long day. “Fourteen million bits isn’t that much,” Twilight grumbled quietly as she opened the door to her library home.
She shot a quiet glare at the prototype teleportation kiosk that sat in the center of the library’s first floor, silently blaming its sleek design and complex enchantments for her failure. So the teleportation matrix linking dozens of libraries required an emerald of at least 300 carats in weight per kiosk? She was certain that the treasury had gems like that just lying around, doing nothing but adding value to the heaps of golden bits, priceless artifacts, and other things that were kept in the Canterlot Vaults. Even if there weren’t enough of the right type of gem in the vaults, negotiating with local dragons for access to their hoards wasn’t totally out of the question, no matter what face Celestia made at the mention of Draconic-Equine Diplomatic Relations. Surely she could acquire a few for her project!
“Spiiiiiike? I’m home! Are you still awake?” Twilight called, turning slowly to take in the dark rooms of the library.
Spike did not answer, though Twilight wasn’t surprised. It was well past his bedtime, and she knew the young dragon enjoyed his sleep. Owlowiscious greeted her arrival with a soft hoot, floating on silent wings to a perch on the first floor. Twilight smiled at her feathery companion. “Hello Owlowiscious.”
Owlowiscious answered with another hoot, his head tilting inquisitively at Twilight’s mussed mane and disheveled appearance. Twilight sighed. “The proposal didn’t go over so well. The costs of the project are too high. I’m going to have to get another audience with Celestia in a day or so, assuming we’re not at war with the minotaurs by then.”
The owl looked startled, hooting a confused inquiry. “Oh, it’s nothing, I’m certain that the princess was able to handle Ambassador Toned Steel and his… awkward advances. The dairy farmer probably won’t press charges.”
Owlowiscious had nothing more to say on the matter of diplomatic relations, so Twilight gave him a gentle pat on the head. “I’m going to bed. Would you mind sorting the cooking section by cuisine ethnicity tonight? I changed it to alphabetical by author yesterday, but I gave it some thought, and I think it is easier to parse when they’re sorted by cuisine type.”
Her pet gave a smart salute and flew away, intent on the recently re-ordered section of cook books. Twilight smiled to herself as she trotted quietly up the stairs, her horn lighting the way, careful not to wake up Spike as she arrived in her room. As usual, Spike lay in his smaller bed, curled up and mostly buried underneath his blue blanket. Twilight gave the sleeping dragon a gentle kiss on the cheek, dimming the glow of her light spell so as not to awaken him. Twilight shook off her golden shoes and lay them out neatly beside her bed, and set her Tiara of Magic inside the special case she’d had commissioned for its safekeeping—locking it with her magic once it was properly secured.
Stretching her wings, Twilight slid beneath the covers of her bed, dismissing her light spell as she did so. The room fell into almost complete darkness, only moonlight coming through the nearby window as illumination. Twilight sighed, shifting several times and adjusting her wings. It’d taken some practice, but she’d finally gotten used to sleeping with her new feathery appendages. She rolled onto her stomach, stretching her wings out briefly before settling them in a neutral position, and closed her eyes.
It was perhaps minutes, or maybe hours, later when Twilight woke up from a nightmare. She gasped, jerking slightly, but found a comforting warmth at her side. She exhaled slowly, curling back, the embrace of the warm blankets and warmer body beside her comforting her. Twilight relaxed, sighing softly, sleep drifting ever closer.
Her eyes snapped open as something clicked in the back of her mind.
“Mmm… zmf… myes, the… t-the pumpkins will do nicely… darling… hrgmmpf…”
Twilight slowly turned to look, terror freezing her limbs. She was greeted by a familiar purple mane and a creamy white coat. One arm draped gently over Twilight’s back as she shifted slightly, fright turning swiftly to confusion.
“R-Rarity?”
Rarity grumbled incoherently in response, still asleep. “Hmm? Th-that’s… nice, Sweetie, go… play with the… hmmf… timberwolves…”
Twilight blinked, attempting to shift away from her friend’s embrace, but Rarity clung to her like she’d been glued on, her grumbling continuing as she nuzzled one soft, fuzzy cheek against Twilight’s shoulder. “N-ngh… no… mmf… chartreuse is… hmph… out this season…”
“Rarity, please wake up,” Twilight implored, growing more uncomfortable. Not that Rarity’s warm form pressed against hers, shielding her from the cold night, wasn’t pleasant, but it was still rather inappropriate to be so… close. And uninvited, at that.
“Mph? Hmm… Twilight… your mane looks a mess… mghff… darling… y’ should come with me to… the spa…” Rarity replied.
Closer to the mark, at any rate, thought Twilight. “Rarity, you’re making me a bit uncomfortable. I’m all for sleepovers, but this is a tad much. How’d you even get in here?” she said, her voice cracking slightly.
“Hmph… five more minutes, mother… need to… hgmpf… look m’ best…” Rarity murmured sleepily, wrapping her arms tighter around Twilight.
Twilight wriggled slightly, her wings and forelegs pinned to her sides. She sighed, exasperated, and used her telekinesis to pry herself from Rarity’s sleepy embrace, slipping out of her bed and nearly tripping over Spike, who stood breathlessly at the side of the bed. Twilight froze, staring at Spike. Spike stared back with big, round eyes. He and Twilight shared an awkward moment, sharing in a blush that spread across their faces simultaneously. “Uh… hey, Spike.”
“Um… hiya, Twilight… w-what’s going on?” Spike stammered, his eyes darting between Rarity and Twilight.
“Mhpf… twenty seven!...Yes… hmmmph… more than enough…” slurred Rarity.
“I… honestly don’t know,” Twilight replied, turning to look at Rarity. “She must have snuck in, though I can’t figure out why.”
“Er… yeah… that sounds p-plausible…” Spike said, wringing his hands.
Twilight rolled her eyes and placed a hoof on Spike’s shoulder. “Spike, I promise, this is just as startling to me. I woke up, and Rarity was… well, sleeping in my bed.”
Spike shifted back a step, staring at Rarity. “Should we… wake her up?”
“Hmmmhmm… crab legs… for everypony… ha…”
Twilight and Spike shared an amused chuckle. Twilight shook her head after a moment’s consideration. “No, it’s okay, I guess. She’s pretty dead asleep. I’ll sleep downstairs, and tomorrow we can ask her what happened.”
“Okay,” Spike agreed, sliding back towards his basket at the foot of the bed.
Twilight smirked. “Grab your blanket, loverboy, you’re sleeping downstairs too.”
Blushing, Spike quickly grabbed his blanket and pillow. “O-of course! I’m a honorable dragon!”
Twilight ruffled a hoof along Spike’s headscales. “Of course you are. Let’s get some rest.”
Twilight awoke early the next morning as the sun hit her face. She groaned slightly, sitting up in the pile of pillows she’d assembled into a makeshift bed. She stretched, her back crackling as she did so, and stood up, her wings flapping open as she moved. “Ugh. Good morning?”
Nopony answered her, and she grumbled, heading for the kitchen. She pushed open the door, and was greeted by the gentle sizzle of warming potatoes and the scent of olive oil. Spike, clad in his apron and chef’s hat, gave her a cheerful smile. “G’morning, Twilight! I’m making hash browns for you and Rarity! I hope she likes potatoes.”
Twilight smiled blearily at the young dragon. “I’m sure she’ll love them. Did you happen to make tea? I’ll bring her up a cup, see how she’s doing.”
“Sure did! Saffron and jasmine, Rarity’s favorite!” Spike chirped, gesturing to the warming teapot on the stove.
Smirking, Twilight levitated the tea and two teacups over, pouring the strong drink as she spoke. “Wow. You sure know a lot about what Rarity likes.”
Spike blushed, busying himself with flipping the shredded potatoes to hide his embarrassment. “Well, uh, yeah…”
Twilight giggled, giving Spike a small nuzzle on the cheek. “You’re a good friend, Spike.”
With that, she levitated the two cups of tea and trotted up the stairs, carefully opening her bedroom door. “Rarity? Are you awake? I’ve got tea, and…”
The bedroom was empty, the covers in a lump in the middle of the bed. Twilight frowned. “Huh. That’s weird. Where’d she go?”