“There, finally” the pony mumbled, adding the finishing touch to the room with her horn. The corner of her mouth twitched into a smile as her eyes sparked. She spread her snowy white wings and floated away on the breeze, feeling her shimmering mane brush against her in a magical breeze.
*********************************************
Twilight dip0ped her quill into the ink bottle and pressed it to the parchment gently to write an essay. As she scratching sound of the quill eminated through the room, a small purple earthdragon rested in a wicker basket. The glowing full moon hovered low in the deep navy night sky, pillowed in a blanket of stars, and the soft chirrup of the crickets was the only sound in sleeping Ponyville. Twilight blinked her eyes slowly, casting out her shimmering pink aura to unlatch a window and open the tree library to a cool waft of air. The dozing dragon moaned in his sleep and restlessly flopped over to his stomach, and the unicorn extinguished all the lights in the library but for the single candle burning faintly beside her essay. She once again lifted the quill and scratched out sentences on the beige surface of the parchment, sentences soon spilling from her mind to fill the page with Twilight’s neat cursive. Each word seemed to float from the page and land upon her purple eyelids, until their weight became too great and they clapped together soundlessly.
She floated in a dark void, the dream void. She could feel her mind bogged with the heavy haze that invades a dream, making logic impossible and decisions foolish. Twilight could not feel her legs, but knew in her soul that she stood. At once she saw at everything and nothing once, feeling her brain flood with knowledge and dream-thoughts. A long horn gleamed in the no-light, and a pair of powerful wings pressed upon her sides. A wind pressed upon her cheek in a concentration, indicating her flowing plasma of hair. It did not shine as Celestia’s, nor sparkle like Luna’s, but had its own resonating power and gleam within the purple and pink flow.
A high, keening sound splintered her fogged mind into shards, frantic and fearful. Slowly it formed itself into a voice, then words of desperation. “Heeelp! Twilight, help!” it screeched, holding the echoed quality of a voice far away but also the sharpness of something quite near. Twilight recognized the voice quickly as her heart sped up.
“Pinkie?!”
“Twilight, help!”
“I’m coming!!” Twilght ran tirelessly, feeling her legs move like phantom limbs. Her horn blazed with a cerulean glow, providing only a few yards of visibility before the light was once again sucked into the darkness around her.
“HELP!” Pinkie Pie’s screech thrust itself into Twilight’s ears, leaving a high ringing in its place. Twilight whipped her head from left to right, violet eyes raking the world with piercing intensity. A gleaming golden shoe flickered into being, placed on a lengthy leg of white. It was not her friend’s pink she had searched for, but the sight of her mentor brought relief to Twilgiht.
“Princess Celestia!” she cried breathlessly, nearing the alicorn with a single bound. “You have to help me! Pinkie Pie’s hurt somewhere and she needs help, but I can’t find her!” Celestia’s large white head rose from the floor slowly and she turned to meet Twilight, her pink eyes flashing with something uncharacteristic- mockery.
“Oh, is she?” the princess rasped in a voice that certainly was not ponish. It ringed with twisted amusement, grating harshly like grinding gears and chilling Twilight to the core of her being. The thing’s mouth lifted into a a cruel smirk, and the eyes glinted with some sort of dark zeal. The being’s jaws cracked open and it howled in Pinkie Pie’s voice- “Help!” It cackled mirthlessly and turned a horrible, sharp toothed grin to Twilight’s face.
“No. No!” Twilight gasped, feeling her alicorn wings unfold with a whoosh of wind. The creature simply giggled, a sound not suited to its actions.
“Twilight?” Twilight’s purple dragon friend’s voice rang from the surrounding void, with concern and mild fear in the single word he had spoken.
“Don’t come over here, Spike” the purple alicorn cautioned as her horn began to glow menacingly. Her eyes narrowed as the creature that she’d thought to be Princess Celestia grinned, egging her to blast it into oblivion.
“Why not?” her eyes snapped open to view Spike’s scaly face a foot from her own, questions and sympathy resonating from him. Seeing the fear in her eyes, he continued on explaining.
“You must have fallen asleep while you were writing. I woke up and you were thrashing around on the floor like Discord was after you again. You were sleep talking too, mumbling stuff about Pinkie Pie and Celestia and monsters. Did you have a bad dream?” he comforted his friend, offering a claw to assist her rise from the floor. When his purple friend nodded, Spike winced in sympathy.
“Yes, I had a nightmare,” Twilight said, placing her hoof in Spike’s claw and slowly rising. As soon as she had stood, however, her knees folded in upon themselves and she crumpled to the floor in a disheveled heap. After groaning in dismay, she organized her tangled limbs and summoned a hairbrush. Turning to Spike, she asked for a few things.
“Spike? Would you mind getting a quill, parchment, and ink? I need to rewrite my schedule for today, since I didn’t finish my magical theory essay last night. In addition, I would like a bit of breakfast, if you’re willing to make it” she hastily added,
giving the dragon a smile. He agreed readily.
“Sure!” he said, already reaching for the quill Twilight had been using last night with one claw. “I’ll have Owolicious clean this mess up,” he indicated the spilled ink and ruined parchment with his empty claw as he released the quill to Twilight’s magic, “and I’ll make breakfast!” Spike stuffed a claw into his mouth and emitted a loud whistle, causing Owolicious to flap in through the open window from his nighttime hunt. The two simply shared a glance to communicate their jobs before Spike trotted towards the kitchen.
“Who” Owolicious set a roll of parchment and an ink bottle in front of Twilight with each talon, trading them out for a washcloth. He lobbed the ruined essay and empty ink bottle into a wastebasket and pressed the cloth to the ink puddle, staining it black.
“Thank you, Owolicious” Twilight acknowledged her assistant, proud that he and Spike now worked together so well.
“Who?”
“You. For cleaning up the-“ Twilight’s straight mouth slipped into a grin and she chuckled at herself. “Never mind.”
“Order up!” Spike called, taking the stairs two at a time as he came from the kitchen. One claw lifted a plate of waffles in the air, complete with butter, syrup, berries, and whipped cream; while the other clasped a glass of fresh orange juice. His rose apron flapped around his ankles and tripped him with a jolt. Spike let out a sharp yell as he tumbled forward, squeezing shut his eyes in anticipation of the hard floor and crashing of plates around him. But, instead, he felt the familiar tingle of Twilight’s rose magic as he was gently levitated towards his unicorn friend. Moving inside the sparkling aura, he wrestled the food back on to the plate and was pristine when he was set on his feet in front of Twilight. Sheepish, he set the meal by her hooves.“Here ya go.”
Ravenous, Twilight managed to cram an entire slice of grilled bread and a large sip of juice into her mouth before she took a breath. “Fanks” she mumbled, a magical shield over her mouth to prevent spraying Spike with crumbs. Still manipulating food and drink, she levitated the quill and lowered her eyes to the parchment in concentration. Just as she placed the final touches on the new daily schedule, a burst of green flame consumed her work and replaced it with a tightly rolled scroll. The magically grasped quill snapped in half before Twilight could compose herself.
With a loud exhale, the lavender unicorn raised the scroll and popped the golden seal displaying the Equestrian coat-of-hooves. Letting the scarlet ribbon float to the ground, she unrolled the hovering scroll and read Celestia’s loopy but elegant script.
“My dearest student, Twilight Sparkle,
To thank you and your friends for you deeds concerning Nightmare Moon and Discord, the citizens of Equestria have requested a celebration in your honor. You and the other Elements have done so much for our lands that multiple towns recommended it to Luna and I, and I have decided that the time is right to celebrate you. Many towns, including your own Ponyville, have generously donated money to build you six and your families a home nearby Canterlot.
So, for their sakes and yours, we of Canterlot and Royalty request your presence in Canterlot as we celebrate the third anniversary of Nightmare Moon’s defeat. The festivities will likely include a banquet and dance, as well as the festival we have come to hold here in Canterlot for the Summer Sun Celebration. This year the Rising of the Sun will be performed in Canterlot, with you and your friends as honorable guests.
I request that you send word to me quickly by Spike as to whether you all will be able to attend this honorable occasion, as many ponies are counting on your rapid response to begin preparations. Thank you, and I hope you all can attend!
(Shining Armor and Cadence will also be there, back from their honeymoon! Luna personally wishes to thank you both now and at the celebrations for freeing her from the Maisma that trapped her inside Nightmare Moon for so long.)
With love from your teacher,
Princess Celestia
Spike read over her shoulder, but only got through half the letter before Twilight’s exceptional reading had sped her through the words like quicksilver. Nonchalant, she took another bite of her toast as she left the letter to drift to the floor. Darting around her body, Spike picked up the letter in his claws and read what he had not. Dropping it abruptly, as Twilight had, he lifted his head and met her unfocused eyes.
“Are you going?” he inquired, canting his head to the side imperceptibly. Twilight finished chewing and swallowed, then took a long sip of her juice before replying. Spike impatiently tapped his foot against the floor as he waited.
“I would like to go,” Twilight responded slowly, carefully choosing her words and banishing the horrifying nightmare from her mind, allowing her to think perfectly clearly. “I think it would be ungrateful if any of us were to not go” she rose to her hooves, this time remaining steady. Since she was facing away from Spike, she turned her entire body to face him.
“I think that the others would also like to go, and will certainly make time for it and reschedule other plans if need be. You don’t just dismiss a request for presence from the Princess. But,” she added, seeing Spike pull a quill and parchment from her shelves, “I don’t want to send an RSVP yet. I need to check with everypony else, anyhow. If only to let them know it’s going to happen.” Spike nodded in understanding, and placed the materials back on the shelves.
“Should I come with?” he inquired as Twilight moved towards the door. She had swung open both halves before she replied to him, looking back over her shoulder as she stood stationary in the doorway.
“No, not now, Spike. I need you to work out a schedule for this week and next, to make sure everything gets done in accommodation for this trip and today’s inactivity.” The dragon mock saluted his friend.
“Ayaye, cap’n!” he cried with a smile. Twilight smiled back and stepped out the door.
“Okay,” she said, “bye, Spike!” she closed the door behind her in a shower of rose sparkles and trotted away.
[On a search for pre-readers and editors! Please let me know if you are willing to do this for me!]