There was a perfectly logical explanation for why Twilight was experimenting with a love spell.
No. Not a love spell, per se; she was merely tweaking the Want It Need It spell a little to see if she could somehow inspire feelings of affection in sentient beings. That wasn’t so difficult to believe, was it? After all, there were so many different ways a spell like that could come in handy. For example, if some kind of monster was attacking Ponyville she could utilize the spell to ensnare it and lead it away from town without causing any more collateral damage. Maybe it could be used to help plants grow quicker much like the effect of playing music for them. Or if the population of badgers suddenly plummeted and the remaining few refused to mate and Equestria was in danger of having badgers go completely extinct she could save the day then too.
She definitely wasn’t dabbling with the arcane sciences because she was having difficulty expressing herself to a very special somepony. Celestia forbid anyone accuse her of attempting to bend the rules of the universe to woo a certain bubbly, beautiful, and breathtaking mare. Nonsense. That would be completely unethical.
Twilight stood in the basement of the library after having locked the door and setting up as many precautions as possible to make sure nopony walked in on her. It wouldn’t do to have somepony start jumping to conclusions and making assumptions when she only had Equestria’s best interests at heart.
She had written out the basic composition of the Want It Need It spell on a few scrolls and had begun cross-referencing some of the main components with the components of a certain love potion; both had a lot in common, targeting a certain area of the brain and releasing a good amount of hormones which triggered the feelings of desire and obsession. The main difference was the mode of targeting the object which the person it was used on would desire and the fact that the potion was for living things while the spell was more often embedded in inanimate objects. The side effect of the potion causing ponies to require constant eye contact was disconcerting, but she hoped that it could be avoided by using the spell component instead. She had briefly considered just seeing what would happen if she just cast the Want It Need It spell on herself, but she remembered that the spell also had the unfortunate effect of affecting all ponies who laid eyes on the object that had been enchanted instead of just a single pony.
So what she really needed was a focused spell that only affected one po… creature, but was not accompanied by debilitating side-effects. Easy as Pie. Erm… Piece of cake? No…
Twilight shook her head. No time for such thoughts. There was only time for science.
She had drafted what looked like a pretty good first attempt and began setting up for her first test run. She had struggled with just how she could test the spell; after all it was completely out of the question to experiment with ponies or Spike since there was no telling what could go wrong. Fluttershy would never forgive her if she tried experimenting on any of her animal friends, and there was no real way to know if the spell had worked or not on a plant. That left only one viable option: herself. What was the worst possible thing that could happen? She’d fall in love with herself? She rolled her eyes at the thought; more than likely this first go wouldn’t do anything at all and she’d have to go back to the drawing board and start all over. A small voice in the back of her mind rang a quiet warning bell, but was promptly ignored. This was important. Equestria needed her to make sacrifices and take risks for the greater good.
Yeah. The greater good.
She read over her notes one more time before positioning herself in front of a large mirror; she had taped a note to herself on the corner as a precaution, explaining the reversal steps and practically pleading with her future self to go through them in the event of magically induced narcissism. She closed her eyes and concentrated intently on the casting patterns she had written, keeping the image of her own face at the forefront of her mind as a focus for her pooling magic.
She was approaching the crest of the spell when she heard a familiar voice sing out, “Hi Twilight!”
Her eyes shot open. Right in front of her were two bright, baby blue eyes and a wide grin, and when she said right in front of she meant right in front of; the pony had her nose pressed up to Twilight’s, disregarding all pretenses of personal space. Twilight felt sudden heat rising in her cheeks and ears and her thoughts diverged down paths and alleys filled with laughter and bubblegum; she realized too late how dangerous her shift in focus was.
She felt the sudden surge of pressure in her horn and tried vainly to refocus on herself, but when the purple aura discharged, it surrounded the intruder instead. She was lifted into the air, eyes darting around and mouth slightly agape, but her eyes soon glazed over and bright light began to shine out of them. Twilight stared in horror as her friend twitched and shuddered and jolted as magic flowed through her brain and attempted to alter chemicals and synapses. This was both precisely what she had wanted and exactly what she had feared would happen; she had never intended to use the spell, that was ridiculous, but she had thought that immersing herself in the process of creating it would help ease her feelings one way or the other. But now this…
The lights faded and the pink pony slowly drifted back down to the ground.
Twilight raced over to her fallen friend and helped her sit up as she blinked in confusion, “Oh my gosh, Pinkie! I’m so sorry! I hope I didn’t give you any permanent brain damage. How many hooves am I holding up?”
Pinkie stared at Twilight, mouth slightly agape, before a goofy grin slowly stretched itself across her face, “Gee, Twilight. Have I ever told you you have really pretty eyes?”
Twilight blinked, still holding up a single hoof, “Um. I don’t think so.”
“That’s terrible!” Pinkie lamented, “Because you do! They’re so purple and sparkly and gorgeous!” Pinkie said the last word in a sort of wistful sigh.
Twilight began circling Pinkie, checking up and down for any outward traces of injury or change, “Are you sure you’re feeling okay? You don’t feel different in any way?”
Suddenly, Pinkie was in front of her again, large blue pools engulfing her, “I feel fine! Better than fine! I feel,” Pinkie lowered her eyelids with a cheeky smirk, “magical.”
Twilight felt her heart pounding and stumbled over herself trying to back away, “M-magical? Magical how, exactly?”
But Twilight couldn’t escape the enthusiastic earth equine. Pinkie was right there, face only inches away from hers, a single eyebrow arched and the barest of smiles curving her lips, “Would you like to see?”
Twilight’s breaths came shorter and she felt as though she would start hyper-ventilating soon if she couldn’t get herself under control, but she couldn’t get over the fact that Pinkie’s mouth was a mere breath away, “Um… I…” Mortification overwhelmed her as her vocabulary failed her, just when she needed it, too. Twilight felt herself beginning to blush furiously.
Pinkie chuckled, “Feeling a little tongue-tied, you silly filly? You could use it for something else if you wanted.”
Twilight licked her lips reflexively. Pinkie made no moves, she just stared Twilight down with eyes that practically smoldered, smiling a foxy little grin. Twilight’s brain shorted out; she was filing many inquiries but receiving no feedback, only static. Without rational thought to guide her she had to turn to the less rational which was more than willing to step up and take the reins.
Twilight closed the gap. She found Pinkie’s mouth soft and inviting, yielding, and warm; the pink pony tasted sweet but spicy, and Twilight lost herself in the sensation of the mare. She felt Pinkie smile beneath her lips, followed immediately by the curious probing of her tongue. Twilight let her in. Best decision ever. Twilight felt her knees getting a little weak, and Pinkie seemed to pick up on this as a cue to start pushing her back. Twilight tumbled backwards onto her back and stared up as Pinkie stood over her with a cheeky grin. Her head was swimming.
Pinkie perked an eyebrow before leaning down and nuzzling along Twilight’s jaw line, “You super adorable little unicorn.” Twilight sucked in a breath as Pinkie nibbled gently on her ear. Slowly and deliberately, Pinkie began grooming the sides of Twilight’s face, dragging a teasing tongue across tufts of lavender fur and the flushed skin beneath.
In some obscure corner of Twilight’s mind she heard that same small voice of reason begging her to remember how she had found herself in this position, but Twilight was having a hard time focusing on anything besides the position of Pinkie’s mouth trailing butterfly kisses up the bridge of her nose and in-between her eyes. Pinkie smirked and gave a short lick right beneath the base of Twilight’s horn causing the unicorn to blush even more furiously. Pinkie paused, gazing down once more at Twilight. Twilight attempted to reach back up to lock mouths with the mare again, but she couldn’t prop herself up high enough.
Pinkie giggled, “Okie dokie.” And she dove back in for another kiss.
Twilight reveled in the feeling, the raw emotion and pleasure behind the gesture. I love you. That single thought pierced through the hormone-addled fog in her brain. I love her. Suddenly she felt sick. How could she be doing this if she really loved her? This was sick; she was doing nothing but taking advantage of her.
Pinkie must have noticed Twilight’s sudden shift in mood because she drew back with an inquisitive expression written across her face, “What’s the matter?”
Twilight shook her head, clearing away the last of the haze, “I can’t do this, Pinkie. It’s not right.”
Pinkie tilted her head, “Are you sure? I thought we were having fun.”
Twilight swallowed the surge of desire that swelled at the thought, “I’m sure.”
Pinkie paused for a few moments before shrugging and helping Twilight back onto her hooves. Twilight trotted over to her mirror, searching for the spell that would undo this horrendous mistake. It had been one of the most incredible experiences she had the pleasure of engaging in, but it had come at the cost of her integrity and the least she could do was restore Pinkie’s freewill.
At least Pinkie didn’t seem to be suffering. The pink pony stood there staring at her with an amused smirk on her face, and Twilight couldn’t help but ask, “What are you thinking about?”
Pinkie did an impromptu jig, “I’m just thinking that that was such a fun game! We should play again soon, Twilight!”
Twilight blinked. “What game?”
Pinkie rolled her eyes with a giggle, “You know what game, silly! You’re the one that invited me to play!”
Twilight rubbed her forehead as a headache began forming behind her eyes, “Hold on. What were you doing here in my lab tonight?”
Pinkie took a deep breath before launching into her explanation, “Well, I was at home going over recipe ideas with Gummy when my eye started fluttering and my tail twitched right before my nose got itchy!” She stared at Twilight as though the unicorn should know what this meant, but Twilight only stared blankly so Pinkie continued, “It means that Twilight Sparkle wants to play a game! Duh!”
Twilight murmured, “Oh. Right.”
Pinkie trotted in a little circle, “So I came right here to see what kind of game you had in mind! And when I got here you had your eyes all closed and your horn all glowing so I looked at your doodles,” she gestured to the pile of notes on top of the desk, “and I figured it out!”
Twilight frowned, “You figured it out? Figured what out?”
Pinkie rolled her eyes, “Your game! Come on, Twilight, at least try to keep up!”
Twilight furrowed her brow, this was getting them nowhere, “I wasn’t playing a game. I was working.”
Pinkie snorted, “There’s no need to keep pretending. Your sneaky spell is all done now, remember? You got bored.”
Twilight stared at the grinning pink pony; what she was saying made no sense. She most definitely had not been bored. Um. No that wasn’t it. Why was Pinkie so adamant about the whole situation being a game? Yeah, that’s what didn’t make sense. Was this a side-effect of the spell, or was it some kind of anomaly that occurred because the subject was Pinkie or…
Pinkie stared at the paper taped to the mirror, “Hey. If you had a second spell to make the game stop why didn’t you use it?” She shook her head sadly, “Maybe I should have kept going?” She cocked her head at Twilight, “Are you still playing? Is that why you’re still pretending?”
Oh. Twilight could really be thick sometimes, couldn’t she?
She blinked. “So you were never really…”
Pinkie adopted a sultry look once more, slinking closer to the unicorn, purring, “Your mane is so siiilky. I just want to run my hooves through it. Want to run yours through mine?”
Twilight waved her hooves in the air and shouted, “No! Um… I release you?”
Pinkie’s mouth twitched up before conforming back into a seductive little smirk. She brushed by Twilight, running her tail under her chin, “Don’t play so hard to get.”
Twilight felt herself flushing again. What was she…? She focused on her horn and shot off a few colorful sparks. Just for show. “I… uh… Shazam?” Twilight opened her eyes to see Pinkie staring at her, “You’re no longer under the effects of the… "sneaky spell".”
Pinkie flopped onto her side and flailed her hooves in the air dramatically, “I’m FREE!”
Twilight let out a shuddering sigh, “Yeah. You’re free.”
Pinkie seemed not to have heard Twilight, “You were super cute being all blushy and shy, but do you think next time I could be the mad scientist and you could be the one zapped by my spell?” Pinkie reared on her hind hooves and wiggled her front ones in the air, “Ka-POW! Now you’re all mine, Twilight Sparkle!” She cackled sinisterly, “Gimme all your kisses!”
Twilight felt an odd mix of relief and confusion churning in her stomach. The words that finally made their way out of Twilight’s mouth were, “How could you cast a spell?”
Pinkie tapped her chin in thought before leaping into the air with a shout, “Ooh! Maybe I’ll make a potion!” She mimed stirring something in a huge pot, “Drink this.” She handed Twilight an invisible cup, “And then I’d have you!” She grinned triumphantly.
Twilight could only gape; Pinkie noticed.
She frowned, “What’s the matter? Did I mess up? Is it because I didn’t wait until the second spell? Now you don’t want to play again?”
Twilight nodded a bit too enthusiastically, “Yes! I mean, no. I mean,” She drug a hoof across her face with a groan. She replied meekly, “Yes. I would like to play again sometime.”
Pinkie hopped on her hooves, “Yay!” She leaned forward and planted a sloppy kiss on Twilight’s nose, “It’s a date!”
A date.
Twilight grinned from ear to ear at the sound. A date. How marvelous.
There was only one thing that still needed resolving, and Twilight brought it up reluctantly, “Pinkie Pie?”
“Yeah?”
“How in Equestria did you get in here?”
Pinkie smiled one of her enigmatic smiles and shrugged.
Twilight took a deep breath to inquire further but released it with a sigh as a single thought blasted through her desire to understand, Does it even really matter, you foal? She supposed it didn't.
"So..." Twilight drug a hoof across the ground, "About how long do you think it'll take your potion to brew exactly?"
Not long. Not long at all.
Okay. Maybe not so short, but what better way to kick start this whole project than with a little bit of comedy? Hope you all enjoyed reading it!
I love this. Especially Pinkie's mad scientist impression - I can hear it in my head. Well done.
So the spell didn't actually do anything at all? Lucky for her. Finally, Twilight screws up a spell and it's a dud, with a positive outcome. Loved it.
They're such a sweet couple.
Bwahahaha, TWILIGHT. Or perhaps I should be yelling at Pinkie. Either way, good times.
... I... You... changed...
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YES!
YesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesYES!!!!!!!!!! This is AWESOME! (Damn my sugar highs.)
Huh, this might be the first time Twilight messed up a spell and nothing horrible happens.
Looking forward to future updates =D
514355
I was hesitant to do a "Twilight messes up a spell" story, but I figured that if we didn't know she messed it up until the end maybe it would be okay. I'm really glad that it was.
514830
I changed? Well I'm glad you liked it at any rate.
So... did Pinkie just glow and float around for no reason then? I don't get it.
The story was cute though, I must admit, and Twilight being Good Girl Twilight was awesome (never take advantage of somepony under a spell).
This was pretty awesome
Awesome.
515616
Yup. The spell "attempted to alter chemicals and synapses" but ultimately failed and deposited Pinkie back on the ground. Sorry if that was confusing.
Nopony's going to take advantage of another pony if I can help it. That's not how we roll on the BSB pleasure cruise.
522453
No unwilling tomfoolery here! That sort of thing is not tolerated at the BSB boot camp of love.
And I will continue to wonder just how it's possible that I'm good at saucy (what incredible irony). Thanks for reading!
Crazy scientist Pie is best Pie. I only have one question: Pinkie figured out Twilight had a crush on her from her notes? Or she just thought Twilight was making a love spell and she was the target due to her pinkie sense telling her she was invited to play? This point strikes my as kinda shaky, y'know... I mean, Twilight's feelings are explained pretty well, but Pinkie just comes out of the blue and also is crushing on her... dunno, could you throw some light on this?
529869
Sure thing!
Pinkie's Pinkie Sense told her that Twilight wanted to play a game which is what brought Pinkie to the basement/laboratory in the first place. When she gets there she sees that Twilight is in the middle of casting some kind of spell, checks the notes to see what's going on, and infers that it's some kind of roleplaying game where Twilight stars as the mad scientist and Pinkie plays the role of the pony zapped with a love spell. Pinkie being Pinkie doesn't question things and throws herself into things even as Twilight is unaware that Pinkie thinks it's a game.
Ultimately, I left the ending a bit open in the sense that one could assume that Pinkie just enjoys this kind of game and doesn't have any deeper feelings, or one could read into a few different details and come to the conclusion that Pinkie's at least interested in our small purple friend.
I can see where this could be confusing, and if you have any suggestions I'd be more than happy to hear them.
530595 Okay, see, explained like that it makes much more sense and leaves less blanks, only the one that the reader chooses for himself. Thanks
As far as suggestions go, I have two: a) don't be shy on explanations. I took some writing classes few years ago, and learned that the biggest issue a writer faces, is explaning his thought. Because, while you know the whole story well enough so that reading what you write adds up completely, everybody else can only guess. So that's that, explanations always help.
And b) maybe throw some Pinkie perspective on the matter. Since this is a Twilight POV fic I guess there's not much room for Pinkie mind, but still, having some explanation of how and why she decided to smooch along with Twilight could ease our doubts
532565
Awesome!
It's a precarious balance between trusting your readers and being too vague that we tread, and sometimes it's hard to tell exactly which side of the fence I've landed. You've given some good advice and I thank you for it.
All my loves. ADOOOOORBS. Indeed, you are the premiere purveyor of perfectly pleasing and poignant little parables about our persistent purple pupil and our pink party planner.
Okay, first, let's go through the funny lines, because I loved them:
There was a perfectly logical explanation for why Twilight was experimenting with a love spell.
Bwa ha! Very nice. Way to start the story off with a good, strong, funny intro.
It wouldn’t do to have somepony start jumping to conclusions and making assumptions when she only had Equestria’s best interests at heart.
Denial-afflicted Twilight is best Twilight.
Twilight's brain shorted out; she was filing many inquiries but receiving no feedback, only static.
Poor little unicorn. Nothing in that dusty old Canterlot library ever quite prepared you for this, did it?
Pinkie reared on her hind hooves and wiggled her front ones in the air, “Ka-POW! Now you’re all mine, Twilight Sparkle!” She cackled sinisterly, “Gimme all your kisses!”
HEE! I am picturing Pinkie rearing up as she did during her "Evil Enchantress" song at Sugarcube Corner. I also dig Pinkie's enthusiasm for playing the role of mad scientist.
"So..." Twilight drug a hoof across the ground, "About how long do you think it'll take your potion to brew exactly?"
Not long. Not long at all.
Funny and cute. I am dead from the cute. Also, it's a nice bookend to the funny opening sentence.
My favorite part, though, was when things got serious and a bit emotional:
Twilight reveled in the feeling, the raw emotion and pleasure behind the gesture. I love you. That single thought pierced through the hormone-addled fog in her brain. I love her. Suddenly she felt sick. How could she be doing this if she really loved her? This was sick; she was doing nothing but taking advantage of her.
The "I love you" followed by that "I love her" ... agh, it hit me right HERE. It's such a bittersweet moment. Not sure if this is what you intended, but when I read that, I read it as though Twilight herself is just realizing it for the first time, that she's in love with Pinkie. And that as soon as she realizes it, she also realizes she has to deny herself everything she's longed for ... aww, man. Makes the ending that much sweeter, too.
Re: the question of the spell failing, I think maybe some more info added to this section might've helped:
Pinkie trotted in a little circle, “So I came right here to see what kind of game you had in mind! And when I got here you had your eyes all closed and your horn all glowing so I looked at your doodles,” she gestured to the pile of notes on top of the desk, “and I figured it out!”
Twilight frowned, “Wait. So you were never…?”
Like, instead of Twi figuring it out right away, she could've asked, "What do you mean, you figured it out?" and there could have been a few more sentences of back-and-forth allowing Twilight to piece together what actually happened. But it's a very minor thing and, really, I figured out what had happened after a moment or two of confusion. It didn't detract from my enjoyment of the story--in fact, this is the third or fourth time I've read through it, I like it so much.
533838 Well, from where I see it, good advice makes a good writer better, and a better writer gets better reviews, and better reviews make a writer happy, and a happy writer writes more, which makes the readers, like me, happy, so... you're welcome
534538
I am a very happy writer because I have been blessed with so much good advice and so many good readers!
534401
That's a great spot to expound! I think that I may just go back and tidy it up right now that I'm done with my work for the day.
Twilight is best pony for the very simple reason that she has so many types of Twilights that are each so much fun to write. I look forward to the day I get to write drunk Twilight because she is also best Twilight. Thanks again for the feedback, I always enjoy these comments from you.
535049....you doing a drunk Twi fic/chapter...ooooooh mandl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/Twilight_Sparkle_lolface.png