1. Birthday Presents
Missing Dreams
Chapter 1
Birthday Presents
Twilight Sparkle yawned widely as she closed the front door of Golden Oaks library for the final time that night. Through the window she watched an impossibly energized Pinkie Pie bounce down the path towards the rising moon, a grin on her face and a box of party supplies that was just a little bit too big on her back. Streaming from the edge of the box a bright purple banner could be seen waving gently in the nighttime breeze, the tail ends of the phrase 'Happy Birthday Twilight!' were visible on the exposed fabric.
Pinkie Pie was, as usual, the last to leave the party, having stayed later than the rest of the guests to pack up her party supplies, something she did with a speed that Rainbow Dash would have troubles matching. Twilight frowned suddenly at the thought, lifting her eyes away from the bouncing pink mare and instead looking to the sky. The only guest not at her party was a guest she knew would not be there, but also the one she wanted to be there the most.
Twilight's marefriend was still off in Manehattan, her Wonderbolt performance having ended just over four hours ago if everything had gone to schedule. It was the last day of her tour and she was due home the next day. A day they planned to spend together, Rainbow having insisted she needed to make up for missing Twilight's birthday.
Sighing quietly, Twilight double checked the door locks, making sure the warding enchantment she'd placed was still strong. The whole mess with Neon Lightning was over six months ago, but it left Twilight more paranoid than she cared to admit. It didn't help that less than a week before her trial the pegasus had up and vanished from her cell. Guards had been stationed at Golden Oaks Library after her escape, but after almost two months of nothing it was assumed she had fled the country.
As much as she wanted to believe that, Twilight had a feeling it wasn't the case. As such she'd had extra locks installed on her windows and replaced her door locks with something a bit stronger than what they were previously. Even adding an extra layer of magic did little to assuage the unicorn's fears. Every night she'd wander through her home and check all the windows and all the locks just to be sure.
But she knew she still wouldn't feel as safe as she would if Rainbow were there.
“Just one more,” Twilight muttered to herself, checking the kitchen window before moving on to the second floor. “One more night and-” she cut herself short as quiet, muffled thuds came from the balcony attached to her bedroom. The unmistakable sound of hoofsteps plodded slowly across the wooden floor, whoever it was making sure to keep as quiet as possible.
Spike was still fast asleep in his own bedroom on the first floor; his rather loud snores attesting to this fact. Whoever was in her room wasn't supposed to be there. The hoofsteps continued, walking further into the room before stopping.
Twilight's eyes grew wide and her heart hammered in her chest as she remained frozen on the stairs. A million thoughts raced through her mind, and eventually enough of them gathered and made her keep moving. She had to check who it was, no matter what. Charging her horn with every self defence spell in every book she'd ever read, Twilight climbed the rest of the stairs.
Despite her better judgement, she pushed herself down the hall until she reached the door that lead to her room. “Hello?” She called in a hoarse whisper, too quiet to be heard through the walls of the tree. Taking a deep breath she glared daggers at the door. “Who's in there!?” She barked, immediately taking a step back and preparing to fire a bolt of... something at whoever might respond. She wasn't even sure how many spells she was ready to fire, but she knew if somepony were to be hit by even half of them a trip to the hospital would be required. A fitting punishment, she thought. Everypony in Ponyville had heard about her... adventures a few months ago, and nopony would even think of playing a prank like this on her; not even Pinkie.
No; whoever was in that room did not have good intentions, of that she was sure.
There was still no response from the other side of the door; they weren't coming out. She had to go in. Taking a moment to prepare herself, Twilight took a deep breath and slammed the door open harshly. Her darkened, empty room lay before her, exactly how she remembered it. Nothing had changed.
Twilight didn't buy it.
“Come out!” She yelled, stepping through the door and flicking on the lights. The room was illuminated in a bright yellow glow, revealing nothing noteworthy. Twilight sighed, letting the magic dissipate from her horn. “I'm more paranoid than I thought. I can't wait till Rainbow gets home tomorrow.”
With a tired yawn she closed the door, latching it shut and climbing the stairs to the loft where her bed awaited, but stopped when she reached the top. Sitting on her bed was a small box wrapped like a gift with a card resting on top. Her heart rate was racing once again as she eyes the package suspiciously, every fibre in her being telling her to vaporize it on the spot just in case. But on the other hoof, there was a card on top, and no harm ever came from reading. The least she could do was see if it gave any indication towards who it was from. Maybe it was simply a gift that had been misplaced during the party, and Spike or Pinkie had brought it to her room so she could open it later?
Yes, that must have been it. Nopony had been in here; it was just left there because she forgot to open it at the party. There was nothing sinister about a birthday present.
Twilight failed to calm her quick and ragged breathing as she cautiously approached her bed. When she was right up next to her bed she noticed that it was indeed a birthday card resting on a gift no bigger than a shoe box. With a careful magical glow Twilight plucked the card from the top of the present, cringing away as she half expected it to explode into some kind of trap. When that didn't happen, she brought the card over to read.
“For the perfect mare on her birthday,” the front of the card read in elegant cursive sitting on a backdrop of bright, happy colours and random shapes. Twilight opened the card. “I hope this makes the day almost as perfect as you,” the inside read on a plain white paper. Below that in what was possibly the worst hoof writing Twilight had ever seen were the words, “I hope this makes up for missing the party. - Rainbow Dash.”
“I tried to find something less sappy.”
Twilight nearly jumped out of her skin at the unexpected voice, her head snapping to the right to see Rainbow Dash sitting in the open doorway to her balcony. “But you know how those cards are,” the pegasus added.
“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight shouted, dropping the card onto the bed and stomping across the floor onto the balcony. She didn't know if she wanted to cry from relief or shout and scream at the top of her lungs. When she was just inches away from Rainbow's face, she quickly decided on the latter. “You nearly gave me a heart attack! What were you thinking, sneaking in here in the middle of the night!?”
Rainbow cringed back from her marefriend's harsh tone. “Uh... well I was going to surprise you with the gift...”
“I thought some crazy pony had broken into my house!” Twilight continued, ignoring Rainbow's attempted justification. “I thought...” she sighed and shook her head. “Never mind, but don't you ever scare me like that again!”
“Sorry, Twi. I didn't think you'd hear me; I was just going to drop off the present and wait outside till you figured out I was here so I wouldn't scare you. Guess that didn't work....” she added guiltily, folding her ears back and looking down to the ground.
Twilight frowned. If there was one thing she would never be able to do, it was yell at Rainbow Dash when she looked like that. She was too cute for her own good, not that she'd ever knowingly do something that could be called 'cute'.
“Forgive me?” Rainbow asked quietly, looking at Twilight with large, pleading eyes.
“You're lucky I love you. Come here.” Grabbing Rainbow's chin and lifting her face, Twilight leaned forward and kissed her passionately. After three weeks, she was going to take full advantage of her marefriend's early return.
The kiss ended after a span of time that they could both agree was much too short, but left them both panting lightly regardless. “How are you here?” Twilight asked after regaining her breath. “Didn't you have a show tonight?”
Rainbow scoffed, puffing out her chest. “Yeah, that ended like... hours ago. You really thought I couldn't make it back here in four hours?”
“Considering it takes the train seven hours to get to Manehattan from here?” Twilight deadpanned.
Smiling boastfully, Rainbow just shrugged. “No biggie. Besides, there was no way anything could make me risk missing your birthday. Speaking of which...” she trailed off, motioning to the gift still sitting on Twilight's bed.
“I did tell you that you didn't have to get me anything, right?”
Rainbow rolled her eyes, pointing Twilight towards the bed with her wing. “You tell me and all our friends that every year, and nopony ever listens.”
Twilight giggled quietly, drawing the small box out of her room to join them on the balcony in a glow of magic. “I suppose that's true. But really; you making it back here is more than enough for me. Certainly more than I thought I'd get.”
Sticking her tongue out, Rainbow made a fake gagging noise. “Enough of the sappy stuff, Twi; you know I can't stand it.”
“Oh we both know you love it. Don't even try to hide it,” Twilight shot back with a smirk.
“Yeah well...” Rainbow trailed off, a faint blush appearing on her cheeks. “Shut up and open it.”
Twilight gave her a sickeningly sweet smile and neatly removed the paper and lid. The space inside it was filled with all different colours of tissue paper spread and puffed up to fill the box completely. In the center of all the colour and paper was a small jewellery box. One that was very familiar to the unicorn.
She lifted it out of the box and looked accusingly at Rainbow. “Dash, this is the exact same box I gave you your necklace in.”
“Ah-heh... I didn't think you'd notice. They didn't give me one so I had to re-use that,” she admitted sheepishly.
Twilight lifted an eyebrow. “Where did you go that wouldn't give you a box?”
Shrugging her shoulders, Rainbow said, “I dunno. Just open it already.”
Stiffing a giggle Twilight complied, lifting it up to her face and opening the lid. She couldn't stop her eyes from widening when she saw what rested inside. Sitting on a velvet pillow was a necklace. A six pointed star resting on a circular frame attached to the silver chain. In the center of the star was a round purple gem, shining gently in the light of the moon. The star and circle were silver like the chain.
“I thought you might like it. Any guesses where I got the idea?” Rainbow asked, admiring the necklace as well.
Lifting it out of the box Twilight held it up to the moon, the gem in the center catching the light and shimmering brilliantly. The light could pass straight through the gem, set in the middle of the silver star. “Where did you even find this?”
“I didn't; it was custom made at a little shop in Manehattan. I found it the first day we were there and I knew I had to get them to make something for you. I did miss the party, after all.”
“Rainbow... it's beautiful,” Twilight said, securing it around her neck and admiring it as it rested against her chest. She wandered back inside her room, coming to her vanity mirror and looking at the pendant around her neck as Rainbow came up next to her.
“I figured I owe you, since you already gave me this one,” Rainbow noted, tapping the silver bolt resting around her own neck.
Twilight frowned. “Please don't tell me you got me this just to be even?”
Rolling her eyes, Rainbow wrapped a wing around the unicorn's body. “It was just a joke, Twi; as if I'd need a reason to get my marefriend something nice for her birthday.”
“Now who's being sappy?” Twilight jabbed, eliciting another blush from her partner.
“Hey! That's not fair! You're the on who likes that kinda thing! I was just doing it for you, I mean it's not like I-”
“Oh shut up,” Twilight commanded, enforcing her words by silencing the pegasus with a deep kiss. Lips parted and tongues wrestled as the pair raised up onto their hind legs, each wrapping their hooves around the other. When they parted the quiet sound of breathing was the only sound in the room.
“So,” Twilight started, unable to even blink as she stared deeply in Rainbow's eyes. “First night back home and my birthday, got any ideas?”
Rainbow smirked, flapping her wings and carrying them both into the air. “Many, many ideas. I've been thinking about tonight since I left for my tour.”
Giving her marefriend a seductive smile, Twilight lit her horn and closed the balcony doors, latching them shut. “Well then,” she said as she was dropped gently onto her bed, Rainbow landing on top of her. “Let's keep these clean.” In a magic glow both their necklaces were taken from around their necks and set on the bedside table.
Twilight reached her hooves up and around Dash's neck, dragging her back down into another heated kiss.
Twilight Sparkle groaned quietly as a ray of sunlight pierced through her eyelids, rousing her from her blissful sleep. She tried to roll away from the intruding light only to be stopped short, quickly discovering the reason she couldn't move. Around her she could feel the hooves of her pegasus lover, holding her tightly even as the mare herself slept, and against her back she could feel the warmth radiating from Rainbow Dash.
With a sigh, half frustrated and half content, she pushed a little further back into the embrace, peaking one eye open just enough to see the window letting in the offending ray of light. With a grunt of effort she managed to get a small amount of magic to listen to her sleep-hazed mind. In a display of will that she would normally only expend on the highest level spells, Twilight drew the blinds across the window, bathing the room in a cool dimness.
“You could have just asked me to do that; I know how hard it is for you to use magic right after waking up,” Rainbow whispered quietly, nuzzling the top of Twilight's head gently, the sudden voice making the unicorn jump slightly.
“I thought you were still asleep, and we both know it's not a good idea to wake you up early in the morning,” Twilight replied. “How long have you been awake?”
Rainbow shrugged her shoulders, taking a deep breath through Twilight's mane, the fine hairs tickling her snout. “Not too long.”
“What time is it? I can't see the clock.”
Rainbow shifted around, craning her neck and struggling to see the wall behind her. “Half past ten,” she answered.
“Hmm... good; I didn't sleep in,” Twilight mumbled, worming her way out of Dash's grip. Once she was reluctantly let go, she rolled over, laying face to face with her pegasus. “We should get up though; everypony's planning to surprise you at the train station today.”
“Heh, guess I shouldn't disappoint them.”
Twilight nodded. “No, you shouldn't.” She sighed, scooting across the sheets until her head was resting on the same pillow as Rainbow's. “I don't want to get up though. The girls have a whole bunch of plans today for you now that you're back.”
“We could always pretend I got held up with something and Manehattan and won't be back until tomorrow,” Rainbow offered, leaning forward and nuzzling Twilight's cheek gently. “I wouldn't mind another day with just you.”
Twilight's nose wrinkled at the sensation. “As much as I want to agree, it's not exactly fair to the rest of the girls. We do have two weeks.”
“Another way to phrase that is 'it's not fair to us; we do have two weeks to spend with the girls'.”
Rolling her eyes, Twilight turned away once again, this time continuing until she found the edge of the bed. Pushing herself out from beneath the blanket, Twilight looked over at the pegasus still wrapped in the sheets. “Come on; the girls and I are meeting for breakfast before waiting for you at the train station. You can save them the trip if we meet them at Sugarcube Corner.”
Rainbow sighed. “Way to be a buzz kill, Twi. And here I was looking forward to spending today with you.”
“Oh don't be like that; you know perfectly well we'll have plenty of time together before you have to go back on tour,” Twilight giggled, walking around to the other side of the bed before leaning down and nuzzling the back of Rainbow's head, taking a deep breath of the smell that clung to her fur. “Besides; if you're any indication we really need showers.”
Rainbow perked up. “Showers eh?” She asked slyly, finally puling herself out from beneath the covers and sliding off the bed. “Well why didn't you say so?”
Laughing, Twilight shook her head. “Go start the water and I'll be up in a second; I have to go get Spike out of bed.”
“You expect me to wait for something?” Rainbow asked, eyeing the unicorn as she walked to the door.
Twilight shot her a sly look over her shoulder. “I expect you to wait for many things, and you know what happens when you wait.”
“Right, starting the shower. Take your time!” Rainbow called, bursting through the bathroom door attached to the bedroom.
“Oh Rainbow,” Twilight said to herself merrily, trotting down to the main floor of the library, following the sound of Spike's snoring to his room. “Never change.”
She knocked rather abruptly on the dragon's door, drawing a muffled groan from the other side. “Huh? Wuzzat?” came the well-articulated response.
“Time to get up, Spike; we're meeting Rainbow at the train station soon.” Twilight held in a giggle at the words, but it worked to get her assistant out of bed. After a few seconds of begrudging silence, a half-sleeping purple and green scaled dragon opened the door.
“I'm up,” he mumbled, yawning and stretching.
“Barely,” Twilight noted with a quiet chuckle. He shot her a glare. “Get ready; we're running late as it is. I'll be down after I have a shower.”
Spike groaned and nodded, waving Twilight away with a claw. Perhaps, had he been more awake, he'd have noticed the sound of the shower upstairs turning on without Twilight's presence, but as it was he plodded silently into the secondary bathroom on the main floor without question.
The young dragon came out not too long later, much more refreshed but no less tired, and listened vaguely to the sound of the shower running upstairs. He glanced at the clock, noting the time, before walking into the kitchen to find something to eat. Even if they were going out for breakfast, they never had gems, and Spike was in the mood for gems.
Coming back into the living room of the library with a healthy bowl of colourful jewels, Spike was somewhat surprised to hear the shower still running. Twilight tended to have a very strict morning schedule, and she never took long to shower. In fact, there was only one way Twilight Sparkle would ever take longer than ten minutes to shower in the morning.
This knowledge, which he had acquired over many months, was what allowed him to wave nonchalantly from his armchair when two ponies descended the stairs rather than one. “Rainbow,” he greeted fondly, smiling at the mare. “Flew back early, I see.”
“Hey little dude,” Rainbow returned with a smile. “No surprising you, is there?”
Spike gave a smug smile. “The only time Twilight spends any real time in the shower is when you're here.”
Rainbow chuckled at Twilight sudden embarrassed blush. “Ahem... yes... well,” the unicorn stuttered awkwardly, before noting the bowl in Spike's claws. “And I see you decided to go ahead and have breakfast anyway,” she noted accusingly, successfully changing the subject.
“You know we can't get gems anywhere around here,” Spike argued, wiping the fine powder of crushed jewels from the corners of his mouth. “Besides, I only had a few...”
Twilight raised an eyebrow.
“Dozen,” he corrected guiltily.
“Sometimes I wonder why I don't just put a padlock on the pantry,” Twilight giggled, motioning for the dragon to follow. “Come on; the girls are expecting us to be there soon.”
Spike hopped off the armchair, walking towards the door before stopping when he noticed a shimmering glint of light around Twilight's neck. The unicorn noticed his stare. “Spike? What is it?”
Hastily wiping away a bit of drool, Spike walked a little closer and examined the thing he'd seen. “Where'd you get that?” He asked, motioning to the necklace around Twilight's neck. “It looks... delicious.”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Dashie got it for me for my birthday, meaning no; you can't eat it.”
“It's not like I actually wanted to...” Spike muttered quietly in the most unconvincing voice possible.
“Eat it and you can fork over the bits to replace it,” Rainbow threatened mockingly. “That thing wasn't cheep ya know.”
Spike held his claws up defensively. “Hey, I'm just saying it looks good. You have a good eye for gems.”
“Come on you two; we were supposed to be there ten minutes ago,” Twilight called, already opening the front door. “Besides, Rainbow's train gets here in a little over an hour. We wouldn't want to miss that would we?”
Rainbow sniggered. “Wouldn't want to miss out on my own awesome return to Ponyville!” Quickly joining Twilight, the trio exited the library into the bright and sunny streets outside. The perfect summer day bore down upon them, with just enough clouds in the sky to keep the temperature down but also let the sun illuminate the brilliant colours of summer in Ponyville. Lush green grass lined the cobbled roads and bordered the houses, their golden thatched roofs shining merrily in the light.
“So how was your tour?” Spike asked as they walked, Twilight's ears swivelling around to listen in on the answer.
“Pretty boring, actually,” Rainbow said with a shrug. “It was the same routine we were doing on my last tour, only in different cities. Though when we did the one show in Fillydelphia last week Feathered Breeze almost crashed into the wall. The look on her face was priceless!”
Twilight giggled. “She was okay though, right?”
“Yeah yeah, she's fine. Anyway, I'm figuring if I play my cards right the next tour I could get promoted to captain of the flight squad. I'm already the wing pony for our captain, and he's looking to join a different squad pretty soon.”
“That's awesome! So does that mean you get to, like, make up the new routines?” Spike asked excitedly.
Rainbow shook her head. “Nah, the head squad still works out the routines and everything, though if I make captain I'll get a say in it, and a possibility to be moved into the main flight squad with Spitfire. After that, I can work my way up to captain when Spitfire retires, and I'll be the head captain for the Wonderbolts.”
“Sounds like you've got this all planned out,” Twilight noted with a giggle. “Guess I have been rubbing off on you after all.”
“Hey look, Sugarcube Corner!” Rainbow called, pointing down the street to the bakery that was just barely within view, and 'accidentally' changing the subject. “I'm gonna try something, but you gotta pretend you don't know I'm here.” Without waiting for an answer the pegasus took off like a rocket into the sky, searching out one of the few clouds speckled about and landing on it.
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Think we should humour her this time?” She asked, earning a shrug and a nod that said 'why not?' from her assistant.
Smiling, the pair quickly walked down the street to where Sugarcube corner waited, a group of four ponies already sharing a table out front of the bakery. “Hey girls!” Twilight called as they got within earshot, making all heads present swivel to her.
“Twilight, darling, where have you been? It's not like you to be late, especially considering what day it is,” Rarity called, motioning for her to come and take one of two open seats at the table.
“Sorry...” Twilight paused, catching sight of a moving cloud out of the corner of her vision. “Got caught up with... er... something back at the library. It's alright though; Rainbow's train shouldn't be here for at least another hour.”
“Uh... Twilight...” Applejack started uneasily, “It's actually supposed to be here in 20 minutes. Are you feelin' alright?”
Twilight blinked. Had they really taken that long? It certainly didn't feel like it. She opened her mouth to defend herself when she caught sight of the steadily growing white mass above their table, the clouds slowly turning grey as more and more were piled on. “Sorry girls,” she giggled, materializing an umbrella with a flash of magic and opening it, much to everypony's confusion.
“Sorry about what?” Fluttershy asked before adding timidly; “And.. um... why do you have an umbrella.
“This old thing? Benefits of being her marefriend. Like I said; sorry girls,” she repeated. As if on cue, a rumble of thunder came from the dark grey clouds above, and they promptly started raining. A light drizzle at first, it rapidly evolved into a full on downpour around and on their table.
The sound of very recognizable laughter drew their attention as Rainbow Dash flew gently down to the ground, keeping out of range of the water. “Hey girls! Did ya miss me?”
The rain stopped almost as quickly as it started, leaving four soaking ponies, one soaking dragon – who was glaring daggers at the mare that had refused to share her umbrella – and a sniggering Twilight Sparkle.
“Rainbow Dash,” Rarity greeted coldly, flipping her mane out of her face. “I see you made it back early, no doubt you were here last night for Twilight's birthday?”
“Huh? How'd you know that?” Rainbow asked suspiciously, stealing a chair from another table and sliding it next to Twilight's.
“Because unless my eyes are deceiving me, Twilight has a new necklace, and I know for a fact she'd never buy something like that for herself,” the alabaster mare replied, smiling a little smugly at her own deduction skills.
Rainbow rolled her eyes at Rarity's self-satisfied smirk. “Yeah, I got back into town last night. Flew back pretty much right after the show.”
Suddenly, Pinkie jumped up from beneath the table between Twilight and Rainbow, hooking a foreleg around both their necks. “You know what that means, right?” She asked excitedly.
“Party time?” Twilight and Rainbow asked in perfect sync, much to the amusement of a certain romantically-minded mare.
Pinkie Pie, however, was anything but amused, as she gave both of them a serious frown. “No no no no; that's not how this works! I'm supposed to jump up, ask if you know what it means, and everypony's supposed to be confused! Then I shout 'party time' and the author switches to the next scene!”
“Er... Pinkie?”
“Now you've ruined it!” The mare continued, ignoring any protest as she clambered onto the table, pacing back and forth in the limited space. “Well, only one thing to do now.” Extracting a bull horn from her mane, she clicked it on and began yelling through it; “Everypony! This scene has become too long! Do not panic. Please form an orderly line and exit stage right!”
Pinkie dropped the bullhorn and scampered off around the corner.
Everypony at the table shared a collective blink of confusion, before smiling and chuckling like they always did when Pinkie was being Pinkie; half out of wonder and awe for the mare, half out of concern and a little bit of fear.
“Anyway,” Rainbow started again, shaking the odd occurrence form her mind. “Twi tells me you girls made some plans for my first day back?”
Twilight sighed quietly as she walked down the street towards her library, Rainbow Dash trotting next to her with a cyan wing draped around her back. The setting sun set the sky alight with a myriad of bright, fiery colours. The street was just starting to grow dim as the source of light sank beneath the horizon.
“So, glad you didn't postpone this another day?” Twilight asked gently, resting her head against Rainbow's shoulder.
“Yeah; it was good to see the girls again. I miss them a lot when I'm on tour,” Rainbow explained with a serene smile.
Lifting her head slightly, Twilight jabbed Rainbow's cheek with her horn. “Hey, what do you mean you miss them a lot? What about me?”
Rainbow chuckled, taking the opportunity provided to her and surreptitiously kissing the tip of Twilight's horn, causing a shudder to run down the unicorn’s body. “You know I miss you too.”
“Hmm... how much?” Twilight asked teasingly.
With a roll of her eyes Rainbow squeezed her wing a little tighter around Twilight's back. “I can safely say I miss you more than them. It's good to be back.”
Twilight giggled. “It's really good to have you back, Rainbow. I was-... hey, what's that?”
Rainbow furrowed her brow. “What's what, Twi? It looks like the library to me.”
“That,” Twilight stressed, motioning to the front door. In the fading light of dusk a brown package could be seen sitting patiently in front of the door, a little bigger than a shoe box.
“Huh... you expecting any new books or something?” Rainbow asked as they hurried down the path to the library.
Twilight shook her head, lifting the package in her magic and examining it. “No... it... it doesn't even have a return address.”
“Wrong address?” Rainbow offered, opening the door and leading Twilight in, package still in tow.
“It's addressed to the library, so it got to the right place. I don't like this, Rainbow; something seems fishy.”
The pegasus shrugged. “It's just a box, Twi; what harm can a box do? May as well open it to see what's inside, at the very least.”
Twilight hummed in thought, putting the parcel onto her table and fishing a box cutter out of her desk. “I suppose so.” With that Twilight slid the knife along one of the pieces of tape holding the brown paper together. It unfolded to reveal a white box covered in multicoloured polka-dots, as though it were a gift. On top of the box was a small card, taped down so it wouldn't shift when the package was being mailed.
“A present?” Rainbow asked curiously, before shrugging. “Must have arrived late from somepony you know that couldn't make it to the party. I'm gonna go grab a drink, you want anything?”
“No, thanks,” Twilight called, still eyeing the box suspiciously. “Now who sent you?” she wondered aloud, plucking the letter from the top and opening it.
Dear Twilight Sparkle
I hope this gift finds you on your birthday, but you know how the Equstrian Mail system is. At any rate, I hope it's at the very least close to your birthday. Think of this as my little token of gratitude for all the things you've done for Equestria.
-S.
Frowning at the odd signature, Twilight set the card down and opened the box. Inside was a large, glass sphere surrounded by packing peanuts to keep it safe. Her stomach dropped at the sight of object. “This is... no; it can't be!”
Twilight picked the sphere up out of the box.
Rainbow came back out of the kitchen with a glass of juice balanced on her wing along with a sandwich on a plate. “Hey Twi, I... er... Twi? You okay?” The unicorn was standing stock-still in front of the table, her head focused down into the now open gift. From Rainbow's current position, she could only see the back of Twilight's head and was unable to see into the box.
Frowning, Rainbow walked a little closer, “Twi? Is it that great a present?”
Finally, Twilight turned her head painfully slowly. When Rainbow caught site of her face she dropped the items on her wings, rushing over to the unicorn. All along her face, emanating from her horn, were bright white lines. Almost like cracks in glass.
“Twi! Twilight, what's wrong!? What happened!?” Rainbow asked in a panic, forgetting about the package on the table as she grabbed Twilight's head in her hooves, examining the lines. They were spreading out, slowly covering her lavender coat.
For a moment, Twilight's mouth worked uselessly, her lips moving but no sound coming out. Eventually, a weak and breathy sigh escaped her lungs, carrying the words, “Find me.”
Suddenly there was a bright flash of light from the tip of Twilight's horn, momentarily blinding the pegasus. The sound of shattering glass filled the room, and when the spots had cleared from her eyes, Rainbow was staring at nothing more than a pile of small, purple shards.
“T... Twilight?”
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MMMMM b efore reading you have me itrigued
I will track this and follow its progress. But that scene with Pinkie....half of me is confused, and the other half has this comment:
decarbonisesa.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/monty_python_silly.jpg
...though I guess that's standard Pinkie Reacation #5?
But I remain curious as to where this will go and what you will do with this.
In the words of the Spy - Proceed!
Is it an enchanted orb, the same type in which twilight used to hold the aura of other unicorns?
Hmmmm, starts with S, and made Twilight break into a bunch of shards....Sombra?
4942056 Sadly from what I saw in the tags it's actually gonna be an OC.
4942130
True, but then again, if he tagged Sombra, there would be literally no point to trying to hide the villain's identity from the reader
4942226 Hm.... interesting proposition.
4942228
4942226
Nope, not Sombra nor an OC! It's not uncommon for authors to avoid tagging their villain until the chapter when the villain is actually introduced to their story to avoid spoilers, and it doesn't technically break site rules.
4941813
I was debating back and forth about keeping that scene. It almost kinda sorta fits with the light and fluffy tone of this chapter, with an added bit of curiosity about what she's talking about. On the other hand, this story will not have a similar tone until the very end. I've decided to keep it for now because it cracks me up, and unless a large number of people actively dislike it, it'll stay.
4941882
Bingo, have... a... err... I said bonus points in the A/N right? Have.... er... 7.235 bonus points! Redeemable at your nearest... store.... for... coupons?
Psssst!
before anyone else notices:
4942455
Oh joyous of joys.
*Cheap*
Other than that, I get bonus points! Haha!
Dammit, Kod, ya got me all emotionally invested in a story that won't update for weeks! (And, before you say anything, shaddup.
)
There were a few homonym errors, but on the while, she's good. I can't wait to see what happens next.
4945541
Hey, I'll have you know I got almost two thousand words done on the next chapter last night alone! This is probably going to update faster than Cheated Dreams did, and that was for a contest.
HOLY CRAP!!! Just finished the previous story and started this one...I AM MASSIVELY IMPRESSED!!! That said, I now am chomping the bit to see how this is going to go, and wondering who is behind all of this. Gilda Maybe? IN some iterations, she has powerful connections back in the Griffin's homeland. Lightning Dust? Then again, don't know if she had the connections to pull this off either. Some other third pony Rainbow's tangled with that I can't remember because it's late at night? ...In the immortal words of Mr Tourge..."MAYBE!?!?!?"
4945573
Glad to hear it! I favorited this one basically on principle because of the last one in this series. It's a little bit late in the evening right now, but I'll be sure to read it soon. 
I'll be watching! Put this one on hiatus and Twilight will give you that sickly sweet "I will break you" smile. 
Lol, I loved that when she was confronting that unicorn from the original.
4945573 It's funny, I just discovered Cheated Dreams a few days ago. I've read a few of your TwiDash stories before and loved them. Followed the author link and just browsed til one caught my fancy. Glad I picked that one!
Damn. Can't wait to see how this one turns out. I was a little wary at the tags (not the Adventure one), but hey, as long as Tragedy isn't included there's a good chance I wont have to be reading about character death.
Pinkie's scene... I think it would have worked better without the blatant fourth-wall breaking. Keep the combo in the Pinkie Sense, and basically have her be almost hysterically inconsolable, not wanting the girls to leave because she's got such an awful feeling. Other than that, there's a few minor errors ('peak' should be 'peek', 'cheep' should be 'cheap', etc).
I can't wait to see where you take this!
I can't wait to read the next chapters!
I loved cheated dreams (even if I forgot to say it...I necer wrote a comment or did I?) and This one startet really good!
Reading...
Reading...
WAT
BWUH
WHAAAT
This looks pretty good, and Twilight breaking into shards was entirely unexpected, but not in a bad way.
And, I'm sorry for being this blunt but... Pinkie's Fourth Wall breaking scene made me want to slam my face into my desk. It was jarring, broke story immersion and basically added nothing of value whatsoever. My recommendation is that you edit it out. That sort of Fourth Wall destruction is best used in silly crackfics, not a serious story.
4946434
Basically what this guy said.
Please, please, please update the next chapter. This story is to epic to postpone.