Five days later, I was tapping my foot impatiently at the foot of the stairwell in the Sparkle house.
“Twilight! We were supposed to leave ten minutes ago,” I called up. “What’s taking so long?”
“Almost done!”
I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. She had said that five minutes ago. I put my hand on the railing of the staircase leading to the second story of the house, wondering if I should go up and help until I realized that I had no clue which room was hers.
“Second door on the left,” a soft voice came from behind me.
I turned, seeing Twilight’s mother standing in the doorway to the kitchen with a mug of coffee in her hand. She smiled and tilted her head in a way that implied permission.
I smiled back, bounding up the stairs. I found the door Twilight Velvet had indicated opened and saw Twilight standing by her bed with a notebook in her hand, checking something off.
“I think that’s it, Spike,” she said, putting the notebook down without turning around. She zipped up the backpack and turned, starting slightly as she saw me standing there.
“A checklist, Twi?” I smiled at her. “Really, we’re only going to be gone six days at most, and we won’t really need clothes unless we go to the ball, and Rarity has already offered to make gowns for us.”
“It’s just a habit,” she said, nervously tapping her fingers together. “Plus, I’m trying to plan for when we get back how best to make it to Christmas Eve at Cadence’s house.”
I walked over, touching my forehead to hers. “We’ll handle it when we cross that bridge.” I took the bag from her hand and dropped it on her bed. “I think between the two of us we’ll be fine.”
“But what about gifts for your sisters, or the girls?”
“I brought my bits, and anything bought in Equestria will be better suited for them than anything brought over from here.” I smiled. “Relax, Twilight. This isn’t like it’s our first trip there.”
The bookish girl’s smile turned from nervous to relaxed as I spoke. “Ok,” she said, turning and giving Spike a few scratches behind the ears. “Behave yourself while I’m gone, ok?”
He looked around before smiling. “Don’t have too much fun,” he whispered before curling up and going to sleep.
As we walked downstairs, I leaned over and whispered to Twilight. “Do your folks know he can talk yet?”
She shook her head. “I didn’t even tell them about me ripping holes in the dimensional fabric.”
“Worried about how they’d react?”
“I’m pretty sure Dad would ground me for tampering with the laws of physics,” she said, face shading red. “But I’m not sure how to broach the subject, exactly.”
I grabbed my coat while Twilight ran in and hugged her mother goodbye. She came back carrying a foil wrapped package.
“Whatcha got?” I asked as Twilight pulled on her coat.
“Mom made cookies earlier.” The purple haired girl opened one end of the foil and pulled out a large sugar cookie, breaking it in half and handing one piece over to me.
I chewed on the cookie on the way to my car. “It’s missing something, Twi,” I said as I climbed in and started the vehicle.
Twilight looked confused, still chewing on her portion. “It tastes fine to me,” she said as she entered the passenger side.
“No, Twilight,” I said. “Trust me, it’s missing something crucial.”
“What?”
“A glass of milk to wash it down with.”
We laughed as I pulled out and headed for the school.
“Hey, you made it!” the Princess of Friendship said as we regained our bearings. Twilight had made the transit easier this time, not falling over as she tried to stand. I shook my mane out, feeling again the strange sense of rightness as I adjusted again to my pony form. My coat and scarf had made the trip with me, as had my Twilight’s coat and earmuffs.
The pony Twilight trotted up and hugged us both, my Twilight grinning like a schoolgirl. “Got any more lessons for me?” she asked, levitating the package of cookies over and pulling one out to offer.
The Alicorn laughed, taking the baked good. “I can probably think of one or two for while you're here. Is this a bribe?” she asked before taking a bite.
“Nope, just tasty,” she replied. “My mom made them.”
The Princess swallowed the bit she had bitten off and nodded. “Tastes kinda like mom’s recipe, all right.”
Starlight Glimmer came in, pausing for a moment as she saw us standing there. “I’m not interrupting, am I?” she asked.
“Not at all!” Twilight turned towards her and smiled. “You remember Sunset and Sunshine, right?”
The pastel unicorn nodded, smiling with a more genuine smile than the wan imitation she had during our last visit. “I’ll only be a moment, then you two and Twilight can catch each other up,” she said.
“Actually,” I said. “I thought Sunshine and I might hit the town and do a bit of quick window shopping.”
“Perfectly ok,” The Princess said. “We’ll see you later.”
I started to leave, then noticed that Sunshine hadn’t followed me. She was staring at the library with a lustful gleam in her eyes. I sighed and levitated her away from the bookshelves and out the door. “Come on, Egghead,” I said, teasing her with Rainbow Dash’s favored nickname for her.
The afternoon sun glinted off the dusting of snow on the ground. The entire town was decorated with wreaths and garlands, and the sound of harmonized singing made me steer us towards the tower that marked City Hall. As we neared, we saw five ponies on the front walkway in matching costumes singing, Big Mac, Rarity, and Fluttershy among them. They finished up and Sunshine started applauding. “That was amazing.”
Fluttershy blushed and half stepped behind Big Mac, a squeak slipping from her mouth.
Rarity tossed her mane and sighed good-naturedly. “Thank you, darling, but this was just a final dress rehearsal. Fluttershy wasn’t expecting…Sunset! Sunshine! No one told us you had arrived.” She came down the stairs and came to give us dignified hugs. Fluttershy followed soon after, still a little red-faced.
“What are you two doing in town, we weren’t expecting you until later this afternoon,” the yellow Pegasus asked.
“We got things ready a little sooner than expected and thought we’d window shop for my sister's gifts.” I looked around. “It's been a while since I did shopping anywhere here, got any pointers?”
“Well, the Quill shop has some excellent choices in brushes,” Rarity said, adjusting the scarf around her neck. “I seem to recall you saying your sisters painted.”
“They do,” I said, filing the information away for later. “Anywhere else?”
“Sugar Cube Corner always has good treat baskets,” Fluttershy offered. “It’s a nice alternative when you can’t think of anything else.”
“Are you performing tonight?” Sunshine asked. “That was a truly great set of harmonic melodies with polyphonic rhythms”
Rarity positively beamed. “Thank you, darling! We shall actually be performing tomorrow night, but with everything else going on tomorrow we were only able to meet tonight.” She smiled at Fluttershy. “Fluttershy has gotten comfortable enough to actually perform with the Ponytones for this one performance.” She gestured at the two ponies that had stayed up on the stage with Big Mac, discussing something out of earshot.
“Sunset, Sunshine, I’m sure you know Big Mac, but allow me to introduce Toe-Tapper and Torch Song, the other founding members of the Ponytones.” The two Earth ponies nodded as they were introduced.
“It’s very nice to meet you,” Sunshine said. “I hope we get a chance to catch your performance.”
Fluttershy let out another little squeak, fidgeting in place.
I put a hoof on her shoulder. “You were great, ‘Shy,” I gave her a warm smile. “Just focus on the song and you’ll be fine.”
She smiled back, nodding slightly.
“We’ve still got another song or two to rehearse, but you’re welcome to stay,” Rarity offered.
“We’d welcome the feedback,” Toe-Tapper offered.
“Thank you, but we should get going,” I said. “It’ll be dark soon and I want to be back at the castle before too late.” I nodded at my companion. “Besides, she’ll want a chance before bed to make an itinerary for tomorrow anyway.”
Rarity and Fluttershy, being in on the secret of just who Sunshine was, started giggling, which set me off when I saw Sunshine puff her cheeks in frustration.
“I wasn’t going to make a full one, you know,” she pouted as we left, cheeks still red from more than just the cold.
“I know, but it's fun to see you flustered,” I said, leaning over and giving her a nuzzle that made her smile a little as we approached Sugar Cube Corner.
“I’m going to get you back for that, you know,” she whispered before we entered.
I smiled. “Do your worst, Sunshine.”