//------------------------------// // 1 // Story: The Anniversary // by Macmeg13 //------------------------------// It was a lovely Thursday morning at Canterlot. Ponies were making their way through town, going through their busy schedules. Aristocrats to lower classes walk among the streets, shopping or doing their daily chores. Others making their way through for appointments or social events. Near the center of it all was the Suburbs of Canterlot, not upper class ponies but not lower class either. In one of those houses is the residents of the Sparkle household, home of Twilight Velvet, a beige unicorn with gray mane with a light purple stripe, a wife and who's a royal astrologist, Night Light, a light blue unicorn with dark blue mane, a husband of Velvet and who's also a royal astrologist, Shinning Armor, a white teenage male unicorn with a flashy blue mane and who's working on becoming a royal guard someday, but for now is simply a high school student, Twilight Sparkle, the youngest and most powerful purple unicorn with the same mane as her mothers but it's purple with a pink stripe, who's Princess Celestia's personal student and their newest additions, Spike, a green and purple dragon who's being raised by young Twilight herself. This morning seemed like any other. It was summer vacation so the children didn't need to go to school and both parents had the day off today since they both worked at the same job. Shinning Armor was sitting upside down on the couch texting Cadance, Twilights babysitter and Shining's crush, with a large goofy grin on his face. His crush wasn't exactly the most subtle, even Cadance herself had her suspections, the only one who was completely oblivious to the romance was probably Twilight. She would always think it was his teen aged hormones that she read about in an anatomy book for male bodies before her mother took it away out of pure horror, for reasons Twilight didn't really understand, that were the cause every time he talks goofy around her or acts strange when somepony mentions love or Cadence like blushing or fidgeting like he needed to use the washroom. Twilight didn't really understand emotions that well, what she did understood was books. She simply adored books! Big books, small books, magic books, science books, fictional books, math books, history books, educational books, cook books, menus, dictionaries, even magazines she finds under her brothers bed. If it has words on paper, she would read it with glee and vigor. At this very moment, the small filly is reading a large book on the coffee table. During most of the summer Twilight was reading books at the same place, only moving when she has to eat, sleep, use the washroom or when her friends come over to play. She finished her required reading list before the school even ended so now she's working on next years summer reading list. Before her parents would try to persuade her away from her books to go play outdoors, but she would first say that it was really important that she read ahead but if she didn't she would eventually get behind, and if she got behind then she would fail school, and she failed school princess Celestia would laugh and she wouldn't be her personal student anymore, and if she wasn't her personal student anymore then she will be sent to magic kindergarten, and if she was sent to magic kindergarten then-and then the parents had to stop a hyperventilating filly from passing out and stopped asking her all together. Spike was happily curled up in Twilights lap, snoring happily in his position. Ever since Twilight hatched him he has been inseparable from Twilight since. Sleeping with her, eating with her and following her around happily. It was obvious that the little drake loved Twilight like a mother, and she is the only one who can console him when really upset. Her parents once asked about this to Celestia if this was normal and she assured them that Spike is simply doing what all little dragons do around their mother and would grow out of it when older. Since he was still young, he couldn't speak that well and couldn't walk long distances before collapsing in exhaustion, so he would always ride Twilights back. Twilight gave him a small scratch behind the ear distractedly as she turned the next page with her magic, placing her doll Smarty Pants, her favorite toy that Celestia gave to her during their first week of school, on top of the page to hold it down. She was about to start the next page when her parents caught her attention. Velvet was walking past the room, piking up her things with a scowl on her face, Night Light close behind with a confused look on his face. "So you really don't know what day it is?" Velvet asked, using her magic to put her purse on. The father shrugged. "I told you, it's Thursday." he replied, though getting more nervous as his wife's gaze intensified. "It is more than just another Thursday, Night Light." Velvet argued, seemingly not pleased by his response. Night gulped nervously, not knowing what's going on. "Then it must be...the day I realized how cute you are when you're angry?" he tried, but by seeing the deadpan look his wife was giving him he knows she isn't buying it. Twilight turned to her brother, seeing if he can explain her the situation, but he looked as annoyed as her mom was as he rolled over and walked to the kitchen, going unnoticed to the bickering couple. Velvet huffed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I'm going to get my hair done. I'll be back at 2." she turned around, making sure to hit the blue unicorn in the face with her tail. "Maybe you can figure it out before I get home." With that, she stormed off, slamming the door in the process, causing Spike to wake up abruptly. Twilight picked up the groggy drake and walked over to her father. Night Light sighed as leaned against the wall, rubbing his cheek. "Oh, I wonder what all the fuss is about." he muttered, looking at the closed door in confusion. "Ahem." Both turned to see Shinning with the same annoyed expression as before, the kitchen calendar in his magic. He pointed at a certain date that was circled in red. "June 15th." he said, but at his fathers still confused expression, he groaned. "It's your wedding anniversary!" Even though Night Light is a very smart stallion, it took him one, two, three blinks before finally reacting. His eyes bulged as he smacked himself on the forehead in devastation. "Ooh! Oh no! Wait, wait! I can fix this!" Quickly he ran past the kids and turned right, into his personal study. Both children stared at their father with surprise. "Gee, Shinny, isn't this a lot of fuss to make over a date?" Twilight asked. She knew how dates were important. She would stress on them for hours before hoof and show up at least an hour just to be sure she wasn't late. But for things like anniversaries, it simply just confused her. Shinning Armour gasped dramatically, placing a hoof over his chest in shock, a little overzealous in Twilights opinion but she didn't said it out loud. "Are you kidding? Anniversaries are very important." he exclaimed before flipping through the calendar. " Take June, for example. On the 3rd, Candace spoke to me for the first time back in the 7th grade." he flipped through some more. "May 6th, she brushed up against me in the hall. Oh!" he flipped pages once more before stopping at another date. "And April 3rd - that's the day she laughed so hard, milk came out of her nose!" he gave a girlish giggle, staring at the calendar fondly. "She looked so cute." he sighed, stroking the calendar. Twilight blinked, still confused. She waved a hoof in front of his face, only to get no reaction. Twilight sighed and rolled her eyes, she hated when her brother zoned out on her, which was often. She turned to Spike. "Stupid hormones." she told him, to which he nodded in agreement. He didn't know what hormones was but he was happy to agree with her whenever asked. Twilight walked past her sappy brother and was about to go back to her book when she paused, glancing back at her fathers study. Twilight really didn't like her fathers study. It was always messy, something that really bugged her, and her father refused to organize it properly. It was clear that she got her organisation skills from her mother, something her father liked to point out a lot. Her mothers office is always neat, tidy and organised, while her fathers is messy, unorganized and somewhat smelly to be honest. That's why she only goes into his office if its really important. Twilight shook her head. "I'm sure he's fine." she muttered to herself, turning away from the door only to come face to face with Smarty Pants. "Oh come on, don't give me that look." The doll stared back at her, unmoving. "Daddy's a smart pony, he'll be fine." she said, stomping her hoof. "Besides, you know how I hate daddy's office." Smarty just leaned over to the right, button eyes still going against pleading purple ones. Twilight turned up the charms, something she theorized and proved that it worked on at least 80% of the population she tried on (which was 5 ponies), she puckered her bottom lip, fluttering her eyelashes. "Please don't make me go." The staring contest lasted only a few seconds before Twilight looked away with a huff. "Ok, ok, enough with the third degree, I'm going." She sent one last glare before turning to Spike. "Come on, lets go see." Twilight walked to the door and hesitated before taking a deep breath and walking in. Papers and documents were scattered around the room and floor. The desk full of telescope parts and some dirty plates were left carelessly on his couch. Night Light was currently rummaging through his library, looking for anything to pass off as an anniversary gift. "Hey, Dad, can we help?" she asked, making her way towards him on the tip of her hooves, trying to avoid touching the mess. Night sighed, finally giving up on his fruitless search and slumped against his library. "Well, I'm afraid not, unless you can perform miracles." he sighed, racking a hoof through his disheveled mane. "What's your budget?" she joked, hopping to lighten the mood a bit. He gave her a small chuckle before sighing once more. "Tell me, what would you get a special mare on her anniversary?" Twilight opened her mouth to answer books, 'when in doubt go with books' is her motto, when she was interrupted. "Oh, please!" Shinning, now out of his drooling stupor, was making away through the mess with ease. "Asking her for romantic advice?" he said, pointed a hoof at Twilight and ignoring the undignified'Hey!' plus the low growl of a protective dragon. "Now that's just pathetic. Don't you and Mom have any cherished memories?" he asked. His father brightened at that. "Oh, yes. I've got just the thing in here." he said, levitating his toolbox he uses to build his telescopes and begins rummaging around. Shinning couldn't but face hoof. "He keeps his treasured memories in a toolbox." he muttered under his breath. With a successful 'Aha!', the father lifted out a CD. "Your mother's favorite band. Magic Love." he sighed, remembering that night as clear as if it were yesterday. The band was in the middle of a love ballad. Their was a drummer, a blue unicorn with a spiky black mane and wearing sunglasses and a skin tight flashy suit, the bassist, a powder blue earth pony with an amazing white mane and wearing a dark blue head ban, a big belt and dark eyeliner, and the lead singer and guitarist, a brown unicorn with a dark brown mullet and wearing a bright red scarf, an ear ring on his right ear and purple pants. "I bought us tickets to their farewell concert. Oh, we were a handsome, stylish couple back in those days." He remembered himself with curly mane, black eyeliner and a red leather vest and Velvet in pigtails, wearing many glow sticks and a cute hot pink leather dress. They were in a huge crowd, who were all cheering at Magic Love. He also remembered what happened during the love ballad. "So which lucky couple out there will be caught in our flamin' hot spotlight of love?" said the lead singer as a pink heart shaped spotlight traveled through the crowd before landing on two surprised young couple. "I'd never so much as held your mother's hoof, but that night, I made my move." Of course he lied a bit in that detail, in reality he was just incredibly confused during that situation, not knowing what to do. "Well, don't just stand there, man. Kiss her." the guitarist shouted. Young Night Light looks up at the rocker, still confused, but before he could so much a speak, Velvet leaned in and kissed him on the mouth. At first he froze in shock before slowly melting into the kiss. Even though the crowds cheers were deafening, he could still hear the song the band was playing that became their song all these years later. "You snuck your way right into my heart!" Night Light sighed, clutching the CD to his chest. Shinning was on the verge of tears while Twilight simply smiled, Spike bored on her back "Truly that was an evening I will never, ever forget." "But you did forget, didn't you?" Twilight responded, which earned a smack of a tail from Shinning. "Hey!" Both she and Spike glared at the older sibbling, not appreciating the smack. Night Light groaned, oblivious of the sibbling stand off. "But Magic Love broke up years ago. Some things can never be recaptured." With a dejected sigh, he got up, gave the CD to Twilight and walked out of his office. While Shinning stared at his father sadly, Twilight was currently deep in thought. Both siblings walked out and back to the living room, Twilight still in deep thought . At this moment she knew that their was two important variables. Both of her parents are upset. If added time, they would get even more upset. Twilight did the math in her head, playing out different scenarios and see which resolution would be the right one. Suddenly, one equation popped into her head. It seemed hard, but plausible, and if it worked it would make both of them very happy. "That's it!" she shouted, scaring her brother. She picked Spike up, smiling brightly at him. "I know what we're gonna do! We're gonna make it their best anniversary ever." Spike licked her happily, cooing in excitement. Twilight giggled and placed him back on her back, giving him a nuzzle in the process. She turned to pick up her doll and book before pausing in confusion."Hey, where's Smarty?" she looked around before shrugging. Smarty often disappeared on her but she always came back so Twilight didn't question it much. Twilight turned and went up to her room, Shinning Armor close behind, curious on what she came up with. Twilight entered her room and placed her book back into its proper place on one of her many bookshelves. She skimmed through her books before stopping at R. She looked through them before finding what she was looking for. "Ah! 'Rock Ages Through Out History'" Twilight took in out and placed it on her desk, Shinning and Spike looking over her shoulders curiously. "Why do you even have that one?" Shinning asked. Twilight simply shrugged, opening it to the Glossary. "It looked interesting." she responded, going to the M's. "Magic Love page 265." Quickly with her magic she turned it the the correct page. "Oh cool it has pictures." Shinning commented. Twilight simply rolled her eyes and cleared her throat before reading. "For a moment, their ballad, "Snuck Your Way Into My Heart", snuck its way to number one and stayed there for 11 consecutive minutes. But whatever happened to Magic Love? The band was riding high, but tastes were changing, and Magic Love found itself playing smaller and smaller venues. Pressures from a dwindling fan base caused in-fighting among the band members. Lines were drawn. Then lines were crossed. Eventually the lines were erased, and the piece of paper crumpled up and thrown away, and Magic Love was no more. Years later, Magic Love's music continues to warm the hearts of an appreciative public. Bass player Hoity Toity now runs a trendy hair and fashion salon, drummer Neon Lights works quietly at the public library, and only lead singer Jeff Letrotski is still a player in the music industry. " At the bottom of the page showed three pictures. One of a Fashion and hair salon with a sign that reads Hoity Toity Fabulous Hair and Clothes, a library that Twilight didn't recognized, which was surprising since Twilight knew a lot of libraries and a music store that read Jeffs Music Store. Shinning pointed at the third one. "I've seen that sign. It's down on Mane Street." Twilight beamed happily as she turned to her brother. "We'll get him to sing for Mom! Ready, team?" she stuck out her her hoof eagerly, and while Spike happily joined, the white unicorn scoffed. "Team? Oh, no, I am not getting involved in your crazy scheme." "Come on BBBFF. For true love?" She blinks at him pleadingly, and all though his front weakened, he still stayed stubborn. She sighed, dropping her charms and giving him a flat look. "I'll do your summer reading list." she said. This seemed to persuade him as he groaned and reluctantly placed a hoof on her and Spikes claw. Twilight cheered. "Alright, Shinny, you keep Mom away from the house. We'll go get Jeff." With an nod and a salute, he ran out with a determined look on his face. Without wasting time, she packed her bag with essentials; a map, her emergency cellphone, the CD, some extra change, a notebook and a pencil. With a nod she levitated Spike off her back, much to his displeasure, and placed her saddlebag on, before placing Spike back on. Happily he hummed contentedly, nuzzling the back of her neck, causing her to giggle. "You can't stay away from me for 5 seconds can't you?" Spike shook his head vigorously, giving her a big fat lick behind her ear, causing her to squeal in surprise. "SPIKE" she whined, levitating a handkerchief and wiping off the saliva. Spike simply giggled, resuming to nuzzling her happily. With a sigh and a roll of her eyes, she packed an extra pack of tissues and left her room. As she descended the stairs, she paused as she saw her father hunched over a cookbook. "Ooh, perhaps a fancy meal will make things up." he muttered to himself, causing Twilight to wince. When it comes to cooking, he is absolutely awful at it. "Hey, Dad, we're gonna throw a rock concert in the backyard, okay?" she called out, walking past the kitchen. Night Light simply waved a distracted hoof. "Yes. Well, be careful." he mumbled, skimming through the cook for an easy recipe. Twilight exited the house and closed the door behind her. She took a deep breath before sighing it out. "Come on, Spike. We have one stop to do first before going to Jeffs."