//------------------------------// // Invitation // Story: Little Memories // by Skijarama //------------------------------// Several months have passed since Princess Celestia brought Discord to Ponyville in the hopes of making him into an ally. In that time, Rainbow Dash has become noticeably more and more optimistic, energetic, and light-hearted. A welcome change, to her friends, and especially to Spike and Twilight Sparkle. Now, with summer ended and leaves falling from the trees once again, an unexpected visitor comes to the Golden Oaks Library, bearing an important message… Twilight’s eyes glided over the pages of the open book in front of her. A content smile was on her face, and a mug of steaming pumpkin spice tea floated next to her in her magic. She was currently resting on her bed in the loft of the Library, enjoying what had turned out to be a rather lazy day so far. Rainbow had been gone for most of it, helping organize the local weather teams for some scheduled rainfall that night. Outside of that, though, nothing of interest had happened, leaving Twilight and Spike to their own devices. They had done some light tidying up earlier, sure, but that had been a remarkably small task, leaving Twilight with plenty of time to go through a new novel she had had her eye on for quite some time. Her mind was drawn away from the events told in those pages, however, when a knock came to the bedroom window. Perplexed, she lifted her gaze to find Rainbow Dash opening the window and stepping in. Twilight cocked an eyebrow. “What’s wrong with the door?” she asked curiously. Rainbow shut the window behind her and shrugged.  “Meh. Window was closer,” she answered casually before trotting over to the bed. “How have things been here?” Twilight’s bewildered expression morphed into the serene smile she’d had before, and she turned the book around so that the pegasus could see the cover. “Quiet and relaxing. I’ve been reading this.” Rainbow leaned in to examine the cover in finer detail, her eyes narrowed. “The Hotel?” she echoed before leaning back and tilting her head. “The heck is that?” Twilight’s smile grew. She took a sip of her tea before returning the book to its place in front of her face. “It’s about this pony who suddenly wakes up in a strange, magical hotel,” she began, her mind lighting up with fascination. “It has all kinds of luxurious things in it, like food courts that never run out of food, an indoor water park, really nice beds, even a gift shop, and a library. Thing is, the pony can’t leave. She’s trapped there with a few others, and none of them know how they got there.” Rainbow slowly tilted her head. “Huh… right. Tell me there’s some spooky monster lurking in there or something,” she ventured with playful disdain. “Cause otherwise, that sounds like a total snore.” Twilight rolled her eyes at that and thumped Rainbow on the nose with the spine of the book. “That’s because everything has to be lasers, action, short skirts, and explosions with you,” she retorted. Rainbow shook her head and held a hoof up to her poor abused muzzle. As she tenderly rubbed it, she gave Twilight a sideways glance. “Short skirts?” she asked through her hoof. “Whazzat mean?” Twilight giggled to herself and took another sip of her tea, but elected not to respond. Not that she needed to. Rainbow was smart, even if she didn’t act like it. A few more seconds passed in silence before Rainbow huffed indignantly at seemingly being ignored. She thrust her nose up into the air and made a show of stomping for the door to head downstairs. “Fine! Be that way! I won’t even give you the traditional awesome Rainbow Dash farewell!” “You mean a salute and a sonic rainboom as you vanish into the sunset?” Twilight quipped with a teasing smirk. Rainbow pouted at her before turning and departing from the room, leaving the unrepentant alicorn to just laugh some more and go back to her book.  Several minutes passed in relative silence. Every now and then she heard Rainbow or Spike moving around downstairs and talking to each other, but for the most part, the tranquil atmosphere she had been used to had evaporated. That was until she heard Rainbow’s voice blaring out: “I got it!” Twilight’s smile decreased, and she perked up her ears to listen. She heard the front door open, and muffled voices speaking back and forth. One was Rainbow, of course, but the other was too muffled for her to make out. With her curiosity now piqued, Twilight set the book down and got up from the bed, heading for the stairs. As she drew closer, she heard the door closing again, and the second voice became much clearer. She recognized it immediately, and her confused expression lit up into an excited smile. She knew that voice. Shining Armor was here. Her pace picked up, and she pushed through the door and down the stairs, soon emerging into the living room. Sure enough, the white-furred unicorn was in the middle of the room, Rainbow standing in front of him and the two talking to one another excitedly, as friends who hadn’t seen each other in quite some time. “Dude, I thought you were on leave in the Empire or something,” Rainbow noted while backing up to give him some room. “What are you doing here?” Shining smiled and shrugged. “I was in the Empire for a few weeks, yeah, but I’ve got another day or so before I gotta get back to my role in the guard. I was in the area and I figured I’d drop in and pay my little sister a visit,” he explained before looking around. He quickly caught sight of Twilight, and his smile grew. “Speaking of…” “Shining!” Twilight greeted, jumping down the remaining six or so steps before springing forward to tackle him. He was prepared and caught her in his hooves just in time for the two to wrap each other up in a warm hug. She snuggled closer to him for a moment before leaning back to look into his eyes. “It’s been so long! How are you?” “Doing good,” he replied, ruffling her mane with his hoof. “How about you?” “Good!” Twilight chirped with an emphatic nod. “I’ve been getting better with my magic, I’ve got a new book, and I can almost last for twenty seconds in a hoof wrestle against Rainbow now!” “Twenty seconds, huh?” the solar guard captain noted, shooting a sly grin towards the pegasus in the room. “Better watch out, your highness, I think my little sis is catching up to you.” “She’s got stamina, I’ll give her that,” Rainbow replied without missing a beat, a glint of pride in her eyes. She then lifted one of her forelegs and gave it a flex to show off her own musculature. “But she’s still got nothin’ at this.” “Gimme another six months,” Twilight challenged cockily, her eyes narrowing at the prospect. “With the morning runs we keep taking, I’ll catch up to you in no time!” “I’ll believe that when I see it,” Rainbow shot back before chuckling and looking up at Shining, who was observing their interaction with a pleased smile. “So, Shining, how long are ya gonna stick around? We’re gonna be having dinner in an hour or so. Do ya wanna stick around for that?” Shining finally extracted himself from Twilight’s grasp and turned to Rainbow. “I might. But for now, why don’t we just sit down and get caught up for a while? Haven’t seen either of you in months.” “Sounds good to me,” Rainbow confirmed before hopping over to the couch and sitting down. “Sit wherever, we got plenty of space.” Twilight elected to stay next to her brother as he picked a seat and sat down. She hadn’t seen him in a long while, as he said, and some part of her felt the need to make up for the lack of contact. Soon enough, they were settled down, and Shining glanced sideways at Twilight expectantly. “So, this book you’ve been reading. What’s it about, Twily?” Twilight instantly perked up even more than before, while Rainbow smacked a hoof into her face in exasperation. “Ugh, really dude? Ya gotta start us off with the egghead stuff?” she deadpanned, giving Shining a stink-eye. “Oh, come on,” Shining rebuffed with a knowing smirk. “Don’t tell me you’re not totally into it when Twilight gets excited about something.” Twilight glanced at Rainbow at that, tilting her head in curiosity. For a moment she was confused by the assertion, but once she saw the small red tint on Rainbow’s cheeks, it dawned on her exactly what Shining was talking about. It made sense, she supposed. Rainbow spluttered incoherently for a second before leaning back, her muzzle scrunched. “W-well, I mean, you’re not wrong, but… Wha- h-hey! I thought you were supposed to be the big, scary, overprotective big brother! You’re not supposed to tease us, that’s your mom’s job!” Shining winked. “I’m only supposed to be overprotective when my little sister is in a relationship,” he clarified before leaning back. “And last I checked, you two are still on hold, so I can poke fun at you all I want.” “You are such a…” Rainbow grumbled, burying her face in her hooves to muffle the undoubtedly very vulgar things she was saying. Twilight, however, was not able to find the same enjoyment in the situation that Shining was. Her eyes lowered along with her ears, and a small pang of regret danced through her veins. Rainbow was still waiting on her, wasn’t she? Waiting for their relationship to get back to what it was before. A few seconds passed before she felt a hoof lightly nudging her shoulder. She snapped out of her trance and looked up into the concerned face of Shining Armor. His brow furrowed, and Twilight could see the recognition in his eyes. “Hey… sorry, Twi. I didn’t hit any nerves, did I?” he asked quietly. Twilight lifted her ears back up and shook her head. “No, no it’s fine,” she said simply before giving him a smile. It was, unfortunately, more strained than before. “I’m alright. Anyways, you wanted to know about the book?” Shining was quiet for a second before nodding his head in confirmation.”Yeah, if you wanna talk about it.” Twilight sat upright and cleared her throat, shoving aside her worries about her relationship with Rainbow Dash for the time being. There would be plenty of time to ponder their progress later. For now, she had a book to enthuse about. Maybe an hour later, Twilight finally ran out of things to say about the story. Shining had listened with rapt attention from the start, and Rainbow had eventually started paying attention as well, despite her best efforts to look completely bored out of her colorful mind. Spike had wandered in at some point and settled down next to Rainbow on the other couch while Twilight talked. “And, yeah. That sums up my thoughts on the book so far,” Twilight finally concluded, letting out a breath. “I’m only a third of the way into it, though, so I’ll have a LOT more to add in the future!” “Oh, please, spare me,” Rainbow droned, throwing her head back. Although Twilight did not miss that small glitter of anticipation in her eyes or the tiniest twitch of a smirk on her lips.  Shining laughed at that. “It wasn’t that bad, was it, Rainbow?” “Blargh.” Spike shrugged. “Eh. As tedious as it can be to listen to Twilight drone on about a new book, this time was pretty fun,” he commented idly before leaning forward in his seat. “Anyway, who's up for some grub? I can make dinner anytime!” “Ooh, me!” Rainbow exclaimed, thrusting a hoof into the air. “Feed me!” “I’m not against that,” Twilight agreed, rubbing her hoof on her stomach. She had to admit that talking at such length like that had made her surprisingly hungry. Of course, it could also be that Spike was just a really good cook and she was always down to eat something he prepared. “What about you, Shining?” Spike asked, turning his eyes to the largest pony in the room. Shining winced before rising from his seat. “Sorry, guys, but I actually need to be heading out. I might still be on leave for a few days, but there’s something else I gotta handle at home before then, and I should do it sooner rather than later,” he stated apologetically. Twilight blinked in confusion. “Like what?” she asked, leaning forward and looking up at him from her seated position. Shining turned to face her. She blinked and shifted when she saw the odd look on his face. He looked… excited? Nervous? Some combination of the two, and it was making her uneasy. After a moment, he cleared his throat and stepped back so he could look at everypony at once. “Like we said earlier, I spent most of my time off up in the Crystal Empire with Cadance. And, well…” He glanced away for a moment, suddenly looking rather sheepish. Twilight leaned forward, all of her focus on her big brother. “Yes? What is it?” Shining bit his lip before looking directly at her and finally speaking. “This is actually why I stopped in today. I needed to let you guys know in person that Cadance and I are engaged.” Twilight’s eyes widened, and she inhaled quietly in shock. All at once, any other thoughts she had came to a crashing halt, leaving nothing standing but the revelation before her. “Woah, really?!” Spike asked in almost a shout, hopping down from his seat and scampering towards Shining. “That’s incredible!” Rainbow shared the drake’s enthusiasm. She darted from her seat and over to Shining’s side with a powerful flap of her wings before clapping him good-naturedly on the shoulder. “Holy cow, man, that’s awesome! When’s the wedding?” she asked before backing up. Shining turned to the pegasus with his tension melting away. “We haven’t settled on a specific date, yet, but we were thinking of holding it sometime in the spring. Cadance said something about it being symbolic. A new beginning for us, a new beginning for the Empire, all at the same time that new life is popping up all over the place.” “We’re invited, right?” Spike asked eagerly, practically hopping in place. “Oh, please tell me we’re invited!” Shining turned to him next, no doubt answering his question with an affirmative. But as for Twilight, the conversation was slowly fading away from her ears and focus. Something was wrong here, she knew it, but she couldn’t figure out what. This was a happy moment, wasn’t it? Her big brother was getting married, after all. That’s not something that happens very often, and from everything she had learned about him and his fiancé, they had been a loving couple for quite some time. So… why wasn’t she as excited as Rainbow and Spike were? That was when the realization hit her like a ton of bricks. Rainbow and Spike were giddy with excitement because both of them had known both, Cadance and Shining for most of their lives. To them, he was practically family, even if they weren’t around each other very often.  But Twilight didn’t have that luxury. She had known him for around a year or so and had only spent any real time with him on a few scattered occasions. Yes, she cared about him, of course, and thanks to Spike they kept in touch via letters whenever possible. But, as much as it shamed her to admit it, she just didn’t know him as well as they did. And apparently, that was enough for her to not share their level of excitement. “Twi, come on!” Rainbow suddenly called, flying over and poking Twilight on the horn with a stern frown. “Smile or something! Maybe you missed it, but your big brother is getting married in the spring!” Twilight was quick to compose herself. She shook herself to clear the cobwebs before offering Shining her best smile. “Sorry, I was just surprised, that’s all,” she lied before hopping down from the couch and trotting over to throw her forelegs around her brother again. “Congratulations, Shining…” He returned the hug, resting his chin on her head. “Thanks, kiddo. But be honest with me,” he suddenly leaned back and looked into her eyes intently. “What’s wrong? I know when something’s bothering you, sis, and you are very bothered by something right now.” Was she really that transparent? Maybe it was just a sibling thing. Yet another advantage he had over her. She sighed and looked away. “It’s nothing serious. Just… seeing my friends so happy for you made me realize just how little time we’ve spent together, and… how little I really know you compared to them,” she admitted, her ears drooping. “I’m sorry.” Shining’s eyes widened. For a time, he didn’t say anything, occasionally glancing up at Rainbow and Spike. Eventually, though, he set his jaw and got down onto his haunches to be closer to Twilight’s eyes level. “Hey, Twilight… look at me,” he urged gently, drawing her gaze up to him. He smiled reassuringly and patted her on the shoulder. “It’s fine. I don’t blame you. You’ve still got amnesia going on, and to be honest, I probably should have come down here more often anyway. You’ve got nothing to be sorry about, clear?” Twilight hesitated for a few seconds. One the one hoof, this was her brother she was talking to. She should have been ecstatic for him no matter what shouldn’t she? But at the same time, he raised a good point. Her amnesia meant she only had a fraction of the experiences with him her friends did. It wasn’t her fault… even if some part of her felt like it should have been. She swallowed heavily and focused on Shining’s words, and eventually managed to offer him a small, but genuine smile. “Clear… thanks, Shining,” she said quietly. Shining smiled in return before ruffling her mane and standing up tall. “Good, glad that’s settled. Now, I need to be getting a move on. Cadance and I will have you and your friends sent invitations once we have a date nailed down,” he said to the group as a whole before turning for the door. He paused with his hoof on the handle and looked back towards Twilight. “And Twily?” “Yeah?” His smile grew. “I’m probably gonna have to resign my post in the guard here before long. I’m gonna be moving to the Empire, after all… so what do you say to me coming down here more often to spend some quality time with you? You know, to make up for some lost time?” Twilight’s heart warmed up considerably at the offer, and she couldn’t have stopped the emphatic nod of her head even if she had wanted to. “Yes, please. I’d like that a lot!” “Heh. Figured you might,” Shining stated before looking up at Rainbow and pointing at her. “Take care of my sis for me, you hear me?” “Sir, yes sir!” Rainbow confirmed with a smart salute. “She’s safe with me!” “Oh, and me!” Spike added in, also saluting. Shining chuckled at them and shook his head. “Well, I’ll hold you to that… bye, guys,” he said before waving and opening the door. “Bye, Shining Armor!” Twilight called after him, waving enthusiastically. Rainbow and Spike joined in the cheers, waving happily before the door clicked shut.