//------------------------------// // 4. Twilight Has a Date to Keep // Story: RariTwi: Love is War // by SigmasonicX //------------------------------// Morning in the student council room started normally enough, as Twilight checked her calendar while Pinkie ate her breakfast pastries and Wallflower worked on a spreadsheet. The day was March 20. Aside from signifying that their gala budget presentation was mere days away, there was another reason the day was special: it was the Spring Equinox. Ah yes, the Spring Equinox, a time that has fallen in significance over the years, but it remained the fourth most romantic day of the year, after Hearts and Hooves Day, Hearth’s Warming, and New Years. Twilight mentally cringed. Three days she completely botched with Rarity. Or rather, three days where she failed to do anything at all, out of fear it was too obvious a time to make a move. Surely Rarity wouldn’t be too suspicious on the fourth most romantic day, though. Many didn’t even realize it was a romantic day! Twilight mentally went over her plans and was disappointed to realize she still hadn’t settled on anything special to do with Rarity. Why was this so difficult? Get Rarity into a romantic situation and get her to confess her feelings. Simple! But every time Twilight played out a route in her head, she would crash headlong into a leap of logic or a dangerous assumption. She grasped her head. Then Pinkie started shaking. The two other girls watched as she jumped out of her seat, her leg spasmed, she fluttered her eyes, and then her hair exploded out and reformed. “Woah! Hold your heineys, because my Pinkie Sense says today’s going to be crazy!” And to make matters worse, here was Pinkie pretending to predict the future again. Pinkie stood on the work table and moved her fingers in a spooky fashion. “When the day and night approach their balance, the stability of the world is at its weakest. The barriers between dimensions will be torn asunder and reason will turn to madness as normality is redefined. Basically, it’s gonna be weird! But eh, it’ll probably be fine,” she said dismissively as she got back to her seat. Twilight adjusted her papers and narrowed her eyes. “That’s nice, Pinkie.” She’s had predictions like this for as long as they’ve known each other, but there was no logical reason for them to be accurate, so Twilight chose to ignore them. “Anyway, we really need to finish up our plans for how to handle the dining area in the garden. What do you think, Wallflower?” The green haired girl was startled at suddenly being addressed. “About the garden?” “Yes, you visit them often, so I think you’d have a lot of insight on how to handle dinner there.” “Oh, uh, I actually do have some ideas about that.” Wallflower rustled through her bag and Pinkie slid over to her to peer in. Twilight smiled. This was working! She was really getting Wallflower to open up. Eventually, this could lead to them becoming friends, but she had to take it slow and feel out what pace she was comfortable with. Right as she pulled some papers out, the doors slammed open. There stood Rarity, holding a bag to her chest in one hand and holding the other outstretched to present herself. “Good morning, my little duckies. Rarity has arrived.” Pinkie quacked in response and hopped away from Wallflower to greet Rarity. Twilight couldn’t help but beam upon seeing her. “Good morning Rarity! Uh, Pinkie, are you… sniffing her?” Pinkie sniffed Rarity’s arm and then her bag, then reached in and pulled out a sheet of paper. “Aha! An ice cream ad! I knew it.” Rarity paused. “You smelled the paper? Actually, never mind. Yes, while we’re on the subject, this ice cream shop near my apartment is having a special Spring Equinox event for couples this afternoon. They have crepes and other special snacks. Twilight, why don’t we go there?” Twilight blinked. Did Rarity just ask her out? Was it over? Did she just win? Twilight, this is it! Just point out Rarity asked you out and it’s done! Instead Twilight’s mouth hung open for a second and then a light wheezing sound came out. Not seeming to notice this, Rarity added, “Oh, don’t mind the couples part, this is open to family and friends too. Pinkie, perhaps you should bring Maud.” Pinkie gasped. “That’s a great idea! Ever since Maud started dating Mudbriar, we’ve spent less and less time together, but I’m sure she’ll love to have ice cream with me. Mudbriar told me once that Maud doesn’t actually like ice cream, but what kind of sense does that make? Of course Maud loves ice cream, she has to! But wait, today’s a busy day for all of us, right? I don’t think our schedules match up.” Rarity put her hand to her cheek. “Oh, true, that could be a problem. Pinkie, you’re the secretary after all, do you have our schedules somewhere?” Pinkie pulled a paper out of a drawer seemingly at random and placed it on the work table next to the ice cream store’s ad. She and Rarity leaned over to scrutinize the timings. Rarity sighed. “Alas, it seems like we don’t all overlap after all. Perhaps you and Maud should go around 4, while Twilight and I go right after she wraps up her magic class office hours at 5. I need to head home to deal with Sweetie Belle before then, so Twilight and I will meet up there around 5:20.” She turned to Twilight. “Does that work for you, dear?” Twilight realized her mouth was still hanging open and quickly shut it. “Oh yes, that sounds great Rarity.” She gave this response a quick double-check. If she said no, then Rarity would accuse her of being scared by the couple part and joke about her actually having feelings for her. Moreover, saying no would not allow Twilight to proceed with any of her possible plans for the Spring Equinox. Rarity could easily choose to go with Rainbow or Applejack instead, likely leaving her uninterested in spending time with Twilight later. On the other hand, this trip could easily be leveraged into dinner. Moreover, the time Rarity offered worked out in Twilight’s favor. According to the schedule, she would only barely have time to take the tram to the stop near Rarity’s apartment and walk to the shop. In truth, she was more than able to end office hours early or leave things to Moondancer and spend time scouting the area. This would work out perfectly. As Rarity talked more with Twilight and Pinkie, Wallflower walked to Twilight’s desk and placed her garden plans on top. “I’ll just leave this here, then.” Rarity walked into a dimly lit room, wearing a wide-brimmed hat. She closed the door and started a record player, from which light saxophone music played. “Ah, I see both of my co-conspirators made it,” Rarity said with an old-timey accent. “Rainbow ‘Legs’ Dash.” Rainbow had her legs on top of her table. “Yo.” “And the newbie, Flutter ‘the Bear’.” Fluttershy seemed a bit confused. “Um, rawr?” Rarity walked to a projector and slid a transparency on. “We are here to address this dame here.” She turned on the projector and an image of Princess Twilight Sparkle appeared on the projector screen. Fluttershy clasped her hands together and smiled. “That’s a very nice picture of Twilight.” Rarity returned to her normal accent. “I know, right? This is from her second post-coronation photoshoot. They did a fabulous job with her hair and makeup here. I actually met the makeup artist, you know? He says—” “Rarity, the job?” Rainbow interrupted. “Oh yes, right.” Rarity cleared her throat and returned to her noir accent. “The two of you had parts to play in our heist of the princess’s heart. Legs, I trust you made sure today is bright and sunny?” Rainbow saluted. “At noon it should be about 80 degress. Then, in the afternoon, it’ll be overcast, so the heat gets trapped in.” “Good show, Legs. It’s important that Twilight is hot enough that she would want ice cream. Bear, I trust you’ve informed your animals of the plan?” Fluttershy looked around and then realized who Rarity was addressing. “Oh, yes, all my furry and feathery friends are on standby. But Rarity, are you sure Twilight will still show up even after animals delay her, and after she realizes the ice cream event is actually only for couples and family and not couples, family, and friends?” Rarity chuckled. “I know the dame like I know my color theory. The heat and animals getting in her way will only increase her desire for this date. Her fight to reach me will ignite her heart, and when we go into the store together and they ask if we’re dating, she’ll have no choice but to say yes. Bear, you’re sure Twilight will end her office hours early?” Fluttershy nodded. “She’ll definitely want to take a look around the store before the date.” “Then this will work out perfectly. The earlier she leaves, the longer she’ll have to struggle to see me.” Twilight rushed into the student council room and ran behind her desk. She pressed a hidden button on the desk and a panel opened in the ground, revealing a box labeled “Emergency Date Kit”, signed “Cadance” with a heart next to it. She glanced through the individualized packages inside and quickly found exactly what she needed. Aha! “Maybe a first date so you want to look nice but it might not be so not too nice.” You know me too well. Twilight started unbuttoning her blouse but then paused. “Uh, Wallflower, are you in here?” Wallflower raised her hand from the work table. “Yeah, I’m right here.” Twilight blushed. “I’ll just go to the changing room, then.” Minutes later, Twilight came back to the council room wearing a sleeveless purple dress, high heels, and light makeup. “Wallflower, how do I look?” Wallflower had a suitably impressed look on her face and gave a thumbs up. “Looks good. The high heels are probably too much, though.” “You’re right. Flats it is.” She levitated some over and put them on, happy that Cadance provided both options. "But the dress in general looks fine, right?" Wallflower waves her hand over her striped sweater and jeans. "I'm really not who you should ask about fashion, but I think it looks nice." Twilight turned to show her the back of the dress. "Rarity won't think I'm trying too hard?" "No, just go." "But—" "Go!" Twilight slammed her mouth shut and quickly made her way out the door. Then she came back in to store away her previous clothes, then ran back out. Wallflower shook her head and got back to work. Twilight got onto the tram and breathed a sigh of relief. However, that turned to panic as she realized she didn't bring her wallet. She desperately pat herself down, hoping against hope she was mistaken. Miraculously, she discovered some cash in a hidden pocket area along with a note. "Just in case you forgot your wallet - Cadance," signed with a heart. Twilight felt tears welling up. Cadance knew her too well. The tram started moving. It would arrive at her stop in eight minutes, leaving her thirty minutes to check out the store and confirm the status of local date spots. She examined the area around Rarity's apartment before, of course, but double checking never hurt. The tram suddenly stopped, and Twilight grabbed a bar to stop herself from falling over. After a few moments, the driver made an announcement. "We apologize for the sudden stop, but the track is currently blocked by what looks like a bunch of bunnies. We'll wait and see if they get a move on." Twilight ran to a side window to get a look. It wasn't just a bunch of bunnies, but a flood that spilled over the tracks onto the walking paths. Three girls who Twilight recognized from a gardening club also looked out the window and fainted in a dramatic fashion. Mood, Twilight thought as she checked her watch. Fluttershy watched her bunny friends at work from a nearby rooftop. The tram conductor got out and unsuccessfully attempted to shoo them away. Soon after, Rainbow Dash touched down next to her. "Hey Fluttershy," Dash said. "Bunnies doing alright?" "They aren't used to being out in the open like this, but they have each other, so they can deal with anything," she responded. "That's… nice. Anyway, has Twilight gotten off yet?" "No, she's still waiting, but it's only been a few minutes." "You know, this part of the plan had a big problem from the start. What if Twilight just waits forever?" "I suppose that's possible," Fluttershy said, putting her hand to her cheek. "I actually have the perfect solution! Right now, Twilight doesn't have a real reason to hurry. But what if she had to race someone?" "Race? Why would she race someone?" "She'd race if she knew losing meant losing Rarity to another girl. See where I'm going with this?" Fluttershy shook her head. "I mean I'm going to go up to her window and tell her I'll eat that ice cream with Rarity if she won't. Introduce a jealousy factor!" Fluttershy tilted her head and hummed. "With a love rival, especially one as dangerous as me, Twilight will rush out to get to Rarity first. Then I just pop up in front of her every once in a while for motivation. It's the perfect plan!" "I'm not so sure. Maybe we should talk to Rarity first?" "It'll be fine, come on." "Oh, looks like Twilight just teleported out." "Ugh, I missed my chance. Well fine, next time I catch her dawdling, I'll get her motivated." With that, Rainbow took to the air. Fluttershy sighed, pulled out a small flute, and blew into it, making a honking sound. She watched as Twilight ran down the street past the bunnies, only to encounter a more dangerous foe. The geese honked and snapped at Twilight. What the heck? thought Twilight. That's two different groups of animals acting strangely. Could Pinkie's warning have been right? No, it's just a coincidence. One goose almost bit her dress, so she put up a magic barrier. Last thing she needed was a ruined dress on top of everything else. I'll get Fluttershy to handle this later. Right now, I need to get past them. Cadance had preparations for everything else, so maybe… Twilight felt around her dress again and, to her delight, found another hidden pocket. She pulled out a folded paper with "For emergencies" written on it. Cadance, you're a lifesaver! She opened the paper and found three packets of condoms taped inside. Above them, Cadance wrote, "Have fun!" Twilight looked at them with a neutral expression and returned them to her pocket. Anyway. It looked like there was no way around this. Twilight narrowed her barrier into a wedge shape and, hoping Fluttershy would forgive her, she sprinted through the flock, knocking them aside. She continued running, looking back to confirm they weren’t giving chase. Twilight dropped her barrier and jogged at a pace she could keep up until she reached the store. Checking the street ahead, there thankfully weren’t any other animal obstacles, but she did notice people looking toward the sky and then rushing inside. Twilight looked up at the sky too and stopped. Well that isn’t good. Seeing her chance, Rainbow flew down to Twilight. “Hey slowpoke, you better speed up, because—” “Rainbow, thank goodness you’re here!” Twilight said with a relieved smile. “Can you take care of that flying hydra for me?” Rainbow blinked. “Flying hydra? What? Hydras can’t fly, Twilight, come on.” While saying that, Rainbow turned to look where Twilight was looking and added, “Oh, that’s a flying hydra.” Floating down from the clouds was a large blue mass that resembled a hot air balloon, from which extended three long writhing necks with chomping lizard heads. It was still far away, but was clearly approaching the street the girls were on. “It only has three heads, so it shouldn’t be too hard to deal with,” explained Twilight. “Now, I’m very busy, so I’ll leave this to you. Thanks, bye.” She proceeded to run down a side street. As Rainbow gaped, Fluttershy flew down to her. Rainbow said, “What the hell is this, Fluttershy?” motioning her arms at the entire general area ahead of them. Fluttershy clasped her hands together. “I really had nothing to do with this, Rainbow.” She paused. “Uh, Rainbow, I’m not really good with hydras, so we can try to get Twilight back here if you think you can’t stop it—or them.” Fluttershy’s face twisted as she tried to remember how to address hydras. This offer broke Rainbow out of her spell and she had a confident grin. “Ha, you really think I can’t stop this on my own? I’ll have it running with its tail between—with its head between its… heads—oh, you know!” Rainbow flapped her wings hard and launched toward the monster, leaving Fluttershy alone. Fluttershy raised her voice slightly so Rainbow could hear. “I’ll just continue with Rarity’s plan, then.” Twilight wasn’t going down the shortest path to the ice cream store, but Fluttershy could call her hawk friends to follow Twilight anywhere. She pulled out a bird call and used it to make a loud screech. After some moments, an elk approached Fluttershy. She tilted her head with a confused frown. “Hmm, that wasn’t supposed to happen.” Twilight calculated her route. She was no longer going the shortest route to the ice cream store, but going through Canterlot High School wouldn’t add too much time. Similar to the university, the high school was a prestigious place of study with significant attendance from the scions of the upper class. It too featured a large campus, although not nearly as large as the Academy’s. According to Twilight’s memories, she’d be able to cut across a sports field and then exit into a marketplace. She ran to a gate and teleported through it, then ran past the central school building as students performing extracurricular tasks gawked. Eventually, one called out to her. “Princess Twilight, hold on!” Though not quite stopping, Twilight slowed down once she recognized the voice. Soon after, two girls with tan skin, one with long blue hair and the other with brown hair forming a hoop on either side of her face, ran up to her. Twilight continued jogging, but turned to address them. “Silverstream, Yona, what’s going on?” It was common for Canterlot High School students to perform lab work at the university, and these two were part of her beginner magic labs. Moreover, Silverstream was royalty—or royalty-adjacent—from Mount Aris, and Yona came here from Yakyakistan on their prince’s recommendation, meaning it was important that Twilight was familiar with them. Silverstream jogged alongside Twilight, frantically waving her arms up and down. “Princess, I’m so glad you’re here at the high school for some reason! We lost a caveman!” she failed to explain. Yona also ran with them and grunted. With annoyance in her voice, she said, “Rockhoof isn’t caveman, Rockhoof is legendary warrior!” “Woah, hold on!” Twilight exclaimed. “What happened?” Silverstream wildly gesticulated as she explained. “So during a field trip we found this big hairy guy in a chunk of ice and we decided to bring him back here, and then Smolder—you know, the dragon—decided to melt the ice with her fire. Then wouldn’t you know it, the caveman inside started moving like he was never frozen at all and he ran outside and now we can’t find him! It was wild!” “Rockhoof isn’t caveman!” Yona yelled. “But he’s a hairy guy in ice, he must be a caveman,” Silverstream said. Twilight blinked. What the heck is going on today? “I’ll keep an eye out, but I have something important to do in—” Twilight checked her watch. Twenty minutes?! What?! How is there so little time left until the date?! “—Soon!” Twilight sped up, leaving the other two behind. “Yona and Silverstream will keep looking here, then,” said Yona. Twilight teleported through another gate. Alright, the marketplace is just ahead, and— Twilight crashed into an elk. She fell to the ground, catching herself with her arms and thus sparing her dress. Looking up, the elk looked at her with what she interpreted as a mildly annoyed expression. Not entirely surprised by this, Twilight got up and decided to ignore this latest animal problem; the clock was ticking. She ran past the elk and saw several other elks milling about near the market stands and store entrances, along with a mix of people who were running away and those who were doing their best to pretend everything was normal. As she scooted between two elks, a young boy called out to her. “Princess Twilight, heeelllppp!” he yelled with a Trottingham accent. The boy was short, had light skin, and had a birthmark over one eye. Twilight was at first surprised a stranger would recognize her, until she remembered her current status. “Yes? What is it?” She braced herself for what he was going to say. “There’s a weird shirtless man turning people into elks! He already did it to the royal guards!” The boy pointed to Twilight’s right and indeed, two blocks away, there was a pale-skinned man without a shirt firing waves of magic at a passerby, who proceeded to transform into an elk. Twilight wasn’t sure where to place this in the strangeness rankings for the day. Warlocks up to no good weren’t too unusual, but elks and doing it shirtless were new. Probably below the ancient warrior in ice waking up? In any case, this wasn’t something she could just ignore. “What’s your name?” “Pipsqueak, m’lady,” he said with a bow. “Well Pipsqueak, don’t worry. I’ll deal with him!” Twilight planted her feet and channeled magic into her hands. The ground shook around her. Twilight pulled her arms to her side, then pushed them out toward the cloudy sky. Light flashed in the clouds, then a lightning bolt struck the shirtless man with a crashing boom. The boy’s mouth fell. Twilight waited for the smoke to clear… and the man still stood there. He proceeded to turn more people into elks. She checked her watch. Well, turning people into elks isn’t that immediate a concern. She sprinted away. “Princess Twilight! What about the shirtless man?” said Pipsqueak. “Just keep your distance, I’ll be back later!” Twilight found her pace had slowed down considerably and she was breathing heavily. She could feel the sweat dripping down her dress and desperately hoped she’d have time to clean up before she met with Rarity. Thankfully, the road ahead seemed clear of elks and obstacles. Or so she thought until a very large man stomped up to her. He had tan skin, long braided hair, heaps of facial hair, muscles on top of muscles, rugged brown clothes, thick boots, and a shovel tied to his back. He jogged alongside the princess and said with a thick accent, “Pardon me lass, but you seem important. Would you mind explaining what’s going on here? I wake up from a nap and all of a sudden I’m somewhere else and there are all these animals walking around, and I’m terribly confused.” Twilight’s eyes sparkled. “Oh my gosh, are you really Rockhoof? I have so many questions! Actually wait, can you do something for me first? There’s a warlock back there turning everyone into elks, so could you take care of him?” “A warlock? Aye, that sounds like something I can do.” Rockhoof pulled out his shovel, turned, and ran toward the shirtless man. “Oh wow, it’s Rockhoof!” yelled Pipsqueak. Moments later, he yelled, “Oh no, Rockhoof’s an elk now!” Twilight groaned, but continued running forward. A girl with insectile wings glided down to Twilight and then flew alongside her. She had dark skin, pink hair, and unusual eyes that were fully green, signifying that she was a changeling. Twilight recognized her as Ocellus, another Canterlot High student who attended her labs. With a meek voice, she said, “Um, Princess Twilight? Sorry to bother you, but have you seen a, uh, caveman anywhere?” Twilight looked at her. Wait. Wings. I could have been flying this entire time! Twilight was tempted to slap herself. She gritted her teeth, but managed to say, “Yes. The shirtless guy turned him into an elk.” “Oh.” Ocellus didn’t say anything for a bit. “Should we… do something about him?” Twilight got a mad grin. “Ocellus, I got it! You’re a changeling! Why don’t you transform into an elk! If you’re already an elk, then he can’t turn you into an elk, and then you can kick him!” Ocellus’s face twisted as she thought about this. “Well, I’m not really sure about that, and I was more hoping that you’d do something, but I’ll try.” With a burst of magic flame, she turned into an elk then ran toward the shirtless man. No time to worry about her, the store was just ahead. As she got closer, Twilight spun her head to the left and right. There was nothing coming toward her. No elks, no geese. She would actually make it. She ran for a bit longer and she was there. An oasis among the madness, the building had windows showing couples inside happily eating ice cream. A bit away from the entrance, Twilight stopped, put her hands on her knees, and started panting. Thank Celestia, I’m finally here! She felt the pain in her legs. In retrospect, I’m so glad I didn’t wear heels after all. Twilight checked her watch. 5:15. Five minutes until Rarity would be here, and given her belief in being fashionably late, she surely had even more time to prepare. “Thank goodness you’re here, darling. I’ve been waiting forever,” said Rarity from a nearby bench. Twilight shot up and looked at her hopeful date as she got up and walked toward her with a sly grin. She had changed her dress too, and wore an elegant blue sundress with a white hat and heels. Twilight resisted the urge to fix her hair and dress while Rarity was already looking at her and said, “Rarity? What—” She double checked her watch. “What are you doing here? I thought you’d be fashionably late!” “But I am! Knowing you, you’d be at least twenty minutes early, so I came here ten minutes after that. Thus, I was fashionably late, and you were just late.” Rarity touched Twilight on her nose and Twilight blushed deeply, desperately hoping it would be confused for redness from her running. “Oh—I—er—makes sense.” Rarity looked at her with a warm smile. “You look fantastic, dear. It seems like you had quite an ordeal getting here, though. You really must tell me about it inside.” Twilight tried to think, but failed. “Sure, sounds good.” The two girls walked side by side into the ice cream store. Rarity addressed the man at the counter. “Yes, hello, we’re here for the Spring Equinox couples event.” The man sighed. “Sorry, we aren’t taking any more customers for that today.” Rarity’s eyes widened. “Goodness, why not?” Her answer came in the form of Pinkie Pie jumping in front of her. “Hey Rarity! Hey Twilight!” Standing next to Pinkie was a girl with purple hair, plain clothes, and a plainer expression: her sister, Maud. “Pinkie? Did you—no, you didn’t, did you?” Pinkie nodded her head vigorously and spread her arms out. “Yup, I ate alllll the heart ice cream cakes and alllll the pineapple crepes and alllll the lover sundaes!” “I didn’t eat anything,” said Maud. Pinkie pulled a pack of gold star stickers out of her hair and tossed it to the man at the counter. “Here you go, chief! The food was de-lish! Well, council presidents, we’ll just leave you two to it. I’m ready for some early dinner myself. Ooh, that shirtless guy over there has food. Come on, Maud, let’s check it out!” Pinkie dragged her sister outside by the arm. Twilight and Rarity stood in silence. After a few seconds, Twilight asked, “Do you just want some ice cream cones?” Rarity sighed. “Alright, fine.” Twilight got vanilla bean and Rarity got lavender. As they walked outside, Twilight greedily chomped into her ice cream while Rarity gently licked hers. “I’m terribly sorry you had to come all this way for good, but fairly standard, ice cream, dear,” Rarity said. Twilight lifted her face from her cone, exposing an ice cream mustache. “You have nothing to apologize for,” she responded. Rarity giggled and levitated a napkin to Twilight, who took it and cleaned her face. “Regardless of if you accept my apology, I truly didn’t wish to cause you quite this much grief. Is there anything I can do to make up for it?” Twilight looked down and bit into her ice cream cone to hide her expression. This is it! The perfect time to discreetly lead Rarity into a date! Twilight turned back to Rarity. “Well, I think—” Rarity was an elk. Twilight looked at her for a while, and looked up at the sky with her arms spread. “Celestia, fine! I’ll deal with the shirtless elk guy already!” Fresh out of the shower, Twilight plopped onto her bed and released an exasperated sigh. Another romantic day has come and gone in failure, and she had nothing to show for it. A ringing noise came from a small magic mirror at her bedside. Twilight put on a pair of glasses placed next to it, having taken out her contacts, and magically removed a cloth covering the mirror. Cadance’s name displayed on the mirror screen. Not bothering to fix herself up and instead pressing the side of her head into a pillow while lying down, she waved a finger and answered the call. Princess Cadance appeared on the screen. She was a tan woman with long pink, purple, and yellow hair that fell past her shoulders and formed a spiral shape at the end. With a warm smile, she said, “Twilight, it’s so good to see you!” Then she sang, “Sunshine, sunshine—” Twilight mumbled into her pillow, “Ldybgswke.” “Oof, that bad a day, huh? I called after hearing about everything that happened in Canterlot. A flying hydra, animals gone wild, an elk warlock. That must have ruined your day out.” “Yeah…” “I hope your date understood.” “Yeah…” “It must have been neat meeting Rockhoof, though.” “Yeah…” Wait. Crap. Twilight shot up. “I never said I was on a date!” Cadance blinked. “Oh? Sorry, I just assumed since you were out on the Spring Equinox, you must have been dating. I take it that emergency item didn’t come in handy, then?” Twilight blushed and looked away. “No, it didn’t, and frankly—” Twilight’s eyes widened and she looked back at Cadance to see her cover up a giggle. Oh Celestia, she did it again. “So you did wear one of my date dresses, then. ‘Maybe a first date so you want to look nice but it might not be so not too nice,’ I assume?” “Y—Yes, but only because I needed a nice dress for a business meeting, nothing more. Is there anything else you want to know?” Cadance paused and frowned slightly. “Sorry, Twilight, I didn’t mean to delve. Especially when you were already feeling bad.” Twilight sighed. “No, no, it’s fine. Rough day, that’s all. Lots of running.” “I understand. I’ll let you rest, then. By the way, you should call your brother sometime. He’s too shy to call you himself.” Twilight smiled. “Is he there?” “Yes, but asleep. We had a long day in the Crystal Empire too. This woman was making the ground get up and punch people, long story. I should probably get back to him.” She waved. “Bye!” Twilight waved back, and Cadance disappeared from the screen. She released a breath. That was dangerous. Cadance knew her too well. As princess of love, Cadance had the potential to immediately analyze her relationship with Rarity and confirm her worst fear: they weren’t meant for each other. Twilight would rather live with the hope that they could be together than with the knowledge that they couldn’t, so it was imperative that Cadance never learn about her feelings. Twilight’s eyelids felt heavy, so she took off her glasses, switched off the lights, and settled under her covers. Cadance quietly got into bed, but the man sharing it stirred regardless. “Talking to Twily?” asked Shining Armor. “Yeah, but she was pretty tired too.” “Did you tell her about your visit next week?” Cadance hummed. “No, I think I’ll keep that a surprise.”