“No, no, no, no, NO!! How?! How in Celestia’s name could I have let this happen?! I’m the worst! If only Pinkie reminded me sooner!”
Hearing Twilight Sparkle’s yells, Starlight Glimmer and Spike dashed into the library of Twilight’s castle. In the library’s center, the Princess of Friendship furiously paced in circles, sweat raining from her forehead. Her ears were woefully drooped to lie against her head, her eyes were bloodshot, and her lips bore a frown.
Twilight swung around to the pair and sped to them. Her sweat rainstorm ceased. “Spike, Starlight, I’m so glad you’re here. We have big trouble! It’s about Eric!”
Spike gasped and asked, “About Eric? What’s wrong?!”
“Is he in trouble?” Starlight gritted her teeth and scowled. Fire lit in her eyes. “Is it Chrysalis? Because if she took him, I will hunt her down and–”
“No, no, Starlight. Eric’s not in danger or hurt," Twilight assured in a calmer voice. "He’s at Sweet Apple Acres with Applejack and Big Mac right now.”
Starlight’s scowl and fire vanished. Her teeth relaxed, and she blew the remaining worry out with a big sigh. “Twilight, please don’t scare me like that again. I thought something serious happened.”
Twilight laid her hooves on Starlight’s cheeks and cupped them, alarm bubbling in her reddened eyes once again. “But something serious did happen!”
“Then what is it?!" Spike asked. "Spill it, Twi!”
Twilight released Starlight, then took a deep, long breath. Her ears straightened. “First, do you two know what today is?”
Starlight raised her head, searching her mind for anything out of the ordinary about this day. “Uh...it's Saturday?”
“And it’s Eric’s birthday,” Spike answered.
"Oh, so th–" Starlight’s pupils shrank as Spike's words kicked her brain to register them. “Wait, Eric's birthday is today?!”
Spike nodded calmly. “Yep. From what Pinkie said, she asked Eric when it was months ago. She was even the one that reminded me three days ago. I thought you two already knew.”
“Oh, I can’t believe I forgot it was today,” Starlight said in a mildly disappointed voice.
“I can’t believe I forgot it was today!” Twilight shouted, every muscle brimming with anxiety. “How did I miss writing it on this month’s schedule?!”
Spike laid a comforting paw on Twilight’s chest, staring up at her with supportive eyes. “Uh, Twi? You don't have princess duties today, so if you need a gift for Eric, there’s plenty of time to grab something. Pinkie’s surprise party for him isn’t until this evening in another seven ho–”
“Grab something?” Twilight asked softly. One of her eyelids quivered. A twitch of an ear followed.
Spike crept back from the spasming alicorn. “Uh, ye–”
“GRAB SOMETHING?!” Twilight screeched, her voice vibrating the library's books, and forced a jump and yelp from both Spike and Starlight. She restarted her pacing and explained, “This will require the perfect gift! I might have to leave Ponyville to get it, and before that, I’ll need to write lists on everything he likes. I’ll also need a list for where to find what he likes, and another one with the previous months’ up and down trends of–”
Starlight zipped to Twilight and set a calming hoof on her back, halting the Princess’s pacing. “Twilight? It will be okay. You know Eric: he won’t need you to give him a perfect gift.”
“But I do,” Twilight countered in a pleading tone, “because it’s not just the gift itself! Don’t you remember how he felt homesick three weeks ago?”
"Yeah, but you cured it the next day when you asked Pinkie to throw a little party and had us play baseball," Spike answered. “You even showed off your…*chuckle*...dancing.”
Starlight giggled at the memory of Twilight’s unorthodox dancing. The unicorn was MORE than justified to do so. “I wasn't sure if he would have ever stopped laughing at your ‘moves’. Pinkie almost got jealous of how hard and long you made him laugh.”
Twilight placed her hooves on Starlight’s cheeks again. She yanked her former student toward her, their muzzles bumping against each other. “But think about it, Starlight: no pony in Equestria cares for Eric more than the two of us! We’re supposed to be his ‘Equestrian big sisters’, yet we forgot the most important day of his life! If we don’t atone with the perfect gift, how might this make him feel?!”
"But...oh." Starlight grimaced. She hadn't thought of it that way. Drops of sweat collected on her brow. “Uh…*gulp*...okay, if you put it like–”
“He remembered our birthdays, but we completely forgot his!" Twilight moved her hooves off Starlight and pressed them against her own cheeks, unknowingly pulling down her lower eyelids with the hooves' grip. "What if this makes him think I lied when I told him I think of him as my brother, not just my friend?” She gasped. Her ears drooped for a second time and her frown deepened. “Wait, what if he starts doubting if I really care about him at all?!” She, once again, cupped Starlight’s cheeks and stared her not in the eyes, but in her soul. “What if he thinks you feel the same way, Starlight?! He might never trust us or ponies again!”
Spike scratched his head. “Uh, Eric can be a little...paranoid and I think I know the pony he got it from but there’s no way he will–”
Starlight's ears flopped. Her growingly nervous frown snapped into a distraught one. She cupped Twilight’s cheeks, so the two were grasping the other’s cheeks. “Oh, Celestia, you’re right, Twilight! What was wrong with me?! How could I have forgotten his birthday?!”
“You understand now?! This is terrible!”
Spike facepalmed. Why didn't he tell them about Eric's upcoming birthday himself when Pinkie reminded him? The mares’ sea of paranoia wouldn’t be quelled with mere words, which the young dragon learned many times in the past. He let out a defeated groan and said, “Fine. Let’s get started on–”
Twilight’s horn glowed magenta. A shower of scrolls fell to the floor; a quill landed by each of the two ponies and dragon.
“–The lists.”
Twilight and Starlight released each other’s faces. They, as well as Spike, grabbed a scroll and quill and commenced on writing lists. The two ponies rested on their stomachs, but Spike remained on his feet.
As they completed list after list, Twilight’s ears reset to their normal non-stressed position. Her red eyes cleared to only contain a faint, reddish hue along the edges.
*One hour later*
“Okay, now that we finally finished all fifty-nine lists, let’s narrow things down,” Twilight said, staring at a list she levitated with her magic. “I’ll start with this list, the one with Eric's past phrases that might hint at what we could get him. Starlight, you take the one with the trends of his likes and dislikes over the eleven months he’s been in Equestria. Spike, you handle the list of what he overall enjoys. if we're lucky, this won't take too long.”
Spike picked up one of the numerous lists lying in front of him. “Lasagna...music...baseball...oh, maybe you could buy him a new baseball glove and bat?”
Twilight rubbed her chin, deep in thought at the idea. She shook her head a second later. “A new glove or bat isn’t good enough. He deserves something better.”
"They don't scream 'perfect gift' anyway." Starlight gazed more intently at a list floating in her turquoise magic. “He doesn’t search for insects like he said he used to...reads more in Equestria than in his former world...wasn't interested in traveling but does now...ooh, I know!” Starlight smiled, looking away from the list and at Twilight. “How about we take him on a three or four-day trip to Las Pegasus and pay for everything? He always wanted to go there and stay in their hotels.”
Twilight considered it, but shook her head again. “That would be a bad idea now. This is Eric’s first birthday in Equestria, so he might become homesick. If it happens, do you think bringing him to a more unfamiliar place would help?”
“No, but I doubt he’d get homesick anyway,” Spike answered.
“I can’t take that chance, Spike, and that is another reason why I must get him the perfect gift." Twilight’s ears wilted and her chest tightened. "I already let him down bad by failing to return him to his own world after telling him I would, so no way will I risk our brother becoming homesick. Um...I know!” Twilight's chest loosened as she grinned; her ears perking up. “How about I buy him volumes one and two of 'Equestria's beginnings’? We could read them during our next reading session together, and it would teach him more about Equestrian history!”
Spike and Starlight stared at Twilight, each raising an eyelid. The library's chilling silence grew oddly louder.
Twilight’s cheeks glowed red, her smile melting into a sheepish one. “Okay, I get it. I haven’t rubbed off on him that much.
“Yeah, you took him in, but he’s not Mr. Twilight Sparkle.” Spike looked at his list again. “Pranks...games–”
As if a lightbulb lit in Twilight's mind, she grinned, her eyes sparkling. “Oh, ‘games’, that’s it! He loves the games at Ponyville’s arcade, so a game like one of them would be a perfect gift!” She set down her list.
“I don’t have enough bits to buy any of them, but I could help pay for one,” Starlight said.
“You sure?” Twilight asked as she turned to Starlight. “Those games are expensive.”
Starlight nodded. “I’m sure.”
“In that case, you can buy him one of those games and say it’s from both of you.” Spike put down down his scroll.
“Then let’s go game-hunting!" Starlight sprung to her hooves. "Wait, where can we find any for sale?”
Twilight tapped her cheek. “Hmm. Ponyville’s toy store doesn’t sell them, but Canterlot’s game stores do, so let’s board the Friendship Express before it leaves.” Twilight glanced toward the portal connecting Equestria to the human world Sunset Shimmer resides. “I should also inform Sunset about the party, though I doubt she forgot Eric’s birthday too. She probably already planned her day out to be ready for any possible parties.”
Twilight (with Spike) and Starlight sprinted to their respective bedrooms. The mares each grabbed a bag of bits and tied it onto a strap they had wrapped around their torsos. In addition, Twilight sent a message to Sunset about Eric’s birthday party, via a special journal they often communicate with, then activated the portal to allow Sunset to enter Equestria.
With their bits and the ever-faithful Spike by their side, Twilight and Starlight departed the castle and boarded the Friendship Express. With smiles on their faces, the friends’ spirits were high, despite some lingering worries from Twilight.
Unfortunately, the friends’ quest would be far more difficult than they expected, if not impossible.