//------------------------------//
// Chapter 10: A Spark 
// Story: Friendship Day 
// by Crescent Pulsar 
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With the amount of time left in the day, they decided to continue to the library, even if not for the exact same reason. They probably weren't going to find out who the mysterious "seer" was within a few hours, and Twilight Sparkle could spare however much time she wanted in such a pursuit, so Rainbow Dash and Spike were going to enjoy the party for the rest of the loop.

On the way there, Twilight Sparkle couldn't help wondering what Princess Celestia hadn't told her, given the difficulty that she'd had with conveying her message. She might find a clue after examining the letter some more, but that would have to wait until she was in the loft and away from distractions, since the library was within sight and she preferred to think without feeling rushed.

When they reached the library, Twilight Sparkle simply opened the door and strode into the darkness beyond without pausing, only stopping once there was room for the rest of the group to enter. Once everyone had joined her, it was with a raised voice that she unenthusiastically said, "I wonder where the light could be."

The light came on and many ponies shouted, "Surprise!"

Balloons were released, confetti was thrown into the air, and party horns were blown by the ponies who had all congregated along the bookshelves of the room. It was a carbon copy of what Twilight Sparkle had experienced one time before, except for Rarity, who smiled sheepishly and waved at her when she was noticed.

Her view of said pony was quickly obstructed by Pinkie Pie, who suddenly invaded her personal space and excitedly exclaimed, "Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie, and I threw this party just for you!" She began to bounce in place. "Were you surprised? Were ya? Were ya?" She hopped over her and continued her questioning as soon as she landed on her other side. "Huh, huh, huh?"

Not in a mood to play dumb, Twilight Sparkle flatly replied, "Not really."

Pinkie Pie was about to say more, but froze in place for a few seconds before her ears fell, followed by her smile and expression in gradual succession. Eventually, she quietly voiced, "Oh." Then her gaze fell upon the sack hanging from Twilight Sparkle's neck, and the effects of her response instantly reversed themselves. "Oh! You didn't have that when I last saw you! Did somepony already surprise you and now you don't have enough surprise juice to be surprised!?"

"...I guess?" Came Twilight Sparkle's belated reply, after weighing her choice of answers in the face of such logic. Then she had a spark of inspiration and added, "In fact, I'm surprised by how draining the surprise was, so I'm going to get some rest before I, uh, enjoy the party."

"Okie-dokie!" Pinkie Pie readily and cheerfully accepted.

Glad at how well that had worked out, Twilight Sparkle wasted no time in heading toward the stairs, sparing only a brief look around to find out that Spike and Rainbow Dash had already separated and joined the party. In that time she also noticed Pinkie Pie looking up thoughtfully, and through the din and distance she barely heard her say, "So that's what happens when it's an olive green party hat with purplish-brown polka dots, huh?"

Having more important things to do than wondering why she would say something like that, Twilight Sparkle reached the stairs and began to climb them. When she reached the loft, she found the light and turned it on before setting the sack down on the floor. After she had taken Princess Celestia's letter out of it, she took it with her to the bed, so she could lay down comfortably while she examined it for clues.

The first thing that revealed itself was that the princess had originally planned to deal with Nightmare Moon herself, until the "seer" had shared their plan with her. Somehow, having someone else confront Nightmare Moon with the Elements of Harmony would deliver a better outcome — whatever that happened to be. Considering how the fate of the princess' sister was involved, she couldn't help wondering if that was included in Equestria's "brighter future", that there was a better way to handle Nightmare Moon that the princess was simply incapable of, or if it was just a way for her to avoid a confrontation with her sister a second time.

After studying the letter some more, the next detail to jump out at her was the princess' assertion that she shouldn't have been able to get the Elements of Harmony before morning. Seeing as she had learned about their whereabouts from a book that she found at her current location, and hadn't discovered it before her first experience traveling back in time, she could only assume that the book really had been created with the purpose of being found when time was of the essence, leading to the reader — presumably herself — not noticing how odd the book was as a whole. Whether that happened before or after Nightmare Moon's release, though, she couldn't be sure.

For a while she was unable to infer anything else from the letter, which was frustrating because she hadn't learned much from what she had. Before she gave up, however, her attention was diverted by the arrival of Rainbow Dash, who was looking rather exasperated. She could still hear the party, which seemed to be going strong, so her curiosity was piqued by her presence.

"Did you need something?" She asked her.

"I dunno..." Rainbow Dash's replied, sounding irritated, before expelling a heavy sigh. "I tried to enjoy the party, but..."

Catching on to what the issue might be, Twilight Sparkle set the letter aside and guessed, "But you keep thinking about what will happen when this loop ends?"

Rainbow Dash gave a reluctant nod in reply.

Feeling a pang of sympathy, Twilight Sparkle left the bed and walked down from the mezzanine to give Rainbow Dash her full attention. She didn't know what she could do to try and ease her mind, in the face of such an existential dilemma, but she felt the need to try because...

Because...

Before she could find the words to describe what she was feeling, she found herself standing in front of Rainbow Dash and had no idea of what to say. Between suppressing her panic and frantically scouring her mind for ideas, her mouth got ahead of her thoughts and she ended up blurting out, "How about trying something different?"

Rainbow Dash blinked her eyes at the unexpected suggestion. "Like what?"

"Well..." Twilight Sparkle temporized, who felt sweat bead on her brow while her eyes darted this way and that, in search of an idea. Unfortunately, all that stood out to her were the books, which were everywhere, so she eventually forced a smile and said, "You could... maybe... read a book?"

Looking baffled, and possibly insulted, Rainbow Dash replied, "Are you serious?"

Twilight Sparkle's smile became more strained because she couldn't think of an alternative, or anything else worth saying.

Eventually, Rainbow Dash threw her forelegs above her head and said, "You know what? Sure. It's not like I have to worry about living down being an egghead, or anything."

Simply relieved to have gotten out of that awkward situation, Twilight Sparkle ignored her remark and went to the nearest bookshelf, in search of a suitable book. However, since Rainbow Dash made it clear that she didn't care for books in general, finding one might not be as easy as she hoped. Even if she relied on her being an avid fan of the Wonderbolts, for example, that didn't necessarily mean that she would want to read about their history. Additionally, she probably knew their stunts from watching them.

She assumed that Rainbow Dash wouldn't be interested in anything intellectual or academic, so she decided to look for something that's read for entertainment, thinking that something with action or adventure might interest her. Fortunately, after considering and dismissing two titles on the first bookshelf that she went to, she came upon Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone, which had both action and adventure. Even better, if she liked the main character, who was well-read on history and other subjects, maybe she'd realize that there's nothing wrong with being an "egghead."

...Not that it would matter, sadly.

With the thought of Rainbow Dash forgetting her experiences, and why, her excitement was significantly dampened when she offered the book to her and said, "Give this one a try."

Rainbow Dash gave the cover a dubious look. "Okay..." When she raised her gaze, she saw that Twilight Sparkle was still standing there, looking on expectantly, and the discomfort that evoked made her agitated. "Do you mind? I don't want anypony watching me read."

Embarrassed, Twilight Sparkle turned away and looked for a place where she could give Rainbow Dash some privacy, who was moving toward a nearby table to read. Downstairs wasn't an option, of course, but it looked like the mezzanine had a good view of the aforementioned table, so...

When she caught sight of the balcony, she perked up and headed toward it. She paused after opening the balcony doors and going outside, however, when she remembered the princess' letter. So, she turned around, poked her head back inside, and snatched it up in her magic before closing the doors and moving to the end of the balcony, where she sat with her back facing the building.

With her horn alight, so she wouldn't strain her eyes in the ocher gloom, she continued to scour the letter for clues. Unfortunately, long after the color had drained from the sky and all of the stars were revealed, she hadn't been able to glean anything else from the letter. It didn't help that her thoughts kept detouring to what she had felt earlier, when Rainbow Dash had abandoned the party and come up to the loft. That, and as the end of the current loop drew near, she felt more uneasy and... something else, but she wasn't sure what.

Eventually, she growled out her frustration and threw the letter onto the floor with her magic. She stewed there for a bit, contemplating whether or not she should explore her thoughts on Rainbow Dash instead, when she heard the doors click open behind her. Looking over her shoulder, she saw the pony in question approaching her, trying to act casual but not quite pulling it off.

When Rainbow Dash sat down beside her heavily, she considered how much time had elapsed before asking, "Didn't like the book?"

"It was totally awesome!" Rainbow Dash blurted out animatedly, who immediately covered her mouth with her hooves and blushed profusely.

"You're not an egghead," Twilight Sparkle reassured her, voice tinged with amusement.

Rainbow Dash sighed and lowered both her hooves and head, but didn't say anything right away. Eventually, after an internal struggle that showed enough of itself on her face for Twilight Sparkle to recognize it, she quietly stated, "It's not fair."

After figuring out what she was probably referring to, Twilight Sparkle considered her words carefully before offering, "After I'm no longer looping back in time, do you want me to introduce that book to you again?"

With a humorless chuckle, Rainbow Dash replied, "Yeah, good luck with that. You'd either have to do it like this, or catch me when I can't fly and I'm bored out of my mind."

Not knowing how to proceed from there, Twilight Sparkle silently regarded her troubled companion, feeling a pang in her chest because she didn't know what to say or do that would have a positive impact on the situation. There had to be a book on how to handle something like this, and — if there was — she was going to find it and read it at the first opportunity.

Then, abruptly, Rainbow Dash clenched her eyes shut, exclaimed, "I can't deal with this," and shot into the air.

Before Twilight Sparkle could do more than stand up and open her mouth to call after her, the pegasus was already beyond the outskirts of the town, and would have been out of sight just as soon if not for the rainbow contrail that stood out starkly against the night sky. A second later, she felt a drop of liquid splash on her nose, and looked down her muzzle to see the remnants of a tear.

She felt her eyes sting at the sight. Guilt began to well up, and weigh her ears down, upon the understanding that this wouldn't have happened if she had kept Rainbow Dash in the dark about the time loop. It had seemed fine to make her aware of it at the time, but now she couldn't understand how she could have thought that. She had dismissed how someone else might feel about it just because the consequences wouldn't have lasted, as if she hadn't... cared about them...

At the exact moment that her eyes widened in realization, she saw ring-shaped waves of rainbow light flash into existence and explode outward in the distance. Had there been any onlookers, they would have seen it sparkle in her eyes, alongside the glistening tears.