"Tia', please, can't we just TELL her what is going on?" Luna whined, following her sister, Princess Celestia through the royal castle in Canterlot, an escort of two guards at their rear. It was the early morning of the next day, Celestia now on her way to raise the sun with Luna in tow.
The solar princess sighed and shook her head, trying to figure out how to best explain the situation to her younger, naive sister "Luna..." she whispered, magically opening the door to a balcony overlooking the massive Hedge Labyrinth that took up most of the castle's backyard "That's the easy way of doing things, you'd never learn anything from it!" Luna scowled as she watched her sister's horn light up with magic, the golden rays of majesty emitting from the sun gleaming over the trees of the Everfree Forest. The sun had begun to rise, casting its warm glow across the world and bringing a slight warmth to the frigid cold of December.
Luna started to pout "But Tia', how will she ever be able to help if she knows not what we want her to do! Poor Trixie has already been through so much pain, I can't bear to see her suffer any longer!" Celestia sighed, watching as the sun rose higher and higher into the sky, signalling the start of Equestria's day. All over the world, ponies had begun to open their tired, sleepy eyes, shuffling out of bed in order to prepare for their work day or their day off.
Turning about, Celestia spoke as she walked back towards the throne room with Luna "I am still a little...unsettled about the turn of events you have revealed to me dear sister...about the mare causing such mischief" She gave a sideways glance over to the Lunar Mare who had 'Guilty' written all over her face. When Luna did not reply, Celestia went on "However, I do agree with you that is an excellent opportunity for redemption. The only thing I do not agree with...is putting my star-pupil in danger. Manehatten is a city of its own workings, of its own laws. Sure they are within my boundaries and therefore within my protection, but no matter what I do to exercise my own rule, they continue to operate down there as if they were their own nation. Their own guards, their own laws, Luna. Laws that I may not have any sway over, regardless of my position or not. Do you understand?"
Luna nodded quickly and said "Yes, I do, that is why we must inform your pupil about the dangers, about Trixie! How will she ever be able to-" She was cut off by Celestia opening the door to the Throne room and placing a hoof on her shoulder. The solar princess gave her a comforting smile and quickly trotted up towards the throne, stepping up and sitting on her haunches, the velvet texture of the massive chair making her feel calm and at ease.
She spoke as Luna approached, a concerned look on her face "Dear Sister...let's say I gave you a difficult math problem. You could solve this problem by thinking hard and doing hard work...or...I could just give you your favorite abacus and you could be done a great deal more quickly!"
Luna frowned, remembering this conversation from an earlier time and asking "Tia'...I've told you this before, how would I ever learn anything that way? How would I know how to solve the issue if I did things the easy w- ......oh." A look of realization passed over Luna's face as Celestia smiled, her point coming across clear as day.
She whispered "Exactly, now, as I know you really want this issue resolved quickly...I'm afraid I must ask you to wait for one more day before telling Twilight."
Luna's jaw dropped, her voice coming out in a squeaky manner "A d..day?! Tia' how can you ask me to let poor Trixie suffer any longer! What's going up there in that sunny head of yours!?"
The guards snickered a little, quickly regaining their composure as Celestia cleared her throat and whispered with a tiny smile on her face "Trust me, dear Sister. It is for the best. I promise that tommorow we will send Twilight on her way...but for now...let's let her rest. She's got a big day today I'd wager."
Luna raised an eyebrow and muttered "What makes you say that?" Celestia let her smile fade a little, a small frown forming on her lips as she remembered the previous night, watching her lonely pupil on the freezing balcony of her library out of concern and wishing she could help her just as Luna wanted to help Trixie.
Looking up, Celestia whispered "Call it a hunch..."
~~~
"Twilight! Come on, would you wake up already!?" Spike shouted, gently slapping a sleeping Twilight Sparkle on the cheek and causing her to give a groan of protest.
"Five more minutes..." She whimpered, rolling away from Spike. The purple dragon wasn't having any of it though, scowling at the purple mare and forming an idea in his head. He quickly padded into the kitchen, grabbing up a pepper shaker near the stove and heading back. He sprinkled pepper in his open palm and bent his head down, taking a huge whiff of it and waiting. Sure enough, a sneeze quickly formed in his nasal cavity, the dragon taking in a huge heap of air "Aahh....Ahhh!!! AAAAAAACHOOO!!!" Twilight squealed as a jet of green fire singed her backside, causing the lavender mare to fly up and land hard on her backside.
Spike broke out in heavy laughter as Twilight growled at him and narrowed her eyes, shouting "Spike! How could you do something so mean, not to mention RUDE! You could have burnt my coat, or worse, set my whole TAIL on fire!"
Spike merely wiped a tear from his eye and chuckled "Worked though didn't it? You're lucky I even bothered to wake you up, don't you remember what today is!?" Twilight raised an eyebrow as Spike sighed, shaking his head and saying "You're supposed to go to the school for Career Day, remember? Rarity's too busy with a massive order and she needed you to go in her place so Sweetie Belle wouldn't be left out!"
Twilight gasped, looking towards the clock and thinking she may have already been late. Her wide eyes only narrowed however, watching as the clock struck seven A.M. She turned back to Spike and shouted "Spike! I'm not supposed to be there for another two hours! Why'd you wake me up so early!?"
Spike scowled at the mare as he made his way back towards the kitchen, shouting "I'm a guy, guys know that mares take at least an hour and a half to get themselves ready for public! That gives you half an hour to eat breakfast and do whatever else!"
Twilight scoffed in insult, shouting towards the retreating dragon "That's not true and you know it!" To herself however, she muttered "I only take about an hour...".
~~~
An hour later, Twilight found herself along the road towards the School house, her scarf tightly wound around her neck in attempts to keep the cold away. She trotted down the lonely, snowy road, her eyes staring ahead and wandering aimlessly around the cold, dead ground and sky. A small frown had formed on her face, the feelings of the previous night creeping into her mind. Her dreary thinking was cut short however, as a familiar voice called out to her "Well howdy Twi'! What brings ya'll down this way?" Twilight looked up, a small smile forming on her face and a hurtful throbbing echoing from her heart. Applejack was walking down the path with Rainbow Dash, scarves wrapped around their necks and a small cape hanging over Rainbow's wings.
Twilight weakly called back "Hey...Applejack! Um...I'm just on my way to the school...Sweetie Belle's Career Day...you know?"
Applejack smiled and trotted up to her lavender friend, exclaiming "Well that's mighty considerate of ya Twi'. Ah know Rarity would have wanted to be there herself, it's a good thing you were able to take her place! Poor Sweetie Belle woulda been devastated if she were the only one to not have anypony for show and tell!"
Twilight smiled and spoke wearily as Rainbow Dash trotted up "So...what brings YOU two down THIS way?"
Rainbow was the one to answer "Meh, didn't really want to stay cooped up in AJ's house all day, no matter how...warm it was..." She winked at Twilight, who in turn only blushed and watched as Applejack gave her a playful bonk on her marefriend's head.
"Now come on you" The country mare whispered, pulling Rainbow along down the road "Poor Twi' don't need to know that part! Catch ya'll later Twi'?"
Twilight nodded, putting forth her most fake smile that she could muster and shouting "Of course! See you girls later!!!" Turning around and trotting down the road, Twilight immediately let her smile drop and her head hang low. She took a quick look back, quickly regretting it as she watched Applejack share a quick, but tender kiss with her true love. She whipped her back around and broke out into a gallop, wanting nothing more then to just get this day over with.
~~~
"Up next, we have Sweetie Belle with her show, Miss Twilight Sparkle from the Ponyville Library!" Cheerilee spoke with a happy tone, clapping along with the class as Sweetie Belle walked towards the front of the classroom with Twilight.
As they approached the front, Twilight whispered down to her "Rarity says she's sorry...again. You know she wishes it was her up here with you."
Sweetie Belle smiled and nodded, whispering back "It's ok...somepony has to pay the bills and put food on the table, so I forgive her!" The two of them stood at the head of the class, Twilight giving a polite smile as the young filly spoke "Since my sister couldn't be here, I chose to do my Career Day Project on one of her best friends, Twilight Sparkle!" Twilight blushed as Sweetie went on "Twilight works at the Library, where she sorts and resorts all of the books while studying magic. She also runs our library card system, which lets us check out books and return them by a certain date. She gets real mad if you don't return a book though, so let that serve as a warning!" Twilight playfully raised an eyebrow and gave the class a semi-goofy look, drawing giggles from the young fillies and foals in the classroom. Sweetie Belle went on as the giggles subsided "This isn't the career I was really looking into, but I thought anything was better then Rarity's dresses, yech!" Even Twilight giggled at this, just imagining the look on Rarity's face if she could have heard this. Sweetie Belle took a quick bow and exclaimed "And that is my presentation of Miss Twilight!"
The class gave a polite applause as Cheerilee spoke "Alright! Now, does anypony have any questions for Miss Sparkle?" A few hooves went up, Twilight's eyes shifting around and trying to decide which pony to pick on. Just as she was about to narrow it down to two, a small voice spoke up, a familar, but sad voice:
"Are you sad Miss Twilight?"
Her eyes widened a little, her eyes slowly looking over to Applebloom, who sat in the middle of the class and who looked at her with a concerned, but saddened expression. The whole class quieted as the two quietly stared at one another, the lavender mare's mouth partially agape as she processed the question in her brain. Was she sad? She had never been asked that question before...she didn't know how to answer, how was she was supposed to answer!? Could she come up with a lie, a joke, something, anything, how did she, when, where, how could she, didn't she kn-
"Twilight?" She jumped, not even noticing Fluttershy sitting near the back of the class, sitting right next to Big Macintosh.
"Applebloom's Career Project...of course it had to be Macintosh" Thought Twilight, quickly shaking herself out of her small brain spasm and quietly answering the small filly "Of...of course I'm happy Applebloom...why wouldn't I be?"
The filly shrugged as she whispered "I don't know...Applejack said you were looking a little down lately and-"
"Alrighty! I'm sorry to rush this but we're running a bit behind. If anypony has any other questions for Miss Sparkle they can ask them after class!" Cheerilee exclaimed, earning a quietly muttered 'Thank you' from Twilight. The teacher nodded with a tiny smile and said "Applebloom, it's your turn!"
Twilight made her way to the back of the classroom as Macintosh went up front with Applebloom, the timid Fluttershy quietly whispering "H...hi Twilight. How are you?" Twilight merely shrugged, letting out a quiet sigh as she plopped down next to Fluttershy.
Applebloom smiled as she began her presentation "This here's mah brother, mah BIG brother! BIG Macintosh! He's our work horse for Sweet Apple Acres, and he goes all day beatin' the ever livin' bejesus out of trees with his powerful legs and usin' the money from the apples we sell to buy us all that we need to live, like newer tools and those magazines Applejack likes to keep hushed up!" The class partially roared with laughter as Macintosh blushed a little, Cheerilee quickly trying to calm the class down while trying to keep her own composure.
Twilight smiled a little, praying that the worst was over and that she could finish the day on a good note. Oh, oh she couldn't have been more wrong if the poor mare even TRIED to be, listening as a young foal asked "Is Miss Fluttershy your marefriend?"
Big Macintosh blushed a little, looking towards the back of the classroom and locking eyes with his smiling love, letting out his signature "Eeyup!"
Twilight's ears flattened to her head as the expected barrage of questions rained down on the Stallion, "Are you two going to be together forever?!", "Are you going to get married?!", "Is being in love nice? I still think foals are gross!", "Who's going to ask who for marriage first!?". Twilight winced at each question, looking up only to the sound of Cheerilee's throat clearing, the mare nudging her head towards the door. Twilight nodded and got up, Fluttershy unaware of her departure as she continued to lock eyes with her hunk of a stallion.
She followed Cheerilee out the door, turning and whispering "Thank you..."
Cheerilee shook her head and whispered "No...thank you, for coming in today for Rarity. Will you be ok dear? You look as if you've seen a ghost."
Twilight nodded a little and whispered "Yeah...I'll be fine. Thank you for having me Miss Cheerilee." With exchanging nods, the mares went their separate ways, Cheerilee inside her classroom and Twilight out into the desolate, painful air of December.
~~~
"Come in!!!" Rarity shouted, her eyes locked on her sewing pattern and gently pushing the fabric through the machine. Her front door opened, the bell jingling as she expected it would.
The sound she was not expecting however, was the sounds of sniffling and a weak voice crying out "R...Rarity?" The white mare looked up with wide-eyes, gasping as she saw Twilight standing, shivering in her doorway with tears streaming down her face.
She immedietly put down her sewing and jumped up, rushing over to her friend with a volley of questions "Oh my GOODNESS darling, what's wrong?! Why are you out and about with just a scarf over your poor, cold little body? Oh no, did Career Day not go over well? Oh I KNEW I should have been there...I'm sorry for asking you to go Twilight it was simply not my place to demand such a thing!" Twilight didn't say a word, simply pushing herself into Rarity's hooves and crying into her shoulder, falling on her haunches and letting the white mare pull her into a gentle hug. Rarity gently rubbed her back, cooing with her soft voice "There there....it's ok...it's all ok. Momma Rarity is here...come darling, let's get that wet scarf off of you and get you warmed up, shall we?" Twilight weakly nodded, slowly moving with Rarity's support to the 'Living' side of the boutique, a fire already roaring in the fireplace. Rarity gently set her down in front of the fireplace and pulled her scarf off, setting it in front of her so it would dry with the heat. She put a hoof on Twilight's shoulder and whispered "I'll get some tea, alright? I'll be right back." Twilight nodded, gently laying her head on her hooves and sniffing, a fresh set of tears slowly moving down her face.
Rarity returned five minutes later, a small plate with two cups of tea floating beside her. She sat on her haunches and passed one to Twilight who took it graciously with a small sip. Rarity took a sip of her own and sighed, looking towards the unicorn with concern and whispered "So what happened...how bad was Career Day?"
Twilight sniffed and rubbed her eyes, whispering "It wasn't Career Day Rarity....it was just me being stupid." Rarity raised an eyebrow as she went on, letting her friend get whatever she needed off her chest out "I had to deal with Applejack and Rainbow Dash...being all lovey dovey in the snow...and low and behold, Big Macintosh and Fluttershy were at Career Day for Applebloom...what is it Rarity? Is it me? Am I too much of an egghead like Rainbow's always saying? Do I smell bad or...or...am I ugly? I just want to knoooow!" She finished her last word with a heavy wail, Rarity quickly scooting over and pulling the crying unicorn in her hooves.
She whispered as she rocked Twilight back and forth "Shhh...hush now dear, that's not it at all. You're not an, ugh, egghead as that brute Rainbow likes to call you. You're not ugly either, you're very beautiful! It's just...love isn't something you can force darling. You can't wish for it, and you can't magically make it happen either. It just means you haven't found that special someone yet! If anything it sounds like you have the same problem as the Crusaders when it comes to their cutie marks...all it needs is time dear."
Twilight sniffed, whimpering into Rarity's coat "B...but...how much time?"
Rarity sighed, shaking her head as she continued to rock the weeping mare back and forth "I don't know dear...nopony knows. Could be today....could be...tommorow.
Twilight smiled, whispering "Thank you Rarity...you're such a good friend..."
Rarity sighed contently, whispering back "Anytime darling, now let's finish this delicious tea and I'll show you some bright pieces I've been working on for the Canterlot Shoot. I just KNOW you're going to love these!"
~~~
Twilight smiled, pushing her way into the Library and welcoming the warm embrace it gave to her, the fire still going in the fireplace. She took off her warm scarf, placing it on the coat rack and trotting upstairs to her bedroom. Spike was snoozing in his basket, just as Twilight expected him to be. With quiet movements and a little bit of magic, Twilight levitated the romance novel she had been reading over the past few days over to her and settled down on her bed, her belly warm against the soft fabric. She cracked the book open to her bookmarked page and sighed, eyes starting to scan over the words she had left behind only a short while ago. As she read, she thought about Rarity had said to her, going over it in her mind. Who knows...maybe love was coming for her tommorow...