Twilight had lost track of just how long she'd been standing outside his door, but it was certainly long enough to have seen the sun rise through the windows, as well as hearing the sound of the morning roosters letting out their call from Applejack's farm. But regardless of how long it had been, it was all worth it when Spike's door finally opened, reveling the yawning face of the dragon himself. That face, understandably, soon became one of surprise as he saw Twilight there, her face barely an inch from his, with a great, big smile to greet him at this early hour. "Good morning, Spike!"
Spike, blinking a few times to give his brain enough time to properly boot up, responded with a deep sigh and a slumping of his shoulders. "Good morning, Twilight," he replied with a a touch less enthusiasm than she did.
Giggling, Twilight happily trotted in place for a few seconds before speaking to her adopted brother again. "Do you know what today is?"
Scratching the side of his chin, Spike shrugged. "Did I forget somepony's birthday?"
Twilight shook her head, keeping her smile. "Nope! It's the one week anniversary since we learned that my dream of a unified ponykind might come true!"
As before, Spike blinked slowly, and then, after rubbing the bridge of his nose, raised his claws and started counting them off. "One, if it's a week then it's not really an anniversary."
"Pfft! Semantics!" Twilight countered.
"Two," Spike continued. "All we've heard is that the big three are meeting up for the first time in who knows how long. That's no guarantee of anything."
Twilight, in response, gave him a playful nudge. "Come on, Spike! Where's your optimism or hopefulness?"
The young drake gestured to the bedroom behind him. "I leave it in there in the early hours, sis. You're the morning person, remember?"
Taking hold of his hand, Twilight led him away from the door of his room and to the stairs. "Look, can you blame me? I've been waiting all my life for something like this to happen and now it looks like it might!"
Spike sighed. "It's a step in the right direction, I'll grant you. But just getting together and talking isn't the same thing as saying everypony's friends, is it? I mean, heck, two neighbours who really don't like each other can get together and talk, but if all they talk about is one wanting the other to keep their pet off their lawn then that's not saying much."
As the two headed downstairs together, Twilight looked to her brother with slight disappointment. "Don't be that way, Spike. Any kind of dialogue is welcome after years and years of silence. We can't always let past experiences dictate what the future is gonna be after all!"
Now at the bottom of the stairs, Spike actually cracked a smile to her. "Maybe not. For your sake, maybe I'm willing to be a bit hopeful. But don't think I'm completely on-board with all this." He shivered slightly. "Knowing three big players are coming to our own doorstep is pretty unnerving if I'm being honest. And I doubt I'm the only one whose worried about it."
"Oh, you're not," Twilight confirmed, looking to the nearest window. "There's been talk all morning about how nervous everypony is about this. I mean, you should've seen how frantic Hitch was, galloping all over town to make note of any possible exit routes in case things go wrong."
Spike, folding his arms, chuckled. "Wow, that Sandbar kid really picked a bad time to sign on as that guy's new deputy." Twilight shared in the amusement, if only for a few moments, but now that they were both downstairs she knew what she had to focus on. Namely, taking hold of Spike's hand again and leading him over to the table at the center of the main room. There, her draconic friend saw the spread that had been laid out for the two of them, with every delectable breakfast item one could think of, from cereals to toast to pancakes and everything else. It was a mouth-watering sight, as the slight dribble at the corner of Spike's mouth attested, but it also raised some suspicions in him, as well as his eyebrow shortly afterwards. "And this would be for...?"
Twilight took a seat first, smiling to her brother. "This is because I am happy, Spike. Happy that things actually seem to be looking up for the wider world. Happy that ponies are choosing to talk instead of just ignore each other across far-away borders. Happy because...I'm just happy!"
Spike couldn't really fault her on that logic, and the growl in his stomach was soon overriding the more cynical part of his brain that wanted to comment. So, inevitably, he found himself sitting across the table from her, picking up the nearest slice of toast and holding it up as though it were a cup. "Well then...here's hoping the world lives up to your hopes." Twilight smiled to her brother finally getting in on the enthusiasm, and so raised her own cup, one of tea, to match his gesture. But, the moment Spike's toast was a mere inch away from his mouth, there was a knocking on the door, and he paused for a moment before letting out a sigh. "Ah, there's the disappointment of the day. It's early this time," he remarked.
Another giggle from his sister, who got up from her chair and headed over to the aforementioned door. "I think I know who it is."
Spike looked to her with curiosity, and before long she was there, opening it up and finding her smile growing even wider at the sight of her other best friend, Sunny. "Good morning, Twilight!" she declared with her usual exuberance.
"And good morning to you too, Sunny!" Twilight replied.
"So, I take it you're excited about the news?" the earth pony asked.
Twilight nodded with great vigour. "You bet! Just one more week and our Glades will be right at the centre of it all!"
The two mares let out a delighted sequel together, prompting Spike, who'd actually managed to take a bite of his toast, to shake his head. "This is getting out of hand. Now there are two of them!"
Stepping aside, Twilight allowed Sunny entry into the library, and the latter, once inside, rummaged around in her blue saddle-bag until she pulled out the desired item, in this case a large, white, rolled-up parchment. "I've been up all night coming up with designs for the new banner. I'm gonna present them to Mayor Mare later today. Hopefully, it'll let our visitors know they're welcome here."
Twilight, having closed the door, trotted over to her to look to the parchment with interest. "Well, let's see them then!"
Even Spike's curiosity was piqued, and he rose up from the table to watch as Sunny got to her knees, setting said parchment upon the floor before unrolling it. It was as she'd said, as there were a number of ornate, a very cheery banner designs there, each incorporating the insignia of the three visiting nations together in some way. The bottom one in particular caught Spike's notice, as it depicted ponies from the three realms together and shaking hooves while looking happy. "A touch early to see everypony happy and getting along like that, isn't it?"
But Sunny wasn't in any way sharing in the concern, as evidenced by her maintaining her smile. "Well, if we get things started on the right note, the right mood, the right hopes, that might help towards something better."
Twilight looked to her brother with a touch of smugness. "See, Spike? She gets it!"
"It's Sunny!" Spike countered. "She's always the town optimist!"
But Twilight ignored him, instead looking to the section of the proposed banners that included the national symbols of the visiting nations, at which point something caught her eye. "Say, what's this?"
She had pointed to what was clearly a tree of some sort, drawn as ornately as the other symbols, to which Sunny took on a slight blush. "Well, it's our lands that are playing host to them, so I figured it might be worth getting a symbol of our own into the mix." She then scratched the back of her head. "And yeah, I know that's gonna be pretty difficult, considering..."
"Considering we aren't actually a nation," Twilight conceded.
Spike got down to one knee, looking to the image of the tree for a moment. "You know, it's weird. All these centuries and we've never really thought all that much about what we here in the Glades actually count as."
Sunny smirked to him. "I think Moondancer had an idea of it."
A chuckle from the dragon beside her. "Ah, yes, I can hear her description already." He tapped his chin. "What was it again?"
Twilight cleared her throat, taking in a deep breath before giving what the other two had already suspected was an incoming impression of their stated friend. "A collection of rural communes bound together by common geographical location but lacking in any of the distinct, central leadership or cultural identity of the surrounding nation-states."
Spike snapped his finger at her. "Yep, that was it alright."
The three shared a laugh together, and when it was over Sunny rolled up her parchment and placed it carefully back into her saddle-bag before starting to walk towards the door again. "Well, better get these off to the Mayor then."
But, she was intercepted by Twilight, who barred her path. "Oh no you don't! You're not coming over here in the middle of breakfast without joining us!"
Spike, getting himself back in his previous chair, smiled to the two of them. "You're always welcome to do so, Sunny."
Sunny looked to him, and before long she reciprocated the smile. "Well...the toast does smell pretty good."
"There you go!" Twilight remarked, hurrying her along to sit in-between her and Spike.
Once down at the table, Sunny looked at the spread Twilight had prepared before settling on an orange from the fruit bowl in the middle. "It's actually kinda scary, in a fun sort of way, I mean?" After seeing the puzzled looks she was getting from the others, she elaborated. "The arrivals. I know the Glades have been at the entre of everything, but now we're, you know, at the centre of everything!"
Twilight beamed at the thought. "It's a new chapter. The dawn of a new age. Ponies will look back at this moment and time and say here. Here is where the great powers of the pony world came together for the first time in a generation!"
Spike, who was downing a glass of water, thought on that before adding his own, admittedly less optimistic, words. "Here's hoping history will see it as the start of something good, and not just the first in a long line of ominous dominoes."
"Ugh! Must you spoil the mood like that?" Twilight asked with clear irritation at her brother.
But Sunny was less upset about the dragon's words, and her own had her usual, calm tone as she looked to Twilight. "Don't be too hard on him, Twilight. It's like my Dad used to say to me when I was a filly. Always hope for the best, Sunny, but prepare yourself if things don't turn out that way."
Looking to her, Twilight's look of annoyance was replaced by one of appreciation, and she nodded in acknowledgement of the other mare's perspective. Spike, still holding his glass, held it up to her. "Argyle was a good stallion," he said respectfully.
Sunny nodded, holding her hoof to her heart. "May he rest in peace."
Twilight reached over to her, placing her hoof on Sunny's shoulder and gaining her attention. "If he knew what was going to happen here next week, he'd be proud to see it."
Sunny smiled to her, and to Spike, before looking down at her saddle-bag and the parchment that lay within. "And so am I."