Twilight had taken to her 'turn' to look after Ryan with enthusiasm, and zeal.
And the prince couldn't fault her for that... Exactly.
"Are you sure you have enough pillows, Ryan?" Twilight asked kindly.
Ryan managed to poke his head out of the pile of pillows he was now part of.
"I think you could take a few away?" He suggested.
Twilight winced.
"Ah, right, I uh... I may have overdone it a bit," she admitted. Her horn glowed, and several pillows flew off back into the cupboards. She was by the side of his couch in an instant, several plates of food floating around him like moons orbiting a planet.
"I made your favorites!" She said cheerfully. She winced. "Well, uh... I tried to make your favorites but then I started a fire. So Spike just made them."
"I'm good, really," Ryan said quickly, "had a big breakfast at the Apples. Really! You don't need to do that."
"Oh! Um, I'll just put these away for later then," Twilight said, again banishing the items with magic. She brightened.
"I know! The gramophone! How about Moozart? Bach? Stringvinsky?"
Ryan stared in disbelief at Twilight.
"No, thank you," Ryan stated, "now. Can we please do something interesting? I have been bored out of my mind for the last five days of my recovery!"
"Well, that is why I brought you here!" Twilight said cheerfully.
Spike entered the living room, carrying a box. Ryan nodded to the baby dragon.
"Thanks for the food, Spike, I do appreciate it," he said.
"Well, anything to keep Twilight from burning down the library," Spike said, "she'd never forgive herself."
"I did not nearly burn down the library!" Twilight huffed. "I'm still a novice in the kitchen, but I'm not that bad!"
"I suppose it's a step up from nearly burning down the palace," Spike said dryly. He looked over at Ryan.
"She tried to make soup that time-"
"Spike, please," Twilight sighed, "isn't there something you should be doing? Somewhere else?"
"No, not really," Spike deadpanned, "why do you ask?"
Twilight then smiled.
"Spike?" Twilight asked sweetly," why don't you ask Rarity if you can help her with some maid outfits she was working on? She had a big order of them last I was over there and-"
"I'll be back later, have fun you two!" Spike cried out, dropping the box on the table and rushing off out the front door. Twilight and Ryan shared a knowing glance.
"He's a sweet kid," Ryan chuckled, "hope Rarity doesn't break his heart."
"Oh, I'm sure she won't," Twilight said, "she's very good at things like... That."
She opened the box, and held up... The Element of Magic crown. She placed it on the table with a broad smile. Ryan leaned forward, a grin on his face.
"The Element of Magic," Ryan breathed, "it's... Incredible! Can you feel the magic coming off of it?"
"I know, right?" Twilight said happily. "Oh, the Thauma levels on it are off the charts!"
"We're gonna need new charts," Ryan observed wryly. Twilight laughed softly.
"Oh! You made that joke before," Twilight said. "I did actually like it."
"I... Yeah, I heard it somewhere," Ryan admitted. He reached out for the Element... And Twilight snatched it away.
"Huh? Hey!"
"What are you doing?" Twilight asked urgently.
"I was just going to examine it," Ryan said, irritated.
"In your condition? No!" Twilight shook her head. "You're still recovering, Mister! So you stay put..." She teleported a notepad and a pen to his hands.
"And take notes!"
"You're kidding," Ryan groaned.
"No, I'm very serious," Twilight stated.
"I'm literally certified in magical constructs and enchanted objects," Ryan whined.
"Yes, which is why you're going to be helping me analyze the Elements," Twilight said, "but not handling them. You're still recovering!"
Ryan scowled.
"Ugh..."
"Now," Twilight began, " are you absolutely sure you don't need any snacks or a blanket or-?"
Ryan glared angrily at her.
"Twilight, I'm fine! I don't need any music, or pillows, or snacks or handholding-"
Twilight blushed, and bowed her head. Her horn lit up, and her plain clothing transformed... Into an extremely abbreviated and sexy maid's outfit. She bowed.
"How about this? Do... Do you like this?" Twilight asked shyly.
Ryan's jaw dropped. Twilight filled the silence with frantic explanations and her waving hands.
"I-I mean, I know you and Trixie dated-I don't know how far you two went, um, it would be rude to ask, but you did like it when she dressed skimpily, right? I could tell, your heartrate shot up when she wore her skirt short or her shirt unbuttoned. I was monitoring your vitals for a project on sensory spells, um, I just recorded the data... Do... Do you like it?"
Ryan opened his mouth, closed it, and then very slowly nodded.
"Yes. You... Look good," he said.
Twilight gasped, her eyes lighting up.
"Really?!"
Does my opinion of her dressing sexy really matter that much?! Ryan thought to himself.
"It's actually kind of... Liberating," Twilight admitted, "not that I-I do this sort of thing often. Or at all. Rarity helped me pick it out, and tailored it! It uh, I-I mean..." She looked at him again.
"You're sure you like it? You didn't like the other things I did-!"
Ryan resisted the urge to roll his eyes to the heavens.
"Yes, Twilight. You look sexy. Honestly I always thought you had the hot librarian thing down but you can also pull off the hot maid thing too. All right?"
"You mean it?"
"Yes," Ryan stated firmly. "Now, let's please do some scholarly research?"
Twilight beamed at him. He had to admit, she had a nice smile. It had been rare before but now... It was a lot more common.
"Of course! Though uh... I can take the high heels off, right? I know they complete the outfit but they're very uncomfortable!"
Ryan stared.
"... Yeah, sure."
"Oh good..."
Ryan had been wheeled outside, to take a break from studying the Elements of Harmony. Twilight had almost refused, and he couldn't blame her. Even with her concern over him, she was still Twilight.
But ultimately she relented, and now they were outside in Celestia's sunshine, relaxing.
"Even with just the basic equipment I brought," Twilight sighed, "the readings are amazing!"
"I want to test the tensile strength next," Ryan said eagerly.
"Are you sure?" Twilight asked. Ryan nodded.
"The Thauma levels suggest their strength might be in levels of the Strong Nuclear Force," Ryan said cheerfully, "you have to admit, that's exciting!"
"Yeah, it is," Twilight admitted, "but I don't know where we'd put the equipment."
"There's gotta be a shop in Ponyville," Ryan said happily, "and hey, I've been saving my allowance. I can pay for it!"
"You don't have to do it alone, you know," Twilight said, hesitantly resting a hand on his shoulder. He let her keep it there and smiled warmly at her.
"Hey. You can pitch in if you want," he said, "There's so much to do."
"Yeah," Twilight agreed, and they fell into a comfortable silence for a time. One Ryan broke.
"I can't remember a time we talked like this, can you?" He asked.
Twilight shook her head.
"No... Well... There was... Trixie but..."
Ryan's face darkened. Twilight shook her head rapidly.
"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"No, no, it's okay," he said softly. He looked up at the clear blue sky.
"I... Was stupid," he said softly, "I rushed into that without thinking-"
"She should have made it work! If-if you, I mean, if she really loved you," Twilight insisted.
Ryan scoffed.
"Thanks, but... I mean... Her dream was to become a famous performer. Not... Ya know... A Princess."
He squeezed his hand, imagining the ring box that he had held only two years ago.
"She could have... Have married you and still done that," Twilight argued.
Ryan sighed heavily.
"Nah... Not her," he said softly. "But... You know... Thanks. For... You know... Trying to help after."
"It wasn't like you were getting back to your room alone," Twilight said gently.
"Still... Thank you," Ryan said, "you still drive me crazy sometimes but... Thank you."
Twilight giggled.
"Maybe we could call that a friendship lesson?" She asked. "I need to send Princess Celestia one this week."
"Just nothing embarrassing, please?" Ryan asked.
"She probably knows everything already, about that night," Twilight said cautiously. Ryan shook his head.
"Yeah but she pretended not to."
"HEY! PRINCE RYAN!"
A familiar blue Pegasus girl flew up, pushing a huge wheelbarrow filled with metal pieces. Applejack walked up after, grinning. Ryan's eyes widened ad he recognized the parts.
"Is that my suit?!" He cried.
"Eeyup! Took us a while, but we found them all!" Applejack said cheerfully.
"I found more!" Dash bragged.
"Thanks, both of you!" Ryan laughed. He pulled out the broken remains of a magicitereactor. He turned to Twilight with a grin.
"Hey-Know what we can do right now?"
"Spectrographic analysis?!" Twilight asked eagerly.
"Read my mind!" Ryan laughed. Twilight teleported herself, Ryan and the wheelbarrow into her library. Applejack and Dash stood in silence for a moment.
"... Was she wearing a maid outfit?" Dash asked.
"Eeyup."
"You got a photo, right?"
"Nope."
Dash gaped. Applejack grinned.
"But Pinkie Pie did."
"YES!"