“...Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight said to herself. With a flourish of the quill, she nodded to herself as she finished signing her name. “Done! Ha! I thought I was never going to get this one done.”
Twilight read over the letter one last time in an attempt to find any mistakes she might have made. Satisfied with how it turned out, she used her magic to roll up the scroll, and after picking up a wax stamp, she sealed the scroll tight. After sealing the letter, she looked at it, making sure that every single little detail of the outer package was sufficient to send to royalty.
Setting down the quill, seal, and rolled up scroll, Twilight took a few steps towards the window, and looked out over the streets of Ponyville. The unicorn had suspected that the week after defeating Discord would be an insanely crazy one—despite what Rarity had suspected—and it did not fail to deliver. Parties, royal ceremonies, a key to the City of Ponyville, and countless other prizes and honors were showered over the six of them. So much so, that even Rainbow was starting to tire from the incredible amount of attention.
And then, it suddenly died off.
It was almost silly how quickly the ponies got over their victory against Discord. It was as if the ponies were on some kind of drug, and eventually the effects ended, leaving behind the good feelings. After days and days of celebrating, ponies everywhere just... stopped showering them with praise. The gifts stopped. The honors no longer came in. Invitations to be guests of honor were retracted. Even simple voices of thanks no longer were thrown in the mares' direction. Now, with the library as quiet as it had always been, it was as if nothing had ever happened.
Which was exactly how Twilight had wanted it.
The soft thumps of light steps approached Twilight, and upon turning her head, she saw Spike stretching his arms. “Hey Twilight. Did you finish that letter yet?”
Smiling wide, Twilight took the sealed scroll in her grasp, and levitated it over to Spike. “I did, and it's ready to be sent.”
Looking at the scroll for a second, the small dragon eventually shrugged to himself, and after a deep inhale, incinerated the scroll with his magical flame, sending the letter to Princess Celestia in Canterlot.
Twilight's eyes were transfixed by the small amount of green flame that came out of his mouth as the dragon began to speak. “I still don't understand why you didn't want me to write it down for you. You and I both know that it's a ton easier for me to write it for you, rather than you to try and write yourself. You were so secretive about it too. Really sketchy.”
The unicorn shook her head lightly—attempting to get out the image of an older Spike out of her mind. “Sorry, Spike. It's just... it was just a much more personal letter than I usually have to write. I just wanted privacy. I hope you understand.”
To that, Spike laughed once. “Please, don't say sorry to me! I was able to get a lot of extra napping time as you wrote that thing. Write as many as you want yourself!”
“Oh really? Lots of extra time?” Twilight approached her baby dragon with a coy smile. “In that case, I can assume that you have plenty of energy to help dust the tops of the shelves today.”
Under her gaze, Spike took a step back, and began sweating lightly. “Uhh... I didn't mean it like that. What I meant was that... uhh... I've been so busy taking care of the library doing other things, that the letter... I mean... I was so—”
It was at that moment that there was a hard knock at the door.
“Oh! Look at that! Somepony's at the door! I better go get that now before they catch a cold or something!” Spike quickly said as he scrambled to get to the door as quickly as possible. Twilight couldn't help but to giggle lightly at his antics. It was something that she would never get tired of, and even though it could be slightly annoying at times to have him constantly attempting to slack off, she loved him for it.
Spike opened the door, and instantly began wearing the widest smile. “Oh, hi Rarity!”
“Hello, Spikie Wikie,” Rarity said as she took a few steps in. Leaning down to nuzzle the much shorter dragon—an action that brought an even wider smile to his face—she continued. “Are you ready for our little outing?”
“Yup! Just about! I just gotta make sure that Twilight is alright with it.” Spike said as he looked towards his caretaker, pleading her with his large emerald eyes.
“Oh I don't know...” Twilight slowly and dramatically said as she allowed her eyes to look towards the tops of the shelves. “I was really hoping to get those shelves clean, and I thought that today would be a perfect day to—”
“Oh come on, Twilight!” Spike ran over, clutching his hands together in a pleading fashion. “Please?? I'll do them tomorrow, and I won't even complain once! Please please please!?” Spike pleaded as he continued his puppy dog like begging.
“Hmm!!” Twilight hummed to herself, acting like she was thinking. Behind Spike, she could see Rarity doing her best to stifle a snicker. She let the little dragon sweat it out for another second or two before she finally looked down. “Oh all right, but only because I can't say no to those eyes of yours.”
“YES!!” Spike yelled as he pumped his fist into the air in celebration. Turning towards Rarity, he slowly began running back towards the kitchen. “I'm just about ready, Rarity. Let me just grab one or two more things.”
“Please, take your time, darling. Don't rush on my behalf.” Rarity called out as he passed through the doorway. As he left the room, she shook her head. “That little guy is going to hurt himself someday by running backwards like that.”
The two mares were silent for a few seconds, neither one really sure what to say to the other. Rarity's silence was probably because of some sort of mix between awkwardness and embarrassment, while Twilight was mostly because she wasn't sure how to approach the topic at hoof. However, considering that this was the third time this week that the two had gone out to do something together, and especially considering that she was basically his mother, she had to talk to her about it.
It was with that thought that Twilight cleared her throat. “Soooo...”
Rarity looked at Twilight, and scrunched her brows together. “Soooo?”
The lavender unicorn took a few steps forward, before she sat herself down on a cushion. Beckoning Rarity to join her, she continued. “It's only been a week, and you two have gone out together a few times already. Does that mean... you know...”
Rarity lightly shook her head, though Twilight could easily see the goofy grin the mare had on her face. Still, Rarity did close the gap between them, and joined Twilight at the table. “I'm letting the dear go at his own pace, and I am only doing things that he himself wants to do, when he asks, and not a second sooner.”
Twilight waved a forehoof in a small circle—motioning her friend to continue. “And that means...”
Rarity sighed. “He hasn't asked me to do or be anything yet, and frankly, I don't expect him to ask for our... relationship to be any more serious than a simple friendship for some time. However... when he does ask... well...” Rarity trailed off, a blush showing through her white coat as she did so.
Twilight rolled her eyes, though she still kept a smile on her face. “I don't want to sound harsh, but you do realize that this isn't the Spike that saved us a dozen times, the same Spike that basically confessed that he loved you. This is the normal Spike—the baby dragon that might have nothing but a childish crush on you, right?”
Rarity sighed again, but this time, it was heavier, and filled with more thought. “I am aware of all of that, Twilight Sparkle. However, that is the Spike that I want to know and love... err... the Spike we have here I mean.”
“And you do realize,” Twilight leaned forward, “that this Spike is around the same age as Sweetie Belle, right? He won't really be an adult for at least five years or so, and even then, he'll still be more of an adolescent by dragon years for at least another fifty, right?”
With that, her friend lower her head to the table, and with a gentle thud, Rarity's head met the wood. “I am aware of all of that Twilight. I am aware I am trying to basically get together with a child, but... well...” Rarity lifted her head, and gave a miniscule smile. “I am willing to wait those five years, if it means I'll be with him.”
To that, Twilight shook her head. “Rarity, you are one insane pony, and if you do anything to hurt him, I'll make sure that you get what's coming to you. However, as long as you don't do anything stupid, I’m completely alright with this.”
Rarity gave a more genuine smile, and with a little bit of enthusiasm, took one of Twilight's forehooves between her own. “Don't worry, dear. I won't let you down.”
A loud thud was heard in the direction of the kitchen, and after both mares turned towards the sound, they saw that Spike had accidentally hit the doorway with the side of a bright red wagon. Grumbling to himself, she situated the wagon so that it would pass through the doorway this time, and with a pull, he got through. Inside the wagon, a fairly large picnic basket was situated—much larger than what Spike could've normally carried—with what must have been all of the necessities required for a nice lunch at the park.
With a final few steps, Spike stopped in front of Rarity, and bowed. “Milady, I am ready to depart.”
Rarity bent down, and once again nuzzled the dragon. After a few seconds, she pulled herself back, and after standing up from the table, beamed at Twilight. “Splendid! Anyway Twilight, we really haven't had the time to chat to each other since... well... I can't even remember! Feels like ages ago! We should set up a spa date or something soon to catch up. I am going to especially need help working on ideas for those dresses that Rainbow and Fluttershy are going to have to wear!”
Twilight got up, let a slightly devilish grin take over her face, and led the pair to the door. “Agreed. Don't worry, we'll think of something together.”
“Indeed. Until then, darling, Ta ta!” Rarity called back as she and Spike left the library. Together the two began to make their way down the road, and started to talk about random things. Twilight couldn't really tell what they were talking about—it wasn't polite to eavesdrop anyway—but what she did know was that once you got those two going, they could go on and on for hours on end. Sometimes, what they talked about wasn't even things that made sense, and were just things that were nonsensical confusion mixed with laughter and giggles.
Which brought the thought of her next duty of the day to her mind.
As soon as the pair were out of sight, she stepped out of the library, and pulled the door shut. Activating the magical identifying lock—and making sure the door was secure—she turned towards the road, and with determined hoofsteps, began to make her way further into town.
“Thank you for your time, Councilor Mighty Pen,” Princess Celestia said with a cheerful voice. “I'll make sure that your citizens get the relief that they require.
“Thank you, your Highness.” The stallion slowly bowed in honor of the Solar Alicorn, before he turned, and made his way down the long hall of the Throne Room.
Celestia turned, and was just about to ask her scribe who was next on the list of visitors that would need to be tended to, when she spotted the distinctive sparkling gray cloud of Spike's breath. Her smile growing wider at the implications, she only had to wait for two seconds for the magical cloud to approach, and coalesce in front of her. As soon as the scroll formed in front of her eyes, she grabbed it within her magic, and with a gentle tug opened the wax seal.
Upon first glace, she was slightly surprised at the most glaring aspect of the letter. “Hmm... it seems that Twilight Sparkle wrote this herself. Curious.”
Regardless, seeing how she had a minute or two before the next guest was due to arrive, she felt it was enough time to read the Friendship Report.
Dear Princess Celestia,
I apologize that I did not send this letter before. With all of the parades and ceremonies commemorating our victory against Discord, I have not had the time to sit down and actually write this. Thankfully, since things have appeared to have died down, I was able to clear my schedule, and was able to find enough time to write this for you. I know this is a somewhat unorthodox letter compared to my other reports on my findings on friendship, but it is one that I need to say more than any other before. Before you ask, the main reason I sound so cryptic is because many details involve, as I was instructed to write, you pickling onions.
“Scribble Down,” Celestia said as she continued to look at the letter before her.
Turning his gaze up, her scribe cheerfully looked at the alicorn's face. However, his demeanor dropped the instantly the moment he realized how serious she looked. “Yes, Princess Celestia?”
She stood from her throne, rolled the letter back up, and looked at him. “Who is the next visitor, and what are his grievances?”
Scribble looked at the parchment on the floor in front of him, and after a few seconds, he gave his answer. “It looks as though the next visitor is Master Lion Heart of Los Pegasus, and he is requesting an audience to ask for permission to build a stadium in the middle of the city. He seeks your council because he needs royal permission to build such a large structure in the middle of the city.”
Celestia continued to walk down towards the doorway out of the throne room. “Inform him that I must delay his appointment by an hour. Tell him that as an apology from myself, he can get lunch anywhere in the city, and to bill the Canterlot Treasury.”
Nodding, Scribble wrote down the order. After writing down the decree—giving it to a messenger to deliver shortly after to deliver—he looked up. “Princess... is everything alright?”
She stopped for a second, before turning her head around. “Everything is alright, Scribble Down. I just... received a message that I was surprised to have received. Rest assured, there is no cause for concern.”
After seeing her scribe bowing in acknowledgment, Celestia made her way through the doorway and into the hallway. Quickly navigating her way through the labyrinth of halls, she quickly sped up until she was just shy of an actual trot. Several times, she ran across servants and soldiers, and many times it looked as though they had something they wanted to say to her. However, each time they must have seen the look she had on her face, and therefore, only said a polite hello, and gave a deep bow before allowing their princess to continue with her business.
It only took a minute or two for her to finally make it to her bedroom—the alicorn using her magic to swiftly turn on all of the gas lanterns in the room. She shut the door behind her, and with slow steps, carefully made her way towards the desk against on the left wall of the room. She gently sat herself down, and after getting herself comfortable, carefully—as if the scroll she was carrying was some sort of precious artifact—she laid out the parchment onto the desk in front of her.
Quickly, she scanned the letter to find the spot that she had left off, and after finding her place, continued to read.
Time is a curious thing really. We always are looking forward to new events in the future, hoping that our lives will constantly grow better with the next day before us. We always look back to the past, hoping that what decisions we made were the right ones, as well as regretting decisions that we so desperately wish we could change. However, how often do we ponies look at the present, and look at who we are today? Sadly, not often enough.
In the past week, I have gotten a new view on the world around us, and how precious my friends are to me. We have fought the greatest threat ever known to all of Equestria and gone on many journeys that you could not even fathom; journeys that I sadly cannot even imagine how to begin telling you about. Such journeys have shown me that my friends and family, each and every one of them, are precious, and that in an instant, they could be extinguished from this world.
Applejack was working up a sweat in the heat of the day. Scratch that—working up a sweat was an understatement. Sweating like one of her pigs after a day of rodeo practice in the summer was closer to what she felt like right now. However, she couldn't stop to try and relax under the cool shade of one of the apple trees around her. She had taken long enough of a break this past week with all of the traveling. Instead, she had a job to do—the trees of her dozens of orchards weren't going to buck themselves after all.
Straightening the Stetson atop her head, she approached the next tree in her route. The trunk was thick and the branches strong—the tree was one of the larger of her orchard. This was a double-edged sword, for on one hoof, the bigger trees required a much more powerful kick to shake loose the apples on the branches high above. On the other hoof though, the larger the tree, the larger the number of apples, which meant more money for the farm.
She quickly took a swinging step forward with her right foreleg, and swinging her tail around, forced her flank to begin to turn. Turning on her forelegs, she pulled her hind legs tightly against her belly, and allowed the momentum of her previous forward motion to carry her flank around, and bring her hind legs to be right where they needed to be to deliver the powerful kick against the tree. Just as her hind legs were right on target, she launched them like they were a pair of tightly coiled springs, and sent a powerful slam against the old wood. The kick sent a huge vibration up the tree, shaking the branches above violently.
Suddenly, dozens and dozens of apples began to fall into the baskets below—success.
Just as she was about to celebrate, she heard a voice scream in terror. “Applejack!!”
Applejack turned towards the source, and her eyes went wide. “Apple Bloom...”
Immediately, she took off in the direction of the filly's scream, despite her hind legs being a little bit numb from the hard kick from a few seconds ago. While far away, the yell didn't seem to come from outside the orchards, which came at a slight relief to the mare. Of course, that relief only lasted until she heard the filly's scream once more. This served to double the mare's speed, and with her heart pounding against her chest—her Stetson only barely staying onto her head at the galloping speed—she tore across the property.
Cresting one of the many hills in the various orchards, she saw that Apple Bloom was in one of the largest trees in Sweet Apple Acres. From here, it looked like the small filly had been climbing the grand tree, but something—whether it was a broken branch, a case of vertigo, or maybe even just that Apple Bloom looked down and got scared—was preventing the small child from climbing down. For now, the filly seemed safe, but who was to say that the painfully thin branch wouldn't break in the next few minutes, and send the filly to the ground?
Applejack wasn't going to take that chance.
Without even bothering to yell to the filly above her, Applejack did a galloping leaped high into the air—her Stetson finally flying off from the action. As quick as a squirrel, the cowpony climbed the tree, pulling herself higher into the air by use of the branches on all sides of her. It only took her a few moments to climb the tree, and with a quick motion of her head, grabbed Apple Bloom's neck, and threw her atop her back. That task achieved, she quickly leaped away from the tree—careful to avoid any roots jutting out of the ground—and hit the ground with a slight tumble. All in all, the entire ordeal only took fifteen seconds. However, to Applejack, it was still far too slow.
Apple Bloom slowly slid off of the mare's back, and with a downcast look, slightly kicked the ground. “Applejack, Ah'm sorry tha' Ah—”
She was silenced by a pair of orange forelegs wrapping themselves around her neck. “It's alright, Apple Bloom. It's alright...”
From the way the small filly tensed up, Apple Bloom wasn't entirely sure what to do, especially considering how completely caught off guard by the strong emotions she was. Therefore, all she did was to close her eyes, return the hug, and embrace her older sister. However, after a few seconds, she opened her eyes again, and frowned. “Applejack... you're shaking.”
Applejack never released the small child. “Ah... Ah was jus' so worried 'bout ya...”
Thankfully, that dreadful and terrifying moment of losing my friends and family never came to pass, but the memories of how desperate of a time we were faced with lingers in my mind, as well as all of my friends' minds. I think it is through these memories that we allow ourselves to branch out, and take risks that we would never consider taking before. I truly believe that it is this hardship that allowed our friendship to blossom even more than before; and in at least one particular case, something much, much more than any of us could have imagined.
Rainbow Dash felt the soft and warm body against her side slowly breathing—one of Fluttershy's forelegs wrapped across her chest. The entire time she lay on her back, she looked into the ceiling, and focused on nothing but the slow rise and fall of her marefriend next to her. She had to admit, it was a nice change of pace to simply relax in bed with Fluttershy, instead of flying around and having fun or being forced to participate in another one of those stupid parades that it seemed every city this side of Equestria was intent on holding last week. Sure, Rainbow was fine with the attention, but she was sure that Fluttershy was done with them as soon as the prospect of the first one entered her ears.
It was hard to be a good marefriend and do a proper give-and-take when everypony was forcing them to do the excitable sort of things.
A soft yawn tickled Rainbow's neck, and with a slight shifting motion, Fluttershy snuggled closer. Allowing a wide grin to form on her face, Rainbow leaned her head to the right, and kissed the top of Fluttershy's pink-maned head. “Good morning, beautiful.”
“Morning? But... isn't it the afternoon?” Fluttershy whispered as she slowly woke up from her little nap.
Smiling wider, Rainbow used the foreleg wrapped around Fluttershy's neck to pull the mare even deeper into the snuggle. “True, but I like the saying. There's something about it that says 'hello' in just the right way.”
Fluttershy silently laughed to herself over the comment, and after shifting her wings slightly, fell back into a blissful silence. Rainbow was completely alright with this idea, and decided to join Fluttershy in a little bit of an extended double nap—easily one of the overactive mare's favorite activities. The only sound in the room was the light breathing of the wonderful mare against her—Fluttershy's small breaths causing the short hairs on her neck to dance in response. It was an interesting feeling, but definitely a good one.
The short stint of silence ended when Rainbow heard Fluttershy's voice again. “Umm... Rainbow Dash... I was... umm... I was just wondering...”
Rainbow leaned over, and nuzzled the top of the pegasus' head again with her cheek. “Yeeeessss?”
“Well... I was curious if... umm...well... there's going to be the Butterfly Migration in a few days, and I was hoping that you would go with me, if you wouldn't mind that is.”
“Butterfly Migration? Hmm...” Rainbow mock-thought to herself for a second, allowing a small amount of suspense to build within her marefriend. It was possibly a little cruel sure, but in the end, the speedy pegasus knew that there was only one thing that she wanted more than anything, and it was to see her little pegasus smile—no matter what. “Alright! That sounds a little strange, but I can't knock it 'til I tried it. I'd love to go.”
Fluttershy squealed lightly in excitement, and with new-found enthusiasm, leaned up, and kissed Rainbow deeply on the lips. The kiss lasted no more than a few seconds, but to the now flush cyan pegasus, it felt like an hour. As soon as their little kiss ended, the two snuggling ponies locked eyes—Rainbow Dash gazing into those deep pools of turquoise—and traded smiles.
It was then that she decided it was a good time to bring up her own proposition. “Hey Fluttershy, I know it's a little far off, but I was curious if you wanted to do something as well.”
Shifting slightly, Fluttershy moved herself back under Rainbow's foreleg, and once again used the cyan leg as a pillow. “Hmm? What is it, Rainbow?”
Rainbow turned away slightly—almost regretting asking. Almost. “Twilight told me that in five months, there's going to be this wicked awesome Dragon Migration. Now, I know you don't like dragons, but apparently they're going to be really really far away, but it'll still look really cool. Wanna watch it with me?”
After a only a few seconds, Rainbow noticed that her marefriend had grown almost completely stiff. “Umm... I... oh... oh dear... umm...”
“We don't have to if you don't want to,” the cyan pegasus quickly retracted, hoping she didn't say anything too crazy with the prospect.
However, the next response threw her off completely. “Well... if you promise to stay by my side the entire time... I think I'll be alright with going...”
Rainbow shifted her weight, so that she was now looking straight at her mare. “Whoa... really?”
Once again, those perfect eyes opened up, and gazed back. “Really, Dash.”
Satisfied, Rainbow Dash pulled Fluttershy deeper into the embrace again, and with a deep sigh, the two drifted off into something that the athlete had only dreamed of doing in the past—a triple nap.
I think that the hardship, as terrible as it was when we faced it, will end up being one of the greatest things to ever happen to any of us, at least when it comes to how it affected how we see the world. I cannot speak for all of my friends, but I can guarantee that when it comes to myself, I see the world in a completely different way. Before, while I was friendly to most of the ponies around me, I was content to just be acquaintances with many of the residents of Ponyville. A simple “Hi” while I walked down the street was enough for me. Now? I find myself trying my absolute hardest to not only see the best in everypony, but to see the grand and wonderful potential that each pony has hidden deep within them.
“And that is why you shouldn't eat limes with the rind still on them!” Spike rolled his eyes as he finished talking—the dragon happily riding on top of Rarity's back as the two made their way closer to their picnic spot.
“Huh... I knew that fruit tasted funny when I tried it. I guess I could give those things another try,” Rarity said as she thought back to that one moment in the Everfree Forest. “Just goes to show that even the most cultured of mares has a lot to learn about the most simple of things.”
Rarity quickly became lost in thought as she walked down the cobblestone road—the pair slowly making their way to the park in the outskirts of town. A few minutes ago, the unicorn had offered to let Spike ride atop her back as they walked—a request that the little dragon was all too happy to accept. So as they walked, she lightly had her horn alight as she pulled the wagon filled with food behind the two of them.
“Say... Rarity...” Spike started before trailing off, breaking the unicorn out of her thoughts.
“Yes, darling?” Rarity said, turning her head slightly so that she could see the him out of the corner of her eye.
For his part, Spike seemed somewhat awkward as he thought about the question—the dragon taking longer than she would expect to gather his thoughts together. Finally, he finally blurted out, “I was curious, what happened to your horn?”
Rarity looked up, and crossed her eyes so that she could see the very tip of her diamond horn. “My horn?”
Waving his hands in the air, Spike quickly began to backpedal. “I mean, I didn't mean that there was anything bad about your horn! I think it looks great! Definitely suits you! Just... what happened? How did you get it? I mean... I never saw a unicorn with a horn like that before.”
“Oh... well...” Rarity trailed off as she thought to herself, the mare desperately attempting to come up with a suitable answer while still not revealing what had actually happened. The more and more she thought about it, the less and less she was sure of the words that she needed to say. How easy and satisfying it would be to just up and tell the dragon what actually happened, how grand of a prince he would become, and how amazing of an adventure they were forced to go through.
Yet, she knew she couldn't.
Finally, the mare settled on being as vague as possible. “It's... well... the most generous and amazing gentlecolt gave it to me after I tragically lost my own.” Rarity continued to keep her eyes forward, yet she smiled wide. “I owe him a debt I'll never be able to repay.”
“Oh... I see.” Spike's voice dropped in enthusiasm as he let her words circulate within his mind. “He must be... he must be an amazing stallion, huh? Perfect even.”
Instantly realizing where she went wrong, Rarity stopped in her tracks, turned around, and gave him an affectionate nuzzle. “Oh Spike, you should know that there's no pony, dragon, zebra, monkey, or anything else in this entire world that would mean more to me than you do.”
“R... r... really!?” Spike stuttered, the muscles in his body tensing slightly at the admission.
For her part, she continued to nuzzle his cheek. “Really.”
“Really really?”
“Really really really with a cherry on top!” Rarity pulled her head back slightly, beaming towards the dragon. “Now, are we going to keep saying 'really' to each other all day, or are we going to find the perfect spot to enjoy this picnic?”
Spike jumped off of Rarity's back, and with determination in his eyes, he nodded. “A picnic sounds great!”
To that, Rarity giggled once more—her voice lighter and cheerier than ever. “I think so too.”
Those possibilities within us all makes me think back to my family too, and how many opportunities I left behind with them when I took to learning under you. Sure, I do not regret a single thing that I have done in my life, yet there is so much more that I could do. Yes yes, I did say just a few paragraphs before that I learned to not constantly look back at the past and wish for something else, but what I am doing here is different. I’m looking to all the opportunities that I am going to take advantage of today. I know that many of my friends feel the same way, and are taking action now to mend whatever fences that they have broken in the past, and fix any links in their relationship that they allowed to rust and wither away.
A quill sticking out of her mouth, Pinkie muttered to herself, “Your daughter... Pinkamena Diane Pie.”
The pony spit out the offending object, and with a wide smile across her face, she looked at the letter she finally finished. “There! A perfect letter for the perfect mommy! Now all that's left is to mail these suckers. Ooh... I hope that I have enough postage. I think I left the majority of my stamps in Mr. Dragon's cave...”
Pinkie slowly and carefully turned herself around, and with deliberate steps, used her forelegs to pull herself along. Her hind legs were slightly elevated off of the ground—the mare forced to instead pull herself along with the use of a set of wheels instead. It was definitely not what the mare had been hoping for in her first few weeks back from the trip, but it was much better than what some of the doctors initially feared they would be forced to do to her nearly ruined legs. Compared to that, the itchiness of the little sling that strapped her belly and flank to the little device was nothing.
Of course, the agony she went through when resetting those bones, even with painkillers, was traumatic in itself.
Pushing the memory out of her mind, she continued to look for her stamps. However, no matter how much she looked and how many times she checked in the drawers of her desk, they were nowhere to be found. Groaning to herself, she once again checked under her bed—a location that was incredibly hard to look under. She wheeled herself over, and carefully lowered her head down—the wheels forcing the mare to keep her flank in the air as she did so.
Nothing.
Frustrated now, the pink pony turned towards Gummy, and sighed. “I don't suppose you might know where the stamps are, Gumster?”
In response, the tiny alligator slowly blinked.
“In the sousaphone case?” Pinkie questioned as she scrunched her forehead in confusion. “Now why in the name of Equestria would there be stamps in there?”
Wheeling herself around—cursing once to herself after getting stuck on the corner of her bed—she quickly made her way to the closet that she kept all of her random things in. Opening the door, she carefully began to pick up the assorted junk inside, digging her way to the large prize at the bottom of the pile. It was slow going—it was very hard to pick up more than one or two things and set them on her back without going over her wheel's weight limit—but eventually she got the the large case on the floor. With a flick of her nose, she opened the latch, and looked inside.
Pinkie gasped. “Gummy! You were right! There were a few stamps in here! I thought these had escaped for good after last Hearth's Warming Mailing Extravaganza! You are the super smartest gator this side of Equestria!”
She picked the postage booklet up in her mouth, and with the most careful of steps, backed herself out of the closet. Her room was now a mess because of the large amount of clutter now in it, but she'd deal with it later. Right now was the time to make sure that her letters got out! So with that, she pulled herself over to her desk, and with careful peels and licks, got the stamps of the envelopes. The envelopes all ready to be mailed up, she picked them up in her mouth, put them in the little card carrier on her wheel-device, and with a few strong pulls, wheeled herself out of her room and into the hallway.
Pinkie looked at the stairs.
“It's alright Pinkie,” the mare muttered to herself as she readied her mind for the task. “You're a strong mare. Sure, the stairs are long and treacherous and would hurt a lot if you fall again, but you insisted on staying upstairs, and the Cakes made super sure that they were safe this time...”
With careful steps, she began to pull herself over the ledge. Looking behind her, she lined her wheels up with the little tracks that Mr. Cake had built for her, and making sure that she was super duper slow, she took each step down. It was slow going—each step taking over a full second to traverse—but this time, she wasn't stumbling or panicking over the out of control speeds. No, this time she was taking the stairs at her own pace, and at this pace, there was no way she could—
As if she jinxed herself, she stumbled on the last step, and fell onto the floor at the bottom of the stairs.
Groaning to herself, she slowly pulled herself back up—the fact that her flank kept trying to roll down the rest of the stairs wasn't helping any—and took a few stumbling steps forward. Thankfully, the fall was nothing major, and only resulted in a little bit of dizziness more than anything else. Checking her rear legs, she was thankful that the casts held, and she didn't have any agonizing pain shooting up her legs this time. Instead, it looked as though everything was secure and in place.
After making sure that the letters were still in the little carrier, Pinkie began to make her way to the front door. With a gentle push, she made her way outside, and then onward to the mailbox. It was short trip, but it still took a solid minute to get there.
“Here we are,” Pinkie said to herself as she pulled herself in front of the pink mailbox. Pulling out each letter individually, she muttered to herself some more, “Let's see... one letter for papa... one letter for mama... one letter for Inkie... one letter for Blinkie... and one letter for Pinkie!”
Satisfied, she closed the mailbox, and raised the little flag to signal that there were letters to be sent out. Not even a second later, she opened the mailbox, stuck her face inside, and pulled out the final letter she put in there. “Oh look! A letter for me.”
Quietly, the mare giggled to herself as she put the letter into her little carrier, and began the process of wheeling herself inside.
There is so much more I can talk about: how saving the world changed how the world looks at us, how our local fame is changing how we are treated, and even how, with everything going on, I nearly went insane over how I missed a simple Friendship Report (you can thank Spike for calming me down after that little freakout). For now, I have some extremely urgent business to take care of: business I cannot delay any further.
“It's alright Twilight,” the mare thought to herself as she stood outside the building. “It's alright. There's no reason to be stressed, scared, hyperventilate, or begin shaking like a leaf during the Running of the Leaves. No reason at all.”
She raised her hoof up, and with a little bit of trepidation, went to knock on the door.
Instead, she lowered her hoof back to the ground. “On the other hoof, there are a lot of things that could go wrong. What if I didn't hear her right before? What if everything changed? That's not to mention all the signs that nopony is inside anyway! What if... argh! Why do I have to think so much!”
Again, Twilight lifted her hoof to knock, but again found herself stalling in the position, unsure if she should go through with it. Alas, the thoughts of what she had just written to her teacher in her mind, she realized that there was no turning back, and with a little bit of hesitation, she knocked.
She was actually taken aback a little at how much noise the simple action caused—Twilight's stress had apparently translated to how hard she knocked. However, instead of pulling a Fluttershy and running away after embarrassing herself, she thought about imitating Rainbow Dash, and stuck to her guns. Of course, when it came to the subject at hand, Rainbow was one of the worst ponies to go on—especially if the few hints of the stories she heard over the last few days of how the two got together were true. Alas, she could only hope.
A few more seconds went by, and there was no answer. She was tempted to knock again, but as Rarity would advise her to do, she decided to wait a little bit longer. Of course, how long to wait was the question.
With all the time, Twilight began to think, “Thirty seconds? A full minute? More? Oh, why do these sort of things have to be so complicated! There wasn't even a good book in my library to go off of. Maybe if I act like Applejack. I can just stand there, stand strong, and be completely honest. Well... not entirely brutally honest, for that might be a little over the top and sudden, but kinda honest. Well... more than kinda honest...”
Twilight sighed. “Get it together Twilight. Just act like yourself. That's who she wants to see anyway.”
Before she could analyze the new plan, the door opened, and she was greeted with a pair of slightly surprised blue eyes. “Oh! Hiya, Twi-Twi! I’m surprised you're here! Especially considering that the Corner is closed.” Pinkie leaned forward just a tiny bit, and looked at the unicorn suspiciously. “You aren't trying to steal my recipes... are you?”
“Uh... no?” Twilight scrunched her brow slightly. “I just wanted to... uhh... say hi. Yeah! Hi!”
“Oh, well, then come on in!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she took a few steps back, wheeled herself around, and walked back inside. Twilight couldn't help but to stare and pity the mare for a second. However, that wasn't the right mindset to have, so as she walked in—closing the door with her magic—she squashed that train of thought.
Pinkie stopped in the middle of the room, and with slow steps, began to spin herself around. “So like I said, it's interesting to see you here, Twilight.”
Twilight had begun to walk around Pinkie, and try and get in front of her, but she stopped at the comment—the bakery was already starting to feel a little toasty. “Yeah... interesting... he he he...”
“Yuppies!” Pinkie smiled, but said no more. It was a little awkward—Pinkie wasn't nearly as talkative as Twilight was expecting and Twilight had absolutely no idea what to talk about—so Twilight was forced to look around the room aimlessly. It was futile, and she was well aware that she was only making the meeting more painful by not saying anything, but what could she say? Seriously—if her tongue was any more tied, it would be in a literal knot right now.
Pinkie was the first one to break the silence. “Sooo...”
“How're the legs?” Twilight blurted out, mentally scolding herself as soon as she said it.
Pinkie looked back at her legs, and even though Twilight couldn't see the mare's face, she could tell she looked glum. “Pretty much as broken as they could get, but the doctor says that they'll heal up in a few months. 'Til then, I’m forced to use these annoying wheel things.”
Twilight grinned back awkwardly. “That's nice. I’m... umm... I’m glad that you'll be completely better soon.”
There was a painfully long pause before Pinkie replied. “Well, maybe not completely better. I mean, the first doctor had said that I would never be able to walk again because of how bad the breaks were. I think he's wrong, but... umm... most of the doctors say I won't be able to jump around a lot or run as fast as I used to, but that's alright. There's a lot of fun things to do that don't involving jumping and running.”
This was turning into a complete disaster. “Great,” Twilight thought to herself. “Way to completely ruin any potential chance at having a nice mood. Good going, Twilight. Real friend. Why don't you just go and crush her heart a little bit more. I’m sure she'll love that.”
Apparently Twilight was thinking for much longer than she thought, for Pinkie was looking at her again with those large and wonderful teal eyes. “Sooo... umm...”
“Screw it.”
“Hey... umm...” Twilight looked down as she started, her voice much smaller than she intended, “you remember a few weeks ago... I mean I guess it's not really a few weeks ago, but more in the future, but it was... I mean... it was kinda a few weeks ago, but not really a few weeks ago, because it wasn't in the past and—”
She looked up, and saw the confusion in those eyes.
Twilight sighed, and decided to skip to the important part. “I mean... I was hoping that maybe... now that everything is alright... well... kinda alright... that you'd like to do something together? Maybe we could go on a long walk in the park and dinner or something?”
“Umm... Twi-Twi...” Pinkie gave Twilight a pained smile as she rocked herself back and forth once—the mare's wheels squeaking. “Walk around the park?”
Instantly, Twilight's face flushed in complete embarrassment at the terrible faux pas. “Oh my Cel—I didn't mean... I mean... oh dear. I mean... I... I...”
However, despite it all, Pinkie smiled. How the mare smiled—despite all of the screw ups, accidental insults, and reminders of dreams strained and crushed—Twilight would never know. Pinkie took a few steps forward, until the mares were just inches from each other—Twilight able to feel the heavy breathing of the pony in front of her with the way the hair around her lips moved.
Suddenly, yet slowly, Pinkie leaned forward, and gave Twilight a kiss on the lips.
It was short—very short—but still sent butterflies flying in every direction of the unicorn's belly all the same. Before she could say anything though, Pinkie blushed, and whispered, “I'd love to sit in the park though, as long as you don't mind bringing a something-something so that I can rest my legsies on.”
The unicorn was silent for a few seconds longer—her mind still attempting to reboot after what Pinkie had just done. Eventually though, the mare's mind finally registered what the pony had said, and with her face easily matching Pinkie's mane—as well as the Pinkie's face—she finally gave a genuine smile. “Sounds great.”
I promise I will send another letter soon, and in it, I will have something a little more concrete for you. Until that letter comes in, I bid you the best in your governance, and I hope that we can see each other soon.
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle