//------------------------------// // Maintaining Her Composure // Story: Sonnets by Twilight // by MrNumbers //------------------------------// Twilight once more pondered the irony that she lived in a tree library. It wasn't that she disliked living in a tree, nor was it that she didn't love living in a library. The tree was cozy, green, vibrant, natural, fresh, alive, all those gorgeous, wonderful things that you could talk to Fluttershy about without having to resort to interpreting high pitched squeaks and low volume whispering. She loved her tree, it was like like living inside a comfortable, beautiful air freshener. Library's had a tendency to get stuffy, after all. Oh, that wouldn't have bothered her at all though. Living in a library was a dream come true to Twilight Sparkle. Waking up to her hoards of faithful books was a Hearths-warming present she gave herself every morning. "I really love books." She said to herself. It was just something she felt she had to do. The books deserved to know. She found irony in the fact that the library was inside the hollowed out remains of a tree. All those books, printed on the cannibalized remains of the very symbolic local branch library. Ha. Sure, most of those books would have been printed on paper from other trees, of course, but the hollowed out remains of this one had to end up somewhere. "Twilight!" Spike yelled from the doorway, obviously having tried and failed to grab her attention politely. The unicorn coughed into her hoof awkwardly. "Er, yes, Spike?" She chuckled weakly. She turned and glanced at the dragon in the entrance to her private room. He was wearing a little red bowtie and carrying a glass of milk in one hand. It looked cold and positively drinkable. "I was going to offer you some freshly baked cookies and milk," Spike grinned, "But it looks like you went and had dessert without me, anyway." Twilight's eyes narrowed at Spike. "What's that supposed to mean?" she grumbled indignantly. Spike just kept grinning. "Twi, I told you, hiding the empty tub of double-fudge-caramel-ripple-peanut-butter-swirl ice-cream under the desk doesn't work if I'm at head height with it." he gestured with a claw raised above his eyes, about level with the table. "Ah-ha!" Twilight declared triumphantly, "that's why I hid it on the top shelf behind the... dictionary... this time." She trailed off as she saw Spike's grin twist into a smirk. "Uh huh. You're a genius with a capital J right there Twi." Spike chuckled as Twilight flushed with embarrassment, glaring at her own feet. 'Darn it, Brain, you're supposed to be the smart one here!' "So, anyway," Spike said, putting his milk down for the moment on the nearby table, "There was something else I wanted to talk to you about. Well, besides the fact that you've got ice-cream all over your, well, everywhere I guess." "I do- Gargh!" Twilight realized just how sticky she felt, even in places that really should not be able to get sticky from eating ice-cream. She must have been on one heck of a binge this time. Spike didn't try very hard to keep a straight face as Twilight scrabbled about with her magic, cleaning herself for the moment. Alright, Brain, maybe if we stare at him hard enough he'll burst into flame! Go! This is your chance to redeem yourself! "So, yeah, about that other thing," Spike stared at his feet, idly kicking a dust bunny around, "I was... I was sort of, er, I'm, uh... Geeze, Twilight, could you stop staring at me like that?" Spike moaned, "It's making me uncomfortable." Bah, he's fireproof anyway, too much collateral damage would be inflicted if we succeeded. "Thanks," he gave her a weak grin, "I was sort of just, uh, going on a date now, so, I'll be gone for a few hours, okay?" He spun on the ball of his foot, another moment that made Twilight jealous of the darn biped, and tried to flee before questions could be asked. He failed. Twilight made sure of that. She levitated him back, closer to her, face height. "Really?" She asked, eyebrows raised to their limits, "Rarity didn't sa-" "Oh," Spike cut her off, "I'm sort of over Rarity anyway." He blushed. "Then, who?" She left the question hanging in the air. "I'm going on a date with Sweetie Belle..." Spike finished lamely, adjusting the little bow tie. Twilight knocked him out of the air with a pouncing hug. "Oh, Spike, that's wonderful!" "Gah!" Spike gasped, "Girl emotions! They burn!" he wheezed, "Burn!" Twilight giggled and put him down gently. "You'll be okay without me, right?" Spike asked gently. "Of course I'll be okay. Why wouldn't I be okay?" "I know you're supposed to take care of me and stuff, not the other way around," Spike scratched at the back of his head with a claw, staring at his feet, "But I really worry about you sometimes. You need to get out more." "Get out more? Why would I need to get out more?" Twilight stammered, "I've got my books-" She gestured to the teetering tower of novella beside her, "And I've got my friends. What more could I want? I've got everything I need!" "Yuh-huh." Spike intoned half-heartedly. "Which of us are you trying to convince there, anyway?" Twilight looked at the floor, brows furrowed, lips pouted. "Hey, I'm fine, okay Spike? I got you too, right?" "I'm going on a date for the next few hours, remember?" "Oh. Yeah." Twilight massaged the bridge of her nose with a hoof, "Right." There was a knock at the door. "That'd be her!" Spike grinned with barely restrained enthusiasm, "Dinner's in the oven, I baked ratatouille, hold the rat," Spike glared at Owlowiscious, "I'm taking the Creme Brulee cookies though, they're for me and Sweetie." "Creme Brulee cookies?" Twilight grinned. "I've never tried one before." "Nopony has!" Spike declared, chest swelling with pride, "I just came up with them. Caramel-vanilla cookie dough baked with chunks of toffee and given a soft custard filling and a sugar glaze." "That..." Twilight mused, "Actually sounds ridiculously good. Can I have one?" "Nope!" Spike sang as he once more turned to leave. "Hey!" Twilight clutched her chest with mock indignance, "What did Pinkie Pie and I tell you about sharing." "I guess you're right Twilight," Spike said with a mischievous grin, “I'll trade you one for some ice-cream.” Twilight's stomach gurgled loudly. Traitor! The unicorn blushed and looked sheepishly at her own hooves. "I'm just teasing you, Twi, I'll see if there's any left when we get back, okay?" Spike suddenly became a lot less jovial. Voice heavy as lead, yet soft as a marshmallow and twice as sweet, "I do worry about you, Twilight. Don't do anything crazy whilst I'm gone, okay?" And with that Spike rushed to the other door, the door to the outside world. When it closed, for this one time, Twilight was left inside whilst Spike was on the other, accompanied by a filly' laughter, the sound of tinkling silver bells. Ah. Sweetie Belle. His new special somepony. Twilight ignored how empty her stomach felt despite being full of a very large, very expensive tub of ice cream and dove back into her book. 'The lateral sulcus divides the frontal lobe and parietal lobe above from the temporal lobe below. It is believed that the fissure connects the Pons to the horn in unicorns, acting as a neurological ley line through which magic can be channeled and-' Thud. Twilight Sparkle's face hit the book. "Come on, Twilight, it's just a little advanced neuroscience. You love this stuff." She didn't bother raising her head from its papery pillow. "It's Friday night, what could possibly be better than studying texts on hard-sciences?" She rolled her head, landing with another small pumf onto her ear, staring at the pile of books in front of her. She saw a thin booklet at the bottom of the pile. Normally, such a small pile of pages would have escaped her notice. However, her current mood had given her, shall we say, a unique perspective. Carefully she levitated it from the pile so as not to disturb the tower above it. It was only about thirty pages, but she allowed herself to mull over it. At first her smile was barely visible to an outside observer, scarcely a twitch at the corners of her lips, a creasing of her brow. By the last page, though, she sported a goofy grin, a smile that spread right to her eyes. She knew what she was going to do tonight after all. ‘I feel so... busy these days.’ “O...y...” ‘Not that busy is unrewarding, of course, it’s wonderful to be in such demand.’ “Oct...ia...” ‘To have the privilege to be on stage, to perform, to-’ “Octavia!” “Hmm?” She snapped out of her reverie, “Sorry. Vinyl?” “I said we’re recording; red light’s on.” “Oh.” Octavia drifted off again. “Lost in your own thoughts there?” “Pardon? Sorry, what was that?” Octavia shook her head, focusing a little. “I’ll take that as a definite yes,” “I should probably start playing, shouldn’t I?” “Nah,” Octavia couldn’t see the DJ through the one-way glass separating them, but she could swear she could hear the smirk, “I’m figuring we call this a single. ‘Sounds of Silence, Track 1’, right? Put this on the stereo, pump it full volume, for when the neighbours are playing their music way too loud right? Just play the silence louder!” “Vinyl, that’s not how sound wo-” “Oh, and in case you couldn’t tell, I’m totally smirking at you right now.” “-rks. Yes, well,” Octavia chuckled, “I suppose I am feeling a little bit off. How about we take a short rest, I’ll listen to what we have so far.” “Sounds good, Octy.” “Vinyl, I can’t help but notice the recording light hasn’t, well, unlit yet? Is there something you’re not telling me?” “Two words, Tavi, two words: Blooper reel.” “Oh really?” The earth pony lowered the violin in her hooves. “Is that so?” She was only greeted by cackling laughter over the intercom. “Viny Scratch, none other than DJ P0n3 herself, sleeps with a nightlight on-” “Hey!” The intercom hissed. “During the daytime.” “It’s a NIGHTlight, okay! The whole ‘day’ thing makes me uncomfortable.” Octavia still couldn’t see, but judging from the sound of the two-way intercom, her operator shuddered rather violently, “Whole thing's just unnatural if you ask me.” “Fortunately, nopony did.” she grinned. “Octavia is allergic to nuts!” “Vinyl Scratch uses way too much perfume!” “Octavia is a butt!” “Viny- Wait, did you just call me a butt?” “Yeah.” The intercom paused. “I think I just called you a butt. You... Butt?” Octavia couldn’t help but giggle. The giggle became a chuckle, then became a legs-go-limp raucous laughter. The silence from the intercom could have meant two things: One: Vinyl was completely unamused or, much more likely B: She was rolling on the floor laughing too hard to hold the intercom button. Whatever the case, Octavia gathered her instrument, packed it in the studio’s case, and left the sealed room with a grin. As she passed the mixing room she confirmed to herself that, yes, it was most definitely situation B. Leaving the instrument in the studio’s rather modest collection, a veritable armory of arpeggio, the mare walked out to find a nice cafe. Sometimes, when you’re too busy to have some spare time, she decided, it is best to make some. Now, without Vinyl’s fleeting presence, Octavia reflected on how alone she was in the busy Canterlot cafe. She had another performance tonight, in front of thousands, not just a friend behind a piece of polished glass. The solution? “Ah, thank you, I’ll have a double shot espresso, please?” “Will that be decaff, ma’am?” the waiter lazily drawled. “It better not be, heathen!” Octavia declared. “Ah.” The waiter nodded slowly. “That sort of day, huh?” “Like you wouldn’t believe.” She agreed, sinking back into her chair. She waited, lost again in her own scattered thoughts, watching the other busy ponies canter past. She saw happy couples, lonely business ponies, proud artisans, all mingling seamlessly into the city around her, and here she was- “Your beverage madame?” -Relaxing for the first time in a long, long week. “Thank you, that will be all for now.” ‘Liberation.’ She took a sip. Oh dear. This would simply not do. ‘It seems caffeine alone is not enough to quell the discomfort’ “Oh! Excuse me, Garcon?” “Hmm? Yes, is something wrong?” “I cannot abide by this injustice any longer!” Octavia declared, lost once more in her train of thought, “Ponykind cannot survive on coffee alone! Do you happen to have any danishes in this fine establishment?” “Why, yes, we have a fine selection of-” “Then select one, please.” The waiter grinned. “Right away.” ‘Ah. Now all is right in Equestria.’ She hoped that she was simply hungry. The gnawing feeling in her gut should finally abate, then. If not? She sincerely hoped she was sick. ‘I’d hate to feel like this if I were well, after all.’ ‘Hrrm, it is coming together quite nicely, yes, but it is merely gorgeous. It’s lacking that certain   ‘je ne sais quoi’, that, that... Oh! I have it!’ Rarity grabbed a variety of sharp implements absentmindedly, as she so often only felt safe doing when Sweetie Belle was not in the immediate vicinity, ‘To go from gorgeous to fabulous all it needs is a little bit of-’ Thump. Ding! Thud. “Gwah!” Rarity shrieked, “What in the- I’m busy creating, darling, don’t make me go artistic on your vandal faces-” Rarity shrieked again, sharp implements prodding into her. “Yeah, see!” She exclaimed nervously, trotting towards the entrance, “If you saw how much damage I just did to myself on accident imagine what I could do to you on purpose.” “Err... Hi Rarity?” “Twilight?!” Rarity gasped, helping the poor purple pony off the floor. “What are you- Why-” Rarity just spluttered and gesticulated. “Why was I sprawled on the floor in a way that makes Pinkie Pie look subtle in comparison?” Twilight huffed as she spat a lock of her hair out of her mouth. “Well, I wouldn’t have put it so snarkily, dear, but yes that is essentially it.” “I tried knocking.” “Twilight, you do realize the boutique door-” “Swings open unless you lock it?” “Well, yes.” “Rarity, the sign says ‘closed’.” Twilight, with the generous assistance of a white helping hoof, scrabbled off the floor in as dignified a manner as the situation allowed. Which is to say: Not very, but neither her nor Rarity brought any attention to it. “Oh, so it does,” Rarity chuckled nervously, “Silly me.” “So, when I knocked,” Twilight grumbled, “I sorta... Fell right through.” The little cogs and gears in Rarity’s head, all neatly arranged and accented in gold leaf, whirred almost audibly. “So-  You fell off balance from knocking? Even with no resistance, darling, nature saw fit to gift you with three other perfectly functioning legs, which would look absolutely spectacular in this new line of socks I’m working on, I must say, do you think you could come by later and-” “Focus, Rarity?” Twilight half pleaded, self-consciously glancing at her now-supporting-her-weight legs. She supposed they did look- Rarity giggled. “Hypocrite, much, dear?” Twilight blushed. Right! She was here on a mission. “I knocked so hard ‘cause I got...” Twilight blushed and smiled a little sheepishly, glancing off to the side, “I got a bit excited, and I rushed right here.” “Was it one of those new cookies Spike made?” Rarity sighed dreamily, “Sun, moon and stars above those were-” “He gave you some, but not me?” Twilight deadpanned. Rarity blinked in confusion, the only response that readily came to her, so Twilight shook her head of all the excess baggage. Mission. Right. “Rarity. You, me-” Twilight thrust out a flyer with her magic, “Canterlot. Tonight. My treat. Interested?” Rarity gave the other unicorn a thousand-mega-watt smile by way of reply. ‘Success!’ “Why, Twilight, Canterlot? That’s always a big yes in my book. What’s this, by the way?” Rarity reached out and read the flyer she was being offered, silently thanking that she still had her glasses on, “Canterlot Symphony Orchestra?” “I was just studying musical theory and-” “Of course you were, of course.” Rarity murmurred. “Hmm? What was that?” Twilight’s head cocked to the side, reminding Rarity of a curious puppy. Frankly it would have been easier to kick the puppy. “Oh? Sorry, dear, nothing, do go on.” “Right!” Twilight beamed and nodded, her ‘dramatic’ entrance but a distant memory now that she was in the zone, “Well, Celestia sent three Very Important Pony tickets a week ago and I didn’t want to make a big deal about it, for reasons that should be obvious in hindsight.” Twilight frowned thoughtfully, “But I thought this would probably most likely be your thing. I was hoping you, Fluttershy and myself could enjoy the orchestra, what do you think?” “That sounds absolutely, overwhelmingly, splendid my dear!” Rarity swooned, rushing to a trunk behind her, “Oh, I must find us an outfit! Binoculars! Fancy hats! Shoes, dear, what shoes?” As random articles of clothing flew threw the air, audibly whizzing past Twilight’s ear, she decided now would probably be the best time to back away slowly. By the time Rarity heard the tinkling of the store’s bell Twilight was halfway down the block puffing like the Ponyville Express. She promised herself to never, ever complain about Applejack’s exercise regime again. Not that she didn't absolutely adore and appreciate Rarity and her accouterments (she did!) she had just seen Rarity get like this before and, unfortunately, it had involved a rather generous application of makeup and what Rainbow or Applejack would have deemed 'A painful amount of frou-frou'. Twilight shuddered. At least she didn’t have to deal with anything like that with Fluttershy. The pegasus was far too, well, Fluttershy to pressure Twilight into much. “Gah!” “Fluttershy, it’s just me, Twilight!” She tapped at the cottage window. She smiled momentarily when the yellow pegasus appeared in the window, but that died fairly quickly when the curtains were gently, but firmly, pulled shut. Then the shutters were softly, but determinedly, slammed. Twilight opened her mouth to raise an objection, but was quickly cut off by the rather distinctive sound of construction work. “Right.” She muttered, “I’ll just leave you to that.” Twilight turned to leave, meandering up the forest trail back to town, when she suddenly stopped. ‘Ugh. I can be so thick sometimes.’ Scrunching her eyes tightly shut Twilight Sparkle prepared the teleportation spell that could totally and rather easily pass through barricades totally unimpeded which would probably have been the smart thing to do in the first place she chastised herself. Kra-kow! Poof! “Fluttershy?” Twilight asked nervously. The first thing she saw upon recombobulation was a rather panicked pegasus, back against the door, breathing heavily through a claw hammer wielded in her jaws. The pegasus gave the unicorn intruder a wild-eyed look, eyes darting between the hammer and Twilight rapidly. Kra-kow! Poof. ‘Right. Maybe the barricades weren’t so much to keep me out as to keep her in. Let’s... pretend that never happened and move on before I have to think about this any longer than necessary.’ ‘Excellent idea.’ Her brain agreed. It being the smart one, Twilight deferred to its opinion. ‘We should probably find out what was worrying Fluttershy so much, though, she could be in serious-’ Well, most of the time. ‘When she’s in a less homicidal mood, mayhaps?’ ‘-Err, well, yes, right. Still, that leaves us with a ticket.’ “Who should I try next, then?” She wondered aloud. She put as much space between herself and one of her best friends as possible as she did so.   ‘Okay. Now, who do I ask next? Oh look! Sugarcube Corner! I could ask Pinkie Pie!’   She took a step towards the door, then another… Then a step backwards. Then another.   ‘I’m afraid I can’t let you do that Twilight. I’m assuming direct control here.’   ‘Brain? What is the meaning of this?’ Twilight internally huffed, ‘Pinkie is one of my closest friends!’   Images flashed before Twilight’s eyes. Untold prophecies, unspoken promises, unknown truths. Pinkie Pie stagediving the orchestra. Pinkie Pie ransacking the tuba. Pinkie Pie crowdsurfing the Canterlot Elite. Worst of all? Pinkie Pie appearing on stage out of nowhere and playing the Pony Poky or something on every instrument in the orchestra, much to the confusion of everypony involved. ‘No, Twilight,’ her brain softly corrected, ‘The worst part is that it is only the worst possibility we can comprehend at this moment.” Twilight gulped silently. She then gulped loudly, to clear her throat of the first gulp, the implications making her mouth almost as dry as her sardonic wit. She smiled and turned to trot off, consider her other options, when the tinkling of a shop bell caused her to break into a cold sweat and a dead sprint. “Hi Twilight! Have you seen my accordion anywhere? I think I-“ “NopesorryPinkiegottagoBye!”*Pop* “-Oh, alright then.” Pinkie shrugged. “Maybe I left it in the oven again.” She giggle-snorted, a hiccupping laugh that was completely, blissfully, devoid of self-awareness. “I’m so silly!” She brought a hoof to her head with a mock gasp, “How could I have ever thought to put my accordion in the oven… Accordian music isn’t sugary enough anyway. I need something like- Oh, hey Lyra!” Pinkie leaned out, waving emphatically at the innocent bystander. “What’s up Pinkie?” Lyra grinned. “Grab your harp!” Pinkie declared, “We’re going to make sweet, sweet music together!” Lyra stared. Pinkie stared back. Lyra blushed. Pinkie smiled back. Lyra coughed awkwardly. “Err, Pinkie, I don’t think Bon-Bon would like it much if I made,” a nervous chuckle, “Sweet, sweet music with you.” “Aww, would she get all jealous? We can’t have that, no, not at all.” Pinkie nodded sympathetically. A deep sigh of relief from the unicorn. “I know! Why don’t you invite her too, so she won’t get jealous.” Lyra’s face lost a losing war. The natural occupant, the forces of Green, were rapidly losing to the forces of deep flushed Red and pale White. Green was obliterated and the remaining forces sparred for dominance. All in all it was rather fun to watch, Pinkie decided, making soft battle noises to herself as she watched the display. “SorryPinkieIgottaGo, ah, getreadyfortonight, OhNoNotYouAndMeTonight, IMeanI’mGoingToCanterlotTonightandOhGeeze!” She became a little green pinprick on the horizon in a matter of seconds, dust, debris and slow-moving pedestrians sent hurtling through the air behind her. Pinkie Pie shrugged again and went back inside the bakery. Looks like she’d have to try to bake some more musical sweets herself, alone, again. Sigh. “Must be a unicorn thing.” She muttered to herself. The noise stirs her, but she is ensconced in soft. Soft. Soft is good. Soft is nice. Soft and fluffy. It was, she decided, a most decidedly decision-making worthy cloud. She’d have to take it back home and… Err… Do something… Eugh. Too much thinking, not enough napping. Hnggggg. Eugh. There’s that noise again. Her ear flicked. “Rainbow Dash!” Heh. That’s my name, don’t wear it out. Not that you could wear out Dash. Dash was, like… Big word. Too hard to… Thing. Hngggg. Another rumble from the back of her throat. Yay, naps! Naps are cool. “Rainbow Dash!” Oh. Noise was Twilight. Go away, Twilight, unless you have something awesomer than naps to- “I got a ticket for you, we’re going to Canterlot tonight to-“ *Whoosh!* “Ohmygosh!” Rainbow squealed as she snatched the tickets out of the unicorn’s grasp. “Hehe, I didn’t think you’d be that excited about tickets to see-“ “Tickets to see the Wonderbolts Live in Canterlot tonight?! You do not know me at all egghead. I mean, look at these things, they’re so awesomely awesome they don’t even need to have the Wonderbolts on them! This must be one of their new tricks, right!” The purple unicorn stared blankly, well-oiled gears whirring visibly behind those gorgeous, oh-I-could-so-kiss-you right now eyes, awesomest friend ev- “Rainbow, that’s a treble clef.” Twilight noticed Rainbow start to grin again and sighed a little heavier. “No, Dash, that is not a stunt name. It’s a classical musical symbol. Like, when you read music?” Gag. Retch. Reading music? Classical music? That’s like… The eggheadiest thing of all time. All the work of reading with all the fun of not even hearing boring music. Wait. No. This idea is totally salvageable. We just gotta awesome things up a Dash. “Alright, I’m in.” “I’m sorry to- Wait, what?” “Sure, I’d love to! It’ll be a great test run of the new SnoozeMasterTronNimbus. Trademarked.” “You do realize you’re staring at a cloud right.” “Only the comfiest cloud ever.” “So. I’m giving you this ticket… So you can, what, bore yourself to sleep?” Twilight asked sarcastically. Like, really sarcastically. Eyes were rolled hard enough to press the limits the sockets could bare. Which makes it all the more impressive that Rainbow Dash was far too cool to notice that and just nodded fervently with a totally stylin’ grin. “Oh.” Twilight stared. “I’m taking this-“ “Hey!” “Yes, thank you, and I’m going to see Applejack. Don’t you have nap testing to do?” ‘Oh yeah! I bet if I anchored it right this baby could keep me comatose, good word that even if it is a bit eggheadish, right through a gale force storm. Oh, man, I so have to try that now!’ “Hey, Twilight, before you go-“ Eugh. She didn’t even say goodbye. That’s just, like, rude or something, I think. I should totally ask Rarity if what Twilight just did was rude later, just to be sure, I mean, I was even going to go to her snooze-fest and everything! Snooze fest! Woo! In an otherwise still late-afternoon sky a single cloud lazily drifted overhead, propelled by the snores of its occupant. It was pretty radical. "Ok," Twilight muttered bitterly to herself as she trotted back to the library in defeat, "let's make a role-call shall we?" Fluttershy: Possibly temporarily crazy/homicidal. Rainbow Dash: Not her thing and she doesn't have the patience to suffer through it quietly. Maybe if 'symphony orchestra' were a contact sport... Pinkie Pie: Once Pandoor's box is opened there is no going back. That leaves myself, Rarity and a spare ticket. Now, who am I missing? "Hey, Twalight? I has hoping you could help me out with some-" "Applejack!" Twilight declared triumphantly. "-er, no, see, what I was meant to be askin' y'all is-" the farmer helplessly continued. "How would you like to come to Canterlot-" Twilight forged ahead excitedly. "-If the library had any, ah, books-" Applejack swam desperately against the torrent of words. "-to see the symphony orchestra tonight! I just need another pony and everything will be all-" "-On accounting, cause we're crunchin' the numbers and it ain't lookin'-" "-good." They finished together simultaneously. "Accounting?" Twilight tilted her head quizzically. "Orchestra?" Applejack stared dumbfounded. Twilight stared for a moment, processing what she had just offered to Applejack, the down-to-earth, sensible, not-one-for-frills-in-any-way, farm girl. High class theater tickets in the capital city. Twilight's thoughtful expression sank slowly into a dejected frown. Then Applejack, as she was wont to do time and time again, surprised Twilight. "You know what, Twi? Sounds right 'bout exactly what I need around about now. Count me in." Twilight stared dumbfounded for a few long seconds, causing Applejack to nervously scratch the back of her neck idly with a foreleg. "I mean, if it ain't too much trouble, you did invite me so, erm, yeah?" Twilight sighed a weary sigh, her cynicism once more bubbling to the fore. "Ulterior motives. If you got 'em, better tell me now Applejack." "I'm pretty sure I ain't got any, Twilight. Ain't got any exterior motives that I know of either." The unicorn's mouth trailed off mouthing words soundlessly as she processed just exactly what was wrong with that statement. Settling on 'Just about all of it' Twilight plowed forward with all the grace of Pinkie Pie after a little too much punch. "I mean is there any reason you wanna go besides, well, the music?" "Oh! Well, yeah, I figure a big event like that, I still got my vendor's license from the Gala and they can't exactly fill up at the buffet from their seats, right?" Applejack asked hopefully. Twilight massaged her temples. This was, surprisingly, still far better than the other outcomes she had planned, not least of which was that Pinkie Pie was wearing an Applejack suit again. "No, they can't, and you know what? It's fine, I'd love your company, you can come on one condition." "Name it!" Applejack sighed gratefully. A loud rumbling emanated from a small rain-cloud overhead, drifting lazily against the soft afternoon breeze. "Please, for the love of all that is Equestrian, don't snore."