It wasn’t a very good dream. Twilight Sparkle rolled over and over in her restless sleep, coated in a cold sweat. In her slumber, she reached a hoof out to finally wipe the tears away, to finally stop that pink pony from giving her that heartbroken look.
But just like always, the unicorn woke with a start. She was breathing hard and staring at her outstretched arm. Twilight let it fall back with a sigh.
“I thought I had it this time…” She pushed herself up and glanced out the window. “It’s already so late… I guess Spike got up before me.” The unicorn levitated her clipboard to her spot on the bed and let the pencil etch another tally mark.
Twilight let out another sigh as she went about her morning preparations. Even when she woke up late, nothing ever changed. Especially after that dream. She’d been having it more and more frequently as of late, and it’s been giving her small case of insomnia. While staying up late wasn’t unknown to the unicorn, over time she knew it could have drastic affects to her body.
But she’d been so close. Pinkie was right there, and only just out of her reach. Twilight tried to push the negative thoughts from her mind as she trotted down the stairs of her library. As she’d predicted, Spike was making waffles. He noticed her presence immediately, speaking without looking away from his task.
“...Did you have the dream again?”
Spike knew about her crush on Pinkie, as well as her nightly terrors. Twilight sat at the dinner table with resignation and an air of defeat.
“Yes,” she admitted while staring at her hoof, “It was worse this time, though. Her eyes were filled with much more hurt than usual, and I almost had her. She was right within my grasp, Spike!” The unicorn stomped the table with the upraised hoof.
The dragon stepped away from his cooking and gave Twilight three steaming waffles on a plate. He then got his own and sat across from her without saying a word. The lavender mare only continued.
“It felt real. I just can’t shake that image every time I close my eyes…” Twilight stuffed her muzzle with a bite to eat, speaking through it, “It won’t go away, Spike. Do you have dreams with Rarity like this?”
The assistant promptly blushed. “Come on, Twi… Chew with your mouth closed. And to answer your question, no. I have dreams with her in them, but they’re not like yours.”
Twilight frowned in response. Spike stared at her for a long moment, trying to decide what to say. The dragon knew his friend like she knew books—word for word and easily readable. He’d found out a few weeks ago about her love for Pinkie Pie the same night he found out about her nightmares. Long after the dragon had gone to sleep, he’d awoken to the sound of crying. He had immediately recognized it as Twilight’s, and did what he could to comfort her. Spike gave Twilight his unwavering support day in and day out to make sure his friend could last that long.
“I’m really worried about you, Twi…” He set his silverware down on his plate and gave her a serious look, “…I think you should tell her.”
“W-What?” The unicorn sputtered, “About the dreams or my feelings for her? You can’t be serious!” She wasn’t very hungry in the first place, so she just pushed the breakfast away from her.
Spike nodded resolutely. “Both. Just look at the bags under your eyes! Obviously I’m not much help at this point, and who better to end the nightmares than the pony in them?” His fierce look dissolved into one of genuine concern, “Pinkie’s your best friend and the Element of Laughter. There’s no way she’s going to make you cry. Besides… She came here an hour ago asking for you.”
Twilight’s head shot up curiously, though her sadness wasn’t gone. “What for?”
“Well…” Spike frowned knowingly, “She noticed how tired you’ve been recently and wanted to make sure that you were okay. Also, she wanted you to go over to Sugarcube Corner whenever you woke up.”
Magically, Twilight moved her plate into the sink and stood up hurriedly, her chair clattering unceremoniously onto the floor. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner, Spike?”
The unicorn didn’t give him a chance to answer. She was already halfway to the door, rather excited to see Pinkie again. However, she also felt a little wary about meeting her so soon after the dream.
“Hey, wait!” Spike protested. His friend glanced back at him to see what he needed. The dragon jumped out of his seat and wrapped a scarf around her neck.
“It’s winter, remember?” He tightened the loop with his experienced claws, “Just don’t forget to tell her about what’s been bothering you. I’ll hold down the fort here in case somepony wants to check out a book.”
Twilight smiled and gave him a quick nuzzle. “Thanks, Spike. I won’t leave you alone for too long, okay?”
“Don’t worry about me. Go have some fun!” The dragon had a huge grin that quenched all doubts Twilight had. Spike could be really mature when he needed to be.
The unicorn slipped out the door and gave Spike a little wave. He did the same before closing the entrance to their home.
Spike had a noticeably smaller and more apologetic smile at this point. He moved over to clean the dishes, speaking as he went.
“I hope Twi doesn’t get too mad at me for lying. I mean, she should’ve known I haven’t been up for an hour if I was just now making breakfast! It’s for a good cause… I mean, maybe Twilight will finally confess to Pinkie. If luck is on my side, Twi won’t say anything about Pinkie coming over to the library, though…”
He was torn between his morals and wanting to help his friend. “Well… It’ll work out in the end.” He shrugged half-heartedly.
Pinkie was having a good day. When she woke up, it was snowing! It looked beautiful outside, but Mr. and Mrs. Cake told her that she shouldn’t go out. At first Pinkie was upset that she couldn’t go see Twilight, but she was still having fun baking. Besides, since there weren’t really any customers, she could even bake her favorite cupcake—the one that resembled Twilight.
Of course when the Cakes came in she’d hurriedly throw it into her mouth with a huge smile—but that was only because she didn’t want them to know about her love for Twilight. Only one pony, or, more specifically, alligator, knew about it. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust anypony else, it was just that she didn’t want to burden somepony. While putting your emotional weight on somepony else could be relieving, the receiver definitely wouldn’t feel that way. Obviously, Pinkie didn’t want to cause trouble for somepony.
So, she kept them a secret. Gummy was always there for her, so she let him in on it. Not before making him Pinkie Promise, though! Or, what Pinkie assumed to be his acknowledgement of the promise.
Pinkie felt the warm, fluttery feeling in her stomach when she looked at her newly created Twilight cupcake. Well, it couldn’t exactly be considered a cupcake, since it was made entirely without cake. She made it out of purple cotton candy (which looked exactly like a certain purple unicorn’s coat color) and shaped it up to look like a pony. She used little chocolate pieces for the eyes and horn, using string candy for the mane and tail. It could stand on its own, and was the tastiest kind of treat Pinkie had ever had the pleasure eating.
The earth pony stared at the miniature Twilight, imagining the real one. The flip-flopping in her belly continued as her heart beat faster. Twilight usually had that effect on Pinkie, whether she was there or not.
“Pinkie!” Mrs. Cake’s musical voice rang out from just around the corner. Pinkie Pie quickly threw the sweet into her mouth and watched as the mare looked at her.
“Twilight’s here to see you, dearie.” Pinkie’s heart jumped in excitement.
“Really, Mrs. Cake? Really, really, really?” The blue pony nodded once, and that was enough for Pinkie. The much younger mare zoomed from the kitchen to the entrance faster than Rainbow Dash could say, “Ten seconds flat.”
So, within moments Pinkie was muzzle to muzzle with Twilight and had a large grin plastered onto her face. “Hi, Twilight!”
“H-H-Hey, Pinkie…” The pink party pony noticed the unicorn’s chattering and her shivering quickly. In fact, there was still some snow on her back!
Pinkie gasped. “Oh, Twilight! You must be freezing! Here, let me help you…” She brushed the snow off of her friend’s back and let it fall to the floor.
“Y-Your floor,” the unicorn tried, “It’ll get wet…” Pinkie giggled as she finished getting all of the snow off.
“It’ll be fine, you silly filly! I’ll take care of it later. And don’t think about using your magic—remember last time?” The pink pony laughed more, causing a small blush to rise into Twilight’s cheeks.
“Yeah, I remember… You jumped on me out of nowhere while we were baking and it scared me, causing a bolt of magic to shoot from my horn. That led to some commotion, and the Cakes banning me from using magic in Sugarcube Corner.”
“It was totally awesome!” Twilight hadn’t noticed due to her gaze being set on the floor, but Pinkie was watching her movements closely. The unicorn shook her head as embarrassment set in.
“N-No, Pinkie! Mr. and Mrs. Cake still hesitate when letting me in, and I always have to p-promise not to b-bake with you.” She was still shivering.
“You’re still cold? Come on, I’ve got some blankets in my room and plus there’s a heater in there!” Twilight was dragged up the stairs of Sugarcube Corner, only just barely able to smile apologetically to Mr. Cake. Oddly, he was doing the same.
Once in her room, Pinkie draped her favorite blanket over the unicorn and turned the heater on. She promptly sat next to Twilight on the floor.
“Why’d you come to Sugarcube Corner in cold weather like this, silly?” The earth pony had a big grin, feeling really happy to be a host for something other than a party. Plus, she could imagine that Twilight had come with noble intentions or that she had missed her so much that the unicorn couldn’t stand being apart!
Twilight, on the other hoof, was a little confused. When they’d entered, she was looking around Pinkie’s bedroom for the first time. It was, as somepony might guess, completely pink. Twilight felt like if they were playing hide-and-seek that it’d be impossible to spot her friend from the single mass of color.
However, when the pink pony spoke, she found her attention drawn elsewhere. “I should be asking you that. Spike said that you came to the library asking for me.”
Pinkie had only just noticed the other mare avoiding her eyes. Then she figured it out—hunched posture, sad tone, diverted gaze, Spike lying… Something wasn’t right.
“Hey, you silly filly, what’s wrong?”
Twilight flinched like she’d been hit. “What’re you talking about?” The slight increase in volume was enough for Pinkie to know she’d gotten a bull’s eye. However, she wasn’t very happy with the discovery that her crush was upset.
“You can tell me! I won’t tell anypony, and that’s a Pinkie Promise!” The earth pony did the movements in record time.
Twilight wasn’t sure if she wanted to tell Pinkie or not, so she settled on being vague. The unicorn muttered, “I’ve . . . I’ve been having nightmares.”
Pinkie was about to laugh and ask “Is that it?” but Twilight’s serious expression stopped her. The pink pony felt her heart sing its own sorrowful song in response.
She put a reassuring hoof on Twilight’s shoulder and put on a smile. “Come on, Twilight. Tell me more so I can see if I can help you! I can’t do anything if you don’t tell me what’s in the dreams.”
She was much more subdued than Twilight could ever recall. The unicorn could already feel panic reaching out to her—should she tell the truth?
“I…” She said at last, “I’ve been having nightmares about a traumatic experience of mine. I remember somepony giving me this look that haunts me. When I close my eyes, I see her.”
Pinkie found herself even more curious. Her? The hurt in her friend’s voice was evident, and it brought upon that primal instinct of hers to cheer the pony up. However, Pinkie’s very own feelings for Twilight kept her from any sort of physical contact, her morals holding her back.
She shuffled a little closer to Twilight, not too close to be uncomfortable, but enough to reassure her.
“Who are you talking about?”