//------------------------------//
// A Dual Invitation and a Favor to Nobody 
// Story: To Wake the Stars at Twilight 
// by LA Knight 
//------------------------------//


HC


"Can I help you, sir?"

Horte Cuisine, the owner of Horte Cuisine's Diner (The Finest Diner in Ponyville!), eyed the rough-looking unicorn stallion that had just walked into his establishment with no little amount of wariness. As thickly muscled as a farmcolt, tall for a Ponyvillian, he actually had to look down a space at Horte when the restaurant owner approached him. The earth pony had never seen him before. Was the unicorn new to town? Why hadn't Pinkie Pie thrown him a party, given everyone a chance to meet him, learn his face?

"Yes, actually," the stallion murmured, interrupting Horte's thoughts. Despite his somewhat shaggy blond mane and scarred white coat, his voice held an edge of Canterlot culture that surprised the earth stallion. "I've heard this place is fairly busy on weekend evenings. How much to reserve a private table for two?"

"Reservations on weekends come at a premium, sir," the earth stallion said. "Aside from whatever you choose to order, the reservation itself is thirty bits."

To Horte's utter shock, the unicorn floated the required coins out of a leather satchel at his side and set them on the podium behind which the restaurant owner stood in gape-mouthed astonishment. "Thirty bits for the reservation and twenty more, my good stallion, for a private table; will that do?"

"Yes, sir."

The stallion smiled. "Good. Mark me down for a party of two, two weeks from this Friday."

"O-of course, sir. Good day to you, sir," he added as the unicorn inclined his head and walked out of the restaurant.


ΡĐς


The streets of Ponyville bustled in the late afternoon rush-hour as Peter stepped out of Horte Cuisine and started to make his way down Main Street, back in the general direction of Sweet Apple Acres. It was late enough, the sun nearly dipping behind the roofs of the Ponyville houses, that the Apple family farm would be empty of visitors when he got back. Twilight would've gone home by then. In fact, Peter thought, she was probably on her way home now.

"Getting a little ahead of yourself, don't ya think?" A small voice murmured next to Peter's ear, bringing him back from thoughts of the violet mare. The stallion flicked his left ear back and forth twice in a silent admonishment to be quiet. They were in public, for Celestia's sake. Citron, tiny enough that if he curled up behind Peter's ear and tucked his wings flat against his little body, he couldn't be seen against the dun of the unicorn's mane, kept talking. "You haven't even asked the girl out yet. She might say no. Ever consider that?"

He shook his head. "I know her, Citron. Remember? Better than nearly anyone. I know how to maneuver it so she'll say yes." She had to say yes. The mission he'd come to Ponyville to complete hinged on the unicorn stallion getting Twilight Sparkle to agree to this dinner date… among other things.

"Well… okay, that's true. But still, you need to be careful. You know what'll happen if you get too attached. You'll lose it - again. And then what will she have to say about it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Peter muttered. "I'm in no danger of becoming 'too attached,' as you put it." It was far too late to worry about the obstacle of simple attachment. But then, the ones who'd given him this task had known that when they'd sent him here.

"That’s because you've already had all that time to fall in love with her," Citron chirped, echoing Peter's thoughts. "Dummy. I've told ya and told ya, all the love in the world isn't going to stop the inevitable. You'll complete your mission and save Twilight from them, but after that, your job is to stand back and let Fate take its course. You know that."

After a long silence, Peter said, "And I'm supposed to just accept that in the end, Celestia will win and Twilight will die?" He was supposed to let Fate dictate how his world should end? Before he'd come back to Ponyville, before he'd seen Twilight, he might've been willing to play by the rules, but not now. Not after looking into her eyes for the first time in… by the Sun, how long had it truly been? He couldn't remember. Couldn't think back to that day, the last time he'd laid eyes on Twilight, without having to swallow back pain so bitter it was nearly poisonous. "You expect me to let Celestia and Luna win this time?"

Citron sighed. "It's not about winning or losing, Peter. It's just what is. Sorry. When this mission is over, you have to say goodbye to Twilight. Forever. You know that, and so do I."

The stallion drew a deep breath. For a long while, there was only the clip-clop of his unshod hooves on the cobblestones of Main Street as he considered all possible responses to his companion's words. Finally, he settled for, "I've learned a lot in the process of getting all my memories back. I learned even more from Twilight and Shining Armor. And one thing Twilight taught me was that nothing's impossible." He smiled tightly. "If you believe in flutterponies, clop your hooves - right, Citron?"

Another sigh. "Don't say I didn't warn you. And, uh, about our fair maiden - she's across the street about to trip over… I don't even know who or what that is."

Peter looked over in time to see Twilight approach a familiar-looking, bouncing pink… mare?


ŦS


It had been three days of following all the steps of zap-apple jam-making with Applejack at Sweet Apple Acres, and to Twilight's surprise, she hadn't seen Peter once after their initial meeting. The first day, she'd just been relieved not to have to deal with the unicorn stallion who made her so uncomfortable. When his absence extended into the second day, she'd wondered about it enough to ask AJ whether the Apple family's guest had actually left Ponyville. Applejack's response had been in the negative. Last the earth mare had checked, Peter had slept in the extra bedroom above the barn, woken up to have breakfast at dawn with Applejack and Big Macintosh, and disappeared upon hearing that Twilight would be coming back to the farm a little later.

With this information buzzing in her brain, by the third day Twilight had been certain that Peter was avoiding her for some reason. Which didn't make any sense, the mare reminded herself, since he'd said he looked forward to seeing her again soon. So why was he making himself scarce on the farm? According to Applejack, he didn't know anyone in Ponyville except Big Mac, Granny Smith, and - at least to an extent - Twilight. What could he be doing all day?

"I hate mysteries," she muttered as she trudged along Main Street on her way home to the library. Not knowing things drove her crazy. "What could he possibly be doing? And why is he avoiding me?"

"Who?" A chipper voice demanded.

"Gah!" Twilight nearly jumped out of her coat when she stumbled over Pinkie Pie lying in the middle of the road on her back, front hooves pressed to her chest, back legs sticking straight out, parallel to the dusty road. At first, the unicorn couldn't figure out what the brightly-colored earth pony was doing… then she realized Pinkie's body seemed to be moving rhythmically up and down. Curiosity drowning the last dregs of her miniature heart attack, Twilight ducked and twisted to look under Pinkie's body. The fuchsia mare was doing push-ups with her tail. "Pinkie… what are you doing?"

"Push-ups," Pinkie said brightly. "Dashie said I couldn't do a hundred, but I did, but then she said I couldn't do a hundred with one hoof, so I did. And then she said I couldn't do even one with no hooves, which didn't really make a lot of sense, but I figured she was desperate by then, so I told her I'd figure out how to do push-ups with no hooves and teach her how and she said fine and flew away to go bounce on some rainclouds. And I finally did push-ups with no hooves! I'm on ninety-eight. Who were you talking about?"

"Oh," the unicorn replied, feeling heat spread through her face and neck. She hadn't even realized she'd been muttering about the situation. She normally only did that with really complicated magical equations. "Um… nobody."

Pinkie did another tail-powered push-up. "Really? That's a funny name. So some stallion named Nobody's avoiding you? That's weird. Did he say why?"

Twilight sighed. "Never mind, Pinkie."

She started to walk around her friend - she just wanted to go home; dealing with zap-apples, following all the random rules about bees and bunny suits and painting the kitchen was actually kind of hard - but Pinkie yelped, "Hang on, hang on! I just got one left!" Dipping lower to the ground, she scrunched her eyes shut and groaned, "One… hundred!" Leaping to her hooves, she happily imitated a tightly-wound spring and bounced up and down. "Whoo-hoo! One-hundred tail-powered push-ups! Yeah! Isn't that just the most super-duper, oolie-coolie thing you ever heard of ever?"

To the violet mare's surprise, she found herself smiling. Pinkie was the pony to be around if you needed cheering up to any degree. "It is definitely the most super-duper, oolie-coolie thing I've ever heard of ever."

"I have to agree," said a deep voice from behind her. Twilight spun around and caught a glimpse of a golden mane, white coat, and sapphire gaze before she tripped over Pinkie, lost her balance, and nearly tumbled to the road. Only a quick catch by Peter kept her from hitting the street hard enough to scrape some skin off her knees. His smile was warm and friendly, but that familiar flash of pain burned in his eyes. "Is this a habit of yours, Twilight Sparkle - tripping over things?"

"I… I'm not usually this klutzy," Twilight mumbled. It took everything she had to pull away calmly instead of jerking out of Peter's loose hold. It felt… peculiar when he touched her. She wasn't a very touchy-feely pony anyway, so ponies touching her made her feel strange unless she knew them really well. Her fellow Elements of Harmony, for example, or her family; Princess Celestia, who'd been her mentor since she was a little filly, and Princess Luna, who'd become a close friend after that strange and yet wonderful Nightmare Night years ago. If any of those ponies so much as brushed her with a hoof, she'd know who it was without even having to look. But just as before, Peter's touch felt familiar to Twilight. As if her body recognized it the same way she recognized Shining Armor's or her father's.

Dusting herself off, even though it wasn't necessary - it gave her an excuse to look at something other than Peter's face and thus allowed her to avoid catching another glimpse of the anguish she'd seen there - Twilight added, "Thanks for catching me. Again. I totally appreciate it, but um… I have to be going now. Thanks again. Bye-"

"Oh, oh, oh! Who's this!?" Pinkie, now recovered from her momentary uncharacteristic quiet, sproinged between her friend and the new stallion. "Is he new in town?" Every other word was punctuated with another energetic bounce. "Do you know him? What's his name? Where's he from? Who is he?"

"He's nobody," Twilight blurted. She realized her mistake a split-second too late.

"Ohmigawshohmigawsh!" Pinkie sucked in a gasping breath and added, "Ohmigawshohmigawshohmigawsh!! Ohmigawsh! This guy's Nobody?" Her hair, an elaborate poof of magenta curl, spasmodically straightened, nearly doubling in visible length for a moment, as her cerulean eyes nearly bugged out of her skull. Then the curls made a drastic reappearance as she cried, "Ohmigawsh, it's so great to meet you! I've heard so much about you! I'm Pinkie Pie!" She grabbed Peter's massive hoof in one of her small pink ones and gave it a hearty shake. "We were just talking about you! Twilight was worried you'd been avoiding her and had more important things to do than hang out with her but now you're here so obviously that's just crazy, right? But that's a weird name, Nobody. How'd you get it? Is it a nickname?"

Twilight Sparkle wanted to die when Peter glanced at her, one brow quirked, a small smile tugging at one corner of his mouth. It took everything she had to keep from cringing. She loved Pinkie - adored her - but sometimes, the spastic earth pony needed a good muzzling! The unicorn opened her mouth to say… something. She didn't know what, but something! But before she could, Peter put out a hoof and lightly pressed Pinkie Pie back to the ground, holding the pink mare in place with implacable gentleness so that instead of bouncing, she simply vibrated.

"My real name is Peter," he said to Pinkie. Then he glanced at Twilight. His gaze hit her like a hard hoof to the chest. Why did he always look like he was in mortal agony when he glanced at her? She'd never seen anyone look so sad before. "And I haven't been avoiding Twilight. I've just been… otherwise occupied."

His right eyelid twitched almost imperceptibly. Twilight narrowed her eyes. Wait a second… he'd just winked at her. Which could mean a lot of things, but somehow the magically-inclined unicorn knew he'd done it because he was lying. By the Sun! He really had been avoiding her! But why in the hoof would he do a thing like that?

"Peter? That's a cool name. I think I knew a colt named Peter when I was filly on my parents' rock farm. Well, my real name's Pinkamena Diane Pie, but everyone just calls me Pinkie, except my sisters - sometimes they called me Pinks. You can call me Pinkie if you want."

The stallion smiled. "Thank you. So, Pinkie, maybe you could do me a bit of a favor?"

Bright blue eyes widened until Twilight thought they would pop out of Pinkie Pie's head. "Is it a secrety-secret favor?"

Peter beckoned her closer with a hoof. Pinkie, almost hyperventilating with excitement, leaned in. Twilight opened her mouth to protest - she was standing right here, for Celestia's sake - but whatever Peter said in the twenty-odd seconds the unicorn was trying to put her words together made the earth mare's eyes bug out even further. She gave a colossal gasp, bounced nearly twenty feet in the air before hitting the ground again with a surprisingly soft thump, and then squealed.

"Okay! Sure! And I'm gonna throw you a party to welcome you to Ponyville because everyone deserves a Welcome to Ponyville Pinkie-Pie-Style Party! It'll be so awesome, you'll love it so much, I promise! Tomorrow evening, six o'clock! Be there, or be a hotdog!" With one last bounce and a cheery "bye Twilight," the earth pony hopped away.

"Wait! Pinkie!" Twilight yelped, staring after her friend. She couldn't help the feeling of abandonment that seemed ready to crush her now that the Bearer of Laughter had skipped merrily on her way, leaving the unicorn alone with Peter. "Pinkie Pie!"

"I don't think she's coming back," the stallion murmured. He looked down at Twilight with that familiar fond smile. His eyes hadn't changed. "What's the matter, Twilight Sparkle? Do I make you nervous?"

Twilight tossed her mane and snorted. "Don't be silly. I just needed to ask her something, but she rushed off before I could."

"What did you need to ask her?"

"Excuse me?" The words came out more surprised than anything else. Incredulous violet eyes flicked to him. She didn't know why Peter taking an interest in her hypothetical conversation with Pinkie, even a passing one, both surprised and unnerved her. There was just something about this stallion… "Um," the mare mumbled, trying not to sound rude, "that's not really any of your business."

Peter shrugged. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry. Of course the Elements of Harmony would have things to speak of to each other that aren't for other ponies to hear."

For some reason, though the words were mildly spoken, they felt like a tail-swat to the ear. Maybe because she hadn't really had anything she wanted to ask Pinkie - she just hadn't wanted her friend to leave the unicorn pony alone with the blue-eyed stallion.

"Um… so… how long are you planning on staying in Ponyville?" She asked, trying to be more friendly, and could've kicked herself when something unreadable flickered across Peter's expression. Stupid. Of course that sounded like she wanted to know when he was leaving. Even after years of studying the magic of friendship, making friends and being friendly with ponies still didn't come easily to her. Especially with this pony, who made her strangely uncomfortable even though he felt so familiar. But both Celestia and Twilight's father had said to try and make Peter feel welcome in Ponyville. Ugh, why her? Why not Pinkie? Pinkie was great at making ponies feel welcome.

"I'm here for… health reasons," the stallion said softly. "So I suppose when my reasons are no longer valid, I'll be taking my leave."

She blinked. "Okay. Well, I hope you feel better soon. Not that I want you to leave or anything," she added, wincing. "I just… 'cause you're sick and all… or… are you sick? Never mind. Don't answer that; not my business. And now I'm babbling. I'm sorry, I'm not good at this whole small-talk thing; there aren't any real rules. And you're not supposed to say that when you make small talk, gah! Sorry!"

Twilight fell silent when Peter started to laugh. It was a little boy's laugh, carefree and happy and so at odds with the pain she'd seen in his eyes. When he looked at her with a grin on his face, for just a split-second, the anguish was gone, replaced by a contentment she didn't understand, a contentment that sent a small prick of envy stabbing through her. But his boyish grin pulled an answering smile from the mare. Peter's grin softened to a pleased smile.

"There. A genuine smile from Twilight Sparkle. Not so difficult, was it?"

A laugh surprised its way out of her mouth. "I guess not. So, uh… how'd you meet my dad?"

"Shall we walk and talk? I know you put in a day at the Sweet Apple farm, and it seems like you were on your way somewhere when I intercepted you. May I escort you to wherever you're going?"

"Oh, it's… just to my place," Twilight murmured as they started to walk. She noticed Peter put himself between her and the wheeled traffic. Any dust or sprayed dirt would hit him instead of her - or at least hit him first. As they passed Horte Cuisine's Diner, she found herself saying, "I'm staying at the Ponyville Library."

"I've heard that the town's Library is surprisingly extensive for such a small town." Carefully navigating the street bazaar that lined the main road six days out of the week and making their way past Sugar Cube Corner, Peter added, "Would it be possible to come and see it some time? Books are one of my greatest passions."

"Really?" Twilight practically squeaked. She had a few friends and acquaintances that enjoyed reading - such as Rainbow Dash, who adored the Daring Do series - but she'd met no one in Ponyville who shared her actual adoration of the written word. "Mine, too! Have you always liked to read or did something get you into it? My brother didn't like books for the longest time until he read Green Strider by Kristen Trottingham."

"I've read that series," Peter replied. Twilight barely bit back another squeal. Nopony in Ponyville had even heard of Kristen Trottingham's Green Strider novels. "As for how I got into reading… somepony very special to me taught me to appreciate the magic of literature." He smiled again, but it was edged with sorrow. Without having to ask him, Twilight understood that whoever it had been who'd taught him to love books, they were gone now. She floundered for something to say to break the silence and found nothing. Then Peter added, "Your father saved my life many times. Before you were born… and after."

Wide-eyed, she whispered, "Really? Wow." Then she frowned. "So how old are you, then?"

His smile widened. "Curious, are you? I'll make you a deal." He brought them to a halt. To Twilight's surprise, they were in front of the library. She'd forgotten they were even going somewhere in the rush of delight from finding another bookworm like herself. "Will you do me two favors, Twilight Sparkle, in exchange for me telling you how old I am?"

"Depends on the favors," she said, but it was with such cheerful wariness that she instinctively knew Peter wouldn't be offended. It was just like how she often spoke to Shining Armor whenever her older brother wanted to "make a deal."

Peter shrugged. He was still smiling. "They're small things, really. The fourth sign of zap-apple season is tonight - a meteor shower. Miss Applejack says you intend to come. Would you allow me to escort you? And will you allow me to escort you to Miss Pinkie Pie's Welcome-to-Ponyville Party tomorrow evening?"

Completely flabbergasted, Twilight tried to speak. The meteor shower? And the party? Peter wanted to take her to the party? Why couldn't he go on his own? And why would he come all the way out to the Ponyville Library, just to walk all the way back to Sweet Apple Acres? But at the same time, she had been asked to make him feel welcome. And there was no real reason to turn him down, other than he made her a little uneasy. Not even so much uneasy, just... confused. Because it felt like she'd known him forever, and she'd barely even met him. And if they went to the party together, they could talk about books. For hours, even.

"O-okay," Twilight stammered. The word seemed to leap off the tip of her tongue before she could really do anything other than consider all the reasons why she should agree. She knew that the con-aspect of her mental pros-and-cons list would try to inflict blunt force trauma to her brain once she went inside, though. "Sure. Um… I gotta go. Thanks for walking me."

"You're welcome, Twilight Sparkle." Just as he'd done in Granny Smith's kitchen, he caught her hoof and bowed over it, though he still didn't kiss it. The soft gold of his forelock brushed the side of her pastern, sending peculiar - but not unpleasant - tickling warmth from her hoof all the way up her foreleg.

Somehow Twilight made it inside the library. It was only as she was locking the door and Peter was walking back down Main Street that she realized she'd forgotten to ask him again how old he actually was.