Twilight's Opus

by EconomistBrony


Part I: Chapter 2 - Generosity

Twilight’s Opus
by EconomistBrony

Part I - The Elements of Harmony

Chapter 2 – Generosity

“You know, you could’ve only eaten one cupcake,” Spike said reproachfully to the cupcake-laden Twilight Sparkle.

“Please, I don’t need to hear it, Spike,” Twilight grumbled as she rolled onto her back, trying to the best of her ability to shut out her number one assistant’s voice.

“Still, though, I’m impressed. Two dozen cupcakes is more than even Derpy eats in one sitting. Or are those muffins...?” Spike’s voice trailed off as he turned around to return to the kitchen, taking the remaining cupcakes with him.

“Oooohhhhhh... Did I really eat two dozen?” Twilight moaned to no one in particular as her belly gave her a punishing ache.

“Yep!” Spike called back with a wide grin. “Well, you kept a tally sheet through ten, so I know it was at least that many. It all went downhill from there, though, so after that’s just a best-guess. The last time I saw such a binge was when that crazy purple pegasus got into Fluttershy’s private mushroom garden.”

Twilight considered responding but thought better of it quickly, deciding that Spike deserved to win that round. That, and she was far too preoccupied with trying to remember a spell for ‘sugar overdose’. As she lay on the ground, her belly quaking with a magnitude not seen since the aftermath of Pinkie Pie’s ‘I THOUGHT I ORDERED 40 DOZEN COOKIES FOR THE SHOP BUT ACTUALLY ORDERED 400 DOZEN HELP ME GUYS!’ party, Twilight’s mind drifted back to the assignment the Princess had given her. “I have to write a thesis... wait, I have to write a thesis!” the purple unicorn suddenly shouted at the severity of such a recollection. The distinct sound of a baby dragon dropping something akin to a handful of cupcakes quickly followed, causing Twilight to break into a fit of giggles. “Are you alright in there, Spike?”

“It’s just a flesh wound!” Spike’s voice floated out from the kitchen, exerting yet another fit of giggles from Twilight.

“Oh, Spike,” Twilight said with a roll of her eyes and bemused sigh. She rolled back onto her hooves and slowly got up to join her assistant, walking into the kitchen with a still-amused grin. “Are you sure you don’t need any help in here?”

“Well, if you insist,” Spike said not-so-begrudgingly before stepping back and letting Twilight work her magic. Thankfully, with Twilight, ‘working her magic’ was a rather literal event, and a few minutes later the few remaining cupcakes were tightly sealed and shut securely away for later consumption.

“So, Spike,” Twilight said with a mischievous little grin as she closed a cabinet door. “I need to decide which friend to go visit next to study the elements. Do you have an opinion as to who we go visit first?”

“I, uh....” Spike stammered. “I mean, it’s, um, totally up to you, Twilight. I mean, uh, they’re your friends and I, uh,” the dragon continued to stammer..

“Gee, well, if you don’t have any opinion at all,” Twilight said, drawing a wry grin across her muzzle. “Looks like I have no choice but to visit my dear friend Rarity. Care to join me?”

“Well, um, there’s so much work to do around here,” Spike muttered as he twiddled his fingers.

“Owloysius can take care of it later. How about you take the afternoon off?” the libraricorn offered, gesturing with her head for the dragon to leap on her back.

“Well, if you’re gonna twist my arm like that,” the dragon assistant said with a near-instant leap onto the unicorn’s back. “I guess I can make the time.”

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Twilight took a deep breath of the crisp, clean winter air as she trotted through Ponyville. Winter was always one of her favorite times of the year. Sure, it wasn’t the best weather for outdoor activity, but for Twilight, that was the perfect excuse to curl up with a good book by the library’s fireplace. Twilight gave a wistful sigh as she looked around at the snow-covered town. It looked so pastoral, so peaceful. Back when she was in Canterlot, she would have never imagined that a place like this could be so... so beautiful. And that, more importantly, that she could ever consider such a place ‘home’. Twilight couldn’t help but smile at that little thought. ‘Home’. It wasn’t just a place, no, it was everything, and everypony. Home was Rarity putting her all into every dress she ever made, Pinkie Pie never failing to turn a frown into a giggle. Home was Fluttershy always having a kind word, and Applejack never failing to tell anything but the whole truth. Home was Rainbow Dash always having her back... Home was here, in Ponyville, with her dearest, best of friends. And Twilight knew that this home was always meant to be hers, from the very beginning. She had found her place in the universe. And she could never be happier for it.

“Hey! Twilight!” came a bright and bubbly yell from across the busy plaza, breaking Twilight from her thoughts. Twilight and a number of ponies around her promptly turned to the source of the noise, only to find Pinkie Pie hopping right towards her from across the plaza.

“So, I totally completely forgot to give this to you back when I was at your place, and I felt so bad about it that I absolutely had to come find you! Owloysius said that you were over at Rarity’s, so I figured that I could intercept you somewhere about here with a probability of 95! Give or take a block,” Pinkie explained before landing right next to Twilight, reaching into her saddlebags to pull out a bright pink envelope.

Twilight stared back at the pink party pony for just a moment. Disregarding the idea that an owl managed to tell a pony anything, the idea that Pinkie could calculate just about where she’d be was... well, actually, for once, it made some amount of sense. It was Pinkie Pie, after all. The unicorn’s horn glowed and the envelope hovered in front of her before opening up slowly to reveal...

“It’s your invitation to my annual New Year’s Eve Party!” the pink party pony proclaimed, causing even Spike to get a look of excitement. “You’re invited too, Spike, of course, but I figured you didn’t want a pretty pink envelope!”

Twilight grinned at the announcement and read over the invitation anyway. “Well, they’re always a blast, Pinkie!” she said upon finishing, folding the invitation back up and place it back into the envelope. “I can’t wait.”

“Okey dokey, Loki! I bet this one’ll be the best one ever!” Pinkie said with a hop and excited quiver of her legs. “Then again, that’s what I say about every party. Buuuuut, I’m absolutely positively 99.475647% plus or minus 0.00000493% certain that this one will be! See you later, Twilight!” And with that, the pink party sped off in a pink and magenta blur, presumably to deliver the remaining invitations in her saddlebags

“I don’t think I’ll ever understand that pony,” Twilight muttered.

“Well, maybe that should be your thesis,” Spike responded with a giggle. “I mean, you could easily write a whole book about her alone.”

“I’m not sure that Princess Celestia would be too pleased with a paper on just one pony, Spike,” Twilight said with a grin as she began trotting forward once more. “While laughter could definitely be a whole book, I really don’t think it would cover things like kindness, generosity, or honesty.”

“Geez, you take everything way too seriously, Twilight,” Spike said with a giggle. “Still, though. Someone should totally write a book about Pinkie. I mean, I’d read it.”

Twilight giggled and bounced the dragon once atop her back, causing him to scramble mid-air and clutch the librarian’s mane to prevent flying entirely off. “I know another pony that you’d read a book about,” she said with a wry little grin.

“Oh, I, uh....” The dragon suddenly clammed up and turned a deep shade of red.

“Maybe that’s who I should write my book about. Rarity: An Exposition on Beauty, Elegance, and Poise, by Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight continued to tease her young assistant, growing rather amused by the rising blush in his cheeks. “But, speaking of Rarity... I do believe we’re here,” she said before bringing up a hoof to knock on the front door of Rarity’s boutique.

The young dragon attempted to defend himself before, suddenly, the door to the boutique burst open and a rush of activity came swooping straight out from there within. Twilight barely managed to leap to the side without getting caught up in the madness.

”What in the-?” Twilight muttered as a trio of rambunctious fillies sprinted out and across the plaza, the glimmer of very expensive-looking material shining in the bright winter sun.

“Cutie Mark Crusader Mission: Fabric Appropriation - accomplished!” Twilight overheard one of the fillies shout before disappearing into the crowd.

“Why you little-” Twilight heard Rarity shout from within the boutique, quickly arriving at the front door and stomping her hooves. “Again! Why, oh why, did I leave that fabric out again? I swear, those three fillies give a whole new meaning to the term ‘inventory shrinkage’. I wonder if there’s a tax deduction for ‘Inventory Misappropriated by Crazed Fillies’...” Her voice trailed off before suddenly seeing the purple unicorn standing to her side. “Oh, Twilight, darling, I wasn’t expecting you! Please, please come in,” Rarity greeted, her voice quickly brightening as she turned back to return inside.

“I hope you don’t mind me dropping by unannounced. I know you stay really busy in the winter,” Twilight apologized as she stepped into her friend’s store, making sure to close the door behind her.

“I’m never too busy for a visit by one of my closest friends, darling!” Rarity eased the purple unicorn’s mind as she levitated over two cups of tea. “But please tell me, what brings you by my shop? You aren’t looking for a new set of boots, are you? Maybe a new coat? Trenches are definitely ‘in’ this year, from what my contacts in Canterlot have been telling me...”

Twilight giggled as she took a sip from her tea. “No, Rarity, but thank you. I’m still extremely well-stocked from last winter.”

“But I insist! I can’t have one of my best friends wandering around in last year’s fashions!” Rarity expounded with a look of horror spread across her face. “At least let me fit you for some new boots. Pleeeeeeasssseeeee?” Rarity pleaded, floating out an adorable pair from a shelf in the back to further attempt to persuade the purple unicorn.

“Oh, fine, fine,” Twilight said with another giggle. “But in exchange, you have to do something for me.”

“Deal!” Rarity agreed jovially before trotting off to the back to fetch a good dozen different boots. “What’s your hoof size again, darling? Three and a half? Now, what do you need me to do?” she asked, her mind mostly preoccupied with the challenge of finding a color which clashed least with the unicorn’s purple coat.

“Well, Rarity... you see, I’ve been given a task from Princess Celestia,” Twilight began to explain. “Namely, to study the Elements. Since you represent Generosity...”

“Oh! Of course!” Rarity said with a sparkle of her eyes. “Pinkie mentioned that you need to write a thesis now! And to think, I thought that the whole ‘studying friendship’ thing was nothing serious at all. Well don’t worry, dear, if Pinkie could concentrate long enough to write a baker’s dozen groundbreaking theses, I know you’ll manage just fine,” she said as she slipped a taupe-colored boot onto Twilight’s right forehoof. “No, no, no! What was I thinking?...” she muttered to herself as it slipped right back off again and flew off to the back.

“Oh! Well, then! Basically, um, what can you tell me about generosity?” Twilight asked in her cute, awkward way as she watched boot after boot fly on and off her hoof.

“I’ve honestly never given it much thought, darling,” Rarity responded half-mindedly. “Although...” Rarity paused, a little smile crossing her face. “Actually, dear, it’s really quite simple. It’s not something that I ever really actively do; it’s just a matter of doing what feels right, deep down in my heart. It’s about always putting others first, and always keeping others’ needs in mind. It’s about always doing the best for your friends. And, of course, always making sure they look fabulous,” she said with a wink as the boot she was levitating towards Twilight slipped itself on. “And I think that one looks absolutely perfect, Twilight. Yes, yes, yes,” she mused to herself as she stepped back and lifted Twilight’s other hooves slightly up into the air with her magic, fitting them with the other boots in the set. “That, darling, should cover one little pony’s views on generosity. And your delightful new boots.”

Twilight looked down at her hooves and smiled bashfully. “They are indeed beautiful, Rarity. Thank you so very much. How much do I owe you?”

“Please, darling. Consider this a gift from one dear friend to another. It’s the least I can do. Especially since I just gave you a little speech about generosity,” the fashionista said with a light chuckle.

“Well, again, thank you so very much,” Twilight said with a bashful smile. “You truly are the most generous pony I’ve ever met.”

“It’s my pleasure, darling. Now shoo, get off and do your studying thing!” Rarity said with a wink as the door to the boutique swung open.

“Sure, let me just have Spike jot down my notes. Spike? Spiiiike?” Twilight called out, rather suddenly noticing that he definitely was not on her back anymore.

Rarity turned back with a look of confusion. “Spike? Twilight, darling, are you alright? It’s been just you in here the entire time.”

Twilight paused for a long moment. “Well, if, he wasn’t here, and he was on my back right before the Cutie Mark Crusaders came rushing out, then...” The purple pony gave a sudden gasp at the realization of where he must be. “Oh, poor Spike...”

End of Chapter 2