//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: The Shower // Story: My Little Serenity: Misbehaving is Magic // by Trachyon //------------------------------// “Ugh, could you keep it down please, Spike!” ... "Zzzzz..." "Spike!" She was answered by yet more snoring. Twilight groaned. She tossed and turned for another few minutes, eventually kicking the covers right off from her. Exasperated, she sagged out from under the bedcovers, and trotted downstairs, guided by the soft light of her horn. Save for Spike's rumbling, the library was comfortingly, almost stiflingly, silent. Purple light spread on the expansive wood floor, fading in such a way that the bookshelves at the walls were just left in half-shadow. Casting aside any plans for sleeping soundly tonight, Twilight took a pair of already bulging star-emblazoned saddlebags from the nearby table, and, taking great care so as to not wake up Spike, slowly crept out the front door, into the night. Twilight cringed as the door creaked to a close. The sound, however, was exaggerated by the small rush of adrenaline she felt as she stepped out into the night. A cool breeze whipped past, and Twilight breathed deep. It was times like these, when she would sometimes wonder just why she'd spend so much time indoors. That feeling of cold, refreshing air being sucked in from her mouth, to come to rest all the way down to her lungs, was simply euphoric. Taking in deep, fulfilling breaths, Twilight craned her neck to gaze up at the sky. The moon had passed its zenith long ago, and the sky was deep and dark to the point where, if Twilight strained, a nebulous cluster of stars could just barely be seen amidst the countless other pinpricks of light. The more she stared, the less the stars seemed like painted dots on a faraway canvas, and the more they seemed like what they actually were: just like Celestia's sun, they were orbs of light and warmth and magic, worlds away, completely isolated from each other and Equestria. Twilight sighed happily. She was content to just lie down then and there to stargaze, but common sense prevailed. She set off through the silent streets of Ponyville, passing by the silhouettes of houses, carts, and market stalls. Another breeze stirred. After half an hour of walking through empty, house-lined streets, to wide roads, to barren dirt tracks, Twilight came to a rest at the top of a small hill outside Ponyville, overlooking the expansive meadows. Everfree forest was silhouetted eerily in the distance; black, bare branches reaching up at the night sky. Twilight Sparkle levitated the contents of her saddlebags out and set them down: A small, collapsible bronze telescope, a matching tripod, a weathered notebook, a messy quill, and a pot of ink. Setting these down around her on the soft grass, telescope expanded and affixed to the tripod, Twilight gazed upwards at the night sky. As was usual for the season, the sky was free of clouds, and even more stars than had been visible back in Ponyville could be seen from here. That nebula from before could now be seen more clearly. Two, maybe three stars could just be distinguished from the faintly glowing cloud. Twilight took in a huge, drawn-out breath of fresh air, and smiled. Research didn’t get much better than this. Just her, fresh air, open night sky, and a telescope. Maybe she could even catch that comet if she was lucky... The pages of the notebook were flipped from left to right by a magical wind, slowing to a halt as a certain page was revealed. Twilight positioned herself so she could lie under the telescope and still easily glance at the open spread of the book. But just as she moved to the lens of the telescope, a small flash in the sky caught her attention. Twilight's head shot up, a grin spreading on her face “Ha, I knew it!” Sure, it wasn’t particularly impressive, and it happened every two-and-a-half years, but it was still worth watching the small chunks of ice and rock hurtle across the sky. Twilight put her eye to the telescope, angling it to intercept the path of the comet when it passed. Minutes flew by with her just standing there atop the hill, occasional breezes chilling her, sending shimmering white waves through the grass. But Twilight was rewarded with a bright flash of light burning through the sky. The light was dim in comparison to other comets Twilight had observed, but it was a spectacle of light nonetheless, illuminating the sky, making it shine a deep blood red as it fell down towards the ground... “Wait, what?” Twilight was about to further question what she had just seen, but was distracted by a faint shouting. It was growing louder, however, and Twilight could make out the sound of somepony female calling her own name. Confused, she took a few steps away from her telescope towards the source of the ruckus that had broken the silence. “...-light! TWILIGHT!” The voice was shrill and high-pitched. “Pinkie?!” Sure enough, the silhouette of the bouncing pony could just be made out, as she raced up to meet Twilight. “TWILIGHT!” “Calm down Pinkie! What is it?!” Pinkie was jumping up and down almost uncontrollably before Twilight Sparkle, and her words were distorted by her frantic hopping. “T-t-t-witch-y-y-y t-ta-a-il!!!” The lavender mare stared blankly. “Come again?” “I-I g-got a t-t-twitchy t-t-tail!!” Twilight continued to stare blankly, but realization struck her. Glancing up at the sky, she put two and two together, and let out a laugh. “Oh Pinkie, it’s probably just the comet! It’s nothing to be afraid of!” Pinkie’s tail would twitch uncontrollably whenever something was about to fall down. Twilight had never seen any logic or pattern to it before, but it seemed to be accurate enough in most circumstances. Apparently, Pinkie was able to foretell celestial events, as well. That might come in handy for comet-watching... Twilight mused to herself. "B-b-b-but-" “Actually, about that comet...” Twilight turned back to her telescope, peered through, and let out a gasp at the sight that met her eye. The entire sky was a deep, vivid, blood red. She didn't need a telescope to see that. Before, there had been one comet, barely visible through a lens. Now, countless fiery objects were raining down from the upper atmosphere, lighting it up as they burnt through the air. Twilight’s and Pinkie’s gazes were both drawn to two particular objects. The first was massive. Twilight could only gape at it in horror and disbelief as it descended down towards the mountains. It had to be at least as big as Canterlot Castle, if not bigger! Pieces of fire and molten chuncks split off from it, and razed the ground beneath as they fell. The distant, thunderous booming of explosions could be heard as each individual meteorite impacted, even if it happened to be miles away. The terrifying bulk of the object itself roared right over the mountains in the distance, and let off an echoing cacophony of blasted rock as it landed in the steep range beyond the Everfree Forest. Twilight could only begin to imagine the damage caused, if the noise of its landing had carried even across the entire forest. With the first meteor gone from Twilight’s sight, she shakily turned up to the second smaller, but still colossal flaming object... “RUN!” Yelled Pinkie, desperately tugging at Twilight’s tail with her teeth. But the unicorn was transfixed on the fireball heading straight for her. Twilight thought such a sight impossible, even as she gazed right up at the terrible prominence rushing at her. It was dreadful, it was apocalyptic, and it was amazing, in every sense of the word; she’d never seen anything burn so brightly in her entire life... “TWILIGHT!” The frantic cry bought her back to attention, and Twilight bolted away with Pinkie Pie. She dared not look behind her as she felt the ground rumble with the scream of fire now blaring from up above. Painful heat could be felt on her flanks, growing hotter by the second as the roaring became unbearable. Adrenaline flooded Twilight's every system. At that moment, Pinkie Pie wrapped her hoof around Twilight, and kicked off with all the strength she could muster in her back legs. The two dove forwards, and Twilight had just enough sense left to channel as much magic as she could possibly muster through her horn. With one final, impossibly ear-splitting explosion, the object impacted against the ground, sending up a tidal wave of dust. Running away from a force like that was futile. Air and heat surged beneath the hooves of the two ponies, and they were carried away from the ground like ragdolls, completely helpless. Pinkie screamed and clutched at Twilight, but the purple pony paid no attention as she completed the casting of her spell. Fluid chains of magic spilled out from her horn, purple light weaving around them to form a perfect sphere, even as they sailed through the air. The net of light solidified, and Twilight’s horn ceased its glowing. The spell finished, she instinctively clutched Pinkie Pie in return, bracing for the bone-crunching impact they knew was going to come... But it never came. A minute passed, and Twilight forced herself to open her eyes. Pinkie was still holding Twilight, her own eyes shut tight. They hadn't been smooshed. “Psst! Pinkie!” Pinkie opened her eyes at the sound of Twilight’s voice. She glanced around fearfully, before looking the her friend straight in the eyes. “Wh-what happened?!” “I cast a shield spell to protect us from the impact. Actually, I didn’t think it would work that well, considering the fact that I was flying through the air when I cast it...” As if on cue, the bubble of magic cracked audibly, before shattering completely into fading specks of light. Without the magic suspending them, gravity noticed them again, and Twilight and Pinkie both plummeted down to the floor. Twilight was shaken and winded by the recent events, and the fall, but she and Pinkie both managed to rise to their feet. Pinkie let out a cough as the dust cloud around them thinned. “What the hay was that, Twilight?!” The dust was still thick to the point where neither pony could see a metre around them. Twilight frowned, and shook her head. “I honestly have no idea, Pinkie. I guess it could be a meteorite, except they’re usually much smaller, even if they don’t burn up in the atmos-” “HEY! HEY! Maybe it’s a U.F.O!! OHOHMAYBE THERE’RE ALIENS!! DO YA THINK THEY’RE FRIENDLY?! MAYBE THEY WANNA PARTY! OH I SHOULD THROW A PARTY FOR THEM SEEING AS HOW THEY’RE NEW AND THEY’VE ONLY JUST ARRIVED...” Pinkie was bouncing up and down energetically as usual, the recent trauma apparently forgotten in the wake of this new discovery. Twilight arched an eyebrow. Even with Pinkie’s ridiculous attention span, she had switched from ‘fearing for her life in the wake of a catastrophic meteor strike’, to ‘BUCKING CELEBRATE EVERYTHING’ in an astoundingly short time. “Pinkie, I reeaally don’t think-” But the pink pony had already shot off, back in the direction of the disaster they had just been trying to avoid. Within seconds, Pinkie had disappeared over the crest of the hill, oblivious to Twilight’s shouts. “Pinkie!! Pinkie!! Ugh...” groaned Twilight. Seeing nothing else for it, she galloped off after her cheery friend, praying that Pinkie was wrong.