Oh joy oh joy...here she goes again. Her void. Day after tomorrow, Twilight would be able to discuss it all with a licensed, trained, professional therapist and maybe figure out how and why the void had been acting independently of her thoughts, but tonight and the next, she'd have to tough it out herself.
She looked around, not seeing anything initially. After a while though, she could see the mannequin from two nights ago waving at her.
Twilight made a displeased noise, but approached it. Once in arm, er, leg's reach of him, a cart like a carnival ride rose up out of the ground.
The mannequin opened the door for and offered her a seat.
Twilight frowned, suspicious and distrusting of the mannequin given what happened last time, but took the seat. The mannequin took the other seat and lowered the safety rail.
The cart whirred, hummed, and groaned. Twilight looked to the mannequin as if it could give an explanation, but it just smiled at her bashfully.
She 'hmph'ed.
The mannequin, sensing she was displeased, leaned over and nuzzled her, unaware it was the source of her frustration.
The cart made a clink, then took off on its accord, moving at speeds that made Rainbow Dash seem like a road safe driver. Twilight was fairly certain her the cart was going to come to an abrupt stop any minute and cause the safety rail to bang against her chest and crush her heart.
Speaking of crushed hearts, Twilight heard it again. Twilight heard her again. She was singing. Beautifully, despite the ever-present squeak in her tone. Twilight felt lighter then air hearing it.
"Mmmm..." Entranced, enchanted and charmed, Twilight began struggling to break free of the cart so she could trace the music back it's source. So she could find her.
The mannequin saw what she was doing and attempted to restrain her so she wouldn't hurt herself. She grunted, groaned and whinnied in protest, trying to wiggle herself free of him/it.
"Mmmh! Nhhhhn! EEEEEEEEEIIIIINee!"
But no matter what she did, she couldn't pry herself free of it. And when it let her go...the melodious sound was gone.
Like a spoiled, undisciplined foal, Twilight whined at the missed opportunity.
Waking up at the time she was supposed to have woken up - that is, before Spike, Twilight rolled over and the first thing she noticed was that Pinkie Pie was in the bed they had built for her.
Like a puppy denied a treat, Twilight reached her hoof and whined, yearning for Pinkie's touch. The feel of her fur on Twilight's hoof...maybe Twilight's hoof could pet Pinkie a little, and then her hoof would slowly edge towards Pinkie's Cutie Mark...
"Mmph." Twilight, unable to suppress herself anymore, tossed the covers of her own bed off and jumped off the bed. She walked to Pinkie's bed and petted it the back of her neck.
Pinkie made a noise and rolled over... showing that her eyes were open! Oh dear! What would Pinkie say knowing Twilight had snuck over for the sole purpose of petting her neck!?
Pinkie...snored?
Twilight leaned over and saw Pinkie's chest rising and lowering with the motions made by snoring...but...but her eyes were open! What's going on here? Maybe Pinkie slept with her eyes open?...That seemed quite reasonable, actually. But Twilight got the feeling that wasn't it.
Putting her hoof on Pinkie's face, Twilight could feel something about Pinkie's face was... off.
"Hmm..."
Jerking her hoof, Twilight tore off a leather band from Pinkie's face, showing that Pinkie's eyes were closed. Examining the leather in her hoof, Twilight saw it was colored to match Pinkie's skin and eyes.
...Oooooh! This must've been Pinkie's unique take on those novelty glasses that make it look ponies were still awake when they weren't! Perhaps she got it from that novelty store in the market.
Twilight gently draped the band back to it's proper place before Pinkie could wake up and notice it's absence. Twilight's head leaned in closer, but pulled back. If she kissed Pinkie Pie now, while Pinkie was asleep as a guest in her own home...what would ponies think? What would her friends think?
But Pinkie looked so cute while she was asleep...so cute and...vulnerable. Obviously, she needed somepony to...protect her from nasty things like bed monsters.
Twilight closed her eyes and tried to pull herself back to reality. There was no such as bed monsters. She was clearly just trying to give herself an excuse to get close to Pinkie.
She quickly scampered over back under her own bed's covers and engaged in the typical 'wait for Spike to make breakfast' deal.
It took Spike a while to wake up and go downstairs, but that was less because of Spike's sloth and more because of the theory of relativity.
Shortly after Spike left, Pinkie sprung upright in her bed, tossing her fake open eyes away, revealing the sparkling sapphires beneath. Twilight could feel Pinkie's eyes on her even without looking.
She could also sense Pinkie drawing closer, intent on jumping into the air and waking Twilight with a ker-plopp, unaware Twilight was already awake.
Yes, Pinkie...jump. Jump on top of meee~~. Twilight thought, eager to feel Pinkie again.
Pinkie, whether or not she could hear Twilight's thoughts or not, obliged, bending downwards and jumping into the air and crashing down on her.
Twilight was so pleased she couldn't remember her mantra of 'control', moaning and shooting her legs upwards to embrace Pinkie.
"Are you okay, Twilight?" Pinkie asked, flopping Twilight's legs off. "That was a pretty weird noise you made just now!"
"I'm..." Hungry for your touch, thirsty for your saliva in my throat and suffering mental delusions in both dreams and reality stemming from my lust for you. "Fine. I'm fine, sweetie."
"Sweetie? Eesh, Twilight, I know we're friends, but it's not like we're dating or something!"
Oooohh... poor, unknowing Pinkie. She didn't know how much her saying that pounded Twilight in the heart with a master craftsmare's hammer.
"Yeah, yeah I know we're not. I was just, um...practicing!" Twilight nodded, more to herself then to Pinkie out of satisfaction with that excuse. "For when I do find that special pony!"
(Slyly leaving out that she had been imagining Pinkie as that special pony.)
"Oh...okay! I understand. Practice makes perfect and all that!" Pinkie smiled, which relived Twilight.
Twilight reached a hoof to touch Pinkie, but Spike returned from downstairs.
"Breakfast is ready! Hey, what are you two doing?"
Twilight realized Pinkie Pie was still on top of her, Twilight's hoof extended to touch her.
Twilight lost it, thinking that her pet assistant was going to start thinking of her negatively- for whatever poorly thought-out reason- after having seen her get so close to Pinkie. "Um, um...um..."
"Twilight's practicing on how she's going to talk to her special somepony with me as the practice dummy!"
Focus, Twilight! Control! Stay in control! The mental reminder came too late. Thankfully, Pinkie had already made an explanation.
"Huh." Spike scratched his head. "Twilight, don't you think you should wait until you have a special somepony before trying to practice how you're going to talk to them?"
Twilight seized on the chance to turn this around, maintain Spike's image of her, and most importantly, mask her secret affections. "You know what, Spike? You're absolutely right. I should wait before trying to practice." Twilight nodded to herself again.
"Okay...say, are you two going to come eat breakfast or not?"
"Yes! We'll be right there!" Twilight and Pinkie quickly made their way off the bed and down the stairs to eat whatever Spike had whipped up today. Oatmeal with carrots chopped up into it. Not the best of combined flavors, but it wasn't bad.
"Oh, Twilight! I forgot! I promised Applejack I'd help her with the apple bucking today so she and Granny Smith could have the extra apples on hoof to make treats!"
Twilight did her best to smile. She didn't want to let Pinkie go, but...Pinkie wasn't her possession.
Not yet, at least. A devious little voice in the back of her mind said.
Shut up. She retorted. "It's okay, Pinkie. You can go ahead and help Applejack. I don't mind." That last part was a filthy, filthy lie, but...
Pinkie pffted. "What? No! I mean you're going to have come with me to help!"
"What!?" Wrong answer! Wrong answer! Wrong answer! "I mean...of course I'll come, Pinkie! Wouldn't miss it!"
Pinkie smiled.
Nags of doubt began plaguing Twilight's mind. She wouldn't be of much help. She wasn't an athlete, by any stretch of the imagination.
Finishing up breakfast, Pinkie bounced out of the library, taking the occasional glance behind her to make sure Twilight was following. Which she was of, course. Twilight probably couldn't not follow her. Happy as always and oblivious to the turmoil in Twilight's head, Pinkie kept on bouncing. Twilight could share her enthusiasm and just walked behind her.
Pinkie's bouncing also spared her from falling to a random mud pit, a luxury earthbound Twilight was unable to enjoy.
"Aagh!" Twilight cried as the water-dirt mixture sprayed over her. "Pinkie, I need to go back to the library to clean up!"
"Why? It's not a like a little mud ever hurt anypony!"
"No, but customers won't buy mud-covered apples, and my hooves won't be able to buck as well with the mud on them."
"Oh. Okay!"
Pinkie Pie and Twilight turned around and went back to the library.
"You're back early." Spike quipped. "How'd the bucking go?"
"It hasn't." Twilight told him. "We had to come back here so I could clean up and not get mud all over Applejack's apples."
"Oh. Here, let me help with you that..."
"Thanks, Spike."
Spike helped Twilight into the bathroom and helped get it ready for her. Twilight's pressing need to maintain her punctuality thankfully prevented her from trying to invite Pinkie Pie inside with her.
After they had managed to rinse the mud off and soap away any lingering bacteria, Twilight and Pinkie waved good-bye to Spike and headed back out.
The day proved that it wasn't going to get any better, though, for after Pinkie and Twilight managed to get back to where they were, the same thing happened, but with a ditch in the road instead of a mud pit. And Pinkie Pie fell in with her this time.
"Mud I can understand..." Twilight muttered. "Mud can come from rain, so it makes sense that nopony would notice for awhile...but who puts a ditch in the middle of the road!?"
"It's okay!" Pinkie said. "All we have to do is climb back out!"
"Easier said than done..." Twilight looked at the slope of the ditch. Their flat hooves wouldn't be able to grasp it very well, if at all.
"Hup, hup, two!" Pinkie said, throwing herself onto the the slope and bouncing right off it. She reached back down to offer Twilight a hoof to help her up.
"Thanks." Twilight grabbed the hoof and let Pinkie pull her out of the ditch. Pinkie took a moment to make sure Twilight was okay, giving her a pat on the back.
"Look ooooooout!" Somepony yelled at them.
Looking to the side revealed there was a pony pulling a wagon, and it was clear even having seen them, she didn't have the reaction need to come to a complete stop before she hit them.
Twilight and Pinkie split up and hit the deck, ducking for cover, allowing the lady to roll by them without anypony getting hurt.
"Sorry about that!" She shouted behind them.
"It's okay!" Pinkie assured her. "Come on, Twilight...Twilight?" Looking around, Pinkie found that Twilight was back in the ditch. A result of having jumped out of the way. Pinkie focused and quickly made to help Twilight out...again.
"Thanks..." Twilight muttered.
"No problem! Now come on, Applejack's gonna think we forgot about her if we don't get there soon!"
Twilight decided to follow Pinkie's lead, bouncing and skipping the rest of the way, in the hopes it would allow them to reach the apple orchards before the day was over.
Whether or not it was successful was up to debate, but Twilight and Pinkie managed to get there shortly after, the pony in the wagon being the last of their distractions.
"Phhew!" Twilight breathed a sign of relief. "We made it..."
"Yep! ...Hey..." Pinkie's ear perked up. Twilight's did the same to see what had made Pinkie's do that.
"It's been a while, Ah'll admit, but Ah don't think that's right wut happened, Rainbow."
"That's got to be what happened! Why else would Pinkie not show up?"
Twilight and Pinkie exchanged glances.
"We'd better get in there and see what's going on!"
The two of them rushed into the orchard to see Applejack and Rainbow Dash there, Dash slightly off the ground with her front legs crossed on top of a barrel.
"Hey, there's the lassies!" Applejack said at their notice. "Wut kept ya?"
"A bunch of things." Twilight answered.
"Really?" Dash asked, suspicious. She zoomed over to in Twilight's face. "Are you sure it didn't take so long because of you?"
Twilight was confused at Dash's question, but...control. Precision. Dash is suspicious of something...whatever that something is. "W-what do you mean, Rainbow?"
"I mean that I think you held Pinkie up because you wanted her to spend more time with you instead of helping Applejack like she promised!"
"What!?" Twilight was aghast. She would never do something like that! Commitment was important, and she wouldn't try to get somepony to ditch a commitment just to spend time with them.
"Ah'm sorry, sugercube...yer still new here, an' we don't rightly know ya well enough to know whether or not you'd do something like that."
"I would never! I was going to help you with Pinkie, but we got held up! Pinkie, tell them!"
"Oh yeah!" Pinkie said. "First Twilight fell into a mud pit, so then we had to go back home and clean up so she wouldn't get mud on the apples, then when we're done with that and on our way again, we feel into a ditch, and then somepony nearly ran us over- by accident, so then Twilight ended up in the ditch again!"
Dash looked to Applejack, who seemed not to know how to react.
"Well, R.D?"
"Fine..." Dash groaned. She poked Twilight's chest. "But you watch it, or else!"
Twilight nodded. Dash, as confident, loyal...and confrontational as a pony could be.
"C'mon y'all." Applejack said. "Them apples ain't gonna buck themselves."
Applejack's words made a mad idea go off in Twilight's head. "Oh! What if they could?"
Applejack glared. "Y'all aren't suggestin' usin' yer magic to make the trees buck 'emselves, are ya?"
Twilight shirked. That was what she was suggesting, but Applejack clearly didn't like the idea. Let's file that away for future reference. "It was, but...I understand if you don't want to."
"Ah don't, thank y'all kindly. It makes the taste of the apples impure."
Twilight nodded. That was understandable from a Earth pony's perspective. Earth pony affect crops, soil and the earth, while unicorn magic was more arcane in nature. The notion that unicorn magic could somehow impair the apples wasn't as silly as might seem at first.
"Wait a minute." Dash objected. "Using magic to make the apples buck themselves would open the whole day so we could go do other things!"
"It would, but it ain't worth it."
"Oh come on! Not worth more time for tricks? That's ridiculous!"
Twilight grimaced. Applejack and Dash were starting to get into a fight, and...it was quite clear from Applejack's stubbornness this wouldn't be as easy to dissolve as Pinkie's and Dash's argument yesterday.
"It ain't worth goofin' iffit makes the apples impure!"
"Sure it is!"
"Um, girls?" Twilight said. "There's really no need for this- if Applejack doesn't me to use magic, I won't use magic."
Dash didn't hear her. "You realize how much time it would save if Twilight used magic, right?
"Ah do, an' Ah realize it wouldn't be worth it!"
"So!?"
"So!? Wut ddy'a mean 'so'!?"
Twilight was at even worse predicament then Dash and Pinkie's fight. That was more a conflicting opinion then a fight compared to this! There, she couldn't think of anything that didn't sound like she was favoring one over the other...here, she couldn't think of anything at all!
It was getting too much. One of many reasons she was an indoors pony was that she didn't like conflict.
The second void- the white void- started forming, and this time, it included fuzzy silhouettes of her friends shouting at each other.
Reality taking a backseat, Twilight threw herself between the two shadows and tried to pull them into a group hug. The shadows fidgeted from her touch, and her nuzzling to try to sooth them did nothing.
The shadows removed themselves from her- somepony shouted something she couldn't make it out and it wasn't clear what happened next...
At least, not in the void.
In reality, however, Twilight had just been on the receiving ends of bucks from Applejack and Rainbow Dash meant for each other, and dream void, white void, or no void at all, Twilight's vision went black as she faded into unconsciousness... it was no wonder being hit by Dash and Applejack both knocked her out. After all...
Twilight wasn't an athlete, by any stretch of the imagination.