I was nudged awake by Jacob/Pinkie. I had no idea of how long I slept and I could not recall any dreams I had last night.
"Wake up, sleepyhead! We got 30 minutes before we leave! If you need to take a shower, hurry it up!" Jake said cheerfully.
"Um, Jake, how much of you is Pinkie and how much of Pinkie is you?" I asked somewhat groggily, lifting the sheets with my magic and getting to my hooves. The sun was beaming in through the window, but it was the time on the clock that got my attention, reading 8:45 AM.
"Well, Mikey, Jake is still here, but letting me control my body. Don't worry about him, he's in good hooves!" Pinkie chirped.
"Hmm. We're running out of time then. Gotta hurry it up, I don't know how much longer Gwen can hold on," I stated flatly as I trotted slowly to the bathroom to turn on the shower. I found out that changing into my elemental form did more than drain my magic quickly -- it also left a sulfurous scent to the air and my body as well, so I definitely needed a shower. After that, I brushed out my mane and tail, then started on my coat. Lastly, I brushed my teeth. It was shortly after that that we were escorted to our van and driven to our respective places of appearance. For me, that meant another mall appearance. I was besieged with requests for pictures, autographs, magic displays, and answers to stupid questions. I was becoming rather disillusioned by the monotony of these appearances and seriously questioned my decision to become a spokespony for Hasbro. The money was good, but I was having my doubts about its necessity.
My fan club and other admirers had protected me from the overly zealous people -- the appearances were starting to become increasingly more dangerous with each passing day. When I informed our company representative about this, he stated that he would mention it to the exec in charge. I told him I wanted assurances about our safety, as I had heard rumors about an anti-pony organization that seemed bent on causing trouble for us. All I got in response was, "I'll see what I can do about that."
"Don't you care about the ponies who represent your company? If one of them suffers injury at the hands of someone, can you imagine what sort of headache the bad publicity would create? If your company truly cares about their image, I would strongly recommend they take our safety and security much more seriously," I advised. He begrudgingly acquiesced to this demand.
Once again, I found myself arguing with Trixie during our dinner this time -- she was starting to become very troublesome and in my exasperation I had said something terrible to her, causing her to run off crying. Fluttershy admonished me, telling me that Trixie's not always in charge, and that I might have actually said those words to Gwen instead of Trixie. I had to get up from the table and engage in some damage control to get things back under control. It took an awful lot of cajoling on my part to get Gwen to accept my apology, though Trixie made that an extremely difficult task. This process took a few hours and had left me feeling just as drained as the previous day when I had assumed my elemental form in anger. My doubts continued to increase and my dreams that night consisted of possibilities ensuing from a decision to quit -- to breach my contract.
------------------------------------------
"Twilight," I heard a female voice say as something solid nudged me awake. I turned over, trying to ignore this annoying intrusion into my sleep. "Twilight!" the mysterious female called, louder and more forceful this time, nudging me considerably harder this time. I turned back over to see who it was and was shocked to see the Solar Princess having visited me again.
"Princess Celestia? What brings you back here?"
"Twilight, I need your assistance," she said flatly.
"Princess, please let me sleep a bit longer. I have a busy day ahead of me, group photos, autographs, magic displays -- I've got money to make," I muttered in my half-sleep state. I found myself being unceremoniously dumped onto the floor out of my blankets. "Ow! Was that strictly necessary, Princess?"
"Twilight, I have no time for your foolishness. What you are doing here on Earth is immaterial -- I have urgent need of your presence back in Equestria."
"And if I refuse?" I asked, almost daring the Alicorn to do something.
"I will take Twilight with me, and leave you here in your human state," she said coldly.
"Oh, you can do that? That would work for me, Princess," I said almost too eagerly. She frowned.
"Twilight, please don't force my hoof in this matter. Truthfully, I need both of you to come with me."
"Princess, I have a contractual obligation to the company I work for -- I do not wish to lose my job. Furthermore, I have new friends who are counting on me to defeat Discord in this universe," I offered.
"You still wear that amulet -- if you do not assist me, I shall request its return."
"Okay, all right, you win. Let's go, Princess," I grumbled. "Frankly, I have no idea why you need me when you're as powerful as you are."
"Please don't question my motives, Twilight -- trust me when I tell you that this is quite important." She wrapped her left wing around me and teleported the both of us to the throne room in her castle.
-------------------------------------------
The day named after Chester A. Arthur broke with me not in my bed, just a mess of blankets and pillows on the floor next to it. Nick/Rarity woke and found my bed empty and alerted Jake/Pinkie to my absence.
"Um, we kinda need Twiley to be here -- the exec is not gonna be happy about this," Nick stated flatly.
"Gwen needs her help, too -- where did Mike go? He wouldn't just leave us like that -- Rarity, can you pick up a magic trace on those blankets on the floor next to his bed?" asked Jake.
"I shall try, Pinkie." The alabaster mare trotted to my bedside and levitated my blankets to examine a faint trace of magic. "Princess Celestia has been here!" she gasped.