//------------------------------// // Prologue // Story: Welcome Home, Twilight Sparkle! // by Buckseed //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle awoke with a yawn and a smile, the smell of fresh coffee filled her nostrils. She threw the covers off of her body and got up to stretch, hearing a small cracking sound as she raised her arms. ‘Note to self, being hunched over a desk all day will be bad in the long run.’ she thought with a sigh, walking to her personal bathroom. “Gah!” she exclaimed upon seeing her image in the mirror. Her purple and pink hair was the very definition of messy, being flat and matted in the back as well as being wild and unruly everywhere else. Although she wasn’t big on appearances, she knew she couldn’t just live it that way. So, with a sigh and a final yawn, she reached for her brush and started fighting the wild hair monster that decided to make a home on her head. Downstairs, a different battle was being waged. Spike was fighting the temptation to dig into the huge stack of pancakes that were laid out before him. ‘Twilight will be down in a few minutes, she can’t resist the smell of fresh coffee. It’s a big day for her, she’ll probably want to eat together. I just have to wait a little longer!’ he thought to himself, placing a hand on his rumbling stomach. It was then that he heard footsteps coming down the stairs and nearly screamed thanks to the heavens. “Morning Twilight! Food and coffee’s ready, dig in!” he barely managed to say before digging his fork and knife into the top of the pancake stack. Twilight couldn’t help the smile that came to her face. “Thanks Spike, it smells delicious. How long have you been up?” she asked as she began to fill a mug with the life nectar known as coffee. Spike forced himself to swallow what was in his mouth before answering. “I woke up at about five-ish. Shining Armor drunk dialed me again, started saying something about this dream he had where he coached a football team I was on. I couldn’t get back to sleep after that.” Twilight held the mug close to her face with both hands to keep warm. She looked out the window to her right to see the heavy snow outside. “I don’t see how he can stand going out in this weather for fun.” she said, thinking of her older brother before looking back to spike “Didn’t he already tell you about that dream, like, a month ago? The team was called The Manticores or something like that?” Spike shrugged, doing his best to avoid getting any syrup on his shirt or jeans and failing miserably. “He probably did, I can’t remember. I’ve sorta stopped paying attention to what he says when I hear the slur in his voice. Sometimes I’ll even put my phone down and check the call log later to see it lasted for an hour.” Twilight shook her head and let out a small giggle, remembering how Spike was always her brothers go-to conversation partner when he was drunk, even before he moved in with his wife Cadence. She sat down at the table, still holding the cup and trying to decide if she’d rather have the warmth inside or outside of her body. After a few moments, she finally took a sip of the coffee and placed the mug down on the table. Soon enough she was eating her own stack of pancakes. “They taste as good as they smell Spike.” she managed to say between bites, obviously not being one who cares much about table manners. “It’s a big day for you, figured you’d want a nice breakfast to start the day off with.” the younger boy said as he sipped his orange juice, having already finished his food. Twilight perked up a bit at this statement, looking around at the empty house. All that was around were the two plates, two cups, the utensils they ate with and an electric skillet that Spike must have used to cook. Even those few things were going into a box once they were cleaned. It was the big day afterall. “I’m going back to Ponyville.” she said with a grin on her face. It had been a little over eight years since Twilight had been to the small town. She left after being accepted into a specialized High School right there in Canterlot. She had lost contact with her friends a bit after that, finding less time to write letters as more work was piled onto her. She did write a letter to her old friend Rarity though, to announce she would be coming back soon. If her math was correct, it should have arrived this morning, giving Rarity a few hours to tell all her old friends. She hoped they would meet her at the station, it had been way too long and she didn’t want to wait any longer than she had to to be able to see them. “I can’t wait to see this friend of yours. Rarity you said her name was? From the picture you showed me of you graduating middle school, I bet she’s hot!” Spike announced as he began to clean the dishes he used. “You said she was really into designing clothes back in the day, right?” Twilight smirked. Ever since Spike had seen the picture of a younger Rarity he had wanted to see her in person. “Yes, Rarity was our fashionista. We also had Pinkie the party-planner, Fluttershy who wanted to be a veterinarian, and Applejack, who was always a hard worker. Her family owns a farm back home so she sort of had dedication to hard work bred into her.” she said as she also finished her food and handed the dishes to Spike for cleaning. As the boy washed the plates, he handed them to her to dry and then she placed them into a box laid on the floor. Once everything was dry and packed away, Twilight looked around the now barren and empty house. “Eight years,” Spike said “you sure you’re ok with leaving it?” Twilight nodded her head. “I’ve lived here for all this time, but Ponyville has always been home to me. Now, if you’ll just grab this box, we can be on our way.” she said as she reached for the coat and scarf that hang from the door. As the two walked to Canterlot station, there was a comfortable silence between them. Spike held the last cardboard box that the movers left for them to take small miscellaneous things and Twilight listened to the sound of her boots crushing the snow beneath her feet. When they entered the station, Twilight paid Spikes way since his hands were full. “The next train to Ponyville is now arriving on track 3” was heard from a nearby speaker before a train pulled up to the station and the duo stepped in. Spike placed the box down on the middle seat of the set of three as Twilight took the window seat. “Hey Twilight, I’m a bit tired so I’ll catch a nap here. Mind waking me up before we get to Ponyville?” he asked as he stretched a bit in his space. “Sure Spike, I’ll wake you at the 15 minute warning.” she replied as the train began to chug away. She turned her head to look out the window, watching the snowy landscape pass by. ‘I wonder if anything’s changed?’ she thought to herself.