Episode 80 – Twilight Time
I thought back on the gifts that the girls had given me way back before any of this Prince and Alicorn business had ever happened. Even before I started intimately seeing Fluttershy. The collection stood out to me on my desk, and I could only feel nostalgia flowing from each one of them. It's funny though. I didn't like myself back then, but there was just something about remembering when each was given to me.
The first one was Rarity's heart shaped gemstone. It still appeared to be new as ever. As I realized how it was in a shape of heart, I laughed a little to wonder if it had been actually foreshadowing Rarity's admiration all long. The whiteness inside revealed itself as it was kind of an explosion of light that was frozen inside. Still, I would never sell or give this away. I just had to hope it would never be stolen… I reminisced the memory of Rarity for a moment and then placed the gift back on the table.
Next was Applejack's…which was outside. Being a tree, it takes a long time to grow. Even after all these conflicts that occurred in the past time, the tree was still pretty young. In fact, it was at the stage of appearing to be a very small tree. No apples yet. At least…I don't think so. Despite the growth, I cared more about the story behind it. I thought back on Applejack and remembered that late night encounter with her. I recalled almost confiding the personal matters that had been stuck on me to her. It was the first time I felt anypony cared…and that hug…that warm hug… It really struck me. I think I almost didn't want her to let go because it was just so…defending? In comparison, it would be like Princess Luna holding me during a time I really needed some pony. I guess I was never really good in detailing sensitive situations…only feeling them. Either way, she had always been somepony who wanted to approach me and help me in any way she could. I guess we had such a close relationship in being honest with each other, referring back to how I almost told her the whole truth on that train ride. She was even the first pony I told about Starlight being my sister on the train ride to Canterlot. Heh. Now, it actually makes me feel bad because I don't feel like I've recently spent time with her as much anymore. We need to do something soon.
I turned to the rainbow and shiny whistle. Rainbow Dash sure surprised me when she stopped me on my hooves to give me that whistle. She told me to use it whenever I needed her. I never did blow it, to be honest. I only did that one time I was stuck in my nightmare…
I sighed, trying to remove that thought from leading into anything else.
Still… I smirked when I brought the whistle closer to me and narrowed my eyes in joy. I know she has this tough act, but I can sense a soft spot in her. Why else would she give me this whistle in the first place?
I focused on Twilight's good luck charm and held it up. The star on the chain lightly spun around in silence. Twilight, in a way, had always been there for me. Ever since we talked to each other after the Summer Sun Celebration when we used the Elements of Harmony for the first time, she seemed…to really want to be my friend. However, of course, I stupidly pushed her away…or I at least didn't let her in. I never knew it would come to the both of us being crowned together at the same time, making us kind of a pair of Prince and Princess. Our relationship really grew throughout the time. And even then, I think it's still continuing to grow.
Unfortunately, I didn't have Pinkie's gift anymore. I had eaten it, which I'm sure she would have wanted me to do anyways. It's okay though. I think it's her silly way of saying that she'll always be inside of me to make sure I smile. Haha. Even though Pinkie…is always smiling…she still has her…sad side. But hey, she wants to me to smile, and I'll be there to try to do the same for her.
Lastly, there was Fluttershy's heart-shaped gift as well, but referring to the theme of nature. I could tell she placed a lot of work on it because it was expertly woven with different sized twigs and grass. I chuckled as I thought that maybe the woven twigs and grass resembled the twists and knots she'd feel when she saw me. Oh, Fluttershy…you adorable mare.
My eyes wondered back to Twilight's good luck charm, and that made me begin thinking deeply… It made me think a lot more about…the whole Prince and Princess thing. Were we really meant to become Prince and Princess like this? Twilight from her studies, and me because of all the weird things about me. The more I thought about our connection, the more I pondered. It wasn't bad…it definitely wasn't…it was just really…questionable.
I pouted a little, perhaps saddened by the confusion and uncomfortable thoughts in my head.
I sighed and placed all of the items in a safe spot in a little drawer.
It all couldn't be a coincidence…
I approached the door to the library and knocked lightly. As I waited, I heard some faint coughing inside. In reaction, I tilted my head and squinted my right eye a bit, wondering if I was hearing things or if somepony was really sick inside there.
The door opened, and the coughing grew much louder and clearer.
"Oh, hi, Alex!" Twilight greeted me with a hug. "Watcha been up to?"
"Oh. Nothing much." I shook my head lightly to reinforce my answer. The coughing continued to sound, making me wonder if it was Spike or something. It did sound like him… "I guess I was just wondering…" The coughing was beginning to interrupt me, but Twilight continued to smile at me as if nothing was going on at all. "…if you wanted to…" They were now hacks like if somepony was about to die in there. "hang ou—" I finally stopped midsentence to question what in Equestria the sound was coming from. "Where is that coughing coming from?"
"Oh." Twilight giggled as she held a hoof in front of her muzzle. "It's just a little mishap of Applebloom's project."
"Huh?" I tilted my head and scrunched my eye in confusion.
"Come in." She turned to lead me inside and explain what she meant. She presented me this flowerpot with a little yellow flower planted on top.
I never knew that the source of the coughing was actually this plant she showed me. In fact, I didn't even understand how a flower could even cough as it didn't even have lungs…or…
"How is that even possible?" I questioned greatly as the flower continued to cough annoyingly.
"I was just trying to teach some potion mixing to Applebloom and the others." Twilight explained. "Well, actually, Applebloom is doing the potion mixing, Scootaloo is working on putting back a unicycle by herself, and Sweetie Belle is trying to use her magic." She recalled by using her hoof to tap her memory in place.
"You know…" I responded. "I'd love to hear all about this, but I think you might want to quiet that…plant…first."
"Oh!" She returned. "I was just about to get on that." She turned to a table nearby, looked at her book for a moment, and then mixed something up to finally swirl it around in a tube and release a drop on the coughing flower. Before it could breathe in another breath to hack it out, it was silenced…and it remained a normal average flower. "There you go."
"So you were teaching things to the little fillies?" I asked.
"Yep." She answered contently. "We spend time with each other every now and then. We call it 'Twilight Time'." She smirked a little.
"'Twilight Time', huh…?"
"If you want to join us, it could be Alex and Twilight time." She chuckled as she began placing the potion mixing and other things away.
"I could probably stay for a session or two…" I replied. "…but you don't need to change the name." I smiled at her little comment.
"Whatever you say." She mentioned teasingly as she placed the last of her books on the shelf. "They said they'd come back in the afternoon after school to give it another go on the projects. You can come and check on them then."
"Actually, I wanted to see if you wanted to hang out or something…" I shared truthfully.
"Oh really?" She looked back in surprise. "What's the occasion?"
"No occasion." I shook my head. "I just thought you might want to do something."
"I'd be happy to hang out with you." She answered with a small beam. "What do you want to do? Study? Take notes? Read?"
I smirked lightly at her, but honestly wasn't completely sure if she was serious or not. "Seriously?"
"Na." She shook her head and laughed it off. "…unless you really want to do that."
"To be honest…" I looked towards the side with my eyes. "I don't even have an idea of what to do to hang out with you."
"We can do whatever you want. Go for a walk. Grab a bite somewhere. Work on magic." She suggested.
"Hm…" I thought softly. "If you don't mind…I think I'd like to stay inside." I decided, not quite feeling the need to go out.
"Okay." Twilight understood my choice. "No biggie. Um." She looked around for a bit. "Well…whatever you want to do!" She grinned a little, seeming to be just a bit uneasy about what I would find to do inside to hang out with her.
I didn't know why, but I just…kind of wanted to give her space for some reason. I allowed her to know that I perhaps just needed her presence, so she could go on to do whatever she wanted to do. In the end, she read or reread her books while I did something I had not done in a while: drew.
I felt content enough that I was lying near Twilight as she calmly read her books, but my mind seemed to slip by as I laid marks on the paper with the pencil. If Twilight had her focus on me, I probably would have been a zombie to her.
Twilight closed her book shut and placed it on the ground. She stared at it in silence for a moment and then turned to me.
"Hey…" She mentioned.
"Hm?" I felt back in focus when she called my name.
"I'm just wondering about something…" She spoke. "…about that ma—" A couple of knocks interrupted her, catching her off-guard. "Oh!" She turned her head to a clock nearby. "That must be them." She stood up and began heading towards the door.
Meanwhile, I turned to my drawing and found something really strange. The subject of what I had been drawing the whole time was…Fillydelphia. The town shops and streets… Why in Equestria would I draw anything from the town I hated the most? In fact, I'd rather hang out with Discord than draw anything about or relating to that horrid town.
I simply pushed away the paper and turned my head to expect Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, and Scootaloo to come in.
"Hey there, guys! Come on in!" Twilight greeted the three fillies warmly, happily inviting them inside.
However, very loud and high-pitched squealing sounded immediately after Twilight revealed herself at the door. "Princess Twilight!" I squinted my eye in confusion and stretched my neck to see who exactly it was that made those noises. "Oh, it's really her!"
"Oh, my gosh, I don't believe it!" Another similar sounding filly exclaimed.
The voices sounded familiar, so they peaked my curiosity which in turn had me stand up.
"Oh, and, uh, you brought guests. Great!" Twilight answered in a subtly surprised tone.
"Princess Twilight, it is such a thrill and honor to be here!" An excited apparent fan of Twilight's spoke in star-struck. "You have no idea." She paused for a second. "Oh my gosh, who dyes your tail?"
Twilight looked back, picked up her tail, and observed it with tangled expression on her face.
"I so have to get that done." The other filly mentioned.
"Actually, it's not dyed." Twilight corrected. "I've always—"
There was a loud gasp. "Are those books in there? What a bold design choice!"
"You should so do that, Di!"
Di?
"I know, right?"
The memory of these two ponies suddenly clicked in me when they came into view. These were the ponies that supposedly were bullies to the other girls. What in the…?
Before I could react, they stopped when spotting me and immediately gave an unexpected reaction themselves.
"Look! Prince Alex is here too!" Diamond Tiara cried out.
"Twice the royalty!" Silver Spoon added.
Soon enough, they bounced up and down excitedly in front of me, which really…jumbled my mind. "Um…" I could only slip out, remembering how specifically Diamond Tiara didn't really care much for me, especially since I had gotten her in trouble in the past.
"Can you believe it?!" Diamond Tiara continued to express as if there was a famous celebrity right in front of her. "It's the son of Princess Luna! And he's living right here in Ponyville with Princess Twilight!"
"Can you raise the moon too?!" Silver Spoon asked.
"Of course he can!" Diamond Tiara answered.
I didn't really know how to react, so I could only go along. "Actually…not exactly…"
"Oh, you have to take us to see the rest of the princesses!" Diamond Tiara requested as Silver Spoon eagerly nodded her head, which held a stretched smile. "My dad can cover everything." She threw out her hoof smugly.
"The other princesses are too busy doing their own jobs, you can't just—"
"Applebloom, go ahead. Let's see how your plant potions are coming!" Twilight stated from across us, catching our attention as she held up pot with a little seedling planted inside.
"I want to see this." Diamond Tiara mentioned a little oddly, bringing along her friend to observe Twilight's group.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders each exchanged a sort of worried look with each other, leading Applebloom to step forward. "Alright then…"
Twilight gently placed the pot in front of Applebloom as she stared at it for a moment. Twilight went ahead and took out the materials necessary for potion mixing. "Anytime you're ready."
"Okay…" Applebloom walked over to the table and began looking at the various fluids in front of her. "I think I got this." She began messing with a few vials here and there until she finished with this one final flask of different colored liquid. I knew nothing when it came to things like this, so…I didn't know what they mixed or what it was called. Applebloom grabbed a hold of the finished product and moved it over to the top of the plant. "Let's hope this works…" She flinched and pulled her head back while keeping one eye open on her plant. She hesitantly and a bit shakily poured a drop on the plant.
The seedling grew just a little bit, presenting itself as a flower. Applebloom continued to flinch, preparing to endure something terribly bad come from the flower…but nothing really happened. There was silence for a few seconds before Applebloom loosened her flinch.
"Hey, Applebloom." Scootaloo began speaking. "I think you finally might of—"
The plant suddenly began screaming loudly instead of coughing this time. Everypony in the library had to cover their ears greatly, including me. Twilight quickly took action and found something to place over and cover the plant, reducing the volume of the screams greatly. However, it was still clearly audible under the cover.
"It's okay!" Twilight shared. "You're still learning!" Twilight mixed up a quick remedy and silenced that flower for good. "There's still a lot room for improvement, Applebloom." She critiqued politely with a smile. Applebloom only returned an embarrassed expression while she rubbed her foreleg uneasily. Twilight moved on to Sweetie Belle. "Let's see how you're doing with your magic, Sweetie Belle!"
"Uh…" Sweetie Belle slowly crept over to me. "Can I just come over here and talk with Alex?"
"Now, now." Twilight talked in the tone she used with foals. "There's plenty of time for that later. I'd like to see you give it another go with your magic."
Sweetie Belle sighed. "Okay." She focused her eyes on a broom nearby and squinted them. However, it seemed she was really nervous as she couldn't get any part of her magic to work right. It was a like a light switch that continued to flip itself off and on. She released a groan and shook her head.
Twilight returned an understanding expression and then turned to Scootaloo. "How about you, Scootaloo?"
Behaving in the same way as the others had, Scootaloo reluctantly walked over to a part of the room to look over the parts of a unicycle that had been saved in the corner. "Okay…let's see…uh…" She moved around different parts in front of her, but she appeared to have no idea of what to do. "I think this…" She tried to connect two parts, but they remained completely loose and fell apart. "No…" She turned to another pair of parts. "How about…?" She received another unsuccessful outcome. "…that's not right…" Eventually, she was left with staring at the parts scattered on the floor in failure.
"That was a good try, Scootaloo. Don't worry about it." Twilight assured. "You're still learning. You'll get there!"
Scootaloo stood up and joined Applebloom by the door. "Thanks, Twilight…" She sounded really dissatisfied. "We need to go. We'll see you later…" She turned to Sweetie Belle, who was still at my side. "Let's go, Sweetie Belle."
Feeling the same mood, Sweetie Belle did so and arrived at the door. They turned to us to say goodbye and began leaving, holding their heads down in shame…
Twilight turned to the two who were still standing in the library. "You two better get home too."
"But we still have so much to admire about you!" Princess Tiara whined.
"Sorry." Twilight apologized. "But we've got some pretty important things to do."
"Aww…" They expressed and began almost sadly walking out the front door.
Once Twilight closed it shut, I turned to her to begin speaking. "We do?"
Twilight smiled a bit. "Not really. I just wouldn't feel comfortable with them staying."
"Yeah…I get what you mean…" I looked back at the door where the fillies had left through. "I never even got to tell Sweetie Belle how surprised I was at her practicing her magic. They didn't look happy."
"I know. I noticed that too." Twilight rubbed her chin. "I wonder what that was all about."
"Hm…" I wondered if it had to do with the other fillies that accompanied them. I don't know if Twilight was able to tell…but it was pretty obvious that they were only interested in us since we were…pretty important ponies now. Remembering that Twilight wanted to tell me something before the fillies had come in, I turned to her to ask about it. "What were you saying to me before, Twi?"
"Huh?" She questioned, seeming to not remember it herself.
"I think you said you were wondering about something." I recalled.
"Oh. That." She returned briefly. "I'll…tell you later."
"Oh…okay." I responded.
Twilight remained silent until she drew her eyes towards something on the floor. She had spotted the paper I drew on and picked it up to analyze it. "You drew this?"
"Oh…" I didn't feel happy or proud that I did. "…yeah."
"It looks nice. Really neat." She commented.
"Actually, you can just go ahead and throw that in the trash." I mentioned as I walked over to her. "I have no idea why I drew it in the first place."
"What?" Twilight was shocked and surprised of my suggestion. "Why would you want this in the trash?"
I sighed as I reluctantly stood by her side to take another view of the subject. "It's my old town, Fillydelphia." For some stupid reason, I lifted up my hoof and began pointing out things for her. "That busy place is where ponies would always be. That's the little candy shop." I placed my hoof on a small shop in the town. "And there are also some other shops in the area. Of course, I never bought anything from them. I didn't have the bits to anyway." I placed my hoof down to continue thinking out loud. "I'd always pass through here to get to school… I still remember how isolated I felt from every other pony…" I walked off a little and sat down to feel saddened by the thoughts back then. "That's why I'm telling you it belongs in the trash. I don't need that kind of negativity. I kind of just want to forget everything in the past."
Twilight took a moment of silence and another glance at the picture to form a response. "I understand that you really…dislike your town because of what happened…but…you can't really hate it…can you? What if you ended up having some good memories back there?"
I merely shrugged, not thinking too much into it. "Point is, I didn't. And just thinking about the name almost sends me back to those days."
"Sorry…" Twilight apologized and walked upstairs, taking the drawing with her.
That night, I laid on my bed thinking over what happened at Twilight's. I felt bad for reacting in such a way to her. It was just…the idea of what I drew that got to me. Inside…I knew that I really didn't have a reason to hate the town…but either way…I just did. Because of its inhabitants. I stared at the ceiling in more or less worry thought.
"You should probably give me a tour of your house sometime." I heard her voice speak.
I was already used to the sound of her voice to know it was her.
"There's nothing much to see, Spirit." I responded with a brief smirk.
"What's gotcha down now?" She asked, placing the half of her body on the bed.
"I feel bad for how I reacted to Twilight. For some reason…I feel like…I hurt her…even though she doesn't really have anything to do with Fillydelphia." I explained.
"Oh…right…" Spirit's tone lowered a little. "Her…"
"There was just this spot in my heart that felt bad… The feeling I have for her…how close and special she is to me…it's like…that feeling was affected after what happened." I sighed. "I don't know."
"You don't have to worry about it." She placed a delicate hoof on me. "Trust me. You have nothing to worry about."
"You think so?" I questioned.
"I know so." She offered a small smile.
I didn't know how she did it, but I was able to feel her warmth cheer me up as I turned over on my bed. "You up for some ice cream?"
She gave a little hop. "You know it!"
The next day, Twilight had invited me over to a little hay burger restaurant in town. In fact, the girls had actually invited her to the restaurant in the first place while highly recommending I came along as well. It was a bit of a surprise…but maybe they wanted to hang out with us because it had honestly been a while since we interacted with those fillies…well, at least for me.
"Sorry about the way I reacted yesterday…" I apologized as we walked side by side. "I kind of felt bad for it…"
Twilight reacted with a small smile. "You don't have to worry about that. I understand how you feel about…you know…what happened then. If there's anyone to apologize, it would be me. I'm the one who kind of pushed the subject on you."
Sending her the same reassuring smile, I responded. "Don't worry about it. You were only concerned."
"But um…" Twilight's smile disappeared temporarily. "Don't you just…" She fell silent as I stood staring at her during our walk. She noticed and then shook her head. "Never mind." She pulled her head up and noticed the area in front of us. "Oh, look! There they are!" She directed towards the three fillies that were oddly standing in front of the restaurant doors.
"Twilight! Alex! You're both here!" Sweetie Belle pointed out and greeted a little far from her usual self.
"Yeah. We are." I merely acknowledged.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders stood there awkwardly while Sweetie Belle seemed to nervously look around. It wasn't until Scootaloo raised up her hoof and spoke.
"Well…let's eat!"
The five of us grabbed a table close by and not too far from the door. I guess it was somewhat in the middle of the restaurant. As the waiter came by to take our order, Twilight seemed to be completely ready while he only halted in sheer shock.
"I'd love a combination of one of your original hay burgers with a medium sized carbonated drink and fantastic tasting horseshoe crispers." Twilight described in exact detail.
"It's you two!" The waiter announced afterwards, recognizing us. "Oh, please, ask for anything you want, how much you want!" He surprisingly addressed. "It's on the house for ponies like you!"
"Does that go for them too?" I asked, pointing towards the fillies.
"Yeah, yeah!" He nodded greatly. "Anything for the Prince and Princess's friends!" He took out a notepad and readied a pencil. "So, Princess Twilight wanted the…" He scribbled on his notepad and then looked back at Twilight. "Anything else?"
"I'm fine, thanks." Twilight politely raised her hoof in conclusion.
"Are you sure? Anything you want, ma'am!" He eagerly encouraged.
"Well…" Twilight placed a hoof on her chin in both thought and silence for a moment. "…if you insist…" She turned over to the fillies. "Does anypony want to munch out on a bunch of hay burgers and fries?"
"Sure…" Applebloom returning, seeming not as enthused as I thought any one of them would be.
"Yeah…" Scootaloo added.
"That's fine." Sweetie Belle nodded her head.
Twilight turned her head to me to observe my say. "Okay." I answered with a shrug and "what the heck" smile.
Twilight faced back to the waiter and completed her request. "We'll go ahead and go with that." She mentioned.
"Right away!" He raced back to kitchen to get those orders in queue.
"So, have you two been continuing to practice with your projects?" Twilight asked the three of them.
"O-oh. Y-yeah." Scootaloo took some time to answer. "We try working in some practice when we're not in school." She released a grin.
"Speakin' of school…" Applebloom lowered her tone, and then coughed and darted her eyes towards a specific part of the restaurant.
"What?" Scootaloo questioned. "They're not bothering us right now."
This statement raised the curiosity in Twilight. "Who's not bothering you?"
Sweetie Belle returned a nervous giggle. "What she means is…" Her eyes moved towards the kitchen and she quickly pointed. "Oh look! Our food's ready!"
I turned to see several baskets of fries, burgers, and drinks headed our way. "That was fast…" I commented.
As he carefully placed all of the food down on the table, he continued to eagerly encourage us. "Please. Let me know if you'd like anything more."
"Thanks!" Twilight beamed brightly, allowing him to leave. After, she examined all of the food on the table. "Wow, this all looks delicious!" She turned towards the girls. "Go ahead! Grab some!"
They expressed their thanks a little oddly and almost hesitantly grabbed their own portion of the combination. It was my turn when Twilight turned to me and smiled. I chuckled at her facial appearance and gently acquired some food for myself. There was still enough left over to allow everyone seconds. Twilight grabbed the box that held her burger and licked her lips. She cautiously opened and only stared at the burger as she brought it up to her eyes with her magic. She took a bite, leading her eyes to immediately widen in positive feedback.
"So, do you like it?" I asked with a smirk, knowing I really didn't need to ask in the first place.
"Of course I do!" She took another bite and moaned in pleasure. "It's been so long, I forgot how delicious these were!" Soon, she allowed her hunger and taste to eat for her, which resulted her to disregard any "sophisticated" presentations of consuming food and just be herself. "Mmm! Mmmm, mm!" She continued to represent. Her cheeks had soon messily been covered in ketchup, but she obviously didn't care. "I didn't realize how hungry I was!" She mentioned truthfully with her cheeks full. "I'm so glad you asked us to join you here today..."
"Twilight…you got a little…" I held up a napkin, ready to clean her cheeks.
Twilight lifted up her head and swallowed the remains that were formerly in her cheeks. "That's okay! I got it!" She picked up the burger she had been eating from, wiped the ketchup off from her cheeks with it, and threw it in her mouth to resume her chewing.
"You really are hungry, aren't you?" I asked with a soft smile. Being unable to answer clearly, she only closed her eyes and nodded. "I was kind of surprised when you three invited us." I turned towards the fillies. "Well…Twilight I can understand." I glanced over to her to see her attempting to finish the burger that remained in her mouth. "But wanting me to tag along caught me a bit off-guard."
"Well, you know." Scootaloo rubbed the back of her head. "We just wanted to let you know about our appreciation."
Twilight managed to finally swallow what she had been chewing. "That's great news!"
"It is?" Sweetie Belle asked in surprise.
"When you first asked me to help you develop new skills, I thought, 'Working with young students so devoted to the joy of learning purely for its own sake? What could be better?' You all remind me of myself when I was your age!" Twilight explained the intention of the get-together and moved on to her crispers.
"Yes, well... we feel the same way!" Sweetie Belle acknowledged.
"That's why we invited you here." Applebloom added.
"All because of our love of learning!" Scootaloo included.
They grinned weirdly.
I thought about it for a moment and how it related to my invitation.
"What exactly did I teach you three?" I asked.
"Uh…" Scootaloo responded.
"You taught us to…" Applebloom continued for her.
"To…" Sweetie Belle circled her hooves. "You know. I mean, you're always there for us and willing to help us in our time of need. That's what we really appreciate!"
"Oh." I saw how they drove it away from the original reason for teaching with me, but I didn't mind it much. "Okay." I went on to consuming my burger.
Twilight sipped her drink loudly before Pinkie came by our table. "Twilight!" She exclaimed, noticing Twilight eating her meal. "Haven't seen you here in, like, forever and a half!"
"I know. I've been so busy I forgot how delicious everything is here!" Twilight replied, holding up another burger.
"Totally!" Pinkie Pie tilted her head to the side adorably and her eyes moved over to me. "Hi, Alex!" She waved enthusiastically.
"Hey, Pinkie." I answered warmly as I rested my forelegs on the table and waved my hoof. I noticed the sort of table contraption she wore around her neck to keep hold of her drink. "Nice…table you've got there."
"Thanks!" She responded cheerfully. "It sure comes to good use when it comes to food eating!" She giggled and then looked past us. "Hey, what's going on out there?" She pointed behind us towards a window, but as soon as we turned, we didn't see anything out of the ordinary. "Oh, never mind, they're gone." Pinkie said, causing us to turn back to her. "They're back!" She exclaimed just as we faced her. However, as soon as we turned our heads yet again, there was nothing for us to see. "Never mind, they're gone."
"You sure you aren't messing with us, Pinkie?" I asked.
"Nope! I'm going to go chow down now. Byee!" She left, skipping in joy.
After she left, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were only seen stretching some seemingly forced grins.
As Twilight began working on another burger, I decided to question the fillies due to their different behavior. "Are you girls alright?" I asked with a concerned raised eyebrow.
"Of course!" Sweetie Belle quickly answered.
"We're just…so excited because we can't wait until we perfect our…um…learning!" Scootaloo finished, and then began acting even more strangely as she turned to the side as she seemed to strike a pose like a model. She moved on to purse her lips for another pose. She grabbed Sweetie Belle and grinned my way as if I was some kind of camera or something.
"Knock it off!" Applebloom pushed out through gritted teeth.
"What are you girls looking at?" Twilight asked before she turned around to gasp.
By the time I turned around to see what Twilight was confusingly staring at, I saw nothing.
"What is it?" I inquired.
However, Twilight didn't answer, she only began walking off and led me to follow her.
"Pinkie's right." Twilight mentioned as she walked towards the front doors. "Something is going on out there."
"And how exactly does that involve us?" I questioned as we walked through the door before we were confronted by a litter of little ponies staring right at us in silence.
After a long pause, Twilight decided to speak. "Uh, can I... help you?"
All of the foals instantly began screaming, surrounding us as if we were some kind of famous fictional figure they read in books or something.
"Get my picture with them!" Diamond Tiara shouted as she and Silver Spoon huddled around us.
"Me first!" A familiar looking colt dashed in.
"Hey! Get out of the shot!" Silver Spoon pushed him away.
Soon enough, they all began holding pieces of paper, to which I could only react in dumbfoundedness.
"You seriously all want my autograph?" Twilight reacted to the situation, but then quickly accepted the groove of it. "Okay!"
The familiar looking colt approached me. "I can't believe it! You're related to my favorite princess! I want to know all about her! Actually, I want to see her again!"
"Uh…" I didn't know what to say to that. I couldn't even remember the colt's name. I knew I had seen him before…but I just couldn't put it together.
"Now, now." Twilight had caught hold of the conversation even while signing the papers the foals held up. "The princesses are too busy with their own work. They can't really find the time to visit."
"She was here the other night." I recalled. "During the big Gala here in Ponyville."
"Oh shoot!" The little colt lowered his head sadly. "That happened during my bedtime."
We heard some soft steps behind us, gathering our attention to look back and noticed Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Applebloom had come out.
"Oh, there you are!" Twilight acknowledged their presence.
"To think I've been to the Hay Burger so many times, never knowing it's a regular hangout for a prince and princess!" The little colt continued with his excitement.
"This isn't our regular hangout." Twilight corrected. "We're only here to be with them." She subtly pointed towards the fillies behind us.
"You mean, Princess Twilight and Prince Alex decide where it's cool to go based on where they go?" He asked in surprise and shock.
"Huh?" The Cutie Mark Crusaders exclaimed simultaneously.
"Um…sure." Twilight seemed to be unsure on how to answer that. She noticed how I was starting to get a little overwhelmed about what was going on around us. It was almost a state of utter confusion. I've never even gotten these many ponies freaking out about the tier Twilight and I held. But I guess they were kids after all. "We'd love to stay and chat, but I think it's time for the both of us to go."
"Aww!" They all expressed disappointingly.
"Thanks for the hangout, you three!" Twilight directed at Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Applebloom. "It was fun! See ya!" She looked at me and nudged me to let me know we should get moving.
I lightly shook my head, still a bit dazed from all the attention. "Bye." I shared before I followed Twilight and onto the road. "That was…weird." I shared once we were away from the scene, heading possibly back to Twilight's library.
"What? All the foals freaking out about us?" Twilight responded. "I think it's perfectly normal! After all, I was so crazy about Princess Celestia when I was their age."
"I guess…" I returned, but couldn't stop thinking about it. "Why now though? They were just…" There was so much going on about the situation in my mind, but I kind of figured I was just overthinking it. I was still kind of new to that stuff anyway. "Never mind. I'm probably thinking about it too much." I chuckled a little. We both eventually arrived at her front door. "You've got anything planned for the rest of the day?"
"Actually…" Twilight thought about it, rolling her eyes backwards. "I think I'll be studying a little more."
"Studying?" I asked. "Studying what exactly?"
"The thing that's always somehow been on my mind ever since we discovered it." Twilight began walking through her front door, leading me inside. She stopped in front of this design layout of a familiar-looking box. "This box is truly something special, Alex." She placed a hoof on the paper which revealed her intent description and notes about the locked box. "Six keys…" She mentioned, rubbing her hoof… "And they all have a specific shape for each lock. Why would this box have six locks? Well…it came from the Tree of Harmony…and the Tree of Harmony holds the Elements of Harmony. So…maybe each lock is related to an element?" She widened her eyes at her realization, but then she lowered them quickly after. "Wait…that doesn't make any sense."
"Hm?" I wondered.
"Why six locks? If there are seven elements?" She asked.
"You've got to remember that mine is not tangible." I reminded.
"Yeah…yeah…that's true…" She rubbed her head and closed her eyes in thought. "Yeah, this is totally what I need to think about." She stopped rubbing and opened her eyes to turn to me. "I wouldn't want to bore you with my silent reading. You don't need to stick around."
"You sure you don't want me to stay and help you with figuring this box out?" I inquired.
"If I have any questions for you, I'll be sure to call you as soon as possible." She assured with a smile.
"Okay." I understood. "I guess I'll leave you to it." She smiled and closed her eyes, giving off a little wave. I walked towards the front door and looked back. "You're smart. You'll figure it out." She only returned a funny look before I lightly smirked and exited. Once I was outside, I placed a hoof to my chin and thought about what I could do now. "Hm. I guess I could go see what Vinyl's up too…" I mentioned to myself, seeing as her place wasn't too far from where I currently was at.
I trotted towards her door and knocked a couple of times. She expectedly answered and greeted me.
"Alex! Just in time!"
"Just in time for what?" I questioned before I realized she was already pulling me inside.
"We're having just a little hangout party." Vinyl explained. "Just the three of us, and it's going pretty good!"
"Three?" I pondered until she presented two other ponies inside. Derpy was, what Vinyl would say, "chilling" as she sat on a beanbag. She was normally chewing a muffin with her usual crossed eyes. However, I realized a violin had been playing the whole time, and I scanned the room to see none other than the musician Octavia casually playing it. "Wow." I expressed towards the get-together they had.
"Alex!" Derpy noticed me and flew over to greet me with an embrace. Derpy spotting me also caused Octavia to cease her playing, as she didn't realize I was in here. "Hi!"
"Hey." I returned another smile. "How have you been?"
"Great!" Derpy answered cheerfully. "I've been spending time with Vinyl and Octavia lately! They're a lot of fun to be with!"
"Heh heh." Vinyl chuckled a little proudly. "Well, I try."
"Do you, Vinyl?" Octavia questioned, looking up from her violin. Vinyl cleared her throat and sort of stared back at Octavia. "Never mind…"
"Well, yeah." Vinyl turned her attention back to me. "If you want to chill with us, you're more than welcome to!"
"Okay, thanks." I acknowledged.
Vinyl patted me with a little force and then turned to focus back on her music. I looked around, taking a glance at the three ponies that I could talk to. Vinyl went on to placing on some headphones and shaking her head to the beat. Derpy resumed eating her muffins. Octavia played a little more towards the back with her violin, possibly to be in an area where she was able to concentrate on her practice the most. I honestly didn't know much about Octavia, since we had recently just became friends, so I walked towards Vinyl to ask about her a little more.
I tapped Vinyl on the shoulder, catching her attention.
"What's up?" She asked with a smile.
"I was wondering if I could ask you a little more about Octavia." I requested in a soft voice, since I didn't really want Octavia hearing the conversation.
"Sure! What do ya wanna know?"
I guess I started with one of my first questions. "It seems you two are…pretty good friends. How long have you known each other?"
"A long while, actually." Vinyl responded, thinking back. "In fact, we were friends ever since we were foals! Even though we may not seem like it or show it, I'd say we're super tight. We both love music…but uh…" She took a glance at Octavia's sophistication with her violin. "…we do have our different tastes…"
"So…you've always gotten along anyway, despite your different tastes?"
"She may get a little upset at times, but yeah. We're good friends. Of course, sometimes she has to be away for a while because of her orchestra and stuff. But when she's able to, we hang."
I tapped my hoof at my chin and managed to sneak a subtle glance at her. "Is it…normal for her to have a temper?"
"Actually…not really." Vinyl responded, a bit inexperienced in the subject. "That's why I was so surprised for the way she got after you when you two first met. She usually is so calm and collected, which is why I thought you two would get along great at first. Hm." She wondered. "The only times I can remember her being upset is when she wouldn't talk to me at certain times years back. I don't think she was upset with me. She probably had a bad day or something… She wouldn't want to talk with me about it though…"
"Huh…" This interested me.
"Yeah, afterwards, she kinda started being grumpy at everything. I think she lost a bit of herself…I still don't really know why."
"Is she still like that now?" I asked worriedly.
"Actually…not really." Vinyl mentioned. "I can't say she's totally happy, but she does seem a little better recently. I wondering if making up with you after that whole fiasco had her think about her actions and all that stuff." She shrugged. "I still honestly think all that 'bad stuff about princes' was stupid."
"Hm." I only expressed, beginning to already get deep into thought about Octavia.
"Don't tick her off though." Vinyl warned. "She can get really feisty. She knows martial arts, dude."
"Really?" I widened my eyes at this news.
"Yup." She nodded. "But of course, she only uses it in self-defense or protection of others. So…she shouldn't use it unless you try to hit her."
"I wouldn't ever do anything like that!" I exclaimed almost loudly.
"I know." Vinyl smirked at my reaction. "You should get to know her more yourself. I'm sure she has a lot of stories in mind to tell you."
"Okay." I lifted up a hoof to turn and walk. "Talk to you later, Vinyl."
She waved and turned back to place back on her headphones.
Before I could begin conversing with Octavia, I decided to drop by with Derpy.
"Hey, Derpy." I sat in front of her.
"Hi!" She returned back.
"How have things been? You said you've been spending time with Vinyl and Octavia?" I mentioned.
"Yep! It's been really fun!" She answered cheerfully.
"Sorry if you and I haven't been spending much time together lately." I apologized, seeing this to be pretty true in my eyes. "A lot of things have changed from the first time we met."
"It's okay." She assured, keeping her smile. "Because of you, I got to know Vinyl during that sleepover you had. And when Octavia came back from Canterlot, I got to know her too! Ever since then, I've been hanging out with them and it's been real fun!"
Her response made me smile. "I'm glad to hear that. So you three are pretty much a 'regular hangout group' kind of thing?"
"I think so." She stated.
"Well, either way, I'm glad they're ponies you can have fun with when I'm not really around to do so." I shared honestly.
"I understand." Derpy nodded. "You're a Prince now. There are a lot more important things you have to do now than just hanging out."
"I guess Twilight and I are pretty lucky that we aren't as busy as the other princesses…but then again…maybe it's because Princess Celestia wants us to focus more on our friendship." I chuckled. "That's how it all started anyway." Derpy only returned a happy grin. I continued smiling warmly at her and then patted her. "Have fun. I'll see you later."
"Bye!"
Afterwards, I faced towards Octavia who continued to play her violin in silence, non-talking I mean, despite the music that was coming from Vinyl's area. I sat in front of her lastly, as she stared towards the floor and practiced. It seemed she didn't even realize when I sat in front of her, because she proceeded as usual. As she finished with one last motion of her bow, her eyes lifted just a bit upwards. I could see she was a little shocked when she noticed something different. She looked up and gasped at my sudden appearance for her.
"How long have you been there?!" She asked.
"Relax." I returned. "I just came by right now."
"Oh…" Octavia placed down her violin and bow. "Perhaps you should say something next time."
"I didn't want to interrupt you." I perfectly reasoned.
"Mm-hm." She responded briefly. "…is there something you wanted?"
"I guess I just wanted to talk." I said. "I already did to Vinyl and Derpy. I don't want to leave without talking to you too. Besides, I've known the others for a while now. I think we should probably get to know each other more if we want to be good friends too."
"I see…" She returned. She looked calm…but just a bit…uneasy? "What do you want to talk about?"
I shrugged and looked around. "Anything, really." I took a glance at her violin. "So you're practicing a violin now?"
"Yes." Her eyes wandered towards the violin as she placed a hoof on it. "I really…hold an appreciation for classical instruments."
"You sound like my friend, Rarity." I referred with a smile. "Only her interest is with fashion and not instruments." I thought for a moment. "I think I might have thought about playing something one time…but I guess I was never really interested about it." Especially with a…troublesome sister that partakes in that field of music...
"Would you…like to try it?" Octavia presented her violin towards me.
"Me?" I replied. "I don't know. I wouldn't want to break it."
"It should be fine as long as you're careful with it, especially with the bow. Those can be heavily expensive." She directed.
"If you're really fine with it…" I completely focused on the caretaking of the violin as I raised it and the bow with my magic.
"Perhaps…you should leave your magic out for right now." Octavia suggested. "Magic can really help in playing instruments, but I believe you need to have a feel physically for yourself first."
"Oh…um…" I lowered it to the floor and held on to it, but I had no idea what to do with it.
"Here." Octavia was about to reach a hoof towards me until she stopped herself and looked at me. "Um…may I?"
I guessed Octavia felt comfortable in getting consent first, even though she really didn't need to. "Oh, yeah. Sure."
She grabbed ahold of my left hoof and placed it on the part where the strings originated. "This is the neck." She taught. "Here, you have your G, D, A, and E strings. The G string is the lowest sounding, and it goes higher from there. Overall, the violin is played a little differently than other string instruments. It is usually played while standing, and you have to put the chinrest right here…" She pointed at it. "…on your chin, of course."
"Uh-huh…" I stated, but I was still pretty confused…or I was at least getting to the point of confusion.
She grabbed her bow and placed it on my right hoof. She fixed the violin towards my chin while I could only remain still for her, so I wouldn't mess anything up. After, she picked up my hoof worked the bow with the strings. I could only sit there in tangled silence.
"Go ahead. Play something." She offered. My face revealed my uncertainty. However, I tried…producing sound using the bow of the violin with the strings but…let's just say it came out horrid enough to gather the attention of Derpy and Vinyl. This caused Octavia to laugh a bit. "Don't worry. It's your first note anyway."
"Heh." I chuckled a little with a hint of embarrassment.
"If you're interested in learning to play…" She began. "I don't mind helping you…"
"Thanks, Tavi." I used her nick name this time. "You're probably too busy on your own playing anyway. I wouldn't want to bother you. Besides, I probably don't have any time on my plate to squeeze in learning the violin."
"Of course, of course." She understood. "But if you ever want help, please, know it's not any trouble for me."
I shared a warm smile. "Thanks." I returned her violin and bow to her. "I appreciate it."
"Anytime." She sent back the same smile.
We looked at each other for a while longer until we heard a loud boom. I looked at Vinyl for an answer. "Vinyl, was that you?"
"Huh, what?" She removed her headphones. "What was me?"
"That loud boom." She only shrugged. "I'll go check it out…" I told them and walked towards the door to head out.
Once I was outside, I gasped loudly at the sight that wasn't too far. I had no idea what had happened, but Twilight's treehouse has spat some kind of goo, which looked like applesauce, from within. It was…a lot. Then, I saw a large group of fillies walk out the home, each of them filled with that goo junk too. What in Equestria had happened?!
I quickly trotted over to her home to see what the problem was, and if she was okay.
"Twilight!" I called, hurrying in through her front door. "I saw what happened, are you alri—"
I suddenly stopped due to the sight of her well-being. She looked perfectly fine. She was only covered a bit in that same substance, for lack of knowing what exactly it was that spilled everywhere. However, this wasn't what stopped me. There was a flower that was attached to her mane. It wasn't that she looked pretty enough to stun me. No. Something about the sight of her like that stopped me in my tracks. It had to do something with the flower that was on her mane. Nevertheless, I didn't have time to think about it, as my head began to pinch and hurt, leading me to place a hoof on my temple and close my eyes in flinching. It felt like…if something didn't want to work right inside my head…
"Hey, are you alright?!" Twilight rushed over to me.
"Ehm." I grunted and tried to let whatever it was pass over me. "I was. I mean…" I shook my head lightly. "I don't know. I'm okay now, I guess." I looked around. "What happened here?"
"Just a little mishap." Sweetie Belle approached me.
"We should probably get to cleaning…" Scootaloo suggested.
I looked over to Twilight once more, noticing pieces of the mess on her coat. "I'll say…" I lightly wiped it off her chest.
I suppose it didn't take too long to clean up the mess, considering how the use of our magic made a lot of things much easier. Had things been broken apart…that's another story.
I didn't know what happened, but whatever did had Sweetie Belle writing in the journal we wrote in. Meanwhile, Applebloom was practicing her project she had been doing in Twilight Time. It seemed she had perfected it, seeing as she created a beautiful and unique plant, instead of that incredibly loud screaming one the previous time. Twilight praised Applebloom as Scootaloo rode around on her unicycle that she proudly put together on her own.
I got to see Sweetie Belle carry around a broom very easily around the room, surprising me. I sent her a congratulating smile and lightly patted her in the back. She returned a grin and we both accompanied the others to hear how Twilight felt about their progress.
"Wow, all three of you have made so much progress! I'm really proud of you. See you next time!" Twilight shared, sending the three off.
"Great work, girls!" I commended as well.
However, they surprised me when they all placed on some highly concealing outfits. "Bye!" The responded back.
"I just hope no one sees us." Sweetie Belle told her friends as they walked calmly out the door.
"'Cause we're tryin' to keep Twilight Time a secret now?" Applebloom questioned.
"Or because we look ridiculous?" Scootaloo added.
"A little of both, actually." Sweetie Belle answered.
Twilight returned a heartwarming laugh as she stood at the door after them. Meanwhile, I stood there extremely confused.
"What happened, Twilight?" I asked.
"It's a long story." She shot teasing eyes. Afterwards, she closed them and headed back into the middle of the library.
"You just don't want to tell me." I replied playfully.
"Honestly, it's really something that doesn't need to be repeated." She responded.
"Um. Okay then." I said and turned towards the window to see the day soon coming to an end. I continued staring, remembering about the sunset, which soon after would disappear to a sky full of stars. I had finally found the perfect way to hang out with Twilight, or at least to make up for yesterday. I turned to face her as she placed the broom away neatly. "Hey, Twilight…"
"Hm?" She looked back.
"You want to go stargazing?"
Twilight and I laid outside on her balcony waiting for the stars to come light up the night sky. At the time, I believed Spike was already getting ready for bed, especially since Twilight told me he had made a bunch of nachos for foals that had already left. I would've been mad as well.
"I was a little surprised you asked me if I wanted to stargaze. I don't remember the last time I've ever did it. If it did, it would have been for research anyway. Not just for…you know…hanging out." Twilight mentioned.
"It just…popped in my mind." I responded.
"It's funny." Twilight chuckled softly. "Usually, I'd think you'd want to spend a time like this with Fluttershy instead. Actually…when you two started being together, I thought you'd never want to leave each other's side."
I thought about it for a moment. "Yeah… I…kind of really thought that for a while. I just really loved her a lot, that I let it blind me for a bit. Of course, I'm not saying it was bad but…" I sighed, trying to think of the right words to use. "All of you are important to me. As much as I love being with Fluttershy, it wouldn't really be fair to…ditch you other girls… Besides… I don't think we need to be together all the time. I'd feel like I was bothering her anyway if I was right by her side twenty-four seven." I laughed a little too. "Do you get what I'm saying?"
"Yeah." Twilight nodded. "As long as you two don't stop loving each other like you do now…that's all that matters."
The sun began lowering itself while the moon raised. During the middle of this, I smirked and pointed it out to Twilight. "Look, Twilight. It's you."
"Huh?" Twilight questioned in a puzzled manner, not grasping the humor of the matter.
"Twilight." I pointed.
"What?" She continued to share unknowingly.
"No, it's twilight!" I tried to send the right message.
"What are you talking about? I'm right here!" She continued.
"Look at the sky." I merely directed.
She did so, and stared at it for a moment until she finally received what I was trying to tell her. "Ooh." She released a joyous giggle. "I get it."
"Finally." I rolled my eyes playfully.
When the moon was finally up, and all its stars supported the light from the night sky, we were allowed to draw up what we saw using each star point.
"You know…I really never got to just…look at the night sky and carelessly see what I want to see. I can turn to you right now and tell you all the constellations I see, but…that's probably not any fun for you." She shared a giggle. "But just looking up…thinking about the future…smiling at fun memories…it's all really fascinating."
"Mm-hm…" I expressed while only smiling and staring at the night sky.
"Oh…before I forget…" Twilight turned to me. "That question I wanted to ask you…"
"Yeah?" I turned my head to her.
"I hope…I don't make you feel uncomfortable…but I'm still really curious about that mare I saw that day." She brought up.
Immediately, I could tell who she was talking about. "Oh…her…"
"You're wondering about me, huh?" We suddenly heard behind, causing us to quickly roll over and stand up.
Spirit was standing there right before us and completely took me by surprise. "You're…!" I tried to say, but remained speechless.
"It's fine." Spirit assured me and then inhaled and exhaled a deep breath before walking towards Twilight. "I guess I should introduce myself." She held out her hoof and managed to pull out a small smile, glancing once at me. "My name's Spirit."
"Spirit…?" Twilight repeated and then looked at her hoof. Afterwards, she extended hers out and shook it with Spirit's. "I'm Twilight. There's…something about you, Spirit…" Twilight mentioned after they retracted forelegs.
"Yeah…" Spirit took as a light joke. "I think I've heard that before."
"So…you've been Alex's friend for a while now?" Twilight asked.
"Mm-hm." She seemed to react shyly, rubbing her hoof against the wooden floor of the balcony. "But…I guess I should get this out there before you ask. Um… I'm not really…comfortable talking about myself… It may seem strange, and in some cases even suspicious…but…in the end…I just hope to have the trust of somepony." Spirit looked at Twilight a little seriously. "I can truly be a friend." Spirit held a hoof to her chest. "But I understand if you don't trust me because of the way I am."
Twilight couldn't really understand what Spirit was really going on with the whole "not talking about herself" kind of thing, just like I had been when I met her, nevertheless she smiled softly and understandably. "I guess that's understandable. In fact, when I first met Alex, he was kind of like that too. Heck…" She shared a look with me. "He didn't even really open up to us until Discord came by to change that in the end." She turned back to Spirit. "I guess I'm in no position to demand information from you. All I ask is…well…you know…as long as you don't mean any harm, then I'm fine."
Spirit managed to smile a little more. "I hope you can understand that…I wouldn't really like to be mentioned to other ponies. It's just…honestly the best thing for right now."
Twilight nodded. "I don't see any harm in obeying that request."
"Thank you very much, Twilight." Spirit expressed meaningfully.
"Of course." Twilight returned gratefully. "Um…did you want to…?" She motioned, wondering if Spirit wanted to stargaze with us too.
"No thanks." Spirit shook her head. "I should be heading off. Bye." Spirit grinned lightly and turned before Twilight stopped her.
"Wait." She called, catching Spirit's attention. "How'd you know when to come by and where we were in the first place?"
Spirit sucked in her lips, seeming to have trouble in answering that. "…that's something…I unfortunately can't really answer… I'm weird." She released a small playful beam. "Don't worry. This'll probably be the last time I do this. It was nice meeting you, Twilight." Afterwards, she trotted off.
"…yeah…" I felt a little scared of what Twilight might have felt after Spirit's interaction.
"Huh…" Twilight stared off. "It's weird…"
"What?" I questioned.
"That was a bit strange…" She began. "But for some reason…I feel like she only has good intentions. The way she answered…it's like if she couldn't answer for the better. Do you understand me?" She asked me.
"I think so." I rubbed my head, thinking about the previous conversations with Spirit. I never really did feel anything bad from her. "But I'm sure we both have a mutual curiosity about her. Let's just hope she's willing to come out of her shell soon..."
Twilight only agreed by nodding her head.
"That was pretty brave of you to do." I told Spirit as we ended the time with an ice cream and sunset. "I never thought you would do something like that."
"I just felt like it had to be done." Spirit took a bite of her ice cream and stared at it afterwards. "It was my fault for being caught the last time. I just didn't want Twilight to think I was a bad pony or anything… I don't think I gave off a good first impression anyway."
"Twilight's a good pony. She'll like you once you get to know her." I assured.
"Hm." Spirit paused and remained silent.
"Then again…" I brought up. "You didn't really have plans to see her again, did you?"
She sighed lightly. "I don't know, Alex… I guess we'll just have to wait and see…" She took another bite of her ice cream, which was a little rougher than usual. "I feel like I've made up a lot more loose ends than I've tied up."