//------------------------------// // An Overdue Invitation // Story: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic -- Off The Record // by The King of Hearts //------------------------------// //// An Overdue Invitation //// Twilight looked at the ceiling in her room, completely unable to sleep, despite Trixie’s presence in the bedroom. She was still shaken, and there was no two ways about it. Sleep would come to her at some point. It had to. But until then… she would be a very tired, and likely irritable pony. All she could hope was that she wouldn’t be too hard on her friends. Trixie yawned as she looked over her shoulder to the still-awake Twilight and frowned. “No luck, hmm?” She asked as she stretched out in the bed next to Twilight, “I figured you’d have some trouble sleeping… Are you sure I shouldn’t just use a spell to knock you out?” Twilight shook her head instantly, “I’d rather not rely on magic to fall asleep. I just need to get myself there.” Trixie nodded, as she got herself up from the bed. “Thank you for spending the morning in here though,” Twilight said earnestly, “I think I would have gone crazy by myself.” “Well, if you ever need somepony to spend the night with you, just let me know.” Trixie offered happily, “Unless of course, you’ll be asking Alpha first.” “Wha- N-no! I won’t be asking him in here!’ Twilight stammered embarrassedly, “He’s- I’m… Ugh…” Twilight quickly gave up on her arguing when she looked at Trixie and realized the mare was giggling to herself. “You’re totally in to him!” She chuckled, “He’s the first Changeling I’ve ever seen, and you’re in love with him!” “I am- uh, Love? You don’t know what you’re talking about!” Twilight tried to fight again, as her face lit up in bright red, “He’s my friend!” “Well… Then you won’t mind if Trixie- ahem, if I as him out for dinner tonight?” Trixie asked, her eyebrow raised at the shaking purple mare. “Do whatever you want!” She said stubbornly, turning her face away and looking at the ceiling, “I have to finish some studying tonight anyway!” “I’m only joking, Twilight.” Trixie exhaled, seeing that there was no more fun to be had here, “You needn’t upset yourself so much.” Twilight exhaled and opened her mouth to respond, before a loud thud was heard next to her window, drawing the attention of the two mares. “What was that?” Trixie asked, running to the window they had almost destroyed this morning, and peering out at the gray Pegasus lying on her back on the lawn, “If that your mail pony?” Twilight joined her and checked. “Yup.” Twilight nodded, knowing the mare instantly, “That’s Derpy. I thought she was traveling with that Doctor though… Hmm.” Teleporting herself outside, next to the groaning mare, Twilight leaned down and inspected her. She seemed undamaged aside from a bump on her head. “Hey Derpy, you okay?” She asked tilting her head, “Sounded like you really hit the tree right there!” “Oh! Hey Twilight!” Derpy said happily, instantly forgetting her pain, “I have mail for you!” “Well, I gathered that,” She laughed, lifting Derpy up by a spell, and placing her safely on her feet, “When did you start delivering mail again?” “Today!” She said proudly, “In fact, I’m quitting again after you give you this!” “Uh, okay?” She said, as the mare reached in to her saddlebag and grabbed a single letter, holding it out to the purple mare, “Thanks!” Levitating the letter out of her mouth, Twilight opened it, and unfolded the enclosed parchment, reading it swiftly. “Oh.” She said, her face showing her bewilderment at the sudden news. “What is it?” Derpy asked, “Good news?” “My brother is getting married in a few days… and he’s inviting me and all my friends.” She replied, reading over the letter again, before flipping it over to look for any more text, “Huh.” “Wow! Isn’t that good news?” Derpy asked, confused that Twilight wasn’t happier. “Well, of course! It’s just that… I was in Canterlot a few hours ago, and nopony told me a wedding was planned.” Twilight said, muttering the last bit to herself, “I guess they were just worried about me.” “Wow! A wedding in Canterlot?” Derpy said, her mind wandering to the possibilities of her own future, “I wish I could see that!” “Oh, well you can come if you like.” Twilight said, smiling to the mare, “It does say that all my friends are invited.” “Really?!” She asked, her eyes wide open, and looking in different directions, “Can The Doctor come too?” “Of course!” Twilight nodded, “You guys can catch up with Alex and Rainbow Dash.” “I thought Alex was stuck in stone.” Derpy said, showing a large amount of confusion in her voice, “Are you saying that he’s free?!” “You didn’t know?” Twilight asked, shocked that a stallion like The Doctor could miss a detail like that, “He’s been out for months!” “I uh… have to go!” Derpy said quickly, back away, before asking one final question, “When is the wedding exactly?” “Saturday night.” Twilight replied, before giving some additional numbers for Derpy to remember, “About fifty hours from now.” “Got it!” She said, bowing quickly, before turning around, and taking off toward the Everfree Forest, “See you there!” Losing her smile instantly, Twilight grumbled to herself as she reread the letter. “How could Shining Armor neglect to tell me he was getting married?!” Twilight said out loud, “I knew he was dating Cadence, but I didn’t know they are about to get the knot tied!” “Is everything alright?” Trixie asked, having finally made her way out of the house, “You don’t look… happy.” “It’s just… I need to call all my friends over.” Twilight said, shaking her head, “Sorry, I just need to process this for a minute. After all, I haven’t slept yet today… just be in the library in an hour, I’m going too… ugh.” “Just relax!” Trixie said worriedly, hoping that Twilight wasn’t getting too stressed over whatever this news was, “I’ll gather up everypony for you! Just take it easy. Talk to Alpha for a few minutes.” Twilight would have argued with her again, but the offer was too good to pass up. She had no energy for any of this, and the help Trixie was offering might as well have been saving her life. “Well, okay. Thanks.” Twilight said, making her gratefulness in an effort a little stronger than she truly was, “I’ll see you back here in a little bit.” Trixie didn’t need to hear another word. She was gone, running off to the houses of the ponies she had once humiliated. This was going to be fun… Twilight sighed as the mare ran away, turning around to the face front door, instantly seeing Alpha standing in his fake form, as to not scare anypony away. He looked concerned. “Hey…” Twilight said softly, remorse flooding her brain after all she had said to him the night before, “Listen, about last night—“ “I’m sorry.” Alpha said quickly, knowing how wrong he had truly been, “I was just trying to protect you. But it was stupid of me to assume—“ “Shh.” She said, closing the distance to him, and placing a hoof on his lips, “You were protecting me from this… horrible pit I have in my stomach now. Now that I’ve had time to think about it… I kinda wish I didn’t know about it. Ignorance is bliss, right?” He looked down at her hoof that was still against his mouth, and cocked an eyebrow with a smile. “Oh,” She said, her eyes glazed over enough to tell him that she was truly exhausted, “Sorry.” Shaking her head in an effort to wake herself up, Twilight pulled her arm back, and laughed awkwardly. The silence that followed could only be described as charged, as the two simply looked in to one another’s eyes. Alpha was the first to break the trance, as he took a small step back and cleared his throat. Something that Twilight immediately replicated. “What’s in the letter you got?” Alpha asked, seeing the paper still floating next to her, “You looked pretty shocked when you opened it.” “Oh… yeah!” Twilight said, levitating the letter in front of his face and opening it for him to read. Scanning it quickly, Alpha got the gist, but didn’t understand what her issue with it was in the first place. “Isn’t this good news?” Alpha asked, figuring that she would be ecstatic for this kind of news, “You told me that you and your brother were inseparable when you were younger.” “That’s just it!” She said, walking past him in to the library, as he entered and closed the door, before returning to his normal form, “I thought we were close! But here I am, getting the news of his wedding two days before it happens?” “Ah.” Alpha said, seeing how this might insult her, “But, I mean, I’m sure he has a good reason for leaving the news until now.” “He’d better…” Twilight grumbled, as she sat down on the couch next to the kitchen, “I just… Maybe it’s this news, mixed with what I found out last night that’s making me feel so crazy.” Sitting down next to her, Alpha gave her a sympathetic look. “You do too much good to have to deal with all this crap.” Alpha said, as she laughed softly, scooting closer to him on the couch, “Why not let Discord be the one with all this weight on his shoulders?” “Or Alex!” Twilight added, not-so-subtly moving closer to him again, “That guy seems to have all the luck.” Clearly seeing her moving toward him, but knowing it would take her an hour to actually reach him, Alpha slid over to the mare, and wrapped his arm behind her shoulders. While she would normally be infinitely embarrassed by this, her small amount of movement since she woke up had trigged a massive amount of exhaustion in her. So, she did something she would never have done in any other circumstance. Laying her head down on his chest, she exhaled and smiled. She hadn’t felt truly felt safe with Trixie in her room. She hadn’t felt as safe as she expected when she was visiting with the Princesses. And, unsurprisingly, Discord didn’t leave her feeling too good either. But, right here, with her head resting against the chest of Alpha… the ex-commander of the entire Changeling army... She felt like she could do anything. And that included sleeping. She was out in ten seconds flat. //// “What was it we’re here for?” Alex asked for the millionth time as Trixie led the large group back to the library. “Twilight has plenty to tell you, alright?” She huffed, truly disappointed at herself for hitting on him four years ago, “It’s not Trixie’s place to say anything.” “Why are’ya using yer’ name like that every now an’ then?” Applejack asked, hearing Trixie refer to herself by her own name for the second time today. “It’s just a force of habit, Applejack.” She exhaled, hating that she couldn’t just stop referring to herself like she did. “Is Twilight okay?” Fluttershy spoke up, having been so far behind them, that she felt she could have missed some important information. “We don’t know!” Spike said worriedly, as he walked close to his marefriend, “And I’d like some answers right now, Trixie!” “Would you place just wait—“ “Spike, everypony, she’s trying her best to be respectful toward Twilight.” Rarity said sternly, looking at Trixie and winking quickly, “Please stop giving her such a hard time.” “Hey Rarity!” Dash spoke up, “Were you feeling something weird in your horn last night?” “I’m- um, not sure what you mean, Rainbow Dash!” Rarity said, suddenly coughing loudly, as Spike gave her a panicked look, “What ever do you mean?” “I felt some tingling in my feathers from some magic!” Dash answered, shrugging at the blushing mare, “Maybe I’m just not used to all this magic business yet.” “My Pinkie senses were going crazy!” Pinkie said, jumping up to the front of the group, “I’ve never vibrated that much in my whole life!” “Look!” Trixie said, as they reached the entrance of the library, “I’m sure that all of your questions will be answered right away here, but before we go in, please don’t swarm Twilight, alright?” “Is she sick?!” Fluttershy asked, suddenly very worried for the outcome of this trip. “Did she die!?” Pinkie asked, gasping as she stood up and placed her hooves on her cheeks. “No.” Trixie exhaled, wishing that they could take something seriously for more than two minutes at a time. Using a simple spell, she unlocked and opened the door to the library, revealing the contents of the living room to all of the ponies, which included Twilight and Alpha cuddled on the couch asleep, her face buried in his chest. “Is this what you asked us to come see?” Dash asked carefully, “Because, this is seriously—“ “Cute!” Pinkie and Rarity said at once, when they saw the two ponies cuddled up on the couch, “Thank you so much for bringing me to see this!” “Me too!” Pinkie agreed, lost in the adorableness of the whole event, “I haven’t seen something this sweet in years!” Trixie was about to correct them on what the situation was… But Twilight was asleep, and she needed to stay that way. So, she decided to fill them in on the details herself. “Alright, well, you all need to clear your calendars for tomorrow night.” Trixie said, looking back to the group of ‘squee’ing’ friends, “Because you’re all going to a wedding.” ////