Twilight opened her castle doors, levitating a book in front of her muzzle and muttering soundlessly. A butter yellow pegasus stood on the other side. “Good morning, Twilight. Did you still want to go grocery shopping today? If you’re busy, I’d understand…”
Twilight lowered her book and appraised the other pony for a moment. “Oh yes! Of course, Fluttershy, just let me grab my saddlebags and I’ll be right with you.” She turned around towards the depths of the castle. “Spike! I’ll be back in a while!” she yelled, and waited until she heard Spike’s muffled acknowledgment. She walked to a nearby closet and removed a pair of saddlebags, placing them on her back.
Fluttershy waited at the door, watching Twilight make her preparations. “What book are you reading now? Anything I’d understand?”
Twilight looked at the book still levitating in the air before her, titled Forbidden Loves: Crimson Dawn, and paled slightly. She whisked the book onto a shelf in the closet and closed the door. “It’s nothing! Just a treatise on, uh, magical properties of liquids! It’s for my research project.”
“That sounds fascinating!” Fluttershy said, “Is this project the ‘flashlight thing’ you’re working on? Rainbow Dash told me something about it.”
“Rainbow did?” Twilight’s eyebrows raised. “Well, I suppose it’s something like a flashlight. When it’s done, it should be an almost endless light source. I’m trying different fluid mixtures and magical concentrations.”
Fluttershy nodded her head. “What a neat project. I bet Celestia’s proud of you.”
Twilight smiled. “Actually, it was all my own idea, and I haven’t told her about it yet. I want to complete it and then test it thoroughly first. After all, I’m a princess; I should do things more on my own now and take on whatever projects I think are important for Equestria… as long as I do everything else on my checklists.” She trotted up to the castle doorway. “Shall we?”
Twilight and Fluttershy headed down a familiar path towards the city’s market square, which was somewhat crowded with ponies moving from stand to stand and pegasi flitting throughout the air, most carrying bulging packs on their backs. Together, they waited in line for asparagus, leafy greens, and cherries. After paying quite a few bits for the imported cherries, they walked to the end of a line for the next cart, which was surrounded by buckets of shiny red apples. Applejack stood behind the cart, counting a couple of other ponies’ bits, and she waved a hoof at her friends when she noticed them. After a minute, the line emptied.
“Howdy girls,” Applejack said, “Y’all are stockin’ up on supplies?” She met Twilight’s eyes for a moment, and blushed, tipping her hat.
Twilight winked at the earth pony. “Yes, I haven’t been keeping up on my grocery shopping since Spike’s trip to Canterlot,” she said, “And Fluttershy really needs to restock her kitchen, after all that craziness with Angel’s family reunion.”
“Oh? What’d that varmint get up to this time?”
“His family was quite – hungry – even after eating all the food in my kitchen. But everything worked out, Pinkie Pie came over and made them some dinner,” Fluttershy said.
“Well, I can help take care of that problem for ya. These are on the house.” Applejack pushed two piles of apples to the front of her cart.
“Are you sure, Applejack?” Fluttershy said.
“Sure thing, it’s the least I can do after you sent your bird friends to help clear out those pests,” Applejack replied. Fluttershy smiled and scooped the apples into her saddlebag. Twilight took out a bag of bits and started placing several on Applejack’s cart. “Now, Twi’, that’s more bits than I woulda even asked ya for,” Applejack said. She frowned.
“Thanks, but I don’t need any special treatment, Applejack. Don’t worry, I’m doing well for myself,” Twilight said, gathering her own apples.
“Well, I appreciate it.” Applejack tipped her hat again, then jumped when something whooshed into place beside her. “Whoa there, Pinkie, what’s the hurry?” The pink pony stood next to Applejack, holding several red sealed envelopes in her teeth. She squeaked a few times and jutted her muzzle forward towards Applejack, who slowly took the top envelope with her own muzzle, placing it on her cart.
Pinkie gave an approving squeak, and zipped to both Twilight and Fluttershy, who each took envelopes of their own. She then skipped away in a bee-line for a nearby tree.
“Bye, Pinkie,” Fluttershy called after her. She took the envelope into her hooves. “I wonder what this is.”
Twilight lit her horn and slit open the envelope, removing and unfolding a thick piece of paper, which was covered in multicolored balloons and some writing. “Later today, a taste-testing with ‘new, exclusive flavors’? Sounds interesting.”
“What in blazes is that pony doing? I swear sometimes it seems like she has a few screws loose in that head of hers,” Applejack said, squinting her eyes.
“Huh?” Twilight followed her line of sight, and saw Pinkie apparently trying to give some envelopes to birds perched on a low-hanging tree branch. One of the birds pecked at an envelope, and she released it, but it dropped to the ground. Unperturbed, she continued to push her envelope-filled muzzle towards the animals. They turned their heads to each other, chirping and shrugging their wings. Twilight tilted her head, watching.
“We should get out of the way,” said Fluttershy, with a glance at some ponies who had lined up behind them. She shepherded Twilight to the side. “See you later, then, Applejack!”
Applejack shook her head. “Right. Later y’all, and if you need me to, I can teach that pet of yours a few rope tricks – if ya know what I mean.” Fluttershy giggled as she and Twilight walked away from the stand.
That evening, Twilight stood in front of Sugarcube Corner and knocked on the door, ignoring the sign hanging from the doorknob, which read, ‘Closed,’ in a textured font. Applejack opened the door. “Howdy, Twi’. Déjà vu, as Rares would say.” She stepped aside, indicating for Twilight to enter.
The first room once inside the building was large and open. Scattered throughout, several brightly-colored tables were surrounded by wooden stools and chairs, and a counter and glass case displayed cream puffs, chocolate mousse rounds, donuts, and other baked goods and candies. Bowls full of popcorn were placed on each of the tables, and on the counter. Rarity, sporting a wide-brimmed floppy hat, was standing next to the display case, her eyes roaming over the treats, while Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were chatting and standing next to a large table. Rainbow Dash was wearing a green striped beanie, interwoven with some strands of sparkling silver, and her tail and the parts of her mane visible from underneath the hat seemed to be sleeker or shinier than usual. When she caught sight of Twilight, she smirked and picked up a few popcorn kernels, crunching them in her mouth. Fluttershy waved at Twilight, and she and Applejack walked over to their table.
Rainbow gulped down her mouthful and cleared her throat. “Hey Twi’. So, Fluttershy told me about what happened after you left my stunt practice. I can’t believe you guys almost got overrun by bunny-rabbits, of all things!” She snorted, folding a hoof under her nose. Twilight felt her ears and face grow warm.
Applejack narrowed her eyes. “I wouldn’t be laughing so quick there, Rainbow. If there’s one thing I’ve learned on the farm, it’s not to take any sort of critter too lightly. Even the smallest beetle can wipe out an entire grove of apple trees.”
“Yeah, but bunnies?” Rainbow let out a few laughs.
“Well, imagine if you were cornered by dozens of rabbits that wanted to chew apart your latest ‘Daring Do’ novel, which you had just barely got and hadn’t had a chance to read yet,” said Twilight. “That was basically my situation.”
Rainbow Dash stopped laughing and her ears fell flat, before perking up again. “Ha! I’d be way too fast for them to catch me. I’d just hold the book in the air where they couldn’t get it, and fly away.”
“And you’d just leave poor Fluttershy to fend for herself?” Applejack said, raising an eyebrow.
Dash clicked a hoof. “Well obviously I’d take her with me, her and the book.”
Fluttershy spoke up, “Oh, but I’d be too worried about leaving my cottage before taking care of them all; I couldn’t just leave.”
“Look, somehow, I would take care of it. Whatever, end of story. These hypochondriac situations are way too annoying to think about for too long.” Dash scowled.
Twilight cocked her head. “I think the word you mean to say is hypo-”
The conversation was interrupted by six platters, each covered with multiple cupcakes, which slid onto the table and quivered in front of each of the six ponies. Pinkie Pie had appeared at the edge of the table, as well as Rarity. The pink pony had a huge grin across her muzzle. “All right, everypony! I made six new kinds of cupcakes, and there are six of us, so I hope you all brought your best taste-testing tongues! Dig in!” The cupcakes in front of Pinkie looked as though they were made with coarse grains, and small dark dots were embedded in the frosting. She made no move towards them.
“Oh my, these cupcakes look so pretty, I almost don’t want to eat them,” Fluttershy said. The cupcakes in front of her were covered in light green frosting with blue sprinkles. Despite what she said, she picked one up and took a small bite. Her eyes closed. “Mmm, I love buttercream.”
“Holy apples, Celestia.” Applejack had taken a hearty bite of one of her cupcakes, which were an intense red and orange color. She withdrew her muzzle from the platter. “What in the hay did you put in these things, Pinkie?”
Pinkie bounced over towards her. “Oh, I think probably about three and a quarter apples went into that one! How do you like it?”
Applejack swallowed. “Uh, it’s pretty good! But also pretty strong. Like, stronger than barrel-aged cider. I dunno how much more of these I can eat, to be honest.”
“Hmm…” Pinkie hummed, narrowing her eyes.
“I suppose I’ll try a taste of these works of art,” Rarity announced, levitating a spotted yellow cupcake to her mouth and taking the smallest of bites. She froze. “Pinkie, what ingredients did you use to make these?” she asked in a low voice.
“That one was fun! Let’s see, it has all the usual stuff, then cardamom, some whitetail root, and a pinch of saffron. And maybe a couple others I forgot.”
Rarity nodded, listening to Pinkie, then removed her hat with a hoof, setting it to the side. “I know it’s unladylike to do this, but buck it, these are good,” she said, eating half of her cupcake in one go. She chewed a few times and swallowed, before taking another large bite. She hefted another cupcake into the air.
Applejack leaned her head on a hoof, watching Rarity eating her cupcakes with lidded eyes. “You know I love it when you eat like that, Rares.”
“Get a load of those two. Blech,” Rainbow said, sticking out her tongue. Pinkie turned to her and whimpered, her lower lip quivering. “Not your cupcakes, Pinkie! These are better than hay.”
Pinkie smiled again and turned to Twilight. “It’s your turn to try yours! I made those cupcakes with science.”
Twilight’s eyebrows rose. “I’m not sure I want to know what that means, exactly. But regardless, I’m sure it’s delicious.” The cupcakes on her platter had frosting of many different colors swirled together.
“That one’s for Spike,” Pinkie said, pointing to a cupcake that was encrusted with multicolored gemstones.
“I’ll make sure he gets it, thanks, Pinkie,” Twilight said. She lit her horn, and lifted one of the cupcakes up. She took a bite and chewed it slowly, while looking up at the ceiling. “It tastes pretty good, is that blueberry and strawberry? But the consistency is unusual, maybe a little… chewier than I’d expect. Not bad, though.”
“I’m glad you like it, Twilight! And you’re right, those aren’t your usual cupcakes. They’re dried up cupcakes!” Pinkie pulled a small cloth sack out of her mane and shook it, so that the contents clinked together with a dull sound. “I fit a few baker’s dozen in here. Just add some water, and poof! Mostly normal cupcakes.”
“Whoa, Pinkie, how did you do that? I didn’t know that you did that science stuff like Twi’,” Rainbow asked. Her mouth was slightly open, revealing crumbs of purple cake.
“You don’t have to be a science-pony to do science! I just changed up the recipe so I could pack more cupcakes wherever I go. And, these are way easier to send to my friends all over Equestria!”
“That’s very cool, Pinkie, you’ll have to show me your process some time,” Twilight said, picking up another cupcake.
There was a lull in the conversation, during which most of the ponies chewed. Pinkie Pie’s eyes flitted about the room as though she were looking for something. She jumped into the air. “Oh! I forgot the music and drinks! I’ll be right back.” She hopped over to the counter and started a record player on her way to the kitchen. The sound of a flute and vibes filled the room.
“Ooh, I think this is some Canterlot jazz,” Fluttershy said. She walked closer to the record player, turning her ears towards it.
Applejack also walked over towards the counter. “It does sound a mite familiar…”
Rarity stopped eating and gasped for breath. “Goodness, I haven’t done that in far too long. Some drinks would be lovely right about now,” she said, and grabbed her wide hat, fanning her face with it.
“Can I try one of yours?” Twilight said, pointing to the few cupcakes remaining on Rarity’s platter. She nodded, and Twilight levitated one over to herself. “I really like your hat, by the way. Reminds me of Canterlot; I don’t think I’ve seen hats like that outside of the big city.”
“Oh, thank you, dear. I think it’s the perfect autumn fashion, might make a line of them for next year.”
Rainbow Dash cleared her throat, drawing the gaze of both Twilight and Rarity. “And what do you think of my hat?” she said, looking at Twilight and ruffling her feathers.
Rarity squinted her eyes. “In my opinion, the silver is a bit too garish. I could make something in that style for you that would suit your colors much better.”
Rainbow glared at the fashionista. “I like this one. Besides, Twilight likes it too. I bet she thinks I look sexy in it.” She smirked, looking back at Twilight.
Twilight’s wings rustled and she felt her cheeks warm. “I don’t think I have much of an eye for fashion. But, I have to say, you do look good, Rainbow.”
Rainbow Dash’s smirk fell from her muzzle for a moment. “Uh, of course! This pegasus is always in tip-top shape. Nothing less for the Dash.” She spread her wings and struck a pose.
“Twilight might be on to something, Rainbow. Are you using a new product on your mane? Or any product, for that matter? I’m liking the results,” Rarity said.
Dash’s pupils shrank and she retracted her wings. “Nope, I didn’t go to the spa or anything! Must just be all those rainclouds I’m flying through. Yup, for some reason we have a lot of rainclouds to get rid of these days, so I’m, like, always flying through them.” She tilted her head to the side. “Say, isn’t it a bit late for the birds to be chirping like that?”
“Don’t try to change the subject, dear,” Rarity said, grinning. Her ears swiveled. “Actually, you’re right, that is odd…”
The ponies turned as a large flock of birds flew in through the open windows. With the sound of fluttering wings, they alighted on many of the tables and began pecking at the popcorn. Their raucous tweets sounded over the music in the room. Applejack and Fluttershy walked over to the other ponies, and the group huddled together as if for protection from the birds. “Sugarcube, you got any idea what’s going on here?” Applejack said.
Fluttershy leaned towards the nearest few birds. “Hello, how are you?” She waited for a moment. “It’s strange, I think they’re saying that they’re waiting for somepony…”
Pinkie Pie walked into the room, balancing a tray covered in glasses of water and soda on her back. She stopped and gasped, dropping the tray onto the counter before rushing over to several birds which were breaking pieces off of a single popcorn kernel. “I’m so glad you guys made it! Here, I made some cupcakes especially for you!” She grabbed the untouched tray of cupcakes that had been in front of her earlier, raising it in front of her. Many birds in the room took off, landing on the tray and splitting the cupcakes into pieces with their beaks before devouring them. Pinkie giggled, and set the tray down. She stood on her hind legs and put her forelegs out to either side, and several birds flew over to perch on them. A few blue jays landed on her withers and began to grab chunks of her mane in their beaks, straightening it and entwining sections of it into a simple braid. Pinkie began to sing a formless melody to go with the jazz song from the record player, spinning around slowly on the spot, and the birds seemed to be adding to the song with their own twitters.
“Uh, Pinkie, what are you doing?” Fluttershy was looking at the pink pony with a strange expression.
“Come on girls, the party’s headed outdoors!” Pinkie continued to spin, following a loopy path through the front door towards some lawn to the side of Sugarcube Corner. Fluttershy followed after her.
“C’mon, y’all,” Applejack said, shaking the other ponies out of their expressions of stunned surprise, and leading them to follow their friends to the side of the building. The four ponies stood close together.
The birds that covered Pinkie’s back and some that had nestled into her mane began to beat their wings, and the pony’s hooves lifted off the ground. “Wheeee! This is fun! You should try it too, Fluttershy.” She began to drift to and fro throughout the air above the other ponies’ heads.
Some of the birds fluttered down and alighted on Fluttershy’s head and withers, continuing to flap their wings. She gave a small flap of her own and rose up into the air after Pinkie Pie.
“What the hay is going on?” Rainbow said. “Fluttershy knows she can fly by herself, right?”
Rarity poked the pegasus in the side. “Shush, you’ll ruin the moment!” She sighed, gazing up at the two airborne ponies.
“Twilight, get my rope,” Applejack said in a low voice. “Just in case!” she added, after Rarity had turned to glare at her.
Soon, however, Pinkie and Fluttershy touched down to the ground again. The birds chirped to Pinkie and Fluttershy and lifted off, circling above their heads. “See you later, birdies! We’ll have to hang out again soon!” Pinkie said, waving both her hooves. After Fluttershy bid farewell to the birds, they flew off in the direction of the forest.
Pinkie and Fluttershy started walking back inside the building, with the others behind them, heading towards the platter of drinks. “I think it’s wonderful that you’re making friends with the birds, they really seemed to like you,” Fluttershy said, “Where did you get that idea?”
“From you, silly! You’re always so kind to your animal friends, and I thought, hey! Maybe I could be a friend to the animals and have fun with them, too!”
Fluttershy’s cheeks reddened, and she picked up a glass of cold water. “Oh, how wonderful,” she said, taking a sizeable gulp.
“So, I have an idea, everypony,” Rainbow Dash said, after draining her glass of orange soda. “And it’s gonna be totally awesome!”
All eyes turned to the pegasus, who stood in the center of the group. “Yes?” Pinkie Pie asked, leaning forward on two hooves.
“Have any of you been to the ‘Three Horseshoes’ at the edge of Canterlot?”
“Ooh, I haven’t, but I totally wanna go!” Pinkie said. She wobbled and almost fell over.
Rarity rubbed her jaw with a hoof. “I believe I’ve heard of it. What sort of establishment might it be?”
“It’s a pretty good club. Been there forever. A lot of the best DJs in Equestria do shows there, and it has some really great drinks, too,” Rainbow said.
Rarity paused for a moment before replying. “I think, I might actually be OK with being seen in a place like that. Who knows, I might actually have fun.”
“I’ll make sure you have fun, Rares,” Applejack said, flicking the brim of Rarity’s large hat down to cover her eyes. She huffed, straightening it.
“All right! So, we’re all going then. How about this weekend?” Rainbow said.
“That’d be good, I just need to be home in the morning to feed the animals,” Fluttershy said.
Twilight chewed on a lip before speaking up. “Uh, will everypony be dancing there? Is it that kind of club?”
“Nah, there’s plenty of space to just sip drinks and chill. We don’t have to spend the whole night there, either. And if you don’t want to, you could always just watch me dance,” Rainbow said with a smirk, meeting Twilight’s eyes. Twilight glanced down, poking the floor with a hoof.
Pinkie bounced in place. “Yippee! This’ll be a blast! I should bring the party cannon.”
Rainbow’s eyes widened. “Uh, maybe leave the party cannon at home, Pinkie. It’s fun and all, but, I’m not sure everypony there would appreciate having confetti shot in their face.”
“Okie-dokie-loki! A party is still a party, even without a cannon!”
“Yes, dear, we wouldn’t want to be thrown out of the place on the night of my first appearance there,” said Rarity. “Oh, but I’m looking forward to this more and more! Now I must decide what to wear.” She levitated her glass back onto the platter, clinking against the other empty glasses.
Over an hour later, Twilight looked up and found herself surrounded by a sea of scrolls, inkpots, quills, and a chalkboard that was covered in lines of text. She extended her wings, but retracted them slowly as a pile of parchment threatened to topple over. Eh, what the hay. “Spike! I need your help!” she yelled, projecting her voice into the depths of the castle.
In a moment, the dragon in question appeared, wearing a baggy shirt that read, ‘#1 Assistant,’ and holding a comic book in one hand. He groaned. “What is it, Twilight? I was about to read my comics before bedtime. Did you forget to eat again?”
Twilight chuckled. “No. I just need your help to organize these papers. Be careful with that bunch right there. And whatever you do, don’t get your dragon fire on them!”
“Hey, I’m a master at controlling my fire!” Spike grumbled. He bent down to grab some parchment, forming it into a neat stack and placing it to the side. Twilight also helped with her magic, and before long, a clear path between Twilight and the outside world appeared.
“Thanks, keep on doing what you’re doing. I’ll be right back, just have to grab something.” Twilight walked over to a closet on the other side of the room, retrieved a book from within and set it beneath a wing, then walked back to the mess of parchment.
Spike was still organizing, but for some reason he snorted a couple of times. He turned towards Twilight, and said in a careless tone, “That wouldn’t happen to be the second book of Forbidden Loves, would it?”
Twilight stopped in place, and felt her cheeks heat up. “Uh…”
Spike laughed, clutching his belly. “Oh, this is rich! I found it cleaning the castle this afternoon. What are you doing reading that kind of stuff, Twilight? I thought you wouldn’t be interested. And isn’t it, uh, below your reading level? Pretty sure it’s meant for fillies.”
Twilight resumed her walk, uncovering the book and floating it over to sit on top of three other books, which were similar in appearance. “For your information, I’m doing research. A well-rounded pony is knowledgeable about all parts of life, not just science, or even friendship. The magic of love is important, too.”
“And so you’re reading these books? You could just ask me! I know everything about love!”
“Yeah, you’re a regular Casanova.” Twilight smirked and walked over to the chalkboard.
“Well, I know tons more than the mares in those books! Like Dawn Flower, she’s way too much of a push-over. She’s all like, ‘Oh no, but I’m just a filly from the country,’ when that noble stallion was totally head-over-hooves for her. They should’ve gotten together in the first chapter.” He sliced a claw through the air for emphasis. His eyes widened. “Not that I’ve read that whole series, of course. I’ve just heard a lot about it.”
Twilight stifled a laugh and turned to face the dragon. “Right. I won’t judge you for your reading habits. But I think you might be oversimplifying the issue. According to my research, there are many factors involved in whether or not a pairing will succeed, which should be considered. Usually I can only analyze the main character’s psyche in detail, but clearly several aspects are important, such as, level of introversion, charisma, self-discipline-”
“Pshaw,” Spike said, waving a hand dismissively. “Even I know those are just stories, Twilight! For love, all it comes down to is this. If you like somepony, you just gotta go for it. When the time is right, tell her how you feel. Then if it’s meant to be, it’ll work out! If not, it’s not the end of the world. And if she’s dating somepony else, I guess you have to wait first. It’s the right thing to do.” He scratched his head. “But that’s all there is to it! Oh, and it’s a good idea to buy them gifts, help them with errands, and stuff like that. You know, butter them up.”
Twilight cocked her head, listening to Spike talk. If it’s meant to be, it’ll work out? Surely it can’t be that simple. “Maybe you do know more than I thought, Spike. But I still need to complete this analysis. Could you help me finish organizing?”
Spike moaned. “Okay, but once that’s done I’m hitting the hay. I need lots of sleep to keep these scales so lustrous.” He licked a claw and slicked back the spines on his head. They immediately sprang back into place.
Twilight giggled. “It’s a deal.”