//------------------------------//
// When Sleep Deprivation Sets In, Party Hard 
// Story: My Twilight Facade 
// by axelsempai 
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I emerged from the basement the next morning with light-deprived vision and a killer crash from excessive amounts of caffeine.  None of that would be too bad if it weren't for the most annoying feature of the library's main room:  its windows faced the rising sun.

Blinding rays of warmth and life tore through my vision like a samurai sword through butter, leaving me fumbling blindly to a nearby chair.  I plopped heavily onto the seat and struggled to get my sight accustomed to the daylight.  I swear, I'm never going to do another all-nighter again.  So, considering the sun was just rising, I must have spent the past eighteen or so hours studying and double checking my divinations.  While progress felt  great, it wasn't helping me with my present state of fatigue.

Wait, is it fatigue or sickness?  I assumed most of my sluggishness came from the soda, which would be sickness, but I also felt really sleepy from a lack of rest, which was fatigue.  Maybe I had a detrimental mix of both.

Whatever the case was, my eyes were heavier than my weights, so I closed them and placed my head on one of the library's tables.  Never before had a firm surface given me so much comfort.  I swear my mane must have been a mess, but who could care about such frivolities when I could already feel myself drift away...

"Twilight?"

I opened my eyes, but didn't budge my head.  Sometimes it sucks being a light sleeper.  "Yeah?"  I groggily asked whoever that was.

There were footsteps going down the stairs.  I guessed it was Spike.  "Did you just now come out of the basement?"

"Yeah."  I said, closing my eyes again.  My mouth hung open.  A little bit of drool was pooling up and ready to trail down to the table.  I didn't care.

I could practically hear Spike crossing his arms.  "Huh.  You didn't get any sleep, did you?"

"Nuh uh..."

Spike sighed with agitation.  "And I guess that means I'm in charge of the library.  Again."

That rattled about my brain a little bit.  Spike spent all day yesterday acting as the head librarian while I sat in the basement chasing ghosts.  Even with sleep at the forefront of my mind, I knew it would be unfair for Spike to do that two days in a row.  I summoned my willpower and pushed myself up to a sitting position.  I leaned my head in Spike's direction and let it sag to the side with him in my sight.  "You know what?  You deserve a break."

Spike raised his head in curiosity.  "Huh?"

"Yeah."  I said, forcing a tired smile.  "You spent all day doing the combined work of two people.  So I tell you what, you go outside and play or do whatever it is you wanna do; I got the library."

Spike didn't look very certain this was a good idea.  "I dunno.  What if somepony comes in here wanting a book?"

I waved his worry away.  "Aw, that's not a problem.  Everyone knocks before they come in anyway, so they'll wake me up between naps."

Spike still looked suspicious.  "This seems awfully generous."

"That's the kind of guy I am."  I said, pointing my hooves at him like the suave motherfucker I am.  The shift in my weight, combined with the double fatigue-sugar crash, sent me toppling to the floor on my side.  "Ugh... nighty-night.  Have a good day~."

I think I dropped out of consciousness then.





I woke up with thoughts of cotton and clean bedsheets as I heard something pound on the door.  I raised my head to check the time to find that only an hour had passed.

The pounding at the front door continued.

I took a moment to clear my head, sighed, and pushed myself up to the door.  Whoever was at the door had better have a good reason to interrupt my nap.  I opened the door, recoiling from the brightness of the outside world.  "Guh, freakin' sun."  I held a hoof over my eyes to keep the light out, so I could at least stop feeling that burning sensation.  "Welcome to the library.  Need something?"

"I would think your slogan could use some work, Twilight."  A familiar regal voice said with amusement.

"Oh, is that you, princess?  Wanna come in?"

"I'd be delighted."

I stepped aside to allow Celestia entry.  As I went to close the door, I looked outside to the guards that took their usual spots flanking the doorway.  "So do you guys want some juice or something?"  No answer.  They didn't even seem to acknowledge my question.  "Soda?  Mints?  Chairs?  Anything?  No?  Alright, then."  I closed the door, finally giving up on talking to them.

I took a seat across the table from Celestia, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.  Celestia took notice of this.  "Late night?"

Thanks for the reminder princess, because now I had to yawn.  "You could say that, but I worked through all of last night, so I guess it's more accurate to say I missed it."

Celestia frowned with concern.  "Twilight, I've told you many times before that working all night isn't good for you."

"Relax, I was planning on resting all day today to compensate.  'Sides, it was totally worth it."

Celestia smiled familiarly, as if this was a regular occurrence that she found endearing.  "So I usually hear.  May I ask on what you were working?"

I looked up in thought.  "Uh, something about oranges."

"Oranges?"

"Yeah, like why they get so fizzy in water, or something?."

Celestia looked me over in confusion.  "I... see.  And your findings?"

"I forgot."

A moment of silence for Celestia's wasted time.  Admittedly, I didn't handle the lack of sleep very well.  "How unusual.  Perhaps you would like to discuss something more productive, like your anger management?"

I laughed.  "Oh yeah, I made some progress with that."

"Really?  Would you like to elaborate on your progress?"

I leaned back and smiled with misplaced pride.  "Yeah, I got a new teacher."

"You... changed teachers?"  I nodded.  "And you didn't feel the need to ask my permission first?"

I chuckled.  "Nah, I figured you wouldn't mind as long as I was trying to improve myself."

She hummed thoughtfully for a moment.  "I suppose I don't mind, but I'm surprised by your initiative.  So if you aren't learning from the Element of Kindness, then who are you learning from?"

I was about to answer, but I didn't have to.  Thudding sounds with accompanying grunts fell down the library's chimney.  Yes, the library had a fireplace.  I had no idea why you would put something like that in a giant tree, but that's a question best saved for an architect.  The source of the noise hit the floor of the fireplace and rolled out like a bowling ball, slamming into the table in a frizzy pink ball.

Shaking her head, for I recognized it as a pony, the eccentric pink pony looked up at our curious faces with the usual glee.  "Hi Twilight, hi princess!  It's a nice day, isn't it?"

I giggled at Pinkie's antics, as I didn't have the energy to resist its silliness.  "Pinkie, you loon, why did you come through the chimney?  I have a front door."

"Yeah, but guards don't like me for some reason."  She hopped up to her hooves and stood as the third side to our little circle.  She took one look at me, then Celestia.  Her face lit up when she made eye contact with the princess.  "Oh, I just remembered you never got any of the cakes we made you for your visit that one time!"

Celestia, despite the sudden intrusion and declarations, smiled understandingly.  "It's okay, my little pony.  You don't need to trouble yourself on my account."

Pinkie giggled.  "Nah, it's no trouble at all!  I'll just get one of the cakes I stashed in the kitchen!"  Pinkie bounded past the kitchen door.  The door barely even bounced on its hinges once before Pinkie emerged from the kitchen with a cart carrying a double-decker cake with rich white frosting.  "Here we go:  one 'making-up-for-lost-desserts' cake!"

Celestia stared ahead at the scene for before turning to me with her question.  "Did she have that cake in your kitchen this whole time?"

I shrugged sleepily.  "I didn't even know I had a dessert cart."

Pinkie wasted no time carting it over to us and holding out plates for us.  Celestia looked up at the cake with indecision, an argument between self-control and desire bringing hesitation to the Equestrian monarch.  Pinkie decided to be more convincing than either side.  "It's buttercream frosting."

Without a second thought, Celestia's golden aura cut a sizable slice of cake with a knife, plopping the sugary morsel onto her plate.

Pinkie kindly gave me a slice of cake, for which I thanked her with a yawn.  We each took bites of our cake, each bite being almost immorally tasty.  Whether for my sleepiness or the delectable baked goods, each bite was physically stunning.  It was so good.

Presumably because she's more used to indulgently rich desserts, Celestia managed to bring up a topic of conversation.  "Your name is Pinkie Pie, correct?"

"Yep!"  Pinkie answered with a mouthful of cake.  She chewed merrily, almost as if she didn't care that she was in the presence of royalty.

Celestia calmly swallowed another bite.  "You must be the Element of Laughter.  Tell me, are you the one from which Twilight is learning to calm herself?"

Pinkie smiled wide.  "Yep, again!  You're really good at guessing games!"

Celestia accepted the compliment with a smile.  "Thank you.  Tell me, how did the two of you begin this new arrangement?"

"Well, it all started when Twilight and I met in town yesterday."  Pinkie recalled.  "Twilight mentioned her anger issues, so we decided to spend some quality time together in Sugarcube Corner's basement.  Afterwards, we decided that we should spend even more quality time together!"

Celestia glanced between the two of us, and smiled impishly.  "Quality time, you say?"

Pinkie seemed to catch on to whatever Celestia was talking about and smiled wider.  "Yeah."

The two looked at me, wanting some kind of reaction from me.  "Uhh, I don't know what you want from me."

"You two were alone.  Together.  In a dark room."  Celestia said with implications I didn't quite get at the time.

"In a building filled with whipped cream!"  Pinkie added.

"I don't get it."  I said simply.

The two of them laughed at a joke I didn't hear.  It became obviously clear that I was in no mental condition to hold a conversation with these two without some kind of chemical assistance.  "Okay, I'm gonna need some coffee."  I announced on my way to the kitchen.





Celestia sat in a strangely modest dining room for a castle.  While one is likely to expect a grand chamber with an impossibly large table that could sit a hundred ponies comfortably adorned with fine silverware and settings, this one was merely just a room with a table.  Nothing too fancy by the standards of royalty, but still of high-class quality.  The oaken table shined with polish, two occupied chairs on opposite sides to face one another.

Celestia would have put forth more of an effort to eat the food before her, but she was lost in thought as she was for a few hours, gazing beyond the lone window in the room towards a rising moon on the horizon.  The one pony that accompanied her this evening wasn't much for recognizing social cues, but even she could tell when something was on Celestia's mind.  "You seem troubled."

Celestia absent mindedly spun her fork on the table with a bare hoof, taking a moment to meet the speaker's eyes.  "I doubt 'troubled' is the word I would use, but I'll admit that I've become curious as of late."

"A question that the great Princess Celestia cannot answer?  Oh no, what shall we do?"

Celestia shot the mare a smirk for the jab and shook her head.  "Not panicking, for a start.  I'm just pondering a few questions I have about my student."

"I see.  So have you spoken to her about your questions?"

"I have, but the more I think about it, the less convincing her answers are."  Upon seeing the confusion on her audience's face, she backed up her explanation.  "My student, Twilight Sparkle, has been acting differently lately.  She says that she's just being true to herself and that she's been using her friendship studies to do so.  Her behavior was definitely a change of pace, but now it's starting to border on strange."

"Ponies change, don't they?"

"They do."  Celestia acknowledged.  "But what bothers me is how drastic the changes are."

"I fail to see what troubles you.  Do you suspect something nefarious, or are you just upset to notice the changes she experiences?"

Celestia thought back to those previous encounters.  "I suppose I'm worried that she's been passing me by.  She's become so much more independent than I was expecting.  I thought she would have been sending me more letters than she has, but so far she's only really been sending them when I start asking."

Celestia's listener tapped her chin in consideration.  "Am I correct in assuming that your objection is how Twilight Sparkle is distancing herself from you?"

"It's not just that.  I've never known Twilight do go against my word or live her life so loosely.  It would seem Twilight has disregarded some of her own inhibitions, not to mention that she's been exercising."

"Hmm, then if your student has changed so drastically, why aren't you investigating?"

Celestia sheepishly lowered her eyes to her peas.  "Because I do not know if her changes are drastic enough to warrant further prodding."

The dark blue pony looked questioningly at her companion.  "But Twilight Sparkle is your student; surely you would know her well enough to make such a judgement."

"You would think so, but honestly, we only met each other on occasion.  We would gather every month or so, but mostly kept our discussions to letters."  Celestia recalled.  "Twilight's studies kept her within the school most days.  Really, it was more of a scholarship than mentoring."

"I see.  But she is still acting familiarly, yes?"

"I suppose.  She admitted to spending all last night reading and studying, which I've known her to do.  She's every bit a mage as I remember and she still listens to my advice and lessons, but she's been handling them in a new way.  She still seems like Twilight, but something about her is just wrong."  Celestia sighed and looked up to her audience.  "This will just bother me until I can get some answers.  I hesitate to ask, but can I ask you to check on Twilight?  You've always been better at gathering information than I have."

The dark blue pony smiled with kindness in her turquoise eyes.  "Of course, sister."