//------------------------------// // Please! // Story: Gah! Bucket please! // by StormDancer //------------------------------// Getting through the day had been entirely too much trouble. Not only had the smell of burnt Smooze lingered far too long but a seemingly never ending string of frustrations had made themselves known. None of her experiments had actually produced any significant results. She'd found out that her supply of 'emergency quills' had run out over the weekend and she'd had to resort to plucking one of her own feathers. Applejack had come over to visit, only to be called away on some 'apple related emergency'...whatever that was.... probably a farmer thing. And most frustrating of the batch was that Spike had continued to check on her throughout the entire time. Yes, it was endearing at first, the little guy just poking his head in and checking to see if she needed anything for lunch, sweeping a bit, and even coming over to give her a hug, but when he strolled in with a thermometer and said he was just 'trying to calibrate' it using an average alicorn thermal reading, she'd finally realized that he was up to something. They'd discussed alicorn biology just last Thursday. The minutes that had followed had been both embarrassing and humbling as she'd had to explain the 'spilled tile polish' as the result of entirely too many cups of coffee, tea, and falling asleep in a chilly room. Yes, she'd dodged the worst of it, explaining she had gone to clean up and just forgotten to clean up the spilled 'tile polish,' but even so, She had had to say it in the first place. And she did not like lying to her friends... or number one assistant for that matter. But there was simply no way she was going to say that she'd made a mess, then accidentally did so again while distracted in the shower. None. But, all of that was behind her now. With a weary sigh and a furtive smile, Twilight Sparkle climbed into bed, pulling the covers over herself, and did her level best to forget the whole day. "Luna, please don't want to discuss the days events over tea while I sleep...." she muttered as she closed her eyes. -~oOo~- Twilight woke to the slight chill of a night breeze coming through her window. The room was dark, her bed warm, but once awoken Twilight, like many other ponies, simply could not just drift back off to sleep. It was something deeply rooted in their biology, something almost primal, that would niggle and linger long after whatever it was that had originally woken them. Twilight sighed. Perhaps it was the result of a herd instinct from pre-Celestial times... a survival mechanism to alert the herd to the threat of a potential predator. Maybe it was a warning that something was coming. Maybe it was even some kind of proto-evolutionary extra sensory perception that would herald the next great leap in pony civilization. Or maybe it was just really really hard to find that one comfortable spot on the bed or find the cool side of the pillow without moving. Whatever the case, Twilight knew that she wouldn't be getting back to sleep without doing something to get her mind off of getting back to sleep... or theorizing about why she needed to get her mind off of sleep to actually get there. With a grunt, she flipped the blankets off and slid out of bed. Even with the slight breeze, the room felt a little stuffy. Maybe opening another window and getting a drink of water would clear the air and settle her enough to get back to sleep. If not, there was always the fine collection of 'finely crafted literature for the single mare' that Rarity was always 'accidentally' leaving when she visited. Twilight smirked at the thought. For all that Rarity tried to present as fashionable and high society, deep down, where it really counted, she was just like the common pony after all. No taste in literature. Yawning, Twilight wandered across her room, reached up a hoof and blindly fumbled with the window latch before wandering to the adjoining restroom and turning on the tap for a cup of water. It really was feeling a little chillier than she expected with the window, and bed was sounding more and more enticing by the moment. Fine sheets with thick blankets... drawn up nice and even, right to her shoulders where she could curl them over just so and snuggle into her pillow... Absolutely perfect... And as she trotted back across the dark room, she felt her skin turn cold as she stepped into something wet and runny across the floor. No possible way. Absolutely not. She'd been awake and aware the entire time this time. Gingerly pulling her hoof back to the wet squelch of the slick substance, she cast a spell to light the room, fully expecting to find a slug or something that had climbed through the window while she slept. What she didn't expect was for the entire room to take on a steady pinkish glow with shadows cast at all the wrong angles. Blinking, she glanced around, momentarily confused and wondering what would be reflecting her horn's light in that manner until she noticed a series of dark patches scattered across her floor. Carefully leaning down to inspect one, Twilight suddenly came to two very distressing conclusions... One, it appeared that someone had broken into her castle with very muddy hooves, and Two, that it wasn't her horn that was glowing. The first was, appropriately forgotten as the panic of the Second brought up Twilight's 'Reserved for Moments Where I Can't Think of Something Fast Enough' reaction... Namely, she screamed "SPIIIIIIIKE!" and scrambled backwards until she found herself pressed into a corner and trying not to hyperventilate. -~oOo~- Spike's arrival had been swift. He'd managed to cover the 80 feet between his room and hers in a matter of seconds. He'd managed to pry open the heavy crystal door in moments. He'd even managed to find and light a lantern in the time between opening the door and stepping through it (Twilight was still uncertain of how he did that, but after meeting Pinkie Pie, she had given up on explaining every helpful little thing). He was not, however, very quick to approach when he saw Twilight Sparkle, alicorn princess of Equestria, jammed up in a corner and glowing like a lavender lightning bug. "Twilight? What's.... You're.... I mean.... are you okay?" the young dragon asked carefully, eyeing his mother/sister/friend gently. "Spike. Don't come any closer. I don't know what's wrong, but my magic's gone all crazy!" Twilight's voice inched slowly higher as she continued to jitter and push herself backwards into the corner. "Um... Twilight..." "I'm serious Spike! This could be bad! I might have horn rot or thaumatic tearing. It could even be a mage phage!" Spike, seeing Twilight freaking out, did what he normally did... calmly inject reason with the subtly of Rainbow Dash entering a library. "Twilight. Calm down. You probably just cast a light spell in your sleep again. Like you did when you were younger." "NO I DIDN'T! And that was just that one time -" "Over thirty at last count..." "- ... Fine! But it was only because it was dark and I needed a nightlight and that was YEARS ago! BUT I was AWAKE tonight!" "and...?" "And? AND? And my HORN ISN'T GLOWING! IT'S ALL OF ME! THAT'S NOT NORMAL!" Twilight shouted. "Technically, your horn is part of you-" "SPIKE!" "Well, I'm just saying." "Spiiiike." "Fiiiine. But look Twilight, just calm down. I'm sure it's just something simple like a cold or something... I mean, you weren't feeling too well yesterday and it could just be -" "I was feeling Fine Spike," she said coldly. "Yeeeeeah.... but you don't look fine Twilight. I'm pretty sure you're sick." Twilight blinked. What did he mean by that? She was GLOWING not sick! That didn't make any sense. "Spike, my magic's acting crazy, I'm glowing, and yes, there was that .... unpleasantness yesterday, but I'm not sick." "Twilight, I know you're freaking out right now-" "Completely reasonable response..." Twilight interjected. "fine... 'reasonable response'-ing right now, but you're covered in sweat, your mane's not even sticking out, and it looks like you've got a fever with how pink you're looking." He squinted, "buuuuut, that might just be the glow." Twilight blinked slowly. She was glowing. Her entire body was glowing. Tentatively, she licked her lips as she focused upon the window across the room and tried to close it with her magic. Predictably, the pinkish glow surrounded the pane before the window swiftly shut itself. Twilight focused upon the lanterns in various sconces around the room, lighting the place with clean blue/white light. Spike was still standing there, watching her, but the moment seemed destined to stretch as long as possible. Slowly, Spike walked out of the room and returned with a mop, bucket, apron, and a pair of large rubber gloves. "I'm not going to ask Twilight," Spike said quietly as he began to slop the mop across the floor, Twilight slowly easing away from the wall. "I'm not going to ask anything at all," Spike continued as he finished mopping the floor some minutes later. Spike finally paused in his cleaning, looking at the damp sheets of the bed and the tangled, soaking, blanket that was bunched up on the floor. Twilight blushed furiously, "Spike it's not-" "I'm not going to ask, Twilight," he stated firmly, before nodding and tugging the gloves on tighter and approaching the wet fabrics. Spike turned his head and picked up the blankets with just the tips of his gloved claws. "IT'S JUST SWEAT!" Twilight nearly yelled. Spike simply piled them all up and blew fire until they had turned to ash. "Spike!" "I didn't see anything, and those blankets must have been lost when Tirek attacked." "But it's only swea-" Twilight whined. "Tirek," Spike deadpanned.