Summer was blossoming the great land of Equestria. Celestia’s sun was warm, and Luna’s nights were cool. The trees and lands were alive with loving care and fortuitous spirit, as nature burst alive with every passing day. Apples were growing, the skies were clear, and the grass was green. The lands and towns were warm, and Ponyville was no different.
Town Square was filled with the hoof steps of ponies wandering to and from their daily business, with the Market Square bustling with ponies buying and selling produce and other odds and ends.
Ponies were browsing the stalls to and fro, their eyes glancing over what the stalls had to offer. Now and again, something in the corner of their eye catching their attention.
One purple alicorn, sprinting from stall to stall, was something that took a bit more than the Corner of the eye.
Twilight ran up to the next stall, a chubby stallion with a brown coat, and dark brown mane; stood on the other side of the table. He blinked as Twilight’s bugged eyes looked over his produce, her hoof pointing down at his crate of carrots.
“Twelve of those please!” She smiled widely at him. Sweat was running down her forehead; whether this was from the heat, or her rapidity in “Browsing” the market stalls.
“Twelve?” He asked. “As you wish, princess; but I should inform ya, we have a sale on Carrots this week. Fifteen for the price of ten. If that interests you, of course.” A smile flaunted on his face as he looked at the mare. Her eyes bugged slightly more, a small twinge of a twitch in her left eye.
“TWELVE!” She called out into his face, causing him to back away slightly as the alicorn neared him.
“Ugh… y-yes ma’am…”
The stallion leant over the table, picking carrots up and putting them into a bag, watching the princess watching him do so with a look of discomfort. He watched as her head quickly switched around, her turning away from him.
“Come on Spike… where are you… We’re running behind schedule and we don’t have the Daisies yet!”
She blinked, looking down at the touch of claws resting on her right hind leg. The young dragon was leant against her, panting slowly.
“You… do remember…… some of us… can’t fly… right?” He panted out, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand.
“Sorry Spike. We’re just so busy! But now we Have the Carrots! So let’s mark it off!”
Spike caught his breath, nodding as he took up the scroll, checking off the picture of carrots with a swipe of quill. “Carrots check. Next up is Eggplants. … Eggplants?” He raised an eyebrow. “Who wants Eggplants?
“We need more. Shining Armor and Cadence are going to be here in two days, and I can’t afford to NOT have Eggplants if they want them!”
“Hmm… I thought we were prepping for their visit, not grocery shopping.”
“We ARE preparing! And we’re running out of time!”
“Twilight… Rarity and Fluttershy are cleaning the castle, Rainbow Dash is making sure the weather’s nice, Pinkie and Applejack are sorting the food. AND it’s two days. Besides, it’s not a formal visit, right?”
“No! No of course it isn’t!”
Spike looked up at the purple princess. Her face was contorted into an awkward smile, her eyes darting around slightly. It took him a few seconds, before he sighed, rolling the list back up and putting the quill behind one of the scales on his head.
“You had Rarity and Fluttershy put up Crystal Empire Tapestries again, didn’t you…”
“…… Just two!”
Pinching the bridge of his nose between his finger and thumb, Spike mumbled in reply to the mare. “Go and take them down… I’ll sort the groceries…”
“Are you sure? We still have half of the list to finish, and it’s only two Tapestries…”
“Go ahead, I’ll take care of it. Besides… WAS it two?”
“Yes. It… WAS… two.”
“And now?”
Twilight opened her mouth, as if to retort to the Dragon’s comment. Shortly afterwards, she closed it again, sighing in defeat.
“I’ll take them down…”
===========================================================
“Oh the castle looks Divine, don’t you think so, Fluttershy?” Squeaked the white unicorn mare as she stood within the map room of the grand castle.
The summer’s sun gave the crystalline hallways an aura of light, and essence; the wisps of light caressing each wall and ceiling that everypony would walk down. The map table itself had been cleaned to a shine; the Golden Oak Chandelier sitting above it, its layered crystals forming patterns and intricate designs that were illuminated by the sun’s gaze.
Four Tapestries were hung up upon the walls in this room alone, icons of the Crystal Empire accented on their faces, long and delicate as they hung softly from the walls.
“It looks lovely. But… um… don’t you think it might be… ugh… too much?” The pegasus softly replied to her friend as she hovered in the air, gently polishing the Oak.
“Too much? Fluttershy! This is Shining Armor, Princess Cadence, and the soon-to-be Royal Baby!! Hehehe!” She gleefully hopped on her hooves at the thought, excitement jittering through her bones at the thought of the Royal Couple and their little Filly, or Foal.
“It’s still Twilight’s Brother. After seeing how she decorated his room, I think he prefers the…… Simplistic Touch.”
“Yes yes, while I do admit that Shining Armor’s choice of ‘Decor’ was rather… shall we say, Standard…”
Sugar spilled from the sentence, memories of Shining Armor’s room when the couple announced the baby, coming back to her. “He is still Guardian of the Crystal Empire. Personal effects are for the Personal touch. This, is Official!”
“Is it?”
“Quite frankly, darling; I don’t really know." Her magic wrapped softly around a small frill in the tapestry, smoothing its formation. "Twilight seemed adamant, however she is at a point where her… professional opinion may be a touch… skewed.”
The Pegasus frowned. “I hope she’s not pushing herself too hard.”
The doors to the room creaked open. The two mares turned their heads towards them, as a familiar Purple Alicorn trotted in slowly, her magic currently holding a large selection of tapestries beside her. As she entered the room, her magic was cast over the four that also hung upon the walls, as they were taken down.
“Good afternoon, Twilight.”
“Hey girls.” She mumbled.
“Dear, why-ever are we taking the tapestries down? We just finished putting them up.”
The alicorn sighed. “Cos it’s not a formal visit. It’s my brother and my sister-in-law coming to visit; and I shouldn’t be panicking myself over decorations and design for an informal visit from family.”
Rarity frowned slightly. “Spike?”
“Spike…”
As the tapestries joined the ever-growing collection, Rarity’s frown turned into a moping annoyance. Fluttershy glanced down at her friend.
“Um… would… ugh… would you like me to go and… give Rainbow Dash the bits?”
“If you wouldn’t mind…” Rarity replied with irritation, her purse floating in her magic as ten bits came from within.
The bits hovered up to Fluttershy as she took them in her hooves. She nodded with a light smile as she softly left the room.
Twilight blinked. “Um… did you two bet on Spike talking to me about this?”
“Hmm? Oh heavens no dear! Of course not! Eheheh…” She awkwardly replied. The alicorn seemed to remain unsure, though a shrug following the gaze quickly wrote it off as she trotted towards the inner rooms to collect even More Tapestries.
The doors closed behind her, leaving the magic marshmallow to herself; grumbling alone.
“We bet if you would take the tapestries down or not…”
===========================================================
Spike loaded the last bag of groceries into the large cart, all of them just squeezing into place to be able to fit snugly. Clapping the dust from his hands with a smile, he looked at the Tetris-Precision layering of the bags and sacks.
“Thanks for lending me a cart, Applebloom. I couldn’t have gotten all this back without it.”
The Cutie Mark Crusaders smiled at the Dragon, standing proud that they had aided someone once more; the Cutie Marks on their flanks still shone bright since the day they had obtained them.
“Happeh t’help Spike.” The young apple said. “But ugh… are y’sure y’can get this back?”
Tilting his head, Spike took another glance at the cart. It was full. Of heavy food. And it was the cart Big Mac used. The CMC had only gotten it here by joint effort.
“Oh… ugh… I don’t suppose you guys ugh… Cutie Mark Crusader, Cart Pullers?” He offered, a "winning" smile in addition to two thumbs up in hope.
“Tried it.” Scootaloo muttered. “Fell down a cliff.”
“Oh.” He sighed. The cart was a daunting sight. A big stallion like Big Mac could pull it, and probably Applejack as well; but Spike was neither of those Ponies.
Waddling to the harness, he tugged on it. Putting all of his weight into dragging the heavy cart even a fragment of distance would be enough to convince the little dragon that he had a point to looking like the idiot he was making himself out as.
Alas. With his feet skidding across the earthy floor in desperate battles to try and move the great wagon, he only succeeded in working up a sweat.
“Phew… Okay… that isn’t gonna work…” He tapped his clawed fingers against his chin, looking around the square for something. Anything. A sign of inspiration, or aid.
“Hmm… your brother’s busy, right?”
“Uh huh. Big Mac’s doin’ his chores.”
“And Applejack?”
“… Sortin’ YER food fer Twilight’s Brother’s visit; r’member?”
“And Rarity and Fluttershy are sorting the castle… Pinkie’s baking… Scoot, know where Rainbow Dash is?”
“I haven’t seen her today.” She replied, glancing up to the sky.
Spike sighed. “Great. Guess I’m-“ He stopped, stunted in his own breath. The back of his throat began to burn as a deep bubble formed within his gullet.
His cheeks blew up, the heat within then growing with the magical flames. He let out a strong belch, as a scroll formed in the free flames. He shook his head; the sudden message delivery catching him off-guard; picking up the scroll when he regained his form.
He opened the scroll, and glanced over its words, mumbling to himself as he spoke the words incoherently in a babble.
Spike’s expression drooped as he glanced over the words, rereading them to just confirm to himself what they said. He hummed curiously, rolling the scroll back up.
“Everything okay?” Sweetie Belle perked up to the Dragon.
“Yeah, just gotta deliver a message to Twilight when I get back.”
“What did the scroll say?”
A grimace shortly spread over Spike’s mouth, looking down at the paper in his grasp.
“Ugh… I think I oughta tell Twilight before anyone else.”
“Okay.”
“Do ya wan’ us t'get this back?” Applebloom offered to the dragon, a sweet smile as she gestured.
“Ugh… are y’sure you can manage? I mean it’s pretty big and heavy…”
“Relax Spike. We can take care of it.” Scootaloo grinned as she flittered her wings. “Go ahead to Twilight. Oh! And can you ask her where Rainbow Dash is?”
“Sure. I’d like to know myself, to be fair. Thanks again girls!” Spike waved back to the once more before turning off towards the castle. His little legs carried him off towards his destination; leaving the Cutie Mark Crusaders to look back at their task.
“And… how are we meant to get this back to the castle?” Sweetie Belle quirked to her two compatriots.
Applebloom and Scootaloo looked at Sweetie Belle for a few moments, then turned to one another. A small smirk began to form at the corner of their mouths, slowly and steadily growing larger as they looked back to the Unicorn.
Sweetie Belle blinked with confusion at the two, then glanced upwards; to the Horn upon her forehead. Looking back down, the two had a manure-eating grin on their faces.
“You cannot be serious…”
===========================================================
“…and… how many did you say you had put up?” Hummed a pale yellow pegasus, herself and Rarity frowning at the, once, small pile of tapestries; that had now seemingly evolved into a large hulking mass of almost sixty of the bundles.
Twilight chuckled lightly as she looked at the pile. “Two…”
“That's a funny looking two…”
She sighed. “I know… I just wanted to make their visit special. I haven’t had chance to see them properly since they announced the baby. I’ve wanted to see them, but…”
“We know, darling. Royal Business and everything.”
“It’s not just that. When I’ve gone to visit them, business here has sprung up; with the Map, or something in town… or other things… and when they’ve come to visit, the travel has made Cadence sick.”
Rarity wandered towards Twilight, laying a hoof on her shoulder. “Well that’s not too farfetched, Twilight. Pregnancy does that to a mare.”
“I know. I’m not blaming any pony; I’m just happy I can see them.” She smiled.
“How are they getting here? I-If the train makes Cadence ill…”
“They’re arriving by carriage. They wanted something ‘Soft, Subtle and Scenic.’” Twilight replied with a smile. She blinked at her words, chuckling a bit. “Maybe THAT should’ve been my spark on the tapestries…”
“Well the tapestries aside, is there anything else we can do for you, dear?”
Twilight glanced around the room one final time. The table was gleaming, the Golden Oak was sparkling with each of crystal, and the walls reflected the incoming light immaculately throughout the room, and the connecting corridors.
“No. Thank you both; it looks great.”
The two mares smiled and nodded to her.
“It was our pleasure.” Fluttershy sweetly opened up to her friend.
“Well thank you, anyway. I’m sure Spike and I can handle the rest of the day. Just as soon as he gets back with the groceries.”
“Very well then dear. Have a lovely day.”
Rarity smiled as she wandered towards the front entrance, Fluttershy waving to the Alicorn slightly as she flew just after her friend. The doors closed behind them in a dark pink glow, that emanated from her horn.
“Right…” She turned to the pile of tapestries. “Guess I can send YOU back to the Canterlot… where did I leave that box…?”
Her hooves guided her out of the room and into the hallways, Twilight mumbling to herself softly as she starred at the ground. The pitter-patter of feet waddled up to her slowly.
“Ugh… Twilight…”
She looked up. “Ah Spike, excellent. Where did we put the crates for storage? I need them for the tapestries.”
“A crate? For two?” He folded his arms, the scroll sitting idly in his right hand, resting against his chest. He raised an eyebrow with the question.
“… Um…… yes?”
“Uh huh… Sure I know where they are, but-“
“Oh good. Well when you’re done with the groceries, we can-… Um… Spike, where are the groceries?”
“They’re coming… Eventually… listen, um… this came for you.” Unfolding his arms, he offered the scroll out to the Mare; a sombre look upon his face.
She tilted her head to the sight, taking the scroll up in her magic. It unfurled, as her eyes scanned over the words.
Her gaze soon turned dull, her eyes cast downwards upon the ground, as if it was more worth looking at than the words upon the scroll.
Her smile had all but faded into a frown. The scroll softly rerolled itself, and landed back into Spike’s hand. He looked down at it, then back up as Twilight plonked down onto her haunches, a sigh of disappointment cast from her nostrils.
“…I’m sorry Twilight.” Spike mumbled, putting his free hand on her shoulder. “I know you was looking forward to this.”
Her stare faltered none; still fixated upon the blank spot of floor between them. Tossing the scroll over his shoulder, Spike pulled his dear Alicorn into a small, but sweet hug, the letter rolling itself out over the floor as her own hooves wrapped around the dragon, as her head leant against his shoulder.
Its contents were short, to the point, and sharp as a knife.
Twilight.
We can’t come this weekend.
Sorry.
Shining Armor.
=====