Perihelion

by InTheStands

Chapter 1

"Spike, come on!"

The young dragon groaned. "I'm going as fast as I can with all this on my back!"

Night had begun to fall over Equestria. This simple act itself was not the reason Twilight Sparkle and her assistant Spike were racing across town, however. Tonight, Princess Luna planned a special meteor shower, one to welcome the 'Siblinghooves' events.

The idea for events and gatherings for all siblings came about after some began to dismiss the Sisterhooves Social as discriminating towards those with brothers. As silly as this seemed at the time, eventually the voice of protest grew louder until the Mayor stepped in and announced plans to schedule socials that all ponies and their siblings could enjoy.

Luna, through Twilight's letters to the Princesses, caught wind of this and immediately went to work preparing tonight's celebratory meteor shower. One that Twilight was not intending to miss.

Twilight moved as speedily as one could carrying a delecate telescope, while Spike was stuck with the practical mountain of astronomy material stuffed into a backpack he wore. In no time at all, the two made it to their destination: A wide open field on the outskirts of the town.

"Alright," Twilight muttered to Spike, who was catching his breath. "We made it. And with a good few minutes to spare. Now..." She looked around for one particular spot. The spot that, according to her calculations, made for the perfect view of the shower. She quickly remembered where it was, and laid eyes on it.

Only to see that it was occupied by another, larger telescope.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Realization immediately kicked in as she and Spike walked toward the offending object. "What's going on? I thought I put a mark on here saying this spot was claimed!"

Spike proposed a small theory to the librarian. "Uh...you did remember to tell everyone that you marked the spot, didn't you?"

It fell silent between them until Twilight stamped a frustrated hoof on the ground. "I KNEW I forgot something!" She laid her own telescope down and sat, dejected, into the sky, allowing Spike to do the same. She sighed. "This is great. All this preparing and planning just washed away like that. Where else out here am I going to get-"

"Excuse me?"

The unicorn and dragon quickly turned around to face the source of the noise. They were met with the sight of a unicorn stallion.
He sported a coat that was a sort of dull yellow-green, and a mane and tail that was a dull grayish blue. He looked at them before speaking again, in what they believed to be a Western accent. "Uh...hello?"

"Oh!" Twilight quickly stood up, picking up her telescope with her magic. "Sorry! Uh, we'll be going now."

"Now wait a minute," The stallion stopped them. "That mark on the ground...that was yours, wasn't it?"

Twilight looked to Spike before staring at the ground and nodding. "Look, it's nothing, really. I know a lot of other ponies that would love for me to-"

"I'm sure, I'm sure," The unicorn interrupted her. "But that still doesn't make up for me taking your spot. Listen...you're welcome to stay here and watch with me. If you wanted to, that is."

Spike was rasing his eyebrows suggestively at Twilight, who sighed and lightly told him to knock it off. She looked back at the unicorn. "I suppose if it's no trouble..."

"None at all!" He laughed. "Now go on. You brought blankets with you?"

Twilight pulled out one of her spare blankets she brought for the field, pulling out Spike's along with it. Looking at the ground, she saw the stallion had already placed his on the ground. They laid there, looking up at the sky. From the angle they were at right now, Twilight noticed the blue cutie mark on his flank that made the shape of a star leaving a curved comet tail. She looked up at him. "I don't think we ever told each other our names. I'm Twilight Sparkle. This is Spike."

The stallion nodded. "I'm Comet Tail. We met before."

"We did?" Spike whispered to Twilight.The unicorn mare tried not to offend her generous host.

"Yeah, that's right, we did." She immediately tried to divert attention from herself. "That's a really nice telescope. A lot better than mine."

"This old thing?" Comet Tail gestured to the instrument. "I've had this for years. Practically since I was a colt. But yours is nice, too."

"You're just saying that," Twilight dismissed his compliment. "Mine doesn't have as big of a magnification as yours, you can tell."

"Just 'cause it isn't as fancy doesn't mean it can't do the same job," Comet defended. "Besides, this is more of a professional's tool. You don't get it unless you're willing to pay a serious amount of bits for it."

"Oh, never mind then," Twilight managed to laugh. "Guess I'll just stick to looking down at my books instead of up at-"

"Uh, guys?" Spike broke off Twilight's sentence. "If we're done...I think it's starting."

The two ponies, as well as everypony else in the field, looked up and were immediately in awe. Literally hundreds of brilliant streaks cut through the night sky, disappearing almost as fast as they appeared. 'Oohs' and 'ahs' escaped the mouths of almost all who were watching.

A split second after Spike warned them, Comet had his eye on the finderscope of his telescope, mouth agape in amazement. "Wow...wow, wow..."

Twilight could only giggle at his reactions. "Do you mind if I take a look? I didn't have time to set mine up."

Comet immediately obliged, stepping aside for the mare to view the spectacle herself. Twilight watched, and was blown away. The clarity of the magnification made for an outstanding view. It also revealed a new thing entirely: Each comet had a tail of its own color, be it blue, pink, red, or anything else. No color was repeated whatsoever.

"Princess Luna really showed her dedication to detail," Twilight looked up at Comet.

"Yeah," the stallion looked up, watching with his own eyes. "It's a shame she can only make so many meteor showers at a time."

Twilight was struck dumb. "How...how did you know that? I thought she only told me and Celestia when she announced the shower!"

"Really?" Comet rubbed a hoof on the back of his neck. "Heh, this is gonna sound weird, but...I got a copy of ancient Equestrian star charts back at home. One chapter talked about how much work Princess Luna put into the meteors...until Night Mare Moon, that is."

Twilight felt her jaw drop. "That...pre-Night Mare Moon literature?! Oh my gosh!" Twilight grew faint. "You...you HAVE to show it to me! Please!"

Comet Tail laughed while Spike sighed, almost as if this happened before. "Alright, then! Maybe tomorrow, at the library?"

"Done!" Twilight was practically bounding.

"Guys!" Spike shouted, more out of concern than annoyance. "You're missing the shower!"

The meteors streaking by were starting to diminish in size, before also starting to decrease in numbers. Comet Tail began putting away his telescope.

"You're not leaving, are you?" Spike asked. "It's not over yet."

"I just wanted to get a view of the tails," Comet admitted. "Besides, the sooner I can set this down, the sooner I can get back home."

The ponies in the field watched as the shower began to slowly peter out. In a few minutes, all that remained were the twinkling stars and the crescent moon hanging overhead. Comet Tail, Twilight, and Spike began to part ways.

"Remember!" Twilight called out to him as she and Spike headed in the opposite direction. "Tomorrow I want a look at that book!"

"Can do!" Comet called back. "See you tomorrow!" Sporting his telescope on his back, he began his trek home, thinking to himself about his reunion with Twilight:

I can't believe how much she's changed. I can't believe she forgave me, either. Guess miracles do happen.

Twilight, however, had her own thoughts:

I just can't put my hoof on it...I KNOW I saw him somewhere before...but where? This is gonna drive me crazy, isn't it?

Lastly, Spike too had one lingering thought on his mind:

I didn't leave Peewee's cage open again, did I?