The Bottom Shelf

by JakeAndDollars

It Must be December

It Must be December

“Spike!” Twilight called as she rifled through yet another suitcase, her efforts failing to locate the one item that had somehow slipped past her third check of the traveling checklist. “Spike?!”

“What is it, Twi?” Spike hollered back from somewhere up stairs, the sounds of thumping luggage signaling the little drake’s return.

“Where did my notes go for that study on theoretical manna propagation within quantum locked pocket dimensions?” Twilight asked quickly, her voice nearly frantic as she continued to paw through her bags contents. “I can’t show up to a lecture at the Manehattan University for Magical Sciences without that!”

Spike found himself vaguely wondering what Rarity would be up to while he and Twilight would be gone for the weekend, his distaste for the trip already reaching toxic levels of, whatever. “It’s right where you left it,” he said plainly, reaching out and grabbing it from under Twilight’s wing as he passed by, adding the final suitcase to the pile.

“Oh, right,” Twilight muttered sheepishly, grabbing the precious roll of parchment and putting it with the others. “Well, that should be everything then,” she added, once again rechecking her list. “Ready to go?”

“I think so,” Spike replied as he lifted the comically large pile onto his back. “Got the tickets?”

“No, something came up yesterday before I could go get them, so I’ll just have to pick them up when we get to the station,” Twilight stated simply with a shrug as she headed for the door. “Don’t worry, we have plenty of time before the train arrives.”

“Uh, I don’t know about that, Twi,” Spike replied warily as he followed his purple friend out into the chill winter air, “I mean, the trains get really busy this time of year. You, do know what month it is right?”

Twilight shook her head with a sigh as she closed the door behind them, “Oh Spike, don’t worry so much, we are leaving with plenty of time to spare, everything is packed, and the library is in good, er, talons,” she said, turning to head down the street with a purpose. “I mean, what’s the worst that could happen?”

Spike stopped dead in his tracks, staring at the mare with an exasperated look. “Says the pony who nearly burned down her own home pouring milk on a bowl of cereal,” he stated flatly, remembering back to the disaster a year ago. Had it really already been that long?

Groaning in defeat, and simply wishing to appease the little dragon, who was most certainly making far too large a deal out of this, Twilight came back to face her loyal assistant. “Alright Spike, if it will make you feel better, we can save a few more minutes and fly, hop on,” she said, spreading her wings and levitating Spike up to sit just behind her withers.

“It won’t matter,” Spike muttered quietly to himself, the sound lost on the wind as Twilight took to the air, the pair making good time despite the futility of it all.

The flight took barely a minute, the chill convincing Twilight to move quickly and reach the train station as swiftly as her wings were capable. The graceful princess of friendship only nearly crashed twice, in fact.

“There, you see Spike, nothing to worry about,” Twilight stated, sounding only somewhat startled as she skidded on the icy path running along the front of the station. Carefully, she helped Spike down from her back and the pair headed for the entrance to the platform.

“We have loads of time thanks to that little shortcut, now all we have to do is get the tickets and we can-“ Twilight Sparkle cut herself off abruptly as she turned the corner onto the platform, the vast space completely packed with a hustle and bustle she had never known Ponyville to have before, and the smell, it nearly made her hurl.

Worst of all however, was the little sign hanging in the ticket booth window, ‘sold out,’ was plastered in red lettering to alert any would-be travelers just what kind of creek they were up with no paddle.

“That’s what I was trying to tell you Twi,” Spike said begrudgingly, watching the flailing, flopping, gasping mass of living I told you so that waited for the train. “Fish can’t fly in December, so they all take the train…”

Twilight sank to her haunches, the realization of having once again challenged Murphy sinking in, “Spike?” She mumbled in disgust, the thought of a soggy bowl of cereal coming to mind. “Anything else important about today I was supposed to remember?”

Author's Note:

Yes, yes there was…
~Dollars

I'm not dead yet, just distracted from writing.
-Jake