The Storm Passes

by DiscoGuy

Ch. 3: Kindness

Proceeding down from the steps of an immense staircase, two mares entered into the grandiose foyer of the Castle of Friendship. Each took a moment to compose themselves, drying various tear stains, and smoothing out their coats, ruffled from their prolonged embrace. Though neither said it, both felt deeply gladdened by the time they had spent sitting in the library, making small conversation together, following Tempest’s painful confession. Feeling herself adequately straightened out, the mare of deep fuchsia turned to her companion.

“Twilight, I want to apologize for the incident this morning.” She said, regretting the disquiet she had created earlier that day.

“Don’t worry Tempest. It’s not like you did anything wrong, anypony in your situation would be just as shocked.”

“Well, what I mean is, I want to apologize for lying. It wasn’t because of the room, that I woke up like that. The truth is, I have night terrors, and last night they were worse than usual.” Tempest admitted, embarrassed that she had felt the need to lie, but pleased by the fact that she felt comfortable enough with Twilight to share the truth.

“Oh my. I’m so sorry Tempest, I had no idea. You know, if you want, I could talk to Princess Luna about it. She protects the dreams of us ponies, she might be able to help you with that.” Twilight offered, hoping her friend would accept the help.

Though the idea of getting help for her nightmares agreed with Tempest, she couldn’t shake a feeling that she had already been imposing on her friend’s kindness.

“No, it’s fine, they aren’t very common. In fact, I rarely get them, it was probably just a one time thing, with the trial and all.” Tempest lied through her teeth, hating the idea of Twilight going to such lengths for her sake.

“Tempest, you shouldn’t feel bad about accepting help.” Twilight responded, sensing her friend’s repressed want for assistance.

“No, honestly, they really don’t happen very often. You don’t need to bother yourself and Princess Luna with this.”

“I’m not going to drop this until you let me help you.” Twilight persisted, knowing all-too-well the signs of a pony in need of help, but unwilling to ask for it.

The alicorn’s determination was visible in her eyes, and Tempest could feel the powerful kindness that fueled it. Know that refusing help was a losing prospect, she settled to accept aid in a form less burdensome for her friend.

“Alright, but you don’t need to ask Luna for help. Remember when you offered to let me use a room on a different floor? Well, Starlight is a very nice pony and all, but I’d feel a bit more comfortable if I knew I was on the same floor as you. Just so I know you’re nearby, in case I go doing something stupid, like screaming the whole castle awake.”

Struck with the feeling that her friend was still hiding something, but not wanting to press her further than she already had, Twilight responded,

“Absolutely! I’m sure Starlight won’t mind, I think she likes having the floor to herself. And remember, I’m not letting you use a room, you aren’t a tenant, or an inmate, this is your house. The room nearest to Spike and I’s is officially yours.”

“Thank you Twilight. It means more to me than you know.” Tempest said, again amazed by the seemingly endless kindness the mare had shown her.

“Tempest, you’re my friend, I’m more than happy to help you. And I’ll keep telling you that until you remember it. My friends mean more to me than anything.” She insisted, determined to make the unicorn feel welcome.

The two would have been happy to stand there in conversation for the rest of the day, were it not for an interruption, in the form of a brief knock on the castle’s main door, followed by it being pushed open.

In the doorway stood Fluttershy and Rarity, somewhat surprised to see their friends standing at the bottom of the staircase, unmoving. First of the bunch to speak up was the buttermilk pegasus, who approached the mares on the stairs.

“Oh, hello Twilight, Tempest. Rainbow Dash told us that we were having a get together for Tempest tonight, and I thought that sounded wonderful.”

“Indeed, I wouldn’t miss this for the world.” Her alabaster accomplice added.

Her brief puzzlement at the arrival resolved, then swiftly replaced with another, Twilight inquired,

“Oh my. Is it that late already?” She took a glance out the still open door, and saw that it was, in fact, evening, before closing the door behind the entrants. The time spent in conversation in the library had evidently been longer than either participant had realized. “We’ll leave formal introductions until all the girls are here. Knowing Pinkie, she’s probably already in the dining room.”

Somehow hearing the statement, which was far too quiet to be audible in said room, a very pink voice responded.

“YEP!”

The four mares shared a chuckle at their mutual friend’s entertaining lunacy. Moving to meet their friend, the mares were again interrupted by a knocking at the door, this time not followed by a pony letting themselves in.

Sensing that the pony was waiting for the door to be opened, Rarity pulled the door with a cerulean tug, revealing Applejack, who entered the castle, pulling a cart behind her.

“Thanks, Rares. This stuff is mighty heavy, but I knew you girls would be awful hungry ‘round now.” Applejack explained, indicating the cart she pulled, which bore several pies.

Grateful for the gesture, Twilight pressed the farmpony,

“That’s very kind of you Applejack, but that’s a lot of pie to give out, even if we are your friends. You have to let me pay you for those.”

“Now that’s a load of hooey, and you know it, Twilight. Just ‘cuz Rares went and got a necklace for it don’t mean the rest of us can’t be a mite generous from time to time.”

Not expecting to gain any ground by arguing with her unflappable friend, Twilight yielded, leading her friends toward the dining room.

As the five mares trotted along, Applejack again spoke up.

“Honestly, these pies needed gettin’ rid of anyhow. Pies don’t keep too good if you let ‘em sit for too long, and we can never sell all of our pies ‘round this time of year. With Nightmare Night only a week out, all anypony wants is pumpkin this, and pumpkin that. It’s the only time of year that nopony seems to want apple pie.” She added, with a small laugh at the inevitable annual occurrence.

“Wow, you’re right, it is only a week away, isn’t it? I completely forgot about it with all the Friendship Festival stuff, and especially with Tempest coming to Ponyville.” Twilight realized she had allowed the holiday to sneak up on her.

“Wait, I’m sorry, I only remember a little bit about it from my foalhood, what’s Nightmare Night?” Tempest inquired, as the group stepped into the dining room, revealing two mares already seated at the table, one their pink cohort, and the other a cyan pegasus, visibly shocked by the question she had just overheard.

“You don’t know about NIGHTMARE NIGHT? It’s only the coolest night of the whole year!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, visibly excited to share her favorite holiday with a new friend.

Puzzled by the fact that she had heard no knocks before the arrival of Rarity and Fluttershy, Twilight began questioning the pegasus. “Wait, Rainbow? How did you get in here? Why can’t you just use front door? I swear to Celestia if you broke another window-”

“Don’t worry, egghead, I used the same window this time. Doors are for ponies that aren’t me. Calm down before you have a conniption.” Rainbow answered, quite assured of her response’s reasonableness.

“Now what kind of word is conniption?” Applejack shot back, deriving some humor from her friend’s strange diction.

In what was seeming to become a pattern, the mares present shared a good-natured laugh, excepting Rainbow Dash, who only mumbled something about catching “second-hand egghead”.

Pinkie was swift to notice the cargo her orange friend bore, and announced, “OOOH, PIE! Watch out Applejack, you’re really getting Rainbow’s goat today!” Again, a chorus of laughter erupted, sweeping Tempest up in the wave of mirth, as she shared a heartfelt laugh with the group.

“Relax, Rainbow, I brought something for you too.” Applejack stated, revealing a number of apples concealed underneath the numerous pies.

Assisting her friend, Twilight levitated the array of pies, moving them onto the large table around which the assembly was organized. As the mares began taking various seats around the head of the table, Twilight conjured a small, insubstantial wineglass, along with a fork of similarly intangible nature. Tapping them together with an attention-drawing *clink*, and again dismissing them, Twilight spoke.

“Thank you for coming, girls. Before we begin, I just wanted give our guest of honor a chance to speak.”

Rising from her seat, and looking at the party before her, Tempest cleared her throat.

“Hello, as you all know, my name is Tempest Shadow, but please feel free to just call me Tempest. I’m deeply sorry for the unpleasantness of our first meeting, and for my actions while I was serving the Storm King. It is incredibly kind of you all to allow me a second chance. I sincerely hope that, with time, I can be friends with you all.”

The room was pleased with the introduction, and with a polite clap, Rarity spoke to the unicorn.

“Darling, I’m touched by your apology, but you shouldn’t let it weigh so much on you. You don’t need to earn our friendship, you proved yourself some time ago. Anypony that is Twilight’s friend, is a friend I’m honored to call my own.” Her compatriots nodded in firm approval, casting affectionate smiles toward the fuchsia mare.

“Again, I’m stunned by your kindness, you’ve been so patient, and so forgiving with me, it’s incredible.” Tempest said, amazed at the warmth she had been shown by the six mares that accounted for her first true friends.

“Gosh, that’s nice of you to say, Tempest, but really, that’s just how most ponies are.” Fluttershy contributed, demonstrating her unshakable faith in the innate goodness of ponies.

“I’m always happy to have friends who can kick as much flank as you, Tempest. You’re welcome to chillax with me anytime.” Rainbow said, eager for a more athletic addition to her circle of friends.

“I’m inclined to agree with Rainbow Dash, though perhaps chillax is not the word I would choose. You really do have a beautiful mane, such a lovely color, you simply must join me on a visit to the spa sometime. I do believe the spa ponies here can have you really turning heads.” Rarity offered, excited at the prospect of another friend to bring on spa dates.

Pinkie Pie inhaled deeply.

“And I know Twilight doesn’t want me to throw you a super-duper-big-all-of-ponyville- hiding-in-your-bedroom surprise party, but if you want to have a welcome party, I can throw you a super-duper-not-big-only-a-small-fraction-of-ponyville-hiding-in-your-bedroom surprise party, just be sure to let me know sneakily, so that it’ll be a surprise!” She spat out, making tremendously efficient use of the single breath she had taken.

A brief pause came over the room following Pinkie’s outburst, as the ponies mentally caught up with the whole of her statement.

“Uh, yeah, what she said. And I know how strong you are Tempest, way I see it, you could put a whole lot of earth ponies to shame. I’ll have to drag you out to do some applebucking with me. We can get to know each other, and you can lend me a pair of hooves with harvesting.” Applejack proposed, wanting to gauge her new friend’s impressive build.

Making a point to not interrupt any of her friends, Fluttershy was the last to extend an offer to the mare.

“You should come by my house sometime, and you can meet all the animals there. I know that it probably sounds intimidating, but working with animals is actually very relaxing.”

Tempest, in a few short minutes, had gone from believing herself to have one friend, and and long way to go before making others, to being inundated with offers to spend time with five new friends. Before she could fully process the unbelievable circumstances she had stumbled into, Twilight spoke to the mare, snapping her back to reality.

“I’ll have to show you around Ponyville, before you do any of that. How about tomorrow, I take you around town and show you where the girls live? You really should look around before Nightmare Night arrives, the town completely transforms after sunset.”

Not wanting to make her new friends uncomfortable, Tempest resisted the tears of joy that wished to spout forth. The kindness she had been shown in one day was equal to, or greater than, the sum of all kindnesses she had received across the rest of her life. Mastering herself, she responded.

“Thank you all very much. I’d like to do that, all of it. I just have one question. I never really got an explanation of just what Nightmare Night is.”

As she heard the mare’s confusion, Rainbow Dash shot up in her seat, and responded passionately.

“Oh yeah! Egghead over here interrupted me before I could tell you about it. Where was I?” She took a brief pause to think, then dove right back into her holiday spiel. “Nightmare Night is the coolest night of the whole year! Everypony dresses up in all kinds of awesome costumes, and there’s a huge carnival in town. We give out candy to the foals, and to Pinkie, and there’s a huge dance party in the town center!”

“And Rainbow goes around pulling pranks, don’t forget that part.” Rarity added.

Still confused, but somewhat better informed, Tempest nodded in understanding. Before Rainbow could vocalize a defense of her practical jokes, a worrisome growl commanded the room’s attention.

“Oops, sorry. That was me.” announced Pinkie Pie, pointing towards her rumbling stomach.

“As much fun as this is, I think Pinkie has the right idea.” said Twilight, as she began cutting the pies, and distributing slices around the table. As she finished the task, providing ample pie for each guest, and ensuring a certain guest received a large stack of apples, Twilight set aside the last pie of the lot, and settled into her seat, eager to eat.

Starting with Pinkie, who swallowed a slice whole, a pie feeding frenzy overtook the room.

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“...and you should drop by my boutique, so I can make you something to complement that mane of yours!” finished Rarity, before taking her last few steps out of the castle.

With the departure of the last guest, Tempest and Twilight stood alone in the foyer, as the hour creeped past sunset.

“Do you feel a little better, Tempest? We’re all your friends here, and you shouldn’t forget that.”

“Thank you, Twilight. I do feel better, much better. Suddenly, I have more friends now than I ever had before.”

“I’m glad to hear that. Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rainbow, and I will alway be here for you. And also Starlight, I’m sure she’d love your company as well.” Twilight, captured by a momentary thought, allowed a brief pause. “Speaking of which, she should be getting back any time now. And she might have another new friend with her! Let’s go wait outside for them.” Twilight concluded, leading her companion outside.

Stepping into the night, it occurred to Twilight that her friend lacked any winter attire, and that the year would only keep getting colder, until Winter Wrap-Up came around. That in mind, she settled on a plan to make Tempest’s Nightmare Night even more special.

After deciding on her plan, Twilight returned to reality, and saw a purple and blue duo approaching the castle.

“Hi Starlight, Trixie, I’m glad you came by, there’s somepony I’d like to meet.” Twilight stated, indicating her fuchsia companion.

As the pair drew near, Tempest stepped forward to greet the mares.

“Hello, my name is Tempest Shadow, but you can just call me Tempest. I’m living in the castle here in Ponyville, and I’m trying to make a new start. I had heard from Twilight that you two might understand my situation.”

“Well, you already know me, Starlight, and this is my friend Trixie. She also has a… difficult past, and we both know about making a new start in Ponyville.”

“Indeed, I am the Great and Powerful Trixie, but you may simply call Trixie, Trixie. Trixie is pleased to make your acquaintance, she is quite familiar with certain ponies making second-chances difficult.” Trixie announced, glad to meet a kindred former-villain spirit.

Twilight opened the castle door, and gestured the party inside, and informed the mares, “I’ll leave you girls be, but first, Applejack brought pie, and I set one aside for you and Trixie.”

The group trotted into the dining room, and Twilight turned to her three cohorts, announcing,

“I’m going to clean up the kitchen, so why don’t you three take the pie and go chat in the Map Room.”

Starlight and Trixie were immediately pleased with the idea, and grabbing the pie, set off for the Map Room. Unlike her companions, for reasons she could not explain, Tempest felt somewhat displeased by the idea. Instinctively, she felt as though she would prefer Twilight come with, even though she knew Starlight was a perfectly kind pony, and felt any friend of hers must also be a good friend to have.. Not able to trace the cause of her own feeling, as well as not wishing to disturb the alicorn’s cleaning plans, Tempest raised no objection, and and followed the two.

As Twilight entered the kitchen to set about on her cleaning, and the three mares left earshot, Trixie spoke up, filling the hall with her voice.

“So, Tempest, Trixie wonders what you did in your past. Trixie’s amazing magic show, and ego, made her a public enemy of the town, and then, in a matter that was debatably part Trixie’s fault, two foolish colts led an angry-”

Starlight, seeing the direction that the conversation would take, swiftly jabbed Trixie in the side.

“Trixie, maybe we should leave that story for another time.”

“Fine, Trixie is perfectly happy to talk about something else, you needn’t be so rude about it. How has your experience been with your first day starting over in Ponyville, Tempest?”

Tempest was somewhat confused by the two mares exchange, but decided it would be easier to not question it.

“I owe Twilight so much. She was the first pony to give me a second chance. She’s done so much to make me feel welcome here. I couldn’t imagine a more forgiving pony. How about you Trixie, you also had a new start in Ponyville, I imagine Twilight helped you too?”

Trixie, more puzzled than upset, struggled to process the description she had been given of Twilight’s acceptance and forgiveness. Recollecting on her first return to Ponyville, however, and the fact that Twilight had been the most understanding pony in the town at that time, she could almost convince herself that what the mare said was true.

“Well, that was not… exactly Trixie’s experience, but Trixie is pleased to hear your first day of this new start is going well. It took Trixie and Starlight some time to get adjusted to living here.”

The group entered the room, and though Tempest was instinctively wary of sitting in the respective thrones of her six friends, witnessing her companions take a seat without a second thought, she hoped it would be alright, and took a seat on Twilight’s throne. Cutting and dividing the pie, Starlight turned her attention to Tempest.

“I promise, everypony here will be all too glad to give you a clean slate. You’ll have a brand new start before you know it.”

“So, Tempest, Trixie wishes to know more about you. Please, enlighten Trixie.”

They settled in for a long, and very difficult, evening of conversation.

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“Phew!” Twilight exclaimed, her task finally completed. It had taken her the better part of an hour to root out the various surfaces that smelled of burnt pancake, and to scrub the offending odor out of the kitchen as a whole.

A powerful tide of exhaustion overtook the mare, as she realized she ought inform the party in the Map Room that she had finished the task. She set into a trot towards the room, and silently hoped that her new friend had gotten along with Trixie better than she had.

As she approached the room, she heard the sound of quiet, pleasant conversation, and a small laugh rise from the mares within. Reassured, she stepped inside.

“Twilight!” Tempest excitedly said, hopping up from her seat, and walking over to the alicorn. “You finished with the kitchen?”

“Yep, all done.” Twilight responded happily. Looking toward the two still-seated mares, Twilight spoke, “Thank you for keeping Tempest company, I hope you all had a good time. I hate to break up the fun, but I want to help Tempest sort out her living situation. She’s going to move up to a room on the top floor, because…” Twilight took an imperceptible pause as she divined an excuse for her friend’s desire to change floors, that would not betray her secret. “...she’s been getting lost on this floor, and there’s less rooms and halls on the top floor.” she finished, hoping the lie had not been caught.

If Starlight had noticed the lie, she was too happy with the results to question it, and answered, “Alright, I completely understand. I don’t know how long it took me to find my way around all the rooms on this floor. Plus, I kinda like having the floor to myself at night.” she admitted, aware that her occasional magical escapades would likely disturb the sleep of other ponies on her floor.

“Great! Well, feel free to stay as long as you like, Trixie, I’ll probably turn in after I show Tempest her room. Good night!” Twilight announced, before trotting out of the room.

Tempest turned to the two seated unicorns.

“Thank you very much for your company, and your advice. I feel much better about living in Ponyville now. Good night, friends.” she shyly added, before quickly clopping off after Twilight.

Now alone in the room, a curious rumination struck Starlight, and she looked toward her blue friend to indulge it.

“Hey Trixie, do you think that, maybe….” she dropped her voice to a barely audible whisper, “...pshpphshbeppspggpbphsupbnsnpsnphnphnspnhpsnhpsnfpsnirenoie?”

“WHAT? No Trixie does not think so! And yes, Trixie would bet on it!”

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Twilight and Tempest emerged on the top floor of the castle both beginning to succumb to the wear of an exhausting day.

“So, Tempest, if you turn right here, Spike and I’s room is the door at the end of the hall. Your room is the nearest door to that, on the left.” Twilight pointed out the door, and began walking down the hall.

“Thank you for doing this for me, Twilight. It means a lot.”

Twilight opened the door to Tempest’s room, allowing the unicorn in. Seeing the room’s insides, Tempest stood astounded, for its extravagance put the guest bedrooms to shame. Not only was the room significantly larger, and furnished with several extra features, namely a desk, a dresser, and a chest of drawers, but the bed was clearly intended to fit two ponies, and quite comfortably at that.

“And let me stop you before you start saying you can’t take accept this, because it’s already yours. The room is yours to have for as long as you please, and it will remain yours even if you, in the future, leave Ponyville.”

Having already shed more tears than she had been prepared to, over the course of the day, Tempest’s eyes ran dry, but the weight of the gesture struck her all the same.

“Thank you, Twilight. This room is the nicest thing I’ve ever had, and certainly the nicest place I’ve ever lived.” She grasped the Princess in a short hug. Separating, Tempest began making her way toward the bed, feeling an immense weight laying on her shoulders, from a long day filled with new discoveries, and new friends.

“I hope you don’t mind, but I’m going to head straight to bed. Good night, Twilight.”

“Of course. Good night, Tempest.” Twilight stepped out of the room, closing the door behind her. With her friend now comfortably situated, the alicorn allowed herself to release a tired sigh, and trotted toward her own bedroom, uncommonly excited to fall into her bed for the night.

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Fussing and fumbling out of of her bed, Twilight awoke, immediately suspecting that it was not yet morning. Glancing out of her window, she saw the moon still occupying the sky, and by its position, determined that technically, it was morning, a very wee hour of the morning. Regaining her waking senses, Twilight looked to her dragon companion, and affirmed that he was still asleep. Whatever had woken her had, apparently, not troubled Spike in the slightest.

After several moments of silence, the cause of her awakening revealed itself. Distantly, she could hear a high-pitched whimpering, intermittently broken up by muffled shouts of fright.

Suddenly snapping out of her sleepy haze, Twilight began quietly walking toward her door, opening it slowly, and silently thanked her mentor that it did not creak as she closed it behind her. Her destination now in sight, she allowed her pace to slightly increase, as she reached and opened the door to Tempest’s room.

Inside, Tempest could be seen, fidgeting in her sleep, and voicing the worried sounds that had awoken Twilight. In her fitful slumber, it seemed she had accidentally thrown the covers off of herself, and onto the floor.

As quietly as she could, Twilight grabbed the blanket, not wanting to risk the faint hum of magic, and laid it gently over the sleeping mare. Though Tempest’s sleeping became less fitful, and her shouting ceased, with the replacement of the blanket, she was still visibly bothered by something occurring in the dream world. Twilight, lacking the proficiencies of her Lunar counterpart, settled on the best help she could render unto her friend.

Leaning in close to the fuchsia mare’s ear, and praying her words could reach the mare in her dream, Twilight softly whispered,

“It’s alright Tempest. Twilight and all your friends are here for you. You’re safe.”

Tempest’s fidgeting slowed, and blissfully, came to a stop. Soothed into a calm sleep, Tempest could only be heard to mumble, “Twilight…” before a light, restful snore replaced her earlier whimpers.

Bearing a smile of great contentment, Twilight returned to her room, careful to not awaken either of the floor’s other residents, and before returning to her bed, took a seat at her desk. Drawing a blank piece of parchment, along with a quill and inkwell, out of the desk, she set into her task.

“Dear Princess Luna,

I am writing to inquire about whether you plan to visit Ponyville this Nightmare Night. I am certain the residents of the town would be quite pleased if you were to attend our celebration.

If you are planning to come to Ponyville, I would like to ask a favor, for the sake of a mutual acquaintance…”

Comments

[G33kySt3v3]

Hallo! It is I! The lord of unnecessary nitpicking that for some reason I and other authors actually appreciate! Though, I guess the first thing I have to comment on isn't really a nitpick... I also don't remember if I have commented on this story yet or not, and since I'm too lazy to check... I'm going to act like I never have.

“Well, what I mean is, I want to apologize for lying. It wasn’t because of the room, that I woke up like that. The truth is, I have night terrors, and last night they were worse than usual.”

Did you know that night terrors is a sleeping disorder that some humans have? It's actually kind of interesting. Often an individual with night terrors will sit up in the middle of the night and let out shrieks of terror, even if they aren't having a nightmare. Normally the individual with night terrors is still asleep while screaming, or has no recollection of the event, even if they were awake.

So, Tempest, if you turn right here, Spike and I’s room is the door at the end of the hall.

Now, I've been wrong before on this kind of stuff, but I'm fairly certain that Spike has his own room in the castle, and a bed... Actually I'm pretty sure there's an episode about that... Yeah... "Castle Sweet Castle" Season 5 Episode 3, Twilight can't get used to her new castle, and the girls try to make it more like the Golden Oaks Library, and need Spike to distract her, he comes up with the excuse that he needs a new bed for his room.

Anyway though... Great chapter besides, I really enjoy how well this is written, many of the other stories on this ship have weird grammar errors that make it less enjoyable to read. Another thing I love about this is the chapter size, so much to read, so little time! Except, no, I have way too much time, that's why about half my day is spent reading about tiny technicolor magic horses, usually the purple one with the wings and a horn, being a lesbian with... just about anyone... I need new hobbies. And apparently, a way to cut down on comment size.

[DiscoGuy]

8539855
I'm honored to see someone taking so much attention to detail!

That's really interesting, I had no clue that night terrors were a specific condition of their own! I just thought it was a turn of phrase for nightmares. You learn something new every day, I guess

You're absolutely right about the rooms. I wasn't sure while I was writing, I thought I remembered something in the show about where Spike slept in the castle, but I don't have your memory for episodes, it seems. I just settled on having Spike sleep in Twilight's room, since I couldn't remember for the life of me

And don't worry, you aren't alone. Lesbian Twilight ships dominate a worrisome amount of my day, whether I'm writing them, or reading them.

[Mr Swanky Hat]

With Nightmare Night only a week out, all anypony wants is pumpkin this, and pumpkin that. It’s the only time of year that nopony seems to want apple pie.” She added, with a small laugh at the inevitable annual occurrence.

Savages! Not wanting apple pie?! Apple pie is good for all the seasons!!!