Twilight Sparkle runs from home in despair after an accident
Twilight Sparkle knew she was a smart filly. She was in the School of Magic after all, Celestia’s personal student even. She had a great family and baby sitter too. So why did she have to be so stupid and end up throwing it to burn.
Now all she had was Spike, she was alone, and somewhere unfamiliar. (Inspired by Leave it All Behind)
The filly’s hooves trudged through the underbrush, her magic being used to pry away any plants that sought to stay in her path. Twilight had been walking in circles all night with the baby dragon on her back. She could tell because she had arrived at the balloon they had made their escape in multiple times. She was tired, and was starting to get hungry. She knew she was lucky Spike had been sleeping so long, she only had two bottles for him left after they crashed.
”There’s gotta be somepony out here…” She muttered to herself. She readjusted her broken reading glasses on her snout, still couldn’t believe that the case for the was one of the things she forgot. As Twilight felt the foliage thin out in the direction she was walking, hope began to fill her heart. Finally! She wasn’t gonna end up where she crashed again! She picked up her pace into a trot, careful not to jostle Spike too much as she found herself walking out to a fence. She peeked through the gaps.
”It’s a farm!” She said joyfully. She looked around, it was sometime around midnight, so no one should be up. She steeled herself, putting on a serious face.
Then immediately had to readjust her glasses. Not that they served a purpose really.
She carefully levitated Spike over the fence as she slipped through it and landed the dragon on her back. She then enacted what was, in her head at least, super tactical and stealthily movements, but really just consisted of her quickly skittering behind objects she thought would be big enough to hide both her and spike. However her objective was clear. The barn. The nights were getting chilly and if there was a barn then there was hay that they could huddle up in and snack on.
Twilight stuck her head around the corner, no one was there so she made a quick skitter into the barn and let out a sigh of relief. Good, that was one thing secured: shelter for the night. Now she just needed some-
CLANG
Oh dang.
”Who puts a rake next to a bucket like that?!” Twilight whisper yelled as she felt Spike start to stir from the loud noise.
”Now what was that?”
Twilight, put her hooves over her mouth and was quick to jump right into one of the piles of hay. Spike was beginning to fuss, and she did her best to shush him as a voice began to grow near. She was able to start hearing the owner’s hooves touching the ground when she remembered she had a bottle for Spike and quickly stuck it into his mouth.
It was quiet outside the haystack.
Granny Smith looked over the barn with tired eyes, having been awoken by a sudden racket.
She looked to find that it was a fallen rake that had struck a bucket. She snorted with minor annoyance.
”Thought I been tellin’ them yougins’ to put away the tools properly!” She grumbled as she walked over to put up the rake and bucket properly when her hoof brushed against something. A little pair of broken glasses.
Twilight felt her blood run cold when the old mare picked up her reading glasses. She touched her face with a hoof.
“I didn't even realize they were gone!” She thought in a panic. She prayed to Celestia, and also hoped that she didn’t hear it because then she would find her, that the green pony wouldn’t find her. She quickly closed up the small hole she made to see and sat as still as possible. There was a long stretch of silence before she heard the sound of the mare leaving and closing the barn door behind her. She gave things a few more minutes before letting out a sigh of relief.
She shifted around and put down Spike, holding the bottle with her magic until he was finished.
In the meantime, she retrieved one of two books she had in her saddlebag. Her diary.
Day 1
I ruined everything
It was a beautiful evening in canterlot. Yet Twilight was still in school hunched over a book with a daisy sandwich on a plate off to the side. Spike was playing with some toys a few feet behind her. She was eager to keep growing, to keep learning and she was grateful for access to the school’s library. She had seen a teacher in one of the older classes use a transfiguration spell, changing a rock into an orange. Being young and eager the filly sought to replicate this spell for herself.
”This stuff looks a bit hard…but it can’t be that bad, right?” Twilight said, looking behind herself to Spike, who just looked back at her and giggled.
”Yeah, you’re right Spike. I can do this!”
It was supposed to be a simple change. A daisy sandwich into a grilled cheese. But what she got was a molten glob of dairy that melted and corroded everything it touched as it grew out of control. In a panic she had grabbed Spike and her saddlebags and ran to escape the ensuing destruction. Other colts and fillies screamed in terror behind her, and a few times she even heard those cries cut short. The panic in her brain only increased, and she ran faster. The building was crumbling around her as she escaped through a back door, and even after that she kept running. She killed ponies.
She killed other ponies.
She was a murderer, a criminal! She didn’t want to go to jail. She didn’t want to be banished, or even executed! She looked back as she saw the blob begin to melt into the streets, her eyes widening in horror as tears began to gather in her eyes. She didn’t mean to she didn’t mean to shedidn’tmeantoshedidn’tmeanto!
She ran into the twinkling balloon with a thud. She wiped tears from her eyes. Twilight made a realization. She was quick to put Spike and herself into the balloon. She’d only been in it for school trips but she could figure out how to navigate it fully as she went. As the balloon rose into the air Twilight had a full view of the carnage she had caused. The school was covered in a golden yellow slime that was beginning to darken and cool as it reached the streets, guards and other emergency services were beginning to arrive on the scene. She could barely make out ponies running to their parents and some that approached the mess looking for their child. She put her hooves over her mouth and slid down into the balloon’s basket. She felt Spike nuzzle into her side and look up at her.
”Oh Spike…I’m so sorry.” She murmured into him as she pulled him close for a hug. She had just ruined everything for them.
Twilight watched the sun set as they continued their journey in the air. Spike babbled idly and rolled on the floor of the basket. The lavender filly pulled out the map that was kept in the balloon along with the compass and tried to make sense of where they were going.
“If I’m reading this thing right, we’re headed toward…Dodge? M-Maybe we’ll be safe tHERE-“
The balloon jerked wildly as a mighty gust swung the balloon around. Spike cried out as he was thrown to one side of the basket.
”Spike!” Twilight enveloped her saddlebag in magic as she slid herself to Spike and wrapped her moves around him. She fastened the bag to her barrel and held Spike tightly, praying for the best.
Applejack was a smidge tired when she woke. Last night there was a racket which had startled her and Big Mac awake for about an hour. But at least waking up to some pancakes made it better. Now she got to start on farm work! As she moved on to go to the front door, she found something strange. A broken pair of glasses fit for a filly like herself, well they would be if the bridge wasn’t a bit cooked. Either way, she decided to take them with her as she walked out to head to the barn.
”Twiligh’ Sparkle…must be the brand!” She said as she inspected the spectacles. She put them on her snout, looking around at the barn through them. She walked over to get her plow when she noticed something. A purple hoof sticking out of a haystack.
She stared at it for a moment, confused. Now who could that be? She walked herself over to the haystack, readjusting the glasses on her snout and began to pull at the hoof with her mouth. With a few tugs, Applejack got her prize, a purple filly like herself staring at her dazedly. Those dazed purple eyes blinked in confusion before focusing and shrinking in surprise.
Applejack however instantly knew something was wrong with herself. She had a crush now.
Twilight sat staring at the orange filly that was wearing her broken glasses in shock. She was starting to panic as she had just been found out, she needed to grab Spike and run, but she was being stared down! Applejack’s cheeks flushed a slight bit red as she began to stutter.
”u-Uh, h-hi!” Twilight instantly zipped back into the haystack and in a fluid leap grabbed Spike and her saddle bags and exited on the other side. Where there was a wall.
”Hey wait!”
Twilight didn’t listen and tried to go around the haystack, only for Applejack to cut her off. She tried the other side for only the same outcome, so Twilight employed the simple tactic of juking her by faking going back around the other side of the haystack. She bolted and zipped out of the barn with Spike on her back, curiously looking around at the sudden action. Applejack took a moment before realizing what had happened and chased after her.
“Hang on! Git’ back here!” She called after Twilight. However she ignored the calls as she ran through the field, weaving around an older looking red colt who just stared confused as Twilight made a run for the gates.
Applejack ran past a dumbfounded Big Mac and just yelled, “She was in our barn!”
“Oh.” He said quietly before he ran off after Twilight as well.
Twilight could feel her lungs burning. This was the fastest and the most she’d ever run in her life, and she hoped she wouldn’t ever have to run for her life again. If they caught her, then they would throw her in jail. Then they would call Canterlot! THEN THEY WOULD GET CELESTIA! This was enough of a kick to make Twilight keep running a little faster. She saw that she was reaching the town this farm was connected to and kept running right into the streets. She narrowly dodged other ponies, causing a commotion as her two pursuers had to do the same.
“Leave me alone! I’m sorry!” Twilight shouted back at them. She got an idea and sharply turned a corner, whipping herself around the edge and swiftly entered the door of the building, closing it behind her.
Spike began clapping and giggling, making Twilight quickly turn to use a hoof to silence him.
“Um, hello there darling. Can I help you?” Twilight’s face blanked as she looked over at the white unicorn at a small desk by a playpen scratching onto some paper. Inside a baby unicorn babbled happily.
Shining Armor’s eyes stared soullessly into the ceiling of her sister’s room. It was decorated with constellations of all kinds. Just the way Twilight liked it. The young stallion was laying on the floor of his sister’s room in despair, holding the only thing of hers that she left behind before she disappeared the day before. Smarty Pants. When he first heard the news he was enraged with whoever could’ve caused this catastrophe. It was quickly replaced with fear once he overheard that the mess seemed to come from the right side of the school, and he knew the library was on that side of the school from the few times he had to go and get his sister himself. His feelings properly took the downfall into despair when no evidence of Twilight was found in the cheesey monsoon of hurt and burned ponies. He had a glimmer of hope for a while thinking she had escaped, but he returned home and she wasn’t there.
Now there was a search going and she still hadn’t been found yet. One piece of evidence was found in the fact that the twinkling balloon had gone missing.
“Twily…please come home…”
“My word! You have no home?! Actually, looking at you, that makes sense…” Rarity said, taking a sip of her tea as she looked at her guest. Twilight was not looking her best. Her coat was messy with hay and dirt, and was frazzled, her mane was slightly tangled and her face was a mess. At least her beard was still growing in alright.
“Y-Yeah…thanks for the tea by the way.” Twilight said, taking a sup from the cup she’d been given. She glanced at Spike who was playing with Rarity’s little sister, Sweetie Belle, inside a playpen. They were working together to build a tower from the blocks.
“Think nothing of it darling, you’ve already said that 5 times anyway.”
“T-That’s because I really mean it, a-and I’d repay you if I could!”
“I know darling. If you really want to repay me then I could always take the name of such a lovely guest!” Rarity said, leaning in closer as she set her cup down. Twilight’s mind began racing like an athlete. If she said her real name then any warrants out for her arrest would quickly be traced to her! Fake name! C’monc’monc’mon-
“Y-Yeah! It’s Tw- uh- Sp-Sparkle- Sp-Sparkling uh-“ she quickly glanced around spying a bottle of cider from the cabinet Rarity left open. “Cider! Sp-Sparkling Cider. That’s my name!” Twilight said with a forced grin. Rarity thought about the name mumbling it to herself a few times as she glanced back at Twilight.
“Sparkling Cider…a beautiful name for somepony with eyes like yours!” Rarity said happily, clapping her hooves together.
“O-Oh! Thank you!” She said with a small blush as she took a sip from her tea. Rarity collected their tea cups and placed them in the sink, giving Twilight a moment to pick up the foal and hatchling along with their playpen in her magic. Rarity watched impressed as Twilight carried so many items at once.
“Ah, you practice magic more extravagantly I see?” She said as they exited to the main area of the boutique.
“Uh, y-yeah! I g-got my cutie mark for it so I kinda have to?” She shrugged. If she said she was a student that’d give her away. She looked around at the dresses in the area, pretty designs were all about, mostly in filly-size though.
“Are you a fashion designer? Your work is really pretty!” Twilight complemented, putting the kids down to play. Rarity puffed her chest out looking prideful.
“Thank you for noticing! Yes it is true, not only do I go to school and take care of my sister as a single filly, but I also design the most extravagant designs for ponies all across town!” Rarity said, posing dramatically. Twilight stroked her short beard.
“What about your parents? Who takes care of Sweetie Belle while you're at school?” Rarity deflated a bit.
“Eh…mother and father are quite busy so… they aren’t around much… but I entrust my sister’s safety to the grandmother of a friend of mine! Granny Smith, she has grandkids and doesn’t mind caring for Sweetie Belle while her other grandchildren are at school! In fact I was about to start preparing to drop Sweetie off before you arrived!” Rarity said to Twilight. She blushed, embarrassed that she could’ve made Rarity late.
“S-Sorry, I-if we hurry over you won’t be late for school!”
“It’s only about five thirty, we still have another half-hour. But I suppose it is best to do this early so I can have time to sketch out a few more designs before I’m off to school.” Rarity pondered
“Sounds like a plan! C’mon Spike, up!”
“Oh you’ll absolutely love her Sparkling, Mrs. Smith is just the most delightful pony you’ll meet! Sure she might be a little kooky but every time I’ve left Sweetie with her I’ve been told there was nothing but joy!” Rarity said with praise, however Twilight had begun to look antsy. The path they were taking to this “Granny Smith”’s place was the path she had just ran out of.
”Please don’t be the farm, please don’t be the farm, please don’t be the far-” Twilight looked up at the sign labeled Sweet Apple Acres.
“Feathers!”
”My word! There’s children!”
Twilight shook with fear as they walked up to the front door. Rarity knocked without hesitation, standing politely outside the door. It swung open to reveal Granny Smith, much to Twilight’s hidden dismay. The younger company babbled happily at the sight of a new pony, while the older mare took a while to register the faces before a smile lit up her features.
“Why hello there little miss Rarity! Here to drop off yer’ sister? A bit earleh but Ah’ don’t mind none and neither does Apple Bloom!” Granny said as she welcomed them inside. Twilight rigidly stepped inside after Rarity. Either those two from earlier didn’t come back to tell her, or she was just old and didn’t remember.
“Ah’ got Applejack an’ Big Mac runnin’ an errand for me real fast but they’ll be back to meetcha at school hon’. Now tell me who’s yer’ friend here!” Granny questioned as she turned to Twilight, who was trying to hide behind a couch. “She’s a strange filly I can tell that much.”
“Ah, that would be Sparkling Cider, I’ve just met her today! I promise you she’ll be nothing but a gem, and I know my way around a crystal!” Rarity spoke confidently. Twilight honestly was surprised. She didn’t have many people her age that would speak well of her traits, even though what Rarity knew was vague, so it created an interesting bit of emotion in her. She then saw Rarity lean over to Granny Smith to whisper something to her as Twilight came from behind the couch to sit with the three babies.
”Unfortunately Mrs. Smith, Cider is currently…without housing.” Rarity told the old pony in a hushed volume. Granny Smith’s eyes widened in shock as they briefly looked over to Twilight, now registering how dirty and scruffy she was. Twilight just blinked, confused on why the old mare was staring at her now.
“Ah’ understand, Ah’m fine with lettin’ yer’ friend stay over for a bit. Could use the help if there’s gonna be three youngin’s here!” Granny Smith said, patting Rarity on the head. Rarity was quick to brush out her mane after the touch. Rarity bid them a quick farewell and trotted off home, to gather herself. Granny Smith closed the door behind the young unicorn. Twilight sighed to herself quietly. So far, things have gone well! Now she just needed to get out of here before that colt and filly came back.
“Twi-”
”HI GRANNY WE’RE WITH THA’ CHEESE! BYE WE’RE OFF TO SCHOOL NOW!” Twilight was caught off guard by the whirlwind of motion that went through the front door, up the stairs and back out again. Well she didn’t have to worry about them for a while. Granny Smith walked over to where Twilight sat, currently picking up Apple Bloom from having fallen on her face.
“Twiligh’ Sparkle, that’s yer’ real name right?” The old pony said, making Twilight go stiff as a tree. She turned to look at Granny Smith while shaking.
"N-Nuh-uh.” She rebuked unconvincingly. Granny giggled.
“So these glasses ain’t yours honey?” Granny Smith questioned, pulling out her glasses and showing the engraving. Twilight paled. She thought that orange filly still had them.
“Um, th-they’re mine.”
“An’ muh’ eyes ain’t what they used ta’ be but Ah’m sure this here read’s “Twiligh’ Sparkle”. What’s gotcha' down on ya’ luck sugarcube? Heard you don’t gotta’ place to stay.” The elderly mare said, putting a hoof on Twilight’s back.
”I-I-I, uh…” Twilight hesitated to form an answer, just watching the infants play for a moment before she put together what she could say without putting herself and Spike in danger of capture. She sniffled, jeez, shouldn’t have slept with a foot out of the haystack last night. Hope she doesn’t have a cold.
”W-We can’t go home…” Twilight mumbled, rubbing her foreleg with the other. Unbeknownst to Twilight, she had made it seem as though she were about to cry, prompting Granny Smith to pull her close and gently rub her back.
“No need ta’ fret missy, you can come by mah’ farm anytime ya’ need, ya hear? Now let’s get these kids fed!” Granny said, giving her a gentle stroke on the head before she hopped up and made her way to the kitchen. Twilight looked back at the three playing slightly confused. Well, maybe now she didn’t have to sneak into the barn.
Twilight stared at the infants rolling a ball between the three of them. Sweetie Bell, Apple Bloom, and Spike all giggled happily. Man it feels like there’s a filly missing from the picture here.
Twilight multitasked between feeding Spike and eating herself as Granny Smith regaled her with interesting stories while she fed Sweetie and Apple Bloom. Finding out she was speaking to a pony who was part of the town’s foundation was incredibly interesting to her, almost as interesting as reading about Star Swirl! She had to look more into the history of this town, who knows what other interesting magical phenomena like the zap apples could be in this place!
Twilight finished her simple meal of an apple-jelly sandwich, she wasn’t aware you could turn apples into jelly but hey, she was learning new things. The empty plates were taken into her aura and were lifted to the sink by Twilight. She was quick to trot over and begin on the dishes.
“You don’t gotta go an’ do that now dear!” Granny said as she put Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom down.
“It’s fine! It’s the least I can do for your hospitality!” Twilight replied as she continued. She had to think about how kind Granny Smith was to her, as well as Rarity. She was honestly almost excited to see her again the next day, but she might not be in town still afterward. Thanks to Granny’s story she figured that Ponyville wasn’t too far from Canterlot. This could be the next place they look! She and Spike would have to get moving to another town.
“Thank you for gathering on such short notice my ponies. Please do not mind my appearance.” Princess Celestia said, looking…rough from the news of her most recent, and surprisingly closest, personal student’s current status as missing. Though in Celestia’s mind she was overreaching to thinking she could be dead.
“I would like to make the first point for the search to be innn…..” Her hoof hovered over Ponyville. Then moved all the way to Manehatten.
“Here.”
But…she didn’t wanna leave Granny Smith and Rarity! Rarity was basically her first friend that wasn’t her brother! Now she’ll never see him again. Granny Smith was such a kind pony, and Spike liked Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle already! But they HAD to leave! Twilight’s hair began to twang out of place as she stressed over the decision whether she and Spike would leave today or not before Granny came in to check on her as she finished the last plate.
“Th’ spare bath is upstairs. Get yer’ self washed up while Ah’ get these yougin’s cleaned.
“Oh! Thank you again Mrs. Smith!” Twilight responded, snapping out of her thoughts.
Twilight wasn’t sure how long she sat in that tub. But man those bubbles felt great. It also helped her decide. The princess was a smart pony, so she would definitely check Ponyville next.
“Perhaps next I should send them to Cloudsdale…Twilight has always been interested in learning about pegasi, perhaps she tried to run there?”
Definitely. But, they didn’t have to leave immediately. Maybe they could give it another day and it would be fine? Then they would leave. 100%. They wouldn’t get sidetracked.
“Sparklin’! Little miss Rarity’s ‘ere to getcha and her sister!”
Twilight quickly came trotting down, but screeched to a halt when she reached the living room. Seeing Rarity, Granny Smith, the foal's and hatching, and Big Mac and Applejack.
"It's you!" Applejack's face lit up as she pointed at Twilight.
“So THAT’S why you ran into my boutique looking haggard!” Rarity said as Applejack explained her first encounter with Twilight. Twilight shifted nervously where she sat.
“Yup! Ah’ wanted to invite her into mah house proper, b-but ah’ stuttered an’ scared ‘er off.” Applejack replied sheepishly, as Twilight just scratched her cheek.
“Then I must ask darling, how did you end up in Applejack’s barn to begin with?” Rarity said, turning to Twilight, who was now taking Spike into her lap. The lavender filly stiffened up and looked away.
“I-I don’t want to talk about it.” She mumbled as she squeezed Spike a little.
“Well why not-”
“Applejack, if she don’t wanna tell then we gotta respect that!” Granny Smith lightly admonished. Applejack gave a small “Yes Granny” and let the subject drop. Rarity stood, taking a small stretch.
“Well I suppose me, Sweetie, and Cider should be going now, thank you again for having us!” Rarity said as she picked up Sweetie Belle in her magic.
“Now hold on a second, why’s Sparklin’ Cider comin’ with you?” Applejack opposed, a little fast as well.
“Well, I have a spare bedroom at home she can use for a bit!”
“Well so do we!” Applejack argued.
“Nope.” Only for Big Mac to quickly correct her.
“Well we have a…couch?” She suggested, as Rarity just gave her a deadpan stare.
“That’s hardly satisfactory.” The white unicorn replied in a flat tone.
“Is too!”
A minor bickering match had started between the two, meanwhile Twilight used the commotion, and a suddenly sleeping Granny Smith, to quietly back herself out the door with Spike. The hatching giggled and waved goodbye to the bickering ponies. Twilight felt safe enough to speed up into a quick trot once she was away from the door.
“I think we’ve intruded enough Spike, why don’t we just check out town for now. Ya’ like the sound of that?” She said, glancing back at the dragon on her back. Spike gurgled, which Twilight just took as an agreement.
“Alright then! Let’s see what’s around before the sun goes down!”
The pair strolled around Ponyville, curiously taking in the buildings and giving small waves to people as the sun continued its arc across the sky. The town was a nice little place, mostly peaceful aside from the random bit of action that occurred at times from ponies just being ponies. But Twilight stopped dead in her tracks as she found something incredible. It was a large tree with a balcony and windows, partially a house. More importantly to Twilight though, was the sign above the door.
“Golden Oak Library.”
Library.
Spike let out a little groan of exasperation and shoved his face into the back of Twilight’s neck as she began to bounce in place.
“eeeEEEEEEE-”
Shining Armor wasn’t the brightest knife in the crayon shed, but he was smart enough to put together a few things about Twilight’s situation. One, she probably caused the accident. Two, she ran out of fear and took Spike with her. Three, they could be anywhere in Equestria now, and were alone and terrified. He ran a hoof through his frazzled mane as he considered the possibilities of where Twilight and Spike could be, there was the chance they didn’t even have food or shelter. Even worse, there was gonna be rain scheduled tonight!
“…I should go out there and look for her. She’s out there alone and scared and is gonna want someone she knows.” Shining said to no one in particular, more convincing himself of why he needs to go out and find her himself.
But of course he was going to write a letter first. Wouldn’t want to cause another panic.
Twilight wasn’t sure why it happened but she and Spike were far from alone. One second she spotted the library, and was about to look for the street name to memorize. Next she had confetti and balloons blasted at her and Spike and she was dragged off in a blur to a party!
“WELCOME TO PONYVILLE!” A pink filly shouted in excitement as the rest of the ponies at the apparent party in a…bakery she believed, began to celebrate properly. She began to get her wits about her when the pink filly assaulted her with questions one after the other.
“Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie! What’s your name? Where are you from? Who’s that one your back? OHMYGOSH is that a baby dragon?! Does he like cake? Do YOU like cake? Are you allergic to anything-“ Pinkie Pie ranted, still going on behind Twilight's hoof that was holding her mouth shut.
“Uh, I-I’ll just answer those few. Ahem.”
“Sparkling Cider, I don’t wanna talk about it, that’s Spike, yes, yes he can have a little cake, I like cake, and no I think.” Twilight responded calmly. Pinkie Pie raised her hoof to indicate a question. Twilight let her speak.
“Can I touch your beard?”
“No thank you.”
“Aw man.”
Twilight allowed Pinkie Pie to continue to chatter her and Spike’s ears off about various interesting topics about herself. Pinkie Pie was an interesting individual herself. She was hyperactive, bouncy, and is that a cannon?
“-and this is my PARTY CAAANNOOOON!” The pink filly said in excitement before yanking the string on the back of the cannon, setting it off. Twilight and Spike were blasted with confetti and streamers, having a heap of the pieces of paper covering them. They stuck their heads out, with Twilight spitting out a piece of confetti.
“Hehe! Sorry! Guess I put in a bit too much!” Pinkie said, brushing a piece off of Twilight’s snout. Twilight tried to keep a grin from forming on her face, as Spike laughed in joy as he played in the confetti. Eventually Twilight found herself laughing too, putting a smile on Pinkie's face.
"If you like that, then how about some dancing!" She said, pulled Twilight by her hooves out of the confetti pile with Spike. Twilight found herself being swung around every which way by the pink filly in the form of a makeshift 'dance', but she and Spike were laughing in joy all the way.
“Consarnit, now why’d she have ta’ run off like that!” Applejack complained as she and Big Mac looked around town for ‘Sparkling Cider’. Rarity had gone off in her own direction to look for their guest, with the agreement that whoever found and convinced her first could have her stay over.
“Maybe y’all should’ve just asked Cider’ what she wanted.” Mac said, as she picked up a piece of confetti off the floor.
“Huh. Forgot Pinkie had a party, we were s’posed to come after school.” The red colt said as he observed the piece of paper. Applejack had a lightbulb go off in realization.
“That’s right! She was gonna throw a party fer Cider since she was new!” Applejack shouted as she ran off to Sugarcube Corner. Big Mac just sighed as he followed her. Meanwhile with Rarity, she was struggling with Sweetie wanting to go home.
“C’mon Sweetie darling! Just a few more minutes of looking and we’ll go back home WITH a playmate!” Rarity said, trying to shush and reason with a baby. However, such attempts proved futile as Sweetie began to get more upset. She growled in frustration as she was forced to give up and return home.
Applejack entered the bakery to see the party still going strong, and the “Welcome to Ponyville” sign overhead, all she needed to do now was find Twilight. She and Big Mac stumbled through the party searching for the lavender mare, all while coming across many other ponies they recognized and saying hello. Eventually they came across the organizer of this celebration, doing flips on a giant rubber ball. While juggling. It was honestly impressive and she almost forgot what she was looking for.
“Hi Applejack! Glad you came after all!” Pinkie said as she continued her antics.
“Hiya Pinkie, uh has a pony called Sparklin’ Cider been here yet?” She asked, looking around.
“Hmmmm…” The pink filly halted mid-air, with her juggling balls doing so as well as she began thinking.
“Yep! But I lost track of her, so she might still be around!” Pinkie said, instantly resuming her juggling flips. Applejack let out a breath of relief. This should be easy.
Well it would’ve been if Twilight hadn’t left as the sun began setting. She was quick to make her way back to the library she saw before.
“That party tuckered you out, huh Spike?” She said to the sleepy hatchling on her back. Spike let out a yawn and nuzzled into her neck, trying to get comfortable enough to sleep. A chill blew past. Causing them both to shiver.
“Y-Yeesh, we need to find a place to stay…” Twilight said as they got up to the library door. It didn’t seem to be closed yet. She pushed open the door and looked around the foyer. The large open area filled with books and sitting cushions was like heaven to Twilight. She noticed a light amount of dust on things, meaning no one was here for a bit. Checking upstairs, she found an empty bedroom meaning no one had taken this place as a home. It was likely only used for just the library part downstairs. Using her magic she collected the cushions and piled them upstairs into a makeshift bed and laid Spike on one side. He snuggled into the pile and got comfortable, but not yet asleep.
“Gimme a minute and I’ll get a book for us to read, don’t go anywhere!” Twilight disappeared downstairs for a moment and looked around the library in the fiction section. She was in the mood to get lost in a new world for a bit, so…
In the doorway a yellow pegasus filly was about to enter to return a book, but upon seeing another pony she gave up on it and just backed out.
“Ooh! Septimare Hoof, I’ve always wanted to start this one!” She pulled the book out and headed back upstairs. She quickly backtracked to close the front door. She could’ve sworn she closed that. Once she got upstairs, she found the neat arrangement of pillows turned into a pile Spike was sleeping inside of. She sighed.
“Maybe we should’ve snuck back into the Apple’s barn.” Twilight said. She crawled into the pile with the book and found Spike there. He giggled woozily. She smiled at him.
“All right Spike, time for a story. I’ve been looking forward to this one!”
The baby dragon snuggled into her as she began reading.
“Alright, I think I’ve got everything.” Shining Armor said as he checked over his saddlebags again. He looked at his partner who was adjusting her outfit.
“I think I’m good to go over here!” She said, adjusting a hat that was supposed to make her look inconspicuous. Shining Armor just stared at her.
“Well, you think this disguise’ll work?” Cadence said, wearing a fedora, black sunglasses, and a fake mustache. As well as a poorly drawn cutie mark of three hearts taped over her flank. Shining put a hoof to his chin in thought. He then rotated the hat to the left a bit.
Twilight woke up to a harsh sneeze from her snout. When she checked, her hoof was sticking out of the warm pile again. She pulled it back in and pulled Spike close to her to try and return to sleep again. She never wound up stopping after Spike fell asleep so she kept on reading Septimare Hoof until she finished it, which led her to be awake all night.
“Um, excuse me.”
Funny, that almost sounded like somepony trying to talk to her. But surely no one was inside the building right now!
“E-excuse me…”
”WHA- HUH?”
“Eeep!” Twilight shot up, afraid of being caught by somepony. She broke right through the barrier of cushions and looked toward the source of the noise. Which was a yellow pegasus filly cowering by the door with her hooves over her head. Twilight took a moment to process her surroundings. She was on the 2nd floor of the library. It was day. She had been caught here when she shouldn’t be.
“I-I-I d-d-don’t think y-you’re supposed to b-be up here…” The pegasus said. Twilight just stared at her, and began to slowly move to pick up Spike. The pegasus gasped in surprise when Twilight had retrieved him from the pillows.
“A baby dragon! I-I’ve never seen one before!” The yellow filly quickly opened up and began to approach as Twilight set him on her back.
“W-What’s his name?”
“This is Spike, I’m Twi- Sp-Sparkling Cider!” Twilight said in a rushed fashion.
“A-Anyway we’ll be going now-”
“Wait! He’s so cute, where did he come from?” The pegasus asked as Twilight made her way down the stairs.
“I hatched him.” Twilight responded, before she left the library she stopped to grab a book she wanted to read yesterday.
“Really? That must’ve taken some time, he seems very happy though! Hi there! I’m Fluttershy, you adorable little thing you!” Fluttershy spoke to the hatchling who giggled happily as the filly played with him while he was on Twilight’s back. Fluttershy didn’t even notice as they wandered out of the library as she kept Spike entertained. Twilight let out a light sigh as she felt Spike wiggling around on her back as he played. Fluttershy seemed nice though, definitely an animal lover. Now that she thought about it she seemed a bit tall.
“Hey Fluttershy?” Twilight turned around abruptly, now face-to-face with the filly. She yipped in surprise.
“How old are you? You’re a bit tall and I thought you were about twelve like me…” She said, tilting her head as she observed Fluttershy, who became flustered and blushed as Twilight looked at her.
“I-I am t-tall…I’m only a y-year older…” Fluttershy explained, Twilight let out a small ‘oooooh’ at the information.
“Well, it was nice to meet you. I’ve got to be going now, I have some things I’ve gotta return.” Twilight explained as she shifted Spike on her back, with the hatchling grabbing on to her mane.
“O-Oh! I-I’m sorry to have kept you, I didn’t mean to. It was nice to meet you two as well! A-And f-feel free to visit with Spike. I live in a tree-cottage over that way.” The pegasus spoke softly. Despite still being soft-spoken Twilight could detect that she was a little more comfortable. Twilight continued on, she wasn’t lying when she said she had to return something. It was a favor to Granny Smith for letting her and Spike both sleep in her barn (without permission) and feed them. Speaking of, Spike only had one bottle left and would need to eat soon. She was lucky she could save it from how much food there was around for him yesterday.
As she saw the gates to Sweet Apple Acres she spotted Applejack out on the fields, she was busy bucking apple trees like there was no tomorrow. Twilight just stood by the gate awkwardly until Big Mac came by and opened it for her.
“You gave our granny quite a scare yesterday.” The red colt said, leading her to the house. Twilight scratched the back of her head with her hoof. Twilight walked inside, finding Granny Smith on her way to the kitchen.
“Twiligh’! You had me n’ the kids worried when you disappeared like that!” The old mare said, trotting over to Twilight. Twilight looked down a bit ashamed before speaking up again.
“Sorry, I know you said I didn’t have to worry about it but I wanted to pay you back for taking care of us.”
“Ah-”
“I know you’ll say it’s fine, but I want to!” Twilight said firmly, her face taking on a little pout. Granny Smith stared her in the face with equal firmness before relenting.
“Fine, fine. You can help us out ah’ suppose. Righ’ now it’s all jus’ chores the kids r’ doin’, so ahead n’ see what cha’ can help out with. Ah’ll jus’ take this lil’ one off ya’ fer’ now!” Granny said, taking Spike off Twilight and depositing him on to her own back with Apple Bloom who was happy to see him again.
Twilight trotted her flank back out to the field where she caught up with Applejack, who was obviously glad to see her.
“Twiligh’! Where’d you run off to yesterday?!” She said running over to her, abandoning the buckets of apples she had on her back. Twilight found herself caught in a tight hug she could barely breath in. Jeez Applejack was a little short for a filly her age but she was still crazy strong.
“Uh, h-home?” She lied, unsure. Applejack pulled back and looked at her.
“...Really?”
“OHLOOKLEMMEHELPYOUWITHTHOSEAPPLES!” Twilight said, slipping past her over to the two buckets held on a bar. She went to try and lift them on her shoulders, but found them incredibly heavy for someone like her.
“You uh…you good there sugarcube?” She said as Twilight barely lifted the buckets of the ground and shuffled forward.
“Yep!...I got-”
Thump
“Ow. No…my shoulder’s hurt.” Twilight said pitifully on the ground. Applejack chuckled as she took off one of the buckets from the rod and helped Twilight up. She carefully put a bucket on her back, and put another bucket on the rod. Applejack and Twilight worked to get apples put away in the barn until Twilight began to look like she was dying.
“Alrigh’ Cider, why don’t you jus’ go an’ take a break. Ah’ can fetch the last round of apples m’self.” Twilight opened her mouth to speak. “An’ no buts!” Twilight promptly closed her mouth and pouted.
Shining Armor stroked his beard in boredom. His girlfriend had stopped her cute reactions to being on a common train, so now he had nothing else to do but wait until they reached the station, which luckily was coming up just now.
“Finally…”
“Aw, I liked the train.” Cadance, or as she was known in her disguise, Carl, spoke with sadness.
“You know, I never asked. Why did you suggest we start in Ponyville? It’s a nice place but I think she would’ve gone to Manehatten. No wait, Dodge.” Shining asked as they got off the train.
“Well, Twilight is still just a filly even if she ran away. She’d probably still end up seeking the comfort of being around other ponies. If not that then she came here looking for a library to calm down in.” Cadance explained, shrugging at the end.
“Hey, do I know you?” A random pony said as they almost passed by Cadance.
“I-I- u-uh…no?”
“You sure because you kinda look like one of the princesses!”
“N-No, I’m a uni- I-I mean, pegasus named, u-uh…” She quickly looked at her hoof and barely could read the smudged writing of the name Carl.
“C-Carl.”
“Carl?”
“Carl.”
“...huh, sorry then!” Cadence shuddered with relief as the pony then walked off. She looked to Shining Armor, who had a look of pride at her.
“You nailed that!”
Big Mac watched Twilight struggle so hard to pull a plough that she was starting to turn the same color as his fur.
“Stubborn, ain’t she?” Applejack said beside him.
“Almost as much as you.” Applejack grumbled at that retort. Twilight was barely tugging the equipment along a few inches, luckily she had only joined on the last line that needed to be dug. Otherwise this would take a few days.
“C’mon…c’mon…c’mon!” Twilight said, each c’mon emphasized with a mighty tug that pulled the plough another inch. As she repeated the motion, the swirl carved in her horn began to flicker as she tried harder, the magic beginning to slip out the more she exerted herself. The grooves in her horn flashed to life as with one more tug and Twilight suddenly shot forward. Her hooves and legs flashed a spiral pattern for a moment letting her shoot forward three feet and falling on her face.
“Nice job there! Now why don’t cha’ let Big Mac finish up, ya’ look like death. C’mon, we can get some juice inside!” Applejack said as she freed Twilight from the farming tool. Twilight panted as she shambled towards the house. Applejack however saw her chance and let Twilight use her side to lean on.
Twilight found herself back in town with flyers on her back a while later. Since it wasn’t a school day, Big Mac and Applejack sold apples and handed out flyers. Usually, Granny came with them and ran the stand while they handed out the flyers, but with Twilight volunteering it meant they could run it themselves today with Twilight taking over Big Mac’s place in handing out flyers.
“Ya’ look a lil’ shabby but it should be fine! Now git’ out there and lets offer up some apples!” Applejack said enthusiastically. Twilight found herself full of determination as she went off in a direction to pass out some flyers. Now that she looked at herself, she looked pretty messy. Wow, she really hasn’t had a shower in about two days.
Applejack watch as Twilight offered a flyer to someone, who seemed to take pity on her poor appearance and took the flyer, and walked over to the stand and bought some apples from Big Mac. She smiled and watched as Twilight’s face lit up with joy that she was able to do something as she turned a corner to hand out some more flyers.
“Excuse me, mind if we get one of those?” Applejack turned around to a voice behind her. She looked up to see a pink pegasus pony with purple and yellow hair in a ponytail, as well as sunglasses, a fedora, and a black mustache with a decently long beard. Applejack just stared at her intensely.
“Is that’a horn pokin’ outta yer’ hat there?”
“U-Uh, no!” Cadence said, quickly putting a hoof up to pull her hat back down, and also suddenly adopting an accent.
“Th-That’s just Carl! H-He’s an… uh- an intern!” Shining Armor said, coming to his girlfriend’s aid.
“Uh-huh. Internin’ what.” Applejack said in a deadpan fashion, not buying the obvious lie.
“Princ-Pruh- Uh- P-Prench…cheese?” Cadence said awkwardly, mentally kicking herself.
Twilight was honestly proud of herself and how many flyers she was getting through, the stack was almost gone! Just a few more then she could-
WHOOSH
And now she was face down in some mud with her flyers scattered.
“Hehe, sorry! Need a hand?” Another pegasus filly came into view. This one was blue with a rainbow-colored mane. She helped Twilight up, and wiped the mud off her face.
“Again, sorry. I’m Rainbow Dash. I know, I know, just by looking you can tell I’m pretty awesome.” Rainbow Dash said boisterously, doing a little posing. To Twilight she just seemed a bit egotistical, but Rainbow Dash was actually just trying to impress Twilight out of the blue due to a sudden case of a filly crush.
“Yeah, I guess. What would be really awesome is a shower right about now.” Twilight said, mostly muttering to herself. Dang, there was even mud in her beard!
“Shower? No problem!”
Twilight instantly realized what was about to happen. Then she was soaked in rainwater.
“No need to thank me, I’m just awesome like that. But you can still thank me anyway if you want.” The prisma-color pegasus spoke smoothly as sandpaper.
“Thanks.” Twilight said, voice dripping with sarcasm as she shook herself off. She then looked around for the flyers than were blown off her, only for them to be offered in a stack right beside her.
“Lookin’ for these?” Rainbow said confidently.
“Yeah, thanks again.” Twilight repeated, now a bit more genuine.
“I never got your name, your the pony Pinkie threw that party for yesterday right?” Twilight nodded.
“Sparkling Cider.”
“Hmm…Applejack your cousin?”
“What? No, why?”
“Just sounded like an apple name to me.”
“I think we got out of that without suspicion!” Cadence said optimistically.
“I think we just made up a new career field in Prench cheese.” Shining Armor thought aloud. Cadence interrupted his thoughts by pointing her hoof as she bit an apple.
“Oh look! A Library! Twilight’s sure to be in there!”
Twilight went around the block with Rainbow Dash tagging along handing out flyers. The blue pegasus was a bit of a chatterbox at first but started to calm down a bit, which gave Twilight a bit of a break as she tried to finish.
“Sooo…what’s your cutie mark for? Stargazing?”
“Hm?” Twilight looked at Rainbow Dash, and then to her own flank and then back at Rainbow Dash.
“Oh, magic! I like to study it.” She said, then stopping to hand a flyer to a mare.
“Really? Then you must’ve done something CRAZY to get your cutie mark in magic!” Twilight felt her muscles stiffen, and it became difficult to walk forward without trembling a bit. Twilight’s mind flashed to the most recent spell she had casted. She felt her tongue dry up, and her breath became unsteady. The terror, the destruction. It was all her fault. She felt herself finally stop moving as she froze in place, her breath starting to quicken as what she had caused began to come back to her again.
“Hey, Cider? Hellooo, Earth to Sparkling Cider!” Rainbow Dash said. She was starting to get concerned as the unicorn suddenly froze with a 1000-yard stare. Not to mention her breathing was getting kinda fast.
“C’mon, snap out of it!” She said with concern as she gently shook her.
“Rainbow Dash, what’re you doin’ ta’ poor Cider?” Applejack said as she walked over. She had spotted them as she finished passing out her own flyers. She had spotted Rainbow Dash talking to her new friend who looked terrified all of a sudden, and so she came to the obvious conclusion that Rainbow Dash was messing with her.
“Hey, it wasn’t me! She just froze up all of a sudden!” The Pegasus said defensively, raising her hooves as if to show she had nothing on her that could’ve caused this.
“Sparklin’? Sparklin’! Oh lord she’s hyperventilatin’-“ Applejack said as she started to panic a bit as Twilights breathing became rapid, uneven, and louder. She tried to coach Twilight into breathing properly, but all of a sudden Twilight just screamed and took off.
“Sparklin’! Come back!”
“Where ya goin’?!” Rainbow Dash and Applejack called after her in concern. They gave chase, where Pinkie Pie spotted them and joined in. Twilight’s world was becoming dark as less air was reaching her brain, taking off running all of a sudden didn’t help. She didn’t want to be taken, she wanted to be safe, where would she be safe-
As she spiraled with an oxygen deprived mind her magic began to flow uncontained as it warped and she vanished with a loud crackle of energy.
Since she didn’t have school today Rarity was indulging in her most favorite pastime, dressmaking. Currently she is trying to put together something for Twilight. It’s not that she asked for Rarity to make her a dress, but Rarity just felt like doing it for her. After all, she might need one for some kind of surprise gala event! Rarity took a seat right in front of the dress to work on it some.
What she didn’t expect was for Twilight to suddenly warp right into her workspace. On her lap no less. The poor purple filly was haggard and terrified and was breathing like she was being deprived of air.
“D-Darling?! What is going on?! B-Breathe!” Rarity tried to help Twilight, but it was too late, as everything combined with a lack of air caused Twilight to shut down. The filly collapsed against Rarity, limp and after a few seconds blood began to drip from the fillies nose.
Rarity stared in horror at the unconscious filly in her forelegs. The ground beneath her was scorched and fused with a dirt path from outside, but that was the least of her worries at the moment. She quickly began to follow her own advice and breathe to keep herself calm, now would be an awful time for a dramatic faint. She quickly flared her horn’s magic to life and dragged an item she had recently been using for those dramatic faints. A lounge sofa, which she gently laid Twilight on and wiped her nose. She was glad Sweetie Belle was napping right now, as it would be a bad time to have to tend to her while Twilight was like this.
From what she could tell, the filly was fine physically, aside from the nosebleed that she was repeatedly having to wipe up. However what concerned Rarity is what could’ve gotten Twilight so worked up! She doesn't believe that anypony in Ponyville would try and hurt her out of the blue, so it had to be some kind of extreme stress. At least that what she told herself it had to be, it worried her to think Twilight was facing problems of trauma.
“Ah, um…d-don’t go anywhere! I’ll be right back!”
Cadance, now without a mustache at the moment, looked around the upstairs of the library. Everything had seemed fine aside from the pile of pillows on the floor. The young alicorn approached it, looking through some of the pillows. At first she thought nothing would be there until she spotted some hair. Lavender hair.
Shining was enjoying a good bit of literature that would be important for his current task.
“How to Find Missing Fillies”, he never expected a book like this to exist but he was glad it did.
”SHINY!”
He couldn’t teleport but with how fast he was there you’d think he could. Cadence was holding up a strand of hair to his face with a look of hopeful joy.
“What? It’s just a hair.” Shining Armor said, taking the strand of hair into his magic. He then recognized the color and turned to Cadance with hope in his eyes.
“She was here! She and Spike were really here!” Cadance said in joy, hugging her partner who hugged her back tightly.
“But where in town could she be now? Sh-She could’ve left again by now!” The white stallion questioned with worry.
“Shiny it’s a library, she’ll probably be coming back here for comfort!” Cadance explained, remembering how when Twilight had a bad day she’d go and hide in a book fort when Shining Armor or her parents weren’t available.
“...Maybe, but I still wanna go look around. Just to be sure, y’know?”
Cadance nodded, hugging him again.
“How about, I stay here and you go and look for Twilight. That way if she comes back here I can have her stay by me until you get back.” Cadance suggested. Shining Armor smiled and gave her a peck on the lips, making Cadance giggle. She wished him luck as he went out the door of the library, leaving Cadance in the main room. She briefly tapped her hooves idly as she just looked around. Eventually she decided to look for something to read, maybe she could catch up on Dragon Ball-
BANG
“DO YOU HAVE ANY BOOKS ON NON-DRAMATICALLY FAINTED PONIES?!”
Cadance screamed, and instinctually teleported her fake mustache back on her face.
Twilight woke to something wet on her forehead over her eyes, as well as a migraine. There was also something up her nose. She was just having this wonderful dream about apples, and then everything was being engulfed in a sea of yellow and she was starting to drown.
“Darling? Are you awake?” Twilight’s ears perked up. She lifted the wet rag from her face to see Rarity entering the room she had been laid in. She had a worried smile on her face and her eyes seemed to be flicking from looking all over Twilight and back to her eyes. Twilight quickly remembered what happened. Rainbow Dash was asking her about her cutie mark, and then she freaked out, and then she…somehow got to Rarity’s boutique. Twilight sat upright fast enough to make the head pain worse, which brought rarity to her side to fuss over her.
“Darling be careful! When you appeared here you passed out and popped a nosebleed! The latter was caused by magical strain from what I read so you need to rest for the pain to subside.”
“I-I’m sorry for making you worry-”
“There’s nothing for you to apologize for. If anything, someone must owe YOU an apology for the strife you’ve suffered!” Rarity declared, now sounding a bit disgruntled.
“I-I huh?” Rarity looked at Twilight sympathetically.
“Sparkling, I can tell that you and Spikey were…abandoned.” Rarity said hesitantly, afraid to trigger anything unpleasant in Twilight. Twilight did look uncomfortable, but more because the claim was completely wrong and she knew that she might have to run with it. Rarity looked a bit awkward and decided to change the subject.
“B-But in much funnier news, you’ve seemed to have dyed yourself red and green in your sleep! Hahaha! Ehhhh…” Rarity said with a forced laugh, but cringed at the sight of Twilight’s light green mane.
“I WHAT?!” Twilight shouted.
True to Rarity’s word, Twilight was now a similar shade of red to Big Mac and had a light green mane and tail. Twilight had read about what was going on with her before, and after seeing the path from outside that was now fused into the floor in the main room of the boutique, Twilight knew what happened. She sprung a leak. She must’ve done something that not only strained her magic, but put a hole in the proverbial balloon that was her magic reserves. Meaning that use of even levitation spells would cause magic to leak and do almost anything. Lucky for her, she didn’t seem to have a big leak! Only enough to dye her fur weird colors.
“Thanks for walking me back Rarity, I must’ve scared Applejack and Rainbow Dash when I took off like that. A-Again.” Twilight said as she was escorted to Big Mac’s stand. The colt saw them coming and perked up with surprise and then looked relieved as she saw them approach.
“Again, think nothing of it! Anything for a friend!”
Friend…huh.
“This ain’t gonna be a common thing with ya’ is it?” Big Mac said as he walked out from behind the stand. It looked like he sold most of the apples and other treats for sale. He began to check her off-colored body over, tilting her head around. He took note of Twilight’s horn flickering between the grooves.
“Rainbow said you’d up an’ exploded. Glad to know for sure that was an exaggeration.” He said, patting her on the head. Twilight looked disturbed that Rainbow had said that she just blew up.
“How’s about we head on back to Granny fer’ some lunch.” Big Mac said, about to lead her by her hoof.
“Ah ah ah! Please carry her if it wouldn’t be too much Big Mac. She’s overstressed herself and needs rest!” Rarity interjected.
“Eeyup, would ya’ like ta’ join us fer’ lunch Rarity?” Big Mac asked the white unicorn as he put Twilight on his back in a smooth motion despite her protests.
“That’s quite alright Darling, I’ll be having to get back to Sweetie Belle since her nap will be ending soon. Take care!” The unicorn filly said, trotting off.
“...I’m sorry I ran off again.”
“It’s alright, yer’ goin’ through a tough time. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were worried, but Ah’m sure they’re fine.”
“Now you quit yer’ cryin’ Applejack Ah’m sure she’s fine! You’ve got the foals comfertin’ ya’ instead of the otherway around!”
“BUT WHAT IF RAINBOW’S RIGHT GRANNY? WHAT IF SPARKLIN’ DID ‘SPLODE! SHE’S GONE GRANNY, GOOONE!” The farm filly wailed on the floor as Applebloom patted her on the head and Spike rubbed her back. Neither of them really understood beyond them seeing someone crying.
“Oh u-um, please stop crying Rainbow Dash-”
“SHE BLEW UP! SHE BLEW UP AND IT’S ALL MY FAAUUULT-” Rainbow Dash continued to definitely not cry and wail on about Twilight “exploding”.
“...Maybe we should hurry back.” Big Mac said. He then bumped into a stallion.
“Sorry sir.”
“It’s fine, I wasn’t paying attention. Hey, have you seen a filly named Twilight Sparkle around?” Shining Armor asked, not paying much mind to the bug-eyed red and green filly on Big Mac’s back.
“Hm. Can’t say ah’ have sir.”
“Ah, thanks anyway.” Shining then looked at Twilight.
“Dawww, aren’t you cute. Riding on your bother’s back!” He said, patting her head as he continued on his way. Big Mac looked at her panicked expression.
“If ya’ didn’t wan’ ‘im to touch ya’ ya’ coulda said sumthin’.”
“Found ‘er. She was with Rarity.” Big Mac said, opening the door to the main house. Spike cooed happily at the sight of the red-dyed Twilight. Apple Bloom giggled at the sight of Twilight as she was let down from Big Mac’s back, though she was cut off from the action by Applejack hugging her.
“Ya’ scared me! Why d’ya run off like that again!” Applejack questioned, trying her hardest to not look like she was just crying over her exploding. Twilight’s face turned apologetic.
“Sorry…I was just a bit overwhelmed for a moment.”
“”Overwhelmed" is an understatement from what Ah’ saw. If you really are okay though, then Ah’m glad!” Applejack said as she gave Twilight a heavy pat on the back. She walked to the living room, and let Spike crawl his way over to nuzzle her.
“You should work on that runnin’ habit of yours Sparklin’. It ain’t gonna help ya’ with all yer’ problems’!” Granny Smith said as she got up from her rocking chair. Twilight just muttered to herself as Granny went into the kitchen to start on lunch. She played with Spike, happy to see him again after all the panic she just put herself through. She just hoped they would be able to sleep in the library again, they might have books on magic! After all, she needed some way to keep up with her studies.
After being treated to some lunch by Granny Smith, Twilight decided to depart and look for the other filly that thought she blew up to clear the air. Although it was a bit harder since unlike Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie, she didn’t know where she commonly hung around or where she lived. Which meant she had to put herself at risk of being found by her brother. Who was DEFINITELY looking for her because now she was wanted in Canterlot dead or alive and he’s a part of the royal guard and-
Her vision was suddenly obscured by Spike's little hands. He began to make cute babbles that vaguely sounded like numbers, but she understood what he was trying to do. She took a deep breath in, and let Spike count to ten. Or at least five before Twilight took over counting. She let her breath out.
“Thank you Spike. Not as good as Cadance’s but it works.” She returned back to her task, finding Rainbow Dash. Now that she wasn’t panicking, she realized that she could ask Pinkie Pie if she knew! Man, she should also find some way to thank Pinkie for throwing her a party. She skipped over to Sugarcube Corner happily, and bumped into someone coming out of the door. It was a pink pegasus with a fedora and a mustache.
“S-Sorry.”
“It’s fine, I’ve gotta get back to the library!” “Carl” said in a fake-dep voice, rushing off to said tree. A cake also floated behind her for some reason. It appeared neither party recognized each other through their disguises.
“W-Wait was that magi-”
“Sparkling!” She was suddenly hugged by the pink earth filly tightly. She patted Pinkie on the back.
“You met Carl just now right? He’s new in Ponyville too! Ooh, I’ve gotta throw another welcome party, this is amazing! So many new friends are popping up, I wonder who’ll come to town tomorrow at this rate!” Pinkie Pie spoke rapidly as she bounced around Twilight. Twilight’s eyes followed Pinkie as she moved. It must’ve been difficult putting together the party for Twilight, maybe she could help Pinkie today?
“Maybe I can help? I’d love to do it as a thanks!” Twilight offered. The party pony halted mid air and smoothly drifted to the ground, doing an exaggerated “hmmmm” as she thought it over. Twilight stood smiling awkwardly until Pinkie proceeded to say:
“Okay! First things first, cake!” The earth filly said starting to lead Twilight into the kitchens of Sugarcube Corner.
Back at the library now, Cadance gleefully indulged in a piece of cake. She didn’t have a borderline need for it like Celestia but it was still nice to try, especially from such a nice town. It was going to take a while for Shining Armor to search the whole town, and hopefully he wouldn’t forget he’s supposed to search only the town.
Shining Armor pushed aside a bush as he scavenged through the forest. His baby sister HAD to be somewhere here…
So while she waited it would do her some good to at least enjoy her stay while she waited for Twilight to come to her. She just wished she could fake being a librarian better until Twilight eventually came here. She only got in one bite of her cake before she had to start faking her job again.
“E-Excuse me, M-Mr, can you help me f-find a book…” Fluttershy mumbled, somehow barely audible over Rainbow Dash’s totally-not-wailings. Cadance blinked bewildered and gave a small nod.
After a short explanation about why the multicolor filly was crying, Cadance gave a snort.
“Well Rainbow Dash, I think you’ll be happy to know that it doesn’t sound like your friend has ‘gone kablooey’, more like she panic-teleported. And honestly, that sounds really impressive! Sounds like she’s got some real power to her!” The alicorn said to the prismacolor filly. Fluttershy gave Rainbow a hug of reassurance before she turned back to her book about shed construction. But why does it recommend a shovel?
“R-Really?” Rainbow Dash sniffed. “W-Well y-yeah of course she isn’t dead! She said that she likes m-magic and stuff so of course she knows what she’s doing!” Rainbow Dash said, still trying to pretend she wasn’t just sobbing on the floor a moment ago.
“The only problem is where she ended up, but in these situations a pony is likely to end up where they feel safe.” Cadance added. Rainbow Dash thought hard on what she knew about ‘Sparkling Cider’, aside from the fact that she thought her coat was a pretty color, and that her magic was pretty cool, and that she was handing out flyers.
“Well, she did come from Applejack’s farm and was with her. Maybe she’s at Sweet Apple Acres!” She said triumphantly, fluttering into the air. She was quick to zip off to said farmland with a quick “Thanks!” Echoing behind her. Cadance got up.
“Maybe I should go with her. Will you be coming along sweetie or are you okay here?” The alicorn said, turning to Fluttershy.
“Oh, that’s okay. I’ll stay here, I’m really enjoying this book.” She responded. Cadance nodded and turned to leave.
“Oh um, one question Mr. Carl, if it isn’t too much to ask.”
“Yeah?”
“Why do you sound like, um, a girl?”
Well, Twilight now knows that she couldn’t bake to save her life. The worst part was that SPIKE COULD!
“Wow Sparkling! Spike’s a natural, and he’s just a hatchling!” Pinkie Pie commented. Spike had managed to make a decent looking little cake, it was a little misshapen, it was decorated in a crude image of Twilight and the word “Mama”.
Twilight was both proud and touched.
“You may not be good with the baking part, but your measurements are on point! I’ve already got the cake done!” Pinkie said to Twilight, presenting her with the two layer cake with a little figure of Carl that Pinkie somehow had made already.
“That looks amazing! Sooo…guessing by what happened when you threw a welcome party for me, we have to decorate this place now?” Pinkie shook her head.
“Nope! We aren’t having it here!”
“What? Then why was my party here?”
“Because you’re homeless!” Twilight grumbled to herself at that.
“But Carl isn’t from what I can tell, I’m pretty sure she lives at the library now! So we’re gonna set this all up over there!” Pinkie explained. Twilight nodded.
“I guess we’ll have to stop by the supply store on the way then-“
“Nah I got it.” Pinkie said, pulling a ton of streamers out of her mane. Twilight stared at Pinkie. Then took a hoof and lifted her mane so it didn’t cover her forehead. She let her mane drop.
“Hhhhhhow?!”
“I dunno! C’mon Spike!” The hatchling babbled as Pinkie put him on her back.
Twilight was careful as she carried the box all the way back to the library. She was honestly happy they were coming back here. Once they did the invites, she might have time to read a little! The door was opened, Fluttershy eeped from the noise.
“Oh, hi Fluttershy! I didn’t know you wanted to throw a party for Carl too!” Pinkie bounced over and grabbed her hoof.
“O-Oh no, I wasn’t I-I-I was just-“
Pinkie dragged the poor Pegasus to help her decorate. Twilight found herself giggling at the pink pony’s antics. Twilight decided that she could get started on the invites, and even let Spike help! Maybe he had more hidden talents. Once she had made the first card, her first instinct was to try a duplication spell. By the time she stopped herself, she had casted it and made one extra invitation. However now Twilight was gone, and Spike was alone.
“Oh! Sparkling Cider, can you run and ask Carl if he would like blue or red hearts better- hey Spike where’d Sparkling go?”
