Animal Antics

By: Buytoast

Chapter 1

“Uh, Twilight?  You awake?” Spike called out as he entered the library’s upper floor.  Upon reaching the top, he could have sworn he had entered some paperback wonderland.  Books were stacked higher than he was, as if they were monuments to the authors themselves.  Within the midst of it all, he could spot a purple colored figure slouched over a desk.  Using a book as a pillow, Twilight Sparkle remained unaware of Spike’s entrance and snuggled further into the book.

“Figures,” Spike thought to himself.  For the past few days, all it seemed she was doing was reading, only stopping for a snack and a short nap.  He contemplated letting her sleep for the day, but soon shook off that notion remembering how finicky Twilight was about sleeping in.  He already knew it was going to get ugly letting her sleep in this late.  Gingerly, he approached her and shook her gently.

“Mmmm.  Oh Redondo, you’re so naughty…,” Twilight mumbled in her sleep, followed by a bit of light giggling.

“Twiiiiiiiii, wakey wakey.” Spike said in a sing-song voice as he continued shaking her.

“What’s that Redondo?  O-oh!  W-well I don’t know if we can…”

“Twilight.  Wake up.”

“I-it’s just, you’re a rare text and I don’t know how others would react to us –“

“TWILIGHT!”

The sudden increase in volume worked, as Spike soon witnessed Twilight Sparkle jolting up and then falling onto her face with a loud ‘smack’.  Groggily, Twilight got up, still reeling from the sudden wake-up call / pratfall.

“Spuh..Spike?!  Wha?”  Shaking her head to finally clear it up, she not only noticed her draconic assistant struggling to keep from laughing, but also the light pouring in from a window.  “Spike, what time is it?”

Recovering from his laughing fit, he casually answered her.  “About half past noon.”

“NOON?!  Spiiiiike!  Why didn’t you wake me up earlier?”

“I figured you could use some sleep!  You’ve been reading non-stop for days!  You need to take a break Twi.” Spike retorted, concern evident in his last statement.

Getting a moment to calm down, Twilight sighed.  “Spike, I appreciate your concern, but don’t worry.  I know when enough is enough.”

“Twilight, you were having a dream about being in a romantic relationship with a book.”

“Redondo is not just a b- GAH!”  Mortified that he had found that out, she desperately tried changing the subject.  “W-well, you always dream about Rarity, but I don’t tell you to take a break!”

Taken aback, Spike started to blush, looking for a reply.  “T-that’s not true!  Last night I didn’t only dream about Rarity!”

Twilight was actually a bit surprised.  “What?”

“Rarity2 was in it too.”

Twilight gave him a flat stare.  “Rarity2.”

“Yeah!  She’s Rarity’s identical twin.”

“Really Spike?”

“What?”

“You know what, never mind.  Now, as much as I’d love to hear more about you and your dream escapades, I should really get back to what I was doing.”  Twilight nearly had Spike pushed out of the room until the dragon realized what was happening and wriggled free, proceeding to jump onto her desk as if it were a stage.

“Twilight, I mean it. You need fresh air.  And sunshine.  Plus, I’ve got to clean up these books anyways.  C’mon, go hang out with your friends!” His short speech finished, Spike gave Twilight a pleading look.  One she tried to resist.

She couldn’t.

Sighing in defeat, she started heading downstairs.  “Fine Spike, I’ll go out.  But I expect this place to at least be clean if you’re going to make me leave.”

“C’mon Twi, you can count on me!” declared Spike from the top of the stairs, giving a stiff, mock salute at the end.

Twilight couldn’t help but giggle.  “Alright, I’ll be back later then.”  And with that, Twilight shut the door.

Spike went back upstairs and surveyed the room, planning on how to deal with this mess. “Well, I’d better get started…But first, a quick visit to Rarity2!”  A few minutes later, Spike was huddled under his blanket, muttering something about Rarity20, Rarity67 and, to his confusion, Redondo.

It was a sunny day in Ponyville as usual, and a new day for Twilight.  Stretching slightly in the sunlight, she tried to think of where she should go.  She unknowingly started heading to Sweet Apple Acres, driven by hunger, before she remembered that they would be busy today collecting enough apples and baking enough apple treats for Pinkie Pie’s upcoming ‘Applepalooza Party’.  The same reason why she also rationalized ruling out Pinkie Pie.  Granted, she would probably enjoy the company, but hanging out with Pinkie Pie for a majority of the day would probably leave her sanity broken and begging for mercy.  She briefly considered Rarity, until she remembered that she was busy as well with some big order.  She thought about what Rainbow Dash would be doing and, when it settled on either napping or practicing, she figured that either way, she wouldn’t want to be disturbed.  

“Maybe I can go see what Fluttershy is up to.” she thought to herself, and set off towards her cottage.  Twilight was actually at a loss as to what Fluttershy would be doing.  She knew that she cared for the animals, but she never really considered to what extent. Whatever the case, she figured that she could find something interesting to do with the timid mare. She smiled inwardly, thinking of the possibilities. “Who knows, maybe I’ll learn something new!”  Spurred on by this prospect, she increased her speed ever so slightly.

Pinkie Pie was hopping all about Sugarcube Corner, working on making apple themed decorations and treats.  Suddenly and ever so slightly, her nose began to tingle while her tail spun in small circles.  This had an immediate effect on Pinkie, who suddenly stopped her actions and stood tall on her hooves, eyes the size of pinpricks.

“Pinkie, dear, what’s wrong?”  Mrs. Cake asked, noticing the pink pony acting stranger than usual.

Eyes unblinking, Pinkie slowly turned towards Mrs. Cake and said “Doom.”

“Doom dearie?”

“I sense doom about to befall someone in our fair town, Mrs. Cake.”

Feeling very uneasy, Mrs. Cake tried to lighten the mood.  “Well, all doom aside, we still need some extra cupcakes, and I saw that Carrot bought a new type batter.  Now I wonder if it’s up to Sugarcube Corner expectations.  What do you think Pinkie?”  She looked over to see that Pinkie had suddenly disappeared, only to be startled half to death by a loud sound behind her.  Flabbergasted, she turned around to see Pinkie Pie in some sort of military outfit, standing on her hind legs, wearing sunglasses and hitting her hoof firmly with a whip antenna.

“Can do Mrs. Cake ma’am!”  Pinkie shouted.  “I will not fail the Corner!”  Just as fast as she appeared, she dove into the kitchen, the sounds of pots and pans clanging and falling following her and leaving a very confused Mrs. Cake in the foyer.

As Twilight approached Fluttershy’s cottage, she could make out the shape of the yellow Pegasus.  As she got closer, she could hear some of the conversation she seemed to be having with...”A tree?” Twilight asked out loud.

“Alright, now, eat it all up please.  I wouldn’t want any of you to be hungry now.” Fluttershy whispered, with a smile on her face.  A smile that was quickly replaced with a yelp and a cloud of dust where Fluttershy had been standing.

“Sorry Fluttershy!” Twilight shouted up the tree, still standing where she had poked Fluttershy to get her attention.  “I didn’t mean to frighten you!”

“O-oh, Twilight, it’s you.” Fluttershy said as she floated down from the treetop.  “I’m sorry, I didn’t notice you there.  I was too busy focusing on the squirrels.”

“The squirrels?”  Twilight asked.  Fluttershy nodded and then pointed to a hole in the tree where, sure enough, a family of squirrels was eating some nuts.  Looking past the tree, she noticed there was a lot of activity going on in Fluttershy’s yard, even for it practically being an animal hangout.  “What’s going on Fluttershy?”  Twilight asked, interested in all the activity.

“Oh, it’s just Inspection Day.  Every week I go around and check up on all my little animal friends, making sure none are sick or injured before I feed them.  N-n-not to say I don’t do that every day, it’s just this day I do it morethroughlysothatI’mextrasureandeeep!”  Fluttershy squeaked and hid behind her mane.  A few seconds later, her protective wall of hair was breached by a familiar aura of magic and gave way to Twilight’s face.

“It’s alright Fluttershy.  I know you do everything in your power to make sure your animal friends are always feeling good.  This does sound interesting though.  Do you mind if I help out?”  Twilight asked with a gleam in her eye.

Fluttershy was quite surprised.  Nopony had ever really bothered to ask to help.  “A-are you sure?  I mean, I don’t want to imply you couldn’t do it, but sometimes caring for them can be a bit troublesome.”  At that moment, one of the squirrels jumped out and landed on Twilight’s head, staying there a bit before heading down onto the ground and looking at Twilight with wide, open eyes.

“These cute little things?  I think I can handle them.  Besides, I’ve read several books on animal care, and I’m sure that if I apply that knowledge, I can overcome anything!”  Twilight exclaimed while making a determined pose.

“W-well alright, in that case, here.”  Fluttershy carried a big sack of carrots over to Twilight and dropped it in front of her.  “I haven’t been to the bunnies yet.  I asked Angel to get them organized over there.  Just make sure you check them for anything that may be wrong.  If you see something wrong, tell Angel and he’ll tell me so I can see exactly what’s wrong.  If they’re fine, give them a carrot.  N-not that you shouldn’t give any sick bunnies a carrot too, just make sure that they don’t have a tummy ache, otherwise the carrot will hurt their poor little bellies.”

Making a mental note of everything Fluttershy had told her, Twilight gave her a grin and said “Don’t worry Fluttershy, I’ve got this!”  With that, she picked up the carrot sack and headed off to the bunnies. Next Chapter: The Part With The Bunnies and Cake Estimated time remaining: 58 Minutes