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Friends and Lovers

by Donnys Boy

Chapter 23: Sunrise (TwiPie)

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“Sunrise”
(TwiPie)

It would be an understatement to say that Twilight Sparkle disliked getting up early. The life of an academic was, almost inevitably, the life of a nightowl. Many an evening had been spent alone with a book and a candle, reading into the wee hours, and Twilight was used to waking up far later than most of the other ponies in town. Fortunately, she had Spike to open the library and takes messages for her in the mornings.

But not this morning. This morning was different, and this morning was special. This particular morning, Twilight woke up while it was still pitch-black outside, stumbling out of her cozy bed with bleary eyes and cramped-up wings. A quick glance out her loft window showed her a still and silent town, with almost all of the lights turned out.

Almost.

Sweet Apple Acres was too far away to see from the library, but Twilight knew that, if it had been visible, all of the Apple clan would already be up and awake, preparing for a hard day of farm work. What could be seen from the library, however, was the top spire of Sugarcube Corner. Which, unlike the rest of town, held a lit lantern in its uppermost window.

Twilight grinned. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she hurried downstairs and grabbed the bright pink scarf that hung by the front door. Rarity had made it for her a few years ago. With a large smile, Rarity had explained that it was pink to complement Twilight’s coat coloring and, at the time, Twilight had simply nodded along.

In the here and now, Twilight wrapped the scarf around her neck, taking a moment to appreciate its softness and warmth, before she stepped out into the chill of an early autumn morning. She cantered through the empty streets of Ponyville at a brisk clip, and she couldn’t stop grinning the entire way to Sugarcube Corner.

She paused directly outside the bakery and, finally, perhaps inevitably, a spike of nervousness shot through her chest. It wasn’t that she hadn’t done this before--of course she’d practiced, over and over, dozens of times--but this was the first time she’d be doing this without Celestia by her side. Celestia had given her permission, and Celestia had said that Twilight was ready, but still Twilight’s heart sped up. Still her breath caught in her throat.

It wasn’t until she heard the humming that came from the window above, faint yet unmistakable in its origin, that Twilight regained her smile. That she remembered why she was here.

Closing her eyes, she concentrated. She reached out down within herself to grab hold of her magic as she thought of everyone in town, all of her friends, all of her loved ones. She thought about walking down the main boulevard during the busy lunch hour and all of the smiles and hellos she’d receive as she passed by. Reaching even further, she thought of the ponies she’d met in Manehattan and Cloudsdale, in Canterlot and Appleloosa, and of the ponies and other beings who lived even farther away still. The griffon kingdoms, the Crystal Empire, the dragon republic …

It was daunting, trying to think of the whole world, all of its inhabitants, all of its places, all of its complexity, all at the same time. But then Twilight turned her thoughts towards a pony who, impossibly, could do all of that, who positively lived and breathed for the chance to meet and make friends with the whole entire world.

A warmth rose in her chest as she thought of laughter and love. Of blue eyes the color of endless sky and of smiles as bright and fierce as the sun itself. Twilight grabbed hold of that warmth, molded it and shaped it and made it her own, and then she directed it outward. She directed it out through the streets of Ponyville and beyond, to the cities and towns and forests and fields that made up Equestria, to the mountains and deserts and seas that lay beyond the nation’s border. She took that warmth, the warmth that Pinkie gave to her, and she poured it out for the whole world to share.

When Twilight opened her eyes, it wasn’t dark out anymore. The sun hung low in the east, bathing all of Ponyville in soft shades of yellow and orange, and before her stood a single pink pony.

“Did you … was that ...” Pinkie cut herself off with a little shake of the head and licked her lips. In a tone of soft wonder, she asked, “For me?

Twilight nodded, beaming. “Happy anniversary.”

Author's Notes:

Thirty Minute Pony Stories shut down recently, after a multi-year run and more than five hundred prompts, and this is a slightly revised version of the final romance story I wrote for TMP. It was written for the prompt "Getting up early" (http://thirtyminuteponies.tumblr.com/post/75815463992/prompt-567-the-morning-shift).

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