Furious, Twilight trotted toward Wizbell's house. Along the way, the number of mares walking around with a map in hoof or searching beneath benches and rocks along the road only kept increasing.
Twilight paused for the briefest moment. Her brows knitted even tighter, making her annoyance even more obvious.
Whenever a mare was about to cross her path, Twilight wrapped her in magic, lifted her off the ground, turned her around, and set her aside without slowing her pace.
The house was transparent, making it difficult to see what was happening inside. Thanks to the permission she had granted herself long ago, the magical barrier did not affect her.
The small herd of mares searching around the house was dealt with the same way. A light push with magic, a quick swat on the thigh to get them moving, and a slight correction to their direction were enough to send them running away on instinct. None of them understood what was happening, but every single one moved away from the house.
The pressure in Twilight's chest eased, if only a little.
KNOCK! KNOCK!
"Wizbell Star. Open the door this instant! I know you're in there! I can see your saddlebag hanging by the entrance!"
For several seconds, there was no response.
Then the sound of hooves echoed from inside, rushing toward the entrance at full speed.
The door opened just enough to leave a narrow gap.
A pair of golden eyes slowly looked Twilight up and down before settling on her face. The rest of his body remained hidden behind the door.
"Physical condition normal, breathing stable, no abnormalities. Get inside, Twi! Spike, you too! Don't stay outside!"
A thin beam of magic shot out from inside the house, passing right beside Twilight. A few meters away, it wrapped around Spike, who had been pacing back and forth with a confused expression, completely unable to find either the house or Twilight.
With a tug of telekinesis, Wizbell pulled both of them toward the entrance.
The door slammed shut behind them.
[Wizbell's POV]
I didn't feel that uncomfortable sensation coming from Twilight.
'There were other emotions... it's still the same magic as always. Annoyance? Yeah... she seems a little annoyed.'
'That doesn't matter! She can help me!'
I quickly pushed them farther inside. Twilight's eyes widened slightly when my magic grabbed her without warning. Spike didn't even have time to react. One moment he was wandering around several meters away with a lost look on his face, and the next he was being dragged straight to the entrance.
I slammed the door shut and turned on the lights.
'...'
My heart was practically in my throat.
When Twilight started yelling outside my door, I thought something terrible had happened.
As I turned toward the living room, Stella was still recovering from the scare as well. She jolted in surprise and barely managed to keep the plate balanced in front of her before the cake ended up splattered across the floor.
When I turned back, I found Twilight standing beside the table.
Mom's letter was already open within her magic. Her eyes raced across the contents while, little by little, her ears relaxed, her tail settled down, and the frown on her face faded until she was left with an almost neutral expression.
She read one more line before looking up at me.
"This explains a lot... Seriously, Wiz. Is what Aunt Alegría says really true?"
"What does it say? I want to know too!"
Spike jumped, trying to reach the letter floating in Twilight's magic.
"Not now, Spike."
Without even taking her eyes off the scroll, she nudged him onto one of the couches with a small pulse of telekinesis.
"Tch!"
Spike merely crossed his arms with an irritated huff and, as a silent protest, snatched a cupcake from the table.
"Uh... yeah, it's true."
I let out a long sigh.
"What a mess, Twi. I haven't even been away from home for a year, and look at the things that keep happening to me. This is so embarrassing..."
I hid my face behind a hoof.
My face burned as I remembered how absurd the morning had been. I wouldn't even know where to begin if someone asked me to explain it.
I shook my head and looked back at her.
There was the solution to this whole disaster.
I took a step toward her.
Twilight, on the other hoof, took a step back, startled by my sudden approach.
"Hey! Can you help me? Please! I'll owe you one. Just help me get everything on this list my mom gave me from the shopping district."
I stepped even closer and pointed at the bottom of the letter with a hoof.
"Eh!"
"It's everything listed down here. I don't need all of it. The first four items would be enough."
I traced the list with my hoof as I spoke.
"I seriously need your help right now. I really need you. You have no idea how disastrous this morning has been."
Without waiting for an answer, I wrapped her in my telekinesis.
"Come on!"
Twilight let out a small yelp as my magic lifted her off the ground, and I carried her straight into my bedroom.
"Look!"
I pointed at the bed.
"You wouldn't know this since you've never had a reason to come into my room, but I sleep with three pillows."
I walked over to the bed and pointed at the empty space.
"And they took the biggest one. The one I hug while I sleep."
I turned toward her, completely bewildered.
"Why would they take my pillow!?"
I threw both hooves out to the sides.
"Do you have any idea how uncomfortable it is for me to sleep without my pillows? I don't know if it's some kind of OCD or if I'm just weird, but I really don't like people touching or taking my things without permission."
"I don't like ponies touching my things either... or talking about them..."
Twilight muttered it under her breath.
I couldn't make out what she had said. She had lowered her head, and her bangs covered part of her face.
'...I think I made her uncomfortable by bringing her into my room.'
Her entire face was bright red.
I lowered my gaze to the empty spot on the bed.
"So frustrating!"
I stomped the floor with a hoof.
"Out of everything they could've stolen, they went for my pillow!"
"Alright! I've got the list, Wiz! I'll go buy everything!"
I blinked.
"Huh?"
By the time I reacted, the room was already empty.
The only thing I managed to hear was her voice from the front entrance.
"Twilight! Slow down! You're carrying me way too high!"
Spike's complaint gradually faded away along with the sound of galloping hooves.
"..."
Well.
Twi left just as suddenly as she had arrived.
Completely out of nowhere.
[Twilight's POV]
When I finished reading the letter, I slowly looked up.
There stood Wizbell, hiding his face behind a hoof as he let out an embarrassed sigh. A small knot formed in my chest. He hadn't even been away from home for a year, and somehow he had already ended up caught in such a disaster.
Then he slowly lowered his hoof from his face, and those enormous golden eyes met mine.
My breathing stopped.
All I could see was my own reflection in them. The tiny stars swirling within his pupils moved together with the flow of his emotions, creating a beauty that was almost hypnotic. I would never get used to looking into those eyes.
They were... far too beautiful.
Suddenly, he started walking toward me.
I stepped back on pure instinct.
Not because I wanted to get away from him, but because every step he took seemed to shorten the distance between me and losing my composure.
He lowered his gaze to the letter still floating in my magic and pointed at the bottom of the scroll.
I tried to focus on the words, to read what he wanted to show me, to understand what he needed...
But it was impossible.
The only thing I was aware of was how close he was.
I never noticed the exact moment it happened.
I simply felt the light touch against my hoof.
I slowly lowered my gaze.
Without realizing it, he had rested his hoof on top of mine while continuing to point at the list.
Then he spoke.
"I seriously need your help right now."
My heart lurched violently inside my chest.
No...
That couldn't be.
"I really need you."
Everything stopped making sense.
My mind went completely blank as a single thought repeated those words over and over again.
He needs me...
He needs me...
He needs me...
Not Princess Celestia.
Not Lyra.
Not Pinkie Pie.
Not any other mare.
Me.
Wizbell needed me.
I wasn't aware of anything else.
I didn't remember leaving the living room.
I didn't remember walking down the hallway.
I only became aware of my surroundings again when I heard his voice once more.
"Look!"
I blinked.
We were already inside his bedroom.
Wizbell was pointing at the bed in obvious frustration, his tail held completely rigid behind him. I watched him walk toward the mattress, but I couldn't bring myself to raise my eyes to his face. My gaze remained fixed on his flank as an unbearable guilt slowly spread through my chest.
"You wouldn't know this since you've never had a reason to come into my room, but I sleep with three pillows."
Every word made the heat rise a little higher into my cheeks.
Because only a few hours ago...
I had been hugging one of those pillows.
I had hidden it.
Wizbell stopped in front of the large empty space on the bed and pointed at it with his hoof.
"And they took the biggest one. The one I hug while I sleep."
Time seemed to stop.
The blood drained from my face for an instant before rushing back all at once.
...It was that one.
The big one...
The one I'd been hugging...
No wonder it smelled so much like him...
"Why would they take my pillow!?"
The guilt completely shattered me.
It hadn't been just any pillow.
I had chosen the very one that held the strongest trace of his scent because it was the one he hugged every night before going to sleep.
And now he was standing there, utterly confused, trying to understand why it had disappeared.
I have to find a chance to replace it.
"Do you have any idea how uncomfortable it is for me to sleep without my pillows? I don't know if it's some kind of OCD or if I'm just weird, but I really don't like people touching or taking my things without permission."
Before I even realized what I was doing, the words escaped my mouth on their own.
"I don't like ponies touching my things either... or talking about them..."
The moment I finished speaking, I realized what I had just said.
No.
I couldn't stay there any longer. I couldn't control my racing heart, and the guilt and embarrassment made it impossible to remain in that room.
While Wizbell continued staring at the empty spot where his pillow had been, I turned around, wrapped Spike in my magic, and practically fled the house.
I needed air.
I needed to stop hearing my own heartbeat.
Again and again, the same sentence echoed inside my mind, and every time it did, my heart skipped a beat.
"I really need you."
I couldn't let that moment disappear.
I needed to preserve it.
It was... important.
I pulled out a Memory Catcher and held it in front of me.
It's for research!
Understanding emotions better will help me understand the Magic of Friendship...
Right... research.
With almost reverent care, I captured only that single moment.
His voice.
His gaze.
Those words.
Everything was sealed inside the tiny capsule.
I stared at it for several seconds with a smile I simply couldn't hide.
Only when I heard Spike's voice did I return to reality.
I hurriedly tucked my little treasure into my saddlebag, protecting it with my magic as though it were the most fragile object in all of Equestria.
"I don't want it to break..."
[Out of Wizbell's sight]
Stella lay sprawled across the floor with both paws covering her mouth.
Her tiny body trembled as she desperately tried to hold back the laughter threatening to burst out. She could barely breathe.
...I can't...
I can't!
She rolled onto her side to keep from making a sound.
She had just witnessed a drama far too delicious to ignore.
Twilight had arrived smelling of jealousy long before she even reached the front door. Stella had honestly thought she was about to kick the house down.
Then Wizbell appeared.
Completely oblivious.
Terrified.
Desperate.
Invading every inch of Twilight's personal space without realizing it.
He grabbed her with his magic.
Stepped so close they were almost muzzle to muzzle.
Brought her into his bedroom.
Showed her his bed.
And through all of it...
Twilight simply melted into a puddle.
Stella had watched the anger slowly disappear. The scent of jealousy never left, but it mixed with a happiness so ridiculously intense that it was almost laughable.
She was enjoying it...
The shameless mare was enjoying every single second of a completely terrified Wizbell.
Stella buried her face between her paws again to keep another fit of laughter from escaping.
And on top of that, she was the one who stole his pillow.
No, no, no!
This is getting way too entertaining.
[Outside Wizbell's house]
A safe distance away from Wizbell's house.
Spike remained hunched over with both hands braced against his knees.
"Haaah... haaah..."
He was still trying to catch his breath after being dragged halfway across town by Twilight's telekinesis.
"Tw-Twilight..."
There was no answer.
The unicorn stood perfectly still.
Her magic trembled around a small Memory Catcher.
Inside, a freshly captured memory floated gently, glowing with a vivid pink light.
The capsule slowly rotated, revealing the memory.
"..."
"I seriously need your help right now."
It turned once more.
"I really need you."
The phrase repeated itself over and over.
"I seriously need your help right now."
"I really need you."
Twilight continued staring at it without blinking.
Her breathing was slow.
Her ears stood perfectly upright.
A small smile slowly appeared across her face.
"..."
With the utmost care, she drew the Memory Catcher against her chest.
"So beautiful..."
She held it there for a few more seconds before carefully placing it inside her saddlebag.
Spike finally managed to stand up.
"Can we go buy Wizbell's stuff now?"
Twilight turned around and began trotting toward the shopping district.
"Yes."
"First, I need to put this away."
"...Very carefully."
Spike tilted his head.
"Careful with what?"
Twilight simply hugged her saddlebag a little tighter as she continued walking.
"I don't want it to break."
Spike looked at Twilight with an increasingly bewildered expression.
When they had left Sugarcube Corner, she had been angry.
Very angry.
During the entire walk to Wizbell's house, she had barely said a word. She had been frowning, walking so fast that he could barely keep up, and shoving everypony out of her way.
Then they went inside.
Twilight disappeared with Wizbell for a few minutes.
And now...
It looked as though someone had painted a rainbow over her head.
She walked with a smile she couldn't possibly hide, her ears perked up high, cradling her saddlebag as carefully as if it contained the most valuable object in all of Equestria.
Spike slowly tilted his head.
...
What happened in there?
He kept staring at her for a few more seconds.
Did she completely lose it?
He narrowed his eyes.
I knew staying up all night reading magic scrolls would mess with her head someday!
He let out a resigned sigh before quickening his pace to catch up with her.