“...And afterwards, we’ll sleep, wake up, and make breakfast, just the two of us. Then we’ll both go to work, and that will be that!”

Twilight Sparkle finished writing with a flourish of her pen and smiled. “Oh, I’m just so excited, Spike! This is one of the best ideas I’ve ever had! Nothing can go wrong!”

Spike raised an eyebrow and looked up from his book. “What about the time you combined iced tea and lemonade?”

“One of the best ideas I’ve ever had! I never said it was the best!” Twilight rolled her eyes before returning her gaze to the roll of parchment in front of her. It was simple, maybe too simple, but she felt confident. How could it not work? She’d triple-checked the math, even!

Well, there wasn’t any use worrying about it now. She could always change it around later if the situation couldn’t be salvaged. After all, she still needed to get ready!

“Spike, would you like to come to Rarity’s with me?”

“Nah, I think I’ll just stay home.” He waved a claw at Twilight from his armchair, not breaking focus from his Charliehorse Dickens novel, Subverted Expectations.

“Really?”

“Of course not. Let’s go!”



“Twilight, I simply must know all of the details!” Rarity floated a strand of ribbon towards her current dress design, tilting it back and forth before tying it around the middle.

“There’s nothing to know, Rarity!” Twilight stood on a platform of pink, wincing at the harsh light. A swirling mass of cloth surrounded her as Rarity tried to find the perfect dress. “I just really think that this idea is going to work. I’ve never—”

Everything froze. Spike shoved the fainting couch towards Rarity, who graciously accepted it even as her face went from one of pure shock to unconscious relaxation. Spike looked back at Twilight and shrugged. “Is the dress really that important?”

Twilight sighed and shook her head. “Not really. I thought it would be a nice touch—”

“Come on, then! We need to stop by Fluttershy’s!”

Twilight frowned and looked away. “I don’t know, Spike… maybe it’s not worth all the effort to go through with this.” Carousel Boutique lay in fashionable ruin, scarves and chapeaux littering the floor. Ponnequins were in states of disarray, even ignoring the clothes that were covering them. “I mean, it’s one of my best ideas, but I’m getting cold hooves now that I’m starting to go through with it.”

“But Twilight, you said it yourself. There’s nothing that could go wrong! Let’s get you back to the castle so you can de-stress.”



“I just don’t understand it, Spike!” Twilight paced around her room, a mug of coffee floating beside her. “How did that not work? I thought for sure that I had factored everything into the equation!”

Spike shrugged. “I guess some ponies just aren’t interested in that sort of thing.”

“I did everything right!” she wailed. “How could this get any worse?!”

A window shattering and a cry of “Incoming!” were her only answers.

“Rainbow Dash, use the door, for pony’s sake! Everyone else does!”

The pegasus moaned from her spot against the wall. She shook her head and stood up. “I’m fine, thanks for asking.” She looked at Twilight’s desk. “Hey, what’s this?” Rainbow opened the scroll.

“No!” cried Twilight, but it was too late. Rainbow’s eyes were already wandering over the page, and she was trying not to blush. “T-twilight… Is this what I think this is?”

“Yes! It’s true!” sobbed the princess. “The date went well, but the ending didn’t work and now I don’t know what to do!

“Those were my best ‘laid’ plans!” Twilight looked straight ahead and opened her mouth with a smile, tears completely evaporating.

A beat. Rainbow Dash held an identical face for a few seconds longer before shooting Twilight a look, not moving her head.

“Ahem.” Twilight frowned. “I said, those were my best—”

And then Pinkie Pie crashed through the wall in a tank.