//------------------------------// // A Morning Joke // Story: Friendship is Shining: Bridle Rumors // by Hopeful_Ink_Hoof //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle woke up and stretched, letting out a yawn. She had had a weird dream. It was hard to remember the exact details of it. There had been something about being an outcast. Was it her? A different pony? Pinkie had been in it, wearing some sort of scarf on her head singing something about notions. Was it notions? Once she was up and her hair was brushed, she headed for the door. As soon as she opened it, she found Spike standing right in right in front of the doorway. "Oh, hey Twilight," Spike said as he stepped into the doorway. "What's up?" "Nothing yet," Twilight replied. "I mean I just got up." "What a coincidence, so did I." He stretched out one arm, leaning against the door frame. "It was a little disappointing to. I was having this really great dream." Twilight looked at Spike. She wanted to get out, but he was in her way. She tried to go around, but he moved to keep her blocked. "Excuse me," she started to say. "I was this big, brave, heroic knight," Spike continued, "and I was exploring this cave that was supposed to be full of treasure with... "Rarity," the young dragon took on that familiar tone it did whenever he mentioned that particular mare. Twilight tried to get past him again, but again he moved. "So we were in this cave," Spike said, returning to his normal voice, "and we find this big room full of treasure. I think it had more jewels than I could eat in my entire life." Twilight let out a huff of annoyance as Spike kept moving to block the door to her room. Lowering her head, he pressed it against the dragon's chest and started pushing. Her hooves slid along the floor but got not traction, and Spike did not move in the slightest. "Then out of nowhere," Spike continued, not seeming to notice that Twilight was trying to push him, "this big spider showed up. Rarity was frightened of course, but I-" "SPIKE!" Twilight shouted. "What?" Spike asked, blinking at the filly. "I need to use the bathroom," she snapped, "and you are in the way." "Oh. Sorry." Spike stepped aside, letting Twilight pass. Twilight watched him as she went by, eyes narrowed and brows furrowed. Once past the young dragon, the filly continued down until getting to the bathroom. Once finished, she was stopped as Spike was blocking her again. "So where was I?" Spike asked, rubbing his chin before remembering. "Oh, right. So, Rarity and I are in this cave full of treasure," "Spike..." "and we're facing this giant spider." "Spike." "Now here's where it gets a little weird." "Spike!" "Instead of pulling out a sword, I pull out this cupcake an-" "SPIKE!" "What?" Spike asked, blinking at Twilight. "What's going on?" the filly asked. "What? What do you mean?" The young dragon shifted, bringing his hands close as he started to look around. "You're acting weird," Twilight said, leaning in close with her eyes narrowing. She pointed a hoof at the dragon. "You keep standing in the way and blocking me. You also don't normally get up before me. If you do, you're usually already downstairs eating breakfast." "Heh," Spike chuckled nervously, grinning slightly. "You're being silly Twi. What could I possibl-HEY!" Twilight darted past Spike and ran down for the stairs. As soon as she reached them, she went down as fast as she safely could. She could hear Spike chasing after her, but was faster and had a good lead on him. Hitting the ground, she started running to the main room of the library. As she came in, she caught sight of a blue mane and tail hiding behind a table and large amount of books. "Shining!" Twilight shouted, causing the mane and tail to frizz out before disappearing behind the books and table. "What's going on?" "Nothing," Shining said, "Nothing at all." Twilight stared at the spot where her brother was, head tilting. Something about his voice sounded wrong, like he was trying to sound disguise his voice. "Why don't you go ahead to the kitchen and get breakfast?" he asked. "You're acting weird too," Twilight said. "What's going on?" "Now's not really a good time Twiley," Shining responded. "So why don't you-" There's was a knock at the door. Before any of them responded, the door to the library was thrown open and Pinkie Pie came in. She tried to say something, but her tongue stuck out. Instead, all that happened was a lot of spitting. Not far behind her was... Rarity? The colors were right, but the hair was so long and thick, it was impossible to see the actual pony. Behind them was what looked like a normal Fluttershy. "Shining, darling," Rarity's voice said from the somewhere deep inside the thick fur coat. "Something's happened to... wait.. are you here? I can't see a thing." "Mm-hmm," Pinkie noised in the affirmative and pointed Rarity toward the direction of Shining Armor. "Oh my goodness!" Fluttershy suddenly blurted out in a deep, masculine voice. Pinkie Pie let out a gasp, eyes going wide. "What is it?" Rarity asked. "Yeah, what?" Twilight added moving to see. "Twiley stop!" Shining Armor said, moving to keep hidden. "Why? What's wrong?" "There's nothing for you to worry about. I just don't want you to see me like this." "Like what?" Twilight asked, trying to move again. "Just trust me," Shining Armor said. There was a loud thump from outside as something hit the library window, followed by an audible "oof." All the ponies in the room turned toward the window to see Rainbow Dash trying to get in. She slammed into it again. As she sort of backed up, Spike ran up and opened the window. The sky blue pegasus flew in through the window and crashed into the table. The impacted knocked it over and sent the books flying, exposing Shining Armor. Shining Armor's eyes went wide, long lashes fluttering with each blink. the form was smaller and thinner, less muscular. The normally square jaw was softer, rounder. Shining's mane and tail were both thicker, the hair slightly longer. "Oh my Celestia!" Twilight cried out. "Shining... you're a mare!"