Twilight's journey

by Skarsnik

Chapter 3 - Friends

It was past noon, and the sun was high in the sky. Around Spike, most ponies were heading to their home to prepare their lunch. Some of them were already outside enjoying their meal with their friends or their family. The morning market was now finished, with the only few remaining vendors packing their stand.

Spike was tired, he hadn’t slept at all the previous night. He had stayed up watching Twilight.

For the first couple of hours after putting her on his bed, Spike had been lost. He was happy seeing her back, but at the same time, he was very worried about seeing her clearly famished and unconscious. He was not sure if she was just sleeping or worse. He had nearly believed it was some kind of cruel joke from Discord, bringing him back Twilight only for Spike to be able to watch her but not interact with her, but he quickly dismissed this thought because Discord’s “good fun” was at worst very annoying but never really harmful.

Then came the letter; at first he had been surprised to receive a letter from Cadence that late but after seeing the official royal sigil used to seal the letter -their usuals letters were only sealed with Cadence’s more plain personal sigil- Spike had suspected that he would get some explanation about Twilight.

The first part of the letter made some of his worries disappear: he was not dreaming, it was really Twilight in front of him, that she was not a unicorn anymore, he didn’t care about, she was the pony that raised and cared for him, that was enough.

But sadly, the rest of the letter brought him more questions than he really wanted. Where was Twilight this whole time? What happened to her? And even more troublesome: why did he have to NOT tell Princess Celestia about that?

Spike had read the letter multiple times in an attempt to find answers, but the only conclusion he had come with was to trust both Princesses’ words. They said they trusted him, so he would trust them as well. Cadence was a friend and family, and even if he didn’t really know Princess Luna that well, if Cadence trusted her and Twilight had trusted her in the past, why wouldn’t he?

He was glad that Twilight awakened in the middle of the night. That gave him some reason to trust them. She hadn’t talked much, but she had recognized him. Her voice was low when she had asked for water, she wasn’t in pain. Spike was no doctor, but the Princesses’ statement “very tired” was very fitting.

He wasn’t sure to understand the part about her loss of memory: would she be the same Twilight he had known? What did she remember? Did the Princesses imply he had to not tell about her past?

But this morning had offered him a more urgent concern. Emerald had seen her. Spike had felt stupid at first when he saw him entering the room, how could he have forgotten about his assistant? His first thought had been to pretend it was some family or playing the “it’s just a mare” thing, but Spike didn’t expect her to show her wings. And on second thought, there was no way he could have hidden her to somepony that lived with him, especially on this dumb single story house.

Spike had chosen to trust him, but it was not like he had any choice. He had no idea how Emerald could have reacted, and the last thing Spike wanted was to have Emerald trying to find information on his own. The question, “Have you seen a lavender alicorn?” would have probably given him weird looks from most ponies, but on the wrong ears who knew what could have happened considering the rarity of alicorns.

Now he had to make sure Emerald understood and would tell nopony.

With that in mind, Spike reached the small house. When he opened the door, he noticed Emerald had cleaned the main room. The fridge’s door was now closed, so Spike assumed he had cleaned that up too.

Emerald was on a chair near the table and was reading a book. Spike threw his bag in a corner near the entrance and went to check on Twilight.

“I am back Twilight.”

Emerald was glad to hear that Spike didn’t look upset. “She is still sleeping. She didn’t even wake up when I started cleaning,” Emerald said while closing his book.

Spike took a chair and sat at the table to face Emerald.

“You probably have many questions,” Spike’s tone was neutral.

“Yes -no- I mean, first, I want to apologize.”

“Huh. Apologize for what?” Spike didn’t even hide his surprise. He had expected Emerald to be curious and ask questions about the letter or just about Twilight, but definitely not an apology.

“At first, I was mad at you for... no, it doesn’t matter now. I should have gone to teach the fillies so you could have stayed to take care of her.” Emerald gave a look at Twilight then tried to look Spike in the eyes, but all he managed was to stare at the cover of his book and continue.

“But no, I only cared for myself and I used your concern for your job against you because I… not sure anymore,” Emerald paused to look at Spike “The point is I didn’t think of what you wanted. I only realized that when I saw you leave the room, I thought you were crying. I am sorry for that.”

“I…” Spike didn’t really know what to say after that, he paused and tried to collect his thoughts.

That was true, Spike was not happy to have to leave Twilight, though he didn’t remember crying, but his job was really important to him. Many ponies didn’t understand how a dragon could properly teach magic to young unicorns. Some of them wanted to simply deny him the right to do it, and he didn’t want to give them the smallest pretext, like leaving a class unattended. On the other side, he wasn’t happy to have been manipulated like that, but at least Emerald was trying to apologize, and there were more important matters to discuss.

“I can forgive you I guess, just don’t do it again-”

“I am real-”

“Let me finish,” Spike cut Emerald off, “Now, I want to know why you were mad at me? I don’t understand.”

“It... it doesn’t matter, and I am really sorry”

Spike sighed, “No, I want to make sure I can really trust you, but I don’t want to force you, if you are afraid or just want to leave it’s fine, so tell me.”

“No, it’s not like that, I am not sure what I want to do now actually, but ok if you want to know…,” With these words Emerald took a deep breath to calm himself.

“It has been more than a year that I have been your assistant and I thought we were friends,” there was a bit of sadness in Emerald’s eyes, “You probably know a lot about my life, but yesterday, you made me realize I know nearly nothing about you.”

“But maybe now that sounds stupid, because of everything you told me and I saw is true,” Emerald pointed at the letter that was now lying on the table, “you probably have good reasons to tell nopony.”

Spike was speechless for a while. Did I choose to hide so many things so I share nothing with a... friend?

“You are right, and now I feel like I should be the one to apologize. Ok, you know what? I will tell you more about me, but before that, I want to make sure you can understand this whole thing.” Spike had turned his head to the sleeping alicorn.

“Actually, I have been trying to make sense of that the whole morning, and yes, I have many questions, but first can I just tell you what I came up with?”

“Fine, want me to fill the holes or missing parts?” Spike was getting more comfortable with the way this conversation was going, it was getting close to a student/teacher interaction.

“I’d rather not. It is already confusing for me,” Emerald took a breath to calm himself, “so I tried to understand from what we have been told about Twilight Sparkle, what you told me, and the letter.”

“When she was a filly, she became Celestia’s personal student, probably because she managed to hatch you. Some years later, she defeated Nightmare Moon with her friends and the Elements of Harmony. That brought back Princess Luna. Later, she did the same with Discord,” Emerald found himself waiting for Spike’s approval before moving on.

Spike simply nodded. It was mostly common knowledge minus the part about Spike’s birth.

“Meanwhile, you probably saved the Crystal Empire if your title on the letter is true. She died in a magical accident. Now, nearly twenty years later, she teleported back to you, and she is now an alicorn. And you... we have to tell nopony about that. I’d rather not think about the memory part, it’s already hard for me to believe all of this.”

“So now, here’s my first question: did you really save the Crystal Empire and why did you never tell me?”

“Well, it was not really me. I was here, and I helped it’s true, but you can probably guess who did most of the job. And I don’t really hide it, there is a stained glass in Canterlot Castle with me on it, and you can ask a crystal pony and he will give you my name. It’s just most ponies think I am still a baby dragon.”

“Ho, ok, I feel dumb now, but that probably explains why you got a royal letter from Princess Cadence.”

“Oh, well, it’s not really for that, but I don’t know if you want to hear that too already.”

“Yeah no, it’s already overwhelming. So do you really think it’s the real Twilight Sparkle? And why must we not tell Princess Celestia? Because if it’s really her, she’s probably the first pony that should be informed that she isn’t dead.”

“For your first question, I am sure it’s really Twilight, don’t ask me why, I just know it’s her. On the second part, I am probably as lost as you are. All I can do is I trust Princess Cadence and Princess Luna’s words.”

Spike was looking at Emerald who was silently thinking.

“No more questions?”

“Probably too many.”

“Yeah, fair enough, but before going on, I want to know what you think of all of this and what you will do.”

“Oh, I think it’s just crazy, true or not. For what I will do, It’s like choosing if I want to disappoint one princess or getting the two other princesses and a dragon mad at me, so I guess I will stay with you. I don’t think I can leave and just forget about all of this.”

“Thank you, but don’t feel like you don’t have a choice.”

“No, it’s fine. I am also glad to hear there are things you don’t understand too.” There was a small smile on Emerald’s face.

Spike had a small smile on his face too, “So do you want to hear my story now?”

“What about eating lunch first? I guess you didn’t eat this morning?”

“Huh, that’s actually a good idea.”

Before Spike tried to get up from his chair, Emerald already headed to the fridge and pulled out two already prepared plates. It was some kind of salad with lots of small pieces of different vegetables.
Spike looked at his plate with a puzzled look, it was a very small portion.

“Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. I figured out what she was doing in the fridge. She was hungry, and she had started to eat everything she could. That’s all I managed to save after cleaning up, sorry.”

Spike looked again at his plate, they had still around four days of stay here, so the fridge was not that full, plus they generally didn’t have to worry about their last meal, except the last breakfast. Small country towns liked to offer them a dinner with the local teacher and some parents. Still, it should have more than that to save.

Spike got up and reached a closed cupboard to get his gem box, then sat back at the table. He picked up a big gem and started breaking it in small shards with his claws. He proceeded to mix the shards with the salad.

Emerald was already eating his plate and was looking at Spike. The stallion was clearly more relaxed.

“So should I call you Lord Spike or Sir Spike now?”

“Haha, no, only some crystal ponies call me like that, I don’t even think Cadence gave me an official title.”

They both paused again to eat, and they heard the sound of a loud breath and a moving blanket.

“...Hello? Spike!” said the quiet voice of Twilight, she was staring at Spike with a smile.

“Twilight!” Spike rushed to the couch where the alicorn was still lying. He restrained himself to hug her, he wasn’t sure if she could bear it. “Are you alright?”

“I am... sleepy”, Twilight’s voice was a bit unsure but it was less quiet than Spike already heard. Emerald had left the table too to get closer to the couch.

Twilight noticed the green stallion “Who… Who are you?”

Emerald was a bit surprised, he looked at Spike and the dragon gave him a nod. Emerald was not really sure how to present himself to a national hero of Equestria.

“Hello. My name is Emerald Scroll, heir to House Scroll.”

Spike sighed, he knew Emerald, as a noble, took it seriously to make formal greeting. Twilight was a bit surprised.

“...Hello, I am... Twilight Sparkle, huh...”, it seemed as if the alicorn was searching carefully for her words, “Princess Celestia’s personal student?”

Spike looked at Emerald’s reaction: it was priceless. Spike had guessed Emerald wasn’t really convinced that the alicorn was Twilight, but now that she had presented herself, that made it more real to the poor unicorn. His face was a mix of confusion and surprise. He fell on his two hind legs, sitting on the floor.

“Are... you alright?” Twilight was staring at Emerald.

“Don’t worry Twilight, he is fine. Do you need something?”

“I… I am hungry.” Her focus was now on one of the plates on the table, all her confusion and surprise had left her eyes, like she was hypnotized by the food. She rose from the couch, put her front legs first on the floor followed by the rest of her body without taking her gaze off the plate.

Spike was surprised by the way she managed to leave the couch. He hadn’t seen her leave the bed the first time and was expecting her to have trouble getting out of the couch and walking. She wasn’t shaking, she was just moving with a slow but steady pace. When she got near the table, Spike noticed the plate she was looking at: it was his own plate. Quickly, he managed to move the plate away and present Emerald’s. Ponies can’t eat gems.

Twilight was surprised to see the first plate disappear, but when she saw the other one she just rushed her muzzle in the plate to eat. Spike knew Twilight wasn’t the type to eat with proper manners, but it was like watching a young filly eating a long awaited treat.

Meanwhile Emerald had awoken from his stupor. He had seen the alicorn slowly walk near him, the blanket had fallen in the process and he was watching her cutie mark, a big purple star with five small stars around. Ok, Emerald you can’t fool yourself anymore, even the cutie mark is right. It’s really Twilight Sparkle but something feels odd about her cutie mark, what? How can I feel something from a cutie mark?

Emerald was awakened from his thought by Spike’s voice asking him something.

“Um, Emerald, do we have something else to eat?”

“Oh yeah, there are still some fruits,” Emerald was expecting the question and pointed to one of the cupboards.

Spike had already discarded his own plate far away from Twilight before she asked for more after finishing the content of the first plate. Spike opened the cupboard and found a bowl with some apples, pears, and peaches. Twilight was looking at him with a lot of expectation, following the bowl content with her muzzle as Spike put it on the table. Spike paused, but after seeing the sad look that was growing in Twilight’s eyes. He grabbed an apple and put it on her plate. She put a hoof around the apple so it wouldn’t go away while she bit small pieces of it.

While Twilight was eating her fruits, Emerald had gone to the sink to fill a glass of water and put it on the table, then he grabbed a straw. After finishing the last fruit Spike had given to her, Twilight gave him again a pleading gaze.

“I am sorry, Twilight. There is nothing left, maybe you should drink now?”

She looked at the glass that was at her side and started drinking with the straw, then she stopped.

“...Thank... you”

Everypony was silent until she had finished sipping her water. Then she repeated:

“Thank you...I am...sleepy,” Twilight nearly collapsed after saying these words, but both Spike and Emerald were ready to catch her before she fell on the floor, and they helped her reach the couch.

After Twilight fell asleep, Emerald went to grab the bag of bits they used for their expenses and levitated his saddlebags onto his back.

“I am going to do the groceries, I… need to take some fresh air.” When Emerald reached the door, he turned his head to Spike and added, “Do you need something?”

“No, it’s fine.”

Spike was left alone with his thoughts. He had finished eating his own plate and was cleaning up the two plates, the glass, and the now empty bowl.

So at least she knows who she is. Thanks to Emerald’s formal greeting it seems like she just doesn’t remember only her name. I hope next time she is awake, she will not fall asleep so fast. It seems I can trust Emerald. I can understand he is probably very confused about all of this, but he is helping. Should I inform the Princesses about him? Yeah, I will write to Cadence. Does Shining know about Twilight? Good question, but if it was the case he would probably already be here.

“Rah, now that you are back Twilight, you’ll give me headaches again,” There was no answer from the sleeping Alicorn, but Spike was smiling.

Comments

[ChrisCornflake]

Hmmm. Interesting story, but you could use a bit of technical work. I'd recommend adding some context to the speaking parts. Eg:

“Rah, now that you are back Twilight, you give me headaches again” There was no answer from the sleeping Alicorn, but Spike was smiling.

to:

“Now that you're back Twilight, you've already started to give me headaches again.” Spike murmured. There was no answer from the sleeping Alicorn, but Spike was smiling.

You're also jumping around from 3rd person, "Spike was smiling", from first person, where we see spikes thoughts. It's also a bit difficult to read as you go between different first-person perspectives, but I can understand the desire, as you want to show different viewpoints. I'd recommend scene breaks if you want to do this, or even separate chapters entirely. Personally, I'd like to see more of it in first-person perspective, Spike or Emerald, while avoiding first-person Sparkle, and 3rd person entirely. Avoiding knowing exactly what Sparkle is thinking/feeling and only having it seen through the viewpoint of another character adds a bit of personality to things.

Go with stuff like, 'She winced', 'She started to shiver', or 'Her eye twitched', instead of 'she was in pain', or 'she was cold', or 'she was angry'. Show, not tell. And, yeah, I hate to repeat myself, but you need to start adding that inflection stuff to all the speaking parts. Are they mumbling? Squeaking? Yelling? Pouting? Crying? Snarky? That sort of stuff.

I'll be waiting for your next chapter! :-)

[Skarsnik]

6185808

Thanks for the comment, it's something I wrote on year ago and English is not my native language, I should maybe have edited a bit more, but I have issue putting the right word to express a feeling. For the third person/first person jump, I don't know I feel that having the though in italic would be enough. I will look a bit more on the next chapter to try to convey more of their feeling when they are talking.

It's funny you mention to not have Twilight point of view because it's exactly my plan :)

[Twilight978]

A little difficult to read but it's still entertaining I can't wait for the next chapter!

[Anzel]

More questions! Hopefully Twilight will be coherent soon. I enjoyed the back and forth between Emerald and Spike.