In a separate universe, Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle were born into the world as alicorn princesses, twin daughters of Empress Celestia. One day, they were sent away to Ponyville, where they were destined to meet 5 special ponies.
In a separate universe, Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle were born into the world as alicorn princesses, twin daughters of Empress Celestia. One day, they were sent away to Ponyville, where they were destined to meet 5 special ponies. The story is as we know it; with loyalty, kindness, honesty, generosity, laughter, magic... betrayal, distrust, danger... and so much more.
Sunset looked at her sister, more shocked by the actual statement itself than the loudness of Twilight’s shriek. She gave the filly a once-over before processing the information for herself, going it over her head a few times before looking up to her mother - their mother - with eyes so wide they could pop out at any moment.
“The two of you are going away for a while.” Empress Celestia repeated, a statement Sunset had only been paying half the attention to earlier, sighing sadly to herself. Her mother always had that sad look for as long as she’d been around to witness it, Sunset thought - just a permanent, despondent longing she couldn’t place.
Sunset stood up, nudging her sister as she did so as a call for Twilight to regain her composure. As Twilight stumbled beside her, Sunset furrowed her brows, meeting her mother with a confused look.
“Mom, what do you mean? You’re sending us away? Where? Why?”
There was something in her mother’s eyes. There was always something in her mother’s eyes. Both Twilight and Celestia shared the same irises that rippled of pastel pink sunrises. But unlike Twilight’s, whose eyes often sparkled with joy and utmost curiosity, Celestia’s were like a sun dipping behind a wall of rain, hidden beneath cold, foreboding clouds.
“It won’t be forever.” Celestia spoke gently, and as she did, her entire presence exuded the secretive behaviour she’d had for the whole 13 years the twins had been born to her. “It’s only so you two could supervise the preparations for the next upcoming Summer Sun Celebration.”
“Don’t you always have ponies for that?” Twilight reasoned. “You would send servants every year.”
“I believe the two of you are capable of this task.” The alicorn told her, sitting up a little straighter. “As my heirs, it is important that you both learn how to manage such a substantial event, especially one of great importance.”
“But surely there are ponies that could do it better.” Sunset protested, subconsciously puffing up her chest feathers. “We’ll just be sitting on a throne eventually anyway. We don’t have the need to do commoner’s work.”
Empress Celestia dipped her head in consideration, impartial to her eldest’s words. “Perhaps this is the exact reason why you need it.”
“Why?”
“There’s no two I trust more.”
That was how the twins knew for certain that the Empress’s decision was final. The way her gaze lingered, stern and sad, as if she herself was convincing herself that her daughters needed this.
“Is there a catch?” Twilight asked. Sunset met her eyes, recognising how she wasn't the only one seeing how strange her mother’s request was.
The Empress smiled, a smile that didn’t reach her eyes - it never did.
“It's time for my children to spread their wings and explore the world beyond our castle.”
- - -
That night found Sunset strolling through the hallways of the castle, a small yellow lump snoozing softly on her back. She hadn’t seen her mother since the Empress had told them of their next upcoming duty - the alicorn had been disappearing a lot lately when nighttime came along. She simply wasn’t within the castle’s premises. Sunset had long since stopped questioning what her mother got up to during these moments. She had been secretive since the twins’ birth, and if anything could cause Empress Celestia to open up and confide in the girls, it certainly wasn’t the two princesses themselves.
Curiosity left Sunset wondering.
She sang a little when the small creature on her back stirred, resuming her careful pace as she lulled the baby dragon back to sleep. She might as well return to her quarters so her companion could sleep on a proper bed, she decided. She knew what she was about to find when her room neared close and she could see the dim light of a candle light up the room from a distance.
Sunset knocked slowly, careful not to awaken her sister’s own dragon companion, only making enough noise to alert Twilight of her presence.
The purple alicorn smiled at the sight of Sunset, briefly looking up from the book she’d been reading. Twilight was almost never seen without one. Beside her, another baby dragon was curled up against her, snoring gently.
“What are you reading?” Sunset asked as she carefully lowered the dragon into a comfy basket by the end of her bed.
Twilight watched Sunset tuck her bonded dragon in before answering. “The elements of harmony.”
Flicking an ear, Sunset gave her sister a weird look. “Mom got you a new book already? Weren’t you just on the one about the Everfree forest monsters yesterday?”
Twilight hummed, finishing the page she was on before levelling Sunset with a look. “I finished that.” She responded as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“Mom gives you new books all the time.” Sunset said suddenly. “She never gives me any.”
“Maybe that’s because you never read them.” Her sister laughed, returning her gaze to the book.
“I do so read them.” Sunset protested. “I just like to do the stuff that writes the stuff in books more.”
Twilight didn’t answer her straight away. She continued reading for a good while, letting Sunset pick up her own dragon familiar to tuck him in an adjacent basket. By the time Twilight had completed yet another page, Sunset was making herself comfortable by her side, nuzzling comfortably as she leaned her full weight against her. Twilight grunted once at the additional mass, but allowed the affection.
They stayed that way for a while until Twilight closed the book, inhaling noisily for her sister’s attention. Sunset answered with a quiet hum, far too comfortable to speak - though the other princess’s next words got her sitting up straighter than a statue.
“She’d been planning to send us away for a while.” Twilight spoke thoughtfully. “She’s been giving me books about the history, places and locations in Ponyville, as well as the creatures that reside by the outskirts of it for the past few weeks.” She squinted her eyes when she delivered the next part, as if she was reciting something odd, “The next Summer Sun Celebration is in Ponyville.”
“That’s awfully… organised of her.”
“Isn’t it?” Twilight rested her hooves on the book. She furrowed her brows together thoughtfully. “She’s planning something.”
That, Sunset had no doubt. “What is Ponyville? Is it anything huge like the metropolitan city Manehattan?”
The younger of the two shook her head. “It’s a small town, actually.”
“A Summer Sun Celebration there?” Sunset pursed her lips. “It makes more sense to do it in Canterlot.”
“Not exactly. A Summer Sun Celebration is meant as a yearly celebration to celebrate the banishment and defeat of Nightmare Moon. It’s meant to be remembered, plus every year it was to be hosted at a different part of Equestria. This year is Ponyville.”
Sunset nodded. It was not unusual for a different location to be chosen for the celebration every year. Her mother, however, tended to choose towns with denser populations to host the event each year. But never had it been in such a small town, and not once had she had a personal touch to it every time, only ever leaving it up to the townsfolk while she only appeared once it was time. Sending her two daughters ahead this time was entirely unusual.
“What is Nightmare Moon, anyway? Mom always said it’s just an old foal’s tale. Like how we celebrate Hearts Warming to keep Equestria warm from the wendigos' eternal snow storms. The wendigos aren’t real, and Nightmare Moon isn’t either.”
Twilight shrugged. “I don’t know, Sunny… anything is possible. And, well…” The younger princess closed her eyes, as if saying the next few words pained her to even consider, “...you know as well as I do that Mom never tells the full truth.”
She resisted an unladylike snort at that. “Tell me about it. It’s like we’re pawns to her chess set or something.”
Her sister gasped. “Sunset.” Twilight spoke, voice low. “You can’t say something like that about our mother.”
Sunset was at the edge of her short temper, simply rolling her eyes as Twilight attempted to calm her down. “You know I’m right.”
“She’s our mother.” Twilight hissed.
“She’s also an Empress.”
The bite in her sister’s voice caught Twilight off-guard. “I-”
Sunset inhaled sharply. “Don’t you realise it, Twilight?” Sunset stood up and stepped away, facing her twin. “Ever since we were old enough, she’s been going on and on about getting us prepared for something. Something related to her past. She’d taken that plan into action now. The plan she’s never told us about.”
“Sunny…” Twilight attempted to tug her sister back down, only for Sunset to step further out of reach. She gave up, breathing in carefully to not get herself worked up as well. “I don’t know what’s going on, or what Mom has planned. But at the end of the day, it’s our duty, isn’t it? We’re princesses. We’re bound to be sent out on missions sooner or later just like Cadance was, and it was all to prepare her to take back the Crystal Empire - to which she succeeded, by the way. Maybe Mom has bigger plans for us. Plans she doesn’t want us to know quite yet. Perhaps for good reason.”
Sunset knew Twilight was telling her to simply trust. But for the years they had lived, while Twilight was often the one with the endless thirst for knowledge, Sunset was more often the one to seek for information that could not simply be found in books. Her curiosity ran wild, never to be soothed for as long as the information she needed was not discovered. Living with such a cryptic mother did not help either - there were always little secrets, mysteries that were held behind locked chests.
It stings, perhaps more than a little bit, when the one that was meant to be your safe space was the one that you could not rely on fully for answers. Perhaps Twilight could accept it, but Sunset wasn’t so certain. Not when she was at the receiving end of it.
“Doesn’t it hurt you the slightest that we’re only born to be used, Twi-why?” Sunset’s tone dropped massively, as did her ears as they folded down to the back of her head. The use of the affectionate term however, told Twilight that she had marginally calmed down. “She’s never honest with us.”
Twilight didn’t answer immediately. She watched as her sister deflated before her eyes.
“...Look, I don’t want to fight about this.” She spoke softly, moving closer to put a wing over Sunset. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I have a feeling we’ll find out sooner or later. The things she’d been giving us, the books, the upcoming festival… they’re like pieces to the bigger picture. It’ll make sense soon. If you can’t trust Mom, then have faith in us.”
She nuzzled her sister, sensing Sunset untensing underneath her embrace.
The older of the two sighed. She levelled Twilight with a fond look - they’ve always had a close bond. Despite having such drastically different appearances, they shared many similarities that could only make them so much closer.
“I can have faith in us.” Sunset mumbled, leaning into the hug. “I’m sorry I said all those things about Mom.”
“You were just being cautious.” Twilight’s gaze dropped to the book. She levitated it close to them so Sunset could read the title. “And besides… I might idolise Mom too much to not notice these things. While you’re probably right about her having something planned… I do have a feeling it’s for a good reason.”
Twilight hadn’t always been the most sensitive - she tended to have a poor sense of empathy when it came to understanding the emotions of others. Everything was factual to her. But when it came to her twin sister, she could easily read Sunset like a book.
Perhaps she should believe in Twilight. It was good enough for that moment.
Yet there was always a nagging feeling deep within her, tugging at invisible strings. Quiet whispers often filled her mind, reminding her trust was easily betrayed. Her nightmares often reminded her of such things, of a dark shadow lurking deep within.
Twilight was silent beside her, recognising the inner turmoil the young alicorn was often plagued with.
“Mom.” Sunset stared up at the darkening sky. There were no stars that night. “Just what are you hiding from us?”
A small purple dragon, one barely reaching the height of Twilight’s knees pawed at her, large emerald eyes gleaming in excitement. He hadn’t stopped grinning since the two baby dragons were told of the princesses’ current task, the larger of the two showing off his row of tiny prickly teeth as he looked up in wonder at the map of Ponyville his bonded pony held up with her magic. His view simply showed a blank slate of parchment as the purple alicorn held it at an angle that only enabled him to see the back side of it.
“We’re going to Ponyville.” Twilight confirmed, too distracted to notice how the little dragon was attempting, and failing, to get a good enough view of the map.
“That sounds so cool! Where will we sleep? Do we get to sleep in barns or trees? Or clouds?”
Slightly confused by this, Twilight placed the map down - causing the little dragon to jump into a fit of joy at being able to finally get a clear look at it. He grabbed it and laid it out on the floor, standing on one corner to prevent it from rolling up once it threatened to return to its original curled state.
Amused, Twilight assisted him by putting a weight down on an adjacent corner with a hoof, enabling Spike to gaze at the map without needing to push a stubborn corner back every time he leaned back for a good look.
“We’re not sleeping on clouds.” Twilight informed him. “Mom arranged for us to stay in the Ponyville library. Though even if we go to Cloudsdale - it’s a cloud city above Ponyville, by the way - you wouldn’t be able to step on a cloud. You’ll just fall right through.”
“Aw. You can cast a cloud-walking spell though!”
She chuckled. Her dragon could never fail to be endearingly adorable. “Yes, but it wouldn’t last long enough. My magic isn’t that strong yet.” She patted his head, stroking down the side of his scaly head with a careful hoof. “But if you wanted to walk on clouds that badly, we could always go for a visit.”
The prospect of visiting a cloud city thrilled the young dragon. He perked up more than he already had, and bounced twice in excitement. “I can’t wait to see how rainbows are made!”
“Don’t forget, we’ll be there on a job.” Twilight reminded him with a giggle. “I will take you around the place though. That is a promise.”
“Got it. Lots of note taking, list checking.” Spike nodded seriously, the flippers on the sides of his head moving with the exaggerated motion. Ever since he could read and write, Spike had only ever been too eager to be of great assistance to Twilight.
“Don’t forget lots of napping.” Twilight chuckled. “You are a baby dragon, after all.”
Spike puffed out his chest. “Napping, check.”
“Let’s go see if Sunny is ready to leave.” The young alicorn said, already tugging the map off Spike’s weight and rolling it into a scroll. Spike clambered onto her back when she bent down to his height, the baby dragon resting comfortably amongst her feathers once he was seated.
Twilight cantered through the hallways as she made the way to her bedroom from the castle library. She hadn’t exactly needed a map of Ponyville - the town itself was quite small enough that she wouldn’t have gotten lost too easily. Having lived in the lustrous city of Canterlot, not to mention growing up in the absurdly large castle with multiple curves and pathways had graced her with a decent navigation skill. It always helped to immediately know how to pinpoint the exact locations of the ponies she was meant to meet, hence it being where the map would come in handy. Staying organised was always important to her.
“Sunny?” Twilight called before entering their shared bedroom. Sunset wasn’t immediately spotted as she entered, though she was able to spy the top of her sister’s flaming red mane hidden behind a stack of knick knacks quickly enough. “Sunny- what are you doing?”
“Packing.” The amber alicorn responded distractedly. “I can’t decide on what to bring.”
“That’s-” Twilight scanned the scattered mess surrounding her sister, the items ranging from the odd hourglass, empty test tubes, a microscope and several assorted items that one may find in a science lab, paint brushes, several blank canvases and endless tubs of paint. Twilight could almost swear that if she moved the items around, she’d see a whole easel hidden beneath it all.
The most comical view was the sight of Ray, Sunset’s bonded dragon, snoozing happily in the midst of the clutter. He was looking very much as if he was content in the makeshift ‘nest’. If Sunset’s treasures were also his, Twilight supposed it was accurate, as dragons were known to build their nests out of treasured items instead of branches and leaves like birds do. Magical creatures are fascinating in the stark difference they chose to live their lives.
“Everything feels important.” Sunset protested once she caught sight of the imploring look given to her.
“Yeah, but it’s not like we’re moving there. We are only going to stay there for a couple of days until the day of the celebration.” Twilight reasoned, picking through the mess. “You won’t have time for all this anyway, we have a job to do.”
“I know, I know. But I might get a pinch of inspiration, y’know? There might be a good spot for painting, or some little bit of unusual magical substance to collect.”
“Sometimes I forget how hooves-on you prefer to be.” Twilight mused, thoroughly entertained. Both mares were incredibly intelligent, though both in their own separate ways. Sunset always preferred to go out in the field and discover any knowledge on her own, a contrast from Twilight’s preference of staying indoors and scanning through pages after pages of books to fulfil her brain’s hunger for knowledge. “But I genuinely doubt you will need so many things. We could purchase it in town if there was something you absolutely needed once we’re there.”
Sunset sighed, unable to come up with a good enough comeback for her sister’s statement. “Practical as always.” She grumbled, feigning annoyance. “I guess I’ll just bring my best paintbrush, at least.”
Twilight grinned, victorious.
“When are we leaving?” Spike spoke up from behind her.
“Soon. Though it looks like it will be a while longer since Sunny couldn’t decide on what to bring.” Twilight laughed, the tease bringing Sunset to a pout.
“Aww.” Spike slumped forward, clinging to the back of Twilight’s head. “I wanna go now.”
“You excited, Spike?” Sunset mused, scooping up her own dragon into her hooves as she levitated all the items back to where they belonged. Only a few remained untouched, most of it being a considerable, minimal amount of Sunset’s art supplies. Despite the fact that she was internally considering how her sister could stand to leave behind a few more things, Twilight looked on with satisfaction. It was better than the entire art room, at least.
“Yeah!” The dragon replied, baring his spiky teeth once again as he stood on top of Twilight with great glee.
Twilight balanced herself carefully as Spike moved from side to side. “We’ve never had to go someplace on our own before, so he’s been looking forward to it.”
“Not to mention we will be there as ‘commoners’.” Sunset added. The look on her face was strange, as if she couldn’t describe how she was meant to feel about this specific detail.
“Well, we are meant to supervise the preparations and connect with ponies. It will be better if no one knows we are royals. Anonymity prevents bias.” Twilight reasoned. It was a part of the list their mother had given her. The Empress had been too occupied to brief them on all the details after announcing that they were to leave for Ponyville the day before. She’d simply provided them with a list to abide to.
One of the important points of the task was to let everypony believe they were normal ponies, which meant putting on disguises and concealing their true identities.
“How were we supposed to just hide our gigantic horns? Have a hat on at all times?”
“I think it would be easier to have clothing on at all times to hide our wings. It might be a bit awkward given how much bigger they are than the average pegasi’s, but we’ll manage. Plus magic is so much more necessary than flying. For convenience, I prefer pretending to be a unicorn than an alicorn.” The younger of the two had given it much thought - Twilight was more often a walker than a flyer, anyway, so having to lose something she’d never truly had a crucial need for wasn’t a heavy sacrifice.
“Fair point.” Sunset agreed, wondering how she would manage painting without levitation. She wasn’t practised enough to use her hooves or mouth when it came to handling brushes and mix paint.
“A spell to hide our wings would be possible, but not ideal. Those spells take a great deal of effort to cast for long lengths of time. I say we save those for times when we were not in situations where it’s not practical to have clothing on.”
Spike simply nodded along as if he had anything to do with the entire conversation. He slid off Twilight’s back and ran off to grab a piece of parchment, presumably to take notes of everything they were discussing.
“Agreed.” The older of the two stood up to stretch, one hoof still holding onto her baby dragon. All the items she’d been putting away were already more than halfway done. It was always convenient to be born with magic. “We’ll have to think of what to wear. I’m not wearing a stupid dress day in and day out. We’ll need something simple and easy to move in, fitting for all the walking around we’re about to do.”
“We could just wear a vest. Or a jacket.” Twilight proposed. She was already galloping towards her sister’s wardrobe, ready to pick out anything suitable. The moment the door was thrown open, several articles of clothing fell out, burying the young alicorn in a large heap of cloth that shimmered under the overhead light. It was undeniable that a large amount of the clothes they owned were fancy dresses and formalwear, something befitting their status.
“Oops.” Sunset cantered towards her, giggling. “I really need to clean that out one of these days.”
“Sunny!” A little purple muzzle poked out of the lump. “If it didn’t make you so annoyed every time I touch your things, I would’ve gone through all your clothes long ago!” There was a burst of pale indigo, and Twilight reappeared next to her sister. “You really need to organise.”
Sunset shrugged. “I don’t get why it’s even necessary if we’re just gonna teleport a specific gown out every time anyway. I know what everything I owned looked like, I never needed to open the wardrobe.”
“Doesn't this bother you?” Twilight gestured to the mountain of clothes, unsmiling. There was a sock tucked in between her ears.
The amber alicorn shrugged, unable to hold back a teasing grin. Her horn glowed, and a spark allowed a silky black jacket to apparate into the thin air, undoubtedly having originated from somewhere amongst the fallen lump. “See? I can just summon stuff. I always remember what I own without looking through everything. You didn’t have to open it.”
“Your photographic memory is a menace sometimes, you know.” Twilight grumbled.
As a young filly, she was not unfamiliar with the times when Sunset would be exceptionally good at remembering the specific machinations that came with setting up traps. It was not a blessing, to her specifically, as she was often on the receiving end of her sister’s pranks. Sunset could watch something go off just once and be able to replicate it to perfection.
This also meant Sunset had the convenience of never forgetting where she placed things, to which caused Twilight so much agony when her sister simply refused to store certain things at certain places. Sunset never lost anything, hence she never bothered. She was the embodiment of organised chaos.
After tugging on the muskin jacket and making sure her wings were safely tucked in, Sunset grinned again, thoroughly proud of herself. Her dragon had, at some point, come to settle on top of her head, still snoring lightly. “Let’s help you find something too. I’m sure I know what fits you best.”
Twilight rolled her eyes and went over to her own clothes cupboard. It was a stark contrast from Sunset’s own, with everything organised according to colour, season and size.
“What about this?” She levitated a blouse with a matching skirt out of the wardrobe, something exceedingly simple and not extravagant.
Her sister scrunched her nose in disapproval.
“Anything but a dress.” Sunset grumbled. “If you wear one I can’t get away with this jacket.”
“I don’t see why you won’t.” Twilight questioned, an eyebrow raised. “I’ve seen plenty of common ponies wear that.”
“Mom thinks it made me seem rowdy or something. I bought this without her knowing, remember?”
“She’s afraid you’d start asking for a bike.” The second princess laughed. “I heard her mention it worriedly to one of the visiting nobles once.”
“Well,” Sunset mumbled, patting the sleeve of her jacket subconsciously. “She’s not entirely wrong…”
Twilight pushed through her assortment of formalwear, going through a few getups in her mind.
“What about this?” She levitated a blazer into the air. It was one of her more casual ones, but a blazer nonetheless. “It might be too much, but…”
Twilight appeared to really want to wear the blazer - she liked to look important, it was part of her flawless sense of responsibility and duty. Sunset seemed to think for a moment before her horn glowed and brought out a tiny accessory. Twilight stared at it, dumbfounded, as her sister brought it to the base of her neck and smiled triumphantly.
“Perfect.”
“A bow?” She brought it into her own levitation magic, scrutinising it for a moment. “Are you sure? It’s a little…”
“Trust me. It suits you.”
The younger of the two looked content at the assurance, moving to put her chosen outfit on. She stood up a little straighter after that, seeming proud of herself. Now, with the wings well hidden, the two sisters could pass for normal everyday unicorns.
Twilight glanced at the wall clock, getting them both back on track. “Come on, we need to catch the train in less than two hours. I believe a pony is arranged to meet us at the Ponyville train station, and we shouldn’t keep her waiting.”
“Sure.” Sunset readjusted her jacket. “Is Mom not going to send us off?”
“She’s hoping to see us before we leave. We’re meant to look like we were just staff sent from Canterlot, so we’re just going by train instead of the royal chariot.”
“That’s cool. I’ve never rode on the train before.”
“Me neither.” Twilight’s eyes sparkled. “This will be an adventure. I am excited to see Equestria through the eyes of the ponies.”
“Yeah.” Sunset agreed, somewhat distractedly. If Twilight noticed how her sister did not share the same excitement, she didn’t comment on it.
“Let’s get to the throne room.” The purple alicorn announced. “Are you done packing?”
“Yes, I think. I’ve just had everything thrown together after taking most of it out.” The first princess shook her head, attempting to recall something. “You said someone will wait for us. Anyone we know?”
Twilight blinked for a moment, seeming to realise that the name wasn’t embedded within her mind. She went back to where she’d left the map and her notes amongst Sunset’s belongings.
“I’ve skimmed through the notes we were given, but I’m never good with names…” She spoke, more to herself, eyes scanning the floor for where she must’ve left a rolled up parchment somewhere.
“Are you looking for the list? I have it here!” Spike had reappeared, one claw covered in ink as he clumsily held a half-soaked quill in one as the other held a somehow clean piece of parchment. “I was making sure we have everything!”
The little dragon was looking so proud of himself, Twilight didn’t have the heart to remark on how he was smudging ink on everything he touched. If she were to hazard a guess, she was certain the dragon had dunked his entire claw into a pot of ink as he was refilling the nib.
“Thank you, Spike.” Twilight spoke gratefully. She casted a quick spell to get most of the ink off him, missing only a small smudge on his cheek. She scooped him up into a careful hold as she held the parchment into the air, quickly scanning it for the information she needed.
Thick blotches of ink checked out several empty boxes, and Twilight’s gaze flew past it all as she jumped to the instructions at the bottom, the one providing information regarding all the ponies the sisters were to meet alongside their designated tasks.
“Here it is.” She pointed at a specific sentence. Sunset perked her ears, waiting for Twilight to read it out. “Tour Guide, to provide-”
Before the alicorn could finish her sentence, Spike took the liberty to paw at his bonded pony’s face and point to himself. He didn’t need to elaborate for Twilight to understand. When Twilight nodded her assent, the little dragon sucked in a deep breath, mimicking a posture that Empress Celestia would often do when she was about to use her Royal Canterlot Voice.
“Tour guide, to provide any additional assistance, information on cultural, historical and contemporary heritage upon arrival.”
Spike took a moment to be impressed with himself. He had known how to read exceedingly well for a long time, but any opportunity to show off his literacy skills filled him with pride. At an encouraging pat by Twilight, he resumed.
