//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Twilight, What Is This Stuff? // Story: My Little Pony: Duct Tape is Magic // by FireFlash13231 //------------------------------// It didn't take Dash and Derpy long to reach the library. Derpy was about to put Twilight's mail in the mailbox, but Dash held out her hoof to stop her. "Just give it to her, Derpy." "Oh, right. Good idea, Dashie." Derpy giggled at her silly mistake, while Dash rolled her eyes and facehoofed. They were about to go inside when Derpy tripped over the door-saddle and dropped her mailbag. "Whoops!" she exclaimed, as mail spilled everywhere. "Let me help you with that," Rainbow said, starting to pick up the spilled letters. They were almost done when Derpy noticed the address on the one she had just picked up. "Hey Dashie! I have another letter for you! It's from Fireflash!" "GIMME!" Dash threw her hoofful of mail into Derpy's bag and rushed over at full speed, grabbing the letter out of Derpy's hoof. She immediately tore it open and started reading. "Dear Rainbow Dash, I really miss you a lot, so I asked Spitfire if I could leave Fillydelphia early to come and see you. I know that I'll miss the after-show party this weekend, and we do a lot of fun... stuff there, but it'll be worth missing the fun to see you. I'll be there Friday! I love you, my little Dashie. See you soon, Fireflash." "Ooh if this weren't from FireFlash, I'd chew him out for calling me ‘my little Dashie’. I'll get him for that later, but only he can get away with it - and even then only sometimes." "Can we just get on with things and ask Twilight what this stuff is?" complained a clearly irritated Derpy, holding up the shiny roll. "I keep getting interrupted by you reading your mail." "Uh...did I read that out loud?" Dash said, her face turning red. "Oh, don't hide it," Derpy replied, smiling. "Everypony already knows that you two are dating. It's no big secret. We were going to throw a party at his house a few weeks ago - the door wasn't locked when we arrived, so we assumed he was home. Anyway, there was a letter from you and an unfinished one from him on the desk in his study." "So all of Ponyville knows?" Rainbow said, turning redder. Derpy nodded, smiling happily. "Yeah, pretty much. We're all happy for you two though, you're perfect for each other. Now let's go talk to Twilight." "Okay." Derpy knocked on the door and they waited for a few seconds, but after receiving no response, Derpy knocked again. They waited a little more but Twilight still didn't answer; Derpy reached out to knock a third time, but Dash blocked her with her hoof. "Allow me," Dash said, stepping forward before turning around and bucking the door open. The hinges bent and the door dropped off its frame, to reveal Twilight standing inches away from the door, her eyes wide. "Oh my... are you okay?" Rainbow asked nervously. "I...I'm fine, Rainbow. Just... really, really startled. Oh, and you WILL be the one to fix my door," Twilight replied, eyes narrowed. Rainbow laughed weakly, clearly unhappy with this turn of events. "So, why are you two here, and what could possibly be important enough to be worth breaking down my door? I can answer any question you have!" Twilight said, holding her head up high. Derpy answered, "Well I have your mail, of course, but I also found this thingy!" She waved the shiny roll. "What is it?" Twilight took a quick look, her expression turning into a frown. "Okay, almost any question." Rainbow was shocked. "You mean you don't know what this is?! But you're an egghead! You know about everything in Equestria!" "But I’m pretty sure this isn't from Equestria," Twilight replied. "WHAT?" Rainbow gasped. "Don't worry, I have a book on foreign items in here somewhere..." Twilight looked around the library, searching for the right book, as Rainbow and Derpy waited expectantly. "Ah, here it is." Twilight said, reaching for a book near the top shelf. "Foreign Objects and their History in Equestria." "Okay, so what does it say?" "Twilight flipped rapidly through the book, her horn glowing as she skimmed through the pages until she found the relevant one. "Ah! Here it is!" Twilight read the entry. “Named 'duct tape', it is used on the human world ‘Earth’ as an adhesive, as it is very strong and sticky when unraveled. Like all objects from other worlds, it can only appear when the fourth wall has been recently broken.” The three exchanged glances. There was no doubt who was to blame. As expected, or not, Pinkie appeared out of nowhere, still her usual, bouncy self. "Well, it wasn't me! You know that, right?" "PIIIINKIEEEEEE!" Twilight yelled. "What?" Pinkie replied, as she stopped bouncing around the library. “You're making it worse! Can you do your bouncing and fourth wall breaking someplace else?" "Okiedokielokie!" Pinkie replied, bouncing out the door. "So as I was saying, this is known as duct tape, and has sticky properties when unraveled. It can only appear when the fourth wall has been broken, and once the damage to the wall is mended, all objects transferred between worlds will vanish." "So this is duck tape?" Dash asked. "Duct tape," Twilight corrected, turning away from Rainbow. "You said it has 'sticky' properties?" Dash asked, a mischievous grin forming on her face. "Yes, duct tape can be used to stick almost anything together," Twilight replied. "When Pinkie broke the fourth wall, a whole stack of it appeared over there." Twilight turned around and pointed to a pile behind Rainbow, before noticing the grin on her face. "Oh no. Don't you dare, Rainbow. Whatever you're planning, don't you dare do it!"