//------------------------------//
// Chapter 15 
// Story: Shrinking Lavender 
// by Yinglung 
//------------------------------//

Familiar greens again entered my eyes. 

This view accompanied us - both Twilight and me - as we grew up. Canterlot, and the Ivory Tower in particular, had one of the best view of the Saddle Plain, extending all the way towards Ponyville and the distant Everfree. The lush grasses and the meandering Saddle had since been branded into our collective memories.

Starlight, however, was bored out of her mind by my inane talks of shrubberies, and had been snoring at her seat since a while ago. 

I must admit I was being deliberately boring. It was because she had been swarming me with probing questions that were crafted to cause a slip of the tongue. She was a very clever mare, and she's oddly good at cajolery despite having the sociability of a blunted hacksaw. Without my combined brainpower and tactical avoidance, I would probably have accidentally blabbed something out before the train passed Canterlot.

I rubbed my hooves together, and sighed aloud. Since the beginning, I had decided that if it came one day that I was forced to come clean to someone, the first person would definitely not be anyone but the other Spike. 

Besides, I was hoping to enlist Starlight's help without telling her the whole picture. I knew that was not a good, upright thing to do, and I would be letting down her doubtless dedication. However, I was very reluctant to face her with the truth out, given how difficult it would be to tell that to the other me already. 

Before I even stepped into this train, I had silently decided that it might be a good thing for her to know only when it was all final and irreversible. It was not like I would be there to face her scorn, if I was simply and quietly removed from the picture, was it? Then I would not even need to tell the other Spike, or indeed anyone else in the world at all. 

While I was no longer sure if keeping this secret away from the two of them for any longer would be causing the least damage, my conscience continued to compel me to carry the weight of my mistake myself.

A train staff walked near, interrupting my macabre thought. He lowered a glass of fruit punch in front of me. I then thanked him with a polite smile for the complimentary drink. 

I took a gulp, pausing to think of something other than my literal existential crisis. Our train ride had certainly been much more comfortable courtesy to Night Tide's distant string-pulling.

However, Starlight was, as expected, not quite appreciative of his work. That was not surprising, since she was always trading... or unilaterally sending barbs to Night Tide and him alone. I'd never seen Starlight acted so uniquely prickly to anyone else, not even when her parents were mentioned. However, it was also clear that there was very fond affection between the duo, just like Cadance and Twilight. I was honestly stumped if I was to give a name to this kind of relationship, but I was quite sure that it was not very well-adjusted or healthy.

I slowly sipped the fruit punch as my thought swam. Time must have flown, because by the time I was done, the train was already slowly pulling into the Ponyville station and grinding to a halt. 

Starlight stirred from her sleep, and she groaned when she saw me open my mouth. "Oh for Celestia's sake, don't tell me the difference between little bluestem and big bluestem all over again!"

"Not this time, Starlight, we've arrived at Ponyville."

"Really?" Starlight looked surprised, and she immediately gazed out of the train window. She then thinly smirked. "Ah, how charmingly rustic. It reminds me of Stableford, actually."

"Similar thought crossed my mind when I was first at Stableford too."

"Hah."

Starlight stood up promptly and gave me a hoof. "Quick then, Twilight. We need to get to work as soon as possible. Bring me to your library, and we should begin running tests and such."

I stood up promptly, though my legs felt weak. It was as if the gravity of the situation came back to me all of a sudden. Starlight would almost certainly figure out the underlying reason of my resistance to her cutie mark magic sooner or later, even if she was not given all pieces of the puzzle. And her talent would undoubtedly lead to a definite solution, even a concrete spell to undo the offending magic.

I had been talking about giving things back to Twilight all the time. However, was I as mentally prepared as I thought? In the event that the real Twilight returned, and without interfering with the other Spike's life again and causing a double injury, this would mean I had to go. Like a 'poof', disappearing from the world as abruptly as the beginning of this farce.

Despite feeling sick in the stomach, I followed Starlight out of the train and onto the platform without much hesitation. I would give anything to return normalcy to what should have been a precious friendship journey for Twilight and her friends. My quiet departure would be the best-case scenario, and it would be the only right thing to do, if only to return a small favor for her tireless love and care.

"Twilight, um..."

Starlight suddenly turned to me with a look of great uncertainty. I immediately asked. "What is the matter, Starlight? The library is right next to the town center, it's a giant oak tree, there can be no mistaking it."

"No, that's not it. I'm just wondering if Ponyville is always this... empty."

"Empty?" I frowned with incredulity. I looked out of the gate, and indeed the street was oddly quiet, even more desolate than the Griffish countryside.

I passed the turnstile quickly and stepped onto the dusty road. However, my hooves were abruptly pulled back by something.

"Gah!" I gasped, and looked to the ground. Starlight's magic enveloped my legs in its cyan glow. She then caught up to me and said with an almost chiding tone. "Twilight! What in Equestria are you doing?"

"W- Walk out onto the street, of course?"

"This is not normal! You told me that Ponyville is a town of thousands of inhabitants. So where do they go all of a sudden?"

"So... I'm about to investigate?"

"By just walking out without any precaution? Gah, you're so..."

Starlight facehoofed. She was apparently quite annoyed with my deemed lack of carefulness. Her eyes then narrowed to thin slits. "No, Twilight. Townsponies don't just disappear like that. Something very nefarious must be at work here! We must be super careful."

"Uh... It looks peaceful enough out here."

I blinked. "Perhaps they're somewhere away or just at their own homes. I mean, you never saw something like this in Stableford?"

"Of course not!" She yelped.

I scratched my head and offered a possible explanation. "Maybe this is just a local festival or some other thing that I missed, since I'm a newcomer as well. No need to get all anxious before we find out the reason."

Starlight was evidently not paying any attention, as she charged up a shimmering hexagonal protective shield around us two. Briefly distracted, I commented with some wonder. "Whoa, that's a variant of Tutissimus that I've never seen before. The protection looks so firm and watertight! Did you use a separate magical trace to override the refractory-"

Interrupting my own incoming magical critique, I simply shook my head and said with a wry chuckle. "Ah, forget it. Starlight, are you sure that such over-the-top protection is warranted? Unless the sky's gonna fall on our heads in the next few minutes, I don't think we need such a solid shield."

Starlight merely sounded irritated. "Can you be more serious, Twilight? Ramp up your own magic! We're dealing with a possible danger-"

"Is- is that... Twi, Twi, over here!"

Starlight and I both turned to the source of the familiar voice. I widened my eyes immediately, when I saw the other Spike treading down the road alone with a delighted expression. He waved at me enthusiastically at first, and when his impatience got to him, he elected to simply run at me at full speed.

I looked at him, and the translucent shield, and him again.

I immediately yelped. "Wait, Spike, hang on a sec!"

My words of caution was too late, as he directly ran into the magical shield Starlight had cast. Like running against a brick wall at full speed, he was hit hard and fell rigidly back onto the ground. Immediately, he held his crumpled nose, and painful tears began to form in his eyes.

"Oh dear, oh dear." I spluttered, as I hurriedly checked if he was injured and took out some bandage from my saddlebag.

Starlight however did not look too charitable. She simply said dismissively. "Who's this clumsy little dragon that ran into my shield? Do you know him, Twilight? If so, tell him to grow an eye for the giant purple shield in front of him."

Oh horseapples, I had neglected to introduce the other Spike to Starlight beforehoof. It had entirely escaped my mind, perhaps because I subconsciously thought she would get acquainted with his temperament well enough through me.

Also, not that I was mad at her for demeaning me by proxy, but I was very concerned about her excessive boorishness. While Starlight most certainly had not the social tact that I often hoped she had, she was not usually the type to randomly go off on someone she met newly. She could be perfectly polite when she wanted to, so what was up with her coarseness now? It made no sense to me.

Immediately, Spike pointed an accusing claw at Starlight and loudly complained. "So it's you who put that giant wall of magic there!"

Starlight tutted in response. "Me what? It's not my fault if someone runs into my shield himself. You only have yourself to blame for your carelessness."

I winced. Starlight's words were oddly stinging. I promptly separated the glaring duo and quickly said. "Spike, Starlight Glimmer was only casting the spell to protect us both because she thought the empty streets are suspicious. And Starlight, Spike was just excited to see me, and-"

I gasped as I noticed something red on the dragon's face. "Oh goodness... your nose's bleeding!"

Starlight raised a brow in response, but she said nothing. After I finished soaking up Spike's nosebleed, I frowned at her and whispered. "Starlight, I hatched Spike, and he's like my brother and son. Be kind to him, pretty please?"

She fidgeted, but she eventually sighed and said quietly. "Fine, sorry."

Spike merely huffed and turned away from Starlight's half-hearted apology. I sighed and asked. "Spike, why's the street so empty?"

"Oh, don't worry. Everything's fine now."

He covered his nose and said with a nasal tone. "The girls met with a zebra in the forest, called Zecora I think. All townsponies, the girls included, thought she's evil or something, so they all hid in their homes when she walked into town to avoid being cursed. Long story short, it turned out that she's just a bit odd, and is actually a good zebra. So we're walking around town to tell everypony the news."

"Oh." I acknowledged the news with a simple nod.

Starlight, on the other hoof, shrugged with some mocking in her tone. "A mere zebra could cause such a panic? And I thought the villagers in Stableford are ignorant and provincial enough. These ponies are so easily scared by things that are out of their grasp."

"Hey, don't you badmouth Ponyville and the girls! That zebra was, uh, very f- fishy, at least at first glance!"

I also said diplomatically. "To be fair, Starlight, the residents on the Griffish Isles certainly had a higher... weirdness threshold, so to speak. After all, they live with another sapient species all the time, unlike Ponyvillians."

Looking at the pouting Starlight, I added with a sigh. "Okay, I guess there's no need to talk about that anymore, since the problem's already done and dealt with. Why don't we walk back to the library and take a rest there first?"

I turned to Spike with a small smile. "I bet you have many questions for me, and I have many questions for you as well. We should reacquaint for a bit before doing anything else."

Spike raised his brows, joy again appeared on his face. "Sure do! Just let me finish knocking all the doors on this street, then we're all set!"

"Excellent. I hope that you and Starlight could get along with each other too. This is because she would stay in our library for a while as our guest... and my research colleague as well."

"What? Her? Ugh..."

Starlight immediately huffed. "What exactly are you 'ugh'ing, huh... Spines?"

"My name is Spike, not Spines! And you're such an overbearing unicorn, you know what?"

"And you're a bungling dragon that is all-thumbs as well."

Spike narrowed his eyes in clear indignation, then he wordlessly ran off to the houses at the two sides of the street to begin his work. Starlight puckered her lips and looked up diffidently, pretending not to know she had riled the small dragon up badly.

It was quite disheartening to see two of my close relations had such a disastrous first meeting. Since I got on so well with Starlight, I had expected the other me and Starlight to quickly become good friends as well. I did not know what exactly went wrong between them, so I could not even intervene appropriately.

Unlike Rarity and Applejack, they would have to live side-by-side for quite a while. I wanted them and needed them to get along. If they remained so hostile to each other, there was no way that I could execute my plan properly. Even if I did, I shall be rolling in ethereal nothingness so quickly that it would distort the entire space-time continuum.

I lamented. I was not even sure if bringing Starlight to my own home solved more problems than it created. For now though, I should probably settle down, update myself with news from the other Spike, and think long and hard about the immediate future. Some proper introduction between the two was also in prompt order. To move forward, neither of them could be cast aside.