//------------------------------// // Chapter twenty-three // Story: Twilight the hybrid // by WolfGoddess1990 //------------------------------// "Yes, because he wasn't a dragon." "Spike and Twi are dragons. You are not scared of them." "Yes, because their not a huge, gigantic, terrifying, enormous, teeth-gnashing, sharp-scale having, horn-wearing, smoke-snoring, could eat a pony in one bite, totally all grown-up dragons!" The dragon snored again making Shy whimper in fear. "But, if you're so afraid of dragons, why didn't you say something before we came all the way up here?" Twi asked. "I was afraid to." Dash just lightly hit her face and said, "Ugh." As she thought, 'Seriously?!' "All of us are scared of that dragon." AJ said trying to make Shy feel better. "I'm not!" Dash said looking proud. "Almost all of us are scared of that dragon, but we've got a job to do. So, get in there with Twilight and show her what you're made of." " I-- I-- I just... can't." "Oh, Fluttershy... I guess I have to go in alone." Twi walked inside the cave again and was willing to face anything. When she finally ran into the dragon she looked at the dragon with a bit of a shock, when she recognized the dragon she asked, "Crimson?" He opened his eyes and looked at her with bright amber eyes, "Amethyst!" She hugged his arm, the rest of her friends stared in shock even Shy managed to see this and seemed equally as shocked. "Twi what is going on?" Crimson looked over at them which made Shy hide again, "Are these ponies friends of yours, my little firecracker?" "Yes they are, and what's going on is that we just found a relative of mine, for you see Crimson is Violet's father and my grandfather." "Grandfather?" "Firecracker?" "Amethyst?" Twi giggled at all their questions, "Yes grandfather, firecracker is what he used to call me when I was young, and Amethyst is my dragon name, while Twilight is my pony name." "But Spike calls you Twilight all the time, why doesn't he call you Amethyst?" "Well both me and Spike grew up around ponies. After a while, Spike just started calling me Twilight for the most part, but around other dragons, he calls me Amethyst, and around our mother and an occasion he calls me sister." "Specking of your brother, how is the little fireball?" "He's fine, he's flying higher and farther." "Good, I'm glad to hear that you two are still getting along." "Um... Twilight?" "Yes, Fluttershy?" "Didn't we come here for a reason... I mean it's great your catching up... please forget I said anything..." "Oh right, um Crimson?" "Yes?" "Why are you hibernating here? Shouldn't you be doing that in the dragon's sleeping chamber?" "Oh right, that..." He yawned. "I was coming to see how you were doing, but I got tired on the way and fell asleep in here... guess I lost track of time... speaking of which what day is it?" Twi giggled, "Does it really matter? I'm glad to see you really but your snoring is making smoke cover the land." He yawned again, "Oh right sorry about that. I'll just gather my things and fly to the sleeping chamber." "Do you want me to send a letter to Violet? I'm sure she can help you move your hoard." "Nah, I packed light." All five of Twi's friends looked at the huge pile of treasure. "This is packing light? And I thought Rarity over packed." "Hey, I heard that! And a lady never over packs, she is always over prepared." "Specking of Rarity... grandfather would you mind parting with one of your treasures?" "Well..." He looked at his treasure. Twi gave him a cute begging look, "Please for me?" He sighed, "Fine, your friend can have one treasure." Rarity gasped looking at all the treasure, "Oh how can I possibly choose?" Then she finally chooses something, "Oh this will look perfect with all my tiaras." Rarity said using her magic to pull out a beautiful gem necklace. "And I must say this necklace looks just as shiny as those handsome scales of yours, what kind of polish or lotion do you use to get your scales to sparkle like that?" Crimson looked at his scales, "What these old scales?" "Old?! You call these sparkling, shining scales old?! Why in Equestria would you say they are old when they look so handsome?" He stroked his scales, "Well I am old and they are actually all natural, but I do take hot baths and dip in lava pools." "Well, I must say those do wonders for your scales." Crimson grabbed a rope which pulled up a huge cloth that was under the treasure. "Now that's cleaning up something in ten seconds flat! Twi your grandfather is so awesome!" Crimson carried the bag out and everyone followed, "Well I'm off, see you granddaughter." "Bye grandfather." Crimson flew off. "You know what Twi, maybe dragons aren't so bad." Shy said as everyone walked back to town, and the pegasi finally cleared the sky. Twi walked in the library to hear Spike having problems. "I said come back here! Ooh! How does Fluttershy put up with you furry little things?" "Spike, take a letter." Spike sighed dropping Angel bunny, "With pleasure." "Dear Princess Celestia, I'm happy to report that the dragon was actually my grandfather..." "Wait Crimson was here? And I missed him as well?" "I'll tell you everything after you finish writing the letter, I promise." "Great at least I get something good out of this." "And I convinced him to go back to the sleeping chambers to have his hibernation, and this adventure has taught me and Shy to never lose faith in your friends. They can be an amazing source of strength and can help you overcome even your greatest fears. Always your faithful student, Twilight Amethyst Sparkle." "Twilight! You gotta come see this!" AJ said and Twi came outside, "She's just five away from a new pony record!" "Three hundred forty-six, three hundred forty-seven, three hundred forty-eight, three hundred forty-nine, three hundred fifty!" Dash smiled, "I did it I set a new record!" Everyone cheered as Twi smiled. "Spike one last thing before you send that letter, 'P.S. And my friend Rainbow Dash just set a new record for bouncing a ball 350 times without the ball touching the ground.' Now you can send it." Spike sent the letter when he was done and came up to Twilight, "You promised, so tell me everything." "This really is going to be a long day..." Later that night Twi put Spike to bed, before going to bed herself, she hoped that the next few days won't be so long. The next weeks passed really peacefully, which Twi was thankful for, then Spike got a letter from the princess which asked him to come to Canterlot for royal business, Twi waved goodbye as he left on the train and he promised to say hi to their parents while he was there. Twi watched as the pegasi covered the sky with clouds, they said that they accidentally skipped a scheduled sprinkle last week, so they are making up for it with a big rain storm now. Lighting flashed as thunder crashed, Twi spotted two of her friends outside in the storm and seeing them look afraid made her open her door and call to them, "Applejack! Rarity!" "Twilight?" They both asked looking at her. "Come inside girls, quick." They both ran over while Rarity went inside the doorway AJ stopped, "Whoa, nelly. Is inside a tree really the best place to be in a lightning storm?" "It is if you have a magical lightning rod protecting your home like I do. Come on in!" "Hah! We are most grateful for your invitation." "Thank ya kindly for yer hospitality." Rarity stopped AJ and pointed to her muddy hooves, "Uh, do be a polite house guest and go wash up please, won't you?" AJ grumbled, "If I gotta spend one more second with that fussbudget Rarity today, I can't be held responsible for what I'm gonna do." "Some storm, huh? The pegasi sure have outdone themselves this time. I hope you and Applejack don't have any trouble getting home." "It may indeed be a problem." "Well, you're welcome to stay if need be. Spike is away in Canterlot on royal business. I'm home all alone tonight." "Oh, well you could always teleport us back to our homes." Twi frowned, "That might not be the best idea... I haven't perfected my single teleporting and when I try to teleport with others it doesn't go well... Spike had crispy spines for a full day." Then she gasped, "You and Applejack should totally sleep over! We'll have a slumber party! I've always wanted one of those." "Oh goodness. Uh, I do believe I have another engagement scheduled for this evening that completely slipped my mind until just now." Rarity nervously laughed, "Ah, silly me, I can't possibly stay here all night -- with Applejack." Twi used her magic to bring down a book for Rarity to read. "Slumber 101: All You've Ever Wanted to Know About Slumber Parties But Were Afraid to Ask." "My own personal copy. It's a fantastic reference guide. You should see the table of contents. I've been waiting for a chance to use it, and today is the day! This is gonna be so great!" "Yes, uh, great." Rarity nervously laughed again looking outside and seeing AJ trying to wash off her hooves with a hose and failing. When AJ finally washed off the mud and came back in she gasped at what she saw, "What in tarnation..." She watched Rarity rub some green mud on Twi and she had some on herself. "Now wait just a goll-darn minute. Ya make me wash the mud off my hooves. But it's okay for y'all to have mud all over yer faces?" "Silly! This is called a mud mask. It's to refresh and rejuvenate your complexion." Rarity said. "We're giving each other makeovers! Eee-hee! We have to do it, it says so in the book." Twi said floating the book over for AJ to read. "Slumber 101: Everything You... Oh hey, heh, would ya look at the time. I gotta skedaddle on home quick. I'm powerful late for, uh, for somethin'. Uh, g'night." Lightning flashed, thunder crashed, and AJ ran back in. "Or maybe I'll sit here for a spell." "Hurray slumber party!" Twi said clapping her claws together, Rarity spat some mud mask on AJ and rubbed it around a bit. "Blahch." AJ said then Rarity put some cucumber slices on her eyes. "What in the world is this for?" Rarity sighed, "To reduce the puffiness around one's eyes, of course." "Puffiness-schmuffiness!" AJ said as she licked the slices off her eyes and ate them, "That's good eatin'!" Twi looked at her book, "Hee-hee! Isn't this exciting? We'll do everything by the book, and that will make my first slumber party officially fun." "Did you hear that, Applejack? You certainly would not want to do anything that would ruin Twilight's very first slumber party, would you?" "Of course not, and you wouldn't either, I reckon?" "So do we have an agreement?" "You betcha." AJ spat on her hoof and held it out for Rarity to shake. "Oh! Gross! You know, there's messy and there's just plain rude." "You know, there's fussy, and there's just plain gettin' on my nerves." "Fortunately, I can get along with anypony, no matter how difficult she may be." "Oh yeah? Well, I'm the "get-along-est" pony you're ever gonna meet." "That's not even a word." They both were whispering but Twi could hear them, did they forget she was part dragon? She chooses to step between them and break the fight, "This is going to be the bestest slumber party ever! Yay!" The two sounded very dry as they said yay as well, the night went on as they continued to follow Twi's book. "So, how are you getting along over there, Applejack?" Rarity asked looking at the curlers in AJ's hair. "Just fine, Rarity." AJ said looking a bit grumpy. "This is so awesome!" Twi said as she giggled and brought over her book, "Makeovers, check." Using her magic she poofed away everyone's curlers making their hair style go back to normal, Twi didn't want AJ to be even more upset over her hair being all curly. "Ooh, it says here we have to tell ghost stories. Who wants to go first?" "Me! I'd like to tell y'all the terrifying tale of the prissy ghost who drove everypony crazy with her unnecessary neatness. Oo-oo! I'm sure y'all are familiar with that one?" "Never heard of it, but I have a much better one. It's the horrifying story of the messy, inconsiderate ghost who irritated everypony within a hundred miles! Oo-oo!" "That's not a real story. You made it up." "It is a ghost story, they're all made up." Thunder crashed as the lights went out, making the two cry out and Twi lit up a firefly lantern. "I've got one! This story is called The Legend of The Headless Horse." Lighting flashed and thunder crashed. "It was a dark and stormy night, just like this one. And three ponies were having a slumber party, just like this one..." Lighting flashed again as the two looked scared over Twi's story. "...and just when the last pony thought she was safe, there, standing right behind her, just inches away was --The Headless Horse!" Lighting flashed and Twi stood over them with a blanket over her head. The two seeing this made them scream and hug each other, Twi took off the blanket and turned the lights back on. "Ghost story, check." Twi checked another box as the two looked at each other and let go of each other. "Now, who wants smores?" AJ cooked marshmallows as Rarity told Twi what to do. "Then you place one marshmallow on the top of the chocolate and be sure it's centered, that's critical, and then carefully put another perfectly square graham cracker on the top." Twi followed her instructions as she finished the s'more. "And done. Ta-da!" Rarity lightly laughed as Twi looked at it, "Ooo!" "Now, ya just eat 'em." AJ grabbed the s'more and started to eat it messy with her mouth open then belched. Rarity sighed, "You could at least say excuse me." "Aw, I was just about to, but you interrupted me. Pardon." Twi went to her book and checked off another box, "Smores, check. Now the next item of fun we have to do is Truth or Dare."