//------------------------------// // Rude awakening // Story: Genesis: Silvia // by scootalooftw //------------------------------// With a weary sigh, Silvia reached up with a forehoof and pulled back the hood over her head before adjusting the glasses on her muzzle. Satisfied with the positioning of her glasses, she brushed her messy purple mane out of her equally purple eyes. Squinting, she attempted to get her tired eyes to read the sign in front of her, her oval pupils refusing to focus properly. Adjusting her glasses once more, she leaned forward and scrunched her muzzle in concentration as she attempted to decipher the seemingly illegible sign. “Ponyville, two miles,” she mumbled to herself, her voice cutting through the still midnight air. “Just a few short miles and I'm finally home.” Doing the best to contain her smile, subconsciously trying to hide her small fangs, Silvia turned down the worn dirt road and followed the sign leading to Ponyville. After a few short minutes of walking, her long legs carrying her swiftly down the road despite her sedate pace, she couldn't help but notice several pairs of glowing greens eyes peering at her from the large, overgrown forest running alongside the path. She continued on despite the obvious signs of predators lurking nearby, a slight smirk on her face as she remembered the first few run-ins she had with the local wildlife. Despite her lithe build, the local timber wolf packs had learned quite quickly that Silvia was a lot stronger than she appeared, and that she wasn't one to be trifled with. Despite her confidence that they wouldn't attack, Silvia kept her guard up as she walked alongside the forest. She had been gone for a while, after all, and they may have forgotten. She continued down the path, her tail lashing in agitation as the eyes followed. Freezing mid-stride, Silvia let out a groan as the sound of snapping twigs and quiet growling signaled the approach of the Timberwolves. “Are we really going to do this?” She asked, perking up as she turned to face the approaching wolves. The largest wolf growled in response, the rest of his pack spreading out behind him. “We are, aren’t we?” Silvia asked rhetorically. The largest wolf stepped forward as the rest began to fan out to each side, attempting to surround her. Looking him over, Silvia noticed he had a series of crack-like scars radiating away from a rather large hoof-shaped indent in the center of his chest. Giving him a closer look, she smiled in recognition as his more distinguishing features became apparent. While most of the Timberwolves were made of the dark wood that made up a majority of the forest they called home, this wolf had pieces of a very light, almost white wood scattered throughout his body, making him looked spotted. As interesting and exotic as his body was, however, it was his tail that set him apart from the rest of his pack. While normal wolves had a tail that looked like a half-dead branch that had been torn from a tree, with most of the wilted leaves left on it, this wolf’s tail was a solid, broad, curved piece of wood, very much resembling the weapon that was his namesake. “Aww, Saif, is that you? Did you miss me?” Silvia teased “Come to see me back into town?” Saif’s eyes flashed orange as he crouched down and snarled in an attempt to intimidate Silvia. “And look, you went out and got yourself your very own pack,” Silvia finally acknowledged the wolves spread out in front of her. “You’ve just grown so much since I last saw you, haven’t you?” Saif growled and barked in response, tail lashing back and forth as he crept closer. “Now Sai,” Silvia chided “that wasn’t a very nice thing to say. If you don’t apologize I might just have to make that hoofprint on your chest a matching pair.” Saif curled back his lips and bared his teeth, pinning his ears back when he heard his pack chuffing in amusement. With the wave of a forehoof, Silvia turned away from the alpha wolf and continued down the road. “Unfortunately I’m in a hurry and don’t have time to play with you and your new friends,” she called back over her shoulder. “Why don’t you run along, we can play later.” As soon as her back was turned, Saif lunged at her with a snarl. Before he could reach her, however, she whipped around to face him and crouched down, preparing to lunge herself. With a flash of green, her oval pupils became slitted and her fangs, barely visible before, now extended well past her lower lip. She cocked her entire body back, giving her the appearance of a snake ready to strike, and released the most threatening hiss she could manage. Intimidated by the display, Saif planted his feet in the ground and slid to a stop, backpedaling to try and slow down faster. When he finally came to a stop, he hopped backward and crouched down, preparing to dodge should she strike. A quick look to each side told him that his pack had fled, his assumption confirmed by the sound of multiple bodies plowing through the trees and underbrush that lined the forest behind him. With one last glance at Silvia, Saif turned tail and fled, following his pack into the woods. Keeping her intimidating pose, she waited until she was sure the wolves were gone before allowing her features to return to normal and slumping to the ground. “Well that was a more exciting ‘welcome home’ than I had been hoping for,” she groaned. Picking herself up off the ground, Silvia dusted herself off and checked to make sure her bags were still properly secured before turning back towards Ponyville. “They seem to be wandering a lot closer to town than they used to, too.” Continuing down the road, her pace slowed slightly as she fell deep into thought. “All the packs whose territory bordered the town know that Ponyville is my territory… but it seems they’ve forgotten. Guess that means I’ll just have to remind them once I get home.” “Oh well, I’ll worry about that once I get settled. For now, hopefully, I can…” Silvia paused to release a mighty yawn, raising a foreleg to cover her mouth. “Make it home without any more excitement.” Pulling her hood back over her head, she wearily trudged down the road, the promise of a warm bed the only thing keeping her going. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ The moon had barely begun its descent towards the horizon when Silvia reached the outskirts of Ponyville. The excitement of seeing the familiar cottage of the local animal caretaker to her left and the familiar smell of apple trees in the distance put a bit of extra pep in her step as she trotted happily down the road. “After three weeks of walking, I finally made it.” She cheered silently to herself, containing her excitement so she wouldn't disturb the sleeping town. Trotting silently down Mane Street, Silvia cut through the market and made straight for her old home on the far side of town. Slipping quietly past the large pastry shaped building known as Sugarcube Corner, Silvia had to hold herself back from taking off at a full gallop as her home came into view. Reaching her home, she sat back on her haunches and rested a hoof on the side of it, raising the other to her head as she faked a swoon. “Treebrary, sweet treebrary. Oh, how I’ve missed thee.” Giggling at her own antics, Silvia circled around to the front door. Pulling one of the overstuffed bags off her side, she sat down in front of the door and began digging through it. After a few minutes of digging, her efforts were rewarded when she pulled a large golden key out of the bag. Sticking the key in the door, she unlocked it and let herself in, closing and locking the door behind her. With a sigh of relief, she undid the straps securing all her bags and allowed them to slide off her back. “After nearly two years away, it’s wonderful to be back again.” She sighed happily. Leaving her bags in a pile by the door, she trudged across the room and lumbered up the stairs. As she shuffled into the room, she tripped over something on the floor, barely catching herself before she fell. A quick glance over her shoulder told her there was a basket lying on the floor. Promising herself she’d move it in the morning, Silvia continued on to the bed, not even bothering to remove her cloak or glasses as she climbed onto the bed. Too tired to even think about getting under the sheets, she curled up in the strangely warm bed and was asleep in moments. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Silvia awoke to the feeling of the sun shining through the curtain, landing squarely on her face. Scrunching up her muzzle, she pulled the unusually warm pillow in her grasp tighter to herself as she attempted to bury her face in the covers, giggling when the pillow released a cute little moan. With the sun no longer in her eyes, Silvia sighed happily before jolting awake when she realized something; pillows don’t moan. Lying as still as she possibly could, not even breathing for fear of disturbing whatever was in bed with her, she once again gave the ‘pillow’ in her forelegs a gentle squeeze. The pillow, in response, released another moan and began mumbling quietly to itself as it nuzzled into the large ponies chest. Ever so slowly Silvia cracked her eyes open, her fear turning to confusion when she saw a fuzzy purple mass nestled into her breast. “Rose?” Silvia mumbled, trying to blink the sleep from her eyes. “What are you doing here?” Sitting up slightly, Silvia glanced around the room, checking to make sure she was in the treebrary, and not back home. Squinting her eyes in an attempt to focus, she quickly realized that her glasses had fallen off her face during the night, and any attempts to find them quickly halted when the pony in her grasp began stirring. “Spike?” The pony in Silvia’s forelegs moaned “did you have another nightmare last night?” “Uhm…” Silvia watched as the darker part of the purple blob lifted away from the rest and began swiveling around momentarily before settling on her. “Hi?” The blob, in response, let out an ear-piercing shriek, before a bright flash of light followed by a sharp impact to the back of her head temporarily blinded Silvia. When her vision cleared, Silvia was stuck laying on the floor on her withers with her hind legs and tail, still partially wrapped in the blankets, dangling in her face. “Well that’s one way to wake up,” she grumbled, reaching a foreleg up to rub the sore spot on the back of her head. Out of the corner of her eye, Silvia saw a purple pony shaped blob peeking over the edge of the bed. “Who are you?” The pony blob asked, a slight quiver in her clearly feminine voice. Silvia opened her mouth to respond, but before the words could leave her mouth she was cut off by the sound of the door swinging open. “You alright in here, Twi?” A new voice asked, the owner sounding to be either another mare or a young colt. “I thought I heard a, uhh… scream.” The voice trailed off. Looking up from her position on the floor, Silvia saw yet another purple blob standing in the doorway, this one with green splotches thrown in, versus the former's multiple shades of purple. “Uhm, hi?” Silvia said again, waggling a forehoof at the newcomer. “Uhh, who is she?” The green and purple, decidedly less pony-shaped blob asked. “I don't know, Spike, I was going to ask you the same thing!” The larger purple blob said, hopping down from the bed and walking around Silvia to the blob at the door. “She was in my bed when I woke up this morning.” “Your bed?” Silvia grumbled, shifting her weight so she could fall the rest of the way off the bed. “You mean this isn't my bed? I could have sworn I fell asleep in my bed last night.” Rolling to her hooves, she sat on her haunches and rubbed the sore spot on the back of her head with a forehoof. “Is this not the treebrary?” “You mean the ‘Golden Oaks Library?’” The larger blob corrected “Yes, it is.” “Oh, so then you're in my bed?” Silvia asked. “How did you get in? I thought I locked the door behind me…” standing from her spot on the floor, she began walking towards the bathroom. “I mean, you're welcome to stay if you need someplace for you and your colt to stay, but I'd prefer it if we skipped the concussive alarm clock tomorrow.” “I… wha… colt?” the mare behind her stammered. “Oh, I’m sorry,” Silvia turned around to look at the two behind her, cocking her head to the side “I just assumed from the voice. Is she a filly then?” “I’m a he,” the smaller blob grumbled “but I’m not a colt, and certainly not hers. I am a dragon.” “A dragon?” Silvia asked, squinting at the smaller purple mass “You have a dragon living with you?” “Uh, yeah, obviously…” Spike said. “Yes, this is my assistant, Spike. And my name is Twilight Sparkle. It’s nice to meet you, miss…” “Silvia,” Silvia answered “my name is Silvia. It’s nice to meet you as well, Twilight, Spike. And sorry for mistaking you for a pony,” She rubbed the back of her head bashfully “it’s just…” “You’re blind,” Spike stated. “Spike!” Twilight reprimanded him. “That wasn’t nice, you apologize!” “Why? It’s true.” Spike defended himself. “Just look at the way she squints at everything, it’s kinda obvious.” “That doesn’t mean you just point it out like that! There’s this little thing called tact, maybe you could do with a few lessons in it.” “No, it’s fine,” Silvia giggled “he’s right. I’m so blind I wouldn’t be able to tell an almanac from a thesaurus, even if they were lying open in front of me.” Turning around Silvia crossed the remainder of the room and entered the bathroom. “Now if you two will excuse me, I spent the last three weeks on my hooves, and I would like nothing more than to soak in a nice, hot bath. I’ve been away for a while so there isn’t bound to be much, but should you find any food in the kitchen, you are welcome to it.” “But the food in the kitchen…” Twilight started, only to be cut off by the door closing “...is mine,” She sighed. “Well, let’s head downstairs and get started on breakfast then, Spike. We may not need to open the library today, but now that we’re all up, we might as well get our days started.” “And, uh… what about her?” Spike motioned to the bathroom. “Well, there has obviously been some type of mix up here.” Twilight turned and walked out of the room heading down the steps and into the lower floor of the library. “She’s not hurting anypony, so I say we let her have her bath, and when she’s done we can sit down and figure out where she thinks she is and where she’s supposed to be.” “You think that’s safe?” Spike asked. “I mean, she could be some kind of escaped mental patient or something!” he continued, getting only a raised eyebrow in response. “Or maybe she’s some new supervillain, and she plans to kidnap us in our sleep so the girls can’t use the Elements to stop her!” “And maybe you read too many comic books,” Twilight teased. “Besides, if she wanted to do anything like that, she could have done it last night.” “But what if she was!” Spike fretted. “What if she broke in last night to kidnap you, but then she fell asleep before she could! Or maybe she tripped on my basket, and knocked herself out! Yeah, that’s it! I did feel somepony kick my basket last night, I thought it was you coming in from another late night study session. But it must have been her! Which means I saved your life!” Spike puffed out his chest in pride. “No need to thank me, Twilight. Extra gems with dinner will be thanks enough.” “I’ll think about it,” Twilight responded, rolling her eyes. Reaching the kitchen, the two began going about their morning tasks. Making a bee-line for the coffee maker, Twilight started the percolator while Spike began making breakfast. The sounds of breakfast being prepared soon echoed through the library, and it wasn’t long before Twilight was seated at the dinner table, sipping her coffee while she leafed through the morning paper. Finishing her first cup of coffee, Twilight set down her mug and perked her ears at the sound of shuffling and irritated grumbling coming from upstairs. Standing from the table, Twilight made her way through the library and crept up the stairs. Reaching the top of the steps, Twilight quietly opened the door and paused in confusion at the spectacle before her. While the mare before her was quite easily recognized as her mysterious guest, Silvia, Twilight couldn’t help but gape when she realized just how large the mare was. While before it had been hard to judge her exact size as she had been laying down, both in bed and on the floor, and then later Twilight had been too distracted trying to figure out where the mare had come from, now that she had a good look at her she could tell the mare was monstrous in size. Silvia stood well over a head taller that Twilight herself, possibly even having a few inches on Big Mac. Her light blue coat, previously dull and matted from the layers of dust and grime that had accumulated during her travels, had been washed and brushed to a healthy shine. Her mane, which had previously been just as matted and her coat and appearing to be a plum color, was now light purple in color and hung messily from her head and neck with her long, uncut bangs tucked behind her ears. Draped across her back was an old, worn cloak, its true color hard to make out through the dirt that caked it. Despite its torn, tattered appearance, it did an admirable job of concealing Silvia’s body, leaving only her head, neck, and legs exposed. Cringing when she realized that Silvia had slept in that cloak, Twilight made a mental note to have Spike wash the bedding after he finished breakfast. Allowing her eyes to wander the room, Twilight groaned quietly to herself when she saw the state her room was in. The sheets had all been removed from the bed and scattered across the room, with the mattresses themselves flipped up and lying against the wall on the far side of the room. The frame was all that remained where the bed once sat, with the cross braces also removed to allow easier access to the storage area under the bed. Boxes containing both clothes and books had been pulled out and dumped unceremoniously in the middle of the room, the contents of most spilled across the floor. In the center of the mess stood Silvia, a box of books held in one forehoof as she rifled through the contents with another.Stepping forward and clearing her throat, Twilight decided to speak up before Silvia could tear her room apart any further. "Uh, do you need... help with something?" Twilight asked, trying to keep the irritation out of her voice. "Oh," Silvia jumped and looked over her shoulder, nearly dropping the box in surprise "yes, actually. I seem to have misplaced my glasses. I was looking to see if maybe they fell under the bed, or maybe ended up in one of these boxes." Setting down the box she was holding, Silvia stepped out from the bed frame and turned to face Twilight fully. “It’s weird,” Silvia mused “I don’t remember having this much clothing stored under there. Or books for that matter… I thought I kept all of that in the storage room.” “That’s because those aren’t your things.” Twilight muttered under her breath. “No, I haven’t seen any glasses this morning,” Twilight answered Silvia’s question, shaking her head. “Do you remember where you had them last?” “Yes, I had them on last night when I came up for bed.” Silvia fumbled blindly through the room, doing her best to avoid stepping on anything as she approached Twilight. "I came in late last night and went right to sleep. I guess I forgot to take them off before I fell asleep, and now I can't seem to..." She was cut off by a loud crunch as she brought a hoof down. "find them." Cringing, she slowly lifted the hoof back up. "Those were my glasses, weren't they?" "Black square frames?" Twilight asked. "Yeah," Silvia sighed "that's them." Sitting on her haunches, she picked up the remains of her glasses, groaning as the shattered bits of glass fell free of the cracked frames. "You wouldn't happen to know if there is an optician in town, would you?" "Not one that I know of, no," Twilight answered. "The only pony in town that I know of that wears glasses is Rarity, and she gets hers in Canterlot. But if you want to save yourself the trip, I know a spell that should be able to fix them." "Really?" Silvia's ears perked up "That would be great, I've never been a fan of big cities! If you could fix my glasses, I would really appreciate it!" "Go ahead and set the frames down with the rest of the pieces," Twilight instructed. "It's been a few years since I've used this spell, so it may take me a minute." Setting her glasses on the floor, Silvia took a step back to give Twilight room to work. "So where did you learn this spell at?" Silvia asked "Somepony in your family wear glasses?" "No, nopony in my family needs glasses. Well, besides my dad's reading glasses. But he only uses those to read the paper." Twilight's horn became encased in a lavender glow, a matching glow enveloping the remains of Silvia's glasses. "I had a friend in school who broke her glasses a lot. They were too big for her face, but she didn't want to replace them. 'I'll grow into them!' she used to say." Twilight giggled. "She did eventually, but not before they fell off and broke enough times for both of us to memorize the spell." The glow intensified as the frames, along with the shards of glass, all floated into the air and began reassembling themselves. The frames fixed themselves first, the bends and stress marks in the metal fading as they straightened themselves out. The glass came next, with all the shards popping into place and fusing perfectly to the piece next to them, leaving two pristine lenses. Her magic flared once more and with an audible pop the spell finished, leaving Silvia’s once mangled glasses fully restored. Picking up the glasses in her magic, Twilight inspected them before offering them to Silvia. “There we go, they look good as new!” Twilight said, offering the glasses to Silvia. Taking the glasses from Twilight’s magic Silvia set them gently upon her muzzle, blinking rapidly as her eyes adjusted. With her glasses repaired and her vision restored, she took a good look around the room before smiling sheepishly at Twilight. “Sorry about the mess, I’ll have it cleaned up before I come down.” “It’s fine,” Twilight waved her off “I can take care of it.” Before Silvia could protest, Twilight’s horn gave off a soft glow as every displaced object in the room lifted off the floor, coated in a similar aura. The books and clothing returned to the boxes they had spilled from and floated to their place under the frame of the bed, with the cross braces and mattresses dropping down over the top of them. The sheets that had been on the bed floated gently over to the hamper in the corner, dropping in as the entire hamper lit up and floated over to Twilight. Turning around, Twilight headed towards the door, the hamper floating behind her. “Now how about we head downstairs and get to know each other over breakfast.” Sniffing the air, Silvia followed Twilight out the door and down the stairs. “That sounds like a wonderful idea, whatever you made for breakfast smells delicious.” “Oh, I didn’t make anything, besides the coffee.” Twilight set the hamper by the door to the basement before stepping into the kitchen, holding the door open so that Silvia could see Spike hard at work preparing breakfast. “Spike here made everything.” Silvia eyeballed the spread before shooting Spike a surprised look. “You’ve trained your dragon to cook?” “Yes I can cook, but she didn’t train me to do anything,” Spike answered, giving Silvia an annoyed look “I learned to cook myself after Twilight set the kitchen on fire making a sandwich. And she wasn’t even toasting the bread!” “Spike!” Twilight hissed “It wasn’t that bad!” “Tell that to your parents, they had to remodel the entire kitchen after that.” Spike turned away from the stove, pointing his spatula at Twilight as he gave her a smug grin. “And don’t even get me started on the time she tried to make quesadillas.” Spike’s mouth snapped shut with a flash of purple as Twilight shot him the harshest glare she could muster. “Spike, I thought we agreed to never speak of that again!” Spike chuckled in response before turning his attention back to preparing breakfast. Twilight, blushing in embarrassment at Silvia’s poorly concealed amusement, motioned for her to take a seat at the table. Taking the spot directly opposite of her, Twilight floated an empty mug down from the cabinet and over to Silvia, offering her a cup of coffee. Shrugging at Silvia’s polite declination Twilight picked up her own mug and took a long sip, sighing in pleasure as the caffeine worked its way through her system. A few quiet minutes of Twilight enjoying her morning coffee and Silvia silently observing Spike at work, breakfast was finally finished and being served. Everypony dished up without a word, and it wasn’t long before Spike decided to speak up, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen over the three. “So… Silvia, was it?” Spike asked, getting a nod in response. “Not to be rude, but what exactly were you doing in our house, and how did you get in? I know I locked up last night.” “Yes, I’d like to know as well,” Twilight asked. “Not that I’m opposed to helping a pony in need, but it was more than a little awkward waking up… like that.” “Ah, yes, I apologize for that.” Silvia stammered, coughing lightly into her hoof. “My siblings tell me I can get a little… grabby in my sleep. As for what I’m doing here and how I got in… as I told you before, this is my house. I let myself in with my key.” “But you can’t live here,” Twilight interjected. “Spike and I have lived here for over a year and a half now, and before we moved in the building was vacant.” “I was away for a while taking care of a sick family member, but I can guarantee you the building wasn’t vacant.” Silvia argued, “Mayor Quill and myself had an agreement that he would make sure no one else moved in while I was away.” “Do you have a copy of this agreement?” Twilight asked. “Well, uh, no.” Silvia said “It was a verbal agreement, neither of usss… neither of us saw much need for a written agreement.” Silvia paused, taking a moment to calm herself before continuing. “Nopony in this town was interested in running the library, that’sss… that’s why he gave me the room in the first place. I got to stay here, and as payment, I would run the library.” “Well, without anything in writing there isn’t much to back your claims,” Twilight said, raising an eyebrow at Silvia’s stuttering and slurring. “You can go to Town Hall and talk to Mayor Mare, but unless they have something in writing there, there isn’t much that can be done.” “But...” Silvia started. “I’m sorry, I really am, but I can’t just take some random pony’s word for it when they say that the house I’ve lived in for nearly two years actually belongs to them.” Standing from the table, she picked up her dishes in her magic and floated them to the sink. “Now, you are more than welcome to leave your bags here while you go and arrange somewhere else to stay, but as the owner of the building I’m going to have to ask that you refrain from entering my private quarters again.” Turning, she trotted out of the kitchen, leaving a flabbergasted Silvia to gape at the half-empty dish in front of her. Grabbing her saddlebags in her magic, she placed them upon her back as she headed for the front door. “Hey Spike,” she called over her shoulder. “I’m heading to the market to pick up a few things, please clean up the kitchen once Silvia finishes up, then get started on the laundry I left by the basement stairs. I shouldn’t be gone too long.” The sound of the front door opening and closing signaled Twilight’s departure, leaving Spike alone with the crestfallen mare. “Wow, that was harsh,” Spike said, giving Silvia a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry about her, she doesn’t have the best pony skills at times.” Standing from the table, he picked up his own dishes in the sink with Twilight’s. “You’re more than welcome to stick around for a bit if you need some time to figure out what you’re doing next.” hopping up on his stool, he began filling the sink with water. “And hey, I’ll even throw together a nice lunch for you to take with.” Spike offered. “It’s the least I can do for ya. Just, uh… don’t tell Twilight.” “No no, it’sss… it’sss fine,” Silvia stammered, standing up from her spot at the table. “Jusst… if you could jusst box the resst of this up for me, I’ll go ahead and get out of your mane.” Spike opened his mouth to argue before deciding against it, closing his mouth with audible click. Grabbing her plate from the table, he scraped the remains of her breakfast into a small doggy bag before dropping the plate into the sink with the rest of the dishes. “I hope this isn’t too rude to ask,” Spike said “but what’s up with the lisp? You were talking fine before.” “Oh,” Silvia’s face flushed “it’ss… I had a bit of a lisp when I was born.” Silvia paused, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself before continuing. “My gran-gran helped me learn to talk normal,” Silvia explained, “but it still slips out when I’m upset.” “Oh…” Spike stood awkwardly for a moment before remembering the bag of food he had for Silvia. “So you have a plan of what you’re going to do for the rest of the day?” he asked, hopping down from his stool and offering her the bag. “This is a public library, so you’re welcome to hang around if you really want to, but I don’t think Twilight will budge on letting you stay here another night.” Taking the offered bag with a small smile, Silvia left the kitchen and headed for the front door. Stopping at her bags piled by the door, Silvia stashed the leftovers in one of the emptier pockets before answering Spike’s question. “No, that’s fine. If I’m not welcome here then there’s no point in sticking around.” Picking one of her smaller bags from the pile, Silvia paused to strap it to her side before continuing. “I should probably get in to see the mayor sooner rather than later. If we can’t get this straightened out, then I want to make sure I find plenty of time to find somewhere else to stay.” “Alright, well, good luck then.” Spike motioned towards Silvia’s bags. “Like Twilight said, feel free to leave those here, for now. I’ll make sure nopony messes with them.” “I appreciate it, Spike,” Silvia said, moving towards the door. Grasping the handle in a forehoof, she glanced over her shoulder. “I’ll try not to take too long, it would probably be best if I was gone before Twilight got back.” “I’m sure she wouldn’t mind you being here,” Spike said “she’s actually a really friendly pony. I think she was just a little freaked out by waking up in bed with a complete stranger.” “Well then maybe I’ll stop by once we get this all sorted out.” Pulling the door open, Silvia bid a final farewell before heading out into town, leaving Spike alone in the library.