As Spike tried to relax one more time, he felt Twilight's machines scanning him once more to see if there were some secondary effects for eating that mysterious gem. He could hear the machines moving wildly as the metal helmet scanned his brain and the wires attached to him analyzed his body, he saw Twilight reading the charts, hoping to get an answer out of this but, after minutes of reading, Twilight released a frustrated groan due to how disappointing to all of this research was being.
"I don't get it" -. She said as she tried to understand the reading. - "It clearly detects a foreign source of magic but it cannot analyze it so we could know what kind of magic this it" -. She took a second look at her most recent analysis and looked back at Spike. - "Are you sure that you don't feel anything different in you?"
As Spike thought back into what just happened to him, his fire remained just as useful, he didn't feel any different and his body haven't changed since he ate that gem, there was only one difference though.
"What can I say? I've always been unique in my family and she has just scientifically proven it."
That voice was the only thing that has appeared in Spike ever since he ate that gem and, even though it promised to bring some goods to him, it certainly wasn't enough to convince him of keeping it inside of him. The problem was that, he was very afraid of telling Twilight that he was hearing voices. She might believe him but, what if she doesn't?
"No, Twilight" -. Said a paranoid Spike as he looked down. - "Nothing very different, I don't feel any different and I haven't done anything that shows that the gem helped, not even cool super powers like the Power Ponies."
"Hey!" - Said the voice. - "I do bring cool super powers, I can create a shield and it's a very nice one."
Disappointment filling Spike's mind now more than ever, he just decided to ask Twilight the one thing he cared about the most.
"So, do you think you can remove it?"
Twilight looked at the data and moved her eyes as she thought back and forward all the ramifications of trying to take out a foreign magic that was completely unknown for her, all the ways it could go wrong, all the mysteries revolving this gem and how it could affect Spike one way or another. Her resolve was done, she would not risk Spike's life.
"No Spike" -. As she saw him making a shocked face, she tried to explain herself. - "Look Spike, we know nothing about that gem, what kind of magic it is, how it works, what is it doing in your body or even if it's either helping you or hurting you" -. Spike kept looking at Twilight but his face showed now that he understood her reasoning. - "I don't want to risk your life, Spike, and I would rather wait until we have a better analysis of it before doing anything dangerous."
And, with that said, Twilight used her magic and released Spike from the huge machines that were studying him and tried to smile at his number one assistant with a supportive smile, but all it did was making him feel worse.
As he moved to the stairs, Twilight had an idea that, she hoped, would cheer him on.
"You know? I think Princess Celestia would be more than eager to help us out on this. Maybe we could ask her help once the wedding its over, does that sound good?"
As Spike gave this a thought, finally hearing something that made him feel better, the voice decided to give his own opinion on the matter.
"You see? There's no reason to be so sad, in the meantime, we can now spend more time to know each other."
As Spike tried to ignore the voice once more, he decided to go up and start making the baggage so they could leave as early as possible but not before hearing another message from Twilight.
"Spike, I know you want to leave soon, but remember that we won't depart until a few hours, so I hope you don't take too many things with you" -. She said as she was leaving with a small bag. - "Pack light stuff and we'll meet on the train station."
And, with that said, she left the library with an air of indignation whose origin Spike was too young to understand, leaving him alone once more with the voice in his head, who was more than eager to know more about this wedding.
"So" -. He started with a tone typical from those who were expecting some 'idle chat'. - "If what you're mom's singing said was true, then we're going to a very important wedding and we're the VIP. That's something remarkable."
Spike couldn't just stand the voice and decided to respond to his assumptions, not understanding that it exactly was what it wanted.
"Yes, this is a very important wedding for Shining Armor but you're not VIP, only Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and myself, you're not invited."
Spike expected it to respond with something, but he wasn't very happy with this voice coming with snark remarks.
"Maybe, but I'm inside of you so I'm an indirect guest for this wedding and I'll finally be able to meet some refined figures, it's always a good idea to be around the high society, you know?"
Spike could only roll his eyes but his mouth couldn't resist to respond.
"Look, there's a high chance that only a very few selected will be part of this wedding, so unless you only want to meet only Princess Celestia, I doubt you'll meet anyone of importance during the wedding."
Should have Spike been able to see the voice's face, he would have seen it smile and shiver as he heard it changing the tone of its voice to a more conniving one.
"Oh, yes, Princess Celestia, who both you and Twilight think will be able to figure me out and be able to take me out of you. Are you sure she's so powerful?"
Spike could only feel angry at the idea of some random voice putting to doubt the power of Princess Celestia so he let his impetuous voice to help more that little figure inside his head that was obtaining just what he wanted.
"For your information, Princess Celestia is so powerful that she can control the sun and make rise, dawn or stay in the sky as much as she want it to. She could easily take you out should she want it."
The voice's silence brought Spike some hope that he wouldn't have to put up with it until the wedding but, sadly for him, it was just an empty dream, for the silence lasted a few seconds.
"The sun, huh? With so much power, no wonder nobody tries to question her as a Princess, she would only have to send them to the sun. Father would be proud."
Spike's indignation couldn't rise more, something the voice was proving to be possible, and his voice was now near shouting and he was no longer packaging.
"How dare you say that about Princess Celestia!" -. Spike said as he pointed out to the air, symbolically aiming at the voice. - "She's the most honest, trustworthy, wise and gentle pony we've ever had as a princess. Nobody on her 1.000 years of rule has ever dared to question her for how good she has been."
After he said that, the voice once again remained silent, leaving Spike prepared for another sly comment but, to his surprise, his response only sent questions to his mind and wonder in what kind of conversation he just had.
"So she's immortal as well, eh? I suppose I may not be as unique as I thought I would be."
This time, Spike resisted the idea to keep the conversation and, to both his surprise and relief, the voice also remained in silence, hopefully for what could be left of the day, so he decided to end his packaging and went to the train station, wondering what kind of being he was holding inside of him, who wasn't strange to the idea of immortality and that thought of Celestia as an equal rather than a superior, even though it was just living inside of him to survive but, regardless, he wouldn't have to worry anymore once he got to Canterlot and Princess Celestia helped him to get rid of this thing.
As Spike went to the train station, he started to wonder on what kind of a mess he was right now. He now had something weird, that held magic of some kind and was sentient, living inside of him and it looked like taking it out was going to be complicated. The more he talked to it, the more questions he would get, why did it want to meet royalty so bad? Why it wasn't afraid of Celestia's power? Why it thought that Celestia was immortal and why it didn't see it as strange?
Spike saw the citizens of Ponyville moving around, continuing with their lives, unaware of what was happening to each other, making Spike wonder just how different and similar he could be to all of them. Perhaps there were some stories that he could sympathize with, perhaps some of them were more similar to him than he thought and maybe, if he knew them better, he wouldn't have been on this mess, how? He wasn't sure, but it was something worth thinking.
As Spike got to the train station, he found Twilight and her friends being followed by some interesting guest in the shapes of three colorful fillies, forcing Spike to ask about it.
"Apple Bloom? Sweetie Bell? Scootaloo? What are you doing here?" - He asked wondering with real curiosity. They turned around and decided salute him with the answer.
"Hi Spike!" - Said a very excited Sweetie Bell. - "Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash decided to allow me, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo over so we could see the wedding, isn't that cool?"
Seeing her eyes shining with gleam, Spike could only say his congratulations to Sweetie Bell as he moved to the train, following an angry Twilight, really hoping to get to Canterlot soon and show her brother how 'happy' she was, and get into their respective seats and prepared for the train ride. As the mares and fillies started to get into the train while chatting about the wonders of going into Canterlot to see a Royal Wedding. As he saw all of this, Spike couldn't stop thinking that this may not be as bad as it looked for him, sure, he had something strange living inside of him but that wasn't a reason to not enjoy the trip, after all, all the voice did was commentating on his life and that was something he could get over with eventually or it would be gone soon enough to not even bother about.
Nonetheless, Spike decided that this was probably a better moment to enjoy the situation and mingle with the other ponies. As the Cutie Mark Crusaders started to play on the other parts of the train, Spike decided to go to the train's window and see how Canterlot started to get closer to them as the train moved forward. He could see the majesty of Canterlot Castle in all of its glory, with its majestic towers, white walls, beautiful waterfall, the rainbow coming out of it as it all combined to reflect the greatness that was Princess Celestia's home.
As he saw the castle, Spike couldn't stop thinking about the few moments he shared in there with both Twilight and Shining Armor and the memories made him want to have a moment of celebration with him to remember those days and he was sure that, once that thing was out of his body, nothing would ruin this great moment to celebrate in Equestria's history. Yeah, he couldn't stop waiting to reach Canterlot soon enough.
"Kid" -. Said the voice. - "Why is there a shield surrounding the Castle?"
Spike stopped remembering and decided to take a closer look at the Castle to see what he meant but, as soon as he was going to take a better look, the train took a curve to climb the mountain, making it impossible to see Canterlot and check what was talking about. Then, Spike realized something else.
"Hold on, how did you see that?" - Said Spike to the voice, at which he was responded by a feminine voice in the outside of his head. - "Spike, dear, who are you talking to?"
Spike turned around and saw Rarity looking at him with a curious look while Rainbow, Pinkie, Fluttershy and Applejack were talking about the wedding with Twilight looking at the mountain dejectedly. Spike quickly tried to think of an answer for Rarity and, sadly, he had to say the first thing he could come up with.
"Oh, Rarity, uh, I was saying that how did you see how... beautiful was Canterlot, yeah" -. Rarity looked at Spike with a suspicious look as Spike tried to change the conversation. - "I mean, it looks just perfect for a Royal Wedding and once I get there, I'll make a Bachelor Party with Shining Armor" -. Spike said that hoping to change the subject but he then realized something. - "Wait, what's a bachelor party?" -. Which caused all the mares to laugh at him, moment he decided to use to move from the wagon to another one just to keep the conversation going.
After leaving the wagon for a brief moment, and see that nobody was looking at him, he decided to briefly speak to the voice.
"Alright, now explain me, how did you see a shield in Canterlot if you are inside of me?"
The voice didn't laugh, at least, but it's tone sounded like if Spike's question was self explanatory.
"Kid, I am inside of your body, I can see what you see and hear what you hear, that's how our connection works" -. Spike took a moment to realize that he would never have a private moment as long as he had this thing on his body but it didn't last long as the voice decided to continue the chat. - "This also means that I can hear stuff around you that you may not be focusing on, since we share the same hearing abilities, at which I guarantee that I'll try to warn you if I hear something suspicious and, speaking of it, return to the other mares before they suspect anything. You don't want to ruin the wedding before it even begins, right?"
Spike accepted and decided to go back to the other girls and, right as he was passing through them to seat on his place, he saw a huge pink wall crossing the train and going through him, although he didn't feel anything wrong with it. As the barrier passed through, he went outside and saw how they were reaching the Canterlot station and, surrounding the whole city, there was a giant shield covering them all, making Spike wonder how good must his eyes be if that thing noticed it from so far away while he didn't.
As the train stopped, Spike couldn't feel some fear from seeing the guards looking at the train with some ferocity and suspicion, it was understandable the security, according to Rarity, since this was a royal wedding and those were too rare to take lightly, but Spike couldn't stop from feeling how something else was happening that he wasn't aware off, something at which, sadly, there was nothing he could do about.
As he was leaving the train with Twilight and her friends, he saw how Twilight decided to move faster in the search of her brother to give him her two bits regarding not telling your sister that you were going to marry, leaving all her friends in the train and a worried Spike surrounded by guards with lances.
"Don't worry kid" -. Said the voice inside of Spike with complete confidence. - "If something wrong happens, I'll back you up."
Since there was nothing a voice in his head could do, Spike was sure it was just bluffing, all he could do was to pass through the regulations and hope that nothing wrong would happen. Thankfully, there was nothing wrong in the packages and the invitation was enough for them to be let passed into the city and, hopefully, get a better experience than being received by the royal guard.
Surprisingly, there was a better reception as Princess Celestia, Mi Amore Cadenza and Shining Armor (with a very confused Twilight behind them) were there to receive them, each one of them with their respective forms that made them stand out.
Princess Celestia, couldn't hold the happiness she felt of having Twilight's friends, including Sweetie Bell, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, and treated them with a humble and friendly tone that only showed how important they were to the princess.
"Greetings my little ponies" -. She said as everybody knelt down to show their respect toward the princess. - "Please stand up, for you are part of this great moment in our history and you deserve as much respect as I do."
The ponies stood up and saw Shining Armor getting close to them and, as he knelt, he said his greetings in a tone that showed how he looked at Twilight's friends.
"Hello everybody, it makes me feel great to see Twilight's friends to come over here, even more to know that Twilight made some friends" -. His remark was quickly responded with a punch sent by Twilight to his brother for that little remark, at which he could only laugh. - "Hey, you didn't have any friend here, it makes me glad to know that you aren't so sheltered anymore and even more to know that your best friends came here."
He then looked down and saw a very happy Spike to see him.
"Well, look who's also here" -. He got close to Spike and gave him a hoof pump. - "Glad to see you too as well, I hope you've taken care of my little sister while I wasn't there to check on her."
Spike saw laughed at this and responded with glee. - "Sure, she sometimes try to stay all night awake but I make sure she goes to sleep from time to time" -. Another remark that was responded with a deep glare made by Twilight, glare that quickly told him to stay silent.
Then came Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, who Spike recognized as Twilight's baby sitter, Cadence. And saw her treat all the other ponies in a way that was quite different to both Celestia or Shining Armor.
"Hello, all of you" -. She said in a tone that sound tired and wishing to have this over with. - "I'm glad to see you here and I hope that all eleven of you help us to make this wedding a very nice one."
Once she said this, all the ponies looked at her with a strange look, with Twilight being the first one to show her concern.
"Eleven?" - She then look back at her friends, making sure that everypony was there and said back to Cadence. - "Only nine ponies and one dragon came, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Bell, Scootaloo and myself, along Spike and all of that amount to ten. There are nopony else in here."
Cadence looked at Twilight and then looked back at the other ponies and saw, to her dismay, that there were only ten individuals in front of her and no more, making her give a very perplexed look.
"Oh, yeah" -. She said. - "It must probably be the tension from the wedding that made me miscount, sorry."
The ponies accepted the apology and told her that there was nothing to worry about and decided to go to work on the wedding, not suspecting what was all that about.
Meanwhile, the eleventh guest to the wedding decided to talk to Spike one more time, in a very serious and private tone, suspiciously enough for Spike.
"Hey, kid! Be careful with the pink princess. I think she's hiding something."
Since Spike was surrounded by mares that could hear him, all he could do was keep the facade and hope that he could get a private moment soon so he could have a discussion with that voice.
Meanwhile, very far away, outside of the shield surrounding Canterlot, a group of individuals were being chastised for giving the, apparently, wrong numbers. For they counted eleven ponies going on that train when only ten showed up and now the ones inside the city were trying to change the alcoves quickly before anyone noticed the extra room prepared for the visitors.