"Spike," whispered Starlight.
It was later that night. Dinner had been mostly Twilight talking about the highlights of her cruise: meeting with ponies, everypony else's activities, and the nice surprise of her family reenacting the Northern Stars for her. During the meal, Starlight watched Twilight as if she was looking at a theater performance.
On previous nights, she might have been impressed with how well Twilight had managed to put a positive spin onto what she had only an hour before said was a stressful trip. This only caused the unicorn to think back on other nights at this same table after Twilight had gone to meditate, and how much she admired the mental maturity of her mentor. She could not help but feel naïve.
Spike did not seem surprised at all to hear her only mention good things about her vacation, a detail that Starlight used to draw the most obvious conclusion: He knew.
Starlight remained almost entirely silent during the whole affair. She only responded to simple questions about how she liked her food, or gave short replies to questions about how she spent her week. For that, she did not directly lie, but definately did not mention what she had done that morning.
Twilight did make a comment about her seeming rather quiet. However, Starlight used the excuse of not sleeping well the night before, another truth put out to mask the lie. Of course, Twilight politely offered to take her to the library to show her some sleeping spells, but Starlight was not going to let herself be in a room alone with Twilight tonight. Maybe not ever again. And, after finishing her plate, she had excused herself at once.
However, she had not gone to her bedroom, but had simply been waiting in the room across the hall from Spike's.
"Starlight?" Spike said, looking around to see that Starlight had just emerged from behind the door. "What are you doing here? I thought you went to bed."
"Remember yesterday when you said I could talk to you about anything? Is now a bad time?"
"Of course not," said the dragon, removing his claw from the knob of his bedroom door. "Do you want to talk in there? Or in the dining room? Or..."
How about in Twilight's meditation chamber on the third floor? "In here is fine," Starlight pushed open the door the rest of the way and allowed Spike to enter before shutting the door. Her horn then ignited and she bathed the entire room in magic for a few moments before turning to Spike.
"Why did you do that?" he asked.
"It's a soundproofing spell," said Starlight, glancing around the room as if she could see something to check whether the spell worked. "What I'm about to talk to you about is something Twilight doesn't want us discussing. In fact, I'm sure that I'm not even supposed to know." Then Starlight's eyes locked onto Spike's. "But I have a feeling that you already do."
Spike raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"
Starlight took a deep breath. "I went into Twilight's meditation room, and I--"
"What?" Spike snarled. "You invaded Twilight's privacy?" Starlight was taken aback by this reply, and it showed on her face, to which Spike continued, "Twilight doesn't keep many secrets, Starlight. And if she does, it's for a good reason. You had no right to go in there."
"But she... In that room... I saw..." Starlight knew the words she wanted to say. They were right in front of her. Twilight is keeping some sort of clone prisoner. Her mouth opened as she fought to say them, but something inside her could not give voice to the reality that she had witnessed.
Yet Spike said simply, "You saw the construct she has in there, right?"
The only thing Starlight could manage in reply was, "Who is she?"
The dragon rolled his eyes. "First of all," Spike said. "It's an 'it,' not a 'she.' That thing is just a construct. It was made by Twilight. And, sure, I'd guess it was probably scary to see if you don't know that, but it isn't a pony. It isn't even an animal. It's just a thing. It's really more like a piece of furniture than anything else."
Putting a hoof to her forehead, Starlight stepped back slightly as she reeled from this. "How can you say that?"
"Because it's true," said Spike, matter-of-factly. "Yeah, it's sort of weird, but it was the only thing Twilight could use to hold her negative emotions. All the frustration and worries that come from being a Princess get put in there so she can focus on more important stuff. You can understand that. After all, you did the same thing with a bottle not too long ago, right?"
Biting her lip, Starlight said, "Well, yes, but this is different!"
"There's only two differences," Spike put up a claw with two fingers, dropping one before beginning each point. "One, it actually holds the thoughts, unlike your bottle that spilled out your anger all over Ponyville and almost got Trixie killed. And two, it's a pony-shaped vessel instead of a glass one. I mean, if your bottle was shaped like a pony, would that have really made a difference?"
"Spike, have you ever seen her be--?"
"It," Spike corrected.
Starlight groaned. "Okay. Have you ever seen it before?"
"No, but I don't need to. " Starlight opened her mouth to rebut, but Spike raised a hand to stop her. "You have no idea how stressful it is for Twilight to be a Princess. She has to save the world practically twice a year, manage friendships across all of Equestria, and all this while trying to live her own life. Letting go of those emotions makes Twilight a better ruler and it makes her a lot happier. You have no idea the kinds of late-night talks we used to have before she made the construct."
"But Spike, it's a pony!"
Spike shook his head. "It might look like a pony, but it isn't real, not like you and me. It moves, it reacts, but it can't think. It can't feel. It's like a clock; just because it moves, that doesn't make it alive."
Again Starlight opened her mouth to interject, but Spike continued, "Trust me, Starlight. It's better this way. Unlike with a bottle, a construct can hold onto emotions long term. They don't leak out. They don't go and infect other ponies. They stay in that room where they can't hurt anypony and, frankly, as long as nopony else is getting hurt, it's none of your business how Twilight uses her magic. I know this solution is unconventional, but--"
"It cries!"
Spike blinked. "Huh?"
"It cries, Spike. It cries tears. It sobs. Does that sound like a 'vessel' to you? Do clocks cry?"
Spike's face began to soften, but then his indignation returned. "Well, so what? So it absorbs the emotions and then shows emotions. Big deal! Reacting isn't being real, Starlight. Twilight told me about how these things work. It doesn't feel anything."
Closing her eyes, Starlight growled in frustration. "You don't get it. You don't understand!" Then an idea dawned in her mind and she opened her eyes to look at Spike. "Or maybe you just can't understand..."
"Huh? I under--"
In an instant, Starlight's horn ignited and covered Spike in a turquoise aura, cutting him off. She forced him to slide across the floor until his back was against the wall, then she began to walk forward.
"Starlight, what are you doing?" Spike said, his body moving slightly as he fought to free himself.
"I'm wondering how I can tell if you're real," she said, now standing above Spike, her mouth frowning and her eyes wide. "After all, you aren't a pony either. You're a dragon."
His jaw dropping, Spike said, "Why does that matter?"
"Do we really know that dragons have souls? I know I'm conscious, so I can safely assume other ponies are, but why should I assume you experience anything?" Starlight's head turned slightly as she increased the pressure on Spike's body, forcing him to stop squirming.
His breathing now coming in very short bursts, Spike gasped, "Starlight. Stop. I can't br--"
"What good will begging do? The construct begs. It begged Twilight not to have it hold onto more emotions. So what if you beg too? That's just 'reacting,' right?"
Starlight could feel that Spike had stopped trying struggle. His eyes looked right into Starlight's. "Wha--?" he wheezed. The mare loosened her grip, causing Spike to inhale deeply. She let him catch his breath and waited. Eventually, he said, "You said it begged before Twilight gave it memories?"
"It even begged me not to take its cutie mark when I was there, not that it has one to steal, but then again, neither do you."
"It can talk about things?" Spike looked down at the floor. His eyes scanned lightly back and forth as he considered the implications of Starlight's words. He looked back at her. "It's afraid of things?"
At that, Starlight fully released the dragon, causing him to slouch against the wall. "Yes, Spike. Just like you were now. Just like I was when I saw it."
"But... but it's not real."
"It seemed awfully real to me Spike." Starlight thought for a moment, then said, "She certainly acts real."
Sliding down to the floor, Spike put his head in his hands. For a time, he simply sat there. And Starlight just watched him think. He looked so small slightly curled onto the floor. His purple and green form was roughly visible on the crystal wall behind him. And his shoulders looked as if they carried a burden twice his size. "Twilight said it wouldn't think or feel. But how can it talk if it doesn't think?" The dragon looked up to her for an answer.
She gulped. "I don't think it could, Spike."
Spike dropped his hands into his lap and shook his head. "What are we gonna do?"
It was something that Starlight had not consciously considered, but the solution quickly bubbled up from her subconscious mind. Upon seeing it, it seemed so obvious that she accepted the idea and simply gave the answer:
"We're going to set her free."