Twilight rushed into the library and slammed the door behind her. She then yanked me from her back.
“WHAT IN CELESTIA’S NAME IS WRONG WITH YOU?!”
“I was defending myself, Twilight! I didn’t mean to hurt her! Honest!”
“If you kept your big mouth shut, you wouldn't have been in that situation!”
“I didn't know she was going to do that! I thought Celesia would stop her before the celebration started!”
“Look, Spike the Dragon! You need to stay out of the grownups' way. I don't want you to end up getting hurt!”
"Okay! Okay! But first, could you look under 'E' on the bookshelf? It might have something you can use to defeat Nightmare Moon."
Twilight gave me a confused look. She released her grip and ran to the shelf labeled "E." Her eyes widened when she read one of the book titles.
"The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide." Twilight pulled the book out. "This could work."
"And just what are the Elements of Harmony?!" Twilight turned around to see Rainbow Dash glaring at her. She then turned to me. "And how did you know about Nightmare Moon, huh?! Are you both spies?"
"Simmer down, Sally." Applejack grabbed Rainbow's tail and pulled her back. "They ain't spies, but they know what's going on. Don't ya?"
“I read all about the prediction of Nightmare Moon. Some mysterious objects called the Elements of Harmony are the only things that can stop her,” Twilight said as she flipped through the pages. "Here it is. ‘There are six Elements of Harmony, but only five are known: Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty and Loyalty. The sixth is a complete mystery. It is said, the last known location of the five elements was in the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters. It is located in what is now…’"
"The Everfree Forest!" We all said in unison.
“Let's go!” Pinkie said in a cheerful tone.
“Look, I appreciate the offer girls, but I'd really rather do this on my own,” said Twilight as she closed the book.
“You’re not doing this on your own!” I retorted. “That forest is dangerous to go alone! What if you got turned to stone or eaten by a giant creature?!”
“Spike’s right, sugarcube,” Applejack said. “We sure ain't lettin' any friend of ours go into that creepy place alone. We're stickin' to you like caramel on a candy apple.”
“Especially if there's candy apples in there,” said Pinkie. We all stared at her. “What? Those things are good.”
“Good luck, girls,” I said.
"What are you going to be doing, dragon?" Rainbow asked.
"I'm going to bed," I replied. "I'm tired, and I don't want to get in the grownups' way."
Twilight rolled her eyes as she and the others left. I knew what would happen next. Twilight will learn how helpful her new friends were, and they will all defeat Nightmare Moon. At this point, I didn't need to do anything yet.
I yawned as I went to the small pet bed next to Twilight's. Then something occurred to me. Why couldn't Spike sleep on the other bed? Did he feel more comfortable in the smaller one? Of course, that didn't matter. I was genuinely tired, so I fell asleep the instant the pillow hit my head.
When I woke up, I noticed that I was still in the library.
It wasn’t a dream, then. I’m still in Equestria.
I wondered how long I was asleep. When I looked out the window, my heart sank.
It was still nighttime.
“Oh, no!” I quickly jumped out of bed.
If it was still nighttime, then that meant that Nightmare Moon hasn’t been defeated! I don’t know what went wrong, but I needed to find wherever the Princess was and warn her about what happened. Just when I was about to exit the library, the room started getting brighter and brighter.
Wait, what’s going on? Am I going back to the human world?
My question was answered immediately. I looked around and I saw I was once again still in the library. I looked out the window, and it was completely sunny. Nightmare Moon was defeated after all.
Guess I didn't sleep as much as I thought.
I sighed with relief. Had Twilight failed, I didn’t know what was going to happen. And if I did end up going back to my own world, would I have just seen it as a weird dream?
I hurried to the center of town, where a party was being thrown. (Typical Pinkie) Everypony was celebrating, including Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. I then noticed Twilight looked rather sad.
“Why so glum, my faithful student?” Celestia asked. “Are you not happy that your quest is complete and you can return to your studies in Canterlot?”
“That’s the thing,” Twilight replied. “Just when I learned how wonderful it is to have friends, I have to leave them.”
“Spike, take a note please,” Celestia said as she handed me a quill and parchment. “I, Princess Celestia, hereby decree that the unicorn Twilight Sparkle shall take on a new mission for Equestria. She must continue to study the magic of friendship. She must report to me her findings from her new home in Ponyville.”
The ponies around me cheered after hearing that.
“Your highness, if I may. Would these be weekly reports, or does she only have to send you a report whenever she learns something?” I asked.
“It may be whenever she learns something,” Princess Celestia replied.
“Oh thank you, Princess Celestia! I'll study harder than ever before,” Twilight declared.
After that, the party continued, and I was relieved that I didn’t have to worry about Twilight going crazy in Lesson Zero.
As the girls and I celebrated, I wondered what should I do to prevent or solve future problems. I would have to be careful not to make any problems worse. I would also consider what big events might occur from small changes.
I thought about how the major villians could be defeated differently. Twilight and her friends already stopped Nightmare Moon, so I didn't have to worry about that. I would have to convince Twilight to go to the library when Discord comes back. During her brother's wedding, I could try to back her up about Cadance being a changeling, or try to capture Cadance myself if things don't work out. Sombra and the Storm King would be too much of a problem to stop them alone, but I could find a way to prevent Twilight from being captured by Tempest. When we’ll encounter Sunset Shimmer, I'll have to think of something. Although, I have no idea how I'll do anything in the human world when I'm a dog. Obviously, Tirek needs to stay in Tartarus. I don't know when Starlight took over that small town, but I'll have to find that cutie-mark-stealing stone before she does. I don't think I need to worry about the Pony of Shadows too much. I knew nothing about Cozy’s backstory (then again, does anyone know?), but I bet if I could “persuade” her to cut ties with Tirek and accept that friendship isn’t power, then she will get reformed before Season 8’s finale. As for the series finale, I’ll have to stop Discord from reuniting the villains that haven’t been reformed yet.
But until then, I should focus on some of the smaller problems.