//------------------------------// // Revelations // Story: Speak Up // by doomie-22 //------------------------------// On the day of the Applewood Derby, while everypony was excitedly heading towards where the Applewood Derby was set to take place, elsewhere Mayor Mare was on her way towards the mayor’s office in Manehattan, the mayor of said city, that of course being Majesty, having scheduled to meet with her to have a discussion relating to an incident the other day, in which two ponies had gotten into a heated argument that had unfortunately ended in bloodshed. The elderly mare entered the building wherein she knew Majesty to be, inquired the head desk as to what room she would be in, and made her upstairs. Standing outside the mayor’s office, she gently opened the door, poking her head inside and taking a glance around before spotting the alabaster unicorn seated at her desk. Said unicorn pointed to the front of her desk, gesturing for Mayor Mare to enter. The mayor of Ponyville did so, slipping inside and quietly shutting the door behind her, and proceeded to make her way to the designated area. For the first few seconds, neither pony said or did anything. They merely stared at one another until Majesty finally spoke. “There are rumors in the streets, mayor.”  Mayor Mare raised an eyebrow. “Rumors, Majesty?”  “Don't be coy with me,” Majesty said, smiling and rising up out of her seat. She proceeded to walk around her desk and stand in front of Mayor Mare. “This pony Starlight Glimmer arrives into Ponyville and is welcomed like a queen. Chrysalis wants to kill her but does nothing, and you promise me that you can keep peace in Ponyville, but I had to use force! These changelings will not be silent forever!”      “Yes, but these supposedly reformed villains –”     Majesty pounded her desk with her hoof and snapped, “Don't speak to me about reformed villains! I don't care about your corrupt justice system, I care about peace!”      “Peace, yes, I too care about peace –” “Well, then get control of this pony!”      “I fear my power is . . . limited.”      There was a moment of silence before Majesty spoke again. “Oh, so you want me to do your dirty work for you?”     “I have no choice. I cannot endanger the lives of innocent ponies for the sake of one pony.”      Majesty rotated her neck, eliciting audible pops and cracks in the process. Sighing, she said, “Very well, then. Bring her to me. I will eliminate her.” After saying this, she gestured towards the door and Mayor Mare made her way out. Meanwhile, Majesty sat back down at her desk, awaiting Starlight Glimmer’s arrival.   Meanwhile, in Ponyville, Spike practically leaped out of bed in excitement on the day that the race was set to begin. He grabbed a large towel, as well as a small washcloth from the hall closet, and made a mad dash to the bathroom to get ready for the day. However, upon entering the bathroom, he found that he wasn’t the only one who had gotten up early. The room was filled with steam, so much so that it was hard to see. He could hear the soft pitter-patter of water falling on porcelain. If Spike listened carefully, he could just barely make out the sound of somepony humming. He tilted his head in confusion, curious about who it was behind the curtain that shrouded the occupant of the shower, and called, “Trixie, is that you?”       “Yes, it is I,” Trixie bellowed, “the Great and Powerful Trixie! Trixie will be out in just a moment, just as soon as she’s done bathing!” She began washing her body, by way of applying some body wash to her back, shuddering and shivering as the cold dark blue liquid trickled down the length of it. Capturing a scrub brush in her magic, she began scrubbing.        Spike went to sit down on the toilet, drawing his knees up to his chest and hugging his legs, as he patiently waited for Trixie to get done with her shower.       “So,” Trixie said, “are you excited about today?”       Spike grinned. “You bet! We’re gonna smoke those chumps today!” He hopped down from the toilet and began making his way to the bathroom door. “I'm going to go ahead and go on down for breakfast.”      “Save me a plate,” she called after him from within the shower. “I'm going to need my energy for my grand performance today!”       Spike chuckled and rolled his eyes, finally opening the door and walking down the hallway. As he neared the kitchen, he could hear the voices of Starlight and Twilight as they talked. He slowed his walk, his curiosity getting the better of him, eager to hear what they were discussing. Alas, as he got closer, he realized that it was nothing of interest, much less of significance or importance, so he resigned himself to entering the kitchen and taking his seat at the table as he did on most mornings.       Twilight, seeing Spike but not Trixie, which in itself was quite odd as the pair were usually seen together, looked up at the door, expecting to see Trixie enter right behind him. When the blue mare failed to show up, she turned to Spike and asked, “Where's Trixie?”       “Showering,” Spike replied, chewing a mouthful of waffle. He reached across the table for the syrup and squirted a healthy amount onto the stack on his plate. “She'll be down as soon as she's done.”       “Shouldn't we wait for her?” Starlight asked.       Spike shook his head. “She said to just save her a plate.” He grabbed the pitcher of orange juice and poured himself a glass.       Twilight placed her hooves together underneath her chin and leaned forward. “So, is everything ready?”      “I think so,” Spike mumbled with his mouth full. He took a sip of his juice.       “You two should be proud,” Starlight said. “You've worked hard and all that hard work is about to pay off.”       Spike looked at her out of the corner of his eye. “Let's hope so.” He moved his head to look back over at Twilight. “The only thing we haven't settled on is a name.”       Twilight shrugged, lifting her own glass of juice to her lips. “Ah, don't worry about it. I'm sure you two will be able to come up with something on your way there.” She took a drink and set her glass back down.       All three parties suddenly jumped as a voice bellowed, “The Great and Powerful Trixie has arrived!” Upon hearing this exclamation, all three occupants at the table turned in their seats to see none other than the Great and Powerful Trixie, dressed in her usual starry attire that she always wore when performing. Grinning, she strode across the room and took her seat beside Spike, happily helping herself to the food laid out before her by piling a few waffles onto her plate and drenching them in syrup.       “Nice of you to join us, Trixie,” Twilight said.       “It's always nice when the Great and Powerful Trixie graces others with her presence,” Trixie replied, beaming.       “Oh, just shut up and eat your waffles,” Spike said, shoving one of said waffles into Trixie’s mouth.     Despite Twilight's assurance that Spike and Trixie would come up with a name for their cart before they reached the starting point of the race, the two had no such luck. As they walked along the streets of Ponyville, pushing their cart along with the aid of both Starlight and Twilight, the two of them continuously argued about what the name of their cart should be. Both still felt that the name they had come up with was still better than the other’s. They were attracting quite a great deal of attention, their constant bickering and yelling in each other's faces causing some concerned parents to either cover their child's ears or steering them away from the commotion. The constant back and forth between the two of them was apparently starting to irk Twilight as well, because she used her magic to clamp their mouths shut. Stepping in between them, she said, “Would you two cut it out already!? We'll worry about the name of the cart when we get there. Now come on!” She then proceeded to lead the group onward, Starlight giggling behind a hoof at Spike and Trixie's antics.       The park of Ponyville was packed with fillies and colts with their carts and parents. Everywhere Spike looked friends were talking excitedly with one another, trading hoof bumps and playful noogies. Looking over his shoulder when he heard footsteps, he saw Starlight walking over to the Crusaders, who were talking with Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, and Babs Seed, while Twilight wandered over to her own friends and struck up a conversation with them. He jumped when he felt a hard jab into his side. He turned his head to see Trixie smiling down at him. She nodded towards a table where a queue was forming of fillies and colts signing in with their partners, most of them being either their parents or older siblings. He followed her over to the table. When it was their turn, she started to sign them in, but suddenly stopped when it came to giving the name of their cart.       He looked at her in confusion. “What's wrong?”       She looked down at him and frowned. “We never did settle on a name for our cart,” she said. She looked back down at the sign-in sheet. She shrugged her shoulders and said, “Well, I'll just leave that blank for now. Come on, Spike.” She set the quill down and walked off with him at her side.       As they approached Applejack and the others, Spike had suddenly become aware of the fact that Twilight and Starlight were no longer present, and he turned his head this way and that way in an effort to locate them, though he was mostly looking for Starlight, only to come up with no such luck. Not finding his target of interest, he decided to ask the girls if they had seen Starlight. “Hey, have you guys seen Starlight anywhere?”       Applejack, along with the others, looked about herself for any sign of the aforementioned pony, turning her head every which way, looking in all directions, in a futile attempt to catch a glimpse of her, only to come up short. She turned back to Spike and said, “That's funny. She and Twilight were here just a minute ago.” She glanced at the others. “Where do y'all suppose they could've gone?” She received a shrug of the shoulders from her friends for her efforts.       “Well, if you see her, will you let me know?” Spike asked.       “Sure thing, Spike,” Rainbow Dash said, nodding along with her friends.       This conversation must have irritated Trixie a great deal, because Spike suddenly found himself being grabbed by the tail and dragged quite a distance from the others, at least until they were out of earshot of prying ears. Then, Trixie fixed him with a questioning look by way of arching her eyebrows and asking, “Why do you need to know where Starlight is?”       “Because I need to figure this out,” Spike said, trying to get past her, only to be blocked by her hooves. “I need to talk to her about what happened when I was little, back when she was living with us.”       She gripped his arms and fixed him with a piercing glare. “No, you need to stop!” she said. “I'm happy. Twilight's happy. Starlight's happy. She's trying to be a better pony. Why can't you accept that and just leave her alone?”       Spike shook his head. “I can't do that, not until I talk to her about what happened when I was little!”       “What are you talking about?” Trixie cried in exasperation.       “Think about it, Trixie,” he growled. “Why do you think it took her so long to put me to bed?”       Trixie stood there, staring at him, slowly putting the pieces together in her head.      Spike turned his head, giving Trixie a sidewise glance, as he said, “Hmm?”       “She just . . . she just said that you got fussy, that you took forever to go to sleep,” Trixie said in a quiet voice.       Spike crossed his arms over his chest and raised an eyebrow. “Really? Did she tell you to keep it a secret too?”       Realization slowly dawned on Trixie's face, and the expression on her face became one of shock and horror, her eyes widening and her mouth dropping open. “Oh, my Celestia . . .” she said in a voice that was just barely above a whisper.       Spike stared at her for a moment or two before shaking his head and walking past her in frustration. She watched him go with a saddened expression on her face.       Spike walked around, turning his head this way and that, trying to see if he could spot Starlight anywhere. He came up short. At one point he thought he heard a familiar voice calling for him, but when he turned his head he didn’t see anypony. He walked past Diamond Tiara, who was talking excitedly with the Cutie Mark Crusaders (“ . . . and so,” she was saying, “by capturing the whole sale market . . .”), gently squeezing his way past them while he continued his search.      “Spike!”       He jumped and turned his head in the direction from whence the voice had come from. Despite his mood, his face brightened up upon seeing the familiar face of Ember. She stood waving at him with a smile on his face. He ran up to her and threw his arms around her waist, pressing his head up against her stomach.       She let out a nervous chuckle and patted his head as she said, “Right. The hugging thing.”       “Ember! There you are!”       Once more, Spike turned his head in the direction of the sudden outburst, and, if possible, his face brightened up even more as his eyes met those of his Changeling friend, Thorax. The Changeling was holding a stick of cotton candy, from which he took a bite and flashed a toothy grin, showing that his teeth were covered in the pink gunk. He stepped forward, wrapping a foreleg around the dragon and pulling him into a hug. “Great to see you, Spike,” he said.        “Yeah, great to see you too, thorax,” Spike said. “What are you doing here?”       “I was just in Canterlot visiting Princess Celestia to talk about something,” Thorax said. “Figured I'd check out this Applewood Derby that everypony is talking about while I was in town.”       “Sounds great,” Spike muttered quietly, quickly pulling away and continuing his search for Starlight.       “Hey, are you okay?” Ember asked, raising an eyebrow. “You seem distracted.”      “Yeah, fine,” Spike replied, rotating his head in every direction in the faint hope of catching a glimpse of Starlight.       Ember crossed her arms and glowered at him. She grabbed his head and forced him to look forward, then leaned down to meet his eye. “I know when you’re lying to me, Spike. There’s something you're not telling me.”       Thorax nodded his head in agreement as he took another bite of his sweet treat. “Yeah, Spike, you're usually much more talkative than this.”       “We're friends, right?” Ember said.       Spike nodded. “Of course.”       “And friends tell each other things, right?”       “Mm-hmm,” Spike replied.       “So would you please tell us what's going on with you? You seem a little preoccupied at the moment.” Ember said. She began looking around, as did Thorax. “What are you looking for?”       “I can't say,” Spike said.       Ember huffed in agitation and straightened up, sneering down at Spike. “You don't want to tell me, fine! I thought we were friends! Come on, Thorax!” She stormed off along with the Changeling, who was still merrily munching away on his cotton candy.       Spike sighed and continued his search for Starlight for at least as much time as he had left until the race was to begin.     “. . . and, so,” Diamond Tiara told the Cutie Mark Crusaders, “by capturing the whole sale market, purchasing in bulk and slashing all prices, Barnyard Bargains undermines every other gift market in town, and that’s how my father’s company Barnyard Bargains became the cornerstone of retail in Ponyville. Now do you get it?”      The three Crusaders all looked at each other, each one adopting an expression that seemed to imply that they understood what Diamond was saying, only for their faces to adopt expressions of confusion.      “No,” Apple Bloom said.      “Not really,” Scootaloo said.      Diamond Tiara sighed, glaring up at the three of them. “See, this is exactly what me and Spoon have been talking about! I can’t relate to you guys anymore because you’re too immature.”      “Huh?” Scootaloo asked, raising an eyebrow.      “What?” Sweetie Belle asked.      “I’ve got to start hanging out with friends that are a little more – how should I say this? – mature and understand economics and stuff. Sorry, girls.” She turned and, looking over her shoulder, said, “I’ll see you girls later.” She ran off.      “What do you think she meant by that?” Scootaloo asked, scratching her head.      Apple Bloom sputtered her lips. “Who cares?” She looked around and her eyes widened upon spotting a familiar face. “Hey, girls! Doesn’t that griffin over there sure look familiar?”      “You don’t think that’s . . .” Sweetie said.      “I bet it is,” Scootaloo replied. “Come on!” She ran ahead of them while her friends gave chase.  Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash had wandered away from her friends in search of something to eat. In her wanderings, a familiar voice caused her to come to a stop.     “What's up, doofus?”       The pegasus looked around until spotting three griffons, one of whom she was familiar with, and Pinkie Pie all walking towards her. She threw her hooves around the brown one, happily exclaiming, “Hey, Gilda!” Pulling away, she beamed at her friend and asked, “What are you doing here?”       “In town for the Applewood Derby,” Gilda replied. She nodded towards Pinkie. “Pinkie here invited me.”      Rainbow Dash looked over at the two griffons, both of who were bright green, albeit one was a darker shade of green than the other. “And who do we have here?”       Gilda grinned. “This is —”       “Gabby!” three high-pitched voices cried.       Before said griffon could turn around, she was tackled to the ground by the Cutie Mark Crusaders. All four laughed as they got up off the ground. Gabby wrapped all three Crusaders in her arms, pressing them against her chest in a bone-crushing hug not unlike the one she'd given them upon their first encounter when they’d first met her. She set them back down on the ground.       Gilda smiled at Rainbow. “Gabby begged me to let her tag along.” She turned to the other griffon. “And this is —”      “Gallus.” The griffin stretched out a talon, which Rainbow Dash shook. “Gabby's older brother.”       Rainbow Dash chuckled. “Who would've guessed.”      "I thought I recognized that voice."       Rainbow Dash turned her head to see Quibble Pants walking up with Clear Sky and Wind Sprint. She beamed upon seeing the threesome. "Hey, wasn't expecting to see you guys here. What brings you to Ponyville?"       "Pfft, what, are you kidding?" Quibble ruffled Wind Sprint's mane, smiling down at her. "We came here to try out this racing thing. With how big a fan that Wind Sprint here is of sports, how could I say no?"       "Besides, I thought it'd be a great way for Wind and Quibble to bond," Clear Sky added.       Rainbow Dash grinned and playfully punched Wind Sprint on the hoof. "Good luck, kiddo. I hope you're prepared to lose."     Spike's search for Starlight Glimmer hadn't turned up any results. Mind you, his search was not helped by the immense crowd he was currently waddling through, gently and carefully pushing his way past various stallions and mares, often being on the receiving end of harsh glares and even harsher comments, all which he ignored as he searched for his quarry, occasionally turning his head this way and that in the vain hope that he would somehow be able to spot her in his peripheral vision, but always coming up short in the process, leading him to nothing but disappointment.      Finally, at long last, after searching for what felt like thirty minutes but in reality couldn't have been no more than ten minutes at the most, he found her. She was isolated away from all of the other ponies, seemingly preoccupied with talking to Babs Seed. Seeing as the two of them were completely alone, and seemingly without caring whether or not she was spotted, Starlight suddenly cupped Babs' chin in her hoof, smiled down at the little filly, and bent down to place a chaste kiss on the filly's lips. This seemingly innocent act filled Spike to the brim with rage. His claws formed into fists and his body started to shake as a fire erupted in his belly, prompting him to do the unthinkable. Without thinking of the consequences of his actions, he ran forward, his arms outstretched as if he was preparing to strangle Starlight. As he neared the pair, he roared at the top of his lungs, "Get your filthy hooves off of her!" His outstretched claws made contact with Starlight's side, causing the pony to lose her footing and topple over onto the floor in a heap. Starlight, completely bewildered by the side turn of events, looked up at Spike in puzzlement as he sneered down at her and, still shaking with anger, growled, "Get away from her! Now!" Babs, on the other hand, could only stare in confusion at what was going on.       Starlight, rather than do as ordered, got to her hooves and said, "Spike, there you are! Where have you been?! Twilight's been sick with worry!"       Spike didn't answer. Instead, he continued to glower at Starlight, his fists quivering at his sides, as he asked, "How could you do that to me? I was just a little kid."       This statement only seemed to add to the confusion for Starlight, who could only blink in response to this question. "I don't know what you're talking about, Spike."       "Oh, I think you do. I remember. I remember every night, before you left, when you would put me to bed —"      Starlight cut him off. "Spike, please." She cleared her throat. "Look, I know you're not thrilled about the fact that I'm back in Twilight's life, but there's no need to tell stories." She took a step toward him. "It was a long time ago. You're confused."       "No," Spike cried. "No, I'm not!"       Starlight opened her mouth, as if she was preparing herself to offer up her rebuttal, but suddenly stopped and broke out into a big grin as she looked past Spike and saw Trixie approaching them. As the stage mare reached them, she said, "Trixie, thank Celestia you're here. Your little brother's making up stories again."      Trixie came to a stop next to the threesome, sneering. Her jaw was clenched, her lips curled into a snarl. She looked so livid that even Spike took a cautious step back from her, having never seen her look so furious before. It seemed it took her a moment to notice Babs, as her eyes seemed to be transfixed on Starlight. She looked down at the orange filly, gently wrapped a hoof around her and pulled her close until the filly's head was touching her chest, after which she draped her cape over Babs, as if protecting her from Starlight. She slowly shook her head, that same look of contempt and disgust mixed with rage etched on her face. "No," she said quietly. "He's got it right." Her voice was cold, devoid of emotion despite the look on her face, so much so that it scared Spike, and he felt a shiver run down his spine. In a way, it would have been preferable had she shouted.       Starlight's face fell. "Trixie, come on —"      Trixie's voice cut her off. "You need to go. Now. Nopony in this family ever wants to see your face again."       Starlight opened her mouth to say something, but relented. Without a word, she turned and walked off. As soon as she was gone, Trixie looked down at Babs and said, "Babs, are you all right? She didn't hurt you, did she?"       “No," Babs said. "No, I'm fine."       Trixie didn't appear to be convinced, as she raised an eyebrow and said, "Are you sure?" Babs' nod seemed to be enough to convince her, however, and she smiled down at the filly and gently scooted her forward with a hoof as she said, "Alright, run along, then."       After the filly was out of earshot, Spike spoke up. "It's funny."      Trixie glared at him. "What could possibly be funny?"       "I figured you'd pick Babs to be your partner," he replied, "especially considering how close you two are."       Trixie nodded. "You would think so, but she was unfortunately taken. Besides, I'd already chosen to be your partner. Speaking of you, are you alright?"       "I'm okay."       "You're sure?"       "Mm-hmm."       Trixie sighed. "Alright, as long as you're sure." She turned. Looking back at him over her shoulder, she added, "We should get back to the race."       He nodded in agreement and began to follow her. Along the way, she suddenly stopped, causing him to run face-first into her rear end. She turned her head, her eyes following Snips and Snails. She looked back at him and said, "Why don't you go on ahead? I'll catch up with you." He proceeded to walk ahead of her She stayed put for the time being, making sure that he got to safety before turning and making her way over to Snips and Snails. They seemed to spot her heading towards them out of their peripheral vision, because they instantly started to walk a little faster. Seeing this, she too sped up, to the point where she was practically sprinting towards them. She came to a halt in front of them, skidding, creating two very deep dirt trails in her wake as she did so. They took a couple of steps back, but did not bolt as she had predicted they would do.      She glanced up at them. "Trixie is glad she caught you. Trixie wishes to talk to you both."       The two boys glanced at each other worriedly, then glanced back at Trixie.      "Kay," Snails said.      Trixie cleared her throat, then spoke up. "Trixie wishes to talk to you both about Starlight."      "You mean that pony with the wings?" Snips asked.      Trixie shook her head. "No, the other unicorn."      "Which other unicorn?" Snips asked.      Trixie groaned. "The purple one."     "Which purple one?" Snails asked.      "Oh, for the love of . . ." Trixie facepalmed so hard that she was likely to give herself a headache if she wasn't careful. "The one that always hangs around Twilight Sparkle."      It finally clicked for both colts and they said, "Oh," in realization.      "We know who you're talking about now," Snips said, grinning.      "Thank Celestia," Trixie grumbled. Once more, she cleared her throat and addressed the two. "Now, how would you describe Starlight?"      Yet again, both colts gave each a glance before turning back to Trixie and answering her question. Snails merely shrugged and said, "She's cool, I guess."      "Yeah, she's alright," Snips agreed.      "Would you say she's nice?" Trixie asked.      Both boys shrugged and replied, "I guess so."      "Okay, then. Let's say all four of us have a pie."      "What kind of pie?" Snails asked.      "It doesn't matter!"      "What do you mean it doesn't matter?!" Snips cried. "Of course it matters! There's a big difference between an apple pie and a pecan pie!"      "Okay, fine, it's a cherry pie," Trixie said.      Snips stuck his tongue out and gagged. "Ew, I hate cherry!"     "Fine, it's a pecan pie," Trixie said.       “Ew –” Snails said, and started to gag just as Snips did.      Trixie cut him off. "Would you two put a lid on it?! Now, let's say all four of us have a cherry pie, but Starlight may not like cherry pie. She may like other flavors."      "Okay," Snips said.      Trixie had to mentally prepare herself for what was coming next, for she predicted that it would only cause even more confusion and worsen her headache. Nevertheless, she took a deep breath and said, "Now, did Starlight, at any time, ever try to put something in your butt? You don't have to be ashamed or embarrassed. Just, did she ever try to put something in your butt?"      This inquiry certainly got the boys' attention. Even so, they predictably looked at each other in confusion, then turned their attention back to Trixie.      “What, like a goldfish?” Snips asked.      Trixie shook her head. "No, did she ever try to put something belonging to her in your butt?"     "No," Snips and Snails said in unison.      Trixie frowned in response, but thanked them for their time and walked off, leaving them alone by themselves.      "Boy, that was weird," Snails said.      “You said it,” Snips agreed. "What in Equestria was she going on about anyway?"      "Beats me."      They sat down and began mulling it over.      "What would a pony like Starlight . . . possibly want to put in our butts?" Snips asked.      Snails' face suddenly lit up in realization. "Maybe . . . no."      "Hey, guys."      Both boys turned to see Pipsqueak and Button Mash standing beside them.      "What are you guys doing?" Button Mash asked.      "Trixie's weird," Snails said.      "What makes you say that?" Pipsqueak asked.      "She just came up to us and asked us if Starlight ever tried to put anything in our butts?"      Pipsqueak and Button Mash looked at each other in confusion.      "In your butts?" Pipsqueak asked.      "Yeah, isn't that the darndest thing?" Snips said.      "What would Starlight want to put in your butts?" Button Mash asked.      "We don't know!" Snips cried. "That's what we're trying to figure out!"      Both Pipsqueak and Button Mash sat down and began pondering with Snips and Snails. Pipsqueak suddenly looked up and noticed Miss Cheerilee walking a few feet away from them. "Oh, hey,"  he said, pointing at the teacher, "there's Miss Cheerilee! She'll know!"      "Hello, boys," Miss Cheerilee said, walking up to the foursome and grinning at them.      "Miss Cheerilee," Button Mash said, "what would a pony want to stick up my butt?"      "Goodbye!" Miss Cheerilee promptly turned and walked off, leaving the foursome by themselves.  Surprisingly enough, despite the events that had occurred throughout the morning, Spike was still enthusiastic to take part in the Applewood Derby. Trixie figured that it was merely as a means of getting his mind off Starlight. They came to an abrupt halt as they came to a sudden realization.      "Oh, crap," Trixie moaned. "I completely forgot to name our go-cart."      "Oh, you don't need to worry about that," Twilight said, smiling as she walked up to them. "I already took the liberty of naming your cart for you."      "What do you mean by that?" Trixie asked.      Twilight motioned for the pair to follow her as she said, "Come on, I'll show you."      Spike and Trixie glanced at each other worriedly, but nonetheless followed Twilight until they came to a stop. Their faces fell in dismay when they saw the name that Twilight had, rather hastily, painted onto the side of their go-cart.      "I can't believe you named our go-cart The Mauve Avenger," Spike said with a groan.      "Well, it was either that or The Dark Storm," Twilight said.      "The Dark Storm would've sounded cooler," Spike said.      "Trixie agrees."      Twilight shrugged. "Too bad. Anyway, you guys better get ready. The race is about to start."      Spike and Trixie proceeded to get ready. As they were strapping on their helmets, Trixie gave Spike a concerned look as she asked, "Are you sure you're up for this? We don't have to do this if you don't want to. If you want to go back home —"     Spike chuckled. "Are you kidding? I'm ready to ice some competition. I've been looking forward to this for weeks!" He started to get into the driver's seat until a new problem made its presence known. "Aw, crap!"      "What's wrong?" Trixie asked.     "I can't drive," Spike said, looking at her sadly. "I'm too short."      Trixie shrugged. "Trixie supposes she could take the wheel."      Spike stared at her up and down. "Are you sure about that? I think you might be a mite too big."     Trixie suddenly got in his face, glaring down at him. "Are you saying that Trixie is fat?"      "Not in the slightest," Spike replied.      "Trixie will have you know that she is quite fit for somepony her age, and furthermore, she assures you that she is quite capable of driving, thank you very much." As if to prove this claim, she proceeded to climb into the driver's seat, buckling herself in and putting both hooves on the wheel, achieving this feat with no problem at all, prompting her to give Spike a triumphant smirk. She patted the seat beside her, still smirking, as she said, "Hop in." As Spike did this, albeit begrudgingly, she added, "Be sure to buckle up, now."      "Yeah, yeah, yeah," Spike grumbled, proceeding to do so. He was suddenly jerked backward against his seat, wind rushing into his face, as Trixie took the opportunity to take off, testing the cart's speed. In very little time, they were at the starting point for the race.      "Hey, Trixie," Rainbow Dash said tauntingly, "ready to know what it feels like to eat dirt?"      Trixie chuckled and smirked. "You can let Trixie know that after she finishes wiping the floor with you."      Rainbow Dash tightened the strap on her helmet. "We'll see about that."      Alas, Trixie's threat to Rainbow Dash never came to light, as it turned out that Trixie was in fact less skilled at the wheel as she liked to claim that she was, especially when it came to the other drivers. Mind you, it didn't help that said other drivers were constantly trying to ram her off the road or needlessly taunting her. Needless to say, this taunting came from the adults accompanying the drivers at the wheels of their vehicles, which, naturally, turned out to be the children that made up Ponyivlle. So, due to Trixie’s atrocious driving and the constant battering of their cart from the other racers, it was only natural that they ended up in last place. Even so, it warmed Spike's heart to know that Twilight was cheering him and Trixie on throughout the entire thing. Due to Trixie's poor driving, he couldn’t help but think that it was only natural that they would end up losing the race. In spite of this, however, both Spike and Trixie admitted that they did in fact have a fun time.      Unfortunately, whatever good mood the race might have put Spike in was soured greatly by an event he happened to witness as he was making his way through the crowd of ponies, trying his best to get back to the castle. He happened to come across Spoiled Rich and Diamond Tiara, the former of whom was quite angrily dragging the latter along the ground, leaving Diamond Tiara trying her best to keep up. "I'm sorry I didn't win, Mother," the poor filly said. Instead of answering her or, better yet, doing anything to console her child over her loss, Spoiled Rich instead decided to turn around and swiftly smack Diamond across the face before continuing to drag her through the crowd. Witnessing this event filled Spike with the same amount of rage that witnessing Starlight kissing Babs had done, and he promptly turned around and started following the pair to give that poor excuse of a mother a piece of his mind. But, his short legs weren't able to keep up with them, and he ended up losing them among the throng of ponies that made up the crowd, leaving him to give up his pursuit and return home to the castle.   Unbeknownst to Spike, he wasn't the only heading towards the castle. Starlight Glimmer herself was headed there. Seeing as how Trixie had unofficially banned her from attending the Applewood Derby, she figured she might as well go home and take a relaxing bath. She could've used one after the intense day she'd had already. However, upon walking in through the front doors of the castle, she found that she wasn't alone, for standing in the foyer just so happened to be Gilda, the griffin standing there, turning her head this way and that, as if looking for something. “Hey!” As she spoke, the sudden noise must've startled Gilda because she jumped, swiftly turning her head to find Starlight standing just a couple of feet away from her. Closing the doors with her magic, Starlight walked up to Gilda and said, “You're . . . Gilda, right? A friend of Rainbow Dash's?”     “Chyeah,” Gilda replied. She looked Starlight up and down. “And who are you?”     With a bow, Starlight proclaimed, “Starlight Glimmer, former friendship student to Princess Twilight Sparkle.”     “Oh, yeah, Dash mentioned you in one of her letters, I think.” She turned her head back and forth, once again seeming to be looking for something. “Speaking of Dash, have you seen her? She was supposed to meet me here. We were supposed to go out to lunch with Scoots and Apple Bloom after the derby.”     Starlight shook her head. “Can't say I have. Why would you want to hang out with her anyway? Didn't she ditch you?”     “Yeah, but we made up, so it's all good.”     “Why would you want to give somepony who treated you like crap a second chance?”     “Because that's what friends do.”     “Whoa, whoa, whoa, hang on!” With her magic, Starlight floated over the friendship journal, which was resting on a table off to the side. She looked at it, then, gesturing towards it, she looked over at Gilda and said with a laugh, “You don't actually believe this bullshit, do you?”     Gilda blinked in confusion. “Well, yeah. Don't you?” She raised an eyebrow.     Starlight threw back her head and guffawed. “Are you kidding me?! Elements of Harmony? Magic of friendship? That's all bullshit, Gilda!” She gestured towards a window and added, “Those idiots out there might buy that crap, but I thought you were smart enough to see what was actually going on, to see through the bullshit.”     “So, you don't really believe in this whole friendship thing?”     Starlight was practically in tears as she cackled. “Celestia, no! Like I said, it's all bullshit! I knew that Twilight would end up forgiving me if I just played my cards right! All I had to do was cry a few crocodile tears! I still can't believe she was dumb enough to fall for my act! I mean, for crying out loud, the first thing I did upon gaining her trust was mentioning how I wanted to enslave the entire population of Ponyville! She should've known something was up! Of course, when she called me out on it, I played it off as me just kidding around!”    “What I don't get it is why you did it?”     “I may have tried to destroy all of Equestria by going back in time to get back at Twilight for destroying my village. If I didn’t do something, I was going to be incarcerated in Tartarus for life. I wanted an easy out, that's all there is to it. But, if I'm being honest, I partially did just so I could spend some time with Spike.”     A flash of light suddenly appeared between the two of them out of thin air. In the same instant, Discord appeared standing between the two of them. He stood, arms crossed over his chest, giving Starlight a stern look. He reached up and dug a claw into his ear as he said, “Pardon me, it seems I must be going deaf. Either that or I must be hearing things because I could’ve sworn I just heard you say that you pretended to be reformed just so you could spend time with Spike. Is that it?”     Starlight groaned and slapped a hoof against her face. “What are you even doing here, Discord?”     “Funny you should ask that,” Discord said, “because I myself came here to spend some time with Spike, though if I had to wager a guess, I'd say that my definition of alone time differs greatly from yours. It was my understanding that Spike wanted to play a game of Ogres and Oubliettes after the Applewood Derby.”     “Didn't you go?” Gilda asked.     Discord limped his wrist at her as he said, “Oh, please, I have far better things to do with my time than watch a bunch of schoolchildren race against each other for a meaningless prize. At the very least I will say that the course this year was much better than last year's. You know, the one that resulted in that pileup? And for the record, I had absolutely nothing to do with that, none whatsoever!”        “Uh, no, I don't know,” Gilda replied.     Discord scoffed. “You know, you really should get out more. But, more to the point, Starlight, would you mind repeating what you just said?”     “Oh, you mean about pretending to be reformed so I could have my way with Spike, or about me breaking Angel's neck?”     “That's what I thought you said!” Discord grabbed Starlight by the throat and slammed her against the wall. She let out a short gasp of pain, feeling crystal digging into her back, Discord having pushed her so hard against the wall with such force that it resulted in leaving an indent. She feebly kicked her legs. This only resulted in scattering the shards of crystal that lied on the floor in various directions. Her forehooves grabbed at Discord's talons, which were digging into her throat, cutting off her windpipe.  “Oh, honey, if you thought I was pissed when I found out that Chrysalis kidnapped Fluttershy, you haven’t even begun to see how mad I can get!”     “You don't want me as your enemy, Discord,” Starlight said, sneering at him. “Now I'm warning you. Back off now or you'll get hurt.”     Gilda pointed a sharp talon at Starlight's throat. “You wanna start something, dweeb? These talons just ain't for show, you know!”     With her magic, Starlight pierced her own throat with Gilda’s talon, then proceeded to draw a line across it. A stream of blood trickled out of the cut and ran down her front. She chuckled. “If you’re going to threaten me, you might as well do it properly by cutting me a little.” She laughed and roughly shoved Gilda away. “Not that I would bother trying to best you in a fight anyway, so please don’t flatter yourself, chicken; you're no match for me! I could take you down with both hooves tied behind my back!”     “Don't tempt me,” Discord said coldly. Tightening his grip on her throat, drawing even more blood out of Starlight's self-inflicted wound, thus drenching her chest and stomach in blood, he threw her to the floor with such force that she quite literally bounced  off the floor and landed a couple of feet away. “Starlight Glimmer, you are going to march down that hallway this instant and tell Twilight exactly what you just told me!”       Getting up, Starlight continued to laugh. “Oh, shut up. Don't act like you're so high and mighty. You're no better than I am. Don't act like you are.”     “Twilight's not here,” Gilda said, seemingly ignoring Starlight's comment. “She's out, along with everypony else, it seems. Kind of a shame, to be honest. I was really looking forward to spending some time with Dashie.” Despite herself, she grinned and chuckled to herself as she said, “I’d even go as far as to say that I wouldn't mind spending some time with Pinkie Pie, to be honest.”     Starlight smirked. “See?” she said to Discord. “If I wanted to do what you asked me to, not that I want to anyway, I wouldn’t be able to. So, I guess you’re out of options.”     Discord ground his teeth and sneered down at her as he said, “Foolish pony! I don’t think you know who I am! Allow me to give you a hint!” He snapped his fingers. A tub of water appeared out of nowhere. Starlight was suddenly lifted up into the air and had her head forcibly dunked into the tub of water. She kicked and thrashed in desperation, trying to get free, only to be held down by an invisible force. Discord kept this going for a few minutes, looking on in glee as the pony thrashed about, while Gilda looked on in bemusement, before he finally let up, leaving Starlight gasping, panting, and sputtering as she came up for air. The tub vanished. “Now,” he said, “are you going to do as I tell you or would you like to go through that again?”  Coughing, Starlight said, “Piss off, Discord.” She inhaled heavily through her nose and added, “I’m not doing anything you say!”  “Don’t bet on it!” a voice barked.  All three parties turned to see the doors to the castle having been opened, and standing there before them was none other than the Great and Powerful Trixie. Apparently her mood had not been improved since she’d last seen Starlight, as she stood glaring at the pony before she walked up to the threesome. She jabbed a hoof in Starlight's chest, seemingly not caring that it was covered in blood or questioning as to why it was, leaning forward so far as to press her nose against Starlight's, as she growled, “You are telling Twilight everything as soon as she gets home! I have half a mind to tell her myself!”  Starlight chuckled in amusement as she shoved Trixie away.. “You go right ahead and do that, Trix. Nopony would believe you anyway.” “Oh, really now?” Discord spoke up. He snapped his fingers, a tape recorder appearing in his paw. He pressed “play” and suddenly Starlight's own words echoed across the foyer: “Oh, you mean about pretending to be reformed so I could have my way with Spike, or about me breaking Angel's neck?” He smirked down at her. “What’s that you were saying again? Something about nopony believing us?”  Starlight didn’t look the least bit worried. She merely smirked back at him. Her horn flared and the tape recorder disappeared out of Discord’s paw, only to reappear in front of Starlight. Smiling wickedly, she lifted her hoof and proceeded to smash the tape recorder into tiny pieces. Her horn flared once again, and the smashed bits of plastic on the floor suddenly came alight with fire. She watched in glee as she watched the plastic pieces burn to a crisp, singeing the carpet in the process and leaving hole that showed the crystalline flooring beneath it, surrounded by black.   Trixie raised an eyebrow. “What makes you so sure nopony would believe me?”  “Because you’re jealous of Twilight! You told me yourself! Not that I blame you, of course. She’s smarter than you. She’s better at magic than you. She’s prettier than you. And guess what? She’s popular.”  “What’s your point?” Trixie asked.  “My point is that anything you say, I’ll just deny! What in Celestia’s name has gotten into you, Trix? Why are you doing this? You don’t even like Spike!”  “When your little brother’s in trouble, you’re supposed to do something about it,” Trixie said. “It doesn’t matter if you like him or not. You’re supposed to do something.”  Starlight laughed. “Oh, that’s rich! How touching! What, did you get that from that stupid friendship journal of Twilight’s?”  Discord groaned in annoyance. He gently pushed Trixie aside and, folding his arms across his chest, he told Starlight, “Enough of this nonsense! You either do as I say or suffer the consequences!” Starlight once more threw back her head and cackled in amusement. “As if!”  “Very well, then.” Discord snapped his fingers and Starlight suddenly vanished.  “What did you do?” Gilda asked with a curious expression.  Discord smirked. “I merely sent her to an alternate dimension, for the time being at least.”  Starlight blinked upon the flash of light dissipating and looked about herself. It seemed as if Discord had sent her to a farmland. This was made evident by the silo and barn that was just before her. On either side of her, along the dirt road that she stood upon, was a picket fence housed by several bright, tall, colorful flowers with large petals. There were a couple of trees here and there. For a moment she watched them, thinking that she saw movement among the branches due to hearing the leaves rustle. Still looking about herself, she cupped a hoof over her mouth and called out, “Um . . . hello? I seem to be lost here. Trixie? Anypony?” She suddenly gasped, as her suspicions regarding not being alone proved to be correct, as several short, brightly colored bipedal creatures with human-like faces made their appearance known by hanging down from the branches of the trees, popping up out of holes in the ground, and revealing that they had been hiding in the silo and barn.  One of these bipedal creatures, colored red, walked up to Starlight, extended a hand in greeting, and said, “Hi there! Today we’re looking for something pink! Do you see anything pink?”  “Here?” asked another.  “There?” said another.  “Where?” asked another.  The red creature looked up at Starlight and asked, “Have you seen something pink?”  “Yeah, I got your pink right here, felt face!” Starlight yelled, glaring down at the creature and charging up her horn. “Horray! Happy pink day!” Several pink balloons cascaded down on Starlight and the creatures.  Starlight shook with fury as she blasted away the balloons with her magic and shouted, “Pipe down, before I slaughter the lot of you!”  “Ooh,” the red one said, “you don’t sound very nice! You’re a meanie!”  Starlight threw back her head and laughed. “Am I now? Well, I suggest you get used to it!”  “And we all know who visits meanies, don’t we?” the red creature asked his comrades.  “Mr. Sit-Down,” they chorused together.  Starlight blinked in confusion. “Who now?” Seeing a shadow suddenly cast over her, she looked up just in time to see another bipedal creature, this one being of enormous size and colored yellow, squatting down above her, as if proceeding to sit on her. She grinned. “Oh, no, you don’t!” She once more charged up her horn and a turquoise beam of magic was fired into the giant’s behind. He instantly stopped what he was doing and began to inflate up like a balloon, becoming rounder and rounder with the more magic that Starlight pumped into him, letting out whimpers and moans of distress all the while. Starlight seemed to not hear any of this as she continued to fire her magic at him. She kept him levitated above the ground, continuing to pump him full of her magic, his head, legs, and arms slowly but surely being swallowed up by his flesh, until he resembled a ginormous beach ball. It seemed that the poor fellow had reached his limit, as, with just a bit more magic courtesy of Starlight's horn, he finally exploded. Rather than colorful sparkles, blood and innards and other bodily organs rained down from the sky. All the while, Starlight stood, laughing manically as she, the road, flowers, fence, silo, barn, and all of the other inhabitants of the land were completely soaked in blood.  There was a long silence as Starlight stood, relishing in the blood raining down around, seeming to take delight in the heinous act that she had committed, continuing to laugh merrily even as she licked her teeth clean of blood and wiped down her front with a hoof, done with a smug look on her face. The red creature, his face horror-stricken and trembling from head to toe, pointed a shaking finger at Starlight as he said, “You . . . you killed Mr. Sit-Down.”  Sighing happily and stretching, Starlight replied, “Yep.” Then, smiling, her horn flared as she asked, “Now then, who’s next?”  The inhabitants, as one would expect, naturally screamed in terror and began to frantically run around, screaming at the top of their lungs all while they desperately looked for any means of escape, but found none. Mind you, their search was not helped by the fact that Starlight proceeded to set the barn on fire, laughing in delight as the terrified screams of the inhabitants therein reached her ears, begging to be let out while others screamed at the top of their lungs in pain and agony as they were slowly but surely burnt to death. The silo was quickly taken care of, thanks in no small part to Starlight's magic, leaving the poor creatures with nothing to do but run in panic. This, needless to say, caused panic and chaos to quickly erupt throughout the land. All of this and more was observed by Starlight with an amused smile. There was no need to worry about these creatures escaping. Therefore, she could take her time and enjoy the light show taking place in front of her by way of the barn burning down, all accompanied by the music of the creatures screaming within it Then, after the barn had become a smoldered pile of ash and the fire had died down, Starlight cracked her neck and said, “Ah, I love the thrill of a chase!” Then, like a ravenous, wild animal, she began to chase after the creatures, turning her head and using her horn to blast away at them constantly with her magic, laughing maniacally as they swelled up like balloons before exploding soon thereafter, leaving splotches of blood and organs in their wake. Meanwhile, back at Twilight’s castle, Discord turned to Trixie and said, “Go ahead and tell Twilight if you want. I’ve a feeling that if you don’t, Spike eventually will. I, on the other hand, have some housecleaning to attend to.” He once more snapped his fingers, and he too was gone in a flash of light.  Now it was just Trixie and Gilda alone in the foyer. The two looked at each other before Gilda spread her wings and took flight. She flew over to one of the windowless windows in the foyer and, turning to Trixie, said, “Well, if you don’t mind, I think I’ll go look for Dash. Good luck with everything. Later.” With a small friendly wave and a flap of her wings, she was gone.  And Trixie suddenly found that she was all alone.     Surprisingly, there was nopony home when Spike walked in. He supposed that Twilight and the others were out somewhere getting a bite to eat to celebrate Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash's victory in having won the race. That, however, did not account for Trixie's whereabouts. Then he remembered that she had said that she was scheduled to do a show after the race. He figured that she must've been busy with that. Even more surprisingly, he wasn't uneasy about being on his own, even if the thought of Starlight lurking around the corner to nab him still lingered in the back of his mind. His senses didn't detect anypony else's presence other than his own, the sound of his claws clicking against the crystalline floor echoing off the crystal walls as he made his way to his bedroom. The uneasiness, which made its presence known by way of him feeling queasy in his stomach, didn't make its presence fully known until he had reached his bedroom door, and suddenly the thought that Starlight might have been lurking in his bedroom, just waiting for him to come through so she could graab him, was at the forefront of his thoughts once more, making him hesitate going in. He inched his hand forward, only to flinch away at the last second, just as he was about to grab the doorknob. After several minutes of repeating this action, he finally came to a decision, said, “Screw it,” grabbed the doorknob, and, with a twist of his wrist, flung the door open.      He crept into the room cautiously, looking every which way, even going as far as checking behind the door, underneath the bed, and his closet, just to be sure that he was completely alone. Relieved to see that he in fact was alone, he reclined on his bed, reaching underneath his mattress to pull out a Power Ponies comic. Over time, his eyelids began to get heavy and before long, his head lulled to the side as he began to fall asleep.  He was suddenly standing in the throne room in front of the map table, around which sat, in their respective thrones, not only Twilight, but the rest of his friends as well, all of their eyes on him, the expressions on their faces filled with worry and concern. Looking around, he glanced from one worried face to the next, wondering just what in Equestira they were all doing there. For the longest time, nopony spoke. They all just continued to stare at him.      Finally, Twilight spoke, breaking the silence. “You know why we're all here, right?”      Spike, completely perplexed by what was going on, merely blinked and shook his head. He tried his best at a guess. “Uh . . .”      “This has to do with Starlight, doesn't ti?” Twilight asked.      Spike swallowed hard at the very mention of her name.      Twilight put her hooves together and rested her chin atop them, fixing Spike with a stern look. “I know something's going on between the two of you, Spike. I've noticed it for the past couple of days, ever since Starlight first came back here, in fact.”      Spike began to sweat.      “Yer gonna have to come clean eventually, sugarcube,” Applejack said, “so ya might as well just spill it.”      Spike shook his head, Despite the lump in his throat, he somehow managed to find his voice. “I can't.” The sound of his voice was barely audible. His throat suddenly felt sore. He coughed. This did nothing to alleviate the soreness in his throat. He tensed up, suddenly feeling somepony put their hoof around him, and he turned his head to see Rainbow Dash beaming at him.      “Come on, you can tell us anything,” she assured him. “We're best friends.”      “We're not going to judge you, darling,” Rarity spoke up.      “You'll feel so much better once you get it off your chest,” Fluttershy added. “We're here to listen.”      Spike tried to speak yet again, but the soreness in his throat seemed to have worsened somehow. It felt unnaturally tight. His mouth felt dry. His tongue and the roof of his mouth both felt like sandpaper. He desperately wanted something to drink. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like his friends were too keen on letting him go easily any time soon.      “The sooner you tell us the sooner you can get out of here,” Twilight said.      “It has something to do with Starlight, we know that,” Rainbow said.      A new voice joined the conversation. “Perhaps I can be of some assistance.” Spike felt his body turn cold upon hearing said voice, and a chill ran down his spine as he turned his head to see Starlight enter the room, a big grin on her face. She trotted over to the table and cleared her throat.      “Since Spike won't tell you,” she said, “I suppose I always could.” She put her hoof around Spike, pulling him into a close hug, his face pressing against her chest, and beamed at them all. “You see, Spikey Wikey and I are in love. For the past year or so, Spike's taken great pleasure in being my bitch.” She grinned down at Spike and patted his head. “Isn't that right, Spikey Wikey?”      This declaration was met with a bout of silence for a couple of minutes before Twilight, once again, broke it by speaking up and asking, “Is that true, Spike?”      Spike finally managed to find his voice. “No! It's not like that!”      Rarity guffawed. “Our little Spikey Wikey, who would've thought? Sissy little dragon just loves taking it up the ass, don't you?”      Spike's eyes brimmed with tears. “No! S-stop it!”      Pinkie Pie, who had remained silent up until this point, pointed a hoof at Spike and bellowed, “Hey, everypony! Spike's a total fag!” This quip was met with a roar of laughter from the others, who began prancing around Spike, chanting, “Spike's a little faggot! Spike's a little faggot!” This chant was capped off with more uproarious laughter from the group.      Spike, meanwhile, was lying curled up on the floor in a ball, sobbing, stroking his tail as he feebly begged, “Stop . . . stop it. Stop laughing at me . . .”      “Enough!” a thunderous voice boomed, so loud that it could have very well deafened Spike. This shout was met with silence, and Spike slowly lifted his head to look around, only to see that he was now completely alone. Feeling a gentle breeze sweep past him, he looked up to see Princess Luna hovering up above just a few feet away from him. She landed in front of him, fixing him with a compassionate smile. He slowly got to his feet.      “Princess Luna?” he asked.      “Good afternoon, Spike,” she said.      “Wait, I'm dreaming right now? This is just a dream?” He reached his hand out and gave a poke at the air. Like water, it rippled.      “I assure you that you are asleep,” Princess Luna told him.      “Why am I dreaming a dream like this?”      “Sometimes dreams can be a means of our subconscious grappling with a problem.” She stepped forward and placed her hoof on his chest. “And you do have a problem, don't you?”      Spike glanced down and rubbed at the back of his head. “I suppose you could say that.”      “You have a problem with Starlight Glimmer, it seems. You're afraid, aren't you?” She lifted his chin so that they were looking at each other. “Don't be. Cast all that doubt aside and have faith in your friends. Know that they always have your best interests at heart.”      “You've been hanging around Twilight too much.”      Luna chuckled. “I may have read a letter or two she wrote to my sister. After what happened during my first Nightmare Night, my sister suggested that I read a few of them. But getting back on point, Spike, you have nothing to fear. Know that your friends have your back.”      Spike nodded. “Okay. I suppose I can at least start with Twilight.”      “A very wise decision. If you need assistance, just let me know. I'm always a breath away. You should know what I mean by that.”      “I do.”      “Good. Now, time to wake up.”  Rainbow Dash was pissed. While she flew to Twilight's castle, she couldn’t stop kicking herself for forgetting that she was to meet Gilda at Twilight’s castle so that the two of them could meet up for lunch. It hadn’t been until she and the others had arrived at the restaurant that Rainbow had realized her mistake. Now, thanks to her forgetfulness, the others would just have to wait until she got back with Gilda to get a table. It was just a lucky thing that she just so happened to be the fastest thing in all of Equestria, so, hopefully, they wouldn’t have to wait too long for her to get back, permitting that Gilda was as hungry as she was and was looking forward to chowing down.      Alas, as she opened up the front doors to the castle, as she was expecting to see Gilda pacing back and forth in the foyer anxiously awaiting her arrival and expecting to be chewed out for making her wait, she was, however, not met with this sight, but instead met with an empty foyer and, more troubling still, complete and total silence. She looked around, yet there was no sign of Gilda’s presence anywhere. She cupped a hoof over her mouth and called, “Hello? Gilda? You in here?” The doors closed behind her while she made her way further into the castle, the clopping of her hooves against the crystalline floor echoing off the equally crystalline walls. Her steps were the only sound that met her ears, at least until she reached the bathroom. Thinking that perhaps Gilda had gone in there to relieve herself, she took a peek inside. It was here that the sound of what was inside met her ears fully, but, yet again, she was disappointed to find that Gilda was also not in the bathroom. Nevertheless, what met her eyes transfixed her, and she found that she couldn’t turn away from the scene that was unfolding right before her.      There, in the middle of the bathroom, was Spike, pacing back and forth, his claws tightly gripping his head, his chest heaving in and out as he breathed heavily, tears running down his bloodshot eyes, his entire body shaking uncontrollably. Hovering near the ceiling, with a concerned look on her face, was none other than Fluttershy, the shy pony’s eyes following every move that Spike made.      “Please,” Fluttershy was saying amid Spike’s crying and sniffling, “please, Spike, stop crying. Stop crying and talk to me. What’s wrong? Please, tell me what’s wrong. Maybe I can help? If I can’t, then at least maybe Twilight –”     “No,” Spike said, cutting her off. He finally came to a stop in the middle of the bathroom, his claws at his sides, shaking like the rest of his body was. “Nopony can help me.” He inhaled shakily. “I can’t . . . I can’t do it . . .” He seemed to be more talking to himself more than Fluttershy now, and he spoke so low that Rainbow Dash had to strain her ears just to hear him properly. “I can’t tell her . . . I can’t tell anypony . . . She said she’d kill me, my friends, my family if I did . . .”      Fluttershy said exactly what Rainbow Dash was thinking. “Who?” Her voice, very much like her face, suddenly became angry as she flew and hovered in front of Spike’s face,.asking, “Who said this to you?” Who’s threatening you? You tell me right now, Spike!”      Against her better judgment, Rainbow Dash crept further into the bathroom, the hinges on the door creaking quietly as she did so. Neither Fluttershy nor Spike seemed to notice, not that any of them could hear the disturbance anyway over Spike’s crying. The dragon suddenly gasped, clutching at his chest as he stumbled forward, his breathing seeming to intensify as a result.     Fluttershy to let out a shriek of fright. “Oh, my goodness! Are you all right?” She continued to hover over the dragon, covering her mouth with her hooves, looking down at him in fright.      Instead of answering Fluttershy, Spike instead chose to completely ignore her and turned, walking over to the sink. Gripping the sides of it tightly, he stared down into it, his chest continuing to heave as he drew in heavy breaths while he continued to sob uncontrollably.      Finally, a new voice met this conversation, a voice that neither Spike nor Fluttershy was expecting. Concern for the little dragon had finally overwhelmed Rainbow Dash to the point where she couldn’t help but speak up. The scene that had unfolded had unfortunately taken her by shock so badly, however, that it took her a moment to find her voice. But once she had, she asked, “Dude, you okay?” This inquiry made Fluttershy let out a tiny squeak of surprise, but otherwise she received no response from Spike.      Complete silence filled the space between the three parties, as it seemed Spike had finally ceased his excessive crying. For the next couple of seconds, no one did anything. After these tense couple of seconds had passed, however, Spike suddenly lifted his head, drawing his eyes towards the mirror, and, upon seeing Rainbow Dash looking at him in its reflection, his eyes widened, for it wasn’t Rainbow Dash he was seeing, but Starlight Glimmer. He quickly spun around, baring his teeth, a fierce, angry expression on his face, his fists shaking at his sides with fury.      Rainbow Dash didn’t like the look Spike was giving her one bit. Her heartbeat racing and breathing just as heavily as Spike was, she lifted a shaking hoof towards him, as if trying to halt him from performing any action, and said, “Whoa, Spike, look, dude, just . . . j-j-j-just calm down for just a moment, alright, and we’ll talk this out.” Despite the situation, she tried her best at a friendly smile. “Okay? Sound good?”      It apparently didn’t sound good to Spike, as, with speed that impressed even Rainbow Dash herself, he ran across the room, charging at her, smoke billowing out of his nose in time with his heavy breaths, a crazed look in his eye. He suddenly lunged at her with such speed that she didn’t have any time to react, and she suddenly found herself flat on her back, with Spike on top of her, her head being slammed against the tile floor as she landed, knocking the wind out of her. She gasped, feeling Spike wrapping his claws around her throat and beginning to strangle her, repeatedly slamming her head against the floor, all with that same crazed look in his eye.      “NO! NO!” Fluttershy screamed. “STOP! STOP! STOP IT!”      But Spike didn’t let up. Even after he stopped choking Rainbow Dash, he began slashing at her with his claws like a dog, aiming mostly at her face and throat. He would alternate between slashing at her face and throat and punching her in the face, drawing blood as his fist slammed against her nose, mouth, and eyes. She could do nothing to defend herself except throw her hooves over her face and beg, “Spike, please stop attacking me while I try to think of a way to help you!” These pleas, sadly, fell on deaf ears, as Spike continued to claw and kick and punch at her, all the while crying and sniffling hysterically. For her part, Fluttershy made a valiant attempt to pry him off her childhood best friend, but to no avail as Spike simply kicked her away and continued his assault on Rainbow, and Fluttershy’s screams and pleading for him to stop continued to be in vain. Meanwhile, all Rainbow Dash could do was wait for it to be over.      It finally did come to a stop, thanks mainly due to Fluttershy talking to Spike, encouraging him to take deep breaths and counting backwards from ten. Even if the ordeal had finally come to an end, it did so in a rather unpleasant way. As if whatever demon that had suddenly possessed Spike had similarly been exorcised from him, the punching and slashing ceased and, lowering her hooves, Rainbow Dash stared up into Spike’s horror-stricken face. Slowly, the dragon backed away from her, shaking his head in disbelief. Rainbow Dash sat up, reaching out a hoof towards him as she quietly reassured him, “Spike, it’s okay. Come here . . . it’s okay . . .”      Spike, however, merely shook his head, still staring at Rainbow Dash in shock, before turning on his heels and running as fast as he could out the bathroom door, not daring to look back.      And suddenly Rainbow Dash found herself to be not so hungry anymore.  It was late in the afternoon by the time Twilight got home. She waved goodbye to her friends (sans Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, both of whom had, despite not feeling very hungry or festive in the slightest, had joined Gilda, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo at the restaurant for lunch) and then proceeded to enter her home, briefly wondering just where in Equestira Trixie had gotten off to. She shrugged her shoulders in indifference, figuring that the showmare would arrive home as soon as her show was over. She entered the kitchen, fixed herself a cup of sweet tea, then made her way to her bedroom. Setting the cup down on her bedside table, she grabbed the book resting underneath her lamp, opened it up to where she'd last put her bookmark, and started to read, only to be distracted when her hooves happened to brush up against a piece of parchment. Her curiosity grew the better of her, and, with her magic, she scooped up the parchment and read what was scribbled on it, although there wasn't much to read. There was only one statement.  We need to talk NOW!     There was no need to ask who the note was from. She could tell by the handwriting that Spike had written it. She immediately discarded her book and trotted out her bedroom and made her way to Spike's room.  Spike lay curled on his bed, stroking his tail that lay nestled between his legs, his head resting on a fluffy pillow. He sniffled and said, “When you and your friends would go on your friendship missions, or when you were up late studying or working on some experiment, she would tuck me in. Said she was trying to help me get to sleep. She told me that my pajamas were buttoned wrong and that she would help me fix them. It was . . . so long ago.” He took a deep breath in. “Then she'd curl up with me in bed and . . . and touch herself. Trixie, I . . . I don't know, I guess she was off practicing her magic or something.”      Twilight inhaled shakily. “Why didn't you ever tell me?”      Spike's breath rattled as he took another breath in. “After she left, I didn't have to worry about it anymore. I thought we weren't going to talk about it. The whole time I kept thinking maybe it was my fault. Maybe it was something I did.”      “Oh, Spike, never think it's your fault.” Beginning to cry, she enveloped him in her magic and then embraced him in a tight hug, gently rocking back and forth. “Oh, Spike, I'm so sorry . . .” she said as she continued to sob.      All Spike could do was cling to Twilight and bury his face in her shoulder as he cried alongside her. He felt a new presence make itself known, and he looked up to see that Trixie had joined them, wrapping them both in her hooves as she hugged them tightly. The three stayed that way for several minutes before finally detaching from each other.      Wiping her eyes and sniffling, Twilight told Spike, “I need to go to Manehattan. Trixie, could you and the others watch him for me while I'm gone?”      “Of course,” Trixie replied, giving the alicorn a warm smile.      Twilight hugged her. “Thank you. I don't know how long I'll be gone. I'll be back as soon as I can, promise.” She gave Spike a worried look. “Will you be okay while I'm gone?”      He nodded. “I'll be fine. As long as I have my friends, I know everything will be alright.”      She smiled. “Great.” She leaped over him and trotted over to the bedroom door.      “Wait,” Spike called. “What are you going to Manehattan for?”      Twilight looked back at him. “For some reinforcement. We're going to need a little bit of help.” Without another word, she sprinted off down the hall toward the front doors of the castle.  While Twilight made her way towards Manehattan, Majesty was conversing with Celestia and Luna. She stood by the thrones that the pair of princesses had erected to watch the royal guard practice. Currently, Shining Armor was busy sparring with Flash Sentry. Though, with Majesty talking, the two princesses, in particular Celestia, found it quite difficult to maintain concentration on what was going on below them.      “This pony must be arrested,” Majesty was saying.      “In the middle of this ridiculous festival?” Luna inquired.      “The Summer Sun Celebration,” Celestia corrected her.      “Whatever!” Luna hissed irritably.      Celestia apparently wasn't listening to her, as she suddenly bellowed to the two sparring ponies down below, “No, no! Block, then thrust, Flash!”      Luna continued onward as if she hadn't been interrupted. “Whoever heard of a festival to celebrate that your own princess didn't destroy you? These ponies are mad.”      “These ponies are dangerous!” Majesty said.      “I can't arrest their current hero while there are thousands of them in town,” Celestia cried in aggravation. “I'd have a riot on my hooves! Think, Majesty!”      Majesty sat down on the edge of the cubicle the three of them were seated behind.“Then do it at night,” she suggested. “Find somepony to betray her, get her alone, I don't care, but if you don't stop her, she's going to bring us all down. She must be stopped – dead!”      Celestia sighed and rolled her eyes. “I thought you were a better ruler than this, Majesty.” Looking past her, she shouted down to the two ponies below, “Shining Armor, teach him to counter that attack!”    “If there is another rebellion in this miserable place,” Luna said to Celestia, “the Higher Council will throw both of us to the lions! The last thing we need is another repeat of what happened after Shining and Cadence’s wedding!”      “I could kill this pony tomorrow and there would be another one right after her,” Celestia said.       “Or?” Majesty said, raising an eyebrow.      “Or,” Celestia said, “we could see to it that she becomes a problem for some of her own kind, and they could solve the problem for us.” Down below, Flash Sentry finally succeeded in blocking and counterattacking Shining Armor and she suddenly rose to her hooves and began to clap, laughing happily, as she yelled, “Bravo, Flash Sentry!”  If there was one good thing about being a princess, it was the fact that getting a train to Manehattan was surprisingly easy. Normally, Twilight didn't like flaunting her ties to royalty, but in situations like this, it was worth it. She seated herself comfortably on the cushioned seat and gazed out the window at the scenery the train was speeding past. While she could've easily flown to her designation, she had chosen to take the train for the sole purpose of doing some thinking during the long trip. The train to Manehattan took at least a couple of hours, so she figured that she had more than enough time to do some deep thinking.      Throughout her thinking, in which hundreds, if not thousands, of questions ran through her head, she became lost in her thoughts, wondering if anything Spike had told her was true or if he was just looking for an excuse to get rid of Starlight, seeing as how the dragon had been less than keen on her staying with them since Twilight had first announced that the former student would be arriving back in Ponyville. But that didn’t seem likely; Spike wasn’t one to make up stories, and she was usually good about knowing whether or not he was lying, and this time he didn’t seem to be lying in the slightest. Unfortunately for Twilight, her thoughts were disturbed by her being thrown to the floor as the train came to a screeching halt. Rubbing her sore head, she looked out the window to see that she had arrived in Manehattan. She opened up her compartment door and joined the other ponies trotting down the corridor.      Once she'd gotten off the train, she levitated a map out of her saddlebags and looked through it. She had been to Manehattan very little in her time as a princess and, given how vast the city was, she was still finding her way around the place. She wished she had asked Rarity to tag along with her to help her as a guide, especially seeing as how the fashionista had a store here and therefore visited the city quite regularly. Nevertheless, she managed to find her way just fine, thanks to the friendly locals whom she asked for directions, eventually ending up at the apartment building that she wanted to go to. She stopped at the reception desk, inquired as to what apartment number her quarry was in, and proceeded to make her way up the stairs. Walking along the hallway of the fifth floor, she walked until she came to her destination. She stopped at apartment number 0527. Hearing a creak, however, made her stop as she was reaching up to knock, and she turned her head to see Rarity walking out of apartment 0526. “Rarity?”      The white mare jumped, having apparently not been expecting to run into somepony she knew, and she turned and beamed upon seeing Twilight. “Twilight, darling, wasn't expecting to see you here.”      “Yeah. I figured you'd be back in Ponyville with Sweetie Belle.”      “Oh, well, Sweetie decided that she wanted to hang out with her friends.”      “So, what are you doing here?”      “Oh, I'm just dropping Babs off, then heading back to Ponyville.”      This seemed to be news to Twilight, as she blinked upon hearing this. “You mean, you and Babs . . .”      Rarity nodded. “Mm-hmm. She and I were a team during the Applewood Derby. I had to fight tooth and nail to convince Trixie to let her, but she eventually gave in.”      “So that's why Spike chose Trixie. What about Sweetie Belle?”      “She decided she wanted Applejack to be her partner, and Apple Bloom chose Rainbow Dash. Scootlaoo went with Gilda.”      “I see.”      “Well, it's been lovely chatting with you, darling, but I really must be going.”      “Okay, I'll see you back in Ponyville.” As Rarity turned to leave, she called out, “Oh, and, Rarity?”      “Yes, darling?” Rarity asked, turning back around.      “If it's not too much trouble, could you stop by my place and check on Spike for me?”      Rarity chuckled. “I think he's more than capable of looking after himself, but, sure, I'll stop by to see how he's doing.”      “Thank you.” She waved goodbye to Rarity, then turned back to the door of apartment 0527. Lifting a hoof, she knocked. Then, she waited. After only a few seconds, the door opened. Slowly, a dark magenta-colored mare stepped forward out of the darkness.      “Hello, Twilight Sparkle,” she said.      Twilight smiled. “Hello, Tempest.”