//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 // Story: Raising Spike // by Darth Link 22 //------------------------------// The group of ponies looked at the results of the die roll. The first had resulted in a six, meaning another roll was needed. The second time, a three came up, meaning a pony had been chosen. "Are you sure about this?" Rainbow Dash asked as she watched Applejack stand in front of the mirror. "We could just send the message through the journal." "Absolutely not," Rarity said. "We're going to let them know in person. We simply can't drop this on them through such an impersonal method." "'Sides, Twi always said that the place was pretty safe," Applejack said. She looked like she was trying to gather her nerves. "Sunset was trying to contact Twilight to get help with runaway magic," Rainbow Dash said. "And she sent an all clear," Applejack said. She took a deep breath. It didn't matter how safe the new world was, getting a new body was a daunting prospect. “There should be nothin’ to worry about that isn’t in Ponyville.” “Ponyville gets attacked once a month,” Pinkie reminded her. “That’s how I remember it’s time to pay the gas bill.” Applejack didn’t respond. She took a deep breath. “Alright, here I go.” Before her nerves could flare up, she ran through the mirror.  It was a scary process, going through the portal. It was big and white and the transition was unlike anything she had ever felt. It also wasn’t pleasant to come out for a rough landing on the other side, even if it was on grass. Even as she was recovering from the trip, she heard several gasps of surprise. This didn’t truly worry Applejack. Twilight had mentioned that the entire school knew the truth, so there was no need to hide it. What really got her attention was the cry of “What in tarnation?” She stopped. That sounds like something she would say. She turned and she saw herself. Or rather, she saw the other version of herself. She recognized the freckles, the hair, the eyes, but it was in a strange new body.  “Yer... me,” the other Applejack said, clearly unnerved by what she was seein’.” “Yeah, I’m me,” Applejack said, trying to get her bearings together. She looked down and tried not to freak out as she saw a hand instead of a hoof. She wiggled her fingers, experimenting with the new appendages... “Do I really sound like that?” the other Applejack said. "Is that really my voice?" "That's really your voice," Applejack heard Rainbow Dash say.  "It really sounds like that?" Listening to her counterpart, she frowned. "Where'd you get that accent from?"  "What accent?" the other Applejack asked. "I told you you have an accent," the human Rainbow Dash said, laughter decorating the syllables. Before Applejack could turn and see this new Rainbow Dash, her vision was filled with orange. A new face was looking at her. "Applejack?" "...Sunset Shimmer," Applejack said, dawning on her after a moment's thought.  "Not that it's not nice to meet you, but... where's Princess Twilight? Did she get that message I sent her?"  Immediately Applejack felt her grief flood back. She tried to sit up, difficult with her new body. Seeing this, Sunset offered her a hand. Applejack took it and was pulled up onto her rear. She saw the others crowd around her. Applejack opened her mouth, but a lump caught in her throat. Having to break the news again was a fresh kind of torture. She opened her mouth again, but the sound refused to come out. "Come on, come on, what is it?" the human Pinkie said. "Yes, I must admit, I'm curious about my..." When Applejack heard the voice, her blood ran cold. Even as scared as she was, her head whirled to look. When she saw her, she let out a yell that caused the humans to jump. Applejack was on her back again, scooting away from the ghost that stood in front of her. "What? Applejack, that's Twilight. She just transferred here."  Applejack barely heard. Her breaths were too heavy. Her lungs kept trying, and failing, to take a big breath.  Sunset Shimmer leaned in. AJ? Come on, this Twilight already knows everything. There's no need to panic..." "She's dead! Twilight's dead!" Silence followed that. For a full minute there wasn't a sound except the occasional bird chirping. For the humans, it was processing the news they had just been given. Each was turning it over in their mind, trying to understand. For Applejack, it was the shock of seeing Twilight again. Even in the new body, it was her. The skin color matched the coat, the mane had the same pink stripe, her eyes were just as beautiful, even if they were behind a pair of glasses. Her body was starting to calm, but her mind refused to. It was still trying to process the impossible.  "What?" Sunset finally managed to ask. It was the only thing that any of them had to say. Applejack managed to tear her eyes away from the Twilight in front of her and back to Sunset. She was still looking at her with a blank expression. She still didn't understand. Applejack took a deep breath. "A mare named Starlight Glimmer did it. She tried playin' around with some time spell. It killed her." There was another long pause. During that time, Applejack tried not to look at the other Twilight. There was a deflating should. The human Pinkie's hair went flat. Sunset fell to her knees, a look of horror on her face. "Where is she?" Everyone jumped at Rainbow Dash's question. She looked enraged. "This Starlight... where is she? I'll kill her!" The look she was giving crushed any doubts she was exaggerating. "You'll have to get in line," Applejack said. "Half of Equestria wants her dead." Applejack half-expected the human Rainbow Dash to make some follow-up comment, but there was nothing.  For a long time, the group sat there in silence, tears streaming down their faces. Only the human Twilight wasn’t crying, and even she was too stunned. It was a full three minutes before Sunset spoke. “Wh... when’s the funeral?” “Don’t know yet,” Applejack said. “But yer all invited to it. I know Twi would want you there.” She briefly looked at the new Twilight, but only briefly. It was far too painful. “Though, if you're going to bring your Twi, she best go in disguise.”  She looked at the ground, not wanting to look at Twilight. She was surprised when a small dog walked into her vision. It took a few moments before Applejack realized who this must be. “The other Spike,” she muttered, more to herself than anything. “What about the other Spike? Is he okay?” Applejack jumped. She had expected that question to come eventually, she just hadn’t expected it to come from Spike himself. “Wha? How?” “Magic,” Sunset said. It was the only word she got out before she descended into tears.  The shock had passed, and the tears were no longer silent. Sobs were escaping the throats of all the girls. Twilight was the lone silent one, even though she looked sad. Applejack looked at the new Spike, who was still looking at her, waiting for an answer to his question. “He’s still alive,” Applejack said. “Don’t know about ‘okay’. He’s sad an’ we can’t bring him out of his funk.” The dog whimpered. Twilight picked him up and coddled him. Applejack looked at the ground and waited for the humans to cry themselves out. Once they were done, she’d have to give them the messy details, then ask what was going on with the holes in reality that had been caused. She looked at Twilight again, but only for a split second. She moved towards the statue. She better spend this time trying to stand. Starlight was in constant agony. Spike had given her a beating that she was lucky to survive. She wished the doctors would increase her painkillers, even if it would kill her. Whatever pit in the Underworld she was sent to couldn’t be worse than this. Her lawyer had been her only visitor. She supposed that shouldn’t surprise her. Even if Twilight hadn’t turned her followers against her, and even if Sunburst actually took responsibility for abandoning her, she didn’t think Celestia would allow visitors. She tugged at the restraints holding her hind legs to the bed. It was the most unnecessary security ever. She could be completely free and she’d be in no condition to leave. Her front legs were in casts, and it looked like they would be for months. She weakly looked at the steel doorway that led to the outside world. This might look like a hospital room, but it was truly a dungeon. She knew she had best get used to the idea. A set of locks tumbled and clanked, and the door opened. Her lawyer walked in. The guard looked at the stallion suspiciously, but followed procedures and left them alone. The stallion looked at Starlight with a smug grin. It made her furious. “My, my, you’ve been a challenging case,” he said. “It’s like you’ve dedicated your life to getting arrested.” He lifted a stack of papers out of his briefcase. “I’ve looked over the charges. Forty-seven acts of kidnapping, spell casting on a pony without a license and without their consent, using an undocumented and unregistered spell, time-traveling using an unregistered spell, assault with magic, ponyslaughter, assuming they leave it at that and don’t push for a full murder charge, and all this on a crown princess of Euquestria, so treason as the cherry on top.” Had Starlight’s jaw not been wired shut, she might have told him to get on with it. “A not guilty verdict is out of the question, so I propose we go with the insanity defense.” Starlight’s eyes nearly popped out of her head. Insane? Her? No, she was the only one thinking clearly! “Now, contrary to popular belief, there are very few forms of insanity that can absolve you of legal responsibility. Normally I’d suggest we go with dark magic, but there’s no way it wouldn’t have been detected by now. “The second is compulsions, but Princess Twilight did her homework on you, and besides, there is no compulsion that could cover everything. “So that leaves us with the ever popular delusions. And this one shouldn’t be too hard. I mean, eliminating cutie marks, really?” Starlight moved out of anger, and immediately regretted it as pain shot through her body. She whimpered and moaned, tears coming from her eyes. He waited for her to calm before he went on. “Now, we need to sell the fact that you didn’t understand that what you were doing was legally wrong, so you can start rambling and saying that Celestia spoke to you, telling you to carry out the next phase of Harmony’s plan. Go big, the crazier, the better.” Starlight narrowed her eyes. How dare this stallion tell her that her philosophy was crazy. How dare he! “Aww, did I hurt your feelings?” Nocturn said, his grin getting bigger. Starlight’s eyes narrowed.  Nocturn brought his hoof up, and Starlight watched as he brought it to one of her sides. He grinned. Then he pressed. It wasn’t much, but it still brought an intense pain. Her muffled screams sounded, which only brought the pain in her jaw out. By the time Nocturn let the pressure up, she was in tears. “I can talk to you that way because you got yourself into this mess. You need me to get out. It’s your only way out of prison. Well... maybe not. There’s no death penalty in Equestria, but you never know. You killed Celestia’s little pet. She might make an exception.” Starlight whimpered. “Right, glad you understand. Now then, you’ve seen the stick, now see the carrot.” He lit up his horn. Starlight felt a quick pain. She realized a bandage on her hind leg had been ripped off. It had been to cover a smaller cut on what was otherwise the only undamaged part of her body. She could see it. Nocturn put his horn up to it. Suddenly, Starlight was in less pain. Even as small as it was, she noticed.  She had to strain her eyes to be sure, but the cut was gone. Starlight’s eyes bulged in surprise. Nocturn grinned.  “That’s all I can do for you at the moment. Any more and the guards will get suspicious. But full healing awaits you. Yes, even your horn, if you’re a good filly.” Conflicting emotions erupted in Starlight. Excitement over getting cured, fear over this stallion, rage as he mocked her ideals. How dare this pony insult her. “Confused?” Nocturn said. “Oh, don’t worry. You’ll have plenty of time to think about our offer. In fact, thinking is about all you can do right now.” He let out a small chuckle. At Starlight’s glare, he merely shrugged. “Just a little joke. You need to get a sense of humor.” With that, Nocturn walked out, giving a small chuckle. The doors closed and locked behind him, leaving Starlight alone in her cell.