The skinny scientist finally had to halt her panicked escape from the Canterlot Animal Shelter. She had only made it a few blocks away, but the added weight of the carrier was causing her already burning muscles to scream in protest. Sitting down on a bus stop bench, Twilight took a chance to catch her breath and stretch her aching biceps.
The bus schedule posted nearby told the girl another bus was scheduled to arrive in an hour, but she doubted they’d let her onboard with a pet carrier even if she was willing to wait that long. It was one of the reasons she’d left Spike behind from this trip in the first place.
What am I supposed to do now? The nerdy girl began to run one of her wayward locks of hair through her alternating hands; a nervous habit she had developed over the years. Her dad had always joked, “When hiding a body, a good friend will hire you a lawyer. A best friend will bring shovels and keep secrets.” But Twilight Sparkle didn’t have a best friend, or a good friend, or any particularly friendly acquaintances of any kind. She only really had her family and Spike, and though he would be great at burying something, that was not what the situation called for right now. Her parents were out of town, and her brother was supposed to be keeping an eye on her. She considered calling her BBBFF, but she was pretty sure he was on duty right now…on duty as a police officer…a police officer who could arrest her for breaking the law. True the only laws she was sure she had broken were those of physics and possibly those for reality and she was unsure what penalty that could entail, but she thought it best not to involve law enforcement at this time just in case.
But then where did that leave her? How else was she to get back to school? It wasn’t as if there was anyone at CPA that even liked her...or was there? The dark-haired teen pulled out her cell phone and scrolled to one of the few numbers on her contact list. She knew this would be risky, but even her genius-level intellect couldn’t find another way out of this situation. Putting the phone up to her ear, she waited for the friendly voice on the other end to answer.
“Hey Ladybug, what's up?”
***
Thirty minutes later, a light blue convertible pulled up to the bus stop, prompting the nerdy girl to hop up and grab for the back door.
“Cadance! Thank you, thank you, thank you! You’re a lifesaver.” Twilight continued her verbal deluge of thanks as she slid the hefty animal carrier into the back seat. As she plopped herself into the front seat, she was met with worried lilac eyes and a frown adorning the heart-shaped face of the driver.
“Twilight, what’s going on?” The woman questioned leveling a stern gaze at the teen. “What are you even doing way out here, and what in the world is in the crate?” Seeing the girl shrink at the tone, Cadance broke her stare and took a moment to pull away from the curb and into traffic heading back to the city. After a few minutes of driving, Cadance tucked a lock of her multi-hued hair behind her ear and decided to start again.
“Sunshine, sunshine! Ladybugs awake!” Cadance started their sing-song greeting from when she had babysat Twilight. “Clap your hands…”
“And do a little shake,” Twilight finished, earning Cadance the smallest of smiles from her former charge.
After letting out a resigned sigh, and without taking her eyes off the road, the administrator tried again for answers though this time without the hint of anger that she had had before, “So, what did you do to the statue?”
If the woman had been watching the younger girl for a reaction she would have seen the teen's eyes shrink to pinpricks behind thick black frames as she gave a few false starts to an answer each time she opened her mouth. It didn’t matter though. Despite the opportunity to conceal her growing panic and offer up a believable excuse, Twilight soon forfeited any hope of subterfuge as she stammered out a response. “Statue? What statue? What’s a statue?” the scientist proffered, her voice getting markedly higher and louder with each statement. “Well, of course, I know what a statue is. What I mean is the definition can be so broad in how it is applied that one needs to be more specific in their inquiries so as not to provide fallacious information. This city has so many works of art, in fact per the latest city registry they total…”
“Twilight!” the older woman interrupted. Her calm nurturing tone was gone, replaced by the more authoritarian tone the girl hadn’t encountered since she was six years old and had taken apart her mother’s laptop while under Cadance’s care. Granted Twilight had put it back together and with more processing power, but a stern lecture on boundaries and respecting others' belongings followed. After years of babysitting the teen and then acting as her school counselor, Cadance had plenty of experience at snapping Twilight out of one of her panic attacks when they happened.
Taking a moment to calm herself in the same way she had taught the young scientist all those years ago, Cadance tried again. “Twilight, honey,” Cadance began softly, “I know it’s been hard for you to make friends at Crystal Prep. The atmosphere Principal Cinch has fostered with her single-minded drive for success does not make for a welcoming environment to start with, and you being as smart as you are it only makes you a target or an obstacle to the other students.”
The girl nodded, not knowing where the woman was going with this line of conversation, but she knew better than to interrupt when she wasn’t sure just how much the dean actually knew.
“Sweetie, I know peer pressure at your age can be hard to resist. Truthfully, and if my aunts ask I’ll deny it, I’m actually kind of happy you participated in a school activity, even if it is an unsanctioned one.” Cadance offered the teen a warm smile, but all Twilight had in return was a confused stare. This did not go unnoticed by the administrator, but it appeared to be the reaction she expected from the nerdy girl. “Twilight, at this point I’m just so proud of your attempt at social interaction, that I’m not even mad that I’m going to have to deal with whatever mess you and the other students made when decorating the Wondercolt statue. That being said though, next time you interact with kids your own age, please restrain from any petty crimes or misdemeanors. Now, please tell me how bad the vandalism to the statue is so I know what sort of mess I’ll be dealing with this weekend. Honestly, part of CPA’s Friendship Games budget should be earmarked for repairs to that horse.”
Twilight blinked. She hadn’t expected an explanation for her presence at the rival school to fall so nicely into her lap. “Err…Um...None?” the girl managed to get out as her brain struggled to process the excuse that had been gifted to her, though this only garnered a searching gaze from her former babysitter as she sensed the evasion. Not relenting, the teen opted to double down and pray her story would be believed. “You were right. I was at CHS, but the statue, it’s fine.” Physically anyway, I don’t know if spewing forth mythological creatures can be considered ‘fine’ for a statue, but it’s still standing. "Someone…showed up…unexpectedly, and we ran.” Not even really a lie, Twilight mused. “I promise, nothing to clean up. Don’t even have to call your aunts.”
Cadance kept Twilight in her well-trained gaze, waiting for the younger girl to crack and spill whatever secret she might be trying to keep, but the scientist held her resolve and the dean had to relent. Casting a worried look to her back seat, Cadance added, “I’m guessing that’s how Spike got hurt. Is he going to be alright?” Knowing the puppy was the introverted girl’s only companion, the former baby-sitter was concerned about how Twilight would handle the little guy being hurt, even assuming some of the girl’s nervousness stemmed from her worry for her beloved pet.
“Spike? Oh, uh yeah. Spike will be fine,” the spectacled girl breathed, catching where the woman’s concern for her was heading, and once again thanking the misreading of the situation. “He just needs some rest and he’ll be his normal, lovable self.”
“That’s good to hear,” the dean said smiling and turning her focus back to the road. “So where am I dropping you off, home or back to Crystal Prep?”
“Would you mind taking us to school?” the scientist asked. “I have some data I have to compile and … uh, ‘Spike’ can rest up while I finish before we head home.”
The dean’s smile fell a bit at that. “Twilight, you know the rules against pets.”
“Well, Spike isn’t a pet, Dean Cadance, he’s the focus of my research project; ‘Human/Canine Cohabitation: Effects and Implications.’ The formal research proposal and funding request was submitted and approved by the school board,” Twilight said with a small smirk.
Cadance had known Twilight long enough not to question Twilight’s meticulous nature when it came to her projects, even if the project's only real goal was allowing the bookish girl to have a companion nearby during the school day. Still, Cadance knew Cinch as well, and Abacus would surely have seen through the proposal. The fact that the proposal was approved without protest from the headmistress, concerned the dean. With a worried frown, she simply said, “If you say so, but Principal Cinch is highly allergic so I suggest you keep him away from her.”
***
Once they arrived back at Crystal Prep, the two passengers parted ways. Twilight insisted she could handle getting the animal carrier back down to her lab by herself. Though her already sore arms would have appreciated the help, the teen didn’t want to risk Cadance lifting the crate only to find the weight didn’t match that of the puppy she believed to be inside. Setting the pet carrier down outside the door, Twilight retrieved the key to her lab from her pocket.
“Spike,” she called backing through the door while struggling to drag the crate in behind her. “Spike!” she called again, unaware the sudden opening of the door had thrown the little dog across the room and into the trash can once again. The pup didn’t seem to mind though as he gave a happy bark at his mistress’s return and jumped into her lap as she collapsed into a chair kicking the door shut behind her.
“There you are!” the tired girl said only to be answered with a deluge of puppy kisses to her face. “OK, ok,” she smiled, pushing the dog away and giving him a thankful scratch behind the ears. “Well, Spike, today’s field test confirmed it, with this device,” the scientist said, pulling the indicated pendent off from around her neck, “I can track and contain the bizarre energy coming from Canterlot High.” At that, the fluffy puppy voiced a displeased growl indicating his feelings on the matter. “I know you didn’t like me going over there, but I just couldn’t wait and you’ll never guess what happened while I was there.” Twilight slid off her chair to join Spike on the floor and pulled the pet carrier closer. The pup inched closer to the crate, tentatively trying to get a sniff of its occupant. Once he did, however, he hopped back and turned to his mistress issuing a sad whimper.
“Don’t worry, boy,” the teen consoled, patting the dog on the head, “I could never replace you. You’ll always be my number one assistant.” Unlatching the door of the cage, the indigo haired girl carefully slid the injured pony out and laid her on one of the pillows the scientist had stored for the rare nap she allowed herself when her experiments called for wait time or while her data was uploading so she could continue her work when she got home. Checking the bandages, she had hastily applied back at the shelter, the girl found the wound atop the unicorn’s head had stopped bleeding.
Plopping herself back into her computer chair, the scientist pushed herself across the room to her computer. Waking it, the monitor replaced the image of the adorable puppy with several windows presenting her newly acquired data in various graphs and charts. Confirming the files were also being sent to her home computer, Twilight glanced back down to the other occupants in her lab.
“Well, if she acts anything like you after being to the vet,” the girl addressed the dog who was still keeping an eye on the new arrival, “a few treats might bring her mood around." As if in response, the teen was met by a pleading pair of puppy eyes and an adorable whimper. “Okay, okay,” the scientist relented, “I’ll see if I can find you a treat too. Just keep an eye on her while I’m gone.” With a playful bark in agreement to the deal, the teen left the lab, making sure to shut the door carefully behind her. As the door clicked, a pair of teal eyes began to open.