//------------------------------// // Chapter 10 // Story: Severed Ties // by Carol Heart //------------------------------// Twilight was awoken by the all too familiar feeling of a cold nose trying to work its way into her neck. With a groan, she slowly opened her eyes and was met with the sight of a blurrier than normal purple puppy. A quick pat of her face confirmed that she was missing her glasses. Seeming to know what she was thinking, the dog dropped her black-framed lenses on to her chest. Once she had slipped them on, the scientist could see she was still in her lab at Crystal Prep. Late nights here were not unusual for her, so much so, to necessitate the addition of the cot that she’d been sleeping on. What was unusual was the fact that she did not remember how she had ended up in the bed this time. Massaging her temples with her fingertips, Twilight tried to jump-start her cerebral processes as well as soothe the headache that seemed to linger despite her rest. “What happened?” she groaned. “That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” a vaguely familiar voice grumbled eliciting a growl from the puppy in Twilight’s lap. Looking over to where the voice had come from, Twilight spotted the amber unicorn from before perched in her desk chair going through her research notes on her computer. "Wait how did she get into my files?" That however was not the question that finally made it out of her mouth once it reestablished a connection to her brain. What she managed to squeak out the other question that first came to mind, given the angry unicorn glaring at her from her desk was, “Y-you can talk?” The unicorn rolled her eyes, but before she could provide another snide reply, Spike cut her off. “Yeah, and she’s been doing nothing but complain since you passed out.” “Well excuse me for being less than happy at being ripped through an unstable transdimensional portal back to this Celestia-forsaken world, and by the looks of what I’m seeing here, by someone who has no idea what she’s even dealing with,” the unicorn fumed at the dog before rounding on Twilight. “Back to this world?” Twilight wondered, catching that bit of the unicorn’s tirade. “Do you know how dangerous magic can be especially for someone with no arcane training?” the pony continued to rant. “Do you know what kind of damage you can cause tampering with the thaumic levels in a world that has no self-sustaining harmonic energy matrix? Obviously not, because if you did you wouldn’t have tried to drain what little magic there is in this world into an untested siphoning and storage device.” “I’m s-sorry,” Twilight managed to stammer out under the pony’s piercing gaze. “Sorry?! ‘Sorry’ doesn’t fix the problem. ‘Sorry’ doesn’t change what you did. ‘Sorry’ doesn’t get me the buck out of here!” “I-I'm sorry. I didn’t mean to,” Twilight struggled out as tears started to pour down her face and she fled the room. Spike following right behind but not before he shot an accusing look at the amber unicorn. *** Twilight ran through the halls, just letting her legs carry her as she had no destination in mind. Her usual refuge was her lab, which she had just been forced from. After a short time, she finally gave up and collapsed against a locker in a secluded alcove in one of the hallways. She suddenly found herself exhausted both mentally and physically, and after all she’d been through that day, she wasn’t surprised in the least. Everything she had held back since this whole ordeal started finally broke though and Twilight began to cry. The weight of all that had happened finally poured out of her in a much-needed release. She didn’t know how long she sat there when a small, male voice cautiously interrupted her grief. “Twilight? Are you okay?” Looking up, the scientist spotted her familiar purple puppy cautiously peeking around the corner at her. It was clear from the way his ears were pressed down and he was curled in on himself that he was scared to approach her, though the look in his large pleading eyes showed how much he wanted to go and comfort her. Taking off her glasses, Twilight smeared away the tears from her cheeks. “I don’t know, Spike. Everything has just gone wrong today. I don’t know what to do anymore.” The pup took the acknowledgment as okay to move closer. When he was in arms reach of the still sniffling girl, she scooped him up into her lap and started to scratch him behind the ears, an action that had always worked to calm both of them in the past. “It’ll be alright, Twilight. I know it will,” the dog said melting under the attention. “How can you be sure?” “Because you’re you. You’re the nicest, smartest, most determined person I know. You’ve never met a problem you can’t solve. After everything you’ve been through you never give up, and I don’t think you’ll give up now.” The compliments brought a smile to the young scientist’s face and she gave her canine friend the biggest hug she could manage without crushing him. “Don’t worry about those bullies. You just let me handle them next time.” Remembering his earlier injury from Indigo, Twilight just shook her head. “No, Spike, I don’t want to see you hurt again, and those girls are too big for you to take on.” The pup gave her a lick on the nose in acknowledgment. “Fine, fine, if that’s what you want, but I still think I could take ‘em." Considering for a moment, an action Twilight found particularly adorable, Spike then offered, "Then just let me handle that jerk pony in the lab. She’s closer to my size. I chased her out of the lab once, I can do it again, no problem.” Twilight’s shoulders only drooped at the suggestion, though she hugged the dog a little tighter. “No, Spike. I appreciate the offer, but it’s not her fault. I dragged her here against her will and I can only imagine what she’s feeling after waking up in a strange world.” Though apparently not that strange since the unicorn showed little surprise at encountering a different species and seemed perfectly adept at using human technology. “Alright, fine,” Spike grumbled, snapping Twilight from her musings and clearly still unhappy about the way the amber pony had yelled at his person, “I’ll play nice, but if she tries anything on you with her weird powers, I’m going to bite her.” Twilight gave the pup a stern look but in the end, let it go and gave him an appreciative scratch tummy rub for the concern. After enjoying the sensation for a moment, Spike turned his gaze up to Twilight and asked, “So what’s the plan?” “Plan?” “Oh, come on, I know you. You always have a plan for everything. Your Everton Energy Discovery plan seems to be a bust, so what do we do now?” Considering for a moment where to begin, Twilight took a breath and said, “Spike, I think we should start by fixing our mistakes, and that means doing whatever it takes to help that unicorn get back where she came from.” Taking the purple pup with her as she stood, Twilight started to head back toward her lab. Rounding the corner of the hall that contained her lab, the teen spotted Dean Cadance in front of the door, ready to open it. “Cadance!” Twilight flinched at how loud that had come out. “Sorry. Uh, what are you doing down here?” The dean wore a look of confusion at the girl’s reaction, but it was quickly replaced with a look of concern when she spotted the tear tracks still adorning Twilight’s cheeks. Spotting the purple puppy in her arms a worried frown spread across Cadance's face. "Is Spike okay? Do you want to take him back to the vet?' "Oh, uh, no, Cadance he's doing okay. Nothing to worry about." The former babysitter had know Twilight long enough to know that was the truth, and so heaving a worried sigh, tried her next guess as to what was bothering the girl. “Is this about the Friendship Games? I told Cinch that you wouldn’t want to participate. With the pressure of being in front of everyone and I know about the problems with Indigo and her friends. And don't even get me started on your brother. I can't believe he let Cinch use him to get you on the team like that. I swear, for a man trying to make detective, sometimes he is completely oblivious..." The educator cut off her angry rant and took a calming breath before continuing, "I can try and talk to Cinch. See if I can’t suggest a different candidate.” “No,” Twilight said, a little too quickly. Remembering her discussion with the principal, Twilight tried to reassure the dean. “I mean, no thank you. I’ll be fine. It’s just another academic contest right. I’ve been in lots of those. I mean, I can’t let Crystal Prep down, right?” The tone left Cadance unconvinced, but it seemed like Twilight wasn’t in the mood to talk about it at the moment. She knew t had clearly been a long day for the girl so maybe the former babysitter would just have to try again another time. Perhaps Twilight would be more willing to talk after she’d had a chance to get Spike home and get some rest. “Okay, well I was just stopping by to see if you were ready to go home. I’m giving you a lift since Shiny had to go back to work.” “Home?” Twilight questioned, casting a worried look at the lab door. “Um, sure thing. Can you give me ten minutes to make sure everything’s wrapped up for the night?” Without really giving the dean a chance to respond, Twilight continued, “Great, I’ll meet you in the parking lot when I’m done. Thanks!” With that, the teen let herself into the room and swiftly closed the door behind her, leaving a puzzled Cadance speechless in the hallway. Her gold heels echoing in the empty hall, Cadance slowly walked towards the school door shaking her head and thinking, “Yep, definitely going to have to talk to that girl soon. Maybe a girls’ day is in order.” *** Quickly edging through the door, Twilight closed her eyes, awaiting the demand for an explanation to her rudeness, and then let out a sigh of relief as she heard the clipping of heals head away. Opening her eyes, Twilight spotted the amber pony was laying on the cot the teen had been passed out on earlier. As she was facing away from the door and made no move to acknowledge the hasty entrance, Twilight wondered if the unicorn might have fallen asleep. “H-hey, um…” Twilight started carefully before realizing she wasn’t sure how she should address the talking mythical creature in front of her. “Sunset,” the mare said, turning to face the returning girl. Her tone was still tense, but the anger that Twilight had seen earlier had faded to an irritated simmer in her absence. “Huh?” Twilight looked about for a window before remembering her lab didn’t have any. With a roll of her cyan eyes, the unicorn tried again, “My name. I assume that’s what you were going for. It’s Sunset, Sunset Shimmer.” “Oh, right, um, I’m…” the girl said, as her gaze drooped to the floor causing her glasses to slip down her nose. Something in the unicorn's, no Sunset’s, gaze was so intense that the girl found it hard to maintain eye contact. “Twilight Sparkle,” Sunset cut off her stuttering, “I know.” Then turning to the purple puppy who had been keeping a wary eye on the other quadruped, she said, “and you’re Spike. Now that that’s out of the way, we can focus on what’s really important; getting me back through the portal so I can get back and help my friends.” “Good,” Spike practically snorted, “the sooner you’re gone, the better.” The comment earned a mild glare from the pony. While Twilight’s brain finally caught up to the conversation. “Wait, you can’t go now. I-it’s late, and I have so many questions. Where do you come from? What is it like? Are there other mythological creatures where you come from? How do you know our language? What is…” “Twilight!” Sunset shouted before it could devolve into a full-on explosion of questions, which earned her another growl from Spike. Rubbing a hoof to her forehead, the unicorn winced as she remembered the bandage that was still there. “Sorry,” Twilight said, both for the rant and remembering Sunset’s injury had come as a result of the girl’s experiment. "You're right I-" “I'm sorry but I can’t stay here, I have friends on the other side of the portal that might be in trouble. When you pulled me through, something was happening, some sort of magical surge. It was big, really big, that amount of magic that I felt since…” The unicorn trailed off and shivered at a thought. Shaking herself out of it, she continued, “That kind of power usually means something bad, and I can’t let my friends face that alone,” the unicorn said meeting the young scientist’s eyes. “They were there for me in the worst times in my life, and I know I don’t deserve them considering I’ve been pretty lousy at the whole friendship thing, but unlike some people I won’t abandon a friend that needs me.” “Alright, what can I do to help?” Twilight wasn’t sure if it was the pony’s determination that made her agree or the fact that by the end of her speech, Sunset’s eyes seemed to shine with unshed tears. Sunset Shimmer did not want to cry. She didn’t have time for that now. Trying to get herself back under control, Sunset took a deep breath in as she brought an extended forehoof into her barrel and then slowly released it as she moved the limb back out. Recognizing the move, Twilight let her finish before mumbling, “I do the same thing when I’m stressing. My babysitter taught it to me when I was younger.” Meeting the girl’s gaze, Sunset smirked. “Picked it up recently, myself, from a friend. She learned it from her foalsitter when she was younger.” The mention of the former sitter reminded Twilight what she had come back to the lab for. “Oh no. Cadance!” Twilight said, starting to rush around the room, cramming the supplies she needed to take home in her backpack. “I told her I’d meet her outside so she can take me home. I can’t have her coming back here to get me.” Once packed, her gaze fell on the two creatures staring up at her. “Um, I have to sneak the two of you out of here. I promised Cadance I’d keep you out of sight from Cinch,” the scientist said addressing the dog, then turning to the pony she added, “and no one knows about you yet, and I’m not sure how I’d even begin to explain.” Looking over at the pet carrier still sitting near the desk, she turned to the two, “Well, Cadance already saw me with the carrier. If you two both squeezed…” “Oh, no,” Spike cut in. “I will not be trapped in that thing with her.” “Yeah, I’m not really big on the idea of being locked in a cage again either,” The unicorn added. “Well do either of you have any suggestions on how to get all of us out of here without raising suspicions?” the scientist asked. “No problem,” Spike said, waving a paw. “I can just hide out in your backpack like I normally do.” “Fine, but then what about Sunset?” The pony in question was sitting on her haunches while using a forehoof to tap her chin. “You have any more bags?” “Yeah,” Twilight said, pulling out the duffle bag from under the cot where she’d stored her school uniform earlier, “but I don’t think you’ll fit in it.” The unicorn smirked as her horn began to radiate in a crimson glow. “Leave that to me.” Twilight watched in a shocked stupor as the aura from Sunset’s horn expanded to encompass all of the pony’s body. As she watched the unicorn’s face scrunch adorably in concentration, it didn’t appear to be anything more than a bizarre light show. Noting that the damaged pendant she still wore around her neck was not reacting, Twilight sighed internally adding repairs to the growing list of things she now had on her plate thanks to today. “Oh no you don’t,” Twilight heard Sunset say. Her coat seemed to be damp from sweat now as she watched the pony backing away from her. No, Twilight realized, not backing away, shrinking. As she watched, the previously small pony was reduced in size until she was just slightly larger than Spike. Suddenly, Sunset gasped. “Oh, ponyfeathers,” she breathed out, as the light that encompassed her winked out of existence and she slumped to the floor. Rushing over to the downed pony, Twilight called out to her in concern, “Sunset! Sunset, are you okay?” A groan from the unicorn forestalled a panic attack from the girl, though her worry was still apparent. “Don’t worry, Twi,” Sunset said looking to reassure the teen, "just overexerted myself a bit with that spell. Probably not the best idea casting after a blow to the head. Manipulating the thaumic field was like trying to wrangle breezies, but I’ll be fine in a second.” Unfortunately, that was not the case as, when she tried to stand, she nearly toppled face-first back into the linoleum. Luckily, Twilight was there and, to her surprise, managed to catch the collapsing unicorn, saving her from possible injury and proving at least one of her past P.E. teachers wrong in the process. “Don’t worry, Sunset,” Twilight said, her concern starting to rise, “We’ll get you to a doctor, or a vet, I don’t know, we’ll find someone who can help." Cradling the downed pony in much the same way she did Spike thanks to her change in size, Twilight began to move for the door. “No,” the little pony mumbled, “I’ll be fine. Just…need…slee...” When Sunset stopped talking, Twilight had a minor heart attack until she noticed the tiny unicorn’s barrel moving steadily. Deciding to trust Sunset on her own self-diagnosis, the teen carefully carried the sleeping pony to the duffle. Twilight used the extra clothes she had to pad the bottom of the bag and then laid Sunset on top, zipping the bag only as much as was necessary to keep someone from seeing inside. “Come on, Spike,” Twilight called to her little purple puppy who seemed to want to keep an eye on the other bag. Spike reluctantly hopped into the backpack, and Twilight picked both up noting how much easier the task was compared to the first struggle she’d had with the unconscious unicorn. Locking up her lab, Twilight headed for the parking lot as fast as she could.