"... Dusk, it was awfully kind of ya’ to offer Elu and ah shelter during this here storm and all…”
"... I’m sensing you’re about to add a 'but’ to your sentence, Applejack.”
"Eeyup, ah am… Can ya’ guess why?”
"... Is it because of the boo-”
"Yes it’s because of the book, Dusk" Applejack growling lowly. "It's absolutely, one hundred percent because of that goshdarn book.”
"...”
Dusk Shine sighed.
"Yeah,” the lavender unicorn rubbed his foreleg shyly, looking away; unable to meet his larger friend's judging eyes. "You’re right. Breaking out Slumber 101: All You've Ever Wanted to Know About Slumber Parties But Were Afraid to Ask seemed like a good idea at the time… B-but I’m starting to suspect that we aren't its target demographic.”
"Speak for yourself, darling~” Elusive chimed musically from behind his pore cleansing mud mask. Levitating the tome up with his magic, the unicorn proceeded to flip excitedly through the many remaining pages. "I don’t know about you two gents, but I’m especially looking forward to the makeover chapte-”
Whoomph
Smash!
With one fell swoop Applejack apple bucked Slumber 101 straight out a window, scattering shards of glass in the process.
"Applejack!” Dusk gasped, as he stared agape at the ill-mannered cowboy's destruction.
"Oh don’t go actin' like ya’ don’t have a fix-broken-glass spell tucked away in that big old noggin of yours, hayseed.”
"...”
… Twinkle twinkle pop
"Still rude,” Solaris' faithful student pouted grumpily, his horn cooling from his minor spellwork.
"I concur,” Elusive sided with Dusk, removing his mud mask as he did. Already annoyed with his earth pony companion due to recent events, the fashion stallion's brow began to furrow. "You shouldn’t destroy other ponies' property, Applejack.”
"Elu, come on,” the farmer shrugged, now paying more attention towards a nearby bookshelf than his friends' heated glares. "You know as well as ah do that if Dusk had kept the darn thing around he was gonna keep readin' from it, and makin' us do all kinds of foalish nonsense! If ah had to put up with that silly filly manure for one more minute… Honestly, y'all should be thankin' me for getting rid of it!”
"... S… S-silly?” the youngest member of the trio wilted, his disappointment palpable. "Foalish? Oh... Y-yeah… Guess sleepovers are pretty silly and foalish, huh… I’m sorry for suggesting it...”
"Dusk,” Elusive lamented, his heart going out to the saddened bookworm.
Reaffirming his beliefs that Applejack was responsible for the quote unquote 'ruining of everything’, he turned now to face him head on.
"Now listen here, you ruffian! That was most uncalled fo-”
Plop!
Before the white stallion could enact his vengeance, a tome was suddenly dropped roughly, and loudly, upon the old wooden floor; cutting off his rant.
"Here,” AJ grunted, having been the book's tosser. "Title looks a bit more practical on this one. Ah'm bettin’ it’ll give us all a grand old time…” He then turned towards Dusk Shine, startling the purple pony out of his funk. "Have ya' read this book yet, buddy?”
Blinking, the studious unicorn looked at the cover, and squinted at it closely. "Um, let me see… Guys Nights: A Primer…”
…Twinkle twinkle twinkle
"No, I haven’t read this one at all,” Dusk elaborated, offering nothing more until the book was hovered over to him and its pages opened. "Looks pretty similar though. Indoor sports, snack suggestions, a list of fun looking games... Ooooh~! There’s even diagrams!”
"Well there we go then,” Applejack smirked, proud in himself for having 'saved the day'. "Now we can party real proper like, boy howdy!”
"Maybe we should allow Dusk to read a bit more first before we dive straight in, AJ,” cautiously warned Elusive, as his eyes lingered on the name of the tome's author. "Not that I don't trust the literary talent of mister... bleh... Lady Killa... but I have an inkling that this is not the sort of manual we will want to follow blindly. ”
"Pffff, quit sweating the small stuff,” the goatee adorned workhorse whinnied, disregarding the warning entirely. "Best way to figure this junk out is to live it.”
“Bu-”
"No more buts,” he then spat, before turning back to Dusk Shine. "So what’s first on this evenin's a-gend-a?”
"Ummm," Dusk complied to his friend's heavily accented command. "Looks like cider drinking… Followed by more cider drinking… Followed by something called ‘chick-measuring’.”
"..."
"..."
"... Shoot, ah’m down."
Elusive sighed.
"Is it too late to go back to the makeovers?”
~At the Same Time, Underneath the Same Sky~
"What about your brother?"
“Hmph… What about him?”
… Well.
Wasn't expecting to hear an answer like that today.
Sensing some hostility here...
"Are you two still not talking?" I, in a bid to safeguard my alibi, ask a question I already know the answer to; well aware of the landmines I’m stepping over by doing so.
"Sigh… Yes, Barbara,” the tired elder brother admits sorrowfully, looking away; once again too ashamed to address me directly. "I'm afraid to admit that we're still in the exact same position that we were in last month."
That's...
… Huh.
I guess that lines up pretty well with Artemis’ testimony from a few days ago... but Princy was pretty adamant that his big bro was the one dishing out cold shoulders, not him!
Hmm... Curiouser and curiouser.
"When was the last time you tried speaking with him?” I again probe conversationally, as I verbally tiptoe further into the lion's den.
"Last night...” the Prince reveals with a passive wave of his hoof, and a grunt of frustration on his lips.
My mask remains solid as I internally scream a big, fat, WTF.
"... but he wouldn’t unlock the door for me," he finishes fully, granting me instant relief. "Since I wasn’t about to forfeit the scant amount of trust I've earned from him by forcing my way in, I opted to instead speak with him through the wood. He never replied to my words, but I'd like to think that we still made a fair amount of progress in the end!”
"T-that couldn't be further from 'progress' if you tried, dude!" I mentally berate the dumb, dumb stallion.
Yeah Solaris being clueless about Artemis' absence may work in my favor... but that's not going to stop me from calling out a half-assed attempt where I see it!
"I swear, men are so flipping clueless when it comes to being sensitive and tactf-."
"I’ve since come to the conclusion that Archie requires space more than anything else right now," the alicorn interrupts my inner tangent, regaining my attention. "He has gone to great lengths to hint at such, so I felt it was only right to grant it to him.”
Twinkle twinkle Pop
"I mean, look at this!” he suddenly orders, as he waves around a freshly summoned envelop. "He even sent me a postcard from Hope Hollow in the, pun intended, hope of convincing me that he left Canterlot underneath my nose!”
Again my body tenses up.
Ohhhh yeah; I did say something to Princy along the lines of 'you should really write to your brother', didn't I...?
Gulp
I really gotta learn to stop sticking my nose into everypony's business.
"...”
"...”
… Twinkle twinkle Pop
"... Obviously it’s fake though,” Solaris then snorts, dismissing the letter. "It's a well done forgery for sure, but nonetheless fake.”
U... U-ugh!
Stop… playing… with my… emotions… horse.
"What makes you think he’s not actually there?” I question through gritted teeth.
I'm rapidly losing my patience for stupid twists here, folks... Though I guess it's impressive that I have any patience left at all after everything I've been through!
Mothers should qualify for sainthood, damn it.
"Well the message wasn’t hornwritten for one thing,” his highness shrugs, and at this point I have to wonder if he’s trolling me here or not. "Centuries may have passed since I saw it last, but I think I would recognize my own kin’s writing if it was presented to me; of which this is not.”
"Are… A-are you seriously suggesting that a stranger wrote it then?!” I snap, momentarily losing my cool.
An inquisitive raised eyebrow is my reward for my outburst.
Crap.
"I-I mean, how do you know it’s not real?” I stammer, trying to calm myself back down. I don’t want to suggest to Solaris that his brother has left Canterlot for real or anything... but… come on. "What makes more sense? Him being there and sending you a postcard, or him sending a bribe to somepony else to do it for him?”
"The latter,” my fellow cloud sitter deadpans, causing my eye to twitch. "Knowing Archie like I do, the latter is clearly the truth.”
"Bu-”
"Your critical thinking skills have improved impressively since I last saw you, dear Barbara,” Solaris chuckles mirthfully, cutting off my words. “You’re becoming quite the smart young lady! Ponyville is treating you well indeed, it seems.”
"Don’t change the subject,” I bark before he can disregard my question. "How does the latter make any more sense than the former?!”
Yes I realize that I’m fighting to spill Artemis’ secret.
Yes I realize that this is counterproductive towards my end goal.
Yes I realize that the big guy is going to get super suspicious if I keep hounding this point to him…
… but darn it all if his statement makes no him-damned sense whatsoever!
How can he think something so asinine?! How can he think something so nonsensical?!
How can he thin-
"Because I saw Archie roaming the halls just yesterday, Barbara.”
…
…
… Oh.
That’s how.
"Ah,” I concede, pretending that makes a lick of sense. “I... see.”
"Hope Hollow is too far away for somepony to travel to in a day, even with alicorn magic,” Solaris continues to explain, as if it was the simplest thing in the world. "The letter itself also contained contradictory statements about the sender having started their ‘journey’ the evening prior; a fact I know to be false.”
"Because you saw Artemis walking around then too,” I stiffly finish that train of thought, concealing my surprise.
"Exactly!” the elder brother happily nods, pleased that I'm finally seeing the whole picture. "My dear Archie may be trotting about in the shadows, and in a bedsheet of all things, but I’d recognize those eyes of his anywhere. Cyan hued irises are fairly uncommon in Canterlot, you see.”
…
… Huh.
That’s… Huh.
… Did Artemis seriously get cold hooves?
But... that doesn’t sound right... He told me he was heading to that Mount Aris place so he wouldn’t bump into Solaris! He told me he didn't want his brother finding out what he had tried to pull in Ponyville! Yeah he's apparently walking around in a bedsheet, i.e. his cloak, in order to hide his noticeable lack of horn… but… I don’t know… That still just sounds… wrong to me.
Princy was passionate when he spoke about wanting to see modern Equestria. He was determined when he said he wanted to become a better stallion too. He was also excited about being given the opportunity to speak to others not as a prince, but as a normal pony.
He was… well... honest.
He was the complete opposite of his big brother...
… That’s why I don’t want to call him a quitter just yet.
I want to continue to put my faith in him because I want to see him succeed, and because I want everything I’ve done so far to protect him to not have been in vain! For the sake of my conscience, and maybe even my sanity, I have to believe that Princy’s still out there searching for a magical means to restore his horn.
And if he isn’t…
… Well then I want my darn bits back.
"If he wants me to believe that he’s off galivanting across Equestria, taking in the sights, when in actuality he just wants to be left alone… well… Who am I to judge?” my host chortles loudly, clearly seeing his brother’s antics as cute instead of worrying. "As long as he continues to lower and raise the moon, and heeds my warnings about the Shards of Discord, I will gladly grant him as much space as he needs.”
"Brothers are complicated,” I comment somewhat absentmindedly, putting on a show that I’m totally still paying attention and not, say, thinking about a billion different things like I normally do.
"That they are, Barbara,” Solaris bows his head solemnly. "That they are…
"... But you didn’t travel all this way to talk about my dear, wayward brother,” he goes on, now sitting up a little straighter on his comfy cloud. “And you certainly didn’t come here to worry about nasty old draconequui either.”
"R… R-right,” I confirm, shaking my head. "Right, our royal business. Almost forgot all about that!”
"Well I certainly haven’t,” my sole audience member grins, enjoying the sight of my shoulders slackening. "Hopefully this will prove to be a much more pleasant affair for us both.”
“Yeah,” I second that sentiment, as I allow a little bit of my anxiety to ebb out of me.
A little bit, but not all.
I’m not completely out of the woods yet. Not by a long shot. If Prince Artemis is kicking around these parts, that could pose a serious problem to my alibi... but I doubt he’s planning to rat me out. He would have done so already if he was, and Solaris would have likely come at me full throttle if he had. I doubt even the big guy himself could hold onto a trump card that strong for long.
Figuring out whether Mister Former Nightterror Nebula is back in town or not has still become a secondary objective though, as too has assessing the amount of damage Discord’s chaos magic has wrought. I also want to help the transfigured ponies somehow. My options may be pretty barren in that particular department, but that shouldn't stop me from at least trying. Even if it's something as simple as sending out get well soon cards, I'm sure it'll go a long way towards making somepony feel better...
… Beyond those three problems, however, there's also the matter of Stardust Glimmer and his vendetta with Dusk…
… which, in comparison to literally everything else that happened this week, is a deviation from canon that has become shockingly quaint.
Don't get be wrong, that stallion's whole deal is still worrisome... it's just not as much anymore. Compared to Discord's semi-return, or Artemis' mutilation Stardust is more of a minor annoyance than a 'omg-the-future-is-doomed-assume-the-fetal-position' issue; something to maybe be on the look out for, but not something to pull my non-existent hair over.
I think I can afford to ease up a little bit on my fretting for now…
...
… Does knocking on cloud work in place of wood? I hope it does, cuz that’s all I’ve got on me besides my scales, my purse, and my memories.
Speaking of my memories:
"Where would you like me to start first, Solaris?” I openly ask, as I settle in comfortably into my own cloud seat. It's uncannily similar to a beanbag chair, now that I'm really feeling it. "The gala tickets? The baked bad incident? Or do you want me to jump ahead to the stuff from my letter?”
"Please, Barbara,” the Prince smiles with his eyes. "Start from the very beginning. I’d hate to miss out on any important details.”
"... You just don’t want me to skip over the part where Dusk was forced into wearing makeup, do you?”
"Hah!" the stallion laughs, admitting defeat. "Guilty as charged, my dear. Guilty as charged… Can you really blame me though? You're the one who snuck that amusing photo into the friendship letter, after all... Whiiiich reminds me; did you by chance happen to bring any more of-”
"Yes I brought plenty of photos for you, Gleam, and their parents to laugh over, sir.”
Solaris tents his wingtips together sinisterly.
"Excellent.”
◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠
The actual meeting that followed was a lot more like the one I had prepared for, and a lot less like the one I was fearing. It was simple, informative, and only somewhat dodgy. During it I went over everything I observed in Ponyville from the boys’ fight over the gala tickets, to Rainbow’s debut as a lady of class, to even what little of Dragonshy I was apart of, hug included.
The Prince hung onto every word I shared, ever eager to hear what Dusk’s reactions were to things, and the sort of lessons he was learning. Reading about them from friendship letters was one thing, but hearing it from the non-horse’s mouth was apparently something else entirely. Seldom was my opinion of events asked for, of which I was grateful. My budding friendships with Sweepy Belle and Scooteroll, Red Gala's uncomfortable interest in my upbringing, the fact that I wasn’t actually watching Butterscotch’s animals when I said I was; these were just some of the details I didn't particularly care to go over with Solaris. That was information he could easily use against me, so I'm glad I was able to keep it to myself. His lack of interest in my personal life made the concealing of my encounter with Artemis super easy, barely an inconvenience.
What wasn’t easy was Boast Busters.
Explaining what happened during this specific episode proved far trickier than I had envisioned. I had to go over the fact that I had prior knowledge about the event first, which meant I had to explain that it was one of the many “visions” that had come to me during my birth. This caused a bit of friction between the Prince and I as I attempted to sidestep around listing just how many of such events I was already privy to, and what I was hiding. My usual excuses of “spoilers” or “River and the Stone” only went so far at first, but thankfully Solaris relented once I threw the question right back in his face. He laughed for a bit in his usual way, making excuses about his old age confusing him and the like, before dropping the subject and allowing me to continue on uninterrupted.
Once the episode’s background was established the actual retelling went a lot smoother. Pointing out Stardust Glimmer’s very presence was enough to prove that something was truly amiss, and that I wasn’t simply making excuses for Dusk’s defeat. The altered friendship lesson also earned a gasp, and the Prince got especially quiet when I mentioned how it seemed like the light pink stallion was targeting my charge specifically with his aggressive jabs and accusations. I capped off the retelling by pointing out how the ursa minor from my vision never arrived, and how Stardust had instructed the little fillies Sugar and Spice not to enter the Everfree at all; thus explaining why I thought he was potentially a Seer.
Speaking of Seers, while I didn’t go into any details concerning Artemis’ visit to Ponyville, I did manage to sneak in a question about it for clarity's sake...
◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠
"Hey, so... Solaris?"
Crunch munch munch
"Hmm?” his highness replies 'elegantly' around a bite of an apple.
At some point during our discussion, I can’t remember when, my stomach had growled in a desperate cry for food. Not wanting me to starve, my gracious host teleported back to his castle briefly in order to pick up a well stocked picnic basket.
He even remembered to bring coffee.
Slurp~
Bless.
"Gulp. Ahhh... What is it, Barbara?"
Chewing on a dark roast dunked ruby gemstone, I pause for a moment to gather my thoughts. How to word this how to word this... Okay, got it.
"You asked me earlier why Dusk decided to take on Ponyville's dragon issue without talking to you first, right?" I spit out the first half of my question, confident that it'll lead me to part two.
"Oh yes!" Solaris exclaims back happily, pleased that I had reminded him. Taking a quick sip of his own steaming cup of Joe, his face contorts into a dissatisfied pucker before he continues. "Bleh. Blasted dirt... I had almost forgotten all about that question! I'm still rather curious what the reasoning behind his proactive decision was."
"He saw the smoke in the sky and knew he had to act," I fib, purposefully leaving out Artemis' role. "His friends encouraged him to listen to his gut, and that's probably why he decided to go through with it..."
"Hmm. I see."
"... That's not how it went down in my vision though," I reveal, twisting the story slightly for my own benefit.
The Prince's eyebrow rises, his interest successfully piqued.
"Yup," I confirm with a nod, ready to tackle this issue head on. "It went a little differently from what I can still recall."
In the cartoon, Twilight said she received a letter from Princess Celestia requesting for the girls to handle the snoring dragon. In this reality, Artemis sent that letter instead. He did so in a bid to get closer to me without the boys interfering, which begs the question; did Princess Celestia actually send a letter, or was it instead Princess Luna?
Only one way to find out:
"Twilight Sparkle, Dusk's counterpart, received a letter from Princess Celestia, your counterpart, that asked for her to take care of the dragon," I spit out all the relevant information Solaris needs to hear. He's the Princess' double; he has to have some insight on this oddity. It be stranger if he didn't!
Leaning forward, I wait expectantly for the response.
"..."
"..."
… Eventually, after a bit of humming, the Prince provides me my answer.
It's unfortunately the one I was dreading.
"Given the circumstances, I doubt I would have made a similar call."
Oomph.
And there it is; confirmation that Luna did, in fact, write the letter.
I was afraid of this... Prince Solaris admitting that the thought of writing to Dusk hadn't crossed his mind means that it didn't cross Celestia's either. Taking both sun alicorns out of the equation leaves behind only Artemis, Luna, myself...
… and Spike.
Princess Luna wrote the letter to the girls, meaning she did so in a bid to get closer to him... But what the hell does that make him though...?
"I wonder which Seer chose to act in that realm versus our own... Hmmm..."
… Wha?
"Wha?" I intelligently repeat myself, my mind too stuck on the Spike puzzle to comprehend what Solaris had just said. "What was that about Seers?"
"Hmm? Oh... I was just wondering whether it was Celestia, or your counterpart, that made the decision to deviate from the River's stream," the alicorn casually wing shrugs, as if he wasn't suggesting what I think he's suggesting. "I doubt it was mine. This Princess likely has the same amount of trust in her student as I do in mine... Not that I don't trust Dusk, perish the thought! It's just, well, Equestria has Wonderbolts specifically for situations like thi-"
“Wait, back up a bit,” I cut him off, before he can keep going on this tangent. "You think that Spike... is a Seer?!”
"Why wouldn’t he be?”
"Because that’s… that’s...” I start to argue…
… only to realize that I don’t have a leg to stand on.
"In a world where Barbara The Dragoness is a Seer, why wouldn’t there be one where Spike The Dragon is one too?” Solaris repeats what I had just come to realize. "Does he not also occasionally attend to ‘royal business’ in Canterlot?”
"Well… No, he does... bu-”
"Does he not also keep to the background, and rarely gets involved in major events?”
"W… W-well, no. He also does that too… but that’s only becaus-”
"Does he not also seem more knowledgeable than a child his age should be?”
"H-he’s just… smart,” I deflect with a turning of my head, and a shy rubbing of my arm. "He’s just… really smart for his age… That’s all...”
“Hmm,” Solaris hums to himself, choosing not to press the topic further. Instead he turns his attention towards adding an unholy amount of sugar into his coffee and nothing else.
Chewing on my gemstone, purposefully keeping my mouth too full to talk, I take a much needed moment to digest this strange revelation. Spike’s a Seer… Spike’s a Seer... My first guess was that he was me. My second was that he was at least human. A Seer though...
… That's just... ridiculous... for multiple reasons!
If Spike was a Seer it would be more obvious, right? If Spike’s a Seer he’d be a little more on the ball about things… right? I mean, I sorta get where Solaris is coming from. I’m a Seer, so obviously Spike’s a Seer too… but my powers are artificial! The 'visions’ I have came from my past life as a human; they came from television.
I just can’t picture the Spike from my memories possessing the same level of foresight that I have! He was the comic relief side-character, not some secret mentor! And even if he did somehow obtain the same forewarning as me, I can’t imagine the show he watched was the same one I watched with my daughter! There are just too many differences! I stayed awake longer during Nightterror Nebula’s return! Solaris gave the mane six three gala tickets instead of two! Rainbow Dash knows how to coordinate his skirt with his blouse! Mares are stallions and stallions are mares!!
Our worlds aren't compatible in the slightest!
The only way him knowing the future makes any sort of sense is if… if…
…
… Is if Spike’s visions are of this Equestria instead of the canon one:
‘Staying awake caused a bunch of foals to get sent to the Dream Realm? Well I guess I have to stop drinking so much coffee!’
‘Moving Discord’s statue causes him to shed all over the carpet? Hah! Guess we better leave him in the garden then!’
‘Oh? Talking to Celestia at all sets into motion a series of events where her sister grows super jealous and lashes out at me? I better say nothing at all to avoid all that… Ah, but then who will tell my charge to go take care of the dragon...? Hmmmm… Oh! I know! I’ll just write to Celestia and tell her she needs to write a letter to Twilight! The big lady already knows I’m a Seer, so as long as I tell her the future depends on it she’ll do whatever I sa-’
Stop.
Stop stop stop… stop.
This is utterly insane.
I watched Spike, who watched me watching Spike, who watched Spike watching me watching Spike??
I-it feels like my brain is melting out of my ears here...
"Are you struggling to envision it, Barbara?" Solaris asks me suddenly, causing me to freeze up. "Spike possessing knowledge of this Equestria is a pretty complicated subject to grasp, I'll freely admit."
"Holy guacamole!" I shriek, almost spilling my cup of Joe all over myself. "D-did you just read my mind?! You have to tell me if you can read my mind! It's, like, the law or something!"
"Hah! Settle down, child. Settle down," the Prince laughs at my overreaction, making me feel quite silly. "I can't read minds, thank goodness. I've simply seen that concerned look of yours plastered on many, many a past Seer's face before; particularly on the ones who were gifted foresight into their own alternative timelines like you were."
"... Oh," I blink, absorbing those words. "I... see..."
…
"... Yeah that's exactly what I was thinking," I lower my guard, willingly accepting some guidance. "I don't get it though. If Spike and I are supposed to be the same person, or whatever, and we both have similar-ish ideas of what the future holds, then why does he act so... differently than me?"
"In what way?"
"If he knows this Equestria, and I know his," I struggle to articulate, the picture not coming in all that clearly in my head. "How come I've never seen him doing anything with that info? Like during Dragonshy, he didn-... Oh, sorry. 'Dragonshy' is the, um, nickname I gave to the vision involving the pony named Fluttershy and the big dragon, sir."
"That's adorable."
"T-thanks... Anyways," I resume. "If Spike has about the same level of future know-how in his head that I do, I don't get why it only became obvious during Dragonshy! My visions don't always follow him, but you'd think the two of us would have made similar calls at some point, right?"
With question at last spat out, I wait patiently for Solaris to provide me his take.
"Hmmm... A pair of Seer twins once told me that it's all a matter of perspective, Barbara," the Prince complies to my request for clarity, though he does so in his usual cryptic manner. "From this side of things, Spike is acting upon his visions in a manner that seems strange and foreign to us. Meanwhile, you're acting upon your visions in a manner you think is best for Dusk...
"... On the other side of the coin, however, Spike is acting upon his visions in a manner he thinks is best for his charge, while you're the oddball out.
"Now tell me, dear; is Spike the one whose the stranger here, or is it in fact you?"
My body seizes up for a second… but then my mind puts together what he's trying to say.
"It's a matter of perspective," I answer, parroting his words; understanding things a little better now.
Munch munch crunch
"Exactly," my host speaks with a full mouth. "Gulp... Heh, I'm willing to bet that Celestia and Spike would give the two of us an earful for our usage of our gifts, despite all four of us utilizing it in exactly the same way!"
Slurp~
"So the only difference between us is the actual visions themselves," I take a victory sip of coffee, my head feeling a lot clearer now... at least on this subject.
Whether Spike is my male double who watched the iteration of My Little Pony that featured me, or a normal kid with legitimate Seer powers, is still up to debate; but that doesn't really matter to me anymore, nor does the differences between our visions. Outside of discovering a way to jump dimensions that doesn't involve dying and being reborn, there's no safe path for me that'll lead me towards the truth, so I might as well drop it for now.
In the end, all that really matters is that Spike is a dragon who loves Twilight just like I'm a dragon who loves Dusk. Our knowledge of the future may be similar, but we're both doing what we feel is best for our charges.
If one of us is doing their job better than the other...
… well I guess that's just a matter of perspective.
"Those twins sound super smart," I offer praise, as I begin to finish off the rest of my gemstone.
"I'm glad you agree," Solaris chimes in, as he takes an experimental sip of his cup of sugar with trace amounts of coffee. "I hope you'll get the opportunity to meet them someday, Barbara. I'm sure the Luteces would have much to say concerning your unique, gender-bending perspective of the future."
"Hmmm," I chew, unable to think of anything else to add to the conversation. "I wonder if other Seers would be able to see through my fake clairvoyant act... Eh, problem for another day."
Gulp
With the swallowing of my tasty before-dinner dinner, I drop the subject altogether as I instead resurrect an earlier one. "What are we going to do about Stardust Glimmer?”
Gulp
Finishing off his own meal, the Prince dabs his lips gently with a napkin before answering with, "What do you think we should do, my little Squire?”
Bleh.
Thought we were past the mind games at this point... Hmmm... How to answer this, how to answer this… Okay, I got it.
"I don’t want him to make Dusk cry ever again,” I offer innocently enough, playing my ‘sweet caring child' card. "We still don’t know why he attacked him though!”
“Indeed,” Solaris responds agreeably. "The fact that he singled my student out so readily, and seemingly knew so much about him is, of course, concerning to me.”
"But we don’t know enough yet,” I finish that though tiredly, having realized what my host's next line is going to be. "We need to do research first before we do anything drastic.”
"Snrk”
Now it’s my eyebrow’s turn to rise.
"What’s so funny?” I ask the giggling stallion.
"Snrk,” Solaris again snorts. “I-I’m, heh, sorry, Barbara. It’s just… snrk… That was a very Duskish thing of you to say.”
"Duskish? When did we turn my charge into a noun?" I briefly ponder, before replying with, "I’ll take that as a compliment. Nothing wrong with being well informed!”
"Oh I wholeheartedly agree,” the Prince eases up on his teasing, wiping away a tear as he does. "It just amuses me to no end how similar you two are growing to mirror one another.”
"But Dusk isn’t anything like me...” I counter, not really seeing what the big guy’s suggesting. "He’s still as socially awkward and nerdy as ever… Not that I don’t have my own moments, but still…”
"His sarcastic sense of humor is new,” Solaris counters back. “He rarely displays it around me, but I’ve certainly seen it in action from afar. The snarkiness, the wit; he certainly didn’t have that sort of fire in him back when I first started teaching him. It only seems to have cropped up in the last couple of years or so…
"... Now remind me, my dear; when were you two reunited again? A couple years ago or so, was it~?”
"Okay okay I get it,” I jokingly surrender, taking the hint. "I poisoned your student with the gift of comedy. My bad.”
"Rather you than Bubble Berry, I suppose,” he returns fire in equal good cheer. "No offense to the stallion himself, I’m sure he’s a lovely fellow, but I once foresaw a reality where he replaced me as Dusk’s teacher and it was horrifying.”
I blink back blankly.
"... Was that from that one altered vision you told me about? The one where Dusk ended up being the Element of Laughter instead of Magic?”
"Indeed.”
"... How was it horrifying?”
"It’s a reality where Princess Bluebelle wields the Element of Kindness.”
My whole body shivers.
"Never before have I been so glad to be born in this Equestria, sir.”
"I couldn’t agree more, Barbara. Couldn’t agree more…”
Twinkle twinkle Pop
With a wave of his horn, Solaris teleports our picnic gear away into the ether.
Twinkle twinkle twinkle
Another spark of magic later and I find myself being levitated off of my comfy cloud seat, and placed once again onto the alicorn's back.
"I know just the place where we can begin our research on this Stardust character, dear,” he reveals to me in-between wing and back stretches. "Are you ready for another jolly jaunt into the evening sky?”
"Sure,” I answer cautiously, making my apprehension known. "Please take it slowly this time though. I just ate.”
"That seems fair enough,” the stallion reports back with a determined nod. Ready to go, he next leans over the cloud’s edge and prepares to dive.
"Ahem,” I clear my throat, causing my steed to halt. “Aren’t we forgetting something here?”
Craning his head, the pony looks at me queerly with his one good eye.
Instead of offering a reply, I instead point my index talon skywards…
… towards the still dangerously lowered sun.
"You might want to scooch that back a bit, hun.”
"...”
"..."
"... Was... W-was that lowered this whole time?"
"Yes."
"Really? Goodness me..."
"... Prince Solaris... Please tell me you remember lowering it earlier… Please tell me you didn't use your magic without thinking..."
"..."
"... Sir?"
“... Hehe... heh... hehe... h-hehe... ~Squeak ~"