//------------------------------// // Surprise for Spike // Story: Sombra's Recovery // by MisterEdd //------------------------------// "Who are you?" "I'm your new best friend, Luna. Your only friend." "Celestia is to blame for everything! She's jealous!" "Year number eighty-seven on the moon..." "Now to find the Elements of Harmony and destroy them!" "It's time that the night reigned supreme!" "Year number three-hundred-and-ninety-four..." "Pleasant dreams, Twilight Sparkle." "Twilight!" "Huh?" Twilight peered down at Spike, the dragon staring at her with saucer-wide eyes. "What happened?" "You zoned out again." After the Midnight Sparkle Incident, she'd become prone to blacking out, her mind replaying segments of Nightmare Moon and Luna's memories at random intervals. Her fugue states thankfully never affected her while in the middle of an adventure or a dangerous task and had actually decreased over the past few weeks. Princess Celestia concluded that it was a side-effect of having the eidolon invading her thoughts and attempting to take over both her mind and body. This process, according to Princess Luna, who had undergone a similar transformation, involved the merger of both parties, causing them to combine thoughts, feelings, and memories. Had Nightmare been successful with Twilight as she had been with Luna, then Twilight's consciousness would've been effectively dead, replaced by the eidolon's own and it was unknown if even the Elements of Harmony would've reversed the damage. Setting aside her books, Twilight parked herself in the nearest chair and rubbed at her face. "I'm sorry, Spike. I was having another Nightmare-slash-Midnight episode. It's like those bad dreams I was having right before she took control. Thank Faust they're not as terrifying or vivid." "And you can actually sleep," Spike added. "Seriously, I thought you'd turn into some kind of insomniac zombie." "That too." Twilight stood back up. "Both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna told me that they'd eventually fade away in their own time so there's not much I can do about it. Anyway, let's head out and see what the others are doing. I want to make sure everything's perfect for Sombra's arrival and that he feels welcomed." "I don't know, Twi. That sounds easier said than done." Heading over to Sugarcube Corner, the pair found the others already in attendance. While Pinkie Pie was serving a round of milkshakes, Rainbow Dash was finishing up a story about flight camp, a topic that sparked a special interest in Fluttershy-as she'd attended flight camp with Rainbow-and Applejack, who slid her chair closer to the prismatic storyteller. "So then the colt was like, 'Why don't you put your bits where your mouth is?' And I was like, 'I'd rather put my hoof where your face is!" and I totally laid him out. He flew away crying and his friends immediately backed off. None of them ever tried to mess with me again." "Wow Rainbow, I didn't know that's why those jerks stayed away from you." "Glad t' hear yah gave those creeps what fer." Rainbow Dash cockily leaned back in her chair. "It was nothing, really." "Well I disagree with your choice," Rarity chimed in. "Violence is never the answer." "No, violence is the question," Rainbow corrected her. "And the answer is, 'Yes!'" "Hi Twilight, hi Spike!" Pinkie cheered and waved them over. "You just missed a super-special-awesome story about Rainbow Dash sticking it to some bullies while she and Fluttershy were at flight camp!" Twilight nodded. "Yeah, we just caught the ending but it sounds epic." "Pfft, 'epic'?" Rainbow scoffed. "Try amaze-tacular!" "That's...not even a word." "Well it should be." Pinkie laid two fresh milkshakes down in front of the newcomers, speedily topping the treats with whipped cream and cherries in a practiced flourish. She added a straw each, giving Spike's glass a neon-green crazy straw, before turning her attention to the whipped cream can. Opening her mouth impossibly wide, Pinkie deposited a mountain of creamy, snow-white goodness directly into her open maw, her cheeks puffing out to the size of basketballs. She then swallowed, licking away any remains of cream and humming in delight. Twilight lightly sucked on her straw with Spike following suit, albeit with the energetic fervor befitting a child consuming something sugary and full of fat. "Wow, this is excellent Pinkie!" Twilight exclaimed. "Yeah," Spike nodded. "It's way better than what you usually serve. Is the ice cream or-...?" Spike heaved forward and belched loudly. This time, however, in place of green flames, a flash of blue-white shot past Applejack's head and impacted the back corner of the shop with a thud. They all turned and exited their collective seats, trepidly gathering around the spot where the projectile made contact, the air around them chilly enough to make their breaths visible. A jagged, blue-white mass of ice crackled and steamed on the wall and ceiling, newly-formed icicles dangling off of its surface like stalactites. Rainbow Dash stared at Pinkie in shock. "Jeez Pink, what was in those milkshakes?" "I don't think it was the milkshake," Twilight murmured as she leaned forward and examined the ice. "Then wha' was it? 'Cause Ah ain't never seen Spike do that before." "Me neither," Fluttershy said quietly. "I thought dragons only breathed fire." "Yeah, me too," Spike groaned and rubbed his stomach. "That was weird-..." He burped again, a streak of lightning launching out of his mouth, knocking him back onto his hindquarters. The bolt sliced through the top of Pinkie's mane and struck an overhead light, the bulb flashing repeatedly prior to fizzling out and popping. Pinkie fluffed her mane back into place while Rarity lifted Spike back to his feet and concernedly looked him over. "Are you alright?" Spike nodded. "I-I think so..." "How the hay did this happen?" Applejack wondered aloud. Pinkie darted up behind Spike. "Were you bitten by a radioactive chipmunk?" "No." "Chosen by a wizard to be his champion and gaining powers by being made to speak his name?" "No." "Given a special emotion-powered ring by an alien cop?" "I'm not even wearing a ring." The pink mare shrugged. "Then I've got nothing." Twilight encapsulated her horn in a raspberry glow and waved it over the drake from top to bottom. "Hmm, so far, I can't pick up any traces of foreign magic. From the looks of it, these 'anomalies'-for lack of a better term-all seem to originate from Spike." She then pulled some paper out of her bag and scribbled a quick letter. "Princess Celestia might have some idea as to what's going on." She passed the rolled-up letter to Spike, everyone else moving away from him. "Well," he gulped. "Here goes nothing." Fwoosh! The scroll vanished in a puff of green fire, causing the mares to all sigh in relief. Not even a full minute went by before Spike burped up a response: Dear Twilight, I have been anticipating this day for a long time, though I have had my doubts of its arrival, especially this soon. Spike's onset of elemental-based breaths are not some curse or foreign spell but magic seeped deep within him, cultivating since birth until its eventual release. For you see, on the day that you hatched him, you imbued his egg with unicorn magic and, as magic is energy and therefore can't be destroyed but transformed, Spike absorbed that magic within himself. I suspect that his recent exposure to the Elements of Harmony may've triggered his latent magical talents. I will send for him as soon as I can so that proper tests may be performed. For the time being, I believe that you should keep him isolated until he has a better handle on his new abilities, not just for his safety but for the sake of others. Your teacher, Princess Celestia "So what does it say?" Rarity inquired "Apparently, when I first hatched Spike's egg, some of my magic was transferred into him directly, subtly altering his draconic physiology by inserting thaumaturgic radiation into his genetic makeup." Rainbow scratched her head. "Um, care to translate for those of us that don't speak Egghead?" "Right...basically, I accidentally gave Spike some of my magic and he ended up with his powers." "Does Princess Celestia have a solution?" Fluttershy asked hopefully. "Not at the moment. She's sending someone to bring him to the castle for more study but for now, Spike has to isolate himself." "But I feel fine-..." "Right now, yes, but that might change and we must be ready for it." She gave him a quick nuzzle and, establishing eye contact, addressed him softly: "I'm just looking out for you. You know that, right?" "I know." "Then let's get you home. Don't worry. I'm sure this'll all be over soon." Twilight delivered that lie so convincingly that she herself believed it.