By the time Twilight landed in the castle courtyard, her wings ached and she was in desperate need of some water. Though privately, she knew it was better to hold off on the water for a time when she wasn’t about to pass out. She wasn’t sure if she would be able to reason with the water without getting blasted in the face in her state.
Her exhaustion was forgotten in lieu of Copper’s face. He and Steelwing were exiting the castle.
“You!” Twilight howled.
Copper only had time to shriek before Twilight knocked him clean off his hooves and his back was pressed firmly into the dusty ground. Twilight proceeded to unleash her entire library of swear words on the old unicorn. As they became harsher and harsher, Copper slowly shrank back as much as he could. Steelwing sniffed and resolutely turned her back on the spectacle, looking as if she were about to head back to her library.
“The Princess already has had firm words with Professor Copper,” Steelwing’s voice floated through the air.
“‘Firm words’?!” Twilight’s voice became shrill, “He put five lives on the line and he got ‘firm words’?!”
Steelwing sighed and turned back around, “It was an incomplete spell. It was missing something and the Princess refuses to tell me what. Nothing truly wrong has been done.”
Twilight reluctantly got off of Copper and hissed, “You’re lucky first-degree murder is illegal. Get out of my sight,”
Copper had the gall to laugh nervously before shuffling away. Smoke issued from Twilight’s nose. She wondered what her punishment would be if she torched his behind.
Steelwing gazed after Copper’s retreating form, “Believe me, Miss Sparkle. You’re not the only one questioning our Princess right now,”
“Oh I’m questioning alright,” Twilight growled, “I’m questioning why Celestia insists on angering a dragon. It doesn’t usually end too well for anyone,”
Steelwing cracked a smile, “The rumors of your infamous temper don’t do you justice, Miss Sparkle. Princess Luna wouldn’t tell anyone about the burn scar on her muzzle,”
“Not my fault she decided to use Spike as a living shield,” Twilight muttered, eyes still trained on where Copper disappeared.
Steelwing stamped a delicate hoof into the ground as she cackled. After a few moments, Steelwing collected herself and invited her back into the library with the excuse of wanting someone interesting to talk to before Twilight inevitably left to go back to the commoners.
Just as Twilight got settled on the rug in front of the fire, she sprang back onto her paws and blew letter fire out. Steelwing sighed as ash settled on a nearby desk. Strangely, there wasn’t a seal on the scroll, nor was there her name on it. Unease prickled her tail fur and she took a fortifying breath before unfurling the scroll and reading it.
Steelwing peered over her shoulder and only got to read the first few lines before Twilight sprang up again and made her way to the doors. The crazed, frantic look was back on the dragon’s face and Steelwing only felt a little bad for the pony that decided to send that letter. Twilight left without a goodbye and Steelwing sighed to herself.
Oddly, the letter that was left behind began a slow snake charmer dance. Fire slowly spread across the parchment like wayward hair. The flames that licked the paper did nothing to damage it and Steelwing didn’t know what to make of it.
It was simply too much to ask for something interesting to happen in Canterlot. All of the excitement always happened whenever the dragon visited and those were becoming sparser and sparser. Case in point was when the letter screamed, startling the unicorn. The parchment disintegrated into ash and silence settled in the library. Steelwing sighed again.
Twilight was sure her wings would fall off but she was too frantic to care. Spike broke open the contained letter fire vial she saved him for emergencies.
“Dear Mom, your friends are being weird. Rainbow Dash came to watch over me instead of Fluttershy and she wasn’t acting normal. Rainbow Dash kept looking for books on how to care for animals and didn’t even ruffle my mane once. Mom, Rainbow Dash’s cutie mark is different. It looks like Fluttershy’s and I’m scared. Rainbow Dash was acting really weird and didn’t tell me why she came instead of Fluttershy. She only said Fluttershy was busy. Your son, Spike.”
Steelwing’s words echoed in the dragon’s ears, “Incomplete spell,”
Twilight wheezed for breath and she almost missed the landing balcony entirely. Thankfully, the tips of her claws managed to grip onto the ledge. She clawed her way back onto it and opened the doors. Spike was waiting and he immediately bounded forward. The corner of her mouth quirked up in a wane smile when Spike attempted to help her down the stairs and into the kitchen.
Twilight huffed a laugh as Spike talked down the water and she gulped it down gratefully. She was still panting slightly and waited for her son to speak. There was an odd look on his face and he fidgeted a little. Immediately, Twilight knew Spike did something she wouldn’t have approved of. She internally groaned.
“Alright, what did you do after sending the letter?”
Spike started guiltily but answered, “I went around town and checked on everyone else. Rarity has Rainbow Dash’s cutie mark and was trying to do some weather spells. I think she zapped one of Applejack’s trees with lightning,” Twilight winced at that, “Applejack has Rarity’s cutie mark and I think she’s running the Carousel Boutique. Pinky Pie was doing Applejack’s chores and Big Mac looked really confused,” Spike stopped here to shudder a little, “Fluttershy is at Sugar Cube Corner trying to make party favors,”
Twilight furrowed her eye ridges, “Did she hurt you?”
“Not on purpose!” Spike immediately defended Fluttershy, “She just let go of a balloon when she saw me and it knocked a bunch of stuff over,”
Twilight sucked in a sharp breath and Spike flinched. Instantly, Twilight tamped down on her growing rage for Copper. Later, she would deal with the old coot later.
“Ok. I’m going to tell you this, Spike. One of my co-workers did something very very stupid and that’s why this is happening. Don’t go spreading that around but do you think you can do damage control for a couple of days? I’ll be flying from here and Canterlot a lot in the next few weeks if we are to fix this,”
Spike nodded eagerly but deflated a little at Twilight’s sharp look.
“If it gets too much for you, you will tell me. I’m going to make more vials of dragon fire for you. I don’t care if I’m busy and about to have a major breakthrough, you will send a letter the moment you feel overwhelmed, you hear me?”
Spike gulped but nodded again. Determination burned in his eyes and Twilight knew she had nothing much to worry about.
“You know where our bits are. Don’t skip meals, get adequate rest, and don’t do anything that involves you leaping from high places,”
Spike sighed and rolled his eyes loudly, “That was once,”
Twilight hummed and smiled, “If I’m not here by nightfall, please send a status report. That goes for any day that I’m not spending the night here,”
“Got it,” Spike stood as tall as he could and leveled a salute at her. Some of Twilight’s stress was wiped away as she laughed.
“Alright, soldier, you have your orders. I’ll be in the basement making more vials shout if you need me,”
Spike let his mane get ruffled before he sprinted out the library doors to begin his mission. When he disappeared from sight, Twilight finally allowed her ire to emerge. Her wings rustled and her claws involuntarily clenched. Damn Copper and his ugly little behind to the depths of Tartarus.