Dinner started well: Rarity almost accidentally made good on her earlier statement about trampling somepony! The doormare at the restaurant had thrown herself down to bow before the unexpected visiting Princesses, and Rarity was given no time to react. Nopony actually got hurt, but the first few minutes of conversation inevitably revolved around ribbing her for that little incident.
The private room she had mentioned was indeed open, although Spike wasn't sure if that was due to all the ponies out in the patio seating or because of who exactly was coming in to dine. Regardless, he splurged a little and ordered every single item on the menu. That was only 'a little' both because of the manager insisting on applying a royal discount, and because he was positively swimming in bits after all of the questing and bug-slaying he'd been doing.
Of course he wasn't planning to eat it all now, or even to eat most of it. The vast majority went into his Inventory for later portioning and study: If he could reverse engineer even just two or three new dishes with the added gem power from the Dragon's Kitchen? It would be worth every single coin. Everypony else had far more restrained orders, although Pinkie Pie and Princess Celestia tied at a close second behind him: Two starters each, an entree apiece, and desserts for the entire table.
The food came quickly and in waves, so they ended up putting off all thought of conversation until dessert and the subsequent cooldown from such a gigantic feast. Admittedly more than one of them were catching up after an entire day of skipping meals, since they'd all ended up engrossed in their own meetings and conversations. The teacakes during the meeting with Celestia had been a nice snack, but definitely not substantial enough to cover a growing dragon's needs.
Assuming he still had any needs in terms of food, but, again, Gamer.
He tried his best to dance around the subject of Sunset Shimmer when talking to Princess Celestia rather than confronting her so openly. He still wasn't sure what to think about everything he had heard back in the gardens, but... Well, time would tell. As it was they still ended up talking about the meeting room and their respective magic shows, but more focused on his end of the equation.
"I didn't have a chance to comment on it cleanly at the time, Spike... But recall the little magic trick you used earlier today?"
Spike didn't even need to think back to narrow it down: She was probably talking about the mana clump he had thrown around during his demonstration.
"Yeah! I guess you had something to say about it that would have been too far off topic then?"
"Indeed. I was wondering if you might have learned any other special tricks from the same pony who taught you how to do that?"
Ah, so he wasn't the only one poking around for information about that fourth form, huh?
"Lyra didn't teach me any apart from that and its prerequisites, but I do know there are other forms."
The Princess leaned back against her chair and levitated another cannoli up to her muzzle. Her expression was wistful and her tone suggested she was being even more roundabout than usual.
"Lyra Heartstrings, then? I've often enjoyed her works in the past. It's a shame about the trouble she has had with the Changelings in the past, especially during the incident at the Royal Wedding."
Spike read between the lines quickly, parsing all of the Celestia-speak in that little bit of dialogue. 'Her works' was a very specific phrasing that didn't limit it to just the mare's music. 'The trouble' implied that there may be ponies who didn't have problematic relations with the other species, and most importantly, especially during the incident at the wedding? She might as well have outright said that Lyra had encountered other trouble with Changelings before or after, totally unrelatedly.
While he could definitely parse all of that quickly, his own ability to reply was still limited by how quickly he could formulate a good response... for now. Just another thing to grind, right?
"...It is a sad thing to have gone through: I'm happy to say she seems to be getting on fine these days!"
"Good! I am always concerned when my little ponies are forced to endure such things, and I can't look after them all individually forever. Send my regards next time you see her?"
"Gladly!"
The conversation took a more normal turn after that, winding away into other conversations as one pony or another dropped in or out. Eventually Spike decided he'd gotten everything he was going to get out of Celestia tonight, so he went to tackle the other major question that needed answering.
When everypony else was embroiled in a conversation except for himself and Princess Luna, he quietly sent her a party invitation. She accepted it without question, and he initiated the silent communication from Susurration.
"Princess... can you tell me how you would describe your own Benediction?"
The Princess of the Night looked at him silently before replying, turning her eyes towards the ceiling as she did.
"Imagine if you went to sleep and dreamed a beautiful dream. You see things in the dream that could lead to greater understanding, to new potential, to a different way of life. But it isn't real. It's 'only' a dream. But what if, upon waking in the morning? A little bit of that dream came back with you. Something unreal that reality has no choice but to accept. My Benediction is like that, a slice of the moonlight which its bearers carry forever."
He thought about that for a while in silence: There was no need to check his quest after a reply like that, but he took a peek just to be thorough.
> Learn the nature of Luna's Benediction from her.
"Thank you, Luna."
She smiled, whether at his simple reply or at the dropped title or something else entirely.
"You are very welcome, nephew mine. I am sure you will make us even more proud with time."
Spike didn't have a reply to that, so he just broke the party connection and dug into his tiramisu.
- - - -
Everypony said their goodbyes and split back up after dinner. Twilight and Celestia went on a trip of their own, probably taking the rare chance to be together outside of the castle. Luna and Rarity went back to the castle to continue their work: Even as they walked out they were engrossed in a conversation about modern fabric technology and advancements in sewing. That left Spike and Pinkie alone together to make preparations for the trip back to Ponyville.
The first step of prep was always planning, as Twilight had often told him. Traveling back home was somewhere around a hundred miles, if they went straight as the crow flies. That was a pretty dang big 'if', actually: He and Pinkie were both faster than the average pony, they had great stamina, and they were willing to take more dangerous routes instead of detours. That meant they could allocate twenty miles a day as a baseline and have a hefty margin for errors or issues.
They talked about their options as they started roaming around the early-evening streets to reach the market districts of Canterlot. Supplies would be the next big thing, and they both had... a lot of different ideas for what to pack. They decided that rather than spending time with a more traditional new-couple experience of arguing over conflicting needs, they'd split the difference and pool their assets to buy everything from both lists. An Inventory is a beautiful thing, after all! Not to mention Pinkie Pie's own little tricks for carrying all of her bits and bobs...
Suffice it to say their shopping took the better part of the evening, and they only left the borders of Canterlot proper after the moon was high in the sky. The hoof paths out of Canterlot were kind of a boring way to leave, so they cut through the Royal Gardens in order to get to the highest point of the castle first: Pinkie Pie had suggested they try rappelling and Spike had to admit he was stoked. Normally the Gardens would be closed to the public this late at night, but the Dragon of Canterlot and an Element of Harmony were about as far from the public as it gets.
They both gave polite nods and made polite conversation with the guards they met along the way, mostly Luna's brood but with the occasional Day Guard mixed in. Eventually they were alone in the hedges as they made periodic notes about their route. It'd be nice to have a record of their dumb plan in case it backfired... or even better, if it succeeded!
Trampled but well-cleaned dirt paths eventually gave way to pavers as the hedges opened up and let them both out into the statue garden. There were replicas and relics of all sorts of ponies here, and even a few non-ponies... including the statue form of Discord. Spike stared at that last one for a good little while, at least until Pinkie Pie poked his prone posterior.
"What'sa matter Spike? Does he have a super-scary level or something?"
Spike looked over the statue's head and spoke honestly, if evasively.
"Nah, I actually can't see his level at all."
"Ooooh, like the Princesses!"
They'd discussed some of his discoveries while shopping. He didn't correct her.
"Yeah, something like that..."
It was more like there was no level or title at all, not even a name. He already knew what he was going to find, but he decided to check anyway: 'Observe'.
[Ordinary Statue of Discord]
"There is Chaos in the hearts of little children." -- Unknown
A clever, lack-of-life-like decoy left behind by the Lord of Chaos in a very typical fit of whimsy.
P.S. -- Nice try kiddos! See ya soon.
P.P.S. -- Hey 'Spike T. Dragon', if you see this? Consider it to be me cashing in that Y.O.M I metaphorically gave you earlier. Yaknow, a 'You Owe Me'? I figure some vacation time is worth an enlightenment or three.
Spike pursed his lips, cleared his throat, and kept walking as if he never saw anything. There wasn't really anything else to be said about the matter... Although he almost started laughing when Pinkie Pie scrutinized the statue herself before turning to follow him, whistling innocently all the while.
He had a gut feeling that the avatar of chaos wasn't going to be causing the same kinds of problems this time around. If that were the case then why bother leaving a message? Not just any message, but one that nobody could see except for Spike (and possibly Pinkie Pie, apparently)... A message that nopony even knew he could see, except a small handful of trusted friends.
Well a handful of friends and apparently Discord, who didn't just know he could see descriptions on items but knew how to edit and use them to communicate. Which also settled the issue of whether or not those dreams were the real deal or just his mind providing a figurehead for what it was doing. So... Yeah, Spike was fully justified in keeping this to himself for now. Discord was really out and on the loose, and had really been helping him along so far.
It's not like it could be part of some weird plan on Discord's part: Information like this wouldn't sow strife between him and his friends, and if Discord decided to just start stuff again then there was no way the Elements wouldn't be on top of him in an instant. As far as Spike could tell, this wasn't a con or a trick. It was just a genuine request that Spike had no reason to turn down. Plus, Discord and plan didn't seem like words that went together comfortably if at all.
As for how Discord managed to get free in the first place, and how long he had been out of position? Spike had a few suspicions. At least one of which concerned his own recent growth and the events surrounding it... But he'd burn that bridge when they crossed it, or however the saying went.
Either way they didn't talk about anything else until they got to the target point for the start of their descent. The sheer drop from this side of the castle was a long unforgiving-looking sheet of rocks and harsh plant life. Pinkie looked down at Spike as well as all the spikes they had acquired, along with ropes and clamps and hooks and some kind of harness...
"So... do either of us have even the slightest idea how to rappel?"