//------------------------------// // The War of the Confectioneries // Story: Role Reversal // by JaketheGinger //------------------------------// “Cupcakes!” “Muffins!” “Sweets!” “No no no, cupcakes are the best!” “Nothing can beat a muffin!” “Sweets are the best because ‘sweet’ is in their name!” The three mares were butting heads, the normally calm atmosphere in Sugarcube Corner having turned to a tense one. All three ponies were revered by their taste for the three types of food. Pinkie Pie: Queen of Cupcakes. Derpy Hooves: The Muffin Mare. Bon Bon: The Sweet Treat. Debates like this were in common between the three and often ended up in a messy food fight, followed by a forced clean up session afterwards. So far, it looked like this wouldn’t end up any other way. The trio kept on arguing, much to the annoyance of everyone else in the room. Usually these would just end with the mares agreeing to disagree and dropping the subject...where they would pick it up again the next day. But today would be different. “There’s only one way to settle this!” Pinkie cried, interrupting the other two. They blinked at her in confusion. Pinkie merely grinned, “A bake off!” she announced in a dramatic voice, narrowing her eyes. “A bake off?” Derpy replied, one of her eyes trailing off to look in a random direction. “Yeah! We all bake our favorite goodie goods and then we all have a taste test!” Pinkie explained, yet a Bon Bon still had a few questions: “How much shall we bake? And by when?” The mare asked, seemingly a little bit sceptical. “As much as you can iiiin...four hours! No wait, five!” Pinkie answered. Bon Bon frowned a tad. “I’m not sure if this is such a good idea.” Pinkie grinned mockingly, leaning towards Bon Bon. “Well you can always concede...” As Bon Bon was voicing her retorts at Pinkie, Spike entered the establishment. He had one objective on his mind and surprisingly, it wasn’t buying cupcakes. Although it probably did involve them. He paused in the doorway, staring at the scene before him. He scratched his head and surveyed the rest of the room. There was only one other pony who wasn’t involved in the debate and luckily, she was a familiar face. The mare sat on a cushion, forelimbs leaning on the table, propping up her head. In front of her was a half eaten pink cupcake but Lyra seemed to ignore, blandly staring off into space. “Hey Lyra.” Spike called out, sitting opposite her. She blinked in surprise, raising herself. “Wha--oh, hi Spike,” she settled down, leaning on the table again. This time though, a smile was on her face. “Good to see you.” “Good to see you too.” Spike replied, then looked back to the squabbling trio. “So, mind filling me in on what’s going on?” “I took Bon Bon here for a nice little treat. We hadn’t eaten cupcakes in a while...but Derpy and Pinkie were here too and three just had to argue over which food was the best. So now it’s just me eating a cupcake,” she pushed it towards Spike, “Want some?” As much as the gesture was nice, the dragon really didn’t want to eat a cupcake that had been bitten into. “Er, no thanks. You bought it after all.” “Fair enough. More for me then!” she chucked the cupcake into her mouth and swallowed harshly a few moments later. “Oof...shouldn’t have taken such a big bite.” Spike smirked slightly. “Wasn’t really a bite...you kinda just swallowed it whole.” Lyra laughed, “I guess so--” The musician was cut off by Bon Bon storming past and pulling her away by her hindlegs. “Come on Lyra, we got work to do!” “Work? But--Bon Bon what are you doing? Let go!” Lyra flailed but it was to no use. Resigned to her fate, she rolled her eyes and gave Spike a wave before being dragged out of the door. “Have fun...?” Spike said, then shook his head. He then set his sights on Pinkie, which he should have done first really. “Hey Pinkie, where was Bon Bon going in a hurry?” “Spike!” Pinkie cried, rushing over to the table in a pink blur and putting Spike onto her back. It looked really odd, considering his size. “We’re gonna bake as many delicious cupcakes as we possibly can!” “Pinkie, I--” “Come on, let’s go!” Pinkie started trotting over to the kitchen, humming a delightful tune. “But Pinkie--” “This is going to be great! And we’re gonna win!” “Never mind...” Spike sighed. Then Derpy was the last one in the room. She looked around, still taking in the blur of recent events. The pegasus headed towards the exit, then saw Carrot Top walking inside. Derpy immediately bolted towards her, tackling the mare and sending both of them out of the establishment. Meanwhile, Spike had found himself in a chef’s hat and apron, standing uselessly as Pinkie hurried about the kitchen, grabbing all the ingredients she needed. Mr and Mrs Cake were watching, giving occasional nervous glances to each other. “Pinkie, are you sure this is a good idea?” Mr. Cake asked, thought it sounded more like a statement. Spike got the hint but he wasn’t sure if Pinkie did. “Oh don’t worry Mr. Cake! I got this all under control!” Pinkie chimed, searching through various cupboards, shoving items aside in her hunt. “Er, Pinkie?” Spike butted in, “Maybe it’ll be better if we don’t hog the Cakes’ kitchen?” Pinkie darted out from a cabinet, realisation on her face. “I guess you’re right, Spike,” she turned to face the Cakes, “Sorry for getting ahead of myself.” “You don’t need to apologize Pinkie, no harm’s been done.” Mrs. Cake replied. Spike saw the pair sigh with relief and he gave them a wink, which Pinkie didn’t see. Perhaps now he could get going with what he really came here for. “Pinkie, I want you to--” He let out a startled yell as Pinkie grabbed him again and rushed out of the building. “I’m not gonna let such a little hiccup stop me from winning! To the Apple family!” She cheered, disturbing the peace and quiet. Ponies turned their heads to look but weren’t really surprised. “Pinkie--forget it.” Spike waved a claw dismissively, then folded his arms as he sat upon the mare’s back. Everything went by in a blur and the constant bouncing upon Pinkie was hurting his bottom, but he never fell off. The blurs soon turned to greens and browns, so he knew they were at the Sweet Apple Acres. “Whoa! Slow down!” Pinkie told herself, digging her hooves into the ground and immediately stopping. Spike didn’t though and flew off into the air from the sudden change in momentum. He landed on the front of door of the Apple’s house with a splat. As he trailed down the door like a slug, he heard noises from within. “What in tarnation...?” Definitely Applejack. She swung open the door, Spike still on it, and peered about warily. Her face soon lighted up when she saw Pinkie. “Could ya try not to knock so loudly Pinkie?” She didn’t even question why Pinkie was no where near the door. “But I didn’t Applejack. Spike did!” Pinkie pointed at the dazed dragon, sluggishly walking from behind the door and rubbing his head. Applejack raised an eyebrow and looked to where Pinkie was pointing. “Are you okay Spike?” He merely grumbled a response. Before Applejack could say anything more, Pinkie was grovelling at her hooves. “Can we use your kitchen pleeeease?” Of course Applejack was sceptical. “What for?” “Cooking! Duh.” Applejack lowered her head, looking at Pinkie with narrowed eyes. “You know what ah mean.” Pinkie groaned, unable to lie directly to the element of honesty. “A bake off...” Applejack facehoofed. “Well of course the answer is no. I can’t let ya mess up my kitchen sugarcube.” “But we’ll be really careful, promise!” Pinkie put on her puppy eyes, accompanied by a quiet squeak. Applejack was unaffected. Even if he didn’t want to do this, Spike would rather bake than having to deal with an upset Pinkie all day. Or risk having his kitchen ruined. “I’ll make sure everything is neat and tidy by the end of it.” Applejack looked from Pinkie to Spike, then back at Pinkie again. “Fine,” she let out with an annoyed sigh, “But if it’s all messed by the time I get back, your flank will be like the apple trees. Bucked.” Then she went on her way to deal with another day’s hard work. As soon as she was out of earshot, Pinkie got up with a grin. “Nice work Spike!” She entered the house, not disturbing Granny Smith, who was asleep in a chair in the living room. Spike followed, closing the door behind him. When he reached the kitchen, Pinkie already had the ingredients needed. Spike raised a claw but Pinkie already knew his question. “I keep emergency cupcakes ingredients in ponies’ kitchens.” she said with rapid nods. “Should’ve known.” Spike lowered his claw, mouth agape. Did that technically make Pinkie a criminal? Shaking his head, he went over to Pinkie’s side. “Let’s get this done then...” “Well we’ll need more enthusiasm than that!” Pinkie scolded, “Gimme a smile!” Spike obeyed with a small one. “Bigger.” His smile grew. “Bigger!” He tried to make as big as he could but even that wasn’t enough. Pinkie sorted that problem by grabbing his cheeks and pushing them up. Spike now looked grotesque but Pinkie was pleased with the results. “Pinkie...please stahp...thish really hurts.” Pinkie let go, the resulting whiplash of his cheeks hurting Spike. Pinkie was completely fine, of course. Spike just hoped he had health insurance in this world. “Now we can start!” Pinkie chirped, emptying a bag of flour into a large bowl. Spike covered his nostrils, not wanting the scattered particles to make him sneeze. Only now had he realized that apart from Granny Smith, no other Apples were in the room. Big Macintosh was probably working with Applejack and Apple Bloom was...doing things a cutie mark crusader does, he guessed. He didn’t think much of it. “Okay Spike, I’ll get the oven up and running while you add the treats into the mix!” Pinkie ordered. Spike looked at what he had to work with. Lollipops, sweets, fruit...how did any of this come together to make a normal cupcake? He was about to drop in a lollipop when Pinkie’s voice rang through the room. “Oh! And salt!” “Yeah, got it Pinkie.” He shook his head to himself and prepared to empty the salt shaker onto the mix. Before he could though, Pinkie batted it out of his claw. “Just a pinch!” she commanded. Spike rolled his eyes, grabbing the salt shaker again and carefully only adding the smallest amount of the granules to the mix. He doubted they would run out of ingredients so...today was going to be a long one... After the chaos of yesterday, Twilight was glad to have a little reading time to herself. Her new friends were great but she still valued these quiet moments. Spike had gone off earlier, something about seeing Pinkie Pie. He didn’t tell her exactly why. Sat in the middle of the main room, the book she was reading was one about castle and forts, inspired by the games she had partaken in yesterday. Of course the castle of Canterlot was in the book but there were other, smaller ones. Most had been turned into mansions for nobles. A rapid knocking at the door ended the silence. It was very fast knocking indeed. Twilight thought it impossible that one pony could make all that noise at once. Unless it was Pinkie. She stood up and headed to the door, the knocking only ceasing when she opened it. The rest of the crusaders were revealed, all of them flailing their hooves in the air. When they realized that they had been answered, they all grinned sheepishly. “Hey girls,” Twilight snickered, “what brings you here?” “A meeting! You still need to see our clubhouse!” Apple Bloom explained, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle nodding beside her. Behind them all, Twilight could just make out a scooter and a small wagon of sorts. “Oh, I’d love to but...” Twilight looked down awkwardly. But was such an awkward word in every respect. “Spike’s gone out and I shouldn’t just leave without letting him know.” Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “Don’t be such a worry-wart. It’s not like we’re going to the Everfree.” “Well--” “We’ll be fine Twilight. Trust us!” Sweetie Belle said. She was right really, Twilight could trust these fillies. By now, she wasn’t afraid that anypony would just leave her somewhere dark and scary. An important lesson that she had learnt was that trust was essential in maintaining a friendship. “Fine, I’ll come along.” Upon hearing those words, the other crusaders burst out into loud cheers. Twilight would have joined in but she still wasn’t used to their almost deafening voices. “We even got you a helmet!” Scootaloo stated, heading over to their ‘vehicle’ and getting out a rather worn brown helmet. Apple Bloom explained that it was Applejack’s when she was younger as Twilight put it on. It felt secure so she climbed in the wagon with the others, except Scootaloo of course. When Scootaloo sped off, Twilight instinctively grabbed the sides of the wagon, her stomach full of butterflies. Evidently she was never in any danger of falling off because Apple Bloom and Sweetie were perfectly relaxed. That didn’t stop her from letting go though. The speed at which Scootaloo’s wings were flapping was something to behold. They were little more than blurs. She was like a hummingbird, only without full flight capabilities. Actually, it was a little odd that she couldn’t fly completely. When they finally arrived at their destination, Twilight was the first to exit, walking away on shaky legs. Luckily, she didn’t feel sick. “You okay Twi’?” Apple Bloom asked, taking off her helmet. Twilight slowly nodded and removed her own headgear, as did the other two. It was then that she set her eyes upon the Cutie Mark Crusader clubhouse. It was wonderfully quaint and was easy on the eyes too. Not something you’d expect from such three excitable fillies. There was even a watch tower right on top, poking through the branches and leaves of the tree. “She hasn’t even seen the inside yet and already she’s amazed.” Scootaloo commented with a smirk, watching Twilight’s eyes widen and her mouth grow agape as she stared at the clubhouse. “This way Twilight.” Sweetie Belle said, leading the way inside. The other unicorn snapped out of her awestruck daze and followed the others. She was lucky; this was one of the days when the clubhouse was actually tidy. “It’s...amazing!” Twilight finally said, much to the delight of the other Crusaders. Especially Apple Bloom. Half the hoofdiwork was hers. “Only the best for us Crusaders!” Apple Bloom exclaimed, trotting over to a map with Ponyville, upon which many routes were drawn. “This is the map where we plan how and where we try to get our cutie marks!” “She can see that, Apple Bloom.” Scootaloo snarked, only to receive a raspberry from the Apple filly. “So...what are we doing today then? Planning?” Twilight asked, looking at each of the three. “Scootaloo!” Sweetie Belle chirped, pointing at said filly. The pegasus cleared her throat, “Fellow Crusaders, today we shall explore the Ghastly Gorge!” Both Sweetie Belle and Twilight gulped, while Apple Bloom grimaced. “We talked about this Scootaloo. Ah think it’s a really bad idea...” “It’s not like we’ll jump down there! We’ll find a safe way down and get us some explorer’s cutie marks!” Scootaloo retorted. “What about the q-quarry eels?” Twilight questioned, shivering at their mere mention. “They only appear in the obvious holes. We’ll avoid them easily.” Scootaloo replied, waving a hoof dismissively. “I’m with Apple Bloom. It still sounds like a bad idea...” Sweetie Belle added. Scootaloo let out a frustrated groan, yet she wasn’t giving up without a fight. “Look, I just want to check it out. Rainbow Dash flew there and it sounds really cool! We won’t even go in if you’re that scared.” “Ah’m not scared Ah’m just being careful!” Apple Bloom cried but it was of little use. The look of determination on Scootaloo’s face was almost frightening. “But if ya really wanna go so badly, then we will.” The pegasus’ face soon brightened up. “But not for long!” the earth filly warned, receiving a sharp nod from the orange pony in return. Twilight nodded in agreement, a smile on her face. It was a nervous one. “My arms are dead...” Spike panted, finishing off wiping the final part of the Apple family’s kitchen cabinet. Finally, everything was back to normal and nothing had been set on fire. He threw the wash rag into the sink and took in the sight of what must have been hundreds of cupcakes, sitting neatly together on the wooden dining table. All were different in their own unique way, thank to Pinkie’s adeptness at baking the goods. The party pony was currently packing them into small cardboard boxes (Spike had given up questioning where Pinkie got anything now). She was rather delicate with the process, especially for a pony like herself. It was nice to relax for a short moment...then Spike realized that someone had to carry those boxes. If he felt tired before, the mere thought of carrying everything made him exhausted. “Pinkie...how are we getting all those boxes outta here?” Spike asked. Maybe she had some crazy solution that didn’t involve his arm strength. “We’ll just use a cart!” Pinkie answered, packaging the final cupcakes. Spike smiled at her response...then it faded as he realized that the boxes still needed to get to the cart. “Let’s get going then...” Spike frowned, carrying a few boxes at a time. Thankfully, Pinkie helped him and led the way to the cart. It was a simple wooden one and Pinkie would probably have to pull it. Once every box was onboard, Spike climbed on himself and collapsed onto his stomach. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Pinkie getting ready to pull the cart. Pinkie wasn’t that strong, so this would be a nice easy ride. “Here we goooooo!!!” Pinkie screamed, setting off at full speed.Spike blinked, instinctively digging his claws into the cart in order to avoid falling off. This confirmed it for him: Pinkie’s blood was made of sugar. Somehow, despite the extra weight of the cart, they were going faster than they had been getting here. Spike wondered what the heck the rush was for, then realized that their time was probably almost up. As Pinkie sped through Ponyville, Spike could hear the confused cries and startled yells of other ponies. The cart kept moving diagonally to the left and right, which Spike only assumed was Pinkie deftly moving out of the way of some poor townsfolk. Obviously, they made it to Sugarcube Corner in no time. It was too short of a break for Spike, who had to carry the boxes. Again, Pinkie helped but his tired arms didn’t thank her. It turned out that there was no need for the rush either; none of the other competitors were here yet. Although a few other customers were, looking on with bemused faces. “We need to get set up Spike!” Pinkie said once the final box was inside. Mr. and Mrs. Cake looked on with confusion but at least their kitchen was safe. Spike was about to ask what he should do but Pinkie already had it covered, quickly pulling three empty tables together so they stood in a line. Then, she put all the boxes on one table and began opening them. Finally, she neatly ordered out the cupcakes. “We’ll need a judge...lemme go out and grab one.” Pinkie said to herself, darting out of the establishment. Spike scratched his head. Did Pinkie have an emergency supply of judges too? In any case, she quickly came back, a judge in tow: Fluttershy. Pinkie was dragging her by the tail. “B-But I’m not very good at judging ponies...” Fluttershy squeaked as Pinkie let go of her tail and her flank hit the floor. “You’re judging food silly! Not ponies!” Pinkie chirped, helping the pegasus back up. “Oh...okay then. I guess I can do it, in that case.” Fluttershy replied, smiling as she saw Spike. “Hi Spike, did you help Pinkie make all those cupcakes?” She pointed at the baked goods, the surprise evident in her features. “I helped but I didn’t volunteer.” Spike gave her a slight smirk. He turned to Pinkie, beckoning her over. Since the competition had not started yet, now was the opportunity for him to tell Pinkie what he wanted. “Pinkie,” he said as she came over, keeping his voice low, “I need you to plan a surprise party. For...” he froze. Tomorrow! It all happened tomorrow! How did it creep up on him so quickly?! He shouldn’t have let Pinkie distract him today... “Tomorrow...” “Tomorrow? That doesn’t give me long but I won’t let you down! You definitely came to the right pony!” Pinkie replied with enthusiasm, her voice quiet as well. “What for though?” Spike wasn’t sure how to continue. He looked down, sighing. “A shooting star will fall tomorrow...Princess Celestia ordered me to make a wish then.” Pinkie nodded in understanding. “I’ll make it the best party ever then. Pinkie promise.” Spike looked up, smiling. “Thanks Pink--” The other competitors had arrived. “They’re here.” Bon Bon and Derpy were busy in bringing their own confectionaries. Neither had made as many as Pinkie and Spike did but he expected that. Still, they each made respectable efforts. Their ‘assistants’ were absent though. Resting, no doubt. “I hope you two are ready to get beaten!” Pinkie taunted, although it was in a friendly manner. “I already have the most goods here!” “That doesn’t mean that they’re the best.” Bon Bon retorted, going to the end table and preparing herself. “Yeah!” Derpy added...then the words became lost from her, “...yeah!” She put her muffins onto the middle table. Suffice to say, everypony looked like they had done a fantastic job. Spike regretted helping Pinkie now. He could’ve been a judge. “Alright everypony! The contest begins now!” Pinkie announced. The customers and the Cakes couple looked on with interest. “Everyone put their best treat forward!” Pinkie pushed forward her grandest work. A cupcake covered in rainbow icing and sparkles. It looked like you’d get a heart attack if you ate three at once. Derpy’s muffin of choice was interesting indeed. One half appeared to be dark chocolate and the other white chocolate. Each side was covered chocolate chips but the flavour of them was the opposite of the flavour that they were on. The blend the muffin had was no doubt delicious. Bon Bon had selected several sweets that weren’t very flashy looking at all. They were small, coloured discs. One was green, the other orange and another red. Appearances aren't everything though and all the flavour was probably packed inside. “Now, Fluttershy, simply eat the goods and tell us what you think!” Pinkie said, prompting Fluttershy to head over to the tables. She picked Pinkie’s cupcake first and took a small bite. A grin formed on her face, while an envious frown formed on Spike’s. She certainly took her time in eating the thing though. Once she had though, Pinkie was staring at her expectantly. “It’s nice.” Fluttershy commented, then moved onto the next dish. Pinkie blinked in dismay. “My muffin will have double the niceness!” Derpy assured Fluttershy, who simply nodded and began to eat. Again, she made the same face of tasty pleasure. “Mhm, that was good.” Fluttershy said after finishing, heading over to Bon Bon’s table and leaving behind a shocked Derpy. “Prepare for flavour like you’ve never felt before!” Bon Bon cried estatically. “Um. Okay...” Fluttershy ate the red sweet first. Her eyes went wide, beginning to get watery as soon as it went in her mouth. Pinkie and Derpy shared a grin as they watched Fluttershy struggle to keep the sweet down. She swallowed harshly, letting out a sigh of relief. “You’re right...lots of flavour in those...” “Too much for her apparently.” Spike snickered quietly, folding his arms. “And the winner of that round?” Pinkie questioned, Fluttershy looking between all three competitors. “Oh um...I don’t know. They were all good.” Spike, Pinkie, Derpy and Bon Bon all facehoofed at the same time. The sounds of their smacks all joined together to make a bigger one. “Try more then!” Pinkie flailed, watching as Fluttershy went back to her table and ate a cupcake covered in pink icing and sprinkles. Once she had swallowed it, she kept her comments to herself and next ate one of Derpy’s blueberry muffins. Except she stopped halfway. “Ooo...” she groaned when she swallowed a bite, “I think I ate too much...I’m so full.” She swayed a little, rubbing her stomach. Spike wondered how the heck most food critics kept so slim. Another series of facehoofs went around. “Well that ended quickly.” Spike grinned, licking his lips as he stared at the food. He reached over to grab a pink cupcake but Pinkie swiped it before he could get his claws on it. “It’s not over yet.” Pinkie grinned, lightly throwing the cupcake up and down with her hoof. Fluttershy squeaked and made for the door. As did everypony else in the building except Bon Bon, Derpy and Pinkie. That could only mean... “FOOD FIIIIIIIGHT!!” Pinkie shrieked, throwing her cupcake at Derpy’s face. Direct hit. Derpy blinked, licking the pink icing off her face. “Aaaah!” Spike yelled as a candy cane landed right next to him. In a matter of seconds, the air was filled with flying food. He wasn’t staying here for any moment longer, that was for sure. He briskly headed for the door but his foot made contact with slippery icing on the floor. In a matter of seconds, he was sliding across the room and landed on his back. Shaking his head when he stopped slipping, he looked at the three mares. All of them were messy already. No wonder everypony fled. This was insanity! Cupcakes, muffins and sweets were falling left, right and center. Some even hit the ceiling and in the case of the sticky cupcakes, never came back down. Derpy then took to the air, dropping muffins on Pinkie and Bon Bon. Both of them focused their fire on the pegasus, who tried to spin out of the way. It was too much though and eventually, the fire forced her to land after getting covered in sticky icing that coated her feathers. “Hyah!!” Pinkie shouted, flipping a table over with her forehooves, using it as cover against the barrage of confectionaries. Bon Bon opted to hide behind the counter, chucking random sweets into the air, hoping they would hit her targets. Derpy quickly went around the table were Pinkie was but was quickly fended off by another cupcake to the face. That’s all Spike saw before he swung open the door and slammed it behind him. He wiped his forehead in relief and rubbing his foot on the grass to get rid of any spare icing. From the sounds of it, the fight only got more chaotic from there. Fluttershy was nowhere to be seen. A smart move, since if she wasn’t there she wouldn’t have needed to clean up. Spike went for the same plan, jogging away from the shop. The sounds of three crazed mares died out soon enough and all was calm once again. That is, it was for about three minutes. A brilliant streak of rainbow flashed across the sky, everypony’s eyes in the vicinity being drawn to it. Spike knew who it was. Rainbow Dash, of course. But something was odd about her flight. It wasn’t especially flashy like it normally was. She was speeding along like a bullet. Normally if she flew through the town, she’d do something a bit more exciting. A couple loop de loops here and there, perhaps. But there was something that was no nonsense about her flying today and he swore something orange was on her back...a package maybe? She was gone as quickly as she came, which caused Spike to wonder what the rush was about. Well, he couldn’t catch up with her now so he decided to head on home. He chuckled a little when he reached the door to the library. Soon, he wouldn’t be taller than the door knob anymore. He was both nervous and excited at what soon lay ahead. Everything would go back to normal, with luck. But did he want everything to go back to normal? No. That was what brought him here in the first place. Words that he had been too foolish to say before needed to be said. He opened the door and went inside to find a lone open book in the center of the room, which prompted him to raise an eyebrow. Twilight rarely left books open, just in case anything happened to the pages. Maybe she had to dash for a quick toilet break or something? “Twilight?” Spike called out. No answer. The feeling of dread began to well up inside him and as he explored the rooms of the library, it only got worse. She wasn’t in the kitchen, on the balcony, or even in the basement. “Twilight?!” He yelled again and yet again, there was silence. He was sure that this wasn’t a prank; Twilight was never really one for those. The only pranks she did were quick, light-hearted ones. Nothing like pretending to be missing. This was real. Horrifying real. He punched as bookshelf, which sent some of the books tumbling to the ground. He let out a low snarl, frustrated with himself for having gotten so distracted today. It wasn't Pinkie's fault, it was his. He should have spoken up sooner. But no, he just had to go along for the ride. He looked down at the fallen books, realizing that he had done that. He wasn't even that angry... For the first time, he had found a benefit of being small. The image of the rainbow streak came to his mind and his mind put the pieces together. He didn’t want it to be that but...there was no other explanation. Maybe he was jumping to conclusions. But could he really risk not to? He sprinted out of the library, looking up at the sky. He was pretty sure that he remembered the direction Rainbow Dash was flying off too. He didn’t have time for help, so he sped off as fast as he could. Worry and adrenaline kept him going and they only increased when he realized what lay ahead. Ghastly Gorge.