//------------------------------//
// Chapter 5: My Intro's Epilogue 
// Story: Eternal Sunshine of the Spikeless Mind 
// by UtterlyLudicrous 
//------------------------------//

	It is the dead of night, and an eerie silence has fallen over Ponyville, broken only by the soft pitter-patter of the pegasi's downpour. The only light is coming from the moon, peeking out from a sliver of an opening between the clouds, and it is shining down on a cart with a lone, scaly driver, casting the night in a cool, blue glow. Inside the cart, an old, beat-up mixtape is playing Beck's cover of "Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime" through the cassette slot. A shaky claw reaches down and ejects the tape, abruptly stopping the music, and throws the tape out of the window. Outside, the cassette lands with a crack and the rain begins to do its work as the cart pulls away from the scene.
As the cart moves forward, it passes under moonlight, and in the brief light, the teary face of a very agitated-looking dragon is thrown into existence. The same claw that threw the tape out the window now reaches up and wipes the dragon's eyes, but the dragon keeps his eyes on the rainy scene outside, not saying a word, but choking back tears as his claws continue to shake.
As the cart pulls into a funny-looking library carved from a tree, a single lamppost flickers into existence, exposing a long, deep cut in the wood of the cart as it pulls up beside the library and the sullen, scaly figure steps out with a sob and a bag in his right claw. On the same street, a large white van pulls up to observe the figure in the light of the lamppost.
"We're looking for the library in the tree. Can you see it?"
"Well, I see lots of trees, but there's none that look like libraries."
"Mother of Discord, you'd think they'd have it labeled as a library or something. I mean, is this guy even--"
"Wait, is that him?"
"Yeah, I think that's him. I see him."
"Yeah, that's definitely him."
One of the two ponies in the van lets out a chuckle and waves at the figure in the night. He acts as if he doesn't notice, but he glances over to see a funny-looking pony with a short mane and a small beard. He doesn't recognize the pony, and continues walking.



Who is this van and why do they keep following me? Spike thought as he walked through the rain towards the library entrance. Although, truth be told, this was the least of Spike's worries. He'd had one hell of a night, probably one of the worst of his life. You know, before I get back to the library, I should get Twilight's mail. Spike proceeded to walk past the entrance as the van drove off into the rainy night. With his beanie on and his arms crossed, the purple and green dragon raced across to the local mailroom.
"Hey, Spike." "Hey, how are you?" "Not very good.. The only Hearts and Hooves Day cards I ever get are from my mother. How pathetic is that?" Spike wasn't paying any attention. He was looking through postmarks from Twilight's letters. Maybe Rainbow had written him one..?
"You're lucky you've got Rainbow Dash, man. She is way cool." Spike looked through and found a peculiar-looking envelope from a group called Laluna, Inc. Wonder what that's all about.. Probably just another science company who wants to use Twilight's talents, Spike thought to himself.
"Hey, you got any Hearts and Hooves plans with Rainbow this year?" Spike froze. Any Hearts and Hooves plans? With Rainbow Dash? He shrunk back a little.
"...No."
"Well, it's only a day away; you'd better make some reservations or something. Don't wanna get stuck at Donut Joe's, right? He's never been good with the romance!"
"I, uh... I have to, go to sleep now, man."
"But it's only 8:30."
But by then, Spike was out of the mailroom and back in the library.



Twilight was gone for the night. She'd been leaving more often recently.. Spike hoped she wouldn't be moving back to Canterlot anytime soon, like she'd been talking about since she and Masquerade had gotten married. In the mean time, Spike tossed Twilight's mail onto her bed, changed into his pajamas, mostly torn apart from years of wear and tear, thanks mostly to his sharp scales and his constant movement in his sleep, and took a prescription medicine out of the bag. He filled a glass with water and down the hatch the pill went.
As Spike passed the window on the second floor of the library, he noticed the white van again. It was parked in front of the treehouse, but he couldn't make out the figures very well. Down in the van, the two ponies conversed. One of them was singing quietly. The driver was a unicorn with a tousled-looking black mane and a pair of somewhat-thick square black-rimmed glasses. His skin was a light pale orange, and his emerald eyes were glaring over at his singing counterpart.
"Patrick, stop it. That singing's getting on my nerves."
In the treehouse, Spike began to worry. What if these were burglarponies? He shut all the windows and blinds, and turned off all the lights that were on in the house. On his way to turn off the foyer lights, he stumbled and knocked over a shelf of books. Huh.. Gotta work on my balance, Spike thought sleepily as he flicked the switch. Back in the van, the two ponies saw the stumble.
Patrick stopped singing. "Showtime in Ponyville," he said with definity.



Patrick and his friend pulled open the back door of the van and pulled out a strange-looking electronic helmet attached to some sort of scanner. It had stopped raining, so they could pull the contraption out without fear of losing any of its valuable parts. They pulled it into the library foyer and found the dragon face down on the floor, his leg twitching. They connected the dragon up to the machine and plugged it in.



Spike woke up lying on the ground face up. He was back in the mailroom. How had he gotten here?
"Hey, Spike." "Hey, how are you?" "Not very good.. The only Hearts and Hooves Day cards I ever get are from my mother. How pathetic is that?"
Spike looked over to his right and saw a very strange sight -- he was looking at himself talking with his neighbor.
"You're lucky you've got Rainbow Dash, man. She is way cool. Hey, you got any Hearts and Hooves plans with her this year?" "...No." "Well, it's only a day away; you'd better make some reservations or something. Don't wanna get stuck at Donut Joe's, right?"
Spike's vision became more and more blurry, like his sight was fading away. He closed his eyes for half a second and woke up with a start. He was in the library foyer. It was empty.
Man, what a nightmare.. Spike thought, and threw himself under the covers. I'll have to talk to Twilight and Masquerade about this when they get back.